Hat tip Vlad Tepes. Translation by Fousesquawk.
In case you didn't watch Old Joe's address to a joint session of Congress (dis-jointed is a more suitable word), you didn't miss much. It was just one of those typical snoozefest speeches full of a laundry list of things the president wants to get done-not to mention a "celebration" of his first 100 days, which Biden described as "historic".
It's not worth going over the speech point by point, but suffice, to say the optics were terrible. There was Old Joe, looking old and tired, which he is, with less than half the chamber filled because of the Covid crisis-oh, wait! Is it still a crisis or has Old Joe solved the problem in the first 100 days? Embarrassingly, his speech implied that it was thanks to him that we are on our way to recovery. Not a word about President Trump's Operation Warp Speeed, which removed barriers to the development of a vaccine in less than a year. Nope. All credit to Old Joe and Kamala, who Old Joe is delegating all his work to in order to smooth her way into the presidency when he has to step down for reasons of health. All in all, it was your typical SOTU speech, forgettable. (There seems to be a question as to whether this was really a SOTU, a just a speech to Congress. Whatever.
But to hear the media (with the notable exception of Fox) tell it, the speech was one for the ages. This media pointedly ignores the obvious fact that we have a president drifting into senility. They never hesitated to question Regan's cognitive decline in his second term, but apparently having a president with the same problem on Inauguration Day isn't news.
I did not watch Tim Scott's rebuttal, but, naturally, the media is attacking him. Apparently, Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, ruffled a few feathers when he stated that America is not a racist country. Some fools on social media are calling him, "Uncle Tim". Shameful, but that is the treatment that black conservatives get. Too bad the media doesn't show the same indignation when politicians like Maxine Waters incite violence in the streets, a charge they don't hesitate to make against Trump for his January 6 speech in Washington. Trump tells his crowd to march to the Capitol "patriotically and peacefully" while Waters tells a crowd in Minneapolis to "get more confrontational" if they didn't get a guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial. Hypocrisy.
But none of this matters to the media. They will continue to push the narrative that it was a great speech, full of hope and optimism, when, in truth, it was just like every other speech to Congress, whether Republican or Democrat-just an ordeal to watch.
By the way, Mr President. Great suit you had on last night.
Hat tip Vlad Tepes. Translation by Fousesquawk.
The below article from HLN in Belgium is translated by Fousesquawk. We expect to have sub-titling available for the video soon. If you know French, you can watch it for yourself in this article.
*Update: Here is the sub-titled version. Hat tip Gates of Vienna, Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation. Translation by Miss Piggy.
Caption below photo:
Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre (N-VA-New Flemish Alliance) suddenly surrounded and receives a couple of heavy blows
MP films how Brussels youths attack him: "Stomped, beaten and almost robbed"
April 27, 2021
Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre (N-VA) has made a film in which can be seen how he was attacked by a number of youths. "I was attacked, stomped, beaten, and almost robbed," Vanden Borre tells HLN. The MP was able to flee but sustained injuries. The police have confirmed the story and are conducting an investigation.
The events occurred around 17:00 in Brussels in the Essegem neighborhood, on the border of Jette and Laken. "I was with my wife and my 7-day-old son visiting a photographer. While my wife and my son were still inside, I went out for a walk around the block," said Vanden Borre to HLN. The N-VA member of Parliament knows the area because he himself lives nearby.
"Suddenly 6 or 7 young guys came walking behind me. They began yelling at me to intimidate me. I grabbed my cell phone and began to film. Then they came closer. I first got a kick in my side, then a blow on my jaw. One of them tried to steal my cell phone. Then I ran."
Vanden Borre was able to escape, but the gang ran after him. "Then I ran another 500 meters and called the police." They (police) were at the scene within a few minutes with several teams, according to the MP.
Ringing in the ears
"My jaw is swollen, and I suffer from ringing in the ears," says Vanden Borre, who visited a doctor this afternoon and is unable to work for three days. He has no idea why the youths attacked him. "They came after me out of nowhere," said Vanden Borre.
A police spokesperson confirms to HLN that an investigation of the attack is in progress. Whether the perpetrators have been caught is not clear. "A police officer immediately recognized one of the guys from my images. So I assume that they are well known to the police," also said Vanden Borre at the police station this evening where he was filing a complaint. He hopes that the images taken, which he has put on social media, will help in the identification of his attackers.
Hat tip Ongehoorde Nederland and Ben. Translation by Fousesquawk.
Yesterday we translated an interview of two Dutch politicians by the news site, Ongehoord Nederland, on the question of the housing shortage and the fact that asylum-seekers get priority over Dutch citizens. The latter have to wait for years before they can get low-income housing.
The two interviews (below) were conducted last week in the Dutch Parliament. The first person interviewed is Freek Jansen of the conservative Forum for Democracy. The second is Daniel Koerhuis of the Party for Freedom and Democracy. They have two different takes on the issue.
Hat tip Ongehoord Nederland. Translation by Fousesquawk.
Hat tip Valeurs Actuelles.
On April 21, 2021, the conservative French blog, Valeurs Actuelles, published (with their consent) a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron and political/Parliamentary leaders from 20 retired French generals, 100 retired superior officers, and over 1,000 former soldiers. The letter comes in the wake of rising terrorism and civil unrest in France. It urges Macron and the government to take swift and bold action to restore safety to the nation and warns of a coming civil war. In all, it is a stunning document.
