Diversity Macht Frei:

Court rules: ‘No such thing as indigenous French’

The “white French called “de souche” [of stock, or indigenous] do not constitute a “group of persons” in the sense of French law, confirmed the court of appeal in Paris, in a case in which an association confronted a rapper and a sociologist.

The Alliance générale contre le racisme et pour le respect de l’identité française et chrétienne (Agrif) [General Alliance for the respect of French and Christian Identity] had filed suit against a rapper and a sociologist who have jointly published a book and a CD in 2010 both called “Nique la France” [Fuck France], for racial insult and incitement to hatred.

The Correctional Tribunal in Paris had acquitted the two accused on 19 March 2015, but the association appealed, an appeal that related only to the civil provisions of the judgement.

The Correctional Tribunal considered that the idea of Français de souche [indigenous French] “does not correspond to any legal, historical, biological or sociological reality,” that “whiteness or the white race” is not “in anyway way a legal component of the quality of French people” and that “white French people called ‘de souche’ do not constitute a ‘group of persons’ in the sense of the law of 1881 on the freedom of the press.

In France, the Jews agitated for legal provisions that would allow them to bring lawsuits based on the concept of group defamation. This is now the main source of the hate speech tyranny that prevents the islamisation of the country from being honestly discussed. But it seems these laws apply only to the privileged ones, not to Europeans.

All revolutionary movements seek ownership of the future.  They are, therefore, interested in the young, who are the demographic which is easiest to enlist and the natural constituency to rebel against and, just possibly, overturn the world of their parents.  Serious revolutionary movements have invariably established youth wings, even movements.  But there is something killing in the prescriptive nature of the exercise.  Not even the völkische movement of 19th century Germany reached the lofty estate of an organically rooted, freely arising, creative culture.  In its contest with modernity it, too, stooped to prescription, forcing a romantic nationalist mask on the face of the German national character because, of course, romantic nationalism was all it knew.

Spontaneous (ie, authentic) counter-cultures are great rarities.  But in my late teens and early twenties I saw and experienced one of those ... a genuine attempt by a great number of genuinely intelligent young people all across the West and, to a degree, in the satellite states of the Soviet Bloc, to live true to themselves and free of the “system”.

Why genuine?  Because it wasn’t artificially generated.  Why a culture?  Because it wasn’t just a pre-adulthood right of passage, like every earlier or later youth rebellion and fashion.  Why “counter”?  Because its concern ... its sorge ... was for existence, for the life that is lived in an age when that life ceased to have human meaning and value for the rulers of America (and those of the white world beyond).  It was an attempt to make a revolution in that life in such a way that its human worth was reclaimed and re-stated in every living, breathing moment.  It had, if not a formal philosophical critique, then certainly a question and, in answer to that, a generalised opinion and a settled will.  It had a definite, positive vision, morally and sexually, aesthetically, spiritually.  It had, if not a plan of how to go about things, at least a confident expectation that it would, by its actions, change the world and do it in one generation.

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Introduction

This article is just a very condensed version of some observations that have been burning on my mind this week and which came up over tea and biscuits during conversations with some of my work colleagues. It may be edifying for European nationalists and regionalists, so I’ve chosen to make a short article about the subjects covered. People should feel free to ask me any questions they like in the comments section, if anyone would like a more expansive explanation about the concepts I’m trying—humorously but with serious intent—to illuminate here.

The somewhat provocative phraseology I’m using here is quite deliberate and is used for a reason that will be explained later on in the article.

Twilight of the Westphalian Model

We are living a world that has progressed and changed significantly since the advent of industrial warfare. In the early 1900s, everything about warfare tended to be the resolution of international disputes through a state actor’s military personnel and machinery clashing in the spacial battlefield until someone was decisively defeated.

Now, this is no longer the case, after the late 1900s and early 2000s, war increasingly has become a matter of non-state actors waging war against other non-state actors, and in the case where states of a Westphalian inspiration came into contradiction with these non-state actors, the Westphalian states’ objective usually was to find a settlement of the conflict that would satisfy the commercial and geostrategic needs of those nations. The battle also takes place in ‘hearts and minds’, getting hearts and minds on one’s side has become not just an optional extra, but in many cases can be a crucial and decisive element of strategy.

The battle of ‘hearts and minds’ is happening in the case where you have to influence a ‘foreign’ population to co-operate with and support military operations that you are conducting inside their territory, or the case where you have to convince a ‘foreign’ population that your occupation of their territory is capable of providing safety and stability through effective counter-terrorism operations.

Increasingly, these same needs apply within the North Atlantic states as well, because we are actually now in a new generation of warfare. This is 5th generation warfare, not 4th generation warfare now. The events which took place in France on 13 November 2015 were a stark sign of that transition between generations having taken place.

ISIL’s attack on Paris was not just an attack against state infrastructure in an attempt to affect the French government’s policy preferences. It was not an attack that could be understood within the context of the Westphalian state model, or the world order that this model had given rise to. Instead, it was an attack against the Westphalian state model itself, and that is why the attackers chose the targets that they chose. They selected places that French people and the foreign residents of other culturally advanced populations would go to enjoy themselves. They chose to deliberately have amongst the assailants a mixture of people carrying Syrian passports alongside people who were second or third generation Muslim residents of European countries such as Belgium.

By selecting the targets in the way that they did, they were announcing that it was a fight of one population against another, one social group against another, in their view, and their intent was to make this fact clear to everyone. We on the other side should not shy away from acknowledging that this is really how it is. They believe that there is a ‘global Ummah’, a community of Muslims unconstrained by national borders, who are trying to uphold and enforce the rules of the Abrahamic monotheistic god over ‘the Kaffir’ who are pagans (this includes people who adhere closely to bonds of blood, which Islamic doctrine considers to be part of ‘Jahiliyyah’), polytheists, atheists, and apostates.

The rise of this kind of view, represents a rise of what is best described as ‘armed social movements’. Social movements have qualities that are distinct from that of traditional Westphalian state structures, even when they come to occupy the seats of power in a state. Armed social movements tend to have a cleanly defined ‘us vs. them’ world view, and the manifestation of state power which is filled by such movements, tends to be an outcome of battles fought in and against civil society, in the terrain of popular culture or through street battles or asymmetrical warfare. The manifestation of state power is not imposed from above, but rather, the manifestation of state power is a sign that the armed social movement has already triumphed among the population itself. The process is ‘bottom up’, rather than ‘top down’.

Armed social movements fight against each other in the terrain of civil society and through popular culture, to determine who will ultimately capture state power in the long term future.

We are an international ‘Satanic Alliance’?

In light of all of the above, the epithet which the jihadists have labelled us with, the epithet ‘Satanic Alliance’ comes into play and is a gateway to understanding the fundamental issue presently facing western civilisation, as well as a method for coming to terms with it.

