The World in 2014 (or at least, too much of it)

Just some news stories. No comments from me. But do look at the links (perhaps you can skip the World Cup memes one).

From the Independent:

"Protesters attacked two synagogues in Paris on Sunday as pro-Palestinian protests turned violent.

Worshippers barricaded themselves inside the Synagogue de la Roquette as demonstrators tried to storm the building with bats and chairs.

Police and security volunteers blocked their way and tear gas was launched to disperse the crowds.

The Synagogue de la rue des Tournelles was also targeted by a small group and several people were arrested.

Six policemen trying to hold the attackers back and two Jews were injured in the confrontation, Le Parisien reported."

Further details from Commentary:

"Similar incidents occurred all over Greater Paris and France at about the same time. The morning before–that is to say, on the Sabbath–a Molotov cocktail was thrown into a synagogue at Aulnay-sous-Bois, a Parisian suburb. At Asnieres, another suburb, the police said a Muslim mob of 300 gathered in front of the synagogue and shouted anti-Israel slogans for about half an hour. Smaller group of Muslim mobsters attempted to get into the Belleville synagogue, in northeastern Paris, and into the Tournelles synagogue, in the Marais district.

No less horrid were the many pro-Palestinian rallies, in Paris, Marseilles, Lille, Bordeaux, and other cities, complete with Palestinian and ISIS flags and proudly displayed fake Fajr rockets. [FOA: You can see a picture of one of these fake rockets at the Independent link above.] The demonstrators–almost all of them of North African or Subsaharan African origin–shouted explicitly anti-Semitic slogans, notably “Itbah al-Yahud!” (Slaughter the Jews, in Arabic.) Any time they would spot Jewish-owned shops or professional offices they would cover the doors or windows with stickers urging, “to boycott the racist State of Israel.” "

I can't see any coverage of these riots on the BBC's website, but its "#BBCtrending" feature (often a sideways look at thing such as the best World Cup memes) is covering "The rise of Hitler hashtags". Apparently it's hard to know where the #HitlerWasRight and #HitlerDidNothingWrong hashtags come from, but we do know that #IfHitlerWasAlive started in Pakistan. (Interestingly, #BBCTrending has also covered an Egyptian anti-Hamas hashtag. This one is also controversial: "one Saudi Twitter user tweeted: "The enemy is the one who created this hashtag - the one who stands with the Jew against the Muslim."")