Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 4:17 PM
To: info@av4i.org.au
Subject: PA resolution fails in UN, Fatal online extremism, Turkey,
France, Sweden, Cartoon, Letters
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Australian Voices for Israel (www.av4i.org.au) 31 Dec. 2014
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article.
*HAPPY NEW YEAR! We wish all our readers a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful
2015.*
*av4i will be taking a break
over January, with only occasional articles, and resuming at full strength in
early Feb 2015.
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Palestinian draft resolution fails in UN
council
There were eight votes in favor, two votes against and five abstentions.
There were eight votes in favor, two votes against and five abstentions.
Australia joined the United States in voting
against the measure.
REUTERS 31 Dec 2014
Delegates sit for a Security Council meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York. (photo credit:REUTERS)
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories by late 2017.
The resolution called for negotiations to be based on territorial lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. It also called for a peace deal within 12 months.
Even if the draft had received the minimum nine votes in favor, it would have been defeated by Washington's vote against it. The United States is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members.
There were eight votes in favor, two against and five abstentions. Australia joined the United States in voting against the measure.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power defended Washington's position against the draft in a speech to the 15-nation council by saying it was not a vote against peace between Israeli and the Palestinians.
"The United States every day searches for new ways to take constructive steps to support the parties in making progress toward achieving a negotiated settlement," she said. "The Security Council resolution put before us today is not one of those constructive steps."
"It is deeply imbalanced and contains many elements that are not conducive to negotiations between the parties, including unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel's legitimate security concerns," she said, adding that it "was put to a vote without a discussion or due consideration among council members."
Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar expressed regret that the resolution was voted down.
"We had hoped that the Security Council will today adopt the draft Arab resolution because the council bears both the legal and moral responsibilities to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," she said.
The defeat of the resolution was not surprising. Washington, council diplomats said, had made clear it did not want such a resolution put to a vote before Israel's election in March.
The Palestinians, the diplomats said, insisted on putting the resolution to a vote despite the fact that it was clear Washington would not let it pass. Their sudden announcement last weekend that Ramallah wanted a vote before the new year surprised Western delegations on the council.
[...]
In a very brief statement, Israeli delegate Israel Nitzan told the council that the Palestinians have found every possible opportunity to avoid direct negotiations and came to the council with "a preposterous unilateral proposal."
"I have news for the Palestinians - you cannot agitate and provoke your way to a state," he said.
[...]
Israel, which pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, has said its eastern border would be indefensible if it withdrew completely from the West Bank.
REUTERS 31 Dec 2014
Delegates sit for a Security Council meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York. (photo credit:REUTERS)
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories by late 2017.
The resolution called for negotiations to be based on territorial lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. It also called for a peace deal within 12 months.
Even if the draft had received the minimum nine votes in favor, it would have been defeated by Washington's vote against it. The United States is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members.
There were eight votes in favor, two against and five abstentions. Australia joined the United States in voting against the measure.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power defended Washington's position against the draft in a speech to the 15-nation council by saying it was not a vote against peace between Israeli and the Palestinians.
"The United States every day searches for new ways to take constructive steps to support the parties in making progress toward achieving a negotiated settlement," she said. "The Security Council resolution put before us today is not one of those constructive steps."
"It is deeply imbalanced and contains many elements that are not conducive to negotiations between the parties, including unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel's legitimate security concerns," she said, adding that it "was put to a vote without a discussion or due consideration among council members."
Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar expressed regret that the resolution was voted down.
"We had hoped that the Security Council will today adopt the draft Arab resolution because the council bears both the legal and moral responsibilities to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," she said.
The defeat of the resolution was not surprising. Washington, council diplomats said, had made clear it did not want such a resolution put to a vote before Israel's election in March.
The Palestinians, the diplomats said, insisted on putting the resolution to a vote despite the fact that it was clear Washington would not let it pass. Their sudden announcement last weekend that Ramallah wanted a vote before the new year surprised Western delegations on the council.
[...]
In a very brief statement, Israeli delegate Israel Nitzan told the council that the Palestinians have found every possible opportunity to avoid direct negotiations and came to the council with "a preposterous unilateral proposal."
"I have news for the Palestinians - you cannot agitate and provoke your way to a state," he said.
[...]
Israel, which pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, has said its eastern border would be indefensible if it withdrew completely from the West Bank.
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Bill Leak in The Australian 29 Dec.
2014, plus responses
below:
Some comments on the cartoon:
THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 30, 2014
Yesterday’s genuine refugees are today’s jihadists and terrorists. We
should be very worried.
Colin Douglas, St Kilda, Vic
Colin Douglas, St Kilda, Vic
('Head in the sand' ALERT!) I’m usually happy to ignore the
tasteless cartoons by Bill Leak, but his latest effort (“The feminist
evolution”, 29/12) really takes the cake. It is not only outrageously offensive
and demeaning to women and Muslims, it is bereft of humour or satire. What was
its purpose — other than to offend the maximum number of people
possible?
Chantal Caruso, Perth, WA
Bill Leak’s cartoon says it all — reverse evolution. And the civilised world remains silent while these poor women are subjected to such barbaric treatment.
Rosemary Yeoland, Sandy Bay, Tas
THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 31, 2014
Bill Leak is easily Australia’s best political cartoonist, and his cartoon (“The feminist evolution”, 29/11) that so offended Chantal Caruso (Letters, 30/12) was one of his best. The silence of the sisterhood on the atrocities perpetrated by Islamists has been remarkable. Leakcaptured the situation perfectly.
Peter Jacobsen, Kangaroo Point, Qld
The Bill Leak cartoon to which Chantal Caruso refers is clear in two specific issues. The first is the reverse evolution of the extremists of Islamic State and their supporters here and overseas. The second is the complete lack of anger expressed by the feminists of Labor and the Greens.
