RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/norways-government-welcomes-taliban-oslo-bruce-bawer/

On April 9, 2002, the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet reported that a man named Ingmar Tveitt, who was a friend of a member of the Norwegian Parliament named Jan Simonsen, had been dining in the Parliament cafeteria on the previous day when security guards asked him to remove his jacket. Why? Because Tveitt, a supporter of Israel, had an Israeli flag pin on his lapel. Some Parliament members found this offensive – even though, as Tveitt pointed out, people were always walking around the premises in Palestinian scarces. Yes, it was a minor incident, quickly forgotten by almost everybody. But that little story stuck in my mind, and I’ve had occasion to recall it now and then, because it told a big truth about the sympathies of Norwegian officialdom vis-à-vis the Middle East

That was twenty years ago. Since then, as the Islamic presence in Norway has steadily increased, Norwegian anti-Semitism, Israel-hatred, and support for Palestine have grown. In recent years, Norway has given Palestinian government bodies about $100 million annually – over $20 per Norwegian taxpayer. Earlier this month, when Norway took charge of the U.N. Security Council, its ambassador to the UN, Mona Juul, said that the Israel-Palestine conflict deserves “more attention” – as if the five million Palestinians hadn’t been getting far more than their share of attention (and Western largesse) for the last half century. Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt, for her part, chided Israel as “inhuman” for listing six Palestinian organizations – all of which Norway helps fund, in addition to the money it transfers to government bodies – as terrorist groups. Even though, by any objective definition, they are terrorist groups.

I was reminded of the Tveitt story this weekend after being apprised of the latest development in the saga of Norwegian involvement in Middle Eastern affairs. The story broke last Friday in the country’s biggest newspaper, VG. “The Taliban,” trumpeted the headline, “is coming to Norway to negotiate.” Norway, I read, had grabbed the brass ring: of all Western countries, it would be the first since the fall of Kabul to welcome a delegation of Taliban leaders to its shores. Reportedly, the distinguished visitors would meet not just with their Norwegian counterparts but also with representatives of the U.S., the EU, the U.K., France, Germany, and Italy, as well as with Afghans living outside Afghanistan, with officials of the Church of Norway and the Norwegian Red Cross, and with sundry journalists and human-rights activists. The meetings, which the Norwegian government had hoped to keep secret, began yesterday and will conclude tomorrow. 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18163/eric-zemmour-france

When French President Emmanuel Macron speaks, it is only about the pandemic. Political analysts think that if he manages to avoid all other topics, his reelection will be a certainty. If he does not, everything could turn out any which way.

“No, the great replacement is not a fantasy”. — Éric Zemmour, candidate in France’s upcoming presidential election, Reconquest Party, YouTube, December 15, 2021.

“Four hundred thousand Muslim immigrants enter France each year. In five years, that makes two million more Muslims. These Muslims go to live in the Muslim areas and do not integrate… What do you think that means?” — Éric Zemmour, YouTube, December 15, 2021.

“We see violence in our cities and towns…. We see hatred of France and its history becoming the norm… You abandon, without reacting, entire districts of our country to the law of the strongest… if a civil war breaks out, the army will maintain order on its own soil…. No one can want such a terrible situation… but yes, once again, civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well”. — Open letter in Valeurs Actuelles, signed by thousands of professional soldiers who asked that their names not be made public, May 9, 2021.

Paris, December 18, 2021. The Algerian national soccer team wins the Arab Cup in Qatar. Tens of thousands of Algerian supporters, waving Algerian flags, rush onto the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Shop windows are smashed. The unrest lasts until nightfall. Slogans are shouted: “Long live Algeria”, “By Allah, the Koran!” — and also “Fu*k France!” and “Fu*k Zemmour!” The police are ordered not to intervene. They are attacked anyway.

The next day, Jean Messiha, a former member of the National Rally Party, notes on television: “The great replacement and the ethnic hatred, we can see them”.

Éric Zemmour, a Jewish candidate for the French presidency, does not comment. He simply states in an interview: “sadly banal scenes”.

https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/19/great-britain-czech-republic-and-israel-back-away-from-vaccine-passports/

Great Britain, the Czech Republic, and Israel are backing away from COVID vaccine mandates amid increasing evidence that the leaky vaccines are making the  pandemic worse.

It is becoming harder to deny the glaringly obvious facts that COVID infection rates are increasing worldwide in proportion with the rate of vaccination, and that the injections have dreadful adverse side effects which may be contributing to a marked increase in all cause deaths.

In light of growing awareness that the vaccines are failing, it should not be a surprise that Moderna and BioNTech stocks are down 8-10 percent this week, 60 percent since August.

“The hedge funds have finally realized there will be no fourth shot,” quipped Alex Berenson on Substack.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that the government will discontinue mandatory COVID vaccine passports and masks in England, citing falling infection levels as the reason behind the move.

Speaking in Parliament today, Johnson announced that the plan B restrictions, issued to control the spread of Omicron, will be allowed to expire on March 24, and possible sooner, Cambridge News reported.

