It looks like there’s been another honor killing in Kingston, Ontario — or maybe not; the article says foul play is not suspected. Once again, a Muslim woman and several girls have drowned, this time in a hotel swimming pool. Neither the mother nor her two daughters knew how to swim.In other news, after almost 180 years, the Dutch have returned the head of King Badu Bonsu II to Ghana.
Thanks to AA, Diana West, Gaia, Insubria, Sean O’Brian, TB, TV, Vlad Tepes, Zonka, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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EU: Youth Unemployment, Spain Holds Q1 Record
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JULY 23 — The rate of unemployment for persons between the ages 15 and 24 has reached record numbers in Spain, where it arrived at 33.6% (789,000). This the highest level across the entire EU, with a 10% increase from the previous year. According to data published by Eurostat, which considered all Mediterranean countries, Italy sits in second place with 24.9% (456,000) during the same period. Greece follows close behind with 24.4% (86,000) and then France, with 22.3% (693,000). The demographers registered better numbers in Portugal, reaching 19.6% (96,000), though they still fell above the EU average (19.1%). The countries which fall below the average are Malta (13.4%, 4,000), Slovenia (12%, 12,000) and Cyprus (11%, 4,000). During the first quarter of 2008, the same study saw Greece ahead with 22%, followed by Spain (20.7%), Italy (20.4%), France (17.6%), Portugal (15.9%), Malta (11.7%), Slovenia (11%) and Cyprus (9.1%). The average for the EU 27 had been 14.6%. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Barack Obama Discovers Socialist Projects at Home and a Pro-Marxist Foreign Policy Are Making Him Unpopular
Are the people rejecting their saviour? Barack Obama’s approval rating has slipped to below that of George “Dubya” Bush at the same stage in his presidency and this is causing some concern among right-thinking (by which, of course, I mean left-thinking) people. This is by no means the death of the dream that began in January — approval ratings slide up and down erratically — but it is at least an early intimation of mortality.
For this is no ordinary presidency, this is the reign on earth of The One: his approval rating was intended to break the mould by rising inexorably to 100 per cent and beyond. The problem about a mega-hype like the Obama scam is that when it goes pear-shaped it will crash and burn like nothing we have seen since that other hot-air powered marvel, the Hindenburg. Here we are, six months into the great adventure and already our hero is in deep doo-doo.
How is it with the economic rescue package? Terrific — if you are a Wall Street banker. But if you happen to belong to that uncovenanted majority of the population, the lumpen salariat, you may be coming to the conclusion that crossing FDR’s depression-prolonging New Deal with LBJ’s Great Society is not the answer to your problems. This one will run and run; and so, eventually, will its instigators if they want to stay ahead of the mob with tar and feathers.
Health care? Hillary must be laughing into her handbag: she was burning her fingers on this red-hot brick when Barack was still at law school. It is no longer Republicans who are the problem about getting this package through Congress: it is Democrats. Even the American left balks at a socialist scheme for health care that would have had Nye Bevan shouting “Hold on a moment!” Your brainchild, Barack — enjoy.
Meanwhile, in the wider world, American foreign policy is beginning very satisfactorily to fill the vacuum left by the Soviet Union. The Obama administration has set itself the objective of establishing Marxist regimes in the remaining democratic states of Latin America. Fidel has had his thunder stolen by Barack. The current project, being enthusiastically pursued by the White House, is to reinstate the Marxist fruitcake Manuel Zelaya, client of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, as president of Honduras.
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Diana West: Cronkite’s Offensive History
It’s time for a post-Cronkite post-mortem, but not on the late “icon” himself — the “most trusted man in America,” the “voice of God,” “the gold standard,” the “proxy for a nation,” or, in plainer English, the lush-lived celebrity “anchor” who died this month at age 92. No, the Cronkite post-mortem that’s needed is for the zombies who conjured up the hollow rapture and the living dead who fell for it.
Harsh words? You bet. But I don’t know how else to begin to assess a nation that sees fit to celebrate, crown, even worship a man who said his “proudest moment” was when he declared on CBS, having misinterpreted the 1968 Tet offensive as a victory for North Vietnam, that the Vietnam war was unwinnable for the United States. “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America,” almost every Cronkite obituary approvingly quoted President Lyndon B. Johnson as having said in response — never mind that Cronkite was flat-out wrong in his reporting.
This was the infamous “stalemate” broadcast in which Cronkite editorialized in unprecedented manner: “It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who … did the best they could.” Despite his obit-omnipotence, Cronkite alone wasn’t responsible for LBJ’s offer again to negotiate with Hanoi, his decision not to run for re-election, the ultimate flagging of America’s commitment to South Vietnam, or one million-plus boat people who fled the communist regime, but the famed broadcaster was without doubt a key influence in persuading the nation, particularly its elites, to accept, if not court, American defeat in Vietnam.
So, to use his own words, was Walter Cronkite an honorable journalist who did the best he could?
No. What may — may — have resulted from forgivable misimpressions due to the “fog of war” long ago crystallized into obdurate lies. Cronkite never clarified the record, never admitted that the Tet offensive — the Vietcong’s surprise holiday attack on cities across South Vietnam — resulted in a military and political fiasco for North Vietnam.
This was becoming apparent even before the dust had settled in 1968
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Jew-Hate at Jewish Film Festival
By Jamie Glazov
Why is a Jewish film festival giving a platform to a documentary and to an individual that serve the cause of anti-Jewish hate?
This Saturday, July 25, organizers of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival plan to show “Rachel,” an anti-Israel propaganda film. The documentary is based on the life and death of Rachel Corrie, an anti-Israel, anti-American activist who was killed in Gaza in 2003 when she deliberately ran in front of an Israeli bulldozer to protect a home that was sheltering terrorists. And not just content with showing the propaganda film, the organizers have invited Rachel’s mother, Cindy Corrie, also an Israel-basher, to speak at the screening and to participate in a question-and-answer session after the viewing.
A closer look at who Rachel Corrie was — and what she represented — demonstrates why this event is such an outrage:
A native of Olympia, Washington, Corrie was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a viciously anti-Israel organization that calls and works for the destruction of the Jewish state. The radical organization recruits activists to travel to the Palestinian territories to obstruct Israeli security operations. The activists intentionally put themselves in harm’s way to hamper Israeli soldiers in their efforts to fight Palestinian terrorists.
That is precisely how Corrie met her death. The twenty-three year old activist was fatally crushed in March 2003 when she tried to obstruct the path of an Israeli bulldozer that was preparing to demolish the house in Rafah where she was lodging.
Like her ISM colleagues, Corrie was knowingly abetting terrorists. A few months earlier, for instance, when Palestinian militants seized the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, it was ISMers who smuggled food to them.
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Mother, 2 Daughters Drown in Hotel Pool
A Toronto man and surviving family members are mourning the drowning deaths of his wife and two daughters in a hotel swimming pool.
Naila Yasmin, 43, was found floating face down in the deep end of the unsupervised pool at a Best Western hotel Sunday morning and her 11- and 14-year-old daughters were found floating in the pool’s shallow end.
The mother was declared dead at Kingston General Hospital that day, while the 14-year-old died Monday, followed by her 11-year-old sister Tuesday, the Toronto Star reported Wednesday.
Autopsies on the first two victims concluded death by drowning, and an autopsy was scheduled for the youngest child, Ontario Provincial Police said.
The OPP said none of the victims knew how to swim and foul play was not suspected.
The unidentified husband and father was having breakfast with his two sons in the hotel restaurant when the drownings occurred, the Star said.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Enjoy Your Holidays, But Keep EU Law 2009/299/JHA in Mind
Andrew Symeou, the UK citizen accused of causing the death of Jonathan Hiles while on holiday in Greece is to be extradited to the country today after losing a legal fight against extradition.
