Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Charlie Hebdo Massacre: 'Attack Will Heighten Anti-Islamic Tensions Across Europe'
Thousands of Believers Gather to Celebrate Orthodox Christmas
Charlie Hebdo Attack: Thousands Join Vigils in Paris, London and around the World
Thousands of people have flooded Paris’ Place de la Republique in a vigil to pay tribute to the victims of the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Journalists held up their press cards as members of the public silently raised pens in the air in a poignant symbol against what is being seen as an attack on freedom of speech.
The phrase “je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) has become a rallying call for people expressing solidarity with the victims around the world, with many Paris protesters wearing the slogan on stickers and painting it on giant placards.
The mood was said to be sombre but defiant, with groups of friends quietly talking and comforting each other, trying to come to terms with the day's horrifying events.
A vigil has also started in London’s Trafalgar Square. » | Lizzie Dearden | Wednesday, January 07, 2015
'Islamophobic' Michel Houellebecq Book Featured by Charlie Hebdo Published Today
Monday, January 05, 2015
German Anti-Muslim Protesters Rally Despite Merkel Plea
The rallies, organized by a new grassroots movement known as PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, have become an almost weekly event in the east German city of Dresden in recent months.
Some 18,000 people, the biggest number so far, turned out in Dresden on Monday but similar rallies in Berlin and the western city of Cologne were heavily outnumbered by counter-protesters who accuse PEGIDA of fanning racism and intolerance.
The PEGIDA protesters waved Germany's black, red and gold flag and brandished posters bearing slogans such as "Against religious fanaticism and every kind of radicalism".
One poster in Cologne called for "potatoes rather than doner kebabs", a swipe at ethnic Turks who at around three million represent Germany's largest immigrant community. » | Oliver Barth | Dresden, Germany | Monday, January 05, 2015
Egypt’s al-Sisi Makes Extraordinary Speech on Islam
Accusing the umma (world Islamic population) of encouraging the hostility of the entire world, al-Sisi’s speech is so dramatic and essentially revolutionary it brings to mind Khrushchev’s famous speech exposing Stalin. Many have called for a reformation of Islam, but for the leader of the largest Arab nation to do so has world-changing implications. » | Roger L Simon | Saturday, January 03, 2015
Sunday, January 04, 2015
Religionsfreiheit: Türkei genehmigt erstmals Neubau christlicher Kirche
Ankara/Istanbul - Vor 92 Jahren wurde die Türkische Republik gegründet. Bislang hat es im laut Verfassung laizistischen Staat keinen einzigen Neubau einer christlichen Kirche gegeben. Das wird sich nun offenbar bald ändern. Die Regierung hat laut übereinstimmenden Zeitungsberichten den Bau einer Kirche genehmigt. Das Gotteshaus für die Minderheit der aramäisch-assyrischen Christen soll im Istanbuler Stadtteil Yesilköy am Marmarameer auf städtischem Grund und Boden entstehen. » | fdi/AFP | Samstag, 03. Januar 2015
A Muslim-run France? Novel Sparks Islamophobia Row
“Submission”, which is released in French on Wednesday, has been the subject of intense debate in recent weeks, particularly for its portrayal of Islam.
In 2001 Houellebeck described Islam as “the stupidest of all religions”, a position he has since vocally distanced himself from.
But his latest book has stirred criticism from all quarters and been attacked widely by the French media and on social media. France’s Muslim community accuse the author of inciting Islamophobia in a country with Europe’s biggest Muslim population.
Leading the barrage is Laurent Joffrin, editor-in-chief of left-leaning newspaper Libération, who argues that the novel “will mark the date in history when the ideas of the far-right made a grand return to serious French literature”.
“This is a book that ennobles the ideas of the [far right anti-Europe and anti-immigration] National Front (FN) party,” he added.
Not so, said philosopher Alain Finkielkraut, a member of France’s prestigious Academie Française, who described Houellebecq as a man, “with his eyes wide open and who is not intimidated by political correctness”. » | Sunday, January 04, 2014
Related »
Facebook and Twitter are 'Allowing Islamophobia to Spread by Refusing to Report Offensive Postings'
Facebook and Twitter have been accused of allowing Islamophobia to flourish by refusing to remove hundreds of inflammatory posts which have been reported by anti-racism campaigners.
Some of the posts which have been flagged up to the two social media sites include accusations of Muslims being rapists, paedophiles and comparable to cancer.
In one shocking example, a Facebook user, who was referring to the beheading of Westerners in Syria said: 'For every person beheaded by these sick savages we should drag 10 off the streets and behead them, film it and put it online.
'For every child they cut in half … we cut one of their children in half. An eye for an eye.'
But, in several cases, the accounts behind the abusive messages have not been suspended, nor have the posts been removed, according to a report by The Independent. » | Steph Cockroft for MailOnline | Saturday, January 03, 2014
Enfant terrible's Literary Vision of an Islamic France
Put France’s literary enfant terrible together with Europe’s most combustible political talking point, and sparks were always going to fly.
Michel Houellebecq, whose tale of sex, mother-hatred and cloning Atomised was the French literary scandal of the Nineties, is turning his attention to “Islamisation”.
His new novel Soumission (Submission), will not be published until January 7 but has already triggered a flurry of accusations that he is pandering to the growing Islamophobia gripping France.
It is set in 2022 and imagines the country electing a Muslim president, who goes on to convert France to his vision of society.
In a twist, he is not only able to implement his programme - but it works. France becomes more positive about its future, and more prosperous too.
Houellebecq has already been accused of aligning himself with so-called neo-réactionnaire writers and intellectuals such as Eric Zemmour and Renaud Camus who argue that France’s national identity has been irreversibly diluted by mass immigration and the growth of Islam. » | Rory Mulholland, Paris | Saturday, January 03, 2015
Saturday, January 03, 2015
Cologne Cathedral Will Go Dark in Protest at Anti-Islam March
The floodlights of Cologne cathedral will be switched off as a counter-protest against a planned anti-immigrant march, due to take place in the city on Monday night.
Thousands of marchers, coordinated by a new far-Right protest movement, have demonstrated in Dresden in recent weeks against what they say is the “Islamisation” of the country by Muslim immigrants.
The announcement came as Angela Merkel's Bavarian coalition partners urged a radical overhaul of Germany’s asylum system, including the swift deportation of those turned down for refugee status.
Bavaria’s ruling Christian Social Union, which is also a member of Mrs Merkel’s federal coalition, has proposed a new fast-track asylum process, based on the system used in Switzerland, in which “simple” cases would be decided in just six weeks. A senior CSU figure, Joachim Hermann, the Bavarian interior minister, has called for those whose applications are rejected to be deported. » | Justin HUggler, Berlin | Friday, January 02, 2015
Friday, January 02, 2015
India Outrage over Mock 'Muslim' Terror Drills
A video of a drill in Surat district showed police restraining men wearing long tunics and white skullcaps.
Another video shot in the Narmada district had the "militants" shouting "Islam Zindabad (Long live Islam)".
Muslim leaders have called the videos "atrocious and highly condemnable".
Critics say the videos stereotype Muslims, who make up nearly 14% of the country's 1.2 billion population. » | Friday, January 02, 2015
Florida Man Decapitates Mother on New Year's Eve
Florida officials said that 23-year-old Christian Gomez killed his mother with an axe on Wednesday.
Officers found the body of Maria Suarez-Cassagne outside the family home in Oldsmar, Pinellas County. » | Friday, January 02, 2015
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Exodus from France Leads Aliyah to 10-Year High
Immigration to Israel hit a 10-year high in 2014 with the arrival of approximately 26,500 new immigrants, 32 percent higher than last year’s 20,000 new “olim.”
France for the first time topped the list of countries of origin for immigrants, with nearly 7,000 Jews moving to Israel in 2014, double the 3,400 who came last year.
The other unusual rate of aliyah was from the Ukraine, from where 5,820 Jews moved to Israel, nearly three times the 2,020 who made aliyah in the previous year. » | Jewish Press Staff | Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Vœux du président François Hollande aux Français pour l'année 2015
Österreichs Monarchisten hoffen auf Wende
Happy New Year! Bonne année ! Gutes Neues Jahr! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Felice Anno Nuovo! Felix sit annus novus! Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! ! سنة سعيدة L'Shannah Tovah!
Monday, December 29, 2014
Claptrap? Sir Winston Churchill’s Family Begged Him Not to Convert to Islam, Letter Reveals
The family of Sir Winston Churchill urged him to “fight against” the desire to convert to Islam, a newly discovered letter has revealed.
The Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in World War Two was apparently so taken with Islam and the culture of the Orient that his family wrote to try and persuade him not to become a Muslim.
In a letter dated August 1907 Churchill’s soon to be sister-in-law wrote to him: “Please don’t become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to orientalise, Pasha-like tendencies, I really have.
“If you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed, call of the blood, don’t you know what I mean, do fight against it.”
The letter, discovered by a history research fellow at Cambridge University, Warren Dockter, was written by Lady Gwendoline Bertie who married Churchill’s brother Jack.
"Churchill never seriously considered converting," Dr Dockter told The Independent. "He was more or less an atheist by this time anyway. He did however have a fascination with Islamic culture which was common among Victorians." » | Matilda Battersby | Sunday, December 28, 2014
This article seems to be ludicrous, given the fact that Churchill wrote the following about Islam:
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die: but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.Source: Wiki »
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Islam's Dysfunctional State: In Isis-controlled Syria and Iraq Everyday Life Is Falling Apart
Isis’s vaunted exercise in state-building appears to be crumbling, as living conditions deteriorate across the territories under its control, exposing the shortcomings of a group that devotes most of its energies to fighting battles and enforcing strict rules.
Residents say services are collapsing, prices are soaring and medicines are scarce in towns and cities across the “caliphate” that Isis proclaimed in Iraq and Syria, belying the group’s boasts that it is delivering a model form of governance for Muslims.
Slick videos depicting functioning governing offices and the distribution of aid fail to match the reality of growing deprivation and disorganised, erratic leadership, the residents say. A trumpeted Isis currency has not materialised, nor have the passports the group promised. Schools barely function, doctors are few and disease is on the rise.
In the Iraqi city of Mosul, the water has become undrinkable because supplies of chlorine have dried up, according to a journalist living there, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Hepatitis was spreading and flour for bread was becoming increasingly scarce, he said. “Life in the city is nearly dead, and it is as though we are living in a giant prison,” he said. » | Liz Sly | Friday, December 26, 2014
Western Leftists Stand Up for Their Comrades in Islam
The Lindt cafe nestles in Martin Place, a cosmopolitan promenade steeped in the story of Australia’s rise as a liberal-democratic nation. At one end sits the General Post Office, rendered sublime by the imagination of immigrant Scottish architect James Barnet in a neoclassical revival of the Italian Renaissance. At the other there’s the Australian Provincial Assurance building, a towering art deco tribute to technology and modernity erected at the dawn of totalitarianism in 1937; it is this that houses the Lindt cafe.
Martin Place is a standing celebration of the Australian story, our civilisation’s love of aesthetic beauty, our embrace of modernity, our legacy of civic freedom. It is guarded by the Cenotaph, whose inscription “Lest we forget” is a melancholic reminder of that old adage: the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Islamic State’s totalitarian ideology is clarified in Dabiq magazine and Flames of War, a documentary that justifies its genocidal barbarity using propaganda concocted by the 1960s communist Left. In socialist and Islamist propaganda, the West is portrayed as an imperialist colonial leviathan that stands between eternally oppressed minorities and the second coming of international socialism. The utopian socialists and Islamists both promise world peace — after their bloody revolutions, of course. » | Jennifer Oriel | The Australian | Saturday, December 27, 2014
Morocco Says Exodus Film 'Represents God' and Is Forbidden in Islam
Morocco banned the Hollywood biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings because it “represents God” which is forbidden under Islam, its distributor said on Saturday.
The distributor said it had received written notice that Ridley Scott’s blockbuster contained a scene that represents God in the form of a “child who gives a revelation to the prophet Moses”. Initially, cinema owners were informed verbally that the film had been banned, media reports had said.
“I deplore this censorship,” distributor Mounia Layadi Benkirane said in a statement.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, has also banned the movie, citing “historical inaccuracies”. » | Agence France-Presse in Rabat | Saturday, December 27, 2014
Syrie : Damas prêt à rencontrer l'opposition à Moscou
Le régime syrien est prêt à rencontrer l'opposition à Moscou pour tenter de trouver une issue à la guerre qui ravage le pays depuis près de quatre ans, a annoncé samedi le ministère des Affaires étrangères.
"La Syrie est prête à participer à une rencontre préliminaire et consultative à Moscou pour répondre aux aspirations des Syriens qui sont celles de trouver une issue à la crise", indique une source non identifiée au sein du ministère dans ce communiqué, cité par l'agence officielle syrienne Sana. » | Source AFP | samedi 27 décembre 2014
Boycott Halal Movement in Australia Set to Escalate
Halal products are those deemed permissible for Muslims to eat or use under religious law. Many mainstream products in Australian stores are halal certified including food from SPC, Nestle, Kelloggs and Kraft. Supermarket chains pay for certification for some products, as do dairy factories and meat processors. » | Chris Johnston | Saturday, December 27, 2014
Worse Than the Dictators: Egypt’s Leaders Bring Pillars of Freedom Crashing Down
Egypt is enacting authoritarian laws at a rate unmatched by any regime for 60 years, legal specialists from four institutions have told the Guardian.
Since the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, Morsi’s successors in the presidency, Adly Mansour and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, have used the absence of an elected parliament to almost unilaterally issue a series of draconian decrees that severely restrict freedom of expression, association and assembly.
The speed at which the decrees have been issued outpaces legislative frenzies under the dictators Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, and is matched only by the period that followed the toppling of the Egyptian monarchy in 1952, according to Amr Shalakany, associate law professor at the American University in Cairo; Amr Abdulrahman, director of civil liberties at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights; Mohamed Elhelw, head of legal research at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms; and Ahmed Ezzat, a human rights lawyer, and previously a legal researcher at another prominent rights group. » | Patrick Kingsley in Cairo | Friday, December 26, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
Erdogan's 'New Turkey' Drifts towards Isolation
During his 11 years as prime minister, Turkey rose in prominence. It began negotiations for European Union membership. It hugely increased its diplomatic presence, particularly in Africa. Its biggest city, Istanbul, now hosts one of the world's largest airport hubs with an airline that flies to more countries than any other.
But in the past months, perhaps two years or so, something has soured. The world's statesmen still stop by - the US Vice President, Joe Biden, arriving this week - but Turkey today is distinctly lacking friends.
When the UN General Assembly voted last month for new non-permanent members of the Security Council, Turkey confidently assumed it would secure a seat. But, humiliatingly, it lost out to Spain and New Zealand: A slap in the face for Mr Erdogan, elected president in August. » | Mark Lowen | BBC News | Istanbul | Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Erdogan Tells Europe to Stop Criticizing Turkey
Turkish police earlier this month raided media outlets close to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of forming a 'parallel state' to undermine his rule and orchestrating a graft scandal targeting his inner circle.
The European Union, which Turkey has been seeking to join for decades, said the media raids ran counter to European values, a criticism already dismissed by Erdogan. On Friday, the President repeated his discontent, with a visibly harsher tone.
"We are not Europe's scapegoat," Erdogan told a symposium of civil servants. "We are definitely not a country that Europe can point its finger at and scold. Instead of criticizing us, Europe should find a solution to increasing racism and Islamophobia." » | Reuters | Istanbul | Friday, December 26, 2014
Islamic State: German Author Given Unprecedented Access
Juergen Todenhoefer spent 10 days in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria where he filmed daily life and spoke to fighters.
