Persian Realm

French march against gay marriage

by Darius Kadivar on Sat Nov 17, 2012 03:50 PM PST

French march against gay marriage (bbc)

 

Tens of thousands of people protest in France against plans to legalise same-sex marriage and allow gay couples to adopt.

French far-right group storms site of new mosque

by Darius Kadivar on Sat Oct 20, 2012 05:02 PM PDT

French far-right group storms site of new mosque (France 24)

 

Around 60 members of a French far-right group occupied the site of a future mosque on Saturday to protest against the influence of Islam in France. Their act was widely condemned by politicians and Muslim groups.

 

French police kill radical islamist in wave of anti-terror raids

by Darius Kadivar on Sat Oct 06, 2012 02:16 PM PDT

Man killed in French terror raid (bbc)

A man linked to a grenade attack on a Jewish shop in Paris is killed in a shoot-out with French police during a wave of anti-terror arrests in Strasbourg.

Qatar pours cash into France’s troubled suburbs

by Darius Kadivar on Tue Sep 25, 2012 05:49 PM PDT

Qatar pours cash into France’s troubled suburbs (France 24)

 

Months after it was announced Qatar was financing a fund to economically reinvigorate France’s disadvantaged suburbs, the French government has said it also plans to pour cash into the project, which has already sparked much controversy.

 

France dismantles Roma camps, deports hundreds

by Darius Kadivar on Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:49 AM PDT

France dismantles Roma camps, deports hundreds (france 24)

 

French authorities expelled at least 200 Roma from their encampments near the northern city of Lille on Thursday, deporting many of them to Romania. The move comes a day after France's interior minister voiced concern about "unsanitary camps".

 

 

 

France's National Front to sue Madonna over Le Pen swastika

by Darius Kadivar on Sun Jul 15, 2012 06:53 AM PDT

Madonna faces swastika lawsuit (bbc)

 

France's National Front is to sue Madonna after an image at her concert showed a swastika on party leader Marine Le Pen's face.

'Anti-Semitic attacker' detained by French Police

by Darius Kadivar on Thu Jun 07, 2012 02:56 PM PDT

'Anti-Semitic attacker' detained (bbc)

 

French police detain a man suspected of attacking three young Jews with a hammer during an assault in the town of Villeurbanne, reports say.

French Muslims feel like scapegoats for nation’s problems

by Darius Kadivar on Sat May 05, 2012 06:43 AM PDT

French Muslims' 'scapegoat' fears (cnn) As French voters prepare to go to the polls, many of the country's Muslims say they feel excluded and stigmatized by a state which insists on secularism.

Centrist Bayrou's tactical game in supporting Hollande

by Darius Kadivar on Sat May 05, 2012 06:09 AM PDT

Centrist Bayrou's tactical game in supporting Hollande (France 24)

 

François Bayrou, leader of the centrist MoDem party, has announced that he will vote for Socialist candidate François Hollande in Sunday’s presidential election, a move that some argue has more to do with expediency than ideology.

 

French rivals Sarkozy and Hollande to face off at last

by Darius Kadivar on Wed May 02, 2012 04:17 AM PDT

French rivals to face off at last (bbc)

 

Nicolas Sarkozy faces his last chance to swing the French election when he meets Socialist favourite Francois Hollande in their only debate.

Marine Le Pen: Are 18% of French people racist?

by Darius Kadivar on Thu Apr 26, 2012 09:41 AM PDT

Marine Le Pen: Are 18% of French people racist? (the economist)

 

SOME readers have been asking why Marine Le Pen did so well in the first round of voting on Sunday. Is it really because 18% of French people are anti-immigrant xenophobes, with a particular line in Islamophobia? 

There is no doubt that, at times during this campaign, Ms Le Pen has sounded a note dangerously close to that of her father and predecessor as leader of the National Front, Jean-Marie. This was particularly true after Mohamed Merah shot dead seven people in and around Toulouse, after which she bellowed: “How many Mohamed Merahs in the boats, the aeroplanes, that arrive each day in France?” 

