Leftism and Islam. The links run deep and high: Links 1 on Feb. 2 – 2015

1. Departing From Japan’s Pacifism, Shinzo Abe Vows Revenge for Killings

TOKYO — When Islamic State militants posted a video over the weekend showing the grisly killing of a Japanese journalist, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted with outrage, promising “to make the terrorists pay the price.”

Such vows of retribution may be common in the West when leaders face extremist violence, but they have been unheard of in confrontation-averse Japan — until now. The prime minister’s call for revenge after the killings of the journalist, Kenji Goto, and another hostage, Haruna Yukawa, raised eyebrows even in the military establishment, adding to a growing awareness here that the crisis could be a watershed for this long pacifist country.

2. Islamic State builds links with al-Qaeda lands

The Islamic State (IS) group has forged links with militants across North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, embracing regional franchises that have pledged allegiance to the group.

The latest branch was announced in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, on 26 January.

The first new branches beyond the group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq were announced by IS leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi in November when he accepted pledges of allegiance from jihadists in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

3. Thousands of Gaza Youth Train at Hamas Military Wing Camp

4. Obama lacks strategy to stop Islamic State expansion

(But thats OK as he has one to help it along)

As the U.S. fights the Islamic State to a stalemate in Iraq, the terrorist army also is looking elsewhere, gaining ground in Syria and attracting more followers across the Middle East, analysts and officials say.

Moreover, a report by Congress’ research arm says the Obama administration has had little success in persuading Iraqi Sunnis to help their Shiite-dominated government and take up arms against the mostly Sunni Islamic State. The Congressional Research Service Report also said allied airstrikes against the Islamic State in eastern Syria are likely helping President Bashar Assad stay in power despite Washington wanting him ousted.

5. Actual antisemitism at UC Davis

6. Millions more animals are slaughtered for halal food: Numbers rise 60 per cent amid calls for them to be stunned before death

(Is there any point in anyone making their own laws based on their own cultures, reasoning, traditions or science at all? Clearly not)

7.  “American Sniper” has broken another record.

(At last a little good news)

The six-time Academy Award nominated film has now become the highest grossing film on Super Bowl weekend, picking up $31.8 million, just edging out the 2008 “Hannah Montanta/Miley Cryus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour,” which grabbed 31.2 million when it premiered.

Thank you M., Richard, Tundra T., and all who sent in materials. The day has just begun.

About Eeyore

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

40 Replies to “Leftism and Islam. The links run deep and high: Links 1 on Feb. 2 – 2015”

  1. As long as cultural enrichers, Islamofascist infiltrators and the like can live comfortably on taxpayers expense, I guess everything is within palatable parameters…

    Hero who fought off 200 enemy soldiers forced to sell bravery medal for financial support (express, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/555609/soldiers-James-Harkess-war-hero

    “Colour Sergeant James Harkess, 46, cannot work for medical reasons after leaving the Army. The sale of his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross – just one below the rank of the Victoria Cross – will help support him financially. He was awarded the prestigious medal in 2006 after he and the crew of the Warrior armoured vehicle he was in command of fought off 200 Mahdi army soldiers during an intense six-hour battle. The four-man crew were attacked from all sides with rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, heavy gun and sniper fire and blast bombs which peppered the vehicle…”

  2. The Kill List: Half of ISIS top commanders believed to be dead… but executioner-in-chief Jihadi John is still free to commit barbaric slaughter (dailymail, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://dailym.ai/1zNC6wt

    “The Islamic State’s leadership in Syria and Iraq has been decimated by months of sustained air strikes, leaving the terror group in chaos and isolating leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, it is claimed. Allied airstrikes, including those carried out by British warplanes, have killed more than 6,000 fighters since September, including more than half the militants serving on ISIS’ ruling council.

    Among the dead jihadis is Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, a former Iraqi army lieutenant colonel considered Baghdadi’s number two and ISIS’ most senior militant in Iraq. His death and that of as many as nine others on ISIS’ 18-man leadership council have forced Baghdadi to promote local warlords to the status of regional commanders, as his inner circle of trusted advisers and battle-hardened loyalists becomes increasingly small.

    Baghdadi has not been seen in public since July and there have been numerous unconfirmed reports that he suffered serious injury or possibly even death as a result of targeted airstrikes. The likelihood, however, is that Baghdadi has been forced deep into hiding to avoid being targeted by jets that have destroyed more than 1,000 vehicles used by terrorists over the past five months.

    Other senior figures within the terror group have not been afforded that luxury and still need to travel across the vast swathes of Syria and Iraq that remain under ISIS’ control. This forces them to make a decision whether to move as part of a large military convoy and risk being spotted by warplanes overhead, or whether to use cars that reduce the likelihood of aerial detection but leave them at risk of kidnap or killing at the hands if ISIS’ rivals on the ground….”

  3. Nigeria elections: Blast hits Jonathan rally in Gombe (BBC, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31099348

    “A female suicide bomber has blown up herself in northern Nigeria’s Gombe city, minutes after President Goodluck Jonathan left a campaign rally there. At least one person was killed and 18 others were wounded in the blast, police and hospital sources said. Mr Jonathan is standing for re-election on 14 February against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. Militant Islamist group Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in the run-up to the contest….”

  4. Egypt court upholds Muslim Brotherhood death sentences (BBC, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31093296

    “A court in Egypt has upheld death sentences on 183 Muslim Brotherhood supporters over a 2013 attack on a police station near Cairo. The men were convicted over the deaths of at least 11 officers in Kerdasa. The attack took place after Egyptian military forces cracked down on Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi that July. Hundreds of death sentences have been passed on Mr Morsi’s supporters but none has been carried out….”

  5. Austria’s First Anti-Islam Protest Small, Draws Extremists (abcnews, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/austrias-anti-islam-protest-small-draws-extremists-28673018

    “Protesters, including a few extremists flashing Hitler salutes, have gathered to demonstrate against what they call “Islamization” in Austria in the first rally of its kind in the country. Police say the gathering in Vienna Monday drew only about 300 people, far short of the 25,000 who have attended similar demonstrations in Germany.

    Both German and Austrian organizers call their movement PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, but insist the demonstrations are not anti-Muslim. At least two demonstrators in Vienna were seen raising their hand in the Hitler salute. There have been no reports of Nazi symbols or gestures at German PEGIDA protests.

    The demonstrators were blocked from marching by about 200 protesters, while an anti-PEGIDA march attracted about 5,000 people.”

  6. Spain Proposes Life in Prison for Deadly Terror Attacks (abcnews, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/spain-proposes-life-prison-deadly-terror-attacks-28669455

    “Those who commit deadly terror attacks in Spain could face possible life sentences under a new anti-terror law announced Monday by the country’s two main political parties.

    The current maximum prison sentence for any crime in Spain is 40 years, though it is rare for anyone to serve that long. If the new law is passed by Parliament as expected, it will be the first time Spanish law has allowed for life imprisonment since Gen. Francisco Franco’s long dictatorship ended in 1975.

    The governing Popular Party and the main opposition Socialist Party announced the measures after days of negotiations following the Paris terror attacks last month that left 20 people dead, including the three Islamic gunmen. The government says more than 70 Spaniards have gone to fight for radical groups in Syria and Iraq.

    Under the new law, anyone found guilty of carrying out a deadly terror attack can get a life sentence but after serving 35 years a judicial review will decide whether they can be released.

    “Today we have sent a clear message to the radicals: Spanish society is united in defense of its freedom,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said at the formal signing of the agreement with Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez.

    Anyone convicted of supplying weapons to terrorists faces up to 20 years in prison, while financing terror networks is punishable by up to 10 years. People who repeatedly visit web pages or social media sites that incite people to join terror groups can be sentenced to five years. Any Spaniard who joins foreign radical groups or receives training from them also can get up to five years in prison.

    A clause in the new law allows the Socialists to revoke the life sentence possibility if they regain power in elections later this year.”

  7. Yemen’s Main Parties Suspend Talks With Shiite Rebels (abcnews, Feb 2, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemeni-politician-shiite-rebels-militia-army-28658042

    “U.N.-brokered talks aimed at resolving Yemen’s political crisis appeared to be falling apart Monday as the main political parties suspended their participation in negotiations with the Shiite rebels who control the capital.

    The talks are centered on finding a framework for national consensus after embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi submitted his resignation along with his Cabinet on Jan. 22. Days earlier the rebels, known as Houthis, had taken control of the presidential palace to press Hadi for a greater share of power. They have confined Hadi and his Cabinet members inside their homes.

    A senior Yemeni politician said the main political parties had demanded that the parliament convene in order to consider Hadi’s resignation and to take the lead in a post-Hadi transition period. According to Yemen’s constitution, in the event of the president’s resignation the parliament speaker would assume the post until new elections can be held.

    The Houthis reject the legitimacy of the parliament, and issued a three-day-ultimatum, starting Sunday, for rival parties to come up with an alternative plan, saying that if they failed to do so the rebels would completely take over the government.

