European Politics > Suella tells it like it is in Britain, and it's not good

 

My favourite British politician ever had to be fired last year because there is no place for truth and transparency in Westminster.

UK: Former Home Secretary says

‘the Islamists, the extremists, and the anti-Semites

are in charge now’

FEB 23, 2024 1:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER

At last, the truth is spoken in shattered, staggering, dhimmi Britain, where cowardice, submission, and willful ignorance are a trendy new lifestyle.

Suella Braverman claims ‘the Islamists are in charge’ of Britain as pressure grows on Keir Starmer over Commons Gaza vote chaos sparked by Speaker ripping up rule book to protect MPs from protesters

by David Wilcock, MailOnline, February 23, 2024:

Suella Braverman waded into the row over Wednesday’s Gaza vote in the Commons today, claiming that ‘the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now’.

The former home secretary, a frontrunner to be the next Conservative leader, made the incendiary remarks as the party switched its anger from Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to focus on Keir Starmer’s role in the political chaos.

Sir Lindsay has twice apologised for ripping up the Commons rule book, a move which helped the Labour leader avoid a a damaging revolt over the fighting in the Middle East.

The Speaker argued that he was motivated by anxiety about the safety of MPs from pro-Palestinian protesters, rather than partisan concerns. Extremist sympathisers projected the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ – seen as anti-Semitic – onto the Elizabeth Tower during the debate as thousands of protesters gathered outside Parliament.

But writing in the Telegraph this morning Ms Braverman said: ‘I may have been sacked because I spoke out against the appeasement of Islamists, but I would do it again because we need to wake up to what we are sleep-walking into: a ghettoised society where free expression and British values are diluted. Where sharia law, the Islamist mob and anti-Semites take over communities.

‘We need to overcome the fear of being labelled Islamophobic and speak truthfully.’

However, Ms Braverman faced criticism over her time in the Home Office from Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on anti-Semitism. He tweeted: ‘As Home Secretary, Stella Braverman ignored the advice I provided on how to tackle anti-Semitism and issues for her department. In fact she never even bothered to read them. Her inaction in office is a part of the problem.’

And her successor James Cleverly said he did not ‘always agree with everything’ she said.

The Home Secretary told LBC: ‘She’s clearly expressing frustrations that she’s felt whilst she was in this role.

‘And I understand that. And she and I remain close friends – that doesn’t mean to say I always agree with everything she’s saying.

‘But it is absolutely the case that we must make sure that we crack down on extremist behaviour, it’s absolutely the case that we must not let our democracy be distorted through fear or intimidation.’…

It is absolutely the case that it already has happened, Min. Cleverly. The question now is, can you get it back to a real democracy?

 

Islam - Current Day > Islamists Kill 4 Cops, Injure 100s in Pakistan; Car-burning Starts Again in France; Hackers Close All Gas Stations in Iran

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Pakistan will treat banned Islamist party as militant group,

govt says as 4 police officers killed, hundreds injured in clashes

27 Oct, 2021 17:26

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the banned Islamist political TLP party run during a protest in Lahore, Pakistan,

on October 23, 2021. ©  Reuters / Mohsin Raza

At least four police officers have been killed and hundreds more injured in massive clashes that erupted in Pakistan's north-eastern Punjab province, as law enforcement sought to stop an Islamist protest march on Islamabad.

Punjab's Chief Minister Usman Buzdar confirmed casualties on Twitter on Wednesday, saying at least four officers had been killed and over 250 people injured. There, law enforcement faced fierce resistance from the members and supporters of the banned Islamist Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party as the police sought to disperse their march on the capital.

The TLP orchestrated the protests, demanding the release of one of its leaders, Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, who has been in custody since April. On Wednesday, it also accused the government of "lying" about an agreement supposedly reached with the party to end the demonstrations.

Other demands included "respect for the Holy Prophet" Mohammed and the expulsion of France's ambassador to Pakistan over the publication of "blasphemous" cartoons of the prophet by French satirical outlet, Charlie Hebdo.

TLP members and their supporters used submachine guns, AK-47 assault rifles and pistols against the police, a Punjab police spokesman told Reuters.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confirmed at a press conference that at least three officers were killed and 70 injured in the clashes, adding that eight are now in critical condition. He also said that he was sending the Rangers – a federal paramilitary force – to Punjab, adding that the local government may use the unit "wherever it wants."

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that the government would from now on treat the party, banned in April, as a militant group and not a political force. "There is a limit to the state's patience," he said, adding that, although everyone has a right to express their ideas, no one can take up arms if these ideas are not heard.

