After the downfall of Col. Moammar Qaddafi, I assumed that the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean would come to an end. For the past ten days that did indeed seem to be the case, but a sudden new flood has brought 675 new culture-enrichers from North Africa to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

This means the year-to-date total is now going on 55,000, which necessitates a tick upwards in the temperature shown on the Cultural Enrichment Thermometer at the top of this post.

Two slightly different news stories report that the new immigrants arrived over the weekend on Lampedusa in ten separate boats. First, from AGI:

98 Tunisian Migrants Land in Lampedusa

(AGI) Lampedusa — New landing of migrants in Lampedusa. Ninety eight Tunisian, among them one woman, reached last night the Favaloro pier. They were preceded on Saturday by 577 others, women and children included, who arrived in Lampedusa on 9 unseaworthy vessels. At this point some 1200 migrants are guests of the Lampedusa reception center. Their transfer is in pending.

A slightly longer version of the same story was posted at ANSAmed. You’ll notice that the newcomers are all from Tunisia, so it may in fact be true that the flow from Libya has stopped:

More Tunisians Land in Lampedusa During Night

(ANSAmed) — Lampedusa (Agrigento), September 12 — More immigrants landed last night in Lampedusa: 98 Tunisians, including one woman, landed at 1:40 on the Favarolo pier after being rescued by a Guardia di Finanza patrol boat.

Saturday a total of 577 people from Maghreb landed on the island, while another 36 landed on Linosa, all of whom departed from Tunisia’s shores aboard 8 large boats. In the reception centre in Lampedusa, where several protests have been reported in recent days, at present there are 1,200 immigrants.

For previous posts about the Mediterranean refugee crisis, see The Camp of the Saints Archive.

Hat tips: C. Cantoni and Insubria.

I don’t have any details, but the news from the EDL is that Tommy Robinson has been freed from durance vile. According to the International Civil Liberties Alliance:

Tommy Robinson Released From Bedford Prison

Word has reached us that Tommy Robinson, who has been languishing as a political prisoner in Bedford Prison this last week has now been released by the British regime. It is unclear whether or not he is still ‘banned’ or whether justice and common sense have been allowed to prevail.

Tommy was not the first prisoner of conscience to be incarcerated in Bedford, John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress was imprisoned in the town in 1660. The similarities in the cases of Tommy and John Bunyan are rather interesting. Tommy was imprisoned following his attendance and speech at Tower Hamlets, John Bunyan (according to this Wikipedia article) appears to have been imprisoned for preaching. The Wikipedia article includes the following:

In 1658, aged 30, he was arrested for preaching at Eaton Socon and indicted for preaching without a licence. He continued preaching, however, and did not suffer imprisonment until November 1660, when he was taken to the County gaol in Silver Street, Bedford.

Presumably, as was the case with Bunyan, the State persecution of Tommy Robinson will continue — the agents of the London regime show no signs of adhering to the most basic democratic principles. It seems that the restrictions of 17th century England are now returning as the state invents new heresies to hamper and obstruct freedom in the 21st century. So much for social progress!

It’s now obvious that the authorities put Tommy away for a week to keep him on ice until after the MAC demo on 9-11 at the American embassy. Now that has been accomplished, he’s free to go.

However, he still has a court date coming up on the 29th, so please click the “Tommy Robinson Legal Fund” icon on our sidebar and send a few pennies his way to help defray the cost of his defense.

The convergence of two significant events prompts this celebration of 9/12.

Today Lars Vilks and the Modoggies were back in the news with the latest reports about the terror arrests in Gothenburg. It is thought that Mr. Vilks may have been the intended target for this new Mohammed-intensive conspiracy in Sweden. Culture-enrichers from all over the world have been looking to harm Mr. Vilks for more than four years, and these “militants” from al-Shabaab had hoped to at last exact revenge for the infamous Roundabout Dogs.

Yesterday, as part of our 9-11 commemoration, we reminded our readers that September 11th was also the 328th anniversary of the arrival of King Jan III Sobieski on the Kahlenberg overlooking Vienna.

