European Terrorists Spew Hatred that Has Nothing to Do with Religion

The fallout continues from the Charlie Hebdo cover that led to the Paris terrorist attack leaving 12 people dead. There is a swelling tide of popular antagonism across Europe against radical Islam, as well as stepped-up police efforts to prevent terrorism, while protests against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad across the Moslem world highlight the cultural divide that can no longer be papered over. Here are some of the latest episodes. ~~~~~ Today, French authorities tried to head off possible civil unrest and glorification of terrorism after the country's worst terror attacks in decades. They also agreed to the secret burial in unmarked graves of the two Kouachi brothers who attacked Charlie Hebdo and they banned an anti-Islamist demonstration in Paris after the Paris administrative tribunal ruled that Paris police were authorized to ban a Sunday "Islamists out of France" rally planned by two groups that promote secular and republican values. One group, "Secular Riposte," said on its website that it would hold a news conference on Sunday. Resistance Republicaine, the other group, said it would hold Sunday rallies in the southern cities of Bordeaux and Montpellier. ~~~~~ In Belgium, for the first time in 30 years, the government used paratroopers to reinforce police patrols at possible terrorist target sites in Belgian cities, including some buildings in Antwerp's Jewish quarter, a decision that came a day after anti-terror raids netted dozens of suspects in Belguim and other European countries. Belgian media reported that investigators were still looking for one man - a Belgian with Moroccan roots reported to be fighting with ISIS in Syria. European media reported that the man is in Greece. Federal magistrate Eric Van der Sypt declined to comment, but expressed "regret that the Greece factor had reached the media." AP later reported that it was told by Greek police that they have detained four suspected terrorists, including one who could be the man wanted by Belgian authorities as an alleged ringleader of a jihadist cell. One of the four men arrested "matches the description" of Abdelhamid Abaaoud - the man who Belgian authorities suspect was the mastermind behind the dismantled jihadist cell that police fought in Verniers, the official said. Photos, fingerprints and DNA samples are being sent to Belgium, and Greek authorities are waiting to see if the person is Abaaoud, according to the AP source. ~~~~~ And, as was predictable, there are demonstrations in the Moslem world against the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Many of the demonstrations are in French-speaking former French colonies. ~~~~~ Stone-throwing demonstrators set fire to two churches in Niger's capital Niamey on Saturday. Five people were killed in Niger on Friday and five more today in protests over the cartoons. Protesters in Niamey attacked a police station and burned at least two police cars near the main mosque after authorities banned a meeting called by local Moslem leaders. Police responded with teargas. One demonstrator told Sky News : "They offended our Prophet Mohammed. That's what we didn't like. This is the reason why we demonstration. This is the reason why we have asked Moslems to come, so that we can explain this to them, but the state refused. That's why we're angry today." Demonstrations were also reported in regional Niger towns, including Maradi, where two churches were burned. Another church and a residence of the foreign minister were burned in Goure. Four Moslem preachers who had called the meeting in Niamey were arrested, according to French media. Protesters burned the French flag and set up roadblocks on streets in the centre of Niamey. The French embassy in Niamey warned its citizens not to go out on the streets. On Friday, churches were burned, Christian homes looted and the French cultural centre was attacked during the violence in Zinder, residents said. A police officer and three civilians had already been confirmed killed and a burned body was found today in a burnt-out church there. ~~~~~ Demonstrations against Charlie Hebdo occurred after Friday prayers in Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria and Yemen. Protesters in Senegal and Mauritania torched French flags, and Qatar and Bahrain warned that the cartoon on the cover of the latst Charlie Hebdo could fuel hatred. The cartoon features the Prophet holding a Je Suis Charlie sign under the headline "All Is Forgiven." ~~~~~ In Jordan's capital Amman, 2,500 protesters marched from Al Husseini mosque under tight security, holding banners that read "insulting the Prophet is global terrorism." In Algiers, there were clashes as up to 3,000 marchers chanted: "We are all Mohammed. In Istanbul, about 100 people gathered, some carrying photos of the Kouachi brothers. ~~~~~ In Karachi, Pakistan, people were injured when protesters clashed with police outside the French consulate. The nationwide rallies in Pakistan followed comments by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who led parliament in condemning the cartoons in Charlie Hebdo. One faction of the Pakistani Taliban has issued a statement praising the Islamist Kouachi brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre saying: "They freed the Earth from the existence of filthy blasphemers." Insulting the Prophet carries the death penalty under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, and 14 people are currently on death row. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the most disheartening aspect of the turmoil we find ourselves in over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons is that there is no clear prohibition in Islam about depicting the Prophet, and until the 18th century artists made beautiful paintings showing him surrounded by angels and his companions. It seems that the general use of images in Islam - animals and people, as well as the Prophet - varies with the various branches of Islam. And it was the Taliban in 2005 who made images critical as the subject of a fatwah which forbade their use because they are a form of idol worship. Soon afterward, the Taliban destroyed the famous wall of Buddhas and began their campaign to wipe out all historically important statues and paintings in territories controlled by them. So, the world is once more being set against itself by fanatic terrorists who use and distort Islam to justify and fuel their jihad against Christians, Jews, Westerners -- and more moderate Moslems. Once more, we must say that this is terrorism not religion. And everyone - Christians, Jews, Westerners and Moslems - must present a united front in stamping it out.