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.
Australia: Twelve injured after car crashes into hijab shop in Sidney
Twelve people were injured after a car ploughed into a hijab shop at a busy intersection in Sydney on Thursday. The 51-year-old driver of the vehicle was arrested.
Malik Islam, the owner of a shop on the opposite corner of Hijab House in the neighbourhood of Greenacre, said that according to his CCTV footage, the driver appeared stiff and lifeless.
“One of the cars was actually rear-ending another car, a lot of smoking was coming up, so one car, Iike an SUV, was pushing another car forward, as that car moved out of the way, the other car just ploughed straight into the shop. Looking at the gentleman, he looked lifeless, it was almost along the lines of he was either not aware of what was going on, he was stroking or under some form of medication,” said the shop owner.
Ten of the injured people were taken to hospital with one person in serious condition. Police said “it is too early in the investigation” to establish whether the driver experienced a medical episode.
NGOS AND THE JUDGES OF THE ECHR, 2009 – 2019
This report exposes the relationships existing between several judges of the European Court of Human Rights and NGOs that are active before this Court. It analyzes the various problems that these connections cause, and seeks solutions.
Download Our Report.
https://eclj.org/ngos-and-the-judges-of-the-echr?lng=en
paul j watson – Send in the Clowns
Something that was forgotten, reappeared and then quickly removed again.
The nefarious ways of the Autocrats (EU) to destroy our Home Countries and to turn us into Slaves.
A CASE OF TREASON Document FCO 30 1048
http://www.acasefortreason.co.uk/fco-30-1048/
Thanks H~
~ definitely worth the read.
Ankara Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ After Haftar’s Air Force Reveals Plan to Strike Turkish Units (sputniknews, May 21, 2020)
https://sputniknews.com/africa/202005211079375122-ankara-warns-of-serious-consequences-after-haftars-air-force-reveals-plan-to-strike-turkish-units/
“Turkey began sending troops to Libya in January to shore up the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). Before that, Ankara provided the GNA with military equipment to assist Tripoli in its ongoing campaign against the Tobruk-based government and the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy has warned that there would be serious consequences for Gen. Haftar’s forces if the Libyan National Army attacked Turkish troops operating in Libya.
“We emphasize once again that in the case of striking our interest in Libya – doing so would lead to serious consequences, and we will consider Haftar’s forces a legitimate target for attack,” Aksoy said, speaking to reporters on Thursday.
Aksoy’s comments came in the wake of remarks by Libyan National Army Air Force commander Saqr al-Jaroushi earlier in the day warning that “the largest aerial campaign in Libyan history” would be launched “in the coming hours” targeting Turkish forces.
“All Turkish targets in occupied areas of Libya are legitimate targets for the LNA’s fighter planes. We assure our people that we will defend them with all means available to us until we kill the enemy or perish on our own land,” al-Jaroushi was quoted as saying, adding that civilians are urged to stay away from these sites.
“This is the last time we are warning those deceived persons who have joined the ranks of the [GNA] militias: surrender or be annihilated, and there won’t even be anything left of their bodies to bury,” the officer warned.
Commenting on the remarks, Aksoy suggested it was “noteworthy that this statement was made after new military aircraft were deployed in eastern Libya through external support.”…”
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/05/the_truth_about_muslims_jerusalem_day_and_the_al_aqsa_mosque_comments.html#comments-container
Strategic Revelations from Susan Rice
Her boss sent women to perform his dirty work.
May 21, 2020
Lloyd Billingsley
n her now fully declassified January 20, 2017 email to herself, former national security advisor Susan Rice three times claimed everything about incoming Gen. Michael Flynn was done “by the book.” In the January 5, 2017 meeting, Rice wrote, “President Obama asked if Comey was saying that the NSC should not pass sensitive information related to Russia to Flynn. Comey replied ‘potentially.’ He added that he has no indication that Flynn has passed classified information to Kislyak, but he noted that ‘the level of communication is unusual.”
On March 22, 2017, Judy Woodruff of PBS asked Susan Rice about President Trump’s claim that that the Obama administration had surveilled his campaign in 2016. “Nothing of the sort occurred,” said Rice.
On April 4, 2017, Woodruff confronted Rice with revelations from House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes. As the California Republican charged, during the final days of the Obama administration, the president-elect and the people around him may have been caught up in surveillance of foreign individuals and their identities may have been disclosed. Woodruff wondered, “Do you know anything about this?”
https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/strategic-revelations-susan-rice-lloyd-billingsley
Bring Grandma-Killing Governors to Justice
When the lives of thousands of grandmas matter less than the shooting of one thug.
May 21, 2020
Daniel Greenfield
n April, Governor Gretchen Whitmer posed and primped on The Daily Show in a “That Woman from Michigan” t-shirt as a narcissistic slam at President Trump. That same month, that woman from Michigan issued an executive order, that the Daily Show and SNL didn’t mention, “protecting” residents of long-term care facilities, by forcing nursing homes to admit patients infected with the coronavirus.
Her order dictated that a “long-term care facility must not prohibit admission or readmission of a resident based on COVID-19 testing requirements or results” and told hospitals to discharge coronavirus patients back to the homes they had come from. Some nursing homes were designated as ‘hubs’ and coronavirus patients were transferred into them, even though these facilities had uninfected residents.
Despite claims that these ‘hubs’ would carefully separate infected and uninfected patients, that didn’t always happen. While there had been a plan to move coronavirus seniors to the 1,000 bed TCF Center in Detroit which was being used as an overflow hospital for coronavirus patients, they were instead sent to nursing homes. The TCF Center only ended up treating 39 patients before being mothballed.
https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/bring-grandma-killing-governors-justice-daniel-greenfield
He doesn’t list Gov Charlie Baker (R-MA)!
Just because he’s technically a Rep?!
RINO grandma killer!
RINO Vietnam vet killer!
zero hedge – YouTube Censors Video With Medical Doctors Saying Hydroxychloroquine Might Help Treat COVID-19
YouTube on Wednesday reinstated a video it has previously censored in which several medical doctors suggested that the drug hydroxychloroquine might be useful in treating coronavirus, with the company reportedly claiming at the time of censorship that the presentation was “dangerous.”
The video report, presented by Sharyl Attkisson at Full Measure News, examined the possible benefits of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 and the possible financial interest some parties have in downplaying the drug and promoting a separate treatment called remdesivir.
One of the doctors interviewed in the video, William O’Neill, tells Attkisson, also a Just the News contributor, that there is “some value” to hydroxychloroquine and “it has to be tested.”
O’Neill, a cardiologist in Detroit, has prescribed the drug to multiple patients and “saw improvement in all of them,” Attkisson reported.
At the Henry Ford Health System, where O’Neill works, officials are working with hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir. The doctor said the media campaign against the drug, which began around the time President Trump first started touting it, has left patients “scared to use the drug without any scientifically valid concern.”
“We’ve talked with our colleagues at the University of Minnesota who are doing a similar study, and at the University of Washington,” he said.
“We’ve treated 400 patients and haven’t seen a single adverse event. And what’s happening is because of this fake news and fake science, the true scientific efforts are being harmed because people now are so worried that they don’t want to enroll in the trials.”
Another physician, Dr. Jane Orient, the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons as well as a clinical lecturer at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, urged viewers to “look at the money” when it comes to the two drugs.
“There’s no big profits made in hydroxychloroquine,” said Orient.
“It’s very cheap, easy to manufacture, been around for 70 years. It’s generic. Remdesivir is a new drug that could be very expensive and very lucrative if it’s ever approved. So I think we really do have to consider there’s some financial interest involved here.”
‘These are organized efforts’
Sharyl Attkisson on Wednesday afternoon told Just the News that it wasn’t immediately clear when the video was removed
It was originally uploaded to YouTube two days ago. Attkisson said YouTube had removed the presentation with a note claiming that it was “dangerous,” without offering any explanation as to why.
She said Full Measure News appealed the removal, after which YouTube subsequently reinstated it.
Attkisson cited a critical report by Media Matters, published the same day as her report, as the likely cause of the removal.
“These are organized efforts,” she said, arguing that politically biased parties are behind efforts to remove or censor contrarian information on social media.
“They know they can use these systems to limit information. It’s very frightening because I feel like if something’s not done, in five years, we’re going to be telling our kids, ‘There was once a time we could get any information we wanted on the Internet.’ That’s changing. We can’t anymore.”
She noted recent efforts by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to pressure social media companies to censor and downgrade “harmful” coronavirus-related material and push users instead toward information from the World Health Organization.
“I don’t know why we’re allowing this,” Attkisson said.
“Nobody appointed Adam Schiff to police our content on social media.”
Full Measure News noted that it tried to contact White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, the drug company Gilead (which manufactures remdesivir), and numerous doctors who have “criticized or are skeptical of hydroxycholoroquine.” None responded to the interview requests.
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/youtube-censors-video-medical-doctors-saying-hydroxychloroquine-might-help-treat-covid-19
===============================================
Hydroxychloroquine | Full Measure
WHO warns of potential side effects of hydroxychloroquine
On Wednesday the WHO stressed that hydroxychloroquine, the drug US President Donald Trump claims to be taking to ward off COVID-19, has not been found to be effective.
Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said the drug is only used in relation to clinical trials.
“Warnings have been issued by many authorities regarding potential side effects of the drug,” he added.
TURKEY – Probe opened after mosques blare ‘Bella Ciao’ from minarets in Turkey’s west
The Italian resistance song Bella Ciao’s Turkish version was broadcast from several mosque minarets in the Aegean province of ?zmir.
Residents in Izmir’s Konak, Karsiyaka, Çigli and Buca districts were stunned by the unexpected “call for prayer” experience as they shared videos of the incident on social media.
Some social media users claimed that this could have been a political action after the version of the song voiced by the Turkish protest music band Grup Yorum.
Some of them labelled the incident as a provocation, citing the holy month of Ramadan.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/probe-opens-after-mosques-blare-bella-ciao-from-minarets-in-turkeys-west-154952
Turkey detains woman for ‘insulting religious values’ in mosques blaring ‘Bella Ciao’ case
Turkish authorities detained a woman in the western province of Izmir on Thursday for ‘insulting religious values’ in an investigation over mosques sounding Italian resistance song “Bella Ciao” from their minarets, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Earlier on Thursday, another person was also detained but later released, it said.
Ali Erbas, the head of Turkey’s top religious body, the Religious Affairs Directorate said the authorities had launched investigations into social media accounts praising the incident, T24 reported.
“We filed a criminal complaint about this incident, which deeply hurt all Muslims in the holy month of Ramadan, and an investigation was launched by the responsible authorities against the ones who carried out this provocative action, shared the videos and praised this ugly act on their social media accounts,” Erbas said.
Residents in Izmir were stunned by an unexpected “call for prayer” experience when several mosques sounded “Bella Ciao” from their minarets on Wednesday.
Mosques throughout Turkey have been reciting a chapter of the quran and supplications daily since March to “boost morale” during the coronavirus pandemic.
https://ahvalnews.com/bella-ciao/turkey-detains-woman-insulting-religious-values-mosques-blaring-bella-ciao-case
LoL !!“Nearly All the Doctors Who Have Died of Covid-19 in the UK Have Been Ethnic Minorities”
May 21, 2020
Daniel Greenfield
It’s an interesting data point. I touched on it while writing about immigrant workers in Swedish nursing homes.
https://cms.frontpagemag.com/point/2020/05/nearly-all-doctors-who-have-died-covid-19-uk-have-daniel-greenfield
(Richard: I mentioned something about this earlier, the Wuhan Flu is hitting the Mideastern and Far Eastern Asian harder then it hits the Europeans and the Blacks. If Brad Johnson’s theory about the flu being a bio weapons designed to be used against the neighbors of China was it designed to hit those ethnic groups harder the the nuclear armed Europeans? There are some flaws in this theory because Taiwan and South Korea are managing to keep the outbreak under Control. And there hasn’t been any reports taht I have seen about a massive outbreak in the China Towns of North America
I don’t think Brad’s theory holds up. The expertise in this research just isn’t there yet.
In the UK Jews died far out of proportion to their percentage of the pop. Same in Netherlands, NY, and elsewhere.
Of Israelis visiting Morocco who were eventually extracted, 10 out of 36 died. And they weren’t old sick people.
I just read somewhere that the NYT exaggerated the number of cases among Orthodox Jews in NYC. To make them look bad, or make de Blasio
pukelook righteous.Who knows?
Like Hasidim were held responsible for measles epidemics because they swallowed anti-vaxx propaganda.
That’s what the NYT said, anyway.
we could never know https://outorah.org/p/27225/ ultra orthodox can not count how many are in a group
CONFIRMED: Governor Whitmer Begs Michiganders Not to Travel to their Summer Home — Then Her Cars Are Seen Parked Outside of HER SUMMER HOME!
Tyrannical Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order that banned regular Michiganders from traveling between residences in the state. Whitmer banned travel to summer homes.
Whitmer extended the ban on traveling to summer homes thru April 30th. The ban was lifted but Governor Whitmer begged Michiganders not to travel up north.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/confirmed-governor-whitmer-bans-michiganders-traveling-summer-home-cars-seen-parked-outside-summer-home/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily
Belgian police publishes video of two officers being assaulted. Their union feels the city council isn’t doing enough about “youth” gangs:
https://www.dumpert.nl/filmpjes/item/7915865_fc858d98
Migrants flood reopened asylum office in Greece
https://rmx.news/article/article/migrants-flood-reopened-asylum-office-in-greece
“Masses of migrants flooded the Asylum Office in Athens after the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum decided to reopen the office, closed for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, conservative Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet reports.
Apparently the rush was caused by a lack of information: the foreign nationals flocked there in hopes of getting their applications processed only to learn that it would have required a preliminary hearing. The foreign nationals were hoping to be allowed legal residence in the country.
Meanwhile, Greek police, escalating their tough measures against migration, have been rounding up asylum seekers living in the country and forcibly expelling them to Turkey, according to accounts by migrants, lawyers and human-rights activists.
Greece currently hosts approximately 50,000 refugees, most of whom will remain in the country. There are almost 40,000 people living in reception centers with space for only 6,000. Most of them arrived after Turkey decided to open its borders.
The presence of migrants has led to protests on the islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios. As we recently reported, this year migrants on the island have attacked several sacred places, and reportedly use such attacks as a violent form of protest against the fact that the Greek authorities are preventing their illegal migration towards western Europe. In consequence of acts of vandalism, several liturgical objects and the furnishings of churches have been seriously damaged.”
Migrants accuse Greece of forced deportations
https://www.dw.com/en/migrants-accuse-greece-of-forced-deportations/a-53520642
“New findings suggest Greek authorities are illegally deporting refugees across the Turkish border. As part of an international research team, DW identified and met some of the victims who were forced back…”
Worried Togo Finds Itself on Front Line of Sahel’s Jihadist War
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/05/21/togo-jihadist-war/
“…“The terrorist threat is real and the pressure is very strong… we feel it a little more with each day,” Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe told AFP in February while campaigning for re-election in Dapaong, the main northern town.
Flying by helicopter from the capital Lome, 650 km to the south, the head of state touched down in what has become a “red zone” for tourists, missionaries, and foreign aid personnel, whose work was cut short by a Spanish priest’s murder at a Burkinabe customs post.
Togo has been spared big attacks so far, but its territory has been infiltrated and the armed forces are racing to ready for the worst.
According to confidential military documents seen by AFP, almost 700 Togolese soldiers are deployed in the northernmost Savanes region on the border with Burkina Faso, engaged in Operation Koundjoare launched in 2018. They keep guard at an invisible border of around 100 km, with Ghana to the west and Benin to the east.
The territory serves smugglers, highway robbers, and all sorts of contraband — ivory, weapons, drugs and, above all, gold, one of the main resources of the region.
In these remote areas far from coastal towns and economically developed zones, the trappings of state are mostly absent, so wildlife parks and dense forests have become a sanctuary for the jihadists.
Less than 30 km from the border, a much-feared group has seized control in Burkina Faso’s Pama forest reserve. For two years, it has launched violent raids against travelers and security forces alike.
The fighters — linked to the Ansaroul Islam movement accused of terrorizing northern Burkina Faso and central Mali — are behind the kidnapping of several Westerners in recent years, according to French security forces.
“The north of Togo can allow jihadists to rest up after long campaigns, or to fall back by merging into the population when pressure from the other side is too strong,” one of the sources said, on condition of anonymity.
‘Culture of Distrust’
Where deep poverty prevails, winning villagers’ goodwill is indispensable in the fight against jihadists. The army provides free medical consultations, repairs damaged schools, and builds wells. “Our passage must be visible,” Gnassingbe declared in Dapaong, warning the military against both “bullying” and “petty corruption.”
Elected mayors and district administrators work hand in hand with religious leaders and traditional chiefs to obtain and pass on information.
Togolese authorities count on intelligence services equipped and trained by powers such as Israel, with whom Gnassingbe Eyadema, the president’s father and political predecessor who ruled for 38 years, nurtured close ties.
An intelligence network intercepting communications and putting spies on buses has helped to “dismantle” several “terrorist cells,” with dozens of arrests, according to the government.
Authorities claim that all those picked up are foreigners, mostly Burkinabes, who are extradited to their countries of origin.
The armed forces of Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Ghana have taken part in joint military operations with Burkina Faso since 2017. “Cooperation is undermined by a culture of distrust between states,” says Antonin Tisseron, an associate researcher with the Institut Thomas More, a conservative think tank.
‘Money and Motorbikes’
Togo relies on an experienced army, which has taken part in several United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Most recruits are from the Kabye ethnic group in the north, which has served the ruling dynasty for more than half a century. However, many people fear that the “struggle against terrorism” will also serve to silence critics of 53-year-old Faure Gnassingbe.
In power since 2005, the president has solid support from international partners led by France, despite criticism by human rights organizations of repeated abuse of political foes and activists.
Togo came through a serious political crisis in 2017 and 2018, with mass demonstrations calling on Gnassingbe to resign, particularly from the predominantly Muslim center of the country. Security forces cracked down hard.
“The countries of the Gulf of Guinea present many internal weaknesses,” Tisseron told AFP. “Poverty, the absence of jobs and prospects, the repression of all forms of social protest and the stigmatization of Muslims create a breeding ground where jihadists can thrive.”
Jihadists tend to infiltrate communities in stages, starting with charitable works financed by Islamic organizations abroad.
The newcomers preach a more radical form of Islam than the reputedly moderate faith long practiced by about a quarter of the Togolese population and strictly monitored by the state.
“It begins with ‘raising awareness’ among the masses, without open confrontation with the authorities,” said a Western security source. “Once they feel strong enough, they kill the moderate preachers and then they attack police and gendarmerie posts.”
Last year, a non-governmental organization unknown to local Muslim authorities appeared in Dapaong, where Maman Amadou, the imam of the central mosque, is one of the rare religious leaders openly to challenge extremism.
“They started to preach radical Islam in about 15 villages and to build mosques,” he told AFP. “They even handed out money and motorbikes to young people. The people listened to them.”
“We didn’t know them and they answered none of our summons. We ended up alerting the authorities,” Amadou said. Under pressure, the organization left town, added the imam, saying he had no more idea where they went than where they came from. “We never heard any more of them.””
Togo
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/to.html
One-page= https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/attachments/summaries/TO-summary.pdf
Houthis Empty the Pockets of Holiday Travelers
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2295266/houthis-empty-pockets-holiday-travelers
“Ending their Ramadan campaign of levies against merchants and stores, Houthi militias in Yemen launched a new extortion campaign targeting travelers looking to return to their home villages in different governorates.
Houthis have imposed a tax on travelers, especially those coming from Sanaa, to pass through to their villages and avoid the so-called health quarantine upheld by militants.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis are used to spending Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadan, in their hometowns.
Houthis are exploiting that fact and the current situation imposed by the coronavirus to collect funds for their war effort.
According to residents returning from Sanaa to their governorates, checkpoints were set by the Houthi militias at the entrances to the governorates and in various districts. At these checkpoints, travelers are detained and stacked in an area for alleged quarantine purposes.
Even if tested negative for coronavirus, travelers are not allowed to pass through the checkpoint unless they pay a tax of 10,000 Yemeni rials, a local bus driver told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Those who pay the fee can pass even before their test results are concluded, the bus driver added.
One of the travelers complained that a majority of those traveling are humble workers with daily wages, they barely could save the money needed to return home for the holiday and that they now need someone to
lend them money to pass the Houthi checkpoints.
This comes as Houthis continue with concealing data on the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in areas under their control.
Medical sources, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, confirmed that there are at least 700 infections and 170 coronavirus deaths in Sanaa, Ibb and Hodeidah.
The Houthi militias are also turning a blind eye to stores that reopened for 24 hours a day despite the group imposing a partial lockdown in areas under its control.”
Libya’s GNA Seizes Another Town
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2295781/libya%E2%80%99s-gna-seizes-another-town
“Forces allied with Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Thursday that they have wrestled another key town from the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar.
Mohamed Gnono, spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, announced in a statement posted on social media the fall of the town of al-Asabaa, about 50 kilometers south of Tripoli.
Al-Asabaa is located on a key road that links Haftar’s forces besieging Tripoli to Tarhuna, their main western stronghold and supply line southeast of the capital.
