1. Very worthwhile Gates of Vienna article about public perception of Islam and more.
2. What is a “Contested Religious Site” Anyway?
3. Boko Haram kills dozens in ‘despicable’ Nigeria attack
Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and witnesses say.
Gunmen rampaged through the village of Azaya Kura in the Mafa area in Borno state, killing at least 45 people.
Shettima Lawan, caretaker chairman of the local government, called it “wicked and despicable”, AFP reports.
Boko Haram has taken control of a series of towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria in recent weeks.
4. Ofsted ‘to criticise six Muslim faith schools’
The reports follow a series of snap inspections at the schools in October.
Two or three of the schools are said to be “more concerning” than others, but each school is thought to have different issues.
These are understood to range from basic issues to do with health and safety to the type of speakers who have been visiting the school and, in some cases, the risk that children are not protected from extremist views.
5. A short course in leftist political dishonesty.
6. Egypt Arrests Senior Muslim Brotherhood Member
The early morning arrest of Mohammed Ali Bishr from his home in the Nile Delta was linked to a call for demonstrations at the end of the month, according to a security official. The rallies have been called by a hard-line Islamist group called the Salafi Front, and not the Brotherhood.
Egypt has waged a sweeping crackdown on the Brotherhood since the military ouster in July 2013 of President Mohammed Morsi, a senior official with the Islamist group, following mass demonstrations demanding his resignation. Morsi is among tens of thousands of Brotherhood members who have been detained in the clampdown, while hundreds have been killed.
Thank you Wrath of Khan, M., Yucki, Richard, GoV., and many others who send in materials.
Washington Post background piece on the Nov. 3 Sunni vs. Shiite attack in eastern Saudi Arabia and the upcoming execution of Saudi Arabian Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Sectarianism comes back to bite Saudi Arabia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/11/18/sectarianism-comes-back-to-bite-saudi-arabia/
Conclusion: ‘After decades of using anti-Shiism as a strategic tool at home and abroad it will be virtually impossible to backtrack without alienating the core constituencies of the Saudi regime. And so the contradictions within the Saudi political system, and the regional sectarian war, are likely to get worse rather than better in the foreseeable future.’
Swedish police recently released a map of 55 areas where they publicly admit to having surrendered control to the criminal gangs.
http://swedenreport.org/2014/10/29/swedish-police-55-official-no-go-zones/
OH! My head hurts! Shouldn’t of had that second bottle of merlot to celebrate UKIPs victory in the by-election last night.
We’re taking our country back from the Liblabcons!
And it was good.
Very good!
It is a start, I hope they can keep on winning.
Considering that Rochester and Strood was the 271th place most likely for a UKIP victory I think that the 2015 may elections will prove interesting.
Good, given what is happening in the states the 2016 elections should be very interesting.
Good for you!
Good for all of us, actually.
Labour loses 40 per cent of its vote to UKIP in the Rochester and Strood by-election: Ed Miliband puts it down to national discontent, and not just with his party.
Martin mate, I wouldn’t give any credence to anything any of the LibLabCon trick have to say, they;re all pro europe and pro globalisation so anything they say. Ignore it, it’s bullshit.
Yes indeed my friend. It seems sanity is returning globalally speaking.
sorry Martin , that was meant for Yukkie.
Israel charges 3 Palestinians in alleged plot to kill foreign minister (CNN, Nov 21, 2014)
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/21/world/meast/mideast-assassination-plot/index.html
“The Israeli military said Friday it arrested three Palestinians from the West Bank and charged them in an alleged plot to assassinate Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Court documents say the scheme involved a plan to purchase rocket-propelled grenades and fire them on his convoy. Lieberman has a home in a West Bank settlement. The indictment sheet says the plot was hatched in August during Operation Protective Edge — an Israeli military assault against the Hamas military wing in Gaza, designed to stop Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel.”
Thailand – Threats spur extra school defence: Military talks to locals to dissuade violence
Report features a photo of one of those banners Muslims are given to hanging by roadsides in southern Thailand. This one is in Thai and appears to call for independence for Pattani.
A Thai general makes unintentionally amusing assertions.
“Some people are still on the wrong path.”
‘He also said there are still border problems with neighbouring countries, which can be solved by promoting good international relations.’
‘Army chief Udomdej Sitabutr ordered extra measures to quell unrest, including by explaining plans for increased development and investment in the deep South.’
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/444516/threats-spur-extra-school-defence
Robert Spencer on the Islamic-ness of the Islamic State
Robert Spencer spoke on Nov. 19, 2014 at a synagogue in New Hampshire. The topic was “The Islamic State: Is it Islamic? And why does it matter?”
Turkey to open mosques ‘in every university’
Turkey’s top religious body said on Friday that there are plans to build a mosque in every state university, adding to concerns over what critics say are creeping efforts to force Islamic values on the society.
“Mosques are under construction in over 80 universities. Fifteen of them have been opened for prayers and we will open at least 50 more in 2015,” said Mehmet Gormez, the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, known as Diyanet in Turkish.
“There are 20 million young people in our country and we would like to reach out to each one of them,” he told the official Anatolia news agency.
The Islamic-rooted government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been accused of seeking to impose religion on Turkey’s mainly Muslim but officially secular society as well as Islamising the education system.
Gormez said each of the new mosques would have government-paid clerics to attend to “young people’s problems” and provide guidance. “They will be the place where they will feel the love of Allah in their hearts,” he said.
“We attach great importance to mosques in city universities. They are the only way to bring mosques back into the lives, the cities and the hearts of our people,” he added.
In September, the government allowed girls in state high schools to wear the Muslim headscarf while banning pupils from wearing make-up, dyeing their hair, or having tattoos or body piercings.
http://www.france24.com/en/20141121-turkey-open-mosques-every-university/
UK men planned to behead member of the public, terrorism trial hears
Three men appeared in court on Thursday charged with terrorism offences relating to an alleged plot to carry out a beheading in Britain.
The men were arrested in London and High Wycombe, west of the British capital, two weeks ago.
Nadir Ali Sayed, 21, his cousin Yousaf Shah Syed, 19, and Haseeb Hamayoon, 27, were charged with preparing to commit acts of terrorism.
Prosecutors said the charge related to a plot to behead a member of the public.
The men were remanded in custody to appear at London’s Old Bailey court on Dec. 4.
British police have made a series of arrests in recent months since the country’s international terrorism threat level was raised to the second-highest rating of “severe,” meaning an attack is considered highly likely.
Prime Minister David Cameron has also warned that Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, pose a serious threat to Britain’s national security.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/us-britain-security-plot-idUSKCN0J41W420141120
Channel 4 -Men accused of plotting to behead member of the public
…. new video showing John Cantlie, the British hostage, talking about a failed rescue attempt. He has been held by the group since 2012. He says on July 4, Americans tried to free Cantlie and other hostages in a complex mission featuring commandos, airships, and drones. The hostage, speaking freakishly calmly, says that ISIS just moved the hostages to another prison a few miles away.
John Cantlie episode 6 –
The man is a fool, he will loose his head. Ya know what? Fuck ‘im, he was taken once, got back to the UK and then went back there.
As far as I’m concerned, “On his own head be it.”
Give the man a “Darwin” Award.
http://www.darwinawards.com/
Think of it as evolution in action, the average intelligence of the human race will increase by a fraction of a percentage point.
IS – graphic video – public execution of soldiers – then their dead bodies are attached to a car and dragged through the streets –
IS video – jihadists from Kazakhstan – training camp and school for their children ( 14 min 58 )
Bradford – UK – Muslim taxi driver and three Muslim friends sentenced to a total of 68 years for gang rape of drunk woman passenger
– Four men each given 17 years for conspiring to rape vulnerable woman
– Tamseel Virk, Najim U-Saeed, Wakar Akhtar and Azad Raja all sentenced
– Virk picked victim up in his taxi in Leeds, Bradford Crown Court was told
– She was then driven to Bradford, despite not asking to go there, court told
– 15 phone calls made between Virk and other defendants during the journey
– Victim woke to find a man having sex with her while another told her he had already had sex with her
– Akhtar was sentenced but is on the run having fled the country after giving evidence, the court heard
A taxi driver and his three friends have been sentenced for a total of 68 years over the rape of a drunk passenger.
Tamseel Virk, 42, Najim U-Saeed, 31, Wakar Akhtar, 21, and Azad Raja, 38, were each handed 17 year jail terms for the ‘despicable’ attack on the vulnerable woman in Bradford, Yorkshire.
A judge heard how taxi driver Virk picked up the intoxicated victim after she had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday in Leeds.
on this page :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2844528/Taxi-driver-three-friends-sentenced-total-68-years-gang-rape-drunk-woman-passenger.html