MAIL ONLINE: White supremacist turns up at court in full Nazi regalia to fight for custody of his children – including one who he named Adolf » | Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
MAIL ONLINE: White supremacist turns up at court in full Nazi regalia to fight for custody of his children – including one who he named Adolf » | Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Vile thoughts, and warped, twisted thinking: Anjem Choudary still free to peddle his hatred of the Kufaar »
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The protests in Turkey have brought together people from all walks of life, including engineers, teachers, construction workers, leftists and even some former supporters of Prime Minister Erdogan. They are demanding changes in a country that is more divided than ever before.
An engineer, who stumbles through the clouds of pepper spray. A doctor to be, who brings medicine and lemon juice, which is supposed to help limit the effects of tear gas. A teacher, who is filming everything with her camcorder. A foreign exchange student, who is there to experience the revolutionary atmosphere. A left-wing activist, who has been camping for days on Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul, defending it against the police.
All kinds of people are demonstrating against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Monday night marked just the latest gathering in Turkey's biggest city, part of the wave of protests that has spread across the country after a handful of people in Istanbul came out to prevent the destruction of a small park in the city. It has become a revolt. Hundreds, if not thousands, in Taksim Square have refused to go home and continue to brave the tear gas wafting through the streets. Though the situation has calmed down since the weekend, protesters remain behind their makeshift barricades, made of police barriers and whatever else they could find.
"We are staying until Tayyip goes and we have our freedom," says 24-year-old Balkan. He has taken a break from making films and now sees himself primarily as part of the resistance movement. Looking out at the people on the square, he says "they are all my friends." » | Oliver Trenkamp in Istanbul | Tuesday, June 04, 2013
here | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Monday, June 03, 2013
My comment:
More BS from Cameron. This, Mr. Cameron, is not a “betrayal” of Islam. It IS Islam! When will this prime minister come to terms with reality? The so-called “extremists” are carrying out the message of Islam to the letter. It is NO perversion.
Talking to people like Cameron is like talking to a brick wall ! – © Mark
Monday, June 03, 2013
SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN: Alle Augen richten sich auf Istanbul: Die Proteste gegen Premier Erdogan in der Türkei weiten sich aus. Die massiven Polizeieinsätze gegen Demonstranten lösen internationale Proteste aus. Grossen Rückhalt erhalten die Protestierenden über Social-Media-Kanäle. Aber auch Unterstützer von Erdogan melden sich zu Wort. » | Montag, 03. Juni 2013
Le projet de suppression d'un petit parc d'Istanbul ne laissait en rien présager de la pire crise que traverse la Turquie au XXIe siècle. À l'origine, le sit-in de militants écologistes et urbanistes contre la construction en lieu et place du parc Gezi et de ses 600 arbres d'une réplique d'une caserne militaire de l'empire ottoman censée accueillir un centre commercial. Or, l'intervention musclée vendredi des policiers turcs pour les en déloger a mis le feu aux poudres.
"L'attaque furtive, à coups de bombes lacrymogènes et de matraque, a choqué toute la Turquie", affirme au Point.fr Alican Tayla, chercheur à l'Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques (Iris). Très vite, le mouvement prend de l'ampleur et atteint la place Taksim, au centre d'Istanbul, avant de gagner les principaux quartiers de la ville, puis du pays. Le ministère de l'Intérieur annonce 1 700 interpellations dans plus de 67 villes. "La force a été utilisée de manière disproportionnée", regrette Geneviève Garrigos, présidente d'Amnesty International France, interrogée par Le Point.fr. "La police a directement visé la tête des manifestants pacifiques avec des cartouches de grenades lacrymogènes. Certains ont essayé de se défendre." » | Le Point.fr | lundi 03 juin 2013
The rooftops of Istanbul can be seen in the background and next to them is a gigantic image of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey's powerful prime minister is watching over the city -- and is also monitoring the work of the political party he controls. At least that seems to be the message of the image, which can be found in a conference room at the headquarters of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
These days, though, Istanbul is producing images that carry a distinctly different meaning -- images of violent protests against the vagaries of Erdogan's rule. And it is beginning to look as though the prime minister, the most powerful leader Turkey has seen since the days of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, might be losing control.
As recently as mid-May, Erdogan boasted during an appearance at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. of the $29 billion airport his government was planning to build in Istanbul. "Turkey no longer talks about the world," he said. "The world talks about Turkey."
