News links from readers for July 3 – 2015

Daily Links Post graphic

In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

63 Replies to “News links from readers for July 3 – 2015”

  1. Palestinian Authority Arrests 100 Hamas Members in West Bank (abcnews, July 3, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/palestinian-authority-arrests-100-hamas-members-west-bank-32199718

    “Palestinian Authority forces arrested over 100 Hamas members in the West Bank who were planning on carrying out attacks, a Palestinian official said, in the biggest raid of its kind in years.

    Spokesman for Palestinian security, Adnan Dameri said “We will not let Hamas undermine our security and draw our country to bloodshed, we will not let Hamas carry out attacks in the West Bank.”

    It was the biggest mass arrest in one night since 2007 when Palestinians split after the Islamic militant group Hamas violently ousted forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza, leaving him governing just parts of the West Bank.

    Hamas spokesman Husam Badran said in a statement the arrests were meant to stop the recent spate of deadly Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

    He accused Palestinian security forces of working for Israel and said the militant group holds Abbas personally responsible. Hamas will continue attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, he said.

    There has been a surge in deadly Palestinian attacks against Israelis recently. Two Israelis were killed in separate West Bank shootings that also injured several people, and two others wounded in stabbing attacks.

    Hamas in Gaza published names of 108 of its members who had been arrested.”

  2. China criticized over Ramadan restrictions (CNN, July 3, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/02/asia/china-xinjiang-ramadan/index.html

    “Beijing (CNN)Some schools and local government agencies in China’s restive Xinjiang province have adopted policies that critics, including the Turkish government, say prevent residents from fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

    The fast — traditionally observed from dawn until dusk — is a central tenet of Islam, the religion practiced by many of the ethnic Uyghurs native to China’s western province of Xinjiang.

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry published a statement this week saying that reports of Uyghurs being “banned from fasting and fulfilling other acts of worship have been received with sadness by the Turkish public opinion.”

    The ministry said it had conveyed Turkey’s “deep concern” to the Chinese ambassador in Ankara.

    A Chinese Foreign Ministry representative responded Wednesday, telling journalists in Beijing that “China has already demanded that Turkey clarify these reports, and we have expressed concern about the statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.”

    Turkey, a majority Muslim country, has close ethnic, religious and linguistic ties to China’s Uyghur minority.

    In Malaysia, another country with a large Muslim population, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement on its website that “reports from foreign media regarding the banning of fasting during Ramadan are complete nonsense.”

    Senior Chinese officials insist they do not force Muslims in Xinjiang to break the Ramadan fast, citing clauses in the Chinese Constitution that enshrine freedom of religion.

    But statements posted on the official websites of two middle schools, a village Communist Party branch and two county governments all include instructions that appear to be aimed at restricting people from observing religious rites during Ramadan.

    The Food and Drug Administration for Xinjiang’s Jinghe County instructs employees to sign a statement that includes a “pledge to obey political discipline to firmly ensure that families that have (Communist) party members and students will not fast and will not participate in any forms of religious activities.”

    Contacted by phone, an employee of the agency who refused to be named told CNN that “our main goal is to prevent extremists from threatening them.”

    “Ordinary people can fast, have religion and worship … people are not forbidden from Ramadan as long as they are not Communist Party members,” the employee added. Within several hours of the conversation, the statement was removed from the Jinghe County government website.

    The website of a middle school in the town of Bole published instructions calling for teachers to ensure that “students and juveniles do not fast during the holy month and do not participate in religious activities.”

    A middle school in the city of Tunshuq published a statement on its website ordering department heads “to conduct thorough inspections of classrooms, canteens and dormitories before Ramadan; to completely prohibit teachers and students from participating in Ramadan activities.”

