Tea at Trianon: Inside ISIS

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Inside ISIS

Pray for the captives. Someone please help them. From Al-Monitor:

Eyes filled with tears, Janet said in a sad voice, “This picture was taken a month before she was captured. We were attending a concert and she insisted that we take a group photo. She looked stunning that night.” Mary’s family is from the area of Tal Shamiram, in the southwest neighborhood of Tell Tamer, in Hasaka city, where she was captured along with 234 others, including her parents, by IS militants. The abduction followed a major IS offensive on Assyrian villages at dawn on Feb. 23, 2015. On Nov. 7, 2015, IS freed 37 Christians, including Immanuel, after nine months of detention. He told Al-Monitor that prior to his release, he “asked IS officials about my wife and Mary, but to no avail.” He contented himself with believing that they would soon be freed as well.

On Dec. 25, 2015, IS released another 25 Assyrians, mostly women and children. Janet was among them. She said, “They called my name, but Mary’s name was not among those who would be released. I passed out. Later on, I insisted on staying there with her until we were both freed.” But IS did not grant her request and said that Mary and the other detainees will be released once a deal is concluded. Janet said that IS is still holding seven Assyrians, including her daughter, and asking for a higher ransom for them. She said, “When I was held by IS, the militants used to tell us that we would be freed once our relatives pay the ransom.”

The BBC Arabic site quoted Talia Younan of the Assyrian Democratic Organization as telling the Associated Press Feb. 22 that the release came after mediation led by an unnamed senior Assyrian priest. Younan reported that IS demanded “a ransom of $18 million for the Assyrian Christians, and that the figure was later lowered following negotiations.” No one knows the final figure paid to IS. Janet is afraid that Mary might be raped or forced to marry during her detention. She said, “This has caused Mary extreme panic attacks and continuous treatment at the hospital.” She went on, “She is by herself now, and I wonder how she is doing without me by her side.” Immanuel said they know nothing about their captured daughter, who has been kept prisoner for a year and one month now. (Read more.)