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eveningstandard--2019-03-18--Londoners be allies to your neighbours at risk of terror
| 2019-03-18T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Londoners: be allies to your neighbours at risk of terror
|
It was yet another senseless, horrific terrorist attack on a community who had simply come together in peaceful worship. In New Zealand’s most devastating mass shootings, 50 people died at two mosques in Christchurch and many others were seriously injured. Just like the butchering of innocent worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, and the attack on the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, these were innocent men, women and children mown down for simply being who they are. We have seen outpourings of comfort and love around the world. In London people attended vigils or visited their local mosques. Today, in a welcome show of solidarity, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi were joining the Mayor of London at a multi-faith remembrance and prayer event for the victims at a London mosque, bringing together young people from all backgrounds. These messages of support, comfort and love are powerful but they are not enough. We need, as Londoners, to be doing more to build stronger, safer, more inclusive communities where intolerance and hatred have less space and opportunity to fester. Religious hate crime has rocketed 40 per cent in a year in England and Wales, as the number of offences hits a record high. Home Office statistics showed over half of religiously motivated attacks in 2017/18 were directed at Muslims, with Jewish people the next most commonly targeted. We know too that there is still intolerance towards women, black and ethnic minority people, LGBT+ people, the disabled, and even, shockingly, those who are simply older. As members of the Mayor’s new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group, and as Jew and Muslim in particular, we are urging every Londoner to consider how better to bridge divides. Everyone can play their part. We must all be architects of peace, compassion and understanding; in our homes, work and communities. Faith-based groups have been fostering community cohesion and championing diversity and mutual respect for some time. Research from Mitzvah Day (a day of Jewish-led, inclusive social action) shows 74 per cent of people felt they were able to meet others they might not normally have met. Similarly, 64 per cent of young people who attended the Naz Legacy Foundation Iftars went on to bring others to interfaith events. Other activities include the Big Iftar, Visit My Mosque and Sadaqah Day. Organisations such as Faiths Forum for London, Nisa-Nashim and others are all working to bring people together. Now is the time to explore how you can be an ally, how you can show those who are concerned for their safety that they are not alone. Standing up when someone is being verbally abused rather than studiously looking at our phones is one way. Visiting a faith institution and learning more about each other is another. There is no simple solution, but by working together, by building mutual trust, we can demonstrate terror will never divide us and unity and hope will always prevail over fear and hatred.
|
Harris Bokhari, Laura Marks
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/londoners-be-allies-to-your-neighbours-at-risk-of-terror-a4094551.html
|
2019-03-18 12:06:00+00:00
| 1,552,925,160 | 1,567,545,761 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
168,485 |
eveningstandard--2019-03-19--We must deny terrorists the media stardom they so crave
| 2019-03-19T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
We must deny terrorists the media stardom they so crave
|
The decision of the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to never utter the name of the Christchurch terrorist is both a moral choice and a practical way of making future attacks less likely. The media need to learn from her example. In the two-and-a-half years since my wife Jo died, I have never uttered the name of the person who killed her. My children have never heard it and it doesn’t appear in the book that I wrote about Jo. He has been forgotten by our family and by the vast majority of the public. And that’s how it should be. Because as a bereaved family you want the focus to be on your loved one; the joy they brought to your life and the lives of others. You want their story to be heard. But it’s much more important than that. One of the reasons that many terrorists attack is to gain notoriety. That’s because while extreme ideology is an important part of what drives terror, personal motivations are at least as great. Terrorists are often people seeking recognition, affirmation and meaning in their empty lives. That’s why they wear cameras. It’s why they write manifestos. It’s why they film videos of themselves. All of that makes sense from their perspective but what doesn’t make sense is our media playing into their hands; promoting their videos, hosting their manifestos, telling us their life story again and again. I’m not suggesting that the media shouldn’t say who carried out the attack — of course they should. But there’s a difference between reporting the facts and obsessively promoting the name, image and agenda of the perpetrator. This morning’s Today programme coverage of the story was a masterclass in how to get it wrong. Every time the newsreader announced that Ardern would no longer mention the name of the killer, they handily added what it was. Numerous studies of mass shootings in the US have shown that along with notoriety, high-profile media coverage of a killer makes so-called “contagion effects” more likely. In other words, it leads to copycat attacks. Some media organisations are starting to change the way they report. Anderson Cooper, the leading CNN anchor, refuses to name those responsible for attacks after the first mention. The news organisation AP aims to restrict mentions in cases where attacks were conducted for publicity. Le Monde has stopped publishing the names and photographs of terrorists. After the coverage of last week’s attack, some introspection from our own media would be welcome. Of course it’s not just about what media organisations do. Survivors Against Terror, a network of 300 UK survivors of terror attacks, has recommended that we can all play a role in this. We can deny terrorists the notoriety they crave. Forget their names, don’t repost their images and keep the focus where it belongs — on the victims and survivors. Brendan Cox is a co-founder of Survivors Against Terror
|
Brendan Cox
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/we-must-deny-terrorists-the-media-stardom-they-so-crave-a4095566.html
|
2019-03-19 12:17:38+00:00
| 1,553,012,258 | 1,567,545,622 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
172,549 |
eveningstandard--2019-04-20--Lyra McKee death New breed of terrorist emerging in Northern Ireland police say after journalist k
| 2019-04-20T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Lyra McKee death: New breed of terrorist emerging in Northern Ireland, police say after journalist killing
|
The detective leading the hunt for journalist Lyra McKee’s killers has said a new breed of terrorist is emerging through the ranks in Northern Ireland. Police have arrested two teenagers who they suspect are members of the dissident republican New IRA and were involved in shooting dead the promising young journalist in Londonderry. Police Service of Northern Ireland detective superintendent Jason Murphy said terrorists were lurking in the shadows. "What we are seeing is a new breed of terrorist coming through the ranks and that for me is a very worrying situation." He said there had been a sea change in community attitudes and that was demonstrated in the revulsion expressed by many at Thursday evening's killing. A gunman aiming to kill police shot Ms McKee in the head after he fired indiscriminately during disturbances in the Creggan estate. DS Murphy was giving an update on the case to reporters on Saturday afternoon. The arrested men, aged 18 and 19, were detained under anti-terrorism legislation and have been taken to a police station in Belfast for questioning. An outpouring of tributes to the journalist was led by her partner, Sara Canning, who said Ms McKee's "amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act". Detectives hunting the gunman have released footage of the shooting in the hope the community can help trace her killers. The published author, from Belfast, was shot in the head by suspects who police believe were dissident republicans linked to the New IRA, as they clashed with police on the Creggan estate in Londonderry. Mobile phone footage released by police on Friday appears to show the masked shooter fire a handgun towards police and onlookers including Ms McKee. The published author's partner Ms Canning said it was a senseless murder. "Our hopes and dreams and all of her amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act," she said. Ms Canning said it has left so many friends without their confidante. "Victims and LGBTQI community are left without a tireless advocate and activist and it has left me without the love of my life, the woman I was planning to grow old with," she added. "This cannot stand, Lyra's death must not be in vain because her life was a shining light in everyone else's life and her legacy will live on and the life that she has left behind." In CCTV footage also released by Police Service Northern Ireland, Ms McKee can be seen standing with a crowd of people beside a police vehicle moments before she was shot. She raised her mobile phone into the air, apparently to take a photo of the confrontations. A third clip shows the masked shooter head-on as he steps from behind a wall then points a handgun towards police and bystanders. Detectives released the footage, which also appears to show an accomplice picking up something from the ground where the gunman was stood, to encourage anyone with information to make contact. Police have blamed the anti-peace process New IRA for the killing after handgun shots aimed at their officers were fired indiscriminately in the Creggan estate. Detectives believe the violence was orchestrated in response to an earlier search by officers aimed at averting imminent trouble associated with this week's anniversary of the Easter Rising. They said more than one person was involved in the murder. They have already received a large number of calls and information from the public and have a special portal where video and pictures can be uploaded. Prime Minister Theresa May said the killing was "shocking and senseless". The New IRA is an amalgam of a series of armed groups opposed to the peace process. It claimed responsibility for a number of parcel bombs sent to London and Glasgow recently. The threat posed to police in Northern Ireland is high. It is understood Ms McKee had recently moved to Londonderry to live with "love of her life" Sara. She was an editor for California-based news site Mediagazer, a trade publication covering the media industry. In 2016, Forbes Magazine named her one of their 30 under 30 in media. She had been working on a new book which had been due to be published in 2020. Michelle Stanistreet, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary, said Ms McKee was one of the most promising journalists in Northern Ireland. She said: "A young, vibrant life has been destroyed in a senseless act of violence. "A bright light has been quenched and that plunges all of us into darkness." Causes close to her heart included helping homeless people, preventing suicide and supporting LGBT rights in the most restrictive regime in the UK. Catholic priest Father Joseph Gormley comforted Ms McKee's family in hospital and accused the killers of forcing their viewpoint on others using the barrel of a gun. He asked: "Have you no sense of humanity or dignity about yourself?" Deputy chief constable Stephen Martin criticised those behind earlier violent scenes during which more than 50 petrol bombs were thrown and two cars burned in the Creggan. "Regretfully, people such as I described earlier who are completely out of step, goaded and orchestrated young people to engage in disorder," he said. "The police didn't react to that disorder. We didn't respond with any use of force, we absorbed it. "We were there to do search activity. We did not want in any way to make the situation worse." He defended the decision to launch an operation earlier on Thursday aimed at thwarting dissident plans for "imminent" violence. In the past, trouble has coincided with dissident republican commemoration of the battle for Irish independence every Easter. Anti-peace process sentiment in Northern Ireland's second city has been demonstrated in recent attempts to bomb the courthouse and the calling off of a community youth event after police were invited. Mr Martin condemned those whose sole purpose in life was to try to attack his officers and destroy the peace. "Today is Good Friday and it's a cruel twist in our history that 21 years ago the majority of people in Northern Ireland signed up to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement yet here we are today mourning the loss of a talented young woman, a young journalist who was also a daughter, a sister and a partner. Assistant chief constable Mark Hamilton said it was a calculated and callous act to bring a firearm into a residential area. "Bullets stop somewhere, and on this occasion they stopped fatally." A vigil was held in the Creggan in Ms McKee's memory, organised by local residents who said they felt sad and angry.
|
Hatty Collier
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/lyra-mckee-death-new-breed-of-terrorist-in-northern-ireland-police-say-after-journalist-killing-a4122461.html
|
2019-04-20 13:17:00+00:00
| 1,555,780,620 | 1,567,542,308 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
172,550 |
eveningstandard--2019-04-20--Lyra McKee death Two men aged 18 and 19 arrested under Terrorism Act in connection with murder of j
| 2019-04-20T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Lyra McKee death: Two men aged 18 and 19 arrested under Terrorism Act in connection with murder of journalist
|
Two men have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee. Ms McKee, 29, was hit by a bullet and killed during rioting in the Creggan area of Londonderry on Thursday. The men, aged 18 and 19, were detained under anti-terrorism legislation and have been taken to a police station in Belfast for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said. An outpouring of tributes to the 29-year-old was led by her partner, Sara Canning, who said Ms McKee's "amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act". Detectives hunting the gunman have released footage of the shooting in the hope the community can help trace her killers. The published author, from Belfast, was shot in the head by suspects who police believe were dissident republicans linked to the New IRA, as they clashed with police on the Creggan estate in Londonderry. Mobile phone footage released by police on Friday appears to show the masked shooter fire a handgun towards police and onlookers including Ms McKee. The published author's partner Ms Canning said it was a senseless murder. "Our hopes and dreams and all of her amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act," she said. Ms Canning said it has left so many friends without their confidante. "Victims and LGBTQI community are left without a tireless advocate and activist and it has left me without the love of my life, the woman I was planning to grow old with," she added. "This cannot stand, Lyra's death must not be in vain because her life was a shining light in everyone else's life and her legacy will live on and the life that she has left behind." In CCTV footage also released by Police Service Northern Ireland, Ms McKee can be seen standing with a crowd of people beside a police vehicle moments before she was shot. She raised her mobile phone into the air, apparently to take a photo of the confrontations. A third clip shows the masked shooter head-on as he steps from behind a wall then points a handgun towards police and bystanders. Detectives released the footage, which also appears to show an accomplice picking up something from the ground where the gunman was stood, to encourage anyone with information to make contact. Police have blamed the anti-peace process New IRA for the killing after handgun shots aimed at their officers were fired indiscriminately in the Creggan estate. Detectives believe the violence was orchestrated in response to an earlier search by officers aimed at averting imminent trouble associated with this week's anniversary of the Easter Rising. They said more than one person was involved in the murder. They have already received a large number of calls and information from the public and have a special portal where video and pictures can be uploaded. Prime Minister Theresa May said the killing was "shocking and senseless". The New IRA is an amalgam of a series of armed groups opposed to the peace process. It claimed responsibility for a number of parcel bombs sent to London and Glasgow recently. The threat posed to police in Northern Ireland is high. It is understood Ms McKee had recently moved to Londonderry to live with "love of her life" Sara. She was an editor for California-based news site Mediagazer, a trade publication covering the media industry. In 2016, Forbes Magazine named her one of their 30 under 30 in media. She had been working on a new book which had been due to be published in 2020. Michelle Stanistreet, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary, said Ms McKee was one of the most promising journalists in Northern Ireland. She said: "A young, vibrant life has been destroyed in a senseless act of violence. "A bright light has been quenched and that plunges all of us into darkness." Causes close to her heart included helping homeless people, preventing suicide and supporting LGBT rights in the most restrictive regime in the UK. Catholic priest Father Joseph Gormley comforted Ms McKee's family in hospital and accused the killers of forcing their viewpoint on others using the barrel of a gun. He asked: "Have you no sense of humanity or dignity about yourself?" Deputy chief constable Stephen Martin criticised those behind earlier violent scenes during which more than 50 petrol bombs were thrown and two cars burned in the Creggan. "Regretfully, people such as I described earlier who are completely out of step, goaded and orchestrated young people to engage in disorder," he said. "The police didn't react to that disorder. We didn't respond with any use of force, we absorbed it. "We were there to do search activity. We did not want in any way to make the situation worse." He defended the decision to launch an operation earlier on Thursday aimed at thwarting dissident plans for "imminent" violence. In the past, trouble has coincided with dissident republican commemoration of the battle for Irish independence every Easter. Anti-peace process sentiment in Northern Ireland's second city has been demonstrated in recent attempts to bomb the courthouse and the calling off of a community youth event after police were invited. Mr Martin condemned those whose sole purpose in life was to try to attack his officers and destroy the peace. "Today is Good Friday and it's a cruel twist in our history that 21 years ago the majority of people in Northern Ireland signed up to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement yet here we are today mourning the loss of a talented young woman, a young journalist who was also a daughter, a sister and a partner. Assistant chief constable Mark Hamilton said it was a calculated and callous act to bring a firearm into a residential area. "Bullets stop somewhere, and on this occasion they stopped fatally." A vigil was held in the Creggan in Ms McKee's memory, organised by local residents who said they felt sad and angry.
|
Hatty Collier
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/lyra-mckee-death-two-men-aged-18-and-19-arrested-under-terrorism-act-in-connection-with-murder-of-a4122291.html
|
2019-04-20 07:17:00+00:00
| 1,555,759,020 | 1,567,542,308 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
172,743 |
eveningstandard--2019-04-22--Sri Lanka attack victims Retired British firefighter and wife killed in Sri Lanka terror attack
| 2019-04-22T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Sri Lanka attack victims: Retired British firefighter and wife killed in Sri Lanka terror attack
|
A heroic firefighter and his wife are have been named among the eight Britons killed in a terror attack in Sri Lanka. Retired Billy Harrop, from Manchester, had been celebrated for his heroism during the Manchester IRA bombing attack, and had been holidaying with his wife, Sally, before a series of bomb attacks hit. The couple both died on Easter Sunday following the blasts. The 56-year-old former borough commander for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has been described as a “real character”, as tributes pour in. He had been officially commended for his heroism during the IRA bombings in 1996. News of the couple's death has been hailed as "devastating" by a friend. Assistant County Fire Officer Dave Keelan, of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, paid tribute to his former colleague. He said: "This is devastating news and the thoughts of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service are with Bill and Sally's families. "Bill served here for 30 years, retiring at the end of 2012. He was a much a loved and respected colleague and friend. He will be greatly missed." Mr Harrop was also travelling with his son, Gavin, who survived the blasts in Sri Lanka. It is thought he and his family recently emmigrated to Australia and was in Sri Lanka for a holiday. Kev Brown, former Fire Brigades Union secretary, told the newspaper: "Billy was a former pupil of Sale Grammar School, was well known in the brigade, and was a real character. "He led the Philips Park team in response to the IRA bomb in Manchester 1996 and received a commendation for his actions in the incident." At least 290 people were killed in the explosions and more than 500 were wounded. Of those, at least eight Brits are believed to have been killed. A British mother and her two young children were earlier named as some of the victims. Anita Nicholson, son Alex, 14, and daughter Annabel, 11, were having breakfast at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo when one of the seven suicide bombers struck. Mrs Nicholson's husband Ben confirmed they had been killed in a statement on Monday afternoon. He said: "Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife and a brilliant, loving and inspirational mother to our two wonderful children. "Alex and Annabel were the most amazing, intelligent, talented and thoughtful children and Anita and I were immensely proud of them both and looking forward to seeing them develop into adulthood. "They shared with their mother the priceless ability to light up any room they entered and bring joy to the lives of all they came into contact with." Local media reported Mr Nicholson desperately searching for his family after the blast. He thanked Sri Lankan medics, the British High Commission and holiday company Adhvan Tours for helping him over the past 36 hours. He said all three would have died instantly with no pain. The family had been visiting Sri Lanka for a holiday from their home in Singapore. Mrs Nicholson worked for mining and metals company Anglo American, while Mr Nicholson is a partner with law firm Kennedys. No group has claimed the attacks, but Sri Lankan officials have named little-known Islamic extremist organisation National Thowfeek Jamaath. The seven suicide bombers were all Sri Lankan citizens but the group is believed to have links with foreign terrorist networks.
|
Olivia Tobin
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/retired-british-firefighter-killed-in-sri-lanka-terror-attack-a4123261.html
|
2019-04-22 17:11:00+00:00
| 1,555,967,460 | 1,567,542,125 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
175,109 |
eveningstandard--2019-05-21--New Zealand mosque attack Brenton Tarrant charged with terrorism offence
| 2019-05-21T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
New Zealand mosque attack: Brenton Tarrant charged with terrorism offence
|
New Zealand police have filed a terrorism charge against the man accused of killing 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. Police said they have charged 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant with engaging in a terrorist act after the March 15 shootings. The charge comes with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and will be a test case for New Zealand's terrorism laws, which came on to the books in 2002. Police said that they also charged Tarrant with an additional count of murder, bringing the total number of charges against him to 92 – 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism. Police informed victims' families and survivors of the new charges at a meeting with police at a meeting on Tuesday attended by more than 200 people. It comes after a Turkish man who was wounded in the attack died earlier this month in Christchurch Hospital. "The charge will allege a terrorist act was carried out in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 and follows consultation between Police, Crown Law and the Christchurch Crown Solicitors Office," New Zealand police said in a statement. Tarrant was arrested on March 15 after the mass shootings at two mosques which left 51 people dead and dozens injured. He was initially charged with one count of murder. The suspected white supremacist is accused of storming in during Friday prayers with a number of high-powered weapons, and live-streaming the attack online. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said he had been in possession of a "category A" gun licence, obtained in 2017, which allowed him to legally obtain the weapons in December 2017. He was not on any watchlists prior to the shootings – the single-worst terrorist attack carried out by an Australian. Tarrant is being held at a maximum security prison in Auckland and has appeared at the Christchurch High Court via video link. The 28-year-old did not apply for bail or for the suppression of his name at a court appearance in March 16. He was also seen to have made a hand gesture linked to white supremacy as he entered the room, shackled and dressed in white prison clothes. At a subsequent court hearing on April 5, high court judge Justice Cameron Mander ordered a mental health assessment to determine Tarrant's fitness to enter a plea and stand trial. Judge Mander said nothing should be read into his order, as it was a normal step in such a case. Tarrant previously said he wanted to represent himself, and was not required to enter a plea. He is due back in court in June.
|
Asher Mcshane, Harriet Brewis
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/new-zealand-mosque-attack-brenton-tarrant-charged-with-terrorism-offence-a4147106.html
|
2019-05-21 05:13:00+00:00
| 1,558,429,980 | 1,567,540,264 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
187,766 |
eveningstandard--2019-11-01--Terrorist propaganda must be banned after the London Bridge outrage, says coroner
| 2019-11-01T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Terrorist propaganda must be banned after the London Bridge outrage, says coroner
|
A new law banning terrorist propaganda should be considered by the Government in the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack, a coroner said today. The ringleader of the June 2017 atrocity, Khuram Butt, had accessed a vast amount of extremist material prior to the attack, including Islamic State videos and martyrdom clips. This was known to security services in 2016 when it emerged in a fraud investigation, but Butt did not face prosecution. Coroner Mark Lucraft QC refused to criticise the investigation into Butt, calling it “generally thorough and rigorous”, but urged the Home Secretary to consider a new law banning material which “glorifies or encourages terrorism”. In his report released today he added: “It may be impossible to take action even when the material is of the most offensive and shocking character. The evidence at the inquests indicates to me that the lack of such an offence may sometimes prevent counter terrorism police taking disruptive action which could be valuable in their work of combatting terrorism.” Butt, 27, along with Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, drove a rented van across London Bridge on the evening of June 3, 2017, aiming to hit as many pedestrians as possible, before marauding on foot through Borough Market stabbing people at random. Eight people were killed and 48 wounded before police shot the three attackers dead. The coroner oversaw a six-week inquest into the deaths of the victims, and today said the security services should review their methods of tracking terror suspects, as well as recommending “battlefield” medical training for London’s police officers. He also called for a new automatic system for cross-checking vehicle rentals with suspected extremists, and action to protect vulnerable targets across the capital including bridges. Butt had been identified as a “subject of interest” prior to the 2017 atrocity, but the investigation on him was twice suspended as officers were reassigned to higher-priority leads. Mr Lucraft said the security service and counter terror officers have to judge each case individually, but he urged consideration of “scaling back” probes rather than suspending them entirely. He also recommended better communication between police and spies in terror probes, and said it was “cause for some concern” that two tip-offs on Butt, one anonymous and one from his brother in law, had not been properly communicated between the agencies. In the 46-page report, Mr Lucraft said police had often been the first to reach victims of the rather than paramedics, and said Scotland Yard and City of London Police should give officers enhanced medical training equivalent to that received by soldiers in war, “battlefield medicine.” City of London Police told the inquest it has already given first aid training to officers above national standards, as well as providing emergency dressing packs at train stations and trauma kits to businesses, while the Met said its firearms officers already have specialist medical training. The coroner said it remains a “cause for concern” that vehicles could be used in future terror attacks, and said it is “troubling” that London Bridge did not quality as a “priority crowded place” with specialist protection. He urged a national review of the criteria for identifying sites “attractive and vulnerable to terrorists.” He also urged emergency services to consider how areas were designated “hot zones” during a terror attack, which had the effect of barring paramedics from entering to treat victims. He added that his recommendations were not criticism of police and paramedics who had “worked bravely and tirelessly” to treat victims and save lives. The inquest on the victims — Xavier Thomas, 45, Chrissy Archibald, 30, Sara Zelenak, 21, James McMullan, 32, Kirsty Boden, 28, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Sebastien Belanger, 36, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39 — ruled they were unlawfully killed.
|
Tristan Kirk
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/terrorist-propaganda-must-be-banned-after-the-london-bridge-outrage-says-coroner-a4276206.html
|
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 10:55:00 GMT
| 1,572,620,100 | 1,572,611,452 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
196,207 |
foreignpolicy--2019-04-21--Whats Behind the Terrorist Attacks in Sri Lanka
| 2019-04-21T00:00:00 |
foreignpolicy
|
What’s Behind the Terrorist Attacks in Sri Lanka?
|
What’s Behind the Terrorist Attacks in Sri Lanka? More than 300 people have been killed in simultaneous explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that also injured some 500 victims. The coordinated attacks took place on Sunday morning. According to media reports, there were eight blasts in all, including at churches in Negombo and Kochchikade in the country’s west, and Batticaloa in the east. Three luxury hotels in the capital Colombo were also targeted. Sri Lanka’s government says the attacks were carried out by National Thowheeth Jamaath, a little-known radical Islamist group. Colombo has declared an indefinite national curfew and blocked social media networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp in order to prevent the spread of rumors that might spark intercommunal violence, as happened in March 2018 when Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim mosques, businesses, and homes. Forty suspects have been detained in connection with the bombings. On Tuesday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks but authorities have not confirmed the group’s involvement. Sri Lanka has more than 22 million inhabitants. Of these, about three-fourths are ethnic Sinhalese, most of whom are Buddhist. About a sixth of Sri Lankans identify as Tamil—either of Sri Lankan or Indian descent—and are mostly Hindu. About 10 percent of the population is Muslim, and 7 percent Christian—a group that includes both Tamil and Sinhalese. Given that three of the blasts occurred at churches, timed for Easter services, at least part of the attack was aimed at the country’s more than 1.5 million Christians. The almost simultaneous blasts left no time to warn other churchgoers. Reuters cites the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, which represents more than 200 churches and Christian organizations, as having recorded 86 incidents of discrimination, threats, and violence against Christians last year. The other main targets seem to be people who would frequent Colombo’s hotels—usually a mix of tourists, business people, and wealthy locals. At least 30 of the dead are believed to be foreigners. The ability to launch several attacks all at once suggests a degree of sophistication, planning, funding, and reach. While authorities are still piecing together what happened, the blasts bear at least some resemblance to the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which simultaneously targeted two luxury hotels, a busy railway terminal, and a Jewish outreach center. According to Indian intelligence, the Mumbai attacks were designed not only to cause the highest possible number of casualties but also to target groups—such as Western tourists—that would lead to the greatest amount of international media coverage. One of the 2008 attackers was apprehended, and the others were successfully identified, leading authorities in India to declare the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group responsible. But there are several differences with Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka, not least the fact that they were spread out across the country instead of concentrated in a single city, and that unlike in Mumbai, no hostages were taken. On April 11, a top Sri Lankan police official reportedly issued an advisory warning of potential suicide attacks on churches. (This letter has not been independently verified by Foreign Policy.) In that advisory, Deputy Inspector General Priyalal Dassanayake wrote that the radical Islamist group called National Thowheeth Jamaath was planning nationwide attacks. On Monday, Sri Lankan Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne addressed a press conference and pointed to outside help: “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded.” Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe acknowledged that some information about a planned attack had been circulating. “We must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken,” he said. Wickremesinghe’s comments could be interpreted as a criticism of President Maithripala Sirisena, the commander of the country’s security forces. Sri Lanka’s politics have been in turmoil recently. Sirisena became president in 2015 after he won a surprise victory over the strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had controlled the country’s politics for more than a decade. Sirisena appointed his ally Wickremesinghe as prime minister, and the two set out to reform the country’s economy and seek accountability for atrocities committed during the country’s civil war. But Sirisena and Wickremesinghe fell out in 2018, leading the former to suspend Parliament and appoint his onetime rival Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. Weeks later, under pressure from the country’s Supreme Court, Sirisena reinstated Wickremesinghe as prime minister. Relations between the two have not recovered, with observers expecting Sirisena to seek a fresh mandate at the polls. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s economy has grown at a tepid 4 percent, the currency has weakened, and Colombo has struggled to repay loans from donors such as the International Monetary Fund. In one case, Sri Lanka lost a major port—as well as 15,000 acres of land—to China after it could not repay funds it had borrowed for infrastructure projects. While it’s unclear if the country’s history played a role in Sunday’s attacks, Sri Lankans have experienced decades of sectarian violence. In 1948, Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, won independence from British rule. The country’s Sinhalese majority, countering what they saw as colonial favoritism toward Tamils, disenfranchised Indian Tamil migrants, leading to the group’s neglect. That led to the formation of an armed insurgent group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1976. The group initially campaigned for a Tamil homeland in the country’s northeast. But the movement turned violent, with the LTTE attacking police and army forces as it sought greater national prominence. The Tigers became known for their suicide bombings, which they were among the first militants to pioneer, and deployment of child soldiers. In 1997, the U.S. State Department officially designated the LTTE a terrorist group. For years, Sri Lanka’s army—mostly Sinhalese and Buddhist—carried out campaigns to root out the insurgents from their hideouts in the country’s northeast. The war finally ended in 2009 after the army killed LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. But watchdog groups say both the LTTE and the army were guilty of war crimes and rights abuses. According to the United Nations, about 40,000 civilians were killed in the final stages of the civil war. Tourism dropped sharply during the war years, hitting a low point after a tsunami devastated Sri Lanka in 2004. There were only 500,000 visitors in 2009; the industry has since recovered to attract 2 million visitors last year. Even so, the tensions of Sri Lanka’s bloody history have lingered. The final, intense period of the civil war left hundreds of thousands of Tamils displaced, thousands of whom are still missing. Communal tensions reignited last year: In the central district of Kandy, Buddhist Sinhalese mobs attacked mosques and Muslim establishments. In response, Colombo imposed a nationwide state of emergency. In 2016, Sri Lankan authorities reported that 32 Sri Lankans had joined the Islamic State, but the terrorist group is not known to have a presence in the country. This story has been updated to reflect recent developments.
|
FP Editors
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https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/21/whats-behind-the-terrorist-attacks-in-sri-lanka/
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2019-04-21 23:35:44+00:00
| 1,555,904,144 | 1,567,542,278 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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196,612 |
foreignpolicy--2019-07-02--Germany Has a Neo-Nazi Terror Epidemic
| 2019-07-02T00:00:00 |
foreignpolicy
|
Germany Has a Neo-Nazi Terror Epidemic
|
When the German politician Walter Lübcke was found shot in the head outside of his home near Kassel on June 2, commentators were quick to assert that a right-wing extremist was the most likely culprit. Even the police seemed half-hearted in their calls for restraint in judging the motive of the crime, and the brief suspicion that the culprit had been someone close to the victim was quickly laid to rest. The unanimity of the official response, in one sense, was admirably forthright. But it was also its own national admission of negligence. Lübcke, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, served as Kassel district president from 2009 until his death and had long been a figure of regional importance. Tributes from local papers emphasize that he was widely liked and had good relationships with his constituents. In 2015, however, he became a favorite target of right-wingers throughout Germany when, in the midst of the refugee crisis, he told an assembly gathered in the West German city of Lohfelden about the planned construction of a refugee camp, and he brushed away dissent by saying that Germany is a country based on Christian values, including charity, and “anyone who doesn’t share these values, anyone who doesn’t agree, is welcome to leave the country at any time. Every German has that freedom.” Lübcke received more than 350 emails immediately following the event, including numerous death threats. He was placed under police protection, but right-wing extremists ensured that outrage about Lübcke’s statement remained fresh. A few days after the event, the German Turkish author Akif Pirincci, speaking at a far-right rally, said that Lübcke had only suggested that ethnic Germans leave the country because the concentration camps had long been closed, implying that Lübcke’s preferred solution would have been the mass execution of his political opponents. Pirincci’s speech ensured Lübcke’s infamy in far-right circles. Erika Steinbach, a politician formerly with the right wing of the CDU, shared the video of Lübcke’s statement at the assembly to her 120,000 followers on social media three times, most recently in February of this year, while right-wing websites such as PI-News ran pieces about Lübcke on a regular basis. So it surprised no one when news broke that Stephan Ernst, the suspect in Lübcke’s murder, had a history of racist violence and ties to far-right groups. The killing has provoked widespread condemnations of the ascendancy of right-wing terrorism in Germany; even traditionally conservative leaders such as Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer are now saying that they need to play catch-up in the fight against the far-right and have promised to devote increased resources to policing right-wing terrorists. But critics say that the German state has a long history of ignoring reactionary terrorism. Tanjev Schultz, a professor of journalism at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and the author of a prizewinning book about right-wing terrorism in Germany, says that in Germany’s public imagination terrorism tends to be associated with the left. Memories of the Red Army Faction and the series of political assassinations it undertook are still in the foreground of many Germans’ minds. Meanwhile, neofascistic terrorist attacks like the bombing of a Munich beer garden in 1980 have been largely forgotten. This blindness to right-wing terrorism is one of the reasons, Schultz told me, that it took authorities so long to recognize that the 10 murders carried out by the National Socialist Underground (NSU) beginning in 2000 were the work of a terrorist organization. Indeed, as Jacob Kushner has documented in Foreign Policy, authorities largely tried to restrict the investigation into the group’s three core members, Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt, and Beate Zschäpe, despite the fact that there was strong evidence that they had substantial support from other right-wing extremists, as well as some indication that some of that support may have come from within the government. Seehofer’s promise to devote increased resources to combating right-wing terrorism has thus encountered widespread skepticism that the commitment will be upheld. That impression has been reinforced by separate investigations that have recently revealed right-wing networks within German police forces: In December 2018, an investigation into Frankfurt’s police force revealed a group chat that regularly employed Nazi iconography. On June 26, police searched the apartment of a member of the group chat, who has been accused of sending racist faxes to one of the lawyers who represented a victim of the NSU—one of them threatened to butcher the lawyer’s young daughter. They were signed “NSU 2.0.” Then, on June 28, news broke that an organization called Nordkreuz had used police records to compile a “death list” of almost 25,000 liberal and left-leaning politicians—it had also stockpiled weapons, body bags, and quicklime. Hope that federal authorities would intervene where local authorities had failed to act are also dim given that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s answer to the NSA, has often been accused of complicity in right-wing activity. This is seen most drastically, as Kushner documents in his Foreign Policy story, in the office’s failure to make proper use of informants during the investigation in the NSU. More recently, the former head of the organization, Hans-Georg Maaßen, drew criticism for his baseless claims that videos of right-wing violence during an August 2018 riot in Chemnitz were doctored. Though Lübcke’s death is a milestone, similar attacks have proliferated in recent years. In 2015 and 2017, respectively, the mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, and Andreas Hollstein, the mayor of the West German town of Altena, suffered politically oriented knife attacks. Reker was severely wounded, as were several of her companions. Hollstein escaped with minor injuries after employees of the Turkish restaurant where he was eating disarmed the perpetrator. Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung recently the DPA press agency that there were about three politically motivated crimes against politicians in Germany on a daily basis, with local politicians being especially vulnerable. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the German state has long had difficulties preventing right-wing violence and apprehending its perpetrators because there’s substantial sympathy for neofascistic causes within the German government. But the situation is also more complicated—the diffuse structures of right-wing organizations make it legitimately difficult to differentiate between lone wolves and members of criminal conspiracies, and the ubiquity of online expression of rage makes it hard to differentiate serious threats from idle fantasies. Though some activists are calling for a widespread crackdown on all forms of right-wing activity, others fear that broad approaches could serve to further radicalize right-wingers. When we spoke, Schultz, the journalism professor, suggested that a series of reeducation programs might be a positive step but feared that they would end up reaching the wrong people. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government will have to do something more radical than a simple increase in police resources if it wishes to effectively combat the rise of the far-right—not least because the issue threatens to tear her political party, the CDU, apart. The right wing of the CDU had already been frustrated by its leader’s tolerant stance during the refugee crisis, and now more liberal members of the party are busy accusing their more conservative counterparts of complicity in Lübcke’s death. Germany’s other major centrist party, the Social Democratic Party, has already been decimated by increasing frustration with its willingness to concede to the demands of the CDU within Germany’s governing coalition. If the CDU wishes to escape its fate, it will have to do more than simply root out extremist networks—it will need to find a way of redirecting the forces of right-wing anger.
|
Peter Kuras
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https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/02/germany-has-a-neo-nazi-terror-epidemic/
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2019-07-02 21:32:54+00:00
| 1,562,117,574 | 1,567,537,270 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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197,205 |
foreignpolicy--2019-09-28--What Terror Experts Can Learn From Public Health Experts
| 2019-09-28T00:00:00 |
foreignpolicy
|
What Terror Experts Can Learn From Public Health Experts
|
What Terror Experts Can Learn From Public Health Experts In the early 2000s, two events sowed fear in the United States and around the world: the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003. In the years that followed, the professional communities responsible for responding to these threats, and informing the public about them, have followed two very different paths. In the fight against deadly diseases, public health experts have sought to balance the need for preparedness with their duty to avoid hyperbole, which can lead to panic. National security experts should adopt this same ethos. SARS started in China and spread around the world, leaving hundreds of people dead. The global public health community mobilized immediately to contain the epidemic—and to manage perceptions of it. “SARS is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with seriously. Yet our actions must be based on facts and experience, not on fears,” Richard Schabas, the chief of staff at York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill, Canada, wrote in an article for the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2003. “The response should not be worse than the disease.” “We will continue to see new SARS cases, usually at relatively low levels but with occasional flare-ups,” he continued. “In other words, we should plan on getting used to living with SARS.” As infections spread, polls showed that SARS was a top fear among Americans, surpassing even terrorism in apparent level of concern. In 2003, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave regular press briefings aimed to communicate a “common sense and prudent recommendations from a public health perspective without causing unnecessary fear and panic or overreaction in the public.” Public health specialists debated how “to reconcile the tension between the public’s health and individual rights to privacy, liberty, and freedom of movement.” During the Ebola outbreak in 2014, this pattern repeated: The director of the CDC reassured Americans the virus was “not going to be a huge risk in the U.S.” Public health experts debated [ how “to ensure that sound science drives public health decisions and that civil liberties and individual privacy are not eroded.” At moments like these, public health professionals are responsible for addressing low-odds, high-impact threats to public safety—just the sorts of threats that terrorism experts face. But public health experts at the highest levels of the profession have long tried to balance preparedness and panic and routinely reflect on whether that balance has been achieved. Terrorism experts, by contrast, have not by and large adhered to similar approach. In the wake of 9/11, many national security professionals issued assessments claiming that the world had entered a new era of repeated mass casualty attacks. Fears of such attacks—especially those carried out by Islamist revolutionaries—rose dramatically. Many of those fears were not borne out, and the expert community made comparatively little effort to mitigate public anxiety and took little professional responsibility for examining the failures of their predictions. In 2003, at the same time as the SARS crisis, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that the bureau strongly suspected the presence in the United States of several hundred extremists linked to al Qaeda. As it turned out, by the Justice Department’s own accounts, fewer than a dozen people in the United States were convicted in subsequent years for links with al Qaeda (though such links may not have been made public in an unknown number of additional cases). Terrorism makes up a very small portion of the violence in the United States: approximately one-tenth of 1 percent of the country’s 280,000 murders since 2001. Every incident of terrorism is a tragedy. It is fortunate that such tragedies have been relatively rare. Terrorist attacks by their very nature leave deeper scars on society than other forms of violence. But that doesn’t make them likelier. The U.S. government has not revealed any conspiracies on the scale of the 9/11 plot, despite assigning thousands of officials to counterterrorism investigations. Yet Mueller never withdrew his threat assessment. In 2006, he turned to the idea of an evolving terrorist threat driven by “smaller, more loosely-defined individuals and cells” that “may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda, if not more so.” He repeated this formulation many times through the end of his tenure at the FBI, and the doctrine of evolving threats was taken up through the national security profession, along with the implication that current threats were just as dire as that of 9/11. In 2011, after years without significant terrorist plots in the United States, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano warned: “The terrorist threat to the homeland is, in many ways, at its most heightened state since 9/11.” Jeh Johnson, her successor, testified in 2016 that the Islamic State’s online recruitment constituted “a new phase in the global terrorist threat, requiring a whole new type of response.” In 2017, after the Islamic State had lost most of its territory and the pace of terrorism had slowed, Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of homeland security, testified: “Today, the magnitude of the threat we face from terrorism is equal to, and in many ways exceeds, the 9/11 period.” These officials viewed preparedness as their primary mission. But this sole focus missed other priorities that are standard in the field of public health, including a commitment to empirical evidence—responses to a threat must be proportional to the evidence of the threat, rather than fear and speculation, and these responses must constantly be reviewed and recalibrated as new evidence emerges. In recent years, the number of terrorism plots and attacks—especially those carried out by Islamist radicals—has declined dramatically, both in the United States and globally, according to the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. The U.S. State Department has also reduced its estimate of the size of foreign terrorist organizations. Yet terrorism professionals have not updated their policy recommendations. Instead, the notion of evolving threats has continued to justify the expansion of counterterrorism policies and security agencies, regardless of the actual scale of terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security budget, excluding disaster relief, doubled between fiscal year 2006 and fiscal year 2018. Exaggerated fear of terrorism has played a role in bigotry toward Muslims. Americans’ fear of terrorism has increased in recent years, even as the trauma of 9/11 receded and the odds of victimization declined to miniscule levels. In 2017, 42 percent of Gallup survey respondents said they were worried that someone in their family would become a victim of terrorism. Preparedness has begun to look like panic. Exaggerated fear of terrorism has played a role in bigotry toward Muslims, despite repeated statements by the George W. Bush and Obama administrations differentiating between Muslim extremists and Muslim communities at large. Over the past decade, Americans’ attitudes toward Muslims have become considerably more negative, according to surveys asking versions of the question, “Is your overall opinion of Muslims favorable or unfavorable?” Suspicion that Muslim Americans pose a threat to the Constitution ceased to be a fringe position in U.S. politics, growing to the point that 26 percent of respondents in one survey said Islam should be illegal in the United States. Another 21 percent said they were not sure. During the 2016 presidential race, Donald Trump stoked these fears, falsely claiming that there were thousands of shooters like Omar Mateen, the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooter, at large in the United States. There have been no Muslim mass shooters in the subsequent three years, while several far-right extremists have carried out shootings in 2019 alone—most recently at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where an anti-immigrant extremist shot 46 shoppers, killing 22. On the campaign trail, Trump’s major policy speech on terrorism included the false claim that the Obama administration was ignoring “support networks for radical Islam in this country.” The Trump administration has not identified any such support networks. The suspension of visas to citizens from several Muslim-majority countries was premised on the false suggestion that visitors from these countries posed a significant threat to the United States. Extremists from “visa ban” countries accounted for zero fatalities in the preceding two decades. A wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was proposed on the false grounds that terrorists, in Trump’s words, “are pouring into our country.” There have been no terrorist attacks by migrants who crossed the border illegally. Trump falsely claimed that a member of Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar, supports terrorism. She doesn’t. The political success of these falsehoods among segments of the American population in part reflects distorted public understandings of terrorism and the threat it poses, which national security experts have not done enough to counteract. A handful of scholars, such as the political scientist John Mueller at Ohio State University, have warned for years that national security fears are overblown. But few prominent experts have publicly examined their own role, however unintended, in preparing the ground for fear, bigotry, and hyperbole. A rare retrospective by two former counterterrorism officials, Andrew Liepman and Philip Mudd, marveled at how wrong their past threat assessments had been: “No one in the dizzying days after 9/11 would have believed that annual terrorism-related casualties [in the United States] leading into 2017 would number only in the dozens; experts might have predicted hundreds, even thousands.” Liepman and Mudd worried that “the United States is obsessed with terrorism, to an unhealthy and illogical degree,” but did not address the ways in which their own threat assessments may have contributed to this obsession. Dan Coats, Trump’s former director of national intelligence, this year sought to put terrorist threats in perspective, releasing an assessment arguing that “the frequency of attacks most likely will be very low compared to most other forms of criminal violence in the US.” He added a caveat: That would only remain the case “as long as [counterterrorism] and law enforcement efforts remain constant.” Still, it was encouraging to hear a national security official acknowledge that terrorism pales in comparison to other threats to public safety. Coats has since been removed from office, but his statement offers a model for national security professionals. Like the leadership of the CDC during the SARS and Ebola crises, responsible officials need to weigh the risks posed by inattention against the risks posed by overattention. An evenhanded approach to national security, drawing professional and ethical lessons from the field of public health, would include conferences and research exploring why terrorism never lived up to the threat assessments issued after 9/11 and how to avoid overreactions in the future. It would ensure that national security publications, testimony, and public statements avoid hyperbole and correct the public record when policymakers exaggerate. It would propose policies and resource allocations that are calibrated to the scale of the threat, rising when threats rise and shrinking when threats shrink, even if that means cutting the budgets of the experts’ own organizations. There will be more terrorist attacks. Terrorism cannot be eradicated completely, just as other forms of violence cannot be eradicated completely. After each tragedy, national security experts have a duty to use their television interviews, social media accounts, and op-eds—whatever influence they may have—to help rebuild the public resilience that has been damaged by the doctrine of evolving threats.
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Charles Kurzman
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https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/09/28/what-terror-experts-can-learn-from-public-health-experts/
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2019-09-28 21:43:20+00:00
| 1,569,721,400 | 1,570,222,039 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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198,348 |
fortruss--2019-03-15--New Zealand Tragedy Terrorism has No Religion
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
fortruss
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New Zealand Tragedy: Terrorism has No Religion
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From what little we know about the perpetrators of what’s surely NZ’s worst terrorist attack … the main figure appears to be an Australian who arrived here “recently”. We often hear certain sorts of people going on about the “threat” from “Muslim migration” or whatever other demographic they can scaremonger about. And yet, quite directly – quite simply – what we have seen here is the opposite. Shootings at multiple sites, would-be bombings, and other such things, with a stated intent to show “nowhere in the world is safe” … as carried out by English-speaking white chaps. Now I am *not* attempting to say that having white Anglosphere migrants turn up at your door is an intrinsic security risk. But once again: this incident shows quite plainly that “the script” which many subconsciously run on … of “terror incident” means one group [an Eastern religion] being the perpetrator , and another group they’re more closely related to being the victims … is worse than useless. It’s an outright *obscuration* of fact. What has happened here is quite simple. At least one foreigner – and in all probability, also some Kiwis (although the IDs of several arrested have not yet been released to confirm this) – have come here, to kill New Zealanders, and our guests here in this country (potentially including the Bangladeshi cricket team). They have done so, in order to further, to perpetuate, to *perpetrate*, an ideological agenda that has no place here in New Zealand. Yet because the identified perpetrators are white, they will have been able to walk down the street, operate in our communities with *far less* suspicion or sideways-looks upon them, than an ordinary and morally blameless person who might look like they’re of a particular swathe of religious minorities here in NZ. For a third time: I am NOT seeking to suggest that there’s some innate connection between being a white man , and carrying out some sort of brain-dead act of brutality. What I *am* saying, is that – as applies the New Zealand experience today, especially – “terrorism has no [intrinsic] religion”. It is “political” violence, sought to be amplified through media, to push whatever abys(m)al agenda could not be attained through reasoned discourse. If you’re from any of the various tendencies out there which have previously sought to suggest that it’s “only” a “Muslim issue” [which flies flat in the face of the fact that, for a start, the previous incident of international terrorism which took place here in NZ was, in point of fact, *French* government authored] you should probably Adjust your Perceptions, accordingly.
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Curwen Ares Rolinson
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https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/03/new-zealand-tragedy-terrorism-has-no-religion/
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2019-03-15 17:45:10+00:00
| 1,552,686,310 | 1,567,546,180 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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218,520 |
freebeacon--2019-11-26--U.S. Citizen Killed in Terror Attack in Afghanistan
| 2019-11-26T00:00:00 |
freebeacon
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U.S. Citizen Killed in Terror Attack in Afghanistan
|
The State Department said on Tuesday that a U.S. citizen was killed this week in a terror attack in Afghanistan on a United Nations convoy. California resident Anil Raj, a U.S. citizen, was killed in the attack. Five other civilians were injured in the strike, including U.N. staff. "We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the victim following this tragic incident and send our best wishes for a speedy recovery for those who were injured," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in remarks confirming Raj's death. "Attacks targeting U.N. personnel working to help the Afghan people are unconscionable, and we condemn this act in the strongest possible terms," Pompeo said.
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Adam Kredo
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https://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-citizen-killed-in-terror-attack-in-afghanistan/
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Tue, 26 Nov 2019 19:15:00 +0000
| 1,574,813,700 | 1,574,816,091 |
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act of terror
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225,201 |
frontpagemagazine--2019-02-26--New York Magazine Publishes Anti-Semitic Rant in Support of Anti-Semitic Terror Group
| 2019-02-26T00:00:00 |
frontpagemagazine
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New York Magazine Publishes Anti-Semitic Rant in Support of Anti-Semitic Terror Group
|
The media has been saturated with Qatari/Iranian propaganda in support of Iran's Houthi terrorists in Yemen. The motto of the Houthi Jihadists is, "Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam". The Houthis really don't want lefty apologists to misunderstand their hatred for Jews as being, in the apologist parlance, mere anti-Zionism. They're anti- Semitic and they want us to know it. Despite that (or perhaps because of it), the media has embraced the Houthis (while often refusing to provide any details about them). The Washington Post, D.C.'s Jihadist social justice tabloid, gave a Houthi leader space to spread his propaganda. And the media has popularized the lie that Saudi air strikes have been responsible for the famine in Yemen, when it was the Houthis. The AP was the lone holdout in breaking the media's embargo of Iranian propaganda [and published the facts](https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272418 /ap-investigation-shows-its-iranian-terrorists-not-daniel-greenfield). > The Houthis, a Zaidi-Shiite religious movement turned rebel militia, control an expanse of northern and western Yemen that is home to more than 70 percent of the country’s population. In these areas, officials and relief workers say, Houthi rebels have moved aggressively to control the flow of food aid, putting pressure on international relief workers with threats of arrest or exile and setting up checkpoints that demand payments of “customs taxes” as trucks carrying aid try to move across rebel territory. > > “Since the Houthis came to power, looting has been on a large scale,” said Abdullah al-Hamidi, who served as acting education minister in the Houthi-run government in the north before defecting to the coalition side earlier this year. “This is why the poor get nothing. What really arrives to people is very little.” > > Each month in Sanaa, he said, at least 15,000 food baskets that the education ministry was supposed to provide to hungry families were instead diverted to the black market or used to feed Houthi militiamen serving on the front lines. > > Half of the food baskets that the U.N. food program provides to Houthi- controlled areas are stored and distributed by the ministry, which is chaired by the brother of the rebels’ top leader.. But the media has chosen to ignore the facts, and instead kept on printing the same Orwellian propaganda about how there would be plenty of food in Yemen if the Saudis stopped bombing the Houthis. Plenty of Senate Republicans, who seem to get their foreign news from the Washington Post, climbed on board. Then procedural problems arose, in part of because of Rep. Omar's anti-Semitic outbursts, leading to this deranged screed by Eric Levitz in New York Magazine. > "The GOP Just Used Crocodile Tears About Anti-Semitism to Abet Mass Murder in Yemen - New York Magazine" At no point in time does Eric Levitz mention that he is defending an anti- Semitic terrorist group. The only time he mentions the Houthis is when he's dismissing the significance of the Holocaust. > For all the Holocaust’s idiosyncratic features, on the individual level, it was experienced as mass murder; and mass murder is not an exceptional feature of human history. You don’t need to be a Polish Jew in the 1930s to see your family slaughtered because one powerful group wants your kind dead, while the others have no particular interest in keeping them alive. You could just as well be a Lakota “Indian” in late 19th-century South Dakota, or a Palestinian refugee at Sabra in 1982, or a malnourished mother in Houthi-controlled Yemen today. If I refuse to define my grandmother by her ethnicity and religion (as those who orphaned her did) — if I insist on remembering her primarily as a human being rather than as a Jew — then Republicans have no interest in respecting the historical traumas Levitz equates the Houthis, who call for the murder of Jews, with the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, while dismissing the relevance of anti-Semitism. And it comes complete with the traditional lefty minstrel show of, "I'm a human being, not a Jew." That turns into, "The Jews are the Real Nazis". > In fact, as McConnell has just demonstrated, Republicans (and some Democrats) don’t just refuse to acknowledge any moral tension between intoning “never again,” and facilitating atrocities in Yemen (or obfuscating the president’s hate speech against Native Americans, Muslims, and immigrants, or Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians) While Levitz yowls about the Muslim majority in Yemen, there was indeed a Jewish minority in Yemen that was ethnically cleansed. Eric Levitz and New York Magazine predictably don't care about them. They're Jews. And they support the anti-Semitic Jihadist killers of Jews. There is a simple lesson here The Left is an inherently anti-Semitic movement. It is an anti-Semitic movement because of its ideology, but also because it harbors a sizable component of persons of Jewish ethnic origin who violently hate the Jewish people. Any movement filled with people like Eric Levitz will become anti-Semitic. This form of bigotry is not entirely unique to Jews. Most oppressed minority groups have outbursts of group self-hatred (this is distinct from individual self-hatred, a common mistake when referring to 'self-hating Jews'. But the situation among Jews is far worse for cultural reasons that are largely present among secular Ashkenazi Jews due to their post-Enlightenment history. The Holocaust has not made this group less anti-Semitic, only more so. And so they will, like Levitz, cheer actual modern day Nazis while dismissing the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. And then put on their cheap facade of moral outrage on behalf of the anti-Semites.
