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As Notre-Dame Burned, Alt-Right Figures Launched a Campaign on Social Media Falsely Blaming Muslims

posted by janrinok on Wednesday April 17 2019, @12:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the even-SN-is-vulnerable dept.

aristarchus writes:

From the insides of Business Insider

As a huge fire took hold of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral on Monday evening, alt-right figures were in no time spreading rumours and disinformation on social media linking the blaze to Muslims and hinting at a sinister cover up.

French officials on Monday night were quick to say that arson was unlikely to be the cause of the blaze as it engulfed the roof of the 12th century cathedral, but far-right activists and propagandists were already all over social media channels pushing conspiracies.

Conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec compared the blaze to 9/11, despite no link having made to terrorism by French officials, while alt-right activist Faith Goldy falsely claimed that three days previously "a Muslim jihadis [sic] in Paris was arrested for planning a terrorist attack at Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Funny, there was this little AC scurrying about here on SN yesterday, saying things like this.

...but well countered here, also by an AC:

See Also:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/16/notre-dame-fire-investigators-seek-cause-of-cathedral-blaze-paris

Police have begun questioning workers who were carrying out renovations at the cathedral. The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an inquiry into "involuntary destruction by fire", indicating they believe the cause of the blaze was accidental rather than criminal.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/notre-dame-fire-cause-everything-know-cathedral-paris/

The Paris prosecutor's office said it was treating the fire as an accident, ruling out arson and possible terror-related motives, at least for now.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 17 2019, @02:45PM (20 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @02:45PM (#831050) Journal

    https://godfatherpolitics.com/875-christian-churches-vandalized-in-france-since-2018/ [godfatherpolitics.com]

    On the heels of the burning of Paris’ famed Notre Dame Cathedral a report says that about 875 Christian churches have been vandalized by radicals in France since 2018.

    Churches across France have been torched, spray-painted, had feces smeared on doors and walls, and had windows broken by radical secularists and Muslims, the Sun wrote.

    “Recent incidents have included a fire in Saint-Sulpice church in Paris, human poo daubed on a wall in Notre-Dame-des-Enfacts in Nimes, and an organ vandalized at Saint-Denis basilica outside Paris,” the paper reported.

    The paper added:

            Figures released by French police showed that 875 of France’s 42,258 churches were vandalized last year.

            A further 129 churches reported thefts from the premises.

            The interior ministry said that 59 cemeteries were also vandalized.

            While the figures are down on the previous year when there were 1,045 acts of vandalism and 109 thefts they are still at a “worrying level”, according to Le Figaro.

    Muslims? Maybe. Maybe not. I'll go with the maybe, thank you very much.

    https://www.catholicireland.net/france-shocked-by-spate-of-church-attacks/ [catholicireland.net]

    France shocked by spate of church attacks

    By Cian Molloy - 30 March, 2019

    At the Church of Notre Dames des Enfants in Nimes, the building was smeared with human excrement, the main altar and tabernacle were looted and consecrated hosts were stolen and dumped.

    More than two dozen church buildings across France have been hit by serious vandalism, including arson and desecration, this year.

    The most notable attack occurred on 17th March, when Saint Sulpice, the second biggest church in Paris, was set on fire shortly after midday Mass in an incident that police are describing as arson. The damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of euros – and it could have been much worse but for the prompt response by firefighters.

    In the week before that attack, there were eleven other serious attacks on church buildings. Police are so far at a loss as to whether the attacks are being coordinated or what the motivation behind them might be.

    During February and March, other attacks on churches included the defilement of the Church of Notre Dames des Enfants in Nimes, where the building was smeared with human excrement, the main altar and tabernacle were looted and consecrated hosts were stolen and dumped.

    The Bishop of Nimes, Robert Wattebled, decided the desecration was so severe that the activities at the church had to be stopped until penitential rites of purification had been carried out.

    Hundreds of kilometres away in Dijon, the high altar at the Church of Notre Dame was attacked, its tabernacle was looted and consecrated hosts were trod into the ground.

    In Lavaur, near Toulouse, statues and crosses in the Cathedral of Saint Alain were toppled and smashed and an altar cloth set on fire.

    In the wider Paris area, more than a dozen Catholic church have suffered attacks of varying severity. In Houilles, a nineteenth century statue of Our Lady was irreparably damaged in one of three attacks on the same church within the space of ten days.

    Posting pictures of some of the attacks on Twitter, the Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship, Cardinal Robert Sarah, commented: “The acts of desecration and vandalism in churches are always highly reprehensible. They are the sad reflection of a sick civilisation that gets carried away in the nets of evil. Bishops, priests, the faithful must keep strength and courage.”

    While the French Bishops’ Conference (the CEF) hasn’t commented on the attacks as yet, there has been speculation in the French media that attacks on Catholic church buildings may have increased because the CEF issued a statement at the start of February condemning attacks on Jewish synagogues.

    However, it appears that for some time the Catholic Church has been the main religion targeted by vandals but, until the St Patrick’s Day attack on Saint Suplice, these attacks were given little prominence in the media.

    According to the French Ministry of the Interior, last year there were 541 attacks on property that could be described as anti-Semitic acts, 100 that could be categorised as anti-Muslim and a total of 1,063 that were anti-Christian.

    Couldn't be Muslims doing this, could it? Hell, I don't know, but I'll put my money on Muslims, because the Media won't report crimes committed by Muslims. By their definition, it's "racist" to notice that a Muslim might do wrong.