Mal Clarke, Morphett Vale, SA
Contrary to the opinion of Chantal Caruso, I think the cartoon by Bill Leak is among the best political cartoons I have seen. May he do many more of that standard.
Dennis Boothby, Redbank Plains, Qld
In his cartoon, Bill Leak draws attention, in his usual brilliant way, to the tendency of so many feminists to prefer multiculturalism to the interests of women in those cultures. This should not be offensive to Muslims and women generally. It may well be offensive to barbaric Islamists and to those women who are prepared to defend that barbarism for political purposes.
Matt Pralija, Neutral Bay, NSW
Chantal Caruso, Perth, WA
Bill Leak’s cartoon says it all — reverse evolution. And the civilised world remains silent while these poor women are subjected to such barbaric treatment.
Rosemary Yeoland, Sandy Bay, Tas
THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 31, 2014
Bill Leak is easily Australia’s best political cartoonist, and his cartoon (“The feminist evolution”, 29/11) that so offended Chantal Caruso (Letters, 30/12) was one of his best. The silence of the sisterhood on the atrocities perpetrated by Islamists has been remarkable. Leakcaptured the situation perfectly.
Peter Jacobsen, Kangaroo Point, Qld
The Bill Leak cartoon to which Chantal Caruso refers is clear in two specific issues. The first is the reverse evolution of the extremists of Islamic State and their supporters here and overseas. The second is the complete lack of anger expressed by the feminists of Labor and the Greens.
Mal Clarke, Morphett Vale, SA
Contrary to the opinion of Chantal Caruso, I think the cartoon by Bill Leak is among the best political cartoons I have seen. May he do many more of that standard.
Dennis Boothby, Redbank Plains, Qld
In his cartoon, Bill Leak draws attention, in his usual brilliant way, to the tendency of so many feminists to prefer multiculturalism to the interests of women in those cultures. This should not be offensive to Muslims and women generally. It may well be offensive to barbaric Islamists and to those women who are prepared to defend that barbarism for political purposes.
Matt Pralija, Neutral Bay, NSW
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Fatal attraction of online
extremism
Editorial THE DAILY TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 30, 2014
IN 2013, Sunrise host Andrew O’Keefe tried his hand at terrorism analysis. “The common link is not Islam,” O’Keefe claimed. “It is young men.”
O’Keefe was partially correct, as the most recent news out of Syria and Iraq reveals.
Young Sydney man Ahmed Mohammed Al-Ghazzawi is the latest Australian understood to have been killed while fighting for the Islamic State death cult. Following his death, believed to have occurred on Boxing Day, dozens of Sydney supporters praised him on social media as a hero.
The influence of online extremist preachers is clearly playing a massive role in Islamic State recruitment. In many cases online extremists are obviously overwhelming whatever calming influences are offered by local Islamic leaders and even parents.
Young Muslim males are particularly vulnerable to online fundamentalist firebrands, who promise eternal paradise to martyrs who die in the name of Islamic State.
When it comes to a broader examination of the atrocities in Syria and Iraq, however, O’Keefe may wish to revise his theory.
While there are plenty of young men fighting for or providing assistance for Islamic State, there are also many children, parents and women. Some of the imams who generate their followers’ extremist bloodlust are middle-aged or older.
And, just like the majority of their victims, all have the common link that O’Keefe denied.
The participation of young women is ongoing and particularly distressing. Melbourne woman 21-year-old Zehra Duman recently fled to Syria so she could marry an Islamic State fighter. Understandably, her parents are inconsolable.
“She’s been brainwashed, she wasn’t like this three or four months ago,” father Davut said.
“We’re trying desperately, trying to bring our daughter home. We’ve got the police involved. It’s very difficult for us to cope.”
At least one young Australian woman has already been killed in the holy war.
Clearly, Islamic State’s online recruiting and propaganda may be extremely effective at attracting young men, but it is also horrifically successful at luring many others besides.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/fatal-attraction-of-online-extremism/story-fni0cwl5-1227169569334
Editorial THE DAILY TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 30, 2014
IN 2013, Sunrise host Andrew O’Keefe tried his hand at terrorism analysis. “The common link is not Islam,” O’Keefe claimed. “It is young men.”
O’Keefe was partially correct, as the most recent news out of Syria and Iraq reveals.
Young Sydney man Ahmed Mohammed Al-Ghazzawi is the latest Australian understood to have been killed while fighting for the Islamic State death cult. Following his death, believed to have occurred on Boxing Day, dozens of Sydney supporters praised him on social media as a hero.
The influence of online extremist preachers is clearly playing a massive role in Islamic State recruitment. In many cases online extremists are obviously overwhelming whatever calming influences are offered by local Islamic leaders and even parents.
Young Muslim males are particularly vulnerable to online fundamentalist firebrands, who promise eternal paradise to martyrs who die in the name of Islamic State.
When it comes to a broader examination of the atrocities in Syria and Iraq, however, O’Keefe may wish to revise his theory.
While there are plenty of young men fighting for or providing assistance for Islamic State, there are also many children, parents and women. Some of the imams who generate their followers’ extremist bloodlust are middle-aged or older.
And, just like the majority of their victims, all have the common link that O’Keefe denied.
The participation of young women is ongoing and particularly distressing. Melbourne woman 21-year-old Zehra Duman recently fled to Syria so she could marry an Islamic State fighter. Understandably, her parents are inconsolable.
“She’s been brainwashed, she wasn’t like this three or four months ago,” father Davut said.
“We’re trying desperately, trying to bring our daughter home. We’ve got the police involved. It’s very difficult for us to cope.”
At least one young Australian woman has already been killed in the holy war.
