White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that President Obama would crack down on journalists who write anti-jihad articles. The president is concerned that outbreaks of anti-Islamic expression may cause jihad attacks on members of the American military.
In other news, Charlie Hebdo published three million copies of its first edition since the massacre. The cover of the magazine features a cartoon of Mohammed weeping while he holds a “Je suis Charlie” sign.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Nick, Papa Whiskey, Phyllis Chesler, RL, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
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.
‘Italy Debt Totally Under Control’ Says Padoan
‘Debt will decrease if eurozone inflation reaches 2%’
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, January 2 — Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Monday that Italy’s debt “is totally under control”.
“The nation’s debt will quickly decrease if eurozone inflation returns to normal levels — that is around 2% — and as soon as structural reforms give the economy vital sap,” Padoan told the European Parliament. “It is important to keep working towards a solid, united euro,” he added. The minister said growth “will improve” in 2015 and so will “sovereign debt sustainability”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
He’s ‘Seriously Considering’ Third Run
John McCain, the Republican who lost the 2008 presidential race, said Tuesday that Mitt Romney, the Republican who lost the 2012 presidential race, will be competitive if and when he runs again for the presidency in 2016.
“He’s got a good donor base, he’s got a reservoir of good will,” McCain told me on Tuesday. “He’s very viable.”
Romney called McCain Tuesday to tell the Arizona senator that he is “seriously considering” a third run at the presidency in 2016, McCain said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It Makes No Sense for Mitt Romney to Run for President Again
Ever since the news broke last Friday that Mitt Romney is not only thinking about running for president again in 2016 but also making moves that suggest he is going to run, I’ve been trying to figure out why. I’ve talked to Republicans who are close to Romney and Republicans who are only interested observers.
For people outside of Romney’s direct orbit, there is bafflement about what Romney is doing. Closer allies explain, without their names attached, why Romney running again isn’t as odd as it is being portrayed. “Lots of people get elected to governor or senator on their third try,” said one Romney supporter urging the former governor to run. “Nothing magical about that not being a presidential.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
I-Team: FBI Says John Boehner’s West Chester Bartender Planned to Poison Him
Feds: Man said he was Jesus, Boehner was the devil
DEER PARK, Ohio — Ebola, evil voices and the devil.
Those are just a few of the things a Butler County bartender cited as reasons he was going to kill House Speaker John Boehner this past fall, federal agents said.
Michael Robert Hoyt, 44, was indicted Jan. 7 on charges of threatening to murder the congressman in a plot police said included poisoning his drink at a country club.
Hoyt served drinks to Boehner for more than five years at the Wetherington Country Club in West Chester and was known as “Bartender Mike” to employees there.
Hoyt called police on Oct. 29, a week after being fired from the club, and blamed Boehner for his woes, police said.
When officers visited Hoyt at his home on Matson Ave. in Deer Park, they said the plot thickened.
“Hoyt told the officer he was Jesus Christ and he was going to kill Boehner because Boehner was mean to him at the country club and because Boehner is responsible for Ebola,” United States Capitol Police (USCP) Special Agent Christopher M. Desrosiers said. “Hoyt advised he had a loaded Beretta .380 automatic and he was going to shoot Boehner and take off.”
Officers said Hoyt told them he regretted not having enough time to put something in Boehner’s drink. It was also discovered Hoyt emailed Boehner’s wife about the plot a day before he called police, Desrosiers said…
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Marchionne Says FCA to Sell 5 Mln Cars in 2015
Investment in Melfi plant ‘positive signal for the country’
(ANSA) — Detroit, January 12 — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will sell five million cars this year, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said Monday. He added that the addition of 1,500 new positions at the company plant in Melfi in southern Italy to produce Jeep Renegades and Fiat 500X “is a positive signal for the country” and necessary to meet demand.
Earlier in the day, FCA announced the new jobs and investment of one billion euros in the Melfi facility, based on expectations of strong demand for its vehicles. Marchionne was speaking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
White House: Obama Will Fight Media to Stop Anti-Jihad Articles
President Barack Obama has a moral responsibility to push back on the nation’s journalism community when it is planning to publish anti-jihadi articles that might cause a jihadi attack against the nation’s defenses forces, the White House’s press secretary said Jan. 12.
“The president … will not now be shy about expressing a view or taking the steps that are necessary to try to advocate for the safety and security of our men and women in uniform” whenever journalists’ work may provoke jihadist attacks, spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at the White House’s daily briefing.
The unprecedented reversal of Americans’ civil-military relations, and of the president’s duty to protect the First Amendment, was pushed by Earnest as he tried to excuse the administration’s opposition in 2012 to the publication of anti-jihadi cartoons by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
[…]
Obama’s willingness to pressure media outlets, to quit defending First Amendment rights and also to mollify jihadis, reflects Obama’s overall policy of minimizing conflict with militant Islam.
Throughout his presidency, Obama has tried to shift the public’s focus away from the jihadi threat toward his domestic priorities.
He also repeatedly praised Islam and Muslims, and criticized criticism of Islam. “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam,” he told a worldwide TV audience during a September 2012 speech at the United Nations.
[THAT is the agenda, not a phony excuse about force protection. “Slander” under sharia is “ghiba” — “to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike,” according to Umdat al-Salik. Muslims don’t like criticism, so it must be suppressed. Barry Hussein is trying to impose shari’a on the media. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Working Class Hero Michael Moore Owns 9 Homes
by Daniel Greenfield
I realize Mike is a little larger than the average person, but his mass isn’t so big that it can only fit into 9 homes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel Joins Muslim Rally Against German Anti-Islamisation Protests
Angela Merkel is to take part in a Muslim solidarity rally for victims of the Paris terror attacks on Tuesday evening, in what is being widely seen as a public riposte to the anti-Islam protests that have gripped Germany in recent weeks.
Mrs Merkel, together with several senior members of her cabinet and the German president, Joachim Gauck, is set to join a rally called by Muslims living in Germany to condemn the Paris attacks and call for tolerance.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Antisemite to Speak at Ghent March Following Terror Attacks
Today the city of Ghent will hold a silent march for “peace and respect”, following the terror attacks in France. One of the people chosen to speak in this march is journalist Saskia Van Nieuwenhove. Van Nieuwenhove is anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish. In the past she has posted various conspiracy theories about Israel and Jews. She also supports Abou Jahjah and the AEL (Arab European League), who had in the past had targeted Belgian Jewish communities with violence. As an example, here’s a cartoon she shared on her Facebook page this past July, with the comment “Sleep well, Europe”. This is what the City of Ghent calls peace and respect?
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Ghent Mayor Compares Complaints About Antisemitism to Paris Terror Attacks
Earlier today I was notified by a local Belgian Jewish activist that the city of Ghent invited an antisemitic journalist to speak at their ‘peace and respect’ march, following the terror attacks in France. As everybody knows, the targets in those attacks were journalists (who ridiculed Muhammad) and Jews (who were Jews). This same activist also turned to the Socialist mayor of Ghent, Daniël Termont. His response? Termont accused the complainer of ‘spewing hate’. Besides, he said, the city is not responsible for who’s speaking. And furthermore: “What you’re doing is precisely that the murderers in Paris wanted to do: murdering freedom of speech.” Termont also added that he won’t let this argument change his warm feelings towards the Jewish community. Wow, that’s generous of him. Next time Belgian politicians speak about how they’re going to deal with antisemitism? Remember that it’s just talk. They do not want to make society a safer and more accepting place for Jews. A few words on Termont’s ‘warm feelings’ for the Jewish community. The city of Ghent funds various anti-Israel activities. For example, the “Eye On Palestine” Festival. “The festival that puts Palestine in the picture.” In recent years, the annual Ghent Festival has also turned into an Israel-bashing extravaganza. In 2009 the festival held a ‘debate’ on Israel, which of course included only one-side (Palestinians are good, Israelis are bad). In 2010, Belgian children were invited to shoot Israeli soldiers. I guess it gives Jews the warm fuzzies to see Israeli soldiers murdered by little Belgian children.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Britain will descend into “vigilantism” unless security measures are stepped up to counter the “vulnerability and fear” that people feel in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the former head of MI5 has warned.
Baron Evans of Weardale, who as Jonathan Evans worked for the Security Service for 33 years, also warned that the world faced a build-up of trained terrorists not seen since al-Qaeda ran training camps in Afghanistan before 9/11.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Charlie Hebdo: Spain Preps Measures Against Online Jihadism
Interior minister calls for ‘counter-narrative’
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 12 — The Spanish government will in the coming weeks bring in a plan to fight jihadist terrorism and online proselytism, Interior Minister Jorge Fermandez-Diaz said on Monday.
In statements to the media during the presentation of a new electronic identity card, Fernandez-Diez — quoted by the EFE news agency — said that the aim was “to formulate a counter-narrative to the jihadist one, which uses the internet to incite hatred and crimes” and for the purposes of “proselytism, recruitment, indoctrination, funding and logistics for jihadist terrorist organizations”. This ‘counter-narrative’, the minister said, was the focus of the EU interior ministers meeting on Sunday in Paris. He added that Spain would soon be finishing the preparation of a plan “focused mainly on the internet, as well as places where indoctrination and proselytism take place, such as places of worship and jails”. Some of the measures, on which the government hopes to effect “a State agreement” with opposition parties, will be included in the penal code reform under debate in Parliament.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Charlie Hebdo Publishes New Issue, One Week After Attack
The new edition of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has gone on sale, with a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad on its cover.
Three million copies are being printed — a week after Islamist gunmen murdered eight journalists at the magazine and four other people in Paris.
The cartoon shows the Prophet weeping while holding a sign saying “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”).
It is believed earlier cartoons of the Prophet prompted the attack.
The slogan “Je suis Charlie” has been widely used following the shootings.
In a separate attack in Paris two days later, four Jewish men died after an Islamist gunmen took hostages at a kosher shop in the French capital. A police woman was shot dead in a third shooting believed to have been carried out by the same attacker….
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Europe’s Muslims Feel Heat of Backlash After Terror Spree in Paris
Firebombs and pig heads thrown into mosques. Veiled women subjected to crude insults in the street. The Internet awash with threats against Muslims. Europe’s Muslims are feeling the heat of a fierce backlash following last week’s terror attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
A climate of fear is taking hold in Europe, as ordinary people increasingly heed rightist rhetoric equating the millions of peaceful Muslims with the few plotting murder and mayhem.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU’s Kerchove Says “We Cannot Prevent New Terror Attacks”
(AGI) Brussels, Jan 13 — Gilles de Kerchove, the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, warned that “we cannot prevent further [terror] attacks.” The top European official said that prisons “are incubators of a massive radicalisation”, and explained that “it is not possible to totally prevent terrorism attacks such as the Paris massacre.” He added that the solution cannot be that of imprisoning the so-called ‘foreign fighters’ because prisons have become ‘huge incubators of radicalisation’. Italian Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando shared this sentiment by saying that “potentially prisons may become incubators” [of a certain type of Islamic extremism], hence, “great caution” is needed. Minisiter Orlando spoke at the sidelines of an event organised at the Poggioreale prison in Naples. He underlined that he had discussed with the EU justice ministers about the punishment to issue in order to curb this phenomenon. “Isolating such cells is of major importance,” he said, “in order to avoid what has happened in the past with other types of terrorism.” He added it was necessary to avoid “criminal punishment becoming a tool which gives more power to the organisations which we are fighting against.” He emphasized that it is necessary to bear this aspect in mind when issuing anti-terrorism norms. Minister Orlando announced he is due to meet top Italian prosecutors this Tuesday afternoon in Rome in order to assess ‘the best facility to pursue a more appropriate coordination, which is certainly the goal to be reached.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France Moves to Crack Down on Terror Speech
French courts have started handing out prison sentences to outspoken supporters of the recent terror attacks in Paris, with a girl as young as 15 apprehended by police for referring to the Kouachis as “my brothers”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Attacks: Funeral Ceremonies in Paris and Jerusalem
Funeral ceremonies have been held for seven of the people shot dead in last week’s attacks in Paris. At a ceremony in central Paris, President Francois Hollande honoured the three police officers who died. Four men killed at a kosher supermarket have been buried in Jerusalem.
Speaking in the French National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the gunmen had wanted to kill the “spirit of France”, before adding: “But France is still standing — it is here — it is still present.” He said the huge unity demonstrations attended by millions on Sunday were a “magnificent response” to the violence, before adding: “We are at war against jihadism and terrorism… but France is not at war against Islam and Muslims.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Deploys Security, But Some Jews Want to Leave
The French government deployed 5,000 police officers Monday to guard more than 700 synagogues, yeshivas and other Jewish institutions across the country. That hasn’t changed Jessica Belhassn’s mind about moving to Israel.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Charlie Hebdo: Risk of Accomplices ‘Very High’, Valls
France’s prime minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday that there was a high risk that accomplices of those that carried out recent attacks in Paris would also take action. He added that over 1,200 French nationals had joined jihadist groups linked to the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Syria. A French police official noted that the weapons used by the terrorist cell in the recent attacks came from abroad. French authorities are reportedly investigating channels of foreign funding.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Inside the Freezer in Paris Kosher Deli
Extraordinary pictures reveal how terrified hostages cradled a child and sent desperate text messages to loved ones as crazed fanatic was in standoff with police upstairs
Huddled together for warmth amid cardboard boxes of food, these pictures show terrified shoppers hiding in a freezer during the armed siege of the Kosher deli in Paris.
One woman is seen cradling her child, while in another image a hostage sends a text message to a loved one.
Above them crazed fanatic Amedy Coulibaly was in a standoff with police, having stormed the Hyper Cacher in the Porte de Vincennes area of the city, taking 19 hostages and shooting three of them dead on the spot.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Satirical Weekly Canard Enchainé Threatened
‘It’s your turn’ said message on day after Charlie Hebdo attack
(ANSA) — Paris, January 13 — French satirical weekly Canard Enchainé received threats on the day following last week’s bloody terror attack on their colleagues at Charlie Hebdo, the paper reported in its edition coming out Wednesday.
“It’s your turn,” the message said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
French Anti-Terror Laws Toughened 14 Times Since 1986
With each major act of terrorism, France has revamped the set of legal tools to fight it. When the Paris metro was targeted in the summer of 1995, its anti-terror legislation dated from nine years earlier. Ten people were killed when a bomb exploded in the Saint Michel station just around the corner from Notre Dame Cathedral, on 25th July.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Owes Greece 11 Bln Euros From Nazi Occupation Loan
Athens sends official report. Berlin insists in not recognizing debt
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JANUARY 12 — Germany owes the impressive amount of 11 billion euros to Greece, solely due to the forced occupation loan taken by the Nazis during World War II and which remains unpaid until today, as GreekReporter website writes quoting a new official Greek report handed to the Finance Ministry. Despite the outboasting report, Berlin, on its part, insists not to recognize that debt. According to Greek Sunday newspaper To Vima, the secret report has been finally delivered to the country’s General Accounting Office and Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, after three months of thorough research and work undertaken by a special committee, chaired by the former General Director of the Greek Treasury, Panagiotis Karakousis. As the report revealed, Germany’s debt towards Greece reaches a sum of at least 11 billion euros. As the Greek newspaper underlined, the committee took in account the most conservative estimates regarding the German debt, while Karakousis stated that this amount has nothing to do with the war reparations for the damages Greece suffered under the German occupation of 1941-1944, which could reach tens of billions of euros. The report was delivered to Staikouras, who will forward it to Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, and will send it to the State’s Legal Council. According to the Greek Constitution, a special Legal Council should meet and decide-advise the government on how to handle the issue.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German Leaders to Attend Muslim Community Rally
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck are to attend a Berlin vigil organised by Muslim groups promoting tolerance and religious freedom in Germany.
The organisers say Tuesday’s event also aims to condemn the Paris attacks and show solidarity with the victims.
They are also responding to the latest “anti-Islamisation” rally, which drew a record crowd of 25,000 in Dresden.
Large anti-Pegida demonstrations took place in other German cities on Monday.
She said on Monday that Islam was part of Germany and that there was no place for hatred, racism and extremism in the country. Mrs Merkel will address the German parliament in a special session to commemorate the victims of the attacks in France.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: World’s Biggest Ship Docks in Hamburg
Chinese container ship ‘The Globe’ docked at the port of Hamburg on Tuesday as part of its maiden voyage.
The Globe, owned by Shanghai-based China Shipping Container Lines, is 56.8 metres, 73 metres high and 400 metres long — about the size of eight Olympic-sized swimming pools. It weighs 186,000 tons.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Islam Belongs to Germany’: Merkel
Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized her support for the Muslim community in Germany and opposition to Turkey’s EU application after meeting with the Turkish prime minister.
Merkel met with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Berlin during his first visit to Germany since taking office in August.
In speeches made after the meeting, Merkel made clear her opposition to Turkey’s bid to join the EU, discussed the importance of increasing dialogue among religious communities and emphasized no tolerance for violence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Govt Approval Rating Shrinks to 33%, Renzi at 37%
86% agree with President Napolitano’s decision to leave early
(ANSA) — Rome, January 12 — Confidence in Premier Matteo Renzi’s government has slipped by four percentage points this month, reaching 33% from December’s level of 37%, according to poll data released Monday.
According to the survey by Ixè institute for the Rai3 program Agorà, Renzi’s personal approval rating that reached 50% in September, has fallen sharply since then, to 37% in Monday’s report. President Giorgio Napolitano won 39% of support of those surveyed while 86% of respondents said they agreed with the 89-year-old leader’s choice to step down rather than wait until the official end of his term in 2020.
Enjoying a continual climb in the polls, however, is Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-immigrant, euroskeptic and regionalist party Lega Nord, whose approval rating is up 7% since September.
Beppe Grillo, leader of the 5-Star Movement, is neck and neck with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, both at 14%.
A randomized sample of 1,000 adults over the age of 18 participated in the survey, which followed parameters set by the Italian statistical agency Istat for gender and geography.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Regional Court Says Ryanair Practice ‘Deceptive’, Fined
Upholds penalty of 850,000 euros over optional insurance
(ANSA) — Rome, January 12 — The Lazio regional court on Monday denounced what it called a “deceptive practice” by budget airline Ryanair and upheld an antitrust fine of 850,000 euros.
Ryanair was convicted almost one year ago by the Italian Antitrust Authority of failing to provide sufficient transparency on an optional cancellation insurance policy.
Last February, the antitrust authority said the Irish airline violated Italy’s consumer code by failing to give consumers enough information about the optional policy — an allegation denied by Ryanair.
In Monday’s decision, the regional court said the antitrust authority correctly concluded Ryanair’s cancellation policy was “a deceptive practice” because it was difficult for customers to understand.
The court said that, adding to confusion, the policy was placed on the airline’s website near drop-down menus for mandatory information including country of residence.
“The information provided…was absolutely incomplete and ambiguous, not allowing the consumer to make a conscious choice,” said the regional court.
Ryanair had challenged the initial court finding.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Moroccan Man Beaten to Death in Torino
Two men in custody, others being sought by police
(ANSA) — Turin, January 12 — Two suspects, a Bulgarian man and an Albanian man, were taken into custody in connection with the beating death of a 24-year-old Moroccan man on Monday.
Police are searching for other suspects and said the attack may have been related to a fight for control of the Lucento neighborhood’s drug trade or prostitution.
One witness told police he observed a group of people surround the man, named Said Wahdoud, and then beat him to death.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: EU Must Change or Become World’s Tailender — Renzi
Italian premier closes Italy’s duty presidency of EU
(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Tuesday that the European Union must change or risk becoming the world’s economic tailender in a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg to close Italy’s six-month duty presidency of the union. “I think that Europe (must) either change gear in the economy or we’ll become the tailenders in a rapid-changing world,” said the Italian premier, who said he was pleased the Italian presidency had made progress in getting greater flexibility in the application of EU budget rules.
But he added that more was needed. “In our opinion, we are going in the right direction, but we have to do more,” Renzi said.
“We are ready to do our bit, to believe in investment…
in six months there has been a profound change of direction, not yet seen in the actions”. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on hailed Italy’s duty president of the European Union as having “inspiring elements”, adding that Rome had “done a good job”. He said that Italy had been crucial in the approval of his 300-billion-euro investment plan and said the union would be in the midst of a “budget crisis” without Rome’s work on a budget agreement for 2014 and 2015. “Many elements inspiring the actions of the Commission are due to the enthusiasm of the Italian presidency,” he said. “Viva Italia”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 10 Suspected Islamic Jihadists Probed in Rome
Not a cell but ‘lone wolves’ prosecutors say
(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Rome prosecutors have placed 10 suspected Islamic jihadists under investigation on charges of subversive association with terrorist intent, sources said Tuesday. The suspects are all foreign residents of the Muslim faith, and were identified through online surveillance, investigators said. This included surveillance of online conversations between the suspects as well as the fact they allegedly accessed extremist and fundamentalist websites.
The 10 suspects reportedly do not make up a cell but are being considered “lone wolves”, sources said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jews in France Hope Attacks Prove to be Turning Point
France’s Jewish community is getting used to armed police outside its schools and places of worship, but also fervently hoping that the weekend’s mass march for unity shows society is rallying to its side.
Europe’s largest Jewish community was counting its dead last week after an Islamist gunman burst into a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris during the busy pre-Sabbath shopping period.
Amedy Coulibaly killed four men before he was shot dead when police stormed the store to bring the four-hour hostage crisis to an end.
Many of the half a million Jews who make the French capital their home say the attack brought back painful memories of earlier wounds. Even before the horrors of last week, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in France has doubled in a year…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Last week’s terror attack targeting French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s office in Paris has sparked a global conversation about the nature of free speech, with the “Je Suis Charlie” hashtag in support of the murdered Charlie Hebdo staff going viral and becoming the most used hashtag in the history of Twitter.
But this afternoon, the UN representative for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ufuk Gokcen, was expressing another view with respect to free speech.
The OIC is comprised of the 57 Muslim-majority nations and the Palestinian Authority. They are the largest bloc at the UN, and when they meet on the head-of-state level, they literally speak for the Muslim world.