    By MY definition, it's definitely bigoted to fail to report all crimes equally. I don't care if it's a Catholic, a Protestant, and Atheist, or a Muslim - desecrating a holy place should be punishable by death. I won't even consider burning down a Satanist's place of worship, what gives a Muslim the right to burn down churches?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Flamebait=1, Troll=2, Insightful=3, Informative=5, Overrated=1, Total=12
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:04PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:04PM (#831066)

    Oh go fuck yourself troll.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:06PM (8 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:06PM (#831069) Journal

      Facts are facts, sweetheart. Get over yourself.

      • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:01PM (6 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:01PM (#831104)

        Ya, you're a racist fuckwit.

        Astounding seeing the alt-righters post more of the same bullshit as the article describes.

        • (Score: 2, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:20PM (5 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:20PM (#831121) Journal

          You and your CTRL-Left hate white people far more than I hate ANYONE - including Muslims. Tell me more about racism.

          • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:30PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:30PM (#831170)

            Tell me more about racism.

            Just look in the mirror, you incel racist loser.

          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:41PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:41PM (#831177)

            Well when you have such basic comprehension issues there is little anyone can truly explain to you.

            Like Trump you are either a total tro or a massive idiot. Either way you spew bullshit so the particulars don't really matter.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 18 2019, @11:31AM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 18 2019, @11:31AM (#831576)

            I don't hate muslims
            I just don't want to be oppressed or killed by them
            Is that so hard to understand?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 18 2019, @06:51PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 18 2019, @06:51PM (#831805)

              I don't hate muslims
              I just don't want to be oppressed or killed by them
              Is that so hard to understand?

              Evidently it is hard for you to understand that your desire not to be oppressed or killed is in itself a racist fear of the unknown "other", it is a nativist emotions that makes people want to build walls, and crawl into bunkers to "survive". So actually you do hate muslin, and probably calico as well, and your irrational fear is part of that hate.

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday April 21 2019, @12:22AM

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday April 21 2019, @12:22AM (#832791) Journal

              So...er, don't go to horrible places like Saudi Arabia...?

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:20PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:20PM (#831120)

        And racist trash is racist trash.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Codesmith on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:57PM (9 children)

    by Codesmith (5811) on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:57PM (#831099)

    Trying to drill down on this, and it looks like the vandalism is aimed at the Catholic churches.

    Guess what sunshine, there's a huge group of Americans who are absolutely pissed at the Catholic system with their kiddie diddlers and financial hijinks. I'd say they're just as likely to trash stuff as Moslems are. It might be worth looking to see if the French are having the same discussions.

    I know that doesn't fit your narative, but you whould probably look with a little wider lens. Assholes abound out there.

    Besides, doesn't WBC consider the Catholics are in league with the devil or something?

    --
    Pro utilitate hominum.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:26PM (8 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:26PM (#831125) Journal

      a huge group of Americans who are absolutely pissed at the Catholic

      Notre Dame isn't in 'Murica, is it? So, you're saying that a huge group of 'Muricans flew over yonder, just to burn down some Catholic churches? Help me out here - I'm trying to wrap my mind around whatever the fuck 'Muricans have to do with thousands of Catholic churches being vandalized in the last three years. Are you part of this terror group of Americans, and you're just informing us of what you have been up to?

      Checking my map again, just to be sure - nope - France doesn't have even one single mile of border that touches 'Murica. Nowhere do we have a border in common.

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:31PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:31PM (#831205)

        Not much for reading comprehension are you.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:37PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:37PM (#831209)

        Notre Dame isn't in 'Murica, is it?

        Actually, it is, just not the one we are discussing, you geographical and historically challenged product of Republican cuts to public education in America! https://www.nd.edu/ [nd.edu] Indiana?

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:42PM (2 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:42PM (#831214) Journal

          So, it was the COLLEGE that caught fire a couple days ago? *rolleyes*

          • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:57PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:57PM (#831228)

            They were trying to broaden your perspective, instead of focusing on the Fox News bogey man "MUSLIMS!@!@!" at every opportunity you should try using your brain. Maybe it was a Muslim attack, maybe it was some pissed off parents of abused kids, maybe it was just an accident. The point is that pontificating from a bigoted perspective is stupid and that makes YOU stupid.

            I just go for insults these days since reasoning with you about this stuff hasn't worked one bit in years.

            • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @07:20PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @07:20PM (#831251)

              Poor Runaway! To be so stupid, and so scared, and too stupid to understand why he is scared. If only someone could edumacate him with some book-larning.

      • (Score: 2) by Codesmith on Thursday April 18 2019, @12:40PM (2 children)

        by Codesmith (5811) on Thursday April 18 2019, @12:40PM (#831593)

        ... there's a huge group of Americans who are absolutely pissed at the Catholic system with their kiddie diddlers and financial hijinks. I'd say they're just as likely to trash stuff as Moslems are. It might be worth looking to see if the French are having the same discussions.

        You seemed to have missed the bolded part of the statement. I was comparing the French to Americans, not suggesting the US had anything to do with this.

        --
        Pro utilitate hominum.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 18 2019, @02:01PM (1 child)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 18 2019, @02:01PM (#831637) Journal

          Ahhh - got it. Sorry 'bout the misinterpretation. :^)

          • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday April 18 2019, @06:53PM

            by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday April 18 2019, @06:53PM (#831808) Journal

            First janrinok, now Runaway! OMG! Is polite rational discussion about to break out on SoylentNews!