Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/25/2014

Israel has rejected a Gaza ceasefire proposed by Secretary of State John Kerry. However, it agreed to a twelve-hour humanitarian truce effective Saturday morning. Meanwhile, the IDF uncovered a plan by Hamas for a massive infiltration of Israel via the terror tunnels, timed to coincide with Rosh Hashanah in September. If the operation had been carried out, hundreds or even thousands of Israeli civilians might have been taken by surprise and killed or taken hostage.

In other news, Norway announced that there is a credible and imminent threat of a terror attack by “Norwegians” returning “home” from the jihad in Syria.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, JP, Steen, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» GDP in Southern Italy Down 47.7 Bn Euros, Says Group
» Japanese Trade Deficit Hits Record Levels in First Six Months of the Year
 
USA
» Arab-Americans Distribute Safety Tips for Mosques
» Florida’s State Senator Alan Hays Takes Up a New Cause: D’Souza’s Film ‘America’
» French Quarter Residents Voice Crime Concerns to Police Chief
» Mosque-Less Muslims Improvise for Ramadan
» Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012
 
Europe and the EU
» ‘Credible’ Terror Threat in Norway, US Officials Say
» Danish Ferry Operators Tighten Security Checks for Norway-Bound Passengers
» France: Paris Police Ban Pro-Gaza Demo for Second Time
» French Police Ban Anti-Israel March Amid Anti-Semitism Fears
» French Police Discover ‘Arsenal’ on Bus Heading for London
» Italy: Two American Soldiers Charged With Rape, Beating of Woman
» Netherlands: The Hague Mayor Again After Fire After Anti-Jewish Chanting at Rally
» Scotland: Norfolk Island Lawn Bowler Hopes Medal Bounty Will Earn Him a Place in History Books Alongside Ancestor
» Terrorists Leave Syria for Norway: PST
» UK: Aylesbury Mosque to Hold Open Day
» UK: HSBC Bank to Close Muslim Charity Accounts as Gaza Protests Escalate
» UK: Israel-Gaza Conflict: Thank You Alexei Sayle for So Perfectly Proving My Point About Anti-Semitism
» UK: In Praise of ‘Hate Speech’
» UK: What is the Lib Dems’ Problem With ‘The Jews’?
 
North Africa
» Egypt: Gunmen Kill Two Policemen in North Sinai Drive-by Shooting
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Aharonovitch Says Ceasefire Would be a ‘Mistake’
» Five Palestinians Killed on ‘Day of Rage’
» Four Palestinian Arabs Killed in Judea, Samaria
» Hamas Mega-Attack Planned Through Gaza Terror Tunnels
» House of Worship or Palestinian Arsenal?
» Israel and the US: Whose Survival Instinct is Stronger?
» Israel Rejects Kerry’s Ceasefire Proposal
» This War May Have Prevented a Huge Planned Terror Attack
» Understanding Hamas’ Mainstream, Genocidal Islamic Jew-Hatred
» War “Statistics”: The New York Times Deceives Again
» Why Israel Was Stunned by Discovery of the Tunnels in Gaza?
 
Middle East
» Iraq: Islamic State Tightens Modesty Laws for Women
» Iraq: Islamic State Militants Destroy Ancient Mosque in Mosul
» ‘It’s Jihad, Innit, Bruv’: Meet the British Muslims Going to Fight in Syria
» Jordan: King Performs Friday Prayers at Ajloun Gand Mosque
» The Chilling Tale of How a Typical Lewisham Teen Became an ISIS Bride in Syria
 
Russia
» EU Blacklists More Russians, Prepares Economic Sanctions
» Over 300 Ukrainian Troops Killed in Eastern Region Since Mid-April
 
South Asia
» Afghanistan: Taliban Executes 14 in Roadside Attack
» Car Bomb Explosion Kills 3 in Thailand
» Eight-Year-Old Girl Raped and Hanged in India
» Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek: Supreme Court Outlaws Ahmadis
 
Australia — Pacific
» Kalgoorlie Mosque Proposal Appears Set for Approval
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Boko Haram Steps Up Cameroon Raids
» Gambia: Pipeline Mosque Foundation Presents D10,000 Cheque to Serrekunda Hospital
» German Tourist Killed on Increasingly Violent Kenyan Coast
» Mali: Storm Most Likely Reason for Air Algérie Plane Crash — French Minister
» UAE Exchange Conducts Iftar at Uganda National Mosque
» West Africa Ebola Death Toll Reaches 660: Who
 
Immigration
» EU Rejects Swiss Request for Freedom of Movement Talks: Source
» French Police Catch 28 Illegal Immigrants Trying to Escape Britain — And Swiftly Return Them
» Morocco: More Than 1,000 Would-be Migrants Attempt Melilla Fence Jump
 

GDP in Southern Italy Down 47.7 Bn Euros, Says Group

Unemployment affects nearly 2/3 of southern Italian youth

(ANSA) — Rome, July 25 — The economic crisis has had “extremely difficult effects” on southern Italy and strong intervention will be necessary to boost weak signs of growth, Confindustria said Friday.

