France: (576) Graves of Muslim War Veterans Defaced

[sabra]

Source: NYTimes

For the third time in two years, the tombs of hundreds of Muslim war veterans were desecrated at a cemetery in northern France on Sunday night, the eve of the Id al-Adha holiday. Swastikas and anti-Muslim slogans were spray-painted on nearly all the 576 Muslim graves at the Notre Dame de Lorette military cemetery, near Arras, which holds the remains of about 40,000 dead from World War I. The last such desecration was in April. In a statement, President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the act as “revolting” and “an expression of repugnant racism against France’s Muslim community.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/world/europe/09briefs-GRAVESOFMUSL_BRF.html

[bertman]

1. You'd think that this being the THIRD time it's happened they would have posted a guard.

Duh.

This is disgusting stuff. Swastikas and anti-muslim stuff. Morons of the world, unite.

[dipsydoodle]

2. That's disgusting

.

[zbdent]

3. I thought that Freeptards weren't vacationing in France ...

[YOY]

4. As wont as France is to admit it, they have FReepers too.

They just don't let them the reigns of the public spotlight and right-wing politics...(at least the talking points.)

[newtothegame]

5. Was it because of the riots a few years ago? n/t

[Ravachol]

6. No.

It's because France is the western country with the largest proportion of muslims compared to its total population.

The Muslim celebration was an excuse for these neonazis to spew their hatred and show disrespect toward the Muslim community.

France's freeps are less visible generally but, comparatively, they have more extreme ones. For example, the guys who did this.

[happyslug]

7. Massive graveyard and memorial

http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_lorette.htm

In French:
http://www.nordmag.fr/patrimoine/histoire_regionale/premiere_guerre/lorette.htm

The tombstones that were attacked:

http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/notre-dame/index.html

The church was and is a Catholic Church as were most of the Soldiers killed at that battle. Not to dishonor the Moslems, the French put the Moslems in a separate Graveyard without cross over their grave. This was to honor them, but also made the tombstones easy targets for vandals.

Another view of the Church AND this time the Crosses in the graveyard:

http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/notre-dame/index.html

In the rest of the graveyard, crosses were used except every so often you see a flat tombstone, which I assume is for someone of Jewish or other non-christian religion. Notice these are mixed in with the Crosses, making it harder for vandals to destroy them, the moslems tombstones are located in one place, an easy target. Some moslems may be in with the crosses, preferred being buried among their comrades in whatever unit they were serving, the Moslems in the Moslem Cemetery may have belonged to a Moslem unit from a French Colony, and thus buried together for that is their unit.

[donco6]

8. What did they paint? "Die Muslim Scum" . . . ?

How pathetic is this, men who died to protect your country and they have their graves desecrated? That's just revolting.