The city of Melbourne, Australia has approved the construction of a new Shiite mosque next door to an Assyrian Christian church. Some members of the church’s congregation are upset about the proposed mosque, since they fled from Iraq to Australia to escape persecution by Muslims.
In other news, the rabbi of a Jewish community in Casablanca was badly beaten by a Muslim on the street. As he attacked the rabbi, the perpetrator said he was retaliating for the Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas has rejected the terms of a ceasefire proposed by Egypt, and says it will intensify its war against Israel.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JP, MC, Srdja Trifkovic, Steen, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
One in 10 Italians Lives in Absolute Poverty
by Stefania Fumo
(ANSA) — Rome, July 14 — In 2013, almost one in 10 Italians lived in absolute poverty, meaning they could not afford enough goods and services to live a dignified life, national statistics bureau Istat said Monday.
This is a record high since the agency began keeping track of poverty levels in 2005, three years before Italy plunged into what is its longest postwar recession.
The number of absolute poor was 6,020,000, or 9.9% of the total population in 2013, up from 2,382,00 and 4.1% in 2005, Istat said in its Poverty in Italy report.
While the rate of relative household poverty was stable between 2012 (12.7%) and 2013 (12.6%), the rate of absolute poverty increased especially in the south, where the number of the absolute poor rose from 2,347,000 in 2012 to 3,072,000 in 2013, Istat said. Absolute household poverty increased from 6.8% to 7.9% in 2013 over the previous year, with those figures spiking in the south, jumping from 9.8% to 12.6% in the same period.
Absolute poverty rose among families with more than three people and those with children (from 8.9% in 2012 to 12.2% in 2013).
Additionally, minors living in absolute poverty rose from 1.58 million or 10.3% in 2012 to 1.434 million and 13.8% in 2013.
The elderly were also hard hit last year, with 888,000 or 7% of the total population living in absolute poverty, up from 5.8% in 2012. Another 6.4% of families in Italy is teetering on the brink of poverty, Istat data showed. Also on Monday, Coldiretti farmers’ association said the number of Italians living in extreme poverty more than doubled since the economic crisis began in 2007, and children were the hardest hit.
The extremely poor were 2.4 million in 2007, and rose by 150% to 6.2 million last year.
“In 2013, almost half a million, or 428.587 children under five needed food aid, up 13% over the previous year,” Coldiretti said.
Of these indigent children under five years old, 149,002 or 35% live in Italy’s impoverished southern regions and 129,240 or 30% live in the wealthier more industrialized north. More than 40% of all indigent children live in the Campania and Sicily regions, according to Coldiretti.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Despite Accusations of Treason, Bowe Bergdahl to Return to Active Duty With US Army Today
His comrades who have accused him of desertion and treason say they have not been contacted by Army officials. It seems unlikely that there will be a serious investigation at this point of whether Bergdahl deserted and sought out the Taliban, as several members of his unit have stated. The Obama Administration doesn’t seem interested in letting that story get a wide airing — for obvious reasons, since they traded five top jihad commanders for this man.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Officer Fires Weapon at Pro-Israel Rally
LOS ANGELES — Sheriff’s officials say nobody was hurt when a federal officer fired a single shot while attempting to break up an altercation during a pro-Israel demonstration in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times reports the Department of Homeland Security officer fired his weapon during the rally at the Federal Building in Westwood on Sunday.
Sheriff’s Deputy Juanita Navarro says the demonstration, which drew some 500 people, was breaking up when pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters began to clash.
Navarro says the officer sought to intervene and fired his weapon once.
Authorities say pro-Palestinian protesters critical of Israel’s bombing of Gaza Strip settlements arrived at the rally, and some in the crowds began yelling at each other.
The Times says two people were arrested.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Large Crowd Protests Israeli Action in Gaza Outside Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit
DETROIT (WXY) — A large crowd has gathered outside the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit to protest the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Organizers say they are demonstrating “as a symbol of joint struggle against displacement, denial of human rights, collective punishment, and surveillance.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Road Melts From Yellowstone Volcano’s Heat
Yellowstone National Park closed a popular road Thursday (July 10) after geothermal heat cooked the asphalt.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: “Take Action Against Racist and Anti-Jewish Slogans”
Michael Freilich, the editor-in-chief of the Belgian Jewish magazine Joods Actueel wants the Mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, to act following Saturday’s pro-Palestinian demo in the northern port city. Mr Freilich claims that a slogan used during the protest was racist and targeted the Jewish Community.
Mr Freilich told the Belgian press agency Belga that the Forum of Jewish Organisation in Belgium is filing a complaint with the judicial authorities and Belgium’s anti-racism centre. Contacts are also planned with Belgian Muslim leaders.
The editor-in-chief has asked city councillors who took part in the demo to distance themselves from that part of the protest.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Blackest is the New Black: Scientists Have Developed a Material So Dark That You Can’t See It…
A British company has produced a “strange, alien” material so black that it absorbs all but 0.035 per cent of visual light, setting a new world record. To stare at the “super black” coating made of carbon nanotubes — each 10,000 times thinner than a human hair — is an odd experience. It is so dark that the human eye cannot understand what it is seeing. Shapes and contours are lost, leaving nothing but an apparent abyss.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Britain First ‘Invade’ Crayford Mosque Demanding Removal of ‘Sexist’ Signs
Members of a far right group “invaded” Crayford mosque and demanded “sexist” signs be removed.
Britain First activists marched into the North West Kent Muslim Association mosque in the High Street at around 1.45pm yesterday. Led by former Swanley BNP councillor Paul Golding, they confronted members of the mosque over the building’s separate entrances for men and women.
A statement on the group’s website under the headline “Britain First Activists invade Crayford mosque”, said: “Islam treats and views women as second class citizens…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Britain to Spend Extra $1.6billion Monitoring Global Terror Groups
Prime Minister David Cameron revealed plans on Monday to supplement British special forces with an extra $1.6 billion to expand their surveillance and intelligence capabilities. Cameron has warned of a threat to the UK by militant groups operating in Iraq and Syria…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgarian-U.S. Landing Drill Kicks Off Near Plovdiv
SOFIA, July 13 (Xinhua) — A joint exercise involving Bulgarian special operations forces and U.S. C-130J Hercules aircraft started on Sunday near Plovdiv, some 150 km southeast of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia.
Daytime and nighttime training and combat parachute jumps would be performed during the two-week drill codenamed “Thracian summer 2014” as well as tactical low altitude flights, transportation of troops and cargo, and delivery of humanitarian aid, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said in a press release…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Finnish Pupils’ Space Mushroom Project Set for Lift-Off
Children from a Finnish school have developed an experiment that will leave earth tomorrow bound for the International Space Station (ISS). They are aiming to find out if mushrooms can be made to grow in space.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris Synagogue Attack: ‘We Could Have Had a Kristallnacht’
Pro-Palestinian rioters who besieged a Paris synagogue were armed with axes and knives, police lost control.
Serge Ben Haim, one of the leaders of the Jewish community in Paris, told IDF Radio Monday morning about the attack on a Paris synagogue by a pro-Palestinian mob on Sunday.
Ben Haim told his interviewer that the event was a watershed occurrence. “What existed in the past can no longer continue. We could have had something like Kristallnacht,” he said, referring to the infamous “night of broken glass” in 1938, when Nazis swept through Jewish towns and neighborhoods throughout Germany and Austria, murdering some 500 Jews, burning homes and synagogues, and destroying shops…
“On our side there are five lightly injured, three of them from being struck by the French police,” he summed up. “We skirted a true catastrophe yesterday. Today is not yesterday. We must analyze what happened — there are some very red lights going on lately.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: Anger Over Algerian Presence at Bastille Day Celebrations in Paris
The expected presence of three Algerian army officers and the Algerian flag at today’s 14 July, or France’s national day, celebration in Paris has provoked indignation in both France and Algeria.
The French far right and some army veterans object to the presence of the Algerians among 80 national delegations invited to represent the Allies who fought with France in the First World War. So also does a powerful organisation in Algeria which represents the “mujahaddin” or veterans of the struggle for independence from France in the 1950s and 1960s…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: Hollande Urges Middle East Diplomacy After Pro-Palestinian Protest in Paris
Synagogue under police guard after youths tried to storm building, trapping those inside, following march in capital
François Hollande is urging diplomatic partners to talk to Hamas and is pressing Israel for restraint in Gaza.
The conflict has fuelled tensions in France, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashing with security officers at a Paris synagogue on Sunday. “Israel has the right to its security; Israel can defend itself if it is attacked; but at the same time Israel should show restraint,” Hollande said in a televised interview marking Bastille Day.
A synagogue near the Bastille was under police guard on Monday after more than 100 youths chanting “Israel murderer” tried to storm the building following a march demanding an end to Israeli air strikes on Gaza…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Cypriots File War Crimes Complaint Against Turkey
A group of Greek Cypriots has filed a war crimes complaint against Turkey at the International Criminal Court over what they say is its policy of settling Cyprus’ breakaway north with mainland Turks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hollande Says He, Renzi Told EU Leaders Growth Has Priority
Italy, France ‘using stability pact margins’ says French chief
(ANSA) Paris, July 14 — French President François Hollande said Monday he and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi have “convinced many” EU leaders to make economic growth a priority.
“With the Italian Premier, Matteo Renzi, I convinced many colleagues to give priority to growth,” Hollande said in a live television address from the Elysée Palace.
“We are using all the margins of manouvre contained in the (EU) stability pact,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Imams with links to extremist Muslim groups are helping to turn Britain’s prisons into ‘state-funded breeding grounds for extremism’, an expert has warned.
The Prison Officers’ Association described the threat of inmates being radicalised as a ‘real problem’.
There are 11,683 Muslim prisoners in Britain’s jails and the government has deployed imams to help steer them away from extremist paths…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy to Speed Up Turkish EU Bid, Says Minister
Italy’s EU presidency will accelerate talks on Turkey’s bid to join the bloc, the country’s Europe minister said Sunday. Sandro Gozi said that his government is “determined” to advance Ankara’s membership talks, a step which will count among Italy’s priorities for its six-month EU chairmanship.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two French Jews were sent to prison for placing a bomb in 2012 under the car of an anti-Zionist journalist in Paris.
The two men, identified only by their last names, Bismuth and Benhamou, were sentenced on June 20 by a judge from the Versailles Correctional Tribunal to six months and 10 months in jail respectively, according to Agence Info Libre.
The two men, who are in their 20s, were part of a gang of four whom police arrested in 2012 on suspicion that they had placed an improvised explosive device under the car of Jonathan Moadab, a reporter for Agence Info Libre who is also an anti-Zionist activist.