The Italian employers’ federation said that since the start of the financial crisis in 2007, gross domestic product (GDP) in the south has fallen 47.7 billion euros, more than 600,000 jobs have been lost in that part of Italy, and nearly two of every three southern youths is unemployed.

Still, some weak signs of growth have been seen, such as the opening of small businesses and a slight increase in tourism, Confindustria said in its report.

Reforms are necessary in order to bolster growth, it added.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Japanese Trade Deficit Hits Record Levels in First Six Months of the Year

Trade deficit tops 7.6 trillion yen (US$ 74.9 billion) as exports fail to keep pace with imports. Higher sales tax and higher fuel and gas imports because of nuclear power plant closures push Japan’s trade balance into the red.

Tokyo (AsiaNews) — Japan’s trade deficit hit a record 7.6 trillion yen (US$ 74.9 billion) in the first half of the year as exports failed to keep pace with surging imports, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.

Imports for the six months jumped 10 per cent to 42.6 trillion yen (US$ 420 billion) whilst exports rose 3.2 per cent to 35.1 trillion yen (US$ 346 billion).

Japan’s bulging import bill was partly due to a jump in demand as businesses and consumers stepped up purchases ahead of an April 1 increase in the sales tax from 5 per cent to 8 per cent.

“While the trade deficit widened last month, it remains much smaller than before the sales tax hike. This suggests that net trade finally ceased to be a drag on GDP growth last quarter,” an expert said.

Higher imports of fuel and gas pushed Japan’s trade balance into the red following the halting of all its nuclear reactors for safety checks after the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.

In January-June, imports of liquefied natural gas rose 12 per cent whilst oil imports jumped 5 per cent.

By contrast, exports have not received much of a boost from the weakening of the yen in 2012-2013.

Japan remains heavily dependent on its vehicle exports, which rose 60 per cent from the year before in the first half of 2014.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Arab-Americans Distribute Safety Tips for Mosques

In the wake of two anti-Muslim attacks outside Brooklyn mosques, Arab-American leaders are urging members of their community to consult a booklet offering tips on keeping religious institutions safe…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Florida’s State Senator Alan Hays Takes Up a New Cause: D’Souza’s Film ‘America’

We know from our work with Florida State Senator Alan Hays (Republican -Senate Dist 11-Umatilla) that once he signs on to important legislation he is virtually unstoppable. That was the case in his four year battle to get a unique version of American Law for American Courts (ALAC) passed and enacted into law in the Sunshine State. Rabbi Jonathan Hausman, Florida Christian Family Coalition executive director Anthony Verdugo and I know his effectiveness, up close and personal, from working with him on the successful passage of ALAC in the 2014 legislative session. But that wasn’t all, he led the charge in the Florida Senate passing important legislation during the same legislative session assuring that world history texts used by school local districts are reviewed to assure that they are both accurate and fact-based . Back in the 2012 we also worked with him in successfully passing a Florida version of the Stand with Israel Resolution with unanimous bi-partisan vote.Now, Hays has a new cause. According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, Hays will introduce a one page bill in November 2014 mandating the viewing of Dinesh D’Souza’s new docudrama, America: Imagine the World Without her in 1,700 Florida public middle and high schools, unless objected to by parents. D’Souza’s also produced the docudrama 2016: Obama’s America . His latest film launched this month is based on the companion book by the same title, currently No. 2 on the New York Times best seller list.

http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/55326#.U9MhWpjDgvg.yahoomail

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

French Quarter Residents Voice Crime Concerns to Police Chief

NEW ORLEANS — John Hall was walking his dog outside his home on St. Phillip Street around 5:30 a.m. on May 8 when a young man walked past him and said something he couldn’t understand.

Then, Hall felt a blow to the back of his head. “My jaw was wired together for four weeks, and it took like six weeks before my ribs were back to almost normal,” Hall said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Mosque-Less Muslims Improvise for Ramadan

Plans to build a mosque in Sheepshead Bay may remain on hold, but Ramadan waits for no man.

Local Muslims celebrating the Islamic holy month have been forced to make do with an improvised location for evening prayers — an empty storefront that was formerly a Burger King…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012

If an asteroid big enough to knock modern civilization back to the 18th century appeared out of deep space and buzzed the Earth-Moon system, the near-miss would be instant worldwide headline news.

Two years ago, Earth experienced a close shave just as perilous, but most newspapers didn’t mention it. The “impactor” was an extreme solar storm, the most powerful in as much as 150+ years.

“If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” says Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Credible’ Terror Threat in Norway, US Officials Say

There is a “credible” threat of a terror attack in Norway in coming days, U.S. officials said following a stark warning from a top Norwegian intelligence official.