Just two weeks later, he appears to have been right -- just not quite in the way he had anticipated. The world is looking at Turkey and speaking of the violence with which Turkish police are assaulting demonstrators at dozens of marches across the country. Increasingly, Erdogan is looking like an autocratic ruler whose people are no longer willing to tolerate him. » | Özlem Gezer, Maximilian Popp and Oliver Trenkamp | Monday, June 03, 2013
Berlin - Im Hintergrund sind die Dächer Istanbuls zu sehen, daneben das Konterfei Recep Tayyip Erdogans, überlebensgroß. Der mächtige Premier wacht über die Stadt, das ist die Botschaft des Bildes. Und er wacht über die Arbeit seiner Parteifunktionäre: Das Bild hängt in einem Konferenzraum in der Zentrale der AKP Istanbuls.
Doch jetzt gehen Bilder aus der Türkei um die Welt, die eine andere Botschaft senden. Jetzt sieht es so aus, als könnte dem mächtigsten Mann, den das Land seit Staatsgründer Atatürk gesehen hat, die Kontrolle entgleiten.
Noch Mitte Mai war Erdogan am Brooking Institute in Washington aufgetreten, hatte geprahlt, seine Regierung plane für 29 Milliarden US-Dollar einen dritten Flughafen in Istanbul, den mutmaßlich größten der Welt. "Die Türkei spricht heute nicht über die Welt", sagte er. "Die Welt spricht über die Türkei."
Zwei Wochen später bestätigt sich diese Einschätzung, doch anders, als Erdogan es gerne hätte. Die Welt spricht über die Türkei und ihren Premier als jemanden, der seine Bürger von Polizisten niederknüppeln lässt, als Machthaber, dessen autoritären Regierungsstil viele Türken nicht mehr hinnehmen wollen. » | Von Özlem Gezer, Maximilian Popp und Oliver Trenkamp | Montag, 03. Juni 2013
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Proteste in der Türkei: US-Außenminister fürchtet "exzessive Gewalt" gegen Demonstranten – US-Außenminister John Kerry zeigt sich besorgt über das Vorgehen der türkischen Polizei gegen die Demonstranten - und fordert eine Untersuchung der Vorfälle. Derweil setzen die Sicherheitskräfte erneut Tränengas gegen die Protestierenden ein. » | vks/Reuters/AFP | Montag, 03. Juni 2013
According to Montpellier daily newspaper Midi Libre, since performing the wedding, Mandroux has received many letters that contain insults and threats expressing opposition to gay marriage in France. One of the packages mailed to the French official also contained feces, municipal officers discovered. » | Sara Gates | The Huffington Post | Monday, June 03, 2013
France’s First Gay Marriage Ceremony »
In his first major intervention in the debate, the Most Rev Justin Welby said he could not support David Cameron’s same-sex marriage Bill in its current form.
He warned that the reform “weakened” the concept of the “normal” family as the basis for a strong community and replaced traditional marriage with something “less good”.
Archbishop Welby has been reluctant to join the public condemnation of the reforms, despite widespread opposition from Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Muslims and other faith organisations.
The Church of England has previously adopted a more conciliatory position towards the reforms, acknowledging that parliament was likely to pass the Bill and seeking to secure legal protections from ministers to stop churches being forced to conduct gay marriages. » | Tim Ross, and John Bingham | Monday, June 03, 2013
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – JAMES DELINGPOLE: Poor Turks! Of all the peoples I've encountered in my travels around the world, the Turks really have got to be among the kindest, most generous and welcoming. (My other top candidate in that category would be the Sudanese.) So it really saddens me to read of the civil unrest which has been plaguing Turkey this last week. Someone suggested to me that this is the sort of behaviour which shows exactly why Turkey should never be admitted to the EU. Eh? This rioting isn't the result of natural savages casting off the threads of civilisation; it's the result of civilised, educated, cosmopolitan Turks rising up against the authoritarianism of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime. » | James Delingpole | Monday, June 03, 2013
My comment:
Delingpole obviously has a death wish for Western civilisation. Rarely have I read such bunkum in a mainstream newspaper as this. His reasoning is unsound, to say the least. And anyone who agrees with Bojo has got to be suspect. I trust Bojo's opinions on almost nothing. In any case, Bojo has Turkish blood coursing through his veins; so he is prejudiced.
I want Western civilisation to survive. I actually like liberal democracy. Islam is anathema to democracy and freedom. It therefore makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to allow Turkey into the EU. Only someone naïve would think otherwise. Haven't we had enough Islamisation of the West, Europe as it is? – @ Mark
This comment also appears here
BBC: Homes have been evacuated across southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland as rivers reach dangerously high levels.
