“Uniting” Bosnia: Smoking in the Arsenal

The following speech was given by Srdja Trifkovic at the May 27th Lord Byron Foundation conference, “Unfinished Business in the Balkans”, which was held at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington D.C.



“Uniting” Bosnia: Smoking in the Arsenal
by Srdja Trifkovic

At a time when the U.S. power and authority are increasingly challenged around the world, the new team sees the Balkans as the last geopolitically significant area where they can assert their “credibility” by postulating a maximalist set of objectives as the only outcome acceptable to the United States, and duly insisting on their fulfillment. We have already seen this pattern with Kosovo, and now we see an attempt to stage its replay in Bosnia under the demand for constitutional reform, i.e. centralization.

The advocates of unitary Bosnia studiously ignore the fact that similar U.S. policies contributed to the war 17 years ago. In the spring of 1992 the late Warren Zimmermann, the last U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia before its breakup and civil war, materially contributed—probably more than any other single man—to the outbreak of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The facts of the case have been established beyond reasonable doubt and are no longer dosputed by experts.

Nine months earlier, in June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, a move that triggered off a short war in Slovenia and a sustained conflict in Croatia where the Serbs refused to accept Tudjman’s fait accompli. These events had profound consequences on Bosnia and Herzegovina, that “Yugoslavia in miniature.” The Serbs (34%) adamantly opposed the idea of Bosnian independence. The Croats (17%) predictably rejected any suggestion that Bosnia and Herzegovina remains within a Serb-dominated rump Yugoslavia.

Alija Izetbegovic had decided a year earlier that Bosnia should also declare independence if Slovenia and Croatia secede. On 27 February 1991 he went a major step further: “I would sacrifice peace for a sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina, but for that peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina I would not sacrifice sovereignty.”

The process culminated with the referendum on independence (29 February 1992). The Serbs duly boycotted it; just 62 percent of voters opted for independence, Muslims and Croats; but even this figure was short of the two-thirds majority required by the constitution. This did not stop the rump government of Izetbegovic from declaring independence on 3 March.

Simultaneously one last attempt was under way to save peace. The Portuguese foreign minister Jose Cutileiro persuaded the three sides that Bosnia-Herzegovina should be independent but internally organized on the basis of ethnic regions or “cantons.” The breakthrough was due to the Bosnian Serbs’ acceptance of an independent Bosnia, provided that the Muslims give up their ambition of a centralized, unitary one. Izetbegovic appeared to accept it but when he returned from Lisbon, Zimmermann flew post haste from Belgrade to Sarajevo to tell him that it was a means to “a Serbian power grab” that could be prevented by internationalizing the problem. State Department subsequently admitted that the US policy “was to encourage Izetbegovic to break with the partition plan.” The New York Times (August 29, 1993) brought a revealing quote from the key player himself:

The embassy [in Belgrade] was for recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina from sometime in February on,” Mr. Zimmermann said of his policy recommendation from Belgrade. “Meaning me.” … Immediately after Mr. Izetbegovic returned from Lisbon, Mr. Zimmermann called on him in Sarajevo… “He said he didn’t like it; I told him, if he didn’t like it, why sign it?”

After that moment Izetbegovic had no motive to take the ongoing EC-brokered talks seriously, just as the Albanians had no motive to negotiate with Belgrade after President Bush declared in Tirana that it would become independent. After his encounter with Zimmermann Izetbegovic felt authorized to renege on tripartite accord: the U.S. would come to his assistance to enforce the independence of a unitary Bosnian state.
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The motives of Zimmermann and his political bosses in Washington were not rooted in the concern for the Muslims of Bosnia as such, or indeed any higher moral principle. Their policy had no basis in the law of nations, or in the notions of truth or justice. It was the end-result of the interaction of pressure groups within the American power structure. Thus the war in the Balkans evolved from a Yugoslav disaster and a European inconvenience into a major test of “U.S. leadership.” This was made possible by a bogus consensus which passed for Europe’s Balkan policy. This consensus, amplified in the media, limited the scope for meningful debate.

Just as Germany sought to paint its Maastricht Diktat on Croatia’s recognition in December 1991 as an expression of the “European consensus,” after Zimmermann’s intervention Washington’s fait accomplis were straightfacedly labeled as “the will of the international community.” Europe was resentful but helpless when the United States resorted to covert action to smuggle arms into Croatia and Bosnia in violation of U.N. resolutions. Zimmermann’s torpedoing of the EU Lisbon formula in 1992 started a trend that frustrated the Europeans, but they were helpless. Cutileiro was embittered by the US action and blamed Izetbegovic for reneging. Had the Muslims not done so, he recalled in 1995, “the Bosnian question might have been settled earlier, with less loss of life and land.” Cutileiro also noted that the decision to renege on the signed agreement was not only Izetbegovic’s, as he was encouraged to scupper that deal and to fight for a unitary Bosnian state by foreign mediators.”

THE SETTING – At the outset of the crisis in 1990-91 most inhabitants of Bosnia-Herzegovina did not want to become “Bosnians” in any political sense; but they were unaware of the extent to which their future depended on events beyond their republic’s boundaries. The ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia literally disintegrated in the first months of 1990. The resulting power vacuum was felt in Bosnia-Herzegovina more keenly than in other republics because the Party rule there was more rigidly doctrinaire. When the first multi-party election since 1938 finally took place in November 1990, the voters overwhelmingly acted in accordance with their ethnic loyalties that proved more enduring than any ideological differences between them.

When the Bosnian election results were tallied, they effectively read like a census plain and simple. The overwhelming share of the vote—80 percent—went to the three parties that had grounded their appeal in the ethnic-national identity and issues. The apparent ability of the three “nationalist” parties to cooperate in the aftermath of the election was based on one thing they all had in common: the desire to break free from the Titoist straightjacket. Had Yugoslavia not been breaking up in 1991-92, this emphasis on traditional identities would have passed as a natural democratic readjustment to reality. The truth is that there was no internal, Bosnian threat to peace at the beginning of 1991: when it came the threat was from outside. The SDS and the SDA were not simply in coalition: they were natural allies while Bosnia remained at peace, although they would become just as natural enemies if Yugoslavia fell apart.

The Serbs of Bosnia wanted, overwhelmingly, to preserve the status quo. As they had no desire for the destruction of Yugoslavia, they were forced into reactive posture vis-à-vis those who willed the Federation’s disintegration. Their argument—even if seldom stated with simplicity and coherence—was clear when freed from rhetoric: they had lived in one state since 1918, when Yugoslavia came into being. They reluctantly accepted Tito’s arbitrarily determined internal boundaries between the six federal republics—which left one third of them outside Serbia-proper—on the grounds that the Yugoslav framework afforded them a measure of security from the repetition of the nightmare of 1941-1945; but they could not swallow an illegal ruse that aimed to turn them into minorities, overnight and by unconstitutional means, in their own land.

Even without the vividly remembered trauma of the Second World War, they reacted in 1991-1992 just as the Anglophone citizens of Texas or Arizona might do if they are outvoted, one day, in a referendum demanding those states’ incorporation into Mexico. They demanded the right that the territories, which the Serbs have inhabited as compact majorities long before the voyage of the Mayflower, not be subjected to the rule of their rivals. In the same vein the Protestant Ulstermen demanded — and were given — the right to stay apart from united Ireland when the nationalists opted for secession in 1921.

In the same vein the state of West Virginia was created in 1863, incorporating those counties of the Commonwealth of Virginia that refused to be forced into secession. The Loyalists of Ulster and the Unionists of West Virginia were just as guilty of a “Joint Criminal Enterprise” to break up Ireland, or the Old Dominion, as were the Serbs of Bosnia-Herzegovina who did not want to be dragged into secession.

Yugoslavia was a flawed polity, and there could have been no rational objection to the striving of Croats, and even Bosnian Muslims, to create their own nation-states. But equally there could have been no justification for forcing over two million Serbs west of the Drina to be incorporated into those states against their will. Yugoslavia came together in 1918 as a union of South Slav peoples, and not of states, or territorial units. Its divorce should have been effected on the same basis; the boundaries of the republics should have been altered accordingly. This is, and has been, the real foundation of the Yugoslav conflict ever since the first shots were fired in the summer of 1991. Even someone as unsympathetic to the Serb point of view as Lord David Owen conceded that Josip Broz Tito’s internal administrative boundaries between Yugoslavia’s republics were grossly arbitrary, and that their redrawing should have been countenanced:

Incomprehensibly, the proposal to redraw the republics’ boundaries had been rejected by all eleven EC countries… [T]o rule out any discussion or opportunity for compromise in order to head off war was an extraordinary decision. My view has always been that to have stuck unyieldingly to the internal boundaries of the six republics within the former Yugoslavia… as being those for independent states, was a folly far greater than that of premature recognition itself.

Of the three ethnic-religious parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Muslim party—the SDA—was the most radical, in that it alone advocated a fundamental restructuring of the Bosnian society in accordance with divine revelation. It attempted to do so not on Bosnia’s own terms, not within the Republic’s own local paradigm, but within the terms of the global-historical process—as its leaders saw it—of the global Islamic renaissance. Many in the West have been in a state of denial for years about the nature of Alija Izetbegovic’s long-term program, preferring to believe their own assurances that Izetbegovic’s blueprint is not “Islamist” but “multicultural.”

Not unlike Islamist parties elsewhere—notably the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey—the SDA had a public, “secular” front, and an inner core of Islamic cadres that remained semi-conspiratorial in the early days. This is vividly described by one of the party’s founders who had previously made a successful business career in the West, Adil Zulfikarpašic. He was appalled by the “fascist” methods of the SDA and by its “conservative, religious, populist” orientation.

Izetbegovic was an advocate of Sharia law and a theorist of the Islamic Republic long before the first shots were fired. His early views were inspired by the teaching of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Al Husseini, who toured the German-occupied Europe preaching that the Third Reich and the Muslim world had a natural community of interests. Izetbegovic’s ideas subsequently matured into a comprehensive, programmatic statement in the Islamic Declaration — his de facto political platform:

The Islamic movement must, and can, take over power as soon as it is morally and numerically so strong that it can not only destroy the existing non-Islamic power, but also build up a new Islamic one… There is no peace or coexistence between the Islamic faith and non-Islamic social and political institutions.

This was a political program par excellence. The author’s contempt for Western values is evident in his dismissal of the Kemalist tradition: “Turkey as an Islamic country used to rule the world. Turkey as an imitation of Europe represents a third-rate country the like of which there is a hundred in the world.” Elsewhere, he accepts the “achievements of Euro-American civilization” but only in the area of “science and technology… we shall have to accept them if we wish to survive.” In a revealing sentence, Izetbegovic discusses the status of non-Muslims in countries with Muslim majorities: “The non-Muslim minorities within an Islamic state, on condition that they are loyal [emphasis added], enjoy religious freedom and all protection.” He advocates “the creation of a united Islamic community from Morocco to Indonesia.”

Izetbegovic’s views are unremarkable from a traditional Islamic point of view. The final objective is Dar al Islam, where Muslims dominate and infidels submit. That is the meaning of Izetbegovic’s apparent generosity to the non-Muslims, “provided that they are loyal”: the non-Muslims can be “protected persons” only if they submitted to Islamic domination.

In his daily political discourse Izetbegovic behaved throughout the 1990s as a de facto nationalist, fostering narrowly-defined Bosniak nationalist feeling and seeking to equate the emerging “Bosniak” identity with an imaginary supra-ethnic “Bosnia.” He was juxtaposing the construct with the two traditionally Christian communities—Serbs and Croats—whose loyalties were alleged to lie elsewhere, with Belgrade and Zagreb respectively. The two sides of Izetbegovic’s personality were not at odds, since within his terms of reference the Bosniak ethnicity was defined by religion. To have Alija Izetbegovic, with his record and his vision, as the head of a democratic, pluralist state anywhere in the world, is of course simply unthinkable. But for his peculiar vision to be applied in practice, Bosnia-Herzegovina had to be taken out of Yugoslavia and proclaimed independent and sovereign.

Izetbegovic’s chief concern was to find a pretext for the intended separation from Yugoslavia—any Yugoslavia—and to use the Croat tactical alliance in pursuit of that goal; the day of reckoning with the HDZ could come later. Izetbegovic was willing to risk the war. In the 1990 election campaign he said that the Muslims would “defend Bosnia with arms.” In February 1991 he declared in the Assembly: “I would sacrifice peace for a sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina, but for that peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina I would not sacrifice sovereignty.” By May Izetbegovic went even further, saying that the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina probably could not be avoided because “for a state to be created, for a nation to be forged, it has to endure this, it is some kind of fate, destiny.” This statement echoed his Islamic fatalism.

When the Bosnian Serbs took control of the Serb-majority areas and connecting corridors in 1992, they were well equipped and officered. But the numerical advantage lay with the Muslims, who hoped to win in the end with international help. Radavan Karadzic never understood that this was, indeed, Izetbegovic’s grand strategy, and that time was not on the side of the Serbs. In addition Karadzic personally and the Serbs collectively were severely damaged by the western media handling of their mistreatment of Muslim prisoners and the expulsion of non-Serb civilians in the summer of 1992. Similar atrocities by Croats and Muslims against Serbs and against each other, while no less common, were less conspicuous and deemed unworthy of Western attention.

The media call for intervention, launched in its early stage, made the Bosnian war the subject of international debate to an extent unknown since Vietnam. Many Europeans were inclined to support a compromise peace, a federalized Bosnia, and a real arms embargo; whereas the United States disliked European peace plans, broke the arms embargo starting in late 1993, and overtly supported the Muslims. Plus ca change!

The end of the war was the result of a transatlantic compromise: London and Paris reluctantly agreed to let NATO bomb the Serbs, while the United States reluctantly accepted the sort of settlement the Europeans had wanted in 1992-3. The chief outcome of the war was a transformed NATO, and the renewal of American leadership in Europe to an extent not seen since Kennedy. It established that America wanted to lead, and to be indispensable, in the process of European reorganization after 1989. In Bosnia itself the war took longer than it would have done but the settlement that followed Dayton is not unlike a plausible compromise that seemed within reach in Lisbon in April 1992.

Richard Holbrooke, the chief U.S. negotiator in 1995, boasted a year later: “We are re-engaged in the world, and Bosnia was the test.” This “we” meant the United States, not “the West” or “the international community.” Indeed, no nation-state started and finished the Bosnian story as a political actor with an unchanged diplomatic personality. Each great power became a forum for the global debate for and against intervention, the debate for and against a certain kind NATO, and an associated, media-led international political process. The interventionists prevailed then, and their narrative dominates the public commentary on Karadzic’s arrest now.

The current clamoring for unitarization raises an old question that remains unanswered by the Bosnifiers: If the old Yugoslavia was untenable and eventually collapsed under the weight of the supposedly insurmountable differences among its constituent nations, how can Bosnia—the Yugoslav microcosm par excellence—develop and sustain the dynamics of a viable polity?

As for the charges that the RS is founded on war crimes, we need not hypothesize a pre-war “joint criminal enterprise” to ethnically cleanse and murder, to explain the events of 1992-5. The crimes and violations of human rights that followed were not the direct result of anyone’s nationalist project. These crime, as Susan Woodward notes, “were the results of the wars and their particular characteristics, not the causes.”

The effect of the legal intervention of the “international community” with its act of recognition was that a Yugoslav loyalty was made to look like a conspiratorial disloyalty to “Bosnia”—largely in the eyes of people who supposed ex hypothesi that if there is a “Bosnia” there must be a nation of “Bosnians.” In 1943-44 Tito was able to force the Anglo-Americans to pretend that his struggle was not communist revolution. In 1992-95 Izetbegovic forced the West to pretend that his jihad was the defense of “multi-ethnicity.” Both pretenses were absurd.

The campaign against the RS is detrimental to what America should stand for in the world. It seeks to give further credence to the myth of Muslim blameless victimhood, Serb viciousness, and Western indifference, and therefore weaken our resolve in the global struggle euphemistically known as “war on terrorism.” The former is a crime; the latter, a mistake. Yet there is no true debate in Washington on the ends and uses of American power, in the Balkans or anywhere else. The ideologues’ resistance to any external checks and balances on the exercise of that power is upheld. Obama’s team and Bush’s may differ in some shades of rhetoric, but they are one regime, identical in substance and consequence. Its leading lights will go on disputing the validity of the emerging balance-of-power system because they reject the legitimacy of any power in the world other than that of the United States, controlled and exercised by themselves. They will scoff at the warning of 1815, 1918, or 1945 as inapplicable in the post-history that they seek to construct. They will confront the argument that no vital American interest worthy of risking a major war is involved in Russia’s or China’s near-abroad with the claim that the whole world is America’s near-abroad.

It is vexing that the demand for rekindling the Bosnian crisis comes at a particularly dangerous period in world affairs: the return of asymmetrical multipolarity. Following a brief period of post-1991 full-spectrum dominance, for the first time after the Cold War the government of the United States is facing active resistance from one or more major powers. More important than the anatomy of the South Ossetian crisis last August, or the Taiwanese crisis three years from now, is the reactive powers’ refusal to accept the validity of Washington’s ideological assumptions or the legitimacy of its resulting geopolitical claims. At the same time, far from critically reconsidering the Bushies’ hegemonsitic assumptions and claims, the key decision-makers in the Obama Administration will continue to uphold them.

Their ambition, unlimited in principle, will remain unaffected by the ongoing financial crisis, just as Moscow’s Cold War expansionism was enhanced, rather than curtailed, by the evident shortcomings of the Soviet centrally planned economy. Come what may, they will not allow the reality of global politics to interfere with their world outlook, “neoliberal” or “neoconservative,” but hegemonic and irrational at all times.

EuRussia, ChiMerica, and Enlarging NATO

This video from La Repubblica includes some fascinating maps:



The narrator’s English is not always completely clear, so I’ve posted a full transcript below the jump.
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The American answer: enlarging Nato?

by F. Maronta, A. Desiderio — map by Laura Canali

The United States are doubtful of Eurussia. From Washington’s point of view, Europe is not crucially important; what really matters are the relations with Russia, strategically important for matters of high interest such as Iran, nuclear armament and Afghanistan.

How does the US see EuRussia? Officially, the problem doesn’t exist. But when the German-Russian flirt becomes too evident, Washington’s irritation appears, showing how distasteful the EuRussian perspective can be for America.

Seen from the White House, this Europe is stable and impotent enough not to deserve a specific attention. It is not a problem, nor a resource. Therefore, Obama doesn’t count much on Europe to pull his country out of the quagmire it was thrown in by Clinton’s and Bush’s imperial dreams.

But with gas, is different. Obama hopes to re-establish a useful, if not trustful relation with the only power currently able to destroy America.

As noted by the bipartisan commission on US policy toward Russia, Washington can’t but “recognizing the importance of cooperating with Russia, in order to reach paramount US goals, such as preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, dismantling al-Qaeda and stabilizing Afghanistan, or ensuring stability and prosperity in Europe”.

Nevertheless, these chances of cooperation are threatened by the expansion of Nato, sought after by the US and endured by many Europeans.

Anyway, in the current “retuning” taking place between Moscow and Washington, nothing seems impossible. Not even the future integration of Russia in the Atlantic Alliance.



Hat tip: C. Cantoni.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/3/2009

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/3/2009It’s election time this week all over Europe. Britain is holding local elections in addition to elections for the European Parliament, and support for the BNP is surging as Labour’s fortunes unravel. A number of rats have already left Gordon Brown’s sinking ship, and now he faces a rebellion from a group of Labour MPs, who are attempting to oust him as prime minister.

In other news, Kim Jong-Il has named his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un as his successor. Also, a survey shows that Turks have very little tolerance for cultural diversity.

Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, CB, Diana West, Fausta, Gaia, Insubria, islam o’phobe, JD, Paul Belien, TB, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Financial Crisis
Obama Makes Everyone Sacrifice But Himself
 
USA
Al Qaeda Eyes Bio Attack From Mexico
Barack Obama is Blind to His Blunders Over Islam
CAIR to Obama: Address Talk Radio ‘Denigration’
Diana West: Saudi Rules
Obama’s Totalitarianism
Obama: U.S. ‘One of Largest Muslim Countries’
Phyllis Chesler: Will President Obama Present the Shooting in Arkansas as an Unacceptable Act of Islamic Jihad Against America?
The Obama Infatuation
U.S. Releases Secret Nuclear List Accidentally
White House ‘Dialogue’ Site Scrubbed of Eligibility Posts
 
Europe and the EU
British Soap Opera Tackles Muslim Homosexuality
Brown Faces E-Mail Plot to Oust Him as Hazel Blears Joins Ministers Deserting His Collapsing Government
Denmark: Euro Benefits Certain But Minimal, Say ‘Wise Men’
FPÖ Graf Offers Peace Talks to Jewish Leader
Italy: Berlusconi, Subversion Like in ‘94
Spain: Granada Court Will Not Open Garcia Lorca’s Mass Grave
The Dutch (and EU) Establishment Protects Itself
‘These Elections Are a Giant Opinion Poll in Italy’
Ukrainian Parties in Coalition Negotiations
 
North Africa
Agriculture: Tunisia, State Land on Loan to Italian Business
Tunisia: Women Motorcycle Racers Protest Exclusion
 
Israel and the Palestinians
How Can Israel Depend on Those Who Have Proven Undependable?
 
Middle East
As Obama Travels to the Middle East Israel Gets Ready for War With Iran
Fashion: Turkish Designers to Dress Iranian Women
Genuine Joke From Iran’s Election Campaign
Iraqi Kurdistan Begins Exporting “Its” Oil
Lebanon: Elections, Young Generation Represents Old Dynasties
Lebanon: Italy Takes Control of UN Maritime Force
Obama Visit, Arab World Expects More Respect of Islam
Turks Bear Low Levels of Tolerance Toward Diversity, Survey
 
South Asia
Asian Nations Talk Peace, But Race to Arm Themselves
Beijing Urged by Obama to Support Pakistan Military
India Slams Pakistan’s Release of Cleric
Pakistan: Key ‘Militant Leader’ Released From House Arrest
Voice of Taliban on VOA Probed
 
Far East
Korea: Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Il’s Youngest Son is “Appointed Successor”
 
Australia — Pacific
Green Tape Halts Housing as Queensland Vetoes Cape York Land Clearing
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
Al-Qaeda ‘Kills British Hostage’
Buccaneer Pirates Threaten — “Negotiate Within 48 Hours or We Will Get Nasty”
 
Latin America
Bomb Threat on an Air France Flight Just Days Earlier
Congressman Connie Mac on Chavez and Iran
 
Immigration
Feds Spike Voter Citizenship Checks in Georgia

Financial Crisis


Obama Makes Everyone Sacrifice But Himself

Obama is fond of calling upon Americans to make sacrifices — or rather, he is fond of forcing Americans into sacrificing themselves at a time and place of his choosing. Heroic sacrifice requires volunteerism, or at least an element of extraordinary choice; Obama’s sort of sacrifice runs along Agamemnon-esque lines. He names the time and the place, and you are expected to put your neck on the altar.

Obama’s sacrificial ideology is particularly egregious because it targets minority groups who can do nothing to defend themselves. Obama targets the taxpaying minority, forcing them to pay for bank bailouts and auto gratuities while falsely promising that taxpayers will earn that money back (when do we get our checks?). He targets GM bondholders, the same folks whose retirement money has been keeping the ailing carmaker afloat; his new bankruptcy plan makes their holdings worthless. He demonizes Chrysler’s investors as “speculators” and attempts to portray them as villains in Chrysler’s demise. He forces banks to take TARP money, then defenestrates bank chiefs and caps executive pay.

It would be one thing if Obama expected all Americans to sacrifice equally. Clearly, however, he does not. He, for one, isn’t willing to sacrifice — he’s ready to spend $24,000 of taxpayer money to take his wife on a date to New York. And Obama doesn’t expect his allies to sacrifice, either. The United Auto Workers, whom Obama has praised for its “sacrifice,” now owns a majority of Chrysler and a huge chunk of GM; not coincidentally, UAW gave millions to Obama’s campaign. Obama refused to bail out California unless it revoked pay cuts for members of the Service Employees International Union; not coincidentally, SEIU gave $33 million to Obama’s campaign.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

USA


Al Qaeda Eyes Bio Attack From Mexico

Seeks white militias as allies

U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border, the latest sign of the terrorist group’s determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the U.S. homeland.

The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in U.S. border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times.

The officials, who spoke only on the condition they not be named because of the sensitive nature of their work, stressed that there is no credible information that al Qaeda has acquired the capabilities to carry out a mass biological attack although its members have clearly sought the expertise.

The video first aired by the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and later posted to several Web sites shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that al Qaeda is casing the U.S. border with Mexico to assess how to send terrorists and weapons into the U.S.

Click here to see the video.

“Four pounds of anthrax — in a suitcase this big — carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there,” the recruiter said. “What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then we’ll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration.”

In the video, obtained and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Nafisi also suggests that al Qaeda might want to collaborate with members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government…

           — Hat tip: Fausta [Return to headlines]



Barack Obama is Blind to His Blunders Over Islam

The new President’s approach discourages change in Middle Eastern countries that need it most

In trying to prove that he is not George Bush, Barack Obama has committed big mistakes on key issues of foreign policy. His Cairo address, and his “one-size-fits-all” Islam policy, is just the latest. It encourages Islamists and ruling despots, discourages the forces of reform and change and, ultimately, could produce greater resentment of the United States among peoples thirsting for freedom, human rights and decent governance.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



CAIR to Obama: Address Talk Radio ‘Denigration’

Claims critics create Islamophobia, degrade Muslim religion

President Obama should act against the “denigration” of Islam in newspaper columns, on talk radio and in religious sermons nationwide, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, wrote in a letter to the president.

As Obama prepares for his much anticipated address to the Muslim world tomorrow, CAIR offered the president some tips on how to better foster dialogue and understanding with Islam.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



Diana West: Saudi Rules

Dick Morris and Eileen Gann describe the real Saudi bow now in motion as Al-POTUS touches down in “The Kingdom” on Magic Carpet One — (hey, I’m just getting into the Islamo-spirit of Barack Hussein Obama’s extremely delusional and/or extremely hopeful? statement of yesterday calling these United States “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world”). There, he is utterly dissing our kindred ally Israel with the Big By-Pass, determining that Israeli babies are the gravest threat to Middle East peace, reaching out to Iran, and now this:

But as he goes to Saudi Arabia, the United States State Department, headed by Mrs. Hillary Clinton, has announced that it has accepted the ground rules for media coverage of the Obama visit to the royal family and its domain. Reporters will only be allowed to cover the actual meetings between the Saudis and Obama and will not be permitted to visit the rest of the country or report on anything else they see during the trip. Those reporters who violate these terms are subject to arrest and imprisonment by the Saudi government!!

Hillary and Obama accepted these terms.

“Bow down, infidel White House press corps! Lower! Lower! Back, back, back into the hotel!… “ I can hear the Saudi enforcer now—Robert Al-Gibbs, perhaps? Searching around online for the actual State Department communique, I found a report about it at Time’s website…

           — Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]



Obama’s Totalitarianism

The younger generation probably doesn’t realize that the word socialism means and connotes a system that is profoundly un-American. Socialism has virtually disappeared from our national lexicon since the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed because of Ronald Reagan’s policies and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party was destroyed by the United States in World War II.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines socialism as a system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods are owned by a centralized government that plans and controls the economy. Both Webster and Random House identify socialism as a “Marxist theory.”

Socialism requires a totalitarian system that gives the ruling gang the power to distribute the fruits of other people’s labor to its political pals. That is what is happening to the United States as President Obama proceeds with his goal of “remaking America.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



Obama: U.S. ‘One of Largest Muslim Countries’

President makes inaccurate statement as White House stresses his Islamic roots

The number of Muslims in the U.S. would make America “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” claimed President Obama in an interview released last night.

His assertion, which is factually inaccurate, comes one day before he is set to deliver a much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt.

Teasing the speech with the French television network Canal Plus, Obama commented.

“Now, the flip side is I think that the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam. And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. And so there’s got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



Phyllis Chesler: Will President Obama Present the Shooting in Arkansas as an Unacceptable Act of Islamic Jihad Against America?

According to my esteemed colleague Steven Emerson, (and as I noted yesterday), Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammed has been under investigation in an effort to understand his “possible contacts with extremists overseas.” Emerson believes that Muhammed probably attended “the (Al-Da’awah Center) madrassa in Dammaj, a tribal area of Yemen, run by a Salafi cleric named Yahya Hajuri.” Unbelievably, Hajuri is the designated heir to one Muqbil ibn Hadi, who once launched an attack on Mecca and a war against Christians in Indonesia.

Yemen: What do I recall about Yemen? Osama bin Laden’s father is from Yemen, from a place called Hadramut which, I am told, means “Death has come.”

More important, according to Emerson, Abdulhakim M. Muhammed “was urged by members of the local Muslim community, (in the United States), to travel to Yemen, for more education. The Gulf nation is considered a hotbed for terrorists, and Muhammad may have been exposed to more radical ideas there.”…

[Return to headlines]



The Obama Infatuation

Is the press giving the president a free pass?

The Obama infatuation is a great unreported story of our time. Has any recent president basked in so much favorable media coverage? Well, maybe John Kennedy for a moment, but no president since. On the whole, this is not healthy for America.

Our political system works best when a president faces checks on his power. But the main checks on Obama are modest. They come from congressional Democrats, who largely share his goals if not always his means. The leaderless and confused Republicans don’t provide effective opposition. And the press—on domestic, if not foreign, policy—has so far largely abdicated its role as skeptical observer.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



U.S. Releases Secret Nuclear List Accidentally

The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an on-line newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That publicity set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document was made public.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



White House ‘Dialogue’ Site Scrubbed of Eligibility Posts

Many Obama birth certificate queries yanked from ‘transparency’ debate

With more than 200 individual threads and thousands of comments on the eligibility issue alone, moderators of the White House website on “open government dialogue” have been working tirelessly to edit the dialogue about Barack Obama’s elusive “long-form” birth certificate.

Many of the top-rated threads are from citizens calling on Obama to release his birth certificate. The postings in the “top rated” category have received the most “looks promising” votes from users. New threads on the topic of Obama’s constitutional eligibility to serve as president are appearing by the minute.

WND observed the “Making Data More Accessible” section for several hours as more suggestions appeared and at least 60 were subsequently deleted on the first page alone — all requests for the president to submit proof of citizenship.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Europe and the EU


British Soap Opera Tackles Muslim Homosexuality

EastEnders to show gay Muslim kissing homosexual character

A popular British soap opera is set to introduce a controversial storyline that will see one of its Muslim characters become gay, which is likely to ruffle some feathers among British Muslims and add fuel to an already heated debate about Islamophobia in the United Kingdom.

EastEnders, a long-running soap opera named “Best Soap” in the 2008 National Television Awards, will introduce the new plotline this summer and will see its Asian character Syed Masood find himself struggling with his Muslim faith and his sexuality.

The character will then follow up on his feelings for an openly homosexual character and the two will share a passionate on-screen kiss defying his devout Muslim family and his mother’s attempts to set him up with women from “good families.”

News of the controversial plot comes just weeks after a Gallup poll revealed that British Muslims have zero tolerance for homosexuality as opposed to their non-Muslim counterparts.

“Normal friendly Muslim”

A Muslim Council of Britain spokesman refused to comment to Al Arabiya but Asghar Bokhari from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee told British press: “The Muslim community deserves a character that represents them to the wider public because Islamophobia is so great right now.”

“There’s a lack of understanding of Muslims already and I think EastEnders really lost an opportunity to present a normal friendly Muslim character to the British public,” he said.

EastEnders’ executive producer, Diedrick Santer, however, argued there was too much political correctness when it came to black or Asian characters and said he believed it was best to tackle controversial plots head-on.

“Sometimes there’s a danger of being too careful with black or Asian characters that we might go into territories that might offend,” Santer was quoted by the British press as saying.

“But it seems to me if we steer away from any controversy, they don’t stand a chance of being a great EastEnders family — they’ll just be in their kitchen unit making curries for years and years and that’s not going to be very interesting,” Santer said referring to the Asian ethnicity of most Muslim characters on EastEnders.

EastEnders is considered one of the most popular soap operas in the United Kingdom and regularly tackles controversial subjects in a bid to attract viewership.

Muslim reaction

For practicing Muslims there is no such thing as a gay Muslim because the two things contradict each other as homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam.

“A gay Muslim is an oxymoron. If you submit to your lord by being a Muslim, then you must obey him. How can you submit to your lord when you openly defy his will. How can you be a loyal servant to Allah when you know he despises it with utmost hatred, hence the story of Lut (ailayhu al salaam),” bloged Suree, who is described as a traveler, on the Wake Up Project forum.

For EastEnders fan Maya Haslam, who is a British Muslim currently living in Dubai, the new storyline is “appalling.”

“I don’t understand what they are trying to do,” Haslam told Al Arabiya. “This is not a true reflection of the majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom,” the 31-year-old who works in marketing said.

British Muslim of Pakistani descent, Naveed Ahmed, 35, echoed the sentiments and told Al Arabiya “I think its bad, it is going to give a bad impression about Islam.”

“The type of people that watch EastEnders are going to be very naïve about such a portrayal of Muslims,” he added.

When asked if Muslims would boycott the show over the provocative plotline, Ahmed said he did not think so because “generally practicing Muslims don’t really watch EastEnders.”

For some, however, the new storyline is great as it gives a voice to a silent minority that feels neglected.

“It is high time that the invisible minority became a visible minority,” Yusuf Wehebi from Imaan, an organization that supports Britain’s gay and transgender Muslims, told the BBC.

“It is entirely possible to be Muslim and gay and there’s many of us in Britain today,’’ Wehebi said. “It is great that the BBC have had the courage to raise such an important social issue in our society today.”

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]



Brown Faces E-Mail Plot to Oust Him as Hazel Blears Joins Ministers Deserting His Collapsing Government

Gordon Brown was on the brink today after Hazel Blears resigned with a jibe at his leadership and desperate Labour rebels started an e-mail campaign to oust him.

The Prime Minister saw his position become even more perilous with the Communities Secretary’s resignation on the eve of key elections.

She followed Jacqui Smith to become the fourth Government minister to resign in 24 hours and left with a bitter parting shot that Labour must ‘reconnect’ with the public.