Clearly, Islamic State’s online recruiting and propaganda may be extremely effective at attracting young men, but it is also horrifically successful at luring many others besides.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/fatal-attraction-of-online-extremism/story-fni0cwl5-1227169569334
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While the UN devotes its human rights operations to the demonization of the democratic state of Israel above all others and condemns the United States more often than the vast majority of non-democracies around the world, the voices of real victims around the world must be heard.
Human Rights Voices DECEMBER 26, 2014
Turkish school boy who insulted Erdogan
Turkish police have arrested a 16-year-old high school student in the city of Konya on charges of insulting President Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Thursday.
The teenager's lawyers have appealed against the prosecution, which came after he read out a statement during a ceremony to commemorate the killing of a Turkish soldier by Islamists in the 1920s.
In a video broadcast by Dogan News Agency, the teenager was shown defending secularism and the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.
He criticised the ruling AK Party government and Mr Erdogan personally over corruption allegations, as a crowd surrounding him chanted "everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption".
Mr Erdogan portrayed a high-reaching corruption scandal that was initiated a year ago as a coup attempt orchestrated by his former ally, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, to undermine his rule.
The scandal posed one of the biggest challenges to his 11-year-rule, leading three members of his cabinet to quit and drawing international criticism for his response, tightening Internet controls and reassigning police, judges and prosecutors.
The teenager, who is being held in detention, has pleaded not guilty, Dogan News Agency said.
The boy's arrest sparked fierce criticism of Mr Erdogan by opponents.
Atilla Kart, of the main opposition party CHP, said on Twitter that "an environment of fear, oppression and threat" was being created by the presidency.
Turkey's penal code forbids insulting the president. Ahmet Davutoglu, the prime minister, was critical of the teenager and said everyone should respect the post of the presidency.
http://www.humanrightsvoices.org/victims/voices/?p=2781&y=2014
Turkish school boy who insulted Erdogan
Turkish police have arrested a 16-year-old high school student in the city of Konya on charges of insulting President Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Thursday.
The teenager's lawyers have appealed against the prosecution, which came after he read out a statement during a ceremony to commemorate the killing of a Turkish soldier by Islamists in the 1920s.
In a video broadcast by Dogan News Agency, the teenager was shown defending secularism and the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.
He criticised the ruling AK Party government and Mr Erdogan personally over corruption allegations, as a crowd surrounding him chanted "everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption".
Mr Erdogan portrayed a high-reaching corruption scandal that was initiated a year ago as a coup attempt orchestrated by his former ally, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, to undermine his rule.
The scandal posed one of the biggest challenges to his 11-year-rule, leading three members of his cabinet to quit and drawing international criticism for his response, tightening Internet controls and reassigning police, judges and prosecutors.
The teenager, who is being held in detention, has pleaded not guilty, Dogan News Agency said.
The boy's arrest sparked fierce criticism of Mr Erdogan by opponents.
Atilla Kart, of the main opposition party CHP, said on Twitter that "an environment of fear, oppression and threat" was being created by the presidency.
Turkey's penal code forbids insulting the president. Ahmet Davutoglu, the prime minister, was critical of the teenager and said everyone should respect the post of the presidency.
http://www.humanrightsvoices.org/victims/voices/?p=2781&y=2014
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FRANCE: REVOLUTIONARY TREATMENT FOR MUSLIM ‘MENTAL
ILLNESS’
Violent attacks accompanied by cries of “Allahu Akbar” are simply the result of “mental illness,” according to French authorities who incidentally are enacting a subtle “treatment” for this plague…
These were the words of Abu Mohammed al Adnani, the official spokesman and a senior leader of ISIS, as he addressed the terror group’s supporters around the world back in September.
Not once in the message did al Adnani say he was only speaking to official card-carrying ISIS members, but that is exactly what the West expects- especially those “spiteful and filthy French” who experienced three “lone wolf” terror attacks in three days.
On December 19, a new video along the same lines again, emphasized France and commanded Muslims to kill unbelievers and to “Blow up France! Reduce France to crumbs! …Kill them [unbelievers], kill them, no matter where they are, kill them… blow up their heads, be it with a stone, a knife, anything.”
And Muslims took heed with a wave of attacks- in France.
Violent attacks accompanied by cries of “Allahu Akbar” are simply the result of “mental illness,” according to French authorities who incidentally are enacting a subtle “treatment” for this plague…
By: Y.K. Cherson and Rachel Molschky (chersonandmolschky.com)
DECEMBER 29, 2014
“If you can kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy French – or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way, however it may be…”
“Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him.”
These were the words of Abu Mohammed al Adnani, the official spokesman and a senior leader of ISIS, as he addressed the terror group’s supporters around the world back in September.
Not once in the message did al Adnani say he was only speaking to official card-carrying ISIS members, but that is exactly what the West expects- especially those “spiteful and filthy French” who experienced three “lone wolf” terror attacks in three days.
On December 19, a new video along the same lines again, emphasized France and commanded Muslims to kill unbelievers and to “Blow up France! Reduce France to crumbs! …Kill them [unbelievers], kill them, no matter where they are, kill them… blow up their heads, be it with a stone, a knife, anything.”
And Muslims took heed with a wave of attacks- in France.
[...] ... continue via link below
Psychologist Nicolai Sennels has written a report on this very
thing.
“Psychopathic people and behaviour are found within all cultures and religions. But one tops them all — by many lengths…”
That would be Islam of course.
Sennels studied both Muslims and non-Muslims in a Danish youth prison and came to the conclusion that “Islam and Muslim culture have certain psychological mechanisms that harm people’s development and increase criminal behaviour.”
While some 70 percent of youth offenders in Denmark have a Muslim background, according to Sennels, the reason for this can be attributed to brainwashing in the Muslim culture as well as the four enabling psychological factors of anger, self-confidence, responsibility for oneself and intolerance, all further discussed in greater detail on Jihad Watch.