On 01 November 2015, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri published a sixteen minute video which spread across the Islamic world on social media and jihadist websites, calling for a unified Islamic front against the coalition of groups who are fighting against the imposition of Sharia law, which he described as forming a front against “the Satanic Alliance that attacks Islam”. In his video, he takes a tone toward ISIL which is one of coalition-building, as he is seeking to caution them on the dangers that come from infighting among the various jihadist groups. He doesn’t want ISIL, Jahbat Al-Nusra, and Ahrar Al-Sham to keep fighting against each other over their differences, rather he wants them to suspend their disagreements on who commands the jihadists (ie, Ayman Al-Zawahiri or Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi?) and how it should be expressed (ie, Islam faithful to the 8th century, or Islam adapted to the 21st century?) and to instead unite against “the Satanic Alliance”, and to “hone” their conduct so that they can convince the other Muslims that they “want to be ruled over by Sharia”.

Whenever I hear these things, I always smile a little, because by saying things like that, they are drawing the lines very cleanly and obviously.

However, within the west there is still a muddled feeling amongst the general population about this, which needs to be ironed out. We are and have been and hopefully will continue to be—objectively speaking—living in an increasingly ‘Satanic’ society, if you take the definition of what ‘Satanic’ means from the religious texts of the three Abrahamic religions.

Look at what those three religions stand for, and then look at what we stand for and what we would like to see manifest, and you discover immediately that—as I’ve said before—we are a threat to the Abrahamic religions, we are their adversary. What does ‘Satan’ mean? It literally means ‘the adversary’.

There are many important distinctions between the two sides, but the most important one in the context of the interests of the readers of Majorityrights is this one:

These two views are irreconcilably and diametrically opposed, and always will be.

Two camps: Make a decision, make a choice

Although some find it to be unsettling, the arrival of this amazing narrative brings clarity and doctrinal purity to a situation that previously seemed to lack it. Since 11 September 2001, the middle ground ought to have become entirely vulnerable to erosion. When the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre buildings in 2001, and when the bombs exploded on the trains in Madrid in 2003, and when the bombs exploded on the buses in London in 2005, and now in the wake of the migration crisis and the Paris attacks of 2015, all of these have painted and highlighted—in blood—the existence of two camps before humankind that everyone would have to choose between.

Sometimes, unexpected mouths utter statements that are true. George W. Bush actually stumbled partially onto the truth of the existence of this paradigm when he said, “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists”. Osama bin Laden also once said, “The world today is divided into two camps.”

Both Bush and Bin Laden were essentially correct about that basic reality, although neither of them understood just how correct they were.

All the different operations by the two camps have since served to expose the people who claimed to be ‘in the middle ground’ as being actually through their actions on one side or on the other side, whether they are conscious of it or not.

The shrinking middle ground

Many people on the so-called centre-right, and many so-called radical traditionalists and court ‘historians’ and court ‘scholars’ were immediately exposed by the terrorist attacks and by the wars, and by the mass migration crisis.

All of those who rushed to make apologetics, excuses, and justifications for the Islamists prancing around in their midst, or else, made mealy-mouthed statements about how they ‘respected’ Islam or ‘shared traditional values with them’ and so ‘are internally conflicted on how to react’, or alternately, sought to allocate blame and condemnation onto the victims of Islamic terrorist attacks rather than onto the perpetrators, were all exposed. Some, such as the Jews and the Christians who are milling around among the ruling class in every western state, went so far as to actively campaign for more migrants when the mass migration and infiltration crisis began.

By these actions, they revealed themselves to everyone. Even the most naive observer of political affairs can now be convinced that there really are only two camps.

It is also worth mentioning that in fact, many conservatives of the traditionalist and civic nationalist sort, and almost all social democrats of every stripe, had always been in ‘the camp of Islam’ insofar as they refused to oppose mass migration from the Middle East and Africa, and they refused to criticise the fundamental basis of monotheism itself, restricting themselves only to criticising the methods of the so-called ‘radicals’. Those who walked in ignorance were simply unaware of this, because court ‘historians’ and court ‘scholars’ and the mainstream media had all portrayed them as being opposed, and as a result, their actual complicity with ‘the camp of Islam’ went unrecognised. As a result of this confusion, such persons and groups only appeared to be in the middle ground in the eyes of the ignorant and the uninformed. So it is only in the sense of the perception of the people, that the events since 11 September 2001 have ‘driven’ those people out of the middle ground. In reality they were never in it. It only appeared to be so. A prime example of this would be Angela Merkel and most of the Christian Democratic Union party in Germany. The CDU is firmly in ‘the camp of Islam’, and always has been, it was only in the eyes of the ignorant that it has appeared otherwise (eg, those who were fooled by the false dichotomy of ‘multiculturalism vs. integration’), until recently when it became openly apparent for all to see.

And so the middle ground, and even the perception of there being a middle ground, can now begin to wither. Rather than whining about methods, such as who kills who in what kind of brutal way, we should begin talking about the purpose behind the conflict and what its philosophical and spiritual basis is, and then offer a choice. In other words, we need to get down to the fundamentals.

Be confident

If we, the apparent ‘Satanic Alliance’ can stand together and remain completely and ruthlessly consistent in our narrative and defend the attractiveness and beauty of our Promethean goals, then we can gently—when and where we can—push the dialogue which encourages people to make the choice to join such an ‘alliance’.

In that sense, everything which has happened since 11 September 2001, should be seen not as a disorganised series of tragedies and inconveniences, but rather, as an opportunity, a springboard from which we as ethno-nationalists and ethno-regionalists can jump forward and present—truthfully and with sincerity—the narratives and views of things like ‘the Satanic Alliance’ or ‘the DNA Nation’, ‘the dark side of the Enlightenment’, ‘post-modernity proper’, or ‘taking the kingdom of heaven by force’, or any other thought-form that is grounded in an absolute earthlyness of thought that we care to elucidate.

European Indigenous Ethno-

National & Regional Alliance
       
Hitler as Caesar: Historical lessons to be learned and new friend/enemy lines to be drawn.

Morgoth:

German National Socialism is the foundation of today’s Anti White morality, so even if we granted this Pole everything, every atrocity, every murder and every slur, you can even say the Nationalism Socialism was a flawed ethos because it was merely a reflection of Zionism, which they do at Majority Rights, but that still leaves us in the situation of having to deal with the use of National Socialism to mentally cripple our people, and that would even include Poles and Ukrainians today, who would also be called ‘‘Nazis’’ for wanting to preserve their identity.

I simply cannot see a way around it or under it or over it, we must go straight through it and Poles etc are just going to have to deal with it, because if we fall so do they.

Unfortunate though I believe his hypothesis is, Morgoth has his hypothesis there.

By contrast and to repeat, this Italian/Polish American doesn’t require ethno-nationalists to grant any guilt trips about Nazi Germany (whatever in particular he supposes that “I require to be granted”, I don’t know), but I do require fellow ethno-nationalists to be halfway intelligent and honest in drawing battle lines fit to the requirements of today and what we know now.