With Mr Brown still digging in his heels, rebel Labour MPs have started an e-mail campaign soliciting signatures calling on him to quit.

They believe they will have 70 to 80 backers for the no confidence motion by the end of the day and plan to hand it to the Prime Minister on Monday once the results of the local and European elections have all come in.

Miss Blears resignation came just hours before Mr Brown had to face David Cameron at question time and appeared carefully timed to inflict the most damage to his attempts to cling on to power.

The Prime Minister tried to blame the havoc on the expenses crisis, which he took care to stress had affected every single party, but the Tory leader said he was ‘in denial’.

Miss Blears’ decision was a ‘direct challenge to his authority’, Mr Cameron declared. ‘If this was about expenses, the Communities Secretary would have resigned weeks ago.’

Both Miss Smith and Miss Blears are known to be close friends of Europe Minister Caroline Flint, raising the prospect she too could be about to stand down.

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]



Denmark: Euro Benefits Certain But Minimal, Say ‘Wise Men’

Adopting the euro should be a political, not an economic decision, leading economic advisors argue

Ten years after the nation’s leading economic advisors recommended against Denmark adopting the euro, due to ‘uncertain and minimal’ benefits, the independent panel of economic watchdogs, nicknamed the Wise Men, now say those benefits are certain, if still minimal.

‘The question of whether Denmark should fully join the European Monetary Union is more a matter of political considerations about what role Denmark will play in the European Union,’ the four-man Economic Council wrote in its semi-annual report, released on Thursday.

Danish voters rejected scrapping the krone for a common European currency in a referendum in 2000, but the exchange rate between the two remains fixed, which the Wise Men say has benefited the economy by eliminating currency fluctuations between trading partners.

According to the Wise Men, the fixed exchange rate is responsible for between 20 and 30 percent of export growth to euro-zone countries. Sweden and Great Britain, which have also retained their currencies, but do not have a fixed exchange rate, have not seen the same export growth.

Other benefits of adopting the euro are the elimination of exchange fees and the added security of being part of a large currency bloc. Both, they say, would have minimal effects, especially since international confidence in the krone remains high.

But even though adopting the euro would give Denmark a greater say in the EU’s economic matters, they point out that Denmark’s economy would make up 2.5 percent of the euro-zone’s total economic activity, making it a small player.

Adopting the euro would also give the government less freedom to follow its own economic policies. They also worry that the economy could be dragged down if another euro-zone economy runs into trouble.

The Liberal-Conservative government supports adopting the euro, and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has announced he would like a referendum to be held by 2011

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



FPÖ Graf Offers Peace Talks to Jewish Leader

By Thomas Hochwarter

Freedom Party (FPÖ) MP Martin Graf announced today (Fri) he would like to meet the leader of the Jewish Community in Austria (IKG) following the verbal insults of the past few days.

Graf, who is the third president of the Austrian parliament, said a possible meeting with Ariel Muzicant “on neutral soil” had “absolute priority” for him. Graf added he had the hope FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache could attend such a meeting as well.

Graf said he was confident the mutual attacks could be “relativised, defused and regretted” in such a meeting. But the years-long FPÖ member and member of far-right student fraternity Olympia said he hoped Muzicant would disassociate himself from his statements in which he compared FPÖ general secretary Herbert Kickl with Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Graf also called on Muzicant to take the website www.kellernazisinderfpoe.at (Cellar Nazis in the FPÖ) offline which lists party members and their possible links to right-extremist mindset.

Graf has come under fire earlier this week for calling Muzicant the “godfather of anti-fascist left-wing terrorism” in an online article which was cited in the FPÖ’s Neue Freie Zeitung newspaper. Graf also accused the head of the IKG of “creating a climate of brutality” by having links to the “violent mob on the street.”

The Greens uncovered the issue by citing the statements in parliament on Wednesday. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann and People’s Party (ÖVP) Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger called on Graf to step down as third president of the parliament.

Barbara Prammer of the SPÖ, the first president of the parliament, announced she wanted to try chasing the constitution so Graf can be deprived of power. Graf himself said he had no intentions at all to step down, arguing he defended his party “with democratic measures” in a reaction to the statements made by Muzicant. Graf said he would only step down for health reasons, adding: “But I am totally fit and healthy.”

The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), which was founded by Jörg Haider and FPÖ ministers in 2005, also joined those criticising Graf, while the ÖVP made clear they would not support an initiative to change the constitution so a parliamentary president can be deprived of power.

SPÖ Chancellor Faymann said today he was not surprised about the ÖVP’s position in this matter. He said: “The ÖVP does not want to take responsibility.”

Faymann said Graf is “unbearable”, adding he was in favourite of changing the law so he can be axed as the parliament’s president.

The FPÖ is expected to be the big winners of the upcoming European Election (EP) since it won just 6.3 per cent and one mandate in 2004.

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



Italy: Berlusconi, Subversion Like in ‘94

(AGI) — L’Aquila, 29 May — “I am sure that there are subversive acts just like in ‘94.” Silvio Berlusconi backtracked to the dawn of his political career to explain his attack on the judicial branch. “I cited ‘94, when I was elected and I was attacked by the judicial system on something that was non-existent and for which I was fully absolved 10 years later.

“That attack,” reminded Berlusconi, “changed how people voted.

“Therefore, this was also a subversive act against a democratic election.” “I wanted to specify what I meant to say. When you try to go against someone who was elected democratically with false accusations,” he observed, “this is a subversive act.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Spain: Granada Court Will Not Open Garcia Lorca’s Mass Grave

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 29 — The mass grave in the vicinity of Granada where the remains of poet Federico Garcia Lorca are buried will not be opened. Garcia Lorca was shot 72 years ago by Franco’s troops. Today the head of the third section of Granada’s preliminary court rejected jurisdiction over the case which magistrate Balthazar Garzon of the Audiencia Nacional had passed to territorial courts after an investigation into those responsible for deaths and disappearances under the fascist dictatorship which he opened last year. Garzon withdrew from the investigation last November after considering that criminal proceedings against general Francisco Franco and 40 other civilian and military officers working under his government were pointless since they were all dead. At the same time, the magistrate also decided to allow 62 territorial courts, whose areas include mass graves where the dictator’s victims were buried, to decide whether they want to dig up the dead bodies. But Granada’s preliminary court declared itself lacking jurisdiction and so now the Audiencia Nacional has the option of asking the Supreme Court to rule on the matter in order to solve the conflict of jurisdiction. Two days ago the Supreme Court agreed to proceed on the complaint filed by right-wing union ‘Manos Limpias’ against judge Garzon for abuse of office in the case against Francoism. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



The Dutch (and EU) Establishment Protects Itself

Our American readers will find this hard to believe, but the electoral system in the Netherlands has been devised to ensure that new or small parties will not be able to win more than 20% of the seats in the Dutch Parliament. Indeed, Dutch law forbids new parties and parties which currently hold less than 16 of the 150 seats in Parliament to put forward more than 30 candidates for parliament.

This law is causing concern for the popular politician Geert Wilders, the founder and leader of the Freedom Party, PVV, which at present holds 9 seats. The latest poll predicts that the PVV will win 32 seats in the general elections next year. If Mr. Wilders does as well or even better than the poll predicts, the additional seats above 30 which his party wins will be evenly divided among the other parties.

Wilders has asked parliament to change the law to allow him to put forward more than 30 candidates. It remains to be seen whether the other parties will agree to change the law.

In the Netherlands, it is the custom that the largest party in Parliament provides the Prime Minister and puts together a government coalition. At present, the Dutch Christian-Democrat CDA of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende is the largest party, holding 41 seats in Parliament. The latest poll predicts that the CDA will shrink to 30 seats while Mr. Wilders’ PVV becomes the largest party with 32 seats and the Socialist Party (currently Mr. Balkenende’s coalition partner with 33 seats) comes third with 22 seats. If the law is not changed and the PVV does as well in the voting booth as in the present polls, Mr. Wilders will be denied all his seats above 30 and be forced to give one seat to the Socialists and one to the Christian-Democrats. This will allow the CDA to remain the largest party with 31 seats.

           — Hat tip: Paul Belien [Return to headlines]



‘These Elections Are a Giant Opinion Poll in Italy’

By Marc Leijendekker for NRC International

In the run-up to the European elections, what issues are being debated in Italy?

“The elections are all about national politics, as always. It is about the government response to the economic crisis, about illegal immigrants and how to deal with them, and about integration problems. Europe has been relegated to the background. Maybe only in the eighties the Italians really discussed European problems. But now European issues do not get much attention from the electorate. Italy traditionally is a country with a high voter turnout, but there is little interest for the current campaign. The vote for the European parliament is still a country by country affair. In reality, European parties only exist in the parliament in Brussels. Our national parties do not even bother to put the European party symbols next to their own symbols on the ballot.

“Very few voters truly understand what the European parliament stands for. The division of power between the parliament, the European Council and the European Commission is different from the normal division of power between parliament and government, and hardly anybody understands what the balance of power is. So these elections are in fact a giant opinion poll which the national parties use to determine their relative strength. You will see the winning party cry victory not because it will have more power in Europe, but because it has been strengthened in national politics.

“The fact that prime minister Berlusconi himself leads his party’s European ticket may have some impact on his followers. He is very popular, and people may be more inclined to go to the voting booth. Berlusconi put himself on the list because his Forza Italy party is facing heavy competition in the north from the Northern League — an ally at the national level whose role in his ruling coalition Berlusconi hopes to limit.”

A key issue in European politics is market ideology, especially with the financial crisis…

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Ukrainian Parties in Coalition Negotiations

KIEV — Ukraine’s two leading political parties are in negotiations for an alliance that could isolate pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and fuel political tensions ahead of presidential elections set for January.

A parliamentary deputy from the opposition Party of the Regions, led by former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, confirmed on Tuesday that it was in talks with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s party on forming a new coalition. A representative for Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko, known as BYuT, wasn’t available for comment on the negotiations.

The deal would team Ms. Tymoshenko, an ally of Mr. Yushchenko during the 2004 Orange Revolution, with her bitter rival, pro-Russian Mr. Yanukovych. Such a coalition would be a boon for Moscow, which has enjoyed warmer relations with Ms. Tymoshenko of late, and a blow to Mr. Yushchenko, who has angered the Kremlin with attempts to integrate Ukraine into Western structures such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The three have been engaged in a political battle since Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko led mass protests against suspected election fraud after the presidential vote in 2004. Following the protests, the initial victory declared for Mr. Yanukovych, who received strong backing from Russia, was overturned and Mr. Yushchenko became president. Mr. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party is part of the current coalition with BYuT.

Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Yushchenko have fallen out, and squabbling among the three has intensified in the run-up to January’s presidential vote, hampering policy making as Ukraine is buffeted by the economic crisis.

Discussions between the Party of the Regions and BYuT on a new coalition agreement and constitutional change have been taking place for several months, but the call from Party of the Regions lawmaker Dmytro Tabachnyk in parliament on Tuesday to form a “grand coalition” is the first official indication that a deal may be close.

Local media quoted people close to the negotiations as saying agreement was close on a coalition, as well as on a new constitution under which parliament would elect the president.

Mr. Yushchenko said Tuesday that the reported plans to change the constitution were “an anticonstitutional conspiracy,” and that any such change should be decided by referendum.

Critics say the changes would represent a step back from the democratic achievements of the Orange Revolution.

Mr. Tabachnyk said Tuesday that an agreement between the two parties was essential to overcoming Ukraine’s economic and political instability. Ukraine’s economy has been rocked by the crisis. Gross domestic product contracted as much as 23% in the first quarter, according to Mr. Yushchenko, and the country has been relying on a $16.4 billion standby credit from the International Monetary Fund.

Disillusionment with the current political elite also has led to a surge in the popularity of alternative presidential candidates, such as former parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk. Observers say Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Yanukovych are both worried they might lose the election, and those concerns are pushing them toward a coalition deal.

Both party leaders have remained silent about their possible alliance. Stumbling blocks to an agreement remain, none larger that the two sides’ distrust of each other.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]

North Africa


Agriculture: Tunisia, State Land on Loan to Italian Business

(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JUNE 1 — An Italian contractor has obtained the lease of state land in Enfidha (Tunisia) for autumn tomato crops. State agricultural land in Tunisia makes up 1.7% of cultivated land and is responsible for 2.9% of agricultural production. In the framework of the project which aims to preserve state agricultural land, the state has set up a restructuring programme for farms with surface areas of less than 500 hectares. The programme, which has caught the attention of a large number of contractors, currently regards 331,000 hectares out of a total of 500,000. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Tunisia: Women Motorcycle Racers Protest Exclusion

(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JUNE 1 — Tunisian women motorcycle racers will not be able to participate in the first Arab championships in Egypt. The women have vigorously protested the decision. Tunisia is the only country in which women are part of the national federation and allowed to compete. “The decision” said the president of the Arab Motorcycling Federation with its headquarters in Tunis, Chakib Brahmi, “has been taken to avoid embarrassment to the Gulf Countries, where women are not allowed to drive”. The champion of the Maghreb, Hamida Saklaoui, responded immediately and harshly: “How can such decisions be accepted, when the championship takes place in Egypt? They can enforce their laws and regulations in their own country. But nobody can accept these laws being forced onto us”. Another Tunisian champion, active in car racing for years, Hend Chaouch, was surprised by the decision “which discriminates against women”. She added that “Tunisian women must be proud of the freedom they have won”.(ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Israel and the Palestinians


How Can Israel Depend on Those Who Have Proven Undependable?

by Barry Rubin

Back in 1993, when the “peace process” began, President Bill Clinton told a press conference that Israel was ready to take risks for peace and he told Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, “If you do that, my role is to minimize those risks.”

One of the most important elements in contemporary Israeli thinking is the irony of those words. Clinton, of course, meant them and his intentions were good. But looking back from 2009, the risks taken by Israel and the concessions it has made have repeatedly plagued the country and cost the lives of thousands of its citizens.

Not only has the United States—and the Europeans who made similar pledges—failed to minimize the costs of this process but in most cases they have not even acknowledged it. Israeli concessions have not, as was expected, led to increasing support and public respect, quite the opposite.

Anyone who wants to deal with the conflict today must acknowledge and deal with this experience but we find that it is not happening. In the statements of Western leaders and in the media, what we usually discover is that such matters are either not mentioned at all or only passed over in ritualistic fashion. There is much talk about Israeli concessions and responsibilities, virtually none about Palestinian ones.

Thus, the two-state solution (TSS) or stopping settlement construction or removing roadblocks are spoken about as if these things alone will bring peace. There is little about a Palestinian Authority (PA) end to incitement to murder Israelis and denial of Israel’s right to exist (which goes on daily) or better security efforts, or agreement to end the conflict or to resettle refugees within a Palestinian state. There is little acknowledgement that Hamas’s control of the Gaza Strip is not just an inconvenience but an almost total roadblock for any hope of peace.

Note well, these are not “hawkish” or “anti-peace” arguments. Anyone who wants to make progress must deal with them very seriously. If these issues are ignored, failure is inevitable…

           — Hat tip: Barry Rubin [Return to headlines]

Middle East


As Obama Travels to the Middle East Israel Gets Ready for War With Iran

Israel conducts war games and emergency drills involving its population and schools. Its exercises include possible missile attacks from the north and the south. Israeli air force gets ready to block air strikes and missiles from Syria and Iran. Obama is growing impatient with Iran.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) — “An Iranian attack is certain. We are waiting for the outcome of Iran’s presidential elections to decide,” said an Israeli security source who asked his identity be withheld. He spoke on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East; the US leader wants to reshape the relationship between the United States and the Arab and Islamic worlds, including, for now, engaging Tehran in a dialogue. But “Obama will have to be persuaded,” said the source, who noted that the “world economy, to get out of its crisis, needs only one thing, a war that changes the pace and trends in international trade.”

Israel has been warning about Tehran’s nuclear threat for quite some time. Rumours of possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz and Arak have been the talk of the region for years.

Increasing the sense of pending war, today air sirens went off across Israel at 11 am to signal the start of military exercises called Turning point 3. When the alarm sounded adults and school children ran to the nearest anti-aircraft shelter where they were shown emergency drill videos.

Turning point 3, which began on Sunday, is set to last until Thursday. It is the third in a series of exercises that began in the summer 2006, when Israel waged war on Hizbollah in Lebanon, and involves the entire population and every school in the country. It is designed to prepare everyone for possible emergencies: missile attacks from the south (Gaza) and the north (Hizbollah); attacks with non-conventional (bacteriological) weapons; attacks against essential civilian infrastructure.

It is clear to everyone that Iran is the expected attacker. Two weeks ago Israel’s air force conducted simulations that included air and missile attacks from Syria and Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu based his whole campaign on neutralising Iran’s nuclear threat, and has even urged Pope Benedict XVI for support. But his main interlocutor remains Obama. When the two met in May in Washington some sources said that the Israeli leader gave the United States an ultimatum. If Tehran does not change its policy by August, Israeli planes will attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

In the press conference that followed President Obama said that he will wait till December to see any sign of change in Tehran in response to his overtures towards Iran.

For some observers Obama’s deadline is a sign that the US president is growing impatient with the Iranians.

Barack Obama will be in Saudi Arabia tomorrow before travelling to Egypt. Media reports suggest that he will try to persuade Arab nations to become involved in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Egypt he will try to bridge the loss of trust between the United States and Islam.

But his trip to the Middle East could also bring together the Arab world, or most of it, in opposition to Iran. Even his criticism of Israel over Jewish settlements and his demand on Israel for a commitment to a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine) is part of a strategy to convince Arab nations that the US president is, at least apparently, not totally beholden to Israel.

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



Fashion: Turkish Designers to Dress Iranian Women

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JUNE 1 — Ready-wear clothing manufacturers in Turkey have been suffering from the global crisis, but they need not despair as Iran, is presenting itself as a viable market, daily Today’s Zaman reported. “Turkish ready-wear companies have rolled up their sleeves to enter this market and have prepared collections specifically for Iran”, Nedim Orun, head of the Turkish Fashion and Ready-to-Wear Clothing Federation, said. Stating that in Iran women wore very modern clothes and dressed very well, Orun added that “We are interested not in what Iranian ladies wear on the outside, but under the chador”. According to Orun “as long as firms carried out the design, production and marketing phases of the fashion and ready-wear industry, Turkey could find a place for itself in global markets such as Italy; if we continue just to be a ready-wear manufacturing market, we would melt down due to the advantages we lost to China”, Orun said. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Genuine Joke From Iran’s Election Campaign

Iran is famous for its political jokes and here’s a current one. A reporter asks current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “What do you think about the candidates running against you?”

He replies: “When the bus is about to go off the cliff you don’t change the driver!”

           — Hat tip: CB [Return to headlines]



Iraqi Kurdistan Begins Exporting “Its” Oil

The crude oil is being piped from Kirkuk to Turkey. The operation was given the go ahead by the central government which in the past had cancelled all contracts signed by the Kurdish government. All proceeds from the energy sector make up 90% of Iraqi GDP. The aim is to pass from 2.2 million barrels to 6 million a day, in five years.

Kirkuk (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region began exporting its crude oil today. Taking part in the opening ceremony was the President of the autonomous regional parliament, Massud Barzani. An estimated 90 thousand barrels a day will be extracted from oil fields in Taq Taq in Erbil and Tawke in Dohuk; the beneficiaries of the concession are the Norwegian DNO and Canadian Addax Petroleum.

The crude oil will travel along an oil pipeline that unites Kirkuk in the North to Turkey. The operation finally got the go ahead from the Iraqi central government, which in the past ripped up a series of deals signed between the Kurdish government and foreign companies. All agreements on oil extraction and concessions, Baghdad repeatedly insisted, must be first approved and cannot be stipulated by the autonomous region.

According to experts the quality of the crude oil extracted from Taq Taq is “excellent”, while the second Tawke is “of good quality but not excellent” because it contains “water and condensed gas” particles. Turkey’s Genel Energji and its Canadian partner Addax Petroleum have a 12% concession on the produce of the Taq Taq oil field; Baghdad will receive 88%of earnings, while 17% of that total will be devolved to the Kurdish government. Norway’s DNO — who won the Tawke concession — instead declined to reveal the details of their accord, but sources closet o the company report that it is “very similar” to the Canadian deal.

The issue of oil is of vital importance for the reconstruction of Iraq’s economy, brought to its knees by years of war. Proceeds derived from the energy sector — petrol and natural gas — makes up 90% of Iraqi gross domestic product (GDP. Baghdad plans to increase its out put — an estimated 2.2 million barrels a day — which is around the same level of production as during the Saddam Hussein era, when the country still suffered the effects of the economic embargo imposed by the United States. The target is six million barrels a day, to be reached within the next four to five years.

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



Lebanon: Elections, Young Generation Represents Old Dynasties

(by Ziad Talhouk) (ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, JUNE 1 — Lebanon’s political dynasties continue to perpetuate themselves through young candidates in upcoming parliamentary elections, in which non-traditional politicians also seem to lay the foundation of new political lineages. The most “prominent” young candidates are so because they had their fathers assassinated for political reasons. Photos of the “martyrs” are therefore essential in electioneering. “Young candidates with programs from the past,” commented al-Akhbar daily, recalling that almost all of the young candidates “swear to follow the footsteps of their fathers.” Catholic Maronite Nadim Gemayel, 26, is running for a seat in Beirut using the legacy of his father Bashir -a Christian icon during the 1975-90 civil war, assassinated at the “christly” age of 34 days before he was due to swear in as President in 1982. Nadim’s cousin, Sami, 28, is candidate in the mainly Christian Metn constituency north of Beirut along with his father, Amin — elected President for a six-year term in 1982 following the murder of his young brother Bashir. Sami hopes to regain the seat vacated by his elder brother Pierre, assassinated in 2006 after he was elected member of parliament and appointed minister of industry a year earlier. The Gemayels came into politics in 1936, when Pierre Sr., founded the Phalanges Party, now headed by Amin himself. At 27, Greek Orthodox Nayla Tueini is running for the seat left by her grandfather Ghassan —elected to replace Nayla’s father, Gerban, who was assassinated in 2005. Maronite Michel Moawad was 9 when his father, President-elect René, was killed in 1989. Until he finished his studies in France, his mother “represented the family” in parliament. The Moawads hail from the northern region of Zgharta, where their main rival is Suleiman Franjieh, grandson of late President Suleiman Sr. and son of deputy Tony — assassinated along with his wife and daughter in an inter-Christian feud in 1978. This “political inheritance” seemed contagious in Lebanon. When Premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, his previously unknown son Saad took the political mantle and now, at 39, leads the largest Sunni group in Lebanon, al-Mustaqbal. Christian leader Michel Aoun, who built his popularity on campaigning against “corruption and nepotism” and now heads the “Reform and Change” block in parliament, has fielded his nephew Alain Aoun and son-in-law Gebran Bassil in the election battle. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Lebanon: Italy Takes Control of UN Maritime Force

New York, 2 June (AKI) — Italy has taken command of the United Nations maritime task force, which was deployed off the Lebanese coast in 2006 to stop arms smuggling following that year’s Israel-Hezbollah war.

The naval force, part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon is the first to be part of a UN peacekeeping mission.

The maritime force has been deployed on the request of the Lebanese government to help the country’s navy secure territorial waters and help prevent the unauthorised entry of arms and other materials by sea into the country.

At a handover ceremony from Belgium to Italy aboard the flagship BNS Leopold I at the weekend, UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Claudio Graziano commended “the constructive relationship between the MTF and Lebanese Navy.”

He applauded the “spirit of cooperation” between the two, which he said is crucial to successfully implementing Security Council resolution 1701 — a resolution that ended the 2006 war.

Since its operations began in October 2006, the MTF has hailed some 24,000 ships and referred nearly 300 suspicious vessels to the Lebanese authorities.

To date, 13 countries — Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkey — have contributed naval units to the force.

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



Obama Visit, Arab World Expects More Respect of Islam

(by Remigio Benni) (ANSAmed) — CAIRO — More pressure on Israel which seems bent on not listening to previous invitations to put a definitive halt to settlements, and greater respect for the Islamic world in order to resume relations which George W. Bush “demolished”. Reading the current multitude of articles and opinions, this is what the Arabs expect of the visit and speech that US president Obama will hold on June 4 in the main hall of the Cairo University located in the Bein al Sarayat neighbourhood that in recent hours is being overrun to repave roads, repair flowerbeds, relight streetlamps, and clean up buildings. Hinting at Obama’s softer tones, Afghani MP Sabrina Saqeb wrote that “A speech will not be enough, but it is a good start, when you show respect towards others you raise their spirits”. Going straight to the point, Egyptian commentator Osama El Ghazali Harb says that “As president of the USA he should announce, while in Cairo, which started the peace process with Israel some thirty years ago, that the time has come for a final and fair solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict”. Since the current situation of Israeli intransigence and Palestinian division is what it is, he added that “the situation is certainly a frustrating one”, but whereas Egypt is trying to lead the factions to peace, the USA “should rein in the fanatical and right-wing forces that are currently in government in Israel”. The opening of permanent channels of scientific, cultural, economic and technological dialogue with the USA is instead urged by Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, who wrote the “Welcome to President Obama” and who is the other high ranking religious figure that president Obama will meet together with the highest theological authority of Sunni Islam, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, sheikh Mohamed Tantawi. Gomma remarked that “You must understand that Islam is capable of coexisting and setting up bonds with all civilisations: dialogue with moderate Islam is the necessary basis for reciprocal understanding between the West and the Islamic world. That is why we need to put an end to defamatory campaigns and voices that to not spread the truth of Islam, calling it the first enemy of western civilisation”. Among the more or less friendly invitations aimed at the US president (some go as far as calling him Barack Hussein Obama), Salama Ahmed Salama, a reputable commentator for Al Ahram, dedicated some time to the “gentle gestures” traded by Egypt and the USA, such as the recent acquittal of Egyptian/American sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim after years of “shows of strength” staged by the regime, or Israel’s decision to remove its veto against the candidature of Egyptian minister Faruq Hosni as Unesco General Director. Salam mused that “It is unclear whether these actions aim to set up a new environment that will lead to further steps, but in any case this situation deserves some anticipation for Obama’s visit”. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Turks Bear Low Levels of Tolerance Toward Diversity, Survey

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JUNE 1 — Tolerance levels within the Turkish population toward different groups, styles of living and ideologies are considerably low, according to survey results released over the weekend as reported by local press. According to the research, three of four people in Turkey said they do not want a neighbor who drinks alcohol, while the same percentage said they do not want neighbors who do not believe in God. Sixty-six percent said they do not want a Jewish neighbor, while 52% said they do not want to live next to a Christian. The results of the survey, conducted by Yilmaz Esmer of Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University, are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,714 people in 34 cities. The number of Turks who said they believe that ethnic or religious diversity adds to life’s richness was only slightly higher than those who said they believe ethnic or religious diversity harms the country’s unity.One of the criteria for measuring tolerance levels in international surveys is to ask a question about what kinds of neighbors are preferred, said Prof. Yilmaz Esmer, who headed the team that conducted the survey. In this respect, the negative answers were higher than the European average, Esmer said. His team’s research showed gays are the most unwanted members of society, with 87% of respondents saying they do not want a gay neighbor, among the highest figures in Europe. Twenty-six percent of Turks said they do not want a neighbor of a different race or color, while 43% said they do not want American neighbors. The figure for those who said they do not want neighbors who do not follow any religion was 66%, while 75% said they do not want neighbors who do not believe in God. In contrast, 14% said they do not want a neighbor who wears a veil and 33% said they do not want one who wears a black chador. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

South Asia


Asian Nations Talk Peace, But Race to Arm Themselves

The 8th Asian Security Conference ended yesterday. All nations involved insisted on the need for peace. And yet they all say they want more arms for better self-defence. China is well ahead in the arms race.

Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The annual Asian Security Conference ended yesterday in Singapore, with all delegates from the different participating nations insisting on the need for peace, while on the sidelines of the summit in a luxury hotel they negotiated arms sales.Many States are concerned by the moves of neighbouring nations and want to inprove their own defence systems.The Japanese Defence Ministry says that Tokyo is worried by North Korea’s recent nuclear test and wants to strengthen its air power with F-22 fighter jets.Rohitha Bogollagama, the Sinhalese Defence Minister, whose government recently quashed a 20 year long Tamil rebellion, did not deny to reporters from his nation that the government wants to strengthen its armaments.In 2009, China increased its military spending by 15% and is a leader in the arms race, even if it maintains that its army is only for purposes of self-defence and regional stability.India plans to spend over 30 billion dollars over the next 5 years to modernise its military force, which by and large dates back to the Soviet era.The Indonesian Defence Minister announced a national project to bring military spending from the current 0.68% of gross domestic product to 1.2% within the next 5 years, buying fighter jets and submarines.Comapanies such as Boeing, the 2nd biggest provider of armaments to the Pentagon in the US, were also present at the Conference, in search of new markets, following the announcement of a reduction in military spending by the administration of the newly elected President Obama. Jim Albaugh of Boeing explained that the increase in demand for ships and planes in Asia is down to a rising need to defend trade and territory.Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian and Pacific Studies at the Naval War College in the United States, commented “Defence suppliers find it very important to be here to make a set of contacts”.Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, observed “There are many players, each of which is looking over their shoulders”.

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



Beijing Urged by Obama to Support Pakistan Military

THE Obama Administration has appealed to China to provide training and military equipment to help Pakistan counter a growing militant threat.

The proposal is part of a push to enlist key allies of Pakistan to stabilise the country, US officials said.

The US is trying to persuade Pakistan to step up efforts against militants, while supporting the fragile civilian Government and its tottering economy.

Richard Holbrooke, the Administration’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, has visited China and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as part of the effort.

The appeal underscores China’s importance in security issues. Beijing traditionally has been reluctant to intervene in other countries’ affairs. But Chinese officials are concerned about the militant threat to its west, fearing it could destabilise the region and threaten China’s economic presence in Pakistan.

US officials believe China is skilled at counterinsurgency, a holdover from the long civil war that led to the Communist victory in 1949. And with Beijing’s strong military ties to Pakistan, US officials hope China could help craft a more sophisticated strategy than Pakistan’s heavy-handed approach.

The Pakistani military has used artillery and aircraft against Taliban extremists in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas. “They’re very focused on hardware,” a US official said. But the fighting has forced more than 2 million civilians to flee and UN officials fear a humanitarian crisis.

The tide of displaced persons could set off a backlash among ordinary Pakistanis, many of whom already see the fight as driven by American, rather than Pakistani, interests.

China’s strategic alliance with Pakistan reaches back to the 1960s. China has sold Pakistan billions of dollars worth of military equipment, including missiles, warships and tanks.

It also maintains a huge economic presence in Pakistan. China’s ambassador Luo Zhaohui said in a speech earlier this month that 10,000 Chinese engineers and technicians work in the country.

Beijing is increasingly concerned about the Pakistani insurgency, in part because Muslim separatists from its own north-western region have trained in Pakistani camps.

Officials are also concerned at recurrent kidnappings and killings of Chinese workers. China repeatedly has pressed Pakistan to protect its citizens.

Analysts say that the Pakistani Government launched an attack on militants controlling the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007 in part because of pressure from China for the release of its workers, who had been kidnapped by militants. More than 100 people died and Islamic militants say it represented a turning point in their struggle.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, acknowledged the long alliance, saying that “Chinese support and co-operation have been crucial for Pakistan at many difficult times in our history”.

In Washington, Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation think tank said it would be difficult to persuade China to assume any military role. But she said they were concerned about the spillover effects of the insurgency.

“The Chinese may try to deal with this privately,” she said. “They won’t want to make any public statements that might embarrass the Pakistanis.”

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



India Slams Pakistan’s Release of Cleric

ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court released a hard-line cleric whose organization is allegedly linked to last year’s terrorist assault on Mumbai, a potential setback to U.S. antiterrorism efforts that could undermine improving relations between Pakistan and India.

Washington worked hard to dial down tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals in the aftermath of November’s attack, in an effort to keep Pakistan focused on battling the Taliban. Tuesday’s decision to release Hafiz Mohammed Saeed after nearly five months of house arrest — because of insufficient evidence, according to his lawyer — threatened to damage that effort.

New Delhi slammed the ruling as a sign of Pakistani intransigence over cracking down on extremists blamed for repeated attacks in India. Mr. Saeed’s “professed ideology and public statements leave no doubt as to his terrorist inclinations,” India’s foreign ministry said. India had struggled for months to get its neighbor to agree with its conclusion that the Mumbai attacks originated in Pakistan.

The Obama administration’s point man on Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said he would raise Mr. Saeed’s release with Pakistani leaders. “This is a concern to all of us,” Mr. Holbrooke said while en route to Islamabad on Tuesday. “Everyone is puzzled by why this happened.”

Mr. Holbrooke is going to Pakistan to help coordinate assistance for the millions of Pakistanis displaced by the fighting in the tribal areas. “The U.S. will not let the people of Pakistan down,” he said. Mr. Holbrooke also said he would use his visit to gather more details on the Pakistani government’s military offensive in the tribal areas.

Islamabad had hoped to keep discussions with Mr. Holbrooke focused on the campaign against the Taliban, which appears to be shifting geographical focus as an army offensive launched last month in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, shows signs of success.

Officials here moved quickly to contain the fallout from Mr. Saeed’s release, saying they planned to appeal the decision. “We are awaiting a detailed summary [of the ruling] so that we can appeal to the Supreme Court,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistan never announced any charges against Mr. Saeed — instead detaining him under a vague public-order law — and it was unclear on what grounds the government could appeal.

Mr. Saeed, 59 years old, co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed by Pakistani, Indian and U.S. officials for the Mumbai carnage, which left more than 170 people dead. He was placed under house arrest in December after the United Nations declared the charity he was leading at the time, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for Lashkar, which has been banned in Pakistan.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have since eased considerably. Prodded by Washington, the neighbors have begun sharing intelligence on Lashkar and other Islamist groups.

Following his release Tuesday, Mr. Saeed told reporters at his Lahore home that the decision was “a victory for justice.”

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Pakistan: Key ‘Militant Leader’ Released From House Arrest

Lahore, 2 June (AKI) — A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the leader of an Islamic charity believed to be a front for a group accused of the Mumbai terror attacks that took place in November last year. The court ruled that the continued house arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed was unconstitutional.

