Hollande in and Sarkozy out
Fox News reported that polls have opened in France for today’s second round of Presidential elections pitting incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy of the center right against Socialist Francois Hollande. What is at stake is the future of France pitting multiculturalist immigrant friendly “nouveau France” versus a France aroused to take back its national identity. This weekend in separate opinion pieces, American ex-pat Nidra Poller and Michel Gurfinkiel writing from separate perches in undisclosed Parisian arrondissements tried to disabuse Americans and others from the conventional wisdom conveyed by the mainstream media that alleged Socialist front runner Hollande would end up being first past the post. Au contraire! The race has tightened for good and sound reasons.
Poller in her American Thinker article, French elections: Virtue, the Debt, and the Jewish Question zeroes in on what the underlying concerns are the questions of Islam and generous immigration policies. Concerns that fostered unease, especially in France’s Jewish community aroused by the tragic senseless murders of Jewish children and a Rabbi at a Toulouse Jewish school by Mohammed Merah, an al Qaeda wannabe of Algerian origins.
T
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he French presidential elections, initially presented by pollsters and commentators as a pushover for the Socialist contender François Hollande, turns out to be a cliff-hanger. The best comparison with the United States might well be the 1948 Dewey- Truman match. On the eve of the final round, pollsters admit that the gap between the two candidates is gradually narrowing. My prediction is a photo finish, with less than one point of difference. This is the most important presidential election in France since the end of World War 2.
The outcome is not only crucial for France but for the free world. I think this is the most clear cut opportunity for a European nation to stand up and confront the wave of conquest unleashed in 1973. There has been some speculation about how this would happen: mass incarceration and deportation of Muslims, civil war, craven surrender… Now, in the European country with the largest Muslim population, the question is going to be treated democratically; not by revolution, not by tribal warfare, but by the exercise of hard won freedom through institutions created and developed over the centuries. French citizens, acutely aware of the high stakes, are riveted on a campaign that has become increasingly articulate and well-defined. It is impossible in the space of this brief article to give a detailed account of issues and events, particularly to an English-speaking readership that has received rather sketchy superficial information.
[. . .]
Far from any spirit of resignation, French Jewish voices are speaking clearly and boldly. There are calls for increased police protection as a short term measure and demands to curb the evil at its roots in media incitement to Jew hatred via anti-Zionism. The SPJC (Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive) is recruiting security personnel for Jewish schools, charitable institutions are raising money to pay for them. When Richard Prasquier, the president of the CRIF, expressed concerns of some Jewish citizens that the far Left, essential for Hollande’s victory, would influence the policies of his government he was accused of mixing religion with politics. Sammy Ghozlan, president of the BNVCA (National Office for Vigilance against anti-Semitism), tireless defender of the safety of Jews and indomitable opponent of the BDS movement, has consistently noted the greater incidence of anti-Semitic violence in municipalities governed by communists, with peaks after demonstrations, exhibitions, and anti-Israel rallies.
[. . ]
The choice on Sunday May 6th is not between two men but between two mutually exclusive visions of the future or, more exactly, the survival of France as a nation. If ever the proverbial Jewish vote would make sense, this is the moment. French Jews would not be afraid to be recognized as Jews, wouldn’t fear for their lives, the safety of their children, their very future in France if “immigration” did not import Islamic Jew hatred. The Socialist party, which claims to stand for the vivre ensemble [living together] and accuses President Sarkozy of catering to a neo-fascist Front National, cuddles up to the anti-Zionist Left that sees no evil in the population that spawned Mohamed Merah. The point is not to accuse all Muslims of being jihad killers nor to pretend that there is no connection between Islam and jihad, but to ask how the French nation can resist conquest and avoid collaboration. (Read More)
Michel Gurfinkiel echoes Poller’s observations in his own acute analysis as a seasoned French commentator in his Pajamas media article, France/ A Referendum On National Identity”. His subtitle, “choosing a fate’ underlines for all French, especially its beleaguered Jews, what could be today a close watershed election defining the nation’s future.
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There is one thing every French citizen agrees upon: the second and final round of the presidential election will have far-reaching consequences. It will not just decide between two candidates, or two parties, or even two political or economic philosophies. Rather, it will settle the fate of France as a nation.