Morgoth’s former picture of the week which, according to him, I wasn’t supposed to look at critically:

MR has another hypothesis here.

You did lose, and so did all Europeans because proper friend / enemy distinctions were not drawn.

I, we, are fighting with all we can to defend all native nationalists of all of Europe - western Europe absolutely as well. In fact, they are much better off without the justifiably negative stigma and inter-European strife that came along with that regime and its imagery; on the contrary, they can signal their clear cooperation on European ethno-nationalists grounds much better without it.

That’s the working hypothesis here.

Poland has a unique situation to argue in nationalist terms. Having been subject to both Soviet and Nazi invasions, it is difficult for our enemies - by that, I mean the enemies of we ethnonationalists - to accuse us, by means of them, of being communists or Nazis - the usual bogey men raised to denounce nationalists. They will try to call all ethno-nationalists “Nazis”, you say? Yes, they will try, but anyone who knows the lay of the land (say, in Poland and among Poles), knows that is ridiculous (and no, the next picture of the week that Morgoth put up, of a few bald Poles making Roman salutes behind a “blood and honor” flag is not a representative pattern).

With Poland having suffered among the most of those subject to Nazi invasion, nobody is going to call a true Pole “a Nazi” and have it stick in a credible way.

That typical argument among White Nationalists - “they are going to call you a Nazi anyway, therefore, may as well identify as one” - doesn’t hold up.

The accusation remains a problem for many, however, particularly for those of German and German American extraction. As I have said before, the guilt trip is right on top of them - and it is difficult to have perspective - one is either completely at the opposite extreme, such as Frau Merkel, or, as some tactlessly claim, one must “go directly through it” and cop to the identity completely and unabashedly.

It isn’t true: but for the guilt trips and the overwhelming abuse of liberalism, one may not have perspective to see any other options.

Whether for lack of perspective for overwhelming guilt trips looming upon them more directly as Germans or German Americans; or resulting from the position of those, such as Italians or Italian Americans, whose more marginal position is susceptible to disingenuous negative classification; or for a lack of empathic perspective for their ethnicity, such as the Irish, not having been particularly in the path of Nazi wrath; the overwhelming frustration pervasive liberalism’s destruction has visited upon them tends to manifest two logical fallacies:

1. Overstated premise: Hitler and Nazism necessarily represented “White people” (which, of course, they did not, but only in part).

2. False either/or: It is either Hitler and Nazism or Jewish, neo-liberal rule and its runaway.

Of course cooperative ethno-nationalism is the alternative and proper way out of these illusory paradoxes.

As stated above, Poles, e.g., are in a unique situation to share the relative “innocence” of their nationalist perspective with other nations and unburden them of the guilt trips laid upon them - a service in unburdening ethnonationalist Germany, in particular, of guilt trips.

World War II is history and there is no sense in laying guilt trips upon subsequent generations of Germans and penalizing them.

While the same would apply to virtually all nationals willing to coordinate in ethno-nationalist terms, of course, German nationalism’s recent history has been “mythologized” to the point where it is looked upon as pure evil, having had no rational reasons for its actions, operating ex-nihilo of sufficient cause - forcing would-be nationalists to lie prostrate before Jewish and liberal charges of “Nazism.”

It was not ex nihilo evil; but neither does defense of Nazi Germany hold up to ethno-nationalist criteria.

So, how do ethnonationalists go about correcting the hubris of liberalism which has run rough-shod over the systemic bounds that ethno-nationalism would otherwise provide for our human ecologies?

And how do we look upon Nazism’s imperialist over-correction, an exponential over-reach instigated by Jewish power and influence, neo-liberal powers and some overcompensations from its war-weary neighbors? We look upon it as a history that we can all understand by analogy to many examples in our own lives when we have over-reacted to provocation - now, at our best, we look upon it as history, to learn from. And when we see that our enraged response was directed in the wrong places or without correct measure, we try to do things differently the next time similar provocations arise.

Toward that measure of putting things in perspective and “demythologizing” Hitler, as it were, he is well likened to a Caesar type figure: in regard to whom people now should neither be guilty nor overwhelmingly proud. He did some things well, ok, that we can learn from, but particularly for his intra-European conflict, we should not extol him as a model: Caesar routed the Gauls - oh, good! (not). It would be ridiculous for me to expect people to shrug-that-off as a necessary cost; to say the Gauls “should just get-over it”; to say that all Europeans should affably resonate with and under Caesar’s image; and that the Germans of the Teutoburg Forest must get with the program or “just deal with” the fact that we do not have sense enough to draw new lines, with new signifiers and worldview indications, making it clear that we are European allies now..

NPR/ Mary Beard, ‘From Gladiator Duels To Caesar’s Last Words: The Myths Of Ancient Rome,’ 1 December 2015:

Julius Caesar, perhaps the most famous Roman of them all, had just conquered the Gauls in an absolutely brutal series of campaigns that even some Romans likened to genocide ...soon after establishes himself as dictator ...there is a sense that liberty is being removed by an autocratic leader and a group of what were actually his friends, stabbed him in the Senate.

Of course you aren’t going to make normal people and people who want to fight on proper lines, entirely copacetic with Hitler and Nazi Germany. But you don’t need to; in fact, it’s a great disservice to western nations’ ethno-nationalism, its share in the perspective on their innocence and trust thereof, a burdensome hindrance to participation in their eminent warrant of defense on ethno-nationalist grounds: because Nazism was not ethno-nationalism, not even national socialist, but imperialism in the end; and it certainly did not represent all White people and their nations.

Of course we must not fall into the trap of intra-European fighting again. But that is not enough - as we all know, we must regain our martial spirit and marshal it in the correct manner. Admire and learn from aspects of war and martial prowess of the past, yes, but the most crucial lesson to be learned, and the point, is to draw correct friend / enemy lines this time; to become ethno-nationalists in cooperation and/or coordination - not to become pacificists.

We must regain the will and warrant to kill those who would kill us, you say? Indeed, that is true. But it is a martial spirit that falls in line with ethno-nationalism and regional cooperation as well. Following a line that Bowery articulated: If people will not allow for our human ecology’s discretion to exclude them, then they are abrogating freedom from (and of) association and our freedom of voluntary contract; i.e., they are treating us tantamount to slaves and we might even kill them in self defense if they will not cease and desist from that imposition - this will apply even to those who will refuse our orders of deportation and our assessment that they are to lose citizenship and/or right to abode in our ethnonations.

We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children

Posted by Guessedworker on Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:59 | #

So, let’s look at the key elements of National Socialism - those which are not purely economic, at least - and determine what role, if any, they could have today.

Ayran supremacism (die Herrenrasse)

Today we are seeking to represent our people’s natural right to life and land.  Supremacism is completely off-target.

Slave-labour

Ditto.

