Reader’s links for Nov. 17 – 2015

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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

84 Replies to “Reader’s links for Nov. 17 – 2015”

  1. Somali refugees killed as forces clash in Mogadishu (BBC, Nov 16, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34833538

    “At least 11 people have been killed in Mogadishu after rival Somali security forces argued over who was in charge, witnesses say.

    The security forces opened fire while people queued for food cards at a camp for internally displaced people.

    The mayor of Mogadishu Yusuf Hussein Jimale said some suspects had already been arrested and others will follow.

    The camp houses people fleeing Islamist militants al-Shabab, drought and the country’s long-running conflict.”

  2. Liberal Canadian government drops niqab case appeal (BBC, Nov 16, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34837242

    “The Liberal government in Canada has abandoned a legal challenge that sought to require women to remove their niqabs or face coverings during citizenship ceremonies.

    The Conservative government lead by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper had asked Canada’s Supreme Court to hear an appeal of that ruling.

    Debate over the niqab came to a head during the 2015 Canadian elections.
    Mr Harper was accused of using the issue stir up fears against Muslims.

    Newly elected Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opposed the appeal during his campaign.
    The official court application for the appeal has been discontinued, officials have said, according to the Canadian Press.

    “Canada’s diversity is among its greatest strengths, and the Liberals are ensuring that successful citizenship continue to be included in the Canadian family,” Justice Minister Jody-Wilson Raybould and Immigration Minister John McCallum said in a statement.

    Zunera Ishaq, a Pakistani-born woman, had challenged the Conservative government’s law against wearing niqabs when swearing an oath to become a Canadian citizen and won.

    While serving as prime minister, Mr Harper angered many when he pledged to set up a police hotline to report “barbaric cultural practices” after taking a hard line on the niqab debate.”

    • The Socialists are metaphysicians.

      They believe it is not to use the best software to optimise the hardware, but it is the software that defines the hardware – that the bloatware must be installed onto all despite the breakdown of machines to self-harm and permanently alter themselves.

      Muslims only have to thank Allah their testicles descended. Their program is 1.0 and a pirate copy to boot. Doctors, imams and lawyers are reverse-engineered to run it, making obsolete any parallel processing power.

      Followers of the Skyward Finger is made into a PG-12 version and then copied and released as an addition to the Sensitivity Service Pack, that must be download, to continue accessing the System.

  3. Belgian community labelled ‘jihadi haven’ after Paris attacks (BBC, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34839403

    “About three miles to the west of Brussels’ Grand Place there’s a neighbourhood far removed from the chocolate shops and cafes so synonymous with the city’s tourist centre.

    Molenbeek-Saint-Jean is a densely-packed district where unemployment is high and disengagement rife. Children play on green open spaces framed by graffitied walls, and behind the colourful shop facades there are pockets of poverty.

    The population is transient, but some families have settled; mothers with buggies are a familiar sight. Within its melting pot of cultures there’s a large Muslim community.

    The recent Paris attacks have thrust Molenbeek into the international spotlight. Belgian authorities carried out a series of raids searching for key suspects believed to have lived in the area. Two people arrested have been charged with terrorist offences.

    It’s led to Molenbeek being widely labelled as a jihadi haven, but for some residents that’s an unfair description….”

  4. Former French justice minister: Merkel ‘error of judgement on migrants’ (BBC, video, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34841388

    “Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis spoke to former French justice minister Rachida Dati about the Paris attacks.

    She said there needed to be controls on exterior borders of Europe: “If there is no security there can be no freedom.”

    She told BBC Newsnight she believed Germany’s Chancellor “made an error of judgement” by letting many migrants into Europe.

    It is believed one of the attack suspects entered mainland Europe after arriving by boat on the Greek island of Leros.”

  5. Australia receives first five Syrian refugees (BBC, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-34830118

    “Five Syrians have become the first of 12,000 refugees to arrive in Australia under a one-off plan to resettle people fleeing the country’s conflict.

    The couple with three children arrived in Perth on Monday night after their resettlement was fast-tracked due to a medical condition.

    Australia agreed in September to take in an extra 12,000 refugees amid public pressure over Europe’s migrant crisis.

    The first Syrian refugees had not expected to arrive until December.

    Federal Minister for Social Services Christian Porter said the family had “been through a great deal”.