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Daniel Greenfield
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https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272991/new-york-magazine-publishes-anti-semitic-rant-daniel-greenfield
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2019-02-26 19:36:42+00:00
| 1,551,227,802 | 1,567,547,327 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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225,414 |
frontpagemagazine--2019-04-22--Islamic Terror Sister Group in Easter Bombings Claimed No Muslim Could Be Associated wTerrorism
| 2019-04-22T00:00:00 |
frontpagemagazine
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Islamic Terror Sister Group in Easter Bombings Claimed No Muslim Could Be Associated w/Terrorism
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Islamist political groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, always claim that Muslims can never be associated with terrorism, even as Islamist military groups, including their own arms, engage in it. National Thowheeth Jama'ath, a Sri Lankan Islamist group, has been accused of being behind the Easter Sunday bombings. A number of those arrested have links to NTJ. While ISIS claimed credit for it, the Islamic terror group abroad operates mostly through affiliates and allies. A number of Sri Lankan Muslims had gone to fight with ISIS. But it seems unlikely that a massive terror operation like this could have been anything but a partnership between ISIS and local Islamists, with ISIS providing the vision and local Islamists actually implementing it. That brings us back to National Thowheeth Jama'ath, which, until recently, had operated on the Muslim Brotherhood model, [pushing Islamic law,](http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2019/apr/22/sri-lanka-blasts-why- is-national-thowheed-jamath-under-the-scanner-1967615.html) while condemning bias against Muslims and claiming that it was fighting for Muslim civil rights. > The NTJ or the National Thowheed Jamath is a right-wing Islamic extremist outfit with a presence mainly in the eastern province of Sri Lanka. The group is also infamous for preaching ‘Wahabi’ Islamic teachings to its followers. Besides this, it aggressively promotes Sharia law, building of mosques, and instructs Muslim women to observe ‘purdah’. > > There’s very little information available about this controversial outfit, but it is said to have originated in a Muslim-dominated eastern town of Sri Lanka – Kattankudy. > > The NTJ is believed to be a splinter group of the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaat (STLJ), another Islamist group based in the country. > > Abdul Razik, NTJ’s secretary, has been accused of giving inflammatory speeches during his sermons. Back in 2014, Razik also spewed venom against Buddhism. > > The NTJ was also linked with the vandalism of Buddhist statues in Sri Lanka last year, resulting in rising communal tensions between Buddhists and Muslims. Razik was arrested in 2016 on the charges of disrupting peace. At this point, things become somewhat confusing, because of the ambigious relationship between the [various Thowheed Jaamats](https://www.rediff.com/news/report/we-have-nothing-to-do-with-the- blasts-in-lanka/20190422.htm). > The Tamil Nadu Tauheed Jamaat has a three floor building in the heart of old Chennai, on Armenian street, not far from the Madras high court. It runs two mosques in Chennai and has other offices for social work. > > The reception at the TNTJ head office has a display of various books on Islam. We are told the TNTJ employs writers to produce these books which the Jamaat then publishes. It also publishes two magazines in Tamil. > > "We have been doing social work for 30 years and no journalist thought about writing about us and today so many of you have come here," chides TNTJ General Secretary E Mohammad. > > Though he speaks about 30 years of service, the organisation was only registered 15 years ago, in 2004. > > Wikipedia says the organisation was founded by P Jainulabdeen, but Mohammad says the founder was removed by the TNTJ governing body as his activities violated its principles. Specifically, he was apparently accused of sexual misconduct. > "The blasts in Lanka are against our ideology. They say Islamists have done it. They are naming the National Tauheed Jamaat. We don't know who they are. We have nothing to do with them," says Mohammad. > > "We have a sister organisation in Lanka called the Sri Lanka Tauheed Jamaat," he adds. "It has worked with the government there. After the blasts, they collected over 100 bottles of blood for the victims." That would appear to be the TNJ being linked to the bombing. Meanwhile its "sister organization" has gone around [condemning terrorism](https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu /human-chain-against-terrorism/article6606310.ece). > Scores of cadres belonging to the Tamil Nadu Tawheed Jamaath (TNTJ) participated in the human chain formed here to make aloud the Muslim voice against terrorism and terrorist activities. > > The TNTJ was spearheading a concerted bid to make known to the world in general and India in particular that no Muslim could ever be associated with terrorist activities, said the Thanjavur North district president of the TNTJ Swamimalai Jaffar speaking at a human chain programme held near the Diamond Theatre on Thanjavur Road. Speakers at the meet stressed that it was the TNTJs effort to paint the correct picture of the peaceful community as a whole. > > Participants held aloft placards and hoardings denouncing terrorism and stressing that terrorism has no role in a true Islamic society. Because by then the terrorists will be in charge. It's a clever dodge. There had already [been signs ](https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india- news-india/man-records-statement-against-son-accused-of-is-links/)that NTJ was, like all Islamist groups, a Jihadist gateway. > In what could be a first for a terror probe in the country, the father of a youth arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for alleged links to the Islamic State (IS) has given a statement before a magistrate corroborating how his son was drawn to jihadist ideology. The statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) will be used as evidence against the son... > > Hailing from Thanjavur, Naseer did computer engineering at MNM Engineering College in Chennai between 2010 and 2014. It was during this period that Naseer and a couple of his friends started visiting a mosque in Chennai run by the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath, a non-political Islamic organisation that preaches a puritanical version of Islam. It was founded by P Jainul Abdeen in 2004, when he broke away from the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. > > Naseer attended around 30 to 40 lectures on religious discourse by Jainul Abdeen. He also began to pore over the website onlinepj.com dealing with Islamic discourse, he has allegedly told interrogators. It's the same old story.
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Daniel Greenfield
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https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273553/islamic-terror-sister-group-easter-bombings-daniel-greenfield
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2019-04-22 17:33:15+00:00
| 1,555,968,795 | 1,567,542,203 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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230,864 |
globalresearch--2019-09-06--Examining 911 and Americas War on Terrorism
| 2019-09-06T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
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Examining 9/11 and America’s “War on Terrorism”
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“The livelihood of millions of people throughout the World is at stake. It is my sincere hope that the truth will prevail and that the understanding provided in this detailed study will serve the cause of World peace. This objective, however, can only be reached by revealing the falsehoods behind America’s “War on Terrorism” and questioning the legitimacy of the main political and military actors responsible for extensive war crimes.” (Michel Chossudovsky, August 2005 ) Below is the preface of Michel Chossudovsky’s 2005 bestseller: America’s “War on Terrorism“, available from our online store. “America’s War on Terrorism” was launched at 9.30pm on September 11, 2001 At eleven o’clock, on the morning of September 11, the Bush administration had already announced that Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) and the Pentagon. This assertion was made prior to the conduct of an indepth police investigation. That same evening at 9:30 pm, a “War Cabinet” was formed integrated by a select number of top intelligence and military advisors. And at 11:00 pm, at the end of that historic meeting at the White House, the “War on Terrorism” was officially launched. The decision was announced to wage war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in retribution for the 9/11 attacks. The following morning on September 12th, the news headlines indelibly pointed to “state sponsorship” of the 9/11 attacks. In chorus, the US media was calling for a military intervention against Afghanistan. Barely four weeks later, on the 7th of October, Afghanistan was bombed and invaded by US troops.Americans were led to believe that the decision to go to war had been taken on the spur of the moment, on the evening of September 11, in response to the attacks and their tragic consequences. Little did the public realize that a large scale theater war is never planned and executed in a matter of weeks. The decision to launch a war and send troops to Afghanistan had been taken well in advance of 9/11. The “terrorist, massive, casualty-producing event” as it was later described by CentCom Commander General Tommy Franks, served to galvanize public opinion in support of a war agenda which was already in its final planning stage. The tragic events of 9/11 provided the required justification to wage a war on “humanitarian grounds”, with the full support of World public opinion and the endorsement of the “international community”. Several prominent “progressive” intellectuals made a case for “retaliation against terrorism”, on moral and ethical grounds. The “just cause” military doctrine (jus ad bellum) was accepted and upheld at face value as a legitimate response to 9/11,without examining the fact that Washington had not only supported the “Islamic terror network”, it was also instrumental in the installation of the Taliban government in 1996. In the wake of 9/11, the antiwar movement was completely isolated. The trade unions and civil society organizations had swallowed the media lies and government propaganda. They had accepted a war of retribution against Afghanistan, an impoverished country of 30 million people. I started writing on the evening of September 11, late into the night, going through piles of research notes, which I had previously collected on the history of Al Qaeda. My first text entitled “Who is Osama bin Laden?”, which was completed and first published on September the 12th. (See Chapter II.) From the very outset, I questioned the official story, which described nineteen Al Qaeda sponsored hijackers involved in a highly sophisticated and organized operation. My first objective was to reveal the true nature of this illusive “enemy of America”, who was “threatening the Homeland”. The myth of the “outside enemy” and the threat of “Islamic terrorists” was the cornerstone of the Bush administration’s military doctrine, used as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, not to xii America’s “War on Terrorism” mention the repeal of civil liberties and constitutional government in America. Without an “outside enemy”, there could be no “war on terrorism”. The entire national security agenda would collapse “like a deck of cards”. The war criminals in high office would have no leg to stand on. It was consequently crucial for the development of a coherent antiwar and civil rights movement, to reveal the nature of Al Qaeda and its evolving relationship to successive US administrations. Amply documented but rarely mentioned by the mainstream media, Al Qaeda was a creation of the CIA going back to the Soviet- Afghan war. This was a known fact, corroborated by numerous sources including official documents of the US Congress. The intelligence community had time and again acknowledged that they had indeed supported Osama bin Laden, but that in the wake of the Cold War: “he turned against us”. After 9/11, the campaign of media disinformation served not only to drown the truth but also to kill much of the historical evidence on how this illusive “outside enemy” had been fabricated and transformed into “Enemy Number One”. The Balkans Connection My research on the Balkans conducted since the mid-1990s enabled me to document numerous ties and connections between Al Qaeda and the US Administration. The US military, the CIA and NATO had supported Al Qaeda in the Balkans. Washington’s objective was to trigger ethnic conflict and destabilize the Yugoslav federation, first in Bosnia, then in Kosovo. In 1997, the Republican Party Committee (RPC) of the US Senate released a detailed report which accused President Clinton of collaborating with the “Islamic Militant Network” in Bosnia and working hand in glove with an organization linked to Osama bin Laden. (See Chapter III.) The report, however,was not widely publicized. Instead, the Republicans chose to discredit Clinton for his liaison with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Clinton Administration had also been providing covert support to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a paramilitary group supported by Al Qaeda, which was involved in numerous terrorist attacks. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, more commonly known as MI6, together with former members of Britain’s 22nd Special Air Services Regiment (SAS) were providing training to the KLA, despite its extensive links to organized crime and the drug trade. Meanwhile, known and documented, several Al Qaeda operatives had integrated the ranks of the KLA. (See Chapter III). In the months leading up to 9/11, I was actively involved in research on the terror attacks in Macedonia, waged by the self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA) of Macedonia, a paramilitary army integrated by KLA commanders. Al Qaeda Mujahideen had integrated the NLA. Meanwhile, senior US military officers from a private mercenary company on contract to the Pentagon were advising the terrorists. Barely a couple of months prior to 9/11, US military advisers were seen mingling with Al Qaeda operatives within the same paramilitary army. In late June 2001, seventeen US “instructors” were identified among the withdrawing rebels. To avoid the diplomatic humiliation and media embarrassment of senior US military personnel captured together with “Islamic terrorists” by the Macedonian Armed Forces, the US and NATO pressured the Macedonian government to allow the NLA terrorists and their US military advisers to be evacuated. The evidence, including statements by the Macedonian Prime Minister and press reports out of Macedonia, pointed unequivocally to continued US covert support to the “Islamic brigades” in the former Yugoslavia. This was not happening in the bygone era of the Cold War, but in June 2001, barely a couple of months prior to 9/11. These developments, which I was following on a daily basis, immediately cast doubt in my mind on the official 9/11 narrative which presented Al Qaeda as the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Chapter IV.) On the 12th of September, a mysterious Lieutenant General, head of Pakistan’s Military Intelligence (ISI), who according to the US press reports “happened to be in Washington at the time of the attacks”, was called into the office of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitrage. The “War on Terrorism” had been officially launched late in the night of September 11, and Dick Armitage was asking General Mahmoud Ahmad to help America “in going after the terrorists”. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was on the phone with Secretary of State Colin Powell and the following morning, on the 13th of September, a comprehensive agreement, was reached between the two governments. While the press reports confirmed that Pakistan would support the Bush administration in the “war on terror”, what they failed to mention was the fact that Pakistan`s military intelligence (ISI) headed by General Ahmad had a longstanding relationship to the Islamic terror network. Documented by numerous sources, the ISI was known to have supported a number of Islamic organizations including Al Qaeda and the Taliban. (See Chapter IV.) My first reaction in reading news headlines on the 13th of September was to ask: if the Bush administration were really committed to weeding out the terrorists, why would it call upon Pakistan`s ISI, which is known to have supported and financed these terrorist organizations? Two weeks later, an FBI report, which was briefly mentioned on ABC News, pointed to a “Pakistani connection” in the financing of the alleged 9/11 terrorists. The ABC report referred to a Pakistani “moneyman” and “mastermind” behind the 9/11 hijackers. Subsequent reports indeed suggested that the head of Pakistan’s military intelligence, General Mahmoud Ahmad, who had met Colin Powell on the 13th of September 2001, had allegedly ordered the transfer of 100,000 dollars to the 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. What these reports suggested was that the head of Pakistan’s military intelligence was not only in close contact with senior officials of the US Government, he was also in liaison with the alleged hijackers. My writings on the Balkans and Pakistani connections, published in early October 2001 were later incorporated into the first edition of this book. In subsequent research, I turned my attention to the broader US strategic and economic agenda in Central Asia and the Middle East. There is an intricate relationship between War and Globalization. The “War on Terror” has been used as a pretext to conquer new economic frontiers and ultimately establish corporate control over Iraq’s extensive oil reserves. Ordering from within North America? We have special bulk offers: 3 copies for $40.00 (US and Canada only) 10 copies for $120.00 (US and Canada only) 1 box (30 copies) for $285 (US and Canada only) In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the disinformation campaign went into full gear. Known and documented prior to the invasion, Britain and the US made extensive use of fake intelligence to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Al Qaeda was presented as an ally of the Baghdad regime. “Osama bin Laden” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” statements circulated profusely in the news chain. (Chapter XI.) Meanwhile, a new terrorist mastermind had emerged: Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. In Colin Powell’s historic address to the United Nations Security Council, detailed “documentation” on a sinister relationship between Saddam Hussein and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was presented, focussing on his ability to produce deadly chemical, biological and radiological weapons, with the full support and endorsement of the secular Baathist regime. A Code Orange terror alert followed within two days of Powell’s speech at the United Nations Security Council, where he had been politely rebuffed by UN Weapons Inspector Dr. Hans Blix. Reality was thus turned upside down. The US was no longer viewed as preparing to wage war on Iraq. Iraq was preparing to attack America with the support of “Islamic terrorists”. Terrorist mastermind Al-Zarqawi was identified as the number one suspect. Official statements pointed to the dangers of a dirty radioactive bomb attack in the US. The main thrust of the disinformation campaign continued in the wake of the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. It consisted in presenting the Iraqi resistance movement as “terrorists”. The image of “terrorists opposed to democracy” fighting US “peacekeepers” appeared on television screens and news tabloids across the globe. Meanwhile, the Code Orange terror alerts were being used by the Bush administration to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation across America. (See Chapter XX.) The terror alerts also served to distract public opinion from the countless atrocities committed by US forces in the Afghan and Iraqi war theaters, not to mention the routine torture of so-called “enemy combatants”. Following the invasion of Afghanistan, the torture of prisoners of war and the setting up of concentration camps became an integral part of the Bush administration’s post 9/11 agenda. The entire legal framework had been turned upside down. According to the US Department of Justice, torture was now permitted under certain circumstances. Torture directed against “terrorists” was upheld as a justifiable means to preserving human rights and democracy. (See chapters XIV and XV.) In an utterly twisted logic, the Commander in Chief can now quite legitimately authorize the use of torture, because the victims of torture in this case are so-called “terrorists”, who are said to routinely apply the same methods against Americans. The orders to torture prisoners of war at the Guantanamo concentration camp and in Iraq in the wake of the 2003 invasion emanated from the highest levels of the US Government. Prison guards, interrogators in the US military and the CIA were responding to precise guidelines. An inquisitorial system had been installed. In the US and Britain the “war on the terrorism” is upheld as being in the public interest. Anybody who questions its practices—which now include arbitrary arrest and detention, torture of men, women and children, political assassinations and concentration camps—is liable to be arrested under the antiterrorist legislation. The London 7/7 Bomb Attack A new threshold in the “war on terrorism”was reached in July 2005, with the bomb attacks on London’s underground, which resulted tragically in 56 deaths and several hundred wounded. On both sides of the Atlantic, the London 7//7 attacks were used to usher in far-reaching police state measures. The US House of Representatives renewed the USA PATRIOT Act “to make permanent the government’s unprecedented powers to investigate suspected terrorists”. Republicans claimed that the London attacks showed “how urgent and important it was to renew the law.” Barely a week prior to the London attacks, Washington had announced the formation of a “domestic spy service” under the auspices of the FBI. The new department—meaning essentially a Big Brother “Secret State Police”—was given a mandate to “spy on people in America suspected of terrorism or having critical intelligence information, even if they are not suspected of committing a crime.” Significantly, this new FBI service is not accountable to the Department of Justice. It is controlled by the Directorate of National Intelligence headed by John Negroponte, who has the authority of ordering the arrest of “terror suspects”. Meanwhile, in the wake of the 7/7 London attacks, Britain’s Home Office, was calling for a system of ID cards, as an “answer to terrorism”. Each and every British citizen and resident will be obliged to register personal information, which will go into a giant national database, along with their personal biometrics: “iris pattern of the eye”, fingerprints and “digitally recognizable facial features”. Similar procedures were being carried out in the European Union. Click here to find out more about AMERICA’S “WAR ON TERRORISM” The anti-terrorist legislation and the establishment of a Police State largely serve the interests of those who have committed extensive war crimes and who would otherwise have been indicted under national and international law. In the wake of the London 7/7 attacks, war criminals continue to legitimately occupy positions of authority,which enable them to redefine the contours of the judicial system and the process of law enforcement. This process has provided them with a mandate to decide “who are the criminals”, when in fact they are the criminals. (Chapter XVI). From New York and Washington on September 11 to Madrid in March 2004 and to London in July 2005, the terror attacks have been used as a pretext to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. People can be arbitrarily arrested under the antiterrorist legislation and detained for an indefinite period.More generally, throughout the Western World, citizens are being tagged and labeled, their emails, telephone conversations and faxes are monitored and archived. Thousands of closed circuit TV cameras, deployed in urban areas, are overseeing their movements. Detailed personal data is entered into giant Big Brother data banks. Once this cataloging has been completed, people will be locked into watertight compartments. The witch-hunt is not only directed against presumed “terrorists” through ethnic profiling, the various human rights, affirmative action and antiwar cohorts are also the object of the antiterrorist legislation. The National Security Doctrine In 2005, the Pentagon released a major document entitled The National Defense Strategy of the United States of America (NDS), which broadly sketches Washington’s agenda for global military domination. While the NDS follows in the footsteps of the Administration’s “preemptive” war doctrine as outlined in the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), it goes much further in setting the contours of Washington’s global military agenda. (See Chapter XIX.) Whereas the preemptive war doctrine envisages military action as a means of “self defense” against countries categorized as “hostile” to the US, the 2005 NDS goes one step further. It envisages the possibility of military intervention against “unstable countries” or “failed nations”, which do not visibly constitute a threat to the security of the US. Meanwhile, the Pentagon had unleashed a major propaganda and public relations campaign with a view to upholding the use of nuclear weapons for the “Defense of the American Homeland” against terrorists and rogue enemies. The fact that the nuclear bomb is categorized by the Pentagon as “safe for civilians” to be used in major counter-terrorist activities borders on the absurd. In 2005, US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) drew up “a contingency plan to be used in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack”. The plan includes air raids on Iran using both conventional as well as tactical nuclear weapons. America’s “War on Terrorism” The first ten chapters,with some changes and updates, correspond to the first edition of the book published in 2002 under the title War and Globalization: The Truth behind September 11. The present expanded edition contains twelve new chapters, which are the result of research undertaken both prior as well as in the wake of the invasion of Iraq. (Parts III and IV.) The sequencing of the material in Parts III and IV corresponds to the historical evolution of the post 9/11 US military and national security agendas. My main objective has been to refute the official narrative and reveal—using detailed evidence and documentation—the true nature of America’s “war on terrorism”. Part I includes four chapters on September 11, focusing on the history of Al Qaeda and its ties to the US intelligence apparatus. These chapters document how successive administrations have supported and sustained terrorist organizations with a view to destabilizing national societies and creating political instability. Part II entitled War and Globalization centers on the strategic and economic interests underlying the “war on terrorism”. Part III contains a detailed analysis of War Propaganda and the Disinformation Campaign, both prior and in the wake of the invasion of Iraq. Part IV entitled The New World Order includes a review of the Bush administration’s preemptive war doctrine (Chapter XIX), a detailed analysis of the post-Taliban narcotics trade protected by US intelligence, and a review of the 9/11 Commission Report focusing specifically on “What Happened on the Planes on the Morning of 9/11”. Chapter XX focuses on the system of terror alerts and their implications. Chapter XXI follows with an examination of the emergency procedures that could be used to usher in Martial Law leading to the suspension of Constitutional government. In this regard, the US Congress has already adopted procedures, which allow the Military to intervene directly in civilian police and judicial functions. In the case of a national emergency—e.g., in response to an alleged terror attack—there are clearly defined provisions, which could lead to the formation of a military government in America. Finally, Chapter XXII focuses on the broad implications of the 7/7 London Bombs Attacks, which were followed by the adoption of sweeping Police State measures in Britain, the European Union and North America. Writing this book has not been an easy undertaking. The material is highly sensitive. The results of this analysis, which digs beneath the gilded surface of US foreign policy, are both troublesome and disturbing. The conclusions are difficult to accept because they point to the criminalization of the upper echelons of the State. They also confirm the complicity of the corporate media in upholding the legitimacy of the Administration’s war agenda and camouflaging US sponsored war crimes. The World is at an important historical crossroads. The US has embarked on a military adventure which threatens the future of humanity. As we go to press, the Bush Administration has hinted in no uncertain terms that Iran is the next target of the “war on terrorism”. Military action against Iran would directly involve Israel’s participation, which in turn is likely to trigger a broader war throughout the Middle East, not to mention an implosion in the Palestinian occupied territories. I have attempted to the best of my abilities to provide evidence and detailed documentation of an extremely complex political process. The livelihood of millions of people throughout the World is at stake. It is my sincere hope that the truth will prevail and that the understanding provided in this detailed study will serve the cause of World peace. This objective, however, can only be reached by revealing the falsehoods behind America’s “War on Terrorism” and questioning the legitimacy of the main political and military actors responsible for extensive war crimes. I am indebted to many people, who in the course of my work have supported my endeavors and have provided useful research insights. The readers of the Global Research website at www.globalresearch.ca have been a source of continuous inspiration and encouragement. Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research. He is the author of eleven books including The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003), America’s “War on Terrorism” (2005), The Global Economic Crisis, The Great Depression of the Twenty-first Century (2009) (Editor), Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011), The Globalization of War, America’s Long War against Humanity (2015). He is a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO’s war of aggression against Yugoslavia. ORDER YOUR COPY OF THIS IMPORTANT TITLE TODAY! Also available via Amazon
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Prof Michel Chossudovsky
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/9-11-and-america-s-war-on-terrorism/24975
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2019-09-06 17:10:10+00:00
| 1,567,804,210 | 1,569,331,005 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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230,955 |
globalresearch--2019-09-11--THE 911 READER The September 11 2001 Terror Attacks
| 2019-09-11T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
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THE 9/11 READER. The September 11, 2001 Terror Attacks
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Note to Readers: Remember to bookmark this page for future reference. Please Forward the GR I-Book far and wide. Post it on Facebook. This text first published in August 2012. It was reposted on September 11, 2016 in the context of the 15 years commemoration of the tragic events of 9/11, September 11, 2016. (and reposted on September 4, 2017 and September 11, 2019). It provides a detailed introduction and overview as well as a collection of articles by Global Research authors on 9/11 and the “Global War on Terrorism”. Note: Apart from minor edits, this text including the selection of articles has not been modified since its publication in August 2012 [scroll down for I-BOOK Table of Contents] The 911/ Reader is part of Global Research’s Online Interactive I-Book Reader, which brings together, in the form of chapters, a collection of Global Research feature articles, including debate and analysis, on a broad theme or subject matter. To consult our Online Interactive I-Book Reader Series, click here. The tragic events of September 11, 2001 constitute a fundamental landmark in American history. a decisive watershed, a breaking point. Millions of people have been misled regarding the causes and consequences of 9/11. September 11 2001 opens up an era of crisis, upheaval and militarization of American society. A far-reaching overhaul of US military doctrine was launched in the wake of 9/11. Endless wars of aggression under the humanitarian cloak of “counter-terrorism” were set in motion. 9/11 was also a stepping stone towards the relentless repeal of civil liberties, the militarization of law enforcement and the inauguration of “Police State USA”. September 11, 2001 marks the onslaught of the “Global War on Terrorism” (GWOT), used as a pretext and a justification by the US and its NATO allies to carry out a “war without borders”, a global war of conquest. At eleven o’clock, on the morning of September 11, the Bush administration had already announced that Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) and the Pentagon. This assertion was made prior to the conduct of an indepth police investigation. CIA Director George Tenet stated that same morning that Osama bin Laden had the capacity to plan “multiple attacks with little or no warning.” Secretary of State Colin Powell called the attacks “an act of war” and President Bush confirmed in an evening televised address to the Nation that he would “make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them”. Former CIA Director James Woolsey, without mentioning Afghanistan, pointed his finger at “state sponsorship,” implying the complicity of one or more foreign governments. In the words of former National Security Adviser, Lawrence Eagleburger, “I think we will show when we get attacked like this, we are terrible in our strength and in our retribution.” That same evening at 9:30 pm, a “War Cabinet” was formed integrated by a select number of top intelligence and military advisors. And at 11:00 pm, at the end of that historic meeting at the White House, the “War on Terrorism” was officially launched. The tragic events of 9/11 provided the required justification to wage war on Afghanistan on “humanitarian grounds”, with the full support of World public opinion and the endorsement of the “international community”. Several prominent “progressive” intellectuals made a case for “retaliation against terrorism”, on moral and ethical grounds. The “just cause” military doctrine (jus ad bellum) was accepted and upheld at face value as a legitimate response to 9/11. In the wake of 9/11, the antiwar movement was completely isolated. The trade unions and civil society organizations had swallowed the media lies and government propaganda. They had accepted a war of retribution against Afghanistan, an impoverished country in Central Asia of 30 million people. The myth of the “outside enemy” and the threat of “Islamic terrorists” was the cornerstone of the Bush administration’s military doctrine, used as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention the repeal of civil liberties and constitutional government in America. Amply documented but rarely mentioned by the mainstream media, Al Qaeda is a creation of the CIA going back to the Soviet- Afghan war. This was a known fact, corroborated by numerous sources including official documents of the US Congress, which the mainstream media chose to either dismiss or ignore. The intelligence community had time and again acknowledged that they had indeed supported Osama bin Laden, but that in the wake of the Cold War: “he turned against us”. The 9/11 Commission Report has largely upheld the “outside enemy” mythology, heralding Al Qaeda as the “mastermind” organization behind the 9/11 attacks. The official 9/11 narrative has not only distorted the causes underling the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings, it has also erased the historical record of US covert support to international terrorism, while creating the illusion that America and “Western Civilization” are threatened. Without an “outside enemy”, there could be no “war on terrorism”. The entire national security agenda would collapse “like a deck of cards”. The war criminals in high office would have no leg to stand on. After 9/11, the campaign of media disinformation served not only to drown the truth but also to kill much of the historical evidence on how this illusive Al Qaeda “outside enemy” had been fabricated and transformed into “Enemy Number One”. The 911 Reader is composed of a carefully selected collection of key articles published by Global Research in the course of the last eleven years. 9/11 was an important landmark for Global Research. Our website was launched on September 9, 2001, two days prior to 9/11. Our coverage of 9/11 was initiated on September 12, 2001. Within this collection of more than 60 chapters, we have included several important reports from our archives, published by Global Research in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. These articles provide a focus on issues pertaining to the 9/11 Timeline, foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks, the attack on the Pentagon, the issue of insider trading on Wall Street in the days preceding 9/11 pointing to foreknowledge of the attacks. What prevails is a complex web of lies and fabrications, pertaining to various dimensions of the 9/11 tragedy. The falsehoods contained in the official 9/11 narrative are manifold, extending from the affirmation that Osama bin Laden was the mastermind, to the assertion by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that the WTC buildings collapsed due to the impacts of fire. (see Part III). Where was Osama bin Laden on September 11, 2001? Is there any proof to the effect that Osama bin Laden, the bogeyman, coordinated the 9/11 attacks as claimed in the official 9/11 narrative? According to CBS news (Dan Rather, January 28, 2002), “Enemy Number One” was admitted to the urology ward of a Pakistani military hospital in Rawalpindi on September 10, 2001, courtesy of America’s indefectible ally Pakistan. He could have been arrested at short notice which would have “saved us a lot of trouble”, but then we would not have had an Osama Legend, which has fed the news chain as well as presidential speeches in the course of the last eleven years. DAN RATHER. As the United states and its allies in the war on terrorism press the hunt for Osama bin Laden, CBS News has exclusive information tonight about where bin Laden was and what he was doing in the last hours before his followers struck the United States September 11. This is the result of hard-nosed investigative reporting by a team of CBS news journalists, and by one of the best foreign correspondents in the business, CBS`s Barry Petersen. Here is his report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BARRY PETERSEN, CBS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everyone remembers what happened on September 11. Here`s the story of what may have happened the night before. It is a tale as twisted as the hunt for Osama bin Laden. CBS News has been told that the night before the September 11 terrorist attack, Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan. He was getting medical treatment with the support of the very military that days later pledged its backing for the U.S. war on terror in Afghanistan. The foregoing CBS report which is of utmost relevance indicates two obvious facts: 1. Osama bin Laden could not reasonably have coordinated the 9/11 attacks from his hospital bed; 2. The hospital was under the jurisdiction of the Pakistani Armed Forces, which has close links to the Pentagon. Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts were known to both the Pakistani and US military. U.S. military and intelligence advisers based in Rawalpindi. were working closely with their Pakistani counterparts. Again, no attempt was made to arrest America’s best known fugitive. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed, at the time, that the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden were unknown. According to Rumsfeld: “Its like looking for a needle in a stack of hay”. The immediate response of the US and its allies to the 9/11 attacks was to the declare a war of retribution against Afghanistan on the grounds that the Taliban government was protecting “terror mastermind” Osama bin Laden. By allegedly harboring bin Laden, the Taliban were complicit, according to both the US administration and NATO, for having waged an act of war against the United States. Parroting official statements, the Western media mantra on September 12, 2001 had already approved the launching of “punitive actions” directed against civilian targets in Afghanistan. In the words of William Saffire writing in the New York Times: “When we reasonably determine our attackers’ bases and camps, we must pulverize them — minimizing but accepting the risk of collateral damage” — and act overtly or covertly to destabilize terror’s national hosts”. This decision was taken by the Bush-Cheney war cabinet in the evening of September 11, 2001. It was based on the presumption, “confirmed” by the head of the CIA that Al Qaeda was behind the attacks. On the following morning, September 12, 2001, NATO’s Atlantic Council meeting in Brussels, endorsed the Bush administration’s declaration of war on Afghanistan, invoking Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. An act of war by a foreign nation (Afghanistan) against a member of the Atlantic Alliance (the USA) is an act of war against all members under NATO’s doctrine of collective security. Under any stretch of the imagination, the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon cannot be categorized as an act of war by a foreign country. But nobody seemed to have raised this issue. Meanwhile, on two occasions in the course of September 2001, the Afghan government –through diplomatic channels– offered to hand over Osama Bin laden to US Justice. These overtures were turned down by president Bush, on the grounds that America “does not negotiate with terrorists”. The war on Afghanistan was launched 26 days later on the morning of October 7, 2001. The timing of this war begs the question: how long does it take to plan and implement a major theater war several thousand miles away. Military analysts will confirm that a major theater war takes months and months, up to a year or more of advanced preparations. The war on Afghanistan was already in the advanced planning stages prior to September 11, 2001, which begs the question of foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. The repeal of civil liberties in America was launched in parallel with the bombing and invasion of Afghanistan, almost immediately following 9/11 with the adoption of the PATRIOT legislation and the setting up of a Homeland Security apparatus, under the pretext of protecting Americans. This post-911 legal and institutional framework had been carefully crafted prior to the 9/11 attacks. Important to the understanding of 9/11, US intelligence is the unspoken architect of “Islamic terrorism” going back to the heyday of the Soviet-Afghan war. Bin Laden was 22 years old and was trained in a CIA sponsored guerrilla training camp. Education in Afghanistan in the years preceding the Soviet-Afghan war was largely secular. With religious textbooks produced in Nebraska, the number of CIA sponsored religious schools (madrasahs) increased from 2,500 in 1980 to over 39,000. Under the Reagan administration, US foreign policy evolved towards the unconditional support and endorsement of the Islamic “freedom fighters”. This endorsement has not in any way been modified. In a twisted irony, throughout the post 911 era, US intelligence in liaison with Britain’s MI6, an Israel’s Mossad, continues to provide covert support to the radical Islamist organization allegedly responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al Qaeda and its various affiliated groups including the Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and factions within the Free Syria Army (FSA) are directly supported by the US and NATO. In a bitter irony, the US and its allies claim to be waging a “war on terrorism” against the alleged architects of 9/11, while also using Al Qaeda operatives as their foot-soldiers. Front row, from left: Major Gen. Hamid Gul, director general of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), Director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Willian Webster; Deputy Director for Operations Clair George; an ISI colonel; and senior CIA official, Milt Bearden at a Mujahideen training camp in North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan in 1987. (source RAWA) Ronald Reagan meets Afghan Mujahideen Commanders at the White House in 1985 (Reagan Archives) The Collapse of the World Trade Center Buildings Based on the findings of Richard Gage of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings was not caused by fire resulting from the crash of the planes: In more than 100 steel-framed, high-rise fires (most of them very hot, very large and very long-lasting), not one has collapsed, ever. So it behooves all of us, as your own former chief of NIST’s Fire Science Division, Dr. James Quintiere, said, “to look at real alternatives that might have been the cause of these collapses.” Let’s start with temperatures – 1,340° F. temperatures, recorded in thermal images of the surface of the World Trade Center rubble pile a week after 9/11 by NASA’s AVIRIS equipment on USGS overflights. Such temperatures cannot be achieved by oxygen-starved hydrocarbon fires. Such fires burn at only 600 to 800° F. Remember, there was no fire on the top of the pile. The source of this incredible heat was therefore below the surface of the rubble, where it must have been far hotter than 1,340 degrees. Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition, Inc., who was hired for the Building 7 cleanup, said that “molten steel was found at 7 WTC.” Leslie Robertson, World Trade Center structural engineer, stated that on October 5, “21 days after the attacks, the fires were still burning and molten steel was still running.” Fire department personnel, recorded on video, reported seeing “molten steel running down the channel rails… like you’re in a foundry – like lava from a volcano.” Joe O’Toole, a Bronx firefighter, saw a crane lifting a steel beam vertically from deep within a pile. He said “it was dripping from the molten steel.” Bart Voorsanger, an architect hired to save “relics from the rubble,” stated about the multi-ton “meteorite” that it was a “fused element of molten steel and concrete.” Steel melts at about 2,850 degrees Fahrenheit, about twice the temperature of the World Trade Center Tower 1 and 2 fires as estimated by NIST. So what melted the steel? Appendix C of FEMA’s BPAT Report documents steel samples showing rapid oxidation, sulfidation, and intergranular melting. A liquid eutectic mixture, including sulfur from an unknown source, caused intense corrosion of the steel, gaping holes in wide flange beams, and the thinning of half-inch-thick flanges to almost razor-sharpness in the World Trade Center 7 steel. The New York Times called this “the deepest mystery uncovered in the investigation.” NIST left all of this crucial forensic evidence out of its report. Why? Because it didn’t fit in with the official conspiracy theory. Last year, physicist Steven Jones, two other physicists, and a geologist analyzed the slag at the ends of the beams and in the samples of the previously molten metal. They found iron, aluminum, sulfur, manganese and fluorine – the chemical evidence of thermate, a high-tech incendiary cutting charge used by the military to cut through steel like a hot knife through butter. The by-product of the thermate reaction is molten iron! There’s no other possible source for all the molten iron that was found. One of thermate’s key ingredients is sulfur, which can form the liquid eutectic that FEMA found and lower the melting point of steel. In addition, World Trade Center 7’s catastrophic structural failure showed every characteristic of explosive, controlled demolition. … The destruction began suddenly at the base of the building. Several first responders reported explosions occurring about a second before the collapse. There was the symmetrical, near-free-fall speed of collapse, through the path of greatest resistance – with 40,000 tons of steel designed to resist this load – straight down into its own footprint. This requires that all the columns have to fail within a fraction of a second of each other – perimeter columns as well as core columns. There was also the appearance of mistimed explosions (squibs?) at the upper seven floors on the network video recordings of the collapse. And we have expert testimony from a European demolitions expert, Danny Jowenko, who said “This is controlled demolition… a team of experts did this… This is professional work, without any doubt.” Fire cannot produce these effects. Fire produces large, gradual deformations and asymmetrical collapses. Thermate can produce all of these effects used in conjunction with linear shaped charges. If the thermate is formed into ultra-fine particles, as has been accomplished at Los Alamos National Laboratory, it is called super-thermate, and is very explosive.(Richard Gage, January 2008) The following AE911Truth Video provides evidence that the WTC center towers were brought down through controlled demolition. According to Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, based on solid scientific analysis and evidence, the collapse of the WTC towers was engineered through controlled demolition. While AE11Truth does not speculate on who might be behind the conspiracy to bring down the WTC buildings, they nonetheless suggest that the carrying out such an operation would require a carefully planned course of action with prior access to the buildings as well as an advanced level of expertise in the use of explosives, etc. The Collapse of WTC Building Seven The most grotesque lie pertains to the BBC and CNN announcement in the afternoon of September 11, that WTC Building Seven (The Solomon Building) had collapsed. The BBC report went live at 5.00pm, 21 minutes before the actual occurrence of the collapse, indelibly pointing to foreknowledge of the collapse of WTC 7. CNN anchor Aaron Brown announced that the building “has either collapsed or is collapsing” about an hour before the event. CNN anchor Aaron Brown seems to struggle to make sense of what he is seeing one minute after announcing that WTC Building 7, whose erect facade is clearly visible in his view towards the Trade Center, has or is collapsing. The 911 Reader presents factual information and analysis which points to cover-up and complicity at the highest levels of the US government. This body of articles by prominent authors, scholars, architects, engineers, largely refutes the official narrative of the 9/11 Commission Report, which is reviewed in Part IV. It dispels the notion that America was attacked on September 11, 2001 on the orders of Osama bin Laden. This is a central issue because US military doctrine since 9/11 has been predicated on “defending the American Homeland” against Islamic terrorists as well as waging pre-emptive wars against Al Qaeda and its various “state sponsors”. Afghanistan was bombed and invaded as part of the “war on terrorism”. In March 2003, Iraq was also invaded. Fiction prevails over reality. For propaganda to be effective, public opinion must firmly endorse the official 9/11 narrative to the effect that Al Qaeda was behind the attacks. A well organized structure of media disinformation (Part XI) is required to reach this objective. Perpetuating the 9/11 Legend also requires defying as well smearing the 9/11 Truth Movement. Throughout the post 9/11 era, a panoply of Al Qaeda related events and circumstances is presented to public opinion on a daily basis. These include terrorist threats, warnings and attacks, police investigations, insurgencies and counter-insurgencies, country-level regime change, social conflict, sectarian violence, racism, religious divisions, Islamic thought, Western values, etc. In turn, 9/11, Al Qaeda – War on Terrorism rhetoric permeates political discourse at all levels of government, including bipartisan debate on Capitol Hill, in committees of the House and the Senate, at the British House of Commons, and, lest we forget, at the United Nations Security Council. September 11 and Al Qaeda concepts, repeated ad nauseam have potentially traumatic impacts on the human mind and the ability of normal human beings to analyze and comprehend the “real outside World” of war, politics and the economic crisis. What is at stake is human consciousness and comprehension based on concepts and facts. With September 11 there are no verifiable “facts” and “concepts”, because 9/11 as well as Al Qaeda have evolved into a media mythology, a legend, an invented ideological construct, used as an unsubtle tool of media disinformation and war propaganda. Al Qaeda constitutes a stylized, fake and almost folkloric abstraction of terrorism, which permeates the inner consciousness of millions of people around the World. Reference to Al Qaeda has become a dogma, a belief, which most people espouse unconditionally. Is this political indoctrination? Is it brain-washing? If so what is the underlying objective? People’s capacity to independently analyse World events, as well as address causal relationships pertaining to politics and society, is significantly impaired. That is the objective! The routine use of 9/11 and Al Qaeda to generate blanket explanations of complex political events is meant to create confusion. It prevents people from thinking. All of these complex Al Qaeda related occurrences are explained –by politicians, the corporate media, Hollywood and the Washington think tanks under a single blanket “bad guys” heading, in which Al Qaeda is casually and repeatedly pinpointed as “the cause” of numerous terror events around the World. The Alleged Role of Iraq in the 9/11 Attacks 9/11 mythology has been a mainstay of war propaganda. In the course of 2002, leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, “Osama bin Laden” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” statements circulated profusely in the news chain. While Washington’s official position was that Saddam Hussein was not behind the 9/11 attacks, insinuations abounded both in presidential speeches as well as in the Western media. According to Bush, in an October 2002 press conference: The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly from the Iraqi regime’s own actions — its history of aggression, and its drive toward an arsenal of terror. .,.. We also must never forget the most vivid events of recent history. On September the 11th, 2001, America felt its vulnerability — even to threats that gather on the other side of the earth. We resolved then, and we are resolved today, to confront every threat, from any source [Iraq], that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America. President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat, October 7, 2002) Barely two weeks before the invasion of Iraq, September 11, 2001 was mentioned abundantly by president Bush. In the weeks leading up to the March invasion, 45 percent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was “personally involved” in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. (See . The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com, March 14, 2003) Meanwhile, a new terrorist mastermind had emerged: Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. In Colin Powell’s historic address to the United Nations Security Council, in February 2003, detailed “documentation” on a sinister relationship between Saddam Hussein and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was presented, focussing on his ability to produce deadly chemical, biological and radiological weapons, with the full support and endorsement of the secular Baathist regime. The implication of Colin’s Powell’s assertions, which were totally fabricated, was that Saddam Hussein and an Al Qaeda affiliated organization had joined hands in the production of WMD in Northern Iraq and that the Hussein government was a “state sponsor” of terrorism. The main thrust of the disinformation campaign continued in the wake of the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. It consisted in presenting the Iraqi resistance movement as “terrorists”. The image of “terrorists opposed to democracy” fighting US “peacekeepers” appeared on television screens and news tabloids across the globe. In the wake of the Iraq invasion, the same alleged “state sponsorship” of terrorism accusations emerged in relation to Iran. In December 2011, the Islamic Republic of Iran was condemned by a Manhattan court, for its alleged role in supporting Al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. The investigation into Tehran’s alleged role was launched in 2004, pursuant to a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission “regarding an apparent link between Iran, Hezbollah, and the 9/11 hijackers”. The 91/11 Commission’s recommendation was that the this “apparent link” required “further investigation by the U.S. government.” (9/11 Commission Report , p. 241). (See Iran 911 Case ). In the December 2011 court judgment (Havlish v. Iran) “U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled that Iran and Hezbollah materially and directly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11 victims who are plaintiffs in the case”. According to the plaintiffs attorneys “Iran, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda formed a terror alliance in the early 1990s. Citing their national security and intelligence experts, the attorneys explained “how the pragmatic terror leaders overcame the Sunni-Shi’a divide in order to confront the U.S. (the “Great Satan”) and Israel (the “Lesser Satan”)”. Iran and Hezbollah allegedly provided “training to members of al Qaeda in, among other things, the use of explosives to destroy large buildings.” (See Iran 911 Case ). This judicial procedure is nothing more than another vicious weapon in the fabricated “War on Terror” to be used against another Muslim country, with a view to destabilizing Iran as well as justifying ongoing military threats. It also says a lot more about the people behind the lawsuit than about the accused. The expert witnesses who testified against Iran are very active in warmongering neocon circles. They belong to a web of architects of the 21st century Middle-Eastern wars, ranging from high profile propagandists to intelligence and military officers, including former U.S. officials. But what makes this case absurd is that in September 2011, a few months before the judgment, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has questioned the official 9/11 narrative, was accused by Al-Qaeda leaders of “spreading conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks”. The semi-official media outlet of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, insisted that al-Qaeda “had been behind the attacks and criticised the Iranian president for discrediting the terrorist group.” (See Julie Levesque, Iran Accused of being behind 9/11 Attacks. U.S. Court Judgment, December 2011 (Havlish v. Iran), Global Research, May 11, 2012) Ironically, while Washington accuses Iran and Afghanistan of supporting terrorism, the historical record and evidence indelibly point to the “state sponsorship” of Al Qaeda by the CIA, MI6 and their counterparts in Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda death squads have been recruited to wage America’s humanitarian wars throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In Syria Al Qaeda units were recruited by NATO and the Turkish High command: “Also discussed in Brussels and Ankara, our sources report, is a campaign to enlist thousands of Muslim volunteers in Middle East countries and the Muslim world to fight alongside the Syrian rebels.” In Libya, jihadists from Afghanistan trained by the CIA were dispatched to fight with the “pro-democracy” rebels under the helm of “former” Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) Commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj: Western policy makers admit that NATO’s operations in Libya have played the primary role in emboldening Al Qaeda’s AQIM faction (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). The Fortune 500-funded Brookings Institution’s Bruce Riedel in his article, “The New Al Qaeda Menace,” admits that AQIM is now heavily armed thanks to NATO’s intervention in Libya, and that AQIM’s base in Mali, North Africa, serves as a staging ground for terrorist activities across the region. http://www.globalresearch.ca/al-qaeda-and-natos-pan-arab-terrorist-blitzkrieg/ Table of Contents of the 9/11 Reader In Part I, the 911 Reader provides a review of what happened on the morning of 9/11, at the White House, on Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, at Strategic Command Headquarters (USSTRATCOM), What was the response of the US Air Force in the immediate wake of the attacks? Part II focusses on “What Happened on the Planes” as described in the 9/11 Commission Report. Part III sheds light on what caused the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. It also challenges the official narrative with regard to the attack on the Pentagon. Part IV reviews and refutes the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report. Part V focusses on the issue of foreknowledge by Western intelligence agencies. Part VI examines the issue of how foreknowledge of the attacks was used as an instrument of insider trading on airline stocks in the days preceding September 11, 2001. The bonanza financial gains resulting from insurance claims to the leaseholders of the WTC buildings is also examined. Part VII focusses on the history and central role of Al Qaeda as a US intelligence asset. Since the Soviet-Afghan war, US intelligence has supported the formation of various jihadist organizations. An understanding of this history is crucial in refuting the official 9/11 narrative which claims that Al Qaeda, was behind the attacks. Part VIII centers on the life and death of 9/11 “Terror Mastermind” Osama bin Laden, who was recruited by the CIA in the heyday of the Soviet Afghan war. This section also includes an analysis of the mysterious death of Osama bin Laden, allegedly executed by US Navy Seals in a suburb of Islamabad in May 2011. Part IX focusses on “False Flags” and the Pentagon’s “Second 9/11”. Part X examines the issue of “Deep Events” with contributions by renowned scholars Peter Dale Scott and Daniele Ganser. Part XI examines the structure of 9/11 propaganda which consists in “creating” as well “perpetuating” a “9/11 Legend”. How is this achieved? Incessantly, on a daily basis, Al Qaeda, the alleged 9/11 Mastermind is referred to by the Western media, government officials, members of the US Congress, Wall Street analysts, etc. as an underlying cause of numerous World events. Part XII focusses on the practice of 9/11 Justice directed against the alleged culprits of the 9/11 attacks. The legitimacy of 9/11 propaganda requires fabricating “convincing evidence” and “proof” that those who are accused actually carried out the attacks. Sentencing of Muslims detained in Guantanamo is part of war propaganda. It depicts innocent men who are accused of the 9/11 attacks, based on confessions acquired through systematic torture throughout their detention. Part XIII focusses on 9/11 Truth. The objective of 9/11 Truth is to ultimately dismantle the propaganda apparatus which is manipulating the human mindset. The 9/11 Reader concludes with a retrospective view of 9/11 ten years later.
