In this mailing: - Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinian Prisoners No One Talks About
- Yves Mamou: France: Can Éric Zemmour Be the Next President?
by Khaled Abu Toameh • October 25, 2021 at 5:00 am The Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners, who have been convicted of terrorism against Israel, received wide coverage because they are being held in Israeli prisons. They are being held in prison because many of them were involved in major terror attacks against Israel, including murder. The international media and the Palestinian Authority (PA), however, refuse to call the prisoners terrorists. Instead, they call them "militants" or "political detainees." While the world's attention remains focused on the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, there is hardly any mention of prisoners and detainees held by the PA security forces in the West Bank A Palestinian who goes on hunger strike in a Palestinian prison can only dream of being noticed by a foreign journalist or a human rights organization in the US and Europe. A Palestinian who declares a hunger strike in an Israeli prison, on the other hand, has nothing to fear. He or she knows very well that within minutes the whole world will learn about his "grievances." A report by the Committee of the Families of Political Detainees revealed that the Palestinian security forces committed 217 "violations" against Palestinians just during September. If Abbas cares so much about Hamas and PIJ prisoners, why is he ordering his security forces to arrest and beat Palestinians for being affiliated with the two groups? If he thinks that these prisoners should be released from Israeli prisons, why doesn't he first release those who are being held in Palestinian prisons? A final, damning question: Why are the Palestinian security forces arresting or interrogating prisoners shortly after their release from Israeli prisons? How can the PA condemn Israel for arresting these men, but later arrest them on suspicion of belonging to Hamas or PIJ? In public, Abbas demands that Israel free all the prisoners; but when Israel complies, he rushes to arrest them for "security reasons." The Palestinian prisoners were lucky when they were in Israeli prisons: they attracted the attention of human rights organizations and journalists around the world. Those who are now being held in Palestinian prisons are undoubtedly wishing that they could be sent back to Israeli prisons, where they would be better treated and win international sympathy.
 While the world's attention remains focused on the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, there is hardly any mention of prisoners and detainees held by the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces. Pictured: A bleeding protester scuffles with PA security forces during a demonstration in Ramallah on June 24, 2021, following the beating death in police custody of human rights activist Nizar Banat.(Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images) A recent hunger strike by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) prisoners held by Israel caught the attention of many journalists and media outlets. Reports about the hunger strike appeared in newspapers around the world and were included in dispatches by major news agencies. The PIJ prisoners, who have been convicted of terrorism against Israel, received wide coverage because they are being held in Israeli prisons. They are being held in prison because many of them were involved in major terror attacks against Israel, including murder. The international media and the Palestinian Authority (PA), however, refuse to call these prisoners terrorists. Instead, they call them "militants" or "political detainees." While the world's attention remains focused on the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, there is hardly any mention of prisoners and detainees held by the PA security forces in the West Bank. Continue Reading Article by Yves Mamou • October 25, 2021 at 4:00 am Zemmour represents the France of yesteryear: the France of Napoleon, Notre Dame de Paris and General Charles de Gaulle, a France that does not want to become an Islamic Republic. "The danger for France is to become a second Lebanon," Zemmour often says, meaning a country fragmented between sectarian communities that hate and fear one another. He is the man who broke through the glass ceiling to insert into the media discussion topics such as "immigration" and "jihad" -- which no one had ever dared to talk about publicly. He is a man who embodies the fear of seeing traditional France -- the one of church steeples and the "baguette" -- disappear under the blows of jihad and political correctness. The meteoric rise of Zemmour has had a second effect: he has broken a degrading electoral trap in which the French people are stuck.... dividing the right to prevent them from returning to power. From the middle of the eighties until now, the media and the left, together, manufactured an industrial-strength shame-machine to stigmatize as "racist" and "Nazi" anyone who dared to raise his voice on issues of immigration... The Zemmour fight is just beginning. One thing, however, is certain: Zemmour is restoring an authentic democratic debate about topics -- security, immigration, Islam -- that really matter to the French. For many, Zemmour is the last chance for France not to become an Islamic nation or a "Lebanon in Europe."
 Éric Zemmour, who opinion polls place second behind incumbent President Emmanuel Macron for France's 2022 elections, represents the France of yesteryear: the France of Napoleon, Notre Dame de Paris and General Charles de Gaulle, a France that does not want to become an Islamic Republic. "The danger for France is to become a second Lebanon," Zemmour often says, meaning a country fragmented between sectarian communities that hate and fear one another. (Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images) The Financial Times calls him "the extreme right-winger". For the New York Times he is the "right wing pundit". For Die Zeit, he is "the man who divides France"... Eric Zemmour, journalist and essayist, is not (yet) an official candidate for the French presidency, but because of his popularity, France is already living at election time. The presidential elections will take place in about 200 days, but not a week goes by without a poll propelling Éric Zemmour higher and higher in the voter projections for 2022. A Harris Interactive poll published by Challenges magazine on October 6 puts him at 17%, ahead of Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the National Rally party (at 15%, having slipped by 13 points since the summer). Zemmour still remains behind incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, projected at 24%. But for how long? Continue Reading Article |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment