The Penn-Biden Issue and China: Are There Wider Implications for Academia?

 We are now witnessing the latest Joe/Hunter Biden scandal. This one involves the recent discovery of classified documents at the president's home in Delaware as well as his office in the Penn-Biden Center  in Washington DC. These documents were transferred from Biden's office as vice president when he left office as VP under the Obama administration. Biden has been in possession of these documents for approximately 6 years now.

But what about this Penn-Biden Center, which was set up in 2018 after Joe Biden left the vice presidency? It is now reported that this center has received millions of dollars from China.

The center is operated under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania though it is located in Washington DC as opposed to the university campus in Philadelphia. This week, the university has made the following statement in the wake of an inquiry from the House of Representatives, now under majority Republican control. The statement is reported this week in the university campus newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian.

"The University has never solicited any gifts for the Center. Since its inception in 2017 there have been three unsolicited gifts, from two donors, which combined [to a total of]  $1,100. Both donors are Americans. One hundred percent of the budget for the Penn Biden Center comes from university funds," the spokesperson wrote. "Any foreign gifts received by the university are all properly reported to the U.S. Department of Education as required by Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. Penn is fully compliant with federal law regarding the reporting of foreign gifts and contracts."

No doubt we will be learning more about the Penn-Biden Center in the coming weeks and months. There is lots of speculation about what the documents may contain and whether they have anything to do with Hunter Biden and his business dealings with China. This week it is being reported by Fox News that a former office staffer of then-Vice President Biden, who was reportedly recommended for the position by Hunter Biden, has come forward and expressed concern that she may have been one of those who were tasked with transferring documents from the vice president's office. All this is yet to be sorted out.

But while we await the ultimate findings of this investigation, I would like to draw attention to a related problem, which is the influence of foreign money in our universities. After my retirement from DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), I spent two decades teaching part-time at three colleges and universities, including 18 years at the University of California at Irvine.

We are learning more and more these days about the efforts of the Chinese government to make inroads in our universities, including through the use of financial donations. That is one problem that deserves our attention. The Chinese government is not doing this purely for altruistic reasons in the interest of the pursuit of knowledge, etc. They are obviously trying to gain influence. What kind of influence can a country buy from a university? Of course, there are legitimate reasons, such as joint ventures between friendly academic entities, such as between universities, academies of science, and NGOs. In the case of China, the main goal is to steal American technology, much of which is developed within academia. This is achieved through the use of students and researchers sent to study and /or work on university campuses.

Aside from China, there are other countries donating to American universities for questionable motives. I am thinking primarily here of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Both of these countries have donated tens of millions of dollars to US universities. In many cases, this money has been used to establish Middle East Studies departments. It goes without saying that aside from their pan-Arab, pro-Islam outlook, Middle East studies centers in US universities are uniformly hostile to Israel. They bear partial responsibility for much of the anti-Israel agitation on campuses and the resultant anti-Semitism directed at Jewish students, especially if they defend the Jewish state. Of course, the spokespeople for these centers ritually maintain that they are not anti-Semitic, just anti-Zionist.

Taking one such center as an example, look at Georgetown University's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Sounds harmless enough. In 2005, the above Saudi prince, for whom the center is named, donated 20 million dollars to Georgetown for the center. This was the same individual who had offered 10 million dollars to the city of New York to help rebuild after 9-11, but whose offer was rejected by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani because the prince wanted the US to change his stance in regard to the Middle East and the Israel / Palestinian conflict. Here is what the Investigative Project on Terrorism has to say about the center. Georgetown University even has a campus located in Qatar. As with the  Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, their focus is in the field of foreign service.

It should also be known that the center's most prominent professor, aside from activist professor John  Esposito, is Jonathan Brown, a convert to Islam who happens to be the son-in-law of Sami al-Arian, the disgraced former professor at the University of South Florida. Al-Arian was charged with financially assisting Middle East terror groups, and after a long judicial process, was finally deported to Turkey. Brown himself gained notoriety a few years ago when he implied that slavery practiced by Muslims was justified.

