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France Quietly Reintroducing the Crime of Blasphemy by Giulio Meotti

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15526/france-blasphemy-censorship

Today, in France, using freedom of expression to criticize Islam is clearly an extremely dangerous act, even if you, like Mila, are a child.

France is rapidly going from laïcité (secularism) to lâcheté(cowardice); from freedom of expression to unconditional surrender. France keeps trying to procrastinate while Islamism thrives on the elites’ rapidly abandoning their Judeo-Christian values.

Feminist organizations, so quick to denounce “toxic masculinity” and “patriarchal structures of domination”, were also silent.

Today, in France, the country of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which always sanctified freedom of expression and the right to criticize religion and ideologies, some within the justice system…. are quietly and de facto reintroducing the crime of blasphemy.

France had just come out of the fifth anniversary of the massacre at its satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo than it was plunged into a similar case. On January 18, Mila O., a 16-year-old French girl, made insulting comments about Islam during an Instagram livestream.

“During her livestream, a Muslim boy asked her out in the comments, but she turned him down because she is gay. He responded by accusing her of racism and calling her a ‘dirty lesbian’. In an angry follow-up video, streamed immediately after she was insulted, Mila responded by saying that she ‘hates religion'”.

Mila continued, saying among other things:

“Are you familiar with freedom of expression? I didn’t hesitate to say what I thought. I hate religion. The Koran is a religion of hatred; there is only hatred in it. That’s what I think. I say what I think… Islam is sh*t… I’m not a racist at all. One cannot simply be racist against a religion… I say what I want, I say what I think. Your religion is sh*t. I’d stick a finger up your god’s a**h*le…”

What she said might be considered a bit raw, but does she have the right to say it? After all, Jews are called the descendants of pigs and apes without the speech police having a stroke.

A Man of a Thousand Faces Wears a New Mask by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15556/hassan-rouhani-mask

In the meantime, conscious of the fact that Iranians are suckers for real or fake academic titles, to enhance his persona, Rouhani enrolled in a British college in Glasgow to obtain a PhD in Islamic law. Thus, in a few years’ time, he was able to rebrand himself as Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the “moderate reformist with Western education.”

By the 1990s, in Western policy circles, Rouhani had acquired the reputation of “a man with whom we can work”.

Rouhani’s message, peddled by cronies including Foreign Minister Muhammad-Javad Zarif, is that the internal opposition and foreign powers worried about Iran should be patient and help “moderates” re-orient the storm-stricken ship of the regime towards calmer waters.

Will Rouhani’s scenario, for easing Khamenei off his pedestal, work? I doubt it. Rouhani may be a talented man of a thousand faces, but 40 years of experience has shown that every one of those faces turned out to be a mask.

Whatever one might think of Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, one thing is certain: had things gone differently in Iran 40 years ago, he might have become a writer of penny-dreadfuls with provincial themes. Rouhani’s talent for fiction writing is demonstrated by the way he has reinvented himself over the decades.

In 1977, when the first rumbles of revolution roared in Iran, he was a student, going by the name of Hassan Fereidun, in England, seeking a degree in textile design.

A few months later, he re-named himself Rouhani, meaning spiritual or clerical. Fereidun was a Persian nationalistic name and would not do for a man plotting to cast himself as a champion of faith.

He then spent a few weeks of holidays taking classes in Shiite theology. In the meantime, he grew a beard and cast off Western clothes, thus creating a persona soon aggrandized by the claim which he minted that he was the first to grant Khomeini the title of Imam. Rouhani claims that he did so when addressing a memorial service for Khomeini’s son Mostafa, who had passed away in Iraq. There is, of course, no evidence that Rouhani was even present at the service which, incidentally was reported complete with a photo in the daily Kayhan.

Trump’s withdrawal from Syria may be a disaster . . . for Iran and Turkey By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/trumps_withdrawal_from_syria_may_be_a_disaster____for_iran_and_turkey.html

In December 2018, Trump ordered the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, where they’d been hard at work destroying the last military vestiges of ISIS, the one-time “JV team” that ignited a reign of terror across Iraq and Syria. The Democrat party and its lapdog media promised us that our Kurdish allies would be slaughtered and we’d be on the verge of yet another one of the many Trump initiated World Wars.

None of that happened, but it appears that two regimes hostile to American interests are at each other’s throats. And of course, it’s always preferable when one’s enemies turn their aggression towards each other.

The New York Times´ reporting from 2018 about Trump’s planned withdrawal is a good example of the concern the Democrats and the foreign policy establishment had that Trump would get America into war by getting America out of war:

In overruling his generals and civilian advisers, Mr. Trump fulfilled his frequently expressed desire to bring home American forces from a messy foreign entanglement. But his decision, conveyed via Twitter on Wednesday, plunges the administration’s Middle East strategy into disarray, rattling allies like Britain and Israel and forsaking Syria’s ethnic Kurds, who have been faithful partners in fighting the Islamic State.

