THE CLARION PROJECT

The frightening life that children of radical Islam are forced into
By Phil Schneider -  July 5, 2018 13467 0
This is not easy to watch – and it is only the trailer.  But, it is critical that this be seen by anyone concerned about our future. An entire generation is being raised on the ideals of jihad.

How important is it to you to make sure your children and grandchildren have a safe childhood?  How important is it to you to make sure the world is filled with love and happiness in this generation and future generations?
VIDEO Clarion's Upcoming Film: The Jihad Generation
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_biwqqiLxCA

Global Threat
Well, there are extremists all over the world who educate young children today to the exact opposite.  They educate to hate and to dominate. They educate that their are people thousands of miles away from them that they need to eradicate. Jews, non-Muslims and so many others are the enemy. The ideology is not new. However, today, it is not professors in obscure locations around the world or preachers with a small group of followers that are leading the charge.  They are leaders of tens of thousands of people if not hundreds of thousands of people.  They are armed and dangerous.  And most of all, in the name of religion, they aim to dominate the entire free world.
The Clarion Project
Is the precious age of childhood a time to learn violence?  Some people think so.  Some people oppose a peaceful upbringing for their children.  Their idea of a meaningful life for their children is to indoctrinate them at a very young age to embrace violence and hatred.

Clarion Project explains that, “At best, these children internalize toxic values and become full of hate. At worst, they become terrorists themselves. Turning kids into terrorists is a horrifying violation of their human rights as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“THE CHILD SHALL BE PROTECTED AGAINST ALL FORMS OF NEGLECT, CRUELTY AND EXPLOITATION.”
Principle 9, UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child
Take Action
What is there to do?  There is a whole lot to do.  This film is just one of so many things that we need to do ensure a hopeful future for the next generation.

We need to complete the film.  We need to give these children – who are victims – a voice.

Fundamental change must be our goal in these cultures and that takes decades.  But if we start with a major awareness campaign.  Then, that will provoke a conversation across continents, and lead to action that will make the world into a better place for future generations.

Stand up and do your part.

Four Gruesome Stories This Week
Home > World > Greece > Four Gruesome Stories This Week
BY CLARION PROJECT Sunday, July 8, 2018 
 https://clarionproject.org/four-gruesome-stories-this-week/
(Photo: LOUAI BESHARA / AFP / Getty Images)
Every week, terrible stories come out of the world of radical Islam. Here are just four gruesome stories that took place over the last few days.

Christians ‘Brutally Attacked’ During Bible Study
A Muslim mob reportedly attacked Christians participating in a bible study at a migrant camp in Greece. Some 30-40 people threatened the Christians with knives and beat the men leaving two of them hospitalized. The Christians are now living away from the camp for their own safety.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/07/greece-muslim-mob-brutally-attacks-christians-in-refugee-camp-even-children-were-threatened/#.W0E6npHhiI0.twitter

Hezbollah Tortures Mother and Daughter
A disturbing video has emerged of what appear to be Hezbollah fighters torturing a mother and daughter, both refugees in Syria.
VIDEO https://clarionproject.org/four-gruesome-stories-this-week/
 
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 فيديو مسرب: عناصر من حزب الله يعذبون امرأة وابنتها بوحشية ويعمدون على إشعال النار في جسد الطفلة

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ISIS Kills Family Returning From Wedding
ISIS gunmen killed seven members of a family as they returned home from a wedding in Iraq. The terrorists separated the men from the women and children and killed the adult males on the spot in full view of their family members.
CLICK TRANSLATOR WHEN ON PAGE http://www.alkhaleej.ae/alkhaleej/page/82004b6f-44e2-419a-9438-0053ddeae43c

Locals: Iranian Intelligence Kills Sunni Preacher
Gunmen killed Sunni preacher Abed el-Shakour Kard outside a mosque in Khash, Iran. Some locals said Iranian intelligence was behind this attack. Kard was very popular and came from a family of well-known imams.
https://www.alarabiya.net/ar/iran/2018/07/05/%
he Baluchistan region is witnessing military operations between the Baloch militants and the Iranian government.
For many years, that province has been the scene of assassinations between the two sides, often victimizing 

You Told Us: Get the Threat Off the Streets At Once
Home > Political Islam > In the US > National Security > You Told Us: Get the Threat Off the Streets At Once
BY CLARION PROJECT Sunday, July 8, 2018 
In the latest Clarion poll, a staggering 90.1% of our subscribers said it is best to remove potential terrorists from the streets at the earliest possible opportunity. Just 9.9% argued that it is better to allow them to remain at large so authorities can be totally sure they have the right people and also to allow for monitoring so they can check out the friends of the potential terrorists.
We asked the question after UK police officers let into the country a man whose fingerprints were on 42 bombs. He told them “Jihad is what we do. We are mujahideen.” Khalid Ali was arrested just before he carried out a terror attack in the heart of London.
Here are some of your comments on this issue:
Unfortunately they had to wait to be able to find him guilty of a crime! System must change
Gather as much intelligence first…Then strike
The WEST NEEDS to take this JIHAD SERIOUSLY & SO FAR THE WEST IS NOT SERIOUS!!
Who formulates your questions? This isn’t an either or situation. If you have an active surveil than allowing the individual of interest the ability to meet, implicate others or provide SN data is important. In this instance, it was a charlie foxtrot between ministries and competing agendas. His own mother grassed him for possession of weapons prompting the nick.
If they are left in the street, they will spread their poisonous beliefs to many.
Cut off the snake head immediately, don’t wait! Hunt down the ones that are questionable and monitor them closely!
Both approaches should be utilized. I will trust in my country’s intelligence to do what they feel is best in each situation.
Too many times jihadists are on a “watch list”, and then we all watch in horror at the atrocities they perform.
https://clarionproject.org/you-told-us-get-the-threat-off-the-streets-at-once/


What Arabic Media Says About the US – July 8, 2018
Home > World > Iran > What Arabic Media Says About the US – July 8, 2018
BY RAN MEIR Sunday, July 8, 2018 
 Arabic media review
Saudi Reaction to Trump’s Request to Increase Oil Production – Rai al-Youm (UK – Palestinian)
In a barbed attack on the U.S. Administration, veteran opinion writer Abdel Bari Atwan asks “what does the quick positive response from the Saudi king mean? Is President Trump the secretary-general of OPEC? What are the stances of China, Russia and the other oil exporting countries? Will Saudi Arabia receive a reward for this dangerous decision and what will it be?” Despite Washington’s claims that it is not seeking regime change in Iran, Atwan believes “this is the first step in the plan to overthrow the Iranian regime.”

Iran Is the Mother of All American Battles – Al Modon (Lebanon)
The American siege on Iran can bee seen on the horizon, diplomatically, militarily and from a petroleum perspective. The American declarations against Iran show the almost completed plan of the White House as the mother of all battles of the Trump administration. It’s the mother of all battles because it rises above all other international crises begun by Trump, including economic warfare with China and Europe, the crisis with North Korea and the negotiations with Russia.

Trump, Putin on the Crest of ‘the Strike of the Century’ – Aliwaa (Lebanon)
The summit meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki impacted on Lebanon and the region. There are various strong indications that this meeting was akin to the Yalta conference (at the end of World War 2) and the beginning of a new colonization with new colonial faces. The fat Arabic cheese is being divided between two major camps: Russia on the one hand with its evil aspirations to be a major world power and in the Middle East in particular. The other camp is Israel represented by the United States and its president, Trump.

Iran: Trump’s Instructions to OPEC Countries Are Insulting- Al Khaleej (UAE?)
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh blamed American President Trump for insulting OPEC by ordering it to increase production and lower prices. The oil market should not be influenced by politicians, he added. “President Trump sends a new message each day that spreads confusion in the markets,” he told Iranian television. Iranian production and exports remains unchanged despite American pressures, he added.

Oil War Against Iran – Iranian Wisdom Derails American Plots – Alalam (Iran)
President Trump announced on May 8 that his country is quitting the nuclear agreement signed by Iran and world powers. This led to condemnations of the American step which the countries of the world including Washington’s allies considered to be a backtrack from commitments and a breach of international laws and procedures. Alalam then lists events between Tehran and Washington from its perspective concluding that “these were failed [American] attempts to prevent Iran from selling its oil.
https://clarionproject.org/what-arabic-media-says-about-the-us-july-8-2018/

Al-Qaeda Wannabe Behind July 4 Cleveland Terror Plot
Home > Political Islam > Worldwide > Movements > Al-Qaeda Wannabe Behind July 4 Cleveland Terror Plot
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, July 3, 2018 
 Celebrating the Fourth of July (Photo: David McNew/Newsmakers/Getty Images)
Celebrating the Fourth of July (Photo: David McNew/Newsmakers/Getty Images)
A radicalized man from Philly was behind a Cleveland terror plot. He wanted to conduct a mass-scale terror attack in the heart of the Ohio city at its Fourth of July celebration.
Demetrius N. Pitts (Photo: FBI-Cleveland)
Demetrius N. Pitts, 48, planned to park a van full of explosives in the downtown area and detonate it during the annual fireworks display.  He also wanted to join al-Qaeda.
Pitt, who also went by the names Abdur Raheem Rafeeq and Salah ad-Deem Osama Waleed, began expressing anti-American sentiments in 2015.
Last week, he scouted downtown Cleveland on a reconnaissance mission before the attack, looking for a place to park his van.
Pitt was on the FBI’s radar. He divulged his plans to an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was an al-Qaeda “brother.”
“What would hit them at their core?” Pitts told the agent, according to an affidavit. “Have a bomb blow up the Fourth of July parade.”
MORE https://clarionproject.org/al-qaeda-wannabe-behind-july-4-cleveland-terror-plot/


Update: Bomb Plot Foiled at Iranian Opposition Rally in France
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > Update: Bomb Plot Foiled at Iranian Opposition Rally in France
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, July 3, 2018 
Update: European authorities arrested three people — including an Iranian diplomat — whom they believe were plotting a bombing attack on the annual massive gathering of Iranian opposition supporters in France.

Reuters reports officials in Belgium are holding two suspects whom they intercepted with 500 grams of TATP, a home-made explosive made from chemicals, as well as a detonator they found in the couple’s car. The suspects were identified as Amir S., 38, and Nasimeh N., 33. The diplomat worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, Austria, and was arrested by German authorities.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to visit Austria on Wednesday, July 4, 2018.

The buzz surrounding the protests in Iran is that, with help and support from the West, regime change is possible — replacing Iran’s ruling mullahs with a thriving democracy. To this end, former mayor of New York City and President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani lit up the crowd in France this weekend at the annual rally of thousands of Iranian opposition supporters, saying, “Freedom is right around the corner.”

Watch Giuliani’s speech here. Below, watch the analysis on the situation in Iran by one of the senior editors at the Wall Street Journal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=kbii_XvXFnA
MORE https://clarionproject.org/is-pushes-regime-change-iran/


Great Video! Saudi Woman’s Parody Rap on Driving
https://clarionproject.org/great-video-saudi-womans-parody-rap-on-driving/
Home > Political Islam > Worldwide > Islamism in Government > Great Video! Saudi Woman’s Parody Rap on Driving
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, July 3, 2018 
 Saudi singer Leesa A raps about women driving (Photo: video screenshot)
Saudi singer Leesa A raps about women driving (Photo: video screenshot)
A Saudi woman singer has made a parody rap video celebrating the fact that woman have just been granted the right to drive in the kingdom. The YouTube video on her account, Leesa A, has garnered close to a million views. More than a million have seen the rap on driving on her Instagram account.
The lyrics of the first minute were translated in the comments section on YouTube by Skoor_ksa:

Do you think I’m joking?

Hey

Forget

I think you forgot

I think you forgot

Yo, you seem to be forgetting that

Today is the 10th[of the month of Shawwal, when women can start driving]

That means no need for taxis

The steering wheel in my hands

I smash the pedal under my foot

I won’t need anyone to drive me

I’ll help myself by myself

I’ve got the driver’s license ready with me

So put the seat belt on the abaya [the long cloak Saudi women must wear]

And keep an eye on the sidewalks and the other on the mirror

R is for going back, D is for going

Seeda [straight]

Watch out for every car

If it was a Ford or Cressida

Your life won’t be great

Come! Pick me up! Take me there!

Bring me back!

That’ll ruin the plan

If you want me to come pick you up,

You gotta pay up

Gas money! Don’t underestimate it!

Debt! If you pay or don’t that’s still debt

“Careful, don’t slam the door hard”

That was before

Now if you slam it hard, I’ll tie you with the seat belt

Watch the rap on driving video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFVY5gmWPpw&ab_channel=LeesaA

5 Reasons Supreme Court Upheld Trump’s Immigration Pause
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > 5 Reasons Supreme Court Upheld Trump’s Immigration Pause
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Thursday, June 28, 2018 
 A sign at the Los Angeles airport. The Supreme Court ruled that President's Trump's immigration pause was not anti-Muslim (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
Los Angeles airport. The Supreme Court ruled President’s Trump’s immigration pause was not anti-Muslim. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the last version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban against those coming from countries deemed security risks and which do not have adequate vetting processes. Those who fought against it claimed it was a “Muslim ban,” even though not all of the countries listed are Islamic. Further, the ban is meant to be temporary until the U.S. can sort out and establish proper procedures for assessing security risks.
Here are five reasons why the court ruled in favor of the ban:
It is for “legitimate purposes”
Specifically, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, the purpose of the ban was to “[prevent] entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and [induce] other nations to improve their practices.”
It is not anti-Muslim
Roberts  noted that, “The text says nothing about religion.”
Moreover, “not all the countries are Muslim and not all Muslim countries are within the ban,” commented Former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, who personally did not support the ban. “Look, the vast majority of terrorist activities around the world — massive terrorist activities around the world have come from countries like Saudi Arabia and we’re now seeing Syria. Iran is the greatest exporter of terrorism in the world, so I think the opposition is a little overwrought.”
MORE  https://clarionproject.org/5-reasons-supreme-court-upheld-trumps-immigration-pause/


Neo-Nazis in Our Midst
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Anti-Muslim Bigotry > Neo-Nazis in Our Midst
BY RAHEEL RAZA Wednesday, June 27, 2018 
 A Neo-Nazi event in Skokie, Illinois (Illustrative photo: Scott Olsen/Getty Images)
A Neo-Nazi event in Skokie, Illinois (Illustrative photo: Scott Olsen/Getty Images)
On Sunday, June 24, 2018, Muslims Facing Tomorrow hosted a book launch of books in Toronto, Canada by two of our board members, Dr. Salim Mansur and Hasan Mahmud. Both books deal with current dilemmas facing Muslims in the 21st Century and are part of the Islamic reform we are involved in.
Dr. Salim Mansur’s book is titled The Qur’an Problem and Islamism: Reflections of a Dissident Muslim. The book is about religion and politics, Muslims and Islam, and the internal debate within the world of Islam regarding Islamic reform and what it entails.
Hasan Mahmud’s book, How Sharia-ism Hijacked Islam: The Problem, Prognosis, and Prescription, is a life-changing book for Muslims everywhere. It details the greatest threat most of us (Muslim and non-Muslim alike) face today: radicalization and extremism based on flawed principles and dangerous theologies. This book identifies the theo-mechanism of radical Islam and offers a counter mechanism from the same scriptures to defeat radical Islamism.
The event was held at a community library, and there was a great turnout of diverse people on that beautiful day. There were Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists in the room.
However, there was one gentleman, who I will call Mr. Nut Job, who came to the event early. He carried with him pieces of paper with Quranic verses written on them and said that he was thinking of converting to Islam. He also said is had many questions.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/neo-nazi-midst-reform-muslims/


Crowley, the Far Left and Radical Islam
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > Crowley, the Far Left and Radical Islam
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Thursday, June 28, 2018 
 Nancy Pelosi (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Nancy Pelosi (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
House Minority Leader Nancy Peolsi (D-CA) may be downplaying the upset victory of a young socialist over incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14 Congressional District, but that is most likely a fig leaf.
Crowley, who has been a Congressman since 1999, was touted as the next speaker of the House (if the Democrats gain the majority in midterm elections).
His defeat by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, 28, sent shock waves through the Democratic establishment.
But it shouldn’t have. Without the help of the super delegates, Bernie Sanders, with his Far Left agenda, may have garnered the Democratic nomination.
To the press, Pelosi explained away Ocasio-Cortez’s victory as an anomaly. “The fact that in a very progressive district in New York, it went more progressive — and (incumbent Rep.) Joe Crowley is a progressive — but to the left of Joe Crowley is about that district,” she rambled. “It is not to be viewed as something that stands for everything else.”
Ocasio-Cortez had another take, “Working-class Americans want a clear champion, and there is nothing radical about moral clarity in 2018.”
So, let’s talk about Ocasio-Cortez’ “moral clarity” and the so-called “progressive” movement for a moment.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/crowley-the-far-left-and-radical-islam/

How a Topless Model Was Groomed to Be a Jihadi Bride
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > How a Topless Model Was Groomed to Be a Jihadi Bride
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Tuesday, June 26, 2018 
 (Illustrative photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
This is the story of radicalization and just how easy it is, given the right person in the right circumstances. Two years ago, Clarion Project reported on this story. Here is the follow-up, with a much better ending:
Two years ago, down and out after her finance left her soon after their baby died from a rare complication, young British model Kimberley Miners was vulnerable.
She turned up on the radar of jihadi recruiters from ISIS after expressing her desire to help child refugees from Syria after a holiday in Turkey where she was exposed to their suffering.
The recruiters bombarded her with videos, propaganda photos and promises of marriage
“I was pretty lost,” she said, remembering that time in her life. She also admitted to being “stupid.”
“I wanted to do something so badly [for the children],” she recalled. “These people befriended me, I felt accepted.”
She changed her name to Aisha Lauren al-Britaniya and converted to Islam. Once a topless model, she posted in a selfie wearing a burqa.
But Miners also showed up on the radar of MI5, who were monitoring her conversations with ace recruiter Naweed Hussain, also from the UK and her “groom-to-be.” Miners was eventually arrested. She said until she was shown the bomb-making instructions that were sent to her, she really hadn’t realized what was happening to her.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/how-a-topless-model-was-groomed-to-be-a-jihadi-bride/


The New Culture of Shaming: Why Can’t We Talk? 
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > The New Culture of Shaming: Why Can’t We Talk? 
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Tuesday, June 26, 2018 
 Antifa protesters in Greece (Illustrative photo: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
A new culture of shaming has taken hold in America. Trump administration employees are being shouted out of restaurants and movie theaters or impolitely “asked” to leave.
A CNN reporter was recently heckled at a pro-Trump rally.
The level of civility has gotten so bad that Congresswomen Maxine Waters stated that shaming should be a concerted political strategy of the Left.
“If you see anybody from that Cabinet [of the Trump administration] in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere,” Waters said. She later encouraged protesters “to absolutely harass them.”
While people are certainly entitled to their own opinions, harassing others who don’t agree with them in the public sphere degrades one of the most precious rights given to us by our founding fathers: freedom of speech.
That freedom has already been downgraded by the successful strategy of Islamists to portray in the press every criticism of Islamism as racist and bigoted. “Islamophobia!” they cry, making any critic of political Islam a persona non-grata in the public sphere.
Those pushing sharia law have even managed to teamed up with stalwarts of the Left — feminists, LGBQ activists and more (whose rights under a sharia regime ironically would be non-existent).
Ask those protesting against Hamas (i.e. pro-Israel activists) on college campuses today how their life is going.
Waters’ call takes the sails out of our right to free speech to the next level. Harassers may not be violating any law on a technical level, but the effect of their tactics will serve to create a self-imposed state of censorship. Sounds pretty Stalin-like to me.
Is this the type of country we want to live in?
MORE https://clarionproject.org/the-new-culture-of-shaming-why-cant-we-talk/

Why Is This Woman ‘Protecting’ Our Kids?
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Child Abuse > Why Is This Woman ‘Protecting’ Our Kids?
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, June 24, 2018 
 The Birmingham science museum (Photo: Flickr/Ell Brown/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode)
The Birmingham science museum (Photo: Flickr/Ell Brown/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode)
A Muslim law student in the UK who downplayed Islamist terror attacks and claimed ISIS doesn’t exist has been appointed to a government committee which protects children from radicalization and being drawn into extremism.

As reported by Breitbart, Safia Akhtar Noor, 25, was serving as a parent governor (akin to being on the board of directors) at Yew Tree Community School in Birmingham when she made a series of Facebook posts following the Westminster Bridge Islamist terror attack.

Fifty people were injured including five of them fatally in that car ramming. Another person, a police officer, was stabbed to death by the terrorist before the terrorist was shot and killed at the scene.

Immediately after the attack, Noor posted: “Can people stop fighting on Facebook? Sadly people died in Westminster today but people die every day in Syria, Palestine, Africa, Rohingya, Kashmir. Need I carry on?!! Grow up and stop pointing fingers!”

Five days later, she wrote in another post:

“So someone got stabbed after the attack last week as a result of media and government claiming that SO CALLED ISIS HAD CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY

“there is no ISIS and these is no proof”

Noor was initially suspended and then forced to resign from her position at the school. At the time she was the Labour candidate for the Birmingham City Council, a position to which she was later elected (by 3,000 votes).

Now, in her capacity as a city councilor, she has been appointed as a member of the Children’s Social Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

According to Breibart, “The body looks over initiatives to prevent radicalization and extremism and has given guidance on the Prevent Strategy, intended to stop people being drawn into terrorism.”

The fact that Noor was even allowed to continue her candidacy by the Labour party after her comments is beyond moral comprehension. For her to become elected obviously speaks to her constituency in Birmingham.
But for Noor to be appointed to a committee which overseas preventing radicalization in children is nothing less than astonishing. If the UK wants to dig its own grave, this is handing them a shovel to do so.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/why-is-this-woman-protecting-our-kids/



Facebook, Twitter Shut Down Hezbollah … Nope, Up Again
Home > World > Lebanon > Facebook, Twitter Shut Down Hezbollah … Nope, Up Again
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, June 24, 2018 
 (Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
(Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Hezbollah announced over the weekend that Facebook and Twitter had closed down its social media accounts. However, at the same time, they told their followers how to keep up with them by accessing their “backup” accounts.
Sure enough, a quick click on @C_Military2, one of Hezbollah’s backup accounts, led to a post of video footage of the 2006 kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers patrolling the Israeli side of the Lebanese border (the post Hezbollah claims precipitated the shutdown).
Besides the failure to shut down all of the Lebanese terror group’s social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter have not only shut down some of their accounts before, but reopened them as well.
The question is why? The Iranian-backed group has been designated as a Foreign Terror Organization by the U.S. since 1997 – seven years before Facebook began and nine years before Twitter. It has not changed since then. If anything, it has become much more powerful, and thus much more dangerous.
While social media giants like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter rely on liberal groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and its bogus list of “anti-Muslim extremists” to police their platforms and determine hate group designations, they should at least give the same credence to designations issued by the U.S. government and shut down all Hezbollah accounts for good.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/facebook-twitter-shut-down-hezbollah-nope-up-again/


Legal at Last! Women Drive in Saudi Arabia
Home > World > Iran > Legal at Last! Women Drive in Saudi Arabia
BY CLARION PROJECT Sunday, June 24, 2018 
 A Saudi woman drives June 24, 2018, the first day women were allowed to drive in the kingdom (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
A Saudi woman drives June 24, 2018, the first day women were allowed to drive in the kingdom (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Today marks the first day that women are allowed to legally drive in Saudi Arabia. The change was announced last September in a surprise move by King Salman.
The new “right” is viewed as step toward women gaining independence in a nation rated 138 out of 144 for countries with the worst gender gaps (144 being the worst).
Allowing women to drive is part of Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s plan to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil, diversify its economy and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism in the next 22 years.
A key part of the plan is to integrate women into the workplace. Giving women the ability to drive is viewed by the government as the first step.
Watch the daughter of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, Saudi businessman and billionaire, being driven by his daughter (his granddaughters are sitting in the back seat of the car): 
MORE https://clarionproject.org/women-drive-saudi-arabia-now-legal/

Liberal Group Forced to Pay Millions to Anti-Islamist Activist
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > Liberal Group Forced to Pay Millions to Anti-Islamist Activist
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, June 19, 2018 
 Anti-Islamist activist Maajid Nawaz (Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images)
Anti-Islamist activist Maajid Nawaz (Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images)
The Southern Poverty Law Center will pay anti-Islamist activist Maajid Nawaz and his organization, the Quilliam Foundation, $3.375 million as part of a settlement agreement for wrongly including them on its list of anti-Muslim extremists. The group also issued a written and video apology.
The law center is a non-profit organization that bills itself as a human rights watchdog.
The list, called the “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Activists,” also included Clarion Project and our national security analyst Ryan Mauro. The group removed the list from its website in April.
The notorious list, which was offered as a guide for journalists and the like, became of a source of damage for those on it. This was due to the fact that not only the mainstream media used it, but also four of the world’s largest platforms partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center in determining their designation of hate groups and hate speech.
According to an exclusive report by The Daily Caller, Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter “all work with or consult Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in policing their platforms.”
Amazon, in particular, gave the SPLC direct authority over its platform. “We remove organizations that the SPLC deems as ineligible,” an Amazon spokeswoman told The Daily Caller.
The SPLC was founded in 1971 and made a name for itself fighting against white supremacy groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. Over the years the group fought for women’s rights and for the rights of people with disabilities. 
MORE https://clarionproject.org/splc-pays-settlement-maajid-nawaz/

CAIR Official Loses Interfaith Award Due to History of Hate
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Individuals > CAIR Official Loses Interfaith Award Due to History of Hate
BY RYAN MAURO Wednesday, June 20, 2018 
Recently, the interfaith organization People Acting in Community Together (PACT) rescinded an award honoring Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Northern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
CAIR is a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity that was designated as a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates. FBI wiretaps in 1993 reveal that CAIR was established to deceptively push the Islamist agenda in America.  You can read more about CAIR’s background here.
In a series of tweets, Billoo blamed the loss of the award on her “vocal support of Palestinian human rights” and claimed there was pressure to rescind the award from Jewish members of the organization who opposed her criticism of Israel.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/cair-official-loses-interfaith-award-due-to-history-of-hate/

Why Will San Francisco High Schoolers Learn Hate?
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Child Abuse > Why Will San Francisco High Schoolers Learn Hate?
BY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR Monday, June 18, 2018 
 A high school classroom (Illustrative photo: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images)
A high school classroom (Illustrative photo: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images)
Editor’s Note: After reporting on the mandatory moment of silence held in solidarity with Hamas terrorists in Gaza at the publicly-funded Beacon School in Manhattan, readers have written to us with similar stories, as in a similar incident in Brooklyn’s Midwood High School. The following is yet another case of extremism being sanction in America’s public high schools. It was written by a member of the community in San Francisco. The writer is a parent of a student in the San Francisco School District. 

On May 22, the San Francisco Board of Education voted 6-1 to approve a three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement with an extremist, anti-Semitic group to provide academic support and “workshops” in five high schools. The workshops will be open to all students, but are designed to provide special support to Arab-American and Arabic-speaking students.
The schools are Balboa, Galileo, Mission, International and Raoul Wallenberg High Schools.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/extremist-group-educates-san-francisco-high-schoolers/


Why Flying Is Harder
Home > Terrorism > Why Flying Is Harder
BY CLARION PROJECT Monday, June 18, 2018 
Lines for airport security (Illustrative photo: ALEX WONG/Getty Images)
Almost a year ago, the U.S. banned laptops on flights from 10 Middle Eastern and North African airports. The ban includes tablets and some large mobile phones. That was because of a plot to conceal powerful bombs in the batteries of these devices.
Now, one of the masterminds behind that technology has been identified, reported Newsweek. He is Hamayun Tariq, a 41-year-old car mechanic from the UK.
Tariq managed to evade authorities twice and travel abroad. He is believed to be somewhere in Iraq or Syria at the present time.
He most likely learned his “trade” from top al-Qaeda operatives while in Pakistan. After he returned to the UK, he was arrested and sent to prison for tax fraud. Upon his release in 2014, he left the country for ISIS-controlled territory in the Middle East.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/why-flying-is-harder/


Women Bear the Brunt of Honor Violence in Ramadan
Home > World > France > Women Bear the Brunt of Honor Violence in Ramadan
BY LESLIE SHAW Monday, June 18, 2018 
 A couple in France in front of the Eiffel Tower (Illustrative photo: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
A couple in France in front of the Eiffel Tower (Illustrative photo: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Ramadan in France was peppered by acts of honor violence. Two brothers in the eastern French city of Nancy beat up their sister because she was having a love affair, reported Le Parisien newspaper. The French attorney general’s office initiated proceedings against the two men for “barbarous acts, torture, willful aggravated violence, attempted murder and repeated death threats.”
The elder brother, aged 36, learned that his sister, a 25-year-old bank clerk, was living with a man. He went to her apartment and reprimanded her for having an extra-marital relationship and dressing indecently.
After throwing the boyfriend out of the apartment, he proceeded to beat up his sister, cutting her hair with a knife and inflicting a wound of several inches.
He was joined by his younger brother, 29. They beat up the boyfriend outside the apartment building and tried to run him over with their car when he ran away. He found refuge in a police station, while the brothers continued to shout death threats at him from outside.
MORE  https://clarionproject.org/women-the-brunt-of-honor-violence-in-ramadan/

Accident or Terror? You Decide
Home > Political Islam > Worldwide > Movements > Accident or Terror? You Decide
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, June 17, 2018 
 A Russian taxi (Illustrative photo: VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images)
A Russian taxi (Illustrative photo: VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Amid calls by Islamic State for lone wolf attacks on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, a taxi driver near Red Square swerved onto the sidewalk and ran over a crowd of people. Seven people were injured including two soccer fans from Mexico.
Almost immediately, the mayor of Moscow issued a statement on Twitter saying, “There was an unpleasant incident with a taxi. The driver lost control of the vehicle.”
A video of the incident shows cars in a line at a standstill or near standstill (including the taxi). The taxi suddenly veers out of the line, makes a sharp right turn, goes onto the sidewalk and continues straight running, ploughing into pedestrians for the next 10 meters until the taxi runs into a traffic sign.
The driver then jumps out of the car and sprints away (he was later captured by police).
The driver carried a license issued in Kyrgyzstan, a Muslim-majority country which was once part of the Soviet Union. This is, of course, no proof that the incident was an Islamist terror attack. However, given the circumstances, it is certainly within the realm of possibility. Hence, without time for interrogation, the response by authorities in Russia is irresponsible at best and smacks of a cover-up at worst, Why? To prevent panic and/or economic loss and as a way for Russia to save face for such a security failure, among other reasons.
Whatever the real cause behind this “unpleasant incident” is, the truth is that Islamist terror will not go away by pretending that it doesn’t exist. Without confronting it and stamping out the ideology behind it, Islamist terror will continue to plague us, disrupting our lives and those of our children for many generation.
Watch the video and you decide (WARNING GRAPHIC). Then please participate in our poll:
MORE https://clarionproject.org/accident-or-terror-you-decide/



What Arabic Media Says About the US – June 17, 2018
Home > World > Jordan > What Arabic Media Says About the US – June 17, 2018
BY RAN MEIR Sunday, June 17, 2018 
 Arabic media review
Washington and ISIS Colluding – Alahed News (Lebanon)
The Lebanese outlet Alahed News claimed that ISIS took control of part of the eastern Syrian city Abu Kamal (Al-Bukamal) from the Syrian army. To gain access to the city, Alahed reported that ISIS carried out 10 suicide bombers, including four suicide car bombs on the periphery. (ISIS has denied that they entered and took over part of the city.)
Alahed asks, “How was ISIS able to carry out these attacks, especially since sources in the Syrian army say that ISIS usually attacks from east to west — meaning from the areas under control of the coalition, led by the U.S.? “
“This shameful American support of ISIS is not the first of its kind,” Alahed writes. “Even though American forces have announced a number of times that they have attacked ISIS in eastern Syria, not one serious military attack by the Americans against ISIS was carried out.
“What’s happening is the exact opposite. Just a few days ago, ISIS carried out an attack on the periphery of Deir ez-Zor right after America planes attacked targets including the Syria army and its allies.”
Trump: Iran Has Changed and Will Come Back to Discuss a New Deal – Albawa (Jordan)
The Jordanian news outlet Albawa reported that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his hope that Iran will come back to negotiations about their nuclear program. The outlet noted that Trump said important changes had recently happened in the political landscape of Tehran.
M ORE https://clarionproject.org/arab-media-update-june17/

Are We Too Scared to Talk About Pulse?
BY DEBRA CORSO Tuesday, June 12, 2018 
 Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter (Photo: Twitter)
June 12 marks the second anniversary of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub. Orlando residents will gather to remember those lost to Omar Mateen’s particular brand of hatred. Candles will be lit, bells will be rung, a new mural will be unveiled.

What will not be taking place among these memorials though, is a long overdue and frank conversation about Islamist extremism in Orlando. Few things honor those lost to violence as nobly as the truth being told about what led to their lives being cut short.

This difficult conversation is desperately needed to prevent additional tragedy. The discourse must be not only fearlessly honest, but deeply mindful of not maligning an entire demographic. In the quest for the truth, healing and prevention, discernment must be practiced, while hatred and discrimination rejected.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of conversation around the attack has been focused on firearms. While gun violence should be a topic of ongoing conversation in the United States, the conversation must include other issues central to the specific type of violence in which those firearms are used.

In matters of domestic violence, society does not singularly focus on the weapon a man uses to maim or kill his wife or girlfriend. We rightly tackle the mindset and ideology of the individual who uses violence to exert and maintain power and control in such a relationship. We challenge that thinking and rightly reject the ideas which justify domestic abuse.

But in America, in general, and in Orlando, in particular, we have yet to apply the same moral courage to the discussion about religiously-sanctioned violence. Omar Mateen’s gun did not fire itself, and it wasn’t his gun that called 911 and pledged allegiance to a terror organization. Mateen could have just as easily used another weapon as so many others have.

The 911 hijackers used aircrafts, the Tsarnaev brothers who attacked the Boston Marathon used pressure cookers loaded with nails and ball bearings. Bombs were used in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, in Madrid, at the Brussels airport and to execute a multitude of other attacks — car bombs, truck bombs, shoe bombs, underwear bombs, child suicide bombers,  suitcase bombs and wheelchair bombs.

Fast forward and we see the use of trucks and cars to mow down innocent. In Nice, a terrorist drove a truck into 500 people celebrating Bastille Day, leaving 86 people dead and another 434 injured. If a motor vehicle wasn’t owned, no problem. It could be rented as was the case in the Cote d’Azur attack on the Promenade des Anglais and the one on the bike path in Manhattan.

The avoidance of talking about Islamist extremism belies facts which reveal that while a multitude of weapons are used by jihadists, the ideology is the same.

Even without these weapons of destruction, hateful zealotry suffers no lack of imagination. Barring anything else, knives and hatchets have been used. And much of this was done in obeisance to calls from clergy and Muslim scholars— not all of whom are foreign leaders like bin Laden or ISIS’ “caliph.”

Too many advocating these atrocities live among us or welcome “scholars” who teach hate. Orlando is no exception. Atrocities have been openly advocated by clerics both living in and invited to Orlando. But because almost anyone pointing this issue out is called a bigot and  slandered as an “Islamophobe,” the ideological roots of the attack at the Pulse nightclub are left largely unexamined and spreading.

The truth is that no one who has been paying attention to this should have been surprised by what Omar Mateen did.  Florida, in general, and Central Florida, in particular, has long been a hotbed of extremism. When Omar Mateen carried out his attack, he was not acting as a “lone wolf” operating from his own demented imagination.

He was acting in accordance with a tremendous amount of religious instruction which called for violence to be meted out precisely as it was at Pulse.

While there are many Muslim Americans who reject or ignore pernicious scripture or extremist clerics — some even launching a courageous reform movement — there are others who actively promote or finance terror. Too many of these either reside in or maintain an ongoing presence in Central Florida.

One such man is an individual many refer to as the most dangerous imam in the country. He resides a few short miles from Pulse. Scour the internet and you won’t need to search long for one of his rants, peppered with the sort of homophobic epithets and hatred that ended 49 lives on June 12, 2016.

His name is Abu Taubah, aka Marcus Dwayne Robertson. According to federal prosecutors, Taubah’s resume includes shooting one man in the face, another in the head, taping a pipe bomb to a child hostage’s legs and carrying out a string of violent, armed robberies.