On a more general note, our universities today are multi-billion dollar enterprises as anyone paying for a college tuition today is well aware. Wealthy donors and alumni pay big bucks just to get their name on a university building or library. When so much money starts to influence what our children are taught about controversial or sensitive topics (like the Israel-Palestinian conflict, for example), truth sometimes is sacrificed. When that kind of financial influence is coming from overseas, especially countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, it is even more alarming.

Two Dutch Citizens Sentenced to Death in Morocco

Over the years, we have been posting and translating articles relative to the Moroccan Mafia in the Netherlands. The head of the Moroccan Mafia, Ridouan Taghi, is currently under trial in the Netherlands since his capture in Dubai in 2019. Taghi has also been linked to the 2021  murder of prominent Dutch crime journalist, Peter R. de Vries.

This week in Marrakech, Morocco, two men who hold Dutch passports were sentenced to death for a murder carried out in that city in 2017. That murder is also linked back to Taghi.

The below article from today's Telegraaf (Netherlands) is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/99223594/twee-nederlanders-veroordeeld-tot-doodstraf-in-marokko

Two Dutch citizens sentenced to death in Morocco

by John Van Den Heuvel

Posted today 14:10 Updated today 15:00 in Domestic

Marrakech- The criminal court in Morocco has sentenced two Dutch citizens to death for a mistaken murder in the La Creme cafe in Marrakech in November 2017. The two, Shardyone S. (31) and Edwin R. M. (27), were hired to murder an arch-rival of Ridouan Taghi in Marrakech, but accidentally shot the son of a high-ranking Moroccan lawyer dead.

Caption: Police conducting investigation at La Creme cafe in Marrakech

The intended victim was the Moroccan-Dutchman, Mustapha el F., alias Moes, who shortly before the attack, changed seats and thus, escaped death. The Moroccan court also sentenced a number of other Moroccans with Dutch passports to long prison terms from 6-20 years.

A cousin of Taghi, Jouad F., was sentenced to 6 years for his involvement in the murder, and two of Taghi's brothers have received long prison terms for their role in the mistaken killing.

Death sentence

Shardyone S. and Edwin R.M. were sentenced to death in the first instance (initial trial). The evidence against them is strong. Due to their striking Rastafarian hairstyles, they were under surveillance by Moroccan security police since their arrival and arrested shortly after the attack. 

Although they denied everything in the trial they decided after the conviction to cooperate with the Moroccan police and share information about the background of the attacks.

Edwin R.M. said that Taghi was behind the attack and was also involved in the murder of a younger brother of R.M. The two Dutch perpetrators of the mistaken murder hoped through their cooperation to get a lighter sentence. After their arrest, they said they knew of a hitlist where the name of Peter R. de Vries came up.

Death cells

Despite the cooperation of the two, the court ruled harshly this week as to the Dutch citizens and their fellow perpetrators. The death sentence has serious consequences. In the case of a life sentence, the convicted (men) could have appealed to a treaty that made it possible to serve the sentence in the Netherlands.

Now that the death sentence has been pronounced, that possibility is gone. S. and R.M. are sitting under poor conditions in death cells measuring less than two meters by two meters. They sleep on the floor, but the cell is so small, they have to lie down diagonally.

They have since appealed to a higher court, but according to a jurist familiar with Moroccan law, once a death sentence is pronounced, it is seldom reviewed. One bright spot is that since 1993, the (death) penalty has not been carried out. The (Dutch) Foreign Ministry has provided consular assistance to all the Dutch citizens concerned in this legal case.

Hamline University Retracts Charge of "Islamophobia" Against Professor it Terminated

Hamline University...............

sees the light.

Recently, we picked up on the story of a professor who was terminated by Hamline University (St, Paul, Minnesota) after a student complained about her showing an image of the Islamic prophet Mohammad in her class. The firing has led to an uproar and the university has been flooded with letters objecting to their move. Over 17,000 people signed a petition organized by Professor Christiane Gruber of the University of Michigan in Erika Lopez-Prater's defense.

Now, on the same day that Professor Lopez-Prater filed a lawsuit against Hamline, the university has retracted its condemnation of her action as being "Islamophobic". They have come to the realization of what free speech is all about.  

Daily Caller's update can be accessed here.

Muslim Brotherhood in Austria (5): Charges Thrown out in Operation Luxor

On November 9, 2020, Austrian police conducted a series of raids  (Operation Luxor) all over the country in a crackdown on suspected members of the Austrian-based Muslim Brotherhood. The raids took place one week after a deadly terrorist attack carried out in Vienna even though the raids had already been in the planning long before the Vienna attack.

Now it seems that the prosecution case is unraveling in the courts. A series of judicial defeats have brought severe criticism to the prosecution team as well as the current chancellor Karl Nehammer, who was interior minister at the time of the raids.

The Middle East Forum has an article on the case this week by Soeren Kern, which can be accessed here.

The below article from Der Standard (Austria) is translated by Fousesquawk. This is the 5th such article focused on the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria.

 https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000142309461/verfahren-gegen-oesterreichs-angeblichen-muslimbrueder-anfuehrer-eingestellt

Operation Luxor

Proceedings against Austria's alleged Muslim Brotherhood leader dropped

In the operational search warrant, he was considered "the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria". More than two years later, the investigations against A.S. have been thrown out.

Jan Michael Marchart

January 6, 2023 at 10:00

On November 9, 2020, when hundreds of heavily-armed police officers stormed rows of apartments all over Austria, A.S. was surely the most prominent among the suspects. In the almost 200-page thick order for the raids in the so-called Operation Luxor against suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the alleged leader of the Hamas terrorists, A.S. was considered the leader-literally as the "leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria". That was what the formerly anonymous informant whispered to investigators.

More than two years later, these accusations lie in ruins. The investigations of the Graz State Prosecutor's Office against A.S.- among others, terrorist association, terror finance, and money laundering- have been dropped. That comes from a ruling by the Higher State Court in Graz, which Der Standard has accessed. Once again, (lack of evidence). Up to now, more than 20 proceedings have been dropped-in all, almost 100 accused. "The rule of law has proven its worth," now says the lawyer of A.S., Andreas Rust.

The ruling also brings Chancellor Karl Nehammer (Austrian Peoples' Party) under pressure. The State Prosecutor's Office, indeed, is in charge of Operation Luxor. But as the Turkish Interior minister tried to make political capital of, Nehammer put himself in the media spotlight next to (armed) Cobra officers. After the investigative breakdowns surrounding the jihadist terror attack of November 2, Nehammer was criticized. Not the least of which, because of the long-planned Operation Luxor raids, an interview* with the later terrorist, K.F. ( Kujtim Fejzulai)  was postponed. 

"Narratives inhibited as much as possible"

In its decision, the Higher State Court is now systematically picking the investigators' work apart. Essential information in Operation Luxor goes back to an anonymous informant, who is himself accused. According to the files, he described the alleged leading circle of the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria to intelligence services in June 2020. And at its top, accordingly, was A.S.

For the court, it was "not clear" How the anonymous informant could know all this. "Because the foundation for any of his knowledge- sensory perception, assumption- was....not clarified, the decision states. On the contrary.  Since access to Operation Luxor was far off in the future at that time, the investigators asked their informant no questions as to how he himself came into contact with the Muslim Brotherhood.  That was recorded by the Intelligence service itself in an internal report. And: "Narratives from him on this topic were inhibited as much as possible."

Accordingly, the court also maintains that it is not clear where the informant got his information from or who gave it to him. In addition, based on his own statements (" I can't say exactly (because) when I came to Austria, I was told that by several people within the Muslim community."), it appears that some of his statements could be merely hearsay. It is (curious) also that the State Prosecutor's Office compromised their informant a year ago in their own files. A short time later, he was involved in a fight. 

Caption below photo:  Chancellor Karl Nehammer staged Operation Luxor on November 9, 2020, as stated publicly by the Turkish interior minister.

