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Re: Gatestone Institute
Admin Mon 25 Jan 2021, 11:35 pm
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16990/your-government-is-afraid-of-you?fbclid=IwAR1CdbAovwikZEMOofTQHlzPbPdh6CnklQ8U-D_qfN0W4ng1fneCxaUohjM
Your Government is Afraid of You
by Chris Farrell
January 25, 2021 at 5:00 am
The Swamp is terrified of Trump – still. That explains their fixation on eradicating him and his movement.
You are also supposed to ignore the facts concerning months-long violent protests with killings and burnings across America's cities by Antifa and BLM. Months ago, Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser, demanded that the National Guard withdraw from her city amid violent demonstrations. She then named a street after those demonstrators and allowed them to paint their motto across the entire street.
Watch for the same sort of public treatment and language applied to Trump supporters going forward. It is consistent with a government that is in fear of its own people. The type of government that has 25,000 soldiers guarding a few politicians in an empty city.
The Swamp is terrified of Trump – still. Pictured: President Donald Trump boards Marine One as he departs the White House on his last day in office, January 20, 2021. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
The Swamp is terrified of Trump – still. That explains their fixation on eradicating him and his movement. "Trumpism" was not extinguished when Joe Biden raised his right hand to become the 46th president.
Fear grips The Swamp. Here is some evidence: the military occupation of Washington, DC; claims of "insurrection"; Speaker Pelosi's interference with the military command structure; more baseless claims of dark Russian conspiracies; serious discussion of reeducation camps for Trump supporters; marginalizing and criminalizing all things "Trump" – those are all expressions of fear.
Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and President Biden keep using the word "insurrectionists" to describe the rowdy Trumpsters who raided the Capitol building unlawfully two weeks ago. That is deliberate. It makes all the respectable, career politicians, government drones and DC political operatives appear to be "victims" – draped in the flag and bravely defending the Constitution. It also criminalizes all of their opposition. Not just the protestors who raided the Capitol, but all Trump supporters – across the USA – and those opposed to The Swamp mentality to which we have now returned.
There were more troops in Washington, DC guarding the inauguration of Joe Biden than are in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined. 25,000 National Guardsmen from 13 states, plus more than 2,000 Active Duty military from the Metro DC region. There was also the full panoply of federal and D.C. law enforcement. From Metropolitan Police to the Postal Service. Remember: No one was allowed to go to the Inauguration. The National Mall was closed. Blocks and blocks of downtown DC were shutdown with jersey barriers, 12-foot metal fencing and armed checkpoints. You are supposed to believe this is a "normal" security precaution. You are not supposed to question if the reaction is excessive, heavy-handed or unprecedented.
In two weeks, they have made Washington DC look and feel like the Brandenburg Gate area of Cold War Berlin; Nancy Pelosi unlawfully interfered in the National Military Command Authority; and Hillary Clinton suggested Trump coordinated the activities of the protestors with Putin.
You are also supposed to ignore the facts concerning months-long violent protests with killings and burnings across America's cities by Antifa and BLM. Months ago, Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser, demanded that the National Guard withdraw from her city amid violent demonstrations. She then named a street after those demonstrators and allowed them to paint their motto across the entire street.
The crowd of Trumpsters who raided the Capitol building unlawfully two weeks ago brought about 5 deaths: 3 "medical emergencies" (read: heart attacks); Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick reportedly succumbing to a fire extinguisher blow to the head; and, unarmed, female, civilian, Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt shot point-blank by Capitol Police in the chest while crouched in a window frame. Capitol Police failed miserably. There is clear video evidence of Capitol Police opening gates for some of the protesters to approach the building. You do not hear a word about accountability for law enforcement actions during the raid, nor about the Babbitt shooting. No marches by any groups seeking justice or an investigation. Nothing.
There is also a growing drumbeat for having Trump supporters "deprogrammed." Immediately following the election, the suggestion of reeducation camps was played-off as just a snarky remark, but in the last couple of weeks the sentiment has grown in frequency and sincerity. It is a threat we should all take seriously.
This is an attempt by The Swamp to place all Americans that supported Trump into a state of neurotic acute anxiety. This type of psychological conditioning is documented as what Communist propagandists tried to do to the West throughout the Cold War. The Castro regime had a technique for isolating and criminalizing resistance, and a particular word assigned to all who opposed their regime – "gusano" – worm.
Watch for the same sort of public treatment and language applied to Trump supporters going forward. It is consistent with a government that is in fear of its own people. The type of government that has 25,000 soldiers guarding a few politicians in an empty city.
Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer. For the past 20 years, he has served as the Director of Investigations & Research for Judicial Watch. The views expressed are the author's alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.
Your Government is Afraid of You
by Chris Farrell
January 25, 2021 at 5:00 am
The Swamp is terrified of Trump – still. That explains their fixation on eradicating him and his movement.
You are also supposed to ignore the facts concerning months-long violent protests with killings and burnings across America's cities by Antifa and BLM. Months ago, Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser, demanded that the National Guard withdraw from her city amid violent demonstrations. She then named a street after those demonstrators and allowed them to paint their motto across the entire street.
Watch for the same sort of public treatment and language applied to Trump supporters going forward. It is consistent with a government that is in fear of its own people. The type of government that has 25,000 soldiers guarding a few politicians in an empty city.
The Swamp is terrified of Trump – still. Pictured: President Donald Trump boards Marine One as he departs the White House on his last day in office, January 20, 2021. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
The Swamp is terrified of Trump – still. That explains their fixation on eradicating him and his movement. "Trumpism" was not extinguished when Joe Biden raised his right hand to become the 46th president.
Fear grips The Swamp. Here is some evidence: the military occupation of Washington, DC; claims of "insurrection"; Speaker Pelosi's interference with the military command structure; more baseless claims of dark Russian conspiracies; serious discussion of reeducation camps for Trump supporters; marginalizing and criminalizing all things "Trump" – those are all expressions of fear.
Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and President Biden keep using the word "insurrectionists" to describe the rowdy Trumpsters who raided the Capitol building unlawfully two weeks ago. That is deliberate. It makes all the respectable, career politicians, government drones and DC political operatives appear to be "victims" – draped in the flag and bravely defending the Constitution. It also criminalizes all of their opposition. Not just the protestors who raided the Capitol, but all Trump supporters – across the USA – and those opposed to The Swamp mentality to which we have now returned.
There were more troops in Washington, DC guarding the inauguration of Joe Biden than are in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined. 25,000 National Guardsmen from 13 states, plus more than 2,000 Active Duty military from the Metro DC region. There was also the full panoply of federal and D.C. law enforcement. From Metropolitan Police to the Postal Service. Remember: No one was allowed to go to the Inauguration. The National Mall was closed. Blocks and blocks of downtown DC were shutdown with jersey barriers, 12-foot metal fencing and armed checkpoints. You are supposed to believe this is a "normal" security precaution. You are not supposed to question if the reaction is excessive, heavy-handed or unprecedented.
In two weeks, they have made Washington DC look and feel like the Brandenburg Gate area of Cold War Berlin; Nancy Pelosi unlawfully interfered in the National Military Command Authority; and Hillary Clinton suggested Trump coordinated the activities of the protestors with Putin.
You are also supposed to ignore the facts concerning months-long violent protests with killings and burnings across America's cities by Antifa and BLM. Months ago, Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser, demanded that the National Guard withdraw from her city amid violent demonstrations. She then named a street after those demonstrators and allowed them to paint their motto across the entire street.
The crowd of Trumpsters who raided the Capitol building unlawfully two weeks ago brought about 5 deaths: 3 "medical emergencies" (read: heart attacks); Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick reportedly succumbing to a fire extinguisher blow to the head; and, unarmed, female, civilian, Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt shot point-blank by Capitol Police in the chest while crouched in a window frame. Capitol Police failed miserably. There is clear video evidence of Capitol Police opening gates for some of the protesters to approach the building. You do not hear a word about accountability for law enforcement actions during the raid, nor about the Babbitt shooting. No marches by any groups seeking justice or an investigation. Nothing.
There is also a growing drumbeat for having Trump supporters "deprogrammed." Immediately following the election, the suggestion of reeducation camps was played-off as just a snarky remark, but in the last couple of weeks the sentiment has grown in frequency and sincerity. It is a threat we should all take seriously.
This is an attempt by The Swamp to place all Americans that supported Trump into a state of neurotic acute anxiety. This type of psychological conditioning is documented as what Communist propagandists tried to do to the West throughout the Cold War. The Castro regime had a technique for isolating and criminalizing resistance, and a particular word assigned to all who opposed their regime – "gusano" – worm.
Watch for the same sort of public treatment and language applied to Trump supporters going forward. It is consistent with a government that is in fear of its own people. The type of government that has 25,000 soldiers guarding a few politicians in an empty city.
Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer. For the past 20 years, he has served as the Director of Investigations & Research for Judicial Watch. The views expressed are the author's alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.
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Re: Gatestone Institute
Admin Sun 21 Jun 2020, 10:38 pm
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16092/turkey-erdogan-conquests?fbclid=IwAR29AuydmwjNJ0xMw8hzenZ2IZ_d-vqnsqIS7j-iXr1Npl0YBSSB6yWfjCo
Turkey: Erdoğan Wishes "Many More Happy Conquests"
by Burak Bekdil
June 20, 2020 at 5:00 am
In Turkish jargon, the difference is simple: It is "conquest" when we do it and "invasion" when others do it.
In this year's celebrations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the stakes when he spoke of the conquest prospectively not just retrospectively. "I am wishing that God grant this nation many more happy conquests," he said....
A serious question remains to be asked: When Erdoğan wished God to grant Turks "many more happy conquests" which non-Turkish lands is he hoping to "conquer"?
The venue for this year's Turkish celebrations of the 1453 conquest of Constantinople was not chosen randomly: it was the stunning edifice of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral (pictured), built in the sixth century Byzantine Empire as the centerpiece of its capital. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally commemorated the conquest with Islamic prayers at the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO world heritage site. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
In Turkey, every May 29 brings up the country's "conquest fetish." Turks are proud that their Ottoman ancestors, in 1453, "conquered" (not "invaded") then-Constantinople, today's Istanbul. It is bizarre enough that a proud nation is commemorating, every year, the capture from another nation of its biggest city by the "force of sword." This year's 567th anniversary was no exception: The celebrations euphemistically referred to the fall of Constantinople as "conquest" -- not "invasion."
In Turkish jargon the difference is simple: it is "conquest" when we do it and "invasion" when others do it. In this year's celebrations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the stakes when he spoke of the conquest prospectively not just retrospectively. "I am wishing that God grant this nation many more happy conquests," he said at a celebration where he recited from the Quran.
The venue for this year's celebrations was not chosen randomly: it was the stunning edifice of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, built in the sixth century Byzantine Empire as the centerpiece of its capital, Constantinople. Erdoğan personally commemorated the conquest with Islamic prayers at the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO world heritage site. The church was converted into a mosque after the fall of Constantinople. But Atatürk, the secular founder of modern Turkey, converted it into a museum.
The Hagia Sophia has been emblematic in the Turkish Islamist politics from whose ranks Erdoğan emerged. It reflects Islam's "spread by force," the capture of another Christian monument by Muslims, therefore a Muslim victory over "infidels." The Hagia Sophia has been a source of political tension between secular Turks who want it to remain a museum out of respect for Christians and Islamists who want it to become a mosque for the sake of the spirit of "conquest".
In 2016 the Erdoğan government issued a directive to allow the recitation of Islamic call for prayers inside the Hagia Sophia. It then assigned an imam into a small chamber (masjid) within the church compound where Muslims had been allowed to pray since 1991. More recently Erdoğan said he would convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque in retaliation to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Israel's "claims to East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights."
The childish Turkish hypocrisy over "conquest vs. invasion" came most clearly from a fiercely pro-Erdoğan columnist. A Hürriyet newspaper columnist and former member of parliament, Fuat Bol , wrote on June 1: "[Ottoman Sultan] Mehmet the Conqueror converted the Hagia Sophia into a mosque as required by the right of sword." ["Right of sword" refers to the Ottoman narrative that it supposedly has the right of a successful invader to rule an invaded land in line with its rules and wishes. Ed.] In the same article, Bol then mentioned "those shameless Greeks who converted [Ottoman] mosques into churches."
The "spirit of conquest" keeps poisoning the ordinary minds, too, and slowly winning over respect from the people who have remained secular.
On May 23, just a few days before the anniversary of the "conquest" of Constantinople, an attacker dismantled a cross outside an Armenian church in Istanbul's historical Kuzguncuk neighborhood. Two weeks earlier, on May 9, another Armenian church in Istanbul's Bakırköy district, had also been also attacked. Garo Paylan, a Turkish-Armenian lawmaker for the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party, called it a hate crime. "Attacks continue on our churches. The cross of our Surp Krikor Lusaroviç Armenian Church was removed and thrown away. Hate speech made by the ruling power normalizes hate crimes," he said in a tweet.
On the day the Turks celebrated the "conquest" of Constantinople, an Istanbul-based Armenian foundation received death threats by email. The threat to the Hrant Dink Foundation, named after the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was assassinated in 2007, included the phrase "We may turn up one night, when you least expect it." This is a slogan used frequently by Turkish ultra-nationalist groups -- "and the very same slogan we were well used to hearing before Hrant Dink was assassinated, and within the knowledge of officials," the foundation said.
After all that gloom, the good news was that the Turkish police quickly found and detained the suspects responsible for the threats to the Hrant Dink Foundation and church attacks. The not-so-good news is that the suspects will probably get a red-carpet treatment under detention, be brought to a prosecutor for a brief testimony and released immediately, and then receive several official and unofficial pats on the shoulder for their "heroic" acts.
In all this typically Turkish "conquest" fanfare a serious question remains to be asked: When Erdoğan wished God to grant Turks "many more happy conquests" which non-Turkish lands is he hoping to "conquer"?
Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Turkey: Erdoğan Wishes "Many More Happy Conquests"
by Burak Bekdil
June 20, 2020 at 5:00 am
In Turkish jargon, the difference is simple: It is "conquest" when we do it and "invasion" when others do it.
In this year's celebrations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the stakes when he spoke of the conquest prospectively not just retrospectively. "I am wishing that God grant this nation many more happy conquests," he said....
A serious question remains to be asked: When Erdoğan wished God to grant Turks "many more happy conquests" which non-Turkish lands is he hoping to "conquer"?
The venue for this year's Turkish celebrations of the 1453 conquest of Constantinople was not chosen randomly: it was the stunning edifice of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral (pictured), built in the sixth century Byzantine Empire as the centerpiece of its capital. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally commemorated the conquest with Islamic prayers at the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO world heritage site. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
In Turkey, every May 29 brings up the country's "conquest fetish." Turks are proud that their Ottoman ancestors, in 1453, "conquered" (not "invaded") then-Constantinople, today's Istanbul. It is bizarre enough that a proud nation is commemorating, every year, the capture from another nation of its biggest city by the "force of sword." This year's 567th anniversary was no exception: The celebrations euphemistically referred to the fall of Constantinople as "conquest" -- not "invasion."
In Turkish jargon the difference is simple: it is "conquest" when we do it and "invasion" when others do it. In this year's celebrations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the stakes when he spoke of the conquest prospectively not just retrospectively. "I am wishing that God grant this nation many more happy conquests," he said at a celebration where he recited from the Quran.
The venue for this year's celebrations was not chosen randomly: it was the stunning edifice of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, built in the sixth century Byzantine Empire as the centerpiece of its capital, Constantinople. Erdoğan personally commemorated the conquest with Islamic prayers at the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO world heritage site. The church was converted into a mosque after the fall of Constantinople. But Atatürk, the secular founder of modern Turkey, converted it into a museum.
The Hagia Sophia has been emblematic in the Turkish Islamist politics from whose ranks Erdoğan emerged. It reflects Islam's "spread by force," the capture of another Christian monument by Muslims, therefore a Muslim victory over "infidels." The Hagia Sophia has been a source of political tension between secular Turks who want it to remain a museum out of respect for Christians and Islamists who want it to become a mosque for the sake of the spirit of "conquest".
In 2016 the Erdoğan government issued a directive to allow the recitation of Islamic call for prayers inside the Hagia Sophia. It then assigned an imam into a small chamber (masjid) within the church compound where Muslims had been allowed to pray since 1991. More recently Erdoğan said he would convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque in retaliation to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Israel's "claims to East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights."
The childish Turkish hypocrisy over "conquest vs. invasion" came most clearly from a fiercely pro-Erdoğan columnist. A Hürriyet newspaper columnist and former member of parliament, Fuat Bol , wrote on June 1: "[Ottoman Sultan] Mehmet the Conqueror converted the Hagia Sophia into a mosque as required by the right of sword." ["Right of sword" refers to the Ottoman narrative that it supposedly has the right of a successful invader to rule an invaded land in line with its rules and wishes. Ed.] In the same article, Bol then mentioned "those shameless Greeks who converted [Ottoman] mosques into churches."
The "spirit of conquest" keeps poisoning the ordinary minds, too, and slowly winning over respect from the people who have remained secular.
On May 23, just a few days before the anniversary of the "conquest" of Constantinople, an attacker dismantled a cross outside an Armenian church in Istanbul's historical Kuzguncuk neighborhood. Two weeks earlier, on May 9, another Armenian church in Istanbul's Bakırköy district, had also been also attacked. Garo Paylan, a Turkish-Armenian lawmaker for the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party, called it a hate crime. "Attacks continue on our churches. The cross of our Surp Krikor Lusaroviç Armenian Church was removed and thrown away. Hate speech made by the ruling power normalizes hate crimes," he said in a tweet.
On the day the Turks celebrated the "conquest" of Constantinople, an Istanbul-based Armenian foundation received death threats by email. The threat to the Hrant Dink Foundation, named after the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was assassinated in 2007, included the phrase "We may turn up one night, when you least expect it." This is a slogan used frequently by Turkish ultra-nationalist groups -- "and the very same slogan we were well used to hearing before Hrant Dink was assassinated, and within the knowledge of officials," the foundation said.
After all that gloom, the good news was that the Turkish police quickly found and detained the suspects responsible for the threats to the Hrant Dink Foundation and church attacks. The not-so-good news is that the suspects will probably get a red-carpet treatment under detention, be brought to a prosecutor for a brief testimony and released immediately, and then receive several official and unofficial pats on the shoulder for their "heroic" acts.
In all this typically Turkish "conquest" fanfare a serious question remains to be asked: When Erdoğan wished God to grant Turks "many more happy conquests" which non-Turkish lands is he hoping to "conquer"?
Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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Re: Gatestone Institute
Admin Wed 03 Jun 2020, 6:26 pm
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8956/black-lives-matter-antisemitism?fbclid=IwAR0lrfOvDeqvbbv9_5sd_CqNRzBtmpETByV5-iLqBClytSZn9gL1y8j9aXQ
Where Does Black Lives Matter's Anti-Semitism Come From?
by Philip Carl Salzman
September 21, 2016 at 4:30 am
Black Lives Matter has been guided to anti-Semitism by the concept of "intersectionality, which argues that all oppressions are interlinked and cannot be solved alone. Thus, women can never be treated fairly if blacks face racial prejudice, and the disabled are not given sufficient support to be equal to the abled, and unless the Palestinians are liberated from the Israelis, and the Israelis are liberated from their lives and their home.
"Intersectionality" urges us to view the world as divided into a conspiracy of oppressors and an agony of oppressed, and reduces people to a number of categories, such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality, religion, capability, etc. Differences, such as sexism, racism, nationalism and ability -- as opposed to what we have in common -- are reinforced.
Supporters of "intersectionality" cheer terrorists when they murder Jews. To them, that is just "social justice" at work.
The recently published platform of Black Lives Matter (BLM) states that Israel is responsible for "the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people," and "Israel is an apartheid state ... that sanction[s] discrimination against the Palestinian people." These statements are anti-Semitic not only because they are false and modern versions of tradition anti-Semitic blood libel, but also because BLM selectively chooses the Jewish State out of all the states in the world to demonize. What has inspired BLM to engage in this counter-factual, anti-Semitic rant? BLM has been guided to anti-Semitism by the concept of "intersectionality."
"Intersectionality" is the idea that all oppressed peoples and categories of people share a position, and by virtue of that fact are potential allies in the struggle against their oppressors.
"Intersectionality" is a concept used to describe the ways in which "oppressive institutions" (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another. The concept is credited to the legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, writing in 1989, but it is only in recent years that it has escaped academia and swarmed into the streets.
"Intersectionality" has, however, been extended beyond individuals to types of oppression. The argument, as above, is that all oppressions "interconnected and cannot be examined separately." Thus, women can never be treated equally or fairly, if blacks face racial prejudice, and the disabled are not given sufficient support to be equal to the abled, and unless the Palestinians are liberated from the Israelis, and the Israelis are liberated from their country, their lives and their home. To make the point, the Israelis are accused of having had a hand, direct or indirect, in the oppression of blacks, women, and the disabled everywhere. So much oppression, intersectionists apparently think, can be traced back to the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and the International Jewish Conspiracy.
How well does "intersectionality" stand up to critical scrutiny? According to the journalist, James Kirchick,
"intersectionality compels one to adopt agendas that have nothing to do with his or her own. Worse, in the name of 'solidarity' with other supposedly 'oppressed' groups, it leads to alliances with those actively hostile to one's cause. This is how a gay rights organization led by well-meaning progressives can be duped into disinviting private citizens of the one country in the Middle East respecting the humanity of gays, all at the behest of people who use cultural relativism to excuse Muslim societies that throw homosexuals from the tops of buildings."
