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Monday, December 14, 2015
The Ruthless Civil Service behind the Islamic State
Germany: Top Politicians Warn of Rise of Right-wing Populism at SPD Event
France: Teacher Stabbed in Paris School by Man Citing Islamic State
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Front National Held Back In France – But Its Trajectory Is On The Up
The election night mood in France was one of grim introspection.
Even if the rising tide of the far right Front National (FN) had been held back – temporarily at least – by tactical voting and a leap in turnout, the lessons were clear to see. The nationalist, anti-immigration, anti-European party was here to stay.
There were no winners in an election that consisted of establishment parties running around at the last minute trying desperately to outwit what they warned was a racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and overwhelmingly dangerous party.
There was no serious examination of the reasons why voters were turning away from the parties of government and flocking to the FN not just as a mere protest vote, but as a political alternative.
When the FN made a historic breakthrough and took nearly 28% of the vote in the first round of the regional elections, it was yet another moment in which the party was ranked as “the most popular in France” after successively topping a series of polls from the European elections onwards in a steady rise.
Even if the FN has failed to win overall control of a region – just as it had failed to win overall control of any smaller local départements earlier this year – its broad trajectory is on the up. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Sunday, December 13, 2015
How to Beat Islamic State
Islam is a religion, and like any other faith, it is internally diverse. Islamism, by contrast, is the desire to impose a single version of Islam on an entire society. Islamism is not Islam, but it is an offshoot of Islam. It is Muslim theocracy.
In much the same way, jihad is a traditional Muslim idea connoting struggle—sometimes a personal spiritual struggle, sometimes a struggle against an external enemy. Jihadism, however, is something else entirely: It is the doctrine of using force to spread Islamism.
President Barack Obama and many liberal-minded commentators have been hesitant to call this Islamist ideology by its proper name. They seem to fear that both Muslim communities and the religiously intolerant will hear the word “Islam” and simply assume that all Muslims are being held responsible for the excesses of the jihadist few.
I call this the Voldemort effect, after the villain in J.K. Rowling ’s Harry Potter books. Many well-meaning people in Ms. Rowling’s fictional world are so petrified of Voldemort’s evil that they do two things: They refuse to call Voldemort by name, instead referring to “He Who Must Not Be Named,” and they deny that he exists in the first place. Such dread only increases public hysteria, thus magnifying the appeal of Voldemort’s power.
The same hysteria about Islamism is unfolding before our eyes. But no strategy intended to defeat Islamism can succeed if Islamism itself and its violent expression in jihadism are not first named, isolated and understood. It is as disingenuous to argue that Islamic State is entirely divorced from Islam as it is to assert that it is synonymous with Islam. Islamic State does indeed have something to do with Islam—not nothing, not everything, but something. That something is the way in which all Islamists justify their arguments using Islamic scripture and seek to recruit from Muslims. Read on and comment » | Maajid Nawaz | Friday, December 11, 2015
How Islamic Extremists Are Exploiting Our Weaknesses
Paris: Mann attackiert Lehrer und beruft sich auf IS
Ein Mann griff am Montagmorgen einen Kindergartenlehrer an, als dieser im Klassenzimmer in der Pariser Vorstadt Aubervilliers seinen Unterricht vorbereitete. Das teilten die französische Staatsanwaltschaft und die Polizei mit. Den Behörden zufolge trug der Angreifer Malerkleidung und Militärstiefel, hatte Handschuhe an und war maskiert. Nach Angaben eines Polizisten war er vermutlich zunächst unbewaffnet, griff dann aber im Klassenzimmer nach einem Teppichmesser. » | sda/ala; bers | Montag, 14. Dezember 2015
Related »
Teacher Stabbed in Paris by Attacker Citing Islamic State
A hooded man claiming to be acting for the Islamic State group attacked a nursery school teacher with a knife as he prepared for classes in a school north of Paris.
The attack occurred at around 7am in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, when a primary school teacher was stabbed with a box cutter by a man wearing a balaclava and gloves, reported Le Parisien newspaper.
The attacker was dressed in painter's overalls and a balaclava and arrived without a weapon but grabbed what appeared to be a box cutter that was lying in the classroom.
According to local prosecutors the man shouted: "This is Daesh. This is a warning." Daesh is another name for IS. » | Agencies | Monday, December 14, 2015
Le groupe EI «pénètre vers l'intérieur» de la Libye
Le groupe Etat islamique (EI), déjà ancré sur les côtes libyennes, commence à progresser «vers l'intérieur» du pays. Il vise l'accès à des puits de pétrole, a déclaré lundi le ministre français de la Défense, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
«Ils sont à Syrte, ils étendent leur territoire sur 250 kilomètres linéaires de côte, mais ils commencent à pénétrer vers l'intérieur et à avoir (une) tentation d'accès à des puits de pétrole et des réserves de pétrole», a-t-il dit à la radio RTL.
L'EI compte 2000 à 3000 combattants en Libye, dont 1500 à Syrte, la ville natale de Mouammar Kadhafi à 450 km à l'est de Tripoli. Parmi eux figurent des nationaux partis combattre en Syrie et de retour dans leur pays, mais aussi des étrangers venus notamment de Tunisie, du Soudan ou du Yemen, selon une estimation de l'ONU. » | ats/nxp | lundi 14 décembre 2015
Mark Zuckerberg-backed Immigration Bill Would Allow Unlimited Muslim Immigration
The Mark Zuckerberg-backed legislation, S.153, is called the Immigration Innovation Act (or I-Squared), and it has taken on new significance following the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino. Those attacks were only possible due to Muslim immigration: Syed Farook is reportedly the child of Pakistani immigrants, and his jihadi bride, Tashfeen Malik, was reportedly born in Pakistan.
The I-Squared bill is significant for a second reason. One of the Senators who introduced the bill is also running for President: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). And several of Rubio’s most prominent financial backers are among the bill’s boosters. » | Julia Hahn | Washington D.C. | Sunday, December 13, 2015
6.5 Million Votes and Counting, Front National Gets Zero Seats, But Record Support
While it will sting that Marine Le Pen’s party didn’t manage to pick up any regional seats, a lot of this is down to the political establishment’s games over the past few weeks, where they’ve formed unofficial coalitions, stood down candidates for each other, and rolled out religious and community figures to effectively threaten voters with a view of what a Front National France would look like. » | Raheem Kassam | Sunday, December 13, 2015
Chemical Agent Sarin Smuggled from Turkey to ISIS – Turkish MP
USA: Paris Climate Deal a 'Turning Point for the World' Says Obama
France: Marion Le Pen Fails to Secure Regional Vote
'Satanic Islam' Sermon Pastor McConnell Ready to Face Justice
BELFAST TELEGRAPH: 'Jail doesn't scare me, but let me have Christmas at home,' says James McConnell
In a hard-hitting interview from his Greenisland home, Pastor James McConnell said he had no regrets about his controversial comments and, even if jailed, would repeat them on release.
He said "freedom of speech and freedom of conscience" were at stake in the landmark trial. Hundreds of Pastor McConnell's supporters are expected to protest outside Belfast Magistrates Court as the case opens today.
"This is about Christians fighting back," the pastor said. "There is an agenda at work to restrict our rights while allowing followers of other religions to say and act as they please. » | Suzanne Breen | Monday, December 14, 2015
Donald Trump Responds to His Critics
USA: Armed Protesters Stage Anti-Islam Rally in Texas
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