Dresden wappnet sich für Pegida-Demo

NEUE LUZERNER ZEITUNG: DEUTSCHLAND ⋅ Die Dresdener Polizei hat angesichts mehrerer Gegendemonstrationen gegen die islamfeindliche Pegida-Jubiläumskundgebung Verstärkung aus anderen deutschen Bundesländern angefordert. Es werde insgesamt mit über 10'000 Demonstranten gerechnet.

Auch Beamte der deutschen Bundespolizei seien am Abend im Einsatz, sagte eine Sprecherin der Dresdener Polizei am Montag. Die Zahl der eingesetzten Polizisten werde nicht bekanntgegeben. Nach Angaben der Dresdner Stadtverwaltung waren bis zum Freitag acht Demonstrationen neben der Pegida-Kundgebung angekündigt worden. » | sda/reu/dpa | Montag, 19. Oktober 2015

Ein Jahr Pegida: Der Ton verschärft sich

Zehntausend Demonstranten werden zum Jubiläum erwartet - mehr denn je. Ein Jahr Pegida - ein Rückblick:

Politically Correct HOSTILE Journalist, Stephen Sackur, Gets SHAMED by PVV Geert Wilders MP

Geert Wilders, Controversial Dutch Politician, Launches Anti-Islam Party in Perth Daily Telegraph

DUTCH politician Geert Wilders will launch a new anti-Islamic political party in Perth, just months after being targeted by ­terrorists during a Mohammed cartoon drawing contest in the US.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (AU): Geert Wilders: Controversial Dutch politician launches anti-Islam party in Perth » | Miles Godfrey | Monday,October 19, 2015

Counter-extremism: May Targets 'All Those Who Spread Hate'

BBC: The home secretary has vowed to "systematically confront and challenge extremist ideology" as she detailed new curbs on those who "spread hate".

Radical preachers will be banned from posting material online and anyone with convictions for extremist activity will be barred from working with children.

Deradicalisation classes will be made mandatory for others deemed a threat.

But Muslim leaders warned the strategy "continues down a flawed path" and risks "alienating" Muslims in the UK. (+ video) » | Monday, October 19, 2015

HM GOVERNMENT: Counter-Extremism Strategy »

THE MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN (MCB): ‘One Nation Counter-Extremism Strategy’ Risks Further Undermining Fight Against Terrorism »

Es bleibt ein Rätsel, wieso Slowenien nur noch einen Teil der ankommenden Flüchtlinge einreisen lässt

SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN: Sloweniens Polizei geht gewaltsam gegen Flüchtlinge vor: Die slowenische Polizei hat rund 2000 Migranten gewaltsam gestoppt, die von Kroatien einreisen wollten. Sloweniens Aufnahmekapazitäten seien erschöpft, rechtfertigen sich die Behörden und kritisieren ihre kroatischen Nachbarn harsch. » | agenturen/morr; gyge | Montag, 19. Oktober 2015

"Daech a des agents dormants en Europe, qui attendent le moment propice pour frapper"

L’EXPRESS: Comment fonctionne le groupe Etat islamique? Que pèsent les combattants étrangers en son sein? Comment le combattre? Rencontre avec Michael Weiss, co-auteur de État Islamique. Au coeur de l'armée de la terreur.

Un peu plus d'un an après la formation d'une coalition militaire occidentale pour lutter contre lui, le groupe Etat islamique (EI) poursuit son avancée, en Syrie notamment. L'Express a interrogé Michael Weiss, co-auteur, avec le Syrien Hassan Hassan, d'un ouvrage sur la genèse et la métamorphose du groupe djihadiste, État Islamique - Au coeur de l'armée de la terreur, paru le 1er octobre aux éditions Hugo & Cie. » | Propos recueillis par Catherine Gouëset | jeudi 15 octobre 2015

Israel PM Netanyahu to BBC: Get with the Programme - BBC News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to hold talks to calm the recent surge of violence. Asked by the BBC's Lyse Doucet whether he was prepared to return to the negotiating table, he angrily questioned whether she was "living on the same planet".

"I've been calling day in, day out, in every forum... I've called on President Abbas to resume unconditional negotiations immediately," he said.


HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »

Germany Ready to Support Turkey's EU Accession Process, Says Merkel

DEUTSCHE WELLE: During a visit aimed at securing Ankara's help in stemming a migrant influx to Europe, Chancellor Merkel has said Germany will support Turkey's EU membership bid. Turkish PM Davutoglu hailed Europe's "better approach."

Germany is ready to accelerate Turkey's EU accession process, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Merkel spoke of organizing the accession process "more dynamically."

"Germany is ready this year to open Chapter 17, and make preparations for (Chapters) 23 and 24. We can talk about the details," she said.

