Head of 35 foot tall Zulu Warrior Rediscovered

Head of controversial 35ft Zulu warrior statue which stood at the entrance to Coventry Zoo until it closed in 1980 goes back on display - after it was rediscovered lying in a scrapyard

• The statue was dumped in a scrapyard after the zoo closed in 1980
• Head and spear tip were found by two brothers who kept them for decades

The head of a Zulu warrior that once stood at the entrance to Coventry Zoo has gone back on public display after being rediscovered.

The 35ft monument was a familiar sight to visitors at the attraction, which opened in 1966 but closed just 14 years later.

The statue, which was reportedly considered controversial for the way it portrayed African people, was dumped in a scrapyard after the zoo closed and then broke apart.

But the head and the tip of the figure's spear re-surfaced in 2011 after being found by two brothers who were scouring the scrapyard in the 1980s.

Now the face and spear have been bought by Coventry antiques dealer Tony Pedley, who has put them on display in his shop. He was told that there is also rumoured to be a surviving foot and asked anyone who has it to come forward so the parts can be reunited. 

Coventry Zoo made the news shortly after it opened when a hippo called Harry dragged a 17-year-old keeper into a pool. The animal, which had previously been put to work in a circus, was said to have been angered after suffering from toothache. 

The teenager was saved after the zoo's head keeper shouted a command to the partly-trained animal and it opened its jaws. 

There was further trouble for the zoo in 1974 when a wild boar broke out of its enclosure after apparently being teased by youths who had thrown stones at it. 

The head of a Zulu warrior that once stood at the entrance to Coventry Zoo has gone back on public display after being rediscovered. Above: The warrior and spear tip are now on the wall of the  888 Emporium, a Coventry-based antiques shop run by businessman Tony Pedley

The 35ft monument was a familiar sight to visitors at the attraction, which opened in 1966 but closed just 14 years later. Above: The figure is seen being erected in 1970

The Zulu statue was built in the 1960s by a Scunthorpe-based firm and then given to Coventry Zoo. 

When the zoo closed, the statue was moved to a scrapyard in Baginton, Coventry. 

According to previous press reports, the yard's owner, Freddie Barnes, had intended to erect it at the front of his premises but never did.  

The Coventry Telegraph reported in 2011 that brothers Gary and Wayne Anderson found the head and spear while looking through the scrapyard in the 1980s. 

The pair took it home and then kept it in the family for the next three decades. 

Mr Pedley, who runs the 888 Emporium in Coventry, said he bought the head and spear from one of the brothers after being told about the existence of objects by a friend.

He told MailOnline: 'A friend of mine said that a friend of his had it for sale. His brother had it for years in his loft.

The face and spear have been bought by Coventry antiques dealer Tony Pedley (above), who has put them on display in his shop

'We have done a bit of refurb on it because the horns were broke. We have put it on our wall for people to take selfies.

'We are trying to raise £10,000 for Myton Hospice in Warwick and Coventry. We lost a very dear friend of ours who was only 36.'

He also urged anyone who has the 'missing' foot to come forward so the parts can be reunited.

'I have got the face and tip of his spear but apparently there is a foot missing. There is a foot in Coventry. If we can find the foot that would raise even more money,' he added. 

Asked why he bought the head and spear, he said: 'It represents Coventry. I have a shop full of Coventry paraphernalia. 

The Zulu statue was built in the 1960s by a Scunthorpe-based firm and then given to Coventry Zoo. Above: The statue can be seen in the background of his image, shows visitors to the zoo in 1972

A female visitor feeds a hippo called Harry at Coventry Zoo in August 1966. The following month, the same hippo dragged a teenage keeper into the pool in its enclosure

Maureen Waite, a member of the zoo's staff, shows off a lion cub to local children in 1970

'I remember going to the Zoo and being a bit scared of Zulu.

'Once we have raised as much money as we can, I intend to give him to a Coventry museum.'

Coventry Zoo made the news shortly after it opened when a hippo called Harry dragged a 17-year-old keeper into a pool.

The animal, which had previously been put to work in a circus, was said to have been angered after suffering from toothache. 

The teenager was saved after the zoo's head keeper shouted a command to the partly-trained animal and it opened its jaws. 

There was further trouble for the zoo in 1974 when a wild boar broke out of its enclosure after apparently being teased by youths who had thrown stones at it. 

Armed police had to be called in to hunt for the dangerous animal.  

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12652895/Head-controversial-35ft-Zulu-warrior-statue-stood-entrance-Coventry-Zoo-closed-1980-goes-display-rediscovered-lying-scrapyard.html

U.S. Politics: White House spox. pivots to Islamophobia when asked about antisemitism

 

White House spox. pivots to Islamophobia when asked about antisemitism

The press secretary said that the White House had "not seen any credible threats" of antisemitism.

By TZVI JOFFRE, Jerusalem Post, OCTOBER 24, 2023

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-769861

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, US. September 22, 2023. (photo credit: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sparked controversy on social media after responding to a question about concerns of rising antisemitism amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas by talking about Islamophobia instead.

A reporter asked Jean-Pierre during a press briefing on Monday, “What is [US President Joe Biden's] level of concern right now about the potential rise of antisemitism in light of everything that’s going on in Israel?”

The press secretary responded by stating, “Look, we have not seen any credible threats. I know there’s been, always, questions about credible threats. And so, just want to make sure that that’s out there. But, look, Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks.”

Jean-Pierre stressed that Biden “understands that many of our Muslim, Arab Americans and Palestinian American loved ones and neighbors are worried about the hate being directed at their communities.”

People march after attending a demonstration to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in New York City, US, October 13, 2023. (credit: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

The press secretary added that the president has directed the Homeland Security team to “prioritize prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm the Jewish, the Muslim, Arab Americans or any other communities.”

Jean-Pierre was also asked about anti-Israel protests taking place on college campuses across the US, with a reporter asking “does the president view anti-Israel protests and sentiment on college campuses as antisemitism?”

The press secretary responded “I’m not going to get into what’s happening across the country at different universities. I’m not going to get into the specifics.”

“A peaceful protest is really part of our democracy, for folks to be able to express their feelings," she said. "The president has been very clear in wanting to make sure that Jewish Americans, wanting to make sure that Arab Americans, Muslims are protected here. The president has been very, very clear on denouncing any type of violence. And so, as it relates to peaceful protesting, people have the right to do that. But we’re just not going to get into blow-by-blows of what’s going on across the country.”

When the reporter quoted Biden’s comments that “silence is complicity” and noted that antisemitic letters were being published as part of some of these protests, Jean-Pierre stressed that “the president is against antisemitism. Of course. This is a president that you have heard me say wants to protect communities, whether it’s the Jewish community, the Arab American community, [or] the Palestinian community. This is someone who is going to speak out against antisemitism.”

Social media erupts over press secretary's handling of antisemitism questions

The White House press secretary’s handling of questions concerning antisemitism sparked outrage, with some social media users expressing concern that she had “pivoted” from the question to other issues.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called on Jean-Pierre to address rising antisemitism in the US, saying “At a time of soaring antisemitism and hate taking place on both sides of the Atlantic, and as Jews around the world are in deep mourning over the mass murder of innocent Jews by Hamas terrorists, we urge Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to address the question she was asked regarding the rise of antisemitism.”

Cooper offered to send the press secretary statistics concerning the rise in antisemitic incidents over the past 10 days.

“Of course, all decent Americans oppose all bigotry including Islamophobia — but as spokeswoman for the president of the United States she must fully and accurately address antisemitism as well," he said 

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) expressed outrage at the press secretary’s response in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “What a weak answer. And why are you looking in the book? What’s the approved answer? The simple answer is yes, you are concerned about the rise of antisemitism. Of course, we are also worried about hatred against Muslim Americans. Must do better.”

The Republican National Committee also responded on X, writing that "this weekend, we saw antisemitic protestors literally waving the flag of Hamas in Minnesota. But when Karine Jean-Pierre is asked a direct question about the rise of antisemitism, she dodges.”

The press secretary responded to the controversy in a post on X, writing “To be clear: the president and our team are very concerned about a rise in antisemitism, especially after the horrific Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.”     

Pud says:  When the US administration has as it's official mouthpiece a bigoted Marxist moron who was clearly appointed on the basis of race and gender and adherence to churning out set piece Marxist propaganda and not any proven public relations ability, it is clear to all that crooked Joe Biden is senile and that all current White House staff in sensitive positions were not selected by Joe Biden but by his two America hating puppet masters George Soros and the Muslim Brotherhood supporting ex-POTUS Barack Hussein Obama, with their perverse anti-American pro-Islamist and pro-Iran platform now de-facto official  US foreign policy.  If the Democrats retain power in the 2024 elections then America will remain in grave danger of becoming just another failed 3rd world pro-Jihadist dictatorship shithole run behind the scenes by Obama, Soros, the Squad, Louis Farrakhan, CAIR and crooks like Joe and Hunter Biden and the Clintons. 

God Bless America and may God grant Donald Trump victory in 2024 and protect him from harm, Amen!

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Israel Establishes Special Nili Unit to Hunt Down Hamas Fanatics

Israel orders top spies to hunt down 'every single individual' involved in Hamas' October 7 massacre

Israel has ordered elite spies to hunt down and assassinate 'every single individual' involved in the October 7 atrocity.

The establishment of a special unit to hunt down Hamas fanatics who killed 1,400 people two weeks ago echoes the 'Operation Wrath of God' by Mossad to assassinate terrorists from the Palestinian group Black September decades ago.

