Reader submitted links for July 19 – 2015

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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

34 Replies to “Reader submitted links for July 19 – 2015”

  1. ISIS Blamed as Mysterious Explosions Shake Up Gaza

    Six cars of senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials blown up in Gaza, likely as part of internal power struggle with ISIS

    A series of mysterious explosions were heard Sunday morning in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, as six cars belonging to senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials were set on fire.

    According to media reports in the Arab world, at least two terrorists were wounded in the attack, with some reports saying three

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198315

    BBC – Gaza explosions target officials’ cars

    A series of explosions on Sunday targeted cars belonging to officials in Gaza, including those from the ruling Hamas militant group.

    Four blasts hit vehicles in Gaza City just after 06:00 (03:00 GMT). Two people suffered minor injuries.

    News agencies said the five cars belonged to members of Hamas and the rival Islamic Jihad militant group.

    Supporters of the so-called Islamic State group have threatened Hamas’ leadership in Gaza in recent weeks.

    The Jerusalem Post quoted one Hamas commander, Abu Hamar, as saying IS was to blame for Sunday’s explosions. He called for Hamas to respond.

    A video posted online last month by IS supporters in Syria made direct threats against what they called “the tyrants of Hamas” and said they would take over Gaza.

    In Gaza, some Salafist groups – who adhere to a strict lifestyle based on that of the earliest followers of Islam – have started to support IS.

    They have been blamed by Hamas for a series of explosions in the area. Dozens of Salafists have been arrested in recent weeks.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33585847

  2. CHINA – Deported British, South African tourists ‘admitted watching terror videos’, Chinese police say

    Foreign tourists detained and later deported from northern China “admitted” to watching videos advocating terrorism, Chinese police say.

    The brief report by the Xinhua news agency is the most detailed official explanation provided of the detentions of the mostly British and South African tourists last week.

    Police in China’s Inner Mongolia region told Xinhua that the tourists “first watched a documentary in a hotel room”.

    “After some of them left, the rest proceeded to watch video clips advocating terrorism,” police said.

    They added that police seized “similar” videos “from a mobile phone belonging to Hoosain Ismail Jacobs, a South African national”.

    Xinhua said that nine of the foreigners — five South Africans, three British and one Indian — were held on suspicion of “organising, leading or joining terrorist groups”.

    All of the nine “admitted to their illegal acts and repented” before police imposed a “lenient sentence” of deportation, Xinhua said.

    A total of 20 visitors from South Africa, Britain and India were held at Ordos airport in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region on Friday last week, sparking diplomatic concern.

    Britain said 11 of its nationals were detained — two of them with dual South African nationality. London said on Sunday all had returned home.

    Xinhua cited police as saying that 11 of the tourists were deported last Saturday, and the nine others on Wednesday.
    Genghis Khan film ‘may have been deemed as propaganda’

    A statement released by a British-based spokesman for Hoosain Jacobs and fellow traveller Tahira Jacobs said this week the detentions may have been made after an “unfortunate misunderstanding” concerning Genghis Khan, the famed Mongolian warlord.

    “They watched a documentary on Genghis Khan to further their understanding of the region they were in at the time, and this may have mistakenly been deemed as propaganda material,” the statement said.

    It was not clear whether the “documentary”, referred to by police was about Genghis Khan.

    China has launched a wide-ranging crackdown on what it claims is “terrorism” in its mostly Muslim north-western Xinjiang region.
    *****************************************************************************
    Several of those on the 47 day tour of China were reportedly Muslims.
    *****************************************************************************
    A new criminal law submitted last month to China’s rubber-stamp parliament widens the list of activities which can be defined as “terrorism”, state media said.

    Chinese police sometimes pressure criminal suspects to sign confessions before they have access to a lawyer.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-19/china-says-deported-tourists-admitted-watching-terror-videos/6632132

    ————————————————————————————

    The lie of ‘Jihadi Migration’

    Since the beginning of the year, the Chinese government and police have taken serious steps to crack down on illegal immigration and terrorism. Many of those illegally immigrating come from China’s northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

    Some of these people are travelling to Turkey to join extremists fighting in Syria and Iraq, after being influenced by terrorist videos and other recordings.

    CCTV has travelled to Xinjiang, to create a series of special packages focussing on the stories of some illegal immigrants.

    http://english.cntv.cn/2015/07/19/VIDE1437242639319667.shtml

    • China’s anti-terrorism efforts ep.2: College student’s road to ‘jihad migration’

      • China’s anti-terrorism efforts ep.3: Xinjiang terrorist suspect tells his story

        • China’s anti-terrorism efforts ep.1: Two farmers return to family from illegal past

  3. ISIS set up stronghold in the heart of Europe as terrorists secretly buy land near an isolated village

    Security services think the area in Bosnia is used for ISIS training camps and could be a base for devastating terror attacks on the West

    Islamic State have established a stronghold in mainland Europe, a Sunday Mirror investigation reveals.

    Terrorists are secretly buying land in an isolated village, surrounded by deep woodland.

    Security services think the area in Bosnia is used for ISIS training camps and could be a base for devastating terror attacks on the West.

    Crucially, the location gives IS a key strategic position due to its proximity to the Mediterranean which is used by extremists from Syria, Iraq and North Africa.

    At least 12 ISIS fighters trained in the village of Osve have left for Syria in recent months and five are reported to be dead.

    Terror expert Dzevad Galijasevic said: “From this village a large number of people went to Syria and are going constantly.[…]

    more :

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/isis-set-up-stronghold-heart-6094785

  4. Algeria attack: Soldiers die in Islamist ambush (BBC, July 18, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33583615

    “At least 11 soldiers have been killed in an attack by Islamist militant gunmen west of Algeria’s capital. The ambush took place on Thursday night at the start of celebrations marking the end of Ramadan. Armed groups were active in the region, Ain Defla, in the 1990s.

    Correspondents say although Algeria is now much more stable, gunmen with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operate in parts of the country, mostly in remote mountain areas. Thursday night’s attack took place in a forest in Ain Defla, 240km (150 miles) from Algiers, a police commander told Associated Press – speaking on condition of anonymity as an official statement has not yet been released.

    The attack was also reported by a security source and the local media, although they gave few other details.”

  5. UK will help destroy Islamic State, David Cameron tells US (BBC, July 19, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33584548

    “Britain is committed to working with the US to destroy the “caliphate” set up by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the prime minister has said.

    David Cameron told US TV network NBC he wanted the UK to do more but said he needed to “take Parliament with him”.

    MPs voted against proposed military action in Syria two years ago.

    Lord Richards, former chief of defence staff, called for a new strategy to defeat IS, saying he suspected ground troops would be deployed in the future.

    Mr Cameron is due to use a speech on Monday to warn young Britons tempted to join IS fighters they will end up as little more than “cannon fodder”.

    “If you are a boy, they will brainwash you, strap bombs to your body and blow you up. If you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse you,” he will say.

    Speaking about the UK’s possible role in fighting the group, Mr Cameron told NBC: “I want Britain to do more. I’ll always have to take my parliament with me.

    “We’re talking and discussing at the moment, including with the opposition parties in Britain, what more we can do. But be in no doubt, we’re committed to working with you to destroy the caliphate in both countries.”

    Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Lord Richards said military leaders need to “look again” at the strategy to defeat IS, saying the current plan “won’t work in the time I think we have available”.

    He said the current strategy – of training and equipping local fighters to do the “hard work” – could prove successful, but warned the “scale of effort” going into it was “woefully insufficient”.

    “If you really want to get rid of them we effectively need to get on a war footing,” he told the programme, saying he suspected UK and US troops would, in the future, have to join ground efforts against IS.

    But new Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said he was “deeply worried” by the tone of Mr Cameron’s comments, saying he was playing to the “ISIS narrative”.

    “What we ought to be doing is to get behind the Muslim communities in that region and supporting them through diplomatic means,” he told Sky News.

    Tory MP Julian Lewis, chairman of the Defence Select Committee, also criticised the prime minister, saying had been making up policy towards IS “on the hoof”….”

  6. Yemen conflict: Dozens killed in Aden heavy shelling (BBC, July 19, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33586062

    “At least 43 people have been killed in shelling by Yemeni Houthi rebels in the southern city of Aden, officials say.

    They say more than 100 others were wounded in Sunday’s bombardment, which came amid attempts by government forces to tighten their grip on the city.

    Aden has seen months of heavy fighting between rebels and loyalists.

    Pro-government forces, backed by air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition, have managed to recapture most of the port city over the past week.

    But overnight pro-government militias failed to capture the last remaining rebel stronghold there – the Tawahi peninsula in the south.

    The government fled Aden in March, as the Houthis – Shia Muslims from the north who control the capital Sanaa – pushed towards the provincial capital.

    Following the recent advances by loyalist forces, the exiled government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi declared the area “liberated” on Thursday….”

  7. Cyber-jihadist Babar Ahmad released (BBC, July 19, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33585959

    “A British man jailed in the US over a website considered to be a key moment in the birth of the internet jihad has returned home.

    Babar Ahmad left prison last month and is now back in London with family.

    He fought a record eight-year-long campaign against extradition for offences committed in the UK.

    British authorities never charged him – but he later pleaded guilty in the US to providing material support to terrorism through his site.

    His July 2014 sentence of just over 12 years took into account his time spent in jail in the UK prior to extradition. US prosecutors had sought a far longer term, but the sentencing judge said she could not ignore glowing references in Ahmad’s favour, including one written by an influential former CIA officer.

    In a statement released via his campaign website, Mr Ahmad, 41, said it had been a “great joy” to be with his family for the Muslim festival of Eid, which comes at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

    “Eleven years of solitary confinement and isolation in ten different prisons has been an experience too profound to sum up in a few words here and now,” he said.

    “In October 2012, I was blindfolded, shackled and forcibly stripped naked when I was extradited to the US. Last week, US and UK government officials treated me with courtesy and respect during my journey home.”

    “In time, I look forward to sharing reflections on my experience to help inform others. I recognise that the world has moved on since 2004, yet in some ways, sadly it has failed to progress. ”

    “For now, I intend to reconnect privately with my incredible family, to whom I owe so much.”

    Ahmad’s case has been one of the most complicated and controversial terrorism investigations since 9/11 and even involved an unprecedented legal battle between the government and BBC News over interviewing him.

    Babar Ahmad, like others from the UK, enlisted in the Bosnian Army 20 years ago to help defend Muslim communities from genocide at the hands of Serbian forces during the collapse of Yugoslavia.

    In July 1996, he began distributing audio cassettes which told the stories of dead Muslim fighters, whom he hailed as martyrs, and the wider pro-jihad jihadist Azzam Publications website then followed. Some of its later content promoted support for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

    Ahmad was a hugely influential figure among some young British Muslims who were debating their place in the world in the aftermath of 9/11. At one point, MI5 placed an informant inside his circle to gather intelligence on his views and contacts. That information never led to any criminal charges in the UK – but he was arrested pending extradition to the US in August 2004.

    His campaign against extradition was backed by tens of thousands of ordinary Muslims who believed he was being victimised – but security chiefs in London and Washington blame him – and others who were never arrested or charged – for pioneering online jihadist propaganda techniques still in use today.

    The US judge who sentenced Ahmad in July 2014 said she was convinced he was not a supporter of al-Qaeda or someone who had plotted to harm people in a terrorist attack.

    Judge Janet Hall said he had shown genuine remorse for setting up websites that promoted jihad and supported the Afghan Taliban, but she added: “You can’t walk away from the fact that what you were doing was enabling bin Laden to be protected in Afghanistan.””

  8. US-led airdrops shower leaflets over Islamic State territory

    A U.S.-led coalition dropped new leaflets over the de facto capital of the Islamic State group in Syria, promising those below that “freedom will come” to the region, activists said Sunday.

    An anti-Islamic State group called Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the leaflets had drawings showing dead extremists and their flag turned upside down. Four fighters with the main Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, walked down a street in the picture, with two words in Arabic below translated as “Freedom will come.”

    The latest leaflet drop comes as YPG fighters have been advancing in northern Syria as close as 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Raqqa.

    Coalition warplanes have dropped such leaflets in the past. A previous one had a cartoon showing masked Islamic State extremists at a “hiring office” feeding people into a meat grinder.

    Also Sunday, the extremists gave Internet cafes in Raqaa four days to stop offering wireless Internet connections to nearby homes, the Observatory and Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered said. The move comes two weeks after extremists released a video purporting to show the killing of two Syrian men in Raqqa, allegedly for spying.

    The Islamic State group holds about a third of Syria and neighboring Iraq in its self-declared “caliphate.”

    On Friday, a truck bombing by the group in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province killed 115 people at a crowded market. Authorities there have fired the local police chief and three officers, while two others are being investigated, said senior Iraqi police officials speaking on condition of anonymity Sunday as they weren’t authorized to talk to journalists.

    Meanwhile in Iraq on Sunday, a series of bombings killed at least eight people and wounded about two dozen others.

    In Diyala on Sunday, a roadside bomb killed four people and wounded nine near the Diyala Bridge, southeast of the capital, police said.

    In al-Ameen, a district in east Baghdad, police said two people were killed and eight wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near a busy cafe, police said. And in the Baghdad suburb of Nahrawan, two people were killed and six wounded when a bomb exploded on a busy commercial street.

    Hospital officials corroborated the deaths. All spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to brief journalists.

    No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State militant group often is behind such attacks in and around the capital as it seeks to destabilize Iraq’s Shiite-led government.

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e5fb6bce62f94ac0917482a036f392ca/iraq-restructures-diyala-police-after-islamic-state-bombing