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Ruth King

France: Muezzins, not Church Bells by Giulio Meotti

French Catholicism is now witnessing a tragic decline, caught between two fires: state secularism and political Islam.

Le Figaro wondered if Islam can already be considered “France’s prime religion”.

Muslim countries are generously funding France’s mosques, covering an average of 50% of total costs.

“Avignon is no longer the city of the Popes, but of the Salafis. … They [Muslim extremists] urge us to rewrite the history of France in the light of the ‘contribution of the Islamic civilization'” — Philippe De Villiers, author of Will the Church Bells Ring Tomorrow?

The trend indicates that in France, there are currently three young practicing Muslims for every young practicing Catholic.

“It is conceivable that Islam is overtaking Catholicism”. — Osservatore Romano, the Vatican official daily newspaper.

A new book is shaking France. Les cloches sonneront-elles encore demain? (“Will the Church Bells Ring Tomorrow?”), by Philippe de Villiers, is shattering the nation. France, the “eldest daughter” of the Catholic Church, is instead turning into “the eldest daughter of Islam”. “With arrogance, they [Muslim extremists] urge us to rewrite the history of France in the light of the ‘contribution of the Islamic civilization'”, de Villiers states.

De Villiers points out that:

“France has experienced many misfortunes in its history. But for the first time, it must face the fear of disappearing. In France, there are two groups: a new people who move with pride and an exhausted people, who are not even aware of the conditions needed for their own survival”.

De Villiers paints a grim picture of French Catholicism: “Avignon is no longer the city of the Popes, but of the Salafis”. In Saint-Denis, where the French kings and Charles Martel are buried, “tunics and beards now dominate, and girls are dressed in the Islamic shrouds”. If a parish is still alive there, it is thanks to the zeal of the Christian community of Africans and Tamils. “The Kings’ cemetery is just one enclave. It belongs to a story that does not count anymore”.

The bell towers of the churches in de Villiers’ book are already growing silent in Boissettes (Seine-et-Marne), and on the outskirts of Metz, where the bells of the church of Sainte Ruffine have been forced by the state secularist authorities to keep silent. It happened in the Breton village of Hédé-Bazouges, where silence is filled by the sound of what de Villiers calls “the clergy in the djellaba” [outer robe worn by North Africans] — the muezzin’s call to prayer. It is happening everywhere in France.

Mockeries of Justice in Denmark by Judith Bergman

An appeal would have sent a signal to potential terrorists that Danish authorities look sternly upon logistical assistance to terrorists, and will do everything in their power to pursue justice.

The only one at risk of actual harm is Lars Hedegaard himself: his attempted murderer remains at large. “I have resorted to making the suspected assassin’s name as well-known as possible in self-defense.”

It is deeply disturbing, not only for the victims, but for all citizens, when the courts so clearly divorce themselves from pursuing what most citizens would perceive as justice, and instead appear to favor those who seek to harm society.

Refusing to implicate Omar El-Hussein’s friends in his terrorism, despite their obvious contributions to his terror deeds, and fining the victim of a terrorist attack for publicly naming his would-be murderer, who escaped justice by fleeing the country, inevitably appears like a mockery of justice, not its fulfillment.

If the legal system in Denmark is anything to go by, being an accessory to murder is just fine. Attackers are protected to the hilt; their victims are left unprotected and fined.

In February 2015, the terrorist Omar El-Hussein murdered Danish film director Finn Nørgaard in front of café Krudttønden in Copenhagen. Later that night, he killed a Jewish guard in front of the Copenhagen synagogue. Danish police shot and killed El-Hussein during the subsequent manhunt.

Four men assisted El-Hussein after he killed the film director: They helped him get rid of the murder weapon, gave him fresh clothes and bought him a new bag, which he used to store the gun used to kill the Jewish guard. They also met with him several times in different places around Copenhagen in the five hours leading up to the murder of the Jewish guard. One of those places was an internet café, where El-Hussein googled for information about the synagogue. The four men were charged with complicity in the terrorist act against the synagogue.