In contrast to yesterday’s solemn tributes, today we celebrate the victory of the Poles, the Germans, and the Austrians at the Gates of Vienna. On September 12th, 1683, Jan III Sobieski and his troops routed the Turks in the nick of time, lifted the siege of Vienna, and put the Islamic horde to flight back into the Balkans.

In honor of the occasion, Lars Vilks created the following special watercolor, depicting the King of Poland in a guest appearance with the dreaded Roundabout Dog:

“Jan III Sobieski Confronts a Rondellhund at the Gates of Vienna”

(Click for a larger version of the painting)

Happy September 12th, everybody!

For previous posts on Lars Vilks and the Roundabout Dogs, see the Modoggie Archives.

Yesterday morning I reported on the arrest of four terror suspects in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

More information has come in since then: we now know that the would-be terrorists are said to be connected with the Somali jihad group al-Shabaab. The names of the suspects have been released, and the case has a Mohammed Coefficient of 100%, which is very rare in a group this large.

It also seems that this is the latest episode of Modoggie Madness in Sweden — Lars Vilks was rumored to be attending an event at the art gallery where the planned attack was to take place.

Our Swedish correspondent Freedom Fighter sends this update on the terror arrests:

The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is reporting that:

Lars Vilks, who was earlier a target of Islamic terror groups, had written in his blog that he was going to be at the art show at the “Röda Sten”.

The newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports that “all four detained are young men 23 to 26 years old and live in Gothenburg.” It also says that Wilhelm Agrell, a professor in intelligence analysis, says he can’t understand why there is so much secrecy.

When there is total secrecy in Sweden, it usually means that Muslims are involved.

Realisten has a report in English (hat tip ME):

Muslims arrested for preparing to commit acts of terrorism in Gothenburg

The night before September 11 four men were arrested at the Central Station in Gothenburg , the second largest city of Sweden, suspected of preparing criminal terrorist activity. At the same time the police sealed off the area around the Älvsborg bridge, the Röda Sten art exhibition hall, and the Swedish Transport Agency. Between 300 and 400 people were also evacuated from the inauguration of the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art.

The four were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of conspiring to commit terrorist acts. The four are 26-year-old Abdi Mahamud, 25-year-old Abdi Mohamud, 23-year-old Salar Mahmood and 24-year-old Mohamud Kulan.

Abdi Mahamud was born in Somalia and moved to Sweden on October 26, 1999.

Abdi Mohamud was born in Somalia and came to Sweden on December 30, 1991. He moved from Sweden October 26, 2007, and returned on January 9, 2008. He then moved again from Sweden August 18, 2008 and returned on June 12, 2009. He is a citizen of Great Britain and was sentenced on January 13, 2009, for assault to probation and fines.

Salar Mahmood was born in Iraq and came to Sweden on October 24, 1996.

Mohamud Kulan was born in Somalia and came to Sweden on March 19, 1993.

There is also an English-language report at The Local:

Sweden terror suspects tied to Islamists: report

The four terrorist suspects held in Gothenburg on Sunday have ties to the Somali Islamist movement al-Shabaab and were plotting an attack using bombs and firearms, according to a Swedish media report.

Neither Sweden’s Security Service (Säpo) nor the police have confirmed the report, and have released few details about the arrests.

“Police suspect the men were about to carry out a terrorist attack with firearms and bombs,” Gothenburg regional daily GT said in its online edition.

“Police sources have told GT the suspects are linked to the terror network al-Shabaab,” the paper said, without disclosing its sources.

According to the TT news agency, the four suspects are all male between the ages of 23- and 26-years-old and are residents of Gothenburg.

Three of the men are born in Africa and the fourth in the Middle East, it said. The man born in the Middle East and two of the Africa-born men are Swedish citizens while another holds a Swedish residency permit, it added.

Swedish intelligence agency Säpo issued a short statement on Monday saying all information concerning the ongoing investigation was classified.

“Säpo’s assessment is that there is no cause for widespread concern nor any reason to introduce tighter security measures,” it said.

