Reader’s Links for August 28, 2020

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

79 Replies to “Reader’s Links for August 28, 2020”

  1. Far-right British group sparks outrage by harassing asylum seekers in hotels
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/britain-first-outrage-harassing-asylum-seekers

    “A far-right British group has sparked outrage after releasing a series of videos in which they harass asylum seekers housed at hotels.

    In one video released by Britain First, circulated widely on social media, the far-right activists enter a hotel in Bromsgrove, near Birmingham, and interrogate asylum seekers, accusing them of wasting taxpayers’ money.

    In the video, they bang on bedroom doors, demanding to know what country the asylum seekers are from. They also accuse hotel management of housing “illegal immigrants” and insist they have the right to enter the hotels…”

  2. US: Egypt-born taxi driver arrested 12 years after killing 2 daughters
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200828-us-egypt-born-taxi-driver-arrested-12-years-after-killing-2-daughters/

    “An Egyptian-born taxi driver has been arrested for killing his two daughters in a so-called honour killing, 12 years after the crime.

    In 2008 Yaser Abdel Said shot his 17-year-old daughter Sarah and 18-year-old daughter Amina 11 times after telling them he was taking them out for a meal.

    He drove them to Irving in Texas where he shot them inside his taxi. Sarah managed to call the police before she died. “Oh my God, I’m dying,” she said in the recorded 911 call.

    The girls were not found until one hour after the call, which led to questions over why it took so long for an emergency vehicle to reach them.

    In 2014 Yaser was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and had a $10,000 bounty on his head.

    A family member told police that Yasser had threatened both Amina and Sarah because they were in relationships with non-Muslims…”

  3. UK condemned for ‘divisive’ ‘xenophobic’ anti-migrant video
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200828-uk-condemned-for-divisive-xenophobic-anti-migrant-video/

    “The UK Home Office has come under sharp criticism over the release of a video attacking lawyers representing migrants. The short clip, posted on the Home Office Twitter account on Wednesday, has since been taken down following condemnation from legal bodies, politicians and academics, amidst the ongoing row over the British government’s policy towards migrants.

    The “divisive” video, denounced for its disparaging characterisation of British lawyers, featured an animated image of planes deporting migrants from the UK with the caption: “We are working to remove migrants with no right to remain in the UK, but currently return regulations are rigid and open to abuse… allowing activist lawyers to delay and disrupt returns.” Despite being taken down the clip has been viewed 1.5 million times.

    The video triggered widespread condemnation. Labour MP Kate Osamor is reported by Sky News saying that it was “dishing out racism, xenophobia and persecution” while Joanna Cherry QC, an SNP MP, called it a “disgraceful” piece of “propaganda” against the justice system.

    Nazir Afal, a former chief prosecutor, added that it was “scandalous” as “activist lawyers ensure humans have rights” and that “our laws are followed”.

    The Law Society also condemned the reference to immigration lawyers who provide legal advice to migrants as “activist lawyers” in a press release. “Attacks on the integrity of the legal profession undermine the rule of law,” said Law Society President Simon Davis.

    “Solicitors advise their clients on their rights under the laws created by parliament,” the statement said, adding: “To describe lawyers who are upholding the law as ‘activist lawyers’ is misleading and dangerous.”

    The Bar Council, which represents all barristers in England and Wales, is also reported by the BBC condemning the video, saying lawyers were “merely doing their jobs” and were not “activists”.

    Jonathan Portes, a lawyer at King’s College London, lodged a formal complaint to which the Home Office admitted that the phrase “should not have been used on an official government channel” and added that it had “made clear to the team this post should not be used again from Home Office accounts or anywhere else by civil servants.”

    Following the death of a Sudanese migrant, Abdulfatah Hamdallah, who was found on French shores earlier this month, drowned after trying to make it to Britain, the Tory government’s policy towards migrants has been widely condemned. Writing in the Guardian, commentator Nesrine Malik said that “British hypocrisy is to blame for the deadly plight of migrants.””

