Violence against Christians continues in Malaysia, with nine attacks on churches in the last four days. So far no one has been killed. The violence began after a judge ruled that Christians (who make up 9% of the population) were allowed to use the word “Allah” in their services to mean “God”, which is what they have done for centuries. Many Muslims are unhappy with the decision, and have responded by attacking churches with firebombs and other weapons.In other news, the former Marxist rebels of Aden (South Yemen) regret their revolt against the British government back in 1967, and wish that the British would return.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, CSP, Gaia, Gryffilion, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JD, LG, RH, Robert Marchenoir, Sean O’Brian, Steen, TB, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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America Slides Deeper Into Depression as Wall Street Revels
December was the worst month for US unemployment since the Great Recession began.
The Fed’s own Monetary Multiplier crashed to an all-time low of 0.809 in mid-December. Commercial paper has shrunk by $280bn ($175bn) in since October. Bank credit has been racing down a hair-raising black run since June. It has dropped from $10.844 trillion to $9.013 trillion since November 25. The MZM money supply is contracting at a 3pc annual rate. Broad M3 money is contracting at over 5pc.
Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research said the Fed is baking deflation into the pie later this year, and perhaps a double-dip recession. Europe is even worse.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: We Face Job Losses as the EU Plots End of Low Corporation Tax
THE Irish economy will be devastated under EU plans to introduce a common tax base across Europe in the next two years, a top Brussels lawyer warned yesterday.
Sources in Brussels have indicated that the new European Commission is treating as a matter of high priority the ‘harmonisation’ of taxes across the 27-member bloc.
There are real fears the move would drive foreign businesses out of Ireland, exacerbating the country’s already fragile economy.
Many multinational companies such as Google and Dell have moved their headquarters to Ireland to avail of our low corporation tax rates of 12.5pc. And Aviva, Britain’s biggest insurer, is to set up its European headquarters in Ireland to avoid paying the UK’s 28pc tax rate.
Yesterday Brussels-based lawyer Pieter Cleppe, head of the think tank Open Europe said that the tax harmonisation plan will impinge on national tax sovereignty and could have severe consequences for our economy.
The Irish Government has repeatedly stressed its opposition to a ‘common consolidated corporation tax base’. However experts last night said that Ireland’s approval of the second Lisbon Treaty last October has left Brian Cowen’s administration with ‘no bargaining power’.
[…]
The lawyer said the EU Commission is keen to push the initiative through as quickly as possible.
He said: ‘This was something that was off the agenda for some time when Ireland was preparing to vote in the second Lisbon referendum.
‘The Commission put the issue on ice so that it would not impact neg-on the campaign. Since the referendum has been passed there have been leaked reports that it is a high priority for Commission in the next term.
‘Realistically it’s possible that the initiative could take around two years to pass.’
In theory the introduction of a common tax base would require unanimous approval by all 27 member states.
However, anti-Lisbon Treaty campaigner Anthony Coughlan pointed out that EU states had the option of ‘clubbing together’ to force the initiative through.
Under the Lisbon Treaty’s ‘Enhanced Cooperation’ provision, nine or more states can proceed without unanimous agreement.
Mr Coughlan explained: ‘If the French, the Germans and some of the other large states wanted to club together in a sub-group they can go ahead and bring in whatever tax measures they wish. If that happened it would only be a matter of time before all other states followed suit.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Weak Currency Helps China Grow to Become World’s Largest Exporter
China has become the world’s largest exporter, the latest sign of the remarkable strength of the Communist power.
It overtook Germany to claim the title, with Made in China stamped on goods across the planet despite the global economic crisis.
Cheap factories employing low-paid workers to assemble equipment such as iPods, computer parts, toys and footwear are leading the boom.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bomb Threat Left Behind on Plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport; Authorities Clear the Plane
A note with a bomb threat was discovered onboard a U.S. Airways flight by a cleaning crew at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport early Monday.
The letter was found at 3 a.m. aboard flight 1723, which had arrived from Charlotte, N.C. Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies checked the plane for about an hour but discovered nothing unusual, said airport spokesman Greg Meyer.
The flight came in at about 8 p.m., passengers disembarked, and cleaning crews went on board hours later, when they found the note. The exact contents of the letter were not available, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion. It was unclear when or where on the plane the letter had been left.
| — Hat tip: heroyalwhyness | [Return to headlines] |
Chuck Norris: Obama’s Secret Vault
On Glenn Beck’s Jan. 7 show, Beck was rightly puzzled regarding the exact purpose of President Obama’s Dec. 16 signing of an executive order “designating Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) as a public international organization entitled to enjoy certain privileges, exemptions and immunities.”
Beck spoke for a host of other government watchdogs when he asked on the air, “We’ve been asking ever since it was signed: why? Who can tell me what special interest group asked for this? If it were about terror, why not tell us that when he signed it? This Congress attacks our CIA and FBI, but Interpol gets immunity? Why? It makes no sense.”
Glenn, I agree. It makes absolutely no sense, if Obama signed the executive order for no other reason but to arbitrarily broaden Interpol’s legal exemptions. But I think I’ve recently seen behind the veil on the White House’s covert mission and mystery with Interpol.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fox News and the Henhouse
Is Fox News your champion on cable TV?
Is Fox News your favorite source of news?
Is Fox News doing a great job of telling you what you need to know as a self-governing American citizen?
I suspect many reading this column will readily answer with an enthusiastic “yes” to all three of those rhetorical questions.
It is with that expectation I carefully alert you to a major and disturbing concern I have about the Fox News Channel — one based on personal experience as well as facts that have been withheld from you if Rupert Murdoch’s alternative to CNN is your primary source of news.
Fox News is still inviting spokesmen from the Council on American-Islamic Relations on its programs where they pose as reasonable and legitimate representatives of a Muslim “civil rights” organization, despite the fact that CAIR has been definitively exposed by the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department as a “co-conspirator” in the largest terrorism-financing trial in American history, as a front for the international Muslim Brotherhood — the notorious parent organization of Hamas and al-Qaida — and for being closely associated with a large number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: Death by 1000 Cuts
Seasoned observers understand that, in official Washington, the so-called “death of a thousand cuts” technique is the preferred means of stealthily undermining, and ultimately defeating, initiatives and institutions too strong to be taken on via a frontal assault. The Obama administration appears intent on applying this approach of inflicting myriad attacks on the essential ingredient of American exceptionalism — our sovereignty — in ways that seem individually innocuous but that will, over time, surely prove lethal to our Constitution and country.
Mr. Obama’s recent Executive Order 12425 is a case in point. Issued with no fanfare on December 17th in the run-up to the Christmas holidays, this document amends an earlier order promulgated by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The Reagan directive granted the International Criminal Police Organization (popularly known as Interpol) limited immunity with respect to its operations inside the United States. Mr. Reagan, however, ensured that Interpol was subject to constitutional protections (notably, the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures) and U.S. laws (including the Freedom of Information Act).
By contrast, the Obama executive order strips away those limitations, granting the international law enforcement agency blanket immunity from official and private efforts to assess its activities in the United States. The question is why?…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Full-Scale Rebellion Ahead
Reduced to its lowest common denominator, Marxism is government managing society. Freedom is society managing government. The current arrogant, Marxist majority in Washington could not care less about what the people want or say. They are convinced that they know best how society should be managed, and they are hell-bent to manage it the way they want.
Led by President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, this government has become, as Thomas Jefferson describes governments of force, “a government of wolves over sheep.” The Marxist majority completely ignores the overwhelming expressed will of the people who say, “Do not enact the currently proposed health-care legislation.” They completely ignore the will of the people who say, “Treat terrorists as combatants, not as criminals entitled to constitutional protections.” The leaders of this government have turned the ship of state directly toward Marxism, and they fully intend to impose every people-management system they can create.
This is precisely the kind of situation Jefferson had in mind when he told his friend, James Madison, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” And a rebellion is rising.
The rebellion is not simply one political party rising to defeat another. This rebellion is deep-seated. It stretches across many political parties and stokes the fires of freedom in people who have not been politically active in the past.
People who have never attended a political party meeting are showing up at precinct meetings. They are bringing their friends. They are registering to vote in the primaries. They are meeting — and questioning — potential candidates. They are signing up to be poll watchers. They are volunteering to join mobilization teams to see that people are able to get to the polls to vote. They are examining the voting records of the incumbents. They are preparing for a rebellion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Government Cover-Up of Food Shortage Feared
Reports show demand growing, production declines estimated at 30%
While trend experts, economists and investment gurus have been predicting food shortages for some time, new evidence indicates the U.S. Department of Agriculture may be covering up the greatest food shortage in modern history.
Beginning in 2009, global agricultural markets faced a supply and demand imbalance, caused by a substantial drop in output resulting from the financial crisis and extreme weather around the world.
At the same time, growing economies in Asia have begun consuming record amounts of raw goods, particularly food staples as consumers move to higher protein, higher calorie diets. When supplies are reduced and demand is constant or growing, prices normally rise. Industry observers and economists remained mystified by the low agricultural prices in spite of this trend.
One analyst, Eric deCarbonnel from MarketSkeptics.com believes the answer is found in data he believes the U.S. Department of Agriculture has manipulated to keep food prices low.
“Instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, [the USDA] adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from China. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In U.S., Air Travelers Take Body Scans in Stride
Seventy-eight percent approve of U.S. airports’ using full body scans on passengers
PRINCETON, NJ — In the midst of renewed discussion of heightened security measures to thwart terrorist attacks like the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airplane over Detroit, 78% of U.S. air travelers approve of U.S. airports’ using full body scan imaging on airline passengers.
These results are based on a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Jan. 5-6, including interviews with 542 regular air travelers, defined as those who have taken two or more air trips in the past 12 months.
The poll finds 29% of air travelers saying they are now more concerned about the safety of air travel than they were before Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear. Current airport security measures, such as metal detectors, would not detect the type of explosives involved in the Detroit incident, but a body scan image would have. Thus, there are plans to expand the use of such machines at U.S. airports.
While some have expressed concerns about the implications of full body scans for passenger privacy, given the clarity of the images they would produce, airline passengers themselves do not seem fazed. Seventy-eight percent approve of the procedure, which was described to them as showing a “graphic image of a person’s body underneath his or her clothes” that would be “viewed only by federal screeners in a separate, private room.”
Additionally, the majority, 67%, say they would not personally be uncomfortable in undergoing such a scan, with close to half (48%) saying they would not be uncomfortable at all. Ten percent say they would be very uncomfortable if subjected to such a search.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Jimmy Carter is a ‘Liar, ‘ Charges ZOA
(IsraelNN.com) The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has labeled former U.S. President Jimmy Carter a “liar” for apologizing for slandering Israel and then continuing to spread “false statements” against the Jewish State. The unusually sharp condemnation of a former American president also included a swipe at other Jewish organizations in the United States that praised Carter for his apology.
In an open letter meant to the Jewish community in December, Carter wrote, “We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het [the Jewish prayer in which worshippers remind themselves of sins] for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so.”
However, the ZOA charged that on virtually the same day Carter delivered his apology, he wrote in the London Guardian that the Hamas terrorist organization should be accepted. Carter also declared, “Israel has long argued that it cannot negotiate with terrorists, yet has had an entire year without terrorism and still could not negotiate.”
The pro-Israel ZOA stated, “The Carter opinion piece defaming and stigmatizing Israel on the same day he supposedly apologized for it makes it clear that Jimmy Carter is simply a liar whose words of reconciliation can never be accepted.”
The organization also called on the Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center and the National Jewish Democratic Committee to withdraw their support for Carter’s apology. ADL director Abe Foxman previously said that Carter should be “congratulated and encouraged” for his apology but also added, “Only time will tell. There certainly was a lot of hurt, a lot of angry words that need to be repaired. But this is a good start.”
Morton A. Klein, president of the ZOA, stated that “a careful reading of Jimmy Carter’s supposed apology reveals that in fact he retracts not a single one of his hostile words and deeds against Israel over three decades, but on the contrary reaffirms their correctness. Now he adds insult to injury by purporting to have apologized for his hostile words and deeds while continuing to add to their number. The former President’s cynicism knows no bounds.
“He speaks of a year free of anti-Israel terrorism, ignoring not only continuing Palestinian assaults — like the murder by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah of [a rabbi last month], for which deed Abbas and the PA honored the terrorists who committed this foul deed — but the hundreds of assaults that Israeli forces prevent week after week. He ignores continuous Israeli efforts to negotiate with the PA, which the PA has consistently rebuffed, but fails to criticize the PA.
“Jewish and Christian Zionist leaders should repudiate his spurious apology for the sham that it so clearly is.”
Klein also said Carter may have had an ulterior motive for his apology in order to assist “the electoral prospects of his grandson, Jason, who is running for Congress in a district of Georgia with a Jewish population.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Latest Nutjob: TSA Nominee Erroll Southers Says Pro-Life Advocates Are Terrorists (Video)
Just when you thought this administration could not get any weirder… Barack Obama’s Transportation Security Administration nominee Erroll Southers, who previously lied to Congress in a signed affidavit, now calls pro-lifers terrorists in a recently discovered video.
This is the same guy that will head the organization that screens passengers getting on airplanes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Question for High Court: In Terror War, To Hell With Int’l Law?
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) — A powerful federal court, ruling on broad issues, has brushed aside international law and the laws of war, saying only domestic law restricts the president’s power to hold an enemy combatant.
Even viewed in isolation, the decision has considerable weight.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Migrantes (Cei), Rosarno Needs Labour Rules
(AGI) — Vatican City, 8 Jan. — The violence in Rosarno is “the second disturbing sign of a region that is reacting to the world of exploitation, the first of which came from the Domizio coast in Campania”, stressed the Director of the Migrantes Foundation, Don Giancarlo Perego, who went on to say “yet again the social realities responsible for employment rights’ protection have largely been conspicuous by their absence”. He said that in that particular region, there was “unacceptable exploitation, with derisory wages, part of which is extorted by intermediaries”. “Employment protection” he continued “is a basic requirement to which society as a whole, and the institutions in particular, should pay a great deal more attention”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian-Israeli (Muslim) Slaughters Wife
A 33-year old Norwegian mother of three children was slaughtered last night in Skien , Norway, by his estranged 38-year old husband after a restriction order was issued against him.
The Norwegian police tells that the 38-year old Norwegian was issued a restraining order last summer banning him visiting his wife and children. But, before the case came up in court, the woman rescinded the petition to ban the visits.
The two Norwegian have three children together, all of which were in the home during the slaughter of the mother. It is unclear if they witnessed the actual slaughter of their mother.
The children were removed from the home by child protection services.
It was 2:46 am when the slaughtered woman’s husband called Norwegian 911 and asked for an ambulance. The message was that two people were injured and in need of medical attention. When the police and ambulance arrived to the scene of crime, the 33-year old mother was seriously injured.
She was immediately transported to the Telemark Hospital and was pronounced dead at 04:45.
The police arrested the father for murder, and the murder weapon most probably is the bloody knife, the Norwegian police said in their statement to the press.
| — Hat tip: LG | [Return to headlines] |
OIC Spokesman Condemns Reprint of Blasphemous Cartoon
A spokesman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned the reprint of the blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten as reaction on the alleged attempt on the life of the Danish cartoonist earlier in the month.
The spokesman said that reprint of the cartoons was unfortunate and act of provocation on the part of the Norwegian newspaper as it would not serve any purpose other than to incite intolerance and hatred.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Clara Sanchez Wins Nadal Prize With Book About Nazis
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 7 — Writer Clara Sanchez from Madrid has won the prestigious 66th Nadal prize with her novel ‘Lo que esconde tu nombre’ (What your name hides), a thriller about Nazi war criminals living in hiding anonymously on the Costa Blanca near Alicante, on the Spanish coast. Inspired by true facts, the book compares an old man who is a former Nazi, living far away from his past on the Costa Blanca, with an eighty year-old survivor of the Mauthausen concentration camp, in a kind of duel. The latter, who lives in Buenos Aires, takes up the job of Nazi hunter following the death of a friend. The psychological thriller is Sanchez ninth novel. The Nadal prize, which is awarded by Destino publishing house, is accompanied by a cheque for 18,000 euros. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tourism: Ski Link Between Italy and Slovenia Opened
(ANSAmed) — TRIESTE, JANUARY 5 — A ski link was opened today in the Eastern Alps between Sella Nevea and Bovec, the first from Italy to Slovenia. The Funifor Canin-Kanin cable car, which has been awaited for 40 years, connects the Sella Nevea district in Italy with Bovec in Slovenia. The car offers ski-lovers 35 kilometres of slopes, at a cost of 28 euros for a single ski pass. The one and a half kilometres from the Gilberti station to Sella Golovec takes 4 minutes, at a height of 2,133 metres, with a maximum capacity of 200 skiers at any one time. Manuela di Centa and Gustavo Thoeni took part in the opening ceremony, along with Austrian Christian Mayer and Slovenias Jure Kosir and President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Renzo Tondo. The cable car cost just under 17 million euros, including the structure and connected infrastructures, and was constructed by Austrian company Doppelmayr. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK to Ban Controversial Islamist Group
London, England (CNN) — Britain is set to ban a Muslim group that recently caused outrage by proposing a demonstration in the town that receives the bodies of British war dead killed abroad, the Home Office said Sunday.
The ban would prevent Al-Muhajiroun, also known as Islam4UK, from having meetings or raising money. Attending a meeting or being a member of Al-Muhajiroun or Islam4UK would be a criminal offense, a Home Office spokesman said. The spokesman declined to be named, in line with government policy.
“Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism,” said the Home Office, which is responsible for domestic security in the United Kingdom.
Two offshoots of Al-Muhajiroun, Al-Ghurabaa and Saviour Sect Group, were banned in July 2006.
The ban should come into force in a matter of “days, not weeks,” the spokesman said. It would require approval from both houses of Parliament.
The group’s leader, controversial British Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary, has been threatening to stage a march as a protest against the war in Afghanistan..
Choudary — informed of the government’s plans by CNN — said the Home Office could not shut him down.
“We’re not going to stop because the government bans an organization,” he told CNN by phone. “If that means setting up another platform under another label, then so be it.”
A ban “will just make the use of those names … illegal, but Muslims everywhere are obliged to work collectively to establish the Islamic State and Sharia law in the UK or wherever they are — those things can’t change,” he added.
Asked if he was surprised or disappointed by the decision, Choudary said “No, not at all, we expect this and much more than that.”
His Web site appeared to have been shut down as of Sunday, apparently by Islam4UK itself.
In place of a full Web site, Islam4UK.com now contains only a new, relatively conciliatory letter posted Saturday and labeled “An Appeal to Families of British Soldiers to have an Honest Dialogue,” and a note saying “Islam4UK Back Soon.”
It was not clear when the Web site was scaled back.
Choudary drew headlines last week by proposing a march through the English town of Wootton Bassett.
The bodies of British war dead are traditionally brought to the town, near a Royal Air Force base, when they are returned to the country.
As hearses carry the flag-draped British remains, relatives and friends, along with local residents, line the streets of the town in scenes of public mourning widely reported by British media.
Choudary’s proposal to march empty coffins through the streets drew fury and outrage.
The march would be illegal if the group is banned, the Home Office said.
Choudary himself “would have to renounce membership to avoid breaking the law,” the spokesman said. “His group should cease to exist.”
The decision to ban the group was made not only because of the plan to march in Wootton Bassett, the Home Office said.
Choudary has never announced a date for his planned march, and local police said he had not contacted them about it, as people planning marches are required to do before staging a demonstration.
But he published an open letter, “To the Families of British Soldiers who have died or who are currently in Afghanistan,” on the Web site of Islam4UK on January 4. The group had earlier used a short statement on its Web site to announce its intention to stage the protest.
In the letter, Choudary accuses soldiers of “murderous crimes,” and says the United States and United Kingdom are seeking to “establish their own military, economic, strategic and ideological interests in the region.”
British and American troops are suffering “depression” as they realize “there is no real moral or ethic (sic) reason for them to murder innocent men, women and children to fulfill their politicians (sic) agenda,” the preacher says.
The threat of the march prompted more than 725,000 people to join a Facebook group opposing it as of Sunday, a week after Choudary posted a letter online justifying it.
“The highway for heroes and wonderful people of WB do not deserve this march to happen,” the group’s home page says, in reference to Wootton Bassett. “This group can march anywhere it wishes in the country but have chosen WB to cause outrage & offense. Islam4UK is an extremists (sic) Islamic group and does not represent the Muslim community in this country.”
Choudary signs his open letter “UK Head of Al-Muhajiroun,” describing it as a British group which supports al Qaeda. Choudary spoke positively of Osama Bin Laden in the letter and in interviews with British media last week.
The new letter makes no reference to Bin Laden or his group.
“Many people in Britain are grieving for their loved ones who have died or who are injured, just as we too grieve the loss of the innocent men, women and children in Afghanistan at the hands of the US led alliance,” the new letter says.
“In addition many people of Britain do not agree with the war and the oppression and injustice which is being perpetrated under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy, just as we too want the British to withdraw their troops from Muslim land. With this common ground we must all demand that the British regime pull out from Afghanistan.”
In the new letter, Choudary denies planning to march empty coffins through Wootton Bassett.
The Terrorism Act of 2000 gives the home secretary the power to ban groups if the punishment is “proportionate and based on evidence that a group is concerned in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000,” according to the Home Office.
According to the law, groups can be banned if they commit or participate in acts of terrorism; prepare for terrorism; or promote or encourage terrorism. The Home Secretary can also take into account factors such as specific threats posed to the United Kingdom or British nationals overseas and the extent of the group’s presence in the UK.
The London branch of the moderate Islamic group Minhaj-ul-Quran International welcomed the Home Office announcement Sunday.
“We have always supported the idea of banning extreme individuals and extremist groups from working in this country and have for a very long time been frustrated that they have been allowed to infiltrate universities and mosques to promote a message of hatred with their anti-West agendas,” said spokesman Shahid Mursaleen.
Founded nearly 30 years ago, and present in 90 countries, the group aims to promote religious moderation and a modern interpretation of the Quran.
“For too long a small group of extremists are trying to hijack Islam and British Muslims,” Mursaleen said.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Vile’ Death Threats for Creator of Facebook Group Opposing Muslim March Through Wootton Bassett
The creator of an online group opposing plans by an Islamic organisation to march through Wootton Bassett has received death threats.
More than 730,000 people have signed up to the ‘No To The Planned Islam4UK March Through Wootton Bassett’ group since it went live on Facebook.
It called for extremist Anjem Choudary and his followers to be barred from marching in the Wiltshire market town where the bodies of dead service personnel arrive back in the UK.
Mr Choudary’s group Islam4UK has now abandoned the march after it was revealed the Government is to ban the organisation.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson is to use anti-terror laws to ban two organisation — Islam4UK and al-Muhajiroun — run by Mr Choudary.
But the Facebook group’s creator, Jo Cleary, who voluntarily runs the Armed Forces support group Honour Our Troops, has received death threats over her involvement with the site.
Threats have also been sent to fellow campaigner Lucy Aldridge, whose 18-year-old son Will was killed in Afghanistan.
It is not known who has made the threats.
The mother-of-four, 43, a photographer from Broomfield, Kent, said: ‘I am absolutely livid at these threats but they will not stop my campaign.
‘I have been branded a BNP member — which I most certainly am not — and my life has been threatened in the most abusive language.
‘There have even been threats made to the families of those who have given their lives for this country.
‘It is beyond belief. These are horrific emails with vile, vile threats.
‘Special Branch are involved and have offered me full protection.
‘It beggars belief someone could be of the mindset where they think it’s acceptable to threaten a mum who buried her 18-year-old soldier son six months ago.
‘I’m not going to stop because of them.
‘The most they’ve probably worn is a school uniform.
‘The day they don a uniform and fight for Queen and country and then come back and have ago at me, then I’ll listen, but don’t sit with a monitor and a keyboard and expect me to feel frightened.’
After calling off the Wootton Bassett march yesterday, Mr Choudary said the group had ‘successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan’.
He went on: ‘We at Islam4UK have decided, after consultation with others including our Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, that no more could be achieved even if a procession were to take place in Wootton Bassett and in light of this we would like to announce today that there will no longer be a procession through this market town.’
Earlier Mr Choudary said: ‘No sooner had I mentioned the desire (to march) Mr Brown condemned it and his Home Secretary Mr Johnson decided he would ban it and it seems now Islam4UK as well.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Britain Divided by Islam, Survey Finds
More than half the population believes Britain is deeply divided along religious lines, the annual British Social Attitudes survey has found.
The social attitudes survey, which is produced by leading academics from interviews with almost 5,000 people, will be published in full later this month.
But the early findings are likely to heap criticism on Government policies which promote multiculturalism.
Professor David Voas, of Manchester University, who analysed the findings said many Britons felt the growth of Britain’s Muslim population presented a threat to national identity.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Group Abandons Anti-War March Through Wootton Bassett as it Faces Home Secretary Ban
A controversial Islamic group tonight abandoned plans for an anti-war march through a town where processions for dead British soldiers are held as it was revealed that it would be banned within days.
Islam4UK provoked anger with a scheme to march through Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, prompting MPs to urge local authorities and the Home Secretary to step in.
A statement from leader of the group Anjem Choudary said the group had ‘successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan’.
He went on: ‘We at Islam4UK have decided, after consultation with others including our Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, that no more could be achieved even if a procession were to take place in Wootton Bassett and in light of this we would like to announce today that there will no longer be a procession through this market town.’
It emerged that Home Secretary Alan Johnson is to use anti-terror laws to ban two organisations run by Mr Choudary.
His group al-Muhajiroun and its offshoot Islam4UK are to be added to a list of 59 banned organisations which includes Al Qaeda and the IRA.
The move will make it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 10 years in jail, to be a member or attend meetings of either organisation or to raise funds for them.
Mr Choudary said: ‘No sooner had I mentioned the desire (to march) Mr Brown condemned it and his Home Secretary Mr Johnson decided he would ban it and it seems now Islam4UK as well.’
And he later added: ‘I think Britain is living in a form of dictatorship — as long as you agree with what the ruling parties dictate, fine, but the rest of the people have to live with it. It’s democracy, but only as long you agree with it.
‘I believe there are two types of people in the world — Muslims, and non-Muslims. And I believe Islam is superior.’
The organisation remained defiant and said it would continue to oppose the war in Afghanistan.
Mr Choudary said: ‘We once again appeal to the British public and in particular the families and friends of soldiers who have died or are currently involved in Afghanistan to engage with us in an honest dialogue.
‘There is common ground between us. Just as you grieve the deaths of your sons and daughters, we too grieve the deaths of thousands of ordinary Muslim men, women and children.’
Islam4UK denied that members had planned to carry 500 empty coffins through the town.
Mohammed Shafiq from the Ramadhan Foundation said Mr Choudary had been deliberately provocative.
He said: ‘His attempt to demonstrate at Wootton Bassett was set out to provoke hatred between communities and is not welcomed in the Muslim communities.
‘He and his cronies have no support in the British Muslim communities.’
North Wiltshire MP James Gray spoke out against the group’s proposals when they were first announced just over a week ago.
Mr Gray tonight said he was ‘very glad’ Islam4UK had abandoned its plans, and said Mr Choudary’s actions had now been proven to be a ‘media stunt’.
He said: ‘I’m very glad he’s not (going ahead with the march). I was straight forward last week — I thought it would have been quite wrong had he come to Wootton Bassett.
‘What we do is non-political. Had he brought protesters through the town, he would have made it a political statement. So I’m extremely glad he has decided not to.’
Mr Gray added: ‘He was trying to make a political statement, the whole announcement was to get media coverage — he admitted that himself — and he achieved it. He received lots of coverage. It was a media stunt. It was unfortunate he’s used Wootton Bassett in achieving this, it was really quite cynical.
‘What the people do is quite straight forward, they stop what they’re doing, they bow their heads, all they’re doing is paying respect as the soldiers go through. They’re not interested in the politics, most of them don’t have a view on the war, nor a view on Mr Choudary.’
Home Office sources said they had been monitoring Mr Choudary’s comments and internet output for months and now believed they had enough evidence to act.
They would not comment on whether similar measures would also be taken against the much larger hardline Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir which Tony Blair pledged to ban five years ago because of its extremist stance.
| — Hat tip: Robert Marchenoir | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Muslim Protesters Who Screamed Abuse at British Soldiers in Homecoming Parade Get Away With Slap on the Wrist
Five Muslim men who screamed insults at soldiers during an Iraq homecoming parade today escaped with a slap on the wrist.
The five men had already been found guilty of calling the returning soldiers ‘murderers’, ‘terrorists’ and ‘rapists’ as they marched through Luton in March last year.
But today the men, who all come from Luton, were freed with a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay contributions towards costs of just £500 each.
The men’s lawyer has complained that the media coverage of the protest led to them being prosecuted, even though their placards had been approved by local police.
Munim Abdul, 28, Jalal Ahmed, 21, Yousaf Bashir, 29, Shajjadar Choudhury, 31, and Ziaur Rahman, 32, were convicted at Luton Magistrates’ Court today of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
Jubair Ahmed, 19, and Ibrahim Anderson, 32, also from Luton, were acquitted of the same charge.
A large crowd lined the streets of the Bedfordshire town to celebrate the return of the local regiment, who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But a group of protesters also attended carrying placards and shouting slogans about the soldiers, prosecutor Avirup Chaudhuri said.
Among these were the jeers: ‘British Army: murderers’; ‘British soldiers burn in hell’; ‘Baby killers’; and ‘British soldiers you will pay’.
Protesters also denounced the troops as terrorists.
Lawyers defending the men said their clients discussed their plans to protest with police beforehand, had agreed to a time and a place to do so with them, had complied with police throughout and officers had not objected at the time to their slogans.
This implied consent by the police and to prosecute them retrospectively was not right, the lawyers said.
But District Judge Carolyn Mellanby rejected their argument.
Giving her judgment, she said: ‘I find that a criminal prosecution and conviction of five of the seven defendants is a proportionate response to the legitimate aim of protection of society and maintenance of public order, not only for the future but to ensure there is sufficient public confidence and support in the peace-keeping responsibilities of the police and the courts.’
The incident provoked a public outcry, she added.
Lawyers defending the men said their clients discussed their plans to protest with police beforehand, had agreed to a time and a place to do so with them, had complied with police throughout and officers had not objected at the time to their slogans.
This implied consent by the police and to prosecute them retrospectively was not right, the lawyers have argued.
The men could have sworn or made gestures during the protest but did not, Ms Dashani told the court on the sixth day of the trial.
The fact that Muslims do not do these things could indicate that these men were not being threatening or abusive, she said.
‘This would fall foul of the religion that they are protesting under the banner of,’ she said.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — in which the regiment has served — are a legitimate subject for public debate, the lawyers have said.
Their clients were expressing their views on this subject, as they were entitled to do under the Human Rights Act, which includes the right to freedom of expression, they said.
If the war in Iraq is found to be illegal, then some might feel that the soldiers who fought in it are indeed murderers, Ms Dashani said.
Kyri Argyropoulos, defending Choudhury, said the prosecution was seeking to ‘criminalise, perhaps even demonise’ men who complied with police throughout their protest.
He suggested that the men may have been prosecuted due to the widespread media coverage of the protest.
He said: ‘(The prosecution) … seems to have catalogued almost every press article relating to the incident, somewhat unusually.
‘Could it be in hindsight that somebody somewhere regretted the fact that Choudhury and his fellow protesters had been allowed to protest at all, given how extensively it was reported, then prosecuted on what was … the easiest to prove?
‘Someone somewhere perhaps needing to save face?’
The words ‘easiest to prove’ appear in police notes in unused material gathered during the investigation, he has told the court.
He added: ‘If I can use the mixed metaphor of closing the gate after the horse has bolted and then using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, I wouldn’t be doing justice to how misguided and unfair this prosecution was.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: MPs to Grill Salmond on Lockerbie Bomber’s Release
MPs are due to question the first minister and the justice secretary over the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber.
Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill are to give evidence to the Scottish affairs committee at Westminster.
Political opponents have been highly critical of the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.
Mr Salmond will say that protocols were followed and the UK and US governments were informed prior to the release.
Megrahi was released from Greenock Prison in August and returned to his native Libya.
Tough questions
The 57-year-old was freed on compassionate grounds, because he has prostate cancer, and his condition had deteriorated.
The Scottish Affairs Committee will question Mr Salmond and Mr MacAskill on Tuesday as part of an investigation into co-operation and communication between the Scottish and UK governments.
In particular MPs are looking at how this worked in the case of the Lockerbie bomber.
Mr Salmond is also likely to express regret at the scenes in Tripoli when Scottish flags were waved as Megrahi arrived home.
The decision to release the only man convicted of blowing up Pan Am flight 103 remains hugely controversial, and MPs questioning is likely to be tough.
Also giving evidence will be Sir John Elvidge, the Scottish government’s permanent secretary and most senior civil servant.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Parliament to Set Quotas for Women and Minority MPs
Political parties are to be forced to increase dramatically the number of women and ethnic minority MPs under controversial plans published today.
A cross-party review has concluded that mandatory legal quotas should be set for the number of female Parliamentary candidates.
At the same time, the proposals, commissioned by Gordon Brown and backed by Speaker John Bercow, could lead to the first ‘all-black’ shortlists being introduced.
The Speaker’s Conference, the first for 30 years, said it believes that Parliament is too white, middle-class, heterosexual, male and able-bodied.
It wants at least half of the MPs leaving the Commons at this year’s General Election — in what is set to be the biggest exodus since 1945 — to be replaced by women.
The conclusions will trigger a bitter row with critics who are opposed to so called ‘positive discrimination’.
Some senior women MPs said they would not have wanted to have been elected to Parliament on such a ‘patronising’ basis, arguing that candidates should be elected on merit alone.
But a panel of MPs — including Labour’s Anne Begg, who is confined to a wheelchair, David Blunkett, Diane Abbott and Fiona Mactaggart, the Tories’ Julie Kirkbride, Angela Browning and Anne Main, and the Lib Dems’ Jo Swinson and Andrew George — claims democracy is under threat unless Parliament becomes ‘more representative’.
It points out that although half of the population is female, just 20 per cent of MPs are women, compared to 56 per cent in Rwanda, 47 per cent in Sweden and 38 per cent in Denmark.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rights Mess: Tory U-Turn on Pledge to Scrap Act
TORY plans to scrap the hated Human Rights Act are to be SHELVED — despite a promise to get rid of it immediately once they come to power.
Now the Conservatives intend to kick the flagship pledge into the long grass, with Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve warning it must not be “rushed”.
It was in his Blueprint for Britain last October that party leader David Cameron vowed to replace the act with a new British Bill of Rights.
Just days later Grieve told the Tory party conference the act was “complete nonsense”, adding his promise: “We’ll end it straightaway.”
But now Grieve has revealed the plan has been put on the back burner. He told a meeting of lawyers in London: “We would wish to consult widely on our ideas if elected and I would expect to do this by means of a Green Paper.”
Crucially he added: “I don’t wish to see the matter rushed.” And far from scrapping the act immediately he let slip: “I’d like to think we can do it in the course of a Parliament.”
That means it would be at least another FIVE YEARS before the HRA is axed.
The act, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into British law, has created a culture of grievance, unleashed a human rights industry and led to a climate of fear among law enforcement agencies. It has also prevented the government booting out dangerous foreigners.
Nine Afghan hijackers who forced a plane to land at Stansted in 2000 to claim asylum were saved from deportation under human rights law in case they got persecuted by the Taliban.
And Learco Chindamo, 28, who killed headmaster Philip Lawrence in 1995, is free to stay in Britain after lawyers claimed deportation would “breach his right to a family life”.
Nevertheless, Cameron’s pledge to scrap the controversial law led to major rifts within his party.
Grieve has long been a keen supporter of the European convention. And legal experts have warned the Tory plans are confused. They say scrapping the act would be pointless because the European ruling would stay in place.
If Britain pulled out of that we might be forced to quit the EU as well.
Last night Justice Secretary Jack Straw said: “Yet another of David Cameron’s so-called cast iron guarantees is unravelling. His party is divided from top to bottom on this.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Senior Scotland Yard Officer on Trial Over Corruption
A senior Scotland Yard police officer will go on trial today accused of corruption over a scuffle in a restaurant.
