RUTHFULLY YOURS

A man wielding a butcher knife and shouting “God is great” in Arabic stabbed two ​young ​women to death — slitting one’s throat — outside a French train station before being shot dead by soldiers Sunday morning.

​The Paris prosecutor’s office launched a terrorism investigation into the killings in Marseilles. Hours later ISIS claimed the attacker was its “soldier.”

The unidentified terrorist struck ​his victims — who were just 17 and 20 — ​at the Gare Saint-Charles train station​, cutting one’s throat and stabbing the other in the chest and stomach.​

​He crept up behind his unsuspecting first victim, a witness named Dominique said, according to The Telegraph.

“She couldn’t have seen a thing,” she said.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the man seemed to be fleeing after killing his first victim but turned around and attacked the second woman while again shouting “Allahu Akbar (God is great).

He then rushed towards Operation Sentinelle soldiers responding to the scene and they gunned him down. The soldiers have been stationed around key sites in France am
id an ongoing state of emergency called to combat increasing terror attacks.

“We have until now managed to avoid such dramatic incidents,” said Marseilles Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin. “I think it was a terrorist attack and the individual who was killed seems to have had several identities.”

In the eyes of some, Emmanuel Macron flunked it.

When the French president last week delivered a marathon speech outlining his vision of the European Union, many economists hoped this would include a radical plan for deeper eurozone fiscal integration.

Indeed, the expectation was that this would form the core of his speech. Yet Mr. Macron didn’t say anything about pooling eurozone debts and had little to say on the creation of a common eurozone budget. Instead, the most eye-catching parts of his speech concerned security and defense, where he proposed a far-reaching agenda to secure the EU’s external borders, stabilize its neighborhood and establish a European Defence Force to be funded by a new tax on financial transactions.

But Mr. Macon’s choice of priorities shouldn’t have come as a surprise. It isn’t just that the chances of the EU reaching an agreement on fiscal integration look remote given opposition from several Northern European countries, not just Germany.

The reality is that there is no urgent need for the eurozone to pursue fiscal integration, particularly now that it is in a cyclical recovery. Sure, the eurozone remains vulnerable to shocks. But there is little the eurozone could do that would improve its ability to cope with a crisis in the Italian bond markets—widely perceived to be the biggest threat to eurozone stability—nor the risk that the crisis in Spain over Sunday’s attempted referendum on Catalonian independence spirals into a wider threat to financial stability. For now, the key to strengthening the eurozone lies in policies that will raise potential growth through better functioning markets, which is where Mr. Macron focused his economic agenda.

Europe’s security challenges, on the other hand, really do pose a clear and present risk to the EU’s survival.

Senior officials say that the closest the EU came to collapse was at the height of the migration crisis in 2015. The arrival of more than one million asylum seekers led to a collapse in public trust in the EU. The flow has since been slowed, with arrivals in Italy and Greece in recent months having diminished to a trickle. But the legacy of 2015 continues to cast a shadow over European politics, as shown by strong support for the anti-immigration Alternative fur Deutschland party in last week’s German elections. EU officials estimate around 200,000 people will attempt to enter the EU illegally this year, in line with the long-term average over the previous two decades, but even this may no longer be politically sustainable. To win back public trust, the EU needs to show it is in full control of its borders. CONTINUE AT SITE

The news from Catalonia — at the time of this writing, Sunday night in America — is not good. There has been violent confrontation over the independence referendum.

Hundreds injured in Catalonia as Spanish police crack down on referendum vote…
Police acting on orders from the Spanish government to stop the voting across the country’s northeastern region clashed with Catalans who were attempting to stop them from confiscating ballots. Videos that emerged Sunday on social media appear to show police using brutal force on people attempting to cast their vote.

Catalonia’s health service said Sunday night that at least 844 people were injured today by the evening — nearly half of them in the Barcelona region, where police fired rubber bullets near at least one polling station, according to The Associated Press. Spanish authorities said 11 police officers were injured in the melees.
— ABC News

For weeks, the Spanish state had been doing all it could to obstruct and suppress the then upcoming October 1st vote. The Madrid government had been threatening people, arresting Catalan officials, and had stepped in to take over the province’s finances.

Spain has taken control of Catalonia’s finances to prevent funds being used for an independence referendum it deems illegal, a move that limits the region’s autonomy and puts in doubt the payment of thousands of public workers’ salaries. — TheLocal.es, September 20, 2017

On October 1st, Madrid followed through with its threats of force should the referendum go ahead.

What immediately comes to mind is that Madrid did not act as forcefully as Franco would have. Franco would have sent in tanks and just killed people. The present Spanish response might have been thuggish, but it was measured. Likewise, the response of the Catalan people and their representatives were also measured.

It was not totally clear how the vote was going to swing. Pro-Madrid media were accusing the Catalans of suppressing local anti-Independence sympathies; and there seemed to be a degree of truth to that, as the data indicated. Still, however, Catalonia had a long history of striving for independence. There seemed to be real local sympathy for their cause. While most anticipated a victory for the pro-independence side, there was also the precedent of how the referendum for Scottish independence failed in 2014. Recently, even the Catalan government produced some disturbing poll results.

Opinion polls are hard to come by but the clearest indication came in July, when a public survey commissioned by the Catalan government suggested 41% were in favour and 49% were opposed to independence. — BBC

Politicians and Muslim community leaders are cautioning against potential community backlash after a suspected terrorism attack in Edmonton Saturday night.

A 30-year-old man is in custody following a high-speed chase just before midnight through streets filled with bar patrons and football fans. A man stabbed a police officer with a knife and deliberately plowed into pedestrians on Edmonton’s busiest downtown strip, police say.

Abdulahi Hasan Sharif is the man accused in the attacks, multiple sources tell CBC News.

The chase ended after a white U-Haul van the man was driving struck four pedestrians and flipped on its side. Cst. Mike Chernyk was the officer injured in the violent altercation, sources tell CBC News.

Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht confirmed that a black ISIS flag was seized from a car where the police officer was attacked. The officer was not critically injured. The condition of the four pedestrians is not known.

“Based on evidence at the scenes and the actions of the suspect … it was determined that these incidents are being investigated as acts of terrorism,” Knecht said.

The incident triggered a torrent of hate messages on social media, much of it targeting Muslims.
‘Hatred has no place in Alberta’

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley thanked first responders for bravery during the chaotic night and urged the public to avoid lashing out.

“The horrific events last night in downtown Edmonton have left us shocked and angry,” Notley said in a statement. “It’s left us shocked at the indiscriminate cruelty and angry that someone might target their hatred at places where we gather with our families and friends.

‘Alberta we must stand together in defence of our loved ones, friends and neighbours’3:12

“Hatred has no place in Alberta. It’s not who we are. We are in this together and together we are stronger than any form of hate.”

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson called for vigilance and urged the community to remain calm.

“To the best of our knowledge this was a lone wolf attack,” Iveson told a news conference Sunday. “Terrorism is about creating panic and sowing divide and disputing people’s lives, so we can succumb to that or we can rise above it.”

Edmonton suspected terror attack likely a ‘lone wolf’ incident, says Mayor Don Iveson

Members of Edmonton’s Muslim community are strongly condemning the attacks and calling for solidarity within the community.

Edmonton human rights activist Ahmed Abdikadir said he felt “anger and frustration” at news the violence may have been the work of a terrorist. He fears the attack may result in a backlash against the city’s minority communities.

I’ve stumbled across this video from earlier this year, on Jews in Norway, which I think deserves a look.

‘TV 2 Norway investigate Norwegian anti-Semitism. The word “Jew” is a common insult in many communities in Norway. What role does the neo-Nazis’, muslim immigrations and the – BDS (boycott Israel) movement play – if any? And: Can old prejudices be joked away?’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q4tnJmHzk0

“The Official Discourse Was That the Jews in Malmö Were Harassed by Swedish neo-Nazis” (video)

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/

Ten minutes of sheer good sense. Left-leaning Swedish intellectual Göran Adamson, who was sacked from his academic post as a political sociologist for offending the tyrants of political correctness, here gives a searing critique of multiculturalism (“It ought to be a good thing for certain cultures to change”) and the suppression of free speech and of truth itself, that its tsars have imposed on western societies (“You no longer have a discussion about things”).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=jMUduwZdrDs

BARCELONA—Spain stood on the brink of a political and constitutional crisis after clashes between national police and Catalan voters seeking to cast ballots in an independence referendum for Catalonia deepened a long-running secessionist struggle that has riven Spain.

Catalan officials say millions of people cast ballots in Sunday’s vote in defiance of the Spanish government, which outlawed the ballot and sent thousands of police to the restive region to stop the vote. More than 760 people were left injured, according to Catalan officials, while the Spanish government said 11 police officers were also hurt.

The government of Catalonia, a prosperous region in northeast Spain, is set to announce results of the referendum Monday or Tuesday, with most expecting Catalans to have voted in favor of secession. Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president, has pledged to declare independence 48 hours after a ‘yes’ vote, throwing down a challenge to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Stark scenes of national police battling civilians could fuel animosity in Catalonia, while also threatening to sap the political support for Mr. Rajoy, who heads a fragile minority government.

“It would have been easier for everyone to turn a blind eye while they carried out a serious attack on our democracy,” said Mr. Rajoy late Sunday. “We did what we had to do.”

The Spanish crisis is also an irritant for other European Union members, many worried that a vote in favor of secession could fuel discontent in independence-minded regions such as the U.K.’s Scotland and Belgium’s Flanders. And if it distracts Mr. Rajoy from dealing with economic problems dogging Spain, such as very high youth unemployment, it could take the shine off one of the region’s brightest recovery stories.

Pro-independence groups defied the Rajoy government Sunday, opening thousands of polling stations in schools and other local buildings for a ballot on whether Catalonia should break free of Spain. Starting Friday evening, thousands of referendum supporters—including families with small children—occupied more than 1,000 polling stations throughout Catalonia to avoid their closure for Sunday’s vote, said Catalan officials. Officials from the central government said the figure was closer to several hundred. CONTINUE AT SITE

We have not seen so much division and hostility in Spain since the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s.

It seems like every one of my Spanish friends has an opinion about today’s vote. One of my friends refers to Catalonia as “crazy rebels.” One of my other friends calls the government in Madrid a few names not suitable for a family blog.

At the same time, they’re all very concerned about what happens the next day. The people who want independence don’t know how they will react the day after. The people who want Catalonia to stay are afraid that it could lead to a civil war. And both sides fear the economic impact of putting everyone through this.

Today, the people of Catalonia will vote to split from Spain, as we see in this update by John Moody:

Catalans have their own culture and language, and for the past two years, their political leadership has been promising citizens a vote.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has said such a ballot would be invalid and in violation of Spain’s constitution.

The possibility that Catalonia would split off from Spain is very much like California’s “Calexit” movement.

Politically and psychologically, the Golden State is different from America’s misnamed “flyover” states, so its aspirations to be independent are understandable.

Just a few months ago, one independence movement said leaving the United States was the only way to defend “California values.”

So, too, Catalonia’s desire to pull away from the rest of Spain, of which it’s been a part since the 15th century, when King Ferdinand of Aragon married Queen Isabella of Castile and united their realms.

Today, Catalonia is one of Spain’s economic engines, and Barcelona, its capital, is the country’s leading destination for tourists.

Islamist terrorists in Egypt bombed Coptic churches and killed dozens of innocent people on Palm Sunday, and Saudi Arabia, which finances and hosts the Muslim World League (MWL), is the global purveyor of extremist Wahhabism. More importantly, it sends a signal to persecuted Christians and moderate Muslims that they really have nowhere to turn. In his attempt at appeasing Muslims, then, the Pope is actually emboldening the “arsonists,” not the “firefighters.”

Perhaps the Pope is unaware of the nature of the MWL and Al-Azhar. If so, here is a brief description of each:

“MWL has a long history of ties to, and financial support for, Islamic extremists, terrorist operatives, and terrorist organizations including Hamas, the Abu Sayyaf Group, al-Ittihaad al-Islami, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Jemaat-al-Islamiyya, and al Qaeda…. MWL has often provided a platform for hateful, inflammatory rhetoric directed against Jews and the state of Israel.” — Discover the Networks.

“Any Muslim can kill an apostate and eat him, as well kill infidel warriors even if they are young or female and they can also be eaten, because they are not granted any protection..” — Al-Azhar book for high school students; 2015 investigative report conducted by the Egyptian newspaper El-Youn el-Sabi.

After a visit to the Vatican on September 20, a delegation of the Muslim World League (MWL), an international NGO based in, and funded by, Saudi Arabia, lauded Pope Francis for his past statements rejecting the link between Islam and violence. During their “historic meeting,” MWL Secretary-General Muhammad Abdul-Kareem Al-Issa and the Pope exchanged gifts and reportedly vowed to enhance cooperation “in all areas to achieve common goals, notably the spread of peace and harmony.”

The next day, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the WML held an “informal meeting… during which it was repeated that:

Religion and violence are incompatible;
Religions have moral resources capable of contributing to fraternity and peace;
The phenomenon of fundamentalism, particularly when violent, is troubling and joint efforts are required to counter it, and
Situations exist where freedom of conscience and of religion are not entirely respected and protected, so there is an urgent need to remedy this, renewing ‘religious discourse’ and reviewing school books.”

The two groups then agreed to establish a joint permanent committee “in the near future” to address these issues.

Similar sentiments were expressed by the leaders of Cairo’s al-Azhar University — the world’s leading Islamic center of learning for Sunni Muslims — at its International Peace Conference in April, after Pope Francis delivered an address for which the audience awarded him much applause. According to an account in the National Catholic Register, “Probably to avoid offending its Muslim members, who consider Jesus only a prophet, [Pope Francis] seemed to deliberately omit any explicit mention of the Lord’s name, preferring to focus more generally on ‘God’ and the ‘Absolute.'”

The report went on to summarize “key points” of the Pontiff’s speech, among them:

“Despite the need for the Absolute, we must reject any ‘absolutizing’ that would justify violence which is the ‘negation of every authentic religious expression.'”