But don’t tell this to French authorities who rely on the “mental illness” scapegoat needed to fulfill their obligations to the ever-powerful demand of “political correctness” which dictates their public statements, always an absurd display of dhimmitude.
But these are just words. What are their actions? Before such a sad deterioration in the mental health of French citizens, especially of those who profess Islam, the French government invented a very original medical treatment for “mentally ill” and “unbalanced” persons, adding another 300 anti-terrorist security troops to the already deployed 780 during the Christmas season for a total of 1080 armed and trained security soldiers– to fight “mentally ill” and “unbalanced” individuals?? That’s quite a remedy!
Or maybe members of the French government somewhere deep in their hearts know that this senselessness they are telling us about “lone wolves” without any ties to Jihad crying “Allahu Akbar” when driving their vehicles into Christians buying gifts for Christmas is just this: senseless politically correct mumbo jumbo?
As O. Henry once wrote, you can defy the allegation, but you can’t deny the alligators.
“Psychopathic people and behaviour are found within all cultures and religions. But one tops them all — by many lengths…”
That would be Islam of course.
Sennels studied both Muslims and non-Muslims in a Danish youth prison and came to the conclusion that “Islam and Muslim culture have certain psychological mechanisms that harm people’s development and increase criminal behaviour.”
While some 70 percent of youth offenders in Denmark have a Muslim background, according to Sennels, the reason for this can be attributed to brainwashing in the Muslim culture as well as the four enabling psychological factors of anger, self-confidence, responsibility for oneself and intolerance, all further discussed in greater detail on Jihad Watch.
But don’t tell this to French authorities who rely on the “mental illness” scapegoat needed to fulfill their obligations to the ever-powerful demand of “political correctness” which dictates their public statements, always an absurd display of dhimmitude.
But these are just words. What are their actions? Before such a sad deterioration in the mental health of French citizens, especially of those who profess Islam, the French government invented a very original medical treatment for “mentally ill” and “unbalanced” persons, adding another 300 anti-terrorist security troops to the already deployed 780 during the Christmas season for a total of 1080 armed and trained security soldiers– to fight “mentally ill” and “unbalanced” individuals?? That’s quite a remedy!
Or maybe members of the French government somewhere deep in their hearts know that this senselessness they are telling us about “lone wolves” without any ties to Jihad crying “Allahu Akbar” when driving their vehicles into Christians buying gifts for Christmas is just this: senseless politically correct mumbo jumbo?
As O. Henry once wrote, you can defy the allegation, but you can’t deny the alligators.
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Hamas bars Gaza war orphans from entering Israel
Strip’s leaders say visit would interfere with teeangers’ education; project’s Israeli initiator hopes they’ll change their minds
BY ELHANAN MILLER Times of Israel December 28, 2014
![Palestinian children play on a street in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 4, 2014 [photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90]](http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/12/F141004ARK99-635x357.jpg)
Palestinian children play on a street in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 4, 2014]
Hamas prevented 37 Palestinian war orphans living in the Gaza Strip from
entering Israel for a one-week visit on Sunday, claiming the trip would harm the
children’s education and constitute “normalization” with the Jewish
state.
The educational and recreational visit, organized by Yoel Marshak of the Kibbutz Movement in collaboration with the Arab Israeli towns of Kfar Kassem and Rahat, was meant to bring the teenage children of Hamas operatives killed during Operation Protective Edge to the Ramat Gan Safari and to Israeli towns along the Gaza border. But when their bus reached a Hamas checkpoint on the Palestinian side of the Erez border crossing, it was turned back.
“Security forces prevented 37 children of martyrs from entering the land occupied in 1948 for a suspicious visit to a number of settlements and occupied cities,” wrote Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad Al-Bozom on Facebook Sunday. “This move came in order to safeguard our children’s education and protect them from the policy of normalization.”......
The educational and recreational visit, organized by Yoel Marshak of the Kibbutz Movement in collaboration with the Arab Israeli towns of Kfar Kassem and Rahat, was meant to bring the teenage children of Hamas operatives killed during Operation Protective Edge to the Ramat Gan Safari and to Israeli towns along the Gaza border. But when their bus reached a Hamas checkpoint on the Palestinian side of the Erez border crossing, it was turned back.
“Security forces prevented 37 children of martyrs from entering the land occupied in 1948 for a suspicious visit to a number of settlements and occupied cities,” wrote Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad Al-Bozom on Facebook Sunday. “This move came in order to safeguard our children’s education and protect them from the policy of normalization.”......
Read full article:>> http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-bars-gaza-war-orphans-from-entering-israel/#ixzz3NRoSI7hB
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Insane approach to French Islamist
terror
THEODORE DALRYMPLE THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 29, 2014
Illustration: Eric Lobbecke Source: Supplied
ONE swallow doesn’t make a summer, but how many swallows, exactly, do make a summer? Are two, or possibly three, terrorist attacks by Muslims in France in as many days, in three cities, killing one and injuring 27, a statistical blip or a sign of things to come?
In the first, a man aged 20, born in Burundi and a convert to Islam, walked into a police station in a suburb of Tours, drew out a knife and attacked the police, injuring one seriously and two others less seriously, before being shot dead by a fourth. The culprit accompanied his acts by the now familiar declamation, Allahu akbar — God is great.
The next day in Dijon, a man of North African origin aged 40 deliberately drove a car into pedestrians, injuring 14 in five different locations, while shouting Allahu akbar.
And the day after that, in Nantes, a man aged 37 drove a van into a Christmas market in the middle of the city, injuring nine and killing one. According to witnesses he too extolled the greatness of God. He then stabbed himself several times with a knife but failed to kill himself.
Considerable effort in France has gone into denying the significance of the religious exclamation of the perpetrators, for fear no doubt of stirring a primitive or visceral reaction by the French population. Unfortunately, official evasiveness is just as likely in the end to evoke violent rage as would downright incitement to hatred.
