France is boosting police patrols and mobilizing army troops over the Christmas holiday following a string of three seemingly unrelated attacks. A man died from injuries suffered Dec. 22 in Nantes, when a van plowed into shoppers at an outdoor Christmas market. The driver stabbed himself after the incident, but is expected to survive. The day before in Dijon, a driver shouting "Allahu Akbar" ploughed into pedestrians, injuring 13. The day before that, a man issued the same war-cry as he attacked police with a knife in Joue-les-Tours, before being gunned down. French media are emphasizing that ISIS issued a call urging Muslims around the world to kill "in any manner" people from countries in the anti-ISIS military coalition, especially singling out the French. Among the helpful suggestions from ISIS was "run them over with your car." (BBC News, BBC News, RFI, CNN, France24)
This of course follows a similar attack in East Jerusalem, and calls for a "Car Intifada" against Israel. It is painful to see Palestinians emulating the worst elements of the global car culture, but it has certainly exposed the double standard. Of course these attacks are spun exclusively in terms of Islamist extremism, leaving out the critical factor of car culture. Note this BBC News report about how six people were killed and eight others injured when an "out-of-control" (sic) truck mowed into pedestrians in downtown Glasgow Dec. 22. "Police…said there appeared to be nothing 'sinister' about the crash." Nothing "sinister" about six dead?! Is shouting "Allahu Akbar" what makes it "sinister"?! We already noted that the "out-of-control" excuse was rejected in the Jerusalem case…