    They had spent very long periods of time in refugee camps as a result of the Syrian conflict, a spokesperson for the minister told the BBC…”

  6. Russia plane crash: ‘Terror act’ downed A321 over Egypt’s Sinai (BBC, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34840943

    “Russia’s security chief says an act of terror brought down the Russian A321 airliner in Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.

    “Traces of foreign explosives” were found on debris from the Airbus plane, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov told Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Mr Putin vowed to “find and punish” those behind the attack over the Sinai peninsula. A branch of so-called Islamic State said it downed the plane.

    Nearly all the dead were Russians.

    In a statement on the Kremlin’s website, Mr Bortnikov said a bomb had been planted on board the Kogalymavia jet, equivalent to up to 1kg of TNT.

    It blew up on 31 October, shattering the plane mid-air, he said, “which explains the wide dispersal of fuselage pieces”.

    Mr Putin said that Russia must hunt those responsible “indefinitely, find out who the individuals were”….”

  7. Paris attacks: France mobilises 115,000 security personnel (BBC, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34840699

    “France has mobilised 115,000 security personnel in the wake of Friday’s Paris attacks by Islamist militants, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said.

    Mr Cazeneuve said 128 more raids on suspected militants were carried out. French air strikes also hit Islamic State in Syria overnight.

    IS has said it carried out the attacks on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in which 129 people died.

    A huge manhunt is under way for one of the suspects, Salah Abdeslam.

    He is believed to have fled across the border to his native Belgium. Belgian police have released more pictures of the wanted man….”

  8. The Latest: Britain Set to Double Spending on Cyber-Security (abcnews, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-israeli-minister-links-ban-paris-attacks-35247546

    “… Britain’s Treasury chief is set to double the amount of funds devoted to fighting cyber-crime as the U.K. raises security spending after the Paris terror attacks.

    Osborne will be meeting with the experts from the GCHQ intelligence service Tuesday as they plot a strategy to counter the ability of the Islamic State group to exploit social media to spread propaganda.

    Osborne says IS does not yet have the capability to exploit the Internet to attack infrastructure such as air traffic control systems or those governing electricity. But he says “we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it.”

    He says that if such attacks occurred, “the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost.”…”

  9. Afghanistan Survey Finds Security, Economy Major Concerns (abcnews, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghanistan-survey-finds-security-economy-major-concerns-35246614

    “Afghans are increasingly concerned about the lack of security and the country’s economy amid an escalating war with the Taliban and rising unemployment, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

    The San Francisco-based Asia Foundation found that 36.7 percent of respondents in a nationwide survey conducted in June believe Afghanistan is moving in the right direction — a significant drop from 54.7 percent in 2014.

    It’s the lowest level of optimism recorded by the foundation over the past 10 years. The Asia Foundation has been conducting annual surveys in Afghanistan for over 10 years. For this year’s survey, it polled 9,586 Afghan citizens across 34 provinces, both men and women.

    “Over half of the population thinks that Afghanistan is moving in the wrong direction,” said Sayed Masood Sadat from the foundation as he presented the report in Kabul.

    The reasons most often cited are insecurity, unemployment and corruption in the country, he added.

    The survey shows that 42.7 percent of those polled are concerned about the lack of security, up from 34.1 percent last year and at its highest level since 2007. The poll had a 1.6 percent margin of error.

    This year, Afghanistan is facing major political and security challenges after the withdrawal of international combat troops at the end of 2014. Also, President Ashraf Ghani has been faced with a stepped-up war by the Taliban seeking to topple the government.

    The poll found that more than two-thirds, or 67.4 percent of Afghans, report that they “always, often or sometimes fear for their safety” — the highest rate since 2006, according to previous foundation surveys.

    Abdullah Ahmadzai, the Asia Foundation’s representative in Afghanistan, said he hoped both the Afghan government and the international community can benefit from the finds of the survey.”

  10. CIA director anticipates more ISIS attacks ‘in the pipeline’ (CNN, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/15/politics/isis-us-threat-paris-attacks/index.html

    “ISIS probably has plans for more attacks “in the pipeline,” according to the head of the CIA, although President Barack Obama’s national security team said over the weekend that the threat to Europe is greater than it is to the U.S.

    “I certainly would not consider it a one-off event,” said CIA Director John Brennan, speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum in Washington on Monday.

    “It is clear to me that ISIL has an external agenda, that they are determined to carry out these types of attacks,” he continued, using another term for ISIS. “This is not something that was done in a matter of days. This was carefully planned over the course I think of several months, in terms of making (sure) they had the operatives, the weapons and the explosives with the suicide belts.”

    He concluded, “And so I would anticipate this is not the only operation that ISIL has in the pipeline.”…”

  11. So who’s going to be the first? Who is going to be the first big respected voice in the world to come out and say what is becoming increasingly apparent to everybody? I don’t know if Barack Hussein etcetera is working for a foreign entity such as Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, or the Muslim Brotherhood, or if he’s just an amerika-hating radical Marxist a la Bill Ayers and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but either way there is no way in Hell that a guy that intelligent could be simply mistaken about so many vitally important things so many times in a row. When is somebody going to come right out and say that the President of the United States is purposely sabotaging his country for some reason and seems to be trying to tank it as much as possible during his time in office. Stephanopoulos? Bill Clinton? Tony Blair? The Queen? Arnold? I don’t know. Talk about an elephant in the living room. This is going to go down in history along with Nero fiddling and Caligula with the horses. I swear, the next act is going to be an honest-to-God atomic bomb going off in an American city, or maybe five of the things going off at the same time. How would that be?

    • some comments at
      http://eucom.dodlive.mil/2015/11/eucom-implements-travel-restrictions/
      ….United State European Command has implemented travel restrictions to France that apply to all Department of Defense personnel. Specifically, unofficial travel (leave, liberty and special pass) to France is prohibited.
      ….This EUCOM policy applies to United States military personnel, DoD civilian employees, contractors and command-sponsored dependents and family members.
      PARIS TRAVEL This prohibition is for unofficial travel to Paris, France, and includes a 50-kilometer radius around the city.
      …..This is a precautionary measure to keep our personnel and families safe in light of the recent attacks. This is also an effort to help minimize tourist traffic at the borders in France, and in particularly, in Paris as the French authorities continue their investigation.

      http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-embassy-paris.html
      …..The U.S. Embassy will be open for business including visa and citizen services on Monday, November 16, 2015.
      …..Public events in Paris have been cancelled, and public monuments, tourist sites, and many retail outlets may remain closed. The American Battle Monuments Commission has temporarily closed U.S. cemeteries in France.

  12. Polish police detained French car.

    Polish police in Silesia informed that before Paris attacks they detained a man traveling by car on the French license plates. The car was full of live ammunition.
    They stopped 36 year old Pole because Mercedes with a French license plates violated the speed limit. Traffic police during routine check found more then 3,000 pieces of ammunition in the trank of his car. Some of the ammunition were for Kalashnikov. At first they thought it a normal criminal matter, however, after events in France police changed their mind.
    Arrested man tried to convince the investigators that he did not know what is located in the trunk of his car because he just bought it from another man in Warsaw.
    TVN24 (that is polish TV station) learned that the Pole had criminal record for car theft, smuggling people and drug trafficking. They also found that owner of the car is a resident of Lodz and he used a car as a “form of financial settlement” with a man detained by police.
    http://pikio.pl/policja-zatrzymala-polaka-ktory-przewozil-tysiace-nabojow-w-samochodzie-z-francji/

      • UNHCR – After Paris attacks, refugees should not be turned into scapegoats

        […]”UNHCR is deeply concerned by the yet unconfirmed news that one of the attackers in Paris might have entered Europe as part of the current influx,” UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a press briefing in Geneva.

        “We strongly believe in the importance of preserving the integrity of the asylum system. Asylum and terrorism are not compatible with each other.

        […]”A world that welcomes Syrians can help defeat extremism. But a world that rejects Syrians, and especially Muslim refugees, will just feed into their propaganda.”

        […]”We are deeply disturbed by language that demonizes refugees as a group. This is dangerous as it will contribute to xenophobia and fear. The security problems Europe faces are highly complex. Refugees should not be turned into scapegoats and must not become the secondary victims of these most tragic events,” Fleming said.

        http://www.unhcr.org/564b1f786.html

      • Senior Obama administration officials say governors can’t block resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states; refugees free to be anywhere in US – @markknoller

        ================================================

        John Kerry: Don’t Rush to Judgment on Syria Refugees Resettling in the U.S.

        If there are any bad seeds among the Syrian refugees coming into the United States, we will weed them out, Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC’s Lester Holt on Tuesday.

        ‘”We have a very capable ability” to vet any migrants coming into the U.S.” Kerry said. “I just think people shouldn’t be hysterical here.”

        Kerry also heaped scorn on the governors — mostly Republicans — who have vowed to bar any Syrians from their states.

        “I think we’ve got to not run off, you know, half-cocked here in an early stage,” he said. “I think it’s appropriate for a governor to stand up and say I want to make certain, I want to protect my people,” he said. “I think we have to be thoughtful about this, Lester, and I hope the that people will step back and think hard about how we can do this in a way that can keep faith with America’s values as a nation.”

        http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-terror-attacks/john-kerry-dont-rush-judgement-syria-refugees-resettling-u-s-n464851

  13. Latest Satanic State video : “Joy of the Muslims With the Raid of Paris – Wil?yat Kark?k””

  14. DAILY MAIL – Were the Paris killers on DRUGS? Footage from inside hotel room where they plotted mass murder shows SYRINGES lying among empty pizza boxes and chocolate

    ISIS death squads used rooms to make final preparations for Paris attacks
    Coffee table was littered with used syringes, needles and plastic tubing
    Rooms booked for a week from two days before attacks by Salah Abdeslam
    He and his ‘blood brother’ Ibrahim Abdeslam also rented flat in Bobigny
    Landlady said suspects were ‘very kind’ and on business trip from Belgium
    Belgian cars used to transport AK-47s and guns also seen outside home
    Bataclan killers Omar Mostefai and Samy Amimour may also have stayed

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3321715/The-rented-home-ISIS-fanatics-plotted-Paris-massacre-Landlady-says-terrorists-plotted-atrocity-apartment-nice-proper-dressed-men-didn-t-beards.html

    • http://www.ict.org.il/Article/897/Female%20Suicide%20Bombers (07/03/2004 | by Beyler, Clara, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel)
      During the October 2002 theater hostage crisis, Al Jazeera aired a pre-recorded videotape featuring five of the female suicide bombers expressing their willingness and readiness to die, and justifying their acts by claiming that they are “avenging their losses.” However, the physiological test results of failed suicide bomber Muzhikhoyeva, showed traces of drugs, which may point to a certain degree of coercion. Another interesting point revealed during the interrogation of Muzhikhoyeva was the presence of a female recruiter and trainer; a middle-aged woman referred to as “Lyuba,” who might have been involved in several recent female suicide attacks.[12]

  15. Hannover, Germany soccer stadium evacuated after suspicious object found

    HANNOVER, Germany – The friendly soccer game between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled at short notice after a suspicious object was found at the stadium on Tuesday.

    Policeman Joerg Hoffmeister told The Associated Press that everyone inside had to be evacuated after the as-yet unidentified object was found.

    Announcements at the stadium in northern Germany advised people to go home in a calm manner, and that there was no danger to fear. Most fans were still waiting outside when the order to evacuate came about an hour and a half before kickoff.

    There were no signs of panic, with most fans seemingly accepting the decision with resignation.

    Members of the German government including Chancellor Angela Merkel were scheduled to attend the match to send a signal that Germany wouldn’t bow to terrorism in the wake of the Paris attacks.

    http://globalnews.ca/news/2344549/stadium-in-hannover-germany-evacuated-ahead-of-soccer-match/

    • DAILY MAIL – Germany friendly with Holland cancelled 90 minutes before kick-off after ‘bomb truck disguised as ambulance’ was discovered as police confirm device was to be detonated inside the ground

      Germany were due to take on Holland in an international friendly at the HDI Arena in Hanover tonight
      But the match was cancelled around 90 minutes before kick-off and the ground was evacuated
      A bomb truck disguised as an ambulance was found, according to reports in Germany
      Police confirmed there were ‘concrete plans’ to cause an explosion and that there was a threat to the city
      Police had earlier removed a suspicious suitcase from the ground and closed off roads leading into the area
      German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been expected to attend the match with members of her cabinet
      Germany had been playing France in Paris last Friday when terrorists launched a coordinated attack on the city

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3322536/Germany-friendly-against-Holland-cancelled-security-threat.html

    • German officials say no explosives have been found and no arrests made at this point following evacuation of Hannover stadium – @Joe_Miller

      Lower-Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius reiterates that no explosives were found in or around Hannover stadium as journalists ask about reports of vehicle with bomb – @Joe_Miller

      German interior minister says information about a threat ‘came from a foreign source;‘ Hannover’s central station partially closed off as are some public transport stops – @dw_sports

  16. Tunisia Sousse: ‘new plot to attack resort’ foiled

    Police in Tunisia have foiled a new plot to attack the beach resort of Sousse, where 38 people were killed in June, the interior ministry says.