Earlier today Benedicte Bjoernland, the head of the Norwegian security service PST, said the country had received “reliable information” about an imminent, “concrete threat” to Norway from extremists who fought in Syria, according to a report by The Associated Press. Bjoernland feared the attack would take place “within days.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Danish Ferry Operators Tighten Security Checks for Norway-Bound Passengers

COPENHAGEN, July 25 (Xinhua) — Denmark’s ferry operators have increased screening of Norway-bound passengers after Norwegian authorities warned of a serious terrorist threat in the country, local media reported Friday.

All passengers aboard Stena Line, which departs for Oslo from Frederikshavn in northern Denmark, had their passports or driving licenses checked, according to Danish newswire Ritzau…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

France: Paris Police Ban Pro-Gaza Demo for Second Time

Paris police have banned a Paris Gaza solidarity demonstration for the second time. Organisers claim the decision to stop Saturday’s march is political.

Following Prime Minister Manuel Valls’s declaration that the rally might be banned on Wednesday, Paris police announced on Friday afternoon that it could not go ahead because it judged security plans inadequate, organisers said.

They have appealed against the ban, claiming that the route and security provisions had been drawn up with the police.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Police Ban Anti-Israel March Amid Anti-Semitism Fears

Despite gov’t withdrawing ban on rallies, police cite serious violence at previous protests to forbid weekend anti-Israel march.

French police said Friday that a protest planned for the weekend in Paris against Israel’s military operation in Gaza has been banned, following several similar rallies that turned violent.

Organizers of the rally scheduled for Saturday immediately lodged a legal challenge, their lawyer, Hosni Maati, said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

French Police Discover ‘Arsenal’ on Bus Heading for London

Police in Calais have discovered what French news media are calling un véritable arsenal de guerre — a veritable arsenal of war — on board a London-bound bus.

A Eurolines bus left Amsterdam bound for London via Calais on Tuesday when border police searched baggage and found three loaded automatic pistols, three Smith & Wesson revolvers and a semi-automatic Luger, as well as two Italian-made firearms, a Czech-made firearm, a silencer and almost 500 rounds of 9mm ammunition…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Two American Soldiers Charged With Rape, Beating of Woman

Vicenza mayor asks Rome to ensure trials held in Italy

(ANSA) — Vicenza, July 23 — Carabinieri police arrested two American paratroopers Thursday on allegations of raping and beating a pregnant Roumanian prostitute, police said.

The two American soldiers were identified as Gray Gerelle Lamarcus, 22, and Edil McCough, 21, who were held for questioning in the assault that occured about 10 days ago.

Lamarcus is also accused of the sexual assault of a minor from Vicenza province. He currently is being treated at a local hospital after attempting suicide, police say.

The two paratroopers allegedly raped and savagely beat the Romanian woman, who was six months pregnant.

Before fleeing the two allegedly stole from the woman’s handbag.

Vicenza’s mayor, Achille Variati, recently wrote to Justice Minister Andrea Orlando asking him to reject any request from the United States to allow the two American soldiers to be tried in the US.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: The Hague Mayor Again After Fire After Anti-Jewish Chanting at Rally

The Hague’s mayor Jozias van Aartsen is being urged to get tough on anti-Jewish demonstrators after people were heard chanting ‘death to Jews’ at a protest rally in the city on Thursday evening.

During the rally, in which some of the 100 protesters carried pro-Isis flags, Muslim youngsters were heard to shout ‘death to all Jews’, news magazine Elsevier reported.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Scotland: Norfolk Island Lawn Bowler Hopes Medal Bounty Will Earn Him a Place in History Books Alongside Ancestor

Lawn bowler from tiny South Pacific Island claims to be direct descendant of Fletcher Christian who led the mutiny on the Bounty

A lawn bowler representing Norfolk Island at the Commonwealth Games claims to be a direct descendent of the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.

John Christian, 63, carried the flag for the Pacific island at the opening ceremony in Glasgow.

He says he is a descendent of Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate who ousted Capt William Bligh from HMS Bounty before settling with other mutineers and a group of Tahitian women on Pitcairn Island…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Terrorists Leave Syria for Norway: PST

A terror group has left Syria and is heading for Norway as their next target, says Norwegian security intelligence group PST on Friday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Aylesbury Mosque to Hold Open Day

Aylesbury Mosque is to hold an open day enabling the town’s non-Muslims to see what goes on at the Havelock Street site.

President of the mosque Iftekhar Bashir said: “I would urge people to attend to find out who we are, what we do and what we believe in.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: HSBC Bank to Close Muslim Charity Accounts as Gaza Protests Escalate

HSBC bank is to follow its competitors Barclays in closing the bank accounts of the Ummah Welfare Trust (UWT), a Muslim-run charity which has previously been accused, though cleared, of having links to terrorism. The non-profit, which describes itself as an “international relief and development charity”, has perviously given money to Interpal — an organisation designated by the US Treasury in 2003 as one of several groups providing “support” to Gaza-based terrorist outfit Hamas…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Israel-Gaza Conflict: Thank You Alexei Sayle for So Perfectly Proving My Point About Anti-Semitism

Have a listen to the moment where the ‘comedian’ Alexei Sayle accuses Emma Barnett, a British Jew, of supporting the murder of women and children, live on BBC Radio 2

Earlier this week I penned a piece about the about the rise of Anti-Semitism across Europe linked to the latest conflict in Gaza.

