Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
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This is the new Samizdat. We muse use it while we can.
White Men ON LEASHES Trump Derangement Syndrome At Its WORST
“Google Refuses To Remove Controversial ‘Woman Tracking’ App In Saudi Arabia…”
Weasel Zippers – March 4, 2019
https://www.weaselzippers.us/412537-google-refuses-to-remove-controversial-woman-tracking-app-in-saudi-arabia
New Zealand ISIS member likely stuck in Syria, prime minister says (thedefensepost, Mar 4, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/03/04/new-zealand-isis-member-mark-taylor-sdf-syria/
“A New Zealander dubbed “the bumbling jihadi” can expect little help from his homeland after being captured in Syria by forces fighting Islamic State, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned Monday, March 4.
Mark Taylor, 42, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he spent five years with Islamic State but fled in December and surrendered to the SDF because conditions had become unbearable.
“There was no food, no money, basic services were pretty much collapsed,” he said from an SDF prison.
“I was in a pickle myself and had to make a final decision, which was to leave.”
Taylor, also known as Mohammad Daniel and Abu Abdul Rahman, earned his derogatory nickname in 2015 after sending out a series of pro-ISIS tweets but forgetting to turn off the geo-tagging function, giving away his location.
He told the ABC the bungle earned him 50 days in an ISIS prison.
He also burned his New Zealand passport in a propaganda video and urged extremists in Australia and New Zealand to “commence operations.”
Prime Minister Ardern ruled out stripping Taylor of his New Zealand citizenship because he is not a dual citizen and so has no alternative.
“We of course follow our obligations in international law regarding ensuring we do not deem anyone stateless,” she said.
But she also said New Zealand could offer Taylor no consular assistance because it had no diplomats where he is being held and only knew what had been gleaned from media reports.
“We have no connection with the forces detaining him, so it’s difficult for us to provide information,” she said, adding that Taylor would likely have to contact New Zealand officials in Turkey if he hoped to eventually return home.
Justice Minister Andrew Little said if that happened, Taylor could probably expect to face charges under anti-terror laws.
“It is very clear what happens when you transgress the provisions of that legislation … there’s a range of penalties, including imprisonment,” he said.
Ardern said New Zealand was not obliged to give Taylor legal representation if he was charged overseas, nor did it have to pay his way home.
Ardern refused to say how serious a threat Taylor would represent if he went back home but said “contingency planning” had been made to ensure New Zealanders were safe from returning jihadis.
She also declined to comment on details of Taylor’s ABC interview, in which he insisted he was not an ISIS fighter and lamented the fact he had been “too poor” to afford a Yazidi slave while with the extremist group.
“I wouldn’t want to be drawn on those comments because I do not want to be seen to jeopardize any potential case in the future,” she said.”
Thanks to Revolution, Iran Not Dependent on Others: Zarif (tasnimnews, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2019/03/04/1961377/thanks-to-revolution-iran-not-dependent-on-others-zarif
“Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif highlighted the country’s self-sufficiency in diverse areas and said thanks to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran is not dependent on any country “in any field”.
“The enemies believed that we would not see the 40th year (after the victory) of the revolution, while from the beginning, they tried to overthrow the revolution by fueling the fire of a war and believed that the revolution would not see its second year,” Zarif said, addressing a conference on “regional developments and their impact on Iran’s security” in Tehran on Monday.
“What has preserved this revolution with such power in the world is its independence and the insistence of the people on this independence, an achievement that was gained after years of colonialism of world powers in Iran,” he added
“Thanks to the Islamic Revolution, we are not dependent on others in any field and for this reason we will not accept domination, (nor will) we be domineering,” Zarif went on to say.
In relevant remarks in December 2018, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei dismissed comments by US officials that the Islamic Republic would not see its 40th anniversary, saying the Iranian nation will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the victory of the Revolution this year more magnificently than before.
Pointing to the uncovered plots that Americans have hatched over the past two years to harm Iran, such as imposing sanctions and assisting Iran’s foes, the Leader also noted that the US objective was to create bipolarity and division in Iran through sanctions and anti-security measures.
The Iranian nation toppled the US-backed Pahlavi regime on February 11, 1979, ending the 2,500 years of monarchy in the country.”
