Reader’s Links for February 16, 2021

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

95 Replies to “Reader’s Links for February 16, 2021”

  1. sky news – Dubai’s ‘missing’ princess: What happened to Latifa?

    For three years the world has heard nothing from Princess Latifa, the missing daughter of one of the world’s richest men, Dubai’s billionaire ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

    But now, you can hear Princess Latifa’s story in her own words.

    She says she is being held against her will in a royal villa in Dubai.

    • The media’s objective in surfacing this old news is to dirty up the UAE. The MB’s most determined foe and an example of relatively enlightened Islamic autocracy.

      Like picking the scab off the exemplary info-op, the Khashoggi Affair.

  2. Kristi Noem takes on Bill Gates’ latest environmental demands

    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem slams Bill Gates’ for saying Americans’ should stop eating beef and weighs in on the devestation of canceling the Keystone XL pipeline.

  3. 30 Taliban Fighters Die in Explosion During Bomb-Making Class
    https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/02/16/30-taliban-die-explosion-bomb-making-class/

    “Thirty Taliban militants were killed when a bomb exploded during a bomb-making class at a mosque in Afghanistan’s Balkh province.

    Six of the dead were foreigners who were “expert mine makers,” The Khaama Press News Agency reported, citing military officials.

    The mosque is situated in a village in Dowlatabad district, where the group had gathered to be trained in making bombs and improvised explosive devices (IED).

    A representative of the Afghan Army’s 209th Shaheen Corps said in a statement Saturday that only 24 bodies of the deceased, who were from Afghanistan, have been identified.

    The Taliban often use IEDs to target government and foreign forces in the war-torn country. Thousands of civilians have also been killed as “collateral damage.”…”

  4. Houthis Compensate for Losses in Yemen’s Marib by Attacking IDP Camps
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2808581/houthis-compensate-losses-yemen%E2%80%99s-marib-attacking-idp-camps

    “Houthi militias in Yemen are attacking camps hosting internally displaced Yemenis in Marib governorate, where they incurred heavy losses on southern and western battlefronts, official sources reported.

    For its part, the internationally recognized Yemeni government raised the alarm on Houthi consecutive attacks triggering a serious deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Marib.

    Fierce clashes continue to erupt across Marib’s western Sirwah district, where pro-government forces, backed by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, regained impetus.

    Arab Coalition warplanes on Sunday targeted Houthi military reinforcements heading for Marib.

    The airstrikes destroyed vehicles and pickups transporting reinforcements to Houthis fighters in Sirwah and al-Makhdarah, the Yemeni armed forces’ media center said, leaving all the troops onboard killed or injured and the ordnance destroyed.

    Earlier on Sunday, the government artillery shelled Houthi gatherings in different sites in Sirwah, leaving the fighters with gross losses in lives and ordnance, the center added.

    Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, in a meeting with French Ambassador Jean-Marie Safa, noted that Houthis do not care for losing fighters.

    Houthis are sending their deluded fighters to die in Marib, Mubarak said, adding that the Iran-backed group continues to recruit child soldiers and target civilian areas with ballistic missiles.

    Mubarak pointed out that Marib has embraced millions of displaced Yemenis who fled oppression in Houthi-run areas and warned that the continuation of Houthi attacks “will lead to a dire deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the governorate.”

    Yemen’s Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani also condemned the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militia for deliberately targeting the camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Marib.

    “Houthi militias have continued to target IDP camps with the most recent attack including the shelling of Azour camp in Sirwah with a ballistic missile and several Katyusha rockets,” the official Saba news agency quoted Eryani as saying.

    According to Eryani, Azour hosts over 20,000 IDPs.

    The minister criticized the international community and the UN standing idle on the Houthi military escalation in Marib.”

  5. Iran’s Meddling Must Be Tackled before Iraq Elections, US Tells UN
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2809386/irans-meddling-must-be-tackled-iraq-elections-us-tells-un

    “The United States said on Tuesday that creating a conducive environment for elections in Iraq later this year includes tackling Iran-backed militias, Iran’s destabilizing activities in the country and remaining ISIS elements.