Merkel's statement came as she visited Turkish leaders on Sunday in a bid to secure Ankara's support in stemming the current migrant influx into the EU. » | ls/tj (Reuters, AFP, dpa) | Sunday, October 18, 2015

German Interior Minister de Maizière Condemns PEGIDA after 'Horrifying' Attacks

DEUTSCHE WELLE: In an interview with the German public broadcaster ARD, de Maiziere claimed that the organizers of the PEGIDA group were 'hard right-wing extremists.' The group is preparing to hold another rally in Dresden.

"They make blanket references to asylum seekers as criminals, and all politicians as being guilty of high treason," de Maiziere told the ARD television channel, alluding in part to the knife attack on Cologne mayoral candidate Henriette Reker, which was apparently in protest of the city's policies on the intake of refugees. Workers who help migrants in the city were also wounded in the attack on Saturday.

The minister referred to a tripling of attacks against asylum seekers since last year as "horrifying," and urged people - even those who did have concerns about the migrant influx - not to follow PEGIDA. "Hate prepares the ground for such acts," he said.

"Stay away from those who are injecting this hatred, this poison, into our country," he said in the interview on Sunday night. "Anyone who goes that way should know that they are following rabble rousers." » | rc/jm (dpa, Reuters) | Monday, October 19, 2015

Everyone Wrote Off the Syrian Army. Take Another Look Now

THE INDEPENDENT: All this is only the beginning of Mr Putin’s adventure in the Middle East

While the world still rages on at Russia’s presumption in the Middle East – to intervene in Syria instead of letting the Americans decide which dictators should survive or die – we’ve all been forgetting the one institution in that Arab land which continues to function and protect the state which Moscow has decided to preserve: the Syrian army. While Russia has been propagandising its missiles, the Syrian military, undermanned and undergunned a few months ago, has suddenly moved on to the offensive. Earlier this year, we may remember, this same army was being written off, the Bashar al-Assad government said to be reaching its final days.

We employed our own army of clichés to make the case for regime change. The Syrian army was losing ground – at Jisr al-Shugour and at Palmyra – and so we predicted that the whole Assad state had reached a “tipping point”.

Then along came Vladimir Putin with his air and missile fleets and suddenly the whole place is transformed. While we huffed and puffed that the Russians were bombing the “moderate” rebels – moderates who had earlier ceased to exist according to America’s top generals – we’ve been paying no attention to the military offensive which the Syrians themselves are now staging against the Nusra Front fighters around Aleppo and in the valley of the Orontes. » | Robert Fisk | Monday, October 19, 2015

Putin Has Achieved More against ISIS in a Fortnight Than US Did in a Whole YEAR, Syrian MP

EXPRESS: RUSSIA'S bombing campaign against Islamic State (ISIS) has achieved more in a fortnight than the West managed in a whole YEAR, Syria's top politician claimed today.

The country's most senior MP praised Vladimir Putin's "principled" aerial pounding of the jihadis and denounced Barack Obama as "treacherous and deceptive" during a tubthumping speech to Russian delegates.

In a scathing assessment of Western foreign policy, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said Russia's intervention in the region was having a positive difference whereas America and Britain had created instability and war.

He also provided more evidence of Putin's growing grip on power in the war-torn country, saying that Syria was ready to forge even closer ties with Russia. » | Nick Gutteridge | Monday, October 19, 2015

Anti-immigration Party Wins Swiss Election in 'Slide to the Right'

Swiss People's Party SVP President Toni Brunner laughs
after a debate at the house of Parliament in Bern

THE TELEGRAPH: Anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP) wins biggest share of vote in parliamentary election on Sunday, prompting talk of a "Rechtsrutsch" - a "slide to the Right"

The anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP) won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday's national parliamentary election, keeping pressure on Bern to introduce quotas on people moving from the European Union.

Success for the SVP, coupled with gains made by the pro-business Liberal Party (FDP), led political commentators to talk of a "Rechtsrutsch" - a "slide to the right" - in Swiss politics.

Immigration was the central topic for voters amid a rush of asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe.

"The vote was clear," SVP leader Toni Brunner told Swiss television. "The people are worried about mass migration to Europe."

Sunday's result cemented the SVP's position as the dominant force in Swiss politics. » | Reuters | Monday, October 19, 2015

Russian PM Brands US 'Short-sighted and Weak' over Failure to Hold Talk[s] on ISIS Airstrikes

EXPRESS: THE PRIME Minister of Russia has branded the US "short-sighted and weak" in a scathing attack over failure to hold talks on coordinating airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.

Russia is currently in the midst of a bombing campaign against the twisted terror group after Moscow approved airstrikes in the war-torn country last month.

Washington officials have so far refused to meet with a representative from Russia to discuss coordinating attacks against the evil organisation, claiming that they will only talk when Moscow stops assisting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The US has accused Russia of only looking to prop up Assad's regime by bombing Syria - rather than tackling ISIS.