Additionally, Taubah shot three police officers and attacked another injured by an IED. He was also named as a source for bomb detonators in wiretaps revealed when federal agencies listened in on Clement Rodney Hampton El, who conspired with the “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Hampton El died in prison serving a 35-year sentence for the part he played in several terror plots, but Taubah continues to reside in Orlando, as he has since 2009. Federal agencies saw fit to make a sweetheart deal with Taubah, which freed him to live and “teach” among the good people of Orlando.

In addition to Central Florida’s full-time resident extremists, there is a veritable parade of jihadist clerics invited to Central Florida Islamic centers as guest speakers.

(Central Florida has not been immune to other kinds of extremism as well. It has been a stop for groups like the hateful Westboro Baptist Church. But what gives pause — or should give pause– is that when Westboro brings their appalling screed to town, they come uninvited by anyone, let alone a faith group and are loudly and repeatedly shunned and demonstrated against by Christians in the area. This is not so with the jihadist clerics who time and again come to Orlando as celebrated guests and honored clergy.)

Such was the case a few short weeks before the attack at Pulse when the Husseini Islamic Center in Sanford, Florida invited Khomeinist cleric Farooq Sekalesfar to give a lecture on homosexuality. His similarly-themed talks include him stating, “Death is the sentence; there’s nothing to be embarassed about this,” and “Out of compassion, let’s get rid of them now.”

In  stark contrast to the days and weeks in the immediate aftermath of the Pulse attack, when courageous American Muslim luminaries like Asra Nomani penned articles and pleas calling for reform and an end to Islam’s “Scarlet Letter” laws, in Orlando, Islamist-infested groups  welcomed speaker after speaker with terror ties and a stomach-turning history of sanctioning violence against homosexuals, apostates and Jews.

Even as Omar Mateen’s victims remained in the hospital, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) operatives like Rasha Mubarak donned elegant attire and rolled out the red carpet for guest speakers like sharia-apologist Linda Sarsour and Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who has been quoted as saying, “If only Muslims were clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate.”

Wahhaj was named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center Bombings. He acted as a character witness for the “Blind Sheik,” Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in the bombings.

Ms. Mubarak’s slick public persona was also called into question when her attendance at an Al Quds Rally awash with Hezbollah flags was caught on video. There she was filmed saying, “Uncle, don’t talk with them… they’re Jews.”

The ongoing march into Orlando of extremist clerics and scholars with no respect or regard to those slain, injured or traumatized at Pulse continues unabated. The Ibn Seena Academy, for example, has repeatedly hosted Kemal el Mekki, a cleric banned in Denmark for his extremism.

Sadly, in Orlando, it isn’t only the lunatic fringe that harbors these views. One of the most respected and high profile imams has also hosted Islamists and extremists in the 13 centers under his purview. His name is Imam Musri and over many years, an increasingly disturbing chasm between his public and private conduct has come to light.

Musri’s soft sotto voice found the cameras in the aftermath of Pulse where he routinely condemned the attack. But a more careful review of Mr. Musri reveals a long history of troubling affiliations. One of the mosques under his purview welcomed Rateb al Nabulsi.
Al Nabulsi has an easily accessed library of written and filmed record sanctioning violence against Jews and homosexuals.  Al Nabulsi is also banned from entering Denmark.

Imam Musri’s mixed messages date back to 2009 with his role at the Al Rahman Mosque which  raised money for  terrorist organization HAMAS with rabid anti-Semite George Galloway. These many affiliations on the part of Imam Musri paint a confusing picture of a man whose inexplicable behavior can seen as either profoundly negligent, downright duplicitous or both.

And so the pattern continues. Next month, the Muslim Congress will come to Orlando. There, another array of clerics and scholars who preach death to gays, Jews and apostates will gather a few short miles away from Pulse. As Orlando remembers and lights candles, as parents, partners and friends grieve and try to hold on through yet another anniversary marking the day their loved ones were brutally slain, the roots of extremism that killed them run ever deeper and wider.

Today Orlando is a city that is still asleep –largely either incapable of or uninterested in doing the gut-wrenching work involved in vanquishing the ideology that took 49 lives and shattered so many others.
Even now, Sheikh Hamza Sodagar is headed our way.  Here he describes the five ways pleasing to Allah in which one should kill homosexuals.

FBI and DOJ – Why Aren’t They Talking?
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > FBI and DOJ – Why Aren’t They Talking?
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, June 14, 2018 
 The FBI works with the New York City police in an investigation (Illustrative photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
The FBI works with the New York City police in an investigation (Illustrative photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
The Justice Department (DOJ) called out the FBI for its shortcomings in alerting law enforcement and preventing terror attacks when a potential terrorist is out of the purview of the DOJ.

DOJ Inspector Michael Horowitz pointed out such an individual in an unclassified summary of his report, The Washington Times reported. The individual, who was not named, was on the FBI’s radar on and off since 2013. Sources said he was likely in a military prison.

Although the FBI “intermittently” intervened, Horowitz said that was insufficient. “We found that these efforts did not adequately mitigate the threat,” he wrote in the report, saying similar risks may exist with other homegrown violent extremists (HVEs).

In the classified report, the DOJ recommended five ways the FBI could close the gaps to mitigate threats from extremists not held in DOJ facilities.

The FBI has been chastised in the past for its failure to alert other agencies about dangerous individuals. One of the worst cases occurred when the FBI did not inform the Army about the radical views of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood Islamist terrorist who gunned down 13 people in 2009 on his base. The FBI was aware of Hasan’s numerous interactions with radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who went on to be a leader in al-Qaeda in Yemen.
MORE https://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/mail/inbox/rp


Bill Aims to Stop Funding Terror Education
Home > World > Gaza Strip > Bill Aims to Stop Funding Terror Education
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Thursday, June 14, 2018 
 Picture from a Palestinian Authority 5th-grade textbook (Photo: IMPACT-se)
Picture from a Palestinian Authority 5th-grade textbook (Photo: IMPACT-se)
A bipartisan bill proposed in Congress mandates the review of educational materials used in Palestinian schoolbooks. The bill states that despite a curriculum rehaul in 2016 and 2017, Palestinian education for grades 1 through 11 “fail to meet the international standards of peace and tolerance in educational materials established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.”
The United States contributes millions of dollars every year to the Palestinian Authority and UNWRA (the United Nation’s Relief and Works Agency which provides services in Gaza), organizations responsible for the education of Palestinian children. Moreover, the U.S. is the largest single donor to UNWRA with $354 million pledged in 2017 (more than double the donation of the European Union).
However last year, the U.S. ended up withholding $305 million from UNWRA after the agency fails to implement reforms the U.S. deemed necessary.
Clarion Project recently caught up with Marcus Sheff, CEO of IMPACT-se (the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education). IMPACT-se reviewed Palestinian textbooks last year, finding that the textbooks “groom young Palestinians to sacrifice themselves to martyrdom” and “feature a radical Islamist…worldview.”
MORE https://clarionproject.org/bill-aims-to-stop-funding-terror-education/


Iran Flaunts Forbidden Centrifuges on Live TV
https://clarionproject.org/iran-flaunts-forbidden-centrifuges/
Home > World > European Union > Iran Flaunts Forbidden Centrifuges on Live TV
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, June 14, 2018 
Clarion Project’s National Security Analyst and head of Clarion’s Intelligence Network Ryan Mauro weighs in on Iran’s threat to ramp up uranium enrichment if the US and the Europeans pull out of the deal. On live TV, Iran recently showed three advanced centrifuges (pointedly labeled in English) forbidden for usage according to the agreement.
VIDEO i24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=482WviD_wo8&ab_channel=RyanMauro


 Banning Al-Quds Day’s Support for Terror
Home > World > Canada > Banning Al-Quds Day’s Support for Terror
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, June 14, 2018 
 An Al-Quds Day rally in London. THe yellow flag of Hezbollah can be seen waving (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
An Al-Quds Day rally in London with yellow Hezbollah flags borne aloft. (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Al-Quds (Jersualem) Day is an annual Iranian-sponsored hate fest sponsored by Tehran on the last Friday in Ramadan. “Celebrations” in Western capitals feature the waving of Hezbollah flags and calls for the eradication of all the Jews in Israel. In two locations – Toronto and London – these “parades” may be coming to an end.
In Toronto, the premier-elect of Ontario, Doug Ford, vowed to ban the rally.

“Our government will take action to ensure that events like Al-Quds Day, which calls for the killing of an entire civilian population in Israel, are no longer part of the landscape in Ontario. Blatantly racist or anti-Semitic ideology should never be permitted on the grounds of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario [where the rally takes place], or anywhere else in in our province.” tweeted Ford.

In the UK, it was reported that Sajid Javid will move this year to ban the political wing of Hezbollah, a power that he holds as home secretary. That would at least prevent Hezbollah flags from being waved on the streets of London.

The military wing of the Iranian-funded Lebanese terror group was banned in the country in 2008 and in the European Union in 2012 following Hezbollah’s attack on an Israeli bus in Burgas, Bulgaria.

Many argue the distinction between the terror group’s political and military wings is ludicrous, however the EU backed away from a full designation for fear of jeopardizing its relations with Lebanon, where Hezbollah’s political party and its allies now enjoy control over the government.
See our infographic about Hezbollah:
MORE https://clarionproject.org/banning-al-quds-days-support-for-terror/

Why Wasn’t I Invited to the White House?
https://clarionproject.org/sign-our-petition-to-designate-american-jihadi-cult/
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, June 10, 2018 
 Muslims hold prayers across from the White House to protest while Trump was holding an Iftar dinner (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Muslims hold prayers across from the White House to protest while Trump was holding an Iftar dinner. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump held his first Iftar dinner at the White House last week. Iftar is the traditional meal that breaks the day-long fast that Muslims observe during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

Although the list of the 40 Muslims who were invited was not disclosed, we do know some those invited as well as those excluded. In attendance were ambassadors from Muslim countries. Excluded were members of Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islamist groups, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

Trump’s choice of attendees stands in sharp contrast to former President Obama, who invited these groups and their radical leaders into the White House. Not only did his administration have a history of empowering American Islamists (giving them a hand in rewriting military and intelligence training protocols and purging existing counterterrorism materials that made the connection between Islamism and terror), the Obama administration empowered the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood across the Muslim world.

We saw how that went. Shortly after Obama assumed office, he made his famous Cairo speech, in which he insisted that members of Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood attend. The New York Times famously gave Obama credit for jump starting the Arab Spring, which was not-surprisingly hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Mr. Obama’s order, known as a Presidential Study Directive, identified likely flashpoints, most notably Egypt, and solicited proposals for how the administration could push for political change in countries with autocratic rulers who are also valuable allies of the United States,” the Times reported. “Presumably, the paper pointed out the strength of Islamist forces and the Muslim Brotherhood factor and then discounted any dangers from this quarter. One could have imagined how other U.S. governments would have dealt with this situation.”
Obama’s reasoning, based on intelligence reports he had ordered, was that revolution was about to happen anyway in certain American-allied countries in the Muslim world. By supporting the opposition (i.e. the Brotherhood), the United States would be sitting pretty.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/do-islamists-represent-american-muslims/

Sometimes Tough Love Is What You Need
Home > World > Austria > Sometimes Tough Love Is What You Need
BY RAHEEL RAZA Sunday, June 10, 2018 
 A community member tries to open the door of the 'Nizam-i Alem' mosque in Vienna after it was closed as part of seven radical mosques that the Austrian government announced they would shut down. (Photo: ALEX HALADA/AFP/Getty Images)

In October 2014, there was a shooting in Ottawa in which a Canadian soldier was killed. Following this terrorist attack, I wrote an open letter to all Canadians in which I made some strong recommendations to deal with radicalization. One of them was to temporarily shut down the mosques that are known to promote violence and hatred and have become cells where radicalization is taking place.

All hell broke loose, and I was lambasted from east to west for even suggesting that these mosques be shut down. Even BBC’s Hardtalk host in his interview with me grilled me about this suggestion.

Today, I read the news that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria just ordered the closing of seven mosques, banned some imams who are paid by Turkey and stopped foreign funding coming into Austrian mosques.
This is the best news I could have heard in the holy month of Ramadhan.