Here are some of its other problems, weaknesses, and errors:
For a start, "intersectionality" urges us to view the world as divided into a conspiracy of oppressors and an agony of oppressed: Victimizers and victims. Two classes, one relationship: oppression. This is the model offered to understand, explain and reform the world. It could not be more simplistic.
Consider "class oppression" by capitalists of workers. Why have tens of millions of rural people in China flooded the cities to take jobs offered by capitalists? Because by so doing they improve their standard of living, their life chances, and the opportunities that they can offer their kinsmen back home. This "capitalist oppression," which replaced communist political atrocities and economic disasters, has raised China from a backward agrarian society to a modern, developing society.
If we look at the "hot spots" of the world, who are the oppressors and who the oppressed, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria, in Nigeria? If only simple-minded ideas such as "intersectionality" could help us clarify the destructive disasters and human tragedies -- drought, corruption, intolerance, civil war -- but unfortunately they are useless.
Further, "intersectionality" focuses on people's victimhood. People are "oppressed" and disadvantaged, and that becomes the most important thing about them. Reducing people to victims takes away their ability to understand, their ability to act, their motivation, tenacity, resourcefulness, force of character, and everything that enables people to engage the world.
Young women in the West and increasingly the Far East, for example, may not feel oppressed by "patriarchy," but are confident in their abilities, not as a result of ideology, but as a result of their experience in the world. They know that their fair participation is supported by their societies. Reports making claims such as "women make 70% pay that men receive" have been demolished. Single women working the same hours in the same industries make the same as men; women who choose motherhood work less and make less than men.
Moreover, "intersectionality" reduces people to a number of categories, such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality, religion, capability, etc. Differences, such as sexism, racism, nationalism and ability -- as opposed to what we have in common -- are reinforced.
In addition, "intersectionality," in identifying all the oppressed as one, united and with common interests, is incoherent and oblivious to the facts (often, it seems, unpopular in radical social movements). The idea, for example, that victims of Islamophobia and homophobia are natural allies flies in the face of the fact that Islamic law and many Muslims are strongly opposed to homosexuals, and that Iran, for instance, executes homosexuals (even teenagers) by hanging them from cranes in public squares. The Islamic State does not require large machinery; it throws homosexuals off buildings.
There is also a lack of affinity between victims of Islamophobia and victims of racial prejudice. The Arab world -- the heart of Islam -- has for many centuries, up to today, carried on an extensive black slave trade in Africa, sending Arab expeditions to captures slaves. There has been much observation in recent decades of slaves taken from the south by the Arabs of northern Sudan. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in her autobiography, Infidel, reports her experiences in Saudi Arabia, where the term for blacks is abid, "slave," and blacks are denigrated in the street.
Also, advocates of "intersectionality," such as various political parties -- for example the Greens in Canada and Podemos in Spain -- and racial groups such as Black Lives Matter, often seem not to identify oppressors and oppressed -- never mind about the Chinese occupation of Mongolia, Tibet, and Turkestan, or the annihilation of Christians and Yazidis in the Middle East, or the Arab, Turkish, and Persian war against the Kurds. Instead, they appear to prefer to turn to the historical scapegoat, the Jews, selectively demonize Israel and celebrate the Jews' terrorist enemies, the Palestinians, as poor, suffering victims . No worries about prejudice against Jews for champions of "intersectionality." So we should not be surprised to see Quebec nationalists marching with Hezbollah flags , and "anti-racists" in European demonstrations chanting "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas."
Supporters of "intersectionality" cheer terrorists when they murder Jews. To them, that is just "social justice" at work.
Philip Carl Salzman is Professor of Anthropology at McGill University, Canada.
Where Does Black Lives Matter's Anti-Semitism Come From?
by Philip Carl Salzman
September 21, 2016 at 4:30 am
Black Lives Matter has been guided to anti-Semitism by the concept of "intersectionality, which argues that all oppressions are interlinked and cannot be solved alone. Thus, women can never be treated fairly if blacks face racial prejudice, and the disabled are not given sufficient support to be equal to the abled, and unless the Palestinians are liberated from the Israelis, and the Israelis are liberated from their lives and their home.
"Intersectionality" urges us to view the world as divided into a conspiracy of oppressors and an agony of oppressed, and reduces people to a number of categories, such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality, religion, capability, etc. Differences, such as sexism, racism, nationalism and ability -- as opposed to what we have in common -- are reinforced.
Supporters of "intersectionality" cheer terrorists when they murder Jews. To them, that is just "social justice" at work.
The recently published platform of Black Lives Matter (BLM) states that Israel is responsible for "the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people," and "Israel is an apartheid state ... that sanction[s] discrimination against the Palestinian people." These statements are anti-Semitic not only because they are false and modern versions of tradition anti-Semitic blood libel, but also because BLM selectively chooses the Jewish State out of all the states in the world to demonize. What has inspired BLM to engage in this counter-factual, anti-Semitic rant? BLM has been guided to anti-Semitism by the concept of "intersectionality."
"Intersectionality" is the idea that all oppressed peoples and categories of people share a position, and by virtue of that fact are potential allies in the struggle against their oppressors.
"Intersectionality" is a concept used to describe the ways in which "oppressive institutions" (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another. The concept is credited to the legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, writing in 1989, but it is only in recent years that it has escaped academia and swarmed into the streets.
"Intersectionality" has, however, been extended beyond individuals to types of oppression. The argument, as above, is that all oppressions "interconnected and cannot be examined separately." Thus, women can never be treated equally or fairly, if blacks face racial prejudice, and the disabled are not given sufficient support to be equal to the abled, and unless the Palestinians are liberated from the Israelis, and the Israelis are liberated from their country, their lives and their home. To make the point, the Israelis are accused of having had a hand, direct or indirect, in the oppression of blacks, women, and the disabled everywhere. So much oppression, intersectionists apparently think, can be traced back to the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and the International Jewish Conspiracy.
How well does "intersectionality" stand up to critical scrutiny? According to the journalist, James Kirchick,
"intersectionality compels one to adopt agendas that have nothing to do with his or her own. Worse, in the name of 'solidarity' with other supposedly 'oppressed' groups, it leads to alliances with those actively hostile to one's cause. This is how a gay rights organization led by well-meaning progressives can be duped into disinviting private citizens of the one country in the Middle East respecting the humanity of gays, all at the behest of people who use cultural relativism to excuse Muslim societies that throw homosexuals from the tops of buildings."
Here are some of its other problems, weaknesses, and errors:
For a start, "intersectionality" urges us to view the world as divided into a conspiracy of oppressors and an agony of oppressed: Victimizers and victims. Two classes, one relationship: oppression. This is the model offered to understand, explain and reform the world. It could not be more simplistic.
Consider "class oppression" by capitalists of workers. Why have tens of millions of rural people in China flooded the cities to take jobs offered by capitalists? Because by so doing they improve their standard of living, their life chances, and the opportunities that they can offer their kinsmen back home. This "capitalist oppression," which replaced communist political atrocities and economic disasters, has raised China from a backward agrarian society to a modern, developing society.
If we look at the "hot spots" of the world, who are the oppressors and who the oppressed, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria, in Nigeria? If only simple-minded ideas such as "intersectionality" could help us clarify the destructive disasters and human tragedies -- drought, corruption, intolerance, civil war -- but unfortunately they are useless.
Further, "intersectionality" focuses on people's victimhood. People are "oppressed" and disadvantaged, and that becomes the most important thing about them. Reducing people to victims takes away their ability to understand, their ability to act, their motivation, tenacity, resourcefulness, force of character, and everything that enables people to engage the world.
Young women in the West and increasingly the Far East, for example, may not feel oppressed by "patriarchy," but are confident in their abilities, not as a result of ideology, but as a result of their experience in the world. They know that their fair participation is supported by their societies. Reports making claims such as "women make 70% pay that men receive" have been demolished. Single women working the same hours in the same industries make the same as men; women who choose motherhood work less and make less than men.
Moreover, "intersectionality" reduces people to a number of categories, such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality, religion, capability, etc. Differences, such as sexism, racism, nationalism and ability -- as opposed to what we have in common -- are reinforced.
In addition, "intersectionality," in identifying all the oppressed as one, united and with common interests, is incoherent and oblivious to the facts (often, it seems, unpopular in radical social movements). The idea, for example, that victims of Islamophobia and homophobia are natural allies flies in the face of the fact that Islamic law and many Muslims are strongly opposed to homosexuals, and that Iran, for instance, executes homosexuals (even teenagers) by hanging them from cranes in public squares. The Islamic State does not require large machinery; it throws homosexuals off buildings.
There is also a lack of affinity between victims of Islamophobia and victims of racial prejudice. The Arab world -- the heart of Islam -- has for many centuries, up to today, carried on an extensive black slave trade in Africa, sending Arab expeditions to captures slaves. There has been much observation in recent decades of slaves taken from the south by the Arabs of northern Sudan. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in her autobiography, Infidel, reports her experiences in Saudi Arabia, where the term for blacks is abid, "slave," and blacks are denigrated in the street.
Also, advocates of "intersectionality," such as various political parties -- for example the Greens in Canada and Podemos in Spain -- and racial groups such as Black Lives Matter, often seem not to identify oppressors and oppressed -- never mind about the Chinese occupation of Mongolia, Tibet, and Turkestan, or the annihilation of Christians and Yazidis in the Middle East, or the Arab, Turkish, and Persian war against the Kurds. Instead, they appear to prefer to turn to the historical scapegoat, the Jews, selectively demonize Israel and celebrate the Jews' terrorist enemies, the Palestinians, as poor, suffering victims . No worries about prejudice against Jews for champions of "intersectionality." So we should not be surprised to see Quebec nationalists marching with Hezbollah flags , and "anti-racists" in European demonstrations chanting "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas."
Supporters of "intersectionality" cheer terrorists when they murder Jews. To them, that is just "social justice" at work.
Philip Carl Salzman is Professor of Anthropology at McGill University, Canada.
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15918/palestinians-virus-normalization?fbclid=IwAR3MrrFaiOe3KoVAGNvkM4eaEU6TLlT6g9bapaZEWTqtfPwtSdgj643RKkc
Palestinians and the Virus of Normalization
by Khaled Abu Toameh
April 27, 2020 at 5:00 am
If Hamas is opposed to any form of cooperation with Israel, why does it continue to allow medical supplies to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip on an almost weekly basis?... It was also revealed that the sister of senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk had been admitted to an Israeli hospital for two weeks for cancer treatments.
Yet, Hamas is now saying that the Palestinian "peace activists" who talked to Israelis through an online videoconference will face legal measures for their "crime."
If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should close the Gaza Strip border with Israel and refuse to medical supplies or truckloads of goods and fuel. If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should stop sending family members of its leaders to receive medical treatment in Israel. If Hamas does not want any form of contact with Israel, it should stop sending Palestinian doctors to receive training from Israelis.
If and when the "peace activists" go on trial in the Gaza Strip, the international community and all those who describe themselves as pro-Palestinian advocates will have a golden opportunity to call out Hamas for its hypocrisy and lies. Failing to do so will directly facilitate the intimidation that Hamas and Palestinian extremists apply to anyone who seeks a better future for the Palestinians or peace with Israel.
If Hamas is opposed to any form of cooperation with Israel, why does it continue to allow medical supplies to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip on an almost weekly basis? It was also revealed that the sister of senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk (pictured) had been admitted to an Israeli hospital for two weeks for cancer treatments. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
Rami Aman, a Palestinian journalist and "peace activist," has been under detention by Hamas since April 9 on charges of holding a videoconference chat with Israelis to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eyad al-Bozom, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, said that Aman and other Palestinians who participated in the videoconference with the Israelis are suspected of "holding a normalization activity with the Israeli occupation via the internet." According to al-Bozom, "holding any contact with the Israeli occupation is a crime punishable by law and a betrayal of our people and their sacrifices."
The arrest of Aman and his friends surprised none of those familiar with Hamas's repressive measures against the two million Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the arrest of the "peace activists" is right in line with the Palestinian and Arab anti-normalization campaign that prohibits any form of contact between Palestinians and Israelis.
While Hamas says that it considers a videoconference chat between young Palestinians and Israelis as a "betrayal of Palestinians and their sacrifices," the organization has also made it clear that it still seeks Israel's help in curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the eyes of Hamas and other Palestinians, a videoconference chat about peace and co-existence is a "form of normalization with the Zionist entity." If that is true, why does Hamas continue to seek medical assistance from Israel to combat the coronavirus pandemic?
Days after Aman and his friends were arrested, Hamas admitted that dozens of doctors from the Gaza Strip have been trained in recent weeks by Israeli doctors to deal with the coronavirus epidemic.
Kamal Musa, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, wrote on his Facebook page that the meeting with the Palestinian doctors was held at an Israeli military base near the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. "Why the media embarrassment and hustle following the meeting of the doctors at the Erez Crossing?" Musa wondered in the post, which he deleted shortly after it was published on Facebook.
In his deleted post, Musa also admitted that Israeli medical teams have been training Palestinian physicians at the Jericho Military Academy in the West Bank.
Musa has not offered an explanation as to why he removed the post about Israelis training Palestinian medical teams. The most likely reason is that he fears that Palestinians will use the post to accuse Hamas of engaging in normalization activities with Israel by allowing Palestinian doctors to be trained by Israel. Clearly, Musa was afraid that his post would expose the hypocrisy of Hamas in dealing with Israel. How could Hamas justify such medical cooperation with Israel while Hamas security forces are arresting Palestinian "peace activists" for the "crime" of chatting online with young Israelis?
If Hamas is opposed to any form of cooperation with Israel, why does it continue to allow medical supplies to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip on an almost weekly basis? Last week, 96 tons of medical supplies were transferred from Israel through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into the Gaza Strip. In addition, some 1,368 truckloads of goods from Israel entered the Gaza Strip through the same border crossing. The week before, another 88 tons of medical supplies were transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip along with 1,116 truckloads of goods.
Earlier this month, a PCR machine, an advanced medical device used for detection of the coronavirus, was transferred into the Gaza Strip with the coordination of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The machine, which costs tens of thousands of dollars, was donated by an international organization with the help of the World Health Organization and will double the rate of examinations for the disease in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas's security crackdown on Palestinians who dare to engage in dialogue with Israelis obviously does not apply to Hamas's senior officials and their family members in the Gaza Strip. These officials have no problem seeking medical treatment in Israel for themselves and their relatives, even while their movement has launched countless rockets at Israel.
In 2018, Israel's High Court ruled that five critically ill women from the Gaza Strip could enter Israel for urgent medical treatment despite a government decision preventing relatives of Hamas members from entering Israel. The five women had appealed to the court after their requests to seek help in Israel were originally rejected on the grounds of their relation to members of Hamas.
In 2014, Israel's Ichilov Hospital confirmed that it had treated the daughter of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The hospital revealed that Haniyeh's daughter had been admitted for a number of days, noting that she was one of more than 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip that the hospital treats all the time.
During the same year, It was also revealed that the sister of senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk had been admitted to an Israeli hospital for two weeks for cancer treatments.
Yet, Hamas is now saying that the Palestinian "peace activists" who talked to Israelis through an online videoconference will face legal measures for their "crime."
Clearly, as far as Hamas is concerned, receiving medical assistance from Israel is not a "crime," particularly if the patients are family members of senior Hamas officials. It is worth noting that Hamas has refused publicly to acknowledge the medical aid that its leaders' family members have been receiving in Israel. Hamas is also hiding from its people in the Gaza Strip the fact that it has authorized Palestinian doctors to receive training from Israeli doctors. Such reports are exquisitely embarrassing for the Hamas leaders, particularly at a time when they are arresting young Palestinians for chatting with Israelis.
It is hard to find Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have the courage to call out Hamas for its hypocrisy. Even more disturbing is that the number of Palestinians who seem to support Hamas's arrest of Aman and his friends is higher than those who have denounced the crackdown.
Although Aman is a journalist, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate saw no need to condemn Hamas for arresting him and his friends. Instead, the syndicate has condemned criticism of another journalist, Hind Khoudary, for alerting Hamas officials to the videoconference -- a move that prompted Hamas to arrest the "peace activists." Shortly after the videoconference was posted on the internet, Khoudary posted a comment on Facebook denouncing the event as a form of normalization. Khoudary, a former researcher for Amnesty International, tagged three senior Hamas officials to make sure they were aware of the videoconference.
Worse, several Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have come out in support of the arrest of Aman and his friends, repeating their vehement opposition to any form of normalization with the "Zionist enemy." One group, the Association of Palestinian Independent Personalities, praised Hamas for its actions, saying in a statement:
"We affirm our respect for and appreciation of the [Hamas] security forces to prosecute all those who engage in such behaviors that contradict our national values and harm our people's interests, and we demand that that they hold them accountable."
Hamas leaders have every reason not to boycott Israeli medical aid and treatment in Israeli hospitals. Rather than investing in the health system in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has for many years preferred to spend millions of dollars on manufacturing rockets and building tunnels to attack Israel.
If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should close the Gaza Strip border with Israel and refuse to medical supplies or truckloads of goods and fuel. If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should stop sending family members of its leaders to receive medical treatment in Israel. If Hamas does not want any form of contact with Israel, it should stop sending Palestinian doctors to receive training from Israelis.
If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should turn to the Egyptians, who are sitting on the other side of the border with the Gaza Strip and demand that Egypt and other Arab countries provide them with medical aid. Last week, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya warned that "all scenarios are available" for his movement to force Israel to supply the Gaza Strip with medical equipment to combat the coronavirus. The Hamas official, in other words, is warning that his movement will resort to terrorism if Israel does not help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Would al-Haya issue a similar warning to the Egyptians, who are in control of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip? Of course not. Would he or any other Hamas leader dare to threaten any other Arab country for failing to supply the Gaza Strip with medical aid? Of course not.
If and when the "peace activists" go on trial in the Gaza Strip, the international community and all those who describe themselves as pro-Palestinian advocates will have a golden opportunity to call out Hamas for its hypocrisy and lies. Failing to do so will directly facilitate the intimidation that Hamas and Palestinian extremists apply to anyone who seeks a better future for the Palestinians or peace with Israel.
Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
Palestinians and the Virus of Normalization
by Khaled Abu Toameh
April 27, 2020 at 5:00 am
If Hamas is opposed to any form of cooperation with Israel, why does it continue to allow medical supplies to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip on an almost weekly basis?... It was also revealed that the sister of senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk had been admitted to an Israeli hospital for two weeks for cancer treatments.
Yet, Hamas is now saying that the Palestinian "peace activists" who talked to Israelis through an online videoconference will face legal measures for their "crime."
If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should close the Gaza Strip border with Israel and refuse to medical supplies or truckloads of goods and fuel. If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should stop sending family members of its leaders to receive medical treatment in Israel. If Hamas does not want any form of contact with Israel, it should stop sending Palestinian doctors to receive training from Israelis.
If and when the "peace activists" go on trial in the Gaza Strip, the international community and all those who describe themselves as pro-Palestinian advocates will have a golden opportunity to call out Hamas for its hypocrisy and lies. Failing to do so will directly facilitate the intimidation that Hamas and Palestinian extremists apply to anyone who seeks a better future for the Palestinians or peace with Israel.
If Hamas is opposed to any form of cooperation with Israel, why does it continue to allow medical supplies to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip on an almost weekly basis? It was also revealed that the sister of senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk (pictured) had been admitted to an Israeli hospital for two weeks for cancer treatments. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
Rami Aman, a Palestinian journalist and "peace activist," has been under detention by Hamas since April 9 on charges of holding a videoconference chat with Israelis to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eyad al-Bozom, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, said that Aman and other Palestinians who participated in the videoconference with the Israelis are suspected of "holding a normalization activity with the Israeli occupation via the internet." According to al-Bozom, "holding any contact with the Israeli occupation is a crime punishable by law and a betrayal of our people and their sacrifices."
The arrest of Aman and his friends surprised none of those familiar with Hamas's repressive measures against the two million Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the arrest of the "peace activists" is right in line with the Palestinian and Arab anti-normalization campaign that prohibits any form of contact between Palestinians and Israelis.
While Hamas says that it considers a videoconference chat between young Palestinians and Israelis as a "betrayal of Palestinians and their sacrifices," the organization has also made it clear that it still seeks Israel's help in curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the eyes of Hamas and other Palestinians, a videoconference chat about peace and co-existence is a "form of normalization with the Zionist entity." If that is true, why does Hamas continue to seek medical assistance from Israel to combat the coronavirus pandemic?
Days after Aman and his friends were arrested, Hamas admitted that dozens of doctors from the Gaza Strip have been trained in recent weeks by Israeli doctors to deal with the coronavirus epidemic.
Kamal Musa, a spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, wrote on his Facebook page that the meeting with the Palestinian doctors was held at an Israeli military base near the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. "Why the media embarrassment and hustle following the meeting of the doctors at the Erez Crossing?" Musa wondered in the post, which he deleted shortly after it was published on Facebook.
In his deleted post, Musa also admitted that Israeli medical teams have been training Palestinian physicians at the Jericho Military Academy in the West Bank.
Musa has not offered an explanation as to why he removed the post about Israelis training Palestinian medical teams. The most likely reason is that he fears that Palestinians will use the post to accuse Hamas of engaging in normalization activities with Israel by allowing Palestinian doctors to be trained by Israel. Clearly, Musa was afraid that his post would expose the hypocrisy of Hamas in dealing with Israel. How could Hamas justify such medical cooperation with Israel while Hamas security forces are arresting Palestinian "peace activists" for the "crime" of chatting online with young Israelis?