He told Caroline Hawley what he found. (+ BBC video) » | Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël ! Frohe Weihnachten! Buon Natale! Felix Nativitas!
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| 'We Three Kings', an original painting by James C. Christensen. Collage : Google Images |
Germany: Thousands Stage Anti-immigration Rally, Rail against 'Islamization of West'
DRESDEN - More than 17,000 people took part in Germany's largest anti-immigrant rally to date on Monday in the eastern city of Dresden, gathering to sing Christmas carols and listen to speakers complain about immigrants and asylum-seekers.
The rally by a fast-growing grass-roots movement calling itself PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, was its 10th and largest so far.
"Germany is not a land of immigration," PEGIDA leader Lutz Bachmann told the cheering crowd, which waved Germany flags and chanted criticism of media it accuses of biased reporting. » | Reuters | Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
North Korea Threatens to 'Blow Up' the White House after Claiming to Find 'Clear Evidence' that the Government Was behind Controversial Sony Film The Interview
North Korea has threatened more attacks against the U.S. government and other American institutions in the wake of the hack on Sony which cancelled the release of The Interview.
The government - which was outraged by the film showing the assassination of leader Kim Jong Un - also claimed to have 'clear evidence' that the U.S. government engineered the project as a 'propaganda' attack against North Korea.
In a ranting post published by the state news agency KCNA, Korean authorities hit back in an escalating war of words in which they say they will 'blow up' the White House - while bizarrely continuing to deny they have anything to do with the cyber attacks on Sony.
'Nothing is a more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction.'
'Our target is all the citadels of the U.S. imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans.
'The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the U.S. in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels.' Read on and comment » | Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline | Sunday, December 21, 2014
L'État islamique a exécuté 100 de ses djihadistes étrangers déserteurs
Le groupe djihadiste État islamique (EI) a exécuté cent de ses combattants étrangers qui tentaient de quitter la ville syrienne de Raqqa (nord), a affirmé samedi dans le Financial Times un activiste opposé au régime syrien et à l'EI. Ce militant, qui témoignait sous le couvert de l'anonymat et que le Financial Times dit "bien connaître", affirme dans le quotidien économique "avoir vérifié ces cent exécutions" de djihadistes étrangers tentant de fuir les combats. » | samedi 20 décembre 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
French Police Shoot Dead Knifeman Who Was Shouting Islamic Slogans
French police on Saturday shot dead a man who attacked them with a knife in a police station while shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic), a source said.
The man injured the face of an officer at the entrance to the police station in Joue-les-Tours near the city of Tours in central France and injured two other before he was shot, the interior ministry said.
Anti-terrorist investigators were probing the incident, a judicial source said.
The perpetrator was a French citizen born in Burundi in 1994 and known to police for common crimes, a source close to the case told AFP, adding that the attacker "shouted 'Allahu Akbar' from the moment he entered until his last breath." » | Agencies | Saturday, December 20, 2014
16 Tage Hawaii für die Obamas
Nach einem hektischen Jahr mit internationalen Krisen und einer Schlappe bei den Kongresswahlen ist US-Präsident Barack Obama in die Weihnachtsferien gereist. Zusammen mit seiner Frau Michelle und den beiden Töchtern flog er nach Hawaii ab. » | Samstag, 20. Dezember 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
Kreml will mit Kim Jong-un Sieg über Hitler feiern
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| Kim Jong-un wird voraussichtlich im Mai nach Russland reisen |
Russland hat den nordkoreanischen Machthaber Kim Jong-un zur Feier des 70. Jahrestages des Sieges über Hitler-Deutschland am 9. Mai 2015 nach Moskau eingeladen. "Ja, eine solche Einladung wurde verschickt", sagte Kremlsprecher Dmitri Peskow am Freitag der Staatsagentur Tass.
