Regarding the recent "Charlie Hebdo" attack, please refer to my previous postings (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20150108)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20150110)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20150111)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20150112).
As for Mr. Geert Wilders, please refer to my previous postings(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/archive?word=%22Geert+Wilders%22).(Lily)
1．New Yorker（http://www.newyorker.com）
The Blame for the Charlie Hebdo Murders, 7 January 2015
by George Packer
he murders today in Paris are not a result of France’s failure to assimilate two generations of Muslim immigrants from its former colonies. They’re not about French military action against the Islamic State in the Middle East, or the American invasion of Iraq before that. They’re not part of some general wave of nihilistic violence in the economically depressed, socially atomized, morally hollow West—the Paris version of Newtown or Oslo. Least of all should they be “understood” as reactions to disrespect for religion on the part of irresponsible cartoonists.
They are only the latest blows delivered by an ideology that has sought to achieve power through terror for decades. It’s the same ideology that sent Salman Rushdie into hiding for a decade under a death sentence for writing a novel, then killed his Japanese translator and tried to kill his Italian translator and Norwegian publisher. The ideology that murdered three thousand people in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. The one that butchered Theo van Gogh in the streets of Amsterdam, in 2004, for making a film. The one that has brought mass rape and slaughter to the cities and deserts of Syria and Iraq. That massacred a hundred and thirty-two children and thirteen adults in a school in Peshawar last month. That regularly kills so many Nigerians, especially young ones, that hardly anyone pays attention.
Because the ideology is the product of a major world religion, a lot of painstaking pretzel logic goes into trying to explain what the violence does, or doesn’t, have to do with Islam. Some well-meaning people tiptoe around the Islamic connection, claiming that the carnage has nothing to do with faith, or that Islam is a religion of peace, or that, at most, the violence represents a “distortion” of a great religion. (After suicide bombings in Baghdad, I grew used to hearing Iraqis say, “No Muslim would do this.”) Others want to lay the blame entirely on the theological content of Islam, as if other religions are more inherently peaceful—a notion belied by history as well as scripture.
A religion is not just a set of texts but the living beliefs and practices of its adherents. Islam today includes a substantial minority of believers who countenance, if they don’t actually carry out, a degree of violence in the application of their convictions that is currently unique. Charlie Hebdo had been nondenominational in its satire, sticking its finger into the sensitivities of Jews and Christians, too—but only Muslims responded with threats and acts of terrorism. For some believers, the violence serves a will to absolute power in the name of God, which is a form of totalitarianism called Islamism—politics as religion, religion as politics. “Allahu Akbar!” the killers shouted in the street outside Charlie Hebdo. They, at any rate, know what they’re about.
These thoughts don’t offer a guide to mitigating the astonishing surge in Islamist killing around the world. Rage and condemnation don’t do the job, nor is it helpful to alienate the millions of Muslims who dislike what’s being done in the name of their religion. Many of them immediately condemned the attack on Charlie Hebdo, in tones of anguish particular to those whose deepest beliefs have been tainted. The answer always has to be careful, thoughtful, and tailored to particular circumstances. In France, it will need to include a renewed debate about how the republic can prevent more of its young Muslim citizens from giving up their minds to a murderous ideology—how more of them might come to consider Mustapha Ourrad, a Charlie Hebdo copy editor of Algerian descent who was among the victims, a hero. In other places, the responses have to be different, with higher levels of counter-violence.
But the murders in Paris were so specific and so brazen as to make their meaning quite clear. The cartoonists died for an idea. The killers are soldiers in a war against freedom of thought and speech, against tolerance, pluralism, and the right to offend—against everything decent in a democratic society. So we must all try to be Charlie, not just today but every day.
・George Packer became a staff writer in 2003.
2．WorldWide Religious News（http://wwrn.org）
Paris attacks boost support for Dutch anti-Islam populist Wilders
(Reuters, January 11, 2015)
Amsterdam - Support for the anti-Islamic Freedom Party of Dutch populist Geert Wilders has jumped to its highest level in more than a year after the Islamist militant attacks in Paris.
Wilders, known for his inflammatory rhetoric, said after the Paris bloodshed that the West was "at war" with Islam, drawing a rebuke from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Sunday.
If elections were held now, his party would be the single largest in the Netherlands, with 31 seats in the 150-member parliament, more than twice as many as it won in the last elections, according to a Sunday poll.
The governing Liberal and Labour parties, damaged by persistent sluggish growth, would have just 28 seats between them, compared to the 79 they held after the 2012 elections.
The Freedom Party was polling 30 seats just prior to the Jan. 7-9 Paris attacks, in which 17 people including journalists and policemen were killed by three Islamist gunmen who were later shot dead by French special forces.
Wilders this week called in an interview for measures against Islam: "If we don't do anything, it will happen here," he was quoted by the newspaper Het Parool as saying.
But speaking to Dutch public television shortly before leaving to attend a peace rally in Paris, the Dutch prime minister distanced himself from Wilders's comments.
"I would never use the word 'war,'" he said. "We are in a struggle with extremists who are using a belief as an excuse for attacks."
More than 80 percent of respondents to the De Hond poll said people who left the Netherlands to wage jihad (holy war) in Syria should lose their Dutch citizenship and those returning from fighting in Syria or Iraq should face lengthy jail terms.
The attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo had particular resonance in the Netherlands. In 2004, Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, known for making anti-Islam remarks that were designed to offend, was stabbed to death by an Islamic radical as he cycled down an Amsterdam street.
Wilders, who has described Islam as a "lie" and the prophet Muhammad as a "criminal", has lived in hiding and under 24-hour armed guard since van Gogh's murder.
He is currently facing prosecution over remarks he made at an election rally last year, when he appeared to call for "fewer Moroccans" in the city of The Hague, and later referred in a television interview to "Moroccan scum". (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Stephen Powell)
・Disclaimer: WWRN does not endorse or adhere to views or opinions expressed in the articles posted. This is purely an information site, to inform interested parties of religious trends.
3.Algemeiner(http://www.algemeiner.com)
Netanyahu Delivers Emotional Speech at Paris Synagogue Memorial Service, Highlights Threats Posed by ‘Radical Islam’ and Iranian Regime, 11 January 2015
Paris, January 11 -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a passionate and emotional speech at the Grand Synagogue in Paris tonight, where both he and French President Francois Hollande attended a special memorial service.
Netanyahu said that “radical Islam,” and not “ordinary Islam,” was the enemy, along with the Iranian regime.
“The radical Islamists do not hate the West because of Israel; they hate Israel because it is an integral part of the modern world,” he declared to loud applause. “We cannot let Iran achieve nuclear capabilities. Israel stands with Europe, and Europe must stand with Israel.”
Netanyahu told the service, “Those who murdered Jews at a synagogue in Jerusalem and those who murdered Jews and journalists in Paris are part of the same problem. We must condemn them and fight them!”
Netanyahu also reassured Jews wishing to immigrate to Israel of a warm welcome. “Any Jew who chooses to come to Israel will be greeted with open arms and an open heart, it is not a foreign nation, and hopefully they and you will one day come to Israel,” Netanyahu announced, ending his speech with the rousing words “Am Yisrael Chai! Am Yisrael Chai!” (“the people of Israel lives!”)
The crowd at the synagogue enthusiastically joined in with Netanyahu. The service ended with the singing of both the French National anthem, “La Marseillaise,” and the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
In opening remarks at the gathering, Joël Mergui, head of the Consistoire Israélite Central de France, said “Today France was in the streets, all of France… and the Jews of France were also in the streets to defend freedom of expression, to defend Charlie [Hebdo], to defend our democracy… because the Jewish people are democracy.”
“Through our History, the Jewish people, who have always been confronted with hatred, have never hated others…” he added. “The synagogue may be the only place of worship where no one has ever supported the hatred for others”.
“The hatred of Jews and the hatred of democracy are the same thing and must be fought in the same way… I no longer want to hear that Jews are afraid. We are not afraid.”
After reading the names of the 17 victims of last week’s terrorist attacks, France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia asked the crowd “what would France be without fraternity?”
“The French people has done its duty. Until now, we always felt isolated. But that is not the case anymore… Now everyone must assume his or her personal duty”.
“It is in times like these that we must not live in sadness and mourning but in joy. That is what our faith teaches us. To change sadness into joy, that is what I wish for all of you”.
Earlier on in the day, nearly two million people gathered in Paris and hundreds of thousands reportedly marched throughout the country, in a wave of “national unity marches” sparked by the deadly terrorist attacks. People were heard singing the national anthem La Marseillaise and chanting “Charlie” and “terroristes, assassines” (terrorists, murderers) throughout the streets of the French capital. Along with the now famous “Je Suis Charlie” slogan, people could be seen holding signs saying “Je suis Charlie, je suis policier, je suis juif” (I am Charlie, I am a police officer, I am Jewish) and “Le rire est plus fort que la terreur” (Laughter is stronger than terror).
World leaders, including Netanyahu, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas joined the beginning of the march.
They observed a minute’s silence before the march began.
Dan and Yoni were among the demonstrators posted at Place de la République, at the heart of the Paris rally. Dan, 19 who lives just outside the city, expressed how the recent events filled him with emotion. “Our thoughts are with the victims’ families today,” he told The Algemeiner. “We were at the HyperCacher ceremony yesterday evening and we’ve been following the news non-stop for the past days.” Regarding the consequences recent events may have on the country’s Jewish community, Yoni, also 19, believes it is important to for French Jews to stay in France. “If we all leave, then they win!”
Yvelise and Isaac, who have both lived in Paris for most of their lives, also joined the march on Sunday, holding a French flag in their hands. Though they wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to participate in such an historic event, the couple expressed their disappointment in the rally’s message. “We are not ‘only Charlie’,” Isaac told The Algemeiner. He “believes that “French media does not talk enough about the antisemitic acts that occur in the country.” “Politicians are doing their job… [Prime Minister Manuel] Valls made a beautiful speech yesterday,” Isaac continued, “but the media has to talk more about what is happening to Jews.”
Manuel Valls spoke to journalists shortly after leaving the rally to participe in a highly-anticipated ceremony at the Grande Synagogue of Paris. “The antisemitic dimension of [this attack] must be constantly recalled,” Valls said. “What a beautiful day this was. Paris is the capital of the world today,” he added, reiterating a declaration by President François Hollande made earlier in the day.
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