Contributor’s links for June 1, 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 must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

78 Replies to “Contributor’s links for June 1, 2019”

  1. FBI Concerned with Release of Terrorists who Completed Jail Time (aawsat, Jun 1, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1749471/fbi-concerned-release-terrorists-who-completed-jail-time

    “The release of convicted terrorists after they complete prison sentences is “absolutely a concern,” a senior FBI counter-terrorism official said, according to NPR earlier this week.

    The remarks followed hours after the “American Taliban,” John Walker Lindh, exited a prison in Indiana after serving 17 years behind bars for providing support to the Taliban.

    Relatives of Johnny “Mike” Spann, a CIA operative who died in Afghanistan after questioning Lindh — and even Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — have raised questions about whether Lindh has forsaken his ties to violent extremists.

    Nearly 18 years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, a wave of defendants convicted of supporting terrorist groups or committing acts of violence is starting to leave prisons and jails.

    Lindh is perhaps the most high-profile example.

    At a briefing for reporters at FBI headquarters in Washington, the counter-terrorism official — who asked not to be identified discussing the prospect of future threats — said special agents near the sites of prisons designated for terrorists in Colorado and Indiana have several options to follow up if needed.

    “Could be a case. Could be interviews with them, [putting] agents in front of them,” he said.

    The FBI official said the overall threat from terrorism is both “high tempo” and evolving.

    He highlighted a “significant increase” in racially motivated violent extremism from last fall to earlier this year, on track to meet or exceed last year’s 120 domestic terrorism arrests.

    During the first two quarters of this fiscal year, the FBI made 66 domestic terror-related arrests and 63 international terrorism arrests, he said.

    “Domestic terror represents a persistent and evolving threat,” the FBI official said.

    There have been more deaths in the US from acts of domestic terror than from international terrorism, he added. And as with international terror, there’s been an evolution in the threat from big conspiracies — plots like the September 11, 2001 hijackings — toward lone offenders, giving agents fewer “dots to connect.”

    The FBI official declined to attribute a reason for the rise in home-grown, domestic terrorism, but he said that such cases can pose a series of their own challenges for investigators.

    As compared with international terrorism, there’s no American government entity that can designate entire groups as problematic, exposing them to financial sanctions or other measures.

    The US can declare all of al-Qaeda a threat, for example — and take military, diplomatic, financial or other action — but there’s no simple analog for a domestic group.

    Another challenge: beliefs of domestic radicals are protected by the First Amendment.

    “We cannot and do not investigate ideology,” the FBI official said. “Membership in a group is never a sufficient basis for investigation.”

    As a result, federal authorities often work hand-in-hand with state or local law enforcement agencies, charging and arresting suspects with unrelated gun and drug offenses, to try to disrupt violent plots before they come to fruition.

    One bright spot is that more good tips are coming in from the public and state or local police, the majority of which are “spot on,” the FBI official said.

    Overall, the FBI has nearly 5,000 open terrorism investigations in the United States and beyond. About 850 of those cases involve domestic terrorism; 1,000 or so are related to ISIS; and 1,000 more are home-grown violent extremists, often radicalized via online propaganda.

    “Eighteen years after 9/11, we don’t want Americans to forget that the threat is still very real,” the official said.

    Of al-Qaeda, he said: “They’re not down and out. They’re strategic.””

  2. Homemade Army Drones Successfully Strike Terror Targets in Algeria (aawsat, Jun 1, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1749661/homemade-army-drones-successfully-strike-terror-targets-algeria

    “Algeria’s Defense Ministry published a statement revealing that Algerian-made army drones struck terror targets near the country’s southern borders.

    This is the first time the ministry publicizes operating locally-made drones since it first declared war on terror in the mid-90s.

    In a statement, the Ministry of Defense said the flights were ordered by Algerian Army Chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who paid a visit to the “sixth military zone” (near borders with Niger) in the last four days.

    It also highlighted the role of Algerian-made drones in counterterror operations, adding that the aircrafts were capable of operating both nighttime and daytime missions effectively.

    Despite saying targets were successfully struck, the statement did not mention the toll inflicted on terrorist formations.

    In a related context, the Ministry of Defense announced that the army had discovered a weapons and munitions depot north-east the In Amenas town which lies on southeastern borders with Syria.

