500 Muslim Soldiers' Tombs Desecrated In France

PARIS — Vandals desecrated at least 500 tombs of Muslim soldiers in northern France on Monday _ an act President Nicolas Sarkozy denounced as "repugnant racism."

The desecration near the town of Arras appeared timed with the start of Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday in the Muslim calendar.

The administration for the Pas-de-Calais region said the damaged tombs were in the Muslim section of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette cemetery, a well-groomed burial ground for World War I soldiers. Some had swastikas scrawled on the tombstone, others had lettering whose meaning was unclear.

There are 576 graves in the Muslim section of the cemetery, where more than 30,000 soldiers are buried.

Sarkozy, in a statement, said the "abject and revolting act" equates with "repugnant racism against France's Muslim community" and insults the memory of all World War I combatants.

It was the third time the Muslim section of the cemetery has been targeted. Last April, 148 tombs were desecrated, and a year before that 52 headstones and an ossuary were vandalized.

The French Council for the Muslim Faith, a group representing France's numerous Muslim groups, decried "these odious, revolting and scandalous acts" and said it expected authorities to find out who carried out the attack.

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said police were investigating the incident.

Comments

[Forester]

Just read through some of the comments on this story - there are some real ignorant and xenophobic haters here. It is this bigotry that keeps us locked in these cycles of violence. You haters need to open your minds. Every human is an individual, and it is by connecting to each other as brothers, fathers, sisters and mothers that there is any real hope to evolve past the tribal mindset that benefits only certain politicians and hate radio.

What will it be, evolution or extinction?

[whit4brains]

Excellent comment Forester.

We need to see our similarities and not just focus on our differences.

[Susej]

Second that

[BlackWidowPilot]

Third. Motion carried. All those opposed to improving the human condition and the elimination of xenophobia, please proceed to the nearest rooftop of a high rise building (forty floors minimum height requirement), and throw yourselves off.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[JennieB]

What a disgusting and cowardly act. Strike out against the dead because they can't fight back. With all the cameras in the UK, maybe they'll be able to find the pigs that did this.

I am thoroughly disgusted.

[GZLives]

All the cameras in the UK?
That won't help
This cemetery is in Northern Franc

[steamboat]

The UK has in the past also been victims.....French vandalized the graves of British WW2 soldiers who died liberating France.

www.snopes.com/politics/military/garbage.asp

[HaloGuy]

In the UK? This was done in France.

[R1Rider]

This happened in France, not the UK.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

This is just horrible.

Now the rest of the world needs to follow American's lead in showing tolerance to all people. That is one of the wonderful things about electing Obama. We have shows the rest of the world that we are once again the beacon of hope and diversity for people of all backgrounds.

[EuroHuffPoFan]

Oh Please .. KQuarksSuperKollider ..

Go read some books ..
and some foreign newspapers ..
and talk to some foreiners ..
and .. and .. and . . . .

[BlackWidowPilot]

OK, I'll bite: I'm a Military Historian. While I'm aware of a handful of non-white officers and the occasional general, I don't recall the UK ever electing a non-white PM. I don't recall France having a non-white president, nor Germany electing a non-white chancellor.

I don't recall Italy electing a PM who wasn't pure blooded Italian, and the same for Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, the Czech Republic...

Now I do recall King Leopold of Belgium's actions in the Congo, the British Empire aiding and abetting Apartheid, the Opium trade, the Algerian War, German rule in East Africa...

Now when the perps of this despicable act are dragged into a French court in irons for sentencing, and have the proverbial book thrown at them for their s******g on the sacrifice of every French soldier of colour who died defending the French Republics in two world wars and innumerable overseas conflicts, then we can talk.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Riemann]

EuroHuffPoFan

you need to go read some books and some foreign newspapers and the ones that aren't spinning what you want to hear.

Please start naming the non white elected officials (ELECTED not appointed) in France.

THERE AREN'T ANY!

[AsianAfricanAMERICAN]

My European wife has many outdated backwoods stereotypes she holds in her mind from her upbringing. I am constantly chastising her for somewhat believing all black people are like the ones on MTV.