The below article from Valeurs Actuelles and letter are translated by Fousesquawk.
For a return of the
honor of our leaders- 20 generals call on Macron to defend patriotism
At the initiative of
Jean-Pierre Fabre-Bernadac, career officer and manager of the site, Place
Armes, 20 generals, 100 senior officers, and more than a thousand other
soldiers have signed a call for a return of honor and duty within the political
class. Valeurs Actuelles is disseminating, with their
authorization, the letter marked with conviction and commitment of these men
attached to their country.
Published
21 April 2021 at 7h00. Updated 22 April 2021 at 12:25
Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Government,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Parliament,
Disintegration that, with Islamism and the hordes of the suburb(s) brings with it the detachment of multiple parts of the nation to transform them into territories subject to dogmas contrary to our Constitution. But every Frenchmen, whatever his belief or non-belief, is at home in (France); there cannot be and there must not exist any city, any quarter where the laws of the Republic do not apply.
The generals signed:
Général de Corps d’Armée (ER) Christian
PIQUEMAL (Légion Étrangère), général de Corps d’Armée (2S) Gilles BARRIE
(Infanterie), général de Division (2S) François GAUBERT ancien Gouverneur
militaire de Lille, général de Division (2S) Emmanuel de RICHOUFFTZ
(Infanterie), général de Division (2S) Michel JOSLIN DE NORAY (Troupes de Marine),
général de Brigade (2S) André COUSTOU (Infanterie), général de Brigade (2S)
Philippe DESROUSSEAUX de MEDRANO (Train), général de Brigade Aérienne (2S)
Antoine MARTINEZ (Armée de l’air), général de Brigade Aérienne (2S) Daniel
GROSMAIRE (Armée de l’air), général de Brigade (2S) Robert JEANNEROD
(Cavalerie), général de Brigade (2S) Pierre Dominique AIGUEPERSE (Infanterie),
général de Brigade (2S) Roland DUBOIS (Transmissions), général de Brigade (2S)
Dominique DELAWARDE (Infanterie), général de Brigade (2S) Jean Claude GROLIER
(Artillerie), général de Brigade (2S) Norbert de CACQUERAY (Direction Générale
de l’Armement), général de Brigade (2S) Roger PRIGENT (ALAT), général de
Brigade (2S) Alfred LEBRETON (CAT), médecin Général (2S) Guy DURAND (Service de
Santé des Armées), contre-amiral (2S) Gérard BALASTRE (Marine Nationale).
On Friday, a French policewoman was stabbed and killed as she entered police hqs in Rambouillet, some 60 kilometers outside of Paris. The attacker was a 36-year-old Tunisian named Jamel Gorchene, who was immediately shot by police and killed. The below article today in Paris Match gives further details on the killer. It is clear that the motive was jihad. Four additional people are now in custody in connection with the murder.
The below article is translated by Fousesquawk.
Rambouillet attack: A radicalized
assailant with "personality disorders"
Paris Match 25 April 2021 at 16:53
Caption
below photo: Attack committed at Rambouillet 22 April 2021 (Paris Match)
The
profile of the killer of the fatal attack committed Friday at Rambouillet
becomes clearer little by little.
"Several
elements substantiate the tracking of the path of this resident of Rambouillet,
radicalized within a few months," announced the National
Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor, Jean-Francois Richard to the press.
A "rapid search" of the telephone of the attacker, Jamel Gorchene, revealed "that he had, immediately prior to proceeding to the act, consulted videos of religious chants glorifying the martyr and jihad," he stated.
The prosecutor also referred to his posts on Facebook which revealed going back to last fall, "an adherence to an ideology legitimizing violence against those having offended the Prophet."
"A Koran" and "a prayer rug" seized
Thus, "On 24 October 2020, a few days after the murder of Samuel Paty (by an Islamist in the department of Yvelines), the perpetrator joined a campaign of support for the Prophet in the face of offenses allegedly done against him," stressed Mr. Ricard.
"A Koran" and "a prayer rug" were seized in his scooter and his basket. And, shortly before the incident, a video surveillance camera filmed the assailant heading to a "provisional prayer room", without the images confirming that he directly entered it. He was seen re-entering the city center a little more than an hour later.
"If the radicalization of the attacker seems hardly contestable, the presence of certain personality disorders can also be observed," Mr Ricard revealed. In police custody, the father of Jamel Gorneche evoked his son's "rigorous practice of Islam" and "behavioral disorders" observed at home "at the beginning of the year".
He had received two psychiatric consultations at the Rambouillet hospital in February. However, "his condition did not require either hospitalization or treatment," Mr Ricard revealed.
Tunisia, whose collaboration is being solicited by France in this case, has "energetically" condemned the attack in a statement from its embassy. It denounces a "barbaric act (occurring) in the middle of the month of Ramadan, the holy month which invokes, rather, the values of tolerance and brotherhood between individuals."
"We hadn't detected signs of radicalization"
At 14:25, Friday, Jamel Gorchene, "wearing headphones", stabbed Stephanie M., a 49-year-old administrative officer, without weapon or uniform, in the abdomen and throat, in the security area of the police station. According to witnesses, the assailant cried, "Allahu Akbar".
In response, a police brigadier fired two shots at the attacker who refused "to drop the knife" with "a blade of 22 centimeters". Falling to the floor, he threw the knife in the direction of the police officers, according to the prosecutor.
A fifth person, a cousin of Jamel Gorchene, was placed in custody Sunday. His father, who lived with him, a couple who housed him (according to records), and another cousin were already in custody since Friday and Saturday.
