Netanyahu Holds Out Israeli Haven for French Jews

REUTERS.COM: (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coupled a show of solidarity with France on Sunday with a reminder to shaken French Jews that Israel is keen to welcome them as immigrants.

Netanyahu and two far-right members of his cabinet flew to Paris on Sunday to join dozens of foreign leaders and hundreds of thousands of French citizens in a march honoring the victims of Islamist militant attacks this week.

The timing of his message that "Israel is also your home" could clash with attempts by French leaders to reassure Europe's largest Jewish community after the shock assaults that included hostage-taking at a kosher supermarket.

In a statement late on Saturday, Netanyahu said an Israeli governmental committee would convene in the coming week to find ways to boost Jewish immigration from France and other European countries "which are being hit by terrible anti-Semitism".

"To all the Jews of France and to all the Jews of Europe, I wish to say: the State of Israel is not only the place to which you pray, the State of Israel is also your home," he said. » | Jeffrey Heller | Jerusalem | Sunday, January 11, 2015

Trauermarsch in Paris: Christen, Juden, Muslime - vereint gegen den Terror

Crisis in Ukraine Could Trigger Nuclear War, Warns Gorbachev

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The former Russian leader warns that Moscow does not trust the West, and the West does not trust Moscow

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, has warned that the world is at risk of a “nuclear war” because of the tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.

In an interview with the German magazine Spiegel, Mr Gorbachev said that if either side lost its nerve in the current stand-off, it could lead to nuclear war, and spoke of his fears that the world “will not survive the next few years”.

“I actually see all the signs of a new Cold War,” Mr Gorbachev said. “It could all blow up at any moment if we don’t take action. The loss of confidence is catastrophic. Moscow does not believe the West, and the West does not believe Moscow.” » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Sunday, January 11, 2015

Germany Protests: Dresden Marches Against Anti-Islamists Pegida

BBC AMERICA: About 35,000 people have marched through the German city of Dresden in protest against recent so-called anti-Islamisation rallies, organisers say.

The turnout is nearly double that of the largest demonstration by anti-Islamists Pegida, held last Monday.

Saturday's counter-demonstration observed a minute's silence for the 17 victims of this week's terrorist attacks in France.

The next Pegida protest in Dresden will be held on Monday.

Some analysts say that numbers may grow as a result of the violence in France. » | Saturday, January 10, 2015

Boko Haram Is Now a Mini-Islamic State, with Its Own Territory

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Boko Haram controls about 20,000 square miles of territory and is fast becoming a terrorist state razing villages and killing innocent victims, writes David Blair

After days of razing villages and pitiless massacre, Boko Haram finished the week with its most chilling atrocity.

As people bustled through the Saturday market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, a device borne by a ten year-old girl exploded near the entrance.

A witness said the girl probably had no idea that a bomb had been strapped to her body.

The explosion just before lunch killed 20, including the girl, and injured 18, according to the police.

Boko Haram did not immediately claim the attack, but the Islamic insurgents have increasingly used young girls as human bombs as they carve an African “Caliphate” from the plains of northern Nigeria.

Today, Boko Haram controls about 20,000 square miles of territory - an area the size of Belgium.

Within this domain, the black flag of jihad flies over scores of towns and villages scattered across the neighbouring states of Borno and Yobe.

The latest conquest was the fishing town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad, which fell to the Islamists last Wednesday. » | David Blair | Saturday, January 10, 2015

German Anti-Islamic Rallies May Grow on Terror Fears after Paris Attacks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The anti-Islamic movement, Pegida, plans to rally on Monday which comes after Saturday's anti-Pegida protest in Dresden

Germany's new anti-Islamic Pegida movement plans to rally again on Monday, when analysts expect its ranks to swell by thousands following the attacks in Paris.

Leaders of the so-called "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident" have asked marchers to wear black armbands and observe a minute's silence for "the victims of terrorism in Paris".

About 35,000 people, organisers said, took to the streets on Saturday in Dresden against the anti-Islam group's marches. The crowd estimate is a record and nearly double the 18,000 who attended a previous counter-protest.

Many observers of the rise of the far-right populist movement in the eastern city of Dresden now expect it to seek to make political capital from the massacre at the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and its bloody aftermath. » | AFP | Saturday, January 10, 2015

Going Underground: Press Freedom After Charlie Hebdo Massacre

Paris Shootings: Jews 'Don't Feel Safe in France'

BBC AMERICA: The Jewish community in Paris is still in shock after an attack on a kosher supermarket at Porte de Vincennes on Friday in which four Jews were killed.

Many came to the scene of the attack on Saturday to lay flowers and pay tribute to the victims.

The attack has left some French Jews considering moving to Israel and other countries because they do not feel safe in France. (+BBC video) » | Video Journalist: Bruno Boelpaep | Saturday, January 10, 2015

British Hostage John Cantlie Gives Tour of ISIS-Held Mosul: Life Here Is "Business as Usual"

Cleric Bechir Ben Hassen Praises European Tolerance toward Muslims, Calls to Purge Tunisia of the Shiites

France Friday Sermon: Muslims Are Forbidden to Celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve

Paris Shooting: Hero Police Officer Who Begged For His Life Was Married Muslim

DAILY EXPRESS: A MUSLIM police officer begged for his life as masked gunmen shot him to death on the streets of Paris as part of the Charlie Hebdo magazine massacre.

Chilling footage of the attack on the satirical magazine offices shows Ahmed Merabet on the ground and begging for mercy as he is killed by a gunshot to the head.

After being shot the first time, the gunmen wearing balaclavas and wielding Kalashnikov rifles are seeing running past the police officer - who had his hands up in surrender - before they shoot him again point-blank as he lies on the pavement outside the offices in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

Mr Merabet, 42, is reportedly said to have asked his killers "Do you want to kill me?" before they allegedly replied: "Okay chief." He is survived by his wife. » | Rebecca Perring | Friday, January 09, 2015

«Sie haben den Propheten Gottes beleidigt»

TAGES ANZEIGER: Nach dem Anschlag auf das Satiremagazin «Charlie Hebdo» ist die Solidarität mit Frankreich und der Zorn auf die Attentäter gross in der muslimischen Welt.

Zahlreiche Zeitungen kritisierten am Samstag die von Islamisten verursachte Gewalt. Beispielsweise schrieb die überregionale arabische Tageszeitung «Al-Sharq al-Awsat» von einem «Tag des Horrors», die ägyptische «Al-Masri al-Joum» titelte: «Frankreich nimmt Rache für die Opfer». Die ägyptische Zeitung «Al-Masri al-Joum» zeigte einen mit einem Stift bewaffneter Zeichner, der ein gehörntes Ungeheuer jagt, auf dem «Intoleranz» geschrieben steht.

Mit einem Doppelschlag hatte die französische Polizei am Freitag zwei Geiselnahmen beendet und dabei drei Islamisten getötet, darunter auch die beiden Brüder, die den Anschlag auf das Satiremagazin verübt haben sollen. Handyaufnahmen belegten, dass die Attentäter nach ihrem Massaker in der Redaktion des Satiremagazins «Charlie Hebdo» «Allahu Akbar» – «Gott ist gross» – gerufen hatten. Insgesamt gab es innerhalb von drei Tagen 20 Tote. » | Samstag, 10. Januar 2015

Anjem Choudary Asks Newsmax Host Steve Malzberg If He Is Jewish

Read the Mediaite article here

US Use of Shannon Airport Makes Ireland a Target - Anjem Choudary

THE IRISH TIMES: Preacher says Charlie Hebdo attack victims were to blame for their own deaths

Ireland is a legitimate target for attack because of its decision to allow American planes refuel at Shannon Airport on their way to bombing Muslim countries, a radical Muslim preacher based in the UK has warned today.

Anjem Choudary, who has described those behind the 9/11 attacks in the US as ‘magnificent martyrs’, warned that Muslims fighting American foreign policy do not see Ireland as a neutral country because of its willingness to allow American planes refuel at Shannon.

“You allow the Americans, who are the biggest butchers in the world, to stop at Shannon Airport to refuel and go on to kill people in Muslim countries... if you believe the Americans are terrorists, the Irish government is colluding with them and aiding and abetting terrorism,” he said. » | Barry Roche | Friday, January 09, 2015

As Search Goes On, French Premier Declares War on Radical Islam

THE NEW YORK TIMES: PARIS — Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared Saturday that France was at war with radical Islam, as new details emerged of the harrowing sieges that led to the deaths of three gunmen and four hostages the day before, and as the authorities mounted a frantic hunt for a suspected accomplice who remained on the loose.

“It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity,” Mr. Valls said during a speech in Evry, south of Paris. » | Dan Bilefsky and Maïa de la Baume | Saturday, January 10, 2015

Stop Pretending Terrorism Has Nothing To Do With Islam

THE FEDERALIST: And while you're at it, stop treating criticism of religion as racism

Guess what? An idea isn’t a human being. Neither is a sacred cow. And those who confront, dismiss, debunk, sneer at and fear them aren’t necessarily bigots.

Not long ago, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes for blasphemy. His first 50 lashes will be publicly administered this week. Taking them all at once would kill the guy. But, then again, Badawi might be fortunate to be alive at all. The theocratic monarchs of Saudi Arabia don’t need the terrorists to punish their satirists, they can get the job done in-house.

I don’t know about you, but I’m lash-phobic. I tend, as a matter of principle, to have a low opinion of people who dispense lashes. Religion, of course, is merely incidental to Badawi’s fate–as it is in the massacre of journalists in Paris or the bloodbath in Nigeria, where Boko Haram may have killed 2000 people this week. Or so I’m told. All of these instances of violence are perpetrated by random people, who by some happenstance share the same religious affiliation.

And to bring this up–according to Vox and other some outlets–may be Islamophobic. Islamophobia is defined, at least by Wikipedia (and it’s fair to say it’s a pretty decent reflection of how we use the word), as a term for prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of the religion of Islam, Muslims, or of ethnic groups perceived to be Muslim.

Only half of this definition should be true. Most often, only half of it is. The late Christopher Hitchens never actually said “Islamophobic is a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons,” but he did call it a “stupid neologism” that “aims to promote criticism of Islam to the gallery of special offenses associated with racism.” » | David Harsanyi | Friday, January 09, 2015

Paris Attack Highlights Europe's Struggle with Islamism

BBC AMERICA: In the heart of Europe in 2015, the killing of cartoonists and journalists for allegedly insulting God still comes as a shock, despite the rising number of such attacks in recent years.

In rational, post-Enlightenment Europe, religion has long since been relegated to a safe space, with Judaism and Christianity the safe targets of satire in secular western societies.

Not so Islam. The battle within Islam itself between Sunni and Shia, so evident in the wars of the Middle East, and the fight between extremist interpretations of Islam such as those of Islamic State and Muslims who wish to practice their religion in peace, is now being played out on the streets of Europe with potentially devastating consequences for social cohesion.

These latest shootings may be the work of "lone wolves" but their consequences will ripple across Europe and provoke much soul-searching about the failure of integration over the past decades.

Immigrant communities are already being viewed with increasing suspicion in both France and Germany, with their significant Muslim populations, and even in the UK. » | Caroline Wyatt, Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News | Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Palestinian Imam and Hamas TV Host Abu Funun Justifies Hitler: The Jews Spread Corruption Everywhere

Kuwaiti MP Nabil Al-Fadhl Challenges Ban on Alcohol: It Is Part of Our Heritage

Related »