Sweden: Three More Koran Rioters Sentenced to Prison

Heigh ho, heigh ho,

It's off to jail they go

Insert: Rasmus Paludan

This past spring, Danish/Swedish anti-Islam activist, Rasmus Paludan, caused a ruckus in Sweden when he staged Koran-burning protests in several Swedish towns including Norrköping. Riots by enraged Muslims ensued, police were attacked with rocks and police cars were destroyed. Several arrests were made.

Now three of those rioters have been sentenced to 5-1/2 to 6 years in prison for their parts in the riots.

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

https://www.friatider.se/korankravallare-far-sex-ars-fangelse

Koran rioters get six years in prison

Posted 11 October 2022 at 12:34

Domestic: Three more Muslims are now sentenced to prison for their involvement in Koran riots in the neighborhood of Navestad in Norrköping last spring.

The three men are sentenced for aggravated sabotage to emergency services, and one of them was also sentenced for aggravated violence against service personnel and attempted aggravated assault. One man in his twenties is sentenced for aggravated assault.

Two of the Muslims are sentenced to six years in prison and the third to five years and six months in prison.

They will also pay a combined fine totaling 280,000 kronors.

Dutch Reaction to Liberal Op-Ed in Belgian Newspaper

Michael van der Galien has an interesting op-ed in the conservative Dutch website, Dagelijkse Standaard. Van der Galien reports that today's edition of De Standaard (Belgium) has an op-ed by Annelien De Rijn in which she makes the preposterous statement that it doesn't matter whether a right-wing politician or party is fascist or not. She and her ilk must continue calling them that to emphasize their distaste for their ideas. The tactic should come as no surprise. What is noteworthy here is that De Rijn openly acknowledges and justifies the tactic of falsely calling someone a fascist. 

I wanted to translate the original article by De Rijn, but the newspaper has a subscriber wall on that op-ed. The Dutch-language article appears to have been prompted by the electoral victory of the new Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. At any rate, the below reaction from the Netherlands is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.dagelijksestandaard.nl/buitenland/vlaamse-kwaliteitskrant-geeft-toe-rechtse-politici-zijn-geen-fascisten-maar-noem-ze-wel-zo

The raunchy hypocrisy of the quality newspapers: "The right isn't fascist, but we have to call them that!"

October 8, 2022 at 15:22 (Foreign)

By Michael van der Galien

The Belgian quality newspaper-cough, ahem, sneeze-the Standaard has published an article in which it is explained why rightist politicians must be called "fascist" by default while they are clearly not at all.

Writing in today's Standaard, Annelien De Rijn explains why this word is especially useful.

Are radical-right politicians fascists?, she actually asks her readers (as summarized in the introduction to her piece). "Maybe not." But that's not so important." The term helps to emphasize our distaste for their ideas."And that is all that matters.

Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) (party member) Sam van Rooy is rightly provoked to react here. "For this, you have to read a 'quality newspaper', he writes. "This really says it! Whether a politician or a party is really fascist really doesn't matter. As long as you want to warn about fascism, you can gratuitously slander politicians and parties with this weighted term."

Naturally, you might think: Ah! That is in Belgium. What does that matter to us?

But that is the entire problem. Because almost all "Quality newspapers" (Ha Ha) in our country are in the hands of Belgian media conglomerates. This raunchy left morality is thus, exported to our country by the Belgians....which explains why all the leftist parties and newspapers systematically call parties like FVD (Forum for Democracy) and the PVV (Party for Freedom), and broadcasters like Omroep ON! and websites like DDS (Dagelijke Standaard) "fascist" or '"racist". They know better. Only it (works) so well.

Biden and Simple Possession of Marijuana

President Biden has made his pitch for the pot-smoking vote this week by announcing that he is issuing pardons for anybody who has been convicted on the federal level for simple possession of marijuana. This raises a lot of interesting points.

As a retired DEA agent, I did have occasions to work marijuana cases. Actually, most all of those cases were when I was a US Customs agent prior to joining the newly-created DEA in July 1973. With Customs, I was assigned to a group exclusively investigating the smuggling of large, commercial quantities of marijuana by aircraft, something that was quite prevalent at the time in the Southwest area bordering Mexico.

As my career continued in DEA from 1973-1995 when I retired, marijuana understandably became a lesser priority compared to heroin, cocaine, and later drugs like methamphetamine. The biggest priority now for DEA is fentanyl, of course.

At this point, I would like to introduce the federal drug law dealing with simple possession of controlled substances (drugs requiring a prescription or simply drugs that are illegal on their face, like heroin). The federal laws regarding drugs are under Title 21 of the US Code. These were the laws I enforced as a Customs and DEA agent. The statutes we were most concerned with and most often charged were smuggling, possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to do the same. There is a statute for simple possession. It is 21 USC 844.

It is important to note that no federal prosecutor would accept a case that involved someone arrested for simple possession of a personal quantity of drugs, especially marijuana. I cannot speak for every state and local jurisdiction, but at a federal level, we only cared about commercial quantities. That means that we didn't care about some guy smoking a joint in his home. But if his home contained 500 kilos of marijuana, that was not for his personal use. That was clearly what we called a commercial quantity. He was trafficking.

So now you might ask why is this 21 USC 844 on the books? In practice, it is used for plea bargaining purposes. Pleading to a lesser charge. It is especially handy when a defendant has cooperated with law enforcement to a great degree and deserves a big break. Let me give you an example. Let's say DEA arrests a guy transporting a load of cocaine in his vehicle, let's say 20 kilos. It turns out that he is just a "mule" who is being paid to carry the drugs from one place or one person to another person or place. The driver agrees to cooperate. He names the person who gave him the drugs and the name of the person he is supposed to deliver the drugs to. He also agrees to go through with the delivery to the intended recipient, which he does under the control of the agents. To make a long story short, everybody is arrested on both ends, and the driver testifies in court. In return, he is allowed to plead to a lesser offense (21 USC 844 in many cases).

That's what we are talking about. Nobody at the federal level is chasing pot smokers and throwing them in federal prison for having a personal supply of marijuana or any other drug. The US Attorney's office would never accept such a case. So this is no great act of mercy by President Biden. 

Biden also wants the government to review whether marijuana is properly classified as a Schedule One drug, like heroin. On its face, it seems ludicrous that marijuana and heroin would be in the same classification or schedule. The reasoning is-you can agree or disagree- that like heroin, marijuana is judged to have a high potential for abuse and has no medically recognized use. You can read the list of schedules under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 here. Interestingly, cocaine and fentanyl are listed under Schedule Two because they do have certain legal medical uses.

The bottom line is that virtually all the beneficiaries of this pardon are people who actually committed more serious offenses, but were allowed to plead to the lesser charge of 21 USC 844-simple possession either because they cooperated with law enforcement and/or simply agreed to plead to the lesser charge.

You are not going to see Cheech and Chong walk out of federal prison where they have been serving time because DEA agents found them smoking marijuana on a street corner.

"Jewish Life Is Thriving" at UC Berkeley?

This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.

I have been following the situation at UC Berkeley with keen interest where nine student groups within the School of Law have declared that pro-Israel speakers are not welcome on campus and would not be invited by these groups as speakers.

Ken Marcus, the former head of the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and currently the head of the Louis D Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law, has led the charge in complaining about this outrageous decision. That has pitted him against the head of the law school, Erwin Chemerinsky. Chemerinsky has criticized the decision by these student groups but feels he is limited by the Constitution as far as not allowing such groups to be formed in his law school (including the notorious National Lawyers Guild). That is what he expressed to me when he responded to my own letter to him on the issue.

Most recently, two Jewish professors at UC Berkeley, Ron Hassner and Ethan Katz, have written that while they abhor the decision of the student groups, they feel that critics like Marcus are only adding fuel to the fire. They insist that "Jewish life is thriving at UC Berkeley" in spite of the recent controversy. I will say more about that later.

