Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/11/2014

President Obama’s approval rating is higher among Muslims than any other religious group. 72% of American Muslims approve of Mr. Obama’s job performance, while only 20% disapprove.

In other news, after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Kurds of harboring terrorists, Kurdish members of parliament withdrew from Iraq’s central government, and Kurdish troops seized control of two oil fields in northern Iraq.

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

Thanks to Caroline Glick, DS, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, JP, MC, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

USA
» Inside the CIA’s Secret Prisons
» Lebron James to Return to Cleveland Cavaliers, Leaving Miami Heat
» Minneapolis Protest Demands End to Collective Punishment of Palestinians
» Obama Approval High With Muslims
 
Europe and the EU
» British Jihadi: I Won’t Return to UK Until Black Flag Flies Over Buckingham Palace
» CHEOPS Exoplanet Mission Meets Key Milestones En Route to 2017 Launch
» Europe is Dying, Says France’s Leading Demographer, And Britain Would be Better Off With the Anglosphere
» Germany Affirms Friendship With U.S. Amidst Spying Claims
» Germany: Man Set Himself on Fire Before Libyan Embassy in Berlin
» Germany’s Choice: Will it be America or Russia?
» Greece: Golden Dawn Spokesman Kasidiaris Detained
» Italy: Pedophile Priest Conviction Upheld on Appeal
» Italy: Three Men Arrested for TAV Bomb
» Italy’s Indesit to Go to Whirlpool
» Italy: Soccer: Balotelli Points Virtual Gun at ‘Haters’
» Marry Muslims to Tackle Islamophobia, Says UK Lord
» Netherlands: Pim Fortuyn’s Killer in Court to Have Parole Terms Relaxed
» Training to be a ‘Terrorist’ To be Grounds for Loss of Dutch Nationality
» UK: Countdown to WW1 Centenary: Worcester Remembers
» UK: If You Want Social Mobility, Teach Kids at the Bottom End to Write Thank You Letters
» UK: London Protest: Israeli Embassy, 11 July 5.30 PM. Stop the Bombing, Stop the Killing, Free Palestine
» UK: Man Arrested on Suspicion of Terrorism at Luton Airport as He Tried to Travel to Turkey
» UK: Politicians Making it Up as They Go Along Says Head of RAF as He Attacks Indecision
» UK: Single Light for First World War Reflection
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» A Saba Answers His Granddaughter’s Concerns About the Threats to Israel
» Caroline Glick: Hamas’s (And Iran’s) Fail-Safe Strategy
» Cosatu Statement on Israel Bombings of Gaza — Do Unto Apartheid Israel What You Did to Apartheid South Africa
» Gaza: Blame the Left for This War
» Israeli Strikes Kill More Palestinians; Rocket Causes Huge Blaze in Israel
» Israel to Start Land Operation Against Gaza: Abbas
» Netanyahu: Israel Will Continue to Hit Hamas Hard
» Op-Ed: Hamas Violence: The Bigotry of Low Expectations
» Protests Sweep Across Europe Against Israeli Aggression
» South Africa: ANC Slams Attacks on Gaza
» UN Human Rights Commissioner Attacks Israel Over Self-Defense
 
Middle East
» 11 People Injured in Blast in Western Turkey
» Clashes, Bombings Kill 26 in Western Iraq
» Dirty Bomb Fears After ISIS Seize Uranium
» Emirates: Ugandan Journalist Sacked Over Critical Book
» Iraq Kurds Take Control of Two Oil Fields
» Iraq Conflict: Kurds Seize Two Oil Fields in North
» Seven Jihadists From the Hague Die in Syria
 
Russia
» Amnesty: Abduction and Torture Grip Eastern Ukraine
» Scores of Rebel Lives for Every Ukraine One Says Poroshenko
» Thirty Soldiers Killed in Missile Attack in Ukraine
» Up to 30 Ukrainian Servicemen Killed by Pro-Russian Rebel Grad Missile Attack
 
South Asia
» Protests Rock Indian-Controlled Kashmir Over Israeli Attacks on Gaza
» Singapore Launches “Healthy Plate” To Replace “Healthy Food Pyramid”
 
Far East
» China Says iPhone is a Threat to National Security
» How Do Rich Chinese Elude Foreign Exchange Laws to Move Their Money Abroad? Take Your Pick of Ways
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» More Than 500 Dead From Ebola in West Africa as Virus Continues to Spread
» Nigeria Hands Over Suspected Sea Pirates to Interpol
» South Africa: Boy Slain After ‘Changing Into a Tiger’
 
Immigration
» EU Court Rules Against German Language Tests
» Euro-Court Destroys Cameron’s Pledge That Immigrants Must Speak English
» Germany Can’t Require Language Skill for Family Visas, European Court Rules
» Glenn Beck to Bring Soccer Balls, Hot Meals to Illegals: ‘We Must Open Our Hearts’
» Greece: 2 Undocumented Migrants Dead in Boat Capsize in Aegean Sea
» Mother of Officer Killed by Illegal Immigrant Writes Obama
» Obama Seeks Brisk Passage of Border Children Funding Bill
» UN Pushes for Migrants to be Called Refugees
 