The charity is accused of being a front for Lashkar-e-Toiba, the organisation that India claims was behind the attacks. Saeed is also a founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba.

India has expressed its disappointment, calling the release “regrettable”.

More than 170 people died in the attacks that targeted two international hotels and other locations in India’s financial capital last November. Nine gunmen also died in the siege.

Saeed, who has denied the charges against him, was placed under house arrest in December after the United Nations added him to a list of people and groups linked to Al-Qaeda and other militants.

Emerging from the Lahore High Court to shouts of support, Saeed’s lawyer, AK Dogar, said the court had ruled that the house arrest “is against the law and constitution of the country”.

According to Pakistan’s GeoNews he also said his arrest was a violation of human rights despite claims by the state’s counsel that the government can keep any person without giving a reason.

Hafiz Saeed was placed under house arrest on 11 December last year.

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



Voice of Taliban on VOA Probed

Did language service allow itself become platform for terrorist propaganda?

Complaints that the U.S. government’s Voice of America (VOA) interviewed a top Pakistani Taliban leader have sparked an investigation into VOA’s Pashto language service to determine if it has allowed itself to become a platform for terrorist propaganda.

The probe was spurred by concerns first raised by Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican who in the past had championed the Pashto-language service known as Deewa Radio. Mr. Kirk said he became concerned that American taxpayers were providing the Taliban a megaphone after he learned that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud had been interviewed by the service — and claimed responsibility for terrorist bombings in the Pakistani city of Lahore in March.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Far East


Korea: Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Il’s Youngest Son is “Appointed Successor”

His candidacy is supported by the military, vital for a “smooth” transition of power. Experts explain that Pyongyang’s recent missile tests are linked to the succession. The appointment dates back to last August, when the “Dear Leader” suffered a stroke.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) —North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il has named his successor: it will be his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who many in the past to as the probable heir to power in the Communist State. The news was reported by the South Korean conservative daily JoongAng Ilbo, quoting secret sources in the North.

“Kim Jong-un, 26, is the chosen one” announces the paper adding that the North’s leadership had made the decision in the aftermath of the stroke suffered by Kim Jong-il, in August 2008. A North Korean source says that the regime is promoting “songs of praise” for Kim Jong-un, who is a keen skier and has studied English, German and French in a Swiss school.

Experts have linked the North’s recent nuclear test to the issue of succession, saying it was an attempt to show solidarity with the military, whose support “is essential for the smooth transition of power” in Pyongyang. The last succession of Kim Jong-il was settled 20 years before the death of his father Kim Il-sung in 1994, and publicly announced at a party congress in 1980.

JoongAng Ilbo reports their source indicates changes to the country’s chain of command as the junior Kim emerged as the likely successor. Moreover until last March the name of the Dear Leaders youngest son did not appear among the list of candidates at the Supreme Assembly of the People. According to that source, officials such as O Kuk-ryol, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission; Kim Yong-chun, minister of the People’s Armed Forces; and Choe Ik-gyu, head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department at the ruling Workers’ Party, have led efforts to make Kim Jong-un the next leader of the country.

Kim Jong-un is the second son of Kim Jong-il’s third wife, Ko Yong-hee, who passed away in 2004. Speaking on a condition of anonymity a South Korean source reports that “there hasn’t been any official nominating process in Pyongyang, nor has North Korea informed its overseas embassies of any move.” There has been no official confirmation, or denial, so far from Seoul.

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

Australia — Pacific


Green Tape Halts Housing as Queensland Vetoes Cape York Land Clearing

A $15 MILLION Howard government project to enable Aboriginal people on Cape York to build their own homes has been stalled for more than two years because the Queensland Government is insisting that trees in the vast unpopulated region cannot be cleared.

[…]

The Queensland Government ordered an environmental study of the block owned in freehold title by the Hopevale Council, which bought it several decades ago from a cattle grazier whose family had owned it for more than a century.

The state Government has told Hopevale that because the block is forest country, it cannot be cleared unless the council provides a similar area of cleared country for revegetation.

However, so little of the 110,000ha of land owned under native title by Hopevale people has ever been cleared that there is no such block available — so a bureaucratic green tape deadlock has been reached and no work done.

[…]

Mr Brough, who is no longer in parliament, yesterday said it was appalling that the project had been allowed to stall through government ineptitude and bureaucratic bungling.

“Enabling Aboriginal and Islander people to own their own homes and provide for their families is something that is pivotal to getting rid of welfare dependency and giving them pride and dignity,” he said.

“This was a farm for more than 100 years — it is not pristine rainforest. It is unbelievable that government bungling has stalled this project and the money that the Howard government provided is sitting in a bank account somewhere. We have the temerity to demand that indigenous people get their act together, but the fact is, as is shown in this case, it is the Government that cannot get its act together.

“You just cannot keep doing this to people — building them up and then putting artificial barriers in front of them. What does the Government really want from these people? Do they want them to live in sub-standard conditions or are we actually going to do something about it, as distinct from just continuing to talk and wring our hands?”

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]

Sub-Saharan Africa


Al-Qaeda Kills British Hostage Edwin Dyer, Kidnapped in Mali After Music Festival

A British man being held hostage in Mali has been executed, his captors said today, prompting strong condemnation from Britain of a “barbaric” act.

Edwin Dyer, who was in his early 60s, was one of four European tourists kidnapped on January 22 as they returned from a music festival.

Messages posted on Islamic websites indicated that they were being held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a 300-strong Islamist terror group that operates in the desert borderlands of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania.

Despite intense behind-the-scenes negotiations by British and local officials in Mali, the hostage-takers claimed that they had carried out their threat to kill Mr Dyer.

Gordon Brown said there was “strong reason” to believe that this was true. “I utterly condemn this appalling and barbaric act of terrorism,” the Prime Minister said. “My thoughts are with Edwin Dyer’s family. I offer them the condolences of the whole country.”

Mr Dyer, who had been working in Austria and spoke fluent German, was on holiday in West Africa with German travel operator Oase Reisen. He was abducted, along with Warens and Gabriela Greiner, a Swiss couple, and Marianne Petzold, a German woman, near the border with Niger after attending the Festival In The Desert, a celebration of music and nomad culture at Anderamboukane in Mali.

Their convoy of 4×4 vehicles was ambushed by armed men, who shot out the tyres of the first car, containing the four tourists. A second jeep containing three more tourists was hit by bullets, but the occupants were unhurt and the vehicle managed to do a U-turn and escape.

The hostage-takers then reportedly carried out a mock execution, firing a gun a bare inch from the head of the tour cook who had been travelling in the first vehicle. The cook later managed to escape and describe the incident.

At first it was believed that the hostage-takers were Tuareg rebels, bandits and smugglers who have regularly clashed with Mali’s army, but in February AQIM claimed responsibility. Some analysts say the Tuareg sold the hostages to the political group.

The two female captives were released on April 22, along with two UN diplomats — Robert Fowler, a peace envoy, and Louis Guay, his aide — who had been seized in Niger in December.

Four days later the hostage-takers issued an ultimatum, warning they would kill Mr Dyer unless the UK freed the radical cleric Abu Qatada within 20 days. He is being held in Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire while he fights extradition to Jordan, where he faces terrorism charges.

On May 15 the deadline was extended by a further two weeks to May 30, and a second demand was issued, this time for a ransom of £8.6 million in exchange for the two men.

In the end, urgent efforts believed to involve the British and French security services to negotiate the safe release of the Briton failed.

In a statement issued today AQIM said: “The British captive was killed so that he, and with him the British state, may taste a tiny portion of what innocent Muslims taste every day at the hands of the Crusader and Jewish coalition to the east and to the west.”

Mr Brown said: “This tragedy reinforces our commitment to confront terrorism. It strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms.

“I want those who would use terror against British citizens to know beyond doubt that we and our allies will pursue them relentlessly, and that they will meet the justice they deserve.

“I have regularly discussed this case with the President of Mali — he knows that he will have every support in rooting out al-Qaeda from his country.”

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that Britain would continue working to secure the release of Mr Greiner, who is still being held. “Hostage-taking and murder can never be justified whatever the cause,” he said. “This tragic news is despite the strenuous efforts of the UK team in the UK and Mali, with valuable help from international partners.”

There are dissenting voices about the true story behind the kidnap. Jeremy Keenan, the editor of the security bulletin Sahara Focus and author of The Dark Sahara: America’s War on Terror in Africa, alleges that AQIM is infiltrated and directed by the Algerian security services, and that the leader of the kidnappers was taking orders from Algiers. He claims that the hostage-taking was orchestrated to give the impression that North Africa was in the grip of a terrorist uprising, justifying tough measures by Algeria and its American allies.

Today the Foreign Office admitted that the security situation in the region was complex, but denied that Algeria had orchestrated the kidnap. “There has been a lot of speculation and hearsay surrounding the case,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. “The picture that [Mr Keenan] describes is confused and not one that we recognise.”

Britain has a policy of not paying ransoms, and there was never any prospect of the UK releasing Abu Qatada, who has been described by one judge here as “al-Qaeda’s spiritual leader in Europe”.

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]



Al-Qaeda ‘Kills British Hostage’

Downing Street says there is “strong reason to believe” that a British citizen has been killed by al-Qaeda militants in north-west Africa.

Edwin Dyer was kidnapped in Niger in January, but was being held in Mali.

The group had said it would kill Mr Dyer if the British government refused to release radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada from a UK prison.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned what he called an “appalling and barbaric act of terrorism”.

He later told the Commons: “I want those who use terror against this country, and against British citizens, to know beyond doubt that they will be hunted down and brought to justice.”

Abu Qatada is awaiting extradition to Jordan, where he was convicted of terrorism offences in his absence and faces life in jail.

Condolences

Mr Dyer, who spoke fluent German and had been working in Austria, was kidnapped in Niger on 22 January, close to the border with Mali.

He was captured along with a number of other European tourists, including two Swiss and one German. The group had been visiting the Anderamboukane festival on nomad culture.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Buccaneer Pirates Threaten — “Negotiate Within 48 Hours or We Will Get Nasty”

Two phone calls to Corriere della Sera pose doubts and questions

The phone rang at 8.34 pm Nairobi time, 7.34 pm in Italy. On the line was the Somali who acts as an interpreter for the pirates and crew of the Buccaneer, the Italian ocean-going tug seized in the Gulf of Aden on 11 April. Clearly, in good Italian, the voice said: “I’ve got one of the leaders here. He says that if you don’t start negotiating within 48 hours, they will get nasty”.

The line went dead and it was impossible to call back. The phone rang and rang but no one picked it up. Two phone calls to the Corriere della Sera — one heartbreakingly dramatic call on Monday from the Buccaneer’s commander, Mario Iarloi, to say “We’ve got no food or water and we’re going crazy”, and the other with the pirates’ ultimatum — pose doubts and questions. Is what emerged from the conversations actually true? There can be no doubt that Iarloi’s voice was trembling with emotion and that by the end of the conversation, he was very annoyed. It’s also probably true that the crew has to wash with seawater. But it’s less likely that food is a problem in an area teeming with fish where even an unbaited hook will catch something. There are further doubts over the claim, backed up by an email message from Iarloi, that six crew members have been taken ashore.

Sources at Las Qorey telephoned by the Corriere della Sera confirm that there is no trace of any white people in coastal villages. Confidential Italian navy sources maintain that the warship San Giorgio, which is only a few miles from the Buccaneer and monitoring it electronically, has not noticed any strange movements. If any hostages had been taken ashore, the transfer would certainly not have passed unnoticed. The view that something is not quite right about Iarloi’s words is shared by one of the owners of the Micoperi company, Silvio Bartolotti. In a statement to the press, Mr Barlotti insists that the commander “said only what the pirates wanted him to say in order to put on pressure”. The Italian government’s representative for humanitarian crises, Margherita Boniver, says that Italy continues to do its part while maintaining maximum secrecy over the operations. No one has explained whether any negotiations are under way — according to the pirates, there are none — or whether there is any intention of paying a ransom, as the Somali pirates are demanding. The Italian navy has, however, been ordered to send another warship to the Horn of Africa, where it will join the frigate Maestrale and the San Giorgio. The warship concerned is a so far unnamed patrol vessel that should arrive in the operational zone in less than a month, as soon as preparations for the long voyage have been completed.

Massimo Alberizzi 03 giugno 2009

English translation by Giles Watson

www.watson.it

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Latin America


Bomb Threat on an Air France Flight Just Days Earlier

The flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris vanished with 228 people onboard Sunday night. On Tuesday searchers found an oil slick and debris from the plane floating in the Atlantic 700 miles off the coast of Brazil.

Today, ABC News has confirmed that Air France received a bomb threat over the phone concerning a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Paris days before Air France flight 447 disappeared over the Atlantic.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



Congressman Connie Mac on Chavez and Iran

“The growing relationship between Iran and Venezuela reminds me of the relationship between Russia and Cuba during the Cold War.”

“Chavez is allowing Venezuela to become the gateway to evil in our hemisphere.”

Q. Can good relationships with Cuba improve our relationship with Iran?

A. Chavez uses this relationship as a tool to further his anti-American Bolivarian revolution. Castro has the solution: if he released the political prisioners, the embargo would end. If the Castro brothers are sincere about what’s best for their people, they would allow for free expression, release the political prisoners and allow democracy.

Q. Should we buy sugar ethanol from Brazil?

A. I am worried about the government deciding what to trade. That said, we should abolish the ethanol tariff and allow for the US to be part of the solution.

Q. What incentives should US give LA countries to not build relationships with Iran?

A. We should have a clear path to reengage in Latin America. If we don’t engage with them, Iran & Chavez will try to fill that void. The FTA with Peru and Colombia are examples of that. At the same time, for those countries who don’t see the US as a friend, we need to be serious and take the resources we have, use the resources to build relationships, and for countries who don’t, we should move our resources away.

Q. Does the US recognize the inflitation of Iran & Hezbollah in the drug trade?…

           — Hat tip: Fausta [Return to headlines]

Immigration


Feds Spike Voter Citizenship Checks in Georgia

The Justice Department has rejected Georgia’s system of using Social Security numbers and driver’s license data to check whether prospective voters are citizens, a process that was a subject of a federal lawsuit in the weeks leading up to November’s election.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Bruce Bawer on “Racism” Accusations

The Fjordman Report


The noted blogger Fjordman is filing this report via Gates of Vienna.
For a complete Fjordman blogography, see The Fjordman Files. There is also a multi-index listing here.


As I’ve reported before, Bruce Bawer’s latest book Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom was denounced as “foaming-at-the-mouth racist scribbling” by a hard-Leftist Norwegian writer.

This attack by journalist Marte Michelet from the left-wing newspaper Dagbladet was actually aimed at fellow newspaper Aftenposten, which dared to mention Bawer’s new book at all. Aftenposten then seemingly fought back, but at the same time criticized Bawer’s “weird conspiracy theories.” As Bawer writes on his website, “In short, although Aftenposten’s editors pretended to be standing up to Michelet — criticizing her for using the word ‘Islamophobia’ to bully colleagues into limiting the discussion of important issues — they were, in effect, caving in: Michelet scared them into backing off entirely from Åmås’s praise of me as a defender of liberal values and into embracing her own thoroughly mendacious description of me as a purveyor of conspiracy theories. Congratulations, Marte! Well done.”
– – – – – – – –
In a conflict between Bruce Bawer and the pro-Islamic, Multicultural newspaper Dagbladet I will always support Mr. Bawer. Ms. Michelet is a former head of the Red Youth, the junior division of Norway’s Communist Party.

I haven’t read his latest book yet, but his previous title While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within was well worth reading. That being said, I notice that in his reply to Dagbladet, Bruce Bawer says that he is not a racist and that he voted for Obama in 2008. While he is certainly entitled to vote for whoever he wants to, when Bawer publishes a book warning against surrendering to and appeasing the forces of Islamic Jihad, his credibility would be even stronger if he didn’t brag about the fact that he voted for Barack Hussein Obama, who is currently surrendering to the forces of Islamic Jihad and appeasing his country’s enemies more than any other President has done in US history, even Dhimmi Carter.

And while I agree with and support Bawer’s fight against the “racist” label the Western Left so frequently employs, his credibility in this case would have been greater had Bawer himself not used the “Nazi” label about parties he happens to disagree with or recently sided with those who denounce other counter-Jihadists as racists and Fascists.

The “Right-Wing Threat” in Europe

Paul Belien at the Brussels Journal takes note today of a last-minute attempt by the Dutch MSM to draw support away from Geert Wilders on the eve of the elections:

In an article in the Dutch newspaper Trouw today, the leftist journalist Rinke van den Brink, a self-declared expert of the “far-right” and the author of a number of biased books, such as the “Internationale de la haine“ (The International of Hatred), writes about “Wilders’ European family.” Mr. van den Brink talked to Filip Dewinter (VB), Mogens Camre and Morten Messerschmidt (DF), Mario Borghezio (LN), Andreas Mölzer (FPÖ), and Gerard Batten (UKIP). Mr. Batten says he personally favors cooperation with Mr. Wilders but is not sure whether his party leadership is keen to address the issues (read: the fight against Islamisation) which have made the PVV so successful.

Mr. van den Brink’s article is part of a concerted project. Tonight, Dutch television broadcasts a documentary with the same title, in the hope of persuading the Dutch voters to abstain from voting for Mr. Wilders tomorrow. Part of the documentary is an interview with the Dutch academic André Krouwel who warns that Mr. Wilders is an extremist. Mr. Krouwel says Mr. Wilders is dangerous because he, and the other parties who would like to team up with him, emphasize the importance of national sovereignty over European cooperation. “Giving a central role to the national states will lead to many serious problems: to economic decline and to tensions between the states. It endangers prosperity and peace in Europe,” he says.

Here is the full text of the Trouw article, as translated by our Flemish correspondent VH:

The Right Wing in Europe is moving closer

By Rinke van den Brink

[Photo caption: A German policeman examines a young “anti-fascist”. He belongs to a group demonstrating against a right-wing demonstration in Cologne. It was a fairly relaxed gathering. The right wing and extreme left wing were screaming slogans at each other, but the mobile brigade did not need to go into action.]

The PVV may be heading for a strong victory in the European elections on Thursday. The right-wing corner of the European Parliament is looking with full expectations to Geert Wilders. Working together with such an international media star is an attractive option. But who will court Wilders?

Cologne was black with police. As many as 5,500 policemen were deployed on Saturday, May 8 [sic: should be May 9 — BB] to keep about 350 right-wing demonstrators and half as many counter-demonstrators apart. It is a relatively relaxed atmosphere. The mobile brigade units and the water cannons do not have to be deployed.

For a short while it threatens to become less friendly when a group of counter-demonstrators try to advance towards the truck that serves as a stage for the speakers. With resolute police action real trouble is prevented. The officers form a double line and push the “anti-fascists” back. To the great amusement of right-wing demonstrators. Back and forth slogans are exchanged. The “Nazis RAUS” [“raus” means “out”] chant of the “anti-fascists” is answered with “Stasis RAUS!”

Cologne 2009 #2


The right-wing demonstration at a square next to the Kölner Messe is directed against Islamization. And in particular the construction of a large mosque in Cologne, which will become the largest in Europe. This is a demonstration of like-minded relatives of Geert Wilders, who came from Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Flanders, Norway and the Czech Republic.

Cologne 2009 #1


In addition to the flags of their countries of origin, the demonstrators carry banners which leave little to recommend. They are as hostile towards Islam as they are sympathetic towards Israel. And also freedom of speech is very close to the attendees’ heart. Had he been there, Geert Wilders would certainly have viewed the spectacle with a good feeling.

– – – – – – – –

As Chairman of the Committee against Islamization, Filip Dewinter is one of the main speakers. Dewinter proclaims Cologne as the “capital of the resistance against Islam in Europe”. His speech is of the no-nonsense type. Since Vlaams Belang is facing severe electoral competition from the party of former judo coach Jean-Marie Dedecker, the tone has become more radical.

The whistling and shouting of the counter demonstrators swells as Dewinter starts to speak. He immediately confronts the challenge: “I have long thought that after 1945 the dictatorship in Germany was over and that there was a democracy. But I was wrong. The right-wing dictatorship has only been replaced only by a left-wing one. The National Socialist dictatorship has given way to a politically correct multicultural dictatorship.” Dewinter’s audience laughs and applauds. “Multiculture is the Trojan horse of Islam. Multiculture is Multiconflict is Multicrime. We will make it clear to the Islamites and Islamists that their ideology does not belong here,” Dewinter calls to his audience. Wilders could have said this..

A few weeks earlier, I was speaking to Filip Dewinter in a cafe in Antwerp at the quays of the river De Schelde. “Our style is not similar one-on-one,” says Dewinter, “but I do recognize a lot when I look at Wilders. As a smaller party with only a few spokesmen you have to provoke, otherwise you will never be able to influence the agenda.”

The adventures of Wilders are in a way a déjà vu to him, Dewinter says. The way Wilders is met by political opponents and the media does not differ much from what first happened to Dewinter and later the Vlaams Blok. “Wilders has Islamization as a theme, as we had the immigrants. We both meet an awful lot of resistance from the establishment. This catapults him into the role of outsider and that does bring success, just as it did for us. Wilders takes provocative positions with very sharp viewpoints and with his film Fitna, as we did with our 70-point plan against immigration. There is a court case set up against him, just as they did against us. It can hardly be more similar.”

Dewinter sees only one big difference: with Vlaams Belang this has been going on for twenty years, but with Wilders for only two years. Dewinter and colleges have had time to build up their party organizationally and programmatically. Nowadays 160 people are working for Vlaams Belang.

The normalization of such parties as Vlaams Belang and the PVV is the most difficult phase, according to Dewinter. His party is struggling against a cordon sanitaire, the agreement of all other Flemish parties not to cooperate with the VB. “They still try to catch us out in extreme expressions,” says Dewinter, “just as they try to do with Wilders. He operates very carefully by connecting his fight against Islamization so strongly with the freedom of expression.”

One side note Dewinter makes though, one that I in fact hear from most conversation partners: “His proposal to ban the Qur’an goes too far [Note: Wilders does not want to ban the Qur’an but since Mein Kampf incites to hatred and is banned, then why is the Qur’an not banned as well?]. How can you stand for the principle of freedom of expression while you want to forbid the Qur’an? I think Wilders also feels uncomfortable with this. Similarly with his proposal to deny access to all Muslims entrance to the European Union [Note: Wilders only suggested this for immigrants and for a period of 5 years, until the situation is cleared up]. It must remain realistic.” The Fleming also has an advice for his Dutch spiritual partner: “I hope that Wilders will not let himself be lured to participate in a government [coalition cabinet]. Then they will for certain attempt to choke him dead, then they will try to strangle him, so to speak.”

Dewinter does not want be explicit on whether he ever met Wilders. He somehow implies he did, but that’s it. It’s certain that there are indirect contacts, however. “We slowly grow a little towards each other. Discreet, without the media on top of it, through all the channels needed. We ensure that Wilders is sufficiently informed about us, directly. This is done through various forms of parallel diplomacy. Slowly but surely we get a better understanding of each other, which is also evident from the interviews Wilders gives.”

Two members of the board of the International Free Press Society (IFPS) that was established this year in Copenhagen play a crucial role in that process. Paul Beliën, a writer and journalist who is married to Vlaams Belang parliamentarian Alexandra Colen, and Bjorn Larsen, the Treasurer of the IFPS. The IFPS organizes meetings at which Wilders is offered the floor (both in Copenhagen and Washington) and collects funds for his legal costs. Last month Filip Dewinter [and Frank Vanhecke] visited the IFPS. And on June 14 Wilders will speak at the Danish Free Press Society, the parent organization of the IFPS.

Wilders himself seems not yet to have decided whether he will collaborate in a right-wing block in the European Parliament. In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, on December 15, 2008, he did open the door somewhat to a cooperation with Vlaams Belang in the (near) future. “There are different sounds emerging from Vlaams Belang. Some, even from the Jewish community, say they have changed. That they have changed their discourse. Others say that this is not the case. I need to see and speak with people and study further on this. But I am not saying that it is impossible.” A year earlier in the same newspaper Wilders had still excluded any cooperation with the VB because of the supposed anti-Semitism of the party as noted by some Belgian Jewish leaders. In the Dutch HP/De Tijd magazine on December 19, 2008, he said concerning cooperation with Vlaams Belang: “I do not exclude anything. I am willing to cooperate with any party that is elected democratically and does not overstep the mark. Not with a party like the Front National of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Not with racists. But also not with an party like the British National Party, a party that talks about white and black. I want to stay away from that. On the other hand, just look at the Danish People’s Party for instance, to which I paid a visit recently, and where I was able to give a speech. They are suitable from all angles.” In the Dutch newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad of May 1, 2009 he kept his distance somewhat, however. A spokesman for the PVV commented on rumors of talks with Dewinter as “pertinent nonsense” and rejected cooperation in a right-wing block in the European Parliament.

The Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti, DF) plays a central role in attempts to form a right-wing group of parties that view the struggle against Islamization and immigration and the Turkish membership of the EU as their main issues. DF, under the strict leadership of the former elder-care nurse Pia Kjaeresgaard, has achieved a key position in Danish politics. For the last eight years DF has helped the Conservative government to maintain a majority. In return, strict immigration and integration has become the policy of the Danish government. In the European Parliament DF works closely with the Italian Lega Nord — an Italian government party also strongly opposed to immigration and Islamization.

Mogens Camre has been in the European parliament for DF since 1999. Previously he was in the Danish parliament for 20 years for the Social Democrats. “We have formally declared that we will not only cooperate with the Lega Nord after the elections, but also with Vlaams Belang and the Austrian FPÖ,” said Camre. “The PVV of Geert Wilders will be a perfect match for us.” Mogens Camre once spoke to Wilders in Copenhagen. “I fully agree with his views that Islam is the biggest problem in Europe and that mass immigration has a very negative impact on our society.” Camre himself also has strong positions: “The Muslims simply cannot keep up with the modern world. If too many of these people come to Europe this will lead to severe damage. And it is not the smart Muslims who are coming over here. Those just go sit together to discuss how to fly an airplane into the WTC. There are masses of people around here that completely reject the European way of life and our values. This is a great danger.”

DF has its solutions too. Morten Messerschmidt, now a member of the Danish Parliament, will succeed Mogens Camre in the European Parliament. “If the bath runs over, you should first turn off the tap,” he says. “That is what we have done in recent years. Because of us, the immigration flow has been reduced — actually we only encounter problems with immigrants from Muslim countries and from Africa. Criminal foreigners must be expelled from the country. Furthermore, we will never allow our values and freedoms to be abolished. In these matters, the Danish People’s Party and Wilders have the same agenda.”

On April 4, 2009 Geert Wilders gave a speech in the David Horowitz Freedom Center in Beverly Hills. There he praised the Danish People’s Party as a politically “kosher party”.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/2/2009

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/2/2009There’s interesting news tonight out of Russia. On the one hand, Russian Muslims have issued a fatwa against intermarriage between Muslims and Jews or Christians. On the other, Russian prison officials are alleged to have burned Korans to intimidate prison inmates.

Concerning the financial crisis as it affects the Middle East: unemployment in Turkey is reportedly at now at 25%, and Iraqi Kurdistan is no help, having banned vegetable imports from Turkey in order to protect its own agricultural sector.

In other news, the piracy industry allows Somali coastal communities to live high on the hog. Also, Ayman al-Zawahiri has denounced Barack Obama.

Thanks to ACT for America, C. Cantoni, CB, Fausta, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, islam o’phobe, JD, KGS, LN, Steen, TB, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
– – – – – – – –

Financial Crisis
Turkey: Unemployment in the Country at 25%, Not 16.1%, Expert
UK: Sheikh Breaks City Record With £1.5bn Profit on Barclays Bailout
 
USA
A New Iran Overture, With Hot Dogs
Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won’t Dare Give in Egypt
GM to Sell Hummer to Chinese Company
Islamic Speakers Bureau Backed by Radical Profs
Maine: African Mob Goes on Rampage After Police Confront Shoplifter
 
Canada
Canada: Voters to be Flown to Lebanon for Elections
 
Europe and the EU
Barry Madlener, EU Candidate for Geert Wilder’s PVV, is Elected by Opinion Panel as the Best Debater
Blondes March in Latvia ‘To Cheer-Up Nation’
Czech President Klaus Says EU Election Pointless
Danes Want Out of European Union
Denmark: More Troops to Afghanistan
Denmark: Youth Violence Surge
EU: Declan’s Democracy
Italy: Premier Says He Will Last Full Term
‘Outlaw Forced Marriages in Sweden’
‘Swedish State Should Not Educate Imams’: Report
Sweden: Refugee Facility Hit by Arson Attack
Switzerland: Unions Push for Six Weeks of Vacation
UK: ‘Chilli Hot Stuff’ Immigration Judge Paid Nearly £300,000 for Sitting at Home
UK: Black Immigration Worker Who Suffered Racial Discrimination at Refugee Charity Wins £65,000
UK: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith Set to Quit (Before She’s Pushed) as Two Ministers and Two Labour MPs Step Down in One Day
UK: Humiliation for Brown as Prince Charles Agrees to Attend D-Day Anniversary
UK: MPs to Get Chance to Call Early General Election Next Week
 
Mediterranean Union
Energy: ENEA Looks to Egypt for Desertec Project
 
Israel and the Palestinians
Israel Fears Obama Backing Out of U.S. Commitments
 
Middle East
Books: Al-Neimi, After ‘Honey Proof’ Wants to Surprise
Eight Shot Dead in Turkish Flat
Gas: Iran Begins Construction of Pipeline Through Turkey
Lebanon: Spying for Israel, Another Colonel Arrested
Muslims Want Tangible Shift on Mideast Policy
Obama Says Iran’s Energy Concerns Legitimate
Trade: Iraq Temporarily Bans Vegetable Imports From Turkey
Turkey: ‘Just Being Able to Talk About Alevi Problem is Important’
 
Russia
Russian Muslims Issue Fatwa Forbidding Marriages With Christians and Jews
Russian Prison Officials Burn Koran to Intimidate Muslim Inmates — NGO
 
South Asia
Indonesia, Malaysia Face Off at Sea
Indonesian Teen Model Escapes From Malaysian Prince
Tensions High Between Indonesia and Malaysia
 
Far East
Thousands March in Hong Kong to Remember Tiananmen
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
Mogadishu: New Clashes, Residents Fighting Insurgents “On Way to Work”
Pirates’ Glossy Lives Win Admirers in Somalia
 
Latin America
Venezuela: Hugo Gets a Tummy Ache… and Missiles
 
Immigration
Finland: Government Calls for Stricter Rules on Family Reunification
 
General
Al-Qaeda Deputy Denounces Obama
Blueprint for New World Order
Journalists Who Don’t Kiss Obama’s Feet

Financial Crisis


Turkey: Unemployment in the Country at 25%, Not 16.1%, Expert

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MAY 29 — The first problem to solve in Turkey is the rising unemployment, reports today daily Hurriyet quoting a top industrialist who said the government’s temporary tax cuts on various goods should continue. Speaking at the assembly meeting of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, or ISO, Chairman Tanil Kucuk noted that The Economist magazine ranked Turkey third in unemployment worldwide. “The widest description says the number of jobless in Turkey stands at 6.5 million, while the unemployment rate is 25%,” Kucuk said, disputing the official figure of 16.1%. Kucukk said industrial output declined 22% while exports plummeted 26% in the first quarter. “Government-initiated private consumption tax and value added tax cuts helped raise the capacity usage to 58.4% in April. These cuts should continue, embracing other sectors too,” said Kucuk. While the Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 9.25%, banks still demand 20-25% for credits, Kucuk said. “Which company can bear such a burden?” he asked. “Unless this problem is solved, the blood loss in the real economy will continue”, he said. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



UK: Sheikh Breaks City Record With £1.5bn Profit on Barclays Bailout

Barclays’ white knight Sheikh Mansour entered the record books today with the quickest billion-pound stock market profit.

The owner of Manchester city and ruler of Abu Dhabi was almost £1.5 billion better off after he sold a share in the High street bank only seven months after bailing it out.

The sheik and the rulers of Qatar helped Barclays to avoid a UK bailout by stumping up £7 billion last November.

City observers said no one in the world had ever made so much money so quickly from buying and selling shares.

David Buik of brokers BGC Partners said: “No single investor has been able to go in and out on this scale. But then we have never experienced volatility like this, and I don’t think we will see anything like this again.”

Barclays shares plunged 13 per cent to 274p in early trading on the London Stock Exchange as investors saw the move as a sign to take profits following a recent strong run for the stock.

The Sheikh was, alongside investors from Qatar, one of the major backers of Barclays’s £7.3billion bail-out last October at the peak of the global financial meltdown.

His investment helped Barclays avoid the humiliation of partial nationalisation suffered by fellow high-street lenders Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

But the deal was controversial as many City investors complained the Middle Eastern rescuers had been allowed to buy into Barclays too cheaply.

There was further ill feeling over the £40million fee paid to the deal’s British “broker” Amanda Staveley, a former girlfriend of Prince Andrew, and her private equity firm PCP Capital Partners.

Today’s dramatic sale is also an embarrassmentfor Barc lays Chief Executive John Varley, who last October described the Sheikh as a long-term investor.

Today’s stock market sale means the Sheikh has sold around half his investment in Barclays. He effectively bought shares in the bank at -153p each when they stood at 205p in the market.

They later plunged as low as – 51.2p in January leaving the Sheikh nursing a paper “loss” running to hundreds of millions of pounds.

However, Barclays shares have recovered dramatically since as fears of a catastrophic financial collapse have receded.

Today brokers Credit Suisse placed around 1.3 billion shares in the stock market at £265p a share, giving the Sheikh a profit of £1.48billion on his original £2billion investment.

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]

USA


A New Iran Overture, With Hot Dogs

SAN SALVADOR — Having sent the Iranian people a video greeting on their New Year, President Obama is now inviting them to help celebrate a quintessentially American holiday, the Fourth of July.

Last Friday, the State Department sent a cable to its embassies and consulates around the world notifying them that “they may invite representatives from the government of Iran” to their Independence Day celebrations — annual receptions that typically feature hot dogs, red-white-and-blue bunting and some perfunctory remarks about the founding fathers.

