Reader’s Links for October 22, 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

78 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 22, 2020”

  1. Washington: Iran Smuggled Eyrlou to Sanaa to Expand Malign Influence
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2579121/washington-iran-smuggled-eyrlou-sanaa-expand-malign-influence

    “The United States Department of State accused on Wednesday Iran of intending “to use Houthis to expand its malign influence” in the region, especially after Tehran’s appointment of Hassan Eyrlou, a Revolutionary Guard leader, as ambassador to coup-held Sanaa.

    State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a Twitter post that Iran smuggled Eyrlou, a Revolutionary Guard military advisor with links to the terrorist Hezbollah group in Lebanon, “under the guise of “ambassador” to the Houthi militias.

    “Iran’s intent to use the Houthis to expand its malign influence is clear,” Ortagus added in her tweet.

    “The Yemeni people should say no to Eyrlou and Iran,” she concluded.

    Statements made by Ortagus prove that Washington did not facilitate the transfer of Eyrlou to Sanaa onboard the plane transporting 283 injured Houthis being exchanged for two US kidnapped citizens.

    Some Yemeni activists accused the US of including Eyrlou’s arrival to Sanaa in the exchange deal struck with the Houthis.

    The US warning about Iran’s growing subversive role in Yemen coincided with the State Department announcing a $5 million reward for anyone who provides information on the commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah’s special forces in Syria and Yemen, Haytham Tabtabai.

    On Eyrlou’s appointment, the Yemeni government has submitted an official complaint to the UN Security Council, accusing Houthis of violating international diplomatic norms.

    Saying that actions by the Iranian regime represent a dangerous precedent, the government warned that Tehran’s behavior threatens to violate the rights of UN member states.

    According to the Yemeni government, Iran, by appointing an ambassador to Sanaa, had breached its international obligations and UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

    The government called on the international community and the Security Council to condemn “the illegal Iranian practices and violations” and Tehran’s “blatant and continuous interference in Yemen’s internal affairs.”

    UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths immediately refuted the possibility that Eyrlou could have travelled on a UN aircraft.

    The appointment of an ambassador to Sanaa marks the beginning of a new phase in Tehran’s relations with Houthis, especially given Eyrlou’s Revolutionary Guard background and his “plenipotentiary” authorities.”

  2. Arabs Demand Halt of Iran’s Regional Interventions
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2579326/arabs-demand-halt-irans-regional-interventions

    “The Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has denounced Iran’s military, political, and religious meddling in the Gulf and several Arab states, in his recent remarks at a virtual meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

    Nevertheless, Aboul Gheit expressed the Arab countries’ hope to build constructive and healthy ties with the neighboring countries.

    The Gulf’s security could be in its idle state when the concept of good neighborhood dominates and the option of the use of power is ruled out, he noted. Only then, it is possible to establish a collective security system that guarantees all parties’ interests and ensures the freedom of navigation.

    The secretary-general flagged up the fact that the Gulf remains the most jeopardized by armed conflicts. He listed as an example, last year’s sabotage military activities to which the UN held one party accountable. Iran was the party pointed at, Aboul Gheit added, not only for standing behind the sabotage activities but also for threatening international navigation and recruiting militias in countries.

    He stated that sovereignty is a cornerstone for regional security, and any endeavors towards building confidence between the opposing sides of the Gulf should launch from holding talks on sovereignty. As he emphasized that collective security guarantees all parties’ interests, he regretted that, however, it remained out of reach.

    For his part, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf said the Gulf region is essential to international peace and stability but is experiencing turmoil due to Iran’s approach of violence and destabilization, including the use of drones and missiles.

    He further accused Iran of inciting violence and instability in some countries in the region, such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. “It is unfortunate that Iran, especially since 2011, has used the methods of hostility, violence, and destabilization in the region to achieve its political goals,” Hajraf added.

    Some GCC member states have been repeatedly attacked by Iran and its representatives in the region, such as ballistic missile and drone strikes in Saudi Arabia targeting civilian areas. For that, Hajraf underscored the importance of having a comprehensive international agreement to ensure that Iran does not acquire any nuclear weapons.”