Of course there is a huge backlash with cries of racism and Islamophobia. Wannabe Caliph Erdogan, dictating to a democratic country, released a statement in which he said, “Austria’s move to expel imams and close mosques is part of an anti-Islamic, racist, discriminatory populous wave in the country.”
I don’t think so. I believe (and have said time and again) that right after 9/11, Muslim communities in the West should have taken the onus for the problem and started to look at where messages of hate are emanating from. Because we know it’s when hate is taught from the pulpit that radicalization and violence take deep root. We also know there are some places of worship that have been guilty of perpetuating messages of hate and division. As a result, some mosques that should only be places of worship have turned into places for recruitment for the Islamist agenda.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/sometimes-tough-love-is-what-you-need/

‘Facebook Bans Imam for Slamming Terrorists’
https://clarionproject.org/facebook-bans-imam-for-slamming-terrorists/
Facebook this week banned Mohammad Tawhidi, a reformist imam from Australia, in his words – because he made a sarcastic remark about Hamas, designated a terror organization by the United States.
Facebook blocked his profile and unpublished his fan page.
Tawhidi is known as the Imam of Peace with over one hundred thousand followers and part of his international mandate is to call out extremists and terrorists. He is not shy about calling a spade a spade and in this context, after Hamas launched a missile into Israel targeting children; he sarcastically called them a “global charity organization.”
“For Facebook to allow Islamist extremists to say whatever they like and for anyone to make offensive remarks about Israel on a regular basis, it seems like double standards that they have banned Imam Tawhidi,” said Clarion’s Raheel Raza.
Raza caught up with Tawhidi in Toronto and took the opportunity to ask him about this issue:
Exclusive 'Facebook bans Imam for slamming terrorists'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=ioDDQ_cwwBg&ab_channel=ClarionProject

Are We on the Verge of an Iran-US War?
Home > World > Iran > Are We on the Verge of an Iran-US War?
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, June 5, 2018 
Reports over the last few days suggest a worrying trend in Iran – ballistic-missile development and the nod for increased uranium enrichment. Are we on the verge of an Iranian-American war?

But what could that lead to?
LISTEN https://clarionproject.org/are-we-on-the-verge-of-an-iran-us-war/

 Islamists Brought to Justice on East, West Coasts
Home > Political Islam > In the US > National Security > Islamists Brought to Justice on East, West Coasts
BY CLARION PROJECT Wednesday, June 6, 2018 
Thanks to federal agents, law enforcement and the justice system, America is a little bit safer after would-be Islamist terrorists were put behind bars following the interception of terror plots:

15 Years for San Francisco Christmas Plot
Pier 39 in San Francisco
Pier 39 in San Francisco (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/jjron)
A plea bargain means the man who tried to blow up San Francisco’s Pier 39 on Christmas Day will likely serve 15 years in jail. Everitt Aaron Jameson, a 26-year-old tow truck driver who now goes by the name of Abdallah abu Everitt ibn Gordon al-Amriki, was trained as a sharp shooter, before being discharged from the Marines for failure to disclose his asthma.
Authorities began watching Jameson after a tip from an informant who told them he liked and loved pro-ISIS and pro-terrorism Facebook posts.
Jameson was planning a suicide mission on Christmas day, as urged by Islamic State in one of its communiques to supporters in the West.
5 Years for Lying After Trying to Join ISIS
Shivan Patel
A Virginian man who tried to join ISIS and then lied during his military application process will serve a five-year prison term.
Shivam Patel, 27, of Williamsburg became “obsessed with Islam,” according to his parents. Patel traveled to Jordan where he was arrested. With his parent’s permission, the FBI searched his room and computer where they found evidence he had researched how to beat a polygraph test, downloaded copies of an ISIS online magazine and searched for how to join the group.
In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Thomas Pembroke wrote, “He wanted to do something ‘glorious’.”  Patel had expressed support for Maj. Nidal Hasan, who shot 13 soldiers to death in 2009 in a jihadi killing spree at the Fort Hood army base in Texas.
Patel also expressed support for the terror attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando, as well as admiration for Anwar al-Awlaki, the American leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He made an Islamic State flag and told a confidential source that he wanted to replace his neighbor’s American flag with the ISIS one.

Student Charged in Seattle Bomb Threat
MORE https://clarionproject.org/islamist-threats-on-east-and-west-coasts/

What Arabic Media Says About the US – June 3, 2018
Home > World > Kuwait > What Arabic Media Says About the US – June 3, 2018
BY RAN MEIR Sunday, June 3, 2018 
 Arabic media review

Bad News for US: Russia Will Be Able to Take Down American 5th-Generation Jetfighters – Addiyar (pro-Syrian)
National Interest revealed that Russia and China have all the necessary technology in order to develop means to fight America’s most modern jets that were manufactured using stealth technology. The magazine added that Moscow and Beijing’s gathering all this technology and completing its development is just a matter of time. With that, the 5th generation U.S. jets – F-35 and F-22 will be at risk.
US Official: We Won’t be Deceived by Al-Qaeda’s Attempt to Reconstruct Itself – Al-Bawaba (Egyptian)
U.S. Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan Sales says America won’t be deceived by al-Qaeda’s attempt to reconstruct. He made the remark when reacting to news that the U.S. designated as a foreign terror organization Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham [Organization for the Liberation of the Levant].

Reuters quoted Sales on Friday: “Today’s designation serves notice that the United States is not fooled by this al-Qa’ida affiliate’s attempt to rebrand itself. Whatever name Nusrah chooses, we will continue to deny it the resources it seeks to further its violent cause.”
Mattis Says Rocket Used in Houthi Attack on Saudi Tanker Was Delivered by Iran – Al-Arabiya (Saudi)
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that a rocket used by Yemen’s Houthis in an unsuccessful attack on a Saudi commercial ship in April was delivered by Iran.

“The threat to the Red Sea shipping was pretty obvious when you saw the tanker get hit by an Iranian-supplied missile to the Houthis. So the implications of this are not insignificant if we don’t get this under control,” Mattis said at a press briefing late on Tuesday.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/what-arabic-media-says-about-the-us-june-3-2018/

When Terror Attacks Keep Terrorizing
https://clarionproject.org/when-terror-attacks-keep-terrorizing/
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > When Terror Attacks Keep Terrorizing
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, May 31, 2018 
 9/11 clean-up efforts (Photo: Shaul Schwarz/Getty Images)
9/11 clean-up efforts (Photo: Shaul Schwarz/Getty Images)
Too often, when a terror attack gets reported, we learn only of the number of deaths and injuries. We rarely get a glimpse into the on-going reality of those who were present at the scene — from “minor injuries” which can end up becoming life-long problems to post-traumatic stress, a crippling phenomenon.

The 9/11 terror attack came with a unique set of lingering effects — specifically, the illnesses contracted by first responders and volunteers involved in the clean-up of the site, who were exposed to toxic fumes that wreaked havoc with their bodies.

The rescue and recovery operation at the site lasted until May 30, 2002, almost nine months after the attack.

On May 30, 2018, the 16th anniversary of the end of that effort, plans were announced to create a memorial at the site of the former World Trade Center for the workers and volunteers who were poisoned during the clean-up efforts.

Named Memorial Glade, the site will feature a pathway designed to look like the large ramp that rescue workers and volunteers used to access the site. The path will end near the Survivor Tree, which symbolizes the city’s resilience in the face of disaster.

This year alone, 24 police personnel died from the effects of 9/11. The same number of officers died last year. As of February, the Fire Department of New York listed 166 recovery workers killed from the toxins to which they were exposed.

An unidentified number of workers who are still alive suffer from various forms of cancer contracted as a direct result of their exposure.

 

How to Give Islamists a Fresh Lease on Life
https://clarionproject.org/how-to-give-islamists-a-fresh-lease-on-life/
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Anti-Muslim Bigotry > How to Give Islamists a Fresh Lease on Life
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Wednesday, May 30, 2018 
 (Illustrative photo: Flickr/John Wiechecki/altered with permission. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/legalcode)
(Illustrative photo: Flickr/John Wiechecki/altered with permission. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/legalcode)
This article was republished with permission from Middle East Forum

Just when the spectre of a Canadian law based on Motion 103 that would have criminalized the critique of Islam seemed to be receding, one Sandra Solomon has given Islamists a fresh lease on life. Solomon states she is an ex-Muslim convert to Christianity, saying she is a Palestinian who suffered sexual abuse in Saudi Arabia by her former husband.

Last week, Solomon visited a mosque in Mississauga where she tore up pages of the Quran and heaped abuse on worshippers, referring to the Muslim holy text as a “satanic evil book” and said she wants to see the Quran designated as “hate literature.”

Had Solomon simply stood outside the mosque with placards to criticize Islam and protest the Islamic texts that permit wife-beating and promote armed jihad, she would be in her right to do so. But that is not all what she did.

Video footage shows Solomon entered the mosque when worshipers were praying and yelled bigoted epithets. “What God do you worship? You worship Satan, that’s who Muslims worship,” she shouted as she was led out.

In a video that has since been deleted from the Internet, but captured by Global TV, Solomon speaks to the camera boasting that she has been visiting mosques for over a year. She then proceeds to rip pages out of a Quran, and places them on the windshields of cars in the parking lot.

If not hateful, at best Solomon’s behaviour was derisive, uncouth, ill-mannered, uncivil and most certainly undeserving of the cross she proudly wears as a symbol of her faith in Jesus.

On the two occasions that I have run into Solomon, she has come across as someone obsessed with herself, and seeking the attention of people around her. At an event hosted by “Muslims Against M103”, she had to be told to stop addressing the audience from the floor when she started ranting about herself.

If Solomon was protesting the alleged hatred some Muslims have for non-Muslims, then she played straight into the hands of the very people she was opposing.

Hatred cannot be fought with hate (or even love). Wisdom suggests hatred is fought only with truth backed by facts and reason. Unfortunately, Solomon has plenty of hate and totally lacks wisdom. Just a tiny bit of the latter would have made her realize that she is the agent provocateur who unwittingly serves the interests of the people she supposedly opposes.

Earlier this year my colleague Farzana Hassan wrote on these pages that the “M103 report seems to signal victory for citizens who sought to protect free speech.” Her optimism, she said, was based on the fact the wording on the M103 report “certainly appears to accede to their demand that ‘Islamophobia’ not be treated as a special case” as “twenty-nine out of the 30 recommendations in the report even avoid the nebulous and troublesome word.”

Now that Solomon has provided a fresh lease on life to ‘Islamophobia,’ Hassan’s words may well prove to be premature. Already a group The Muslim Council of Peel and some mosques say they are working with the police and “have asked for this to be investigated as a hate incident.”

As for the self-righteous Imams and Islamists who are crying “hate”, perhaps it is time for them to take stock of their own actions. At least 20 times a day, from dawn to dusk in every mosque of Canada, they should stop describing Jews as “people who are suffering the wrath of God” and Christians as people “led astray from the path of God.”

‘Would You Allow Rockets Launched Into Your Country?’
https://clarionproject.org/nikki-haley-calls-out-security-council-failing-condemn-hamas/
Home > World > Gaza Strip > ‘Would You Allow Rockets Launched Into Your Country?’
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, May 31, 2018 
 United States UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
United States U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The U.S.’ ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, called out Security Council members for failing to condemn the most recent and indiscriminate attacks on Israel. In the last month, Hamas, along with its allied group Islamic Jihad has fired close to 180 mortar shells and rockets to Israel, many of them made in Iran.

On May 29 alone, 70 mortars from Gaza were shot to Israel, causing injuries and hitting, among other civilian targets, the playground of a kindergarten.

Head of Hamas in Gaza Yahya Sinwar said in an interview 10 days ago that his organization was coordinating on an “almost daily” basis with Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, a Lebanese-based terror organization.

Haley (see her short speech below) called out Security Council countries for their hypocrisy when it comes to its policy of supporting the terror group Hamas against Israel.

“Who among us would accept 70 rockets launched into your country? We all know the answer to that. No one would,” she chided.