First, here is Marcus' response, which is published in  Jewish News of Northern California, which has previously published the op-ed by Hassner and Katz.

 I would like to point out here that Chemerinsky, in his response to my letter, referred me to the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley, as an example of "counter speech". I checked out their website, but basically, all the information was pretty vanilla and non-specific, so I did not feel particularly enlightened. I note that Mr Hassner is co-director of the Helen Diller Institute. Indeed, the op-ed written by Hassner and Katz features the usual photo of smiling Jewish students enjoying a Hillel event on campus in 2019. I assume that was before the incident where rocks were thrown at the Hillel center on the UCB campus. But I digress. "Jewish life is thriving at UCB". This is the campus entity that Dean Chemerinsky referred me to. 

I also take note of the phrase, "Jewish life is thriving at (fill in the blank)" because I have seen and heard this phrase before, specifically when I was teaching at UC Irvine and pointing out incidents of anti-Semitism on that campus. This is a phrase used at UCI by many Jewish apologists who have insisted over recent years there is no problem of anti-Semitism at UC Irvine. I am referring to Hillel, the Jewish Federation of Orange County, and the Anti-Defamation League. I've heard it said also in reference to UCLA. It's like this is the talking point used by certain Jewish leaders who don't want to face up to the problem of campus anti-Semitism. In some cases, I suspect it is because they are too embedded within the university and have become compromised. They don't want to lose their positions of influence with university administrators, so they refuse to call them out. In addition, problems of campus anti-Semitism also reflect negatively upon themselves. Contrary to what Messers Hassner and Katz believe, I do not believe that Jewish students are being adequately supported and protected from the pro-Palestinian goons on campus, to say nothing of certain activist professors, who, in their rabid opposition to Israel, have contributed to the anti-Semitic climate on their respective campuses. 

To sum it up, I think that too many Jewish leaders take an attitude of "don't make waves. It will just make things worse". Germany in the 1930s.

My basic message to Dean Chemerinksy in my letter was that while I applauded his criticism of the student groups' actions, he should not be surprised since he himself has created a law center based on liberal activism. In response to this latest controversy, he has chosen to take a defensive position, not just to little ol' me, but to more important voices like Marcus and various Jewish organizations, like the Zionist Organization of America, the Amcha Initiative, and the aforementioned Brandeis Center, who do stand up for the safety of Jewish university students.

In the US, we are experiencing a resurgence in anti-Semitism. It was largely focused on our university campuses, but has now metastasized into society at large. To say that "Jewish life is thriving" on campuses like UC Berkeley and so many other universities across the land in light of what is happening today is absurd and an insult to our intelligence.

Austria: Islamist Preacher Appears in Court

Vienna, November 2, 2020

On November 2, 2020, a lone jihadist, identified as Kujtim Fejzulai, of dual Austrian-N. Macedonian origin, carried out a terror attack in Vienna, which resulted in four dead victims. The terrorist was killed by police. 

This week, a trial opens against a jihadist "preacher" who authorities believe helped radicalize the killer.

The below article from today's Heute (Austria) is translated by Fousesquawk. As is the custom in  Europe, the defendant's name is not given.

https://www.heute.at/s/islamprediger-in-wien-wegen-terror-vorwurfs-angeklagt-100231451

October 5, 2022, 12:59

Islam preacher of Vienna attacker now in court

He reportedly radicalized young men in his apartment, among them, the attacker of November 2, 2020. He now faces a long imprisonment.

Under the strictest security precautions, the trial against the suspected contact man of the Vienna attacker is taking place on Wednesday. The defendant allegedly was active as an Islamic preacher in his apartment in St. Pölten (Lower Austria) and radicalized young men for the so-called "Islamic State" jihad.

 The indictment describes the man as, "an aspiring jihadist preacher who was just at the beginning of his "career". He reportedly spread his poisonous ideology, among others, to the terrorist who later carried out the attack on November 2, 2020, in Vienna's central city with four dead. Investigations could not prove, however, that the defendant had any direct involvement in the terrorist attack.