The Czech capital Prague is on high alert as authorities fear a repeat of the catastrophic floods of August 2002.
The River Vltava has inundated towns and villages upstream of the capital, and one person is known to have died.
Stephen Evans reports. Watch BBC video » | Monday June 03, 2013
Sunday, June 02, 2013
MONROE NEWS STAR: If a reading of the Quran, the hadith and world history doesn’t convince you that Islam is a religion of violence, hatred and intolerance, consider the frequent individual acts of violence by Muslims around the world, and the great numbers of Muslims demonstrating violently in mass for things as insignificant as an offense to their prophet. » | John Spires | Thursday, May 30, 2013
"When you are one with God you are not in a state of fear, and you have quite good control over your body's sensations and the level of pain that you absorb from your body," said Alan John Miller, a 50-year-old ex-software professional from Queensland, according to Sky News.
The man not only claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ but says that his partner, Mary Luck, is the reincarnation of Saint Mary Magdalene, who, according to the Bible, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was the first person to see him after his resurrection.
"I have very clear memories of the crucifixion, but it wasn't as harrowing for me as it was for others like Mary who was present," Miller explained.
The Australian said that his memories of his supposed life as Jesus include performing miracles, such as resurrecting people from the dead – "including a friend of mine Lazarus, who most people know is mentioned in the Bible," he said.
Miller has set up a website called Divine Truth where he tries to convince people that he is indeed the Jesus of the Bible. » | Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter | Thursday, May 30, 2013
A white Muslim convert threatened to kill Prince Harry just a day after the shocking murder of a soldier in Woolwich.
Ashraf Islam, 30, formerly known as Mark Townley, confessed to police that he wanted to kill the third in line to the throne, who has served in high profile tours of Afghanistan.
Islam walked into a police station in Hounslow on May 23 and told detectives that he wanted to murder the prince hours after soldier Lee Rigby, 25, was killed.
He was charged under Section 16 of the Offences against the Person Act, which carries a possible jail term of up to 10 years, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Counter terrorism Command unit.
According to the Daily Star detectives found a laptop belonging to Islam which showed internet searches for 'guns', 'vans' and 'kidnapping'.
He is also said to have visited terrorist websites.
Islam, who is believed to have become a Muslim during a recent spell in prison, is currently behind bars after pleading guilty to the offence at Uxbridge Magistrates Court last Saturday.
He will be sentenced at a later date. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said last night that no date has been fixed for Islam's sentencing. » | Steve Nolan | Sunday, June 02, 2013
Tony Blair today makes his most powerful political intervention since leaving Downing Street by launching an outspoken attack on ‘the problem within Islam’.
The former Prime Minister addresses the shocking killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich by going further than he – or any front-rank British politician – has gone before over the issue of Muslim radicalism.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, he departs from the usual argument that Islam is a peaceful religion that should not be tainted by the actions of a few extremists.
Instead, Mr Blair urges governments to ‘be honest’ and admit that the problem is more widespread.
‘There is a problem within Islam – from the adherents of an ideology which is a strain within Islam,’ he writes.
‘We have to put it on the table and be honest about it. Of course there are Christian extremists and Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu ones. But I am afraid this strain is not the province of a few extremists. It has at its heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies.’
He adds: ‘At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists, but the world view goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large we don’t admit it.’
Mr Blair’s comments are likely to be seized on by critics who will argue that by leading us into the Iraq War he has helped to swell support for radical Islam around the globe. » | Glen Owen, Mail On Sunday Political Correspondent | Saturday, June 01, 2013
Saturday, June 01, 2013
A Scotland Yard spokesman said Michael Adebolajo, 28, of Romford, Essex, would appear before magistrates accused of murdering the 25 year-old soldier in Woolwich last month, and with the attempted murder of two police officers.
Adebolajo also faces a charge of possession of a firearm, namely a 9.4mm KNIL Model 91 revolver with intent to “cause persons to believe that unlawful violence would be used”.
Adebolajo has been remanded in custody and will appear before Westminster magistrates' court on Monday.
Another man, Michael Adebowale, 22, from Greenwich, south-east London, was charged with murder and possession of a firearm last week. » | David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, June 01, 2013
Mehr als eine Million Menschen forderten im Herzen Istanbuls am frühen Samstagabend den Rücktritt des türkischen Ministerpräsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zuvor hatte die Regierung um 16 Uhr Ortszeit befohlen, den Polizeieinsatz gegen die Maßenproteste abzubrechen, die fünf Tage davor begonnen hatten.