If Hamas is opposed to any form of cooperation with Israel, why does it continue to allow medical supplies to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip on an almost weekly basis? Last week, 96 tons of medical supplies were transferred from Israel through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into the Gaza Strip. In addition, some 1,368 truckloads of goods from Israel entered the Gaza Strip through the same border crossing. The week before, another 88 tons of medical supplies were transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip along with 1,116 truckloads of goods.
Earlier this month, a PCR machine, an advanced medical device used for detection of the coronavirus, was transferred into the Gaza Strip with the coordination of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The machine, which costs tens of thousands of dollars, was donated by an international organization with the help of the World Health Organization and will double the rate of examinations for the disease in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas's security crackdown on Palestinians who dare to engage in dialogue with Israelis obviously does not apply to Hamas's senior officials and their family members in the Gaza Strip. These officials have no problem seeking medical treatment in Israel for themselves and their relatives, even while their movement has launched countless rockets at Israel.
In 2018, Israel's High Court ruled that five critically ill women from the Gaza Strip could enter Israel for urgent medical treatment despite a government decision preventing relatives of Hamas members from entering Israel. The five women had appealed to the court after their requests to seek help in Israel were originally rejected on the grounds of their relation to members of Hamas.
In 2014, Israel's Ichilov Hospital confirmed that it had treated the daughter of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The hospital revealed that Haniyeh's daughter had been admitted for a number of days, noting that she was one of more than 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip that the hospital treats all the time.
During the same year, It was also revealed that the sister of senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk had been admitted to an Israeli hospital for two weeks for cancer treatments.
Yet, Hamas is now saying that the Palestinian "peace activists" who talked to Israelis through an online videoconference will face legal measures for their "crime."
Clearly, as far as Hamas is concerned, receiving medical assistance from Israel is not a "crime," particularly if the patients are family members of senior Hamas officials. It is worth noting that Hamas has refused publicly to acknowledge the medical aid that its leaders' family members have been receiving in Israel. Hamas is also hiding from its people in the Gaza Strip the fact that it has authorized Palestinian doctors to receive training from Israeli doctors. Such reports are exquisitely embarrassing for the Hamas leaders, particularly at a time when they are arresting young Palestinians for chatting with Israelis.
It is hard to find Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have the courage to call out Hamas for its hypocrisy. Even more disturbing is that the number of Palestinians who seem to support Hamas's arrest of Aman and his friends is higher than those who have denounced the crackdown.
Although Aman is a journalist, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate saw no need to condemn Hamas for arresting him and his friends. Instead, the syndicate has condemned criticism of another journalist, Hind Khoudary, for alerting Hamas officials to the videoconference -- a move that prompted Hamas to arrest the "peace activists." Shortly after the videoconference was posted on the internet, Khoudary posted a comment on Facebook denouncing the event as a form of normalization. Khoudary, a former researcher for Amnesty International, tagged three senior Hamas officials to make sure they were aware of the videoconference.
Worse, several Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have come out in support of the arrest of Aman and his friends, repeating their vehement opposition to any form of normalization with the "Zionist enemy." One group, the Association of Palestinian Independent Personalities, praised Hamas for its actions, saying in a statement:
"We affirm our respect for and appreciation of the [Hamas] security forces to prosecute all those who engage in such behaviors that contradict our national values and harm our people's interests, and we demand that that they hold them accountable."
Hamas leaders have every reason not to boycott Israeli medical aid and treatment in Israeli hospitals. Rather than investing in the health system in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has for many years preferred to spend millions of dollars on manufacturing rockets and building tunnels to attack Israel.
If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should close the Gaza Strip border with Israel and refuse to medical supplies or truckloads of goods and fuel. If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should stop sending family members of its leaders to receive medical treatment in Israel. If Hamas does not want any form of contact with Israel, it should stop sending Palestinian doctors to receive training from Israelis.
If Hamas does not want any contact with Israel, it should turn to the Egyptians, who are sitting on the other side of the border with the Gaza Strip and demand that Egypt and other Arab countries provide them with medical aid. Last week, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya warned that "all scenarios are available" for his movement to force Israel to supply the Gaza Strip with medical equipment to combat the coronavirus. The Hamas official, in other words, is warning that his movement will resort to terrorism if Israel does not help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Would al-Haya issue a similar warning to the Egyptians, who are in control of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip? Of course not. Would he or any other Hamas leader dare to threaten any other Arab country for failing to supply the Gaza Strip with medical aid? Of course not.
If and when the "peace activists" go on trial in the Gaza Strip, the international community and all those who describe themselves as pro-Palestinian advocates will have a golden opportunity to call out Hamas for its hypocrisy and lies. Failing to do so will directly facilitate the intimidation that Hamas and Palestinian extremists apply to anyone who seeks a better future for the Palestinians or peace with Israel.
Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Coronavirus: China's Propaganda Campaign in Europe
by Soeren Kern
March 22, 2020 at 5:00 am
What remains unclear is if European publics, which are bearing the brunt of the suffering caused by the epidemic, will be as easily willing to overlook the malfeasance of Chinese officials.
"This is a propaganda operation that hides various truths. The first and most important is that the culprit for this pandemic is the Chinese regime. It does not take any conspiracy theory to point it out." — Emilio Campmany, Libertad Digital, March 3, 2020.
"China wants to take advantage of this calamity to wrest global leadership from the United States. It will be the communist country that makes us the most energetic medicines to fight the virus. It will discover the vaccine before anyone else and distribute it worldwide in record time. It will buy our assets and invest in our countries to rescue our economies. Ultimately, it will claim to be our savior." — Emilio Campmany, Libertad Digital, March 3, 2020.
On March 12, China sent to Italy a team of nine Chinese medical staff along with some 30 tons of equipment on a flight organized by the Chinese Red Cross. Pictured: Francesco Vaglia, medical director for infectious diseases of Spallanzani Hospital (right) speaks next to members of a delegation of Chinese doctors in Rome on March 14, 2020. (Photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chinese government has been fast-tracking shipments of medical aid to Europe, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The largesse appears to be part of a public relations effort by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Communist Party to deflect criticism over their responsibility for the deadly outbreak.
Beijing's campaign as a global benefactor may deliver results in Europe, where pandering political leaders have long been notoriously fearful of antagonizing the European Union's second-largest trading partner. What remains unclear is if European publics, which are bearing the brunt of the suffering caused by the epidemic, will be as easily willing to overlook the malfeasance of Chinese officials.
In what can only be described as a geopolitical humiliation, Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the administrative arm of the European Union, which touts itself as the "largest economy in the world," heaped praise on Communist China for donating an inconsequential amount of medical equipment to the bloc. On March 18, she tweeted:
"Spoke with Chinese PM Li Keqiang who announced that China will provide 2 mil surgical masks, 200,000 N95 masks & 50,000 testing kits. In January, the European Union helped China by donating 50 tons of equipment. Today, we're grateful for China's support. We need each other's support in times of need."
The European Union has been incapable of providing meaningful assistance to Italy, the bloc's third-largest member, which has been especially hard hit by the virus. After Germany, the EU's most powerful member, banned the export of medical protection gear to avoid its own supply shortages of masks, gloves and suits, China stepped in.
On March 12, China sent to Italy a team of nine Chinese medical staff along with some 30 tons of equipment on a flight organized by the Chinese Red Cross. The head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca, said that the shipment "revealed the power of international solidarity." He added:
"In this moment of great stress, of great difficulty, we are relieved to have this arrival of supplies. It is true that it will help only temporarily, but it is still important. We have a desperate need for these masks right now. We need respirators that the Red Cross will donate to the government. This is for sure a really important donation for our country."
In recent days, China has also sent aid to:
Greece, March 21. An Air China plane carrying 8 tons of medical equipment — including 550,000 surgical masks and other items such as protective equipment, glasses, gloves and shoe covers — arrived at Athens International Airport. The Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, referred to words by Aristotle: "What is a friend? A single soul living in two bodies." He said that "difficult times reveal true friends" and that China and Greece are "working closely together in the fight against the coronavirus." This, he said, "confirms once again the excellent relations and friendship between the two peoples."
Serbia, March 21. China flew six doctors, ventilators and medical masks to Serbia to help Belgrade halt spreading of the coronavirus infection. "A big thank you to President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people," said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. China's ambassador to Belgrade, Chen Bo, said the aid was a sign of the "iron friendship" between the two countries. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported: "President Xi attaches great importance to the development of China-Serbia relations, and believes that through the joint battle against the epidemic, the two countries' time-tested traditional friendship will gain more hearty support from their people, and their comprehensive strategic partnership will grow deeper and rise to a higher level.
Spain, March 21. The founder and president of the Chinese technology company Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, donated one million face masks. They were expected to arrive at Zaragoza Airport in northeastern Spain on March 23. The masks will be stored at a warehouse belonging to the Spanish apparel retailer Zara. From there, Zara will put its logistics network at the service of the Spanish government. This shipment could be the first of several, as dozens of Chinese suppliers that have worked with Zara for years are reportedly showing a willingness to send material. The United States has warned Spain about the security risk inherent in opening its fifth-generation communications networks to Chinese mobile technology providers, including Huawei.
Czech Republic, March 21. A Ukrainian cargo plane reportedly carrying 100 tons of medical supplies from China arrived at the airport in Pardubice, a city situated 100 kilometers east of Prague. On March 20, a Chinese plane carrying one million masks arrived in the Czech Republic, which reportedly ordered another 5 million respirators from China along with 30 million masks and 250,000 sets of protective clothing.
France, March 18. China sent to France, the second-most powerful country of the European Union, a batch of medical supplies, including protective masks, surgical masks, protective suits and medical gloves. The Chinese Embassy in France tweeted: "United we will win!" The following day, China sent a second batch of supplies. The Chinese Embassy tweeted: "The Chinese people are next to the French people. Solidarity and cooperation will allow us to overcome this pandemic."
The Netherlands, March 18. China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, codeshare partners with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, donated 20,000 masks and 50,000 gloves. The shipment arrived at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on a Xiamen Airlines flight. "These are extremely difficult times for our country and our company, so we are very happy with this help for KLM and for the Netherlands," KLM CEO Pieter Elbers said. "Less than two months ago, KLM made a donation to China and now we are being helped so wonderfully and generously."
Poland, March 18. The Chinese government pledged to send Poland tens of thousands of protective items and 10,000 coronavirus test kits. On March 13, the Chinese Embassy in Warsaw sponsored a videoconference during which experts from China and Central Europe shared their knowledge on tackling the coronavirus. Police Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz thanked China for its support and stressed the need for continued cooperation with Beijing, including sharing experience in combating the pandemic.
Belgium, March 18. A Chinese cargo plane carrying 1.5 million masks landed at Liege Airport. The masks, which will be distributed to Belgium, France and Slovenia, were donated by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, a Chinese ecommerce giant known as the "Amazon of China."
Czech Republic, March 18. A plane carrying 150,000 test kits for coronavirus landed in Prague. The Ministry of Health paid about CZK 14 million ($550,000) for 100,000 testing kits, while another 50,000 kits were paid for by the Ministry of the Interior. Transport was provided by the Ministry of Defense.
Spain, March 17. A Chinese plane carrying 500,000 masks arrived at Zaragoza Airport. "The sun always rises after the rain," Chinese President Xi Jinping told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He said that the friendship between China and Spain will be stronger and bilateral ties will have a brighter future after the joint fight against the virus. Xi said that after the pandemic, both countries should intensify exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of fields.
Belgium, March 16. Another shipment of medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation for epidemic prevention in Europe arrived at Liege Airport.
Fortune magazine explained the motivation behind China's propaganda push:
"For China, the outreach to Europe is part of an effort to claw back an international leadership role after early cover-ups helped the virus spread well beyond its borders. President Xi Jinping's government has sought to silence critics, including reporters and online commentators, and also spread conspiracy theories about where the virus originated.
"Geopolitically, China's move to brand itself as Europe's savior aims to improve its standing on a global stage as both spar with the Trump administration. China and the U.S. have continued a wider fight for global influence — Beijing kicked out more than a dozen American journalists this week — while also seeking to deflect blame for their handling of the disease."
In an interview with the UK-based newspaper Guardian, Natasha Kassam, a former Australian diplomat, said:
"Now we see Chinese officials and state media claiming that China bought the world time to prepare for this pandemic. We know the propaganda machine within China is able to rewrite history but now we are seeing that replicated overseas. China's victory over Covid-19 has already been written and authorities are trying very hard for that message to be received overseas."
In an essay for the Spanish publication Libertad Digital, commentator Emilio Campmany astutely explained:
"The huge Chinese propaganda apparatus has been launched. In Italy they feel, with good reason, abandoned by the European Union and are grateful for the help that the Asian country is giving them. This has been suitably amplified by the Italian media.
"This is a propaganda operation that hides various truths. The first and most important is that the culprit for this pandemic is the Chinese regime. It does not take any conspiracy theory to point it out. It was widely recognized that Chinese live animal markets are a very serious epidemic hazard. The very severe communist regime of the people's republic, which controls everything for the welfare of the citizens, has been unable to shut them down. When the first cases emerged, it took forever for the highly efficient Communist Party to react and instead devoted its myriad resources just to hiding the truth. When it could no longer hide what was happening, it intervened brutally, and only in this way has it managed to stop the epidemic, not without first giving rise, due to its negligence, to the virus spreading throughout the world.
"The second is that communist bestiality is not necessary to effectively combat the virus. Infinitely better results can be achieved with capitalist intelligence, as has been shown by South Korea, which, having been much more capable than China, is not dedicated to paying for items in the West. For days now, this country has shown how valuable it can be to carry out massive tests. That is the best way for now, and the incredible thing is how long it took the Italians and the Spanish to realize this. However, this delay is not a consequence of not being blessed with two communist regimes, but rather of being governed by incompetents who, above all in our case, are that, socialists and communists.
"China wants to take advantage of this calamity to wrest global leadership from the United States. It will be the communist country that makes us the most energetic medicines to fight the virus. It will discover the vaccine before anyone else and distribute it worldwide in record time. It will buy our assets and invest in our countries to rescue our economies. Ultimately, it will claim to be our savior."
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
Coronavirus: China's Propaganda Campaign in Europe
by Soeren Kern
March 22, 2020 at 5:00 am
What remains unclear is if European publics, which are bearing the brunt of the suffering caused by the epidemic, will be as easily willing to overlook the malfeasance of Chinese officials.
"This is a propaganda operation that hides various truths. The first and most important is that the culprit for this pandemic is the Chinese regime. It does not take any conspiracy theory to point it out." — Emilio Campmany, Libertad Digital, March 3, 2020.
"China wants to take advantage of this calamity to wrest global leadership from the United States. It will be the communist country that makes us the most energetic medicines to fight the virus. It will discover the vaccine before anyone else and distribute it worldwide in record time. It will buy our assets and invest in our countries to rescue our economies. Ultimately, it will claim to be our savior." — Emilio Campmany, Libertad Digital, March 3, 2020.
On March 12, China sent to Italy a team of nine Chinese medical staff along with some 30 tons of equipment on a flight organized by the Chinese Red Cross. Pictured: Francesco Vaglia, medical director for infectious diseases of Spallanzani Hospital (right) speaks next to members of a delegation of Chinese doctors in Rome on March 14, 2020. (Photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chinese government has been fast-tracking shipments of medical aid to Europe, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The largesse appears to be part of a public relations effort by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Communist Party to deflect criticism over their responsibility for the deadly outbreak.
Beijing's campaign as a global benefactor may deliver results in Europe, where pandering political leaders have long been notoriously fearful of antagonizing the European Union's second-largest trading partner. What remains unclear is if European publics, which are bearing the brunt of the suffering caused by the epidemic, will be as easily willing to overlook the malfeasance of Chinese officials.
In what can only be described as a geopolitical humiliation, Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the administrative arm of the European Union, which touts itself as the "largest economy in the world," heaped praise on Communist China for donating an inconsequential amount of medical equipment to the bloc. On March 18, she tweeted:
"Spoke with Chinese PM Li Keqiang who announced that China will provide 2 mil surgical masks, 200,000 N95 masks & 50,000 testing kits. In January, the European Union helped China by donating 50 tons of equipment. Today, we're grateful for China's support. We need each other's support in times of need."
The European Union has been incapable of providing meaningful assistance to Italy, the bloc's third-largest member, which has been especially hard hit by the virus. After Germany, the EU's most powerful member, banned the export of medical protection gear to avoid its own supply shortages of masks, gloves and suits, China stepped in.
On March 12, China sent to Italy a team of nine Chinese medical staff along with some 30 tons of equipment on a flight organized by the Chinese Red Cross. The head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca, said that the shipment "revealed the power of international solidarity." He added:
"In this moment of great stress, of great difficulty, we are relieved to have this arrival of supplies. It is true that it will help only temporarily, but it is still important. We have a desperate need for these masks right now. We need respirators that the Red Cross will donate to the government. This is for sure a really important donation for our country."
In recent days, China has also sent aid to:
Greece, March 21. An Air China plane carrying 8 tons of medical equipment — including 550,000 surgical masks and other items such as protective equipment, glasses, gloves and shoe covers — arrived at Athens International Airport. The Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, referred to words by Aristotle: "What is a friend? A single soul living in two bodies." He said that "difficult times reveal true friends" and that China and Greece are "working closely together in the fight against the coronavirus." This, he said, "confirms once again the excellent relations and friendship between the two peoples."
Serbia, March 21. China flew six doctors, ventilators and medical masks to Serbia to help Belgrade halt spreading of the coronavirus infection. "A big thank you to President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people," said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. China's ambassador to Belgrade, Chen Bo, said the aid was a sign of the "iron friendship" between the two countries. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported: "President Xi attaches great importance to the development of China-Serbia relations, and believes that through the joint battle against the epidemic, the two countries' time-tested traditional friendship will gain more hearty support from their people, and their comprehensive strategic partnership will grow deeper and rise to a higher level.
Spain, March 21. The founder and president of the Chinese technology company Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, donated one million face masks. They were expected to arrive at Zaragoza Airport in northeastern Spain on March 23. The masks will be stored at a warehouse belonging to the Spanish apparel retailer Zara. From there, Zara will put its logistics network at the service of the Spanish government. This shipment could be the first of several, as dozens of Chinese suppliers that have worked with Zara for years are reportedly showing a willingness to send material. The United States has warned Spain about the security risk inherent in opening its fifth-generation communications networks to Chinese mobile technology providers, including Huawei.
Czech Republic, March 21. A Ukrainian cargo plane reportedly carrying 100 tons of medical supplies from China arrived at the airport in Pardubice, a city situated 100 kilometers east of Prague. On March 20, a Chinese plane carrying one million masks arrived in the Czech Republic, which reportedly ordered another 5 million respirators from China along with 30 million masks and 250,000 sets of protective clothing.
France, March 18. China sent to France, the second-most powerful country of the European Union, a batch of medical supplies, including protective masks, surgical masks, protective suits and medical gloves. The Chinese Embassy in France tweeted: "United we will win!" The following day, China sent a second batch of supplies. The Chinese Embassy tweeted: "The Chinese people are next to the French people. Solidarity and cooperation will allow us to overcome this pandemic."
The Netherlands, March 18. China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, codeshare partners with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, donated 20,000 masks and 50,000 gloves. The shipment arrived at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on a Xiamen Airlines flight. "These are extremely difficult times for our country and our company, so we are very happy with this help for KLM and for the Netherlands," KLM CEO Pieter Elbers said. "Less than two months ago, KLM made a donation to China and now we are being helped so wonderfully and generously."
Poland, March 18. The Chinese government pledged to send Poland tens of thousands of protective items and 10,000 coronavirus test kits. On March 13, the Chinese Embassy in Warsaw sponsored a videoconference during which experts from China and Central Europe shared their knowledge on tackling the coronavirus. Police Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz thanked China for its support and stressed the need for continued cooperation with Beijing, including sharing experience in combating the pandemic.
Belgium, March 18. A Chinese cargo plane carrying 1.5 million masks landed at Liege Airport. The masks, which will be distributed to Belgium, France and Slovenia, were donated by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, a Chinese ecommerce giant known as the "Amazon of China."
Czech Republic, March 18. A plane carrying 150,000 test kits for coronavirus landed in Prague. The Ministry of Health paid about CZK 14 million ($550,000) for 100,000 testing kits, while another 50,000 kits were paid for by the Ministry of the Interior. Transport was provided by the Ministry of Defense.
Spain, March 17. A Chinese plane carrying 500,000 masks arrived at Zaragoza Airport. "The sun always rises after the rain," Chinese President Xi Jinping told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He said that the friendship between China and Spain will be stronger and bilateral ties will have a brighter future after the joint fight against the virus. Xi said that after the pandemic, both countries should intensify exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of fields.
Belgium, March 16. Another shipment of medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation for epidemic prevention in Europe arrived at Liege Airport.
Fortune magazine explained the motivation behind China's propaganda push:
"For China, the outreach to Europe is part of an effort to claw back an international leadership role after early cover-ups helped the virus spread well beyond its borders. President Xi Jinping's government has sought to silence critics, including reporters and online commentators, and also spread conspiracy theories about where the virus originated.
"Geopolitically, China's move to brand itself as Europe's savior aims to improve its standing on a global stage as both spar with the Trump administration. China and the U.S. have continued a wider fight for global influence — Beijing kicked out more than a dozen American journalists this week — while also seeking to deflect blame for their handling of the disease."
In an interview with the UK-based newspaper Guardian, Natasha Kassam, a former Australian diplomat, said:
"Now we see Chinese officials and state media claiming that China bought the world time to prepare for this pandemic. We know the propaganda machine within China is able to rewrite history but now we are seeing that replicated overseas. China's victory over Covid-19 has already been written and authorities are trying very hard for that message to be received overseas."
