Paris horror felt in Alice Springs

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Evelyne Roullet (second from right, during a candidates’ meeting before the 2012 election) is among Alice Springs people who come from France, shocked by the events in Paris.

 
By ERWIN CHLANDA
 
The small French community in Alice Springs was in shock about the tragic events in Paris this morning.
 
Erwan Hebert, who is from Brittany, is a tour guide and a volunteer at community radio 8CCC.
 
He cancelled his Saturday morning gig: “I did not want to play music today,” he said.
 
Maya Cifali had resolved to have a news-free day and heard about the massacre when we rang her.
 
Later she learned about a friend of hers on the Northside whose son, also a tour guide, had arrived in Paris from Switzerland with a group last night. They are all safe but cannot leave the country.
 
“They are trying to understand what’s going on. They heard the attackers were speaking French.”
 
Mrs Cifali says people from the former French colonies hate France – a possible motive for the atrocities.
 
Evelyne Roullet (second from right in the photo at top, during a candidates’ meeting in 2012), a retired tour guide in Alice Springs, followed the events on television with sadness this morning, but she says France is not her home any more – Alice Springs is.
 
(Ms Roullet is well-known as a former member of the Greens, but while still being a keen environmentalist she says she has let her party membership lapse.)
 
 

21 COMMENTS

  1. If we are not careful, we are going to have the same problems here in Australia. As people we need to be more vigilant.

  2. Fred the Philistine, be careful, be vigilant equal to prevention. Could you elaborate on your idea(s) how we could prevent those massacres in Australia? I am certain the Federal Government would love to hear from you.

  3. Our prayers go out to the good people of Paris, France. 130 souls lost to terror and Beirut, Lebanon, 43 also murdered.

  4. We need to secure our borders, as Tony Abbot said, and limit the people from the Middle East as they will bring their troubles here.
    Since we have had those people here have had riots in Bendigo, as they want to build a mosque there.
    In the 50 and 60s we brought out a lot of migrants, who have been an asset to this country.
    The ones from the Middle East are not.
    The Federal government is also going to cut back Federal grants to the Islamic schools as they are doing the wrong things.
    If they want to live in Australia, they need to live by our laws. We are not required to change to their ways. Tighter screening at airports and of refugees would also be an idea. If they want to come to this country why mot go through the correct channels like the migrants of the 50s and 60s.
    It is no good saying that we are sorry, we need the guts to stand up and say enough is enough.
    Every country in the world where Islamic people are present there is trouble. Please explain why, if this is a religion of peace.

  5. @ Fred the Philistine: The following is the list (official) of all the Middle East countries: Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan
    Palestine, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Cyprus.
    What is the ratio of migrants from those countries in Australia and in Bendigo?
    The peoples of the Middle East can be differentiated on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, and national identity.
    Arabs constitute the majority ethnic group in all of the Middle East states except Iran, Israel, and Turkey.
    Presently, about 60% of the total population in the Middle East speak Arabic and consider themselves to be an Arab.
    Most of the people in the Middle East practice Islam. They are referred to as Muslims.
    Islam is the dominant religion in all of the Middle Eastern states except Israel and Palestinian areas.
    Could you be clear on your ideas? Fred the Philistine? It is the Middle East migrants we should limit?
    Or the ones practicing Islam?
    Islam is practiced in other countries besides the Middle Eastern states listed above.
    Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia. There are also large numbers of Muslims in the Philippines, China, the former Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, parts of Europe, and even the United States. In fact, more Muslims live outside the Middle East than within.

  6. @ Eli Melky: Could the Council organise a small ceremony on Anzac Hill to show our support to all those Martyrs?

  7. @ Evelyn, both: It does not matter what religion you are, it is no excuse for murdering people. When Anglicans or Catholics have done something wrong, like paedophilia, ALL the priests have then a stigma.
    As Tony Abbot said the terrorist are infiltrating with the refugees from Syria and other countries. I have the 10 commandments I my pocket and I live by those everyday. There is no excuse for murder!
    @ Eli, saying prayers is not going to achieve anything, it’s a cowards way of denial. We need take decisive action, not just as a nation, but world wide.
    This is taking away people’s freedom. It will come to Australia, do we want this?

  8. Evelyne thank you for your question.
    It is entirely appropriate at a time of such devastation and sadness that a community come together to show solidarity and support those who are hurting from these terrible events.
    I will do my best to contact Council and fellow elected members to gain their support.
    Perhaps it would be more practical given the Council meets tomorrow night (Monday) that we make arrangements for a vigil on Council lawns.
    This will give elected members an opportunity to take part in the vigil. Viva La France. Viva La Liberte.

  9. Fred: Buddhists commit terrorist acts, Hindus too and Jews also Christians as well as Muslims. Ban them all?
    Send em back where they came from? The riots in Bendigo weren’t staged by Muslims but by white Australians.
    Muslims have been living peacefully in this country for over 100 years. Alice Springs has a mosque and a Muslim community that contributes to our economy.
    I haven’t seen a riot involving Muslims here yet. There’s been a couple at the footy though. Maybe we should lock up or deport all the footy players.

  10. @ Fred the Philistine: The members of the KKK swore to uphold American values and Christian morality. Are you accusing all Christians of Alice Springs of belong to the KKK?”