On Monday, the GNA of Fayez al-Sarraj seized al-Watiya airbase in Tripoli’s southwestern desert reaches.
LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari reiterated that there were 1,500 Turkish military personnel on Libyan soil, fighting on behalf of the GNA.
“The battle is continuing against terrorism, against the Turkish and against the extremists,” he said at a news conference on Thursday.
Turkey has sent armored drones, air defenses and more recently Syrian militants with links to extremist groups to prop up the GNA.
On Wednesday, Haftar’s forces announced they would withdraw up to 3 kilometers from the front line around Tripoli in a humanitarian gesture aimed at giving the residents a respite from the fighting to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Sergei Lavrov had a call with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavudoglu, and that they underlined the need for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and the resumption of a political process based on decisions made at a conference in Berlin earlier this year.
Turkey warned that attacks on its interests in Libya by Haftar’s forces will have “very grave consequences.”
“In the event Turkish interests in Libya are targeted, this will have very grave consequences,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said. Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin was quoted as saying by broadcaster NTV that attacks on Turkish positions would prompt heavy retaliation.”
‘Turkey has dropped behind’: Republic’s youth dream of free lives overseas
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkish-youth-wants-leave-country-prosperity-and-freedom
“Turkey has the largest population of youth in Europe, with nearly 13 million citizens. But a new poll indicates more than 60 percent of them would like to leave the country because of economic hardship, a stifling of dissent, and a crackdown on freedom of expression…”
UN envoy: Libya will sue UAE in international courts
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200521-un-envoy-libya-will-sue-uae-in-international-courts/
“The Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations (UN), Taher Al-Sunni, said his country will sue the UAE in the international courts for providing military support to renegade General Khalifa Haftar, despite the arms embargo imposed on Libya, Anadolu reported…”
UK grants Syria refugee’s family right to remain if he dies of coronavirus
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200521-uk-grants-syria-refugees-family-right-to-remain-if-he-dies-of-coronavirus/
“A Syrian refugee working as a hospital cleaner in London has won the right for his family to remain indefinitely in the United Kingdom if he dies in the frontline fighting the coronavirus pandemic, after the government reversed a landmark decision to exclude low-wage foreign workers from a bereavement scheme…”
Egypt arrests 14 Copts protesting church destruction
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200521-egypt-arrests-14-copts-protesting-church-destruction/
“Egyptian security forces have arrested 14 Copts and assaulted a priest in Beheira who were protesting against the destruction of their church in the village of Kom Al-Darah in Abdul Haq.
Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters and assaulted Priest Jesse Sobhi who tried to stop the demolition. Four women were among the 14 arrested, according to the Copts United website.
Copts United also reported that security personnel went to the houses of Copts and confiscated their national identification cards.
The church’s lawyer, Ghali Iskander, says the Copts have been using the church for 15 years before the Abu Al-Matamir city council issued a decision to have it removed…”
Threat to hit Turkey in Libya underscores risk of escalation
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200521-threat-to-hit-turkey-in-libya-underscores-risk-of-escalation/
“Turkey warned on Thursday against any attacks on its interests in Libya by Khalifa Haftar’s forces after his Libyan National Army (LNA) threatened to respond to recent military setbacks by striking Turkish positions in the country, Reuters reports.
“In the event Turkish interests in Libya are targeted, this will have very grave consequences,” said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy.
The LNA’s air force chief Saqer al-Jaroushi said in a video posted overnight on social media that “all Turkish positions and interests in all occupied cities will be targeted,” in what he said would be the biggest air operation in Libyan history.
The threat points to the growing risks of a wider escalation in Libya, where Turkey backs the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in a conflict against the LNA, backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt…”
Haftar announces ‘largest aerial campaign’ against Turkish forces in Libya
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/21/haftar-announces-air-war-against-turkish-forces-in-libya
“Forces allied to Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar have announced an “air campaign” against Turkish troops in the country, as the rebel leader suffered a major tactical setback this week.
Haftar’s air force chief, Saqr al-Jaroushi, vowed to strike Turkish military positions in Libya, according to a report by Bloomberg on Thursday.
It comes after forces loyal to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli – backed by Turkey – captured an air field on Monday, used as the forward base for Haftar’s offensive on the capital.
“You are about to see the largest aerial campaign in Libyan history in the coming hours,” Haftar’s air force chief Saqr al-Jaroushi said in a statement.
