Alaskan Muslims Raising the Roof of State's First Mosque

The nearly-completed mosque.

AL JAZEERA AMERICA: The holy land is 6,000 miles away and for now they worship in a strip mall, but Islamic faithful head to Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska’s first mosque has risen quietly over the last few years in a gravel lot in a South Anchorage commercial district, a neighbor to a Korean Presbyterian church, a couple of auto repair garages, a drive-through Chinese restaurant and a Sons of Norway hall.

A few weeks ago, Sam Obeidi, vice president of the Islamic Community Center Anchorage Alaska, turned a key and pushed open the mosque’s door, flipping on a light in a hallway that smelled of drywall plaster and new carpet.

Palestinian by birth, Obeidi came to Alaska as a teenager to join his father, a refugee, who settled in Anchorage in the 1960s. In those days, Muslims met and prayed in his father’s home. Obeidi’s family now owns a frame shop and gallery. He has been involved with the mosque-building project for the last five years of an effort that began 15 years ago.

Anchorage Muslims have so far raised $2 million to build the 15,000-square-foot facility, and must raise $1 million more before the prayer hall is completed and two minarets are placed on the mosque’s roof. » | Julia O’Malley | Friday, December 05, 2014

“Counter Jihad Coalition” Takes to the Streets to Warn People About Islam

FRONTPAGE MAG: While Islam is waging a bloody battle across the entire world, instead of calling out their atrocities most of the media chooses to punish the people trying to warn the world about Islam. Freedom Fighters like Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Frank Gaffney, and Brigitte Gabriel are continuously denigrated for simply telling the truth.

Regardless of 9/11/01 and 9/11/12, and despite the fact that Americans are being beheaded by ISIS, if you dare suggest that the Islamic State is getting their killing orders directly from the Quran you are called ‘intolerant’ and ‘Islamophobic’. Meanwhile, ISIS is becoming more and more popular on social media and posters saying ‘ISIS is Here’ were seen in the original Ferguson riots. » | Ann-Marie Murrell | Friday, December 05, 2014

France to Pay $60m over Nazi Rail Deportations

Jews, many of them Polish, getting off the train in Pithiviers,
central France in 1941

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The French government will pay the money to Holocaust survivors in America who were transported using its trains 70 years ago

France has agreed to pay $60 million in compensation to hundreds of American survivors of the Holocaust who were deported to Nazi death camps using the country's trains.

The money will also be available to thousands of descendants of those who were transported on freight cars belonging to the French state rail company SNCF.

It follows a long legal battle after the US state of Maryland barred SNCF from bidding for contracts on a $3 billion transport project there.

There are around 250 survivors in the US who will be eligible for the reparations. They could receive up to $100,000 each, and spouses or heirs of survivors who have since died could get several tens of thousands of dollars. » | Nick Allen, and agencies | Friday, December 05, 2014

Großaufgebot der Polizei prüft salafistischen Verein

NORD-WEST ZEITUNG ONLINE: Bremen hat erstmals einen Moscheeverein verboten. Mehr als 200 Polizisten haben die Räume des salafistischen Kultur & Familien Vereins (KuF), eine Moschee und 17 Privatwohnungen untersucht.

BREMEN – Erstmals in Deutschland hat Bremen einen mutmaßlichen Unterstützerverein der Terrormiliz Islamischer Staat (IS) verboten. Mehr als 200 Polizisten durchsuchten am Freitag die Räume des salafistischen Kultur & Familien Vereins (KuF) im Stadtteil Gröpelingen, eine Moschee und 17 Privatwohnungen, wie Innensenator Ulrich Mäurer (SPD) nach dem Einsatz berichtete. Festnahmen gab es nicht, die Aktion verlief friedlich. Die Beamten stellten die Personalien von 53 Menschen fest, sie beschlagnahmten rund 12.000 Euro an Vereinsvermögen und fanden mehrere Waffen. » | Freitag, 05. Dezember 2014

German Far-Left Party Takes State Parliament

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH East German communists return to power 25 years after fall of Berlin Wall

Germany's far-Left party has returned to power in a state government for the first time since the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, stoking heated debate about its communist roots.