In an essay for the Spanish publication Libertad Digital, commentator Emilio Campmany astutely explained:
"The huge Chinese propaganda apparatus has been launched. In Italy they feel, with good reason, abandoned by the European Union and are grateful for the help that the Asian country is giving them. This has been suitably amplified by the Italian media.
"This is a propaganda operation that hides various truths. The first and most important is that the culprit for this pandemic is the Chinese regime. It does not take any conspiracy theory to point it out. It was widely recognized that Chinese live animal markets are a very serious epidemic hazard. The very severe communist regime of the people's republic, which controls everything for the welfare of the citizens, has been unable to shut them down. When the first cases emerged, it took forever for the highly efficient Communist Party to react and instead devoted its myriad resources just to hiding the truth. When it could no longer hide what was happening, it intervened brutally, and only in this way has it managed to stop the epidemic, not without first giving rise, due to its negligence, to the virus spreading throughout the world.
"The second is that communist bestiality is not necessary to effectively combat the virus. Infinitely better results can be achieved with capitalist intelligence, as has been shown by South Korea, which, having been much more capable than China, is not dedicated to paying for items in the West. For days now, this country has shown how valuable it can be to carry out massive tests. That is the best way for now, and the incredible thing is how long it took the Italians and the Spanish to realize this. However, this delay is not a consequence of not being blessed with two communist regimes, but rather of being governed by incompetents who, above all in our case, are that, socialists and communists.
"China wants to take advantage of this calamity to wrest global leadership from the United States. It will be the communist country that makes us the most energetic medicines to fight the virus. It will discover the vaccine before anyone else and distribute it worldwide in record time. It will buy our assets and invest in our countries to rescue our economies. Ultimately, it will claim to be our savior."
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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Spain: European Court Approves Summary Deportations of Illegal Migrants
by Soeren Kern • February 17, 2020 at 5:00 am
The Strasbourg-based court — which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, and whose rulings are binding on all 27 member states of the European Union — ruled that in order for migrants to benefit from certain human rights protections, such as access to lawyers, interpreters and the right to remain in Europe, they must first enter European territory in a legal, as opposed to an illegal, manner.
The ruling is being viewed as a major victory for those who believe that sovereign nation states have the right to decide who is and is not allowed to enter their territory.
"The ECHR's ruling determines that a nation state has the right to defend its borders. When someone is dedicated to violating those borders, the nation state has the right to return that person to their place of origin as quickly as possible." — Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, spokesman for the Vox Party, November 13, 2020.
It remains unclear if the ECHR's ruling will have a deterrent effect. Migrants, often using extreme violence, are increasingly using the tactic of mass attacks against the border fences in Ceuta and Melilla in an effort to overwhelm border police.
Migrants, often using extreme violence, are increasingly using the tactic of mass attacks against Spain's border fences in Ceuta and Melilla in an effort to overwhelm border police. During the past 18 months, thousands of migrants equipped with gloves, spike shoes and makeshift hooks have attempted to scale the fences. Pictured: The border fence between Morocco and Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in North Africa. (Photo by Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images)
In a landmark decision that will have potentially seismic implications for immigration policy in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Spain acted lawfully when it summarily deported two migrants who illegally tried to enter Spanish territory.
The Strasbourg-based court — which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, and whose rulings are binding on all 27 member states of the European Union — ruled that in order for migrants to benefit from certain human rights protections, such as access to lawyers, interpreters and the right to remain in Europe, they must first enter European territory in a legal, as opposed to an illegal, manner.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15615/spain-migrants-deportations
by Soeren Kern • February 17, 2020 at 5:00 am
The Strasbourg-based court — which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, and whose rulings are binding on all 27 member states of the European Union — ruled that in order for migrants to benefit from certain human rights protections, such as access to lawyers, interpreters and the right to remain in Europe, they must first enter European territory in a legal, as opposed to an illegal, manner.
The ruling is being viewed as a major victory for those who believe that sovereign nation states have the right to decide who is and is not allowed to enter their territory.
"The ECHR's ruling determines that a nation state has the right to defend its borders. When someone is dedicated to violating those borders, the nation state has the right to return that person to their place of origin as quickly as possible." — Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, spokesman for the Vox Party, November 13, 2020.
It remains unclear if the ECHR's ruling will have a deterrent effect. Migrants, often using extreme violence, are increasingly using the tactic of mass attacks against the border fences in Ceuta and Melilla in an effort to overwhelm border police.
Migrants, often using extreme violence, are increasingly using the tactic of mass attacks against Spain's border fences in Ceuta and Melilla in an effort to overwhelm border police. During the past 18 months, thousands of migrants equipped with gloves, spike shoes and makeshift hooks have attempted to scale the fences. Pictured: The border fence between Morocco and Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in North Africa. (Photo by Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images)
In a landmark decision that will have potentially seismic implications for immigration policy in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Spain acted lawfully when it summarily deported two migrants who illegally tried to enter Spanish territory.
The Strasbourg-based court — which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, and whose rulings are binding on all 27 member states of the European Union — ruled that in order for migrants to benefit from certain human rights protections, such as access to lawyers, interpreters and the right to remain in Europe, they must first enter European territory in a legal, as opposed to an illegal, manner.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15615/spain-migrants-deportations
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UK Court: Sharia Marriages Not Valid Under English Law
by Soeren Kern • February 19, 2020 at 5:00 am
"We sought to inform the Court of Appeal that many minority women, especially Muslim women, are deceived or coerced by abusive husbands into only having a religious marriage, which deprives them of their financial rights when the marriage breaks down...." — Southall Black Sisters, an advocacy group for South Asian women, February 14, 2020.
In February 2018, an independent review of the application of Sharia law in England and Wales...recommended changes to the Marriage Act 1949 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 that would require Muslims to conduct civil marriages before or at the same time as the nikah ceremony. This would bring Islamic marriage in line with Christian and Jewish marriage in the eyes of British law.
"The Assembly is concerned that the rulings of the Sharia councils clearly discriminate against women in divorce and inheritance cases." — Council of Europe (COE), January 2019.
As of now, neither the British government, nor the British Parliament has introduced legislation that would require Muslims to conduct civil marriages before or at the same time as the nikah ceremony...[but] The court's decision effectively reaffirms the principle that immigrants who settle in Britain must conform to British law, rather than the other way around.
The Court of Appeal, the second-highest court in England and Wales after the Supreme Court, has ruled that the Islamic marriage contract, known as nikah in Arabic, is not valid under English law. Pictured: The Royal Courts of Justice in London, seat of the Court of Appeal. (Image source: Anthony M/Wikimedia Commons)
The Court of Appeal, the second-highest court in England and Wales after the Supreme Court, has ruled that the Islamic marriage contract, known as nikah in Arabic, is not valid under English law.
The landmark ruling has far-reaching implications. On the one hand, the decision strikes a blow against efforts to enshrine this aspect of Sharia law into the British legal system. On the other hand, it leaves potentially thousands of Muslim women in Britain without legal recourse in the case of divorce.
The case involves an estranged couple, Nasreen Akhter and Mohammed Shabaz Khan, both of Pakistani heritage, who took part in a nikah ceremony officiated by an imam in front of 150 guests at a restaurant in London in December 1998.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15623/britain-sharia-marriages
The Intolerance of the "Tolerant" Left: The End of Liberal Democracy?
by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff • February 19, 2020 at 4:00 am
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"Germany is witnessing the gradual erosion of democracy and the rule of law, a process that began in 2015 [during the migrant crisis] and which has become even more visible since and has ended in putsch against democracy." — Vera Lengsfeld, political analyst, February 7, 2020.
"The vote is unforgivable and must be reversed." — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, regarding a duly elected German state premier.
"Why bother exercising the right to vote when the 'wrong' choice can be annulled by the media and the chancellor through propaganda and veto?... Do we stand for democracy or for elections until the results suit the ruler?" — Dushan Wegner, political commentator, February 7, 2020.
Josef Hueber explains in a commentary how in a pseudo-democracy, elections mean voting until the result is "correct"...
We are presently faced with yet more politically-based show trials: of the parliamentarian Geert Wilders in The Netherlands and of Matteo Salvini in Italy. It is up to the population and voters to decide whether liberal democracy is worth fighting for.
When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripped up a copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, she showed a disappointing lack of argumentative abilities. If tolerance is to mean anything, Pelosi and her fellow Democrats should have exhibited just that. Instead, she, as a role model, did the opposite by engaging in petty and irresponsible behavior. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
We recently witnessed two events that indicated the possible demise of liberal democracy. The implications should frighten supporters of democratic forms of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law.
The growing intolerance of many "left-wing" groups is apparent in the uproar of the democratic election of the state premier of the German state of Thuringia as well as in the performance of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, publicly ripping up US President Donald J. Trump's State of the Union address. It was an official document that belongs not to her but to the public, and of which she was merely its custodian.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15600/intolerant-left-liberal-democracy
by Soeren Kern • February 19, 2020 at 5:00 am
"We sought to inform the Court of Appeal that many minority women, especially Muslim women, are deceived or coerced by abusive husbands into only having a religious marriage, which deprives them of their financial rights when the marriage breaks down...." — Southall Black Sisters, an advocacy group for South Asian women, February 14, 2020.
In February 2018, an independent review of the application of Sharia law in England and Wales...recommended changes to the Marriage Act 1949 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 that would require Muslims to conduct civil marriages before or at the same time as the nikah ceremony. This would bring Islamic marriage in line with Christian and Jewish marriage in the eyes of British law.
"The Assembly is concerned that the rulings of the Sharia councils clearly discriminate against women in divorce and inheritance cases." — Council of Europe (COE), January 2019.
As of now, neither the British government, nor the British Parliament has introduced legislation that would require Muslims to conduct civil marriages before or at the same time as the nikah ceremony...[but] The court's decision effectively reaffirms the principle that immigrants who settle in Britain must conform to British law, rather than the other way around.
The Court of Appeal, the second-highest court in England and Wales after the Supreme Court, has ruled that the Islamic marriage contract, known as nikah in Arabic, is not valid under English law. Pictured: The Royal Courts of Justice in London, seat of the Court of Appeal. (Image source: Anthony M/Wikimedia Commons)
The Court of Appeal, the second-highest court in England and Wales after the Supreme Court, has ruled that the Islamic marriage contract, known as nikah in Arabic, is not valid under English law.
The landmark ruling has far-reaching implications. On the one hand, the decision strikes a blow against efforts to enshrine this aspect of Sharia law into the British legal system. On the other hand, it leaves potentially thousands of Muslim women in Britain without legal recourse in the case of divorce.
The case involves an estranged couple, Nasreen Akhter and Mohammed Shabaz Khan, both of Pakistani heritage, who took part in a nikah ceremony officiated by an imam in front of 150 guests at a restaurant in London in December 1998.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15623/britain-sharia-marriages
The Intolerance of the "Tolerant" Left: The End of Liberal Democracy?
by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff • February 19, 2020 at 4:00 am
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
"Germany is witnessing the gradual erosion of democracy and the rule of law, a process that began in 2015 [during the migrant crisis] and which has become even more visible since and has ended in putsch against democracy." — Vera Lengsfeld, political analyst, February 7, 2020.
"The vote is unforgivable and must be reversed." — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, regarding a duly elected German state premier.
"Why bother exercising the right to vote when the 'wrong' choice can be annulled by the media and the chancellor through propaganda and veto?... Do we stand for democracy or for elections until the results suit the ruler?" — Dushan Wegner, political commentator, February 7, 2020.
Josef Hueber explains in a commentary how in a pseudo-democracy, elections mean voting until the result is "correct"...
We are presently faced with yet more politically-based show trials: of the parliamentarian Geert Wilders in The Netherlands and of Matteo Salvini in Italy. It is up to the population and voters to decide whether liberal democracy is worth fighting for.
When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripped up a copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, she showed a disappointing lack of argumentative abilities. If tolerance is to mean anything, Pelosi and her fellow Democrats should have exhibited just that. Instead, she, as a role model, did the opposite by engaging in petty and irresponsible behavior. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
We recently witnessed two events that indicated the possible demise of liberal democracy. The implications should frighten supporters of democratic forms of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law.
The growing intolerance of many "left-wing" groups is apparent in the uproar of the democratic election of the state premier of the German state of Thuringia as well as in the performance of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, publicly ripping up US President Donald J. Trump's State of the Union address. It was an official document that belongs not to her but to the public, and of which she was merely its custodian.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15600/intolerant-left-liberal-democracy
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"They Came to Kill Him": The Persecution of Christians - November 2019
by Raymond Ibrahim • February 16, 2020 at 5:00 am
"He was a 15-year-old adolescent. He was so deeply asleep in his bed that he didn't hear any of the noise around him. They thrust the blade of the axe so deeply into his skull, to the point we had to use a hammer to get it out of his head." Many Christians have been displaced by these ongoing attacks and live in "extreme misery," added another local: "This is beyond persecution. It is a dramatic situation, plunging thousands of families into a deplorable humanitarian crisis." — Rebecca, a witness, Barnabas Fund, November 15, 2019, Cameroon.
A group of Muslims beat, robbed, and threatened to kill a Christian evangelist if he did not convert to Islam.... [T]he Muslims indicated that they had physical pains and injuries. Fløttum offered to pray for them, they accepted, and he complied. They said they felt better and urged him to go with them and pray for another of their friends who was also suffering from a foot injury.... "They were very nice and I couldn't believe they would deceive me," he later said. They took him to a backyard, pushed him down a cellar staircase, and began to beat and kick him in the face...."While they kept me there, they threatened me and said they would kill me if I did not convert to Islam....I was scared and actually thought they were going to kill me because they said they had a knife and didn't want witnesses." — Idag.no, November 28, 2019, Norway.
"...although the Egyptian government has made some modest progress toward legalizing informal churches around the country and improving public discourse about Coptic rights, it has taken few steps toward systematically improving religious freedom conditions for vulnerable Christian populations, particularly in rural areas." — United States Commission on Interreligious Freedom (USCIRF), Annual Report 2019, Egypt.
Turkey's Council of State recently approved converting Istanbul's historic Chora Church, currently a museum, into a mosque. Chora Church's uniquely old and surprisingly intact artwork was first made in 1315 — more than a century before the Turkish invasion and conquest of Constantinople in 1453. (Image source: Gryffindor/Wikimedia Commons)
The Slaughter of Christians
Syria: On November 11, Islamic gunmen opened fire on a vehicle known to be carrying Christian leaders. Two Armenian priests, Father Abrahim Petoyan and Father Hovsep Petoyan, a father and son, were killed and a deacon was seriously wounded. ISIS claimed responsibility. The Armenians had been going to inspect repairs on an Armenian Catholic church that had earlier been damaged in Deir ez-Zor. "We continue to feel the presence of ISIS," responded the Armenian Catholic Archbishop Boutros Marayati of Aleppo, adding that Deir ez-Zor "is a very important town for us, because it is there that many of our martyrs were killed as they fled the Turkish genocide of 1915. Today there are no Armenian Catholics left there. Undoubtedly, the Turks don't want us to return, because our presence would be a reminder of the Armenian genocide."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15598/persecution-of-christians-november
Ouyar Hassan Invited to the Polls... Again
by Amir Taheri • February 16, 2020 at 4:00 am
For four decades, Ouyar Hassan has put up with an ochlocracy disguised as a theocracy. Wearing an Anatolian smile, he has seen Iran become the only country in the world, perhaps with the exception of Zimbabwe, poorer than it was 40 years ago. He has seen Iran top the list of infamy in the word for the number of political prisoners and executions. He has witnessed the establishment of widespread corruption not as an aberration but as a way of life. For four decades, Ouyar Hassan has turned up at polling stations to cast his vote in fake elections for an ersatz parliament and an actor playing President of the Republic.
For the first time since the mullahs seized power, almost all political groups associated with them from the beginning... have publicly called for a boycott of the polls. Even some of the so-called "moderate-reformists", better known for their sheer opportunism than their moral courage, are calling for a boycott of the fake elections.
As usual, the authorities could try to manipulate the results in a number of ways such as refusing to register many would-be voters, pre-filling polling boxes and inflating the number of ballots cast in the provinces. Nevertheless, a massive boycott would be hard to camouflage. Such a massive refusal to play extras in a sinister masquerade would show that Ouyar Hassan is no longer prepared to let "those better than us" walk all over him.
Once again, Iran's kleptocrat ruling elite is now trying to organize a general election to burnish its so-called "Islamic democracy". As usual, the authorities could try to manipulate the results in a number of ways such as refusing to register many would-be voters, pre-filling polling boxes and inflating the number of ballots cast in the provinces. Pictured: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani casts his ballot for the presidential elections in Tehran on May 19, 2017. (Photo credit should read Majid Azad/AFP via Getty Images)
Since the 19th century, caricature has been used to highlight in a humorous mode the key features of famous persons or even a whole nation. In the latter case, some well-known examples include Uncle Sam, with his top-hat and carefully trimmed Van Dyke, representing the United States. England is represented by John Bull with his bowler hat, belly and rosy cheeks. French are made fun of with Gaston Dupont, wearing a beret, and with a baguette under his arm and a Gauloise in his mouth, who doesn't know whether his name should end with a D or a T neither of which are pronounced in any case. For its part, Iran is represented by Ouyar Hassan wearing a felt cap, long shirt and baggy trousers.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15599/ouyar-hassan
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by Raymond Ibrahim • February 16, 2020 at 5:00 am
"He was a 15-year-old adolescent. He was so deeply asleep in his bed that he didn't hear any of the noise around him. They thrust the blade of the axe so deeply into his skull, to the point we had to use a hammer to get it out of his head." Many Christians have been displaced by these ongoing attacks and live in "extreme misery," added another local: "This is beyond persecution. It is a dramatic situation, plunging thousands of families into a deplorable humanitarian crisis." — Rebecca, a witness, Barnabas Fund, November 15, 2019, Cameroon.
A group of Muslims beat, robbed, and threatened to kill a Christian evangelist if he did not convert to Islam.... [T]he Muslims indicated that they had physical pains and injuries. Fløttum offered to pray for them, they accepted, and he complied. They said they felt better and urged him to go with them and pray for another of their friends who was also suffering from a foot injury.... "They were very nice and I couldn't believe they would deceive me," he later said. They took him to a backyard, pushed him down a cellar staircase, and began to beat and kick him in the face...."While they kept me there, they threatened me and said they would kill me if I did not convert to Islam....I was scared and actually thought they were going to kill me because they said they had a knife and didn't want witnesses." — Idag.no, November 28, 2019, Norway.
"...although the Egyptian government has made some modest progress toward legalizing informal churches around the country and improving public discourse about Coptic rights, it has taken few steps toward systematically improving religious freedom conditions for vulnerable Christian populations, particularly in rural areas." — United States Commission on Interreligious Freedom (USCIRF), Annual Report 2019, Egypt.
Turkey's Council of State recently approved converting Istanbul's historic Chora Church, currently a museum, into a mosque. Chora Church's uniquely old and surprisingly intact artwork was first made in 1315 — more than a century before the Turkish invasion and conquest of Constantinople in 1453. (Image source: Gryffindor/Wikimedia Commons)
The Slaughter of Christians
Syria: On November 11, Islamic gunmen opened fire on a vehicle known to be carrying Christian leaders. Two Armenian priests, Father Abrahim Petoyan and Father Hovsep Petoyan, a father and son, were killed and a deacon was seriously wounded. ISIS claimed responsibility. The Armenians had been going to inspect repairs on an Armenian Catholic church that had earlier been damaged in Deir ez-Zor. "We continue to feel the presence of ISIS," responded the Armenian Catholic Archbishop Boutros Marayati of Aleppo, adding that Deir ez-Zor "is a very important town for us, because it is there that many of our martyrs were killed as they fled the Turkish genocide of 1915. Today there are no Armenian Catholics left there. Undoubtedly, the Turks don't want us to return, because our presence would be a reminder of the Armenian genocide."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15598/persecution-of-christians-november
Ouyar Hassan Invited to the Polls... Again
by Amir Taheri • February 16, 2020 at 4:00 am
For four decades, Ouyar Hassan has put up with an ochlocracy disguised as a theocracy. Wearing an Anatolian smile, he has seen Iran become the only country in the world, perhaps with the exception of Zimbabwe, poorer than it was 40 years ago. He has seen Iran top the list of infamy in the word for the number of political prisoners and executions. He has witnessed the establishment of widespread corruption not as an aberration but as a way of life. For four decades, Ouyar Hassan has turned up at polling stations to cast his vote in fake elections for an ersatz parliament and an actor playing President of the Republic.
For the first time since the mullahs seized power, almost all political groups associated with them from the beginning... have publicly called for a boycott of the polls. Even some of the so-called "moderate-reformists", better known for their sheer opportunism than their moral courage, are calling for a boycott of the fake elections.
As usual, the authorities could try to manipulate the results in a number of ways such as refusing to register many would-be voters, pre-filling polling boxes and inflating the number of ballots cast in the provinces. Nevertheless, a massive boycott would be hard to camouflage. Such a massive refusal to play extras in a sinister masquerade would show that Ouyar Hassan is no longer prepared to let "those better than us" walk all over him.