This is possible under the controversial European Arrest Warrant.
The shocking details of this story — including allegations of misconduct by the Greek police in obtaining evidence — can be found here and here. In this case, the UK could still have refused to extradite Symeo, but the Law Lords refused to hear the case. Had the UK blocked extradition, a trial in absentia would have been conducted in Greece, where, if convicted, a new request to extradite him would have been issued.
In the past, the UK would have been able to refuse this request, but not anymore. As of 26 February 2009, and the implementation of an EU Framework Decision on the “application of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions rendered in the absence of the person concerned at the trial”, member states must recognise judgements rendered in the absence of the convicted, and these apply under the terms of the European Arrest Warrant.
Some member states have still not implemented it. But, as the UK is one of the sponsors of the proposal, they haven’t asked to postpone it to 2014.
Last year, we looked at the idea of trials in absentia in briefing paper, where we found that the proposal would make it much more difficult to resist extraditions to countries which have been criticised by international human rights group for their justice systems.
The rules mean you could potentially be extradited to a country where you’ve never even set foot, especially in the age of internet.
For instance, in 2005, Austrian artist Gerhard Haderer was convicted to a six month sentence, again in Greece, after depicting Christ as a binge-drinking friend of Jimi Hendrix, surfing naked while high on cannabis (see picture). The artist didn’t even know that his book, The Life of Jesus, had been published in Greece until he received a summons to appear in court in Athens.
The judgement was rendered in absentia and in similar cases in the future Austria will lose the ability to refuse extradition of its citizens to fellow EU member states…
We’re not trying to put you off your holiday in Greece. We’re just trying to highlight the dangers of our own politicians sacrificing hard-fought civil rights to an EU security state.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Neighbouring Country Projects, 70 Mln Euros Set Aside
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JULY 21 — The fund for investing in countries bordering the European Union during 2009 will contain 70 million euros — twenty million more than last year. The announcement was made by the EU’s Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero Waldner, who was keen to stress the satisfactory results attained in the fund’s first year of activity. “Fifteen projects have been approved”, Ms Ferrero Waldner said, “aiming at developing fundamental infrastructure of sanitary systems, transportation and water supply”. In the countries where it was possible to do so, investment in environmental protection was also made. Officially launched in May 2008, the fund was created by Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner and has a budget of 700 million euros at its disposal for the period 2007-2013. To date, 170 million has been ear-marked, 50 in 2007 and 2008 and 70 allotted to the budget for 2009. Among the countries benefitting from the fund are Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestinian Territories. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Kurdish-Lebanese Criminal Clans
They despise everything which doesn’t belong to their cultural sphere: in Berlin, Bremen and Essen, Kurdish-Lebanese clans dominate entire streets — and even threaten the police.
When Hussein E was shot to death on Jan. 30, 2009, it was a murder with a message.
A few weeks before his death, the Lebanese sought help: he felt massively threatened and afraid, a victim of an upcoming act of revenge. And in fact, his murderer ambushed him in the Bremen suburb of Schwanewede. Hussein E. (43) died at the scene of bullet wounds, his wife was seriously injured. The murder on the street was the first conclusion to a typical bloody confrontation between the Kurdish-Lebanese clans in Bremen.
The feud began on Good Friday 2006, when Hussein E. together with six other men stormed into a pub to settle a score with members of enemy clans. An 18 year old was killed in the attack, three other people were seriously injured.
It was probably about stolen drugs, in 35 days of trial the Bremen court could not clear up the exact background.
The four main perpetrators were deported to Lebanon, where they were freed on bail. Three other attackers were given prison sentences in 2007 — including Hussein E., who knew that once he was released, he would be the target of a blood vendetta.
This is because the clans administer their own justice.
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
German Judgement is a Call to Action Against the EU’s Democratic Deficit
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT — The German Constitutional Court issued a remarkable verdict on 30 June. It was described in the press as the Court’s approval of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
However, careful reading of the judgement shows that it is a fundamental rejection of the core constitutional content of the Treaty.
The Court judgement modifies the most important principle of the primacy of European law. Member States are said to be the “masters of the Treaties.” In the Court’s view the EU institutions have no powers of their own. They can only administer delegated competences in prescribed areas. European law is stated to be ultimately based on and limited by the accession law of each Member State.
The German Court implicitly invites any citizen, political party or business firm in Germany to take court cases before the German Constitutional Court if they find that a piece of proposed EU law is outside those delegated competences. Then it is the German Court that will decide — not the EU Court.
This is a rejection of Art. 344 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which provides that Member States undertake not to submit a dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Treaties to any method of settlement other than the European Court of Justice.
The Karlsruhe Court also insists that there must be important areas of law-making and decision-taking left to the EU Member States. This is an invitation to politicians everywhere to ask their governments what competences are left with the Member States after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty.
I have offered a bottle of top class wine to anyone who can give me just one example of a national law which cannot be touched in some way by the Lisbon Treaty. Legal specialists have tried to find examples; yet they cannot!
If EU governments cannot find room for the exercise of meaningful national parliamentary democracy within the ambit of the EU, then the Lisbon Treaty is unconstitutional, according to the German Court.
The Court does not accept that the European Parliament is a body which can give adequate democratic legitimacy to European Union law. The Court also sets limits to the importance of the new “additional” Union citizenship and states that this can only be supplementary to national citizenship.
The Court insists on national parliamentary participation in all areas where Member States would lose their right of veto.
[…]
The Karlsruhe Court effectively finds that the Lisbon Treaty would increase the EU’s widely acknowledged democratic deficit if its ratification is not linked to the adoption of internal procedures at Member State level such as to safeguard the involvement of the National Parliaments and voters in each Member State.
The verdict applies only to Germany, of course. But it has significant implications for all Member States, including those which have already approved and ratified the Lisbon Treaty.
With this Court judgement in hand, political parties and groups of citizens in each Member State are implicitly invited to go to their National Parliaments and insist on similar guarantees being given in order to ensure the involvement of elected representatives and voters in EU decision-making in each one…
If Germany’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is found to be illegal and in contravention of basic democratic principles in the absence of such parliamentary controls, should not the same principle apply in all other Member States that claim to be democracies?
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland ‘Unwilling to Share Fishing Resources’ In EU
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS — Iceland is hoping to become a member of the EU within three years but will not give up its fishing resources as part of a deal, its foreign minister Ossur Skarpheoinsson said Thursday (23 July) after handing in the country’s formal membership application.
Mr Skarpheoinsson, himself a former fisherman, said that fisheries would be the toughest area of negotiation with Brussels as the sparsely populated island “has its sustenance mainly from fisheries.”
He pointed out that Iceland could teach the EU how to manage fishing resources noting that of the two cods stocks in the world that are on the increase, one is in Iceland.
The EU’s 26 year old Common Fisheries Policy, maligned by environmentalists for being unsustainable, sees EU waters as a shared resources open to any member state and managed by quotas.
But the policy has decimated resources and each year results in millions of tonnes of fish thrown back into the sea on quota grounds — failures acknowledged in a damning paper by the EU fisheries commissioner earlier this year ahead of a planned 2012 overhaul of the policy.
Mr Skarpheoinsson said that Icelanders, for whom the issue is “emotional” and not just about economics, would be “quite angry” if they got a “rotten deal” on fish.
The minister noted that while there is an increasing tendency to think that sovereignty can only be protected if it is shared “that does not mean that […] I am willing to share my fishing resources with anyone else.”
But he said he trusted the ingenuity of the EU to “adapt existing rules without making lasting exemptions” noting that Iceland was particularly in favour of devolving decisions on fishing to the local level.
In marked contrast to more diffident applicant countries such as those from the Western Balkans, Iceland is keen to point out what its membership can bring to the EU, such as “experience and knowledge” in managing natural resources and using renewable energy.
