RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12774/turkey-brunson-vilification

It appears that Pastor Andrew Brunson, as both an American and a Christian, has become a perfect scapegoat for the Turkish government and its media outlets. If Ankara were a genuine ally of the West, Brunson — who lived and worked peacefully at a small Protestant church in Izmir for 23 years — would not have been arrested in the first place, let alone robbed of his freedom and prevented from returning to the US.

Andrew Brunson, the American pastor detained in Turkey for two years on false terrorism and espionage charges, was released from prison on July 25, only to be put under house arrest until the resumption of his trial in October. The court ordered him to wear an electronic ankle-bracelet at all times and banned him from traveling outside Turkey.

Moreover, according to the Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig:

“President Trump thought he had a deal with Turkish President Erdogan to free Andrew Brunson, the American pastor imprisoned in Turkey for the last two years on what the administration considered bogus terrorism charges.

“As part of the deal, on July 14, Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to release Ebru Ozkan, 27, a Turkish woman who was detained in Israel on charges of acting as a smuggler for Hamas. The day after Trump and Netanyahu spoke, Ozkan was deported from Israel.

“Several U.S. officials insisted there had been no misunderstanding of the terms of the deal, but the Turks, transferring Brunson to house arrest, failed to send the pastor home.”

Brunson, detained in October 2016, is accused, with no evidence, of working for two groups that Turkey lists as terrorist organizations. One is a movement led by the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, referred to by the Turkish government as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), and whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of organizing the failed military coup attempt in July 2016. The other is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). If convicted, Brunson faces up to 35 years behind bars.

Erdogan has made it clear that his intention is to make the US administration extradite Gülen in exchange for Brunson’s release. In September 2017, Erdogan said:

“America wants us to return a priest… You also have a priest. You should give him to us too. Then we will try and return the one here.”

Brunson’s 62-page indictment states, among other allegations:

“The suspect… under the guise of being an evangelical church pastor… acted as an agent of unconventional warfare, per the doctrine of intelligence and psychological warfare and… acted within a group of personnel, most of whom had received special training and had military and intelligence backgrounds.”

https://pjmedia.com/trending/britain-land-of-lost-hope-and-faded-glory/

I hate to say it, but I think I’m giving up on Britain. Go ahead, Home Secretary Sajid Javid, add my name to that ever-growing list of Islam critics who are banned from entering your country. I won’t be offended. In fact, I’ll be offended if you don’t ban me.

On his July 25 call-in show, UKIP founder and Brexit godfather Nigel Farage took up the issue of “grooming gangs” – you know, those groups of young Muslim men who have been raping young non-Muslim girls for years, decades even, in cities across the UK. The first one of these gangs to be publicly exposed, beginning in 2011, was in Rotherham, in South Yorkshire. That one gang, it turned out, had systematically and repeatedly raped about 1400 girls. Since then, reports have emerged about other such gangs in other British cities. In all or most of these cities, it has been discovered, police officials, journalists, social workers, politicians, and judges knew for years about the rapes but did nothing and said nothing for fear of being called racists.

This, then, is the topic Farage took up on July 25. And what question did he ask his listeners? Did he ask them whether the death penalty should be restored so that the rapists could get the punishment they deserve? Did he ask them what kind of disciplinary action should be taken against all those public figures who stood by silently while little girls were being sexually abused?

No. He asked them about Sarah Champion.

And who is Sarah Champion? She is the Member of Parliament for the city of Rotherham. Almost a year ago, on August 10, 2017, The Sun ran an opinion piece by her that began with the statement: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.” She went on:

There. I said it. Does that make me a racist? Or am I just prepared to call out this horrifying problem for what it is?

For too long we have ignored the race of these abusers and, worse, tried to cover it up.

No more. These people are predators and the common denominator is their ethnic heritage.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/world/europe/france-new-anti-
‘They Spit When I Walked in the Street’: The ‘New Anti-Semitism’ in France

PARIS — The solemn boulevards and quiet side streets of the 17th Arrondissement in Paris suggest Jewish life in France is vibrant: There is a new profusion of kosher groceries and restaurants, and about 15 synagogues, up from only a handful two decades ago.

But for residents like Joanna Galilli, this area in northwestern Paris represents a tactical retreat. It has become a haven for many Jews who say they have faced harassment in areas with growing Muslim populations. Ms. Galilli, 28, moved to the neighborhood this year from a Parisian suburb where “anti-Semitism is pretty high,” she said, “and you feel it enormously.”

“They spit when I walked in the street,” she said, describing reactions when she wore a Star of David.

France has a painful history of anti-Semitism, with its worst hours coming in the 1930s and during the German occupation in World War II. But in recent months, an impassioned debate has erupted over how to address what commentators are calling the “new anti-Semitism,” as Jewish groups and academic researchers trace a wave of anti-Semitic acts to France’s growing Muslim population.