MASS SHOOTING THAILAND

Berserk Thai sergeant major is SHOT DEAD by security forces after killing his commanding officer and a fellow soldier over a financial dispute then shooting at least 19 at shopping mall while posting selfies on Facebook
Sergeant Major Jakrapanth Thomma went on a killing spree in Korat, 155 miles from Thai capital Bangkok
Thomma hijacked an army vehicle, shot an officer and soldiers, and sprayed a volley of bullets at civilians 
He’s then believed to have taken hostages at a shopping centre that Thai forces later tonight laid siege to
Rogue soldier was shot by Thai security forces after holing himself up in a basement for more than 14 hours  

Terror cells: how Britain’s prisons became finishing schools for extremists Ian Acheson

https://spectator.us/terror-cells-britain-prisons-became-finishing-schools-extremists/

Sometimes it appears as if, over the past 10 years, the British government has been actively trying to destroy the whole criminal justice system. It’s like an evil experiment: impose a 20 percent cut in the prisons budget, meaning a 26 percent reduction in the number of operational front line staff — then sit back and see what happens. What happened was predictable, with disastrous consequences for both inmates and the public. As a previous Conservative home secretary once said, our prisons became places that ‘make bad people worse’.

Imagine a young man like Sudesh Amman arriving in prison after his first offense. He was already a drug user, known to have a cannabis habit. He was mentally unstable and radicalized by Islamist propaganda. He entered a prison that’s usually overcrowded, frequently filthy and with too few staff struggling just to keep people alive (themselves included) from one end of the day to the other.

Inside, all of his problems are not addressed but exacerbated. In most prisons there’s a rampant drugs economy that destroys lives and drives much of the violence. It makes the task of reforming offenders near impossible. The money to be made from drugs inside is extraordinary. The predators can access their customer base without leaving their cells. Mobile phones actually designed and sold for their ability to be stored where the sun don’t shine have handy apps to transfer the cash to the dealers. It’s also convenient for the dealers that many of the captive consumers have huge unmet needs with mental health problems. Finally, charismatic hate preachers are in close proximity to credulous, violent, addicted young men in search of meaning and excitement.

“Abrahamic Dialogue” Is Submission to Islam Andrew Bostom

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25160

Faruqi’s modern application of Islamic religious doctrine to “Abrahamic dialogue” has engendered a supremacist, jihadist and anti-Israel “interfaith” dialogue.

U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Callista Gingrich, in an official January 16, 2020 written statement on the launching, at her residence, of the so-called “Abrahamic Faiths Initiative,” (AFI) opined, rapturously,

“The Abrahamic Faiths Initiative serves as a powerful demonstration that, through fraternity, cooperation, and mutual respect between the Abrahamic faiths, peace in our world is possible.”

Last February, 2019, to commemorate the signing of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, in conjunction with a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Pope Francis and Ahmad al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University—Sunni Islam’s Papal equivalent of its Vatican—UAE despot Sheikh Al-Nayan ordered the construction of the Abrahamic Family House on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. When Ambassador Gingrich gave her live remarks to the AFI at Villa Richardson on January 14, 2020, she acknowledged Grand Imam Tayeb’s signing of the Abu Dhabi “Document on Human Fraternity” as critical inspiration for the initiative:

“The Abrahamic Faiths Initiative was inspired in part by the seminal Document on Human Fraternity and Living Together, signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi last year.”

Iranian Nationalists Reject Arabia’s Islamic Yoke Andrew Harrod

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/02/iranian-nationalists-reject-arabias-islamic-yoke

Iranian Nationalists Reject Arabia’s Islamic Yoke

The “average Iranian, though he may sympathize with the Palestinians, cannot identify with the Arabs, whom he regards as an ancestral foe,” Iranian expatriate author Amir Taheri has written. As this occasional series has previously explored, such national historical memories underline Iran’s conflicted relationship with Arabs and the Islamic faith that their past imperialism imposed…
www.jihadwatch.org

The “average Iranian, though he may sympathize with the Palestinians, cannot identify with the Arabs, whom he regards as an ancestral foe,” Iranian expatriate author Amir Taheri has written. As this occasional series has previously explored, such national historical memories underline Iran’s conflicted relationship with Arabs and the Islamic faith that their past imperialism imposed upon Iran and its ancient heritage.

“The early Islamic conquerors of the seventh century spread Islam and the Arabic language throughout the Persian Empire and attempted a wholesale replacement of the indigenous culture,” Middle East analyst Sarah Katz has noted. Iran scholars have observed that as the

conquest of most of Iran turned out to be permanent, Islam eventually spread among Iranians, and Arabic became the language of religion, literature, and science in Iran. In this respect the Muslim Arab conquest marks a major turning point in the history of Iran.

“Over time, most of the country’s population converted to Islam, but Persia’s historical and cultural legacy proved resilient,” Katz has noted, as at the aptly named Persians are not Arabs website. It has boasted that “Persians actually pride themselves that they fought to remain as Persians, not Arabs,” and “did everything to maintain their language when Egypt and other countries from north of Africa started to speak Arabic.” Iranian-American Amil Imani has concurred: “Unlike the Persians, the Egyptians became completely Arabized, and have little or no nostalgia for their ancient past. Islam has dominated the Egyptians’ lives.”

