by Soeren Kern • November 16, 2015 at 6:00 am
French leaders consistently act in ways that undermine their stated goal of eradicating Islamic terror.
Critics of the policy say "Daesh" is a politically correct linguistic device that allows Western leaders to claim that the Islamic State is not Islamic -- and thus ignore the root cause of Islamic terror and militant jihad.
French leaders have also been consistently antagonistic toward Israel, a country facing Islamic terror on a daily basis. France is leading international diplomatic efforts to push for a UN resolution that would lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within a period of two years. The move effectively whitewashes Palestinian terror.
French critics of Islam are routinely harassed with strategic lawsuits that seek to censor, intimidate and silence them. In a recent case, Sébastien Jallamion, a 43-year-old policeman from Lyon was suspended from his job and fined 5,000 euros after he condemned the death of Frenchman Hervé Gourdel, who was beheaded by jihadists in Algeria.
"Those who denounce the illegal behavior of fundamentalists are more likely to be sued than the fundamentalists who behave illegally." — Marine Le Pen, leader of France's Front National.
 After the January 2015 jihadist attacks in Paris, France's President François Hollande declared: "We must reject facile thinking and eschew exaggeration. Those who committed these terrorist acts, those terrorists, those fanatics, have nothing to do with the Muslim religion." |
French President François Hollande has vowed to avenge the November 13 jihadist attacks in Paris that left more than 120 dead and 350 injured.
Speaking from the Élysée Palace, Hollande blamed the Islamic State for the attacks, which he called an "act of war." He said the response from France would be "unforgiving" and "merciless."
Despite the tough rhetoric, however, the question remains: Does Hollande understand the true nature of the war he faces?
Hollande pointedly referred to the Islamic State as "Daesh," the acronym of the group's full Arabic name, which in English translates as "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," or "ISIL."
The official policy of the French government is to avoid using the term "Islamic State" because, according to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, it "blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims and Islamists."
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by Burak Bekdil • November 16, 2015 at 4:00 am
In President Erdogan's mindset, his party's landslide election victory not only gives him a mandate to rule, but also to crush "the other."
Meanwhile, Erdogan's Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, wants to clean up Turkey's worsening image in the West. But not by upholding universal values, protecting civil liberties and media freedoms and respecting pluralism. He wants to do it by hiring a Western public relations firm.
A recent study found that 80% of minorities in Turkey cannot openly express themselves on social media; and 35% say they are subject to hate speech.
Erdogan cannot "buy" respect or "force" others to respect him. He can only "earn" respect -- something he clearly has no intention of doing.
 Under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (left), Turkey has been systematically intimidating the critical press, usually through police operations and/or court verdicts. |
On November 1, nearly half the Turks (49.4%) gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist government a ballot box license to strangle the other half. He will be only too happy to use that license aggressively.
Only five years ago, Turkey was being universally (and wrongly) portrayed as a success story, bringing together conservative Islam and democracy. Today, Turkey boasts one of the worst records of human rights and civil liberties -- including abuses of media freedom -- among countries tied by some kind of bond to Western institutions such as NATO and the European Union (EU). Erdogan hates pluralism. He embraces simple majoritarianism -- so long as he wins the biggest share of the vote.
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