It garnered, unsurprisingly, a huge response — much of which I’m happy to report was supportive.

As I originally wrote, up and down this island Jews are arguing, debating, crying and worrying about what’s going on in an even smaller country across the ocean…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: In Praise of ‘Hate Speech’

by James Delingpole

Someone has petitioned the UK Government’s Home Office demanding that the term “denier” be classified as “hate speech.”…

[Reader comment by therealpm on 25 July 2014.]

The very idea that there is such a concept as hate speech is in itself hateful. One is either free to speak one’s mind or else one isn’t; there is no halfway house. The pernicious idea of hate speech has led to people in Britain being imprisoned merely for speaking their mind, something that only used to happen in the Soviet bloc. Let those who favour restrictions have the courage to come out in their true colours; as totalitarian oppressors.

For all I care the hateful left can call me anything they like. I know what I am, and I know what they are.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: What is the Lib Dems’ Problem With ‘The Jews’?

The Liberal Democrats have always been a party of contradictions. In the time I’ve been a member, as well as a journalist covering the party, few of its contradictions have baffled me more than the fact that it is called the Liberal Democrat party but it unequivocally fails to support the only liberal democracy in the Middle East…

[Reader comment by JoeDM on 25 July 2014.]

But it’s not just Lib Dems. Most of the so-called ‘progressive’ left now would rather support islamofascism than liberal democracy.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Gunmen Kill Two Policemen in North Sinai Drive-by Shooting

Cairo — Unknown gunmen killed two policemen in North Sinai’s Sheikh Zoueid on Friday.

The gunmen attacked a police vehicle carrying a brigadier-general and his son, a police officer, a security source told Aswat Masriya. Security forces fired back at the gunmen who managed to escape, the source said.

The armed forces have been launching crackdowns in various cities to arrest militant extremists that target police and army elements in Sinai since former President Mohamed Mursi’s ouster in July 2013.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Aharonovitch Says Ceasefire Would be a ‘Mistake’

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch insists IDF must complete its mission before Israel caves to international pressure.

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beytenu) publicly expressed support for continuing Operation Protective Edge on Friday, at a press conference with Israeli reporters.

“A ceasefire without exposing all the tunnels would be a mistake,” he said. Reports are circulating Friday that Israel and Hamas may accept a US-brokered cease-fire within the next few days, despite the fact that there is no concrete evidence from either side that a truce will be reached…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Five Palestinians Killed on ‘Day of Rage’

Israel rejects a ceasefire plan put forward by US Secretary of State John Kerry as the bloodshed spreads to the West Bank.

Five Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the West Bank — four shot by Israeli troops and the other by a female settler. Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in the village of Beit Ummar.

Elsewhere, Israeli settlers fired on a group of Palestinians near the northern city of Nablus, killing a teenager and wounding four others after they threw stones at their car. The shot was fired by a woman, according to Israeli army radio. Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene and their gunfire killed a fifth man.

The deaths come as Israel apparently rejected US Secretary of State John Kerry’s ceasefire plan. An unnamed government source said the security cabinet was seeking modifications. Hamas has yet to respond to the plan…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Four Palestinian Arabs Killed in Judea, Samaria

Border police attacked near Shechem, another incident near Beit Umar in Etzion Bloc. Two killed in each.

Border Police officers came under attack by Arab rioters in Hawara, near Shechem, in Shomron Friday. Initial reports indicate that the rioters hurled rocks and fired fireworks at the Border Police at close range. The policemen fired at the rioters, apparently killing two.

A short time later, two Jews — a woman aged about 50 and a man — driving through Hawara were blocked by dozens of Arab attackers, who hurled rocks and iron bars at them. The two fired in the air and scared off the attackers. They escaped unharmed.

Gershon Mesika, Head of the Shomron Regional Council. Said after the event: “A tragedy was fortunately averted in Samaria, thanks to the resourcefulness of a mother of 10, aged about 50, and another resident, when hundreds of Arabs who left the mosques were about to lynch them.”