[11907281]

Wow only 230 years later you elected a black man, and still you could find many right wingers who still shat out r@cist crap ab out him. Did you know the area bush is moving to had a law banning all non-whites from buy homes there up until 2000 !!! When you refuse to count the dead Iraqi's who died because of reckless soldiers, shows an attitude of inferiority towards certain people.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

England, France, Spain and other European countries have been existence far longer and never elected anyone but white people to run their countries.

[whit4brains]

I know, it sickens me when they only state the number of soldiers d.eaths which have occurred during the Iraq w.ar and fail to mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have been k.illed as well.

[Riemann]

where do you get your news? Daily Mail. that law banning non whites was from 1956.

And it didn't take 230 years to elect a black man we have been electing black men since the 1800's

since 1869 there have been 123 ELECTED blacks in our Congress.

I don't know mayors of other cities but since I lived in Los Angeles. Tom Bradley was mayor of Los Angeles for many many years, elected in the 1970's. Our LAX airport is named the Tom Bradley international terminal because he was our L.A. mayor for so long.

We also have 2 black state Governors, Duvall elected in Massachusettes and Patterson in New York (although he got that job because the elected Governer resigned).

Not to mention all the black CEO's of some of the largest corporations.

The U.S. may have it's problems and isn't perfect but it is certainly far more progressive then in Europe. I didn't know how good the U.S. was until I started living in Paris. Believe me I can't wait to go back to the U.S.

[AsianAfricanAMERICAN]

Right wingers are hardly indicative of most Americans.

[TruthAndTheory]

ok, while i agree that America does show quite a bit of tolerance, and has come a long way, I'm not sure we are the beacon of hope and diversity. For that to be so, there must be no white supremacists, no reason for affirmative action, no more lasting effects of slavery, no more prisons full of black people, while white folks are the majority of the population, no racist juries, no Mel Gibsons, no Michele Bachmanns, and no Sarah Palin encouraging racism, and no all-white base approving that racism.

[soundfury]

Follow American's lead? You're kidding right? I guess you forgot how ugly the primaries and election campaign were.

It's far from being a tolerant country, however, since Obama won, there's hope.

[AsianAfricanAMERICAN]

This is fair. We are not perfect yet, but neither is Europe. Trust me...I live in Europe.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

OK all of you Europhiles name one non-white leader you elected to head your governments that are far older the America's government?

[SuperFrenchie]

FWIW:

There are 100 U.S. Senators. As Obama has now resigned from the Senate, there is a grand total of… 0 black senators.

There are 50 U.S. governors. Only 1 is black. In the entire U.S. history, there’s only been 2.

There are 435 Representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives. 39 of them are black. BUT… only 8 of them were elected in a district where the majority was white (an additional 4 were elected by a majority of Hispanics). The rest were elected in gerrymandered districts, a practice that wouldn’t be legal in Europe because… quite frankly, it’s racist!

So, at a national level, that’s a total of 9 out of a possible 585. Or 1.5%!

But go ahead, keep giving lessons...

[Paralogos]

That's almost fair. But then again, how many Jewish heads of government have been elected in the US? Britain has had at least one, France at least 2.

[Nomad]

Incidents such as these really send out a good message to the Muslim world. Well maybe not.

What are Muslims expected to think ?

As a Muslim one can fight and die for one's colonial masters but come 94 years later a Nazi vandal can come along and desecrate ones grave.

[Fuji]

"What are Muslims expected to think?"

Gee, maybe Muslims should have wondered what I was expected to think after they bombed the WTC in the 1990s or kidnapped aid workers and ended their lives with a knife or flew planes into the World Trade Center or refused to let a jew enter Saudi Arabia or drive Christians out of Middle East today or blew up the subway in Madrid or blew up the Tube in London ...

Nah. That's just thought-crime. I apologize to my politically correct masters.

[GoneAreRepugs1]

Muslims have suffered more at the hands of Christians than the other way around. Look at European colonialism throughout the world. More Muslims were executed in the Spanish Inquisition than the number of christians that could be possibly killed by Muslims today.

Oh, they're still waiting for your apology for that.

[SirRealDeal]

Is any wonder that this happens. A recent news item

MP Geert Wilders has started an international tour with his anti-Islam film Fitna.

If I have this correctly, he is a Dutch legislator. He is being applauded by right wingers for his braverly in exposing the "horrors of Islam." Supposedly, he will be coming to the US to show this film.

