In this mailing:
- Peter Martino: The Qatari Takeover of France
- Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas's Plan to Steal Local Elections
The Qatari Takeover of France
by Peter Martino
October 10, 2012 at 5:00 am
October 10, 2012 at 5:00 am
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French
politicians such as President François Hollande hope that Qatari funds will
help fight poverty in disadvantaged Muslim neighborhoods, They assume that
poverty is the cause of France's social problems. They should, however, know
better. The problems in the suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis and elsewhere are not
caused by poverty, but by the unwillingness of many Muslims to integrate into
French society.
Qatar announced last February, when Nicolas Sarkozy was still the President
of France, that it was willing to invest €50 million ($65 million) in the
French banlieues, the suburbs which are home to the vast majority of the
six million Muslim immigrants in France. Meanwhile, Qatar has doubled the sum
to €100 million, which it is apparently going to spend through an investment
fund in support of small businesses owned by Muslims. Last month, the French
government approved the fund, which the French newspaper Libération
describes as a "Qatari take over of the banlieues."French politicians such as President François Hollande hope that Qatari funds will help fight poverty in disadvantaged Muslim neighborhoods. They assume that poverty is the cause of France's social problems. They should, however, know better.
The Muslim suburbs surrounding Paris are mainly situated in the département (county) of Seine-Saint-Denis. In 2005, heavy rioting broke out in this département, where Islam is the largest religion. The French government seems to have lost control over this département where the French police no longer dare to venture and where French civil law is being replaced by Sharia law.
Seine-Saint-Denis is the 15th richest of France's 96 départements. The poorest are Cantal, Ariège and Creuse – rural areas with hardly any immigrants. The problems in the suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis and elsewhere are not caused by poverty, but by the unwillingness of many Muslims to integrate into French society.
While Mr. Hollande may think that he has found a solution to alleviate tension in France's banlieues, the Qatari influence threatens to radicalize further the Muslim population there.
The French government dismisses the fear that Qatar wants to impose a de facto Muslim Caliphate in the banlieues. President Hollande says that with the assistance of countries such as Qatar, France will be capable of detecting business talent in the banlieues – something which the French authorities are presumably not capable of doing on their own.
Qatar, though posing as a pro-Western nation, subscribes to the radical Wahhabi sect of Islam that rejects Muslim integration in the West and actively encourages jihad against non-Muslims.
Qatar is a major supporter of the Wahhabi fighters who seized power in Libya and are trying to do the same in Syria. It is also a major sponsor of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Moreover, Qatar hosts the controversial Al-Jazeera television network, which includes among its presenters Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies at the University of Qatar, who is notorious for his praise of suicide bombings and other terrorist activities.
As Soeren Kern pointed out here earlier, the Qatari Emir, who rules his country as a dictator, has vowed to "spare no effort" to spread the fundamentalist teachings of Wahhabi Islam across "the whole world."
The move into the banlieues is merely the next step in Qatar's global strategy. The Emir of Qatar, who is also financing the construction of mega-mosques in Sicily and Ireland, has already invested heavily in the French economy. Qatar has bought shares in top French companies such as Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), the world's largest conglomerate of luxury products, the French oil company Total and media group Lagardère. Qatar also owns the French football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and the prestigious Carlton Hotel on the Croisette in Cannes.
Through its stake of 13 percent in Lagardère, the Wahhabi regime in Qatar has an interest in EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. Lagardère owns 7.5 percent of EADS, the mother company of Airbus, the world's leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft. Qatar also hopes to buy a direct stake of 7.5 percent of EADS from the German automaker Daimler. It is ironic that a sponsor of Wahhabi Islam, which has previously hijacked and bombed passenger planes, is now acquiring a stake in the company that constructs such planes.
Outside France, Qatar Investment Authority owns a small stake in Royal Dutch Shell, which it has announced it wants to raise to 7 percent. It also owns the London department store Harrods and is the largest shareholder of the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's. It was also part of the investment group that in December 2010 bought the American movie giant Miramax, thereby ensuring that Miramax will never make a movie critical of Muhammad or Islam.