The Left Party, widely seen as the successor to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that once ruled East Germany, will head the government of Thuringia after the state parliament narrowly voted to approve a new coalition.

The new state prime minister, Bodo Ramelow, used his first speech in parliament to apologise to victims of the former communist regime, and said he wanted to "reconcile rather than divide".

Thousands of people braved sub-zero temperatures on the streets of the state capital, Erfurt, on Thursday night to protest against the expected result of the vote.

Angela Merkel predicted the decision would be "bad news" for Thuringia, while the German President, Joachim Gauck, broke with the traditional neutrality of his role to speak out against it. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Friday, December 05, 2014

NORD-WEST ZEITUNG ONLINE: Ramelow ist Thüringens neuer Ministerpräsident: Der 58-jährige Bodo Ramelow erhielt im zweiten Wahlgang 46 von 90 gültigen Stimmen. Damit stellt die Linke 25 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall erstmals einen Ministerpräsidenten in Deutschland. Bei der Wahl lief aber nicht alles glatt. » | Freitag, 05. Dezember 2014

Bahraini Activist Zainab al-Khawaja Sentenced over King's Photo

Zainab al-Khawaja has been detained several times since 2011

BBC: Bahraini pro-democracy activist Zainab al-Khawaja has been sentenced to three years in prison for tearing up a picture of King Hamad.

A court gave her the option of paying a fine to remain at liberty until her appeal.

Ms Khawaja, who comes from Bahrain's most prominent dissident family, faces other cases next week.

Amnesty International said it would consider Ms Khawaja "a prisoner of conscience" if she were jailed.

"Tearing up a photo of the head of state should not be a criminal offence," Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Said Boumedouha said. » | Thursday, December 04, 2014

Teetotal Muslims Partly to Blame for Decline of Pubs, Tory Peer Says

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tory peer says rise of Muslim population on British cities who do not drink has been 'exceptionally hard' for publicans

Muslims are partly to blame for the decline in the number of pubs in Britain because they are teetotal, a Conservative peer has said.

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, who was previously a director at one of Britain's biggest brewers, said that the "tides of history" have led to large numbers of Muslims in Britain's cities who do not drink.

He said that "socioeconomic change" is more responsible for the decline of pubs than "rapacious" pub chains.

He said: "I identify three fundamental features behind this. The first is the rapid rate of socioeconomic change in Britain. Twenty-five years ago, the company of which I was a director would have operated probably a dozen pubs in Kidderminster, the home of the carpet trade. » | Steven Swinford, Senior Political Correspondent | Thursday, December 04, 2014

«Ihr seid Juden, ihr habt Geld»

TAGES ANZEIGER: Ein Überfall schockiert Frankreich: Drei Männer haben ein Paar in seiner Pariser Wohnung überfallen und die Frau vergewaltigt – weil sie Juden waren. Nun ist die Antisemitismus-Debatte im Land wieder entbrannt.

Nach dem brutalen Überfall auf ein junges Paar bei Paris ist die Debatte um den Antisemitismus in Frankreich wieder voll entbrannt. Präsident François Hollande verurteilte die «unerträgliche Gewalt» gegen die zwei jungen Menschen, die wegen ihrer jüdischen Religion gezielt überfallen und ausgeraubt worden waren. Der Staatschef und sein Premierminister Manuel Valls riefen zum Kampf gegen Antisemitismus auf.

Hollande hob im Elysée-Palast hervor, im Kampf «gegen den Rassismus, gegen den Antisemitismus» dürfe nicht so getan werden, «als hätten wir nichts gesehen». Der Überfall zeige, dass «das Schlimmste existiert». Dadurch werde das Beste an Frankreich «verletzt, beschädigt». Regierungschef Valls verurteilte die «Gräueltat» in einer Twitter-Botschaft. Der Überfall sei der «widerwärtige Beweis», «dass der Kampf gegen den Antisemitismus jeden Tag geführt werden» müsse. » | ajk/AFP | Donnerstag, 04. Dezember 2014

TAGES ANZEIGER: Israel einfach: Französische Juden wandern zu Tausenden nach Israel aus. Nie waren es mehr. Sie gehen, weil sie die offenen Anfeindungen nicht mehr ertragen. » | Von Oliver Meiler, Korrespondent | Donnerstag, 14. August 2014

TAGES ANZEIGER: «Die hässliche Fratze des Antisemitismus» : In Europa nimmt der Antisemitismus neue Dimensionen an. Auch Schweizer Juden erhalten deutlich mehr Hassbriefe und werden auf sozialen Medien offen angefeindet. » | Von Felix Schindler, Redaktor Inland | Donnerstag 14. August 2014

Schweizer Islam-Video irritiert

TAGES ANZEIGER: Fünf Jahre nach der Annahme der Minarettinitiative kursiert ein rätselhaftes Video im Internet. Es sei ein Aufruf zu mehr Toleranz, sagen die Macher. Viele sehen das anders.

Eine schwarz vermummte Gestalt trägt eine weisse Fahne mit dem muslimischen Glaubensbekenntnis auf einen Berg. Immer mehr Personen folgen ihr. Nach drei Minuten endet das Video mit der Botschaft: «Erwartet uns! Jederzeit. Überall.» Als Absender erscheint: «Die Muslime der Schweiz».

Das professionelle Video wurde vom Islamischen Zentralrat Schweiz (IZRS) gedreht und hat bereits beim Dreh für Aufmerksamkeit gesorgt. Es wurde in der Zentralschweiz auf öffentlichen Plätzen gedreht. Besorgte Passanten alarmierten die Polizei. Saïda Keller-Messahli, Präsidentin des Forums für einen fortschrittlichen Islam, sagte der «Neuen Luzerner Zeitung»: «Die Aktion ist eine totale Provokation.» Wer an einem öffentlichen Weg solche Aktionen durchführe, wo an einem Sonntag viele Spaziergänger entlanggingen, wolle auffallen, schockieren, Präsenz markieren und reine Propaganda betreiben. » | Claudia Peter | Donnerstag, 04. Dezember 2014

TAGES ANZEIGER: «Muslimfeindlichkeit in der Schweiz ist gestiegen» : Die muslimischen Verbände der Schweiz warnen vor einer zunehmenden Islamophobie. Die Stimmung im Land sei aufgeheizt, und das bekämen die Muslime zu spüren. » | Sunday, 02. November 2014

Polémique : Le Conseil Central Islamique publie une vidéo provocante

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le Conseil Central Islamique Suisse (CCIS) a tourné une vidéo ambiguë que certains jugent menaçante, voire provocante à tout le moins. Même si ses dirigeants s'en défendent.

Le Conseil Central Islamique Suisse (CCIS) refait parler de lui, avec une vidéo qui fait polémique. Le petit film, de plus de trois minutes, en anglais et sous-titré en français, parle du «début d'une révolution islamique» et se termine avec des termes que d'aucuns jugent menaçants. «Attendez-vous à nous, à tout moment, n'importe où. Les musulmans de Suisse». Avec le logo CCIS. La séquence a été tournée par des professionnels dans la région de Lucerne dans des espaces publics où les passants ont alerté la police, comme l'explique le Tages-Anzeiger. » | Par Pascal Schmuck, Zurich | jeudi 04 décembre 2014

Provocation: Five Years after the Minaret Ban: The Muslims of Switzerland Rise Up against Islamophobia

Gay and Lesbian Gambians Live in Fear of ‘Aggravated Homosexuality’ Law

THE GUARDIAN: Few havens available in west Africa for people forced to flee homophobia and harsh new legislation

The tipoff late one night wasn’t unexpected. Since the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” had come into force in the Gambia in October, Theresa had been living in fear. Then a friend who worked for the country’s notorious police force warned her she would be targeted in a raid in a few hours’ time. Theresa’s crime was being a lesbian.

“I wasn’t surprised, I was expecting it anyway because the president has said many times he will kill us all like dogs,” she said. “But I was really, really scared. My friend said, if you don’t go now, it will be too late.” By dawn, Theresa was on a bus out of the country with her best friend, Youngesp, both of whom agreed to speak only if their real names were not used. The two have joined a growing number of people whose lives have been upended by anti-gay laws that trample on an already marginalised minority in west Africa.

That they ended up seeking refuge in neighbouring Senegal, where being gay or lesbian is punishable with five-year jail terms, points to the particularly dismal situation in the Gambia. Its politicians have long and publicly railed against homosexuality, with the tone set by President Yahya Jammeh, who this year labelled gay people vermin. » | Monica Mark, West Africa correspondent | Thursday, December 04, 2014

Vladimir Putin: West Has Tried to Contain Russia for Decades

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, delivers his state of
the nation speech

THE GUARDIAN: President uses state of the nation speech to attack west as rouble slides under pressure of economic sanctions over Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has accused the west of trying to contain and subvert Russia “for decades, if not centuries”, in a fierce and uncompromising attack during his state of the nation speech.

Analysts were curious to see whether the president would take a conciliatory tone in his annual speech to Russia’s political elite, as the rouble slides and relations with the west are at a low point over the unrest in Ukraine.

Instead, Putin opened with a fierce defence of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, calling it a “historic rejoining” of a region as important to Russia as Temple Mount was to Jerusalem.

He said that if the recent events in Crimea had not happened, the west would have simply found another excuse to contain Russia with sanctions, recalling that in the 1990s the west had tried to break up Russia “along the Yugoslavian scenario”. He warned that the sanctions and angry rhetoric from the west would only have the opposite effect to that intended.

“For some European countries, national pride is seen as a luxury, but for Russia it is a necessity,” said Putin, adding that it was pointless to use threats when speaking to Russia. Read on and comment » | Shaun Walker in Moscow | Thursday, December 04, 2014

Washington Refuses to Blacklist Muslim Brotherhood

MIDDLE EAST MONITOR: The US has refused to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, stressing that there is insufficient credible proof that it has given up its decades-long commitment to refusing violence, Al-Jazeera.net reported yesterday.

The American decision came in response to a petition filed 16 months ago calling for the US administration to announce the worldwide Islamist group a terrorist organisation. » | Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Bashar al-Assad: Airstrikes against Islamic State Are Failing

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Speaking in his first interview since the start of the offensive, Syrian leader says there has been 'no change' noticed on the ground in Syria

Coalition air strikes targeting Isil jihadists in Syria have made no difference, President Bashar al-Assad has said in his first interview with western media since the start of the campaign in which he described himself as a captain “saving his ship”.

Mr Assad said his troops had noticed “no change” in the balance of power on the ground since the start of the US-led bombing campaign in September.

“You can’t end terrorism with aerial strikes,” he told Paris Match in an interview published on Thursday. “Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential. That is why there haven’t been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition.

“It isn’t true that the strikes are helpful. They would of course have helped had they been serious and efficient. We are running the ground battles, and we have noticed no change.”< br />
Mr Assad’s views on the war in Syria contrasted with an assessment of the situation given by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, yesterday. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, December 03, 2014

China Bans Religion in Islam-heavy Xinjiang Region

BREITBART: Chinese authorities in the Xinjiang region of the country’s West have banned citizens from practicing religion in any state-owned entities. Because China is a Communist country, the law, which will take effect on January 1, 2015, likely pertains to all property.