So it is noteworthy that after the Charlie Hebdo attack, Gokcen is now calling for more implementation of the OIC-sponsored UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 and the follow-up Rabat Plan of Action that would criminalize the very type of speech that Charlie Hebdo engaged in.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Le Pen: France Should Regain Control of Its Borders
Fn leader attacks Qatar and Saudi Arabia, support terrorism
(ANSAmed) — STRASBOURG, JAN 13 — “It’s time for France to regain control of its borders: we must suspend Schengen because it helps arm-traffickers and terrorists” said Front National, Marine Le Pen, during a crowded press conference in Strasbourg held at the same time of Matteo Renzi’s address. “Freedom of movement is a crazy idea: we must be free to decide who comes in and out of our country” said Marine Le Pen, stressing that what lies behind Schengen is “ideological blindness”. Eliminating frontiers is like saying “ take down the doors to protect us from thieves” . The Front National leader pointed a finger at Qatar and Saudi Arabia, accusing them of supporting terrorism. “France must block any investment in Qatar and Saudi Arabia: these countries support terrorism and islamic fundamentalism” shouted Le Pen. “If they bankroll Psg it’s not because they love football but to increase their influence”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Leave or Stay — A Quandary for French Jews
French Jews are unsettled after the terror attacks in Paris. Anti-semitism has been growing for years and the number of emigrants is rising. Israeli PM Netanyahu has now invited French Jews to immigrate to Israel.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel to Join German Muslim Rally for Tolerance
Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to join a Muslim community rally Tuesday to promote tolerance, condemn the jihadist attacks in Paris and send a rebuke to Germany’s growing anti-Islamic movement.
President Joachim Gauck will address the vigil starting at 1700 GMT at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate, organised by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany under the banner “Let’s be there for each other. Terror: not in our name!”
Merkel, to be joined by most of her cabinet at the event, has spoken out against the right-wing populist “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident”, or PEGIDA, and stressed on Monday that “Islam belongs to Germany”.
PEGIDA on Monday drew a record 25,000 marchers to its 12th weekly rally in Dresden, located in the former communist east Germany, its flag-waving members holding a minute’s silence for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris last week…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks: ‘I Am Not Charlie’
French Muslims disgusted by the shootings in Paris may nonetheless have reasons for not embracing the slogan “I am Charlie”.
“For a Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad is more important than their own parents,” says the young man I meet in Sarcelles, his face twisted with contempt for the caricatures Charlie Hebdo published.
His friend, also 18, nods in agreement as we stand on a street in this Paris dormitory town, famous in France for its large Sephardic Jewish community.
“They were warned but they kept on mocking the prophet,” he continues. “But you cannot kill for that. You cannot go against press freedom in France. Still, they will have to answer to God.”
“Real Muslims condemn these attacks,” adds a third man, 22 and also Muslim. “Those who committed them were insane. The attack on the kosher supermarket was a catastrophe for France and for the world. If you kill one man it is like you kill all of humanity. That is how we think.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Unity March: Which World Leaders Are Really Committed to Press Freedom?
A host of dignitaries joined Sunday’s huge anti-terror rally in Paris but although the Charlie Hebdo attack struck at the heart of press freedom some of the leaders who marched have dubious records in this area. Here’s where they stand on the Reporters without Borders press freedom ranking.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris’s Muslim Suburbs Blame Jews for Charlie
SEVRAN, France — As more than 1.5 million people, including 40 world leaders, converged on Paris on Sunday to rally for unity after terrorist attacks that left 17 innocent people dead, three young men in tracksuits and hoodies lounged outside a fast-food restaurant 10 miles north of the city in Sevran, one of France’s poorest suburbs.
But even though the flags of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia were flying at the rally in Place de la République and Muslims were well represented among the marchers Sunday, Boular said the attacks in Paris were part of a plot masterminded by Jewish conspirators.
“The Kalashnikovs, the identity cards the (killers) supposedly left behind, it was all staged,” said Boular, as his friends nodded in agreement. “It was a conspiracy designed by the Jews to make Muslims look bad. We’d rather just stay where we are.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Calls on Islamic Leaders to Condemn Violence
(AGI) Rome, Jan. 12 — Pope Francis called on Islamic leaders to condemn all violence in his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. The Pope said he hoped “religious, political and intellectual leaders, especially those of the Muslim community, will condemn all fundamentalist and extremist interpretation of religion attempting to justify these acts of violence”. The Pope then called on the diplomats to pray together for peace, following the example of the extraordinarily intense prayer by former Israeli President, Shimon Peres, and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, in the hope that negotiations between the two parties might soon resume, putting an end to violence and achieving a solution enabling both populations to finally live in peace, within the clearly established and internationally recognised borders, and for the two-State solution to finally become effective. “How many persons lose their lives during these cruel journeys, the victims of unscrupulous and greedy thugs? I raised this issue during my recent visit to the European Parliament, where I insisted that ‘we cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery’. Then too there is the alarming fact that many immigrants, especially in the Americas, are unaccompanied children, all the more at risk and in need of greater care, attention and protection”, he said. He continued: “Then too, the family itself is not infrequently considered disposable, thanks to the spread of an individualistic and self-centred culture which severs human bonds and leads to a dramatic fall in birth rates, as well as legislation which benefits various forms of cohabitation rather than adequately supporting the family for the welfare of society as a whole”. The Pope went on to recall: “Together with immigrants, displaced people and refugees, there are many other ‘hidden exiles’ living in our homes and in our families. I think especially of the elderly, the handicapped and young people. The elderly encounter rejection when they are considered a ‘burdensome presence’, while the young are thrown away when they are denied concrete prospects of employment to build their future”. He concluded: “Indeed, there is no poverty worse than that which takes away work and the dignity of work, or which turns work into a form of enslavement. This is what I sought to stress during my recent meeting with popular movements working to finding adequate solutions to some of today’s problems, including the scourge of rising unemployment among the young, illegal labour, and the dramatic situation of so many workers, especially children, who are exploited out of greed”. In this climate of social, political and economic uncertainty that continues to penalise our country, the Pope expressed the hope that “The beloved Italian nation…will rediscover those values of shared concern and solidarity which are at the basis of their culture and civic life, and are a reason for confidence both now and in the future, especially for the young”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Regular Naps Are ‘Key to Learning’
The key to learning and memory in early life is a lengthy nap, say scientists.
Trials with 216 babies up to 12 months old indicated they were unable to remember new tasks if they did not have a lengthy sleep soon afterwards.
The University of Sheffield team suggested the best time to learn may be just before sleep and emphasised the importance of reading at bedtime.
Experts said sleep may be much more important in early years than at other ages.
People spend more of their time asleep as babies than at any other point in their lives.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Foreign Minister Compares Fight Against Jihadism With World War II
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo, who is on a tour of the Middle East, has compared the fight against jihadism with World War II, a time when democracies battled against totalitarianism.
Speaking in Amman, the capital of Jordan, on Sunday, García-Margallo stated that attempting to dialogue with the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or any of its offshoots “would be a first-class political error.”
The conservative politician even used a popular historical slogan coined by Spanish republicans when Franco’s troops were threatening to take over the country during the Civil War: “No pasarán” (“They shall not pass.”)
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Muslim Group in Pig’s Head and Graffiti Attack
A building used by an Islamic association in Borås in southern Sweden has been attacked.
The building, which serves a mosque for Svenljunga’s Muslim Association was vandalised, with the text ‘Viva La France’ sprayed on an outside wall, in reference to the terror attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week.
A pork’s head was also left outside the premises.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Ice Music Taps Texas Troubadour for New Tunes
The world’s “coolest concert” is set for a Texas twist in 2015 when Luleå’s innovative Ice Music welcomes American musical talent from Austin, home of the South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival.
Last year, music fans the world over turned their eyes to Luleå in Swedish Lapland for the inaugural series of Ice Music concerts featuring instruments made of ice and played in a giant igloo big enough to hold more than 150 spectators.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Up to 5,000 Islamist fanatics are at large after returning to Europe from the front line in Syria, the Continent’s police chief has revealed.
Rob Wainwright, the British head of Europol, said the threat from home-grown terrorists was at its highest level since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The warning comes after French gunmen killed 17 people over three days of terror in Paris last week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Shops to Receive Charlie Hebdo Magazine Despite Radical Cleric Calling it an “Act of War”
Hundreds of copies of the ‘survivors’ edition of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine are expected to go on sale in the UK when the magazine is published on Wednesday.
Radical preacher Anjem Choudray has criticised the magazine’s controversial cartoon front cover of the Prophet Mohammed as “an act of war” and warned there will be “repercussions”.
The latest edition is published a week after many of the Charlie Hebdo editorial team were massacred in an attack at their Paris office which saw terrorist brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi kill 12 people.
Five of Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonists — including the editor — were killed in the attack.
[…]
The lecturer in Shariah law, who was arrested in September as part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism, added: “These things always have a history of coming back and biting them. People are not going to forget. Muslims will never forget what these people did. And I’m sure there’s someone somewhere who will take the law into his own hands. It’s inevitable.”
[…]
“There will be repercussions. I think there will be someone somewhere who will retaliate.”
[Shakespeare: “This England, which was wont to conquer others, hath made a shameful conquest of itself.” In the gunless and therefore helpless UK, this alien creature can get away with his flagrant incitement to murder. But who knows? Maybe this will be a threat too far. It is to hope! — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Operation Sanctuary: Benwell Man Charged
A man has been charged with 21 sex offences, some involving girls as young as 11 and 12.
Bahmani Ahmadi appeared in court accused of a string of offences, including transporting girls around the UK for sexual exploitation.
The alleged offences included three sexual assaults on girls over 16, four of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15, six of inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, five of inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, two of inciting a child aged 13 — 17 into prostitution or pornography and one of intentionally arranging the travel of a person within the UK for their sexual exploitation.
The charges, which involve a number of girls, date from May 2012 to July 2014.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Up to 5,000 EU Fighters Pose Risk, Says Europol Chief
In hearing before British parliament
(ANSAmed) — LONDON, JANUARY 13 — There are between 3,000 and 5,000 European nationals fighting in the conflict in the Middle East who may conduct terrorist attacks once they return home, Europol director Rob Wainwright stated on Tuesday before the British parliament.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Men Arrested at Cairo Sauna Acquitted
Accused of ‘debauchery’ over alleged homosexual relations
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 12 — A court in Cairo acquitted all 26 men arrested at a public sauna in Cairo on “debauchery” charges, used in Egypt to crack down on homosexuality, the website of Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported on Monday.
Usually homosexuality as such is not considered a crime in Egypt but Egyptian media have stressed the police raid on a public sauna in Ramses had been carried out to hunt down homosexuals. The 26 were accused of “gay orgies” at the hammam, according to the website.
An episode of television programme “El Mestakhabi” (hidden) dedicated to the operation against the sauna had sparked criticism on social networks as a journalist from the programme had accompanied officers during the blitz and, with a smart phone, had filmed men as they were dragged out half naked by officers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State of Tripoli Announces Kidnap of 21 Christian “Crusaders”
The jihad war against the indigenous Christians of the Middle East continues, courtesy of the Islamic State’s Libyan arm. From the looks of these photos, these are not Western “invaders,” but Christians from the area.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mubarak Poised to Walk Free After Egypt High Court Orders Retrial
Hosni Mubarak is set to be released from custody after a court dismissed the only conviction keeping him in jail. The ousted president had been under house arrest at a military hospital in Cairo since 2011.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Child Executes Prisoners in New ISIS Video
SITE monitoring group publishes still frame
(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — The Islamic State (ISIS) fundamentalist organization has posted a new video showing a boy aged about 10 years old shooting two prisoners dead, the SITE Intelligence Group reported Tuesday.
“ISIS has reached new depths of moral depravation,” said SITE director and co-founder Rita Katz, whose website published a still frame of the video.
SITE has studied, tracked, and analyzed international terrorists, the global jihadist network and terrorism financing for more than a decade, according to its website.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran’s Rouhani Says Countries Behind Oil Price Drop Will Suffer
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that countries behind the fall in global oil prices would regret their decision and warned that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would suffer alongside Iran from the price drop.
“Those that have planned to decrease the prices against other countries will regret this decision,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on state television as oil plunged to near six year lows on international markets.
“If Iran suffers from the drop in oil prices, know that other oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will suffer more than Iran,” he added.
Oil prices have fallen 60 percent from their June 2014 peaks, driven down by rising production, particularly of U.S. shale oil, and weaker-than-expected demand in Europe and Asia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Yazidi Refugees at Risk of Genocide
Hassan, 15, has lost his entire family. Women have been sold or used as prostitutes; young women married off to Islamic state fighters and forcibly impregnated by them. Some 10,000 Yazidis are still besieged on Mount Sinjar. During his visit with Pope Francis, the Yazidi leader called the pontiff the “father of the poor”. Christians and Yazidis are equally helped. The coalition is still slow in helping the recapture of ISIS’s seized territory. Winter in the camps is full of misery.
Zakho (AsiaNews) — Hassan, 15, hasn’t said a word in the icy wind of northern Kurdistan, amid the snow and mud wearing a light jacket over a sweater, his lips purple from the cold. Only his “uncle,” Bashar speaks for him.
The 36-year-old man acts as the leader of the Yazidis hosted by Our Lady Parish in Khanik, an almost exclusively Christian village on the river that separates Iraq from Turkey and Syria.
Hassan is the only member of his family to be definitely alive. For months, he has not had any news about his father, mother, brothers and sisters for months. He and his family lived in the village of Tal Afar, side by side in peace with Sunni Muslims.
When it became apparent that the Islamic state was about to conquer the village, Hassan fled in the night, but lost contact with the rest of his family, which included three unmarried women. Nothing is known about their whereabouts. “In all likelihood, ISIS took them, raped them or killed them,” Bashar said.
ISIS’s hatred for Yazidis is even stronger than that towards Christians. The latter can convert or pay the jizya (a poll tax levied on some non-Muslims for protection). For Yazidis, whose beliefs are a mixture of Zoroastrian, Christian and Muslim influences, there could only be extermination to “cleanse” Islamic land from paganism.
Women are the exception. The younger ones are given in marriage to ISIS fighters, who immediately get them pregnant. The older ones are used as slaves and prostitutes to satisfy their sexual needs. A woman, who escaped, said she was raped by 20 ISIS men in a single day. To avoid this kind of indignity, some women have committed suicide.
“In early August we realised that ISIS was coming and so we fled to Mount Sinjar,” said Bashar as he described his family’s difficulties. “We were there for five days. Then we received news that the fighters had retreated and so we tried to go back. On the way, they started firing at us and so we returned on Sinjar, without food or water.”
Tens of thousands of Yazidis have been on the mountain for months, besieged by Islamic State fighters.
“No one was sending us aid,” Bashar bemoans. “Kurdish peshmerga were unable to break the siege, we had no supplies . . . Staying on the mountain meant starvation. Surrendering to ISIS meant immediate execution. So I decided to take my family and my relatives — 17 people in all — first, across the border into Syria, and then back into Kurdistan.”
Many people chose instead to remain on Mount Sinjar, like Bashar’s brother. Some 10,000 people are still besieged by the Islamic state.
Some areas around the town of Sinjar and Mount Sinjar have been liberated, but not the mountain itself, which remains under ISIS fire.
Christians, but especially Yazidis, are being subjected to what constitutes for all intents and purposes “physical and cultural genocide,” said Mgr Louis Sako, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad.
Last week, Pope Francis met Tahsin Said Ali Beg, and the Yazidi supreme spiritual leader, ‘Baba Sheikh’ Skeikh Kato, a personal friend of Mgr Rabbanal-Qas, bishop of Duhok.
Yazidi leaders described the pope “the father of the poor” for the help Christians give to their people. In fact, as Bashar noted, the local parish priest, Fr Sadri Dawod, offered them the place where they are currently living — some old parish buildings.
All the refugee aid coming to the church is distributed fairly between Christians and Yazidis. In northern Kurdistan, that includes about 1,500 Christian families and more than 10,000 Yazidi families, with many children.
A few thousands Yazidis live in the Nowruz refugee, a vast area of covered by tents and misery. Many others live with Christians in several local villages.
The Church provides food, water, blankets, stoves and kerosene.
Occasionally, the refugees also get some small amounts of money for personal needs or to buy medicine for the elderly.
The Kurdistan government is planning to give each refugee family US$ 300 a month, but so far, nothing has arrived.
No one knows when the emergency will end. “If our villages are liberated,” Bashar said, “we want to go back. Here there are no schools, and there is no education for children and teens.”
But liberation plans are taking their time. Yesterday, Iraq’s prime minister criticised the US-led coalition for its slow delivery of modern weapons to the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army. For Haider al-Abadi, this is allowing ISIS to dig in.
Meanwhile, for refugees “the situation is tough,” said Bashar. “It is winter now — it is not easy to live like this, in these tents. There is no work here.”
The only job he was able to find was breaking rocks and sell them to the government, which is building big roads as part of Kurdistan’s development programme. This way, he earns US$ 20 a day.
(Dario Salvi contributed to this article)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia in Must-Win Situation Against North Korea
North Korea are approaching Wednesday’s Asian Cup clash with Saudi Arabia confident that a gradual ideological thaw will help them overcome the odds and reach the quarterfinals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Cleric Declares Snowmen as Being Anti-Islamic
A prominent Saudi Arabian cleric has caused a stir by declaring the building of snowmen as anti-Islamic.
After a snowstorm hit northern Saudi Arabia this week, a religious website asked Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid if it was acceptable for fathers to build snowmen for their children, Reuters reports.
“It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun,” Sheikh Munajjid said.
Sheikh Munajjid, quoting Muslim scholars, argues that the building of snowmen creates an image of human beings — an action viewed as sinful under Saudi Arabia’s interpretation of Sunni Islam.
[Ban the snotoons! —PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Spear-Carriers and Chainmail Warriors: Erdogan’s Palace Welcome
Spear-carrying guardsmen, warriors bedecked in chainmail, gleaming golden helmets and even a few fake moustaches thrown in for good measure — Turkey’s president has spared nothing in a dramatic remake of his palace ceremonial guard.
On Monday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas could have been forgiven for thinking he had walked onto the scene of a historical costume drama or far-fetched ballet as he arrived for talks in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
As Abbas shook hands with Erdogan, the main staircase of the Turkish leader’s controversial new presidential palace was occupied by 16 warriors dressed in period armour, carrying spears, shields and clutching fearsome-looking swords…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: 94 Journalists Critical of Gov’t Denied Press Cards
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 13 — Turkish government-led arbitrary practices against journalists critical of the government have entered a new phase after 94 veteran journalists — many of whom work for the Zaman, Samanyolu, Cihan, Taraf and Bugun media outlets — were denied permanent press cards, regardless of their eligibility as daily Today’s Zaman reports. The Prime Ministry’s Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) made a highly controversial decision to block a number of journalists from acquiring permanent press cards during a meeting held last December. In spite of authorizing the issuance of press cards for 208 new applicants, the directorate declined to award cards to a number of journalists applying to extend the validity of cards already in their possession.
Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanli, Zaman Deputy Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Kamis and Cuneyt Ozdemir, producer of the 5N 1K news program, were among those denied permanent press cards. Journalists who complete 20 years of service become eligible for permanent press cards, but Dumanli, Kamis and Ozdemir were denied permanent press cards without any reason. The list of the journalists denied these press cards will be re-examined during the next meeting of the directorate, scheduled for February or March. Turgay Olcayto, the president of Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) and member of the Press Cards Commission, criticized the denial of press cards for journalists known for their critical stance against the government, saying that he has never heard of such strange actions on the part of the directorate.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Two More Swedes Die Fighting for ISIS in Iraq
After fighting alongside Islamist extremists in northern Iraq, two Swedish citizens were killed over the weekend, it has emerged.
The men, who were both from Örebro in central Sweden died on Sunday, according to sources at a muslim group in the town, speaking to Swedish broadcaster SVT on Monday.
Mahdi Warsama, president of the Horn of Africa Association said that the two men had previously travelled back and forth between Sweden and Iraq on several other occasions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Yazidis Forced to Give Blood to Wounded ISIS Fighters: Report
by Phyllis Chesler
Tonight, BBC Arabic will air a new documentary, Slaves of the Caliphate, whichdocuments the horrendous plight of captured Yazidi girls and women. This film will be broadcast on BBC World on January 17, 2015.
The first Yazidi sex slave to reveal her identity—Hamshe—talks about what happened to her and to others. Disclosed for the first time: in addition to being forced to sexually service ISIS jihadists, these girls and women were also forced to “give blood to wounded fighters.”
Activist Nareen Shammo has been keeping track of hundreds of kidnapped Yazidi; she has tried to locate them and negotiate their return.
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Activist Who Accused Malaysian Islamic Department of Extremism, Is Charged and Arrested
Lawyer Eric Paulsen is detained for criticising Jakim, a federal Islamic agency, for its attacks against Christians. Charges against him include “sedition” and “insulting Islam.” The case stems from pressures by political leaders, and, for his legal team, it is a blatant “abuse of power.”
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Eric Paulsen, a Malaysian lawyer and activist, co-founder of Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), was arrested yesterday on charges of promoting “sedition”.
Mr Paulsen posted a message on Tweeter, later removed, in which he accused the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), an agency of Malaysia’s federal government, of spreading “extremism” that fuelled sectarian violence and attacks against minorities, particularly Christians.
Instead of opening an investigation against the prominent lawyer, Malaysian authorities chose to charge him right away with “sedition”.
After investigators detained Paulsen (pictured), they applied for a four-day remand but the court only gave a two-day remand order. Thus, Paulsen can go free tomorrow, albeit still subject to the investigation.
The lawyer’s defence team slammed the arrest as a blatant “abuse of power by police,” especially by the inspector-general of police.
His arrest is clearly the result of political pressures from top government officials. In fact, following Paulsen’s critical tweet, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin urged police to take action against the lawyer. Soon after, the latter was arrested.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said that Paulsen was detained for posting a “seditious” tweet that “sparked anger among the public”, claiming that if no actions were taken to such comment, it might lead to racial disturbances.
An investigation was launched against the activist under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948. He is believed to be held at the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur.
Everything began when some netizens targeted the lawyer, who had received death threats in the past, for his tweet. For them, his words are a form of Islamophobia and an attack on religion. Even the Islamic youth movement Umno called for exemplary punishment against Paulsen.
However, in the contentious online message, all the activist did was to urge the authorities to monitor Jakim’s Friday sermons because in his view they promoted “extremism” and labelled Christians as “enemies of Islam”.
The activist’s arrest is no accident, but comes at a time of heightened inter-religious tensions and attacks against minorities, particularly Christians.
A controversial Appeal Court ruling issued last year has led to raids and abuses, including the seizure of the Bibles, attacks on churches, and desecration of graves.
The Catholic weekly The Herald has also been banned from using the word Allah even though a Latin-Malay dictionary published 400 years ago shows that the word Allah was already in use to describe the Biblical God in the local language.
Malaysia is a nation of more than 28 million people, mostly Muslims (60 per cent). Christians are the third largest religious group (after Buddhists) with more than 2.6 million members.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hindu Nursing Lecturer Hacked to Death for Not Wearing Hijab
by Phyllis Chesler
The Islamists hacked her to death in broad daylight in Bangladesh and held the horrified onlookers at bay with firearms.
