Jonathan Hanks sends this guest essay about the Potemkin march staged by world leaders in Paris several weeks ago.

A picture is worth…

by Jonathan Hanks

Well, on Sunday January 11 we saw an amazing show of support for the slain journalists and cartoonists on the streets of Paris.

Millions of French men and women demonstrated their solidarity by waving ‘Je suis Charlie’ banners as they marched in memory of what was the most awful terrorist attack at the heart of the French Republic witnessed thus far.

In addition to the throngs of ordinary citizens, a goodly number of world leaders were present, ostensibly there to show unity with the French people and mourn for the victims of the savagery.

I had naïvely assumed that at least some of the imagery associated with this event would have actually addressed some of the underlying problems and causes for the brutal murders of these men and women. Three pressing issues that immediately come to mind would include:

1. Global Jihad. By this I mean the assault of radical, extremist Islamic elements against the Western world and all that we hold dear. 2. Free Speech. Whatever free speech meant in the past, it is clear that the gold standard for free speech in today’s Western world means the ability to criticize Islam and Mohammed without fear of being penalized and harassed by our own governments, or being shot dead or beheaded by some Muslim fanatic. 3. Jew hatred. The forces of anti-Semitism that are present not only in France but throughout Europe and which have already led to the targeted assassinations of several French citizens — the latest of which were the four killed in the Jewish market this month in Paris — are undeniably on the rise.



I didn’t see any of that imagery, so I think the story-line is best played out by sorting through the tangled web of opposing agendas and mixed messages represented by the front line of the prominenti:

François Hollande. The least popular man in France for several years, whose country now has roughly 750 no-go zones where sharia law is practiced and the gendarmes don’t dare to tread. With roughly 10% of his country practicing Muslims, and an alarming number of those with sympathy or support for extremism, no wonder he looks worried, not only for his own political career, but perhaps for his nation’s very survival as well.

Angela Merkel. Chancellor of Germany — also known as 9-11 terrorist Mohammed Atta’s home base and the land where the only paper to publish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons had been firebombed the night before; home of the PEGIDA movement, which is predictably being labeled by many cultural elites as neo-Nazism instead of the concern of normal citizens who fear Islamic violence spreading to Germany’s own streets in the near future.

David Cameron, who, taking his clues from Barack Hussein Obama’s handbook, has relied on the power of empty rhetoric to keep him appearing relevant for years now, as the UK is overrun by Muslim grooming gangs preying on young girls, his police are busy arresting folks quoting Churchill’s warnings about Islam, and where mosques have become the home of more radicalizing Imams than Saudi Arabia and Iran put together.

Turkey, the seat of the last caliphate and the most likely candidate for any enduring future one. Our close ally and NATO member, Turkey has been working so hard to support ISIS that they actually share office space in some Turkish cities. Moreover, Turkey routinely jails more journalists than any other country in the world, so no real worries about any Charlie Hebdo startups there.

Netanyahu. Well, the beleaguered Israeli PM looked as though a hundred laser-guided sniper scopes might be focused directly on his heart. He was here against the wishes of the French government to point out that anti-Semitism in France and Europe is hitting the stratosphere like another misfired Qassam rocket. If anything good comes to Israel out of these frightful developments, it will be the wealth and brain trust that continues to flee France for the sunnier, if not necessarily safer shores of Tel Aviv.

Abbas. The only smiling man in the procession, and why not? The richest man in the theoretical state of Palestine with an estimated worth of between 100 million and one billion ill-gotten dollars, this anti-Semite, who wrote his doctoral thesis on how the Holocaust is really just a fanciful concoction, recently obtained the support, albeit symbolic, of the elected French Assembly for his future, judenrein utopia.

There you have it. I suspect that with all the photo ops given to these world leaders not much time was left over for any serious discourse behind the scenes. Still, I think these folks have a lot to talk about. But I bet they never get around to it.