"... that tests the limits of free speech — and common sense — in a France increasingly ill at ease with its growing Muslim population."
“I am a bomb,” the shirt said on the front. The back read, “Jihad Born Sept. 11.”
The child's name really is Jihad, and he was indeed born on September 11th. The phrase "I am a bomb" is said to mean "I am a real looker." The mother asserts that she intended no political message by dressing the child in that shirt.
After the police investigation, no terrorism-related charges were
brought. But the prosecutor decided to charge [the mother] Bagour and her brother
[who choose the message for the shirt] with “apology for crime,” which under a 1981 French law carries a
penalty of up to five years in prison and a $58,000 fine....
Posts
67 comments:
"“apology for crime”" is a crime?
Liberals better stay out France.
Go look at the photo of the defendant in the article. Does she look like a Salafist Muslim woman to you?
I wouldn't be surprised if this case is located at the intersection of third-world leftism & radical Islamicism, rather than radical Islam proper.
"Apology for crime." Can't the French come up with an answer for anything that doesn't involve state overreach?
The traditional German word would be Kampf.
I would criticize her, but there once was an American named States Rights.
Suicide bombers have come as young as 8 and as innocent "looking" as they can be made up to be.
If it hasn't occurred yet, it won't be long before we hear of a young mother pushing a pram into a hotel lobby with a tiny baby resting on top of 100 kilos of Semtex.
Islam may be a religion but Muslims are the enemy. Someone tell the President and the TSA.
In English, they say it's crusade.
I guess the A-rabs must like to march in the shade, too.
I'll bet they'd get the book thrown at them if they named the kid (Godwin Alert)
PS In NC, there's a thing they have called Prayer for Judgment, which is a nice way of saying bribe the judge.
Is this similar?
The Frence are unfortunately "In the Stool"
Sigh.
The shirt is pretty thoughtless -- and provocative.
(Who names their kid Jihad -- for why? For no reason?)
I am glad I live in America where the right to insult people right and left knows few bounds.
And we can insult back. Equal opportunity offenses is what it should be here (though of course it is not).
As for France -- the Muslim youth unemployment problem and lack of assilmilation into French culture is a huge problem for France. Muslims are a problem for France. Some of them evolve into Islamists.
Islamists on juhad like to blow up people and things -- especially people -- to make their point, so yeah, bomb + jihad + September 11 = stupidity or malevolence.
Not sure what the French law actually might mean with "apology for crime" -- the mom is using the kid's shirt to justify /excuse the September 11 attacks and bombs? Can anyone elaborate?
lol. Hope the kid lives up to his name and his T-Shirt--and learns to pilot a plane.
Wouldn't be nothing but sweet laughter from me if he took out a bunch of left-wingers in NY. Good riddance.
Enjoy the decline!
...Just like she meant no political message with his name.
Rioting and burning of cars by the political refugees of France in three, two, one...
One may be forgiven a name in poor taste by ignorance and/or stupidity, but making it obvious makes that... difficult.
Apparently, the name Jihad is not uncommon among not only Muslims, but even some Christians(!) in Turkey & the Levant. See article here under subheading "People".
Who names their kid Jihad -- for why?
Jihad is a common Muslim name for males.
When you name a kid Jihad, you've already sent a political message, now you're just piling it on. Deportation sounds good to me.
French law and common sense are anti-thetical conceots.
French law and common sense are anti-thetical conceots.
which is another reason not to sign on to any U.N. this that or the resolutions ore treaties without careful consideration to the English-speaking peoples' concept of law.
Free speech is not universal. It is distinctly American.
If it meant "I'm good looking" wouldn't it say "I'm the bomb"?
Agents provacateurs. Gonna be trouble, right there in River (Seine) CIty.
I'm the bomb ... I am a bomb.
English slang phrases are often tortured (whoops) overseas.
Used to work at a day care when I was in college. One of the kids was from Korea (well, his parents were, not him) and he wore Charlie Brown shirts that said "Round Headed Bald Boy" on them.
Palladian said ...
Jihad is a common Muslim name for males.
Where? What Arab ethnicity? I live in the immediate vicinity of 30,000+ Arab Muslims and I have never once, ever, heard that name used....in over 25 years here.