Wanted to become  a radical-Islamist mastermind

According to the prosecution, a group of young men in the circle of the Vienna attacker saw the defendant as (being in) a "leading ideological position". The aim was reportedly to become the next radical-Islamist mastermind after the preacher Mirsad O.

The indictment (charges), among others, membership in a terrorist organization, whose punishment is between 2-10 years. 

CAIR's Hussam Ayloush Mourns Death of Qaradawi

Yusuf al Qaradawi (L) and Hussam Ayloush (R)

Several days ago, Yusuf al Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, died in exile in Qatar. Many Muslims considered Qaradawi to be one of the most- if not the most- knowledgeable scholars within the Muslim world when it came to Islam. Considering his long history of hateful and violent references to Jews, Christians, and "infidels" in general, coupled with his support for terrorism, I would tend to agree if you get my drift.

So it hardly comes as a shock to see how many US-based Muslim organizations, especially those tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, have expressed sorrow over the passing of this hateful man. These include CAIR, the Muslim American Society, and Islamic Circle of North America Sisters. Do these organizations speak for all Muslims in the US? Not in my opinion. Yet, CAIR, more than any of the others, considers itself the principal "civil rights group" in the US for Muslims. They are a particularly arrogant bunch. They do not represent all Muslims in the US.

That brings me to the Southern California director of CAIR, Hussam Ayloush. I have heard him speak many times and on a couple of occasions, have exchanged my differences of opinion with him. I have seen and heard him make what I consider anti-Semitic references, and I have called him an anti-Semite to his face.

So it hardly comes as a surprise when Ayloush pays great tributes to Qaradawi on the occasion of his death. This week, Ayloush devoted a Friday sermon in tribute to Qaradawi at the Orange County Islamic Institute in Mission Viejo, California, which he proudly posted on his Facebook page.

Below is a video on the relationship between Qaradawi and Ayloush produced by Americans Against Hate.org.

The Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood, which is now outlawed in Egypt, is the umbrella organization from which many terrorist organizations have sprung, including al Qaeda, ISIS, and Hamas. CAIR is also an arm of the MB. Qaradawi, contrary to what his defenders say about him, was a man of hate and violence. That organizations like CAIR would praise and mourn him speaks volumes. 

Sweden: Gang Shootings Take Over Södertälje

Södertälje

The shootings in Sweden never seem to cease. In the town of  Södertälje, south of Stockholm, there have been several shooting incidents over the past week. This is apparently connected to a drug war between competing immigrant gangs in the no-go zone of Ronna, often referred to as a "vulnerable area" by the politically correct in Sweden.

Södertälje is home to a large immigrant community of Assyrians, mostly Christian, who came a few decades ago to work in the local industries. Unfortunately, assimilation has lagged, and a criminal subculture has also developed. The situation now in Södertälje is deemed serious by the local authorities. As usual, the news media is reluctant to identify exactly to what group the perpetrators may belong to.

The below article by Samnytt is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://samnytt.se/gangkriget-i-sodertalje-vaxer-kriminella-patrullerar-gatorna-med-vapen/

Gang war grows in Södertälje. - Criminals patrol streets with weapons

Domestic  October 1, 2020 at 20:22

On Friday, a 19-year-old was shot to death in the so-called especially vulnerable neighborhood of Ronna in Södertälje.On Saturday, another fatal shooting happened in the neighborhood. According to information, criminals are patrolling the streets with weapons.

Police received the report about a shooting around 7:41 pm. According to Expressen (news), it was reportedly automatic fire. 

The latest shooting is the third within the course of four days. The victim is a 40-year-old man who died after shots in the head and chest. On Wednesday and a 25-year-old man was shot to death, and on Friday evening, a 19-year-old man was shot to death in the neighborhood.

A week ago, a 20-year-old man was shot in the city. According to information, the shootings are reportedly over a conflict between groups in the Södertälje (gang) Network.

The local newspaper, LT, reports that armed gang members are now patrolling the neighborhood on mopeds.