The authorities appear now to be constantly walking on the eggshells that — rather than good intentions — pave the road to hell.
The newspaper Liberation headed its report of the first of the episodes with a quote from an acquaintance of the perpetrator: The affair has nothing to do with religion. This was despite the fact that the perpetrator’s brother was a known extremist and he himself had become notably more religious recently, having posted a picture of himself with the flag of Islamic State, which has repeatedly called for Muslims in France to kill whomever they can.
Incidentally, a sentence in Le Monde’s account was very revealing about the social milieu from which the perpetrator emerged: “He was known for petty crimes — robberies, drug-dealing — but had never really drawn attention to himself in the quarter where he lived.” Robberies and drug-dealing are nothing unusual, and therefore unworthy of remark.
The second perpetrator was a man with a long psychiatric history who had been released from hospital only weeks before what I dare say will soon be called his “accident”. The police reported that after his arrest he spoke incoherently of the children of Palestine, Islamic State and so on, his incoherence — a symptom of madness — coming as a relief to those who want to hear or see no evil. It allowed them to dismiss him as an isolated lunatic, such as there have always been and always will be. It did not occur to them that madness and political or religious fanaticism are not contradictory or even incompatible.
For now, there is more mystery about the third perpetrator. The prosecutor of Nantes said his attack was an “isolated” event with no terrorist intent. Absurd though this sounds, she might be right. Clusters of unusual events do occur, coming and going without signifying any long-term trend or common origin. Moreover, bizarre or sensational crimes often evoke imitation by the weak-minded. But no one in France is likely to believe this, even if true.
The political class is so wedded to political correctness, which it expresses in language of almost Soviet woodenness, that people are now inclined to assume that it is lying even when it speaks the truth. And since 1200 young French Muslims gone to Syria to kill for Islamic theocracy, which is more fun than working for a living or long-term unemployment in a soulless and soul-destroying HLM (Habitation a Loyer Modere, rent-controlled housing), there are certainly enough Islamists in France to commit three acts of terrorism in quick succession.
At the very time these attacks took place, the writer and journalist Eric Zemmour, a ferocious opponent of what he believes to be the creeping Islamisation of France (with the connivance, willing or unwilling, of the political and intellectual elite), was sacked from the television program on which he had appeared for several years because of an interview he gave to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Having evoked the dangers of Muslim separatism in France, he was asked whether he thought Muslims could or should be deported from France. He replied: “I know it’s unrealistic but history is surprising.
Who would have said in the 1940s that, 20 years later, a million pieds-noirs (French colonists) would have left Algeria to return to France? Or that, after the war, five or six million Germans would have left central and eastern Europe, where they had lived for centuries?”
While Zemmour (who is of Berber Jewish origin) could claim that he was not actually advocating the kind of violent ethnic cleansing that the pieds-noirs and Germans suffered, his words could certainly be construed as encouraging or at least as wishing it. Nor is it true that his dismissal by the TV station was censorship, as he and many supporters claimed. A man’s right to free speech does not entail the duty of any particular publisher or broadcaster to disseminate his views; and in practice his dismissal has led to more publicity for his views than if he had not been dismissed. Millions of people have now read his interview who would not have read it otherwise.
In France on the one hand there is a cowardly denial that there is any problem; on the other more and more people dream of a radical or even brutal solution to it. I am reminded of the description by the Tsarist minister of justice, Ivan Shcheglovitov, of the situation in Russia in 1915: The paralytics of the government are struggling feebly with the epileptics of the revolution.
Theodore Dalrymple is the author of more than 20 books and a retired prison doctor and psychiatrist.
THEODORE DALRYMPLE THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 29, 2014
Illustration: Eric Lobbecke Source: Supplied
ONE swallow doesn’t make a summer, but how many swallows, exactly, do make a summer? Are two, or possibly three, terrorist attacks by Muslims in France in as many days, in three cities, killing one and injuring 27, a statistical blip or a sign of things to come?
In the first, a man aged 20, born in Burundi and a convert to Islam, walked into a police station in a suburb of Tours, drew out a knife and attacked the police, injuring one seriously and two others less seriously, before being shot dead by a fourth. The culprit accompanied his acts by the now familiar declamation, Allahu akbar — God is great.
The next day in Dijon, a man of North African origin aged 40 deliberately drove a car into pedestrians, injuring 14 in five different locations, while shouting Allahu akbar.
And the day after that, in Nantes, a man aged 37 drove a van into a Christmas market in the middle of the city, injuring nine and killing one. According to witnesses he too extolled the greatness of God. He then stabbed himself several times with a knife but failed to kill himself.
Considerable effort in France has gone into denying the significance of the religious exclamation of the perpetrators, for fear no doubt of stirring a primitive or visceral reaction by the French population. Unfortunately, official evasiveness is just as likely in the end to evoke violent rage as would downright incitement to hatred.
The authorities appear now to be constantly walking on the eggshells that — rather than good intentions — pave the road to hell.
The newspaper Liberation headed its report of the first of the episodes with a quote from an acquaintance of the perpetrator: The affair has nothing to do with religion. This was despite the fact that the perpetrator’s brother was a known extremist and he himself had become notably more religious recently, having posted a picture of himself with the flag of Islamic State, which has repeatedly called for Muslims in France to kill whomever they can.
Incidentally, a sentence in Le Monde’s account was very revealing about the social milieu from which the perpetrator emerged: “He was known for petty crimes — robberies, drug-dealing — but had never really drawn attention to himself in the quarter where he lived.” Robberies and drug-dealing are nothing unusual, and therefore unworthy of remark.
The second perpetrator was a man with a long psychiatric history who had been released from hospital only weeks before what I dare say will soon be called his “accident”. The police reported that after his arrest he spoke incoherently of the children of Palestine, Islamic State and so on, his incoherence — a symptom of madness — coming as a relief to those who want to hear or see no evil. It allowed them to dismiss him as an isolated lunatic, such as there have always been and always will be. It did not occur to them that madness and political or religious fanaticism are not contradictory or even incompatible.
For now, there is more mystery about the third perpetrator. The prosecutor of Nantes said his attack was an “isolated” event with no terrorist intent. Absurd though this sounds, she might be right. Clusters of unusual events do occur, coming and going without signifying any long-term trend or common origin. Moreover, bizarre or sensational crimes often evoke imitation by the weak-minded. But no one in France is likely to believe this, even if true.
The political class is so wedded to political correctness, which it expresses in language of almost Soviet woodenness, that people are now inclined to assume that it is lying even when it speaks the truth. And since 1200 young French Muslims gone to Syria to kill for Islamic theocracy, which is more fun than working for a living or long-term unemployment in a soulless and soul-destroying HLM (Habitation a Loyer Modere, rent-controlled housing), there are certainly enough Islamists in France to commit three acts of terrorism in quick succession.
At the very time these attacks took place, the writer and journalist Eric Zemmour, a ferocious opponent of what he believes to be the creeping Islamisation of France (with the connivance, willing or unwilling, of the political and intellectual elite), was sacked from the television program on which he had appeared for several years because of an interview he gave to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Having evoked the dangers of Muslim separatism in France, he was asked whether he thought Muslims could or should be deported from France. He replied: “I know it’s unrealistic but history is surprising.
Who would have said in the 1940s that, 20 years later, a million pieds-noirs (French colonists) would have left Algeria to return to France? Or that, after the war, five or six million Germans would have left central and eastern Europe, where they had lived for centuries?”
While Zemmour (who is of Berber Jewish origin) could claim that he was not actually advocating the kind of violent ethnic cleansing that the pieds-noirs and Germans suffered, his words could certainly be construed as encouraging or at least as wishing it. Nor is it true that his dismissal by the TV station was censorship, as he and many supporters claimed. A man’s right to free speech does not entail the duty of any particular publisher or broadcaster to disseminate his views; and in practice his dismissal has led to more publicity for his views than if he had not been dismissed. Millions of people have now read his interview who would not have read it otherwise.
In France on the one hand there is a cowardly denial that there is any problem; on the other more and more people dream of a radical or even brutal solution to it. I am reminded of the description by the Tsarist minister of justice, Ivan Shcheglovitov, of the situation in Russia in 1915: The paralytics of the government are struggling feebly with the epileptics of the revolution.
Theodore Dalrymple is the author of more than 20 books and a retired prison doctor and psychiatrist.
............................................................................................................................................................
"... the realities of immigration are apparent for all to see: welfare dependency, violent bigotry against Christians and Jews, and a wide range of social pathologies...
by Daniel Pipes National Review Online December 30,
2014
Woe to anyone in Sweden who dissents from the orthodox view that welcoming
large numbers of indigent peoples from such countries as Iraq, Syria, and
Somalia is anything but a fine and noble idea. Even to argue that permitting
about one percent of the existing population to emigrate annually from an alien
civilization renders one politically, socially, and even legally beyond the
pale. (I know a journalist threatened with arrest for mild dissent on this
issue.) The assertion that there exists a Swedish culture worth preserving meets
with puzzlement.
And yet, the realities of immigration are apparent for all to see: welfare dependency, violent bigotry against Christians and Jews, and a wide range of social pathologies from unemployment to politically motivated rape. Accordingly, ever-increasing numbers of Swedes find themselves -- despite known hazards -- opting out of the consensus and worrying about their country's cultural suicide.
The taboo on such attitudes means that political parties, with only one exception, staunchly support continued immigration. Only the Sweden Democrats (SD) offer an alternative: real efforts to integrate existing immigrants and a 90 percent decrease in future immigration. Despite an unsavory neofascist past (not something unique to it, by the way), SD has become increasingly respectable and has been rewarded with electoral success, doubling its parliamentary vote from 3 percent in 2006, to 6 percent in 2010, to 13 percent in 2014. All the Swedes with whom I spoke on a recent visit expect the SD vote to grow further, something recent polls confirm.
If a party or bloc of parties held a large majority in Sweden's unicameral parliament, SD would be virtually irrelevant. But the Riksdag's two blocs are almost equally balanced. Three left-wing parties control 159 of 349 seats, while the "right-wing" (from an American perspective, it is hardly conservative) Alliance for Sweden, consisting of four parties, has 141 seats. This means that SD, with 49 seats, holds the balance of power.
But SD is deemed anathema, so no party bargains with it to pass legislation, not even indirectly through the media. Both Left and "Right" seek to isolate and discredit it. Nevertheless, SD has played the role of kingmaker on certain crucial legislation, particularly the annual budget. In keeping with its policy to drive from power every government that refuses to reduce immigration, it brought down an Alliance for Sweden government in early 2014. Recent weeks saw a repeat of this scenario, when SD joined the Alliance in opposing the leftist budget, forcing the government to call for elections in March 2015.
But then something remarkable occurred: The two major blocs compromised not only on the current budget, but also on future budgets and power-sharing all the way to 2022. The left and "right" alliances worked out trade-offs that would obviate the need for elections in March, allowing the Left to rule until 2018, with the "Right" possibly taking over from 2018 until 2022. Not only does this political cartel deprive SD of its pivotal role but, short of winning a majority of parliamentary seats in 2018, it has no meaningful legislative role for the next eight years, during which time the immigration issue is off the table.
This is nothing short of astonishing: To stifle debate over the country's most contentious issue, 86 percent of the parliament joined forces to marginalize the 14 percent that disagrees. The two major blocs diluted their already tepid differences to exclude the insurgent, populist party. Mattias Karlsson, the acting SD leader accurately notes that with this deal, his party has become the only real opposition.
