Nihad Awad (CAIR) Was Happy to See October 7

Nihad Awad (CAIR)

One trend I notice since October 7 is how the pro-Palestinian voices have become more strident, more radical, and more open in their hate for Jews. Take Niwad Awad, the CEO and co-founder of CAIR, for example. Video has come out of him speaking recently at the annual convention of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) outside Chicago. Like CAIR, AMP is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood and is a supporter of Hamas though they won't admit it since Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by our State Department.. 

In his speech, Awad, who at some point in the past, washed up on our shores from Jordan, states that he was happy to watch what happened on October 7. Like his horse holder, Hussam Ayloush, who just told an Oklahoma City mosque that Israel had no right of self-defense, Awad said that Israel had no right to defend itself since it is occupying Gaza (There were no Israelis, civilian or military, in Gaza on October 7 except those hostages who were kidnapped and taken there by Hamas.)

In spite of the damning video clips from his speech, Awad has issued a statement through CAIR that his words were spliced and edited by nefarious forces. He now says that he explicitly stated that civilians should not be targeted.  FOX News, which today posted excerpts of the speech says it found no evidence of editing.

Memri TV has also posted excerpts of Awad's speech.

I am attempting to get a complete version of the speech, which I would assume should be readily available on the official websites of CAIR or AMP. Thus far, I can't seem to find it there. Nor does Awad's statement of denial have any link to the entire speech or any part of it. Maybe I should check the Hamas website. (Just kidding.)

I have two questions:

1 At what point does the US government realize that CAIR is a subversive organization?

2 Don't we have some sort of law that can revoke US citizenship when it is shown that the person in question lied on his/her application papers as to their commitment to or against American principles of democracy?

 

Belgium: The Threat to the Christmas Markets

-Brussels

Recently, we reported on how German police thwarted a planned terrorist attack on one or more of that country's Christmas markets. In recent years, there have been a number of Islamist attacks on Christmas markets in Europe.

In Belgium, authorities have issued a threat assessment for Christmas markets and the country as a whole. The threat levels are one to four, four being the highest risk. Two level means an attack is "unlikely". The below article from today's Dutch-language daily, De Morgen, is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.demorgen.be/snelnieuws/dreigingsniveau-voor-kerstmarkten-daalt-rest-van-het-land-blijft-op-niveau-3~b4619e57/

News-Domestic

Threat level for Christmas markets decreasing, the rest of the country remains at level 3

Caption: Picture of Christmas Market Brussels 2021

At Christmas markets and end-of-year events, the threat level is down to 2. That is confirmed by Interior Minister Annalies Verlinden (cd&v-Christian Democrat and Flemish party) today in the federal Parliament. For the entire country, the threat level remains at 3 for now.

-SVM  7 December 2023, 18:26

According to Verlinden, there are no signs that Christmas markets are a specific target. "Local governments, naturally as always, can request an additional threat evaluation from the OCAD (Threat Level Analysis Agency) if they deem it necessary," (the ministry) said.  

The minister could not share concrete measures surrounding the threat levels due to security measures. "After local risk assessments, the police zones will take necessary measures to protect these activities and events, " the minister stated.

The heightened threat level is in force in our country since the October 16 attack against Swedish soccer supporters took place. In the international context, such as the war between Israel and Hamas, the risk of an attack, according to the experts, remains high.

House Republicans Hold Press Conference With Jewish Students

 

Yesterday, the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania testified before the House Education Committee on the topic of campus anti-Semitism. Each of their campuses has been plagued by this scourge, especially after October 7. Each of the presidents performed miserably in their testimony when asked if the anti-Semitic incidents and expressions used against Jewish students violated campus policy.

Just before the hearing, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) held a press conference. They were accompanied by several Jewish students who had come to testify. During the press conference, four of the students, from Harvard Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and New York University, spoke to the press. Their words were eloquent and powerful. They condemned their universities, their presidents, and in some cases the DEI offices (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), who refused to help them or in some cases, contributed to the hostile atmosphere. They told of being bullied and intimidated not only by students but by professors as well!

After the students left to testify, Johnson opened up the floor for questions from the press. There were three questions asked, none of which concerned the campus anti-Semitism issue!

This video is 36 minutes long. I urge you to watch it in its entirety. It is a powerful indictment of our American universities.