Ali Dizaei, 47, a Metropolitan Police commander, is accused of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.
His trial at Southwark Crown Court, in central London, is expected to last three weeks. He denies the offences.
The prosecution followed an investigation by officials from the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The charges are linked to an incident outside the Persian Yas restaurant in Kensington, west London, on July 18, 2008.
Dizaei, who was wearing his uniform, arrested businessman Waad Al-Baghdadi after a row in which he claimed he was poked with the mouthpiece of a hookah water pipe.
The first charge alleges Dizaei is responsible for misconduct in a public office by threatening Mr Al-Baghdadi and by “purporting to arrest and detain” him knowing he did not have reasonable grounds.
The second charge alleges Dizaei perverted the course of justice by falsely claiming in written statements that he “had been a victim of an unprovoked assault by Mr Al-Baghdadi”.
The senior officer, a former president of the national Black Police Association, is supported by the Metropolitan Black Police Association.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Teens Who Can Barely Talk — They Only Have an 800 Word Vocabulary
Teenagers have been warned they are becoming unemployable because they use a vocabulary of just 800 words.
The limited linguistic range also consists of many made up words and ‘teenspeak’ which has developed through modern communication methods such as text messaging and social networking sites.
Today Jean Gross, who advises the Government on children’s speech, said urgent action was required to prevent children failing to find jobs because they are unable to communicate.
[…]
‘We need to help today’s teenagers understand the difference between their textspeak and the formal language they need to succeed in life — 800 words will not get you a job.’
The majority of teenagers should have developed a broad vocabulary of 40,000 words by the time they reach 16.
Linguists have found, however, that although they may understand thousands of words, many choose to limit themselves to a much smaller range in regular conversation and on a daily basis could use as few as 800 terms.
Mrs Gross said her concerns were increased by research by Tony McEnery, a professor of linguistics at Lancaster University who analysed 10 million words of transcribed speech and 100,000 words gathered from teenagers’ blogs.
He found that the top 20 words used by teenagers, including ‘yeah’, ‘no’ and ‘but’, account for about a third of all words used.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
WHO Scientists Corruption Scandals Appear Endemic
To bolster his frightening pandemic scenario, Osterhaus and his lab assistants in Rotterdam began assiduously assembling and freezing samples of, well, bird shit, in an attempt to build a more scientific argument. He claimed that at certain times of the year up to 30% of all European birds acted as carriers of the deadly avian virus, H5N1. He also claimed that farmers working with hens and chickens were then exposed. Osterhaus briefed journalists who dutifully noted his alarm. Politicians were alerted. He wrote papers proposing that the far away deaths in Asia from what he termed H5N1 were coming to Europe, presumably on the wongs or in the innards of deadly sick infected birds. He claimed that migratory birds were carrying the deadly new disease as far west as Germany’s Baltic island, Rügen, Croatia and Ukraine. He conveniently ignored the fact that birds do not migrate east to west but rather north to south.
Osterhaus’ Avian Flu alarm campaign really took off in 2003 when a Dutch veterinary doctor became ill and died. Osterhaus claimed the death was from H5N1. He convinced the Dutch government to order slaughter of millions of chickens. Yet no other infected persons died from the alleged H5N1. Osterhaus claimed that that was simply proof of the effectiveness of the preemptive slaughter campaign.
Osterhaus claimed that bird feces were the source, via air bombardment or droppings, onto populations and birds below. That was the vehicle for the spread of the deadly new Asian strain of H5N1 he insisted.
There was only one problem with the now voluminous frozen samples of diverse bird excrement he and his associates had collected and frozen at his institute. There was not one single confirmed example of H5N1 virus found in any of his samples. At a May 2006 Congress of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Osterhaus and his Erasmus colleagues were forced to admit that in testing 100,000 samples of their assiduously saved bird feces, they had discovered not one single case of H5N1 virus.
| [Return to headlines] |
Berlusconi: Italy to Send Aid to Floods-Stricken Albania
(AGI) — Rome, 7 Jan. — Italy will send relief aid to the populations hit by floods in Albania. Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is closely following emergency developments in that country and especially in the areas south of Scutari, where hundreds of thousands of people live.(AGI) ..
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: Presidential Elections, Pro-EU Josipovic Wins
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB — The candidate from the centre-left opposition, the pro-European Social Democrat Ivo Josipovic, has won Croatia’s presidential elections with 60.3%, and on February 18 he will be sworn in as third head of state since the country became independent in 1991, taking the place of the moderate Stipe Mesic. According to the official data released over the night by the electoral commission, which confirmed yesterday evening’s exit polls, his rival Milan Bandic — formerly in the same party and mayor of Zagreb — received 39.71 of votes. Bandic had been supported by conservatives and the right, which had until now been the majority in the country. Voter turnout was 50.28 %, six points higher than the first round of voting two weeks ago. Josipovic, the first post-communist elected to the highest role in the country, has won with a result much higher than what had been expected. Staunchly pro-European, an intellectual from the moderate left and law professor at the University of Zagreb, Josipovic has pledged to work to conclude the final phase of the lengthy and painstaking path to making Croatia a European Union member: a process which began exactly ten years ago when the Social Democrat Party (SDP), to which the newly-elected president belongs, took the power from the nationalist right under the now-deceased Franjo Tudjman. Good relations with neighbouring countries — especially with Serbia, its enemy during the 1990s and currently annoyed by Zagreb’s support for Kosovo’s independence, and Slovenia, with which for the past twenty years Croatia has been arguing bitterly over borders at sea in the north Adriatic — will be at the centre of the new president’s commitments, according to his pre-election promises. Domestic policy, legality, social justice, the fight against corruption and the protection of human rights as well as the support for anti-fascist values are the central points of the message Josipovic has sent to voters. “Win by pro-European, civil and anti-nationalist Croatia”, and “Yes to reason, moderation and intelligence” are the headlines with which the internet sites of the major papers have commented on the choice Croatians have made. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Croatia: Belgrade Attacks Outgoing President Mesic
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, JANUARY 11 — Serbia’s President Boris Tadic and some of the press in Belgrade have strongly attacked outgoing Croatian President Stipe Mesic, with Tadic saying that he hopes Serbia will be able to establish a “different relationship” with his successor Ivo Josipovic. Tadic, who was visiting the capital of the Republika Srpska, Banja Luka, at the weekend (the Republika Srpska is one of the two entities which make up Bosnia-Herzegovina, the other is the Muslim Croatian Federation), fiercely criticised Mesic for his statements during a recent visit to Kosovo, and for his decision to reduce the sentence of a Croatian war criminal responsible for the barbaric murder of an entire Serbian family during the war in the 1990s. During talks with the Kosovan authorities in recent days in Pristina, Mesic praised the independence of Kosovo, talking about the ‘new reality in the region’, and inviting Belgrade to take note of the new situation and urging other countries to recognise Pristina’s independence. “The last person who can give lessons to Serbia is Mesic, who is leaving a harsh legacy to the future Croatian President”, said Boris Tadic, who expressed a hope that Serbia “will be able to establish a different relationship with the new President of Croatia”. Mesic’s decision to reduce the sentence passed on Croatian criminal Sinisa Rimac from eight to seven years has also irritated Belgrade. Rimac was responsible for the murder through pure ethnic hatred of an entire Serbian family during the war against Croatia in 1991. In Tadic’s view this is an “anti-European act against civil co-existence, which can in no way be justified”. ‘Mesic spits and Serbia keeps quiet’, is the headline Belgrade’s Press newspaper today, which says that Belgrade should have withdrawn its Ambassador from Zagreb over Mesic’s behaviour and expel the Croatian Ambassador in Serbia. “Why does everything end in verbal protests alone? Why do we continue to allow Croatian businesses to conquer the Serbian markets unrestrained?” is the irritated question posed by Press on its front page. .(ANSAmed).
2010-01-11 16:50
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Prospects and Problems in EU Neighbourhood Policy
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — The goal of the book ‘The European Neighbourhood policy and the Southern Mediterranean’, published by Middle East Technical University Press (Ankara), in cooperation with the ‘Istituto Affari Internazionali’ (Institute for international affairs) in Rome, is to analyse the possible configurations of relations between the European Union and the southern region of the Mediterranean area. The age-old and much-debated question is now given a new impulse, and most of all new possibilities. The text, edited by Michele Comelli, head of research of the Europe area at the Institute, Atila Eralp and Cigdem Ustun of the Center for European Studies of the Middle East Technical University (Ces-Metu) in Ankara, presents an analysis in seven chapters that starts with the Barcelona Process that saw its kick-off in 1995. It focuses on the European Neighbourhood policy, launched in 2003, without overlooking the recent birth of the Mediterranean Union in 2008. These projects have seen their ups and downs and the analyses of the initiatives taken within the European Neighbourhood policy’s framework show these various aspects. Most importantly, the southern region of the Mediterranean area is not at all uniform. Countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories have accepted the action plan proposed by the EU, while others (Algeria, Libya and Syria) have opted to stay out fearing European interference with their domestic policies. Turkey remains a special case, as a candidate to become EU member. It remains difficult to superimpose the initiatives that result from the Barcelona Process with those taken by the Mediterranean Union. Reading the book, one gets the feeling that the countries of the Arab world mistrust Europe, fearing that all Europe is after protecting its own economic and strategic interests and trying to interfere with its partners’ domestic policies, compromising the multilateral aspect of the relations. The problems are less felt in the case of Turkey and Israel, countries with a culture that is closer to the European. Something has to be done to change this situation therefore. Economic cooperation, according to ‘The European neighbourhood policy and the Southern Mediterranean’, can play an important role without question. However it is even more important, even crucial, to change the perception which the EU and the Arab countries have of each other. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: First Container Railway Line Inaugurated
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, JANUARY 6 — Algeria has inaugurated the country’s first railway line specifically intended for container transport. It will link the port of Algiers to the warehouse in Rouiba, 20 km east of the capital. Transport Minister Amar Tou told Algerian media that “Railway transport will ease traffic at the port of Algiers and will help reduce container transport costs”. Containers are mostly transported by trucks in Algeria. At present, only 1% of the goods are transported by train compared to an international average of 20/30%. About 2,000 containers a day are expected to travel along the new Algeri-Rouiba route. Official data show that in 2009 one million containers were handled in Algeria, that is about 14% more than the previous year. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Arafat Archives: Row Between Palestinians and Tunisia
(ANSA) — TUNIS, JANUARY 7 — The row is growing between the Palestinians and the Tunisian Government over the archives of Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO and first President of the Palestinian Authority, who died in Paris in November 2004. The alquds website has cited sources close to President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), accusing the Government in Tunis of failing to allow the Palestinian National Authoritys emissary to photocopy Arafats archival documents after it previously refused to transfer all the documents to Ramallah. The archive contains photos, correspondence with parties and foreign political movements, minutes from meetings as well as financial documents, held in the property in Mutueville, Tunisia, which was Arafats home and office for more than ten years, from when he fled from Lebanon in 1982 to his departure for the West Bank after the Oslo Accords in 1993. The Tunisian Government gave as the reason for its decision the informal way in which the Palestinian Authority failed to use the proper diplomatic procedures for these kinds of cases. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Fire in Ibla Library, Italian Monk Dies (2)
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANUARY 8 — Reports on Vatican Radio are stating that Father Maffi died on January 5, although the news was revealed today. The radio station also refers to how the Ibla library was founded by the Missionaries of Africa as a centre of Christian-Muslim dialogue and research. Fire-fighters are reported to have made their way quickly to the site of the blaze, but that on their arrival the monk had already suffered fatal injuries. “Police are looking into the cause of the fire,” Vatican Radio continued, “which apparently spread after an explosion”. The First Councillor of the White Fathers, Richard Baaewobr, told Vatican Radio: “Our Provincial Father went to the library and found Gianbattista already on the floor. Father Richard ruled out the notion that the centre had received any kind of threats, “partly because, being a research library, it is open to all. It has an important collection of books and people come to study and consult them”. One branch of the Ibla gave rise to the Pontifical Institute for Arab and muslim Studies in Rome. The colleague of the dead monk continued: “What was really important for Father Maffi was dialogue, encounter with the other, with people different from oneself, and he always conducted it in respect for the other. He was an intellectual and has always had a strong desire to help people understand Islam better, not to fear it and to enter into dialogue with this religion and with this people”. “The message he leaves us,” Father Baaewobr concluded, “is not to fear the other because they are different in their religion or in their culture, but to seek to meet them like a brother, like a sister”. It is a mission that “we seek to continue, meeting other people, above all muslims, welcoming and accepting everybody, as Father Maffi sought to do”.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cast Lead 2 Likely, Egyptian Daily Quotes Israeli TV
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 11 — According to Egyptian pro-government newspaper Al Ahram, Israel is ready to launch a new week-long military operation in Gaza following the ‘Cast Lead’ operation between December 2008 and January 2009. Quoting an Israeli TV network, the newspaper reported that the artillery would be ready to come into action if the Israeli government decided to launch an attack on the whole Gaza Strip. The Israeli military would allegedly rely on Merkava 4 tanks and sophisticated technological equipment and troops trained to deal with possible chemical attacks would be deployed in densely-populated areas. The newspaper also quoted the secretary of the PLO’s Executive Council, Yasser Abdrabboh, as saying that, although Israel might turn its threats into action, it is also trying to overemphasise the threat to security posed by Hamas in a bid to put both the Palestinian Authority and Egypt in a critical position. The article published by Al Ahram follows a recent statement by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who pointed out that Israel is ready to respond to any violation of the ceasefire in Gaza. Yesterday, three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike. (ANSAmed).