But President Vladimir Putin has since rubbished their claims and blasted their "unconstructive" stance last week at a meeting with the president of Kazakhstan.

And now the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has also waded into the dispute as he spoke of his bafflement over what he described as the "silly behaviour" of America. » | Levi Winchester | Monday, October 19, 2015

"Merkel, die Schlepperkönigin Europas"

Nach dem miserablen Standing Merkels infolge ihrer Austeritätspolitik in der Griechenlandfrage nutzte sie die Chance in der Flüchtlingsfrage, um dieses wieder aufzumöbeln, ohne aber vorherzusehen, welchen Korken sie da aus der Flasche gezogen hatte.

Professor's Message to Merkel and Hollande: The EU Is 28 Countries, Not Two

Polish university professor Ryszard Legutko, the vice-president of the European Conservatives and Reformists group and an MEP for the Polish Law and Justice party, makes some good points to Merkel and Hollande.

Former Qatari PM Tries to Use UK Diplomatic Immunity to Halt Torture Court Case

THE GUARDIAN: Qatari agents acting on behalf of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani alleged to have falsely imprisoned British national Fawaz al-Attiya in Doha

A former prime minister of Qatar is attempting to use his UK diplomatic immunity to halt a court case in London where he is accused of being responsible for the alleged torture of a British citizen.

Fawaz al-Attiya, a UK national born in London, claims that Qatari agents acting on behalf of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani falsely imprisoned him in Doha for 15 months and subjected him to conditions amounting to torture. Attiya claims he was kept in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep and only let out in handcuffs to be interrogated.

Hamad bin Jassim, sometimes known as “HBJ”, denies the allegations and court documents state that he plans to use diplomatic immunity to challenge the London high court’s jurisdiction at a hearing due to be held later this week. » | Randeep Ramesh and Rori Donaghy | Sunday, October 18, 2015

Sweden: Third Refugee Centre Hit by Suspected Arson Attack within a Week

An old school building set to house refugees was left in ruins, Sunday, after it burned down in the Swedish municipality of Onsala, 30km (19m) from near Gothenburg. It is the third prospective refugee centre in Sweden to be set alight within one week, as suspected arson attacks against migrants spike in the Scandinavian country.

Mrs Thatcher: The Bruges Speech

Margaret Thatcher's historic speech, spawning The Bruges Group, delivered at Bruges in September 1988. Famously rejecting the centralised, unaccountable, federal Europe of Delors, Margaret Thatcher proposed instead a wider, decentralised, outward-looking democratic Europe of independent, freely- trading and cooperating nation states

Margaret Thatcher's Bruges Speech »

Pro und Contra: Von Floridsdorf in den Dschihad: Warum radikalisieren sich junge Österreicher?

In der Sendung Pro und Contra des österreichischen Puls4 diskutierte IZRS-Präsident Nicolas Blancho über die Frage, warum sich vor allem Jugendliche von der Botschaft des "Islamischen Staates (IS)" angezogen fühlen und einige von ihnen auch die Koffer packen und sich dem Kampf in Syrien oder im Irak anschliessen.

Für Blancho ist klar, dass die Debatte zu undifferenziert geführt wird. Die Moderatorin Corinna Milborn machte dies auch gleich zu Beginn der Sendung klar, als sie den IZRS-Präsidenten fragte, warum er ihr die Hand nicht gegeben habe. Jener entgegnete, dass er aus Respekt vor der fremden Frau seine Hand auf die Brust gelegt habe, anstatt sie anzufassen.

Es seien gerade diese normativen Stellvertreterkriege (Handgeben, Kopftuch, Geschlechterrollen), die in der Gesellschaft dem Phänomen der Islamophobie Vorschub leisten würden und die nötige Trennschärfe zwischen tatsächlich radikalen, d.h. ideologisch-gewaltbereiten Ansichten und religiös-konservativer Glaubenspraxis nicht leisteten.

Blancho betonte zudem auch, dass die islamische Bewegung nicht mit dem IS gleichgesetzt werden darf. Es gebe ein berechtigtes und gewichtiges Anliegen unter Muslimen im Mittleren Osten, die postkoloniale Herrschaftsordnungen in Frage zu stellen und selbstbestimmtere Gegenentwürfe hervorzubringen. Dass sich der Westen dabei auf Seiten der postkolonialen Tyrannen immer wieder einmische, sende ganz falsche Signale aus und verkompliziere letztlich auch das soziale Miteinander zwischen Muslimen und Nicht-Muslimen im Westen. .

Gäste am Podium:

Necla Kelek, Autorin und Islamkritikerin; Nicolas Blancho, Islamist, Präsident "Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz"; Moussa Al-Hassan Diaw, Extremismus-Experte, Obmann der Deradikalisierungsplattform "Netzwerk sozialer Zusammenhalt"; Peter Gridling, Direktor des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung