David Goldman, a.k.a. Spengler, talks to Ezra Levant about the rapid deterioration of the Egyptian economy in the wake of the “Arab Spring”, and the famine and chaos that lie ahead.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

For a discussion about the burka, the niqab, and related topics, Michael Coren doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk. Check out his latest fashion statement for the well-dressed Islamophobe…

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

The museum director quoted in the article below is an exemplar of the well-educated cultural elite in Norway. Like most other people in his cohort, he does not believe in the legitimacy of the nation-state, and views nationalism as a dangerous atavistic sentiment.

He is a reminder that the real enemy we face is not Islam. The people who threaten Western civilization are its privileged scions. They are some of the most intelligent and well-educated members of our societies.

Our Norwegian correspondent The Observer, who translated the article, includes this note:

This article talks about a museum in Trondheim (the third largest city in Norway) that refuses to fly the Norwegian flag because the director believes that it is a racist nationalistic symbol.

The museum director should also reflect a little bit upon the fact that he can freely insult his fellow countrymen (if he indeed is Norwegian) or neighbours (if he is, as I suspect, a Swede) without being physically harmed or fearing any other serious repercussions. He wouldn’t be so easygoing if the target of his derision were Islam.

By the way — in the penultimate paragraph the museum director is obviously referring to Palestinians, but doing so in a very subtle way.

The translated article from Adresseavisen:

Refuses to fly the Norwegian flag

The director of the Museum of Art in Trondheim, Pontus Kyander, hopes that the decision will generate a debate about the meaning of the flag.

In a post on the museum’s Facebook page today, he says that the national flag will never fly from the museum building as long as he is director.

“The Museum of Art invites everyone, regardless of origin or nationality. Nations are ideas of the 19th century,” Kyander claims.

He believes that a flag can be used and misused, and by not flying the Norwegian flag the museum hopes to generate a debate about the meaning of a flag.

“A national flag can symbolize nationalism, which in some cases can result in a nation seeing itself as superior to others,” he adds.

Venstre [Liberals] politician reacts

The Liberal Party county leader in Sør-Trøndelag, Trond Åm, reacts to Kyander’s decision.

“Kyander kicks the flag into the hands of nationalists and extremists, which is a pity, because the flag is well suited as the lowest common denominator in a society characterized by ethnic and cultural diversity,” he says.

Åm believes that the Norwegian flag is a symbol of belonging in a liberal democracy.

Wants to discuss nationalism

Last Saturday the Museum of Art opened the exhibition “Sammen” (Together), which is the first exhibition hosted by the Museum since Pontus Kyander took over. The exhibition is about the ‘human community’ with July 22, 2011 as the backdrop.

“Now it’s time for us to discuss nationalism, and not simply focus on Breivik’s sanity which we have debated since the nationalistic terrorist attack occurred last year. Clearly the flag means something completely different to Breivik than it does to you and me,” Kyander says.

The Museum Director is pleased that his decision to not fly the flag has generated such a debate

“Of course people are going to react. We want to create a discussion. Our job is not to decorate the community with nice pictures,” he says when describing the mission of the museum

Despite the unwillingness to fly the Norwegian flag, Kyander is open to the idea of flying the Sami flag [indigenous ethic group in Northern Norway] or the flags of “other nations” without territory.

The Museum of Art in Trondheim is not required by law to fly the Norwegian flag, as it is a private institution.

Fjordman adds this about Pontus Kyander:

He has studied and worked in Sweden:

• Writes art critiques on a regular basis for Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Malmö, Sweden.
• Chief editor for the contemporary arts program Format at SVT (Public Swedish TV).

If you’re a teenage boy who lives in Ontario and you want a quick snort, there’s an easy way for you to catch that buzz without any annoying requests to show ID. Just slip on a burka and pop into the nearest government-run liquor store — you’re good to go!

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Here in Virginia we have a similar government liquor system, the ABC. I wonder if the same trick would work in, say, Falls Church or Loudon County, where cultural enrichment is so thick on the ground…?

Ingrid Carlqvist was born in Stockholm. After graduating from Gothenburg University (journalism) in 1981, she worked as a reporter for Nordvastra Skanes Tidningar in Helsingborg.

In 1987 she moved on to Kvallsposten in Malmö where she stayed for twelve years, first as a reporter and then as a news editor. She was the first woman ever in the editorial management for Kvallsposten.