Some 80 percent of the country’s energy needs are met by renewable resources.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: I Have the Right Not Merely to Offend People, But to Intend to
By Kevin Myers
The Defamation Bill 2006 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009 became law yesterday. They are driven by two differing requirements.
One is some strange impulse in Dermot Ahern’s brain, which apparently obliges him to plant law where he sees a constitutional gap, and the other is the abject failure of both the law and of lawyers to keep pace with the mutating nature of crime.
The Ahern law on blasphemy must be the first law ever whose instigator is desperately hoping that it will never be invoked. Its potency depends not upon any legal definition on what blasphemy actually consists of, but solely on the “outrage” that the remark in question might intentionally cause.
Well, we have seen in other jurisdictions that outrage is a negotiable commodity, largely dependent on the agendas of rabble-rousers.
Baptists and Presbyterians, Methodists and Catholics, Jews and Buddhists do not call for blasphemy laws these days. Only Muslims do…
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Ireland: US Soldiers ‘Did Not Gatecrash Wedding’
THE father of a bride has rubbished claims that his daughter’s wedding was “gate-crashed” by US troops in battle gear.
When Amelia Walsh and Sean O’Neill tied the knot in Co Clare last week they caused a stir after wedding guests complained that the troops had wandered “uninvited” into the reception.
But yesterday Eamon Walsh from Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, said the happy couple were “proud” to have the soldiers at their function. He said the newlyweds had actually invited the troops to attend having posed for photographs with them earlier in the day.
Almost 300 troops were booked in to the Clare Inn, near Newmarket-on-Fergus, after their Iraq-bound aircraft was grounded at Shannon Airport by technical problems.
Amelia’s father Eamon said the men were “invited in” by the bride and groom who wanted them to experience an Irish wedding. “They behaved in an exemplary manner at all times and if our troops behaved in the same way when they are on peacekeeping duties, I would be very proud,” said Mr Walsh.
Several guests had claimed the men “gatecrashed” the wedding. One guest said: “It wouldn’t have been so bad if they weren’t in uniform but there were some people who were taken aback.”
Mingle
Joe O’Neill, the groom’s uncle, stated on his internet blog: “As the soldiers began to mingle into the private banquet area, they were told by their commanding officer that the area was a private party and off limits. Common decency and Irish hospitality, however, overruled political opinions and the groom informed them they were welcome to join the party.”
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Netherlands: Society is Not a Commercial Enterprise
That the PVV Has Requested a Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Presence of Non-Western Immigrants in the Netherlands is Hardly Surprising.
EDITORIAL
Geert Wilders’Party for Freedom (PVV) is after all also in favour of an immigration stop for Turks and Moroccans, quota for asylum seekers and a ban on additional Islamic schools and mosques.
The PVV also wants to enshrine the ‘dominance’ of Christian/Judaic/humanist culture in the Dutch constitution. In parliament, the party has often shown hostility towards non-Western immigrants whom it constantly qualifies as profiteers and a nuisance. In that respect, the PVV is not much different from the Front National or the Vlaams Belang in Belgium, anti-immigrant parties of which there are many in Europe.
At most, the astonishing series of detailed questions the PVV has addressed to the various ministries reinforces the impression that the party wants to stigmatise entire population groups solely on the basis of their ethnic origins. This is a result not of the questions themselves, nor of the information that might result from them. Much is known already about the relative overrepresentation of Dutch immigrants in social poverty, among school drop-outs, in unemployment, crime and health care. The information is important and it belongs in the public domain. It is important for future polices…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
‘Record Rise’ In UK Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitic attacks in the UK doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to new figures.
The Jewish Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, says it recorded 609 incidents between January and June — up from 276 last year.
Most incidents were abusive behaviour, but there were also 77 violent acts.
The trust said the rise had been driven by anger over Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
That conflict, between December 2008 and January 2009, was followed by an almost immediate rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK.
According to the CST, the total number of incidents for the first six months of this year was worse than the previous record of 598 incidents for the whole of 2006.
Some 286 incidents occurred in January alone — but the security body said that a disproportionately higher monthly number of attacks and abuse continued into the spring.
The attacks recorded so far include 77 acts of physical violence and two life-threatening assaults, one of which was an attempt to run somebody over with a car.
The CST says there have also been 400 incidents of general abuse, including hate mail to synagogues, along with 62 attacks on property that can be clearly defined as having a religious role.
The CST uses definitions of violence which are broadly in line with the way police record incidents elsewhere in society. It stresses that it has also discounted more than 200 reports where it could not work out if the incident was anti-Semitic or anti-Israel.
Mark Gardner, of the CST, said: “British Jews are facing ever higher levels of racist attack and intimidation that threaten the wellbeing of our otherwise happy and successful Jewish community.
“There is no excuse for anti-Semitism, racism and bias, and it is totally unacceptable that overseas conflicts should be impacting here in this way.”
Earlier this year, Muslim leaders issued a joint statement denouncing anti-Semitism, amid fears that violent elements from within their own communities were responsible for the increase in attacks.
Cohesion minister Shahid Malik, one of two Muslims in government, said: “This rise in anti-Semitism is not just concerning for the British Jewish communities but for all those who see themselves as decent human beings.
“The fight against anti-Semitism is a fight that should engage us all. This country will not tolerate those who seek to direct hatred towards any part of our community.
“It may be legitimate for individuals to criticise or be angry at the actions of the Israel government but we must never allow this anger to be used to justify anti-Semitism.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Stockholm Reported for Using Too Much English
Stockholm city council has been reported to the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman (Justitieombudsman — JO) for its widespread use of the English language.
“Stockholm — The Capital of Scandinavia” is the recently adopted name for the Swedish capital and greets visitors on all transport links heading into the city. The slogan, adopted to promote Stockholm internationally, has been controversial with some Danes and Norwegians, who dispute the claim.
There are also voices of dissent from within Sweden and now Nätverket Språkförsvaret (‘The Language Defence Network’) has reported the council to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for falling foul of the new language law (språklagen) that came into force on July 1st 2009.
The network has also reported the Stockholm Visitors Board, Stockholm Business Region and Stockholm Entertainment District for their use of English.
According to the network, the widespread use of English by the Stockholm bodies is an attempt to appear modern.
“It undermines Swedish as it signals that English has a higher value, that it has status, while Swedish is a language for out in the wilds,” Per-Åke Lindblom, a spokesperson for the network, said in an interview with Sveriges Radio on Tuesday.
The new language law stipulates that Swedish is the main language of Sweden and establishes that public bodies have a particular responsibility to ensure that Swedish is used and developed.
The network, which describes itself as “a grassroots movement to defend the Swedish language” wants JO to force the names to be changed to Swedish.
Per-Åke Lindblom also told SR that he would like to see the Stockholm Visitors Board develop its foreign language material, pointing out that most visitors to the capital do not come from the UK or the USA.
The group has previously reported the Swedish government to JO for its use of English email addresses.
The new language law, the first of its kind in Sweden, came into force on July 1st.
Aside from establishing Sweden as the country’s main language of communication, it also classified five other languages — Finnish, all Sami dialects, Torne Valley Finnish (Meänkieli), Romani, and Yiddish — as official national minority languages.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
The Awkward Squad
AFTER being subject to commissars in Moscow, some east Europeans are twitchy about commissioners in Brussels. But that only partly explains the reluctance of two presidents, Poland’s Lech Kaczynski and the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Klaus, to sign the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, which both countries’ parliaments have ratified.
Both men are famously prickly and prone to nit-picking. Both frame their objections in the language of national sovereignty. Both hate to see Ireland bullied—it is being asked to vote again on Lisbon on October 2nd. Mr Kaczynski similarly disliked the sanctions briefly imposed by the EU on Austria when the right-wing Freedom Party was in government. Mr Klaus says the EU elite cannot accept dissenting views (when visiting European parliamentarians attacked his Euroscepticism he compared them to communist-style thought police).
