THE CLARION PROJECT

WHAT ISIS & AL-QAEDA WANT TO DO ON ELECTION DAY
Terrorists have threatened to attack the polls. Whoever you’re voting for, making your democratic choice heard is a stand against terrorism
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Mon, November 7, 2016
Both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are reportedly plotting terrorist attacks on the eve of the election. Successfully carrying out a major attack on American soil on or just before Election Day would be a major propaganda coup for both groups which are currently ailing.
U.S. intelligence discovered a possible al-Qaeda terrorist plot aimed for November 7.
U.S. authorities are taking the threats seriously. This attack is threatened against New York, Texas and Virginia. Police are looking for men who may have information about the alleged plot in New York State but stressed those they are looking for are not suspects.  
Meanwhile, the FBI is questioning Muslim individuals in Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas to try to find out information about the possible attacks, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Not to be outdone, the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) called on its supporters to carry out attacks on Election Day itself in a long-winded, seven-page manifesto distributed on social media.
The manifesto, entitled The Murtadd Vote (The Apostate Vote) called on Muslims to either boycott the election or carry out terrorist attacks (preferably both). The group said they “have come to slaughter you and smash your ballot boxes.”
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/what-isis-al-qaeda-want-do-election-day

20 Islamists Found Infiltrating German Army
A further 60 individuals are being investigated by the government which will introduce security checks next year.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Sun, November 6, 2016
At least 20 Islamists successfully infiltrated the German army and more may yet be uncovered, according to an investigation by Germany’s military counter-espionage service (MAD). The news was reported on November 5 by Funke Mediengruppe, according to Deutsche Welle.
A spokesperson for MAD said 60 additional individuals in the Bundeswehr were under investigation for suspected Islamist links. He said the army was contacted by a suspicious number of individuals seeking to join the army for a few months just to receive weapons training.
In response to the revelations, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen proposed legislation to empower the army to carry out security checks prior to recruiting soldiers. At present, such inquiries are only conducted after recruitment, although recruits do undergo a criminal background check and the army is allowed to access police records.
If the Reichstag passes the law, the army may end up conducting an additional 20,000 security checks per year.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/20-islamists-found-infiltrating-german-army


ARIZONA TEEN GETS EIGHT YEARS FOR TERROR PLOT
The 18 year old was sentenced for a plot to carry out a bomb attack against a DMV office in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sun, November 6, 2016
Mahin Khan, 18, of Tucson, Arizona, plotted to carry out a terror attack against a Motor Vehicle Division office in Phoenix. He agreed a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence.
He pleaded guilty to three felony charges of terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism and conspiracy to commit misconduct involving weapons. He received eight years in jail followed by a lifetime on probation.
Had the case gone to trial he could have faced life imprisonment.
His parents told the court their son suffered from developmental issues and autism and as a result had the developmental age of a 12 year old.
However, the FBI said he described himself as an “American jihadist” with loyalty to the Islamic State.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/arizona-teen-gets-eight-years-terror-plot




INDONESIAN ISLAMISTS DEMAND REMOVAL OF CHRISTIAN GOVERNOR
Tens of thousands of Islamists marched in Jakarta to demand the resignation of the Christian governor for alleged blasphemy.
Sun, November 6, 2016
As many as 200,000 Islamists marched on the presidential palace in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on November 4, demanding the resignation of Jakarta’s Christian Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who goes by his nickname Ahok.
Later, groups of protestors attacked police officers at the palace shrieking “kill Ahok” and “kill Ahok for insulting Islam.”
One person was killed and at least 160 Islamist protestors and 79 officers were injured in the clashes, as reported by CNN. Police detained and questioned 10 people, they said in a statement on November 5.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/indonesian-islamists-demand-removal-christian-governor

CLARION ISSUES PLEA TO CANADIAN GOV'T TO SAVE YAZIDIS
Clarion Project joined with the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and other partners in a press conference hosted by One Free World International.  
Clarion Project joined with the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and other partners in a press conference hosted by One Free World International.
BY CLARION PROJECT STAFF Thu, November 3, 2016
On November 3, Clarion Project joined with the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and other partners in a press conference hosted by One Free World International (OFWI).
The purpose of the conference was to speak about the ongoing Yazidi genocide in Iraq and call on Canada’s government to do more to protect the Yazidi people -- specifically through allowing them priority refugee status. 
Clarion project sent our legal analyst, Jennifer Breedon, to speak for the organization at the pres conference. “When a ‘genocide’ is declared, there is an international legal obligation to prevent and protect  the targets of the genocide.  In taking strategic steps to give priority refugee status to Yazidi victims in Iraq, Canada now has an opportunity to be the only government to fulfil this legal duty -- something the UN, EU and United States have failed to do despite their acknowledgement of an ongoing genocide,” said Breedon.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/clarion-issues-plea-canadian-govt-save-yazidis


JIHADIS BACK ON UK STREETS AS SPY BOSS WARNS OF NEW ATTACK
Hundreds of terrorists were released in the UK after serving their sentences. It was just revealed 12 terror plots were foiled since 2013.
Thu, November 3, 2016
Those released after serving their sentences include three men convicted for assisting in the 2005 7/7 bombings in London. (Photo: © Reuters) 
Hundreds of convicted terrorists who have served their prison sentences in the UK are now back on the streets without having attended deradicalization programs or renouncing their ideology, according to an investigation by Sky News.
Out of the 583 convicted of terrorism-related offenses since the 9/11 attacks, some three quarters (418) have now served their sentences and been released, the investigation found. However, of those released, two-thirds refused to engage with deradicalization programs in prison that sought to counter their radical views.
Those released include three men convicted of assisting in the 2005 7/7 bombings of the London Underground.
The news comes as senior police officers spoke out about their efforts to prevent jihadists from accessing illegal firearms.
"Despite our good work, we know that firearms can enter the criminal market through a variety of means, including thefts from legitimate holders or dealers," London’s Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism chief Mark Rowley told Russia Today (RT). 
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/jihadis-back-uk-streets-spy-boss-warns-new-attack



INDIAN PERSONAL LAW BOARD CLAIMS WOMEN SUPPORT SHARIA LAW
To combat opposition to triple talaq, a controversial divorce practice, the board has launched a campaign saying women find sharia law beneficial.  BY CODI ROBERTSON Tue, November 1, 2016
According to the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Muslim women in India feel secure under sharia law and do not want a Uniform Civil Code.  
This is an interesting claim given the opposition surrounding triple talaq – an Islamic law that allows husbands to divorce their wives by simply saying “I divorce you” three times.
Kamal Faruqui of AIMPLB stated, “It is not the personal law board or the women in it who are against the proposed Uniform Civil Code, but Muslim women in general in the country do not want it.  They feel safe and secure under the sharia law.”
But, evidence for the contrary exists in great quantity.  For example, currently triple talaq is the subject of a Supreme Court case in India. Several Muslim women’s organizations are seeking a ban on the law on the grounds that the law is discriminatory to women.
Of course, the AIMPLB is trying to fight this measure taken by those who oppose triple talaq and presumably, to some extent, sharia law.
To do this, the board has submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court stating that though triple talaq is “undesirable” it is “permissible” in Islam.
The board has also started a signature campaign in support of the practice.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/indian-personal-law-board-claims-women-support-sharia-law  


PUTIN GIVES CITIZENS OF ALEPPO 10-HOUR TRUCE TO LEAVE CITY
Meanwhile, self-styled calif of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on his followers to remain steadfast and stay on the battlefield. Thu, November 3, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the citizens and rebels left in Aleppo a 10-hour window on Friday to escape. The Guardian reported the 9 am-7 pm truce, called by the Russians a “humanitarian pause,” will allow citizens and anti-regime fighters to leave the rebel-held eastern part of the city, which has been the site of a siege and a massive bombing campaign that has all but destroyed the once-thriving city.
In a statement, Russia’s chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov, announced eight corridors – six for civilians and two for rebel fighters -- had been created for escape.
The Russian bombing of Aleppo stopped 16 days ago amid worldwide condemnation of the campaign that resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths and the destruction of infrastructure, including hospitals.
The truce comes with the presumption that the bombing will begin anew Friday night.
Meanwhile, self-styled caliph of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on his followers to remain steadfast and stay on the battlefield, reported Vox.
The 30-minute audio recording – the first direct communication from Baghdadi in almost a year – comes as coalition forces have broken through to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, the Islamic State’s stronghold in Iraq’s Nineveh province.
“To all the people of Nineveh, especially the fighters, beware of any weakness in facing your enemy.” “Do not retreat…Holding your ground with honor is a thousand times easier than retreating in shame,” he says.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/putin-gives-citizens-aleppo-10-hour-truce-leave-city

YEMEN AND AFGHANISTAN FACE FAMINE & CATASTROPHE
The brutal civil war has led to the majority of Yemen’s already impoverished population facing famine, with similar chaos in Afghanistan.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Thu, November 3, 2016
Up to 80% of Yemen’s population, 21 million people, is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and the country is on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
“The drawn out nature of Yemen’s conflict is having a devastating effect on public institutions, which are increasingly unable to provide basic social services,” Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council on Yemen.
“A quarter of the population depends on those employed on the public payroll. Yet paychecks are coming with less regularity and the ability to withdraw cash is disappearing amidst a liquidity crisis. This is a foreshadowing of the impending collapse of Yemen’s economy, already desperately poor as well as hollowed out by corruption.
“The Central Bank has unilaterally been moved to Aden. Humanitarians do not have the capacity or the resources to provide services to a population of 26 million Yemenis. Our joint appeal is less than half funded.”
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/yemen-and-afghanistan-face-famine-catastrophe

Judge Berates Obama Admin for So Few Christian Refugees
While the administration has exceed by almost 1,000 its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrians during the 2016 fiscal year, only 56 were Christian. Tue, November 1, 2016
A Christian girl from Iraq takes refuge from the Islamic State in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan (Photo: © Getty Images)
In the course of a trial concerning a related issue, a federal judge chastised the Obama administration for allowing in to the U.S. such a small number of Christian refugees from war-torn Syria, as reported by The Daily Signal.
While the administration exceeded by almost 1,000 its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrians to the U.S. (during the 2016 fiscal year), only 56 were Christian.
“To date, there has not been a good explanation for this perplexing discrepancy,” wrote Judge Daniel Manion.
“It is well‐documented that refugees to the United States are not representative of that war‐torn area of the world. Perhaps 10 percent of the population of Syria is Christian, and yet less than one‐half of one percent of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States this year are Christian,” he added.
Thus, he concluded, we “remain in the dark as a humanitarian catastrophe continues.” 
In addition, Manion pointed out that while the Obama administration demanded a high-level of evidence from states objecting to the resettling of refugees due to security concerns, it kept that information secret from those states.
In addition, the government is not forthright about telling the public or individual states what steps are taken to ensure terrorists are not posing as refugees with the goal of infiltrating the U.S.
Between a half- and one-million Syrian Christian have left the country since the outbreak of the war that has seen their communities targeted for genocide by the Islamic State (ISI/ISIL) and other radical Islamist groups.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/judge-berates-obama-admin-so-few-christian-refugees



WHAT KIND OF MARRIAGE CAN EXIST WITH A NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL?
As police in Canada investigate a flyer depicting the deflowering of Aisha, imams defend the marriage of a 9-year-old girl to a 50-year-old man.
Police in Canada are investigating the distribution of flyers depicting the prophet of Islam, Mohammed, taking the virginity of his nine-year-old wife Aisha as a hate crime, as reported by CIJ News.
The flyer is one of a series of four, which were put in mailboxes in Edmonton, Alberta and could be categorized as an “anti-Islam bias crime.”
The news outlet was told by the government’s prosecutor that the flyer in question met the criteria of a hate crime because of its pornographic content, among other reasons.
Yet, as CIJ points out, Canadian Muslim scholar Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, an imam and the chancellor of the Islamic Online University says, “If a Muslim man in his 50s, even today, wanted to marry a young woman who was 9 or 10, she reached puberty, it is legitimate,” he said.
In a lecture given a few years ago (see video below) Philips explains that unlike European countries that he says set many different ages from 12-18 as legitimate for a girl to marry, Islam holds that the “dividing line” is puberty. 
However, a look at the legal age of marriage for girls from the countries he mentions – France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain – shows that every country sets the age of 18, allowing girls between 16-17 to marry only with the consent of a court and, in most cases, both of her parents.
Philips argues when Mohammed married Aisha, a person who lived until 35 was considered to have reached old age.  Girls matured earlier and were primed for marriage at young ages.
“So where today you can find a woman in her 20s studying in University, she still does not how to cook, she can’t iron, you know, she’s basically a baby, so going to university, I mean, there is something in those days that is inconceivable,” he concedes.
Still, he argues that once a woman has begun to menstruate, she is a legitimate candidate for marriage.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/what-kind-marriage-can-exist-nine-year-old-girl




CALIFORNIANS ARRESTED FOR PLOT TO SMUGGLE WEAPONS TO IRAN
Two men were charged with plotting to smuggle $3.6 million worth of crucial jet fighter parts to Iran.
A multimillion dollar plot to illegally export crucial jet fighter parts to Iran has been uncovered following the arrest of two Californian men.
Zavik Zargarian, 52, of Glendale, California, and Vache Nayirian, 57, were arrested on Wednesday last week. The men are suspected of arranging to smuggle parts  from F-14, F-15, F-16 and F-18 fighter jets. They have also been charged with trying to smuggle fluorocarbon o-rings, which have a variety of uses including in fighter jets.
Zargarian’s company,  ZNC Engineering, is also listed as a defendant, along with two Iranian nationals Hanri Terminassian, 55, and Hormoz Nowrouz, 56, who are thought to be in Iran.
"The crimes charged in this indictment are very serious threats to our national security," said U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker, for the Central District of California said in a statement. "As a nation it is vital that we protect our military technology and prevent it from getting into the hands of other countries without proper authorization."
According to a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday, Zargarian was contacted by Terminassian who tried to purchase the jet parts. Zargarian then placed an order for the parts with an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations.  Terminassian also flew out to the states to meet Terminassian and the agent to discuss the deal.
Terminassian also negotiated to purchase the fluorocarbon o-rings.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/californians-arrested-plot-smuggle-weapons-iran




UPDATE: NEW MUSLIM CHAPLAIN OK'S CHILD MARRIAGE UNDER SHARIA
Toronto police department’s new Muslim chaplain holds rather archaic and sexist views when it comes to the role of women & children.
Update: It has also become known that Musleh Khan, newly appointed as a Muslim police chaplain in Toronto defended child marriage under an Islamic system. CIJ news reports that while commenting on Mohammed’s relationship with his wife Aisha, whom he asserts was nine years old at the time of their marriage, Khan spoke in favor of such a marriage. 
In a lecture given to the Muslim Students Association at the University of Saskatchewan in 2014, Khan praised Mohammed’s relationship with Aisha as that of a model husband, saying, “Aisha, she was young. So she didn’t really understand what marriage, what it took for a woman to be in a marriage. She didn’t really understand the maturity or the responsibility of being in a marriage.
“So why is that important? Because what this should indicate -- that one party, so in this case it’s the husband. The husband’s got to be somebody that’s very tolerant , and he’s got to have wisdom. He’s got to have wisdom and how to speak to a person like this. How to build a relationship with an individual like this.”
In a question and answer session in a mosque in Ontario in 2015, Khan responded to a question asking why it was acceptable to marry a nine-year old by saying that different countries set the age of consent differently, and there is no universally accepted age of consent.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/toronto-pd%E2%80%99s-muslim-chaplain-wives-must-be-available-sex  



SPINACH CAN NOW BE USED TO DETECT EXPLOSIVES
The MIT project was funded by the US military who reportedly hope to use the plants to detect explosives by planting them at key locations.
Scientists at MIT have successfully bioengineered spinach to wilt if explosive material is detected in groundwater, according to a paper put out in the prestigious Journal of Nature Materials.
The research paper is titled “Nitroaromatic detection and infrared communication from wild-type plants using plant nanobionics.”
“Here, we demonstrate that living spinach plants (Spinacia oleracea) can be engineered to serve as self-powered pre-concentrators and autosamplers of analytes in ambient groundwater and as infrared communication platforms that can send information to a smartphone,” the paper’s authors said their introduction.
As the plant absorbs water from the ground it will also absorb the explosive material. Thanks to deliberately created adaptations in the plant’s leaves, the plant will wilt in response to the presence of the explosive compounds.
Fixed sensors nearby will monitor the spinach using infrared technology and will pick up on the change in the plant.  
The project was funded by DARPA, the body of the U.S. military in charge of research and development. It has an annual budget of nearly $3 billion and funds a vast array of different technologies that either have or could potentially have military application.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/toronto-pd%E2%80%99s-muslim-chaplain-wives-must-be-available-sex



FORCED CONVERSIONS OF CHRISTIANS IN GAZA
Local authorities have abandoned the tiny minority to Islamists who have 'placed great and continuous pressure' on the Christians.
By Raymond Ibrahim
The plight of Christian living in Gaza under Hamas continues to worsen. According to a new Arabic language report, recent years have “witnessed a critical upsurge against the Christians,” who only amount to approximately 2,500 people—surrounded by approximately 1.5 million Muslims.
Local authorities have abandoned the tiny minority to Islamist elements who have “placed great and continuous pressure” on the Christians.
“At times we hear of the bombing of a Christian bookshop and assaults on churches and other Christian institutions; other times we hear of the kidnapping of Christians and the coercion of them to embrace the religion of Muhammad,” says the report.
In mid-October, Christians in Gaza led a protest, calling for the return of their kidnapped children and loved ones. They held up signs saying, “I am a Christian and boast of my cross.”
Bishop Alexios of the region “confirmed that the Christians who converted to Islam did so under threats, coercion, compulsion and force.” His church also submitted a formal petition to the governor of the region, Ismail Haniyeh, calling on him to investigate matters but received no response.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/news/forced-conversion-christians-gaza



REFUGEE CENTER IN GERMANY PLACED NEAR RADICAL MOSQUE
The location is especially concerning after revelations that many Syrian refugees find mosques in Germany too extreme for their tas
An asylum home in the Enkheim district of Frankfurt has drawn criticism in German media for its placement near a mosque with known radical ties, reported Breitbart.
The Abu Hanifa mosque is frequented by Muslim asylum seekers housed in the Enkheim facility, which has 74 male residents, 14 of whom are minors. Most are Muslim. The mosque also serves as an Afghan cultural center.
But according to the state security police force in Frankfurt, the mosque is used by recruiters for the Islamic State terrorist organization.
The mosque is headed by Imam Said Khobaib Sadat, who in 2007 was connected to the arrest of three men who plotted to carry out a bombing attack. Police in Frankfurt also allegedly found the contact information of ISIS members on his daughter’s cellphone.
An investigation into the mosque is reportedly ongoing.
So why place an asylum seekers center near a potentially radical mosque? Whether accidental or deliberate, the security lapse still occurred. Why not provide the asylum seekers with access to clergy who are known to promote tolerant and inclusive forms of Islam?
MORE  https://outlook.live.com/owa/?id=64855&path=/mail/inbox/rp



WE WILL ASSASSINATE ENEMIES OF THE REPUBLIC ABROAD: IRAN
'All the world must know that soon Revolutionary Guards forces will be formed in the U.S. and Europe.'-- Commander of Iran's Rev. Guards Corps
Speaking at a ceremony in Nahavand Mosalla, Salar Abnoush, vice coordinator of the Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC), declared that "soon the IRGC will be formed in Europe and the United States."
"The Islamic Republic Guards Corps in various cultural, construction fronts have brought the enemy to their knees” the Times of Israel Persian language edition quotes Abnoush as saying. “This includes the construction of the world's largest refinery and construction of the world’s largest tunnels – both are a big successes. So all the world must know that soon Revolutionary Guards forces will be formed in the U.S. and Europe.”
The declaration was echoed by Brigadier General Hossein Salami, Iran's deputy commander of IRGC said, while speaking at a government ceremony in Urmia. Addressing his comments specifically to members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, Salami said, “They should not try us again twice because our armed forces proved [they were capable of] this for years, and the enemy suffered heavy losses by the children of this umma (Islamic nation) outside of Iran.”
Salami accused those who oppose the Iranian regime of being the agents of countries of the region (i.e. Saudi Arabia) and Israel, saying "enemies are seeking to overthrow the system and we have to defeat the enemy using the ‘great jihad’ to confront and fight the infidels.”
MORE  https://outlook.live.com/owa/?id=64855&path=/mail/inbox/rp

TORONTO PD’S MUSLIM CHAPLAIN: WIVES MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR SEX
The city police department’s new chaplain to its Muslim officers holds rather archaic and sexist views when it comes to the role of women
The Toronto police department has appointed a new chaplain to service its Muslim officers. 
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Mon, October 31, 2016
As reported by CIJ News, Musleh Khan was born in Medina, Saudi Arabia but raised in Toronto. He obtained a BA in Islamic Law from the Islamic University in Madinah in Saudi Arabia.
The chaplain not only helps Muslim police officers but also serves as a community chaplain. “If they ever are confused about certain behaviors or rhetoric thrown out on behalf of Islam, I’d like for them to have someone authentic, that has studied the religion and can say, ‘Hey, I can explain this to you’,” Khan says.
The police department says Khan’s goal is to provide support and bridge gaps. Yet, there is one gap not being addressed:  the gap between men and women inherent in his teachings – and that of “authentic Islam,” as he claims
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/toronto-pd%E2%80%99s-muslim-chaplain-wives-must-be-available-sex


US TELLS FAMILIES OF CONSULATE STAFF IN ISTANBUL TO LEAVE
Not for the first time, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Turkey in light of growing fears of terrorism in the country.
The United State issued a travel warning for Turkey on October 29, including ordering families of consulate staff in Istanbul to leave.
“The Department of State made this decision based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent,” read a State Department release.
Terror attacks are frequent in Turkey in the restive east where Kurdish fighters battle the army and where ISIS recruits attempt to enter Syria but also in the major cities and first among them Istanbul.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/us-tells-families-consulate-staff-istanbul-leave


COUNTING THE COST – CHURCHES, DOLLARS & LIVES
More than 800 dead, 100 churches destroyed in Nigeria in 2.5 years – with the damage to the economy estimated at some $9 billion.
As you sit in the comfort of your chair reading this item on a PC, tablet, phone or in print, please stop for a moment and think of those who face terrorism on daily basis.
Think of those in rural villages in Africa with little to no resources. Children may have to walk or run for miles each day to and from school. In some places water may still be drawn from a well.
Stop and think for a moment.
Only the chirping of crickets disturbs the silence of the night when suddenly Dante’s images of hell are brought into sharp relief. Several jeeps enter the village. The voices of men screaming instructions. Machine gun fire in every direction. Some women are taken as prisoners. Tires of jeeps squeal into the distance. They leave behind blood. Blood everywhere. Lifeless. Then, only the chirping of crickets disturbs the silence.
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/counting-cost-%E2%80%93-churches-dollars-lives


IRAN ARRESTS WOMAN FOR UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
The systematic abuse of human rights in every possible way in Iran should be at the top of the agenda of every civilized nation in the world.
Iranian authorities broke down the door of the apartment of Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and took her to serve a six-year prison sentence for writing a manuscript for a novel about a woman who was stoned for adultery.
The manuscript was never published, but Iraee, 35, nevertheless was charged with and convicted of “insulting religious sanctities” and “propaganda against the state.”  In the story, the protagonist becomes so enraged at the sentencing of a woman to stoning for adultery that he or she burns a copy of the Quran.
Iraee is the wife of human rights activist Arash Sadeghi, 36, who is serving a 19-year prison sentence for participating in the Green Revolution protests of 2009 that surrounded the disputed presidential elections.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/iran-arrests-woman-unpublished-manuscript


CHRISTIAN MAN GUNNED DOWN FOR SELLING ALCOHOL
Following the passage of a bill by the Iraqi parliament banning alcohol, two unidentified gunmen opened fire on a Christian proprietor.
A Christian man in Iraq was murdered Nizar Elias Musa (Photo: Courtesy)
Nizar Elias Musa (Photo: Courtesy)
apparently for selling alcohol.  On October 22, the Iraqi parliament passed a law banning the import, sale and production of all alcoholic beverages.
Nizar Elias Musa, a Christian man in Basra who owned a liquor store as well as a restaurant that sells alcohol, was killed when two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire in front of his restaurant, as reported by BasNews.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/christian-man-gunned-down-selling-alcohol-0


IS ISIS ACID-RAIN CLOUD HEADED FOR TURKISH TOURISM HOTSPOTS?
Acid rain could pour down in Turkey after ISIS set fire to the Middle East’s largest sulphur plant. Meteorologists say risk is low.
Media – British in particular – is reporting concern over acid rain possibly falling on major tourism areas in Turkey. The warnings followed news that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) torched the largest sulphur plant in the Middle East, which is located close to Mosul in Iraq.
Hundreds of Iraqis were injured as a result of the ISIS attack:
 MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/isis-acid-rain-cloud-headed-turkish-tourism-hotspots


TWO FORMER YAZIDI SEX SLAVES AWARDED EU HUMAN RIGHT PRIZE
The award is a good first step in keeping in the public eye the plight of the estimated 3,000 Yazidi women and girls still in captivity.
Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, two young Yazidi women who were abducted and forced into sex slavery by the Islamic State, were awarded the European Union’s Sakharov human rights prize.
Both suffered indescribable torture at the hands of their terrorist captors as they were bought and sold several times. Both managed to escape. They have since become vocal advocates for the estimated 3,000 Yazidi women and girls remain in captivity.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/two-former-yazidi-sex-slaves-awarded-eu-human-right-prize


THE CHANGING FACE OF GERMANY: INFILTRATION BY ISIS OPERATIVES
Recent incidents point to a country struggling to come to grips with a new Islamist reality on the ground
1)  A 19-year-old operative from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has been charged in a terrorism case. German prosecutors say Shaas al-M. (who cannot be identified further due to his age) joined the Islamic State at age 16 while he was still in Syria.
After undergoing military training and working for the organization as a guard, prosecutors say he offered to come to Germany to carry out an attack and facilitate other members of the terror group to carry out an attack.
Shaas al-M. left for Germany in mid-2015. He had allegedly already scouted out sites in Berlin for an attack when arrested. He was formally charged last week with membership in a terrorist organization and breaking arms control laws.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/changing-face-germany-infiltration-isis-operatives

Obama's White House Kept List of Muslims For Top Jobs
This sort of short listing is common where government offices have to be filled around the world and for many different groups.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Wed, October 26, 2016
The Obama administration collected lists of Muslim candidates for jobs in the Obama administration, according to previously unseen emails sent to the chair of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign John Podesta and released by Wikileaks. Podesta was also a former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton.
Dating from 2008, the email refers to a list of Muslim leaders vetted for top jobs within the administration (it does not provide the list). The author, Preeta Bansal, adds three points by way of explanation, the first of which is as follows:
“In the candidates for top jobs, I excluded those with some Arab American background but who are not Muslim (e.g., George Mitchell). Many Lebanese Americans, for example, are Christian. In the last list (of outside boards/commissions), most who are listed appear to be Muslim American, except that a handful (where noted) may be Arab American but of uncertain religion (esp. Christian).”
You can read the full email here.
This paragraph has drawn the ire of commentators who see this as evidence that Obama’s White House was deliberately excluding Christians from senior positions. While that does seem to have been the case where this list is concerned, we do not know who, if anyone, was hired on the basis of this list.
https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/obama-kept-list-muslims-top-jobs



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DROPS COUNTER-EXTREMISM SCHEME
A federal scheme to establish counseling teams to engage with youths at risk of radicalization was dropped after objections from Muslim groups BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Tue, October 25, 2016
An FBI-led program to establish “shared responsibility committees” to intervene at an early stage to prevent or counteract radicalization was canceled, according to USA Today. The committees would have included mental health workers, clergy and counselors in local communities.
Several pilot schemes were reportedly set up in New Jersey and several selected cities to provide support and rehabilitation for those at risk. The committees would provide psychiatric care, help deal with family or anger issues and other considerations not requiring a law-enforcement response.
Yet Muslim civil society leaders pushed back against the scheme, saying it risked discrediting the community leaders involved, thus alienating them from the very people they would need to talk to for the scheme to work.
“So many concerns were raised about how this would be structured and how would this play out and what would this look like,” Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute told media. “The answers were not very good.”
MORE An FBI-led program to establish “shared responsibility committees” to intervene at an early stage to prevent or counteract radicalization was canceled, according to USA Today. The committees would have included mental health workers, clergy and counselors in local communities.
Several pilot schemes were reportedly set up in New Jersey and several selected cities to provide support and rehabilitation for those at risk. The committees would provide psychiatric care, help deal with family or anger issues and other considerations not requiring a law-enforcement response.
Yet Muslim civil society leaders pushed back against the scheme, saying it risked discrediting the community leaders involved, thus alienating them from the very people they would need to talk to for the scheme to work.
“So many concerns were raised about how this would be structured and how would this play out and what would this look like,” Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute told media. “The answers were not very good.”


FATHER PARDONS SELF FOR HONOR KILLING DAUGHTER; SET FREE
A new law in Pakistan mandates a life sentence for honor killing, but the accused -- with the consent of the judge --was able make use of a loophole
Wed, October 26, 2016 
A father who murdered his daughter in an honor killing in Pakistan has pardoned himself and his accomplices and been acquitted by a court due to a legal loophole.
Faqeer Muhammad, his son and a nephew murdered his daughter, Kiran Bibi, and her alleged loved, Ghulam Abbas “to save the family’s honor” in 2014.
Abbas’ mother, Azmat Bibi, pressed charges against the three murders, but later she requested that the charges be registered as a “compoundable” offense. A compoundable offense is a legal status that allows the complainant to enter into a compromise and agree to have the charges dropped against the accused.
The court agreed that the charges would be registered as a compoundable after Azmat and her son pardoned the accused, saying they did not object to an acquittal, and waived their rights to qisas (retribution) and diyat (blood money).
It is unknown whether or not Azmat and her son were coerced into making such a request to the court.
As the legal heirs to their daughter, Faqeer and his wife also stated to the court that they “forgave the accused.”
Subsequently, the judge ruled that the charges had become “groundless” and that since “there is no chance of conviction at all,” he acquitted the accused.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/father-pardons-self-honor-killing-daughter-set-free



CATHOLICS IN SYRIA PLEAD TO US: STOP SUPPORTING REBELS
Fear mounts that the US does not understand the rebels' political agenda to establish a fundamentalist Islamist state in post-war Syria.
Wed, October 26, 2016
A number of Catholic leaders in Syria issued a statement pleading with the U.S. and other Western governments to stop supporting rebel groups.
Published in Catholic World Report, the statement, attributed to Archbishop Jean Clement, the Melike Catholic leader in Aleppo, read: “Please help us to pull our country back from the abyss of the fundamentalist regime in which they are trying to immerse us.
“Just stop selling arms to the terrorists,” begged Father Mtanios Haddad, a Melkite now serving in Rome. Haddad said three crucial actions are needed:
Stopping the flow of arms from the U.S. to the terrorists
Stopping the flow of money from Saudi Arabia which funds the terrorists
Closing the border with Turkey through which the terrorists reach Syria.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/catholic-syria-plead-us-stop-supporting-rebels



IRAN POISED TO INCREASE INFLUENCE PEDDLING ON AMERICAN COLLEGES
Given US universities' history of welcoming Islamist funding and operatives, stopping this before it further metastasizes is imperative.
BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ Thu, October 27, 2016
The American academy, which has revealed itself to be markedly susceptible to the intrigues of the Saudi-based radical Wahhabi sect and the Muslim Brotherhood, now faces the challenge of an Iranian radical presence.
Since 2014, admission of Iranian students to U.S. colleges has been permitted by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Iran has yet to flood the U.S. with its own professors.
Nevertheless, there are indications that an Iranian wave may soon hit the American academic community. A network of apologists for the Iranian clerical regime already exists within the Middle East studies departments of American educational institutions.
How much will this attitude grow in light of the Obama administration's turn toward Tehran?
Three recent examples of IranianEbrahim Mohseni (L) and Seyed Mohammad Marandi
Ebrahim Mohseni (L) and Seyed Mohammad Marandi
ideological functionaries 
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/iran-poised-increase-influence-peddling-american-colleges



INTERVIEWS GIVE INSIGHT INTO ISLAMIC STATE’S MISOGYNISTIC VIEWS
New interviews aim to try to gain some understanding as to why ISIS members view women as holding a lower status.
BY CODI ROBERTSON Wed, October 26, 2016
By now it probably comes as no surprise that Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) members are not interested in treating women who are outside their particular “faith” as fellow humans, let alone equals.  
But this kind of treatment does not end there.  It is also true of the female members of ISIS.  Recent interviews conducted by journalist Sulome Anderson shed light on just how exactly ISIS members view women and what the experience is like of those women who are captured by them.
An ISIS member interviewed by Anderson who currently sits in prison in Kirkuk, Iraq said of his wife, “My wife completely covered her body and face and never left the house without me…She is forbidden from going anywhere without me.”
He told Anderson that his wife was supposed to meet him in Kirkuk, where he was meant to join a sleeper cell, but he was arrested.  Now, having been incarcerated for more than four months, she is likely married to someone else – something that is allowed by Islamic law (sharia) as interpreted by ISIS.
But he doesn’t stop there.  When asked how his wife may feel about this, he stated, “[My wife] is just a woman, like every other woman…Women exist to be married and have children. In jihad, feelings do not matter. Women survive; they do not live.”
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/interviews-give-insight-islamic-state%E2%80%99s-misogynistic-views


MICHIGAN BROTHERS ARRESTED IN TUNISIA ON SUSPICION OF TERROR
In an unrelated incident, a Wisconsin man who tried to join ISIS in Syria pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to support to a terror group  Thu, October 27, 2016
Two brothers from Michigan, both recent converts to Islam, were arrested in Tunisia on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization.
One of the brothers was identified as Patrick Alan Lawwill.
The brothers, both in their 30s, had beards and dressed in traditional clothing. One was married to a Tunisian woman who was also arrested and both had come to Tunisia to study at the University of Jendouba two weeks prior to their arrest.
Authorities were alerted when the pair was noticed “behaving suspiciously.”  An investigation of their living quarters revealed items relation to Islamic extremism and jihad. However, no plans to make bombs were found, according to a source in the governor’s office.
Elsewhere, a Wisconsin man who was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in April 2015 admitted that he was aspiring to become a jihadi and was looking forward to spilling his blood “against the enemies of Allah.”
Joshua Van Haften had originally travelled to the Syrian border with plans to join the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). However, he ended up returning to the U.S. after being swindled by middlemen.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/michigan-brothers-arrested-tunisia-suspicion-terror-0

IRAN SENTENCES TWO AMERICANS TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman, and his 80-year-old father were arrested on spurious charges of espionage
 Tue, October 25, 2016
Iran sentenced two Iranian-Americans to 10 years in prison each on spurious charges of spying. Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer both dual Iranian-American citizens, follow a long list of dual nationals arrested by the Islamic Republic and held on trumped-up charges.
Siamak was arrested last September, just a short time after the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers was accepted by all parties. His father, a retired official with the United Nations, was arrested in February while visiting his son in jail.
Ironically, Siamak, a businessman, was connected to the National Iranian American Council, a pro-regime lobby group in Washington, D.C. He spoke out against U.S. sanctions on Iran and advocated for closer business ties between the countries.
READ MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/iran-sentences-two-americans-10-years-prison


Why the UNESCO Vote On the Temple Mount Matters
The UN body’s vote to deny the Jewish heritage of the Temple Mount is a key example of how Islamic supremacism is accepted politically.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Sun, October 23, 2016
The Western Wall in Jerusalem at the recent priestly blessing during the Jewish holiday of Succot. (Photo: Courtesy of the Israeli Air Unit)
On October 13, the UN’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted on a resolution which denied the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism where it is believed that the First and Second Temples once stood.
The site is also holy to Christianity and Islam. It is the third holiest site in Islam and Mohammed is said to have visited the city once in a dream.
Of those who voted, 24 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 26 abstained and 6 voted against.
The resolution condemned Israeli policies, but more controversially, only referred to the Temple Mount by its Islamic name (Haram al-Sharif). It also referred to the Western wall, the last remaining part of the Herodian Second Temple as the Buraq wall, saying that it’s only holy because Mohammed allegedly tied his horse there during his alleged visit to the city.
Despite affirming that the old city of Jerusalem is holy to the three monotheistic faiths (but not mentioning Judaism by name), the resolution makes it very clear whose religious claims the UN organization regard as superior and which inferior.
According to the text of the resolution, UNESCO “firmly deplores the continuous storming of the Al-Aqṣa Mosque/Al-Ḥaram AlSharif by Israeli right-wing extremists and uniformed forces."
READ MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/why-unesco-vote-temple-mount-matters


SUICIDE ATTACKERS KILL AT LEAST 59 POLICE CADETS IN PAKISTAN
Three terrorists affiliated with a Taliban splinter group stormed the police training academy in Quetta in the middle of the nigh
Tue, October 25, 2016
Pakistani commandos abseil from a helicopter. Illustrative picture. (Photo: © Getty Images)
At least 59 people were killed in a terrorist attack on a police training academy in Pakistan October 24. The attack took place in Quetta, a city in Balochistan province. An estimated 110 more were injured.
Three gunmen stormed the complex at 11:20 pm local time, killing two guards at the entrance before heading to the dormitories where 700 cadets were sleeping.
“They were carrying Kalashnikovs and firing blindly and throwing hand grenades,” police cadet Peer Jan Naeem, 23, who survived the attack told media. “No one was there to help us so we fell to the ground and hid beneath our beds.”
Two of the terrorists detonated their suicide vests, causing most of the casualties. The third was shot and killed before he could operate his device.
READ MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/suicide-attackers-kill-least-59-police-cadets-pakistan


POLICE CHECK ISLAMIST LINKS IN ATTEMPTED LONDON TUBE BOMBING
A 19-year old was arrested October 21 shortly after a homemade explosive device was found at a London Underground station
Tue, October 25, 2016
A 19-year-old man was arrested in London in connection with a home-made device found on a subway train. The device was discovered October 20 at the North Greenwich Underground station, causing temporary transport closures as police swooped in to investigate.
Police initially suspected it was intended as a bomb but later affirmed the device was not a viable explosive.
Damon Smith, suspected of placing the device, lived in South London and his home was searched by police officers. He had just started an IT (Information Technology) course at London’s Metropolitan University. He was known to mental health services prior to the incident.
Friends of Damon Smith told police he was interested in the Syrian conflict and recently began reading the Quran. He was also described as an online poker fan, who would regularly stay up until 4 am playing poker and a shy boy who was very close to his mother.
Officials are investigating the possibility that his actions were inspired by Islamist ideology.
READ MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/police-check-islamist-links-attempted-london-tube-bombing

TEACHERS UNION SLAMS FBI ANTI-EXTREMIST SITE AS ANTI-MUSLIM
The ‘Don’t Be A Puppet’ website has been slammed for unfairly singling out Muslims in the way it seeks to tackle radicalization.
One of the FBI’s flagship counter extremism programs has come under scrutiny by the American Federation of Teachers Union (AFT) and other lobby groups who have slammed it as unfairly singling out Muslims, according to the Wall Street Journal.
‘Don’t Be a Puppet’ is a website set up by the FBI which aims to draw people away from extremism by teaching them about different types of extremism and various atrocities that have been committed by terrorists in the past, including the 2001 Twin Towers attack (by Islamist terrorists) and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (by anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh).
The site talks about extremism in general rather than Islamist extremism in particular. It is arranged as a game that students can complete.  
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/teachers-union-slams-fbi-anti-extremist-site-anti-muslim



THE SAD ENDING TO ASIA BIBI: JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED
The decision to postpone the final hearing for a Christian woman set to be hanged on false blasphemy charges was a cowardly move by Pakistan. In June 2009, Bibi was out picking fruit in the fields. At midday she went to the nearest well, picked up a cup, took a drink of cool water and then offered it to another woman. Suddenly, one of her fellow workers cried out that the water belonged to Muslim women and that Bibi—who is Christian—had contaminated it.
“Blasphemy!” someone shouted, a crime punishableBibi wrote a book about her ordeal while in prison.
Bibi wrote a book about her ordeal while in prison.
by death in Pakistan. In that instant, with one word, Bibi’s life changed. First attacked by a mob, Bibi was then thrown into prison and later sentenced to be hanged. For the past seven years, Bibi has been held in appalling conditions. Her family members have had to flee their village under threat from vengeful extremists and the public figures who came to Bibi’s defense—the Muslim governor of the Punjab, Salman Taseer, and Pakistan’s Christian Minister for Minorities—were brutally murdered. In 2014, a Pakistani appeals court upheld the sentence of death by hanging for Bibi’s supposed crime of making derogatory statements about Mohammed, the founder of Islam (which she denies).
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/sad-ending-asia-bibi-justice-delayed-justice-denied
 

The Sad Ending to Asia Bibi: Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied
SENIOR ISIS JIHADIS MOVE WIVES OUT OF MOSUL
The operation was given a green light by 'Caliph' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to prevent them from being taken captive by Iraqi forces.
In preparation for the battle to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul, reports indicate that senior Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) fighters are trying to save their wives from being captured by Iraqi forces
A local source in the Nineveh Governorate who requested anonymity told Alsumaria News on Wednesday, October 19, "In the past two days, the city of Mosul has been cleared from ‘the women of the caliphate’ -- wives of the seniors of ISIS, especially the ones that carry Arab or foreign citizenships.
“They were moved to the Syrian cities under ISIS [control], including Al-Raqqah. The departure of ‘the women of the caliphate’ has been given a green light by [self-proclaimed caliph] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in order to prevent their captivity, in case Mosul will be freed by the security Iraqi forces." In related news, another source in the Nineveh Governorate reported that the previous day, an uprising by youth in Mosul overtook control   ISIS position. The source said that the youth killed two ISIS jihadis, burned their car and raised the Iraqi flag, before retreating to safety. 
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/senior-isis-jihadis-move-wives-out-mosul


Senior ISIS Jihadis Move Wives Out of Mosul
INDONESIAN CITIZENS SUFFER UNDER HARSH HUDUD LAWS
13 people were caned October 17 in Indonesia’s Aceh province for unlawful intimacy between the genders.
A woman given 23 strokes of the cane just for reportedly standing too close to her boyfriend was one of 13 people caned on Monday in Indonesia’s Aceh province, according to The Daily Mail. A fourteenth person, a pregnant 22 year old, was sentenced to caning, but the sentence will be carried out after she gives birth.
Aceh province in Indonesia applies the hudud, punishments ordained by sharia which include canings and other corporal punishments for a range of offences such as physical intimacy between unmarried couples.
One of the men was caned for spending time in a private space with a woman to whom he was not married, which might have lead to adultery.
Meanwhile, on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, a gay couple who posted a picture of themselves kissing on Facebook was arrested under the country’s indecency laws. The couple said they posted the picture to prove their love. The caption read “With my dear lover tonight. May our love last forever.”
Even though homosexuality is legal, the picture is considered pornographic.
Indonesia is currently working on shutting down Grindr and 80 other gay websites to clampdown on what it considers indecency.
The couple was released on bail but may go to jail if convicted.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/indonesian-citizens-suffer-under-harsh-hudud-laws

TEACHERS UNION SLAMS FBI ANTI-EXTREMIST SITE AS ANTI-MUSLIM
The ‘Don’t Be A Puppet’ website has been slammed for unfairly singling out Muslims in the way it seeks to tackle radicalization.
One of the FBI’s flagship counter extremism programs has come under scrutiny by the American Federation of Teachers Union (AFT) and other lobby groups who have slammed it as unfairly singling out Muslims, according to the Wall Street Journal.
‘Don’t Be a Puppet’ is a website set up by the FBI which aims to draw people away from extremism by teaching them about different types of extremism and various atrocities that have been committed by terrorists in the past, including the 2001 Twin Towers attack (by Islamist terrorists) and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (by anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh).
The site talks about extremism in general rather than Islamist extremism in particular. It is arranged as a game that students can complete.  
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/teachers-union-slams-fbi-anti-extremist-site-anti-muslim



THE SAD ENDING TO ASIA BIBI: JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED
The decision to postpone the final hearing for a Christian woman set to be hanged on false blasphemy charges was a cowardly move by Pakistan. In June 2009, Bibi was out picking fruit in the fields. At midday she went to the nearest well, picked up a cup, took a drink of cool water and then offered it to another woman. Suddenly, one of her fellow workers cried out that the water belonged to Muslim women and that Bibi—who is Christian—had contaminated it.
“Blasphemy!” someone shouted, a crime punishableBibi wrote a book about her ordeal while in prison.
Bibi wrote a book about her ordeal while in prison.
by death in Pakistan. In that instant, with one word, Bibi’s life changed. First attacked by a mob, Bibi was then thrown into prison and later sentenced to be hanged. For the past seven years, Bibi has been held in appalling conditions. Her family members have had to flee their village under threat from vengeful extremists and the public figures who came to Bibi’s defense—the Muslim governor of the Punjab, Salman Taseer, and Pakistan’s Christian Minister for Minorities—were brutally murdered. In 2014, a Pakistani appeals court upheld the sentence of death by hanging for Bibi’s supposed crime of making derogatory statements about Mohammed, the founder of Islam (which she denies).
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/sad-ending-asia-bibi-justice-delayed-justice-denied
 

The Sad Ending to Asia Bibi: Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied
SENIOR ISIS JIHADIS MOVE WIVES OUT OF MOSUL
The operation was given a green light by 'Caliph' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to prevent them from being taken captive by Iraqi forces.
In preparation for the battle to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul, reports indicate that senior Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) fighters are trying to save their wives from being captured by Iraqi forces
A local source in the Nineveh Governorate who requested anonymity told Alsumaria News on Wednesday, October 19, "In the past two days, the city of Mosul has been cleared from ‘the women of the caliphate’ -- wives of the seniors of ISIS, especially the ones that carry Arab or foreign citizenships.
“They were moved to the Syrian cities under ISIS [control], including Al-Raqqah. The departure of ‘the women of the caliphate’ has been given a green light by [self-proclaimed caliph] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in order to prevent their captivity, in case Mosul will be freed by the security Iraqi forces." In related news, another source in the Nineveh Governorate reported that the previous day, an uprising by youth in Mosul overtook control   ISIS position. The source said that the youth killed two ISIS jihadis, burned their car and raised the Iraqi flag, before retreating to safety. 
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/senior-isis-jihadis-move-wives-out-mosul


Senior ISIS Jihadis Move Wives Out of Mosul
INDONESIAN CITIZENS SUFFER UNDER HARSH HUDUD LAWS
13 people were caned October 17 in Indonesia’s Aceh province for unlawful intimacy between the genders.
A woman given 23 strokes of the cane just for reportedly standing too close to her boyfriend was one of 13 people caned on Monday in Indonesia’s Aceh province, according to The Daily Mail. A fourteenth person, a pregnant 22 year old, was sentenced to caning, but the sentence will be carried out after she gives birth.
Aceh province in Indonesia applies the hudud, punishments ordained by sharia which include canings and other corporal punishments for a range of offences such as physical intimacy between unmarried couples.
One of the men was caned for spending time in a private space with a woman to whom he was not married, which might have lead to adultery.
Meanwhile, on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, a gay couple who posted a picture of themselves kissing on Facebook was arrested under the country’s indecency laws. The couple said they posted the picture to prove their love. The caption read “With my dear lover tonight. May our love last forever.”
Even though homosexuality is legal, the picture is considered pornographic.
Indonesia is currently working on shutting down Grindr and 80 other gay websites to clampdown on what it considers indecency.
The couple was released on bail but may go to jail if convicted.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/indonesian-citizens-suffer-under-harsh-hudud-laws

IS THE BATTLE TO LIBERATE MOSUL GOOD FOR ITS RESIDENTS?
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis may be trapped over the coming days in the battle between ISIS and coalition forces. What of the survivors?
BY RAN MEIR Wed, October 19, 2016
Editor's note: At the outset it must be stressed that Clarion Project wants to see an end to the scourge that is the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Mosul and everywhere. In this analysis we look at the potential cost of the operation to wrest control of Mosul from ISIS to the residents of the city.
Mosul is one of Iraq’s largest cities – the capital of Nineveh Province. It’s a beautiful, developed city, bisected by the Tigris river. More than two and a half million people called Mosul “home” in 2014.  
In June 2014, ISIS captured the city. The coalition forces ground operation to free the city began on October 17, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Some 30,000 soldiers are fighting to free Mosul, including the  – Iraqi army, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Sunni tribal forces and Shia militias.
The international coalition is also part of the battle – Turkish forces, U.S. advisors and others. The operation is expected to take from a few weeks or months.
Usually in war, the real losers are the civilians. While the battle for Mosul has begun, the fight for a return to normality is not on the horizon. In these types of operations, enemy targets are always drawn up, but we hear far less about the numbers of civilians that need saving.
There are, of course, efforts to rescue residents, but there are questions over the efficacy of these plans. On, October 18, the International Committee of the Red Cross called on all sides to spare civilian lives and refrain from hitting civilian targets. But will anyone really listen? Is it that easy in a war to differentiate between terrorist and civilian?
Coalition airplanes dropped leaflets warning of impending strikes, but the fact that one is aware of a battle does not mean it can be avoided.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/battle-liberate-mosul-good-its-residents



NOOR DAHRI: PAKISTAN AND ISRAEL HAVE SHARED NATIONAL INTERESTS
The founder of the Pakistan-Israel Alliance talks to Clarion about why he feels the two countries can develop a beautiful friendship
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Tue, October 18, 2016
Noor Dahri is the founder and director of the Pakistan-Israel Alliance, a non-profit which supports and promotes peaceful reconciliation between Israel and Pakistan, believing it to be in the best national interest of both countries to do so. Born in Pakistan before moving to the UK, he is a researcher and commentator on issues relating to counter-terrorism and violent extremism.
Dahri is a regular writer for a variety of websites, including the Times of Israel. His academic background in these fields include Oxford University (England), the University of Maryland (USA) and International Institute for Counter Terrorism (Israel). He is an honorary member of the Zionist Federation UK.
He graciously agreed to speak with Clarion Project Dialogue Coordinator Elliot Friedland about his organization and his hopes for reconciliation between Israel and Pakistan and between Jews and Muslims more generally. 
1) Clarion Project: Why did you set up the Pakistan-Israel Alliance?
Noor Dahri: I have been writing for nearly a year for various Israeli newspapers about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with many articles (including interviews) published during that period. My views have often provoked controversy, most notably in 2014 when I voiced my support for Israel during Operation Protective Edge.
For a Muslim to support Israel over the Palestinians angered many in my community, including in my own family, irrespective of any facts or arguments I presented them with. Working to change perceptions in the Pakistani communities is something therefore that I am deeply committed to.
A turning point was that, after they had seen my writing, I was invited to meet with the Zionist Federation UK, who were very impressed that someone from my background was speaking out for Israel. 
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/noor-dahri-pakistan-and-israel-have-shared-national-interests 


MALAYSIA MULLS INTRODUCING BRUTAL HUDUD PUNISHMENTS
A bill to establish hudud punishments including stoning and whipping in Kelantan State is coming before Malaysia’s National Parliament
Tue, October 18, 2016
A bill which would allow certain punishments mandated by the sharia criminal code (called hudud punishments) to be implemented in Kelantan State in Malaysia is coming before the Malaysian National Assembly for a vote. The bill would amend article 355 of the Malaysian federal constitution and allow increased jurisdiction for sharia courts.
The bill would impact Kelantan State in northern Malaysia, the country’s most religious state and the political base for the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
At the moment syariah (sharia) courts in Malaysia have jurisdiction over family law as well as over limited matters relating to Islamic observance, including fasting during Ramadan and apostasy. The courts only have jurisdiction over Muslims, something that would not change should this new bill become law.
The powers of the court vary by state, but they are subordinated to the federal government.
The government stressed that the new bill, if passed, would not implement hudud punishments wholesale, but would be a minor alteration to the existing state of affairs.
"I would like to state that it's not for the implementation of hudud. It's just to give the sharia courts enhanced punishments. From six-strokes caning to a few more," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told a news conference in May after announcing in May that the bill would come before parliament, according to CNN.
"It applies only to certain offenses and this comes under the jurisdiction of the shariah court and is only applicable to the Muslims,” he said as reported by ABC. “It has nothing to do with non-Muslims."
However, comments by a leading PAS figure suggest a different motive. “Among the mandate from the people is to try to establish the Islamic system here, including the Islamic criminal law,” PAS executive council member Mohd Fadzi told the press, according to ABC.
Leaders from non-Muslim parties -- the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress -- strongly slammed the bill and threatened to leave the coalition government should the bill go through.
Human rights activists are worried that the bill could lead to brutal punishments and separate punishments for different groups of people rather than one law for all. “If you commit a wrongdoing, your punishment cannot be different from another person. You have to be fair,” Chandra Muzaffar, president of the International Movement of a Just World told CNN. “If two people people commit robbery, one gets his hand chopped off and the other doesn't, it isn't right.”
Some analysts suspect the move is in attempt to shore up support for Razak’s party among Malay Muslims, while others say it is an attempt to distract from a major corruption scandal that had embroiled the President.
If fully implemented, hudud punishments include the death penalty for apostasy, adultery and homosexuality, amputation of hands for theft and caning or whipping for other offenses.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/malaysia-mulls-introducing-brutal-hudud-punishments


CHESS CHAMPION TAKES A STAND FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN IRAN
Nazi Paikidze-Barnes argues the Chess World Championship cannot take place in the Islamic Republic while women are forced to cover themselves.
BY JENNIFER BREEDON Wed, October 19, 2016
Nazi (nah-ZEE) Paikidze-Barnes, Russian-born, Georgian-American chess champion, has taken a stance and unknowingly sparked a global discussion on the hijab and other coverings worn by Muslim women.
The World Chess Federation (FIDE) announced the 2017 Women’s Chess World Championship will take place in Iran.
Paikidze-Barnes believes “It’s unacceptable to host a Women’s World Championship in a place where women do not have basic fundamental rights and are treated as second-class citizens.”  She formed a petition calling on the World Chess Federation to move the competition or to call on Iran to make it optional for women participating whether they will cover themselves.
While women should be free to dress as they choose within their religious or moral belief system, it is unacceptable to enforce criminal charges or approve violence against any woman that isn’t properly clothed.  Much worse is enacting those same criminal punishments against women of other faiths or other countries where freedoms for women are upheld.
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/chess-champion-takes-stand-women%E2%80%99s-rights-iran


TURKEY LEAVES YAZIDIS SUFFERING WITH NO LEGAL STATUS
'My experience at the Yazidi camp was devastating': Omer Eryilmaz, health official at a Yazidi camp in Turkey for three years
BY WILLIAM REED Wed, October 19, 2016
Iraqi Yazidis who fled the invasions and massacres of the Islamic State in 2014 and arrived in Turkey have not been given a legal status (“refugees” or “persons benefiting from temporary protection”) by the Turkish government.
An official of the prime ministry’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said that Yazidis in their camp in the city of Mardin have been given “AFAD cards” with which they can benefit from health services in the camp.
Many Yazidis, however, do not want to be settled in Syrian refugee camps run by AFAD. So, they have been settled in the camps of the municipalities run by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP).
“They think that those in the Syrian camps are affiliated with the Islamic State,” said Ali Atalan, a Yazidi MP of Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). “They are scared of Islamic symbols there. Their historical and current memories of these symbols are still haunting them.”
A 2015 report by the Turkish Research Centre on Asylum and Migration (IGAM) details the serious problems Yazidis experience in Turkey. The most important one seems to be lack of a legal status.
“Although they came to Turkey in mass influxes, Turkey does not consider Yazidis as persons benefiting from ‘temporary protection.’ They could either apply for international protection (the regular asylum procedures) or seek humanitarian residence permits. [Yet] there is no mechanism that explains to them these complex alternatives and possible outcomes.
“Neither UNHCR nor other UN agencies visited the large majority of these refugee settlements in one year. Those who spend a lot of money to apply for asylum to UNHCR are given up to 2023 as the first interview date.
“Having acknowledged this, many poor Yazidi refugees are not willing to go to Ankara for lack of money and little hope of resettlement. Thus the principle of access to fair and efficient asylum procedures is largely violated. There is no durable solution for them in Turkey since they are still under trauma of attacks by Islamists.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/turkey-leaves-yazidis-suffering-no-legal-status

ISIS’ BIG DEFEAT: THE LOSS OF DABIQ
Dabiq is much, much more than another town lost by ISIS fighters. This is the very heart of ISIS ideology - its belief in an end-times prophecy
BY RYAN MAURO Tue, October 18, 2016
While mainstream media attention is laser-focused on the battle for Mosul, the Islamic State (ISIS / ISIL) has suffered its biggest defeat yet by losing Dabiq – a small town in Syria upon which ISIS’ basis its claims of prophetic legitimacy.
Ever since ISIS began dominating our TV screens, the Clarion Project has educated about the apocalyptic, prophecy-centric ideology that sets ISIS apart from other Islamist extremist groups. We reported in June 2016 that various anti-ISIS forces, unfortunately including al-Qaeda, were closing in on Dabiq.
Although all Islamists reference End-Times prophecies to varying degrees, ISIS’ claims of fulfilling specific prophecies has been one of its main growth mediums, with the capturing of Dabiq being the most emphasized.
In so doing, ISIS became dependent upon its holding of Dabiq as a life-sustaining vertebrae in its ideological spine. As we’ve explained in greater detail previously, ISIS’ claims of prophetic fulfillment required there to be a big, bloody battle with the infidel in Dabiq. That’s why Dabiq was until very recently the title of its English-language publication.
There was supposed to be a “Roman” invasion (of which they argued America to be the current incarnation) to rescue American hostages. ISIS was supposed to win, albeit after one-third of its fighters were top die and one-third flee. It was supposed to lead to the conquering of Constantinople in Turkey.

None of this happened. It didn’t even come close. The battle was over in less than 24 hours.

About 2,000 Syrian rebels from various groups, supported by Turkey on the ground and the U.S.-led aerial forces, took the area without much noise. A commander from one of the Syrian rebels groups involved, the Hamza Brigade, described “minimal resistance” as ISIS retreated to al-Bab.
The leader of the Sultan Murad group, which consists of fighters from the Turkmen minority, said, “The Daesh [ISIS] myth of their great battle in Dabiq is finished.”
Even before the fight for Dabiq began, ISIS relaunched its English Dabiq magazine as Rumiyah (Rome). This remarkably transparent admission of coming defeat will not be overlooked by ISIS supporters. It will seem as if ISIS had lost faith in its own prophetic destiny before a defense of Dabiq was even mounted. No matter what the content of Rumiyah is, its very name will be a reminder of this.
The various Syrian rebel forces operated under the loose banner of the Free Syria Army and did not include the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces, of which the Turkish-aligned Syrians are rivals.
The groups that now hold Dabiq are acting as proxies of the Islamist government of Turkey, so they can’t be expected be the pioneers of a pro-Western, modernist reformation in Islam. Reported participants include the Levant Front (“moderate” Islamists desiring Sharia governance) and Nour al-Deen al-Zinki, which is also regularly described as Islamist.
But it’s a big loss for ISIS, the group responsible for about 80 percent of the terrorism investigations in the U.S. right now. And it isn’t held by al-Qaeda’s Syrian wing either, although that could easily change as more rebel groups are attracted to the al-Qaeda affiliate after it undertook minor cosmetic changes. 
The loss of Dabiq is a defeat so resounding that even the master propagandists of ISIS cannot effectively spin it. Any ISIS terrorist who has an ounce of critical thinking left (and reports of defections and coups indicate many do) must now seriously doubt whether they picked the right group for which to hold the banner of jihad.
http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/isis%E2%80%99-big-defeat-loss-dabiq
 

HOUSTON MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRING FOR ISLAMIC STATE
The 24-year old, originally a Palestinian from Iraq, was arrested in January and had been granted asylum in the USA as a refugee.
Tue, October 18, 2016
A Houston man plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, was accused of plotting to bomb the Galleria and Sharpston malls in Houston.
He has been in the US since 2009 and was granted permanent residency in 2011.
Hardan  was on the track to citizenship before he became involved with terrorist activity. He now faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.
The news follows the indictment of a Baltimore man on unrelated charges of conspiring to kill an American serviceman on behalf of ISIS. Federal prosecutors allege that Nelash Mohammed Das believed himself to be in contact with Islamic State operatives in Iraq and Syria whom he thought would send him $80,000 to carry out the attack.
Originally from Bangladesh, Das has been in America since 1995 and is a legal permanent resident.
Das purchased weapons through an undercover FBI informant and was arrested. He was charged for terrorist activity on October 3 and indicted by a federal grand jury on October 17.
If convicted, Das also faces up to 20 years in prison.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/houston-man-pleads-guilty-conspiring-islamic-state


KANSAS TERRORIST PLOT TO BOMB MUSLIMS
Three self-styled Crusaders have been arrested in Kansas for a plot to blow up an apartment building housing Somali-American Muslims.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Sun, October 16, 2016
A plot to blow up a housing complex inhabited by Somali Muslims was foiled in Kansas when police arrested three men. Calling themselves crusaders the trio plotted to fill four vehicles with explosives and detonate them simultaneously at the complex, which housed approximately 120 immigrants from Somalia.

Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright and Patrick Eugene Stein will face federal charges of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction according to a Department of Justice statement on Friday.

Allen’s girlfriend revealed the plot to the authorities after he allegedly hit her in a fight. If convicted the men face life imprisonment.

The group surveilled the apartment building they were planning to bomb and had a stash of weaponry. The plot was planned for after the election on November 8.

The news of the plot came shortly after a poll published by Chapman University indicated that nearly 50% of Americans would oppose the construction of a mosque near them.

A plot of this scale is on a larger scale than anti-Muslim bigotry seen so far in this election cycle. When taken in the context of the Chapman poll it is more worrying still.

Read Clarion Project’s statement against anti-Muslim bigotry here http://www.clarionproject.org/content/anti-muslim-bigotry
BELOW short VIDEO 


AVERAGE CITIZENS WORK TO FIGHT ISIS’ TWITTER PRESENCE
A group run by average citizens, works to stifle Islamic State's influence on Twitter and proves successful.
BY CODI ROBERTSON Tue, October 18, 2016
It’s no secret that ISIS has a strong presence on social media and has for a while; it is, after all, one of the main ways it attracts new recruits across the globe.

Due to Islamic State’s activity on social media, new initiatives have been created in order to curtail these efforts. One such initiative is the group called CtrlSec, an anonymous cohort on Twitter that works to report accounts connected with ISIS.  

Twitter, itself, an online platform meant to reach large audiences with the greatest ease, faces crippling limitations in its attempt to wipe out those accounts which ISIS commands. This is largely due to concerns regarding free speech and the fact that there exists no particular catch phrase or hashtag that ISIS uses, which could be identified by an algorithm.
CtrlSec aims to lessen these limitations by trying to flag as many Islamic-State-affiliated accounts as it possibly can. And it seems to be helping - as of June 2016 it claimed to have flagged 147,000 accounts, 133,361 of which were suspended.
The leader of CtrlSec, who goes by the alias Mikro, says he spends 15-19 hours per day overseeing CtrlSec’s 25 volunteer flaggers who flag accounts 24/7.
“I saw ISIS as a growing threat to today’s society and decided I had to at least try and do something about it,” said Mikro in a recent interview with Krithika Varagur for the Huffington Post.  And thus, Mikro who is an unemployed web designer, decided to create CtrlSec to do what he could to help the situation.           
CtrlSec operates by means of four linked Twitter accounts, which are used to send out scheduled Tweets several times an hour containing the names of ISIS-affiliated accounts; these names are then used by volunteers to flag the accounts en masse.
These accounts are typically found through existing ISIS-affiliated accounts as well as by obvious hastags like #IslamicState and the Arabic equivalents. There are no special shortcuts. Common sense and fluency in Arabic are the volunteers main tools.
http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/average-citizens-work-fight-isis%E2%80%99-twitter-presence

SURVEY: ALMOST 50% OF AMERICANS SAY NO TO MOSQUES NEAR THEM
According to Chapman University nearly half of respondents said they would oppose the construction of any mosques near them.
Almost half of Americans would feel uncomfortable with a mosque in their neighborhood, according to a recent poll conducted by Chapman University in California.
The third annual survey of American fears polled 1,511 Americans about what they feared most.
Some 41 percent of respondents said they feared a terrorist attack on the nation, the thing Americans feared the second most, after government corruption (60.6%). “Roughly one third” responded that “Muslims are more likely to be terrorists and that the Muslim immigration should be banned,” according to The Orange County Register.
This week, a seven-year-old boy from Florida was beaten by his classmates in an alleged anti-Muslim attack that pushed his parents to leave the country and return to Pakistan.
Abdul Aziz was in first grade in Cary, North Carolina, when his classmates tried to force him to eat non-halal food. When he refused five of his classmates punched him in the face, kicked him in the stomach and twisted his arm while shouting “Muslim, Muslim” at him.
“He was born and raised [in the United States]. He was born in Florida. As American as you can think of. He likes Captain America. He wants to be president of the United States of America,” his father Usmani told The Huffington Post, speaking over Skype from Pakistan.
“It’s very heartbreaking and sad,” he said. “It’s not the America we know about, care about and want to live in.”
READ MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/survey-almost-50-americans-say-no-mosques-near-them



CANDIDATES AND RADICAL ISLAM: RESULTS OF OUR SURVEY
We recently asked our readers three questions about radical Islam and the U.S. presidential candidates. Here are the results
Sun, October 16, 2016
We recently asked our readers three questions about radical Islam and the U.S. presidential candidates. Here are the results of the survey, in which 2, 410 people participated.
Question #1: Do you think the US presidential candidates are sufficiently addressing the threat of radical Islam?

Close to 83 percent of our readers answered no, while seven percent answered yes. (Eight percent said “maybe,” while two percent said they didn’t know.)

Question #2: In terms of radical Islam, what do you think the candidates’ priorities should be?

The top concerns listed were radicalization and home-grown terrorism, followed by Iran, ISIS and other terror organizations, Saudi Arabia, helping to fight terror in Europe and sharia law in America.

Question #3: If you were running for president what would your policies be regarding radical Islam?

Here are the top comments:
Deport all radical Islamists immediately.
Declare war on ISIS.
Accept that it's a reality and deal with eradicating it in a serious way.
Zero tolerance - aggressive punishment.
Identify, prosecute, educate, prevention programs.
Get tough with Iran, tear up the nuclear treaty, take out ISIS quickly and decisively.
End all monies that enable them to exist.Full effort to confront radical Islam, here at home and across Europe and the Middle East.
Do not try to change our laws respect our dress code and freedom.
Sharia law should not be supported in U.S.
Encourage "moderate" Islamists to speak out against radicals.
Ban all radical imams and monitor all mosques.
Show that the U.S. Constitution and sharia are incompatible.
Put a push on identifying radicals and sending them out of the country
READ MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/candidates-and-radical-islam-results-our-survey

MUSLIM FATHER RAPES DAUGHTER FOR BEING TOO WESTERNIZED
A Muslim man in Norway has been arrested on suspicion of rape and incest after his daughter accused him of raping her.
Sun, October 16, 2016
A Muslim man in his 40s has been arrested in the Norwegian town of Fredrikstad after his daughter accused him of raping her, according to The Daily Mail.
After the attack, which reportedly took place in their family home, she ran into the street and found a postman who then alerted the police.
“They had been arguing prior to the rape” police lawyer Anette Sogn told Fredrikstadt 24. “The father has been angry because his daughter did not follow his (Islamic) way of life, she explained in questioning.”
The father said he was surprised by police DNA evidence and did not know why he is being accused of a crime.
READ MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/muslim-father-rapes-daughter-being-too-westernized

EXCLUSIVE: LOVE STORY AND ESCAPE FROM PAKISTAN
A young woman accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has jumped bail and fled the country, according to her husband who spoke to Clarion Project. Thu, October 13, 2016
A young woman found guilty of blasphemy in Pakistan for allegedly sitting on and spitting on a copy of the Quran escaped to an unnamed Middle Eastern country while on bail. Walaiha Irafat and her husband were attacked and threatened in January while she out on bail. Shortly afterwards she was brutally raped by four people, her husband told Clarion Project.
Since then she managed to flee the country.
Her husband, M Aman Ullah, is currently in hiding and fears for his life in Pakistan.
They met in September 2012 shortly after she was initially arrested after a neighbor accused her of sitting on the Quran and spitting on it. She was accused of tearing pages of the Quran and making derogatory remarks about Allah. 
She was initially denied bail during the trial and served 43 months in prison, during which time she was in solitary confinement for two years, according to her husband.
She was not convicted and is still on trial, merely released on bail.   
“The 1st time I met her was in court and after hearing her story and her isolation I wanted to help her,” Ullah told Clarion Project. “I then went to jail to meet her with her friend. I hired a lawyer after that first meeting. From October 2012 I began helping her with her case and with money for basic necessities, since no one else was doing so.”
READ MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/exclusive-love-story-and-escape-pakistan

AUSTRALIA ARRESTS TWO TEENS PLANNING ISIS KNIFE ATTACK
Police arrested two 16-year olds in Sydney on suspicion of planning a knife attack on behalf of the Islamic State
Thu, October 13, 2016
Police in Australia arrested two teenagers on suspicion of planning a knife attack. Two 16-year old boys were arrested in a lane outside a Muslim prayer hall in Sydney, New South Wales.

The two were carrying “bayonet-style” knives and notes pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

They have been charged with acting in preparation for a terrorist attack and being a member of a terrorist organization. If convicted they face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

“We will be alleging this attack was inspired by Islamic State," New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said at a press conference.
"We don't have any specific information of a particular target where we will allege that there was going to be an imminent attack."
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/australia-arrests-two-teens-planning-isis-knife-attack
 
We recently asked our readers three questions about radical Islam and the U.S. presidential candidates. Here are the results
Sun, October 16, 2016
We recently asked our readers three questions about radical Islam and the U.S. presidential candidates. Here are the results of the survey, in which 2, 410 people participated.
Question #1: Do you think the US presidential candidates are sufficiently addressing the threat of radical Islam?

Close to 83 percent of our readers answered no, while seven percent answered yes. (Eight percent said “maybe,” while two percent said they didn’t know.)

Question #2: In terms of radical Islam, what do you think the candidates’ priorities should be?

The top concerns listed were radicalization and home-grown terrorism, followed by Iran, ISIS and other terror organizations, Saudi Arabia, helping to fight terror in Europe and sharia law in America.

Question #3: If you were running for president what would your policies be regarding radical Islam?

Here are the top comments:
Deport all radical Islamists immediately.
Declare war on ISIS.
Accept that it's a reality and deal with eradicating it in a serious way.
Zero tolerance - aggressive punishment.
Identify, prosecute, educate, prevention programs.
Get tough with Iran, tear up the nuclear treaty, take out ISIS quickly and decisively.
End all monies that enable them to exist.Full effort to confront radical Islam, here at home and across Europe and the Middle East.
Do not try to change our laws respect our dress code and freedom.
Sharia law should not be supported in U.S.
Encourage "moderate" Islamists to speak out against radicals.
Ban all radical imams and monitor all mosques.
Show that the U.S. Constitution and sharia are incompatible.
Put a push on identifying radicals and sending them out of the country
READ MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/candidates-and-radical-islam-results-our-survey

MUSLIM FATHER RAPES DAUGHTER FOR BEING TOO WESTERNIZED
A Muslim man in Norway has been arrested on suspicion of rape and incest after his daughter accused him of raping her.
Sun, October 16, 2016
A Muslim man in his 40s has been arrested in the Norwegian town of Fredrikstad after his daughter accused him of raping her, according to The Daily Mail.
After the attack, which reportedly took place in their family home, she ran into the street and found a postman who then alerted the police.
“They had been arguing prior to the rape” police lawyer Anette Sogn told Fredrikstadt 24. “The father has been angry because his daughter did not follow his (Islamic) way of life, she explained in questioning.”
The father said he was surprised by police DNA evidence and did not know why he is being accused of a crime.
READ MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/muslim-father-rapes-daughter-being-too-westernized

ISIS TO ENEMIES: IF YOU APPROACH WE’LL KILL YAZIDI SEX SLAVES
The Islamic State is holding the women in homes in northern Iraq. With coalition forces just across a river, ISIS sent out this chilling warning
Facing further territorial losses, ISIS says it will kill its Yazidi sex slaves if coalition forces come any closer.

Islamic State is holding the women in a series of homes in al-Hakne, a village on the Tigris river in northern Iraq. Coalition forces have already taken the other side of the river and are threatening the ISIS stronghold.
In recent weeks at least one of the women committed suicide after facing torture and mistreatment, eyewitnesses told Almada newspaper. The 20 year old was raped, made pregnant and miscarried before seizing a gun from a sleeping guard and turning it on herself.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/news/isis-enemies-if-you-approach-we%E2%80%99ll-kill-yazidi-sex-slaves


A TOUR OF TRIBAL EUROPE: DOUBT AND DENIAL (PART II)
In France, a conversation with Muslim leaders made no mention of the fact that close to 30 percent of French Muslims support sharia law!
On September 25, I travelled with a group hosted by The Middle East Forum on a fact-finding mission to Europe. There were 33 attendees from Australia, UK, Canada and USA (academics, activists and ordinary citizens) and we spent two days each in Paris, Berlin and Stockholm. In each City we had a local guide, met government officials, organizations and civil society. The following report is not an opinion but based on facts. Names have not been used for reasons of security and privacy).
Doubt and Denial
France
There are roughly 1.4 million Muslims in France, with about 25 percent identifying themselves as ‘French Muslims.’ We met local Muslim leaders who had invited a rabbi to join them.
The overall conversation was that all is good with no mention of the fact that close to 30 percent of French Muslims support sharia law! 
MORE On September 25, I travelled with a group hosted by The Middle East Forum on a fact-finding mission to Europe. There were 33 attendees from Australia, UK, Canada and USA (academics, activists and ordinary citizens) and we spent two days each in Paris, Berlin and Stockholm. In each City we had a local guide, met government officials, organizations and civil society. The following report is not an opinion but based on facts. Names have not been used for reasons of security and privacy).
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/tour-tribal-europe-doubt-and-denial-part-ii



ISIS BATTLES ISRAEL FROM GAZA STRIP
While ISIS has reportedly operated in Gaza for some time, it’s now stepping up its presence and its attacks against Israel. But little is known about their setup.
ISIS says it was behind the October 5 rocket strike against Israeli civilians launched from the Gaza Strip.

While it’s been reported for some time that the Islamic State has sympathizers and even cells operating from Gaza, now the movement is making official its presence in the Palestinian coastal enclave.

The organization’s Gaza branch is known as the Grandsons (or Descendants) of Friends of the Prophet. Their tagline is Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis – The Environs of Jerusalem – Gaza Branch.
On the organization’s website it claimed responsibility for the rocket, which landed on a street in Sderot, the closest Israeli town to the Gaza Strip. “It was part of our ongoing jihad against the enemies of Allah – the Jews.”
The website includes photos of religious Jews, including children, promising “they won’t know safety in Muslim lands as long as our veins beat.”
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/isis-battles-israel-gaza-strip



OCTOBER IN EUROPE BRINGS MORE RADICALISM
The first 10 days of October have seen a terror plot in Germany, 2,000 children on a watchlist in France and a former model arrested in the UK.
1) German police arrested a 22-year-old Syrian man in the eastern German city Leipzig on suspicion of terrorism. Jaber Albakr was the target of a massive manhunt launched on Sunday after police found hundreds of grams of explosives at an apartment in Chemnitz.
“The overall picture of the investigation, in particular the amount of the explosive found, suggests that the person was planning to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack,” the prosecutor’s office said Sunday.
Albakr was granted refugee status and allowed to stay in Germany last year, according to spokesman from Saxony’s criminal investigation unit Tom Berhardt.
Albakr is suspected of planning a bomb attack.

2) Attendance at Munich’s iconic beer festival Oktoberfest dropped to the lowest level in 15 years, as fears of sexual assault and terrorism rose. “Oktoberfest 2016 had around 5.6 million visitors, which is some 300,000 fewer than last year,” according to Heat Street.   
This summer Germany saw a string of terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists. On New Year’s Eve large gangs of men molested women en-masse at Cologne train station as police struggled to control the crowd.

3) In France, it was reported that almost 2,000 children were on a government watchlist on suspicion of radicalization, according to Sunday newspaper Le JDD. The youngest is reportedly 11.
In September, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced 15,000 people were monitored by police and intelligence services for suspected radicalization.
The Express reported 4,000 of those people are said to be tracked on a daily basis by the Directorate of Internal Security.

4) A former glamour model in the UK was arrested on Friday in suspicion of possession of terrorist material. Aisha Lauren al-Britaniya, formerly known as Kimberly Miners, a 27-year-old convert to Islam was previously under police investigation for allegedly communicating with Islamic State terrorists abroad and being groomed to become a jihadi bride.

She denied the charges, telling police before her arrest multiple Facebook profiles she allegedly used to contact ISIS were “fake profiles made against me.”
 https://www.clarionproject.org/news/october-europe-brings-more-radicalism

TRIBAL EUROPE: A TOUR OF FRANCE, GERMANY AND SWEDEN (PART I)
Raheel Raza recently traveled with a group on a fact-finding mission to Europe. In her report, she discusses migrants, EU denial and politics.
BY RAHEEL REZA Sun, October 9, 2016
A Sharia patrol in Germany was initially arrested but then not convicted of any crime. (Photo: video screenshot)
On September 25, I traveled with a group hosted by The Middle East Forum on a fact-finding mission to Europe. There were 33 attendees from Australia, UK, Canada and USA (academics, activists and ordinary citizens), and we spent two days each in Paris, Berlin and Stockholm. In each city we had a local guide, met with government officials and members of organizations and civil society. Names have not been used for reasons of security and privacy).
Migrants

The main conversation in Europe is about migrants (mostly Muslim) and this is the topic all political parties are focused upon. Europe is heavily weighed down with the refugee crisis, which is not helped by EU porous borders. The entire concept of the European Union is under discussion.
France
In Paris we travelled along Boulevard La Chappelle and saw migrants living under the bridges. A small percent of these are Syrian, rest are North African, mostly Sudanese.

Our guide took us to St. Denis (the former religious shrine of the French Catholic kings and now a pre-dominantly Muslim area). It was like being in the Middle East with hardly a white person in sight.

Behind  one of the oldest Church’s in France is the office of the Muslim Brotherhood running under the innocuous name of the Association of Cultural Muslims. The fallacy that these areas are “ghettos” was removed as we saw good housing, roads and infrastructure telling us that the problem is not socio-economic, but essentially a clash of ideologies and culture.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/tribal-europe-tour-france-germany-and-sweden-part-i


SHOOTING ATTACK IN JERUSALEM LEAVES 2 DEAD, 6 WOUNDED
The attack follows of number of recent incidents spurred on by daily incitement broadcast by official Palestinian Authority media.
Sun, October 9, 2016
Scenes from the terror attack in Jerusalem October 9, 2016 (Photo: video screenshot)
Eight people were shot – two critically who later succumbed to their wounds– when a Palestinian assailant opened fire on a Jerusalem light rail station Sunday morning. The gunman, a 39-year-old man from the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood Silwan, was killed by police officers on motorcycles who witnessed the attack.

The dead included a policeman shot by the assailant during a chase and a 60-year old woman. Half of the other victims were injured moderately with the other half injured lightly.
The attack follows of number of recent incidents spurred on by daily incitement broadcast by official Palestinian Authority media. 
The following is a partial list of attacks by Palestinians against Israelis in September:

Sept. 30:  A 24-year-old soldier was stabbed in his upper body at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem.

Sept. 19: Two Israeli police officers were wounded in a stabbing attack near Herod’s Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. Two attempted stabbing attacks were prevented in Hebron the same day.

Sept 16: A 19-year old soldier was stabbed at a check point in Hebron. Also on the same day, a Jordanian was killed as he attempted to stab a police officer at the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, a Palestinian couple tried to carry out a car-ramming attack also outside Hebron and a bus driver was wound when rocks and bottles full of paint were thrown at his vehicle on the highway between Jerusalem and nearby Ma’aleh Adumim.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/shooting-attack-jerusalem-leaves-2-dead-6-wounded


ICC SETS PRECEDENT: DESTRUCTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE ‘WAR CRIME’
The recent precedent set by the international court should also be used to prosecute ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood members.
The recent precedent set by the international court should also be used to prosecute ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood members.
BY JENNIFER BREEDON Sun, October 9, 2016
Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi appears before the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Photo: video screenshot)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently prosecuted and convicted Al Qaeda member Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi for the desecration of religious and cultural places in Timbuktu, Mali  – a case that effectively extended the reach of the ICC to prosecute for war crimes Al Qaeda operatives that desecrate culturally significant sites.

See a summary of the proceedings against Al-Mahdi below

A Witness from al-Mahdi’s ICC trial was recorded stating, “These priceless [artifacts] are my identity. They're my history. They're documents about [my religion], history, geography, botany, poetry. They're close to my heart, and they belong to the whole world.”

With the ICC’s declaration that this type of destruction  amounts to a “war crime,” a precedent has been established for Assyrian and Chaldean Christians in Iraq and within the U.S. to bring claims against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) for the wanton destruction of their churches, manuscripts and historical artifacts throughout Iraq over the past few years.

Equally important is that this precedent could now be used against members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to bring them to The Hague to answer for their crimes of cultural and historical destruction.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt destroyed over 50 sacred and culturally historic Coptic Churches throughout Egypt in 2013 and committed a vast array of violent offenses against the Christians in Egypt.  Today, Brotherhood-tied Egyptians still threaten those working to reform Islamist laws that oppress women and minorities.

Egyptians Copts that live in America or retain dual citizenship should bring civil lawsuits against these Brotherhood members, not only for the cultural destructions that took place by their hands, but also for the continued violence to which their brethren are subjected.

An added and major benefit of allowing U.S. citizens to file suits in the ICC against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is that it will serve to begin to repair the fractured relationship between Egypt’s President el-Sisi and the United States.

Sisi’s government has been distrustful of the U.S. due to its unwillingness to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Allowing U.S. citizens to bring law suits against Brotherhood offenses in coordination with the Egyptian government could go a long way to restoring those affected by Brotherhood violence and restoring our ties to Egypt, a major American ally.
Watch a summary of the ICC proceedings against Al-Mahdi:
http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/icc-sets-precedent-destruction-cultural-heritage-%E2%80%98war-crime%E2%80%99

https://www.clarionproject.org/news/pentagon-spends-500-million-fake-al-qaeda-videos
PENTAGON SPENDS $500 MILLION ON FAKE AL-QAEDA VIDEOS
The Pentagon made fake jihadi propaganda videos and monitored them to track support for extremist groups during its time occupying Iraq.  Wed, October 5, 2016
The Pentagon spent over $500 million on hiring a public relations firm to create anti-extremist and fake extremist propaganda during the American military’s campaign in Iraq, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism as reported by The Daily Beast.

British firm Bell Pottinger created their materials at the U.S. military base of Camp Victory. At one point, they were employing some 300 British and Iraqi staff at the cost of over $100 million per year.

Bell Pottinger was hired in 2004 to produce material for the “promotion of democratic elections” in Iraq. These materials aimed to convince the Iraqi population of the benefits of democracy and inform them about the new legal structures in place following regime change.

The use of Pentagon funds to promote local media outlets and get across the U.S. government’s strategic message to populations in Iraq and Afghanistan has been extensively chronicled elsewhere. Bell Pottinger’s work in Iraq was different.

The firm was also contracted to create news-style broadcasts in Arabic covering Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks and other events, which would then get placed with Arabic media outlets without saying who made the clips.

Other firms such as the Lincoln Group created articles that were inserted into Arabic media outlets, sometimes represented as unbiased news.

But the most clandestine of Bell Pottinger’s operations was the creation of fake Al-Qaeda propaganda videos. These were produced in the exact style, length and format as genuine Al-Qaeda videos. They were loaded onto CDs that were dropped off by U.S. soldiers while carrying out raids against Al-Qaeda targets.

“If they’re raiding a house and they’re going to make a mess of it looking for stuff anyway, they’d just drop an odd CD there,” former video editor for Bell Pottinger Martin Wells told the Bureau.   

The team added a code which enabled them to track the CDs and monitor the IP addresses of where it was played. Some of the CDs ended up in Iran or even in America.

From 2007 to 201,1 the Pentagon spent at least $540 million paying Bell Pottinger for “information operations” and “psychological operations,” according to the Bureau.

The Pentagon confirmed that Bell Pottinger had been hired to carry out work under the Information Operations Task Force and would only say that the information was “truthful.”

“We do not discuss intelligence gathering methods for operations past and present,” a U.S. military official said concerning Bell Pottinger’s work as part of the Joint Psychological Operations Task Force.

“We did a lot to help resolve the situation,” Lord Tim Bell, the former chairman of Bell Pottinger told The Sunday Times. “Not enough. We did not stop the mess which emerged, but it was part of the American propaganda machinery.”

The U.S. Department of Defense spent $159.1 million in 2016 on its “Information Operations” budget, down from $580 million in 2009, according to the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

Pentagon Paid for Fake ‘Al Qaeda’ Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw1N0AUYU4I


VP DEBATE: PENCE, KAINE CLASH ON NATIONAL SECURITY
VP nominees Time Kaine and Mike Pence repeatedly clashed on national security last night in a debate that initial polls indicate was won by Pence. BY RYAN MAURO Wed, October 5, 2016
Vice presidential nominees Tim Kaine (D) and Mike Pence (R) repeatedly clashed on national security last night in a debate that initial polls indicate was won by Pence.
Three important moments were:
When the two agreed that the U.S. should militarily strike the Syrian regime,
When Kaine argued that the terrorist threat had decreased “in some ways” since 2008, and
The fact that a long-term plan to defeat Islamist extremism was missing from the discussion.
Kaine’s strongest moments were when he referenced Donald Trump’s statements about allowing Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear weapons and asking whether Trump would put America’s interests above his alleged business interests with Russia.
He also mentioned the former ties between Russia and Trump’s former campaign manager. Pence said these were false accusations and incorrect depictions of what Trump said.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/vp-debate-pence-kaine-clash-national-security

Maryland Man Charged in ISIS Plot Against US Military
A 24-year old allegedly praised ISIS on social media, acquired guns and told an FBI informant he wanted to kill a member of the U.S. military. Wed, October 5, 2016
The FBI charged a Bangladeshi man for an alleged terrorist plot to kill a member of the U.S. military on October 3.
Nelash Mohamed Das, 24, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization in a federal criminal, according to a statement put out by the Justice Department
Das, a Bangladeshi citizen granted U.S. permanent residency, told an unnamed FBI source he was “100 percent” committed to carrying out an attack
“Nelash Mohamed Das is alleged to have plotted to kill a U.S. service member on behalf of ISIL,” Assistant Attorney-General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a Justice Department statement.  “Individuals intent on carrying out violence in the name of foreign terrorist organizations pose one of the most concerning threats that law enforcement faces today, and stopping these offenders before they are able to act is our highest priority.”
Das stands accused of expressing support for the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and its terrorist attacks on social media from September 2015 to early 2016, which first attracted the attention of law enforcement.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/maryland-man-charged-isis-plot-against-us-military

FRENCH REPORTER ATTACKED BY ISLAMISTS WHILE SHOOTING SHOW
The film team discovered that several strains of Islam -- moderate, fundamentalist and jihadist -- are in fierce competition on French soil.
By Leslie Shaw
On September 28, 2016, French TV channel M6 kicked off its new series Taboo Dossier with a documentary by investigative reporter Bernard de la Villardière titled Islam in France: the Failure of the Republic.
The two-hour piece aimed to examine the compatibility of Islam with the values of the French Republic and its place in French society.
During the investigation, Villardière and his team discovered that several strains of Islam -- moderate, fundamentalist and jihadist -- are in fierce competition on French soil.
These strains are financed, controlled and manipulated by foreign powers. Those who preach in mosques throughout France are the mouthpieces of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco and Turkey. They found that extremist imams are gaining ground at the expense of moderate Muslims, who sometimes receive death threats.
Faced with this lack of governance, a powerful federation is seeking to exercise control over all Muslims. The UOIF (Union of Islamic Organizations in France) is the French subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood, a secret society whose objective is to cut off the Muslim community from the rest of society, to encroach on the public sphere in the name of freedom of expression and gradually set up sharia law in France.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/french-reporter-attacked-islamists-while-shooting-show

JOURNALIST: WEARING A BURQA IS LIKE A SEX TOY ON FOREHEAD
After writing her objections to Islamic headgear for women, the Bosnian woman journalist has been threatened with rape and death
Journalist: Wearing a Burqa is Like a Sex Toy on Forehead 
A Bosnian woman journalist who criticized Islamic headscarves, veils and burqas in graphic language has been forced into hiding due to threats of rape and death, reported the UK’s Express.
In an article, Lejla Colak wrote, "To wear a burka, niqab or any other religious sign on your head is the same as wearing a strap-on in public."Imagine walking around with a giant strap-on and traumatizing people. Religion is supposed to represent something that is extremely personal just like an individual sexuality."
In response, one social media user who is reportedly a member of the Bosnian army, wrote, "Are there any volunteers to rape lovely Lejla? I will personally pay for it."
Colak said she reported the man to the police and plans to go to court. After that, she said, she started to receive more and more threats.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/journalist-wearing-burqa-sex-toy-forehead



HUMA ABEDIN: WILL SHE REPUDIATE FAMILY'S ISLAMIST VIEWS?
Abedin, herself, worked on an Islamist journal for 12 years, beginning the year she became a White House intern. She hasn't commented on that job.
Concerns about Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, both when she was secretary of state and now, as the Democratic presidential nominee, began surfacing in 2012. According to leaked emails, Abedin is slated to become secretary of state if Hillary Clinton is elected president.

In 2012, Rep. Michele Bachmann and four other members of Congress requested information about the influence of Muslim Brotherhood-tied groups and individuals in the U.S. government, including Abedin, who worked for 12 years as an assistant editor of an Islamist journal that spewed extremism.

Abedin’s tenure at the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs began in 1996, the year she began working as an intern at the White house.

Clarion Project covered that request extensively, as the Congressional members who made it were pilloried by their colleagues. We also covered the extremism of Abedin’s mother, father and other family members.

Now more information has been uncovered regarding the Islamist beliefs of Abedin’s parents. While it is certainly possible to disavow the ideology of one’s parents, Abedin has remained silent on their extremism as well as her work with on journal. It remains to be seen whether or not she will repudiate these new findings.

Syed Abedin, Huma Abedin’s father who died in 1993, was a Muslim scholar connected to the Saudi Arabian government. According to exclusive video footage from 1971 recently obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Syed Abedin advocated the following:

As Muslim countries evolve, he said, “The state has to take over. The state is stepping in in many countries … where the state is now overseeing that human relationships are carried on on the basis of Islam. The state also under Islam has a right to interfere in some of these rights given to the individual by the sharia.”

In addition, he is quoted as saying, “The main dynamics of life in the Islamic world are still supplied by Islam. Any institution, as I said before, any concept, any idea, in order to be accepted and become a viable thing in the Islamic world has to come through … Islam.”

Abedin’s mother, Saleha, has an especially strong Islamist ties. She is a member of the female counterpart of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Muslim World League. She leads a group called the International Islamic Committee for Women and Child, a subsidiary of a Muslim Brotherhood-led group that is banned in Israel for its links to Hamas.

In 1999 and three years after Huma began working for the journal, the journal and Saleha Abedin’s group published a book in Arabic titled “Women in Islam: A Discourse in Rights and Obligations.”

The book states that man-made law is inherently oppressive towards women, while sharia law is liberating. According to the text, Muslim women have an obligation to contribute to jihad, apostates are to be put to death, adulterers should be stoned or lashed, freedom of speech should be conformed to the boundaries set by sharia and wives must have sex with their husbands on command, “even if she is not in the mood.“

In addition, the organization led by Huma Abedin’s mother “advocates for the repeal of Mubarak-era prohibitions on female genital mutilation, child marriage and marital rape, on the grounds that such prohibitions run counter to Islamic law, which allows for their practice,” according to an analysis by the Center for Security policy.

The book advocates against laws to assure equality of women, saying, “Man-made laws have in fact enslaved women, submitting them to the cupidity and caprice of human beings. Islam is the only solution and the only escape.”

In terms of women working in high positions, the book states, “Her job would involve long hours of free mixing and social interaction with the opposite sex, which is forbidden in Islam. Moreover, women’s biological constitution is different from that of men. Women are fragile, emotional and sometimes unable to handle difficult and strenuous situations. Men are less emotional and show more perseverance.”

However, an exception does exist: “Women can also participate in fighting when jihad becomes an individual duty.”

The New York Post reports that Saleha is on the payroll of the Saudi government and part of her job is to advocate for sharia law in non-Muslim countries like the United States.

“In 1995, less than three weeks before Clinton gave her famous women’s-rights speech in Beijing, Saleha headlined an unusual Washington conference organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] to lobby against the UN platform drafted by Clinton and other feminists. Visibly angry, she argued it runs counter to Islam and was a “conspiracy” against Muslims.

“Specifically, she called into question provisions in the platform that condemned domestic battery of women, apparently expressing sympathy for men who commit abuse,” reported the newspaper.

We hope that Abedin does not hold the same opinions as her parents or the journal of which she was the assistant editor. And it would certainly be nice to have to tell us that.
RELATED ARTICLES
Clinton Foundation Received Millions from Saudis, Qatar, Iran
Extremism Found in Journal During Huma Abedin's Tenure
The Other Anthony Weiner Scandal
Islamists in the American Conservative Union?
https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/huma-abedin-will-she-repudiate-familys-islamist-views


JUST ‘SMOKE AND MIRRORS?’ FRANCE TRIES DE-RADICALIZATION
We asked for the views of our European readers on whether France's programs can be effective. Here are your responses.
Sun, October 2, 2016
Under pressure to tackle home-grown jihadism, the French government is opening a string of rehabilitation centers to combat Islamist extremism. Many say this is just “smoke and mirrors” and cannot be effective.
We asked our European readers if they thinnk that these programs can actually help de-radicalize young jihadi’s or are they just a front  to keep public pressure at bay?
Here are the repsonses from our readers:
I don't really know the answer to this question. If attempted, the main question that would have to be answered is: Can the Muslim person renounce the jihad and infidel parts that incite them to violence on other faiths? Is it an accept all-or-nothing decision to renounce Islam?     -----VB
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/news/just-%E2%80%98smoke-and-mirrors%E2%80%99-france-tries-de-radicalization




Censored Transcript of Omar Mateen’s Police Call Proves Motive
A transcript showing a call between the Orlando terrorist and police proves he saw himself as a soldier of the Islamic State.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Thu, September 29, 2016
Screenshot from the transcript of the conversation with Omar Mateen. (Photo: © Washington Free Beacon)
The night that Omar Mateen murdered 49 people and injured 53 people in the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, he spoke with a police negotiator on the phone who attempted to talk him down.
The transcript of that conversation has now been released. A court ordered the FBI and Orlando police, who had previously kept the transcript secret, to release it to the public following a joint lawsuit submitted by several news organizations.
It has been published in full by the Washington Free Beacon.
The transcript recorded Omar Mateen identifying himself as “the person who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of [unidentified name].”
He said his specific reason for the attack was an airstrike that killed the Islamic State emir of Anbar province Abu Wahid in early May.
He repeatedly references the U.S. military campaigns against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in particular, but also mentions U.S. campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan more generally as motivating his attack.
One such comment reads, “Y
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/censored-transcript-omar-mateen%E2%80%99s-police-call-proves-motive




YOUNG BRIDE BEATEN UNCONSCIOUS FOR ATTENDING CHURCH
Fatuma Baluka, 21, the daughter of an Islamic leader in Uganda, was attacked by her husband after going to a church service.
 Fatuma Baluka, 21, the daughter of an Islamic leader in a predominantly Muslim village, was attacked by her husband when she arrived home from the service.
“My husband shouted at me that I was an ‘infidel,’ and then and there started hitting me with a metallic object,” Baluka told Morning Star News. “I fell down, only to find myself in a hospital bed.”
Baluka’s neighbors rescued her from the attack, which left her head and leg bleeding and rendered her unconscious.
“I have become an enemy to my husband, and my parents will not receive me either just for attending the church,” she said. “I feel disowned and helpless.”
After a number of days in the hospital, Baluka managed to take refuge at an undisclosed site away from her home, where she will remain for her safety.
While Uganda’s population is 85 percent Christian, 11 percent are Muslims, with some eastern areas Muslim majority.  Christians in those areas report being the brunt of numerous attacks, even though the constitution of Uganda provides for religious freedom.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/young-bride-beaten-unconscious-attending-church