Der türkische Ministerpräsident hat sich erstmals in seiner Regierungszeit massiven Protesten gegen seine Politik beugen müssen. Nach Massendemonstrationen, die sich über das ganze Land ausgebreitet hatten, und nachdem Hunderttausende Menschen in Istanbul der Polizeigewalt trotzten, wurde der Polizeieinsatz abgebrochen.
Menschenmassen strömten über die mittlerweile völlig zerstörte Einkaufsmeile Istiklal klatschend und mit Siegesrufen zum Taksim-Platz, von dem die Proteste vor fünf Tagen ausgegangen waren. Dort hatte die Regierung nun einen Park wieder geöffnet, den Tage sie zuvor gewaltsam hatte räumen lassen. Größte Anti-Erdogan Demonstration » | Von Boris Kálnoky , Istanbul | mit dpa | Samstag, 01. Juni 2013
Der Mann kann es nicht fassen. „Wir sind auf dem Platz“, schreit er, als er und mehrere hundert andere Demonstranten am Samstagnachmittag auf dem zentralen Taksim-Platz von Istanbul ankommen. Es ist ein Moment des Sieges einer spontanen Protestbewegung, die sich seit Freitag im Zentrum der türkischen Metropole Istanbul immer wieder schwere Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei liefert. Doch plötzlich hat sich die Polizei an den Rand des riesigen Taksim-Platzes zurückgezogen.
Selbst der Gezi-Park neben dem Taksim-Platz wird von der Polizei den Demonstranten überlassen. Der Park war am Freitag der Ausgangspunkt für die heftigsten Massenproteste in der Türkei seit dem Machtantritt von Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vor zehn Jahren gewesen. Einige Tage lang hatte eine kleine Gruppe von Demonstranten den Park besetzt, um die Abholzung der Bäume dort zu verhindern: Auf dem Gelände soll ein Einkaufszentrum entstehen, was die Istanbuler Innenstadt nach Meinung der Demonstranten endgültig in eine Betonwüste verwandeln würde. » | Von Susanne Güsten | Istanbul | Die Presse | Samstag, 01. Juni 2013
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Au grand dam de ses adeptes, une loi interdisant la cigarette dans les lieux publics est entrée en vigueur samedi en Russie. But de l'opération: réduire de moitié le nombre de fumeurs dans le pays.
La loi interdit notamment de fumer dans les écoles, les universités, les centres culturels et sportifs et les hôpitaux.
Les fumeurs ne pourront plus faire de pause-cigarette sur leur lieu de travail. Il sera interdit de fumer dans les trains, les ascenseurs et tous les bâtiments administratifs, y compris les ministères.
Pour pouvoir fumer, il faudra désormais s'éloigner à 15 mètres des aéroports, des gares et des stations de métro et les cigarettes ne seront plus vendues dans les kiosques de rue, une pratique jusqu'alors courante en Russie. Une loi difficile à appliquer » | afpNewsnet | samedi 01 juin 2013
YNET NEWS: At Jerusalem conference, British-born Muslim compares KKK rallies in US to anti-Israel protests in London. 'During my visit I saw Israel wasn't some apartheid state,' he says
A small, but increasingly vocal number of Muslims are rejecting radical hate speech and combating anti-Semitism in the Muslim world. In the recent Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism held this week in Jerusalem, Palestinian Media Watch director, Itamar Marcus and Dr. Boaz Ganor organized a panel discussion with Muslim activists actively rejecting hate rhetoric.
Two of the panel speakers included Kasim Hafeez, a British Muslim who runs The Israel Campaign and Rev. Majed El Shafie, a human rights advocate originally from Egypt. Ahmad Mansour, a Palestinian living in Berlin, who is a policy advisor for the European Foundation for Democracy, was also scheduled to speak but was unable to attend.
"When people say that anti-Semitism exists in the Muslim world because of Israel, that is simply an excuse," says Kasim Hafeez, born in Britain to a Pakistani Muslim family.
"People here (in Israel) get Islamic anti-Semitism. In Europe, we deny it," Hafeez expounded.
"As a university student, I would attend radical anti-Israel rallies in Trafalgar Square. Here I am standing in London in the middle of a European capital - chanting 'death to Israel' and nothing was ever done."
He compares those rallies with the Ku Klux Klan. "An Al-Quds Day rally in London is equivalent to a KKK rally in the US," he stressed. Hafeez told Tazpit News Agency that he began to change his thinking when he read A Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz.