Haley made three main points in her speech:

The desired outcome of the attacks was to maximize civilian casualties.
The attacks prove “the falsehood of the idea that the people of Gaza require international protection. The people of Gaza do not need protection from an external source,” she said. “The people of Gaza need protection from Hamas. It is the actions of Hamas that are putting Gazans in grave danger. Hamas’s indiscriminate attacks against Israel inevitably bring a response.”
The countries of the world ignore the fact that Hamas terrorists repeatedly attack the border crossing (as they recently did), destroying truckloads of humanitarian aid sent from Israel for the people of Gaza — not to mention the fact that a few of the rockets that missed managed to hit three major power lines in Gaza, knocking out electric power to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In 2014, Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades’ spokesman, Abu Obeida, openly thanked Iran for its support of Hamas in its goal to eliminate Israel. Obeida praised Iran for “not being cheap” in its donations of “money, weapons and other equipment.”

At the time, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said, “Hamas is Iran, Iran is Hamas. The terror along the security fence is an Iranian mission.”

Shocking Statistics on Teaching Islam in American Schools
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > Shocking Statistics on Teaching Islam in American Schools
BY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR Tuesday, May 29, 2018 
 In this picture taken on October 13, 2017, a student takes notes from history book in a classroom at Tokyo Korean high school. (Photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP / Getty Images)
(Illustrative photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)
A retired Florida teacher contacted Clarion Project after we published the article “Why Is This Being Taught in Public Schools?” That piece told the story of a West Virginia parent who was upset after his daughter was asked to write the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, as part of “calligraphy practice” in her world religion class.
What follows is the response from the former teacher – one of several we received this week:
Speaking as a retired Florida educator, this has been going on for over 30 years. Not necessarily in writing the Islamic conversion verse and calling it practicing “calligraphy,” but in terms of elevating one religion over all others.
When I started teaching world history way back in the late 1990’s, I was leafing through my well-worn textbooks and formulating plans for the coming year. I noticed something that struck me as very odd, even then.
Let me break down the structure of secondary school social studies texts, at least in Florida.
Each chapter is broken down into lessons of about five to 10 pages each. The number of lessons per chapter averages four, with some going as long as five or as short as three depending on content.
As I flipped through my very first professional text to educate “my” new students, I was concerned.
In covering world religions, the textbook covered the Asian philosophies with their own lesson each. Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism and others got their own lesson. Judaism and Christianity? A section of a lesson each, not even rating their own individual lessons.
MORE  https://clarionproject.org/teaching-islam-in-american-schools/


Time for Davis, CA Imam to Get Canned
https://clarionproject.org/time-for-davis-ca-imam-to-get-canned/
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Mosques > Time for Davis, CA Imam to Get Canned
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, May 29, 2018 
You may remember that as far back as the summer of 2017 we joined a call for the Islamic Center of Davis, California to fire Imam Ammar Shahin.
Among his unacceptable remarks, he told his congregation, “Allah does not change the situation of a people until they change their own situation. The Prophet Mohammed said, ‘Judgment day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews’.” He used words such as “filth” in the context of the Jewish people.
Petition link
Now, MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute (an organization that monitors mosque sermons, among other speeches in the Muslim world), has questioned the sincerity of backtracks and denials made by Shahin and his community in the wake of the scandal.
In it’s latest news roundup, MEMRI pointed out it took some five months for the Islamic center to post a video of an interfaith event staged specifically to dispel local tension and to quiet a noisy media. Why so long?
At that event, Shahin accused people of misunderstanding his comments in more than one sermon. Here’s how he defended himself:
Here I am today, in front of everybody, saying it very clearly, and I hope that everyone would listen to this. Religiously and a personal belief, I have never or will – not now, not in the future, and not in the past – have called for the genocide of any group – not the Jews, not the Christians, not the atheists, not the people without belief, or never. Not just because to please anyone, because the religion commands so.
You can judge for yourselves based on these videos of his original sermons:
If you agree with Shahin about misinterpretations, then thanks for reading this article.
If you think he is an anti-Semite as we do, please sign this petition calling on him to be removed from office. Thank you!
Petition link https://www.change.org/p/islamic-center-of-davis-mosque-board-islamic-center-of-davis-fire-your-antisemitic-imam
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The Real Story Behind the Gaza Riots
https://clarionproject.org/the-real-story-behind-the-gaza-riots/
Home > World > Gaza Strip > The Real Story Behind the Gaza Riots
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, May 29, 2018 
 Hamas memebers take part in a military maneuvre in Gaza City on March 25, 2018. (Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP /Getty Images)
Hamas members take part in a military maneuver in Gaza City on March 25, 2018. (Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP /Getty Images)
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired dozens of mortars towards Israel on May 29, including one that hit a kindergarten, injuring one. This follows weeks of rioting stirred up by Hamas, designated by the United States as a terror organization. It’s also part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
What’s the real story behind the Gaza riots? Are they really peaceful? Are Israeli soldiers indiscriminately shooting at demonstrators or are the protesters terrorists using women and children as human shields?
The real story behind the Gaza riots
WATCH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6013yogn6bw&ab_channel=ClarionProject


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Gaza Wants Freedom: Here’s How to Get It
https://clarionproject.org/gaza-wants-freedom-heres-how-to-get-it/
Brotherhood’s US Rep Is Liaison to Hamas
https://clarionproject.org/brotherhoods-rep-us-liaison-hamas/
Spend a Summer of Jihad With Hamas
https://clarionproject.org/spend-a-summer-of-jihad-with-hamas/

Since When Do Public Schools Support Terrorists?
Home > World > Gaza Strip > Since When Do Public Schools Support Terrorists?
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, May 27, 2018 
 The Beacon School in Manhattan (Photo: Google Maps)
The Beacon School in Manhattan (Photo: Google Maps)
It is a sad state of affairs when a public school in the United States becomes an advocate for a terrorists group. Yet, that is exactly what happened when the The Beacon School, an elite college-prep public high school in Manhattan held a mandatory, school-wide moment of silence to pay tribute to the “Palestinian victims of violence” in Gaza.
The tribute was in response to a Hamas-designed “protest” to charge the Gaza border with Israel – a “protest” designed to “take down the border and tear out their hearts from their bodies,” according to Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, referring to Hamas’ intentions regarding Israeli civilians.
Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood-linked group in Gaza, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. in 1997. Armed with maps of Jewish communities – including daycare centers, schools and synagogues — the terror organization instructed protesters to bring guns and knives to the border.
Israel repeatedly warned protesters not to approach the fence. After a number of “protesters” were killed — sparking the predictable angst of the Western media regarding “civilian deaths” — a top Hamas official admitted on Palestinian TV, “In the last rounds of confrontations, if 62 people were martyred, 50 of them were Hamas.”
Speaking on Al Jazeera, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Al-Zahar further said, “When we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public.”
MORE https://clarionproject.org/since-when-do-public-schools-support-terrorists/


6 Ways Trump’s New Iran Policy is Working
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > 6 Ways Trump’s New Iran Policy is Working
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, May 27, 2018 
 A picture of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at an anti-Iranian government protest in Paris (Illustrative photo: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)
Footprints mark over a picture of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at an anti-Iranian government protest in Paris (Illustrative photo: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s May 21 speech outlining the Trump administration’s new policy toward Iran expressed unwavering support for the Iranian people and commended them for rising up against the totalitarian regime.
“The protests of the past few months show that the Iranian people are deeply frustrated with their own government’s failures,” Pompeo said.
Before the speech, he tweeted, “We support the Iranian people who are demonstrating against an oppressive government.”
The speech was also the impetus for a hashtag in Farsi calling for regime change as well as another one which read “thank you Pompeo.” (Hashtags are used to try to make particular social-media posts become viral – be seen by as many people as possible.)
The Iranian people suffered economically before the Iran deal because of worldwide sanctions. When the sanctions were lifted after the deal was made, massive celebrations in the streets were held by the Iranian people, who expected large-scale financial relief.
However, the reality was that the regime poured much of its new-found money into its terrorist enterprises abroad – in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and in support of terror groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas – while the people continued to suffer under increasingly-harsh economic conditions.
Pompeo’s encouragement seems to have sparked new momentum for anti-regime protests in Iran that began last December. Since May 22, the day after Pompeo’s speech, we have seen:
1) A strike of truck drivers protesting their low salaries as well as their increasingly added expenses including road taxes and insurance payments. Particularly affected has been the delivery of gasoline, causing a crisis in the country. Truck drivers have refused to obey a court order to return to work. Their protests have been attacked by security forces, who have used tear gas and taser guns on them. Currently the Revolutionary Guards are using their own trucks to deliver gas.
2)Workers in the national oil company in Kerman (a city in central Iran) joined the truck drivers, striking as well.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/6-ways-trumps-new-iran-policy-is-working/
 



https://clarionproject.org/what-the-arabic-press-says-about-the-us/
NEW: What Arabic Media Says About the US
Home > World > Iran > NEW: What Arabic Media Says About the US
BY RAN MEIR Sunday, May 27, 2018 
 Arabic media review
(Photo: YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP / Getty Images)
Welcome to our new feature – a weekly round-up of how the Arabic media reports the United States. This time: North Korea, Iran, sexual harassment and a pile of eggs feature large.


American Delegation Pelted by Eggs in West Bank – Palestine News Network
A group of “Palestinian resistance activists” expelled a delegation from the American consulate from the ceremony of Palestinian students who received American scholarships. This happened in one of the restaurants in Beit Jala in the Bethlehem district. The activists blocked the vehicles, threw eggs and shouted slogans against U.S. policy toward the Palestinian people. (There’s a video in the original news report.)
http://pnn.ps/news/329038
 

US to Investigate ‘FBI Spying’ on Trump Campaign – Al Jazeera
The US Department of Justice has said it will investigate whether the FBI spied on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for political motives, following the U.S. president’s call for an inquiry.
“If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement late on Sunday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/investigate-fbi-spying-trump-campaign-180521055246133.html


UAE Minister of State: US Strategy Demands Change in Iran’s Agenda – Al Arabiya
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash has described US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s approach to Iranian policy as “accurate,” adding that the tough strategy he declared was “a natural result of Iranian behavior over the years”.
Gargash additionally said that the uniting efforts “is the right path to make Tehran realize the absurdity of its expansion”.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2018/05/22/Gargash-America-s-strategy-requires-a-change-in-Iran-s-agenda.html
 

America Reveals Source of Arms Transfers to Terrorists in Sinai – Vetogate
U.S. Ambassador the United Nations, Nikki Haley, spoke to the Security Council about the situation in Libya. She warned that the weapons circulating freely in Libya could impact on the violence in Sinai. She added that the situation in Libya poses a great threat to international peace and security.
http://www.vetogate.com/3186707
 

White House Issues Commemorative Medal for Trump-North Korean President Meeting – Youm 7
The White House issued a commemorative medal for the upcoming historic summit in Singapore in June between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. On the medal are inscribed “peace talks” in English and Korean with olive branches, the names of the two leaders, the two countries and the year 2018.


America Imposes Sanctions on Iranian Airline Companies Linked to Revolutionary Guards – Al Arabiya
The U.S. Treasury announced on Thursday new sanctions connected to Iran and targeting airlines companies. According to sources, the sanctions target entities connected with Mahan Air and Meraj Air companies.
Sanctions were also imposed on two Iranians and a Turk. These developments come on the heels of similar measures taken on Tuesday targeting five Iranians connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qods Force, better known as IRGC-QF.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2018/05/24/US-Treasury-imposes-new-sanctions-against-Iranian-airlines.html
 

U.S. Ejects China From Pacific Ocean Maneuvers – Sabq
The United States rescinded its invitation for China to participate in Pacific Rim military maneuvers due to its continued military activity in the South China Sea, and believes Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea contradict the spirit of the maneuvers.
https://sabq.org/mH6qLX
 

American Soldier Admits to Killing Five at Airport to Avoid Death Penalty – Youm 7
Former U.S. soldier Esteban Santiago, 28, admitted to killing five people at Fort Lauderdale Airport in January 2017 as part of a plea bargain that would allow him to evade the death penalty. He will serve five life sentences for 120 years, with no chance of appeal.

 

Trump: Looking Forward to Summit with North-Korean President in Singapore – El Nashra
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is looking forward to the summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-un scheduled for Singapore on June 12. He told reporters: “A lot of people are working on this. Things are going well and we’re looking forward to June 12 in Singapore. It hasn’t changed.”

 

American University President Resigns Over 25 Years of Sexual Harassment Allegation – An Nahar
President of USC in California, C.L. Max Nikias, announced his resignation in the wake of a lawsuit filed against the university by former students who accused the administration of ignoring complaints filed against a former gynecologist accused of sexual harassment for more than 25 years.