  3. Turkish aid agencies establish ‘Mohamed Morsi Orphanage’ in Syria’s Idlib
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201022-turkish-aid-agencies-establish-mohamed-morsi-orphanage-in-syrias-idlib/

    “Turkish aid organisations have established an orphanage in the north-west Syrian city of Idlib and named it after Mohamed Morsi, the late Egyptian president who was ousted by a coup in 2013.

    The Turkish government’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency opened the orphanage this week in Mashhad Rouhin, in collaboration with Ozgur-Deir and Fetihder Associations. It will house orphaned children and their families in the city.

    Children are regarded as orphans if their father or other main breadwinner has died.

    The Fetihder Association said on Tuesday that the centre includes 200 houses along with a mosque and a school. The association’s head, Yilmaz Bulat, explained that the orphanage seeks to prepare Syria’s orphans for the future…”

  4. German university withdraws funding for Israelis looking to ‘unlearn Zionism’
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/10/22/german-university-withdraws-funding-for-anti-zionist-israelis

    “A German university has withdrawn funding from a programme founded by Israelis seeking to “unlearn Zionism”, +972 reported on Wednesday.

    Weissensee Kunsthochschule, a Berlin art college, withdrew funding for “The School for Unlearning Zionism” just days into its online programme this month.

    The October programme includes lectures by Israeli and Palestinian speakers, as well as an art installation at the Weissensee Kunsthochschule.

    The university retracted on 8 October its small amount of funding, which enabled organisers to pay speakers a fee of 100 euros ($118).

    The university administration also took down The School for Unlearning Zionism’s website without notifiying the organisers, according to +972 magazine.

    The college’s response was prompted by an email from Frederik Schindler, a journalist for the Die Welt newspaper reported.

    Schindler had asked about the programme’s ties to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Germany declared the Palestinian-founded initiative anti-Semitic last year.

    In particular, the reporter named four Jewish Israelis on the speaker list as supporters of BDS…”

  5. Indian couple murdered in Dubai Arabian Ranches villa: Grisly details emerge
    https://gulfnews.com/uae/crime/indian-couple-murdered-in-dubai-arabian-ranches-villa-grisly-details-emerge-1.74739965

    “On that fateful night of June 18, when Indian expatriates Hiren Adhiya and Vidhi Adhiya went to bed as usual at their Arabian Ranches villa, little did they know that it would be their last on this earth.

    Unbeknown to them, a Pakistani worker, who had done some maintenance jobs at their villa a year earlier, had been stalking the family for some time. During that visit, he had seen a lot of loose cash at the house. After seeing that he had made up his mind to rob the family at an opportune time. When he finally did, he killed the unlucky couple in a robbery that went horribly wrong.

    Grisly details have emerged during the Dubai Police’s investigation of the murder of the Indian couple earlier this year. The worker stabbed the husband 10 times, the wife another 14 times as they tried to get away. Both died of their injuries. He also stabbed the elder daughter as he sought to escape, but she survived the ordeal and managed to call the police. The worker was arrested within 24 hours…”

  6. Egypt FM says Turkish interference in Syria damages entire region
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/388969/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-FM-says-Turkish-interference-in-Syria-damage.aspx

    “In a ministerial meeting of the Small Group on Syria on Thursday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the necessity of reaching a political solution in the war-torn country and warned against foreign interferences, especially from Turkey, which poses a threat to Syria and the whole region.

    Shoukry also stressed Egypt’s deep concern over “the destructive intervention” of some regional forces in Syria as well as the attempt to force demographic changes in the war-torn country.

    “These attempts should not affect reaching a final political solution that aims to keep the unity of Syria’s territories and sovereignty in accordance with international resolutions.”

    The Egyptian foreign minister also asserted the importance of fighting against the danger of terrorist organisations, especially in northern Syria and Idlib, adding that the Turkish presence in Syria damages not only Syria itself, but the region as a whole.