Hafeez explains that he read the book in order to learn how to further deconstruct Zionist propaganda. "But I began to see that I could no longer support my convictions because I had no answers to the arguments that were made for Israel," he explains.
"I found that the radical Islamic doctrine that I grew up with and my own belief in violent jihad could no longer support the truth I once believed in." » | Anav Silverman, Tazpit | Thursday, May 30, 2013
Ed Miliband joined celebrities and more than 33,000 people yesterday in signing a letter to the Daily Mirror condemning far-right groups using Lee Rigby’s death for their own agenda.
The Labour leader joined stars, union bosses and leaders of all faiths in blasting the English Defence League as it planned 90 demonstrations this weekend.
In the letter they said: “We know that the EDL does not speak for all of Britain, just as we know that Muslim ¬extremists do not speak for all Muslims.”
Mr ¬Miliband added: “Today’s Hope Not Hate letter to the Mirror from 33,000 people shows people who spread hatred will fail.”
Anti-racism campaign Hope Not Hate, supported by the Mirror, was behind the message.
Comedian Eddie Izzard urged people to sign the letter and within hours thousands had backed it as the campaign went viral on Twitter.
Among other celebrities to give their support were singers Speech Debelle, Beverley Knight, Billy Bragg and Blue’s Lee Ryan and Duncan James.
Apprentice winner Stella English also got on board and said: “My mum lives moments from where the murder happened so this means a lot to me. I applaud what the Mirror is doing.”
TUC chief Frances O’Grady was among the union bosses to add their names to the letter.
She said: "The fact the EDL is looking to make political capital out of the tragic murder of Lee Rigby shows just how far this organisation is prepared to go to stir up conflict and division.” Letter to the ‘Daily Mirror’ » | Alun Palmer | Saturday, June 01, 2013
We Are The Many »
My view and essay: This Beheading Should Be a Seminal Moment in Our Tolerance of Islam » | Mark Alexander | Thursday, May 23, 2013 and Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Rival protesters clashed outside the Palace of Westminster today, as BNP supporters and anti-fascist campaigners came to blows.
At least one man, a BNP activist, suffered a large cut to the nose after fierce shouting from either side of gated barriers spilled into violence.
Dozens of police sought to break up the disorder, at around 1pm today, after the chanting escalated.
Police sniffer dogs were also deployed to help calm the situation, as tempers flared.
The fighting came despite calls for peace from police and the family of soldier Lee Rigby in the wake of his death.
The 25-year-old's family yesterday stressed that the young soldier would not have wanted violent attacks to be carried out in his name, and urged protesters to remain peaceful. » | James Rush | Saturday, June 01, 2013
RT Live Updates »
In the lead-up to the 89th anniversary of the Turkish Republic on 29 October, political values have never been more openly debated, thanks to a public consultation process, initiated by Turkey's parliament, for a new constitution.
Generally, society has welcomed the initiative, viewing it as a new political framework, to replace the one that was put in place after the 1980 military coup.
But the process has opened old wounds, with heated debate on the role of religion in politics and the increasingly conservative nature of public life.
Secularism is hard to define in Turkey, according to Fadi Hakura of London-based think tank Chatham House. Turkey is constitutionally a secular state, but secularism seems to have taken a unique shape, because of "historical and geographical circumstances in the country".
For example, while there are clear examples of the symbolic application of secularism in daily life, such as the ban on headscarves in public institutions, there are other aspects of the Turkish state that do not sit with secularism. » | Arash Dabestani, Pinar Sevinclidir and Ertugrul Erol | BBC Monitoring | Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The French authorities opened a case against Mrs Le Pen in 2011 after she likened the sight of Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of France.
As a European Parliament member (MEP), she enjoyed immunity from prosecution.
However, this protection was removed by a European parliamentary committee in a secret vote this week.
BBC chief political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue says he has been told that the vote to remove her immunity was "overwhelming".
It will need to be ratified by the full parliament, but that's expected to be a formality, our correspondent says.
When the parliament's legal affairs committee first tried to consider the case, Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far right National Front party, failed to turn up.
This week she sent a fellow French MEP in her place.
The move clears the way for the French authorities to pursue a case against the leader, who steered her party to a record 18% showing in the first round of last year's presidential election. » | Saturday, June 01, 2013
BBC: Paris ban on Muslim street prayers comes into effect » | Friday, September 16, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen: Muslims in France 'like Nazi occupation': Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-Right, drew heavy criticism after she said Muslims praying outside were like Nazi occupiers. » | Sunday, December 12, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Demonstrations against Erdogan government in several cities as riot officers use tear gas to control protesters in Istanbul
Turkey has been engulfed by a series of protests across several cities after riot police turned Istanbul's busiest city centre hub into a battleground, deploying tear gas and water cannon against thousands of peaceful demonstrators.