2010-01-11 14:13
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israelis Reject George Mitchell Loan Guarantee ‘Threat’
Israeli officials have shrugged off a suggestion that the US could withhold loan guarantees to pressure Israel over the Middle East peace process.
The finance minister said Israel did not need the guarantees, while the prime minister accused the Palestinians of holding up peace negotiations.
US envoy George Mitchell said this week the US could withhold loan guarantees to extract concessions from Israel.
The guarantees allow Israel to raise money cheaply overseas.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz reacted by saying the Israeli economy was doing well.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
PNA: EU: 500 Mln for Wages, Pensions Civil Servants in 2009
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JANUARY 11 — By the contribution in December of 6,3 million euros to cover salaries and pensions of 80.000 palestinian civil servants in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, the European Union’s support to the palestinian people in 2009 reached more than 500 million euros. Christian Berger, the European Union representative in Jerusalem, according to the Enpi site (www.enpi-info.eu), gave this data. The funds for this payment have been made available by the European Union and the governments of Ireland and Luxembourg, and are channelled through Pegase, the European mechanism for support to the palestinians. “The European Union — said Berger — fully appreciates the difficult budgetary situation that the Palestinian Authority continues to face, and reiterates its commitment to support Prime Minister Fayyad’s effort to maintain regular salary payments, as a way of ensuring the continuous delivery of public services to the Palestinian people both in the West Bank and Gaza. (ANSAmed).
2010-01-11 16:50
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Recognise Rights of Israel and Palestinians, Pope
(ANSAmed) — VATICAN CITY, JANUARY 11 — Benedict XVI wants “universal recognition for Israel’s right to exist and enjoy peace and security within internationally recognised borders”, in addition to the “same recognition” for “the right of the Palestinian population to a sovereign and independent homeland, as well as their right to live in dignity and go from one place to another freely”. The appeal was made by the Pope today at the Vatican in welcoming accredited diplomatic staff to the Holy See as part of the traditional exchange of New Year’s greetings. The pope also expressed the hope that Jerusalem’s “identity and sacred character”, as well as “ its cultural and religious legacy, the value of which is universal,” would be safeguarded. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda Veterans ‘Are Flooding Into Yemen’
Dozens of Saudi and Egyptian veterans of al-Qaeda’s operations in Afghanistan have been pouring into Yemen, a senior official has warned.
In the gloomiest internal assessment of Yemen’s security yet, he said jihadis from across the Arab world are hiding in the lawless hills of Shabwa province where the so-called Christmas Day “underwear bomber” is thought to have been trained, its governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, said.
“There are dozens of Saudi and Egyptian al-Qaeda militants who came to the province,” said Shabwa’s governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi.
He told the al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper the militants had joined homegrown Yemeni radicals both from Shabwa and other regions of the country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bahrain: 30:000 Set to March Tomorrow Over Petrol Price Hike
(ANSAmed) — MANAMA, JANUARY 7 — More than 30,000 people are set to protest in Manama tomorrow over a potential increase in petrol prices, it has been reported. Twelve political societies have joined with trade unions to organise the demonstration, Gulf Daily News reported today. Last month Bahrain’s cabinet confirmed it was going to scrap subsidies for staple foods and petrol because it was “unworkable” and should be directed to poorer citizens in great need, the paper reported. His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has said no decision has yet been made to increase petrol prices and that subsidy issues were still being studied. Radhi Al Mousawi, Wàad spokesman, told the paper the lack of concrete information had lead them to organise the march, at which he expected at least 30,000 people to attend. Interior Ministry officials told Gulf Daily News they were aware of the protest, but the paper reported it was unclear whether full permission from the Public Security Directorate had been obtained. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Emirates: Petrol, Litre Measure Replaces Imperial Gallon
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, JANUARY 5 — The United Arab Emirates has adopted a new unit of measure for petrol sales, moving from the old imperial gallon, a relic of its period as a British Protectorate, to the metric Litre. The measure, decreed by the government in 2009, came into force on January first and is the first in a series which will see the Federation of seven Emirates shedding the old “yards”, ‘feet’ and ‘ounces’ in favour of the international metric system. More than 120 of the 450 petrol stations in the country have already made the change-over from the imperial gallon (4.5 litres) to the litre, bringing themselves in line with the strategies of the national oil companies which began selling crude oil by the litre on the international markets some time ago.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Saudi Seen Supplying 40% of Mideast Oil by 2013
(ANSAmed) — RIYADH, JANUARY 6 — Saudi Arabia is predicted to account for about 21 percent of Middle East oil demand by 2013, while providing nearly 40 percent of supply, according to a new report released by Arabian Business online. Regional oil use is seen hitting more than 11 million barrels per day in 2009, rising to more than 12 million bpd by 2013, the latest Saudi Arabia oil and gas study by Business Monitor International said. The research firm’s report added that regional oil production, which was 22.87m bpd in 2001, is set to rise to about 29m bpd by 2013. It said oil exports were growing steadily, and was forecast to reach 16.58m bpd by 2013 with Iraq having the greatest production growth potential, followed by Qatar. Between 2008 and 2018, BMI said it was forecasting an increase in Saudi oil production of 18.2 percent, with volumes rising steadily to 12.8m bpd by the end of the 10-year forecast period. Oil consumption in the same period is seen rising by 28.6 percent, the report added, with growth slowing to three percent per year towards the end of the period. Gas production is expected to rise from 79 billion cubic metres (bcm) to 124bcm by the end of the same period. The BMI report added that Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product growth was seen at 2.1 percent for 2009, following 4.2 percent growth in 2008. BMI said it was predicting 2.8 percent growth in 2010, 3.5 percent in 2011/12, followed by 4.2 percent in 2013. “We expect oil demand to rise from an estimated 2.22m bpd in 2008 to 2.49m bpd in 2013, representing 3 percent annual growth,” the report said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Qatar Plans USD 1 Bln Solar Power Project
(ANSAmed) — DOHA, JANUARY 7 — Qatar is planning to build a solar power plant, it was claimed in a report today. The idea for a $1bn solar power plant was first suggested at an exhibition in Doha in May, according to a report in The Peninsula newspaper. The report adds that around 25 local and international investors have emerged as potential partners for the project. Shadi Abu Daher, regional manager of the World Trade Centre, told the newspaper that the cost of construction in Qatar has declined by around 40 percent since the onset of the global recession and the drop in prices for raw materials. A report last month by consultants AT Kearney said the Middle East region has the opportunity to become a “boom centre” for solar energy within the next ten years and the industry may create up to 100,000 new jobs The report also claimed that that investment in solar energy could create annual revenues of $90 billion for the region. Last year, the World Bank announced plans to invest $5.5bn into solar energy projects in the region. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Nonie Darwish: Obama’s New Year Gift to the Saudi King
Islam is in trouble at the heart of its birthplace, Saudi Arabia, and consequently in other Muslim countries. Muslim leaders and media are desperately trying to regain control, both internally and externally. Muslims are starting to openly and defiantly question why the international image of Islam is being tarnished daily with every act of terror, hate speech and calls for jihad from the pulpits of mosques.
The traditional open calls for violence and jihad Islam got away with for centuries is now under scrutiny, especially after 9/11. Islam is now under the microscope. That is the quagmire of Muslims today. How can they continue teaching their basic religious jihad education but still save face and Islam’s reputation in a culture where image and honor is everything?
The West is not fully aware of what is happening in the Muslim world today where taboo topics are being discussed by brave Muslim reformists and former Muslims. There are ground-breaking Arabic TV and Internet shows aired inside homes in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, etc., discussing what ordinary Muslims were never allowed to hear before.
[…]
That is where Obama’s services come to the rescue of King Abdulla. Obama’s bow to the king was no small matter, but of great significance in Muslim culture. It is a Muslim symbol of subjugation and inferiority.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia — China — Iran: Russia, China and Iran to Forge a New Energy Axis This Year
The Iran-Turkmenistan gas pipeline is inaugurated on 6 January. More are expected to link Russia, Iran and China through Central Asia. Europe appears to be losing the race for Caspian Sea and Central Asian oil and gas; it might end up dependent on Moscow for supplies.
Moscow (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline was inaugurated on Wednesday connecting Iran’s northern Caspian region with Turkmenistan’s vast gas field. Increasingly, Iran is turning to China and Russia not only as buyers of its gas but also as builders of pipelines. Moscow and Beijing are thus making inroads into Central Asia’s vast energy reservoir. By contrast, Europe and the United States are still at the discussion stage when it comes to building pipelines towards the West.
The 182-kilometer Turkmen-Iranian pipeline starts “modestly” with the pumping of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas, but will meet the energy requirements of Iran’s Caspian region. Its annual capacity is however 20bcm, which will allow Iran to export its own gas to the east.
The pipeline could be extended through Turkmenistan to the northern shore of the Caspian sea and from there, be connected to a gas pipeline Russia and China are discussing that would link the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk to Alashankou on Sino-Kazakh border.
Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan hold respectively the world’s largest, second-largest and fourth-largest gas reserves and China needs a lot of energy and is willing to invest heavily to get it.
At the same time, Moscow wants to remain Europe’s main gas supplier. Chinese competition in Central Asia and the Caspian region are thus not a major irritant. Moscow in fact is already well-entrenched in the area with its own installations and has developed its own ties with the region’s countries. Thus, no energy flows from the region towards Europe. At the same time, Moscow has offered Turkmenistan a better price than China for its gas. Indeed, Russia relies on Turkmen gas for its domestic need and exports its own gas to Europe at a higher price.
Iran is isolated by Western sanctions and is turning more and more eastward and towards Russia.
Iran and Turkmenistan have forged closer ties recently, thanks in part to the intervention of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The overall situation is complicated by Turkey’s desire to become a hub for energy flowing to Europe. For this reason, the Turkish government has downplayed the existing 2,577km pipeline connecting Tabriz in north-western Iran with Ankara.
This intricate pattern of relations spells the end of US policy towards Caspian oil and gas, which was designed to bypass Russia, whilst keeping China out and Iran isolated.
Russia is now planning to strengthen its ties with Azerbaijan, further undermining Western efforts to engage Baku as a supplier for Nabucco. In tandem with Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan in December inked an agreement to deliver gas to Iran through the 1,400km Kazi-Magomed-Astara pipeline.
Conscious that it has fewer cards to play, Europe is pushing for Russia’s South Stream and North Stream, which will supply gas to northern and southern Europe.
The stumbling blocks for North Stream have been cleared as Denmark (in October), Finland and Sweden (in November) and Germany (in December) approved the project. Construction should begin in the spring.
