Sunny skies, Anarchists and European style Communists

Yesterday thousands marched through the Place de Bastille of every labor and political persuasion, young and old out for a day in the Parisian sun. The T-shirt above was worn by a member of an anarchist group who strenuously distanced himself from the communists. He believed a very long strike was necessary to bring the government down, not a day strike under blue skies. I was struck by the many elderly people sporting communist banners and arm bands. I mentioned my years in Ukraine and what happened there under communism including the deliberate starvation or deportation of Ukrainian farmers causing the death of 7 million of them. But, that wasn't real communism they replied! Wishful thinking at best. It's so interesting to be in a country where people pay 40% of their income for taxes for social programs that pay them more than they were making if they lose their jobs, where the university costs about $900 a year, where there is full socialized medicine and where the people believe the government is not doing enough. So yesterday millions marched in France for more even though there is no more. I would not like to be an elected official here. At least when I was in the middle of the sea of marchers everyone was having a good time and there were no outbreaks of violence. Not sure how the day ended but everyone was back to work today as far as I could see. Shalom from Paris. David Schneier

Aux Barricades

The great rallying cry of the revolution of 1848 in France was "Aux barricades!" -- meaning workers should go out and block the streets against the government and its troops. Tomorrow is supposed to be another general strike of some sort in France to call on the government to help the workers. The photos show what it can look like in France. (Upper photo-Lionel Cironneau/The Associated Press, lower photo-BBC) I'll be out trying to get my own photos of this country stopping event.

According to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, "More than two million people are expected to take part in nationwide strikes in France on Thursday in protest against proposed cutbacks by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Trade unions and left-wing parties have urged workers to come out in large numbers in the second show of force against the government since January. Public services will be affected nationwide. The strikes will also disrupt commuter trains, intercity rail services and air traffic. International trains like the Thalys and Eurostar are planning to run as scheduled, although delays are not being ruled out. The strikes across 200 towns - which should last until Friday morning - come against a backdrop of mounting anger over job losses and factory closures."

Please pray for France and for Leslye and I as we try to get around in the city. Often the strikes go an extra day when the start on Thursday so that the workers can have a long weekend. Shalom from Paris. David Schneier

"...seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear." Mat 13:13

(Photo above:Veronica Weber,Palo Alto Weekly) (Photo left, Mathew Filipowich,The Medium Online)

Psalm 83:1-4 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more."

That seems a clear message for those who seek to eliminate Israel from the world map: The plans of man will not go unnoticed in Heaven and "He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."(Ps 121:4) In Europe few care if Israel is slandered for allegedly creating a modern Holocaust in Gaza or called a Nazi, apartheid state. Let's be clear: Israel was created to be Jewish homeland. It is home for 6 million+ Jews, and, therefore, anti-Israelism is also anti-Semitism. So why are students and faculties in Europe, Canada and the US turning against Israel while asserting that they are not anti-Semites - because it is easy for the confused liberal mind to separate the two (Israel and the Jews) when they are inseparable. But we who know better must clear a path through this world wide fog.

There is not one nation on earth that has had to put up with years of indiscriminate missile attacks and terrorism against its civilians which are war crimes and genocide, yet these acts carry little weight in the court of world opinion. Not one nation would show the restraint that Israel has shown and yet many university students and professors cannot see what is obvious. Therefore it is up to those who truly follow the God of Israel and those who know Yeshua as Messiah to stand up, proclaim the truth and take whatever is thrown against them in every arena of life. "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."(Joshua 1:9)

Shalom from Paris. David Schneier

The Sorbonne - the beat goes on

A block away perhaps a thousand riot police surrounded the main buildings of the Sorbonne. All the doors were shut and manned by the riot police with 23 students inside effectively keeping out thousands of others. I ran into a couple of sympathizers one bearing a Communist insignia on his sleeve and Lenin pins on his lapel. He explained to me that France was in a perpetual revolution since their Revolution of old, and that the communists had the answers for the people. Right! Another guy said that the will of the people was paramount but he couldn't explain what that was. I told him I had spent 12 years in Ukraine and was not impressed by the after effects of Communism. I mean, Stalin starved, worked to death or killed about 7 million Ukrainian farmers in the name of farm collectivism. The pictures above depict the enormity of the Sorbonne, protestors banners ("The Sorbonne is a political animal."), communist sleeve patches and riot police. This activity is really a distraction from the real problems here but there are many who believe that the French Revolution should never end. Shalom from Paris. David Schneier

Takeover at the Sorbonne and Ukraine teeters on the edge

Publish Post

Tonight, just blocks for our home, students took over some classrooms at the Sorbonne to protest against rising tuition costs and some new restrictions on professors. I asked one student how much tuition was per year and they told me 700 Euros or about $875. If this sum is accurate they don't have a clue what a deal they are getting. I just read that GW University (room, board and tuition) is running about $50,000 a year! Not sure what the French professors might be in for - maybe some rules about working.

In Ukraine, protests begin to grow in Kiev about the state of the economy or lack thereof. According to the "(a) sign held by .... an unemployed plumber camped out with other antigovernment demonstrators here in the past week, summed up the pervasive frustration: 'Get rid of them all,' it said. (He) did not hesitate to take that further. "There will be a revolt," he said. "And people will come because they are just fed up." A picture of a run on a local bank and the desecration of the grave marker of Rabbi Schneerson (who before he died lead the ultro-Orthodox Lubuvacher movement and who was considered the Messiah by his followers) is a grim reminder that anti-Semitism always rises in hard financial times in Europe. Keep up the prayer for France and Ukraine. Shalom. David Schneier
[The bank photo and quote is by Joseph Sywenkji for the New York Times (3/2/09) and the grave marker photo is from CFCA, 2/26/09].

Old lies in Europe: "Holocaustianity" and anti-Capitalism

Holocaust denier, Bishop Richard Williamson, just kicked out of Brazil, arrived back in England, cheered on by his prominent supporter, Michele Renouf, who said on CNN that "Holocaustianity" has replaced Christianity. It seems that there are many proponents now of the idea that the Jews have fabricated the Holocaust for their own ends (specifically the creation of Israel) and have compelled the West to accept a new religion called Holocaustianity where no denial of it is the primary doctrine. What do you think of this new brand of rubbish and why do you think anyone could believe this? Google this term and see all of the proponents of this new attack against Israel and the Jewish people.
Bishop Williamson
Jens falk/Reuters; Olivier Besancenot, Wikipedia

In France, we see the appearance of a new anti-capitialist party (same old communist party in a new suit) led by the 34 year old Olivier Besancenot. This party is gaining ground in France due to the world-wide financial collapse and threatens to take the normal French path of battle in the streets to re-establish an ongoing French revolution. I am sure they would love to restore the guillotine at Place de Concorde to weed out the worst offenders of the "will of the people," that French revolutionary model of the correct governmental policy. Moses, however, differs from this populist idea when he said not to follow after the majority. Mt. Sinai and the golden calf is a good example. It is so interesting to see revolutionaries seeming to know what the will of the people is even if the people don't want what they are supposed to need. Never mind the people's right to choose. The people's so-called collective will needs to be imposed even if they won't accept what is good and right for them. It's Orwell all over again: "War is Peace, Freedon is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength."

Here's what The Sunday Times (2/22/09-Matthew Campbell and Bojan Pancevski) had to say about trends in Europe and Besancourt.

"The French are known for a culture of protest but on this occasion the government has cause for concern. As the global financial crisis deepens, the flirtation with political extremes is intensifying to the extent that the most popular critic of President Nicolas Sarkozy is a firebrand Trotskyist committed to revolutionary upheaval.

Olivier Besancenot, the so-called “Red Postman”, is not only a hero to students demonstrating at the Sorbonne, birthplace of the student uprising in May 1968. The poll last week that described him as the “most effective” opponent of Sarkozy also showed that his approval rating had risen by 12 points to 23% since he founded the New Anti-capitalist party last month....

'Anti-capitalist views are spreading on the far right,' said Richard Stöss, a political scientist in Berlin who found that 82% of the right-wing extremists he questioned for a recent study said they were opposed to capitalism and globalisation.

In France the cherub-faced Besancenot is also changing his tune, not least by renaming his party whose old title, the Communist Revolutionary League, had been considered a turn-off for voters.

While he continues to advocate the overthrow of the government – through peaceful means, he insists – far-reaching nationalisation and the redistribution of wealth, he is also embracing environmental issues in the hope of broadening his appeal in time for European elections this summer."

So please keep up the prayer for France and Europe for a sound mind/common sense to be restored to their politics and for the lies against Isreal and the Jewish people to be confronted and vanquished.

Shalom from Paris. David Schneier

Paris, Vichy Complicity, Bishops, Chavez and Ukraine

Lot's of things going on in Europe, but first some Paris views: Top photo - small cars and small garages, then torch lit protest by those who don't want the Euro or the EU, then typical parking, and finally Jesus and Freud action dolls in a children's store. Hard to figure out a common denominator here except that Paris is full of daily surprises. On the anti-Semitism front, the top French judicial body just ruled that the French Vichy government was responsible for the deportation of approximately 110,000 French Jews during WWII, most of whom died in concentration camps. The court known as the Council of State also ruled that no compensation was available for the deportees or their families as "the deportation had been 'compensated for' since 1945." Right! It did leave open the possibility of damages for a "daughter of a deportee as to her material and moral damages for her own personal suffering during and after the occupation." (Herald Tribune, Feb. 17, 2009, p. 8). Almost 60 years after the fact and they still haven't gotten this right yet.

Haven't heard if the Bishop, who was reinstated by the Pope even though he doesn't believe the Holocaust happened, has recanted. Anyone have an update? And Chavez it seems is dictator for life. Keep following the story of how the Jews of Venezuela are being blamed for having their synagogue defaced.

Finally my time in Odessa and Nikolaiv, Ukraine has been set for April 29th through May 12th. We are going to have an awesome leadership retreat with some real heroes of Eastern Europe - They are pioneers in one of the most significant moves of God in the world amongst the Jewish people. Shalom from France. David Schneier