Culture Wars
» Northern Ireland: Case of the ‘Gay Cake’ Reveals Worrying Double Standards Among Liberals
» Seal Team 6 Member Becomes Pentagon’s Poster Girl in Transgender Recruiting
» Swedish Anti-Abortion Midwife Sues County
» UK: Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin: Women Bishops Would be a Miracle
 
General
» Chimpanzee IQ Starts in the Genes
» Early Universe Explorer Looks for Answers
 

Inside the CIA’s Secret Prisons

In the wake of the 9/11 terror attack, questions have been asked about the tactics used in former US president George W. Bush’s “War on Terror”. Extraordinary rendition saw many suspects flown to other countries where beatings and torture were used to extract information and confessions. Our report features a man whose life has been shattered by this process. He was arrested, tortured, imprisoned for almost a decade… for something he did not do. He reveals his story to France 24.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Lebron James to Return to Cleveland Cavaliers, Leaving Miami Heat

Four years after he bolted from Cleveland to Miami in pursuit of the N.B.A. championships that had eluded him, LeBron James is returning home.

At age 29 and with two N.B.A. titles now in his possession, James decided Friday to rejoin the Cavaliers, for whom he played in the first seven seasons of his storied professional career. Vilified in Cleveland when he decided to leave for the Heat, James is likely to find that all is forgiven, and more, as he embarks on an effort to bring a championship to a city that has not celebrated one in any major sport in 50 years.

James, who grew up in nearby Akron, Ohio, and is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of his generation, made the announcement through Sports Illustrated’s website, saying: “My relationship with northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.”

[Return to headlines]
 

Minneapolis Protest Demands End to Collective Punishment of Palestinians

Minneapolis, MN — Hundreds of Palestinian community members and supporters gathered here July 8, outside the office of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, to demand an end to Israel’s recent campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Approval High With Muslims

President Barack Obama’s approval rating is higher among Muslims than any other religious group, a new poll says.

According to a Gallup poll released Friday that tracked responses for the first six months of 2014, 72 percent of Muslims said they approve of the president, compared with just 20 percent who disapprove…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

British Jihadi: I Won’t Return to UK Until Black Flag Flies Over Buckingham Palace

Jihadist says he doesn’t want to come back to what he has left behind in Britain because it is ‘just pure evil’, says Abu Osama who is fighting with jihadists in Syria.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

CHEOPS Exoplanet Mission Meets Key Milestones En Route to 2017 Launch

ESA’s first small Science Programme mission is ready for construction. The implementation phase has started, meaning that the spacecraft has gone from selection to implementation in less than 18 months.

The rapid progress places the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) on course for meeting its target of being ready to launch by December 2017.

CHEOPS is the first in a possible class of small missions to be developed as part of ESA’s Science Programme. These will be fast turn-around, highly focused missions that complement the Science Programme’s medium and large missions.

CHEOPS will target nearby bright stars that are already known to have exoplanets in orbit around them, in order to provide new insight into the characteristics of those planets.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Europe is Dying, Says France’s Leading Demographer, And Britain Would be Better Off With the Anglosphere

By Daniel Hannan

The ratio of pensioners to workers will, according to The Economist, rise from 28 per cent to 58 per cent — and even these statistics assume the arrival of a million immigrants every year.

However, as Emmanuel Todd explains (in English) in the clip above, these figures gloss over the variations within the EU. Britain and Scandinavia enjoy better demographic prospects than do most Continental countries. Todd says that he sympathises with the British dilemma: after all, there will soon be more people in the Anglosphere than in the EU. He doesn’t exactly use the phrase “enchaîne’s à un cadavre”, but you get his point.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany Affirms Friendship With U.S. Amidst Spying Claims

Says collaboration goes beyond that of its secret services

(ANSA) — Berlin, July 11 — Following a decision by the German government to expel the US CIA chief in Berlin, on Friday in a press conference Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert confirmed Berlin’s friendship with the US.

“The friendship with the US isn’t in question,” said Seibert. “Our collaboration goes wider and deeper than that between the secret services.” The decision came on Thursday, as a result of German authorities having discovered two suspected US spies operating in the country.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Man Set Himself on Fire Before Libyan Embassy in Berlin

BERLIN, July 11 (Xinhua) — A man set himself on fire in front of the Libyan embassy in Berlin on Friday, local police told Xinhua.

Press reports said earlier that the incident took place near the Israeli embassy in Berlin. This information has been corrected.

Local police told Xinhua that the man set himself on fire at about 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT)…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Germany’s Choice: Will it be America or Russia?