    Reached by phone, a person from the school who also refused to be named told CNN that the policies against Ramadan were “a region-wide ban” aimed at preventing public servants and students from practicing religion……”

  3. Greek banks down to €500m in cash reserves as economy crashes

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11714655/Greek-banks-down-to-500m-in-cash-reserves-as-economy-crashes.html

    Pay close attention to what is happening in Greece, a variation of this is coming to all nations in the future. The big problem is that people are no longer taught the facts about how the economies work, they are taught the socialist bull that was developed by Keynes. His theories were bad enough then the far left took and modified them, In Greece we are seeing proof positive that top down economics doesn’t work, the government can;t keep the nation prosperous by regulations and laws. All their actions do is interfere with the private sector and make it impossible for the small businesses (where well over half of the jobs and taxes come from) to make a profit. If the businesses can’t make a profit they close and the jobs are lost making the economy worse. Combine this with the fact that way too many people in all nations have been taught that they don’t have to work, that the government will take care of them for life and you have the recipe for disaster that is playing out in Greece. Too many people around the world are ignoring what is happening and don’t realize how this will spread. It won’t be quick but it will spread, the Greek bankruptcy will put pressure on the other nations with major economic problems and make it harder for them to borrow money. How fast the problems will spread depends on how much debt they have and how much their welfare budgets are.

    • FYI, despite what you hear on the news the stock market has no relationship to how the economy is doing, the variations simply show when the investors think they have found an opportunity to make money or are moving to limit their losses. Although investors is not really the right word, an investor is really someone who buys the stock expecting it to pay dividends for many years. The day traders are people who buy and sell stocks because of what the price of that stock has been doing in the recent past. They buy stocks with the idea of selling them at a profit in a few hours or days.

  4. Netherlands – Hague police detain 200 as riots continue over death of arrested man

  5. BREITBART – UK’s First Female Sharia Judge: ‘We Can’t Ask Muslims Not to Have More than One Wife’

    Britain’s first female sharia law judge has issued a brazen warning that flies in the face of UK law, stating that the “government cannot ask Muslims not to have more than one wife”.

    The news comes on the back of a report by the Times newspaper which claims that Britain is experiencing a “surge” in Sharia marriages, as young British Muslims adopt a more hardline religious stance than their parents.

    The Times reports:

    “As many as 100,000 couples are living in such marriages, which are not valid under UK law, experts said. Ministers have raised fears that women can be left without the right to a fair share of assets if the relationship ends, while others are forced to return to abusive “husbands”.”

    A leading Islamic family lawyer warned that the increase in Sharia ceremonies among the 2.7 million-strong Muslim population in Britain was also behind a growth in “secret polygamy”.

    “Probably a quarter of all couples I see involve polygamy issues,” Aina Khan told The Times. “There has been a huge rise in recent years because people can have a secret nikah [Islamic marriage] and no one will know about it.”

    The growth in a parallel marriage system that bypassed the register office was being driven by Muslims aged below 30, who were becoming more religious, she said. Other factors include finding a way around the expectation of no sex before marriage and a fear of British family courts, which presume that assets should be split equally.

    […]Now, Amra Bone, who is the UK’s first female Sharia council judge, has said that “the government cannot — ask Muslims not to have more than one wife. People have a right to decide for themselves,” implying that British Muslims are free to operate outside UK law, as a rule unto themselves and the Sharia courts they feel are legitimate.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/07/02/uks-first-female-sharia-judge-we-cant-ask-muslims-not-to-have-more-than-one-wife/

  6. Saudi policeman killed during security raid – SPA agency – Islamic State Flags Seized

    DUBAI, July 3 (Reuters) – A Saudi policeman was killed on Friday in an exchange of gunfire during a raid to arrest a wanted person in the western city of Taif, the SPA state news agency quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying.

    The agency said three suspects had been detained and flags of the militant Islamic State group seized, along with gun silencers and computers.

    Saudi Arabia last month announced a list of 16 people it said were involved in two deadly mosque bombings claimed by Islamic State in May and offered a cash reward of 5 million riyals ($1.3 million) for information leading to their arrest.

    SPA said security men had come under fire on Friday while investigating a house in Taif where the suspect was believed to be hiding and responded to the fire in kind.

    It said Sergent Awad Seraj al-Malki was killed in the clash.

    The statement suggested that the militant, identified as Youssef Abdellatif Shabab al-Ghamdi, remained at large and it urged citizens to help capture him, warning against anyone giving him shelter.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3148684/Saudi-policeman-killed-security-raid–SPA-agency.html

  7. DAILY MAIL – Hate preacher accused of radicalising Frenchman who ‘beheaded his boss before placing his head on a spike’ lives in BRITAIN, it is revealed

    Yassin Salhi, 35, is accused of beheading his boss in France last week
    He is believed to have been radicalised by hate cleric Frederic Jean Salvi
    While he grew up in France, Salvi now lives and works in Leicester
    Police spoke to him about Salhi’s attack, but he denied knowing about it

    The French ISIS fanatic accused of beheading his boss before placing his head on a spike was radicalised by a man living in Britain, it has emerged.

    Frederic Jean Salvi, who is also known as ‘Ali’ and is believed to be linked to terror attacks in Paris and Indonesia, is currently working and living in Leicester, it has been reported.[…]

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3148070/Hate-preacher-accused-radicalising-Frenchman-beheaded-boss-placing-head-spike-lives-BRITAIN-revealed.html

    • The enemy doesn’t need Austrian hotel lobbies. The LSM does the job for it with great enthusiasm. For the privilege of a byline in the New York Slimes.

  8. Egypt’s Brotherhood calls for uprising after killings

    Muslim Brotherhood calls on supporters to “rise in revolt” after police kill 13 leading members in raid on Cairo home.

    The Muslim Brotherhood has warned of “serious repercussions” and has called on its supporters to “rise in revolt” after Egyptian police killed 13 of its members.

    Egyptian police raided an apartment in the Cairo suburb of 6th of October on Wednesday and killed 13 of the outlawed group’s leading members, including a former member of parliament, Nasser al-Hafy, security sources and a member of the group said.

    The Brotherhood members were reportedly meeting to discuss sponsoring the families of detainees when the police stormed the building. The victims’ families said the men were unarmed and had been taken into custody earlier in the day but were released after giving fingerprints.

    […]In a statement following the deaths, the group described the killings as “a significant development with serious repercussions” and said it held “the criminal [Egyptian President] Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his gang fully responsible for these crimes and their consequences”.

    “Rise in revolt to defend your homeland, your lives and your children,” the statement said, adding: “This murderer is now executing the largest and most horrid massacre against this homeland. Oust the heinous murderer. Destroy the castles of injustice and tyranny. Reclaim Egypt once again.”

    The group said the incident “pushes the situation onto a very dangerous curve and makes the entire scene highly volatile”.

    The deaths came as Egypt experienced its deadliest fighting in years.

    More than 100 fighters from an armed group, the Province of Sinai, and 17 soldiers were killed after simultaneous assaults on military checkpoints in North Sinai on Wednesday, the military said.

    The Province of Sinai, formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in November last year.

    Some security sources put the death toll for army and police much higher than the official figure.

    On Monday, Egypt’s prosecutor-general was assassinated in a car bomb bearing the hallmarks of the Province of Sinai.

    In response, Sisi ordered his cabinet to introduce tougher laws to tackle what he called terrorism.

    Crackdown continues

    Meanwhile, at least 75 female students were suspended from Egypt’s al-Azhar University over what an official at the institution said was their “involvement in acts of violence and in conspiring against the university”.

    Ahmed Hosni, the deputy head of al-Azhar, a prestigious religious institution, told local media on Wednesday that a total of 200 female students had been suspended from the university branches in Cairo and other provinces.

    Hundreds of Egyptian students with perceived links to the Muslim Brotherhood have been dismissed from universities since Sisi led a military coup that overthrew Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president and former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013.

    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/egypt-brotherhood-urges-revolt-members-killed-150702042115515.html

  9. Muslim Brotherhood Statement on Cold-Blooded Assassination of Its Leaders Wednesday

    While armed militias kill dozens of Egyptian soldiers in Sinai with ease as if the Sinai was devoid of any real military presence, the traitorous coup regime assassinated a number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders, members of the committee on legal, rights and psychological support to the families of prisoners and martyrs (group members who had been murdered or arrested and detained by the criminal coup authorities).

    The Muslim Brotherhood stresses that the assassination of its leaders is a significant development with serious repercussions, with which the criminal Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is laying the foundations for a new phase where it will not be possible to control the anger of the oppressed who will not accept to be so executed in their homes among their families.

    The group further stresses that its martyrs, assassinated by the traitorous coup commander’s criminal militias, had been detained inside a house and then killed in cold blood without any investigations or charges. Thus Egypt is transformed into a State of outlaw gangs.

    The Muslim Brotherhood denounces violence and murder, in the Sinai and elsewhere. It holds the criminal Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his gang fully responsible for these crimes and their consequences.

    Assassination of Egypt’s finest men, such as Abdel-Fattah Mohamed Ibrahim, head of the committee on support to the families of prisoners and martyrs of the group; legal professional and parliamentarian Nasser Al-Hafi, head of the group’s legal committee; and other leading members, pushes the situation onto a very dangerous curve and makes the entire scene highly volatile. This reminds the whole world of its responsibility towards the crisis into which Egypt is being forced, as plotted by the heinous murderer Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.

    The criminal Al-Sisi did not stop at dragging the homeland towards a fateful end, by issuing fascist laws to facilitate mass executions of those who reject the military coup, but turned to the assassination of honorable patriotic people in their homes. Their pure blood will be a curse on these murderers.

    The homeland where all this injustice and oppression abound forces its honest citizens to move in serious endeavors to rid it of the despotic murderers who assassinate the honorable.

    To the proud people of Egypt… This unjust tyrant has done his worst. Rise in revolt to defend your homeland, your lives and your children. This murderer is now executing the largest and most horrid massacre against this homeland. Oust the heinous murderer. Destroy the castles of injustice and tyranny. Reclaim Egypt once again.

    God’s mercy on the martyrs

    Victory for the revolutionaries

    The Muslim Brotherhood

    Cairo: Wednesday – July 1, 2015

    http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32199

  10. Sudan: Radical Sudanese Imam of President Bashir Fully Supports IS

    Khartoum — A leading imam of Sudan, Mohamad Algizouli, has repeated his support for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

    Two days after being released from 8 months detention, the leader of the El Gereif Mosques of president Omar Al Bashir in Khartoum, repeated his support for Islamic State forces fighting the ‘coalition of Arab Crusaders’.

    Mohamad Algizouli had been in prison for expressing his support for Al Qaeida and Daash (Islamic State, IS). In his Facebook posting on Friday (link): “I was honored by God when I was arrested for 240 days for my stance, calling for the resistance of the American intervention in our Islamic region. My stances are not changed as well as my way of thinking”, he writes.

    “I am not afraid of an assassination or kidnapping, for I am already a martyr, God willing. I am waiting for their [Americans] execution.”

    Algizouli is an economist, working at various positions within the government. He was also an executive manager of the Sheikhan Insurance Company and head of the Sudan TV department for spreading Islam. Furthermore, he is a teacher at the Omdurman Islamic University and the African International University for Muslim students in Africa.

    He is the supervisor of a NGO for students coming from other countries to follow Islamic studies in Sudan, and general-secretary of the United Muslim Council.

    Earlier this year, educational, and some cultural, institutes in Khartoum that helped to radicalise British-Sudanese medical students were disbanded days after this news broke. The students went to join the IS in Syria in March.

    http://allafrica.com/stories/201506290454.html

  11. Denmark to reduce asylum benefits

    The recently-formed Venstre government announced on Wednesday that unemployment welfare benefits that asylum seekers coming to Denmark were entitled to under the previous government will be replaced by a new – and significantly lower – so-called ‘integration benefit’.

    http://www.thelocal.dk/20150701/denmark-government-to-reduce-asylum-seeker-benefits

