University of California "Speech Guidance": Don't Call It Chinese Virus

Hat tip Campus Reform and Shirley



"It's only guidance"
(Moscow State University)



"Just days after the University of California System issued "guidance" to "not use terms such as ‘Chinese Virus'" and to "not allow the use of these terms by others," free speech experts are weighing in, telling Campus Reform that although these were meant solely as "guidance," they could still impact the free speech of students and faculty alike."
-Campus Reform 


The speech police and diversity czars at the University of California have issued "guidance" to their campuses suggesting that the Corona virus should not be referred to as a "Chinese virus". In response to free speech advocates, the university is insisting that is only guidance.

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14619

This is the document in question-see point 12.

https://diversity.universityofcalifornia.edu/policies-guidelines/covid-19.html

12 "Do not use terms such as “Chinese Virus” or other terms which cast either intentional or unintentional projections of hatred toward Asian communities, and do not allow the use of these terms by others. Refer to the virus as either “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in both oral and written communications."

It has been pretty well established over recent years that many universities have punished teachers, staff and students for using the wrong language. UC can call it guidance all it wants, but when you throw in the words, "not allow the use of these terms by others," you get the point as those who work and/or study at UC no doubt do.

Of course, there is a valid concern that some might lose sight of the fact that it is not Chinese people that should be blamed, but something went horribly wrong in China, and whatever the cause, corrective action needs to be taken-not against the people but perhaps the government of China. Shutting down an honest discussion of the origin of the virus gets us nowhere. You can't fix a problem if you don't identify the source.

In the meantime, maybe we should refer to it as the "Swiss virus". Had it, in fact, originated in Switzerland, there would never be any controversy over calling it the "Swiss virus", would there?

Åkesson-Meloni Discuss the Corona Virus in Sweden and Italy

Hat tip Vlad Tepes




Above is an interview by Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats and Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Fratelli 'd'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party in Italy. Both parties are center right parties opposed to massive Muslim immigration to their respective countries.

In this interview, carried on the Sweden Democrat website,  Åkesson and Meloni discuss the Corona virus, which has hit Italy with tragic results. Sweden, as yet, has not been hit nearly so hard as Italy. What is noteworthy here is that Meloni gives advice to Sweden as how to handle the Corona crisis based on Italy's experiences. This is well worth a watch. The interview  between the two is conducted in English,.

Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium (2)

Hat tip Humo and Carel Brendel

This is the second of two translations of articles regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium. The first was a French language article and this one is in Dutch. The two articles more or less focus on the Walloon (French-speaking part of Belgium) and the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium respectively. (Flemish is a variant of Dutch spoken in Flanders.)

This article was written by Carel Brendel in 2016 and reports more specifically on an article appearing in Humo. Translation by Fousesquawk.

http://www.carelbrendel.nl/2016/02/27/ook-de-belgische-moslimbroeders-hebben-hun-koeweit-connectie/


The Belgian Muslim Brotherhood Also Has Their Kuwait Connection
by Carel Brendel, 27 February 2016

The beauty of Blendle is that you came across unexpected articles in the media that are not seen every day. Last week, in the weekly, Humo, I discovered an article about the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Belgium. It reveals that this movement in our southern neighbor (Belgium) can count on support from Kuwait.

Given, the "cup of chocolate" had a rather alarmist tone: "The Muslim Brothers want to take over Europe through Belgium".  I myself, for the time being, am more worried over the near-term goals of the Brothers. The re-Islamicizing of Western Muslims, winning new converts, striving for influential positions in Muslim umbrella organizations, and influencing governments, municipalities, and European institutions, which often, are so naive as to consider Muslim Brotherhood organizations as a mouthpiece for all Muslims.

The Humo article contains striking news. Thus, author Raf Saviller revealed the existence of an organization in Antwerp, in which leading officials from Kuwait cooperate with the leadership of the Belgian MB. That is the European Center for Training and Education (ECTE), a "non-profit association" (vzw) that is located in a back street in the district of Borgerhout.

Humo received no answer from the Kuwaiti embassy to questions about the activities of ECTE. The mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Weyer, also gave no clarification. ECTE has no website and appears to engage in no activities in the area of training and education. That leads to the suspicion that the vzw (non-profit) is primarily established for the building of mosques and to support other MB activities.

The board's composition points in this direction. Humo only named three board members. A document in the Belgische Staatsblad reveals that 6 Kuwaitis and three Belgians were involved in the establishment of ECTE. The nine appointed Adel al-Falah, "undersecretary" of the Ministry of Awqaf (Islamic fund) and chairman of Islamic matters. 

The vice chairman is Khalif al-Ezainah, "assistant undersecretary" for external relations for the same Kuwaiti Ministry of Religious Affairs. The treasurer is Mutlaq Alqarawi, also "assistant undersecretary", but has been retired for a few years. Alqarawi is known here as chairman of Europe Trust Netherlands (ETN), the Muslim Brotherhood's real estate foundation. With support from Kuwait, they built the Blue Mosque in Amsterdam and purchased (a space) for the Social Cultural Center Foundation, Netherlands in the Hague (SSCCN). As known (except for the editors of Nieuwsuur -News Hour), ETN is also owner of the Dawah -Muslim outreach- Center of Middenweg in Rotterdam.

A 4th founder of ECTE was Waleed al-Ammar, head of foreign affairs for the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In 2013 he told Het Parool that Kuwait paid fees to three Dutch citizens involved with ETN: To Jacob van der Blom, leader of Dutch organizations for converts, founder of the De Middenweg Center and since 2014, adjunct director of the Essalam Mosque in Rotterdam; to imam Yassin Elforkani, from 2010-2013 chairman of  ETN; and to Kamis Gacha, ex-treasurer of ETN, leader of SSCCN, and organizer of  European Young Campers, which like the National Convert Day, has counted on Kuwaiti support  over the years.

As for Jafar al-Haddad and Khaled Al Omar, two other founders from Kuwait, nothing further is known.

The founders meeting appointed two Belgians as board members. They were Karim Chemlal, at whose then-residential address ECTE was registered, and Karim Azzouzi. According to the web site of the League of Muslims in Belgium (LMB), the Belgian division of the Muslim Brotherhood, Azzouzi functions as chairman, Chemlal is vice-chairman and spokesperson.

Chemlal and Azzouzi  appear extensively in a report (pdf) produced by expert Steven Merley in 2008 on the Belgian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Belgische Staatsblad also revealed  that in 2008, Chemlal was involved with the relocation of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the European Muslim Brotherhood, to Brussels. There he acted as the legal representative.

The ninth (person) present, Franck Hensch from Verviers, was the only one who was not on the board. According to Merley, Hensch is also part of the Belgian MB-network. In 2005, he became the Belgian secretary for Al Aqsa, an organization whose assets have been frozen in the Netherlands and Germany due to supposed support from Hamas-jihadists, but who in Belgium were able to continue unhindered.

The Humo article extensively went into the activities of Al Aqsa. Attention was given also to the role of MB-leader Bassam Hatahet, who established a foundation for the support of the Syrian extremist, Haitham Maleh. Humo further suggested that the Muslim Brotherhood (had) a hand in the failure of a Brussels de-radicalization project, in which the enlightened Islam thinker, Rachid Benzine, and Islam expert Michael Privot participated. The two quit because of threats, which, according to Belgian media earlier came from the extreme right as well as the Muslim corner. Privot himself, according to Humo, doesn't think that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the threats, but rather "the man in the street, the conservative Muslims who see their religion threatened and propagate violence as a reaction".

Privot is one of the few who has ever openly admitted to his MB membership. In 2015 he told French-speaking television that he has since broken from the movement. He is not very confident over the current state of affairs, as revealed by a quote in Humo: "Well, there is now some of everything in the Muslim Brotherhood: A minority of liberal thinkers, very many strict conservatives, and indeed, people who are very extreme and adhere to  jihadism. But if true that Mr Hatahet in Belgium is working in collaboration with Haitham Maleh, then I find it very problematic, and I am glad that I am no longer with the Muslim Brotherhood."

Back to the Kuwait connection. The support for MB organizations in Europe is not new. In 2010 and 2011, there were two conferences for European converts in Kuwait City.The  2010  report can be found on the renewed website from the Native European Muslim Assembly, the convert organization of the European MB.

Speakers at this conference were, among others, the Egyptian Fadel Soliman, who as a dawah specialist, enjoys a high regard among Dutch converts, and who recently gave a sermon in the Essalam Mosque, and Tareq Suwaidan, a leader of the Kuwaiti MB. Suwaidan was not allowed to speak at the annual Muslim Fair in 2014 because the government regarded him "a real danger to public safety".

Playing a main role in the Kuwaiti Converts Congress was Jamal al-Shatti of the International Presentation Committee, a Muslim Brotherhood dawah organization, which among others, supported the Dutch Converts Days.

According to this report, Mutlaq Alqarawi came to show his support for the conference. Adel al-Falah attended the closing ceremony. Six years later, we find the high-placed duo back at the head of MB organizations in the Netherlands and Belgium.

What to Do About China?

This article first appeared in New English Review.



At this writing, we don't know how long this Corona virus is going to be with us and when we can get back to normal life. One thing is certain. This can and most likely will happen again, and world leaders need to have a plan in place to deal with the next virus especially if, as some suspect, it is
man made. Not only can we not accept situations like the deaths occurring in countries like Italy, we cannot go into lock down mode and shut down our economy every time this happens.

Since most all fingers point to China for this outbreak, the US-and the world- must reconsider its relationship with China. Whether this was a result of eating strange animals, like bats, an accidental escape of a virus from a Chinese lab, or a deliberate act by Chinese intelligence services, China must be held to account and must realize that future outbreaks from their country are unacceptable.

Incidentally, there is an interesting (albeit) unverified story coming out of Italy based a 2015 Italian news program that reported that Chinese chemists had conducted an experiment in connection with the Sars virus. Supposedly, they extracted a protein from bats which they grafted onto the Sars virus and concluded that the virus could be transmitted directly from bats to humans without passing through mice as an intermediary. The report continues that the virus may have escaped from the lab and might be connected to today's Corona virus. It should be noted that many scientists are disputing this story as to any connection with the Corona virus. Just this past week I translated a news article and video on this story from Il Giornale, which can be viewed here.

At any rate, this entire Corona story illustrates the need-the urgent need- to stop doing business as usual with China, a country either unable or unwilling to act in the world's interests and safety. It is all too clear that we and other first world countries have enabled China to grow in power economically, militarily, and politically. They are an expansionist country, and their chief weapon is their economic power. Their greatest resource is their people, an unusually talented people I might add. And there are a lot of them. That said, we should not direct our ire at the Chinese people themselves. They are innocent and should be not be targeted in the West. It is their government we need to punish. And it is not racist to call this what it is-a Chinese virus.

I am no economic expert, but any fool can recognize that China wields too much power economically. It is absurd that so many of the products we use and wear everyday are made in China using cheap labor toiling in near slave-like conditions. It is unconscionable that at the very time we we are dealing with their pandemic, we depend on China for most of our pharmaceuticals. It is to President Trump's credit that he has started to reverse the unfair trade advantage we have with China. More needs to be done, however.

In my humble opinion, China needs to be isolated. How gradually the corrective measures need to be done, I will leave to the experts (yes, the same experts who have gotten us into this mess over the last several decades). If we deem it unwise and reckless to bring China down to its knees, it should at least be brought back down to earth. They cannot be allowed to dominate the world-just as Islam cannot be allowed to dominate the world. Just as with Islam, if we have the will, we can and will prevail. If we don't have the will, all is lost. I am certainly not advocating war with China. It is to  everyone's advantage that we live in peace and harmony with them. But not on their terms.

Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium

This article is another translation of an original regarding the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. It describes the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium and was written in French by Willy Wolztain in 2016 for the CCLJ (Centre Comunautaire  Laïc Juif-Secular Jew Community Center). Translation by Fousesquawk. The influence of radical Islam is very strong in Belgium, and Brussels is often described as the epicenter of radical Islam in Europe.


https://www.cclj.be/actu/politique-societe/systeme-freres-musulmans-illustration-par-cas-privot

The Muslim Brotherhood System: Illustration via the Privot Case
- Friday, 20 May 2016 by Willy Wolsztain

More a religious political sect than a  spiritual movement, founded in 1928 by the Egyptian Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood carries a totalitarian vision of the religion. In Europe, they are attempting to Islamicize society in a gradual manner with their ultimate end, the installation of a worldwide caliphate. In order to grasp their true nature, it is enough to observe up close the Muslim Fair of Brussels (FMB), one of their  flagship annual events, along with the Moslem Expo (Antwerp) and the Muslim Expo (Charleroi).

Promotion of the female Muslim dress code, segregation between men and women during conferences, omnipresent prayers, Koranic rants. At the FMB, there reigns an atmosphere of obscurantism, bigotry and conservatism. There the Aksahum Foundation supports the charitable works of Hamas. One can hear the diatribes of hate against Shi'ite Islam (Hassan Iquiousson at the FMB 2015). Anti-Semitic preachers are invited (FMB 2104, Muslim Expo, Charleroi 2-016) Works by Youssef al-Qaradawi, the notorious leading thinker and spiritual guide of the Brotherhood, are distributed.

The founding father Hassan al-Banna always present

The ideology that permeates the Muslim Fair is inspired directly from the founding father, Hassan al-Banna. See his 1947 manifest with its 50 programmed points. One will note in passing how many ideas also influence the Islamic political pressure in Europe ( claims on the Islamic veil, segregation between the sexes, family law, censorship of media and art, etc.) A prophetic microcosm, the Fair prefigures the ideal macrocosm according to the Brotherhood, exact opposite of a liberal Islam, open to the values of individual liberty, democracy, humanism and progress.

We examine the Brotherhood career of Islamologist Michael Privot. We have already dealt with his case elsewhere. In an exemplary manner, it illustrates the "Leninist perspective of taking control", put into practice by the Brotherhood, to use the happy formula of the Egyptian historian, Tewfik Aclimandos.

A completely unusual approach for a member of the Brotherhood, Michael Privot, carried out a Brotherhood "coming out" in 2008. In perfect contrast to the spectacle of the Muslim Fair, Privot presents the European Muslim Brotherhood self-styled "fed-up with the virtues of democracy, human rights, the Nation of laws and responsible citizenship". Interviewed 8 years later after having said he slammed the Brotherhood door, he gave us the same angelic serenade. He shows "the tip of the ear", however. "One has to take the the example of Milli Gorush." Milli Gorush (of the) Turkish Islamist movement, conservative, totalitarian, close in spirit to the Muslim Brotherhood. Since 2012, Michael Privot claims to have broken with the Brotherhood. In truth, that is false. Up to today, he remains closely tied to the active Brotherhood structures in Belgium. And here is the proof.

According to a 2008 American report, "The Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium", Michael Privot co-chaired the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Students Associations (FEMYSO), one of the top organisms linked to the Brotherhood. In 2004, he entered the administrative council of the Educational Islamic Cultural Complex of Verviers- Assahaba Mosque (CECIV) as treasurer, a few months after the establishment of this non-profit. In 2007 he became vice secretary. He only left the board of the CECIV at the beginning of 2015.  Not without leaving behind him a person of confidence, namely Julie "Noor" Pascoet, (who) joined the board at the end of 2014 as secretary. She joined Hajib El Hajjaji (see below), who then sat on the board of CECIV since 2010, as well as Frank "Amin" Hensch, president and imam of CECIV. Pascoet is also a close collaborator of Privot at the head of ENAR-European Network Against Racism, which he leads in a professional role. She worked for Islamic Relief Worldwide, a very important international charitable NGO linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

ENAR, a European network of organizations, has, among its Europeans members, the FEMYSO, already mentioned, as well as the European Forum of Muslim Women (EFOMW), also linked to the Brotherhood. ENAR counts among its Belgian members the Collective Against Islamophobia in Belgium (CCIB) and Muslims Right Belgium (MRB), two propaganda agencies from the Muslim Brotherhood movement. ENAR makes the fight against "Islamophobia", an Islamist obsession, one of its priority actions.

At the beginning of 2013, Privot co-founded Empowering Belgian Muslims (EmBeM), a non-profit where he served as vice president. It is Fatima Zibouh, a researcher at the University of Liege, who leads EmBeM. She also functions as editorial  adviser of Radio AraBel, a local Brussels transmitter. A partner of the Muslim Fair of Brussels, Radio AraBel covers this event exclusively from a temporary studio installed in the heart (of the fair). Among the founding members of EmBeM, we note Brussels representative Mahinur Ozdemir, the first Parliamentarian in Europe to wear the Islamic veil. After having gotten her elected, the CDH excluded her for denying the Armenian genocide. Should that be surprising? The current Turkish president, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, a great democrat as everyone knows, attended the lady's marriage in Istanbul. Another founder of EmBeM: Zaki Chairi, a Radio AraBel host and Islamist Scout leader (Scouts and Muslim Guides of Brussels). Zaki Chairi is the son of Mustapha Chairi, president of CCIB, previously mentioned. EmBeM counts among its administrators Taoufik Amzile, president of the Belgian Association of Muslim Professionals-ABPM. We will return to this (see below). EmBeM figured, along with the CCIB, among the partners of Moslim Expo 2015 in Antwerp, a Muslim Brotherhood event organized in the north of the country.

Nebula of personalities- Network of institutions

In this way, accessible data, though partial, permit the outlining of the active Muslim Brotherhood mechanism in French-speaking Belgium. Not having identifiable bosses and leaders, a nebula of personalities emerges. It adopts the form of a network of non-profits of various social purposes, with converging aims and mutual filtering roles, through cross-participation in boards of directors. To which should be added de facto associations (Muslim Rights Belgium) and limited public companies (Radio AraBel). What is shown in the table is French-speaking Belgian level with connections in Flanders, an international level, as well as positions of external, strategic influence, for example, within ENAR. By the number of its administrators also belonging to the boards of sister non-profits, the Michael Privot's CECIV appears to be at the center of the mechanism.

The Tarek Al-Suwaidan episode at the Brussels Muslim Fair (FMB) in 2014 offers an opening (view) of the operational function of this apparatus. Remember that the authorities prohibited entry into Belgium of this Kuwaiti preacher on  grounds of anti-Semitism. The CECIV, during the time when Michael Privot was still director, co-organized the FMB along with the League of Belgian Muslims (LMB). On the Facebook page of the Fair is shown a reservation banner with the CECIV logo alongside those of the French editor Gedis and the LMB, the official organizer.  After the incident, Privot put out a press release. He was sorry for "the lack of differentiation" between the LMB and Gedis. He avails himself of EmBeM, but takes care not to denounce CECIV. The press award him a "patent of virginity" under the title, "discordant voice". A discordant voice? Or skillful against fire?

At the end of the Merley report in 2008 an info chart shows the central position of Michael Privot within the Muslim Brotherhood structures in Belgium. Hajib El Hajjaji, previously mentioned, appeared by his side. He still figures today among his close (associates). We could find them together during a  conference which EmBeM organized at Anderlecht on 12 May 2015 at Espace Poicare/Dar al Quran- a Brotherhood institution. Michael Privot introduced the debate. Hajob El Hajjaji manages the location.  He also chairs the Collective Against Islamopobia in Belgium, mentioned above. He has practiced professionally on behalf of the ABPM of Taoufik Amzile and was administrator for a time. As for Julie Pascoet, administrator/secretary of CECIV and Michael Privot's right arm at ENAR, she participated in the European Parliament on March 2, 2016 on behalf of ENAR in the conference, Women Against Islamophobia". The session was held under the leadership Deputy Soraya Post (Sweden, Feminist Party, Socialist Group). ENAR co-organized the event along the European Brotherhood federations, FEMYSO and EFOMW, already mentioned.

 Belgian elites bet on the Muslim Brotherhood?

In spite of his insistent denials, Michael Privot persists in frequenting Muslim Brotherhood circles in an active manner. Ex-officials of the Brotherhood like Farid Abdelkrim or Mohamed Louizi denounce the ideology, exposing its hidden function, (and) help combat it. They take risks. Nothing of the sort for Michael Privot. On the contrary he reveals nothing about the organization which he, nevertheless, worked inside for years. He makes soothing comments about the Brotherhood. He saves the day. We can commit errors of youth. To have adhered to a fascist-type movement. But if you break with it, you must pay the debt. You must work to destroy it. A question of democratic credibility. Privot is very careful. This con artist is an excellent showcase for the Muslim Brotherhood. And it works.

Because it is exclusively those non-Muslims, media types, academics, politicians who have created and maintain the visibility and the notoriety of Michael Privot. Here 40 years, our political elites (and the Royal Palace) have outsourced the Islam of Belgium to Saudi Arabia. Today, we are paying very dearly for this fatal choice. Would our current elites  bet on the Muslim Brotherhood to out-source Islam 2.0 to them? A disastrous calculation. Like the Saudi Salafism in the past 40 years, the ever-so-close Brotherhood ideology programs and softens the brains and renders them permeable to the jihadist sirens of tomorrow.

Milan Deserted

Hat tip Corriere della Sera




The deserted streets of Milan as captured by a drone. This video is featured today in Corriere della Sera, Milan's principal newspaper.

https://video.corriere.it/milano/coronavirus-duomo-castello-sforzesco-milano-deserta-vista-drone/6a1e8a74-70f8-11ea-a7a2-3889c819a91b

Drive-by Shootings in Sweden?

Hat tip Samhällsnytt. Translation by Fousesquawk.



You would think Sweden would be the last place in the world for drive-by shootings (even on bicycles), but that was the old Sweden.  Shootings are now common in cities like Malmö (which has the worst problem in the country, actually). Last November, one young man was shot to death and another seriously wounded. Police have now made arrests, and at least one will face murder charges. The below article in Samhällsnytt is translated by Fousesquawk.


https://samnytt.se/22-arig-man-haktad-for-drive-by-mord-i-malmo/


(Below picture) Two suspected perpetrators captured on surveillance cameras

22-year-old man arrested for drive-by murder in Malmö

In November last year, a 15-year-old youth with a non-Western immigrant background was shot to death outside a pizzeria on Möllevången in Malmö. Another youth was found shot and seriously wounded. Now a 22-year-old is suspected for probable cause for the gang-related murder.

The arrest decision was made by a Malmö district court on Friday. The arrested 22-year-old has a non-Western immigrant background and was earlier convicted for crimes, among others, aggravated assault, for which he was sentenced to 75 hours youth service (usually gardening or cleaning work) "on the grounds of good behavior". He has also been convicted for driving without a license.

Three other persons, two 22-year-olds and a 21-year-old, were arrested in the same case. In the absence of strong enough evidence as to  involvement in the murder and attempted murder, the prosecutor chose  for the time being, to charge them only for  narcotic offenses.

All three have non-Western immigrant backgrounds and have been previously convicted for various crimes, such as drug offenses, assault, drunkenness , threats, and more. They are well-known by police as figures in criminal gangs in the extremely problematic, so called vulnerable and immigrant-dominated neighborhood of Seved.

The two crime victims were also previously known to police according to information. It is unclear what specific conflict between the concerned persons lies behind the shootings.

Haley Stevens (D-MI) Goes Nuts on House Floor

Hat tip Sara Carter.com



We can add yet another Democrat to the long list of Democrat nut jobs serving in Congress. That would be Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who went bananas  today talking about the Corona virus.

Didn't Dr Anthony Fauci in one of his TV appearances with President Trump advise us all not to PANIC?

The Muslim Brotherhood in Luxembourg

This article is the latest in a series regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe-country by country- which are translated from the original. The below article was written by Yoan Kaufman in Mediapart and is dated June 14, 2018. It describes the MB's use of Luxembourg as a financial center. It was written in French and is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://blogs.mediapart.fr/yoan-kaufman/blog/140618/enquete-luxembourg-le-paradis-fiscal-des-freres-musulmans


Investigation: Luxembourg, the fiscal paradise of the Muslim Brotherhood?
14 June 2018 by Yoan Kaufman  Blog: The Blog of Yoan Kaufman

If Switzerland is known to have been a rear base of the Muslim Brotherhood, on the other hand, Luxembourg has long been ignored. However, historically, the Grand Duchy has played a central role in the financial strategy of this organization.


"In the name of God. The Islamic bank of Luxembourg"
-Mediapart

Luxembourg has become one of the strongholds of worldwide Islamic finance, and its authorities boast about it: "As the second largest world center for funds and host of the world's principal stock exchange for stock securities, Luxembourg is today a key center  for the development of Islamic finance in Europe," states Tom Theobald, Luxembourg's deputy director general for Finance at the end of 2017.   

It is true that the publicity and lobbying carried out around this "Islamic finance" lends credence that this "finance" would be cleaner, more ethical because it is religious! In the name of God, is it less neo-liberal or less opaque? Nay. Such affirmations are absurd at best and at worst deceiving.

But in reality, the valuation of this so-called new market quite simply, hides the financial infiltration strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood and certain Gulf countries.

A project built for over 40 years....

In 2005, the Swiss journalist, Sylvain Besson, published a remarkable work: "The conquest of the West", which everyone unfortunately forgot and would be good to update.

In this book, the investigator-journalist recalls that after the attacks on 11 September, the Swiss police conducted a search at the home of Youssef Nada, chairman of a group named al-Taqwa, which was suspected of having financed al-Qaeda. In Nada's house, the police seized an exceptional document, (which) had to do with "Project" of the Muslim Brotherhood written in 1981. This document established the global strategy of the Brotherhood and more specifically, that which was envisioned for Europe.

During a second search of the offices of al-Taqwa, investigators found another document fascinatingly named "Financial Strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood".

This edifying text details the financial structures created by the leaders of the Brotherhood during the 1970s, thanks to funds principally coming from the Gulf countries.

The central position of Luxembourg is clearly exposed in the first pages. "The Islamic International Bank of Luxembourg is the principal entity  that directs and controls all other institutions. ARINCO, an affiliated entity manages the long term investments." And here we are!

A booming business...

These structures have been used to clandestinely finance Islamic centers of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the US in order to, as Sylvain Besson writes, "extend the sphere of Islam and put an end to the hegemony of the West on the world." 

One of the figures who has long held the keys to Islamic finance in Luxembourg is named Gamal Attia, of Egyptian origin and an influential member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He notably founded the Islamic Development bank of Jedda and was, not incidentally, a close (associate) of Youssef Nada....

Gamal Attia himself has been a consultant-expert for the UN during the 1980s. He is also considered with his compatriot, Abou Saud, as the father of Islamic finance

 If ARINCO was dissolved in 1989 and the International Islamic Bank of Luxembourg in 1994, that, of course, doesn't mean that the business has disappeared, quite the contrary.

The Brothers have only reorganized themselves and enlarged their influence in financial circles, to the point that Islamic finance has become a trend phenomenon, which gains more terrain each day....

As the next article will reveal, the structures affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood still use Luxembourg as a fiscal paradise to protect their war chest. A mysterious financial fund which I was able to identify holds amounts in excess of 150 million euros.

To follow

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Mulla Krekar Extradited from Norway to Italy

Hat tip Gates of Vienna (and to Bill Parsons' "All-American Boy")



"Gimme that bullhorn, Kid. Take this here bar of soap. And don't drop it." 


The long saga of Italy's efforts to extradite terror suspect Mulla Krekar from Norway has finally reached a conclusion. Krekar was sent to Italy today and is now reposing in a Rome jail as he begins to serve his (already pronounced) 12-year sentence.


https://gatesofvienna.net/2020/03/mullah-krekar-has-been-bunged-into-chokey/

Muslim Brotherhood in Switzerland (2)

Hat tip La Reference

As part of our series on the Muslim Brotherhood in Western Europe, I am translating and cross-posting the second of articles on the Muslim Brotherhood in Switzerland. The first was in Italian and focused on the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. This one is written in French in La Reference.

Note that the article, like many articles in various European languages, has different ways of referring to the Muslim Brotherhood ("Group, Frères, Frères Musulmanes, etc.) Where applicable I have substituted them with "MB", (Muslim Brotherhood), for clarity.


https://www.lareference-paris.com/2189

Private associations in the arms of the Muslim Brotherhood in Switzerland
Monday, 28 January 2019-01:51


Switzerland is among the first European countries where the international organization of the Muslim Brothers (Muslim Brotherhood) put into execution their plan of utilization of civil and social organizations as a means of hiding the penetration of Western societies according to the "strategy of civilizational jihad".


Thus, after the expulsion of elements of the cadres of the Brotherhood in Egypt after the discovery of their plan during the regime of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the group began to create fiefdoms to control the Muslims of the West and form a new parallel front. The Islamic Center of Geneva was one of the most important of these fiefdoms. Founded by Said Ramadan (secretary of Hassan al-Banna and his son-in-law) at the beginning of the 1960s, it continued to offer to the Muslim community and to the Brothers of this country. Companies and businesses belong to the Brothers.

Youssef Nada


The branch of the Brothers in Switzerland has been characterized by a rapid growth, given the economic prosperity of the State and its investment companies. That is how the organization has sought to put itself in a distinguished place among them, and this through the Egyptian businessman of Italian nationality, Youseff Nada. In effect, the Swiss press has revealed that Youssef Nada   had violated the travel ban imposed against him by the United Nations in 2002 (after having been accused by American authorities of using the At-Taqwa Bank, which he had funded to finance terrorism), and he left Italy for Switzerland, to liquidate the financial activities of the phony companies and charitable associations he directed to the advantage of the (MB) in the country.

 Hassan Abou Youssef

This member of the (MB) owns the Stahel Hardmeyer company AG estate liquidation, which was established in 1997, with a capital of 2 million Swiss francs. The commerce of textiles and clothing represents it s principal front activity. Another company owned by this individual: BS Altena AG, established in 2010 and active in the domain of real estate. The fact that some elements of the (MB) own companies secretly funding the Group makes it hard to discover funding and identity of the beneficiaries.

The (MB's) companies continue to expand within the country and represent an efficient means of utilizing donations and contributions in the funding of the activities of the (MB).

The Islamic Association of Ticino

The Islamic Association of the canton of Ticino is one of the most important charitable organizations of the MB in Switzerland. Founded in 1992, the president of its administrative council is Ali Ghalib Himmat (one of the MB cadres in Europe, of Syrian origin), another Egyptian adjutant Mohammad Mahmoud Abdel Muti, and the French-Tunisian, Mohammad Karmouz, who is one of the eminent personalities of the MB in Europe, and the Libyans Sulayman Sulayman and Fahim al-Muhib, as well as Saad Abou Zayd Ibrahim, an Egyptian of Italian nationality who left the administrative council in 2002. He was followed in November 2003 by Ahmed Idriss Nasreddine, a Kuwaiti businessman of Italian nationality, who worked first in the Bin Laden company and owns a number of investment companies in Panama, of which (there are) the Cosmo Building Materials Inc, founded in 1995, and a company holding, the Nigerian Securities Management Company, another 4 companies registered in Panama between 1992 and 1995. According to Swiss registers, the Islamic Association of the Canto of Ticino is a non-profit religious organization founded to encourage religious practice and spread the Islamic conscience, and assist members and other Muslims in fulfilling their duties vis-a-vis  themselves and their families, and in collaboration with other Islamic organizations. It is funded by obligatory monthly contributions from active members and from others, and by donations. The association is managed by a Committee composed of 5 to 7 founding members and by other administrative bodies.

 Documents published by the press also show that the Islamic Association of the canton had a budget of 414,500 US dollars in 2006. 

Mithak Euro-Swiss Foundation

It was founded in April 2010, with the aim of bettering the image of Muslims in Switzerland, and Swiss registers do not indicate the manner in which this organization is financed. However, its budget for 2009 states that the remaining funds after deducting activity costs reach the value of 192,000 dollars. The archives indicate also that the administrative council consists of at least 5 members, aside from the auditors and board of trustees.

Social-Cultural  Center of Lausanne

The Social-Cultural Center of Lausanne (Islamic Cultural Center of Lausanne) the privileged auxiliary of the (MB) in this city. It was created in 2002, and depends for its funding from  membership fees, donations, endowments and other investments, according the constitutive files of the association in Switzerland. The goal of this association is cultural, religious and social promotion, and cooperation with other organizations. Their executive director is Mohamed Karmous, and their treasurer is Ahmed Ben Rahouma, of Tunisian origin and Swiss nationality. 

The Muslim League of Switzerland

This is another important institution dependent on the international Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 2006, it depends on its funding on membership fees, which exceeds 500. As for the the Islamic Union of Teachers, it was founded in January 2010 by the MB personality found in the majority of organizations, Mohammad Karmouz, and with the aid of Kuwaiti national Abdallah al-Kandari. The league assists in defending labor and professional rights and maintains that is funding consists of membership fees, though Swiss reports affirm that its assets reached the value of 479,000 dollars in 2009.

The League of Islamic Organizations of Zurich


The League of Islamic Organizations of Zurich was founded in 1996 by a Swiss citizen of Egyptian origin, Ismail Amin, and is considered a Brotherhood organization  known in the country and which hides behind preaching and charitable activities, claiming that its financing comes from  contributions.

Islamic Community Foundation of Zurich

Ismail Amin has also contributed, along with 23 figures of the group, including Hassan Abou Youssef, nationality Swiss, Mohammad Ibrahim, the other associate of Youssef Nada, Mohammad Mansour and others in founding the Islamic Community Foundation of Zurich in 1994. They claim that their revenue comes from donations from members, but press reports affirm that the liquid assets of the organization reached 166,000 dollars 2006, in addition to 213,000 Swiss francs.

 Foundation of works with social-cultural influence

Founded at the beginning of 2010, it has as its aim the contribution to cultural life, facilitation of the integration of Muslims into society and cultural exchange. It is a non-profit organization according to Swiss registers. 

According to reports, its financial assets amount to 400,000 pounds dollars (???). It is also headed by Mohamed Karmous and Nadia Karmous.

International Islamic Charitable Organization of Geneva:

This also belongs to the (MB) and was founded in 2001 as a charitable association to help the needy. Its board of directors is composed of 31 members of which the most known are Ghalib Himmat, Youssef al-Qaradawi and Zaghloul an-Naggar.

The role of (MB) media organizations in the demonstrations in France

In addition, certain commentators believe that the danger of the MB network in Switzerland doesn't stop there, and that these organizations acted in concert to avenge the founder of the principal entity of the (MB) in the country, Said Ramadan and defending his son, Tarek. Ramadan is implicated in rape incidents and is currently incarcerated in France after Swiss authorities revealed his misdeeds. That's why some think that the elements of the (MB)  felt in danger and wanted to stir up the latest protests in France known under the name of the Yellow Vests.

Admittedly these protests were initially focused on social and economic demands, but some maintain that the (MB) contributed in stirring them up and directing them to violence, as it did with the revolutions in the Arab world, transforming them into civil wars encouraged by the MB through their media arms.

And following the organization's intensive use of its media arms, a French site, G-Forum, followed by other French sites, indicated that the media coverage of the demonstrations in France had shown that the (MB) and its channels, like Al-Jazeera followed the same method that they had followed  with the revolutions in the Middle East, by re-showing certain scenes provoking the anger of people, and by focusing on it as if it was the only aspect of the events, and by calling on the citizens to participate. 

Italy: Controversy Over 2015 News Report on China Virus

Hat tip Vlad Tepes and Gates of Vienna. Translations by Fousesquawk.

There is a news story out of Italy concerning a previous 2015 Italian TV news report on experiments being done with the Sars virus by Chinese researchers. The tone of the 2015 video (above) was that Chinese scientists were exposing people to serious risk of exposure to viruses that could escape the confines of the lab. There is now conjecture that this is all tied to the current Corona virus. It should be noted that many leading experts in the field are debunking that connection.

The current news story, which features the above video, is in the link below from Il Giornale and translated by Fousesquawk.


https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/virus-caso-video-rai-2015-creato-laboratorio-cinese-1846015.html

Here is the written translation of yesterday's Il Giornale report :

Virus, the case of the RAI video of 2015: Created in a Chinese laboratory?

The program aired in 2015 on TGR on a "supervirus" created in a  Chinese lab. Is it the Corona virus? Salvini announces an inquiry-Claudio Cartaldo, 25 March 2020

Some talk of a "coincidence", some of a big "conspiracy". Many, on the other hand, are certain that it is proof that the Corona virus Sars-Cov-2 was created in a  Beijing lab (Watch video here).

A group of Chinese researchers-explained Daniele Cerrato in the release of the program-grafted a protein taken from bats onto the Sars virus, the acute pneumonia contracted from mice. And from that came a supervirus that could infect humans. Clearly, it remains closed in a  lab. It is only for purposes of research. But is it worth it to run the risk of creating a threat so big, just to be able to examine it? In his program, Maurizio Menicucci spoke of this experiment in which the scientists succeeded in grafting a superficial protein of a corona virus found in bats, onto a virus that causes Sars (the acute pneumonia) in mice. The researchers thought that the hybrid (a chimera virus) was able to infect humans, a hypothesis then confirmed by the lab results. Not only that. The molecule ShCo-14, explained the journalist, "allows the corona virus to contaminate humans "directly from bats without passing through an intermediate species like the mouse".

The question that many now are asking is: Is this Sars-Cov2? Is it that virus, created in a lab by scientists, and which has brought China to its knees, and now the whole world? The suggestion that had already circulated in the past days, for now, is not confirmed by official sources. But yet, now the TGR Leonardo  video seems to fit Covid-19. The ingredients are all there: The bats, Sars, acute pneumonia, the virus that directly attacks humans and infects them. The coincidences seem to be many, so many that even Matteo Salvini is asking for clarity and is announcing a parliamentary inquiry (directed to ) Conte.

In reality, the experiments on the "chimera virus" have already been dealt with by the Italian press. Il Fatto, for example, has  brought back to light an article on the argument, also in 2015, published by the international magazine, Nature Medicine (Read here). It is the same article to which the RAI program referred five years ago. According to noted debunker David Puene, "none of the experts who have studied the genome of the Sars-Cov2 have identified it with the chimerical virus utilized in 2015." Giuseppe Ippolito, scientific director of Spallanzani (Institute) thinks the same way. "It's always the same story, full of fantasy, which from time to time requires us to (issue denials)", he told Corriere. In addition, a group of British researchers had to speak out recently in supporting the position of the English government". For Franco Locatelli, president of the Superior Health Council, finally, "there is no evidence that this has been the mechanism at the base of which Sars-Cov2 has been generated. It is bio-terrorism fantasy. All international groups share the sequence of strains isolated from the new Corona virus, and such a scenario has never been hypothesized."


The viral dissemination ( blessed words) of the video on social media has in the end, also forced RAI to take an official position. "The program of 16 November 2015, which aired under the title: Leonardo, of TGR was taken from a publication from the magazine, Nature," says the regional director of Rai, Alessandro Casarin. "Just three days ago, the same magazine declared that the virus which the program discussed, created in a lab, has no relation with the natural virus Covid-19." Also (interviewed by) Adnkronos, moderator Cerrato suggested "not making connections with Spy Story".  The program, he says, is the result of "a research that we found four years ago through international scientific agencies. And then a portion (of the research) was (shown)." Now to understand if there is a link between that virus and the pandemic that is exploding now, we need to turn to the experts, the geneticists. Two days ago, a systematic study of the genetic sequence of the Sars-CoV-2 came out (Anderson KG et al, Nature Magazine 2020) which shows without a shadow of a doubt that the virus has a natural and zoological (from animals, particularly bats and pangolins ) origin, for which the story of the virus "created" in a lab is confirmed to be a colossal hoax. Be careful, therefore, not to make connections with Spy Story. Let the scientists be the ones who have the final say."

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Fousesquawk comment: I am making no conclusions here. I am simply presenting the story as being reported in Italy.

Spain: There Goes the Neighborhood

Hat tip Vlad Tepes


I am cross-posting the below two videos from Vlad Tepes. They were reportedly recorded in a major Spanish city. With restrictions in place in the country due to the pandemic, Muslims in this neighborhood are "improvising" when it comes to the call to prayer. Watch.







Judging from the alphabet and checking into the sources of the videos, it appears to be Bangladeshi in origin.

So what to make of this? To me this represents the height of arrogance. The Islamic call to prayer is common in Islamic countries. I have been in Islamic countries, heard it, and would not complain. It is their country(ies), and they can do what they want. But to import this into a non-Islamic country, where it is performed 5 times a day starting at about 5 am, is inconsiderate to say the least. However, the people in these two videos obviously don't care where they are. Of course, Europeans are afraid to enforce their own local laws and regulations when it comes to Muslims, some of whom are ready to launch a riot if they feel their religion is being insulted.

I am all for freedom of religion as long as it doesn't violate our laws and doesn't intrude upon the lives of others. Muslims can and should be allowed to set their watches, stop what they are doing, and pray in private or go to the mosque and pray. In our culture, people can be responsible themselves to pray or go to their place of worship without being publicly reminded or bothering anyone else. Unfortunately, there are some communities in the US who have caved into this practice and allow it. There should be noise abatement laws in effect, especially when most people are trying to sleep. What's more, they should be enforced.

Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden (2)

Hat tip Ledarsidorna (Se) and Political Islam. Translation from Swedish by Fousesquawk.

This is a continuation of Fousesquawk's series of translations from original-language  European articles on the Muslim Brotherhood in Western Europe, country by country. It is the second article regarding Sweden. It appears in Ledarsidorna (Se)

https://ledarsidorna.se/2020/03/sa-forbereds-svenska-kyrkans-framtida-vagval/

How the Church of Sweden's Future Path is Being Prepared

The list of participants to the Church of Sweden conference, "A world of neighbors" gives witness to the legacy Archbishop Antje Jackelen intends to leave behind in the form of a future path for the church. Beyond the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood organizational network, the conference also rested on another undercurrent: The Cairo Document (Cairo Declaration on Human Rights, 1990).


At the conference, "A world of neighbors", earlier this year, the Church of Sweden was represented not only by Antje Jackelen, but also by Gunilla Hallosten. Hallosten was until recently, the Policy Director of the Church of Sweden's international unit, but has an increased role today. Hallosten has earlier shown large sympathy for and has affirmed the Cairo Document among others.

Annika Borg, doctor of theology and pastor in the Church of Sweden, has been one who early on and since has criticized the Church of Sweden's path as well as examined what the Cairo Document actually contains.

At the 2002 Church meeting, the document, God's Path, was adopted, which stresses Jewish-Christian dialogue and rejects Replacement Theology. The document signified a beginning of a theological reflection, but would be supplemented and deepened  by continued studies and conversations both with the Church of Sweden and with representatives of the Jewish faith. It was also intended to to be a part of a necessary process of reconciliation since, "the largest portion of Europe's Jews were destroyed on the continent where the Christian Church exercised influence from powerful positions."

Today, the Church is developing in another direction, which became even clearer at the Church of Sweden conference, "A world of neighbors". More of the inter-religious work has come to rest on the so-called Cairo Document, which was adopted at the 2012 Church meeting. The adoption of the Cairo Document in practice repealed the earlier decision made in 2002.

The Cairo Document is a basic document for the anti-Semitic BDS movement. Germany's federal chancellor, Angela Merkel, is one of those who declared the movement to be anti-Semitic. It legitimizes terrorism, uses modern anti-Semitic rhetoric, is (essentially) Replacement Theology, and urges the total boycott of Israel. The document, together with other material from the Cairo-Palestine network, has been disseminated on the Church of Sweden's website, shows up in study circles, and designs boycott packets for those who want to influence their local stores.

The Cairo Document is a document which basically is to be regarded as Replacement Theology

Replacement Theology is the theology, which, in different ways, (paints a black picture) of Judaism and stresses Christianity as the bright, progressive alternative for the Church of Sweden and other Christian right alternatives. Either by considering Judaism obsolete, replaced by Christianity, or by painting Judaism as old and ossified as opposed to Christianity, to be perceived as light, new and living.

Another variant is to (make) a hard contrast (between)  the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible, Jews' holy writing) as warlike with a hard image of God against the New Testament as peaceful and loving.

A third ingredient in Replacement Theology is to claim that Christian interpretations of the Old Testament are superior to (that of) the Jews. In practice, Replacement Theology means that the justification for Judaism's existence is rejected, and thus, the very basis for the existence of the State of Israel. The result has been a movement which is based on a scale from enmity to anti-Judaism, wrapped in anti-Semitism.

The spirit of the Cairo Document has grown strongly in the Church of Sweden since the 2012 church meeting, when it was adopted under Antje Jackelen's representative, Anders Wejryd. And two years  before Jackelen has to lay down the bishop's rod for retirement, the next step in the transformation of the Church of Sweden's future is being prepared.

Archbishop Antje Jackelen's project, "A world of neighbors",  sums it up and is designed as a consolidating force with think tanks and  others together with the Muslim Brotherhood's organizational networks. A clear political power with clear political goals with a well-developed cooperation which shares the Brotherhood's basic anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic ideas.

How One Pro-Palestinian Activist Responded to Israel's First Corona Virus Death

Hat tip Algemeiner




Leave it to the former president of the New York University of Students for Justice in Palestine to tweet something like this in response to the news that the first Israeli (an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor) has died from the  Corona virus:

Leen Dweik (above) had this to say on Twitter:

"Anyway, should I paint my nails red or green, today?"


https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/03/23/ex-sjp-leader-at-nyu-responds-to-israels-first-coronavirus-death-with-nasty-tweet/

I am hardly surprised. It is what I have come to expect from these SJP Jew-haters and misfits. It just makes me sad that a small minority of people like this can cause so much hate on our college campuses in America.

Katie Hopkins Speaks About the Jews of France

Hat tip The Glazov Gang and Jihad Watch

I am cross-posting a short clip from a  talk British activist Katie Hopkins gave on the plight of French Jews.

I believe the speech took place last year, but it is still relevant today.




https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/03/katie-hopkins-video-french-jews-in-paris-under-attack

When the final history of this is written, it will be recorded that once again, Europeans have abandoned their Jews to the new Nazis of Europe. Fearful of confronting their ever-restive Muslim communities, they refuse to take strong measures against the tormentors (who are almost always  Muslims-not all Muslims- but Muslims nonetheless). The recent court verdict of acquittal against a  Muslim man who attacked his elderly Jewish neighbor (a Holocaust survivor) in her own apartment in 2018 and threw her off her balcony, killing her, is an example. The defendant was found not culpable by the court because he had been smoking marijuana prior to the attack!

Have not the Europeans learned their lesson from the Holocaust? They need to be reminded.

Tasteless Joke of the Day

                                              "Good news, Mein Fuehrer. You've tested negative for the Corona virus."

Angela Merkel Goes Into Quarantine

Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes. Translation by Miss Piggy.



No more large crowds for Angela



German chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that she has gone into quarantine due to contact with a doctor who has  tested positive for Corona virus. Her office has announced that she will henceforth be working from her bunker home.



OK. All jokes aside. I wish her good health and a happy retirement.

Update on Bergamo

Hat tip Fanpage (It), RAIR Foundation, Vlad Tepes and Gates of Vienna. Translation by Fousesquawk.


Below is a news video (Fanpage) from Italy featuring interviews with funeral workers who are dealing with the heavy death toll in the Northern Italian town of Bergamo.

Italy Doesn't Need More Migrants: NGOs Don't Care

Because of the Corona virus, European NGOs have been unable logistically to set out across the Mediterranean to pick up migrants off the coast of Libya. The below article in Il Giornale (Italy) reveals that the NGOs are just itching to get back out to sea. They clearly have no consideration for the people of Italy. Translation by Fousesquawk.

https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/sofferenze-dellitalia-ong-non-valgono-niente-1844114.html

The NGOs don't want to stop: Ready to bring (in) more migrants

The NGOs are (itching) to return to sea, for them there doesn't seem to be a problem, the fact that bringing migrants into Italy at this time, would constitute further difficulties for our country, exhausted by the battle against the Corona virus.
-Mauro Indelicato, Saturday March 21, 2020

It is true that in Libya, the war has not stopped, true that the emergency has lasted almost a decade, but that does not detract from (the fact) that the Italian conflict, that which our country is fighting against the Covid-19, is also causing pain and suffering in the population.

This is a principle perhaps almost banal to (bring up), but not for some representatives of NGOs, that are pawing to get back to the sea and bring in dozens of more migrants into Italy. The words of Riccardo Gatti, president of Open Arms, from a few days ago, seem rather eloquent: "In Libya, there are still men, women and children risking their lives every day," declared the head of the Spanish NGO. "In Libya, the Corona virus is not the only problem, their lives are violated. Every day."

"The young men of Open Arms consider themselves missionaries of immigration, brave paladins of the weakest, modern-day Robin Hoods," underlined Maurizio Belpietro in La Verita (The Truth). They want to return to Libya; for them it almost seems that the only suffering of note is that of those who live on the Mediterranean shore of Africa.

Not so important, therefore, if Italy today is not able to accept even one more person (considering) the thousands who, with difficulty and not a few risks, are restrained within the reception centers.

Not only Gatti and not only Open Arms,  (but) the members of the French NGO, SOS Mediterranee are clawing, who yesterday declared that they have docked the Ocean Viking at Marseilles and respecting the anti-virus regulations in force also in France. "But we are working to return to sea as soon as possible," they wanted to report.

You are inside the port because you are forced by circumstances, not to avoid worsening the condition of a country, such as ours, exhausted and tested by an unexpected sanitary emergency and therefore, even more terrible to live in. All of Italy is under pressure by what is happening: (Not only) the citizens, but especially the doctors and volunteers in the ward who have not seen their own families for weeks in order to give hope for life to all those people who no longer have the strength to breathe on their own.

From the words of members of the NGO, there doesn't seem to be much compassion for Italy and for the Italians. When it is us who fall in the chasm of war, there is no humanity to show or maintain. And therefore it matters little that every single disembarkation in our country would amount to taking the forces of security rescue destined for our war, that which we are fighting against the virus.

A single landing of migrants in Italy today could mean dealing a very hard blow at the organizational level and not only for all those prefectures, already engulfed in work to better coordinate relevant logistical interventions relative to the battle against the virus.

An NGO representative who stresses the need to return to the Mediterranean, perhaps, ignores the emergency on land; perhaps, he has not seen the images of Bergamo cemeteries where tens of people cannot be buried because they lack the necessary spaces (and) has no idea of the hell that has landed on the entire peninsula.

Perhaps, it is not understood that Italy for now, is not a secure port, also that there is a war, and it is not possible to guarantee every ordinary assistance. It is said that, precisely, because in war, one would avoid all polemics, still it is impossible not to think of the silence of the governor. The NGOs are not returning to sea only because logistically, they cannot organize themselves, but when the conditions permit, the boats will again arrive to (engage) in reception as in times of peace. Nobody will prohibit them with the same firmness, in which Italians, justly, are asked not to do any outside physical activity.

And in the meantime, Europe, for its part, today still contributes in making this situation paradoxical: In Brussels, they are saying they have (reinforced) the external border, but the asylum-seekers will still be able to come in with no problem. A position that seems almost a wedding invitation for those NGOs, according to whom, the Italian war is a secondary problem and the suffering of our country, perhaps, not even to take into consideration.
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Fousesquawk comment: This should be a no-brainer. European governments should absolutely stop the flow of migrants, not only due to issue of terrorism, crime and Islam-with all its disruptive effects on European society, but as a sensible response to the contagion. They should not just enjoy the respite because the NGOs cannot logistically get out to sea. They should make it clear that these Mediterranean crossings (and all the other crossings) must be stopped-especially now during the outbreak, but also after it passes. This should be a wake up call to Europe. Unfortunately all the earlier wake up calls have not worked.

One Fine Day in Copenhagen

Hat tip Vlad Tepes

To combat the Corona virus, Denmark has banned all meetings of ten or more people. Rasmus Paladun, a Danish politician and activist who is fighting the Islamization of his country,  decided to check and see if Copenhagen's largest mosque was complying on Friday (3-20-20) (It was closed). Unfortunately, some men observed the videotaping and/or recognized Paludan. One man stopped his car and attacked Paludan. Fortunately, there was security personnel present and the man was quickly subdued.

With that introduction, you can watch the incident yourself.

Trump and His Detractors

This article first appeared in New English Review.


Friday's presidential press conference got heated when several reporters took shots at President Trump and Trump shot right back, telling one reporter that he was a "bad reporter" and "should be ashamed of himself". Nothing new here, but this is an opportune time to point out that while Trump and his team are working their butts off trying to save lives, they get nothing but carping from the media. When is the last time you saw a president subject himself to daily press briefings? And he has to listen to a bunch of obnoxious reporters from networks with anti-Trump agendas to grind, throw obnoxious questions up at him. I don't blame him for putting them in their place. And his side comment about the "deep State Department was spot on (Mike Pompeo excluded).

Say what you will about Trump, but he and his team are taking action. Time will tell if these are the right steps, but they are moving boldly. Travel bans and the latest restrictions at the southern border are strong measures. Similarly, the coordination between government and the private sector has been impressive. Also keep in mind that two Democrat governors, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California, normally big critics of Trump, have praised him for his responses to the needs of their states.

That, unfortunately, doesn't keep the naysayers at CNN and MSNBC from hanging on every word Trump says ready to attack him. CNN followed up Friday's conference by immediately remarking that Dr. Anthony Fauci had a tough job trying to clean up Trump's misstatements.

By and large, the American people are coming together on this crisis very well. When I listen to people like Dr Fauci, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Pence speaking on this, I feel encouraged.

As for the Democrats in Congress, who are attacking Trump for his initial responses to the virus and the shortage of testing kits, they would do well to remember that back in the crucial days when this crisis was beginning, what were they doing? They were devoting all of their energies to impeaching Trump. That has been their contribution.

There is no question that we are going to take a huge economic hit over this. And yes, more people are going to get infected, and some will die. But the virus will pass, the economy will recover, and the deaths will hopefully be minimized by the measures being taken. A few months from now, maybe a year, the public will come to a conclusion on how Trump has handled this. I am betting that by the time the election comes in November, Trump will be smelling like a rose. Neither Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders will be able to argue that they could have handled it any better. Time may prove me all wrong, but that's how I see it today.

Netherlands: Utrecht Tram Shooter Gets Life in Prison

 Gökmen Tanis, the Muslim terrorist who shot and killed four people at a tram stop in Utrecht, Netherlands, last year, was sentenced today to life in prison. The below article from De Telegraaf is translated by Fousesquawk.


https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/599556253/tramschutter-gokmen-t-levenslang-de-cel-in

Tram shooter Gökmen T. Life in prison
-Saskia Belleman: Today 14:

Utrecht: Tears flowed in the hearing room of the Utrecht court where a handful of victims and their family members heard the sentence of life imprisonment for tram shooter, Gökmen T. (38).

That, according to an  audibly cold court president, Ruud Veldhuisen, is the only suitable punishment for Gökmen T., who on March 18 last year, "sowed death and destruction" on a tram at October 24th Square.

The court: "With no other goal that to take lives, Gökmen T. stepped on the tram that day like a normal passenger. He then drew a pistol by which he shot in cold blood at unsuspecting passengers with calls to his god, Allah. Not once, but several times over the course of two minutes."

The court spoke of "horrifying acts" by Gökmen T., which he justified by reducing his reality to an
 unreal rectilinear ""we" vs "you" (pl): We Muslims are being destroyed worldwide by you Democrats. That was the finish for him.


The experts in the Pieter Baan Center who examined him, think that his acts did not come from a deeply-felt belief, but rather out of frustration over a failed life. The court: "Radicalizing and embracing extremist views as an unconscious strategy of dealing with problems and setbacks in his life."

Caption below picture: In one of the court hearings, Gökmen T. spits at his defense lawyer, Andre Seebregts
Illustration: Petra Urban

The court accepts the conclusions of the experts as to personality disorders and diminished accountability. But it estimates the danger of  recurrence much higher than do the experts.

Despite his diminished accountability, the court finds that a temporary prison sentence in combination with compulsory TBS treatment does not do justice to the actions of  GökmenT. Life imprisonment is the only option from the point of view of punishment and security of society. Moreover, the court wants to send a clear signal to others who might intend to carry out this type of attacks. Then this is what follows: Life imprisonment. "That his crimes can be attributed to Gökmen T. in a lesser degree doesn't change this judgment," said the court.

The suspect was not present for the sentence due to the Corona  crisis, and only 8 victims and family members were allowed to be seated in the room, but the judgment could be followed by all via livestream.

The lawyers for the victims and family members reacted with relief and satisfaction to the verdict. The tram shooter's attorney, Andre Seebregts, only wanted to say that he will consult with the dean of the bar association as to whether a higher appeal should be filed. The counsel had argued for a prison sentence in combination with treatment. Gökmen  T. himself wanted no legal assistance and even spat at his lawyer during a hearing.