"No one should make the mistake of thinking that the state is weak. Those who made this mistake later realized they were wrong," Chaudry said, adding that Islamabad "will not tolerate those who challenge the writ of the state."

The information minister also said that the government does not want "blood to be spilled," and blamed the violence on the TLP.

Party members, meanwhile, told Reuters that some of their activists had also been killed and injured by the police. The group also accused Rashid Ahmed of "lying" about settling all the matters with the party, adding that no government officials had contacted them.

On Tuesday, Rashid said the government was willing to consider all the party's demands, bar the French diplomat's expulsion.

Authorities blocked roads leading to Islamabad on Tuesday night in a bid to prevent the marchers from entering the city. According to some Pakistani media, additional police could be deployed to the city and roads might be barricaded with containers and barbed wire.

Founded in 2015, the TLP is known for its hardline stance on Islam. It fiercely opposed any changes to Pakistan's blasphemy law and demanded the nation adopt Sharia as its fundamental law. In 2018, it did not get into the Pakistani parliament but still received the support of more than two million people.

The TLP found itself on a collision course with the government in April 2021 when it organized protests to pressure Islamabad into expelling the French envoy. At that time, one of the party's leaders – Rizvi – was arrested by the Punjab government to maintain "public order." Several people, including police officers, were killed during the April unrest, though tensions eased after the government reportedly agreed to take the issue of the ambassador's expulsion to the national assembly.

Though banned in April, the TLP was still allowed to contest elections. The government has engaged in talks with the party, which continues to demand the release of its leader and of another 1,400 activists. It also demanded the party ban be lifted and that the French envoy deported.

Of course, French media would not indicate that this was a Muslim-led riot, but no other demographic would start a riot because a drug dealer got arrested.

15 vehicles torched in night of violence in Alencon, France

after teen's arrest for allegedly dealing drugs

27 Oct, 2021 15:56

© Twitter / @NicolasBay_

Over a dozen vehicles were left burnt out on Tuesday night in France's Alençon and police and firefighters came under fire from incendiaries and other projectiles, after a 16-year-old was arrested on suspicion of selling drugs.

A group of some 20 young people took to the streets in the town of Alençon in Normandy, torching cars and attacking emergency-services personnel with an array of projectiles and fireworks.  

"We deplore this night of urban violence in Perseigne, in Alençon, in which there were a dozen vehicles set on fire," Françoise Tahéri, prefect of the Orne district, told BFMTV. Tahéri added that the police intervened quickly to stabilize the situation and were reinforced by gendarmes. 

Firefighters and police officers intervened around midnight, after being notified that several private vehicles had been set on fire. Upon arriving at the scene, they came under fire from around 20 youths positioned in different places around the neighborhood, according to BFMTV. Thirteen gendarmes were sent in as reinforcements, and the clashes concluded around 3:30am.

Tahéri said she was delighted that nobody was injured and praised the intervention of law enforcement. Town major Joaquim Pueyo described the events as "extremely serious." In footage shared online, passing cars can be seen coming under attack from mortars. 

Images posted on social media on Wednesday morning show the extent of the devastation, with numerous burnt-out cars being transported for scrapping. 

The unrest was apparently prompted by the arrest of a 16-year-old boy who was allegedly caught selling drugs to a woman in the area. During a press conference on Wednesday, Tahéri stated the authorities believed the violence was related to Tuesday's arrest of a suspected drug dealer.

Iran’s president claims cyberattackers crippled every gas station

in the country to create ‘disorder’ but fails to assign blame

27 Oct, 2021 14:25

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said a cyberattack targeted every gas station in the country in an attempt to spark anger and create “disorder and disruption,” but he failed to say who the government believes was behind it.

The comments, which were broadcast on Iranian state television, saw the country’s president announce that a cyberattack had crippled every gas station in the republic, making the government-issued cards used by citizens to buy fuel useless.

“There should be serious readiness in the field of cyberwar, and related bodies should not allow the enemy to follow their ominous aims to make problem in the trend of people's life,” Raisi stated, adding that the attack had been aimed at making “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.”

Despite announcing the vast cyberattack on the Islamic Republic, Raisi did not blame a country or group for the incident, though he did indicate that anti-Iranian forces were trying to inflame tensions. A group of hackers did claim responsibility for the attack on the gas stations late on Tuesday, but they have yet to provide any evidence that they were behind it.

Digital systems used for purchasing fuel showed a message reading “cyberattack 64411,” according to reports, bearing similarities to another incident which hit the country’s rail system back in July. The July attack was blamed by Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point on a group of hackers known as Indra.