An elite counter-terrorism unit and police arrested four people in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second city, and evacuated hundreds of people from a building in the city hosting an art fair “after concluding that there was a threat that could endanger lives or health or cause serious damage,” officials said Sunday.

Police then searched the building thoroughly, breaking open seven lockers, the paper said.

It is not known why the venue was seen as a target, and art fair organisers have not been given an explanation, GT said.

The paper speculated that a Swedish artist who has received death threats from al-Shabaab for depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog had planned to attend the event but did not in the end.

“I will myself with great interest attend the event,” Vilks wrote on his blog last week.

In an interview with the local Göteborgs-Posten daily he explained that he never intended to attend Saturday’s inauguration, but didn’t rule out that he was perhaps the intended target.

“If it is Islamists, which it seems to be, nothing is impossible,” he said.

Lars Vilks has faced numerous death threats and a suspected assassination plot since his drawing of the Muslim prophet with the body of a dog was first published by a Swedish regional newspaper in 2007, illustrating an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.

Gothenburg city officials and others have criticised Säpo for neglecting to inform the city about the planned raid, and for being so tight-lipped following the arrests.

“We would have liked to have gotten the information directly from Säpo, and not through the media,” city director Åke Jacobsson told the TT news agency.

Officials from Gothenburg and Säpo met on Monday morning to discuss the threats and ensuing arrests.

But Säpo was still refusing to offer any further details other than that four people were arrested in Gothenburg on Saturday evening.

“I can’t go into any other details because of the confidentiality of the preliminary investigation,” Säpo spokesperson Michael Gunnarsson told TT.

Prosecutor Agnetha Hilding Qvarnström also refused to shed any light on the case.

Wilhelm Agrell, a professor on intelligence analysis, also made note of what he called a “total [media] blackout” on the part of Säpo regarding the case.

“Even if we’ve had blackouts in other terrorist cases, this one seems to go very far,” he said.

“Terror investigations can be very sensitive. You want to avoid every detail that can have a negative effect on the investigation and it can be hard to know ahead of time what sort of information has that character,” Agrell told TT.

Al-Shabaab is an al-Qaeda-linked militia has waged a years-long insurgency against Somalia’s weak, western-backed transitional government and controls much of the south and centre of the Horn of Africa country.

“Wherever you are, if not today or tomorrow, know that we haven’t yet forgotten about you,” a Swedish al-Shabaab member, Abu Zaid, said in a video, according to US monitoring group SITE.

For previous posts on Lars Vilks and the Roundabout Dogs, see the Modoggie Archives.

Yesterday the FBI gave a presentation at a Muslim outreach event in Seattle, but their effort backfired. The presenter offended some of the Muslims in the audience by including a photo of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a PowerPoint slide show about terrorism. Islamic leaders said they were tired of being stereotyped by law enforcement.

In other news, under the prodding of Geert Wilders, the Dutch government insists that Eurozone countries that fail to meet budget limits must be forced to withdraw from the euro. The major candidate for this outcome is obviously Greece, which has announced that it expects its unemployment rate to rise to 26% next year.

Meanwhile, Niger says that it is unable to close its northern border to a fleeing Col. Moamar Khaddafi, even if it wanted to.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, C. Cantoni, Egghead, ESW, Gaia, ICLA, Insubria, Rembrandt, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

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

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discusses America’s failure to name the enemy:

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video.

In my 9/11 post earlier today, I asked (rhetorically) how long this day is likely to be commemorated:

…Our annual observations and commemorations will ring with the names of those who died, families will continue to grieve as long as there are kin left to remember the loss. How long will that be, do you think? Some tragedies are never forgotten, yet others fade. This one brought in its wake a great economic loss and a turning of our public discourse into two polarized camps. So 9/11 may be one of those not soon abandoned.

With that in mind as I looked around the web at what others were saying, I happened upon the commentary at Legal Insurrection where Professor Jacobson had some choice words for the shameless Krugman (yes, that Krugman, the New York Times’ hapless ‘economist’) and his reflections on the “oddly subdued” 9/11 commemorations. The Professor notes:

It doesn’t matter what the facts are, it’s Krugman’s world view in which conservatives and Republican always are the culprits, which is the problem. Tellingly, the last sentence in Krugman’s post is “I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.”