Lebensraum

Ditto.

The cult of the Führer

The English, Scots, and Welsh, anyway, are simply too worldly and cynical to love up the leader to the required volume.  Sorry.  Can’t be done.

The total state

Well, in significant respects the version of democracy we have now is not too far from totalitarianism.  But I think the voting public might be quite interested in more democracy rather than less, or in genuine democracy rather than an abuse of it.

State terrorism

Who in their right mind ...

Eugenics, racial hygiene

All we really need is some awareness of self ... some honesty ... and the important aspects of racial life will take care of themselves.  Won’t they?

The militarisation of society

And so we arrive at the chief attraction, indeed, the only real attraction for many.  The Schutzstaffel elite ... the Hitlerjugend ... a prescribed set of actions and horizons for the lost souls of urban Postmodernia.  But is there any evidence from WW2, say, that this is the only foundation on which peoples can be called to their own defence?  Really?

The Turkish airforce shot down a Russian Su-24M last week, and since that time, critical examination of Turkey has brought a number of issues that people had been warned about before to light in the media, which until now had been mostly ignored.

I had intended to write an article at Majorityrights about this, but then I realised that the Independent was actually saying everything that I was going to write, so in the interest of saving time, I will just quote them verbatim:

The Independent, ‘War with Isis: Obama demands Turkey closes stretch of border with Syria’, 01 Dec 2015 (emphasis added):

The US is demanding that Turkey close a 60-mile stretch of its border with Syria which is the sole remaining crossing point for Isis militants, including some of those involved in the massacre in Paris and other terrorist plots.

The complete closure of the 550-mile-long border would be a serious blow to Isis, which has brought tens of thousands of Islamist volunteers across the frontier over the past three years.

In the wake of the Isis attacks in Paris, Washington is making clear to Ankara that it will no longer accept Turkish claims that it is unable to cordon off the remaining short section of the border still used by Isis. “The game has changed. Enough is enough. The border needs to be sealed,” a senior official in President Barack Obama’s administration told The Wall Street Journal, describing the tough message that Washington has sent to the Turkish government. “This is an international threat, and it’s coming out of Syria and it’s coming through Turkish territory.”

The US estimates some 30,000 Turkish troops would be needed to close the border between Jarabulus on the Euphrates and the town of Kilis, further west in Turkey, according to the paper. US intelligence agencies say that the stretch of frontier most commonly used by Isis is between Jarabulus, where the official border crossing has been closed, and the town of Cobanbey.

It has become of crucial importance ever since the Syrian Kurdish forces known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) captured the border crossing at Tal Abyad, 60 miles north of Isis’s capital of Raqqa in June. Turkey had kept that border crossing open while Isis was in control on the southern side, but immediately closed it when the YPG seized the crossing point. The Turkish authorities are refusing to allow even the bodies of YPG fighters, who are Turkish citizens and were killed fighting Isis, to be taken back across the border into Turkey.

The US move follows increasing international criticism of Turkey for what is seen as its long-term tolerance of, and possible complicity with, Isis and other extreme jihadi groups such as al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra Front, and Ahrar al-Sham. Not only have thousands of foreign fighters passed through Turkey on their way to join Isis, but crude oil from oilfields seized by Isis in north-east Syria has been transported to Turkey for sale, providing much of revenue of the self-declared Islamic State.

Last week a Turkish court jailed two prominent journalists for publishing pictures of a Turkish truck delivering ammunition to opposition fighters in Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the weapons were destined for Turkmen paramilitaries allied to Turkey fighting in Syria, but this was denied by Turkish political leaders close to the Turkmen.

Turkey is now under heavy pressure from the US and Russia, with President Vladimir Putin directly accusing Ankara of aiding Isis and al-Qaeda. In the wake of the shooting down of a Russian aircraft by a Turkish jet, Russia is launching heavy air strikes in support of the Syrian army’s advance to control the western end of the Syrian Turkish border. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a Russian air strike on the town of Ariha yesterday killed 18 people and wounded dozens more. Meanwhile Turkey said it had now received the body of the pilot killed when the plane was shot down and would repatriate it to Moscow.

The US demand that Turkey finally close the border west of Jarabulus could, if Turkey complies, prove more damaging to Isis than increased air strikes by the US, France and, possibly Britain. The YPG has closed half the Syrian frontier over the last year and defeated an Isis assault aimed at taking another border crossing at Kobani. Syrian Kurdish leaders say they want to advance further west from their front line on the Euphrates and link up with a Kurdish enclave at Afrin. But Turkey insists that it will resist a further YPG advance with military force. Instead, it had proposed a protected zone on the southern side of the border from which Isis would be driven by moderate Syrian opposition fighters.

The US has opposed this proposal, suspecting that the Turkish definition of moderates includes those the US is targeting as terrorists. It also appears to be a ploy to stop the YPG, heavily supported by US air power, expanding its de facto state along Turkey’s southern flank. US officials are quoted as saying that there could be “significant blowback” against Turkey by European states if it allows Isis militants to cross from Syria into Turkey and then carry out terrorist outrages in Europe.

Meanwhile in Iraq, officials said three more mass graves had been found in the northern town of Sinjar, which Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes recaptured from Isis earlier this month.

This is relevant to two flashbacks from last year, to stories that were made available in Al-Monitor via Taraf:

Al-Monitor / Taraf, ‘Opposition MP says ISIS is selling oil in Turkey’, 13 Jun 2014:

A man works at a makeshift oil refinery site in Raqqa’s countryside, May 5, 2013.  (photo by REUTERS/Hamid Khatib)

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has been selling smuggled Syrian oil in Turkey worth $800 million, according to Ali Ediboglu, a lawmaker for the border province of Hatay from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Speaking to Taraf, Ediboglu recounted the findings of his research on ISIS activities.

“ISIS is a terrorist organization that poses a global threat, a group that kills recklessly and believes that killing people is a ticket to heaven,” Ediboglu said. “One would expect such a group to engage in certain attacks in Turkey any time. Turkey’s cooperation with thousands of men of such a mentality is extremely dangerous. You can never know what demands they could make to Turkey, a country whose regime they consider to be un-Islamic. No one can guarantee they will not repeat the massacres they commit in Iraq today or carry out similar attacks in Turkey tomorrow.”

Oil revenues

Ediboglu said: “$800 million worth of oil that ISIS obtained from regions it occupied this year [the Rumeilan oil fields in northern Syria — and most recently Mosul] is being sold in Turkey. They have laid pipes from villages near the Turkish border at Hatay. Similar pipes exist also at [the Turkish border regions of] Kilis, Urfa and Gaziantep. They transfer the oil to Turkey and parlay it into cash. They take the oil from the refineries at zero cost. Using primitive means, they refine the oil in areas close to the Turkish border and then sell it via Turkey. This is worth $800 million.”

Is Turkish intelligence helping fighters?

