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| Europe |
| Right-winger (Philippe De Villiers) denounces 'Islamisation of France' |
| 2006-04-24 |
| De Villiers is so far the only french pol I'd deem as "esteemable" and I'll probably vote for him, assuming I vote. Still, I don't know how he will fare in the presidential election... probably 5-6%... oh, well. Btw, he's not right wing in the Le Pen sense, he's a conservative catholic noble, a "sovereignty" EU-skeptic, the son of a deported resistance WWII hero (unlike many french pols who're sons of collaborationnists, Hubert Védrine, Lionel Jospin,...) who's very well managed his region in a relatively free-market way; also, he might be the most popular french pols among french jews, and if I base my judgement on how he's being now diabolized ("to the right of Le Pen", very aggressive interviews,...), he's a real embarassment to the establishment with his denunciation of the rapid islamization of France... He's sincere on that, too, I'd say. Of course, the Lepenists say he's an undercover agent of the establishment, meant to torpedo Le Pen. Only bad thing about him is he has some dead weights in his entourage, including Paul Marie Coutaux, the guy who wish arabs had the A bomb to counterbalance Israel and the anglosaxons, and he's an enarch (but he has a sense of humor, not a common combination)... TOM HENEGHAN IN PARIS A FAR-right French politician launched his 2007 presidential campaign yesterday by claiming Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport was endangered by Islamist radicals who, he said, had infiltrated the ground staff. Philippe de Villiers, head of the anti-immigrant Movement for France (MPF) party, also declared Islam incompatible with France's secular values and denounced what he called the Islamisation of the country. Mr Villiers has stirred up controversy in recent weeks with increasingly tough statements about Muslims, which critics call racist and officials describe as exaggerated. France's five million Muslims make up the largest such minority in Europe. "I am the only politician who tells the French the truth about the Islamisation of France," he said in a radio interview, kicking off his campaign. On Thursday, he plans to publish a book, entitled The Mosques of Roissy, detailing his charges about radicals at the airport. His main rival on the far-right, the National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, has also stepped up his preparations for the 2007 vote. The daily Le Parisien, in an extensive report yesterday on Mr Villiers's charges about Islamist radicals at the airport, quoted officials saying that the problem was minimal and suspicious workers were kept under surveillance. The interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the justice minister, Dominique Perben, toured the airport on Thursday and said that only 122 of about 83,000 ground staff were being watched. "There aren't 122, there are hundreds," said Mr Villiers, quoting what he said were secret police reports, which he used as the basis for his book. He challenged Mr Sarkozy to publish them. According to a survey to be published by Le Parisien today, Mr Villiers trails the veteran far-right leader Mr Le Pen, with 4 per cent support against his rival's 14 per cent. Mr Villiers said Islam was incompatible with the country's democratic system because he said it demanded loyalty to the ummah (world Muslim community) over individual states, wanted to impose sharia Islamic law, and promoted jihad, or holy war. "I think there are moderate Muslims, they are even the large majority, but I do not believe there is a moderate Islam," he said. "I do not think Islam is compatible with the French republic." Saying France had to fight what he called Islamisation, he said Paris should stop mosque construction, impose a citizen's charter demanding the strict separation of religion and state, freedom to change religions and demand respect for the equality of men and women. It should also expel any persons threatening the security of the French population. Asked for a comment on Mr Villiers's book, the head of the French Muslim Council, Dalil Boubakeur, told the weekly Le Point: "I don't share his vision of French Islam at all." So, RBers, what do you think of his views on the ROP? |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #8 |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-04-24 17:50 |
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| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-04-24 16:50 |
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| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-04-24 16:45 |
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| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-04-24 13:50 |
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| Posted by: 6 2006-04-24 13:48 |
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| Posted by: PlanetDan 2006-04-24 13:32 |
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| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-04-24 13:05 |
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| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-04-24 12:42 |