The assailant, a delivery driver, was unknown to the intelligence and justice services. But his modus operandi corresponds to recurring appeals from the group Islamic State to attack police.
He "had never been the bearer of threats, we had not detected signs of radicalization," stated the national coordinator of intelligence, Laurent Nuñez, Saturday adding: "This becomes very complicated... to detect this type of profile" common to 8 attacks in France since the killing at the police prefecture of Paris in October 2019.
A bill to strengthen the fight against terrorism
Originally from Msaken, on the east coast of Tunisia, Jamel Gorchene had arrived illegally in France in 2009 and had been regularized ten years later. He had obtained a residency permit in December valid for one year.
Back in Tunisia between February 25 and March 13, he seemed "depressed", a male and a female cousin told Agence France Presse at Masaken. The Rambouillet attack is the 17th Islamic terrorist act committed in France since 2014 against the police, Mr Ricard (stated).
Nine police or military officers are dead, and almost twenty have been injured in these attacks, often committed with a simple knife.
Saturday, Prime Minster Jean Castex met (with) the ministers of Interior, Justice, and the Army and concerned services at Matignon. On Wednesday, the Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, will present to the Council of Ministers a bill in preparation for several weeks to strengthen the fight against terrorism.
An homage will be rendered to Stephanie M. on Monday at 17:30 in front of the Hotel de Ville Rambouillet. At that same hour, the Unite-SGP-Police and FSMI-FO (Federation of Unions of Ministry of Interior) unions have called for police to gather symbolically in front of their building.
Here in the US, in the wake of controversial police shootings, we hear a lot of talk about justice for (fill in the blank), and "say his/her name". Meanwhile, France is dealing with a miscarriage of justice that truly shocks the conscience. In 2017, a man broke into the apartment of his neighbor, a Jewish woman named Sarah Halimi, beat her savagely, and threw her off her balcony to her death while shouting, "Allahu akbar." She was 65 years old. In what should have been an open and shut case, a French court shockingly ruled that the perpetrator was not legally responsible for his act since he had been smoking marijuana!! About ten days ago, the French Supreme Court upheld that ruling. The killer is currently being held in a psychiatric institution.
Today, protests are being held in several cities in France, Europe, Israel, and the US to demand justice for Sarah Halimi. The closest to where I am in California will be in front of the French Consulate in Los Angeles.
Thousands of demonstrators in France demand justice for Sarah Halimi
These demonstrations were held Sunday as the Court of Cassation (High Appellate) confirmed, in mid-April, the lack of penal responsibility of the murderer of this Jewish woman in her 60s. The government has announced its intention to change the law.
Le Monde
Posted today at 04:13. Updated at 19:05
Caption beneath photo:
Gathering on April 25 in Lyon to contest the decision of the High Appellate Court to confirm the lack of legal responsibility of the man who killed Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman in her 60s.
At Paris, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Marseille, several tens of thousands of people gathered Sunday, April 25 in France to contest the decision of the Court of Cassation to confirm the lack of legal responsibility of the man who killed Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman in her 60s, in 2017 in Paris.
Under the slogan, Without justice, no Republic, more than 20,000 demonstrators, according to the police, gathered in the early afternoon at Trocadero Square in Paris at the initiative of We Act for Sarah Halimi.
The messages, "No law without justice", " Broken justice?", or "Justice for Sarah Halimi" were written on posters brandished by the crowd. "The clamor has risen, and hope has returned. Hope, you are here," the brother of Sarah Halimi, William Attal, declared from the podium. Personalities including Pascal Legitimus, Yvan Attal, and Cyril Hanouna testified to their "solidarity" with the Halimi family and called for, "changing the law" through messages played on a giant screen.
At Marseille, between 1,500 and 2,000 people, according to the prefecture of police, marched Sunday to the Palace of Justice, where a banner had been hung, "Justice for Sarah". Present at the head of the procession were elected Republicans, Martine Vassal, who directs the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, and Renaud Muselier, president of the region, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
At Strasbourg, about 600 demonstrators, according to the prefecture, gathered in the front court of the Grand Synagogue of Peace. "I call on you to remain dignified in the face of what looks like a denial of justice," Maurice Dahan, president of the Israeli consistory of Bass-Rhin, told them.
Hundreds of people also gathered before the embassy of France in Tel-Aviv, in Israel, to demand a trial for the murderer of Sarah Halimi. "I am ashamed to be French, the France of my childhood no longer exists, " stated Roselyn Mimouni, a French-Israeli retiree who came to demonstrate. "I am appalled that a Jewish woman was murdered in France because she was Jewish."
A bill in progress
Shortly before the demonstrations Sunday, the keep of the seals, Eric Dupond-Morettu, had announced the presentation for the end of May in the Council of Ministers, of a bill aimed at "filling a vacuum" after the decision of Court of Cassation. An announcement that comes after a request by Emmanuel Macron to make a change in the law. "Deciding to take drugs and then becoming "like crazy", should not, in my view, remove your legal responsibility. There too, there is no false impunity," the president reasoned.
The highest judicial court, on April 14, rejected the appeal lodged by the family of Mrs. Halimi against the decision by the Paris Appeals Court rendered in 2019, which had declared the man to be legally not responsible on the basis of three expert evaluations, according to which, he had committed the acts during the course of a "delirious outburst" due to a large consummation of cannabis. The Court of Cassation, while confirming the anti-Semitic nature of the crime, confirmed the lack of legal responsibility of the murderer.
The family wants Israeli justice to (take over)
In an interview with Le Monde published Friday, François Molins, current prosecutor general of the Court of Cassation, recalled that the decision had been rendered, "in conformance with the rule of law". "Justice does not give anyone permission to kill," he assured. "The emotion caused by this decision reveals, without doubt, that the law was not adapted," Mr. Molins admitted while warning Parliament against the temptation to "legislate in urgency and under the force of emotion".
The family of Sarah Halimi, who had already showed their anger at seeing the murderer of this 65-year-old Parisian not being judged by the courts, wants Israeli justice to take over to bring a trial against Kobili Traore, who had beaten Sarah Halimi before throwing her out of a window.
"Israeli penal law provides that when the victim is Jewish and the crime is of an anti-Semitic nature, Israeli justice is competent (can take jurisdiction)," explained Mr Francis Szpiner, one of the lawyers for the family of the victim.
On the evening of April 14 in Arnhem, Netherlands, fans of the Arnhem soccer team, Vitesse, held a pep rally on the historic John Frost Bridge, immortalized by "A Bridge too far". The rally was part of the run-up to that Sunday's big match against the Ajax team of Amsterdam. As historical background, the Ajax team is affectionally nicknamed, "the Jews" due to Amsterdam's history as a place of refuge for Jews. Unfortunately, in recent years, certain soccer fans have used that backdrop to chant anti-Semitic slogans about Jews at Ajax matches.
So it was Wednesday night when some of the fans who gathered on the bridge began shouting anti-Semitic slogans, most notably, "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas!" and raising their arms in Hitler salutes. The below news report from De Stentor is translated by Fousesquawk.
Anti-Jewish cries at (rally) by Vitesse fans leading up to match with Ajax: Police conduct investigation
The police in Arnhem have begun an investigation after a group of Vitesse supporters chanted anti-Jewish slogans Wednesday evening on a bridge in Arnhem
Marco Bauman April 15, 2021, 11:45. Latest update: April 15-2021 11:54
During a (rally) involving the hanging of an enormous banner in the run-up to the cup finale (between) Ajax-Vitesse, there were shouts of "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas".
On video images (see below, shared by Instagram) of the rally can clearly be heard chants directed against the Jewish background of the Amsterdam soccer club.
It is not the first (time) that the chorus of the Arnhem fans has been chanted. In 2018 it was heard during a Premier Division match between Vitesse-Ajax. The Arnhem club then placed a stadium ban on 6 fans.
The chorus has been reported to the police. They are now calling on witnesses to the action on Wednesday to report to the police. "The fight against discrimination has a high priority. Therefore, we will further investigate this matter," says a spokesperson. We are very dependent on information we receive from the public."
-Maurits Straatman:
"Beautiful fireworks display today by fans of Vitesse. You can be proud of that. What also happened was the mass of chants, "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas" was chanted. As Vitesse fans and Arnhemmers, you cannot be proud of that." (April 14, 1:07pm)
-Vitesse
"Make us proud. Show them who we are" (April 14, 1:08 pm).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fousesquawk comment: To their credit, the president of the Vitesse team, Pascal van Wijk, has condemned what occurred as has the mayor of Arnhem, Ahmed Marcouch, who happens to be Muslim. Marcouch has subsequently met with Jewish leaders to offer his support.
*Update: We are working on a video of the event in which the chanting is clearly heard. We will have English sub-titles up as soon as possible.
Here it is:
Hat tip Ledarsidorna. Translation by Fousesquawk.
The below article is written by Johan Westerholm, a Swedish expert on the Muslim Brotherhood, and appears on the Swedish website, Ledarsidorna. This is another in our series of translations of European articles on the presence and the activity of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. It is the 8th such article from Sweden.
Sida* doesn't mention Islamic Relief's violent history in its examination
*Sida-Sweden International Development Authority
Sida's examination of Islamic Relief Sweden resulted in the aid organization getting the green light to continue being a strategic partner to the aid authority. But the examination was heavily circumscribed, and Sida did not mention a word, which neither did the Swedish Church, about the organization's founders' violent history. A history that, over time, has gone hand in hand with the terror sect, Al Qaida.
Islamic Relief Sweden was founded by imam Haytham Rahmeh and the Islamic Association in Sweden in 1993. Islamic Relief was already in the foundation as a part of Islamic Relief Worldwide. The Islamic association's first location was in the basement of property at Ringvägen 137 in Stockholm. In this environment, which was always characterized by strong anti-Semitic elements, today includes a number of known representatives of civil society in Sweden; Mahmoud Khalfi, today imam in Stockholm's mosque, Mahmoud Aldebe, former chairman of Sweden's Muslim Council, which entered into a cooperation agreement with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and Mostafa Kharraki, former chairman for Sweden's Muslim Council.
The basement mosque on Ringvägen 137 later moved to a larger and more suitable location in 2000. After several years of rebuilding, renovation, and appeals, they were able to move to the former Katarina Station, Södermalms Electricity Works, in Björns Garden in Södermalm, Stockholm by Medborgarplatsen.
In March 1995, Stockholm's City Council, after first consulting with Muslims they described as representatives for Muslim organizations, decided to convert the old transformer station, Katarina Station, to a mosque.
The previous year, 1994, representatives of the basement mosque on Ringvägen 137 appeared for the first time on the Stockholm municipality workers nomination list when, among others, Mahmoud Khalfi, now head imam in Stockholm's mosque, was nominated to committee and company boards.
Khalfi's representative, Haytham Rahmeh, has since then been the key person in inter-faith dialogue with the Swedish Church and the Social Democrat Fraternity Movement, which today, goes under the name, Social Democrats for Faith and Solidarity, but disappeared from public view at the start of the 2010 decade. In 2012, it was revealed by Sweden's Radio that Rahmeh switched over and began as a weapons smuggler for his organization, Commission for Civilians Protection.
"It is no secret that Haytham Rahmeh and this group sends weapons to Syria," says the researcher, Raphael, who follows the group closely for Sweden's Radio.
Léfèvre is a researcher at the University of Cambridge. Léfèvre is a recognized expert in the Muslim Brotherhood and developments in Syria and Lebanon, especially, as well as the author of Ashes of Hama- The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria (Oxford University Press, 2013).
The militia group that Haytham Rahmeh set up and furnished with weapons fought together with, among others, the Fath Army, a part of the al Nusra Front, and al Qaida.
Stockholm's mosque provides other militias with personnel
This happened about the same time when another parishioner, in the Stockholm mosque, Tarif al Sayyed Issa, joined this armed group, Fath-Army. Al Sayyed Issa came to command and was in Idlib at the same time that ethnic cleansing of Christians was taking place. He died in a hospital in Turkey after having been targeted by a car bomb in Idlib in 2018.
Al Sayyed Issa is one of the Stockholm mosque's most prominent and known families. Tarif al Sayyed Issa's three sons are all, in different ways, engaged in this cluster of organizations that have direct connections to the mosque, one of which, Mustafa al Sayyed Issa, was chairman for Sweden's Young Muslims during this time. He was succeeded as chairman by Rashid Musa.
Another of the sons is active with the Ibn Rushd Study Association, where Lamia el Amri is operations director. El Amri is chairman for Islamic Relief Sweden as well as vice chairman for Islamic Relief Worldwide.
In 2019, in a legal process decided in the administrative appeals court, Sweden's Young Muslims lost the right to state assistance since the court judged that they did not live up to the democratic criteria of the MUCF*. The higher administrative court confirmed the judgment by denying permission to appeal.
*MUCF (Authority for Youth and Civil Society Issues)
In a (similar) action in 2011, Mehmet Kaplan, member of Parliament in the Green Party, together with Maria Ferm, simultaneously argued that supporting organizations like ISIS was a so-called opinion crime, which should not be punished. Something that found support with, among others, SSU (Sweden Social Democrats Youth Association), Olof Palma's International Center, and Social Democrats for Faith and Solidarity. All three of these side organizations openly support, among others, Ship to Gaza and the West Sahara organization, Polisario.
The Green Party openly made a motion on this in motion 2011/12Ju399. This view became more public in Almedalen in 2014 when one of the (sponsors), Mehmet Kaplan, wanted to minimalize Swedish traveling jihadists as being "engaged youth".
Today Mehmet Kaplan is a leader of the Swedish Muslim Aid, which, among its members, is one who has been convicted in Sweden for the financing of and recruiting for ISIS. Maria Ferm is currently state secretary for the Prime Minister's Office of Coordination, Prime Minister's Committee, and is one of the state secretaries who sort out which information ends up on the Prime Minister's desk.
Muslim Aid and Mehmet Kaplan currently run several projects together with the Swedish Church within the framework of "A World of Neighbors" in Järvafältet (a forested area) in Stockholm (northern suburbs).
The Swedish Church project, A World of Neighbors" has support from Social Democrat groups in the Church assembly, which is led by Jesper Eneroth and where, among others, Ulla Löfven*, is a regular member.
* Ulla Löfven is a Swedish politician and wife of Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven.
Suspect, a 36-year-old Tunisian, killed by police
France has suffered another horrific terrorist attack. Today, a 36-year-old Tunisian man, who had been in France since 2009, entered a police station in the town of Rambouillet, some 60 km from Paris, and stabbed a 49-year-old policewoman to death at the entrance before being shot and killed by another officer. Though not officially confirmed, the attacker reportedly yelled, "Allahu Akbar" as he was committing the attack.
Still, the police and media insist the motive is not known.
The below report from Le Monde is translated by Fousesquawk.
Knife attack in Rambouillet: Police officer killed, National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor takes over
The assailant, whose motivations are not known, was shot down by another police officer. The prime minister and the interior minister arrived at the scene of the drama in the afternoon.
-Le Monde with AFP (Agence France Presse)
Posted today at 15:39, updated 17:17
Caption beneath photo: Police block a street in the proximity of the police headquarters of Rambouillet, where a police officer was stabbed to death Friday, 23 April. Bertrand Guay/AFP
A man stabbed a police officer, age 49, to death at the police hqs of Rambouillet, in the Yvelines, Friday, April 23 before being shot down by another officer, as announced by the prosecutor of Versailles.
According to a police source, the events occurred around 14:20 in the security area of the police hqs of this town of about 26,000 residents, located about 60 kilometers southwest of Paris. The administrative officer died of cardiac arrest at the scene despite the efforts of emergency responders.
According to the initial reports of witnesses at the scene, the attacker, a man of Tunisian nationality, in legal (immigration) status, had reportedly appeared making several passes in front of the police station, his phone in hand. He then reportedly took advantage of the entrance of the victim into the double door security area of the police station to rush after her and wait till the door closed again, thus locking the electronic control device of the entrance.
Motivation unknown
The individual then reportedly brandished a knife, before the eyes of the officers stationed at the reception area of the station, on the other side of the security glass of the secure entrance, before stabbing the administration officer. After unlocking the security door, one of the officers opened fire two times upon the assailant. He died after being hit by the two shots from the officer. " For now, it is impossible to know his motivations," added a police source.
"Some witnesses claim to have heard the attacker shout, 'Allahu akbar!' two times inside the security area, but they were on the street, several meters from the entrance," a source at the scene also explained.
The National Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) has gathered the facts and opened an investigation into the murder of a public official in relation to terrorist activity and terrorist association, assigned jointly to the DCPJ (Central Directorate of Judicial Police) and the DGSI (General Directorate of Internal Security).
At the scene, Jean-François Ricard, head of the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office, subsequently explained that he has taken up this case for "the course of events- which include the elements of identity- the modality of the crime, the person (victim), but also the remarks made by the perpetrator at the time of the incident."
With the investigations just beginning, the investigative services as yet have little information to establish the motivation of the assailant, (who is) unknown to the specialized services. If the PNAT has become involved, less than three hours after the incident, it is due to a series of recurring elements in terrorist attacks committed in recent years.
First among them is the modus operandi: A knife attack. Then come other elements tending to (suspect) the terrorist hypothesis: The target (the police), the day (Friday, the holy day of Muslims, often chosen for terrorist attacks), as well as the (reports), not confirmed at this stage, of witnesses, claiming to have heard the attacker, cry, "Allahu akbar!". The taking over by the National Terrorist Prosecutor's Office especially allows the specialized services to rapidly deploy their particular methods of investigation, particularly in the analysis of IT tools used by the perpetrator of the attack.
The victim, age 49, "had worked for 20 years at the police hqs of Rambouillet," according to a police source. At the moment of the attack, she had just been away to renew her parking disk.
"France will never surrender against Islamic terrorism," reacted Emmanuel Macron.
Caption below photo:
Jean Castex and Gerald Darmanin at a brief press conference at the Rambouillet police hqs. Friday, April 23.
The Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin and the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, arrived at the scene of the drama around 16:30. On Twitter, the Prime Minister paid homage to "an everyday heroine," assuring the support of the nation to her relatives.
After a brief statement in front of the cameras, Jean Castex repeated, "to all the French people, his determination" to fight against terrorism in all its forms (was) intact". He recalled that the department of Yvelines had already been hit by attacks against officials, reviving memories of the "odious attack of Magnanville in 2016 and more recently the murder of Samuel Paty".
The President of the Republic, himself, also paid homage on Twitter to the policewoman, affirming that, "the nation is at the side of her family, her colleagues, and the police," Though the motivations of the assailant remain unknown, Emmanuel Macron affirmed that the government will never surrender "against Islamic terrorism."
The president of the region, Ile-de-France, Valerie Pecresse, also arrived at the scene to condemn the attack,"They wanted to strike a symbol of France-because the police are the face of France-and destabilize the country in this quiet town," she declared.
At the end of the day, Gerald Darmanin asked the prefects to "reinforce vigilance and the measures of security in and around the police stations and Gendarmerie brigades, particularly in regard to the entrances."
"The horror once again, which targets and strikes the police," reacted the police union, Alliance, on Twitter. On October 3, 2019, inside the enclosure of the Paris Police Prefecture, a radicalized employee stabbed three officers to death with a knife and an administrative officer before being killed.
*Update: (Hat tip FDesouche): The French website, FDesouche, has released photos of the attacker, who is partially identified as Djamel G.
This article first appeared April 22 on New English Review.
I have been reluctant to write my thoughts about the Chauvin verdict this week and about the entire subject of police shootings in general. I guess that's for a variety of reasons; maybe it's just too depressing a topic, maybe I just haven't been able to get my head around it, or maybe I couldn't put pen to paper, so to speak. But now that I have seen enough clear footage of the Columbus shooting and read some of the public reactions, I just have to say something about this shooting.
Keep in mind, I say this as someone who served almost 30 years in law enforcement, from the Military Police, to US Customs and DEA. During that time, I was involved in three shooting incidents, one of which was a full-blown shootout, and two other incidents, where I nearly pulled the trigger but didn't. Had I pulled the trigger on one, it would have been a questionable shooting, and in the other, a tragic mistake.
So I can appreciate it when a law enforcement officer has to make a split-second decision that may afterward turn out to be the wrong decision. In the Columbus case, I am convinced that this officer made the correct decision. It is tragic that a 16-year-old girl made what may have been a split-second decision to stab another girl, and that she is now dead. The cop, however, very likely, saved the life of the second girl. Had he waited one more split-second, the knife would have struck home. The knife was drawn back and was aimed at the girl's midsection.
I have also seen and heard some ridiculous comments from idiots like Joy Behar that the officer could have fired in the air, or the idiotic question from a hostile Columbus reporter during yesterday's press conference as to whether the officer could have aimed for an arm or a leg. The Chief's answer was spot on: Police are trained, rightly, that when the decision is made to shoot, you aim for upper body mass in order to stop the threat and also because it is the largest target. If you shoot someone in the arm or leg, you are likely not going to stop the threat, and you are more likely to miss and possibly strike an innocent by-stander. In this case, there were bystanders, not the least of which was the intended victim.
I am also disgusted by Lebron James' tweeting of a message with the officer's image and the words, "You're next". That is a clear threat, and he should be ashamed of himself. Up to now, I have tried to respects James' beliefs about this entire issue, but this crosses the line. He now joins Maxine Waters as one of the nation's chief instigators of violence.
I won't address the Chauvin case here except to say I have mixed feelings about the verdict. Suffice to say, however, that if the Columbus officer is charged, and God forbid, convicted, it will be a sad day for policing in this country. We already see cops deciding that a career in law enforcement is not worth it. We already see cops on the beat pulling back from possible confrontations, which sometimes, have to be made. And if the police presence disappears from black neighborhoods, who gets hurt the most? It won't be people like me living in a mostly white neighborhood in Orange County, California. No, it will be innocent black people living in mostly black neighborhoods, the very people who need police protection the most.
For all you royal watchers out there, as well as those of you sick about hearing how America is falling apart, there is a huge story breaking out of the UK today. Yes, believe it or not, a "drugs lord" has been shot on orders from an "underworld crime queen".
The Times has the shocking story.
"A drugs lord was injured in a shooting on his doorstep over debts to an underworld crime queen called the Banker after police seized cocaine worth £20 million on the M6."
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brothers-jailed-after-20m-of-cocaine-found-in-van-on-m6-fv2jf82hs
No word as yet if a royal funeral is planned if the Lord of Drugs dies, or whether the Queen of Crime will attend.
In addition, my sources tell me that police are searching for the Princess of Prostitution and the Earl of Ecstasy as "persons of interest." Speaking of persons of interest, has anybody seen Prince Andrew lately?
Hat tip Unzensuriert. Translation by Fousesquawk.
-Unzensuriert
It may seem on the surface that Austria is flying under the radar when it comes to the migration issue, resultant crime, and terrorism in Europe. Yet, last November, a Muslim terrorist with North Macedonian citizenship killed four people in Vienna. We have also reported on the situation with Chechen "moral guards" enforcing Sharia law on their women. And yet, the feckless government seemingly cannot stop the flow of mostly Muslim young men into the country even though it supposedly "closed the borders" due to the Covid crisis. The below article from the conservative Austrian site, Unzensuriert, has some statistics which may surprise you.
Caption: Still in vivid memory: 2015/16 tens of thousands of illegals stormed our country. If the interior minister still cannot protect our borders, we will soon be back.
"Closed borders" are only for Austrians: New Asylum record in the first quarter of 2021
In the flood of daily media Corona numbers game-and fear-making mode, other, potentially much more dangerous reports are lost- some from the area of massively increasing illegal migration to Austria. The assurances of ÖVP-interior minister Karl Nehammer aside, the "social travelers", particularly in the past year, did not adhere to his "total border closure" and came in large numbers and largely unhindered into the country. 14,200 asylum applications were counted to the end of the year, the first increase since 2015, and then by an impressive 12% (versus 2019).
In March, 90% more illegals than last year
It is likely to get worse this year, as even the Kurier cannot conceal. By the end of the first quarter, end of March. according to the Federal Interior Ministry, there were already 5,024 applications nationwide-that is an increase from the previous year of an impressive 42%. In a monthly comparison, there were, in March 2021, 90% more illegal social migrants as opposed to March 2020, who merrily streamed over the "closed" borders of our land.
In spite of the end of the war, Syrians continue to lead the way
And it is always the same, those who come. Also this year, the lion's share are the Syrians (2, 267 applications), who have the greatest chance of recognition although the civil war in Syria in a wide part of the country is, for a year, almost ended and the bombed county needs every young man for the rebuilding of houses, businesses, and infrastructure. Because it is mostly young men who seek our protection (82% of those who traveled here).
It is almost all Muslim males
And it is almost without exception Muslims (who are) hardly compatible with our Western value system. Behind the Syrians are the Afghans and Moroccans (the latter have little chance of asylum, but are no longer accepted by their country in case of deportation.) Behind that are found Iraqis, Turks, and Somalis. 554 of the uninvited guests were (allegedly) "unaccompanied minors".
Suspension of asylum rights as the only way out
What that means for the security of our country and our citizens is reported regularly by Unzensuriert. The only way out of this hopeless situation would be long-demanded (unfortunately only) by the FPÖ, the suspension of asylum rights, which, with the prevailing pandemic in the face of unvetted and uncontrolled travelers, in the sense of public health, should be easy to argue.
Austria has the most illegals in the EU, Hungary the fewest
In addition, the economic migrants cross several safe countries on their way to the most lucrative European social paradises before they reach Austria. Speaking of Austria. While the asylum numbers have risen exorbitantly in Austria in spite of "Corona closures", in the rest of the EU, they have significantly fallen in the previous year (416,000 applications in the 27 member nations, the lowest since 2013). Every fourth application succeeded in Germany, (by the way, which is exclusively surrounded by safe countries). The lowest number of illegal entries was Hungary.
Hat tip Campus Reform
"Me!" "No me!" "No me!"
Two questions:
1 Why do you think higher education is so expensive today?
2 Why do we refer to the University of California at Berkeley as"Beserkley"?
For the answer to both, all you have to know is this:
UC Berkeley is advertising a job vacancy for-get this:
Wellness and Environmental Justice Coordinator
To do what, you might wonder.
"....run environmentally-focused student programs such as "meet-ups with Bay Area QT (queer-transgender?)+ and BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) climate activists," "climate healing circles," "wellness collaboration days," and more."
Campus Reform has the details.
https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17234
Another addition to an already bloated bureaucracy at the University of California. No doubt the other campuses will follow suit. After all; who is going to take care of all those QT+BIPOC climate activists?
Isn't there anybody-the UC Regents, perhaps- that supervises all this reckless spending of the tax-payers' money?
Yesterday, De Volkskrant, a major Dutch newspaper issued an apology for an illustration that appeared in an earlier edition of the paper that brought back memories of anti-Semitic cartoons drawn in Germany during the Hitler era. The image showed a Dutch pollster, Maurice de Hond, who happens to be Jewish, as a puppet master. Incredibly, the drawing made its way past the editors.
Below is an article by the New York-based Jewish news outlet, Algemeiner, which gives the background of the story.
Below is the apology by Volkskrant. Translation by Fousesquawk.
Caricature of Maurice de Hond should never have appeared in the newspaper
The illustrator and current editorial staff lacked the historical awareness to see the resemblance to anti-Semitic propaganda. Pieter Klok: "We blame ourselves for this."
Editorial Staff 19 April 2021, 17:15
On Monday, 19 April, Volkskrant published a caricature of Maurice de Hond in section V. This brings back too many memories of the anti-Semitic caricatures of the Nazi period and thus, never should have been published. Why did that happen, however?
"Creating an anti-Semitic caricature has never been my intention," says the illustrator. "Anti-Semitic aims are so far from my intentions with this cartoon, that I did not make the link, nor did I consider it. This is my fault that I did not have the historical awareness of Jewish puppeteers in Nazi propaganda."
The (artist) was chosen by the image editors of Volkskrant due to his figurative comic strip illustrations. In consultation him on Thursday, the idea arose to refer to the 1950s crime comic strips because that seemed to fit with the (ingredients) in the matter. The article was intended for V, the daily art and culture supplement of Volkskrant, in which illustrations are frequently used. Much of the inspiration for the work of this illustrator include underground comics, for example, the work of Peter Pontiac and pulp strips from the 1950s. "Those are often horror stories about crime," he says. "In this specific case, I thought of EC Comics, known as, Tales from the Crypt, for example. The books often claim to be based on police files."
Because the piece was completed shortly before the weekend, the artist only received a short explanation of the piece from the image editors: an interview with the creator of the podcast De Deventer Mediazaak. The artist also listened to the podcast. "I thought of an EC Comic by Al Feldstein," he says, "about a manipulative woman who incites a man to commit a crime. On the cover of the story, the man is pictured as a puppeteer. In thinking of this illustration, I did not consider the Jewish background of Maurice de Hond, and I didn't in any way consider this in the making of the print. For me, it was to put down an image, as we know it from the comics, of an image of dark, media manipulation."
The artist is especially upset about the Jewish stereotype that you might see in the illustration on the front page of the section. "Now that I see the countless examples of the illustrations that my drawing seems to refer to, I understand very well the disconcerted reactions of people who see in this anti-Semitic imagery, such as was spread by Nazism. In the creation of this drawing, I was insufficiently prepared (aware) that the idea of the puppet master was not only a 1950s personage. but also refers to an anti-Semitic, Nazi stereotype. In my own tunnel vision, I completely overlooked this-as did the editors as well. For this lack of historical awareness, I blame myself."
The editors who were present on Sunday, when the drawing arrived, also had an insufficient historical awareness. "We blame ourselves for that," says Editor-in-Chief Pieter Klok. "The drawing came in late, not until Sunday afternoon. Because the image editor, editor-in-chief, and designer knew the story and thus, understood how the drawing was intended, they did not see how the drawing could come across to the reader. At no time did they make a link with anti-Semitic caricatures.
Normally speaking (when a drawing for the Monday newspaper is ready earlier or is put into production on a weekday), an image of the illustration is seen by many more eyes, and the chance is much greater that such an error is intercepted. Managers have read the story but not seen the illustration. The editorial staff draws a number of sensitive lessons. First, they conclude that that articles of a serious or sensitive matter do not lend themselves to a more liberal illustration. An illustration can unintentionally steer the reader to one side or impose an opinion, in which the nuance of the story is lost. Or worse, such as in this case, create a mistaken impression, as anti-Semitic and giving strong offense. The editorial staff also draws the conclusion that in all cases, care must be taken that illustrations are seen by more pairs of eyes.
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Fousesquawk comment: I do not know the philosophical opinion of Volkskrant though they are linked on this site under the section, "Foreign News Outlets". Since they are a mainstream publication, I will take their apology on their word.
But how could it have escaped the artist and the editors that such an image of a Jew would bring back memories of how Nazis portrayed Jews (to say nothing about how they are portrayed still today in many Arab publications)? Could it be a failure of the Dutch educational system-that Dutch children are no longer taught about the Holocaust-especially since the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans during World War 2 and most of their Jewish citizens were lost in the Holocaust? I cannot imagine that. It might be pointed out here that we recently translated an article about Swedish schools, where teachers were actually afraid to bring up the Holocaust because they had so many Muslim children in their classes. But then again, Sweden was neutral in the war and was never occupied.
Or could it be that the artist and the editorial staff were all educated in my own country-the US, where Holocaust studies seemed to have gone by the wayside and many of our own people of a younger age have no appreciation of what the Holocaust was all about? Who knows?
One thing is clear: Holocaust studies need to be taught everywhere because anti-Semitism is on the march.
