Merkel Condemns Racism as Dresden Anti-Islam Marches Grow

NEWSWEEK: Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned a series of anti-Muslim demonstrations centered on the eastern city of Dresden, saying via an aide on Friday that there was "no place in Germany" for hatred of Muslims or any other religious or racial group.

"In the name of the government and the chancellor I can say quite clearly that there is no place in Germany for religious hatred, no matter which religion people belong to," said the chancellor's spokeswoman, Christiane Wirtz.

"There is no place for Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or any form of xenophobia or racism," she said of the growing Monday evening marches in Dresden under the motto PEGIDA, standing for "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West".

Public expressions of anti-immigrant sentiment are largely taboo in mainstream German politics because of the Nazis' mass-murder of Jews and other groups in the Holocaust. Merkel argues that Germany needs immigrants to avoid demographic crisis. » | Reuters | Friday, December 12, 2014

Statement of Geert Wilders During His Interrogation by the State Police

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: As a democratically elected politician I name the problems that I see.... That is my duty. That is why I have been elected. I rely on objective facts and figures.... Because they are the truth.

I do not intend to hurt or offend people either... Already for over 10 years, I have lost my personal freedom.

In my fight for freedom and against the Islamization of the Netherlands, I will never let anyone silence me. No matter the cost, no matter by whom, whatever the consequences may be.

To speak with the words of Martin Luther King: "I close by saying there is nothing greater in all the world than freedom. It's worth going to jail for. It's worth losing a job for. It's worth dying for."

The Hague, December 8, 2014.

Today, Dutch parliamentarian and PVV leader Geert Wilders made a statement during his interrogation by the Dutch State Police. The State Police interrogated Mr Wilders on behalf of the Dutch Public Prosecutor, who is considering to prosecute Mr Wilders because the politician had asked his voters during the election campaign whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.

Our freedom is being threatened. Threatened by a violent totalitarian ideology – Islam – that brings with it death and devastation. Threatened by a politically correct elite that does not tolerate criticism of Islam and mass immigration, and that nurtures cultural relativism.

I rise up against this. » | Geert Wilders | Tuesday, December 09, 2014

PEGIDA: Merkel verurteilt Anti-Islam-Bewegung

ZEIT ONLINE: Es gebe in Deutschland keinen Platz für Hetze gegen Gläubige oder Fremdenfeindlichkeit, sagt die Bundeskanzlerin. Joachim Gauck nennt die Pegida-Anhänger Chaoten.

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) sieht die Demonstrationen der Anti-Islam-Bewegung Pegida kritisch. Mit Blick auf die jüngsten Proteste des Bündnisses sagte die stellvertretende Regierungssprecherin Christiane Wirtz in Berlin, es gebe in Deutschland keinen Platz für Hetze gegen Gläubige, für Islamophobie oder Fremdenfeindlichkeit. Merkel verurteile solche Tendenzen auf das Schärfste.

Dennoch müsse die Regierung die Sorgen der Bürger ernst nehmen. Die Zuwanderung nach Deutschland und die steigenden Asylbewerberzahlen beschäftigten die Bevölkerung, sagte die Sprecherin. » | dpa/sdo | Freitag, 12. Dezember 2014

La Belgique rend un dernier hommage à la reine Fabiola

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Les Belges ont rendu hommage à la reine Fabiola lors de funérailles nationales.

La Belgique et le gotha mondial ont rendu ce vendredi 12 décembre un dernier hommage à la reine Fabiola. Les funérailles nationales ont été empreintes de sobriété, avec une touche très musicale, comme le souhaitait la veuve du roi Baudouin.

Sous une pluie drue, un corbillard, encadré par des cavaliers de la garde royale à cheval, a quitté en début de matinée le Palais royal de Bruxelles, où reposait la cinquième reine des Belges depuis mardi, pour rejoindre la cathédrale des Saints Michel et Gudule, distante de quelques centaines de mètres, accompagné par la famille royale au grand complet.

Le cercueil de chêne clair, sur lequel un petit drapeau belge noir, jaune et rouge avait été déposé, a été porté jusqu'au chœur de la cathédrale et posé à même le sol. » | ats/Newsnet | vendredi 12 décembre 2014

Gambian President Attends Rally with Protesters Declaring: ‘Homosexuality Is Forbidden in Islam’

Yahya Jammeh

PINK NEWS: The President of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has attended a mass rally against homosexuality in the country’s capital Banjul.

AllAfrica reports thousands of protesters marched from the Gambian Parliament on Tuesday carrying placards and banners declaring: “Homosexuality is Inhuman”; “Even cows don’t do it!” “Homosexuality is forbidden in Islam”.

Islam is the majority religion of Gambia, with around 95.3% of the population being Muslims.

In November, President Jammeh signed into law a bill which calls for life imprisonment for people caught taking part in same-sex sexual activity. » | Scott Roberts | Thursday, December 11, 2014

Monaco Princess Charlene Gives Birth to Twins

BBC: Monaco's Princess Charlene has given birth to twin babies, Gabriella and Jacques, the palace has announced.

Prince Jacques is next in line to the Monaco throne, a rich principality on the southern French coast.

A statement said both babies were doing well. Gabriella was born first, with Jacques arriving two minutes later.

Their father is Prince Albert II, 56, son of the late Hollywood actress, Grace Kelly. Charlene, 36, is a Zimbabwean-born former Olympic swimmer.

The couple married in 2011. » | Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Switzerland Orders Community Service for Returned Islamic State Jihadist

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Convert to Islam, who spent two weeks in training camp in Syria before changing his mind, has been spared jail with 600 hours of community service

Switzerland has ordered a returned recruit of the Islamic State group to do 600 hours of community service and will not send him to prison, in the country's first sentencing of a foreign jihadist fighter. Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber's ruling went into effect this week, he told public broadcaster RTS late Wednesday.

The 30-year-old recent convert to Islam, from the western Swiss canton of Vaud, had travelled to Syria late last year to join an IS training camp.

The man, whose name was not given, told the broadcaster he had been indoctrinated over the Internet.

"I was new to Islam... The videos I saw and the discussions I had online made me feel like I had to go there," he said. » | AP | Wednesday, December 10, 2014

German Eurosceptics Embrace Anti-Islam Protests

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Political row in Germany as justice minister speaks out against protests gripping city of Dresden

The wave of anti-Islam protests gripping the German city of Dresden have ignited a political row, after the leader of the country's rapidly growing Eurosceptic party publicly backed the protesters.

Ten thousand people took to the streets of Dresden on Monday in the latest in a series of weekly rallies under the banner of Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of Europe, or Pegida, to protest against what they say is the erosion of Germany's Judeo-Christian culture by Muslim immigrants.

Bernd Lucke, the leader of the anti-Euro Alternative for Germany party (AfD), provoked outrage when he backed the protesters on his Facebook page, saying it is "good and right" that people are giving voice to their fears.

"It is a sign that these people do not feel their concerns are understood by politicians," he wrote.

The AfD, which opposes the single currency and further integration, but is not against the EU, has made considerable gains in recent state elections. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Wednesday, December 10, 2014

EU Judge Gives Jean-Claude Juncker the 'Key Task' of Defeating Euroscepticism

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Your mission is to defeat Eurosceptics, the EU's most senior judge tells the president of the European Commission

Europe’s most senior judge has told Jean-Claude Juncker that his political mission is to prevent Eurosceptics from trampling on “the fruits of European integration”.

Vassilios Skouris, the president of the Court of Justice, Europe’s highest judicial body, made the extraordinary comments in a ceremony aimed at upholding the political independence of the European Commission.

He instructed Mr Juncker that his “key task” was to prevent the critics of the European Union from reducing the powers of institutions such as the Luxembourg court he oversees, or the commission in Brussels.

“I would like to say a few words about your mission,” Mr Skouris said.

“You are taking up office during the worst financial and economic crisis that Europe has suffered at a time when the European ideal is beset by criticism from Eurosceptic circles. Thus your key task is to prevent the fruits of European integration being trampled in the dust.” » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Isil Terrorists Throw Man Off Roof 'For Being Gay'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pictures of the murder posted on jihadist website provide further evidence of Islamic State's reign of terror in Syria and northern Iraq

Isil terrorists have released pictures of themselves throwing a man off a roof for allegedly being gay.

The murder took place in an area of northern Iraq controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

Nine armed insurgents, their faces concealed by black balaclavas, are shown gathered on the roof of a three-storey building, while their victim plummets to the ground below. » | Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Deutschland wacht auf. Wir sind das Volk! - PEGIDA

Friedlich und vereint gegen die Islamisierung und Verfremdung unserer Heimat! Für den Erhalt unserer Kultur, unserer Werte und für den Schutz unserer Familien.

Wir distanzieren uns von Gewalt und jeglicher Art von Extremismus.

British Christianity: Churches Decline While Islam Grows; Is America Next?

CHRISTIAN POST – OPINION: Gov. Mike Huckabee recently retraced the steps of Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan with a group of ministers and faith leaders. After touring Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Churchill War Rooms, he remarked that both Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill were heavily criticized and often dismissed yet they remained steadfast to name and fight evil.

"During two periods of massive global change," Huckabee argued, "if these world leaders had been ambiguous about evil the world would be quite different."