For decades, Germany’s position in the West remained unquestioned. Following the NSA spying and other political scandals, many Germans want greater independence from the US. But does that mean getting closer to Moscow?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Golden Dawn Spokesman Kasidiaris Detained

His custody is paving the way for trial against party

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JULY 11 — The spokesman for Greek neofascist party Golden Dawn, Ilias Kasidiaris, was remanded in pretrial custody on Thursday after testifying before magistrates leading a criminal probe into the party, paving the way for the trial of GD lawmakers and members in November after a 10-month investigation. As Kathimerini online reports, Kasidiaris — who was transferred to Korydallos Prison — became the ninth Golden Dawn MP to be put in pretrial custody, joining party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and the latter’s second-in-command Christos Pappas among others at Attica’s high-security penitentiary. The two magistrates leading the investigation and a prosecutor overseeing the probe agreed that Kasidiaris should be detained in pretrial custody after deeming that he was likely to commit further offenses if he was left free. The fact that he attacked cameramen and reporters following his conditional release in November last year is said to have partly influenced the decision. The party spokesman, who had been on conditional release pending trial on charges of running a criminal organization, said the new charges against him — possessing illegal weapons with the intent to supply a criminal organization — were “ridiculous” and that the case against him was “clearly political.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Pedophile Priest Conviction Upheld on Appeal

Father Calcedonio Di Maggio sentenced to 5.5 years in prison

(ANSA) — Palermo, July 11 — A Palermo appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of a priest for repeatedly sexually abusing a mentally disturbed minor.

Father Calcedonio Di Maggio, 65, was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in 2003, and then again in 2006.

A court found him guilty that same year, writing that he “abused of the powers and violated the duties inherent in his position as a clergyman”.

The Catholic Church accepted Di Maggio as a priest in spite of the fact that he allegedly found his vocation while doing time in the northern city of Turin. He had been convicted of several counts of sexual assault on children, back in 1986.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Three Men Arrested for TAV Bomb

Charges include terrorism

(ANSA) — Turin, July 11 — Italian police on Friday arrested two men in Milan and one in Lecce for a bomb attack against the TAV Lyon-Turin high-speed rail line under construction north of Turin in May 2013.

Police said the trio, aged between 24 and 26, were suspected of violence against property and police.

They will also face terrorism charges, they said.

POlice said they belonged to “a noted anarcho-insurgent group”. Among the charges against them police said, were possessing “weapons of war”.

Protests against the TAV are continuing, more sporadically than before, amid government insistence it will go ahead.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy’s Indesit to Go to Whirlpool

Iconic, troubled Marche company sold to US home-appliance giant

(ANSA) — Rome, July 11 — Iconic but lossmaking Italian home-appliance maker Indesit is to fall into US hands after Whirlpool reached a deal with the controlling Merloni family.

The American giant will acquire 60.4% of the Marche-base company for 758 million euros.

This will give it 66.8% of voting rights and it will subsequently launch an initial public offering for the rest.

Indesit, which makes Hotpoint and other top brands, has been in trouble for several years and recently had to lay off more than a thousand workers. Its shares rose 3% on news of the deal.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Soccer: Balotelli Points Virtual Gun at ‘Haters’

‘Big kiss’ to detractors

(ANSA) — Rome, July 11 — Mario Balotelli on Friday posted a picture on Facebook of himself pointing a gun at the camera, captioned ‘Big kiss to the haters’.

The Italy and AC Milan striker was among those most blamed for the Azzurri’s early exit from the World Cup.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Marry Muslims to Tackle Islamophobia, Says UK Lord

Christians should marry Muslims to tackle Islamophobia, a senior former judge has said. Lord Scott, who formerly served in the Supreme Court, said that his own family, in which two of his children married Muslims, is an example of how interfaith families can succeed, according to the Express…

[Reader comment by therealpm on 11 July 2014.]

Lord Scott is nothing but a treacherous dhimmi who is happy to see his family regress to Islam, despite the fact that the women will be seen as nothing more than chattels fit only for breeding and cooking. Whenever Islam penetrated a territory there were always some indigenes who would play the traitor to their own community by embracing the aggressor. Lord Scott is just an example of that despicable type, with which the aristocracy has always been riddled.

[Reader comment by Susan on 11 July 2014.]

It gives me a new picture of how it must have been for Britain pre-WWII, and maybe even during, with the aristos sympathetic to the Nazis. And don’t think the Nazis didn’t cultivate that to their own ends.

Those same stupid aristos would have found themselves dead if Britain had been taken over. The shock would have been priceless to witness.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Pim Fortuyn’s Killer in Court to Have Parole Terms Relaxed

The killer of politician Pim Fortuyn, let out of jail in May after serving 12 of his 18-year sentence, is going to court in an effort to have the terms of his release relaxed.

Van der Graaf was released from jail on condition he reports to his parole officer every week for the next six years, does not visit Hilversum, Rotterdam and The Hague and wears an electronic tagging device. He is also banned from speaking to the media.

Van der Graaf’s lawyer says the conditions are there to protect society but are unnecessary in his case because he behaved well during his time in jail.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Training to be a ‘Terrorist’ To be Grounds for Loss of Dutch Nationality

Dutch dual nationals will be stripped of their Dutch citizenship if they undergo ‘terrorist’ training or give ‘terrorist instruction’ to others, under draft legislation introduced by justice minister Ivo Opstelten on Friday.

Opstelten said in a briefing to parliament he expects the measure will have a deterrent effect. The ruling will only apply to dual nationals because under international law no-one can be left stateless.

People can already be stripped of their Dutch nationality if they join a terrorist organisation or join the army of a country which is in conflict with the Netherlands or an alliance involving the Netherlands.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Countdown to WW1 Centenary: Worcester Remembers

THE lights will go out in Worcester on Monday, August 4, as the city marks the outbreak of the First World War 100 years ago.

The city council is joining the national Lights Out campaign to commemorate the centenary of the breakout of war between 10pm and 11pm.

During the hour lights will be turned off on Worcester’s High Street as well as city council offices in Farrier Street and its depot at Sixways…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: If You Want Social Mobility, Teach Kids at the Bottom End to Write Thank You Letters

by Melanie McDonagh

Last week’s readers tea party at The Spectator was a delight. You always suppose that the people you’re writing for are interested, intelligent and nice….and there you go: they are. But after meeting them, I’ve been brooding about the importance of, how can I put it, charm, as a class issue…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: London Protest: Israeli Embassy, 11 July 5.30 PM. Stop the Bombing, Stop the Killing, Free Palestine

Demonstration called by: Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, CND, Friends of Al Aqsa, British Muslim Initiative, War on Want, Islamic Forum of Europe, Palestinian Forum in Britain

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Man Arrested on Suspicion of Terrorism at Luton Airport as He Tried to Travel to Turkey

A man was arrested on suspicion of terrorism at Luton Airport this week while trying to travel to Turkey. Scotland Yard said the 22-year-old suspect was held on Wednesday afternoon by officers from Bedfordshire Police before he got on the flight to Istanbul.

He was detained on suspicion of being involved in the preparation of acts to commit terrorism and taken to a police station in south London where he is still being questioned…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Politicians Making it Up as They Go Along Says Head of RAF as He Attacks Indecision

The head of the Royal Air Force (RAF) has delivered a stark critique of politicians for lacking decisiveness and “making it up as they go along”.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford said military figures wanted “answers now”, but had to deal with civilian leaders who left everything till the last moment and were obsessed with cost.

The comments, which could irritate David Cameron and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond among others, came in a speech to a conference organised by think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Single Light for First World War Reflection

A single light for a shared moment of reflection on the centenary of the outbreak of The First World War will remain on at East Lindsey District Council’s Tedder Hall headquarters on August 4.

The single light will be left on in the office of council leader Doreen Stephenson…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

A Saba Answers His Granddaughter’s Concerns About the Threats to Israel

Earlier today, my granddaughter, Elana Lipkin, wrote me about her concerns about the media’s treatment and threats to Israel in this latest rocket war with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Last summer, we posted on her prize winning essay and poetry after climbing up the snake path to the top of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea. (See this Connecticut Jewish Ledger article “KOLOT-Passing the Torch”). While in Israel, ‘Lana put in a brief training stint in a GADNA (youth battalion) where she learned firsthand what para-military training Israeli youths go through before entering the IDF. That stint included her familiarization of weapons on a firing range.

The following is an exchange of email between ‘Lana and her Saba (grandfather in Hebrew) that might be used by other concerned supporters of Israel, when their children or grandchildren ask them to explain why this rocket war is happening? Further, it also illustrates what they can do to support Israeli civilians and IDF service personnel, as well as, keep informed of developments in Operation Preventive Edge…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: Hamas’s (And Iran’s) Fail-Safe Strategy

What is Hamas doing?

Hamas isn’t going to defeat Israel.

It isn’t going to gain any territory. Israel isn’t going to withdraw from Ashkelon or Sderot under a hail of rockets.

So if Hamas can’t win, why is it fighting?

Why rain down destruction and misery on millions of Israelis with your Iranian missiles and your Syrian rockets and invite a counter-assault on your headquarters and weapons warehouses, which you have conveniently placed in the middle of the Palestinian people on whose behalf you are allegedly fighting?

Hamas is in a precarious position. When the terror group took over Gaza seven years ago, things were different.

It had a relatively friendly regime in Cairo that was willing to turn a blind eye to all the missiles Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were sending over to Gaza through Sinai.

Hamas’s leaders were comfortably ensconced in Damascus and enjoyed warm relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran.

International funds flowed freely into Hamas bank accounts from Fatah’s donor-financed Palestinian Authority budget, through the Arab Bank, headquartered in Jordan, through the UN, and when necessary through suitcases of cash transferred to Gaza by couriers from Egypt.

Hamas used these conditions to build up the arsenal of a terror state, and to keep the trains running on time. Schools were open. Government employees were paid. Israel was bombed. All was good…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Cosatu Statement on Israel Bombings of Gaza — Do Unto Apartheid Israel What You Did to Apartheid South Africa

On the night of the 8th July, 2014, Gaza woke up to the tremors of earth-shaking bombings by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). It is said since then more than 27 Palestinians, including more than 6 children amongst them, were killed and more than 200 have been injured as a result of the airstrikes by Israel. Dozens of homes have been demolished and several families lost relatives…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Gaza: Blame the Left for This War

by Jack Engelhard

The crux of the war taking place at this moment.