    Shoukry added that the plans to spread radicalism and to transfer foreign terrorist fighters should not be tolerated.

    The meeting was held via teleconference, the ministry said.

    The Small Group on Syria comprises Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US.

    Syria erupted into civil war in 2011 after President Bashar Al-Assad began a brutal crackdown on protesters calling for an end to his family’s rule.”

  7. U.S. says it blacklisted Iran’s ambassador to Iraq
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-sanctions/u-s-says-it-blacklisted-irans-ambassador-to-iraq-idUSKBN277332

    “The United States on Thursday blacklisted Iraj Masjedi, Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq, saying he has for years overseen the training and support of Iraqi militia groups which are responsible for attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

    “In his current capacity, Masjedi has exploited his position as the Iranian regime’s ambassador in Iraq to obfuscate financial transfers conducted for the benefit of the IRGC-QF,” Treasury said in a statement, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

  8. Maulana Tahir Ashrafi given additional charge of Middle East affairs
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2269502/maulana-tahir-ashrafi-given-additional-charge-of-middle-east-affairs

    “Days after being appointed as prime minister’s aide on religious harmony, renowned scholar Maulana Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi’s has been given an additional charge of Middle East affairs.

    In an official notification issued on Wednesday, the Prime Minister Office said in partial modification of its earlier order Maulana Tahir’s designation has been changed to Special Assistance to the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony/Middle East.

    Ashrafi is a current member of the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League in Makkah and also a president of Wafaqul Masajid Pakistan.

    According to the earlier notification, he was appointed in an honorary basis.

    He had also served as an Adviser to President of Pakistan for Interior and Affairs of Islamic World and Chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC).

    In 2019, Ashrafi’s efforts to counter terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence in Pakistan and the Muslim world were acknowledged by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

    He was conferred with OIC’s Universal Award in a special ceremony held in Abu Dhabi. UAE Minister for Tolerance and Harmony Al-Sheikh Al-Nehan Al-Mubarak and Secretary General OIC Dr Yusuf Ahmed Al-Asmeen presented the shield to the religious scholar.”

  9. Turkish police conduct major anti-terror op in Istanbul
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-police-conduct-major-anti-terror-op-in-istanbul-159349

    “Turkish police raided 21 homes in Istanbul and detained a number of people with suspected links to the ISIL terror group, security sources said early on Oct. 22.

    The suspects were detained during the early morning hours in simultaneous anti-terror operations in the city by teams of Turkish police and intelligence agency personnel, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, adding some of them are suspected of being active in Syria.

    In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare ISIL a terrorist group.

    The country has since been attacked by ISIL terrorists multiple times, with at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks that killed 315 people and injured hundreds more.

    In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.”

  10. Turkey sets $86 mln bounty on fugitive FETÖ suspects
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-sets-86-mln-bounty-on-fugitive-feto-suspects-159350

    “Turkey on Oct. 21 announced a bounty of 675 million Turkish liras ($86.4 million) for the capture of 339 fugitives suspected of being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in the country.

    The Interior Ministry’s wanted list contains 42 FETÖ members on red notice, 23 in blue, 17 in green, 48 in orange and 209 in gray, including both civilians and former military personnel who led the July 15 coup attempt.

    Turkey’s wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray.

    Among those in the red category are FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, as well as key member of the terror group Adil Öksüz who led the coup attempt from the Ak?nc? Base near the capital Ankara. Other most-wanted fugitives include members of FETÖ’s so-called advisory council, for a total bounty of 420 million Turkish liras ($53.7 million).

    Meanwhile, the total bounty for those in the blue category is 69 million liras ($8.8 million), while 34 million liras ($4.3 million) are on the heads of fugitives on green notice, 48 million liras ($6.1 million) on those on orange and 104 million liras ($13.3 million) on those on gray.

    FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated a defeated coup on July 15, 2016 which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

    Turkey also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.”

