A diplomatic crisis is brewing between Israel and Turkey. Tensions between the two countries were already high in the wake of a popular Turkish television series that features Jews as dastardly villains. More recently, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan criticized Israeli overflights of Lebanon and the bombardment of mortar-firing sites in Gaza. Dany Ayalon, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, rebuked Turkey, and the Turks have demanded an apology. Mr. Ayalon issued an apology of sorts, but the Turks aren’t satisfied. The crisis continues.In other news, the trial of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani chemical and biological warfare specialist colloquially known as “Lady Al Qaeda”, is underway in New York. She insists that she will have no Jews on the jury. She also maintains that this requirement is not evidence of any anti-Semitism on her part.
Thanks to 4symbols, AA, C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Sean O’Brian, TB, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Allons, Citoyens De L’Europe
Yet another dubious provision in the Lisbon treaty: citizens’ initiatives
GIVEN the chance, would European Union voters ban minarets on mosques, copying the recent popular vote in Switzerland? Invite citizens to draft new EU legislation, and would they demand new rights for the disabled, cleaner rivers and more aid for the developing world? Or are Europeans in a sour, recession-struck mood: would they seek tighter curbs on immigration, protectionist tariffs on Chinese imports, or new hurdles to EU enlargement (bye-bye, Turkey)?
The guessing will soon be over. Thanks to a barely debated clause in the Lisbon treaty, the EU is about to embark on an experiment in direct democracy. Within a year, the European Citizens’ Initiative will come into effect. One million EU citizens from a “significant number” of countries will be able to ask the European Commission to put forward new draft laws.
As with so many bits of the Lisbon treaty, which came into force in December, it is not clear how the citizens’ initiative will work in practice, or even if it is a good idea. Euro-cheerleaders spent years banging on about the need for Lisbon, saying its new rules would make Europe simpler, more efficient and more democratic. Now they have the treaty, many of the same people are muttering and wailing about unresolved problems hidden in its leaden prose. Interview senior Brussels types about Lisbon, and the same phrases come up again and again: “we have no idea how this bit will work” and “of course, national leaders had no real idea what they were signing.”
So it is with the citizens’ initiative, an idea adopted in the final days of a grandiose convention drawing up what was then called an EU constitution (becoming the Lisbon treaty after many misadventures). It was embraced without enthusiasm by ministers, national parliamentarians and members of the European Parliament, as the third choice of direct-democracy advocates. Their real dreams were binding, EU-wide referendums or, failing that, Californian-style popular initiatives that could lead to binding referendums, recalls Alain Lamassoure, a French MEP behind the plans. The convention rejected the first two options out of hand—”it was a sort of corporatist reaction, as we would say in France. Members of parliaments don’t like direct democracy,” says Mr Lamassoure. The initiative seemed harmless: it can only place an idea on the agenda, not actually oblige the commission to do anything (nothing came from a million-plus signatures on a petition calling for an end to the parliament’s monthly meandering from Brussels to Strasbourg).
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Economy, US vs. Europe
MEGAN MCARDLE REMINDS PAUL KRUGMAN OF The Difference Between The U.S. And Europe. “I had roughly the same reaction that Matt Welch did: having lived in London for intermittent (short) periods, I found it noticeably poorer than the United States. It is not noticeable to tourists, mind you.” Or high-paid former Enron advisers. Related thoughts here. This stuff is embarrassing. The New York Times ought to get an economist on its oped page now and then to offer informed opinions on these matters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to Hasten the Destruction of the Middle Class
It was announced today (Jan 14) that President Obama wants to levy a fee against the largest banks in the country with a “crisis responsibility fee” to be applied to financial organizations with assets greater than $50 Billion. This fee will be in effect for the next ten years and can be extended beyond that if necessary.
The expectation is that this will raise $90 Billion dollars over the ten years in an attempt to repay some of the money used to bail out the financial industry.
My immediate question is; does this administration and this President think we are stupid or is this administration and this President so inept that they think this is good for the American people?
I say that because they are either trying to totally bankrupt the middle class in this country or our ‘leaders’ are completely ignorant of the economy of this nation.
Simply put businesses do not pay taxes/fees the government assesses them with. As an example; if you own a burger joint and you have a 5% profit margin and the government levies a 5% tax increase on your business. Do you A) suck it up and decide you are going to run your business at a 0% profit margin or B) do you increase your prices by 5% to pay for your increased cost of doing business?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
Fed purchase of debt like family using Visa to pay MasterCard
Statistics from the federal government document how the Federal Reserve over the course of 2009 bought some 80 percent of the $1.5 trillion borrowed by the U.S. Treasury — making the federal government like the family that uses Visa to pay down a monthly MasterCard bill.
Remarkable as that may seem, data make clear the Obama administration has been managing trillion dollar federal budget deficits by selling financial instruments to the Fed.
Even to sophisticated investment analysts, using the Fed to buy Treasury debt is the equivalent of simply printing money to pay for government-funded programs an increasingly bankrupt United States can no longer afford.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Candidate Leads Protest of CAIR ‘Town Hall’
Islamic group with terror ties hosts session on profiling near Oklahoma City
Citing the group’s ties to terrorism, a Republican congressional candidate in Oklahoma is leading a protest of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ town hall tonight on airport profiling and security.
Kevin Calvey, a candidate for Oklahoma’s fifth district seat, points out the Washington, D.C.-based CAIR has been identified by several law enforcement sources as a front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
“Oklahomans should be outraged that a group like CAIR is operating in our midst,” said Calvey, a former state representative who prosecuted terrorists while deployed with the Army National Guard in Iraq. “I urge fellow Oklahomans to join me in peacefully protesting the CAIR meeting.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Comptrol Freak’s a Real Liu-Liu
In New York City
Did you hear? The city is about to declare a new holiday. Actually, only part of the city. That would be the part under the sovereign jurisdiction of Comptroller John Liu. Among King Wacky’s first official acts was to order his staff to stand when he enters a room and to call him “Mr. Comptroller.” He also ditched casual Friday dress and wants everybody to get to work when he does. He bears close watching. If he starts printing his own currency and puts his face on it, I’m outta here.
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Free Muslim Clinics for Poor Americans
CAIRO — Giving back to their country and showing the real image of their faith, a group of Muslim doctors are championing an initiative to help poor American patients in the northeastern state of Ohio.
“We want to do our best in helping out, especially in these economically challenging times,” Pediatrician Malika Haque told the Columbus Dispatch daily on Friday, January 15.
Haque is leading a group of 22 Muslim physicians and seven nurses to open a free clinic to provide medical help to uninsured poor Americans.
The Noor Community Clinic, set to open Friday, offers free medical check-ups and counseling for people without medical insurance or government help.
“We love our country, we love our nation and we love our community,” said Haque, who has spent most of her time from 1973 to 2005 working at a series of community clinics run by Children’s Hospital for underserved children.
The new clinic is part of a Muslim initiative in 2008 to open free clinics for helping uninsured Americans.
Under the initiative, Muslim clinics were opened in Cincinnati and Dayton.
Americans Muslims have launched similar initiative across the country.
More than a decade since its establishment, University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA) is now serving about 16,000 US patients of all religious backgrounds.
In 1996, a group of US Muslim students, dissatisfied with the lack of Muslim involvement in solving America’s social issues, launched the first full-time charitable clinic in the US.
The US is the world’s richest nation but the only industrialized democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens.
The US spends more than double what Britain, France and Germany do per person on health care.
But it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Muslim Help
The free Muslim clinics are a new effort by American Muslims to portray a better image of their faith.
“Right now, the image of Muslims in general is kind of on the low side,” said Haque.
America’s Muslims, estimated at between six to seven million, have been in the eye of storm since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Though things have slightly improved after Barack Obama was elected president last year, US Muslims came again under the spotlight again after a deadly shooting at a military base in Texas and a foiled bomb plot on a US plane by a young Nigerian.
“We don’t want to push our faith,” said Saida Yassin, a Muslim doctor volunteer in the Noor Clinic.
“We just want to show society that, as Muslims, we are united as a group and want to help.”
Dr. Faozan Narvel, another Muslim volunteer, believes the mission will not be easy.
Changing the opinion “of someone who is ignorant is going to be tough,” Narvel said.
“That’s not what we’re trying to do.
“The main idea is patient care.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
‘Lady Al Qaeda’ Cries Foul: Accused Terrorist Aafia Siddiqui Says Toss Jews From Jury Pool
Jury selection in the “Lady Al Qaeda” trial got off to a bizarre start Wednesday with the accused terrorist telling jurors she was “boycotting” — and demanding Jews be excluded from the panel.
“If they have a Zionist or Israeli background…they are all mad at me,” said Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-trained neuroscientist charged with attempted murder.
“I have a feeling everyone here is them — subject to genetic testing….They should be excluded if you want to be fair,” she told Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Berman.
Prospective jurors weren’t present for that outburst, but they were in the courtroom to hear her say, “I’m boycotting the trial…there are too many injustices.”
At another point, Siddiqui repeatedly refused to talk to her own lawyers, saying she didn’t trust them.
“I don’t trust you either,” she told Berman.
She even tried to toss a handwritten note to prosecutors requesting time each day to pray. Berman said time would be set aside.
Siddiqui, 37, is accused of picking up an M-4 Army rifle and firing two rounds at a team of Americans who tried to question her in Afghanistan on July 18, 2008.
Prosecutors argue she screamed, “Allah Akbar” and vowed to kill Americans before she was wrestled to the ground. She allegedly had two pounds of poisonous sodium cyanide and hundreds of pages of notes and documents on how to build chemical and biological weapons.
The terror guides featured targets including the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge, prosecutors said.
Berman ruled the jury can hear about the target list and other handwritten notes but tossed as evidence the chemicals and mass-produced documents from “how-to” terror manuals.
Prosecutors also are barred from bringing up Siddiqui’s alleged ties or sympathies with Al Qaeda because they would create a bias.
| — Hat tip: 4symbols | [Return to headlines] |
‘Lady Al Qaeda’ Trial: Suspected Terrorist Aafia Siddiqui Tossed From Courtroom After Outburst
A jury was chosen Thursday in the “Lady Al Qaeda” trial — but not before the defendant interrupted the process with more outbursts and was tossed from the courtroom.
A day after she demanded Jews be excluded from the jury, Aafia Siddiqui went to deliver more rants about Jews and the 9/11 terror attacks.
“I have nothing to do with 9/11,” she said when a potential juror who cited her personal experience on Sept. 11 was dismissed.
Siddiqui is on trial in Manhattan federal court for attempted murder.
She was arrested by Afghan police after being caught in July 2008 with two pounds of sodium cyanide, a list of New York targets, and instructions for chemical and biological weapons, prosecutors say.
When an American team tried to question her, she allegedly grabbed an unsecured M-4 rifle and opened fire.
Siddiqui has repeatedly said she is boycotting her own trial and has attempted to make her case directly to prospective jurors and the judge.
On the first day of jury selection, she asked Judge Richard Berman to exclude any panelists with “Zionist or Israeli background.”
A Daily News report of her outburst became an issue Thursday when the defense team said it could taint the jury pool.
Meanwhile, as Berman quizzed the jury pool on whether their 9/11 experiences would influence their deliberations, Siddiqui piped up from the defense table.
“The next question will be on anti-Semitism, Israel was behind 9/11. That’s not anti-Semitic,” she said before being escorted out.
Berman later said that anyone who disrupts proceedings will be removed, but that Siddiqui has a right to be present for her trial and would be allowed to return.
In the end, a jury of seven women and five men was chosen, with four alternate jurors, two men and two women.
| — Hat tip: 4symbols | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s TSA Pick: U.S. Targeted for Ties With Israel, France
‘Our alliance means that we are subject to being attacked as well’
Errol Southers, President Obama’s nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration, suggested that terrorists have attacked the U.S. because of the country’s alliances with Israel and France.
In a 2008 video interview with the VideoJug website, Southers was asked, “How high should the war on terror be on our list of national priorities?”
[…]
Despite a growing domestic Islamic threat, Southers during the interview stressed that white supremacists and anti-abortion groups are the greatest domestic terrorist danger.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Toronto 13 Year Old’s ‘Second Thoughts’ Halt School Bomb Plot
13-year-old boy charged
A 13-year-old elementary school student had “second thoughts” that stopped him from setting off pipe bombs in his Courtice school.
The lad intended on harming himself and others on Wednesday, but decided not to set off the explosives at Dr. G.J. MacGillivary Public School and returned home, where he surrendered to police without incident, Durham region Sgt. Nancy van Rooy said.
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Airplanes: Airbus Surpasses American Boeing in 2009
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, JANUARY 13 — The French Airbus surpassed its American competitor Boeing in 2009, to become the world’s largest producer of passenger aircrafts. Airbus delivered 498 commercial aircrafts last year, against Boeing’s 481. By the end of 2009, the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) office in Paris reports, Boeing recorded 143 orders, against 194 orders recorded by Airbus. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Prosecutors Say ‘Truck Bomb’ Intended for Newspaper
Details of trucks filled with explosives and European terror networks emerge in JP terror plot case
Terror plot accused planned to use truck bomb to blow up Jyllands-Posten newspaper, according to US Justice Department officials.
US citizen David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan, are already in police custody for their alleged roles in the plot against the newspaper in retribution for its printing of the Mohammed cartoons.
Additional conspiracy charges were recently filed against Ilyas Kashmiri, who has been identified as a leader of terrorist organisation Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) in Pakistan, which has connections to al Qaeda, and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, also known as Abdur Rehman, a retired major in the Pakistani military. Neither man is in police custody.
According to documents released by US authorities, Headley met Rehman and members of the Lashkar terrorist group in Pakistan. Rehman is said to have introduced Headley to Kashmiri who allegedly came up with the idea of the truck bomb.
Kashmiri is also reported to have put Headley in contact with various associates in a number of European countries ‘who could provide Headley with money, weapons and manpower for the newspaper attack’.
Since the initial details of the plot emerged in October with the arrests of Headley and Rana, the newspaper has tightened security at its Copenhagen and Århus locations.
The newspaper has also hired a head of security in the form of Torben Schiøtt, who has worked with the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) for the last 10 years.
He will be responsible for seeing through changes to security systems as well as training staff how to react in the case of a possible terrorist attack.
‘Hopefully the employees will get even more of a sense that we’re taking security seriously when there are people out there who say they want to threaten us. We’re taking action as if it could be a reality,’ said Jens Bruun, group managing director of Jyllands-Posten’s publisher.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Are Biggest EU Net Payers: PVV
Each resident of the Netherlands contributed €266.70 towards the European Union in 2008, the highest individual contribution in the EU, according to calculations by the anti-Islam party PVV.
The PVV, which has four European MPs and campaigned to have the EU parliament abolished, bases its claims on the most recent EU accounts.
The net Dutch contribution amounted to €4.4bn, following the deduction of subsidies and grants, MEP Daniel van der Stoep says in Thursday’s Telegraaf. ‘That is an incomprehensible amount of money,’ Van der Stoep told the paper. ‘And that is even after the €1bn discount we have been getting since 2007.’
According to the PVV’s calculations, Sweden is the second biggest net payer, with a contribution of €194 per head of the population, followed by Denmark (€135) and Germany (€133). Nineteen of the 27 EU countries were net beneficiaries.
The European Commission does not publish its own calculations on net contributions, the paper states.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
France: Real Estate, Prices Back Up
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, JANUARY 12 — The price of non-new properties in France went up by 4.35% in the last quarter of 2009, according to statistics gathered by the French estate agency network, Century 21, and reported by the Italian Trade Commission in Paris. The trend should continue during 2010, with an average price rise of between 0% and 3%. In any case, say the analysts, the balance for 2009 remains in the red, on account of the sharp fall in prices in the first six months of the year, -6.4% on the annual basis, with steeper fall in the price of houses (-7.5%) compared to apartments (-4.5%). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Senior Rabbi to Boycott Pope’s Synagogue Visit
Rome, 14 Jan. (AKI) — One of Italy’s most senior rabbis plans to boycott Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to Rome’s central synagogue on Sunday, saying “nothing good will come out of it” for the Jewish community. “In my opinion the visit will accomplish very little for dialogue between Catholics and Jews,” Giuseppe Laras, the president of the Italian Rabbinical Council, said in an interview with Adnkronos on Thursday. “The only one that will benefit from the visit is the Church.”
Rome’s chief rabbi Riccardo di Segni will host Benedict at the synagogue beside the Tiber River in the heart of the Italian capital in an historic visit on Sunday.
The visit will be the first by Benedict to the city’s synagogue and the first by a pope since his predecessor Pope John Paul II visited the synagogue in 1986.
The pope’s visit to the synagogue is particularly sensitive within the Jewish community since Benedict’s controversial decision in December to move wartime pope, Pius XII, a step closer to becoming a saint.
Many Jews claim that Pius, who was pope between 1939 to 1958, did not do enough to defend Rome’s Jews from Nazi persecution and ultimately extermination during World War II.
The Vatican claims Pius worked quietly behind the scenes to protect Jews as well as Catholics but has also refused to allow full public access to Vatican archives from that time.
Laras, former chief rabbi of Milan, said the decision to host the pope was made “unilaterally” by representatives of Rome’s Jewish community.
The Vatican last month said the pope’s move toward making Pius XII a saint was not from his “operative decisions” but his deep piety and “witness of Christian life.
This will be the Benedict’s third visit to a Jewish place of worship. He made an historic visit to the Cologne synagogue in Germany in August 2005 and visited a New York synagogue in 2008.
Last year he prayed at Jerusalem’s Wailing or Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites on a visit to the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
No Western Assault Rapists in Oslo’s Streets
by Filip van Laenen
The police in the Norwegian capital Oslo revealed that 2009 set yet another record: compared to 2008, there were twice as many cases of assault rapes. In each and every case, not only in 2008 and 2009 but also in 2007, the offender was a non-Western immigrant. At the same time, in 9 out of 10 cases, the victim was Norwegian, not just by nationality, but also by ethnicity.
— Two men followed me home. When I opened the door to my apartment, they assaulted me, and raped me one after the other, a young woman tells NRK, the Norwegian public broadcast service. She is one of the victims of an assault rape of 2009.
According to the police, not a single one of the offenders had a Western background. Four people have been arrested. In all other cases, the victims reported that the offenders either looked like non-Western immigrants, or they spoke a non-Western language. Not a single case has been connected to a Western man.
Twenty-one cases were reported in 2009, the highest number since police started recording them in 2006. Nine of out ten victims were Norwegian — ethnically Norwegian — both in 2009 (17 out of 21) and 2008 (9 out of 11). Hanne Kristine Rohde, the spokeswoman for the Oslo police, raises the question what sort of view these offenders have on women.
She knows that these statistics are very controversial. Asked whether it isn’t stigmatizing for a whole community that the police releases figures like this, she replied that she wants to contribute to a better and safe world. That’s why she wants the truth to be told, and hopes that the debate will focus on that, she told NRK.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Energy: Iberdrola Signs Largest Ever Contract in USA
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 15 — Spanish company Iberdrola Renovables signed the largest renewable energy sales contract in its history with the American company Tennesseee Valley Authority, informed company sources in a statement. The agreement, which will last 20 years, provides for the marketing of energy produced in the Cayuga Ridge wind park which is currently under construction in the areas of Odell and Emington in the state of Illinois, south of Chicago, with a capacity of 300 megawatts of installed power, which will allow for meeting the needs of 10,500 families. The wind park is being financed by stimulus funds for renewable energy from the American government. The agreement, as the note reads, will allow for the American public company TVA to take another step forward towards the objective of incorporating the production of 2,000 megawatts of wind energy into its system. It is expected that the energy produced by the park, which has already directly generated 330 new jobs, will enter a phase of commercial operation next spring. The Cayuga Ridge wind park is being built with turbines produced by a Pennsylvania-based company. The United States is a key country for Iberdrola’s expansion strategy because 42% of the Spanish group’s projects are located there. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: 16-Year-Old Army Cadet Dreamed of Serving His Country. He Died a Victim of Britain’s Knife Culture
He grew up with a dream of joining the Army and serving his country. But instead, 16-year-old Army cadet Joseph Lappin became an innocent victim of Britain’s knife culture after being caught up in a vicious feud between two street gangs and stabbed in the heart.
Ten members of the gang which attacked him, this week admitted their parts in the October 2008 killing.
[…]
Mistaking them for the Langy Crew youths, one of the gang shouted ‘That’s them!’ and gave chase, at which the terrified schoolmates fled, running around the building.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Detroit Suspect Watched Since 2006
But legal advisers told MI5 to keep details secret
LONDON — Detroit bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was identified for his extreme views as early as 2006, but MI5, the Security Service in Britain, was ordered by its legal advisers not to provide that information to U.S. intelligence, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
Director-general Jonathan Evans was told by MI5’s top attorney that to pass on details about “a mere suspect” could have “jeopardized his human rights and privacy.”
At that time, MI5’s counter-terrorism division listed Abdulmutallab as “a suspect holding radical views.” There are more than 4,000 such listings of persons having radical views on MI5 computers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Revealed: Extremist Islamic Preacher Lectures at London School of Economics
A senior figure in a hardline Islamist group who served a prison sentence in Egypt is teaching and preaching at a leading British university.
Reza Pankhurst works at the London School of Economics and regularly speaks at student prayer meetings organised by the campus’ Islamic Society, according to the Times.
The revelation comes at a time when extremism on university campuses is under review following the discovery that the Detroit airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Senior Member of Extreme Islamist Group Hizb ut-Tahrir Teaches at LSE
TIMESONLINE… A senior figure in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a hardline Islamist group that the Government keeps “under continuous review” and the Conservatives want to ban, is teaching and preaching at a top university.
The Times has learnt that Reza Pankhurst, who was imprisoned in Egypt for membership of the group, is a teacher at the London School of Economics and regularly preaches to students at Friday prayers.
The group is supposedly barred from organising and speaking on campuses under the National Union of Students’ policy of “no platform” for racist or fascist views. The presence of one of its prominent members as a university teacher raises new concerns about Islamist radicalisation on campus.
A new review of campus extremism began last month after it was discovered that the alleged Detroit airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London.
The Times understands that at least two London university lecturers are either supporters or members of Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Mr Pankhurst is a postgraduate student in the LSE’s government department and teaches classes for the course “States, Nations and Empires”.
On Fridays he is one of the regular speakers at prayers organised by the students’ union Islamic Society in the college gym.
A society member told The Times: “He preaches every other week and is constantly bringing the subject around to politics, talking about Afghanistan and the need to establish the Caliphate [Islamic state].
“Only last week he was talking about the Detroit bomber and saying the guy was not radicalised in London and it was all to do with foreign policy.
“Last year he recommended we should attend a conference which I later discovered was organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir, but he never mentions the party by name.”
In 2002 Mr Pankhurst was one of three British Hizb ut-Tahrir members arrested in Egypt for attempting to promote the movement. They were held for four years and tortured before being released in 2006.