“All Turkish positions and interests in all cities are legitimate targets for our airforce jets and we call on civilians to stay away from them.”
The Al-Watiyah airbase outside Tripoli fell after the GNA was boosted by hundreds of Syrian rebel fighters and Turkish military hardware.
Turkish drones knocked out Haftar’s heavy weaponry prior to the assault on the airbase, including the Russian-made, UAE supplies Pantsir-S1 air defence system.
Haftar has been reliant on the UAE, Egypt and Russia for military hardware, including air support and mercenaries.
He has also been boosted by Syrian fighters – including former rebels – supplied by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime via Russia.
Turkey responded to the threat from Haftar’s air force chief by issuing its own warning.
A senior Turkish official told Bloomberg that Ankara would “heavily retaliate” against any strike on its forces in Libya – including targeting Haftar’s headquarters in his eastern stronghold.
The official said that Turkey was well-prepared to defend its personnel in Tripoli with the deployment of drones and war ships off the Libyan coast.
Fathi Bashagha, the GNA’s security chief, said that eight Soviet-era military jets had been deployed to eastern Libya – controlled by Haftar – from Syria, in preparation for a possible air campaign.
Leading UN official in Libya, Stephanie Williams, warned Tuesday that the war in Libya “intensify, broaden and deepen” due to foreign interference.
Turkey’s intervention in the war comes after Haftar’s assault on Tripoli began in 2018 and has seen artillery and air strikes on civilian areas, including the use of armed UAE drones.
An air strike widely attributed to Haftar’s forces on a refugee detention centre in 2019 killed 44 people.
Thousands more have died and 200,000 have fled their homes following Haftar’s assault on the capital.”
Vox Party: ‘Spain is a Puppet in Morocco’s Hands’
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/05/303315/vox-party-spain-is-a-puppet-in-moroccos-hands/
“Spain’s coalition government has responded to calls from the far-right Vox party to intervene in Ceuta after Vox slammed the government, saying “Spain is a puppet in Morocco’s hands.”
On May 18, Vox party member and Ceuta representative in the Spanish congress Teresa Lopez asked the Sanchez government why nothing has been done about the “Morocco problem.”
“The Government of Pedro Sanchez has not taken responsibility for immigrants and cross-border residents housed by the autonomous city, nor does it want to,” Lopez told the congress.
She recalled that Vox had called on the government over a month ago to “deal with” the “problem” of Moroccan citizens, both documented and undocumented, stranded in the city of Ceuta in the wake of the COVID-19 border closures.
The municipality is currently hosting 140 Moroccans in the Liberty Sports Center amid the lockdown. Reports of violence and damage to facilities continue to circulate, stirring resentment in the city.
Lopez accused the Sanchez-led coalition government of allowing Morocco to become its puppet master and ignoring the “problem” of irregular migration in Ceuta. She argued that the COVID-19 lockdown and border closures have exacerbated an already “extreme situation.”
Playing the victim, the Vox congressional deputy asked the Sanchez-led coalition why they had allowed Morocco to exploit the COVID-19 crisis to Ceuta and abandon its responsibility for the scores of undocumented migrants in the city.
The Vox representative called the coalition government “a useless institution faced with a problem that needs solving urgently.”
The “urgent” problem, as Lopez and her far-right party see it, is the presence of Moroccan citizens in the enclave in northern Morocco.
Lopez lashed out at Sanchez and the friendly diplomatic relations between Madrid and Rabat, saying “the ‘excellent relations of Morocco’ that this government presumes are based on their repatriation when and as Morocco says.”
The response from the Sanchez-led coalition was measured but clear: Spain will not intervene with the repatriations or force Rabat’s hand.
The government explained that the Liberty Sports Center was set up to house Moroccans who were trapped after the border closures, while Temporary Stay Centers (CETIs) for migrants are still operational.
Irregular migration and minors
Irregular migration into the Spanish enclave in northern Morocco has long been a thorn in the side of Vox and Juan Vivas, the president of Ceuta’s autonomous government and member of the right-wing People’s Party.
Amid tense negotiations between Spain and Morocco to repatriate Moroccan citizens who found themselves trapped in the city after Rabat closed the borders in March to curb the spread of COVID-19, Vivas told Spanish newspaper El Confidencial that Rabat’s efforts are not sufficient.
Repatriating 200 Moroccan citizens is “incomprehensible and without any justification,” Vivas said, adding that Rabat needed to “widen” its efforts to include undocumented migrants.