In another confrontation that took place in the Etzion Bloc, two Arab rioters were killed…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Hamas Mega-Attack Planned Through Gaza Terror Tunnels

by Lawrence A. Franklin

Hamas had apparently been preparing a murderous assault on Israeli civilian targets for the coming Jewish New Year Holiday, Rosh Hashanah, which begins on September 24, according anonymous sources in the Israeli security services, as reported today by the Israeli daily Maariv…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

House of Worship or Palestinian Arsenal?

by Danielle Avel

While salvaging Qurans from the rubble of the Al-Farouq Mosque in Gaza, junior imam Muhammad Hamad told the New York Times, ‘This is a house of God” — as though this proved the mosque is a peaceful place of worship. He said this after Al-Farouq had been targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on July 12. According to IDF spokesperson, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, intelligence indicated the mosque was used as “a Hamas rocket cache and gathering point for militants.” According to Hamad, “That charge is baseless.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israel and the US: Whose Survival Instinct is Stronger?

by Diana West

There’s something darkly coincidental in the fact that the latest weapon to be deployed against the survival instinct of both Israel and the United States is an alleged “heartlessness” when it comes to children.

The people of Israel are castigated in news media, social media and the “international community” (read: the scoundrel United Nations, of whose budget U.S. taxpayers pay 22 percent) as lacking in “humanity” itself. Why? Because as the IDF fights to end Gaza’s endless rocket barrages against Israel, many children under the age of 18 number among the civilian dead. This London Telegraph headline is not untypical: “Israel’s offensive in Gaza has ‘killed more children than fighters,’ say human rights groups. Israel has been accused of waging ‘war on the children’ of Gaza …”

No mention in the article, however, of Gaza’s purposeful, strategic use of “human shields,” which leads to such civilian casualties. No mention of the directive from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of the Interior instructing civilians to remain in their homes on receipt of advance warnings from Israel to vacate before a military attack, as the Washington Free Beacon first reported. No mention that despite building networks of military tunnels, Gaza authorities neglected to build any bomb shelters for civilians! No mention of Gaza’s use of schools and other civilian sites to store rockets and other military material, and of its use of hospitals as Hamas command centers.

No, the story is tightly focused on Israel’s supposed “war on children.” This libel is tweeted, screamed and news-anchor-intoned into poisonous propaganda designed to sap the life from Israel’s survival instinct, or at least alienate her supporters. In the stage-managed furor, the pressure on the Jews of Israel builds: Stop defending your borders, your people and your nation. Stop everything and “save the children of Gaza.”

Only emotion to the point of frenzy bursts into such agitprop, but it is vital to note that the emotion showing through is hatred for Jews, not love for children…

           — Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Rejects Kerry’s Ceasefire Proposal

Cabinet unanimously votes to reject the ceasefire proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Israel rejected U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday evening.

According to reports in the Israeli media, the Cabinet which met on the issue unanimously voted to reject the proposal.

“The security cabinet has unanimously rejected the ceasefire proposal of Kerry, as it stands,” Channel 1 News reported, adding that ministers would continue discussing it.

According to Channel 10 News, even though the ceasefire proposal was rejected, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would still prefer to avoid an extensive ground operation in Gaza at this time.

Earlier on Friday, the London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported that Hamas had agreed to a five-day “humanitarian ceasefire” on terms suggested by Kerry.

Kerry’s proposal reportedly includes some of the unprecedented terms proposed by Hamas leaders, but not all. According to the daily, the truce would not see any terrorists released, despite Hamas’s demands…

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

This War May Have Prevented a Huge Planned Terror Attack

I’ve been seeing unsourced rumors like this one (via email):

From the 48 Hamas prisoners that have been captured, the intelligence have been interrogating them and the most terrifying, and horrific picture is being built.

They are being investigated about the many tunnels that have been found and dug under many kibbutzim that surround Gaza. The most terrifying detail is being uncovered that Hamas had a plan to attack all the settlements and kibbutzim in the area this year on Rosh Hashanah with an invasion of over 200 terrorists into almost all the settlements in the area. The tunnels went under the kibbutzim under the kindergartens and dining rooms and other areas within the kibbutz perimeters. They planned to occupy the whole area and kill as many Israelis as possible.

This could have been the worst terror attack in the history of terrorism. Thousands of people, including women and children would have been slaughtered in this planned attack.

Could this be true?

According to NRG, Bibi said something like this in a cabinet meeting yesterday, although without some of the more specific details like the “Rosh Hashahah” timeframe:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed yesterday (Thursday) that the intent of the organization (Hamas) was to use dozens of tunnels simultaneously.

In the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told ministers that “these tunnels were meant to allow the enemy to attack simultaneously and perform mass attacks on Israeli citizens.”

Security sources stress that if the political leadership wants to eliminate the problem of the tunnels, the IDF needed more time because we are not even halfway done. They say this unplanned war with Hamas prevented a disaster on the order of the Yom Kippur War, which would reduce the State of Israel to its knees.

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
 

Understanding Hamas’ Mainstream, Genocidal Islamic Jew-Hatred

by Andrew Bostom

During a rally held on March 23, 2014 in Gaza to mark the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Hamas’s founding “spiritual guide,” Sheik Ahmad Yassin, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya admonished the gathered crowds to, “establish the balance of terror. Out of the ruins, we shall rock Tel Aviv.” The Muslim masses responded with chants of “Strike, strike Tel Aviv.” Echoing the ancient sentiments of Islam’s prophet and prototype jihadist, Muhammad*, extolled as the ultimate “Jihad Model” by “moderate” head of the International Union of Islamic Scholars, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Haniya added the jihadist matrydrom mantra**,

we are a people that yearn for death, just as our enemies yearn for life. We yearn for martyrdom for the same goal for which our leaders died

More ominously, Haniya’s speech alluded to Hamas’ now well-established massive network of underground infiltration tunnels:

From below ground and above ground, you, the Occupiers, will be dismissed.

