Danish People's Party spokesman Martin Henriksen wants to see the state step in and offer help to Muslims who want to give up on their religion but feel bullied into staying, The Local reported. » | Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Danish Nationalists to Help Muslims Leave Islam
Danish People's Party spokesman Martin Henriksen wants to see the state step in and offer help to Muslims who want to give up on their religion but feel bullied into staying, The Local reported. » | Tuesday, March 17, 2015
L'Arabie Saoudite défend sa «justice pour tous»
L'Arabie saoudite a assuré lundi 16 mars garantir une «justice pour tous», en réponse aux critiques proférées par la ministre suédoise des Affaires étrangères à la suite de la flagellation du blogueur Raef Badaoui.
Margot Wallström avait dénoncé début mars les «méthodes moyenâgeuses» de la justice saoudienne contre Raef Badaoui, flagellé pour «insulte envers l'islam».
Ryad avait alors qualifié d'«ingérence flagrante» ces déclarations et rappelé son ambassadeur à Stockholm.
Égalité entre les sexes
Le gouvernement saoudien a «renouvelé (lundi) sa condamnation de ces déclarations insultantes». Le système judiciaire du royaume est «basé sur l'islam et assure la justice pour tous», a affirmé le ministre de la Culture et de l'Information Adel ben Zaid al-Toraifi à l'agence de presse officielle SPA.
«La liberté d'expression est garantie pour tous à l'intérieur du cadre de la charia», la loi islamique, a-t-il encore dit. » | lundi 16 mars 2015
Now ISIS Tears Down the Cross: Chilling Photographs Reveal How Islamic State Thugs Have Ravaged Christian Churches
Shocking new images released today have shown ISIS terrorists toppling crosses, smashing Christian relics with hammers and erecting the black flag of ISIS on churches in Iraq.
The latest photos show the militants vandalising churches in Nineveh, the ancient capital of the Assyrian empire.
Pictured in civilian clothing, the ISIS thugs are seen overturning statues, destroying religious icons and replacing Christian crosses with the chilling ISIS banner.
The disturbing images - provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) - are the latest evidence of ISIS trying to cleanse its caliphate of its Christian heritage. » | Thomas Burrows for MailOnline | Monday, March 16, 2015
Leptis Magna: War-torn Libya's Forgotten Ancient Roman City
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For over 900 years Leptis Magna – once the pride of the Roman Empire in Africa – lay hidden, forgotten by man, beneath Libya’s sand dunes.
Now, excavated and magnificent on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Leptis Magna stands, once again, alone and almost entirely abandoned.
As political instability besets Libya, the theatre, parliament and wide, straight, cobbled roads of the “best preserved” Roman city in the world are devoid of tourists.
“We haven’t had any tourists since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011,” said Osama Krema, a Libyan tour guide working at the site. “Occasionally aid workers staying in the country come to visit. They factor in only half an hour initially. » | Ruth Sherlock, Leptis Magna, video by Sam Tarling | Monday, March 16, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
Netanjahu schließt eigenen Palästinenserstaat aus
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| Spricht sich im Wahlkampf gegen die Schaffung eines Palästinenserstaats: Israels Regierungschef Benjamin Netanjahu |
Offenbar im Bemühen um Stimmen im rechten Lager hat Israels Regierungschef Benjamin Netanjahu einen Palästinenserstaat im Falle einer Verlängerung seines Mandats ausgeschlossen.
"Alle, die die Schaffung eines Palästinenserstaates und die Rückgabe von Gebieten wollen, machen diese Gebiete anfällig für Angriffe des extremistischen Islam gegen den Staat Israel", sagte Netanjahu am Montag, einen Tag vor der Knesset-Wahl, dem Nachrichtenportal NRG. Dies sei "die Wahrheit, die sich in den vergangenen Jahren ergeben hat". Wer dies ignoriere, "steckt den Kopf in den Sand".
Auf die Nachfrage, ob dies bedeute, dass es keinen Palästinenserstaat geben werde, wenn er Regierungschef bleibe, antwortete Netanjahu: "Das ist richtig." » | AFP/mak | Montag, 16. März 2015
Iranian Professor Loses Job due to 'Feminine' Voice
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| Iranian professor Qasem Exirifard has not had his contract renewed due to his high-pitched voice. |
A top physics professor in Iran has lost his job because he was told he has a feminine voice that prevents him from effectively communicating with his university students.
Qasem Exirifard has been dismissed from Tehran’s Khajeh Nasir Toosi university after its academic committee, in charge of examining staff’s qualifications, deemed his voice was effeminate and said it could lead to students ridiculing him in the classroom.
According to the reformist Shargh newspaper, the 40-year-old Exirifard is a former national physics olympiad medallist who has a doctorate degree from Italy’s International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA). Shargh described him as a genius in physics with great academic achievements.
He began teaching at the institution in February 2014 but his contract, which was up for renewal last month, was not extended due to the university committee’s ruling.
“I was disqualified, why? Because I have a high-pitched voice, what they [the university] call a feminine voice,” Exirifard was quoted as saying. “They said I would not be qualified to communicate scientific contents to students because they said my voice was effeminate.” » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Monday, March 16, 2015
Tony Blair 'Had No Credibility' in Middle East Process, Says US Official
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| Former Prime Minister Tony Blair |
Tony Blair had “no credibility” left with the parties in the Middle East peace process, a former US government official who was closely involved with trying to revive the talks last year has told The Telegraph.
“Frankly all sides just rolled their eyes at the mention of his name,” the official said as it was reported that Mr Blair was being “eased out” of his role as head of so-called Quartet.
Rumours that Mr Blair was being asked to step down have been circulating for some days, but were apparently confirmed on Sunday night by The Financial Times. Mr Blair’s office has declined to comment.
In his role, which he took up in 2007, Mr Blair represented the United States of America, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union as a Middle East peace envoy working with the Palestinians.
But in the last round of failed negotiations which began after John Kerry took over as US secretary of state 2013 and broke down last year, Mr Blair had become “a standing joke”, the official said, speaking last week. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Monday, March 16, 2015
Iran Deal Could Start Nuclear Fuel Race - Saudi Arabia
Prince Turki al-Faisal told the BBC that Saudi Arabia would then seek the same right, as would other nations.
Six world powers are negotiating an agreement aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear activity but not ending it.
Critics have argued this would trigger a nuclear arms race in the region spurred on by Saudi-Iran rivalry.
"I've always said whatever comes out of these talks, we will want the same," said the prince, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief.
"So if Iran has the ability to enrich uranium to whatever level, it's not just Saudi Arabia that's going to ask for that.
"The whole world will be an open door to go that route without any inhibition, and that's my main objection to this P5+1 [the six world powers] process." With a late March deadline for an Iran deal approaching, Saudi Arabia last week signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with South Korea that included a plan to study the feasibility of building two nuclear reactors in the kingdom.
Riyadh has also signed nuclear co-operation agreements with China, France and Argentina, and intends to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years. (+ BBC video) » | Barbara Plett Usher | BBC News, Riyadh | Monday, March 16, 2015
Iraq Conflict: Saddam's Tomb Destroyed in Tikrit Fighting
Footage filmed by the Associated Press shows that all that remains standing of the once-lavish mausoleum in the village of al-Awja are some pillars.
Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shia militia are battling to drive Islamic State (IS) militants from Tikrit.
Last year, the local Sunni population said they had removed Saddam's body and taken it to an unknown location. » | Monday, March 16, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Baghdad Hosts First Fashion Show Since 1988
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| An Iraqi model presents a dress during the 2015 Baghdad Fashion Show at the Iraqi capital's Royal Tulip Hotel |
Models in designer clothes strutted down a catwalk in front of Baghdad's high society on Friday for a fashion show that tickled one generation's nostalgia and filled the next one with hope.
Umm Mustafa and her husband cancelled all their family duties, bought new clothes and spent a whole week preparing for the first edition of the Baghdad Fashion Show.
"The last show we saw was in 1988 at the Palestine hotel," she said, wearing a burgundy suit with flowery prints and candy floss pink nail varnish assorted to her smartphone cover.
"We love fashion and design... It's the security situation that has affected everything. There's development here but no opportunity to show the world," said her husband, also in his late forties.
Despite Iraq's eight-year war with Iran, Baghdad in the eighties had a vibrant cultural life and its society was less religiously conservative.
Around 500 people turned out in their best attire to watch 16 young Iraqi women model collections by six home-grown designers Friday as an oriental beat shook the walls of the luxurious Royal Tulip hotel's gala hall. » | AFP | Saturday, March 14, 2015
ISIL: Force May Be Necessary Says Vatican Ambassador to Geneva
The Vatican's ambassador in Geneva has said the use of force will be necessary to protect minority groups from Islamic State aggression if a political solution cannot be achieved.
In an interview with U.S. Catholic website Crux, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said the jihadists, who have declared a cross-border caliphate after seizing land in eastern Syria and northern Iraq, were committing "genocide" and must be stopped.
"What's needed is a coordinated and well-thought-out coalition to do everything possible to achieve a political settlement without violence," Crux quoted Tomasi as saying on Friday, "but if that's not possible, then the use of force will be necessary." » | Reuters | Sunday, March 15, 2015
Queen Rania: Let’s Drop The First ‘I’ In ISIS
My comment:
With all due respect to Queen Rania, the following has to be said: ISIS beheads those who go against Islam: They kill apostates, they stone people to death, they crucify people too. Further, they amputate limbs for theft. But aren't these practices also carried out in Saudi Arabia, in the home of Islam? Please correct me if I am wrong, but if I understand you correctly, if these barbarous acts are carried out officially in Wahhabi Saudi Arabia, they are Islamic; however, if they are carried out in the name of ISIS, they are unIslamic. I don't get it. Could someone please explain? – © Mark
L'EI utiliserait des bombes au chlore
Dans un communiqué publié samedi, la Commission de sécurité de la région du Kurdistan a indiqué que «les forces peshmergas ont fait des prélèvements de sol et des lambeaux de vêtements après un attentat suicide à la voiture piégée le 23 janvier 2015». » | afp/Newsnet | samedi 14 mars 2015
Schlacht um Tikrit: IS steht vor erster großer Niederlage
Etwa 30.000 Mann hatte die irakische Regierung in die Schlacht um Tikrit - die Geburtsstadt des gehenkten Diktators Saddam Hussein - geworfen. Der Großangriff begann vor rund zwei Wochen. Unterstützt von Luftangriffen der US- geführten Anti- IS- Koalition sowie Militärexperten, Beratern und wohl auch Kampftruppen aus dem Iran (bis vor Kurzem noch der Erzfeind der Amerikaner), konnten die irakischen Einheiten nun bereits bis ins Zentrum der Stadt vordringen. Dort sollen sich nur noch einige Dutzend IS- Terroristen verschanzt haben, umzingelt von den irakischen Truppen, hieß es am Samstag. » | Kronen Zeitung/AG/red | Samstag, 14. März 2015
Junger Türke muss wegen Erdogan-Beleidung ins Gefängnis
In der Türkei muss ein Student ins Gefängnis, weil er Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan einen "Diktator" genannt hat. Wie die Online-Ausgabe der Zeitung "Hürriyet" am Freitag meldete, beläuft sich die Strafe gegen den angehenden Ingenieur Aykutalp Avsar auf 14 Monate Haft. Demnach wurde Avsar am Donnerstagabend im zentralanatolischen Kayseri verhaftet. » | APA/AFP | Freitag, 13. März 2015
Nick Clegg Blocks Terror Laws Banning Extremists from Universities
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| Mr Clegg said he could not support the new legislation |
Nick Clegg has blocked tough new laws intended to stop extremist speakers brainwashing university students for terrorism, raising fears that Britain will be left more vulnerable to attack.
The Deputy Prime Minister personally vetoed the plan during private talks with David Cameron, after one of the worst Cabinet rows in the Coalition’s five-year rule.
Mr Clegg said he could not support moves to require university bosses to vet visiting speakers and prevent impressionable students from falling under the spell of extremists – because Liberal Democrats feared the move would erode “free speech”.
Draft legal guidelines detailing how the ban would work, which were published by the Home Office in December, have now been scrapped. Senior government sources warned that students would remain at risk of radicalisation by preachers visiting campus Islamic societies. » | Tim Ross and Robert Mendick | Saturday, March 14, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
ISIS Vows to Bomb 'White House, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower'
An ISIS spokesman said Thursday that the organization had accepted a pledge of allegiance from the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram, Canada's National Post newspaper reported.
In a 28-minute Arabic-language audio, translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani declared that Boko Haram's move was "a new door opened by Allah" and said jihadists should go to West Africa.
Adnani said ISIS wanted control of numerous cities across the globe, including Jerusalem, Kabul, Rome, and Paris.
The ISIS spokesman warned Jews and Christians that they could either "convert to Islam or pay the ultimate price when your armies are expelled from Muhammad's peninsula, from Jerusalem, and all Muslim lands," Ynet News reported. » | Joel Himelfarb | Friday, March 13, 2015
Copenhagen Attack Cartoonist Lars Vilks Wins Award
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| Lars Vilks has been living under police protection in Sweden |
Lars Vilks received a prize for courage from a free press group, at a heavily secured event in the Danish parliament.
His cartoon offended many Muslims and he now lives under guard in Sweden. » | Saturday, March 14, 2015
Vanuatu: les premières images après le cyclone
Irak: Kurden werfen IS Einsatz von Chemiewaffen vor
Die Kurdenregierung im Irak hat der Extremistenmiliz "Islamischer Staat" vorgeworfen, chemische Waffen eingesetzt zu haben. Der regionale Sicherheitsrat in Erbil erklärte am Samstag, ihm lägen Beweise vor, dass die sunnitischen Extremisten im Januar bei einem Selbstmordanschlag mit einem Auto gegen kurdische Peschmerga-Einheiten Chlorgas verwendet hätten. » | mik/Reuters | Samstag, 14. März 2015
Wuppertal: Polizei löst Hooligan-Demonstration auf
Schnelles Ende des Aufmarschs von Rechtsextremisten: In Wuppertal hat die Polizei Hooligans bei einer Kundgebung von Pegida NRW auseinandergetrieben. Die Beamten schritten ein, nachdem Vermummte erste Böller geworfen hatten. Die Einsatzkräfte versuchten, die Angreifer zurückzudrängen. » | mik/AFP | Samstag, 14. März 2015
Iran's Advances Create Alarm in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
The commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been working overtime recently, flaunting their achievements across the Middle East and flexing muscles as international negotiations over the country’s nuclear programme enter their critical and perhaps final phase.
On Wednesday it was the turn of Major-General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the IRGC’s most senior officer. “The Islamic revolution is advancing with good speed, its example being the ever-increasing export of the revolution,” he declared. “Not only Palestine and Lebanon acknowledge the influential role of the Islamic Republic but so do the people of Iraq and Syria. They appreciate the nation of Iran.”
Last month a similarly boastful message was delivered by General Qassem Suleimani, who leads the IRGC’s elite Quds force — and who is regularly photographed leading the fightback of Iraqi Shia miltias against the Sunni jihadis of the Islamic State (Isis) as well as against western and Arab-backed rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad in southern Syria. “Imperialists and Zionists have admitted defeat at the hands of the Islamic Republic and the resistance movement,” Suleimani said.
Iran’s advances are fuelling alarm in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, where Tehran has been a strategic rival since the days of the Shah, and which now, it is said with dismay, in effect controls four Arab capitals – Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut and in the last month Sana’a in Yemen – which is uncomfortably close to home. » | Ian Black Middle East editor | Additional reporting by Saeed Kamali Dheghan | Friday, March 13, 2015
Special Report from Libya: How Nato's Toppling of Gaddafi Has Turned to Disaster
Tears rolled down Khadija’s cheeks as the 17-seater plane – the whirr of its propellers deafening in the cabin – began its descent into the capital of a country crippled by war. The hope she’d felt of a better future for Libya after the ousting of dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi had long soured into resentment and fear. Now she was flying back into her homeland from exile. An uncle had been killed and she needed to attend his funeral.
