Germany: Thousands Stage Anti-immigration Rally, Rail against 'Islamization of West'

THE JERUSALEM POST: 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.

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

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

MAIL ON SUNDAY: State news agency posted saber-rattling anti-U.S. statement / Claimed it would attack 'citadels' of United States including The Pentagon / Also said government officials dictated content of pulled 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 POINT: Selon le "Financial Times", l'organisation djihadiste a créé une police militaire pour éviter la désertion de ses membres étrangers voulant fuir les combats.

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

French Police Shoot Dead Knifeman Who Was Shouting Islamic Slogans

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Investigation under way after man attacks officers in police station in central France

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

TAGES ANZEIGER: Ein turbulentes Jahr geht zu Ende: Die «First Family» der USA reiste in die Weihnachtsferien nach Honolulu.

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

Kreml will mit Kim Jong-un Sieg über Hitler feiern

Kim Jong-un wird voraussichtlich im Mai nach Russland reisen

DIE WELT: Nordkoreas Diktator Kim Jong-un tritt seine erste Auslandsreise an – Putin bat ihn nach Russland. Der Kreml hat ihn zur Feier des 70. Jahrestags des Sieges über Hitler-Deutschland eingeladen.

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

Fethullah Gulen is now a fierce opponent of Turkey's leadership,
especially President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

BBC: A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for the influential exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

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'

MAIL ONLINE: Even as Opposition parties up the ante over alleged incidents of religious reconversion, the Dharm Jagran Samiti has declared that it will ensure India becomes a Hindu Rashtra by 2021.

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

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "Hate Speech" was invented in the Kremlin of the USSR by political operatives who saw that it could be used effectively against anyone who did not agree with you, whom you wanted to silence.

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

The Interview: Official Trailer

Homosexualité, la face cachée du Pakistan

LE POINT: Le pays punit l'homosexualité de la peine de mort. Pourtant, les rapports entre hommes n'ont rien d'exceptionnel. Explications.

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

Geert Wilders demanded "fewer Moroccans" as an election slogan

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Popular leader of Dutch anti-immigration party is charged with incitement to racial hatred over "fewer Moroccans” chant

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

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Wilders muss sich wegen Diskriminierung und Aufhetzerei vor Gericht verantworten - die Staatsanwaltschaft erhob Anklage. Hintergrund sind Wilders' Äußerungen gegen marokkanische Migranten.

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

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pretending that Islamist extremism has nothing to do with Islam simply plays into the radicals' hands: it is time to discuss religious reform


"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

Around 15,000 Turn Out for Dresden's Biggest Ever PEGIDA Anti-Islam Rally

Netanyahu Slams European "Hypocrisy" as Court Orders Removal of Hamas from Terror Blacklist

Masked Hamas members take part in a rally in support of the
armed Palestinian factions in Rafah

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Decision to remove group from list on "technical" grounds comes as European parliament votes in faour of Palestinian statehood

Benjamin Netanyahu accused Europeans of failing to learn from the Holocaust on Wednesday after Europe's second highest court removed the Palestinian militant group Hamas from the EU's terror blacklist.

The Israeli's prime minister's furious broadside came on a day of frenetic diplomatic manoeuvering that saw the European parliament adopt a resolution backing Palestinian statehood while Palestinian officials at the UN prepared to table a motion setting a timetable for a peace agreement.

Mr Netanyahu ignored those developments in remarks issued by his office but instead focused on the European court decision, along with a meeting in Switzerland of signatories to the Geneva Convention which he said was aimed at examining war crimes allegations levelled against Israel.

"Today we witnessed staggering examples of European hypocrisy," the Israeli leader said, pointedly comparing European conduct to the "friendship of the people of the United States" in remarks welcoming the visit of Joni Ernst, a newly-elected US Republican senator.

"In Geneva they call for the investigation of Israel for war crimes, while in Luxemburg the European court removed Hamas from the list of terrorist organizations.

"Hamas that has committed countless war crimes and countless terror acts. It seems that too many in Europe, on whose soil six million Jews were slaughtered, have learned nothing.. The friendship we see from the United States stands in complete contrast to what we are seeing regretfully in Europe." » | Robert Tait, Jerusalem | Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Kommentar: Der unheimliche Islam - Warum Pegida so viel Zulauf hat

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Jetzt demonstrieren sie also wieder, die "Patriotischen Europäer". Wieder in Dresden und wieder gegen die "Islamisierung des Abendlandes". Die Aufregung ist groß - zu Unrecht, wie Daniel Heinrich findet.

"Pegida" ist ein Label. Nicht mehr und nicht weniger. Es ist ein Label für eine Bewegung, die weit mehr ist als Pegida, Hogesa, die AfD oder bierselige CSU-Parteitage in Niederbayern, auf denen die Wertegemeinschaft des christlichen Abendlands beschworen wird. Denn eigentlich ist es, um beim Bayerischen zu bleiben, schon fast "wurscht" wie man das Ganze nennt. Fakt ist: In Deutschland haben viele Menschen momentan Angst vor "dem Islam". Es ist ein diffuses, unkonkretes Gefühl des Unwohlseins, das sich speist aus einer ganzen Melange von Ereignissen und Themen: der 11. September und die allgegenwärtige Angst vor islamistischem Terror, Debatten um Kopftücher und Burkas, die Radikalität des "Islamischen Staates", Muslime aus Deutschland, die als Dschihadisten dort hinreisen, der Zustrom von Flüchtlingen aus den Ländern, in denen der IS wütet - und der Dauerbrenner, ob die muslimische Türkei jetzt zur EU gehört oder nicht. » | Von Daniel Heinrich | Montag, 15. Dezember 2014

Runa Khan: 'All Muslim Women Should Be How I Am'

BBC: A mother-of-six has been jailed for five years and three months for promoting terrorism on Facebook.

Runa Khan, 35, of Maple Road West, Luton, had admitted inciting terrorism in Syria by posting a picture of a suicide vest and messaging details of a route into the country on Facebook.

Before her sentencing, reporter Rani Singh met Khan on several occasions and on Sunday interviewed her for BBC Newsnight.

Khan talked about what she had done and was challenged about her views. (Watch BBC video) » | Friday, December 12, 2014

Anti-Islam Demos: Merkel warnt vor „Pegida“

HANDELSBLATT: Die Anti-Islam-Gruppe „Pegida“ hat viele Sympathisanten. Jeder zweite Deutsche hat Verständnis für die Demonstranten, die Mehrheit der Bürger fürchtet den Einfluss radikaler Islamisten. Die Kanzlerin ist alarmiert.

Berlin. Jeder zweite Deutsche hat Verständnis für islamfeindliche Demonstrationen wie die von „Pegida“: So lautet das Ergebnis einer repräsentativen Yougov-Umfrage im Auftrag von Zeit Online. Ganze 30 Prozent der Befragten gab an, voll und ganz Verständnis für Demonstrationen wie in Dresden zu haben, weitere 19 Prozent stimmten für „eher ja“. Nicht einmal ein Viertel der Befragten hat kein Verständnis für die Demonstranten.

Gruppierungen wie Pegida, die „Pflichtbewussten Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes“, spielen erfolgreich mit der Angst vieler Deutscher: Fast drei Viertel aller Bundesbürger hat Sorge vor einem wachsenden Einfluss radikaler Auswüchse des Islams wie etwa der Terrormiliz Islamischer Staat. Für die Umfrage wurden 1107 Deutsche zwischen dem 12. und 15. Dezember befragt.

Auch bezogen auf die deutsche Flüchtlingspolitik stimmt eine Mehrheit der Bundesbürger mit den Ansichten der Anti-Islam-Bewegung überein: 30 Prozent der Befragten sind der Meinung, Deutschland nehme „deutlich zu viele Flüchtlinge“ auf, für weitere 29 Prozent sind es „eher zu viele“. » | Montag, 15. Dezember 2014

Tagesschau 20:00 Uhr, 15.12.2014

Themen der Sendung: Erneut "PEGIDA"-Demonstration in Dresden, Diskussion über "PEGIDA"-Bewegung, Geiselnahme in Sydney gewaltsam beendet, BER-Chef Mehdorn kündigt Rücktritt an, Urteil zugunsten von HRE-Aktionären, EU-Kommission zu Mautplänen, Generalstreik in Belgien, Achtelfinal-Auslosung der Champions League, Das Wetter