He remained active in the movement after his return and, according to well-informed sources, is still a senior figure. Last month a meeting at Queen Mary College, London, at which Mr Pankhurst and Jamal Harwood, another member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, were due to speak, was cancelled after student protests about the speakers’ views…
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Top Policeman Complains He Cannot Do His Own Shopping Because ‘It’s Too Dangerous’
A newly-promoted police chief has complained that he can no longer do his weekly supermarket shop because it’s ‘too dangerous’.
Peter Vaughan, who became head of South Wales police on New Year’s Day, said ‘security considerations’ meant he needed someone else to pick up his groceries.
The 46-year-old, whose new job pays £144,500 a year, spoke of his concerns despite crime in the area plummeting by more than 12 per cent in the past year.
He told Police Review magazine: ‘There are additional pressures now I am a chief constable.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Nation Divided Over NATO Membership
Belgrade, 13 Jan.(AKI) — Serbians appear to be deeply divided over the country’s membership of NATO and moves to condemn the Srebrenica genocide, Belgrade media reported on Wednesday. President Boris Tadic told the Belgrade daily Politika on Wednesday that he had begun moves to pass a parliamentary resolution condemning the massacre in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995 by Bosnian Serb forces in which up to 8,000 Muslims were killed.
A similar resolution has already been adopted by the European parliament and the International Court of Justice ruled in February 2007 that Bosnian Serb forces had committed genocide in Srebrenica.
It also blamed Serbia, which was aiding Bosnian Serbs, for failing to prevent the crime.
Tadic said condemnation of Srebrenica genocide wasn’t a “party or political issue, but a question or morality”.
“By this resolution we lift the anathema from our people, it protects our national interests and will prove that there is no collective guilt, but that each criminal has a name,” Tadic said.
But many politicians, including some members of Tadic’s pro-European governing coalition, think that Srebrenica shouldn’t be singled out and that crimes against Serbs should be condemned as well.
Tadic said another resolution condemning all crimes would be presented to parliament, but analysts said it was not clear whether he could secure a 126 vote needed majority for two resolutions.
Milorad Dodik, prime minister of the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska (RS), said Serbia had the right to pass a resolution on Srebrenica, but added it was unfair to ignore crimes against Serbs committed in 1992-1995 Bosnian civil wars.
He recalled that 3,500 Serbs had been killed in Srebrenica, before the 1995 Muslim massacre and said Serb victims were being ignored by the international community.
He said all crimes should be condemned in one resolution and most opposition politicians in Serbia shared his view.
At the same time, 200 leading Serbian intellectuals signed a petition this week for a referendum on Serbian membership of NATO.
They accused Tadic of working “behind the scenes” to draw Serbia into NATO, despite a parliamentary resolution that Serbia should remain militarily neutral.
Many Serbians oppose NATO membership, after the NATO devastating bombing campaign which lasted for 11 weeks in 1999.
Among others, the petition was signed by former Yugoslav president and prominent writer Doric Cosic, former prime minister Vojislav Kostunica and acclaimed film director Emir Kusturica.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
European Council to Strengthen Ties With Region
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JANUARY 15 — The Euro-Mediterranean region is on the agenda of the parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, in which a strategy to play a more important role in relations between the two sides of the Mediterranean will be discussed. One of the proposals stresses the importance of the stability of the Mediterranean area for Europe, and underlines how stability can be reached through democracy, respect for human rights and a constitutional state. Several Mediterranean countries have declared to be committed to these goals on a bilateral level, and have shown interest in the European Council’s experience in this field. Despite the fact that democracy was a topic at the foundation of the Mediterranean Union in Paris, it is no priority in the multilateral initiatives announced in the Union’s framework. That is the reason for the draft proposal to have the Mediterranean Union extend its activities in that direction, that way also involving the European Council. The proposal includes a 2-way approach: on bilateral level, continuing to offer assistance to its partner countries, and on a multilateral level by trying to participate in the Euro-Mediterranean and Mediterranean Union partnership process, embracing the priorities of the European Council: democracy, human rights and constitutional state. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Army Kills Four Islamic Combatants
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, JANUARY 14 — Four members of armed Islamic groups were killed in Algeria in the past 48 hours in two operations carried out by security forces. Two terrorists, reports El Watan, were killed yesterday evening near Tazmalt, the in Bejaia region, in Kabylie. A police officer was injured in a firefight that broke out with the armed group. In the same area, in Aftis, another two armed fundamentalists were killed by security forces in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. According to several observers, after continued roundups carried out by the army in the area between Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes, and Bouira (100km east of Algiers), the armed groups reportedly retreated in recent months towards the Bejaia region, in the Great Kablyie, 250km east of the capital. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Abu Zayd, Islam Reduced to Cheap Sharia
(by Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 13 — “In 1995 the debate on Islam addressed the important questions, the Koran and its interpretation. Now the Islam has been simplified to two categories, ‘halal’ and ‘haraam’, ‘ permissible’ and ‘forbidden’. But the Sharia is applied in every situation, also the Gaza border barrier”. This statement was made by Muslim intellectual Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, who was found guilty of apostasy for its method of analysis of the Koran’s text in 1995. After the verdict he decided to move to the Netherlands, where he works as visiting professor at the University of Leiden. Every now and then he returns to Egypt, to see that his country has changed, that fundamentalism has spread at a “grass-roots” level in the society and that Islam has been reduced to “vague” and “cheap” concepts, he says. This is the case of the controversial steel wall that is being built on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza. The wall is meant to stop the digging of tunnels from the Palestinian side and it has divided the public opinion. Two fatwa were issued on the subjecs: one in favour of the barrier issued by the Academy of Islamic research, the highest religious institute in Egypt, and another of condemnation by the International Union of Muslim Scholars chaired by Yussef Al Qaradawi. “But this is a political issue,” Abu Zayd underlines. “Trying to find a religious justification or reason to forbid it is madness”. By reducing everything to a simple halal/haraam dichotomy, the wide range of human behaviours in which the Sharia did not apply is reduced, he remarks. Also, “the Copts are excluded inevitably”. Pope Shenouda, leader of the Egyptian Coptic Church, also said that he was in favour of the barrier. “But Al Azhar, Qaradawi and Pope Shenouda are only making political statements, not religious ones” Abu Zayd replies. “This means the theologizing of all questions”. The repeated discrimination and the violence against Christians, which has had tragic results in the past days, must also be seen in the context of an impoverished Islam according to Abu Zayd. Fundamentalism has spread to “80% of the population, not necessarily members of organised groups”. The political regime and the Muslim Brotherhood are competing in this field, the Egyptian intellectual concludes. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Killing of Christians; NDP Representative Accused
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 15 — The killing of Christians which took place on the evening of the Coptic Christmas in Ganaa Hamidi has taken on political connotations. Today the pro-government newspaper Al Ahram published photos of a representative from the National Democratic Party, the party currently in power, together with the person accused of the massacre. Daily News Egypt, the local insert of the International Herald Tribune, reports for its part that a human rights organisation presented a complaint against the same member of parliament, Abdel Riheem El Ghoul, accusing him of inciting the inter-religious tension that led up to the killing. Presenting the accusation, Daily News Egypt reports, is the president of the Al Kalima Human Rights Center, Mahmoud Nakhla, who in an account to the general prosecutor reportedly maintains that El Ghoul is responsible for the death of the Christians (officially 6, in addition to a Muslim police officer), the night of January 6. El Ghoul, according to the human rights activist, facilitated the release of Mohamed El Kamuni, in prison for another crime, eleven days before the killing. Again according to Nakhla, the MP reportedly contacted the previous offender during the election period. Contacted by the same newspaper, El Ghoul for his part denied having a role in the release of Al Kamuni and of having any relation with him. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Slaughtered Christians; USA, Air of Intolerance
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 14 — The attack on Christians on the night of Copt Christmas in Ganaa Hamadi is the symptom of the air of intolerance which reigns in Egypt. AFP reports that the statement was made today in Cairo by US deputy secretary of State for democracy and human rights Michael Posner during his stay in Egypt, part of a visit which also led him to Jordan and Israel. “The USA are very worried by the tragic events in Nagaa Hammadi”, said Posner, who believes that the killing of a group of Christians leaving mass is part of what may be considered an air of intolerance, for which reconciliation attempts between the two communities are insufficient. He noted that “There have to be persecuted people, there has to be a breach in the sense of impunity and justice must be served”. As for the three persons who have been incriminated for a drive-by shooting, Posner raised the question of who is involved and who planned the murders.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: British Consul in Saudi Arabia Denied Entry
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 15 — Cairo International Airport authorities denied today the entry into Egypt of the British consul general in Saudi Arabia because he did not hold an entry visa in advance, MENA news agency reports. The denial of the entry is part of Egypt’s policy of treatment in-kind. Informed of the incident, the Foreign Ministry stressed the importance of applying the treatment in-kind principle. The consul and his wife jetted back to Jeddah shortly after they were denied access into the country. (MENA)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scholars Differ on Pirating Encrypted Football Matches
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JANUARY 13 — Is “pirating” the African Cup games on Al Jazeera Sport permissible according to Islam or not? Speaking on the matter were two Islamic scholars completely different opinions on the matter; a professor of law at Al Azhar and a renowned female preacher. It is not an action that is “haram” or prohibited, for the former, while it is according to the latter. The issue has arisen due to the fact that Egyptian radio-TV has not been able to come to an agreement with the Qatar-based satellite sports station to broadcast the matches, preventing Egyptian fans from following their team in Angola. According to reports today in the Egyptian Gazette, professor Saad Eddin Helali believes that Egyptians have no binding agreement with any channel and therefore it is not prohibited to take initiatives to ‘decrypt’ it. Souad Paleh, who reports for the same newspaper, believes that “watching a football match is not a necessity.” Pirating the match would have the effect of damaging and causing the legal holders of the rights to broadcasting the match to lose money, and therefore “is illegal”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to ‘Guarantee’ Strategic Territory to Palestinians
Letter to stress need to carve up Israel for new state
TEL AVIV — President Obama is planning to issue a letter in the next few weeks guaranteeing U.S. support for a plan to give much of the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem to Palestinians within two years, WND has learned.