In 1999 she began free-lancing for different newspapers and magazines, constructed an award-winning board game and worked as an information officer for a theatre company. In 2006 she became a news editor for Aftonbladet in Malmö, and in 2008 editor-in-chief of the magazine Villaliv.

In 2005 she wrote her first book, and since then has written several biographies and one detective story. Last year she founded the Free Press Society in Sweden and became its President.

Below is the speech given by Ingrid Carlqvist at the Brussels Conference on July 9, 2012. Many thanks to Europe News for recording this video, and to Vlad Tepes for uploading it:

The text of Ingrid’s speech is here.

Previous posts about the Brussels Process:

2012		Jul		11		Beginning the Brussels Process
				11		The Brussels Declaration
				11		What is Sharia?
				11		The Brussels Conference
				11		Conference Agenda
				11		Conference Speaker Bios
				11		Brussels 2012 Defender of Freedom Award
				11		Proceedings — Brussels 2012
				11		Interview with Tommy Robinson at the European Parliament
				11		Press Release: Brussels Process Launched
				12		Pointing the Way for Freedom of Speech and the Press
				12		Brussels 2012: Prof. Hans Jansen’s Speech
				12		Tommy Robinson Speaks at the European Parliament
				12		The Death Throes of Free Speech in Europe
				13		“You Can’t Hide the Truth”
				14		Brussels 2012: Magdi Allam’s Speech
				14		The Crossroads of History
				15		“Toto, I Have a Feeling We’re Not in Sweden Anymore”
				15		Brussels 2012: Nidra Poller’s Speech
				16		The Islam Critics’ Conference in Brussels
				16		Brussels 2012: Gavin Boby’s Speech
				17		Tommy Robinson in Brussels
				17		Brussels 2012: Pierre Cassen’s Speech
				19		Brussels 2012: Alexandre del Valle’s Speech
				19		Brussels 2012: Pierre Cassen’s Speech, Subtitled in English
				20		The Reading of the Brussels Declaration
				21		Brussels 2012: Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff’s Speech
				21		Déclaration de Bruxelles 9 juillet 2012
				21		Brussels 2012: Lars Hedegaard’s Speech

For the first time since NATO supply convoys in Pakistan resumed earlier this month, mujahideen have attacked a truck carrying supplies for Afghanistan. The driver of the truck was killed, and a passenger was seriously injured.

In financial news, the Moody’s agency has warned Germany that its credit rating may be downgraded, due to the country’s exposure to the risky debts of less solvent Eurozone nations such as Greece and Spain.

In other news, a court in Nantes, France has ruled that fish have a right to come and go as they please, thereby outlawing man-made devices in rivers that control the movement of fish.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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.

As I mentioned last Sunday, a huge controversy has arisen inside the Beltway over the questions posed publicly by five Republican members of Congress about the infiltration by the Muslim Brotherhood of the United States government. Speaker of the House John Boehner has targeted Rep. Michele Bachmann in particular for her insubordination towards Saudi Arabia the GOP establishment.

Former congressman Newt Gingrich appeared on Politico yesterday to discuss the issue. Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

There seems to be a three-way demonic convergence joining the Obama administration, the Republican leadership, and apologists for the Muslim Brotherhood employed by various agencies of the federal government. The preferred tactic is to vigorously denounce any Republican who dares to point out MB agents of influence within the U.S. government. Those doing the denouncing have so far been unwilling to address the factual basis of statements made by Rep. Bachmann and her colleagues in the House.

Walid Shoebat has gathered ample evidence for the connections between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin in a lengthy paper, “Proof: Huma has Ties to Muslim Brotherhood — Countless Documents Surface”, published on his website (pdf):

We will prove beyond doubt that McCain, Ellison and the others are wrong. The evidence will show that Bachmann’s claim is not based on a “phantom,” “sinister accusation,” or “unspecified and unsubstantiated associations of members of Huma’s family.”

I recommend that readers take the time to download and read the whole thing.

Andrew McCarthy has drawn on Mr. Shoebat’s research and other material in an article published today at Pajamas Media. Some excerpts:

Huma Abedin and the Muslim Brotherhood: Closely Connected

Senator John McCain ought to be embarrassed. So should House Speaker John Boehner and Congressman Mike Rogers, the former FBI agent who chairs the Select Committee on Intelligence.