Nearly 40 percent of violent acts classified as racially or religiously motivated were committed against Jews in 2017, though Jews make up less than 1 percent of France’s population. Anti-Semitic acts increased by 20 percent from 2016, a rise the Interior Ministry called “preoccupying.”

In 2011, the French government stopped categorizing those deemed responsible for anti-Semitic acts, making it more difficult to trace the origins. But before then, Muslims had been the largest group identified as perpetrators, according to research by a leading academic. Often the spikes in violence coincided with flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, according to researchers.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-is-losing-the-trade-war-with-trump-1532729725?cx_testId=0&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

One thing came through loud and clear in President Trump’s press conference Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. When they announced an alliance against third parties’ “unfair trading practices,” they didn’t even have to mention China by name for listeners to know who their target was. Cooperation between the U.S. and EU will squeeze China’s protectionist model, and even before this agreement, there’s been evidence that China is already running up the white flag.

Yes, China is acting tough in one sense, quickly imposing tariffs in retaliation for those enacted by the Trump administration. But while U.S. stocks approach all-time highs and the dollar grows stronger, Chinese stocks are in a bear market, down 25% since January. The yuan had its worst single month ever in June, and is well on its way to a repeat this month. Chinese corporate bonds have defaulted at a record rate in the past six months, yet this week China unveiled a new stimulus program designed to encourage even more corporate borrowing.

That’s probably why Yi Gang, a governor of the People’s Bank of China, took the extraordinary step of channeling Herbert Hoover, saying in a statement this month that “the fundamentals of China’s economy are sound.” And it’s why Sun Guofeng, head of the PBOC’s financial research institute, said, China “will not make the yuan’s exchange rate a tool to cope with trade conflicts.”

Weakening one’s currency is a standard weapon in trade wars, and one that China has often been accused of using—including in a tweet by Mr. Trump last week. Devaluation would be even more dangerous in this case because of China’s power to dump the $1.4 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities it holds. But by denying its intention to plunge the yuan, China has disarmed itself voluntarily. This was no act of noble pacifism; it had to be done. Devaluing the currency would risk scaring investors away, an existential threat to an emerging economy. For China, whose state-capitalism model has so far never produced a recession, such capital flight might expose previously hidden economic weaknesses.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12760/australia-immigration-model

“Europeans think it’s easy in Australia to control our borders, but they’re just making up excuses for doing nothing themselves.” — Major General (Ret.) Jim Molan, co-author of Australia’s asylum policy.

“We have got hundreds, maybe thousands of people drowning in the attempts to get from Africa to Europe… [The] only way you can stop the deaths is in fact to stop the boats”. — Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

“My long experience in Australian politics has been that whenever a government is seen to have immigration flows under control, public support for immigration increases, when the reverse occurs hostility to immigration rises.” — Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

It must be crushing to live in a country where governance might be questionable at best, and economic opportunities limited, if that. People know they are risking their lives in search of a better break. But if the West is not to be overwhelmed, these problems seriously need to be addressed.

Four years ago, the Australian government sparked criticism after it ran an advertisement aimed at discouraging asylum seekers from traveling illegally to the country. “No Way”, the poster read. “You will not make Australia home. If you get on a boat without a visa, you will not end up in Australia. Any vessel seeking illegally to enter Australia will be intercepted and safely removed beyond Australian waters”.

It was an extremely tough message, but it worked. “Australia’s migration rate is the lowest it’s been in 10 years”, said Peter Dutton, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister. Speaking last week on the Today Show, Dutton added that the drop was about “restoring integrity to our border”. The Australians are apparently happy about that. A new poll just revealed that 72% of voters support Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s immigration policy. Australia, a Western democracy, has for years, tried to deal with a migration crisis from the sea.

“Europeans think it’s easy in Australia to control our borders, but they’re just making up excuses for doing nothing themselves,” said retired major general Jim Molan, co-author of Australia’s asylum policy.

In 2013, Tony Abbott was elected Prime Minister under the slogan “Stop the boats”. “Stop the boats” is now also the slogan of the new Italy’s new Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, who, since the formation of a new government last month, has been totally focused on curbing immigration from “the world’s most lethal” route: across the Mediterranean.