But the differences are bigger than the similarities. Mr Kaczynski’s opposition to Lisbon is about posturing not principle. He says publicly that he is merely waiting for the second Irish referendum before signing. Given that he helped to negotiate the treaty on Poland’s behalf, it would be hard for him to demonise it as Mr Klaus does. Indeed, Mr Kaczynski, who worries about waxing Russian influence and a waning American presence, has described the EU as “a great thing”.
The real reason for the Polish president’s delay is a desire to annoy the government led by Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party. Mr Tusk defeated the government led by Law and Justice, headed by the president’s twin, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, in 2007… Mr Tusk’s emollient, pro-EU stance contrasts sharply with the Kaczynskis’ abrasive style. A delay over Lisbon also allows the president to grandstand on the EU’s “moral relativism” (meaning the incompatibility of its views of human rights with Polish social mores on homosexuality and the like).
Mr Klaus says he will get around to Lisbon only once everyone else has endorsed it… He will probably sign, but through gritted teeth. He would like a loose free-trade zone instead of what he sees as a nascent superstate. Unlike Mr Kaczynski, he is no Atlanticist; he gets on quite well with Russia. Also unlike Mr Kaczynski, he has the excuse that, though Lisbon passed the Czech parliament in May, it faces a court challenge by politicians from the Civic Democratic party that Mr Klaus once led.
Euroscepticism has only limited appeal in eastern Europe. The EU is widely seen as a guarantor of stability and progress: generous in paying for modernisation of public services and infrastructure and the best hope for fighting corruption. Lisbon is widely backed not on its merits but because its failure would risk pushing the EU into yet another interminable internal debate.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
UK: One of Queen’s Guards is an Illegal Immigrant
One of the Queen’s guards at Windsor Castle has been arrested for being an illegal immigrant.
The soldier concerned had even taken part in the Trooping of the Colour in front of the Royal family last month before his true identity emerged by chance, following a car crash.
Originally from an African country belonging to the Commonwealth, he is believed to have joined the Army using a false name.
Once accepted in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards he was trained as a marksman and given lessons in grenade throwing, use of a rocket launcher, and using the Army radio system.
A senior military officer said: ‘This is a blunder of unparalleled proportions. For an illegal immigrant to gain membership of any Army regiment is unbelievable when you consider the potential damage an enemy could do there.
‘But to be accepted into a Guards regiment, and therefore to have such close proximity to the monarch, is nothing short of a scandal.’
Buckingham Palace officials are understood to be ‘extremely unhappy’ about the security blunder.
A source said: ‘There have been Royal security breaches in the past but to find out the problem came from within the Queen’s personal guard is astonishing.’
The soldier, who has been named only as Guardsman Kapinga, signed up last November, and went through rigorous training at Catterick in North Yorkshire before joining the guards this summer.
Wearing the famous red tunic and busby of the guards, he then carried out sentry duties at Windsor Castle.
Kapinga is understood to have been living in Britain under forged documents when he was recruited, although no problems were spotted at that stage.
Following a car accident on Monday, however, he was arrested by Hampshire police and found to have a number of aliases.
A military source said: ‘This is incredibly embarrassing. Clearly the vetting procedure was not as thorough as it should have been.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Three Ethiopian Exchange Students ‘Vanish’ During Trip to Houses of Parliament
Three African exchange students have vanished during a trip to the Houses of Parliament.
The three Ethiopian men were among a group of nine visitors who were staying with families in Hartlepool as part of a three-month visit to the UK.
But at the end of a day’s tour in the Houses of Commons and Lords, the trio failed to turn up and organisers Global Xchange were forced to report them missing.
Police and Home Office chiefs are now investigating their disappearance.
Organisers say their main concern is for the safety of the men, who have been named as Zerihun Weldeyohans, 24, Habtamu Debela, 27, and 21-year-old Muluneh Tilahun Abera.
They had left the rest of the group to buy telephone calling cards at around 6pm, but did not rejoin their group or return to their London hotel.
Concerns grew when they failed to turn up for the 11am journey to Hartlepool the following morning.
All have valid visas which run until September 9. The Global Xchange programme involves 18 volunteers, nine from the UK and nine from Ethiopia, living in Hartlepool while working for community organisations.
Zerihun is based at Cafe 177 and Headline Futures, Habtamu at the West View Project, while Muluneh has been working at Hartlepool United’s study support centre.
A statement released by the organisers said the men went missing on July 15.
It read: ‘All three are male and aged between 21 and 24. The group had been on a trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament.
‘After the visit some of the group were socialising at the South Bank Centre but the three young men went their separate ways to purchase some telephone calling cards.’
It continued: ‘The young men have not made any contact with British Council, VSO or their project supervisors in Hartlepool and the primary concern is for their safety as they were on their first visit to London.
‘The police have been informed and are treating this as a missing persons case. The police have undertaken standard inquiries to establish the location and safety of the young men.
‘The programme is due to run until August 31, and the young people had not indicated that they intended to resign from the group. All three are in possession of valid visas and return flights.’
A spokesman for the Home Office said they would become involved if the men stayed in the country longer than their visa allowed.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Who Do You Think You Are Kidding…?
On the trail of the BNP as it makes its first, shambolic appearance at the European Parliament in Strasbourg
It is a humid July day in Strasbourg, and inside the Louise Weiss Building it feels like the start of school term. Journalists and politicians, assembled for the opening session of the European Parliament, are greeting each other like old friends outside the main debating chamber, known in a typical piece of EU jargon as the Hemicycle. Here, in the glass and pine atrium of this imposing cylindrical edifice — Britain’s signature contribution to which is a garish floral carpet in the staff bar that bears more than a hint of cross-Channel ferry — you might spot Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the ex-revolutionary French Green and the closest thing the EU has to a pop star, strolling around with his entourage of admirers. Or Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), as he lambasts the rise of “the European military superpower” in front of assembled TV cameras. The atmosphere here, compared to Westminster, is open and collegiate.
Hidden away, however, at the end of a winding corridor on the top floor of an adjoining administrative block, a strange meeting is taking place. Convened by Andreas Mölzer of Austria’s immigrant-hating Freedom Party, it is a meeting of the non-inscrits, the “non-attached” MEPs, from parties that have failed to make it into one of the mainstream coalitions. Aside from a few mavericks, such as Diane Dodds of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, this means the far right — including two of Britain’s new crop of MEPs: Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons of the British National Party. Although the BNP is not a traditional fascist party or Nazi organisation, its constitution commits it to “restoring . . . the overwhelmingly white make-up of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948”.
Earlier in the day, having travelled across France by car, Brons and Griffin had commanded the attention of the British press corps when they made their first, tentative appearance at the Hemicycle. Now they are due at a more furtive gathering. I remove my bright yellow press badge, slip it into my pocket, and watch an international assembly of bigots file into the conference room: Krisztina Morvai of Jobbik, the gypsy-hating Hungarian party with its own private, uniformed militia; the French Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen of the Front National, along with his daughter Marine; assorted podgy members of Belgium’s Flemish Interest and the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom, both of which are anti-Islam.
Then, ambling down the corridor, come Griffin and Brons, accompanied by Simon Darby, the BNP’s press officer, Jackie Griffin (wife of Nick) and a large minder in an ill-fitting suit. Outside the conference chamber stand a few men and women wearing tourist passes and speaking in French. One of them, barely out of his teens, clutches copies of a magazine titled Identitaires. This is the in-house magazine of the French sect Bloc Identitaire, which runs a Europe-wide “news” agency called Novopress that distributes far-right propaganda. Griffin walks up and shakes his hand. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?” he says. They make slightly awkward conversation, the young man explaining that his group has “a good relationship” with the Front National. Griffin makes a vague offer to help get the magazine translated into English — “for those of us who are interested in identity”, he says, sighing. They then follow the remaining members into the conference room.
The collection of oddballs on the other side of the door is the dirty secret of the European Parliament…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: Foreign Debt Falls, 39.1 Bln in March
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, JULY 21 — The reduction in Croatia’s foreign debt is continuing. In March it was at 39.1 billion euros. The drop in the debt (59.6 million euros on a monthly basis), reports the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) office in Zagreb, has been attributed to a reduction in State debt towards foreign creditors and direct foreign investments. The latter fell by 49 million euros, taking it to 5.2 billion. In the same period, the statement continues, banks’ foreign debt increased by 0.4% and hit 10 billion euros. The total debt of other sectors, chiefly regarding local firms, saw an increase of 11%. In the first quarter of 2009, foreign debt represented a share of the GDP equal to 83.2%. Experts claim that this is due to a drastic drop in the Croatian GDP which in the first quarter of this year registered a -6.7%. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Italy Gives 30 Mln Euro Credit Towards Smes
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, JULY 23 — The Italian government has issued thirty million euros for Serbia’s small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as “local public utilities”. The ceremony for the signing of documents was held in the Serbian government Palace in Belgrade today. The contract was signed by Italy’s ambassador to Belgrade, Armando Varricchio, and Serbia’s finance minister Diana Dragutinovic. The Serbian minister noted that loans totalling 38.5 million euros have been issued thus far, to benefit 98 Serbian companies who, thanks to financing by the Italian government, have created 527 new jobs. Diana Dragutinovic emphasized that the success of the credit lines is testimony to excellent economic relations between Italy and Serbia. There are more than 200 Italian companies currently active within the Eastern European nation, providing more than 20,000 jobs. With FDI of more than 200 million euros since the year 2000, Italy is amongst the top investors in Serbia. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Haganah Veteran Against Anti-Nakba Law
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, JULY 23 — Celebrated Israeli author and veteran of the 1948 war of independence, Yoram Kaniuk has written an attack against a new law enacted by Benyamin Netanyahu’s government. The piece has been published in an on-line edition of Tel Aviv’s moderate newspaper Yediot Ahronot, and refers to the government’s new ban of any in-school reference to the Nakba: the Arab word ‘catastrophe’ which refers to the creation of an Israeli state and the subsequent exile of many Palestinians. The law was approved by the Knesset (the Parliament in Jerusalem), in a version which has tamed some of the penal consequences the initial bill had sought. The bill has no less been referred to as a form of “negationism” and bullying by the parliament’s Israeli-Arab minority. The law requires that the word ‘Nakba’ be removed from any scholastic and historic text, and includes the creation of a patriotic kit containing flags and compact disks with the Israeli national anthem to be distributed mandatorily to Israeli and Arab students alike. Yoram Kaniuk has stated that cancelling the word ‘Nakba’ from books would mean “cancelling something which has existed”. “I remember the Nakba. I saw it with my own eyes. The minister for education (Gideon Saar, member of the Likud and supporter of the new law, ndr) has probably only heard it spoken of”. Kaniuk evoked the war of ‘48, in which he served the Haganah Zionist army, as “a difficult campaign, without pity, which saw young soldiers spilling their blood against a determined enemy they were able to defeat”. The enemy, though, “did exist” and deserves a right to his heritage . Legislators, according to Kaniuk, do not have the right to negate this historical memory. Kaniuk writes that during the war, “I was wounded, but I believe it is right that the minister of education must allow that we teach our children that some were also defeated”. The defeated are those who “no longer govern a country that was theirs, but no minister bears the right to cancel a powerful memory they call their own”. Kaniuk continued, “Those who fought in the Nakba existed, and they fought valiantly, even if we were the eventual victors”. The author said he hoped to “live to see the day when a real Hebrew state will exist, instead of a country populated by a mass of zealots who call themselves Jews”. A state that might be able to live in peace, “neighbouring an Arab state”, sharing “Jerusalem, also calling it Al-Quds”, a common capitol. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islam: An Arab College for a ‘Critical’ Approach
(by Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) — ROME — The place is Baka el-Gharbia, an Arab/Israeli town a short distance from the West Bank and the barrier which Israel erected in the name of its own security. But the Al Qasemi Academy — established in 1989 by a Sufi group for Islamic studies and the ‘fatwa’ — accepted a challenge a few years ago to help overcome conflicts thanks to scientific and pedagogic efforts in the context of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and to promote cohabitation between Arabs and Israelis in the spirit of “equality, mutual respect and appreciation of the identity and culture of the other”, as reported in the college’s covenant. Al Qasemi deputy president Dalia Fadila explained that one of the paths to achieve this objective is that of “our unique approach to Islamic studies and teacher training programs”, which aims to strike a balance between “the Islamic cultural heritage on the one hand and the universal value of human rights on the other”: in other words, a “humane” and “critical” approach to Islam, “one that respects cultural diversity and promotes the value of human rights and female empowerment”. Dalia Fadila, who holds a Phd in Arab/American literature, dresses in western fashion and walks the corridors of the college without covering her hair when students wear veils. The college delivers classes for English language and literature, mathematics, IT and pedagogy, and recently won the first place in the Yitzhal Rabin 2009 National Award for Qualitu and Excellence in the Public Sector. “Al Qasemi’s vision is for our students to become proud Muslim Arabs and citizens of the 21st century. Islam’s image in recent decades has been seriously distorted”, she told ANSAmed, and consequently the task of Al Qasemi is to disseminate its critical approach to Islam not only through teaching, but also through a series of conferences and workgroups (including abroad), which last April culminated in an international conference on Islam and multiculturalism, with speakers coming from the USA, Switzerland, Turkey, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. “Unfortunately, most of the programmes for the study of Islam offered by Muslim academic institutions are inspired by dogmatic positions which lost sense in past centuries”, she noted. If these institutions do not come to terms with the present day and fail to accept diversity and the respect of rights of humans and women, “the human resources included in the society will not be able to evolve”. As for Muslim women, “they must shoulder the complete responsibility for advancing their status” and portraying a different image of themselves to the outside world. In other words, the must “stop blaming the patriarchal norms of their society and the politics of the Western world”, and start to think for themselves, in terms of “equal human beings and cultural partners”, instead of “silently” accepting “their inferior role in social, political and family hierarchies”. She admits that these beliefs are sometimes opposed by the Arab community, where many parents choose Al Qasemi in the belief that they will guarantee a traditional Islamic education to their children. But Dalia Fadila also stated that Arab Israelis can perform an important role because of their very peculiar position in Israel’s society: that of forming “a bridge between Israel and the Muslim and Arab worlds”, and beinig “active partners in economic and cultural exchange programmes”. But if Israel truly wants to strengthen “its inner immunity”, it should make an investment to minimize as much as possible” any gaps in education and living standards that separate Arabs from other Israelis, through a just distribution of resources, education investments, and the guarantee of i’i’equal opportunities for economic prosperities”. Al Qasemi’s deputy president did not spare a few words on the defensive wall built next to the border with the West Bank, pointing out that “Israel forgets that real security derives from the belief that people can live together”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Clashes Hit Southern Yemen
At least 12 people have been killed in clashes between armed separatists and government forces in southern Yemen, medics and witnesses say.
The protesters in the town of Zinjibar, in Abyan province, were demanding the release of detainees held during earlier disturbances.
Eyewitnesses said the security forces opened fire to disperse the crowds.
Many in southern Yemen complain of discrimination, while officials accuse the protesters of seeking secession.
Witnesses told the AFP news agency the demonstration was called by Tarek al-Fadhli, a local figure who supports independence for south Yemen from the north.