[…]

in a sense I’m glad Krugman gave voice to it on this day. They can’t stand the fact that the attacks on 9/11 proved that their world view was wrong, and every mention of 9/11 is like a thorn in their political sides.

As I said before, and mentioned again (above) this is the “public discourse [of] two polarized camps”. It is obvious to which camp Gates of Vienna belongs, though with the fragmentation on the right, not all in our tent treat us as welcome guests. But that’s okay. We’re staying anyway.

In a comment on the Baron’s post today, Elisabeth reflects another facet of this polarizing effect Islam has on its hosts:

The Other 9/11 will be one not celebrated by Austrians, as mention of the Turkish siege and the subsequent victory by Sobieski will no longer be taught to Austrian grade school students: the feelings of children of Turkish descent might be hurt.

God help us and the Austrian people.

To which I would add, “Be of good cheer. He already has.”

It seems the Poles have long memories indeed, and they still occupy a small piece of Vienna where the 328th anniversary of that victory — for which our blog is named — is still celebrated with great fanfare in Vienna, and the battle is recalled:

The French engineer Dupont who served in the Polish army noted in his diary:

Great God! What a spectacle presented itself to our eyes from the apex of this mountain! The enormous space covered with sumptuous tents. The dreadful thunder of the enemy’s batteries and the reciprocating shots coming from the city walls filled the air. Smoke and flames shrouded the city in such a way that only the tops of the towers were visible in between. Besides, more than 200 000 Turks are spread in order of battle before their camp in the distance from the Danube to the mountains, and farther to the left of the Turks uncounted Tatar hordes approached the heights and the forests. All this was in full motion, and marched against the Christian army.

Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa, however, had failed to deploy infantry units in the Vienna Woods. The Poles could therefore break through the defense line of the Turks and locked them in the north-west of Vienna in fierce battles. After the nucleus of the Turkish troops had been destroyed, the Turks seized the headlong flight. Kara Mustafa had lost the battle of Vienna despite triple numeric superiority…

The Turkish army gathered once again at Raab [today’s Gyor, in Hungary] and moved from there back to Belgrade. It was here that the unsuccessful commander Kara Mustafa was strangled on 25 December on the orders of the Sultan.

The empire of the Hapsburgs took a long time to recover from the devastation by the Turks. Yet this victory of the Christians initiated the gradual suppression of the Ottoman sphere of influence in Europe.

And who could have known? This information from a Russian blog REDACTED TO REMOVE LINK [see below][…]describes today’s festivities at the Church of Saint Joseph. Notice that the Mass was celebrated on the heights outside Vienna, by a Polish bishop from the Katowice Archdiocese. If I understand it correctly, the priests who serve at this church come from the same diocese in Poland so there must have been ecclesial arrangements made long ago for this perennial tribute to Jon Sobieski [the emphasis below is mine]:

This year, the 328th Anniversary of the Battle of Kahlenberg (Battle of Vienna) was held this Sunday with a solemn High Mass celebrated in the Church of St. Joseph on the Kahlenberg. The Holy Mass was celebrated by HE Bishop Gerard Bernacki from the Archdiocese of Katowice. The High Mass was accompanied by the choir of the Archdiocese of Katowice under the direction of Krzysztof Kaganiec. In a brief appraisal, the bishop pointed to the importance of the Polish military relief in 1683 for the Christian history of the West, but avoided any allusion to today’s situation. [Politically correct silence reigns everywhere — D]

Following the Holy Mass on the parvis of the church a harvest festival was held with performances by the singing and folk dance ensemble “Podhale-Zakopane” and distribution of fresh bread and grapes from Poland to the visitors. A sporting event, i.e. a running race in honor of the Polish King Sobieski marked the end of the celebration.

It is very gratifying to see that the memory of the Battle of Kahlenberg is still so vivid in Poland that every year many people from Poland, especially young people, find their way to Vienna to join the commemorations. It would be nice if this memory would be similarly pronounced in the Viennese population, especially in the red-green Vienna city administration. The latter had not even officially sent a single representative to the ceremonies and was conspicuous by its absence.

