Contributor’s links post for April 23, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

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.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We muse use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

144 Replies to “Contributor’s links post for April 23, 2019”

  1. Bristol University’s black and ethnic minority officer faces investigation after telling Jewish student to ‘be like Israel and cease to exist’ (dailymail, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6950477/University-BME-officer-tells-Jewish-student-like-Israel-cease-exist.html

    “A Bristol University Black and Ethnic Minorities officer is facing an investigation after telling a Jewish student he should ‘be like Israel and cease to exist’.

    Omar Chowdhury was elected to the BME Chair position on a platform of ‘zero tolerance for racism’, and his priorities included increasing ‘solidarity between cultural societies’, ‘decolonising the curriculum’ and bringing multicultural and Halal food on to campus, according to a campaign leaflet of his.

    After winning the role, he went on to tell fellow student Izzy Posen his comments were ‘like Israeli settlements: always popping up where they aren’t wanted’.

    Mr Chowdhury also told Mr Posen, who is Bristol University’s Free Speech Society President, he was ‘literally the biggest example of the condescending white man’, and accused Mr Posen of ‘trying to silence the voices of women and minorities’ after the student stated that ‘everyone is entitled to an opinion’.

    The comments appeared on the Bristruths Facebook page – used by students to publish their thoughts and opinions without revealing their identities.

    Sally Patterson, Bristol University’s Equality, Liberation and Access officer, said the student union is investigating the case…”

  2. Mother-of-three nurse, 31, is stabbed to death at home eight years after sister drowned in lake amid fears she ‘would be sent to Pakistan’ (dailymail, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6949731/Murder-suspect-36-arrested-woman-30s-stabbed-death-house.html

    “A mother-of-three stabbed to death in her home last night was killed eight years after her sister drowned in a lake amid fears she’d be ‘sent back to Pakistan’, it has emerged.

    The victim, named locally as Saima Abid, 31, was pronounced dead when police were called to a house in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, shortly before 3am on Tuesday.

    A 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder following the killing.

    Miss Abid had three young children and worked as a nurse at Royal Oldham Hospital.

    In 2011, her sister Chamman Shan, 21, drowned in Hollingworth Lake and was found on the banking at a well-known beauty spot in Littleborough.

    The student contacted police less than a week before her death saying she was concerned for her safety.

    An inquest into Chamman’s death heard she feared she might be sent to Pakistan and was admitted to a women’s refuge.

    Miss Abid’s cousin Farhat Abbas told the Manchester Evening News: ‘We are all really devastated about the fact she has gone.

    ‘She was a lovely person. She had three beautiful kids. She had a lot to look forward to in life, it’s just tragic.

    ‘At the minute we’re just very confused and upset. The whole family is upset.’…”

  3. What can be done to combat the growing threat of Islamophobia?

    An independent monitoring group, Tell Mama, found that in Britain, there was a six fold increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes following the New Zealand terrorist attack. What can be done to combat Islamophobia?

    Guests:
    Anne Norton
    Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania

    Salman Sayyid
    Professor of Rhetoric and Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds

    • “8 BLOODY TERROR ATTACKS IN U.S. IN 18 MONTHS HAVE 1 THING IN COMMON”
      by Leo Hohmann – November 29, 2016

      Excerpt:

      Fitna: The root of modern ‘Islamophobia’

      Phil Haney, co-author of “See Something Say Nothing,” tracked the OSU story from the time it started breaking Tuesday morning.

      “Underneath all this hand-wringing about why did he do it, he already said why he did it,” Haney told WND. “On his Facebook page he said he’s sick and tired of Muslims being killed in different parts of world, and that is fitna. It always comes back to fitna.”

      “Fitna” is an Arabic term used in the Quran to describe a yoke of oppression, a trial or an injustice thrust upon the Muslim believers by the non-believers. The modern word for a fitna would be “Islamophobia.”

      By continuing the politically correct policy of avoiding the issue behind each new terror attack, the mainstream media enable the Muslim leaders to further their teaching of young Muslims to feel like they are part of a persecuted minority in America.

