For full Obamanoid coverage of the inauguration tomorrow, don’t come to us — visit the MSM.Happy Hope ’n’ Change, everyone!
Thanks to AA, Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Gaia, Holger Danske, Insubria, JD, Larwyn, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Bush Cuts Sentences of Ramos, Compean
Agents convicted of shooting smuggler will be released from prison March 20
President Bush commuted the prison sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean today.
The announcement came on the last full day of Bush’s presidency. The sentences for Ramos and Compean are scheduled to expire March 20 but there was no immediate explanation for the time period between today’s announcement and that date.
[…]
“Thank God for this commutation,” said Joseph Farah, editor of WND, who launched a petition and letter-writing campaign that re-energized the Ramos-Compean issue in the last 30 days of Bush’s term. “This will end the sleepless nights for their wives and children. This is the first step toward making these families whole, again.”
His petition collected more than 40,000 signatures by the time today’s announcement was made, and the letter campaign produced more than 3,000 FedEx letters to the White House.
“We can only thank Joseph Farah, Jerome Corsi and the staff at WorldNetDaily because from the beginning you have been with us and you never gave up on the case,” Joe Loya, Ramos’ father-in-law, said today. “Your reporting had a lot to do with the decision today by President Bush to commute the sentences.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Epic Failures
A little more than three months ago, the debate was raging over the $700 billion Paulson Plan. And while there was never any doubt that House and Senate Democrats would support the notion of handing over astronomical sums of money to anyone with a pulse, far too many conservatives in the media cast aside whatever shreds of principle remained to them after eight years of a disastrous Republican administration and encouraged the Republican Party to support what was a small step for a Treasury secretary and a huge leap for socialism in America.
Now that what was completely obvious has become undeniable, and the failure of the initial round of bailouts has bankers and politicians in both the United States and the United Kingdom scheming to concoct another one, it’s wise to go back and examine what observers in the media wrote the last time. For it is certain that those who were completely and utterly wrong about the Paulson Plan being a viable solution to the financial crisis cannot be considered to have any credibility on economic matters in the future, as “we had to do something” is not a defense that can be reasonably invoked by any thinking conservative.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
From Harvard Dream to Terrorism Nightmare
Tall and lean, with a wispy mustache and shy smile, 17-year-old Burhan Hassan chalked up A’s last fall as a senior at Roosevelt High School, vowing to become a doctor or lawyer.
After school and on weekends, he studied Islam at the nearby Abubakar As-Saddique mosque. He joined its youth group.
“He wanted to go to Harvard,” said his uncle, Osman Ahmed. “That was his dream.”
Instead, Hassan has gone to Somalia, the anarchic East African nation that his family fled when he was a toddler. On Election Day, Nov. 4, Hassan and five other youths slipped away from their homes here and, anguished family members now say, may have joined a Taliban-style Islamic militia U.S. authorities call a terrorist organization.
The youths, who have U.S. passports, followed a well-trod trail from Minneapolis to Mogadishu. Another group took off in August. The FBI believes that over the past two years, up to 20 Minnesotans have gone to Somalia.
As a result, a joint terrorism task force led by the FBI is scrambling to determine if extremist Islamic groups are seeking recruits here in the nation’s largest Somali community — as well as in San Diego, Seattle, Boston and other cities.
“We’re aware that these guys have traveled from Minneapolis and other parts of the country,” said FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson. “Our concern obviously is they’ve been recruited somehow to fight or to train as terrorists.”
Topping their concern is the case of Shirwa Ahmed, a bearded 27-year-old former Minneapolis resident who went to Somalia in 2007 — and who may be what Wilson called “the first occasion of a U.S. citizen suicide bomber.”
Officials believe the naturalized American was in a terrorist team that detonated five car bombs in two cities in northern Somalia on Oct. 29, killing at least 30 people, including U.N. aid workers.
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Obama Team Asked Israel to End Offensive
Top defense official says president-elect’s aides wanted action before inauguration
HERZLIYA, Israel — Representatives from the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama informed Israel they would like to see the Jewish state’s offensive against Hamas scaled back before tomorrow’s inauguration, according to a top defense official who spoke to WND.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said he was not aware of any official demand from Obama or his team. But he said members of Obama’s team made it clear to the Israeli government it would be better for them if Israel’s three-week offensive came to an end as Obama assumes office.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sherriff Joe Arpaio Announces Drop in Homicide Rate
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that homicide in its jurisdiction dropped by 28 percent in 2008. In 2007, the sheriff’s office documented 32 murders, but only 23 were recorded last year.
MCSO serves more than 300,000 residents, primarily those living in small towns and the county’s rural stretches. Cities that have their own police departments are not included in the crime statistics, though they are within the sheriff’s jurisdiction.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, in a press release announcing the declining homicide rate, said the improvement was “partially” due to the office’s illegal-immigration operations.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Speaker Pelosi Differs From Obama on Taxes, Probes
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to differ from Barack Obama on at least two issues — tax increases and investigating the Bush administration.
The Democratic House speaker wants Congress to consider repealing President George W. Bush’s tax cuts well before they expire in 2010, in contrast to what Obama is proposing.
Pelosi said Democrats have promised to end the Bush tax cuts for those who make more than $250,000.
“We had campaigned in saying what the Republican Congressional Budget Office told us: Nothing contributed more to the budget deficit than the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America,” Pelosi said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Superintendent Warns Against ‘Inappropriate Comments’
‘It won’t be tolerated. That’s a very dangerous precedent’
[Comment from JD: aka “No anti-Dear-Leader talking allowed policy.]
Mason school officials said they are taking a proactive educational approach in advance of next week’s planned Inauguration Day activities.
“Inappropriate comments that may make other students, staff or families feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in school or on the bus will not be tolerated,” Superintendent Kevin Bright said in an e-mail sent to parents Monday, Jan. 12.
The district, he said, expects students and staff to show respect for President-elect Obama and the incoming administration, as well as President Bush and the outgoing administration, and recognize that “while the election is a competitive process, our nation’s greatness is displayed when all sides come together for a united country.”
[…]
Warren County Commissioner Dave Young, who has three children in the school district, said he questions an “inappropriate comments” policy based on what makes someone feel “unwelcome or uncomfortable.”
“It’s not ‘We’re discouraging you from saying those (comments)’ it’s ‘It won’t be tolerated,’ “ Young said. “That’s a very dangerous precedent.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Taxpayers Shell Out $141,000 for Tree Count
How many trees does Weston have? To find out, the final bill to taxpayers will be more than $141,000.
For the third phase of its tree inventory, city commissioners are scheduled Tuesday to approve paying an engineering firm almost $22,300 to finish counting all the foliage in the public right of ways.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
USA: President ‘Has Four Years to Save Earth’
US must take the lead to avert eco-disaster
[JD: Translation (add tiny squeaky “chicken little” voice): “The sky is falling…the sky is falling….gimme all your money….the sky is falling..the sky is falling…”]
Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama’s first administration, he added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Academics Defending Islamic University?
Taking a cue from a similar effort by its morally-imbecilic union brethren in Britain, the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) made the smarmy announcement that, “as a protest against the December 29 bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza,” it would introduce a resolution seeking to ban Israeli academics from speaking, teaching, or conducting research at Ontario university campuses. Acceding to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario, announced that the union had decided, no doubt after thoughtful and troubling deliberation, that it was “ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general.”
Apparently it has not dawned on union members that demanding loyalty oaths or proclamations of one´s political ideology as a prerequisite for scholars on campuses is usually something of an anathema, particularly since Leftists in American and Canadian universities can barely contain themselves when bloviating about the necessity for academic freedom and free speech when they wish to rail against imperialism, the war on terror, capitalism, or conservative values. In fact, academics, many of whom have never had to defend themselves against anything more threatening than student evaluations, clearly have no problem deciding for Israel that it should continue to let their civilians be targets for Qassam rockets while Hamas jihadists randomly seek to murder Jews. Where Israel is concerned, the standard of how nationhood defines itself somehow changes.
So in the recent years during which some 6000 rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza were raining down on southern Israeli neighborhoods, there was a curious silence from the unions and academia about the safety of civilians and no talk of protecting educational institutions Only when Israel began its defensive incursions against terrorist arms and infrastructure were union members sufficiently outraged to issue condemnations and start a body count—but only of the Left´s favorite Third-world victims, the Palestinians.