Administration officials characterized the move as another in a series of American overtures to Iran. The United States has not had relations with Iran since the American Embassy in Tehran was seized by protesters in 1979; the country’s diplomats have not been formally invited to American events since then.

“It is another way of saying we are not putting barriers in the way of communicating,” said one administration official. “It is another way of signaling that there is an opportunity that should not be wasted.”

A second official said the ban no longer made sense, at a time when the United States was actively engaging with Iranian officials elsewhere. In March, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, chatted with Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Mohammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh, at a conference in The Hague.

The authorization to issue the invitations was disclosed by a senior State Department official on the eve of a three-day visit to Latin America by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the new policy was not public.

           — Hat tip: Fausta [Return to headlines]



Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won’t Dare Give in Egypt

This week, President Barack Obama is scheduled to give a major address in Cairo to the Muslim world. He is likely to reiterate what he has stated previously to Muslim audiences, that America has no battle with Islam, deeply respects Islam and the Muslim world, and apologizes for any anti-Muslim sentiment that any Americans may express.

Here is what an honest address would sound like:

“Thank you for the honor of addressing the Egyptian people and the wider Muslim world.

“I am here primarily to dispel some of the erroneous beliefs many Muslims have about America and to thereby reassure you that America has no desire to be at war with the Muslim world.

“To my great disappointment, many Muslims have come to believe that my country has declared war on Muslims and Islam.

“Because of this widespread belief, I said in an interview with al-Arabiya a few months ago, that we need to restore “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.”

“Lets’ look a little deeper at that relationship. For the truth is, as noted by the Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist for the American newspaper the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer, in the last 20-30 years America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for Muslims. We Americans engaged in five military campaigns on behalf of Muslims, each one resulting in the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as the failed 1992-93 Somalia intervention to feed starving African Muslims — in which] 43 Americans were killed — were all humanitarian exercises. In none of them was there a significant U.S. strategic interest at stake. So, in fact, in these 20 years, my country, the United States of America has done more for suffering and oppressed Muslims than any other nation, Muslim or non-Muslim.

“While I recognize that gratitude is the rarest positive human quality, I need to say — because candor is the highest form respect — that America has not only not received little gratitude from the Muslim world, it has been the object of hatred, mass murder, and economic attack from Muslim individuals, groups, and countries.

“Just to cite a few of many examples from the last 40 years…”

[Return to headlines]



GM to Sell Hummer to Chinese Company

[Comments from JD: Watch for a beefed up Hummer design to become part of China’s military.]

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.

GM has a tenatative agreement to sell its rugged Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. of China, said a person briefed on the deal.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



Islamic Speakers Bureau Backed by Radical Profs

by Jonathan Schanzer, The American Thinker

A California nonprofit dedicated to “teaching about Islam & Muslims” at U.S. high schools and college campuses features a board of advisors that is stacked with some of the most controversial activist professors in the field of Middle Eastern studies today. The imprimatur of these scholars may signal a troubling shift toward the support of proselytizing efforts and the further unraveling of Middle East Studies in America…

           — Hat tip: ACT for America [Return to headlines]



Maine: African Mob Goes on Rampage After Police Confront Shoplifter

Crowd confronts police making shoplifting arrest

PORTLAND — Several juveniles and adults face charges following a melee at Franklin Arterial and Fox Street that began when police stopped and arrested a shoplifting suspect and an unruly crowd gathered.

Police responded to a report that a man had stolen two bottles of vodka at 7 p.m. Friday at the Hannaford on Forest Avenue.

Workers at the store provided a description of the suspect and the car he left in, and police pulled the car over at Franklin Arterial and Fox Street a couple of minutes later, police said.

As police were arresting Jimmy Odong, 19, of Portland and recovering the stolen merchandise, a group of about 15 to 30 people gathered, with about 10 of them becoming aggressive toward police, officers said.

A number of other officers were dispatched to the area, which is alongside the Kennedy Park housing development. Members of the gathering group, some of whom are Sudanese, like Odong, and some who are from other African countries, began calling the officers names, including “killers” and “murderers,” in apparent reference to the police shooting of a Sudanese immigrant, David Okot, last month.

When police prepared to tow the car Odong had driven, some of the crowd jumped on the car to try to prevent it from being taken, police said.

Three juveniles eventually were arrested, two of them on charges of assault after they allegedly punched the officers, police said.

Police also charged Yannick Mulongo, 21, of Clark Street with unlawful interference with a law enforcement dog, after he allegedly taunted a police dog named Taz; and Sara Langoia, 18, of Anderson Street with obstructing government administration.

Police said they had to use pepper spray in making the arrests.

The shift commander reported that additional arrests were warranted, but officers opted not to arrest others so the confrontation would not escalate.

Police said the minors were referred to juvenile corrections authorities, who planned to release them to the custody of their parents.

           — Hat tip: LN [Return to headlines]

Canada


Canada: Voters to be Flown to Lebanon for Elections

Western governments fear that the Iran and Syria-backed Lebanese Shia party and militant movement Hezbollah could gain a parliamentary majority in the election.

Ottawa, 1 June (AKI) — Dual Canadian-Lebanese citizens eligible to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon are being flown free of charge to the country so they can cast their ballot, Canadian state media reported on Monday.

According to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, corporate sponsors are paying hundreds of supporters of the Sunni pro-western Future Movement in the western city of Calgary and other cities to vote in the 7 June elections.

According to CBC, dual citizens must be in Lebanon to cast their ballots.

“This is a big election, and there are a lot of people who [would] love to vote but they cannot vote because of finance … so those companies are making it easy for them,” said Faouzi Salem, a Future Movement coordinator in Calgary, quoted by CBC.

“There [are] sponsors in the world who [pay] for those tickets … European companies, Middle Eastern companies who … they would love to see a free Lebanon, an independent Lebanon.

“They want to see a democratic government in the future, so they’re dedicating all their support.”

According to CBC, the party has rented an office in a Calgary mosque where volunteers are matching people of Lebanese descent with tickets to Beirut.

The elections are expected to be one of the closely fought in decades and will feature the Shia, Hezbollah-led coalition, called the March 8 coalition which opposes the March 14 coalition headed by Saad Hariri (photo) of the Future Movement.

Saad is the son of slain prime minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in a massive car bomb attack in Beirut in February 2005.

However, CBC claims that there are rumours in the Lebanese-Canadian community that the pro-Hezbollah side is also paying to fly supporters to Lebanon for the election.

“The other side too, they’re doing the same thing, aren’t they? They’re taking people from all over the world,” said Fouzi Salem.

Canada has a substantial Lebanese community in Halifax, Vancouver, Windsor, Calgary, Toronto as well as the capital Ottawa and Edmonton.

Hezbollah, a paramilitary and political organisation is listed as a terrorist group by the Canadian, Israeli, United States and Dutch governments.

Australia and the United Kingdom consider the group’s military wing a terrorist organisation.

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

Europe and the EU


Barry Madlener, EU Candidate for Geert Wilder’s PVV, is Elected by Opinion Panel as the Best Debater

[Translation by VH]

During a live TV debate among six political parties that are running in the EU Parliament elections, Barry Madlener of the PVV tonight was voted the best debater. Over 1500 members of the EenVandaag Opinion Panel chose him during a live online vote.

The debate was broadcast by the news-opinion show EenVandaag and organized in cooperation with the Economic Faculty Association of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

           — Hat tip: VH [Return to headlines]



Blondes March in Latvia ‘To Cheer-Up Nation’

Several hundred blonde women marched through the Latvian capital Riga yesterday in a bid to cheer up the crisis-hit Baltic nation, suffering the worst recession of all 27 EU member states.

Led by an orchestra, the first-ever blonde parade featured women dressed in pink and white, some accompanied by lapdogs, in a charity fund-raising event that organisers hope will become an annual event.

“I’m not stupid. I’m beautiful and I’ll prove it,” Ilona Zigure, a participant, said.

Organisers said they were determined to bring positive energy to their country, expected to see its economy contract by 16 per cent this year.

The parade was part of a “Blonde Weekend” which also featured a blonde golf tournament, a little lady fashion show, an evening ball, and a children’s drawing competition.

“It’s a great time to spend in the parade and contribute to a charity,” said Ieva, one blonde spectator.

“Finally something different, something positive because I’m tired of hearing about the crisis,” said another, 70-year-old Ausma.

The event attracted many locals and puzzled tourists.

Following the parade, blondes climbed into open-topped cars and drove to the local shopping centre.

The money collected during the event will be donated to support children’s safety and playgrounds for disabled children in Riga and across Latvia.

The organisers want to make May 31 official Blondes’ Day in Latvia.

Latvia, a small Baltic nation with the population of 2.3 million people has been going through the deepest recession in the European Union, which it joined in 2004.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Czech President Klaus Says EU Election Pointless

PARIS (AFP)—President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said Tuesday that this weekend’s E.U. parliamentary elections would be a waste of time.

In Paris to promote a new book calling into question the dangers of climate change, the eurosceptic Klaus said: “I’m afraid that people living in Europe don’t feel the importance of the European elections.”

Asked what politicians might do to interest voters in the upcoming June 4-7 poll, which will elect representatives from the E.U.’s 27 member states to the European Parliament, Klaus said it would be useless to try.

“I don’t see any way, because there’s not a real European community of people, and they are not Europeans: they are French, Czechs, Germans, Poles,” he said.

“My understanding is that there’s no way how to create an artificially European ‘demos’, so I have no suggestion,” he said, using the Greek term for a national political community.

“For me the European elections are not necessary. I would be quite happy to send parliamentarians elected into national parliaments represent their countries in Brussels.”

Supporters of the European Parliament fear the poll will be marked by low voter turnouts, after campaigning in most of the member states failed to catch the public interest.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Danes Want Out of European Union

Morten Messerschmidt, a candidate for the European Parliament for the Danish People’s Party, wants Denmark to pull out of European Union immigration regulations.

“We can see that there are a number of policy areas where Danish regulations are watered down by the EU,” says Messerschmidt. “We’ve seen the European Court of Justice get involved in our immigration policy and I think it is important that we stop that sort of thing with an opt-out.”

He said secrecy surrounding new regulations for the free movement of labor expected to be announced by the European Commission this summer meant the opt-out was necessary.

The European Union is gearing up for its largest parliamentary elections ever, with nearly 375 million European citizens in 27 countries voting for 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) between June 4 and 7.

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]



Denmark: More Troops to Afghanistan

Denmark will send additional troops to Afghanistan to bolster security ahead of the national elections in August

The Defence Forces will be sending further specialised military and naval personnel temporarily to Afghanistan ahead of the national elections on 20 August.

Public broadcaster DR reports that majority support was reached in the parliamentary foreign policy committee today to send the 65 members of the Hunter and Frogmen Corps (Special Forces units of the army and navy) on the temporary mission.

Many other member countries of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition are sending additional troops ahead of the Afghan elections.

‘The Brits have temporarily increased their force from 8,300 to 9,000 troops,’ said Afghanistan expert Peter Dahl Truelsen from the Defence Academy.

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]



Denmark: Youth Violence Surge

The past decade has seen an increasing amount of youth violence in Denmark.

A countrywide survey on youth violence shows that the past decade has seen a doubling of youth violence, despite increased sentences for violent crime and threatening behaviour.

While there were 2,700 cases of violent crime among 15-20 year-olds in 1990, that figure grew to 5,200 in 2007, according to the survey carried out by Ugebrevet A4 for the Economic Council of the Labour Movement .

The Crime Prevention Council Chairwoman Eva Smith is worried at the development and says one reason may be that an increasing number of youths hang out in the streets.

Street robberies

Justice Ministry Research Office Chief Britta Kyvsgaard says that there have been more street robberies, in which young people steal cellphones and money.

“It seems that in some youth sub-cultures, young people achieve status by demonstrating power and dominance in the streets — and that can result in attacks on other youths,” says Kyvsgaard.

Copenhagen — Århus

The survey also shows that the country’s two main cities of Copenhagen and Århus are at the bottom of the youth violence league, with the number of charges per thousand young people down at between seven and eight percent. In Gribskov in North Zealand the figure is 15 per thousand, 13 per thousand in Norddjurs and 12 per thousand in Ishøj.

A government commission is to report in September, with proposals on how to limit youth crime.

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]



EU: Declan’s Democracy

You know the “unelected commission”, so often referred to by those less than enamoured with the European Union: what about electing them?

I’ve just been sent an interesting little booklet called The Fight for Democracy: a series of interviews with Declan Ganley, the founder of Libertas, which is standing as a pan-European party in 14 of the 27 EU countries. What interests me about Mr Ganley is that he does have some genuine ideas for making the EU more democratic. Most of those who say they are campaigning for reform have long ago come to the conclusion that the EU is not transformable. Therefore, they argue, less should be done at a European level and powers should be returned to national parliaments. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and Mr Ganley stresses it is one option for those who want a more democratic EU. But he also suggests that the European Parliament could elect the whole commission, or that the nation states should hold elections for the job of commissioner.

At the moment commissioners are simply appointed by the head of government of each country. Of course, no president or prime minister would wear this reduction in their power of patronage, let alone risk a political opponent ending up as their man or woman in Brussels. But it’s an intriguing idea.

And just a plug for imaginative coverage of this election: find out how they will vote down Brussels Way.

That’s Brussels Way in Luton… But who would they elect as a commissioner?

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Italy: Premier Says He Will Last Full Term

Berlusconi says press whipping up smear and hate campaign

(ANSA) — Rome, June 1 — Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Monday railed against the foreign and Italian press and accused the centre-left opposition of whipping up a hate and smear campaign against him ahead of the weekend elections for the European parliament.

The premier dismissed talk of resignation, saying he planned to complete the remaining four years of his term as premier, stressing that he had strong support from his Northern League party allies and his own People of Freedom (PdL)Party.

Speaking on a state-run Rai radio talk show, Berlusconi compared the centre left’s values to those of Novella 2000, Italy’s best-known gossip magazine, saying his popularity was not waning in the wake of a flap over his private life, but stood at 73%.

“I think we’ve really hit rock bottom”, said the premier, referring to ongoing polemics following a public divorce feud with his wife Veronica Lario who has accused him of “consorting with minors”.

The Italian left-leaning dailies have repeatedly urged the premier to provide information on his relationship with 18-year-old would-be showgirl Noemi Letizia after she was quoted calling him ‘papi’ (daddy) and admitted she had received an expensive necklace for her birthday last month.

The premier, 72, has gone on television to deny there was anything “spicy” in his relationship with Letizia and he has since categorically denied “steamy or more than steamy relationships” with teenagers after it emerged he had invited showgirls to parties at his Sardinian villa.

During the weekend, the premier’s lawyer got an injunction to block the publication of some 700 photographs which reportedly show that dozens of young women were invited to his villa.

Berlusconi told the RAI interviewer that “the left-leaning dailies have covered up the (opposition’s) lack of a programme with gossip and calumny”.

“The centre-left has nothing to offer, it can only ride on the wave of calumnies and violate other people’s privacy. I’m sure this campaign of envy and hatred will boomerang against them because I see that Italians who support us have a clear idea of what’s happening and are still closer to me”. Berlusconi, who has also come under increasing criticism from the foreign press, shrugged off an editorial by the London Times on Monday which lamented “the utter contempt with which he treats the Italian public”.

“Foreign newspapers are closely linked to the Italian leftist papers: their reports are inspired and blown up by the Italian left,” he said.

Berlusconi told the interviewer he had nothing to explain, stressing that he had “already cleared things up”.

“Showgirls? Not true. Teenagers? “Oh, come on!”,” said the premier.

A sentence by a Milan court who found his former corporate lawyer, Briton David Mills, guilty of perjury was based on “lies”, said the premier.

“These are pure and simple falsehoods which will backfire against those who sparked them,” he added.

In February a Milan court sentenced Mills to four and a half years in prison for taking a $600,000 bribe.

Judge Nicoletta Gandus, who the premier says is leftist, said in a written motivation for the verdict last month that the lawyer had acted “as a false witness…to allow Silvio Berlusconi and his Fininvest group impunity from the charges or, at least, to keep their huge profits”.

The premier, who was removed from the trial under a new immunity law approved by his government, has said repeatedly that Gandus is biased against him.

Both Mills and Berlusconi deny wrongdoing and the lawyer has said he will appeal the verdict.

OPPOSITION SEEKS EXPLANATION ON FLIGHTS TO HIS VILLA.

Meanwhile, a group of politicians from the largest opposition party made a formal request for Berlusconi to explain himself in parliament after it was alleged that he flew party guests not in public office to his Sardinian villa using state-funded flights.

“What are the criteria and rules that the prime minister has adopted to determine the means and limits of using such flights?” seven senators and MPs from the Democratic Party asked.

Former Milan graftbuster Antonio Di Pietro, who heads second-biggest opposition party Italy of Values, also hit out at the reports, stressing that this was a matter of public interest.

“I don’t act as the opposition by looking through keyholes, but the use of state planes to transport musician friends is not a private affair,” he said, referring to the Neapolitan musician Mariano Apicella, with whom the premier has recorded several albums.

“It’s this sort of behaviour which shows who is in power for their own benefit,” he said.

Pier Ferdinando Casini, leader of the centrist opposition UDC Party, voiced concern for a “moral pollution infecting politics”, warning that the government was not focusing on the real problems of the Italians.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



‘Outlaw Forced Marriages in Sweden’

Nearly 70,000 young Swedes feel they aren’t able to freely choose whom they want to marry, according to a new study, leading the report’s authors to propose Sweden outlaw forced arranged marriages altogether.

“To be able to marry whoever you want to is actually an important human right. For a large group of young people, that isn’t an absolute certainty,” said Per Nilsson, head of the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs (Ungdomsstyrelsen), in a statement.

The study, entitled Gift mot sin vilja (‘Married against their will’), was carried out by the youth board at the request of the government as part of a broader effort to highlight “honour-related violence and oppression” in Sweden and was handed over to integration minister Nyamko Sabuni on Monday.

It revealed that around 5 percent of young people in Sweden between the ages of 16- and 25-years-old, or about 70,000 young people, don’t feel they have the ability to choose with whom they want to get married.

In addition, 8,500 young Swedes are concerned that they won’t have any say at all when it comes to choosing a spouse.

“Arranged marriage is connected to norms about virginity and the control of one’s sex life, especially for girls,” said Hanna Linell, who helped carry out the Ungdomsstyrelsen study, in an interview published on the organization’s website.

“The girls’ ability to act freely is limited and boys are raised to control their sisters. These gender-specific expectations impact these young peoples’ life as a whole.”

The youth board submitted a number of suggested legislative changes to the government along with the results of the study.

Specifically, the group wants the government to criminalize child and forced marriages in Sweden and to bolster efforts to offer affected youth advice and counseling.

In addition, Ungdomsstyrelsen wants Sweden to scrap the provision in its marriage laws which allows someone under 18-years-old get married upon receiving permission from a county administrative board.

After receiving the report on forced marriages, Sabuni indicated she was prepared to change Sweden’s laws to counteract the problem.

“We were aware of the figures, but it’s good to have them confirmed so the scope of the problem becomes known. Our mission must be to protect individuals; we can’t let parents marry off their children,” the minister told the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

“It’s such a serious violation of children’s rights that society needs to act.”

While Linell admitted that there are occasions when young people don’t automatically view arranged marriages negatively, she added that it’s easy for problems to arise.

“Problems arise when the young people don’t follow existing rules. Problems also arise when parents don’t let young people influence their own lives in such important questions,” she said.

The study’s results are based on responses to three surveys: one sent by Ungdomsstyrelsen to 6,000 young people ages 16- to 25-years old; a survey of first- and second-year high school students conducted by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen); and a survey of Stockholm area ninth graders carried out by Stockholm University.

[Return to headlines]



‘Swedish State Should Not Educate Imams’: Report

The Swedish state should not engage in the education of imams, a commission of inquiry into the issue has concluded in its report submitted to the government on Monday.

The Imam education commission, headed by Örebro University professor Erik Amnå, argues that a state education for imams would be in contravention of the principle of the separation of church and state and constitute an incursion into the internal affairs of the Muslim community.

Among the other conclusions in the report, submitted to the Minister for Higher Education and Research Lars Leijonborg on Monday, is that a state sponsored education for Muslim religious leaders would constitute special treatment for Muslims in relation to other faith groups.

The commission of inquiry recommends that the further education requirements of imams should instead come under the standard education system which includes for example, Swedish for Immigrants (Svenska för Invandrare — SFI), and university courses in political science.

[Return to headlines]



Sweden: Refugee Facility Hit by Arson Attack

A refugee housing facility in Karlskoga in central Sweden was subject to an arson attack early Tuesday morning, according to police.

Residents of the facility, which is operated by the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) were forced to evacuate the premises, but could later return.

“It seems as if someone poured flammable liquid in through the mail slot and then set it on fire,” said Thomas Ginghagen of the Örebro county police to the TT news agency.

The door caught fire, with flames ten spreading to an office shortly after 2am. The refugee facility, which is housed in the same building, was evacuated because of the heavy smoke.

The refugee centre is in the process of being emptied and the only current residents include a family and one more individual.

The building has been cordoned off in preparation for a forensic investigation.

The facility has been subject to several other small fires and vandalism in the past, according to Ginhagen.

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]



Switzerland: Unions Push for Six Weeks of Vacation

More than 125,000 people have signed a petition calling for six weeks of paid holiday a year to cope with increasing stress in the workplace.

Swiss law currently allows for four weeks of paid vacation a year. But Travail Suisse, the country’s trade union umbrella group, has collected enough signatures to force a nationwide vote on extending time off to six weeks a year.

“In the past two decades the workplace has become increasing hectic,” Travail Suisse said in a statement, adding that well rested employees are more efficient and productive.

The petition began in December 2007 to collect the 100,000 signatures needed for a people’s initiative. Proponents plan to hand in the signatures to the federal authorities at the end of June.

Switzerland’s 20 days of paid vacation rank among the fewest in Europe. Denmark currently allows the most with 31 days. Elsewhere, the United States allows for just ten days. Mexico has the fewest with six.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



UK: ‘Chilli Hot Stuff’ Immigration Judge Paid Nearly £300,000 for Sitting at Home

An immigration judge who had an affair with his illegally employed “chilli hot stuff” cleaner has been paid nearly £300,000 even though he has been off work for the last two-and-a-half years.

Mohammed Ilyas Khan has been paid more than £280,000 of taxpayers’ money since an inquiry was launched into his conduct, after it emerged that the cleaner was an illegal immigrant.

He was paid £170,000 while a 19-month inquiry was undertaken into his conduct, and has been paid his full salary of £111,155 since it concluded last May.

Last year Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, then the Lord Chief Justice, said that the 63-year-old showed poor judgment by giving a cleaning job to Roselane Driza, 40, without checking her right to work.

The arrangement came to light when Ms Driza was accused of trying to blackmail a fellow immigration judge, who had formerly been in a relationship with Judge Khan, by stealing home-made tapes of them having sex.

During her trial in 2006 it emerged that Judge Khan had sent Ms Driza text messages calling her “chilli hot stuff” and telling her how much he enjoyed having sex with her.

Furthermore, it emerged that the female judge, referred to only as Judge J, had also employed Ms Driza as a cleaner.

After the trial concluded the Office for Judicial Complaints launched a 19-month inquiry into Judge Khan’s conduct, headed by Lord Phillips.

When the disciplinary report was published last May it concluded that no further action should be taken against Judge Khan, as employing an illegal immigrant was not strong enough grounds to sack him.

However, Lord Phillips described the decision of both judges to employ Ms Driza as “ill-judged, particularly in the light of the jurisdiction within which they both worked.”

He also said Judge Khan’s poor health warranted against there being a more in-depth investigation.

Judge Khan went on sick leave as soon as the inquiry concluded, being paid his full annual salary of £111,155.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the case was being “urgently reviewed”.

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]



UK: Black Immigration Worker Who Suffered Racial Discrimination at Refugee Charity Wins £65,000

A black man who was made redundant by the British Refugee Council, leaving only white people at the immigration centre where he worked, has been awarded more than £65,000 compensation.

Emmanuel Obikwu, 45, was unfairly singled out when his unit was earmarked for closure, an employment tribunal ruled.

While he and a Tanzania-born colleague lost their jobs, white colleagues were moved on to new posts.

Mr Obikwu, who has two British Masters degrees in law, suffered stress, anxiety, sleeping disorders, depression, and flashbacks to his own time as a refugee as a result of his treatment.

He has now been awarded £65,475 for unfair dismissal, racial discrimination, injury to feelings, psychiatric injury, and loss of earnings.

The payout follows £30,000 awarded in January to a former colleague, Tanzania-born Zaina Ukwaju, who also lost her job.

Speaking yesterday after the tribunal’s judgement was published, Mr Obikwu accused his former employers of racism.

‘This was a charity that I believed was dedicated to equal treatment of its employees and committed to human rights and the welfare of refugees,’ he said.

‘All I had ever wanted from the British Refugee Council was to be treated equally and fairly.

‘The racism and unfairness meted out to me by this organisation affected my health and damaged my well-being psychologically and psychiatrically.’

Mr Obikwu was born in London but his Nigerian parents returned with him to their homeland when he was a baby.

They came back to the UK a few years later after fleeing the country’s brutal civil war.

Mr Obikwu was educated in Britain and went on to work as an asylum support advice worker at the Oakington Immigration Centre, near Cambridge.

He lost his job in May 2006 after plans to close the unit at the Home Office-run centre were announced.

But he was horrified to learn later on that his white colleagues had been allowed to take jobs elsewhere.

During the eight-day hearing last year, the tribunal was told the council had failed to follow its redundancy rules in ‘the most extreme way’.

It was alleged by Mr Obikwu and Miss Ukwaja that the operations manager Anne-Marie Leech was ‘consciously biased’ when selecting members of staff to be made redundant.

They highlighted the fact that no one who attended a party at her home had lost their job.

The tribunal rejected this claim but said it was likely Ms Leech ‘subconsciously’ favoured colleagues she was friendly with — particularly those at the party.

Bury St Edmunds Employment Tribunal in Suffolk ruled Mr Obikwu deserved compensation for his psychiatric trauma and refused to accept the council’s claim that he would have lost his job regardless of his skin colour.

In their judgement, the three-man panel commented: ‘We are quite satisfied that the ill health which the claimant suffered was caused by race discrimination for which the respondent is responsible.

‘There has been a total failure by the respondent to offer any form of apology to him at any time.’

After losing his job, the tribunal heard, Mr Obikwu took a post as a night project worker with the Salvation Army. But he left in May last year as his psychological problems mounted.

A psychiatric report published with the judgement said he suffered flashbacks to the Nigerian Civil War.

It said: ‘These are pictures coming into his mind, certainly two or three times a week, of them moving from place to place.

‘He was also doing some studying but found his mind always wandering back to what happened at Oakington. He felt demotivated and it was pointless to study.’

A GP’s report added Mr Obikwu’s attitude to employment had also suffered.

‘He has had a major change in his attitude towards colleagues, particularly becoming very resentful of white women, who he feels have been given work in preference to him,’ it said.

‘This depression has been a disabling condition, particularly affecting his motivation and concentration, but also his attitude to work and relationships within the family.’

The British Refugee Council yesterday insisted its managers had acted ‘in good faith’.

A spokesman added: ‘We have reviewed our procedures to ensure that all staff are treated equally and fairly. We regret the distress the process has caused Mr Obikwu.’

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]



UK: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith Set to Quit (Before She’s Pushed) as Two Ministers and Two Labour MPs Step Down in One Day

Gordon Brown was plunged into crisis today after it was revealed that Jacqui Smith is to resign as Home Secretary.

The Prime Minister’s plans for a Cabinet reshuffle after Thursday’s European and local elections fell into disarray as Labour saw not one but five resignations in a single day.

Children’s minister Beverley Hughes and Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson revealed they are also standing down from their posts.

Meanwhile, shamed Labour backbencher David Chaytor resigned over his expense claims and former health secretary Patricia Hewitt said she was also quitting Parliament.

Chaytor, along with three other Labour MPs caught up in the expenses scandal — Ian Gibson, Margaret Moran and Elliot Morley — have been barred from standing for the Party at the next election by a Labour panel.

But the four have not been expelled from the party by Labour’s ‘star chamber’ or had the whip removed.

The series of resignations started to leak as the Prime Minister was rallying his Cabinet in Downing Street, ahead of Thursday’s elections.

The apparently uncoordinated series of disclosures were seen as yet more evidence of Mr Brown’s collapsing authority and signalled a dramatic escalation of the MPs’ expenses crisis.

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]



UK: Humiliation for Brown as Prince Charles Agrees to Attend D-Day Anniversary

Prince Charles will attend the 65th anniversary of D-Day celebrations this Saturday following months of prevarication by Downing Street.

The heir to the throne, who sources say has been following the Daily Mail’s campaign with interest, personally telephoned the Queen yesterday to offer his services.

His office subsequently put in a call to the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who ‘warmly’ extended an invitation to him.

Sources insisted that Charles’s decision to attend had nothing to do the intervention of US President Barack Obama in the row, saying: ‘The genesis of this is that the Princes of Wales has been following this issue in the media and taken an enormous personal interest in it.

‘As a result, he spoke to the Queen and they agreed together yesterday that it would be appropriate for him to attend.

‘The prince enjoys a close personal relationship with President Sarkozy who was more than happy to extend an invitation to him to attend.’

In a hastily-arranged move that will embarrass the Prime Minister, the official invitation was received today from the French Ambassador.

Gordon Brown has insisted that if the Royal Family had wished to attend, he would have arranged it. But it was Charles’ strong relationship with Mr Sarkozy, that enabled him to set the wheels in motion to attend.

A Clarence House spokesman said this afternoon: ‘The Prince of Wales will be attending the commemorations on D-Day in Normandy on the invitation of President Sarkozy.’

Hasty talks were arranged between Buckingham Palace and Downing Street to sort out the diplomatic mess, and Prince Charles will now attend alongside the Prime Minister.

The decision came after the White House revealed it was lobbying to get the Queen an invite to the commemorations.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs indicated last night that pressure was being put on the French to rectify the situation.

The Royal British Legion welcomed the u-turn, saying they were ‘absolutely delighted’.

‘This day is about the veterans and as many people that can be there to show their thanks the better. The veterans are such heroes,’ a spokeswoman said.

But Eddie Slater, national chairman of the Normandy Veterans Association, argued that the decision had come too late.

‘It’s been turned into a circus,’ he said.

The 85-year-old from Colchester, Essex, who was on a frigate at Sword Beach on D-Day, added: ‘It’s totally unfair that this decision has been made at this time.

‘If we had been told months ago we would have rejoiced but it’s poor judgment on somebody’s part.

‘This has been made into a political matter. It’s not a pilgrimage now. All the focus will be on the politicians, not the veterans. It’s too late.’

Charles will attend the main commemoration with Barack Obama and Gordon Brown. It is not yet known whether he will be accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall.

The absence of the Queen from the guest list was perceived by some as a deliberate snub by the French authorities, with the President focusing on hosting Barack Obama.

Gordon Brown claimed at the weekend that the Royal Family could have attended if they wanted to.

But protocol dictated that the Queen and other members of the Royal Family were unable to attend France’s anniversary celebrations without a formal invite.

Although French President Nicolas Sarkozy claimed the Royal family were ‘welcome’, officials said it was up to Britain to decide who would attend.

It turned pressure on Gordon Brown by opposition parties who criticised him for not securing the Queen an invitation. And it will further embarrass him that it has taken the attentions of the U.S. President to finally secure an invite.

Gordon Brown only announced he would be attending himself after President Obama promised to be at the gathering.

The Queen is thought to have been embarrassed when Gordon Brown said he had ‘done his duty’ by accepting an invitation for himself.

He told Sky News yesterday: ‘I have said before, if members of the Royal Family wanted to go to the D-Day celebrations I would make sure it would happen.’

Buckingham Palace had made clear that the Queen was willing to join the 800 British veterans paying tribute to their fallen comrades.

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]



UK: MPs to Get Chance to Call Early General Election Next Week

Lib Dems to join Plaid Cymru and Scottish National party in voting to force dissolution next Wednesday

MPs will be given an unexpected opportunity next week to dissolve parliament and call an early general election.

The leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National party are to use their allotted time in parliament to force a dissolution debate next Wednesday.

It aims to put David Cameron, the Tory leader, and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, on the spot over whether they want to go to the polls.

Last night support for the motion seemed to be growing. Clegg announced that the Liberal Democrats would back the nationalists and call for the dissolution of parliament.

Clegg said: “The next general election will be about two big questions: who can fix our politics and who can fix the British economy. The sooner people get a say on this the better.”

The timing, just three days after Labour is expected to take a drubbing in the European and county council elections, is difficult to say the least for the prime minister. The move will also put pressure on Cameron, who has repeatedly called for a general election, to show his hand. He will have to decide whether to support the move by the nationalist parties or abstain on the grounds that he is not going to let minority parties dictate the pace of politics.

The debate would take place after prime minister’s question time, where the two party leaders can be expected to exchange harsh words after the European election result.

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru’s leader in Westminster, said today: “We aim to see whether David Cameron and Nick Clegg really want to call an election now or just talk about it.

“We would also argue that the time has come for changes to our democracy and what better way to have a debate than hold a general election. There are a raft of issues from more devolution to Wales, to reforming the House of Lords, the MPs’ expenses issue, that need to be debated by the public.

“I don’t want this to be seen as a vote of confidence in the Labour government. It should be a vote of confidence in the whole political system in Westminster, which has become tarnished by the expenses scandal.”

The motion will be backed by Alex Salmond, the SNP leader.

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said: “This dissolution motion is about confidence in the whole Westminster political system, which has been mired in the expenses scandal.

“The only way to sort this mess out is for parliament to be dissolved and for the people to have their say in a general election. There can be no argument against the entire House of Commons submitting itself to a vote of the people who elected them.”