  4. Iranian musician faces jail over women dancers and singers
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200828-iranian-musician-faces-jail-over-women-dancers-and-singers/

    “Iranian musician Mehdi Rajabian is awaiting trial for working with female dancers and singers after being arrested earlier this month, in the country’s latest move to stop women artists performing.

    Rajabian, 30, said he was arrested following media reports that his latest project will include women singing and the publication of a video of a woman dancing to his music – both of which can be deemed immoral under Iranian law.

    Iran’s justice ministry and the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance did not respond to requests for comment.

    “Even if I go to prison hundreds of times, I need female singing in my project, I need female dance,” said Rajabian, who has been jailed twice before over his music.

    “Whenever I feel the need to produce this music, I will definitely produce it. I do not censor myself,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via text message from the northern city of Sari where is currently out on bail.

    Iran has long censored art and music and arrested hundreds of performers under vaguely defined morality laws that target women and sexual minorities, according to Human Rights Watch…”

  5. EU set to sanction Turkey over ships in disputed east Med exploration area
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200828-eu-set-to-sanction-turkey-over-ships-in-disputed-east-med-exploration-area/

    “The European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be discussed at the bloc’s next summit on September 24 in response to the eastern Mediterranean dispute with Greece, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday.

    The measures, meant to limit Turkey’s ability to explore for natural gas in contested waters, could include individuals, ships, or the use of European ports, Josep Borrell said. The EU would focus on everything related to “activities we consider illegal”, he added.

    He spoke in Berlin where EU foreign ministers met to discuss support for Greece after Athens ratified a pact on its maritime boundaries to counter Turkey’s claims to energy resources in the region amid Greek and Turkish military exercises.

    Borrell, who chaired the meeting, said the bloc was ready to sanction Turkish vessels, block their access to EU ports and cut off supplies. The EU could also impose sanctions on the Turkish economy…”

  6. Tariq Ramadan’s New CHIFA Research Center to Explore Ethics, Feminism
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/08/316817/tariq-ramadans-new-chifa-research-center-to-explore-ethics-feminism/

    “Tariq Ramadan on Tuesday announced his latest project—the creation of CHIFA, a research and training center for students around the world.

    Topics of study will include religion, spirituality, humanism, psychology, ecology, and teaching. CHIFA will also offer courses on colonialism, racism, law, economics.

    Most notable on the curriculum, however, are ethics and feminism.

    While Tariq Ramadan may be a renowned academic, philosopher, and writer and a worldly religious scholar, these two words in CHIFA’s proposed curriculum set the internet ablaze.

    Ramadan has been under fire in the past few years for sexual misconduct. Some have critiqued this grand announcement as the academic’s attempt at a comeback.

    Sexual misconduct
    Ramadan is currently in the middle of a major scandal involving allegations of multiple sexual misconduct. He was indicted for four rapes and spent ten months in pre-trial detention before being released in November 2018. He has denied all accusations, invoking Islamophobia and racism.

    In March 2019, Ramadan attended a conference held in Seine-Saint-Denis, France that countered violence against women. Some believe he may have been laying the groundwork for his denouncement of the allegations.

    French-Swiss Journalist Ian Hamel tweeted his outrage at the center’s announcement, comparing Ramadan to one of the US’s most prominent sexual predators currently in the national spotlight, Harvey Weinstein.

    “Harvey Weinstein hadn’t even thought about it, but Tariq Ramadan himself dared to create a training center giving courses in feminism and ethics! Do you want to know what this individual is capable of?“ Hamel demanded.

    Many have accused Ramadan as using the center to continue to prey on his victims.

    “A recruiting center? Is he getting old to hunt on his own?” tweeted Journalist Daniel Fleury.

    It would seem, starting a center aimed at teaching ethics and feminism is not a smart move for someone with such a tarnished reputation. In today’s “cancel culture” and #MeToo movements, Tariq Ramadan’s CHIFA center brings to question his entire career.