Iran has been subjected to multiple cyberattacks in recent times, with an August incident exposing a video that reportedly showed abusive behavior at the country’s Evin prison. Another attack, which saw the Stuxnet computer virus infect devices, forced the government to disconnect infrastructure from the internet while it sought to contain the spread of that cyberattack.

Islam - Current Day > IS-K Fighters Killed; Germany's Islamists are German; Terrorist Radicalized Online; Danish Immigration Minister on Trial; Migrants; Swedish War Zone

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Forces kill 11 Islamic State-K fighters during anti-terror raid in Pakistan

By Clyde Hughes

Officials said Tuesday's raid was designed to keep IS-K from using the hideout as a planning center for future terrorist attacks. File Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA

Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Authorities in Pakistan said Tuesday that security forces killed nearly a dozen militants of the Islamic State-Khorasan terror group during a raid on their hideout.

Officials said the raid occurred in Baluchistan province and killed 11 IS-K fighters.

Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department said it acted on an intelligence report detailing the hideout's location.

Authorities said officers came under attack during the raid, as militants opened fire and tossed hand grenades during the fight.

Officials said Tuesday's raid was designed to keep IS-K from using the hideout as a planning center for future terrorist attacks. Police found a large stash of arms and explosives.

IS-K, an Afghanistan offshoot of the Islamic State terror group, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in Kabul last week during the U.S. military evacuation. The attacks killed 13 Marines and nearly 200 Afghan civilians.

The group has often launched bomb attacks in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

Baluchistan, which shared borders with Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistan's largest province and has been the focal point of separatists demanding independence from the country.

Balochistan, PK

Most people on Germany’s Islamist watchlist hold German

or dual citizenship 

1 Sep, 2021 08:00 

FILE PHOTO: Police raid a mosque in Berlin, Germany, April 2020. © Odd Andersen / AFP

More than half of the hundreds of individuals on Germany’s Islamic extremist watchlist are the country’s own citizens, a report says, citing government data. 

The data came from the government’s response to an inquiry by the right-wing anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Out of 330 individuals listed as threats on the basis of “religious ideology” as of July 1, 186 were either exclusively German nationals or held a second citizenship in addition to the German one. 

Among 144 foreigners on the Islamist watchlist, 61 were citizens of Syria. The group also included 17 Iraqis, 13 Russians, 11 Turkish nationals, one Afghan, eight people whose nationality was unclear, and two stateless individuals. 

According to the media, police keep tabs on the so-called “dangerous individuals,” who are considered capable of committing politically motivated violence, such as terrorist acts.  

This year, authorities banned several Islamist organizations accused of funding terrorism with their donations this year. One such group was said to have glorified Islamic State and spread anti-Semitic propaganda. 

Gunman who killed four outside French Embassy in Tanzania

was 'terrorist radicalized online' – police

2 Sep, 2021 19:07

FILE PHOTO: Tanzanian security forces guard an entrance to the French embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,

on August 25, 2021. ©  Reuters / Emmanuel Herman

A gunman who killed three police officers and a security guard in the diplomatic quarter of Tanzania's Dar es Salaam last week was a terrorist radicalized through the internet, police investigating the shootings have said.

The attacker, identified by officials as Hamza Mohamed, went on a rampage on August 25. He killed three police officers and a private security guard before being shot by police. Six other people were also injured in the incident, which unfolded just outside the entrance to the French Embassy.

"Our investigations have revealed that Hamza Mohamed was a person who had a secret life with all indicators of terrorism," the director of criminal investigations, Camillus Wambura, told journalists on Thursday.

Wambura said Mohamed was one of the "type of terrorists who are ready to die for their religion," but did not identify any religion associated with the attacker. The gunman also communicated with "other people who live in countries with terrorism-related acts but mainly he was learning through radical social media pages," he added.

He was also ready to kill for his religion. That narrows down the field considerably.

The director of criminal investigations also said that the assailant "spent much of his time" browsing the internet to "learn" about the terrorist attacks launched by Islamic State and Al-Shabaab, another terrorist group, active in East Africa and Yemen. A local group, which also bears the name Al-Shabaab, is active in Mozambique, which borders Tanzania.

Tanzania's Police Inspector-General Simon Sirro earlier suggested that the attack might be linked to the government's decision to send troops to neighboring Mozambique, where Islamist insurgents are fighting the army.

Denmark’s former hardline immigration minister on trial

in rarely used court over separating asylum-seeker couples

2 Sep, 2021 18:01

FILE PHOTO: Denmark's former immigration minister, Inger Stojberg.

©  Reuters /Scanpix / Mathias Loevgreen Bojesen

Denmark’s former immigration minister Inger Stojberg has gone on trial in the nation’s rarely used Impeachment Court. The “hardline” ex-minister is accused of illegally separating asylum-seeker couples where wives were underage.

Stojberg appeared before the court on Thursday as the special judicial body convened for the first time in 26 years. The court, which only tries former or current government members, is expected to decide the former minister’s fate and rule on whether she violated the European Convention on Human Rights. 

At issue in the historic trial is Stojberg’s decision to initiate separation of “cohabiting couples” of asylum seekers back in 2016. She also stands accused of “lying-to or misleading” the relevant parliamentary committees while informing them about her decision.

Stojberg, an immigration and integration minister between 2015 and 2019, said the move was motivated by a goal to stop forced child marriages – and the measure only applied to couples where one of the partners was underage.

A total of 32 couples were to be separated under the minister’s order and 23 of them were indeed split up before the policy was stopped several months later.

Addressing the Danish MPs back in February when the lawmakers voted to put her on trial, Stojberg argued it was “the only political and humane thing” to do in such cases. 

“Imagine arriving in a country like Denmark, a country of equality, as a young girl victim of a forced marriage, and you discover that, instead of giving you the possibility to break free of your forced marriage, the state forces you to stay together in an asylum reception center,” she said.

Most of the young women in the separated couples were aged between 15 and 17 and they consented to their marriages. The men were aged between 15 and 32. In some cases, the young women were pregnant, or had already had children. The legal age of marriage in Denmark is 18.

The MPs were apparently not convinced by Stojberg’s arguments in February, since 139 lawmakers out of 179 voted in support of the trial, while 30 opposed and 10 were absent.

Considered an immigration “hardliner,” Stojberg, who was a minister under the previous Liberal-led government, spearheaded many controversial initiatives aimed at tightening the nation’s asylum and immigration policy.

She pushed for a law that allowed the Danish authorities to confiscate valuables from new arrivals to finance their stay in Denmark. She also spearheaded the tightening of the Danish asylum law that limited the number of social services provided to asylum seekers – and was behind an ad campaign published in Lebanese newspapers that discouraged people from applying for asylum in Denmark. 

In 2018, Stojberg, who has insisted the country should make itself as unattractive as possible to asylum seekers, advocated sending them to live on a remote island to send a clear message that they were “unwanted.”

The measure was not implemented back in 2018 but the nation’s current Social Democratic government, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, returned to the idea in May 2021, though a different island has been proposed.

Since its creation in 1849, the Impeachment Court has ruled on just five cases and only two ministers were found guilty in its history. Stojberg’s case would also be the third one the court has heard since 1910. 

Last time the court convened was in 1995. At that time, the former justice minister Erik Ninn-Hansen was found guilty of three charges of abuse of power. Ninn-Hansen was convicted over illegally suspending family reunification for Sri-Lankan refugees in 1987 and 1988.

He was handed a suspended four-month prison sentence. Now, Stojberg could face a fine or up to two years in prison if found guilty. 

This would appear to be a political trial more than a human rights trial.

Tajikistan sounds alarm over impending Afghan refugee crisis,

warns of stream of desperate people after fall of Kabul to Taliban

2 Sep, 2021 17:29

Refugees fleeing the Afghan Civil War in 1993 stand at the border with Tajikistan.

© Roger JOB/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

By Rachel Lloyd

The government of Tajikistan has called on the international community for help managing a sharp spike in the number of people seeking asylum from neighboring Afghanistan, after US forces pulled out of the Central Asian nation.

Speaking on Thursday, Tajikistan’s minister of internal affairs, Ramazon Rahimov, explained that the country was running out of resources to help displaced people crossing the border. “Tajikistan does not have the capacity to accommodate a large number of refugees and asylum seekers,” he said.

In July, the deputy head of the Tajikistan Emergency Situations Committee, Emomali Ibrokhimzoda, pledged that the nation was ready to take in 100,000 asylum seekers and would be working with international organizations to help prepare. Since then, the government has put aside approximately 70 hectares of land along the Afghan border for displaced people.

However, the country now says it does not have the ability to support the large number of people on its own, and Rahimov has called out to the international community. “Not a single international organization in 20 years has provided us with practical help in creating infrastructure to take in refugees and asylum seekers,” he said. The nation, which is the poorest in Central Asia, is now trying to appeal for assistance from the world to alleviate the problem.

Regional leaders have remained cautious of the situation, over fears of potential security threats from Afghanistan in the form of Islamist militants and terrorists disguised as refugees. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have already closed their borders to citizens of the Taliban-controlled country.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has emphasized that the security of his country and surrounding ones comes first. When the West proposed placing those fleeing from the Taliban in Central Asian countries before they obtained visas, he slammed the idea, asking how safety could be guaranteed.

Tajikistan and Afghanistan share a 1,344 km border. According to the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, the situation is currently calm and controlled since the Taliban came to power.

Around 15,000 men, women, and children have been granted asylum by Tajikistan over the past two decades. There are currently 80 families on neutral territory seeking entry into the country.

Poland’s president declares state of emergency in regions

bordering Belarus over migration surge

2 Sep, 2021 14:07

FILE PHOTO. ©  Reuters / Kacper Pempel

Polish President Andrzej Duda has imposed a state of emergency in two regions bordering Belarus for the first time in the nation’s post-Communist history. The move was prompted by a sharp increase in migrant arrivals.

“The president decided to… introduce a state of emergency in the areas designated by the Council of Ministers,” Duda’s spokesman, Blazej Spychalski, told a press conference on Thursday. The state of emergency would stay in force for at least 30 days.

“The situation on the border with Belarus is difficult and dangerous,” Spychalski said. “Today, we as Poland, being responsible for our own borders, but also for the borders of the European Union, must take measures to ensure the security of Poland and the European Union.”

On Tuesday, the government formally asked Duda to impose the state of emergency in some areas of Poland’s eastern Podlaskie and Lubelskie regions that border Belarus. The order would apply to a total of 183 municipalities directly adjacent to the border and would form a three-kilometer-deep zone along the border with Belarus, the Polish media reported.

It is otherwise not exactly clear what measures the state of emergency would entail. Poland has never introduced such measures in its post-Communist history, and avoided imposing one even during the most difficult periods of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite some calls on the government to do so.

The measure is yet to be approved by the lower house of the Polish parliament – the Sejm. It is scheduled to convene on the matter on Friday or Monday, according to Polish media reports.

The MPs can potentially repeal the decision. Poland’s Law and Justice party, which supports the government and holds most seats in parliament, would need just 11 additional votes to block any such attempts, but most opposition parties have not yet taken a public stance on the issue. The Left Party was the only one so far to say it would oppose the move and seek to repeal it.

The move comes amid a surge in illegal migration that Poland and some Baltic states have been facing over recent months. Thousands of migrants believed to be traveling from the Middle East have crossed or attempted to cross into Latvia, Lithuania and Poland from neighboring Belarus over that period.

The Polish border guards said on Wednesday that August alone saw a total of 3,500 attempts by migrants to enter Poland from Belarus. The guards thwarted 2,500 of such attempts.

The EU previously accused Belarus of engaging in a “direct attack” on the bloc and trying to “instrumentalize human beings for political purposes” by pushing migrants toward the borders of member states. Vilnius also accused Minsk of flying in migrants from abroad and shuttling them to the border as a form of warfare.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko refuted the accusations and said instead that his administration would no longer try to stop migrants from crossing into the EU after its members imposed sanctions against Belarus over the disputed 2020 presidential election.

The developments already prompted Warsaw to send troops to build a 2.5 meters tall razor-wire barrier designed to stretch for most of the 150-kilometer (93-mile) border with Belarus.

Poland and Latvia, meanwhile, faced a reprimand from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which demanded the two nations assist migrants who cross over their borders with Belarus. The court took such a decision in late August following appeals from 32 Afghan and 41 Iraqi nationals stuck at the frontiers.

‘War zone’: Sweden rocked by two overnight explosions,

and politician points to gang-crime

2 Sep, 2021 12:45

FILE PHOTO. © Michael Campanella/Getty Images

A Swedish MP has said his country is starting to look like a war zone after a city and town saw explosions during the night, with one death reported, amid a gang-crime epidemic in the once-peaceful nation.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, police in Sweden were called to a residential estate in the town of Varnamo where a man was found severely injured after a reported explosion. He was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries. The explosive charge was so powerful that it was heard in large parts of the town, police told reporters.

The Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet, citing police sources, said the deceased man had accidentally blown himself up. It is believed he was carrying a bomb and intended to threaten or scare “witnesses.”

The individual in question had connections to a motorbike gang, Johan Borg, operational coordinator for the Varnamo police, told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. Other emergency service personnel were also called to the scene of the explosion. 

Meanwhile, the city of Helsingborg was also shaken by an explosion in the early hours on Thursday morning, although the events are not thought to be linked. A property had its windows and doors blown out and considerable damage was caused to a house opposite.