According to Moadab, the four are members of the French branch of the Jewish Defense League, a movement classified as terrorist in the United States and Israel.
The remaining members of the group French authorities believe responsible for the attack are minors. Their prosecution is ongoing, Agence Info Libre reported.
JDL France, or Ligue de Defense Juive, has been involved in a number of violent incidents in France, believed to be retaliations for frequent attacks on Jews, which watchdog groups attribute mainly to Muslim and Arab radicals.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Jewish Group Calls for Action Over Swastikas at Anti-Israel Rally
The Dutch Jewish Federation is making a formal police complaint against the organisers of an anti-Israel demonstration in The Hague this weekend, where some participants carried banners equating Israel with the Nazis.
Jewish organisations also wants to meet the city’s mayor Jozias van Aartsen to find out why he did not take tough action against the ‘spreading of hatred and calls to violence’, the Telegraaf reports.
‘Freedom of speech is a greater good and should be cherished,’ the Telegraaf quoted the organisation as saying. ‘But mayors have the obligation to protect all residents. It is unacceptable that the mayor allows this behaviour’.
Esther Voet, of the Israel information centre CIDI, told the paper it is ‘scandalous’ that Nazi symbols were being used by demonstrators. She also condemned the appearance of two local politicians — Amsterdam Labour stalward Fatima Elatik and The Hague local party councillor Fatima Faid.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Pre-Teen Boys Behind Sex Assault Spree: Police
A group of boys, aged between eight and 12-years-old have been exposed as the perpetrators of a series of recent sex assaults in Trollhättan in western Sweden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Democrats Barred From Union Posts
Nearly half of Swedish trade union confederations bar Sweden Democrats from taking official positions, according to a report published on Monday.
An investigation by newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) published on Monday found that many trade unions forbid members of the Sweden Democrat party (Sverigedemokraterna, SD) from taking official positions — which are otherwise elected offices.
While one union chairman said unions which do not do so are “weak”, a political scientist said the situation presents a challenge for democracy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Butler-Sloss Steps Down From Child Abuse Inquiry
Retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss has stepped down as head of a probe into child sex abuse saying she was “not the right person” for the job.
Lady Butler-Sloss has been under pressure to quit from MPs and victims concerned about her family links. Her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s.
Home Secretary Theresa May said she did not regret appointing the peer, adding that she would “not hang around” in naming her successor…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Do You Know Mosque Attack Suspects?
CHESHIRE Police has released a CCTV image of suspects they are hunting, believed to be involved in an attack on the mosque in Warrington town centre.
Officers are again appealing for information after the mosque on Arpley Street was vandalised…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Gaza National Demonstration Stop the Killing. Stop the Bombing 19 July 2014 …
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: Manchester Protesters March Against BBC Coverage and Gaza Bombings
Hundreds of people staged demonstrations to protest against the BBC’s coverage of the conflict in the Middle East — and the conflict itself.
Campaigners waving placards amassed outside the BBC’s Salford offices on Saturday. They were angry at what they claim is a pro-Israeli “bias” in the organisation’s reporting. The protest, called Drive for Justice, came as Israel and militants in Gaza traded more rocket and missile-fire…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ministers Facing the Sack in Reshuffle Mutiny Against Cameron
David Cameron faced a mutiny from ministers facing the sack tonight in a reshuffle cull of “male and pale” Cabinet members.
Friends of Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said there would be “fury” in the countryside if the right winger was axed. Lord [Greville] Howard of Rising, said “There are 12 million voters in the countryside and they will be absolutely furious if he is moved.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: North-East Crime Commissioner Calls for Lady Butler-Sloss to be Axed From Inquiry Role
A NORTH-EAST Labour police commissioner has called for Lady Butler-Sloss to be axed as the head an inquiry into allegations of child sex abuse at the heart of the establishment.
Former solicitor general Vera Baird said the appointment was “an error” because the former judge’s family connections meant she had a conflict of interest…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Prison Imams ‘Linked to Islamist Extremists’
Imams working in British prisons have links with extremist preachers and hard line groups, and may be helping to radicalise Muslim prisoners, according to a report in the Times. One preacher connected to Muslim prison chaplains believes that beating women “brings them to goodness”, while another group thinks adulterers should be killed…
[Reader comment by TrulyDisgusted on 14 July 2014.]
Why do the West and the UK refuse to listen when all of the above tell us the truth, they are NOT extremists, they are just Muslims preaching ISLAM.
None of this is new, we have 1400 years history of Islam and how it violently overthrows ever civilisation it encounters. These guys are not extremists, they are just Muslims following the instructions of their Prophet.
Islam is and always has been a numbers game. They preach tolerance until their numbers allow them to fight-back as we are witnessing all over western Europe today and when they reach about 30% of the population, Islam goes through puberty and we get the in your face Jew hating, wife beating, church burning Islam.
They have been following the same pattern for 1400 years and if you can’t see it, it’s because you’ve chosen not to see it.
It’s time the West wake up because, as they tell us day in, day out, they aren’t extremists. THIS IS ISLAM.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Staff at Muslim Primary School ‘Caught on Camera Describing How Clapping Hands is Satanic …
Teachers at a Muslim faith primary have allegedly referred to clapping hands as ‘Satanic’ — and had discussions about whether music in school might be un-Islamic.
Footage was obtained for a Channel 4 documentary at The Olive School — a Muslim faith primary for 600 pupils in Blackburn, run by the Tauheedul Islam Faith, Education and Community Trust…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Rabbi of Casablanca Assaulted Over Israel’s Gaza Operation
Moroccan Jewish community leader beaten as he walked to synagogue for Sabbath services.
JTA — The rabbi of the Jewish community in Casablanca, Morocco, was beaten on Friday night as he walked to synagogue for Sabbath services, allegedly because of Israel’s Gaza operation, according to local and Israeli reports.
Rabbi Moshe Ohayon suffered a broken nose and broken ribs, and was beaten on the head in the attack, according to the French language alyaexpress-news.com. The rabbi reportedly asked passers-by for help but was ignored.
The alleged attacker, a local Muslim man in his 20s, reportedly told the rabbi during the attack that it was in retribution for Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The assailant is known to local police, according to the report, and officers were searching for him in order to arrest him.
Following the attack, Casablanca Jews called on local authorities to increase security around synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
A Moroccan rabbi was attacked on a street in Casablanca, Morocco in retaliation for Operation Protective Edge. According to the Hebrew-language Rotter newsflashes, Moroccan media reported that the attack happened on Friday as Rabbi Moshe Ohayon was walking to Shabbat services…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
10 Mosques Bombed During Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza
Israeli warplanes bombed Farouq mosque in Nuseirat camp in Gaza Strip before dawn prayers on Saturday, which led to its complete destruction in addition to significant damage to the neighboring homes…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Israel Bias Shows Media Sides With Terrorism
by Rachel Molschky
The headlines say it all. Regardless of what is contained in the body of an article, the impact has already been made with banners across the page reporting the Palestinian death toll. And this is always accompanied with an equally drastic photo. It is the press telling the world that ‘Palestinians’ are innocent victims, and Israel is the big bad wolf…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Broadcaster: We Should Help Fight Hamas
There’s no love lost between the new government of Egypt and Hamas, with the former rejecting the latter over Hamas’ support of the Muslim Brotherhood, the arch-enemy of newly-elected Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the ex-army chief who toppled the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi last year. So far, Egypt has largely stayed out of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, offering little more than platitudes on the importance of calm, and half-heartedly suggesting itself as a broker for a cease-fire.
But if the Egyptian government is willing to go through the motions, many Egyptians are not. Angry over the Islamic repression the Brotherhood tried to impose on the secular middle class, and furious over the deaths of Egyptian soldiers and police at the hands of Brotherhood terrorists who flocked to Sinai last year, Hamas has faced a major backlash in public opinion, to the extent that many Egyptians are “rooting” for Israel to finish off Hamas..[…]
[ 🙂 — MC]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Boasts Over Failed Drone Attack, Says it Has UAV ‘Arsenal’
Hamas on Monday confirmed that it had sent out a drone over Israel earlier in the day. A Hamas spokesperson said that the Izz-a-Din al-Qassam wing of the terror group had dispatched the drone, and that the terror group had more of them.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), apparently laden with explosives, was shot down by the IDF near the port city of Ashdod Monday morning.
A Patriot missile was dispatched to take the drone down at about 6:30 AM, with debris from the drone falling on an Ashdod beach.
The IDF is examining what remains of the drone, a spokesperson said.
Hamas claimed on its website Monday that the drone was completely home-grown, engineered and constructed by Hamas terrorists.
The site said that the drone was “another of the many more surprises that await the enemy.”[…]
[and designated terror organisation ‘Hamas’ is still the ‘victim’ of Israeli ‘terror’ according to the BBC and HuffPo, Israel could vapourise Gaza any hour of any day, but practises ‘restraint’ whilst Hamas does its utmost best maim and kill the Kuffar. — MC]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Reiterates ‘Conditions’ For Cease-Fire
Hamas officials reiterated on Monday that a cease-fire was not on the agenda, unless Israel agreed to major concessions — including several that Israel has in the past said are non-negotiable.
Earlier Monday, Israeli officials said that they were hoping to cause long-term damage to Hamas’s military infrastructure before agreeing to ceasefire talks.
Speaking to AFP, Hamas legislative member Mushir al-Masri said that “talk of a ceasefire requires real and serious efforts, which we haven’t seen so far. Any ceasefire must be based on the conditions we have outlined, nothing less than that will be accepted.”
Among those conditions: An Israeli lifting of the sea blockade around Gaza, allowing free access to the sea; the reopening of the Rafah crossing into Sinai, which was closed by Egypt; and the re-release of Hamas terrorists arrested in recent weeks as the IDF rounded up suspects who may have been involved in the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha’ar.[…]
[The arrogance of Hamas would be amusing if it wasn’t so lethal, mostly to Gazans that is… — MC]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Rejects Egypt’s Proposed Ceasefire in Gaza as ‘Surrender’
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — The armed wing of Hamas on Tuesday rejected an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, threatening to “intensify” its conflict with Israel if truce terms were unsatisfactory.
“No official or unofficial side has approached us about the ceasefire talked about in the media… (but) if the contents of this proposal are true, it is a surrender and we reject it outright,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
“Our battle with the enemy will intensify.”
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Detains 11 Hamas Lawmakers in West Bank
RAMALLAH/GAZA, July 14 (Xinhua) — Israeli army arrested 11 Islamic Hamas movement’s lawmakers, also members of the Palestinian parliament, on early Monday in the West Bank, said local security officials.
They were handcuffed as Israeli troops stormed the West Bank’s cities and towns of Tulkarem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin, according to the officials…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Truck Driver Blocks Several Kilometre Long Gaza-Bound Aid Convoy
An Israeli truck driver, fed up at near-incessant Hamas rocket fire into Israel, took matters into his own hands on Sunday and used his truck to block an aid convoy from entering the coastal enclave, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.
Israel’s Civil Authority (COGAT) has continued to allow hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid in, in order to alleviate daily conditions for the strip’s 1.6 million residents inhabiting the 139 square mile area.
But on Sunday, Kerem Shalom resident and married dad, Daniel Meteri, 27, snapped…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Live Updates: Rocket Barrage on Central and South Israel; Soldier and Boy Lightly Wounded
Ya’alon: Hamas will regret embarking on this round of fighting with Israel; IDF downs Gaza drone over southern Israel; Israeli military shells Lebanon after cross-border rocket attack; Palestinian killed by IDF gunfire near Hebron.
Operation Protective Edge entered its seventh day Monday, as the IDF continued to carry out massive strikes within the Gaza Strip from land and sea, and Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israeli towns…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mass Protests All Over the World Against Gaza Aggression
Mass protests have been organized in different Arab and European countries condemning the continued international silence towards the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip.
In Colombia, hundreds of protesters participated in a vigil outside Israeli embassy in Bogota in protest against Israeli military escalation in Gaza…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Doctor: Israel Drops Cancer-Inducing Bombs on Gazans
A Norwegian doctor in the besieged Gaza Strip has strongly criticized Israel for using cancer-inducing bombs against Palestinian civilians.
Dr. Erik Fosse said that the majority of patients hospitalized in Gaza are civilians injured in attacks on their homes and about thirty percent of them are children…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Op-Ed: Sometimes the “Underdog” Is Wrong
By Noah Beck
Palestinian Arabs have mastered the art of persuading everyone that because they die in greater numbers they are more deserving of sympathy and support in their conflict with Israel.[…]
Sometimes the underdog is wrong. The ruthlessly brutal regimes of Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Idi Amin were all weaker than the forces that ultimately vanquished them.
But for decades the Palestinians have mastered the art of persuading everyone that because they die in greater numbers, they are more deserving of sympathy and support in their conflict with Israel. Here’s why they’re wrong:
1) Israel’s military edge safeguards its survival in the world’s toughest neighborhood. But if a SWAT team is better armed than a wild gunman they must neutralize, does that mean that they’re at fault when the gunman dies?
2) Israel’s casualty figures are smaller because Israel tries to protect life by investing in anti-missile defense, shelters, and early warning systems to minimize the deaths caused by Palestinian rocket attacks.
3) By contrast, Palestinian terrorists purposely endanger life by targeting Israeli civilians while using Palestinian civilians as human shields (to maximize the PR benefits of any Israeli reprisals).
4) Israel’s death toll should be adjusted for its tiny population, to feel the true “national pain” of each loss. When Hamas terrorists abducted and murdered three Israeli teenagers last month, that’s like the murder and abduction of about 118 Americans teenagers. How many Taliban would die from a US military response to the Taliban abduction and murder of 118 American teenagers?
5) Gaza-based terrorism is inflicting collective punishment on about 8 million Israelis living under the constant threat of rocket attacks. How much could you focus on anything if blaring sirens regularly compelled you to seek shelter in under a minute? How much sleep could you get? Drivers must get out of their cars, lie on on the pavement face down with their hands over their heads, and wait ten minutes until the danger has ostensibly passed. Many elderly or disabled persons must descend flights of stairs to access the shelter, and the scramble to safety can be as dangerous as staying unprotected (an Israeli woman in her 70s died while trying to take shelter from an incoming rocket in Haifa). \
How long would the US expect its citizens to live like that before deploying overwhelming firepower to eradicate the threat?
6) In the Middle East, the weak perish quickly, and Israel — the only Jewish state (with 8 million people in a NJ-sized territory) surrounded by 22 Arab Muslim states (totaling about 370 million people) — can’t afford to lose a war. So the fact that Israel doesn’t cause far greater casualties to strengthen its deterrence should highlight Israel’s morality and restraint.
Yet most observers are oblivious to these key considerations, and simplistically look at comparative casualty figures before reflexively concluding that Israel is wrong. This cartoon aptly captures how Palestinians manipulate world opinion like a mischievous schoolboy misleading his teachers about who caused school spats.
When world leaders and media are duped into simplistic thinking, the result is a glaring double standard.[…]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Media Reports Israeli Forces Shoot and Kill Man During Hebron Clashes
Palestinian media reported on Monday that a West Bank man was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes that broke out this morning in the village of Samu, south of Hebron.
According to the Ma’an News Agency, 22-year-old Munir Ahmed Badarin was shot twice in the abdomen and thigh.
The IDF did not immediately comment on the reports.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Podcast: Douglas Murray Analyses the Israel-Gaza Conflict
In our latest View from 22 podcast, Douglas Murray, Mary Wakefield and Fraser Nelson discuss the conflict in the Gaza strip. Has Israel become too good at protecting its citizens? And is there an inequality of conflict?…
[Reader comment by Frank on 14 July 2014.]
What extraordinary questions “has Israel become too good at protecting its citizens, is there inequality of conflict”. I suppose on that basis Britain should have allowed the IRA to kill 10 soldiers before Britain could kill one IRA man. You really are children.
[Reader comment by anyfool on 14 July 2014.]
Douglas, you say the rest of the world want equality of conflict, no, the Arab and Muslim world, their socialist groupies in the West like the BBC and parts of , Labour Party in the UK, want Israel wiped from the face of the world.
[Reader comment by Shazza on 14 July 2014.]
Slightly off topic but has anyone noticed that none of the MSM has reported on the attack by moslems on a synagogue in Paris on Sunday? The moslems had been demonstrating about Israel’s response to the ongoing onslaught of rockets from Gaza.
Pop over to the Vlad Tepes site and there is a full report together with video coverage.
Jews are facing increasing attacks by moslems in France but I am sure that our cowardly MSM must be aware of this attack on the synagogue but refuse to report the truth when it comes to the RoP’s attitude to Jews in France.
They should hang their heads in shame.
[Reader reply to Shazza by sarah_13 on 14 July 2014.]
Yes I have made the same comment myself on the telegraph site also.
so called “pro-palestinians” shouting “death to jews” and slaughter jews” whilst throwing stones at jews in a synagogue in the heart of paris!! The only person to have commented, as far as I can see, is Owen jones on his twitter saying that these jew haters don’t represent the palestinian cause. Well I’m afraid they do. Scratch the surface and that is exactly what they are. Jones has been posting comment after comment recently of one dimensional sentimental remarks about the death toll in gaza instead of fully explaining the reasons for this and the cause. In the height of the hysteria that such one dimensional postings generate those hate filled zealots will not distinguish between “jew” and “non-jew”, after all in gaza anyone who makes a pro-israel remark in any way is a “zionist” as the recently executed “collaborator” would have testified.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Why I’m on the Brink of Burning My Israeli Passport
by Mira Bar Hillel
I can no longer stand by while Israeli politicians like Ayelet Shaked condone the deaths of innocent Palestinian women and children
She is young. She is pretty. She is a university graduate and a computer engineer. She is also an Israeli Parliamentarian — and the reason why I am on the brink of burning my Israeli passport. Because behind that wide-eyed innocent face lurks the Angel of Death.
Ayelet Shaked represents the far-right Jewish Home party in the Knesset. This means she is well to the right of Benyamin Netanyahu, just in case you thought such a thing was not possible…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
IS Jihadists Seize More Territory in Syria From Rivals
Islamic State jihadists in Syria took over opposition-held areas of a provincial capital near the border with Iraq on Monday after expelling rival fighters from an Al-Qaeda-linked group, activists said.
The new developments effectively expand and consolidate areas held by fighters from the Islamic State group in territory straddling the border between the two conflict-ridden countries of Syria and Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Expels Rivals From Syria’s Deir Al-Zor — Activists
BEIRUT (Reuters) — Al Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State expelled rival rebels from the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Monday, tightening its grip on the oil-producing province abutting territory it also controls in Iraq, activists said.
The Islamic State’s hardline Sunni fighters have been advancing against rivals in Deir al-Zor province with the help of weapons it seized in a lightning offensive against Iraqi government forces across the border last month…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar to Buy Patriot Missiles in $11 Bln Deal: US Officials
Qatar plans to buy US Patriot missile batteries and Apache attack helicopters in a major arms deal worth about $11 billion, senior Pentagon officials said Monday.
The sale would provide Qatar with roughly ten batteries for Patriot systems designed to knock out incoming missiles, as well as 24 Apache helicopters and 500 Javelin anti-tank missiles, officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
Qatar was investing in missile defense systems to counter what it sees as the threat from Iran across the Gulf, as Tehran has built up its missile arsenal, officials said.
The weapons deal was the biggest for the United States in 2014 and came as Qatar weighs proposals in a fighter jet competition, with US aerospace firm Boeing vying against British BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation of France.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Islamic State Advances in Deir Az-Zor
After killing leader of rival extremist group
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, JULY 14 — Jihadist fighters from the Islamic State (IS) killed the leader of a Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate in Deir Ez-Zor, the capital of the country’s oil-rich region along the Iraqi border, causing fighters to abandon their headquarters in the most important city on the Euphrates River. Reports were from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said that clashes were underway between IS and their local Al-Qaeda rivals as part of internal feuding among Islamic extremist groups.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Does Putin Have a Strategy? (II)
By Srdja Trifkovic
It’s been over two months since I first asked this question in the aftermath of the Odessa massacre. The situation has further deteriorated since that time. The Kiev forces, spearheaded by the Right Sector-dominated “National Guard,” have turned much of Slavyansk into rubble. As a massive wave of refugees from eastern Ukraine enters Russia, their horrendous accounts are finally beginning to trickle into the Western media. Writing in The Nation two weeks ago, Stephen F. Cohen noted “the silence of American hawks about Kiev’s atrocities”:…
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
Luhansk Fighters Claim Downing Two Ukrainian Attack Aircraft
The press office of the Luhansk People’s Republic said one plane was downed in the area of Lisichansk ,and the other near the Izvarino border checkpoint
LUHANSK, July 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Self-defense fighters of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine have shot down two Ukrainian combat planes, the republic’s press office reported on Monday.
“One plane was downed in the area of Lisichansk and the other near Izvarino (border checkpoint),” the press office said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Bombers Strike Simulated Targets During Black Sea Drills
MOSCOW, July 14 (Xinhua) — Russia’s Tu-95 strategic bombers hit simulated naval targets during military drills in the Black Sea, Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
“A wing of Tu-95 strategic bombers struck a simulated enemy’s naval force in the Black Sea during the exercises of Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the ministry’s press service said.
The bombers were accompanied by Su-27 and Su-24 fighter jets, A-50 early warning aircraft, supported by three missile warships and Bastion coastal missile system and artillery units…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Russian state television has aired an unconfirmed report claiming the Ukrainian army publicly nailed a three-year-old boy to a board in a former rebel stronghold.
In move that has provoked a storm of criticism, Channel One broadcast an interview in which a woman gave graphic details of the alleged incident. She said she recently saw Ukrainian soldiers round up people in the Ukrainian flashpoint city of Slavyansk and nail an insurgent’s child to a notice board.
Attempts to corroborate the report have so far failed and Ukraine responded by accusing Russia of ratcheting up its propaganda war…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Militiamen Destroy Nine Army Tanks
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed the director of the state-owned weapons company Ukrobonprom to urgently increase arms supplies to the army
KIEV, July 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Militiamen in the south-east of Ukraine said they had downed two government warplanes, and destroyed nine army tanks, one armoured personnel carrier and several mortar positions.
The militiamen now have a Grad multiple rocket launcher, artillery systems and an attack plane.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities are continuing an “anti-terrorism operation” in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine: Military Plane Shot Down by Rocket
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian military transport plane was shot down Monday along the country’s eastern border with Russia, the defense minister said.
Rebels in conflict-wracked eastern Ukraine immediately claimed responsibility for downing the Antonov-26 but Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said the rocket may have been fired from Russia…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
96 Militants Join Reintegration Process in N. Afghanistan
PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, July 14 (Xinhua) — A total of 96 anti-government militants joined the government-initiated peace and reintegration process in northern province of Baghlan on Monday, said an official.
“Up to 96 armed anti-government opponents renounced violence and laid their arms in provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri city on Monday morning,” provincial chairman of High Peace Council, Abdul Samad Stanikzai, told Xinhua…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Blasphemy Accused Sentenced to Death
LAHORE: A sessions court on Monday handed down the death sentence and imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on a blasphemy accused after charges were proved against him. Additional sessions court Judge Naveed Iqbal issued the ruling in the case.
The accused, Zulfikar, was ‘caught red-handed’ while writing blasphemous remarks on the walls of Afghan Park in Lahore’s Islampura area in 2008.
Though Pakistan has never carried out the death penalty for blasphemy, it is one of the countries to have the most people jailed over its blasphemy laws.
Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, where 97 per cent of the 180 million population is Muslim and the law, with a lack of procedural safeguards, has contributed to an alarming number of mob attacks and vigilante violence over the issue.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
DPRK Fires Some 100 Shells Into Eastern Waters From Land Border
SEOUL, July 14 (Xinhua) — The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday fired some 100 rounds of artillery shells into its eastern waters from a region just north of the military demarcation line, officials at the South Korean military said.
A Defense Ministry official told Xinhua on the phone that the DPRK launched artillery shells from the region some hundreds of meters north of the Demilitarized Zone in Goseong, a South Korean border town around 220 km northeast of Seoul…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Shiite Mosque Approved Next to Assyrian Christian Church, Triggering Tension
A new mosque in Melbourne’s outer north proposed next door to an Assyrian Christian church — many of whose members fled persecution and violence at the hands of Islamic extremists — has been approved.
The state planning tribunal on Monday gave the green light to the proposal for a new four-level Shiite mosque in Coolaroo.
The mosque, proposed by the Al Sadiq Foundation, can now be built in Coolaroo’s Kyabram Street with a nine-storey minaret. It was approved by Hume Council last August despite more than 1400 objections.
The proposed mosque is next door to St Mary’s Ancient Church of the East, a Christian congregation of about 700 people, predominantly made up of Iraqi members of the Assyrian Church…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Strange Drawing Found in Letterbox
An Eaglehawk resident found a flyer in his letterbox appearing to criticise the mosque, the City of Greater Bendigo, Bendigo Bank and Muslims.
Merv Nash was amused to find the flyer in his letterbox at 6pm on Monday evening.
The flyer has been drawn free-hand and shows a picture of a Bendigo Bank building, a Catholic church, a Muslim head dress, and the words “Bendigo City Council’s Vision”.
He said the illustration looked like a “kiddy-type drawing”. The illustration also had a deflated black balloon stapled to it…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nadine Gordimer, Novelist Who Took on Apartheid, Dies at 90
Nadine Gordimer, the South African writer whose literary ambitions as a watchmaker’s daughter led her into the heart of apartheid to create a body of fiction that brought her a Nobel Prize, died Sunday in Johannesburg, Reuters reported. She was 90.
Ms. Gordimer did not originally choose apartheid as her subject as a young writer, she said, but she found it impossible to dig deeply into South African life without striking repression. And once the Afrikaner nationalists came to power there in 1948, the scaffolds of the apartheid system began to rise around her and could not be ignored.
| [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Scores Killed as Boko Haram Invades Borno Villages
Maiduguri — Gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect invaded Dille Village in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State and opened fire on residents, setting ablaze three churches, including the Church of Brethren in Nigeria (EYN),as well as, shops and residential buildings.
Displaced residents said, the attackers stormed their community in the early hours of Monday at about 6:00am from Sambisa forest area.
