Sweden: 5 Suspects in Momika Murder Released

 

Salwan Momika

The 5 men who were detained in the murder case of Salwan Momika have been released due to insufficiency of evidence. The below article in today's SVT is translated by Fousesquawk. Subtitling of the video in this article is pending (Translation also by Fousesquawk. Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes for subtitling.)

Caption: "Not the typical perpetrators"- Hear SVT's crime reporter Diamant Salihu explain why the detained men were released.

5 men detained for Salwan Momika murder released

Updated today at 18:57  Posted today at 17:52

Five men who were detained on suspicion of the murder of Salwan Momika have been released, prosecution authorities announce.

"The criminal suspicions have weakened, and I see no further reason to keep people in custody," says senior prosecutor Rasmus Öman, who is leading the investigation.

On Friday, SVT received information that the suspicions against the 5 suspects were too weak and that they would probably be released.

"All of them but one are without (prior) convictions, and a lot of question marks were raised even among the police since these were not typical perpetrators who we normally see with acts of violence," says SVT's crime reporter Diamant Salihu.

The prosecutor had until Sunday to request that the men be remanded to custody. Now that this has not been (implemented), questions arise, according to Diamant Salihu.

"Who was the shooter-do we even have an idea about other suspects?" 

Were near the crime scene

Salwan Momika, known for his Koran-burnings in Sweden, was shot to death in an apartment in Södertälje late Wednesday evening.

The 5 men who were detained were reportedly near the crime scene.

"In connection with police being called, it was understood for various reasons that there was suspicion against the people who were in a residence nearby. Exactly why it was (decided) that they should be arrested is not clear, " says Salihu.

At the time, Momika was live streaming on TikTok. According to information, he was shot to death on the balcony of the apartment.

Suspicions against the 5 previously detained men are not totally written off and the preliminary investigation continues, according to prosecution authorities.

 

Promotions at Rutgers

Among the universities that we have reported on at this site over the years, few have been mentioned more often than Rutgers. The place is a hotbed of anti-Israel agitation on the part of numerous students and professors as well. As a  result, this is not a friendly environment for Jewish students.

One of the problematic people who are teaching our youth at Rutgers is Noura Erakat. She formerly taught at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where she embarrassed that institution as well. Apparently, public embarrasment means little to Rutgers. Reportedly, they have just promoted Erakat to full professor in spite of her open support for Hamas. Campus Reform has the report here.

Sweden: Koran Burner Murdered

Salwan Momika

On Wednesday evening, Iraqi-born Salwan Momika was murdered in his apartment in Stockholm suburb as he was live streaming. Momika was controversial for a series of Koran burnings he carried out in Sweden in 2023-24. The below article from Insikt24 describes some of the happy reactions from immigrants in Sweden. (To this, I would add SOME immigrants-not all.)

Within hours, police arrested 5 people on suspicion of committing the murder.

RAIR Foundation USA has more details on the murder.

I recall that Momika had relocated to Norway. According to other reports, he was due to be in a Swedish court the following day. I assume he had returned from Norway to appear in court.

I have commented previously on Momika's Koran burnings as well as those carried out by others. I do not support burning Korans since it is offensive to every Muslim on the planet not just the jihadists, terrorists, and Islamists. Momika caused huge international problems for Sweden and endangered the lives of others, not just his own. At the same time, I do not agree with prosecuting people for the act-let alone murdering them. 

The below article is translated by Fousesquawk.

Immigrants rejoice over the murder of Koran-burner Salwan Momika

1-30-25

After the news that Koran-burner Salwan Momika was murdered, comments from immigrants who are rejoicing over the murder are all over social media. Among other things, immigrants have expressed things like, "The filth deserved this", "Finally", and "Allahu Akhbar and Our Lord is not merciful"  in the comments section on the news. 

On Wednesday evening, Islam critic Salwan Momika was murdered in his apartment in Södertälje. According to as yet unconfirmed reports from a person who saw the livestream, Momika was shot on his balcony while he was smoking, when five shots were fired. When the murder took place, Momika had begun a livestream on the TikTok platform. A video has also been disseminated from the livestream that shows how police entered the apartment and shut down the livestream at the same time as rescue attempts can be heard.

On Thursday morning, comments appeared on social media from immigrants who rejoiced over the murder of Salwan Momika. Among other things, immigrants wrote in the comment section of Samnytt on Instagram and expressed things like,"The filth deserved this", "Beautiful morning", and "Finally".  On other social media sites, comments can be read like, "Allahu Akhbar and our Lord is not merciful". Many also wrote, "Karma" and several laughing emojis on various platforms. 

In 2023 and 2024, Salwan Momika became one of Sweden's most controversial public figures when, among other things, he was accused of serving a foreign power after carrying out high-profile Koran-burnings. When Insikt24 reported and produced video reportage of part of the Koran burnings that Salwan Momika carried out, it got millions of views. Momika's actions awakened strong international reactions, especially from Muslim countries, but in Sweden, he was also targeted by extensive investigations by the authorities and criminal trials. Although Koran-burnings have been found to be legal on several occasions and not considered to constitute hate against a group of people, prosecutors still chose to charge him, which many critics saw as an attempt to circumvent basic principles of freedom of expression.

October 7 From the Perspective of UC Berkeley Gender and Women's Studies Department

Hat tip College Professors United for Jews and Israel.

                                 UC Berkeley

Well, I guess no discussion on the topic of what Hamas did to Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 would be complete without knowing what the UC Berkeley Gender and Women's Studies crowd thinks about it all. They are holding an event scheduled for February 11, 2025 to discuss that very topic. It is entitled: Part II: Feminist and Queer Solidarities with Palestine.

According to Jewish News in Northern California and the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, the initial description of the event by the organizers described the reports of atrocities committed on October 7 as fabrications by Israel. That description has now reportedly been removed. The initial description was pointed out by UC Berkeley law professor, Steven Solomon, and kudos to him for doing so.

"A now-removed description of an upcoming event at UC Berkeley accused Israel of fabricating reports of widespread sexual assault on Oct. 7, 2023, to support its war against Hamas."

"On Thursday, Cal administration reviewed whether the event constituted the “use of the classroom for political advocacy,” in violation of school policy, Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor of communications, told J. in an email on Friday"

In case you are wondering (like me) what Part 1 was all about, after checking back, I think I found it. Part 1 apparently took place back on March 6, 2024 (after the October 7, 2023 massacre). Here is the announcement for that one.

Even without going back and researching the panel speakers of both events, there is one name (from Part 1) that I instantly recognized. That would be the venenous San Francisco State University professor, Rabab Abdulhadi, a Palestinian woman with a long track record on this site. Among other transgressions, she has served as the mentor for the SFSU General Union of Palestinian Students, who in recent years, have openly expressed their desire to kill Israeli soldiers and "colonizers". 

All that aside, one can only be stunned by the obvious hypocrisy of the event organizers. Not only do they deny what has been documented by the video cameras worn by the terrorists themselves (I suggest someone at UCB hold a screening of those videos captured by Israel forces and what the IDF documented when they found the results of Hamas' handiwork), they conveniently ignore how women and homosexuals are treated by the Palestinians? How can people who call themselves feminists ignore and/or deny the mass rapes that occurred on October 7, 2023, and which have continued to be perpetrated on female hostages to this day? How can they ignore how homosexuals have been thrown off Gaza rooftops (back when rooftops still existed in Gaza)? This is the same intellectual perversion that accuses Israel of "pink-washing" when the Jewish state points out that gays have full rights in Israel as opposed to its neighbors.

I vividly recall attending a Muslim Student Union event at UC Irvine in 2014 where the speaker, Loubna Qutami of the Palestinian Policy Network,  showed a video documenting the issue of Palestinian domestic/sexual violence. During the Q&A, I asked her if this was a problem in neighboring Arab countries as well. She replied in the affirmative, but she explained it all away as a result of all the years of Western colonialism, just as she laid the blame for Palestinian domestic violence on the Israelis.

One can only wonder how these one-sided events as put on by the UCB Gender and Women  Studies Department can be called scholarly inquiry. Why are they not talking about what happens to their own women and gays?

And going back to the boffo statement by UCB's Dan Mogulof about the use of the classroom for political advocacy, this has been going on daily at UCB for years, if not decades. Whatever "policy" they claim to have is just a scrap of paper for their files in case they are investigated.

This is the intellectual bankruptcy at UC Berkeley as represented by "Feminist and Queer Solidarities with Palestine".

UC Irvine Anteater Antics

You can't put a price tag on 4 years of college. (Actually, there is a price tag, and it's pretty steep.)

Take UC Irvine (home of the Anteaters), for example, where I taught part-time from 1998-2016. They are putting on a musical performance/lecture devoted to the topic of white privilege. Campus Reform has the report.

Here is a fun fact based on my own experience at UC Irvine. When I was there, a little over 50% of the students were Asian-Americans. You know why? Because they were serious students, mostly studying serious subjects and not causing any uproar on campus. I wish it had been 100%. Throw in black students, Middle Eastern students, and Hispanic students, and the % of non-whites was higher. I suspect the numbers are similar today. So where is the white privilege among students? What am I missing here?

This is just more woke nonsense designed to divide us into competing tribes, victims vs oppressors. Nobody is being oppressed at UC Irvine (except for Jewish students during the periodic outbreaks of anti-Israel hysteria). Should a limit be placed on the number of Asian-American students, I will add them to that category.

So even though the event itself is free, I would ask any parent who is paying tuition to send their kid to UCI: Is this what you are paying for?

George Galloway Died for Our Sins

This article first appeared in New English Review.

I missed this story at the time, but old George Galloway, the laughing stock of the British Parliament, made another boffo statement back in October when he described Hamas butcher Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as "martyrs".

Of course, one could excuse George because we all know the guy is off his rocker, but on second thought, no we can't because he is a classic jerk who has supported pure evil for decades. This is the guy who toured the US back in 2009 speaking at college campuses and passing the hat to take up a collection for his Viva Palestina cause that contributed to  Hamas coffers. He also spoke at UC Irvine and called little ol' me a "liar". George and several of his misfit pro-Hamas activists personally delivered the kitty to then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza. Israel also made a "martyr" out of Haniyeh after the outbreak of fighting following the October 7, 2023 massacre of innocent Israelis, an atrocity that Galloway could care less about.

Galloway has a long history of associating with odious characters like Saddam Hussein and his two equally murderous sons, Uday and Kusay, all of whom we also made "martyrs" when we invaded Iraq. He also made the trek to Damascus to kiss the ring of Bashar Assad when he was in power and praised him to the skies. George will have to fly to somewhere in Russia to visit Assad now.

To say that Galloway is on the wrong side of history would be an understatement.

I have long given up on the proposition that the British public in his constituency would vote this boob out of office. Like US politicians like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, his position is safe because he represents a largely Muslim district somewhere in the bowels of the formerly Great Britain.

Galloway would deny that he is an anti-Semite, but his blind support for Hamas and other terrorists make any denials useless. You can't defend people like Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah and deny you are an anti-Semite.  

The plain truth is that Galloway is a despicable person. He is also dishonest. When he called me a liar for pointing out that pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the US had been chanting for Jews to go back to the ovens, Stand With Us put out a video with the very videos documenting my accusations. I wrote to him and sent him the videos, but, of course, he never responded. Any intellectually honest person would have responded and said that he was in error and condemned such statements. Not George Galloway.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Is he even aware? Does he even care?

How Is Mexico Responding to the Deportations?

 Today's edition of the Mexican daily, Excelsior, is featuring a video explaining how the Mexican government is responding to the deportations of illegal aliens back to Mexico. I'm not sure who actually produced the video, but it may have been produced by the Mexican government.

Hat tip to Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes for the subtitling. Translation is by Fousesquawk.

Today Is International Holocaust Remembrance Day

 

Julius Streicher's Der Stuermer

Boycott of Jewish businesses 1933

"Jews are not wanted here"

Night of the broken glass 1938

Auschwitz

Berlin Memorial to victims of Holocaust

Nuremberg Party Rally grounds 1930s

Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds now

Memorial at site of former synagogue in Leipzig

"Stolpersteine" memorial plaques placed in front of former homes of German Jews who died in the Holocaust

Jewish cemetery vandalized in Germany

Pro-Hamas demonstration in Germany

NEVER AGAIN IS NOW!

Colombia Reacts to Deportation Flights

On Sunday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that no further US deportation flights would be allowed into Colombia.

That same evening, after the Trump administration announced massive sanctions against Colombia and the US embassy stopped processing Colombian visa applications, Fox News announced that Colombia has now decided to send its own planes to the US to pick up Colombian deportees.

The below article in the Colombian Daily, El Espectador, posted Sunday prior to Colombia's latest announcement, is translated by Fousesquawk.

Petro to Trump: Colombia disallows entry of flights with deported migrants

"The United States cannot treat Colombian migrants as delinquents," he told him.

Caption: "The United States cannot treat Colombian migrants as delinquents," Petro told Trump.

On Sunday morning, President Gustavo Petro said that Colombia is not authorizing the passage of flights within the sovereign skies of the nation that come with deported migrants from the United States after the orders in this regard given by Donald Trump.

What Petro told Trump was that in his judgment, Trump should maintain a clear policy for the migrants and therefore, until this results in a dialogue that will eventually become bi-national, Colombia will not authorize the entry of these flights.

And he added, "The United States should establish a protocol of dignified treatment of the migrants before we receive them."

What the Republican magnate has said, now that he is the head of the White House in his second non-consecutive term, is that the US will begin a series of deportations of undocumented people who are illegally in his territory. This, of course, requires several steps, both at the executive level as well as the legislative (level) in Washington. 

In addition, in this same sense, steps are needed at the Colombian level. Nevertheless, since Trump assumed the Oval Office on January 20, he has begun to advance policies that end up colliding with several of those carried out at the regional level, specifically in Colombia, and this has led Petro, who from the beginning, has been very opposed to Trump, occasionally throwing hard barbs against the new US  administration.

Then, in a second posting on X, he justified his decision not to authorize the entry of planes with migrants from the US. He noted that the treatment by the North American government does not protect their dignity and makes them look like "delinquents".

"A migrant is not a criminal and should be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves. For this reason, I have made the US military planes that came with Colombian migrants return. I can't make the migrants stay in a country that does not want them, but if that country sends them back, it should be done with dignity and respect for them and for our country," he wrote.

And he concluded his message by demanding better conditions for the transfer of migrants, as a sign of respect for the country: "In civil planes without being treated as delinquents, we will receive our co-nationals. Colombia respects itself," said Petro.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Update January 27- This has been a fast-changing story. The Colombian government has apparently agreed to the deportation flights, seemingly in response to Trump's sanctions move. Petro has reportedly offered to send his own presidential plane to pick up the first load of deportees.

Brazil and Colombia Object to Migrant Deportation Flights

-Jornal do Brasil

Deportation flights of illegal migrants has begun this week. Already, Colombia and Brazil are objecting to flights to their countries. It is their position that these returns must be coordinated better between the US and their countries. Colombia has announced it will not allow further flights to land and Brazil is complaining that its nationals were handcuffed during the flight. 

This is a newsworthy issue. We will be monitoring the news media in these countries as well as Mexico and others impacted by this action. While I fully support the removal of criminal illegal aliens who pose a danger to the public, it is important that the proper diplomatic agreements be in place. Surely, the countries were notified of the flights in some way, but I am confident that we can reach agreements with friendly countries. What happens with Venezuela may be another story altogether.

The below article from the Brazilan daily, Jornal do Brasil is translated from Portuguese to English by Fousesquawk.

"We cannot tolerate the violation of human rights," says the minister on the deportations from the USA.

"We cannot tolerate the violation of human rights," says the minister about the deportations from the USA. The statement from Macae Evaristo, Minister of Human Rights, was given in a video posted by the federal government about the matter. In a released video, deported Brazilians also commented about the situation they faced and also about the reception offered by the government. 88 Brazilians were on the flight charted by the North American government destined for Belo Horizonte which had to make a forced landing in Manaus.

Sweden: Integration Minister Knows How to Stop Immigrant Rape-Courses

Hat tip Fria Tider

Mats Persson

Sweden's Integration Minister, Mats Persson (of the Liberal party), has two suggestions as to how to change the fact that Sweden is known as the rape capital of Europe. First, he suggests making the sentences for rape longer. Currently, the minimum sentence is three years, ridiculously low. That's a good idea. Now for the second suggestion, which in my view, is incredibly naive. Persson wants to install obligatory classes for new arrivals, especially from the Middle East and Africa, to teach these folks about Swedish values when it comes to women/homosexual rights.

He even wants testing to be sure the new arrivals know that rape is illegal in Sweden. I wonder if that will be a written test or practical exercise.

The below article from the conservative Swedish site, Fria Tider, is translated by Fousesquawk.

Minister: Immigrants must take courses that it is wrong to rape.

Posted Jnaury 20, 2025 at 12:10

Domestic. By letting immigrants take courses in "liberal values", we can get them to stop raping. That is what Integration Minister Mats Persson (L) says in an interview with Expressen.

That immigrants are extremely overrepresented in rape statistics has been known for a very long time, and that is something that Fria Tider has reported since the beginning of 2009.

However, the phenomenon has been totally obscured in public Sweden- until now when it has begun to be described as a problem. Recently, Expressen has suddenly begun to report on immigrants' overrepresentation in sex crime statistics.

Now the newspaper has interviewed Integration Minister, Mats Persson (L), who reports that the government now wants to take action to counter the development. Among other things, through sharper punishments and obligatory education for new arrivals.

"We need to deal with the anxiety in Sweden and realize that values play a big role," says Persson.

Mats Persson claims that "patriarchal structures" and a different view of equality lie behind the statistics, something that according to him, demands harder sentences and clear lines for which values apply in Sweden.

Among other things, he wants to increase the minimum sentence for rape, which since 2022 is three years in prison, as well as introduce clear rules for deportation for serious crimes.

"It is incredibly important that people feel that the system is fair," says Persson.

Focus on "liberal values"

In addition to increasing penalties, the government wants to strengthen education for new arrivals, where issues of equality, women's rights, and views on sexuality are stressed, "much" more. Education should also include obligatory tests to ensure that participants understand "liberal values", according to Persson.

"We must be clear from Day One that those who come here support our views on women's and homosexuals' rights," says Persson.

An integration barometer, in which new arrivals values are anonymously charted, is also planned in order to create a better basis for directed efforts.

Research shows that people from the Middle East and Africa are most overrepresented among those convicted of rape. According to Persson, special measures may be taken in the future for groups from regions with different views on so-called equality.

France: You'll Never Guess What Happened Today

If you guessed some guy named Mehdi ran into a supermarket yelling, "Allahu Akhbar" while attacking people with a knife, you would be....

RIGHT!

Because that is what happened in the French town of Apt today. The below article in La Provence is translated by Fousesquawk. (Note: This article has been updated by La Provence since translation, so there will be slight discrepancies.)

Apt (Provence), France

An individual armed with a knife attacks a customer at Intermarché in Apt while shouting, "Allahu Akhbar"

By R.C. with LP and P.G.

Posted January 25 2025 at 11:31-Updated January 25, 2025 at 11:42

Caption: A large deployment of Gendarmes was on the scene to secure the zone and preclude any other threats.

-La Provence/L.P.

Around 5:30 pm, an assailant armed with a knife attacked a security guard and a customer of  Intermarché in Apt. The victims were injured but their lives are not in danger. The public prosecutor is at the scene, the entire perimeter is blocked off.

On Saturday, January 25, 2025, around 17:30, an individual broke into the  Intermarché supermarket in Apt. Armed with a knife, he reached the cashier area where he rushed at a customer shouting, "Allahu Akhbar", according to witnesses.

"When I heard the cry, I thought he was punching," declared the security guard who rapidly intervened to neutralize him.

According to our information, the victim was struck at the eye and ear level, but his life is not in danger. During the action, the knife that the attacker was carrying broke, avoiding much more severe injuries. The security guard suffered contusions, (and) he was also treated by rescue services.

Deployment in place to preclude any further threat

Law enforcement quickly took over the premises under the eyes of customers still shocked by this attack clearly committed by a radicalized individual.

The federal prosecutor of Avignon is at the scene, the Gendarmes, sent in very large numbers from all the surrounding brigades, have blocked off the perimeter, and a large deployment is being maintained while all necessary investigations have begun to preclude any other threat.

A resident of Apt already known to (police)

Arrested and placed into custody, the attacker, first name, Mehdi, was reportedly already known to the judicial system. According to our information, this resident of Apt, approximately 30 years old, had made himself known a few years ago for having created a false explosive vest in modelers' clay. On December 2, 2016, the subject was found on a public garden wall near a college. This discovery, in the context of an elevated terrorist threat, caused the staggering deployment of resources and paralyzed a complete section of the city.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Look out, old Mackie's back"

France: Pakistani Man Sentenced for Knife Attack Outside Former Site of Charlie Hebdo

There are still reverberations from the deadly jihadist attack against the French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo in 2015. Yesterday, a 29-year-old Pakistani man and 5 associates were sentenced to various terms in prison stemming from the Pakistani's knife attack on two people in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo. The Pakistani, identified as Zaheer Mahmood, mistakenly assumed that the newspaper office was still located at the site of the 2015 attack. In reality, the newspaper had relocated to another location after the 2015 attack.

The below article in Ouest France is translated by Fousesquawk. hat tip to Francois deSouche. 

Knife  attack targeting "Charlie Hebdo": The principal defendant sentenced to 30 years in prison

The Special  Criminal Court for Minors in Paris has sentenced Zaheer Mahmood, 29, to 30 years in prison for having attacked two persons with a cleaver in September 2020 in front of the former site of the weekly satirical (newspaper). He was targeting Charlie Hebdo but did not know that the newspaper had relocated after the 2015 attack.

Ouest France, January 23, 2025 at 19:19

Caption: Zaheer Mahmood in front of the Special Criminal Court of Paris on January 6, 2025.

Zaheer Mahmood, 29, was sentenced Thursday, 23 January 2025 to 30 years in prison for having carried out a knife attack in front of the former site of Charlie Hebdo in September 2020. The man had been prosecuted for attempted murder and participation in a terrorist criminal association after having attacked two persons with a cleaver. The prosecutors in the special criminal court had requested 30 years in prison for him.

Between 3-12 years for his co-defendants

Five of his associates, some of whom were minors at the time of the crime, were tried with him for "criminal terrorist association". The prosecutors had stressed that Zaheer Mahmood would never have been able to act without their support. They were sentenced to terms between 3-12 years imprisonment. With the exception of two of them, all of them will be banned from the (French) territory upon completion of their detention.

Originally from a rural region in Pakistan, Zaheer Mahmood arrived illegally in France in the summer of 2018. A follower of radical Islam, he explained that he had wanted to "avenge the Prophet," after the republication of caricatures of Mohammad by Charlie Hebdo on September 2, 2020 on the occasion of the opening of the trial of the jihadist attacks in January 2015. The young man did not know that the satirical newspaper had relocated after the attack that decimated its editorial staff.

A Re-Post: The (Latest) Return of Trump

It is timely and appropriate to re-post a video of the 2019 Carnival in Viareggio, Italy featuring the giant caricature of Donald Trump in conquering mode.

Is Columbia Out of Control?

-Algemeiner

Columbia University is back in the news again. On Tuesday, the first day of classes, pro-Hamas mopes disrupted a class on the history of modern Israel. Algemeiner has the report and a video that was posted on X.

Here is how the campus newspaper, The Columbia Spectator, is reporting the incident. They also have the video. Here is the statement from the university itself. Columbia has also announced that it is increasing security whatever that means. One encouraging piece of news is that one of the offending students has been identified and suspended.  Unfortunately, it seems that most of these suspensions of offending students and groups like Students for Justice in Palestine tend to be short-lived. 

Columbia has been arguably the worst university in the country when it comes to anti-Jewish harassment, particularly since October 7, 2023. Whether it be disruptions, encampments (that in Columbia's case, had to be shut down by police), or professors like Joseph Massad celebrating the massacres of October 7 by Hamas, Columbia represents a toxic and rotten environment for Jewish students.

When a class is disrupted by these obnoxious characters, the professor is prevented from doing his or her job, and the students are prevented from getting the education their families pay so much for.

President Trump has promised to address this problem, and to the extent the federal government can withhold funds from Columbia (a private university), or other schools, they should do so. Routine statements of condemnation from the university are not enough when the problem persists. Students who engage in this behavior should be promptly expelled. Hopefully, Columbia is starting to learn its lesson, but there is much more to be done.

Trump Tackles the Universities

 This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.

One of President Trump's executive orders is targeting foreign students who are supporting terrorist organizations like Hamas on campus and engaging in disruptive and anti-Semitic activity. The intent is to withdraw student visas from such troublemakers and send them home. As far as that is concerned, I applaud this move.

A word of caution, however. It would be a mistake to assume that all or even most of the students who are fomenting all this anti-Jewish hate and disruption on our campuses in support of Hamas are foreign students. In my own experience at the University of California at Irvine, one of the academic hot spots in our country, during the time I taught there part-time from 1998-2016, most of the students I encountered at the anti-Israel events were either American-born or came to the US as children. The reason I state this is not because I did individual research on the students, but rather because most of them spoke English with no detectable accent.

On the other hand, many of the students, as many as one-half, that I taught (English as a second language) were from the Middle East, chiefly the Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. These students' study in the US was funded by their countries-particularly Saudi Arabia- and they were sponsored by their diplomatic missions like the Saudi embassy in Washington DC and in our case, the  Saudi consulate in Los Angeles. I know for a fact that during my time at UC Irvine, these students were under instructions from their consulate not to get involved in this campus activism against Israel. From my personal observation, they followed those instructions. I did not see them at any of the events I observed.

As for Students in Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is mentioned in this article from Daily Caller: I consider them a despicable organization. Through their tactics of disruption and bullying of Jewish students, they have demonstrated they have no place on any college campus. Yet, I think it would be a mistake to assume they are all foreign citizens. While many if not most come from Arab or other majority Muslim national origins, it is my belief that they are mostly US citizens, including non-Muslims and even some misguided Jews.

I do believe strongly that our incoming Justice Department should tackle the problem of anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas agitators on our campuses. I believe that crimes are being committed that violate the civil rights of Jewish students and are in support of Hamas, that these activities are coordinated across the country, and are not spontaneous (read-conspiracy).

I believe the Trump administration, the Justice Department, and the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights will do whatever they can to deal with this problem. Trump put universities on notice during his first term that universities who refused to protect their Jewish students risked losing federal money. This goes beyond the issue of free speech. But we should not assume that there are going to be quick roundups and deportations and that the problems on our campuses will be solved. This is going to be a long process that involves many people who hold US citizenship. As I said, in my view, we are dealing with conspiracies across state lines to deprive Jewish students of their civil rights and to support Hamas-a US-designated terrorist organization, and it is not just students. This will require a complex investigation. If it has not already started, the time to begin is now.

Germany: Afghan Stabs 2 People to Death Including 2-Year-Old Boy in Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg

It has happened yet again. Today in Aschaffenburg, Germany, a 28-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, who had been ordered to leave the country, went on a rampage in a park, attacking a group of kindergarten children with a knife. A 2-year-old Moroccan boy was stabbed to death as was an adult man who tried to intervene. Others were seriously wounded including a 2-year-old Syrian girl, according to news reports. Various news sources in Germany and France have partially identified the suspect as Enamullah O.

Are you reading this, Angela Merkel?

The below article from today's, Handelsblatt is translated by Fousesquawk. Note that in the interest of time, this is a partial translation. Time allowing, we will try to complete it, but these are the most pertinent details. (Update: The translation is now complete.)

Aschaffenburg: Attack on kindergarten group- Two dead, two seriously injured

Article from dpa (Deutsche Presse Agentur)

Caption: 

Caption: January 22, 2025, Bavaria, Aschaffenburg: Fire department and rescue services vehicles are parked near a crime scene. In an act of violence in a park, according to initial findings, several people were reportedly seriously injured by  a knife

A 28-year-old reportedly stabbed several people in a city park. An adult and a small boy died. Media report the initial details on the alleged perpetrator.

In an attack in a park in Franconian Aschaffenburg, two people were killed including a 2-year-old boy. A 41-year-old man also died. Two other people were seriously injured. 

A 28-year-old man with Afghan citizenship is suspected, who was arrested. According to the latest findings, a stabbing weapon was used. The crime scene and the park were largely cordoned off after the incident during the middle of the day.

The alleged perpetrator, according to information from the Bavarian Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), attacked a kindergarten group. The 28-year-old attacked the children with a kitchen knife and fatally injured a 2-year-old boy of Moroccan origin.

In addition, according to the up-to-date investigation, a 2-year-old girl from Syria was also injured. A 41-year-old passerby, who reportedly intervened, was fatally injured according to Herrmann. In addition, a 61-year old was injured and had to undergo surgery.

Interior minister: No indication of Islamist motive

According to Herrmann, no indication of an Islamist motive was found on the suspect. "At the moment, the assumption leans strongly in the direction of an obvious psychiatric illness," the CSU politician said in Aschaffenburg. In the Afghan's lodging, the appropriate medications were found.

However, the search produced "no indications of a radical Islamist sentiment," said Herrmann. In the coming days, the motive for the attack on the kindergarten group will be further investigated. Welt (news) reports, in reference to security circles, that the suspect was already known to authorities.

The 28-year-old suspect, according to Herrmann, traveled to Germany in November 2022 and later applied for asylum. His proceedings were closed after the man himself informed authorities that he wanted to leave the country.

He said that he intended to get the necessary papers from the Afghan General Consulate. He was then ordered to leave the country by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. However, ultimately, he did not leave.

According to Herrmann, the 28-year-old was documented three times for acts of violence. Thus, he was placed in institutions for psychiatric treatment but was then released.

Rail traffic affected

As to a second person initially arrested, suspicion is now ruled out. It is a witness. "This person is now being interviewed," the police report on X.

Because the suspect tried to flee over the railway tracks, rail traffic in Aschaffenburg was halted. Trains to and from Aschaffenburg were initially held back according to the Railway. How big the impact on regional and long-distance traffic would be was initially impossible to predict.

Frequent foot patrols in park

Aschaffenburg has around 70,000 residents and lies in the Bavarian government district of Lower Franconia near the state border with Hessen. The park, named Schoental Park, is located in the inner city. The police are there from time to time with foot patrols, as another police spokesperson said. That may possibly be why the suspect could be quickly caught.

Whether witnesses to the crime responded is to be clarified. The historical park in the English garden style, according to the city, is more than 9 hectares in size.

Subsequent to the violent crime, police asked for help from possible witnesses. "We are preparing a link with which you can send us relevant photos and videos," the Lower Franconia Police Presidium reported on X. The link should be posted soon. Witnesses to the incident should also call the police emergency number 110 or report to a police station.

Söder condemns the act: "Cowardly and despicable"

The Bavarian Minister President, Markus Söder (CSU), commented on the attack Wednesday afternoon. "Today is a terrible day for all of Bavaria. The terrible news from Aschaffenburg affects us all deeply. We mourn for the victims of a cowardly and despicable act."

Söder is demanding that the circumstances of the crime must be fully clarified. Nevertheless, now is the time to pause. "Bavaria stands together in these difficult hours," the State minister president stated.

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) demanded an explanation from the authorities as to why the perpetrator was still in Germany. "I am sick and tired of every couple of weeks such violent acts happen to us here," the SPD politician said in a statement. "From perpetrators who actually come to us to find protection here. Misplaced tolerance is fully inappropriate," Scholz expressed his condolences to victims and relatives.

CDU-leader Friedrich Merz stated on X that the attack shocked him deeply. His thoughts are with the victims and their families. Merz also writes in his post: "This can not go on. We must and will restore law and order!"

The Murder of a Border Patrol Agent in Vermont

 

As President Trump took office yesterday and began taking action to secure our borders, an incident happened in Vermont, 12 miles from the Canadian border that demonstrates that our northern border with Canada is also of serious concern. A Customs and Border Patrol officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop.

The CBP Officer who was killed is 44-year-old David Maland. The incident reported took place 12 miles from the border during a traffic stop. It is reported that migrants were involved, but their identities have not been released, only that one was also killed and another wounded and taken into custody.

Last September, my wife and I were vacationing in northern Vermont, and one afternoon, we drove to the border at the town of Derby and walked across the border into Stanstead, Quebec. When we walked back, we spoke casually to an officer at the border. I told him I had once worked with US Customs (and DEA), and we chatted for several minutes. He pointed to a building that was sitting astride the border and told me that it was a staging area for migrants.  He specifically told me that the migrants were mostly North Africans from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and that they tended to come in groups according to their nationality. In other words, for a few days, they would be Moroccans, then Tunisians for a few days, and then Algerians (in no particular order). After crossing, they would be picked up by people who were assumed to be their co-nationals. For all I know, it could have been the agent I spoke to who was killed.

It's not just Mexico. Canada is also a problem, largely due to its own lax immigration policies under Justin Trudeau. Our northern border must also be secured. Clearly, the agency will need a big increase in manpower and resources. 

May Officer Maland rest in peace.

David Maland

*Update (January 22, 2025): 

The deceased suspect has been identified as German national Felix Bauckholt, who was reportedly in the country on an expired H1-B visa. The wounded suspect is only identified as a female American.

*Update (January 24, 2025):

The female arrested in the shooting has been identified as 21-year-old Teresa Youngblut, a resident of Washington State.

Pardons, Pardons, Pardons

 Yesterday will be remembered not just for the historic return to power of President Donald Trump, but also for the record number of pardons handed out both by Joe Biden in his final hours and minutes in the Oval Office and by Trump in his first hours in office.

For Biden, Christmas came early for his family members, chief among them brother James. President Biden justified it by claiming that his family (and other figures associated with the January 6 investigation, like Liz Cheney), were going to be hounded by the incoming Trump administration. True or not, it can only add to the stain that was Biden's presidency. Partially for that reason, I'm not overly troubled by these pardons, and partially because I don't want to see the back and forth of Republicans and Democrats investigating each other to no end. Not that I think that people in high places who break the law should escape prosecution, but it all smacks of the Third World and what new governments do to their predecessors. There is no perfect solution, and it points to the fact that there needs to be serious reform in our government. Any action taken by the new administration, particularly the Department of Justice, should be based on pursuing justice, not revenge.

Actually, I am more troubled by Trump's blanket pardons for the January 6 defendants. As I have always said, those who attended Trump's speech on January 6 did nothing illegal. Those who marched to the Capitol and protested did nothing illegal. Those who broke into the Capitol, beat police officers, and broke things deserved to be prosecuted. We can agree or disagree as to the level of prosecutorial zeal with which they were prosecuted. In my view, for those who simply wandered into the Capitol without being impeded by security, took selfies of themselves without committing mayhem and who were charged I have no issue with pardons or commutations. But it is a fact that some of the people engaged in violence and criminal behavior. Police were in fact injured on that day and some of the scenes I have watched on video were atrocious. It is also true that a female protester was shot dead by an officer, an event that was also captured on video and was questionable and borderline in my view. (He was never charged subsequent to an investigation.) 

The point I am trying to make is that Trump should have been more selective as to who was pardoned and whose sentences were commuted. Those who engaged in violence and destruction should not have been pardoned. I know some of my conservative friends will disagree, but as someone with almost 30 years of law enforcement experience, I don't take kindly to those who physically assault law enforcement officers regardless of their grievance.

My final point is that it is my hope that this latest round of pardons, both by Biden and Trump, will cause us to reconsider the whole idea of presidential pardons.

The Cease Fire and Hostage/Prisoner Exchange

 Hat tip Jihad Watch

-Jihad Watch

I have very mixed feelings about the Israeli-Hamas cease-fire and the prisoner exchange. I am happy to see innocent Israeli hostages freed from their unspeakable captivity in Gaza. I am not happy seeing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists, murderers, and rapists, many of whom killed dozens of innocent people at a time, being freed from Israeli prisons-where they belong. As is always the case in a conflict between good and evil, prisoner exchanges favor the evil side in terms of numbers because our reverence for life is always stronger. Such is the case here. One would hope (naively) that the supporters of the Palestinians in the West would pause and consider the nature of the Israeli hostages versus that of the Palestinians being freed. But they won't.

If that isn't enough, one would hope (naively) that these same people would watch the images of the mobs in Gaza taunting and threatening the female hostages released as they were driven through the streets of Gaza. Likely the same savages who participated in the horrific scenes of Israelis being brought into Gaza and how the mobs joined in the assaults. It is enough to turn the stomachs of civilized people.

While Israel has certainly punished Hamas and its followers in Gaza thoroughly, killing most of its top leadership in the process, I am afraid that in a year or two, we are going to see a repeat. Hamas has no intention of ever making peace with Israel, and the rocket attacks and terrorism will eventually begin anew. Their hatred for Jews is obvious, and those who would support them in the face of what they have done are Jew haters too in my view. As for the misguided Jews in the West who still support this barbaric movement, I consider them total misfits. The actions of both students and professors of all faiths or lack thereof, particularly in our universities ever since October 7, 2023, is a national embarrassment.

On a side note, my hope is that incoming President Trump will restart the Abraham Accords and expand them. That will necessarily entail isolating the Palestinians. If other Arab countries have finally come to realize that it is in their own best interests to co-exist and have normalized relations with Israel, why should they let the Palestinians stand in the way?

As an American, I'm not going to condemn Netanyahu and his government for agreeing to this deal. Who am I to lecture them and not consider the feelings of the hostages' family members?

It is what it is.