These pillars of the Republican establishment have been championing the cause of Huma Abedin, the deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ms. Abedin’s name arose, along with several others, in connection with questions pressed by five conservative House Republicans regarding Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the United States government. The GOP establishment, led by McCain, Boehner, and Rogers, has been slamming Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, one of the five House conservatives, over her refusal to back down from concerns over Ms. Abedin.

Here are four things, among many, that we now know:

1.		Huma Abedin’s mother, Dr. Saleha S. Mahmood Abedin (hereafter, Saleha Abedin), is an influential member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s division for women, the Muslim Sisterhood. She is also a zealous advocate of sharia law’s oppression of women — which McCain himself condemned in a 2011 interview with Der Spiegel.
2.		Not only that: Saleha Abedin is a board member of the International Islamic Council for Dawa and Relief. The IICDR has been long banned in Israel for supporting Hamas. It is also part of the Union for Good, which is a formally designated international terrorist organization under federal law. The Union for Good is led by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the chief sharia jurist of the Muslim Brotherhood. He is the world’s most influential Islamic cleric, and has issued fatwas endorsing suicide bombings against Israel and terrorist attacks against American forces in Iraq.
3.		Moreover, it turns out that Huma Abedin herself was, until late 2008, a member of another of her mother’s Islamist organizations, the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs. The Center for Security Policy has reviewed past mastheads of the IMMA’s journal. Huma Abedin is listed as an assistant editor (to her mother, the editor-in-chief) as far back as 1996, the year she began interning at the Clinton White House. The IMMA was started in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s by Huma Abedin’s parents, with the backing of Abdullah Omar Naseef. Naseef is a former secretary-general of the Muslim World League, which, as I’ve previously explained, has long been the Muslim Brotherhood’s principal vehicle for the international propagation of Islamic supremacist ideology. Under the auspices of the MWL, Naseef not only backed the IMMA, he founded the Rabita Trust, which — like the Union for Good — is a specially designated international terrorist organization under federal law.
4.		Furthermore, Huma Abedin’s brother, Hassan Abedin, besides also being part of the IMMA, was a fellow at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies. On the board at the Oxford Center when Hassan Abedin was a fellow were the aforementioned Brotherhood heavyweights and terror promoters, Sheikh Qaradawi and Abdullah Omar Naseef.

There is a great deal of background information now available about Huma Abedin and her family connections to the Brotherhood. In particular, extensive research has been done by Walid Shoebat (a former Muslim Brother who has renounced the Brotherhood) and the Center for Security Policy. I would encourage interested readers to peruse the information they have put out and are continuing to unearth. I am simply distilling the highlights, which powerfully demonstrate that it is the Republican establishment acting irresponsibly, not Rep. Bachmann and her conservative colleagues.

Once again, read the whole thing.

See also:

• Human Events: The Huma Abedin Muslim Brotherhood Flap
• American Spectator: Is Huma Abedin the New Alger Hiss?
• Marc Levin talks to Andrew McCarthy
• Rush Limbaugh on the alliance between the GOP establishment and the Left to marginalize Michele Bachmann
• Glenn Beck: Is Michele Bachmann being told to apologize or lose her position on the House Intelligence Committee?
• Study by the Center for Security Policy on the connections between Huma Abedin’s family and the Muslim Brotherhood

Despite the earnest wishes of John McCain and John Boehner, this issue is not going away. The Republican leadership should reconsider its ill-advised attacks on some of the most principled members of the party.

And Hillary Clinton should reconsider some of her ill-advised staffing decisions.

The IOC has refused to schedule a minute of silence during this summer’s Olympic ceremonies for the Israeli athletes murdered forty years ago in Munich.

Michael Coren discusses this and other Olympian issues on SUN TV. Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Update: The entire paper on Islamic finance is here. There is also an interview (in German).

A new study by the Stresemann Foundation reveals that sharia-compliant finance is gaining virtually no traction in Germany, due in large part to a lack of demand for it among German Turks.

A press release summarizing the foundation’s findings was sent to Gates of Vienna earlier today. Many thanks to JLH for this prompt translation.

Is Islamic Finance Collapsing in Germany?

