The French Intifada

"Q: Why are there large trees along the Champs Elysee? A: So the Nazis could march in the shade!"

Today, in the very same location on that wide avenue, we find anti-Israeli and anti-American demonstrations. Once again, France is giving the world trouble. It seems to always begin with small, innocuous, anti-Semitic incidents throughout a country. In this case, a synagogue is torched because of "The Occupation." Jews with skullcaps are harassed in the streets because of West Bank "settlements." A Jewish soccer team is attacked by a gang of hooded youths because of "The IDF." Jewish day schools are firebombed because Israel responds to terrorism.

If the French are truly protesting Israel's actions, important questions must be asked. Why are innocent French Jewish citizens being targeted? And, if the world's troubles are indeed the fault of the Jews, why has America become another focus of French criticism?

Unfortunately, France has learned virtually nothing from WWII. That famous French arrogance, usually experienced in fine French restaurants, has prevented this ungrateful nation from showing their appreciation for U.S. soldiers dying to rescue them from the Third Reich. Ever since Napoleon, France has thought of itself as an important world player, when in truth, they have become irrelevant.

Opposing Israel and now the United States, merely gives the French a feeling of newfound importance and power. The world should learn from its ugly past. The important lesson of what Hitler attempted, and continued with Nasser, Saddam, Khaddafi and much of the Arab/Muslim world today, is that those who begin with attacking Jews and Israel, will eventually move on to more significant targets, namely decent democracies. That is why America is now the victim of French demonstrations and government antagonism regarding Iraq. Seeing a newly formed Franco-German partnership challenging a US-British decision to fight an evil danger, is a "deja vu" of history.

France's policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue is evidence of a lack of moral clarity. The fact that French churches are empty while their sex clubs are filled to capacity, is further proof of a moral decline. However, a string of related events should make the West, particularly America, maintain a safe distance from the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

The French Intifada against the Jews and Israel includes: A gunman firing on a kosher butcher shop in southern France; the University of Paris stopping collaboration with Israeli universities and academics, while suggesting that the EU do the same; Rabbi Gabriel Farhi stabbed in Paris preparing for the Sabbath and his automobile set on fire; the major French encyclopedia questioning the large number of Jews murdered during the Holocaust; eight people in France arrested for their participation in bombing the Tunisian synagogue; a bomb diffused at the entrance of a Jewish cemetery in Strasbourg; "Dreaming of Palestine," a book by a teenager glorifying suicide bombings in Israel, becomes a French bestseller; French lawyer, Gisele Halimi defending Marwan Barghouti, the man personally responsible for most recent suicide bombings in Israel. And the list goes on.

The French Intifada against America has only just begun: France was the greatest obstacle during the Security Council resolution to disarm Iraq; Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber," was allowed through French airport security, despite missing pages from his passport due to trips to Afghanistan; information about Zacharrias Moussai, a French citizen and so-called "20th hijacker," is not being released to authorities because American law includes the possibility for capital punishment; France was the most outspoken country against George W. Bush's decision to boycott Arafat as the Palestinian leader; French farmer Jose Bove destroyed a McDonald's to protest American policy; Kamel Daoudi, an al-Qaeda leader, caught in Paris with plans to blow up American embassies worldwide; Jean-Marie LePen, a man who makes David Duke look like a Boy Scout, receives one in five French votes; a book claiming that Osama bin Laden attacked the World Trade Center as part of a U.S. Government conspiracy is taken seriously and becomes a French bestseller. And the list goes on.

President Jaques Chirac has criticized "(America's) attempt to legitimize the use of unilateral and pre-emptive force," as if morality is accomplished through a majority worldwide vote. There was no UN vote for American entry into WWII, saving France and the world. Yet, Chirac continues his diatribes with the idea that "weapons inspectors need more time." Using that same logic, perhaps America should have given Hitler more time.

The evidence is overwhelming. It is more than merely a "smoking gun" There are photos and videotapes of French misbehavior every day, and it is rather disquieting. When a nation shows mercy towards a Vichy official such as Maurice Papon, who sent thousands of Jews to death camps, their values certainly come into question. The excuse that he is "being released from prison because he is just a sick old man" shows a totally misguided compassion.

When French demonstrators, wearing Che Guevera and Stalin T-shirts march with Palestinian flags in goose-step, the world should begin to worry. There may be trouble brewing, and it all begins with "Bon jour!"

Once again, France is giving the world trouble.

From left, French activist Jose Bove, 'International movement for democratic control of financial markets and their institutions' (ATTAC) president Bernard Cassen meet Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for a private meeting on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2003. Chavez arrived in Porto Alegre where the World Social Forum is being held to meet with sympathizers among the 100,000 activists gathered here to protest American-style capitalism.(AP Photo/Giuseppe Bizzarri)

Horror in Venezuela Jesus Soriano and the price of dissent in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela by Thor L. Halvorssen - [Full Text] VENEZUELA IS NOW an abyss where there is no rule of law. A rogue government tortures innocent civilians with impunity while paying lip service to democracy and buying time at the "negotiation" table set up by the Organization of American States. Venezuela's foreign minister, Roy Chaderton, has funded an effective multi-million dollar public relations campaign to smear the opposition as coup-plotters and fascists intent on bringing about violence.