For clarification, examine the 18th district in northern Paris. It voted heavily for the left in the first round on April 22, and is poised to do the same in the second round. François Hollande, the socialist candidate, garnered 43% of the vote there, much more than the 28% he received nationally. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon received 15% there but only 11% nationally. The other left candidates received a combined 7% both there and nationally. All in all, the left won a staggering 65% of the vote in the 18th, about 20 points higher than the national returns.
A completely different picture emerged in the neighboring northwestern 17th district of Paris.
There, Sarkozy was the undisputed frontrunner, with 44% of the vote. While Hollande lagged with 26%, Bayrou finished slightly better than he did nationally, with over 10%. Mélenchon stayed near 7%; Le Pen fell to 6%. The far left took 3%.
The right and the center took 60% of the vote in the 17th, while the left did not even reach 40%.
Politically speaking, why are these neighboring districts worlds apart? The 17th is a bit richer as a whole; a bit more bourgeois than the 18th, but there are both affluent and working class areas in both districts. The actual differences are ethnic and cultural.
The 18th is essentially a “neo-French” stronghold: a place where most inhabitants are immigrants (or children of immigrants) from non-European countries and where Islam is the dominant religion. Admittedly, two major tourist spots with a distinct French flavor — Old Montmartre, the Disneyland-style artists’ village near Sacré-Cœur Basilica atop Montmartre Hill; and Pigalle, nowadays merely a sex shop row — are to be found here. But they are just enclaves in an otherwise increasingly alien environment.
To understand what the 18th district really is one must examine everyday life. For instance, note the street prayers that Muslim Arabs and sub-Saharan Muslims have been routinely organizing on Fridays. Though an illegal practice — it blocks cars and even pedestrian traffic for hours — the socialist mayor of Paris and the police have had no option (so say they) other than tacitly tolerating it.
On the contrary, the 17th remains staunchly French in outlook. Its inhabitants, whatever their race, ethnicity, or religion, prefer France to be Western, Judeo-Christian, and democratic. They do not want it to become a post-Western, “globalized” nation. (Or, to use a formerly rude and now politically correct French expression: “Une société métissée” – a mongrel society).
Quite remarkably, the 17th district today hosts — along with more districts and communes in western Greater Paris — the largest French Jewish community. Many of the local Jews are Sephardic immigrants (rather, refugees) from Arab countries who upon coming to France lived in the same areas as Muslim immigrants from North Africa or sub-Saharan Africa. They were forced over the years to migrate to areas where they could expect to be both physically and emotionally safer
[. . .]
A further difficulty: there are marked differences among immigrants, between Europeans and non-Europeans on one hand, and even among non-Europeans on the other hand. Some of them came to France to be French, some to turn France into their own thing.
We may rely on some figures. According to Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union), metropolitan France was in 2011 the most immigration-oriented of all EU countries: 26.6% of its inhabitants were either immigrants or the children of immigrants. A similar figure is provided by Insee, the French National Institute of Statistics: they found that 23.9% of all babies born in metropolitan France in 2010 had at leastone parent born outside of Europe, including the overseas French territories. Roughly speaking, this amounts to one quarter of the 63 million population, or about 15 million people.
[. . .]
In between the two presidential rounds, Nicolas Sarkozy constantly mentioned France’s national identity as one of his priorities. France, he said in Toulouse on April 29, “was twenty centuries old. … It was the combined produce of Christianity, the Enlightenment, the Revolution, and the anti-Nazi resistance. … It was the land of Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Joan of Arc. … It was keeping the memory of the Shoah and of the thousands of North African Muslims who had fought in its armies during WW2.”
Clearly, he was wooing both Marine Le Pen’s and François Bayrou’s supporters, the key voters in the second round. But his words rang true.
Hollande has also undertaken winning at least some of Le Pen’s votes. During his debate with Sarkozy Wednesday evening, he repeatedly said that he would be as tough as anybody on immigration matters, and would uphold a strict separation between state and religion. He even said that his most controversial and most pro-immigration proposal — granting electoral franchise to legal foreign residents in local ballots — was not to be taken seriously, since it implied a complex and unlikely constitutional revision in the first place.