The Ceuta president threatened Rabat, saying that if the government would not repatriate all of the migrants in the city, he would evict the Moroccans currently housed in the Liberty Sports Center.
Rabat’s repatriation operation, due to continue on Friday, May 22 with 400 more Moroccans leaving the city, considers only people residing permanently in Morocco and who had traveled to Ceuta or Melilla for reasons of health care, tourism, or business at the time of the border closures as eligible for repatriation.
Vivas’ most recent comments follow a similar tirade against Morocco on March 20 when he slammed Rabat for its handling of unaccompanied minors in Ceuta.
“When this [the COVID-19 crisis] is over, Morocco will have to deal with its unaccompanied minors,” argued Vivas on Tuesday, March 24.
“This is happening as the consequence of a structural phenomenon that Ceuta suffers unfairly,” he said. “Since it is not normal for Ceuta and Melilla, which represent 0.04% of the total population of Spain, to support 15% of all the unaccompanied minors there are in Spain.”
The increasing nationalist sentiment in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, echoed by the Vox presence in the Spanish parliament, is a worrying trend for the city.
For years, the positive relations between Morocco and Spain have led Rabat to turn a blind eye to the continued colonial presence in northern Morocco. However, if Vivas and his Vox allies continue to stir nationalism and incite hate, the dynamics between Rabat and the tiny enclave may change.”
Spain Arrests ISIS Sympathizer Who Fled Morocco
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/05/303339/spain-arrests-isis-sympathizer-who-fled-morocco/
“Spanish security services arrested on May 20 four alleged terrorists, including one Moroccan who had previously escaped an arrest operation led by Morocco’s General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), Spanish newspaper ABC reported.
The Moroccan suspect, believed to be jihadist cell’s leader, fled Morocco several years ago before settling in Spain where he recruited members who share his extremist ideology.
According to ABC, the cell’s leader used to live in Barcelona, in northeastern Spain, and was already on the Spanish security services’ watchlist.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the Moroccan suspect moved to a different city to look for a job in agriculture and allegedly began to plan a terror attack.
“The suspect lately showed a clear intention to carry out attacks, which has led investigators to act immediately to avoid any danger,” ABC wrote.
The suspect also had regular contact with ISIS fighters and used an advanced system that destroys all traces of communication, the newspaper continued.
Search operations in the four suspects’ homes led to the seizure of a weapon. Meanwhile, the search for two more suspects involved in the same group continues.
The arrest operation was preventive, but the possibility that the group was planning an attack has not been ruled out, according to Spanish authorities quoted by ABC. “The cell leader is a dangerous man who has contacts … He also shows much sympathy for ISIS.”
In recent years, a large number of ISIS “lone wolves” have taken refuge in European countries, including Spain, aiming to destabilize the countries’ security.
On May 8, Spanish police announced the arrest of another Moroccan man in Barcelona for his alleged ties with ISIS.
The Spanish Civil Guard carried out the arrest operation in collaboration with Morocco’s DGST and the American FBI.
Investigations revealed that the suspect had sworn allegiance to ISIS “at least four years” ago.”
Pentagon’s latest report regarding Pakistan’s support to Taliban, Haqqani Network
https://www.khaama.com/pentagons-latest-report-regarding-pakistans-support-to-taliban-haqqani-network-08851/
“The Department of Defense (Pentagon) released its latest report outlining Pakistan’s continued support to Taliban and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network.
The Pentagon report, prepared by the Inspector General, complied with the helip of the Department of State and United States Agency for International Development, covers the period from January to March of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan continues to harbor the Taliban and associated militant groups in Pakistan, such as the Haqqani Network, which maintains the ability to conduct attacks against Afghan interests,” the report said.
The report also added that Islamabad has encouraged the Afghan Taliban to participate in peace talks but that it “refrained from applying coercive pressure that would seriously threaten its relationship with the Afghan Taliban to dissuade the group from conducting further violence.”
This comes as Pakistani leaders have repeatedly assured Washington that they support peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Pentagon stated in its report that Islamabad’s primary strategic objective in Afghanistan is to counter its regional archrival, India, and prevent the spillover of instability from the neighboring country.
“Pakistan likely views increased Taliban influence in Afghanistan as supporting its overall objectives and will seek to influence intra-Afghan peace talks in a direction favorable to Pakistan,” the report noted.”