Jesus Soriano has never met Roy Chaderton or Hugo Chavez. Soriano supported President Hugo Chavez's meteoric rise, volunteered during the election campaign, and is now a second-year law student in Caracas. His law-school peers describe the 24-year-old as a cheerful and happy young man.

Soriano, a member of the Chavez party, is part of a national student group called "Ousia," a group that brings together moderates who support the government and opposition members seeking a peaceful resolution to the current crisis.

On December 6, Soriano witnessed the massacre that occurred during a peaceful protest in Altamira, a neighborhood in Caracas where the opposition has a strong presence. The killer was Joao De Gouveia, an outspoken supporter of Chavez who has an unusually close relationship with mayor Freddy Bernal, a Chavez crony. Gouveia randomly began shooting at the crowd. He killed three--including a teenage girl he shot in the head--and injured 28 people. As Gouveia kept shooting, several men raced toward him to stop the killing. Soriano was one of the men who wrestled Gouveia to the ground and prevented further killing. Soriano also protected Gouveia from a potential lynch mob that swarmed around the killer.

Soriano's heroic accomplishments did not cease that day. He became a national figure in Venezuela when he brought a small soccer ball (known in Venezuela as a "futbolito") to a sizable protest march organized against the rule of Lt. Col. Chavez. Soriano and other pro-Chavez partisans made their way towards the march intending to engage the opposition members in dialogue.

That hot afternoon, Soriano kicked the futbolito across the divide at the members of the opposition. They kicked it back. The magical realism of the event is evident in the extraordinary television footage of what occurred next. By the end of the match the anti-Chavez protestors and pro-Chavez partisans were hugging and chanting "Peace! Unity! We are Venezuela! Politicians go away! We are the real Venezuela!" In one particularly moving part of the footage, Soriano and a member of the opposing team trade a baseball hat for a Chavez-party red beret.

In one hour this sharply divided group of strangers accomplished more than the high-level negotiation team that seeks to defuse a potential civil war. Chavez was reportedly furious with the televised soccer match and even angrier that the reconciliation was a product of the efforts of one of his supporters. Soriano was declared an enemy of the revolution.

Last week Soriano organized another soccer match. On Wednesday he visited the Universidad Central de Venezuela, the main university in the capital, to attend a meeting of the student government. Violent clashes erupted as members of the Circulos Bolivarianos, an armed militia sworn to protect the revolution, began throwing rocks and tear gas grenades at the students. The militia identified Soriano and captured him. They then tied his hands and feet, lifted him up, and paraded him through the street like a sacrificial lamb chanting "Judas! Judas!" The entire spectacle was recorded by a cameraman who works for the official government television entity. Soriano was beaten so severely that he was left at the hospital emergency room. At the hospital he was detained by the DISIP, Chavez's secret police, and taken to their headquarters for questioning.

During his interrogation, fingernails in his left hand were torn out. After being further tortured and injected with drugs, the secret police took him into the bowels of the building and placed him in a cell. His cellmate: Joao de Gouveia.

Gouveia has the keys to the cell and comes in and out of the secret police headquarters at will. His only restriction is that he must sleep in the precinct, lest Chavez's police are revealed as allowing a confessed killer to roam free. Soriano's mother (who is also a Chavez supporter) tearfully claimed that Gouveia sodomized Soriano and beat him with such force that Soriano cannot open his eyes.

Soriano was released last Friday afternoon after Roy Chaderton advised Chavez that the case could filter out of Venezuela and could become a "human-interest story" with the potential to derail their PR campaign.

The government denied that Soriano had been mistreated. A thorough medical examination by a civil surgeon reveals that, beyond lacerations, severe bruising, and cracked ribs, Soriano had been repeatedly raped while in custody. His right arm shows that he has been injected. Nails are missing from his left hand. Soriano's internal organs have been crushed to the point that he urinates blood, and he cannot walk without assistance.

Once the medical report was made public, the secret police immediately began saying that Soriano was a member of a "right-wing paramilitary organization." This tactic, engineered by Chaderton, is used frequently to disqualify and discount opponents of the regime. All enemies of the "revolution" are coup plotters and fascists. The government now circulates a photo of Soriano in military fatigues. Carlos Roa, Soriano's attorney, showed me that the picture is a yearbook photo from when he was a schoolboy in military academy.

Although it was obvious that Soriano had been tortured, Iris Varela, a Chavez congressional representative, offered no apologies: "I am glad they did this to him. He deserved it." That such savage treatment is what greets government supporters who seek a peaceful resolution to the current crisis speaks volumes about Chavez's ultimate intentions. Soriano, now recuperating at home, must wonder why he ever supported the Chavez regime. [End]

Thor L. Halvorssen is a human rights and civil liberties activist who grew up in Venezuela. He now lives in Philadelphia.

Hugo Chavez doesn't want a peaceful resolution to the situation in Venezuela. He wants his Marxist revolution to continue moving forward.

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