“It wasn’t meant to be like this,” she said. “We have lost our dignity. We fought Gaddafi so that we could speak freely. Now it’s the same as before, but with less security.”
Many of her countrymen agree with her. Since the end of the 2011 Nato-backed war that toppled Gaddafi, Libya has fragmented – with two rival governments and their allied armed gangs vying for power. Nascent democracy has been supplanted by a system of repression and fear. Militias have become the most powerful players in a country devoid of the rule of law, of a national army or a police force. Anyone opposing them, be they politician or civilian, is silenced – often at gunpoint.
In the new Libya, just as in the old, speaking out against those wielding power is enough see you threatened, or killed. There was, many admit, a “golden age” in the months immediately after the end of Gaddafi’s 40-year-rule. But it was not long before factionalism began to spin out of control. Now that brief, optimistic interregnum is spoken of nostalgically, as thought [sic] it were a distant era. (+ video) » | Ruth Sherlock, video by Sam Tarling | Saturday, March 14, 2015
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: I don't regret helping overthrow Gaddafi, says David Cameron after Coptic Christian beheadings: Prime Minister defends Britain's involvement in Libya after 'monstrous' killings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Isil » | Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, February 17, 2015
THE GUARDIAN: We won't abandon Libya after killings, says David Cameron: Prime minister says Britain right to help oust Gaddafi and pledges support to Libya in the wake of ‘brutal, senseless murders’ of Coptic Christians » | Rowena Mason, political correspondent | Tuesday, February 17, 2015
4bitNEWS: Cameron took the glory for toppling Gaddafi – where is he now as Libya implodes? » | Editor | Wednesday, August 06, 2014
CROSSING THE LINE 2
Israel is under assault on North American college campuses today like never before. Anti-Israel activities to alienate, demonize, and delegitimize Israel are increasingly crossing the line into anti-Semitism, in the form of hate speech, harassment and intimidation.
Crossing the Line 2 is a new documentary that reveals the rise of anti-Israel activity and anti-Semitic rhetoric on North American university campuses, and demonstrates when reasonable criticism of Israel ‘Crosses the Line’ into anti-Semitism.
To host a screening of ‘Crossing the Line 2’ at your home, school, synagogue or community center, click here.
Be prepared for anti-Israel activity on campus. Get educated about Israel »
Friday, March 13, 2015
Pope Francis Hints at 'Brief' Papacy
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| Pope Francis praised Pope Benedict's decision to resign in 2013 |
The pontiff made the comments during a interview with Mexican television, marking the second anniversary of his election.
"I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief. Four or five years; I do not know, even two or three," he said.
He praised Pope Benedict's decision to step aside in 2013 as "courageous".
"Benedict should not be considered an exception, but an institution. Maybe he will be the only one for a long time, maybe he will not be the only one.
"But an institutional door has been opened," he told the Televisa channel. » | Friday, March 13, 2015
Gerüchte um russischen Präsidenten: Schweizer Medien berichten über angebliches Putin-Baby
Tessin/Moskau - Das Rätselraten über Wladimir Putin hält an: Seit Tagen kursieren Gerüchte, der russische Staatschef sei schwer erkrankt - und nun soll er sogar Vater geworden sein: Die russische Spitzensportlerin Alina Kabajewa, Olympiasiegerin im Kunstturnen 2004, soll in einer Schweizer Privatklinik bei Lugano ein Kind geboren haben, meldet das Boulevard-Portal "Blick Online". Der angebliche Vater: Putin.
Putins Privatleben wird streng abgeschirmt, Gerüchte über eine Beziehung zu der 32-jährigen Kabajewa gibt es aber schon seit Jahren. Der italienischsprachige Radiosender RSI aus dem Tessin meldet, Kabajewa habe zwei Zimmer in der Klinik reservieren lassen. Die "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" erhielt auf eine Anfrage an die Direktorin der Klinik jedoch eine ernüchternde Antwort: "Es entspricht nicht unserer Praxis, auf solche Anfragen zu antworten." Dafür äußerte sich ein Sprecher des Kreml, der die Gerüchte als haltlos bezeichnete. » | mxw/heb/Reuters | Freitag, 13. März 2015
Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau Face Off Over Niqab Debate
Niqabs ‘Rooted in a Culture That Is Anti-women,’ Harper Says
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| Prime Minister Stephen Harper answers a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. |
The Prime Minister was responding in the House of Commons to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who has sharply criticized the Tories for seeking to ban the covering of women’s faces when they are swearing a citizenship oath and has accused Mr. Harper of Islamophobia.
Mr. Trudeau responded outside the Commons Tuesday by declaring that “this government is doubling down on the politics of fear.”
A debate over reasonable accommodation in Canada is playing out again, this time over the niqab. Mr. Harper is arguing, as a Conservative fundraising e-mail recently put it, that is “not the way we do things here,” while Mr. Trudeau is championing religious freedom as protected by the Charter of Rights.