Since the city will not send representatives, perhaps some of Austria’s political parties will be brave enough to do so?

Next year’s celebration is bound to be even bigger, given the planned canonization in May of that other world-famous Pole, Pope John Paul II.

Patriotic Austrians might consider an alliance with these Poles on the heights above Vienna. They might also consider an alignment with the current Pope, Benedict XVI, a Bavarian who is fluent in German and French. Ratzinger chose his papal name partly because Benedict of Nursia is the patron saint of Europe.

This pope is outspoken in his reflections on the crucial need for the faculty of Reason as it applies to theological questions. His views have been roundly criticized by Islamic scholars, who view submission as the only requirement.

On the other hand, Benedict speaks favorably about immigration, so there may be some work to do to bring him round to a more realistic view.

At any event, there will be a 329th celebration of Sobieski’s arrival at the Gates of Vienna, just in the nick of time. Patriotic Austrians, frustrated at the deliberate silence of Vienna’s city fathers, would do well to put in an appearance at St. Joseph’s Church to join the celebration.

Hat tip: ESW

*** UPDATE ***

I received a request today to remove the link to the feature about St. Joseph’s Church, above. The person making this request that it was private —

this blog is not intended for public use, and most of its contents (in fact, 99%) are open to registered users only (i.e., journalists who participate in our translation network).

His email was courteous, though I’m at a loss to understand why I was able to open a page in a “private” blog.

Yes, of course, I will also let the writer know about the wayback machine and about the nature of cached pages, and how this creates even more attention. Eventually I suppose his link will disappear from the cached material, but probably not so easily from the wayback gizmo.

Cyberspace may not equal eternity, but it comes close to it on this side of the divide.

Strange.

Burn, burn USA! Muslims, rise up!

Below is a more extensive collection of video clips put together by the English Defence League from today’s Muslims Against Crusades demonstration in London, and the EDL’s attempted counter-demonstration.

You can see the notorious but cuddly Anjem Choudary doing his usual thing for the crowd. Then there’s another Muslim speaker that I recognize from previous videos, but I can’t remember his name. You can also see the red-headed young convert who was featured recently in MAC propaganda posting “Shariah-Free Zone” stickers in East London.

Halfway through the video the EDL demonstrators are read a Section 14 notice and then forcibly relocated by the police. You’ll hear EDL leader Kevin Carroll’s inspirational words in response to the actions of the police:

Hat tip: Kitman.

On a lighter note, here are some EDL members enjoying themselves while they honor their American cousins on the streets of London.

Many thanks to Alec Buck for taking the video, and to Vlad Tepes for uploading it:

Bonus Trivia Question: What song did the EDL use as the model for their “Where’s Bin Laden” pastiche?

It’s a sign of my advanced age that I recognized it immediately.

From the English Defence League’s Facebook page:

An Apology to our American friends on behalf of The British Government and Met Police Hierarchy

We are so sorry for today’s events, and would like to say sorry on behalf of the British public.

Our efforts to try and stop MAC today have resulted in two good lads being stabbed, running battles on Oxford Street, Hyde Park-Speakers Corner, Edgeware Road, and all around your Embassy.

It is our everlasting shame that our Government is too weak to make a stand against Radical Islam.

Reports will follow.

Two more photos are below the jump:

Thanks to Kitman and Vlad Tepes for finding the photos.

Demonstrators from the group “Muslims Against Crusades” gathered outside the American embassy in London today during the 9-11 commemoration. Led by the notorious Ilford firebrand Anjem Choudary, they chanted “Burn, burn, USA!” and burned an American flag during the two minutes of silence. Members of the EDL arrived to mount a counter-demonstration, but were moved away by police.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

According to this report, matters became more serious when two EDL members were stabbed outside a pub on Edgware Road, in a predominantly Muslim area. The use of the ambulance helicopter is a sign that at least one of them must have been fairly seriously injured:

UK: EDL Clash With Locals in Edgware Road

EDL members have descended onto one of London’s most famous streets and have had clashes with locals, this evening.