“Clearly, international pressure on Israel must increase to stop the massacre that is going on daily,” chimed in Janice Folk-Dawson, chair of the CUPE Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee, adding that since now Palestinians were dying and not Jews she wanted “to add CUPE voices to others from around the world saying enough is enough.” When Hamas thugs were murdering fellow Palestinians in their violent takeover of Gaza in 2006, slaughtering families in their homes, throwing opponents off the rooftops of buildings, nearly decapitating other terrorists with machinegun fire to their necks, or torturing and hanging perceived traitors in front of their families, neither the sanctimonious Ms. Folk-Dawson nor Sid Ryan apparently were apparently concerned enough at that point to say “enough is enough.”…
| — Hat tip: Holger Danske | [Return to headlines] |
William Ayers Turned Back at Canadian Border
Founder of terrorist group dismises rejection as ‘not at all interesting’
[Comment from JD: Kudos to Canada for not ignoring his terrorist past.]
An American education professor, one of the founders of a radical 1960s group known as the Weather Underground, which was responsible for a number of bombings in the United States in the early 1970s, was turned back at the Canadian border last night.
Dr. William Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago and a leader in educational reform, was scheduled to speak at the Centre for Urban Schooling at University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. But that appearance has now been temporarily cancelled.
“I don’t know why I was turned back,” Ayers said in an interview this morning from Chicago. “I got off the plane like everyone else and I was asked to come over to the other side. The border guards reviewed some stuff and said I wasn’t going to be allowed into Canada. To me it seems quite bureaucratic and not at all interesting … If it were me I would have let me in. I couldn’t possibly be a threat to Canada.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Frattini, Ready for Border Control and Naval Force
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANAURY 19 — “Italy will give “a concrete contribution” to the commitments of the international community in the Gaza Strip: with Carabinieri police for the border of the Gaza Strip with Egypt and participating in “a naval force that it is being built up with European and other countries”. This was confirmed by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, during the broadcast of RadioCity on Radiouno. A few hours from his departure for the Middle East, the head of the Italian Foreign Ministry reminded of the Italian contribution on the humanitarian front, which he will accompany tomorrow to the Gaza border, and to “open a humanitarian corridor” to transport the wounded. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Our Public Squares to Democratic Lessons From Israel
Il Giornale, 14 January 2009
Why go to the public square for Israel? Because the Italian square throughout centuries has been designed from its genesis and development on a culture that has brought to democracy. Our public squares, that of our cities, cannot become the private property of the most vulgar dissent, of the totalitarian and threatening exaltation, for which people burn flags, yell and even pray in Hamas’ honor, an anti-Semitic terrorist organization. The function of our public squares is not that of intimidating, but of encouraging. They must open; not close. There is, from us, a part that hates and threatens, that draws Swastikas on the Star of David, and which unites with those who promise to kill until the last Jew and aim rockets on innocent civilians. In addition, there are those who boycott not only Jewish stores, but also any products produced by Jews. It will be interesting to see if they are ready to also boycott the Salk vaccine, the insulin, the vitamins, the streptomycin, and the discoveries on the DNA of the Israeli Novel Prize-winners Ciechanover and Hershko, or the water irrigations or even the Icq, the first chat as well. In these days our public squares have served to curse the only democracy in the Middle East, a country from which not even in these days has exited one word of hate and that initiated a defensive war only when Hamas refused a ceasefire and fired 100 missiles in one night after eight years of patience. The criminalization of Israel, however, has taken savage tones. The evident reasons of Israel’s self-defense have been buried under the accusation — familiar for the Jews — of a gratuitous thirst for blood. The reality of Hamas, which is anti-Semitic, dictatorial and assassinates its own people by exploiting its women and children to mass death, has been covered in a grey fog: only the Jews have remained criminalized. We, therefore, will go to the public square in Israel’s favor, we will protest today at 6:30 in the public square of Montecitorio, which is a quintessential symbol of democracy and we will do so without threats, without offending anyone, without yelling murderous slogans and without burning the Palestinian flag, to which we wish a better destiny than that reserved for it by Hamas, which in reality, day after day, burns it destroying thus the Palestinian cause.
When we speak in the public square for liberty and against terrorism, it is clear that we defend ourselves together with Israel. In the war that is by now underway for almost three weeks, territorial questions play no part: to the Palestinians in Gaza that was already handed over. Their “land for peace” has been transformed into a launching pad for missiles inside Israel. Also during the time of Barak and Arafat, land was offered and Arafat refused launching the Intifada of suicide terrorism. The Palestinian question has changed under our eyes from when it became the prey of the greater religious clash, and then in 2000, Bin Laden’s spirit blew with his gang against the Crusades and the Jews. Subsequently, we saw entering on the scene also Shiite Iran, followed together with its proxies Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas, although Sunni. A great, new deployment that see all us Democrats, Jews and Christians, as the enemy.
In 2005, Iran launched a very powerful hegemonic offensive, and Hamas drove out Fatah from Gaza — eliminating it physically from the area. Arafat’s death reopened inside Fatah a moderate prospective, which was unpopular to the axis of terror. This same axis works within Hamas: using Sharia Law, which punishes with death adulterers and homosexuals and uses a crude justice against anyone who is not its accomplice, as well as indoctrinates children. It hates any moderate Muslim component, from open war to the prudent behaviors of Abu Mazen, of Mubarak, of Jordan, of the Saudis, and stifles the liberty and freedom of Lebanon. As happened at the time of Camp David, it’s not enough to offer peace in order to obtain it. It’s not enough to hope for dialogue. And if one is forced to wage war in order to remain alive and to defend its sovereignty, and it wants to fight in a legal manner, a vast universe of terrorism instead scorns all the rules that our world has toiled to inscribe in the Geneva Convention, using its masses as Human Shields: the rules no longer function. Does a school remains a school when it is full of dynamite and shoots from its windows? Does it remain either a hospital or a even a home?
Yes, there is disproportion in the Arab-Israel conflict: Israel is a country of 6 million inhabitants that doesn’t hate anyone. It’s very small in front of the 22 Arab states with more than 300 million inhabitants, whom have attempted since 1948 to liberate themselves from it, and near is Iran plus the numerous mujaheedan of the farthest latitudes that hate it. Sure it’s disproportionate: Israel has seen 1500 of its citizens — civilians moreover — killed in terrorist attacks within five years. Disproportionate because with every siren they mobilize a solidarity that will not allow them to give up — never behind is left neither a woman nor a child. What would we do us in Israel’s place, each in his house, in his city, with children at school and our loved ones at work if we came to be bombed day in and day out? Would we remain strong and would we have resisted? Would we have fled? Or in reacting against terrorism would we prefer to save the lives of those used as human shields at the expense of risking that of our own children? It is a dilemma that Israel, a democratic country in the Middle East, confronts for all of us. For this reason, Israel is worth it for a civil democratic square that supports it and looks upon a future of peace alongside it.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Napolitano: North Has Constitutional Duty to Help South
(AGI) — Lamezia Terme (Catanzaro), Jan. 15 — The appeal launched by the Italian president from Lamezia Terme is an appeal for national unity, from the north to the south of Italy. National unity ‘‘is very important for historic and present-day reasons in a region like Calabria, and in a city like Lamezia’’ the president said, ‘‘but also in cities in the north and north-east, despite all misleading propaganda, I’ve felt a strong sense of how crucial it is for us Italians to be united, and to be able to look at our common future’’. He underlined: ‘‘This national unity is a value that must be cultivated and a heritage that must be consolidated, both arousing in the north a new awareness of those imperative duties of solidarity which the Constitution of the Republic has decreed’’. The south must play its part ‘‘showing itself able to renew itself, its democratic fabric, its administration, and overcoming its own insufficiencies, finding solutions to the fundamental problems of living in a civilised way’’. Napolitano spoke during the opening ceremony of the new town council on the 40th anniversary of the Municipality of Lamezia Terme
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Battle for Sunday
From the February 2009 Trumpet Print Edition
The Vatican wants to establish Sunday observance in EU law. If our peoples really understood history, this would terrify them.
By Richard Palmer
The Roman Catholic Church has been fighting to make Sunday observance mandatory in Europe for the past 15 years. Its efforts have not yet succeeded in having a Sunday rest enshrined in European Union law — though at times it has come close.
Over the past few months, the church has been on the attack using the EU’s Working Time Directive.