    Denmark may introduce more asylum restrictions

    Only a day after the Danish government announced that it would be introducing significant cuts to the benefits that asylum seekers in Denmark are entitled to, Integration Minister Inger Støjberg told Jyllands-Posten on Thursday that the government will not hesitate to implement further measures aimed at deterring refugees from choosing Denmark as their destination

    http://www.thelocal.dk/20150702/denmark-may-introduce-more-asylum-restrictions

  12. Nigerian troops battling Boko Haram outside Maiduguri: vigilante (yahoo, July 3, 2015)
    http://news.yahoo.com/nigerian-troops-battling-boko-haram-outside-maiduguri-vigilante-203543435.html

    “Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) – Several “huge” explosions were heard on Friday night as Nigerian troops engaged Boko Haram fighters in a village outside the restive city of Maiduguri, a civilian vigilante said.

    “Hordes of Boko Haram gunmen are currently locked in fierce battle with Nigerian troops in Zabarmari village, 10 kilometres (six miles) outside Maiduguri,” vigilante Danlami Ajaokuta told AFP.

    “We have been hearing huge explosions coming from Zabarmari since 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) as troops fought to push back Boko Haram gunmen who are trying to invade the city,” he said.

    “There have so far been more than 10 explosions,” he said, adding that frightened residents of Zabarmari had fled to Maiduguri.

    He said civilian vigilante fighters who have been assisting the military to battle the insurgents were “on alert and ready for any eventuality.”

    Zanna Shehuri, a Maiduguri resident, told AFP the Islamists were not finding it easy to enter the city.

    “The city is tense following news that Boko Haram are now in Zabarmari trying to come into Maiduguri but are are facing stiff resistance from soldiers,” he said.

    “From here we can hear explosions coming from the direction of Zabarmari. I spoke to my cousin who lives there on the phone and he told me he and his family are on their way to Maiduguri. He said everybody was fleeing the village,” he said.

    The latest incident follows a wave of attacks by Boko Haram militants since Wednesday that have claimed some 200 lives in killings which President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday described as “inhuman and barbaric”.”

  13. ISIS wants to destroy Egypt’s Sphinx and pyramids

    As tensions rise in Egypt, the ISIS has said the nation’s cultural icons, like the pyramids and the sphinx, should be destroyed.

    Britain’s The Telegraph reports members of ISIS have stated that objects shouldn’t be the subject of idolisation or worship.

    ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly said destroying the monuments was a “religious duty”.

    British Muslim political activist Anjem Choudary told presenter Dan Cruickshank: “When Egypt comes under the auspices of the Khalifa (Caliphate), there will be no more Pyramids, no more Sphinx, no more idolatry. This will be just”.

    This week ISIS launched a wave of simultaneous attacks on Egyptian security forces. There were co-ordinated suicide attacks and ground assaults on the Egyptian military installations, which were eventually repelled with air support by Egypt’s F-16 fighter jets.

    But preacher Ibrahim Al Kandari said the monuments were cultural, not religious, and should be destroyed. A Kuwaiti Islamist preacher, he called for the destruction of the monuments, saying just because early Muslims didn’t destroy them, “does not mean that we shouldn’t”.

    “The fact that early Muslims who were among prophet Mohammed’s followers did not destroy the pharaohs’ monuments upon entering Egypt does not mean that we shouldn’t do it now,” Al Kandari told the Egyptian Al-Watan daily earlier this year.

    The pyramids and Sphinx are a massive part of Egypt’s tourism industry and are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

    http://www.businessinsider.com.au/isis-wants-to-destroy-egypts-sphinx-and-pyramids-2015-7

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11699241/Dan-Cruickshank-how-can-we-stop-Isil-destroying-our-cultural-treasures.html

  14. Tunisia beach attack: State of emergency declared

    Tunisia has declared a state of emergency, just over a week after 38 tourists, mainly Britons, died in an attack in the resort city of Sousse.

    The state of emergency gives security forces more powers and limits the right of public assembly.

    Authorities had already tightened security in the wake of the attack on 26 June, deploying more than 1,400 armed officers at hotels and beaches.

    Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi is due to address the nation later.