Hussam Ayloush Steps in it Again

Hat tip Memri TV and Investigative Project on Terrorism

Hussam Ayloush in 2013 when asked about CAIR and Hamas

CAIR's Southern California director, Hussam Ayloush has made a career out of telling blatant lies and making anti-Semitic statements that have landed him in controversy over and over throughout the years. Now he has stepped in it again, speaking to a Muslim audience in Oklahoma City during a Friday sermon on December 1 and mocking any notion that Israel had a right to defend itself after October 7. Memri TV has the video.

 https://www.memri.org/reports/cair-la-director-hussam-aylush-oklahoma-city-palestinians-have-right-defend-themselves

Of course, the Islamist Ayloush, a man who represents a despicable organization (CAIR), rejects Israel's right to defend itself. He always has. How many times has he publicly condemned Israel in speeches, even though he once told an interviewer in 2013 that CAIR doesn't get dragged into Middle East affairs. It's an American civil rights organization, don't you know? That's what Ayloush said at the time. In that same interview, Ayloush exploded when the interviewer asked him about CAIR's support for Hamas.

You see, CAIR is closely linked to Hamas. That's why, even in the face of October 7, he says Israel has no right to defend itself. Yet again, he uses the Nazis as a reference point, comparing Israel to  Nazi Germany. What Ayloush neglects to mention is how many times Israel has been attacked by the Arab world since 1948 (3) and subsequently by terrorists from the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, et al with their intifadas as compared to Nazi Germany who plunged the world into war in 1939, invading one country after another.

I ask the reader to consider the horrific atrocities that were carried out on October 7 by Hamas, an organization CAIR supports, against 1200+ Israeli innocents, babies beheaded, burned alive in ovens, women raped, tortured, and dismembered, etc. And here is Hussam Ayloush speaking in defense of these evil monsters who committed such acts. Sick.

Italy: Two Jihadists Arrested

Hat tip Gates of Vienna and  Vlad Tepes

Brescia, Italy

With the war raging in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, the terror threat is elevated all over the West. Naturally, law enforcement and the intelligence services are operating at a heightened level. 

It never ceases to amaze me how some people choose to move to the West and rather than embrace their new country, choose to hate it and plot attacks against it. Now they are celebrating the October 7 attack against Israel by Hamas, the worst atrocity committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The word "hypocrite" doesn't even begin to describe these people.

This week in the town of Brescia (just outside Milan), police arrested two would-be terrorist attackers, who are identified as Pakistanis (one holding Indian citizenship) for plotting terrorist attacks against the West and encouraging others to do so online. The below article from yesterday's Brescia Corriere is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://brescia.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/23_dicembre_04/esaltazione-di-hilter-e-la-donna-come-schiava-i-post-diffusi-nel-web-dei-due-pakistani-arrestati-f709b838-3564-4256-9a8b-e0ac0c3ddxlk.shtml

Exaltation of Hitler and the "woman as slave," the posts disseminated on the web by two arrested Pakistanis

By Mara Rodella

"Nuclear war to destroy this society," one of the key concepts and the fascination with the fighters of the Palestinian terror group, Al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas. Applause for the October 7 attack. 

"The analysis of posted contents-by the investigating judge- shows the course of radicalization and now characterized by a markedly anti-Semitic and racist streak". They exalted the figure of Hitler and the SS, but also terrorists more or less known. In November 2022, one of the two terrorists posted a historical image of the entrance to a concentration camp and modified by photo editing. On the gate, "where the sentence, Arbeit macht frei ("Work makes you free") stood out was inserted the sentence, "Just be yourself".  Also a photo of Hitler, "on which was superimposed the sentence, in English: "We didn't know we were creating memories, we were just having fun". Or " I am the one beating the Jews".

But contempt is also manifested toward women. "Recently, I am noticing a change of mentality. In the past, I would not have considered women superior to animals, but I have to think again. It would be nice to have a woman in the house (as a slave), just for entertainment," Emojis, the language in step with the times. It is a profile, writes the investigating judge, used to "express revulsion for any form of government based on democracy, showing a markedly, anti-Western and anti-American sentiment, describing the USA as an occupying and repressive force, in opposition, the institution of sharia and the Islamic Emirate (AIE) founded on 'the power of jihad, "Our destiny," understood as "the global and universal solution". Because "I am ready to go to jail, at least once," writes one of the suspects wishing for war in all of Europe, also "nuclear", also being ready to "sacrifice everything to destroy this society (the West)."