A hideously socialist piece of legislation, the Working Time Directive makes it illegal for a person to work for more than 48 hours a week. When originally passed back in 1993, the directive required all employees to have a weekly rest period, which “shall in principle include Sunday” — though it did concede that “it is ultimately for each member state to decide whether Sunday should be included in the weekly rest period, and if so to what extent.” But before EU nations enforced the directive, the European Court of Justice annulled the provision that would require employees to rest on Sunday.
Catholics have been trying to get the provision back in the directive ever since. They may be close to doing so. The principle of Sunday rest is already codified in EU law for all employees under 18, within the 1994 Protection of Young People at Work Directive. It would be just one more step for the EU to impose it on the whole workforce.
Many members of the European Parliament (meps) have supported the introduction of a Sunday rest clause over the past few months. More than 40 meps signed two amendments to the Working Time Directive that would enforce Sunday observance “in principle.” The amendments did not go to vote for procedural reasons.
Of course, behind the latest Sunday amendment proposals is the Catholic Church. The Brussels-based Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (comece), a group of Catholic bishops, has been leading the charge. In a November statement calling for the European Parliament to enforce Sunday, comece said: “If the European Parliament is taking seriously the point clearly outlined in the directive, it would be logical that it completed the present text with a disposition on Sunday as a day of weekly rest.” The protection of Sunday, said comece Secretary General Piotr Mazurkiewicz, “is a cornerstone of the European social model and an issue of central importance for workers and their families” (TheParliament.com, Nov. 10, 2008). comece representatives have also met with a number of politicians to push their cause.
The directive will be under discussion for a few more months. comece admonished the church to “stay mobilized” on the Sunday issue (press release, Dec. 17, 2008). Don’t be surprised if a little pressure from the right place gets a new amendment added enforcing Sunday.
The pope has been a strong advocate of the revival of Sunday keeping. “Without Sunday [worship], we cannot live!” Pope Benedict xvi declared during a mass on Sept. 9, 2007, stating that it was a “necessity” for all people..
The prospect of a European government so powerful that it could declare one specific day a day of rest is frightening. This would be an EU willing and able to enforce lifestyle changes on its subjects whether they liked it or not. It would be a Europe that enforced a state religion: Catholicism.
Historically, when the Catholic Church has started telling everyone to observe Sunday, it has soon after started enforcing that law with brutality.. Take the Council of Laodicea, for example. In a.d. 363, the Catholic Church proclaimed that all those who did not keep Sunday, but rather rested on Saturday, were “anathema” — cursed, or excommunicated — from Christ. The Roman Empire then started torturing and martyring all who disobeyed. After Charlemagne gained power over Europe, he too began murdering those who kept Saturday. Throughout the Middle Ages, Saturday observers were tortured and murdered at the behest of the Catholic Church.
Every time Europe has been strong and united, it has enforced Sunday worship. Europe is becoming united, and its leaders are once again trying to enforce Sunday.
Making Sunday observance mandatory is just the first step down a bloody but well-worn road. Yet Pope Benedict has said that the revival of Sunday worship is fundamental to his mission.
To anyone familiar with the teachings of the late Herbert W. Armstrong, the fact that the EU is blatantly trying to enforce Sunday should be electrifying. Here is what he wrote: “The Roman Church caused people to receive the mark of pagan Rome — the Sunday observed by the pagan Roman Empire — and the penalty for disobedience was death! Fifty million or more were put to death — so says history….Yes, the mark…once again will be enforced! No one will be able to hold a job or engage in business without it. Those refusing will once again be tortured and martyred — probably by the secret police of the political state — but at the behest of the church!” (Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?).
Mr. Armstrong wrote those words over 56 years ago, before the European Economic Community even started. Now, European leaders are discussing amendments that would force Sunday observance on the whole of Europe, exactly the way Mr. Armstrong said they would. Bible prophecy reveals that, soon, no one will be allowed to work on Sunday, and those who wish to observe Saturday will be unable to buy or sell (Revelation 13:16-17). As in the past, when the Catholic Church has the power to enforce Sunday, life will be brutal for those who disagree.
To find out more about Europe’s future, request Mr. Armstrong’s booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
The Enemy Within: Senior Muslim Civil Servant Justifies Killing British Troops
The president of the Civil Service Islamic Society, Treasury official Azad Ali, has suggested that killing British troops in Iraq is justified.
Mr Ali, who is a senior Muslim civil servant, has also attacked the government for being biased in favour of Israel over the ongoing military operations in Gaza, quoted an Islamic extremist who says that it is his “obligation” to kill British and American soldiers in Iraq.
He also accuses the government of failing to condemn the “Zionist terrorist state of Israel” and attacks moderate British Muslims as “self-serving vultures, feeding on the dead flesh of the Palestinians.”
The Treasury lists Mr Ali’s title as “Business Partner.” He is understood to work as an IT administrator.
On the Civil Service Islamic Society’s official website, Mr Ali declares that it is bound by strict rules that say Whitehall special-interest groups must be “non-partisan and non-political” and act with “honesty, impartiality and integrity.”
But there is no such restraint on his personal blog, which highlights his civil service role and provides a link to its Whitehall website.
He takes a far more hard-line approach, using provocative language, and appears to challenge the Whitehall code of practice that restricts mandarins’ political activities.
In one posting, ‘Defeating extremism by promoting balance’, he appears to condone the killing of British and US troops in Iraq. He said there was “much truth” in an interview with an Islamic militant who said: “If I saw an American or British man wearing a soldier’s uniform inside Iraq I would kill him because that is my obligation.
“If I found the same soldier over the border in Jordan I wouldn’t touch him. In Iraq he is a fighter and an occupier, here he is not. This is my religion and I respect this as the main instruction in my religion for jihad..”
Last week Mr Ali wrote on his blog site that “We are the Resistance. The Zionist terrorist state of Israel had only one aim, to destroy all semblance of resistance. We have yet to hear any condemnation from our government..”
He pours scorn on the British government’s call for a ceasefire and mocks official representatives of moderate British ‘Muslims’ (his quotation marks) who support them. He observes witheringly that he “can see the £ signs in their eyes!” — an apparent suggestion that they believe their groups may get more public money as a result.
Mr Ali was considered a high profile “moderate” Muslim who is trustee of the East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre.
As a former chairman of the influential Muslim Safety Forum and the current head of its counter-terrorism work-team, he works with the Home Office, senior police officers and the Security Services trying to combat extremism.
The proceeds of a recent Civil Service Islamic Society annual dinner were passed to Interpal, a Palestinian charity that is banned by the US government — although not in the United Kingdom — due to allegations of links to terrorism. The dinner was attended by Labour MP Sadiq Khan and Peter Lewis, head of the Crown Prosecution Service.
* This case is a perfect example of how the primary causes of radicalisation and potential terrorism in Britain are caused directly by biased British foreign policy combined with Third World immigration. The BNP stands for a totally neutral Middle East foreign policy, and the halting and ultimate reversal of Third World immigration. This is the only way in which peace in Britain can be guaranteed.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Christians Are Becoming Social Pariahs in Britain, Claims Jeremy Vine
The Radio 2 host said that he feels unable to talk about his faith on his show because he fears how people would react.
He argues that society has become increasingly intolerant of the freedom to express religious views.
“You can’t express views that were common currency 30 or 40 years ago,” he said.
“Arguably, the parameters of what you might call ‘right thinking’ are probably closing.
“Sadly, along with that has come the fact that it’s almost socially unacceptable to say you believe in God.”
His comments follow the claim from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, that Britain is an “unfriendly” place for religious people to live.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Invasion From Within
From the February 2009 Trumpet Print Edition
A deadly foreign army has invaded Britain. Will the UK awaken before it is too late?
By Brad Macdonald
In Scotland, exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 mph is generally penalized by the loss of one’s license. Except, it would seem, if you are a polygamous Muslim husband dashing between two wives in two different towns.
That exact scenario occurred last year when a Scottish judge allowed a Muslim husband to retain his license after he was booked for driving 64 mph in a 30-mph zone. “He has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow and sleeps with one one night and stays with the other the next on an alternate basis,” argued Mohammed Anwar’s lawyer. “Without his driving license, he would be unable to do this on a regular basis.”
This episode is a measure of the bloodless cultural and legal invasion by the armies of Islam into British society and Britain’s judicial system.