           — Hat tip: Gaia [Return to headlines]

Mediterranean Union


Energy: ENEA Looks to Egypt for Desertec Project

(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 28 — To help launch the Desertec project, launched by the EU in 2007, the Italian institution for new technology, energy and the environment ENEA is looking to Egypt. Where soon it will be possible to export the solar-thermodynamic technology implemented by the company to produce energy and desalinate water. The move was declared by ENEA’s president, Luigi Paganetto, who hinted at the signing of a possible agreement with Cairo by the end of June for the creation of a pilot plant, he explained, that “will allow us to experiment our technology in another country and at the same time allow Egypt to verify possibilities for cooperation.” The signature could come between June 14 and 15 in Cairo, Paganetto said, who in recent days met with the Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy, Hassan Younes, to examine the possibility that this pilot plant could lead to the creation of others, “industrial plants in every sense of the word, allowing for Egypt, with us, to offer this technology to third countries.” The Desertec project, which includes involvement from research institutes to companies that operate in the energy sector, aims at harnessing the desert’s solar energy to give cleaner electricity to all of the MENA and European area countries. In synthesis, clean, renewable and re-sellable energy. Egypt, who over the next years hopes to develop its renewable energy sector, in particular wind and solar power, represents for ENEA a lighthouse in the Mediterranean area. “It has a good level of skill and training, as well as the adequate technology for the creation of a bilateral relationship,” he emphasised. The beginning of this partnership with Cairo, which will see the participation of many Italian companies, for example Angelantoni and Donati, is also a way to spread technology and knowledge that can increase development for the entire country. A model that can also be applied to Morocco, with whom ENEA has already made contact, and maybe Tunisia. “Algeria,” Paganetto remarked, “has not yet taken a step forward.” Among the initiatives for the Med area organised by ENEA, there are also projects for the exploitation of biomass fuels (the waste from agricultural work for energy ends) and of course solar energy “which of course does not create vast amounts of energy,” Paganetto said. Regarding the decision adopted by some countries of the southern shore, like Algeria and Egypt, to look to nuclear energy for electricity, the ENEA president said that he was concerned about security and the necessary controls. “There is a great difference between the technology necessary for the construction of a solar-thermodynamic plant and that needed for the construction of a nuclear plant, which requires a level of knowledge, competence and security and is a specific expertise. That would require years.” A problem which we also have in Italy, Paganetto concluded. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Israel and the Palestinians


Israel Fears Obama Backing Out of U.S. Commitments

Strategic territory within rocket-range of country’s central population centers

TEL AVIV — Jerusalem officials are concerned the Obama administration intends to abrogate written pledges made by President Bush that Israel would be able to keep main West Bank settlement blocs in a future deal with the Palestinians, WND has learned.

Real estate in the West Bank is key. The strategic territory borders Jerusalem and is within rocket-range of Israel’s central population centers..

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Middle East


Books: Al-Neimi, After ‘Honey Proof’ Wants to Surprise

(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — ROME, JUNE 1 — “Thanks to ‘The Proof of the Honey’ young people from the Arab world can come to terms with their own bodies. Finally they can live freely and with a greater understanding of their sexuality”. Salwa al-Neimi, Syrian author of the best-selling work of erotic fiction translated into 20 languages, was speaking in her role as president of the International Short Story Festival , which ended yesterday at Trevignano Romano. Two years after the publication of ‘Borhan el asal’ — the original title — the book continues to cause controversy among readers in the Arab world. Thousands of readers were shocked to read the story of the main character (an Arab Muslim woman who decides to take her own sexuality to the limits), which leaves nothing to the imagination, including even the most risqué details. “Arab literature is full of ancient texts which describe love and sex. But many people in the Arab world do not know them and what’s more, cannot imagine that these famous treatises on carnal love were written by men of faith”, she said. Sex “is part of religion, and is not just meant for reproduction. In fact the main reason for it is enjoyment, a foretaste of what we will feel in heaven”. In 2007, the first Arab house to publish Borhan el asal was the prestigious Lebanese publishing house Riad el Rayes, which includes among its authors the famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwich. “I remember sending the manuscript in on Friday and receiving a letter from the publisher complimenting me on Monday”. Until now, explains the author who moved from Syria to Paris, where she has lived and worked since the mid 1970s, “in the Arab world and elsewhere they still ask me why I wrote this story”, which is banned from minors in Lebanon and the Maghreb, and also from adults in Egypt and Syria. “However it can be found on market stalls and on the internet” smiles al-Neimi calmly. Her irreligiousness has influenced her, as the writer describes her way of living her spirituality, the result of being the daughter of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. “Between the two of them my mother was the ayatollah. My father was very open”. With this first book Salwa al-Neimi — who had already published several collections of poetry on the subject — wanted to break some stereotypes, laying claim to her membership of a tradition — that of Arab literature — which has always sung the praises of sex. Can the Arab woman thank her for this work then? “What is an Arab woman?” says the writer. “The Arab woman does not exist. There are many Arab women, and each of them must be judged for what she is and what she does”. Al-Neimi will not return to Syria from Paris — where she studied Islamic philosophy and Theatre at the Sorbonne, and where she works at the Institut du Monde Arabe. “My roots are in Syria, but I left all the problems of daily life there”. She does not want to talk about her next book, out in 2010 in Lebanon. But listening to her it seems that she has a taste for shocking the Arab public. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Eight Shot Dead in Turkish Flat

Eight members of the same family, including three children, have been shot dead in a flat in the southern Turkish city of Adana, officials say.

Adana Governor Ilhan Atis told NTV television that a man had been arrested and had confessed to the killings.

The victims, who were shot in the head, were the suspect’s parents, sister, brother, sister-in-law and three nephews, the Anatolia news agency said.

Adana’s mayor said the killings appeared to be linked to a family feud.

Mayor Aytac Durak said the bodies had been discovered on Tuesday morning in the 11th-floor flat by firemen alerted by one of the victims’ colleagues, who feared she could have been poisoned by gas after she failed to show up for work and did not answer her phone.

Media reports described the suspect as a 38-year-old drug addict. He was still carrying a weapon when he was captured by police, Mr Atis said.

The suspect is currently being questioned by investigators, he added.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Gas: Iran Begins Construction of Pipeline Through Turkey

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MAY 29 — Construction has been started on a 1,740 kilometer pipeline from Iran through Turkey and on to consumers in Europe to carry Iranian gas, daily Hurriyet reported quoting the head of economic affairs department at the Iranian embassy in Ankara. Turkey, which has announced plans to produce an annual 20.4 billion cubic meters of gas in Iran’s South Pars gas field and export it over its territory, already has one gas pipeline through which it imports 28 million cubic meters of gas daily. “The Pars Pipeline will go from Turkey to Greece, through Italy and on to other European countries. Another route could go through Iraq and Syria and then go through the Mediterranean to Greece and Italy”, Ahmad Noorani, the Iranian embassy’s chief of economic affairs, said. Preliminary contracts for Iran’s planned 1,740 kilometer pipeline were signed in an agreement between Turkish and Iranian officials in 2007, but a final agreement has not yet been signed. “Current talks are ongoing regarding the development of phases 22, 23, and 24 in the South Pars field”, Noorani declared. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Lebanon: Spying for Israel, Another Colonel Arrested

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, JUNE 1 — A Lebanese army colonel has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel. He is the second officer of this rank to end up behind bars on this type of charge, following last week’s arrest of Colonel Mansour Diab, special forces commander. According to reports in the daily Beirut newspaper An Nahar, which in turn quoted military sources, units from the army intelligence services arrested Colonel Shaid T, originally from the north of Lebanon, on suspicion of establishing contact with Israel approximately ten years ago. Daily newspaper As Safir reports that Colonel Shaid T. has five brothers — all of whom are officers in either the army, the internal security forces or the customs service. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Muslims Want Tangible Shift on Mideast Policy

CAIRO — On the eve of US President Barack Obama’s critical visit to Cairo on Thursday, Muslims expect tangible change from the American leader. While Obama’s softer tone largely differs from George W. Bush, raising the prospects in the Muslim world for a change in policy, many Muslims are still hesitant, saying they will judge him by his actions

Respect for Islam, a prescription for Palestinian statehood and assurances of a speedy U.S. pullout from Iraq — that’s what Muslims from Morocco to Malaysia say they want to hear from President Barack Obama this week when he addresses them from Cairo.

His speech Thursday from Cairo University will try to soften the fury toward the United States among so many of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, ignited by the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the hands-off attitude toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of his predecessor George W. Bush.

Obama’s offer of a new beginning is seen as an attempt to stem the growing influence of extremists G particularly Iran, with its regional and nuclear ambitions — and to bolster moderate Muslim allies.

It comes just days ahead of crucial elections in Lebanon and Iran — where the appeal of militancy will be put to the test — and amid worsening violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The American leader’s soaring oratory and Muslim roots have kindled hope among Muslims. But they will judge him by his actions, not his words, said 20-year-old Mohammed Wasel, sipping sugar cane juice with friends after mosque prayers in Cairo’s Abbasiya neighborhood.

“There will be a lot of talk, but I seriously want to see something real coming out of this speech, something tangible,” Wasel said, expressing a view shared by an Eritrean social worker in Rome, a retired teacher in Baghdad and a Palestinian mayor in the West Bank.

Obama “has to walk the talk,” said social activist Marina Mahathir, daughter of Malaysia’s former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad.

But with rising hopes come the risk of disappointment. Obama isn’t expected to present a detailed vision of a Mideast peace deal — potentially the most effective antidote to anti-Western sentiment — until later.

And there is doubt the U.S. president can change entrenched foreign policy, particularly what is perceived in the Muslim world as Washington’s pro-Israeli bias. What Muslims see as America’s repeated failure to hold Israel to its international obligations is a sore point. A construction freeze in Israeli West Bank settlements — Obama wants it, Israel rejects it — is shaping up as a major test.

“It’s true that Obama’s election created a new wave of hope,” said Jordan-based political analyst Mouin Rabbani. “But if he pulls the same tricks as his predecessor — making some nice statements and doing the opposite in practice — people will be disabused of their illusions quite quickly.”

Obama will also go to Saudi Arabia and meet King Abdullah on his Mideast trip. But he is not visiting Israel, though just a short flight away. The president’s initial actions have earned him good will. He’s reached out to Muslims in an interview with an Arab satellite TV station, in video message to Iranians on the Persian new year and in a speech to the Turkish parliament. He ordered Guantanamo prison closed within a year and said the U.S. would not engage in torture, reversing two Bush policies seen here as having targeted Muslims. After the Bush years, one of the darkest periods in U.S.-Muslim relations, there is now a chance for reconciliation, said Shibley Telhami, a Mideast scholar at the University of Maryland who conducts annual public opinion surveys around the Middle East. “The most striking is the openness toward President Obama and the expressed hopefulness about American foreign policy, something profoundly new, given the last eight years,” he said.

In the latest survey, 73 percent of 4,087 respondents felt positive or neutral toward Obama. The poll had margins of error ranging from 3.6 to 4.5 percentage points, in the six Arab countries where it was conducted in April and May. The positive results for Obama seem remarkable for a region where four in five people still hold unfavorable views of the U.S. Obama gets some credit up front for just being himself. Many were inspired by his victory, emotionally connecting to his African and Muslim roots and his childhood in Indonesia. “It’s so exciting to have a black man run the entire world,” said Awni Shatarat, a store owner in the refugee camp of Baqaa.

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



Obama Says Iran’s Energy Concerns Legitimate

LONDON — President Barack Obama reiterated that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it takes steps to prove its aspirations are peaceful.

In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, Obama also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it to set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.

“Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region,” Obama said.

The comments echo remarks Obama made in Prague last month in which he said his administration would “support Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy with rigorous inspections” if Iran proves it is no longer a nuclear threat.

Iranian state television described the news as Obama recognizing the “rights of the Iranian nation,” a phrase typically used to refer to Iran’s nuclear program.

The president has indicated a willingness to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it does not respond positively to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage.

“Although I don’t want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that, by the end of this year, we’ve actually seen a serious process move forward. And I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious,” Obama said.

Obama’s interview offered a preview of a speech he is to deliver in Egypt this week, saying he hoped the address would warm relations between Americans and Muslims abroad.

“What we want to do is open a dialogue,” Obama told the BBC. “You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West.”

Obama leaves Tuesday evening on a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at reaching out to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. He is due to make his speech in Cairo on Thursday.

Obama sounded an optimistic note about making progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although he offered no new ideas for how he might try to secure a freeze on new building of Israeli settlements. The United States has called for a freeze, but Israeli leaders have rejected that.

Asked what he would say during his visit about human rights abuses, including the detention of political prisoners in Egypt, Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming.

He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that “they can embrace and affirm.”

Obama added that there is a danger “when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture.”

           — Hat tip: CB [Return to headlines]



Trade: Iraq Temporarily Bans Vegetable Imports From Turkey

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JUNE 1 — Iraq has placed a temporary ban on vegetable imports from countries including Turkey, Iran and Syria in a bid to boost its neglected farm sector, daily Hurriyet reported. Acknowledging the move could fuel inflation, the Agriculture Ministry said it had also decided to take over from private buyers the purchase of vegetables from abroad. It will also require private sector firms to procure licenses to buy set volumes of vegetables when the country needs additional supplies. “The ban began on 1 May”, Subhi al-Jumaily, a senior deputy agriculture minister said in an interview. “We don’t want to shut off imports completely but to arrange them through official agreements for all different food items”, he added. “The vegetable import ban will be in place whenever Iraq’s domestic supply is deemed sufficient, and will be lifted for foreign purchases if there is a shortfall”, Jumaily noted. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Turkey: ‘Just Being Able to Talk About Alevi Problem is Important’

Alevi Bektasi Federation (ABF) Vice Chairman Ali Kenanoglu has said an Alevi workshop to be held in Ankara on June 3 is very important and that “just being able to talk about the Alevi problem is of the utmost importance to us.

We see the discussion as a step toward resolving the problem.” The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) pioneered fast-breaking dinners (iftars) in 2008 and 2009 on the occasion of the month of Muharram, a time of fasting for Alevi Muslims, in an effort to reconcile long-standing animosities between the state and the Alevi community. This year’s fast-breaking dinner, held in January, was attended by a number of politicians and representatives from Alevi organizations. However, the ABF had not been invited to the iftars on either occasion. “The organizers didn’t even ask us for our views, let alone invite us. It was clear that there was a problem on the representative level in that event. This was understood by the government as well. Many representatives from Alevi organizations will join the workshop on June 3, which is also an important stance,” Kenanoglu said.

Kenanoglu explained that handling the Alevi problem as a whole would contribute to Turkey’s process of democratization and added that rather than asking for the electricity bills of cem houses (Alevi houses of worship) to be paid or being allowed to teach the saz (a Turkish stringed instrument) in music classes, they are going to make more serious requests over fundamental issues. He appealed to the government to remove religious classes from the curriculum, saying that these mandatory classes were against secularism. Among the others issues the ABF will discuss with the government will be replacing the Directorate of Religious Affairs with a Religious Affairs Supreme Council, giving cem houses legal status, accepting cem houses as places of worship like mosques and synagogues and making the Madimak Hotel a museum of tolerance.

Attacks against Alevi citizens in Gazi, Sivas and Kahramanmaras were part of provocations by a dark organization, Kenanoglu said; plans to assassinate ABF Chairman Ali Balkiz and Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Foundation (PSAKD) Chairman Kazim Genç were organized by the same people. The vice chairman went on to explain that when they first heard about the assassination plans they didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. “I was with Mr. Kazim — we joked about it. But we realized the seriousness of it after we saw the sketches of our friends’ homes and workplaces in the files. It gave us the shivers,” Kenanoglu said, adding that dark forces wanted to spark off a clash between Alevis and Sunnis to create chaos in the country. They started to believe in the existence of the Ergenekon organization, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow the government, after they saw documents describing assassination plots against the ABF chairman. “We know that there is much dirty work involved with Ergenekon. There is such a gang and this gang has a role in the [events in] Gazi, Sivas and Kahramanmaras. This needs to be exposed. We witnessed the events in Gazi. Planning an assassination against the head of an organization like the ABF that houses an important segment of the Alevi community, means pushing hundreds of thousands to take to the streets. This would lead to serious domestic disorder.” Assassination plans aimed at fomenting chaos in the country were seized by the police in a raid held in January 2009 as part of the Ergenekon investigation.

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

Russia


Russian Muslims Issue Fatwa Forbidding Marriages With Christians and Jews

Dagestani legal scholars (alims) have issued a legal pronouncement (fatwa), strongly advising Muslim men against marrying Christian or Jewish women, reports Islam.ru website, citing the canonical department of Russia’s Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims.

The religious ruling was adopted after a young Dagestani man residing in Moscow had inquired if he could marry a Russian girl he met there. Basing their decision on Shariat, spokespersons from the Dagestan’s Spiritual Governance canonical department ruled that the present day Christian and Jewish women differ greatly from “the people of the Book” and cannot be considered acceptable marriage partners, as approved by the Koran.

“If a girl goes to church, it does not necessarily mean that she is a true woman of the Book, because these religions have undergone severe distortions, “ the Dagestani fatwa says.

Following the adopted pronouncement, alims have reasoned that Muslims should be very cautious about marrying Christian and Jewish women, the Russian website Regions.ru reports.

           — Hat tip: KGS [Return to headlines]



Russian Prison Officials Burn Koran to Intimidate Muslim Inmates — NGO

Officials at a Russian prison have been burning copies of the Koran as part of abuse against Muslim prisoners, a rights protection group has said.

The People’s League of Tajiks, a migrants’ rights organization, said the incidents happened at a jail in the Tambov region, south-east of Moscow, BBC News reports.

It said prison officials had also destroyed a mosque set up by inmates.

The organization said four prisoners from Tajikistan, two from Uzbekistan and one from Kyrgyzstan had complained that they were assaulted by guards.

The group called on the Russian Justice Ministry and state prosecutors to investigate the accusations.

           — Hat tip: KGS [Return to headlines]

South Asia


Indonesia, Malaysia Face Off at Sea

[…] An unlikely naval confrontation has broken out between Indonesia and Malaysia, with warships from the two nations challenging each other repeatedly in the disputed oil-rich waters of the Celebes Sea east of the island of Borneo this week.

Indonesian navy officials told local media their ships were minutes away from firing on Malaysian warships, which they charged were 12 nautical miles inside Indonesia’s territory. However, they said, they called off the attack when the Malaysian ships pulled back. […]

           — Hat tip: VH [Return to headlines]



Indonesian Teen Model Escapes From Malaysian Prince

After a dramatic escape from her Malaysian prince husband over the weekend, 17-year-old Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia Pinot said she had been abused, tortured and subjected to sexual abuse in the prince’s Kelantan redoubt, and that neither the Malaysian or Indonesian authorities bothered to help her.

Accompanied by her mother, Manohara told a packed press conference that she had escaped from the Royal Plaza Hotel in Singapore after she and her 31-year-old husband, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry had accompanied Fakhry’s father, Sultan Ismail Petra Shah II, to Singapore after the latter had a heart attack.

Her escape to Indonesia, she said, was [for the mayor part of the splendid operation] through the assistance of the United States [Embassy and intelligence service] and [to a much lesses extent] the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore as well as the Singapore police.

“Their guards tried to catch me but they were afraid of having their action recorded by the escalator’s camera that would leave their tracks, so they let me go,” she said when asked how she could escape from the supervision of the Kelantan Sultan’s guards.

After her arrival in Jakarta, Manohara and her mother, Daisy Fajarina, took to Indonesian television to tell a horrific tale of intimidation and torture including having her breasts sliced with a razor, forced drug injections and other abuse. The local media had a field day, running the press conference continually throughout Sunday.

The media circus, however, didn’t make it to Malaysia, where the story was studiously ignored by the mainstream press, which is controlled by the major political parties of the national coalition. The independent website Malaysiakini ran the story, carefully noting claims that Fajarina had attempted to extort RM600,000 from the prince.

“We are owned by a political party. We are not a foreign newspaper,” said a reporter for one of Malaysia’s English-language dailies. “Do you want us to get into trouble with the party? Do you want us to get into trouble with the palace?”

The jet-setting teen model, named one of Indonesia’s “most precious people” by a fashion magazine, met her husband when she was only 16 at a gala dinner thrown by then-deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Her story was a dramatic counterpoint to the prince’s claims in Malaysia earlier this month she was happily married and that her mother was demanding money from him.

A spokesman denied the story of Manohara’s escape, saying Prince Fakhry had decided to divorce her. For her part, Manohara on Monday threatened to sue the prince. “I am still traumatized by all that happened and it has left an impact on me,” she told the press conference, accompanied by her mother, her sister Dewi Sri Asih and a staff member of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore.

The plight of Manohara and her wrecked fairy-tale marriage raises grim questions for the Malaysian government, which refused to grant Fajarina and her second daughter a visa to visit the country to attempt to rescue Manohara. The mother claimed Manohara had been kidnapped in Saudi Arabia after a February visit to the Muslim holy land to and hustled back to Malaysia aboard a private jet, leaving the mother standing on the tarmac.

The refusal of the Malaysian immigration department to allow the two into the country again raises questions of the disappearance of the immigration records of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu and her two companions after she was murdered in 2006 by two of Najib’s [Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak] bodyguards.

It is also the latest blow to the credibility of Malaysia’s sultans, who have been the subject of years of reports of abuse of the public purse and refusal to accept accountability. Many have been repeatedly accused of demanding that the states they rule pay huge gambling debts run up in casinos in London.

At one point in the 1980s, the Sultan of Johor was accused of beating a golf caddy to death with a golf club [the golf caddy laughed when the Sultan missed a golf stroke, and was murdered on the spot]. He was also not brought to justice for shooting a trespasser on his property. Then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused the sultans, among other things, of giving away parts of the country to the British, oppressing the people, breaking civil and criminal laws, misusing the money and property of the government and pressuring government officials, asking in 1993 that the body strip them of their immunity before the law. Mahathir used the incident in a parliamentary move to limit the sultans’ prerogatives

It also poses problems for the United Malays National Organisation, which over the last six months has tied itself closely to the sultans. In a squabble over the dissolution of the legislature on the state of Perak, UMNO has made criticism of the sultans a bone of contention with the opposition, accusing them in effect of insulting the ethnic Malays’ birthright, with UMNO members filing more than 100 police complaints against an opposition lawyer who filed suit against the Sultan of Perak. The sordid revelations now attached to the Kelantan royal house make it difficult to justify the sultans’ immunity from criticism.

Manohara, in her press conference, called attention to other ‘Manoharas’ who got ‘locked up’ in Malaysia,presumably by other royal families. “Sexual abuse and sexual harassment were like a daily routine for me, and he did that every time I did not want to have sexual intercourse,” she said. “I could never think a normal man could do such things.” […]

           — Hat tip: VH [Return to headlines]



Tensions High Between Indonesia and Malaysia

The crisis at the Indonesia-Malaysia border over the Ambalat Block in East Kalimantan has erupted once again. State-secretary Minister Hatta Rajasa confirmed that the government will put up a fight over contested land. “Don’t ever say we are weak or that we don’t care,” Hatta said yesterday. “This country is not like that.”

The Indonesian Armed Forces have declared their preparedness to fight should Malaysian battleships enter Indonesian waters. “We have reminded them that Ambalat is ours,” said Admiral Sagom Tamboen, Information Chief of the Indonesian military.

The Indonesian Navy has deployed seven armed battleships to carry out patrols on the waters between Sulawesi and Kalimantan. The Indonesian Air Force has prepared two Boeing 737 and one Sukhoi 27/30 based in Makassar to support naval operations. “They are prepared 24 hours,” said Balikpapan Air Base Commander Lt. Col. Agus Pandu Purnama.

Malaysian Ambassador in Jakarta, Zainal Abidin Zein, refused to comment on the tension or Malaysia’s maneuvers on the Ambalat waters.

War does not have to happen there. “If there is any physical conflict, no party would benefit from it,” said the House of Representatives’ (DPR) Defense Commission deputy chairman, Yusron Ihza Mahendra. For the time being, everyone must be patient and wait for the results of both countries’ negotiations.

           — Hat tip: VH [Return to headlines]

Far East


Thousands March in Hong Kong to Remember Tiananmen

Last year there was one thousand, this year there were 8 thousand. Many are expected to turn out for the Victoria Park vigil on June 4th. Xiong Yan, the leader of Tiananmen, now in exile in the USA, got his visa a day before, after a series of rejections. Some students from China present. Hong Kong is the only place on Chinese soil where Tiananmen is publicly commemorated.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) — At least 8 thousand people marched through the streets of Hong Kong yesterday afternoon to commemorate the demonstrations and massacre of Tiananmen Square that took place on June 4th 1989. Among the demonstrators there was also Xiong Yan, one of the leaders of the movement 20 years ago, who today lives in the USA as an army chaplain. Xiong Yan says he only received a visa to enter the territory a day beforehand, after numerous rejections.

The march wound its way from Victoria Park to government offices and was opened by a group of 20 young people born in ‘89. In this way the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, that organises the commemoration every June 4th, wanted to underline the continuity of the event. Among the slogans shouted during the march; “Pass the torch on, relay the message of democracy to those who come after us”.

The presence of 8 thousand people — many dressed in the colours of mourning, black and white — was a great success: last year one thousand took part. According to a survey carried out by Hong Kong University, 61% of its students want the Chinese government to reverse its judgement of Tiananmen and 69% believe Beijing to wrong to have used violence against the defenceless demonstrators. Last year the percentages were 41% and 58% respectively.

Recently a book of the memoirs of Zhao Ziyang, party secretary in 1989 who was put under house arrest for the rest of his life because of his opposition to the massacre, was published in Hong Kong. The book, in English and Chinese, has already sold out. All of this interest in the history of the massacre and Beijing’s responsibility points to the likelihood of increased participation in the vigil that takes place in the evening every June 4th in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park.

Yesterday’s demonstration also saw the participation of Students from China. Lee Cheuk Yan, a trade union leader and one of the organisers of the annual march and vigil says that Hong Kong “is the only place on Chinese soil that can commemorate June 4. Hong Kong has become the conscience of China to remember… the crime of the Tiananmen Square massacre and push the regime (in Beijing) to admit their mistakes”.

Xiong Yan comments that “there is hope, because increasingly people in Hong Kong know what freedom means. They aspire to and pursue freedom and put it into action”.

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

Sub-Saharan Africa


Mogadishu: New Clashes, Residents Fighting Insurgents “On Way to Work”

At least 8 people were killed, including five policemen and three civilians, in fighting this morning in Mogadishu between insurgents and security forces. Ali Mohalin, vice-director of the Medina Hospital in the Somali capital, confirmed to MISNA that the policemen were killed in a roadside bomb blast at KM4, along the road that takes to the airport not far from a base of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM). “The attack comes just hours after government forces took back control of the police station of Yaqshid”, added the source, referring to the neighbourhood in the northern outskirts of Mogadishu seized in the past days by the al-Shebab (literally youths), which heads the armed insurgency against the government. Three people were killed and numerous wounded in fighting around the police stations. “Despite widespread fear, the people have continued their normal activities. People are going to work, the market is open and all are going about their business”, added Ali, saying that “this is the best way to support President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed against the insurgents. The people are with him and show this by trying not to relent to fear. Somalia must not return to the situation of the past years and the hard earned progress must not be wiped away”. Fighting is reported also in central Somalia: the ‘Ahlu al sunna wa al Jama’a’ anti-government group has imposed a curfew in the Guriel town. Witnesses said that forces of the group warned residents overnight on loudspeakers to respect orders of the new administration. Somalia has been “taken hostage” by fighting, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative, told a news conference in New York on return from a visit to the nation. ““It is very sad to see how the city, the population and the country are taken hostage by those who have been fighting and destroying their country over the last 20 years”, added the top UN envoy, calling on reporters “to talk about the plight of Somalia — how many orphans, how many handicapped how many maimed, how many people are silenced”. “We cannot say we don’t know”, he said. “We should look we should not look the other way”. “One overriding problem in Somalia not often reported or talked about is still there. It is the problem of impunity”, Ould-Abdallah said. “People who have killed, displaced, maimed are still around in Somalia, or in Nairobi, or in their new country home”, he added. “Impunity to me is a very overriding issue to be addressed”.

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



Pirates’ Glossy Lives Win Admirers in Somalia

HOBYO, Somalia, June 1 (Reuters) — An extravagant convoy of forty 4x4s and four motorbikes escort a young bride to her nuptials at a sandy beach in the Somali village of Hobyo and are used to light up the twilight celebration.

Her pirate commander groom has no eye patch — but a sword and knife hanging from his belt do create a swashbuckling effect.

“I am proud to be the leader’s wife,” said Sahra Ali.

Piracy is a big draw for many in the tiny fishing village, awash with ransom cash but lacking running water or power.

The impressive returns and flashy lives of the pirates mean that even children and young women want to jump on the bandwagon, either by joining one of the sea gangs or marrying a well-heeled pirate.

Ali is the envy of local girls, but she is all too aware that one wrong move by her husband means she could be a widow.

“After a week, he will go to the high seas and I am not confident he will return safely,” she said.

So far this year, Somali brigands have hijacked nearly 30 vessels, meaning 2009 could be even worse than last year, when pirates from the Horn of Africa nation seized 42 ships.

Foreign nations have finally taken notice and deployed their navies to the east African coast but even the threat of capture is not deterring some of the pirates or new recruits.

Walking along a sun-drenched beach in Hobyo, two men shake hands to seal a new joint venture deal in piracy.

They hope to combine resources and launch their own piracy outfit once they receive their ransom cut for the Greek-owned MV Ariana their gang is holding.

“This is a done deal. No more consultation,” said 28-year-old Roble in a loud and excited manner. “When I become an investor and I am successful on two or three more attacks, then I will retire, but not now.”

READY RECRUITS

The village of Hobyo is awash with role models for aspiring buccaneers.

Roble said a former colleague retired early and invested his piracy dividends in the business of supplying khat, a mild leafy narcotic well-loved by many Somali men.

Flourishing business ensures he can afford the daily charter flights that deliver the perishable commodity from neighbouring producer Kenya.

“Thanks to him, we get khat everyday,” Roble said.

The trade is lucrative but Roble has written it off as a business idea. Friends tell him that his face was broadcast on television while he was on the Ukrainian ship MV Faina, one of the most high-profile hijackings off Somalia.

“I would like to do the same and join him, but some of my former colleagues scared me. I am very afraid to travel.”

The TV images also make it impossible for him to leave the country for Europe as a refugee. Another pirate forked out $16,000 to be taken to Sweden, he said.

While he wants to leave the dangerous trade after a few more attacks, there are others who will happily take his place.

Abdihafid, 13, dropped out of school, ran away from home and has taken up chewing khat and smoking cigarettes like the many brigands he sees in Hobyo.

“I want to be a commander of a pirate group,” he said. “I know I am far too young, but I will wait until the right time.”

Like many Somalis, Hobyo’s mayor says piracy has been fuelled by illegal fishing and dumping off the anarchic country’s coast.

Somalis say that because they have no navy or coast guard to protect their waters, trawlers from Europe and Asia fish there without permission and foreign ships carrying toxic waste dump their cargoes unchecked.

Although he agrees something needs to be done, Mayor Saed Aden said piracy is not the solution. “We have tried to expel them but we do not have man power or weapons to face them.”

Meanwhile, local girls are finding it hard to resist the monied pirates.

“I don’t want to marry a pirate but time is flying and pushing me to have a pirate boyfriend because he is rich,” said Halima, who at 24 is considered a bit too old to be single.

[Return to headlines]

Latin America


Venezuela: Hugo Gets a Tummy Ache… and Missiles

Adolfo was noticing that after Hugo Chávez chickened out last Saturday and Sunday he has remained a no-show for a couple of days now. He didn’t even show up for the president of El Salvador’s inaugural.

Fret no more: It was all due to a tummy ache. Coincidentally, he had been discussing diarrhea in his Friday Aló Presidente show. If you must, here’s the video of the show,

However, Hugo should make sure his interior minister Nicolás Maduro and one of the Venezuelan governors get the same memo for the excuses, since Monday evening the governor was saying Chávez was visiting his former wife while Maduro claimed that Chávez’s absence was due to security concerns on an attempt on Chávez’s life.

Whatever.

In more serious news, via Brian, Missile buildup in Venezuela has U.S. on edge…

           — Hat tip: Fausta [Return to headlines]

Immigration


Finland: Government Calls for Stricter Rules on Family Reunification

Migration and European Affairs Minister Astrid Thors is calling for tighter family reunification policies for asylum seekers. The recommendations stem from a government report on Finland’s refugee policy.

In the future, parents seeking reunification with their kids must be able to prove that they lived together with their children as a family prior to seeking asylum in Finland.

Other suggested changes to current asylum procedures include authorities having the right to turn down asylum applicants who provide false information, for example in regard to family ties, when applying for refugee status.

The number of police stations accepting refugee applications will also be reduced in an effort to streamline asylum procedure. Refugee reception centers will be housed in the capital city region as well as in Turku and Oulu.

Thors says the proposed guidelines will align Finland more closely with asylum policies in the other Nordic countries.

The bill will come before Parliament this autumn.

           — Hat tip: KGS [Return to headlines]

General


Al-Qaeda Deputy Denounces Obama

A message attributed to the deputy leader of al-Qaeda has denounced Barack Obama as a “criminal” on the eve of the US president’s Middle East trip.

Ayman al-Zawahiri said Mr Obama’s “bloody messages” would not be concealed by “polished words”.

The US president is due to make a major speech on relations with the Muslim world in Egypt on Thursday.

The authenticity of the audio message, posted on a website linked to al-Qaeda, could not immediately be confirmed.

In it, Mr Zawahiri said Mr Obama would not be welcome in Egypt, and referred to US campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Obama’s “bloody messages have been received and are still being received and they will not be covered by public relations campaigns or theatrical visits or polished words”, he said.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Blueprint for New World Order

If you want to know what the globalist elite really have in mind for us, you should keep your eye on Foreign Policy Magazine, as I do.

The May-June issue is nothing short of a blueprint for where the powers that be plan to take us — and it ain’t pretty.

Never before have I seen this crew let their hair down quite so obviously.

The cover sports a photo montage of Karl Marx’s face made up of bread, tools and fruit. The headline reads: “Marx, Really? Why he matters now.” The edition is called “The Big Think Issue” — but it’s actually much more than that, more like a wish list.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]



Journalists Who Don’t Kiss Obama’s Feet

The London newsies of Fleet Street have no respect — for very much at all, including the Queen, PM Gordon Brown or — shock! — not even for His Utterliness Barack Hussein Obama, He Who Must Not Be Laughed At. This lèse majesté will no doubt upset the ranks of the American media, which has transformed the fine art of butt-kissing into a veritable mob frenzy at any appearance of the One.

