Free speech in France is dead; especially if you are a Jewish philosopher (who probably considers himself a Frenchman more than a Jew; however, like in Hitler’s day, they hang the Yellow Star on you) who dares to have a different interpetation of the French Riots of 2005:
A prominent French Jewish intellectual has come under attack for criticizing the public reaction to recent Muslim riots as too sympathetic.
Critics called Alain Finkielkraut racist for emphasizing the ethnicity and religion of the rioters in a Nov. 18 interview with Ha’aretz.
Finkielkraut, 56, was quoted as saying that “in France there are also other immigrants whose situation is difficult – Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese – and they’re not taking part in the riots. Therefore, it is clear that this is a revolt with an ethno-religious character.”
Contrary to the widespread opinion that the riots could not be “reduced to an unalloyed reaction to French racism,” Finkielkraut argued that they were attacks not against France “as a former colonial power” but “against France as a European country. Against France, with its Christian or Judeo-Christian tradition
Shameful enough that France refuses to mention the elephant in the room (which threatens to destroy them all), but it gets worse:
The comments by Finkielkraut, a former leader of the left-wing 1968 student uprisings who in recent years has been characterized as a “neo-conservative” because of his support for Israel, launched a French version of the “culture wars” that have periodically raged in the United States over the past few decades.
On Nov. 24, the Movement Against Racism filed charges of racism against Finkielkraut. Racism is a criminal offence in France.
In democratic France, stray from the government line, and expect to be sued to death by government/media-supported NGO’s. Here’s more of Finkielkraut’s "radical" thought:
He said he was perturbed by the riots not only as a Frenchman, but as a Jew. As he told Ha’aretz, “When an Arab torches a school, it’s rebellion. When a white guy does it, it’s fascism. I’m colour blind. Evil is evil, no matter what colour it is. And this evil, for the Jew that I am, is completely intolerable.”
Finkielkraut also said the French educational system breeds a “post-colonial mind-set” that offers sympathy for the rioters and, he claimed, is “creating an infrastructure for the new anti-Semitism.”
True, true, all true! What kind of world do we live in where a man gets vilified for applying philosophy to current events? When a respected thinker applies his methodology to a certain problem and comes up with a differing cause/effect, does not the crucifixion of this man radically curtail free thought itself? What kind of state has France become?
Well, I can tell you what can of country it will become: Any Nation-State, throughout history, that has curtailed free thought under penalty of law becomes morally corrupt, economically stagnent, and reflexibly hostile. Welcome to your future, sons and daughters of Gaul...
Finkielkraut’s legal troubles aren’t over yet. In the Ha’aretz interview, he referred to the French comedian Dieudonne as the “guardian of [the new] anti-Semitism in France.”
Dieudonne, who has been prosecuted several times for anti-Semitic remarks, responded by pressing libel charges against Finkielkraut.
Dieudonne is vile racist who spews anti-semetic hate under the guide of entertainment (which it certainly was for the Nazis) all over the airwaves of an accommodating French media. Again, a libel charge for speaking the truth.
It reminds me of how upset the Democratic Party gets when someone confronts the likes of Dean/Kerry/Murtha with their own cowardly quotes. Rather than debate, they lash out at the Republicans for the nerve of throwing their words back at them, as if some code was broken, and that is the real crime committed. Same in France, I guess...
Now, if our friendly philosopher was not Jewish but a Muslim instead, would he be under threat of lawsuit, or do you think that he would be considered a “differing expert opinion” ?
I don’t have to guess on that one…
Probably would be a fatwa placed on his head as well.
Direct link to this article here: http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=8018
It is from a series of links/post on this controversy found on Fausta’s Blog here: http://badhairblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/france-finkielkraut-round-up-by-way-of.html
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