What does a British judge’s acceptance of the Muslim practice of polygamy — even when it leads to the breaking of British law — say about the extent of Islam’s incursion into Britain?
The British judicial system and government now accepts the primarily Muslim practice of polygamy. British welfare laws, for example, allow for husbands to collect state handouts for each wife as long as the marriage ceremonies were performed in polygamy-tolerant countries. The government has effectively assumed the responsibility of appeasing Muslims and condoning — even embracing — Islamic culture!
This devious attack on the Judeo-Christian institution of monogamy is merely one example. To one degree or another, virtually all the foundational pillars and primary responsibilities of the British government — equal rights, the rule of law, education, national security — have been eroded by the rising tide of Islamification!
Britain’s Shadow Islamic Court System
“Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain,” proclaimed London’s Sunday Times. “The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence” (Sept. 14, 2008). Under the 1996 Arbitration Act, these state-backed British sharia courts — of which there are many across Britain — when classified as arbitration tribunals, carry the force of law as long as both parties in the dispute agree to give them power to rule on their case.
Britain has Jewish tribunals that operate under the same act, yet they recognize the primacy of English law and operate wholly within it. By contrast, Islam recognizes no higher authority than sharia law. Britain’s sharia courts often do not recognize the primacy of English law or many of the principles it is founded on, which means their rulings often differ from those that would be made under British law.
“Law is the expression of a society’s cultural identity,” wrote Melanie Phillips. “If there is no one law, there is no one national identity and therefore no society but instead a set of warring fiefdoms with their own separate jurisdictions” (Spectator.co.uk, Feb. 8, 2008; emphasis mine throughout).
Throughout history, Britain’s legal system has been among the most successful in the world. It has been at the vanguard of the judicial maturation of Western democracies. That success has in large part been a result of the determination of the British to use law as a national equalizer and unifier.
Sharia law is incompatible with English law, especially regarding equality and human rights. By facilitating the development of what Phillips calls “de facto parallel legal systems,” the British government is destroying its own governing principle of one law for all, exacerbating dangerous divisions within British society.
Consider further: Because these sharia courts are allowed by British law, their rulings are enforceable through county courts and Britain’s High Court. That means Islamic judges can hear cases and deliver rulings based on sharia — and then expect the British judicial system, at the cost of British taxpayers, to uphold their decisions!
Insanity!
Ruling the Suburbs, Schools and Banks
Islam’s penetration into other facets of British society is just as deep. Muslim control over some suburbs, for example, is so great that they have been labeled “no go” areas for those of a different religion. Last April, the bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, warned publicly of the danger posed by these extreme Muslim communities. Instead of setting off alarm bells across Britain, Nazir-Ali was lambasted by the media and government for being Islamaphobic!
The armies of Islam have also invaded the British educational system. Take Greenwood Junior School, for example, whose administration late last year sent a letter home to parents informing them that the school had, in the words of the Telegraph.co.uk, “canceled its Christmas performances because they got in the way of the Muslim children celebrating Eid” — a three-day Muslim festival during which Muslim children do not attend school (Dec. 4, 2008). Due to outrage by parents over the cancellation, the school rescheduled the Christmas celebrations for January.
Also in December, the Daily Mail reported on a movement to make Muslim prayer rooms, and even facilities for pre-prayer washing rituals, available to Muslim students in every Catholic school in Britain.
Islamic ideology is invading — and in many cases being invited to invade — educational institutions across Britain, from kindergartens to universities. Islam-tolerant curricula are being written and new rules are being created to facilitate Muslim students, while British history and Christian-based ideology — which liberal administrators believe offends Muslims — is being eradicated.
Islam’s incursion into British banking and finance is just as furious. In recent years, London has forged itself into a largely sharia-compliant financial hub in an attempt to woo cash-rich Muslims — despite the fact that, as Melanie Phillips has noted, “this provides a cover for terrorist financing and is a prime instrument for forcing the ever-wider spread of Islamic practices among Muslims” (National Review Online, Sept. 11, 2008).
Of course, the British government believes that by gutting itself to accommodate Islam, it is undermining radical Islam’s efforts to stir up resentment inside Britain, appeasing moderate Muslims, and reducing the potential for conflict with Muslims in general. But the evidence suggests exactly the opposite is happening. The policies of political correctness, tolerance and appeasement are emboldening the armies of Islam and adding momentum to their cultural and judicial invasion!
“Britain Will Become an Islamic State”
In September, not long after the story about the sharia courts hit the news, the Sun newspaper released a video of radical clerics preaching about Islam’s plans to take over Britain. “It may be by pure conversion that Britain will become an Islamic state,” declared Anjem Choudary, right-hand man of exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed. “We may never need to conquer it from the outside.”
In January 2007, Britain’s Channel 4 broadcasted a shocking documentary, filmed covertly, on Islamic activity in mosques throughout England. In the documentary, one Saudi-trained imam called for British Muslims to “dismantle democracy’’ by “living as a state within a state” until they are “strong enough to take it over.”
After the program aired, the government leaped into action — but not how you might expect. “The West Midlands Police lodged criminal charges,” wrote Brett Mason, “not against the extremist imams but against the tv network. Responding to a complaint by the Muslim Association of Britain, the police accused Channel 4 of inciting racial hatred by means of an ostensibly distorted documentary that demonized Islam” (Australian, July 8, 2008). Something is desperately wrong when, instead of investigating and penalizing subversive Muslim preachers caught on camera gunning for the destruction of Britain, British authorities attempt to reprimand the tv station responsible for exposing the truth.
Among many of Britain’s leaders, logic and sanity have been replaced by the politically correct tenets of tolerance and multiculturalism.
Last July, the Center for Social Cohesion revealed that among Muslim students in Britain, nearly one third believe that killing in the name of religion is right; 40 percent say they support the introduction of sharia law into Britain; nearly 25 percent do not think men and women are equal in the eyes of “Allah”; one third don’t think or don’t know whether Islam is compatible with Western democracy; and one third say they favor the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate.
Other facts and figures indicate, as Phillips put it, that Britain “now harbors the most developed infrastructure of Islamist terrorism and extremism in the Western world” (Mail Online, Dec. 1, 2008).
Make no mistake: Islam is invading Britain from the inside out!
Yet despite Islam’s burgeoning armies — and ignoring the brave cries of commentators like Melanie Phillips and of many other frustrated British citizens — the government lacks the courage and character to admit the blatant failure of its liberal approach to immigration and to deal conclusively with the problem. Intoxicated on the syrupy elixirs of political correctness, tolerance, appeasement and multiculturalism, the British establishment fails to see what so many Britons see: that a deadly enemy is growing in their midst.
Who’s to Blame?
Much of the blame for radical Islam’s invasion of Britain lies with the government, and its naive, apologetic and deeply flawed approach toward Islam.
“The reason for such flawed policies is the false analysis on which they are based,” says Phillips.. “The government and security establishment refuse to acknowledge that what we are facing is a religious war. Instead, they think that Islamist terrorism is driven by grievances which are basically the fault of the West” (ibid.).
It is no exaggeration to say that a deadly foreign army has invaded Britain. Thousands of Muslims living in Britain consider themselves at war with Britain — literally! Yet, despite the growing presence and influence of Islam’s marauding armies, the response of the British government is to negotiate, appease and compromise their way out of war!
When will they realize this tactic isn’t working?
In fact, the British government is making the problem worse. By failing to confront the Islamic soldiers in their midst, and embracing policies that promote the growth of Islamic religion and culture in Britain, Britain’s leaders are making future conflict and catastrophe inevitable and are thrusting Britain closer to collapse.
Islam’s successful invasion of Britain is a powerful condemnation of Britain’s leaders. It exposes the dire leadership crisis in that nation!
It is also evidence of a prophecy in the book of Isaiah that talks specifically about a leadership crisis in Britain, as well as in America and the Jewish state. Notice Isaiah 3: “For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away … The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counseller, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator” (verses 1-3).
God says explicitly that He would take away quality leadership from Britain, America and the Jewish state. That’s exactly what He is doing! These nations have produced some of the greatest political and military leaders, inventors, judges and orators in world history. But look at Britain, America and Israel today: The Churchills, Franklins and Ben-Gurions have vanished!
While this prophecy is deeply sobering, it’s more positive than you might think. God says He removes quality leadership from these nations. Think about that. Why would God, the fantastic Being who created this universe, be so interested in who leads these countries?