We Found a Candidate That Gets It
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > We Found a Candidate That Gets It
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, May 24, 2018 
A candidate for California’s 52nd congressional district declared, “Radical Islamic terrorism is a real threat to our nation.”
Speaking to Breibart News Tonight, he added, there is a “multi-component effort to try to undermine and destroy the United States and its allies.
“That includes organizations that hold themselves out as advocacy groups,” he said, referring most likely to Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim Brotherhood-linked group that has named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror-funding trial in the U.S. CAIR was also designated as a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates.
The candidate, age 36, also spoke out against groups “that try to use our own laws against ourselves, and weaponize our Constitution against itself.”
As to his position on sharia law, he said unequivocally, “I am against sharia law. It is unconstitutional, period. It has no place in the United States. It has no place anywhere in the world.”
He supported President Trump’s immigration pause, which saw immigration from countries more prone to terrorist infiltration put on hold earlier this year until proper vetting procedures could be put in place. He also objected to the Iran deal.
The candidate is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2010, he joined the U.S. Department of Defense as a prosecutor in the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions, bringing suits against alleged terrorists. For a time, he was detailed to the State Department, where he developing foreign prosecutions of Guantanamo Bay detainees and negotiating security agreements with foreign nations.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/we-found-a-candidate-that-gets-it/

One Brave Father & the Myths of Radicalization
Home > Political Islam > In the US > National Security > One Brave Father & the Myths of Radicalization
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Thursday, May 24, 2018 
This is the story of a brave father, who is to be commended for doing the right thing, as well as an unfortunate illustration of the adage, “It can happen to anyone.”
Police Captain Robert Ciccolo, a first responder in the Boston marathon bombing, tipped off counter-terrorism officials when he saw his son “was going off the deep end” and “spouting extremist jihadist sympathies.”
It turned out to be an act that most likely saved dozens of lives, if not more.
Alexander Ciccolo, 25, had said he wanted to join ISIS. It turned out he was planning a mass-scale terror attack, most likely at a state university, either in a dorm or a cafeteria, “executions of students, which would be broadcast live via the internet.”
MORE https://clarionproject.org/one-brave-father-the-myths-of-radicalization/


Child Marriage Just Took a Hit
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Child Abuse > Child Marriage Just Took a Hit
BY CLARION PROJECT Thursday, May 24, 2018 
 A girl in Rome takes part in an Amnesty International event against child marriage (Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
A girl in Rome takes part in an Amnesty International event against child marriage (Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
The UK has just prosecuted its first successful case against forced marriage in an English court. The case involved a mother who tricked her 17-year old daughter into travelling to Pakistan to wed a relative who was 16 years her senior.
It was the second trip the girl had been duped into, with the first occurring when she was just 13. During that time, she was made to enter into a “marriage contract” with the man and become pregnant. After that trip, her mother brought her to get an abortion, pretending that her child and the man were just “two teenagers who had sneakily had sex,” said prosecutors.
During the most recent trip, as the girl sobbed and protested, her mother assaulted her and told her that she would burn her passport, before forcing her to sign marriage papers.
Unfortunately, most cases of forced marriage do not have this ending. Karma Nirvana, a Clarion-partner organization, receives close to 300 calls a month about forced marriage and honor-based abuse. “But a lot of victims will not want to report these matters to police,” said Supt. Sally Holmes from West Midlands Police, adding that “It’s their parents or family members who might be responsible.”
MORE https://clarionproject.org/forced-marriage-uk-first-prosecution/

Where You Vacation May Be Decided by Radical Islam
Home > World > Canada > Where You Vacation May Be Decided by Radical Islam
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Wednesday, May 23, 2018 
 A family enjoys a day at the beach (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
A family enjoys a day at the beach (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Earlier this month we reported how hazardous material was found on beaches in two towns in Ontario, Canada, forcing the closing of these tourist attractions.
Those beaches were located in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, both in the Muskoka region.
A letter containing threats to destroy beaches in Ontario, Canada and claiming to be from the Islamic Revolutionary Force was sent to media outlets in the area, reported Kawartha 411.
“We do this because you reject Islam and follow the Great Satan. Infidels you allow your women to disgracefully, shamelessly parade around your beaches all but naked!” the letter stated, adding that the group will “destroy your beaches from Toronto to North Bay.”
Now, two more beaches have been closed in the area after glass shards and sewing needles were discovered buried in the sand, reported Global News.
The two new locations affected, Kirby’s Beach and Bracebridge Bay Park, attract thousands of beach lovers in Ontario’s cottage country every summer.
Brad Hammond, who owns a home on Kirby Beach explained how his family had been in the region since 1882 and this was the first time he’s seen the beach closed.
After discovering the broken bottles a few weeks ago, Hammond’s wife combed the beach, filling up a pail with shards and needles after about eight hours of work.
“It was pretty much the width of the beach but it was in clumps, so you could tell it had been seeded in different areas,” he said. “My wife found broken bottles sitting face-down with the jagged parts facing up. She found nails, sewing needles — a lot of sewing needles.”
MORE https://clarionproject.org/this-year-your-vacation-wont-be-the-same-because-of-radical-islam/



ISIS Leader’s Sinister Plan for the Future
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Child Abuse > ISIS Leader’s Sinister Plan for the Future
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, May 22, 2018 
A top ISIS official, captured by Turkish and Iraqi forces, revealed that, as of about a year ago, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, self-styled caliph of the Islamic State, was alive and well.
As the caliphate was rapidly disintegrating due to massive territorial losses, al-Baghdadi called together his top sergeants to talk about insuring the future of the organization. The topic he was most concerned with was rewriting the terror group’s educational curriculum, according to the operative, named as Abu Zaid al-Iraqi. It was the third such meeting on the subject with the ISIS leader.
The following is Clarion Project’s (unfortunate) take on the subject:
MORE https://clarionproject.org/this-year-your-vacation-wont-be-the-same-because-of-radical-islam/

Gulf States Join US in Sanctioning Hezbollah. Thanks but …
Home > World > Bahrain > Gulf States Join US in Sanctioning Hezbollah. Thanks but …
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Thursday, May 17, 2018 
Hezbollah displays an Iranian-made Fajr 5 missile at a military parade in southern Lebanon, close to the Israeli border. (Photo: MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)
The Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the estranged Qatar, have joined the U.S. in placing sanctions on Hezbollah.
While the news is certainly good and contributes greatly to the overall fight against Islamist terror, it is not so much of a stretch for these countries to put the financial screws into the Lebanese terror organization. Hezbollah is a fully-owned subsidiary of Iran, the mortal enemy of the Gulf States.
If these countries are really serious about fighting Islamist extremism — and the terror and human rights abuses it spawns — Clarion Project has some advice for them 

1) Saudi Arabia
Saudi funding of overseas mosques with its accompanying exportation Wahhabism, the kingdom’s extremist form of Islam, has significantly contributed to the radicalization of an entire generation of Muslims. Saudi funding is a worldwide phenomenon, stretching from America to Europe and to Muslim countries, such as Pakistan.
The situation is so dire in Germany, for example, that the head of an egalitarian mosque in Berlin, Seyran Ates, is forced to have a security detail of 16 bodyguards at all times to protect her life, which was threatened numerous times (including an assassination attempt marked by a scar from a bullet to her neck which she sustained years ago).
And need we even mention the plight of Raif Badawi, the liberal blogger sentenced by Saudi’s Supreme Court to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for the “crime” of moderating an internet forum that encouraged participants to voice their opinion about religion in the kingdom? (Badawi’s lawyer was also imprisoned in the kingdom and is now serving a sentence of 15 years.)
Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman recently promised to “end extremism very soon,” saying, “We want to go back to what we were, to a moderate Islam…”
After sanctioning Hezbollah, he should implement a program to do just that.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/gulf-states-join-us-in-sanction-hezbollah-thanks-but/


Bodies of Christians Beheaded by ISIS Recovered
Home > World > Egypt > Bodies of Christians Beheaded by ISIS Recovered
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, May 15, 2018 
 Screenshot from the ISIS video which showed the group beheading the Copts on a beach in Libya (Photo: ISIS propaganda video)
Screenshot from the ISIS video which showed the group beheading the Copts on a beach in Libya (Photo: ISIS propaganda video)
The remains of 20 Coptic Christians from Egypt who were beheaded on a beach in Libya by ISIS in 2015 were flown back to Cairo. The Christians had sought work in Libya following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and the ensuing civil war.
The terror group posted a gruesome video (see below) of the killings at the time, evoking end-times prophecies and Islamist theological arguments against Christianity. Titled A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross, the video stated the Christians were punished for being “followers of the hostile Egyptian church,” said to be a reference to the support by the Coptic Christians for Egyptian President El-Sisi’s fight against an ISIS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula.
Warning: Extremely graphic
MORE https://clarionproject.org/bodies-of-coptic-christians-beheaded-by-isis-recovered/


Why Is This Being Taught in Public Schools?
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > Why Is This Being Taught in Public Schools?
BY CLARION PROJECT Monday, May 21, 2018 
 The Shahada (Photo: Flickr/Islamic Pictures/https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
The shahada (Photo: Flickr/Islamic Pictures/https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
A West Virginia parent is upset after his daughter was asked to write the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, as part of “calligraphy practice” in her world religion class.
The shahada — which states, “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger” — is used in the conversion process to Islam.
Rich Penkoski objected to the assignment that his seventh-grade daughter Brielle was given, saying the religious nature of the assignment was inconsistent with what students were asked to do while studying other religions.
“I saw the assignment of writing the Shahada in Arabic. Their excuse was calligraphy,” said Penkoski, speaking to The Christian Post. “First of all, calligraphy was invented in China 3,000 years prior to Muhammad. The fact that they were trying to get my daughter to write that disturbed me.'”

Upon complaining to the school, Penkoski was told the assignment was optional, a fact disputed by his daughter. Penkoski said his daughter reported, “’No, that is not what was said.’ What was said was, ‘Do the assignment and if you want to learn more about the Quran, ask your parents’.”
Brielle said the unit about Christianity, for example, stuck to historical instruction, not recitation or writing of texts considered religious, for example, the Lord’s Prayer.

“We did [the unit on Christianity] over a week and two days. We watched two different videos. We didn’t finish them,” said Brielle. “They taught a little bit about Moses and the Ten Commandments, Peter and Paul. We learned about the Israelites and how they are being persecuted by the Romans. We were told about the Jews and told a little bit about Jesus.”
Penkoski shared with the press the educational packets given to students for the units on Christianity and Judaism. “Notice no Bible verses, no reciting the Ten Commandments or the Lord’s Prayer,” he said, adding that the Islam packet contained passages from the Quran.
“They cross the line with Islam because they went from the secular aspect of it to the faith aspect of it,” he continued. “Let’s be honest, if they had come home with the Lord’s Prayer, we would have atheists suing all over the place.”
The West Virginia school is not the first to ask its students to write the shahada. In 2015, a number of parents protested to a school district in Virginia about a similar calligraphy assignment.  The incident generated so much protest, both in and out of the state, that the school closed down for two days as a precaution based on the recommendation of police. No threats were actually received, however.
The latest incident in West Virginia is part of a growing discomfort by parents as to how Islam is taught in U.S. schools.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/west-virginia-islam-public-school/



Poll Results: Should it Be Legal to Join Foreign Fights?
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > Poll Results: Should it Be Legal to Join Foreign Fights?
BY CLARION PROJECT Monday, May 21, 2018 
 A Peshmerga (Kurdish) fighter in Sinjar, Iraq. The Kurdish force recently liberated the Sinjar region of Iraq from ISIS.
A Peshmerga (Kurdish) fighter in Sinjar, Iraq. The Kurdish force liberated the Sinjar region of Iraq from ISIS. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
A Rhode Island father was recently sentenced to three years in prison for violating his probation and leaving the country to fight against ISIS. Barring these unusual circumstances, we asked you, our readers: Should it be illegal for U.S. citizens to go overseas to fight against terror. Here are the results of our poll (comments follow):

31.1 percent said yes
68.8 percent said no
Here are some of your comments:
Before the USA entered WWI and WWII, Americans joined French and UK forces to fight the Germans. What is the difference between fighting Germany in WWII and ISIS now?
Not when they are not on parole.
Are we free to make our own choices or not? If not, then we are not a free country.
How do you know what side they are fighting for could be ISIS for all you know.
As long as the cause doesn’t contradict the values of this country (terror is defined differently by us and, say, Islamists…)
As long as it is not an enemy of the U.S.
I would rather we fight terror overseas than having it to do in the U.S.A.
Absolutely illegal. If an American citizen joins a foreign military they should be banned from re-entry into the U.S.
It should be judged individually, based on the conflict.
It is something we have done in WWI and WWII and many other times. Usually for a good reason.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/poll-results-legal-join-foreign-fights/

Why Do Anti-Semitic US Islamists Get a Free Pass?
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Public Issues > Why Do Anti-Semitic US Islamists Get a Free Pass?
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Thursday, May 17, 2018 
 Sarsour walks onto the stage to deliver the commencement address
Linda Sarsour walks onto the stage to deliver the commencement address at CUNY. (Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)
All too often of late we’ve seen American Islamists voicing their support for anti-Semites, if not calling for the outright killing of Jews or accusing Israel of creating ISIS.
 