The Netherlands: The Geert Wilders Show Trial Continues by Soeren Kern

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15553/geert-wilders-show-trial

The emails indicate that Prime Minister Mark Rutte himself was involved in the decision to prosecute Wilders.

“Minister Van der Steur has deliberately withheld those documents, as is apparent from these documents. Moreover, it appears that another Justice Minister, Minister Opstelten, lied…” — Geert Wilders, February 5, 2020

“Mr. Presiding Judge, the Minister of Justice interfered in detail with my conviction. The documents even state that the Ministry of Justice instructed the public prosecutor — you will find the word ‘instruct’ in the documents….” — Geert Wilders, February 5, 2020

“And every day that this trial continues and you do not punish the conspiring prosecution, and the Ministry of Justice for their lies and haggling with the principles of an independent, fair and balanced trial, by declaring them inadmissible, every day this trial continues is a black day in the history of Dutch justice.” — Geert Wilders, February 5, 2020

“In the Wilders case, we certainly do not have to rely on the judge to agree with Wilders and to reach the conclusion that there has been a political trial, which is therefore not legally valid…. Wilders case appears to have been pre-cooked in the cabinet itself…. [Prime Minister] Rutte himself was involved…. The lying and spinning must stop somewhere…. This rule of law, in which judges and prosecutors receive instructions by the politicians on how to act, is rotten from within.” – Joost Niemöller, Dutch Journalist, Ongehoordnederland.nl, February 5, 2020

Newly released documents show that senior members of the Dutch government — including the prime minister and two former justice ministers — applied political pressure on public prosecutors to indict Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV), for hate speech for comments he made about Islam and Moroccan immigrants.

US Kills Top Terrorist, Leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Trump By Isabel van Brugen

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-kills-al-qaeda-leader-another-top-terrorist-in-the-arabian-peninsula-trump_3229409.html

President Donald Trump confirmed on Feb. 6 that U.S. forces have killed Qassim al-Rimi, leader of the extremist Islamist group al Qaeda (also al-Qa’ida) in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Al-Rimi claimed responsibility for December’s tragic shooting at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida that left three people dead.

Al-Rimi killed in a counterterrorism operation in Yemen, Trump confirmed in a statement on Thursday evening, without elaborating on the date of his death.

“At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation in Yemen that successfully eliminated Qasim al-Rimi, a founder and the leader of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and a deputy to al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri,” a statement from the White House read.

Rimi joined al Qaeda in the 1990s, working in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden.

“Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces,” Trump continued.

“His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qa’ida movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security,” the president said.

AQAP, formed in 2009, has long been considered by the United States as one of the deadliest branches of the al Qaeda network founded by Osama bin Laden.

Norway’s Slime Machine is At It Again Nine years after the 2011 atrocities, they’re taking another whack at critics of Islam. Bruce Bawer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/02/norways-slime-machine-it-again-bruce-bawer/

On July 22, 2011, a 32-year-old maniac named Anders Behring Breivik set off a truck bomb next to the most important (but almost entirely unguarded) government office building in Oslo, killing eight people, and then gunned down 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a (totally unguarded) indoctrination camp for members of the Labor Party youth group, the Workers Youth League (AUF), on the nearby island of Utøya. Before committing these atrocities, Breivik posted online a compendious document, later referred to as his “manifesto,” that was in part an anthology of thoughtful political texts lifted without permission from various writers and in part a very long stretch of his own exceedingly demented prose, in which he not only explained how to pull off acts of mass slaughter but offered grooming tips and other insane advice for potential butchers of children. Much of the borrowed material was critical of Islam, and the stated objective of Breivik’s actions on July 22 was to punish the Norwegian Labor Party for encouraging large-scale Muslim immigration into Norway and thus threatening the country’s freedom and culture.

In the days after July 22, leading members of the mainstream media and the Norwegian left, from Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (now head of NATO) on down, gassed on solemnly about how everyone in the country should come together in love and solidarity. At the same time, with ruthless cynicism, these same people exploited Breivik’s atrocities in an effort to demonize, silence, and, if possible, destroy their own political adversaries. Critics of Islam, they proclaimed, had shaped Breivik’s views and thus bore a share of responsibility for his evil acts. Prominent figures called for severe limitations on free speech, at least on the topic of Islam, and for harsh punishments for those who failed to fall into line. “NRK [the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation] and the Labor Party and the Socialist Left Party…are not in grief,” a fellow critic of Islam wrote me shortly after July 22. “They are going for our throats.” A Facebook friend warned of “NRK’s Gestapo hunt for all ‘right-wing extremists.’” It was verboten to suggest that all the rhetoric about the evils of terrorism and the massacre of innocents would have been more effective had the kids on Utøya not been propagandized by their party elders to hate Israel and cheer Palestinian jihadists. AUF began “collaborating” with the youth division of the Fatah terrorist organization in 2006; two years ago, it was announced that AUF and Fatah Youth were now “sister organizations.”