In the long term, however, things look good for SD, which will likely gain from this undemocratic sleight of hand. Swedes, long accustomed to democracy, do not appreciate a backroom arrangement that almost surely nullifies their votes in 2018. They don't like its bullying quality. Nor do they take well to removing a highly controversial issue from consideration. And when the time comes to "throw the bums out," as always it does, the Sweden Democrats will offer the only alternative to the tired, fractious coalition that will have been in power for eight long years -- during which time immigration problems will alarm yet more voters.
In other words, this blatant act of suppression is spurring the very debate it is intended to quash. Before too long, the supreme issue of national suicide might actually be discussed.
Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org) is president of the Middle East Forum.
And yet, the realities of immigration are apparent for all to see: welfare dependency, violent bigotry against Christians and Jews, and a wide range of social pathologies from unemployment to politically motivated rape. Accordingly, ever-increasing numbers of Swedes find themselves -- despite known hazards -- opting out of the consensus and worrying about their country's cultural suicide.
The taboo on such attitudes means that political parties, with only one exception, staunchly support continued immigration. Only the Sweden Democrats (SD) offer an alternative: real efforts to integrate existing immigrants and a 90 percent decrease in future immigration. Despite an unsavory neofascist past (not something unique to it, by the way), SD has become increasingly respectable and has been rewarded with electoral success, doubling its parliamentary vote from 3 percent in 2006, to 6 percent in 2010, to 13 percent in 2014. All the Swedes with whom I spoke on a recent visit expect the SD vote to grow further, something recent polls confirm.
If a party or bloc of parties held a large majority in Sweden's unicameral parliament, SD would be virtually irrelevant. But the Riksdag's two blocs are almost equally balanced. Three left-wing parties control 159 of 349 seats, while the "right-wing" (from an American perspective, it is hardly conservative) Alliance for Sweden, consisting of four parties, has 141 seats. This means that SD, with 49 seats, holds the balance of power.
But SD is deemed anathema, so no party bargains with it to pass legislation, not even indirectly through the media. Both Left and "Right" seek to isolate and discredit it. Nevertheless, SD has played the role of kingmaker on certain crucial legislation, particularly the annual budget. In keeping with its policy to drive from power every government that refuses to reduce immigration, it brought down an Alliance for Sweden government in early 2014. Recent weeks saw a repeat of this scenario, when SD joined the Alliance in opposing the leftist budget, forcing the government to call for elections in March 2015.
But then something remarkable occurred: The two major blocs compromised not only on the current budget, but also on future budgets and power-sharing all the way to 2022. The left and "right" alliances worked out trade-offs that would obviate the need for elections in March, allowing the Left to rule until 2018, with the "Right" possibly taking over from 2018 until 2022. Not only does this political cartel deprive SD of its pivotal role but, short of winning a majority of parliamentary seats in 2018, it has no meaningful legislative role for the next eight years, during which time the immigration issue is off the table.
This is nothing short of astonishing: To stifle debate over the country's most contentious issue, 86 percent of the parliament joined forces to marginalize the 14 percent that disagrees. The two major blocs diluted their already tepid differences to exclude the insurgent, populist party. Mattias Karlsson, the acting SD leader accurately notes that with this deal, his party has become the only real opposition.
In the long term, however, things look good for SD, which will likely gain from this undemocratic sleight of hand. Swedes, long accustomed to democracy, do not appreciate a backroom arrangement that almost surely nullifies their votes in 2018. They don't like its bullying quality. Nor do they take well to removing a highly controversial issue from consideration. And when the time comes to "throw the bums out," as always it does, the Sweden Democrats will offer the only alternative to the tired, fractious coalition that will have been in power for eight long years -- during which time immigration problems will alarm yet more voters.
In other words, this blatant act of suppression is spurring the very debate it is intended to quash. Before too long, the supreme issue of national suicide might actually be discussed.
Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org) is president of the Middle East Forum.
and http://www.danielpipes.org/15329/sweden-national-suicide
LETTERS
Wall St Journal Dec 29, 2014
Tacit Approval for Hamas Terrorism
Hamas practically wrote the handbook for terrorist organizations: suicide bombings, kidnappings, calls for jihad and the eradication of personal freedom for its people.
Many Pakistanis are recognizing that fighting some jihadist groups while supporting others, like the so-called good Taliban, is a terrible strategy (“Pakistan Shows Signs of Shift on Jihadists,” World News, Dec. 20). A zero-tolerance policy will send a clear message to terrorists and will help prevent the deaths of innocents in Pakistan and neighboring countries.
Unfortunately, Europe is sending the opposite message. The European Parliament’s vote to support a Palestinian state, with no expectation that Hamas will stop its terrorist ways or even change its charter, gives tacit approval for Hamas to continue to attack Israelis and harm Palestinians. Similarly, the decision by the European Union’s General Court to remove Hamas from its terrorist list gives a wink and a nod to Hamas, which will continue to fire rockets, confiscate aid, murder dissenters and use child labor to excavate tunnels.
Hamas practically wrote the handbook for terrorist organizations: suicide bombings, kidnappings, calls for jihad and the eradication of personal freedom for its people. The Islamic State, the Taliban and Boko Haram are emulating these tactics. Europe should stop legitimizing terror and join hands with those in the Middle East, Canada, Japan, the U.S. and other countries who are trying to stop the burgeoning devastation caused by terrorist groups around the world.
Lynn C. Koss
Fayetteville, N.Y.