  11. @ Dr Wongo: You are mistaken. Don’t you remember the attack in Martin Place, Sydney, the Lindt cafe, where two people got shot and others wounded.
    We have just had Islamic people in Melbourne and Brisbane arrested for making bombs.
    So it is going on here, but have not yet had the full potential of what can happen like they have overseas.

  12. Fred, really? Are you telling me that the only mad people in Australia who go out shooting people are Muslims?
    Port Arthur, remember that, what religon did that bloke come from?

  13. I think the Fred the Philistine should be deported back to the Middle East. He has such a ridiculous view of the world we don’t need him here. Send him back to the place he identifies with so much.
    Philistines come from the area around Gaza I believe. Not good friends of Judaism, I recall, so Fred may have to team up with the Islamic people.

  14. I think the Fred the philistine should be deported back to the Middle East. He has such a ridiculous view of the world, we don’t need him here. Send him back to the place he identifies with so much. Philistines come from the area around Gaza, I believe. Not good friends of Judaism, I recall. So Fred may have to team up with the Islamic people.

  15. @ Sam the Samaritan: I think you’d better google the meaning of what a philistine is. NOT a pallistine. My family has been here for 200 years and have fought in two great world wars, so that Australia could have peace and stability.
    What have you done for this country? This country needs people like me, with a bit of guts and fortitude.
    It’s interesting to read how 31 state in America will not take any of the Syrian refugees.
    Obama has ordered all the states to take the refugees, but they all replied, that they will only take them if they have a full FBI check.
    The Arab countries will not take any of these refugees, even though they speak the same language and same religion as the terrorist risk is too great. So why should we. It is not our problem. You need to read the book by the late Malcolm Fraser, Dangerous Allies, where he says we need to distance ourselves from merica, and I agree.

  16. Time to return to your roots and your Gazan heritage in Palestine, Fred, (Fred the Philistine, Posted November 21, 2015 at 7:32 am).
    As you suggested, I googled “Philistine”, and whaddya know? Just as I thought, exactly “what a philistine is”, is “a pallistine.” They are the same word, in different stages of their etymological evolution. See http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Philistine
    To wit,
    “1. A member of a people, perhaps of Aegean origin, who settled ancient Philistia around the 12th century BC. Of or relating to ancient Philistia.
    2. Often philistine – a person who is smugly indifferent or hostile to art and culture.
    [From Middle English Philistines, Philistines, from Late Latin Philistīnī, from Greek Philistīnoi, from Hebrew Pəlištîm, from Pəlešet, Philistia.]
    Word History: The ultimate origin of the Philistines, the inhabitants of the ancient city-states of Philistia (located in what is now the Gaza Strip and the southern Mediterranean coast of Israel), is not known, although some archaeological evidence links them with ancient peoples of the Aegean region and Anatolia. The English name of this people, the Philistines, ultimately comes from Hebrew Pəlištîm, which is in turn derived from Pəlešet, the Hebrew name for Philistia. In fact, the word Palestine, the more recent historical designation for the entire region between Lebanon and Egypt, also derives from the ancient name of Philistia.
    Strategically located on a trade route from Egypt to Syria, the cities of Philistia formed a loose confederacy important in biblical times, and the Bible depicts the Philistines as engaged in a struggle with the tribes of Israel for ascendancy in the region.
    The mighty Israelite warrior Samson, for example, fought with the Philistines on several occasions and was betrayed by his Philistine lover, Delilah.
    During the 1600s, as a result of the negative depiction of the Philistines in the Bible, the word philistine came to be applied figuratively to anyone considered an enemy. However, the modern sense of the word, “uncultured person,” stems from the slang of German university students in the 1600s.
    Students used Philister, the German equivalent of the English word Philistine, to refer to nonstudents and hence uncultured or materialistic people.
    At a memorial service in 1693 for a student killed during a town-gown quarrel in Jena, for example, a minister preached a sermon from the text “Philister über dir Simson!” (“The Philistines be upon thee, Samson!”) — the words of Delilah to Samson after she attempted to render him powerless before the Philistines. The German usage was eventually picked up in English in the early 1800s.”

  17. @ Fred the Philistine : I Google Philistine. Philistia was the coastal plain where the Philistines lived after invading from Caphtor (Crete).
    In old Assyrian inscriptions it was called Palastu and Pilista. Philistia was in the southwest corner of Canaan, along the Mediterranean coast, and contained five cities – Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath.
    The area under Philistine control at times extended up the coast to Joppa.
    The modern names Palestine and Palestinian come from the Biblical names Philistia and Philistine.

  18. Onya Bob. If you are from Palestine, Fred, under your own ludicrous philosophy, you should go back there.
    And if your a Philistine in the uneducated and anti-cultural sense it would be good for us all if you did.
    Oh, and by the way, my families have also been here for a long time and have also fought in various wars. This country needs people like me who have the desire to build an open caring community.
    Oh yea, and perhaps you could educate yourself about how many refugees are in Lebanon at the moment. That’s an Arab country is it?

  19. Only 200 years, Fred. So you’re obviously descended from those boat people. Were your mob the crims, the jailers, or just economic refugees trying to escape the grinding poverty that existed in jolly old England at the time?

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