Low Muslim Income and Lack of Agreement among Sharia Scholars as Intrinsic Barriers to Islamic Financial Products

Berlin/Jena, July 24 2012 — Islamic finance in Germany has, to the greatest possible extent, remained unsuccessful. A working paper from the Stresemann Foundation now shows that internal barriers especially are determinative. In the first place, Muslim immigrants are low-income and demonstrate little investment potential, because of having less formal education and because Muslim women often have no gainful employment. For another thing, the system of sharia scholars leads to problems due to nebulous legal practices.

“The present failure of Islamic financial products in this country cannot be attributed to lack of support by policy and the authorities,” declares Rebecca Schönenbach, author of the working paper and certified Islamic specialist. “In Great Britain and France as well, which have generously adapted their financial regulations to sharia-compliant banking, there is no demand from depositors.”

As is explained in the working paper — referring to scientific studies — it is not just the limited income of the Muslim community that is important. A third of the Turks living here invest in real estate in Turkey, and barely a fourth in real estate here. Not even a fifth admit to having a savings account in Germany. There is practically no investment in other methods of saving, including Turkish, Islamic financial products.

On the part of the vendors, according to Schönenbach, there is the problem that the role of the sharia scholars has not been satisfactorily clarified. She says, “There are hardly any clear guidelines for fatwas; Islamic legal opinions and the various authorities are contradictory. Additionally, there is often a lack of economic knowledge and lack of independence in financial institutions. The scholars as a whole must produce transparency about the values of Islamic finance and sharia, and for the non-Muslim public as well.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

The Stresemann Foundation — A Lobby for Freedom

Under the banner of the great statesman and Nobel Peace Prize winner Gustav Stresemann, the Stresemann Foundation champions the preservation of civic, liberal values. In this role, it counsels and supports those active in political affairs.

Gustav Stresemann Foundation
Press Contact: Felix Strüning (executive director)
fs@stresemann-stiftung.de| 0177-5 24 25 24
Kanzlei im Roten Turm | Löbdergraben 11a | 07743 Jena | Germany
www.stresemann-stiftung.de

Our Swedish correspondent LN writes to tell us: “The New Sweden is being Malaysified!”

He’s talking about a new initiative known as “One Sweden”, which aims to make Sweden even more tolerant, diverse, inclusive, multicultural, and all those other wonderful things that Sweden is so good at.

And, strangely enough, the project is based on a Malaysian original known as “1Malaysia”. The good, kind, thoughtful, well-educated people who run the Nation Formerly Known as Sweden have decided, using their advanced powers of ratiocination and deduction, that Sweden would be a better place if it resembled Malaysia.

Before we get into the details of this fascinating new scheme, let’s compare and contrast Malaysia and Sweden.

Malaysia, like so many other countries that became independent after the end of European colonial rule, was cobbled together from disparate pieces that had been combined under a British administrative structure. These regions and groups — mostly Malay-speaking, but of several ethnicities — are variously Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Malaysian constitution, but not really, because Islam is the state religion, and we all know how Islam treats other religions. Whenever constitutional rights and freedoms come into conflict with Islamic law, Islam holds the trump card.

So it’s no wonder that Malaysia is perennially searching for ways to reduce interethnic strife and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its civil administration. But what about Sweden?

Until about forty years ago the population of Sweden was made up almost entirely of, well, Swedes. Except for the Sami in the far north — and a sprinkling of Norwegians, Danes, and Finns — Sweden was populated by fair-complexioned blue-eyed people who spoke the same language, nominally observed the same religion, and shared a common culture.

All that has changed in the decades since, of course. Certain neighborhoods in major Swedish cities resemble Addis Ababa or Basra. Immigrant crime is endemic and epidemic. A level of violence that used to be unknown in Sweden has become routine.

Sweden was not remade through conquest.

It was never administered by a foreign colonial power.

No outside agency forced Sweden to become a polyglot mishmash of disorder and hatred.

Sweden did this to itself. Or, to be more precise, the well-educated ruling class, the cream of Swedish society, did this to the rest of Sweden.

And now, to fix the horrific mess which it has created and imposed upon the people it is supposed to protect and serve, that same ruling class has decided to make Sweden more like Malaysia.

Here’s what the One Sweden website has to say about the new, improved, ethically enhanced version of Sweden that is now under construction: (all summaries and translations from the Swedish in this post are by LN):

A new project for the unification of Sweden against violence has begun:

Modeled on the “One Malaysia” initiative, which involves not only the Muslim part of the Malaysian population, but also includes the Chinese and Indian groups. The focus is on joint training, development and democracy.