Ediboglu further stated: “Fighters from Europe, Russia, Asian countries and Chechnya are going in large numbers both to Syria and Iraq, crossing from Turkish territory. There is information that at least 1,000 Turkish nationals are helping those foreign fighters sneak into Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) is allegedly involved. None of this can be happening without MIT’s knowledge.”

Taraf’s earlier report on diesel smuggling

Last Aug. 20, Taraf carried a report headlined “Smugglers riding on a billion dollars.” It reported that Turkish soldiers clashed with and repelled hundreds of horse riders and thousands of foot smugglers at the Syrian border on a daily basis. It pointed out that the biggest fight between the [Syrian Kurdish] People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra in Rojava [northern Syria] was over the revenues from the sale of the region’s petroleum products to Turkey.

The report noted that some 2,000 oil wells exist in the Rumeilan region, which lies on the other side of the border stretching between [Turkey’s] districts of Cizre in Sirnak province and Nusaybin in Mardin province. “The region’s oil is being smuggled to Turkey. The daily amount of smuggled diesel fuel has reached 1,500 tons, which corresponds to 3.5% of Turkey’s consumption,” it added.

And:

Al-Monitor / Taraf, ‘Al-Qaeda Militants Travel To Syria Via Turkey’, 28 Jul 2014:

A vehicle carrying supplies stands at a checkpoint of the Islamist rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria’s Deir al-Zour countryside, July 27, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Karam Jamal)

During the 2½ years of clashes in Syria, there has been constant debate about how Turkey’s borders were crossed. There were reports that Islamic groups going to fight regime of President Bashar al-Assad — first and foremost al-Qaeda, which has supporters in Turkey — were crossing over the Turkish border.

Interesting claims

To find out more, we met with people close to al-Qaeda in Istanbul. These people are shopkeepers who live in the Fatih district of Istanbul, but who won’t give their names. They have interesting things to say about the Syrian war. These sources told us that following the eruption of war in Syria, al-Qaeda elements from Europe, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and North Africa began crossing into Syria via Turkey. These sources also had interesting things to say about the clashes with the Kurdish PYD and how the border is crossed.

Met by intelligence officials

O.E., one of our sources, said he crossed the border and went to Syria before the Jabhat al-Nusra-PYD clashes. He crossed from an unsupervised area on the Turkish side to the Syrian side controlled by the PYD. O.E. said, “We told the PYD we were there for Jabhat al-Nusra and they let us pass.” O.E. said many people cross the same way: “Fighters coming via Chechnya and Afghanistan are met at the Syrian border. There are intelligence officials there. Those crossing the border inform the intelligence people of their affiliation and under whose command they will be. Then, they cross the border and report to their units.”

Treated in Turkey

O.E. said those heavily wounded in clashes are brought to Turkish hospitals. He added, “Some return to their countries by the same route. There are al-Qaeda mujahedeen from Afghanistan and the Caucasus fronts who come with their families. Most of them settle in Syria. There are hundreds of militants who come the same way from Northern Africa, the Caucasus, Europe and Afghanistan. They simply cross the Turkish border and join the fight.”

1,000 Chechens to Syria

O.E. said Chechens are now one of the strongest groups in Syria. “Under their commander Abu Omar, about 1,000 Chechens came to Syria. First they were with Jabhat al-Nusra, but now they have moved over to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS),” he said.

There are also Turks

O.E. said many Turks had gone to Syria to fight. “Some were martyred. Some stayed for a while and returned. Some couldn’t resist going back to Syria. A retired policeman who is a friend of mine went to Syria to fight. He trained fighters in weapons. Several of us went to Syria before the fighting between the PYD and Jabhat al-Nusra broke out. Without being asked anything on the Turkish side, we just crossed to an area of Syria controlled by the PYD. We told them we came to [fight with] Jabhat al-Nusra and they let us enter,” O.E. said.

The ISIS fans the clashes

O.E. claimed that it was the ISIS that was flaming the clashes with the PYD. “The ISIS declared that Jabhat al-Nusra was its subordinate organization. Jabhat al-Nusra commanders refused this claim and said they were under al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. These claims caused disputes within the organization. Chechen groups under Abu Omar in Syria split from Jabhat al-Nusra and joined the ranks of the ISIS. It was the ISIS fighters who provoked the recent clashes with the PYD. Reports said the ISIS entered and opened fire in PYD-controlled villages to disrupt the non-hostility agreement between the PYD and Jabhat al-Nusra,” he concluded.

And more recently:

Todays Zaman, ‘Erdogan tacitly acknowledges claim MIT transported arms to Syria’, 25 Nov 2015:

Syria-bound trucks operated by MIT were searched in January 2014 after prosecutors received tip-offs that they were illegally carrying arms to Syria. (Photo: DHA)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday seemingly validated claims previously made by critics who alleged that the Turkish government was sending weapon-filled trucks to radical groups in Syria by sarcastically asking, “So what if the MIT [National Intelligence Organization] trucks were filled with weapons?”

Pro-government figures had previously claimed that trucks belonging to MIT that were intercepted en-route to Syria contained “humanitarian aid” for the Bayir-Bucak Turkmens who live just over the border from Turkey’s southern Hatay province. Many claims were made by the opposition and Turkish media that the trucks were, in fact, transporting weapons to radical factions in Syria.

Early in 2014, an anonymous tip led to the interception of a number of trucks on the suspicion of weapons smuggling. The first operation took place in Hatay on Jan. 1, 2014. Another anonymous tip led to three more trucks being stopped and searched in Turkey’s southern Adana province on Jan. 19, 2014.

Speaking to a room full of teachers on Tuesday gathered for Teachers’ Day, Erdogan said, “You know of the treason regarding the MIT trucks, don’t you? So what if there were weapons in them? I believe that our people will not forgive those who sabotaged this support.”

Erdogan was speaking just hours after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft near the Syrian border on Tuesday morning after, Ankara has said, it violated Turkish airspace despite repeated warnings.

Erdogan accused the prosecutors investigating the MIT trucks of denying Turkmens the power to defend themselves. “Those [MIT] trucks were taking aid to the Bayir-Bucak Turkmens. Some were saying, ‘Prime Minister Erdogan said, there were no weapons inside those trucks;’ So what if there were?”

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) officials called the 2014 investigation of the MIT trucks “treason and espionage” on the part of the prosecutors because the trucks were claimed to be transporting humanitarian aid to the Bayir-Bucak Turkmens.

Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time, said during a television program immediately after the interception of the trucks became public knowledge that the trucks were carrying aid supplies to Turkmens in Syria.

Many high-level Turkish officials, including then-President Abdullah Gül, said the trucks’ cargo was a “state secret,” which led some to speculate that the trucks were carrying arms.

However, Syrian-Turkmen Assembly Vice Chairman Hussein al-Abdullah said in January 2014 that no trucks carrying aid had arrived from Turkey.

