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Seeking Justice for a French Hate Crime
This remorse chipped away, ever so slightly, at the maximum sentences the prosecutor had suggested for the other participants in the attack. Twenty-four other defendants were sentenced to between six months and 18 years for crimes ranging from entrapment and failure to assist a person in danger, to sequestration. (Two were acquitted.) The girl who lured Halimi into the trap—she was promised money, but apparently never paid—was sentenced to nine years behind bars, and must serve at least half that time.
The Halimi family thought the court was too lenient, and their lawyer demanded a new trial for several gang members who received less than the sentence that the prosecutor proposed. The defense said, conversely, that they largely thought the sentences were fair and that each gang member had been treated as an individual. (Mindful of the high tension around the case, and of an earlier altercation in which Fofana’s mother was attacked by Jewish activists, court authorities advised one of the two youths who were acquitted not to leave the courtroom.)
The sensitivity of the case was underscored July 13, when the minister of justice, a political appointee, announced that the court would retry 14 of Fofana’s accomplices, seeking slightly longer sentences.
If this polarizing trial offers any sign of hope for France’s future, it comes from one of the young women who was convicted of not reporting Halimi’s kidnapping after she became aware of it. “I was a sheep,” she said, “but I will struggle like a lion to no longer be a sheep."
Eric Pape has reported on Europe and the Mediterranean region for Newsweek magazine since 2003. He is co-author of the graphic novel, Shake Girl, which was inspired by one of his articles. He is based in Paris.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
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Eric Pape has reported on Europe and the Mediterranean region for Newsweek Magazine since 2003. He is co-author of the graphic novel Shake Girl, which was inspired by one of his articles. He has written for the Los Angeles Times magazine, Spin, Vibe, Le Courrier International, Salon, Los Angeles and others. He is based in Paris.
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Eric Pape has reported on Europe and the Mediterranean region for Newsweek Magazine since 2003. He is co-author of the graphic novel Shake Girl, which was inspired by one of his articles. He has written for the Los Angeles Times magazine, Spin, Vibe, Le Courrier International, Salon, Los Angeles and others. He is based in Paris.
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Eric Pape has reported on Europe and the Mediterranean region for Newsweek Magazine since 2003. He is co-author of the graphic novel Shake Girl, which was inspired by one of his articles. He has written for the Los Angeles Times magazine, Spin, Vibe, Le Courrier International, Salon, Los Angeles and others. He is based in Paris.
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Are straight people evil because of hate crimes against gays? Are men evil for suppressing the rights of women? Are human's evil for killing helpless animals?
No because a few bad seeds can't be seen as a reflection of the whole. Most straight people are good, most men are good and most people are good. And all of the "emigrate" young men from the Middle East that I know are good people.
It has always been a part of human nature, this lack of empathy towards other living beings. There is no simple answer to why people murder and torture. If there was an answer we would fix this problem. So don't add to the hate by creating another divide between folks with your simplistic ideology.
You don't need to educate the west. They've always been and are prejudiced against Islam.
"Are straight people evil because of hate crimes against gays? Are men evil for suppressing the rights of women? Are human's evil for killing helpless animals?"
You are ultimately correct with the answer of "No". That said, in the West, when homophobes attack gays or men suppress women's rights or animals are abused, Straights stand up and speak out against the homophobes, Men march for women's rights and animals rights groups loudly protest the abuse. Where are the loud moderate Muslim voices and groups? Are there any Muslim/Judism alliances? (Like gay/straight alliances). Nope. The silence is thunderous.
From a western viewpoint, Islamic anti-semitism is far more homogenous than the individual hates/abuses of the groups you mention. In this environment the actions of a few and the silence of the many make all complicit.
Your explanation of these repugnant acts being created by a "few bad seeds" misses the point. The reality of the world is that evil acts are committed in this world...committed, yes, by people who are evil. And this evil is not confined to any one definable group but is a curse of humanity. Every individual must stand alone as a human being and be accountable for their own behavior without the comfortable explanations so readily offered by circumstance or utility of dogmatic beliefs.
The kidnapping and torture of this man in Paris was carried out by people who enjoyed their violence and sadism and who perverted their religion into an opportunistic contrivance to justify their brutality. Their kind hate the world and the sanctity of life and want nothing other from the world than to let it allow them to continue to lead the damned lives they have chosen.
They can't be appeased. They love to hate too much.
Racism much?
There's something so profoundly nauseating to think Jews in Europe have to once again fear walking on the street.
There can be no greater argument for the continued existence of the State of Israel.
Actually, it's Israeli atrocities that provoke crimes against Jews!
There can never be justice on stolen land!
Why did your ethnic group steal an Arab country when your beef was with GERMANY?
Maybe if you'd built your homeland in East Prussia or something, and you'd displaced guilty Germans instead of blameless Arabs, and had a homeland in the continent you're actually from, you guys wouldn't have all the problems you do now!
For much of their history Jews had been forced to wander this earth forbidden life in one country after another. Chosen people. Yes, chosen to be vilified, and murdered, and when not that, barely tolerated in lands under the scourge of fanatic Christianity and Islam.
Three major religions have historical "claim" to this part of the Middle East called Israel. Arguments as to which group has a "rightful" privilege can be made for any one of these belief systems.
The real tragedy in this area of the world, the thing to be learned in this conflict is this is where history has chosen to demonstrate humanity's enslavement to a hypocritical system which time has proven to be the world's most destructive delusion: Organized Religion.
All involved should have been sent away under the maximum penalty of the law. To be involved in any way in a crime as heinous and hateful as this and not be locked up for life is scandalous.
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Is this your future Europe ?
Anti-Semitism seems to be on the rise again in Europe.
Perhaps because of your political correctness,
some day you just might be ruled under Sharia Law.
I know a few people who claim to be muslims; I'd hardly consider them muslims. The religion of Islam perverts the minds of those that follow to an extent much greater than that of any other organized religion, it's a pity. There is no easy or good answer to the problem of Islam as a whole; we must simpy attempt to co-exist with Islam.
Thank you.
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