On January 11, 2015, Anjali Devi, 57, was brutally murdered by a group of young men associated with Jamayat-e-Islami.
She was a Hindu, living in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, an honored teacher of nursing at a medical college, a nurse who was concerned with proper hygiene for nurses.
But the Islamist group Jamayat-e-Islami had issued a fatwa demanding that nurses wear hijab. By definition, doing so increases the risk of a nurse carrying a disease from one patient to another and violates operating room procedures. Bangladeshi daily newspaper The Independent reports that police are refusing to officially tie the attack to the group—”We are not pretty sure who the real assassin is, and the motive behind it (murder) is not clear yet.”—but witnesses noted Devi’s opposition to the hijab as the most likely reason for the murder.
When it comes to adhering to Sharia law, Islamists in southeast and central Asia do not care about hygiene. They view this as tainted Western medicine, which dares defy Allah’s will. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, aid workers were murdered for attempting to administer polio vaccines in neighboring Pakistan.
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Indian Christians Demand Ban of Hindu Mass ‘Re-Conversion’
Catholics, Protestants say premier Modi supports Hindu far right
(ANSA) — New Delhi, January 5 — Indian Christians have urged the government to ban a programme of mass “reconversion” to Hinduism launched recently by a Hindu ultra-right organisation, the Times of India said Monday.
In a news conference held in Punjab Sunday, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and two Protestant churches accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “extending tacit support” to the campaign by radicals from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Rss).
The campaign called in Hindi “ghar wapsi” (come back home), so far has led to the conversion of some 8,000 Indians who abandoned their faith and embraced Hinduism.
In December, dozens of Christians “returned to their Hinduist roots” in Kerala state, according to reports. Christian leaders said they will raise the matter with individual state leaders and threatened to demonstrate publicly.
The Christian minority, making up 2.3% of the population and traditionally present in India for 2,000 years, continues to feel under attack.
At times, that has been physical.
A fire in a Christmas creche in a church in the New Delhi area of Rohini on Saturday was caused by arsonists, ecclesiastical authorities said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Religious Violence Increases in India With Two Christian Communities Affected
On the same day, Hindu radical groups attacked a Protestant community in Bihar and Pentecostals in Karnataka. For the president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, “extremist groups feel encouraged to attack Christians because they are not restrained by the law.”
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — “In secular India, freedom of worship is deteriorating for Christians. Two attacks on the same day, in two different states of the country, are proof that extremist groups feel encouraged to attack Christians because they are not restrained by the law,” said Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), who spoke to AsiaNews after a Protestant and a Pentecostal community were attacked by Hindu radicals.
One incident took place in Madhav Nagar (Bihar). “Militants from the local Bajrang Dal branch disrupted a prayer service involving some 50 people,” said Sajan George.
“Rev Kamlesh, who has led the community for almost six years, was pushed around, accused of practicing forced conversions. Some of the people present were beaten. The radicals also damaged musical instruments and part of the furniture.”
According to police, Bajrang Dal activists attacked the community because the clergyman was “luring” poor Hindus, and encouraging them to convert. However, “we found no evidence for these allegations,” a police officer said. “Christians go there every week to pray and socialise with each other.”
The second incident occurred in Kushulanagar (State of Karnataka). As he has done for the past 15 years, Rev K J Mathai, a pastor with the Pentecostal Gospel in Action Fellowship Church, was celebrating Sunday service, along with 30 members of his congregation.
Suddenly, a police jeep arrived. Officers told those present that they had received a complaint against the community that it was involved in “forced conversions”.
After waiting for the end of the service, police escorted the pastor and some of the faithful to the police station where they were questioned for several hours.
Meanwhile, outside, a large number of Hindu extremists demonstrated against Christians.
Eventually the religious leader was released, but police warned him to “be careful” when he conducts prayer services.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China Bans Burqa in Capital of Muslim Region of Xinjiang
The capital of China’s most Muslim region has banned residents from wearing the burqa in “an effort to curb growing extremism”.
Women in Urumqi, a city of 3.1 million people in the far western region of Xinjiang, will no longer be allowed to wear the garment, state media announced this week.
“Burqas are not traditional dress for Uighur women, and wearing them in public places is banned in countries such as Belgium and France,” Xinhua, China’s official news agency, wrote in a brief article about the ban.
Xinjiang is home to the Uighurs, a largely Muslim, Turkic-speaking group as well as a growing number of Han Chinese migrants who have poured into the region which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nigerian Archbishop: Nigeria Needs ‘Same International Support’ Against Terrorism as France
by Phyllis Chesler
Nigerian Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has called for”the same international support to tackle Boko Haram as France has received since it was hit by Islamist attacks last week.”
I wonder whether or not the massive march and show of support in France against Islamic terrorism is the beginning of the democratic West’s resistance to Islamic terrorism—or merely a symbolic and momentary “illusion.” Will the massive show of solidarity in Paris lead to legislation that closes national borders, deports those on no-fly lists, deports radical imams at radical mosques, together with their radicalized followers in mosques and in prison, and deports those who have traveled to Iraq, Syria, and Yemen for jihadi training? Will it lead to legislation that also abolishes the “no-go” zones—the kind of hostile, separatist Muslim-only neighborhoods in which French Jew Ilan Halimi was tortured by groups of Muslims for three weeks before he died?…
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Mgr Ignatius Kaigama talks about the suffering of a country hit by Islamist violence. For the prelate, what is going on “is not a clash between Christians and Muslims”, but the result of an increasingly powerful group that is willing to attack anyone who stands in its way. He wants greater international commitment and “determination to halt terrorism.”
Jos (AsiaNews) — “Do not forget that we are here, that we are suffering, that many people have been killed, that many have become displaced, that they do not have a place to live. We need help and practical support to put an end to attacks,” said Mgr Ignatius Kaigama, archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, who spoke to AsiaNews about the violence perpetrated by the Islamist group Boko Haram in the Central African nation.
The prelate said the world has to show more determination to halt the group’s advance in Nigeria. For him, the international community has to show the same spirit and resolve it showed after the attacks in France.
His warning comes after three young female suicide bombers, one reportedly aged 10, killed 20 more people in Maiduguri and Potiskum.
The Nigerian army too has called for the intervention of the international community against Boko Haram, to avert further bloodshed like the incident on 3 January in the city of Baqa, in the northeast of the country.
When the Islamists raided the town, which is in Borno State, they killed hundreds and forced tens of thousands to flee. So far there is no final count, but more than 2,000 people have been already killed.
According to a Nigerian military, concerted action is needed to eliminate the evil of boko Haram. Similarly, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon said he was appalled by reports of the killings in Baga and condemned what he called “the depraved acts of Boko Haram terrorists”.
For the archbishop of Jos, actions must target the growing violence in the African country, which threatens to plunge it into chaos. “Do not forget that we are here, that we are suffering,” Mgr Kaigama explained, “that many people have been killed, that many have become displaced” and are in need of help.
For the prelate, Boko Haram is growing. “They captured local governors. They are hitting their targets. They have increasingly sophisticated weapons. They have adopted different strategies to attack ordinary people” and use even girls and boys.
“Muslims in Nigeria do not support and do not encourage this type of violence,” Mgr Kaigama noted. Many imams have spoken out on several occasions to condemn the attacks. They are “speaking in an increasingly loud and clear voice against Boko Haram, but we need greater determination to halt terrorism.”
“The problem is not a clash between Christians and Muslims,” the prelate explained. We have “an Islamist terrorist group that attacks anyone who stands in its way or does not work with them wholeheartedly.”