The recent military operation of the Syrian government, backed by Russian air strikes, in the rural area of Latakia, inhabited by Bayir-Bucak Turkmens has caused thousands of Turkmens to flee to the Turkish border. A Turkmen brigade commander called for Turkey’s assistance and expressed his frustration that Turkey’s helping hand had not been extended far enough.

Turkmen Commander Ömer Abdullah of the Sultan Abdülhamit Brigade, who is fighting against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, recently called on Turkey to help the Turkmens being pounded with cluster bombs by the Syrian regime and Russian forces.

“We are trying to survive under unbearable brutality and we need Turkey’s help,” said Abdullah. Expressing criticism of the AK Party, Abdullah said: “Every day our Turkmen brothers are dying. We expect the government to support us. Why have they abandoned us? Our martyrs fall every day. Why are we being left alone? I don’t understand.”

Abdullah’s claim pokes an important hole in the AK Party’s claims, while also posing the question of to whom the MIT trucks, now widely accepted as transporting weapons, were sent.

CHP leader says they told AK Party not to send weapons to Syria

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kiliçdaroglu said on Wednesday that Turkey had become a country importing terrorism from Syria.

“We told them [the AK Party] not to. They said they were sending humanitarian aid. Later the documents were revealed [refuting these claims].”

Kiliçdaroglu was referring to the Cumhuriyet daily’s headline story in May which discredited AK Party and Erdogan’s earlier claims that the trucks were carrying humanitarian aid to Turkmens. The article showed photos from the search of the MIT trucks which were revealed to be carrying heavy munitions. Kiliçdaroglu consequently asked to whom the trucks were going, if not to Turkmens.

After the publication of the stills as well as video, Erdogan lashed out at Cumhuriyet and its editor-in-chief, Can Dündar, for publishing the evidence, publicly vowing that Dündar would “pay a heavy price” for his report.

According to the report, there were six steel containers in the trucks which contained a total of 1,000 artillery shells, 50,000 machine gun rounds, 30,000 heavy machine gun rounds and 1,000 mortar shells. All of this is registered in the prosecutor’s file on the MIT truck case, the report said.

Erdogan personally sued Dündar and is requesting that he be given a life sentence, an aggravated life sentence and an additional 42-year term of imprisonment on charges related to a variety of crimes, ranging from espionage to attempting to topple the government and exposing secret information.

Following the Cumhuriyet report, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that it is “none of anybody’s business” what the trucks contained. Speaking in a live broadcast on the Habertürk news station, in May, Davutoglu said, “This is a blatant act of espionage.”

Tugrul Türkes, who made it into the AK Party cabinet on Tuesday after switching from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in September, said in June that the trucks were not destined for Syrian Turkmens. Speaking on CNN Türk in June, Türkes said: “I swear that those weapons were not sent to Turkmens as they [Erdogan and other government officials] claim. We [the MHP] have connections with Turkmens [in Syria].”

Prosecutor admits 2,000 truckloads sent to Syria

A pro-government prosecutor who was appointed to the MIT trucks case inadvertently admitted in May that weapon-laden trucks made 2,000 trips to Syria, according to the lawyer of one of the defendants in the case.

Hasan Tok, the lawyer for former Adana Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Col. Özkan Çokay, who was involved in the search of MIT trucks in January 2014, said that he learned that there had been at least 2,000 trips made by MIT trucks to Syria from the prosecutor, Ali Dogan.

Dogan, known as a government loyalist, filed for a verdict of non-prosecution regarding the investigation after he was appointed to the position of Adana chief public prosecutor. According to Tok, Dogan had asked the defendants in a previous hearing, “2,000 trucks have passed [into Syria], why was this one specially chosen?”

“We didn’t know 2,000 trucks had passed into Syria; may god bless Ali Dogan,” said Tok.

Of course, the weapons did not go to the Turkmens. The weapons on those trucks actually went to groups like the FSA 10th Coastal Brigade which has conducted operations in line with Jahbat Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham. It’s also reasonable to speculate that significant amounts of those supplies also found their way into the hands of ISIL.

Turkey’s intense protectiveness about Russian interactions with their border, may have been due to the fact that they didn’t want the Russians to be able to do air interdiction against what was an ongoing logistics operation taking place across that border.

It’s a depressingly ridiculous sequence of events which gives Russia the ability to create a media narrative about how ‘only Russia’ is ‘fighting the terrorists’ with real determination, because Turkey is a part of NATO and is basically embarrassing NATO with its duplicitous behaviour.

There is a silver lining to these dark clouds, though. Up until just recently, Russia had been seeking to work with Turkey on the provision of oil and gas pipeline projects into Europe, which would have increased European dependence on Russian energy companies. Thanks to this sequence of events, Russia and Turkey are now at odds with each other, and Russia is seeking to suspend those projects and to place sanctions on Turkey.

All of this has not worked out too badly. Not only has Turkey’s duplicity finally come to light in a way that makes it impossible for anyone in western governments to avoid dealing with it, but additionally the Russian government is now politically incapable of partnering with Turkey against the European Union’s geostrategic interests with regards to energy concerns, at least in the near term, as negotiations on the Turkish Stream pipeline project are suspended.

This gives more time for the effects of the Iran deal to come into play, since Iran was able to enlist Russian assistance in the P5 negotiations to make the case for sanctions being removed, while at the same time positioning itself against Russia as an alternative energy supplier for Europe, which would be able to substitute its natural gas in place of Russia’s and increase the diversification of supply. This would in turn lessen Russia’s political influence in Europe.

Iran’s infrastructure would not be ready to supply Europe in the near term, and so the near term quarrel between Russia and Turkey, gives the European Union more time to coordinate that infrastructure development with Iran, and potentially tilts the tables by making Russia appear less reliable as a supplier.

From that perspective, all of this is a win for the North Atlantic.

How do you know when a set of principles is not exactly fit for purpose? When you have to opt out of them in order to not die:

RFI English, ‘France to opt out of European human rights convention because of Paris attacks’, 27 Nov 2015 (emphasis added):

A police officer in Paris this week. [Reuters]

France is to opt out of some aspects of the European Human Rights Convention while the state of emergency declared after this month’s Paris attacks is in force. As well as raids on mosques and Islamic charities, police have swooped on radical environmentalists since the measure was introduced.

Some of the measures taken because of the state of emergency are “likely to necessitate exemption from some of the rights guaranteed” by the convention, the French authorities have told Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland.

States are allowed to opt out in case of war or a danger “threatening the life of the nation”, although they cannot be exempted from certain provisions, including bans on torture and cruel and inhuman treatment.

Exemptions can be challenged at the European Court of Human Rights.

There have been 1,616 searches of premises, 211 arrests, 161 people charged and 293 weapons seized since the state of emergency was declared.

Among the premises raided have been mosques, prayer rooms and shops targeted because “radical Islamists” were said to frequent them or because some sermons given were judged extreme.