[GZLives]

"MP Geert Wilders has started an international tour with his anti-Islam film Fitna.
If I have this correctly, he is a Dutch legislator. He is being applauded by right wingers for his braverly in exposing the "horrors of Islam." Supposedly, he will be coming to the US to show this film."

Perhaps you'd be interested in Ayaan Hirson Ali
She was not only a Dutch legislator, but a Muslim and her views about Islam are in fact similar to those of Wilders which is why she had numerous death threats made on her after her friend and well known film maker Theo Van Gogh was murdered by Islamists in the streets of Amsterdam. Ali was protected round the clock from the Islamists and eventually came to the US. She is also applauded by not only the Right, but by all freedom loving people who aren't plagued by kneejerk political correctness

[Huffyfan]

ayan Hirsi ALI a Muslim ? that s a joke . She insults Muslims at every opportunity and she has a hartred towards Islam . she is not a Muslim may be born a Muslim i agree . she is known as a Lier too . she is only interested in power and money and for that she is ready to insult every muslim she faces , and she is writing book after book to the gullibles who are ready to believe the stuff she writes , like she was an assylum seeker and forced in a marriage when it was not the case . she is a vile lier

[Petunia39]

AHA is particularly a favorite of the neoconservative fringe of the right. That is why she works for the American Enterprise Institute whose membership counts with the foremost promoters of the war in Iraq, and goes on Muslim-bashing speaking tours, like those held every year by David Horowitz, prominent neocon who runs frontpage magazine, and promoted his book the 101 most dangerous academics in America for a week on Fox News. While she was in Holland, she also allied herself with the anti-immigrant far right, who work to deny asylum seekers permanent residency, until it was discovered that she herself lied in her application. There are many Muslims and non-Muslims out there who work to improve women's rights and human rights in Muslim societies. But, AHA is well known here in the U.S. because she, like a handful of other former Muslims, Wafa Sultan, comes to mind, bash Islam and Muslims across the board, equating all of Islam with the far right fringe. Essentially they are the equivalent of "America haters" only in reverse, who accuse the U.S. of everything. Some like her also because she claims to be a Muslim who agrees with Likud in Israel.

[GoneAreRepugs1]

By the way, after being revealed as a liar and laughed out of Holland, some republicans in the US thought she would make good addition to their thinktank.

Even some of the dutch were baffled by this, as her credibility in Holland is basically zero.

Imagine a Jewish person writing propaganda for the Nazis just they offered them a lot of money and you'll understand this Ayaan Hirson Ali is.

[Sarahjan]

TheyCalledMeSandN

there is none because these are Muslim graves.

But I admit if this took place in the US there would have been a global outcry.

There lies the double standard.

[Petunia39]

There was a global outcry with the Danish cartoons, and that didn't happen in the U.S.

[Riemann]

Petunia 39

there was an outcry in the U.S. regarding the Danish cartoons. Bush even publicly denounced it...something about not being offensive towards religion.

And there wasn't a global outcry unless you mean the European outcry that muslims shouldn't be upset by it.

[SFkid]

I would stay away from any trains or buses if I were in France. People suck.

[GoneAreRepugs1]

If by people you mean french conservatives, then you are correct.

You do realize that French christians commited genocide in Muslim Algeria during their colonial period?

[Huffyfan]

Lots of people do NOT know about the 132 years of Violent horrible occupation in Algeria , and the Crimes of the french generals and the torture they did not deny , and the war crimes on 8th of may 1945 when 45-000 People were brutally murdered . (they had been promised freedom if they joined the french army and won the war against the nazis , which they did , so when they came out to celebrate their freedom in 1945 , they were bombed and shot like flies . Not many people in the west know about those crimes in sefif and Guelma .

The Algerians are still waiting for an apology from France that plundered the country from its resources , and burnt large forests , and burnt every school that could educate the locals

[Fuji]

I'm less concerned about the crimes of the last 100 years than I am of the last 100 days.

[Fuji]

Did they do it in the name of Christ or for Christ like the muslim fundamentalists saw off their victims' heads in the name of Allah?

[Fuji]

Awesome. So are you condoning the murder of french conservatives?