At the end of September, the Danish District Court acquitted all four of the terrorism charge. The district court found no evidence that the men knew of El-Hussein’s plans to attack the synagogue, when they met with him after his attack at Krudttønden. Instead, the four men were convicted of minor charges, such as threats and violence against prison staff, weapons possession in particularly aggravating circumstances, and possession of illegal ammunition. Three of the men were free to go after the sentencing, as their 18 months in custody meant that they had already served their sentences, which were sixty days, six months, two and a half years and three years respectively. One of the four men has already declared his intention to sue the Danish state for damages amounting to 1 million Danish kroner (USD $150,000) for the 18 months he spent in custody. The prosecution has decided that it will not appeal the verdict, which is therefore final.

Comey Announcement Only the Latest October Surprise FBI director’s revelation about Clinton emails may or may not affect election; earlier cases weren’t clear-cut By Daniel Nasaw

FBI Director James Comey’s revelation on Friday that the bureau was reviewing new evidence related to a previously completed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email practices roiled the presidential race just 11 days before Election Day. It also provided the latest chapter in a long history of October Surprises.

Republicans seized on Mr. Comey’s notification to Congress to attempt to reinvigorate Donald Trump’s campaign, while Mrs. Clinton and other Democrats challenged the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release the pertinent evidence promptly.

The October Surprise has been a staple of American politics for decades. The phrase refers to an 11th-hour revelation or turn of events that, whether intentionally or not, has the potential to shift the direction of the presidential race. Sometimes October Surprises appear to have altered the course of a campaign, sometimes not.

Here are notable examples:
1972

In October 1972, Richard Nixon was coasting to re-election against Democratic South Dakota Sen. George McGovern; polling showed him leading by as much as 26 points that month.

Though his campaign seemed little in need of a late boost, on Oct. 26, Nixon’s national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared “peace is at hand” in Vietnam, and that a final cease-fire agreement with the North Vietnamese communists could be reached within days.

Rather than applaud the Nixon administration, Mr. McGovern credited the anti-war movement for the development. He questioned why it had taken Nixon four years to “put an end to this tragic war” and declined to speculate on the effect on his chances at winning the election.

Mr. Nixon won re-election in one of the most lopsided landslides in U.S. history. And peace wasn’t, in fact, at hand. The war continued another 2½ years, ending with the fall of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, in April 1975.
1980

The release of U.S. hostages in Iran was the October Surprise that never surprised.

In November 1979, Iranian student activists stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage. The Americans were still held a year later. In the thick of President Jimmy Carter’s re-election campaign against former California Gov. Ronald Reagan, Mr. Reagan warned repeatedly that Mr. Carter would unveil an “October Surprise” to turn the election around at the last minute, possibly securing the release of some or all of the hostages.

“Presidents can make things happen, you know,” Mr. Reagan said in a Florida television interview on Oct. 10. In an interview with the Associated Press earlier that month, he said he was “bracing myself for an October Surprise,” noting the Iranians “are not exactly supporters of mine.”

Ultimately, the hostages weren’t freed before the election. Mr. Reagan won a resounding victory—and the hostages were released the day he was sworn into office.
CONTINUE AT SITE

Indian shooter Heena Sidhu refuses to wear ‘hijab’, pulls out of Asian shooting championship in Iran

Ace shooter Heena Sidhu has pulled out of the Asian Airgun Shooting Championship to be held in Tehran in December this year.

Heena, the reigning title holder, has withdrawn her name because of Iran’s insistence on female contestants adhering to the dress code which makes wearing of ‘hijab’ mandatory for women participants.

“Forcing tourists or foreign guests to wear ‘hijab’ is against the spirit of the game. Since I don’t like it, I have withdrawn my name,” Heena Sidhu told Times of India.

“You follow your religion and let me follow mine. I’ll not participate in this competition if you are going to force me to comply with your religious beliefs,” she added.

The organisers have made it clear on their official website that the female contestants will have to wear clothes in compliance with the rules of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It’s not for the first time that Heena has withdrawn her name from a tournament being held in Iran.
“Yes, I have done it earlier as well. Two years back, I had decided not to go to Iran for the same reasons. It’s only Iran which insists on such a code. It does not happen in other nations,” Heena said.