You've gotta be fucking kidding me. No, it's not a crime. But it's awful and not fooling anyone.
Some people suck.
The Frogs again show why our 1st Amdendment is so important. Sure, they were stupid, but being stupid shouldn't be a crime, and a possible five years in prison and $58,000 in fines, for this behavior is just plain rediculous.
I'd contribute to a fund to buy Jihad's classmates t-shirts that said "I'd Rather Be Waterboarding".
Chip S.
bawahahahaa... thank you.
The ironing, it burns.
“This area is like Mississippi in the United States during the civil rights struggle,” he said.
He's modern, you see, up to today's American politics. That was his trump card, end the article on that, thud.
“I am a bomb,” the shirt said on the front. The back read, “Jihad Born Sept. 11.”
On a 3 year old?
I agree with Young Hegelian..
@2:23 I wouldn't be surprised if this case is located at the intersection of third-world leftism & radical Islamicism, rather than radical Islam proper.
I guess that t-shirt blew up in the mother's and uncle's faces. Poor little Jihad, being raised by a fool who has no concern for how she's crippling his future. Until you're old enough to change your name legally, kiddo, you need to come up with a nickname. I'm thinking Skipper, which has always been popular over at the yacht club.
Is it a common thing to see 3 year olds wearing t-shirts advertising their birth date in France?
Was the t-shirt in English?
I too think the fine or jail time is hefty over-reach, but should it not be made clear that this is beyond inappropriate?
Don't place your anger management on your 3 year old. Thanks.
[men named jihad]
1,440,000 results
Oh my, lookie, all kind of good stuff. Lookie look look look, the baby site says it's 9,390 times more likely to be a boy, BUZZZZZZZ because it's like Joepardy!, Alex, the question was "is jihad a boy's name or a girl's name?'
"I'm da bomb!" "He's/She's do bomb!" are common expressions I've heard frm my kids and their friends. The mother looks like da bomb. Why was the kid wearing a t-shirt with English slogans in France?
Did you know that every department surrounding Paris that becomes majority muslim is instantly off-limits to the French, including the French police? Same for every department ringing Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse. Every district within France that becomes a muslim district is instantly Dar Al Islam: a piece of Islamic territory within France. But no longer France in any way, other than receipt of French welfare of course. Could that be why the French are "uneasy" with the muslims who happen to live in France? Couldn't be. Must be racism. Yeah, that's it, it's gotta be racism.
Might as well name your kid "Hitler" and have him wear a "Come to my Work Camp" T-Shirt.
Yea, I said it.
Chip Ahoy said...
[men named jihad] = 1,440,000 results
1,439,999 of which are likely for the same individual. :-)
The European Union of Muslims will not be pleased.
I assumed that "I am a bomb" is a translation from the French. I'm not sure now.
I've seen people in Europe wearing clothing with English words that are badly misused.
If you translate the English "I am a bombshell" ("bombshell" is used all the time to refer to very sexy women), you get "Je suis une bombe."
If you translate "Je suis une bombe" back to English, you'll get "I am a bombe."
So, some bad translation could easily have produced a shirt that said, in English, "I am a bomb," which would be worn in France with no idea that you were saying anything more than "I am a real looker," which is what the brother said he thought.
I think the innocent explanation is more damaging than the malicious one. How can you live in a culture and be so ignorant of its road signs. Didn't anyone among her circle tell her that jihad and bomb might be perceived as meaning something other than "I'm a cute baby".
I assumed that "I am a bomb" is a translation from the French. I'm not sure now.
Your initial assumption was correct. No need for any lawyerly conjectures about bad translations.
The lettering on that kid's shirt reminded me of this.
If you contact the Fashion Police, they will inform you that a cute kid doesn't need a t-shirt that tells everyone "hey look at me I'm cute."
Joan Rivers caught flak recently for saying about Heidi Klum, “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens.”
Most people don't appreciate humor about slaughtering people.
"Jihad". "Bomb". 9/11.
I'll admit I'm not big into believing in coincidences anyway, but this one ain't.
Honesty is not part of this culture. You make a mistake when you assume the brother's excuse is honest.