Once again, Iran's kleptocrat ruling elite is now trying to organize a general election to burnish its so-called "Islamic democracy". As usual, the authorities could try to manipulate the results in a number of ways such as refusing to register many would-be voters, pre-filling polling boxes and inflating the number of ballots cast in the provinces. Pictured: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani casts his ballot for the presidential elections in Tehran on May 19, 2017. (Photo credit should read Majid Azad/AFP via Getty Images)
Since the 19th century, caricature has been used to highlight in a humorous mode the key features of famous persons or even a whole nation. In the latter case, some well-known examples include Uncle Sam, with his top-hat and carefully trimmed Van Dyke, representing the United States. England is represented by John Bull with his bowler hat, belly and rosy cheeks. French are made fun of with Gaston Dupont, wearing a beret, and with a baguette under his arm and a Gauloise in his mouth, who doesn't know whether his name should end with a D or a T neither of which are pronounced in any case. For its part, Iran is represented by Ouyar Hassan wearing a felt cap, long shirt and baggy trousers.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15599/ouyar-hassan
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The Terrorists Migrating into Europe
by Judith Bergman • February 15, 2020 at 5:00 am
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"Most migrant terrorists involved in thwarted or completed attacks were purposefully deployed to the migration flows by an organized terrorist group to conduct or support attacks in destination countries." — Todd Bensman, "What Terrorist Migration Over European Borders Can Teach About American Border Security", Center for Immigration Studies.
Bensman's report indirectly proves that the three EU countries -- Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic -- which refused to take in any of the migrants that came during the migrant crisis, citing security concerns, were right.
The leadership of the European Union, however, initiated legal proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union against the three countries over the issue.... A ruling on the issue by the Court is expected early next year.
In response to the Advocate General, Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller, said that "ensuring security for our citizens is the most important goal of the government's policies. Our actions were dictated by the interests of Polish citizens and the need for protection against uncontrolled migration". — Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller, Reuters, October 31, 2019.
Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, describes in a new report the extent to which terrorists disguised as migrants have entered the European Union to commit terrorist attacks. (Image source: Elekes Andor/Wikimedia Commons)
A new report, "What Terrorist Migration Over European Borders Can Teach About American Border Security", by Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, describes the extent to which terrorists disguised as migrants have entered the European Union to commit terrorist attacks. Although the study was written primarily for an American audience to prevent the same mistakes from being made on US borders, the study is extremely relevant for the European public -- especially as Germany recently warned of a repeat migration crisis, similar to the one that occurred in 2015. According to Bensman:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15290/the-terrorists-migrating-into-europe
by Judith Bergman • February 15, 2020 at 5:00 am
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"Most migrant terrorists involved in thwarted or completed attacks were purposefully deployed to the migration flows by an organized terrorist group to conduct or support attacks in destination countries." — Todd Bensman, "What Terrorist Migration Over European Borders Can Teach About American Border Security", Center for Immigration Studies.
Bensman's report indirectly proves that the three EU countries -- Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic -- which refused to take in any of the migrants that came during the migrant crisis, citing security concerns, were right.
The leadership of the European Union, however, initiated legal proceedings at the Court of Justice of the European Union against the three countries over the issue.... A ruling on the issue by the Court is expected early next year.
In response to the Advocate General, Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller, said that "ensuring security for our citizens is the most important goal of the government's policies. Our actions were dictated by the interests of Polish citizens and the need for protection against uncontrolled migration". — Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller, Reuters, October 31, 2019.
Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, describes in a new report the extent to which terrorists disguised as migrants have entered the European Union to commit terrorist attacks. (Image source: Elekes Andor/Wikimedia Commons)
A new report, "What Terrorist Migration Over European Borders Can Teach About American Border Security", by Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, describes the extent to which terrorists disguised as migrants have entered the European Union to commit terrorist attacks. Although the study was written primarily for an American audience to prevent the same mistakes from being made on US borders, the study is extremely relevant for the European public -- especially as Germany recently warned of a repeat migration crisis, similar to the one that occurred in 2015. According to Bensman:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15290/the-terrorists-migrating-into-europe
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Italy: Salvini Facing Show Trial for "Kidnapping" Migrants
by Soeren Kern • February 14, 2020 at 5:00 am
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In September, Sicilian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro said that the kidnapping accusations against Salvini were "groundless" and recommended that he be acquitted of all charges. The Court of Ministers, however, overruled Zuccaro, who is now, paradoxically, required to proceed with prosecuting Salvini, even though he has already found him to be innocent.
The charges against Salvini appear to be part of a political vendetta against him as well as his opposition to mass migration. Case in point: Although the decision to prevent those onboard the Gregoretti from disembarking in July 2019 was made by Salvini in close coordination with senior members of the Italian government, only Salvini is facing prosecution.
"No contrary position was taken by the Prime Minister Conte.... This makes the hypothesis of individual action by Minister Salvini completely improbable." — Senator Erika Stefani, Lega Party, presenting documents showing that other ministers were deeply involved in discussions over the Gregoretti.
"If I have to go to court, I will explain to the judges that defending the borders of my country and protecting citizens was my duty and, serenely, I will go to that courtroom to represent millions of Italians, because I simply did what they asked me to do: to control who enters and who leaves Italy." — Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in a tweet, February 12, 2020.
Like Trump, Salvini's legal troubles are fuelling his approval ratings.... Surveys indicate that if Italy held elections now, Lega would win a majority together with its conservative allies.
The Italian Senate has voted to strip former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of parliamentary immunity so that he can face kidnapping charges for refusing to allow migrants to disembark from a ship at a port in Sicily. This is in spite of Sicilian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro saying in September that the kidnapping accusations against Salvini were "groundless" and recommended that he be acquitted of all charges. Pictured: Salvini (center) at a rally in Policoro, on August 10, 2019. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
The Italian Senate has voted to strip former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of parliamentary immunity so that he can face kidnapping charges for refusing to allow migrants to disembark from a ship at a port in Sicily.
If Salvini, who leads the anti-mass-migration party, Lega (League), is found guilty, he faces a ban on holding political office and up to 15 years in prison. He has said that he acted in Italy's national interest and that the charges against him are politically motivated, aimed at silencing criticism of the country's open-door migration policy.
Under Italian law, ministers enjoy immunity for actions taken while in office — unless the Senate votes to lift that protection. On February 12, the Italian Senate voted 152-76 in favor of lifting Salvini's immunity, after a parliamentary committee on January 21 recommended the action.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15597/italy-salvini-show-trial
by Soeren Kern • February 14, 2020 at 5:00 am
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In September, Sicilian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro said that the kidnapping accusations against Salvini were "groundless" and recommended that he be acquitted of all charges. The Court of Ministers, however, overruled Zuccaro, who is now, paradoxically, required to proceed with prosecuting Salvini, even though he has already found him to be innocent.
The charges against Salvini appear to be part of a political vendetta against him as well as his opposition to mass migration. Case in point: Although the decision to prevent those onboard the Gregoretti from disembarking in July 2019 was made by Salvini in close coordination with senior members of the Italian government, only Salvini is facing prosecution.
"No contrary position was taken by the Prime Minister Conte.... This makes the hypothesis of individual action by Minister Salvini completely improbable." — Senator Erika Stefani, Lega Party, presenting documents showing that other ministers were deeply involved in discussions over the Gregoretti.
"If I have to go to court, I will explain to the judges that defending the borders of my country and protecting citizens was my duty and, serenely, I will go to that courtroom to represent millions of Italians, because I simply did what they asked me to do: to control who enters and who leaves Italy." — Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in a tweet, February 12, 2020.
Like Trump, Salvini's legal troubles are fuelling his approval ratings.... Surveys indicate that if Italy held elections now, Lega would win a majority together with its conservative allies.
The Italian Senate has voted to strip former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of parliamentary immunity so that he can face kidnapping charges for refusing to allow migrants to disembark from a ship at a port in Sicily. This is in spite of Sicilian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro saying in September that the kidnapping accusations against Salvini were "groundless" and recommended that he be acquitted of all charges. Pictured: Salvini (center) at a rally in Policoro, on August 10, 2019. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
The Italian Senate has voted to strip former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of parliamentary immunity so that he can face kidnapping charges for refusing to allow migrants to disembark from a ship at a port in Sicily.
If Salvini, who leads the anti-mass-migration party, Lega (League), is found guilty, he faces a ban on holding political office and up to 15 years in prison. He has said that he acted in Italy's national interest and that the charges against him are politically motivated, aimed at silencing criticism of the country's open-door migration policy.
Under Italian law, ministers enjoy immunity for actions taken while in office — unless the Senate votes to lift that protection. On February 12, the Italian Senate voted 152-76 in favor of lifting Salvini's immunity, after a parliamentary committee on January 21 recommended the action.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15597/italy-salvini-show-trial
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Iran, Not Saudi Arabia, Is to Blame for Yemen's Humanitarian Crisis
by Con Coughlin • February 13, 2020 at 5:00 am
Now, with the humanitarian crisis reaching a critical juncture with an estimated 80% of Yemen's 24 million population in need of assistance, aid organisations are finally waking up to the central role the Iranian-backed Houthis have played in creating the disaster.
As humanitarian officials prepare to meet in Brussels this week -- Thursday -- to discuss the Yemeni aid crisis, the main topic of discussion will be what has been described as the unprecedented and unacceptable obstruction tactics being employed by the Houthis that are preventing vital aid supplies from reaching the country's starving population.
In their latest bid to seize control of the aid distribution, the Houthis have recently imposed a 2 percent levy on all the international aid agencies operating in the country, prompting one aid worker to claim that the Houthis could be using the aid money to finance the war.
Whatever the outcome, no one will be in any doubt that it is the Iranian-backed Houthis, and not the Saudi-led coalition, who are primarily responsible for creating Yemen's disastrous humanitarian crisis.
As Yemen's humanitarian crisis reaches a critical juncture, with an estimated 80% of the country's 24 million people in need of assistance, aid organisations are finally waking up to the central role the Iranian-backed Houthis have played in creating the disaster. Pictured: Displaced persons fill water containers at a makeshift camp in a village in Hajjah province, Yemen, on May 9, 2019. (Photo by Essa Ahmed/AFP via Getty Images)
In the five years since Yemen was plunged into its bitter civil war, it has invariably been the Saudi-led coalition, which enjoys the support of the US, Britain and France, that has been blamed for causing what is widely regarded as the world's greatest humanitarian disaster.
Throughout the conflict the main focus of coverage in most of the Western media has been on the role played by the Saudi military in intensifying the conflict, with Riyadh taking the lion's share of the blame for the estimated 100,000 Yemenis that have died.
The Saudis, it is true, have not always covered themselves in glory in the way they have conducted the military campaign, with frequent reports of Saudi warplanes attacking civilian targets.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15581/iran-not-saudi-arabia-is-to-blame-for-yemen
Qassem Soleimani: Iran's Latest 'King of Martyrs'?
by Denis MacEoin • February 13, 2020 at 4:30 am
Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's successor as head of the Quds Force, has promised: "to continue martyr Soleimani's path with the same force and the only compensation for us would be us would be to remove America from the region."
So much terrorism has come from Tehran.... as distant as Latin America.
One might also ask why has the United Nations never held Iran accountable for these violations?
One might also ask if the time has finally come for the UN's largest donors -- read the US -- to rethink their generosity? Why not, as Ambassador John R. Bolton long ago recommended: "that we should pay for what we want and insist that we get for what we pay for."
Esmail Ghaani, Qassem Soleimani's successor as head of Iran's Quds Force, has promised: "to continue martyr Soleimani's path with the same force and the only compensation for us would be us would be to remove America from the region." (Image source: Tasnim News [CC by 4.0])
When news broke on the morning of January 3 that Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general who for many years had headed the Quds Force, the powerful extraterritorial operations arm of the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had been assassinated -- along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, head of the Iraqi Ketaib Hezbollah militia -- in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport, pundits across the globe burst into print, some to condemn, others to praise his killing.
Neither side seems to want an all-out war. On October 7, 2019, US President Donald J. Trump tweeted:
"... it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15518/qassem-soleimani-iran-martyrs
by Con Coughlin • February 13, 2020 at 5:00 am
Now, with the humanitarian crisis reaching a critical juncture with an estimated 80% of Yemen's 24 million population in need of assistance, aid organisations are finally waking up to the central role the Iranian-backed Houthis have played in creating the disaster.
As humanitarian officials prepare to meet in Brussels this week -- Thursday -- to discuss the Yemeni aid crisis, the main topic of discussion will be what has been described as the unprecedented and unacceptable obstruction tactics being employed by the Houthis that are preventing vital aid supplies from reaching the country's starving population.
In their latest bid to seize control of the aid distribution, the Houthis have recently imposed a 2 percent levy on all the international aid agencies operating in the country, prompting one aid worker to claim that the Houthis could be using the aid money to finance the war.
Whatever the outcome, no one will be in any doubt that it is the Iranian-backed Houthis, and not the Saudi-led coalition, who are primarily responsible for creating Yemen's disastrous humanitarian crisis.
As Yemen's humanitarian crisis reaches a critical juncture, with an estimated 80% of the country's 24 million people in need of assistance, aid organisations are finally waking up to the central role the Iranian-backed Houthis have played in creating the disaster. Pictured: Displaced persons fill water containers at a makeshift camp in a village in Hajjah province, Yemen, on May 9, 2019. (Photo by Essa Ahmed/AFP via Getty Images)
In the five years since Yemen was plunged into its bitter civil war, it has invariably been the Saudi-led coalition, which enjoys the support of the US, Britain and France, that has been blamed for causing what is widely regarded as the world's greatest humanitarian disaster.
Throughout the conflict the main focus of coverage in most of the Western media has been on the role played by the Saudi military in intensifying the conflict, with Riyadh taking the lion's share of the blame for the estimated 100,000 Yemenis that have died.
The Saudis, it is true, have not always covered themselves in glory in the way they have conducted the military campaign, with frequent reports of Saudi warplanes attacking civilian targets.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15581/iran-not-saudi-arabia-is-to-blame-for-yemen
Qassem Soleimani: Iran's Latest 'King of Martyrs'?
by Denis MacEoin • February 13, 2020 at 4:30 am
Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's successor as head of the Quds Force, has promised: "to continue martyr Soleimani's path with the same force and the only compensation for us would be us would be to remove America from the region."
So much terrorism has come from Tehran.... as distant as Latin America.
One might also ask why has the United Nations never held Iran accountable for these violations?
One might also ask if the time has finally come for the UN's largest donors -- read the US -- to rethink their generosity? Why not, as Ambassador John R. Bolton long ago recommended: "that we should pay for what we want and insist that we get for what we pay for."
Esmail Ghaani, Qassem Soleimani's successor as head of Iran's Quds Force, has promised: "to continue martyr Soleimani's path with the same force and the only compensation for us would be us would be to remove America from the region." (Image source: Tasnim News [CC by 4.0])
When news broke on the morning of January 3 that Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general who for many years had headed the Quds Force, the powerful extraterritorial operations arm of the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had been assassinated -- along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, head of the Iraqi Ketaib Hezbollah militia -- in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport, pundits across the globe burst into print, some to condemn, others to praise his killing.
Neither side seems to want an all-out war. On October 7, 2019, US President Donald J. Trump tweeted:
"... it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15518/qassem-soleimani-iran-martyrs
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Coronavirus: Death of Dr. Li Wenliang Rocks China
by Gordon G. Chang • February 12, 2020 at 5:00 am
[T]he disease ravaging the country could be, as is now said, China's "Chernobyl," the cover up of a disaster eventually leading to the downfall of the regime.
Many analysts expect Beijing to stimulate the economy, but stimulus works only if there is underlying economic activity. With much of the economy shut down, there is not much to stimulate. A dead economy is an existential crisis for a regime whose primary basis of legitimacy is the continual delivery of prosperity.
The boldness of recent demands shows that, due to the outbreak, the Chinese people are starting to lose their fear of Xi and the Communist Party. Rudd and Chinese propagandists are saying the Party will weather this crisis, but when people are no longer afraid, anything can happen.
"If they do not give us an explanation, we will not give up," said Lu Shuyun, the mother of Dr. Li Wenliang, demanding to know why Wuhan police harassed him while he was trying to save patients.
In this contest, bet on the mother. After all, she has about 1.4 billion angry people on her side.
Dr. Li Wenliang, who died from the coronavirus on January 31, had been reprimanded by the Chinese government, with seven other doctors, for warning of the outbreak in December. He was accused of "spreading false rumors" and "disrupting social order" and, for his brave efforts, was briefly detained and interrogated. Pictured: A vigil to mourn Wenliang on February 7 in Hong Kong. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
On hearing the news that Dr. Li Wenliang had died from the coronavirus on January 31, people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, under strict quarantine, opened their windows and cried. Others took to the streets to blow whistles for the whistleblower. Grief and anger, expressed from China's streets and balconies and social media platforms, has reached almost unprecedented levels in recent days.
Li, reprimanded with seven other doctors for warning of the outbreak in December, was accused of "spreading false rumors" and "disrupting social order" and, for his brave efforts, was briefly detained, interrogated, and forced to sign an "admonishment notice." Li undoubtedly contracted the virus treating patients at Wuhan Central Hospital.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15576/china-coronavirus-li-wenliang
Russia's 'Wagner Group' Doing Its Dirty Work?
by Lawrence A. Franklin • February 12, 2020 at 4:00 am
The Kremlin under President Vladimir Putin still manages to exploit opportunities in Africa and Latin America that threaten to diminish U.S. influence. To this end -- to extend its power to regions beyond its borders and limited resources -- Moscow established the Wagner Group.
The Wagner Group masquerades as a private commercial enterprise, but it is actually a mercenary arm of the Russian Defense Ministry, run by a long-time Putin associate, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin has pledged support to rebel leader General Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), in his effort to overthrow the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.
One motivation for Putin's support for Haftar's rebel army may be Moscow's desire to gain access to Libya's oil wells, almost all of which are under Haftar's control.
The Wagner Group provides Putin with an aggressive force to safeguard his interests, while allowing him plausible deniability in the event of a confrontation with Washington.... One hopes the White House is listening.
The Wagner Group, a mercenary arm of Russia's Defense Ministry, provides President Vladimir Putin with an aggressive force to safeguard his interests, while allowing him plausible deniability in the event of a confrontation with Washington. Pictured: Putin at the military Patriot Park in Kubinka, Russia, on September 19, 2018. (Photo by Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Although Russia is no longer the superpower it was during the days of the Soviet Union, when it posed a genuine threat to U.S. interests around the world, the Kremlin under President Vladimir Putin still manages to exploit opportunities in Africa and Latin America that threaten to diminish U.S. influence. To this end -- to extend its power to regions beyond its borders and limited resources -- Moscow established the Wagner Group.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15557/russia-wagner-group
Demonizing Defense Lawyers: The True Road to Tyranny
by Alan M. Dershowitz • February 12, 2020 at 1:00 am
I said that if a president did something entirely legal, with a mixed motive that included his desire to be re-elected, that mixed motive could not turn a legal act into an impeachable offense. I also said that a good motive could not turn a criminal act into a lawful one.
Those lawyers were demonized as I am being today. I have a thick skin, developed over many years of defending controversial and unpopular clients and causes. But I am concerned that young lawyers will be deterred from representing such clients and causes for fear it will destroy their careers. I am hearing that from young lawyers and students.
Demonizing defense lawyers for representing politically incorrect clients and causes is the true road to tyranny.
Pictured: Alan Dershowitz speaks in the United States Senate during impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, on January 27, 2020. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images)
I grew up in the age of McCarthyism, when lawyers who represented suspected communists were blamed for the alleged sins of their clients. I never expected to see a return to that benighted time, especially by self-proclaimed progressives. But it's back.
I appeared on the Senate floor as constitutional counsel against impeachment, not as a regular, full time counsel for US President Donald J. Trump. As I said in my opening remarks: I come not as a partisan but to " defend the constitution" from partisan misuse. I laid out the constitutional arguments in an academic manner.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15579/demonizing-defense-lawyers
Copyright Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved.
by Gordon G. Chang • February 12, 2020 at 5:00 am
[T]he disease ravaging the country could be, as is now said, China's "Chernobyl," the cover up of a disaster eventually leading to the downfall of the regime.
Many analysts expect Beijing to stimulate the economy, but stimulus works only if there is underlying economic activity. With much of the economy shut down, there is not much to stimulate. A dead economy is an existential crisis for a regime whose primary basis of legitimacy is the continual delivery of prosperity.
The boldness of recent demands shows that, due to the outbreak, the Chinese people are starting to lose their fear of Xi and the Communist Party. Rudd and Chinese propagandists are saying the Party will weather this crisis, but when people are no longer afraid, anything can happen.
"If they do not give us an explanation, we will not give up," said Lu Shuyun, the mother of Dr. Li Wenliang, demanding to know why Wuhan police harassed him while he was trying to save patients.
In this contest, bet on the mother. After all, she has about 1.4 billion angry people on her side.
Dr. Li Wenliang, who died from the coronavirus on January 31, had been reprimanded by the Chinese government, with seven other doctors, for warning of the outbreak in December. He was accused of "spreading false rumors" and "disrupting social order" and, for his brave efforts, was briefly detained and interrogated. Pictured: A vigil to mourn Wenliang on February 7 in Hong Kong. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
On hearing the news that Dr. Li Wenliang had died from the coronavirus on January 31, people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, under strict quarantine, opened their windows and cried. Others took to the streets to blow whistles for the whistleblower. Grief and anger, expressed from China's streets and balconies and social media platforms, has reached almost unprecedented levels in recent days.
Li, reprimanded with seven other doctors for warning of the outbreak in December, was accused of "spreading false rumors" and "disrupting social order" and, for his brave efforts, was briefly detained, interrogated, and forced to sign an "admonishment notice." Li undoubtedly contracted the virus treating patients at Wuhan Central Hospital.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15576/china-coronavirus-li-wenliang
Russia's 'Wagner Group' Doing Its Dirty Work?
by Lawrence A. Franklin • February 12, 2020 at 4:00 am
The Kremlin under President Vladimir Putin still manages to exploit opportunities in Africa and Latin America that threaten to diminish U.S. influence. To this end -- to extend its power to regions beyond its borders and limited resources -- Moscow established the Wagner Group.