They had killed Israeli athletes in the 1972 Munich massacre, and Israel's 'Iron Lady' leader Golda Meir ordered their assassinations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Yesterday Mossad's sister security service Shin Bet was reported to have established a special unit named Nili, an acronym meaning: 'The eternity of Israel will not lie.'

It is tasked with 'eliminating' everyone who played a role in the Hamas massacres.

How Saint Greta has led a spiral of endless grievance

SARAH VINE: How 'Saint Greta' has led a spiral of endless grievance

The revellers at the Supernova music festival in the western Negev desert attacked by Hamas terrorists at dawn on October 7 were typical of the beautiful young things you always see at these sorts of gatherings.

Idealistic kids, the kind who hope for a better, fairer world, who support worthy causes such as decolonisation, trans rights and environmentalism and who scold their parents for being insufficiently woke.

The type you find in any sixth-form college or university campus, who go on marches and sit around debating the merits of socialism, who idolise the likes of Greta Thunberg as they lecture world leaders on the extent of their wickedness.

That was what broke my heart this week. That one of the icons these peace- seekers probably worshipped failed to even acknowledge their terrible plight.

Hundreds of hopeful young souls, butchered by terrorists, and what does this supposed messiah for Gen Z, ‘Saint Greta of Thunberg’ herself do? Profess her support for the other side.

In a now-deleted social media post, she is pictured holding a ‘Stand with Gaza’ placard.

In a now-deleted social media post, Greta Thunberg is pictured holding a ‘Stand with Gaza’ placard

The caption reads ‘Today we are striking in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians.’

Only Palestinians, mind, not Israelis. No mention of the abductions, rapes, torture and beheadings of young girls like herself.

No acknowledgement of any of it – apart from, beside her, well placed for all to see, a blue stuffed octopus. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Based on a Nazi image of the world in the grip of a giant blue cephalopod with a star of David on its head, the octopus is often used as an anti-Semitic trope, a reference to a ‘sinister’ Jewish cabal that apparently rules all our lives. Thunberg later claimed that she had no inkling of its association, that the toy merely helped her autism.

Many will no doubt take her at her word. I find that difficult.

Thunberg is a seasoned, well-managed campaigner.

It’s inconceivable that she and her team would have been unaware of the sensitivities surrounding such imagery.

Like the singer Alicia Keys, who last week captioned an Instagram post, ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid of anything? I’ve had my eyes on paragliding’, followed by two ‘eyes’ emojis. Maybe Thunberg just thought no one would pick up on it.

In this moment – Hamas beheading Israeli babies, gang-raping girls and throwing one female hostage, a tattoo artist, naked and unconscious in the back of a pick-up truck, spitting on her and yanking her by the hair while literally setting other women and Jews on fire – Alicia Keys, feminist singer of shero-anthems, posts this...

Why? Because for some reason Jewish lives don’t seem to matter, or seem to matter less, than those of Palestinians.

Like Keys, like the group of luvvies – including actors Tilda Swinton, Miriam Margolyes and Steve Coogan – who put their names to an open letter demanding ‘an end to military and political support for Israel’s actions’, with only minimal mention of the atrocities, Thunberg is typical of so many whose intellectual arrogance, sense of entitlement and apparently selective moral conscience allow them to entertain a bizarre world view.

To quote the master of all things dystopian, George Orwell, this calls to mind the phrase that ‘all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’.

Taken to extreme, it’s a view that legitimises antipathy and aggression by not only diminishing the object of their ire, but also victim-shaming them. It’s a well-worn tactic, deployed successfully throughout history by extremists to justify the mistreatment of individuals or groups of people, from slavery to the French Revolution. It allows people to do, or say, appalling things about other human beings – or simply to turn a blind eye to injustice – while deluding themselves that they are somehow on the side of the angels.

Hundreds of hopeful young souls, butchered by terrorists, and what does this supposed messiah for Gen Z, ‘Saint Greta of Thunberg’ herself do? Profess her support for the other side

It is the same principle that allowed the Islamic State to justify the rape and slaughter of Yazidi women and children; that sees Russia bomb maternity hospitals in Ukraine; that leads to people tearing down posters of kidnapped children; that demands Israel provides ‘proof’ of the atrocities committed against itself.

But what’s new is how universal this approach now seems. How embedded in our day-to-day lives it has become. This, I think, is what King Charles very wisely referenced last week when he talked about the natural instinct of the British people to ‘pull together and co-operate’ being drowned out by the ‘shouting’ of the ‘digital sphere where civilised debate too often gives way to rancour and acrimony’.

He’s right.

None of this is specific to Israel, but Israel is the most acute example, and it has brought the issue sharply to the fore.

But make no mistake: this selective morality, this deeply ingrained prejudice that so often poses as wokeness extends to all aspects of debate – political, cultural, social and ideological.

And it only ensures one thing: ever deeper divisions in a world that seems trapped in a terrible, depressing, never-ending spiral of hate.

Thunberg