[GoneAreRepugs1]

I find it it ironic that the french vote in the racist politicians who promote this type of behavior while the best players on their national team are Muslim North Africans/West Africans. Even their best white ethnic french player, Franck Ribery, is a devout Muslim! LOL! Talk about a lack of appreciation. Karim Benzema, Zinedine Zidande (now retired), Samir Nasri, Nicolas Anelka (who I think is a bit overrated), Franck Ribery, Eric Abidal, etc..

[Riemann]

Actually some French politicians complain that there are too many blacks on the Football/Soccer team. They blame there losses on them.

[MNmommy]

Pitiful.

What a d!sgust!ng display.

[Riemann]

I am French and I am of north african origins. I am born in France and lived here, grew up here and all I can say is that France is probably the most racist country you'll ever find in the world (except maybe for Zimbabwe and Iran).

There is not one day that goes by without someone insulting me, or without seeing something racist on TV or walking down the streets.

French people are the most nationalistic and racially prejudiced people you'll ever see. I even had a philosophy teacher at the Sorbonne who would say out of the blue the N-word and the whole classroom would explode in laughter right afterwards...

Sarkozy is denouncing those acts because he is afraid of riots because there are riots in Greece. Sarkozy is directly responsible for those despicable acts. During the presidential campaign he clearly said that ethnic people were savages and scum. This directly created hatred that was supported by the government itself.

[HaloGuy]

Thank you for that insight... that is pretty atrocious.

[GoneAreRepugs1]

Not surprising really. The French did, after all, commit genocide in Muslim Algeria during their colonial period. Liberal and conservative politicians there continue to deny it every happened.

[SuperFrenchie]

Riemann at 4:25pm: //I am French and I am of north african origins//

Riemann at 1:17pm, same thread: //I am an American living in Paris.//

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/08/500-muslim-soldiers-tombs_n_149267.html?page=4&show_comment_id=18625826#comment_18625826

Do you change nationality every couple of hours?

[HaloGuy]

LOL

[jlarue]

Good catch, superfrenchie. Hey Riemann what is up with this are you an American in Paris or are you a native born French citizen with north african roots? or are you native born of north african roots, was granted us citizenship and are now an ex pat in the country of your birth?

[steamboat]

Not too many days go by when your French citizens and for that matter other Europeans, along with others, aren't insulting America.

[EuroHuffPoFan]

Ah .. come on ..

stop it already.

[quizh]

Riemann,

I was born and raised in Iran for half of my life. I didn't experience or witness an ensemble of "racism" in Iran while growing up. Iran is comprised of various pockets of ethnic groups all over the country but not even once was racism brought up anywhere when I was growing up. Iran, from the nationalistic prism, is very uniform when it comes to playing along a very diverse group of people (Kurds, Fars, Turks, Bakhtiari, Balochi, Arabs, Shomalis, Turkamans and many many other ethnicity). With all honestly, there is no visible animosity among various factions. If you are accusing Iranians outside of the Iran for racism toward other countries, then I must say such premise is as valid as any other ethnicity's understanding of other cultures and its people. So Iranians have the same, shall we say, "misunderstanding" of other people as other people (i.e. Russians, Americans, Bulgarian, Chilian, South Africans, Mexicans, et al.) harbor toward others. It's a natural part of human being to subconsciously categorize a foreign culture with a sense of profound incomprehension. Bottom line is that there is no inherent racism toward other races by Iranians, period. You might find stuck up Iranians who tend to assimilate along their own cultural line, but then again, this is understood for all other group of people.

[tailgateshirts]

France has a big Anti-Semite / Anti-Muslim problem. Things need to be fixed there massively

[steamboat]

Anti-Semite for sure. Thats the only thing, I suppose, the christain and muslim french agree on---hating jews.

[chriss0114]

Another STEAMER for sure!

[piul05]

That's unfortunately true; they've always claimed that France didn't have to be a multicultural society because people were successfully "assimilated"; however, the daily reality is that people are discriminated for jobs if they have a Muslim sounding name (particularly men, who then feel further emasculated when their sisters and wives - perceived as less "threatening" - can get a job and they can't), or even if your address is from a particular "ethnic" banlieu; secularism, instead of being the separation between the state and the church and, thereby guaranteeing equality to all faiths, has now become a religion like any other, whereby people are forced to hide any signs that identify them with a particular creed.

Their brand of assimilation expects people to reject (or at least play down) their own family history if it's not gallic, does not acknowledge the contribution other cultures have brought to French life, and treats third generation French citizens as undocumented immigrants who just landed on their shores.