Three other informants who named A.S. as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or placed him indirectly with the Brotherhood were not taken seriously by the court. The statements of one prosecution witness consisted "mostly of assessments", those of another "almost exclusively of assessments and conclusions," and the statements of the third in the group were  "only assessments and suppositions," the decision found.

"Collection of mere indications"

The court went into more detail as to Z. This (source) placed A.S. among others, close to the Muslim Brotherhood for investigators. Z. Claimed that A.S. told him that he had belonged to the Islamist movement of Egyptian origin for 16 years. In the ruling, there is now criticism that the (investigators) asked no "control questions" that could have verified the accuracy of this claim.

After Z. laid out his allegations publicly in an interview with Exxpress, since taken offline, he was convicted of defamation, at least in the first instance.

Roughly speaking, the court took these (statements) by the three witnesses to be "a collection of mere indications, whose accuracy is not verifiable due to a lack of more meaningful (corroboration), rumors and assumptions from sources that can no longer be corroborated, as well as their interpretation and further dissemination in the form of conclusions and suppositions that are not subject to testimony-either as to witnesses or co-accused."

Aside from that, two years after the Operation Luxor raids, the court found  "no underlying basis" in the investigative files that would fuel the suspicion that A.S. "took part as a member in a terrorist association (especially Hamas), criminal organization, or  subversive connection relative to Austria, otherwise supports such associations in any way, or finances terrorist activities."

Operation Luxor took place one week after the jihadist terror attack on November 2. The operation, however, had been already planned long before the attack. Of the almost 100 accused- naturally, partly individuals, partly organizations- nobody was imprisoned. As of now, nobody is charged either.

 (Jan Michael Marchart, January 6, 2023.)  

* The German term used, Gefährderansprache, refers to a police interview of a suspected dangerous person, as a form of warning. Kujtim Fejzulai was the author of the terror attack in Vienna in November 2020.

France Stabbing Attack in Strasbourg

This is becoming almost a daily occurrence in France. On Saturday, a Kosovar refugee, armed with a knife, attempted to randomly stab a man then a woman on a bike with her two small children. He was eventually overpowered by an off-duty cop whom the suspect also attempted to stab. Once in the police car, the man reportedly was yelling, "Allahu akbar," and at the police station, reportedly told the police that "they were all going to Hell because of what they were doing in Palestine." Yet, the motive for the attack is described as not clear!!

The incident naturally attracted the attention of France's interior minister, Gerald Darmanin ( a very busy man lately) who praised the courageous action of the police officer.

The below article from Le Figaro is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/strasbourg-un-homme-arme-d-un-couteau-s-attaque-a-des-passants-avant-d-etre-maitrise-par-un-policier-hors-service-20230115

 Strasbourg: A man armed with a knife attacks passersby before being overpowered by off-duty policeman

By Marie-Iievine- Michalik and Jean Chichizola

Posted January 15, 2023 at 13:21, updated January 15, 2023 at 18:19

The assailant, who spoke Arabic during the acts, tried to stab a man, then a mother accompanied by her two children.

A man armed with a knife randomly strikes....Four days after the attack at Gare du Nord, the scene is repeated, this time in an Alsatian capital still traumatized by the Islamist attack of December 11, 2018. It was around 5 pm, Saturday when a man armed with a knife tried to stab a passerby on Colmar Avenue in the Strasbourg district of Meinau. The latter, frightened, rushed to his car and managed to get away. The attacker then turned to a woman on a bicycle, accompanied by her two young children. Faced with the knife pointed at her, the mother tried to resist and fell to the ground.

An off-duty policeman, seeing the acts, came running. The man, who by chance, was passing by,  according to information from the SGP Police Union, tried to overpower the assailant without his service weapon, which was left at the police station. The suspect tried to stab him in the head without success. Only the hood of his jacket was pierced. "They struggled and the policeman succeeded in immobilizing him with the help of a delivery man on a bicycle," states the police source to Figaro. Once the Specialized Field Brigade (BST) arrived, the man was arrested and placed in custody. 

Of Kosovar origin, the man, aged 31, was not known to the intelligence services for being radicalized but was listed in the files of previous judicial proceedings, specifically for illicit use of drugs in Seine-Saint Denis on February 16 and November 25, 2021. In the police car, he reportedly was chanting, "Allahu akhbar". Also according to a police source, the assailant reiterated his remarks at the police station adding: "You will all go to Hell because of what you are doing in Palestine". His psychological state is described as "unstable" by a source close to the case. An investigation has been opened and assigned to the Judicial Police.

Attempted homicide is now the likely charge, but a terrorist act is not ruled out. The motives of the assailant remain unclear. He reportedly regrets the attack against the mother but not the attack against the policeman, for whom the doctors have prescribed 45 days of disability time off.

In a state of shock, the mother was taken to the hospital-as was the policeman, who was injured in the hand and shoulder in bringing down the suspect.  The Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, praised a "courageous policeman who, while off-duty, arrested a very menacing individual. Thanks to his intervention, there are no victims to mourn."

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Sweden: Al Qaida Widow Sentenced

Hat tip Doku

A district court in Sweden has convicted Camilla Oloffson for human trafficking, aiding and abetting child rape, and forced marriage. Olaffson, who was married to a high-ranking Al-Qaida fighter who was killed in Mosul, Iraq in 2008, took her two underage daughters to the war zone and subjected them to the rule of the Islamic state and a forced marriage. She has been sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in prison.

The below article from Doku (Sweden) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://doku.nu/2023/01/09/flera-ars-fangelse-for-ankan-till-svensk-al-qaidaledare/

Several years in prison for widow of Swedish Al-Qaida leader

When Swedish-Moroccan Mohamed Moumou died in Mosul in 2008, he was the second (highest) man within Al-Qaida in Iraq. Now his Swedish widow, Camilla Olofsson, has been convicted for aiding and abetting aggravated rape against children and human trafficking of her own child. The crime was committed in Syria during the rule of the Islamic State.

Mohamed Moumou was trained in an Al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan and left Sweden when he was listed as a terrorist by the UN in 2006. He died in a drone attack in Mosul in 2008. By that time, he had climbed to the position of the number 2 man within Al-Qaida in Iraq.

According to security police, his widow, Camilla Olofsson, and other members of the family have been within the radical Islamist environment even after the death of Mohamed Moumou. For example, two of the sons have fought in Syria, one of whom has died.

Doku has previously reported on (Child Protection Act) interventions against two of the daughters, in one of the cases, one of the daughters was going to take a niece abroad, but she was arrested by police at Kastrup (Copenhagen Airport).

During the spring of 2022, Expressen reported that Camilla Olofsson and a man were charged by the Stockholm court suspected of, among others, aggravated rape of children. The October 11 charge was for Camilla Olafsson's part in human trafficking on two occasions, aiding and abetting aggravated child rape on several occasions, and forced marriage. The man, who according to an arrangement with Camila Olafsson, was allowed to marry one of her daughters, was charged with aggravated rape of a child.

The prosecutor's oral evidence was very extensive and included, among other things, interviews with several people within the jihadist environment who were in the Islamic State and who had contact with Camilla Olofsson and the family when the crimes were reportedly committed.

The Solna district court has now announced its judgment. Camilla Oloffson is sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in prison for human trafficking and aiding and abetting aggravated rape against one of her daughters. The forced marriage is included in the human trafficking charge for which she is convicted, according to the district court.

The man was also convicted, in his case for aggravated rape against a child. The punishment was 8 years and 10 months in prison.

The judgment shows that it was obvious to Camilla Olofsson that she was taking her children to a conflict zone and to the terrorist organization Islamic State. Her purpose in taking her daughters and housing them there, according to the court, was to help establish and to live in an Islamic state set up under a strict Salafist interpretation of Islam and controlled by a violent Islamist formation. Her purpose was that the children would be subjected to the order and the norms that applied within the terrorist organization. For the underage daughters, who were only 9 and 12 years of age respectively when they were taken there for the first time, that meant that they would marry, start a family, and be exploited for sexual purposes and other activity.