The White House press corps is now completely supine, utterly shameless in its groveling cowardice. Stalin himself couldn’t have wished for a more slobbering press corps. Rather than mailing them nice little Lipton tea bags, millions of sane Americans might consider sending air sickness bags to our Reigning Media.

But not, thank haven, across the broad Atlantic. There free speech and even laughter are still alive, among the well-lubricated scribblers of Fleet Street. The journos of Britain show little respect for American Presidents regardless of race, creed or color. They laugh hysterically at all of them. Not that it takes much imagination.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Moderate Muslims Go On the Attack

This story appeared in yesterday’s news feed. I have been pondering the report and decided this evening to post on it.

The UK Times had a story online about a recent clash between “Islamist extremists” and moderate Muslims. As the report explains, the altercation was a follow-up to the demonstrations that extremists had put on when the Royal Anglian Regiment marched in a homecoming parade through Luton:

Islamist extremists who made headlines with their protest at a parade for returning soldiers were forced off the streets yesterday by an organised demonstration of moderate Muslims.

There was a national outcry when the fundamentalists barracked members of the Royal Anglian Regiment during the troops’ homecoming in Luton in March.

Photographs of the protesters, brandishing banners with slogans such as “Butchers of Basra” and “Cowards, killers, extremists”, were plastered across the front pages of the next day’s national newspapers.

But the demonstration was also met with anger and dismay in the Bedfordshire town’s wider Muslim community.

That last sentence is news to me. I don’t doubt the dismay of the “wider Muslim community”. What is disturbing is how difficult it is to find stories in the press which report on any Muslims other than these professional haters and their signs. In fact, the Times makes that point when it says that the ugly pictures were “plastered across the front pages of the next day’s national newspapers”.

If the national newspapers talked to the moderates, they sure kept it quiet. However, the “moderates” themselves were no longer willing to tolerate the aftermath of the behavior of the extremists:

Moderate followers of Islam said the protest played into the hands of extreme right-wing groups and made their day-to-day lives on the streets of Luton more difficult.

Yesterday, [that would be May 29th – D] after weeks of rising tensions sparked by the protest, members of the two groups of Muslims clashed.

Qadeer Baksh, chairman of the Islamic Centre in Luton, said a group of around 200 moderate followers descended on Bury Park in the town – where the extremists regularly preach from a stall – to drive the protesters away.

Numbering about six, the extremists were surrounded and themselves barracked with calls of “We don’t want you here”, said Mr Baksh.

Scuffles broke out before police arrived, with the Islamists reportedly shouting back “Shame on you” and “Get back to your synagogue”.

Mr Baksh said: “The Muslims of Luton are totally fed up with these boys. Police were unable to get them off the streets and stop them bringing harm to the Muslim community so we had to.

“A small minority are giving us a bad name and allowing the British National Party to capitalise. They have made the place insecure for our women and children.

“The protest (in March) was the beginning of the problem. We have known about these misfits for years but even that small minority were able to cause us harm then because of the response of the press.” [my emphasis – D]

He’s nailed a good part of the problem right there. The focus of the news is always on mayhem and conflict. In fact, if journalists would quit pursuing these hoodlums, many of them would dry up and blow away for lack of press attention. This is just one of the ways newspapers create distortions in reality, i.e., by relentlessly choosing to highlight scum and trivia.
– – – – – – – –

Mr Baksh said: “There were about 200 of us and just a few of them. We didn’t even let them put their stall up. This is not the end. This is just the beginning.”

Bedfordshire Police would not comment this evening on the incident but it is understood no-one was injured in the clash and no arrests were made.

It will be interesting to see if the “victims” push for their rights to free speech, claiming that a crime was committed when they were prevented from speaking. If so, the moderates will have legal fees. But I don’t doubt they know that already.

Another thing to notice is the fear moderate Muslims display regarding white flight to the BNP. That fear is well-founded. Those fleeing are aware that not only will no other party speak for them,but in addition the police will not protect them. Where else do they have to go at this point?

Did you notice the difference in emphasis between the original story in March and this one? The Luton ugliness, “plastered across the front pages”, was considered “news”. This second story was buried in the Times religion section, sans inflammatory photos.

Just another little spin on events by the gatekeepers.



NOTE: Yes, yes, I know. This demonstration by these fake moderates is simply taqiyya practiced to fool the simple-minded.

By now that meme is so facile, so stale and so tediously predictable that it has become boring. Here is fair warning: if anyone chooses to put up comments to that effect, I will delete them.

If you simply must have it said that these moderates are being devious, start your own blog and beat that particular drum there.

I think these people are genuine. You may not agree, which is why you need a place to post your opinions on the subject. This comment thread is not that place. It might have been at one point, and it may be so again in the future. But for this particular post on this particular story, I am not willing to go through another litany with antiphonal responses.

If that leaves nothing else to be said, that’s all right, too, because the topic of this post is not the Muslims. My topic is the mendacity of the press and its willingness to cause harm in order to create a story.



Hat tip: Babs

To Veil or Not to Veil?

We’re all used to controversies about the wearing of veils by Muslim women. In numerous Western countries — Sweden, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Denmark, the USA — legal battles have been fought over whether women and girls have the right to veil or obscure their faces in schools, public transportation, banks, and government offices.

But now the same conflict has come to Kuwait — in parliament, of all places. The two women who were recently elected to parliament caused trouble when they showed up for duty without their veils. According to ANSAmed:

MPs Without Veil, Fundamentalists Walk Out

The appeal to “overcome differences and to turn the page for the good of the country” from the Emir of Kuwait to politicians during the inauguration of the new national assembly found its first hurdle after a few minutes, when 14 MPs left Parliament to protest against the two female MPs who were not wearing veils and the government not presenting their economic programme, reports Kuwait Times.

– – – – – – – –

Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Sabah urged members of both the executive and legislative branch, whose differences have cost the oil-rich country six governments and three elections in the past three years, to “contribute to the new climate of political change”, looking towards globalisation, the only way to “raise Kuwait to the position of a modern country”.

The fundamentalist and tribal MPs, two groups that did not do well in the May 16 elections, walked out of Parliament, protesting against a lack of respect for Koranic laws which state that women must wear veils, and a 5-year delay for a strategic economic plan.

What’s interesting here is the fact that the “fundamentalists” did not do well in the elections, and are a minority in parliament.

Can it really be true — does Kuwait aspire to be a modern country?



Hat tip: Insubria.

Gassing the German Police

Our Flemish correspondent VH has translated a news article about the first-ever attack on German policemen using poison gas. First his introductory note:

HetVrijeVolk.com reports in an article entitled “Media fairy tale — how Spiegel Online makes German police officers speechless” that many German police officers are not at all impressed these days with the online news magazine Der Spiegel. Because the editors have reported extensively on the Internet about a so called “police raid” on an African in the city of Heidelberg — but at the same time the remain persistently silent about the first-ever poison gas attack on the German police in the history of the Federal Republic. The attack caused injuries to 47 officers during the May 1 riots.

Police officer and member of the Police Union Torsten M. says: “With Der Spiegel they seemingly keep a stock of prefabricated enemy stereotypes. And when German police officers are attacked with poison gas (by left-wing anarchists), the editors of Dr Spiegel apparently think is not worth even one word. We police officers for the most part probably just have the wrong skin color, for what otherwise would be the reason for this persistent looking away by Der Spiegel?”

The Berlin Landeskriminalamt (LKA; Federal Bureau for Criminal Investigation) knew neither the gas nor the poison gas grenade — it was a novelty to the Berlin specialists. That is why a nationwide “information request” has been launched within other departments. Just have a look around on Internet: there is now one renowned Berliner daily that even posted a photo with the caption “Not only incendiary material, but also poison-gas grenades were thrown at the police in the May riots”.

Here’s the report from Morgenpost Online, as translated by VH:

Policemen attacked for the first time with a chemical bomb

By Axel Lier

During the Kreuzberg May 1 riots, the police were attacked for the first time with a novel chemical bomb. According to the police, the grenade exploded like a smoke-bomb, and then radiated a yellow, odorless smoke, that took 47 officers out of combat in just a few seconds.

German polic e gassed

[Photo caption: “Not only incendiary material, but also poison-gas grenades were thrown at the police in the May riots”]

Morgenpost Online was told by security circles that the grenade was hurled towards the officers near the Kottbusser Tor Subway Station. “It first went off like these rather harmless fog grenades, as known from football riots,” says a policeman. In the immediate vicinity of the officers it quickly dispersed a “yellowish, odorless smoke”. This was inhaled by a number of his colleagues.

“A few seconds later, this substance apparently caused a loss of orientation for some officers,” the policeman continued. Some were only able to crawl, others had to vomit on the spot. Because of the complicated situation it was not possible to secure the burned out shell. Later on the object — despite intensive search — remained untraceable.

Criminal Investigators seek information

– – – – – – – –

The Landeskriminalamt (LKA; Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation) has now issued a nationwide call for information. “We are not aware whether there have ever been similar chemical attacks,” says the policeman from the LKA-7, “but we seek to collect information that we will help us when facing similar attacks.”

In the middle of last month, the public prosecutor levied about 20 charges against rioters. Nearly 350 offenders were arrested during “Walpurgisnacht” [May Day eve], and on May 1. There are ongoing investigations against 289 persons. “The allegations in most cases are of serious breach of the peace of the country, causing grievous bodily harm, and resistance against enforcement officials,” Michael Grunwald of the prosecutor’s office said. During the evenings of the riots, 479 policemen were injured.

For the first time four arrest warrants were issued to rioters for attempted murder. The suspects, aged 16 to 21 years, had poured flammable liquid over police officers [and were in the process of setting them on fire]. The police forces were totally surprised by the aggressiveness and the mass numbers of the rioters [left-wing extremists, mainly from “Die Linke”, the heirs of the ruling DDR Socialist party, Antifa and Autonomous, and immigrants—VH].

The Housewife’s Kit

Counterjihad Copenhagen 2009


In last month’s report on Counterjihad Copenhagen, I mentioned the “housewife’s kit”, a collection of useful Counterjihad materials designed for ordinary people who have become interested in resisting Islamization, and are able to participate in a limited or part-time way.

The German-language materials were originally devised in Austria, but an English-language adaptation has been posted at the International Civil Liberties Alliance website.

The full text is reproduced below, but check the Housewife’s Kit again from time to time, because it will be expanded and updated in the future.



Housewife’s Kit: Getting Active in the Counter Jihad

www.libertiesalliance.org/

So, you’re concerned about increasing Islamisation and have decided to join the growing Global Counter Jihad Movement. You want to help your civilisation during this difficult time but do not know where to start. It is the purpose of this guide to get you started with your activism.

The amount of time you devote is entirely up to you.

Most members of the movement have full time jobs and family commitments. Even if you just spend a few minutes a day informing yourself about the issues, you will already be making a contribution to the cause.

STEP 1: RECOGNITION

You have recognised that there is a problem, perhaps due to an outrageous event (e.g. 9/11, 7/7, the reaction to the Danish Mohammed Cartoons, aggressive Islamist demonstrations, etc), an issue that concerns you (spread of sharia law, women’s rights, human rights, freedom of speech, gay rights, Government censorship, halal meat/animal cruelty, terrorism, unfair treatment of non-Muslims, indoctrination in schools, etc.), developments in your own local area, or a more general concern about the direction that society is now taking.

Your desire to participate in this cause means that you have already made this important step and you are already assisting the Global Counter Jihad.

STEP 2: EDUCATION

The next step is an important one and is something that everyone can and should do. It is important that you broaden your understanding of Islam, its role in history, its beliefs, and its impact on societies around the world. There is a large volume of information that the political establishment want to hide from the public. News is hidden by a combination of Government policy, Government and Islamist propaganda, biased news reporting and selective exploration of the issues, self censorship, and a general unwillingness to think critically.

WEBSITES

Set some time aside each week (even if it is just a few minutes) to read relevant websites (or just choose one of these to follow) such as:
– – – – – – – –

(Some of these have facilities to sign up to their newsletters).

INTERNET RADIO

If reading websites is not your thing then there is an excellent internet radio show called ‘The Gathering Storm Radio Show’ that is live on Fridays (though you can listen to old shows at any time) that explores many issues relating to Islamisation. Informative podcasts can also be found at ‘Shire Network News’ and at ‘Radio Jihad’.

YOU TUBE

Activists from across the world have used YouTube to inform the public about Jihad and Islamisation. This can also be a useful source of educational material. There are numerous channels that cover this area but a small number are listed here to give you an idea of what is available:

REFERENCE MATERIALS

It is important to know what is in books like the Koran. ‘The Skeptic’s Annotated Quran’, ‘Prophet of Doom’ and Robert Spencer’s series ‘ Blogging the Qur’an’ are good places to start your studies. These and other links can be found on the ICLA site. This will help you develop convincing arguments that can be used to draw others into the Counter Jihad movement.

STEP 3: PARTICIPATION ON THE INTERNET

The Counter Jihad was born on the Internet and it was there where it took its first bold steps. There is still a great deal you can do without leaving the comfort of your own home.

JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL LIBERTIES ALLIANCE (ICLA)

Join the International Civil Liberties Alliance. This will help with your ongoing education about the issues and also inform you about things that you can do. There is a regular newsletter and a forum where you can exchange ideas and get to know other members. You can help spread the word about the cause by forwarding the newsletter to people that you know, to encourage them to get involved.

INFORM ICLA OF ISSUES AND EVENTS

If there are any issues or events that you think might be of interest to the Counter Jihad then let ICLA know. Do this by:

1)   Making a comment under the feature article on the ICLA website, providing a description of the issue/event and including any relevant links.
    OR
2)   Starting a thread on the ICLA forum (you need to be an ICLA member to do that).

This could include mosque building projects, discrimination against non Muslims, petitions, demonstrations, conferences, events, projects that need publicity, unreasonable politically correct initiatives, etc.

BLOGGING

Comment on blogs and forums or even set up your own blog (e.g. Blogger, WordPress, etc) to inform people about Jihad and Islamisation.

Commenting on allied blogs such as Gates of Vienna is also a great way to get to know other activists.

ONLINE VERSIONS OF NEWSPAPERS — MAKING COMMENTS

Letting your views be known, correcting errors and misconceptions about the Counter Jihad, balancing Islamic and Government propaganda, etc. in comments sections on newspaper websites. This is where the benefits gained from educating yourself about the issues can be invaluable.

TRANSLATION WORK

If you have skills in more than one language then you could participate in the ‘Rosetta Stone’ Translation Project (you need to be an ICLA member to contribute to this).

DISTRIBUTING EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS TO PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW

This includes forwarding links to stories or YouTube videos about Islamisation issues to friends and family to help them become aware of things that are censored out of mainstream media coverage. Public education is an important part of the work of the Counter Jihad.

STEP 4: REAL WORLD ACTIVISM (PART 1) — FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR LIVING ROOM

SITA ACTIONS

This involves letter writing and more details can be found HERE.

WRITING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Write letters to current affairs /news print publications such as newspapers and magazines about issues related to Islamisation.

WRITING TO YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

This helps to make them aware of the voices of opposition to Islamisation in their constituency/district and makes it more likely that they will speak out against Islamisation. You can also send them educational material or provide links to such material.

STEP 5: REAL WORLD ACTIVISM (PART 2) — OUT IN THE WORLD IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS

ATTEND DEMONSTRATIONS AND EVENTS

Attend political demonstrations that further the cause and demonstrate to the wider public that people are not happy about Islamisation and the effects that it is having on our society and way of life.

Attend conferences, seminars and public meetings.

PHOTOGRAPHERS AND FILM MAKERS

Take photographs and video footage from events you attend or areas of interest to the cause that you visit and make the material available to the wider network. The Counter Jihad has people all over the world and you can act as its correspondent in your own area to help it expand as a media gathering organisation. An example of video activism can be seen from ICLA’s fact finding tour of Malmö. Examples of photographic activism can be found HERE, HERE and HERE.

All you need is a camera and an eye for the issues.

Over time, as a movement it will be possible to develop a huge library of material that can be used to further the interests of the cause.

SET UP AN ICLA BRANCH IN YOUR LOCALITY

When you have gained knowledge and confidence why not set up your own ICLA branch and connect it with the wider global network?

Remember, your ideas could be the basis of a campaign and that campaign could impact on the politics of many countries.

No Quranic Society School for Camden

I wrote last year about the proposed Islamic school for the town of Camden in New South Wales. Local residents who protested the plans for the school were subjected to the usual stigmata of “racism”, “Islamophobia”, etc.

The latest news from Down Under is that the school’s opponents have prevailed in court:

Camden Islamic School Plans Turned Down by NSW Land and Environment Court

THE proposed Islamic school near Camden has been rejected by the NSW Land and Environment Court.

The Quranic Society launched an appeal over the application after Camden Council turned down the plans in May last year.

Commissioner Graham Brown upheld Camden Council’s decision to turn down the Quranic Society’s application this morning.

But the grounds for the rejection of the school are worrisome.

It would have created a useful precedent if the school’s application had been denied on the basis of its being a threat to traditional Australian values and liberties, since it represents a subversive totalitarian political ideology. Instead, the school was turned down on technical grounds:
– – – – – – – –

Commissioner Brown said he rejected plans for the school on Burragorang Rd because the development would not be in keeping with Camden’s rural character and heritage.

The commissioner agreed with Camden Council’s decision last year and rejected the school plans pursuant to objectives C and E of the site’s 1(a) zoning.

This leaves the door open for a newer version of the school in a different location, one which accords in all details with local zoning laws.

But there is some evidence that public opinion is having an effect:

He also said some public interest arguments, presented to the court by Camden community members, were taken into consideration.

Camden Mayor Chris Patterson said he never doubted what the court’s decision would be.

“The commissioner said he based the decision on planning grounds like council did 12 months ago,” he said.

“I feel very happy that the council’s decision has been vindicated by the court.

“I never questioned the outcome because I always believed we’d done the right thing.”

The council’s solicitor Chris Shaw welcomed the decision.

“Council’s original decision has been considered the correct decision based on the assessment of planning issues only,” he said.

He said public interest issues had been given “very little weight” by the court, and that whether or not residents arguments against the school constituted racism was a matter for Camden.

Quranic Society expert planning adviser Jeremy Bingham said there was no case for further appeal as the finding was based on “fact not law”.

“The commissioner found against the school on one very specific and limited ground which was that the school was urban in character and therefore not in keeping with the existing rural character of the area which was the character of open grazing lands,” he said.

“One of the objectives of the zone was to allow development only if it is in keeping with the existing character.

“All of the other grounds raised by objectors were rejected.

“The society is very disappointed. It has put a lot of time and effort and a lot of money into this. It has been a long process.”

But I don’t think we’re done with the Quranic Society yet. Camden residents would be well-advised to remain alert.



Hat tip: Nilk.

The American Press: The Unbearable Lightness of Treason

Below is a guest-post from Takuan Seiyo about the pack mentality and poisonous leftism of the American mainstream media.



The American Press: The Unbearable Lightness of Treason
by Takuan Seiyo

This is the WaPo front page, June 2, 2009. Center right, you will find this story:

Killing Reignites Abortion Debate — Fatal shooting of prominent later-term abortion provider raises fears on both sides of the issue.

This is the NY Times front page, June 2, 2009. Center right, you will find this story:

Seeking Clues on Suspect in Shooting of Doctor

This is the LA Times front page, June 2, 2009. Bottom left, you will find this:

Suspect in Kansas abortion doctor’s slaying reportedly belonged to anti-government militia

This is The Chicago Tribune front page, June 2, 2009. Center right, you will find this story:

Tiller slaying suspect linked to militias

This is the Dallas Morning News front page, June 2, 2009. Bottom left, you will find this story:

Abortion doctor shot, killed at Kansas church

This is the front page of the Arizona Daily Star, on June 2, 2009. In the column “AP Breaking News” you’ll find:

Defendant in doc’s killing railed against abortion

In the column “Most Commented Stories for June 1, 2009” you will find:

Kansas abortion doctor is fatally shot in church267 Comments

What’s wrong with this coverage? Only this:

On Monday, June 1, one day after the abortionist’s shooting and a day before the editions quoted above, a black American Muslim convert, Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, pulled up in his car at 10:30 a.m. in front of an Army-Navy recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad opened fire at the military personnel there. He killed one soldier, William Long, 24, and wounded another, Quinton Ezeagwula, 18.

Per USA Today, Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said in a phone interview, “This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that’s why he did what he did.”

A short time later Muhammad’s car was stopped on the freeway and he was arrested. An assault rifle and other weapons were found in his car. Here is Muhammad, being taken away:
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You will not find a mention of any of this on the front pages of America’s newspapers, if any mention at all. It’s not newsworthy, is it?

Who are these people? No, I don’t mean the respective killers. I mean the editors of America’s newspapers who trumpet the killing of a late-term abortionist who made a living at crushing and dismembering little humans, and deign not to notice an American jihadi, a convert to the Religion of Peace, who murders American soldiers in a shopping center in Arkansas in broad daylight.

Who are they? Do they get their marching orders from the same pasha in Washington so that they all make the same editorial choices? Or was the same chip implanted in their contemptible skulls sometime during college?

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/1/2009

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/1/2009Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is going through Clintonesque contortions to try to defuse rumors and media stories about his relationship with a (very) young woman. He has gone so far as to swear on his children that he never had “spicy” relations with that woman.

In other news, a Russian journalist is requesting asylum in Finland.

Thanks to Aeneas, C. Cantoni, CSP, Fjordman, Insubria, islam o’phobe, JD, Lexington, Nilk, TB, Tuan Jim, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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USA
Editorial: Subsidized Shariah
Gitmo Inmates Get Satellite TV, Sudoku Puzzles
Obama Administration Proposes Text for New Global Warming Treaty That Would Impose Stricter Rules on U.S. Than on China or Saudi Arabia
 
Europe and the EU
A Walk on the Wilders Side
Austria: Sikh Guru Given Police Protection
Berlusconi: Subversive to Substitute Elected With Judgements
Berlusconi: “I Never Had Spicy Relations With Noemi. ? Swear on My Children”
Girls Pressured to Wear Hijab at Norwegian School
In Search of Europe: Italy
In Search of Europe: Austria
Italy: Di Pietro: State Flights for Showgirls and Singers
Italy: PM Under Attack for ‘Using’ State Aircraft to Fly Friends
Persecution Haunts Bulgaria Muslims
 
Mediterranean Union
Why the Sahara Undermines the Mediterranean Union
 
North Africa
Egypt: Son of Jailed Al-Qaeda Leader Speaks Ahead of Obama Visit
Egypt’s Grand Mufti Bans Muslim Use of WMDs
 
Israel and the Palestinians
Israel: US Jews Discomfited by Rightist Bills
Israel Goes on Building Settlements, Tension Rises With U.S.
Israel: Israeli Arab Lawmaker Clashes With U.S. Visitor
 
Middle East
Former Terror Detainee Stars in Gitmo Xbox Game
Frank Gaffney: Obama Sows a Mideast Whirlwind
Iran: US ‘Blamed’ for Deadly Mosque Attack
Iran: 3 Men Hanged for Attack on Zahedan Mosque. Suspicions Point to US
Jordan: MPs Propose Bill to End Peace With Israel
Kurds Start Oil Exports From Northern Iraq
 
Russia
Russian Journalist Seeks Political Asylum in Finland — Rights Group
What is EuRussia?
 
South Asia
India: Four Christians in Manmohan Singh’s Governing Team
Sri Lanka: UN Gives Full Backing to President Rajapaksa
Teen Model Escapes ‘Abusive’ Malaysian Prince
 
Australia — Pacific
Pig Flu Strikes King Khalid Campus of the Australian International Academy
 
Immigration
Finland: Election Ad Denouncing “Welfare Bum Immigrants” Too Much for Party Leader Katainen
 
General
Egyptian Psychologist Dr. Wafa Musa: The Jews Deserved Their Annihilation by Hitler

USA


Editorial: Subsidized Shariah

Does Timothy F. Geithner support jihad? Of course not. But the Treasury secretary on Tuesday lost a major round of a court case in which a taxpayer argues that government ownership of the insurance giant American International Group Inc. amounts to an unconstitutional government “establishment” of Islam. The controversy involves Shariah-compliant financing, part of which requires charitable contributions to those who “struggle for Allah” (“jihad”).

The Thomas More Law Center, representing the plaintiffs in this case, has claimed there are a number of links between charities that receive funds as a result of Shariah-compliant financing and “terrorist organizations that are hostile to the United States.” This is a long-standing practice whereby some front groups exploit charitable contributions to fund Islamic extremists.

Regardless of jihad, there is no dispute that, as U.S. District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff wrote on May 26, “AIG is the market leader in Sharia-compliant financing, which features financial products that comply with the dictates of Islamic law.” It’s undisputed that the government, as a result of last fall’s bailout, now owns 77.9 percent of the “aggregate voting power of the common stock” of AIG. Furthermore, Judge Zatkoff wrote, “after the government acquired a majority interest in AIG … the government co-sponsored a forum entitled ‘Islamic Finance 101.’ “

Why is all this important? Because in the case of Kevin J. Murray v. Timothy F. Geithner and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Mr. Murray argues that if the government owns AIG and AIG extensively practices Shariah-compliant finance, then the government effectively is supporting Islam. That would be unconstitutional.

Mr. Geithner and the Fed filed a motion for the judge to dismiss the case immediately before coming anywhere near a full trial. In a devastating 16-page decision, Judge Zatkoff slapped down Mr. Geithner and company, allowing the case to go forward. The judge acknowledged that the government bought AIG only to stave off an apparent crisis. He then wrote: “Times of crisis, however, do not justify departure from the Constitution.”

This case tests important constitutional precepts and deserves a full hearing. It also puts heat on the government’s overactive economic masters, who ought to be more wary of rash government takeovers of private industries.

           — Hat tip: Lexington [Return to headlines]



Gitmo Inmates Get Satellite TV, Sudoku Puzzles

Amusements aimed at providing mental stimulation

The U.S. military is rigging up satellite television service and distributing Sudoku puzzles in Guantanamo prison cells even as the Obama administration works towards a goal of emptying them of detainees.

The amusements are aimed at providing mental stimulation for the 240 remaining captives, whom human rights monitors and defense lawyers have said were being driven mad by years of isolation at the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists.

Plans were made as long as two years ago to add television and group recreation facilities, said Navy Commander Jeff Hayhurst, who led journalists on a tour on Sunday of the remote prison located on a U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba.

But because of logistical challenges at the prison, some of the plans are just now being implemented as the clock ticks down toward President Barack Obama’s January deadline to shut down the detention operation.

“Construction here is very difficult,” said Hayhurst, who functions as the deputy warden.

Obama, who has called Guantanamo a blot on America’s human rights record and an al-Qaeda recruiting tool, sent a team of investigators to check out the detention camp in February.

Their conclusions echoed what the International Committee of the Red Cross has been saying for years — that prisoners in the one-man cells needed more opportunities for social interaction and mental stimulation…

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]



Obama Administration Proposes Text for New Global Warming Treaty That Would Impose Stricter Rules on U.S. Than on China or Saudi Arabia

(CNSNews.com) — The U.S. State Department has provided the United Nations with proposed text for a new global warming treaty that would require the United States to comply with stricter carbon emissions standards than most other countries in the world—including, for example, China and Saudi Arabia—and that anticipates that U.S. taxpayers will provide foreign aid to support efforts to control carbon emissions in developing nations.

[…]

The text additionally indicates that the U.S. expects developed countries to provide aid to developing countries to control carbon emissions, and cryptically says that the “private sector” will also be expected to provide funding for this purpose.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Europe and the EU


A Walk on the Wilders Side

ALMERE, near Amsterdam:

Three black cars screech into the market square. Shoppers enjoying the sun and a break in one of the many cafes around the square look up from their drinks and ice creams.

About ten serious-looking men in suits with bulges under their jackets get out of the back two cars and position themselves around the front vehicle. One carries a fold-out, body-length bullet-proof shield.

Who can be in the front car? The prime minister? A member of the Dutch royal family? Suddenly a white blond quiff emerges, followed by its owner, Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party (PVV).

He may not be royalty but he is, according to some opinion polls, more popular than the Dutch government and hopes to do well in the European elections. He wants to hold a referendum to demonstrate the Dutch people are against the Lisbon Treaty, as they were against the constitution, and wants to take powers back from Brussels. But that’s not why he grabs the attention.

He is the Netherlands’ Mr Provocative, determined to poke sensitive Muslim opinion in the eye. But is he the heir to the mantle of the extreme right or a post-modern populist? Where does his PVV fit in the political spectrum?

He’s been banned from Britain, is being prosecuted in the Netherlands for hate crimes, has made a film about the Koran — a book he wants banned — and promises a second film that will be just as forthright.

Why, I ask him, does he wanted to ban the holy book of Islam?

“It is a book full of incitement to violence and I am very much for freedom of speech. Incitement to violence is over the red line. I have nothing against Muslims, but I fear, and a lot of my voters fear, the growing Islamisation of Europe, of the Netherlands, of Britain, of Denmark, of many European countries. So although we have nothing against Muslims as such, we believe that immigration and the influx of the Islamic symbolism is changing our society.”

He’s very much against Turkey joining the European Union and wants to take powers back from the EU. He is not advocating leaving the euro or the EU, but wants the balance of power to change. But there’s little doubt it is his opinions of Islam that are eye-catching.

There’s certainly genuine support for him among people who rush to have their picture taken with him. One woman tells me “he says what millions of us think”. It is a refrain I hear repeatedly. But one man ostentatiously shreds the election pamphlet, saying that even Dutch cuisine is based on a mixture from all over the world and Mr Wilders’ views were rather un-Dutch.

That’s certainly the view of a theatre company we visit in Rotterdam. The white-clad figures run around in a crazy game of tag that ends with them removing an article of clothing. This is not a peculiarly liberal Dutch playground game, a cross between “it” and strip poker, but a play for schools aimed at combating discrimination and exclusion of all kinds. It’s sponsored by the anti-racist group Radar.

One of their organisers, Carla Lepelaars, tells me the economic crisis has deepened the problems they face. “People are more worried, more frightened and so worry about being excluded. The way the public debate is going, talking about groups of people as though they are completely different leads to other people feeling that they don’t belong, that they are not allowed to belong.”

What does she make of Wilders’ party?

“If people are being told that it’s another lot of people who are the problem, then all of a sudden you have all these enemies walking around, and you start thinking about everything in ethnic categories.

“He expresses concerns people obviously feel, but then he doesn’t come up with solutions that make people stronger, but that make people weaker. If you make them more fearful and tell them we are going to solve these problems by getting rid of all the immigrants, it’s not going to happen — not a real solution.”

There’s no doubt that Mr Wilders aims to provoke and hopes to be rewarded by the electorate for both boldness and speaking out, for not being part of a political elite who are seen by many as disconnected from the real problems and feelings of voters.

Dr Alfred Pijpers, from the Clingendael Institute of European Studies, tells me that Dutch society is becoming more sceptical about the EU and the ciris has provoked a feeling of “Dutch jobs for Dutch workers”. He feels Wilders has carefully positioned himself. He says unlike most politicians he is unsmiling, perhaps rather against his nature, to show that he is a serious man confronted by serious problems.

“His views are very radical and offensive to Muslim people and he uses his radical proposals to position himself in Dutch politics. The way he is rejecting the establishment in The Hague and Brussels is an instrument for gaining power.”

But he thinks Wilders is not an heir to the hard right.

“He’s not a right-winger. He thinks Islam is a threat to homosexuals and women’s rights. It’s certainly not a fascist party, he’s very liberal in some areas and supporting a socialist agenda in the Dutch parliament, to do with social security and housing and healthcare. He’s a populist, which means he does not follow the agenda of the political elite.”

I would have thought that both an element of socialism and populism are almost key ingredients in a hard-right recipe. There’s also a tendency to see previous movements as cruder than they really were. There may be a good few supporters of far-right views who are obsessed with measuring skulls, but even the Nazis or the Klan identified their enemies by behaviour, beliefs and culture and saw themselves as defending Western Civilisation as well as blood lines.

Mr Wilders is adamant he has nothing to do with that tradition.

“I am not a racist at all. I am a democratic person, I have nothing against anybody, any race, only I fear Islamisation. I see Islam as more of an ideology than a religion. It wants to dominate every part of our society and wants us to submit, to dominate us. I’ve nothing against any people, any colour, any background, any sexual preference.”

There is another very important point. The men surrounding Wilders wear white jackets of flimsy synthetic material with party slogans, but that’s not a uniform. There are no shaven heads. Of course not even the hardest of hard right parties marches in jackboots these days.

But Wilders has made it 100% clear that he is against the use of violence, or even non-parliamentary means. The use he does make of violence is to stress that he is a likely victim of it.

Two prominent Dutch figures have been murdered for anti-Islamic views and, as the policeman puts away his folding body armour, I reflect that flirting with martyrdom is an effective, but very high-risk, political strategy.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Austria: Sikh Guru Given Police Protection

Vienna, 28 May (AKI) — A Sikh preacher in Vienna has been given police protection after a guru was killed in a violent clash in the Austrian capital on Sunday. Police spokesman Michael Takacs told Adnkronos International (AKI) security has also been stepped up at the Indian embassy following the violence at the city’s Rudolfsheim temple. He did not name the preacher.

Takacs said the clashes at the Rudolfsheim temple were the first the city had seen between rival Sikhs and that police had never considered Austria’s Sikh community to be a security threat.

“We have never had any problems with the Sikh community, nor have we been aware of tensions among temple worshippers. We have never been informed of any attack being planned or any problem,” Takacs said.

Fifty-seven-year-old Sikh guru Sant Rama Nan, was killed and his superior, 68-year-old Sant Niranjan Dass, was injured and had to undergo surgery after an attack by six bearded fundamentalist Sikhs allegedly armed with a pistol and with knives.

The alleged attackers clashed with hundreds of worshippers at the temple. He said the police investigation into the incident was still at an early stage.

Dass is not in danger and his condition has rapidly improved, but one of the suspects is in intensive care with a bullet-wound to the head, Takacs said.

“We will have a fuller picture once we have questioned five of the suspects and 26 witnesses,” he said.

Three of the suspects had requested asylum in Austria and have only been in Vienna “for a short time”.