A number of Islamist spiritual leaders especially were outed by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), as in the case of New Jersey Imam Aymen Elkasaby, who, from his pulpit, called Jews “apes and pigs” and prayed to Allah to kill them “down to the very last one.”
 
So many were outed as such that another New Jersey imam, Mohamed Moussa, announced he was starting workshops to train U.S. imams on how to avoid incitement and hate speech. As MEMRI again documented, “Imam Moussa warned that there are ‘institutions of Islamophobia’ with ‘budgets in the millions, whose only job is [to monitor] us.’”
 
(That’s certainly pesky when you want to spew anti-Semitism.)
 
And, of course, no one could forget how sharia-apologist and self-styled champion of women’s rights Linda Sarsour teamed up for the Women’s March on Washington with Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Yousef Odeh, who was convicted of involvement in two fatal bombings in Israel.
MORE https://clarionproject.org/why-do-anti-semitic-us-islamists-get-a-free-pass/

US Embassy Move Helps the Fight Against Radical Islam
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > US Embassy Move Helps the Fight Against Radical Islam
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Monday, May 14, 2018 
 A new road sign indicating the way to the new US embassy in Jerusalem (Photo: THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)
A new road sign showing the way to the new US Embassy in Jerusalem (Photo: THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)
Today, the United States moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital city, Jerusalem. The move is significant – it marks a recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city by the U.S. and an end to the dispute of its status by the world’s foremost superpower.
The move is also significant in the battle against radical Islam. Here are four reasons why:
The move marks an end the era of appeasement of radical Islamists
Congress passed the bipartisan Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995 which required the U.S. Embassy in Israel to be located in Jerusalem. It was unanimously affirmed by the Senate in 2017.
Up until President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, U.S. presidents declined to act on the bill, citing security concerns. That was a code word for appeasement of radical Islamists (as well as other Arab nationalists, like the Palestinian Authority, which conveniently pulls out Islamist tropes for violent jihad when it suits their purposes).
MORE https://clarionproject.org/why-moving-the-us-embassy-to-jerusalem-helps-the-fight-against-radical-islam/




Gov’t Fraud Scheme in Minnesota May Be Funding Terror
Scammers are sending suitcases of cash overseas
https://clarionproject.org/?utm_source=Clarion+Project&utm_campaign=f55c29f6e5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_05_14
Gov’t Fraud Scheme in Minnesota May Be Funding Terror
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > Gov’t Fraud Scheme in Minnesota May Be Funding Terror
BY CLARION PROJECT Tuesday, May 15, 2018 
A scheme which has defrauded state funds in Minnesota may be netting the scammers up to $100 million a year. Based on existing evidence, at least some of that money is sent to terrorists overseas.

Fox 9 uncovered the fraud through investigation of public records and interviews with government sources.  The scheme involves the welfare system and publicly-funded daycare.

WATCH a full report in this video:8.43 MINS
Watch https://clarionproject.org/govt-fraud-scheme-in-minnesota-may-be-funding-terror/

Sham Court Proceedings for US Pastor in Turkey
https://clarionproject.org/48484-2/
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Lack of Basic Freedoms > Sham Court Proceedings for US Pastor in Turkey
BY CLARION PROJECT Sunday, May 13, 2018 
Military officers being rounded up and arrested in Erdogan’s post-coup sweep (Photo: video screenshot); inset: Paster Andrew Brunson (Photo: family)
A representative from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) attended a court proceeding in Turkey against Pastor Andrew Brunson, 50, an American citizen falsely arrested in October 2016 in the post-coup sweep of Turkish “dissidents.”
Sandra Jolley, vice chair of the commission described the proceeding as follows: “Today’s eleven hours of proceedings were dominated by wild conspiracies, tortured logic, and secret witnesses, but no real evidence to speak of. Upon these rests a man’s life. Worse still, the judge’s decision at the conclusion of today’s hearing to dismiss all of the witnesses called by Pastor Brunson’s defense without listening to a single minute of their testimony is simply unconscionable.”
The hearing was then postponed to July 18.
Brunson lived and worked in Turkey for the past 22 years leading a small Protestant church. He was held without charges until March 2018 when he was indicted for “spying” and “insurgency” against the government and membership in an unnamed terror organization.
Turkish prosecutors are seeking a 35-year prison term.
The organization was later named as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a group accused of being behind the July 2016 coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. FETO is part of the network of Erdogan’s arch rival Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic cleric living in the U.S. The indictment named a secret witness who said Brunson was also aiding the PKK, a Kurdish terror group, and was agitating for an independent Kurdistan.
The charges, which the U.S. believes are false, come within the context of sweeping arrests and similar charges of tens of thousands of Turkish judges, police officers, soldiers, university professors, civil servants and more in Erdogan’s post-coup crackdown against perceived dissidents.
In Brunson’s case, Erdogan appears to be holding the pastor as leverage in exchange for Gulen. Last September, Erdogan said, “They want a pastor from us, you have a pastor, too. Extradite him so that we can prosecute him.”
Last October, Jolley, along with fellow USCIRF vice chair Kristina Arriaga, were allowed to see Brunson in the Kiriklar Prison near Izmir. To date, they have been the only Americans allowed to see the pastor besides family members and embassy officials.
After the visit, Jolley and Arriaga wrote, “Since his imprisonment [the pastor] he has lost over 50 pounds. What happened … was an almost surreal hour of discussion with a man still in shock at what had happened to him. How could a NATO ally do this to an American citizen? How could this happen in a country where he had spent more than two decades of his life helping people? What were the charges against him? When might he get a trial? If convicted, will he be in jail for the rest of his life?
“Brunson asked us these questions because the only thing certain about his life is the four walls that surround him and define the limits of his world. He eats, sleeps and lives in that cell, and is allowed only to leave it once a week for a scheduled visit with his wife or a consular officer. Most of these visits are conducted in a room divided by a Plexiglas wall. He has had no due process.”



5 Reasons Why ISIS Just Targeted Paris
Home > World > France > 5 Reasons Why ISIS Just Targeted Paris
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Sunday, May 13, 2018 
Police at the site of an ISIS-claimed stabbing attack near the main opera house in Paris (Photo: THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
ISIS claimed responsibility for a stabbing near the main Paris opera house in that left one person dead and four wounded.
The 21-year-old attacker yelled “Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)” during the knife attack, which was later claimed on an ISIS’s propaganda site.
Police who arrived on the scene first tried to subdue the man with a taser but when that proved ineffective, he was shot and killed. He was identified as a native of Chechnya. His parents were taken into custody.
Why does ISIS specifically target Paris? Perhaps the best answer to this question is because they can. Here are five reasons why:

1.  Paris represents the heart of Europe
Targeting the trendy, tourist-laden district of the Paris opera house, located in the second arrondissement just short distance from the Louvre, offers the group the maximum amount of payback on its modus operandi: striking terror into the hearts of infidels. What better place to show that, even with its defeats in Iraq and Syria, the group is still a relevant player in the war to create a global caliphate?

2. Easy to run, easy to hide
As we saw during the investigation into the Paris massacres by ISIS in November 2015, the amount of support the terror group enjoys in the heavily-weighted Islamist suburbs of Paris makes it relatively easy for them to plan and carry out an attack in the city. Operators can move freely, while finding plenty of people willing to hide them when necessary.
MORE ttps://clarionproject.org/5-reasons-isis-just-targeted-paris/


Leaked Report Exposes Hate Teaching at Mosques
Home > World > Belgium > Leaked Report Exposes Hate Teaching at Mosques
BY CLARION PROJECT Sunday, May 13, 2018 
A leaked confidential report by Belgium’s Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (OCAM) found teaching manuals used in mosques promote anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews and call for the persecution of homosexuals.
INFORGRAPH
MORE https://clarionproject.org/leaked-report-exposed-hate-teaching-mosques/



Poll Results: US, Iran and the Nuclear Deal
Home > Political Islam > In the US > Government > Poll Results: US, Iran and the Nuclear Deal
BY CLARION PROJECT Sunday, May 13, 2018 
US President Donald Trump announces his decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on May 8, 2018. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In light of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s announcement that the U.S. would be pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement and renewing sanctions against the Islamic Republic, we asked you, our readers, what you thought the effect of the president’s decision would be.

41.9 percent said the decision would limit Iran’s ability to be a threat to the U.S. and its allies
9.9 percent said the decision would make Iran more determined to develop nuclear weapons
42.7 percent said both of the above
5.5 percent said neither of the above
 
Here are some of your comments:
The NPT already forbids Iran nukes: this “deal” gave us nothing but Iran billions and legitimacy.

Since JCPOA does not permit inspection of military sites, it is absurd to accept that Iran is not building nuclear weapons. If today the Islamic dictators of Iran gives missiles to Houthis to fire all over the Middle East, who is to say that they will not use nuclear weapons.
Iran cannot be even more determined to develop nuclear weapons. So, the second choice above is not applicable.
Iran never stopped doing anything because of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Obama gave them billions to continue their programs in secret. Nothing will change now that Pres Trump has pulled out of the “deal.”
Iran will never stop trying to create nuclear weapons so that is not the issue. Trump is a hero for his stances and acting upon moral integrity in a pursuit for actual PEACE. The left does nothing more than placate anyone and fears any real stances that make a statement of right and wrong. The Iranian Regime is dangerous to the world in every sense and Trump is giving the Iranian people at chance at life if he can get this wicked regime overthrown.
Iran is a bully and shows its cowardice when faced with true force.
For Iran’s theocracy, getting the ultimate destructive weapon and expanding their sphere of power are a matter of policy and destiny.
You cannot appease governments like Iran. You must deal through strength. Bill Clinton and Obama appeased NK and Iran and you see the mess we are in with both countries.
President Trump made a historically correct decision but the Iranian people must also take action to get their country back.
They will try to minimize the effects by working with other nations. Trump will need to get allies to stand with us.
Appeasement only feeds aggression. I salute President Trump.
Obama has already given Iran tons of cash. Iran will use the money to pursue its dream of Shia-led Islamic world domination.
The “West” played stupid long enough, time to set the record straight and face and deal with reality and facts.
Sometimes moral courage and intellectual honesty come together to be compelling, and I think this is one of those cases. Kudos to Trump.
Not sure how much more determined because they were pretty determined to develop nuclear weapons. They can be determined as much as they want but in the end the sanctions will force them to the table or face serious uprisings from their citizens.
If we don’t stand up to genocidal regimes who have explicitly threatened us & our allies with “death” we embolden them to attack & kill us.
Trump’s decision was stupid. The U.S. signed an agreement and now backs out.
How brave President Trump is. Finally we have a leader.
President Trump has shown great courage in the face of such vitriolic opinion and political foolishness. He is a man of his word and a breath of fresh air for human rights.
We finally engage with Iran after 30+ years and try to bring them back into the international fold and stop them developing nuclear weapons and Trump does his best to force them into developing nuclear weapons again. Unbelievable.

Have You Seen the Teaser for Our New Film?
Home > Human Rights > Human Rights Violators > Child Abuse > Have You Seen the Teaser for Our New Film?
BY CLARION PROJECT Wednesday, May 9, 2018 
Clarion’s new film Jihad Generation will be unveiled in a few months and you can learn more about it here. Right now, you can also take a sneak peek:

 WATCH 
Jihad Generation Film: Teaser Promo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=FQTF42mW1qQ&ab_channel=ClarionProject