Analysts say there has been rising tension throughout the south in the past two years, as the southern independence movement gains strength.
It began two years ago when former southern military officials, forced into compulsory retirement, demanded higher pension payments.
The protesters have been accusing President Ali Abdullah Saleh of corruption and openly calling for independence from his government in the northern mountain capital, Sanaa.
Mr Fadhli — a prominent ally of President Saleh and a veteran of the jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan — switched sides and joined the southern independence movement in April.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Escaping Saudi Arabia’s Gilded Cage
The life of a princess in the House of Saud comes with an unlimited bank account — and no basic freedoms
by Ali al-Ahmed
The British court was right when it granted asylum to a female member of the Al Saud ruling family and protected her identity. The woman fled Saudi Arabia in fear for her life after having a baby with a non-Muslim British man, whose identity is also kept secret.
This young woman was married to a disabled prince in his 70s who has other wives and children older than her. The unknown princess is brave for giving up the status, the luxury, and power that comes with belonging to Al Saud, the largest ruling family in human history who are running the largest absolute monarchy in the world today.
Many dream to live a princess’s life with loads of money. But that life is a golden cage, and Saudi princesses — who have access to unlimited bank accounts — lack the basic freedoms enjoyed by most women around the world. They cannot marry anyone who is not a prince. The Al Saud are “wife takers, not wife givers”, Madawi Al-Rasheed, a Saudi scholar at King’s College London explained. Saudi princesses live under guard for most of their lives with limited movement inside posh palaces or hotel penthouses. They are expected to marry cousins who usually have other wives and see them once a week — if the princess is lucky.
In fact, Saudi law instituted by the king forbids the marriage of Al Saud princesses to males who are not from Al Saud, unless prior permission from the royal court is received. This law is un-Islamic, in addition to being illogical. In Islam, family lineage does not matter when it comes to marriage. The Prophet Mohammed married his cousin Zainab off to a former slave. The Al Saud must cancel this medieval law and allow their daughters to marry whoever they wish — including commoners.
A few years ago, I met the assistant of a princess who was married to one of the most powerful princes in the country. The wife was 18 when she married her 75-year-old suitor. For most of the year, the young princess was stuck inside the palace surrounded by dozens of maids and servants catering to her wishes. The young princess then found a way to the outside world by chatting with boys on her laptop inside the bedroom. Her famous husband paid her a two-hour visit every Saturday in that same bedroom.
The story of this princess reflects how the Saudi ruling family treats its own women and the women of the country in general. Confining women in gilded cages doesn’t make the confinement easier or acceptable. Human beings, even princesses, need freedom to be happy and to feel normal. Confinement destroys their humanity and turns their lives into a miserable and empty existence.
This brave princess chose to give up wealth and power either for love or freedom in the face of tremendous danger to her life. She had to trust that the British government would not hand her back to her family who would have killed her.
The British government must also be encouraged to grant asylum to dozens of Saudis who have applied in the past few years. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s leading violators of human rights, and Saudis who seek asylum tend to be real victims of torture, imprisonment and severe violations. The United Kingdom has shown itself as the leading haven for people who are seeking shelter, even more so than the United States. This British tradition of providing protection to oppressed people should not be subjected to political considerations.
The west, especially the United States, is partially responsible for the dismal status of women and the harsh conditions of human rights in Saudi Arabia. US officials have turned a blind eye to the ruling family’s policies of oppressing human rights, religious freedom and women for the past six decades. In his confirmation hearing last Wednesday, Obama’s nominee for US ambassador to Riyadh, General James Smith, praised King Abdullah as a reformer. Describing an absolute monarch, and dictator, as a reformer is an affront.
Let us protect this princess from the fate that in 1978 befell Princess Mashael Fahd Bin Mohamed Bin Abdul Aziz who was executed for a love affair with a young Saudi man. Her story was captured by English journalist Antony Thomas in his documentary, Death of a Princess.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Iranian Leader ‘Orders Dismissal’
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to dismiss his choice to serve as vice-president, state TV says.
Appointing Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie was “against your interest and the interests of the government”, the ayatollah wrote to Mr Ahmadinejad.
His remarks came after another leading cleric also demanded the dismissal.
Mr Mashaie had caused controversy in 2008 when he said Iranians were friends with the Israelis.
According to Iranian state TV, Ayatollah Khamenei sent Mr Ahmadinejad a clear message.
“It is necessary to announce the cancellation of this appointment,” he told the president.
Mr Ahmadinejad, who is known for his own outspoken views against Israel, has previously defended Mr Mashaie, calling him modest and loyal to Iran’s Islamic system.
The row over Israel broke out last year when Mr Mashaei, then minister in charge of tourism, was quoted as saying that Iranians were friends with the Israeli people, despite the conflict between their governments.
“Today, Iran is friends with the American and Israeli people,” he said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. “No nation in the world is our enemy.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Riyadh to Host Conference on Islam as Religion of Mercy
(ANSAmed) — RIYADH, JULY 23 — Riyadh will host a major international conference aimed at removing the misconceptions about Islam and its Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). According to Gulf news online, Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz issued an order directing the Saudi Society for Sunnah (Tradition of the Prophet) and its Sciences to organise the International Conference on ‘Prophet of Mercy’ on May 9-10 next year. The conference will highlight the salient features of Islam as a religion of mercy and tolerance as well as its denunciation of all forms of extremism and terrorism. International figures, including prominent scholars, thinkers, intellectuals and writers, will be invited to the two-day event. The conference is to be organised as part of the serious efforts being made by Saudi Arabia to highlight the important aspects in the life of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), which will contribute to strengthening adherence of Muslims to the religion of Islam. It also aims at removing misconceptions about the Prophet and defending Islam against unfounded allegations. The Society has called for the submission of research studies and working papers by October 20 this year. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Residence Visa Seekers to be Fingerprinted
(ANSAmed) — ABU DHABI, JULY 23 — Residency departments across the UAE will manage a fingerprint identification system and database for all residents in the country, a senior official said. “Starting next month, applicants for residence visa will be fingerprinted under a tighter biometric system to provide more secure identification and prevent fraud,” Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Minhali, Acting Director-General of the Federal Naturalisation and Residency Department told Gulf News. He said fresh applicants for residence visas will get their fingerprints taken before the medical check-up to ensure they have no criminal record. “Those found to be with criminal records will be denied visa and handed over to the police for further legal action.” Al Minhali said a number of residents who had their fingerprints taken for obtaining identification cards were found to have a criminal record. He added residents living in the country will be fingerprinted when they apply for renewal of their visa. “The move will eventually cover all residents in the country, including workers sponsored by their employers, investors, domestic workers and parents of residents,” he said. Al Minhali did not specify the fees, but said they will be nominal. Many residents questioned the move and asked if there was any point in being fingerprinted for the ID card and then again for the residence visa. But Al Minhali said the National Identity Authority examines whether an applicant has a criminal record or not, but the database that will be set up at the Naturalisation and Residency departments across the country will act as a source of information to ensure only those with certificate of “good conduct” or “lack of a criminal record” will be granted residence visa. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Acts Against ‘False’ History
What is worrying Russia? Why is the country convinced that it is the victim of a campaign to make it look bad?
President Dmitry Medvedev recently announced the setting up of a commission to counter the falsification of history. He said this was becoming increasingly “severe, evil, and aggressive”.
“This is absolute poppycock,” says Robert Service, professor of Russian History at Oxford University. “History is all about argument. There is no absolute historical truth about anything big in history.”
Mr Service dismisses the Russian leader’s suggestion that his country is facing some kind of academic aggression.
Instead, he sees a desire to dominate, worthy of the most repressive totalitarian regimes of fiction.
“President Medvedev, following in the path of his predecessor President [Vladimir] Putin, wants to control history,” he says.