You have no place in the land of Palestine.

Currently, as Israel’s Operation Protective Edge continues, necessitated by Hamas’ latest round of unprovoked missile barrages targeting civilian population centers, the Israeli counter-attack is appropriately focused on an aggressive campaign against the tunnels…

           — Hat tip: Andy Bostom [Return to headlines]
 

War “Statistics”: The New York Times Deceives Again

by Gil Lavi

The “Daily Tally” in the New York Times, a casual-sounding infographic, presents a side-by-side count of casualties and missiles in Gaza and Israel. Although it is ostensibly one of the clearest representations of violence, it is seriously misleading.

War photography can be powerful, moving, and shocking; and data to prove a point can be reassuring, if often falsely. It is the very power of numbers, graphics, and photographs that makes them at the same time compelling ways to prove a point, and lousy ways of explaining what is really going on.

During World War II, it is estimated that 378,000 German civilians were killed in British air raids, compared to only 62,000 British civilians killed in German air raids. Knowing this, however, does little to help understand the nature of the conflict…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Why Israel Was Stunned by Discovery of the Tunnels in Gaza?

A source in Jerusalem told us this week that Tzahal was jarred by the extent of the tunnels under the Gaza Israel frontier, and the purpose. Dan Diker, Executive Producer for the Voice of Israel sent my colleague Lisa Benson this chilling email message:…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq: Islamic State Tightens Modesty Laws for Women

IS terrorists tell women: Don full-face veils, cover hands and feet, wear loose clothing, don’t wear perfume, or face punishment.

Islamic State, the al-Qaida offshoot that seized large swathes of northern Iraq last month, has warned women in the city of Mosul to wear full-face veils or risk severe punishment.

The Sunni insurgents, who have declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria and have threatened to march on Baghdad, also listed guidelines on how veils and clothes should be worn, part of a campaign to violently impose their radical brand of Islam.

“The conditions imposed on her clothes and grooming was only to end the pretext of debauchery resulting from grooming and overdressing,” said the Islamic State in a statement…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq: Islamic State Militants Destroy Ancient Mosque in Mosul

Islamic State jihadis say the mosque has become a place for apostasy, not prayer

BAGHDAD: Islamic extremist militants blew up a revered Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah in Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, on Thursday, residents of the city said.

The residents said the Islamic State militants, who overran Mosul in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law on the city, first ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet Younes, or Jonah, then blew it up…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

‘It’s Jihad, Innit, Bruv’: Meet the British Muslims Going to Fight in Syria

There are two kinds of foreign recruit to Isis: the ‘gangsters’ and the true believers

Turkey, Syria, Iraq: ‘It’s jihad, innit, bruv.’ The young British Muslim cut an absurd figure in ski mask, dark glasses and hoodie. He had not used that exact phrase but it would have summed up our faintly comical encounter…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Jordan: King Performs Friday Prayers at Ajloun Gand Mosque

Ajloun, July 25 (Petra) His Majesty King Abdullah II and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hussein joined worshippers in performing the Friday prayers at the Ajloun Grand Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in the Kingdom.

The King and worshippers listened to the Friday sermon delivered by Chief Justice Ahmad Hilayel which focused on tranquility that was brought by Islam to mankind…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

The Chilling Tale of How a Typical Lewisham Teen Became an ISIS Bride in Syria

She shocked the world by posting pictures of her son with an AK-47, urging other girls to join her. Joshi Herrmann reveals her identity, troubling links to extremists and what led her to a war zone

This is a story that begins in the streets of Lewisham and ends in the heat of the Syrian desert, on the front line of the holy war for an Islamic caliphate.

Among the British Muslims living in Syria and Iraq alongside terrorist super-group Isis, one figure has attracted particular attention recently — a mysterious woman using the Twitter name Muhajirah fi Sham (meaning “immigrant in Syria”), posting pictures of her young son holding a AK-47. She has described witnessing the execution of a young “rapist” in the Syrian town where she lives with her fighter husband and has called on Londoners to join her…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

EU Blacklists More Russians, Prepares Economic Sanctions

BRUSSELS — EU ambassadors in a marathon meeting on Thursday (24 July) added 15 more individuals, nine companies and nine institutions from Russia and east Ukraine to an existing blacklist of 72 individuals and two firms linked to the annexation of Crimea.

The names will be published on Friday afternoon in the bloc’s Official Journal.

They are expected to include eastern Ukrainian separatists believed to be responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane — a disaster which killed 298 people, mostly EU citizens.