Meanwhile, the President of Rifle Association Rajendra Singh has said that Indian shooters have always respected the Iranian traditions.

“We have good relations with Iranian shooting federation and we respect their culture and tradition. All females, including tourists and diplomats, wear hijab when they visit Iran. All other Indian female shooters, except Heena, have accepted the decision,” Rajendra Singh told TOI.

TOM GROSS: ON ANTISEMITISM IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE

https://www.facebook.com/TomGrossMediaBRITISH POLITICIAN SUSPENDED BY PARTY AFTER JEWS BLAMED FOR THE HOLOCAUST IN PARLIAMENT

Baroness Jenny Tonge, a former medical doctor and formerly a trustee of the charity Christian Aid, who was made a baroness and appointed to the British House of Lords by the center-left British Liberal Democratic Party leader even after she had made many other anti-Semitic comments, some under the cloak of “anti-Zionism”, has finally been suspended by the party. This follows remarks at an event she organized and chaired in the House of Lords on Wednesday in which Jews were blamed for the Holocaust and Israel was compared to Islamic State.

“The meeting hosted on Wednesday by Baroness Tonge in the House of Lords, a former Liberal Democrat MP, provoked concern about the level of anti-Semitic discourse entering mainstream British politics,” The Times of London reported.

An audience member (believed to be from the ultra-orthodox self-hating Jewish sect Neturei Karta admired by Baroness Tonge) was applauded after he said at the meeting that Hitler only decided to kill the Jews after he was provoked by anti-German protests led by a rabbi in Manhattan. The speaker claimed that Rabbi Stephen Wise, whom he described as a heretic, said in 1905 that there were “six million bleeding and suffering reasons to justify Zionism”. He urged the audience to note the number.

This quotation is one of many fabricated or totally out of context remarks regularly used by Holocaust deniers to suggest that the figure of six million Jews later killed by the Nazis was a myth.

Another audience member suggested that the “Zionist movement” had power over the British parliament comparable to the power wielded internationally by Jews described in the [infamous Tsarist forgery beloved by Hitler] the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Another audience member was applauded after saying: “If anybody is anti-Semitic, it’s Israelis themselves.”

Lady Tonge made no attempt to challenge the provocative comments.

Lady Tonge, who had already resigned the Lib Dem whip in 2012 after claiming that the state of Israel was “not going to be there for ever”, resigned from the party on Thursday following her suspension from the Lib Dems.

THE BALFOUR DECLARATION- 100 YEARS LATER: BENNY BEGIN

“A hundred years later, and despite everything, the national home of the Jewish people is growing, rising and prospering in the land of Israel. And so it shall be.”

Next week will mark the beginning of the 100th year since the Balfour Declaration. On Friday, Nov. 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour announced in a short letter to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild that “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

Five years later, the Balfour Declaration was included in the League of Nations resolution to mandate Palestine to the British government, and another sentence was added to it: “Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.” Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, who, with the assistance of his colleague Nahum Sokolow, worked persistently and wisely on behalf of the World Zionist Organization to obtain the documents, aspired to a clearer commitment, but the modest version was still an important tier in building the State of Israel.

Arab leaders in Palestine opposed the Balfour Declaration as soon as it was made public. They protested the use of the terms “the Jewish people” and “national home” as well as the reference to the Arabs as one of the “communities” with civil and religious — but not national — rights. It is for these reasons that the Palestine Liberation Organization determined in article 18 of its 1964 charter, three years prior to “the occupation,” that “the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate system and all that has been based upon them are considered fraud.” In keeping with his organization’s charter, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently stated at the United Nations General Assembly (Sept. 21, 2016): “One hundred years have passed since the notorious Balfour Declaration, by which Britain gave, without any right, authority or consent from anyone, the land of Palestine to another people. This paved the road for the Nakba of Palestinian people and their dispossession and displacement from their land.”

In the same speech, Abbas also demanded that Britain apologize to the Palestinians “for the catastrophes, miseries and injustices that it created” as a result of the Balfour Declaration. Two months earlier (July 25, 2016), Abbas, in a speech read at the summit of the Arab League, asked the secretariat-general of the Arab League to support him “in preparing a legal portfolio in order to file a lawsuit against the British government for issuing the Balfour Declaration and for subsequently implementing it in its capacity as a Mandate authority.”

