Islam - Current Day > Are N Dakota police and media wearing European blinders? Muslim protesters storm Baghdad's Green Zone; Christian genocide in Nigeria continues; Islamic Hysteria update

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North Dakota Cop Shooting Case Just Gets Weirder and Weirder

JUL 24, 2023 6:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER

New in PJ Media:

It has now been well over a week since a Syrian migrant named Mohamad Barakat opened fire on police at the scene of a traffic accident in Fargo, N.D., killing one and wounding two others, and investigators profess to be baffled as to why he would have done such a thing. Meanwhile, the information they have disclosed, which isn’t all that much, is oblique and contradictory, and the local Muslim community has added to the confusion with a decidedly mixed signal. At this rate, we may never find out what really happened in Fargo, and the questions and oddities keep multiplying.

One element of this curious incident that seems certain is that Barakat was planning to murder many more people than just one cop. The Star Tribune reported Friday that according to “North Dakota law enforcement officials,” Barakat “searched online for area public events along with the terms ‘kill fast’ and ‘mass shooting events’ before he ambushed police with nearly 40 rounds of gunfire.”

Barakat’s “final search at 10:30 the night before the shooting was ‘thousands enjoy first day of downtown Fargo street fair.’” The Downtown Fargo Street Fair did indeed begin the day before Barakat’s attack. What’s more, he had “1,800 rounds, multiple guns, and a homemade hand grenade” in his car, “along with gasoline containers and two propane tanks filled with explosive materials built in his home.”

But why did Barakat want to carry out a “mass shooting event”? The Star Tribune says that “the motive for his actions remains unclear.” Mac Schneider, U.S. attorney for the district of North Dakota, said this past Friday that “if there was clear evidence of motive we would share it.” North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley added that “the shooting was not motivated by religious beliefs.”

Maybe not, but there is an extremely odd detail in the Star Tribune report: “Wrigley said a federal ‘guardian report’ was made some years back” about Barakat, “but it was not about a threat of violence. Schneider described a Guardian report as a way for the public to ‘engage local law enforcement.’”

That’s not exactly a full or honest description of what a Guardian report really is. As Twitter user ThunderB, who has been following this case closely and has an abundance of useful information on his or her Twitter page, points out, the Guardian system is officially “The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Threat and Suspicious Incident Tracking System.” In this context, a “suspicious incident” is clearly terror-related: “Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, three FBI field offices began using an application called the Terrorist Activity Reporting System to track and monitor terrorist threats and suspicious incidents.”

There is more. Read the rest here.

It is not surprising that the Star Tribune and police officials in Fargo are very reluctant to call this shooting an Islamist terrorist event, or even raise the possibility of it. This is the same attitude taken by European media, police, and governments since 2015 in a mad attempt to protect Muslim migrants from being seen as terrorists and criminals. Of course, Europeans were fooled into thinking all migrants were good people who just needed an opportunity and a little encouragement. 

After 8 years, the Open Doors policy in Europe is just beginning to be seen as a complete failure and has put Europe in a very precarious position of cultural suicide and a growing influence of Islam. 

America is just beginning to feel the effects of a growing population of Muslims, and has, obviously, learned nothing from the great European experiment.

Muslim Protesters Storm Baghdad’s Green Zone

After Denmark Qur’an Burning

Associated Press, July 22, 2023:

BAGHDAD (AP) – Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government, early Saturday following reports of the burning of a Quran carried out by an ultranationalist group in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen.

They were pushed back by security forces, who blocked the Jumhuriya bridge leading to the Green Zone, preventing them from reaching the Danish Embassy.

The protest came two days after people angered by the planned burning of the Islamic holy book in Sweden stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. Protesters occupied the diplomatic post for several hours, waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and setting a small fire. The embassy staff had been evacuated a day earlier.

Hours later, Iraq’s prime minister cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in protest over the desecration of the Quran.

An Iraqi asylum-seeker who burned a copy of the Quran during a demonstration last month in Stockholm had threatened to do the same thing again Thursday but ultimately stopped short of setting fire to the book. He did, however, kick and step on it, and did the same with an Iraqi flag and a photo of Sadr and of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Friday afternoon, thousands protested peacefully in Iraq and other Muslim-majority countries.

Hold-on! This is astounding. In all the years I have been doing this blog, I have never heard of a peaceful protest by Muslims. Go figure!

Also on Friday, according to Danish media reports, members of ultranationalist group Danske Patrioter burned a copy of the Quran and an Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen and livestreamed the action on Facebook….

Nigeria: Muslims murder 37 Christians in Benue State

JUL 25, 2023 9:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

There hasn’t been much news of the jihad in Nigeria lately, but this is not because things have calmed down. The Nigerian media, apparently under pressure from the government, has begun to imitate the Western media. Instead of noting that these attacks were carried out by “Fulani herdsmen” or “Boko Haram,” which would indicate that they were jihad attacks, Nigerian media outlets have begun referring to the attackers solely as “bandits” or “gunmen,” without giving any hint of their ideology or goals. This removes the jihad in Nigeria, which is advancing aggressively, from the international consciousness, and allows it to continue unimpeded without fear of any international pressure to protect the victims.

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Terrorists Kill 37 Christians in Benue State, Nigeria

Morning Star News, July 21, 2023:

ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Sunday (July 16) killed six Christians in Benue state, Nigeria, the latest of 37 Christians slain the past three weeks in the state, sources said.

The assailants arrived on motorcycles at the predominantly Christian villages of Igba-Ukyor and Tse Baka villages, Ushongo County, at about 8 p.m. on Sunday, said Ushongo resident Bemgba Iortyom.

“The terrorists, who accompanied armed herdsmen, first attacked Igba-Ukyor village, where they killed five Christians, and then proceeded to a second village, Tse Baka, where they killed one Christian,” Iortyom told Morning Star News in a text message.

Two other predominantly Christian communities were attacked in Ukum County on July 8, resulting in the massacre of 30 Christians, area residents said. Zaki Akpuuna and Diom villages were attacked at 11 a.m., said Kartyo Tyoumbur, the Ukum council chairman.

“The band of terrorists was made up of about 20 who were armed with deadly weapons,” Tyoumbur told Morning Star News. “They burned down several houses. Thirty corpses of Christians killed were recovered, while searching for missing Christians is ongoing.”

Saying victims were members of the Universal Reformed Christian Church (NKST) and the Roman Catholic Church, he identified some of the slain in Zaki Akpuuna as Kator Terwase, Aondowase Kator, Albert Tsavnongo, Mbaalumunga Felix, Terzungwe Kartyo, Hangeior Agudu, Terkimbi Umough, Ushahemba Akerchi, Friday Ezekiel, Terwase Mkoholga, Ayu Ageva Vaakaa, John Ikpor, Bem Shima, Vanger Kwaghkaa, Shaagee Tyokaa, Mfedoo Mamfe, Koholga Sase, Iorlumun Dai, Kwaghmande Mngueorga, Msugh Terwase, Ngutor Oraduen, Iortange Uye and Aker Orgema.

On June 30 in Tse Anwhwan village, Logo County, one Christian was killed and two others wounded in an ambush at about 8 p.m., said Council Chairperson Salome Tor.

“The armed men ambushed and opened fire on the victims and murdered one Mr. Saater Apera, a member of the NKST church, and also shot and injured two other Christians,” Tor told Morning Star News. “The incident was reported to the police, and the corpse of the murdered Christian was recovered, while the two injured victims were taken to the hospital for treatment.”…

Nigeria leads the world

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.

In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.

“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

Is desertification being used by Islamists as an excuse for the Christian genocide that is happening with the government's approval?

I strongly suggest Nigerian Christians flee the country as it seems determined to go 100% Islamic. "Come out of her, my people".

Desecrating or Burning the Qur’an in Sweden Creates Hysteria

in Dar al-Islam

JUL 25, 2023 2:00 PM BY HUGH FITZGERALD

All Muslim countries have laws banning “blasphemy,” which includes, among other things, setting fire or otherwise treating with disrespect the Qur’an. Recently an Iraqi Christian, identified as Salwan Momika, has been testing the consequences of his “Islamic blasphemy.” In June, he set fire to a first Qur’an outside a Stockholm mosque during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which triggered widespread condemnation throughout the Muslim world. In July, the same man stomped on and kicked a Qur’an in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm. In retaliation, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Sweden. He also forced Ericsson, a Swedish company, to halt work in Iraq. But that was not enough to calm angry Iraqis; another protest was held on Friday afternoon, and then another on Sunday. Calm has not returned, either to Iraq or to other Muslim countries.

Here are some of the reactions from around the Muslim world. 

Countries summon Sweden’s envoys to protest against Quran burning

Al Jazeera, July 21, 2023:

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned Sweden’s ambassador in Tehran on Thursday to “strongly protest against the desecration of the holy Quran”, state media reported.

Demonstrations are planned to be held throughout the country after Friday prayer.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has also written a letter to the United Nations secretary-general over the incident….

Iraq’s foreign ministry also condemned the attack on the Swedish embassy and said it would sever diplomatic ties with Sweden if such an incident was to take place again.

The Kingdom of Jordan condemned the Quran’s desecration in Stockholm “as a reckless act that fuels hatred, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insult to religions”, its foreign ministry said on Thursday….

The Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement that Swedish authorities should take “all the necessary measures to stop these shameful acts”.

Saudi Arabia summoned the Swedish charge d’affaires in Riyadh and handed them a note of protest.

Turkey condemned it as a “despicable attack” and called on Sweden to take “decisive measures to prevent this hate crime” against Islam….

The United Arab Emirates summoned the Swedish charges d’affaires to strongly condemn the continuation of the Swedish government’s allowance of attacks on copies of the Quran, the state news agency (WAM) reported on Friday.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, called on Arab and Muslim countries to follow Iraq’s steps and expel Swedish ambassadors from their countries.

He also called on demonstrations to be held after Friday prayers, saying that “the whole world must see how we embrace our Quran, and the whole world must see how we protect our Quran with our blood”.

Other protests, either to the burning of the Qur’an in June, or to the stomping on the Qur’an in July, have come from the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

So far, Sweden is standing firm. It has refused to answer Muslim calls for Salwan Momika to be punished, and of course has not bothered to answer Ayatollah Khamenei’s demand that Momika be handed over to a Muslim country to be judged.

Now Denmark has become part of the story. The activist Rasmus Paludan, a citizen of both Sweden and Denmark, in late July set fire to two Qur’ans – the first near a Copenhagen mosque and the second outside the Turkish embassy in Denmark.

The same Muslim hysteria previously directed at Sweden has been extended to Denmark. Jordan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia have been the first to condemn Denmark for allowing this latest Qur’an desecration. Desecration of the Quran thrice in one month has raised diplomatic tensions with Denmark and Sweden, with Muslim countries now demanding enactment of laws criminalizing desecration of their sacred book.

What the Muslim countries are demanding is nothing less than the abandonment by Western democracies of the most important right of all, the one without which democracy cannot exist – free speech. The governments of both Sweden and Denmark have distanced themselves from the Qur’an burnings – Sweden’s government has condemned the burning of the Qur’an outside Stockholm’s main mosque, calling it an “Islamophobic” act: “The Swedish Government fully understands that the Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on July 23. Denmark also condemned the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, calling it a “shameful act” that “disrespects the religions of others.” But neither Denmark nor Sweden has suggested it might be willing to pass any kind of anti-blasphemy legislation.

What have these Qur’an burnings and desecrations shown us?

First, that Muslims have no regard for Western freedoms. Unfree themselves – monarchies and despotisms prevail in the Arab and Muslim world — they do not appreciate, nor understand, what freedom of speech means, and why it is the most indispensable of rights in a democracy.

Second, the alacrity with which Western countries – in the cases under discussion, Sweden and Denmark — are ready to denounce those determined to exercise their free speech rights, is disheartening. There is no need to distance themselves from those brave souls. Western countries should say only this: protecting the “freedom of speech” does not constitute “approval” of such speech. That’s enough. That’s more than enough.

Third, Sweden’s hate speech law prohibits incitement against groups of people based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. Some may claim that burning the Qur’an constitutes incitement against Muslims, and should therefore be considered as hate speech. It should not. Such acts as Qur’an burning are targeting the religion of Islam, rather than practitioners of the faith; criticism of religion must continue to be covered by freedom of speech, even when some consider it offensive.

Fourth, Western democracies must support fellow democracies whom Muslim states and peoples are trying to threaten into passing blasphemy laws. Blasphemy, defined as “speech or actions considered to be contemptuous of God or of people or objects considered sacred,” is outlawed in every Muslim country. In at least seven countries – Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia – blasphemy carries a potential death sentence.

The Western democracies should make it clear — and without trying to placate Muslim mobs across the world by expressing their own abhorrence of Qur’an-burning as “Islamophobic” — that there will be no blasphemy laws enacted in the advanced Western countries; save in the case of hate speech, the freedom of speech must remain sacrosanct.

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