But such cynical short-term tactics cannot change that the long-term future of the left lies with the neo-French only. (Read More)
At the conclusion of this Presidential run in la belle France, we shall see if France returns to its national identity as defined by Sarkozy or enters the troublesome vision of a “noveau France” espoused by multiculturalist Socialist Hollande.
As Hollywood icon actress Bette Davis said in the classic 1950 film, All About Eve:“fasten your seat belts..it’s going to be a bumpy night” in France.
Watch the incomparable Ms. Davis deliver this classic line in this You Tube video:
Is hyperinflation classed as “picking up”? Hollande i8s essentially asking Germany to grant them and the rest of Debtor Europe glorified bankruptcy.
The world’s largest debtor nations:
20. United States: 99.46%
External debt (as % of GDP): 99.46%
Gross external debt: $14.959 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $15.040 trillion
External debt per capita: $47,664
19. Hungary: 110.3%
External debt (as % of GDP): 110.3%
Gross external debt: $216.16 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $195.9 billion
External debt per capita: $21,706
18. Italy: 136.6%
External debt (as % of GDP): 136.6%
Gross external debt: $2.494 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $1.826 trillion
External debt per capita: $40,724
17. Australia: 139.9%
External debt (as % of GDP): 139.9%
Gross external debt: $1.283 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $917.7 billion
External debt per capita: $58,322
16. Spain: 169.5%
External debt (as % of GDP): 169.5%
Gross external debt: $2.392 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $1.411 trillion
External debt per capita: $50,868
15. Greece: 178.9%
External debt (as % of GDP): 178.9%
Gross external debt: $546.92 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $305.6 billion
External debt per capita: $50,792
14. Germany: 183.9%
External debt (as % of GDP): 183.9%
Gross external debt: $5.674 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $3.085 trillion
External debt per capita: $69,788
13. Portugal: 207.3%
External debt (as % of GDP): 207.3%
Gross external debt: $511.94 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $246.9 billion
External debt per capita: $47,483
12. Austria: 241.3%
External debt (as % of GDP): 241.3%
Gross external debt: $847.95 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $351.4 billion
External debt per capita: $103,160
11. Finland: 244.8%
External debt (as % of GDP): 244.8%
Gross external debt: $478.84 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $195.6 billion
External debt per capita: $90,984
10. Norway: 246.9%
External debt (as % of GDP): 246.9%
Gross external debt: $653.29 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $264.5 billion
External debt per capita: $138,783
9. France: 254.4%
External debt (as % of GDP): 254.4%
Gross external debt: $5.632 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $2.21 trillion
External debt per capita: $85,824
8. Sweden: 262.3%
External debt (as % of GDP): 262.3%
Gross external debt: $995.2 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $379.4 billion
External debt per capita: $109,318
7. Hong Kong: 265.7%
External debt (as % of GDP): 265.7%
Gross external debt: $939.83 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $353.7 billion
External debt per capita: $131,380
6. Denmark: 283.2%
External debt (as % of GDP): 283.2%
Gross external debt: $591.4 billion
2011 GDP (est.): $208.8 billion
External debt per capita: $106,680
5. Belgium: 353.7%
External debt (as % of GDP): 353.7%
Gross external debt: $1.457 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $412 billion
External debt per capita: $139,613
4. Netherlands: 367%
External debt (as % of GDP): 367%
Gross external debt: $2.590 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $705.7 billion
External debt per capita: $154,820
3. Switzerland: 391.3%
External debt (as % of GDP): 391.3%
Gross external debt: $1.332 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $340.5 billion
External debt per capita: $174,022
2. United Kingdom: 451.4%
External debt (as % of GDP): 451.4%
Gross external debt: $10.157 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $2.250 trillion
External debt per capita: $161,110
1. Ireland: 1,239%
External debt (as % of GDP): 1,239%
Gross external debt: $2.26 trillion
2011 GDP (est.): $182.1 billion
External debt per capita: $478,087
— http://www.cnbc.com/id/30308959/The_World_s_Biggest_Debtor_Nations?slide=21
Those numbers are astronomical! Major countries NOT on the list include all the former Communist countries except Hungary, plus Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Korea. Maybe the Commie systems were the first to collapse, but the Capitalists aren’t far behind them. Even the US seems to be in better shape than Europe. How is all that debt going to get paid off? By printing funny money? This is beyond economics; it’s science fiction! I certainly don’t understand it. Someone tell me, how countries that owe four times what they produce every year can EVER get on their feet again?