    Security forces were criticised for not responding more quickly to the attack in Sousse, when a gunman opened fire on tourists on a beach and in a hotel before being shot dead by police.

    Those killed included 30 Britons.

    The gunman has been identified as student Seifeddine Rezgui, who authorities say had trained in Libya.

    Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid conceded in a BBC interview on Friday that the slow response of the police was a key problem.

    He said Rezgui had probably trained with the Ansar al-Sharia group, though Islamic State (IS) earlier said it was behind the attack.

    Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Rezgui, and the government says it has uncovered the network behind the Sousse attack.

    Authorities have also pledged to close some 80 mosques that were operating outside government control and accused of spreading extremism.

    Analysts say Tunisia has been put at risk by the chaotic situation in neighbouring Libya, and by the threat posed by Tunisians who have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq returning home.

    The last time Tunisia declared a state of emergency was in 2011, in the uprising which overthrew President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. It was lifted in March 2014.

    Officials are expected to pass a counter-terrorism bill that has been in parliament since early 2014 in the coming weeks.

    The Sousse attack represented the second blow in three months to Tunisia’s tourism industry, an important sector for the country.

    In March, two gunmen killed 22 people at the renowned Bardo museum in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33394847

  15. AUSTRALIA – Speech by Chief of Navy to the Royal Australian Navy’s Inaugural Ramadan Iftar Dinner

    […]I am delighted to be able to host this Inaugural Navy coordinated Iftar. I have fasted today in solidarity with you all, to properly immerse myself in the experience and purpose of Ramadan and to gain an appreciation of the challenges and rewards Muslims experience during this important month in the Islamic calendar.

    […]Tonight I will speak of inclusion and diversity in the service I lead – the Royal Australian Navy.

    […]Need to recruit from all minorities and ethnicities and be representative of whole Australian demographic

    It is essential that we who lead the ADF do all we can to attract and retain the widest range of talent from Australia’s multicultural communities. Muslim-Australians and the knowledge and the values they bring to the workforce are a key and essential component of a successful Team Navy.

    The Defence Force aims to be entirely representative of the full diversity of the Australian demographic by 2030.

    […]We are aiming to fairly represent in our ranks every ethnicity and faith community but we need to be proactive and drive this change forward.

    […]These two adviser roles are here to stay because I, and my successors as Chief of Navy, will continue to need guidance to ensure that what should be done by Navy to meet the legitimate religious needs of those members of the Islamic faith is done. Henceforth Navy will always need advice on how to be an inclusive recruiter and employer of choice for those Australians who profess Islam.

    […]The Minister said: Increasing the breadth of the RACS to include the Muslim faith reflects the ADF’s pastoral care responsibilities for all its members and is entirely consistent with Defence’s commitment to cultural reform.”

    […]Religious observances at work, the facilitation of prayer and leave for religious festivals.
    […]Uniform regulations and permissible variations in dress
    […]Dietary needs and fasting
    Worship and in the worst case Death in service.

    […]The Navy I lead is a work place where men and women of all faiths should be able to offer service to Australia and meet their religious duties, without compromising either obligation

    […]New Generation Navy – values based cultural change

    […]I am pleased and honoured to be able to host such an important event as this first Navy coordinated IFTAR reception in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. I welcome all opportunities for education, understanding and respectful inclusion

    […]“Ramadan Mubarak”.

    https://www.awm.gov.au/talks-speeches/speech-royal-australian-navys-inaugural-ramadan-iftar-dinner/

    ————————————————————————————————————————

    Speech of the Grand Mufti of Australia to the Royal Australian Navy’s Inaugural Ramadan Iftar Dinner

    ?????? ????? ????? ???? ???????

    The Qur’an, Islam’s Holy Book, prescribes the fasting of Ramadan, and recognises that other nations have also done the same.

    “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it has been prescribed upon those who came before you.”

    […]Our gathering today is a celebration of the multiculturalism we enjoy in Australia, and a reiteration of its noble values, with the core essence of building cultural bridges and braking barriers.