    The weapons cache included rocket launchers and RPG-7 missiles, as well as machine guns, pistols, and ammunition.”

  3. HRW Condemns France ‘Outsourcing’ of ISIS Trials to Iraq (aawsat, Jun 1, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1749386/hrw-condemns-france-outsourcing-isis-trials-iraq

    “Human Rights Watch on Friday condemned France’s “outsourcing” of trials of ISIS group suspects to “abusive justice systems”, after seven of its nationals have this week been sentenced to death in Iraq.

    Two of them have “alleged that they were tortured or coerced to confess”, the New York-based watchdog said in a statement.

    “France and other countries should not be outsourcing management of their terrorism suspects to abusive justice systems,” said HRW’s acting Middle East director, Lama Fakih.

    “These countries should not be sitting idly by while their citizens are transferred to a country where their right to a fair trial and protection from torture are undermined.”

    A Baghdad court sentenced a Frenchman to death on Wednesday for joining ISIS, bringing to seven the number of French militants on death row in Iraq.

    Yassine Sakkam’s sentence came despite France reiterating its opposition to capital punishment this week.

    In January, a group of 11 French citizens and one Tunisian was handed over to Iraqi authorities by a US-backed force which expelled the militant group from its last bastion in Syria.

    Around 1,000 suspected foreign ISIS fighters are held in detention by this Kurdish force and Iraq has offered to put them on trial in exchange for millions of dollars, potentially solving a legal conundrum for Western governments but sparking rights concerns.

    France has long insisted its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial before local courts, while stressing its opposition to capital punishment.

    Iraqi law provides for the death penalty for anyone joining a “terrorist group” — even those who did not take up arms.

    HRW said it had documented cases of Iraqi interrogators “using a range of torture techniques, including beating suspects on the soles of their feet, internationally known as ‘falaka’, and waterboarding, which would not leave lasting marks on the person´s body”.

    It also condemned “the routine failure of the Iraqi justice system to credibly investigate torture allegations”.

    Before that, in all but one case observed by HRW since 2016, trials had consisted of “a judge briefly interviewing the defendant, usually relying solely on a confession, often coerced, with no effective legal representation”.

    A group representing the families of French militants has asked the government in Paris to “do everything possible to stop this fatal chain of death sentences” and to try them “on our soil”.

    On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was stepping up efforts to stop Iraq executing those convicted.”

  4. Saudis furious after Turkey ‘admits stealing’ holy Black Stone from Mecca (alaraby, Jun 1, 2019)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/6/1/saudis-furious-after-turkey-admits-stealing-holy-black-stone

    “Saudi social media entered a frenzy after Turkish state media released a report flaunting a Mosque that is decorated with fragments from the black stone, a sacred part of the Kaaba located in the holy city of Mecca.

    The Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque in Istanbul has been home to parts of the Black Stone, which is considered to be one of the stones of Paradise, for decades, but the release of the report sparked controversy among Saudis online.

    “For nearly five centuries, the Mosque of Sogululu Mohammed Pasha has been home to four pieces of Black Stone in the Kaaba, which is believed to be a gem of paradise, and has a special place in the Islamic religion,” the Turkish Anadolu news agency said in an Arabic-language report published on Thursday.

    The four stones were brought back from Saudi Arabia by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman when he “found” them, according to the article.

    “The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent brought these pieces, which were separated from the Black Stone, to Istanbul, and the architect Sinan installed four of them in the mosque of Sogullo Mohammed Pasha”, the article said.

    Social media users in Saudi Arabia found the report and with fury, claimed the four fragments of the black stone were “stolen” by the Ottoman Empire Sultan.

    “Just look at this arrogance displayed”, Saudi Prince Sattam bin Khalid Al Saud tweeted as he lashed out at the report.

    “You boast of stealing pieces of the Black Stone to be placed in your mosques though the contents of the Prophet’s room was not delivered from you.”

    “The Qarmatians stole the Black Stone for 22 years and the Ottomans have stolen it for 500 years”, he added in his rant.

    “The Turkish thugs have recognised theft of part of the Black Stone and the intrusion on the holy sites”, another Twitter account said.

    The Black Stone is located in the eastern corner of the Kaaba – the building which Muslims face when praying around the world.

    Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage to Mecca traditionally stop to kiss the black stone while they circulate the Kaaba.”