    Acting US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills told a UN Security Council meeting on Iraq that one of the highest barriers to creating a conducive environment for credible, peaceful and inclusive elections “is the presence of armed militias, violent extremists and spoilers.”

    “A conducive environment means that we must address Iran-backed militias and Iran’s destabilizing activities in Iraq, as well as the remaining ISIS elements,” Mills told the 15-member council.

    “These groups undermine the public’s trust in the government, and in the October 2021 elections. They’re killing Iraqi citizens and depriving Iraq of much-needed economic relief and foreign investment. No one is immune,” he said.

    A rocket attack on US-led forces in northern Iraq on Monday killed a civilian contractor and injured a US service member. The attack was claimed by a group that some Iraqi officials say has links with Iran.

    The United States has about 2,500 US troops in Iraq.

    “Such reckless attempts to inflame tensions pose grave threats to Iraq’s stability. Close collaboration between Baghdad and Erbil, to bring the culprits to justice, is now of the greatest importance,” UN Iraq special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council on Tuesday.

    US President Joe Biden’s administration pledged to be a steady, reliable partner for Iraq, Mills said.

    “Among its top priorities, the United States will seek to help Iraq assert its sovereignty in the face of enemies at home and abroad, by preventing an ISIS resurgence and working toward Iraq’s stability,” he said.

    “For the United States this means supporting Iraq’s efforts to hold credible inclusive and peaceful elections,” Mills said.”

  6. Bulgarian Prosecutors Say Heroin Found in Cargo from Iran
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2809536/bulgarian-prosecutors-say-heroin-found-cargo-iran

    “Bulgarian customs officials confiscated more than 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of heroin from a ship transporting goods from Iran, prosecutors said Tuesday.

    The drugs were divided in 487 packages and hidden among asphalt rollers the ship was carrying, prosecutor Vladimir Chavdarov.

    Customs officials in the Black Sea port of Varna valued the seized heroin at 18 million euros ($22 million).

    Two Bulgarian men – the owner of the receiving company and a customs officer – were detained and could face up to 20 years in jail, if convicted on drug trafficking charges.

    Bulgarian police believe the heroin was not intended for the domestic market but rather destined to be sold in Western Europe.

    Drugs from the Middle East sometimes are transported on trucks from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and Bulgaria to Western Europe.

    Bulgaria has taken steps in recent years to prevent drug trafficking.”

  7. Egypt to help Sudan ‘purge education system of extremism’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210216-egypt-to-help-sudan-purge-education-system-of-extremism/

    “The Egyptian parliament earlier this month welcomed calls for the government to cooperate with Sudan to reform its education system and school curriculum in order to counter extremism.

    During a parliamentary session on 7 February, member of parliament Farida Al-Shobashi stated: “The Egyptian parliament encourages the Egyptian ministries of education and endowments to support Sudan in its unique experience in revising its school curricula to cleanse them of extremist content.”

    She added: “Egypt has experience in combating extremism and confronting takfirist ideas. Therefore, Egyptian experiences must be transferred to Sudan to help it rid its school curricula of any content tainted by extremism.”

    MP Hatem Bashat affirmed his support for the project, saying at the same session that Cairo must review “the Sudanese curricula and removing any offensive material to Egypt in order to build generations in the two brotherly countries devoid of any destructive ideas.”

    Bashat referred directly to the committee called the People’s Initiative for Strengthening Sudanese-Egyptian Relations, which he is a member of, that was launched by public figures from both countries on 28 January. It came days after Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok also announced the formation of such a committee.

    That initiative was launched a day after Sudan’s Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments Nasruddin Mufreh stated: “Sudan decided to rid the school curricula, especially the Islamic education curricula, of the extremist and terrorist ideology to make it consistent with the general framework and goals of moderation.”