Paperwork for women without guardian, Shoura says no (saudigazette, Mar 4, 2019)
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/560437/SAUDI-ARABIA/Paperwork-for-women-without-guardian-Shoura-says-no
“The Shoura Council on Monday rejected a proposal to carry out studies to allow Saudi women to have paper work done without the consent of their legal guardian.
Dr. Iqbal Darandri, a member, urged the Ministry of Interior to carry out studies about the reasons for the delay in implementing a royal order, directing all the concerned agencies to allow women to carry out paper work with regard to getting services done or terminate services or speed up processing of services without the consent of their legal guardian.
Yahya Al-Samaan, assistant president of the Council, said the Council rejected the proposal with a majority vote after listening to a briefing from chairman of the Council’s security committee.
that the concerned agencies at the ministry have made no delay in implementing provision of these services to women without the consent of their legal guardian”
Banks to monitor transactions (saudigazette, Mar 4, 2019)
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/560439/SAUDI-ARABIA/Banks-to-monitor-transactions
“Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has issued directives to all banks to report any account with transactions disproportionate to its holder’s income, Okaz has learned from sources.
In a circular to all Saudi banks, Deputy Governor of SAMA for Monitoring Fahd Al-Shithri mentioned that several arrangements are in place to combat expatriates’ illegal control of commercial activities.
All banks and money exchange companies are mandated to report to the General Administration for Financial Investigation at the Presidency of State Security any suspected financial transaction as per the rules for combating money laundering and terror funding issued by SAMA.
Speaking to Okaz, lawyer Hakam Al-Hakami said the directives come within the steps being taken by the pertinent authorities to monitor any money laundering or suspicious operations in financial accounts.
He urged account holders to ensure the source before carrying out any financial transactions.”
Aid worker stripped of UK citizenship in Syria speaks out against ‘racist’ system (mee, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/aid-worker-stripped-uk-citizenship-syria-speaks-out-against-racist-system
“A British aid worker in Syria stripped of his citizenship has told Middle East Eye he is speaking out about his case in order to highlight how the government’s use of the powers have created a “racist” system in which some people are considered “sub-British”.
Tauqir Sharif is one of several British nationals based in the Syrian opposition-held enclave of Idlib whose cases were reported on exclusively by Middle East Eye in December 2017.
None of those targeted by citizenship revocation orders could be named until now because they are granted anonymity while their legal appeals are ongoing.
But lawyers for Sharif last week obtained a court order lifting his anonymity in order to allow him to speak openly about his case.
Sharif told MEE that he believed the time had come to highlight the government’s use of citizenship revocation orders because of interest surrounding the case of Shamima Begum, and to highlight how the government was also targeting British nationals in Syria with no links to the Islamic State (IS) group.
“I feel I have a duty to the British public because I believe these laws go against British values,” said Sharif, who has been living in the Atmeh camp close to the Syrian border with Turkey since 2013.
British and ‘sub-British’
“We now have a two-tier hierarchy in Britain where we have people who are British and then people who are sub-British: immigrants, naturalised citizens, or the children of immigrants.”
Begum is the London teenager who was last week stripped of her citizenship by Home Secretary Sajid Javid after appealing to be allowed to return with her newborn baby from Syria where she lived for nearly four years in territory controlled by IS.
Under British law, the home secretary can only strip people of citizenship in most circumstances if they have dual nationality and it does not leave them stateless.
But the government’s use of the powers has surged in response to the perceived threat posed by returnees from Syria, with 104 people deprived of nationality rights in 2017, up from 14 in 2016.
Some of those, including Sharif, say that they do not consider themselves to be dual nationals, and that the government is exercising the power based on their entitlement to the citizenship of another country through their parents.
Sharif, who is from London, told MEE that his parents had come to the UK from Pakistan as young children, but that he had only visited Pakistan once, to work as an aid worker following flooding in the country in 2010.
“We must push back against this racist and abusive citizen deprivation process. Cases like Tauqir’s reveal how the government and right-wing lobbyists are exploiting ‘War on Terror’ rhetoric to influence the judiciary in ways that violate due process norms and punish humanitarian workers,” said Cerie Bullivant, a spokesperson for Cage, a campaign group which advocates on behalf of people affected by counter-terrorism policies.
In a case last year, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, the court which hears citizenship revocation appeals, ordered the government to restore the rights of two men of Bangladeshi heritage on the grounds that they had been left stateless.
The government is understood to be appealing against that ruling….”
Iranian press review: Major religious groups ordered to pay their taxes (mee, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iranian-press-review-major-religious-groups-ordered-pay-their-taxes
“Companies and funds belonging to Astan Quds Razavi, a powerful economic and political foundation in Iran that administers the shrine of the eight Shia imams in the religious city of Mashhad, will pay tax for the first time since 1977…”
Secure Freedom Radio with Frank Gaffney
https://securefreedomradio.podbean.com/
Senior Daesh terrorist held in northwest Turkey (memo, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190304-senior-daesh-terrorist-held-in-northwest-turkey/
“A senior member of Daesh terrorist group was arrested in northwestern Turkey Monday, according to security sources, reports Anadolu Agency.
Counter-terrorism and intelligence branch units in Bursa province held a joint operation to nab the terrorist, who had been sought by an arrest warrant.
The terrorist, identified by the initials I.T., was caught in Yildirim district of the province.
The arrested terrorist was particularly active in Syria’s Aleppo and Deir Ez-Zour provinces.
More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in recent years across Turkey, where the terror organisation has targeted civilians in suicide bombs, rocket and gun attacks.
Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh activities.”
UK urged to pull its weight to support African refugees (memo, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190305-uk-urged-to-pull-its-weight-to-support-african-refugees/
“Britain should practise what it preaches to African countries by doubling the number of vulnerable refugees it hosts and reviewing policies that restrict an asylum seeker’s right to work, lawmakers said…”
UN rights experts: Saudi laws stifle dissent, women activists (memo, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190305-un-rights-experts-saudi-laws-stifle-dissent-women-activists/
“Saudi Arabia is using its counter-terrorism laws to silence activists, including women, in violation of international law guaranteeing freedom of speech, United Nations human rights experts said on Monday, Reuters reports.
The kingdom’s public prosecutor has begun preparing the trials of detainees, identified by watchdog groups as women’s rights activists, after completing its investigations, state news agency SPA said on Friday.
A panel event entitled “Saudi Arabia – Time for Accountability” was held on Monday on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council.
The Saudi counter-terrorism law and other regulations are “unacceptably wide and unacceptably vague”, said Fionnuala Ni Aolain, UN special rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism.
“It includes people who are engaged in promoting or inciting sit-ins, protests, meetings or group statements. Anyone who harms the unity or stability of the kingdom by any means. These are notoriously slippery terms,” she said.
“These laws are used to directly attack and limit the rights of prominent human rights defenders, religious figures, writers, journalists, academics, civil activists and all of these groups have been targeted by this law,” Ni Aolain said.
Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said he has been in touch with the Riyadh government for the past year since its “crackdown”.
“Worrisome for me is the targeting of women human rights defenders,” he said.
These concerned, not just women involved in the right to drive movement, “but also all kinds of women”, Forst said, adding: “All arrests involved incommunicado detention at undisclosed locations.”
Abdulaziz M.O. Alwasil, Saudi ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told the Human Rights Council last Friday: “The kingdom heeds in its measures all international and national standards related to human rights.”
Its counter-terrorism measures are based not only on security measures but take into account legal and other necessary aspects to deal with terror suspects, he said.
At Monday’s panel, Saudi and other campaigners called on the kingdom to release defenders whom they said were unjustly held, naming rights lawyer Walid abu al-Kahir, poet Ashraf Fayadh and women including Loujain al-Hathloul and Israa al-Ghomgham…”
Report: 85,000 People Live in Modern Slavery in Morocco (moroccoworldnews, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267168/report-modern-slavery-morocco/
“The UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation have published statistics on modern slavery in 2018 in 181 countries. In Morocco, 85,000 people live in some form of modern slavery.
The 2018 Global Slavery Index shows that 0.002 percent of Moroccans live in modern slavery, and 48.34 percent of the population are vulnerable to modern slavery.
Morocco, has some of the lowest levels of slavery prevalence in Africa and has made significant improvements in modern slavery legislation. The report noted that both Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire enacted comprehensive trafficking laws since 2016.
The Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Congo have the highest levels of vulnerability to modern slavery, whereas Mauritius and Tunisia have the lowest levels of vulnerability in Africa.
Tunisia has 25,000 victims of modern slavery while Algeria has 106,000 victims.
Africa has the highest average vulnerability to modern slavery at 62 percent, with a poor performance in governance issues and lack of basic needs.
The governments taking the most action to combat modern slavery are the Netherlands, the US, the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Norway, Portugal, and Montenegro.
The aforementioned countries are “characterised by strong political will, high levels of resources, and a strong civil society that holds these governments to account for their actions to respond to modern slavery,” wrote ILO.
As for countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, the report did not include their statistics “due to the ongoing conflict and extreme disruption to government.”….”
Arab Interior Ministers Adopt Anti-Terrorism, Security Agenda (moroccoworldnews, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267184/arab-interior-minister-anti-terrorism-security/
“Interior ministers from the Arab world have reiterated their countries’ genuine concern for regional security.
Amid a flurry of shared security and terrorism related threats, it is urgent to come up with shared coping strategies and mechanisms, read the final declaration of the 36th summit of the Arab League’s interior ministers.
Gathered in Tunis on Sunday, March 3, officials from the Arab world appeared to put aside national differences to commit a common agenda on terrorism. Burying their disagreements, they highlighted “a shared responsibility” in securing trans-border peace and security.
In addition to promoting a common strategy to counterterrorism in the Arab world, the officials also put forward a motion to integrate their civil protection mechanisms based on recommendations from the 35th summit in 2018.
Saudi Arabia’s interior minister Prince Abdulaziz Ibn Saoud Bin Naif Bin Abdelaziz Al Saoud, whose country currently chairs the Arab League’s reunions, pointed out the “necessity to intensify collaboration” on terrorism.
Terrorism, extremism, and illicit transnational activities like human smuggling, the Saudi prince said, are not the business of any single country. Rather, they are the expression of coordinated efforts from transnational criminal groups and require interstate cooperation.
Other representatives, including Tunisia’s Hichem Fourati, shared Al Saoud’s concerns.
Despite minor differences in national approaches, the Tunisian said that a shared approach would benefit everyone in the league.
Like his Saudi counterpart, Fourati stressed the importance of joint mechanisms aimed at “increasing the operational capacities” of security services across the Arab world.
Although it has made headlines for its liberal reforms and democratic consolidation in recent years, Tunisia has been among the most recurrent targets of terrorist strikes.
Right after the success of its 2011 Arab Spring, Tunisia seethed with extremism-prone youths, many of whom filled the ranks of ISIS in its combat zones.
Comprehensive strategy
Fourati hinted at that dire episode for the country’s young democratic experience as well as the challenges the Tunisian government has been facing in curbing radicalization.
He argued that the prospective “shared strategy on counterterrorism” should go beyond interior and security ministries and implicate all echelons of government.
“The fight against terrorism is an issue that concerns not only security services, but it calls for a comprehensive approach that would involve the contribution of all government departments, most notably education, culture, media, religion, social development, and economy,” Fourati said.
Interior minister Abdelouafi Laftit, who led the Moroccan delegation, echoed similar sentiments.
Morocco has globally stood out for effective anti-terrorism architecture. Still, Laftit suggested, like other countries in the region, Morocco remains exposed to threats like human trafficking, smuggling of illicit merchandise, and extremism.
Recently, however, the most urgent security issues are cyber-criminality and the return of former ISIS fighters.
While the Tunis summit did not spell out a clear policy for receiving former ISIS fighters, a number of participants, including Morocco’s Laftit, suggested they would be open to those who want to come back home.
However, they stressed, de-radicalizing and facilitating socio-professional integration for former terrorists will be a considerable challenge.”
Anti-Islam Movement Targets Dutch Mosque, Insults Prophet Muhammad (moroccoworldnews, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267177/anti-islam-mosque-prophet-muhammad/
“The German Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (Pegida) group has placed a satirical figurine of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) at the entrance of As-Sunnah Mosque in the Hague, the Netherlands.
On Sunday, Pegida—notorious for targeting mosques in the Netherlands with Islamophobic acts—hung a banner with an obscene message insulting the prophet next to a mannequin dressed in traditional Arab male dress with a bearded face covered in dark paint.