The new pipeline will bypass Soviet-era transit routes via Ukraine, Poland and Belarus and run from the north-western Russian port of Vyborg to the German port of Greifswald along a 1,220km route under the Baltic Sea.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Preacher: No-Fly to US to Protest Anti-Terrorist Checks
(IsraelNN.com) A noted Saudi preacher has called on Arabs to stop flying to the United States, in protest of “enhanced screening” procedures aimed at catching terrorists, the Dubai business website Zawya.com reported. [Great idea — Sean]
Muslim preacher Sheikh Sulaiman al Dowaish has urged Saudi authorities to consider the travel ban following an announcement by the United States that “enhanced screening” measures will be put into place for passengers from 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia.
The extra steps were taken after last month’s attempt by a Nigerian Muslim to detonate a bomb on board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has asked the Obama administration for clarifications regarding the new security measures. Officials said the oil-rich kingdom would not tolerate security procedures that tarnish the honor and dignity of Saudis.
The website noted that 22,000 students from Saudi Arabia are learning at American universities
Saudi security researcher Sultan Al Anqari blasted the new U.S. regulation, telling GulfNews.com that the Obama government is resorting to a form of political blackmail against Saudi Arabia because of the country’s anti-Israeli policies.
“It is part of a collective punishment against the Saudis, who are also victims of the wrong doing of some deviant people,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism: Gulf Monarchies Warned Over Possible Attacks
(ANSAmed) — SANAA, JANUARY 7 — Western intelligence services have warned Gulf monarchies that Al Qaeda’s terrorist network is planning attacks on ships transiting through the area, according to reports in today’s Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas which quoted security sources from the emirate. According to the newspaper, Al Qaeda has trained combatants in the area to attack war, commercial or cruise ships both in the Gulf and in the Arabian Sea, and this is why western security services have urged local governments to step up security measures to protect their ships, especially ones transporting oil and methane. The same sources confirmed that Al Qaeda combatants had taken advantage of the growing tension in both Somalia and in Yemen, where they have managed to establish command and control centres.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism: Syria and Lebanon Protest at US Measures
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, JANUARY 8 — Damascus and Beirut protested today, albeit in differing tones of voice, at the US government’s decision to intensify checks of citizens of some nations — including Syria and Lebanon — which are held to be sponsors of terrorism, or potential places of refuge and territories for the passage of suspect terrorists. Receiving the US politician Alcee Hastings, in Beirut, the Lebanese President, Michel Suleiman, expressed his “concern at the security measures announced by the United States”, stating that Lebanon “enjoys a climate of stability and has shown itself capable of fighting terrorism”. Following the failed attack on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight at Christmas, the United States has recently decided on tightening its security cordon at airports, especially concerning passengers originating from Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia and Yemen. For its part, Syria has strongly criticised Washington’s decision, albeit unofficially, calling it “a dangerous return to the ‘black lists’ of the Bush era”. The editorial of daily newspaper al Watan, which is close to the government, this morning averred that “Mr Obama is staking his reputation on this affair”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Roma Forced to Leave Their Hometown After Violent Clashes
Local Roma in the Selendi district of the province of Manisa were taken out of the city and will be relocated elsewhere after being subject to violence that the Roma claimed the mayor of the district provoked.
Early media reports from the Aegean province said fighting began after a member of the Roma community, Burhan Uçkun, wanted to smoke in a coffeehouse. But Uçkun told daily Radikal that it was not about smoking; instead, he said, the owner of the coffeehouse refused to serve him tea.
Uçkun’s father died on the same day of the fight from a heart attack. Five days later, a second fight erupted between the same people, but this time, around 1,000 local people attacked Roma houses, tents and other property.
Gendarmerie forces took the Roma people under protection by bringing them to the station. No one has been arrested, but Manisa Gov. Celalettin Güvenç said Friday the judiciary was still looking into the events.
Meanwhile, many in the Roma community said the mayor of the district, Nurullah Savaþ, who is a member of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, provoked the events by making announcements in the city and afterwards the locals attacked Roma. Heavy construction equipment belonging to municipality was also used to damage the Roma’s cars.
But Savaþ, talking to private news channel CNNTürk, denied the allegations. He said he made announcements to gather the locals at the request of the governor to call for calm and to let the community know that the governor was going to visit the district.
CNNTürk also broadcasted a photograph showing a bulldozer pushing a smashed car. The channel asked the mayor whether dozers were used in the attacks. Savaþ said the dozers were used only to move a smashed car that was blocking a road.
The Manisa governor’s decision to move the Roma out of the district was reflected in newspaper headlines on Friday. Daily Hürriyet led with the story with the headline, “Run and survive,” while the daily Taraf wrote, “2010 exile of Roma people.”
The Roma were staying in Gördes, another district of Manisa, near their relatives. They are going to be settled in the district of Salihli, the governor said. Meanwhile human rights organizations and the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, went to the district to meet the locals and officials. Some human rights activists said relocating Roma people out of Selendi would be a failure in handling the issue. They should be settled back in Selendi.
Güvenç said on CNNTürk that the Roma and the representatives of Roma associations wanted to be settled in another place because of economic reasons. Selendi is a small rural area with no industry, he said, leading the Roma to request living in a place with more employment opportunities.
“We told them to stay where they want,” he said. But the Roma said police forced them to sign blank papers to remove them from the city, reported daily Hürriyet.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary commission on human rights also paid attention to the issue and asked the government to disclose the details of the events. Zafer Üskül, the head of the commission, asked why officials did not see the warning signs before the incident because the attack did not seem spontaneous.
On Thursday, an estimated 200 members of the Roma community gathered in Ýzmir’s Karþýyaka municipality to protest the recent violence in Selendi.
Necati Kaplan and Sinan Pazarlý, vice presidents of the Aegaen Roma Association’s federation, spoke at the rally, where the demonstrators chanted, “PM Tayyip, don’t sleep. Stick up for the Roma.”
“We are upset because of the events that took place in Selendi,” Kaplan said. “As Roma, we have never thrown a stick or a stone at the flag, nation or government. We were born here and we will die here. We’re calling on the prime minister to stick up for the Roma. We are not terrorists.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Anti-Smoking Law Calls for Prison and Mln-Dirham Fines
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, JANUARY 7 — The United Arab Emirates has prepared a number of new anti-smoking laws which provide for a prison sentence of two years and fines of up to a million dirhams (about 200,000 euros) for offenders. The most noteworthy aspects of the new laws include the ban on advertising, promoting or sponsoring any product associated with tobacco, as well as the outlawing of selling cigarettes to minors and smoking in vehicles in the presence of children under age 12. The anti-smoking plan, which aims to create a country entirely free of smoking, was introduced in 2007 with the first prohibition on lighting up in offices and public places. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘We Regret Driving Out the British, ‘ Say Aden’s Former Rebels
It is rare to hear former Marxist revolutionaries apologise for having successfully driven out an imperialist power decades before. In the rundown former British colony of Aden, a backwater that was once one of the world’s key shipping hubs, such regrets are not uncommon.
“I am sorry about what happened,” said Ahmed Mighali Said, 77, who fought the British Army in the bloody four-year uprising known as the Aden Emergency, which ended with Britain’s withdrawal in 1967. “Under the British we had peace. The Yemeni fighters were ignorant. I hope the British come back.”
The rueful attitude of many former fighters is less a nostalgia for British colonial rulers than a reaction to southern Yemen’s disastrous history since they left.
Civil wars, an unpopular union with the Islamic north and the subsequent neglect of the south by the Sanaa Government — which is accused of hogging the profit from its oil and gas — are again fuelling a desire to break away, adding to the chaos in a country targeted by al-Qaeda as a new sanctuary.
Times Archive, 1967: Blood bath in Aden
Not since 1948 has a British territory been decolonized in such disastrous circumstances
Farewell to Aden
Crater fully under British control
Related Links
Shifting sands of Yemen tribes strengthen al-Qaeda
The dangers of US engagement in Yemen
Troubles in Yemen now impossible to ignore
“It was a great mistake,” said one former fighter, now a grizzled old man. “People didn’t know any better. It was an emotional response born out of Arab nationalism and Nasserite revolutionary feelings. If the British came back, we would sign a protocol saying we are sorry.”
There are still many signs of the 130-year British occupation in this strategic port sheltered by the spectacular dark cliffs of a volcano. Its Crater district — the old city is built within the caldera — was the centre of the last war fought by the dying British Empire.
The Crescent Hotel, where the Queen stayed in 1954, is closed but standing, and neat little Anglican churches still serve dwindling congregations. The old bookstore, Aziz’s, barely survives, selling yellowed tomes on Boy Scouting and London guidebooks with photos of Britain’s thriving manufacturing industry.
The occasional Morris Minor or Austin has been kept on the road, in mint condition, weaving among the battered Toyotas past former barracks that are now teeming tenements.
In the Crater area, the Yemen military museum has lurid oil paintings, produced with more bloodlust than talent, that depict ambushed British soldiers bleeding and dying in their vehicles. Black-and-white photos show British soldiers on rooftops, hauling off suspects and jumping out of Land Rovers.
There are also photos of men being publicly beheaded with the sword during a 1955 coup in the Islamic north. The scenes are chillingly reminiscent of Iraq or Afghanistan today, and may be a taste of what lies ahead for Yemen.
Britain’s dirty war, in which it sent mercenaries to the north to support the deposed royalists against the Egyptian-backed nationalists, while launching RAF air raids on villages in the south that killed scores of civilians, has echoes in today’s Yemen.
In this deeply divided country the President of 32 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is fighting a Shia rebellion in the far north in part through airstrikes. He is also trying to crush a re-emerging secessionist movement in the south and is under pressure to fight al-Qaeda, which trained the man accused of attempting to bomb a US airliner on Christmas Day in Yemen.
So far, Britain has limited itself to helping to develop a Yemeni counter-terrorism unit, while the US has pledged to double its $70 million (£45 million) military aid budget this year.
In the craggy hills just outside Aden there is a stark reminder of the price to be paid for any deeper involvement in the country’s turbulent affairs.
Line after line of graves stand in the almost treeless British military cemetery at Salahedin, a cluster of them marked June 20, 1967 — the day a military convoy was ambushed in the Crater by British-trained Yemeni police. Eight soldiers were killed in the mutiny, which triggered a full-scale invasion of the rebel stronghold by the British Army.
The force of Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Campbell “Mad Mitch” Mitchell, who fought his way into the overcrowded ancient streets with Saracen armoured cars accompanied by the skirl of regimental bagpipers.
It was a bloody but short fight, described by the force’s end-of-empire commander as “like shooting grouse; a brace here and a brace there”.
Despite crushing the revolt, it was clear to Whitehall’s politicians that the end was nigh, and the British moved out of Aden that year. In 1967, Aden was the second-biggest port in the world on the main sea route from east to west. Dubai, hundreds of miles off the shipping lanes, was an insignificant fishing port. Forty-two years later the roles are reversed.
“Now we are under the occupation of Zayidism,” said a retired major-general who secretly fought the British after returning from officer training in Aldershot in 1966, referring to the minority Shia faith of the President and his family. “They took everything, erased our history, culture and civilisation, and undermined the rule of law.”
Underscoring his words, three policemen were shot dead in Aden this week in tribal revenge for the death of a man who was killed by officers after failing to stop at a checkpoint. The general’s friends bemoan the Islamisation and militarisation of the once-secular south, which reluctantly joined the north in 1990 and failed to break away four years later in a civil war. A key role was played in that conflict by Yemeni Mujahidin, who had fought against the Russians in Afghanistan and were deployed to great effect, and handsomely rewarded, by President Saleh.
In Aden, the cosmopolitan way of life left behind by Britain has all but disappeared. “The cinemas, bars, shops, are all closed, the girls were separated from the boys and the schools provide a religious education,” said one businessman, who added that even though Aden fought against the despised occupation, the British “taught us how to live”.
“Our people hate unification day, 22 May 1990,” said a professor. “They feel they were thrown into hell.”
Most people here want independence again, this time from the north. The country’s most popular newspaper, al-Ayyam, has been closed by the authorities and its editor arrested on shooting charges which supporters say are false.
At a recent demonstration outside the newspaper’s offices, protesters said that the police started shooting at a crowd, accidentally killing one of their own officers and a building guard. The advocates of secession insist that they want a peaceful separation but point to the repressive attitude of the Government, which ignores their voice and takes their resources without reinvesting in the south.
“People are ready to use weapons but it hasn’t come to that yet,” one professor said.
Should the south rise again, it will face a tough enemy in the government forces — now being trained and equipped by the new global power, America, and by Aden’s sorely missed former foes, the British.
Mutiny and mutilation
The port of Aden was visited by Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta in the 13th and 14th centuries, before growing into a ship-fuelling centre in the 1800s
In 1839 Britain took the area from Sultan Muhsin bin Fadl and established the Aden Settlement. It was to hold the territory for more than 100 years
Aden became the world’s third-busiest port after the Suez Canal opened in 1869 — a stopping point for cargo ships and millions of migrants to the colonies of the British Empire
In the 1950s Britain faced pressure from the National Liberation Front, a communist group that formed part of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s pan-Arab movement
Armed resistance began with a grenade thrown at the British High Commissioner in 1963, triggering the “Aden Emergency”. The British Government said it would give the area independence, but keep a troop presence
In 1967 the local police mutinied and killed 24 British troops. Their corpses were dragged through the streets and mutilated. The order came to withdraw but Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Mitchell of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders — known as “Mad Mitch” — refused
On July 3, 1967, he charged into Crater with 15 regimental bagpipers playing Scotland the Brave. He held the town until the British withdrew completely in November
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Yemenis Locate German Hostages — German Minister
Germany’s foreign minister has said Yemeni officials told him they knew where five German nationals abducted in Yemen seven months ago were being held.
Guido Westerwelle made the comments after talks in Sanaa during his surprise visit to the Gulf country.
Five Germans and a Briton were seized in Yemen while picnicking in June.
Mr Westerwelle is the first Western minister to visit Yemen since a local al-Qaeda branch said they tried to bomb a US airliner over Detroit in December.
Last week, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab — the Nigerian man accused of attempting to detonate a bomb on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight on Christmas Day — was charged with the attempted murder of 290 people and five other counts.
The plane landed safely after passengers and crew overpowered him.
Hostages ‘alive’
Mr Westerwelle was speaking after talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday morning.
“The president told me that he has new information, a bit over two-hours-old, that the site where the German citizens are being held is known.
“I cannot confirm this. If this were the case, it would be a sign of hope, a bit of news to give us hope. We want to secure the freedom of our compatriots in the interest of humanity.
“If there is new information, if the government of Yemen thinks it knows where they are, we welcome it and hope that everything is done to free them unharmed and can return to their families,” Mr Westerwelle said.
Last week, Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister Rashad al-Alimi said the six hostages were still alive.
The hostages, including three children, were seized while picnicking in the northern Saada region. The kidnapped adults all worked at a local hospital.
Two German nurses and a South Korean aid worker — who were part of the group — were found dead later in June.
The Yemeni government has blamed a local Shia rebel group, led by Abdulmalik al-Houthi, for the kidnapping, but it has denied any involvement.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen Cleric Zindani Warns Against ‘Foreign Occupation’
An influential Yemeni cleric has warned the country not to allow “occupation” by foreign powers as it co-operates with the US in counter-terrorism.
Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, named as a terrorist by the US and the UN for suspected links to al-Qaeda, said Yemen rejected “the return of colonialism”.
Yemen-based militants said they were behind a recent failed US bomb plot.
The US has vowed to continue to support Yemen in its fight against militants, but says it will not send troops there.
Mr Zindani, head of al-Iman University, a Sunni religious school in the capital Sanaa, was listed as a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US Treasury Department and the UN in 2004, but Yemen has taken no steps to freeze his assets.
The US military is helping to train Yemeni counter-terror forces, and assisted them with intelligence and logistics to carry out air strikes last month against suspected al-Qaeda hideouts.
The US was also planning to double economic aid to Yemen.
Speaking to reporters at his home in Sanaa, Mr Zindani said: “We accept any co-operation in the framework of respect and joint interests, and we reject military occupation of our country. And we don’t accept the return of colonialism.”
He added: “Yemen’s rulers and people must be careful before a [foreign] guardianship is imposed on them.
“The day parliament allows the occupation of Yemen, the people will rise up against it and bring it down.”
Parliamentary approval
Mr Zindani did not criticise the Yemeni government directly for co-operating with the US, but urged it to get any agreements approved by parliament.
“The constitution says agreements must be put before parliament. I demand the implementation of the constitution,” he said.
Earlier US President Barack Obama said he has “no intention” of sending US troops to countries like Yemen or Somalia, adding that “working with international partners” there was “most effective at this point”.
[…]
“I was never a direct teacher for Anwar al-Awlaki,” Mr Zindani said.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
New Attack Against Christians in Malaysia: The Ninth in Four Days
Violence linked to the controversy on the use of the word Allah shows no sign of abating. Today a church in the central state of Negeri Sembilan was targeted. Yesterday, four other attacks against churches and Christian schools. Despite the violence, the faithful attended Sunday mass.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Another attack against a Christian building in Malaysia: today the temple of Sidang Injil Borneo, located in the central state of Negeri Sembilan, was targeted. Yesterday, four other places of worship or religious institutions were attacked by fundamentalists. Since January 8 nine Christian buildings in total have been targeted. The episodes of violence are a response against the High Court decision of 31 December to authorize the weekly Catholic Herald to use the word “Allah” in its Malay language edition.
Reverend Eddy Marson Yasir, of the church of Sidang Injil Borneo, reports that he was called by a member of his parish “who saw the door of the church on fire”. “There was smoke — he adds — but we were lucky, the flames did not spread.”
Police sources confirmed four other attacks against Christian places of worship, which took place yesterday. The assailants threw Molotov cocktails against a church and a school run by religious orders in the state of Perak, they also hit a church in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, a fourth church in the south of the country, was defaced with black paint.
Despite the violence, Christians yesterday wanted to attend Sunday services as usual. About 1,000 faithful heard a mass at the Catholic Church of Kuala Lumpur, one of the buildings attacked on 8 January. Fr. Phillis Muthu asked the faithful to be patient. “We do not want to blame — the priest says — any inhabitant, neighbourhood or religion. We are a peaceful community and we are here to offer our prayers for the nation”. The priest admitted to being “scared by the accidents,” but added: “Life must go on.”
Malaysia is a multi-cultural country, it has a population exceeding 23 million inhabitants, with a substantial presence of ethnic minorities, including Chinese and Indian. 60% are Muslim: Christians are about 10% of the population.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Religious Violence in Malaysia Escalates as More Churches Attacked
Religious violence in Malaysia escalated on Sunday after three more churches were attacked in an unprecedented wave of assaults on Christian houses of worship.
No one was hurt in the latest upsurge of violence which saw two churches firebombed and a third dubbed with black paint in a row sparked by a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” in place of God in their literature and worship.
Four other churches in Kuala Lumpur were firebombed on Friday and Saturday amid outrage in the Muslim-majority country over the court’s move to overturn a government prohibition on the use of Allah by Christians when using the Malay language.
Hundreds of worshippers from one of the churches that was partially destroyed last week gathered for a service at a makeshift prayer hall and urged an end to the violence.
Earlier a petrol bomb was hurled at the All Saints Church in Taping, in central Perak state, before worshippers arrived. The building was not badly damaged, but scorch marks were found in the hall.
At St Louis Catholic Church, also in Taping, a broken bottle of petrol with a wick was discovered. It failed to explode. In the southern Malacca state the outer wall of a Baptist church was splashed with paint.
The dispute follows a December 31 ruling by the High Court allowing a petition by the Roman Catholic church after a protracted struggle over the use of the word Allah.
The Church’s main publication, the Herald newspaper, often uses the word Allah instead of God in its Malay language edition. It maintains Allah has been used traditionally for centuries.
The government in Malaysia, where 9 per cent of the 28 million population is Christian, has lodged an appeal against the ruling.
| — Hat tip: RH | [Return to headlines] |
Sri Lanka: Colombo Rejects UN Call for War Crimes Inquiry
Colombo, 8 Jan. (AKI) — Sri Lanka has strongly rejected United Nations’ calls for an inquiry into possible war crimes committed during its conflict with Tamil separatists. An independent UN human rights expert said there were strong indications that a video of alleged extrajudicial executions by Sri Lankan soldiers that aired last August on British television was authentic.
Philip Alston, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, commissioned three experts in forensic pathology, forensic video analysis, and firearm evidence to examine the video, after concluding that investigations carried out by the government had not been thorough or impartial.
“The conclusion clearly is that the video is authentic,” he told a news conference in New York on Thursday.
“I have therefore called on the government of Sri Lanka to respond to these allegations.”
On Friday the government described the UN inquiry into the video’s authenticity as “highly subjective and biased”. It also said that the footage was “fabricated”.
The government last year declared victory over the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after years of conflict.
It has categorically denied the allegations raised by the video, which purportedly depicts the extrajudicial execution of two naked and helpless Tamil men by the Sri Lankan military and the presumed prior executions of others.
It had commissioned four separate investigations which concluded that the video was a fake.
However, Alston said that two of the government’s experts looking into the matter were members of the Sri Lankan Army, the body whose actions have been called into question.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand — Russia: New Orthodox Church in the Tourist Paradise of Pattaya
It will serve for the 15 thousand Russians who buy property in Thailand and the river of 300-500 thousand Russian language tourists per year. Construction of a new parish in Phuket also planned.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) — The Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand has its second parish. It was consecrated in late December by Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of external relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow. Funded by the donations of the faithful, the Church of All Saints was born — no coincidence — in Pattaya, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world with a constantly increasing stream of visitors. Among these Russians are in the majority, of which the wealthy are buying real estate in the most exclusive resorts in the country.
“The new parish will be a point of reference for the Russian Orthodox in Thailand and will bring spiritual support to hundreds of thousands of people”: Hilarion explained during the liturgical function of 20 December, celebrated with Archimandrite Oleg, the first Orthodox priest to arrive in Thailand.
The consecration of the Church of All Saints’ Day falls on the tenth anniversary of the Russian Orthodox community in the Asian country: in 1999 when the then abbot Oleg arrived in Bangkok to lead the parish of St. Nicholas. “This anniversary is an event of great significance for the life of the Church. Today the Orthodox community in Thailand is active and mature,” said Hilarion during his visit.
An increasing number of Russians are choosing the beaches of Thailand as a tourist destination: in Pattaya alone 15 thousand own property or rent apartments, while the 5 thousand are permanent residents. Throughout the year the flow of Russian language tourists varies between 300 thousand and 500 thousand.
And given the trend in growth, the construction of a third Orthodox Church is planned in Phuket, another tourist paradise.
In Thailand, 95% of the 62 million inhabitants are Buddhist, 4% Muslim and 1% Christians of various denominations. Catholics are about 300 thousand.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK ‘Paid Afghan Warlord $2m to Find Osama Bin Laden’
The UK paid $2m (£1.3m) for the services of an Afghan warlord in an operation against Osama Bin Laden in 2001, it has been alleged.
BBC Two’s Conspiracy Files heard claims from a US special forces commander that both the Americans and British paid substantial sums to Afghan warlords.
Dalton Fury added that the UK-backed warlord, Haji Zaman Gamsurek, went on to agree a ceasefire with al-Qaeda.
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Feds Probe Cadmium in Kids’ Jewelry From China
Moving swiftly, U.S. product safety authorities say they are launching an investigation into the presence of the toxic metal cadmium in children’s jewelry imported from China after disclosure of lab tests showing that some pieces consisted primarily of the dangerous substance.
The promise to “take action as quickly as possible to protect the safety of children” followed by hours the release Sunday of an Associated Press investigative report that documented how some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting cadmium for lead in cheap charm bracelets and pendants being sold throughout the United States.
[…]
“There’s nothing positive that you can say about this metal. It’s a poison,” said Bruce A. Fowler, a cadmium specialist and toxicologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On the CDC’s priority list of 275 most hazardous substances in the environment, cadmium ranks No. 7.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Mindanao: A Grenade Explodes in Front of Jolo Cathedral, No Injuries
The blast took place yesterday morning shortly before mass. Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels main suspects of the attack. In recent months, two grenades have exploded near the cathedral. The last attack dates to 31 December. Sulu Bishops says Church will not close its mission in Jolo.
Cotabato City (AsiaNews) — Yesterday morning, a grenade exploded in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Caramel of Jolo (Sulu-Mindanao) shattering the windows. According to local police the blast occurred around 5 am, an hour before the celebration of mass. No-one was involved in the blast, but tension remains high among the population.