Dangers of extremism are being downplayed by
political correctness
THEODORE Dalrymple’s article (“Insane approach to Islamist terror”, 29/12) applies to Australia when it comes to denial of reality involving extremists. The dangers are downplayed by “moderate” spokesmen, politically correct sections of the media and politicians who are anxious not to offend multiculturalism. They spin the perpetrators’ actions as having nothing to do with theology and think most Australians will fall for this rewriting to suit a PC agenda.
I don’t care what people believe or don’t believe, and it seems that people of every other faith, or atheist, coexist in tolerance and enjoy the benefits of this country. However, every other day you can bet there will be a report about people attacking and insulting our democracy and culture.
We are regularly warned to be cautious and alert to the dangers of terrorism, and we know the threats to our country are not coming from Buddhists or Baptists. Yet, in a misguided tolerance, many who should be defending our values are only too eager to bend over to appease.
John-Michael Howson, Cheltenham, Vic
TERRY Coupland (Letters, 30/12) suggests reasons for the silence of Western feminists in response to the enslavement of women and girls by Islamic State. While his reasoning is right, I suggest most progressives are people who adopt ideologies as alternatives to thinking for themselves.
When a situation such as this demands a response, they have to react according to their feminist, anti-racist, non-judgmental principles. But, because each one rules out the other, they can’t decide which one to choose. So, hamstrung by political correctness, they opt for silence.
Oskar Hauser, Wamberal, NSW
............................................................................................................................................................
LETTERS
Wall St Journal Dec 29, 2014
Tacit Approval for Hamas Terrorism
Hamas practically wrote the handbook for terrorist organizations: suicide bombings, kidnappings, calls for jihad and the eradication of personal freedom for its people.
Many Pakistanis are recognizing that fighting some jihadist groups while supporting others, like the so-called good Taliban, is a terrible strategy (“Pakistan Shows Signs of Shift on Jihadists,” World News, Dec. 20). A zero-tolerance policy will send a clear message to terrorists and will help prevent the deaths of innocents in Pakistan and neighboring countries.
Unfortunately, Europe is sending the opposite message. The European Parliament’s vote to support a Palestinian state, with no expectation that Hamas will stop its terrorist ways or even change its charter, gives tacit approval for Hamas to continue to attack Israelis and harm Palestinians. Similarly, the decision by the European Union’s General Court to remove Hamas from its terrorist list gives a wink and a nod to Hamas, which will continue to fire rockets, confiscate aid, murder dissenters and use child labor to excavate tunnels.
Hamas practically wrote the handbook for terrorist organizations: suicide bombings, kidnappings, calls for jihad and the eradication of personal freedom for its people. The Islamic State, the Taliban and Boko Haram are emulating these tactics. Europe should stop legitimizing terror and join hands with those in the Middle East, Canada, Japan, the U.S. and other countries who are trying to stop the burgeoning devastation caused by terrorist groups around the world.
Lynn C. Koss
Fayetteville, N.Y.
THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 31, 2014
THEODORE Dalrymple’s article (“Insane approach to Islamist terror”, 29/12) applies to Australia when it comes to denial of reality involving extremists. The dangers are downplayed by “moderate” spokesmen, politically correct sections of the media and politicians who are anxious not to offend multiculturalism. They spin the perpetrators’ actions as having nothing to do with theology and think most Australians will fall for this rewriting to suit a PC agenda.
I don’t care what people believe or don’t believe, and it seems that people of every other faith, or atheist, coexist in tolerance and enjoy the benefits of this country. However, every other day you can bet there will be a report about people attacking and insulting our democracy and culture.
We are regularly warned to be cautious and alert to the dangers of terrorism, and we know the threats to our country are not coming from Buddhists or Baptists. Yet, in a misguided tolerance, many who should be defending our values are only too eager to bend over to appease.
John-Michael Howson, Cheltenham, Vic
TERRY Coupland (Letters, 30/12) suggests reasons for the silence of Western feminists in response to the enslavement of women and girls by Islamic State. While his reasoning is right, I suggest most progressives are people who adopt ideologies as alternatives to thinking for themselves.
When a situation such as this demands a response, they have to react according to their feminist, anti-racist, non-judgmental principles. But, because each one rules out the other, they can’t decide which one to choose. So, hamstrung by political correctness, they opt for silence.
Oskar Hauser, Wamberal, NSW
THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 30, 2014
IT appears that the ostrich mentality is occurring overseas as well as
here. Those with their heads in the sand hold the view that Islamist terrorism
is the work of a few disaffected, mentally unstable individuals.
The reality is that elements within the Islamic diaspora have declared war on the West and everything we stand for. They are organised, they have trained soldiers with a clear goal, they have intelligence networks and communication protocols and make use of modern technology — all the tools of a modern army. We ignore reality at our peril.
Iain Rae, River Heads, Qld
WE are informed that in Syria, Muslim children are being taught to kill other children by cutting their heads off — which they are doing. We in Australia are allowing people of the same culture to enter our country. Surely our immigration laws should be amended to prevent the entry of such people. As their numbers grow, how long will it be before similar crimes start happening here?
For many years we have allowed migrants to enter the country and most of them have adjusted to become good citizens. It is vital that we review our immigration laws.
Peter Keogh, Bokarina, Qld
The reality is that elements within the Islamic diaspora have declared war on the West and everything we stand for. They are organised, they have trained soldiers with a clear goal, they have intelligence networks and communication protocols and make use of modern technology — all the tools of a modern army. We ignore reality at our peril.
Iain Rae, River Heads, Qld
WE are informed that in Syria, Muslim children are being taught to kill other children by cutting their heads off — which they are doing. We in Australia are allowing people of the same culture to enter our country. Surely our immigration laws should be amended to prevent the entry of such people. As their numbers grow, how long will it be before similar crimes start happening here?
For many years we have allowed migrants to enter the country and most of them have adjusted to become good citizens. It is vital that we review our immigration laws.
Peter Keogh, Bokarina, Qld
............................................................................................................................................................
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