Some Muslim women wear face-covering niqabs in public, and the Liberals defend their right to wear the veil during citizenship ceremonies. Mr. Harper, whose government is appealing a Federal Court ruling that would allow people to cover their face while reciting the oath of citizenship, strongly disagrees. » | Steven Chase | Ottawa | Pub. Tuesday, March 10, 2015 | Updated: Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Young Canadian’s Conversion to Radical Islam Leaves Family Devastated
His father thinks he’s lost. His brother holds out hope. But no one in Harun Abdurahman’s family knows how to turn around the young Canadian man who has become an unapologetic supporter of the Islamic State terrorist group.
Born in Ontario to a Christian family steeped in military tradition, the Manitoba resident told the Star in an earlier interview that he believed last fall’s terror attacks on Parliament Hill and in Quebec were “justified” retribution for Canadian military aggression against ISIS.
“I think a lot of Canadians need to wake up and understand that we’re doing this and worse to other people in other countries,” said Abdurahman, who agreed to be identified only by an online pseudonym that he has adopted.
He spoke about his convictions, his belief that all Muslims should emigrate to Syria and Iraq, where the Islamic State has declared a caliphate governed by Sharia law and of learning that he was under investigation by Canadian spies who saw him as a potential threat to national security.
But this turn of events has also had a devastating impact on Abdurahman’s family. Beginning last December, Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents interviewed his ex-girlfriend and older brother in Ontario as well as his father, who is a serving member of the Royal Canadian Air Force in Alberta. The agents carried with them a thick file on the young man.
This week, however, the spy agency told family members they had intensified their investigation. » | Allan Woods | Quebec Bureau | Sunday, March 08, 2015
Leading Politician Says Canada Could End Up Treating Muslims As It Did Jews in the ’30s and ’40s
THE WASHINGTON POST: In a dramatic speech Tuesday evening, the leader of Canada's Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau, criticized the Canadian government for its rhetoric over the threat of Islamist-related terrorism – and compared the country's treatment of its Muslim minorities with restrictive policies against Jews prior to and during World War II.
Speaking in Toronto to alumni of McGill University, Trudeau, who will compete with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an election later this year, discussed Canada's idea of liberty. At one point, he listed a number of historical moments when his country had failed in that ideal, including the Chinese head tax (a fixed fee charged to every Chinese immigrant) and the internment of Ukrainian, Japanese and Italian Canadians during the world wars. » | Adam Taylor | Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Harper Says Majority of ‘Moderate Muslims’ Support View on Niqab Ban
The Prime Minister, who upset some Muslim Canadians this week by saying the face-covering niqab is “rooted in a culture that is anti-woman,” stood up in the Commons Wednesday to enumerate support for his government’s campaign to ban the use of the veil when taking the oath of Canadian citizenship. A small minority of Muslim women wear the niqab in Canada.
He listed groups such as the Coalition of Progressive Canadian Muslim Organizations, which, Mr. Harper told the Commons, have declared: “Most Canadians believe that it is offensive that someone would hide their identity at the very moment where they are committing to join the Canadian family.” » | Steven Chase | Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Heresy! Muslim Prayers in Church of England Parish
A Church of England vicar is facing a storm of protest from traditionalist Christians after allowing a Muslim prayer service to be held in his church.
Dozens of Muslims took part in the “Inclusive Mosque” event at St John’s church, Waterloo in central London, in what is thought to have been the first time a full Islamic prayer service has been held within the Church of England.
The vicar, the Rev Canon Giles Goddard, a prominent liberal cleric, joined in the event, reading a passage from the Bible and inviting the congregation to give thanks to “the God that we love, Allah”.
Canon Goddard, described the service, on Saturday, as “very moving” and said it was simply an expression of the church’s desire to offer people a “place to pray”.
But evangelical clerics were angered by the service which they said marked a breach with canon law which forbids any variation from the official liturgy if it contains “any departure from, the doctrine of the Church of England in any essential matter”.
It was also “offensive” to Christians being persecuted for their faith around the world, they said. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor, video source YouTube | Friday, March 13, 2015
Judge: Philly Public Buses Must Run Ads Linking Muslims to Hitler
CBS Philadelphia reports that a federal court judge on Wednesday sided with a New Hampshire based non-profit on its claim that it has a first amendment right to run bus ads linking Muslims to Hitler.
The ads include images of Adolf Hitler and read "Islamic Jew Hatred: It's in the Quran." While they may be incendiary to some, a federal court judge wrote they're perfectly acceptable under the first amendment.
"He agreed with us on all the issues," said attorney Robert Muise.
Muise represents plaintiff American Freedom Defense Initiative. The group has filed more than a half dozen lawsuits against transit authorities across the country over anti-Islamic ads. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority refused to run their ad saying it disparaged Muslims, but the court held the buses are public forums -- so SEPTA cannot censor AFDI's political speech. » | Thursday, March 12, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Americans Are 'Back-stabbers' and 'Tricksters' Says Iran's Leader after Senate Letter
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| Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei |
Iran’s Supreme Leader accused “back-stabbing” America of “tricks and deceptions” on Thursday as the clock ticked towards a deadline for a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a caustic response to an open letter from 47 Republican senators, warning that a future US president might revoke any nuclear deal with Iran.
This message – furiously denounced by President Barack Obama – raised the possibility of Iran walking away from an agreement while deflecting the blame on to America.
"Of course I am worried, because the other side is known for opacity, deceit and back-stabbing,” said Ayatollah Khamenei in a speech to the Assembly of Experts, Iran’s most senior body.