“Religion is not meant to only unmask evil but promote peace, perhaps today ‘more than ever,’ but without ‘giving in to forms of facile syncretism’ [and instead] ‘praying for one another.'”

“It is of little or no use to raise our voices and run about to find weapons for our protection: what is needed today are peacemakers, not fomenters of conflict; firefighters and not arsonists; preachers of reconciliation and not instigators of destruction.”

Thanking the Pope for his “defense of Islam against the accusation of violence and terrorism,” the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed Muhammad al-Tayyib, said in his speech that humanity ought to “stress the value of peace, justice, equality and human rights regardless of religion, color, race, or language.” He added:

“We need to liberate the image of religions from false concepts, misunderstandings, malpractices, and false religiosity attached to them. These evils bestir conflicts, spread hate, and instigate violence… [W]e should not hold religion accountable for the crimes of any small group of followers.”

The twin messages at each occasion — Al-Azhar in Cairo and the Vatican in Rome — were the same: that religion is the vessel through which peace is achieved, and that Islam is no more violent than Christianity.

This is not merely ironic, as less than three weeks earlier in Egypt, Islamist terrorists bombed Coptic churches and killed dozens of innocent people on Palm Sunday, and Saudi Arabia, which finances and bases the MWL, is the global purveyor of extremist Wahhabism. More importantly, it sends a signal to persecuted Christians and moderate Muslims that they really have nowhere to turn.

“Evicted five centuries ago by crusading Christians, the Arabs are back in Spain, using their oil dollars to buy land that was seized from their ancestors by the sword”. — James M. Markham, The New York Times, 1981.

The Madrid daily ABC wrote that 800 mosques in Spain are out of control. The Spanish daily La Razon charged that Gulf donors, such as Qatar, were a source of Spain’s Islamization. The Saudis also launched a new Spanish television channel, Córdoba TV, as did Iran.

They dream of, and work to, regain the “lost Caliphate” of Spain. Some Islamists do it with bombs and car-ramming attacks. Others, more surreptitiously, do it with money and dawa, Islamic propaganda. The second way may be even more effective than the first.

The ceremony in 2003 was announced with bombastic headlines: “After a wait of more than 500 years, Spanish Muslims, have finally succeeded in building a mosque of their own in the shadow of the Alhambra, once the symbol of Islamic power in Europe”. A troupe from al Jazeera was sent to follow the event: a muezzin climbed to the minaret of the Great Mosque of Granada to call the faithful to prayer for the first time in five centuries.

From Osama bin Laden to the self-proclaimed Caliph, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, all the leaders of the global jihad — including the terror cell that killed 17 people in Barcelona — have mentioned Spain among the lands to be conquered by Islam. There is, however, not only jihad. There is also “the quiet conquest”, as it has been dubbed by the French magazine, Valeurs Actuelles. The quiet conquest is a sinuous attempt to re-Islamize Spain through cultural centers, mega-mosques, proselytizing, conversions and financial investments. This pacific attempt to elicit submission has been underway for some time and has been backed by a flow of money from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. According to a former commander of British forces in Iraq, General Jonathan Shaw, these two countries in particular have ignited a “time bomb” by funding the global spread of radical Islam.

The New York Times first detailed in 1981 that, “evicted five centuries ago by crusading Christians, the Arabs are back in Spain, using their oil dollars to buy land that was seized from their ancestors by the sword”. Spain back then did not even recognize the State of Israel, and the Spanish monarchy regularly visited Saudi Prince Fahd while he was relaxing in the south of Spain. After that, it was Kuwait’s turn: “During the late 1980’s, when Spain was booming, Kuwait came shopping for corporations and investments”.

Since then, the Arab monarchies have targeted Spain with huge investments. Some emblematic buildings in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​not to mention the Costa del Sol, are now owned by Arab investment groups, from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid to the W Hotel in Barcelona. In Marbella, just a few meters away from the King Fahd Mosque, there is the Alanda Hotel, which offers halal food and services to meet the demands of the Muslim clients. In 2011, the International Petroleum Investment Company, controlled by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, purchased Cepsa, the second-largest Spanish company in the oil sector.

Last January, Spain’s King Felipe VI visited Saudi Arabia and announced that Spain would boost economic, trade and investment relations with the Islamic kingdom. Before that, in 2012, Saudi Aramco awarded Spanish companies projects worth $700 million. Spain and Qatar are now discussing the formation a $1 billion joint investment fund that would help the Gulf state invest in Latin America. The Arab Emirates’ media called Spain “a hotspot for investment from the Arab world”. After Qatar, it was the Oman’s turn to invest in the Spanish market: Oman just agreed to invest up to $120 million in a uranium mine in Spain, to be used for Omani nuclear energy plants.