But others have been on the homes of people who have taken part in environmental protests and occupations, such as the camp at the site of the proposed airport near Nantes in western France and one aiming to stop a dam in the south-west where a protester was killed.

Several activists have been placed under house arrest, apparently for fear that they might have defied the ban on demonstrations ahead of the Cop21 climate conference, which opens on Sunday 29 December.

“Special measures are necessary for the conference’s security” and there have been calls for “violent actions”, according to warrants seen by Le Monde newspaper.

On Tuesday a group of intellectuals published an appeal to defy the state of emergency in Libération newspaper and a Facebook page calling for “disobedience” of the ban on Sunday’s planned march for the climate had attracted 4,700 participants on Friday.

A person might be tempted to laugh, and indeed I myself am laughing. But at the same time, you have to think soberly to yourself, “How many people had to die in order to reach this point?”

Is it actually the case that European civil society is re-learning what ‘being in a conflict’ is about, the hard way?

I’ve always seen Morgoth as a fellow traveler. There is ample proof of that in statements and gestures on my part. In fact, when he started a new blog, it was announced here at MR. I saw that it was a commendable effort in White nationalism. I did notice that some former MR people went there and that was fine with me. If people want to focus on different things and participate in a platform that has different rules then so be it. He has put-up and will continue to put-up some good articles. I also noticed that he gets quite a volume of comments. Fine. I didn’t spend much time there and commented there a grand total of once. Basically, I see MR’s platform as sound. Therefore, what other places (e.g. Morgoth’s) are doing is either going to reinforce our program or highlight our positive difference by contrast.

Long story short, I didn’t bother much with Morgoth’s and didn’t concern myself with it. I would take a look there but not as regularly as other places. In the few times that I did go there recently, I faintly noticed that there seemed to be more of the Naziphile sorts filing-in; there’d always been a few, but there does seem a bit more of the Andrew Anglin type crowd, “it’s all a holohoax” sorts; and I recall Morgoth defending Anglin to some extent in the recent squabble with Alternative Right. These angles are a bit unfortunate but it didn’t seem to be a main thrust; and again, I see MR distinguishing itself from that. I quickly visited recently to look at some of the headlines. I did notice the 4chan meme, “I wish we lost.”...but did not stay long, perhaps that meme piqued my disinterest - I’m not interested in arguments of that sentiment, it turns me off and I left, without comment and without particular concern; no intention of saying anything.

Kumiko called my attention to the fact that she’d entered a comment there (there, since MR and I are a bit more concerned with meta-politics than mainstream politics). So I was back there, wading through Hitler and Swastika avatars, fret about the persecution of holocaust deniers and I saw that obnoxious “pic of the week” sitting there again, with Morgoth’s email address placed proudly beneath.

It also almost seemed as if he was trying to recruit Kumiko, so to speak. He “hoped that she would become a regular feature.” I suppose that I cannot blame him for trying, she is one of the best in the ethno-nationalist business. But that was still a bit of a funky thing to do.

Having to endure these irritations while there, I made a comment about his pic of the week; a comment, that’s all; intended to go no further, but again, it was occasion for MR to distinguish itself for those who aren’t comfortable with such imagery, see it as unnecessary and divisive.

Morgoth had a meltdown, started saying that he could not believe that I would say anything and how unreasonable that I was.

The argument (in reverse chronology) that ensued is instructive if not entertaining:

Morgoth, 27 Nov 2015, 20:53 CET:

Daniel I have posted one meme on my own site you did not like, now, I see things at MR I do not like, attacks on people such as Millennial Woes,for example. But the difference is I do not create a fake name and then stab you in the back in the comments of my blog. As I have already mentioned, I’m a bit funny about that.

  That is the issue, and I think you should resolve it by:
  1. Issuing me an apology in the comments of the latest blog post.
  2. You or GW issuing me an apology at MR.

DanielS, 28 Nov 2015, 0737 CET:

Are you serious? I have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You should be the one to apologize if anyone. Saying (dishonestly) that I have had confrontations with a “long, long line of ‘nationalists” ...and that “you can’t remember who it was that I had confrontations with but it hardly matters.” ... it hardly matters? I have had confrontations with zero people for their “nationalism” - to the contrary; that, and depicting my reasons as emotional and erratic is dishonest - I have been consistent and with good reason.

With regard to Milennial Woes, he came to MR to denounce me for criticizing his Jewish friend Ruth (a.k.a., “The Truth Will Live”), demanding that we take his link to MR down because I was critical of his Jewish friend’s insistence not only that Jews should be able to be a part of the White struggle (the alt right in particular - and that is when I began to seriously see the need to distance myself and anybody who cares about Whites from the altright) i.e., when people were saying that she and other Jews should not only be included, but should be able to define our terms for us! Nevertheless, we took down his link without ceremony or rancor and sent him on his judeophilic way - he is [there now at Morgoth’s], I suppose…

READ MORE...

For his insolent defiance of Roger Waters plea that he not play Israel, he might have been singing “We don’t need no education” right along with Pink Floyd .....but actually, maybe Jesse Hughes, his friends and fans could use a little. Try a caveat on Abrahamic fellowship.

Jesse Hughes, commencing an Eagles of Death Metal concert, Tel Aviv, 12 July 2015:

Now I’m also going to tell you another true story before I bring the rest of the boys up here. We decided to end the tour in this fuckin’ city because we knew we couldn’t top it once we got here. That is 87 percent the absolute truth. But then we got this letter from this cocksucker named Roger Waters (jeers from crowd). Do you want to know what I wrote that cocksucker back? Two words: Fuck You!...Fuck You! Ain’t nobody goin’ to keep me from my people here in Tel Aviv! Ain’t Nobody!

                                     
Among other blundering statements, Hughes referred to Israelis as ‘his people.’ Unless there is something that we don’t know about him, they are not his people. The crowd at Bataclan, who should be referred to as “his people”, apparently did not know either that Israelis are not their people, or perhaps did not think attending a concert of someone who said that should, would, cost them their lives.

International Business Times, ‘Paris attacks: Eagles of Death Metal defied pro-Palestine boycott movement and Roger Waters to play Israel’, 20 Nov 2015:

A video has emerged of Eagles of Death Metal berating Pink Floyd founder and anti-Israel campaigner Roger Waters at a gig in Tel Aviv months before the Paris shooting at the Bataclan theatre.

The clip, from the band’s Tel Aviv concert in July, shows lead singer Jesse Hughes offering an expletive-laden riposte to a letter sent to the band by Waters urging them to shun Israel. It has been circulated in the wake of atrocities that claimed the lives of 132 people on 13 November.

In it Hughes tells the Tel Aviv crowd the band decided to end their tour in the city because they “could not top it”. The audience then boos mention of the Waters letter before Hughes shouts: “You want to know what I wrote that c********r back? Two words: f**k you!”