    More than a dozen suspected Islamists, believed to have trained in Syria and Libya, were arrested, it adds.

    Most of those killed by an Islamic State (IS) militant in the earlier attack were British tourists.

    Tunisia is the biggest exporter of jihadis, with at least 3,000 of its nationals fighting in Iraq and Syria.

    The arrests are part of one of the country’s most significant counter-terrorism operations, says the BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tunis.

    Officials said the militants had planned to target politicians, beaches and security centres in Sousse, which has seen tourism plummet since the June attack.

    On Monday, the interior ministry said security forces had arrested seven women suspected to be part of the media wing of the Islamic State group’s Tunisia affiliate, Jund al-Khilafa.

    Tunisia is the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring, and has been the most successful among the Arab states involved, in efforts to establish multi-party democracy.

    However, it has seen an increase in jihadi activity, including the killing of more than 20 people at the Bardo museum in Tunis in March.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34845977

    ===============================================
    Second terrorist attack in Tunisia is foiled


    • http://www.economist.com/node/8766103
      “One of our biggest problems has always been variations of names,” says Michael Scheuer, who was the head of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden Unit from 1996 to 1999. Mr Scheuer says analysis was “backbreaking”, especially for Arabic names, because it involved manually compiling lists of variations deemed worthy of tracing. This included positing names with or without titles such as bin (“son of”, also written as ben or ibn), abu (“father of”, also written as abou), sheikh (tribal leader, also written as sheik, shaikh, shaykh, cheik and cheikh) or haji (Mecca pilgrim, also written as hajj, hajji, hadj, haaji, haajj, haajji and haadj). The article al (also written as el) may be attached to surnames directly, separated from surnames with a hyphen or a space, or omitted altogether. Some variants do not even look similar. Sheikh can be written as jeque in Spanish. Wled, one English transliteration of an Arabic first (and last) name, is often written as Ould in French.

  17. REBEL MEDIA – Murderous act of jihad, Alberta’s Environment Minister blames climate change?

  18. PJMEDIA – Kerry in Paris: Charlie Hebdo Attack Had ‘Rationale’ to ‘Aggrieve One Particular Sense of Wrong’

    Secretary of State John Kerry told employees at the U.S. Embassy in Paris this morning that Friday’s attacks were more senseless than the Charlie Hebdo assault because there was some “rationale” for slaughtering the staff of the magazine that drew Mohammad caricatures.

    […] »There’s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of — not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, okay, they’re really angry because of this and that. This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate. It wasn’t to aggrieve one particular sense of wrong« […]

    http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/11/17/kerry-in-paris-charlie-hebdo-attack-had-rationale-to-aggrieve-one-particular-sense-of-wrong/

    • Czech Republic: Anti-govt. protesters pay respects to victims of Paris attacks

      Pro-refugee, anti-government activists marched through Prague, Tuesday, with the demonstration passing the French embassy where protesters stopped to pay their respects to the victims of the Paris attacks. Protesters were voicing their disapproval with Czech President Milos Zeman and his opposition to the EU refugee quota plan.

  19. TURKEY – Prosecutor decides non-prosecution in case of rocket warheads seized near Syrian border

    A prosecutor investigating a case concerning a truck that was seized carrying nearly 1,000 rocket warheads and 10 launchpads near the Syrian border in 2013 has decided not to prosecute the suspects in the case, the Cihan news agency reported on Monday.

    Turkish police seized 935 rocket warheads and 10 launchpads from a truck in Adana province in November 2013. The warheads had been manufactured in Adana and Konya provinces and many have speculated that they were being delivered to extremist groups in Syria.

    An investigation was opened against 22 suspects on suspicion of supplying weapons to armed groups, bringing arms and ammunition into a country without permission, producing, transporting, selling arms and ammunition and being a member of an armed terrorist organization.