But, in general, Ms Le Pen’s success over the past year or so has been to shift the party away from her father’s crude and nasty emphasis on immigration and anti-Semitism (with shades of neo-Nazism), towards more subtle concerns with what she calls "Islamification." She objects not to mosque-building, but to allowing Muslim prayers to take over the streets or to the spread of Salafism in France. She has called for immigration to be controlled, not stopped altogether.  

Obama's re election tied to eurozone

by Darius Kadivar on Wed Apr 25, 2012 01:06 PM PDT

Obama tied to eurozone (cnn)

 

As it turns out, the fate of Obama's re-election bid could hinge more on what happens in France or Spain than Ohio over the next six months. Europe's economic woes could push America's soft recovery into reverse, and Mitt Romney into the White House. 

 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Obama's poll standing is closely tied to economic performance
• U.S. election outcome could depend on changes in Europe's economy
• Europe's economy could be at a tipping point this year
• Labeling Romney a right winger may not work if the global economy implodes

Why Trita Parsi prefers Holland to Sarkozy

by Darius Kadivar on Tue Apr 24, 2012 04:04 PM PDT

“Sarkozy has played a critical, instrumental role in hardening the European position on Iran, although the Iranians themselves have certainly helped,” says Iran scholar Trita Parsi, author of  A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy With Iran. “He has consistently taken positions more hawkish than those of the Obama Administration. By contrast, Hollande’s orientation will be on fixing France’s many domestic problems, and even if he leaves the formal position on Iran unchanged, he’s very unlikely to adopt Sarkozy’s approach of pressing other Western powers and agitating for a harder line.”

 

The Socialist candidate, if he wins the presidency, is expected to be more of a low-key team player than Sarkozy, who demands the limelight and has been willing to publicly challenge the Obama Administration to take a tougher line. Hollande’s plate will be full in managing domestic challenges, and his key foreign policy priority as president would be renegotiating the treaty to save the eurozone. Foreign policy dossiers such as Iran and Syria are likely to be returned to the French Foreign Ministry, in contrast to Sarkozy’s habit of taking personal charge. So even if the formal policy remains the same, Sarkozy’s ouster would silence the most important cheerleader for a hard line on Iran in the Western camp. That’s why all stakeholders in the Iran nuclear standoff will be watching closely when French voters return to the polls on May 6 to settle the matter of whether Sarkozy will have a second term. 

How France runoff could affect Iran

by Darius Kadivar on Tue Apr 24, 2012 03:36 PM PDT

How France runoff could affect Iran (cnn)

 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy may have once been caught in an unguarded moment telling President Barack Obama he couldn’t stand Benjamin Netanyahu and branding the Israeli leader “a liar,” but Netanyahu would nonetheless lose an important ally if Sarkozy is unable to reverse Sunday’s setback in his reelection bid. That’s because regardless of the personal chemistry between them, Netanyahu will be initimately aware that Sarkozy is widely regarded as the most Israel-friendly French president ever and is also Israel’s best bet among Western leaders for maintaining a hard line on Iran. Even if presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande is unlikely, if elected, to change France’s formal position on Iran, the Socialist Party candidate is also highly unlikely to reprise Sarkozy’s hyperactive and reliably hawkish hectoring of Washington and his European neighbors to escalate pressure on Iran—and to resist compromises with Tehran on the issue of uranium enrichment.

 

The Socialist candidate, if he wins the presidency, is expected to be more of a low-key team player than Sarkozy, who demands the limelight and has been willing to publicly challenge the Obama Administration to take a tougher line. Hollande’s plate will be full in managing domestic challenges, and his key foreign policy priority as president would be renegotiating the treaty to save the eurozone. Foreign policy dossiers such as Iran and Syria are likely to be returned to the French Foreign Ministry, in contrast to Sarkozy’s habit of taking personal charge. So even if the formal policy remains the same, Sarkozy’s ouster would silence the most important cheerleader for a hard line on Iran in the Western camp. That’s why all stakeholders in the Iran nuclear standoff will be watching closely when French voters return to the polls on May 6 to settle the matter of whether Sarkozy will have a second term.