      “Islamophobia” has become such a prevalent theme, widely taught within the American Muslim community today, that we can expect more backlash from angry Muslims who have had their minds poisoned by this indoctrination, Haney says.

      “This stifling emphasis dominates the mindset of American Muslims, and their social-political allies [on the left], and it prevents us from honestly and courageously addressing the true nature of a global ideology that aggressively promotes its agenda of supremacy,” Haney said.

      “Anyone who attempts to move beyond the ‘Islamophobia’ mantra is reflexively labeled as a bigoted racist,” he added, “while the Muslim community enjoys immunity from any responsibility for its communal actions.”
      https://www.wnd.com/2016/11/9-bloody-terror-attacks-in-u-s-in-18-months-have-1-thing-in-common/

      “Phil Haney Interview”
      Christian Reporter News – Published on May 20, 2017

      • Phil Haney, co-author of “See Something Say Nothing,” tracked the OSU story from the time it started breaking Tuesday morning.

        “On his Facebook page he said he’s sick and tired of Muslims being killed in different parts of world, and that is fitna. It always comes back to fitna.”

        “Fitna” is an Arabic term used in the Quran to describe a yoke of oppression, a trial or an injustice thrust upon the Muslim believers by the non-believers. The modern word for a fitna would be “Islamophobia.”

        Thank you, EB. Of late you’ve been throwing several meaty bones over the fence (including some clue-by-fours from the Colorado Buzz Saw, a personal favorite).

        After watching the entirety of Haney’s outstanding DHS dissection, his credibility factor is solid gold at Sløt Norsk. As noted, any lack of speech dynamics on his part is totally erased by an almost overwhelming flow of, if not eloquently delivered, rock-solid data of that kind that’s almost gone extinct in today’s world.

        In the Sacred Spirit of Properly Naming Things, I am entirely willing to exchange the Communist Newspeak excreta of “Islamophobia” [spit!], for the sharia-compliant term “Fitna” (capitalized for labeling emphasis).

        This seemingly small syntactic realignment drips with enough irony to set my snoozing pet Trowel’s little paws atwitch. Please give this a moment’s thought. As with everything these anti-civilizational cretins come up with: It works on so many levels!

        F I T N A = Let us count the ways, eh?

        • Just like Islam’s moral report card, it starts with an F

        • IT = It’s it and that’s that. It’s canned sunshine and then it’s Miller time!

        • ITNA = As in: ITNA boot no mad lads. T’is just big bad jihad.

        • NA = Not Applicable – As in: Reality need not intrude apply.

        • A = As An Axiom: Atrocious Aggressively Aggrieved Anonymous Assholes And All Assuredly Antagonistic About Any Ability At Actually Arguing Against Airborne Azaan Arses Asking After Alacritous Abuse.

        Finally:

        • “A FITNA” spelled backwards = ANTIFA

        Why, yes. I did used to bat for the A’s. How come you ask?

    • @ 4:12 “In the United States the election of two muslim representatives…has made an enormous difference in producing a public face for Islam…” – Anne Norton

      “Muslim fanatics holding up solitary finger are symbolizing “tawhid” or the “Oneness of Allah” or “There is no god but Allah” — aka, Islamic supremacy …” Paul Sperry – April 22, 2019 – Twitter
      https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/1120355275700080640

  4. CTV News – ‘Climate change is the biggest challenge we face’: Catherine McKenna

    + comments on the YT page

  5. New Zealand removes any reference to Jesus from parliamentary prayer

    In the wake of the Christchurch mosque attack, we come to find out that New Zealand has removed references to Jesus from the parliamentary prayer, sparking outrage among the country’s Christian population.

    Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, made the decision to drop references to Jesus in order to make the prayer “more inclusive” for all parliamentarians.

    The Guardian reported: A reference to “almighty god” remains, but it is not a specific reference to a Christian god.

    The protesters want Jesus’s name reinstated, and held signs reading “Dishonourable Judas Mallard”.