[…]

New impetus in One Sweden

…We are different voices with different political and religious interests, but stand united for One Sweden’s basic values. An open, democratic and prosperous Sweden.

In 2012, One, Sweden arrange a series of dialogue forums where persons active in civil society together will find solutions to various socio-economic problems in society.

For a closer look at the Malaysian model, consult the Wikipedia entry on 1Malaysia:

1Malaysia (pronounced One Malaysia in English and Satu Malaysia in Malay) is an on-going programme designed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on 16 September 2010, calling for the cabinet, government agencies, and civil servants to more strongly emphasise ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance.

[…]

1Malaysia stresses national unity and ethnic tolerance. The 2010 values of 1Malaysia as articulated by Najib Razak are perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity, and meritocracy.

Improving government efficiency is an important aspect of 1Malaysia.

Interested readers may want to check out the music video of the 1Malaysia theme song.

So who’s behind this push for imposing a Malaysian template on Sweden? LN notes:

The Steering Group for “One Sweden” seems to include the following:

1.		Kista College,
2.		Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice,
3.		Sensus Learning Centres,
4.		Seglora think-tank,
5.		Youth Against Racism,
6.		Paideia — The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, and
7.		Sektor3 think-tank

These are almost the same as the groups that signed on to the Svenska Dagbladet op-ed I translated a few days ago — except for the Pentecostals. Are Pentecostals now to be excluded?

The online forum Flashback.org discusses “One Sweden” in less than glowing terms:

Regarding Malaysia the following is applied.

• Muslims have priority to jobs in government and university programs.
• In its 5 states it is forbidden to convert from Islam to other religions. The punishment is flogging or imprisonment.
• The state makes it virtually impossible for Muslims to change religion.
• Women and men flogged for extramarital sex.
• Unmarried couples in hotels are arrested by the Sharia police.
• Cultural expressions, from Salman Rushdie to SpongeBob SquarePants are prohibited.
• A law, Internal Securities Act, makes it possible to detain people without trial indefinitely.
• Sodomy, including both heterosexual and homosexual oral sex, is illegal.
• Political Principle Rukunegara makes atheism unpatriotic

Has this campaign — One Sweden — chosen a suitable country as a model?

Will special legislation and prohibition of books that might offend Muslims be required?

Will the campaign be a success?

The nay-sayers at Flashback.org are to be disregarded. The right-minded deconstructionists in Stockholm (and Brussels) will have their way. The new, One Sweden will be built, with the Swedish MSM cheering the project on.

From Svenska Dagbladet:

Sweden shall be united against violence

In anticipation of the government’s action against extremism, a new network began today: One Sweden. After the suicide bomber’s and serial shooter’s crimes, Muslims, Christians, Jews and secular people will focus on what unites us.

Lena Lönnqvist, president of Sjövik College, Abdulkader Habib, president of the Kista College and Dr. Lindqvist Hotz from the Seglora foundation participated in the start-up meeting of Network One of Sweden…

When the suicide bomber Taimour Abdulwahab recorded an audio file for the Security Police (SÄPO) and the news agency TT, he turned, as he said, to the Swedish people. As the artist Lars Vilks’ drawings and Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan had been met with silence, “… so will your children, daughters, brothers and sisters die just as our brothers and sisters and children die.”

“Then I thought: what children are not my children? The serial shooter in Malmö claims the right to polarize society,” says the President of Kista College, Abdulkader Habib.

He and several other representatives of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and secular movements such as the free-market think tank Timbro gathered on Saturday to kick off a meeting of Network One, Sweden. The site was Medborgarexpon in Kista. One Sweden should not be an organization, no integration projects, emphasizes Abdulkader Habib. The role model is One Malaysia initiative, which aims at not only the Muslim portion of the Malaysian population, but also includes Chinese and Indian groups. The focus is on joint training, development and democracy.

“When I heard that the democracy minister intended to take stock of other countries to create an action plan against extremism, I thought: let’s not wait for it and then criticize. No, we should welcome it and make our own action plan,” he said.

Barbara Spectre, president and founder of the European Institute for Jewish Studies, Paideia, believes that One Sweden has an important role to play:

“We can celebrate difference and simultaneously affirm our agreement on what we all contribute to Sweden,” she says.

When Korans were burned, and people exploded and threatened and scolded on the internet, the Swedish popular movements reacted.