For Churchill, evil was Nazism and fascism. In 1936 he said of Stanley Baldwin's government, "They go on, in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent."

For Thatcher, evil was socialism and communism. She said, "I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.

"And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark divisive clouds of Marxist socialism." Ronald Reagan alone stood with her, as the only world leader to call the Soviet Union what it was: "the Evil Empire."

Why did they fight, despite their opponents' incessant impotence, ignorance, and impudence?

According to Huckabee, they fully understood what evil is: "Evil creates oppression and takes from the human soul that which is most like God—because freedom, creativity, and joy all come from God. And when a government devalues human beings, it sins against God."

They also knew what is good. Thatcher said, "We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state." » | Bethany Blankley | CP Op-Ed Contributor | Tuesday, December 09, 2014

David Cameron: I Still Want Turkey to Join EU, Despite Migrant Fears

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Prime Minister says a European Union without Turkey is 'not stronger but weaker'

David Cameron has said that he still “very much supports” Turkey joining the European Union, despite his Government's inability to control numbers of EU migrants coming to the UK.

The Prime Minister was quizzed about his support for Turkey’s accession to the EU during a visit to Turkey to meet the country’s Prime Minister and President.

Mr Cameron said he had discussed Turkey’s accession to the EU during talks in Ankara on Tuesday afternoon with Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Prime Minister.

The visit was his first since 2010 when he told the Turks the backed the country’s goal of joining the EU. He said then that he wanted to “make the case” for Turkey’s EU membership.

Asked if he still felt that way despite his Government’s inability to control inward migration from EU countries and bring net migration down to the tens of thousands of people, he said that he had discussed it again with Turkish Prime Minister.

He said: “In terms of Turkish membership of the EU, I very much support that.

“That’s a longstanding position of British foreign policy which I support. We discussed that again in our talks today”.

In a speech at the Turkish parliament in Ankara in July 2010, Mr Cameron said: “I’m here to make the case for Turkey's membership of the EU. And to fight for it.” » | Christopher Hope, Ankara, Turkey | Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Pegida: Patriotische Europäer gegen Islamisierung

Begleitet von Gegenprotesten sind in Dresden erneut rund 1.700 Menschen gegen eine von ihnen befürchtete Islamisierung auf die Straße gegangen. Es war bereits die fünfte Kundgebung des sogenannten Pegida-Bündnisses, "Patriotische Europäer gegen Islamisierung des Abendlandes", in der Elbestadt in Folge.

«Hass in Deutschland wird salonfähiger»

20 MINUTEN: Demos gegen Flüchtlingsheime, Proteste gegen eine angebliche Islamisierung Deutschlands, Randale von Hooligans und Rechten. Experten warnen vor gefährlichen Entwicklungen.

Was ist los in Deutschland? In Dresden versammeln sich seit Wochen selbst ernannte Patrioten zu Montagsdemonstrationen und protestieren gegen alles Mögliche: gegen angeblichen Asylmissbrauch, muslimische Extremisten, eine Verwässerung der deutschen Kultur und die vermeintliche «Islamisierung des Abendlandes».

Anfangs waren es ein paar Hundert Leute, nun sind es jede Woche mehrere Tausend. Und inzwischen gibt es in vielen anderen Städten Ableger der Dresdner Bewegung, bei der sich auch Neonazis, Hooligans und bekennende Islamfeinde unter das Bürgertum mischen.

Es mehren sich rechtsextreme Übergriffe auf Asylbewerberheime und Proteste gegen neue Flüchtlingsunterkünfte. Auch der Gewaltausbruch eines Mobs von Hooligans und Rechten in Köln vor einigen Wochen – im Namen des Kampfes gegen Salafisten – sorgt noch immer für Ratlosigkeit. Rechtsextremismus-Experten beobachten die Entwicklung mit Sorge und fürchten, dass sich etwas zusammenbraut im Land. » | sda | Montag, 08. Dezember 2014

Aufmarsch in Dresden: 10.000 Islamfeinde bei Pegida-Demo

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Das rechte Bündnis "Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes" zieht immer mehr Anhänger an. An einer Kundgebung in Dresden nahmen 10.000 Personen teil, offenbar kam es zu Zusammenstößen mit Gegendemonstranten.

Dresden - Anhänger wie Gegner des rechtspopulistischen Bündnisses "Pegida" haben am Montagabend in Dresden Tausende Menschen mobilisiert: 10.000 Demonstranten nahmen nach Polizeiangaben auf der Seite der "Patriotischen Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes" (Pegida) teil - so viele wie noch nie. An den Gegenprotesten, zu denen unter anderem Kirchen und das Islamische Zentrum aufgerufen hatten, beteiligten sich 9000 Menschen.