By-

Lars Jonson

Magnus Sandelin

University of Michigan: "Shocking"? What's So Shocking?

"Social media users were shocked and outraged over a recent anti-Israel rally put on by pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Michigan this week."

Fox News, to its credit, is giving prime coverage to the latest anti-Israel demonstration, this time at the University of Michigan. The article reports the chants of, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "Intifada, intifada" as being calls to murder Jews in Israel, which is exactly what they are. 

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/michigan-university-rally-overthrow-israel-stuns-internet-call-murder-jews

Fox online articles, when linked, often disappear, so here is a similar article from the New York Post. 

"The Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro put out a snarky comment about the protest, stating, “It’s because @UMich spends only $18 million annually on DEI.”

(I hope that's a joke because if any university is giving 18 million dollars to their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices (which don't give a hoot about anti-Semitism), that is a scandal in itself.)

The only issue I have with the Fox article is the use of the word, "shocking". After so many years of these chants being shouted on campuses across the country, who should be shocked? As I have often written, I taught part-time at UC Irvine from 1998-2016. I still have these chants ringing in my ears after hearing them countless times on that campus and from watching videos of demonstrations at other campuses. Yes, they are sickening, and they are shocking, but it's not like a new thing.

As the largest conservative media outlet, I sincerely hope that Fox continues to report on this issue because I know that CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and MSNBC will not. But know this, Fox: This is nothing new. Pro-Palestinian forces on our campuses have been calling for the deaths of Israeli Jews for at least two decades.

It bears watching how the campus newspaper, The Michigan Daily (actually a weekly), will report this. Thus far, as of today, I see nothing on their site. Hopefully, someone on their staff will take the time to dissect the words of the above chants and figure out what they actually mean.

Erdogan Hung in Effigy in Stockholm

On Wednesday, a group called the Rojava (Western Kurdistan) Committees, which oppose Turkey's actions against Kurds in Syria, hung Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in effigy outside Stockholm City Hall. The incident has caused a further strain on Swedish - Turkish relations since Sweden has granted refugee status to large numbers of Kurds who are in opposition to Turkey's policies vis-a-vis the Kurds, especially in Western Kurdistan (Syria). 

In addition, Sweden is engaged in delicate negotiations with Turkey to obtain the latter's yes vote for Sweden's NATO membership. Turkey wants Sweden to fulfill a number of demands vis-a-vis the Kurds in Sweden, demands like extradition and not allowing anti-Erdogan protests by the Kurds.

The below video from  Swedish news site, Aftonbladet, is translated by Fousesquawk. Hat tip to Vlad Tepes and Gates of Vienna for sub-titling.

Old Joe's Secrets

 News item: More classified documents found in Joe Biden's home in Delaware

"Richard Sauber said DOJ officials "immediately took possession of them."

-ABC News

"How could anyone be that irresponsible?"

-Joe Biden

Belgium Deports Imam to Morocco

We have been following the saga of a Moroccan-born imam, Hassan Iquioussen, who was under a deportation order from France, but who fled to Belgium to avoid arrest. Subsequently nabbed in Belgium, he then fought extradition to Morocco. Morocco, who had initially declined to issue an entry pass for the imam, thus preventing his removal, later changed course and issued the pass. Iquioussen has now reportedly been removed to Morocco by the Belgians.

The below article from yesterday's BFMTV (France) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/l-imam-hassan-iquioussen-a-ete-expulse-au-maroc-par-la-belgique_AD-202301130669.html

Imam Hassan Iquioussen has been expelled to Morocco by Belgium

SR with AFP January 13, 2023 at 20:29

Caption: Imam Hassan Iquioussen leaves after a hearing in the appellate court of Le Mons, 10 November 2022

At the end of last July, the Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, announced his expulsion from French territory. But the imam could not be found at the time the expulsion arrest was ordered and had fled to Belgium.