"Every time we reach a stage where the end of the negotiations is in sight, the tone of the other side, specifically the Americans, becomes harsher, coarser and tougher. This is the nature of their tricks and deceptions.” » | David Blair, and Peter Foster in Washington | Thursday, March 12, 2015
IS lässt eigenen Scharia-Richter köpfen
Die Nachricht verbreitete sich in den sozialen Medien rasant. Unterstützer des IS twitterten, dass die Organisation ihren Scharia-Richter hingerichtet habe. Grund: die exzessive Auslegung des Takfir-Konzepts. Das berichtet der "Middle East Monitor".
Richter Abu Jaafar al-Hattab war als Mitglied der Scharia-Kommission dafür zuständig, die Rechtsgrundlage für ein Kalifat zu erarbeiten. Dafür wandte er das Konzept von Takfir an – es gilt auch im Islam als umstritten. Takfir erlaubt einem islamischen Gelehrten, andere Muslime zu Ungläubigen oder Abtrünnigen zu erklären. Ein Vergehen, auf das die Todesstrafe steht. Al-Hattab sei für seine Härte bekannt gewesen, so der "Middle East Monitor". » | dol | Donnerstag, 12. März 2015
Kuwaiti Preacher, ISIS Call for Demolition of Egypt’s Sphinx, Pyramids
Although the ancient monuments are not religious – but rather cultural and historic sites – they should still be "destroyed" by Muslims, putting an end to the worship of images, preacher Ibrahim Al Kandari said, according to Al-Watan daily.
"The fact that early Muslims who were among prophet Mohammed’s followers did not destroy the pharaohs' monuments upon entering the Egyptian soil, does not mean that we shouldn't do it now," Al Kandari said.
Another call for the destruction of Egypt's main symbols comes from Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who suggested the demolition of the historic monuments is a "religious duty," Al Alam news reported on Sunday. In the extreme interpretations of Islam, no material objects should be idolized or worshiped.
It comes amid growing concerns over the safety of many other historic and architectural monuments in the region, where militants continue to destroy ancient cities and artifacts. » |Pub. Monday, March 09, 2015 | Ed. Wednesday, March 11, 2015
HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »
Swiss Citizen Arrested for Fighting Islamic State
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| Johan Cosar was arrested by Swiss authorities |
A Swiss man is facing up to three years in prison after he travelled to Syria to fight the Islamic State group.
Johan Cosar, born in Switzerland to parents of Syrian Christian origin, was arrested in Basel in February after his return from the Middle East. Details of his arrest emerged this week.
He had joined a Christian militia fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
Those who travel to Syria to join Isil or other jihadist groups face arrest if they return amid fears they may launch terror attacks in Europe.
But so far most European countries have taken no action against the increasing numbers who are travelling to the region to join local militia fighting against the jihadists.
Mr Cosar helped train the Syriac Military Council, a 500-strong militia which defending the ancient Assyrian Christian minority from Isil, after travelling to Syria as a journalist. » | Justin Huggler in Berlin | Thursday, March 12, 2015
LE TEMPS: «Je ne suis pas djihadiste: je combats les terroristes» » | Valérie de Graffenried | mercredi 11 mars 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
L'Iran durcit sa législation pour freiner la baisse de la natalité
La République islamique ne sait plus comment redonner aux Iraniens l'envie de faire des enfants. Pour tenter de stopper la chute de la fécondité, deux projets de loi sont en cours d'examen au Parlement. Des mesures qui risquent de réduire les femmes à des "machines à faire des enfants", dénonce, ce mercredi, Amnesty International. » | Par LEXPRESS.fr avec AFP | mercredi 11 mars 2015
The Whole World Is Trying to 'Topple' Me, Says Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to detect a “worldwide effort” to remove him from power on Tuesday as polls suggested that he faces defeat in Israel’s election.
After three terms totalling nine years in office, Mr Netanyahu has become the longest-serving Israeli prime minister since David Ben Gurion. But a poll for Channel 2 News suggested that his Likud party would win 21 seats in the Knesset, or parliament, in next Tuesday's election, compared with 25 for the Zionist Union, an opposition alliance. » | David Blair | Wednesday, March 11, 2015
British Muslims Condemn Terror Laws for Creating 'Witch-hunt' against Islam
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| Moazzam Begg of Cage is one of the signatories to the public statement. |
Anti-Muslim rhetoric and “endless ‘anti-terror’ laws” are in danger of creating a McCarthyite witch-hunt against Muslims, according to the signatories of a strongly worded public statement, who include several controversial figures.
The statement accuses the government of “criminalising” Islam and trying to silence “legitimate critique and dissent”, and decries what it describes as “the ongoing demonisation of Muslims in Britain [and] their values, as well as prominent scholars, speakers and organisations.”
Signatories of the statement include Moazzam Begg, director of outreach for Cage, the organisation that came under fire last week after it sought to explain the radicalisation of Isis killer Mohammed Emwazi. Members of Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in several countries including Germany, have also signed the statement.
It comes after it was revealed earlier this week that the Home Office is planning a “more assertive” stance against extremism, with a series of measures including imposing penalties on benefit claimants who do not learn English and making visa applicants commit themselves to “British values”.