    Sudan’s education system, which was implemented under ousted former dictator Omar Al-Bashir, is reported to have contained “extremist” elements, the details of which have not been disclosed. Under the current Sudanese transitional government, the legacy of Al-Bashir is being steadily erased in what its opponents see as a move to secularise the country and its governance…”

  8. ‘Turkey’s operations in Iraq continue with greater pace’
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkeys-operations-in-iraq-continue-with-greater-pace/2147009

    “Turkey’s anti-terror operations against the PKK terror group in northern Iraq are underway with greater force and pace, the country’s defense minister said on Tuesday.

    Hulusi Akar briefed the lawmakers in the parliament in the wake of the terrorist group PKK’s killing of 13 Turkish citizens over the weekend.

    “Our anti-operations against PKK — which is struggling to survive — in northern Iraq continue uninterrupted with greater force and pace. The Turkish Armed Forces inflicted a heavy blow on the PKK in Gara [northern Iraq] in an area of ??75 kilometers [46.6 miles] by 25 kilometers [15.5 miles] where terrorists used to feel safe,” Akar said.

    Akar noted that Turkey’s anti-terror offensive Operation Claw-Eagle 2 in Gara has been carried out in an area of 35 km (21.7 mi) off Turkey’s borders without any land support.

    “[This] critical and important operation differs in quality from the others. … There was a wide preparation process for the operation under intense measures,” he said, adding: “Before the operation, which was carried out in coordination with our friends and allies, the targets were carefully selected, and maximum attention and sensitivity were paid to the protection of life and property of the civilian population.

    “During the operation, the special forces called for the surrender of two terrorists, but no one came out,” Akar noted, saying the Turkish forces were responded with fire by terrorists from a cave.

    He said the operation was carried out under very difficult conditions through security measures “in a way that not every country can do”.

    During the operation, 51 terrorists were killed and two were captured, Akar stressed.

    “From now on, the [PKK] terrorist organization will no longer feel comfortable as it did yesterday. The blood of our martyrs has not been left on the ground, and it will not be,” he said.

    The bodies of the 13 Turkish citizens were found during the operation in northern Iraq, Akar said earlier on Sunday.

    Turkish forces launched Operation Claw-Eagle 2 on Feb. 10 to prevent the PKK and other terror groups from re-establishing positions used to carry out cross-border terror attacks on Turkey.

    Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle were initiated last June to ensure the safety of Turkey’s people and borders.

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.”

  9. Sweden: Violence from migrants has train operator threatening to cancel service in certain areas
    https://rmx.news/article/article/sweden-violence-from-migrants-has-train-operator-threatening-to-cancel-service-in-certain-areas

    “Afghans, Somalis, and Eritreans have been singled out as those responsible for a number of threatening incidents and violence that has befallen the Swedish town of Kumla and which makes SJ, the Swedish government-owned passenger train operator, consider stopping its trains in the city.

    The Samhällsnytt daily talked to the police, SJ, entrepreneurs, and citizens of Kumla about the situation in the town.

    On, Jan. 29, SJ issued a press release stating that due to “serious problems with order” in Kumla and Hallsberg, the train company considers completely avoiding two stations and letting trains pass instead. So far, the trains stop in both Kumla and Hallsberg, but according to the press release, this position could quickly change.

    “As an ultimate consequence of the problems with the order in Kumla and also Hallsberg, and which are spreading on the trains, the most drastic and last resort measure would be not to stop at those stations,” explained SJ’s business manager Jan Kyrk.

    Kyrk emphasized that SJ is conducting a “good dialogue” with the police and that the train service hopes to avoid taking such drastic actions.

    In Hallsberg, Police Inspector Karin Eldblom, who is normally tasked with investigating incidents on the trains reported by SJ and its staff, is now also heading up the preliminary investigation in this case. She told Samhällsnytt about three cases from November and December in which the train staff were threatened or attacked by passengers.

    A pattern of abuse on Sweden’s trains
    On Nov. 15, there were two perpetrators, one of whom spat in the face of the train conductor, said Eldblom. The incident is classified as an assault on an official. The reason behind the attack was due to the passenger lacking a paid train ticket, for which the conductor tried to expel the passengers.

    On Nov. 26, a person who boarded the train in Kumla started shouting and acting threateningly towards the train conductor. This time, it was also due to a missing ticket. Authorities classified the offeanse as an assault on an official as well.