BTW, "apologie" is closer to "apologia" in English, so that the kid's mother is being prosecuted essentially for endorsing the 9/11 attacks.
It's still prosecuting expression, but it's not entirely as stupid as is seems initially to an American.
"(Who names their kid Jihad -- for why? For no reason?)"
My daughter's Arabic teacher at UCLA was named "Jihad." The class was too small so UCLA cancelled it and the kids took instruction from him privately at his home. Too bad there aren't more Arabic speakers who aren't named Jihad.
She took Arabic for study of old Spanish manuscripts and her sister who is FBI applicant coordinator tried to recruit her but no dice.
I'm sure the brother knew the significance of the name, the date and the word bomb. In it's simplest form it's a cute play on words. Like most people with more political agendas than common sense they probably thought it would be provocative, but deniable.
Exactly, wyo sis.
"Je suis une bombe" on the front of the shirt is lettered completely differently from "Jihad: Né le 11 septembre" on the back.
It looks like l'oncle bought the "Jihad" shirt somewhere and had the "funny" message added to the front.
Every Arab baby is a bomb waiting to go off and blow a European country to Hell. Just as every Democrat spending program is in the USA.
Anyone who believes the mother when she says she is not making a political message, would probably pull her finger if she asked them to. But a lot of liberals have been pulling a lot of Islamic fingers lately -- then they blame conservatives for the bad odor.
Will moderate Muslims be outraged by the intentional provocation and hate speech in a manner similar to Christians and Baptists complaining about the antics of Westboro Church?
R. Chatt:
I attended a private high school that was not predominantly Jewish. The German teacher was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. Supposedly one day in his class a student (also Jewish) raised his hand and said, "Can I open a window, it's hot as Auschwitz in here".
Stupid shirt. Dumber law.
Stupid momma.Stupid Uncle.Poor kid.
Je suis une bombe
I thought it was her son. Why une?
Bombe is feminine!
Bruce Hayden said...
The Frogs again show why our 1st Amdendment is so important. Sure, they were stupid, but being stupid shouldn't be a crime, and a possible five years in prison and $58,000 in fines, for this behavior is just plain rediculous.
=================
Our "Sacred Parchment" has been around a long time, longer than any other extent Constitution.
But despite that hoary prestige as the "grand-daddy of old parchments", and America at a pinnacle as an economically vibrant democracy from 1885-2005, sans recessions and a Depression?
Few nations, including the rest of the Democracies and all the 3rd World post-colonial "start-up" nations have taken up little more than dribs and drabs of the "precious paragraphs" of the Holy Founders guided by the Lord Above.
It shows the Holy 1st Amendment is not regarded elsewhere as divine wisdom, nor lifetime appointment of judges a great idea, nor the lack of ability to revise or Amend the Constitition without near-impossible roadblocks standing in the way on any matter of controversy.
It and the Rule of Law(yers) is why America is no longer nimble, competitive. It's burdened with a per capita amount of lawyers exceeded only by Israel..
Because "bombe" is feminine. It has nothing to do with the kid's gender.
I know a woman who is a secretary at a very, very large law firm named Jihad. She is very competent.
This is child abuse. That kid is being used as a political tool or for pranks. This is not a free speech issue at all.
"In contrast to the other statistics, the volume of court litigation in Israel is not among the highest, despite the relatively high number of lawyers. ... Israel ranks 21st among 34 reported jurisdictions"
Another tough night at the flophouse JO, Fudd?
"It shows the Holy 1st Amendment is not regarded elsewhere as divine wisdom"
Sure, let's take our cues from Venezuela, or Russia, or Iran. Did you have a great big sad, Fudd, when your hero Chavez croaked. He hated Jews and Israel as much as you do.
The tower of brainlessness. Enter stage from left mom and sibling and the prosecutors from stage right.
"Fascism is always descending on America but always lands in Europe"
First the British government's decision to "regulate" the press and from the continent things like this.
Thank the Founders for the First Amendment.
@Beach
"Anyone who believes the mother when she says she is not making a political message, would probably pull her finger if she asked them to."
But assuming that some -are- stupid enough to believe that no political message was intended, how does one rule in this particular instance that the mother was not also stupid, rather than provocative?
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