The Two State delusions…by Michael Kuttner

Hardly a day goes by when we are not bombarded with what has become infallible dogma from befuddled politicians, media and others who either wish we were not here anymore or are just mouthing politically correct slogans. http://israelbehindthenews.com/two-state-delusionswrites-michael-kuttner/15244/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ibn-today

It is important to get this subject into some sort of perspective and strip away all the myths, misconceptions and plain old lies which seem to have multiplied as time goes by. In the complete absence of any semblance of historical veracity or current logic the repeated repetition of worn out ideas fulfills no discernible purpose. Given the total detachment from reality on the ground displayed by the multitude of international self-proclaimed experts who usually think they know what is best for us, it could well be a useful exercise to clarify some home truths.

These can basically be divided into two main subjects. First the legal facts as they pertain to another Palestinian Arab State and second some recent surprising developments which the media in general prefers to ignore.

One of the most revealing factors when this subject is reported is the complete absence of anything which might somehow negate the generally accepted narrative. In this respect we are faced with George Orwell’s version of double speak. In other words the agenda that the progressives of this world have set in place must be adhered to at all costs even if that means denying verifiable lies and assertions. It also means that those who dare to challenge the infallible and politically correct dogmas run the risk of being demonized, ridiculed and ostracized.

It is vital to understand that there has never been an Arab Palestinian independent country. There never was an ancient Palestinian-Arab nation. Arabs first arrived in the land of Israel/Judea with the Muslim invasion in 637 CE. Arabs first identified themselves as “Palestinians” in the 20th century, after the Six Day War. Claiming a 5,000 year old Palestinian nation is a historical lie. Nevertheless historical lies are trotted out on a daily basis. Just look at this bare-faced piece of revisionist history which the rest of the world prefers to ignore.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: MICHAEL ORDMAN

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

A cockpit for surgeons. The state-of-the-art control system installed in the Head and Neck Operating Room at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center is the first of its kind in the world. Like a computerized cockpit system, a semi-circular wall of screens project the surgeon’s movements as he excises a tumor in the patient’s neck.
https://www.rambam.org.il/EnglishSite/AboutRambam/Publications/NewsandEvents/Pages/One-of-a-Kind-Control-System-for-Rambam%E2%80%99s-Head-and-Neck-OR.aspx

Philips uses Israeli tech to make scanners safe. (TY Atid-EDI) I wrote previously (Jun 26) about SafeCT-29 from Israel’s Medic Vision. Now Philips HealthCare has selected SafeCT-29 to make their CT and PET/CT scanners compliant with US XR-29 regulations regarding safe levels of radiation.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philips-healthcare-selects-medic-visions-fda-cleared-xr-29-solution-for-use-with-its-ct-and-petct-scanners-300324590.html

An answer to jet lag? (TY Hazel) Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered a link between the level of oxygen breathed by mice and their ability to adapt to a shift in daylight hours. http://www.timesofisrael.com/shift-in-oxygen-levels-can-reduce-jet-lag-israeli-study-finds/

Pilates can help recover from a heart attack. A study at the rehabilitation institute at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot has shown that the Pilates physical fitness system can strengthen the body physically and emotionally after a heart attack. The exercises help reduce patients’ body-mass index and boosts confidence.
http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Health-and-Science/Israeli-researchers-discover-Pilates-exercises-help-after-heart-attack-455456

A call for help from cows in labor. (TY Atid-EDI) The AfiAct II cow monitoring system from Israel’s Afimilk will now send an alert to the dairy farmer when its sensors detect a cow experiencing a prolonged labor. Nearly half of first-calf Holstein cows in the U.S. require intervention from a farmer or veterinarian during labor. http://www.afimilk.com/news/afimilk-introduces-automatic-calving-alert-service