And if God is responsible for taking away high-quality leadership from these nations, doesn’t that mean He may have given it to them in the first place? It does!
Isaiah 3 shows that God is deeply interested in world affairs, especially the affairs of Britain, America and the Jewish state! The Bible overflows with evidence of God’s involvement in world history, and especially His unique and moving relationship with these nations. To learn more about this fascinating reality, request The United States and Britain in Prophecy.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovo Businesses for Unblocking of Serbian, Bosnian Imports
(ANSAmed) — PRISTINA, JANUARY 13 — A possible embargo on imports from Serbia and Bosnia would be provocative. So said the director for international relations of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Safet Gerxhaliu. An embargo as a reciprocal measure is a way for Kosovo business people to protect themselves from unilateral measures applied by those two countries on Kosovo, he added. Besim Beqaj, president of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, previously asked that his colleagues in the Serbian and Bosnian chambers of commerce influence the institutions in their countries and allow the import and transport of goods from Kosovo, which were blocked on December 3, 2008. As was announced, Beqaj called on his colleagues in Serbia and Bosnia via letter to use the influence which the community of business people and institutions they lead have in order to block the embargo on the import and transport of goods from Kosovo “just because the accompanying documents are stamped by Kosovo Customs and not UNMIK.” The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce assessed that the greatest damage from this decision or reciprocal measures, announced by the authorities in Pristina, would be suffered by business people and companies in Serbia and Bosnia. Gerxhaliu announced that Kosovòs institutions are obliged to protect their manufacturers and exporters. “The decision of the Serbian and Bosnian authorities to ban the import and transport of goods from Kosovo is the reason that intensive thought, but also work, on preparing all relevant legal and other acts to agree upon reciprocal measures has taken place in Kosovo,” said Gerxhaliu. The daily Koha Ditore reported today that the Kosovo Ministry of Commerce and Industry, despite the fact that the required preparations had already been published, would not block the import of goods from Serbia “because a solution to the problem is expected at the international level.”(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: Ambassador Baddou, Joint Projects With Sicily
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, NOVEMBER 6 — “Sicily is a region that is so close to Morocco, both culturally and ‘in terms of character’ that the idea of creating joint projects seems absolutely natural to us. This was said by Tajeddine Baddou, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rome, at the meeting “Investment opportunities and economic reforms in Morocco” which is part of the Southern Italy Finance Days taking place in Palermo. “They are two lands”, he added, “which speak the same ‘language’: that of willing and determination to grow. Because of this, Sicily is becoming a point of reference for professional dealings, investments from and to Morocco and above all financial cooperation in strategic sectors such as construction and industry”. According to Baddou “the mafia, rackets and exorbitant interest will not inhibit partnership between the two regions. We have learned to distinguish good entrepreneurial action in Sicily from the bad and we are aware of the process of rebirth and cultural revolution taking place on the island at the moment. These are all positive signs which encourage us”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Black Death ‘Kills Al-Qaeda Operatives in Algeria’
The disease, which struck Europe in the Middle Ages killing more than 25 million people, has swept through a training camp for insurgents in Algeria.
The arrival of the plague was discovered when security forces found the body of a dead terrorist by a roadside, the Sun reports.
The victim belonged to the large al-Qaeda network AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb).
A security source told the paper: “This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease.
“It spreads It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying al-Qaeda.”
Black Death comes in various forms and was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history when it struck in the 1340s killing 75 million people across North Africa, Asia and Europe.
Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include painful boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn bacteria spread like flu. Without medication it can be deadly.
The new epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province, 150km east of the capital Algiers, the Sun reports.
The group, led by wanted terror figure Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee.
The group now fears the highly-infectious disease could have spread to other al-Qaeda training camps or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the paper said.
A source said: “The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender to escape a horrible death.”
AQLIM bombed the UN headquarters in Algiers in 2007, killing 41.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Deadliest Weapon So Far… the Plague
ANTI-TERROR bosses last night hailed their latest ally in the war on terror — the BLACK DEATH.
At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.
The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside.
The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East.
It trains Muslim fighters to kill British and US troops.
Now al-Qaeda chiefs fear the plague has been passed to other terror cells — or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
One security source said: “This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease.
“It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying al-Qaeda.”
Black Death comes in various forms.
Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn bacteria spread like flu.
It can be in the body for more than a week — highly contagious but not revealing tell-tale symptoms.
The al-Qaeda epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province, 150km east of the capital Algiers. The group, led by wanted terror boss Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee.
The extremists supporting madman Osama bin Laden went to Bejaia and Jijel provinces — hoping the plague did not go with them.
A source said: “The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender to escape a horrible death.”
AQLIM boss Droudkal claims to command around 1,000 insurgents. Training camps are also based in Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria.
AQLIM bombed the UN headquarters in Algiers in 2007, killing 41. Attacks across Algeria last year killed at least 70 people.
In an interview last July, Droudkal boasted his cell was in constant contact with other al-Qaeda “brothers”.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Tourism: Spain, -10%, 1 Million Fewer English
(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 15 — Figures for the last quarter of 2008 have confirmed the crash in national tourism in Spain, down by 10%, says Exceltur, the society made up of the 25 main tourism business groups in Spain. Spanish tourists not only travel less, but spend even less, given that the average per head was 607 euro, compared with 837 euro in 2000. The scenario described by executive vice president of Exceltur, Jose Luis Zoreda, is worrying, for a sector considered to be the goose that lay the golden egg in Spain up to yesterday. The GDP from tourism in 2008 fell by 1.2% compared to 2007 and predictions for 2009 are even worse: the society of businessmen expects it to fall by up to 3%. The international financial crisis is causing major repercussions on the sector in Spain, where the number of tourists coming from the UK, the main market for foreign arrivals, fell in 2008 by more than one million compared to the previous year. The figure only partly explains the reduction in the number of air passengers, which fell by 3.2% in the same period. British tourists represent more than 27% — 16 million — of foreign visitors to Spain last year; in second place is Germany, with 17% (around 10 million). One million fewer English tourists is an extremely significant sign, according to Maria José Hidalgo, vice president of Exceltur, given that bookings have also fallen by 20%. It is expected that some British tour operators will not work during the winter in the Balearics, a traditional British tourist destination. As a consequence the 4.1% drop in connecting flights to the islands in the first ten months of the year could be even higher, when figures for November and December 2008 are published. British tourists prefer cheaper destinations such as Turkey or Egypt to Spain. The Exceltur study centre predicts that the tourism sector in 2008 will bring 40.5 billion euro to the Spanish economy, compared to 42 billion in 2007. A global fall of 3.8% in the number of foreign arrivals is expected in 2009, compared to 2008, while the fall in Spain is expected to be 5%. The financial crisis and the relative increase in prices are already having repercussions in the employment market. 65% of businesses in the sector say that they reduced their staff numbers in the latter part of 2008, even though in the majority of cases this has been done through redundancy incentives or non-renewal of temporary contracts. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Averting Iranian Influence in Post-War Gaza: the Rehabilitation Issue
by Shimon Shapira
- Immediately upon the end of the fighting in Gaza, the international community will enlist on behalf of an extensive rehabilitation project to enable the Palestinian population to return to their homes and get on with their civil and economic lives.
- It is of prime importance to prevent Iran from acquiring influence in post-war Gaza through any assistance programs.
- Following the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Iran and Hizbullah grasped the political and economic significance of the rehabilitation project in the Shiite areas of southern Lebanon damaged during the war. Hizbullah directed the rehabilitation work, while totally ignoring the central Lebanese government, and in this manner regained and even reinforced its influence within the Shiite community.
- Iran is already positioning itself for influence in post-war Gaza. On January 14, 2009, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Akbar Mohtashami, arrived in Lebanon heading a 40-man delegation in order to direct Iranian support for Hamas.
- The main objective for Israel and the international community should be to deny Iran the attainment of this objective and to transform the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, into the principal factor, along with Egypt, entrusted with the rehabilitation work in Gaza…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Barring Any Unforeseen Developments, Israeli Forces Are Expected to Complete Their Withdrawal From Gaza Prior to the Inauguration of US President-Elect Barack Obama on January 20 (7 PM Gmt).
Israel’s plan to withdraw prior to the inauguration as a gesture to the incoming US president was mentioned during Sunday’s talks between visiting European leaders and Ehud Olmert at the prime minister’s official Jerusalem residence.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Czech PM, Mirek Topolánek, all traveled to the Middle East over the weekend to assist in the Gaza ceasefire efforts.
Senior officials who attended a dinner party with the world leaders at the PM’s residence, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel is looking to complete its withdrawal as soon as possible.
Israel has conditioned its pullout on the complete halt of all rocket attacks on its southern region and the stability of the ceasefire in Gaza.
Cabinet ministers told Ynet that Israel does not want to “embarrass” Obama as he takes office and is hoping to continue its cooperation with the US in the global fight against Islamist terror and the prevention of arms smuggling into Gaza, in accordance with the “memorandum of understanding” signed this week by Livni and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The IDF began pulling some of its troops out of Gaza earlier in the day, and reservists who were called-up by an emergency draft order may be discharged as early as Tuesday.
IDF officials estimate that Hamas will begin to assess the damage done to the group in the coming days. “When the leaders will come out of their hideouts, they will have to confront the Palestinian population — and then they will realize that another round of fighting against Israel is not in their best interest,” one official said.
Among the troops who have left Gaza are soldiers serving in kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit’s former unit. The tank involved in the kidnapping has long been made operational again, and was part of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Some of them told Ynet they felt a clear sense of mission entering Gaza, that they had score to settle with Hamas, but that they have since realized they would not be able to bring their comrade home; but “If what we did here did anything to help bringing him home — it feels good.”
“We wish things were different,” said one of the soldiers, “but we’re leaving proud of the fact that we hurt those who have made everyday life so hard for the people of the western Negev.”
The final decision on continuing to pull troops out of the Strip is in the hands of IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi and Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin. Any decision they make would pend the approval of Olmert and Barak.
| — Hat tip: Larwyn | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Israel Quickens Withdrawal, Hamas Flexes Its Muscles
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, JANUARY 19 — The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Hamas in Israel is stabilising. If there are no more incidents, the Israeli Army expects a complete withdrawal by tomorrow afternoon before the beginning of the installation of new United States President, Barack Obama. The border between Israel and Gaza was open to allow the entrance of a humanitarian convoy today. Israel is also sending fuel for an electric facility and Gaza hospitals. In Gaza City, the light of day is returning — after weeks in hiding — for Hamas leaders. They have said loudly that they won the military test against Israel. In a defiant press conference, the spokesperson of the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Odbeida, said that Hamas suffered 48 victims and inflicted huge casualties on the Israeli Army. Abu Odbeida confirmed that in the future, Hamas will arm itself and will be able to strike deep into Israeli territory. Israeli foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni expressed satisfaction for vast international support — confirmed yesterday in the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) — for the fight against weapons trafficking to Hamas. But even if this does not have practical effects, she warned, Israel feels that it has the right to strike militarily against the border between Egypt and Gaza, from where, according to the Jewish state, in past years huge quantities of illegal weapons trafficking has taken place. On the Palestinian political level, an initial opening arrived from Pna Premier Salam Fayyad, according for whom it is necessary to give life to a national “government of reconciliation” uniting al-Fatah and Hamas allowing them to overcome the break between Gaza and the West Bank. An international reconstruction project in Gaza is being organised and the Pna, announced Fayyad, intends to play an important role. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Hamas, We Will Arm Ourselves Again
(ANSAmed) — GAZA, JANUARY 19 — Hamas is determined to arm itself again. This was confirmed by Abu Obeida, the spokesperson of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigade, the armed wing of Hamas. “Producing our holy weapons is our mission. We know where to get the weapons”, said Abu Obeida in his first press conference in Gaza since the beginning of Operation Molten Lead, launched three weeks ago. Abu Obeida added that there were 48 total losses among militants in the al-Qassam Brigade, which according to him killed 80 Israeli soldiers. Yesterday Israel reported that in Operation Molten Lead 13 Israelis were killed in total: 10 soldiers (4 of which were killed by friendly fire) and 3 civilians. Two other groups of armed Palestinians published a final balance of operations in Gaza today. The al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, stated that they lost 34 combatants and killed at least 18 Israeli soldiers. They stated that they also launched 262 rockets. The Martyrs of al-Aqsa Brigade (al Fatah) sustained that they lost 3 militants and killed “at least one Israeli soldier”. The al-Aqsa Brigade said that they shot dozens of rockets (one Grad type) and mortars. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Human Rights Watch: White (Phosphorous) Lies
Human Rights Watch is one of the most powerful organizations claiming to promote international morality and law, but along with Amnesty International and the United Nations, shares responsibility for the transformation of these principles into weapons aimed at Israel.
In the most recent example, HRW, headed by Kenneth Roth, initiated a campaign alleging that the IDF was using white phosphorus weapons unlawfully in the conflict in Gaza with Hamas. The organization issued a news release, followed by a more detailed publication, while officials gave press interviews to promote the allegations. Marc Garlasco, who claims the title “senior military analyst” (based on a short stint in the Pentagon), declared, “White phosphorous can burn down houses and cause horrific burns when it touches the skin… Israel should not use it in Gaza’s densely populated areas.”
In a few hours, the “white phosphorous” story was featured in dozens of newspapers, Internet blogs and television news programs. IDF officials, including Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Ashkenazi, denied that Israel was using phosphorous in anti-personnel weapons, but this did not slow the viral spread of this story.
HRW’s “evidence” was based entirely on innuendo and unverifiable “eyewitness” reports. One report states that “[o]n January 9, Human Rights Watch researchers on a ridge overlooking Gaza from the northwest observed multiple air-bursts of artillery-fired WP that appeared to be over the Gaza City/Jabalya area. In addition, Human Rights Watch has analyzed photographs taken by the media on the Israel-Gaza border.” HRW does not name its researchers; it does not provide a detailed location of its observation, nor does it identify the photos it “analyzed” making independent verification of this “evidence” impossible.
INDEED, TWO days later, the International Committee of the Red Cross, which certainly cannot be accused of a pro-Israeli bias, issued a statement that backed the IDF statements. “Using phosphorus to illuminate a target or create smoke is legitimate under international law,” it said, adding that there was no evidence that Israel was “using phosphorus in a questionable way, such as burning down buildings or consciously putting civilians at risk.” (Flares assist search and rescue forces in saving the lives of wounded soldiers and preventing Hamas from snatching the bodies of dead soldiers. To claim that such operations are illegitimate is, in and of itself, immoral.)
But these points were secondary to the NGO ideologues — the important point was that the images fit the dominant narrative of Israel as always guilty of war crimes, and of the Palestinians (or, in the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hizbullah) as innocent victims. In this campaign, HRW was joined by Amnesty International, B’Tselem and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The latter two are funded by the European Union, ostensibly to promote democracy and human rights. When Hamas launched a phosphorus shell into Israel, these organizations, including HRW, were silent, as has been the case regarding the use of human shields in Gaza and other real war crimes.
By the time the ICRC confirmed the IDF statements, the damage was done — the image of Israel as a serial violator of international law and human rights was reinforced — a major success for Hamas. CNN, the Times (London) and Christian Science Monitor ran major stories, embellished with quotes from doctors in Gaza, including propagandist Mads Gilbert, who claimed to have seen phosphorous burns. Gilbert also justified the 9/11 terror attacks, but this did not prevent the government-funded Norwegian Aid Committee from financing his incitement. (CNN quoted but then ignored Dr. Peter Grossman, a burns expert in California and unconnected with the conflict, who stated that “it is not possible to tell, based on pictures of burns, whether white phosphorus was responsible.”)
Based on these reports, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan repeated the false claim in an anti-Israel diatribe, thereby deepening the rift between Ankara and Jerusalem and increasing the sense of isolation in Israel.
THE FALSE white-phosphorous allegation is part of a pattern led by HRW that reflects the modern version of the blood libel…
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Colosseum Prayers Fuel Row
Centre- right MPs hit out at ‘threatening acts’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 19 — A group of Muslims who prayed in front of the Colosseum during a protest march against the Israeli offensive in Gaza this weekend was accused of threatening behaviour by centre-right politicians on Monday.
Around 50 Muslims knelt with their backs to the Roman amphitheatre and prayed towards Mecca during the march on Saturday, refueling a row over a similar incident that took place in front of Milan’s Duomo earlier this month, also during a Gaza protest.
‘‘The pseudo-prayers in Milan and in front of the Colosseum are nothing to do with religion — they are threatening and intimidatory acts towards the Italian people,’’ said Maurizio Gasparri, Senate whip for Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party.
‘‘Those who take part should be identified by the police and possibly expelled from our country. People mustn’t use prayer as a political weapon’’.
A former interior minister and chairman of parliament’s Anti-Mafia Commission, Beppe Pisanu, described the incidents in Milan and Rome as ‘‘a fundamentalist operation, the preliminaries of terrorism’’.
Hundreds of Muslims took part in prayers in front of Milan’s Duomo at the beginning of the month, angering right-wing politicians. Attilio Fontana, mayor of nearby Varese, said at the time he ‘‘would like to see what would happen if I went to recite the rosary in Mecca’’, while Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa staged a Catholic mass in Piazza Duomo the following Sunday in order to ‘‘reclaim’’ the area.
The head of the Association of Moroccan Women in Italy, PDL MP Souad Sbai, described the Muslims’ act as ‘‘a provocative demonstration against the West, Christians and moderate Muslims organised by extremist groups’’.
But Milan Archbishop Dionigi Tettamanzi refused to condemn the mass pray-in, describing prayer as an ‘‘inalienable right’’.
FINI CALLS FOR IMAMS TO USE ITALIAN.
Concerns over extremism nevertheless led House Speaker Gianfranco Fini to call for imams in Italian mosques to preach in Italian rather than Arabic for greater transparency.
‘‘Everyone knows that the Koran is read in Arabic but it is indispensable that the sermon and commentary should be in Italian,’’ Fini said on Monday, returning from an official visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Fini said he had discussed the issue with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who supports the theory.
Moderate Islamic groups in Italy also backed Fini’s call. The Italian Islamic Religious Community (Coreis) said it would be ‘‘preferable’’ for sermons to be in Italian ‘‘for reasons of transparency that can no longer be ignored’’ but also for second-generation Muslims in Italy with limited knowledge of Arabic.
The association said sermons at the Milan mosque were already held in Italian.
Muslim academic Fouad Allam, who writes for Vatican daily Osservatore Romano, said sermons being given in the language of the host country was ‘‘not new and not forbidden by doctrine’’.
‘‘In countries like Indonesia or Iran, preaching on Fridays is always in the local language, even though the Koran may not be translated,’’ he said.
The proposal came under fire from some opposition politicians including Enrico Farinone of the Democratic Party, who said forcing imams to use Italian could ‘‘provoke a sense of rejection’’ and damage immigrant integration as well as being difficult to regulate.
Communist Refoundation Party leader Paolo Ferrero said the issue was irrelevant for as long as Italian authorities continued to delay building new mosques in the country.
‘‘To discuss what language people should pray in in the mosques we need to actually build them. Instead we are in an absurd situation where Muslims are often obliged to pray in basements and on the street’’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
“Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution”
In her book “Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution” Iranian-American anthropologist Pardis Mahdavi describes the astonishing level of sexual freedom among the women of Tehran’s upper and middle classes. But is this a sign of political revolution. Laura Secor has her doubts: “The women in Mahdavi’s study seem to occupy a wholly perplexing historical moment, or a palimpsest of historical moments. They live in a theocracy with a premodern, religious legal code, and they are undergoing, all at once, what we in the West would recognize as a 1960s-style sexual revolution, 1970s-style second-wave feminism and the contemporary postfeminist embrace of female sexuality, with all its complexities. The messages these women receive are mixed, to say the least. Mahdavi describes some of her married subjects as spending literally hours every day on their makeup and clothes and the rest of their time cruising the city for lovers. In a society that tells these women they should be chaste, domestic slaves to their husbands, who in turn have the freedom to acquire up to four wives and as many as 99 ‘temporary’ wives, this could be seen as a kind of female empowerment. But there is something undeniably sterile about it as well.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Textile Industry Unites Against China
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 16 — MOL Shops, established by 78 Turkish ready to wear companies to unite against cheap textile products that come from China, is launching its first branch with a spectacular discount. The branch, to be opened at midnight on January 17, will offer 90% discounts on all products for the first 24 hours. From then on, products will be offered at a 50% discount. MOL takes its name from the initials of Merter, Osmanbey and Laleli, three key areas of Istanbul in ready to wear products. The company aims to reclaim a market share lost to firms from countries such as China, said Oktay Ozdemir, president of MOL’s executive committee and managing director of the Wenice Kids brand. ‘‘We include brands such as Wenice Kids, Deep Blue and Vigos that produce for companies such as Zara and H&M. Nobody, including China, will be able to compete with us in quality and price,’’ Ozdemir said. ‘‘We are entering the market with producer prices. There are no intermediaries or commissions. We will show the power of Turkey in production and brand.’’ MOL aims to open 56 shops this year, 18 of them in Turkey and the rest in 19 other countries, he said. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand: Army Uses Torture in Muslim South, Says Rights Group
Bangkok, 13 Jan. (AKI) — A top human rights organisation said on Tuesday in a report that the Thai Army has used torture in the country’s Muslim south in order to quell an Islamist rebellion. Burying people to their necks and near suffocation with plastic bags are some of the method of torture used by the Thai Army, rights group Amnesty International said in a report released in the capital Bangkok.
“Torture is absolutely illegal and, as the situation in southern Thailand proves, alienates the local population,” said Donna Guest, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Programme.
“Many of those who told us about their terrible experiences, and who continue to be traumatised by them, did so to prevent it from happening to others. The government must stop torture and bring the torturers to justice.”
In the report, titled ‘Thailand: Torture in the southern counter-insurgency,’ the watchdog refuted the possibility that rogue soldiers are responsible for the torture and said that the army is systematically torturing to extract information.
Between 3,200 and 3,500 people have been killed in the conflict that began in January 2004 and reflects the long-standing alienation of the area’s population, which is predominantly Malay in ethnicity and language and Muslim in religion.
Over 45 percent of Thai military forces — almost exclusively Thai/Laotian in ethnicity and Buddhist in religion — are currently stationed in the south where some districts of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani remain off-limits.
The watchdog acknowledged that rebels have also retaliated to serious human rights abuses — such as bombings of civilian areas, beheadings, and drive-by shootings — but argued that there is no justification for the army’s approach.
Based on interviews with torture survivors and relatives of people who have been tortured, the reports documented that people are being brutally beaten, burned with candles, buried up to their necks in the ground, subjected to electric shocks, having needles stuck into various parts of their bodies, sodomised and exposed to intense heat or cold.
At least four people have died as a result of torture, Amnesty International claimed.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Tragedy of Rohingya Refugees, Arrested in Thailand and Abandoned in the High Seas
As one of Myanmar’s Muslim ethnic minorities, the Rohingya are victims of abuse and forced labour by the country’s military junta. Many who sought refuge in Thailand are instead seized by the army and left in international waters. The issue of Rohingya boat-people will be at the centre of the next ASEAN summit.
Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Refugees International has accused the Thai military of contravening international human rights law by arresting and holding Rohingya refugees on an island in the Andaman Sea before leaving them to fend for themselves in international waters. The US-based NGO has called on the Thai government to put a stop to such a practice.
Rohingya refugees belong to a Muslim ethnic minority that inhabits an area along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, especially in the Rakhine State (formerly Arakan) in western Myanmar.
Because of persecution and abuses by Myanmar’s ruling military junta, many Rohingya have fled, seeking refuge along the western coast of Thailand. Once in the country they have been rounded up and arrested by the military, detained for some time before being put on canoes without any engine or sail and towed into international waters where they have been abandoned.
“The Thai government is taking highly vulnerable people and risking their lives for political gain,” advocate Sean Garcia said. Instead it “should be engaging the Burmese [Myanmese] government on improving conditions at home for the Rohingya if it wants to stem these flows.”
The Rohingya have taken to the sea because they are desperate. “They have no hope for a better life in Burma. Pushing them back out to sea is not an effective deterrent,” Mr Garcia explained.
They “are stateless and have no rights inside Burma. The Burmese government targets them for forced labour and extortion, and restricts their movement.” Until they “are recognised by Burma as citizens, neighbouring countries like Thailand must protect and assist this vulnerable population.”
Reports indicate a rising tide of Rohingya refugee fleeing towards neighbouring countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, so much so that their fate is at the centre of regional diplomatic discussions. The refugee issue will in fact be on the agenda at next month’s ASEAN summit in Thailand.
In the meantime a total of 412 boatpeople were taken on 18 December to international waters north of Koh Surin (Surin Island), off the coast of Thailand, and left there, an anonymous source said.
Rohingya refugees preferably leave from November to April when the seas are at their calmest to escape the repression of Myanmar’s military regime.
According to official figures, 1,225 arrived in Thailand in 2005-2006. They were 2,763 in 2006-2007 and 4,886 in 2007-2008, and the numbers keep rising. From 26 November to 25 December last year, 659 Rohingya were seized in eight separate incidents.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Important: the Illegal Activities of United Nations Personnel in Africa — Full Text of Special Internal Investigation
I received this from a source of mine. I actually received the story before the New York Times broke it, and only have myself to blame for not posting it before them!!!
You will remember that Eeben Barlow was extremely critical of the worthless United Nations. Here on AfricanCrisis we have for years been talking of the United Nations and their disgusting activities and their shoddy jobs. In Zimbabwe, there is even a diamond mine right on the edge of the South African border, which belonged to a white woman which was seized by one of Mugabe’s henchmen. Later, people reported that United Nations vehicles with full markings were being used to ferry the diamonds from the mine.
It has also been reported in Israel that United Nations vehicles have been used by Arab terrorists.
The United Nations do a rotten job in Africa, and many of us here spit on them. We have no respect for the junk job they do. They claim to be doing so much, but they do very little. The publicity of what they do versus what they do, are two completely different things.
The two UN reports [PDF] in their entirety: here, and here.
- A comment:
“I am sure that if we start looking at their activities in Kenya, Seychelles, Kosovo, Liberia and so forth, we will find out more about their criminal activities. They have confused “peacekeeping” with “money-making”. Essentially, they, along with some of their attached NGOs profit immensely wherever they go.. […]”
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
MEPs Attack the Czech Prime Minister, the Irish Electorate and the Democratic Principle
The Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolánek, is a mild-mannered man. Although he is no great enthusiast for the Lisbon Treaty, his coalition partners have forced a compromise on him: his government will not stand in the way of ratification if the Irish change their minds; but he won’t seek to bully them in the mean time.
Fair enough, you’d have thought. The Czech Republic has now assumed the presidency of the EU, and Mr Topolánek duly came before the European Parliament to set out his position. The Lisbon Treaty was nothing to get excited about, he told MEPs. The EU could work perfectly well with it, or with the existing Nice arrangements. Although he personally would vote for Lisbon, he could see the point of view of those who disagreed.
Telling member states in advance that they have to ratify the treaty, he argued, with reference to Ireland, and that they do not have the right to decide whether to approve it or not, is absurd.
Who could disagree with such a moderate defence of the democratic principle? Step forward Proinsias de Rossa, formerly of the Workers’ Party, now an MEP for the Irish Labour Party. I am appalled by your disgraceful comment here this morning that Lisbon is worse than Nice, he raged. That is not only untrue, it is divisive and it is a breach of trust. You have to seriously consider withdrawing your comments here this morning in relation to Lisbon.
You see? Even to be pro-Lisbon, but insufficiently enthusiastic about it, is deemed unacceptable. (Yes, those were his exact words: watch the clip here if you don’t believe me.) This, remember, is a treaty rejected by a majority of Proinsias’s own constituents in Dublin.
Not that I want to pick on Proinsias. Similar comments were made by dozens of MEPs, who tore into the Czechs for being too pro-American, too pro-British, insufficiently committed to political integration. Still, it is pretty shocking that the position taken by 54 per cent of Irish voters is now being dismissed by their own elected representatives (Proinsias is not the first) as plain wrong.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil’s Stocks Fall in Thin Trade, Currency Firms
SAO PAULO, Jan 19 (Reuters) — Brazilian stocks fell on Monday in thin trade as commodity shares tumbled from the expiration of stock options contracts in the local burse, while the national currency gained against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP of the Sao Paulo stock exchange fell 0.96 percent to 38,962.65 points, after a small gain of 0.49 percent on Friday.
Without guidance from Wall Street, closed for the Martin Luther King’s holiday, the Brazilian stock market was using European bourses as reference.
The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3, the index of top European shares, fell sharply as banks slumped, led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) after it reported the biggest-ever loss in UK corporate history.
Investors in Brazil also said they were waiting for more signals from the U.S. government on how it will deal with the financial crisis that is dragging down most economies in the world.
“The market is waiting for some consistent indication from Obama to deal with the crisis. While this doesn’t happen, concerns will persist,” said a trader at a large brokerage in Sao Paulo who asked not to be named.
| [Return to headlines] |
“Points Immigration” System Fails to Convince Voters as Two Thirds Give Thumbs Down to Government Policy
The public has seen through the government’s transparently bogus “points-based immigration” with more than two thirds having no confidence in current immigration policies.
The poll, conducted by the Home Office, showed that a third of people think there are too many migrants and illegal immigrants here while the numbers worried about knife crime have more than doubled.
The quarterly poll for the Home Office showed 65 percent of people are not satisfied with the way the government is dealing with immigration — compared to 15 percent who are.
The picture is virtually no different to this time last year despite the Home Office’s pledges that the new points based system will lead to managed immigration. Some 33 percent of people said there are too many illegal immigrants and are concerned there is no cap. A similar amount (35 percent) believe there are too many migrants in general in the country.
A third of the public also fear there is too much knife crime compared to 15 percent in May this year. One in five people also believe sentences are too lenient.
The polling questioned 1,813 adults in England and Wales in August this year.
* Typical of the sort of outrage which exists over government policy is the case of Jean Renee Mukadi, failed “asylum seeker” from the Congo who cannot be deported even though he killed a British man in a hit-and-run crash, because his crime is not considered serious enough by the Home Office.
Mukadi was jailed for four months after hitting the man while driving without a valid drivers’ license or insurance. Despite having his asylum claim rejected three times previously, Mukadi, 33, cannot be sent back to his native Democratic Republic of Congo because his sentence fell short of the minimum term that would qualify for automatic deportation.
Foreign offenders can only be kicked out of the country if they have been jailed for at least 12 months or if they have been convicted of serious gun or drug crimes. The loophole means that Mukadi can remain in Britain while he fights a lengthy appeal against the decision to deny him asylum — all the while using public funds to finance his bid to stay in this country.
The man he killed, Simon Lawrence, 55, served with the Royal Marines during the 1970s, including two tours of duty in Northern Ireland and a period on board the aircraft carrier Hermes. He was on his motorbike in June last year when he was struck by Mukadi’s Toyota car in Harefield, west London.
Mukadi drove off, but was traced and arrested several days later. He told police that he had failed to stop because he did not want to endanger a pending asylum appeal, and said he had not realised that he had hit a person.
A woman at a house in Haringey, north London, which was supplied to magistrates as Mukadi’s home address, said she had never heard of him.
* In a separate development, it emerged more than 200 illegal immigrants and former foreign prisoners at the Campsfield Removal Centre are being given free mobile phones so they can contact their families or lawyers.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Gay America Prepares to Party at Obama Inauguration
Unprecedented inaugural celebrations for President-elect Barack Obama by gay activist groups, social organizations and ordinary citizens suggests many view his election as a signal of a forthcoming sea change for the gay rights movement in America.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
USA: President Barack Obama’s Pro-Abortion Record: a Pro-Life Compilation
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The following is a complication of bill signings, speeches, appointments and other actions that President Barack Obama has engaged in that have promoted abortion before and during his presidency. While Obama has promised to reduce abortions and some of his supporters believe that will happen, this long list proves his only agenda is promoting more abortions. […]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“A Fundamental Problem in Arab-Islamic Societies”
In a fascinating article the Palestinan poet Salman Masalha complains about the overblown rhetoric prevalent among his people and their lack of honest self-criticism. “A fundamental problem in Arab-Islamic societies is that there is no tradition of examining one’s conscience. In other societies this process is firmly anchored in the culture of thinking and it allows people to keep themselves in check. But Arab societies have no such mechanism in place. It is not stipulated by the religion nor would it be in the interests of the corrupt regime to encourage such a thing. And even Arab intellectuals — with the exception of a few individuals — do not stock this item.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
1 comment:
Obama's very first diplomatic act?
Disinviting members of the Vlaams Belang from an inauguaration reception at the US Embassy in Brussels. Meeting with anti-American genocidal maniacs is A-OK, but not with pro-American European patriots.
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