“I was preparing for mass at 5.40 — said Fr Jose Ante, Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate — when the grenade exploded in the churchyard”. “The church — he continued — was still empty at the time of the explosion, which is why there were no injuries. God protected us again”.
Immediately after the explosion of the bomb the church authorities closed the building and suspended services. The police have increased security measures around the church.
“We do not know the reasons for this attack — said Mgr. Angelito Lampon, bishop of Sulu — but this event will not stop the Church’s mission in Jolo”.
This is the third attack near the cathedral since October. The last occurred on 31 December and wounded two soldiers.
Although there have been no claims so far, local police suspect that the Islamic rebels of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist group linked to al-Qaeda, are behind the attack. According to authorities the group aims to maintain a climate of tension among the population. Members of Abu Sayyaf have been accused of previous attacks. The most serious occurred on 7 July and caused 6 deaths and 40 wounded.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Frattini in Africa, Country at Centre of Italian Diplomacy
(ANSAmed) — ROME — An “equal partnership” with Africa, which is a “major political player”, to deal with the issues of security, illegal immigration, terrorism and piracy. Three days before the beginning of the mission of Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, to Africa, the ministry’s spokesman Maurizio Massari listed the goals of the mission, during which seven countries will be visited. He pointed out that under Italian presidency, the G8 will have a “renewed attention” for Africa. On Monday, Frattini will start his tour with a visit to Mauritania, where Italy has implemented innovative development cooperation programmes. The country is also important from a viewpoint of the fight against illegal immigration and drugs trafficking. After Mauritania, the minister will head for Mali, then Ethiopia, Kenya (where Frattini will arrive on January 14) and Uganda. An important stage in the mission of the Italian Foreign Minister is his visit to Egypt on January 15 and 16, where he will meet the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, to discuss the Middle East peace process. The final country Frattini will visit is Tunisia, on January 16 and 17. In Hammamet, he will participate in the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the death of Bettino Craxi. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jamaican ‘Hate-Cleric’ Abdullah Al-Faisal Back in Kenya
A Jamaican-born Muslim cleric notorious for preaching racial hatred has been sent back to Nairobi by Nigeria, days after he was expelled from Kenya.
A Kenyan minister had said Abdullah al-Faisal was being deported to The Gambia after attempts to send him overland to Tanzania had failed.
Reports say that airlines refused to take him from Nigeria to The Gambia and his Nigerian transit visa expired.
Kenya said Faisal was being deported because of his “terrorist history”.
The cleric served four years in a UK prison after being convicted of soliciting the murder of Jews and Hindus.
His lawyer arranged for him to speak to reporters from his prison cell in Kenya.
“I was deported to The Gambia but when I reached Nigeria, an airline there declined to fly me to Gambia,” the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
Faisal’s lawyers say they will go to court for an order that he should either be charged or freed.
He was arrested on 31 December after attending prayers in the coastal city of Mombasa.
Kenya’s Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said Faisal was on an international terrorist watch-list, but the cleric denied that when speaking from prison.
Mr Kajwang said on Thursday he understood that Faisal had already landed in The Gambia.
A Muslim human rights group has condemned his treatment.
“We don’t understand why he is there [prison] because he has never been charged in court,” said Muslim Human Rights Group head Al-Amin Kimathi.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Sudan Protests Over Darfur Film Shoot in Kenya
Sudan has protested the filming of a movie on Darfur crisis in Kenya.
It has also condemned the production of “Revenge” by its director, Susanne Bier’s.
The Sudan government wants Kenya to intervene to halt production of the film by a Danish company on allegations of genocide in Darfur.
Sudan embassy in Nairobi said the film is currently being shot in some displaced people camps in Kenya and a number of cities in Denmark.
“The Director the Department of Crisis Management and Conflict Solution at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Omer Dahab, Wednesday received the Kenyan Charge d’Affaires to Sudan and conveyed to him Sudan reservation over the racial film which, if it is displayed, will lead to a deep rift in the social fabric in Darfur and serious complications in the crisis which is now about to be solved,”
a statement from the embassy said.
It said the Kenyan Charge d’Affaires appreciated the deeply-rooted ties between Sudan and Kenya and pledged to convey Sudan government reservations to the Kenyan government.
Separately, Sudan embassy spokeswoman S Somaya said it was wrong for the producers of the film to shoot it in Kenya and depict it to have been done in Darfur.
He said some people in IDP camps in Naivasha were lured to participate in the film and poorly paid.
Sudan’s government has spoken out against Bier’s film, ‘Hvnen’ (The Revenge) describing it as anti-Islamic and on par.
The film represents ‘non-existing conditions in Darfur’ and is ‘a new step in the hostile forces working to prolong the war in Darfur,’ it said.
Shot in Kenya and Denmark, it is based on the war in Sudan’s Darfur region and tracks refugees from camps in Sudan to their new life in a small town on the Danish island of Funen.
‘Revenge’ stars Danish actors Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen, and Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt. It is expected to hit theatres in August.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela: Businesses That Raise Prices Will be Seized
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Jan. 10 that any Venezuelan business that raises prices following the devaluation of the bolivar will be seized, Bloomberg reported. Chavez said during his weekly television program that he would create an anti-speculation committee to monitor prices, and said that the government is the only authority able to dictate price increases.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rosarno Rejects ‘Racist’ Label After Immigrant Clashes
Reggio Calabria, 11 Jan. (AKI) — Residents in the southern Italian town of Rosarno were planning a street protest on Monday to counter perceptions they were “xenophobic, mafiosi, and racist” after violent clashes with immigrants last week. Italian authorities evacuated more than 1,200 immigrants, many of them African farm workers, from the town at the weekend after dozens were injured in two days of violence.
On Sunday Pope Benedict XVI denounced the violence while Italy’s hardline interior minister Roberto Maroni from the anti-immigrant Northern League pledged to deport any illegal immigrants involved in the violence.
“The immigrant is a human being, different in culture and tradition but one who should be respected all the same,” the Pope said.
“And violence should never be used as a way to resolve difficulties.”
A statement released by Rosarno protest organisers on Monday said that demonstrators would assemble in a central piazza and pass through the town’s main streets late Monday.
They were expected to carry a single banner stating: “Abandoned by the state, criminalised by the mass media, 20 years living together (with immigrants) is not racism”.
“With this peaceful and silent protest we want to refute the inflammatory label of ‘mafiosi, racist and xenophobic’ city that has been spread about Rosarno,” the protesters said.
Hundreds of immigrants, most of them Africans employed illegally as labourers for less than 25 euros a day, took to the streets in a violent rampage after two of them were shot at with air rifles by unidentified gunmen on Thursday.
Demonstrators set fire to cars, smashed windscreens and attacked local shops before police intervened, leading to further clashes on Friday that left several of the demonstrators wounded.
At least 65 residents, police officers and immigrants were injured. Five immigrants were seriously injured and are now recovering in hospital in nearby Gioia Tauro.
Ajra Saibu, a 31-year-old migrant from Togo, was shot in the leg on Thursday and is recovering in Gioia Tauro. “I never did anything bad to anyone, I don’t know why they attacked me,” he told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. “We are here to work.”
The riots were among the worst seen in Italy in recent years and provoked a fierce political debate across the country.
They also raised serious questions about the role of the powerful Calabrian Mafia, ‘Ndrangheta, in the exploitation of illegal immigrants.
Twenty-nine year-old Antonio Bellocco, who is related to the powerful Bellocco clan which dominates the fruit-growing area, was among those arrested.
Alberto Cisterna, a senior Calabrian-born prosecutor with the National Anti Mafia Directorate, said there was no doubt that Thursday’s shootings were linked to local Mafia clans looking to assert their control.
In September 2008, Italy sent 400 members of the National Guard to Castelvolturno, outside Naples, after violent protests broke out over the shooting deaths of six African immigrants in clashes with the Camorra, the Neapolitan Mafia.
Last February, immigrants set fire to a detention centre on the island of Lampedusa where many had been held awaiting deportation.
There are an estimated four million legal immigrants in Italy, out of a population of 60 million, and even more illegal immigrants.
Figures released at the weekend estimated there were 150,000 illegal immigrants in the south of the country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Diversity Visa Lottery Must Go
Among the legacy-of-Ted-Kennedy laws that plague this country is one that guarantees the legal immigration of terrorists to the U.S. It’s called the “Diversity Visa Lottery” or “Green Card Lottery.” You must make this abomination a priority for repeal in Congress.
Kennedy’s Immigration Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-649) provides for 50,000 permanent resident visas per year for a class of legal immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” to be chosen by a lottery. Only citizens of countries who have not sent 50,000 legal immigrants to the U.S. in the last five years are eligible.
“Winners” of this permanent visa are chosen on a regional basis by lottery and subject only to the requirement of a high-school diploma (or equivalent) or two years of work experience.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bravo to Brit Hume: Why Faith is Not a Private Matter
You see, playing the “I’m offended!” game is a lot easier than actually thinking. But I accept that liberal journalists will portray America as inferior to other nations in manifold ways. What is far more offensive — at least, to any discerning intellect — is the profound stupidity and prejudice reflected in a double-standard that denies only Christians (and perhaps a few other groups) the right to advocate their beliefs.
Yet something must now be asked about this notion that “faith is a private matter.” If secularists are so adamant about it, why do they never admonish the Richard Dawkinses and Christopher Hitchenses of the world to mind the principle? Hitchens wrote a book titled God Is Not Great and makes a lot of money and waves parading around the country and spreading his anti-theist (as he puts it) message. And there is no shortage of liberal journalists echoing his sentiments in their effort to convert others to their way of thinking (or, I should say, feeling). Am I to understand that faith is private when you want to spread it but public when you want to condemn it? The contradiction here is so thick that were I as intellectually sloppy as those I criticize, I’d call them hypocrites. But they’re too philosophically juvenile to embrace their contradiction with full knowledge. So I’ll be kind and just call them ignorant.
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Audiences Experience ‘Avatar’ Blues
(CNN) — James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.
On the fan forum site “Avatar Forums,” a topic thread entitled “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,” has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.
“I wasn’t depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy ,” Baghdassarian said. “But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don’t have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed.”
A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.
“That’s all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about ‘Avatar.’ I guess that helps. It’s so hard I can’t force myself to think that it’s just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na’vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie,” Elequin posted.
A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site “Naviblue” that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie.
“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it,” Mike posted. “I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ “
Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality.
| — Hat tip: Gryffilion | [Return to headlines] |
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link. (Unlike footnotes, to which they’re sometimes likened, hyperlinks don’t merely point to related works; they propel you toward them.)
For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many, and they’ve been widely described and duly applauded. “The perfect recall of silicon memory,” Wired’s Clive Thompson has written, “can be an enormous boon to thinking.” But that boon comes at a price. As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.
[…]
Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the Internet has altered his mental habits. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print,” he wrote earlier this year. A pathologist who has long been on the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School, Friedman elaborated on his comment in a telephone conversation with me. His thinking, he said, has taken on a “staccato” quality, reflecting the way he quickly scans short passages of text from many sources online. “I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.”
[…]
Anecdotes alone don’t prove much. And we still await the long-term neurological and psychological experiments that will provide a definitive picture of how Internet use affects cognition. But a recently published study of online research habits , conducted by scholars from University College London, suggests that we may well be in the midst of a sea change in the way we read and think. As part of the five-year research program, the scholars examined computer logs documenting the behavior of visitors to two popular research sites, one operated by the British Library and one by a U.K. educational consortium, that provide access to journal articles, e-books, and other sources of written information. They found that people using the sites exhibited “a form of skimming activity,” hopping from one source to another and rarely returning to any source they’d already visited. They typically read no more than one or two pages of an article or book before they would “bounce” out to another site. Sometimes they’d save a long article, but there’s no evidence that they ever went back and actually read it. The authors of the study report:
“It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging as users “power browse” horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.”
Thanks to the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s, when television was our medium of choice. But it’s a different kind of reading, and behind it lies a different kind of thinking— perhaps even a new sense of the self. “We are not only what we read,” says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. “We are how we read.” Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace. When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.
[Comments from JD: Long article but well worth reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
I sent a comment to yahoo for you. Hope that they pay attention to it.
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