The ambassadors also agreed to change the legal parameters of the blacklist, so that cronies and oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin can be designated in future.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Over 300 Ukrainian Troops Killed in Eastern Region Since Mid-April

KIEV, July 25 (Xinhua) — The Ukrainian government said Friday that 325 Ukrainian troops have been killed and 1,232 others wounded since it launched offensives in mid-April against pro-Russian militants in the country’s restive eastern region.

On Thursday alone, 13 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in that region, according to Security and Defense Council Spokesman Andriy Lysenko…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Afghanistan: Taliban Executes 14 in Roadside Attack

Afghan officials say Taliban insurgents have killed 14 people in an execution-style slaying.

Authorities say the militants stopped three vehicles headed to Kabul Friday morning in Ghor province. Police says the gunmen lined up passengers and shot them “one by one in the head and chest.” The victims were all reported to be Shi’ite Muslims…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Car Bomb Explosion Kills 3 in Thailand

BANGKOK, July 25 (Xinhua) — A car bomb explosion killed at least three people and injured more than 40 others in south Thailand’s Yala province on Friday.

The province has long been plagued with separatist violence.

The bomb blast occurred at Betong district of the province at around 4:40 p.m. local time, the Nation newspaper quoted local police as saying…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Eight-Year-Old Girl Raped and Hanged in India

Three suspects attacked by crowd before police arrived

(ANSA) — New Delhi, July 25 — An eight-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree in the West Bengal village of Kalibazar on Friday, showing signs of having also been raped, Indian media said.

Three men suspected of the crime were attacked by an enraged mob before police arrived. One of the men later died in hospital.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek: Supreme Court Outlaws Ahmadis

The country’s highest judicial authority rejects the appeal filed by the community for state registration and freedom of worship. In practice, it will also be impossible for Ahmadis to pray in private. The ruling “is equal to banning us in Kyrgyzstan,” a believer says.

Bishkek (AsiaNews) — Muslims who adhere to the Ahmadi doctrine in Kyrgyzstan do not have the right to register with the State, and cannot organise themselves as a religious community.

The Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on 10 July rejected the appeal made by the community against the decision (made in 2011) denying them the right to obtain state registration. Now, if they were to meet in private to pray, they risk arrest and a fine from police.

This “means that Ahmadi Muslims cannot act like Ahmadi Muslims and organise meetings for worship or any other activity together,” Asel Bayastanova, the Ahmadis’ defence lawyer, told Forum 18 News Service.

Ahmadis “may in theory, under the Constitution, unofficially gather in private places for worship,” she noted. “But the authorities may well punish them if they find Ahmadis meeting together for religious activity.”

For an Ahmadi living in the capital Bishkek, who wants to remain anonymous, the ruling “is equal to banning us in Kyrgyzstan.”

“If we are found by the NSS secret police, the ordinary police, or any other state agency to be carrying out ‘illegal’ religious activity, we will be given harsh punishments — maybe even imprisonment.”

As such, “this is a severe violation of our basic human rights, and also a potential danger in future for our lives in Kyrgyzstan,” he added.

Kyrgyzstan has about 5.4 million people. The official religion is Sunni Islam (about 70 per cent of the population). According to local sources, the Ahmadi community has about 600 members and many supporters.

Founded in the late 19th century in India, the Ahmadi faith is considered heretical by much of the Muslim world, Sunni and Shiite.

It honours its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and shares beliefs with other religions. For this reason, professing it in Central Asian countries is banned and linked to Islamic terrorism.

For their part, Ahmadis vehemently deny these allegations and speak of religious persecution.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Kalgoorlie Mosque Proposal Appears Set for Approval

A proposal for a mosque in Kalgoorlie-Boulder could go ahead, with a city officer recommending the proposal be approved.

The proposal caused some controversy when announced in June, with several Facebook pages springing up in protest against the mosque — which, if approved, would be built at 12 Park Street in Kalgoorlie…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Boko Haram Steps Up Cameroon Raids

Yaounde — Nigerian radical Islamist group Boko Haram’s free-wheeling ruthlessness is increasingly troubling the remote Far North Region of Cameroon, which has seen several attacks in recent months, with foreigners also abducted for ransom.

This month, heavily armed men suspected to be Boko Haram fighters attacked Bonderi village 5km from the border with Nigeria and stole a military vehicle, four motorbikes and weapons from the gendarmerie base there, government officials told IRIN…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Gambia: Pipeline Mosque Foundation Presents D10,000 Cheque to Serrekunda Hospital

Pipeline Mosque Foundation Wednesday presented a cheque for D10,000, a mosquito net and other materials to Serrekunda Hospital for its mortuary…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

German Tourist Killed on Increasingly Violent Kenyan Coast

A German female tourist was killed in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa on Thursday in the same area where a Russian visitor was murdered earlier in July by a criminal gang, police sources said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Khalid Ibrahim, a community security official in Mombasa’s historic Old Town, was one of the first on the scene after the shooting, and said he had alerted police, according to the French news agency AFP. “Three men ran off after the attack,” Ibrahim said, adding that the tourist had been shot once at point blank range.