Oberlin College Back in the News

Oberlin College

There has been a running controversy at Oberlin College in Ohio. It concerns a successful lawsuit filed against the campus by a local bakery after students accused the shop of being racist and racially profiling customers. This all stemmed from a 2016 incident in which three black students were allegedly involved in shoplifting. These accusations of racism against the bakery were supported by campus officials. They were found to be unfounded and hence the campus was sued successfully for helping spread unfounded accusations.

Campus Reform has the story, which I am cross-posting.

This is just the latest controversy surrounding Oberlin. In recent years, there has been a long series of anti-Semitic incidents on campus. The central figure is the Jew-hating former professor, Joy Karega, who is notorious for her anti-Israel screeds, many of which go over the line from legitimate criticism of Israel into insulting Jews. She was eventually fired in 2016, but the problems have continued. In addition, the Oberlin faculty also has Mohammad Mahallati, former Iranian ambassador to the UN, who has a documented history of controversial statements.

I would never send my kid to Oberlin, especially if I were Jewish.

Austrian President Wants All Austrian Women to Wear Headscarves

-"Mommy, why are we fleeing Austria?"

-"So I don't have to wear a fricking headscarf"!

Notwithstanding recent events in Iran, the president of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, thinks that it is about time to ask all Austrian women to wear headscarves out of solidarity with Muslims. Fortunately, the position of president in Austria is largely ceremonial, and most political power rests with the chancellor.

How about defending the right of Muslim women in Austria not to wear a head scarf if they so choose? How about solidarity with Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian woman who recently died in police custody after being arrested for not "properly" wearing a head scarf? How about solidarity with the people in  Iran who are protesting Amini's death and being killed by Iran police and Revolutionary Guards?

From an American perspective, I would defend the right of Muslim women in the US to wear a headscarf if they feel it is their religious duty. I would also defend their right not to wear it if they don't want to. But the bottom line is that this foolish Austrian president is misdirecting his "solidarity".

Mahsa Amimi

The below article from Unzensuriert (Austria) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.unzensuriert.at/content/156135-vdb-wir-werden-alle-frauen-bitten-muessen-ein-kopftuch-zu-tragen-aus-solidaritaet/

Caption: Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen asks Austrian women to wear headscarves out of solidarity with Muslims

Federal presidential election  29 September 2022 16:24

Van der Bellen: "Will have to ask all women to wear a head scarf-out of solidarity".

"Beloved Austria", "Austria with all my heart" is written on the ad posters of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, with which he campaigns nationwide for his reelection. But how much credibility are his messages? Can we trust a federal president and really elect him as head of state if he asks women to wear a head scarf out of solidarity with Muslims.

"Not just Muslims, every woman can wear a head scarf"

Many, perhaps, have already forgotten, but when Alexander Van der Bellen was hardly in office, he said verbatim on the ORF-Broadcast, "Report":

"It is the right of a woman to dress however she wishes, that is my opinion on this. Incidentally, not just Muslim women, every woman can wear a head scarf. And if it continues with this Islamophobia actually spreading, the day will come when we will have to ask all women to wear a head scarf. All in solidarity with those who do it for religious reasons."

Why doesn't Van der Bellen wear a head scarf?

When the federal president made this statement, he had been in office almost one hundred days. In social media, there was a lot going around because of the call for solidarity. Die Presse pointed out a few critics.

"Does anyone know if (Van der Bellen wanted to make a joke?" Peter Bussjaeger, Professor of Federalism at the University of Innsbruck, subsequently asked. Manfred Juraczka, former club chairman of the Austrian Peoples' Party in Vienna, likewise used the statement for critique via Kurznachrictendienst (Headline Service). "So much for the election claim that hashtag vdB (Van der Bellen) is a man of the middle." Another user also immediately made another suggestion to the head of state: "Mr Van der Bellen, why don't you set a good example and wear a head scarf?" 