 

 

 

vous remercier monsieur

by anglophile on Mon Apr 23, 2012 07:04 AM PDT

 

 

vous êtes si doux

I don't like Sarkozi.

by Esfand Aashena on Mon Apr 23, 2012 04:57 AM PDT

Darius jaan true that France like much of Europe or America for that matter is divided.  However, the difference between Sarkozy (or people of his ill on Europe or America) and his opponents is that Sarkozy wants to fan the flames and be an in your face kind of leader.

During W there was so much dumb in your face comments and attitude that culimanted in Republicans selecting Palin (see Game Change :-) as a VP and with McCain's age, possibly President.  Now you'd think Palin was a mistake but look how much mileage she got afterwards.

These countries are divided but not divided in terms of 50/50 of the population.  They're divided 50/50 between those who vote!  30% - 40% of population votes but if 100% of population were voting, Sarkozy and people of his ill would lose by a landslide 65%. 

Everything is sacred

Angal a mixture of ignorance and arrogance

by religionoutofgovernment on Sun Apr 22, 2012 09:14 PM PDT

You portray the essence of all the negative traits in our culture which have promoted dictators after dictators, which have prevented growth of an open and democratic civil society. 

Self-centered

Inability to rationally discuss issues

Insulting

A biased and selective knowledge of history and events, yet claiming to know it all.

Intolerance to opposing ideas

Believing that insults, repitition, force and possibly violence give you more credence.

Oblivious to all democratic values.

 

Congratulations

 

 

 

Dr Mossadeghzadeh!

by anglophile on Sun Apr 22, 2012 03:32 PM PDT

Why do you like to embarrass yourself so much?

 

  For the most part, Mitterrand had a stronger position on IRI and was more hostile to the IRI than the center-right that followed him. 

 

 

Is this why Mitterrand released Bakhtiar's assassin without even pardonning him?

//www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2011/08/110727_l23_bakhtiar_20th_anniv_anis_naccache.shtml

 

Is this why Oveissi, his brother, Boroumand, Bakhtiar and Katibeh were all assassinated by the IRI agents in Paris under Mitterrand's watch and nothing happened to the relations between the two countries?

 

And is this why under Mitterrand Rajavi and the MKO were expelled from France?

 

Pleeeeeeease MK joon stick to Mossadegh and you will be less embarrassed  - LOL 

 

Dariush jaan

by Masoud Kazemzadeh on Sun Apr 22, 2012 02:58 PM PDT

Dariush jaan,

Thanks for the blog.  Sarkozy's positions on the fundamentalist regime has been very strong.  Do you know what is Holland's position on the IRI?  The Socialist party under Mitternad actually had a very strong position on the IRI.  For the most part, Mitterrand had a stronger position on IRI and was more hostile to the IRI than the center-right that followed him. 

What is the Socialist Party's policies toward the IRI?  Are they stronger or weaker than Sarkozy's position?

Thnaks,

Masoud

   

This is precisely when a monarch should intervene

by anglophile on Sun Apr 22, 2012 02:51 PM PDT

Darius jaan You summed it up beautifully: " Given the Results of the First round of  the French Presidential elections I'm afraid France will be ungovernable with on one hand Sarkozy hostage of the Far Right and Holland Hostage to Demagogue Lefties and Greens ...

 

Never has this country been more torn by contradictions and bitterness in one of the most troublesome periods in the History and not only France but also Europe ..."

This is when and where the non-political, non partisan, institution of monarchy can play a pivotal role purely in the interest of the nation and above all party politics, by appointing a prime minister (instead of a president) who can maintian country's stability. Wouldn't you agree? BTW, Hafez predicted a Sarkozy victory :))