Unless this debate leaves the academic circles and is taken up by society as a whole, these disgraceful events will continue to happen.

[seucroch]

Piulo5 is correct France has always tried to integrate new immigrants to their universal principals. Especially true during schooling. They have had various degrees of success and failure in this regard. But Piulo5 is incorrect the French Government does not try to integrate Franco-French of Gallic culture but to the culture and ideals of the secular Republic born out of the French Revolution. As usual they do this in a rather un-compromising fashion. Sadly Franco-French culture is generally xenophobic and racist and the debate over race and immigration only come up during and after riots. There is hope in the younger generation go to any university and you will see it!

[Huffyfan]

assimiliation :? in france ? i have seen no such a thing . the north Africans live in terrible ghettos , where the garbage is not collected on time , and the roads not swept like the 16h arrondissemnt where the rich live . the trees are not trimmed and poverty is seen cleary . Lots of north of Africans can not find jobs , because of their names and skin color , many can not find rental accomodation because of that too .
I have seen a few documentaries that showed North Africans and white french who sent their CVs for jobs , the North africans had better degrees and more qualifications but thier requests were rejected .
A Lady called Nadia who spoke an excellent French , said she was promised a flat (by phone ) when she went to visit the flat and the owner saw she was Arab , she said her husband had already promised it to someone else , she did not expect that pure french accent was spoken by an Arab .

[Eddy333]

I have French friends here in the US who would attest to that as well.

I guess that's one of the reasons they are here.

[aforesti]

It's a generational thing. It's comparable to the situation in the US, where lots of people used to find segregation fine and dandy, and use the N-word constantly. Now these people are a minority (although it's still too large)

I was born and raised in France. All 4 of my grand parents were anti-arab and anti-semites. My parents are a lot better, but still find racist jokes funny. I personally can't stand it, and I believe most people of my generation are like me.

I guess it takes a long time to filter out of society because the older generations are the ones in power.

[KNadine]

That's horrible!

[leftoflennon]

lets see how tolerant and liberal they really are in France.

Let me see the outrage and REAL Investigation and PUNISHMENT

[steamboat]

While they're at at, have them find out who in northern France vandalized and desecrated the graves of our AMERICAN World War 2 soldiers buried there who were slain in the liberation of France......Or does that not matter with you folks?

[SuperFrenchie]

Source?

Or are you just making it up?

[Petunia39]

Maybe they weren't from northern France, as particularly in Normandy, Americans are very highly regarded.

[rollingdivision]

There are sick people in this world.

[JL-PICARD]

Ban all religion. It's a primitive and arcane holdover from a time before science and reason that we just cant seem to break away from. Start teaching the young only science and reason and that all human life has value.

[HaloGuy]

My immediate response to your post was very idealistic - "in a perfect world" - but, screw that. This will come, once the "Babel-complex" fallacy of all religions are completely and fully exposed.

[Machun]

Bill Maher took a good shot at it in Religulous. Brilliant movie!

[DDK]

Banning it won't get it done, of course. The correct path is through persuasion and for us secular folk to continue standing up for reason and science in the face of ignorance and superstition.

We must try to end, for example, the ridiculous religious hoops we make our candidates - for just about every office in the land - jump through. It's nauseating.

[HaloGuy]

YOU SIR, ARE GODLESS!!!!

Kinda like that, eh? Its sad how much of a litmus test this remains.

[Paralogos]

But this is pretty much the official French government policy and has been for a long time. It's actively illegal for a business or a government agency to ask anyone about their race or religion. It's forbidden for children to wear "ostentatious" signs of religious affiliation to school. But, unlike the US, where someone named "Bill Lee" could be white, black, Chinese, or Korean, Arabic family names are instantly recognizable on employment applications, and curiously, nobody ever seems to get sent home from school for wearing a cross or a star of David around their necks, only for wearling Muslim headscarves.

[piul05]

Exactly.

[steamboat]

Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro, Lenin, etc. all murdered and they were NOT religious at all.

[HaloGuy]

Maybe -- but you better believe they were raised under a particular faith that promoted these ideas of division in the first place.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Stop all extremism whether they be religious, political and nationalists. That why I so greatly appreciate people who are pragmatists because they tend to be much more tolerant.