It would seem that the best possible model for Europe to implement is a skills-based immigration system to curb the illegal one.

http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001784.html
CONTENTS

ANTISEMITIC HATE POSTS ALLOWED BY FACEBOOK (KATE GIBBONS-THE TIMES OF LONDON

U.K.’S JEWISH PAPERS DENOUNCE LABOUR PARTY AS “EXISTENTIAL THREAT” (STEPHEN CASTLE- NEW YORK TIMES)

JEREMY CORBIN IS BLIND TO RACISM IN HIS PARTY (DANIEL FINKELSTEIN- THE TIMES OF LONDON)

LABOUR ACTS AGAINST MARGARET HODGE FOR CALLING CORBIN RACIST (PIPPA CRERAR AND HEATHER STEWART -THE GUARDIAN)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/pro-palestinian-bds-movement-versus-german-culture-festivals-a-1217664.html

EXCERPT: “Belgian choreographer Alain Platel and American composer Elliott Sharp also sent letters of protest. Sharp wrote that the decision to rescind the Young Fathers’ invitation had really upset him. He wrote that it has “must be possible to criticize a violent, authoritarian regime without it being labeled as anti-Semitism.” On this issue, Sharp wrote, “I speak as a Jew and son of a Holocaust survivor.”

The Middle East conflict has arrived in Germany in the form of boycotts against German cultural festivals. The development raises the question of where the line is crossed between criticizing Israel as a state and anti-Semitism.

The Young Fathers sound a bit like gospel singers who have long been locked up in a church — and have now been released into freedom, into a world of unlimited possibilities, but also one filled with many truths and conflicts. They sing about identity and power, violence and war, love and sex. And often about God and the devil.

It is the music of doubtful young men, one white and two black, a Scottish pop group in the digital postmodern era. Critics have dubbed them “the most interesting newish band in the English-speaking world,” and Stefanie Carp, the new artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale, an annual music and cultural festival in Germany’s Ruhr region, was proud when she succeeded in booking the Young Fathers for a concert. In a cheerful announcement, organizers of the festival, which begins in August, described the group’s music as “genre-defying.”

But it’s possible that the band member’s political views may indeed fit into a category — and not a nice one: anti-Semitism. The mere question as to whether they can be classified as such has been the subject of considerable controversy and the debate is creating problems for Carp, with some journalists and politicians demanding her resignation. Last week, The New York Times even reported on the case. The story’s  tone: The criticism of the festival has little to do with the band’s music, but much to do with German history.

Dr Alan Mendoza is Executive Director of The Henry Jackson Society
It always amazes me how quickly after the UK Parliament shuts down for the summer recess – as it did this week – both the pace of work in politics and the news headlines change.

After weeks of knife-edge Conservative Brexit drama, Trump visitations and Labour anti-Semitism crises, today’s BBC homepage offered comment on “blood moon” sightings and the longest heatwave in Britain’s history since the infamous summer of 1976. Given the weather, perhaps it is indeed a good thing that the hot air from Westminster is being vented elsewhere for a change. But rather than using the summer as a time of malaise, perhaps our politicians should consider it an opportunity to do something different and more worthwhile.

There are few other periods in our 24/7 society when our leaders get a chance to take a break from the frenetic pace of political life today. They should use it to recharge, but also to think. For there is currently a policy vacuum in the heart of British politics that requires filling urgently.

Ever since the EU referendum of 2016, the political agenda has been filled with but one issue: Brexit. The one attempt our political parties had to refocus attention – the General Election of 2017 – turned out disastrously when the British public returned an unimpressed verdict on their efforts through a hung Parliament. Since then, neither major party – nor any of the minor ones – have come up with a political idea that has really caught the imagination.

http://henryjacksonsociety.org/

Of all the world’s unstable countries perhaps the most concerning is Pakistan. Not just because of the extent of the religious zealotries that exist there, the power of the clerics or the unstable nature of successive governments. But primarily of course because on top of all this the country is a nuclear power, armed with munitions which many extremist groups in the country would be very glad to have in their immediate control.

It is for this reason more than any other that political events in Pakistan deserve considerable attention from the wider world—and the reason why anybody seeking the highest offices there should be subjected to an unusual degree of inspection.

As of today Imran Khan has claimed victory in this week’s election in the country. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that his own party will not contest the results, despite the usual claims and evidence of corruption at the polls. If Imran Khan is to now take control of the country the wider world will have to spend far more attention on him than it has to date.

To date most of the international coverage has focused on Mr Khan’s celebrity and his former fame as a cricketer. Certainly this all helped him to get a platform in his home country—a country where, like most others, celebrity is an enormous advantage in any election. But it is the layers beneath the famous skin that need to be probed deeper.

Throughout his career in recent years Mr Khan has proven himself adept at manoeuvring around the perilous tracks of Pakistan’s domestic politics. But such navigation is hugely compromising. It has included him having meetings with—and appearing on stage with—extremists who should not be on anybody’s invite list. And of course all of this has presented challenges of its own. To what extent have some of Khan’s public appearances and statements been a necessary evil and to what extent are they the product of sincere and indeed fundamental belief? This is not an easy question to answer. But perhaps over the coming years, once he has been in power, we will be able to see the answer for ourselves. It is much to be hoped that Khan has been engaging in necessary politics in recent years. If not, then Pakistan and the wider world are in for a period which will be perilous even by their standards.