Additionally, the Communist Party will dole out heavy fines for religiously-motivated Internet posts that have been determined to "undermine national unity." The penalty for violating the newly established Internet and mobile communications laws could result in a fine as high as $5,000 dollars. “An increasing number of problems involving religious affairs have emerged in Xinjiang,” an official in the Xinjiang People’s Congress was quoted saying in state media. The law specifically mentions that videos showing jihad or holy war may not be viewed or distributed in any manner. Read on and comment » | Jordan Schachtel | Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Arizona Pastor: We Could Cure AIDS by Christmas If We Stone Homos to Death

Pastor Steven Anderson says the world
could be cured of AIDS by Christmas

PINK NEWS: A Christian pastor has claimed that the world could be cured of AIDS “by Christmas” if “homos” were stoned to death.

Pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona made the disturbing claim last week, in a sermon ahead of World AIDS Day.

He said: “Approximately 1.6 percent of the US populations, and 0.7 percent are bi… it’s all the same category, Sodomite.

“Turn to Leviticus 20:13, because I actually discovered the cure for AIDS. We could have an AIDS free world by Christmas if we follow this. » | Nick Duffy | Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Latvian Politician 'Praised Nazi Shooting of Gays'

Ms Priede represents the Kandava district in western Latvia

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Inga Priede, member of Latvia's ruling Unity party, resigns after tweeting "Thank God! The Germans shot them in their time" about homosexuals in same-sex marriage debate

Latvia's ruling party has been forced to distance itself from comments by one of its members which appeared to praise the Nazi extermination of homosexuals.

Inga Priede, a member of the Unity party, has resigned after making the comments in a Twitter discussion on Monday night about same-sex marriage legislation.

“Thank God! The Germans shot them in their time. Birth rate was going up," wrote Ms Priede.

She wrote that Latvian citizens in rural areas were "in shock" about the possibility of same-sex marriage legislation being introduced, and that homosexuals living in these regions were "not proud" of their sexuality because "there are basic values". » | Andrew Marszal | Wednesday, Decembrer 03, 2014

Pope Sacks the Head of His Swiss Guard for Being 'Too Strict'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Daniel Anrig will no longer serve as commandant of Pontiff's private army after Pope Francis is rumoured to prefer a "less military" approach to security

He has dismissed and demoted cardinals, bishops and the Vatican secretary of state, and now Pope Francis’s reformist zeal has claimed a new scalp – the head of his own private army, the Swiss Guard.

In a dispassionate one-sentence notice, the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, announced on Wednesday that Daniel Anrig will no longer serve as the commandant of the 500-year-old corps after the end of next month.

No official explanation was given for the decision, but it was widely rumoured that the Argentinean Pope, who has established a warmer, more inclusive style of governance since being appointed pontiff in March last year, found the commander’s manner overly strict and “Teutonic”.

The 77-year-old pope is said to have been appalled recently to have emerged one morning from his private suite of rooms to find that a Swiss Guard had been standing guard all night.

“Sit down,” he told the young guardsman, to which the soldier said: “I can’t, it’s against orders.” » | Nick Squires, Rome | Wednesday, November 03, 2014

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le commandant de la Garde suisse partira à la fin janvier : L'actuel commandant quittera son poste au début 2015, après plus de cinq ans à son poste, contrairement aux usages. Le Lucernois Christophe Graf, actuel vice-commandant de la Garde, pourrait lui succéder. » | smk/ats/Newsnet | mercredi 03 décembre 2014

Richard III DNA Shows British Royal Family May Not Have Royal Bloodline

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The University of Leicester has studied the DNA of Richard III and found that there could be a break in the royal bloodline


When the body of Richard III was discovered in a car park in Leicester in 2012 archaeologists knew it was a momentous find.

But little did they realise that it might expose the skeletons in the cupboard of the British aristocracy, and even call into question the bloodline of the Royal family. » | Sarah Knapton, Science Editor | Tuesday, December 02, 2014