“‘We and they’ are no natural law. We need to show each other friendship,” says Dr Lindqvist Hotz, pastor of the Swedish Church and head of the think tank Seglora.

After the meeting Abdulkader Habib was hopeful:

“This is the start of a long term challenge for Sweden.”

One Sweden’s predecessor is One Malaysia, a political program that was launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak in the autumn of 2010. Islam is the state religion in Malaysia, but only half of the country’s almost 29 million inhabitants are Muslims.

Those who understand Swedish may want to watch this interview with Abdulkader Habib.

A group called Muslims for Peace has climbed onto the One Sweden bandwagon:

Now we initiate ONE SWEDEN — For a united Sweden

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

LN provides further background from various sources on one of the major movers and shakers behind One Sweden:

On 2 February 2010 Birgitta Ohlsson was appointed Sweden’s EU Minister to replace Cecilia Malmström. As an EU minister, said Ohlsson, she will highlight issues of aid to agriculture, human trafficking and the situation of the Roma. After the 2010 election she expanded her portfolio to include democracy and consumer issues.

She is married to Mark Klamberg, Doctor of Law and also he is active in the Liberal Party as a replacement in the Stockholm City Council.

Ohlsson 2011 was appointed to this year’s straight on the Gay Gala for her commitment to Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans-people’s rights.

–  –  –  –  –  –  –

Now, nationalism, or “right-wing extremism” as the media writes, in Europe, will be examined. Swedish Democracy Minister, Birgitta Ohlsson (Liberal Party), will lead the project. According to Ohlsson, the “right-wing extremism” has become more sophisticated and she compares it to Hamas and al-Shabaab.

“They organize Christmas celebrations for poor single mothers,” she says to Dagens Nyheter.

–  –  –  –  –  –  –

She is said to have been “upset” by the Golden Dawn member of parliament [in Greece] who attacked two Communists on television on Thursday. “Terribly uncomfortable,” said Birgitta Ohlsson on her Twitter. For two years, “right-wing extremism” shall be studied and identified and concrete measures will be proposed to be developed.

“We see that both parliamentary and non-parliamentary groups become stronger in Europe,” says Birgitta Ohlsson.

The countries to be studied are Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. The project will include developing a teaching package for teachers.

Media report that Birgitta Ohlsson was aware of “how right-wing extremism has changed” after her visit to the Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin.

They told her that the right-wing extremists are using increasingly sophisticated methods. They engage in social movements and are organizing Christmas celebrations for poor single mothers.

“They work like Hamas in Gaza or the al-Shabaab in Somalia,” continues Birgitta Ohlsson.

More from the Swedish government’s website:

Birgitta Ohlsson

Minister for EU Affairs, Prime Minister Department

“The EU must be a watchdog for human rights in Europe and worldwide. Less than half the world’s population lives in states where they can feel, think and believe freely.

“The EU must be a strong and courageous voice for freedom, democracy and rule of law.”

And also from the government’s website:

Action plan to protect democracy against violent extremism

9 December 2011, the EU and democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson, presented a national plan of action to defend democracy against violent extremism. The action plan includes measures to:

• Increase awareness of violent extremism
• Prevent people joining violent extremist groups
• Facilitate the departure from such groups

It’s hard for an outsider to grasp the nuances of Swedish culture — run as it is according to the highest ethical standards in the world — so I’ll distill the essentials as I understand them, and Swedish readers may correct me if I’m wrong:

• Sweden must stand up for the right to “feel, think and believe freely”.
• Sweden (and the EU) must be “a strong and courageous voice for freedom, democracy and rule of law”.
• In order to further these ends, the Swedish nation must prevent people from joining certain groups.
• Sweden must encourage people to leave those same groups if they are already members of them.
• “Right-wing extremism” must be exposed and resisted.

If you don’t perceive any inherent contradictions in the above points, then Birgitta Ohlsson’s educational initiative has been successful indeed!

You know that War is Peace, and Freedom is Slavery.

You are now ready to become a New, Improved Swede.

You are worthy of One Sweden.

Or, to paraphrase J.R.R. Tolkien:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Sweden where the Shadows lie.

The Spanish region Murcia has followed Valencia into insolvency and asked the central government for a bailout, increasing the chances that Spain will call on the ECB for a rescue. The prospect of a financial collapse in Spain caused the European markets to plummet, and also depressed stock prices in Tokyo and New York.

