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With everyone bowing and scraping to the newly legitimized
Iranian regime, and with the Vatican covering up slightly immodest art work out
of respect the delicate sensibilities of the Iranian prime minister, it’s good
to see one nation stand tall for civilized values.
That nation would be: France!
France’s president refused to submit to Iranian cultural
imperatives. Faced with a choice between wine or Islam and France chose wine. Lunch between the presidents of France and Iran was cancelled... over wine.
This from the Daily Mail, via Katie Pavlich:
A lunch
between the French and Iranian presidents in Paris was scrapped today because
France refused to remove wine from the menu.
Iran's
President Hassan Rouhani has been on a tour of Europe, signing billions of
pounds worth of business deals with different nations, after economic sanctions
against the country were lifted.
He was
due to dine with President Francois Hollande at an upmarket restaurant in the
French capital.
The French insisted on serving local food and wine but the Iranians demanded a halal menu in keeping with their Muslim faith.
Hollande's
officials said preparing the meal to be 'Iran friendly' went against France's
republican values.
The
Elysee Palace suggested a breakfast with Rouhani instead, but this was said to
be snubbed by the Iranian leader for being 'too cheap'.
A
diplomatic source told the RTL radio station: 'The leaders have missed out
on a great opportunity to meet in the relaxed environment of a meal.'
In
contrast, the Italians made sure the Iranian visit went smoothly by keeping
alcohol off the menu for state dinners and covering up its nude statues.
A
wooden box was placed around several pieces, including a Venus dating back to
the Second Century BC, at Rome's Capitoline Museum, before the Italian and
Iranian premiers spoke there.
2 comments:
Weird, the DailyMail article is dates today:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3419814/Lunch-French-Iranians-CANCELLED-President-Hollande-refused-wine-menu-meeting-Muslim-counterpart-Rouhani.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline "A lunch between the French and Iranian presidents in Paris was scrapped today because France refused to remove wine from the menu."
While the same issue appears in the CSM from November 12?
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/1112/Why-France-demanded-to-serve-wine-at-meal-with-Iran-s-leader
"France’s RTL radio reported on Monday that Iran requested a halal menu, which customarily means no alcohol. Yet France was unwilling to break with the tradition of serving French wine at official state lunches and dinners."
And
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/10/france-wont-dine-with-iran-unless-wine-is-served/
Or this one from Nov 10:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/11/lunch-between-french-and-iranian-presidents-canceled-france-refused-request-to-serve-halal-food-and-no-wine
Linking back with [“Hollande-Rouhani lunch ‘scrapped over wine spat,'” The Local, November 10, 2015:] to this article:
http://www.thelocal.fr/20151110/hollande-rouhani-lunch-cancelled-over-wine-row
OH, for confusion, I see that article link above has a URL structure says 2015/11/10, but the page itself says incorrectly: Published: 27 Jan 2016 08:59 GMT+01:00
It seems unlikely the same spat has been repeated 2.5 months later, and the DailyMail is repeating old news.
The DailyMail article has other content as well, maybe more up-to-update, but less gossipy, so adding in the menu snub is a sort of clickbait?
It's not only Muslims who call for censorship:
http://frenchsculpture.org/fremiet-urbana-champaign
And they are taking down all sorts of monuments and sculptures in the US.
Offensive or not, they are a part of history and heritage. But one by one, they are being removed.
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/crews-lift-jefferson-davis-statue-from-pedestal-at/nnTST/
And France does not have free speech. LePen has been charged several times of 'hate speech' for calling attention to problems of immigrants.
With all the speech controls in EU --- in Germany, you can get arrested for harshly criticizing Merkel's crazy open door policy --- , the West is no longer in any position to condemn the Muslim world for censorship.
In the US, faculty have been fired or silenced over the most inane remarks.
And Kingsley's article makes clear that free speech is pretty much dead in the UK.
So, the idea of defending the West on grounds of freedom is now moot. The West isn't a bastion of free speech and thought.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/how-american-pc-culture-conquered-britain
And even where there is free expression in the West, I wonder if it's worth it.
Besides, why are tax payers being forced to support really stupid expression?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANA8SI_KvqI
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