CCTV footage of the incident, which has circulated social media, shows three hooded individuals pulling the banners and mannequin from a vehicle parked in front of the mosque late at night.
Abdelhamid Taheri, the head of the mosque, told Dutch news outlet Omroep West that worshippers found the insulting messages when they arrived at the mosque to perform the morning prayer and immediately called the police.
To Taheri, “It is not an attack against the mosque alone, but an attack against the whole Muslim world.” He added that he has reported similar attacks on the mosque several times but they have continued.
As-Sunnah Mosque and other mosques in the region have been targeted by Pegida on several occasions.
Last year during Ramadan, Pegida took advantage of Islam’s restriction on the consumption of pork, regarded as “impure,” to provoke Muslims by roasting pigs in front of Laleli Mosque in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, at the time of breaking the fast.
At the same time, Pegida had shared a series of posts on Facebook, encouraging its followers to participate in pig barbeques in front of many mosques, including As-Sunnah Mosque.
The Pegida followed in the steps of previous offensive drawings and caricatures insulting Prophet Muhammad.
Some of the most notorious satirical caricatures of Muhammad (PBUH) were published in Denmark in 2005, triggering outrage among Muslims across the world.”
“Some of the most notorious satirical caricatures of Muhammad (PBUH) were published in Denmark in 2005, triggering outrage among Muslims across the world.””
Some of the most notorious satirical caricatures of Muhammad (May Bees Pee Upon Him) were published in Denmark in 2005, triggering poutrage among Muslims across the world.”
There, fixed that.
Turkey urges Muslim states to stand up against Israel (aa, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-urges-muslim-states-to-stand-up-against-israel/1408724
“Turkey’s foreign minister appealed Monday to Muslim nations to speak out strongly against Israeli policies against Palestinians.
Those who refrain from raising their voice against Israel cannot defend Jerusalem, said Mevlut Cavusoglu at an election campaign event in southern Hatay province.
“We see that those Muslim countries which get afraid of the U.S. and Israel start faltering. There are even some countries pressuring Palestine ‘not to raise their voice too much’. Are these the ones to defend Jerusalem?” said Cavusoglu.
Turkey’s top diplomat also said that the same countries acted “cowardly” when voting against the U.S. and Israel at various Islamic summits and UN General Assembly meetings in the last two years.
Cavusoglu said Turkey was struggling against many threats including terrorism, adding that the stability and peace in Syria were important for Turkish border cities like Hatay.
In December 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump sparked international outrage when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and vowed to relocate Washington’s embassy to the city.
Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as Israel’s “eternal undivided capital” — a move never recognized by the international community.
International law views the entire West Bank as “occupied territory” and considers all Israeli settlement building there as illegal.
Later visiting a refugee camp in Yayladagi, Cavusoglu vowed to stand up with Syria’s Bayirbucak Turkmen population.
“When Syria is stabilized, our [Syrian] brothers and sisters, including Bayirbucak Turkmens, will return to their homes in peace.”
He said Turkey was exerting every effort to find a lasting solution in Syria.
“We will clear east of the Euphrates River from terrorists, there is no other alternative or option.”
Ban on Turkish nationalist salute in Austria
About Austria’s ban on Turkish nationalist salute “Grey Wolves”, Cavusoglu said the move was reflection of Islamophobia and sentiment against Turkey.
“When Austria, as in Germany, said they will issue a decree to ban the symbols and signs of PKK terror group, we were pleased to hear that because we had been pressuring them like ‘You are allowing PKK to demonstrate here, you are hosting terrorists’,” said Cavusoglu when he visited the opposition Nationalist Party’s headquarters in Hatay.
“Then they said they need to issue a law to ban it and prepared a draft law. At the last moment, we realized that they also included Grey Wolves symbol in this law, as well.”
“No one can forbid any of our symbols, we will not allow it,” Cavusoglu said and vowed to show the symbol at his first visit to Austria to violate the law.
Under changes to the 2014 Symbol Act passed last December, the Rabaa sign, an anti-coup symbol, and Turkey’s nationalist “Grey Wolves” salute were both banned in Austria in a move to prohibit symbols of extremist organizations.
People violating the law in public areas may be fined up to €4,000 ($4,553) or given a-month prison term under the amended law.