I was watching the BBC. On came a former Israeli ambassador to explain Israel’s military action in Gaza, the place Hamas turned into Terrorist Central. This ambassador who used to be so good came weak and unprepared. So I won’t mention his name. He failed. He made no case for Israel. He made the case for the BBC.

As he sat there mostly dazed for half an hour, I found myself hollering, “Why don’t you simply tell how it all began? That is the crux of it all.”

That is the crux of the war taking place this very moment.

For in the beginning Gaza was not Hamas. In the beginning Gaza was Israel…and it was rich. In Gaza’s Gush Katif some 200 farms in 17 Biblically religious communities produced cutting edge organic agriculture serving nearly a third of Israel. Some 9,000 Israeli inhabitants employing about 4,000 Arabs served even Europe’s grocery needs. Everybody prospered from export revenues that totaled some $200 million annually.

One day — kaput…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israeli Strikes Kill More Palestinians; Rocket Causes Huge Blaze in Israel

(Reuters) — Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed four more Palestinians before dawn on Friday, raising the death toll from the four day offensive to at least 85, while a Palestinian rocket hit a fuel tanker at an Israeli petrol station causing a huge blaze.

Israeli leaders, determined to end Palestinian rocket attacks deep into the Jewish state, have hinted that they could order the first ground invasion of the coastal strip in five years. Some 20,000 army reservists have been mobilised…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israel to Start Land Operation Against Gaza: Abbas

RAMALLAH — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday warned against an imminent land operation against the Gaza Strip. Abbas said the Israeli government had already approved a land operation against the coastal enclave and that the operation can start within few hours.

He said the Israeli army had asked Palestinians living in Gaza’s border area to leave their homes and head inside the strip.

“The Israelis just want to get us out of our land and our country,” Abbas was quoted by the official Palestinian news agency as saying during a meeting in Ramallah with representatives of some institutions from Jerusalem. We will not leave, but will continue to resist in a civilized manner, even as we do not have arms,” he added…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Netanyahu: Israel Will Continue to Hit Hamas Hard

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the nation on Friday that Israel would continue to strike “decisive” blows against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu praised the Iron Dome anti-rocket battery for intercepting hundreds of Hamas projectiles fired at Israeli towns.

The premier also praised Israeli civilians for their “fortitude” in the face of incessant rocket fire. Netanyahu said that the IDF has thus far hit over 1,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Op-Ed: Hamas Violence: The Bigotry of Low Expectations

By Ron Jager

This absence of Western moral judgment of the Arab world, including Hamas, can only be explained by the acceptance of a lower standard of behavior for that population. […]

Through the prism of Western media coverage and reactions by Obama and other political leaders from Europe, it has become painfully clear how the bigotry of low expectations of Arabs plays itself out here in the Middle East. It seems as though Arabs are seen as incapable of measuring up to the high expectations of international morality.

Prior to the murder of Mohammed Abu Khder, the kidnapping and murder of our three boys elicited little if any coverage in the major Western media outlets and no sympathy at the UN in Geneva, despite the outpouring of peaceful grief and unity throughout the Jewish world. It seemed as if the world accepts the legitimacy of barbaric behavior on the part of Palestinian Arab terrorists as the necessary price Jews must pay for not forfeiting their rights to live in Israel.

The use of the legally inapplicable term “occupation” as responsible for all of the violence that is directed against Israel — as if it began in 1967 -has become the all-encompassing code-word that justifies low expectations of moral behavior by Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Perpetuating this myth only reinforces the continuing violence that has rocked not only Israel in recent days, but is spreading murder and mayhem in all of the Middle East…

           — Hat tip: MC [Return to headlines]
 

Protests Sweep Across Europe Against Israeli Aggression

Concerned citizens in a number of European cities have staged peaceful protests against Israel’s aggression in the Gaza Strip, which so far has resulted in the killing of several dozen Palestinians, Felesteen newspaper reported…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

South Africa: ANC Slams Attacks on Gaza

Durban — The ANC launched a blistering attack on Israel on Thursday for its “barbaric attacks” on Gaza, likening Israel to the Nazis and accusing it of turning “occupied territories of Palestine into permanent death camps”.

“The recent attacks must cease as well as the ongoing and illegal Israeli occupation and collective Israeli punishment of the Palestinians,” deputy ANC secretary-general Jessie Duarte said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UN Human Rights Commissioner Attacks Israel Over Self-Defense

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay attacked Israel’s right to defend itself on Friday, casting into doubt Israel’s right to stop the constant rocket fire from Gaza under international law.

“We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes,” Pillay stated. “Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

A spokesperson for the UN added that, despite the fact that Hamas is deliberately using human shields, there is no ‘legitimate’ reason to strike homes in Gaza — terrorists or not.

“Buildings that are ordinarily used for civilian purposes, such as homes, are presumed not to be legitimate military targets,” said spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani. “Even when a home is identified as being used for military purposes, any attack must be proportionate… and precautions must be taken to protect civilians.”[…]

[La la la la la la La la la la la la — MC]

           — Hat tip: MC [Return to headlines]
 

11 People Injured in Blast in Western Turkey

ANKARA, July 11 (Xinhua) — More than 11 people were injured in a blast in the province of Denizli in western Turkey on Friday morning, private Dogan news agency reported.