    The Yemeni politician spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press…”

  8. euronews – The controversy over Germany’s Pegida movement

    As the controversy swirls around the anti-Islam group, Pegida, in Germany, Euronews spoke to Aydan Özo?uz, the German Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration to find out what the government is doing in response.

    • I used to be on talking terms with more Obama voters I could present an array of data points like this to, just to see the perverse ways they found of connecting the dots. The few I still try talk to these days just change the subject, from Obama’s foreign policies to what they claim are his great successes on the home economic front.

      • I’ve got too much skin in the game.

        Like being flogged again and again, you can’t heal or get used to it. Just hurts all the time, just gets worse, and it’s hard to see through to the other side.

        • At some point I had to get more distance from them for my own sanity, and from a lot of Europeans as well, which meant paring communications back to the unavoidable essentials with large numbers of colleagues and associates. Hardly the first time I’ve found myself doing that. But maybe we’re coming up on a tipping point. IS can be credited with truth in advertising if little else.

        • I know what you mean, I still think we will win and freedom will become the norm in the Western nations but I still don’t know if civilization itself will survive.

  9. Line in the Sand

    The recent tensions on the Israel-Syria border, and the Sunni attacks in Sinai and Suez against the Egyptians may seem unrelated, but they actually have several factors in common. These attacks attest to the impending collapse of regimes and nations in the region, and prove that radical groups are ready to exploit this. Israel must therefore act quickly to recognize any major threat along its borders and thwart it. The strike against Hezbollah last week clarifies to Israel’s enemies that there are red lines, and anyone crossing them must take into account Israel’s response.

    http://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/line-sand/

    • It is safer to think they are related, add them to the fact that Hamas was giving ordinary infantry training to the kids and not terrorist training.

      • They are, but he isn’t saying much here.

        It helps with deployment to break down the fronts – e.g. Syrian border as distinct from the Lebanon-Hezbollah, Sinai, Gaza, etc. Even as they’re coalescing. They also analyze globs of Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Hamas, Hezbollah, et al. everywhere. The IDF organizes these elements and uses cross-indexing in realtime.

        I try to organize my files accordingly. It’s a bitch! Last night I finally broke into my odious Second Lebanon War archive. Has to be done, but you can imagine what that’s like.

  10. AUSTRIA – VIENNA – Anti-Islam group PEGIDA holds first Austria march

    PEGIDA, the anti-Islam movement born in Germany, drew hundreds of supporters and counter-demonstrators to the streets of Vienna when it held its first march in neighboring Austria on Monday.

    With 1,200 police officers deployed in Austria’s capital as a precaution, around 250 marchers carrying Austrian flags and chanting “we are the people” faced off against a like number of protesters shouting “down with PEGIDA”.

    Ranks of police in riot gear separated the two camps. A police spokesman said there had been no incidents or arrests.

    […]Georg Immanuel Nagel, a 28-year-old philosophy student from Vienna and spokesman for the Austrian offshoot, told newspaper Die Presse he wanted an end to the “appeasement policy” for the roughly half-million Muslims who live in Austria, a traditionally Roman Catholic nation of 8.5 million.

    He called for legislation banning “Islamism” so that people promoting Sharia – or Islamic – law could be punished, just as Austria outlaws glorification of Nazism.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/02/us-austria-pegida-idUSKBN0L61ZI20150202

  11. TURKEY – Survey: 20 pct of Turkish public approves of use of violence in name of Islam

    The survey, titled “Pulse of Turkey, ‘Religion, Violence and Freedom’,” was conducted between Jan. 17 and 20 in 26 provinces among 2,759 people in the form of face-to-face interviews.

    The pollsters said that although approximately 74 percent of the people voiced their disapproval of the use of violence in the name of Islam, it is alarming that 20 percent, which is one fifth of Turkish society, actually approve of the use of violence in some cases.

    more on the page :

    http://www.todayszaman.com/national_survey-20-pct-of-turkish-public-approves-of-use-of-violence-in-name-of-islam_371541.html

  12. Why? Why?
    Breaking: NYT Admits Obama Deliberately Manufactured Netanyahu Spat

    President Barack Obama and his minions in the White House and the press have had a lot to say about how ‘disrespectful’ it was for Congress to invite Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of congress without informing the White House. And how wrong it was for Netanyahu to accept when he knew the White House hadn’t been informed.

    http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/breaking-nyt-admits-obama-deliberately-manufactured-netanyahu-spat/#ixzz3QaAqaj8o%20