The statement, seen by the Guardian, reads: “We reject the portrayal of Muslims and the Muslim community as a security threat. The latest act of parliament, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, threatens to create a ‘McCarthyite’ witch-hunt against Muslims, with nursery workers, schoolteachers and universities expected to look out for signs of increased Islamic practice as signs of ‘radicalisation’.”
The signatories state that the “Muslim issue” is being exploited for political capital in the run[-]up to the general election. » | Alexandra Topping, Nishaat Ismail, Shiv Malik | Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Saudi Playboy Caught Drug Driving McLaren Supercar through Hyde Park
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| Mohammad Al-Sharif, 22, confessed to smoking the drug |
A rich Saudi playboy was caught by police driving his father's £168,500 McLaren supercar while high on cannabis through Hyde Park.
Mohammad Al-Sharif, 22, confessed to smoking the drug at 7.30am that morning and was unsteady on his feet with slurred speech when questioned by officers.
He pleaded guilty to driving a McLaren MP4-12c 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 Velocita Wind Edition in West Carriage Drive on December 11 last year while unfit to drive through drugs.
Student Al-Sharif, who lives off a family allowance, was fined £400, with £85 costs and was ordered to pay an £85 victim surcharge. He was disqualified for twelve months.
The supercar, which goes from 0mph to 60mph in 2.8 seconds, has a makeover by German specialists DMC, which increases its brake horsepower to 650bhp and makes the car more powerful and luxurious. » | Agency | Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Spain: "The Mediterranean Corridor of Jihadism"
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| Samira Yerou was arrested March 7 at Barcelona's airport, on suspicion of running a jihadist recruiting network. |
Catalonia is home to approximately 465,000 Muslims. At least 10% of them are estimated to be "radicals" who are hardcore believers in the "doctrine of jihadism." — Jofre Montoto, Catalan terrorism analyst.
In February, the lower house of the Spanish Congress approved far-reaching changes to the country's penal code, as a way to combat Islamic extremism and support for the Islamic State.
Under the new law, anyone convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack will be subject to a life sentence (35 years) without the possibility of parole. The law also calls for 20-year sentences for anyone convicted of supplying weapons to terrorists, or ten-year sentences for funding terror networks.
Spanish police have arrested a Moroccan woman on suspicion of running a jihadist recruiting network for the Islamic State.
Samira Yerou, 32, was arrested at Barcelona's El Prat airport on March 7 upon her arrival on a flight from Turkey, where authorities had detained her for trying illegally to enter Syria with her three-year-old son, a Spanish citizen.
Police say Yerou, who lives in Rubí, a Catalan town situated 15 kilometers north of Barcelona, disappeared in December 2014, while her son's father, a Moroccan-Spaniard, was away on a trip to Morocco. Spanish authorities issued an international warrant for Yerou's arrest.
In a statement, the Spanish Interior Ministry said Yerou had specialized in recruiting women from Europe and North Africa to join the Islamic State. She allegedly became interested in militant Islam after visiting Morocco during the summer of 2013, and later became radicalized through the Internet by "spending many hours consulting" jihadist websites. The boy, who was unharmed, has been returned to his father.
Yerou is one of at least 50 jihadists who have been arrested in Spain during the past twelve months alone. Most of the arrests have taken place in Catalonia and in Spain's North African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. » | Soeren Kern | Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Course au pouvoir suprême à Téhéran
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La bataille de succession au sommet du pouvoir iranien pourrait survenir plus tôt que prévu. Selon des informations obtenues par Le Figaro auprès de plusieurs sources dans les milieux occidentaux du renseignement, le Guide de la révolution serait atteint d’un cancer de la prostate de stade 4, autrement dit métastasique, ce qui signifie que le mal s’est disséminé ailleurs dans le corps. Compte tenu de son âge, 76 ans, son espérance de vie serait évaluée par les médecins à environ deux ans. » | De Philippe Gélie | mercredi 11 mars 2015
Erschiessungskommandos statt Giftspritzen
Zum Tode verurteilte Straftäter könnten im US-Staat Utah bei einem Mangel an Giftspritzen möglicherweise bald von Exekutionskommandos erschossen worden. Einen entsprechenden Gesetzesentwurf verabschiedete der Senat des Bundesstaates am Dienstag mit einer Mehrheit von 18 zu 10. Wenn der republikanische Gouverneur Gary Herbert das Gesetz nun unterzeichnet, wäre Utah der erste amerikanische Staat, in dem solche Kommandos erlaubt wären. » | chk/AP | Mittwoch, 11. März 2015
America Just Got Its First Accredited Muslim College
On Sunday, Zaytuna College, a liberal-arts school based in Berkeley, California, announced that it was formally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), one of the six official academic bodies responsible for the authorizing public and private colleges and universities in the United States.
“Today, Zaytuna’s accreditation roots this vision in a reality recognized within American higher education,” Hamza Yusuf, president of the college, said in a statement celebrating the announcement.
The statement also added, “[Accreditation] helps ensure that Zaytuna successfully fulfills the objectives outlined in its curriculum, which grounds its students in both the Islamic and Western scholarly traditions.”