    We believe that the worst thing that can face individuals and societies is knowledge self?sufficiency, and the lack of willingness to read “the other” & learn his or her culture and values.

    […]In response to the theory of “The Clash of Civilizations”, our great country – Australia – is providing a vivid example of not just the coexistence of civilizations, but also the integration and interactions of cultures.

    […]And in response to the theory of “The End of History”, Australia is proving – through multiculturalism – that history can start again, and that it will always remain man?made and driven.

    […]In my capacity as the representative of more than five hundred thousand Muslims in Australia – elected by the local and federal Board of Imams,

    […] the national security of Australia and the preserving of its land, citizens, values and culture are an essential part of the obligations that our religion – Islam – and its set of values and laws it imposes on us.

    […]let’s work together to eliminate all these psychological and mental barriers that were created by fundamentalism, hatred and ISLAMOPHOBIA .

    […]I am pleased to say that the Muslim community is delighted with the new engagement that has started with the Royal Australian Navy

    […]They also lay the foundations for increasing the attractiveness of Navy to Muslim youth who may not have previously considered careers in the services.

    Dr. Ibrahim Abu Muhammad, the Grand Mufti of Australia

    https://www.awm.gov.au/talks-speeches/speech-grand-mufti-australia-royal-australian-navys-inaugural-ramadan-iftar-dinner/

    • AUSTRALIA – Navy breaks fast to celebrate diversity

      Navy has marked the month of Ramadan with a special dinner in Canberra attended by the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed.

      Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett hosted the inaugural ‘iftar’ dinner with serving sailors and officers at the Australian War Memorial on 23 June.

      Navy is committed to cultural diversity and inclusion due to the capability enhancement that they bring, and guests included the Assistant Minister for Defence, and Director of the Australian War Memorial, plus many ambassadors from predominantly Muslim nations.

      Guests were welcomed initially to the Last Post Ceremony at the Memorial, during which Chief Petty Officer Zul Naim spoke of Muslim Lance Sergeant Bin Shalid Ma’Aruff, who was killed in action in Borneo in 1945. Lance Sergeant Ma’Aruff was operating with the Army’s Z Special Force and was a courageous volunteer for hazardous duty as a commando operating behind enemy lines.

      Chief of Navy’s Strategic Advisor on Islamic Cultural Affairs, Captain Mona Shindy, gave the opening address at the dinner, and spoke about the significant range of initiatives that Navy has lead over the last two years in the areas of inclusion and diversity.

      In particular, cultural awareness education sessions have been developed for serving members and there has been improved community engagement through outreach and youth leadership, development and mentoring programs.

      Navy has also increased dialogue and interaction with Islamic community leaders to markedly increase opportunities for further understanding and respect.

      Vice Admiral Barrett said it was an opportunity for serving members and Muslim leaders discuss and exchange ideas.

      “We need to establish an integrated, diverse and resilient workforce to meet our future challenges,” he said.

      “Through Plan Pelorus, Navy’s plan to 2018, and existing cultural change initiatives we have identified the values and behaviours that are required of all Navy people.

      “It is about modernisation of our culture, our structures and the way we lead, and how we enable our people to be creative and to innovate,” Vice Admiral Barrett said.
      Iftar is the evening meal during which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast, the dinner is expected to become an annual event.

      http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Jul2015/Community/2143

  16. UK Muslims decry move to host Prophet Muhammad exhibit

    Muslim organisations in the UK have condemned a move by an anti-Sharia campaign group to host an exhibition featuring cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in London in September.

    Azad Ali, chair of the Muslim Safety Forum based in London, told Al Jazeera on Friday the proposed “Muhammed Cartoon Exhibit” by UK-based Sharia Watch was an attempt to taunt the tolerance levels of British Muslims, and described the move as a cheap attempt to create disharmony in the UK.

    “They keep on pushing the boundary, testing the levels and always upping the ante … this is what this is about: getting a reaction from Muslims and looking for a justifcation to demonise us,” Ali said.

    “We are looking to find ways for a positive discussion to come out of this, but no one thinks the planned event is anything but racist,” he said.