The Wagner Group masquerades as a private commercial enterprise, but it is actually a mercenary arm of the Russian Defense Ministry, run by a long-time Putin associate, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin has pledged support to rebel leader General Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), in his effort to overthrow the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.
One motivation for Putin's support for Haftar's rebel army may be Moscow's desire to gain access to Libya's oil wells, almost all of which are under Haftar's control.
The Wagner Group provides Putin with an aggressive force to safeguard his interests, while allowing him plausible deniability in the event of a confrontation with Washington.... One hopes the White House is listening.
The Wagner Group, a mercenary arm of Russia's Defense Ministry, provides President Vladimir Putin with an aggressive force to safeguard his interests, while allowing him plausible deniability in the event of a confrontation with Washington. Pictured: Putin at the military Patriot Park in Kubinka, Russia, on September 19, 2018. (Photo by Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Although Russia is no longer the superpower it was during the days of the Soviet Union, when it posed a genuine threat to U.S. interests around the world, the Kremlin under President Vladimir Putin still manages to exploit opportunities in Africa and Latin America that threaten to diminish U.S. influence. To this end -- to extend its power to regions beyond its borders and limited resources -- Moscow established the Wagner Group.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15557/russia-wagner-group
Demonizing Defense Lawyers: The True Road to Tyranny
by Alan M. Dershowitz • February 12, 2020 at 1:00 am
I said that if a president did something entirely legal, with a mixed motive that included his desire to be re-elected, that mixed motive could not turn a legal act into an impeachable offense. I also said that a good motive could not turn a criminal act into a lawful one.
Those lawyers were demonized as I am being today. I have a thick skin, developed over many years of defending controversial and unpopular clients and causes. But I am concerned that young lawyers will be deterred from representing such clients and causes for fear it will destroy their careers. I am hearing that from young lawyers and students.
Demonizing defense lawyers for representing politically incorrect clients and causes is the true road to tyranny.
Pictured: Alan Dershowitz speaks in the United States Senate during impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, on January 27, 2020. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images)
I grew up in the age of McCarthyism, when lawyers who represented suspected communists were blamed for the alleged sins of their clients. I never expected to see a return to that benighted time, especially by self-proclaimed progressives. But it's back.
I appeared on the Senate floor as constitutional counsel against impeachment, not as a regular, full time counsel for US President Donald J. Trump. As I said in my opening remarks: I come not as a partisan but to " defend the constitution" from partisan misuse. I laid out the constitutional arguments in an academic manner.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15579/demonizing-defense-lawyers
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Palestinians: The Dangers of Singing
by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 11, 2020 at 5:00 am
The only songs Hamas and its followers want are those that promote hate and violence.... "I will eat you alive, tastes best without salt, Zionist – Yes, yes, you."
The members of Sol Band did not call for "scattering the body parts" of Jews; that is probably why they are being targeted by Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip.
What is disturbing, however, is the silence of the international community, specifically the EU partners of Islamic University in Gaza, where Farra serves as a lecturer. Do the Europeans working with the university condone threats against musicians?... The EU countries and educational institutions are most likely ignoring such threats because they were not made by Israel.
The silence of the international community emboldens Hamas... and allows them to continue their repressive measures against Palestinians. It also allows Hamas and terror groups to continue calling for blowing up the skulls of Jews and eating them alive.
The only songs Hamas and its followers want are those that promote hate and violence.... "I will eat you alive, tastes best without salt, Zionist – Yes, yes, you." Pictured: Members of the Hamas "Protectors of the Homeland Police Band" practice in Gaza City on November 4, 2007. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images)
Palestinian musicians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip are facing death threats after a Muslim scholar, Sheikh Mohammed Sliman al-Farra, published a fatwa (a legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar) prohibiting a local band from performing.
Farra works for Islamic University of Gaza, a member of four regional and international associations of higher education, and has project partnerships with more than 130 European universities and research centers located in 21 EU countries.
Published on November 23, 2019, the fatwa targets Sol Band, a Palestinian music group established in the Gaza Strip eight years ago:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15555/palestinians-danger-singing
by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 11, 2020 at 5:00 am
The only songs Hamas and its followers want are those that promote hate and violence.... "I will eat you alive, tastes best without salt, Zionist – Yes, yes, you."
The members of Sol Band did not call for "scattering the body parts" of Jews; that is probably why they are being targeted by Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip.
What is disturbing, however, is the silence of the international community, specifically the EU partners of Islamic University in Gaza, where Farra serves as a lecturer. Do the Europeans working with the university condone threats against musicians?... The EU countries and educational institutions are most likely ignoring such threats because they were not made by Israel.
The silence of the international community emboldens Hamas... and allows them to continue their repressive measures against Palestinians. It also allows Hamas and terror groups to continue calling for blowing up the skulls of Jews and eating them alive.
The only songs Hamas and its followers want are those that promote hate and violence.... "I will eat you alive, tastes best without salt, Zionist – Yes, yes, you." Pictured: Members of the Hamas "Protectors of the Homeland Police Band" practice in Gaza City on November 4, 2007. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images)
Palestinian musicians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip are facing death threats after a Muslim scholar, Sheikh Mohammed Sliman al-Farra, published a fatwa (a legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar) prohibiting a local band from performing.
Farra works for Islamic University of Gaza, a member of four regional and international associations of higher education, and has project partnerships with more than 130 European universities and research centers located in 21 EU countries.
Published on November 23, 2019, the fatwa targets Sol Band, a Palestinian music group established in the Gaza Strip eight years ago:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15555/palestinians-danger-singing
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Palestinians: After Inciting Violence, Abbas Comes to New York To Fight a Peace Plan
by Bassam Tawil • February 10, 2020 at 5:00 am
"Other stateless people can only dream of being offered independence and $50bn by the US president.... If only the Yazidis or Baluchis or Kurds or Rohingya Muslims were so lucky." – Tom Gross, January 29, 2020.
The plan... offers the Palestinians most of the land captured by Israel in 1967 that more than doubles their territory; a government with realized human rights and institutions of democracy, such as a free press, and $50 billion -- all as part of an extraordinary opportunity to build a flourishing Palestinian State.
Incredibly, Palestinian leaders seem to believe that no one understands that it is their own incitement that is instigating violence, not a peace plan yet to be implemented.
Abbas has no peace plan. That is probably why he is now hoping that the violence he incited will force Israel and the US to surrender even greater concessions to the Palestinians.
It now remains to be seen whether the Security Council and the international community will demand an end to continued Palestinian terrorism and rejection. Failure to do so will only allow Abbas and Hamas to proceed with their long-standing scheme of inciting their people to pursue terrorism every time they are offered a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called on his people to step up "popular resistance activities" to protest US President Donald Trump's ostensible "conspiracy." Abbas's non-stop incitement has resulted so far in the deaths of three young Palestinian men in the West Bank, who were killed by the Israel Defense Forces while attacking soldiers with firebombs. Pictured: Abbas denouncing Trump peace plan in Ramallah on January 28, 2020. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is on his way to the United Nations Security Council to speak against US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace -- "Peace to Prosperity" -- after having incited his people, yet again, against Israel and the US.
Abbas's non-stop incitement has resulted so far in the deaths of three young Palestinian men in the West Bank -- Nidal Ahmed Nafleh, 19, Yazan Munther Abu Tabeekh, 19, and Mohammed Salman Haddad, 17 -- who were killed by the Israel Defense Forces while attacking soldiers with firebombs.
Why did the three men take to the streets to attack IDF soldiers? Because Abbas called on his people to step up "popular resistance activities" to protest the ostensible Trump "conspiracy."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15560/palestinians-abbas-inciting-violence
by Bassam Tawil • February 10, 2020 at 5:00 am
"Other stateless people can only dream of being offered independence and $50bn by the US president.... If only the Yazidis or Baluchis or Kurds or Rohingya Muslims were so lucky." – Tom Gross, January 29, 2020.
The plan... offers the Palestinians most of the land captured by Israel in 1967 that more than doubles their territory; a government with realized human rights and institutions of democracy, such as a free press, and $50 billion -- all as part of an extraordinary opportunity to build a flourishing Palestinian State.
Incredibly, Palestinian leaders seem to believe that no one understands that it is their own incitement that is instigating violence, not a peace plan yet to be implemented.
Abbas has no peace plan. That is probably why he is now hoping that the violence he incited will force Israel and the US to surrender even greater concessions to the Palestinians.
It now remains to be seen whether the Security Council and the international community will demand an end to continued Palestinian terrorism and rejection. Failure to do so will only allow Abbas and Hamas to proceed with their long-standing scheme of inciting their people to pursue terrorism every time they are offered a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called on his people to step up "popular resistance activities" to protest US President Donald Trump's ostensible "conspiracy." Abbas's non-stop incitement has resulted so far in the deaths of three young Palestinian men in the West Bank, who were killed by the Israel Defense Forces while attacking soldiers with firebombs. Pictured: Abbas denouncing Trump peace plan in Ramallah on January 28, 2020. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is on his way to the United Nations Security Council to speak against US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace -- "Peace to Prosperity" -- after having incited his people, yet again, against Israel and the US.
Abbas's non-stop incitement has resulted so far in the deaths of three young Palestinian men in the West Bank -- Nidal Ahmed Nafleh, 19, Yazan Munther Abu Tabeekh, 19, and Mohammed Salman Haddad, 17 -- who were killed by the Israel Defense Forces while attacking soldiers with firebombs.
Why did the three men take to the streets to attack IDF soldiers? Because Abbas called on his people to step up "popular resistance activities" to protest the ostensible Trump "conspiracy."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15560/palestinians-abbas-inciting-violence
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France Quietly Reintroducing the Crime of Blasphemy
by Giulio Meotti • February 9, 2020 at 5:00 am
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Today, in France, using freedom of expression to criticize Islam is clearly an extremely dangerous act, even if you, like Mila, are a child.
France is rapidly going from laïcité (secularism) to lâcheté (cowardice); from freedom of expression to unconditional surrender. France keeps trying to procrastinate while Islamism thrives on the elites' rapidly abandoning their Judeo-Christian values.
Feminist organizations, so quick to denounce "toxic masculinity" and "patriarchal structures of domination", were also silent.
Today, in France, the country of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which always sanctified freedom of expression and the right to criticize religion and ideologies, some within the justice system.... are quietly and de facto reintroducing the crime of blasphemy.
Today, in France, the country that always sanctified freedom of expression and the right to criticize religion and ideologies, some within the justice system are quietly and de facto reintroducing the crime of blasphemy. (Images source: iStock. Image is illustrative and does not represent any person named in the article.)
France had just come out of the fifth anniversary of the massacre at its satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo than it was plunged into a similar case. On January 18, Mila O., a 16-year-old French girl, made insulting comments about Islam during an Instagram livestream.
"During her livestream, a Muslim boy asked her out in the comments, but she turned him down because she is gay. He responded by accusing her of racism and calling her a 'dirty lesbian'. In an angry follow-up video, streamed immediately after she was insulted, Mila responded by saying that she 'hates religion'".
Mila continued, saying among other things:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15526/france-blasphemy-censorship
A Man of a Thousand Faces Wears a New Mask
by Amir Taheri • February 9, 2020 at 4:00 am
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In the meantime, conscious of the fact that Iranians are suckers for real or fake academic titles, to enhance his persona, Rouhani enrolled in a British college in Glasgow to obtain a PhD in Islamic law. Thus, in a few years' time, he was able to rebrand himself as Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the "moderate reformist with Western education."
By the 1990s, in Western policy circles, Rouhani had acquired the reputation of "a man with whom we can work".
Rouhani's message, peddled by cronies including Foreign Minister Muhammad-Javad Zarif, is that the internal opposition and foreign powers worried about Iran should be patient and help "moderates" re-orient the storm-stricken ship of the regime towards calmer waters.
Will Rouhani's scenario, for easing Khamenei off his pedestal, work? I doubt it. Rouhani may be a talented man of a thousand faces, but 40 years of experience has shown that every one of those faces turned out to be a mask.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani may be a talented man of a thousand faces, but 40 years of experience has shown that every one of those faces turned out to be a mask. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
Whatever one might think of Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, one thing is certain: had things gone differently in Iran 40 years ago, he might have become a writer of penny-dreadfuls with provincial themes. Rouhani's talent for fiction writing is demonstrated by the way he has reinvented himself over the decades.
In 1977, when the first rumbles of revolution roared in Iran, he was a student, going by the name of Hassan Fereidun, in England, seeking a degree in textile design.
A few months later, he re-named himself Rouhani, meaning spiritual or clerical. Fereidun was a Persian nationalistic name and would not do for a man plotting to cast himself as a champion of faith.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15556/hassan-rouhani-mask
by Giulio Meotti • February 9, 2020 at 5:00 am
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Today, in France, using freedom of expression to criticize Islam is clearly an extremely dangerous act, even if you, like Mila, are a child.
France is rapidly going from laïcité (secularism) to lâcheté (cowardice); from freedom of expression to unconditional surrender. France keeps trying to procrastinate while Islamism thrives on the elites' rapidly abandoning their Judeo-Christian values.
Feminist organizations, so quick to denounce "toxic masculinity" and "patriarchal structures of domination", were also silent.
Today, in France, the country of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which always sanctified freedom of expression and the right to criticize religion and ideologies, some within the justice system.... are quietly and de facto reintroducing the crime of blasphemy.
Today, in France, the country that always sanctified freedom of expression and the right to criticize religion and ideologies, some within the justice system are quietly and de facto reintroducing the crime of blasphemy. (Images source: iStock. Image is illustrative and does not represent any person named in the article.)
France had just come out of the fifth anniversary of the massacre at its satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo than it was plunged into a similar case. On January 18, Mila O., a 16-year-old French girl, made insulting comments about Islam during an Instagram livestream.
"During her livestream, a Muslim boy asked her out in the comments, but she turned him down because she is gay. He responded by accusing her of racism and calling her a 'dirty lesbian'. In an angry follow-up video, streamed immediately after she was insulted, Mila responded by saying that she 'hates religion'".
Mila continued, saying among other things:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15526/france-blasphemy-censorship
A Man of a Thousand Faces Wears a New Mask
by Amir Taheri • February 9, 2020 at 4:00 am
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
In the meantime, conscious of the fact that Iranians are suckers for real or fake academic titles, to enhance his persona, Rouhani enrolled in a British college in Glasgow to obtain a PhD in Islamic law. Thus, in a few years' time, he was able to rebrand himself as Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the "moderate reformist with Western education."
By the 1990s, in Western policy circles, Rouhani had acquired the reputation of "a man with whom we can work".
Rouhani's message, peddled by cronies including Foreign Minister Muhammad-Javad Zarif, is that the internal opposition and foreign powers worried about Iran should be patient and help "moderates" re-orient the storm-stricken ship of the regime towards calmer waters.
Will Rouhani's scenario, for easing Khamenei off his pedestal, work? I doubt it. Rouhani may be a talented man of a thousand faces, but 40 years of experience has shown that every one of those faces turned out to be a mask.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani may be a talented man of a thousand faces, but 40 years of experience has shown that every one of those faces turned out to be a mask. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
Whatever one might think of Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, one thing is certain: had things gone differently in Iran 40 years ago, he might have become a writer of penny-dreadfuls with provincial themes. Rouhani's talent for fiction writing is demonstrated by the way he has reinvented himself over the decades.
In 1977, when the first rumbles of revolution roared in Iran, he was a student, going by the name of Hassan Fereidun, in England, seeking a degree in textile design.
A few months later, he re-named himself Rouhani, meaning spiritual or clerical. Fereidun was a Persian nationalistic name and would not do for a man plotting to cast himself as a champion of faith.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15556/hassan-rouhani-mask
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Palestinians: Arab Leaders Talking to Israel Are 'Traitors, Jews'
by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 7, 2020 at 5:00 am
Why is it permissible for Egypt's Abdel Fattah Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah to have diplomatic relations with Israel, and not permissible for the leader of Sudan to sit with the Israeli prime minister?
Several key Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, seem to be fed up with the ongoing Palestinian rejection of every proposed Palestinian-Israeli peace plan. The Palestinians have never even proposed a counter-offer.
The Palestinians' threats and condemnations... seem primarily aimed at deterring Arabs from even considering the possibility of making peace with Israel. The former stand-off was working brilliantly for the Palestinians; why stop?
The Palestinian leadership would like to continue holding the entire Arab world hostage to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What the Palestinian leaders clearly do not want is for Arab leaders to act in the interests of their own people.
Arab heads of state now have the opportunity to decide whether they will permit Palestinian leaders to continue their time-tested strategy of terrorizing everyone into submission, or -- unlike the Palestinian leaders -- to seek the best for their own people.
If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is so strongly opposed to Arabs talking to Israelis or making peace with Israel, why does he continue to talk with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan -- the only two Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel? Pictured: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Jordan's King Abdullah on January 16, 2014 in Amman, Jordan. (Photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO/Getty Images)
After rejecting and strongly condemning US President Donald Trump's plan for Mideast peace, the Palestinian leadership has now found the time to threaten Arabs not to make peace with Israel. In addition, Palestinian leaders have also stepped up their attacks against the US and are inciting Arabs against the Americans and Arab leaders who maintain close ties with the Trump administration.
The vicious Palestinian attacks on the US increased after Trump announced last week his "Peace to Prosperity" plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15547/palestinians-arab-leaders-israel
by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 7, 2020 at 5:00 am
Why is it permissible for Egypt's Abdel Fattah Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah to have diplomatic relations with Israel, and not permissible for the leader of Sudan to sit with the Israeli prime minister?
Several key Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, seem to be fed up with the ongoing Palestinian rejection of every proposed Palestinian-Israeli peace plan. The Palestinians have never even proposed a counter-offer.
The Palestinians' threats and condemnations... seem primarily aimed at deterring Arabs from even considering the possibility of making peace with Israel. The former stand-off was working brilliantly for the Palestinians; why stop?
The Palestinian leadership would like to continue holding the entire Arab world hostage to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What the Palestinian leaders clearly do not want is for Arab leaders to act in the interests of their own people.
Arab heads of state now have the opportunity to decide whether they will permit Palestinian leaders to continue their time-tested strategy of terrorizing everyone into submission, or -- unlike the Palestinian leaders -- to seek the best for their own people.
If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is so strongly opposed to Arabs talking to Israelis or making peace with Israel, why does he continue to talk with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan -- the only two Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel? Pictured: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Jordan's King Abdullah on January 16, 2014 in Amman, Jordan. (Photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO/Getty Images)
After rejecting and strongly condemning US President Donald Trump's plan for Mideast peace, the Palestinian leadership has now found the time to threaten Arabs not to make peace with Israel. In addition, Palestinian leaders have also stepped up their attacks against the US and are inciting Arabs against the Americans and Arab leaders who maintain close ties with the Trump administration.
The vicious Palestinian attacks on the US increased after Trump announced last week his "Peace to Prosperity" plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15547/palestinians-arab-leaders-israel
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UK: Why Are Dangerous Jihadists Being Released Early from Prison?
by Soeren Kern • February 6, 2020 at 5:00 am
"We cannot have the situation...where an offender — a known risk to innocent members of the public — is released early by automatic process of law without any oversight by the Parole Board. — UK Secretary of State for Justice.
"When I was a constable, I could arrest and process a suspect in an hour, maximum. Today, it takes a day or more.... The police are mired in bureaucracy, while the judicial system has become an institutional cloud-cuckoo land." — Philip Flower, former chief superintendent with the Metropolitan Police, Daily Mail.
"Bluntly, how would you feel if you were told to keep track of known terrorists who have been released from prison to satisfy the politically correct assumptions of our justice system?" — Philip Flower, former chief superintendent with the Metropolitan Police, Daily Mail.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to toughen sentencing guidelines for convicted terrorists after a newly-released prisoner carried out a jihadist attack in London. Pictured: Police officers search for evidence at the scene of Sudesh Amman's terror attack in London, on February 3, 2020. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to toughen sentencing guidelines for convicted terrorists after a newly-released prisoner carried out a jihadist attack in London.
On February 2, Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old jihadist from Harrow in north-west London, stabbed two people in a knife rampage on Streatham High Road before he was shot dead by police. He had been released from prison just days earlier after serving less than half of his sentence for terrorism offenses.
Amman, who was carrying a 10-inch kitchen knife, wearing a fake suicide bomber vest, and shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is the Greatest"), had been under active police surveillance at the time of the attack, which London police described as an "Islamist-related terrorist incident."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15536/uk-jihadists-released-early
by Soeren Kern • February 6, 2020 at 5:00 am
"We cannot have the situation...where an offender — a known risk to innocent members of the public — is released early by automatic process of law without any oversight by the Parole Board. — UK Secretary of State for Justice.
"When I was a constable, I could arrest and process a suspect in an hour, maximum. Today, it takes a day or more.... The police are mired in bureaucracy, while the judicial system has become an institutional cloud-cuckoo land." — Philip Flower, former chief superintendent with the Metropolitan Police, Daily Mail.
"Bluntly, how would you feel if you were told to keep track of known terrorists who have been released from prison to satisfy the politically correct assumptions of our justice system?" — Philip Flower, former chief superintendent with the Metropolitan Police, Daily Mail.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to toughen sentencing guidelines for convicted terrorists after a newly-released prisoner carried out a jihadist attack in London. Pictured: Police officers search for evidence at the scene of Sudesh Amman's terror attack in London, on February 3, 2020. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to toughen sentencing guidelines for convicted terrorists after a newly-released prisoner carried out a jihadist attack in London.
On February 2, Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old jihadist from Harrow in north-west London, stabbed two people in a knife rampage on Streatham High Road before he was shot dead by police. He had been released from prison just days earlier after serving less than half of his sentence for terrorism offenses.