The presidential letter is slated to stress U.S. commitments to Israeli security as well.
It would state the final borders of a Palestinian country will be determined by direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations but that the U.S. supports a Palestinian state in the general 1967 borders — meaning the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern Jerusalem.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
VAT Drops From 16.5% to 16%
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, JANUARY 14 — Israeli Treasury Ministry Yuval Shteinitz has decided to reduce VAT from 16.5% to 16%. The measure has come in six months after the Israeli government approved the Treasury Ministry draft law to increase VAT by 1% (from 15.5% to 16.5%) for a year and a half, until 31 December 2010. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cars: Paris Against Renault on Delocalisation
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, JANUARY 12 — The French government has set itself up against automaker Renault’s plan to completely delocalise the production of the Clio to Turkey, which is currently produced in Flins, near Paris, and in Bursa, in Turkey. Labour Undersecretary, Laurent Wauquiez, while speaking to RTL, called on the automaker to recognise the commitment of manufacturers that receive state aid to keep jobs in France. “Renault must know what the limits are for us: not closing production sites, no layoffs in France,” he said. “Renault is not just any business, because the state holds a 15% stake in the company and will not to act as a spectator.” The government signed an agreement in January of 2008 with the auto sector, which represents 10% of France’s employment; a deal was made for 6 billion euros in low interest loans to Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen, in exchange for a commitment to keep production in France. Industry Minister, Christian Estrosi, also reacted negatively to the news, published in the press, and while speaking to the France 2 TV station, said that “from that time that they loaned 6 billion euros to PSA and Renault to allow them to deal with the crisis, the state has the right to say what they have to say”; he also announced that he has called a meeting with Renault General Manager, Patrick Pelata, for tomorrow. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Dubai World Tries to Keep Banks at Bay With Six-Month Standstill on Its Debts
Dubai World is ready to propose a formal six-month standstill agreement on $22 billion (£13.5 billion) of debts by the end of the month.
The proposal will mark the next stage in the restructuring of the government-owned conglomerate since it sent shockwaves through international markets last November with the admission that it was unable to meet its obligations.
Under the terms of the standstill agreement, Dubai World will undertake to service its debts, while the banks will agree not to try to seize its assets through the courts. If the proposal is accepted by the banks, the two sides will begin talks on a complex restructuring of the group to repay its debts through extending the maturity of outstanding loans and by selling assets.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: NTV: We Will Not Apologise Again to Ankara
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 13 — The Jewish state will not make any more verbal or written apologies to the government in Ankara after the apology, although partial, offered this morning by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Dany Ayalon, after Monday’s incident with Turkish Ambassador, Oguz Celikkol, reported Turkish private TV station, NTV, citing unspecified sources in the Israeli Foreign Ministry. This morning, Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, while speaking to NTV, warned that the government in Ankara would withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv if the crisis between the two countries is not resolved by this evening. Abdullah added that Ankara expected a written apology, “otherwise, our ambassador will return home on the first flight leaving from Israel on Thursday.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan: Failed Attack on Israeli Diplomats
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, JANUARY 14 — A bomb exploded this afternoon as a car carrying Israeli diplomats was travelling in Jordan, but there were no victims, reports Israeli military radio, which called it a failed attack. The explosion took place while the vehicle was driving in Jordanian territory towards the Allenby bridge, one of the crossings over the border with Israel. The vehicle went off the road, but for the moment no deaths or injuries have been established.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey-Lieberman, We Do Not Want a Dispute With Ankara
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, JANUARY 13 — Israel has no desire to enter into a dispute or argument with Turkey, but it is necessary for Ankara to demonstrate “dignity and reciprocal respect,” said Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, speaking today at the end of a meeting with Cypriot colleague, Markos Kyprianou, while on a visit to Nicosia. Speaking with the press regarding the recent crisis between Jerusalem and Ankara, the head of Israeli diplomacy said that “it is possible that it is time to clarify our position; we are not interested in entering into a dispute or argument with Turkey. We have had good relations with Ankara for many years and we respect the Turkish nation and its people. However, this is exactly what we expect in return from them; that they treat us with dignity and respect,” said Lieberman. The crisis between the two countries exploded on Monday when Lieberman’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Dany Ayalon (of the ultranationalist party, Israel Beitenu) summoned Turkish Ambassador, Oguz Celikkol, to deliver a letter of protest for the sharp criticism by Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan against Israel regarding flights over Lebanon and bombardments of Gaza. The summoning of the ambassador occurred in an irregular and humiliating way, as he was received in front of TV cameras without a handshake, no Turkish flag, and was forced to sit on a lower seat than Ayalon’s. Today Ayalon partially apologised, saying that “my protest against Turkey’s attacks on Israel remains valid. Nonetheless, it is not my practice to disrespect the ambassador and in the future I will clarify my position in a more acceptable manner for diplomacy.” Today, however, Turkish President Abdullah Gul announced that Ankara will withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv if the crisis is not resolved by this evening. “Otherwise,” concluded Gul, “our ambassador will return home on the first flight leaving Israel on Thursday.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russia MPs Back Human Rights Reform
Russia’s lower house of parliament has backed a long-delayed reform to the European Court of Human Rights.
Before Friday’s vote Russia was the only one of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states that had not ratified Protocol 14.
The court based in Strasbourg, eastern France, has a huge backlog of cases.
Protocol 14 is part of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. It was ratified by 392 Duma deputies, with 56 against.
Ratification in the upper house, the Federation Council, is expected to be a formality.
Russia faces the largest number of cases pending before the court — 28% of the total.