In other news, James Holmes, the Colorado theater shooter, appeared in court for the first time in a preliminary hearing. The suspect appeared dazed and inattentive, and his attorney had to answer the questions directed at his client by the judge. Mr. Holmes is being held without bail.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, CSP, Fjordman, Gaia, JP, Seneca III, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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.

The Sun, a British tabloid, has done the kind of investigative reporting that the larger papers can’t seem to manage: it busted a ring of corrupt Pakistani officials who were selling passports and visas that would allow buyers to enter Britain along with Pakistan’s Olympic team, and perhaps even gain access to the Olympic stadium.

As soon as its operative obtained his false passport, the paper turned its information over to MI6.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Below are excerpts from the accompanying article:

Olympic ‘Terror Visas’ Racket

Pakistan passport gang is smashed

A VISA scam giving potential terrorists the chance to sneak into Britain with Pakistan’s Olympic team has been smashed by The Sun.

We infiltrated a crime ring offering false passports, visas — and access to London 2012 as bogus support staff.

We uncovered a ring of corrupt Pakistani officials and travel staff conspiring with a prominent politician to bypass stringent security.

First they provided our undercover investigator with a genuine Pakistani passport in a false name.

Then leading Lahore politician Abid Chodhary spelled out how for around £7,000 he could get our man a two-month visa — and smuggle him into London 2012 as part of Pakistan’s Olympic squad.

The Sun secretly filmed Mr Chodhary as he explained how easy it was to get into the Olympic Village by masquerading as a member of the athletes’ support team.

We were told we could even take part in Friday’s opening ceremony.

At no point did any of the corrupt officials question our reason for wanting to sneak into Britain.

An investigation was under way yesterday after we alerted MI6, the Home Office, the UK Border Agency and the British High Commission in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

One intelligence operative said: “The Sun has unearthed a sophisticated network of corruption. The idea of unknown agents being flown in to the UK to be put up in the Olympic Village beggars belief.

“Terrorists would have the biggest platform to perform their atrocities. A member of al-Qaeda could fly to the UK on a genuine passport in another name and the authorities would be none the wiser.

“For all of our sakes this staggering loophole needs closing fast.”

Our investigation centred on the Lahore-based Dream Land travel agency — prosecuted nine years ago for human trafficking.

We approached one of its staff and a meeting was arranged in Lahore with a fixer called Bobby…

Hat tip: Seneca III.

Because Islam is the Religion of Peace ’n’ Love, right?

Just ask Condi Rice!

Vlad Tepes has compiled a celebration of Ramadan 2012, based on happy, happy news headlines from around the Ummah:

VaeVictis sent this narrative about an important battle in Spain’s 13th century Reconquista history, the history Islam is so anxious to re-write.

Unfortunately VV emailed the story to Gates of Vienna while the Baron was at the Brussels Conference; his essay was subsequently buried in the tons of correspondence that came in during that period. It was only his courteous reminder yesterday that made me realize I’d passed right by the timely commemorative post I’d planned. Thus, as wtih many of my good intentions this story is being published later than I’d have liked. But what the heck — I’m already infamous by now for my tardy thank you notes, belated birthday cards and wilted bouquets — why change my s.o.p. this late in the game? Besides, in the shadow cast by eight centuries, what’s an extra week?

It’s still a good story even though the present-day revelers have long since returned home to plan for next year. At least I hope there’s a next year for Las Navas de Tolosa. Who knows how long they’ll be permitted to continue commemorating this hinge of history?

July 16th 2012 marked the 800th anniversary of one of the greatest of the Spanish reconquista confrontations: the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. This crucial encounter pitted the combined might of the Almohad Empire against the disparate Christian kingdoms of Spain. The result was a spectacular triumph on the Spanish side.

In honor of this momentous victory the city of La Carolina, where the famous battle took place, has always hosted commemorative festivities to mark the occasion. However, with the increasing incursions of political correctness into Spanish culture this event has now been deemed unseemly and excessively nationalistic by certain elements of the Spanish establishment. Therefore no government representatives from the central, provincial or autonomous regions were present. Nor do members of the Spanish royal family any longer attend. Only the government of Navarre continues to support the occasion and to send representatives to commemorate one of the most important battles in Spanish history.