Kenya’s coast has been the scene of a series of bombings and shootings by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants and gunmen that have left dozens of Kenyans dead in recent months.

Peace Corps suspends program

Meanwhile, the United States Peace Corps program — which has about 50 volunteers working in sometimes remote parts of Kenya — said on Thursday it was suspending operations and pulling out volunteers due to growing security concerns…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Mali: Storm Most Likely Reason for Air Algérie Plane Crash — French Minister

Weather conditions are the most likely cause of Thursday’s crash of Air Algérie flight AH 5017 in Mali, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Friday. The wreckage of the plane has been found by Burkina Faso’s military, a Burkinabé general has told RFI…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UAE Exchange Conducts Iftar at Uganda National Mosque

The largest globally networked remittance brand UAE Exchange associated with Xpress Money conducted Iftar at Uganda National Mosque, as they offered food stuffs to Muslim brothers and sisters as a sign of showing the spirit of togetherness during this holy period of Ramadan.

The event was held on 18th July at Uganda national Mosque. More than 1000 people participated in the Iftar…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

West Africa Ebola Death Toll Reaches 660: Who

The death toll in West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has risen to 660, with the number of cases surpassing 1,000, the World Health Organization said Friday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Rejects Swiss Request for Freedom of Movement Talks: Source

(BRUSSELS) — The EU on Thursday formally rejected Switzerland’s request to renegotiate their freedom of movement accord so as to take into account a Swiss vote earlier this year to limit immigration, EU sources said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the 28 member state ambassadors to the EU, the sources said.

Switzerland is not an EU member but has extensive ties with the bloc covered by a whole series of agreements, one of which allows EU citizens free access to the country to work.

However, a narrow Swiss referendum victory in February in favour of immigration curbs put the whole relationship at risk as Brussels insisted it could not accept any compromise on its core principle that European citizens have the right of free movement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Police Catch 28 Illegal Immigrants Trying to Escape Britain — And Swiftly Return Them

The Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Afghani and Sri Lankan nationals are all thought to have been trying to return to their home countries by crossing illegally through Europe.

They were caught when the P&O ferry Spirit of France arrived in Calais at 2.20am on Thursday.

All 28 immigrants were returned to Dover at 6.40pm that evening on P&O’s Pride of Canterbury…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Morocco: More Than 1,000 Would-be Migrants Attempt Melilla Fence Jump

Around 1,000 undocumented Africans attempted to jump the border fence separating Moroccan territory from the Spanish exclave of Melilla on Wednesday morning.

A large contingent of Moroccan and Spanish law enforcement officers prevented the migrants from entering Spain and thus European territory.

The immigrants had attached hooks and screws onto their shoes in an attempt to defeat the new anti-climb mesh installed by Spain as an added deterrent.

Since the mesh has been in place, just 0.86 percent of fence-jumpers have made it into Melilla.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/25/2014

  1. Alexei Sayle “supports the palestinian cause” because he is a high profile brain washed commie who gained celebrity status by not being a comedian. Sounds like one of Joseph Heller’s creations.

  2. Imam head in Bosnia Herzegovina says Norwegian police shouldn’t have pointed out that the threat comes from muslims. Because then muslims – and islam – will be …stigmatized. This imam is a former leader of a local (CAIR equivalent) so called muslim council in Norway. Next we learn is that the police is pointing out that the terrorists are, more precicely….”bandits”, so we should not understand that they are part of that totalitarian ideology aka religion of peace

  3. I hope Hamas bit more that it can chew. And now Ham as knows the predictable things: The whole western media will bawl and croak for it as a victim. And even without asking or rather ordering Hamas’s stooge Kerry to save them, he knows what to do. The whole dishonest world expects hamas to provoke Israel and start a war and western zombies hurry to blame Israel and save hamas for another provocation in 9 months. We know what’s the pattern now. Ask a westerner how many times has hamas started and forced Israel to defend its people? Their answer: I don’t know; I don’t care. I know it’s wrong to kill children.
    – You should also know that Israel also has children. That the one who starts and hurls rockers first bears the burden of the consequences. That if you beat people and force them to stay at a military target to be killed is a war crime. That if you keep ammunition in hospitals, schools, and mosques is a war crime. That if you lie and trot out children who were killed in Syria as children killed in Gaza is a war crime. That if the media and politicians side with the aggressors who commit war crimes are accomplices too. If no one tell hamas it is wrong why should it refrain from its joy of killing Jews. After all it has been their profession over the last 1435 years without resistance. Today Israel says no. That’s what bothers them and the world: not to surrender humbly.

  4. Can gov Perry get about 500 miles of the anti climb mesh fence. Wait maybe an extra 60 miles to put around DC……..

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