The Duma had refused to ratify Protocol 14 in 2006, with deputies alleging that it was incompatible with Russian law.
This prompted officials in Strasbourg to warn that the court was on the verge of collapse.
But after a Council of Europe meeting on 14 December, Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said the Council had agreed that a Russian judge would participate in any decisions concerning Russia.
Friday’s vote is a major change in policy and appears to be the result of a call from President Dmitry Medvedev, the BBC’s Richard Galpin in Moscow says.
Streamlining court’s work
Protocol 14 would cut down the number of judges on panels charged with deciding issues such as the admissibility of cases.
It also paves the way for new rules to ensure that states implement fundamental changes to national laws or practices, as ordered by the court, European affairs analyst William Horsley says.
Experts say the changes would speed up the handling of cases by up to 25%.
The European Court of Human Rights currently has more than 100,000 cases on its books.
Russia’s reluctance to sign up to the reform until now is because more than a quarter of all the complaints sent to the court concern alleged violations of human rights by the Russian state, particularly in the predominantly Muslim region of the North Caucasus, our correspondent says.
He says that in the past the court has upheld many complaints against Moscow ordering that compensation be paid to families whose loved ones were either killed or abducted by the security forces in areas such as Chechnya.
The families often see the court in Strasbourg as the only place where they can seek justice, he adds.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Kunduz Governor Calls Bundeswehr ‘Ineffective’
The governor of the northern Afghan province of Kunduz has called the German military’s service there “ineffective” and said he would welcome more help from US troops.
Mohammad Omar said that additional US forces would help ease the worsening security situation in the region.
“We have an enemy and know that they want to kill us,” he said in reference to the Taliban. “Our [German] friends observe this but don’t save us. So we must ask our other [American] friends to save us.”
Last week a study for German broadcaster ARD, along with US broadcaster ABC and the UK’s BBC, found that Afghans’ opinion of Germany had been damaged significantly in the last year. About 1,100 of Germany’s 4,300 troops in the country are stationed in the north as part of the NATO mission, and the Bundeswehr is generally considered to be responsible for safety in the area, but the report showed the Germans were not as well-regarded as they used to be.
However, Omar defended the Bundeswehr troops for their role in a controversial September 2009 bombardment that left some 142 dead, including many civilians. He said it had been “right” because there were insurgents involved and that the German government was not allowing the Bundeswehr to do its job.
“The parliament doesn’t want soldiers to be killed when fighting insurgents,” he said, adding that the improvements to the region were due only to US and Afghan operations, and the Bundeswehr should leave the job up to “more effective countries.”
But Bundeswehr spokesperson for Kunduz operations Jürgen Mertins said that troops there were working well with Afghan forces.
“In the last months we’ve conducted a number of operations in the Kunduz region together with the Afghan side. We believe that through this the security situation in the Kunduz region has significantly improved,” he said.
Mertins added that it was “understandable” that the governor would want more US troops. Among the 30,000 additional US troops promised by President Barack Obama, some 3,000 will reportedly be stationed in Kunduz.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Pluralist Yogyakarta Takes Muslim Name: “Terrace of Medina”
The motion made by the royal family which rules the province with special status, is supported by the local Council of Ulema. The city, renowned tourist destination and for its university, is famous for its pluralism and tolerance. Inside hundreds of ethnicities peacefully coexist.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Indonesian civil society are concerned that the leadership of Yogyakarta — on the island of Java — intends to change the name of the city to the more Islamic flavoured Seramabi Madinah, or “Terrace of Medina”. The controversy has caused confusion among the public, fearing the change will only cause “damage” to a pluralistic city, where hundreds of ethnicities peacefully coexist.
Yogyakarta is known as the symbol town of the “ Indonesian struggle for independence”, home to thousands of university students who ‘migrate’ from all over the country to attend the academies of excellence. For this reason it is also known as Kota Pelajar, the “city of students.”
The nation’s capital between 1945 and 1949, during the years of revolution, Yogyakarta is divided into 14 districts, it has a population of more than 500 thousand inhabitants and is a very popular tourist destination for Indonesians and foreigners. Its inhabitants see their pluralism and openness as a source of pride. It is home to some of the most important cultural heritage sites in the country: the Buddhist temple of Borobudur and the Prambanan Hindu temple on the outskirts of the city.
Yogyakarta is also the home of the homonymous kingdom, linked to an Islamic dynasty, whose current monarch — the Sultan Hamengku Buwono X Hamengku — is also governor of the autonomous province. He is a leading member of the nationalist wing of the country and succeeded the Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, hero of the war of independence against the Dutch settlers.
The leadership’s decision to rename the city of Yogyakarta “Terrace of Medina” has sparked harsh views expressed by columnists, activists, interfaith dialogue experts and members of civil society. The initiative came from Prince Joyokusumo (aka Gusti Joyo) younger brother of the governor. It is supported by the powerful Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and among the reasons cited is the fact that the old Medina — in the days of Prophet Muhammad — was famous for “hospitality and pluralism”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Muslim Extremists Flip Out Over Facebook Photo
[don’t miss the flag-burning photo]
A dozen Pakistani Muslim extremists in Lahore burned a Norwegian flag and chanted slogans after a Norwegian newspaper reprinted the famous Danish Mohammed cartoons and a Norwegian Member of Parliament changed his Facebook profile picture to the caricature of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.
Ulf Erik Knudsen, a fourth term member of Norway’s Stortinget, said he posted the picture “in sympathy with one who is threatened by forces that want to restrict freedom of expression.” This is a reference to artist Kurt Westergaard, who was the object of a New Years Day assassination attempt by a 28 year old Somali man affiliated with the al-Shabab movement. The picture originally ran in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. “We must ensure freedom of expression,” Mr. Knudsen told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. “It is threatened by certain sections of fundamentalist Islam, which is opposed by our Western values.”
Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution condemning Aftenposten for reprinting the anti-Mohammed cartoons, calling it “a blasphemous act meant to provoke the Muslim Ummah.” Looks like it worked!
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Two Christians Critically Wounded at Wedding in Pakistan
Two Pakistani Christians who were shot at a wedding on Dec. 26 for refusing to convert to Islam are still receiving treatment at a hospital intensive care unit, but doctors are hopeful that they will recover.
In low, barely audible voices, Imran Masih, 21, and Khushi Masih, 24, told Compass that two Muslims armed with AK-47s in Punjab Province’s Chak (village) 297-JB, in Toba Tek Singh district, shot them in their chests after they refused orders to recite the Islamic creed signifying conversion.
Soon after they arrived at the wedding, a group of Muslim youths armed with AK-47 assault rifles surrounded them and began shooting into the air, as is customary at village weddings. They were not alarmed, they said, assuming the young Muslim men were simply celebrating joyfully.
“One of the green-turban-wearing Muslims peremptorily told us to recite the Islamic holy Kalima [profession of faith] or face direct bullets and the lethal consequences,” said Khushi Masih.
Both Christians said that they joyfully refused, and instead they began reciting Psalm 91.
“Our decision infuriated them,” Imran Masih said, “and instead of shooting into the air, they shot us, leaving us only after being convinced that we were dead. Praise the name of Lord Jesus Christ, who raised us from the dead!”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
China: Daring Blogger Tests the Limits
Han Han, China’s most popular blogger, is used to being asked how he pursues a double career as best-selling novelist and racing driver. “Driving is safer,” he said in a recent interview with the FT. “If one day they tell me, ‘you can’t write any more’, I can still make a living racing. Of course racing is safer than writing. At least it won’t land you in jail.”
But now, in the face of Google’s threat to quit the country over China’s unrelenting efforts to tighten censorship, Han Han might take such risks much more seriously.
The 27-year-old’s cheeky personal style, which he uses in his books, on his blogs and in real life, has helped him accumulate more than 306m hits on his blog, a larger online following than any other personal blog in China and probably in the world.