    And on Dec. 13, the police were alerted by SJ’s train staff because of an incident in Hallsberg. The train staff felt threatened and harassed by an unknown suspect, with a dispute arising due to the lack of a ticket, explained Karin Eldblom.

    Kyrk pointed out that train staff now has to avoid confrontation with those who are refusing to pay for public transportation.

    “You should not get into conflict with these passengers but rather go away and think about your own and the travelers’ safety and alert the police instead. That is why we say that the police must prioritize this and arrive at the next station and take care of these passengers,” stressed Kyrk.

    “These people know what we do, that we contact the police. In one case, we have seen the police standing at one end of the train, and these passengers jump off at a completely different end and get out of there,” he added.

    According to SP’s business manager, not all incidents on the trains come to the attention of the police. He knows of cases in which the staff have been subjected to conflicts but then chose not to involve the police for fear of reprisal.

    “We now have a gang-like problem that is spreading to the trains,” concluded Kyrk.

    Samhällsnytt has spoken to a woman in her 40s who lives in Kumla and who witnessed an incident a few weeks ago.

    The woman had dropped off her children by the train stop and was waiting for the train to leave when two men showed up and tried to get on board. The conductor asked to see the men’s tickets, something they seemed to be missing, at the door.

    “They tried to push past the conductor. And the conductor spread his hands to stop them. They started arguing and shouting that she was a racist. They started kicking her. Then she began to scream, and then another conductor came to her rescue,” described the witness, adding that the two men, two Afghans, then started kicking at the train doors.

    Immigrant gangs plague the Swedish town
    Iréne Ekblom is 52 years old and lives in Kumla. She testified to growing insecurity in her hometown.

    “You have to be brave to go out alone as a 50-year-old, but I do not go out by myself in the evenings. There are large gangs, that’s why people do not go out. Groups are hanging down in the tunnel, at Maxi, and down towards Fylstaskolan,” she said.

    Iréne Ekblom made no secret of the fact that these are immigrant gangs.

    Irene’s daughter, 28-year-old Beatrice Ekblom, runs Salong Agaton, which is located in the Kumla station building. She agreed with her mother’s description of what is happening in the city.

    “Around the station, and especially at the waiting room, it has been unsafe. Not all the time but occasionally, especially in the evenings,” she said, adding that there are large groups of males in their upper teens up to 25 to 30 years of age.

    The groups move around the station in groups and are often outside her workplace when she goes home.

    Beatrice said that her salon also suffered damage to the windows last spring.

    In addition to Afghans, Somalis are also seen as a problematic group in Kumla. Somalis are listed as perpetrators in several judgments of the Örebro District Court from recent months regarding violence and drug crimes in Kumla.

    Jama Saed of the Somali Cultural Association in Kumla said he knows that there are various groups moving around Kumla station.

    “It’s not just Somalis. There are immigrant youths such as Somalis, Eritreans, and Afghans,” he pointed out.

    Last year, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven reversed his earlier accommodating refugee stance and said, “If migration is so strong that integration is no longer successful, we risk further problems.”

    He was reacting to a spate of migrant crimes in the country that led to more stabbings, gun violence, and murders. Last year, a woman was beaten by migrants on a public train while 50 passengers looked on and did not intervene.

    Polling shows that the majority of Swedes want to reduce migration.”

  10. Sweden: Clinic in Gothenburg experiences second explosion in a month
    https://rmx.news/article/article/sweden-clinic-in-gothenburg-experiences-second-explosion-in-a-month

    “An explosive device detonated inside a care clinic in Gothenburg of Wednesday last week, the Göteborg-Posten reported. Two people were injured during the incident.

    According to Sahlgrenska Hospital’s press office, a woman in her 40s was slightly injured while a woman in her 80s suffered severe shrapnel injuries in the explosion inside the care clinic on Första Långgatan, a street in Sweden.

    “The bomb protection police department has an opinion, but there is no information we can release at this stage of the investigation,” said Peter Adlersson, police spokesman in the region.

    The explosive device must have been more powerful than any sort of firework.