    According to Cihan, the prosecutor leading the investigation has decided not to prosecute the suspects, saying that materials seized during the search cannot be identified as weapons and that there is no evidence proving that the suspects had committed the crimes attributed to them.

    The truck was registered in central Turkey’s Konya province and was en route to Adana when an anonymous call recorded at around 8 a.m. tipped off police that the truck was smuggling drugs. Unmarked police cars trailed the truck until it was received by an unidentified manufacturing firm in the metal industrial zone of Adana, 200 kilometers from the Turkish-Syrian border.

    Police first used dogs to search the truck for narcotics. When the police opened the trailer, they discovered that it was full of weapons.

    Then-Adana Governor Hüseyin Avni Cos said following the seizure of the truck that the weapons were believed to be destined for organizations or states outside of Turkey, without providing further details.

    http://www.todayszaman.com/national_prosecutor-decides-non-prosecution-in-case-of-rocket-warheads-seized-near-syrian-border_404411.html

    • Massive airstrike on ISIS objects in Syria carried out by long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces

  20. NYT – Marine Le Pen’s Anti-Islam Message Gains Influence in France

    PARIS — Well before the attacks that killed 129 people in Paris on Friday, Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right National Front party, was parlaying fear of Islam, migrants and open borders into political support. Now, with France angry and in mourning, she is seizing the opportunity to expand her appeal and show her clout, underscoring how far-right messages are resonating across Europe.

    “France and the French are no longer safe,” Ms. Le Pen said in a speech the day after the attacks, demanding a crackdown on Islamists in the country.

    Analysts said Ms. Le Pen’s already favorable prospects in regional elections in three weeks have most likely been given a lift, strengthening her position as a possible presidential candidate in 2017. She has also succeeded in pulling the political center of gravity in France to the right, forcing the main center-right party to adopt a stronger anti-immigration stance and taking positions in the wake of Friday’s attacks that were subsequently adopted by President François Hollande, a Socialist.

    After Ms. Le Pen’s speech on Saturday, two stars in the National Front — her vice president and close adviser, Florian Philippot, and her niece Marion Maréchal-Le Pen — renewed the offensive, bolstered by the discovery of a Syrian passport near the remains of one of the suicide bombers at the national soccer stadium.

    “It really poses the question that we have been asking, that they will infiltrate the migratory flux that is arriving in Europe,” Mr. Philippot said Monday on a television news program.

    “It is irresponsible to continue this welcoming of migrants,” he said. “And this is a question that will be asked increasingly in coming weeks.”

    On Tuesday, Ms. Maréchal-Le Pen, a 25-year-old telegenic parliamentary deputy who stands a good chance of being elected president of the Provence-Alps-Côte d’Azur region in the next elections, lashed out on television at immigration in the wake of the attacks. “Today, we can see that immigration has become favorable terrain for the development of Islamism,” she said.

    Analysts said this repeated connection — immigration equals Islamism and terrorism — is playing powerfully in the minds of voters.

    “Very probably, yes, she will profit from this,” said Sylvain Crépon, a National Front expert at the university in Tours, in central France. He recalled that after train attacks in 1995, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the National Front leader and Ms. Le Pen’s father, was given a sharp electoral boost after making a link between immigration and security.

    “It is certain that the discourse of Marine Le Pen, which makes the same link, stands a good chance of becoming perfectly resonant in the population,” Mr. Crépon said. “All the more so because she has said that among the immigrants there would be terrorists. One could predict that this will prove profitable to the Front.”

    Other experts on the Front agreed that the party would benefit. “It certainly will fuel the National Front,” said Nonna Mayer of the CNRS research institute.

    “We have images of refugees every day, and now, terrorism,” Ms. Mayer said. “The National Front has been saying, ‘We have been warning you for the last 10 years.’ At first sight it will help their dynamic, which is already excellent.”

    Across Europe, right-wing and far-right parties have also been capitalizing on the attacks.

    In Germany, the anti-immigrant Pegida group organized a march of 10,000 in Dresden on Monday evening, and one of the organizers quoted Ms. Le Pen at length. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Parliament on Monday that “terrorists have exploited mass migration.” In Poland, a minister in the new conservative government published an article on a right-wing website suggesting that, given the events in Paris, Poland might have to reconsider plans to accept nearly 7,000 migrants.

