Reader’s links for June 1 – 2015

This post has all its contents in the comments. For the newest freshest videos and news stories of interest to the Counter-Jihad and the Geopolitics of Islam, please click comments and add to, or read what is posted there.

Some will be integrated into the day’s posts and others not. But this way we can keep a great news flow going without interfering with the conversations about the issues under the various essays and news items in the posts that will be presented throughout the day.

Thank you all for your informative and important contributions.

About Eeyore

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

34 Replies to “Reader’s links for June 1 – 2015”

  1. Gangs of rival protesters have clashed on the streets in Melbourne, as about 100 police officers fight to keep them apart.
    The opposing groups were made up of anti-Islam and anti-racism activists, with events turning violent on Sunday afternoon.
    The United Patriots Front, a run-off from the anti-Islam Reclaim Australia group that was involved in violent protests in Melbourne earlier this year, staged a demonstration outside Richmond Town Hall in Melbourne’s inner southeast, according to the AAP.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3104289/Anti-Islam-anti-racism-groups-clash-police-struggle-control-rival-demonstrations-Melbourne.html

  2. U.S. Supreme Court rules for Muslim woman denied job at clothing store

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who filed a lawsuit after she was denied a job at an Abercrombie & Fitch Co clothing store in Oklahoma because she wore a head scarf for religious reasons.

    On a 8-1 vote, the court handed a win to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency that sued the company on behalf of Samantha Elauf. She was denied a sales job in 2008 at an Abercrombie Kids store in Tulsa when she was 17.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/01/usa-court-scarf-idUSL2N0WX11K20150601

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-86_p86b.pdf

  3. Islamic State militants ‘filmed torturing Syrian boy’ (BBC, June 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32957619

    “A graphic mobile phone video obtained by the BBC appears to show militants from Islamic State (IS) torturing a 14-year-old Syrian boy.

    The footage, filmed by a defector from the jihadist group, shows the boy being beaten while he hangs by his wrists.

    The UN has accused IS and other armed groups in Syria and Iraq of torturing and killing children.

    Children have also been recruited, trained and used on the battlefield.

    Another teenager told the BBC how he fought and killed for the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front at the age of just 15, and that when he switched to IS he found 13-year-olds being indoctrinated….”

  4. Iraq: Islamic State bomb attack ‘kills 45 police officers’

    At least 45 Iraqi police officers have been killed in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Anbar province, security officials say.

    Suicide bombers rammed three vehicles packed with explosives into a base in the Tharthar area, on a road connecting the cities of Falluja and Samarra.

    Several high-ranking officers were among the casualties, one source said.

    Anbar has been the scene of fierce fighting between pro-government forces and IS militants in recent weeks.

    A volunteer force of mostly Iranian-backed Shia militias has launched an operation to regain control of the provincial capital, Ramadi, which fell to IS last month.
    Iranian rocket launchers

    A security source in the Anbar Operations Command told the BBC that three explosives-laden armoured Humvees captured by IS were used in Monday’s attack on the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the Iraqi Federal Police’s 21st Brigade.

    The bomb blasts caused a large explosion in an ammunition depot inside the base, London-based Al-Sharqiyah TV reported.

    Several senior officers were killed and the commander of the 9th Brigade, Brig Gen Moussa Haider, was among the 33 wounded, the source added.

    Separately, a senior security source in Anbar told the BBC the “final touches” were being put to a plan to drive IS out of Ramadi and that it would begin within days.

    The source said six Iranian-made Zelzal-2 rocket launchers had been transported to the frontline in Anbar. The Zelzal-2 fires unguided rockets carrying 600kg (1,320lb) warheads and has a range of 100 to 300km (60-185 miles).

    Three-thousand fighters had also completed basic training near Habbaniya military base, east of Ramadi, in preparation for the assault on the city, the source added.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32961448

  5. EU quota plan for migrants raises Franco-German concern (BBC, June 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32957131

    “France and Germany say an EU Commission plan to redistribute 40,000 asylum seekers across the EU needs revision.

    A joint statement from their interior ministers said the EU “distribution key” for giving member states a quota of migrants ought to “take better account of efforts already made”.

    They also called for Italy and other frontline states in the migration crisis to step up border surveillance.

    The EU plan calls on states to house 40,000 new migrants in a quota system.

    France and Germany would be among the biggest recipients of the migrants under the planned distribution mechanism, which covers 40,000 refugees in total with Eritrean or Syrian nationality. They are among those expected to arrive in Italy and Greece over the next two years.

    French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere said the right balance of quotas “has not yet been reached”….”

  6. US surveillance powers expire as Senate deal fails (BBC, June 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32955048

    “The legal authority for US spy agencies to bulk collect Americans’ phone data has expired, after the Senate failed to reach a deal.

    Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul blocked a Patriot Act extension and it lapsed at midnight (04:00 GMT).

    However, the Senate did vote to advance the White House-backed Freedom Act so a new form of data collection is likely to be approved in the coming days.

    The Freedom Act imposes more controls, after revelations by Edward Snowden.

    The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor first exposed the extent of the data collection in 2013.

    The White House described the expiry of the deadline as an “irresponsible lapse” by the Senate….”

  7. Iraq: Islamic State bomb attack ‘kills 45 police officers’ (BBC, June 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32961448

    “At least 45 Iraqi police officers have been killed in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Anbar province, security officials say.

    Suicide bombers rammed three vehicles packed with explosives into a base in the Tharthar area, on a road connecting the cities of Falluja and Samarra.

    Several high-ranking officers were among the casualties, one source said…”

  8. IS Revamps Recruitment, With Savvy, Professional Broadcasts (abcnews, June 1, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/revamps-recruitment-savvy-professional-broadcasts-31441733

    “After a selection of tunes, the presenter with an American accent offers “a glimpse at our main headlines.” IS militants have just seized three Iraqi cities. A bomb blows up a factory, killing everyone inside. Militants destroy four enemy Hummers and an armored vehicle.

    The newscast’s tone sounds much like National Public Radio in the United States. But this is Al-Bayan, the Islamic State radio targeting European recruits — touting recent triumphs in the campaign to carve out a Caliphate.

    All news is good news for Al-Bayan’s “soldiers of the Caliphate.” In this narrative, the enemy always flees in disgrace or is killed. The broadcasts end with a swell of music and a gentle English message: “We thank our listeners for tuning in.”

    The tension between the smooth, Western-style production and the extremist content shows how far the hardcore Islamic propaganda machine has come since 2012….”

  9. Qatar Files Defamation Suit Against French Politician (abcnews, June 1, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/qatar-files-defamation-suit-french-politician-31440645

    “Qatar says it has filed a defamation suit against a senior official in France’s far-right National Front party over comments linking the Gulf nation to terrorism.

    Qatar said Monday it brought the case against Florian Philippot in France after he “repeatedly and publicly implied a link” between the country and the January terrorist attacks in France.

    Qatar has denounced the violence. It says it “has no choice but to defend its name in the French courts” against such allegations.

    Energy-rich Qatar has strengthened ties with France in recent years. French President Francois Hollande visited Qatar last month.

    Philippot is seen as party president Marine Le Pen’s top lieutenant. Party spokesman Alain Vizier declined to comment on the suit, but Philippot tweeted that “Qatar will not silence me.””

  10. EXCLUSIVE: Undercover DHS Tests Find Security Failures at US Airports (abcnews, June 1, 2015)
    https://gma.yahoo.com/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-widespread-security-failures-us-110647463–abc-news-topstories.html

    “An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned.

    The series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system.

    According to officials briefed on the results of a recent Homeland Security Inspector General’s report, TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests, with Red Team members repeatedly able to get potential weapons through checkpoints.

    In one test an undercover agent was stopped after setting off an alarm at a magnetometer, but TSA screeners failed to detect a fake explosive device that was taped to his back during a follow-on pat down.

    Officials would not divulge the exact time period of the testing other than to say it concluded recently…”

  11. Justice Department Studying ‘Far-Right’ Social Media Use

    The Department of Justice is concentrating on “far-right” groups in a new study of social media usage aimed at combatting violent extremism.

    The Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded Michigan State University $585,719 for the study, which was praised by Eric Holder, the former attorney general, earlier this year

    “There is currently limited knowledge of the role of technology and computer mediated communications (CMCs), such as Facebook and Twitter, in the dissemination of messages that promote extremist agendas and radicalize individuals to violence,” according to the NIJ grant. “The proposed study will address this gap through a series of qualitative and quantitative analyses of posts from various forms of CMC used by members of both the far-right and Islamic extremist movements.”

    The study draws more upon right-wing forums than upon the corners of the web inhabited by Islamist extremists.

    We will collect posts made in four active forums used by members of the far-right and three from the Islamic Extremist community, as well as posts made in Facebook, LiveJournal, Twitter, YouTube, and Pastebin accounts used by members of each movement,” the grant said.

    “The findings will be used to document both the prevalence and variation in the ideological content of posts from members of each movement,” the grant continued. “In addition, we will assess the value of these messages in the social status of the individual posting the message and the function of radical messages in the larger on-line identity of participants in extremist communities generally.”

    The project will also “identify the hidden networks of individuals who engage in extremist movements based on geographic location and ideological similarities.”[…]

    http://freebeacon.com/issues/justice-department-studying-far-right-social-media-use/

  12. Qatar sues French politician over ‘terror’ claims

    Qatar is suing a right-wing French politician for defaming the country “and all its citizens” after he linked the Gulf emirate to “terrorism” following the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack.

    In an apparently rare legal action of a state suing an individual, Qatar has filed papers against Florian Philippot, a vice-president of the National Front, in a French court for defamation.

    The legal action was confirmed in a statement released by Doha.

    “The State of Qatar has filed a defamation complaint against Mr Florian Philippot,” read the statement.

    “In the hours following the Paris terrorist attacks of January 2015 Qatar condemned these acts in the strongest terms, affirming its support to France and its solidarity with the victims. Qatar continues to do so.

    “However Mr Philippot has repeatedly and publicly implied a link between these terrorist acts and the State of Qatar, affecting the reputation of Qatar and all its citizens.

    “The State of Qatar therefore has no choice but to defend its name in the French courts.”

    Legal papers have been filed in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, lawyers told AFP.

    The papers were filed in early April but only now has the case become publicly known.

    Qatar’s statement confirming legal action was dated May 30.

    In the days after the January 7 gun attack on the satirical Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo which left 12 people dead, Philippot criticised Qatar — and Saudi Arabia — in the French media, saying: “These countries finance Islamism which kills”.

    In response to the suit, a defiant Philippot, 33, who was the National Front’s strategic director for leader Marine Le Pen’s 2011 presidential campaign, told French TV station BFMTV, that “this is a very serious matter” and “called on all democrats” to support him.

    He also tweeted on Monday: “Qatar will not silence me. An Islamist dictatorship will not dictate to the French what they have the right to say.”

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/131688/World/Region/Qatar-sues-French-politician-over-terror-claims.aspx

  13. Turkey’s Erdogan vows to punish journalist behind Syria trucks video

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to punish the editor of a newspaper which published video footage it said showed the MIT state intelligence agency helping send weapons to Syria.

    The Cumhuriyet newspaper published footage on its website on Friday which it said showed gendarmerie and police officers opening crates of what it described as weapons and ammunition on the back of three trucks belonging to MIT.

    “The individual who has reported this as an exclusive story will pay a high price for this,” Erdogan said in a television interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Sunday.

    “I will not let this go.”

    Reuters reported on May 21 that witnesses and prosecutors have alleged that MIT helped deliver arms to parts of Syria under Islamist rebel control during late 2013 and early 2014, quoting a prosecutor and court testimony from gendarmerie officers.

    Cumhuriyet said the video was from Jan. 19, 2014 but did not say how it had obtained the footage.

    Erdogan has said the trucks stopped that day belonged to MIT and were carrying aid to Turkmens in Syria. He has said prosecutors had no authority to search MIT vehicles and were part of what he calls a “parallel state” run by his ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Islamic cleric whom Erdogan says is bent on discrediting him and the government.

    “These allegations against the national intelligence agency and this illegal operation is some kind of espionage activity. This paper is now involved in this espionage,” Erdogan said, adding that he had instructed his lawyer to file a lawsuit.

    The state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday that the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office had launched an investigation into Cumhuriyet’s editor-in-chief Can Dundar under counter-terrorism laws.

    Reuters could not reach Dundar for comment, but he defended the newspaper’s coverage on his Twitter account.

    “We are journalists, not civil servants. Our duty is not to hide the dirty secrets of the state but to hold those accountable on behalf of the people,” he said in a tweet on Monday.

    Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said at the weekend that the trucks were carrying aid for Turkmens but declined to comment on their content.

    “It is nobody’s business what was inside the trucks. Yes there were serious clashes in Syria and we helped the Turkmens,” Davutoglu said on Sunday in a Haberturk television interview.

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/131659/World/Region/Turkeys-Erdogan-vows-to-punish-journalist-behind-S.aspx

      • Can Dundar “the individual who has reported this as an exclusive story will pay a high price for this,”

        4 min 25 ( 480p )

        • TURKEY – Whistleblower claims journalists, members of judiciary to be detained en masse

          A week before the country’s June 7 parliamentary elections, Turkey’s prominent whistleblower Fuat Avni has claimed that there is soon to be a mass detention of journalists and members of the judiciary as part of government efforts to muzzle media outlets which are free, independent and critical.

          The whistleblower, known on Twitter by the pseudonym Fuat Avni, said some 200 people will be detained in a major sweep that has been ordered by the embattled President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is reportedly furious over the publication by the Cumhuriyet daily of photos of weapons being carried to radical groups in Syria by trucks run by Turkey’s intelligence organization.

          Avni said Erdogan has become very concerned over a possible trial in the International Criminal Court for sending arms to Syrian groups, which allegedly included al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Turkey’s president appears to want to divert public attention by launching the en masse detention of journalists, which is supposed to include the chief editor of Cumhuriyet, Can Dündar.

          Erdogan is also reportedly concerned that after the elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) may not secure enough seats to establish a single party government, and therefore a witch hunt he has been pursuing since corruption scandals in 2013 may be interrupted.

          According to Fuat Avni, the government will detain scores of journalists critical to the government, including Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in chief of Zaman, the country’s largest circulated national daily; Bülent Kenes, the editor-in-chief of Today’s Zaman; Kerim Balci, the editor-in-chief of Turkish Review, a bimonthly news magazine; Celil Sagir, the managing editor of Today’s Zaman; Faruk Mercan, the Ankara representative of Bugün TV; Adem Yavuz Arslan, the Washington bureau chief for the Bugün newspaper; Nazli Ilicak, a veteran columnist at Bugün; Yasemin Çongar, former editor of Taraf daily; Ahmet Altan, former editor-in-chief of Taraf, Emre Uslu, columnist at Today’s Zaman, and finally Cumhuriyet’s Can Dündar.

          The politically-motivated investigations included not only journalists but also the corporate entities of Zaman, Samanyolu and Bugün media outlets.

          Police chiefs and members of the judiciary who were involved in landmark cases that exposed wrongdoings in the government and the military are also targeted in the sweep, Avni claimed.

          Avni has revealed many government-backed police operations to the public in the past, and though late at times, all the claims have turned out to be true.

          He also said Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is opposed to any mass detentions taking place so soon before the elections, fearing a backlash from voters.

          http://www.todayszaman.com/national_whistleblower-claims-journalists-members-of-judiciary-to-be-detained-en-masse_382224.html

          • Much ado about a loo: Turkey’s president challenges opposition over golden toilet seat claims

  14. Frozen Urine? Eh

    Hashim Hanif Ibn Abdul-Rasheed had four knives taped to his legs when he attempted to hijack an Ohio plane in Januray.

    That behavior included concealing weapons beneath his trousers and trying to buy an airline ticket using a woman’s ID, according to the statement from a detective in the Columbus police counterterrorism unit. The statement was filed this week as investigators got a search warrant to review data on a cellphone linked to the case.

    Besides the two “lock-blade style” knives, Hashim Hanif Ibn Abdul-Rasheed had more knives, a gas mask, other masks, computers, cameras and cellphones in his illegally parked SUV, the statement said.

    Police said airport officers confronted Abdul-Rasheed after he returned to the vehicle outside Port Columbus International Airport on Jan. 7, and they repeatedly fired at him after he moved toward one officer with a knife.

    The local police union leader said a bomb squad also found containers of frozen urine in the vehicle, an unexplained twist not mentioned in the detective’s court filing.

    This man was considered a “victim” by some in the ‘blacklivesmatter’ mob after he was shot dead.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/05/update-jihadist-shot-dead-trying-to-hijack-oh-plane-had-4-knives-taped-to-legs/

  15. The prosecution of a Swedish national accused of terrorist activities in Syria has collapsed at the Old Bailey after it became clear Britain’s security and intelligence agencies would have been deeply embarrassed had a trial gone ahead, the Guardian can reveal.

    His lawyers argued that British intelligence agencies were supporting the same Syrian opposition groups as he was, and were party to a secret operation providing weapons and non-lethal help to the groups, including the Free Syrian Army.

    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/01/trial-swedish-man-accused-terrorism-offences-collapse-bherlin-gildo

  16. The Daily Beast – Key Rebels Ready to Quit U.S. Fight Vs. ISIS

    They were ready to accept American guns and training. But a key rebel group can’t accept the Obama administration’s insistence that they lay off Syria’s dictator.

    A centerpiece of the U.S. war plan against ISIS is in danger of collapsing. A key rebel commander and his men are ready to ready to pull out in frustration of the U.S. program to train a rebel army to beat back the terror group in Syria, The Daily Beast has learned.

    The news comes as ISIS is marching on the suburbs of Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city. Rebels currently fighting the jihadists there told The Daily Beast that the U.S.-led coalition isn’t even bothering to respond to their calls for airstrikes to stop the jihadist army.

    Mustapha Sejari, one of the rebels already approved for the U.S. training program, told The Daily Beast that he and his 1,000 men are on the verge of withdrawing from the program. The issue: the American government’s demand that the rebels can’t use any of their newfound battlefield prowess or U.S.-provided weaponry against the army of Bashar al-Assad or any of its manifold proxies and allies, which include Iranian-built militias such as Lebanese Hezbollah. They must only fight ISIS, Washington insists.

    “We submitted the names of 1,000 fighters for the program, but then we got this request to promise not to use any of our training against Assad,” Sejari, a founding member of the Revolutionary Command Council, said. “It was a Department of Defense liaison officer who relayed this condition to us orally, saying we’d have to sign a form. He told us, ‘We got this money from Congress for a program to fight ISIS only.’ This reason was not convincing for me. So we said no.”

    Sejari’s possible departure wouldn’t just mean the loss of a few fighters for the anti-ISIS army the U.S. is trying to assemble. It could mean a fracturing of the entire program—a cornerstone of the Obama administration’s plan to fight ISIS in Syria.[…]

    more on the page :

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/31/key-rebels-ready-to-quit-u-s-fight-vs-isis.html?via=twitter_page

  17. Iran military adviser killed near Iraq’s IS-held Ramadi (yahoo, June 1, 2015)
    http://news.yahoo.com/iran-military-adviser-killed-near-iraqs-held-ramadi-111018149.html

    “An Iranian officer has been killed near the Iraqi city of Ramadi while advising Iraqi forces on how to recapture it from the Islamic State group, state media reported Monday.

    Jassem Nouri, who had also served as a military adviser in Syria, was killed on Thursday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

    Political and military leaders joined family members for a memorial service in Ahvaz in southwestern Iran on Sunday ahead of his burial on Monday.

    “A seasoned (1980-88) Iran-Iraq war commander, Jassem Nouri was there as a military adviser to share his experience with the resistance fighters in Iraq,” the city’s Friday prayer leader Qassem Khaziravi told mourners.

    Shiite Iran has provided weapons and military advisers to both Iraq and Syria but denies it has deployed any combat troops….”

  18. EXCLUSIVE: Undercover DHS Tests Find Security Failures at US Airports (yahoo, June 1, 2015)
    https://gma.yahoo.com/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-widespread-security-failures-us-110647463–abc-news-topstories.html

    “An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned.

    The series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system.

    According to officials briefed on the results of a recent Homeland Security Inspector General’s report, TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests, with Red Team members repeatedly able to get potential weapons through checkpoints.

    In one test an undercover agent was stopped after setting off an alarm at a magnetometer, but TSA screeners failed to detect a fake explosive device that was taped to his back during a follow-on pat down.

    Officials would not divulge the exact time period of the testing other than to say it concluded recently….”

  19. CNN – Paul Bremer talks ISIS in Iraq with Hala Gorani – Under circumstances, we did a good job in Iraq

  20. – BBC News – ‘We can defeat ISIS but we can’t keep them defeated’ US Defence Secretary Ash Carter