Police have not yet established the identity of two of the suspects, he said.

There are three Sikh temples in Vienna and an estimated 3,000 Sikhs in Austria.

Nan’s death sparked deadly riots by low-caste Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab where a curfew was imposed earlier this week.

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



Berlusconi: Subversive to Substitute Elected With Judgements

(AGI) — L’Aquila, 29 May — “It is a subversive intention to take the place of those elected by the people.” Speaking in L’Aquila during a visit to inspect earthquake relief work, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declared that “it’s useless for me to say again what I think about certain situations with the magistrature. Yesterday someone was shocked because I spoke about subversive clots.” “I repeat that I am absolutely convinced of this, because when people want through court judgements that are based on turning reality upside down to turn upside down the popular decision and take the place of who has been elected by the people, and to whom the people have given the responsibility to govern, this can only be called one thing — an intentional wish for subversion.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Berlusconi: “I Never Had Spicy Relations With Noemi. ? Swear on My Children”

Berlusconi and the 18-year-old from Portici: “I answered the question immediately. And I said no”

ROME — Now the prime minister contests the press versions of the Noemi story. “I never said anything else at all. I replied immediately to the single question of whether I had ever had spicy relations. And I said: ‘Absolutely not’. I made it more solemn by swearing on the lives of my children. I never said anything else at all. Yet look at what some of the papers are saying”.

HOUNDED BY THE PRESS — Speaking to cameras admitted to Palazzo Chigi for the signing of a protocol for Abruzzo, a smiling Silvio Berlusconi commented on the way the press has seized on the Noemi affair. “Has anyone got any questions for me?” was the rhetorical enquiry with which Mr Berlusconi introduced his statement denying any “spicy relations” with Noemi. The premier also pointed out that had any such thing occurred, he would have resigned “immediately”.

SQUADS OF STARLETS — Later at the national assembly of the Confesercenti retailers’ association, the prime minister commented ironically on charges made in the foreign press (particularly the Financial Times): “Mussolini had squads of Blackshirts while I, according to the papers that are tucked under the carpet of the Left, have squads of starlets. At least it’s a bit better”.

FRANCESCHINI — In the meantime, the Democratic Party (PD) leader Dario Franceschini insisted that he had nothing against Mr Berlusconi’s children. “I’d like to say that I’m very sorry if the prime minister’s children feel offended. It’s nothing to do with them”, said Mr Franceschini, pointing out that yesterday “I never said anything about Mr Berlusconi’s children, nor would I ever do so because the idea of involving them in the hurly-burly is a thousand miles from my way of practising politics”. Mr Franceschini stressed that “I was talking about our children and the values that a public figure, in his or her behaviour and words, transmits to the younger generations”.

English translation by Giles Watson

www.watson.it

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Girls Pressured to Wear Hijab at Norwegian School

Just before Easter, Human Rights Service (HRS), the Oslo-based foundation for which I serve as information director, got a tip about what was described as an intense pressure to wear hijab at Vahl Grade School in downtown Oslo. Sources connected to the school told HRS that a female employee of Pakistani origin was openly trying to push hijabs on girls as young as first graders. She flattered the girls who didn’t wear hijab by telling them how pretty they would be if they only put on hijabs, and said that she could give them hijabs as gifts. The woman works for SFO (Skolefritidsordning or “School Free Time Arrangement”), which provides volunteers to take care of kids before and after school hours, and also works as a classroom assistant. In March she got the head of SFO to write the following note to the parents of two non-Muslim girls: “Can X get a hijab from SFO on Tuesday, March 31, 2009?” The letter is dated March 30 and signed by the head of Norwegian SFO. HRS has the original letter. We also have a photograph of posters from the school building announcing prayer times for the children.

An employee at Vahl School explains the spread of hijabs at the school to HRS in this way:

“In first grade, about half of the Muslim girls show up in hijab. By the time they’re in third grade, pretty much all of the Muslim girls are in hijab,” says this person who wishes to remain anonymous.

At Vahl School only five percent of the pupils are ethnic Norwegians. And as we know, children want to be like other children. When the Pakistani woman tried to press hijabs on two non-Muslim girls by telling them how “pretty” they would be in hijab, it was likely not difficult to “convince” the children: they surely wanted both to be pretty and to not stick out…

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



In Search of Europe: Italy

Illegal immigration is making Italians look to the EU for action, the BBC’s Jonny Dymond reports, as he tours the continent ahead of this week’s European elections.

[…]

Northern Italy has traditionally been the great engine of Italian growth, sucking up manpower from the poorer South. Now that sucking sound has been heard over the other side of the Mediterranean, drawing hundreds of thousands of immigrants a year across the sea to what must seem like astonishing riches.

Some of them are to be seen in the park, some without papers, many now without work. They sit, sleep and chat a few yards away from a sprinkling of stalls selling farm produce in the heat.

Behind a raspberry and strawberry stall Paolo Fontaneri, 64, hands over punnets and takes in cash. Decades ago, he says, he worked as a steward aboard the same cruise ship as Silvio Berlusconi, then a singer, now Italian prime minister. His one-time shipmate will get Paolo’s vote come the elections this week.

“We need to fix the problem of immigration. Here in Italy a lot of people are coming with no documents at all. We do need foreign labour here in Italy. But they must be legal. They shouldn’t be here looking for jobs for months. This is wrong.”

Immigration is not the only issue in town. The economy and the environment are also mentioned, as is the need for greater European unity. There is still an enthusiasm for the EU amongst citizens of this founder-nation, that has been absent in so many other places I’ve visited.

But no single issue comes up as often as the need for controls on immigration. And many people see immigration as an EU responsibility. If necessary, a fair few people venture, the EU should get more powers to deal with the issue.

There’s a logic to that, according to Tito Boeri, a professor of economics and organiser of the hugely popular Economics Festival in Trento.

“Given that we are at the border of the Union, that we have all these sea borders with Africa, and we have all these people coming in,” he says, Italians “would like Europe to be more effective and supporting Italy in border protection”.

And he warns that the days when Italians’ support for the EU could be counted on unconditionally are coming to an end.

“Until recently Europe was perceived as being our safety [net],” he says. “But now Europe has been somewhat disappointing to Italians. They are stuck in the middle of the river. They don’t like the Italian ruling class. But they don’t like the European one. They are a bit stuck in the doldrums.”

Up and down the hills of Trentino, vines grow Chardonnay grapes for the Ferrari Spumante that was served, amongst many other places, at the celebrations in Rome of the 50th anniversary of the EU’s founding.

Deep in the cellars of his family-owned company, Matteo Lunelli, the vice president of Ferrari Spumante, ponders Italy’s European future.

As we talk, the bottles that line the walls from floor to ceiling twinkle out in the darkness.

“The two issues,” he says, “that created some scepticism about Europe, have been the euro and immigration.

“Italy by itself will never be able to set an agenda on these kinds of topics. Having common European rules and common European policies is the only way to go.”

But he warns that you can’t create a powerful Europe without the consent and even the enthusiasm of Europeans.

“Institutions, rules, have to go together with the mind of the people. You need great statesmen to bring a dream into the mind of the people.”

If we want things to stay as they are, one Italian novelist wrote, things are going to have to change.

Italians, in this region at least, still seem to be supporters of the European project. That support is waning as circumstances change. Which of Europe’s leaders can help Italians dream again?

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



In Search of Europe: Austria

Many Austrians are deeply suspicious of the EU, the BBC’s Jonny Dymond reports, as he tours the continent ahead of next month’s European elections.

Austria is a big central European paradox. Its language links it to Germany. Its culture links it to Italy. Its former empire links it to Hungary, the western Balkans, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is difficult to imagine a place more plugged into Europe.

And it is difficult to find anyone with a good word to say about the EU.

Down in the 10th district of Vienna the fast food joints rub shoulders with cheap jewellery stores and mobile phone shops. It’s a working class area with a high immigrant population.

At an outside table in a cafe in a market, Horst Glasner and Hans Bubnik are settling into a fairly liquid lunch. As they drink white wine they bite into fat pickled cucumbers sold from a barrel at a stall a few metres away. Both men are retired. Neither have anything but contempt for the EU.

“We have a bit of a problem with the whole thing,” says Horst. “The problem is that the EU is not honest. They cheat on us a lot. This is the big problem.”

“The problem is that everything has become more expensive,” says Hans. “Since we joined the EU everything has been a third more expensive.”

Horst finds another problem.

“Every country is in a different situation. The EU must look at the individual conditions. And this is the big problem.”

“This is why you have the representatives,” adds Hans.

“Unfortunately they don’t do enough,” complains Horst.

All around the market place these views are echoed. Four rubbish men, pushing at the detritus of the day, are all negative.

“The EU tells us what to do, everything gets more and more expensive,” says one.

“All the ideas they have, the cucumbers, the lightbulbs… Austria should leave the EU,” says another.

“We don’t need the EU,” chips in a third.

“Switzerland has done it right,” concludes the fourth.

The pedestrianised street back to the U-Bahn is lined with election posters. Thanks to what must be some generous state funding, Vienna has far more of these than any place I’ve visited so far.

The centre-right Austrian People’s Party (OeVP) calls on people to “Vote Europe and Strengthen Austria”. The centre-left Social Democrats (SPOe) promise an “‘A’ team for Europe”.

And the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) calls for “Real Representatives instead of EU Cheats” and “Our Country in the hands of Christians,” over the slogan “Payback Time”.

In one of the grand basement rooms of Vienna’s enormous town hall, Andreas Moelzer, the Freedom Party’s lead candidate in the elections, speaks to his audience of 150 or so pensioners about the asylum seekers who never go home, scrounging foreigners and an overcentralised, meddling Brussels.

The claim, made by political opponents after his party ran an advertisement opposing Israeli entry to the EU, that the Freedom Party is anti-Semitic is, he says, “nonsense…the discussion [about Israeli accession] was already there”.

But Islam is a different matter. “We are opponents of Islam, we are very strong opponents of Islam.” It is not, he says, a religious dispute, but a cultural issue.

Some in his audience are more extreme. In the question and answer that follows his speech, one speaker talks about how Turkish women are using their fertility as a weapon. Another says the answer is sterilisation. There’s some nervous laughter, but it didn’t seem like a joke. Mr Moelzer makes no comment, offers no rebuke.

The FPOe has bobbed up and down in the polls over the past few years. In 2004 it picked up a measly 6% of the vote. But last year in local elections it soared to 18%. And now it seems to be dominating the debate in the European election, largely because the major parties have so little to say to an electorate unwilling to be enthused by the EU project.

“Unfortunately Austria joined the European Union at the very time that the negative effects of the globalisation process began to hit this country,” says Hans-Peter Martin, independent Austrian MEP and author. That, he says, led people to associate the problems springing from globalisation with the EU.

“And, as far as the EU is concerned,” he goes on, “there have been a lot of expectations when Austria joined, and most of them have not been met. There were unsubstantiated promises that everything would become cheaper, everything would be safeguarded at the same time, and that has not been true.”

The analysts are wary of calling this election. But on one thing nearly everyone, from pro-European pressure groups to parliamentary candidates, agrees. The Austrian people and the EU do not get on at all right now. And that must play to the benefit of the Freedom Party and its candidates.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]



Italy: Di Pietro: State Flights for Showgirls and Singers

(AGI) — Rome, 1 Jun. — Berlusconi’s government “spends money on its caste, instead of on citizens in need. As can be seen by the recent discovery that airplanes owned by the state are used to take showgirls and singers to liven up evenings for this petty tyrant currently in charge”. Antonio di Pietro made his comments, confirming that his Italy of Values party will present a parliamentary investigation “against the caste’s privileges” and into the use of state flights: “a real offence to all the families who struggle to get to the end of the month and the workers who are at home on redundancy pay or who don’t have a job at all anymore”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Italy: PM Under Attack for ‘Using’ State Aircraft to Fly Friends

Rome, 1 June (AKI) — Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday faced fresh attacks from his political opponents after a photographer claimed to have photos of state and military airplanes flying guests to his private villa in Sardinia.

Rome prosecutor Giovanni Ferrara on Monday ordered an investigation to clarify whether state airplanes were used and if their use incurred any irregularities.

Italian singer Mariano Apicella confirmed at the weekend that he was one of the guests flown to the Mediterranean island.

“There are photos of people, guests of the president of the council of ministers (Berlusconi), who get out of the military airplane,” said Antonello Zappadu, the Sardinian photographer quoted in the Italian daily, La Repubblica, on Sunday.

“These are arrivals that have taken place on a weekly basis in the last two years. They arrive on Friday afternoon or early on Saturday, and return on Monday,” he said.

Several opposition politicians from the centre-left Democratic Party and Italia dei Valori parties have attacked the prime minister and demanded an explanation for the trips.

The publication of Zappadu’s photographs was blocked after Berlusconi’s lawyers appealed successfully to the courts.

According to the photographer, his shots included images of young bikini-clad and topless girls at the prime minister’s lavish residence, Villa Certosa, on the Sardinian coast.

Zappadu reportedly tried to sell the pictures to an Italian news magazine for 1.5 million euros.

Italian police then seized hundreds of photographs, which according to reports, included one of former Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek, in the nude.

Berlusconi said the photographs are an invasion of privacy. Some of the pictures were taken during New Year’s Eve festivities, when the blonde teenager Noemi Letizia was among the guests.

Berlusconi has consistently denied claims he had a sexual relationship with the Naples teenager since news broke that he had attended her 18th birthday party at the end of April.

On Monday, Italy’s cultural minister Sandro Bondi — a regular guest at Villa Certosa — defended Berlusconi.

“When you are at sea in the summer and it is hot — and in Sardinia is always very hot — the girls obviously do not put a ‘burqa’ on,” said Bondi, quoted by Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, referring to the Muslim women’s garment that cloaks the entire body.

However, Bondi denied that women in provocative outfits roam the villa. He said instead you can find businessmen, parliamentarians and families there.

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



Persecution Haunts Bulgaria Muslims

KRUMOVGRAD, Bulgaria — Twenty years ago, Mustafa Yumer witnessed Bulgaria’s then-communist regime unleashing a ruthless campaign against the country’s Muslim minority. Today, he is among many who fear the nightmare is coming to haunt Muslims all over again.

“We are all very worried,” the 65-year-old Muslim philosopher, who led resistance and hunger strikes against the communist regime’s a drive to force Muslims to adopt ethnic Bulgarian names in 1989, told Reuters on Monday, June 1.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric by both ultranationalist and rightist parties has gained steam in the southeastern European country lately, particularly ahead of the July 5 general polls.

“People are scared by far-right parties who preach and want to see Bulgaria becoming a single ethnic nation,” said Yumer.

Many right-wing politicians are waging fierce xenophobic campaigns targeting the Muslim community, accusing it of aiming at creating autonomous enclaves and that some of their villages are nests for radical Islam.

“If we sit and don’t work like Bulgarian patriots, one day they will conquer us indeed. They will annex whole regions,” Volen Siderov, Bulgaria’s most outspoken nationalist, told an election rally recently, referring to Muslims.

Experts also fear that the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric is using the old ethnic hatred card all over again, something the country has suffered from decades ago.

“It seems that the ethnic issues are exploited by two groups mainly,” said Boriana Dimitrova of Alpha Research, an independent polling company.

The communist regime, which collapsed in 1989, had banned Muslims from practicing their religious rites and forced them to adopt Slavonic names.

Bulgaria is the only EU state where Muslims are not recent immigrants but a centuries-old local community.

Mostly ethnic Turkish descendants of the Ottoman Empire’s reach into Europe, Muslims make up 12 percent of Bulgaria’s 7.6 million population.

Muslims have lived with Christians of the Orthodox Church in relative harmony for centuries in a culture known as “komshuluk”, or neighborly relations.

Many fear that the anti-Muslim rhetoric would further hurt the minority and open Pandora’s box of ethnic and religious strife in the country.

“The wounds would have been healed by now if some people had stopped poking them,” Fikri Gulistan, 49, a dentist in the ethnic Turkish city of Momchilgrad, fumed.

There have been over 100 incidents of vandalized mosques and other Muslim buildings over the past two years.

Muslim Girls have been banned from wearing hijab, an obligatory dress code in Islam, in some schools and universities.

In March, security services, acting on the complaint of a rightist politician, launched a probe into a local mayor and an Islamic studies teacher from the village of Ribnovo, on suspicion of taking Saudi funds to spread radical Islam.

No charges have been filed but the case filled chat rooms of newspapers and other news providers with anti-Muslim messages such as “Bulgaria for the Bulgarians”.

Religious leaders warn that renewing the 1980s repression and losing civil rights would risk possible repeat of strife and leave some Muslims preys to groups trying to radicalize them.

During the communists’ persecution, discrimination against the Muslim minority has led to bomb attacks by ethnic Turks that killed scores.

“We are doing our best to stop such processes,” Hussein Hafazov, aide to Bulgaria’s chief Mufti Mustafa Alish Hadji, told Reuters.

“If we are constantly being blamed that we are terrorists and are dangerous for the security in this country, we don’t know whether part of the society won’t start feeling that way one day.”

But analysts say the long tradition of good neighborly relations and had so far made it hard for hatred calls and to gain a foothold among Bulgaria Muslims.

“The Turks (of Bulgaria) are mostly secular people,” said Antonina zhelyazkova, head of the Sofia-based International Center for Minority Studies.

“Any kind of messengers of non-traditional Islam has been sent away so far.”

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]

Mediterranean Union


Why the Sahara Undermines the Mediterranean Union

To achieve its goal of Mediterranean unity, the EU needs to be committed to the UN’s goal of self-determination for Western Sahara.

The EU’s attempt to create a union including nations on both sides of the Mediterranean has considerable merit. The trouble is that its idealism falters in the face of reality. This is most evident in the case of Western Sahara.

The challenge posed by reality is, in fact, captured in the subtle change of name of the body. Until July 2008, it was to have been the ‘Mediterranean Union’. Now we have ‘the Union for the Mediterranean’. This is no mere tweaking of semantics. It is recognition of the fact that the states along the Mediterranean’s southern coast are a long way from anything like a union.

In recognition of this reality, the agenda has shifted away from more lofty goals. While the original trans-Mediterranean partnership process — the Barcelona Process — aimed to create “a common area of peace and stability underpinned by sustainable development, rule of law, democracy and human rights”, the agenda since 2008 has had a more prosaic focus, on trade and investment.

This political evolution is also an attempt to skirt around the fact that Africa’s last remaining colony sits squarely within the proposed union.

That colony is, of course, Western Sahara, which was forcibly annexed and occupied by Morocco. Without a sustainable solution here, no union — whether of the Mediterranean or the Maghreb — will have a real impact.

The United Nations has set out what such a solution could be: a referendum on self-determination. It did so after the International Court of Justice said in 1975 that it could “not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco”. In short, the annexation is illegal.

The UN has advocated a referendum since the early 1960s. Morocco itself backed the idea in the early 1980s and accepted the UN’s settlement plan of 1990. However, attempts to establish the basis for a vote on self-determination have been blocked by Morocco — now under a new monarch — and by supporters in the UN Security Council.

This stalemate is putting up political walls throughout the region, drawing battle-lines between expediency and justice. It is a major reason why intra-Maghreb trade and investment is both miniscule and complicated.

The continued, well-documented violation of the human rights of Sahrawis creates an ethical vacuum for any body, such as the Union for the Mediterranean, that seeks to create a trans-Mediterranean union.

Most European governments seem aware of this. So too is the European Parliament, which, in March, produced a report on human rights that voiced concern over continued abuses and recognised that abuses will continue until Sahrawis’ right to self-determination is recognised. That right is recognised by most members of the UN Security Council and the EU; those who are preventing recognition of that right are chiefly Morocco and France.

The current position of Morocco and France amounts to a disavowal of a process of organic self-determination in favour of a shoddy form of autonomy within Morocco. It ignores the basic human right to choose.

For any Mediterranean union to gain a foothold in reality, Morocco must be prepared to accept its own former proposal, a free and fair referendum.

Polisario, which represents Sahrawis who seek independence, has a vested interest in a Mediterranean union. It wants to see greater trade; it wants the southern Mediterranean region to have links — political, social and economic — with Europe that are stronger, but also free and fair. Such a union will remain merely an ideal as long as Western Sahara remains in its current state.

Mohammed Khadad is a member of the Polisario leadership and is its co-ordinator at the UN.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]

North Africa


Egypt: Son of Jailed Al-Qaeda Leader Speaks Ahead of Obama Visit

Cairo, 29 May (AKI) — He was once considered the intellectual chief of Al-Qaeda, a valued colleague of global leader Osama Bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al Zawahiri. But now Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, known as Dr. Fadl, who is in an Egyptian prison, has renounced his role in the movement and called for an end to violent jihad in western and Muslim countries.

In an interview published in the magazine of Italian daily, La Repubblica on Friday, his 24-year-old son Ismaiel spoke about his father’s life in prison and his revisionism on the eve of US president Barack Obama’s visit to Egypt.

“He has a single cell, bathroom and kitchenette,” he told the daily. “They bring him the newspaper but he has refused satellite TV. If we want he can telephone every day. I saw him yesterday.”

What do they talk about? “I tell him what I am doing, I have become the head of the family, I have to take care of our interests.”

Ismaeil, an economics graduate, recalled his life as a child and dinners with the children of Al-Qaeda’s number two.

“We used to do normal things,” he told the Italian daily.”To us he (his father) was a talented and respected doctor, with a true passion for reading and studying and who spoke very little.”

Born in Bani Swaif south of Cairo in 1950, Sayyid Imam (photo) distinguished himself at an early age. He memorised the Koran at age 11, before graduating in medicine at the University of Cairo and specialising in plastic surgery.

During his studies he became friends with Al Zawahiri. They became disillusioned with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and gravitated towards radical Muslim groups. He later went to Pakistan to treat mujahadeen injured in their battle against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

Presiden Obama is set to deliver what has been billed as a major speech to the Muslim world from Egypt on 4 June. It is a controversial choice that has revived criticism of the country’s human rights record.

Al-Sharif has been in prison since the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Initially he was questioned by Yemen92s “secret police”, while at work as a surgeon at the al-Shiffa Hospital south of Sanaa.

He was held for three years in detention in Sanaa, “without charge, without trial, and without access to an attorney” before being transferred to Egypt where he is now serving a life sentence.

During his imprisonment in Egypt he wrote ‘Document of Right Guidance for Jihad Activity in Egypt and the World’, also transliterated as — Rationalising Jihad in Egypt and the World.

93We are prohibited from committing aggression, even if the enemies of Islam do that,” he proclaimed in the book.

He has been described as a “major” figure “in the global jihad movement and his earlier book, ‘The Essentials of Making Ready [for Jihad]’) was used as a jihad manual in Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.

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



Egypt’s Grand Mufti Bans Muslim Use of WMDs

Ali al-Gomaa says posession ok, but use is haram

Muslim states can possess weapons of mass destruction but may not use them against non-Muslim nations, according to Egypt’s highest religious authority, who issued the opinion online Sunday in hopes of clarifying assertions about their legitimacy.

“It is not permissible for Muslim countries to use weapons of mass destruction…but they can possess them only as a deterrent against possible attacks,” Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa wrote in his religious ruling, or fatwa, which came just days before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to address the Muslim world from Cairo.

Gomaa issued the fatwa in response to “reports and opinions from various groups claiming that the use of weapons is legitimate based on some sharia rulings on gathering ammunition,” he wrote on the website of Dar al-Iftaa, the state-sanctioned body charged with providing religious rulings.

His ruling did not prohibit the acquisition or possession of such weapons as a deterrent, but said their use was prohibited because it could threaten states beyond the borders of the targeted country and kill non-combatants and Muslims— something that would not be allowed even in a declared war.

“This fatwa is the first one we issued on this topic and comes in response to the wave of uninformed opinions from various groups,” according to spokesman Dr. Ibrahim Negm.

Egypt recently joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is a leading advocate for a weapons of mass destruction free zone in the region, a position seemed as taking aim at Israel as the only nuclear weapon state in the Middle East. Egypt has U.S. backing for plans to build nuclear power plants but says it has no desire to make atomic bombs.

Gomaa’s fatwa defines weapons of mass destruction as nuclear weapons, biological weapons and incendiary weapons, like white phosphorus. The Mufti also stated that Islam forbids killing of civilians during war.

Battle of the fatwas

Any educated religious leader can issue a fatwa, a religious interpretation of Islamic law, but sheikhs and imams differ widely in their views of WMD and nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa in 2005 forbidding the production of WMDs as “un-Islamic” and said that “developing, producing or stockpiling nuclear weapons is forbidden under Islam.”

But in January a conservative senior Iranian cleric thought to be close to President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said that it was “only natural” to have nuclear bombs as a “countermeasure” against other nuclear powers, thought to be a reference to America and Israel.

In Pakistan, the only Muslim country that possesses nuclear weapons, religious scholars have prohibited terrorism but made no specific mention of nuclear or other mass destruction weapons.

In 2007 a group of Islamic scholars and clerics in Indonesia issued a fatwa against a proposed nuclear plant in their community saying nuclear power was haraam.

On Monday online fatwa forums were alight with scholars and Muslims again weighing in on the matter. Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani, president of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and the Fiqh Council, supported Gumaa’s interpretation of Islamic law based on the fact that the mass destruction caused by WMD does not distinguish the innocent from the criminal and therefore is prohibited under Islam.

But Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, noted that there was a self-defense exception.

“[I]n case these nuclear weapons are used against Muslims, it becomes permissible for Muslims to defend themselves using the same weapon,” Mawlawi wrote in an IslamOnline forum.

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]

Israel and the Palestinians


Israel: US Jews Discomfited by Rightist Bills

Several new legislative initiatives from right-wing parties are causing discomfort among mainstream US Jewish advocacy organizations who worry that efforts to forbid anti-Israel activism in the country may be tinged with racist intentions and lead to infringements on freedom of speech.

The bills in question include a proposal by Israel Beiteinu MK Alex Miller to criminalize the marking of Independence Day as a day of mourning, a common practice among sections of the Israeli Arab public; a bill presented by Habayit Hayehudi MK Zevulun Orlev that seeks to criminalize those who “incite against or attempt to undermine” — in Orlev’s words — the Jewish and democratic nature of the state of Israel, and a bill being prepared by Israel Beiteinu that will demand an oath of loyalty to the state from anyone seeking to receive an Israeli ID card for the first time, including new immigrants and Israeli minors who reach the age of 16.

“It’s one thing to legislate allegiance to the state, but it is discrimination to target one population group for loyalty,” Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

“That means demanding allegiance to Zionism rather than to the state itself,” Foxman added.

Miller’s bill criminalizing the commemoration of the “Nakba” smacks of “violation of freedom of speech,” Foxman believes.

According to Efraim Zuroff, Israel director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, “there’s clearly a problem in the attitudes of certain segments of Arab society in Israel toward the state.”

He admits that the new initiatives “put their finger on a tremendous angst in Israeli society” which is exacerbated by “Israeli Arab MKs who never miss an opportunity to reject Israel and announce outright that they are disloyal.”

But, he adds, “a loyalty oath won’t solve anything and is impossible to implement in practical terms. It also looks populist and demagogic and goes against the whole grain of democracy.”…

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



Israel Goes on Building Settlements, Tension Rises With U.S.

(by Alessandro Logroscino) (ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV — Signs of friction between Israel and the U.S. are rising over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank (territory under autonomous Palestinian control), which Barack Obama’s administration has repeatedly urged Israel to put a halt to — with growing insistence — in order to foster the resumption of the peace process. It is an insistence that has driven Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government (with the Labour party in the government coalition) to make a few conciliatory gestures in the form of removing small, illegally built outposts — thought it seems that for the time being it will not budge an inch as concerns its refusal to stop large-scale building projects in the large settlements already in existence. Pressure from the White House, reinforced over the past few days as part of the meeting between Obama and the moderate president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, received its initial reply in the cold remarks made on Thursday by Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev. Today the tension seems to have risen even further, judging by the comments made by a number of ministers: though not figures of the highest level they do seem to be representative of the prevailing mood. “I would like to make it clear that the current government will not agree to halt the legal settlements of Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank), thundered Transport Minister Yisrael Katz, fiery Likud representative (Netanyahu’s party, traditional right-wing), calling the settlements authorised by the Israeli government “legal” (as opposed to the outposts), though the international community considers them illegitimate on a par with all the settlements built since 1967. Katz has said that the US request to halt Israeli extension plans as a part of dealing with the “natural growth” of the settlements’ population (with 280,000 only in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem) is especially unfair. In agreement with the latter is Science Minister and Rabbi Daniel Hershkowitz from the Jewish Home party (closely connected with the movement of religious settlers), who has accused the U.S of “unreasonableness” in its refusal to agree on the issue of “natural growth”, even going so far as to compare Obama with a reincarnated “pharaoh” intent on “throwing the Jews into the Nile”. Netanyahu — who today has gone forward with the evacuation of a very small outpost, the second in only a few days — has also felt obliged to tell the Likud parliamentary group that he has no intention of “removing entire communities”. According to Israeli press sources from Haaretz to Maariv, unease abounds in the premier’s staff in relation to the sequence of Obama’s moves, which according to British press leaks intend to bring about a turning point in Israeli-Palestinian talks and move toward the controversial two-state solution within the next two years. A civil servant quoted by the media and speaking on condition of anonymity has said that the way Obama is moving forward has caused Netanyahu to wonder whether Washington might not be trying to put him into such a difficult position that his rightist government would be at risk of falling. From the Israeli pacifists, instead, Uri Avneri (militant journalist and former government representative) has noted with ill-concealed satisfaction how US pressure on Israel over the past few days is “something unseen since the times of George Bush Senior and James Baker,” though at the same time adding that “to face up to pro-Israeli lobbies” in Washington, another step forward would be necessary, an attitude similar to the one “taken on in 1956 by President Eisenhower to put an end to the Sinai War.” Avneri concluded by saying that “Obama can be compared if for no other reason than that of his popularity” to Eisenhower.(ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Israel: Israeli Arab Lawmaker Clashes With U.S. Visitor

Knesset member rants, demands American Jewish leader be banned

JERUSALEM — An American Jewish leader was restricted by security guards from entering Israel’s parliament after he questioned an Arab lawmaker over seemingly anti-Israel statements and practices, WND has learned.

[…]

“I asked Tibi if he thinks it appropriate for a Knesset member to be blackening Israel’s image by calling it an apartheid state and going around as a paid Knesset member and yet representing himself as from the so-called state of Palestine, which doesn’t exist,” Klein said.

Both Klein and multiple witnesses related how after the questions were asked, Tibi started screaming “at the top of his lungs” for security to expel Klein, accusing the Jewish leader of physically and then verbally assaulting him.

More than one witness told WND Tibi was “acting like a maniac.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Middle East


Former Terror Detainee Stars in Gitmo Xbox Game

Moazzam Begg plays himself in Rendition: Guantanamo

A former Guantanamo “terrorism” detainee who walked away a free man in 2005 will shoot his way out of the U.S. prison in a new Xbox 360 video game based on the camp.

Moazzam Begg, who spent nearly two years in the U.S. detention camp without charges, will play himself in the game, which could rake in £3 million ($5 million).

Rendition: Guantanamo lets players control a detainee trying to shoot his way out, meaning the game’s creators needed to know the layout of the prison. Begg has been consulting on the project, under development for more than a year and already drawing fierce criticim.

“We have had a lot of hate mail about this, mainly from America, saying things like, ‘Don’t dare put out a game that shows them killing our soldiers,” Zarrar Chishti, director of Scottish software company T-Enterprise, told the U.K.’s Daily Mail.

“But no U.S. or British soldiers get killed in it. The only ones being killed are mercenaries.

Begg, a British citizen of Pakistani decent who attended a Jewish elementary school, is shown in the game as head of an organization helping the suspect to escape.

Begg, 40, was taken from his home in Pakistan and turned over to the CIA in Bagrham, Afghanistan for a year before being thrown into Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prison camp in 2003 where he spent 20 months in solitary confinement.

He said he was tortured by U.S. personnel before being freed without charge in 2005. He has since become a human rights activist.

Begg told the Sun that he will donate any money he earns from the game to a charity devoted to ensuring the rights of detainees.

“The software firm approached me with the idea for a Guantanamo game. I’m involved to make sure it is as true to life as possible.”

T-Enterprise is reportedly spending £250,000 ($405,000) to produce the game.

“We checked with police and security services. We didn’t want MI5 knocking our door down,” Chishti told the Sun.

“We are expecting an extreme reaction to the game in the US. But we think it will sell well in the Middle East,” said Chishti.

Xbox 360 sold more than eight million consoles in the Middle East, Africa and Europe last year.

Not all Middle East gamers were convinced, however.

“It will just look like any other game with people killing people,” said UAE gamer Ahmed Baheri.

This is not the first video game inspired by the so-called “war on terror.”

Kaboom, a computer game in which players control a suicide bomber trying to kill as many civilians as possible, drew criticism from victims’ groups worldwide and Japanese videogame maker Konami pulled plans for a videogame based on a fierce battle between U.S. Marines and insurgents in the Iraq city of Fallujah.

The Sun said the game was due to go on sale in October but an Xbox customer service representative was unable to confirm the game or its reported release date and the media center was unavailable.

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]



Frank Gaffney: Obama Sows a Mideast Whirlwind

JERUSALEM— From this vantage point, two events this week appear to be ominous straws in the wind, warnings of a “man-caused” maelstrom that may inexorably plunge the Middle East into another, potentially cataclysmic war.

The first is the fact that Israel feels obliged to undertake an unprecedented, country-wide civil defense exercise this week. At one point in its course, every man, woman and child in the Jewish State is supposed to seek shelter from a simulated attack of the kind Iran may shortly be able to execute against it.

The second is President Obama’s latest effort to reach out to the Muslim world, this time on June 4 from one of its most important capitals, Cairo. There, he is expected to make an address that will reiterate his previous statements on the subject — pronouncements that, unfortunately, can only have been interpreted by his intended audience as acts of submission…

           — Hat tip: CSP [Return to headlines]



Iran: US ‘Blamed’ for Deadly Mosque Attack

Zahedan, 29 May (AKI) — A provincial official in Iran has blamed the United States for a bomb attack on a Shia mosque that killed at least 23 people in Zahedan, in the country’s southeast. Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchistan province, made the claim as three people were arrested after the attack on the Amir al-Momenin mosque on Thursday.