Amman, who was carrying a 10-inch kitchen knife, wearing a fake suicide bomber vest, and shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is the Greatest"), had been under active police surveillance at the time of the attack, which London police described as an "Islamist-related terrorist incident."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15536/uk-jihadists-released-early
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Can Muslim Terrorists be Deradicalized? - Part I
by Denis MacEoin • February 5, 2020 at 5:00 am
"What we found [in prisons] was so shockingly bad that I had to agree to the language in the original report being toned down. With hindsight, I'm not sure that was the right decision." — Ian Acheson, British expert on prisons.
"There were serious deficiencies in almost every aspect of the management of terrorist offenders... Frontline prison staff were vulnerable to attack and were ill-equipped to counter hateful extremism on prison landings for fear of being accused of racism. Prison imams did not possess the tools, and sometimes the will, to combat Islamist ideology. The prison service's intelligence-gathering system was hopelessly fractured and ineffectual." — Ian Acheson, "London Bridge attack: I told ministers we were treating terrorist prisoners with jaw-dropping naivety. Did they listen?", London Times, December 1, 2019.
"Obedience is achieved by violence and intimidation carried out by members of the group known as enforcers. 'Those who had committed terrorist crimes often held more senior roles in the gang,' the study found, 'facilitated by the respect some younger prisoners gave them.'" — Patrick Dunleavy, former Deputy Inspector General for New York State Department of Corrections, June 18, 2019.
"The study found that terrorist groups such as al-Qaida did not see prison as an obstacle. Quite the opposite, they viewed it as an opportunity to organize and expand." — Patrick Dunleavy.
Usman Khan's deadly terror attack in London on November 29, 2019 is evidence that the existing schemes for deradicalization and rehabilitation of convicted terrorists are inherently unstable and, in a certain percentage of cases, likely to fail. Pictured: Belmarsh Prison, in London, from where Usman Khan was released to continue his terrorist activities. (Photo by Graeme Robertson/Getty Images)
On Friday November 29, 2019, an Islamist terror attack took place in London. Two young people, both recent Cambridge University graduates, Jack Merritt (25) and Saskia Jones (23), were stabbed and killed by a single attacker. It was a terrible and unnecessary loss of life.
The special irony about Jack and Saskia's deaths is that they (and a colleague) had been involved with Cambridge University's Learning Together prison-rehabilitation program, similar to the US version known as Inside-Out, both of which bring prison inmates together with students to learn together. The British programme is run by Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology, from which both Merritt and Jones had received M.Phils in criminology.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15512/muslim-terrorists-deradicalized
ISIS Women: Victims or Perpetrators?
by Uzay Bulut • February 5, 2020 at 4:00 am
"Female members of ISIS are often perceived as being passive, naïve, or even as victims. This is a dangerous and wildly inaccurate characterization." — Free Yezidi Foundation.
It is important to stress that the true victims of ISIS's hateful practices are not the thousands of women and girls who willingly joined ISIS and actively participated in the group's horrendous crimes against humanity, but rather the hundreds of thousands of Christians, Yezidis and Muslims whom they displaced, tortured and killed.
Whether the "ISIS brides" -- women who abetted men in the abduction, rape, torture and slaughter of Yezidis and Christians in Iraq and Syria -- are worthy of mercy is questionable. Pictured: Iraqi Yezidi women mourn at a ceremony during the exhumation of a mass-grave of hundreds of Yezidis killed by Islamic State terrorists in the northern Iraqi village of Kojo, on March 15, 2019. (Photo by Zaid Al-Obeidi/AFP via Getty Images)
The recent case of Samantha Marie Elhassani (née Samantha Sally) -- an American mother-of-two who left her home in Indiana to join the now-defunct Islamic State (ISIS) caliphate in Syria -- sheds light on the issue currently debated in the West about the degree of culpability of terrorists' wives, and whether they should be viewed as victims or perpetrators.
On November 25, in a U.S. Federal Court, Elhassani pled guilty to, and was convicted of "providing financial support to individuals who desired to support ISIS."
According to U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II:
"[Elhassani] traveled with her husband and brother-in-law to Syria, both of whom became ISIS fighters, putting the lives of her children at risk. [Her] guilty plea to federal terrorism charges reflects the seriousness of her criminal conduct."
FBI Special Agent Grant Mendenhall added:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15309/isis-women
by Denis MacEoin • February 5, 2020 at 5:00 am
"What we found [in prisons] was so shockingly bad that I had to agree to the language in the original report being toned down. With hindsight, I'm not sure that was the right decision." — Ian Acheson, British expert on prisons.
"There were serious deficiencies in almost every aspect of the management of terrorist offenders... Frontline prison staff were vulnerable to attack and were ill-equipped to counter hateful extremism on prison landings for fear of being accused of racism. Prison imams did not possess the tools, and sometimes the will, to combat Islamist ideology. The prison service's intelligence-gathering system was hopelessly fractured and ineffectual." — Ian Acheson, "London Bridge attack: I told ministers we were treating terrorist prisoners with jaw-dropping naivety. Did they listen?", London Times, December 1, 2019.
"Obedience is achieved by violence and intimidation carried out by members of the group known as enforcers. 'Those who had committed terrorist crimes often held more senior roles in the gang,' the study found, 'facilitated by the respect some younger prisoners gave them.'" — Patrick Dunleavy, former Deputy Inspector General for New York State Department of Corrections, June 18, 2019.
"The study found that terrorist groups such as al-Qaida did not see prison as an obstacle. Quite the opposite, they viewed it as an opportunity to organize and expand." — Patrick Dunleavy.
Usman Khan's deadly terror attack in London on November 29, 2019 is evidence that the existing schemes for deradicalization and rehabilitation of convicted terrorists are inherently unstable and, in a certain percentage of cases, likely to fail. Pictured: Belmarsh Prison, in London, from where Usman Khan was released to continue his terrorist activities. (Photo by Graeme Robertson/Getty Images)
On Friday November 29, 2019, an Islamist terror attack took place in London. Two young people, both recent Cambridge University graduates, Jack Merritt (25) and Saskia Jones (23), were stabbed and killed by a single attacker. It was a terrible and unnecessary loss of life.
The special irony about Jack and Saskia's deaths is that they (and a colleague) had been involved with Cambridge University's Learning Together prison-rehabilitation program, similar to the US version known as Inside-Out, both of which bring prison inmates together with students to learn together. The British programme is run by Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology, from which both Merritt and Jones had received M.Phils in criminology.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15512/muslim-terrorists-deradicalized
ISIS Women: Victims or Perpetrators?
by Uzay Bulut • February 5, 2020 at 4:00 am
"Female members of ISIS are often perceived as being passive, naïve, or even as victims. This is a dangerous and wildly inaccurate characterization." — Free Yezidi Foundation.
It is important to stress that the true victims of ISIS's hateful practices are not the thousands of women and girls who willingly joined ISIS and actively participated in the group's horrendous crimes against humanity, but rather the hundreds of thousands of Christians, Yezidis and Muslims whom they displaced, tortured and killed.
Whether the "ISIS brides" -- women who abetted men in the abduction, rape, torture and slaughter of Yezidis and Christians in Iraq and Syria -- are worthy of mercy is questionable. Pictured: Iraqi Yezidi women mourn at a ceremony during the exhumation of a mass-grave of hundreds of Yezidis killed by Islamic State terrorists in the northern Iraqi village of Kojo, on March 15, 2019. (Photo by Zaid Al-Obeidi/AFP via Getty Images)
The recent case of Samantha Marie Elhassani (née Samantha Sally) -- an American mother-of-two who left her home in Indiana to join the now-defunct Islamic State (ISIS) caliphate in Syria -- sheds light on the issue currently debated in the West about the degree of culpability of terrorists' wives, and whether they should be viewed as victims or perpetrators.
On November 25, in a U.S. Federal Court, Elhassani pled guilty to, and was convicted of "providing financial support to individuals who desired to support ISIS."
According to U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II:
"[Elhassani] traveled with her husband and brother-in-law to Syria, both of whom became ISIS fighters, putting the lives of her children at risk. [Her] guilty plea to federal terrorism charges reflects the seriousness of her criminal conduct."
FBI Special Agent Grant Mendenhall added:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15309/isis-women
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The Real Reason Arabs in Israel Do Not Want to Live in 'Palestine'
by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 4, 2020 at 5:00 am
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Why are the 250,000 Arab Israelis living in the Triangle area strongly opposed to the idea of becoming part of a Palestinian state?
Many Arab citizens of Israel see how Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are subject to human rights violations on a daily basis.
What the Arab citizens of Israel need now is to elect new leaders who will promote coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and not engage in anti-Israel rhetoric and actions.
Some of the leaders of the Arab citizens of Israel, particularly a number of Knesset members, have been acting against the interests of their constituents. It is almost as if these purported leaders represent the PA and Hamas instead of the Arab Israelis who voted for them with the hope that they would work to solve problems confronting their communities, such as unemployment.
The Arab citizens of Israel need real leaders who properly represent them in the Knesset and build -- not destroy -- bridges with Jews. Let the protests on the streets of Arab Israeli communities against becoming part of a Palestinian state serve as a fair warning to Israeli Arab leaders: stand by your people, or get out of the way.
Arab citizens of Israel, who number nearly two million, are up in arms about US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace, which proposes including some of their communities in a future Palestinian state. Pictured: Residents of the Arab-Israeli town of Baqa al-Gharbiya protest the Trump peace plan, on February 1, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Arab citizens of Israel, who number nearly two million, are up in arms about US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace, which proposes including some of their communities in a future Palestinian state. Since the unveiling of the plan, thousands of Arabs have been demonstrating to express their rejection of the idea of placing them under the sovereignty of a Palestinian state.
Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" plan proposes land swaps that could include both populated and unpopulated areas. It suggests that the so-called Triangle area in Israel, consisting of several Arab communities "which largely self-identify as Palestinian, become part of the State of Palestine." The plan points out that the Arab communities "were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15516/arab-israelis-peace-plan
by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 4, 2020 at 5:00 am
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Why are the 250,000 Arab Israelis living in the Triangle area strongly opposed to the idea of becoming part of a Palestinian state?
Many Arab citizens of Israel see how Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are subject to human rights violations on a daily basis.
What the Arab citizens of Israel need now is to elect new leaders who will promote coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and not engage in anti-Israel rhetoric and actions.
Some of the leaders of the Arab citizens of Israel, particularly a number of Knesset members, have been acting against the interests of their constituents. It is almost as if these purported leaders represent the PA and Hamas instead of the Arab Israelis who voted for them with the hope that they would work to solve problems confronting their communities, such as unemployment.
The Arab citizens of Israel need real leaders who properly represent them in the Knesset and build -- not destroy -- bridges with Jews. Let the protests on the streets of Arab Israeli communities against becoming part of a Palestinian state serve as a fair warning to Israeli Arab leaders: stand by your people, or get out of the way.
Arab citizens of Israel, who number nearly two million, are up in arms about US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace, which proposes including some of their communities in a future Palestinian state. Pictured: Residents of the Arab-Israeli town of Baqa al-Gharbiya protest the Trump peace plan, on February 1, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Arab citizens of Israel, who number nearly two million, are up in arms about US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace, which proposes including some of their communities in a future Palestinian state. Since the unveiling of the plan, thousands of Arabs have been demonstrating to express their rejection of the idea of placing them under the sovereignty of a Palestinian state.
Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" plan proposes land swaps that could include both populated and unpopulated areas. It suggests that the so-called Triangle area in Israel, consisting of several Arab communities "which largely self-identify as Palestinian, become part of the State of Palestine." The plan points out that the Arab communities "were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15516/arab-israelis-peace-plan
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Europe Cowers in Front of Iran and Hezbollah
by Soeren Kern • February 3, 2020 at 5:00 am
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"Hezbollah itself has publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings. The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism..." — The British Treasury, January 17, 2020.
Britain joins the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Israel, the 22-member Arab League, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay in making no distinction between Hezbollah's military and civilian wings. In all, more than 30 countries have banned the group in its entirety.
In Germany, the EU's largest member state, a foreign ministry official, Niels Annen, said that a complete ban of Hezbollah would be counterproductive because "we focus on dialogue." His comment has been understood to mean that the German government does not want to burn bridges with Hezbollah's main patron, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism.
In other EU member states, government officials appear worried that a total ban of Hezbollah could jeopardize the safety of European troops deployed to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL. EU member states contribute more than 3,650 troops to UNIFIL — mostly from France, Italy and Spain.
"Hezbollah is a single large organization, we have no wings that are separate from one another. What's being said in Brussels doesn't exist for us." — Ibrahim Mussawi, Hezbollah spokesman, interview in Der Spiegel, July 22, 2013.
According to Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem (left), the group is structurally unified: "We don't have a military wing and a political one... Every element of Hezbollah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, is in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority." (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)
The British finance ministry has added the entirety of the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah — Arabic for "The Party of Allah" — to its sanctions list and has ordered a freeze on any assets it may have in the United Kingdom.
The move, aimed at cracking down on Hezbollah's fundraising activities in Britain, adds increased enforcement teeth to the British government's February 2019 decision no longer to distinguish between Hezbollah's military and political wings and to classify the entire organization as a terrorist group.
With the exception of the Netherlands, which outlawed all of Hezbollah in 2004, the UK now has the most comprehensive set of sanctions against the terrorist group in Europe. Being a member of, or providing support for, Hezbollah is a crime in Britain punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15510/europe-iran-hezbollah
Beware of Putin's Push for Primacy in Africa
by Lawrence A. Franklin • February 3, 2020 at 4:00 am
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow largely withdrew from the African continent, until Putin rekindled the flame about two years ago, in an attempt to restore Russia's "glory days" and fill a vacuum wherever one is created by the West.
Between Russia's expansionism in the region, and China's as well, the United States would do well to remain as vigilant as ever.
While the United States and France have been helping the fragile governments of Africa's Sahel region stave off Islamist terrorist attacks and takeovers, Russia has been busy trying to push NATO out of the area and augment its own influence there. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin and African heads of state at the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, on October 24, 2019. (Image source: kremlin.ru)
While the United States and France have been helping the fragile governments of Africa's Sahel region stave off Islamist terrorist attacks and takeovers, Russia has been busy trying to push NATO out of the area and augment its own influence there.
Moscow's strategy rests on three pillars. The first is the cultivation of relationships with African leaders, particularly those attempting to remain in power in spite of constitutional limitations — such as, for instance, Sudan's former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who was recently ousted by oppositionists. The Kremlin dispatched several hundred paramilitary advisers in late 2018 to train the Sudanese military how to suppress protests.
Ultimately, Moscow's mission to boost al-Bashir failed; he was overthrown in April 2019, a few months later.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15511/russia-primacy-africa
by Soeren Kern • February 3, 2020 at 5:00 am
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"Hezbollah itself has publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings. The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism..." — The British Treasury, January 17, 2020.
Britain joins the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Israel, the 22-member Arab League, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay in making no distinction between Hezbollah's military and civilian wings. In all, more than 30 countries have banned the group in its entirety.
In Germany, the EU's largest member state, a foreign ministry official, Niels Annen, said that a complete ban of Hezbollah would be counterproductive because "we focus on dialogue." His comment has been understood to mean that the German government does not want to burn bridges with Hezbollah's main patron, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism.
In other EU member states, government officials appear worried that a total ban of Hezbollah could jeopardize the safety of European troops deployed to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL. EU member states contribute more than 3,650 troops to UNIFIL — mostly from France, Italy and Spain.
"Hezbollah is a single large organization, we have no wings that are separate from one another. What's being said in Brussels doesn't exist for us." — Ibrahim Mussawi, Hezbollah spokesman, interview in Der Spiegel, July 22, 2013.
According to Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem (left), the group is structurally unified: "We don't have a military wing and a political one... Every element of Hezbollah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, is in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority." (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)
The British finance ministry has added the entirety of the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah — Arabic for "The Party of Allah" — to its sanctions list and has ordered a freeze on any assets it may have in the United Kingdom.
The move, aimed at cracking down on Hezbollah's fundraising activities in Britain, adds increased enforcement teeth to the British government's February 2019 decision no longer to distinguish between Hezbollah's military and political wings and to classify the entire organization as a terrorist group.
With the exception of the Netherlands, which outlawed all of Hezbollah in 2004, the UK now has the most comprehensive set of sanctions against the terrorist group in Europe. Being a member of, or providing support for, Hezbollah is a crime in Britain punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15510/europe-iran-hezbollah
Beware of Putin's Push for Primacy in Africa
by Lawrence A. Franklin • February 3, 2020 at 4:00 am
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow largely withdrew from the African continent, until Putin rekindled the flame about two years ago, in an attempt to restore Russia's "glory days" and fill a vacuum wherever one is created by the West.
Between Russia's expansionism in the region, and China's as well, the United States would do well to remain as vigilant as ever.
While the United States and France have been helping the fragile governments of Africa's Sahel region stave off Islamist terrorist attacks and takeovers, Russia has been busy trying to push NATO out of the area and augment its own influence there. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin and African heads of state at the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, on October 24, 2019. (Image source: kremlin.ru)
While the United States and France have been helping the fragile governments of Africa's Sahel region stave off Islamist terrorist attacks and takeovers, Russia has been busy trying to push NATO out of the area and augment its own influence there.
Moscow's strategy rests on three pillars. The first is the cultivation of relationships with African leaders, particularly those attempting to remain in power in spite of constitutional limitations — such as, for instance, Sudan's former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who was recently ousted by oppositionists. The Kremlin dispatched several hundred paramilitary advisers in late 2018 to train the Sudanese military how to suppress protests.
Ultimately, Moscow's mission to boost al-Bashir failed; he was overthrown in April 2019, a few months later.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15511/russia-primacy-africa
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Sweden: Hijab is 'Look of the Year'
by Judith Bergman • February 1, 2020 at 5:00 am
Hejazipour said that she had decided not to have a share in this horrendous lie and not to play the game of 'We love the hijab and have no problem with it' anymore... It creates many limitations for women and deprives them of their basic rights. Is this protection? I say definitely not, it is solely and merely a limitation."
"The Iranian authorities are employing the full machinery of the state to crush opposition to forced hijab, but with more than half the population against it, the tide is increasingly against them." — Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director, Center for Human Rights in Iran, August 19, 2019
Swedish Elle readers are obviously free to choose whomever they see fit to be "look of the year". It is, however, perplexing that female readers in a self-proclaimed feminist nation who wears the hijab, when a study commissioned by Swedish authorities has shown that wearing a hijab for many women and children in Sweden is far from being a voluntary choice.
"Those of us who have fled gender apartheid dictatorships, where women risk their lives to protest the veil, know and have experienced what chastity laws mean... our feminist government chooses to prioritize collective religious rights over the human rights of children and women... As long as trendsetting journalists see gender apartheid as 'culture' .... oppression based on honor will continue". — Maria Rashidi and Sara Mohammad, human rights activists, Dagens Samhälle, December 14, 2019.
On February 1, World Hijab Day will be marked in countries all over the world, including in Sweden. Will anyone use that occasion to stand up for the many women and children who do not want to wear one?
On January 20, Iran's only female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, defected from Iran. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years," she wrote. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
On January 20, Iran's only female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, defected from Iran. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years," she wrote.
Then, last month, the Islamic Republic's female chess master, Mitra Hejazipour, 27, removed her hijab during a chess tournament in Moscow and was promptly removed from the national chess team.
Hejazipour said that she had decided "not to have a share in this horrendous lie and not to play the game of 'We love the hijab and have no problem with it' anymore..."
"It creates many limitations for women and deprives them of their basic rights. Is this protection? I say definitely not, it is solely and merely a limitation."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15509/sweden-hijab
by Judith Bergman • February 1, 2020 at 5:00 am
Hejazipour said that she had decided not to have a share in this horrendous lie and not to play the game of 'We love the hijab and have no problem with it' anymore... It creates many limitations for women and deprives them of their basic rights. Is this protection? I say definitely not, it is solely and merely a limitation."
"The Iranian authorities are employing the full machinery of the state to crush opposition to forced hijab, but with more than half the population against it, the tide is increasingly against them." — Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director, Center for Human Rights in Iran, August 19, 2019
Swedish Elle readers are obviously free to choose whomever they see fit to be "look of the year". It is, however, perplexing that female readers in a self-proclaimed feminist nation who wears the hijab, when a study commissioned by Swedish authorities has shown that wearing a hijab for many women and children in Sweden is far from being a voluntary choice.
"Those of us who have fled gender apartheid dictatorships, where women risk their lives to protest the veil, know and have experienced what chastity laws mean... our feminist government chooses to prioritize collective religious rights over the human rights of children and women... As long as trendsetting journalists see gender apartheid as 'culture' .... oppression based on honor will continue". — Maria Rashidi and Sara Mohammad, human rights activists, Dagens Samhälle, December 14, 2019.
On February 1, World Hijab Day will be marked in countries all over the world, including in Sweden. Will anyone use that occasion to stand up for the many women and children who do not want to wear one?
On January 20, Iran's only female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, defected from Iran. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years," she wrote. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
On January 20, Iran's only female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, defected from Iran. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years," she wrote.
Then, last month, the Islamic Republic's female chess master, Mitra Hejazipour, 27, removed her hijab during a chess tournament in Moscow and was promptly removed from the national chess team.
Hejazipour said that she had decided "not to have a share in this horrendous lie and not to play the game of 'We love the hijab and have no problem with it' anymore..."