    “Do we laugh or cry? The intellectual dishonesty, hypocrisy, and cynicism of #TariqRamadan have absolutely no limits,” voiced teacher and researcher, Anne-Marie Picard.

    Tariq Ramdan’s CHIFA center
    The Swiss Muslim was formerly a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University. He holds an MA in Philosophy and French literature and a Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva.

    Ramadan’s personal research interests include the issues of Islamic legislation, politics, ethics, Sufism, and contemporary Islamic challenges. CHIFA’s curriculum will be just as eclectic.

    Tariq Ramadan announced the opening of the center through a Facebook post, noting that “[t]he concept of ‘CHIFA’, in Arabic, has several meanings and covers several realities,” including the “physical, spiritual, and even social.”

    The eclectic curriculum intends to address each of these aspects of health.

    According to Ramadan, “the quest for ‘full health’ – physical, psychic and spiritual health – requires a return to the source… back to yourself.””

  7. Ankara says EU’s demand to stop activities in E Med ‘out of line’
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-says-eus-demand-to-stop-activities-in-e-med-out-of-line-157787

    “Turkey on Aug. 28 slammed a press release issued after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers regarding Ankara’s hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

    “The cause of the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean is Greece and Greek Cypriot administration, with their maximalist actions and demands contrary to international law. The unconditional support of the EU to these two who are trying to ignore the legitimate rights and interests of our country and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean increases the tension even more,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    “The EU’s criticism on the hydrocarbon activities of our country within the continental shelf and its demands that we stop these activities is out of line,” the statement said.

    “As confirmed by the EU Court of Justice, the EU has no authority in this matter. This request is against both the EU’s own acquis and international law,” it added.

    Turkey also called on the EU member states not to support Greece’s “maximalist demands” under the pretext of union solidarity.”

    “Greece is not an archipelago state. It is against international law and jurisprudence for Greek Islands, especially Meis, to have a continental shelf,” it said.

    The statement also stressed that EU “should “act impartially and be an honest mediator.”

    Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “in the absence of progress in engaging Turkey we could develop a list of further restrictive measures that could be discussed at the European Council on Sept. 24.”

    On Aug. 25, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Greece and Turkey, encouraging both countries to engage in dialogue to avoid conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean.

    Apparently seeking to block Turkey’s legitimate maritime territorial claims, Greece signed exclusive economic zone (EEZ) deals with Italy on June 9 and with Egypt on Aug. 7.

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed the latter in a statement, asserting that Greece and Egypt share no sea borders and that the deal is “null and void.”

    It added that the demarcated area in the pact is located in Turkey’s continental shelf, as Ankara reported to the UN.”

  8. Migrants: Bosnia deports 27 to Serbia
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2020/08/28/migrants-bosnia-deports-27-to-serbia_9436c56f-ac03-49d2-a058-648a1e55e1ef.html

    “Bosnia-Herzegovina deported 27 migrants back to Serbia after Sarajevo authorities said the migrants were illegally staying in Bosnian territory.

    Serbian media said the migrants were 14 citizens from Pakistan, seven from Bangladesh, three from Afghanistan and three from Turkey.

    Bosnia-Herzegovina has been dealing for months with a strong increase in the migrant flow along the Balkan Route.

    In the country’s northwest, there are currently as many as 10,000 migrants trying to cross the border into Croatia and continue towards Western Europe.

    This situation has caused strong discontent in the local population, which has staged protests over the growing security risks tied to thefts, violence, and intimidation on the part of migrants.”

  9. CNN – See what happened when Trump crowd was asked to wear masks

    Before President Trump’s speech in New Hampshire, the crowd booed an announcement at the event asking the attendees to wear masks.

  10. Tom Fitton calls Portland, DC protests ‘anarchy’, blames Dem officials

    Tom Fitton talks about Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reportedly interviewing FBI agent Joe Pientka without notifying other Republican members of his judiciary committee.