“And he wants to control history as a means of controlling the present. This is the classic George Orwell scenario.”
‘Hysterical reaction’
Many Russians, though, agree with their president.
Natalia Narochnitskaya, a former deputy in the Russian parliament and now a member of the new Historical Truth Commission, says that she is surprised by what she terms the “almost hysterical reaction” in the West.
“In the Western media especially, there is a certain prejudice against Russia and Russian history,” she says.
“They always feel that Russia since, you know, Ivan the Terrible, is a certain country which is off the European civilisation.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia ‘Tortured’ Balibo Five
East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta has said five foreign journalists who died in Indonesia’s 1975 invasion were tortured and shot by the military.
He made the allegation at the Melbourne launch of the film Balibo, which depicts their deaths as Indonesia’s army crossed into East Timor.
Jakarta has always said that they were killed in crossfire with rebels, which Australian governments have accepted.
The film shows them being shot on the orders of Indonesian army officers.
Mr Ramos Horta was a rebel commander at the time and is a central figure in the film. He said he had looked into the deaths of the “Balibo Five” soon after they were killed in the border town of Balibo.
At the Melbourne premiere, he claimed the film was largely accurate, but that its makers were unable to convey the full horror of the killings because it would be too shocking for cinema audiences.
He said the journalists were not just killed by the Indonesian military but, as he put it, “brutally tortured”.
Their bodies were burned to dispose of the evidence of their killings, he said.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia Questions Ethnic Preferences
Malaysia’s New Economic Policy is not new, it has been around for almost 40 years.
But in his first 100 days in office, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak has been forced to tackle the government’s most controversial policy — one that gives special treatment to the majority Malays.
It was meant to help people like Azban. He is 37, with a wife and two young children. He works in a ticket office at a train station.
I met him as we waited for the lift at the government-built tower block where he lives, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
The estate is rundown, with water pouring down from a spill higher up.
But it is better than the wooden house he used to live in before he left his village for the capital city.
For decades the NEP has ensured preferential treatment for people like Azban: special access to jobs, housing, education and loans — all because they are Malay.
Malaysia is made up of three main ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians.
The Malays make up the majority — just. The Chinese and Indians have been in this country for centuries but some Malays still regard them as foreigners…
Patronage politics
The NEP was born out of race riots in 1969.
The aim of the policy was to tackle an imbalance between rich businessmen, mostly Chinese, and the poor, who were mostly Malay.
At the time government figures claimed that Malays controlled less than 3% of the economy.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea ‘Executes Christians’
Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.
The communist country, the world’s most closed society, views religion as a major threat.
Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.
Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes.
A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border.
She was accused of distributing Bibles, spying for South Korea and the United States and helping to organise dissidents…
Her parents, husband, and children were sent to a prison camp.
Such reports are hard to verify, but North Korea is known to be intolerant of religion — it views any form of alternative social organisation as a competitor for its own, religion-like ideology.
The US government says just owning a Bible in North Korea may be a cause for torture and disappearance.
Pyongyang’s position appears to have hardened on everything from human rights to defence policy and international relations in the last year or so.
It is thought this may be a way to shore up the government through Mr Kim’s illness and the process of anointing his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as North Korea’s next leader.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Return Head of Ghana King
Dutch officials have handed back to Ghana the head of a king who was executed by colonists in the 1830s.
Tribal elders led a ceremony in The Hague to hand over the head of Badu Bonsu II, stored in a Dutch museum for 170 years.
The king, who was leader of the Ahanta group, is believed to have been decapitated in retaliation for the killing of two Dutch emissaries.
Some believe the king would not be at rest unless his head was returned.
Several Ghanaian traditional leaders — including a descendant of the king — held an emotional ritual during the handover at the Dutch foreign ministry.
AFP news agency reported that they poured alcohol on the floor of the conference room while invoking the chief’s spirit.
“It is because of the injustice meted out to our people that our great king, who was fighting for his people, was murdered,” said Nana Kwekwe Darko III, who led the ceremony.
The Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement that King Bonsu had killed two Dutch officials in 1838 and was “handed over by his own nation” to colonialists.
‘Hunted in the afterlife’
Arthur Japin, a Dutch author who researched King Bonsu, says the head was brought to the Netherlands, possibly by mistake, shortly after the king was killed.
A Dutch general had been asked to bring back “heads” from Ghana to be studied by a famous phrenologist — a scientist who believes the character of a person can be determined by the shape of the skull.
“He probably meant just some drawings of different types of people but the general took this literally and he took the head and put it in formaldehyde and put it on the ship,” Mr Japin told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme.
During the voyage home the general died, and his body was also preserved.
On the expedition’s return, King Bonsu’s head was given to the Leiden University Medical Centre, where it has been ever since.
After hearing of the head’s location in 2008, Ghana filed a request for its return, saying if it remained unburied, the king would be incomplete and therefore “hunted in the afterlife”.
The traditional leaders are due to return to Ghana with the head on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Barrot Looking Into Italy’s Security Package
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JULY 23 — The EU Commission is closely examining the security package recently approved in Italy, and during the EU Interior ministers meeting in Stockholm last week the European Commission vice president asked Interior Minister Roberto Maroni for an explanation concerning the registration of children born to irregular immigrants. Jacques Barrot himself was the one to give this news in a lengthy hearing before the Civil Liberties Commission of the European Parliament, in which Italian EU representatives on opposing parties faced off. The EU Commission vice president said that he had written a letter to the chairman of the parliamentary commission, Fernando Lopez Aguilar, in which he noted that he had asked Italy for additional explanations as concerns the forced return of migrants to Libya. The central issue in juridical and factual terms — which Barrot called complex in the letter — lies in the principle of no forced returns, which is part of the code for Schengen-zone borders. Barrot may be going to Libya at the beginning of autumn to see whether a mechanism could be set up to allow those who want to submit a request for asylum can do so there, instead of risking their lives with human traffickers to cross the Mediterranean and doing it in an EU country.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Massive Jump in Minor Asylum Applicants
Teenage boys make up the majority of unaccompanied Afghan children claiming asylum in Denmark
The number of unaccompanied Afghan children seeking asylum in Denmark has more than quadrupled in the last two years.
In 2007, the Immigration Service recorded 39 Afghan children under the age of 18 applying for asylum.
By 2008 that figure had increased to 168 and within the first four months of this year alone, 97 Afghan minors had arrived in Denmark as refugees.
According to the Immigration Service, the majority of the minors are male teenagers between 15 and 18 years of age, who have often travelled for months via Iran, Turkey, Greece and Germany before claiming asylum when they are caught crossing the German-Danish border.
Neither the Immigration Service nor the police have been able to offer a reason for the sudden jump in young asylum numbers, but there are indications that Denmark is seen as a transit country for those on their way to Norway or Sweden.
Figures show that two thirds of the applicants leave the country within a few weeks of applying for asylum.
Comparatively, there have been 812 asylum applications from Afghan minors in Norway in the first six months this year, 233 more than the total number from 2008.
Jørgen Chemnitz, head of the Danish Red Cross asylum department, said that Norway is under serious pressure to house all the applicants.
‘We are also hard pressed, but we can handle the situation with some sound and sensible solutions, even if there are more [applicants] on the way,’ said Chemnitz.