Es wäre die erste Auslandsreise seit der Machtübernahme Kims. Sein Vater, Kim Jong-il, besuchte Russland 2011 – kurz vor dessen Tod. Damals vereinbarten Moskau und Pjöngjang eine engere Zusammenarbeit. » | dpa/sogi | Freitag, 19. Dezember 2014
Turkey Issues Fethullah Gulen Arrest Warrant
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| Fethullah Gulen is now a fierce opponent of Turkey's leadership, especially President Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Mr Gulen, who is based in the US, is accused of establishing and running an "armed terrorist group".
He was once an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but has now been accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government - a claim the cleric strongly denies.
The US is thought to be unlikely to act on any extradition request.
The move comes amid a national crackdown on perceived supporters of the cleric.
Over 20 journalists working for media outlets thought to be sympathetic to the Gulen movement were arrested last weekend.
Eight of them were freed on Friday on the orders of a court in Istanbul. Those released include Ekrem Dumanli, editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper.
Four others, including a TV station boss, remain in custody. » | Friday, December 19, 2014
'We Will free India of Muslims and Christians by 2021': DJS Leader Vows to Continue 'Ghar Wapsi' Plans and Restore 'Hindu Glory'
Licence to stay
Speaking in Agra on Thursday, a Dharm Jagran Samiti (DJS) functionary said Muslims and Christians will have to convert to Hinduism if they want to stay in this country.
The DJS has been at the forefront of the reconversion - or ‘ghar wapsi’ - programmes in recent times in which some Muslims have been reportedly ‘reconverted’ to Hinduism.
However, their action drew widespread condemnation, leading to the arrest of one activist.
“Our target is to make India a Hindu Rashtra by 2021. The Muslims and Christians don’t have any right to stay here.
“So they would either be converted to Hinduism or forced to run away from here,” Uttar Pradesh DJS head Rajeshwar Singh said. » | Piyush Srivastava | Friday, December 19, 2014
Geert Wilders Was Right
It would seem indispensable for all people who want to defend their liberty to take a stand against criminal and violent people who aim to destroy or damage their societies. If those people are extremist Muslims, why should they be exempt? And if they are not extremist Muslims, why should they not be protected from the same threats and violence that menace us?
Ironically, however, it is not the violent Islamic teachings inspiring these crimes that are questioned, criticized -- or prosecuted -- as hate speech on major media outlets or among political circles. It is, instead, the victims of these teachings: among others, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Lars Hedegaard, Susanne Winter, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Imran Firasat, and Geert Wilders.
What Geert Wilders does cannot be called hate speech. It is legitimate a struggle, if occasionally imperfect, to protect the liberties of all of us in the face of unending threats and attacks, most recently from Islamic extremists.
Geert Wilders is not an extremist of any kind. He is a democrat who defends Western values, the most important of which are liberty and life. We should not prosecute Wilders. We should thank him for sacrificing his life to defend us -- and defend him back. » | Uzay Bulut | Friday, December 19, 2014
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Homosexualité, la face cachée du Pakistan
Plus de 87 % de la population pakistanaise serait homophobe, selon un sondage du Pew Institute. Pourtant, selon les Google trends (tendances), le Pakistan serait le plus gros consommateur de porno gay au monde. Un paradoxe que l'on retrouve aussi bien dans les moeurs que dans la culture pakistanaise.
Akbar*, un musulman pieux à la longue barbe noire, vit à Lahore, deuxième plus grande ville du pays. Aujourd'hui, il ne va pas au travail. Sa femme n'étant pas là, il a accepté de nous parler de son passe-temps favori : se travestir devant un miroir. "Je fais mes prières et j'honore Allah tous les jours, confesse-t-il, en se mettant du rouge à lèvres. J'ai même une femme, pour faire plaisir à Dieu. Mais pour mon coeur, je vois des hommes." Comme beaucoup d'autres, Akbar doit cacher son homosexualité. Au Pakistan, les rapports entre personnes du même sexe sont en effet passibles de la peine de mort. (+ vidéos) » | Par Marie de Douhet, au Pakistan | jeudi 12 décembre 2014
* Le prénom a été changé.