  11. Islamic terror suspected after Syrian migrant stabs 55-year-old German to death in Dresden
    https://rmx.news/article/article/islamic-terror-suspected-after-syrian-migrant-stabs-55-year-old-german-to-death-in-dresden

    “German anti-terrorism prosecutors are now investigating the case of a 20-year-old Syrian who stabbed a 55-year-old tourist from North Rhine-Westphalia to death in Dresden on the evening of Oct. 4. The suspect was arrested on Tuesday of this week after a weeks-long police manhunt.

    Prosecutors from the Karlsruhe officer responsible for terrorism cases believe the attacker is a supporter Islamic State and are treating the stabbing as a terrorist attack.

    The attacker also seriously injured the 53-year-old companion of the murdered man. The incident happened near the Kulturpalast in Dresden, the capital of Saxony.

    The Syrian, named Abdullah, was arrested on Tuesday, Le Parisien reported. He has been radicalized after he arrived in Germany in 2015, at the height of the migration wave from Syria.

    In Germany, the man does not have official refugee status but was “tolerated” by the authorities even though he had a criminal record. In December 2019, he was convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers and two other assaults. He also was convicted for having acted in order to recruit support for “a terrorist organization”. He was then sent to a youth detention center for three years and one month.

    He was released on Sept. 29, just a few days before the fatal attack in Dresden, and remained listed by the police as potentially “dangerous.”

    As the perpetrator left a kitchen knife on the crime scene, investigators were able to secure DNA traces that helped them find the Syrian in the police database.

    Since he did not take any valuables from the two victims, the investigators do not assume a robbery. He is charged with murder, attempted murder, and serious physical harm.

    The German government denounced the attack on Wednesday, pointing ou the “permanent threat” of “Islamist terror” after the knife murder in Dresden…”

  12. Pope Francis is ‘an enemy of Europe,’ says French philosopher Éric Zemmour
    https://rmx.news/article/article/pope-francis-is-an-enemy-of-europe-says-french-philosopher-eric-zemmour

    “In a calculated move, Pope Francis is sacrificing Europe in a geostrategic choice, French philosopher Éric Zemmour said on French television channel CNews.

    “I think he understood something that distressed his predecessors, and it’s that Europe is de-Christianizing at a phenomenal speed. So he considers, like many people around him, that Europe without Christianity is going to die,” Zemmour said. “And that, in any case, it is better to let it die, or at least it is better to leave it to others. Especially to Islam.”

    Zemmour said that in his latest encyclical on fraternity and social friendship, Fratelli Tutti (“Brothers and Sister All”), issued on Oct. 3, the pope is supporting immigration, globalism and socialism, which in the pope’s view, will make the world a better place. Pope Francis said the encyclical was inspired by Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb, who is mentioned numerous times in the text, who is an Islamic scholar who supports the death penalty against apostates against Islam.

    On the news program, Zemmour said after reading the text from the pope, he was “astonished by the naivety usually associated with pimply teenagers that was spread on almost every page. It was impressive,” he said. “Making the world a better place, that’s good when you’re 14 years old. As soon as you’re 15 and a half, you don’t believe in it anymore. I remind you that Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ He was wiser. It’s, if you like, a kind of idealism.”

    Zemmour said that past popes were more pragmatic and had an appreciation of national identities that Pope Francis — who recently approved of same-sex civil unions — has forsaken.

    “We had two great popes, John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. One was Polish, the other German, deeply European, deeply rooted in their national identities who believed in nations, who believed in European nations in particular,” Zemmour said. “So here we have a guy who comes from South America, who despises Europe, who obviously, as far as I know, hates France. In particular, he despises Europe, and then delivers a universalist discourse like a non-governmental organization.”

    Zemmour said that the explanation for the pope abandoning Europe is partly found in the fact that he is South American.

    “He and South Americans, as you mentioned, there’s a lively competition within the Catholic Church,” Zemmour said. “I’m saying he’s after countries where there are still Christians.”