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Prof Michel Chossudovsky
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-911-reader-the-september-11-2001-terror-attacks/5303012
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2019-09-11 08:30:10+00:00
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conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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mintpressnews--2019-03-15--The Christchurch Shooting and the Normalization of Anti-Muslim Terrorism
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
mintpressnews
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The Christchurch Shooting and the Normalization of Anti-Muslim Terrorism
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CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND — What is without question the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history took place on Friday when shooters, 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant among them, opened fire at two Christchurch mosques. Four, including Tarrant, have been arrested for the heinous act, which claimed at least 49 innocent lives. Tarrant was responsible for killing more than 40 victims, among them several children, in a rampage he live-streamed on Facebook, sending chills throughout the Muslim community, particularly Muslims living in Western countries. Tarrant’s motives and ideology, laid bare in a 74-page manifesto, show a concern over the fertility rates of non-white groups as well as the immigration of non-whites to countries like New Zealand and Australia, which he likened to an “invasion” that threatened the white majority in those countries. However, Tarrant — in his ignorance — failed to grasp that many of the Muslim immigrants he targeted had come to New Zealand after fleeing Western-backed invasions, occupations, or persecution in their home countries. Notable among Tarrant’s views is the fact that he is a clear ethno-nationalist, promoting his view that different ethnic groups must be kept “separate, unique, undiluted in [sic] unrestrained in cultural or ethnic expression and autonomy.” Tarrant also claimed that he doesn’t necessarily hate Muslims and only targeted those Muslims {i.e., immigrants) that chose “to invade our lands, live on our soil and replace our people.” He also stated that he chose to target Muslims because “Islamic nations, in particular, have high birth rates, regardless of race or ethnicity” and to satiate “a want for revenge against Islam for the 1,300 years of war and devastation that it has brought upon the people of the West and other peoples of the world.” His views are remarkably similar to those of Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, which is unsurprising given that Tarrant named him as an inspiration for the shooting. Though many — in the hours after the shooting — have sought to place blame and point fingers at notable demagogues like President Donald Trump or “counter-jihad” alt-right figures like Laura Loomer and Jacob Wohl, it is important to place Tarrant’s motivations in context. Indeed, while Trump’s rise to political power has brought Islamophobic rhetoric into the public sphere in an undeniable way, it is a symptom of a much broader effort aimed at propagandizing the people of the United States and other Western countries to support wars in and military occupations of Muslim-majority countries. This manufactured Islamophobia, largely a product of Western governments and a compliant mass media, has sought to vilify all Muslims by maligning the religion itself as terrorism, in order to justify the plunder of their countries and deflect attention from their suffering. It is a classic “divide and conquer” scam aimed at keeping Westerners divided from Muslims in their own countries and abroad. The horrific shooting in Christchurch is a testament to its unfortunate success and pervasiveness, as well as a potent reminder that it must be stopped. Indeed, this manufactured Islamophobia has made it so that Muslims in their home countries are in danger of dying from Western-backed wars and, if they flee to the “safer” West, they have targets on their backs painted by the very war propaganda used to justify Western military adventurism in Muslim-majority nations. Since September 11th and the advent of the “War on Terror,” mass media reporting increasingly began to conflate Muslims and Muslim-majority nations with war, terrorism and violence in general. Indeed, 9 out of 10 mainstream news reports on Muslims, Islam, and Islamic organizations are related to violence and Muslims who are named on mainstream media are all-too-frequently warlords or terrorist leaders. This near-constant association of Islam and violence has created the false perception that the religion of Islam, by its very nature, is violent and that Muslims too must then be violent and thus dangerous. This media-driven association has had very real and troubling consequences. For instance, a 2010 study by the University of Exeter found “empirical evidence to demonstrate that assailants of Muslims are invariably motivated by a negative view of Muslims they have acquired from either mainstream or extremist nationalist reports or commentaries in the media.” In other words, Islamophobic media reports are directly related to hate crimes targeting Muslims. This is no accident, as such biased reporting on Muslim-majority nations also began as Western-backed wars in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan sought to put these countries’ natural resources, namely their oil and mineral wealth, into the hands of American corporations. It should be no surprise then that top funders of media outlets that have routinely promoted Islamophobic narratives are also those who have profited considerably from the “War on Terror” and Western-backed regime-change wars in other countries. This concerted effort to vilify Muslims has had the potent effect, likely by design, of reducing empathy among Westerners for the largely Muslim victims of Western military adventurism in Muslim-majority countries. Indeed, while mainstream news outlets often trumpet the imminent dangers Americans face from “radical Islamic terror,” the death toll of innocent people — most of them Muslim — that have been killed by the U.S.-led “War on Terror” is several orders of magnitude greater than the number of Americans who have died from all terror attacks over that same period. For instance, from 2001 to 2013, an estimated 3,380 Americans died from domestic and foreign terrorism, including the September 11 attacks as well as acts of domestic terrorism carried out by white nationalists and supremacists. If one excludes the September 11 death toll, the number of American deaths over that same period stands at around 400, most of them victims of mass-killers who were not Muslim. By comparison, an estimated 8 million innocent people in Muslim-majority nations died as a result of U.S. policies and wars in the Middle East and North Africa from 2001 to 2015. Yet, the magnitude of this loss of life of these “unworthy victims” is minimized by media and government silence, and the creation of a climate of Islamophobia in the West has only served to deepen the ease with which mass murder is accepted by the aggressor countries’ populations. Beyond the staggering disparity in the death tolls caused by terror groups and Western-backed imperialist wars is the fact that many of these very Western governments that purport to be so concerned with “radical Islamic terror” have often created and funded the most notorious terror groups of all. Indeed, the U.S. government helped to create Al Qaeda and continues to protect its Syrian branch — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — in Syria’s Idlib province to this day. In addition, the CIA was just recently revealed to be helping the Islamic State regroup in Syrian refugee camps. Furthermore, the U.S. has long turned a blind eye to the funding of terror groups by allied states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The role of Western money, arms and policy in the creation and maintenance of radical Wahhabi terrorist groups is often entirely ignored by Western media portrayals of Muslim-majority nations, thereby creating a false image that such violence is endemic to these nations when, in fact, it is often imported state-sponsored terror. These nuances of the situation are rarely heard in the narratives parroted out on mainstream media and those who regularly consume mainstream news sources are more likely than not to support those narratives. For that reason, it is easy to see how someone like Donald Trump — who is said to watch television for eight hours every day, much of it Fox News — has espoused the views that he has. Thanks to the manufacturing of Islamophobia of mainstream media, racist policies like the so-called “Muslim ban” have found wide support, as this false narrative has conflated Islam with violence so often that many have come to believe that only by banning Islam can violence and terrorism in the U.S. be reduced. However, the recent shooting in Christchurch, as well as the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting and other recent acts of domestic terrorism, should alert us to the fact that it is the hate manufactured by this false narrative that is itself endangering American lives while also covering up the mass murder that has been perpetrated by the U.S. and other governments around the world for decades. While the realities of post-9/11 America, as well as the rise in visibility of white ethnonationalism during the Trump Era, have done much to normalize attacks on immigrants, the country that has done the most to normalize anti-Muslim terrorism over this same time frame has been the state of Israel. Israel, from its founding days, has long been steeped in neocolonialist ideology that is remarkably similar to the ideological basis behind other settler states like the United States, Australia and New Zealand. This system of beliefs holds that the native inhabitants of the land — whether the Palestinians, the Sioux or the Maori — are “primitive” and incompetent and that the land would have remained “wild” and undeveloped were it not for the “fortunate” appearance of European settlers. As MintPress noted in a previous report on the subject, such narratives cast these settlers as both superior and normal while the natives become inferior and abnormal, thus obfuscating the settler’s status as foreigner and conqueror. In Israel’s case, this ideology has promoted the idea that all Arabs are “sons of the desert” while the desert simultaneously represents a barbaric obstacle to “progress” and development. However, the state of Israel, under the lengthy tenure of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has seen these long-standing and somewhat hidden underpinnings of the Zionist state burst out into the open. The result has been the overt expression of ethnonationalism in such a way that Israel has become an inspiration to white nationalists in the United States, like Richard Spencer, and far-right ethno-fascist leaders like Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and India’s Narendra Modi. The inspiration has been mutual, according to reports and testimonials published by Jewish newspaper The Forward. For years, through its military occupation of Palestine, Israel’s government and military have sought to paint all Palestinians, including children, as “terrorists” or “terrorist sympathizers.” Take, for example, current Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who wrote in 2014, “This is a war between two people. Who is the enemy? The Palestinian people …” A more recent example came from former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who asserted just last year that “no innocent people” live in the Gaza Strip and that every inhabitant in the enclave is somehow connected to Hamas, even though nearly half of Gaza’s population are children and teenagers. Such rhetoric has become par for the course and numerous examples show that Shaked and Lieberman’s views are increasingly accepted and “normal” in today’s Israel. Yet, the clearest indication of anti-Muslim terror’s normalization in Israel is the recent rise of Otzma Yehudit, or the “Jewish Power” Party. This party, founded by devotees of radical American-born Rabbi Meir Kahane, has now merged — at Netanyahu’s urging — with the Jewish Home Party and stands to become part of Israel’s ruling coalition if Netanyahu manages to win in the country’s upcoming elections. In the office of Itamar Ben Gvir, one of Otzma Yehudit’s leaders, is a framed picture of Baruch Goldstein. In an act that bears a striking similarity to the events in Christchurch, Goldstein — a long-time devotee of Kahane — entered a mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron in 1994 and opened fire, killing 29 and injuring more than 125 worshippers. After the act, Kahane’s Kach party — the predecessor of Otzma Yehudit — was labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. Despite official condemnation, Goldstein’s atrocious act has been the subject of praise and inspiration for subsequent extremists who, under Netanyahu’s government, have become increasingly normalized. Goldstein’s gravestone reads “He gave his life for the people of Israel, its Torah and land” and continues to be used as a site of pilgrimage and homage by the very extremists that Netanyahu is openly courting for political gain. While the followers of Kahane are making a comeback in Israel, several notable Arab political parties have been banned from participating Israel’s upcoming elections, with some being accused of “supporting terrorism” owing to their opposition to Israel’s decades-long military occupation of Palestine. Yet, by elevating clear terror supporters among the ranks of the Jewish Power Party, it has become increasingly clear that openly supporting and advocating anti-Muslim terrorism is no bar to legitimacy and political power in today’s Israel. The tragic and barbaric shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand is yet another horrific and glaring reminder that the “divide and conquer” war propaganda that has sought to promote the so-called “clash of civilizations” between Christianity and Islam, West and East, has not only been monstrously effective but continues to be monstrously destructive to people on both sides. However, the media’s manufacture of Islamophobia, in seeking to reduce empathy for Muslim suffering and reduce Western empathy for innocent Muslim civilians, has increasingly placed targets on the back of Muslims everywhere — in the West and the East — making it increasingly difficult for practitioners of the Islamic faith to feel safe regardless of where they live. With most Muslim-majority countries now killing fields in Western-backed wars, ruled by oppressive, Western-backed dictatorships, or under threat of Western-backed regime change, even those Muslims who have sought a safer, quieter life in the “civilized” West have now found themselves targets thanks to the very war propaganda used to justify the destruction of their home countries. While the murderer Tarrant had stated that he hoped his horrific crime would help stoke “civil war” in Western countries, this tragedy should and must serve as a wake up call for people everywhere that the real forces responsible for the destruction of many Muslim-majority countries and the current chaos present in many Western countries are not generated by civilian populations or religions but instead by the global oligarchy that engineers and profits from this chaos. These oligarchs loot from the people of the West just as they do from the people of the East and it is time to recognize that they are the real threats to a more peaceful world — not regular people praying, whether it be in a church, a synagogue or a mosque. Top Photo | Ambulance staff take a man from outside a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. Multiple people were killed in mass shootings at two mosques full of worshippers attending Friday prayers on what the prime minister called “one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” as authorities detained four people and defused explosive devices in what appeared to be a carefully planned terrorist attack. Mark Baker | AP Whitney Webb is a MintPress News journalist based in Chile. She has contributed to several independent media outlets including Global Research, EcoWatch, the Ron Paul Institute and 21st Century Wire, among others. She has made several radio and television appearances and is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.
|
Whitney Webb
|
https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-christchurch-shooting-and-the-normalization-of-anti-muslim-terrorism/256295/
|
2019-03-15 20:04:56+00:00
| 1,552,694,696 | 1,567,546,071 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
|
318,100 |
motherjones--2019-03-15--World Condemns Terrorist Attacks on New Zealand Mosques
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
motherjones
|
World Condemns Terrorist Attacks on New Zealand Mosques
|
Politicians and religious leaders around the world have forcefully denounced the terrorist attacks carried out inside two New Zealand mosques on Friday, where at least 49 people were killed and dozens more injured after a gunman opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers. The unprecedented, coordinated attacks mark the deadliest in New Zealand’s history. “This is one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said at a press conference hours after the attacks. “They are us,” she continued, referring to the victims. “The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand. There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence, which it is clear this act was.” One man in his 20’s has been charged with murder. While law enforcement officials have not disclosed the man’s identity, a disturbing video that filmed the attack and was posted on social media has been linked to an Australian man. He reportedly wrote a manifesto explaining that he used guns in the attack to prompt political debate in the United States over the Second Amendment and expressing concern about how white supremacy is being undermined. “The New Zealand Jewish Council has no adequate words to describe how sickened and devastated we are by the coordinated attacks on Christchurch mosques today,” the group said in a statement on Friday. “We offer our full assistance and support to the Muslim community and stand united with it against the scourge of terrorism and racism, which we must do all we can to banish from New Zealand.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack demonstrated a growing hostility towards Islam. Though he did not identify specific names, Erdogan also said that some around the world have encouraged such open racism towards Muslims. “With this attack, hostility towards Islam, that the world has been idly watching and even encouraging for some time, has gone beyond individual harassment to reach the level of mass killing,” he said during a funeral for a former Turkish minister. US lawmakers also joined to condemn the assault. President Donald Trump expressed his “warmest sympathy and best wishes” to New Zealand. But the tweet came hours after he had posted a link to the far-right news site Breitbart which featured a banner headline about the attack. That tweet now appears to have been deleted. Minutes after he expressed his condolences, Trump returned to attacking Democrats by repeating his claim that the party did not respect Jewish people.
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Inae Oh
|
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/world-condemns-terrorist-attacks-on-new-zealand-mosques/
|
2019-03-15 12:49:50+00:00
| 1,552,668,590 | 1,567,546,072 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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336,442 |
naturalnews--2019-07-21--Antifa terrorists firebombed a government building with AR-15 assault weapons but the mainstream
| 2019-07-21T00:00:00 |
naturalnews
|
Antifa terrorists firebombed a government building with AR-15 "assault" weapons, but the mainstream media didn't say a word
|
(Natural News) Just as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has long been predicting, the domestic terrorist group Antifa (“anti-fascists”) is now firebombing government buildings in protest of conservative “Nazis” – and the mainstream media is nowhere to be found in reporting on these heinous crimes because they don’t fit the anti-Trump narrative of the leftist fake news. Using one of those dreaded AR-15 “assault weapons,” no less, an Antifa cult member by the name of Willem Van Spronsen, age 68, was recently caught firebombing an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) facility in Tacoma, Washington, because he apparently thought that it was one of those nonexistent “concentration camps” that fake news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC have been telling their liberal viewers are “caging” migrant children. Van Spronsen reportedly released a manifesto just prior to his act of terrorism that stated, “I am antifa,” indicating that he was clearly motivated by fake news rhetoric to fight the “fascists” through extreme violence. Only one local news outlet in Washington state bothered to report on the incident, revealing that Van Spronsen was shot and killed before he could do even more damage. Meanwhile, leftists all over social media praised Van Spronsen’s act of terrorism – this worshiping of leftist violence apparently being in full compliance with the “community standards” of Big Tech. Heavy also reported on the incident via its website, explaining that Van Spronsen was “an anarchist and anti-fascist from Washington” who tried to “set fire with incendiary devices” to the ICE facility in question. Sponsored solution from the Health Ranger Store: The Big Berkey water filter removes almost 100% of all contaminants using only the power of gravity (no electricity needed, works completely off-grid). Widely consider the ultimate "survival" water filter, the Big Berkey is made of stainless steel and has been laboratory verified for high-efficiency removal of heavy metals by CWC Labs, with tests personally conducted by Mike Adams. Explore more here. “Authorities say Van Spronsen was armed with a rifle and threw ‘lit objects’ at buildings and vehicles in the parking lot of the Northwest Detention Center,” the Heavy report goes on to explain. “Van Spronsen, a Vashon Island musician affiliated with the Puget Sound Anarchists and local antifa groups, was shot and killed by Tacoma Police officers, the Seattle Times reports. No one else was injured.” For more stories about Antifa violence that you won’t hear about from mainstream news sources, be sure to check out LiberalMob.com. Prior to this incident, Willem Van Spronsen operated a Facebook page under the name of “Emma Durutti” that contained an album entitled, “the audio manifesto.” Some have speculated that this female monicker is indicative that Van Spronsen was also a transgender who belonged to the Cult of LGBTQP – the “P” stands for pedophile. Others, however, believe that “Emma Durutti” was merely Van Spronsen’s online “pen name.” Regardless, this violent extremist, who may have also suffered from gender dysphoria, committed the type of crime that fake news outlets routinely accuse Trump-supporters of committing – without any evidence, of course. And because of this, most Americans will likely never hear about Van Spronsen’s crimes because they don’t fit the agenda of demonizing “right-wing” folks as gun-toting domestic terrorists. Americans who read Natural News, however, or who watch videos at Brighteon.com, will continue to stay in-the-know about news items like this that are routinely buried or censored by the deep state’s thought police. “Antifa are allowed to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the federal government without their groups facing any repercussions,” writes Chris Menahan for Information Liberation. “Their attacks get sparse and largely neutral and/or favorable media coverage and they face zero censorship from Big Tech in the aftermath … They’re allowed to use every Big Tech platform to organize their attacks while their victims are all banned for opposing them.” For more breaking news about Big Tech censorship, be sure to check out Censorship.news.
|
Ethan Huff
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http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-07-21-antifa-terrorists-firebombed-government-building-mainstream-media-didnt-say-a-word.html
|
2019-07-21 22:42:11+00:00
| 1,563,763,331 | 1,567,536,236 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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318,711 |
motherjones--2019-08-06--We Consider This an Act of Terror Mexicos Foreign Minister Details Possible Legal Actions After
| 2019-08-06T00:00:00 |
motherjones
|
“We Consider This an Act of Terror”: Mexico’s Foreign Minister Details Possible Legal Actions After El Paso Shooting
|
In the wake of the mass shooting in El Paso this past weekend, Mexico announced it would look into taking legal action. Monday night, Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, made clear just what the country might actually do, officially calling the shooting an act of terror against his country’s people. “Mexico will participate in the investigation and later the trial against this perpetrator” because there are eight Mexican nationals dead as a result of the mass shooting, Ebrard said. “Since we consider this an act of terror, Mexican law allows Mexico can participate in the investigation,” he continued. “This will be the first investigation of this importance in Mexico’s history regarding an act of terror against Mexican citizens in US territory.” In a packed room full of reporters at the Mexican consulate in El Paso, Ebrard extended his condolences to the local community and said the United States and Mexico need to respect one another and work together in the aftermath of the violence. He said Mexico is trying to repatriate the bodies of the victims as quickly as possible and that the state will help with funeral services. Ebrard also highlighted the need to address racism and white supremacy as serious problems in the United States. As for specific legal actions his country might consider, Ebrard said Mexico “is definitely going to present a case against the sale and distribution of weapons, such as the assault weapon that took the lives of eight Mexican men and women,” along with the 14 other victims. He didn’t go into specifics of how that would happen. Mexico, he also noted, may go as far as trying to extradite the alleged perpetrator in this case. Ebrard noted he’d meet with the Mexican attorney general Tuesday to move any legal action forward. The suspected shooter reportedly drove to El Paso from Dallas to kill as many Mexicans as possible, according to reports citing law enforcement, and to stop a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” in the words of a manifesto he seems to have posted on 8chan shortly before the shooting. He targeted a Walmart in a shopping area that is frequently visited by Mexicans who cross north to shop. It’s one of the busiest in El Paso, where the large majority of residents are of Mexican descent and identify as Hispanic. Shortly before the press conference Monday, I spoke with multiple people at the memorial who move fluidly between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso who said the neighboring cities are mourning together. I saw a woman and her daughter at the memorial set up near the site of the shooting; they were putting up a Mexican flag near the flowers and candles in honor of the Mexican victims. She told me they were there to pray for the victims because “we are all one community.”
|
Fernanda Echavarri
|
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/08/mexico-government-marcelo-ebrard-legal-action-el-paso-shooting/
|
2019-08-06 00:41:36+00:00
| 1,565,066,496 | 1,567,534,714 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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331,853 |
nationalreview--2019-08-05--Its Time to Declare War on White-Nationalist Terrorism
| 2019-08-05T00:00:00 |
nationalreview
|
It’s Time to Declare War on White-Nationalist Terrorism
|
We need all the tools we can muster — legal, rhetorical, financial, and cultural. It’s time to face some dreadful, terrible facts. The United States is now facing a deadly challenge from a connected, radical, online-organizing community of vicious white-nationalist terrorists. They are every bit as evil as jihadists, and they radicalize in much the same way. And just like the ISIS terrorists our nation and our allies have confronted in the great cities of the West, they use the most modern of tools to advance the oldest of hatreds. America has faced waves of white-supremacist terror in the past, and there are always at least some, few extremists lurking in the dark corners of American life. We’ve come to expect the occasional act of white-supremacist violence, and we’ve sometimes explained it away as the last spasm of a dying bigotry. Beginning in 2015, however, it became apparent to those who had eyes to see that our nation was starting to experience a new youth movement of hate. The Charleston church massacre was followed by a strange — and for those who experienced it — terrifying wave of bizarre online racist harassment. The word “alt-right” entered the American lexicon. It targeted Jews, it targeted African Americans and Hispanics, and it targeted critics of Donald Trump. It obsessed over immigrants from south of the border. It used words like “invasion” to describe immigration, and words such as “replacement” to describe the imagined fate of white America. It thrilled to Trump’s rhetoric, and parts of Trump’s movement loved it right back. No less a figure than Steve Bannon, the man who became Trump campaign CEO and later a senior White House aide, boasted that Breitbart (then one of the most trafficked sites in conservative media) had become the “platform of the alt-right.” Critics who sounded the alarm about the alt-right were often mocked. You just didn’t get it. They were “trolls.” They were doing it for the “lulz.” In the meantime, their targets hired security when they could afford it, carried guns when they couldn’t, and got used to living on edge. Then, the “trolls” found their way into the real world. In 2017, a young man drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters in Charlottesville, Va., killing a young woman named Heather Heyer. One of the “trolls” — connected to other trolls across the globe — armed himself, slaughtered worshippers in two New Zealand mosques, and filmed the attack. He posted a rambling manifesto to an online message board called 8chan. The next month, a young man in California armed himself, posted his own 8chan manifesto, and tried to slaughter worshippers in a California synagogue. And yesterday, another young man posted another 8chan manifesto and committed a mass murder in El Paso, Texas. And if you think that’s the sum total of white-supremacist violence, you’re sadly mistaken. Most Americans remember the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh. Do you remember the white supremacist who killed a black man in New York with a sword? Do you remember the attempted church massacre in Kentucky, where a white supremacist who couldn’t gain access to the church gunned down two black victims at a Kroger grocery story instead? Do you remember that a member of an “alt-Reich” Facebook group stabbed a black Maryland college student to death without provocation, or that a white man in Kansas shouted ethnic slurs before shooting two Indian engineers in a bar, killing one? Substitute “jihadist” for “white supremacist” or “white nationalist” and then imagine how we’d act. Imagine how we’ve acted. It’s time to declare war on white-nationalist terrorism. It’s time to be as wide awake about the dangers of online racist radicalization as we are about online jihadist inspiration. And it’s time to reject the public language and rhetoric that excites and inspires racist radicals. Just as we demanded from our Muslim allies a legal and cultural response to the hate in their midst, we should demand a legal and cultural response to the terrorists from our own land. To say that it’s time to declare war does not mean it’s time to repeal the Constitution. Nor does it mean droning a young man in his mom’s basement in Des Moines. It means treating online white-nationalist radicals exactly the way we treat online jihadist sympathizers. The FBI is hardly passive. Last month, FBI director Christopher Wray told Congress that the FBI had made “about 90” domestic terror arrests in the last nine months, and a “majority” are motivated by “white-supremacist violence.” Aside from making “domestic terrorism” a federal crime (federal terrorism crimes focus on international terrorism), the federal response is mainly one of resource allocation. It’s time to shake free greater resources from the Department of Justice, with greater emphasis in its myriad joint terrorism task forces on the white-nationalist threat. And we can’t forget the mass-shooting element of white-nationalist terror. We’ll learn more about the El Paso terrorist (and the more-mysterious Dayton shooter) in the coming days, but we know from all too many previous mass shootings that these vile murderers not only often give warning signs but that the legal tools to help a person in obvious psychological distress are often inadequate. After the Parkland school shooting, I advocated a form of gun control called a “gun-violence restraining order,” also known as a “red-flag law.” Essentially, they allow designated individuals (family members, employers, educators) to file a request in court for an order temporarily removing firearms from a dangerous individual. Properly drafted, they provide for due process and require compelling, admissible evidence. The great virtue of these laws is that they’re focused on individual misconduct, not on (ineffective) collective punishment of the vast law-abiding majority of gun-owners. But law enforcement isn’t enough. Targeted gun control isn’t enough. Culture matters. Since 9/11 we have asked that Muslim leaders not just condemn terrorism but reject the extremist ideologies and extremist rhetoric that inspire and energize jihadists. Why? It’s too simple to say that anti-Semitic or anti-American rhetoric causes violence. After all, the number of people who commit acts of violence is still a tiny proportion of those who are exposed to hateful speech. No, it’s a bit more complex than that. Members of a radicalized underground often work diligently to introduce their themes and ideas into public discourse. They want to kill, yes, but they also want to change the culture. When national leaders use their rhetoric or adopt their themes, it is thrilling. It is energizing. It is inspiring to the movement. It tells them that they just might win. Think of the thrills, energy, and inspiration they’ve experienced from the highest office in the land — and from parts of the most popular cable network in the land — since Trump came down the escalator in 2015. His announcement speech cast immigrants collectively as dangerous and deficient, with only “some” exceptions. He has used the language of invasion frequently, even to the point of invoking a military response: Voices on Fox News have even said that migrant caravans carried with them the threat of importing smallpox (a disease that’s been eradicated for decades) and leprosy to the United States: Or, migrants are responsible for spreading a “polio-like” disease is that is paralyzing our children: Alt-right support for Trump wasn’t random. It wasn’t arbitrary. It was directly related to his rhetoric, and it was cultivated by his allies, and it was cultivated in part because it was a new way to fight, to punch back against the hated Left. We can and should debate proper levels of immigration, including debating more immigration restrictions, without using the exact language and exact claims that energize and inspire an actual racist terrorist movement. But somehow all too many Americans have convinced themselves that the only way to “fight” is to use language that is deliberately designed to stoke fear and rage — that pushes the envelope with the express purpose of enraging our opposition. Tell people we face an invasion often enough, and some people will act according to the ordinary meaning of that term. The El Paso shooter called immigration an invasion, and he responded in the way that people historically respond to “invasions” — with armed force. Political rhetoric is often rough. “Politics ain’t beanbag,” as the saying goes. But when a nation experiences the wave of mass killings, threats, harassment, and radicalization we see now, it’s time for American leaders to respond with unequivocal, relentless messages not just of condemnation for racists but also with their own words of reconciliation and national unity. And that does not mean surrendering a single rational, good-faith argument about proper levels of immigration. We can and should view each and every immigrant as a person created in the image of God, but that does not mean that each and every person should be entitled to enter this country. It’s worth saying 10,000 times: Fighting for your political values does not ever require you to abandon decency and respect. In fact, given the magnitude of the issues at stake, decency is even more urgent. It helps keep emotions under control. And if you think the obligation of decency runs only one way, think again. While we don’t yet know the Dayton shooter’s motives, early reporting indicates that the Dayton shooter described himself as a leftist, hated Donald Trump, supported Elizabeth Warren, and once wrote “kill every fascist.” He condemned “concentration camps” at the border. Angry political hyperbole that invokes the language of death or the Holocaust is toxic. Period. This is a pivotal moment in our modern history. Every wave of terror is dangerous, but waves of racist terror are particularly dangerous in a nation that was once torn to bloody shreds in large part because of its repugnant white supremacism. Law enforcement should pursue terrorists relentlessly. Policymakers should think creatively. And our nation’s leaders need to focus on reconciliation and unity, and if they are not up to that most basic and fundamental aspect of their job, then they must be replaced.
|
David French
|
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/08/declare-war-on-white-nationalist-terrorism/
|
2019-08-05 10:30:50+00:00
| 1,565,015,450 | 1,567,534,800 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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341,240 |
newsbusters--2019-03-15--HollywoodSocial Media Stars Blame Conservative Americans for NZ Terror Attack
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
newsbusters
|
Hollywood/Social Media Stars Blame Conservative Americans for NZ Terror Attack
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Since the terrorist attack that killed 49 people in New Zealand happened, the media have been looking for someone (besides the shooter) to blame. Several of the more extreme and idiotic social media/Hollywood personalities have found it, close to home. If you guessed that they would point the finger at American conservatives like Donald Trump or Ben Shapiro for an attack that happened in another country at the hands of an isolated madman, then you’re right on the money. Westworld star Jeffrey Wright hopped on Twitter to blame the incident on Donald Trump, claiming, “Waiting for remarks from @realDonaldTrump on New Zealand’s radical white racist terrorist attack like waiting for Bin Laden’s next cave video. Blood on his mouth...once again. This is clear.” In another tweet mocking the president’s “Warmest wishes” condolence to victims, Wright made another Bin Laden crack: “Bin Laden sends warmest sympathy & best wishes to all New Yorkers.” The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead unleashed her own hate for the Trump family, slamming Donald Trump Jr. for his tweet asking the media not to fixate on the killer. The unhinged abortion-worshipper responded to the president’s son, tweeting, “Says the man who poses for pictures with the living beings he slaughters for sport. GFYS.” [Go Fuck Yourself] Well that’s definitely the pot calling the kettle black considering her intense ardor for killing unborn babies. Excuse me, I meant minutes-old babies. George Wallace couldn’t just spread love or condolences like the rest of rational humanity either. The comedian tweeted that it was Donald Trump’s fault: “So sick of the hate. So sick of the body count. And our sorry ass excuse for a leader is out there teasin' violence. If you're still on that man's team you've lost something deep inside yourself. Find it.” Twitter feminist and radical lefty activist Amy Siskind knew where the blame lay, and for her it sure wasn’t solely at the feet of some deranged gun-toting New Zealander but at the feet of Trump’s America. Siskind tweeted, “There was a time not long ago when the U.S. was the moral and human rights leader around the world. Under Trump, we are the inspiration for white nationalist terrorism. This has to stop! Republican leaders you need to speak out - this is a stain on our country -no more silence!” Popular YouTube and Vine content creator Vic Berger had a rant about the shooting as well, this time directly blaming Conservative radio host Ben Shapiro for inspiring the murder spree, as well as an earlier one. Berger tweeted, “.@benshapiro claims no responsibility for helping to radicalize the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooter despite evidence that he did. Shapiro and members of the far-right spread their hate non-stop and then play victim when a fan of theirs takes action.”
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Gabriel Hays
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https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/gabriel-hays/2019/03/15/hollywoodsocial-media-stars-blame-conservative-americans-nz
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2019-03-15 21:00:00+00:00
| 1,552,698,000 | 1,567,546,189 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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341,989 |
newsbusters--2019-04-22--To Washington Post Islamist Terror Is a New Threat
| 2019-04-22T00:00:00 |
newsbusters
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To Washington Post, Islamist Terror Is a ‘New Threat’
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For progressives, the world is a mysterious and ever-surprising place. Like The Washington Post in it’s April 22 piece, alerting readers that “Sri Lanka’s bloody Easter puts spotlight on a new terror threat.” No. Readers have to wade 416 words into reporter Ishaan Tharoor’s “analysis” -- past mentions of The Tamil Tigers and their past atrocities, “Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese Buddhist majority” and the country’s “ghastly civil war” (none of it relevant to Sunday’s attacks) -- to learn that “There was speculation, but no confirmed evidence, of an Islamist militant connection.” Talk about burying the lede. Well, now we know the attacks were carried out by an Islamist terror group, National Thowfeek Jaamath, probably with help from some pretty familiar groups. “The fact that [Christians] were the target here points, at least for me, to probably international involvement,” [terrorism expert Amarnath] Amarasingam said. Either al-Qaeda or Islamic State-linked groups, “but neither has claimed responsibility.” In fact, Tharoor spends the second half of the article talking to security experts who believe the attackers are Islamists. There is no “new terror threat.” It’s just the same old threat in a new place. The World Trade Center, U.S.S. Cole, the Nairobi embassy, 9-11, Bali, Madrid, London, Bombay, Nigeria, Ft. Hood, Boston, Kenya, Paris, Brussels, Nice, Orlando, Westminster Bridge, Manchester, beheading and human immolation videos … Only our progressive media could find anything new in the carnage of Sri Lanka. But to his credit, Tharoor managed to avoid calling the victims “Easter worshippers.”
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Matt Philbin
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https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/matt-philbin/2019/04/22/wash-post-islamist-terror-new-threat
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2019-04-22 16:15:00+00:00
| 1,555,964,100 | 1,567,542,203 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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342,544 |
newsbusters--2019-05-28--Once a Terrorist Always a Terrorist
| 2019-05-28T00:00:00 |
newsbusters
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Once a Terrorist Always a Terrorist
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the release of self-admitted “American Taliban” member John Walker Lindh “unexplainable and unconscionable.” Lindh, who was paroled last Thursday from a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, served 17 years of a 20-year sentence for illegally aiding Taliban forces. Lindh had joined the terrorist organization before September 11, 2001. He was in Afghanistan at the time and was also there when a group of Taliban prisoners murdered CIA officer Johnny Micheal Spann. Spann's daughter, who was 9 when her father died, called Lindh's early release “a slap in the face” to everyone who died on 9-11. After his capture and return to the U.S., Lindh struck a plea bargain, admitting to illegally providing help to the Taliban, but denying any role in Spann's death. Lindh is barred from traveling and using a cellphone or the internet. He could still borrow a phone and possibly use someone else's computer and sign-in information, so it is difficult to see how those limitations will be enforced. Lindh stated he would not have joined the Taliban if he had known what it was about, but that doesn't stand up given his statements after he was sent to prison. Foreignpolicy.com, a site that focuses on global affairs, current events and domestic and international policy, obtained a report from the National Counterterrorism Center that stated in early 2017 that Lindh “continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts.” The document cites Federal Bureau of Prisons “intelligence summaries,” which claim that in March 2016, Lindh “told a television news producer that he would continue to spread violent extremist Islam upon his release.” The document does not identify the news reporter and Foreign Policy says there is no “public record” of Lindh participating in media interviews. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, but if the interview exists, now would be a good time to see it. Homegrown violent extremists have long been considered the most difficult to detect and monitor. Lindh’s release is likely to give aid and comfort to potential terrorists already in the country and others seeking to enter the U.S. There is no indication Lindh has repented of his actions, much less changed his ideology, or brand of Islamic extremism. “Treason” is a word that should be used only in cases where an American citizen betrays his country and goes over to the enemy's side. Lindh fits that description. In past American wars, some of those found guilty of treason have been executed. Lindh is a traitor and should have received the death penalty, but because of the plea deal he is now free and is likely to return to his old ways. He will be able to associate with people of his persuasion and encourage their radical beliefs and extreme behavior. Government officials say he will be “closely monitored” by parole officers and others during the three years remaining of his sentence. What happens after that? Suppose he engages in actions that directly or indirectly result in the deaths of more Americans? Sure, he can be returned to prison and possibly even executed, but the blood of future victims will be on the heads of those who let him out. An ideology driven by extreme religious views is difficult to combat, much less reverse. Given the ancient history of Islam and the radical behavior of those claiming to conduct terrorist activities in its name, it is not a stretch to say once one has become a terrorist, it is likely he will remain one.
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Cal Thomas
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https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/cal-thomas/2019/05/28/once-terrorist-always-terrorist
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2019-05-28 19:15:00+00:00
| 1,559,085,300 | 1,567,540,066 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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348,919 |
newspunch--2019-06-26--UN Western Countries Must Take Back Captured ISIS Terrorists
| 2019-06-26T00:00:00 |
newspunch
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UN: Western Countries Must Take Back Captured ISIS Terrorists
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The United Nations wants western countries to take back captured ISIS terrorists currently imprisoned in Syria and Iraq. According to U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, the 55,000 ISIS fighters and their family members “should face fair prosecution or be freed.” States “must assume responsibility for their nationals” even if they have engaged the slaughter of innocent civilians in the name of jihad. Summit.news reports: A debate about whether to allow so-called ‘ISIS bride’ Shamima Begum to re-enter the UK raged earlier this year. While the media largely helped Begum spin the narrative that she made a harmless mistake and was a victim herself, her true activities and beliefs were appalling. It was revealed that Begum literally stitched bombs into suicide vests to ensure they exploded when taken off during her time alongside ISIS jihadists in Syria. Begum was also a member of the “hisba” enforcement group, which handed out brutal punishments to those found flouting ISIS laws on how to dress and behave. She also pointed an automatic weapon at women in Syria for “wearing brightly colored shoes”. Begum also said during interviews that seeing decapitated heads in trash cans didn’t faze her because the victims were “enemies of Islam”. Should such individuals really be allowed to return to the west? Yes, according to the UN.
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Sean Adl-Tabatabai
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https://newspunch.com/un-western-countries-take-back-captured-isis-terrorists/
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2019-06-26 11:19:18+00:00
| 1,561,562,358 | 1,567,538,012 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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363,961 |
newyorker--2019-03-22--Jacinda Ardern Has Rewritten the Script for How a Nation Grieves After a Terrorist Attack
| 2019-03-22T00:00:00 |
newyorker
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Jacinda Ardern Has Rewritten the Script for How a Nation Grieves After a Terrorist Attack
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Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, has staged a revolution. In the wake of a shooting that killed fifty people, in two mosques, in the city of Christchurch last Friday, Ardern has quietly upended every expectation about the way Western states and their leaders respond to terrorist attacks. Ardern has resisted war rhetoric. Since the modern era of terrorism began, on September 11, 2001, world leaders have responded to terror by promising vengeance and waged war, rhetorically and militarily. George W. Bush set the tone, with a statement on the morning of the World Trade Center attacks: “Make no mistake. The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.” He elaborated in a televised address later that day. “Today, our fellow-citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack,” he said. He named the emotions evoked by the chaos in lower Manhattan: “disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger.” He pledged war. “A great people has been moved to defend a great nation,” he said. “Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. . . . America and our friends and allies . . . stand together to win the war against terrorism. . . . America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.” In the years since then, many other leaders have given speeches that shared key elements of Bush’s rhetoric: interpreting acts of terrorism as a declaration of war on an entire country; calling the attackers cowardly and asserting the country’s own courage; and promising to hunt down the terrorists. “Today, France was attacked at its very heart, in Paris, at the offices of a newspaper,” the French President Francois Hollande said, on January 7, 2015, the day twelve people were killed at the headquarters of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. “We will not be intimidated,” the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, said, in a statement following a massacre carried out by the white supremacist Anders Breivik, in July, 2011. Stoltenberg called Breivik’s attack an “act of cowardice.” And, while Barack Obama avoided war rhetoric in his responses to terror, in his first statement on the Boston Marathon bombing, in 2013, he promised to “get to the bottom of this.” In 2015, responding to a shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church, in Charleston, South Carolina, he twice called the attacker a coward. Ardern, on the other hand, immediately showed that she had no time for the perpetrator of the mosque shootings.“Many of those who will have been directly affected by this shooting may be migrants to New Zealand; they may even be refugees here,” she said. “They have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home. They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand. There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence.” These phrases are remarkable for what they do not contain: a promise to find the perpetrator and bring him to justice; any attempt to degrade him; any recognition of his desire to be seen, recognized, and fought. The opposite of terror is not courage, victory, or even justice, and it is certainly not “war on terror.” The opposite of terror is disregard for the terrorist. In a later statement, Ardern made her policy of disregard explicit. Speaking to Parliament four days after the attacks, she said, “He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety. And that is why you will never hear me mention his name. He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless. And, to others, I implore you: speak the names of those who were lost, rather than the name of the man who took them. He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing. Not even his name.” In not speaking about the attacker, Ardern has also managed to avoid creating a “them,” even as she has continued to speak about “us.” Addressing the families of the victims, she said, “We cannot know your grief, but we can walk with you at every stage. We can and we will surround you with aroha, manaakitanga, and all that makes us us.” She used Maori words that mean kindness, compassion, generosity. Again, it was the absence that was notable in Ardern’s speech: the absence of a rhetorical pivot from “us” to “them,” the enemy. Even more remarkably, Ardern has succeeded in othering the terrorist, but not by treating him as an emissary from a hostile outside world; indeed, she had succeeded in describing the tragedy in both national and global terms. In a nuanced response to a BBC interviewer, who asked if she was concerned about a rise in white nationalism in New Zealand, she said, “My call would be a global one. I’m very clear here to make the distinction that yes, this was an Australian citizen, but that is not to say that we do not have ideology in New Zealand that would be an affront to the majority of New Zealanders, that would be utterly rejected by the majority, the vast majority of New Zealanders. But we still have a responsibility to weed it out where it exists and make sure that we never create an environment where it can flourish. But I would make that a global call.” Ardern’s insistence on disregarding the killer, while recognizing the enormity of the loss he has caused, reflects a deeper understanding: some people kill people. Ideology of any sort is secondary to the violent impulse. (It is no coincidence that most terrorists have a history of violent behavior, particularly in the home.) In the face of this fact, a society, and its leaders, can do only two things: grieve and work to reduce the opportunity to kill. These are precisely the tasks Ardern has taken on. “One of the roles I never anticipated having, and hoped never to have, is to voice the grief of a nation,” she told Parliament. “At this time, it has been second only to securing the care of those affected and the safety of everyone.” She has become New Zealand’s mourner-in-chief. The most effective way to fight violence is to make the violence less efficient. Less than a week after the attacks, Ardern’s government announced a ban on military-style weapons. Even before the terms of the ban were worked out, Ardern encouraged people to begin surrendering weapons to the police, and at least several dozen people did. The gun ban thus became, at least to a degree, a matter of political agreement, rather than an emergency measure or a restriction imposed by the government. This is what political leaders do in the face of a senseless tragedy: they grieve with their people, they think with their people, and they act together with their people. None of those tasks requires a declaration of war.
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Masha Gessen
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https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/jacinda-ardern-has-rewritten-the-script-for-how-a-nation-grieves-after-a-terrorist-attack
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2019-03-22 20:34:50+00:00
| 1,553,301,290 | 1,567,545,288 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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383,280 |
npr--2019-01-17--In Bad Taste Disrespectful Photo Of Terrorist Attack In Kenya Sparks Controversy
| 2019-01-17T00:00:00 |
npr
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'In Bad Taste, Disrespectful': Photo Of Terrorist Attack In Kenya Sparks Controversy
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'In Bad Taste, Disrespectful': Photo Of Terrorist Attack In Kenya Sparks Controversy The photograph shows the aftermath of a terrorist attack at a luxury hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Laptops and plates are still on the table, and four people are hunched over, bloodied and lifeless. Almost immediately after The New York Times published the graphic image on its website, there was outrage in Kenya. Many people in a country coming to terms with Tuesday's horrific attack felt disrespected, and publication of the photo has sparked discussion about journalism ethics, media freedom and racism during coverage of such events. "Absolutely distasteful, disgusting and deplorable. An utter disgrace," a user named Fadhili Kanini said on Twitter. The attack began Tuesday afternoon when five men used grenades to breach the DusitD2 hotel in the Kenyan capital. One of them blew himself up at the restaurant where the photo was taken, and the four others moved through the hotel firing weapons. The standoff lasted until Wednesday morning, when the military moved in and killed the rest of the gunmen. In the end, the Islamist group al-Shabab took responsibility and 21 victims were killed. But as Kenyans grieved, controversy over the photo taken by Khalil Senosi from The Associated Press continued to boil. A petition on Change.org calling on the Times to pull down the image had garnered nearly 18,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon. The New York Times for its part issued a statement saying that in these tough situations, its journalists "try to be very sensitive." "We want to be respectful to the victims and to others affected by the attack," the statement read. "But we also believe it is important to give our readers a clear picture of the horror of an attack like this. This includes showing pictures that are not sensationalized but that give a real sense of the situation." These are standards, the Times said, that are applied across the world. But the discussion in Kenya asked a pointed question: Would the Times have published such a graphic photograph if this had happened in the U.S. and the victims had been white? Stephen Maingi, a software engineer and data analyst in Nairobi who created the Change.org petition, worked his way through the Times' coverage of the mass shootings in Parkland, Fla.; Thousand Oaks, Calif.; the Brussels attack; and the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. He said he saw no published photos of dead bodies, though it's not clear whether such photos were available for use. One thing that is clear is that access to crime scenes in places such as Nairobi is less tightly controlled than in the United States. Maingi also pointed out that the Times published the Kenya photo before families of the victims were notified. "The New York Times did not honor the victims' rights to privacy and human dignity and to be treated in a manner that is not cruel, inhumane or degrading," Maingi said. Those are all things the Kenyan Constitution guarantees all its citizens. Ken Opalo, a professor of political science at Georgetown University, wrote a blog post arguing that the Times' response showed a "significant amount of empathy gap." While the pictures did not show faces, he said, the people in them could be identified by clothing. "Second, and more importantly, Kenyans' demands for respect for victims and their families are valid in their own right," he wrote. "They do not need further validation by what the Times does elsewhere." Kainaz Amaria, a visuals editor at Vox.com who writes often about minority representation in visual journalism, tweeted that the Times seemed to be dealing with this criticism in a vacuum, as if it was an isolated incident. "In fact it stands alongside decades of visual coverage exploiting the pain and suffering of black and brown folks," she tweeted. The Foreign Correspondents' Association of East Africa, of which this reporter is a member, issued a statement backing The New York Times. The group pointed out that different media outlets have different guidelines and that Kenyans have every right to object to the Times' use of that photograph. The FCA-EA, however, objected to the personal attacks against the Times correspondent who wrote the associated story. By Thursday afternoon, the controversy had moved from the Twitterverse to the real world. The Media Council of Kenya, which issues accreditation to all journalists in the country, gave The New York Times a 24-hour ultimatum: Either remove the picture and issue an apology or lose your accreditation. "The MCK's position is that your publication was in bad taste, disrespectful to the victims and families of the affected victims in addition to being unprofessional," the council's chief, David Omwoyo, wrote. In a letter responding to the Media Council, the Times stood its ground. Phil Corbett, associate managing editor for standards, explained that the Times has indeed made tough choices and published "similar painful photos" from around the world. "Again, we are very sympathetic to the pain of those affected in Nairobi, and we understand that many reasonable people disagree with our decision to publish these photos," Corbett wrote. "But I hope to assure you that we take this responsibility seriously, and are guided by our mission to help readers see and understand the world."
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Eyder Peralta
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https://www.npr.org/2019/01/17/686144953/in-bad-taste-disrespectful-photo-of-terror-attack-in-kenya-sparks-controversy?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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2019-01-17 19:47:46+00:00
| 1,547,772,466 | 1,567,552,091 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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384,416 |
npr--2019-03-15--49 Dead In Terrorist Attack At 2 Mosques In Christchurch New Zealand
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
npr
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49 Dead In 'Terrorist Attack' At 2 Mosques In Christchurch, New Zealand
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49 Dead In 'Terrorist Attack' At 2 Mosques In Christchurch, New Zealand Updated at 4:37 a.m. ET Forty-nine people are dead and at least 20 are seriously injured in what New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says "can now only be described as a terrorist attack." Two mosques in Christchurch were attacked Friday around the time of afternoon prayers. A male in his late 20s has been charged with murder, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said. Three other people were apprehended, though one of those people might not have been involved in the shootings. Bush said it would be "improper" to confirm the identity of the person charged at this point. Bush said police have recovered "a number of firearms" from both crime scenes. There were also "possibly" two improvised explosive devices on one vehicle, Bush said. Police have disabled one and are in the process of disabling the other, he said. Bush said 41 people were killed at the Al Noor Mosque near Hagley Park in the city's center; seven were killed at a mosque in Linwood, a few miles away. One person taken to a hospital died from injuries sustained during the attack. Ardern said the attack by people with "extremist views" was "unprecedented — unlike any that we have experienced before." None of those in custody were on any active security watch lists, either in New Zealand or Australia, Bush said. New Zealanders must continue to feel secure in their country, Ardern said. "We represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values, refuge for those who need it. And those values, I can assure you, will not and cannot be shaken by this attack." One of the individuals in custody is Australian, according to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Christchurch Hospital said it was treating 48 patients for gunshot wounds, CNN reported. Bush said earlier that police haven't been able to identify the victims yet because the mosques are still on lockdown. New Zealand Police say they have asked all mosques across the country to "shut their doors." "It is clear this is one of New Zealand's darkest days," Ardern said earlier Friday. "What has happened is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence." "Many of those affected may be migrants, maybe refugees ... They are us. ... The perpetrator is not. ... There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence," Ardern said. Bush urged anyone who had intended to visit a mosque in New Zealand not to go, to "close your doors until you hear from us again." The public was being urged to stay indoors. Bush said he was aware of reports that the shooter had live-streamed an attack online. "We are doing everything we can to remove it," he said. This is a developing story. Some facts reported by the media may later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.
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Matthew S. Schwartz
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https://www.npr.org/2019/03/14/703644006/shots-fired-at-christchurch-new-zealand-mosque?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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2019-03-15 02:41:36+00:00
| 1,552,632,096 | 1,567,546,166 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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386,491 |
npr--2019-08-06--FBI Opens Domestic Terrorism Investigation Into Gilroy Festival Shooting
| 2019-08-06T00:00:00 |
npr
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FBI Opens Domestic Terrorism Investigation Into Gilroy Festival Shooting
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The FBI has opened a domestic terrorism investigation into last month's mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, after discovering that the shooter had a list that may have indicated potential targets of violence. The investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the attack. At this point, "we have uncovered evidence throughout the course of our investigation that the shooter was exploring violent ideologies," John Bennett, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Francisco Field Office, said at a news conference Tuesday. The gunman, 19-year-old Santino William Legan, killed three people, including two children, when he opened fire on July 28. The shooter also died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police have said. Legan appeared interested in multiple violent ideologies, Bennett said. Investigators are trying to determine "what if any ideology he had actually settled on" and "who, if anyone, he may have been in contact with regarding these ideologies," Bennett said. They are also trying to determine whether anyone else knew about the attack beforehand, Bennett said, and "why he committed this specific act of violence." A list of organizations found on the shooter's digital media, which Bennett says may have been potential targets, includes "religious institutions, federal buildings, courthouses, political organizations from both major political parties, and the Gilroy Garlic Festival." Bennett said that for the FBI to open a domestic terrorism investigation, there must be a potential federal violation, the threat or unlawful use of force or violence, and "most importantly, the existence of ideological motivation." At the same news conference, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said that police have concluded the shooter fired 39 rounds. Three police officers engaged the gunman less than a minute after he started firing — and Smithee told reporters that those officers fired 18 rounds. Some of them hit the gunman, though authorities have said that he was ultimately killed by his own hand. He was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Smithee said, and carrying multiple magazines. In his backpack, police officers found a rifle scope and a flashlight. Smithee also said that investigators have determined that none of the victims who were killed were hit by police fire — they were all killed by the gunman.
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Merrit Kennedy
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https://www.npr.org/2019/08/06/748788149/fbi-opens-domestic-terrorism-investigation-into-gilroy-festival-shooting?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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2019-08-06 19:46:00+00:00
| 1,565,135,160 | 1,567,534,757 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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387,980 |
npr--2019-11-29--2 Dead, 3 Injured In Terrorist Incident Near London Bridge
| 2019-11-29T00:00:00 |
npr
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2 Dead, 3 Injured In Terrorist Incident Near London Bridge
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Police said two people were killed in a stabbing near London Bridge on Friday afternoon that authorities are describing as a terrorist incident. Three others were also injured and remained in the hospital as of early Saturday. A male suspect was shot and killed at the scene. Hours after the incident, a similar stabbing attack took place in The Hague, Netherlands, where several were injured. It was not immediately clear if the two attacks were related. London Metropolitan Police Chief Cressida Dick told journalists that police fatally shot a suspect, who had been wearing a hoax bomb. Authorities were working at "full tilt" to determine if anyone else was involved in the attack, she said. "Fighting terrorism takes effort and determination from all of us," Dick said. "We must emerge stronger still from the tragedy." Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, identified the suspect who was shot and killed as Usman Khan, 28. "This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences. He was released from prison in December 2018," Basu said in a statement. Police have not yet publicly identified the victims, other than to say the two who were killed were a man and a woman and that the three who were injured are a man and two women. The Metropolitan Police said they were called to London Bridge at 1:58 p.m. local time on Friday. The area was placed on a lockdown, and London Ambulance Services declared it a "major incident," saying several crews had been dispatched to the scene. London Bridge has been the target of terrorism before. On June 3, 2017, seven people were killed and nearly 50 wounded at the site in an attack that began when a van plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge. At least one knife-wielding assailant also reportedly stabbed one of the victims. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Prime Minister Boris Johnson went to No. 10 Downing St. after being informed of Friday's attack. "Clearly, the Metropolitan Police are continuing their investigations and I can assure you, assure everyone, that anybody involved in this crime and these attacks will be hunted down and will be brought to justice," Johnson said, speaking to reporters. "[This] country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack. And our values, British values, will prevail," he said. London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, spoke to reporters, lauding without elaboration the "breathtaking heroism" in the public's response to the attack. In a statement, he also wrote: "We must — and we will — stay resolute in our determination to stand strong and united in the face of terror." White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that President Trump had been briefed on the attack and was monitoring developments. "The United States strongly condemns all horrific acts of violence on innocent people, and we pledge our full support to our Ally, the United Kingdom," he wrote. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, police in the Hague reported that there was a stabbing incident at Grote Markt, a busy shopping area. According to police, three people were injured. A spokeswoman for Dutch police said it is not yet clear if terrorism was the motive for the attack, according to the AP. This is a developing story. Some facts reported by the media may later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.
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Selena Simmons-Duffin
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https://www.npr.org/2019/11/29/783718248/several-injured-in-stabbing-incident-near-london-bridge?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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Fri, 29 Nov 2019 10:50:46 -0500
| 1,575,042,646 | 1,575,137,665 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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388,467 |
npr--2019-12-29--Gov. Cuomo Calls New York Hanukkah Attack 'Act Of Domestic Terrorism'
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
npr
|
Gov. Cuomo Calls New York Hanukkah Attack 'Act Of Domestic Terrorism'
|
A man accused of stabbing and wounding five people at a rabbi's home in an Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County, New York, just as they were lighting candles for Hanukkah, pleaded not guilty on Sunday to five counts of attempted murder. Police have identified the alleged attacker as Grafton E. Thomas, 37, of Greenwood Lake, N.Y. He is currently in custody on attempted murder charges and one count of burglary. It is unclear whether the rabbi's house was targeted, or what may have precipitated the attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now probing Thomas' background to try to determine a possible motivation. On Saturday, around 10 p.m., members of Etya Gluck's family and others gathered at the rabbi's house to observe the seventh night of Hanukkah. A knock on the door revealed a man they did not recognize. "His shawl came up to his nose and his hoodie came down to his forehead," Gluck, 31, of Monsey, N.Y., told NPR. She said the man was holding something large, but people in the house mistook the object for something else. "They thought it was an umbrella. It was in the holder, like the storybooks," said Gluck, noting that before long those gathered at the rabbi's house realized the assailant was wielding a "giant" knife. Gluck said her two children were on their way to the rabbi's house but had not arrived before the attack. Her husband, Josef Gluck, the building manager at the synagogue, Congregation Netzach Yisroel, which is close to the rabbi's home, was inside the home when the man stormed in carrying the knife. Gluck said as some were fleeing the violent scene to seek shelter, her husband fought back. "My husband threw the table at him so he shouldn't injure this old sick man who was already injured," Gluck said. "Then he dragged himself to the synagogue and tried to get in. The door was locked. So he dragged himself to the car." But before the assailant drove away, a witness was able to take a photograph of the license plate, allowing police to track the vehicle and eventually make an arrest in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, police said. "It was critical to the case," Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel told reporters on Sunday. Authorities said two of the five victims are still hospitalized. While officials would not attribute a motive, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the attack is part of "hatred exploding" across the country. "It is an American cancer that is spreading in the body politic," Cuomo said. The rabbi's home where the attack took place is located about 30 miles north of New York City in an area that has a large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews. President Trump called the stabbings "horrific," saying on Twitter, "We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism." Standing in front of the rabbi's home on Sunday, Cuomo characterized the violent episode "an act of domestic terrorism." "These are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence, generate fear, based on race, color, creed. That is the definition of terrorism," Cuomo said. On Sunday, Thomas was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. A judge set his bail at $5 million. Thomas is now being held at the Rockland County Jail. Aron Kohn, who was in the rabbi's house during the attack, said a Hanukkah candle had just been lit before the intruder stormed in around 10 p.m. "He started running into the big room, which was on the left side. And I threw tables and chairs, that he should get out of here," Kohn told reporters Sunday night. "I ran into the other room because I wanted to save my life." Earlier, Cuomo tweeted that he was "horrified" by the stabbings. "We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in NY and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law. NY stands with the Jewish community," said Cuomo, noting that the episode was the 13th anti-Semitic attack in New York since Dec. 8. The attack comes amid reports of a spate of anti-Semitic violence in New York City and the surrounding area. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that police would increase their presence in neighborhoods with large Jewish populations. In the past week, there have been reports of people being punched, slapped, hit in the face with a bag, and anti-Semitic slurs being shouted. And earlier this month, a pair of shooters attacked a kosher market in Jersey City, N.J., killing three civilians, after killing a police officer at a nearby cemetery. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said the evidence pointed toward "acts of hate" in the attacks, with the attackers motivated by both "anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs." Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said the recent attacks mean law enforcement needs to step up protection of the Jewish community. "Whether worshiping in synagogue, shopping in the supermarket or celebrating at home, Jews should be safe from violence," he wrote. "We need authorities to provide increased protection NOW and ensure that the full force of the law is brought down on those who perpetrate such horrific crimes."
|
Bobby Allyn
|
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/29/792134545/5-stabbed-at-hanukkah-celebration-in-new-york?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 04:31:01 -0500
| 1,577,611,861 | 1,577,665,118 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
399,581 |
osce--2019-12-18--Presentation of guidelines for journalists on reporting on violent extremism and terrorism in Bosnia
| 2019-12-18T00:00:00 |
osce
|
Presentation of guidelines for journalists on reporting on violent extremism and terrorism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Press Council in BiH presented the guidelines for journalists “Reporting on Violent Extremism and Terrorism” on 18 December 2019 in Sarajevo. The Guidelines aim to assist journalists when reporting on violent extremism and terrorism in order to avoid sensationalism and unintentional spread of panic and fear. They represent a new set of standards for professional reporting on these issues to prevent erroneous reporting and to ensure socially responsible journalism. The Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Kathleen Kavalec, emphasized that the Press Council has made a big leap forward by recognizing the need for these guidelines and adopting them as part of a wider set of professional standards. “Reporting on these sensitive topics and issues remains a significant challenge for media not just in BiH, but around the world. Lack of due care when informing the public, for example by using sensationalist reporting, can and often does end up inadvertently disseminating terrorist propaganda, spreading fear and intolerance - which can even lead to violence,” said Kavalec. Ljiljana Zurovac, Programme Director at the Press Council in BiH, stressed that the reporting on terrorism and violent extremism is, unfortunately, an increasingly common task for journalists in BiH. “Journalists are obliged to report on these topics in the public interest but they also need to be cautious in choosing the right information and how to release it, from which sources and in which moment, in order not to create additional panic and fear among citizens, as well as to report on victims and children involved in events caused by acts of terrorism and violent extremism carefully and in line with the Professional Code of Ethics. It is very important that media editors have been actively involved in the adoption of these Guidelines which were based on the reporting dilemmas they have encountered in their media so far,” stated Zurovac. The Guidelines were developed in line with the conclusions of the OSCE’s conference “Media and Terrorism” held in Sarajevo in September 2018, which gathered journalists, editors and media professionals from BiH and abroad.
|
MCausevic
|
https://www.osce.org/mission-to-bosnia-and-herzegovina/442504
|
Wed, 18 Dec 2019 12:52:26 +0000
| 1,576,691,546 | 1,576,816,454 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
403,866 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-01-01--Justice Denied to Victims of ISIS Terror Attack in Garland Texas
| 2019-01-01T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
|
Justice Denied to Victims of ISIS Terror Attack in Garland, Texas
|
The public will not learn details about the United States’ first ISIS terror attack in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015. In a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, dismissal was granted by a federal Judge on December 21, 2018. The lawsuit, , has been chronicled by the Geller Report: The case’s essential questions, facts, and FBI’s motion to dismiss: Geller Report; the FBI’s motion for relief from discovery: Geller Report; the Judge’s order prevented discovery: Geller Report; and the case on hold: Geller Report. The case’s pleadings are linked at the end of this story. “On January, 2015, terrorists killed 12 people at the office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine, in retaliation for the magazine’s cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad. On January 17, 2015, an Islamic group held a conference titled “Stand with the Prophet in Honor and Respect,” at which opposition to cartoon depictions of Muhammad was a central focus. The conference was held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. Pamela Geller, a free speech activist, organized a protest outside the conference. Then, Geller announced that she would host a ‘Draw the Prophet’ competition” at the same location. Order p. 2 “On April 24, 2015, UCE-1 and Simpson were chatting over social media. Simpson shared a link about Geller’s upcoming event, and the conversation proceeded as follows. Order p. 3 Simpson: Bro, u don’t have to say that… U know what happened in Paris… I think… Simpson: So that goes without saying… No need to be direct.” “Plaintiff Bruce Joiner brought this lawsuit after being shot in the leg while working as a security guard at the ‘First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest,’ an event that took place at the Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015.” Order p. 1 “For the above actions, Plaintiff brought suit against the United States pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act. He hinges his theories of the United States’ liability on the doctrines of respondeat superior, vicarious liability, civil conspiracy, and aiding and abetting. Plaintiff brought causes of action for assault, international terrorism, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The latter two claims are in the alternative. The United States moved to dismiss the action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for a failure to state a claim.” Order p. 5 But-For the FBI’s undercover agent, UCE-1, having “volunteered” to facilitate a “protest,” a code for murder, and enlisted Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, would there have been an attack of bullets, resulting in the security officer, Bruce Joiner, having been shot in his leg, and his incurring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Should Plaintiff, Bruce Joiner, get $8 million in compensatory damages? Complaint p. 38 “The United States is immune from suit absent its consent, and the terms of that consent define a court’s jurisdiction over claims brought against the United States.” The Federal Tort Claims Act “contains a waiver of sovereign immunity … The FTCA’s waiver is subject to several exceptions … One such exception is the discretionary function exception … whether or not the discretion involved be abused.” Order pp. 6-7 As the FBI’s “Declaration notes, ‘FBI policies allow investigative personnel wide discretion to determine operational details of how to conduct an investigation.’ Plaintiff contends, however, that UCE-1 exceeded his discretionary authority by participating in Simpson’s and Soofi’s violent acts, including inciting Simpson by sending the ‘tear up Texas’ message, reassuring Hendricks that he was armed at the event, accompanying Soofi and Simpson to the event, and conducting reconnaissance at the event.” Order pp. 8-9 The “Court finds that the policies identified by Plaintiff, along with the National Security Undercover Operations Policy Guide, contain elements of discretion and that the FBI acted within the scope of that discretionary authority.” Order p. 11 The “Court grants Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.” Order p. 19 Obama’s administration embraced the Muslim Brotherhood, and HAMAS-CAIR. Some of these Muslims’ advocates have been issued top secret security clearances. They have been privy to, and helped to write, policy and training for many federal agencies. You should read See Something, Say Nothing by Philip Haney, a Homeland Security Officer Exposes the Government’s Submission to Jihad. This case is another example of the Obama administration’s refusal to identify jihadists, but instead label the events being caused by “violent extremists;” or simply, generic criminals. As reported by Liberty One News: In Bruce Joiner’s “personal opinion, that involves factual evidence … only one person is to blame for this…, former president Obama.” Dismissal was granted; the case ended on December 21, 2018; and the public likely will never learn details. However, Plaintiff could appeal the decision. Or, because the dismissal was “without prejudice,” Plaintiff could re-file the lawsuit. The USA / FBI owes explanations to many victims of the first ISIS-credited terrorist attack in the United States. Victims include: (a) Bruce Joiner, the security guard, shot; (b) Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, sponsors of the event; (c) Bosch Fawstin, winner of the contest, well as hundreds of artists, including this author; (d) hundreds of attendees at the event; and (e) We, the taxpayers, who have a right to know details of our government’s submission to jihad via political correctness. Gerald Lostutter is a Florida licensed attorney, college professor, journalist, and patriot life member (endowment level) of the National Rifle Association. This article does not create an attorney-client relationship. You should consult a licensed attorney for advice. The Truth Must be Told Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more. Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible. Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too. Please contribute to our ground-breaking work here. Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
|
Gerald Lostutter
|
https://gellerreport.com/2019/01/justice-denied-garland.html/
|
2019-01-01 17:00:23+00:00
| 1,546,380,023 | 1,567,554,303 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
403,911 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-01-19--Norway Terror Muslim terrorist who wanted to kill several people captured after stabbing woman bu
| 2019-01-19T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
|
Norway Terror: Muslim terrorist ‘who wanted to kill several people’ captured after stabbing woman buying groceries
|
These now daily acts of horror are followed by a different sort of horror, news stories and analysis that: By Reuters and Sara Malm For Mailonline, 18 January 2019: A 20-year-old Russian man has been arrested in Norway for stabbing a woman in a supermarket in ‘an act of terrorism’. The woman was knifed while paying for her groceries in a supermarket in the capital Oslo on Thursday, and remains in critical condition in hospital. The man was arrested shortly after the attack, upon which he told police it had been an act of terror and that he ‘wanted to kill several people’. The incident is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, the head of the Norwegian police’s security service (PST) said on Friday. ‘The man said under questioning that he wanted to kill several people and that this was an act of terror,’ PST head Marie Benedicte Bjørnland told a news conference. The suspect had arrived in Oslo on Thursday, travelling from Russia via neighbouring Sweden, she said. There were no other suspects. Police were investigating possible links to Islamist extremism, Bjørnland said, adding that the victim was critically ill in hospital. Marie Benedicte Bjørnland, head of the Norwegian Police Security Service PST, said they are investigating possible links to Islamist extremism Russia’s foreign ministry and FSB state security service did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment about the stabbing incident and the background of the suspect. The most recent fatal terrorism attack in Norway was in 2011 when far-right militant Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in a bombing in central Oslo and a shooting spree on a nearby island. In 2017, a 17-year-old Russian who prosecutors said had frequented Islamist websites was sentenced to nine months in jail for making a small bomb and bringing it to the centre of Oslo on a busy Saturday night. The device failed to go off.
|
Pamela Geller
|
https://gellerreport.com/2019/01/norway-stabbing-jihad.html/
|
2019-01-19 15:36:55+00:00
| 1,547,930,215 | 1,567,551,781 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
404,024 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-03-18--Islamic terror caused 84000 deaths worldwide in 2017 report says
| 2019-03-18T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
|
Islamic terror caused 84,000 deaths worldwide in 2017, report says
|
It’s “global and growing.” Stalin said (paraphrasing) ‘A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic’ and when its jihad it’s barely that. Islamist extremism caused 84,000 deaths worldwide in 2017, new report says A new report tracking the roots, spread and effects of violent Islamist extremism found that 121 groups that share elements from a common ideology are now operating worldwide. Their activities resulted in the deaths of 84,000 people – nearly 22,000 of them civilians – in 66 countries in 2017, the report found. In remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Thursday that Islamist extremism is “global and growing.” “It didn’t begin with al Qaeda; nor will it end with the defeat of ISIS,” Blair said. The “Global Extremist Monitor,” which was produced by Blair’s eponymous non-profit, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, drew on hundreds of English-language news sources that reported on incidents of violent extremism in 2017. There were a total of 7,841 attacks – an average of 21 per day –in 48 countries, it said, with war-torn Syria topping the list of countries most affected by violent extremism. Overall, Muslims were the most frequent victims of deadly attacks. Twenty-nine violent Islamist groups were actively engaged in conflict in Syria in 2017, the report said, with ISIS responsible for 44 percent of all attacks. Half of all civilian fatalities recorded globally were documented in Syria. A separate, recent UN report said there are between 20,000 and 30,000 ISIS fighters still operating across Iraq and Syria, though its self-proclaimed physical caliphate has been all but eliminated. Blair, who was Britain’s prime minister at the time of the September 11 attacks, and under whose leadership the country engaged alongside the U.S. in the Iraq war, called on the international community to rely less on security measures and more on soft power and development initiatives to combat violent extremism. “Security measures obviously have in many ways been effective and must remain in place,” he said. “But the reality is, security alone will only slow the violence.” In a panel discussion following Blair’s presentation, counterterrorism and insurgency expert Bruce Hoffman echoed his remarks, saying security, countermeasures and kinetics have “an absolutely vital role,” but added, “to actually break the cycle of recruitment and regeneration that is sustaining these groups, you have to target…education, countering the falsehoods, and, of course, building local leadership,” Hoffman said. Fellow panelist Farah Pandith, who served during the Obama administration as the State Department’s first-ever special representative to Muslim communities, said action and investment were especially urgent as groups like ISIS broaden their recruitment efforts for operational gain. “It is not just about young men; it’s also about young women,” she said. “ISIS and other groups…have understood very smartly that it isn’t useful for them to just look at one part of the population; they need to look at everyone.” “So they’re looking at men and women, girls and boys,” Pandith said. In his call for global commitments, Blair stressed the importance of investment in public and private education systems to promote religious tolerance and literacy. “The essential thing, in my view, is to deal with the ideology,” Blair said, “and not just the violence.” The Truth Must be Told Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more. Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible. Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too. Please contribute to our ground-breaking work here. Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
|
Pamela Geller
|
https://gellerreport.com/2019/03/islamic-terror-caused-84000-deaths-worldwide-in-2017-report-says.html/
|
2019-03-18 20:22:33+00:00
| 1,552,954,953 | 1,567,545,838 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
404,045 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-04-08--THE HORROR NYU honors Jew-hating terror-tied thugs Students for Justine in Palestine SJP with Pre
| 2019-04-08T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
|
THE HORROR: NYU honors Jew-hating terror-tied thugs Students for Justine in Palestine (SJP) with Presidential Service Award
|
All colleges are hotbeds of left-wing hate and bigotry, but NYU is at the forefront of norming Jew-hatred. They set an horrifying precedent with this incomprehensible award given, no less, at an enormous graduation commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium. Students for Justice in Palestine is the largest anti-Jewish student group in the country. [The pose a] risk to Jewish and pro-Israel students appears to be growing. Indeed, unless college administrators take a more active role in preventing it, SJP has a good chance of achieving its goal of turning venomous hatred of Israel and bullying of Jews and non-Jewish supporters—with all the violence and fear that inevitably accompany it—into a legitimate and accepted tactic on North American campuses. (The Tower) [SJP] advocate for Israel’s destruction, admire terrorists, and are making Jewish students feel unsafe on campuses across the country. They’re Students for Justice in Palestine—and they’re a huge problem Historically the recipient of Jewish philanthropy (Stern School of Business, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Kimmel Center for University Life, Arthur Carter Hall) etc) This incident is only one in a series of documented physical assaults against pro-Israel and Zionist students. In opening its campus to the 2018 SJP National Conference, UCLA becomes an inviting location for such physical violence to occur. In viewing the Brandenburg standard, one can debate the imminence of such violence. What is more likely than not, however, is that in the wake of such SJP rallies, violence is more likely to occur. For example, on April 27, 2018, an SJP protest against a pro-Israel event at New York University (NYU) turned violent when an SJP member “stole an Israel[i] flag [from pro-Israel students] and brought it to the [SJP] protesters. [The flag] was ripped, stomped on, defaced with pink chalk and then burned.” Also at the event, an SJP member “sneaked in during the singing of Hatikva, forcefully and hurtfully grabbed the microphone from the [pro-Israel student] who had been holding it, and shouted, ‘Free Palestine!’” Terror-Tied SJP to Host Vigil Equating Pittsburgh Shooting to Israel’s Actions in Gaza Evidence mounting that US boycott-Jews (BDS) groups are fronts for terror organizations SJP activists frequently intimidate and harass Jewish and pro-Israel students. SJP members have physically assaulted Jewish students, aggressively disrupted pro-Israel events and possibly vandalized communal property. SJP rallies regularly include hate-speech and chants such as “Long Live The Intifada!” and “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free!” — calls for violence and for the dismantling of Israel as a Jewish state. Temple University, August 2014: A Jewish student was hit in the face by someone who was part of a group of students, many of whom were confirmed as SJP members. Two witnesses heard members of SJP call him a “kike” after the attack. “Before this, I just thought Students for Justice in Palestine was crazy”, the victimsaid after the incident, “but I didn’t know it would lead to violence.” Loyola University, September 2014: Members of SJP at Loyola University Chicago verbally assaulted Jewish students affiliated with Hillel who were staffing a table with literature for a Birthright Israel trip. SJP members reportedly surrounded the table, blocking the movement of the Hillel students and preventing others from approaching. One student witness told The College Fix, a news website that covers campus issues, that one Jewish student became “worried about attending future Hillel events for fear of being attacked.” Northeastern University, 2013: The entire SJP was suspended from campus for a school year after intimidating students on campus. In 2011 the chapter chose to interrupt an on-campus Holocaust remembrance event by whipping out anti-Israel signs and yelling insults at the audience and speakers before storming out. Florida Atlantic University, April 2012: SJP members posted eviction notices on the dorm room doors of 200 students, most of them Jewish. The tactic has been repeated at various campuses. As one NYU student said, “this made me feel targeted and unsafe in my own dorm room and I know others feel exactly the same as myself.” UC Berkeley, March 2010: Husam Zakharia, while serving as president of the SJP chapter on campus, rammed a female pro-Israel student with a shopping cart. She was holding a sign reading “Israel Wants Peace.” SJP is frequently criticized for creating a hostile and unsafe environment on U.S. campuses for all who do not share their anti-Israel views. In August of 2014, a document was leaked to the public entitled “Declaration of Principles and Strategies of Binghamton University Students for Justice in Palestine.” The document outlined the tactics and organizational details for the Binghamton University branch of SJP and provides insights into the organization’s guiding principles. The document shut down any possibility of dialogue with pro-Israel students, entrenching a policy known as “anti-normalization” which “prohibit(s) the leadership of SJP from engaging in any form of official collaboration, cooperation, or event co-sponsorship with the following student organizations and groups, due to their unyielding support for the Apartheid State of Israel.” The document listed examples of pro-Israel groups subject to this exclusion such as Hillel, CAMERA and AEPi and clarified that this would include collaborations on publications, discussions or events with them. The document also gave its members directives on how to disrupt pro-Israel activities with maximum impact while staying “within the bounds of what is not widely considered to be legally reprehensible.” Realize Israel, a pro-Israel group at New York University, said in an April 5 Facebook post that the university is “condoning violence and discrimination” by giving the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter an award. As the Journal previously reported, NYU SJP announced on Facebook that they had been selected for a Presidential Service Award for “significant contributions to the university community in the areas of learning, leadership, and quality of student life.” Realize Israel wrote in their post, “We are outraged that the University would award an organization that has spent the last several years making Jewish and pro-Israel students feel unwelcome and unsafe on campus.” They pointed out that NYU SJP “defaced Israel’s flag and physically assaulted pro-Israel students for openly celebrating their identities” and put forward “two one-sided and factually inaccurate anti-Israel resolutions to the Student Government Assembly through a non-transparent, unbalanced, and undemocratic process.” “By presenting the NYU President’s Award to SJP, not only is our university condoning violence and discrimination against members of the NYU community, but it is declaring that this type of behavior represents the ethos of our university,” Realize Israel wrote. They added that they are going to investigate who nominated NYU SJP for the award and who decided to give them the award. “We also believe it is high time that the administration put an end to this endless cycle of intimidation, and we plan to voice our concerns about the systemic anti-Semitism perpetuated by anti-Israel activism that is plaguing our campus,” the post concluded. Ezra Meir Cohen, president of Realize Israel, told the Journal in a text message, “It is ridiculous that members of this organization constantly persecute other students (one of them was arrested because he physically assaulted another student at our yearly Yom Ha’atzmaut party), and that the university is rewarding them.” In April 2018, an unidentified NYU student can be seen wrestling the microphone out of the hands a female NYU student leading the singing of “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem. He started chanting “Free Palestine” before being arrested on charges of assault and stealing
|
Pamela Geller
|
https://gellerreport.com/2019/04/nyu-honors-terrroists-sjp.html/
|
2019-04-08 17:53:49+00:00
| 1,554,760,429 | 1,567,543,624 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
404,525 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-11-26--UK: SHOCKING CCTV footage of Muslim terrorist launching a frenzied stabbing attack on train commuter
| 2019-11-26T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
|
UK: SHOCKING CCTV footage of Muslim terrorist launching a frenzied stabbing attack on train commuters – shouting ‘Long live the Caliphate’
|
Jihadi Mahdi Mohamud, a Dutch national from a Somali family, who had arrived in the UK aged nine, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder when he appeared at Manchester Crown Court today. During his terror attack at the city’s Victoria railway station last New Year’s Eve, Mohamud expressed his allegiance to Allah by screaming ‘Allahu Akbar!’ and ‘Long live the Caliphate!’ as he stabbed his victim, James Knox repeatedly in the back, shoulders and head before turning his devotional attentions towards Anna Charlton, slashing her across the face. Mohamud was pepper sprayed and Police Sergeant Lee Valentine, shot at him with his Taser, which failed to paralyse him. Sgt.Valentine attempted to reload, but Mohamud stabbed him in the shoulder before being wrestled to the ground and arrested. Hmm, will the Islamophobia never end? CCTV reveals horrific moment lone-wolf terrorist shouting ‘Long live the Caliphate’ stabbed two innocent commuters ‘like an animal’ in New Year’s Eve railway station attack before slashing a hero PC • Mahdi Mohamud, 26, today pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder • The 26-year-old shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Long Live the Caliphate’ in attack • He stabbed Anna Charlton and James Knox at Manchester Victoria Station • He also slashed officer Lee Valentine as he was Tasered and pepper sprayed • Mohamud was found to be in possession of a terror manual titled ‘the seven most lethal ways to strike with a knife’ and footage of terror preacher Anwar al-Awalaki Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment a terrorist launched a frenzied attack on train commuters – as the hero police officer who tried to stop the attacker recalls how he ‘lunged’ at his head with the blade. Sergeant Lee Valentine, 31, has spoken of the moment he pulled the trigger on his Taser but failed to stop crazed lone wolf Mahdi Mohamud who was armed with a fillet knife. He was with colleague Pc Tom Wright, 27, on duty at Manchester Victoria railway station when he heard a shocking scream as Mohamud launched the attack. Sgt Valentine said he felt ‘massively’ lucky not to be more seriously injured in the attack last New Year’s Eve. CCTV footage shows the moment the knifeman, 26, had walked up behind unsuspecting James Knox, screaming ‘Allahu Akbar!’ and ‘Long live the Caliphate!’ as he stabbed his victim repeatedly in the back, shoulders and head. He then turned the knife on Mr Knox’s companion, Anna Charlton, slashing her across the face after the couple, in their 50s, randomly crossed his path heading for a tram platform shortly before 9pm last December 31. Sgt Valentine said: ‘I didn’t even get the chance to take the fired cartridge off the top before he just started running towards me. ‘He probably closed a seven foot gap in half a second. ‘It was just like a dive, he flew, he probably jumped three or four foot off the ground and just sort of lunged, probably lunged at my head with his knife.’ Mohamud, who was born in the Netherlands and moved to the UK aged nine, had been diagnosed with a drug-induced psychosis in 2016, and had created a document incorporating the jihadi message of terror figurehead Anwar Al-Awalaki. Mohamud at Manchester Crown Court today admitted three counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a document or record likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, a manual titled, ‘the seven most lethal ways to strike with a knife’. Talking of the moment he heard the attack, Sgt Valentine said: ‘It was just like a scream I had never heard before, it was literally like someone was being killed.’ Fellow British Transport Police (BTP) Pc Ashleigh Williams, 27, and her colleague Marsha Selby, 28, along with two tram staff confronted Mohamud, who ‘like an animal’ was ‘fixated’ on stabbing and slashing. The suspect was pepper sprayed before seconds later Pc Wright, 27, arrived along with Sgt Valentine, the only one armed with a 50,000 volt Taser gun. The Truth Must be Told Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more. Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible. Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too. Please contribute to our ground-breaking work here. Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
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Pamela Geller
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https://gellerreport.com/2019/11/uk-shocking-cctv-footage-of-muslim-terrorist-launching-a-frenzied-stabbing-attack-on-train-commuters-shouting-long-live-the-caliphate.html/
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Tue, 26 Nov 2019 22:00:05 +0000
| 1,574,823,605 | 1,574,813,200 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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404,604 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-12-06--FLORIDA JIHAD: Muslim terrorist who opened fire on US Navy base in Florida is member of SAUDI MILITA
| 2019-12-06T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
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FLORIDA JIHAD: Muslim terrorist who opened fire on US Navy base in Florida is member of SAUDI MILITARY
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Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani was a member of the Saudi airforce. Trump’s national security ban is not enough. How many people have to die? Answer me. 19 of the Muslim terrorists on 9/11 were Saudi citizens. Why would continue to give Saudi nationals flying lessons? 3,000 murdered men, women and children wasn’t enough? Saudi Air Force member suspected in shooting at US Navy base that left four dead The first reports of an “active shooter” on the base came through to the Escambia County sheriff’s office at about 6:51 a.m., officials said. A member of the Saudi Air Force visiting the United States for military training was the suspect in a shooting attack at a U.S. Navy base in Florida in which four people were killed and eight were injured on Friday, the state governor and other officials said. Four people including the shooter were killed in the episode at Naval Air Station Pensacola, the Navy and local sheriff’s office said, the second deadly shooting at a U.S. military installation this week. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national attending training at the base as part of long-standing Navy program open to U.S. allies. The motive for the violence was still under investigation. “There is obviously going to be a lot of questions about this individual being a foreign national, being a part of the Saudi Air Force and then to be here training on our soil,” DeSantis said at a news conference on Friday. “The government of Saudi Arabia needs to make things better for these victims. They are going to owe a debt here, given that this was one of their individuals.” The suspect fired a handgun in the attack, which played out over two floors in classroom building at a base whose main function is training. “Walking through the crime scene was like being on the set of a movie,” Sheriff David Morgan said. The first reports of an “active shooter” on the base came through to the Escambia County sheriff’s office at about 6:51 a.m., officials said. In recent weeks, 18 naval aviators and two aircrew members from the Royal Saudi Naval Forces were training with the U.S. Navy, including a stint at Pensacola, according to a Nov. 15 press release from the Navy. It was not clear if the suspected shooter was part of that delegation. The delegation came under a Navy program that offers training to U.S. allies, known as the Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity. The Saudi trainees went “through the same student naval aviator or aircrew training that their U.S. Navy counterparts experience,” the press release said. Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington did not respond to questions. Two sheriff’s deputies were injured, one shot in the arm, the other in the knee, but both were expected to survive, officials said at the news conference. Eight people were taken to Baptist Hospital for treatment, hospital spokeswoman Kathy Bowers said. Sheriff’s officials said one of the three victims died after being taken to the hospital, but it was unclear whether that victim was one of the eight who arrived at Baptist. Bowers declined to say. While military bases house the nation’s most powerful armaments, military personnel normally are restricted from carrying weapons on base unless they are part of their daily duties. Nonetheless U.S. military bases have seen deadly mass shootings before, including one in Ford Hood, Texas, in 2009 that left 13 dead and one at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013 that killed 12. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had been briefed and spoken with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. On Wednesday, a sailor shot three civilians at the historic Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii, killing two of them before taking his own life. The Pensacola base, which is near Florida’s border with Alabama, is a major training site for the Navy and home to its aerobatic flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels. The base employs more than about 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel, according to the base’s website. Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson said at the news conference that the base is “an incredibly important part of our community.” “We’re a military town,” he said. “Our hearts and prayers are connected to all of those that serve us every day.”
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Pamela Geller
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https://gellerreport.com/2019/12/florida-jihad-saudi-military.html/
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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 21:00:02 +0000
| 1,575,684,002 | 1,575,677,241 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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404,719 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-12-16--Four Muslims Arrested for Vandalizing Barcelona Jihad-Terror Attack Memorial
| 2019-12-16T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
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Four Muslims Arrested for Vandalizing Barcelona Jihad-Terror Attack Memorial
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They destroyed it by pouring concrete on it. That, too, is a terror attack. Four Pakistani nationals were arrested in Barcelona earlier this week after they poured concrete on part of a memorial to the victims of the 2017 Barcelona terror attack. The four men poured concrete over a plaque on the La Rambla street which is a memorial to the victims, 16 of whom died, of the Barcelona radical Islamic terror attack. The vandalism took place at around 6 p.m. in the evening and the suspects were soon caught by police just yards away from the site of the crime, Spanish newspaper El Pais reports. Police were tipped off by a pedestrian who managed to capture the act on their mobile phone and helped identify the Pakistani men who were behind it. Each of the four men has been charged with harming the memorial and have also been charged under Spanish hate crime legislation due to the nature of the attack. The concrete has since been removed from the memorial. The memorial itself contains the phrase “May peace cover you, oh city of peace” in Spanish, Catalan, English, and Arabic and lies next to a drawing of the word Barcelona by artist Frederic Amat, along with the date and time of the terrorist attack. The incident comes just over a year since Stefan Åkerlund, the father of Stockholm terror attack victim Ebba Åkerlund, complained repeatedly to police that a migrant had vandalised his daughter’s grave on multiple occasions. “I personally caught him in the act of desecration, when he was pouring [candle wax] on Ebba’s grave; the police released him after only one hour in custody,” Åkerlund said. “That’s what my nightly visits to the graveyard were worth.” Since the Barcelona attacks, Spain has been on high alert for radical Islamic terrorist plots. Spanish and Moroccan authorities have managed to foil a potential attack on the city of Seville during Holy Week earlier this year.
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Pamela Geller
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https://gellerreport.com/2019/12/muslims-destroy-spain-terror-memorial.html/
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Mon, 16 Dec 2019 15:30:49 +0000
| 1,576,528,249 | 1,576,541,186 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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404,846 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-12-29--WATCH: Terrorist Arrested in Chanukah Celebration Machete Stabbings in Harlem
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
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WATCH: Terrorist Arrested in Chanukah Celebration Machete Stabbings in Harlem
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Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Louis Farrakhan and the Democrat Party of Jew hatred have blood on their hands. The Left has made New York dangerous for Jews. Democrat authorities are complicit to these antisemitic assaults, since they are being perpetrated by their supporters and constituents. President Trump must intervene in this crisis before someone is killed. After a two-hour cross county search, the suspect in the Monsey stabbing attack was arrested in Harlem, CBS reports. Five people were stabbed Saturday night at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, and a suspect was later arrested in New York City, police said. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the attack an act of “domestic terrorism.” Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said a man armed with a blade attacked around 10 p.m., on the seventh night of Hanukkah. The attacker, identified as 37-year-old Thomas Grafton, was arrested by the New York City police department nearly two hours later in the Harlem section of Manhattan, NBC New York reported. “This is an intolerant time in our country,” he said to reporters outside the rabbi’s home on Sunday morning. “We see anger, we see hatred exploding.” Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack, but Cuomo said it was an example of larger problems. The suspect faces five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary, authorities said Sunday. The suspect was caught in a car after license plate readers in Harlem and the George Washington Bridge were able to locate him, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News. Investigators requested a search warrant for the vehicle in an effort to determine whether the weapon was inside. Weidel said the victims were taken to two hospitals in the area. Their conditions were not released. Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said a man armed with a blade attacked around 10 p.m., on the seventh night of Hanukkah. The attacker was arrested by the New York City police department nearly two hours later in the Harlem section of Manhattan, NBC New York reported. Monsey is an enclave of ultra-Orthodox Jews about 35 miles from New York City. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region tweeted reports that the stabbings took place at the house of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration. Police said the stabbings happened at around 10 p.m. A witness saw the suspect fleeing in car and alerted police to license plate number, Weidel, the police chief in Ramapo, which covers Monsey, said. That allowed police to find his vehicle as he entered New York City, where police apprehended. He said he thought the crime was an act of domestic terrorism and expected it to be prosecuted that way. He added: “It is an American cancer on the body politic.” Here’ what we know about the (thanks to Heavy): 1. The NYPD Located Grafton Thomas in a 2015 Nissan Sentra With ‘Blood All Over Him’ The suspect, identified as Grafton Thomas, lives in Greenwood Lake. Public records show that Thomas lives in a house on Lake Drive that has been owned by a relative since 2001. He previously lived in Brooklyn, New York, records show. The suspect fled the stabbing scene in a vehicle, but it didn’t take long for police to locate it. Police revealed that the NYPD had located the suspect in the 32nd Precinct. Authorities said a witness wrote down the suspect’s license plate at the scene and it was uploaded into a police database. License plate readers helped alert the NYPD that the suspect had driven his Nissan Sentra into New York City, where he was apprehended. According to CNN, Thomas was found with “blood all over him.” He was arrested just after midnight on Sunday. The stabbings occurred about 10 p.m. Saturday. CBS New York reported that the man entered the Shul and stabbed people with a machete during a Chanukah celebration. According to the television station, the suspect chased people out of the home before fleeing in a car. Governor Cuomo called the incident “frightening” and “inexplicable.” He said the suspect did not make any statements before stabbing people. “Nothing said, just hate. Hate and violence, that’s all it was,” Cuomo said Sunday. The Orthodox Jews Public Affairs Council located in the area wrote on Twitter: “At 9:50 this eve, a call came in about a mass stabbing at 47 Forshay Road in Monsey (Rockland County; 30 miles North of NYC). It’s the house of a Hasidic Rabbi. 5 patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals.” The Council added: “2 of the victims of the attack were taken into hospital as critical. The perp’s face was partially covered with a scarf but skin showed him to be an African American. One of the victims was stabbed at least 6 times. The fifth/least severe case had a cut in his hand. Perp left in a vehicle…a Gray Nissan Sentra.” The New York Times reported that the knife attack occurred in the home of an “ultra-Orthodox rabbi.” 2. Grafton Thomas Has a Criminal History, Including Being Accused of Punching a Police Horse, Reports Say Grafton Thomas has a criminal history. According to Daily Beast, it includes once punching a police horse and that’s just one of several past arrests on his record. Daily Beast gave his name as Grafton Thomas. However, The New York Daily News says Grafton has only one sealed prior arrest. He is now facing five counts of attempted murder. The Jewish community has been through a lot, and the videos from Monsey were distressing. “On this sixth night of Hanukkah, five people were stabbed during a menorah lighting at a synagogue in Monsey, Rockland County. A man walked in and started stabbing people with a machete,” wrote Mack Rosenberg of WCBS 880. The disturbing videos posted to Twitter showed victims on stretchers and chaos at the scene. ABC 7 reported that the rabbi’s home is located next door “to his congregation.” The attack occurred on the evening of December 28, 2019. ADL New York/New Jersey wrote, “Aware of reports of a stabbing in Monsey, NY at a synagogue. We are on the way to the scene to gather more information and coordinate with law enforcement.” 3. One Witness Said Grafton Thomas Pulled Out a Knife & Started to ‘Run at People’ One witness described the horrific stabbing attack to The New York Post, saying, “He just took it (the knife) out and started to run at people.” The witness said he threw furniture at Thomas. Mark D. Levine, New York City Councilman, wrote, “There have been NINE anti-Semitic attacks in NYC in the past week. And now this horror tonight just outside the city, in Monsey. This is a full blown crisis. None of what we are doing is good enough.” 4. Unconfirmed Reports Say a Suspect Pulled Out a Machete With a Cover Before Stabbing People The suspect “entered Rabbi Rottenburg’s Shul, located in the Forshay neighborhood in Monsey, and pulled out a machete. He pulled off the cover and stabbed at least 3 people. One of the victims was stabbed in the chest,” reported Vos Iz Neias.com. A man wrote on Twitter, “A man with machete just went into a synagogue not far from my house and started stabbing people. Prayers to those wounded. Reports are that the suspect is still on the loose.” Motti Seligson, director of media for Chabad, reported that people at the synagogue “were gathered for a Hanukkah celebration.” He also wrote, “I’m hearing two men walked into Rabbi Rottenberg’s home where a menorah lighting ceremony was taking place and stabbed five people. They tried moving to the ajoining synagogue but the people there barricaded the door. They fled in a silver car.” Monsey is a hamlet and census-designated place that is located in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County. 5. The Area Has the Largest Jewish Population in New York State & the String of Anti-Semitic Attacks Is Raising Great Alarm According to The New York Times, Rockland County’s roughly 320,000 residents are about 31 percent Jewish, which is the largest Jewish population per capita of any New York county. Previously, an Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed as he walked to a Monsey synagogue, The Times reported in November 2019. Earlier in the day on December 28, Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted about a different attack, writing, “I am disgusted to learn of the attack on three members of our Jewish community in Brooklyn on Friday—the 6th anti-Semitic incident in NYC just this week. The cowards responsible are trying to spread fear, but they will always fail. NY stands united against anti-Semitism & hate.” The Jersey City mass shooting at a Kosher supermarket has also left the Jewish community shaken. The Truth Must be Told Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more. Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible. Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too. Please contribute to our ground-breaking work here. Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
|
Pamela Geller
|
https://gellerreport.com/2019/12/watch-terrorist-arrested-in-chanukah-celebration-stabbings-in-harlem.html/
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Sun, 29 Dec 2019 16:16:14 +0000
| 1,577,654,174 | 1,577,664,649 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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404,855 |
pamelagellerreport--2019-12-30--UK: FIVE ARRESTED IN DEADLY NEW YEAR’S EVE TERROR PLOT
| 2019-12-30T00:00:00 |
pamelagellerreport
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UK: FIVE ARRESTED IN DEADLY NEW YEAR’S EVE TERROR PLOT
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The trouble is, with so many jihadis in the West, we need to get it right every day – they only need to be lucky once in a while. We have remade our societies into veritable police states rather than take the necessary measures to keep this scourge from our shores. Met police arrest five suspects on suspicion of organising terror offences FIVE men have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences the Metropolitan Police have confirmed today. In a joint nationwide operation, forced from the Counter Terrorism Command, Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW) unit and the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) CTP arrested the five men today. According to the police, the five men were arrested on Monday morning at addresses in north London, Manchester and Peterborough. In a statement from the Met Police they said: “A 21-year-old man [A] was arrested in Manchester on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism under Section 40(1)(b) Terrorism Act (TACT) 2000. “A 19-year-old man [B] was arrested in Peterborough and two men [D – 23yrs; E – 22yrs] were arrested in north London on suspicion of the same offence. “A 19-year-old man [C] was also arrested in Peterborough on suspicion of encouraging terrorism, under section 1 of TACT 2000. This arrest was made under PACE.” The police also stated the arrested were not made into a supposed threat on New Year’s Eve. Four men arrested have been arrested on suspicion of attempting an act terrorism (Image: GETTY/Express) Moreover, the operation was made in relation to the attack on Fishmongers’ Hall in London last month. The police added: “Searches are currently being carried out a number of addresses in Manchester, Peterborough and north London and the investigation is being led by detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command with support from CTPNW and ERSOU colleagues.” Last month, Cambridge University students, Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were killed in attack in Fishmongers’ Hall. The attack then continued to London Bridge where the attacker, Usman Khan was confronted by members of the public. Khan, 28, was a convicted terrorist and was released in December 2018. After being tackled to the floor by the public, he was later shot dead by the police. In a statement, Mr Merritt’s family described him as a “talented” man who died “doing what he loved”. It continued: “Jack lived his principles; he believed in redemption and rehabilitation, not revenge, and he always took the side of the underdog. “Jack was an intelligent, thoughtful and empathetic person.” Ms Jones’ family also praised her daughter, who they said had a “great passion” for supporting victims of criminal justice.
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Pamela Geller
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https://gellerreport.com/2019/12/uk-nye-terror-plot.html/
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Mon, 30 Dec 2019 17:30:01 +0000
| 1,577,745,001 | 1,577,750,773 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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412,324 |
politicalite--2019-04-19--BREAKING One DEAD after Nothern Ireland Terror Incident
| 2019-04-19T00:00:00 |
politicalite
|
BREAKING: One DEAD after Nothern Ireland Terror Incident
|
A WOMAN has been shot dead in Londonderry, according to reports. The victim, 29 died after shots were fired in Londonderry, with police in Northern Ireland treating the death as a “terrorist incident”. Police in Northern Ireland have launched a murder inquiry after the death in the Creggan area of the city amid unrest on Thursday evening. Petrol bombs were thrown and images from the scene show vehicles alight and others burnt out. Assistant chief constable Mark Hamilton, from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said a murder inquiry had been launched after the death. He said: “Sadly I can confirm that following shots being fired tonight in Creggan, a 29-year-old woman has been killed. Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster tweeted: “Heartbreaking news. A senseless act. A family has been torn apart. “Those who brought guns onto our streets in the 70s, 80s & 90s were wrong. It is equally wrong in 2019.
|
Press Association
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https://www.politicalite.com/latest/breaking-one-dead-after-nothern-ireland-terror-incident/
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2019-04-19 01:49:23+00:00
| 1,555,652,963 | 1,567,542,440 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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425,907 |
pravadareport--2019-03-26--Terror in the heart of the Netherlands escalates into outburst of nationalism
| 2019-03-26T00:00:00 |
pravadareport
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Terror in the heart of the Netherlands escalates into outburst of nationalism
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In the quiet morning of the 18th of March, a terrorist attack took place in the city of Utrecht, The Netherlands, causing a new wave of distrust in the most tolerant kingdom of the world. Living in the very center of the country, a member of ethnic minority, Gokmen Tanis, killed with a pistol three Dutch people and heavily wounded five more in a tram, heading from the city´s central station. The murderer is a 37-years-old, native of Turkey. He left the transport and ran into hiding, nevertheless, getting his face caught on a security camera of the tram. Committing the attack at 10 a.m. in the morning, the police searched for eight hours and subsequently arrested the murderer in one of the living houses, three kilometers from the crime scene. The investigation group had resorted to exceptional measures by the standards of Dutch law. As the criminal´s personality became identified, the investigators disclosed his bank account and discovered that, after the attack, Gokmen transferred an unknown sum of money from a phone. By employing special devices, the group found a phone number, which was linked to the bank account, and tracked down the digital footprint of the shooter. The motives of the crime contradicted to each other until the very end. No connections between the suspect and the victims were established. Initially, as it often happens, the police didn't disdain to call the case as a terroristic one. The same happened the last year, when a young refugee from Afghanistan almost slaughtered two American tourists on the central station of Amsterdam, thereby expressing his anger to a right wing "Party for Freedom" and its all-time leader Geert Wilders, the Dutch Trump, who planned to organize a competition for the most offending caricature of the prophet Muhammad. This time, the society got completely blown away by the uncertainty of the motive as well as the reluctance of law enforcements to inform media due to the slow collection of evidences. From the start, the police expected the worst, presuming terroristic cause and potential attacks all around the city. The public transport, partially paralyzed by the strikes across the country, quickly disappeared from the streets, on which nobody was recommended to appear. A found note in Gokmen´s car with a word "Allah" only added to the suspicion of religious roots. In spite of the notion that friends of Gokmen say that he was raised in a deeply religious Wahhabi family and his brother is a member of Turkish Islamic fundamentalist and anti-democratic club "Chalifa state", the personal mental state could also play a big role in the development of the incident. In 2011, Gokmen was already spotted on the camera of a Dutch right wing website GeenStijl where answering to the questions of an accidentally approached journalist, stated that he is a democrat, not a religious fanatic. According to an ex-girlfriend of the shooter, Angelica, Gokmen is a psychopath, rather than a terrorist and she attempted numerous times to make the police aware of his probable mental relapse. The couple together sniffed cocaine throughout the year of their relationships, which hard to call romantic. Angelica would be often beaten and even once violently raped in 2017. The offender faced a trial and was taken into custody in August of the same year, but eventually saw freedom in September under the pretense of the unsound mind and willingness to participate in a personality test. During the following fifteen months, the criminal would not appear in a prescribed for him psychological institution. Getting detained again, but this time until the 1st of March of 2019, Gokmen expanded own list of the previous convictions, among which we can find: shoplifting, drunk driving, drug dealing, possession of a firearm, spitting on a police officer and such a widespread misconduct in the Netherlands as bicycle theft. The reason behind the release is the same as the last time, namely, suspicion of a personality disorder and the promise of the criminal to participate in the personality test. Chance for political alternative from the right Just as the assault of the Afghan refugee, the recent terrorist attack is a handy occasion for Dutch nationalists to remind the frightened electorate about inconsistency of the currently prevailing social-liberal agenda. After the incident in Amsterdam, the attention of the public towards anti-immigrant sentiments has been considerably growing, people started to look up Geert Wilders name in the internet more often, while a new party "Forum for Democracy" several times appeared on top positions of polls for the 2019 elections, promoting, more relevant than ever, American idea of the three-strikes law. According to the party, the third heavy offense must be accompanied with a life sentence. The tragedy unfolded two days before the provincial elections in Utrecht, where nationalists for many years lose to most of the parties, competing on par only against greens. The provincial elections indirectly form the upper chamber of the Dutch parliament or the senate, which task is to identify technical contradictions in new bills and the current legislation, and affirm new laws, proposed by the the lower chamber. On the next day after the incident, the lower chamber became a place of confrontation between right parties and the rest. The second biggest party of Geert Wilders together with the young, but rapidly burgeoning party "Forum for Democracy", attempted to start debates with the remaining eleven parties, majority of which has already formed opposition against the nationalists. Geert Wilders spoke out against the minister of justice and security, calling upon his immediate resignation. Comparing the length of the Gokmen's list of convictions with the distance from The Hague to Tokio, the politician added that the police and its administration have committed an unprecedented hindsight, leaving the incorrigible criminal to freely wander on the streets. Wilders attempted to initiate debates, involving the prime-minister Mark Rutte in the dispute, who earlier asked the public to avoid hatred and xenophobia, although he repeatedly speculated on the topic of terroristic motive, thereby evoking discontent among the ethnic minorities. The debates that had to attract attention of the public to the current left liberal stance in relation to criminals, were doomed to silence. The coalitional parties jointly voted to postpone the discussion, as if being afraid of a polemic just few days before the provincial elections kicked off. They justified the decision by addressing the lack of forensic evidences. Wilders understood that the actions of his opponents have a political rather than organizational character, noticing that the parliament is ready to discuss an agricultural problem of environmental unfriendliness of Dutch manure, not the slaughter. In the same way, social liberal parties accused "Forum for Democracy" in the reluctance of the party to stop their political campaign on the day of the attack, hoping for the minimal intensity of the society in such dramatic times. The 20th of March, the election day, Utrecht stood out with the highest turnout among all Dutch cities. The recent terror apparently provoked the residents of the railroad center, which turnout reached a mark of 60%, leaving behind the political capital The Hague with its 49%. The results of the elections eroded the superior position of the centrist government. If four years ago, the Netherlands chose conservative liberals of Rutte, christian democrats and progressivists, this time, victory was achieved by new right in the face of Thierry Baudet and his "Forum for Democracy". The brand new party literally broke into the upper chamber on the first try, taking more than 14% of the total seats and driving out the long-standing leader "Party for Freedom and Democracy" of Mark Rutte. The once dominant party lost ten seats, keeping now 13% of the total share. The unprecedented success of the forum, which showed up just three years ago, makes us think about new social demand of the Dutch nation that experiences a palling taste of costly and occasionally dubious reforms of the ruling elites. A proposed by Rutte abolishment of dividend tax on transnational corporations was recently repealed due to the fact that expenses on the reduction of international tax burden incurs two billion euro expenditures every year. By arguing that suchlike indulgence for the international capital is going to bring more jobs, the prime minister archly holds back that the real reason behind the initiative is a desire of the government to keep or move the headquarters of huge companies Shell and Unilever to the Netherlands. Being British-Dutch corporations, the European Union might prohibit these two to simultaneously remain dual-listed on European and non-European stock exchanges, at least in case if Brussels doesn't come up with any deal regarding Brexit. Rutte wants to see the skyscrapers of transnational corporations in the Hague and Rotterdam, but not in London, where the companies trade volume is much bigger than in his country. Thierry Baudet, the leader of the election's winner party, condemned the initiative, stating that the loss of billions of euros in exchange with the relocation of two headquarters and their tiny staff is completely extraneous to the interests of people, whose high tax load, also in relation to dividends of the local business, doesn't bother the government, which prefers to make advances towards foreign capital. One way or another, surprising, even for the winners, victory of new right forces, points out not only distrust of the society in political elites, but also indicates its dissatisfaction with populist radicalism of old right in the face of Wilders. "Party for Freedom" lost half of the seats, reserving five, the result is undoubtedly disappointing for one the most provocative politicians, however, in alliance with "Forum for Democracy", Wilders and his movement will only reinforce the presence of nationalists in political life of the Kingdom. The only question that comes up is "what kind of right movement is the most demanded in the country of fragrant tulips and old windmills"? Regardless the fact that the parties are based on the common beliefs, they focus on totally different segments of the electorate, jointly opposing the European Union, refugees, high taxation and russophobia. Wilders is a devoted populist, his mission is to ignite a spark amongst the wide masses of working class. Often employing vulgar and banal anti-Islamic rhetoric, he demands to ban the Quran and close all the mosques together with muslim schools. Thierry Baudet, on the other hand, seeks support from more educated sectors of the population, dreaming to revive the golden age of the 19th century Netherlands. Calling himself as a man of Enlightenment, Thierry shifts the focus from anti-Islamic sentiments to classical Dutch culture, which is expressed in the photorealistic masterpieces of Rembrandt, geometrically adjusted philosophy of Spinoza and, of course, black Pete, a dark skinned assistant of Sinterklaas (the Dutch Santa Claus). Since "Forum of Democracy" has become a part of the senate, the party is planning to oppose immigration loosenings and green taxation on CO2. At the very end of the election day, Thierry Baudet quoted Hegel, saying "The owl of Minerva spreads its wings in the dusk", insinuating that only now it became apparent what direction the nation heads to. The rest of the parties, predominantly of the left liberal cohort, lost influence in the senate. Progressivists from D66 as well as social democrats PvdA gave up several seats, while a party of ethnic minorities DENK, which participated in the provincial elections just like "Forum for Democracy" for the first time, couldn't make it to get into the senate.