Although the attack is still ongoing as at press time, sources said, the attackers were heavily armed with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), anti aircraft guns and Rocket Propelled Launchers…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
By Pamela Geller
Where are the left-wing, the gay and LGBT organizations denouncing the Islamic texts that inspire Islamic hatred of gays? Where is that fierce gay leadership condemning Muslim oppression of gays under the sharia? The silence is deafening…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
We Know Physics is Largely White and Male, But Exactly How White and Male is Still Striking
Most current physics students will likely never have an African American physics teacher, says a new survey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Of course, the feelings of non- Muslims don’t count; the narrative framed by Muslims is one of victim hood but always discounting the brutal persecution meted by them to the non believers through the centuries. This narrative has been swallowed by the so-called gullible intellectual progressive Left and in doing so, have become ‘fools’! I weep for my country of Australia.
On the story. ‘Why I’m on the brink of burning my Israeli passport’.
Oh pleeeease, allow me to supply the matches!
The Melbourne decision to allow the building of a Mosque next door to an Assyrian Christian Church is another example of the insanity at the hands of those who still choose to believe the multicultural hype that all cultures aspire to the same ideals. The Assyrian community will not take this decision lightly – I expect there will be ongoing ‘problems’ as the Mosque starts to be erected.
Nemesis, She only made that empty threat because she has a nice new UK passport to fall back on. I wonder what would happen if the Government kicked her out.
No Nemesis, there will be no “problems” during the construction of the mosque because the Assyrian community in Australia is a peaceful, law-abiding and grateful immigrant group. As are the Copts. The only Assyrian elementary school outside Iran is in Sydney, Australia – an achievement they take enormous pride in.
Faced with the stupid and insensitive decision of a woefully ignorant state apparatus, self-shackled with and blinded by PC-Multiculti pieties, to approve a mosque next door to an Assyrian Orthodox church, the Assyrians will just close up shop and, at great expense, move their church to another location. They know the Muslim mentality too well to stay put and wait and see if their new neighbour works out okay.
The Muslims, with enormous self-satisfaction, will buy the church at a knock-down price and, after stripping it of Christian symbols, use it as a “community centre” – to recruit jihadists, refer parents to doctors who illegally perform FGM, run a mendacious PR outfit to further gull Australian sensibilities and the like. Watch this space.
The problem with the modern Left is that, consciously or unconsciously, they fail to realize that they are simply a means to an end for the believers trying to expand the house of ‘peace’. They fail to realize that under such regimes they would be killed for their identity politics.
I am convinced that half the problem is that most Leftists have never had the ‘pleasure’ of living and working in a Sharia state. It’s a shame that there is no way to remedy this to open their eyes.
I agree with you resoundingly except for “half the problem” and “most Leftists”. It is more like 90% of the problem is that 99% of Leftists have never had the pleasure of living in or even travelled in a Muslim state – one doesn’t have to go as far as a Sharia state.
After visiting the Eastern Bloc in the late 80’s and reflecting upon the pro-Soviet, Marx-obsessed posturings and rhetoric of the juveniles I attended university with in the late 70’s and early 80’s ( who now run the show ) I thought to myself: this could have been largely cured if some philanthropist group had paid for university student leaders and activists to travel to the Eastern Bloc for just a couple of weeks and experience the reality.
The so-called Stop the War Coalition is just a front for the Socialist Workers Party, an anarcho trotskyite and narcissistic pressure group who should not be taken seriously. Unfortunately because of left wing media bias they receive too much attention.
BBC biased in favour of Israel? Come on! What planet are these cretins on? The BBC wasn’t called the Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation for nothing.
I thought that was CNN?? IIRC, CNN was the only news entity permitted to stay in Baghdad after Saddam kicked the rest out.
The BBC did a good job of promoting Saddam from West London.
All in all it should be noted that the powers of globalisation have a vested interest in the Pallywood narrative. The anarcho trotskyite and narcissistic pressure groups are political fringe groups in the UK, the Pallywood noise emanating from them is amplified by far bigger power players.
Unquestionable mainstream UK media articulates State sentiments therefore any anti-Israel editorial gambits could be shifted overnight to a pro-Israel stance.
Probably not meant in the specific sense of a broadcasting corporation based in Baghdad – rather here using “Baghdad” as a marker for all things Arab – Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves, and so on.
The BBC also known as Al Beeb, Beebeezerah, the Biased Broadcasting Corporation
The old saying, “If the mountains will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountains”, as best I recall it, seems to fit here and elsewhere. So if the Assyrian Church fled their home country to avoid persecution, Mohammedans will follow them to their new country to continue their unrelenting harassment. For decades I dreamed of taking my wife on a super vacation to Tahiti. That dream vaporized when I read that Tahitians were upset about someone’s plans to build a new Mosque there (Tahiti is still closely tied to France you see). No, it is not Wal-Mart or Disney. Eventually there will not be one country without imported strife marring their peace and dignity.
How to establish UK sharia law courts in three easy steps.
1. Set up voluntary arbitration tribunals – de facto sharia courts.
2. When sufficient numbers are established create a controversy surrounding regulatory and judgement powers.
3. Then demand that in the interests of justice the de facto sharia courts have to be empowered as bona fide courts of law.
Thus not a parallel legal system but a parasitic and subversive legal system eroding the established host from within.
” Thus not a parallel legal system but a parasitic and subversive legal system eroding the established host from within.”
There is no need even for the three steps. They just go apply, approved, even the money to build them will be given to muslim in one shape or another. Muslims don’t fear paper zombie politicians. They were elected so they can do anything: all the wrong things.