Geert Wilders Charged with Incitement to Hatred over 'Fewer' Immigrants Chant
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| Geert Wilders demanded "fewer Moroccans" as an election slogan |
Geert Wilders has been charged with incitement to discrimination and hatred after the Dutch far-Right leader led chants of "fewer Moroccans” at an election rally.
It is not the first time the leader of the Freedom Party, famous for his peroxide blond mane of hair and currently leading in the opinion polls, has found himself in the dock on charges for his comments on Islam and immigration.
“I have said what millions of people think and find. For the second time, one apparently wants to deal with someone who speaks the truth,” said Mr Wilders.
“It is a travesty that I have to defend myself in court for this. The public prosecutor would do better to devote his time to prosecuting jihadis instead of me. The Party for Freedom is the largest party in the polls. Apparently the elite does not like that.” » | Bruno Waterfield | Thursday, December 18, 2014
My comment:
Isn't it high time that the EU had a US-style First Amendment? – © Mark
Niederlande: Wilders muss wegen Äußerungen zu Marokkanern vor Gericht
Den Haag - Die niederländische Staatsanwaltschaft hat Anklage gegen den rechtspopulistischen Politiker und Vorsitzenden der "Partei für die Freiheit" (PVV), Geert Wilders, erhoben. Der Politiker müsse sich wegen Diskriminierung und Aufhetzerei strafrechtlich verantworten, teilten die Ankläger in Den Haag mit. Wilders werde vorgeworfen, "eine Gruppe von Menschen wegen ihrer Rasse beleidigt" zu haben, hieß es weiter. Politiker könnten in ihren Äußerungen grundsätzlich "weit gehen", dies sei Teil der Meinungsfreiheit, erklärte die Staatsanwaltschaft. Das Diskriminierungsverbot schränke die Meinungsfreiheit aber ein. Ein Termin für den Prozess steht noch nicht fest. » | anr/dpa/AFP | Donnerstag, 18. Dezember 2014
After the Pakistan School Attack, We Need to Talk about Islam
"There is nothing in Islam that justifies acts of terror." (Prime Minister David Cameron reacting to the beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby by two Islamists who shouted “Allahu Akbar" and quoted 22 verses from the Koran.)
"They don’t represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world." (David Cameron’s reaction to the massacre by Islamists in Nairobis’s Westgate shopping centre of anyone who failed to name the mother of the founder of Islam or recite verses from the Koran.)
"This hateful ideology has nothing to do with Islam... Let the message go out that we know Islam is a religion of peace." (Theresa May’s speech to Conservative Party Conference, 2014.) Islamic State has "nothing to do with the great religion of Islam, a religion of peace." (David Cameron, denying any connection between the creation of an Islamic caliphate and Islam.)
"[The massacre in Pakistan] is nothing to do with one of the world's great religions - Islam, which is a religion of peace." (Prime Minister David Cameron speaking after a group of Taliban gunmen murdered 141, including 132 children at a school in northern Pakistan.)
Please. Enough.
The mantra that Islamism "has nothing to do with Islam" is well-intentioned. It aims to delegitimise the terrorists and strengthen the vast majority of Muslims who oppose terror. It is no doubt what the "comms" experts are telling the Prime Minister to say. But they are wrong. The unthinking, kneejerk, pro-forma and near-Orwellian denial of the deep and manifold connections between Islam and Islamism has to stop.
Forget Alistair Campbell. We have to start "doing religion" because, as I learnt in 2008-2010 when interviewing 25 young British Muslims who had taken a journey in and out of extremism, we have to start "doing" Islam if we are to defeat Islamism.
We are petrified of speaking obvious truths. When a lord recently dared to invite Muslim leaders to address the violence in the Koran, he was condemned.
This groupthink has to stop. » | Alan Johnson * | Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Alan Johnson is the editor of Fathom and a Senior Research Associate at The Foreign Policy Centre
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
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