    Ms. Le Pen’s first reaction on Saturday suggested that the disaster she had long predicted had finally arrived. She then demanded a crackdown on Islamists in France, which would go on to be taken up, down to the details, by the country’s Socialist government over the next few days.

    Farhad Khosrokhavar of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales said he expected a strong political reaction against Muslims in France in coming months. “There is likely to be more of a shift to the extreme right, which will become stronger in the months to come,” he said.

    Analysts here have long expressed admiration for Ms. Le Pen’s political skills, even as they have suggested that her exclusionary message is harmful to France. She has handled the aftermath of Friday’s attacks with particular deftness, several suggested.

    First, the proposals that she made Saturday, to “expel foreigners who preach hatred on our soil” and to strip binational Islamists of citizenship, were immediately endorsed, in one form or another, by France’s Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, and by Mr. Hollande, who suggested the measure should be applied to those convicted of terrorism even if they were born French citizens. The newspaper Le Monde said Mr. Hollande had made a “180-degree turnaround” on this point.

    And then, unlike after the attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January, Ms. Le Pen was careful to moderate her tone somewhat, associating herself with the mood of national unity and grief, and lightening her criticism of the government.

    “She made a faux pas after Charlie Hebdo, refusing to associate herself with national unity,” Mr. Crépon said. “This time, she didn’t make the same mistake. She has tried, in spite of everything, to be part of this moment of national unity.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/world/europe/marine-le-pens-anti-islam-message-gains-influence-in-france.html

    ==============================================================
    AL JAZEERA – Marine Le Pen is playing into ISIL’s hands

    The French must remain united and prevent the republican model from crumbling as far-right leaders capitalise on fear.

    […]Instead of encouraging the proud reaffirmation of a French model of secular republicanism where the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Europe live in peace, Le Pen and Sarkozy cave in to the very objective of ISIL: to destroy the basis of a fragile multicultural interfaith dialogue – defended by a huge majority of French citizens – that makes France an example for so many countries plagued by communitarianism.

    As for Le Pen, like every extreme-right leader she is thriving on this environment of fear. Fascist movements affiliated to her party have staged several demonstrations over the past few days to stir the scapegoating of immigrant communities, the very basis of her political platform.

    So far only a few of these have degenerated and in many cases, such as in Lille, the very city where she is running for elections in December, the peaceful demonstrators honoured the very values of France – Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite – by routing the fascist troublemakers

    If the French population can remain united and prevent the republican model from crumbling as a result of the irresponsible behaviour of (extreme) right leaders, then terrorists will eventually be defeated.

    If not, then the number of isolated fundamentalists feeding the ranks of ISIL will grow and the rate of terrorist attacks will increase.

    http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/11/marine-le-pen-playing-isil-hands-france-paris-attacks-151117061205389.html
    ==============================================

    Marine Le Pen on French TV Nov 17 2015 ( in French )

    ( 4 min 33 )

  21. Our world: Radical Islam – the invisible enemy
    Every day the US and its allies maintain their refusal to acknowledge that radical Islam exists.
    As the cleaning crews were mopping the dried blood from the stage and the seats of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, a depressing act appeared on stage in distant Iowa.

    Saturday night the three contenders for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination took to the stage in Iowa for a debate. The moderator asked them whether they would be willing to use the term “radical Islam” to describe the ideology motivating Islamic terrorists to massacre innocents. All refused.

    Like her former boss, US President Barack Obama, former secretary of state and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton not only refused to accept the relevance of the term. Clinton refused to acknowledge what radical Islam stands for.

    She merely noted some of what it rejects.

    In her words, “I think this kind of barbarism and nihilism, it’s very hard to understand, other than the lust for power, the rejection of modernity, the total disregard for human rights, freedom, or any other value that we know and respect.”

    Her opponents agreed with her.

    But of course, it is easy to understand what motivates Islamic terrorists. They tell us all the time.

    They want the world to be run by an Islamic empire.

    When they are in charge, they will kill, subjugate, convert or enslave all non-Muslims, except Jews.

    The Jews will be obliterated.
    http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Our-world-Radical-Islam-the-invisible-enemy-434289

  22. Turkey supporters boo minute’s silence held for victims of the Paris terror attacks prior to friendly against Greece in Istanbul (dailymail, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://dailym.ai/1HUXpAp

    “Chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ were reportedly heard in Istanbul as some Turkey fans shamefully booed a pre-match minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris attacks. The friendly itself against Greece was largely forgettable as the action finished 0-0 at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.

    But the game was tarnished before it even started as a video emerged suggesting some of the Turkish faithful were voicing their dissent towards tributes for the 129 victims who were killed in last Friday’s atrocities in Paris.

    Loud jeering is audible as players from both sides stood silently in the centre circle before kick-off, with reported shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar’ – the Islamic phrase meaning ‘God is greater’ – filtering through the stands.

    After the match Turkey manager Fatih Terim was quoted as saying: ‘Our fans should have behaved during the national anthems and during the one minute silence. ‘Greece is our neighbour. Today is world neighbours day, but our fans didn’t behave like neighbours in this match.’

    Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras watched the game together, in a sign of reconciliation between the two neighbours, whose relationship has suffered from hostilities in the past…”

  23. Czech Republic – Prague Nov 17 2015

    Czech President Milos Zeman spoke at the anti-Islamist rally in Prague on Tuesday following the ISIS Paris massacre.

    Zeman warned against the Islamic “culture of murderers” during his speech.

  24. Obama Says GOP Incitement on Syria Refugees ‘Needs to Stop’ (abcnews, Nov 17, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/obama-gop-incitement-syria-refugees-stop-35266424

    “President Barack Obama is accusing Republicans who oppose allowing Syrian refugees into the U.S. of being scared of widows and orphans. He says the political posturing “needs to stop.”

    Obama is addressing calls from GOP leaders for an immediate, temporary closure of America’s borders to Syria refugees. He says those Republicans “think they’re so tough.”

    Obama says he’s open to ideas for enhancing the screening process but adds that’s not what’s happening in the political debate. He says the idea of only allowing Christian Syrians to enter runs contrary to American values.

    He says rhetoric like that is a potential recruitment tool for the Islamic State group.

    Obama says the screening process is rigorous. He says the U.S. isn’t well served by decisions based on hysteria or exaggeration of risk….”

    • strong>Obama sees hysteria and exaggeration in calls to halt refugee inflow

      President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he saw “hysteria and exaggeration of risk” in some of the opposition by politicians at home to U.S. acceptance of more refugees from Syria.

      Speaking on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila, he said calls to halt the flow of refugees to the United States were aimed at scoring political points.

      “It needs to stop because the world is watching,” Obama said.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/us-apec-summit-obama-refugees-idUSKCN0T706S20151118
      ==================================================
      Rep. Brooks on President Obama’s Syrian refugee plan

    • White House holds call with 34 governors on Syrian refugees

      WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Obama administration officials held a conference call on Tuesday with 34 U.S. governors to discuss the country’s refugee program, the White House said, after more than a dozen governors said they would refuse to accept Syrian refugees.

      The administration officials assured the governors that the refugees would undergo the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States, the White House said in a statement.

      Some of the governors encouraged further communication by the White House to ensure that they are able to better respond to questions from the public about the refugee screening and resettlement process, the White House said.

      http://www.trust.org/item/20151118015212-z9u0v

  25. DAILY MAIL – The Syrian passports to terror: EIGHT migrants have got into Europe with same papers as those found on stadium suicide bomber

    Eight migrants have reached Europe with passports identical to bomber
    They are carbon copies of one found on one of the ISIS bombers corpse
    They are in the name Ahmad Almohammad and had same date of birth
    He was one of three jihadis who blew themselves up outside Stade de France

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3322960/The-Syrian-passports-terror-EIGHT-migrants-got-Europe-papers-stadium-suicide-bomber.html

  26. Nov 18 2015 – Heavy gunfire heard in northern suburbs of Paris

    Sources close to the investigation told iTele that gunfire was being exchanged in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, in connection with “the tracking down of fugitives.” It did not specify whether it was referring to the Paris attacks.

    Multiple videos posted to social media on early Wednesday morning included sounds of heavy gunfire. One resident in the region said the area was quiet again by 5 a.m. local time, but heavy gunfire resumed a short time later.

    Other details about the situation have not yet been released.

    http://bnonews.com/news/index.php/news/id2620

    20 sec video on twitter :

    https://twitter.com/pmfenech/status/666824750241550337/video/1