"It creates many limitations for women and deprives them of their basic rights. Is this protection? I say definitely not, it is solely and merely a limitation."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15509/sweden-hijab
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Trump Middle East Plan: Last Chance for the Palestinians?
by Alain Destexhe • January 31, 2020 at 5:00 am
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Israel and the future Palestinian state could sign bilateral agreements and cooperate for their mutual benefit in many areas where Israeli expertise is recognized: agriculture, water, scientific research, technology, medicine. Why should the Palestinians be the only people not benefiting from it? The Trump deal could provide a dazzling future for those Palestinians who prioritize their economic situation over ideology.
It is also highly unlikely that any potential Democrat administration would come up with a more Palestinian-friendly plan that could also be accepted by Israel. And... there is little chance that the Palestinian cause will return to the center of the international agenda and find new allies, except on European and American university campuses.
Instead of openly supporting the Trump Plan, the European Union has already reacted in its usual way: by saying nothing substantial -- which is tantamount to preferring the current impasse and encouraging the Palestinians in their rejection of the Trump Plan and Israel. Cynicism will continue to prevail in European diplomatic circles.
Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority may remain self-righteous and draped in their claims, but it would unmask their real role as corrupt and autocratic leaders, intent on keeping their people as destitute and unempowered as possible.
Pictured: US President Donald Trump announces his Middle East peace plan in the White House in Washington, DC on January 28, 2020. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump just unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, "Peace to Prosperity", a strategy offering the Palestinians a state, $50 billion in international investment, and a US embassy in the newly-created state. This is a major step forward that the Palestinian Authority would be smart to accept as a starting point for discussions with Israel.
President Trump made an appeal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15503/trump-middle-east-palestinians
by Alain Destexhe • January 31, 2020 at 5:00 am
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Israel and the future Palestinian state could sign bilateral agreements and cooperate for their mutual benefit in many areas where Israeli expertise is recognized: agriculture, water, scientific research, technology, medicine. Why should the Palestinians be the only people not benefiting from it? The Trump deal could provide a dazzling future for those Palestinians who prioritize their economic situation over ideology.
It is also highly unlikely that any potential Democrat administration would come up with a more Palestinian-friendly plan that could also be accepted by Israel. And... there is little chance that the Palestinian cause will return to the center of the international agenda and find new allies, except on European and American university campuses.
Instead of openly supporting the Trump Plan, the European Union has already reacted in its usual way: by saying nothing substantial -- which is tantamount to preferring the current impasse and encouraging the Palestinians in their rejection of the Trump Plan and Israel. Cynicism will continue to prevail in European diplomatic circles.
Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority may remain self-righteous and draped in their claims, but it would unmask their real role as corrupt and autocratic leaders, intent on keeping their people as destitute and unempowered as possible.
Pictured: US President Donald Trump announces his Middle East peace plan in the White House in Washington, DC on January 28, 2020. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump just unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, "Peace to Prosperity", a strategy offering the Palestinians a state, $50 billion in international investment, and a US embassy in the newly-created state. This is a major step forward that the Palestinian Authority would be smart to accept as a starting point for discussions with Israel.
President Trump made an appeal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas:
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15503/trump-middle-east-palestinians
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UK: Boris Johnson Must Decide between Washington and Beijing
by Con Coughlin • January 30, 2020 at 4:30 am
Mr Johnson would be well-advised to heed Mr Pompeo's advice and reconsider allowing Huawei access to Britain's telecoms systems, irrespective of the restrictions the British authorities claim they will impose on the firm's access to sensitive installations.
In an age when the foremost challenge of the Western democracies is to defend their interests against Beijing's long-term goal of achieving global dominance, it is vital that they present a united front against the Chinese threat.
Mr Johnson needs to understand that Britain's interests are best served by maintaining strong ties with Washington, rather than by indulging in dubious business deals with Beijing.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would be well-advised to heed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's advice and reconsider allowing Huawei access to Britain's telecoms systems, irrespective of the restrictions the British authorities claim they will impose on the firm's access to sensitive installations. Pictured: Johnson (left) and Pompeo on May 7, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to allow the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei access to Britain's new 5G network has placed unnecessary strain on the transatlantic alliance at a time when it needs to show a united front against Beijing's global ambitions.
Mr Johnson's decision to allow Huawei to build parts of the 5G network has been taken in the face of fierce opposition from the Trump administration, which regards the Chinese company a security risk because of its historic links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15504/boris-johnson-china-huawei
Palestinians: Abbas Chooses Hamas Over Peace with Israel
by Khaled Abu Toameh • January 30, 2020 at 5:00 am
Hamas and Iran have no plans to boost the economy in the Gaza Strip. They also have no intention of creating jobs for thousands of unemployed Palestinians.
"After years of no progress, the donor community is fatigued and reluctant to make additional investments so long as the governance structure in Gaza is run by terrorists who provoke confrontations that lead to more destruction and suffering." — From the "Peace to Prosperity" plan.
In fact, the wording of Trump's plan is quite compatible with the position of Abbas and his PA officials in the West Bank.
By forging an alliance with Hamas, a terror group that does not recognize Israel's right to exist, Abbas is already signaling his readiness to join forces with those who oppose any peace process with Israel. Such an alliance effectively places Abbas on the side of Iran and its Hamas and PIJ proxies.
Abbas and Hamas may renew their relations in the near future, but it will be the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip who will suffer, condemned by their leaders to poverty and misery.
In their response to the "Peace to Prosperity" plan, Palestinian leaders have once again succeeded in what they do best: taking any hope for the wellbeing of their people and driving it straight into the ground.
Instead of welcoming President Donald Trump's peace plan, designed to give the Palestinians a prosperous future, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected and denounced it as the "deal of shame" and "slap of the century." Pictured: Abbas denouncing the peace plan in Ramallah on January 28, 2020. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians offers hope to the two million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas for more than a decade.
Instead of welcoming the plan, designed to give the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip a prosperous future, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected and denounced it as the "deal of shame" and "slap of the century."
Worse, Abbas has chosen to renew his ties with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the two Iranian-backed groups that are opposed to his policies and have regularly condemned his policies and decisions.
Abbas, in other words, is acting not only against the interests of his people in the Gaza Strip, but also against himself by engaging the same groups that have long been seeking to undermine his rule.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15506/abbas-chooses-hamas-over-peace
by Con Coughlin • January 30, 2020 at 4:30 am
Mr Johnson would be well-advised to heed Mr Pompeo's advice and reconsider allowing Huawei access to Britain's telecoms systems, irrespective of the restrictions the British authorities claim they will impose on the firm's access to sensitive installations.
In an age when the foremost challenge of the Western democracies is to defend their interests against Beijing's long-term goal of achieving global dominance, it is vital that they present a united front against the Chinese threat.
Mr Johnson needs to understand that Britain's interests are best served by maintaining strong ties with Washington, rather than by indulging in dubious business deals with Beijing.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would be well-advised to heed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's advice and reconsider allowing Huawei access to Britain's telecoms systems, irrespective of the restrictions the British authorities claim they will impose on the firm's access to sensitive installations. Pictured: Johnson (left) and Pompeo on May 7, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to allow the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei access to Britain's new 5G network has placed unnecessary strain on the transatlantic alliance at a time when it needs to show a united front against Beijing's global ambitions.
Mr Johnson's decision to allow Huawei to build parts of the 5G network has been taken in the face of fierce opposition from the Trump administration, which regards the Chinese company a security risk because of its historic links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15504/boris-johnson-china-huawei
Palestinians: Abbas Chooses Hamas Over Peace with Israel
by Khaled Abu Toameh • January 30, 2020 at 5:00 am
Hamas and Iran have no plans to boost the economy in the Gaza Strip. They also have no intention of creating jobs for thousands of unemployed Palestinians.
"After years of no progress, the donor community is fatigued and reluctant to make additional investments so long as the governance structure in Gaza is run by terrorists who provoke confrontations that lead to more destruction and suffering." — From the "Peace to Prosperity" plan.
In fact, the wording of Trump's plan is quite compatible with the position of Abbas and his PA officials in the West Bank.
By forging an alliance with Hamas, a terror group that does not recognize Israel's right to exist, Abbas is already signaling his readiness to join forces with those who oppose any peace process with Israel. Such an alliance effectively places Abbas on the side of Iran and its Hamas and PIJ proxies.
Abbas and Hamas may renew their relations in the near future, but it will be the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip who will suffer, condemned by their leaders to poverty and misery.
In their response to the "Peace to Prosperity" plan, Palestinian leaders have once again succeeded in what they do best: taking any hope for the wellbeing of their people and driving it straight into the ground.
Instead of welcoming President Donald Trump's peace plan, designed to give the Palestinians a prosperous future, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected and denounced it as the "deal of shame" and "slap of the century." Pictured: Abbas denouncing the peace plan in Ramallah on January 28, 2020. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians offers hope to the two million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas for more than a decade.
Instead of welcoming the plan, designed to give the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip a prosperous future, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected and denounced it as the "deal of shame" and "slap of the century."
Worse, Abbas has chosen to renew his ties with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the two Iranian-backed groups that are opposed to his policies and have regularly condemned his policies and decisions.
Abbas, in other words, is acting not only against the interests of his people in the Gaza Strip, but also against himself by engaging the same groups that have long been seeking to undermine his rule.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15506/abbas-chooses-hamas-over-peace
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Arabian Gulf Citizens and Changing Views
by Najat AlSaied • January 29, 2020 at 5:00 am
Whenever there is any hope of good relations with Israel, Qatar tries to embarrass Saudi Arabia by mentioning that the kingdom is the keeper of the Two Holy Mosques. Conversely, when Saudi Arabia says something negative about Israel, such as that Israelis may not visit the kingdom, Qatar quickly publishes it in English to show Westerners how intolerant Saudi Arabia is.
Disappointingly, the Western mainstream media is no different from the Arab Gulf media in weakening the position of pro-peace advocates in the Arab Gulf countries.
Members of the mainstream media seem, in fact, to have an interest in perpetuating conflict, perhaps as more newsworthy, telegenic or enticing to advertisers. Members of the mainstream media also seem, wrongly, to regard anti-Semitic advocates of political Islam as representative of "moderate" Islam. Worse, they actually appear to be against anyone who is promoting peace.
The worldwide lack of support for those who advocate peace or the reform of Islam has brought about exactly what the extremists want: a fear of speaking up. Many of us Muslims do not want to be viewed as traitors, labelled "enemies of the nation"... and have our lives put under threat...
The views of Gulf Arabs towards Israel have been marginalized by a lack of support from both the Arab and Western media, indicating a need for greater emphasis on "digital diplomacy" from the public... and "normalization"....
Arab Gulf societies often differ from other Arab and Muslim societies on their views about Israel. There is an urgent need for greater emphasis on "digital diplomacy" from the public, as well as for more social gatherings and "normalization" -- especially in Western countries -- to strengthen the relationship between the Israeli people and the citizens of the Arab Gulf. Pictured: Manama, Bahrain. (Image source: B.alotaby/Wikimedia Commons)
Since General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by an American airstrike, it has become even clearer that the Middle East is divided. We find some here were supportive of the strike that rescued the world from a most dangerous terrorist; others were completely outraged. Is the Middle East, then, on the verge of new alliances and further fragmentation?
The reactions of the Arab Gulf countries, including their citizens -- especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain -- are the same as Israel's. Other Arab countries and the Palestinian territories -- mainly Hamas, which is a client of Iran -- have responded quite differently.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15500/arabian-gulf-citizens-israel
Atrocities against Muslims: Leaked Documents in China
by Lawrence A. Franklin • January 29, 2020 at 4:00 am
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The detainees, from the province of Xinjiang, are treated to a strict "re-education" program that includes what one escapee described as horrific physical abuse, including forced organ removal, abortions and medical "experiments."
The release of the documents is personally embarrassing for President Xi Jinping, who has been trying to portray himself internationally as a benign and moderate statesman.
Muslim-majority states may now more than ever view China's Communist regime as an enemy of Islam -- just as it is an enemy of the West.
Leaked documents obtained by the New York Times reveal Chinese President Xi Jinping's directives to round up and incarcerate the one million or so Muslims in detention centers. Pictured: A giant portrait Xi at the official parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, on October 1, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Leaked documents obtained by the New York Times reveal Chinese President Xi Jinping's directives to round up and incarcerate the one million or so Muslims -- Uighurs, Kazakhs and others -- in detention centers. The detainees, from the province of Xinjiang, are treated to a strict "re-education" program that includes what one escapee described as horrific physical abuse, such as forced organ removal, abortions and medical "experiments."
These camps are part of what the New York Times calls "the country's most far-reaching internment campaign since the Mao era."
President Xi claims that the purpose of these camps is to protect the country from Islamic radicalism. This excuse for the mass detention of Muslims seems to stem from the fact that an estimated 4,000 volunteers from Central Asian countries joined ISIS.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15362/china-atrocities-muslims
by Najat AlSaied • January 29, 2020 at 5:00 am
Whenever there is any hope of good relations with Israel, Qatar tries to embarrass Saudi Arabia by mentioning that the kingdom is the keeper of the Two Holy Mosques. Conversely, when Saudi Arabia says something negative about Israel, such as that Israelis may not visit the kingdom, Qatar quickly publishes it in English to show Westerners how intolerant Saudi Arabia is.
Disappointingly, the Western mainstream media is no different from the Arab Gulf media in weakening the position of pro-peace advocates in the Arab Gulf countries.
Members of the mainstream media seem, in fact, to have an interest in perpetuating conflict, perhaps as more newsworthy, telegenic or enticing to advertisers. Members of the mainstream media also seem, wrongly, to regard anti-Semitic advocates of political Islam as representative of "moderate" Islam. Worse, they actually appear to be against anyone who is promoting peace.
The worldwide lack of support for those who advocate peace or the reform of Islam has brought about exactly what the extremists want: a fear of speaking up. Many of us Muslims do not want to be viewed as traitors, labelled "enemies of the nation"... and have our lives put under threat...
The views of Gulf Arabs towards Israel have been marginalized by a lack of support from both the Arab and Western media, indicating a need for greater emphasis on "digital diplomacy" from the public... and "normalization"....
Arab Gulf societies often differ from other Arab and Muslim societies on their views about Israel. There is an urgent need for greater emphasis on "digital diplomacy" from the public, as well as for more social gatherings and "normalization" -- especially in Western countries -- to strengthen the relationship between the Israeli people and the citizens of the Arab Gulf. Pictured: Manama, Bahrain. (Image source: B.alotaby/Wikimedia Commons)
Since General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by an American airstrike, it has become even clearer that the Middle East is divided. We find some here were supportive of the strike that rescued the world from a most dangerous terrorist; others were completely outraged. Is the Middle East, then, on the verge of new alliances and further fragmentation?
The reactions of the Arab Gulf countries, including their citizens -- especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain -- are the same as Israel's. Other Arab countries and the Palestinian territories -- mainly Hamas, which is a client of Iran -- have responded quite differently.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15500/arabian-gulf-citizens-israel
Atrocities against Muslims: Leaked Documents in China
by Lawrence A. Franklin • January 29, 2020 at 4:00 am
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
The detainees, from the province of Xinjiang, are treated to a strict "re-education" program that includes what one escapee described as horrific physical abuse, including forced organ removal, abortions and medical "experiments."
The release of the documents is personally embarrassing for President Xi Jinping, who has been trying to portray himself internationally as a benign and moderate statesman.
Muslim-majority states may now more than ever view China's Communist regime as an enemy of Islam -- just as it is an enemy of the West.
Leaked documents obtained by the New York Times reveal Chinese President Xi Jinping's directives to round up and incarcerate the one million or so Muslims in detention centers. Pictured: A giant portrait Xi at the official parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, on October 1, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Leaked documents obtained by the New York Times reveal Chinese President Xi Jinping's directives to round up and incarcerate the one million or so Muslims -- Uighurs, Kazakhs and others -- in detention centers. The detainees, from the province of Xinjiang, are treated to a strict "re-education" program that includes what one escapee described as horrific physical abuse, such as forced organ removal, abortions and medical "experiments."
These camps are part of what the New York Times calls "the country's most far-reaching internment campaign since the Mao era."
President Xi claims that the purpose of these camps is to protect the country from Islamic radicalism. This excuse for the mass detention of Muslims seems to stem from the fact that an estimated 4,000 volunteers from Central Asian countries joined ISIS.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15362/china-atrocities-muslims
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Germany's Selective Fight against Anti-Semitism
by Judith Bergman • January 28, 2020 at 5:00 am
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"[T]here is no reason to give the all-clear. The threat situation in Germany remains tense; it has stabilized on a high level...Germany continues to be a target of jihadist organizations such as ISIL or al-Qaeda. Consequently, Germany as well as German interests in various regions in the world are facing a constantly serious threat, which may any time manifest itself in terrorist attacks motivated by jihadism." — 2018 Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution, Germany.
The new governmental initiative, however, appears to be directed only against anti-Semitism committed by right-wing extremists.
The question, then, is why jihadi anti-Semitism does not appear to have been included in the German government's package of initiatives to combat anti-Semitism?
Given the official threat scenario, the German government owes all its citizens an explanation as to why it is so "selective" in its response to anti-Semitism.
German authorities do not always appear to take Islamist anti-Semitism seriously, even when it has obviously deadly potential. On October 4, a knife-wielding Syrian man tried to enter a Berlin synagogue (pictured) while shouting "Allahu Akbar." The police released him the next day. (Photo by John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
The German government recently announced that it would be cracking down on free speech, with Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht claiming that the German government "is confronting right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism by all means enabled by the rule of law." The government presented a package of measures, including some that will limit free speech. According to German news outlet Deutsche Welle:
"[O]nline service providers, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will be obliged to report hate speech to German authorities, and also pass on the IP address of the conspicuous user. Until now, such social media giants have only been required to delete hate speech within a certain time period."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15291/germany-antisemitism-selective-fight
Iran's Lobbyists and Agents in the West
by Majid Rafizadeh • January 28, 2020 at 4:30 am
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Recently, three Republican senators, Ted Cruz (TX), Tom Cotton (AK) and Mike Braun (IN) have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
According to the Iranian American Forum: "Some of these documents are posted here and reveal NIAC's relation and collaboration with Iranian officials and business interests inside Iran. They show that NIAC coordinated its lobby with the Iranian ambassador to the UN to influence the US policy with Iran."
Why do those who may lobby for the mullahs attempt to fly under the radar, act less conspicuously and fail to register?
Now is the time for the US and other Western governments to investigate and closely watch those who beat the drum for the anti-American and anti-Israeli Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi (center) has boasted that Tehran runs a lobby group in Washington that promotes the hardline agenda of his country's ruling mullahs. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran's leaders have freely admitted that they have lobby groups and operatives in the West, including the US, working hard to advance Tehran's anti-Western, anti-American, fundamentalist ideas. Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi even boasted that Tehran runs a lobby group in Washington that promotes the hardline agenda of his country's ruling mullahs. According to the Washington Examiner:
"A 'lobby group for the Islamic Republic of Iran' is actively bolstering Tehran's status in the international stage and helping to sell and legitimize its nuclear ambitions as just causes to the globe, Alavi claimed."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15496/iran-lobbyists
by Judith Bergman • January 28, 2020 at 5:00 am
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
"[T]here is no reason to give the all-clear. The threat situation in Germany remains tense; it has stabilized on a high level...Germany continues to be a target of jihadist organizations such as ISIL or al-Qaeda. Consequently, Germany as well as German interests in various regions in the world are facing a constantly serious threat, which may any time manifest itself in terrorist attacks motivated by jihadism." — 2018 Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution, Germany.
The new governmental initiative, however, appears to be directed only against anti-Semitism committed by right-wing extremists.
The question, then, is why jihadi anti-Semitism does not appear to have been included in the German government's package of initiatives to combat anti-Semitism?
Given the official threat scenario, the German government owes all its citizens an explanation as to why it is so "selective" in its response to anti-Semitism.
German authorities do not always appear to take Islamist anti-Semitism seriously, even when it has obviously deadly potential. On October 4, a knife-wielding Syrian man tried to enter a Berlin synagogue (pictured) while shouting "Allahu Akbar." The police released him the next day. (Photo by John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
The German government recently announced that it would be cracking down on free speech, with Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht claiming that the German government "is confronting right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism by all means enabled by the rule of law." The government presented a package of measures, including some that will limit free speech. According to German news outlet Deutsche Welle:
"[O]nline service providers, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will be obliged to report hate speech to German authorities, and also pass on the IP address of the conspicuous user. Until now, such social media giants have only been required to delete hate speech within a certain time period."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15291/germany-antisemitism-selective-fight
Iran's Lobbyists and Agents in the West
by Majid Rafizadeh • January 28, 2020 at 4:30 am
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Recently, three Republican senators, Ted Cruz (TX), Tom Cotton (AK) and Mike Braun (IN) have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
According to the Iranian American Forum: "Some of these documents are posted here and reveal NIAC's relation and collaboration with Iranian officials and business interests inside Iran. They show that NIAC coordinated its lobby with the Iranian ambassador to the UN to influence the US policy with Iran."
Why do those who may lobby for the mullahs attempt to fly under the radar, act less conspicuously and fail to register?
Now is the time for the US and other Western governments to investigate and closely watch those who beat the drum for the anti-American and anti-Israeli Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi (center) has boasted that Tehran runs a lobby group in Washington that promotes the hardline agenda of his country's ruling mullahs. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran's leaders have freely admitted that they have lobby groups and operatives in the West, including the US, working hard to advance Tehran's anti-Western, anti-American, fundamentalist ideas. Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi even boasted that Tehran runs a lobby group in Washington that promotes the hardline agenda of his country's ruling mullahs. According to the Washington Examiner:
"A 'lobby group for the Islamic Republic of Iran' is actively bolstering Tehran's status in the international stage and helping to sell and legitimize its nuclear ambitions as just causes to the globe, Alavi claimed."
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15496/iran-lobbyists
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