DEATH THREATS FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT HATE PREACHING
A Christian organization is moving Musa Atique and his family to a safe house in Pakistan after the high school teacher complained to authorities.
A Christian teacher’s campaign to stop the preaching of hatred in Pakistan’s schools has resulted in his life and the lives of his family being threatened.
Musa Atique, a high school teacher, and his family, will be moved to a safe house this week run by the British Pakistani Christian Association.
Atique’s saga began when the Pakistani government began requiring the compulsory learning of the Quran and Islamic prayers for all students. Some of teachers who follow an extremist ideologyMusa Atique and his family
Musa Atique and his family
 took this addition to the curriculum as an opportunity to preach hatred about minorities – especially Christians -- to the students.
The results were seen in the student body where bullying attacks and unrest increasingly became the norm.
Atique complained about the hate speech to the principle of the school, but the principal chose to ignore the situation. Other minority teachers were too scared to voice their concerns and the less extremist Muslim teachers also refused to complain about the situation.
Threats against Atique came to physical blows last March when one of the extremist teachers, Mohammed Akhbar, came into Atique’s classroom and started beating him in front of his students and calling him a Christian choora (dirty sweeper). The principle offered Atiqu refuge in his office, but the attack was only the beginning of a series of harassments, intimidations and threats against Atique.
Ultimately, Atique was told to convert to Islam or he would be killed.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/death-threats-complaining-about-hate-preaching

https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/pentagon-internal-struggle-over-calling-out-salafi-jihadism
PENTAGON IN INTERNAL STRUGGLE OVER CALLING OUT SALAFI JIHADISM
Staffers from Special Operations Command want to include a section on Salafi jihadism in the next edition of the National Military Strategy.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Sun, October 2, 2016
From time to time, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s most senior military officer below the commander-in-chief himself, puts out a National Military Strategy. This document is intended for senior American military commanders around the world and sets out big picture strategy guidance for how the U.S. military ought to cope with the myriad threats it may face in the line of duty.
New Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Marine General Joseph Dunford is compiling a new National Military Strategy. Special Operations Command (SoCom), the branch of the military charged with hunting down and killing terrorists, is providing input and expertise to the report.
SoCom is pushing for Salafi jihadism to be discussed in the report as the branch of Sunni Islam responsible for most global terrorism in the world today. It is the ideology shared by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
“If you look at threat doctrine from that perspective, it’s a much bigger problem because it’s not just the violent jihadists, it’s the non-violent jihadists who support them,” one person knowledgeable about the National Military Strategy told The Washington Times. “Pretending there is no relationship between the violent jihadists and Islam isn’t going to win. We’re completely ignoring the war of ideas. We’re still in denial. We’re pretending the enemy doesn’t exist.”
Dunford’s staff declined to comment on the upcoming report, which will be classified. The last National Military Strategy, by the previous chairman, General Martin Dempsey, was released publicly on the Joint Chiefs of Staff website.  It did not make mention the ideological roots of terrorism.
Sources close to the team responsible for preparing the National Military Strategy told The Washington Times  Dunford’s staff was not persuaded on the merits of including the term.
Quintan Wictorowicz, one of the architects of Obama’s national counter extremism policy, charted the relationships between Salafi jihadist groups (although he did not use that term) and other sects of Islam in a 2005 academic paper entitled A Genealogy of Radical Islam.
“Al Qaeda and the radical fundamentalists that constitute the new ‘global jihadi movement’ are not theological outliers. They are part of a broader community of Islamists known as ‘Salafis’ (commonly called ‘Wahhabis’).”
He distinguished between violent and non-violent Salafis saying “The jihadi faction believes that violence can be used to establish Islamic states and confront the United States and its allies. Non-violent Salafis, on the other hand, emphatically reject the use of violence and instead emphasize propagation and advice (usually private) to incumbent rulers in the Muslim world.”
Wictorowicz details several important theological points that distinguish this movement, notably the use of takfir to brand the enemies of the jihadi movement as apostates deserving of death and the concept of jahilliya which posits that the contemporary Muslim world is not really Muslim because they follow man-made laws and are therefore akin to the pagans who ruled Arabia before the time of Mohammed.
He names Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb as a central figure in the development of this doctrine.
Understanding this application of radical theology to the political sphere helps us to identify why certain groups are dedicated to fighting the United States and helps in setting out clearly the differences between Salafi jihadism and Sunni Islam in general.
 RELATED ARTICLES
Is the Military Doctoring Reports on ISIS & Covering it Up?
German Court Will Not Prosecute Sharia Patrol
Salafists in Germany Increase 25% in 2015; Unprecedented Rate
Fiery NY Imam Calls Salafist Ideology 'Cancer' of Islam
https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/pentagon-internal-struggle-over-calling-out-salafi-jihadism

US JUDGE: 'NO DISCRIMINATION' IN MUSLIM PRAYER LAWSUIT
A group of Muslim factory workers sued their company for religious discrimination after they were fired for demanding prayer breaks.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Thu, September 29, 2016
A group of around 80 Somali Muslim meat packing workers in Nebraska were fired in 2008 when they staged a walkout after negotiations over prayer time breaks broke down. In 2010, a suit was later filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the JBS Swift meatpacking plant alleging religious discrimination.
According to The Grand Island Independent, Union representatives and senior management of the plant attempted to negotiate a settlement in which Muslim employees would be able to take prayer breaks while working at the plant. Options floated included changing meal times so they would align with prayer times.
The factory turned down the request believing it violated a pre-existing agreement about mealtimes which the company had with the union.
A group of employees then staged a walk-out, leading to the factory granting a mass prayer break at sunset.
However, a group of Hispanic non-Muslim employees then staged a walk-out, enraged that the Muslim employees had been granted what they perceived as preferential treatment. In order to stop that strike, the company reneged on its previous agreement with the Muslims.
It was at this point the company warned its employees that the next group of people to strike would be fired.
The next evening, a group of Somali Muslims staged a demonstration in the cafeteria followed by a workout, having been riled by senior management’s perfidy in forsaking its pledge to allow Muslim employees a mass break.
As a result, close to 80 Somali Muslim employees were terminated.
Now, eight years later, a Judge in Omaha has ruled that the termination was not motivated by discrimination.
This case is illustrative in a number of key ways:
Firstly, it shows that the U.S. takes religious discrimination seriously, and companies that do not make efforts to grant reasonable religious requests face legal action.
Secondly, it shows that not every religious request can be worked out. In this case, the judge ruled against the Muslim employees. Although we do not know the details of the case or the specifics of the union agreements, we can see that it’s not always going to work out in favor of the religious person.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, it shows that what one person might see as a reasonable religious request, another might see as unfair preferential treatment.
As America becomes increasingly diverse, these issues will continue to arise. Delicacy and a keen awareness of the laws surrounding religious discrimination are and will continue to be essential skills for employers.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/judge-rules-no-discrimination-meat-packing-lawsuit
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/veiled-woman-assassinates-isis-jihadis-checkpoint



VEILED WOMAN ASSASSINATES ISIS JIHADIS AT CHECKPOINT
For the third time in a month, a veiled woman has shot dead Islamic State fighters in Mosul, causing concerns among the terrorist fighters.
Thu, September 29, 2016
For the third time in a month, a veiled woman has shot dead Islamic State fighters in Mosul.

“A veiled woman carrying a pistol killed two fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), in the early hours of the morning, near a checkpoint in the vicinity of Numaniya neighborhood in the city of Mosul. This phenomenon has raised ISIS concerns during the past weeks,” says a report from the news outlet Al-Sumaria quoted by Iraqi News.
ISIS has warned its fighters in the al-Sharqat area, which the terror group has controlled since June 2014.

Iraq forces, with U.S. air support, are currently advancing on Mosul and preparing to retake the city.


CONGRESS OVERRIDES VETO TO PERMIT SUING SAUDI ARABIA
Congress pushes through an act permitting the families of the 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for the country’s role in the terror attack
Thu, September 29, 2016
The Senate pushed through a law permitting families of terror victims to sue officials of foreign governments if they were linked to terrorist attacks in defiance of President Barack Obama’s presidential veto of the bill.
The bill, called the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), had previously passed Congress but was vetoed by Obama. A motion to override the veto was voted on on Wednesday which passed the Senate by 97-1, with Democratic minority leader Harry Reid the only dissenting vote. The House followed suit hours later, voting 348-77 to override the presidential veto.
The bill authorizes “U.S. courts to hear cases involving claims against a foreign state for injuries, death, or damages that occur inside the United States as a result of a tort, including an act of terrorism, committed anywhere by a foreign state or official,” according to the official summary on the website Congress.gov.
"We rejoice in this triumph and look forward to our day in court and a time when we may finally get more answers regarding who was truly behind the attacks," said Terry Strada, national chair of the organization 9/11 Families & Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism.
Obama branded the move a “mistake” that sets a “dangerous precedent” that might lead private citizens around the world to open lawsuits against the U.S. government.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/congress-overrides-veto-permit-suing-saudi-arabia


Fresh Investigation Into ‘Kill Ahmadis’ London Mosque
The UK’s charity commission is launching an investigation into a mosque where leaflets calling for killing Ahmadis were allegedly found.
Thu, September 29, 2016
A statutory inquiry has been launched into a mosque accused of extremism in London. Leaflets calling for the killing of members of the minority Ahmadiyya sect of Islam were reportedly found in the Stockwell Green Mosque in London, according to a BBC investigation in April.
The BBC says it found a stack of leaflets calling for members of the Ahmadi sect to convert to mainstream Islam or be killed. Ahmadis are regarded as heretics by many mainstream Muslim sects due to their belief that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the second coming of Jesus and the Messiah.

Finding the leaflets prompted the attention of the Charity Commission, who began looking at the mosque and how it is being run more generally. Once they started digging, they say, they discovered other alarming irregularities.

“The visits identified serious regulatory concerns regarding how the charity is being managed including indications of poor governance, risks to charity property due to poor financial management and the trustees carrying out activities outside of the charity’s stated object,” the Charity Commission said in a statement outlining what they found following visits in April and May.
The Charity Commission is now launching a statutory investigation into the mosque and how it is run. This investigation will look at whether or not the mosque is complying with Britain’s charity laws. Depending on what they find, Stockwell Green Mosque could end up losing their charitable status.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/news/fresh-investigation-%E2%80%98kill-ahmadis%E2%80%99-london-mosque

https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/clarions-role-exposing-isis-linked-imam-maryland
CLARION'S ROLE IN EXPOSING ISIS-LINKED IMAM IN MARYLAND
The Maryland imam arrested for involvement in a pro-ISIS terrorist plot has been on our radar for months. We shared that info with the authorities.
BY RYAN MAURO Mon, September 26, 2016
As the Clarion Project wrote about yesterday, an imam in Maryland has been arrested for involvement in a pro-Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) terrorist plot, but he’s been on our radar for months.

We published the first article exposing him in July, prompting his mosque to label us as “anti-Islamic,” a rather dangerous label to have placed upon you by an ISIS supporter with over 1,000 Facebook “likes.”

We can now publicly reveal from our Muslim sources that the cleric threatened a Muslim woman who criticized his extremism. The preacher, Imam Suleiman Anwar of the Islamic Jurisprudence Center (who is also known by his actual name of Suleiman Bengharsa), also sent her a “letter to America” that expressed his solidarity with ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, perhaps by accident.

The imam was not just talking to himself. Our Muslim sources provided us with information prior to his arrest about supporters of his outside of Maryland who discussed fundraising for him, despite their disagreements with some of his opinions.

The imam denied supporting ISIS to the Detroit News, but the FBI and his own private messages tell a different story. Below is the message he sent to the Muslim who dared to directly challenge him:
When he calls on Allah to harm her “in this world,” he is expressing a desire for her to be harmed unless she changes her ways. It is Islamist verbiage that falls just shy of a direct death threat.

He then sent to her—perhaps accidentally—a letter to America that he did not publicly post that made it clear he was on the side of ISIS.
Imam Suleiman Anwar wasn’t reckless enough to directly endorse the Islamic State by name, but he clearly acknowledged their declared “caliphate” as legitimate and praised its terrorism against the U.S. and Europe. There is no other way to interpret his statements.

The Clarion Project provided this information and additional details to the proper authorities.

We cannot say what kind of a role our information played in foiling the radical cleric’s alleged plot, if any. But we can say that our stance against Islamism has not precluded us from having valuable Muslim allies who are eager to help protect all of us.

HORRIFIC ISIS CLIP SHOWS YOUNG BLOND CHILD HELP EXECUTIONS
A horrific new clip released by the Islamic State shows an eight-year-old blond child assisting in executions.
The latest ISIS clip is entitled “If You’ll Come Back, We’ll Come Back 3,” the third in a series.
At the start of the video you can see a blond child approximately eight years old dressed like a jihadist in military uniform and vest. He walks around looking a cage filled with around eight prisoners in orange jumpsuits awaiting execution.
He stands next to the executioner, a man wearing black with a large sword, who then proceeds to execute the prisoners. The child watches all the beheadings and then he looks at the bodies with the executioner’s arm around his shoulders.

The video cuts to a new scene in which six executioners with large gun stand before six prisoners in orange jumpsuits on their knees. Two of the executioners look around 12 years old. The prisoners are shot.

The final scene sees the blond child standing next to a jihadi. Both watch another jihadi carry out a beheading. 

The child then pulls a pistol from his vest, gives it to the jihadist standing next to him and they shoot another prisoner together.
Warning: This video contains graphic images.


NY SUSPECT'S MOSQUE LINKED TO SUBVERSIVE ISLAMIST GROUP
If we want to learn where Rahami got his seditious Islamist ideology, a good place to start is his mosque that is linked to ICNA, a seditious Islamist group.
A family friend of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the alleged perpetrator of the bombings in N.Y. and N.J., says Rahami attended the Muslim Community of New Jersey mosque and was there two weeks ago, but his overall attendance was “inconsistent.” The imam of the mosque is an official with an Islamist group named the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

The Muslim Community of New Jersey mosque, which has condemned Rahami’s terrorist attacks, lists its imam and religious affairs director as Asif Hirani.

Hirani is also an official with ICNA, serving as the program manager for its proselytizing campaign known as “WhyIslam” and an instructor for a branch of ICNA known as the Islamic Learning Foundation.

ICNA was derived from a Southeast Asian Islamist party called Jamaat-e-Islami. You can read our more comprehensive profile of ICNA here.

There is no indication that ICNA or Hirani support or approve of ISIS and Rahami’s bombings, but a 300-page teaching guide made by ICNA tells ICNA supporters that it is based on the work of some of the pioneers of the Islamist extremist movements, including Hamas financier Yousef Al-Qaradawi.

The Clarion Project wrote about the teaching guide in 2014. It is full of disturbing quotes about jihad, defeating the West, “reinstating the Caliphate system,” establishing theocratic sharia law, deception, infiltrating the political system and following an incremental strategy of gradualism towards these ends.   
ICNA’s 2010 member’s handbook similarly outlines a five-tiered strategy towards achieving a “united Islamic state, governed by an elected khalifah (caliph) in accordance with the laws of Sharia (Islamic law).” The five tiers are individual, family, society, state and global, the last of which entails establishing alliances “towards the establishment of the Khilafah [caliphate].”
If you teach Muslims that Allah requires you to strive towards building an Islamic State, it is not surprising that they would want to join the Islamic State. If you tell Muslims that it is obligatory to resurrect the caliphate, with violent jihad as a permissible option, won’t they be enthralled by an organization that appears to achieve that?
ICNA does condemn ISIS but even its declaration against ISIS endorses its basic concepts, which is why the declaration’s signatories include theocratic jihadists. It isn’t a truly peaceful and democratic declaration like the one published by the Muslim Reform Movement.
As for Hirani himself, he does preach against Islamic extremism, using that exact terminology. In one sermon, he laments talking to a youth who asked his parents about whether ISIS is following the Quran and his father only said not to talk about the world’s most famous terrorist group.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/ny-suspects-mosque-linked-subversive-islamist-group

MUSLIM MILITANTS GO DOOR TO DOOR KILLING CHRISTIANS
The attacks come as Boko Haram kills four at a church and a boat captain starts trial for throwing Christian refugees overboard.
 Three horrific incidents in three different countries highlight the global persecution of Christians by Muslim supremacists.
1)
A mob of Muslim militants descended on Ndomete village in the Central African Republic (CAR) and went door-to-door killing Christians. The U.N. confirmed the casualty figures.

The militiamen, believed to belong to the Muslim militia group Seleka, killed 26 people and is thought to have deliberately targeted civilians. Seleka deposed then president Francois Bozize in 2013 and installed the Muslim Michel Djotodia instead.

Faced with mounting sectarian violence, Djotodia resigned in January 2014.

Although the Seleka group was officially disbanded, the group did not put down its weapons. Ex-Seleka fighters and Christian so-called “anti-Balaka” militias have been fighting since, displacing some 25 percent of CAR’s population.

“If the government is not going to beef up the security, then we are going to defend ourselves,” a local Christian leader told Morningstar News. “We shall not keep quiet as our brothers are dying.”
2)
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/muslim-militants-go-door-door-killing-christians  



WHAT JOHN KERRY PROBABLY TOLD THE SAUDI CROWN PRINCE
We don’t know what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef at the U.N., but maybe it sounded like this.
US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef at the UN to discuss bilateral ties. Here’s what they might have said to each other.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: Pleasure to see you your royal highness. I have some very important matters to discuss with you and don’t have much time, so I hope you don’t mind if we launch straight into it.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef: No problem at all.
Kerry: Wonderful. The first thing I’d like to ask is about is your human rights violations in Yemen. You guys sure have been killing an awful lot of civilians over there. According to the U.N. humanitarian coordinator your soldiers have killed or wounded at least 10,000 civilians since beginning the campaign in 2015. Do you think you could, you know, dial it back a little bit? Or maybe just be more careful when you’re getting your bomb on?
Nayef: Listen, we’ve bought $110 billion worth of weapons from y’all since Obama took office. That’s a lot of money. If you don’t like the way we do things we’d be happy to take our business elsewhere. China never asks us these sorts of insulting questions about alleged “civilian casualties.” How can you prove they’re not terrorists anyway? Once someone is just mangled chunks mixed with rubble, terrorists and civilians start to get a lot harder to differentiate
Kerry: The U.N. Human Rights Commissioner says you’ve killed two-thirds of the civilians who’ve died in the war. You’ve dropped cluster bombs on civilian areas! You’re using white phosphorus!
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/what-john-kerry-probably-told-saudi-crown-prince

NY TIMES: 'MILITANT VIOLENCE' VANISHING. REALLY?
The media’s desire to shape world events by whitewashing reality or by falsifying the narrative seems to have gotten out of control this election season.
Writing in a joint op-ed yesterday in The New York Times, after a weekend that saw four Islamist terror attacks in the U.S., the mayors of New York City, London and Paris made an astonishing statement:  “In our experience, they wrote, “militant violence is vanishingly rare.”
Only they didn’t write that. A correction appeared today at the end of the article noting that the phrase was added by an editor without the approval of the authors.
In the article, titled “Our Immigrants, Our Strength,” Bill DeBlasio, Sadiq Kahn and Anne Hidalgo, mayors of NYC, London and Paris respectively,  argue that, “Investing in the integration of refugees and immigrants is not only the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do. Refugees and other foreign-born residents bring needed skills and enhance the vitality and growth of local economies, and their presence has long benefited our three cities.”
Just to make sure the Times’ readers didn’t get nervous about an influx of refugees, a zealous editor added the sentence about vanishing “militant violence” (code word for Islamist terrorism).
While one can argue the point the authors are making -- that “policies that embrace diversity and promote inclusion are successful” (ask voters in Germany who recently gave Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open door policies an enormous thumbs down) -- no one can say that “militant violence” in the world is vanishing.
In fact, London’s Mayor Kahn said the day after the NY/NJ bombings that urban dwellers might as well get used to terror attacks, because they are now “part and parcel” of city life.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/ny-times-militant-violence-vanishing-really

WHY WON’T THE PRESS CALL THE NY BOMBER AN ISLAMIST TERRORIST?
Certain sections of the media have been reticent to identify Ahmad Khan Rahami’s Muslim identity in their coverage of his attack
Y ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Thu, September 22, 2016
New York bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami, who stands accused of setting a pressure cooker bomb in Chelsea which injured 29 people on Saturday, has been charged in a criminal complaint. Rahami was arrested after a shootout on Monday.
He is also suspected of planting bombs in Seaside Park and Elizabeth, New Jersey.