It is notable that he first foreign leader to be received by French President François Hollande at the Elysée Palace after his election last May was Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar -- an event that illustrates the importance to Hollande of this Persian Gulf Emirate that is barely the size of the French province of Corsica.
Related Topics: France
| Peter
Martino
Abbas's Plan to Steal Local Elections
by Khaled Abu
Toameh
October 10, 2012 at 4:00 am
October 10, 2012 at 4:00 am
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According
to Hamas officials, there can be no free and fair elections in the West Bank
while Abbas is cracking down on anyone who dares to challenge him. Also,
Fatah's decision to hold local elections only in the West Bank is an admission
that the Palestinians have two separate entities: the West Bank and Gaza. UN
members next month should ask Abbas when he applies to upgrade the status of a
Palestinian state to "non-member," which state he is talking about --
the one in the West Bank or the one in the Gaza Strip?
After repeated delays, Palestinians in the West Bank are scheduled to hold
local elections on October 20 for 245 village councils and 98 municipalities.In recent weeks, the Fatah leadership has been working hard to ensure that its candidates win the local elections.
Since the first free and democratic Palestinian local elections were held in 1976 under the Israeli military government, the Palestinians have had only one local election -- in 2005.
The 2005 elections saw Hamas candidates score major victories in most West Bank cities, including Nablus, Kalkilya, Bethlehem and Tulkarem.
This year's elections, however, are being boycotted by Hamas, leaving its rival Fatah faction as the main contender.
Hamas's decision to boycott the upcoming vote was, ironically, one of the main reasons why the Palestinian Authority leadership decided to go ahead with the elections.
When Hamas announced its decision to boycott the local elections, there was a sigh of relief in Ramallah.
The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank wants to avoid a repeat of the 2005 election, which saw Hamas candidates take over many village councils and municipalities.
Fatah is instead being challenged by independent candidates and representatives of some PLO groups, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the People's (Communist) Party.
The question now is not whether Fatah would win the vote, but how large the victory will be.
To ensure a landslide victory, the Fatah leadership, headed by Abbas, has taken a number of measures aimed at weakening its rivals.
First, Fatah has dismissed about 50 of its members who decided to run as on an independent ticket in the elections.
Among those who were dismissed is Ghassan Shaka'a, a prominent Fatah figure from Nablus who has decided to contest the vote outside his faction's framework. Shaka'a, a former Nablus mayor, has angered Abbas and the Fatah leadership by running as an independent candidate.
Second, Fatah has decided to suspend funds to the other PLO groups that are running against Fatah in the local elections.
Until last month, these groups, especially the PFLP and DFLP, used to receive regular funding from the PLO leadership, although most of them are opposed to the Oslo Accords and peace talks with Israel.
Abbas is hoping that the dismissal of unruly Fatah candidates and the suspension of funds to his political rivals will guarantee his loyalists a smooth victory.
Abbas's efforts to take over the village councils and municipalities began long before the date was set for the local elections.
Over the past few years, Abbas's government and security forces have dismissed and arrested several elected mayors and members of municipal councils who were affiliated with Hamas or other rival groups.
This is, in fact, one of the main reasons why Hamas says it decided to boycott this year's elections. According to Hamas officials, there can be no free and fair elections in the West Bank while Abbas is cracking down on anyone who dares to challenge him.
Fatah's decision to hold local elections only in the West Bank is an admission that the Palestinians have two separate entities: the West Bank and Gaza. Abbas's critics say that by insisting on going ahead with the vote, he has "solidified" the split between the Fatah-controlled West Bank and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
This is something that the UN General Assembly will have to take into consideration when it is scheduled next month to vote on Abbas's application to upgrade the status of a Palestinian state to "non-member." The UN members should ask Abbas which state he is talking about -- the one in the West Bank or the one in the Gaza Strip?
Related Topics: Khaled Abu
Toameh
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