Bomb experts were called to the scene, but it is understood that there aren’t any suspects so far. Residents told local media that there was a strong smell of gunpowder following the explosion. The explosions come amid escalating gang-violence and an epidemic of crime.

Swedish MP Johan Forssell said on Twitter that Sweden was resembling a “war zone,” adding that the country needs to get rid of criminal gangs and restore security. 

The overnight events come after Stockholm politician Irene Svenonius wrote to the government on Monday demanding crisis talks about Sweden’s dire gang-crime issues. She said that more than 70 shootings have taken place in the Stockholm region during the first seven months of the year, adding that 16 people have been killed and innocent children have been injured by stray bullets.

She claimed that the Swedish capital is no longer recognizable. Svenonius also made a number of demands of the government, including ensuring that migrants in Sweden are taught the language and have a chance to succeed.

Her reference to migrants can be taken as confirming that the gangs involved are migrant gangs. There is a statistical connection between the increased numbers of Muslim migrants and criminal gangs in Sweden.

Islam - Current Day > Davutoğlu Rips Erdogan; How Islamists Discuss Theology; Anti-Semitism at the Olympics; Mossad Cell in Iran?

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Interview with Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu

“Parts of the Government Are Mafia-Like”

As prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu was one of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s closest allies. In an interview, he now accuses the Turkish president of driving his country into the ground.

Interview Conducted By Sebnem Arsu und Maximilian Popp

20.07.2021, 17.40 Uhr

Spiegel Int'l

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu says: "Leaders are at their weakest

when they think they are particularly strong." Foto: Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

It’s shortly before midnight when Ahmet Davutoğlu arrives for an interview at a guesthouse in the Old Town of Antakya, near the Syrian border. He has spent the entire day rushing from appointment to appointment in nearly 40-degree-Celsius (104-degree-Fahrenheit) heat, meeting supporters of his Future Party as well as speaking with young people and local business owners. Davutoğlu, 62, served as foreign minister from 2009 to 2014 and then as prime minister from 2014 to 2016, both under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In 2019, he bolted from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) following a dispute with Erdoğan and founded his own party. Since then, he has been traveling around the country to build up support for his party. Davutoğlu believes Erdoğan’s administration will soon collapse, and the former prime minister aspires to be part of a new government.

Ahmet Davutoğlu says corruption "is more rampant than ever" in Turkey. Foto: Bradley Secker

DER SPIEGEL: Mr. Davutoğlu, you served as foreign minister and head of government under President Erdoğan. Why are you turning against him now?

Davutoğlu: There wasn’t just one reason or just one episode. It was a process. As Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy adviser and as foreign minister, I was responsible for diplomacy. My powers were limited. When I became prime minister, I realized that the country needed to be fundamentally reformed in terms of democracy, rule of law, and transparency. After my election victory in November 2015, I presented a reform package that included measures such as to change the criteria used for awarding government contracts. No one – no minister, no businessman – should continue to be able to enrich themselves at the public’s expense.

DER SPIEGEL: Have you personally witnessed instances of government corruption?

Davutoğlu: Yes. Power corrupts. When Erdoğan became prime minister in 2003, he still wanted to curb corruption in the country. Today, it is more rampant than ever. I wanted to fight nepotism, but my efforts were in vain. After I left office, Erdoğan’s son-in-law became the most powerful man in the system. I stood up for ethics in politics. Erdoğan didn’t want that.

DER SPIEGEL: Did you have to go because you were too critical?

Davutoğlu: I was too visible and too efficient as prime minister. Erdoğan couldn’t deal with that. He accepts no one alongside him. He turned the party leadership against me. I realized that it is impossible to implement reforms in this kind of environment. That’s why I stepped down as prime minister.

DER SPIEGEL: You are presenting yourself as an outsider, but you were part of the system for almost two decades.

Davutoğlu: I categorically reject that. If I had tolerated corruption, mismanagement, nepotism and attacks on the rule of law, I would still be prime minister or in some other leadership position today.

DER SPIEGEL: You were in charge of the government when the military was waging war against its own people in the Kurdish regions. Do you feel partly to blame for the decline of Turkish democracy?

Davutoğlu: No. Your description is incorrect. It was not a war against Kurds, but rather an anti-terrorist operation against groups like PKK (eds: the Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and Daesh. I would order it again today in exactly the same way.

DER SPIEGEL: Erdoğan started out as a democratic reformer. What went wrong?

Davutoğlu: We were on the right track. In 2010, we passed a reform package that was met with approval even by large parts of the opposition. The turning point came in 2013 ...

DER SPIEGEL: ... with the protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, which were quashed by the police.

Davutoğlu: Not only with that. FETÖ (eds: the movement led by Islamist preacher Fethullah Gülen) was grabbing for power more and more shamelessly. And Erdoğan was becoming more and more authoritarian. As prime minister, I tried to fix the state. But I wasn’t able to accomplish what I wanted to.

DER SPIEGEL: Your critics say you were Erdoğan’s puppet.

Davutoğlu: Anyone who calls me a puppet doesn’t understand Turkish politics. Forty-seven out of 50 members of the AKP’s central committee signed a petition against me in 2016 at Erdoğan’s insistence. Then they secretly apologized to me. They said: "Hocam (eds: my teacher), your criticisms were correct.”

There is more on this interview on Spiegel International

A woman was stabbed in Hyde Park. Media and authorities are acting

as if she had it coming for wearing a Charlie Hebdo shirt

26 Jul, 2021 20:18

By Nebojsa Malic, senior writer at RT

Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, London (January 2015 FILE PHOTO) ©  REUTERS/Stefan Wermut

After a woman was brutally attacked at Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner, reports about the incident focused on what she wore, begging the question whether free speech is no longer sacred to people who run London and the UK.

A graphic video making rounds on social media shows a man, reportedly dressed in a black robe with a hood, punching and stabbing a woman on Sunday afternoon, then being chased away by police. He somehow evaded the authorities and disappeared, leaving the knife behind.

Reports about the incident spoke of a 39-year-old woman, who suffered “a minor slash injury to her head” that was described as not life-threatening after treatment at a local hospital. The papers revealed no identifying information about the attacker and dutifully quoted the Metropolitan Police urging Londoners to come forth with evidence. 

“I would ask people not to speculate on the motive for the attack until we have established the full facts,” the police spokesperson concluded.

Seriously! 

That did not stop the media from pointing out that the woman wore a “Charlie Hebdo top,” and reminding the public that the satirical French magazine was targeted by “Islamic extremists” in January 2015 over its cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The implication is clear: the woman wore a provocative shirt that offended Muslims somehow, and therefore had the stabbing coming.

The story only gets more troubling when some of the missing details are filled in. Even a cursory glance at the video and stills from the incident shows the woman wearing a top printed with a Charlie Hebdo cover – but not the one depicting the Muslim prophet. Instead, it showed a homosexual kiss between a CH cartoonist and a Muslim preacher, captioned “Love stronger than hate.” 

While the authorities did not name the victim, bloggers and activists identified her as Hatun Tash, 39, who fled Turkey after renouncing Islam for Christianity. She now preaches in Hyde Park on behalf of Defend Christ Critique Islam Ministries. 

In countries practicing Sharia Law – such as Saudi Arabia – apostasy from Islam is a crime punishable by death. Turkey is nominally secular still. So is the UK. Which is why the British authorities ought to be alarmed by this attack, but they don’t seem to be. 

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who once infamously said terrorist attacks were “part and parcel of living in a big city,” did not even acknowledge the incident. Instead, he demanded that police investigate a speech by an “anti-vaxxer” former nurse.

According to one blogger, Tash has been a fixture at Speakers Corner, facing “intimidation, threats, sexual assaults and physical assaults” in recent years. In October 2020, she was apparently assaulted and knocked unconscious. On another occasion, the blogger said she was detained by police and held for 20 hours without an explanation.

Focusing on Tash’s choice of clothing comes perniciously close to blaming her for “provoking” the attack somehow. Her top, or her words for that matter, may have been offensive to some Muslims, but they were not in violation of the law. 

One would expect the British public to show some solidarity with a woman attacked by a knife-wielding man, in broad daylight, for speaking at a place dedicated to free speech. There have been no calls for curfew on men this time, however.

Worse yet, violence is increasingly becoming the norm at Speakers Corner. It has reportedly seen multiple clashes in recent months, between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Indeed, in one of the videos that captured the attack on Tash, the speakers in the foreground can be heard discussing Islamic theology. 

There is nothing wrong with that as such, so long as everyone understands that the laws, customs and traditions of Speakers Corner, London and the UK take precedence over those they brought with them from abroad. Otherwise what’s next, practicing suttee in Kensington Gardens in the name of diversity and inclusion? 

Are hundreds of years of free speech at Speaker's Corner coming to an end because governments are more concerned with Muslim sensitivities than free speech?

Second judoka quits Tokyo Olympics before facing Israeli opponent

who Algerian refused to meet over Palestine conflict

26 Jul, 2021 09:42

A second judoka who was due to face an Israeli opponent has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics

© Mandi Wright / USA Today Network via Reuters

Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool weighed in but did not appear for his clash with Tohar Butbal in the round of 32 at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, leaving the Israeli without an opponent again after Fethi Nourine was sent home.