“Attacks are increasing. For this reason, security must be beefed up,” he said. “We hope that the government and leaders of the international community will do something to put an end to the violence.”
In October, Nigerian authorities announced a possible cease-fire with Boko Haram terrorists, in connection with the possible release of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, in Borno, last April. The truce would have allowed the country to hold presidential and legislative elections in February.
However, the self-styled leader of the Islamist movement, Abubakar Shekau denied that any deal was in the works, and violence continues unabated.
Founded in 2002, the extremist group fought first against Western education. Loosely translated, in Hausa Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden”.
Since 2009, it has launched attacks and carried out military actions with the aim of creating an Islamic state.
Its operations have claimed thousands of lives, particularly in north-eastern Nigeria, targeting police and security forces. It has even attacked UN offices in the capital Abuja.
So far, at least three million people have been affected in various ways by Islamist violence. (DS)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over 3000 People Evacuated From Nigerian Bloodbath
(AGI) Lagos, Jan 12 — Around 3,200 inhabitants of Baga, the town where 2,000 people were slaughtered by Boko Haram Islamists this week, have been evacuated to the city of Maiduguri and placed under the protection of Nigeria’s government and national emergency agency. A humanitarian aid team left the capital, Abuja. Eleven refugee camps have been set up to deal with the emergency. Baga is still under the control of Boko Haram, with witnesses reporting that the extremists have built barricades in strategic positions throughout the city, while bodies litter the ground, many of them already decomposing. Boko Haram also attacked a military base in Kolofata, in northeastern Cameroon, on Monday, provoking many people to flee the area. The death toll is not yet available. .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tanzania Bans Witchdoctors Over Albino Attacks
Tanzania has banned witchdoctors in a move intended to stop attacks on people with albinism.
Home Affairs Minister Mathias Chikawe said there would be a nationwide operation to “arrest them and take them to court” if they continued to work.
Albino people, who lack pigment in their skin, have faced attacks for their body parts, which witchdoctors believe bring good luck and wealth.
The Tanzanian Albinism Society (TAS) has welcomed the ban.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Haitians Still Struggling to Survive Five Years After Earthquake
Five years after it was hit by a massive earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale and left around 300,000 people dead and 1.5 million homeless, debris no longer blocks the streets of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
But despite the $13.34 billion pledged by the international community for relief and recovery efforts and to help Haitian institutions get back on their feet, little has been done to build new housing or even repair existing structures devastated by the January 12, 2010 quake.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and its fragile democracy are struggling just to survive.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rising Fuel Thefts Spark Gasoline Shortages in Mexico
Gasoline distributors in Mexico have complained about serious shortages in central and northern areas over the past two weeks as growing fuel-theft problems leave pumps dry at filling stations around the nation.
Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which has a monopoly on supplies, has acknowledged that the shortages are due to the rise in illegal tapping of energy pipelines.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 3,707 Minors Disappeared From Migrant Centres
Almost 2,000 in Sicily alone says interior minister
(ANSA) — Palermo, January 13 — As of December 31 last year, 3,707 unaccompanied minors have gone missing from migrant reception centres out of a total of 14,243 registered, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told a hearing of the Sicilian Anti-Mafia Parliamentary Commission on Tuesday. In Sicily alone 1,882 out of a total of 4,628 unaccompanied foreign minors disappeared from migrant reception centers. “We have set up a task force at the ministry, because the issue of minors has security implications,” Alfano said.
“We don’t want them getting sucked into the criminal world, beginning with prostitution”.
The Migrantes Foundation, a Catholic migrant rights association, denounced what it said are “extremely serious shortcomings in the protection of unaccompanied minors” once they reach Italian shores.
Italy has been the first landfall for thousands of people crossing the Mediterranean on often unsafe boats run by unscrupulous human traffickers in a bid to flee war, dictatorships and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, many of them dying along the way.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Troubling Math of Muslim Migration
Preventing a Paris-style attack is, in part, a numbers game. Americans don’t seem to be paying attention.
By Ian Tuttle
There is no official estimate of Muslims in the U.S.; religious affiliation is not tracked by the Census Bureau. However, Pew’s estimate of 2.75 million seems to be on the lower end. The Council on American-Islamic Relations says there are approximately 7 million Muslims in the country.
Whatever the exact level, it can hardly be considered surprising that as the Muslim population in the country has expanded, so has the incidence of radicalism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fear of an Anti-Muslim Backlash
By Daniel Greenfield
It used to be that the media would at least wait a day before sweeping the latest victims of Muslim terrorism into the trash to refocus on the looming “anti-Muslim backlash” that never actually comes.
The increase in Muslim terrorism however has made it risky for the media to wait that long. 24 hours after a brutal Muslim terrorist attack, there might be another brutal Muslim terrorist attack which will completely crowd out the stories of Muslims worrying about the backlash to the latest Muslim atrocity.
The massacre at Charlie Hebdo was quickly followed by a massacre at a kosher supermarket and somewhere in between them the Islamic State in Nigeria had wiped out the populations of sixteen villages.
With so many Muslim attacks crowded together, the media had no choice but to take a deep breath and dive in with its “Muslim backlash” stories.
The Voice of America ran its “Muslims fear backlash” piece while the bodies were still warm. The Los Angeles Times rushed out its “Muslims fear backlash” story before the Kosher supermarket massacre. It quoted the Muslim spokesman for the National Observatory Against Islamophobia asserting that it is Muslims who suffer after such attacks. Muslims however weren’t the ones who suffered. The four dead Jews at a Kosher supermarket did the suffering at the hands of a Muslim gunman.
While Muslim murderers were still prowling France for victims, the media was making the story about the perpetrators, not the victims…
| — Hat tip: RL | [Return to headlines] |
See the testicle-less BBC and other UK media outlets won’t show the Hebdo front cover.
Also, concerning the article about press freedom; wonder where the UK would score, given that burning a k-ran or re-tweeting muslim threats against your family are prosecutable offenses?
No testicles? These folk are Barbie’s Ken doll no doubt.
Woman ‘phones Hamleys (famous London toyshop): I’d like a Barbie Doll for my granddaughter. Do you have any new ones please?”
“Well Madam, there’s Air Hostess Barbie; she’s £10 and comes with a uniform, flight bag and fixed grin. There’s Bridal Barbie; she’s £20, and has a wedding dress, veil and corsage. And there’s Divorced Barbie, but she’s £200.”
“Two hundred pounds? What does she come with?”
“Ken’s car, Ken’s boat, Ken’s house…”
French comedian Dieudonne arrested over Facebook post
Activist known for anti-Semitic views is accused of terror ‘apologism’ for sympathizing with kosher shop killer
By AFP January 14, 2015, 11:59 am
Young woman found with slit throat in Paris
– Was going to walk the dog
She was found this morning
Obama is going after journalists! Who the hell does he think he is? Emperor Nero?
Obama is worse. Can the Congress impeach him for violating the Constitution? He swore to uphold it? But how? Are all the acts that he has done over the last 6 years not enough to put him back in his place, and reduce him to his actual size and knock some sense and logic into his small head?
Why democracies elect the worst of candidates? Or during election campaign they say the right things. After winning they obey their muslim masters with petrodollars? And then we forget or we cannot change anything?
Stupid muslims! We have this system of democracy where everyone is kept honest by “free honest” media” and they (muslims) hate our superb system.
When are we going to realized to protect our nations and people and thus stopping muslims from laughing at us. As Abbas was laughing at the recent funeral visit to Paris. Abbas laughed openly to show that he was sincerely happy at Hebdo massacre. And no one dared escort him outside. He got under my skin. Because I exactly know why he smirked: He smirked at the stupidity of the western politicians who he manipulates. They have become blind on account of their hatred for Israel.