  5. Iranian president says talks possible only if Washington shows “respect” (reuters, Jun 1, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-rouhani/iranian-president-says-talks-possible-only-if-washington-shows-respect-idUSKCN1T23BE

    “President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday suggested Iran may be willing to hold talks if the United States showed it respect, but said Tehran would not be pressured into negotiations, the semi-official Fars news agency reported…”

  6. Egypt’s Sisi calls on Islamic states to work together against terrorism (ahram, Jun 1, 2019)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/335551/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-calls-on-Islamic-states-to-work-togeth.aspx

    “Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed that it is unacceptable to blame Muslims for terrorism, calling on all Islamic states to work together against the problem.

    “Let’s state it clearly, it’s unacceptable…to try to pin terrorism and extremism on our noble religion, which is innocent [of them],” the Egyptian President said in his speech at the meeting by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca on Friday night.

    El-Sisi added that the OIC has a dual mission: to combat Islamophobia, including discrimination and hate speech against Muslims; and to fight terrorism and related extremist speech by those who exploit religion and defame its image and tolerant teaching.

    El-Sisi also shed light on terrorism, which he said is the top challenge faced by Muslim nations, and by the world at large.

    “Egypt has taken the initiative through calling on all to intensify efforts to eliminate this phenomenon completely, and refuse to connect it with a specific religion, culture, or a particular race,” he said, adding that the issue needs efforts from all Islamic states to activate international and regional mechanisms to fight it.

    He said Egypt will not spare any effort to support and boost the OIC as a main umbrella for Islamic work in various fields.

    Egypt is keen to participate in initiatives by the organisation in the belief that the size of challenges faced by the Muslim world call for unity and a unified voice, he said.

    “Without this unity, how will we be able to combat an unprecedented wave of instability, political and security tensions which sweep our Islamic world and threaten to undermine its leadership and associations and transform it from a cooperation welcoming space to a space of polarisation and rejection?” El-Sisi said.”

  7. Attack on Muslim cemetery shows rising Islamophobia: Expert (hdn, Jun 1, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/attack-on-muslim-cemetery-shows-rising-islamophobia-expert-143871

    “A recent attack on a Muslim cemetery in Greece shows the rise of Islamophobia and racism both there and throughout the continent, according to an expert on the region.

    A Muslim cemetery in the city of Alexandroupolis was found on May 28 to have suffered an attack by unknown assailants, who left behind damaged tombstones scrawled with racist slogans.

    The city lies in Western Thrace, a region of Greece with a substantial ethnic Turkish population of about 150,000.

    Nazi symbols and the logo of the Greek far-right political party, Golden Dawn, were spray-painted on the Muslim tombstones, and leaflets of the party littered the cemetery.

    The Golden Dawn leaflets bore the slogan, “Greece belongs to the Greeks.”

    “This kind of attack in Greece is not happening for the first time, and it will not be the last,” Ali Hüseyino?lu of Trakya University’s Balkan Research Institute, who hails from Western Thrace, told Anadolu Agency.

    “This attack is a very good indicator and part of the rising Islamophobia and racism in Europe and Greece in recent years,” he explained.

    Hüseyino?lu said that through such racist Islamophobic attacks, people who hate Islam and Turks send the message that as they do not respect the remains of Muslims past, they do not respect Muslims at all.

    “This attack targeted Muslim Turks and Islam in Western Thrace,” said Hüseyino?lu.

    “This attack demonstrates the presence of those who are disturbed by the Muslim Turkish identity in Western Thrace,” he added.

    It taking place in Alexandroupolis, a part of western Thrace “where pluralism and the culture of coexistence prevails is very significant,” he explained.

    “The fact that people from different religions and ethnicities have been living side-by-side for centuries has been an important feature of Western Thrace.”

    Hüseyino?lu stressed that such attacks do not help the integration of the minority into the majority of society.

    Hüseyino?lu stressed that this attack was not an isolated event and it was probably organized.

    Although when exactly the attack took place is not yet known, Hüseyino?lu said its timing was deliberate and meaningful.

    The attack was reported just after the last May 27s European Parliament (EP) elections in Greece, according to Hüseyino?lu.

    “It is important that the attack was carried out after the [European] election,” he said.

