Headlines:
- Open Letter Linking Islam to Anti-Semitism Sparks Backlash in France
- Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Delays Launch of Entertainment City
- Pakistan, Russia Hold High-Level Security Talks
Open Letter Linking Islam to Anti-Semitism Sparks Backlash in France
The letter – which was signed by more than 250 prominent public figures, including actor Gérard Depardieu, businessman François Pinault, as well as former president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni – appeared in the Sunday edition of French daily Le Parisien. It drew a direct link between anti-Semitism and Islam, blaming Islamist radicalisation for a “quiet ethnic purge” of Jews, which it claims is currently happening in France. “In our recent history, 11 Jews have been murdered – and some tortured – by radical Islamists because they were Jewish,” it read, later evoking the death of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who was found stabbed in her home last month in what is being treated as an anti-Semitic attack. The letter went on to argue that anti-Semitism is more prevalent in France than Islamophobia, claiming that the Jewish community is at greater risk of hate crimes than Muslims. “French Jews are 25 times more likely to be aggressed than their Muslim fellow citizens,” it stated, alleging that tens of thousands of Jews had been forced to leave their homes in the Paris area out of fear for their safety. There was an almost immediate backlash to the letter, which was criticised for its treatment of Islam. “More than anything, the (letter) translates the idea that contemporary anti-Semitism is above all else, Islamist, even Muslim,” Michel Wieviorka, a sociologist at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, told FRANCE 24. “The text not only reveals issues troubling French Jews, but also prejudice against Islam,” Wieviorka – whose sister, the historian Annette Wieviorka, was among the letter’s signatories – added. France’s chief rabbi, Haïm Korsia, who also signed the letter, said he disagreed with the “comparison between the inherent threats of being Jewish and those inherent to being Muslim”. “I was most reticent about the fact that it was [presented as] a sort of competition. Who was the most at risk?” Korsia told Franceinfo radio. Meanwhile, Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, warned against the letter’s divisive rhetoric. “This letter, which unfairly puts French citizens of the Muslim faith and Islam in France on trial for anti-Semitism, presents the obvious risk of dividing religious communities,” Boubakeur said in a statement. It’s not the first time, however, that Islam has been compounded with anti-Semitism in France. Publisher Antoine Gallimard sparked controversy after announcing in January that he would no longer publish works by the novelist Céline –a notorious anti-Semite – because, “anti-Semitism is no longer the exclusive territory of Christians, but Muslims, and they’re not going to read texts by Céline”. His comments prompted a strongly worded response by Holocaust historian Tal Bruttmann, who categorically rejected the idea. [Source: France24]
Shedding tears for Jews has become the rallying cry for the French. Have the Jews forgotten how the French treated them over the centuries, while Islam gave Jews honour and protection? As for crimes against Muslims, the French along with the British are unmatched in their enmity towards Islam. From the crusader wars, to the establishment of the Jewish state, and the present wars of intervention in the Muslim world their evil continues unabated. Soon with the return of the imminent return of Khilafah Rashida will end their nefarious plots and schemes.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Delays Launch of ‘Entertainment City’
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said it has delayed by three days the launch of an “entertainment city” near Riyadh, part of a series of multi-billion dollar projects as the oil-reliant kingdom seeks to diversify. King Salman had been scheduled on Wednesday to launch construction of the 334-square kilometre project in Qiddiya, southwest of Riyadh, touted as the kingdom’s answer to Disneyland. “King Salman will inaugurate next Saturday the Qiddiya project, which is the new entertainment, sports and cultural destination in the kingdom,” the state-run Saudi Press Agency said, without explaining the delay. Construction for the first phase of development, which would include high-end theme parks, motor sport facilities and a safari area, is expected to be completed in 2022, officials say. The facility highlights a “relentless effort to develop giga-projects that will help achieve many direct and indirect economic returns”, project official Fahd bin Abdullah Tounsi was quoted as saying in a government statement on Monday. Qiddiya chief executive Michael Reininger has said the project in the entertainment-starved kingdom is expected to draw foreign investment, but gave no figures side from Qiddiya, the kingdom has unveiled blueprints to build NEOM, a mega project billed as a regional Silicon Valley, in addition to the Red Sea project, a reef-fringed resort destination — both worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Such projects are the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, architect of a sweeping reform programme dubbed “Vision 2030”. [Source: Arabian Business]
Whatever is the reason for the delay the truth is that Saudis do not need Western style escapism to get relief from the brutality of the Saudi regime. Saudis need jobs that sprout from the roots of real industrial progress not borrowed western consumerism. Since its pseudo independence from Britain, the Saudi regime has only squandered wealth and this will never change. Only the establishment of Khilafah Rashida can change the plight of the Saudis by establishing heavy industry and a self-sufficient economy not tied to the West.
Pakistan, Russia Hold High-Level Security Talks
Russia and Pakistan have held their first national security advisers-level bilateral talks in Moscow, focusing on prospects for closer cooperation in defense, space, cyber security, nuclear, intelligence-sharing as well as trade. Pakistani National Security Adviser, Nasser Janjua, and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, led their respective delegations in the two-day meeting that ended on Monday. A statement released after their meeting said the Pakistani delegation included senior military, civilian, intelligence and officials from the Strategic Plans Division, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons and missiles program. The two sides expressed satisfaction at “the positive trajectory and progression” of mutual relationship at bilateral and multilateral levels, the statement noted. Monday’s wide-ranging high-level discussions happened as a Russian business delegation is due to arrive in Pakistan later this week to explore investment opportunities in various sectors, including banking, railways and telecommunications, government and diplomatic sources told VOA. The turnaround in bilateral relations comes as Islamabad’s decades-old, but often mistrusted, relations with Washington have again deteriorated in recent years. The tensions primarily stem from allegations Pakistani security institutions harbor and support Taliban insurgents waging a deadly war on Afghan and U.S.-led international forces in the neighboring country. Pakistan rejects the charges and insists Washington is scapegoating the country in the wake of deteriorating Afghan security. Declining U.S. economic assistance to Pakistan was compounded this year by the Trump administration’s decision to also suspend military assistance until the country takes decisive action against militant sanctuaries on its territory. Last week, the U.S. announced new travel restrictions for Pakistani diplomats working in the United States. Analysts say as the United States appears to be cooling its relations with Pakistan, regional powers like Russia and traditional ally China are courting the country. [Voice of America]
Pakistan is behaving like a crying child running to different major powers each time its leadership is chastised by America. It beggars’ belief that Pakistan a country with the fourth largest agricultural economy in the world and in possession of 250 plus nuclear weapons can behave so childishly. When will the Pakistani leadership stop running to major powers and start dominating them?