The explosion took place in a central square in Denizli on Friday morning, leaving over 11 people wounded and causing major damages in the surrounding areas, said the report, adding the cause of the explosion is still unknown.

Ambulances and firefighters were sent to the area and an investigation by the Turkish police into the blast was underway, the report said.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Clashes, Bombings Kill 26 in Western Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq, July 11 (Xinhua) — A total of 26 people were killed in clashes and bombardments in Iraq’s western province of Anbar on Friday, a provincial police and a medical source said.

Fierce clashes broke out around midnight between the security forces and Sunni militants, including those who are linked to the Islamic State (IS), an al-Qaida breakaway group, in and near the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of capital Baghdad, leaving 11 policemen killed and dozens wounded, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Dirty Bomb Fears After ISIS Seize Uranium

Extreme Islamist group ISIS have seized 90lb (40kg) of radioactive uranium in Iraq which could be used to make a dirty bomb. The Times reports that the militants seized the material after overrunning a university in the city of Mosul, which they captured last month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Emirates: Ugandan Journalist Sacked Over Critical Book

A Ugandan journalist working in the United Arab Emirates was recently sacked and deported, after he wrote a book on mistreatment of labourers from poor countries.

The Observer has established that until he was sacked, Yasin Kakande worked with the English-language The National, a government newspaper in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. He was fired for writing an autobiographical novel describing the conditions of migrant workers and media censorship in the United Arab Emirates…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq Kurds Take Control of Two Oil Fields

PM accused them of harbouring terrorists

(ANSA) — Rome, July 11 — Iraqi Kurds on Thursday took over two oil fields amid an escalating dispute with the Baghdad government after it accused them of harbouring terrorists.

Kurdish forces seized control of production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in the north of the country on Friday.

Kurdish MPs withdrew from Iraq’s central government.

after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s charges.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq Conflict: Kurds Seize Two Oil Fields in North

Iraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad, Iraqi and Kurdish sources say.

Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in the north of the country on Friday.

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq’s central government. They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Seven Jihadists From the Hague Die in Syria

Seven people from The Hague have been killed in the fighting in Syria, mayor Jozias van Aartsen said on Wednesday.

In total, 33 people have travelled to Syria, six of whom have returned and are now under close surveillance, Van Aartsen said.

A further four people have been arrested, three under 18s have been stopped from travelling to Syria and three passports have been confiscated.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Amnesty: Abduction and Torture Grip Eastern Ukraine

Belligerents in eastern Ukraine are resorting to abduction and torture to intimidate their political opponents, according to Amnesty International. The rights group says pro-Russian rebels commit the bulk of the crimes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Scores of Rebel Lives for Every Ukraine One Says Poroshenko

Poroshenko threatens after death of 30 soldiers

(ANSA) — Moscow, July 11 — Pro-Russian rebels will pay with their lives “in scores” for very Ukrainian soldier that dies in fighting in eastern Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko said after 30 soldiers were killed in a missile attack Friday.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Thirty Soldiers Killed in Missile Attack in Ukraine

In Lugansk region

(ANSA) — Moscow, July 11 — Thirty Ukrainian soldiers were killed on Friday in a missile attack by Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The soldiers were involved in an offensive drive when the Grad missiles hit the village of Zelenopilla located in the region of Lugansk, according Zoryan Shkyryak, an advisor to Minister of Internal Affairs Arseni Avakov.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Up to 30 Ukrainian Servicemen Killed by Pro-Russian Rebel Grad Missile Attack

Ukrainian government forces had recently gained the upper hand in the three-month-old conflict in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern regions. REUTERS — A rebel attack with Grad missiles on a Ukrainian post on the border with Russia on Friday may have killed as many as 30 soldiers and border guards and final casualties may even be higher, an interior ministry official said.

If the casualty figures are confirmed, this would amount to the deadliest rebel attack on government forces since the Ukrainian military ended a unilateral ceasefire on June 30.

The pro-Russian separatists launched their attack at around 5 a.m. on the border post at Zelenopillya, in Luhansk region, military sources said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Protests Rock Indian-Controlled Kashmir Over Israeli Attacks on Gaza

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, July 11 (Xinhua) — Hundreds of people, including students in Indian-controlled Kashmir Friday staged noisy anti-Israel protests, condemning its attacks on Gaza that have left 100 people dead and several hundred wounded so far.

The protests broke out after Friday afternoon congregational prayers to condemn ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Singapore Launches “Healthy Plate” To Replace “Healthy Food Pyramid”

SINGAPORE, July 11 (Xinhua) — Singapore’s Health Promotion Board said Friday it has launched a chart named “My Healthy Plate” to replace the well-known food pyramid for a healthy diet.

The new chart features a plate with a half filled with vegetables and fruit, a quarter filled with brown rice and wholemeal bread, and the other quarter filled with meat and others such as fish and tofu.

Surrounding the lower half circle of the healthy plate are words that call for people to choose water, use healthier oils and be active…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

China Says iPhone is a Threat to National Security

Chinese state media called the iPhone a threat to national security today because the smartphone can record a user’s location.