    Around 1,000 people protested on the steps of parliament house in Wellington, arguing that New Zealand was a Christian nation and Mallard had no authority to axe Jesus’s name.
    “He needs a good kick in his pants, and he needs to actually be removed because this is a Christian nation”, protester Rieki Teutscher told Radio NZ. “We don’t share his atheism.”
    Another protester, Carmel Morgan, said Mallard should have consulted with New Zealanders or announced a referendum before changing the prayer.

    “This is a land of democracy, this is a land of freedom, you know, we want to be a first world country… he took that choice away from us.”

    Politicians such as Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters have said it would have been judicious for the speaker to have consulted more widely before actioning the changes.
    “Well the decision as to what should be changed should be made by parliamentarians and not the speaker – that’s our position, I don’t mind telling you publicly”, deputy prime minister Winston Peters told RNZ.

    “If you’re going to make a change let’s have parliament decide – not one person.”
    Mallard said he had consulted with parliamentarians and the majority had indicated they were in favour of a secular prayer.

    Abandoning its traditional Christian faith was, no doubt, a significant contributing factor to the mosque shooting in the first place.

    As former Christian churches are turned into mosques, New Zealanders are told to accept the Islamification with smiling tolerance.

    Just don’t make the Muslims mad. New Muslim migrants have the “right” to not be offended by references to Christ even when they are in Christian countries.

    If a Muslim hears a reference to Jesus in a public prayer, it might trigger an extreme response, so it’s best to delete Jesus from the domestic culture so we can all “get along”.

    When the Prime Minister of New Zealand dons a hijab in public, all of White New Zealand is being betrayed to the gods of diversity, but Christianity will not be part of the equation.

    https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/03/new-zealand-removes-any-reference-to-jesus-from-parliamentary-prayer/

  6. “ICYMI: CEP Identifies Multiple Examples of Infamous ISIS Bomb Making Video Online” Counter Extremism Project – April 23, 2019
    https://www.counterextremism.com/press/icymi-cep-identifies-multiple-examples-infamous-isis-bomb-making-video-online

    “ISIS’s Amaq news agency called bombers in Sri Lanka “Islamic State fighters” as a country mourns and the first funerals are held at a damaged church were as many as 100 people died.”
    CEP – April 23, 2019 – Twitter
    https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1120716879683883009

  7. Cross-Border Terrorism
    Jihad creeps down from our northern neighbor.
    April 23, 2019
    Lloyd Billingsley

    As the Windsor Star reported last week, “A Canadian man convicted of terrorism for nearly killing a Michigan police officer while yelling ‘God is great’ in Arabic was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, after boldly declaring that he only regretted not having a machine-gun during the knife attack.”

    The Canadian man is Amor Ftouhi, 51, a Tunisian who moved to Montreal in 2007. In 2017, Fthouhi entered the United States at Champlain, NY, and drove 1,000 miles to the Bishop Airport in Flint, Michigan. There Ftouhi attacked police officer Lt. Jeff Neville, striking him the neck. As the Star reported, investigators found that “Ftouhi wanted to take Neville’s gun and start shooting people,” which the Muslim confirmed in court.

    “Do I regret what I did? Never,” Ftouhi told U.S District Judge Matthew Leitman. “I regret I didn’t get that machine-gun. I regret I didn’t kill that cop.” The man who yelled Allahu akbar as he attacked also spoke out on other themes.

    As his photo revealed, Ftouhi is as pale as Justin Trudeau, but he “felt discrimination in Canada because he wasn’t a white Christian.” Ftouhi pledged allegiance to his Muslim faith and said western countries and Arabic countries should be cursed if they “don’t rule according to Allah.”

    Ftouhi’s attorney Joan Morgan claimed the attacker had mental health issues but “is more than what his actions were.”According to an Associated Press report, the lawyer claimed Ftouhi “wasn’t attempting to create mass casualties,” and “wanted to be killed so his family could collect life insurance and he could become a martyr.” Judge Leitman told the court that Ftouhi’s own remarks “persuaded me beyond any shadow of a doubt” that a life term was appropriate.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273534/cross-border-terrorism-lloyd-billingsley

  8. “This Sri Lanka Report got me BANNED on Facebook!”
    Third Rail Talk – Published on April 21, 2019

  9. “Katie Hopkins – Do Not Fall as We Have Fallen”
    TJ Singh – Published on April 22, 2019

  10. BREAKING: Nigerian Brothers Speak Out – File Federal Defamation Suit Against Smollett Legal Team

    Ola and Abel Osundairo filed a federal defamation lawsuit on Tuesday against hate hoaxer Jussie Smollett’s legal team.

    The brothers’ lawyer, Gloria Schmidt said, “We want to end these malicious attacks and false statements by Geragos that continue to destroy the reputation against the Chicago Police and the Osundairo brothers.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/breaking-nigerian-brothers-speak-out-file-federal-defamation-suit-against-smollett-legal-team/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20April%2023,%202019%20at%2011:06:07%20AM

  11. Says Trump Should Have been Indicted by Mueller Probe

    On Tuesday Hillary Clinton spoke at the TIME 100 conference of top celebrities for the year.

    Hillary Clinton spoke briefly about the Mueller Report during her remarks.

    Hillary Clinton: I’m really of the mind that the Mueller report is part of the beginning…because there’s still so much more that we should know and that we should act upon… And we’re a long way from knowing because we need to get the full report — the unredacted version.[…]

    Hillary then commented about the “roadmap” to impeachment.

    Hillary Clinton: Actions that undermine the integrity of our government. That placed the personal or political interests of a president over the interests of the nation. And in so doing we were able to make a case that was accepted by the Judiciary Committee that then voted out articles of impeachment on a bipartisan basis. So I know what it looks like and I know what is required to do it in a way that wins the trust of not only the congress but of the American people. But I certainly think that the roadmap that some call it…

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/hillary-clinton-discusses-roadmap-to-impeachment-as-it-applies-to-donald-trump-at-time-100-conference/

  12. Syria: Prisoner swap takes place between government troops and militants

    Nine Syrian citizens were set free in exchange of the release of nine anti-government militants in the al-Tadef area of the Aleppo governorate on Monday.

    The prisoner swap was conducted under the surveillance of Russian and Turkish troops.

    One freed Syrian man, who returned to the government controlled area, commented that “They [militants] tortured me a lot because I was a soldier. I was very humiliated. I was mocked like a dog. I haven’t seen my father for 12 years.”

    Another civilian freed from the militants said that “I still have signs of torture. I was tied up and held for the whole day in the ammunition box.”

    Syrian government troops liberated Aleppo in 2016. The first prisoner exchange between the two sides took place in November 2018.

  13. “Chinese spies recruiting resistance radicals inside U.S. Intelligence community” One American News Network – Published on April 23, 2019

  14. Los Angeles to Change Name of Rodeo Road to ‘Obama Boulevard’ Next Weekend

    Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is changing the name of Rodeo Road to “Obama Boulevard” in a ceremony next weekend.

    Garcetti served as a California co-chairman for Obama’s 2008 campaign and was endorsed by the former president during his reelection campaign in 2017.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/los-angeles-to-change-name-of-rodeo-road-to-obama-boulevard-next-weekend/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20April%2023,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM

  15. Florida Senate Passes Bill to Allow Trained Teachers to Arm Themselves in Class

    The Florida Senate has passed a bill that would allow teachers to carry guns to class if their local school boards agree to it.

    The bill will now go to the House, after being approved by a vote of 22-17. The Republican House has been extremely supportive of the bill, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated that he intends to sign it if it passes.

    If passed, the bill will still require local school boards and charter governing boards to vote on whether or not they want to authorize it.

    “Teachers who volunteer to bring guns to schools would have to undergo a psychological test and at least 144 hours of training, the results of which have to be approved by law enforcement,” The Hill reports.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/florida-senate-passes-bill-to-allow-trained-teachers-to-arm-themselves-in-class/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20April%2023,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM

  16. President Trump met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Tuesday, a White House spokeswoman confirmed to The Hill.

    After Motherboard reported that the two were set to meet Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in an email to The Hill that the meeting had already taken place.

    The meeting comes just hours after the president lashed out at Twitter, reiterating his allegations that the company is discriminating against him and other conservatives.

    “Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people. Different names-over 100 [million] But should be much higher than that if Twitter wasn’t playing their political games,” Trump wrote Tuesday morning in a pair of tweets.

    https://thehill.com/policy/technology/440281-trump-meets-with-twitters-ceo

  17. President Trump Orders White House Staff Boycott of Correspondents’ Dinner

    President Trump has ordered White House staff to not attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this Saturday being held in Washington, D.C., according to numerous reports Tuesday.

    President Trump Orders White House Staff Boycott of Correspondents’ Dinner
    by Kristinn Taylor April 23, 2019 62 Comments

    Share 41Tweet Email

    President Trump has ordered White House staff to not attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this Saturday being held in Washington, D.C., according to numerous reports Tuesday.

    The humiliation of then private citizen Trump by President Obama and Seth Meyers at the 2011 WHCA dinner is thought by many to have inspired Trump’s run for the presidency in 2015.

    Trump had previously announced he would hold a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin instead of attending the dinner, the third year in a row he has boycotted the dinner which has traditionally honored the president.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/president-trump-orders-white-house-staff-boycott-of-correspondents-dinner/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20April%2023,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM

  18. ‘White males’ should be BANNED from speaking during university classes so women and transgender students are more willing to contribute to discussions, seminar suggests
    University of Melbourne Student Union held Radical Education week last week
    Attendees discussed ways to make tutorials and lectures more inclusive
    One proposal was to ban ‘white, male students’ from speaking in class

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6948477/Students-Union-considers-banning-white-men-speaking-class.html

  19. Family Matters: How a US Member of Congress was Raised by the Red-Green Axis
    February 21, 2019J. Michael Waller
    Most people’s worldviews are heavily influenced during their formative years. Those influences, and their roots, are important to discern among our national leaders.

    The election of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is often seen as a celebration of diversity: An immigrant from the wasteland of Somalia, and one of the first two Muslim women, elected to the United States Congress.

    Omar personifies the Red-Green Axis: an ideological and political combination of Marxism-Leninism and Islamism.

    A look at Omar’s upbringing is a key to identifying her extremism, and where she wants to take the country that took in her and her family.

    Family beholden to Communist-Islamist Somalia dictator

    Somalian dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, whom the Omar family served.
    Omar spent the first ten years of her life as a member of a family that owed its livelihood to the regime of Mohammed Siad Barre. Her family is described as “civil servants and educators” – all dependent on the regime and executing its orders.

    Her father was a “teacher trainer.” Omar has never explained exactly what a “teacher trainer” in Somalia was or did in the Siad Barre government.

    A teacher trainer in any revolutionary communist regime is the political commissar who trains teachers on how to indoctrinate children.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273538/terrorist-caucus-house-david-horowitz

  20. WOW! Hillary Clinton Discusses “Roadmap” to Impeachment — Says Trump Should Have been Indicted by Mueller Probe

    Let it go, Hillary.
    On Tuesday Hillary Clinton spoke at the TIME 100 conference of top celebrities for the year.

    Hillary Clinton spoke briefly about the Mueller Report during her remarks.

    Hillary Clinton: I’m really of the mind that the Mueller report is part of the beginning…because there’s still so much more that we should know and that we should act upon… And we’re a long way from knowing because we need to get the full report — the unredacted version.

  21. Should children be allowed to participate in drag shows? One Ohio legislator says no. Following a nine-year-old boy’s controversial performance, Republican representative Timothy Schaffer has proposed a bill that would ban child drag shows, along with any staged events that simulate sexual activities.

    “Given our heightened focus on human trafficking and the role money plays in trafficking children, I knew I had to take action to make sure this activity does not occur again,” Schaffer said in a statement to Fox 8, adding, “We can do better to protect innocent children and we must do better.”

    https://www.fatherly.com/news/ohio-ban-child-drag-shows-nine-year-old-performance/

  22. TONALA, Mexico (AP) — Central American migrants traveling through southern Mexico toward the U.S. on Tuesday fearfully recalled their frantic escape from police the previous day, scuttling under barbed wire fences into pastures and then spending the night in the woods after hundreds were detained in a raid.

    In the Chiapas state town of Tonala, migrants flocked to one of the few places they felt they could be safe — the local Roman Catholic church — only to start with fear at the sound of a passing ambulance’s siren.

    “There are people still lost up in the woods. The woods are very dangerous,” said Arturo Hernández, a sinewy 59-year-old farmer from Comayagua, Honduras, who fled through the woods with his grandson. “They waited until we were resting and fell upon us, grabbing children and women.”

    Mexican immigration authorities said 371 people were detained Monday in what was the largest single raid so far on a migrant caravan since the groups started moving through the country last year.

    Journalists from The Associated Press saw police target isolated groups at the tail end of a caravan of about 3,000 near Pijijiapan, wrestling migrants into police vehicles for transport and presumably deportation as children wailed.

    https://apnews.com/4fee9cc2440b4f6a852d190ae30ba3fb

  23. The Florida state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would permit teachers to carry firearms on school grounds if local school boards agree to allow staffers to carry their firearms.

    The Senate voted 22-17, mostly along party lines, to approve the bill, setting up a vote in the state House.

    Should the legislation be signed into law, local school boards and charter school governing boards would still have to vote on if they would authorize teachers to be armed on their individual campuses.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has expressed an openness to allowing teachers to bring firearms to schools.

    Teachers who volunteer to bring guns to schools would have to undergo a psychological test and at least 144 hours of training, the results of which have to be approved by law enforcement.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/440247-florida-senate-approves-bill-allowing-armed-teachers

  24. London bloodbath: ANOTHER stabbing in the capital after knife fight breaks out in Wembley (express, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1117909/london-stabbing-wembley-knife-crime-fight-latest-police-injured

    “A 28-YEAR-OLD man has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed multiple times after a fight broke out in north west London.

    Police were called to Preston Road, in Wembley, at 6.33pm this evening, to reports of men fighting. They found the victim with stab wounds and he was taken to hospital, but no firther information about his condition is known yet. No arrests have been made, but anyone with information should call police on 101 with the crime reference number: CAD 6619/23Apr.

    This stabbing comes after a man was stabbed in West Drayton, Hillingdon this afternoon.

    This is a breaking story. More information to follow.”

  25. CENTCOM Designated Terror Organization by Iranian MPs (tasnimnews, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2019/04/23/1995739/centcom-designated-terror-organization-by-iranian-mps

    “Iran’s Parliament designated the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization.

    The parliamentarians on Tuesday labeled CENTCOM and all forces and institutions under its command as “terrorist” organizations.

    The designation was part of a major plan for retaliatory action after the US move to blacklist the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

    According to bill, passed by a unanimous vote, CENTCOM and all forces, organizations and entities under its command are declared terrorist organizations.

    The bill also emphasizes that any military, intelligence, financial, technical, training or logistical support for CENTCOM forces with the purpose of confrontation with the IRGC and Iran will be tantamount to partnership in an act of terrorism.

    The US move to blacklist the IRGC was in brazen violation of international law and weakens regional and international peace and security, the bill says.

    On April 8, US President Donald Trump designated the IRGC a foreign “terrorist organization”, marking the first time the US has formally labelled another country’s military a terrorist group.

    Responding to the move, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council immediately declared the US as a state sponsor of terrorism and US forces in the region terrorists.

    The SNSC said it has put CENTCOM on its terror list as a “reciprocal measure” against the US “illegal and unwise” move.”

  26. 88.83% of Egyptians Back Constitutional Changes (aawsat, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1691941/8883-egyptians-back-constitutional-changes

    “Voters in Egypt approved constitutional amendments allowing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to remain in power until 2030.

    Lasheen Ibrahim, the head of Egypt’s National Election Authority, told a news conference on Tuesday that the amendments to the 2014 constitution were approved with 88.83% voting in favor, with a turnout of 44.33%.

    He said that more than 23.4 million voters had endorsed the changes in the referendum.

    The nationwide referendum took place over three days, from Saturday through Monday.

    Parliament overwhelmingly approved the amendments last week.”

  27. Morocco Arrests 6 ISIS-linked Militants (aawsat, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1691936/morocco-arrests-6-isis-linked-militants

    “Moroccan authorities said Tuesday they had arrested seven militants with links to ISIS.

    An initial group of six suspects, aged between 22 and 28, were “supporters” of ISIS and suspected of planning “terrorist acts”, the central bureau of investigations said in a statement.

    They were arrested in the coastal town of Sale, near Rabat, in a raid led by the bureau’s anti-terrorism squad.

    Electronic devices, bladed weapons and “extremist” documents, were found during the raid, it said.

    Investigators later said a seventh person had been arrested in the Western Sahara town of Dakhla on suspicion of links with the Sale detainees.”

  28. Men with French passports crossing from Libya are linked to Haftar: Tunisian source (mee, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/men-french-passports-crossing-libya-are-linked-haftar-tunisian-source

    “Thirteen armed men with French diplomatic passports, who were detained in Tunisia last week while crossing from Libya, were providing logistical support to the forces of Libyan general Khalifa Haftar in his offensive on Tripoli, Tunisian sources have told Middle East Eye.

    Paris dismissed the incident through its embassy in Tunis last week, saying that the individuals were a part of the security detail to “ensure the safety” of the country’s ambassador in Libya.

    MEE has obtained photos of the squad’s passports – all men between their mid-20s and mid-30s. The group was stopped while attempting to cross into Tunisia through the coastal crossing of Ras Ajdir. They had arms and ammunition, according to Tunisian officials.

    A separate group of European citizens was also intercepted by Tunisian authorities last week while trying to cross into the country from Libya by sea.

    MEE contacted the French Foreign Ministry for comment on the allegations, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

    Allegations of French support for Haftar, including forces on the ground, are potentially embarrassing for France, especially after Paris expressed support for “the legitimate government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and the mediation of the UN”.

    Last week, the European Union also recognised the government in Tripoli and German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned Haftar.

    At the same time, the interior ministry in Tripoli accused Paris of supporting Haftar, suspending all security agreements with France…”

  29. Iraq: Number of attacks on families of Daesh members on the rise (memo, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190423-iraq-number-of-attacks-on-families-of-daesh-members-on-the-rise/

    “The number of crimes against families of Daesh members has increased in Mosul, Wadallah Al-Khafaf, a judge at the Criminal Court in Nineveh, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

    Al-Khafaf explained that the court has recently reviewed a case in which a man whose family was hurt by the group’s actions stormed the house of a Daesh member and murdered his mother and sister.

    He added that in another case “the sons of a man who was executed by Daesh members in Mosul stormed his home and executed his mother.”

    The court has also reviewed a case in which a man killed the sister of a Daesh militant while she returned from school in revenge for the murder of his wife and children by the group’s militants, he said.

    The Mosul District Council has ordered that the families of Daesh members be moved to camps to protect them from revenge attacks and provide them with “psychological rehabilitation” to help them reintegrate into the community.

    In mid-July last year, the Iraqi authorities in Nineveh opened the first rehabilitation camp in Bartella district where dozens of families were treated for at least two months before returning to Mosul.”

  30. Islamists make comeback in union elections in Jordan (memo, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190423-islamists-make-comeback-in-union-elections-in-jordan/

    “The Islamist faction in Jordan, which is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood group, has made a series of consecutive electoral wins in the country’s professional syndicates in less than a month, having obtained the majority of seats in the teachers’ and medical doctors’ associations, the Student Union of the University of Jordan, and the student association at the Faculty of Technological Engineering

    Such electoral results in favour of Islamists had been absent for several years partially due to interventions from the state, such as the state’s backing of rival candidates, which was the case in the Jordan Engineers Association’s elections.

    In 2018 the Muslim Brotherhood lost the Jordan Engineers Association elections, which was a first given that the association had been a stronghold for the group since 1992. In May 2018, a ticket representing a coalition of leftists, pan-Arabists, and secularists won the presidency and deputy presidency in the association’s 2018 election.”

  31. Migrants in Libyan jail were reportedly seriously wounded in shooting (memo, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190423-migrants-in-libyan-jail-were-reportedly-seriously-wounded-in-shooting/

    “Migrants in a detention facility in the Libyan capital Tripoli have reportedly been seriously wounded in a random shooting, the UN migration agency IOM said on Tuesday.

    IOM gave no more details of the incident which it said took place in a facility in Qasr Ben Ghashir, a southern suburb fought over by forces loyal to Libya’s rival governments…”

  32. Egypt to turn to private sector to restore historic buildings (memo, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190423-egypt-to-turn-to-private-sector-to-restore-historic-buildings/

    “Egypt’s government is drawing up a plan to turn over as many as 150 crumbling historic buildings to the private sector to refurbish and lease out for profit, the Minister of Public Enterprise said on Tuesday.

    The plan could potentially save an eclectic mix of neo-classical, beaux-arts, art nouveau, art deco and early modern styles built mostly in the first half of the 20th century then nationalised in the early 1960s.

    It could also revitalise important tourism districts in central Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said on the Suez Canal.

    The buildings have fallen into various degrees of disrepair for lack of funding and maintenance, with many tenants paying tiny sums for units that have remained rent-controlled for more than half a century…”

  33. Ten Kosovo women under house arrest after returning from Syria (reuters, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kosovo-syria-court/ten-kosovo-women-under-house-arrest-after-returning-from-syria-idUSKCN1RZ29S

    “Ten women repatriated to Kosovo from Syria at the weekend have been placed under house arrest on charges of participating in terrorist groups, a court said on Tuesday.

    They were among a group of 110 Kosovo citizens brought back on Saturday from Syria, including 32 women, 74 children and four jihadists who had gone to fight in the country’s civil war.

    The four fighters were immediately arrested and detained for one month awaiting questioning.

    The women and children were sent to the Foreign Detention Centre in the outskirts of Pristina but were freed to go home after 72 hours.

    Ten women were seen entering Pristina Basic Court in a police escort on Tuesday. The court said in a statement later that they had been placed under house arrest on charges of joining foreign armed groups and terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq from 2014 to 2019.

    The state prosecution said all 32 repatriated women are under investigation and more of them are expected to appear in front of judges on Wednesday.

    The prosecution has yet to file indictments…”

  34. New Zealand, France plan bid to tackle online extremism (reuters, Apr 23, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-shooting-facebook/new-zealand-france-plan-bid-to-tackle-online-extremism-idUSKCN1RZ2GQ

    “In the wake of the Christchurch attack, New Zealand said on Wednesday that it would work with France to bring together countries and tech companies in an effort to stop social media from being used to promote terrorism and violent extremism.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement that she will co-chair a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on May 15 that will seek to have world leaders and CEOs of tech companies agree to a pledge, called the Christchurch Call, to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.

    A lone gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, while livestreaming the massacre on Facebook.

    Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with 50 counts of murder for the mass shooting.

    “It’s critical that technology platforms like Facebook are not perverted as a tool for terrorism, and instead become part of a global solution to countering extremism,” Ardern said in the statement.

    “This meeting presents an opportunity for an act of unity between governments and the tech companies,” she added.

    The meeting will be held alongside the Tech for Humanity meeting of G7 digital ministers, of which France is the chair, and France’s separate Tech for Good summit, both on 15 May, the statement said.

    Ardern will also meet with civil society leaders on May 14 to discuss the content of the call.

    Facebook Inc, the world’s largest social network with 2.7 billion users, has faced criticism since the Christchurch attack that it failed to tackle extremism.

    One of the main groups representing Muslims in France has said it was suing Facebook and YouTube, a unit of Alphabet’s Google, accusing them of inciting violence by allowing the streaming of the Christchurch massacre on their platforms.

    Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said last month that the company was looking to place restrictions on who can go live on its platform based on certain criteria.

    “Social media platforms can connect people in many very positive ways, and we all want this to continue,” said Ardern.

    “But for too long, it has also been possible to use these platforms to incite extremist violence, and even to distribute images of that violence, as happened in Christchurch. This is what needs to change,” she said.”