“It has been confirmed that those behind the terrorist act in Zahedan were hired by America,” said Jalal Sayah, quoted by official Iranian news agency Fars.

Fars said another 125 people were injured in the attack which took place during evening prayers at the mosque in the provincial capital.

The city is mainly Sunni Muslim and the remote province is one of the most deprived in this mostly Shia country.

The province’s governor Mohammed Ali Azad said that those arrested had planned to carry out further attacks but were stopped by Iranian intelligence officials.

On Thursday, Azad said “terrorists” had carried out the attack in a bid to disrupt the country’s upcoming election on 12 June.

“It was a terrorist attack and the bomb was exploded by a terrorist,” Ali Mohammed Azad told Iranian state TV.

“Bandits and terrorists intended to disturb the order in the province before the election considering the insecurity in the eastern neighbouring countries”.

The attack took place during a public holiday, when worshippers marked the death of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed’s daughter Fatima.

Three days of public mourning were announced following the deadly attack.

Zahedan, the capital of the Sistan and Baluchistan province is located 1,600 kilometres from the capital Tehran, near the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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



Iran: 3 Men Hanged for Attack on Zahedan Mosque. Suspicions Point to US

The 3 men condemned to death had been arrested days before the mosque attack for having smuggled explosives into Iran. The executions took place a short distance from the mosque. Ahmadinejad halts tensions between Sunnis and Shiites amid accusations of a “foreign plot”. Khamenei points to the United States. Condolences from Ban Ki-moon.

Teheran (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Iran has hanged three men for orchestrating a bombing of a Zahedan mosque that killed 25 people, injuring 125 people. At the same time Iranian leaders are accusing the United States of being behind the assault. The explosion — a suicide attack- took place May 28th last, during evening prayer, close to the Amir al-Momenin Mosque. The hangings took place this morning at 6 close to the mosque. According to state news agency Irna, the three men confessed to “illegally bringing explosives into Iran and giving them to the main person behind the bombing”. The three were arrested days before the attack. I tre condannati erano stati arrestati giorni prima dell’attentato. “They were convicted of being ‘mohareb’ [enemies of God] and corrupt on the earth and acting against national security”, said Hojatoeslam Ebrahim Hamidi, Sistan-Baluchestan public relations chief.

The Jundullah (God’s soldiers) opposition group declared its responsibility for the suicide bombing. In February 2007 they killed 13 pasdaran (revolutionary guards), the parallel army that depend directly from Ahmadinejad and the ayatollah.

The mosque attack took place weeks ahead of the presidential elections. Yesterday Ahmadinejad’s election office in Zahedan was assailed by three men armed with knives, who threatened people within the office and tore up posters. Zahedan is a majority Sunni city within a majority Shia nation. The Amir al-Momenin is used by the Sunni community. The assaults appear to be aimed at undermining Ahmadinejad in the eyes of the Sunni population. The surrounding Arab world, almost totally Sunni, is also unfavourable towards him.

In an attempt to avoid tensions that could bury his candidacy, the Iranian President immediately expressed his condolences to the victims ad warned the population against an outbreak of Sunni-Shiite tensions. “Sunni and Shiite brothers — commented Ahmadinejad —will undoubtedly recognize and neutralize conspiracies through their vigilance”. According to the president these “conspiracies” are of foreign origin, in particular the United States and Great Britain.

This charge was also made by Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchistan (the province of Zahedan). “According to the information obtained — he said — they were hired by America and the agents of the arrogance”. The same accusation has also been expressed by the Supreme ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, who spoke in terms of “expansionist superpowers”. Hossein Mussavi, another presidential candidate also suspects the influence of “foreign powers”.

The United States has denied all involvement.

Rhetoric attacking foreigners is a common tool in the presidential campaign. Last April members of Iranian Intelligence arrested a group they claim is linked to Israel and that was planning bombings ahead of the elections.

The speed with which today’s executions took place and the chorus of accusations against the US are however and indication of growing tensions within a nation that is becoming increasingly isolated from the international community because of its nuclear program that is widely feared to have a military rather than civilian purpose. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, condemned the mosque attack and expressed his condolences and solidarity with the families of the victims.

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



Jordan: MPs Propose Bill to End Peace With Israel

(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, JUNE 1 — A group of Jordanian MPs presented today in Parliament with proposed legislation to scrap the peace treaty between the kingdom and Israel as diplomatic relations between the neighbours turn sour. Deputy Khalil Atyyeh said in a letter to the 110-member chamber that Israel violated the 1994 Wadi Araba peace agreement when the Israeli kennest approved to discuss controversial legislation by a right wing MP to adopt a law that refers to Jordan as “The Hashemite kingdom Palestine.” In the letter, Jordanian MPs said Israel showed “no respect to the sovereignty of Jordan. “Israel draft law is a violation to the peace agreement and international norms,” said Atiyeh, weeks before the start of the parliament session where the proposal could be discussed. Last week, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh summoned the Israeli consulate in Amman to lodge an official complaint about the proposed legislation, which could blow the remaining hopes of establishing an independent Palestinian state. Jordan is the second and last Arab country to sign peace with Israel after Egypt. The kingdom, home to nearly 3.5 million Palestinian refugees, shares the longest borders with Israel. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Kurds Start Oil Exports From Northern Iraq

Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region has started exporting crude oil to foreign markets for the first time.

Companies chosen by the Kurdistan Regional Government will pump up to 90,000-100,000 barrels per day from two northern oilfields to Turkey.

The Baghdad government has allowed its pipeline to be used, in a deal that could begin resolving internal disputes over Iraq’s substantial oil wealth.

The revenue will be shared between Baghdad, the Kurds and oil companies.

Kurdish President Massoud Barzani called a “giant step” at a lavish ceremony in Irbil.

“We are proud of this success, and this achievement will serve the interests of all Iraqis, especially the Kurds,” he said.

The ceremony was also attended by the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, who is also from Iraq’s Kurdish minority.

Oil will be transported by lorry from the Taq Taq field to Irbil at a rate of 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) and then pumped along to Iraq-Turkey pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Initial exports will also include 50,000-60,000 bpd will be pumped from the Tawke field in Dohuk.

Frosty relations

Kurdish government adviser Khalid Salih said it was hoped 250,000 bpd could be exported by the middle of 2010.

“The Kurdistan region wants to be a leading example in the new Iraq … to contribute to Iraq’s increased oil production. Today, we are proud to be part of this,” Mr Salih said.

Correspondents say, apart from Mr Talabani, no representatives of Iraq’s Shia Arab-led central government were apparent at the ceremony, underscoring the frosty relations between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

The disagreements over oil contracts are part of a wider dispute over land, power and the country’s massive oil reserves, which US officials see as the greatest threat to Iraq’s long term stability.

Iraq has the world’s third-largest oil reserves, but only produces up to 2.4m bpd — which is below the level before the US-led invasion in 2003.

           — Hat tip: islam o’phobe [Return to headlines]

Russia


Russian Journalist Seeks Political Asylum in Finland — Rights Group

HELSINKI (AFP)—A campaigning Russian journalist has sought political asylum in neighboring Finland after receiving threats in her homeland, a Finnish human rights group said Monday. Elena Maglevannaya “submitted her asylum application last Thursday to police,” Anu Harju, a member of the Finrosforum, an organization promoting democracy and human rights in Russia, told AFP. Maglevannaya, who worked for the Volgograd daily Free Speech, attended a seminar in Helsinki last week organized by Finrosforum. Russia’s human rights situation is expected to be on the agenda Wednesday when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen and President Tarja Halonen in Helsinki. Harju said Maglevannaya had angered authorities and a Communist youth organization by writing articles on poor conditions in prisons. “A leading doctor at a prison in Volgograd told her he would put her in a mental hospital if she continued to write,” Harju said. According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, a court found Maglevannaya guilty of spreading disinformation after she wrote a story criticizing the torture of a Chechen prisoner. Maglevannaya was ordered to pay a fine and publish a denial, which she has refused to do. “The court case and fines made her decide that she had to leave the country because she could not write freely,” Harju said. The Russian journalist is now staying at an asylum center and processing her application is expected to take several months. “I assume she will appeal if her asylum application is denied and that could also take many months,” Harju said. In February, the Finnish Immigration Service denied asylum to Alexander Novikov, who said he was recruited by Russia’s security service FSB to spy on a liberal opposition group. He said he feared for his safety if deported to Russia. Novikov’s appeal hasn’t gone to court yet.

           — Hat tip: Tuan Jim [Return to headlines]



What is EuRussia?

Today Eurussia signifies mainly gas and football. However there begins to appear a series of projects based on the formation of a new geopolitical actor composed by the major European powers and Russia, strong enough to face the Sino-American hegemony.

Gas and soccer define today’s EuRussia. The pipes bringing Russia’s gas to the EU, covering a quarter of Europe’s energy needs, and the European Champions League linking Moscow to London, are two concrete examples of this relationship.

But new and more ambitious projects are underway: an axis between Europe’s big economies and the Russian Federation to create a new geopolitical subject, able to confront China and the US. Or a G2 — a smaller version of the recently celebrated G20 — between Beijing and Washington, increasingly tied together by China’s holding of US debt and by America’s purchase of Chinese goods.

After the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, and in the wake of the current economic crisis, everything is possible.

The main element of EuRussia is an axis between Germany and Russia: a growing relationship, that in the eyes of the German intelligence could rival the French-German couple, historical engine of the European integration. The final result could be a new Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis, able to bring Europe back among the global powers.

The way is not easy: Russia and Europe have been contending for continental spaces for at least four centuries. When they can’t win over each other, they try to find a common way. A powerful symbol of which was, in 1703, the foundation of St Petersburg. Where, not by coincidence, both Putin and Medvedev come from.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

South Asia


India: Four Christians in Manmohan Singh’s Governing Team

Agatha Sangma is Catholic and the youngest of the 78 ministers. She is only 28 and is the Minister for Rural Development. Msgr. Fernandes, secretary of the Indian Bishops Conference, asks the new executive to work “to bring about an end to the culture that tolerates corruption, inefficiency, discrimination and fundamentalism”.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) — It is the first day on the job for the 78 ministers of the Indian governments executive, which Premier Manmohan Singh describes as a “mix of experience and youthful energy”. There are 50 years difference between the youngest and oldest Minister: Somananhalli Mallaiah Krishna, ex governor of Karnataka and now in charge of foreign affairs is 77; Agatha Sangma, is 28 (in photo together with Farooq Abdullah, President of the National Conference).

For supporters of the Indian National Congress and United Progressive Alliance (Upa) this age gap is a sign of a great vision of the nation that unites the past and the future. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp) it is only a facade. The Hindu party underlines that 7 ministers are under 40 and that this hides the fact that nothing is different to the first Singh administration.

The Indian Bishops Conference (CBCI) Secretary General Msgr. Stanislaus Fernandes, appreciates the new executive. “The government — he tells AsiaNews — must be all inclusive and must take into consideration all aspects of the diversity and plurality of our beloved motherland India, our rich and varied cultural and religious heritage, our ethnic diversity, our linguistic dimensions, the needs of the various states”.

Of the 78 ministers 33 make up the Cabinet. They include the Ministers of State who are entrusted with individual responsibilities’ within the Ministries.

There are five Dalit Ministers with Cabinet ranks and nine women, including Sangma, who is already on her second parliamentary mandate. Daughter of Shri Sangma, leader of the National Congress Party, Agatha is Catholic and one of the 4 Christians who have been called to take up a ministerial post. The others are A. K. Antony, ministry for defense, K.V. Thomas, and Vincent Pala, ministers of the state. Sangma has been given the protfolio for rural development together with Pradeep Jain of the Indian National Congress.

Msgr. Fernandes hopes that the new government “works to end a culture that tolerates corruption and inefficiency, discrimination and communalism”. The bishop also prays that “with this new government, the long pending Equal Rights of our Dalit Christian will be resolved” and affirms that the bishops expect the executives commitment towards minorities.

“The CBCI — affirms Fernandes — does not only narrow our concerns to merely Christian issues and challenges, we pray for good governance” adding it is the Churches “sincere desire” that the new government “work for the development and uplifting of the weaker, marginalised sections of society, such as the rural poor, youth and women” and that “all peoples will be given their rightful place as equal citizens of this country”.

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



Sri Lanka: UN Gives Full Backing to President Rajapaksa

The United Nations Human Rights Council has approved a resolution in favour of the government of Sri Lanka: army is no longer accused of war crimes; the conflict was an “internal question that did not justify external interference”. Access to refugee camps for Humanitarian Organisations will take place as Colombo government “sees fit”.

Colombo (AsiaNews) — Sri Lanka has defeated the UN. With 29 votes in favour, 12 against and 6 abstentions, the Colombo government has won the approval of the Human Rights Council (Unhcr) for President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s strategy.

The resolution passed on May 27th in Geneva establishes that the Tamil Tigers used civilians as human shields, relieves that army of war crimes charges and states that the conflict and emergency are “internal questions that do not justify external interference”. Thus Colombo’s strategy in managing the crisis of 280 thousand refugees has passed the test. Access the camps for Humanitarian Organisations will take place as the government “sees fit”.

Mahinda Samarasinghe, Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister described the Geneva vote as a “decisive victory at this crucial time”, that “shows the endorsement of the international community of Sri Lanka’s efforts to resolve the humanitarian challenges in the aftermath of the conflict”.

In favour of the resolution that approves President Rajapaksa’s strategy, were China, Russia, India, Indonesia and other Asian countries and African bloc nations. Against Sri Lanka’s line of non-interference; the EU, Mexico, Japan and Chile.

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



Teen Model Escapes ‘Abusive’ Malaysian Prince

JAKARTA (AFP) — A teenage US-Indonesian model has returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of a Malaysian prince, after her dramatic escape with the help of Singapore police.

Manohara Odelia Pinot, 17, told reporters she was treated like a sex slave after her marriage last year to Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Malaysia’s Kelantan state.

Her mother, Daisy Fajarina, said she would press charges against the 31-year-old prince, and blamed the Malaysian and Indonesian governments for trying to cover up the alleged abuse.

“The things I’ve been afraid of were revealed to be true. Manohara has suffered physical abuse. She’s got several razor cuts on her chest,” Fajarina told AFP on Monday.

“No parent could be silent if their child was treated in such a barbaric way.”

The Malaysian government had ignored her pleas for access to her daughter and had blocked her from entering the country, she said, while the Indonesian embassy had said that Manohara was fine with her new husband.

But the young woman — a well-known socialite in Jakarta — said her life at the royal palace involved a “daily routine” of rape, abuse, torture and occasional drug injections that made her vomit blood.

She said she was usually held under guard in her bedroom at the palace and was injected with tranquilisers whenever she complained.

“I am still traumatised by all that happened and it has left an impact on me,” she told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday, after escaping the royal family during a trip to Singapore over the weekend.

“Sexual abuse and sexual harassment were like a daily routine for me, and he did that every time I did not want to have sexual intercourse,” she was quoted as saying in The Jakarta Globe.

“I could never think a normal man could do such things,” she said, adding: “Some parts of my body were cut by a razor.”

“I’ve been treated like an animal. I’m like his property and I was in his room and whenever he wants to play with me he just goes into the room and plays with me. I’m like an object.”

The teenager — whose fairy-tale wedding to a prince captured the imagination of Indonesia — said she would be tortured if she did not appear to be happy when she attended social functions with Fakhry.

She said she secretly called Singaporean police and pleaded for help after the royal family took her to Singapore when they accompanied Fakhry’s father, Sultan Ismail Petra Shah II, for medical treatment.

“The police told Fakhry that he would be held in jail if he did not let me go. No one could force me against my will in Singapore and I knew I had a chance to escape,” she said.

The model once voted as being among Indonesia’s “100 Precious Women” said she escaped her guards by pushing the Singapore hotel elevator’s emergency button.

They were reluctant to chase her because they knew the scene would be captured on security cameras.

She blasted the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia, saying: “They made it worse by telling lies, saying that I was fine while I was suffering in Kelantan.”

A spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry insisted the embassy had done everything it could to help Manohara and said the government would assist her if she wanted to file charges against her husband.

But Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the government would not investigate the allegations.

“I think this is more of a personal matter. To date we have not been dragged into it, so we want to leave it as it is,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s royal rulers used to enjoy immunity from criminal and civil charges but the privilege was removed in 1993.

There has been no comment from the Kelantan royal family.

Manohara’s lawyer, Yuri Darmas, said she would have a medical examination to back up her allegations of abuse.

“We need one to two days to gather evidence before we file a lawsuit to the Malaysian police,” he said, adding that he intended to pursue criminal and civil lawsuits against the prince.

Manohara has already filed for divorce, her mother said.

           — Hat tip: Nilk [Return to headlines]

Australia — Pacific


Pig Flu Strikes King Khalid Campus of the Australian International Academy

AN eight-year-old swine flu victim thought he was “boiling inside” as parents began pulling children from his school.

Mohamad Sanad from Altona North had suffered high temperatures and slept heavily at the height of his illness last week, his father Waseam Sanad said today.

The boy studies at an international school in Coburg, which is at the centre of the latest reported outbreak.

Some parents have pulled their children from the King Khalid campus of the Australian International Academy, after the discovery of swine flu, despite assurances it is safe.

The latest developments in Victoria comes as Western Australia recorded its first case.

No details are available, but the victim is believed to be a middle-aged man.

The latest case brings Australia’s total number of confirmed cases to 18, after Queensland confirmed a second case last night.

Victoria has 11 confirmed cases of the potentially deadly virus.

Mohamad’s family said they had no idea the schoolboy had the A(H1N1) virus until his condition began to improve later in the week and health authorities told them he had tested positive for swine flu.

Mr Sanad said that when he learned of his son’s diagnosis, he asked Mohamed how he had felt when he was sick.

Mohamed told him: “I thought I was going to die. I was boiling on the inside,” he said.

Mr Sanad said his son became ill last Monday and was taken to the doctor the next day after his condition worsened.

The local GP took swabs and prescribed anti-viral drugs, but did not specify the tests were for swine flu.

After his health improved, Mohamed went back to school on Friday, only to be told later that day the test results had returned positive for swine flu.

“If we knew that he had anything at all (like) the swine flu, we obviously wouldn’t have taken him to school at all,” Mr Sanad said.

“It was only because he started recovering, he was fine, and we thought it was just the normal flu at that stage.”

The family had not travelled overseas recently.

Mr Sanad, his wife, and their four young children have been quarantined in their Altona North home in Melbourne’s west since Friday.

           — Hat tip: Nilk [Return to headlines]

Immigration


Finland: Election Ad Denouncing “Welfare Bum Immigrants” Too Much for Party Leader Katainen

HS editor-in-chief defends decision to allow advertisement to run

National Coalition Party Chairman, Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen, has told fellow party member and European Parliament candidate Kai Pöntinen to stop running an election advertisement that lends itself to accusations of racism.

In the ad, which was placed on the front page of Helsingin Sanomat on Friday, Pöntinen calls for a “stop to welfare bum immigrants”. Katainen said that the advertisement is to be dropped because it can be misconstrued.

“I didn’t like the ad, because it gives the wrong impression of Pöntinen’s thinking. I have asked Pöntinen to stop using the advertisement”, Katainen said on the morning.

Katainen emphasised that Finland will need more immigrants in the future, as the members of the postwar baby boom generation retire. However, he added that open and critical debate is also needed on the immigration question.

He said that open debate is especially important to avoid the spread of a racist mentality.

“Immigration is one of the biggest questions of the future. It needs to be taken seriously, because it involves people and their lives.”

Katainen noted that the immigration question has not escalated in Finland to the point of rioting, as has happened in Sweden. “We must see to it that it does not happen in the future, either”, Jyrki Katainen said.

The running of Pöntinen’s ad brought a good deal of negative feedback to Helsingin Sanomat from people alleging that the message it contains is racist.

Helsingin Sanomat defended the decision to allow the advertisement to run, appealing to the principle of freedom of expression.

Editor-in-chief Janne Virkkunen says that tough language is permissible in politics, and he saw no reason to block the advertisement.

Virkkunen adds that immigration policy is one of the key themes of the European Parliament elections, and therefore, issues related to the policy need to be discussed.

“It is my principle that if something is to be banned, there has to be a weighty reason to do so. Now there was not. In my opinion the advertisement was distasteful, but evil cannot be made to go away by shutting one’s eyes”, Virkkunen says.

He added that Pöntinen may have wanted his ad to be banned so that he might be able to portray himself as a martyr for freedom of speech.

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

General


Egyptian Psychologist Dr. Wafa Musa: The Jews Deserved Their Annihilation by Hitler

[see link for video]

Following are excerpts from a Hamas TV women’s show, which aired on May 14, 2009:

Egyptian psychologist Dr. Wafa Musa: The terrorist psychology of the Jews derives only from their love of money. The only god or religion of the Jews is money — not the Jewish religion or the dream of the so-called Greater Israel. This is a lie they tell themselves.

[…]

I always ask myself: Why did Hitler annihilate the Zionists or the Jews? By character, they definitely deserve this. This is why they suffered this massacre or annihilation, and so, they adopt the [Nazi] character, and project it onto the Palestinian people…

           — Hat tip: Aeneas [Return to headlines]

Building a Distributed Counterjihad Network

Counterjihad Copenhagen 2009


The last five years have taught me that I bring only three skills to the anti-jihad movement.

The first is a knack for writing propaganda. By “propaganda” I do not mean the 20th-century version as practiced by the Nazis, the Soviets, the New Deal, and other huge and repressive state enterprises.

I use the word in its original sense, which was derived via the Romance languages from the Latin verb propagare, “to cause to increase or spread, as of a plant”. In the 18th century it referred to the work of a committee of cardinals (congregatio de propaganda fide, “the congregation for propagating the faith”) which was charged with the foreign missions of the Church.

In the 19th century “propaganda” took on a more generalized meaning, “the dissemination of a doctrine or practice”. It wasn’t until the Age of Utopias arrived a century later that it was understood to mean “the retailing of lies by state media in order to support, maintain, and extend the power of the State”.

So, in an old-fashioned way, one of my main functions in this space is to disseminate doctrine through propaganda.

My second skill — which I use in tandem with the first — is the making images of various sorts. I enjoy this activity more than any of the others.

The third skill involves networking with people. In person I am a severe introvert, and find it difficult and painful to meet new people. But email and skype seem to obviate this disability, and since I took up blogging, I’ve found that seeking and maintaining contacts online comes easily and naturally. My native shyness is no impediment when making friends over the Internet.

It is this last skill that I carry to all the Counterjihad meetings I attend. These activities have forced me to think carefully about the process of networking, and how it applies to the formation of an international Western resistance to the Islamization of our culture, often under repressive conditions.

I left for the meeting in Denmark a day early and without a laptop so that I could have enough time to ponder and write up a presentation on distributed networks as they apply to the Counterjihad. The treatise below is adapted from the longhand notes that I made for the May 16th session in Copenhagen.


Baran Nets



The Distributed Network

I. Introduction

What we’re doing here is something relatively new: the organization of a Counterjihad network using the Internet and other forms of global electronic communication.

The work we do must remain at least partially clandestine for three reasons:

1. The governments of our countries are repressive.

The evidence for this assertion is that even here in Denmark, most people prefer to be pseudonymous. The situation is even worse in the UK, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, France, and the Netherlands. In those countries, people with opinions like ours can be arrested and prosecuted.

2. There is also unofficial repression.

The violent actions against “racists” by Antifa and similar groups are permitted, condoned, and tacitly supported by the various Left and Center-Left parties that head the governing coalitions in most European countries.

3. The danger of attacks by Muslims.

If you add to the above the risk of being killed by the Religion of Peace — keeping Theo Van Gogh and Kurt Westergaard in mind — it’s no wonder that people prefer to do this sort of work under pseudonyms.

Thus the problem is to organize extensive, robust, and effective Counterjihad groups without putting our people at risk, and without courting the dangers that would discourage new people from joining.

This is where distributed networks come in.

II. What is a distributed Network?

1. Decentralized

A distributed network has no “boss”, and no hierarchy except at the very local level. No one can issue orders or commands over the larger network and expect them to be obeyed.

This means that decision-making can be slow and frustrating. Before it can be implemented, an idea has to spread through the larger network, excite discussion, and be determined to serve the interests of the different components of the network.

This process takes time, but it also means that decisions are likely to be more appropriate and effective when they are finally arrived at.

Once an idea takes hold, action within the network tends to proceed very quickly.

2. Flexibility

Because there is no individual or small group controlling the distributed network, new ideas may arise and be accepted easily. The variety of contributing groups is a guarantee against rigidity and narrowness of approach.

Because there is no hierarchy, information in the network flows through multiple horizontal paths of communication, and not simply up or down the branches of a “tree”. If one component or sub-network opts out of any particular action, others will participate, accomplishing the same task through alternative means.

Much of this flexibility thus arises from:
– – – – – – – –
3. Redundancy

People within the network may burn out, change allegiances, lose interest, or take on other work, so that redundancy is an absolute necessity. For any given function and within any given region, there should be multiple ways of accomplishing the same task, and multiple channels through which information travels.

III. How is a distributed network structured?

Hydra nerve netVisualize the distributed network as a nervous system, but not the type normally associated with a vertebrate animal — no brain or spinal cord. Instead imagine an earthworm or a hydra, with a number of ganglia (nodes) connected by nerve pathways.

If you remember from your high school biology class, when an earthworm is cut into several pieces, each fragment may well survive and grow into a full-sized earthworm.

1. Nodes

The nodes in our networks consist of people, either acting alone as individual contacts, or as a stand-ins for a larger group, in effect functioning as gateways or domain controllers for other networks.

Thus Aeneas is here today as a node in the same network that contains me and the rest of you, but at the same time he is a portal opening onto a much larger collection of people who form an anti-jihad network in the UK.

Each node may represent a specialized function, either as performed by an individual or a group. For example, a contact in the network may function primarily as a maker of videos, but may also represent a small group of colleagues who perform the other specialized tasks required — video recording, audio dubbing, graphic effects, subtitling, etc. The larger network is thus aware only of the individual and his representative function, but the sub-network contains the additional components.

The most specialized function of all is perhaps that of the “idea man”, the theoretician, the thinker who contributes components of the ideological framework that guides the entire network. The theoretician may be hooked into the network by only one or two connectors, even though his may well be one of the most valuable contributions.

Most people, however, will act as nodes in multiple overlapping networks. This is what gives the distributed network its power and flexibility.

Under conditions of extreme political repression, the nodes of the network may be structured as “cells” on the traditional revolutionary model, so as to limit damage in the event any individual is compromised.

2. Connectors

The connectors or links which join the nodes together are harder to define — they consist of the lines of communication between people, in whatever forms these may take. Ideally, each node will connect in multiple ways to a significant number of other nodes, adding to the general flexibility and redundancy of the network.

Possible connectors include email, instant messaging, telephone, snail-mail, face-to-face meetings, carrier pigeon, etc. — any medium through which human beings may communicate with one another.

Under conditions of extreme political repression, the old-fashioned media — written messages and face-to-face meetings — will come to the fore again.

IV. Optimum size and functionality

To operate effectively, a non-hierarchical network must be limited in size. A single node — one person, possibly representing a larger group — cannot function efficiently with more than 60-80 connectors to other nodes.

I have personal experience with the effects of too many connections, because I exceeded that limit some time ago, and my network activities have become that much less effective as a result.

When a node in the network exceeds the maximum size limit, the problem can be resolved in one of two ways:

1.   The network can be transformed into a hierarchical one, with sub-networks that operate in subordination to the main node, or
2.   The network can undergo “mitosis”, splitting into two or more independent networks, with a division of resources among the “children” as seems appropriate, and with continuing communication via representative nodes in each child.

A combination of the two strategies is probably the optimum result. Sub-networks may spontaneously organize themselves, recognizing an informal and voluntary hierarchy within a larger network of networks. Groups of people who feel comfortable working together can perform specialized functions, with an assigned spokesman acting as a single node in the larger network.

The network as a whole may also split along regional or other lines, with overlapping nodes allowing for continued contact and communication. This is especially appropriate within a language group, and people with skills in multiple languages will naturally tend to become “ambassador” nodes acting as connectors to various super-networks.

You can see this process at work in the evolution of the ICLA network, which began as the 910 Group and later expanded to become CVF.

The original core group consisted of a handful of activists from the United States, Canada, and Europe. The first mitosis occurred when European operations became largely separate. This group [the attendees at the Copenhagen meeting] represents the European network, which for some bizarre reason has an American acting as one of its major coordinating nodes!

The European network has also formed sub-networks, including a UK group, a Swedish group, an Austrian group, a French group, a Finnish group, and so on. At the same time new liaisons have developed between our network and other existing networks. One successful liaison is our relationship with the Italian Counterjihad groups, as developed by Gaia.

An example of a successful sub-network on the basis of function is the video production group — a loose and fluid collection of people who make (or reproduce) videos, transcribe, translate, and subtitle the final product. This group acts independently to produce material, and then connects to the larger network through me or one of the other nodes to distribute its work.

V. Why a distributed network?

We — the European Counterjihad — are compelled by necessity to form a distributed network, because we operate without funding. Whenever funding is available, a hierarchical network naturally results, because one person (or a small group) controls the flow of money, and the other nodes in the network are answerable to him. A hierarchical tree forms, based on the distribution of monetary resources.

The head of a funded hierarchical network can act as a node in a larger distributed network, but the “money man” himself will inevitably command a hierarchy.

A hierarchical network obviously has its advantages — when money is available, the network can act in ways that we can only dream of.

But a hierarchy is brittle — a break in one of the major branches of the tree disables those smaller branches that lie further out and depend on it.

A hierarchy is also susceptible to incompetence and corruption. When the head of the hierarchy ceases to function optimally for either of these reasons, the entire network is effectively disabled. The absence of institutional redundancy and alternative pathways prevents information from routing around the damaged areas.

The distributed network thus has major advantages in resilience and flexibility. With no central authority, we cannot be corrupted from the top. And when part of the network is compromised or disabled, alternative pathways form almost immediately around the damaged portion.

VI. Creating and enhancing the distributed network

The formation of a distributed Counterjihad network is a natural process, as like-minded people band together in pursuit of a common purpose. It would occur in any case, without anyone being conscious of the process or thinking about how to bring it into being.

However, being aware of the theoretical issues can expedite the process.

The four major tools employed in building the network are (1) the recognition of a common interest, (2) personal relationships, (3) the art of persuasion, and (4) the ability to delegate.

1. A common interest

Our common interest is the Counterjihad; that is, the resistance to the Islamization of the West, and the affirmation and strengthening of Western cultural values. This is clear enough.

However, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the places where various interests diverge. An example of this would be the Jew-haters: I reject them not only because I find their ideology repugnant (which I do), but also because our interests diverge. If opposing the Jews is a paramount interest for a group, it will eventually join forces with the Muslims against us. We cannot make common cause.

On the other side are the Nazi-phobes: the people who are so afraid of being branded Nazis or racists that they will do anything to avoid such a fate. Ultimately our interests will diverge, because being called “Nazis” and “racists” is something we simply cannot avoid as long as our primary mission is to resist the Great Jihad.

2. Personal relationships

Skill with personal relationships is an absolute necessity for any substantial node in the network. Approaching interactions with another person on a purely utilitarian basis — How can this person serve my interests? What use can he be to me? — is not as valuable as maintaining a broad-based connection that grows naturally and may have no immediate payoff.

This is what brought me into the business: I seem to have a knack for forming and maintaining personal contacts with a wide variety of people. It’s the single major skill that I bring to the table.

3. The art of persuasion

Since nobody gets paid, nobody can issue commands. Only persuasion can get things done.

There has to be a lot of horse-trading — “You do this for me, and I’ll do that for you.” There has to be a lot of discussion, a patient amassing of details. I have to be willing to compromise, to be diverted from my original course of action, and to see the situation from someone else’s point of view.

In other words, persuasion relies on the skills of a salesman combined with those of a priest.

If I can’t talk myself three feet off the floor, I can’t get the job done.

4. Delegation

If you are unwilling to delegate tasks within the network — if you insist on complete personal control of every process — your effectiveness within the network will be limited, especially as it expands and grows more complex.

My own responsibilities have increased to the point where I am required to manage connections to 75-100 nodes, which all but exceeds the practical load that can be carried by any individual human being acting in a network. If I don’t delegate most tasks, I can scarcely be effective at all.

I have had to learn to say, “I rely your judgment.” I have learned to accept that the people around me are fallible human beings like myself, but that I must rely on their decisions anyway, even if they arrive at different conclusions than I would.

Surrendering total control of what transpires is an absolute necessity.

VII. Synchronization

One of the ultimate goals in the formation of the larger network is synchronization — the ability to coordinate simultaneous actions over widespread areas and in different countries, and also to bring people together to converge on a single location for a targeted action.

Remember: this is what our enemies among the “anti-fascists” and the Muslims are very effective at. Those anti-Motoon riots that broke out all over the world at about the same time were not spontaneous. They were coordinated and carefully timed.

However, they were not centrally controlled. No “Jihad Boss” issued orders telling everyone what to do — the perpetrators were simply acting within a distributed network that functioned very effectively. They were all working with a common interest: Islam.

These are the characteristics we should seek to emulate. As we contemplate future actions, we need to keep in mind that any action planned and launched in one country should have “brother actions” across Europe, and even the whole of the Western world.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *


The above analysis is mainly concerned with content, and not with process. The theory and practice that I have outlined are independent of ideology. Our enemies can — and do — utilize distributed networks to facilitate terror attacks, penetrate the West, and subvert our institutions. In fact, they are way ahead of us in this regard.

But they are working at a disadvantage: they are slaves of Allah.

And we are free.


Copenhagen #2




Note:

The diagram at the top of this post is from An Atlas of Cyberspace by Martin Dodge, who describes Paul Baran’s work:

The pioneering research of Paul Baran in the 1960s, who envisioned a communications network that would survive a major enemy attack. The sketch shows three different network topologies described in his RAND Memorandum, “On Distributed Communications: 1. Introduction to Distributed Communications Network” (August 1964). The distributed network structure offered the best survivability.



Previous posts about information warfare:

2007   Dec   16   An Evolutionarily Stable Strategy
        22   War-Gaming in Cyberspace
        29   All Information Warfare is Local
2008   Jan   28   A Model of Limited Perception