Joe Biden at a Seance

 

University of Vermont President's Disgraceful Response to Complaints of Campus Anti-Semitism

"Jews not wanted" in German

We have been following the case of the University of Vermont over accusations of anti-Semitism by pro-Palestinian groups on campus, including a teaching assistant who openly talked about lowering grades for pro-Israel students. In addition, one incident involved rock-throwing at the campus Hillel center. To make matters worse, university president, Suresh Garimella has reacted angrily to complaints that the university is not taking action to protect its Jewish students.

Kenneth Marcus is the director of the Louis D Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which filed a complaint against the university. He is also formerly the director of the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. He has written the below article criticizing Garimella's response. I am cross-posting it here.

Normally when these problems occur on campuses all over the country, university presidents make lofty comments from a cue card that the university "embraces the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion....blah blah blah, woof woof woof, quack quack quack." Garimella takes it a step further. He arrogantly attacks those who are complaining and basically says in effect to the Jewish students on his campus, "Too bad".

The University of Vermont is clearly not a welcoming place for Jewish students. Even worse is the fact that there don't seem to be many universities that are as long as administrators tremble and bow to the pro-Palestinian goons on their campuses.

France: Fugitive Imam Nabbed in Belgium

We have previously reported on the flight of Imam Hassan Iquioussen from France in order to avoid an expulsion order. This came as a result of the imam's history of inflammatory remarks about Jews and others in his sermons. Today, it is announced that Iquioussen has been arrested near Mons, Belgium. 

The below article from today's Le Figaro is translated by Fousesquawk. 

https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/l-imam-hassan-iquioussen-arrete-en-belgique-20220930

Imam Hassan Iquioussen, subject of a European arrest warrant, arrested in Belgium

The Moroccan preacher, on the run, is charged in France for remarks deemed contrary to the values of the Republic.

Imam Hassan Iquioussen, subject of a European arrest warrant submitted by the French judiciary, has been arrested in Belgium, the Belgian Justice Minister informed Agence France Presse. "I can confirm to you that he was arrested today by the police," declared Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne.

The preacher, charged in France for remarks contrary to the values of the Republic, is under an expulsion order signed July 28 by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. The preacher, born in France 58 years ago, but of Moroccan nationality, is classified S (for state security) by the DGSI (General Directorate for Internal Security) since 18 months ago, according to (Darmanin).  

Charged for remarks deemed contrary to the values of the Republic, he could not be located by the police at his residence in Lourches, near Valenciennes after the issuance of the expulsion order by the Counsel of State. He was then subject of a European arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge in Valenciennes (North), for "evading the execution of a separation ruling". The next day, the Nord (North) Prefect explained during a press conference that the imam was then considered "delinquent" because he was in flight.

Proselytizing speech

The expulsion order reproaches him for "a proselytizing speech interspersed with remarks inciting hatred and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the Republic," His YouTube channel is followed by 178,000 subscribers.

His lawyer, Attorney Lucie Simon, is particularly contesting the validity of the arrest warrant targeting him, maintaining that it is based "on an infraction," which is, according to her, "not constituted". "Why look for him? Why do they want to bring him back?" she wondered at the beginning of September. 

Judicial fighting

According to the French Interior Minister, it is now up to the Belgian judiciary to turn (Iquioussen) over to France in execution of the arrest order. The process of returning the imam to France could take several weeks if (Iquioussen) contests it.

Between judicial wrangling and media battles, the debates surrounding the imam have fed French news since the beginning of August beginning with the announcement of his expulsion to Morocco, then suspended by the Paris Administrative Tribunal, which judged that it would "interfere disproportionately with his private and family life."

He had been hit with an initial polemic in 2004, (accused of) remarks deemed anti-Semitic in a speech about Palestine. (Iquioussen) had then acknowledged "inappropriate remarks" and apologized. His name has since regularly reappeared in the press and in public debate. 

Born in France, he had decided when he came of age not to opt for French nationality. He claims to have renounced (French citizenship) at age 17 under the influence of his father and later attempted in vain to recover it. His 5 children and 15 grandchildren are established in northern France: One son is an imam in Raismes, and another is a former elected PS (Socialist Party) at Lourches.