Hollande rejects the neoliberal/austerity cuts. If France’s economy picks up under his stewardship, a center rightist like Sarkozy won’t win in France again for 50 years. And, France will establish relations with Hamas. No question, Sarkozy was the most pro-Israel French leader in 50 years. Hollande’s base has it out for Israel and he will have to placate them at times
My comment was lost.
@ Bill Levinson:
If France wants to continue with a socialist welfare state and further ruin its economy, as well as to go further down the path of islamization, then they have made their bed, let them lie in it. I hope French Jews are smart enough to make a bee line for Israel.
@ L Mansfield:
Not that I know of.
Hollande’s Win came as expected. Sarkozy spent too much time with the rich and famous and it’s bad news for Israel as we all know. Naturally, Obama was the first world leader to congratulate the Socialist. Putin was second.
@ L Mansfield:
comment #1 by “sally”( who has been posting rabid anti-zionist, antisemitic remarks in other threads as well), was deleted.
if you read keelie’s post (#1 now) he is responding to this, now deleted, “sally”
I don’t get this trash shtick.
@ Laura:
DONE.
@ Laura:
Laura: Have we met before? I feel like I know you from someplace and I can’t put my finger on where.
I hope Ted takes out the trash.
@ the phoenix:
He’s not a bumbling idiot. He’s the CFR’s main man in the Oval Office, and he does what he’s told to do. Bad idea.
@ BlandOatmeal:
while i definitely think that joe biden is a bumbling idiot, i kinda’ warm up to the thought that he might suddenly become the potus….
it is a very nasty present situation with no clear positive alternative…
…Greece. The Greeks are TRYING to elect a parliament of their own choosing, amid continual efforts by the Germans to dictate whom they should vote for. They don’t seem to take kindly to this meddling, and may tell the Krauts to go shove it. If they do, it may cost them yet another reality-delaying Euro bailout, and perhaps their departure from the Euro zone. I see this as good news, because (1) a massive economic adjustment is in the cards anyway, and these repeated bailouts seem to just be exacerbating the matter, and (2) it would get the Germans off their back, and they would be more free to move in their own national interest. A VERY important part of that national interest is their cooperation with Israel concerning Cyprus and the gas fields. A standoff between those three countries and Turkey may be coming up soon, and it would be refreshing to think that Israel’s allies aren’t under the thumb of NATO bigwigs like Germany.
That’s my assessment. I imagine that in hindsight, we’ll see many new opinions among the readers. I wonder how many of them are thinking out these matters beforehand. Meanwhile, elections are coming up in Israel and in the US. In the latter case, here’s the latest that I’ve been able to cobble together:
1. Obama has a solid lead in states with 266 electoral votes, including Colorado and New Hampshire.
2. Romney has a tenuous lead in states totaling 235 electoral votes, and a chance of winning swing states Iowa, Ohio and Virginia.
3. If Romney loses Florida or North Carolina, he can go to the bathroom and practice his concession speech in the mirror. Jews may cast decisive votes in Florida and Virginia.
In Israel, all I can do is follow the latest polls, which point to Netanyahu and the Center increasing in power at the expense of the Left and Religious. Intervening events might change that situation, such as an attack from Hizbullah.
…If Hol lande wins, we have a return of the Soc ialists, who consider Israel a “sh_tty little country”. This could be moderately worse news for Israel than Sar kozy. There is a silver lining in it, though: Fr ance’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Sar kozy has done as good a job as possible, it seems, to keep it on the road. A Soc ialist government, on the other hand, is likely to push Fr ance into even worse bond ratings than it has today, and ultimately to economic ruin. Seeing that the Fr ench seem to think Israel is a “sh _t ty little” place, I don’t see their ruin in terribly bad terms…
…If Hol lande wins, we have a return of the Soc ialists, who consider Israel a “sh_tty little country”. This could be moderately worse news for Israel than Sarkozy. There is a silver lining in it, though: France’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Sarkozy has done as good a job as possible, it seems, to keep it on the road. A Socialist government, on the other hand, is likely to push France into even worse bond ratings than it has today, and ultimately to economic ruin. Seeing that the French seem to think Israel is a “sh _tty little” place, I don’t see their ruin in terribly bad terms…
My comments got zapped, apparently too awful even for moderation. I will try to re-post in fragments:
@ Sally:
My comments got zapped, apparently too awful even for moderation. I will try to re-post in fragments:
Sally, your comment smells like a verbal fart. What “Zionist stooge” are you talking about. If you mean Nicolas Sarkozy, the sitting President of France, you’re off your rocker.