In one of the biggest challenges to the 10-year rule of the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, demonstrators took to the streets of Ankara, Izmir, Bodrum and several other cities as well as Istanbul to vent their frustration at what is seen to be an increasingly authoritarian administration.
The air of government nervousness was reinforced by the relative lack of mainstream media coverage of the drama in central Istanbul, fuelling speculation that the Erdogan government was leaning on the main television stations to impose a blackout on the ugly scenes.
Following several days of dawn police raids on the protesters seeking to occupy Gezi park on Taksim Square in Istanbul city centre, the clashes escalated violently, leaving more than 100 people injured, several of them seriously.
Police went on the rampage against protesters who had been sitting reading books and singing songs.
There was widespread criticism of the heavy-handed intervention and of the government, which is committed to demolishing the park to erect a shopping centre.
The US state department said: "We certainly support universally peaceful protests, as we would in this case." In Brussels, MEPs called on the EU to act. » | Constanze Letsch in Istanbul | Saturday, June 01, 2013
Related video »
Friday, May 31, 2013
THE INDEPENDENT: Family statement: 'Lee would not want people to use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others'
Family and colleagues of Drummer Lee Rigby have distanced themselves from “extremist” groups using his brutal murder as an excuse to commit violence and make political gains. The condemnation comes as a blow to groups planning to hold a series of marches across the country tomorrow.
The English Defence League and the British National Party have both planned nearly 60 different demonstrations across Britain and anti-fascists have vowed to oppose them. Unite Against Fascism and Hope Not Hate both told The Independent they would be in London to counter demonstrations by the two groups, while large EDL marches are also expected in Leeds and Manchester.
But the young soldier's relatives urged mourners to show their respect in a “peaceful manner” amid increased tensions between political and religious groups.
In a statement released through the Ministry of Defence, family members including his mother Lyn, stepfather Ian, wife Rebecca and son Jack, said: “We would like to emphasise that Lee would not want people to use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others.
”We would not wish any other families to go through this harrowing experience and appeal to everyone to keep calm and show their respect in a peaceful manner.“ » | Kevin Rawlinson | Friday, May 31, 2013
The English Defence League might be the last place you would expect a devout Buddhist monk to turn for inspiration.
But a right-wing spiritual leader in Burma has revealed how he wants to copy the EDL in his bid to rid his country of its Muslim minority.
The Venerable Ashin Wirathu, who was jailed for nine years in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim violence, says the hardline nationalist party should be applauded for 'not carrying out violence, but protecting the public'.
His comments come a week after more than 1,000 EDL members marched on Downing Street in a protest over the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in nearby Woolwich, swilling beer, chanting anti-Muslim slogans and clashing with anti-fascist activists. Thirteen people were arrested.
Now, orange-robed Wirathu, who leads Burma's so-called '969' campaign to boycott Islamic businesses and bring an end to inter-marriage with Buddhists, says he wants his gang members to be more like the EDL.
According to The Times, Wirathu said: 'People give me various names: The Burmese bin Laden, the bald neo-Nazi. '[But] do you know the English Defence League? We would like to be like the EDL. Not carrying out violence, but protecting the public.' » | Matt Blake | Friday, May 31, 2013
Death threats are just another part of life for Terry Holdbrooks Jr.
The ex-U.S. Army employee converted to Islam in 2003, inspired by the faith of the Guantanamo detainees he was charged with watching. Since then, he says he has lost his friends, received violent threats, and been labeled a “race traitor” online.
But he hasn’t gone quietly. The 29-year-old has done his fair share of media and has even signed on for a job as a speaker for the Muslim Legal Fund of America. Now the devout Muslim is racking up frequent flyer miles and touring the country with what he calls the “truth about Gitmo.”
“Gitmo was supposed to be a cushy deployment since we were just going to babysit detainees,” Holdbrooks said. “But it changed me.”
The Phoenix, Ariz., resident spent the year between 2003 and 2004 guarding U.S. military prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was often given the job of escorting detainees to interrogation rooms. He says he witnessed atrocities committed by his fellow American soldiers that he never thought were possible. (+ video) » | Carol Kuruvilla | New York Daily News | Wednesday, May 29, 2013
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