Because "I wanted to become a martyr to live forever, I don't know if this is a love of death or for life," one post says on 28 November 2022: An affirmation that, according to the investigating judge, "manifests the elevated level of indoctrination of the suspect and denotes a particular alarm to be raised  in relation to the particular attention which the jihadist groups have dedicated to indoctrination and training of subjects, also minors (the Cubs of the Caliphate) for whom is envisioned a process of training, recruitment, and finally, deployment." For the director of Ucigos (Central Investigative Office of National Police), Guido D'Onofrio, the counteraction is concentrated on the "pervasiveness of the jihadist message spread on the web, the threat of which is actually based on the typical communicative dimension of the West".  "Glaring," (is) the fascination "for the fighters of the Palestinian terrorist group, Al-Qassam-the armed wing of Hamas- for the mujahideen and firearms. In the file folders are found images, "that directly concern the terrorist associations of Al-Qassam and the Movement for Islamic Jihad in Palestine on the Palestinian front and Jabbat Al Nusra on the Syrian front". With so much applause for the attack last October 7 on the part of Hamas in Israel. "Soon, if Allah wants, there will be no more Jews, not even in Israel." 

Harvard Values

"Our values"

Like many universities across the country, Harvard is under fire for tolerating anti-Semitism on its campus. On December 5, Harvard president Claudine Gay testified before the House of Representatives and took a grilling from Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY). Gay was specifically asked about speech recently heard at Harvard about "intifadas" and "From the river to the sea....," which is basically a call to cleanse all of Israel of Jews and rename it Palestine. No matter how hard Stefanik pressed, Gay could not commit to saying anything other than she disapproved of anti-Semitic speech and to prattle on about "Our commitment... values of Harvard," blah blah blah. Standard university garbage.

Fox News has a video of the exchange.

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/stefanik-grills-harvard-president-students-calling-intifada-rampant-antisemitism-campus

Any talk about Harvard makes me recall an event I attended at UC Irvine in 2012  when I was teaching there. The background was the 2010 disruption of a speech by Michael Oren, then Israeli ambassador to the US at UC Irvine. The disruptors were members of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) at UC Irvine. In all, 11 students were charged for the disruption, 8 from UCI and 3  from UC Riverside, if I recall correctly.  They were all convicted and given no jail time, basically community service or probation.

In 2012, during the annual May week of events bashing Israel, 4 of the so-called "Irvine 11" returned to speak at UCI. What was interesting was not the fact that they expressed no regret for their actions,. which I did not expect them to do, but one student in particular who had gone on to Harvard Law School told the audience that the Harvard dean had told him that he had noted the student's participation in the "Irvine 11" incident, which the student apparently included in his application. The implication, according to the student, was that this incident was a positive factor in his being accepted. My postings about that 2012 event can be viewed here and here.

Presumably, Harvard Law subscribes to the idea that it is perfectly OK to deprive others of the right to speak.

France: Paris Attacker Identified

On Saturday night, a man identified as Armand Rajabpour Miyandoub went on a rampage in Paris stabbing a German tourist to death and injuring two others with a hammer. The suspect is 26 years of age and was born near Paris to Iranian immigrant parents.

Today's edition of Le Figaro gives background on the suspect's criminal past. The article is translated by Fousesqauwk.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/je-ne-suis-plus-musulman-les-dissimulations-du-terroriste-armand-rajabpour-miyandoab-20231203

 "I am no longer Muslim," The dissembling of the terrorist Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoub

By EM with AFP

Posted one hour ago. Updated one hour ago.

Caption: Armand Rajabpour Miyandoub stabbed a German-Filipino tourist Saturday evening and attacked two other persons armed with a hammer.

After the murder of Samuel Paty in 2020, the terrorist of Bir-Hakeim (Brdige) assured investigators who interrogated him that he had become "anti-Islamist" after his time in prison.

Was it a form of Taqiyya? Known to the justice (system) for several years for his radical Islam and psychiatric troubles, Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoub had established contacts with several Islamist terrorists who had struck France in recent years. In October 2020, after the murder of Samuel Paty, he spontaneously went to the police station to explain the fact that he had had exchanges on social media with the assailant, Abdoullakh Anzorov, two weeks earlier, according to AFP (Agence France Presse).  Over the course of the (police interview), he claimed to have become,"anti-Islamist, radical or non-radical," after his time in prison.  According to OBS (political magazine), his mother had claimed that "he had left detention with a sort of hate towards Islam because of because of what he experienced after his detention." Above all, he felt 100% French, he got out with a love for France," she had claimed when her son was released without prosecution.

In 2016, the year in which he was prosecuted for a planned attack against La Defense (business district just outside Paris), the assailant gave the same speech. "I am radicalized and self-deradicalized." " I am no longer a Muslim, but I am still interested in what is happening there," he said. But for the justice system, the process of radicalization seemed "fragile": In June 2016, the young man was making searches online on "phosphorous bombs" as well as on Adel Kermiche, murderer of Father Hamel at Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime). 

"Black thoughts"

Confronted with his contradictions, he admitted, in 2016, to still having "black thoughts". "The Nice attack did not displease him" and he felt "the need to do a follow-up". At his trial in 2018, his mother said he was "manipulated" and confided he had a very bad experience in his conversion to Islam in 2015 through contact with the jihadist Maximilien Thibaut, through a graffiti site. His older sister spoke of his "morbid timidity."

Sentenced on 16 March 2018 to 5 years in detention for association with terrorist criminals in the La Defense case to 5 years in detention, one of which was, suspended on probation, he got out in 2020 after 4 years of detention, according to sources close to the case. On Saturday, shortly after 9 pm, near the Bir-Hakeim Bridge spanning the Seine, he cried, "Allahu akhbar" several times as he stabbed a German-Filipino tourist and attacked two other persons, armed with a hammer. 

     

France: One Dead in Jihadist Knife Attack in Paris

Quai de Grenelle, Paris

On Saturday, a 26-year-old Muslim man went on a stabbing rampage near the Eifel Tower in Paris. He stabbed a German tourist to death and wounded two others before being arrested. He reportedly cried, "Allahu akhbar" during the attack and told police that he was upset about the situation in Gaza.

The suspect was born in France in 1997. Le Figaro partially identifies him as Armand R., known to the police for an association with radical Islam.

The below article from France 24 is translated by Fousesquawk. (Note that there is a contradiction in the article as to whether one or two persons were wounded.)

https://www.france24.com/fr/france/20231202-attaque-meurtri%C3%A8re-au-couteau-dans-le-15e-arrondissement-de-paris-l-assaillant-interpell%C3%A9

Deadly knife attack in 15th arrondissement of Paris. Assailant arrested

An assailant stabbed one person to death and wounded two others near the Bir Hakeim Bridge in Paris. He was arrested.

Posted 12-3-2023 at 00:16

Updated  12-3-23 00;29

Caption: French police secure access to Bir-Hakeim Bridge after a knife attack in Paris, France on 2 December 2023.

An assailant stabbed a man to death and wounded another Saturday evening in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. He was arrested by police.

Gerald Darmain on X:

"Police have just courageously arrested an assailant attacking passersby in Paris near the Grenelle Dock. One person deceased and one wounded, treated by Paris first responders. Please avoid the sector." 

According to the Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, the assailant reportedly cried, "Allahu Akhbar" and told police that he did not support the situation in Gaza.

The assailant, of French nationality and born in 1997, was arrested and placed in custody in the framework of an open case for murder and attempted murder and was turned over to the Criminal Brigade of Paris, the office of the prosecutor stated.

According to Gerald Darmanin, the deceased person is a tourist of German nationality.

Also according to the Minister, the perpetrator of the stabbings had already been convicted in 2016 for intending to carry out another attack and was known to the intelligence services.

With Agence France Presse and Reuters

*Update (12-3-2023). Today's edition of Le Figaro is identifying the attacker as Armand Rajabpour Miyandoab.

The "Red State" "Blue State" Debate

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

Aside from the possible implications of the Newsom-DeSantis debate for the 2024 presidential election, there is another issue that I hope will get more play in the coming months: As Sean Hannity, himself has stressed, hopefully, the nation will take a serious look at why so many people are leaving states like California, New York, and Illinois for states like Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, and Tennessee. Is it just for lower taxes, or together with many other factors, the promise of a better life?

As a native and current retiree in California, I have pondered that question myself, especially after a recent two-week trip to Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas. It would be great to spend the remaining years in one of those states even if I had to give up the ideal weather of Southern California. Realistically, however, it's just a pipe dream. All of our close relatives are here in Southern California, and our house is completely paid off. So we are not going anywhere.

But what made Gavin Newsom the loser in the debate was the undeniable comparison between California and Florida. Newsom had no credible answers for the high cost of living, taxes, gas prices, crime, lax law enforcement, homelessness, etc, all of which are driving thousands of people and businesses out of the Golden State. To use a baseball metaphor, he stepped into the batter's box with two strikes against him. He fouled off a lot of pitches, but the facts were there for all to see. Hannity and his staff did their homework and came armed with empirical numbers that proved DeSantis' points for him.

When people vote with their legs, it's hard to argue that they are making a big mistake. Newsom, however, basically told his audience not to believe their lying eyes. California really is a better place than Florida, he tried to argue. It just wasn't convincing, especially to a California native and current resident who has been watching the deterioration first-hand. 

It is true that many residents of southern states are worried that the influx of transplants will bring their blue voting habits with them and turn red states into purple states, and eventually, into blue states. Others (like DeSantis) believe that the transplants are fleeing the political situation in blue states above all else in favor of places where people think like they do. It may turn out in the end that the transplants will strengthen the conservative (Republican numbers) in places like Tennessee, Texas, Florida, etc, and as those states gain population, they could gain more electoral votes with states like California losing electoral votes and  House of Representatives representation. All that is above my pay grade. It may be anecdotal, but I know a fair number of people who have made the move, and they tend to list as reasons the lower cost of living, quality of life, and to escape liberal government rule. Is it any coincidence that many residents of eastern Oregon have expressed their desire to secede from Oregon (a liberal state: think Portland) and join Idaho, a conservative state in stark contrast to its western neighbors of Oregon and Washington? That will likely never happen. Those folks will just have to move to Idaho, but that state is another place with a lot of transplants, including from California.

Putting aside the question of how the debate affected the 2024 presidential election, I think it served a valuable purpose in getting people to think about the differences between red states and blue states. Work and family ties will keep some people (like me) in blue states, but the bottom line is which states are better places to live in overall?

Anti-Semitism at Stanford

I am cross-posting an article running in the Stanford Daily, the campus newspaper of Stanford University. It concerns a meeting that Stanford President Richard Seller held with 275 Jewish alumni on the problem of campus anti-Semitism. There are a multitude of complaints at Stanford including the appearance of swastikas on campus.

 https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/28/president-addresses-jewish-alumni-concerns-about-antisemitism-on-campus/

Not surprisingly, the Israeli-Palestinian issue is the main engine driving the complaint of anti-Semitism. It is good that President Seller has expressed a willingness to address anti-Semitism on campus, but as usual, there is also the standard reference to Islamophobia that Sellers thinks must also be addressed, as if there exists some equivalency. This is standard fare when universities concede there is a problem with anti-Semitism on campus. It is as if both Jews and Muslims are victims of a common enemy, which in many cases, is defined (falsely) as bigotry coming from white, nationalist, MAGA hat-wearing racists.

I take exception to that not because I think Muslim students should be exposed to bigotry, which I don't, rather because in my experience at UC Irvine, I never saw this kind of activity directed at Muslim students. In fact, it was generally, some-not all- Muslim students and their far-left Woke allies who were guilty of driving anti-Semitism on campus in the name of supporting the Palestinian cause. 

So I hope that Stanford President Sellers will take concrete steps to confront the anti-Semitic problem on his campus without having to pay lip service to "Islamophobia", which, in my opinion, is a false flag.

The Newsom-DeSantis Debate

 Last night, I watched the debate between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis. I should mention here that I am a California native and current resident who knows a thing or two about Newsom.  As I watched the post-debate "expert analyses", my gut feeling is that they were largely based on what end of the political spectrum the commentators were on. I don't think either governor scored a knockout blow, but if I had to pick a winner, it would be DeSantis, who I was rooting for and who is my preferred candidate.

Newsom, to his credit, was at a disadvantage going in. The debate was on Fox, the moderator was Sean Hannity, and the third problem was his state-California. From crime to leftist prosecutors like LA's George Gascon, to homelessness, to illegal immigration, to taxes and regulations, to the numbers of California residents fleeing to other states (like Florida), Newsom had a lot to answer for. Hannity hit him with a lot of hard questions, backed up by empirical evidence, as to the state of California and its myriad of problems. On occasion, Newsom did not answer specific questions.

Newsom had to defend the indefensible, and he did so aggressively. He defended his state and attacked Florida in every way he could even insisting that California was in better condition than Florida when asked about his own state's problems. The only thing he left out when attacking Florida was the alligators, which California, thankfully, doesn't have. He also attacked DeSantis, calling him a bully and a liar. DeSantis gave as well as he got, and it was clear that these two men do not have a high opinion of each other. 

As to who won the charm contest, there was no clear winner. Newsom came across as what he is, a slick operator. On the other hand, I wasn't convinced I would want to share a few beers with DeSantis, but I could care less about charm and charisma when it comes to politicians. I care about what they believe and what they will do in office.

Non-California voters should beware the smooth-talking Newsom. He has been a disaster as governor. To be fair, California has suffered from a long line of bad governors before Newsom; Jerry Brown, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the list goes back decades. Newsom took over a state in bad shape and made it much worse. Of course, none of that matters to liberal Democrat voters. 

Germany: Police Thwart 2 Planned Terror Attacks on Christmas Markets

 

Christmas market in Nuremberg

The Christmas season is now upon us, and for Europe, that also brings the threat of Islamic terror attacks on the continent's fabled Christmas markets, particularly in Germany. In December 2016, the Christmas market in Berlin was the target of a truck attack in which 12 people were killed. The truck had been stolen by a Tunisian man and deliberately driven into the crowd of people visiting the site. The terrorist was later tracked down and killed by Italian police outside Milan.

Now German police are on high alert and with good reason. Today, authorities in Lower Saxony and North Rhine Westphalia, in two separate cases, are announcing the arrests of three suspects who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks upon Christmas markets in Germany.

The below article in today's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) is translated by Fousesquawk. It concerns the arrest of a 20-year-old Iraqi man in Lower Saxony. It also mentions the arrests of two teenagers (15 and 16)  in North Rhein Westphalia who were also planning separate attack(s) in that region of the country. In a separate article today, the FAZ identifies the latter two suspects as being of Afghan origin and Russian-Chechen origin.

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/terrorverdacht-in-weihnachtszeit-festnahme-wegen-anschlaggefahr-19352610.html

Attack in the Christmas season?

Young man arrested due to possible terror plans

Updated 11-30-2023 at 23:46

A 20-year-old man had announced that he would carry out attacks during the Christmas season. Now he is in custody. Generally, the police think they are well prepared for security issues at the Christmas markets. 

Due to suspicion that he planned a terror attack during the Christmas season, a 20-year-old man has been arrested in Lower Saxony. "He announced that he wanted to carry out attacks in connection with large events during the Christmas season, and that is why we have taken him into preventative custody," said Lower Saxony Interior Minister, Daniela Behrens (SPD)  to NDR (North German Radio)  Lower Saxony on Thursday.

The NDR reported after a joint investigation with WDR (West German Radio) that the suspect from Sachsen-Anhalt was arrested in Helmstedt on November 21. He comes from Iraq, said the interior minister. 

"Very visible there and in force"

He "is in police custody based on security measures. The State Police of Lower Saxony are not giving further background due to tactical-investigative reasons at this time," the NDR quoted a State Police spokesperson.

With a view to the security situation at Christmas markets, Interior Minister Behrens, said that the police are "very visible there and in force," among other things because of the military conflict in the Middle East. And: " We also have other Islamists, who are no longer in the public eye, but who have announced (plans for) further attacks in the West."

Most recently, in North Rhine Westphalia, two young men were arrested who reportedly sympathized with the Islamic State and who allegedly planned a Christmas market attack. They are in custody. Ultimately, they allegedly agreed to kill visitors to a Christmas market in Leverkusen by a fuel-generated explosion in a small truck at the beginning of December," as the Public Prosecutor's Office reported on Thursday.