360-degree colonoscope now has extras. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported previously (Jan 2015) on the Aer-O-Scope® 360-degree disposable colonoscope from Israel’s GI View. It has now been upgraded to enable surgeons to take biopsies and remove polyps. The new colonoscope has just received FDA clearance.
http://www.fdanews.com/articles/178523-fda-grants-510k-clearance-to-gi-views-aer-o-scope-disposable-colonoscope-system-with-therapeutic-access

Smart patch to relieve migraines. (TY Atid-EDI and PRNewswire) Israeli startup Theranica Bio-Electronics has developed Nerivio Migra – the first of its “smart patches” delivering neuromodulation therapy – to provide migraine relief. A recent study of 86 patients at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center showed promising results.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/theranica-announces-closing-seed-funding-130000902.html

Teva and IBM to expand alliance. (TY Eli) Teva and IBM are to significantly expand their existing global e-Health alliance using the IBM Watson Supercomputer’s Health Cloud to develop new treatments and improve the management of chronic diseases. It aims to streamline the long process of bringing new therapies to market.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/teva-ibm-to-tackle-new-drugs-chronic-diseases-with-ai/

Complex treatment of rare defect restores infant’s speech. A multi-disciplinary team of Israeli doctors at the Vascular Anomalies Clinic at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center performed an advanced procedure called Sclerotherapy to save a 2-year-old boy born with a venous malformation that had spread to his windpipe.
https://www.szmc.org.il/eng/article/news,101/

Comey’s Original Sin Editorial of The New York Sun | October 29, 2016

The gods of irony must be cackling at the news that the director of the FBI, James Comey, defied Attorney General Lynch over Secretary Clinton’s email messages. This scoop was brought in by the New Yorker’s famed legwoman Jane Mayer. Let us just say that it wouldn’t be the first time Mr. Comey broke with an attorney general of America. It’s just the first time his doing so has angered the Democrats.

The first fracas was when Mr. Comey was acting attorney general under President George W. Bush and was in a lather over the president’s surveillance program. Mr. Comey had acting powers because the actual attorney general, Senator Ashcroft, was in the hospital. When Mr. Comey refused to sign off on it, Mr. Bush’s White House aides rushed to the general’s hospital room to see what they could do.

Mr. Comey did the same, threatening to resign if Mr. Ashcroff agreed to the Bush plan. How he was praised by the Left. So much so that when President Obama named Mr. Comey director of the FBI, the New York Times quoted a White House aide as saying that Mr. Comey’s part in the 2004 crisis was “an important factor in the president’s decision making.” Mr. Obama himself cited the G-man’s “fierce independence and deep integrity.”

Now the administration — and Mr. Obama’s favored candidate for president — are getting a taste of their own medicine. “Coming less than two weeks before the Presidential election,” Ms. Mayer reported early this morning, citing a “well-informed” administration official, “Comey’s decision to make public new evidence that may raise additional legal questions about Clinton was contrary to the views of the Attorney General.”

Weiner revelation proves Comey dropped the ball on Hillary probe By Paul Sperry

It appears the FBI agents investigating Anthony Weiner for sexting an underaged girl have done the job that the FBI agents investigating Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information didn’t or weren’t allowed to do.

Agents reportedly found thousands of State Department-related emails ostensibly containing classified information on the electronic devices belonging to Weiner and his wife and top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. The discovery has prompted FBI Director James Comey to, on the eve of the election, reopen the Clinton case he prematurely closed last July.

How did agents examine the devices? By seizing them. It’s a common practice in criminal investigations, but one that clearly was not applied in the case of Clinton or her top aide — even though agents assigned to that case knew Abedin hoarded classified emails on her electronic devices.

The two special agents who interviewed Abedin on April 5 noted as much in their 302 summary of their interview, which took place at the FBI’s Washington field office and notably was attended by the chief of the FBI’s counterespionage section.

On page 3 of their 11-page report, the agents detail how they showed Abedin a classified paper on Pakistan sent from a State Department source which she, in turn, inexplicably forwarded to her personal Yahoo email account — an obviously unclassified, unencrypted, unsecured and unauthorized system. The breach of security was not an isolated event but a common practice with Abedin.

“She routinely forwarded emails from her state.gov account to either her clintonemail.com or her yahoo.com account,” the agents wrote. Why? “So she could print them” at home and not at her State Department office.