    Zemmour, who is Jewish, also said that in view of the fact that Pope Francis has “taken the side of the enemies of Europe” and abandoned Christian dogma, Christians should no longer feel obliged to follow him. He also said that while past popes had their faults, they were still Catholics. The current pope is a “post-Catholic pope.”

    “[Pope Francis] adopts an extreme left-wing discourse, but it’s not Catholicism,” said Zemmour. “Catholics are not obliged to obey the pope if he becomes political. They have to obey the pope, as I said earlier, for the principle of subsidiarity,” Zemmour said. They have to obey the pope for the dogma, but this is not dogma. He’s becoming political. Catholics aren’t obliged to obey him.”

    On the issue of immigration, Zemmour believes the pope has a poor understanding of the Bible:

    “He explains to us that each and every country is also a country for foreigners. This reveals that he understands absolutely nothing about the famous text in the Old Testament, which says, ‘Welcome the stranger because you yourself have been foreigners in the land of Egypt.’ It is also repeated in the Gospels. Except that the pope forgets. that in the Old Testament, as in the New, the foreigner who is welcomed also leaves. He stays a few days. That’s hospitality. He doesn’t stay and he doesn’t bring his family or have his family come. He leaves. That is the meaning of, ‘You are a stranger in the land of Egypt. Remember’.”

    Zemmour said Pope Francis is twisting the meaning and using it as a pretext to invite people from around the world to settle in Europe, which will destroy the identities of the European people.

    Zemmour, one of France’s prominent intellectuals, is the author of “The French Suicide” and is known for his strong opposition against continued immigration to France. In a previous interview, he compared immigration in his country to a “demographic tsunami” and said he believes current immigration and integration policies have failed. He also claimed that

    “Immigration changes the makeup of a people. It is a crime against the European peoples, it will end in bloodshed,” Zemmour said this September.

    French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly growing concerned about his growing popularity, with Zemmour recently breaking viewership records on the French news program CNews.

    Zemmour previously worked for the French channel RTL from 2010 to 2019.”

  13. Former French Education Boss Blames Leftist Ideology for Spread of Islamism
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/22/former-french-education-boss-blames-leftist-ideology-spread-islamism/

    “Former French Inspector General of National Education Jean-Pierre Obin has blamed the far-left ideology of teachers and administrators for the spread of Islamist ideas in schools.

    Mr Obin, who has authored a book entitled How Islamism Was Allowed to Enter Schools, stated that both administrators and teachers “are in denial or ideological complacency in relation to Islamism”.

    “It is this part of the extreme left, very present in the National Education, that thinks that attacking Islamism is attacking Islam. [They think that] Muslim students are victims, and therefore we must not have the same attitude towards them as towards other students,” he told broadcaster Europe1.

    Obin went on to add that 2015, the year of the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, was a major wake up call for the French establishment of just how much Islamist ideas had spread among young people and especially educated young people.

    “Since then, research, surveys, give a much more precise panorama of this penetration, this impregnation of a part of the Muslim youth by Islamist ideology,” he said.

    Obin’s comments come just days after an 18-year-old Chechen radical Islamic terrorist murdered and beheaded French teacher Samuel Paty who came under fire from the Muslim community for showing Mohammed cartoons to his class.

    A recent survey released by the Institut Français d’Opinion Publique (Ifop) revealed that 26 per cent of French Muslims under the age of 25 outright refused to condemn the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks that left a dozen people dead.

    The study, which was partnered with the satirical magazine, found that 72 per cent of Muslims condemned the terrorist attack, compared to 88 per cent of the French public in general.

    Nearly half, 41 per cent, of Muslims said they would refuse to take part in a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack.

    Earlier this week it was also revealed that a teacher in the Paris no-go suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis had shown his class video of Pakistanis burning French flags in September in response to Charlie Hebdo republishing the Mohammed cartoons.

    While the teacher intended for the video to be a lesson in intolerance, he was shocked that the pupils cheered for the protesters.

    “I thought it would make them think, but most of the pupils stood up and applauded,” the teacher said.”