Having “aired out the room” a bit with the above, let me get on with a more serious appraisal of the French election. — and 2012 elections in general. First of all, six countries will have elections of sorts in Europe today, including France and Greece. Since the outcome is uncertain in both cases, I want to ask Israpundit readers about what is at stake:
France. If Sarkozy is re-elected, we have the “open mike” President who seems to like Obama and definitely not trust Netanyahu. He’s the devil we know, part of a team (along with BO) which is ultimately bad news for Israel; but since
aboutevery country on earth hates both Jews and Israel, this is nothing new…@ Sally:
Sally, your comment smells like a verbal fart. What “Zionist stooge” are you talking about. If you mean Nicolas Sarkozy, the sitting President of France, you’re off your rocker.
Having “aired out the room” a bit with the above, let me get on with a more serious appraisal of the French election. — and 2012 elections in general. First of all, six countries will have elections of sorts in Europe today, including France and Greece. Since the outcome is uncertain in both cases, I want to ask Israpundit readers about what is at stake:
France. If Sarkozy is re-elected, we have the “open mike” President who seems to like Obama and definitely not trust Netanyahu. He’s the devil we know, part of a team (along with BO) which is ultimately bad news for Israel; but since
aboutevery country on earth hates both Jews and Israel, this is nothing new.If Hollande wins, we have a return of the Socialists, who consider Israel a “sh_tty little country”. This could be moderately worse news for Israel than Sarkozy. There is a silver lining in it, though: France’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Sarkozy has done as good a job as possible, it seems, to keep it on the road. A Socialist government, on the other hand, is likely to push France into even worse bond ratings than it has today, and ultimately to economic ruin. Seeing that the French seem to think Israel is a “sh_tty little” place, I don’t see their ruin in terribly bad terms.
Greece. The Greeks are TRYING to elect a parliament of their own choosing, amid continual efforts by the Germans to dictate whom they should vote for. They don’t seem to take kindly to this meddling, and may tell the Krauts to go shove it. If they do, it may cost them yet another reality-delaying Euro bailout, and perhaps their departure from the Euro zone. I see this as good news, because (1) a massive economic adjustment is in the cards anyway, and these repeated bailouts seem to just be exacerbating the matter, and (2) it would get the Germans off their back, and they would be more free to move in their own national interest. A VERY important part of that national interest is their cooperation with Israel concerning Cyprus and the gas fields. A standoff between those three countries and Turkey may be coming up soon, and it would be refreshing to think that Israel’s allies aren’t under the thumb of NATO bigwigs like Germany.
That’s my assessment. I imagine that in hindsight, we’ll see many new opinions among the readers. I wonder how many of them are thinking out these matters beforehand. Meanwhile, elections are coming up in Israel and in the US. In the latter case, here’s the latest that I’ve been able to cobble together:
1. Obama has a solid lead in states with 266 electoral votes, including Colorado and New Hampshire.
2. Romney has a tenuous lead in states totaling 235 electoral votes, and a chance of winning swing states Iowa, Ohio and Virginia.
3. If Romney loses Florida or North Carolina, he can go to the bathroom and practice his concession speech in the mirror. Jews may cast decisive votes in Florida and Virginia.
In Israel, all I can do is follow the latest polls, which point to Netanyahu and the Center increasing in power at the expense of the Left and Religious. Intervening events might change that situation, such as an attack from Hizbullah.
@ Sally:
Yeah – anyone who doesn’t relate 100% to the muzloid thugs is a “Zionist stooge”.
Go find a used brain somewhere…