Wie der MDR berichtet, kam es im Verlauf des Abends zu kleineren Auseinandersetzungen, bei denen von beiden Seiten Feuerwerkskörper flogen. Ein Pegida-Unterstützer sei festgenommen worden. Weitere Zwischenfälle wurden zunächst nicht bekannt. Die Polizei war mit 1200 Beamten aus mehreren Bundesländern im Einsatz. » | eth/dpa/AP | Montag, 08. Dezember 2014

PEGIDA »

Geert Wilders Defends ‘Fewer Moroccans’ Chant, Quotes Martin Luther King

DUTCHNEWS.nl: PVV leader Geert Wilders is sticking by his ‘fewer Moroccan’ statements made earlier this year, the anti-Islam campaigner said in a statement on Monday.

‘I am not taking back a single word I said,’ Wilders said in the statement he gave to police investigating claims he incited racial hatred.

Wilders was interviewed on Monday morning on the orders of the public prosecution department. The department said in October Wilders is ‘suspected of having insulted a population group with respect to their race and of incitement to discrimination and hatred’. Read on and comment » | Monday, December 08, 2014

Germans Take to the Streets to Protest against 'Islamisation'

Participants hold up their mobile phones and wave a German
national flag during a demonstration called by anti-immigration
group PEGIDA in Dresden

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anti-immigrant protests claim to want to preserve Judeo-Christian culture as critics accuse it of harbouring neo-Nazi elements

A new type of anti-immigration protest is sweeping across Germany, as thousands take to the streets against what they say is the growing “Islamisation” of the country.

The new protests, which began in the city of Dresden in the former East Germany, feature no neo-Nazi slogans and have nothing to do with the traditional far right.

Instead the demonstrators have adopted the old rallying call of the protests against the East German communist regime that brought down the Berlin Wall 25 years ago, “Wir sind das Volk”, or “We are the people”. They say they want to preserve Germany’s Judeo-Christian Western culture.

The protests come as Bavaria’s ruling Christian Social Union (CSU) is seeking to distance itself from a draft proposal for its party conference which said that immigrants should speak German not only in public, but at home as well.

Germany is now the second most popular destination in the world for migrants, after the US, and the country is struggling to cope with an unprecedented influx of asylum-seekers.

While Angela Merkel’s government has made clear it will block any attempt by David Cameron to curtail freedom of movement within the EU, the German debate over immigration has focused on those coming from outside the bloc, and on Muslims in particular. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Monday, December 08, 2014

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Dresden, Dusseldorf prepare for PEGIDA anti-Islamist protests: Right-wing groups have organized protests with less politically extreme citizens to voice their concern over what they see as the Islamization of Europe. Counter demonstrations, however, are expected to be bigger. » | Monday, December 08, 2014

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Vows to Impose 'Arabic' Ottoman Lessons in Schools

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to make Arabic-alphabet
Ottoman language compulsory in high schools

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkish premier wants to reintroduce the language of the old empire, comparing its abolition to cutting Turkey's "jugular"

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to make lessons in the Arabic-alphabet Ottoman language compulsory in high schools -- a highly symbolic move which enraged secularists who claim he is persuing [sic] an increasingly Islamist agenda.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, abolished the Ottoman language in 1928, replacing its Arabic alphabet with a Latin one.

He also purged the language of many of its Arabic, Persian and Greek words to create a new "pure" Turkish closer to the language people spoke.

Critics claimed Erdogan's vow to reintroduce teaching of the language "no matter what they say" was another bid to roll back Ataturk's secular reforms, which were based on a strict separation between religion and state.

Turkey's National Education Council, largely made up of members backed by Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government, voted over the weekend to make classes compulsory at religious high schools and an option at regular high schools.

The council also voted to ban bartending classes at tourism training high schools. » | AFP | Monday, December 08, 2014

Protests Erupt over British Decision to Open Military Base in Bahrain

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Human rights groups say Britain is being rewarded by the Gulf state's monarchy for its silence over political jailings

Britain’s decision to open a major naval base in Bahrain despite concerns over the country’s human rights record has been met with protests by opposition groups and human rights activists.

Hundreds of protesters were filmed marching through the town of Sitra, a Shia opposition stronghold, calling for the removal of the British ambassador, Iain Lindsay, after the decision was announced.

Activists said Bahrain’s decision to largely fund the base was a “reward” for Britain’s recent silence over the jailing of opponents to the Sunni monarchy.

International groups also objected to the decision. “As Bahrain pursues brutal crackdown, what better time for UK to build military base there?” said Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch’s executive director. » | Richard Spencer, Manama | Sunday, December 07, 2014