Algerian Nourine drew praise and criticism after refusing to take on Butbal, explaining that "the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of this" before being suspended by the International Judo Foundation (IJF).

The federation has not immediately declared why Abdalrasool did not participate, and the Guardian said that the governing body and Sudanese Olympic officials had not provided an immediate comment on the situation.

Abdalrasool, who has a 73kg world ranking of 469, would have been a sizeable underdog against seventh-ranked Butbul, who also saw Nourine quit a bout against him at the 2019 world championships.

Abdalrasool was due to meet Butbal as a result of Nourine's premature exit. "Sudanese athletes also won't face Israelis," speculated one sports writer.

Despite the nature of Abdalrasool's withdrawal being unclear, he was swiftly savaged by some on social media, with Nourine also copping fury.

"Fethi Nourine and Mohamed Abdalrasool should be banned for life in every Judo association," said one angry respondent. "Such blatant anti-semitism has no place in sports and should be severely punished."

Others described Abdalrasool as "another coward", with one writing: "I want to say that I can't believe they hate Israel so much that they're willing to ruin their entire career over competing fairly with an Israeli athlete, but anti-semitism is just like that, isn't it?"

In a statement, the IJF said it had taken its decision to punish Nourine because it would not tolerate "discrimination" and wanted to foster the "respect and friendship" at the heart of its moral code.

Nourine said he had been motivated by a desire not to "get his hands dirty", while his coach insisted the decision to pull out had been the right one.

I would be willing to bet that this is all about pride and racism. The pride comes in as both Muslim wrestlers were likely afraid of losing to a Jew. Put them up against a Jew and they run.

‘Mossad cell’ arrested over plans to provoke violence

during ongoing protests in Iran, Tehran claims

27 Jul, 2021 13:56

FILE PHOTO: Iranian security forces during drills. © Reuters / WANA

Members of an armed cell who allegedly worked with Israel’s Mossad spy agency and planned to provoke violence during protests in Iran have been detained, Tehran’s Intelligence Ministry has told local media.

The group, which allegedly had access to a heavy shipment of weapons and ammunition, was recently apprehended after entering Iran through its western border, an official from the ministry told the Fars news agency.

The official didn’t elaborate on the size of the unit or the nationality of those arrested, but they insisted that the suspects were acting in cooperation with Mossad, the Israeli spy agency.

The weapons seized from the alleged agents included pistols, grenades, rifles, shotguns, and ammo. The arms were being brought into Iran to be used during “urban riots and assassinations,” according to the ministry official.

The announcement comes after several weeks of demonstrations in Iran against water shortages in the southwest of the country, caused by severe drought. The unrest has resulted in at least five deaths among the protesters.

The Intelligence Ministry representative also claimed that Israel had been intending to carry out “acts of sabotage” during the Iranian presidential election in mid-June, which was won by hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi. The country’s security forces prevented those activities, he added, and “dealt a blow to the Mossad terrorist network.”

He also thanked Iranians for their “constant vigilance,” while urging the public to remain wary of any "suspicious offers," particularly if made online.

Tehran has long accused Israeli intelligence of undertaking malign activities on Iranian territory in an attempt to undermine the country’s stability and derail its nuclear program.

The two blasts that rocked the Natanz nuclear site in April 2021 and July 2020, as well as the assassination of a top scientist in Iran’s nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, in November 2020, have been linked to Mossad by Iranian officials.

While the Israeli government has not claimed or denied responsibility for those incidents, recently retired Mossad chief Yossi Cohen implied last month that his agency could well have played a part in them.

In a bombshell TV interview, Cohen remarked that the Natanz facility didn’t “look like it used to” after the explosion crippled its centrifuges, and confirmed that Fakhrizadeh had been a target for intelligence-gathering by Mossad “for many years” because Israel was “most troubled” by his work.

It's curious how the cell members entered Iran from its western borders. Its western borders are shared with Iraq and Turkey. To get to Iraq or Turkey, anyone from Israel would have to cross Syria or Jordan. Iran's western borders are about 1000 km from Israel. 

Could this be a case of Iran blaming their interior troubles on Israel? Could it be a pretext for war, which would redirect the anger of Iranians from their hapless government?

I don't doubt that Israel's Mossad and IDF had much to do with the Natanz bombing and the Fakhrizadeh assassination. Israel has to disrupt Iran's nuclear program or Israel will disappear.