Violators may face €10,000 ($11,386) fine or a six-week jail term if the breach of ban is repeated.
In 2015, this law was firstly implemented to avoid the propaganda of terrorist organizations such as Daesh and al-Qaeda and then expanded as symbols of PKK, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, the military wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Croatian Ustasa were added.
The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.”
“Rabaa” and “Grey Wolves”
They flatter themselves. Rabid, mangy hyenas.
Turkish gendarmerie neutralize 1,149 terrorists in 2018 (aa, Mar 4, 2019) https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-gendarmerie-neutralize-1-149-terrorists-in-2018/1408746
“Turkish gendarmerie neutralized a total of 1,149 terrorists last year, according to an annual report released by the country’s security forces on Monday.
The figures revealed by the Gendarmerie General Command indicated that a total 167 arrests were made in 2018 of terror financing charges.
Last year, security forces carried out a total of 97,361 operations against terrorism, including 58 large and 541 middle-scale operations.
The report showed 600 neutralized terrorists had been captured dead with 24 wounded, 403 captured alive and 122 surrendering.
Some 827 infantry rifles, 45 machine guns, 250 pistols, 74 rocket launchers, mortars and light anti-tank weapons, 2 grenade launchers, 8 missiles, and 14 anti-aircraft weapons were seized, said the report.
Additionally, gendarmerie units captured 469,282 pieces of firearm ammunition, 1,556 grenades, and 22.4 tons of explosives.
Of the 223 terror attacks that took place in areas under the gendarmerie’s jurisdiction last year, 112 security forces and 18 civilians were martyred while 44 civilians were wounded along with 405 security forces.”
Anti-migrant Carnival float draws flak (ansa, Mar 4, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/03/04/anti-migrant-carnival-float-draws-flak_5f197ad9-6740-4d38-8cdf-09ce3d4c182e.html
“An anti-migrant Carnival float has caused a stir in Italy.
The float, featuring black-face characters on a boat saying “we want wi fi” and “no pay rent” filed in a parade at Formello near Rome on Sunday.
“Using a popular, joyous festival of pure entertainment to deride and offend those arriving in Italy after overcoming incredible sacrifices and at the risk of their lives is vulgar and is a real instigation to racism,” said the Lazio branch secretary of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD)”
‘Brexit is the symbol of Europe’s crisis’: Macron outlines vision for EU’s future (thelocal, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.thelocal.fr/20190304/brexit-is-the-symbol-of-our-crisis-macron
“French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday outlined his vision for Europe’s future, urging reform of its passport-free Schengen area and setting up a new agency “for the protection of democracies” against cyber-attacks and fake news.
In an opinion piece, to be published by several European Union newspapers, Macron also renewed his call for greater security cooperation and stressed the need for a common asylum policy to deal with the migrant crisis.
“Never since the Second World War has Europe been so necessary. And yet never has Europe been in such a danger,” Macron said, in what many see as the start of his own campaign for the May European Parliament elections.
He listed a series of initiatives the EU could take both to defend itself and to adhere more closely to its core values.
“A European agency for the protection of democracies would provide European experts to each member state to protect its electoral process against cyber-attacks and manipulation,” he suggested.
Financing European political parties from abroad should also be banned, while rules should be agreed on banning “hateful and violent speeches from the internet”, he added.
In January, Macron had suggested that the Brexit campaign — which saw Britain vote to leave the EU — was “manipulated from the exterior by a lot of what we call fake news”.
Brexit a symbol of Europe’s crisis
Brexit, he said, was the “symbol of Europe’s crisis in not being able to provide for the people’s need for protection in the face of today’s” threats.
“Who told the British people the truth about their post-Brexit future?” Macron said. “Who spoke to them about losing access to the European market. Who mentioned the risks to peace in Ireland of restoring the former border. Nationalist retrenchment offers nothing. It is rejection without an alternative.”
He added: “The Brexit impasse is a lesson for us all” and hinted that he believed Britain would one day return to being a close part of the EU.
“In this new Europe, the UK, I am sure will find its true place.”
Macron, who has made no secret of his plans to form a centrist, pro-Europe alliance to stave off populist and nationalist movements which have been gaining ground across the continent, also suggested reforming the 26-member Schengen area which allows free movement between members.
All those who want to belong to Schengen should accept both stricter controls on outer borders and a common asylum policy for migrants, he said.
A number of eastern European EU members, included those run by right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary, have rejected previous calls to take in a share of the migrants arriving from the Middle East and Africa.
Macron suggested Europe should also share a common border force, along with a joint office for dealing with asylum demands.
Warning citizens against the threat of accepting the “status quo” in Europe he urged them to seek change while preserving shared values.
Revising treaties
A “conference for Europe”, involving “citizen panels”, could be held “to put forward all necessary changes to our political undertaking, with no taboos, not even that of revising treaties,” he said.
He also urged negotiating a new “treaty on defence and security”, and setting up a European security council that would include Britain to promote collective defence initiatives.
In a speech in September 2017, Macron called for greater security cooperation in Europe and a common asylum policy.
But his ideas, until now, have met only lukewarm support from Germany’s leader Angela Merkel, while sparking outright opposition from right-wing government leaders in Italy, Hungary and Poland.
The 41-year-old Macron upset France’s traditional political system by winning the 2017 presidential election, beating off Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front.
Since then he has sought to liberalise the French economy, but this has sparked grassroot opposition with three-months of mass demonstrations by “yellow vest” protesters.”
Brexit is an ‘irresponsible lie peddled by anger mongers backed by fake news’ that has caused Europe’s biggest crisis since WWII, rages French President Macron (dailymail, Mar 4, 2019)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6771177/Emmanuel-Macron-calls-Brexit-irresponsible-lie.html
“Emmanuel Macron has branded Brexit an ‘irresponsible lie’, calling it Europe’s worst crisis since World War II.
In his most ferocious attack on Brexit to date, the French President said Britain’s withdrawal was peddled by ‘anger mongers and fake news’ and ‘offers nothing’.
Macron published his open letter in 22 EU languages and shared it on his Twitter feed just weeks before Britain leaves the 28-member union.
His intervention comes as Theresa May battles to win concessions from EU leaders including Macron in order to persuade Parliament to back a withdrawal deal before March 29.
The 41-year-old French leader, who has faced months of protests against his government, wrote the letter in a bid to rally support ahead of European Parliament elections later this year.
He said: ‘Never, since the Second World War, has Europe been as essential. Yet never has Europe been in so much danger.
‘Brexit stands as the symbol of that. It symbolises the crisis of Europe, which has failed to respond to its peoples’ needs for protection from the major shocks of the modern world.
‘It also symbolises the European trap. The trap is not being part of the European Union. The trap is in the lie and the irresponsibility that can destroy it.
‘Who told the British people the truth about their post-Brexit future? Who spoke to them about losing access to the European market? Who mentioned the risks to peace in Ireland of restoring the former border?
‘Nationalist retrenchment offers nothing; it is rejection without an alternative.
‘And this trap threatens the whole of Europe: the anger mongers, backed by fake news, promise anything and everything.’
Calling the impasse over Brexit negotiations a ‘lesson for us all’, Macron called for ‘European renewal’ ahead of elections to the EU’s Parliament later this year.
Promising ‘freedom, protection and progress’, he said: ‘We cannot let nationalists without solutions exploit the people’s anger.’
Last week Macron warned the UK will need a good reason to delay its scheduled departure from the European Union on March 29.
Theresa May announced in Parliament that she would allow MPs to vote on an extension to the two-year negotiation period if no deal is agreed.
But Mr Macron said that any request from Britain would need to be justified by ‘a clear perspective on the goal,’ adding: ‘We don’t need time, we need decisions.’
He went on: ‘We would support an extension request only if it was justified by a new choice of the British.’
Macron was elected French President in 2017 with a huge mandate after launching his own party – En Marche – the previous year.
He swept to victory after National Front candidate Marine Le Pen outpolled France’s traditional parties to reach the final two.
But his popularity has slumped in recent months as the weekly Yellow Vest protests have undermined his authority.
Critics have accused Macron of an ‘imperial’ style of government and being out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.
The European elections will take place in May and are not expected to involve the UK.
A total of 751 MEPs currently represent some 500million people from 28 member states, but in February 2018 the Parliament voted to reduce the number to 705 after the UK’s departure…”