Around 50-100 EDL members are currently on Edgware Road, a part of London dominated by the Arab community.

Chairs and windows have been smashed and police are trying to separate the two groups. The Edgware Road area is completely gridlocked with traffic tailing back all the way to White City and the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush

A London Air Ambulance has arrived in nearby Hyde Park, which is at the top of Edgware Road at the Marble Arch crossing. Some people have said that someone has been seriously injured although this is unconfirmed.

Earlier, EDL members clashed with the group Muslims Against the Crusades outside the 9/11 memorial near the US Embassy. 4 arrests were made.

The EDL alleged on their Facebook page that a member had been stabbed (picture 2)

A reader from New York State sends this account about an Eid festival that was held yesterday in surprising (and, for us “Islamophobes”, disturbing) proximity to a new 9-11 memorial next to a firehouse in the community of Wappingers Falls.

Her first set of observations was written yesterday, and she includes a brief follow-up from this morning.

Saturday September 10

As I was out assisting my son’s move to his own new home today, I drove past a fire house which is putting the finishing touches on a brand new 9/11 memorial using one of the I-Beams from the Twin Towers.

Paused at a traffic light, I took notice of the feverish efforts of several locals raking the ground to a smooth finish in preparation for tomorrow’s dedication marking the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Distracted by noise coming from my far left, I turned to witness the utter gall of the local mosque’s Eid carnival taking place directly across from this memorial. To the best of my knowledge, this mosque has never used that parcel of land for amusements in the past. I have never seen anyone use that parcel of land at all.

Recently, I did take notice of a WWII memorial statue depicting a soldier crouching to honor the war dead, and is located across the road from this mosque, appears to face this mosque. I took satisfaction in that image, imagining our soldiers keeping a watchful eye on it.

Many carnivals and family day events are held on the property this WWII memorial graces as seen in the photo below. The WWII memorial would be to the left of the individual on the left of this photo.

The mosque is visible in the distance of the above photo as well.



However, unlike all previous summer fun festivities, this Eid festival is timed to coincide with 9/11 and at a location directly facing the new 9/11 memorial. I’ve not been aware of any previous Eid festivals at this mosque or near it. If they held similar activities in the past, it wasn’t as visible or at this location.

Sunday September 11

At the break of dawn this morning I drove past the site again and to my satisfaction noticed the entire lot across from the new 9/11 memorial is clear of any Eid festivities prior to the dedication ceremonies.

True to the mosque website’s claim, the Eid carnival was only taking place yesterday.

Where a commercial-sized, inflatable dual slide with walking balls existed yesterday, only a stubborn puddle from the deluge of rain earlier this week remained. A white tent remains up the hill, back on the mosque property, and does not impose upon the 9/11 memorial.

Perhaps I’m over-sensitive, and overreacted to yesterday’s event. The timing and placement of this carnival could have been planned better to avoid the juxtaposition of such an inappropriate festival directly facing preparations for the ten-year memorial for 9/11.

To turn your mind away from what happened ten years ago today, read about the Other September 11th.

This breaking news story came in overnight from Sweden. Four people planning terrorist violence were arrested last night in Gothenburg.

Our Swedish correspondent Freedom Fighter sends a brief translation, and includes this explanation:

This story is in all the Swedish press, but the police are being very secretive about it. It must have been Baptists protesting Catholic art.

Four persons were taken into custody by the national SWAT team, so something big was up.

The article from Sveriges Radio:

Sweden: Four arrested in Gothenburg on suspicion of terrorist crimes

The arrest of the four suspects at the Röda Sten Art Gallery in Gothenburg.

Röda Sten Art Gallery was cordoned off and evacuated.

The four were arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist crimes, says Sara Kvarnström at the Swedish Security Service, to Swedish radio. Police in Sweden said that the area around the art gallery was cordoned off as a result “of a threat that involves serious danger to life and/or health and extensive destruction of property.”

Another account of the same incident may be read in Expressen (in Swedish; hat tip Steen).