After the shootout, police recovered a journal containing Islamist rhetoric and praise for known terrorist groups and ideologies.

“I looked for guidance came Sheikh Anwar, Brother Adnani, Dawla. Said it clearly – Attack the kuffar (non-believer) in the back yard,” Rahami wrote, referencing American Al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki who was killed in a drone strike in 2011 and the Islamic State’s spokesperson Abu Muhammad al Adnani who was killed in August. (Dawla is an honorific term for a ruler or senior statesman.)

Adnani issued frequent calls to Westerners to carry out terrorist attacks within their home countries.

Rahami also wrote, “The sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets.”

The federal complaint makes mention of Rahami’s support for Al-Qaeda, but not his support for the Islamic State. However, an official told Fox News that more charges and complaints would most likely be brought and the complaint may be included later on.
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/why-won%E2%80%99t-press-call-ny-bomber-islamist-terrorist



SHELL FILLED WITH MUSTARD GAS LANDS NEAR US TROOPS IN IRAQ
No troops were injured in the attack by the Islamic State. The US routinely bombs sites where ISIS manufactures the deadly chemical agent.
A shell containing mustard gas was fired at US and Iraqi troops at the Qayyara air base in Iraq by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). The shell, believed to be either a rocket or an artillery shell, was deemed “ineffective” by one official and “low purity” by another.

No troops were injured by the shell, which landed within about 100 yards of U.S. troops on the base which is located outside of Mosul. Troops that initially inspected the shell went through decontamination showers as a precautionary measure.

"I don't know of a case like this where it was proximate to U.S. forces like this before," said one military official who was quoted by CNN.
The attack did not surprise American officials since they were aware that the terror group had been manufacturing the chemical agent and had previously bombed several of the group’s production site
MORE 
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/shell-filled-mustard-gas-lands-near-us-troops-iraq


PHILLY WOMAN PLANNED TO ABANDON CHILDREN, JOIN ISIS
Keonna Thomas admitted she planned to abandon her two young children and travel to the Islamic State to die as a “martyr.”
Keonna Thomas, 32, admitted in federal court to planning to abandon her two children, aged seven and nine, to fight for the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

She told the judge, "I believe that I'm guilty of this charge," acknowledging that the only reason she did not carry out this plan is because federal agents raided her home the day she was due to leave in 2015.

She had booked a flight to Barcelona and planned to travel to Syria from there.

She began by posting extremist statements online as early as 2013 under the pseudonyms Fatayat Al Khilafah and YoungLioness. Later, she became more involved and contacted a Jamaican cleric called Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal and asked him to help her marry a jihadist.

He made a match and she married ISIS recruit Abu Khalid al-Amriki in an online ceremony conducted over Skype.
When he asked her in 2015 if she wanted to carry out a suicide operation she replied, “That would be amazing. . . . A girl can only wish."
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/philly-woman-planned-abandon-children-join-isis


SYRIAN MAN DEFENESTRATES CHILDREN WHEN WIFE DEMANDS RIGHTS
The man, a refugee in Germany, will stand trial for attempted murder after he threw his three children out of a window of an immigrant center.
Police in the German town of Lohmar received an emergency call after neighbors saw three children falling one by one from the first floor window of a refugee center, according to The Mirror.

Prosecutors argued that the dispute was caused when the wife “in Germany no longer wished to accept the roles they had at home, and did not want to put up with everything he wanted any more.”

The three children, aged one, three and seven, were airlifted to a nearby hospital. The man was promptly arrested.

The two older children were seriously injured with both sustaining head injuries and internal trauma. The one-year-old survived with lighter injuries and was able to be released from the hospital the next day.

The man had been banned from the center for 10 days after smashing a saucepan in his wife’s face. Feeling sorry for him, the wife had let her husband back in the center
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/syrian-man-defenestrates-children-when-wife-demands-rights


IRAN FORBIDS WOMEN FROM RIDING BICYCLES
Rivaling Saudi Arabia’s ban on women driving, the ban says the activity exposes the society to corruption and is against women's chastity.
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” - Feminist icon Susan B. Anthony, 1896.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa prohibiting women from riding bicycles in public.

Speaking to state media, Khamenei said, "Riding a bicycle often attracts the attention of men and exposes the society to corruption, and thus contravenes women's chastity, and it must be abandoned."

Reaction was swift and to the point by women protesting the latest setback to their freedom in the Islamic Republic.

The hashtag #Iranianwomenlovecycling was initiated on social media and women began posting pictures of themselves  riding bikes on the Facebook page “My Stealthy Freedom,” a site initially created for Iranian women to post pictures of themselves outside without the obligatory hijab.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/iran-forbids-women-riding-bicycles

WHAT ARE THE CANDIDATES SAYING ON THE TERROR ATTACKS?
CNN edited out a soundbite in which Hillary Clinton referred to 'bombings' then excoriated Trump for saying the same thing.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Mon, September 19, 2016
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump described the bombing in New York as a bombing, despite media efforts to brand the attack as “an explosion,” as reported by The Hill.

Clinton told CNN in the aftermath of the explosion, “I’ve been briefed about bombings in New York and New Jersey, and the attacks in Minnesota. Obviously, we need to do everything we can to support our first responders, also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold. We’ve been in touch with various officials, including the mayor’s office in New York, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. And I’ll have more to say about it when we actually know the facts.”

Clinton went on to praise the emergency services for their rapid response to the attack. In the clip that CNN aired, however, they edited out the first sentence that referred to the bomb.

This is despite blasting Trump for saying the same thing. He stated, “Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” a much shorter statement than Clinton’s, but which said essentially the same thing: There was a bomb, we don’t know much else.

He did add “we better get very tough folks. We’d better get very, very tough,” but stopped short of calling it terrorism saying, “We’ll see what it is.”

Clinton later called the explosions “apparent terrorist attacks,” speaking in a guarded way since she did not yet know all the facts, but still not shying away from acknowledging that the attacks bore the hallmarks of terrorism.

Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, highlighted Clinton’s experience in dealing with terrorism.

“Hillary Clinton was New York Senator on 9/11 and was there at the World Trade Centers,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press. “They were still looking for survivors. And she’s been through this. It’s been a searing experience in her life. And she was part of the national security team that worked together to revive the hunt and wipe out [Osama] bin Laden. And so it is an important time where you have to have experience.”

Although calibrated to different audiences, both Clinton’s and Trump’s responses were actually remarkably similar.

Despite media assertions to the contrary, both said they didn’t know what was going on and did not jump the gun to describe the attacks as Islamist before the facts were known.

Since the candidates first spoke out, five more devices were found in a backpack in New Jersey, one of which exploded while a robot was attempting to disarm it.

 At press time, the FBI had put out a notice searching for a suspect identified as Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan.

“Anyone who sees this individual or knows anything about him or his whereabouts needs to call it in right away,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on CNN.

The FBI warned that Rahami “should be considered armed and dangerous.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/what-are-candidates-saying-terror-attacks

ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR MINNESOTA MALL ATTACK
An ISIS-linked media outlet praised the man who stabbed nine people at the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud as a “soldier of the Islamic state.”
Mon, September 19, 2016
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack at the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota in an online statement put out by the Amaq News Agency.
The terrorist wounded nine people before being killed by an off-duty police officer.
The Amaq News Agency is run by ISIS and is used to keep the group’s supporters and enemies around the world updated with ISIS military victories and terrorist acts, in accordance with how the group wishes to present itself.
“The person who carried out the stabbing action yesterday in Minnesota is a soldier of the Islamic State,” the statement read, “and he carried out the attack in response to the calls to target residents of the countries of the Crusader coalition.”
ISIS has repeatedly put out calls for supporters to carry out acts of terrorism in their countries of origin.
The 22-year-old terrorist was of Somali origin and asked victims if they were Muslim, stabbing them if they were not
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/isis-claims-responsibility-minnesota-mall-attack

TURKEY: MAN KICKS WOMAN IN FACE FOR WEARING SHORTS
Despite threatening to kill her and leaving her severely bruised, a Turkish court released the man saying that he had not committed any crime.
Mon, September 19, 2016
A man who kicked a woman in the face for wearing shorts while threatening to kill her has been released without charges by a Turkish court, reported the Daily Mail.
The court ruled that the man had committed no crime.
The incident occurred in Istanbul when the 35-year-old man attacked Ayşegül Terzi, a 23-year old nurse, on a bus. Shouting at her, “Those wearing shorts must die!” the man told the court he had been angered by the way the woman was dressed. “The shorts she was wearing were not appropriate. That's why I was angry and behaved so,” he said.
Terzi, who sustained severe bruising, was saved when three men stopped the attacker. The incident was caught on CCTV:
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/turkey-man-kicks-woman-face-wearing-shorts

GITMO PRISONER ALLEGES SAUDI ROYAL INVOLVED IN RECRUITMENT
The allegations came as the U.S. confirms that two released Gitmo suspects rejoined terror groups.
Sun, September 18, 2016
An accused Al-Qaeda bomb maker currently incarcerated in the Guantanamo Bay military prison told US officials he suspected that an unnamed Saudi royal was involved in recruiting him to terrorism, according to The San Diego Union Tribune.
Ghassan Abdallah al-Sharbi told a review board that he had met with a religious figure that had a telephone conversation with a man he addressed as “your highness” before urging al-Sharbi to return to the U.S. and take part in a terror plot involving a plane.
The unnamed Saudi royal could be any one of thousands of princes in the vast House of Saud.
This conversation reportedly took place in early 2001, after al-Sharbi had returned to Saudi Arabia from Phoenix, Arizona where he had taken flight courses with two men who later went on to be among the 9/11 hijackers.
Al-Sharbi told the story in a statement recorded by the Periodic Review Board, which assesses whether detainees at the controversial facility are eligible for release. The board includes representatives from six different U.S. government agencies.
Al-Sharbi’s statement was posted to the Periodic Review Board website, with some sections redacted. He also spoke about his medical issues in the statement, which were causing him some distress.
The U.S. is attempting to release detainees from Guantanamo Bay since Obama wishes to fulfill his pre-election pledge to close the facility.
On Wednesday, the US government announced that two detainees who were released from Guantanamo Bay in the first six months of 2016 have since returned to fighting for militant groups.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/gitmo-prisoner-alleges-saudi-royal-involved-recruitment

ATTACKS ROCK AMERICA OVER THE WEEKEND -- FROM MINN. TO NYC
A man who went on a stabbing spree in a Minnesota mall was heard to have made 'reference to Allah' and asked victims if they were Muslim.
Sun, September 18, 2016
A man who went on a stabbing spree in a Minnesota mall was heard by witnesses to have made “reference to Allah” and asked at least one of his victims if they were Muslim, reported Fox News.
Eight people were treated for wounds and released from a local hospital after a man dressed as a private security went on a rampage at the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The man was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer from a difference jurisdiction.
St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson said the motive for the attack was not yet clear and only said, "We will be diligent and get to the bottom of this."
The man was unknown to the police department, except for previous traffic violations. St. Cloud is located about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Other attacks rocked America over the weekend. Motives for the attacks are still unknown, although the modus operandi of the attacks mimics Islamist terror attacks in the past. The attacks included:
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/news/attacks-rock-america-over-weekend-minn-nyc

WHAT IS THE US TRYING TO DO IN SYRIA?

US commandos running from US-funded rebels; a US-led coalition airstrike bombing Syrian regime positions during a cease-fire. What is the US doing?
“Christians and Americans have no place among us” one man screamed “They want to wage a crusader war to occupy Syria.”
Another yelled “The collaborators of America are dogs and pigs. They wage a crusader war against Syria and Islam.”
The confrontation was sparked when members of the FSA accused the Americans of supporting the Kurdish YPG militias, which America has been backing in their fight against ISIS, according to Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
Turkey, which also backs Sunni rebels, wants to stymie Kurdish militias and frustrate their efforts to gain greater power and autonomy.
Meanwhile on Sunday a US led coalition airstrike killed at least 62 Syrian regime soldiers near Deir Ezzor airport, in a strike it says was aimed at ISIS positions  but accidentally hit the Syrian regime soldiers.
Russia and the Syrian regime slammed America for the strike saying it shows the US is backing ISIS.
Russia called an emergency UN meeting in response to the strike, incurring the ire of US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power who excoriated Russia for their support of the Syrian regime.
The strike came as factions attempt to keep a fragile US-Russia brokered ceasefire which began on Monday. The ceasefire does not include the Islamic State or Jabhet Fateh el-Sham, formerly Al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.
The Syrian regime is expected to halt flying combat missions against opposition held areas. The situation is further complicated by the fact that many rebel groups coordinate with Jabhet Fateh el-Shams, most recently in the breaking of the siege of Aleppo, which was achieved by coordination across different rebel groups.
The ceasefire included a request from Russia for the US to differentiate between rebels involved with Jabhet Fateh el-Shams, which the US accepts is an enemy, and those who are not.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/what-us-trying-do-syria

15 Years Since 9/11: Is Al-Qaeda's 20-Yr Plan Coming To Fruition?
How does the 'War on Terror' look 15 years after the worst terrorist attack in American history? Al-Qaeda's 20-year plan is scarily close to reality.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Sun, September 11, 2016
Today marks 15 years since Al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, murdering 2, 977 people. Since that day, in 2001, at least another 1,000 people have died from illnesses caused by exposure to debris from the failing towers.

This short clip shows the World Trade Center after it was hit:
A US-led NATO taskforce invaded Afghanistan shortly afterwards to remove the Taliban, and to find and capture Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden is now dead, but Afghanistan is still at war. Al-Qaeda’s successor organization, the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL), has established a state of sorts across swathes of Syria and Iraq. Al-Qaeda itself is an active participant in Syria’s increasingly complicated civil war.
Since the attack, efforts to defeat terrorism have eluded success. Here are three things to bear in mind:
1
With the collapse of the USSR, Islamism is the only ideological alternative to Western hegemony
Islamism is a comprehensive political system that offers a total ideological alternative to the mainstream Western consensus of democracies enforcing liberal values, backed by American hard power. Since international communism collapsed, those opposed to this system have been left without an ideological home.

This fact puts into perspective the close relationship between sections of the hard left, such as the UK’s Jeremy Corbyn or Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin, with totalitarian Islamists such as Hamas or insurgents fighting American forces in Iraq. Both Corbyn and Benjamin transitioned seamlessly from traditional left-wing and socialist/communist alignment to apologism for terrorist groups who were deemed to be oppressed, as part of a broader strategy of defiance against American and Western power.In 2009, Corbyn called Hamas a force for “social good” and his “friends,” while in 2004, Benjamin collected $600,000 in medical supplies and cash to deliver to the families of terrorist insurgents fighting the U.S. in Iraq.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/15-years-911-al-qaedas-20-year-plan-coming-fruition



OBAMA TO VETO BILL ALLOWING LAWSUITS AGAINST SAUDIS FOR 9/11
The bill passed Congress unanimously. But Obama will wait until Congress is out of session to 'pocket veto' it. It will then have to be reintroduced yet again.
Tue, September 13, 2016
Barack Obama with the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. (Photo: © Reuters)
Even though both the Senate and the House passed a long-awaited bill that would allow families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for damages, the bill will most likely not become law anytime soon.
The bill passed the Senate the bill unanimously in May, while the House passed the bill by a unanimous voice votes last Friday. The bill will now be sent to the president to approve or veto.
Speaking Monday at a daily briefing for the press, White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest told reporters that he anticipates that U.S. President Barack Obama will veto the bill.
"It's not hard to imagine other countries using this law as an excuse to haul U.S. diplomats or U.S. service members or even U.S. companies into courts all around the world," Earnest remarked.
Although the bill appears to have enough support to override a presidential veto (two-thirds are needed in both the Senate and the House), it most likely will not come to a vote.
According to the law, the president has 10 days to act on any bill sent to him for approval. However, a constitutional loophole allows a bill to be vetoed by the president if Congress out of session and unable to vote to override the veto.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/obama-veto-bill-allowing-lawsuits-against-saudis-911

Terror Attacks Are Stopped Every Day Say, America and France
FACEBOOK CENSORS DISCUSSION ON SHARIA
Facebook censored a video allegedly showing the execution of gay people by jihadis in Libya from the page "Should America Fear Sharia."
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Mon, September 12, 2016
Illustrative picture. (Photo: © Creative Commons/Clarion Project
Facebook has banned a video titled “Should America Fear Sharia?” posted on the Center for Security Policy’s page. The 45-second video purportedly shows gay people being hurled from a roof in Libya. You can hear the sickening thud of the bodies as they hit the pavement, following immediately by jubilant shouts of “Allahu Akbar” from the terrorists.
The clip is still available on YouTube.
Warning: This clip contains graphic and distressing images:
Muslims throwing gays from a rooftop shouting Allahu Akbar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc4wnKPcUZs
“In a situation where it’s Facebook or these things, that’s not a government suppression,” Center for Security Policy’s Executive Vice President Jim Hanson told AlphaNews. “They can do whatever they want, they’re private companies, but it has an element of what we consider free speech. We don’t think it’s particularly good to have folks saying, ‘No you can’t talk about that. You can’t mention that because it bothers us.’ Well sorry. That’s what we do here.”
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/facebook-censors-discussion-sharia    

US Welcomes 11,491 Syrians, But Where Are the Christians?
Only 0.46% of the Syrian refugees allowed into the US over the last year are Christian despite the US agreeing they are suffering a genocide.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Tue, September 13, 2016
The United States is already 15% over its target of allowing 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country for the fiscal year 2016. There are still three weeks left to go and, as of the beginning of the week, 11,491 Syrians have been resettled in America.

However, of those allowed in, just 58 are Christians, amounting to 0.46%.

They are:

14 Catholics
6 Orthodox
4 Protestants
1 Greek Orthodox
29 undefined
4 Jehovah’s Witnesses
This is a shockingly low number, especially given the persecution faced by Christians across the Middle East and North Africa. The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and other jihadist groups deliberately target Christians forcing them to pay the jizya (a subjugation tax), convert to Islam or die.