To house the large number of minor applicants, the Immigration Service rented buildings from the Defence Ministry in the spring and established a temporary children’s asylum reception centre in North Zealand.
| — Hat tip: Zonka | [Return to headlines] |
Emigration: Over a Million Tunisians Living Abroad
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JULY 22 — More than a million Tunisian citizens — a tenth of the country’s population — were living abroad by the end of 2008, with 140,000 in Italy. The figures, which obviously refer to legal emigrants who have received a residence permit in their country of residence, is from statistics released by the Tunisian foreign ministry based on consular registers. The data confirm that France plays host to the largest number of Tunisians with 577,998, followed by Italy (141,907), Libya (83,633) and Germany (82,635). Of the 141,907 Tunisians living in Italy legally as of December 31 2008, 96,566 were men and 45,341 were women. France was the country chosen by 360,663 men and 217,335 women, Germany by 50,285 men and 32,346 women and Libya by 65,210 and 18,423, respectively. Looking at Europe as a whole, the statistics underline that the increase in Tunisian citizens living in Italy, Germany and Switzerland is higher than the European average (mainly due to immigration), with an annual growth rate of 14% in Italy, 6% in Germany and 6.6% in Switzerland. The lowest number of Tunisian citizens is found in Kenya (3, all women). Another peculiarity regards Kuwait, where more Tunisian women (1,173) are living than Tunisian men (904). The European country which hosts the lowest number of Tunisian nationals is Serbia (16 men, 3 women). The Tunisian foreign ministry statistics also show that by the end of 2008 there were 873,947 Tunisian nationals living in Europe, 153,256 in Arab countries and 754 in African countries (plus 45 in ‘other countries’), 28,291 in America and Australia, and 1,246 in Asia (with 624 in Japan). (ANSAmed).
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Maroni: Enough Reprimands, EU Must be Strong
(ANSAmed) — ORVIETO (TERNI), JULY 24 — “Enough with the reprimands” of Italy from the EU on immigration: “Instead of criticising, EU countries should apply the principles of solidarity for the reception set out by the EU itself.” Roberto Maroni was speaking at a meeting organised by the Nuova Italia association. “The regulations state that a refugee,” explained the Interior minister, “must stay in the country where he obtains the status of refugee. It is clear that many more people come to Italy by sea from Africa than arrive in Berlin by air.” Maroni pointed out that last year Italy accepted and looked after 20 thousand refugees. This figure reaches 100 thousand if all the non-EU citizens who live in this condition in Italy are counted. “Unfortunately,” said Maroni, “they often do not work and we have to provide them with food and lodging. When I took part in the EU roundtable, I asked that the model of solidarity on immigration reception between member states be applied. At least in terms of assistance due to refugees that lasts for their lifetime, it is the EU who should take on this burden.” “The reply from EU countries,” concluded Maroni, “was no, thank you. They come to Italy and you can keep them. In reality the principle of sharing the burden is not be applied by the EU and confirmation comes from the fact that no European country has taken on the burden except Malta, Greece, Spain and Italy.”(ANSAmed).
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Obama Czar Pick: ‘Raving Animal Rights Nut’
Nominee advocated hunting ban, giving creatures right to file lawsuits
President Obama’s friend and nominee for “regulatory czar” is a “raving animal rights nut” who has a secret agenda, according to one consumer group.
David Martosko, director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, told Fox News’ Glenn Beck that Cass Sunstein, the Harvard Law professor nominated by the president to become the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is a “raving animal rights nut” and devout disciple of Peter Singer.
Singer, a bioethics professor at Princeton University, is a leader in the animal rights movement. He has also argued that abortion should be permissible because unborn babies as old as 18 weeks cannot feel pain or satisfaction.
Singer once explained his belief that, “killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living.”
In 1993, Singer said infants lack “rationality, autonomy and self-consciousness.”
“Infants lack these characteristics,” he said. “Killing them, therefore, cannot be equated with killing normal human beings, or any other self-conscious beings.”
Martosko told Beck, “When you embrace this whole utilitarian idea, guess what else comes in the back door? Some animals, according to Singer, are worth more than some humans. A smart border collie, he says, is worth more, inherently, than a retarded child. … Cass Sunstein has embraced the whole enchilada. … He believes that animals should have some of the same rights as humans, in fact, greater rights than some people — including the right to follow lawsuits.”
Sunstein has also supported outlawing sport hunting, giving animals the legal right to file lawsuits and using government regulations to phase out meat consumption.
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Bin Laden Naked — Laughing at Extremism
Bin Laden Naked is a comic book that illustrates the humorous contradictions of religious extremism. The graphic work provides insight into the religious extremism that is spreading in some Islamic countries, particularly after the rise of al-Qaeda and Bin Laden. Radio Netherlands Worldwide was given an exclusive pre-publication look.
A report by Abdelai Ragad
Algerian born Mohammed Sifaoui, a specialist in European Islam and the political Islamic groups, is the book’s author. Bin Laden Naked will be published by a Parisian publishing house on 11 September. Mr Sifaoui says it was no small feat creating Bin Laden Naked: “I had to exert a lot of effort in the few past months in order to make the book available for readers by September. It’s the comic side of those who use Islam for political ends”.
Cartoon characters
The idea of resorting to cartoons when writing about al-Qaeda and Bin Laden came to Mr Sifaoui in 2003. “It was an idea that came to me while studying in Pakistan and Afghanistan, preparing to produce a documentary film and a book, both entitled The Search for Bin Laden. The extremists I met during my trips were, I believe, like cartoon characters. My book consists of real incidents and not merely jokes about al-Qaeda and Bin Laden”.
Sifaoui, who is an opponent of armed political Islamic groups, adds: “Those dark-minded people prove in every word and deed that they are comic and a source of amusement. It is this essential aspect that makes it easy for me to present the story of Islamic extremists and al-Qaeda in cartoons and pictures”.
Prophet Mohammed cartoons
Mohammed Sifaoui began his work after the civil war in Algeria in the 1990s. He then fled to Paris, where he has been living for five years under the protection of the French police because of death threats. Mr Sifaoui says the Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and the subsequent reactions from radical Islamists inspired him to write the story of al-Qaeda and Bin Laden in comic form. The author believes that despite the serious and fearful face of the al-Qaeda and religious extremism issue, there is a comic byproduct of the contradictions and lack of logical reasoning seen in Islamic extremists. He also believes Bin Laden Naked is the first book of its kind.
The veil and mobile phone
Mr Sifaoui sees the Islamic veil, ‘hijab,’ as one of the most important and sensitive issues in the fundamentalist Islamic thinking. He says: “The attitude of the extremists towards women is psychologically deformed, because, on the one hand, they deny her very existence, hide her behind the burque or the garment, deny her independence and deal with her as a material object, but on the other hand they marry four women. Bin Laden himself has four wives.”
And the writer believes that one of the most important sources of irony is that the extremist leaders never risk their own lives. This leads to the cynical throught: Will the suicide attackers be ushered into paradise while Bin Laden and his sons will be deprived of this enjoyment?
With this book, the author wants to send a message to Muslim youths, especially in Europe, that extremism can never co-exist with modernism. He says his book is a new and unique way to understand the nature of what he calls Islamism. It is “a text that helps us laugh at those who want to terrorize us”.
Model of “Radical Islam”
What is a typical radical Islamist according to Mr Sifaoui? “I’m talking about the satanic groups, which call themselves sometimes Wahabies and other times Muslim Brothers and those who believe they obey God when they kill people”. In his book he states: “Radical Islamists give us, during our day to day lives, the impression that they have come from another world or another century. Even in their way of dressing they differ very much with the normal styles of dress. They don’t use neckties, but they use mobile phones, the Internet and prefer luxurious cars. This shows a schizophrenic relationship with modernism”. For Mr Sifaoui presenting this behaviour in the form of cartoons is not difficult, because the comic details can easily be portrayed.
Bin Laden Naked will be published by the Parisian “Baiz 12” Publishing House on 11 September and will be available in several languages…
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1 comments:
Bin Laden Naked is awesome, I think the humor is perfect, but not for everyone's style of humor.
Even better, it goes up the extremist's nose like no other punch can. Humor and good relationships with the West are more dangerous to radical extremism than bullets - simply because any argument against looks embarassing to them.
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