State-run CCTV said that the “Frequent Locations” function could potentially be used to leak information on where a person had been and when.

A researcher interviewed by the television channel said that information was “extremely sensitive data” and that it could reveal “state secrets”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

How Do Rich Chinese Elude Foreign Exchange Laws to Move Their Money Abroad? Take Your Pick of Ways

A number of methods exist to circumvent Chinese restrictions on individual foreign exchange, from the complex to the very simple.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More Than 500 Dead From Ebola in West Africa as Virus Continues to Spread

It has been called the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history and the virus is continuing to spread in West Africa. Twenty-one people died in just two days alone in July in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the deaths happened between July 6 and 8, adding there were 44 new cases reported during that time. It brings the total of deaths in West Africa to 539 since February with 888 cases recorded.

“The epidemic trend in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new cases and deaths being reported,” the WHO said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria Hands Over Suspected Sea Pirates to Interpol

The Commander of NNS Delta, Musa Gemu, on Thursday handed over MT Gare ship with three suspects to the Interpol.

Mr. Gemu, while handing over the suspects to the team leader, Soji Idowu, said they were apprehended in March 2014…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

South Africa: Boy Slain After ‘Changing Into a Tiger’

A Durban man claims he acted in self-defence when he killed a Chatsworth boy because the child and his friends had transformed into tigers before his eyes. Sibusiso Madiya, 26, of Savannah Park, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the Durban Regional Court on Thursday.

Mlotshwa told the court his client believed in supernatural powers. In the prison where is being held during the trial, he saw fellow inmates transform into animals.

Prosecutor Krishen Shah said the accused had been referred for mental observation and was deemed mentally fit to stand trial.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Court Rules Against German Language Tests

BERLIN (AP) — A European Union court ruled Thursday that Germany can’t require the spouses of Turkish immigrants to show basic knowledge of the German language as a condition for being granted a visa.

Since 2007, Berlin has required spouses of long-term immigrants from outside the EU who want to join their partners in Germany to take a language test. The stated aim of the rule was to prevent forced marriages and improve integration of immigrants.

However, the European Court of Justice ruled that, in the case of Turkish immigrants, the requirement clashes with an EU-Turkey accord from the early 1970s that prohibited “the introduction of new restrictions on the freedom of establishment.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Euro-Court Destroys Cameron’s Pledge That Immigrants Must Speak English

The European Court of Justice has dealt a blow to David Cameron’s 2010 election manifesto pledge to make immigrants from outside the European Union pass an English language test before they are allowed to come to the UK to marry. In a judgement handed down on Thursday, the EU’s top court overturned a German law requiring foreign spouses from certain non-EU countries to take a language test before receiving a visa…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Germany Can’t Require Language Skill for Family Visas, European Court Rules

Germany’s practice of imposing a language proficiency test on Turks applying for family reunification visas is contrary to European Union values and agreements, the European Court of Justice has ruled.

The ruling directly applies only to the German government’s requirement that family members of German-resident Turks and other non-EU citizens prove they have basic German language proficiency to qualify for a visa…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Glenn Beck to Bring Soccer Balls, Hot Meals to Illegals: ‘We Must Open Our Hearts’

Glenn Beck said bringing soccer balls, teddy bears, and hot meals to illegal immigrants who have been detained along the U.S.-Mexico border will be the most right thing he has ever done.

On July 19, Beck will travel to McAllen, Texas, because he believes Americans must “open our hearts” to the illegal immigrant children who have been unlawfully entering the country.

“I’ve never taken a position more deadly to my career than this — and I have never, ever taken a position that is more right than this,” Beck claimed, according to The Blaze.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: 2 Undocumented Migrants Dead in Boat Capsize in Aegean Sea

ATHENS, July 11 (Xinhua) — Greek Coast Guard retrieved on Friday the dead bodies of two migrants off the coast of Samos island in the Aegean Sea after the sinking of a boat carrying undocumented immigrants from Turkey, according to local media.

Coast Guard officers have confirmed that a man and a woman lost their lives, while 13 persons — 12 men and one woman — were rescued…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Mother of Officer Killed by Illegal Immigrant Writes Obama

The mother of a fallen Mesa officer is writing President Barack Obama regarding illegal immigrants in the U.S. Mary Ann Mendoza’s son, Sgt. Brandon Mendoza was killed after an illegal immigrant was driving the wrong way on the road and hit Mendoza’s vehicle head on.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Seeks Brisk Passage of Border Children Funding Bill

Would subsidize schooling, health care, lawyers for illegal immigrants

President Obama’s new border spending request will pay for schooling, health care and lawyers for the unaccompanied illegal immigrant children surging across the border, officials told Congress on Thursday as they pleaded for quick action on the $3.7 billion package.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Congress must approve the money this month, saying that if nothing is done before lawmakers leave for a monthlong August vacation, one of his agencies will have to cut its other immigration enforcement in order to hold and transport the children.

But Mr. Johnson and other officials faced bipartisan complaints that Mr. Obama’s plan is “incomplete.” Democrats said it fails to compensate local communities who are having to face the problem, while Republicans said Mr. Obama needs to spell out details of how he wants to change the law to make sure the children can be quickly deported.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UN Pushes for Migrants to be Called Refugees

United Nations officials are pushing for many of the Central Americans fleeing to the U.S. to be treated as refugees displaced by armed conflict, a designation meant to increase pressure on the United States and Mexico to accept tens of thousands of people currently ineligible for asylum.

Officials with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees say they hope to see movement toward a regional agreement on that status Thursday when migration and interior department representatives from the U.S., Mexico, and Central America meet in Nicaragua. The group will discuss updating a 30-year-old declaration regarding the obligations that nations have to aid refugees.

While such a resolution would lack any legal weight, the agency said it believes “the U.S. and Mexico should recognize that this is a refugee situation, which implies that they shouldn’t be automatically sent to their home countries but rather receive international protection.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Northern Ireland: Case of the ‘Gay Cake’ Reveals Worrying Double Standards Among Liberals

by Fionola Meredith

Opinion: Seeking to compel others to observe particular cultural standards is totalitarian

Muppets. That seemed to be the prevailing view of the Northern bakery which refused to make a cake with a picture of Bert and Ernie, the tousle-headed Sesame Street twosome on top, and the accompanying slogan, “Support Gay Marriage”.

Public opinion was largely on the side of the gay rights activist who tried to order the cake, and the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, which sent the Christian-run bakery, Ashers, a letter threatening them with possible legal action for discriminating against a customer on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

Ashers themselves were mostly on their own, apart from the Christian Institute, and various members of the DUP, who popped up to defend the rights of God-fearing Ulster ptissiers to decorate their cakes entirely in accordance with their own beliefs…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Seal Team 6 Member Becomes Pentagon’s Poster Girl in Transgender Recruiting

By Bill Gertz

A former member of SEAL Team 6 has become the poster girl for a Pentagon effort to include transgenders — people who have undergone sex-change operations — in the ranks.

Kristin Beck, formerly Senior Chief Petty Officer Christopher Beck, spoke recently at several high-profile events at intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to promote the integration of transgenders.

“Transgender service in the armed forces, yes it will happen soon,” she said on Twitter.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, among the most politically correct Pentagon chiefs of the past several decades, fueled the effort within the Pentagon to integrate transgenders in May when he said the policy of banning transgenders should be reviewed continually. The transgender drive is the latest element of the Obama administration’s social engineering within the U.S. military.

The Pentagon currently defines transgenders as sexual deviants.

Among Ms. Beck’s recent appearances were speeches at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, according to the DIA and her Twitter feed.

She also was scheduled to speak to the Multicultural Heritage Committee at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, although one defense official said it is not clear how transgenderism fits within the multicultural spectrum.

Ms. Beck, author of “Warrior Princess,” spoke to the DIA on June 18 as part of the intelligence agency’s annual Pride Month — formerly Gay Pride Month but now expanded to include a host of sexually related terms, including transgenders. She received an award from DIA Director Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn at the event.

According to DIA’s newsletter, Ms. Beck, in her remarks, pushed for allowing transgenders in uniform. She said the Pentagon should stop defining people by external appearances and accept what they say they are on the inside.

“We are all, all of us, created equal, and we all deserve equal justice,” she said, explaining how she hid her true sexual identity during her military career…

           — Hat tip: DS [Return to headlines]
 

Swedish Anti-Abortion Midwife Sues County

A Swedish nurse who was fired for refusing to perform abortions due to her religious beliefs has enlisted the help of an American Christian legal organization as she takes her dismissal case to court.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin: Women Bishops Would be a Miracle

As the Church of England prepares to vote on whether to allow women to become bishops, Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin says a yes vote would be ‘a miracle’

Members of the General Synod will be asked to give final approval to legislation introducing women bishops, paving the way for the first female diocesan bishop in the Church of England by early next year.

Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who is chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, remains sceptical about whether the decision will go in women’s favour. “You know when folks say to me — ‘what do you think is going to happen?’ my reaction is I believe in miracles, and I do! I genuinely do! So I can expect a miracle and if the miracle comes then hey — God is good!” said Rev. Hudson-Wilkin…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Chimpanzee IQ Starts in the Genes

Study shows that about half of the animals’ intellect is heritable.

Smart chimpanzees often have smart offspring, researchers suggest in one of the first analyses of the genetic contribution to intelligence in apes. The findings, published online today in Current Biology, could shed light on how human intelligence evolved, and might even lead to discoveries of genes associated with mental capacity.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Early Universe Explorer Looks for Answers

A co-designer of an experiment that might have confirmed gravitational waves isn’t bothered by criticism that cosmic dust may account for his results.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/11/2014

  1. Caroline Glick, as usual, has a very vivid assessment of the situation in and around her country of habitation. If only a few more Western politicians could tempt themselves to ascertain the real problem that confronts Israel, maybe things would be a little different!

  2. 20% of muslims disapprove of Hussein. They have the right to feel that way because only 6 members of Muslim Brotherhood dictate what the USA policies should be, and the Jihad flag is not on top of the White castle of Caliph. That will take a few more years.

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