In March, the U.S. State Department declared that the campaign of ISIS against the Christians constitutes genocide.
Yet 98% of those allowed into the country were Sunni Muslims.
The Yazidis, who have also faced a concerted campaign to eradicate them by the Islamic State, have also not been allowed entry en masse into the United States. Only 18 Yazidis have been allowed in this year.
If the U.S. is only allowing limited numbers of refugees into the country, why not prioritize those from the most vulnerable groups, namely Christians, Yazidis and other minorities?
If the U.S. agrees that the actions of ISIS against the Christians of Syria and Iraq constitute genocide, surely they have a moral obligation to act to try and save them.
Otherwise the classification is mere empty words.
https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/us-welcomes-11491-syrians-where-are-christians

AL-QAEDA CALLS ON BLACK COMMUNITY TO BECOME JIHADIS
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri used a 9/11 video to try and exploit American racial tensions to recruit more terrorists for his cause.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Wed, September 14, 2016
Al-Qaeda used a 9/11 video message to call on the black community in America to convert to Islam, citing their history of oppression at the hands of the white majority.
Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the film:
“We inform every weakened [person] in the world: America is the source of calamity and the head of evil in this world, and it is the thief of nations’ ailment, and it is the one who humiliates the Africans [i.e. African Americans] until this day, and no matter how much they try to reform and obtain their rights according to the law and the [U.S.] Constitution, they will not attain it, for the law is in the hands of the white majority, [who] control it as they wish. And they [i.e. African Americans] will not be saved but by Islam.”
The video also includes quotes from the late Malcolm X preaching the virtues of fighting back against racist aggression and against the "turn the other cheek" model espoused by Christianity.
This follows from Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups attempting to manipulate America’s racial tensions for their own purposes.
During the 2014 Ferguson riots ignited by the death of 18-year old Michael Brown at the hands of police, the Islamic State offered to send fighters to support the rioters in exchange for allegiance
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/al-qaeda-calls-black-community-become-jihadis

Marine Drill Sergeant Put Muslim Recruit in Tumble Dryer
The sergeant reportedly screamed at the recruit, “You're going to kill us all the first chance you get aren't you, terrorist?”
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Wed, September 14, 2016
A Muslim recruit to the U.S. Marine corps was forced into an industrial tumble dryer and subjected to anti-Muslim abuse by a drill sergeant, according to an investigation into abuse at the Parris Island training facility in South Carolina.
The sergeant is said to have screamed, “You're going to kill us all the first chance you get aren't you, terrorist” and accused him of participating in the 9/11 attacks. He also alleged shouted, “What are your plans? Aren't you a terrorist?”
The sergeant reportedly turned on the dryer, burning the recruit’s neck and arms.
Although the alleged incident took place in November 2015, it has only now come to light, with the Washington Post reviewing the investigative documents.
The same sergeant was also implicated in the death of another recruit, Raheel Siddiqui, who had Pakistani origins. Siddiqui leapt 40 feet to his death from a stairwell while running from the sergeant who had just slapped him.
Such actions are clearly cases of anti-Muslim bigotry. 
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/marine-drill-sergeant-put-muslim-recruit-tumble-dryer

‘THE TARGET WAS REALLY THE EIFFEL TOWER': FRENCH FEMALE JIHADI
Ornella Gilligman, mother of three who tried to explode gas canisters near Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, was part of an all-female ISIS cell.
The female jihadi who left a car filled with gas canisters near the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris confessed that her preferred target had been the iconic Eiffel Tower.
Ornella Gilligman, 29 and the mother of three children, was part of an all-woman’s Islamic State terror cell and the first-such woman to be charged by French authorities.
Gilligman was caught through fingerprints she left in her car, which was discovered parked near the cathedral by an alert resident. Gilligman fled the car after unsuccessfully trying to set it on fire.
When police arrived, they discovered a still-burning cigarette inside with three canisters filled with gas.
Police were then able to track Gilligman to the south of France where she was attempting to flee with her boyfriend to Spain. The two were arrested at a gas station near the city of Orange, however, he boyfriend has since been released without charges.
French authorities identified the other members of the cell as Ines Madani, 19, Sarah Hervouet, 23, and Amel Sakaou, 39, and said they were all “determined to cause carnage in Paris.”
All of the other women were captured in a raid on a flat in Boussy-Saint-Antoine, south of Paris. Madani was shot and wounded in the operation and was discovered with a letter of her last testaments and a pledge to the Islamic State.
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/news/%E2%80%98-target-was-really-eiffel-tower-french-female-jihadi


CANADIAN PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S PANDERING TO ISLAMISTS
Trudeau should investigate history and he would find it has been tried before. Appeasing Islamists just doesn't work. (Hint: it's because of the ideology.)
BY MEIRA SVIRSKY Wed, September 14, 2016Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s penchant for pandering to Islamists was on full display this week when he visited the Ottawa Muslim Association’s mosque Monday whose lead imam is a member of group which has been designated as a terrorist organization abroad.
Trudeau visited the mosque in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The Toronto Sun reported that the Ottawa Muslim Association is led by Samy Metwally, who, according to the mosque’s website, is a member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS).”
IUMS was founded and is led by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the most influential extremist hate preachers in the Muslim world and the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Qaradawi has been banned from entering France, the U.S. and the UK.  After the downfall of Egypt’s Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi, Qaradawi posted a video online calling on all Muslims from all over the world to go to Egypt and wage jihad with their lives to restore power to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Subsequently, a “red alert” for his arrest was issued by Interpol, the international police agency.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/canadian-pm-justin-trudeau%E2%80%99s-pandering-islamists

WHY HONOR-KILL YOUR SISTER AND HAVE CHILD PORN ON YOUR PHONE?
Two brutal honor killings of Syrian women took place recently, one in Lebanon, and one in Germany.
Tue, September 6, 2016
Why Honor-Kill Your Sister AND Have Child Porn on Your Phone?
Two brutal honor killings of Syrian women took place recently, one in Lebanon, and one in Germany.
On September 3 the trial of two Syrian brothers charged with killing their pregnant sister began in a regional court in Hessen, Germany.
Mustafa, 22, admitted stabbing his sister Ramia, 30, 15 times in the chest and neck. Both her and her unborn child were killed.
He claimed she had dishonored the family.
The older brother, Muhammed, 26, is charged with failing to act to save his sister who was still alive initially after the assault.
Police arrested the two brothers hours after the incident. They also found child pornography on the cellphone of the older brother Muhammed.
He will be charged about the child pornography separately.
Ramia’s husband had threatened her with divorce because he was told she had a romantic affair with a man living in Egypt. She sent him dozens of sexually explicit video clips and her brothers found out about this story.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/why-honor-kill-your-sister-and-have-child-porn-your-phone

EVEN THE ISLAMIC STATE HAS BANNED THE BURQA FOR SECURITY REASONS
Although facing defeat in Iraq, the group continues to implement gruesome killings and new rules for everything from soccer to divorce. A round-up
1.) 
In an ironic twist of fate, the (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Islamic State has banned the wearing of burqas (that they had made obligatory on every woman) for security reasons. The ban comes after a fully veiled woman in Mosul killed five Islamic State jihadis with a pistol fitted with a silencer. The woman disappeared and has yet to be found.
2.)
The Islamic State has banned soccer referees in Deir Ezzor, an eastern province of Syria, on the ground (Photo: Flickr/Julian Carvajal)
that the referees are “in violation of the command of Allah and the Sunnah” because they “do not judge according to what Allah has revealed.”
Soccer will now be planned under new sharia rules, where by an injured player will receive compensation from the player who caused the damage. In addition, according to Salafi scholars, whether or not referees should even be present at games and whether or not games should be played at all is questionable.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/even-islamic-state-has-banned-burqa-security-reasons



IRANIAN FAST BOATS CAUSE US NAVY PATROL SHIP TO CHANGE COURSE
U.S. Defense Department officials report it was the fourth incident of its kind in a month and one of 31 similar incidents this year.
Wed, September 7, 2016
An Iranian fast attack boat caused a U.S. Navy patrol ship in the Persian Gulf to change its course after the Iranian craft came with 100 yards (91 meters) of the vessel, as reported by Yahoo News. (See video of the incident below.)
The report by U.S. Defense Department officials said it was the fourth incident of its kind in a month and one of 31 similar incidents this year. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Defense Department official said that the move was "unsafe and unprofessional due to lack of communications and the close-range harassing maneuvering.”
He added that manned weapons could be seen openly on the Iranian boat.
"We don't see this type of unsafe and unprofessional activity from any other nation," the official added.
Pentagon Spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis described the incident, saying seven Iranian boats “harassed” the U.S. patrol ship, which was located at the time in the center of the gulf. The maneuver caused the USS Firebolt, which measures 174-feet (53 meters) long, to change its course.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/iranian-fast-boats-cause-us-navy-patrol-boat-change-course  


Are Trump, Wilders, Farage and Le Pen Really Like ISIS?
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights blasted the Western populists as selling the same essential message as ISIS.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Tue, September 6, 2016
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein slammed European and American right-wing leaders as populist bigots, comparing their campaigning style to that of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
The commissioner made the accusations in a speech to the U.S. Peace, Justice and Security Foundation gala last night and addressed his remarks to "Mr. Geert Wilders, his acolytes, indeed to all those like him – the populists, demagogues and political fantasists”
You can read his full speech here.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20452&LangID=E
Boasting about his status as a human rights crusader, al-Hussein tore into Wilders’ electoral pledge to ban Muslim immigration and close all mosques in Holland.
He drew connections between all populist anti-Islamic movements in the West, arguing “what Mr. Wilders shares in common with Mr. Trump, Mr. Orban, Mr. Zeman, Mr. Hofer, Mr. Fico, Madame Le Pen, Mr. Farage, he also shares with Da’esh.”
“All seek in varying degrees to recover a past, halcyon and so pure in form, where sunlit fields are settled by peoples united by ethnicity or religion – living peacefully in isolation, pilots of their fate, free of crime, foreign influence and war.  A past that most certainly, in reality, did not exist anywhere, ever. Europe’s past, as we all know, was for centuries anything but that.”
To a certain extent he is right. The message of “taking our country back” to “make America great again” (Trump) is the same call to arms sounded by Farage’s “take back control” slogan in the Brexit campaign. Wilders is leading in the polls because he wants to halt Muslim immigration, not in spite of that policy, and he very definitely wants to assert Dutch identity and Dutch culture.
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/are-trump-wilders-farage-and-le-pen-really-isis

FRENCH AUTHOR, SON ATTACKED BY SALAFIS OVER NOVEL: REPORT
Ghislaim Gilberti and his 12-year-old son were brutally beaten in Belfort, France over objections to his thriller novel that features a jihadi group.
Wed, September 7, 2016
After being harassed for months after writing a thriller novel about jihadists, author Ghislaim Gilberti and his 12-year-old son were brutally attacked in Belfort, France, as reported by L’Est Republicain.
Four men between the ages of 20 and 30 who were reported to be Salafist Muslims confronted Gilberti as he was walking with his 12-year old son and 11-year old daughter.
Kncking him down with blows to his back and pinning him to the ground while they beat him, the men called Gilberti a “filthy white.” Gilberti lost consciousness in the attack, waking up in the hospital with multiple injuries, including a broken arm that required surgery.
The men kicked his son in the stomach and in the head and shouted at his daughter, “It’s the same price for you” and, “We don’t forgive, we don’t forget!”
Gilbert is known as an anti-fascist activist and had been under temporary police protection last March. Salafists had made death threats against Gilberti and his children and continually banged on his door, trying to break in through a number of windows.
MORE http://www.clarionproject.org/news/french-author-son-attacked-salafis-over-novel-report

WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN IRAN: ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO BACK
While advances have been made for Iranian women in parliament, activists now face ‘enemy of the state’ accusations.
Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran since 2013, gave many women in Iran grounds for hope when he appointed Shahindokht Molaverdi to be his deputy minister for women’s affairs.  What is especially compelling about Molaverdi is that while holding progressive views regarding gender equality, she is also a devout Muslim - something that both seems to help her attempts to fight for women’s rights in Iran and hurt her.
For some, it gives her credibility and makes her less threatening, but for others, the hard-liners, it makes her more threatening as she seems to act as a subversive agent, aiming to bring down traditional Islamic values.
What gains Molaverdi the most respect, however, is her determination to work within the Iranian political system.  One way in which she expresses this determination is through her reluctance to call herself a feminist, a term that is currently considered a dirty work in Iran.
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/women%E2%80%99s-rights-iran-one-step-forward-two-back



IS THE ISLAMIC STATE'S PLAN TO CONQUER ROME SO FAR-FETCHED?
Historically, violent and civilizational jihad has changed the demographic character and culture of entire nations in much of the world.
BY WILLIAM REED Thu, September 8, 2016
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) made a call to its cells in Europe through an encrypted text message in English, French, and Arabic on the social media over the weekend.
The Turkish news outlet NTV reported that via the ISIS-affiliated “Nasir Foundation,” the terror group sent a message to its members and sympathizers in Europe who are preparing for attacks, telling them to “either act immediately or annihilate all organizational information they possess.”
“Our brothers and sisters in Europe and especially in France, hurry up to carry out your acts. Also, be careful and cautious,” ordered the terror group.
“We hear that a lot of our brothers get arrested before carrying out their acts. We suggest you to delete all of the information and messages in your devices relating the Islamic State including photos, videos and applications. We also suggest you to carry out your acts before it is too late.”
ISIS allegedly made the warning after Syrian-born Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the official spokesperson and a senior leader of the Islamic State, was killed in Aleppo. The U.S. and Russia both announced in separate statements that they killed al-Adnani in their airstrikes.
Since al-Adnani’s death, there have been calls for revenge attacks to be carried out by jihadist operatives, the Daily Mail reported.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/islamic-states-plan-conquer-rome-so-far-fetched

SAUDI WOMEN DEMAND END TO MALE GUARDIANSHIP
Saudi women are striking back against male guardianship laws on Twitter, sharing their stories.#StopEnslavingSaudiWomen
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Thu, September 8, 2016
#StopEnslavingSaudiWomen is trending on Twitter in the latest campaign of women fighting for their rights in Saudi Arabia.
Women in Saudi Arabia are unable to travel, work or get a higher education without the permission of their male guardian (among a number of other restrictions). This is either their closest male relative or their husband.  For a woman who is widowed, her “guardian” might even be her son.
But Saudi women are chafing under these restrictive laws and are increasingly voicing their opposition.
In addition to #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen trending in both Arabic and English, #TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship has also been popular on Twitter..
“It's a unified effort by Saudi Women in attempt to voice their struggle in the only legal way that they can in Saudi Arabia,” the head of S.A.F.E. a campaign to end male guardianship in Saudi Arabia Isaac Cohen said.
Human Rights Watch launched a video campaign along with a report into the harmful abuses meted out under Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship laws.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/saudi-women-demand-end-male-guardianship



Women’s Boat to Gaza Won’t Even Carry Aid
The activists have made no attempt to criticize Hamas for its terrorist activities or stealing aid money despite the negative impact on Palestinian lives.
BY ELLIOT FRIEDLAND Thu, September 8, 2016
The ‘Women’s Boat to Gaza’ is a project to carry a boatload of female activists from Washington, D.C. to Gaza where they will attempt to breach the blockade of the territory. Israel and Egypt have maintained an embargo on the strip since the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate Hamas took over in 2007.
Israel says it will lift the blockade if and when Hamas renounces the use of terrorism and begins negotiations.
In 2010 a previous flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, the lead boat, attempted to breach the blockade. Forty passengers attacked a small group of Israeli soldiers who boarded the ship with knives, iron rods and firebombs; the soldiers responded with open fire, resulting in the death of 10 Turkish activists. Israel had offered to take the flotilla to an Israeli port and send any aid that was brought into Gaza after the required security checks were made.
The 2011 UN Palmer Report censured Israel for excessive use of force in halting the flotilla. The report also concluded: “Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza … The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.”
MORE  http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/women%E2%80%99s-flotilla-gaza-won%E2%80%99t-even-carry-aid


CHRISTIAN LEADERS PRAY IN DC FOR BROTHERS IN PERIL IN MIDDLE EAST
Clarion Project's upcoming film Faithkeepers tells the story of the minorities of the Middle East that face extinction.
Thu, September 8, 2016
The leaders of a variety of churches joined arms in Washington, D.C. on September 7 to pray for Christians facing potential genocide in the Middle East. Representatives of the Anglican, Syrian Orthodox, Assyrian Catholic, Antiochan, Coptic, Armenian and Maronite Catholic churches participated.
The ecumenical service was led by Pope Francis' new emissary to the U.S., Apostolic Nincio Christoph Pierre."We pray for the innocent victims in the world and for our Christian martyrs who are dying for their faith..." he said during the service.
The service is part of a series of events organized in Washington this week by the organization In Defense of Christians.
The attacks on Middle-Eastern Christians by ISIS and other Islamists is the subject of Clarion Project's upcoming film Faithkeepers.
MORE https://www.clarionproject.org/news/christian-leaders-pray-dc-brothers-peril-middle-east

NIGERIA LAUNCHES ANTI-POLIO DRIVE, HAMPERED BY BOKO HARAM
A drive to vaccinate 25 million people was launched by the Nigerian government after two toddlers with polio were found in a refugee camp.
The first two cases of polio in Nigeria in two years were found in a refugee camp at the beginning of August spurring a massive emergency vaccination campaign. The government aims to reach 25 million children and vaccinated 1.5 million in the past week alone.
Two toddlers with polio were found in a refugee camp for those displaced by the Islamic State affiliate Boko Haram.
A global campaign to eradicate the disease has been underway since 1988. The campaign has driven polio from 122 countries. Just three are remaining: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Previously, the campaign has fought misconceptions that vaccinators wanted to sterilize Muslims as part of a Western plot. Now they are being attacked by Boko Haram fighters.
Although only two cases were found it is feared there are more cases as yet undiscovered. Only 1 in 200 people with polio suffer the paralysis that led to the discovery of the first two cases.
There is also another hurdle however. Campaign monitoring data suggests that only one percent of communities object to vaccination campaigns on religious grounds. Yet community leaders sometimes engage in a practice dubbed “block resistance” where they refuse to receive the vaccine until demands for other services from the government are met.
MORE  https://www.clarionproject.org/news/nigeria-launches-anti-polio-drive-hampered-boko-haram

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON – BUT NOT IF YOU ARE IN IRAN
800 Clothing stores were shut down for selling un-Islamic coats for women, plus four more news items that will make you seethe about Iran.
Iranian authorities have become alarmed over the presence of Western sayings on the back of the obligatory coats that women are forced to wear in the Islamic Republic.  State police have closed more than 800 clothing stores for selling the coats and sent warnings to over 3,600 others that the coats are not within the dress code for women enforced by the regime.
Women in Iran are required to wear a manteau in public, a loose coat that covers the body from the shoulders to (at least) the knees. Not only were the objectionable coats found to have English writing on them – often times nonsensical – they were short sleeved and open in the front (with no buttons for closure).
Female MP Zohreh Tabibzadeh said of the coats, “This is an ugly manifestation of a Western trend that has entered our country with evil intentions devised behind the scenes.”
Similarly commenting was Minoo Aslani of the Women’s Basij (state voluntary militia) Organization, who said, “The spread of these kinds of products are against public morality and indicate a lack of attention by the officials in charge of cultural matters.”
In other news about Iran: 
A Canadian professor imprisoned in Iran has been hospitalized for her rapidly deteriorating health. Homa Hoodfar (Photo: video screenshot)
1.) Homa Hoodfar, 65, an Iranian dual national, was arrested on a visit to Iran for activities the Iranian regime deems subversive – namely, speaking about women’s rights.
MORE  https://dub128.mail.live.com/?tid=cmOCwVJYN25hGiLQAeC8waOg2&fid=flinbox