“Our scientists believe it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally,” the PM said.

He told the House of Commons:

Today’s latest ONS data show clearly that infection levels are falling in England and while there are some places where cases are likely to continue rising, including in primary schools, our scientists believe it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally.

There remain, of course, significant pressures on the NHS across our country, and especially in the North East and North West, but hospital admissions which were doubling every nine days just two weeks ago have now stabilised, with admissions in London even falling. The numbers in intensive care not only remain low but are actually also falling.

So, this morning, the Cabinet concluded that because of the extraordinary booster campaign, together with the way the public have responded to the Plan B measures, we can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations to expire.
“As a result, from the start of Thursday next week mandatory certification will end. Organisations can, of course, choose to use the NHS Covid pass voluntarily but we will end the compulsory use of Covid status certification in England.

Coronavirus deaths in Great Britain have reportedly risen dramatically in recent days, but cases have dropped off significantly, wallowing the Prime Minister to drop the restrictions, according to Cambridge News.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18158/russia-china-axis

“Putin’s apparent indifference towards Western warnings is understandable. He has been hearing the same empty promises of decisive action, typically accompanied by expressions of grave concern, ever since the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008…. Putin’s recent list of security demands makes clear that he seeks to reassert Russian domination throughout the post-Soviet space. This will enhance Russia’s claims to superpower status while exposing the inability of the Western powers to keep their promises. ” — Tinatin Khidasheli, former defense minister of Georgia.

“For Beijing, success would translate into a commanding strategic position in Asia, undermining the security of Japan and South Korea, and allowing China to project power into the Western Pacific…. For the American alliance, a Chinese takeover of Taiwan would be a devastating blow. At a stroke, the United States would lose its status as the pre-eminent power in Asia, according to most U.S. and regional military experts. If America were unwilling or unable to defend Taiwan, its network of allies in the Asia-Pacific — including Tokyo, Seoul and Canberra — would overnight be far more vulnerable to military and economic coercion from China.” — David Lague and Maryanne Murray, “The Battle for Taiwan,” Reuters.

“Vladimir Putin has invaded two democratic neighbors in just over a decade. Letting him do it a third time would set the global system back decades. Appeasement does not work any better now than it worked for Neville Chamberlain in the late 1930s. China will be watching U.S. support to Ukraine, and it will inform their calculus regarding Taiwan.” Retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander at NATO, in an interview with the New York Times.

“I strongly urge President Biden not to make concessions at the expense of our strategic partner Ukraine in response to the Putin regime’s provocative military buildup. This would not only fail to de-escalate tensions, it would also embolden Vladimir Putin and his fellow autocrats by demonstrating the United States will surrender in the face of saber-rattling. Particularly in the aftermath of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Nord Stream 2 capitulation, U.S. credibility from Kyiv to Taipei cannot withstand another blow of this nature.” — U.S. Representative Mike McCaul of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Ukraine and Taiwan both show how easily U.S. weakness — or even the mere perception of weakness — could unravel the strained networks and alliances that support the American world order and usher in a new era of global conflict and instability…. The Putins and Xis of the world are probing for those weaknesses, watching the results, and calculating their next move.” —Michael Schuman.

As Russia continues its troop build-up along the border with Ukraine, China has markedly increased its military activity near Taiwan. The twin geopolitical flashpoints, separated by 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles), are raising concerns that Russia and China could coordinate or conduct concurrent military offensives that the United States and its allies may find it difficult to stop.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18157/europe-weak-response-russia

What is at stake… therefore, is much more than Ukraine itself or Russia’s geopolitical ambitions; it is ultimately about the lessons that China and Iran will take away on what to expect in the future from the US and its NATO allies over Taiwan, the South China Sea, or in the Middle East.

In December, Germany blocked the delivery of anti-drone jamming guns, although Ukraine had already paid for them. The reason reportedly given was, “Such weapons could potentially provoke further military escalation on the demarcation line (between Russian and Ukrainian forces) and lead to larger clashes.” Such arguments have reportedly been used by Germany for years with regard to weapons sales to Ukraine, which also sought, in vain, to convince former Chancellor Angela Merkel to change Germany’s policy on the issue.

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock recently said that the government’s restrictive arms export policy is “rooted in our history” and that “diplomacy is the only way.”

Germany’s “history,” however, did not stop its arms exports from reaching record levels in 2021 with exports worth 9.35 billion euros ($10.65 billion) last year, an increase of 61% compared to 2020.

The degree to which the largest EU states have any resolve left to take responsibility for their own security environment in the face of one of the most dangerous security crises on European soil so far this century is one thing that this crisis continues to reveal. Thus far, Europe appears, once again, to be failing spectacularly.

