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September 18, 2008
LePen Says He Isn’t Done Yet
Paris
JTA Wire Service
Jean-Marie Le Pen says he isn’t retiring just yet, international media reports to the contrary. “I’m not retired, but at my post,” said the French Holocaust denier and far-right National Front Party leader. Le Pen has been convicted on charges of anti-Semitism and spreading “racial hatred” for praising Nazism and questioning whether Jews were killed in Hitler’s gas chambers, among other controversial statements. In a speech to his party Sunday, according to The Associated Press, Le Pen responded to a report last week in the French weekly Valeurs actuelles that said he would not run for president in 2012, and that he would retire by 2010 or 2011. In that interview he suggested that his politician daughter, Marine Le Pen, replace him. Le Pen has run for the French presidency in five elections, and his party has thrived politically—influencing the moderate-right to adopt some of his platforms—for the past 30 years through his appeals to nationalist and anti-immigration voters. He was given a political shot of adrenaline when he won the first round of presidential elections in 2002, beating the favored Socialist Party candidate, and revealing his until-then under-estimated popularity. On Sept. 14, Le Pen reminded his party that he planned on making a dent in upcoming European parliamentary elections as well as regional elections. As the Socialist Party continues to drain supporters since losing the 2007 election to Nicolas Sarkozy’s center-right UMP Party, Le Pen said his party was “the only force of opposition,” to the French president, the AP reported.
Rome Symposium to Study Pius’ Legacy
A symposium in Rome will reveal new information about the controversial wartime Pope Pius XII. Pave the Way, a U.S.-based, nonsectarian organization that promotes interreligious dialogue, is sponsoring the three-day symposium that begins Monday to study the papacy of Pope Pius XII. Earlier this year, Pave the Way announced it was investigating Pius’ papacy by interviewing eyewitnesses and gathering publicly available documentation and newspaper accounts. The organization said it had uncovered information that contradicted criticism that Pius turned a blind eye to the Holocaust. “We have discovered many personal intercessions of Pope Pius XII which directly contradict the impression that he remained silent and did nothing to save Jewish lives,” said Pave the Way President Gary Krupp. Krupp has close ties with the Vatican. In January 2007, he became the first Jewish man to be knighted by two popes when he was promoted to the highest Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great. He received a previous papal knighthood in 2000. A spokesman for Pave the Way said the meeting is expected to “present new documentation that has never been revealed before” regarding Pius XII.
Sharia Courts Operating in Britain
Civil courts based on Islamic law have been operating in Britain for more than a year. British Muslims have followed the Jewish example of operating a rabbinical court, or bet din, based on the country’s arbitration law. The Muslim courts are based on the sharia law, and rule on divorce, financial disputes, inheritance and even domestic violence, as long as both parties agree to accept the authority of the court. Once the parties accept the authority of the court, its rulings can be enforced through the county and high court. The Islamic courts are classified by British law as arbitration tribunals. Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunals run the courts, told the Sunday Times that the Arbitration Act “allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.” Earlier this year the head of the Anglican Church caused a controversy when he suggested that the establishment of Islamic courts “seems unavoidable” in Britain. Islamic courts in Britain have ruled on approximately 100 cases. The bet din has operated in Britain for more than a century under a precursor to the Arbitration Act. Women who might be under pressure to turn to the Islamic court are not treated as equals there, especially on financial issues, the Times reported.
Paris Assault Suspect Allegedly Was Jewish
One suspected assailant in an attack on three Jewish teens in Paris may have been Jewish, a French Jewish leader said. Richard Prasquier, the president of the CRIF umbrella organization, told the JTA in a phone interview Monday that Paris police detained for questioning five to six youth of mixed ethnic origin suspected of involvement in the Sept. 6 beating of the kipah-wearing teens. The victims were hospitalized temporarily with minor fractures. Prasquier said the fact that one of the alleged suspects may have been Jewish “complicated” the affair but still did not negate the anti-Jewish nature of the crime, which occurred on the same street where Jewish teenager Rudy Haddad was severely beaten in June. “The police say it’s not anti-Semitic if a Jew is involved, but for me, if you throw a stone at a youth wearing a kipah, it’s anti-Semitic,” he said. “There was an anti-Semitic nature to this attack.” Prasquier also noted that the suspects were not in an organized gang. A spokeswoman for Paris investigators confirmed to JTA that six suspects were being held for questioning, but she added that it was “too early” to communicate further on the incident and faith of those involved. French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie was among the first French officials to denounce the assault as anti-Semitic. Prasquier, along with Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, made public similar conclusions, though police said they could not rule out other motives until completing an investigation. The Jewish faith of one of the suspected assailants is likely to embroil an already sensitive debate in France on whether such violence is due to anti-Semitism or a mixture of gang violence and random crime in the 19th district, a low-income, immigrant-heavy neighborhood that is home to the capital’s largest Jewish community. Two of the suspected attackers in the Haddad case are facing charges of “attempting murder,” due in part to anti-Semitic motives.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.