Waters, who has been accused of anti-Semitism, joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement - an anti-Israel pressure group - in 2012. Upon joining he called out to other musicians in an article he wrote for the Guardian: “[This is] a plea to my colleagues in the music industry, and also to artists in other disciplines, to join this cultural boycott.”

Roger Waters wrote to Eagles of Death Metal to urge them to boycott Israel.

The Paris attacks brought the video of Eagles of Death Metal back into focus because the formerly Jewish-owned Bataclan theatre which in the past has hosted pro-Israel Army events, and where the band were performing the night 89 people were killed, had supposedly been harassed by pro-Palestinian supporters in 2008.

Jesse Hughes is a “devout Christian.” That explains his confusion over who “his people are.”

He was interviewed before the Tel Aviv concert by “Consequence of Sound”..

CoS, ‘Fly Like an Eagle of Death Metal: An Interview with Jesse Hughes’, 1 Oct 2015:

At 43, Jesse Hughes hasn’t become an old man just yet. With the energy of a 16-year-old, he makes the most eccentric man in the world sound like a boozy liar.

The Eagles of Death Metal frontman has an opinion — often obscenity-filled — about everything. “But I’m not a bag of wind!” he insists. Around 30 minutes after our prearranged meeting time, before Eagles of Death Metal’s show in July, Hughes appears at his trendy hotel in the heart of Tel Aviv with two Israeli locals he just met at the falafel stand down the road. He’s dressed in typical Hughes attire: black-and-white-striped t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, suspenders, light jeans, and a neon green trucker cap with “Eagles of Death Metal” printed in Hebrew lettering.

A second after we meet, he’s chatting away on a tangent. Hughes is rarely off one. He sounds bluesy, even lusty when he talks, and when he gets especially riled up on a topic, he’ll bow his head, slap his knee, and speak like a southern debutant, referring to his fans as “the kids.” Hughes is as verbose as your archetypal reverend, hardly getting through his thoughts without breaching into song and then dissolving into giggles. Present him with a handshake or a voice recorder, and the truth serum starts to work.

Yeah, I’ve been shot before. Look. [shows scar on armpit] It made a canal through one of my muscles. I’ll tell you how it went down: I was going through a really ugly divorce, and I’m a devout Christian, so divorce isn’t a concept to me. I went through a very typical, clichéd “I served you my whole life, and this is what I get” anger. I weighed about 250 pounds, I was a big ol’ redneck boy. I was managing this privately owned chain of video stores and part-time freelancing for the Republican Party and speech writing and shit like that. The most awful thing I could think of immediately was to start taking speed. I lost 80 pounds, got really depressed. My mother called Joshua [Homme] because she felt he was one of the only dudes I listened to.

He dishes it out today. During our conversation, he gets into the full specifics of being saved from addiction by bandmate Joshua Homme, how he’s already written half of EODM’s next album, and how he’s struggling to convince everyone he’s a devout Christian who gets high and uses the phrase “titty-wobbling.” He talks about his face being a nipple on his album cover as seriously as his faith. “I know what you’re thinking — my life’s a contradiction,” he admits.

It’s dark stuff, but Jesse “The Devil” Hughes has a wicked sense of humor — crushing, hypnotic, and frequently laugh-out-loud ridiculous. “My way of thinking is,” he shrugs, “it’s gonna be harder in hell for me than for y’all. I’m just not going to be the fool that doesn’t know why he’s there.”

                                             
Christianity and its Enlightened step-child play a strong part in the confused identity and allegiance of welcomers as well.. ...and in the upshot of that confusion…

________________________________________________________________________

Addendum:

Note that troll JamesUK likes to associate us with the right-wing circus and any sort of unflattering speculation that he possibly can; but I will leave that aside, at least for now in order to address this:

“Didn’t you say in a previous posting that Eagles of Death Metal represented white culture?”

I said that the Eagles of Death Metal fans represent implicitly White culture. Evidently their fans are predominantly White genetically; but the fact that the band leader, and likely a significant percentage of their fans, have a confused identity (case in point, thinking that Jews can be a part of their kin) as a result of Christianity and other Jewish crypsis, provides an excellent occasion to address those implicitly White demographics who suffer this confused identity as a result of Christianity.

I was not wrong to treat them as an implicitly White demographic, that remains true.

The band and audience alike reinforce this assumption by appearance, by the likelihood that they are predominantly, genetically White (European).

However, the band’s confused identity is misleading from the start, with their name: one associates death metal with paganism, a Nordic paganism defiant of Christianity in particular - and therefore assumes that the band and audience would have little to do with identifying as Israelis, with Judaism, or even its offspring, Christianity - let alone Hughes vehement “devotion.”

Hughes’ devout Christianity compounds the confused identity by taking his erstwhile White identity and enmeshing it with the Jewish narrative and identity, albeit as servile gentile other in relation to Israel, Jews and other non-Whites - the “undifferentiated gentile others”, as GW says.

As Hughes also made clear (unclear rather), in the CoS interview, he is quite contradicted and does not even expect to be recognized by the Abrahamic god.

His fans at the Bataclan also reflect and express this ambiguous identity, but with good natured participation in a bit of carousing, defiant music, irreverent language, devil sign, etc. I say “good natured” because they were apparently healthy, functioning people who had bearings outside of sex-drugs-rockn’roll.

Nevertheless, they lightheartedly though naively frolic with the Jewish god, tweak its nose and defy its rules for some practical latitude despite the unfortunate necessity of trafficking in its terms to some extent for the historical fact of their moral order having been entangled with it for two centuries. They are fooled by it on a profound level, however, as their seriousness, their devout service is reserved for the “other” - not for themselves - as they identify as the other.

That is in contrast the Muslims, who have their own form of puritanical servility to the Abrahamic god, submission to the Jewish god.

By further contrast to the Muslims, a certain amount of ambiguity, variety of sacrament and celebration is good and necessary in the social world of praxis - acceptance of that adds to the claim that the Bataclan audience have an aspect of good naturedness - i.e., an aspect that is not puritanical or fanatical in a way that does not allow their people to be human, social creatures and to be themselves in their particular, idiosyncratic White ways.

A homogeneous looking band and audience that accepts the misnomer of “death metal” provided the first clue that they have a good natured acceptance of some ambiguity, non-purity, i.e., an acceptance even of some relation to aspects of their natural White identity, even if only implicitly.

However, the extent of their connection to the Abrahamic religion contradicts that and brought them into the fold of its absolutizing fight, which will accept no other identity - will not accept White identity as the separate social entity that it is. Some of them came into ultimate confrontation of inhumanity to their humanity in social difference as a people separate from the Jewish god of Muslims.

The confused identity of our people at Bataclan became a confused message that the Israelis accepted disingenuously, that ISIL accepted on face value, that the band, audience, and I, allowed for in good faith - a confusion nevertheless inadvertently passed-on in the news of their death, presenting a perfect reason and occasion to sort-it-out here.