Imam Hassan Iquioussen was expelled Friday to Morocco by Belgium, where he had been arrested September 30 after his expulsion (order) from France for "remarks inciting hate and discrimination," his French lawyer has announced.

This preacher from the north of France, for whom Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had announced an expulsion order at the end of July, was expelled to Casablanca after the issuance of an entry permit by Moroccan authorities, stated Attorney Lucie Simon.

The expulsion order forbids return, the Interior Ministry tells BFMTV. Hassan Iquioussen is listed in the file of wanted persons and therefore, in the Schengen information system, which permits the reporting and prevents his entry into European (EU) territory. 

A "great victory against separatism"

The announcement was also made by the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration on her Twitter account Friday, hailing the removal of the "Iquioussen hate," and "the good cooperation" with France in this case.

"We cannot permit an extremist to wander around our territory. Everyone who hasn't the right to be here must be removed," she commented in a press release.

For his part, Gerald Darmanin welcomed a "great victory against separatism," BFMTV learned from his entourage. 

Expulsion from France in July

At the end of July, Gerald Darmanin announced the expulsion of Hassan Iquioussen, accusing him of (making) "a proselytizing speech mixed with remarks inciting hate and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the French Republic".

But the imam could not be located at the time the arrest warrant for deportation had been definitively validated by the Counsel of State on August 31. He had fled to French-speaking Belgium where he was arrested in the area of Mons on September 30.

Hassan Iquioussen was then placed in a lockdown center near Liege in mid-November (on charges of) illegal residence (and) targeted with an order to leave Belgian territory after the failure of a European arrest procedure initiated by France.

"About-face"

His French attorney, Lucie Simon, was shocked Friday evening by the "about-face" of Morocco, who had refused France's request last summer (to issue) a consular entry pass allowing the removal of the imam to his country of origin.

"I am surprised by the about-face by the Moroccan authorities, and I believe that the place for Hassan Iquioussen is in France," Attorney Lucie Simon reacted, stressing that the lawyers were not informed of the issuance of the consular document.

"We await the basis of the judgment of the Paris Administrative Tribunal, (and) if the (French) expulsion order had been annulled, France would have to ensure his return, " she added.

S.R. with Agence France Presse

Another Biden Broken Promise?

"The Biden White House had announced last spring (and even before that), that the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) would deliver an important proposed regulation in December 2022. The regulation is supposed to implement the Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism, which former President Donald Trump had signed in 2019."

-Kenneth Marcus

On December 28, 2022, an op-ed appeared in the (LA) Jewish Journal by Kenneth Marcus, former head of the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, and CEO of the Louis D Brandeis Center. Marcus' op-ed was hopeful that President Biden would follow through on his statements condemning anti-Semitism and anticipated the President's promised regulations fighting anti-Semitism to be announced in December 2022. The op-ed may be accessed here.

Now the Biden administration has announced that such regulations will be delayed until December 2023. Marcus has now written this op-ed (dated January 9) in Newsweek. He is understandably disappointed.

I am also disappointed in Biden's announcement but hardly shocked. One could rightfully wonder why anti-discrimination regulations could be postponed for another year, but this is Joe Biden and his administration we are talking about here. Say what you will about Donald Trump, but any charges that he is anti-Semitic are hogwash. He singled out the universities (in my view, the worst source of today's anti-Semitism in the US) and put them on notice that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to allow their Jewish students to be subject to anti-Semitic attacks (under the guise of condemning Israel). Similarly, he supported Israel like few US presidents have. But like so many of Trump's positive policies (like securing our border), Biden is determined to sweep them all away.

But why postpone this another year? Does he want time to measure the opposition from the pro-Palestinian lobby and/or the academic lobby? Is he looking for some "middle ground" that will satisfy everybody? There is none. You are either against anti-Semitism or you are for it (or afraid to confront it).

Meanwhile, across the nation, Jewish students in our universities continue to be harassed by pro-Palestinian activists, and in our cities, Jews who are easily recognizable are physically assaulted on the streets. Maybe things will get better in December this year. It's only 11 months away.