The surest way to obliterate a culture’s identity, or to dishonor a nation’s sovereignty is to ignore the momentous events of its past. In this case, it is a narrative worth preserving:

On the night before July 16 1212, a patchwork coalition of Spanish kingdoms and military orders secretly made their way over a little- known mountain pass to emerge by morning on the plains of Tolosa. Here a massive Almohad army numbering some 200,000 had occupied a strong defensive position. This immense force had been levied from across the entire breadth of the Almohad Empire by the Caliph al Nasir. Most were from the Almohad’s North African possessions including the modern countries of Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauretania and going as far south as Senegal. There were also contingents of Andalusians, Iberian Muslims born and bred in Europe, and fanatical volunteers from various corners of the Muslim world.

The Christian force was comprised mainly of the kingdoms of Castile, Navarre and Aragon led by their respective kings Alfonso VIII, Sancho VII and Pedro II. In addition there were significant numbers of zealous military orders, the knights of Santiago, Calatrava and Templars being the most prominent.

An official papal Bull had been issued declaring this to be a Crusade, but by then most of the European crusaders had long since abandoned the pushback against Islam’s incursions. In the end, they did little more than pillage the Jewish quarter of Toledo before turning back across the Pyrenees. Thus the remnant was a patchwork army of Christian kingdoms who had often been at war with each other; they had little experience combining their respective forces into a single cohesive entity. Nonetheless the threat posed by the Almohad invasion was understood to be severe enough to force the temporary coalition of this varied group.

Although the Spanish army had surprised the Almohads entering the plains of Tolosa by night, the battle itself would come as no surprise. By daybreak the two armies had already arrayed themselves in a face off. After the requisite preparations the Christian trumpets and Muslim atabals signaled the commencement of battle. In the center King Alfonso and the Castilian troops — as well as members of the military orders — pressed forward, eventually smashing their way to al Nasir’s bodyguard. Here they were confounded by a wall of 10,000 African slaves armed and chained together. For the Castilians it seemed there was no way to break through.

However, it was to be the Navarrese, led by Sancho VII, who discovered a way to pass through the chains. Once through they raised their banner from the other side. The slave wall surrounding al Nasir was itself encompassed and cut to pieces, forcing al Nasir to flee the battlefield. The remaining Almohad army was massacred in the tens of thousands, resulting in the annihilation of the Caliph’s army.

The might of the Almohad Empire had been effectively shattered. The enormous cost of mobilizing that massive force from every corner of the empire, only to suffer defeat at the hands of the Christians was both a military and a fiscal disaster. Even more importantly the battle served as a catalyst for the massive Christian territorial gains that would follow in the remainder of the 13th century.

By 1238 Cordoba, the traditional seat of the Caliphate, had been captured as had Valencia, Trujillo, Caceres, Badajoz, Merida, Medellin, Andujar, Baeza, Majorca and Ebiza. Within another decade Seville, Murcia, Niebla, Carmona, Jaen, Ecija, and Porcuna had also been conquered by the Christian armies. With the close of the 13th century their reconquista would founder for a time as the Christian kingdoms fought amongst themselves over the boundaries and sovereignty of rulers in the expanded territories.

The remaining autonomous Muslim lands would become known as the Kingdom of Granada and would survive until 1492.

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The effect of Las Navas resonates most strongly among the Navarrese whose flag and coat of arms bear symbols of the battle to this day.

The interlocking golden chains represent the chained slave-wall defenses around al Nasir. The red field symbolizes the red velvet of the Caliph’s tent. According to legend the green emerald in the center was the only piece of booty Sancho VII kept from the battle, leaving the rest to his troops.

Sadly, commemoration of this battle for Spanish independence is considered politically incorrect by the Spanish government. Yet surely the irony of the fact that this battle is what made possible the existence of the very government now too timid to join in its commemoration is not lost on those who benefitted?

This July only the government of Navarre was still willing to stand forward to proudly recognize and commemorate that July day eight centuries ago, when their heroic predecessor Sancho VII bravely stood and fought to regain the lands Islam had taken.

This time around, Islam’s soldiers seldom need to pick up a sword in the home of the West to make its citizens flinch. We are, as the Muslim Brotherhood demonstrates repeatedly, only too willing to destroy our miserable houses with our own hands.

For information on the activities held this year to commemorate Las Navas de Tolosa go here. One wonders how long Navarre will be permitted to continue honoring its past.