Tens of thousands expected in Paris march protesting Halimi murder

[Behind the Aegis]

The family of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in an attack that appears to have been motivated in part by anti-Semitism, will not attend the demonstration against racism and anti-Semitism that is scheduled to take place in Paris on Sunday in response to the murder, but will hope for its success, the family's attorneys said Saturday.

The rally - which is due to be attended by over 100,000 people and numerous public figures, including government ministers - has become controversial due to the planned participation of representatives of two right-wing political movements, the National Front and the Movement for France (known by its French initials MPF).

On Friday, the anti-racism organization MARP announced that it would refuse to attend the rally for this reason, charging that both movements were using Halimi's murder to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment and thereby encouraging racism. The National Front, for instance, described the murder as "the result of 40 years of uncontrolled immigration," while the MPF denounced "the Islamization of France."

The Human Rights League said on Friday that it would participate in the rally, but demanded that the National Front and the MPF be barred from attending and denounced CRIF, the umbrella organization of the French Jewish community, for remaining silent about the MPF's participation even as it urged that the National Front be barred. The Jewish Students' Association has also condemned the participation of the two political movements.

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[Ecumenist]

1. that's a damn shame....

Is there nothing that man won't do to his brother in the name of hate... :banghead:

[adriennui]

2. and that my friends

is the reason for israel. in the end we know we have a place to go.

[Colorado Blue]

3. Amen.

In fact, the situation in France, over the past few years, has resulted in increased emigration to Israel.

[adriennui]

4. i respect the people on DU

but israel is one of the most devisive issues, i'm so glad to see i'm not the only one with these insecurities. i think it kind of sets us apart from the norm.


whatever, thank goodness we have free speech in the US (at least for awhile)..

[wordpix2]

5. and further, Israel must remain a safe haven for Jews the world over

[Dutch]

13. Absolutely right. n/t

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. What a stupid remark!

Have you not read the reports about this? Did you not see this was not a 'black-flag' op? Did you even read the article I posted or at least the clip?

Of course, your response doesn't surprise me, considering you echo the words of the Iranian president in regards to the population of Israel and you consider Israelis 'neo-Nazis.'

[adriennui]

8. do you actually believe

muslims are incapable of terror and violence? that it's always some kind of black op.

in a sense you're being patronizing and contemptuous of all muslims, in that they're not capable of independent thought.

[Coastie for Truth]

9. Shame

:puke:

[DemExpat]

10. Come on!

:wtf:

DemEx

[Colorado Blue]

11. WHAT? This is, with all due respect, probably one of the

most outrageous comments I have seen on DU yet and that's saying something.

Jews have been blamed on this site for 9/11, for Hariri's assassination, for the London bombings, the bombings in Amman, for the Iraq war, for the Bush Administration's global philosophy, and even for bombings within Israel.

But THIS takes the bloomin' cake.

Grow up already.

With all due respect.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[iverglas]

14. a community came together

to express solidarity with victims of crimes that are committed when the seeds of stereotyping and prejudice and bigotry are sown -- to protest the stereotyping and prejudice and bigotry, no matter who the victims -- and nobody has any comment about that fact.

There were no speeches during the march, but demonstrators carried signs denouncing racism and anti-Semitism.

... "It's important for French society to recognize that small racist and anti-Semitic prejudices can have terrible and dreadful consequences," he said in an interview with Radio Europe 1.

Oh well. I think the fact is worthy of notice and comment, and not just of being used as a springboard for comment that flatly disregards the fact itself.

The French anti-racist left stands in solidarity with ALL victims of racism, bigotry and prejudice, and the stereotyping that feeds them, and so do I. And I don't really care who might want to misrepresent those facts, or how anyone might try to distract attention from them.

For the record.

[Behind the Aegis]

15. Good for them.

Protesting prejudice in a unified voice, especially anti-Semitism, which is often excused or ignored in other places. The march went off without a hitch and the right-wing element was kept away.