    No person has been arrested in connection with the explosion, which is classified as attempted murder, public destruction, and illegal possession and usage of an explosive device.

    Masked man suspected
    The most publically available clue in the investigation is surveillance footage of a partially masked man who was filmed walking towards the clinic.

    Shortly afterward, something detonated inside one of the toilets. The suspected perpetrator then left the house and onto Första Långgatan street.

    “I have no information about that. The Criminal Investigation Department is working hard on the case,“ answered Adlersson when asked if the person was identified.

    Just about three weeks ago, there was a powerful explosion outside the entrance to the house where the care clinic is located. No one was injured, but the material destruction was severe.

    One of the investigators’ theories is that there might be a link to people connected to the reception area inside the clinic.

    “Given that two similar incidents have taken place at the same place in a short time, it cannot be ruled out,” said Christer Fuxborg, also a spokesperson at the police.

    According to court documents that GP was informed of, a relative of one of the employees at the reception area has recently faced death threats.

    A young man was allegedly demanded just over half a million Swedish kronas (€49,575) after a tangled investment deal gone wrong and an issue over debt.

    Allegedly, several parties involved have negotiated a solution to the dispute right inside the reception.

    “It is far too early to say whether this could be a motive,“ said Christer Fuxborg after the explosion.

    The explosion could be heard from some distance and triggered an extensive operation of rescue services, ambulance, and the police. The national bomb squad cordoned off the area and searched the premises to make sure there were no more objects that could explode, and public transport in the area was stopped.

    Employees were shocked, students were sent home

    In the same building as the detonation occurred is the Framtidsgymnasiet school. According to Paula Hammerskog, security director at the school, the premises were evacuated.

    “It can be difficult to arrange something remotely, and I think many are a little too upset. It can be difficult to get people to concentrate, so the students are sent home and we will continue to update them,” Hammarskog explained.”

  11. Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s new book is a damning verdict on European immigration policy
    https://rmx.news/article/article/ayaan-hirsi-ali-s-new-book-is-a-damning-verdict-on-european-immigration-policy

    “Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s new book, entitled Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, published in February this year, offers a detailed and shocking description of how European women’s everyday lives have been impacted by the sudden influx of millions of Muslim migrants.

    Hirsi Ali, who has been living under armed guard for over a decade as a result of her critical views on Islam, is describing the arrival of archaic cultures into Europe which do not treat women as equal partners, resulting in communities where violence against women is endemic.

    Hirsi Ali, who was born in Somalia and immigrated to the Netherlands, has faced enormous pressure to remain silent about her view. A video interview with the Commonwealth Club, in which she was invited to speak about her new book, was almost cancelled due to protests and threats from left-wing activist who regard her views as Islamophobic. During the discussion, she had stated that in her view, the single most harmful decision for women taken in Europe was ironically made by a woman. She makes no qualms about naming this person as Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel. In her view, Merkel, in a moment of thoughtlessness, had decided to open the gates of Europe to masses of immigrants without a plan or means for successful integration.

    Ali, who left her Muslim faith and became an atheist, was a victim of female genital mutilation. In other words, she personally suffered due to some of the most extreme elements of the patriarchal and Islamic society that dominated the Somali community, making her calls for Europe to rethink its position on immigration even more evocative and urgent.

    Her most recent book describes how, as a result of uncontrolled immigration from Islamic cultures culminating in the 2015 mass invasion of Europe, countries on the continent are struggling with the assimilation and integration of Muslims in their societies. As the process had started decades ago, and there were signs of an increased pressure from Islamic countries, Western leaders should have anticipated the events of 2015, yet six years on, there is still no free debate about the issue, and Hirsi Ali says that politicians responsible for ensuring the security of their people are still not showing leadership. This has, according to Hirsi Ali, resulted in the greatest social volatility Europe has known since the Second World War.

    According to the book, the guiding principle that had defined immigration decisions by European politicians was self-interest, not the interest of their citizens. In societies where women began to experience the consequences of these disastrous decisions, first only women from immigrant communities were affected by the violence that Hirsi Ali believes are inherent in these cultures, such as child marriage or female genital mutilation. Authorities had looked the other way and failed to protect these women from oppression and violence out of fear of being accused of racism. The violence, however, has now spread to wider society, in which working-class neighborhoods are bearing the brunt of consequences stemming from misjudged immigration policies.

    According to Hirsi Ali, politicians like Merkel are covering their disastrous decisions under the cloak of compassion. Rather than compassion though, what they have demonstrated was incompetence. As the price of these policy decisions rise, most mainstream parties are still refusing to discuss the issue, let alone tackle it. They dismiss complaints from critics and even victims as racist or xenophobic.

    Hence, in Hirsi Ali’s view, it is not right-wing parties that are fanning the flames of hatred in Europe, as is often claimed by proponents of immigration. It is, instead, left-wing leaders who made this topic into a taboo and have been silencing critics, creating a wall of censorship around the topic.

    Although the author’s book is mostly discussing the experience of women in societies with rising Muslim populations, she also points out that other minorities have also been severely affected. Jewish citizens in particular have been forced into semi-hiding, by voluntarily not displaying visible signs of their religion. Anti-Semitism in European countries is rising, and because these sentiments have come out into the open with the arrival of certain migrant communities, anti-Semitism is even spreading into the general political discourse. According to Hirsi Ali, the worrying development is that young men from these communities do not only feel prejudice but are more likely to act on it as well.

    A feminist herself, in her book Hirsi Ali voices a strong criticism of the current feminist movement that refuses to consider issues affecting women in the above difficult circumstances. In her view, feminists have abandoned working-class women, which is why she calls for a feminism that dares to openly criticize the violence and oppression affecting women who live in and around Muslim communities. In another interview with Fox News, she has also lamented that feminist movements like #MeToo are ignoring the plight of women in such communities.

    In her book, Hirsi Ali also emphasizes the importance of national identities and the need to keep and guard national borders. She praises countries such as Austria and Denmark for challenging what she calls the “multi-culturalist dogma” and for insisting on integration. At the same time, she openly condemns countries such as the UK for turning a blind eye on incidents like Pakistani gangs grooming and raping White children, who were dismissed by authorities as “White trash”. She also called Sweden a “basket case” for abandoning national values and failing to demand integration from new arrivals.

    Hirsi Ali’s book highlights the challenges Europe currently faces and which are expected to only grow in the future. Given her own personal story which involved death threats she experienced from the Dutch Muslim community and 24-hour police protection, her new book serves as a credible alternative view to that promoted by a Western Europe increasingly embracing mass migration from Muslim countries and other societies that do not value freedom for women.”

  12. Generation Identity banned – ‘The French government considers it a crime to be against immigration’
    https://rmx.news/article/article/generation-identity-banned-the-french-government-considers-it-a-crime-to-be-against-immigration

    “On Friday, the French government announced the dissolution of the anti-mass-immigration, identitarian movement Génération Identitaire, also known as Generation Identity in the English-speaking world, after its recent protest action at the French-Spanish border, which had exposed the lack of control of illegal immigration by the French government despite its previous statements to the contrary. Remix News spoke on Monday on the phone with Jérémie Piano, the spokesperson for the organization, which readily calls itself “right-wing Greenpeace” because of its actions devised to attract media attention.

    The French Interior Minister wants to dissolve your movement. What reason is given in the notification you received on Friday?
    Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wants to dissolve us for two reasons: incitement to hatred and the formation of militias. For his accusations, he relies in particular on the actions that Génération Identitaire has carried out in the Alps and the Pyrenees. For the 2018 Defend Europe mission in the Alps, we were fully discharged by a court of appeal. Concerning our last action, last month in the Pyrenees, the prefect himself acknowledged that we had not done anything illegal. For the charge of incitement to hatred, Gérald Darmanin’s services also rely on the occupation of the roof of the Poitiers mosque construction site in 2012, for which, similarly, we had no conviction. The file is quite empty legally, and if we are judged according to the law, we will win because it is mostly a political move on the part of the government.

    It also seems that the French government is resorting to judicial harassment against Génération Identitaire.
    That is exactly right.

    What do you think is the real reason for this relentlessness?

    The true reason is that Darmanin has announced a law on Islamic separatism with some timid measures against Islamists. Because of this, he has been subject to criticism and pressure from the left and the far left. Thus, in order to rebalance somewhat the perception that the left has of the government, Darmanin attacks the French who are fighting against immigration. He is going after Génération Identitaire. We could see that the first to rejoice at our dissolution were the militants of [the far-left parties] France Insoumise and Printemps Républicain as well as the Socialist Party.

    Are you going to challenge the minister’s decision in court?

    Of course, we are going to fight to the bitter end. We will have a long court battle to overturn the dissolution proceeding. Dissolution will take place by decree next week, and so for months our lawyers – among whom there is the famous lawyer Gilles-William Goldanel – will be fighting to dismantle the government’s accusations point by point and cancel the decree of dissolution.

    Concretely, this decision to dissolve your movement will block you for a while, will it not?

    Yes, it is going to hold us up because the appeal does not equate to a suspension [of the dissolution decree]. Therefore, for several months, Generation Identity will de facto no longer exist. We will no longer be able to carry out any actions or receive any funds, and so on. This will last until the decision to cancel the dissolution is made by the courts.

    So it is a way to block you, hoping maybe you will give up your fight.
    Yes, but we will not give up.

    Following your action at the Col de l’Échelle and the uproar it generated against you in the media and among the ruling political class, some of your activists lost their jobs. Can you confirm this?

    I can confirm to you that this was the case, for example, of Romain Espino, who worked in a bank and was under pressure from the left on social media, and he lost his job as a result of that legal and peaceful action.

    You define yourselves as a “right-wing Greenpeace” and the trials that have been held against you have indeed confirmed that your actions were peaceful and legal. Why do you think the interior minister is not targeting violent ultra-left groups instead?
    The French government has a multiculturalist political agenda. It sometimes finds itself obliged to take small measures against the Islamists, which provokes criticism on the left flank, and so he tries to redress the balance by attacking Génération Identitaire, which represents the opinion of the French. Indeed, three-quarters of French people are against illegal immigration, they want a referendum on mass immigration and think that the fight against immigration should be a priority.

    Do you accept the “ultra-right” label used against you by the public media and which was picked up by Darmanin in a tweet?
    No, we do not recognize ourselves in these “ultra” or “extreme” type labels. They are used only to denigrate our group and to denigrate the French who are mostly against immigration.

    There was already an attempt to dissolve your movement in 2019. Did it go that far?
    Our dissolution has been under consideration several times, but governments have never found any legal grounds that would make it possible to ban us. However, this is the first time the government has formally notified us of our dissolution, yet they have no more legal basis today to justify our dissolution. But they do not care and are attempting a political coup against Génération Identitaire’s activists.

    Does this mean that, in France, people no longer have the right to oppose immigration in the public debate?
    That is clearly the case. One of the things we are being accused of is that we had on our banner, for the Defend Europe Pyrenees mission, words that were, quote, “clearly anti-immigration”. The French government considers it a crime to be against immigration. It is just amazing! This is an extremely serious infringement on freedom of expression and freedom of association, and this is a worrying drift by the government of Emmanuel Macron.

    Social media systematically blocks you, and they block media that talk about you in too positive a tone. Do you think they are acting on their own or under pressure from the French government?
    They did not need the French government to remove the account of US President Donald Trump, but the French government and the boards of directors of companies like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram share the same totalitarian multiculturalist ideology and want by all means to silence their opponents.

    Do you still feel you live in democracy despite all this?
    Increasingly less so. If the decree of dissolution is not overturned by judges, then it will mean that we are moving towards a very authoritarian regime. If it is canceled, it will mean that we are not in a great democracy, but a democracy nonetheless, because we will still have been able to defend ourselves in courts and reverse the government’s unjust decision. In any case, we are going to fight this battle on the legal and the political front, and we will be holding a demonstration in Paris on Saturday against the dissolution of Génération Identitaire.”