    Underlining that in that election Greece’s Friendship, Equality and Peace Party (FEP) won the support of ethnic Turks living in the country, Hüseyino?lu said this attack may have carried out in response to the party’s success.

    The party got a plurality of support in Rhodopi and Xanthi, two provinces in the Western Thrace region with a sizeable Turkish minority, thus making the party win the first place at both Rhodopi and Xanthi prefectures.

    No effective sanctions

    Hüseyino?lu underlined that senior Greek officials issued condemnations of such attacks rather than taking effective counter-measures so as to prevent such hate-motivated attacks. The Golden Dawn Party condemned the attack as well.

    “To date, about 90% of Islamophobic and other hate-motivated attacks suspects have not been identified or arrested, while a large part of the arrested attackers have not been punished,” he said.

    According to data from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), of 128 hate crime incidents recorded by Greek police in 2017, only 46 resulted in prosecutions, and a mere six resulted in sentences.

    Decrying the lack of deterrents against Islamophobic attacks, Hüseyino?lu said: “Such Islamophobic attacks are likely to continue because there are no effective sanctions or effective judicial mechanisms.”

    Hüseyino?lu also stressed that it is normal to have such attacks in a country like Greece, where even some of the top politicians and clergy do not hesitate to use Islamophobic rhetoric.

    Far-right parties on rise across Europe

    Underlining that on May 27 the Golden Dawn Party won two seats in the European Parliament, Hüseyino?lu said: “The success of the far-right party in elections shows that ethnic nationalism, racism, and Islamophobia are prevalent in Greece.”

    “The Golden Dawn Party is on rise, just as other Islamophobic, racist and anti-Turkish parties are on the rise across Europe.””

  8. MEMRIFmr. Yazidi Iraqi MP: Iraq Registers Children of Yazidi Women Raped by ISIS Members as Muslims

    Former Yazidi Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil was interviewed on Al-Arabiya Network (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) on April 30, 2019.

    She criticized the Iraqi government for registering the children of Yazidi women who were raped by ISIS members as Muslims even though it is often said that ISIS does not represent Islam and that ISIS members aren’t real Muslims.

    She said that children that are registered as Muslims cannot be accepted into the Yazidi faith and society, and that there are many cases in which Yazidi women have given their children to orphanages or did not return to the Yazidi community because of the children.

    She said that while these Yazidi women could move to another country and register the children under their name, the Iraqi government should change the Personal Status Law and other laws so that the state can recognize the children as Yazidis if they are brought up in Yazidi society.

    She also said that the international community must intervene to protect these women and children.

  9. Swedish Populists Most Likely to Be Threatened and Harassed for Views (breitbart, Jun 1, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/06/01/swedish-populists-most-likely-be-threatened-harassed/

    “A study by polling firm Demoskop has revealed that as many as three in ten Swedish politicians face threats and harassment, but the populist Sweden Democrats are disproportionately targeted.

    In the study, Demoskop asked 4,279 municipal politicians across the country, “Have you been subjected to threats or harassment in connection with your political trust assignments during the past year?” and found that 29 per cent of the respondents said they had experienced threats in public or private, physical violence, or vandalism, Dagens Samhälle reports.

    When the study looked at the populist Sweden Democrats (SD), the rate of politicians who have experienced threats or violence increased from 29 per cent to 47 per cent.

    Emilia Orpana, group leader for SD in Nynäshamn, claimed she had even been the subject of a verbal attack on an election day.

    “We stood outside a polling station and handed out ballot papers,” she recalled.

    “Two guys felt provoked that it said Swedish Democrats on my shirt,” she said, claiming the two men threatened to kill her.

    During the European Parliament election campaign, a 15-year-old boy who was aiding the Sweden Democrats was physically attacked by a group of people after attempting to capture a photo of one member of the group, who had previously assaulted him by throwing soda over him.

    Several days after the incident, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson was also targeted when an unknown individual threw a large firework known as a “banger” — outlawed in Britain — at his car following a campaign meeting.

    Sweden is not the only country in Europe where populist politicians face threats, harassment, and violence. In Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has seen several acts of violence directed at them and their property.

    This year alone, an AfD office in Döbeln was bombed and MP Frank Magnitz was brutally attacked by masked men with the far-left extremist Antifa group later allegedly taking credit for what some dubbed an attempted assassination.