Last week, he apologetically told his readers that a magazine he planned to start publishing this month would be delayed.
Under the strictures of China’s current publishing system, “it now looks like the first issue won’t come out in the foreseeable future,” he said, asking both authors and readers for forgiveness.
It has long seemed like a miracle that Han Han could somehow say and write things that would get others in trouble.
He caused uproar last year when, walking past a racetrack rostrum where high-ranking officials were seated, he gave them the middle finger — but no action was taken against him.
On his blog, he has regularly accused government or Communist party officials of corruption, without getting into trouble.
He does not mince his words. Arguing that the Communist party should establish laws to make its workings more transparent, he says: “For example, I believe China has the world’s biggest sex and gambling industries [both are banned in China], their biggest customers are maybe our Communist party members.”
Han’s secret protective shield is probably a mixture of his popularity and the fact that he never challenges the party’s supremacy in principle.
“I don’t agree with some people who call for elections and a multi-party system in China now. That is clearly not realistic,” he said.
However, there are clear signs that not challenging the big political taboos is no longer enough to guarantee being left alone.
Late last month, Hecaitou, Lian Yue and Hu Yong — three well known commentators — found that the blogs they run on foreign servers were blocked by China’s censors. While all three express criticisms in their writings, none comes close to being a dissident.
Han Han said that for him, relations with the authorities were not all that serious. “Sometimes when they tell me to take a blog post down, I take it down, and I won’t be very upset. We’re all playing a game with certain rules. As long as they let us continue playing, I think there’s no problem.”
That same principle would apply to his magazine, Han claimed just a few weeks ago. He would try to be more daring than other magazine editors but he did not plan to publish an opposition pamphlet, he said. If the censors said no to a certain story, he would just leave a white space.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Kenyan Police, People Clash With Muslim Protesters
Kenyan security forces shot in the air and fired tear gas at hundreds of people protesting in the capital on Friday against the detention of Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal.
The protesters, chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and some holding the flag of Somali rebel group al Shabaab, were blocked by police with dogs as they tried to march through the heart of Nairobi after prayers at the downtown mosque.
Some Kenyans, angry the attempted protest had taken place at all, joined forces with the security forces and began hurling stones at the marchers, squeezing them back towards the mosque.
“This is not an acceptable behaviour. The man who is supposed to be deported is not a Kenyan and his presence is not in the interest of Kenya these days,” said bystander Richard Odibo.
A helicopter clattered overhead and police also used water cannon to contain the clashes. Many protesters, some carrying pictures of Faisal on placards, were eventually corralled in the mosque but small groups continued hurling stones nearby.
A Reuters witness saw two policemen and four protesters injured by stones.
Faisal was visiting the east African nation for a preaching tour. Kenyan intelligence officials have said they fear his speeches could stoke radicalism in a country that has suffered two al Qaeda-linked attacks.
Faisal was deported from Britain in 2007 for preaching racial hatred and urging his audiences to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners. He was arrested in Kenya on Dec. 31.
Kenya’s immigration minister Otieno Kajwang has declared Faisal a prohibited immigrant. Attempts by Kenya to deport him failed last week because Nigeria refused to give him a transit visa to Gambia.
Police sources told Reuters Faisal was being held at Nairobi’s international airport. Another source said the government would hold him in custody until he could be deported straight to Jamaica.
“One person, a Jamaican, how can he make the whole country shut down? One person, how come no one in Jamaica is defending him,” said a man in a group that charged the Muslim protesters.
“These demonstrators, they can go back home to Somalia if they want to,” he told Reuters Television.
Kenya hosts some 300,000 Somali refugees in refugee camps and there is a significant Somali community in Nairobi. There have been reports of rebel supporters recruiting fighters and young suicide bombers from the diaspora within Kenya.
Al Shabaab, a rebel group that Washington accuses of links to al Qaeda, is battling to overthrow the Somali government and impose their own hardline version of sharia law.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya Police Shoot Hate Cleric Al-Faisal Supporters
At least five people have died after Kenyan police opened fire at supporters of a Jamaican-born Muslim cleric notorious for preaching racial hatred.
Police also fired tear gas at hundreds of stone-throwing protesters calling for Abdullah al-Faisal to be freed.
Faisal is in detention in Nairobi after Kenya failed to deport him.
Kenya wants to expel him citing his “terrorist history”. He was jailed for four years in the UK for soliciting the murder of Jews and Hindus.
An unnamed senior police officer told the AFP news agency that five people had died, while one of the protest organisers told AP that seven people had lost their lives.
Sources at the Kenyatta Hospital have confirmed that one person has died, while seven others sustained bullet wounds. Doctors say their lives are not in danger.
At least four police officers have been hospitalised, AFP reports.
Islamist flag?
Muslim youths began the protest match after Friday prayers at the Jamia Mosque in the centre of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
They wanted to present a petition to Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s office.
But police had banned the march and intervened.
One banner read: “Release al-Faisal, he is innocent”, reports the AFP news agency.
Some reports suggest that the protesters were waving flags of Somali Islamist group al-Shabab.
Reuters news agency reports that some people joined the security forces in attacking the protesters.
Faisal was arrested on 31 December 2009, a week after he is believed to have arrived from Tanzania.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Mauritania: Algerian Press, Cicala Wife Release Imminent
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, JANUARY 13 — Al Qaeda for the Islamic Maghreb has reached a preliminary agreement with Touareg mediators for the release of Philomene Kaberee, the wife of Sergio Cicala, who was kidnapped with her husband in Mauritania in December, writes Algerian daily El Kabar, quoting sources working in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. “The terrorist group led by Emir of the Sahara, Abdelhamid Abou Zyad, has reached a preliminary agreement with heads of the Touareg tribe, Ashananas, who have been involved in negotiations to release the wife of Italian hostage, Sergio Cicala”, says the paper. “This is the first phase of the agreement, which should lead to the liberation of the husband as well”, says the same source. According to El Khabar, the sources were unwilling to provide other details on the agreement or on the involvement of the Government of Burkina Faso, Kaberee’s country of origin. Information in the possession of the Algerian Arab-language daily talks of the recent release of two Salafites in Burkina Faso: a Nigerian, Kizo Abdullah, and a Malian, both arrested in June. Their release, writes the paper, “could be related to negotiations for the release” of the Italian couple. As could be the release from prison in Senegal of Abdu Ould Habiba, a Mauritanian involved in arms trafficking. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tourist Killed by ‘Dinosaur-Sized’ Shark Off South African Beach
Zimbabwean holidaymaker eaten by shark described by onlookers as ‘longer than a minibus’
Witnesses have described their horror at seeing a tourist being eaten by a “gigantic” shark in South Africa’s most popular holiday destination.
Lloyd Skinner was pulled under the surf and dragged out to sea by the shark, believed to be a great white, off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. His diving goggles and a dark patch of blood were all that remained in the water.
“Holy shit. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house,” witness Gregg Coppen posted on Twitter. “That shark was huge. Like dinosaur huge.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Protests Over Rosarno — Bossi Retorts: “They Kill Christians”
Cairo: Anti-Muslim campaign under way in Italy. Frattini says: “We respect the laws”
MILAN — Rosarno is turning into a diplomatic incident. Egypt has “condemned” the violence in the Calabrian village and asked the Italian government to intervene against episodes of racism and discrimination. Italy’s foreign minister Franco Frattini replied to explain that the Italian government only wants the laws to be respected while Northern League leader Umberto Bossi rejected charges of racism, in turn accusing Cairo. “The government cannot go on stirring up issues like illegality and immigration. It has to solve them”, said Democratic Party (PD) leader Luigi Bersani. On the day after the Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano, published its stern admonition, the Italian bishops’ conference (CEI) stepped in, returning to the thorny topic of citizenship.
NOTE FROM CAIRO — Referring to the disturbances in Calabria, the Egyptian foreign minister denounced the “campaign of aggression” and “violence” endured by “immigrants and Arab and Muslim minorities in Italy”, and requesting the Italian government to “take measures necessary for the protection of minorities and immigrants”. Egypt’s protest was emphatic. The communiqué released by the foreign ministry mentioned the growing number of “racist” incidents recorded recently and the difficulties faced by immigrants in Italy because of “conditions of detention, the violation of their economic and social rights and the practice of forced deportation”. The Egyptian message announced that the issue will be raised by the foreign minister, Aboul Gheit, during the meeting scheduled for 16 January with his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini.
FRATTINI’S REPLY — The Italian foreign ministry’s response was quick in coming: “I am willing to talk about anything” with Egypt, said Mr Frattini, rejecting as “unacceptable” all forms of violence of the sort witnessed at Rosarno. Referring to what Cairo called a campaign of hatred and discrimination directed against immigrants, Mr Frattini pointed out that “Egypt is a friendly country”, revealing that at the 16 January meeting with Aboul Gheit, he will “explain to the Egyptians, who as an emigrant community habitually respect the law, that in Italy we, too, want the laws to be respected”. Mr Frattini assured his colleague that there were no religious motives behind the violence at Rosarno. “These were incidents of common violence, to which police officers had to respond. This unacceptable violence has nothing to do with Egypt or the Egyptians who, as a community of emigrants, habitually respect Italian laws”. “All of Italy, and I believe all of Europe, saw individuals attacking homes and smashing up or torching cars. This has absolutely nothing to do with religious motives. It is unacceptable violence, which was rightly repressed by police”, he went on.
BOSSI’S RIPOSTE — Umberto Bossi’s comment on the Egyptian communiqué was terse. Speaking to journalists in Parliament’s Transatlantico hall, he said: “Look how they treat Christians. They kill them all”, concluding, “Never mind, that’s not the issue”. Meanwhile at the ministry of labour, Maurizio Sacconi convened the chairs of the INPS and INAIL welfare institutions, the directors general of the ministry’s working conditions inspection and protection service, and the commander of the Carabinieri work protection unit. The ministry and other institutions agreed to intensify a “specific, co-ordinated and extensive action to combat illegality and the exploitation of undeclared labour in agriculture”, to be driven by the “guiding criterion” of zero tolerance. The ministerial bulletin makes no explicit reference to the disturbances at Rosarno but it is obvious that the issue being addressed — agriculture in the south of Italy — was suggested by recent events in Calabria.
POLICE — Sources at the Reggio Calabria police headquarters say that there were no Egyptians among the immigrants at Rosarno, who have been taken to reception centres at Crotone and Bari after the incidents of the past few days. It was, however, confirmed that Arabic-speaking and Muslim immigrants were involved.
CEI — Italian bishops, through Monsignor Bruno Schettino, chair of the Fondazione Migrantes and the CEI’s representative for immigration, issued an invitation to “recreate a climate of more and better reception, avoiding the temptation of xenophobia, which leads to fear, the mortification of man and loss of hope”. Mgr Schettino went on: “I wish to point out that the trend is towards admitting ius soli (right acquired by birth in the territory) for citizenship granted with special conditions. We cannot go into technical details but it is true that a sense of profound humanitas prompts our desire for the eventual formulation of a truly favourable principle of citizenship. With certain conditions: knowledge of the Italian language, the Italian constitution and presence on Italian territory”. The CEI spokesman concluded by saying that under these conditions “the possibility of citizenship becomes more assured and certain”.
DEMOLITION RESUMED — Rosarno is striving to return to normality after the events of the past few days. Police and Carabinieri officers continue to patrol the Calabrian village but their presence is purely preventive and unrelated to specific situations. Yesterday morning, demolition of the immigrant quarters in the former Rognetta factory was resumed. During the night, unidentified individuals set fire to a car belonging to an immigrant. The owner of the vehicle, a Ghanaian, has a residence permit and is employed as an agricultural labourer. He and his partner, also an immigrant, rent accommodation in the centre of Rosarno. Non-immigrant neighbours helped to put out the fire. The immigrant whose vehicle was set on fire was not involved in last Thursday’s disturbances, or in the clashes with residents, and according to Carabinieri, the burning of his car is a random event unrelated to recent incidents.
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German Politicians Reject Immigrant Quota for Public Service Sector
Politicians on Friday rejected legally mandated quotas to increase the number of people with immigrant backgrounds in public sector jobs.
The federal government’s integration commissioner, Maria Böhmer, on Thursday announced she backed an initiative to make sure civil service employment better reflected the population of Germany — where every fifth resident has an immigration background.
But on Friday politicians from her own conservatives as well as those from the opposition centre-left Social Democrats rejected any sort of affirmative action to boost recruitment.
“A quota is not compatible with our constitutional and legal culture,” SPD deputy parliamentary group leader Olaf Scholz told daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Scholz said that the goal was admirable, but a target was not suitable for its achievement. Instead personnel management in the public sector should be more active in bringing people from immigrant backgrounds into their fold, he said.
Meanwhile conservative MP Hans-Peter Uhl also said he rejected legal requirements to employ a certain sector of the population.
“It’s a legal automatism that leads to abuse,” he told the paper, adding that such a measure would only be suitable for cities, because rural areas had a lower proportion of immigrants.
But the head of the TGD Turkish advocacy group Kenan Kolat told daily Berliner Zeitung that he was in favour of the initiative.
“Only a quota can insure that the population structure mirrors itself in public and administrative offices,” he said, rejecting the assumption that too few immigrants possess the skills to qualify for such jobs.
Kolat also pointed out that there had already been successful programmes in Berlin and Hamburg to integrate people with immigration background into public jobs.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
U.N.’s World Health Organization Eyeing Global Tax on Banking, Internet Activity
The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering a plan to ask governments to impose a global consumer tax on such things as Internet activity or everyday financial transactions like paying bills online.
Such a scheme could raise “tens of billions of dollars” on behalf of the United Nations’ public health arm from a broad base of consumers, which would then be used to transfer drug-making research, development and manufacturing capabilities, among other things, to the developing world.
The multibillion-dollar “indirect consumer tax” is only one of a “suite of proposals” for financing the rapid transformation of the global medical industry that will go before WHO’s 34-member supervisory Executive Board at its biannual meeting in Geneva.
The idea is the most lucrative — and probably the most controversial — of a number of schemes proposed by a 25-member panel of medical experts, academics and health care bureaucrats who have been working for the past 14 months at WHO’s behest on “new and innovative sources of funding” to accomplish major shifts in the production of medical R&D.
WHO’s so-called Expert Working Group has also suggested asking rich countries to set aside fixed portions of their gross domestic product to finance the shift in worldwide research and development, as well as asking cash-rich developing nations like China, India or Venezuela to pony up more of the money.
These would also add billions in additional funds to international health care for the future — as much as $7.4 billion yearly from rich countries, and as much as $12.1 billion from low- and middle-income nations.
But the taxation ideas draw the most interest. The expert panel cites a number of possible examples. Among them:
—a 10 per cent tax on the international arms trade, “which might net about $5 billion per annum”;
—a “digital tax or ‘hit’ tax.” The report says the levy “could yield tens of billions of U.S. dollars from a broad base of users”;
—a financial transaction tax. The report approvingly cites a levy in Brazil that charged 0.38 percent on bills paid online and on unspecified “major withdrawals.” The report says the Brazilian tax was raising an estimated $20 billion per year until it was cancelled for unspecified reasons.
The panel concludes that “taxes would provide greater certainty once in place than voluntary contributions,” even as the report urges WHO’s executive board to promote all of the alternatives, and more, to support creation of a “global health research and innovation coordination and funding mechanism” for the planned revolution in medical research, development and distribution.
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