According to the school’s website, Zaytuna was founded in 1996 as an institute and briefly operated as an Islamic seminary before dedicating itself to becoming a Muslim liberal arts college in 2009. It welcomed its first freshman class in 2010, and conferred its first undergraduate degrees in 2014. It has a student body of around 30 students, and offers a B.A. in Islamic Law and Theology and courses in politics, astronomy, and American history, among others. In a video chronicling the school’s pursuit of accreditation, Colleen Keyes, vice president of academic affairs, explained that the school’s goal is “to prepare and educate students, who are morally committed spiritual, intellectual, and professional leaders who are grounded in the Islamic tradition and conversant with … modern society.” » | Jack Jenkins | Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Op-Ed: Islam Wants to Convert Rome
First the black flag of the Caliphate waving over the Vatican. Then the Colosseum in flames and a sea of blood that submerges it. Finally, the announcement of the Libyan caliphate that “we are south of Rome”.
In the propaganda videos of the Islamic State there are many prophecies about the fall and the conquest of Rome. There is a long Islamic tradition aiming at Rome, “Romiyyah”, aiming to make it the fourth holiest city of Islam (after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem) and the base from which Islam will conquer the Western world. Rome is the greatest magnet of the mystical Islamic universe.
Roger Garaudy, the French intellectual who converted to Islam, in 1986 launched his challenge, boasting: “I’ll bring Islam to Rome”. The foundation of this prophecy is the thirtieth Sura of the Koran, called ar Rum, “Romans”. The fall of Rome is based on the myth of the Emperor Heraclius and a letter that he would have written to Muhammad, recognizing him as “the messenger of God”.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the founder of the Islamic Hanbali school (now in power in Saudi Arabia) reported among the “hadith”, the sayings of Muhammad, that the Prophet of Islam predicted that “the city of Heraclius (Constantinople) would fall first, then Rome”.
In 2003, Osama Bin Laden made a speech on “The new Rome” and three years later, in the footsteps of Pope Benedict’s Islamic speech at Regensburg University, Al Qaeda proclaimed: “Servants of the Cross, expect defeat, the Muslims will conquer Rome as they conquered Constantinople”. » | Giulio Meotti | Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
L'EI exécute un Arabe israélien accusé d'espionnage
Le groupe Etat islamique (EI) a diffusé mardi 10 mars une vidéo affirmant montrer l'exécution par un jeune garçon d'un Arabe israélien accusé d'espionner pour le compte des services secrets israéliens.
Sur la vidéo de plus de 10 minutes, on voit un homme présenté comme Muhammad Said Ismail Musallam vêtu d'une combinaison orange, ainsi que son passeport israélien. Il est ensuite abattu d'une balle dans la tête par le jeune garçon, habillé en treillis. » | afp/Newsnet | mardi 10 mars 2015
MARGARET THATCHER – Book Discussion – "The Downing Street Years" 1993
How Gaddafi's Home City in Libya Fell under the Rule of Islamic State Jihadists
The facade of the building that was once Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s pride and joy is now painted with the distinctive black and white jihadist flag.
In streets nearby, mannequins in women’s clothes shops are covered in demure, shapeless black. Ladies’ hairdressers have been closed down.
The Libyan dictator’s home city and pet project, later the scene of his capture and death, Sirte is now the first major foothold for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) on the Mediterranean coast.
A visit by The Telegraph revealed how a small group of foreign fighters has developed into a force to be reckoned with, 300 miles from Italy’s shores.
“When they arrived they were just a small number,” said Milad, a resident, who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisals. “But then many locals joined them. They see them as the only way to have power in post-Gaddafi Libya.” » | Ruth Sherlock, Sirte, video by Sam Tarling | Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Britain May Broadcast Putin's Financial Secrets to Russian People
Britain may broadcast the financial secrets of Russia’s ruling elite as part of the information war against the Putin regime, the Foreign Secretary has indicated.
Philip Hammond said he was interested by the idea of publicising the wealth of the Russian president’s inner circle in order to embarrass them in front of their people, as part of the response to the ongoing incursion into eastern Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary warned that Putin is rapidly modernising his armed forces, and warned Russia’s bid to destabilise eastern Europe poses “the greatest single threat” to British national security.
Mr Hammond said that Britain must now “accept” that efforts to offer Russia its “rightful place” in the post-Cold War order had been “rebuffed”.
It marks a change in tone from the British government: David Cameron has repeated[ly] said that the door is open to Russia to normalise relations if it ended the assault on Ukraine. » | Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Franklin Graham: Muslims Kill Christians to Emulate Muhammad
"Muhammad was a man of war and he killed many people," Graham told Tucker Carlson on "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday. "Jesus Christ came as a man of peace, and as a follower of Christ I follow him and I want to emulate Him. But the followers of Islam are emulating the prophet Muhammad, and that’s what you’re seeing carried out."
"We have to be very careful and understand that Islam — the teachings of Islam — are militant," the president of the Samaritan's Purse charity said. " I’m talking about, when you read the Quran, when you read the Surra, it’s very militant."
According to Graham, one of the reasons for the rise of Christian persecution in the Middle East was the fall of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"When Iraq was invaded by our country — and I’m not saying this was right or wrong, I’m just saying it’s a fact — there was a large Christian minority. Saddam Hussein gave them quite a lot of freedom," he explained.
"But when that government fell and the new government came to power, the Islamists in the country, al-Qaida and others, began to attack and burn churches," Graham said.
"We’ve seen that happen throughout Iraq, and now it’s happening in Syria," he explained.
And now as a result, "the Christian community is being slaughtered by the Muslims, and they’re being forced to leave," he said. » | Courtney Coren | Monday, March 09, 2015
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