    The exihibit is set to feature controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders as a speaker. Wilders is known to be vehemently anti-Islam.

    “It [Islamophobia] has become mainstream, and acceptable, and this has provided a platform for more extreme views to surface,” Versi said.

    Depictions of Prophet Muhammad are banned in Islam and many Muslims say they are being continuosly provoked and taunted with demeaning depictions of the prophet that are often seen as “vile and racist”.

    In 2006, violent protests erupted in parts of the Arab world and South Asia as Muslims took to the streets to demonstrate against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark.

    The same cartoons were published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, prompting an arson attack on the newspaper in 2011.

    ‘Cimate of fear’

    Charlie Hebdo was brutally attacked in January 2015 by two gunmen, resulting in the murder of 12 people.

    In May 2015, two gunmen attacked an art exhibition in Texas where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were being exhibited.

    UK-based Sharia Watch said on Tuesday the event had been organised to honour those who “risk their lives in defence of free expression, and of those who have been murdered in this cause.”

    Anne Marie Waters, Director of Sharia Watch UK, said in the statement that the event was about freedom of expression.

    “The outlook for our democracy depends on the actions we take today. We owe it to future generations to pass on the freedom we have enjoyed,” Waters said.

    But many commentators say the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have little to do with free speech.

    In June, Jordan Denari, a Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, said that sharing cartoons of the Prophet contributed “to an existing climate of fear in which Muslims are seen as a threat – a climate that endangers Muslims in the West.”

    “These cartoons play into the worst stereotypes about Muslims. Almost all of the cartoons displayed at the Garland contest portrayed Muhammad in a negative light, showing the prophet as violent, backward, sexually perverted, and intolerant of non-Muslims,” Denari wrote.

    Earlier in June, Dutch politician Geert Wilders said he wanted to showcase cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on Dutch television on airtime usually reserved for political parties. This was in response to a decision by the Dutch parliament not to display the toons.

    https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/uk-muslims-decry-move-host-prophet-muhammad-exhibit-204122865.html

  17. BBC News – Bosnia: Cradle of modern jihadism?

    20 years ago in the civil war in Bosnia, hundreds of Arab jihadists came to join Bosnian Muslims fighting against their neighbours the Serbs and Croats. Grouped into secret fighting units in Central Bosnia, this was the first time in centuries Jihad had been fought against a Western, Christian enemy. Two decades later Bosnia is still reaping the consequences.
    ******************************************************************************
    In the past month ISIS declared the Balkans the next front of Jihad – and in remote mountain villages extremists are flying the ISIS flag. Mark Urban returns to Bosnia and discovers how secular Bosnian society has been infiltrated by a militant Islamism which operates to this day.
    ****************************************************************************

  18. Lindsey Graham to Voter Suggesting Banning Islam: ‘I Don’t Want Your Vote’

    Senator Lindsey Graham has made his position clear in the past that he would lead America to a more direct form of engagement with ISIS should he become president in 2016. During an election event in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, he promised his attendees that he would say “exactly what I believe” on the issues, which was soon followed by an opportunity to prove it.

    While Graham said at the event that he’s not shy when it comes to voicing his disagreement, he has not yet suggested that the way to deal with Islamic terror extremists is by prohibiting the religion’s observance across America. The Des Moines Register reported that when a potential voter suggested outlawing Islam, Graham shut him down hard, saying, “You know what, I’m not your candidate.”

    “I don’t want you to vote for me,” Graham said, cutting him off. “I couldn’t disagree with you more.”

    Graham went on to say that he was not looking to please those looking to create a prohibition, instead suggesting that strengthening the military and deploying more troops to Iraq would be a stronger approach.

    “He’s got a right to say whatever he wants to say,” Graham said, “but I have an obligation to the Republican Party, to the people of Iowa and the country as a whole to be firm on this. I’m not buying into that construct. That’s not the America that I want to lead.”

    http://www.mediaite.com/online/lindsey-graham-to-voter-suggesting-banning-islam-i-dont-want-your-vote/