"......We put our cigarettes out on him....."

[Spinoza]

<snip>
The police did not know that during the five days in which the kidnappers tried in vain to contact Halimi's family, Halimi suffered terrible torture. One of the kidnappers said, "We put our cigarettes out on him because he was a Jew."

A few days after Halimi was found, the Paris public prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, told the media that the murder was a criminal event, and "no element of the current investigation could link this murder to an anti-Semitic declaration or action."
<snip>

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/686868.html

I'm not sure exactly what I want to say here.

[Mythsaje]

1. Well, I'll say

that paragraph one seems to contradict paragraph two. Or vice-versa.

[cali]

2. Until a couple of days

ago, the police were denying that this act of torture and murder was motivated by anti-semiticism. It's a curious reluctance. From what I've read, what this young man suffered was unspeakable.

[Harper_is_Bush]

3. Looks like this will be whiped up to inflame Islamophobia....

[cali]

4. Look, this is just a tragic awful story

I hope that it won't be used against Muslims. It had nothing to do with Islam. It was garden variety hate carried to an ugly extreme. I doubt it will whip up as much Islamaphobia as the UAE ports deal has here in the US. In any case, should France simply ignore what happened to this young man?

[Harper_is_Bush]

14. It is being used against Muslims:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2133091&mesg_id=2133091
The family of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in an attack that appears to have been motivated in part by anti-Semitism, will not attend the demonstration against racism and anti-Semitism that is scheduled to take place in Paris on Sunday in response to the murder, but will hope for its success, the family's attorneys said Saturday.

The rally - which is due to be attended by over 100,000 people and numerous public figures, including government ministers - has become controversial due to the planned participation of representatives of two right-wing political movements, the National Front and the Movement for France (known by its French initials MPF).

On Friday, the anti-racism organization MARP announced that it would refuse to attend the rally for this reason, charging that both movements were using Halimi's murder to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment and thereby encouraging racism. The National Front, for instance, described the murder as "the result of 40 years of uncontrolled immigration," while the MPF denounced "the Islamization of France."

[cali]

15. Sorry, MARP should have attended

the rally. The thrust of the rally was not guided by The National Front. They're loons. It's unfortunate they chose to attend. They're not just anti-muslim, they're anti-semitic. Irony abounds. The best way to cancel them out would have been for MARP to attend as well.

It was a hate based murder. Everyone should stand against it.

[adriennui]

5. truth is much violence (not all) is committed by muslims

especially against jews. i spent much time in france and i've seen the change even in the south.

not pleasant.....i was sexually harrassed by a group of them when i was walking in the town of villefranche. it was a bit frightening because it was one of those bright sunny days(but i was chased into one of the many dark passages. i can't attribute this to anti-semitism (i don't look jewish) but it was certainly anti-female.

[cali]

7. violence is committed by many different

ethnic groups. I don't want to see all muslim indicted for this act. The people to blame are those that did it.

[NaturalHigh]

9. I just want the sick bastards who did this...

to spend the rest of their worthless lives in prison. I don't care what their ethnicity or religion is. They got their jollies by torturing someone to death, and it looks like it was done, at least in part, because the victim was Jewish.

[Fleshdancer]

11. Agreed.

There is no excuse for such disgusting, disgraceful acts of hatred. My condolences to his family.

[Harper_is_Bush]

8. How do you know they were Muslims?

Much violence, but "not all", is committed by Muslims.
Much violence, but "not all", is committed by Christians.
Much violence, but "not all", is committed by Jews.

I guess I could go on.

[adriennui]

12. i know they were north african

OK? perhaps they didn't practice islam.

[Harper_is_Bush]

13. Exactly, perhaps they don't...just like most Americans aren't really

Christians.

[malaise]

6. There was a massive demonstration in Paris

today. This was a criminal act but the protests today had people of all ethnicities condemning the cruel murder of Halimi.

[rockymountaindem]

10. I rarely use this smilie, but in this case, all I have to say is

:puke:

Oh, and

"Why should the nations ask, 'where is their God'? Let your vengeance for the blood of your servants be made known among the nations, in our sight".

God remembers the cry of the humble.