Tensions continue to mount in Europe over Russia’s continued build-up of troops on the border with Ukraine. Russia, according to the latest assessment of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, now has more than 127,000 troops in the region. That is in addition to the estimated 35,000 Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbass. Additionally, Russian troops have begun to arrive in Belarus for joint military drills and war games, named Allied Resolve, intended to rehearse “repelling external aggression” according to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18137/europe-multicultural-volcano

“[E]nclaves, mini-states and neighborhoods in large European cities will begin to appear. Yes, they will always be a minority. But they are more united and threaten violence. And the state will have to obey their instructions”. — Sergei Markov, Russian political scientist, interview in Lenta.ru, January 3, 2022

Immigrants in these places already live on the generosity of European welfare; police, social workers and ambulances do not enter or must be protected: gangs and organized crime dominate the street.

In these lost areas we are no longer in Europe.

On December 8, 2021, during the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 30 of the faithful were attacked in the street and threatened with death. “Kouffars” (disbelievers), the attackers shouted, and “it is not your home”, Le Figaro reported. This took place not in Pakistan, but in Nanterre.

In Brussels, according to former Secretary of State Bianca Debaets, “there are too many areas where it is difficult for women and homosexuals to walk”.

Although women of foreign nationality are only one sixth of all women of childbearing age in Belgium, half of all children in Belgium are now born to foreign women…. This is the picture that just emerged from the National Institute of Statistics.

One third of Belgium’s population is of foreign origin; Belgians are already in the minority in Brussels….

But as everyone knows, the “Great Replacement” is just a far-right fantasy….

The separation is not a threat that stands out somewhere in the future of Europe; it is already in place. The big question is, why is it not stopped?

This transformation is the single most important event in Europe. That anyone who reports about it is accused of “racism” and “Islamophobia” suggests that it is a secret too huge and important to be freely discussed.

“If Europe does not regain control, Islamized mini-states could soon appear “. The prediction comes from the Russian political scientist Sergei Markov. In an interview published by Lenta.ru, Markov notes that European institutions are adapting to the Islamic way of life, values ​​and traditions (the recent campaigns of the Council of Europe in favor of the Muslim veil is an example). “Fully Islamized Islamic enclaves, mini-states and neighborhoods in large European cities will begin to appear. Yes, they will always be a minority. But they are more united and threaten violence. And the state will have to obey their instructions”.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18082/china-buying-up-europe

A staggering 40% out of 650 Chinese investments in Europe in the years 2010-2020, according to Datenna [a Dutch company that monitors Chinese investments in Europe], had “high or moderate involvement by state-owned or state-controlled companies.”

When the Chairman of the UK parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, wrote that Chinese ownership of the British microchip plant, Newport Wafer Fab, “represents a significant economic and national security concern”, UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng responded that the deal had been “considered thoroughly”. Only after considerable pressure did British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agree to a national security review of the sale.

The European Court of Auditors, an EU institution that oversees EU finances, has found that gaining an overview of Chinese investments in the EU is difficult because of the lack of comprehensive data; it seems no one is recording it.

Efficient systems for blocking foreign investments based on national security concerns also appear either to be lacking or simply not used sufficiently.

The “strictest screening frameworks” clearly are not stopping China.

What appears to be urgently needed in Europe now is a deeper understanding of the threat that China poses, as well as the political will to act on it. Action is urgently needed to block investments that serve up Europe’s strategic assets on a silver platter to China’s state-owned companies, which the Chinese Communist Party then use to advance its expansionist ends.

For more than a decade, China has been stealthily buying up European companies in strategic sectors, particularly in technology and energy. China appears to be using these European assets to help fulfil the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ambitions of becoming a global force, technologically independent of the West and ultimately supplanting the US as the world’s economic, political and military superpower.

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2022/01/the-dispensable-mrs-merkel/

After what seemed an eternity of farewells, Merkel finally left office on the last day of November 2021 to a chorus of acclaim from those relative few who rate non-nuclear Germany’s dependence on Russian gas nothing worth worrying about. And then there is her other great legacy — a million refugees.

In November 2015 the Economist ran an editorial that its front cover had anticipated with a picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the title “The Indispensable European”. “Look around Europe, and one leader stands above all the rest: Angela Merkel,” the editorial proclaimed. “Mrs Merkel has grown taller with every upheaval.” Going on to list the upheavals that had elevated her, it ended triumphantly: “…and over migration, she has boldly upheld European values, almost alone in her commitment to welcoming refugees”.

If Mrs Merkel was almost alone in welcoming refugees, that was because she had been entirely alone in inviting them into the European Union. The EU’s own rules in the Dublin Accords, designed to deter refugees from asylum shopping, stipulated they should be registered in the first EU country in which they arrived and remain there until their cases had been determined. Mrs Merkel swept all this away when she announced that the refugees would be welcome in Germany and later, when a million of them had accepted the invitation, that they should be dispersed throughout the EU. Other EU states objected. The EU migration crisis she created has still not been fully resolved.

After what seemed like an eternity of farewells, Merkel finally left office on the last day of November 2021. Did all those “upheavals” enable her to rise in the world, or vice versa?