| null |
http://www.pravdareport.com/world/142319-netherlands_terrorism/
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2019-03-26 14:06:00+00:00
| 1,553,623,560 | 1,567,544,882 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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428,097 |
prisonplanet--2019-01-11--Netherlands narrowly escaped a major terrorist attack with dozens of deaths prosecutors
| 2019-01-11T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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Netherlands narrowly escaped a major terrorist attack with dozens of deaths – prosecutors
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Dozens of people would have been killed in an unprecedented terrorist attack in the Netherlands if a seven-strong terrorist cell had not been stopped in time, a Dutch public prosecutor told a court on Thursday. The terrorists were intercepted in September last year following months of investigation. The seven suspects were arrested in the towns of Arnhem and Weert. Police seized 100kg of fertilizer as well as other bomb-making materials at their homes, they said at the time. This week, preliminary hearings in the high-profile case started. “The suspects said goodbye to friends. These suspects were on the way to commit an attack, with dozens of victims. The Netherlands escaped a major attack,” the prosecutor told a court on Thursday. According to the prosecution, the terrorists intended to target a festival with guns and bombs. A car bomb was also considered by the group. The conspirators discussed how they would conduct the raid, how they would avoid police, and how they should set off their explosive vests early if law enforcement tried to stop them, the court was told. Luckily, the police identified the threat before they could carry out their plans. The prosecutor stressed that at no point was the public in danger in this case. The police operation to bust the cell started in mid-May after a tip from the Dutch intelligence service AIVD, which flagged one of the suspects as a potential terrorist. The police managed to infiltrate the cell sometime in June and collected enough evidence against them by late September, after which the arrests were made. Shortly before that, group members received training in using guns by two undercover police officers. The defense team insists that the police operation was actually entrapment and that the group would never have taken part in the gun training unless provoked by the police. The defendants say they only wanted to “play with Kalashnikovs” and were not “hardcore jihadists” contrary to what the prosecution alleges. Of the seven people arrested in September, only three were present during the preliminary hearing. One 18-year-old person was since released due to lack of evidence to justify his continued detention, but remains a suspect in the case. This article was posted: Friday, January 11, 2019 at 6:19 am
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/netherlands-narrowly-escaped-a-major-terrorist-attack-with-dozens-of-deaths-prosecutors.html
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2019-01-11 11:19:13+00:00
| 1,547,223,553 | 1,567,553,012 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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428,660 |
prisonplanet--2019-02-06--French city to shut jihad-calling mosque to thwart possible terrorist attacks
| 2019-02-06T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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French city to shut jihad-calling mosque to thwart possible terrorist attacks
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Fearing potential terrorist attacks, the south-eastern city of Grenoble will temporarily close a mosque in which imams were allegedly calling for “armed jihad.” Over 400 worshippers attended the mosque each day. The Al-Kawthar mosque, located in a populous Rue des Trembles district of Grenoble, has become fertile soil for disseminating “ideas and theories that provoke violence, hatred and discrimination,” the local prefecture said. It claimed the imam legitimized “armed jihad… Sharia and discrimination against women.” The imam’s sermons allegedly stirred up hatred towards those practicing other religions. It is thought that over 400 Muslims attended the Al-Kawthar each day, according to French media. The mosque will now be shut for six weeks and its assets will be frozen. To do so, Grenoble authorities invoked a specific French law which deals with prevention of terrorist attacks and threats to national security. The city, which is home to over 162,000 residents, accommodates 20 mosques, including the Al-Kawthar, according to a local Muslim-oriented website. Last year, it emerged that mosques in Aix-en-Provence, Sartrouville and Marseille were also closed for preaching radical Islamism. The move came after a string of terrorist attacks sent shockwaves across France, leaving multiple people killed and injured. Grenoble itself witnessed a terrorist attack in 2015, when a man was found beheaded at a local factory and an Islamist flag was seen flying over the facility. A 35-year-old man, Yassin Salhi, was arrested in the manhunt that followed. It later transpired that the victim of the attack was his boss. In 2016, French authorities closed around 20 mosques considered to be spreading violent extremism. In all, there are some 2,500 mosques and prayer halls in France. Of those, around 120 are considered to be preaching radical Salafism, a strict Sunni interpretation of Islam. This article was posted: Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 6:59 am
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/french-city-to-shut-jihad-calling-mosque-to-thwart-possible-terrorist-attacks.html
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2019-02-06 11:59:51+00:00
| 1,549,472,391 | 1,567,549,505 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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429,823 |
prisonplanet--2019-04-05--Schoolboy in custody on Christchurch terror video charge
| 2019-04-05T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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Schoolboy in custody on Christchurch terror video charge
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A Christchurch schoolboy arrested for allegedly distributing objectionable material from the mosque terror attacks has been kept in custody for another month. The teenager, who cannot be named because of legal reasons, first appeared in the Youth Court in Christchurch last Thursday. He was refused bail and was remanded in custody. The Herald understands police were alerted after concerns about his behaviour. The boy’s school cannot be named and his principal declined to comment, referring inquiries to police. Today, the boy’s lawyer, Moana Cole, applied for the teen to be released on electronically monitored (EM) bail. Discussions in court today were also suppressed by the judge, along with his reasons for declining bail. The boy was remanded in custody to come back to court on May 7. He waved to family members who were in court today before he was taken back into custody. There have been other unrelated cases before the courts since the Christchurch terror attacks. Christchurch businessman Philip Neville Arps, 44, appeared in court last week on charges of distributing footage of one of the mosque shootings. Arps, who runs an insulation business, faces two charges of distributing the livestream “of the multiple murder victims at the Deans Ave Mosque”. The alleged offending occurred on March 16, the day after the shootings at two Christchurch mosques, in which 50 people died and dozens were injured. The Chief Censor’s office has classified the shooter’s live stream and so-called manifesto as objectionable under the Films, Video and Publications Classifications Act. The charges have a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Arps was declined bail and remanded in custody until his next appearance on April 15. An 18-year-old Christchurch student, who has interim name suppression, has also been charged with distributing a livestream and of showing a photograph of the Deans Ave mosque where 42 Muslims were shot dead with the message “target acquired” and further online messaging allegedly inciting extreme violence. This article was posted: Friday, April 5, 2019 at 6:29 am
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/schoolboy-in-custody-on-christchurch-terror-video-charge.html
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2019-04-05 11:29:29+00:00
| 1,554,478,169 | 1,567,543,963 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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430,789 |
prisonplanet--2019-05-24--Bombshell Report Reveals British Govt Stages Muslim Responses to Terrorist Attacks
| 2019-05-24T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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Bombshell Report Reveals British Govt Stages ‘Muslim’ Responses to Terrorist Attacks
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The British government staged the “Muslim” response to the 2017 Islamic London Bridge terrorist attack all the way down to the hashtags pushed on social media so that the public would focus on a “sense of unity with strangers” rather than “reacting with violence or anger,” according to a bombshell new report from the London-based Middle East Eye. After the 2017 attack at the London Bridge, video went viral showing police guiding a group of Muslims before the media’s TV cameras as they presented slick signs saying “#TurnToLove,” “#LoveWillWin,” “#ISISWillLose,” and so on. Most people thought it was evidence CNN staged the incident. In fact, it turns out it was staged by the UK government itself — and it wasn’t the first time. Watch Ian Cobain of the Middle East Eye explain how the scam works: From the Middle East Eye, Ian Cobain, 22 May 2019, “‘Mind control’: The secret UK government blueprints shaping post-terror planning”: The British government has prepared for terrorist incidents by pre-planning social media campaigns that are designed to appear to be a spontaneous public response to attacks, Middle East Eye has learned. Hashtags are carefully tested before attacks happen, Instagram images selected, and “impromptu” street posters are printed. In operations that contingency planners term “controlled spontaneity”, politicians’ statements, vigils and inter-faith events are also negotiated and planned in readiness for any terrorist attack. The campaigns have been deployed during every terrorist incident in recent years including the 2017 London Bridge attack and the Finsbury Park mosque attack. Within hours of an attack, other campaigns are swiftly organised, with I “heart” posters being designed and distributed, according to the location of the attack, and plans drawn up for people to hand out flowers at the scene of the crime, in apparently unprompted gestures of love and support. The purpose of the operations, according to a number of people involved in their creation, is to shape public responses, encouraging individuals to focus on empathy for the victims and a sense of unity with strangers, rather than reacting with violence or anger. […]Examples of “controlled spontaneity” within the UK that MEE has identified include: – a media campaign that was swiftly deployed after a number of British and American aid workers were beheaded by Islamic State militants in 2014. – the use of hashtags, posters and vigils after the London Bridge attacks of June 2017 in which eight people were murdered and almost 50 injured. – a Twitter, Facebook and mainstream media campaign that was employed later that month, shortly after a man drove his van into a group of people outside a mosque in north London, killing one person and injuring 10 others. While covert messaging developed as part of the Prevent programme is aimed at Muslims, particularly young men, attempts to plan for “controlled spontaneity” in the wake of a terrorist attack are aimed at the general population. The day after the London Bridge attacks, a team of men arrived at the scene of the murders in an unmarked van. They could be seen being admitted behind the police cordon, where they plastered walls with a number of posters bearing images of London, and number of hashtags that were already circulating on Twitter: #TurnToLove, #For London and #LoveWillWin. This practice, known in the UK as fly-posting, is a minor criminal offence, but police admitted the members of the fly-posting team behind their cordon and took no action. The men doing this work declined to tell journalists who they were, or where they were from. When the cordon was eventually lifted and members of the public were able to return to the scene of the attacks, they found themselves surrounded by apparently impromptu signs of the public’s defiance and unity. The day after that, a government official telephoned Southwark Council, the local authority for the area where the murders happened. “He said: ‘We’re sending you a hundred imams,’” a council official recalls. Two days after that, about 100 imams and Muslim community leaders from across the UK duly appeared on the bridge, and one read a statement condemning the attack. The following weekend, a group of Muslims arrived at the bridge and handed out thousands of red roses. One of the organisers described it as “a symbolic gesture of love” for people affected by the attack. What the event’s organiser did not say is that she worked at the Home Office, in law enforcement. She told MEE that it was entirely a “grassroots” initiative with no government assistance: “I was acting as a member of the community and sought assistance from my personal networks.” The British government also worked covertly with The Sun and a company called “Breakthrough Media” (now “Zinc Network”) to release this cover story with a Muslim woman wearing a “Union Jack hijab” after British aid worker Alan Henning was murdered by ISIS in October 2014: The British government working with Breakthrough Media also appears to have stage-managed the response to an anti-Muslim attack carried out by lone attacker Darren Osborne who carried out a truck attack against Muslims near a mosque in Finsbury Park in June 2017. A week later, in the early hours of Monday morning, an Islamophobic lone attacker, Darren Osborne, drove his van into a group of men near a mosque at Finsbury Park, north London. A number of young men restrained Osborne, and protected him from attack by others. A little while later they were joined by Mohammed Mahmoud, the mosque’s imam. By the following morning, the hashtag #WeStandTogether was running across Twitter, after initially being promoted by police and police commanders. As journalists gathered at the police cordon, a number were approached by a woman who called herself Gabbie, and explained that she worked for a company called Horizon PR. What “Gabbie” did not say is that “Horizon PR” had been created by Breakthrough Media and another communications company, M&C Saatchi PR UK, and that Breakthrough has used it to promote the messaging it creates – and disseminates through co-operating civil society groups – under the terms of its contract with RICU. A number of journalists have told MEE that “Gabbie” offered to introduce them to a man standing nearby. This man explained that his name was Shaukat Warraich and that he was from an organisation called Faith Associates. Warraich stressed to the journalists the role that the mosque’s imam had played in protecting Osborne until he could be handed over to police. This came to dominate news reports in the days after the attack. Warraich did not say anything about his organisation’s relationships with both Breakthrough and with the British government’s propaganda unit, RICU. Faith Associates, a limited company, has for several years been funded in part by government contracts, and internal Breakthrough and RICU documents seen by MEE show that it works to disseminate government messages. MEE understands that subsequent media reports have caused some ill-feeling in the area: the young men who restrained and protected the killer before the imam arrived at the scene believe their role had been overlooked. “They were proud that they had done the right thing, but believe that they were then portrayed as a lynch mob,” said one person who prays regularly at the mosque. The young men are now rarely seen at the mosque, he added. Read Ian Cobain’s full report at the Middle East Eye. The man deserves a Pulitzer. This should be the biggest story in the West, instead it’s being completely ignored. A search of Google News shows not even one “Google News approved” media outlet picked the story up. Though the controlled media are too cowardly to report on it (or their owners won’t let them), we know they’re reading it because the assistant editor of the Financial Times said as much: In order to get the general public to submit to lunacy of open-borders-prog-globalism, the masses must be fed a steady diet of fake news and propaganda. If you let them see the truth of how they’re being robbed of their future and their country — in the words of the British government — they may “react with violence or anger.” Share this report with everyone you know. If the media is refusing to cover it that’s how you know it’s their kryptonite. This article was posted: Friday, May 24, 2019 at 5:47 am
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/bombshell-report-reveals-british-govt-stages-muslim-responses-to-terrorist-attacks.html
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2019-05-24 10:47:57+00:00
| 1,558,709,277 | 1,567,540,205 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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431,277 |
prisonplanet--2019-06-24--UN Demands Western Countries Take Back Imprisoned ISIS Terrorists
| 2019-06-24T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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UN Demands Western Countries Take Back Imprisoned ISIS Terrorists
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The United Nations has demanded that western countries take back captured ISIS terrorists who are currently imprisoned in Syria and Iraq. According to U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, the ISIS fighters and their family members, which number around 55,000, “should face fair prosecution or be freed.” States “must assume responsibility for their nationals” even if they have committed unspeakable atrocities while engaging in jihad, according to Bachelet. A debate about whether to allow so-called ‘ISIS bride’ Shamima Begum to re-enter the UK raged earlier this year. While the media largely helped Begum spin the narrative that she made a harmless mistake and was a victim herself, her true activities and beliefs were appalling. It was revealed that Begum literally stitched bombs into suicide vests to ensure they exploded when taken off during her time alongside ISIS jihadists in Syria. Begum was also a member of the “hisba” enforcement group, which handed out brutal punishments to those found flouting ISIS laws on how to dress and behave. She also pointed an automatic weapon at women in Syria for “wearing brightly colored shoes”. Begum also said during interviews that seeing decapitated heads in trash cans didn’t faze her because the victims were “enemies of Islam”. Should such individuals really be allowed to return to the west? Yes, according to the UN. There is a war on free speech. Without your support, my voice will be silenced. Please sign up for the free newsletter here. Donate to me on SubscribeStar here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. This article was posted: Monday, June 24, 2019 at 12:08 pm
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/un-demands-western-countries-take-back-imprisoned-isis-terrorists.html
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2019-06-24 17:08:13+00:00
| 1,561,410,493 | 1,567,538,360 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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434,010 |
prisonplanet--2019-11-29--Some Upset That London Bridge Terrorist Who Had Just Stabbed Numerous People Was Killed by Police
| 2019-11-29T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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Some Upset That London Bridge Terrorist Who Had Just Stabbed Numerous People Was Killed by Police
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Some Upset That London Bridge Terrorist Who Had Just Stabbed Numerous People Was Killed by Police Complain he should have been arrested. Some people are upset that the London Bridge terrorist who was wearing fake explosives and had stabbed multiple victims was shot dead by police, arguing that he should have been arrested. The attacker was apprehended by brave citizens who disarmed him of his weapon before police moved in to gun down the assailant. This disturbed numerous leftists on Twitter who were upset that the terrorist was killed. “How can they shoot one man publicly. They could have arrested or use rubber bullets,” said Hassan Nawaz, labeling the shooting “madness.” “Was there any need for the police to kill the man?” asked Laura Whitehawk, adding, “They could have easily arrested him but murdered him instead. State murder doesn’t sit well with me.” “Everyone already knows. The shooting was clearly reckless and unnecessary. He could easily have been arrested,” said another, suggesting the incident was suspicious because it helped Conservative party leader Boris Johnson. “The police could’ve easily arrested him.. NOT SHOOT HIM IN THE NUTS,” commented another respondent. It’s unsurprising that some reacted this way given that they all appeared to be supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn, who faces off against Boris Johnson in a national election next month, faced criticism after saying that detaining and not killing ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would have been the “right thing to do.” My voice is being silenced by free speech-hating Silicon Valley behemoths who want me disappeared forever. It is CRUCIAL that you support me. Please sign up for the free newsletter here. Donate to me on SubscribeStar here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. This article was posted: Friday, November 29, 2019 at 12:45 pm
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/some-upset-that-london-bridge-terrorist-who-had-just-stabbed-numerous-people-was-killed-by-police.html
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Fri, 29 Nov 2019 17:45:54 +0000
| 1,575,067,554 | 1,575,137,098 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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434,020 |
prisonplanet--2019-11-30--Murderer on day release was among heroes who rushed to help during London Bridge terror attack
| 2019-11-30T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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Murderer on day release was among heroes who rushed to help during London Bridge terror attack
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Murderer on day release was among heroes who rushed to help during London Bridge terror attack One of the heroes of yesterday’s London Bridge attack is a convicted murderer out on day release, it has emerged. It is believed James Ford rushed to the scene and tried to save the life of a woman victim of the terrorist. Now 42, Ford was jailed for life – with a minimum of 15 years – in April 2004 for the murder of a 21-year-old with learning difficulties. Amanda Champion – who had the mental age of a 15-year-old – was found strangled and with her throat cut on waste ground near her home in Ashford, Kent, the previous July. Police had no leads in the case until a Samaritans worker broke the organisation’s strict confidentiality policy and revealed that Ford, a factory worker and amateur wrestler, had called and confessed: ‘I’ve killed a girl.’ ‘The police liaison officer called me saying he was on the TV. I am so angry. They let him out without even telling us. Any of my family could have been in London and just bumped into him. ‘It was a hell of a shock. It is a horrible thing. She said, ‘Have you heard about the incident in London today?’ and I hadn’t. She said, ‘Put in on now and you will see James Ford on the telly.’ ‘She said, ‘Don’t worry, it is not him that’s done anything, he’s there and he is being classed as a hero.’ For him to be called a hero – he is not, he is a cold-blooded murderer. For no reason whatsoever, he just went out and murdered a disabled person. I don’t care what he’s done today, he’s a murderer. He is scum. Amanda was my niece and she was vulnerable and he took her life. He knew what he was doing. People don’t change.’ This article was posted: Saturday, November 30, 2019 at 8:48 am
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/murderer-on-day-release-was-among-heroes-who-rushed-to-help-during-london-bridge-terror-attack.html
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Sat, 30 Nov 2019 13:48:26 +0000
| 1,575,139,706 | 1,575,137,084 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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434,259 |
prisonplanet--2019-12-12--New Jersey Black Supremacist Shooting Being Treated as Act of Terrorism
| 2019-12-12T00:00:00 |
prisonplanet
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New Jersey Black Supremacist Shooting Being Treated as Act of Terrorism
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New Jersey Black Supremacist Shooting Being Treated as Act of Terrorism Authorities say the shooting in New Jersey which targeted a kosher grocery store and left six people dead and was carried out by a member of a black supremacist group is being treated as a domestic terror attack. In addition to the two shooters, three civilians and one police officer were killed during the tragedy on Tuesday, with the civilian victims later being named as members of the local Chassidic community. One of the shooters, David Anderson, who had made anti-Semitic and anti-police comments online, was later confirmed to be a member of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement. Authorities have now confirmed that the shooting is being treated as an act of domestic terrorism, with Attorney General Gurbir Grewal saying, “The evidence points towards acts of hate.” A “manifesto-style note” was found in the stolen U-Haul that Anderson and his companion, Francine Graham, used as transportation. Authorities are examining social media posts by Anderson and Graham to piece together a more detailed picture of their motivation. As we highlighted earlier, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib received a backlash after she erroneously blamed “white supremacy” for the attack. My voice is being silenced by free speech-hating Silicon Valley behemoths who want me disappeared forever. It is CRUCIAL that you support me. Please sign up for the free newsletter here. Donate to me on SubscribeStar here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. This article was posted: Thursday, December 12, 2019 at 1:30 pm
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admin
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https://www.prisonplanet.com/new-jersey-black-supremacist-shooting-being-treated-as-act-of-terrorism.html
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Thu, 12 Dec 2019 18:30:22 +0000
| 1,576,193,422 | 1,576,195,485 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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461,035 |
renegadetribune--2019-05-08--Israels Terrorists The White Helmets Receive an Award
| 2019-05-08T00:00:00 |
renegadetribune
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Israel’s Terrorists: The White Helmets Receive an Award
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Increasingly, groups and even foreign governments have pandered to Israel and its supporters in the United States because they have come to understand that success in dealing with Washington can be dependent on Jewish support. Last week, Raed Saleh, the leader of the so-called White Helmets, also referred to as the Syrian Civil Defense, a terrorist-affiliated group, was in the United States to “…receive the Elie Wiesel Award from the Holocaust Memorial Museum for his organization’s work in Syria.” He was also dropping by to pick up a check for $5 million courtesy of the U.S. government “…to help us with acquiring ambulances and help us with search and rescue operations. During his visit, Saleh was treated to a nauseatingly obsequious interview courtesy of National Public Radio, which, inter alia, described how the Helmets “were the subjects of an Oscar-winning documentary two years ago, which captured images of them carrying broken and bloody Syrians from dust and rubble.” Saleh claimed that the alleged victory of the Syrian regime in the yet to be completed war is an illusion as President Bashar al-Assad presides over a broken country, yet reports from inside Syria indicate that the return of the government to areas formerly controlled by terrorists has been welcomed and refugees from the fighting are now eager to return home. Saleh also claimed, falsely, that his organization has been “providing services to all Syrians and to providing support to all Syrians. Now after six years of war, we have saved more than 116,000 people from under the rubble. We have not asked any of these 116,000 people who did they belong to? Is he a Kurd? Is he a Christian? Is he a Muslim? Is he with Assad? Is he against Assad? Is he with the Kurds? Is he against the Kurds? We have never asked anyone these questions.” Saleh, whose group has only operated in terrorist-controlled areas, could not, however, maintain his approved narrative. He fairly quickly abandoned his non-partisan quasi-humanitarian rhetoric when asked about how he sees the Syrian conflict developing, saying “We do not call this a civil war, but we rather call it a revolution against a dictatorship…the revolution still goes on. We have not lost.” Those who are unfamiliar with the White Helmets should understand that the group has been praised by those who hate the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and want to see it removed, which includes the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. The White Helmets have played a leading role in the propaganda campaign that seeks to instigate violence or use fabricated information to depict the Damascus government as guilty of slaughtering its own citizens. The propaganda is intended to terrorize the civilian population, which is part of the definition of terrorism. Favorable media coverage of the group has largely derived from the documentary The White Helmets, which was produced by the group itself and tells a very convincing tale promoted as “the story of real-life heroes and impossible hope.” It is a very impressive piece of propaganda, so much so that it has won numerous awards including the Oscar for Best Documentary Short two years ago and the White Helmets themselves were even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. More to the point, however, is the undeniable fact that the documentary has helped shape the public understanding of what is going on in Syria, describing the government in Damascus in purely negative terms. Nine months ago, with the Syrian Army closing in on the last White Helmet affiliates still operating in the country, the Israeli government, assisted by the United States, staged an emergency “humanitarian” evacuation of the group’s members and their families to Israel and then on to Jordan. It was described in a BBC article that included “The IDF said they had ‘completed a humanitarian effort to rescue members of a Syrian civil organization and their families’, saying there was an ‘immediate threat to their lives.’ The transfer of the displaced Syrians through Israel was an exceptional humanitarian gesture. Although Israel is not directly involved in the Syria conflict, the two countries have been in a state of war for decades. Despite the intervention, the IDF said that ‘Israel continues to maintain a non-intervention policy regarding the Syrian conflict.’” All of the Israeli assertions are nonsense, including its claimed “humanitarianism” and “non-intervention” in the Syrian war, where it has been bombing almost daily. The carefully edited scenes of heroism under fire that have been filmed and released worldwide conceal the White Helmets’ relationship with the al-Qaeda affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra and its participation in the torture and execution of “rebel” opponents. Indeed, the White Helmets only operate in terrorist-held territory, which enables them to shape the narrative both regarding who they are and what is occurring on the ground. The White Helmets were accustomed to traveling to bombing sites with their film crews trailing behind them. Once at the sites, with no independent observers, they are able to arrange or even stage what is filmed to conform to their selected narrative. Exploiting their access to the western media, the White Helmets thereby de facto became a major source of “eyewitness” news regarding what was going on in those many parts of Syria where European and American journalists were quite rightly afraid to go, all part of a broader largely successful “rebel” effort to manufacture fake news that depicts the Damascus government as engaging in war crimes directed against civilians, an effort that has led to several attacks on government forces and facilities by the U.S. military. This is precisely the propaganda that has been supported both by Tel Aviv and Washington. Perhaps the most serious charge against the White Helmets consists of the evidence that they actively participated in the atrocities, to include torture and murder, carried out by their al-Nusra hosts. There have been numerous photos of the White Helmets operating directly with armed terrorists and also celebrating over the bodies of execution victims and murdered Iraqi soldiers. The group’s jihadi associates regard the White Helmets as fellow “mujahideen” and “soldiers of the revolution.” For those interested in further details, White Helmet activities have been thoroughly exposed by Maxim Grigoriev of the Russian NGO Foundation for the Study of Democracy. Grigoriev presented his findings at a special meeting of the United Nations just before Christmas 2018. A videoprepared based on the U.N. meeting includes interviews with actual witnesses of White Helmet atrocities and participants in the staged chemical attacks that were blamed on the government. So Raed Saleh was in Washington to pick up his award and his multi-million dollar check on top of the tens of millions that his organization has already received from Congress and the White House. He also met with a number of Congressmen who support his initiatives and was praised by New Jersey’s own seriously corrupt Israel-firster Senator Robert Menendez of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who observed “that Saleh’s group of about 3,000 volunteers has ‘saved almost 100,000 lives’ doing ‘courageous work on the ground in Syria, while being targeted by Russia.’” Yes, Russiagate is alive and well. There is considerable irony in the fact that the National Holocaust Museum, which is taxpayer funded, has given an apparently prestigious award to a terrorist group, something which could have been discerned with even a little fact checking. And the museum also might have been sensitive to how the White Helmets have been used in support of Israeli propaganda vis-à-vis Syria. Perhaps, while they are at it, the museum’s board just might also want to check out Elie Wiesel, for whom the award is named. Wiesel, who was a chronicler of Jewish victimhood while persistently refusing to acknowledge what Israel was doing to the Palestinians, notoriously mixed fact and fiction in his best-selling Holocaust memoir Night. Ironically, the award and recipient are well matched in this case as mixing fact and fiction is what both Elie Wiesel and the White Helmets are all about.
|
renegade
|
http://www.renegadetribune.com/israels-terrorists-the-white-helmets-receive-an-award/
|
2019-05-08 16:23:53+00:00
| 1,557,347,033 | 1,567,540,913 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
477,280 |
rt--2019-12-28--US military contractors sued for funding terrorism in Afghanistan with ‘protection’ payments to Tali
| 2019-12-28T00:00:00 |
rt
|
US military contractors sued for funding terrorism in Afghanistan with ‘protection’ payments to Taliban
|
Bribes paid by international military contractors in Afghanistan were used by the Taliban to fund attacks on companies that didn’t make the payments, according to a lawsuit filed by families of those injured or killed as a result. “Large corporations that had lucrative businesses in Afghanistan” paid off the Taliban through a series of subcontractors, bribing the Afghan militants in order to save money on security, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court by the families of 143 US soldiers and contractors injured and killed during the longest war in American history. The 288-page civil suit alleges the Taliban then used the money to finance acts of terrorism against companies that didn’t bribe them, detailing the grisly circumstances that led to the deaths and injuries of the victims. An employee of the US Embassy in Kabul referred to the payments as “organized crime,” according to the suit, which seeks unspecified relief for their families under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of the funding for major projects like the Kajaki Dam and a portion of the Ring Road went into the pockets of Afghan militants between 2009 and 2017, the lawsuit alleges. Contractors used Pentagon cash to hire sub-contractors, who hired their own sub-contractors and so on, until some of the money – amounting to millions of dollars, if not more – ended up in the hands of the Taliban. Some government estimates show the Taliban strength in 2019 greater than at any time over the past 18 years of war that claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Afghan civilians, 2,400 US soldiers, and over $2 trillion in taxpayer funds. Two defendants, DAI Global and Louis Berger Group, received approximately half the total contracts in Afghanistan distributed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2007 to 2009 – about $1 billion. DAI stands accused of paying off the Taliban from 2006 to 2012 while executing contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the areas they controlled. “Standard practice in such circumstances was to pay protection money in order to discourage the Taliban from attacking their projects,” the suit claims. Louis Berger allegedly categorized the Taliban recipients of its payments as “moderate,” because they weren’t actively destroying the corporation’s work. Other American contractors being sued are Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Centerra Group LLC, and Janus Global Operations LLC. British contractor G4S PLC and South African MTN Group are also on the list of defendants. None of the companies responded to requests for comment from the Wall Street Journal, the first outlet to report the lawsuit, except a Black & Veatch spokesman who claimed the contractor had followed US government instructions and was “proud” of its work in Afghanistan. Multiple congressional investigations have confirmed that US companies were flooding local warlords and insurgents with millions of dollars in protection money at the height of the war. Even then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged in 2009 that such bribes were a major funding source for the Taliban. The following year, a congressional report called ‘Warlord, Inc.’ confirmed that Pentagon cash flowing through contractors was supporting a “protection racket,” buying safe passage of goods by bribing local officials (and likely Taliban members). None of the corporations who paid the Taliban have been prosecuted, nor were any of the Pentagon officials who paid the contractors. A decade later, US troops remain in Afghanistan – even as documents published earlier this month (and dating from 2014) revealed that US officials knew that the war was doomed from the outset. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
|
RT
|
https://www.rt.com/news/476988-contractors-bribes-afghanistan-terrorism-lawsuit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
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Sat, 28 Dec 2019 01:25:00 +0000
| 1,577,514,300 | 1,577,534,486 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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477,505 |
russiainsider--2019-01-22--Salvini Demands Extradition of Leftist Terrorists From France
| 2019-01-22T00:00:00 |
russiainsider
|
Salvini Demands Extradition of Leftist Terrorists From France
|
Matteo Salivini, Italy's interior minister, said he would meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to demand the extradition of left-wing activists in order to "bring those murderers back to Italy". Italy’s Deputy Premier clearly wants to go all the way. After dispatching a team to fetch the extreme left-wing Italian terrorist Cesare Battisti in Brazil – with the help of the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro – Salvini has now set his sights on leftist activists in France, according to French daily Le Figaro. On Saturday, January 19, Salvini said he was ready to meet Emmanuel Macron, to negotiate their extradition. These terrorists include individuals from two decades ago who launched extremist attacks that caused a thousand deaths in Italy between 1970 and 1990. “I’m ready to go to Paris to meet Macron, if it helps to bring those murderers back to Italy”, tweeted Salvini, as quoted by an article in Italian daily Il Giornale. According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, “thirty fugitive terrorists, 27 leftwing and three rightwing” have been in hiding abroad. Among them, 14 are refugees in France. The minister had already said on Sunday, January 13, that he was “ready for official steps to seek cooperation with countries hosting terrorists, starting with Paris”. In the 1980s, then French President Francois Miterrand had promised that he would not extradite any extreme leftist activist who had renounced the armed struggle. A hundred Italian militants who had been involved in the horrors of the “years of lead” had then chosen France to start a new life. Meanwhile, the Italian government’s bill on legitimate-self-defence will be approved by the end of February, Salvini said on Friday. The bill would introduce rules similar to the US stand-your-ground laws where virtually all forms of self-defence on one’s property against intruders are deemed legitimate. “Many people are asking me when parliament will approve the legitimate-defence law after years of chatter,” said League leader Salvini. “(The answer is) by the end of February. The aim is to (protect) the sacrosanct right to legitimate defence of good citizens, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs and farmers. “This will be recognised by the Italian law by the end of February. “The job of being a robber will be a little more difficult and a little more risky”. Francesco Minisci, the president of the Italian magistrates union ANM, recently warned that the bill risked “legitimizing serious illegal conduct, including murder”. He also said there was the danger that the bill could be “unconstitutional”. Also on Friday, Salvini urged the father of one of the Rigopiano hotel avalanche victims not the pay a fine for crossing a police cordon to lay flowers at the site of his son’s death. Alessio Feniello, father of Stefano, was fined 4 550 euros for breaching the judicial cordon marking the area where the collapsed hotel had stood. “I told Feniello Sr not to pay a euro,” said Salvini. “That’s all we need, being fined for taking flowers to your son. If there’s a wrong law we’ll change the law”. Both Deputy premiers – Luigi Di Maio together with Salvini – took part on in commemoration marking the second anniversary of the Rigopiano avalanche disaster in Abruzzo that claimed 29 lives. Di Maio and Salvini spoke to relatives at the victims at the ceremony, held at area of the disaster. The avalanche hit the resort as 40 people, including guests and staff, were inside, as the hotel was engulfed by snow during extreme weather conditions at the time. Some of the 29 victims were instantly crushed to death while others who remained trapped died of hypothermia and asphyxiation. Rescuers reached the site several hours after the incident and had to travel on foot because roads had been blocked by heavy snow.
|
Free West Media[field_author_has_account_]
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https://russia-insider.com/en/salvini-demands-extradition-leftist-terrorists-france/ri25974
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2019-01-22 15:01:00+00:00
| 1,548,187,260 | 1,567,551,301 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
|
486,569 |
skynewsus--2019-12-29--Stabbings at New York rabbi's home 'an act of domestic terror'
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
skynewsus
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Stabbings at New York rabbi's home 'an act of domestic terror'
|
New York stabbings: Hanukkah attack on rabbi's home 'an act of domestic terror' New York stabbings: Hanukkah attack on rabbi's home 'an act of domestic terror' A suspect in the stabbings was detained by police in Harlem An attack on a New York rabbi's home in which five people were stabbed was an act of domestic terrorism, the state's governor has said. The victims were stabbed in the basement of Hasidic Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg's home in Monsey at around 10pm on Saturday, the seventh night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. A suspect, identified by police as Grafton E Thomas, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. "Let's call it what it is. These people are domestic terrorists and the law should reflect that and they should be punished as if it was an act of terrorism," governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday. Speaking at the scene, about 35 miles (56km) north of New York City, he said: "It is intolerant, it is ignorant but it is also illegal. At the end of the day, it is not just about words but actions. It is violence spurred by hate. It is mass violence and I consider this an act of domestic terrorism." One person was in a critical condition after being very seriously wounded, the governor said, adding that the rabbi's son was among five people who were taken to hospital. His condition and that of the other victims has not been made clear. A motive for the attack has not been confirmed by authorities, but Mr Cuomo called it "an intolerant time in our country". "We see anger, we see hatred exploding. It is an American cancer on the body politic," he said. "We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism," he wrote on Twitter. Video showing Thomas, 37, from nearby Greenwood Lake, being arrested by police in the city borough of Harlem, was posted online. Aron Kohn, one of dozens of people at a party in the house, said the attacker was carrying a large weapon. "I saw him walking in by the door. I ask who was coming in the middle of the night with an umbrella. While I was saying that, he pulled it out from the thing and he started to run into the big room, which was on the left side." Mr Kohn said one injured man was bleeding "all over", including on his neck and hands. "I ran into the other room because I tried to save my life, I saw him running down this way, so I ran out," he added. Chabad.org, which says it is the "website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement," published details of the attack based on witnesses and other sources. It said: "An individual with a scarf covering his face entered just before 10pm, brandishing a knife and began stabbing some of the Chassidic Jews gathered for the celebration. "The attacker then attempted to enter the adjacent synagogue, but was locked out by the people there, who barricaded themselves inside." According to public records, Rabbi Rottenberg leads the synagogue next door. Photos and videos posted on social media show a large emergency response, with paramedics running and pushing stretchers. New York City's police department said it was stepping up patrols in heavily populated Jewish neighbourhoods, such as Monsey, in Rockland County, following a spate of anti-Semitic attacks over the past year, including one that left a rabbi dead. Earlier this month, six people, including a police officer, died in a shooting at a kosher market in northern New Jersey. Around New York City, police have received at least six reports this week - and eight since 13 December - of attacks possibly prompted by anti-Jewish sentiment. The NYPD counter-terrorism bureau said it was "closely monitoring the reports". Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a tweet his country "strongly condemns the recent displays of antisemitism including the vicious attack at the home of a rabbi in Monsey, New York, during Chanukah." New York State Attorney General Leticia James said: "There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation. I stand with the Jewish community tonight and every night." Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, "Hate doesn't have a home in our city," and described the latest incident as an attack on all New Yorkers.
| null |
http://news.sky.com/story/new-york-stabbings-hanukkah-attack-on-rabbis-home-an-act-of-domestic-terror-governor-says-11897047
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Sun, 29 Dec 2019 05:15:00 +0000
| 1,577,614,500 | 1,577,665,619 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
494,593 |
sottnet--2019-01-11--Dutch prosecutor states foiled terror attack couldve left dozens of victims
| 2019-01-11T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
Dutch prosecutor states foiled terror attack could've left dozens of victims
|
The Netherlands escaped a terrorist attack that could've resulted in "dozens of victims" with the arrest of seven suspects in Arnhem and Weert in September last year, the Public Prosecutor said in court on Thursday - the first proforma hearing in this case. Only three of the six suspects still in detention were present at the hearing, AD reports."The suspects said goodbye to friends. These suspects were on the way to commit an attack, with dozens of victims. The Netherlands escaped a major attack", the Prosecutor said."They also talked about tactics: how should they do it? And what to do if one of them is tagged by the police?" They decided not to walk too close to each other, and detonate their bomb vest if they police grab them, the Prosecutor said."But how different it could have been. If the string had broken with the infiltrators, we might have had dozens of victims."The police infiltration started on May 18th last year, after intelligence service AIVD informed the police that main suspect Hardi N. was planning an attack. The police infiltrators made first contact with the group on June 5th in Arnhem. The suspects were eventually arrested in Arnhem and Weert on September 27th.When the four left the park in a van, they were arrested. Three others were arrested in the Arnhem region. One of the seven suspects has since been released and did not have to appear in court on Thursday.The suspects who did have to appear are 34-year-old Hardi N., 21-year-old Wail el A., 21-year-old Nabil B., 21-year-old Morat M., 30-year-old Shevan A. and 26-year-old Nadeem S. All of the suspects originally came from the Arnhem region, but some of them moved to Rotterdam and Vlaardingen recently. Their homes were searched after their arrests.An unnamed man from Arnhem, 18, was released from pre-trial custody in late November. At the time of the release, the prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to continue holding the man. He was still considered a suspect in the case and remained under investigation, as of Nov. 26.the lawyers said, according to the newspaper.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/404693-Dutch-prosecutor-states-foiled-terror-attack-could-ve-left-dozens-of-victims
|
2019-01-11 18:26:40+00:00
| 1,547,249,200 | 1,567,553,020 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
494,931 |
sottnet--2019-01-15--Islamic terror group launches attack on Nairobi hotel and office complex
| 2019-01-15T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
Islamic terror group launches attack on Nairobi hotel and office complex
|
Police and anti-terrorist forces have regained control of a Nairobi hotel and office complex, hours after it was attacked by Islamist extremist gunmen.The assault on the dusitD2 compound in the Kenyan capital, which includes a luxury hotel, restaurants, a spa and several office buildings housing international companies, was the most outrageous by terrorists in the country for many years.Sustained automatic gunfire and grenade explosions were heard as the gunmen rushed in and scores of people fled the scene.On Tuesday evening, interior minister Fred Matiang'i said that security forces had secured all the buildings affected."The security teams have evacuated scores of Kenyans and [people of] other nationalities from the buildings," he said in a brief televised statement. "We are now in the final stages of mopping up the area and securing evidence and documenting the consequences of this unfortunate event."The alarm was raised at about 3pm on Tuesday when gunfire and explosions were heard at the hotel, in the upscale Westlands neighbourhood of the city. Dozens of ambulances, police vehicles and fire engines arrived at the scene as fleeing office workers filled the surrounding streets.Survivors reported hearing a shattering blast and saw people mowed down by gunmen as they sat at a cafe. Victims were left lying on tables, bleeding."We were changing our shifts, and that is when I heard a loud blast and people were screaming," said Enoch Kibet, who works as a cleaner at the cafe and managed to crawl out a basement gate. "I couldn't believe I was alive. The blast was so loud and shook the whole complex."Tuesday's attack came exactly three years after a deadly al-Shabaab attack on a Kenyan military base in El-Adde in Somalia, where about 140 Kenya soldiers were killed."Al-Shabaab mujahideen snipers are in operation in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Our reports confirm that mujahideen fighters stormed the target building," the al-Shabaab statement said.Witnesses reported that the attackers were wearing military fatigues and wrapped in ammunition when they ran into the hotel.In the hours after the attack, the gunmen and security forces were engaged in a fierce firefight. Plumes of smoke rose into the air from several burning cars. "There was a bomb, there is a lot of gunfire," said one man working at the complex, asking not to be named.Others described office workers in the complex hiding under the desks or sheltering behind makeshift barricades. Hundreds were evacuated from nearby buildings.Rashid Abdi, an expert in Islamic militancy in east Africa with the International Crisis Group in Nairobi, said al-Shabab was a versatile and patient organisation."It was always a matter of when not if. There has been some successes against al-Shabab in northern Kenya but if we have learned anything it is that al-Shabaab lulls security services into complacency. Months and years can go between attacks and then they strike."Though the Kenyan deployment in Somalia is one motive for al-Shabab's attacks in Nairobi and elsewhere, the organisation is also committed to the broader causes of global jihadi ideology and sees the Kenyan capital as a key target.Medics removed four bodies from buildings near the hotel , witnesses said. A medic said two more body bags were removed from another location nearby. One person died earlier at a hospital.Kenya faced a spate of attacks after it sent its army into Somalia in October 2011 to fight al-Shabaab, which is affiliated to al-Qaida.On 2 April 2015, al-Shabaab killed 148 people at a university in Garissa, eastern Kenya. Islamic State has a small presence in the Horn of Africa.Nairobi is the economic hub of the east Africa region with a big presence of western companies, diplomats and tourists. Kenya has long been a significant security partner of the US and other western countries.Authorities said they had been vigilant over the Christmas and New Year holiday season."Hotels and other public buildings remain under close watch. Reports from throughout the country indicate that everything remains calm and normal," Boinnet told reporters.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/405021-Islamic-terror-group-launches-attack-on-Nairobi-hotel-and-office-complex
|
2019-01-15 21:02:54+00:00
| 1,547,604,174 | 1,567,552,472 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
498,577 |
sottnet--2019-03-15--SOTT FOCUS Clash of Civilizations Arrives in New Zealand 49 Massacred by Multiple Gunmen During
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
SOTT FOCUS: 'Clash of Civilizations' Arrives in New Zealand: 49 Massacred by Multiple Gunmen During Multi-Site Terror Attack in Christchurch
|
A sophisticated multi-site terror attack beginning at 1:40pm local time in New Zealand earlier today saw several locations in the city of Christchurchprompting a major security operation and placing much of the country's largest city on lockdown. So far, 49 people have been confirmed killed, while an additional 48 have been injured.Media accounts have begun narrowing the focus to one individual, a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant, who wore a GoPro camera to livestream his part in the attack, but local police report that they have so far. The sadistic psychopath attacked the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue, east of the city center, 10 minutes after noon prayers began, so it was full of worshipers as he unloaded multiple magazines from one of several weapons he brought with him. Bodies have also been found in adjacent streets so some of the victims appear to have been shot dead outside the mosque. One was that of a child, slain in the middle of Deans Avenue., however. An eyewitness told the Christchurch Star that she was in her car near the Al Noor Mosque as the attack began. Moments after hearing gunfire, she saysTerrified they would spot her, she put her seat down so she could hide in place. Police had not yet arrived on the scene.A second shooting incident began, within 5 minutes of the beginning of the Al Noor attack, at another mosque, the Linwood Masjid on Linwood Avenue. This site isSo far 7 people have been reported killed there - again, some inside the building, some outside. Eyewitnesses at this location say they saw a man leave the mosque "wearing camouflage gear and a motorcycle helmet," and that some locals gave chase as the gunman fled.Police also reported defusing "several improvised explosive devices" found attached to vehicles at diverse locations, one as far away as Strickland Street,Meanwhile an eyewitness told the New Zealand Herald that he saw a body in a carpark at Papanui High School,on Deans Avenue. The school went into lockdown as a police helicopter circled low overhead and dozens of armed police searched the site. Students and staff sheltered in place until a man, described as "wearing military clothing", was arrested outside the school.At 3:40pm local time, two hours after the attacks commenced, Christchurch police confirmed that this was Footage has emerged of police ramming a vehicle and arresting someone, though it's unknown which of the gunmen that is:Tarrant, the Australian gunman who filmed himself driving up to the Al Noor Mosque and taking firearms out of the trunk of his car, had scrawled inscriptions on them referencing famous European battles against the Ottoman Empire, among other 'neo-Nazi' slogans, such as "Here's Your Migration Compact!" Here is a screenshot of photos he uploaded to his Twitter account in recent weeks, which he apparently opened just last month:He also apparently penned a 73-page 'manifesto' titled 'The Great Replacement', in which he vowed 'revenge' against 'Muslim invaders', said he was "influenced above all by Candace Owens" , railed against declining European (white) birth rates, and hailed the psycho involved in the Utoya Island massacre and Oslo bombing in Norway in 2011. (Anders Breivik, incidentally, published a similar manifesto about Muslims, even though his victims were, by and large, left-leaning sons and daughters of Norway's elite. He too could not have carried out that multi-site terror attack alone ).Here's the 'white power' manifesto attributed to Tarrant. Note the emphasis on his identity, lack of education, and third-person Q&A style:Most bizarre, however, were Tarrant's final words before he began his part in the shooting spree:referring to the nickname of the most popular channels on YouTube, run by Swedish gamer and entertainer Felix Kjellberg.Australia has had strict gun control laws since the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre , when a multi-site terror attack in Tasmania was pinned on a low-IQ man (in trial-by-media, mind you - that case never came before a court of law). The arsenal of weapons and explosives used in this terror attack will undoubtedly pressure New Zealand authorities to implement tighter gun control. Others will tie in the proliferation of first-person shooter video games.But the main emphasis is apparently being focused on. The backstory on Tarrant thus far is that he is a member of the 8Chan forum, which has for years been mercilessly trolling the politically correct doctrines of multiculturalism and Leftist dogma in general. While his 'manifesto' is riddled with clichéd 'dog-whistles' to white supremacists, for anyone who knows how silly and humorous most of PewDiePie's content is,Almost every 'political wish' in this 'manifesto' echoes important topics being discussed in independent media and by populist movements and candidates. While there is some likeness between its content and what critics of mass migration into Europe are pointing out, it is largely a pat repetition of the ugly caricatures mainstream media talking-heads claim that grounded, sensible conservative-minded people actually advocate.While New Zealand has, until now, not been directly terrorized, as one of the 'Five Eyes' in the anglosphere it has inevitably absorbed much of the postmodernist leftist-liberal doctrine. Jordan Peterson recently toured 'down under' , and, despite being warned by their media that the University of Toronto professor "threatens the basic values of our society," he was, of course, a big hit with many Kiwis.As if confirming this motive for tarnishing the conservative counter-culture by association, the British Home Secretary has declared that social media platforms 'must do something to stop this from happening':Coincidence theorists will doubtless see no timing issue with the fact that the Israelis - three weeks out from elections that could depose Netanyahu's dictatorship - launched airstrikes at about 100 locations up and down the Gaza Strip , within two hours of the multi-site attack in Christchurch. Their justification for doing so was that two rockets were fired at Tel Aviv for the first time since 2014, and yet, as if in expectation of firm and credible denials of responsibility by Hamas, Israeli media this morning reports that 'it appears' those two rockets were 'fired accidentally during maintenance'.New Zealand/Australia have now had their 'major white ethno-nationalist' terror attack. It may take a year or two, but we could reasonably foresee a possible 'Islamic terror' follow-up in which Muslims are implicated in a 'corresponding' massacre of whites. "ISIS" (i.e. Saudi Arabia, Israel and the USA) has, supposedly, called for revenge. The point of it all is apparently to- not just between Muslims (who make up barely 1% of New Zealand's population of 4 million) and non-Muslims, but to more broadlyAs the fallout from this atrocity continues, keep in mind, as the media blames these attacks on one man and his 'neo-Nazi ideas', and as you observe independent media, thinkers or anyone holding dissenting views on social media effectively be accused of murdering the Christchurch victims, that. There are, indeed, "threats to the basic values of our society" out there, and they're not about to surrender their thrones without shedding blood.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/409180-Clash-of-Civilizations-Arrives-in-New-Zealand-49-Massacred-by-Multiple-Gunmen-During-Multi-Site-Terror-Attack-in-Christchurch
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2019-03-15 17:28:31+00:00
| 1,552,685,311 | 1,567,546,196 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
501,775 |
sottnet--2019-05-21--Suspect in Christchurch mosque shootings charged with terrorism
| 2019-05-21T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
Suspect in Christchurch mosque shootings charged with terrorism
|
Police in New Zealand filed a terrorism charge against a man accused of opening fire on two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people in an attack that led to changes to the country's gun laws.New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said in a statement Tuesday that Brenton Tarrant has been charged with engaging in a terrorist act in the March 15 attack on the two mosques.An additional murder charge and two additional attempted murder charges have also been filed against Tarrant, bringing the total murder counts to 51 and the attempted murder counts to 40, Bush said.Police said they met with victims' families and survivors of the attack to inform them of the new charges. Police said around 200 people attended the meeting in Christchurch.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/413465-Suspect-in-Christchurch-mosque-shootings-charged-with-terrorism
|
2019-05-21 17:52:32+00:00
| 1,558,475,552 | 1,567,540,375 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
528,114 |
sputnik--2019-03-15--UN Security Council Condemns in Strongest Terms Terror Attack in New Zealand
| 2019-03-15T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
UN Security Council Condemns in 'Strongest Terms' Terror Attack in New Zealand
|
“The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest possible terms the hideous attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier today,” French Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Anne Gueguen said. "The members of the council express their deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed, and they offer their empathy to the people and the government of New Zealand.” Gueguen asked all members who were present at the meeting to rise for a moment of silence for the victims of the massacre. READ MORE: What is Known So Far About the Shooter Who Attacked Two New Zealand Mosques Earlier on Friday, a gunman opened fire at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, injuring more than 40 people. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the shooting a terrorist act, saying it was the country's "darkest day." A 28-year old man has been charged with murder and three others were being questioned, reports said. Ardern said earlier that none of the suspects had been on terrorist watch lists.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201903161073285099-un-security-council-condemns-strongest-terms-attack-new-zealand/
|
2019-03-15 21:33:59+00:00
| 1,552,700,039 | 1,567,546,173 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
|
529,005 |
sputnik--2019-03-23--Christchurch Terrorist Attack The Socio-Political Consequences
| 2019-03-23T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Christchurch Terrorist Attack: The Socio-Political Consequences
|
Brenton Tarrant's explicitly fascist manifesto leaves no question about the killer's motives but raises serious concerns about how he was radicalized and whether there are more "sleeper cells" like him waiting to strike soft targets that they associate with Muslim migrants. The terrorist apparently hadn't been shy about his beliefs online either, so it's a surprise that he wasn't officially on any government watch lists when considering that his native Australia is part of the "Five Eyes" global surveillance superstructure. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed to reform her country's gun laws in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, and it can also be assumed that the state's security services and Australia's will investigate why this terrorist didn't appear on their radar until after he began his attack. Speaking of which, Tarrant notoriously livestreamed the first 17 minutes of his shooting spree on Facebook until the local police made the company aware of it and got the footage taken down, so it's possible that an attempt might be made to regulate social media after what just happened. Relatedly, the West's traditional laissez-faire notions of free speech might also be in the process of changing after two controversial incidents. Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was banned from entering Australia for his upcoming tour after tweeting inflammatory comments about Islam and later blaming the victims for going to what he described as a "terrorist factory". A few days later, an unnamed individual was arrested in New Zealand for allegedly violating its "Films Videos and Publications Classification Act" by sharing footage of Tarrant's massacre on social media despite the authorities warning people not to. Both cases divided people over the issue of whether the state overstepped its bounds by infringing on free speech or if it was completely in the right for responsibly tackling hate speech before it incited another terrorist attack. While these are the socio-political consequences thus far, many more might soon unfold too. To discuss this topic in more detail, Andrew Korybko is joined by Christopher Coman, New Zealand political commentator. Want to sound off and share what you think about this? Send us an email at [email protected] or find us on Facebook!
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/radio_trendstorm/201903231073425843-christchurch-terrorist-attack/
|
2019-03-23 08:59:00+00:00
| 1,553,345,940 | 1,567,545,144 |
conflict, war and peace
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act of terror
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533,598 |
sputnik--2019-05-07--Inquest Into 8 People Killed in London Bridge Terror Attack Commences in London
| 2019-05-07T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Inquest Into 8 People Killed in London Bridge Terror Attack Commences in London
|
One Spanish national, one Briton, two Australians, one Canadian and three French citizens died in the attack and nearly 50 people were injured. An inquest into the deaths of the victims began on Tuesday at the Old Bailey court in London. The court is to examine why there were no barriers to protect pedestrians on the bridge at the time and how the ringleader Khuram Butt was able to plan and carry out the attack while under investigation by MI5. Butt was released by the police 8 months before the attack, despite being actively investigated by MI5 prior to June 2017, following reports of aspirations to conduct an attack — a report by the Intelligence and Security Committee revealed in November 2018. Similarly, MI5 came under fire for letting the perpetrator of the Manchester Arena bombing, Salman Abedi, slip through the cracks, even after he was flagged for review. Butt, who was was reported to be part of the government's counter-terror strategy — the Prevent programme, and two other attackers, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba, were shot dead by police eight minutes after they were summoned. The London Bridge attack inquest heard detailed stories about all the victims, including their location and how they came to face their attackers. One of the victims, Xavier Thomas, 45, was hit by the attackers' van as he was walking on London Bridge. His father called the attackers "barbarians, who can in no way be described as humans." "With such an emotional shock we have been totally devastated in the way he has been taken from us. We all feel lost and are experiencing a great void without Xavier," Thomas's father said during the inquest. "I hope this inquest will provide answers to the obvious and understandable questions that the families of those that died have", Judge Mark Lucraft said on Tuesday. The inquest is said to establish the failure of security checks during the hire of rental vehicles, given that lorries and cars had been previously used in several terror attacks in Europe.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201905071074781721-inquest-london-bridge-attack/
|
2019-05-07 11:07:00+00:00
| 1,557,241,620 | 1,567,540,994 |
conflict, war and peace
|
act of terror
|
5,232 |
activistpost--2019-08-08--Wars and Domestic Massacres
| 2019-08-08T00:00:00 |
activistpost
|
Wars and Domestic Massacres
|
This past weekend, 22 people were killed in El Paso, Texas and 9 in Dayton, Ohio. There have been a number of other mass shootings in the past two decades or so; the largest was in Las Vegas in 2017, with 58 killed. This is sad, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the real perpetrators of death in America—-the US military. It is been well-said that “it’s time for America to reckon with the staggering death toll of the post 9-11 wars.” “Brown University’s Costs of War Project this month released a new estimate of the total death toll from the U.S. wars in three countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The numbers, while conservatively estimated, are staggering. Brown’s researchers estimate that at least 480,000 people have been directly killed by violence over the course of these conflicts, more than 244,000 of them civilians. In addition to those killed by direct acts violence, the number of indirect deaths — those resulting from disease, displacement, and the loss of critical infrastructure — is believed to be several times higher, running into the millions. The report, which uses data spanning from October 2001 to October 2018, compiles previous analysis from nongovernmental organizations, U.S. and foreign government data, and media reports. In a statement, the report authors said the figures still just ‘scratches the surface of the human consequences of 17 years of war.’ Due to challenges human consequences of 17 years of war.” Due to challenges in data collection, their total estimate is an undercount, they added.” If we want to end mass killing, this is what we should be trying to stop. Instead, the military is glorified. Deaths in war are downplayed, but when a mass shooting happens in an American city, the media saturates us with propaganda calling for gun control. This is ironic not only because of the enormous disparity between the numbers killed by the military and those killed in mass shootings. It is also ironic because many of the mass shooters are people the military has trained to become mass killers. In the aftermath of yet another mass shooting in the United States, the internet and broadcast news alike are inundated with commentary about why this keeps happening in America. But one commonality among numerous mass killings in the United States remains absent from these conversations. It is always reported when details of the shooter are published, but the widespread connection is rarely acknowledged: A mounting number of mass shooters have ties to the military. The United States has indulged in a culture of ‘patriotic’ militarism for decades, glorifying this institutionalized violence as a sign of strength and morality. Indeed, this glorification of violence bleeds over into the United States’ unique problem of individuals committing acts of mass violence. Here is a brief sampling of perpetrators of some of the most high-profile mass shootings in recent years. Many were either members of the military at some point, were rejected by the military (but clearly wanted to join), or came from a military family: Other shooters, like Paul Ciancia, Adam Lanza, and James Holmes showed up to their shootings donning battle gear, and while this does not implicate a direct tie to the military, their decision to show up to a massacre of innocent people in tactical outfits (most commonly associated with the military and police) arguably demonstrates their mentality: one of battle, which is constantly glorified in American culture. Ii is hardly surprising that Connor Betts, the shooter in Dayton, Ohio, showed up in body armor. Instead of ending foreign wars, the greatest single contribution we could make to ending killing and violence, the power elite plays up mass shootings as part of its dual campaign to take away our guns and impose cultural Marxist mind control on us, in the guise of opposing “racism”. As part of this agenda, the FBI and CIA spy on us and plan to ship dissenters to concentration camps.
|
Activist Post
|
https://www.activistpost.com/2019/08/wars-and-domestic-massacres.html
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2019-08-08 13:22:47+00:00
| 1,565,284,967 | 1,567,534,559 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
6,413 |
activistpost--2019-12-29--The Wounded Knee Massacre: The Forgotten History of the Native American Gun Confiscation
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
activistpost
|
The Wounded Knee Massacre: The Forgotten History of the Native American Gun Confiscation
|
The Battle at Wounded Knee is a significant battle in American history, as it put an end to the Indian Wars and is marked as the last official defeat of the Native Americans. But what’s not taught in history lessons is that Wounded Knee was one of the first federally backed gun confiscations in the history of the United States, and it ended in the massacre of nearly 300 unarmed people. During the late 19th century, American Indians were allowed to purchase and carry firearms, just as white men were. The colonial gun laws did not bar Native Americans from possessing firearms, yet that natural right was violated by government forces at Wounded Knee. And once the guns were confiscated, the battle ensued. When we look at the issues surrounding gun confiscation, Wounded Knee gives us an example of the devastation that an unarmed people can experience at the hands of their own government. This battle serves as a reminder to fight against gun confiscation and the gun control legislation that can lead to it. At the beginning of the 19th century, it’s estimated that 600,000 American Indians lived on the land that is now the United States. By the end of the century, the people diminished to less than 150,000. Throughout the 1800s, these nomadic tribes were pushed from the open plains and forests into “Indian Territories,” places determined by the U.S. government. It started during the Creek Indian War (1813-1815), when American soldiers, led by Andrew Jackson, won nearly 20 million acres of land from the defeated Creek Indians. Unlike George Washington, who believed in “civilizing” the Native Americans, Jackson favored an “Indian Removal,” and when president in 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which was the first of many U.S. legislations that did not grant the Native Americans the same rights as colonial European-Americans. Davy Crockett was the only delegate from Tennessee to vote against the act. The Plains Indians, who lived in the plains between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, weren’t as impacted by the U.S. government until later in the century, as U.S. expansion pushed into the “Wild West.” As people moved passed the Mississippi and into the Frontier, conflicts again arose between the Indians and Americans. In an attempt at peace in 1851, the first Fort Laramie Treaty was signed, which granted the Plain Indians about 150 million acres of land for their own use as the Great Sioux Reservation. Then, 13 years later, the size was greatly reduced to about 60 million acres in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which recreated the Great Sioux Reservation boundaries and proclaimed all of South Dakota west of the Missouri river, including the Black Hills, solely for the Sioux Nation. As part of the treaty, no unauthorized non-Indian was to come into the reservation and the Sioux were allowed to hunt in unceded Indian territory beyond the reservation that stretched into North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. If any non-Indian wanted to settle on this unceded land, they could only do it with the permission of the Sioux. That was until 1874, when gold was discovered in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The treaties that were signed between the Native Americans and the U.S. government were ignored as gold rushers invaded Indian Territory and issues arose, such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn. As time went on, the American Indians continued to be pushed into smaller territories and their lives began to diminish. In 1889, the U.S. government issued the Dawes Act, which took the Black Hills from the Indians, broke up the Great Sioux Reservation into five separate reservations, and took nine million acres and opened it up for public purchase by non-Indians for homesteading and settlements. The Native Americans were squeezed into these smaller territories and didn’t have enough game to support them. The bison that had been a staple to their way of life were gone. Their ancestral lands that sustained them were no longer theirs. The resistance was over. They were no longer free people, living amongst themselves, but “Redskins” confined by the “white man” in reservations they had been forced to, many against their will. With all of the Sioux Nation inhabiting less than nine million acres, divided up throughout South Dakota, the Indians were encouraged by the U.S. government to develop small farms. But they were faced with poor, arid soil and a bad growing season, which led to a severely limited food supply in the year following the Dawes Act. A miscalculation in the census complicated matters even more when the population on the reservation was undercounted, leading to less supplies sent from the U.S. government. The situation was beyond bleak and the Sioux people were starving. That winter, an influenza epidemic broke out and caused a disproportionate number of Sioux children to die. And then in the summer of 1890, a drought hit, destroying yet another season of crops and the people of Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation were in dire condition. Perhaps it was these desolate circumstances that led to the spread of what is known as the Ghost Dance. Based on a vision experienced by a Sioux religious leader, the Ghost Dance was a spiritual ritual that was supposed to call the coming messiah, who would be an American Indian. This messiah would force the white man off of Indian lands, return the bison to the plains, and resurrect both their deceased and the life the Native Americans had once enjoyed. Although this was not a war dance, it was feared by those who believed the Indians were savages. One such man was Daniel Royer, who arrived as the new agent on the Pine Ridge Reservation in October of 1890. He believed it to be a war dance and requested troops from President Benjamin Harrison on November 15th of that same year. His telegram read: “Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. We need protection and we need it now.” Harrison granted the request and part of the 7th Cavalry arrived on November 20th, with orders to arrest several Sioux leaders. Commander James Forsyth led the troops. On December 15th, the 7th Cavalry attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, the Sioux chief who annihilated Commander George Custer in the Battle of the Little Bighorn (he also toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and was a dear friend to Annie Oakley), because he didn’t attempt to stop the Ghost Dance amongst his people. During the incident, Sitting Bull was shot and killed. The Lakota at Pine Ridge began to get nervous and the tribe’s leader, Big Foot, practiced the Ghost Dance and had caught the attention of the federal agents. After hearing of Sitting Bull’s death, he and his tribe fled to the Badlands. They were pursued by the 7th Cavalry for five days. But Big Foot had come down with pneumonia and they were peacefully intercepted at Wounded Knee Creek on December 28th. The next morning, Col. Forsyth demanded that the tribe surrender their firearms. Rifles were being turned over without issue until some of the Sioux men started a Ghost Dance and began throwing dirt into the air, as was customary to the dance. A few moments later, a Sioux man named Black Coyote refused to give up his rifle. It’s been reported that the Indian was deaf, had recently purchased the rifle, and was most likely unaware of why the soldier was demanding it. Regardless, the two began to skuffle and the gun discharged. The 7th Cavalry, who was the reconstructed regiment of Custer, opened fire on the Lakota. Along with their own weapons, they used four Hotchkiss guns, a revolving barrel machine gun that could fire 68 rounds per minute, devastating the entire tribe, which had just peacefully handed over their weapons. The Sioux men, women, and children scattered, and the Cavalry pursued them. Dead bodies were later found three miles from camp. Once the firing ended, some two hours later, an estimated 300 Native Americans lay dead in the snow, at least half of them women and children. Those that didn’t die immediately froze to death during the oncoming blizzard. Nearly a week later, on January 3, 1891, the Cavalry escorted a burial party to the banks of the Wounded Knee River and they buried 146 Lakota Indians in a single mass grave. Other bodies were found in the surrounding areas, and the estimated body count is between 250 and 300 Sioux. The Massacre at Wounded Knee brought an end to the Indian Wars. There was no more resistance. The Ghost Dancing stopped. The Native Americans had been beaten. But the Cavalry’s attack was recognized as butchery, with Forsyth’s commanding officer, General Nelson Miles, calling it a “criminal military blunder and a horrible massacre of women and children.” However, President Harrison had an election around the corner and wasn’t in a position to look bad. Miles’ report was dismissed. Instead, the Cavalry men were made out as heroes against the Indian “savages.” And in the Spring of 1891, the president awarded the first of 20 Medals of Honor to the soldiers who disarmed then slaughtered the Sioux at Wounded Knee. It’s been speculated that the 7th Cavalry, which again was regrouped after it was destroyed by Sitting Bull at Little Bighorn, was looking for a fight and deliberately sought revenge on the Native Americans. Black Elk, one of the few Lakota survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre, recalled in 1931: “I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people’s dream died there.” This article was sourced from Ammo.com Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit. Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.
|
Activist Post
|
https://www.activistpost.com/2019/12/the-wounded-knee-massacre-the-forgotten-history-of-the-native-american-gun-confiscation.html
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 16:27:22 +0000
| 1,577,654,842 | 1,577,750,776 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
|
111,195 |
cnsnews--2019-03-20--Turkeys Erdogan Uses New Zealand Mosque Massacre As Campaign Prop
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
cnsnews
|
Turkey’s Erdogan Uses New Zealand Mosque Massacre As Campaign Prop
|
(CNSNews.com) – Turkey’s Islamist president is using last week’s mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand as an election campaign prop, airing excerpts of the graphic video filmed by the shooter and making dark references to Australian and New Zealanders’ role in a military campaign in Turkey a century ago. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s provocative tactics have drawn sharp from criticism from the two governments. Campaigning ahead of local government elections on March 31, Erdogan this week invoked both national and religious sentiment, telling cheering supporters that anyone traveling to Turkey with ill intent would meet the fate handed out to their “grandfathers.” “You came to Gallipoli from 16,500 kilometers away” the Hurriyet daily quoted him as telling one rally, on Tuesday. “What were you doing here? You showed up from Australia. After all these years, they still have hatred against us. The only reason is we’re Muslims, they are Christians.” At another rally a day earlier, at Canakkale near Gallipoli, Erdogan was quoted as saying that “the enemies of Muslims have shown that they continue to hate us.” “They are testing us by sending a message from New Zealand, from 16,500 kilometers away,” he said in reference to last Friday’s attacks at two mosques in Christchurch. The accused gunman, 28-year-old Australian, Brenton Tarrant, has been charged in connection with the attack, which cost the lives of 50 people. “Your grandfathers came here and saw that we were here, and then some returned … in coffins,” Erdogan continued, clearly referencing the Gallipoli campaign. “If you come here with the same intentions, then we are waiting for you. Have no doubt, we will send you back like we did your grandfathers.” More than 8,000 Australians and 2,700 New Zealanders died when Allied forces launched an assault on the Turkish peninsula in April 2015, in a drive aimed at disabling a key German ally and shortening the war. Erdogan’s comments come just weeks before large numbers of Australians and New Zealanders are expected to visit Gallipoli for annual “Anzac Day” commemorations. The Australian government is reviewing travel advice for Turkey, and New Zealand has issued a general caution to citizens abroad, saying that international reactions to the attack “are difficult to predict and may change at short notice.” Responding to Erdogan’s remarks, New Zealand’s foreign minister, Winston Peters, said it was “totally unfair” to blame New Zealand for the actions of a non-New Zealand citizen, and expressed concern about the potential risks to New Zealanders traveling abroad. He also condemned the screening, at rallies on Monday and Tuesday, of excerpts of the video filmed by the shooter during the attack and livestreamed on social media. Excerpts of a manifesto posted online by Tarrant were also featured at Erdogan rallies. Peters, who met with a visiting Turkish delegation earlier, is due to travel to Turkey in the coming days – in his words, “to put the record straight.” While there he is expected to attend a special meeting in Istanbul on Friday of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), called at the request of Turkey, Iran and several others, to respond to the Christchurch attack. In Canberra, meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called in the Turkish ambassador on Wednesday morning to protest Erdogan’s comments, which he told Australian television before the meeting were “very offensive,” unhelpful and inaccurate. “I find the responsibility in these situations – of all leaders – is to take the temperature down,” he said, adding that in his own response he was not seeking to escalate the situation. After meeting with Ambassador Korhan Karakoc, however, Morrison seemed dissatisfied, telling reporters that he did “not accept the excuses that have been offered for those comments.” Erdogan has made much of the fact Tarrant visited Turkey in recent years. (He claimed in his manifesto to have traveled to many countries.) The lengthy manifesto also included remarks threatening Erdogan (as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and London Mayor Sadiq Khan) and saying that Turks should stay on the Asian side of their country, which straddles Europe and Asia. The manifesto speaks of “liberating” the Hagia Sophia, the famous historical building in Istanbul which served variously as an Orthodox and Catholic cathedral until the 15th century, when the Ottomans began using it as a mosque. It was declared a museum in the 1930s. Hurriyet reports that Erdogan also told supporters that if New Zealand doesn’t make Tarrant “pay” for his crimes, “one way or another we will make you pay.” “You have nefariously, perfidiously and vulgarly killed 50 of our praying brothers,” he said. “You will pay for this. If New Zealand fails to do so, one way or another, we will make you pay for it.” Erdogan’s comments also drew flak from Armenian communities in Australia and New Zealand. “What Erdogan is doing is responding to a hate crime by spreading more hate,” said Haig Kayserian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia. Hoory Yeldizian, who chairs the equivalent body in New Zealand, contrasted Erdogan’s remarks with what he called the “exemplary empathy and strong leadership” taken by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern since the massacre. Some 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 and the following years in Turkey during World War I. Armenians around the world mark April 24, 1915 – one day before Allied troops landed at Gallipoli – as the date the atrocities began. Erdogan has a record of inflammatory nationalist and religious rhetoric during political campaigns. Ahead of a 2017 referendum on constitutional changes giving him sweeping new powers, he accused some European governments of acting like Nazis, portrayed Europe as anti-Islam, and encouraged Turks living in Europe to have lots of children, describing them as continent’s “future.” In an op-ed in the Washington Post on Tuesday, Erdogan urged Western societies and governments to “reject the normalization of racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, which has been on the rise in recent years.”
|
Patrick Goodenough
|
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/turkeys-erdogan-uses-new-zealand-mosque-massacre-campaign-prop
|
2019-03-20 08:03:15+00:00
| 1,553,083,395 | 1,567,545,471 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
|
228,037 |
globalresearch--2019-02-14--War Crimes The Ameriyah Shelter in West Baghdad The 1991 St Valentines Day Massacre
| 2019-02-14T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
|
War Crimes: The Ameriyah Shelter in West Baghdad: The 1991 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
|
This article was originally published on February 13, 2007, in commemoration of the Ameriya Shelter bombing in Baghdad, Iraq. It is sixteen years since the Ameriyah Shelter in west Baghdad was bombed, incinerating all but eight, inside. Figures for the souls lost, still vary from four hundred and five to over twelve hundred, the registration book was incinerated along with those who had sought refuge, women,children, students and on occasion, the very old. The men stayed out to make room for those whom they wished protection – and to rescue others from the ongoing carpet bombing. The Shelter was only used over night. The shelter had been built to withstand a possible nuclear attack, during the eight year, western driven, Iran-Iraq war. Walls three metres thick with the roof reinforced by the near indestructable steel ‘mesh’ used to support four or six lane road bridges. The only vulnerable point was the ventilation shaft. Iraq had chosen a Finnish company to build shelters throughout Baghdad, selecting the company because of perceived Finnish neutrality and commercial integrity. The company, reportedly passed the plans to the US prior to the 1991 onslaught. I visited the Shelter just months after the bombing. We were a group from various countries and arrived in the early, sparkling sunlight. So unscathed was the building from the outside, that we had not realised where we were, talking and laughing under a sky still painted with dawn’s translucent trails and myriad shades of orange and ochre. Iraqi reads holds a 1000 cranes peace offering at the Al-Amiriyah bomb shelter in Baghdad where 408 people died after two bombs destroyed it in 1991. Three days after the bombing the U.S. government apologized for bombing the shelter which protected families. (Photo by Paul Kitagaki Jr./Seattle Post-Intelligencer For News story by Larry Johnson) Entering, there was a stunned silence. The smell of burning flesh still overwhelmed. I found myself tiptoeing through the blackened interior, under the melted piping, tiptoeing through the screams. There were sooted plastic flowers laid in dark corners, pathetic scraps of bloodied gauze. The only light was from the near perfect spherical entry point of the missiles, illuminating below, the great crater where they fell, the jagged remains of the centimetres thick steel mesh, hanging, a ‘surgical strike’ indeed, as a knife through butter – against women and children. The Shelter, as during the Iran-Iraq war and in 1991, had been a safe haven in abnormal times. With electricity bombed, the huge generators allowed the children brief childhood normality: watching television, playing video games, reading, playing, homework – and the bombs could not be heard. The rows of bunk beds were a treat, with a rush to get the top bunk, a joyous eyrie of escape and escapism. There were two vast floors, the top for sleeping, studying, socialising, sharing meals, the lower had showers, kitchens, a medical centre. When the bombs fell, the heat incinerated those on the top floor – and the vast water tank on the lower floor heated to bursting – boiling those showering, or chatting whilst cooking the evening meal, or those whose ailments were being treated and the medical staff. The breast high ‘scum’ on the walls, was the flesh of those who perished. On the upper floor is the seared ‘shadow’ of a mother, holding her baby. Hiroshima revisited. I could bear the screams no longer and fled out and in to the sunlight. Noticing a small, blackened, brass plaque on the wall, I asked a Jordanian friend what it read. He struggled with the translation for a moment, the: ‘It is like when there is a crisis and civilian people try to help ..’ ‘Civil Defence?’ I asked : ‘Yes, yes, it says Civil Defence Shelter No:24.’ America had, of course, claimed it was a Command Centre for Saddam Hussein’s government. A lie, as ever, of enormity. Further, the U.S. had satellites watching everything (which continued through the embargo years, as now, clearly visible, blinking away like vast stars, floating, rotating.) A consistent comment over numerous interviews in the area and Baghdad, about the Shelter horror, that first visit and over subsequent years, was that for three days before, a satellite had been rotating over the district.Thus it would have recorded women and children entering it at dusk and leaving at dawn. That night there would have been a particular procession and it was the eve of the festival of Eid and with no means of cooking at home for the fast breaking, women took their food to prepare in the kitchens and their festive gifts, to wrap under the lights. When the fire engines arrived, the rescuers could hear the screams, until they began to fade away – but the great metre thick steel door, with airline type handles to seal it from the inside for safety, was glowing like a furnace, then as it melted, re-sealed itself. Dante, revisited. To have poured water from gaping missile hole in the roof, would have subjected those inside to boiling steam. The fire chief, the toughest of men, who had seen the unimaginable and directed rescues over many years, faltered as he said, of the remains they finally brought out: ‘We thought we were bringing out only children and wondered why they were there alone – then we realised the (adult) bodies had (contracted) to child size with the intensity of the heat.’ Anwar, then eighteen and a student ran to help, with a friend with whom he was staying, nearby. When talking of that night, he too faltered and stilled, then gestured with his hands, saying: ‘The peoples, the bodies, they had gone so small – like this ..’ There is a haunting tale told by Umm Rheda (mother of Rheda) who left the shelter temporarily to take some preparations home. Whilst she was away, the bombs fell her children were incinerated, with Rheda, her eldest daughter. When all the emergency services experts, the army which was drafted in, had failed to open the door, she begged and screamed to try. It opened: ‘Rheda opened it for me’, she says. The fire chief confirmed that Umm Rheda opened the door. The Shelter, over time, became a shrine, the bereaved, visitors brought momentos, pictures of the dead, the babies, the mischevious, the young mothers, the earnest students, stared from the walls. The floor was cleaned and polished, but the skin, the shadows, the seared walls and the screams remained. Until 2003, this was a unique U.S. wickedness. Another was an early act of their invading troops : to storm it (with their boots on of course) and search this sacred, sobbing site, for weapons. And now courtesy again, of the U.S.A., all Iraq is Al Ameriyah. Three days before the Shelter bombing, Dick Cheney, now Vice President and General Colin Powell (designated a ‘dove’ by the George W. Bush Administration) visited the US Air base at Khamis Mushat, Saudia Arabia (slogan: ‘bombs are us’ and ‘we live so others may die.’) After a pep talk to troops, they both signed two thousand pound bombs: ‘To Saddam with fond regards’, wrote Cheney (‘A General’s War’, General Bernard Traynor and Michael Gordon, Little Brown, p.324.) When the Shelter was bombed, frantic calls followed incase the bombs might have been involved in this massacre. Cheney’s bomb apparently fell on northern Iraq, dropped by a Major Wes Wyrich. What souls Powell’s decimated, is seemingly unknown. The Ameriyah Shelter was bombed on the night of 13th/14th February: the celebration of Eid, St. Valentine’s Day and the anniversary of the fire bombing of Dresden. When I put this to a U.S. General and remarked on the ‘coincidence’, he looked me in the eye and said: ‘Kinda neat, eh?’ Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.
|
Felicity Arbuthnot
|
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-ameriya-shelter-in-west-baghdad-the-1991-st-valentines-day-massacre/5668633
|
2019-02-14 16:03:52+00:00
| 1,550,178,232 | 1,567,548,503 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
|
682,682 |
theguardian--2019-11-28--Warren introduces bill to strip Medals of Honor for Wounded Knee massacre
| 2019-11-28T00:00:00 |
theguardian
|
Warren introduces bill to strip Medals of Honor for Wounded Knee massacre
|
The Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley have announced legislation that would strip Medals of Honor from US soldiers who carried out the Wounded Knee massacre, killing hundreds of mostly unarmed Native Americans. A House bill on the subject was introduced in June by representatives including Deb Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat who is one of the first female Native American US lawmakers. “The horrifying acts of violence against hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee should be condemned, not celebrated with Medals of Honor,” said Warren, from Massachusetts, who is campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. “The Remove the Stain Act acknowledges a profoundly shameful event in US history, and that’s why I’m joining my House colleagues in this effort to advance justice and take a step toward righting wrongs against Native peoples.” In a statement, Haaland said the act was “about more than just rescinding Medals of Honor from soldiers who served in the US 7th Cavalry and massacred unarmed Lakota women and children [in 1890] – it’s also about making people aware of this country’s history of genocide of American Indians.” Donald Trump has referenced Wounded Knee in mocking Warren’s claim to Native American heritage. The senators’ announcement came on Wednesday, a day before Thanksgiving, the federal holiday commemorating a 1621 harvest meal shared by Native Americans and Pilgrims. Thanksgiving has increasingly drawn criticism for glossing over the disastrous impact of white settlement on Native Americans. Since 1970, the United American Indians of New England organisation has held a National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving day, to remember “the genocide of millions of native people, the theft of native lands and the relentless assault on native culture”, according to the Associated Press. The National Day of Mourning takes place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, an early place of European settlement. Wounded Knee, described by the Washington Post as “one of most shameful and bloody acts of violence against indigenous people in American history”, occurred on 29 December 1890. Chief Big Foot, who led the Minneconjou Lakota, was guiding his people to refuge in South Dakota when US soldiers stopped them. The group surrendered and was taken to Wounded Knee Creek, “surrounded by 470 soldiers and their formidable artillery”, the Post wrote. While exact details of the massacre have proved difficult to determine, it is believed there was a dispute while soldiers were trying to disarm the chief’s men. It is also thought a gunshot prompted American forces to attack. Between 150 and 400 Native Americans were killed. Historians agree most of the victims were women and children. Twenty members of the 7th cavalry involved in Wounded Knee received the Medal of Honor, which is described by the Army as “the nation’s highest medal for valor in combat that can be awarded to members of the armed forces”. A large number of the medals were awarded for “gallantry” and “bravery” even though there are few details of purported acts of heroism, the Post noted. Maj Gen Nelson A Miles, an army commander, wrote of the incident: “I have never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee.” According to a letter cited by the Post, Miles described the victims as “women with little children on their backs, and small children powder-burned by the men who killed them being so near as to burn the flesh and clothing with the powder of their guns, and nursing babies with five bullet holes through them”. While the Medal of Honor was granted more loosely in the 19th century, scholars have noted that the number of Wounded Knee recipients is high. Antietam, an 1862 civil war battle considered the “bloodiest day in US history”, also led to 20 awards. Native Americans have long pushed for the revocation of medals awarded to Wounded Knee soldiers. Since 1997, the National Congress of American Indians has greenlighted resolutions requesting the removal of medals. Congress formally apologized in 1990, stating “deep regret on behalf of the United States to the descendants of the victims and survivors and their respective tribal communities”. But, the Associated Press reported, lawmakers did not offer any type of reparations.
|
Victoria Bekiempis
|
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/28/warren-bill-revoke-medals-of-honor-wounded-knee-massacre
|
Thu, 28 Nov 2019 17:48:05 GMT
| 1,574,981,285 | 1,575,137,542 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
728,421 |
thehuffingtonpost--2019-08-22--Elizabeth Warren To Introduce Bill Revoking Medals Of Honor For Wounded Knee Massacre
| 2019-08-22T00:00:00 |
thehuffingtonpost
|
Elizabeth Warren To Introduce Bill Revoking Medals Of Honor For Wounded Knee Massacre
|
WASHINGTON ― Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) plans to introduce legislation this fall to rescind 20 Medals of Honor awarded to U.S. soldiers who slaughtered hundreds of Lakota Indians ― mostly women and children ― in the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. The bill, the Remove the Stain Act, was introduced in the House in June by Democratic Reps. Denny Heck (Wash.), Paul Cook (Calif.) and Deb Haaland (N.M.), one of two Native American women in Congress. Warren told Indianz.com on Tuesday that she’ll introduce a Senate version in the coming months. “At the Wounded Knee massacre, hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children were slaughtered by soldiers who received Medals of Honor. These acts of violence were not heroic; they were tragic and profoundly shameful,” Warren said in a statement provided to HuffPost. “This bill respects and honors those who lost their lives, advances justice, and takes a step toward righting wrongs against Native peoples.” Warren was one of several Democratic presidential candidates who participated in this week’s Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City, Iowa. The topic of the Remove the Stain Act came up frequently at the two-day event, due largely to one woman in the audience, 99-year-old World War II veteran Marcella LeBeau of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, asking candidates if they would sign it into law as president. “Back home on the Cheyenne River Reservation, I believe that there is a pervasive sadness that exists because of unresolved grief,” LeBeau said each time she raised the issue. “Back in 1890, at the massacre at Wounded Knee, there were innocent women and children who were killed there by the 7th Calvary. Even Bigfoot, who was the leader, he laid there with pneumonia, unarmed, under the white flag of truce. He was killed.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will introduce a bill in the coming months to strip the Medal of Honor from 20 U.S. soldiers who slaughtered hundreds of Native American women and children in the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Every Democratic candidate at the event said they would sign the bill into law, though former Maryland Rep. John Delaney hedged. He said he first wanted to research each medal awarded at “the battle” to decide whether to rescind some or all of them. (Wounded Knee was not a battle ― it was a massacre, which several attendees were quick to point out after Delaney used the word.) The Remove the Stain Act isn’t quite moving yet in the House. Heck is currently focused on getting cosponsors and endorsements from veterans and Native American groups, per Heck spokesman Bobby Mattina. “The level of support we’re able to build will likely help determine the best course of action to get the bill passed,” Mattina said.
| null |
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-wounded-knee-massacre-native-american-legislation_n_5d5db8a9e4b0b59d256ec8b0
|
2019-08-22 15:59:22+00:00
| 1,566,503,962 | 1,567,533,741 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
815,652 |
thenewyorktimes--2019-09-05--Three Ex-Blackwater Guards Are Resentenced in Iraq War Massacre
| 2019-09-05T00:00:00 |
thenewyorktimes
|
Three Ex-Blackwater Guards Are Resentenced in Iraq War Massacre
|
WASHINGTON — Three former Blackwater security contractors were sentenced on Thursday to roughly half of their original 30-year prison terms for the deadly 2007 shooting of unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, widely seen as one of the darkest moments of the Iraq war. The three former contractors — Dustin L. Heard, Evan S. Liberty and Paul A. Slough — had been convicted in 2014 of multiple counts of manslaughter for their roles in the massacre. But in 2017, a federal appeals court vacated their sentences, saying the trial judge, Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, erred in invoking a law that requires 30-year sentences for such offenses that involve machine guns. That law did not apply to the use of government-issued machine guns in a war zone, the court ruled. Prosecutors on Thursday nevertheless asked Judge Lamberth to resentence Mr. Slough to 30 years, and the other two men to slightly less. Defense lawyers asked him to instead sentence their clients to the roughly five years they had already served. The three defendants, dressed in orange prison garb, asked to be sent home to their families. But after a hearing that lasted most of the day and played out before a courtroom packed with dozens of family members, friends and other supporters of the men, the judge rejected those ideas. He instead sentenced Mr. Heard to 12 years and seven months; Mr. Liberty to 14 years; and Mr. Slough to 15 years.
|
Charlie Savage
|
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/us/politics/blackwater-guards-sentencing-iraq.html?emc=rss&partner=rss
|
2019-09-05 23:01:09+00:00
| 1,567,738,869 | 1,569,331,261 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
|
946,397 |
thesun--2019-03-20--Former Bosnian Serb warlord Radovan Karadzic jailed for life for Srebrenica massacre that killed 80
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
thesun
|
Former Bosnian Serb warlord Radovan Karadzic jailed for life for Srebrenica massacre that killed 8,000 Muslims
|
BOSNIAN Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic has been sentenced to life in prison for the worst genocide in Europe since World War Two. UN appeals judges upheld Karadzic's conviction for genocide over the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 during the Bosnian War. The ruling will likely bring to a close one of the highest profile trials stemming from the series of wars in the 1990s that saw the bloody collapse of the former Yugoslavia and death of at least 100,000 Bosnians. Karadzic, 73, was convicted in 2016 for the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces. He was also found guilty of leading a campaign of ethnic cleansing that drove Croats and Muslims out of Serb-claimed areas of Bosnia. On appeal, prosecutors are seeking a life sentence and a second genocide conviction for his alleged role in that policy of targeting non-Serbs across several Bosnian towns in the early years of the war. Karadzic meanwhile is appealing against his conviction and wants a retrial. The ruling, which is final and cannot be challenged on appeal, will have huge resonance in the former Yugoslavia, especially in Bosnia, where ethnic communities remain divided and Karadzic is still seen as a hero by many Bosnian Serbs. The judgment will be read out at 2pm local time (1pm GMT) in The Hague at a UN court handling cases left over when the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia closed its doors in 2017. A delegation of the association of Mothers of Srebrenica will be in the Netherlands for the judgment. In hiding for nearly a decade, Karadzic was arrested and handed over to the court in July 2008. Families of victims who travelled to the Hague welcomed the verdict. Mothers of victims, some elderly and walking with canes, wept with apparent relief after watching the ruling read on a screen in Srebrenica. Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic was also awaiting an appeal judgment of his genocide and war crimes conviction, which earned him a life sentence. Both men were convicted of genocide for their roles in the slaughter by Serb forces of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnia's eastern Srebrenica region in July 1995.
|
Patrick Knox
|
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8681090/radovan-karadzic-life-sentence-srebrenica-massacre-killed-muslims/
|
2019-03-20 14:41:32+00:00
| 1,553,107,292 | 1,567,545,515 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
199,472 |
fortruss--2019-08-28--27th Anniversary Since the Massacre of Serbian Civilians in Kukavica near Rogatica VIDEO
| 2019-08-28T00:00:00 |
fortruss
|
27th Anniversary Since the Massacre of Serbian Civilians in Kukavica near Rogatica (VIDEO)
|
27th Anniversary Since the Massacre of Serbian Civilians in Kukavica near Rogatica (VIDEO) By Grey Carter – In Kukavice village near Rogatica, yesterday was marked 27 years since the crimes committed against Serbian civilians by Bosnian Muslims, members of so-called Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 27, 1992. In the attack on a column of Serbian civilians, involving about 1,000 elderly people, women and children on tractors and passenger vehicles, Bosnian Muslim extremists killed 26 and injured 80 Serbs. The Rogatica Mayor Milorad Jagodic called this a monstrous crime as among the victims are a child of 11 and 82 years old man. “That was a column of innocent people who were looking for refuge and salvation,” Jagodić emphasized, recalling that in the verdict, the four indictees charged with this crime stated that they didn’t know that there were civilians in the column but soldiers. Jagodić hopes that the High court would be reasonable and recognize that the perpetrators are devoted to denying everything that has happened so that those who committed the crime will be adequately punished. Such a crime could not be organized by four people, so it’s necessary to find and punish those who gave the order and knew that the column would pass. Veljko Lasica, one of the victims of crimes against Serb civilians in the Kukavica village who survived, points out that it was a difficult time when people had to leave their homes and whole past lives, as the column started from the village of Jabuka to Rogatica. In these hard moments, the Muslim extremists found an opportunity to attack the sad column in the canyon near Mesić and all their bestiality and rage exposed at the entrance to Kukavica. “I was in the car when they started to shoot. There was no way back. I was aware that the only way to survive was to go on. There were blasts and flash everywhere. I saw and I see the criminals (so-called Bosnian Muslim army members) attacking the column; an unprotected group of people… nobody was armed since there were only elderly men, women and children. As we reached the canyon I heard the sound of breaking glass; somebody screams, some head falls down, smashed; somebody’s wounded. But we go further. My daughter screams. I was wounded in my leg. There was even more hell to survive – the vehicles in flames and people captured inside turned into living flames, under heavy Muslim shelling; the road was covered with massacred corpses.” He stressed that the perpetrators have not yet been punished. Bus driver Ranko Ikonić recalls the driving a civilian bus called “Dubrava” with 60 seats and 120 people and women holding their children in the lap… killed. And the criminals who were acquitted because the Trial Chamber adopted their version according to which they didn’t know that there were civilians and that they knew it was a military column. “I had to go through the ambush, 14 of my family members were killed and 60 wounded. ,, How can there be a military column with an ancient Zastava750 and Yugo 45 vehicles!? Without a single tank or howitzer? They were well aware that the column was entirely civilian; they were shooting from 10 meters distance but did not manage to recognize anyone, “says Ikonic. According to the reports of War crimes by Ministry of Interior of RS in 2006 and amended in 2012, the suspect for this crime are Aziz Susa, Muhamed Sisic, Izet Hadzic, Tarik Sisic, Aganović Aziz, Emir Drakovac, Zahid Alic, Salko Alic. However, despite all the evidence, the Court of Bosnia i Hercegovina acquitted on March 7 former members of the so-called BiH Army Muhamed Šišić, Aziz Šuša and Tarik Šišić, charged with crimes against Serb civilians in Rogatica and Foča. There was a short video the criminals recorded from the crime scene and the sequences allegedly were used in the film by Bosnian Muslim Danis Tanovic’s “No Man’s Land” movie. In order to kill the victims again, some of the so-called humanitarians are struggling to make different footage of killed Serbs and use these images in their dirty propaganda as Muslim victims. “So the Sarajevo director Danis Tanovic in his movie No Man’s Land depicted these recordings of crimes in the village of Kukavica, and that’s when something unimaginable, gruesome happens – Tanovic presents these Serb civilians massacred by Muslims, as Muslim civilians massacred by Serbs! The Muslim crime he portrays as Serbian crime AGAINST the Muslims. And, furthermore, he received a prestigious prize – the Oscar! So it’s just another filthy game played by Muslim Sarajevo; on the other side, that was extremely painful as Serbs recognized their beloved ones, their cars and their tractors in the film. ” No one ever investigates nor spoke to the Serb survivors, neither wanted to hear the other side and what really happened on that 28. August 1992. And the Oscar was there to ‘cement’ one of the filthiest perversions ever. Someday, mankind will be ashamed and these day’s Oscars, Nobel’s will be considered as marks of immorality and shame.
|
Guest Author
|
https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/08/27th-anniversary-since-the-massacre-of-serbian-civilians-in-kukavica-near-rogatica-video/
|
2019-08-28 18:42:02+00:00
| 1,567,032,122 | 1,567,543,635 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
139,839 |
democracynow--2019-11-18--Massacre in Cochabamba: Anti-Indigenous Violence Escalates as Mass Protests Denounce Coup in Bolivia
| 2019-11-18T00:00:00 |
democracynow
|
Massacre in Cochabamba: Anti-Indigenous Violence Escalates as Mass Protests Denounce Coup in Bolivia
|
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, as we turn to the coup in Bolivia, where at least 23 people have died amidst escalating violence since President Evo Morales resigned at the demand of the military last week. Growing unrest quickly turned to violent chaos on Friday outside Cochabamba when military forces opened fire on indigenous pro-Morales protesters, killing at least nine people, injuring more than a hundred. The violence began soon after thousands of protesters — many indigenous coca leaf growers — gathered for a peaceful march in the town of Sacaba and then attempted to cross a military checkpoint into Cochabamba. This is a demonstrator in Sacaba. AMY GOODMAN: The massacre came one day after self-proclaimed President Jeanine Áñez issued a decree protecting the military from prosecution for violent acts. Amid this escalating violence and reports of widespread anti-indigenous racism, protesters are demanding the resignation of Áñez, a right-wing Bolivian legislator who named herself president at a legislative session without quorum last week. She then swore in a new Cabinet with no indigenous members. She has since added indigenous people to her Cabinet under pressure. Áñez has previously called indigenous communities “Satanic” and has declared her presidency will bring the Bible back to Bolivia. She said last week that exiled socialist President Evo Morales, who fled to Mexico after he was deposed by the military on Sunday, his home sacked, would not be allowed to compete in a new round of elections, and he would face prosecution if he returned to Bolivia. Morales is Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Bolivia has a majority-indigenous population. On Sunday, U.N. special envoy Jean Arnault called for talks between Jeanine Áñez and leaders of Morales’s political party MAS — that’s Movement Toward Socialism. A date hasn’t been set. For more, we go directly to Cochabamba, just where the massacre took place. We’re joined by Kathryn Ledebur via Democracy Now! video stream. She’s the director of the Andean Information Network, researcher, activist, analyst, with over two decades of experience in Bolivia. Kathryn, welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you describe what you understand took place on Friday? KATHRYN LEDEBUR: Well, we went, and we investigated the event. We were there Friday night. It’s very clear — we did over 30 interviews with the Harvard Human Rights Clinic — that protesters had been banned. Anyone from the Chapare tropical area had been blocked from entering Cochabamba, searched at gunpoint. And so they attempted to march peacefully. All witnesses state that they had taken their surgical masks off — people are wearing surgical masks because there’s a great deal of tear gas — that they were unarmed, that they were marching peacefully, that the military and police combined forces, fired tear gas and, as they were escaping, fired from bridges, fired directly at them, fired from a helicopter. We have photos of the helicopter with the snipers, people with gunshot wounds at the top of their head, in the forehead, people shot directly in the heart. This is a gross use of excessive use of force. It’s targeting indigenous people. It really is a clear sign of a military brutal dictatorship. AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to a clip from a rally in Cochabamba over the weekend. Here a man is denouncing the Bolivia media’s lack of coverage of military and police violence against the pro-Morales indigenous protesters. AMY GOODMAN: And this is a woman at the funeral of one of the nine confirmed victims, after the Bolivian military forces opened fire at the indigenous pro-Morales protesters in the town of Sacaba on Friday. AMY GOODMAN: So, Kathryn Ledebur, take us through this weekend. You have the horror of the massacre on Friday. How was the military armed? KATHRYN LEDEBUR: The military was armed — we didn’t see any injuries from rubber pellets, but we found at the site of the massacre, during our investigation Friday night, hundreds of tear gas canisters, U.S.-issued tear gas, two different kinds, and hundreds of spent military bullets. It’s interesting to note that the self-proclaimed Bolivian government claims that coca growers were armed and that they had firearms. That is patently false. I’ve worked with the coca growers for over 20 years. Some of them have Chaco War muskets that they use to hunt animals. There was only one kind of bullet. It was a military-issued bullet. I think the forensic medical reports will come out today and confirm that. AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the massacre coming one day after the self-proclaimed President Jeanine Áñez issued this decree protecting the military from prosecution for violent acts? And then tell us exactly who Áñez is. KATHRYN LEDEBUR: This decree — and this is very important to note — in periods, very undemocratic periods and periods of great violence in Bolivia, that this is a supreme decree that’s issued, that’s not public. It’s not published in the listing of decrees. And so it’s something that was passed without public knowledge. And then the movement for excessive use of force, and now their targeting MAS senators for sedition, is something that’s very shocking. It’s important to note that the Inter-American Human RightsCommission has called this licensed-to-kill, guaranteed-impunity decree a profound violation of human rights. It’s the kind of systematic step to smother democracy, to smother alternative voices. You have to understand that coca grower radio stations, that their Facebook pages, that other community radios have been burned, shut down, their frequency blocked. And so, what we’re seeing is a silencing, that’s systematic, of indigenous people and their rights in this process, and that all of the affected people in the massacre highlighted that focus against them as indigenous people. Jeanine Áñez is a senator. She was the second secretary — the second vice president of the Senate, and no constitutional right in the line of succession at all. This self-proclaimed senator from the lowland Beni region is focused on the extreme right, an extreme form of Christianity. Her tweets, that have been verified, although they’ve been erased, point to mocking indigenous people, mocking indigenous religions, very discriminatory things, as have her other ministers said. And this Cabinet and this focus is not behaving as a traditional — a transitional government should. We had a transitional government in 2005. They’re supposed to call elections, not change policy. I think it’s very dramatic that Áñez’s first act as self-proclaimed president was to name a new military high command. And now the military — the day after Morales resigned, the military has been out on the streets, and we have seen indigenous people killed and hundreds of indigenous people shot with live ammunition. AMY GOODMAN: So, can you talk more about the people who have filled the vacuum since Morales was forced out, now in Mexico? For example, can you talk about Luis Fernando Camacho, part of a group of people, fiercely anti-indigenous, a fundamentalist Christian, a pro-fascist — for example, Luis Fernando Camacho? KATHRYN LEDEBUR: I think it’s important to note that in the electoral process — and, you know, the opposition, although it was not united, the main candidate was Carlos Mesa, who was supposed to be a centrist opposition leader. Camacho was never a candidate. But Camacho, increasingly in the past few weeks, has begun to drive the discourse of the opposition. And you see these centrist leaders folding into this far-right extreme approach. It’s important to know that Camacho, a Santa Cruz leader, got his start as leader of the Santa Cruz Youth League. This is an organization that uses the Nazi salute in their meetings. This is something that’s terrifying. He then became president of the Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee. He was elected by less than 250 people. You see a charismatic Christian gloss on a message of hate, a laying of hands on opposition leaders, statements that God has granted Mesa the right to be president, and a virtual control of Santa Cruz, where citizens are forced to obtain from this committee, that has no legal right, to get the permission to go from one place to the next and permission to actually go to the airport. This is a terrifying situation. And [inaudible] this coup, pitched in, been submitted, and people’s fundamental rights and due process and human rights have been smothered in a period of a week is really quite terrifying and something the international community needs to attend to. AMY GOODMAN: I’d like to turn to the exiled Bolivian President Evo Morales speaking to The Washington Post Friday about one of the reasons he was forced to resign. AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s President Morales speaking from Mexico. And he also said, in an interview with Al Jazeera, that if he was allowed to go back, he would not seek to run in the next elections, but he wants to finish the last two months of his term. Kathryn, we just have 30 seconds. Your response and what you see happening going forward? There you are in Cochabamba, the site, the area of the massacre that just took place. KATHRYN LEDEBUR: You know, it’s not clear. At this rate, I would say, if there is not urgent dialogue and more democratic behavior on the part of the right, we’re going to see escalating violence, the tensions of opposition leaders, and the opposition acting on the violent threats they have made against MAS supporters, human rights defenders and journalists. AMY GOODMAN: Kathryn Ledebur, we thank you for being with us, director of the Andean Information Network, speaking to us from Cochabamba. She’s a researcher, an activist and analyst, has been in Bolivia for more than 20 years. When we come back, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has halted the execution of Rodney Reed. He was scheduled to die Wednesday. We’ll speak with Rodney’s family and his lawyer. Stay with us.
|
[email protected] (Democracy Now!)
|
http://www.democracynow.org/2019/11/18/bolivia_cochabamba_massacre_anti_indigenous_violence
|
Mon, 18 Nov 2019 08:33:40 -0500
| 1,574,084,020 | 1,574,107,189 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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228,031 |
globalresearch--2019-02-14--The Ameriya Shelter in West Baghdad The 1991 St Valentines Day Massacre
| 2019-02-14T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
|
The Ameriya Shelter in West Baghdad: The 1991 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
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This article was originally published on February 13, 2007, in commemoration of the Ameriya Shelter bombing in Baghdad, Iraq. It is sixteen years since the Ameriyah Shelter in west Baghdad was bombed, incinerating all but eight, inside. Figures for the souls lost, still vary from four hundred and five to over twelve hundred, the registration book was incinerated along with those who had sought refuge, women,children, students and on occasion, the very old. The men stayed out to make room for those whom they wished protection – and to rescue others from the ongoing carpet bombing. The Shelter was only used over night. The shelter had been built to withstand a possible nuclear attack, during the eight year, western driven, Iran-Iraq war. Walls three metres thick with the roof reinforced by the near indestructable steel ‘mesh’ used to support four or six lane road bridges. The only vulnerable point was the ventilation shaft. Iraq had chosen a Finnish company to build shelters throughout Baghdad, selecting the company because of perceived Finnish neutrality and commercial integrity. The company, reportedly passed the plans to the US prior to the 1991 onslaught. I visited the Shelter just months after the bombing. We were a group from various countries and arrived in the early, sparkling sunlight. So unscathed was the building from the outside, that we had not realised where we were, talking and laughing under a sky still painted with dawn’s translucent trails and myriad shades of orange and ochre. Iraqi reads holds a 1000 cranes peace offering at the Al-Amiriyah bomb shelter in Baghdad where 408 people died after two bombs destroyed it in 1991. Three days after the bombing the U.S. government apologized for bombing the shelter which protected families. (Photo by Paul Kitagaki Jr./Seattle Post-Intelligencer For News story by Larry Johnson) Entering, there was a stunned silence. The smell of burning flesh still overwhelmed. I found myself tiptoeing through the blackened interior, under the melted piping, tiptoeing through the screams. There were sooted plastic flowers laid in dark corners, pathetic scraps of bloodied gauze. The only light was from the near perfect spherical entry point of the missiles, illuminating below, the great crater where they fell, the jagged remains of the centimetres thick steel mesh, hanging, a ‘surgical strike’ indeed, as a knife through butter – against women and children. The Shelter, as during the Iran-Iraq war and in 1991, had been a safe haven in abnormal times. With electricity bombed, the huge generators allowed the children brief childhood normality: watching television, playing video games, reading, playing, homework – and the bombs could not be heard. The rows of bunk beds were a treat, with a rush to get the top bunk, a joyous eyrie of escape and escapism. There were two vast floors, the top for sleeping, studying, socialising, sharing meals, the lower had showers, kitchens, a medical centre. When the bombs fell, the heat incinerated those on the top floor – and the vast water tank on the lower floor heated to bursting – boiling those showering, or chatting whilst cooking the evening meal, or those whose ailments were being treated and the medical staff. The breast high ‘scum’ on the walls, was the flesh of those who perished. On the upper floor is the seared ‘shadow’ of a mother, holding her baby. Hiroshima revisited. I could bear the screams no longer and fled out and in to the sunlight. Noticing a small, blackened, brass plaque on the wall, I asked a Jordanian friend what it read. He struggled with the translation for a moment, the: ‘It is like when there is a crisis and civilian people try to help ..’ ‘Civil Defence?’ I asked : ‘Yes, yes, it says Civil Defence Shelter No:24.’ America had, of course, claimed it was a Command Centre for Saddam Hussein’s government. A lie, as ever, of enormity. Further, the U.S. had satellites watching everything (which continued through the embargo years, as now, clearly visible, blinking away like vast stars, floating, rotating.) A consistent comment over numerous interviews in the area and Baghdad, about the Shelter horror, that first visit and over subsequent years, was that for three days before, a satellite had been rotating over the district.Thus it would have recorded women and children entering it at dusk and leaving at dawn. That night there would have been a particular procession and it was the eve of the festival of Eid and with no means of cooking at home for the fast breaking, women took their food to prepare in the kitchens and their festive gifts, to wrap under the lights. When the fire engines arrived, the rescuers could hear the screams, until they began to fade away – but the great metre thick steel door, with airline type handles to seal it from the inside for safety, was glowing like a furnace, then as it melted, re-sealed itself. Dante, revisited. To have poured water from gaping missile hole in the roof, would have subjected those inside to boiling steam. The fire chief, the toughest of men, who had seen the unimaginable and directed rescues over many years, faltered as he said, of the remains they finally brought out: ‘We thought we were bringing out only children and wondered why they were there alone – then we realised the (adult) bodies had (contracted) to child size with the intensity of the heat.’ Anwar, then eighteen and a student ran to help, with a friend with whom he was staying, nearby. When talking of that night, he too faltered and stilled, then gestured with his hands, saying: ‘The peoples, the bodies, they had gone so small – like this ..’ There is a haunting tale told by Umm Rheda (mother of Rheda) who left the shelter temporarily to take some preparations home. Whilst she was away, the bombs fell her children were incinerated, with Rheda, her eldest daughter. When all the emergency services experts, the army which was drafted in, had failed to open the door, she begged and screamed to try. It opened: ‘Rheda opened it for me’, she says. The fire chief confirmed that Umm Rheda opened the door. The Shelter, over time, became a shrine, the bereaved, visitors brought momentos, pictures of the dead, the babies, the mischevious, the young mothers, the earnest students, stared from the walls. The floor was cleaned and polished, but the skin, the shadows, the seared walls and the screams remained. Until 2003, this was a unique U.S. wickedness. Another was an early act of their invading troops : to storm it (with their boots on of course) and search this sacred, sobbing site, for weapons. And now courtesy again, of the U.S.A., all Iraq is Al Ameriyah. Three days before the Shelter bombing, Dick Cheney, now Vice President and General Colin Powell (designated a ‘dove’ by the George W. Bush Administration) visited the US Air base at Khamis Mushat, Saudia Arabia (slogan: ‘bombs are us’ and ‘we live so others may die.’) After a pep talk to troops, they both signed two thousand pound bombs: ‘To Saddam with fond regards’, wrote Cheney (‘A General’s War’, General Bernard Traynor and Michael Gordon, Little Brown, p.324.) When the Shelter was bombed, frantic calls followed incase the bombs might have been involved in this massacre. Cheney’s bomb apparently fell on northern Iraq, dropped by a Major Wes Wyrich. What souls Powell’s decimated, is seemingly unknown. The Ameriyah Shelter was bombed on the night of 13th/14th February: the celebration of Eid, St. Valentine’s Day and the anniversary of the fire bombing of Dresden. When I put this to a U.S. General and remarked on the ‘coincidence’, he looked me in the eye and said: ‘Kinda neat, eh?’ Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.
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Felicity Arbuthnot
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-ameriya-shelter-in-west-baghdad-the-1991-st-valentines-day-massacre/5668633
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2019-02-14 16:03:52+00:00
| 1,550,178,232 | 1,567,548,503 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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231,051 |
globalresearch--2019-09-19--Massive Loss of Life Genocide Warnings in Three African Countries
| 2019-09-19T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
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Massive Loss of Life, Genocide Warnings in Three African Countries
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These genocide warnings concern current threats to the peoples of Cameroon1, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi. Beyond the primary concern for all the people in national groups, a pattern is emerging globally which should remind North Americans of past genocides against native American peoples: the masses of people forced from their homelands, the refugee camps which are meant to both save and contain the displaced, the senseless killing of civilians, the slaughter by hunger, arms and disease which lower the population numbers, and the relentless attack on native cultures to incapacitate the will to resist. The inability to recognize genocide at home limits the ability to understand other contemporary genocides in progress. After a massive loss of life in Rwanda, Libya, and Ivory Coast where the old leadership was removed by war and these were wars won by forces with Euro-American support, there’s an increased sensitivity to the early warnings of war such as destabilization. These population losses in Africa have followed the extreme example presented by the destruction of Iraq and its infrastructure by bombs and missiles. The process of replacing uncooperative government leaders with tractable puppets was and is a disaster for each person of the millions displaced, forced into exile, in mourning for all those lost whether to armed violence, or sickness and hunger. In areas of Africa with increasingly high numbers of displaced persons we’re likely to find the covert hand of colonialism reasserting its need for corporate profits. The current news from Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi, lends insight into how and why genocides do occur or could occur., while the challenge of understanding is to stop them. Concerned with the increasing violence and repression in Cameroon the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet visited the country last May to meet with government ministers, opposition leaders, and Cameroon’s President Biya who assured full cooperation with the UN on issues of Human Rights. To summarize the situation: 20% of the French speaking country is Anglophone, and the sparse public services are particularly diminished for the English-speaking areas. A portion of Anglophone leaders support secession of an English speaking region, of an Anglophone state, Ambazonia, abutting Nigeria. Not far from the inland portion of Ambazonia, in Nigeria, begins Boko Haram territory. Since about 2009 Boko Haram, a Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group, worked northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon and Chad. A Boko Haram military tactic was and is, reprisal, answering occasional military defeats with wiping out rural Christian villages in Cameroon. In Cameroon the government responded with an ongoing low intensity conflict to protect the area’s Muslim and Christian population. Cameroon’s forces became veterans of war against a military known for atrocities and kidnapping young women and entire schools. In 2015 Boko Haram pledged allegiance to a larger Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group, ISIS, known for its atrocities in Syria and Iraq. In 2016 Cameroon’s Anglophone lawyers whose rights were not well-respected, chose to go on strike. The nonviolent strike was joined by Anglophone teachers and students. Responding with military force and arrests the government imprisoned a number of lawyers to try for treason, which led to more violence. When forced to extremes the struggle for Anglophone rights made people choose sides. The result suggests it’s better not to force language struggles to extremes. In 2017 Ambazonia declared itself a separate Anglophone country which initiated its own defense forces, militias etc. The region’s educational system was / is periodically shut down with threats effected against those who try to teach or attend school. The Cameroon government’s police stations are burned, government police dismembered, government forces engaged. Human rights violations by government forces were / are brutal and recurring. The separatist Ambazonian leader, Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was recently sentenced to life in prison which occasioned more violence and military reprisal. About half a million people have left their homes in Cameroon. On August 26th 2019, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada3 with the support of two human rights NGOs, presented a statement4 to the United Nations Human Rights Council noting crimes by Cameroon’s government against the country’s Anglophone minority, as well as responsive “violent acts” against the government. The statement requests international concern and encourages international action to prevent “further mass atrocities.” It asks the Government of Cameroon to end its violence and investigate the human rights abuses. The statement relies on and furthers the evidence and guide supplied by the report, “Cameroon’s Unfolding Catastrophe: Evidence of Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity,”5 authored by the two NGOs supporting the statement. What can be said for Paul Biya’s dictatorial democracy and rule for 36 years, is that in 2018 he was supported by 70% of the voters (Anglophone parties refused to vote). UN News reports “Cameroon is also hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Central African Republic and Nigeria,”6 And Paul Biya has allowed Cameroon to survive without the epidemics, starvation, aggressions, war, massacres or genocide, which have tormented many African countries since their Independences from colonial rule in the 1960s. Until 2016 found the government’s military forces suddenly engaged on two fronts – against ISIS in the far North and Anglophone militias in the West. Few journalists or reports mention both fronts in the same article and for example, LRWC’s multi NGO statement to the Human Rights Council addresses only the Anglophone problem. This is also true of the NGO jointly authored “Report.” Neither mentions that the country is engaged in a war. There is no mention at all in the LRWC statement or the “Report,” of Northern Cameroon’s Christian communities. When these are targeted by Boko Haram / ISIS they’re wiped out. Fulani tribesmen are also blamed for the attacks. With last July’s attacks on villages 1100 additional families were displaced.7 A Bible translator was killed, his wife’s left hand cut off. The rainy season until October makes it hard for government troops to deploy to villages. Christian sources note that across the border in Nigeria “Tens of thousands have died over the last 20 years.”8 Last November in Bamenda 80 students were kidnapped from the Presbyterian school, not by ISIS but Ambazonian separatists.9 Generally the region’s Muslims and Christians get along. In mid-August Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo in the northwest made a plea to end the conflict and within hours two priests were kidnapped.10 The U.S. which provided military aid to Cameroon’s fight against ISIS has reacted to reports of the military’s human rights violations by withdrawing aid. The rights violations against Anglophones receive international coverage. Cameroon is only twenty percent Anglophone so Anglophone and Ambazonian leaders have encouraged intervention by outside forces. Is Anglophone strategy to initiate conflict that would require outside intervention? This pattern of gaining outside support and cutting in foreign interests was followed in Cote d’Ivoire and led to the current head of state Alassane Ouattara ‘s victory. The Christian group revolutionary leader was replaced with a Muslim group’s former World Bank employee and friend of France’s Nicholas Sarkozy more friendly to French business interests. Since LRWC, CHRDA and RWCHR are lobbying the UN Human Rights Council to encourage intervention in Cameroon, shouldn’t we know more about them? Lawyers Rights Watch Canada affirms the rights of lawyers globally and addresses points of international law. Logically it would have to address Anglophone lawyers’ evidence of their government’s persecution. LRWC is joined by the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)11 with offices in Cameroon and the U.S. CHRDA was founded in 2017 by the Cameroon Anglophone attorney, Felix Agbor Anyior Nkongo, who has studied at universities in Cameroon, Nigeria, the U.S. (Notre Dame), Brussells and Leipzig. He has worked in human rights for the U.N.. When imprisoned for treason during the 2016 lawyers’ strike in Cameroon, the Ontario Bar and the U.S. RFK Human Rights NGO and his former professor at Notre Dame among others, protested until he was released. An eloquent lobbyist for the Anglophone cause in Cameroon his NGO encourages “democracy” for all African peoples. He’s among the original lawyers who misjudged the regime’s response which resulted in Cameroon’s 2016 destabilization. The third NGO presenting the UN with encouragement to intervene is the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) founded by former Canadian Minister of Parliament / Minister of Justice, expert on international law, Professor Irwin Cotler. Both Cotler and Nkongo introduce the “Report” on Cameroon. With its roots in WWII’s Holocaust of European Jewry RWCHR is a heavy hitter for human rights. And like many Canadian human rights NGOs it is…sanctified. But it takes political rather than moral stands. For example this NGO has declared the BDS movement anti-Semitic and it generally supports Israel politically. According to Wikipedia RWCHR recently advised Canada’s government that Venezuela’s President Maduro is responsible for war crimes. RWCHR attempted to persuade European Parliament to take the Venezuelan government to International Criminal Court. RWCHR is providing legal representation for Venezuela’s opposition leader, Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza. And the NGO was very supportive in the referral of Venezuela to the International Criminal Court made by members of the Organization of American States. In any case, RWCHR’s position aligns with U.S. and Canadian government policy in the attempt to take over a sovereign nation, Venezuela. The NGO is apparently not against aggressive Euro-American takeover of a sovereign state. To consider Cameroon then, the media haven’t noticed that the Boko Haram / ISIS attacks on Cameroon complement the interests of the Ambazonia secessionists, and vice versa. Both destabilize the State and so encourage outside intervention. A supplier of Ambazonian arms is found to be an Anglophone leader (Marshall Foncha, chair of the Ambazonia Military Council) living in the United States12. Other Ambazonian arms are sourced from English speaking Nigeria. Boko Haram / ISIS is said to steal its sometimes advanced weaponry from Nigerian military and security forces. But there’s also verified evidence that ISIS is supported in Yemen by both the U.S. and Israel.13 Is Boko Haram /ISIS at the service of foreign interests in the destabilization of Nigeria and Cameroon? Why did the leaders of the Anglophone movement initiate strikes and secession at a time when the country’s resources were strained by refugees, and when villagers of Cameroon were beng massacred by foreign forces? The more uncompromising Anglophone leadership is, the more inevitable the armed conflict in a country where 41% of the population has malaria14 and Médecins Sans Frontières has warned of a cholera epidemic in the north.15 On September 10th President Biya ordered his government to start a “national dialogue” to resolve the language conflict and he asked foreign nations to stop Cameroon’s diaspora from furthering the violence which is increasing in his country.16 Neo-colonial inroads in the Democratic Republic of Congo are seen in the overt resource exploitation of the country’s East and terrible cost in human lives and displaced people, refugees and exiles. Death toll from the First and Second Congo Wars (1996-2003) could be as high as 6.2 million people. UNHCR the UN Refugee Agency in 2017 estimated 4.5 million displaced people within the country and in 2019, 856,043 hosted in other African countries. Currently18 the DRC is suffering an Ebola epidemic which continues the depopulation of a resource rich region. The epidemic demands cooperation with countries which are otherwise stripping the country’s resources and with the United Nations World Health Organization. WHO has become entirely necessary globally to counter epidemics, plagues and biological warfare. It also provides and distributes pharmaceuticals. As the number of Ebola cases passes 3000 (2000 deaths) two new pharmaceutical treatments for Ebola are being applied in the Congo without massive pre-testing: REGN-EB3 and mAb114. These are proving at least 90% effective on application19. Fears of the lack of containment of Ebola in the city of Goma were eased by the announcement of success in the trials of new drugs. The new drugs use monoclonal antibodies to directly attack the Ebola virus. Testing of two less successful drugs was dropped. The difference in fatalities among various drug testing programs may have added to the anxiety of those withholding their trust in the doctors administering products of different pharmaceutical companies. Uganda is testing another drug (Jansen pharmaceuticals) on 685 Ugandans and expects the results to show them how long the drug’s effectiveness will last. A follow-up study for those receiving anti-Ebola medication during the West African epidemic in 2013-2016 found an abnormally high rate of subsequent kidney disease, re-hospitalization and death.20 As of September the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has 30 responders working in the DRC. The CDC is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which is providing the pharmaceutical producer Merck 23 million dollars (in addition to the 176 million already invested in the inoculative drug), toward doses of an Ebola vaccine it hopes will obtain licensing.21 Unlike the Ebola epidemic the efforts to combat measles have received only 2.5 million dollars of the 8.9 million required.22 In the world’s largest outbreak of measles currently, from January through August 2019, the disease killed 2700 children in the DRC, among the 145,000 infected. Médecins Sans Frontières has been able to vaccinate 474,863 children. Faced with terrifying biological challenges endangered countries could become entirely reliant on the Euro-American pharmaceutical companies which can provide the cures, or lose portions of their populations. The purpose of the Euro-American corporations is profit. Curative drugs and vaccines can be extremely expensive or withheld. Historically, disease (smallpox and tuberculosis) was used in North America in the genocide of North Americans. Slow to admit the practice of genocide at home, North Americans are reluctant to question the possibilities of contemporary application. Corporate and government agency transparency is necessary. Information about contemporary U.S. biological warfare and disease experiments rarely reaches the public. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention monitored the Tuskegee syphilis experiment from 1957 until 1972 when a whistleblower exposed it to the newspapers. The experiment studied impoverished African American sharecroppers with syphilis who weren’t told they had the disease and were denied treatment. During the Vietnam war the U.S. Army experimented with release of bacteria in the New York City subways as one of 239 biological warfare experiments nationally in its covert testing from 1949 to 1969. Ebola was first recognized in 1976, in South Sudan and in the same year, in the Congo Belge / Zaire / DRC. It is a hemorrhagic fever virus extremely similar to the Marburg virus and the CDC considers both Category A Bioterrorism Agents. The Marburg virus first appeared in a Marburg German laboratory in 1967.23 The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi has issued a report25 which states conditions exist in Burundi which lead to genocide. Conditions weren’t good last year and are worse now. As many as 400,000 have fled into exile.The UN has suspected the possibility of genocide occurring in Burundi for several years now. The Government of Burundi doesn’t agree. In a health emergency not noted by the world’s press the Voice of America reported in 2017 that according to the WHO in 2016, 73 percent of Burundians were affected by malaria.26 Others say at least half the 11 million population of Burundi has malaria which is the leading cause of death. The disease is usually countered with pharmaceuticals but Burundi is the 2nd poorest country in the world. The Voice of America blames Burundi’s violence and unrest on President Nkurunziza’s decision in 2015 to run for a third term which may have countered the country’s constitutional law. A similar instance of President Kagame’s third term in Rwanda didn’t bother the U.S.. Burundi’s government tends to blame the unrest on Kagame and Tutsi controlled Rwanda. Hutu controlled Burundi shows a Hutu / Tutsi ratio of 85% / 15%. Rwanda thinks Burundi is hiding Hutu participants in Rwanda’s genocide. Burundi’s government isn’t convinced by the UN’s good intentions and has denied UN investigators access. Burundi does have a history of events which could be defined as tribal warfare, civil wars, or genocides. If the incipient divisions are forced to extremes as they were in Rwanda it would likely be caused by exterior destabilization. It could be argued that outside pressures forced the destabilization of Rwanda to the point of genocide in 1994. These should be noted by any monitoring of Burundi. Both Rwanda and Burundi of similar culture and language have dealt with the simplicities of tribal difference for over 500 years. One could argue that the responsibility for any contemporary genocide could only rest with “First World” interference, supplying armaments and taking sides to its own advantage. Burundi’s national language is African, Kirundi. US / UN support for the Kagame Tutsi government’s official narrative of the Rwandan Genocide has both ignored and denied the genocide of Hutu during the recognized genocide of Tutsi at Kagame’s takeover of Rwanda, to the point of imprisoning those who have attempted to memorialize Hutu victims. The UN report on Burundi includes without specifically identifying covert programs, the threat of foreign attempts to intervene in the country’s politics and elections. With elections approaching next year the foreign media has stepped up its attacks on the present government. The BBC and Voice of America are no longer licensed to operate in Burundi. Since 2015 the European Union and US have applied selective sanctions to the country so Burundi has closed down all foreign NGOs. The Anglican Church of Burundi at work in the region since the 1930s is still able to provide its health, educational, environmental, community and religious services and programs. International pressure for intervention in Burundi began as early as November 2016.27 By January 11, 2017 Night’s Lantern notes:28 : “the government cabinet Minister of the Environment has been assassinated. This continues a lethal back and forth between the government and its opposition, which threatens the region with a lapse into violence. Euro-American policies suggest military intervention to preclude the possibility of a genocide (see previous), an intervention likely to lead to corporatization of the country’s assets. This is a strong factor encouraging a genocide. Calls for intervention have coincided with major mining contracts gained by Russian and Chinese companies. Destabilization is encouraged by the privatization of Burundi’s coffee industry at the insistence of the World Bank; private interests have delayed delivery of pesticides and fertilizers; the crop and industry have been damaged. The Parliament of Burundi has had to place controls on international NGO’s in Burundi who are considered to support rebels against Burundi’s President Nikurunziza. Burundi has also withdrawn from the International Criminal Court so the Euro-American human rights industry is not well disposed toward President Nikurunziza and any non-African reporting on Burundi should require multiple verification. The attempt to wrest political power from African leaders who are uncooperative with US/NATO corporate takeovers is familiar.” Night’s Lantern has noted Burundi’s people as a national group under genocide warning since 2015. The UN report’s conclusion places an additional genocide warning for the people. To avoid interference by corporate interests Burundi’s government will have to be angelic in resisting attempts to subvert it. If the society continues to break down and a genocide is initiated will it be Burundians who are responsible? Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc. 1 Although a Francophone country, “La république du Cameroun,” Western institutions, media and NGOs insist on the English spelling -“Cameroon.” 2 The author’s previous considerations of Cameroon are linked from Night’s Lantern “Genocide warnings,” http://www.nightslantern.ca/02.htm#cam. 3 To maintain transparency: although not involved with its response to this issue the author is a non-lawyer member of LRWC and supports many of LRWC’s statements and position papers for the Human Rights Council. 4 “Human rights Catastrophe in Cameroon.” “Written statement* submitted by Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status,” A/HRC/42/Ngo/1, Aug. 21, 2019. Human Rights Council 42nd Session 9-27September 2019. 5 “Cameroon’s Unfolding Catastrophe” Evidence of Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity,” June 3, 2019, Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa & Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. 6 “Cameroon: Clear ‘window of opportunity’ to solve crises rooted in violence – Bachelet,” May 6, 2019, UN News. 8 “Nigeria is the biggest killing ground of Christians today,” current / Sept. 14, 2019, Persecution. 9 “The political conflict in Cameroon threatens the freedom of Christians,” Jonatán Soriano, Dec. 5, 2018, Evangelical Focus. 10 “Cameroon bishop: ‘I am not safe; after speaking out against conflict,” Crux staff, Aug. 20, 2019, Crux. 11 This should not be confused with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa (CHRDCA) – headquartered in Cameroon’s capital, which is the regional office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. 12 “Cameroon’s Separatist Movement Is Going International,” Gareth Browne, May 13, 2019, Foreign Policy. 13 “The Smoking Gun in the Islamic State Conspiracy: Documents Prove US Arming Islamic State,” Gearóid Ó Colmáin, Sept. 5, 2019, American Herald Tribune. 16 “Cameroon: Biya Orders Immediate Dialogue to Solve Cameroon’s Problems,” Moki Edwin Kindzeka, Sept. 11, 2019, Voice of America. 17 The author’s previous considerations of the Democratic Republic of Congo are linked from Night’s Lantern “Genocide Warnings,” http://www.nightslantern.ca/02.htm#co 19 “New Ebola Drugs Show Exciting Promise With Up to 90 Percent Cure Rate,” Global Information Network, Aug. 14, 2019, Black Agenda Report. 20 “Ebola survivors may face increased risk of death after hospitalization,” Chris Galford, Sept. 6, 2019, Home Preparedness News. 24 The author’s previous considerations of Burundi are linked from Night’s Lantern “Genocide Warnings,” http://www.nightslantern.ca/02.htm#bu. 25 “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/42/49. Aug. 6, 2019. Human Rights Council Forty-second session 9-27 September 2019.
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J. B. Gerald
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/genocide-warnings-three-african-states/5689636
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2019-09-19 13:15:42+00:00
| 1,568,913,342 | 1,569,329,820 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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359,339 |
newsweek--2019-01-07--CBS Sisi Interview President Denies Ordering Massacre in Footage Egypt Tried to Block
| 2019-01-07T00:00:00 |
newsweek
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CBS Sisi Interview: President Denies Ordering Massacre in Footage Egypt Tried to Block
|
Egypt’s government attempted to block a CBS interview in which the nation’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, denied responsibility for a 2013 massacre that killed at least 800 people, according to the network. During CBS’s airing of its flagship 60 Minutes show, Sunday, the Egyptian leader told Scott Pelly that as the military consolidated power over five years ago, “some measures to restore security” were required. However, Sisi denied that the Egyptian security forces had systematically killed their political opposition under his direction. After the interview, Sisi’s discussion of the notorious Rabaa massacre, as well as Egypt’s continuing ground war against the Islamists in the country’s restive Sinai peninsula, were deemed by the government to be too sensitive to air. "The 60 Minutes team was contacted by the Egyptian ambassador shortly after and told the interview could not be aired," CBS said in a statement. It was not clear which sections of the interview the Egyptian government was unhappy with. CBS aired the rare interview with the Egyptian president anyway, promoting the footage as "the interview Egypt's government doesn't want on TV," on its website. Egypt’s 2013 Rabaa massacre is seen as one of the darkest chapters in the country’s recent history. At least 800 supporters of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, were killed as they took part in anti-military sit-ins in the country’s capital. According to the international NGO Human Rights Watch at Rabaa, "using armored personnel carriers, bulldozers, ground forces and snipers, police and army personnel attacked the protest encampment with hundreds killed by bullets to their heads, necks and chests." In the 60 Minutes interview, Sisi refuted the Human Rights Watch report as “not true.” He also claimed police personnel at the time had been “trying to open peaceful corridors for the people to go safely to their homes.” Since the 2014 presidential elections, which Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood was banned from participating in, Sisi has struggled to deal with entrenched economic and security issues in Egypt. Despite receiving nearly one and a half billion dollars in aid each year from the U.S., the Middle East’s most populous nation has failed to curb an Islamist insurgency backed by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). Sisi, who has jailed 60,000 of his political opponents, was re-elected in 2018 in a vote viewed by the international community as rigged. He received 97 precent of the vote after jailing one of his primary political opponents.
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https://www.newsweek.com/cbs-sisi-interview-president-denies-ordering-massacre-footage-egypt-tried-1281373?utm_source=Public&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Distribution
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2019-01-07 11:54:55+00:00
| 1,546,880,095 | 1,567,553,556 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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386,178 |
npr--2019-07-19--Dutch Troops Were 10 Liable In Srebrenica Massacre Supreme Court Says
| 2019-07-19T00:00:00 |
npr
|
Dutch Troops Were 10% Liable In Srebrenica Massacre, Supreme Court Says
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Dutch Troops Were 10% Liable In Srebrenica Massacre, Supreme Court Says The Netherlands' Supreme Court has affirmed that the country's troops are partly to blame for the deaths of 350 Muslim men and boys after the fall of the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica. But in a break with an earlier ruling, the court lowered the Dutch liability for the massacre to 10%, from 30%. "The Dutch State bears very limited liability in the 'Mothers of Srebenica' case," the Supreme Court said as it announced the ruling. The Mothers of Srebenica is an umbrella group formed by families and loved ones who say Dutch U.N. peacekeeping troops didn't do everything they could to prevent the Muslim men and boys from being slaughtered by Bosnian Serbs led by Ratko Mladic, the "butcher of Bosnia" who was convicted of genocide and war crimes in 2017. A U.N. war crimes tribunal found Mladic guilty of "masterminding the killing of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Europe's worst massacre since World War II," NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports. The case centers on the deadly days after Srebrenica fell on July 11, 1995, when Bosnian Serb troops entered the city and some 25,000 refugees sought refuge with a Dutch battalion called Dutchbat III, in what was deemed a "minimum safe area" away from hostilities. At the time, both the U.N. and the Netherlands agreed that the refugees and peacekeepers must be evacuated. But the families say the Dutch force failed in two key respects: by cooperating with Mladic's force to allow refugees to be taken to buses through a narrow sluice that made it easy to separate males from the crowd and, toward the end of the evacuation, by not offering 350 men and boys a chance to stay in the Dutch compound. In an earlier ruling, the Hague Court of Appeal had largely agreed with the families on those points, saying that the "group of refugees was denied a 30 percent chance of avoiding abuse and execution," as the Supreme Court said. But in its own ruling Friday, the Supreme Court, or Hoge Raad, said it "estimates that the male refugees had a 10 percent chance of escaping from the Bosnian Serbs, had they been offered the choice to remain in the compound." The high court split with the Court of Appeal on how the main evacuation was handled, saying, "The fate of the refugees would not have been changed had Dutchbat stopped cooperating, because the Bosnian Serbs would have continued the evacuation in some other way." Suggesting that the peacekeepers were right to cooperate with the hostile force outside its compound, the court said, "Dutchbat's choice to continue providing guidance in order to prevent women and children from being trampled was not wrongful." As for the fate of the 350 male Muslims — who had remained in the Dutch camp without being seen by the Bosnian Serb force — the Supreme Court said the chance they would have escaped with their lives had they been given the choice to stay "was slim, but not negligible." Mladic's fighters likely would have discovered the men and boys during an inspection of the compound their fate would have been sealed, the court said. It added, "The chance of Dutchbat receiving effective support from the international community was slim." As a result, the court said, the state's liability is "limited to 10 percent of the damages suffered by the surviving relatives of these 350 male refugees," and those survivors may now seek compensation from the Netherlands. "The claimants are likely to get only a few thousand euros in compensation" NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports. "But the ruling could set an international legal precedent for states' liability when their troops take part in peacekeeping missions." The high court ruled that the Dutch peacekeepers' actions before the evacuation order were free from liability because they were operating under U.N. authority. But after the decision was made to evacuate, the court said, the Netherlands "exercised effective control over Dutchbat's conduct and Dutchbat's actions were attributable to the State."
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Bill Chappell
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https://www.npr.org/2019/07/19/743413444/dutch-troops-were-10-liable-in-srebrenica-massacre-supreme-court-says?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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2019-07-19 14:34:22+00:00
| 1,563,561,262 | 1,567,536,426 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
397,686 |
occupydemocrats--2019-09-19--30 innocent Afghan farmers were killed and 40 injured in US bombing massacre
| 2019-09-19T00:00:00 |
occupydemocrats
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30 innocent Afghan farmers were killed and 40 injured in U.S. bombing massacre
|
As tensions dramatically escalate in the Middle East and the United States begins to build yet another coalition for conflict in the Middle East, the grim death toll of the wars we’re already fighting continues to grow at a horrifying rate. Afghan officials have announced that a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province meant to hit an alleged IS hideout instead murdered 30 civilians and injured 40 more. The victims were pine nut farmers sleeping in tents after a hard day’s work. “The workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them,” mourned tribal elder Malik Rahat Gul to Reuters. “Some of us managed to escape, some were injured, but many were killed.” A spokesman for the United States’ Afghanistan coalition dismissed the reports, saying that “we are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts” and went on to somehow blame the Taliban for the deaths: “We are fighting in a complex environment against those who intentionally kill and hide behind civilians, as well as use dishonest claims of noncombatant casualties as propaganda weapon.” It is unlikely that any responsibility of wrongdoing will be ever be taken for this attack; the Pentagon is notorious for under-reporting and misrepresenting the number of civilians that die in the endless barrage of bombs it pummels Muslim nations around the world with. Under President Trump, the death toll of innocents has skyrocketed as the Commander-in-Chief’s callous disregard for human life is adopted by his underlings. Looser rules of engagement and a dramatic uptick in bombing runs have led to the United States killing more people than the Taliban in the first half of 2019. Civilian casualty monitoring group AirWars reports that the Trump administration’s bombing campaigns in Iraq and Syria killed 6,000 civilians in 2017 alone and killed anywhere between 8,148 and 13,097 innocents over the past five years as a whole. Since 2009, the war in Afghanistan has killed over 16,000 civilians and wounded 30,000 more. The fact that this massacre — likely the deadliest bombing since a 2017 airstrike on Mosul killed 200 people — will get nothing but meager media coverage and almost certainly no acknowledgment from the military, the government or either side of our political establishment is yet another repulsive reminder about how normalized and desensitized we have become to the mass murder of innocent people of color by the American imperial machine. The refusal of the mainstream media and political leadership of either party to challenge or even acknowledge the slaughter being carried out in our name is an affront to human rights and to the values that the United States is supposed to stand for. The American failure to recognize and mourn the lives of the Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis, and Afghans killed by our bombs contributes to their dehumanization and feeds into right-wing Islamophobic tropes that paint all Muslims as terrorists who deserve their deaths. Through three Democratic debates, there has not been one question about the killing of civilians by the United States military. Foreign policy is barely mentioned, and when it is, the questions are always couched in terms of “national security,” demanding to know which candidate will be the most hawkish in their confrontation with the threats that the military-industrial complex has laid out for us. Perhaps foreign policy questions don’t get the ratings that clashes over healthcare might, but literally thousands of lives hang in the balance and the refusal to take them seriously is unforgivable. But nothing shows how little Americans value the lives of Muslims overseas more than the contrast between the performative temper tantrum thrown by both conservatives and liberals last week at President Trump’s invitation of the Taliban to peace talks at Camp David and the collective silence that will greet the news that 70 sleeping workers have had their bodies torn apart in a hellish whirlwind of superheated metal shards, all paid for by the taxpayer. Original reporting by Ahmad Sultan and Abdul Qadir Sediqi at Reuters. Add your name to tell the House to fulfill its constitutional obligation: Launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump!
|
Colin Taylor
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https://occupydemocrats.com/2019/09/19/30-innocent-afghan-farmers-were-killed-and-40-injured-in-u-s-bombing-massacre/
|
2019-09-19 20:47:03+00:00
| 1,568,940,423 | 1,569,329,889 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
467,484 |
rferl--2019-01-15--Kosovars Remember 1999 Racak Massacre
| 2019-01-15T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Kosovars Remember 1999 Racak Massacre
|
Thousands of people have gathered in the southern Kosovo village of Racak to mark 20 years since 45 ethnic Albanians were massacred by Serbian forces in an act that sparked international anger. The killings were one of the factors that prompted NATO to launch an air campaign to end Kosovo's 1998-99 war. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's government at the time claimed that the dead were all members of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) killed in combat with state security forces. The dead included a 12-year-old boy. Top government officials, including Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, and others gathered on January 15 at the cemetery in Racak, 32 kilometers south of the capital, Pristina. Haradinaj, himself a former UCK fighter, said that the "pain, blood, and sacrifice of the people are not lost." More than 10,000 were killed in the war, and some 1,650 are still unaccounted for. Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence isn't recognized by Serbia. This week, a special international court on war crimes during and after the war began questioning members of the UCK -- as well as Kosovo's ethnic Serbs -- over alleged crimes against Serbian prisoners.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovars-remember-1999-racak-massacre/29711888.html
|
2019-01-15 19:25:59+00:00
| 1,547,598,359 | 1,567,552,428 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
470,043 |
rferl--2019-07-29--86 Muslim Victims of Prijedor Massacre Laid To Rest in Bosnia
| 2019-07-29T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
86 Muslim Victims of Prijedor Massacre Laid To Rest in Bosnia
|
A funeral was held on July 27 for 86 Muslim victims of a massacre in the northwestern city of Prijedor by Bosnian Serb forces in the early 1990s during the Bosnian war. Hundreds assembled to pay their respect to the victims who were found in 2017 in a mass grave in a mountainous region of central Bosnia. The victims were mostly male and many teenagers. They were part of a group of more than 200 mostly Bosnian Muslim civilians as well as several Catholic Croats who where held in a detention camp in Prijedor region. They were told they would be part of a prisoner exchange on August, 21, 1992. They were executed instead after disembarking a bus and told to line up on the edge of a cliff. So far, 181 victims of the massacre have been identified. Serb forces killed about 3,200 people, of whom 250 women and 100 children, in the region after taking it over in April 1992. Six-hundred fifty people are still missing. In January 2018, prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina said German authorities arrested Milorad Obradovic, a former member of Bosnian Serb forces, on suspicion of committing war crimes. Obradovic was accused of participating in the detention of some 120 Bosnian Muslim civilians near Prijedor in July 1992 before they were massacred. Another suspect in the same case, Slobodan Knezevic, was arrested in Montenegro in December 2017. Bosnia's 1992-95 war resulted in the death of an estimated 100,000 people and the displacement of some 2.6 million more. As part of the 1995 Dayton accords that mostly ended the violence, Bosnia was broken into two constituent states: a Muslim-Croat federation and the Republika Srpska.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/muslim-victims-of-prijedor-massacre-laid-to-rest-in-bosnia/30082104.html
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2019-07-29 22:59:39+00:00
| 1,564,455,579 | 1,567,535,478 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
478,863 |
russiainsider--2019-10-02--Israeli Massacres A Brief and Shocking History
| 2019-10-02T00:00:00 |
russiainsider
|
Israeli Massacres: A Brief and Shocking History
|
It would be nice to think that, as an Israeli officer once put it, “This time we went too far” — that the killings of 17 unarmed protesters in Gaza by Israeli riflers across a security fence on Friday would cause the world to sanction Israel for its conduct. But if you look over Israel’s history, you find that the massacre has been a ready tool in the Israeli war-chest; and Israelis have not been prosecuted for carrying them out. Indeed, a couple of those responsible later became prime minister! Here, largely from my own memory, is a rapidly-assembled list of massacres, defined by Webster’s as the killing of a “number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty” (and yes, a couple precede the birth of the state). 1946. Zionist militias blow up the south wing of the King David Hotel, killing 91 people, most of them civilians, in order to protest British rule of Palestine. 1948. Zionist militias kill over 100 civilians in the village of Deir Yassin, which is on the road to Jerusalem. The action helps clear the road for the military advance on Jerusalem and scares thousands of other Palestinians who flee their villages. The name Deir Yassin becomes a rallying cry for Palestinians for decades to come though no one is punished. An officer with responsibility for the massacre, Menachem Begin, became Israeli prime minister 29 years later. 1948. During the expulsion of Palestinians from the central Israeli city of Lydda, more than 100 men are rounded up and held in a mosque and later massacred (according to Reja-e Busailah’s new book and others). The episode terrifies thousands of other Palestinians who seek refuge in the West Bank. 1948. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians are killed by Israeli forces in Al Dawayima village, west of Hebron. Many are killed in barbarous manner; the crime is swept under the rug for decades. 1953. Israeli troops led by Ariel Sharon raid the village of Qibya in the Jordanian-occupied West Bank and kill 69 people, most of them women and children, in retaliation for a cross-border raid that killed three Israelis. (The massacre is memorialized in Nathan Englander’s latest novel as one that solidifies Sharon’s reputation as an officer who will exact swift and awful revenge on those who harm Jews, thereby assuring his rise.) 1956. Israeli forces gun down farmers in Kfar Qasim returning from the fields who are unaware that the village had been placed under a strict curfew by the Israeli government earlier that day. Forty-eight Palestinian citizens of Israel are killed, many women and children. 1956. Israeli forces kill 275 Palestinians in Gaza in the midst of the Suez Crisis. The massacre is documented by Joe Sacco in Footnotes in Gaza. 1967. Israeli forces are said to have killed scores of Egyptian army prisoners in the Sinai during the 1967 War. Some say 100s. 1970. Israel killed 46 Egyptian children and wounded 50 others during an air raid on a primary school in the village of Bahr el-Baqar, Egypt. Known as the Bahr el-Baqar Massacre, the assault completely destroyed the school and was part of the Priha (Blossoms) Operations during the War of Attrition. 1982. The Sabra and Shatilla massacres of Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps are carried out by Lebanese Phalangist militias. But the Israel Defense Forces had control of the area and Ariel Sharon allows the militias to go into the camps. Somewhere between several hundred and 3000 Palestinians are murdered. Sharon, who died in 2014, escaped punishment for war crimes; in fact, he became an Israeli prime minister. 1996. The first Qana massacre takes place when Israeli missiles strike a UN compound in southern Lebanon where many civilians have gathered seeking refuge during clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. Over 100 civilians are killed. “Israel was universally condemned, and the United States intervened to extricate its ally from the quagmire,” Avi Shlaim writes in The Iron Wall. 2006. The second Qana massacre takes place during the Lebanon war when Israeli missiles strike a building in a village outside Qana, killing 36 civilians, including 16 children. The strike is initially defended as a response to the firing of Katyusha rockets at Israel from civilian areas. 2008-2009. During Cast Lead, the Israeli assault on Gaza following exchanges of rocket/missile attacks in months before, more than 1400 Palestinians are killed over 22 days, most of them civilians. Many die as at Qana, when they flee their homes to UN compounds and schools, hoping to be safe. The massacre brings international condemnation, including by the Goldstone Report to the UN Human Rights Council alleging war crimes; but the United States does its utmost under President Obama to defend Israel from all charges, and no one is brought to the bar. 2012. During eight days of “Pillar of Clouds,” Israel kills 160 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians. The offensive boosts Netanyahu in the polls and seems timed to torpedo Palestine’s historic UN bid for statehood. 2014. Another Israeli onslaught on Gaza, this one lasting 51 days, kills upwards of 2200 Palestinians, most of them civilians. The massacre is famous for sniper killings of unarmed people and for the killings of entire families, 89 according to some authorities, typically wiped out in their homes by a missile strike. In one instance, 20 members of one family are killed. The international condemnation is again toothless.
|
Philip Weiss
|
https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/israeli-massacres-brief-and-shocking-history/ri27708
|
2019-10-02 13:10:20+00:00
| 1,570,036,220 | 1,570,221,752 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
478,864 |
russiainsider--2019-10-02--Israeli Massacres: A Brief and Shocking History
| 2019-10-02T00:00:00 |
russiainsider
|
Israeli Massacres: A Brief and Shocking History
|
It would be nice to think that, as an Israeli officer once put it, “This time we went too far” — that the killings of 17 unarmed protesters in Gaza by Israeli riflers across a security fence on Friday would cause the world to sanction Israel for its conduct. But if you look over Israel’s history, you find that the massacre has been a ready tool in the Israeli war-chest; and Israelis have not been prosecuted for carrying them out. Indeed, a couple of those responsible later became prime minister! Here, largely from my own memory, is a rapidly-assembled list of massacres, defined by Webster’s as the killing of a “number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty” (and yes, a couple precede the birth of the state). 1946. Zionist militias blow up the south wing of the King David Hotel, killing 91 people, most of them civilians, in order to protest British rule of Palestine. 1948. Zionist militias kill over 100 civilians in the village of Deir Yassin, which is on the road to Jerusalem. The action helps clear the road for the military advance on Jerusalem and scares thousands of other Palestinians who flee their villages. The name Deir Yassin becomes a rallying cry for Palestinians for decades to come though no one is punished. An officer with responsibility for the massacre, Menachem Begin, became Israeli prime minister 29 years later. 1948. During the expulsion of Palestinians from the central Israeli city of Lydda, more than 100 men are rounded up and held in a mosque and later massacred (according to Reja-e Busailah’s new book and others). The episode terrifies thousands of other Palestinians who seek refuge in the West Bank. 1948. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians are killed by Israeli forces in Al Dawayima village, west of Hebron. Many are killed in barbarous manner; the crime is swept under the rug for decades. 1953. Israeli troops led by Ariel Sharon raid the village of Qibya in the Jordanian-occupied West Bank and kill 69 people, most of them women and children, in retaliation for a cross-border raid that killed three Israelis. (The massacre is memorialized in Nathan Englander’s latest novel as one that solidifies Sharon’s reputation as an officer who will exact swift and awful revenge on those who harm Jews, thereby assuring his rise.) 1956. Israeli forces gun down farmers in Kfar Qasim returning from the fields who are unaware that the village had been placed under a strict curfew by the Israeli government earlier that day. Forty-eight Palestinian citizens of Israel are killed, many women and children. 1956. Israeli forces kill 275 Palestinians in Gaza in the midst of the Suez Crisis. The massacre is documented by Joe Sacco in Footnotes in Gaza. 1967. Israeli forces are said to have killed scores of Egyptian army prisoners in the Sinai during the 1967 War. Some say 100s. 1970. Israel killed 46 Egyptian children and wounded 50 others during an air raid on a primary school in the village of Bahr el-Baqar, Egypt. Known as the Bahr el-Baqar Massacre, the assault completely destroyed the school and was part of the Priha (Blossoms) Operations during the War of Attrition. 1982. The Sabra and Shatilla massacres of Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps are carried out by Lebanese Phalangist militias. But the Israel Defense Forces had control of the area and Ariel Sharon allows the militias to go into the camps. Somewhere between several hundred and 3000 Palestinians are murdered. Sharon, who died in 2014, escaped punishment for war crimes; in fact, he became an Israeli prime minister. 1996. The first Qana massacre takes place when Israeli missiles strike a UN compound in southern Lebanon where many civilians have gathered seeking refuge during clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. Over 100 civilians are killed. “Israel was universally condemned, and the United States intervened to extricate its ally from the quagmire,” Avi Shlaim writes in The Iron Wall. 2006. The second Qana massacre takes place during the Lebanon war when Israeli missiles strike a building in a village outside Qana, killing 36 civilians, including 16 children. The strike is initially defended as a response to the firing of Katyusha rockets at Israel from civilian areas. 2008-2009. During Cast Lead, the Israeli assault on Gaza following exchanges of rocket/missile attacks in months before, more than 1400 Palestinians are killed over 22 days, most of them civilians. Many die as at Qana, when they flee their homes to UN compounds and schools, hoping to be safe. The massacre brings international condemnation, including by the Goldstone Report to the UN Human Rights Council alleging war crimes; but the United States does its utmost under President Obama to defend Israel from all charges, and no one is brought to the bar. 2012. During eight days of “Pillar of Clouds,” Israel kills 160 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians. The offensive boosts Netanyahu in the polls and seems timed to torpedo Palestine’s historic UN bid for statehood. 2014. Another Israeli onslaught on Gaza, this one lasting 51 days, kills upwards of 2200 Palestinians, most of them civilians. The massacre is famous for sniper killings of unarmed people and for the killings of entire families, 89 according to some authorities, typically wiped out in their homes by a missile strike. In one instance, 20 members of one family are killed. The international condemnation is again toothless.
|
Philip Weiss
|
https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/israeli-massacres-brief-and-shocking-history/ri27708
|
Wed, 2 Oct 2019 09:10:20 -0400
| 1,570,021,820 | 1,570,536,332 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
497,983 |
sottnet--2019-02-25--Israel is concealing 300000 documents involving Palestinian massacres
| 2019-02-25T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
Israel is concealing 300,000 documents involving Palestinian massacres
|
a report says.According to the +972 Magazine, Israel's "State Archives" declassified secret documents last summer, but some 300,000 documents, which antedate the 1948 establishment of the regime, remained classified.the report by Israeli Jewish journalist Asaf Shalev said."There were many people who were concerned about the opening of this catalog," Israel's "State Archivist" Yaacov Lozowick was quoted by the website as saying in a statement accompanying the release.Files on the two most notorious Israeli massacres ofare among the hidden documents, the website said.-- the first day of the Suez war -- when Israeli forces killed residents of the village who returned from their nearby agricultural lands.Deir Yassin has long remained a symbol of Israeli violence against Palestinians due to the particularly gruesome nature of the 1948 slaughter, which targeted men, women, children, and the elderly in the tiny village.was led by the Irgun militia group, whose head was future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, with support from fellow Zionist militiamen affiliated with Haganah and Lehi groups.According to the report,to scare Palestinians in the hope that the terror would lead to an Arab exodus.Around 750,000 Palestinians took refuge abroad in the face of the massacres - most notorious among them the one in Deir Yassin.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/408013-Israel-is-concealing-300000-documents-involving-Palestinian-massacres
|
2019-02-25 20:44:14+00:00
| 1,551,145,454 | 1,567,547,457 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
705,899 |
theguardianuk--2019-07-23--The Karida massacre fears of a new era of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea
| 2019-07-23T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
The Karida massacre: fears of a new era of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea
|
The pictures that came out of a remote highlands village in Papua New Guinea two weeks ago were not, at first glance, particularly graphic: bulging cocoons of blue mosquito nets hanging from wooden poles propped along a roadside. But the story they told was gruesome. The nets, said the health worker in Karida village who supplied them, held the remains of 10 women, six children and two unborn babies, all hacked to death with machetes sometime before dawn on 8 July. The health worker told the Guardian they had not been able to work out which body parts belonged to which person. The slaughter, which occurred in the mountains of Hela province, about 600 kilometres north west of the PNG capital of Port Moresby, followed the killing of three women and four men in a neighbouring village the day before. The photographs showed the remains being watched over by a pair of elderly women waving branches – fending off flies in the tropical heat. This small rite of respect required immense courage. The killings scattered hundreds of terrified people into the surrounding bush, where many remain today. “I am so worried about my women,” says Janet Koriama, president of the Hela Council of Women over the phone from the local capital of Tari, having just spent a night near the scene of the massacre. “Families have lost everything,” says Koriama – their food gardens, shelter, clothes. Last Wednesday, Koriama says another woman was killed “and one had her hand cut off while looking for food to feed their hungry children”. Koriama is desperately trying to enlist defence forces to bring around 2,000 women and children displaced by tribal fighting into shelters she’s coordinating with local churches. But reports indicate that while soldiers have been deployed as promised by prime minister James Marape, who is also the local MP for the area, their mission is focused on capturing the killers, dead or alive. Even if they succeed, this will be of little comfort to Koriama and other local leaders fearful about what this massacre signals. While tribal conflict is deep rooted in Hela, they describe what happened in Karida village as unprecedented in lore or memory. “This, I have never seen in my life,” bereft local chief Hokoko Minape told PNG journalist Scott Waide. Police Minister Bryan Kramer declared his concern that the killings “changed everything … that it will become the new trend”. Close observers of events in Hela are similarly appalled, but rather less surprised. The killings follow years of escalating violence in a landscape untouched by Europeans only 85 years ago, but which is today the powerhouse of the nation’s resources economy. Australian National University anthropologist Dr Chris Ballard, who has spent many years living with and researching the area’s dominant Huli population, agrees with local observations that the massacre falls outside even the eroded rules of tribal warfare. Before European contact, these constraints “managed fighting quite effectively,” he says. “Even in the worst cases of warfare where entire clans were forced off their territory, casualties were pretty minimal and they were almost always fighting men.” Given dense webs of social connection and strict requirements around paying compensation for deaths, random killing were considered “truly dumb”. “Nobody was interested in mass death. The cost of having to fork out pigs for compensation for death placed limits on what people were prepared to even envisage.” Today locals live in constant fear and Hela is a virtual no-go zone to outsiders despite the fact that the recent atrocities played out barely 30 kilometres, as the helicopter flies, from the fortified compounds that are the heart of the nation’s largest resources project, the $US19 billion Exxon-Mobil led PNGLNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). There is widespread distress in the highlands over unrealised promises around this enterprise and explosive anger at the failure of royalties to flow to landowners in the gas fields despite five years of operations. The Huli, famous for their elaborate wigs and face paint, are also fearsome fighters. Sharing, caring and loving, says Janet Koriama – just don’t take what is ours. The maelstrom of the LNG fallout, old enmities, new jealousies, deteriorating basic services and, last year, a devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake, underwrites a spiralling social emergency in which tribal fighting has razed villages, closed schools, displaced communities and caused an unknown toll of casualties. The old rules constraining warfare have broken down in recent decades, , Ballard says. By 2008 – when the PNGLNG building phase was at its height – Medecins Sans Frontieres installed a surgical team at Tari Hospital because casualties from tribal and family violence were equivalent to a war zone. Janet Koriama says traditional protections for women have eroded notably over the lifetime of the LNG project. Peter Botten, PNG resources veteran and longtime chief executive of Oil Search – the junior partner in the PNGLNG – has argued that blaming resources projects for rising violence in the highlands is too simplistic. He points to myriad changes, from the arrival of mobile phones to rollercoaster modernisation, but says most fights are still about women and pigs. Koriama says that the massacre at Karida is linked to a four-year war which began over a girl and which has now amassed a body count of 80. A spokeperson for Exxon-Mobil said the recent killings “occurred outside of our operational areas”. Ballard argues that while there may not be straight lines of connection between fallout from the gas project and specific outbreaks of fighting, it’s impossible to disentangle the two. “It is part of the story, part of the landscape. The politics of the LNG, and the ramping up of political rivalries, has certainly augmented the flow of weaponry into the Tari area.” Tensions in Hela are underwritten by a massive arsenal of high-powered guns, many trafficked across the border from West Papua. “Warfare and conflict kind of tailed off in the early days of the project, and everyone just kind of hung back and went, ‘well, maybe this is the promised land’,” says Ballard. “And now that nothing’s flowed, nothing’s changed in people’s circumstances and if anything services have contracted even further, there’s a profound disenchantment. That general mood certainly would contribute to conflict.” “There is a history to this fight [around Tari] which also needs better understanding so as to map a way forward,” says Dr Fiona Hukula, senior research fellow and leader of the Building Safer Communities program at the PNG National Research Institute. Data is patchy, but violence against women in PNG in various forms – family, social, tribal – is among some of the highest rates in the world. Reports of the torture and murder of women accused of sorcery also appear regularly in local media. “What is lacking is enforcement. This to me is a key hindrance to really seeing change in terms of sending a strong message about violence against women and violence in general,” says Hukula. “Having said this, it is extremely difficult to police rural and remote PNG due to lack of resources and geographical constraints. This is where the role of village courts and community leadership is vital in local dispute resolution.” One of the continuing tensions in Hela is that specialist police squads are assigned to secure the PNGLNG facilities. “We currently have only 40 police for the whole province,” said Hela Provincial Administrator, William Bando, in the aftermath of the massacre. “Our Tari-based MS9 [police mobile squad] were taken by Exxon-Mobil to provide security, while our people are dying.”
|
Jo Chandler
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/23/the-karida-massacre-the-start-of-a-new-era-of-tribal-violence-in-papua-new-guinea
|
2019-07-23 01:06:14+00:00
| 1,563,858,374 | 1,567,536,076 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
934,080 |
thesun--2019-02-02--Ex-Nazi SS officer involved in massacre of 86 French men and boys says he had RIGHT to shoot them
| 2019-02-02T00:00:00 |
thesun
|
Ex-Nazi SS officer involved in massacre of 86 French men and boys says he had RIGHT to shoot them
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AN EX-NAZI SS officer who was involved in the massacre of 86 French men and boys during the Second World War has said he had the right shoot them. Karl Münter, 96, insisted in an interview that the victims deserved to be shot and that he doesn’t regret participating in the war crimes. He said: “If I arrest the men I’m responsible for them. And if they run away I have the right to shoot them.” Münter was sentenced to death in absentia by France in 1949 - long after he returned home to Germany. The verdict means nothing now after the French statute of limitations expired and EU citizens cannot be prosecuted for crimes they have already been convicted of in another country. But German prosecutors are investigating him on suspicion of hate speech over the comments he made during the television interview with NDR’s Panorama that aired in December 2018. It was his first interview about his time in the SS and on top his comments regarding the massacre he also disputed the fact that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. He maintained that he did not fire his weapon and that he was only present at the brutal killings that took place in the village of Ascq, near Lille on April 1, 1944. When asked if he had an regrets he said: “No, not at all! Münter added: “And the matter of the Jews that is attributed to (Hitler)... be careful. “There weren't millions of Jews (in Germany) at the time, that's already been disproved. “This number - six million - is not correct.” These comments amounting to Holocaust denial caused outrage in Germany as prosecutors are investigating them as an incitement to hatred. Germany’s Volksverhetzung law, ('incitement of the masses'/'incitement to hatred') can be applied to trials relating to Holocaust denial. If Münter is found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison. Münter was part of the SS 12th Panzer Division, which was notoriously responsible for a number of war crimes. On the night of the massacre, men and boys ranging from ages 15 to 75 were dragged on to the railway tracks, lined up and shot. Nazis claimed the victims were “terrorists” to justify the slaying. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
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Alahna Kindred
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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8340282/ex-nazi-world-war-2-massacre-hate-speech-germany-france/
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2019-02-02 22:47:31+00:00
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conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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1,087,354 |
veteranstoday--2019-01-30--UK deliberately hushing WWI massacre of Iranians
| 2019-01-30T00:00:00 |
veteranstoday
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UK deliberately hushing WWI massacre of Iranians
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[ Editor’s Note: I had not heard of this story to date, but it came as no surprise. During the war colonialist troops dealt with natives in the manner of the day, by order of requisition. The strong took from the weak to keep the fighting forces in the field, including Britain shipping foodstuffs to the Russians who were hard pressed at the time. WWI was a huge killer, and whatever colonialist crimes were committed on the downtrodden were repaid with the post war flu epidemic that killed the rich and the poor indiscriminately. The death toll was higher than the huge combat losses. But as we learn to today, myself anyway, the Brits did a “clean up” on their participation, which in their defense, the droughts in Iran at the time was also a major factor… Jim W. Dean ] Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >> A political analyst from London believes it has been a deliberate policy of the British government and the mainstream media in the West to keep silent about the massacre of millions of Iranians during the First World War. Rodney Shakespeare said in an interview with the Press TV that Britain has always tried to depict the mass killing of Jews by the Nazi Germany in the Second World War as the most notorious tragedy of the last century, adding that other incidents such as the massacre of the Iranians has always been hushed. “Yes there was the mass killing of Jews, but a greater number … probably about eight to 10 million, was the killing of Iranians by the British in the two years 1917 to 1919, and the figure … is more than the roughly six million Jews killed by the Nazis,” he said. “That Iranian devastation is not mentioned today … and whilst there are continuing remainders of one mass killing, that of Jews, there is silence about the other, the killing of Iranians,” he added. Shakespeare said it is a policy of the British Foreign Office and the Zionist-controlled media to uphold that “disgraceful silence” about the mass killing of the Iranians during the First World War. The expert said Western powers like Britain are still involved in mass murder of civilians in various parts of the world or continue to keep silent about such incidents despite their consistent propaganda on human rights He said the mass exodus and killing of Muslims in Myanmar and Yemen were two clear examples of such hypocrite policy. “The West’s continued lecturing of others about human rights and the like does not sit well with the gruesome record of mass killing,” said Shakespeare.
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Jim W. Dean, Managing Editor
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https://www.veteranstoday.com/2019/01/30/uk-deliberately-hushing-wwi-massacre-of-iranians/
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2019-01-30 19:12:33+00:00
| 1,548,893,553 | 1,567,550,199 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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706 |
21stcenturywire--2019-11-21--NEW REPORT: Evidence of Turkey’s War Crimes in Syria and ISIS Members Within its Ranks
| 2019-11-21T00:00:00 |
21stcenturywire
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NEW REPORT: Evidence of Turkey’s War Crimes in Syria and ISIS Members Within its Ranks
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Turkish-backed factions under various names continue violating international laws and customs north Syria, especially in the region east of the Euphrates, and in Afrin and the Aleppo countryside. All available reports confirm a rise in the number of civilian victims of the militant factions acting under the gaze of the Turkish military, a member of NATO. It’s been roughly 44 days since the launch of Ankara’s cynically titled “Operation Peace Spring” being carried out east of Syria’s Euphrates River, and the number of civilians who have been displaced is steadily rising totaling approximately 300,000 people according to statements made by Kurdish officials, whereas the UN estimates are considerably lower, at around 180,000. The violence which has ensued has been devastating to local populations in Syria. Apart from displacement, the Turkish-backed factions are now on record as committing different human rights violations ranging from torture, arrest, field beheadings, indiscriminate shelling, shelling of civilians homes, confiscation of people’s properties and real estate, using international-prohibited weapons, and intentionally targeting medical staff and journalists, all of which has certainly aggravated the already poor conditions marked by chaos and insecurity in across the region. Consequently, assassinations and explosions have appeared again in those same areas. Publicly available data compiled here and here, from sources inside of Syria paint a shocking picture of rampant human rights violations and war crime committed under Turkish command. After the Turkish troops entered the area east of the Euphrates, rates of violence and crimes committed by the Turkish-backed militants has risen significantly – in Afrin, Azaz, al-Bab, and Jarablus west, and right across northeastern Syria. As of 11 Nov 2019, approximate totals include some 355 civilians, including 18 children were killed, of which some 12 people including women and children who were beheaded by these same militant under the command of direct Turkish government forces. Additional reports reveal how these factions have also arrested 100 civilians including 12 who were severely tortured. Turkish-backed factions under various names continue violating international laws and customs north Syria, especially in East Euphrates and Afrin in Aleppo countryside. In Afrin alone, since the start of Operation Olive Branch in 2018, the Turkish-backed factions have kidnapped approximately 2,500 people, including women, children and elderly. The gunmen took control over houses and farmlands, cut down trees, and committed other violations against the civilians, all of which has claimed the lives of 1,413 people, with 54 killed under the administration of torture by Turkish-backed militants. The number of unlawful detainees has reached up to 5,678 people. The total cost of human and material losses in northern Syria areas due to the Turkish military operations and the horrific acts of their loyal militant factions during the past two years alone is distressing: • 2,400 people were injured, including 295 children and 206 women during raids on their homes or being beaten by the gunmen. • 1,660 air raids as well as 800 operations of shelling with mortars and artillery against residential villages were documented. • In-fighting among the Turkish-backed factions reached up to 230 fights inside cities and towns. It has been recorded that 445 Syrian refugees were shot to death by the Turkish border police while they were trying to cross the Syria-Turkey border, including 83 children and 56 women. Injuries from live fire or attacks has reached up to 416 people, including those who tried to cross the borders or the residents and locals in the villages and towns adjacent to the borders. • 1,492 houses attacked with some turned into prisons or military centers. • 65 schools and service centers were turned into military headquarters to be used by the factions leaders. NOTE: The Turkish-backed ‘Free Syrian Police‘ are in fact deputised by Al-Nusra Front (since rebranded as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham/HTS) and other terrorist groups who are controlling towns and villages in areas like Afrin, Syria, and like the White Helmets, this self-described ‘civil society’ cadre is supported and funded by UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a fact even documented by BBC and others. Formerly US-backed “Free Syrian Army” is now an official Turkish regiment comprised of many known ISIS terrorists (Image Source: DW/El Halebi) Amnesty International has confirmed that Turkey and their loyal factions have committed multiple “war crimes” during their military operations east of the Euphrates, and have conducted “gruesome executions,” and attacks against civilians, and described those acts as “shameful and sorrowful.” According to reports, these violent acts include not only open and public threats of mass-beheadings, but also video evidence of actual beheadings have already been circulating widely online. Gunmen from various factions participating in “Peace Spring” committed crimes, especially gunmen from Ahrar al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sharqyeh, al-Hamza, and al-Jabha al-Shamiya and other gunmen from the militant force formerly called the Free Syrian Army and now rebranded under the new name of the “Syrian National Army” which is the outcome of merging several factions. Turkish acts and violations also included medical, political and media figures in a way that resembles those committed by ISIS such as what happened with Hevrin Khalaf and Amara Rinas, two Kurdish activists, with a video showing bearded militants repeating religious cries in front of the dead bodies of Kurdish fighters in the background scene, and with victims said to killed by groups like Ahrar Al-Harqiya. Former ISIS Fighters – Now Under Turkish Command The number of the fighters in the Turkish-backed factions includes some 50,000 gunmen, including numerous militants known to be among ISIS members before joining the pro-Ankara factions. A former ISIS fighter reported this very fact to the UK paper, The Independent, thus confirming that NATO member Turkey has been using the name of the now defunct Free Syrian Army as a carefully designed smokescreen in order “to conceal its use of jihadi mercenaries.” This may also explain reports of these very same Turkish-backed forces reported to have deliberately released Islamic State detainees in Ain Issa Syria, Syria around 12 October, which was admitted by two US offificals. So far, at least 76 members have already been documented by Arabic news sources of fighters said to belong to proscribed international terrorist organisations including ISIS and Al-Nusra Front. Several regional Arab lauguage news sites including ANF News, Hawar News, and other sources, appear to have since confirm the following gunmen as original members of terrorist know organizations, and who are now are fighting under Turkish military command and ostensibly under the banner of NATO: 1. Basel Mohammad al-Ali: 23 years old/Homs known as Talha. He was a member in ISIS organization since its establishment in 2013. He fought with them in Homs Desert, known as Badia, and worked in the security field in June 2017. He moved to Akhtarin, north Aleppo and joined Al-Hamza Division and now he is in Suluk, Raqqa countryside. 2. Basel Ghassan al-Asoura: Known as Abu Osama al-Shami, was born Damascus 1993. He first joined Nusra Front in 2012 in Damascus Ghouta and pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014 and fought with ISIS in Ghouta and in Suwayda countryside. In 2016 he moved to the outer safe zone of ISIS in Damascus countryside and then went to Idleb. In 2017, he had a military training in Turkey and participated with the Turkish army in its attack on Afrin. He is now in Tell Abiad within al-Hamza Division. 3. R. Smeed: Known as Abu Islam al-Qalamoni, born in Damascus countryside, Al Nabk, 1994. He joined ISIS 2014 in Damascus Wilaya, Qalamoun Sector. He fought different battles in Damascus countryside and Palmyra Badia, and Tanf Base. He led a security detachment in the outer safe field in 2016. He carried out several security operations in Damascus and accessed 3 trapped vehicles into the Sayyida Zainab area of Damascus countryside. He went out to the Idlib area with his security group in 2017 and worked in coordination with “Prince Abu Ayman al-Iraqi” and entered the leaders of ISIS “al-Omaraa” to Turkey. In 2018 he joined “Ahrar al-Sharqiya” faction with his entire group. He joined Turkey in the attack against Afrin. He is currently in the area of Ras al-Ayn in the countryside of al-Hasakah with the task of “cannon 23 shooter”. 4. Bashir Al-Ammouri: Known as “Abu Ahmad Al-Tadmari” from Al-Amour tribe, originally from Al-Sukhna, born in 1990. He joined ISIS in 2014 in the province of Homs, the army of the caliphate. He worked in security from the very beginning. And also continued his work there as opening routes for the members of ISIS to cross from the desert to Turkey and joined the Sultan Murad II Legion and participated in the Turkish attack on Afrin, now he is in east of the Euphrates, currently located in the city of Ras al-Ayn. 5. Abdullah Ahmad Al-Abdullah: Born in 1991, the mother’s name “Rehab Al-Shablakh” from the countryside of Homs, joined ISIS in 2014 as a security leader, moved to fight near Al-Tanf, and carried out several operations against the Syrian army and the SDF, was directly affiliated with “Abu Ayyub al-Iraqi”. In 2014, Abdullah seized a UN jeep in the Ghouta area of Damascus and brought it to the Petra region. He later moved to Azaz to continue his security work there. Distinguished by his close relationship with the Turks, in August he joined the faction “Al-Hamza”, participated in the Turkish attack on the city of Ras al-Ayn, He last appeared in the area of Aliyah and silos. 6. : 20 years old, known as Abu Talha al-Shammari, from Sokhna in Palmyra, he joined ISIS in 2015 in Ash Sholah in Deir Ezzor, fought with ISIS in Sokhna and Palmyra, and fled to al-Rai in Aleppo in February 2018. He joined Ahrar Alsharkia, and now fights in the Suluk and Tell Abiad. 7. : Known as Abu Saif al-Halabi, born in 1989 from al-Safirah in Aleppo countryside, joined ISIS in 2015 and fought several battles in Aleppo countryside. He moved to al-Dabsi area in 2016 and became the prince of al-Hisba in 2016. He had a modern black Toyota car equipped with a Dushka machine gun. In 2017 he moved to Idlib and joined the factions belonging to Turkey (Division 23) Al-Hamza.He participated with Turkey in the attack on Afrin and participated in the recent Turkish attack on Tell Abiad and is currently located in Tell Abiad. 8. : A 27-year-old Saudi, known as Abu Muhammad al-Jazrawi, his mother is Noura, a Saudi. He joined ISIS from Saudi Arabia through Turkey in 2015. He was fighting with a suicide gang and fought against Russia and the Syrian army in Homs and Damascus countryside, and was the commander of the lions of Adnani battalion. He moved to Azaz in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiyya, which belongs to Turkey, and became a military leader in Ahrar al-Sharqiya. He is currently in Tell Abiad. 9. : Known as Qaswarah al-Deiri, born in Deir Ezzor in 1992, joined Nusra Front in 2012 in Deir ez-Zor. He withdrew to Daraa with Nusra Front members and fought against the Syrian army alongside al-Qaeda. In 2015, he moved to Hama and became a prince on a group known as Red Bands. In 2018, he joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and fought alongside Turkey in East Euphrates. 10. : Born in Palmyra in 1990, joined ISIS in 2014.He fought with ISIS first in Homs within the Heavy Weapons Section 23-caliber, fought in the battles of Sha’er, Jazal, Sukhna and Palmyra, and fought against the Coalition at al-Tanf base. In 2018, he joined the First Corps of the 20th Division of the Sultan Murad Brigade and fought alongside Turkey in Afrin. He was transferred by Turkey along with thousands of gunmen to fight in East Euphrates. He is currently in Ras Al Ayn. 11. : Born in Raqqa, Kasra Juma district, aged 32, joined ISIS in 2015. He supervised the military points west of the city. He was promoted to the rank of Prince of the Sector. Then he moved to Azaz when Washington’s coalition began to attack to control Raqqa. He joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and is currently in Ras al-Ayn. 12. : 34 years old, was born in Manbij, Aleppo, joined ISIS in 2015 in Raqqa, was promoted to the post of military prince of the “Indulgers” Group, fled from Raqqa to Azaz in 2017, then joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and became a military commander of a group. He is currently in Tell Abiad. 13. Abu al-Wafa al-Tunisi: A 34-year-old Tunisian. He was a former Tunisian intelligence officer who moved to Syria through Turkey in 2014. He specialized in the military legal field. He became a legitimate prince in Raqqa then he was transferred to al-Khair Wilayat to be the legitimate prince there. He gave military trainings and motivated suicide bombers. He fled to Azaz in Aleppo in coordination with Ahrar Al-Sharqiya in 2017 and assumed the position of legitimate faction. He is currently in Ras Al-Ayn. 14. : Born in Deir Ezzor in1999. He joined ISIS at the end of 2013 and had legal and military trainings in the village of Shumaitia and was transferred to Sokhna and was fighting in the first row and then moved to Omar Bin al-Khatab Brigade in Deir al-Zour and fought in the neighborhoods of industry and workers. He coordinated with his cousin Abdullah Saad Al-Shakraji, who works for Ahrar Al-Sharqiya in Al-Bab. In 2017, he escaped to al-Bab and worked with the Turkish military police and is now in Ras Al-Ain within the “Syrian National Army.” 15. : Born in Raqqa, 28 years old, known as Abu Islam Al-Shami, joined ISIS in 2015 in Raqqa. He was recruited in Madan as a BMB driver. He fought in Mabrouka and Suluk and fled to Al-Rai in Aleppo countryside, which is controlled by Turkish-backed gunmen in 2017. He joined the Ahrar al-Sharqyeh and is currently in Tell Abiad within the “Syrian National Army.” 16. : Known as Abu Maria al-Ansari, was born in Damascus in 1993. He first joined the “Free Syrian Army” in 2013 near al-Tanf. He had trainings by the US soldiers of the International Coalition in al-Tanf where he stayed for 6 months. He was arrested with the charge of stealing ammunitions. He fled al-Tanf and immediately joined ISIS in 2014 and fought against the Syrian army in Damascus. In 2016, he moved to Idleb with the help of the prince, Abu Mustafa al-Lubnani. He left for Turkey for a short time and reappeared as a fighter among Hamza Division. He participated in the attack on Afrin and he is now in Tell Abiad within the “Syrian National Army.” 17. : Known as Abu Sameer al-Homsi, born in 1989 in Homs countryside. He joined ISIS in 2014. He took the post of a security prince in Riad al-Salhin Battalion in Homs Wilayat. He participated in the battles in Damascus countryside, As Suwayda, and al-Tanf against the Syrian army. He fled to Turkey in 2017 with the help of the prince, Abu Mostafa al-Iraqi, in charge of Siddik Brigade. He returned to Syria and joined Sultan Murad Brigade. He participated in the attack against Afrin. Then he moved to al-Bab and joined Ahrar al-Sharqyeh. He is currently in Ras al-Ayn, a leader of a 20-gunman group. 18. : Known as Abu Fatima al-Raqqawi, 23 years old, from Raqqa. He joined ISIS in 2014. He worked with ISIS in Brigade 93. He was transferred to join Caliphate Army. He fled to Afrin in 2018 and joined Hamza Division. Then moved to Ras al-Ayn within the “Syrian National Army.” 19. : Born in Damascus, al-Hajar al-Aswad. Aged 23. He is known as Abu Torab al-Shami. He joined ISIS and moved to Raqqa in 2015. He was appointed a prince of a group in Deir al-Zour. Then he moved to Homs and came back to Raqqa 7 months later to be appointed a military princein Raqqa countryside. He fled to Azaz in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqyeh. He is now in Tell Abiad. 20. 27 years old, born in Saraqib, Idlib, known as Abu Ali al-Idlibi. He was a member in the political security before 2011. He joined ISIS in 2014. He moved to Raqqa and was the head of the political office there. He fled to al-Rai in Aleppo in 2017. He joined Ahrar al-Sharqyeh as a security member and is now in Tell Abiad. 21. Born in 1998, Raqqa, Tell Abiad Street (mother, Sabah). Known as Saif al-Islam. He joined ISIS in 2015, and fought within the Caliphate Army in Deir Ezzor/al-Khair Wilayat, on the fronts of the Tharda Mountains and the military airport, fled to the Azaz, Aleppo countryside in 2017 and there he joined Hamza Division. After that, he was transferred by Turkey to Ras al-Ayn. 22. : 23 years old, born in Deir Ezzor/Ayyash, known as Abu Khawla al-Dairi” (mother, Suad). He joined ISIS in 2014. Moved to Al Tebni area in Deir Ezzor countryside. Counter-23 man. He fought with ISIS on the fronts of Raqqa countryside then fled to al-Rai area in Aleppo in 2017 then moved to Turkey, and returned to join Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction. He is now in Suluk east Tell Abiad. 23. : Born in Deir Ezzor, Al-Joura area, aged 32 (mother, Kawthar). “Known as Abu Abbas Al-Iraqi. He joined ISIS in 2014, in Al Tebni in Al-Manjam in Deir Ezzor countryside. He specialized in the military leadership, worked as a leader in a group in ISIS called “Kawaser Al-Anbar”. He fought on the fronts of the western countryside of Raqqa. He fled to al-Rai in Aleppo on 2017 and became commander of a battalion that belongs to Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction. Then he moved to Tell Abiad. 24. Aged 23, Deir Ezzor/Hawaij Albu Masaa, known as Abu Salha Tau (mother, Amira). He joined ISIS in 2014 in Ash Shaddadi in Hasaka, working as a missiles operator. He fought for ISIS in Al-Bishri area of Deir Ezzor, fronts of Sokhna, Palmyra and Badia of Homs. He fled to Al-Rai area in Aleppo in 2017 then he moved to Turkey for a while and then returned to join the faction of “Ahrar Al-Sharqiya, from which he moved to Ras Al-Ayn area. 25. : Aged 19, known as Abu Omar al-Faruq, born in Raqqa\al-Tayyar (mother, Suad). Joined ISIS in 2016, was transferred into the Caliphate Army and fought for ISIS on the fronts of Huzaima, Raqqa. Then he fled to al-Rai area in Aleppo in 2017. He joined Ahrar al-Sharqia and is currently fighting with them within the National Army in Ras al-Ayn, Hasaka. 26. : Aged 37, known as Abu Abdullah Khreitah”, born in Deir Ezzor (mother, Fatim). Joined ISIS in 2015, fought the Syrian army in the Madan area in Deir Ezzor, moved to the branch of Islamic police in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, in Al Tebni. He fled to Al-Rai area in Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar Al-Sharqiya, then he joined Hamza Division and moved with them by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad. 27. “Husam Al-Adlabi”: 37 years old, known as Abu Mohammed Al-Amani, born in Saraqib, Idlib. He joined ISIS in 2014 in Raqqa, after moving to Raqqa with a military battalion he led, he worked as a leader in the group called “Inghimasin, meaning Indulgers in Arabic” in Deir Ezzor. He fled to Azaz, Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya from which he moved to the Tell Abiad within the Turkish-affiliated “Syrian National Army.” 28. : Aged 23, known as “Abu Zaid, born in Raqqa/Kesra Juma area. He joined ISIS in 2015, fought in Raqqa countryside then moved to the Caliphate Army and specialized in missiles, fought with ISIS on several fronts. In 2017, he fled to Azaz, Aleppo, then joined the Sultan Murad faction and then to Ahrar al-Sharqiya. He is currently fighting in Tell Abiad with Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction within the Turkish-affiliated “Syrian National Army.” 29. : Known as Haj Majid, known as Haji Abu Omar Al-Ansari, born in Homs countryside, 1983. First formed a battalion under his command under the name of Liwaa Al-Haq in Hama countryside/Uqayribat area, then in 2014 he joined ISIS with his group with full weapons in the countryside of Hama, where he was considered one of the founders of ISIS in Hama. He took the post of the Military Prince of Hama took command of “Suiciders and Indulgers” battalions in the three wilayats of Hama, Homs and Damascus. He participated in breaking into Damascus countryside and fought in As Suwayda. He moved with a group of suicide bombers to Idlib, in 2017. He joined the Hamza Division as a battalion commander. With Turkish support, he moved to Ras al-Ayn within the “Syrian National Army.” 30. : Aged 27, known as Abu Doula Hawen (mother, Jamila), from Deir Ezzor, joined ISIS in 2015, and fought for them in Ash Shaddadi, Hasaka as mortar and artillery gunner in Deir Ezzor/Kawkab area. He later moved to Raqqa and fled to Azaz in 2017, and joined the faction of “Ahrar Al Sharqiya”, and is currently a fighter in the National Army in Ras Al Ayn. 31. : Known as Abu al-Harith al-Ansari, born in 1996, joined ISIS in 2014, in the countryside of Homs. Specialized in information security, technical and communication with ISIS operatives in Europe. He stayed in Damascus for some time as a follower to ISIS leader of, Abu Muhammad. He moved in 2017 to the “Free Syrian Army” at the US military base in Al-Tanf. He had a US military training and moved to Azaz after 3 months. He joined the Hamza Division and fought in Afrin and is now participating in the battle of Tell Abiad with Hamza Division. 32. : Born in 1995, Idlib (mother Nora, father, Bassam). He joined Nusra Front in 2015 in Idlib/Jisr al-Shughur. In 2017, he moved to Azaz, joined Hamza Division and then moved by Turkish orders to fight in Suluk, in Tell Abiad. 33. : Known as Abu Ahmad Al-Homsi, born in 1995, originally from Homs, joined ISIS in 2015 in Damascus. He participated in battles against the Syrian army on Al-Tanf axis, and Palmyra. He then moved to al-Bab in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya from which he moved to Turkey. He also participated with the Turkish Army in the attack on Afrin, then moved by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad. 34. : Known as Abu Ajmal Al-Ansari, born 1988 Homs (mother, Bushra Al-Abed). He joined ISIS in 2015. He took command of a group in Riyad al-Saleheen battalion of Homs, then moved in 2016 to Damascus, and then to Azaz, taking over the intelligence mission, gathering information and coordinating between the ISIS women in Idlib to transfer them to and from Turkey and other cities. In 2018 he joined Hamza Division, participating with the Turkish army in the attack on Afrin after joining Ahrar al-Sharqiya. He is currently in Tell Abiad, leading a 30-member armed group. He turned the Public Post Office to a headquarter of his group within the National Army. 35. : 25 years old, known as Abu Aisha al-Tebni. Mother, Khadija. He joined ISIS in 2013 in Deir Ezzor. He fought against the Syrian army with ISIS on the fronts of Deir Ezzor as a military commander of a group in the Sokhna area until 2017. He fled to al-Rai, Aleppo countryside. He joined Lions of the East Army and moved by Turkey’s orders with his faction to fight in Tell Abiad. 36. : Known as Abu Jalib Al-Ansari, born in Homs 1994, joined ISIS in 2015 in Homs. He fought several battles, including the battle of Sha’er, T4 and Jazrah. In 2017, he moved to Azaz and in 2018 he joined Hamza Division then moved to Ras Al Ayn. 37. : Of Iraqi nationality, known as Abu Dajana Al-Iraqi, born in 1980, settled in Homs, and is considered one of the founders of ISIS in Syria, took over the post of military prince in the wilaya of Badia, then was responsible for monitoring points in Hama, and participated in most ISIS battles in Homs, Damascus and Hama. In 2017, he moved to Idlib with a number of ISIS operatives, and formed a battalion “Suqur al-Badia” which belongs to Sultan Murad Brigade and is made up of former ISIS fighters. He participated in several battles, including the Turkish attack on Afrin and Tall Rifat, and moved by Turkish orders to fight in Tell Abiad. 38. : Known as Abu Anas Al-Harbi, was born in 1995, Homs. He joined ISIS in 2015 in Homs, taking part in the battles of Palmyra, Tanf and the Al-Shaer’s field. In 2016, he moved to Azaz and joined Sultan Murad Brigade. He had a military training in Turkey and moved to Ahrar al-Sharqiya. He participated in the Turkish attack on Afrin, in the attacks on Tall Rifat, and then moved by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad. 39. : 23, known as Abu Khaled Ayyash, born in Ayyash/Deir Ezzor (mother, Zahra). Joined ISIS in 2014 in Al Tebni in Deir Ezzor western countryside as a “mortar man” in several areas “Ash Sholah, Badia” against the Syrian army and then was transferred to the area of Manbij in Aleppo countryside, where he fled to Azaz in 2016, joined the Ahrar al-Sharqiya Brigade, then moved by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad. 40. :” Known as Abu Reem, born in 1993, Homs countryside. In 2013, he joined the “Free Syrian Army”. He joined US trainings in Jordan. In 2014, he joined ISIS in Damascus. He took up the post of “Prince of Antis Workshop” in Damascus. In 2016, he moved to Idlib, then to Turkey to where he received training in Hatay camps. He participated in the attack on Afrin and Tall Rifat, and then moved by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad with the mission of laying mines. 41. : 35 years old, known as Abu Islam Al-Ansari (mother, Suad). He joined ISIS in 2013, in Deir Ezzor, specializing in the field of armaments. He stayed therefor of more than a year. After that, he was transferred to Raqqa and was appointed a prince of armament point in Kasra Juma area. He fled to al-Rai in 2017, where he joined Ahrar Al Sharqiyah, and moved by Turkish orders to the Ras Al Ayn. 44. :” Aged 24, known as“Abu Yasser Al-Shami (mother, Sahar). Born in Al Safirah, Aleppo. He joined ISIS in 2014. He moved to Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. He returned to Raqqa, to move to Homs. He fled to Al-Rai, Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya then moved by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad in 2019. 45. : Born in 1997 in Damascus, joined ISIS in 2015, participated in several battles in Damascus against the Syrian Army and the airport of T4 and Ghouta of Damascus, and participated in the massacre of Homs in 2015. He moved to Hama in 2016 where he was beseiged with his group, and withdrew to Idlib. He then joined Hamza Division, then moved by Turkish orders to Tell Abiad in 2019. 46. :” Aged 27, known as Abu Aisha, Born in Ayash/Deir Ezzor (mother, Fatim). He joined ISIS in 2014 in Al Tebni in Deir Ezzor, he fled to Al-Rai in Aleppo with a group of 40 ISIS fighters. He joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya, then moved by Turkish orders to Ras al-Ayn in 2019. 47. : 35 years old, known as Abu Fatima Al-Qannas” Residents of Al-Tayana area of Deir Ezzor. He joined ISIS in 2014 in Ash Shaddadi in Hasaka. His task was a “sniper” within the Caliphate Army on the fronts of Tal al-Bayah and its surroundings. He fought with ISIS on several fronts. He fled to al-Rai of Aleppo province on 2017 and joined the faction “Ahrar al-Sharqiya”, and then moved by Turkish orders For Tel Abyad area 2019. 48. Qais Mohammed al-Sheikh: Known asd Abu Muhammad al-Tabqawi, mother: Ghalia al-Sheikh, born in 1995, originally from al-Tabqa of the Nasser tribe, joined NusraFront in 2013, and participated in the battle of Ras al-Ayn in 2013, and was shot in the abdomen in the village of Tal Halaf and withdrew with Nusra Front Deir Ezzor, in 2016. Then he moved to Hama countryside and then went to Idlib. In 2017 he joined Ahrar al-Sham and participated in the battle of Afrin and is currently participating in the battle of Tell Abiad. 49. Qusay Said al-Aziz: Known asd Abu Said al-Homsi, born in 1991, originally from al-Khnaifis area of Homs province (mother, Hayat Uzair). Joined ISIS in 2014. He fought the Syrian army in Damascus countryside, Homs and Hama. In early 2017, he went out with a group of Palmyra desert to Idlib province in coordination with Turkish officers, and underwent a course with a group of 100 fighters in the Turkish territory, and then entered the city of al-Bab and participated directly in the battle of Afrin and then and began in coordination with the fighters of the Islamic State of Palmyra and smuggled to Jarablus and included them with the battalion Hamzat at the behest of Turkish intelligence, he is currently fighting with his group in Ras al-Ayn, and has a high point in the silos. 50. Ra’ad Hussein al-Wakaa: 22 years old, known as Abu Basil al-Shami, mother, Fatim, Deir Ezzor province, pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015, sent into the Caliphate Army of Raqqa province, fought on Manbij front, then moved to Homs province and fought with ISIS on the fronts of Sokhna and Palmyra. He fled to al-Rai in Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya in the “Badr Martyrs” Brigade, and is now fighting on the fronts of Tell Abiad with Ahrar al-Sharqiya. 51. : Aged 34, known as Abu Zainab. Mother: Wadha, a resident of Ayyash in the city of Deir Ezzor, pledged allegiance to ISIS in the area of Al Tebni in 2013. He specialized in the security field, killing innocent civilians. He fled to al-Rai in Aleppo in 2017, joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and became a security official and now is fighting with Ahrar al-Sharqiya on the fronts of Tell Abiad. 52. : 28 years old, known as Abu al-Harith, from Al bukamal in Deir Ezzor, pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2013 as prince of al-Hisbah in Tabqa. He was assigned to his mission in Homs. After more than 7 months, he returned to Raqqa and was commissioned as Zakat prince. He moved to Azaz in Aleppo in 2017 and joined Sultan Murad, and he is now fighting on the fronts of Ras al-Ayn and giving Islamic and military lessons. 53. : Known as Abu Rabea al-Ansari, born in 1990, originally from Damascus, joined ISIS in 2014 in the Riyad al-Saleheen battalion of Homs. He moved to external security with Prince Abu Saad al-Iraqi, and went out towards Idlib. He opened the roads for them, then joined with Al-Hamza Division in 2018 and participated in the battle of Afrin, Tall Rifat and is currently a participant in Tell Abiad. 54. : Known as Abu Saddam al-Ansari, originally from Palmyra, from the Amur tribe, joined ISIS in 2014 to the wilaya of Badiah. He was a military prince of the state and participated in the battles of al-Tanf, Palmyra and al-Shaer. He moved to the external security in 2017 by Prince Abu Khaled al-Iraqi. He then joined the Ahrar al-Sharqiya Brigade, participated in the battles of Afrin and Tall Rifat and is currently a participant in the battle of Ras al-Ayn with the First Division with the 123rd Brigade. His face appears in the video of the murder of Havrin Khalaf. 55. : Aged 23, known as Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi, from Iraq, pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2013, then moved to Syria in Raqqa. He taught his fighters how to set traps. He stayed in the Kasrat area in Raqqa and had a group to work with him until 2017. He then fled to Azaz and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya, and he is now fighting with Ahrar al-Sharqiya in Tell Abiad now. 56. 30 years old, known as Khabab al-Iraqi, from Iraq, pledged allegiance to ISIS in Iraq in 2013. He was a military prince in one of the groups. He moved to Ash Shaddadi in Hasaka in 2015. He became the prince of fortifications on the fronts of Kawkab in Hasaka. He was sent to the countryside of Raqqa. He fled to Azaz in Aleppo in 2018 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqia and is now fighting with them on the fronts of Tell Abiad. 57. : 32 years old, known as Abu Bakr Husaynat. Mother, Rabiaa, a resident of Deir Ezzor, al-Jubaylah district. He pledged allegiance to ISIS in Ash Shaddadi Hasaka, was transferred to Deir Ezzor and became a prince of fortifications. Then to Raqqa and became the prince of fortifications in its western countryside. He then fled to Azaz in Aleppo in 2017, and is now fighting in the fronts of Ras al-Ayn and its surroundings with Hamzat Division. 58. : 37 years old, known as Abu Abdullah Al-Jazrawi from Saudi Arabia, working on legal matters, entered Syria from Turkey, pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015 in Raqqa, appointed as an Islamic judge in Deir Ezzor and Al-Ash Shaddadi in Hasaka in 2016. Then was moved to Shamtiya area in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor and became a general judge. He fled to Azaz in Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqia. He now works as a military Islamic judge and fights on the fronts of Ras al-Ayn. 59. Samih Fawad Yazalji: Aged 21, known as Walid al-Dairi, living in Deir Ezzor (mother, Mahouda). He pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015 in Raqqa and fought with ISIS on the fronts of Raqqa countryside. He escaped to Al-Rai in Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya. He is now fighting on the fronts of Tell Abiad today. 60. : 22 years old, known as Abu Suleiman al-Ansari, a resident of Raqqa al-Safarneh neighborhood, pledged allegiance to ISIS in Saif al-Dawla area in Raqqa, was transferred into the Caliphate Army and fought on the fronts of Raqqa countryside. He then was transferred to Deir Ezzor with a group of 40 others. He fled to Azaz, Aleppo in 2017 and joined Sultan Murad, and is now fighting on the fronts of Suluk with Ahrar al-Sharqiya. 61. : From al-Na’im tribe, originally from Palmyra and known as Sufian al-Naimi, born in 1985. In 2013, he joined ISIS. He is considered one of the founders of ISIS in Syria. He took over the post of General Military Commander in Damascus. He fought against the Syrian army in Homs countryside, Hama and Palmyra, and he participated in the battle of al-Tanf and captured and killed a large number of Ismaili and Druze communities in the countryside of Hama and al-Salamiyya. ISIS made him a member of the Commission’s mandate. He is a high-ranking prince known on YouTube as Sufyan al-Naimi. He came out with a group of approximately 150 gunmen to Idlib, forming the Battalion of Palmyra Martyrs. He is currently the military commander of the “Sari Kani” campaign. Note: Sufian captured and killed almost 200 people in the countrysides of Suwayda, Hama and Salmiya and kidnapped an American named “Peterxix”, working for a relief organization in Idlib countryside, who was executed by ISIS later on. This man is well known on YouTube and on the list of the wanted for International Coalition. 62. : Born in 1987 in Idlib (mother, Noura). Sharif had been a member of Nusra Front in 2014 for several years in Jisr al-Shughur, Idlib. He was a prominent prince. He went to Afrin and joined the Euphrates Shield of Ahrar al-Sham in 2017. He is now a leader of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, in charge of “Suluk” village in Tell Abiad countryside. 63. : 27 years old, known as Abu Omar al-Dairi, lived in Deir al-Zour, al-‘Amal neighborhood, in 2015 in Ash Shaddadi Hasaka (mother, Sahar). He was transferred to Raqqa countryside to join Caliphate Army and fled to al-Rai, Aleppo. He joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction and is now fighting on the fronts of Suluk and Tell Abiad with Ahrar al-Sharqiya. 64. : 20 years old, Known as al-Hamshari, lived in Deir Ezzor, Ksarat district (mother, Khawla). Joined ISIS in 2016 in Raqqa, he was moved into the security field. He worked with his Amir Abu Muhammad Al-Qahtani, setting traps in Raqqa northern countryside. He joined Ahrar Al-Sharqia in 2017 and is now fighting in the fronts of Tell Abiad with Ahrar Al-Sharqiya. 65. : 23 years old, known as Abu Abdullah khreita, lived in Khreitah, Deir ez-Zor (mother, Muzna). He joined ISIS in 2014 in Al Tebni in Deir ez-Zor in 2014. He specialized as a combatant in Caliphate Army and was transferred to al-jarniya in Tabqa countryside, fled to al-Rai in Aleppo in 2016. Then he joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and now is fighting with them on the fronts of Suluk. 66. : Known as Abu Faisal al-Ansari, born in 1990. He joined ISIS in 2014 in Homs. He fought several battles, including the T4 Airport and Damascus countryside. He fought in al-Tanf against the coalition. He went directly to Idlib in 2017 and joined the Army of Islam. Trained in Turkey for a month and participated in the battle of Afrin, Tall Rifat and Shahba and is currently in Ras Al-Ayn fighter with the Army of Islam. 67. : 27 years old, known as Abu Omar Madan, lived in Deir al-Zour, joined ISIS in 2015 in Al Tebni in Deir al-Zour, then was transferred to al-Khair Wilayat in Deir al-Zour and specialized in 23 cannon. He fought with ISIS in Ayn al-Arab then escaped to Al-Rai of Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and became a counter-23 and is now fighting on the fronts of Tell Abiad with Ahrar al-Sharqiya. 68. : 27 years old, known as Abu Khaled, lived in Hasakah, Ghweiran district (mother, Fadwa). Joined ISIS in 2015, inAsh Shaddadi in Hasaka. He was transferred into the Caliphate Army on the fronts of Deir Ezzor Military Airport. fled to al-Rai, then joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya, and is now fighting on the fronts of Ras al-Ayn. 69. : Aged 30, known as Khatab al-Iraqi, from Al-Aan City in Iraq. He joined ISIS in 2014, and was the prince of the “Indulgers” in Iraq, then came to Ash Shaddadi in Hasaka. He became a fighting trainer in Hawija qate’, and then moved to the city of Tabqa and continued his work. He fought on several fronts in Aleppo, and when the fighting began in Raqqa in 2017, he fled to al-Rai in Aleppo and is now fighting on the fronts of Sari Kani. 70. : 24 years old, from Aleppo, joined ISIS in 2015 inTabqa, specialized in heavy weapons. He became a mortar and artillery gunner on all fronts of Tabqa countryside. He fled to the Rai area of Aleppo in 2017 and joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and is now fighting on the fronts of Ras al-Ayn and its surroundings. 71. : 30 years old, known as Abu Marwan Sharii, a resident of Damascus, Al-Hajar al-Aswad district, joined ISIS in Raqqa. In 2014, he specialized in Islamic “Dawa”. He went to Mosul in Iraq, stayed there for a year, then returned to Deir Ezzor. He became the prince of Dawa and mosques, then was sent to al-Baraka Wilayat on a mission. He then returned to the province of Raqqa, where he was assigned a legal and military mission for the countryside of Raqqa. He fled to Azaz in Aleppo in 2017. He joined Ahrar al-Sharqiya and became responsible for a faction and now he fights with them on the fronts of Tell Abiad. 72. : Known as Abu Zakaria al-Ansari, born in 1994, joined ISIS in Homs with Riyad al-Salheen Battalion. He participated in the battles of Hama countryside and the battle of al-Sha’er and went to Aleppo for support, where he met the prince Abu Yaman who was in charge of the outside security in Idleb. Yahya then went to Turkey and had a military training for 15 days and returned and joined the Hamza Division and participated in the battle of Afrin and Tall Rifat, and is currently in Tell Abiad. 73. : Known as Abu Muhammad al-Homsi, born in 1992 in Homs, pledged allegiance to ISIS in Uqayribat area in Hama countryside. He became the responsible for the security of Prince Abu Hamza al-Sanhaji in Badia and participated in several battles in Damascus, Hama and Homs countryside against the Syrian army and left for Turkey at the beginning of 2017 with a group of 15 people and had a military training in Turkey and participated directly in the battle of Afrin and is currently with his group with Hamza Division special forces and is in Ras al-Ayn and has a checkpoint in the district of Mashfa there. 74. : Known as Abu Alwais Nasra, born in 1992 in Idlib countryside, Jergnaz village, joined Nusra Front in 2014 in Idlib. He was initially an ordinary fighter. In 2016, he served as a group prince and underwent an “indulger” course at The American Abu Osama Camp in Khan al-Sabl countryside. In 2018, an agreement was reached between Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham movement. Yacoub and his “indulgers” group moved to Jarablus as a supporter of Ahrar al-Sham because of their disagreement with the other factions. Yacoub is currently participating in the fighting in Tell Abiad with Ahrar al-Sham. 75. : Born in 1995 in al-Tabqa city, from Al-Nasir clan (mother, Shamsa). He joined NusraFront in 2013 with his father, Abdul-Fattah Al-Sheikh. He participated in the battle of Ras al-Ayn in 2013. He withdrew with Nusra Front to Idlib after the murder of his prince, Abu Issa. He moved to Azaz and joined Ahrar al-Sham at Prince Mahmoud, known as the “uncle”, who is his actual uncle at the same time and participated in the battle of Afrin and is currently in Tell Abiad with Ahrar al-Sham. 76. : From Ras al-Ayn, was a former ISIS prince who was found in al-Mabrouka town with his son Jassim on 24/10/2019 during the release of ISIS prisoners in al-Mabrouka town. He and his father, Jasem Al-Resho, were in Tell Abiad in 2014 and committed the most heinous massacres against civilians. After the liberation of the city by the YPG in 2015, he fled to Turkey to return again. View the online dossier in English, including individual profile summaries and data for all 76 ISIS fighters here. *** Author Khaled Iskef is an independent researcher and journalist based in Syria. His work has appeared on a number of international media outlets including Al Mayadeen TV. See his archive here.
|
21wire
|
https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/11/21/new-report-evidence-of-turkeys-war-crimes-in-syria-with-isis-members-in-their-ranks/
|
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 16:21:08 +0000
| 1,574,371,268 | 1,574,381,101 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
20,086 |
anti-impreialist--2019-02-13--Elliot Abrams, Iran-Contra and War Crimes in Latin America
| 2019-02-13T00:00:00 |
anti-impreialist
|
Elliot Abrams, Iran-Contra and War Crimes in Latin America
|
Friend of the show Hugo Turner joined me this week to discuss Elliot Abrams and his legacy in Central America and role in the Iran-Contra affair. We began by discussing the roots of Iran-Contra and why it is still largely ignored by the media. Hugo discussed the origins of the affair going all the way back to the October Surprise in 1980. We talked about the other events that opened the door into Iran-Contra including the attempted assassination of Contra leader Eden Pastora in Costa Rica. Hugo and I then explored Abrams role in Iran-Contra itself. We also discussed Abrams role in covering up war crimes in El Salvador like the El Motoze massacre. Later Hugo and I talked about the genocide in Guatemala which Abrams helped facilitate. We also discussed the complex web of people and groups involved in drug trafficking, terrorism, death squads, and the suppression of the poor. We closed out the conversation by looking at the parallels between the 1980’s and the current political environment. We used the current situations in Venezuela and Haiti as examples.Show Notes:
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Hugo Turner ([email protected])
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http://anti-imperialist-u.blogspot.com/2019/02/elliot-abrams-iran-contra-and-war.html
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2019-02-13T10:59:00.001-08:00
| 1,550,073,540 | 1,584,056,598 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
217,377 |
france24--2019-11-07--Congolese warlord given 30-year sentence for crimes against humanity
| 2019-11-07T00:00:00 |
france24
|
Congolese warlord given 30-year sentence for crimes against humanity
|
REUTERS | Congolese militia commander Bosco Ntaganda enters the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands, November 7, 2019. The International Criminal Court sentenced Congolese rebel chief Bosco “Terminator” Ntaganda to 30 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity on Thursday, the highest ever penalty issued by the tribunal. Ntaganda was convicted in July of offences including murder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers in a mineral-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 2000s. Most of the charges against Rwandan-born Ntaganda, 46, related to a series of gruesome massacres of villagers carried out by his fighters. “Murder was committed on a large scale,” presiding judge Robert Flemr said, adding that the Hague-based court had taken the “particular cruelty” of some of Ntaganda’s actions into account. “The overall sentence imposed on you shall therefore be 30 years of imprisonment.” But while the judges gave him the maximum sentence allowed by the ICC in terms of the number of years, they said that “despite their gravity” his crimes did not warrant a full-life prison term. Ntaganda, dressed in a blue suit and shirt and wearing a red tie, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed in the high-security courtroom. An ICC spokesman confirmed it was the heaviest ever sentence handed down to date by the court, which was set up in 2002 to try the world’s worst crimes. Ntaganda has appealed against his conviction earlier this year on 13 counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity—which saw him become the first to be convicted by the ICC of sexual enslavement. “Bosco Ntaganda’s 30-year sentence sends a strong message that even people considered untouchable may one day be held to account,” said Ida Sawyer, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa division. “While his victims’ pain cannot be erased, they can take some comfort in seeing justice prevail.” A refugee from the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, Ntaganda emerged as a ruthless driver of ethnic Tutsi revolts that subsequently convulsed neighbouring DRC. Judges said Ntaganda was a “key leader” of the Union of Congolese Patriots rebel group and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), in the DRC’s volatile Ituri region in 2002 and 2003. More than 60,000 people have been killed since the violence erupted in Ituri, according to rights groups, as militias battle each other for control of mineral resources. The court heard fearful villagers dubbed him “Terminator”, after the Arnold Schwarzenegger film about a merciless robotic killer, during two bloody operations by Ntaganda’s soldiers against civilians in rival villages in 2002 and 2003. Fighters loyal to him carried out atrocities such as a massacre in a banana field behind a village in which at least 49 people including children and babies were disembowelled or had their heads smashed in. Ntaganda received a series of sentences ranging from eight to 30 years, with ICC rules saying that the overall prison term must reflect the highest individual sentence. He got 30 years for murder and attempted murder, with judges saying he was directly guilty of the murder of a Catholic priest and indirectly responsible for many others by directing the military offensives. He also received a 30-year sentence for persecution. Ntaganda further received 28 years for the “systematic” rape of “women, girls and men” including girls aged nine and 11; a sentence of 14 years for the sex slavery of child soldiers recruited by his group; and 12 years for the sexual enslavement of civilian children. Judges said they found no mitigating factors, despite defence arguments that he was himself a victim of the Rwandan genocide. Ntaganda—known for his pencil moustache and a penchant for fine dining—said during his trial that he was a “soldier not a criminal” and that the “Terminator” nickname did not apply to him. After the Ituri conflict, Ntaganda was integrated into the Congolese army and was a general from 2007 to 2012, but then became a founding member of the M23 rebel group in a new uprising against the government. In 2013 Ntaganda became the first ever suspect to surrender to the court, walking into the US embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali and asking to be sent to the Netherlands. Ntaganda is one of five Congolese warlords to have been brought before the ICC, and his former FPLC commander Thomas Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012. His conviction was seen as a boost for the ICC after several high-profile suspects walked free. The court has also been criticised for mainly trying African suspects.
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NEWS WIRES
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https://www.france24.com/en/20191107-congolese-warlord-given-30-year-sentence-for-crimes-against-humanity
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Thu, 07 Nov 2019 10:30:05 GMT
| 1,573,140,605 | 1,573,133,651 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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229,989 |
globalresearch--2019-07-04--War Crimes in Libya Acts of Revenge by Government of National Accord GNA Forensics Confirm Execu
| 2019-07-04T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
|
War Crimes in Libya, Acts of Revenge by Government of National Accord (GNA): Forensics Confirm Executions by GNA Militias at Gharyan Hospital
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Libya’s Centre for Judicial Expertise (CJE) has conducted forensic investigations and identified the cause of death of several members of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Central Security Apparatus (CSA) after GNA militias entered Gharyan. The report concluded that LNA and CSA soldiers and officers were executed by GNA militias at Gharyan Hospital after they were captured. This article contains graphic images. Copies of death certificates which have been obtained by Al Marsad after the prosecutor granted permission to bury the victims, prove that the Centre for Judicial Expertise’s (CJE) Department of Forensic Medicine team did indeed confirm that a number of soldiers had been shot dead. Doctors also confirmed that the victims were shot from a close range with some being shot in the head with bullets that pierced their skulls from back to front, whilst others were shot at with rounds of bullets from a close distance. Some of the bodies also displayed markings of cars run over them. This clearly shows that the summary execution and mutilation constitutes a war crime committed by the GNA militas. The Government of National Accord (GNA) has denied any acts of revenge or summary executions in Gharyan. However, the GNA denial has been refuted by the accounts of survivors after the entry into Gharyan by troops loyal to the Tripoli Government. Bodies of Slain Soldiers Returned to their Families The Red Crescent in the city of Zintan (ZRC) received 40 corpses from the Gharyan University Hospital. From there the bodies were airlifted and transported by land to the victims’ families. The bodies of executed soldiers from Cyrenaica were flown to Benghazi; the bodies of those from the South were transported to Wadi el-Shati; while victims from the Western region were transported to the city of al-Asabia where they were buried in the city’s cemetery. To see more photos, click here. Zintan’s Red Crescent on Saturday posted pictures of the victims on its official Facebook page which clearly showed that the victims had sustained gunshots to the head. The photos also showed signs of torture, lacerations and facial mutilation due to proximity of the deliberate shooting which was cited in the forensic reports of the Centre for Judicial Expertise (CJE). However, the ZRC stressed its lack of jurisdiction in determining the cause of the deaths yet the forensic evidence left little doubt. Meanwhile, the family of soldier Saleh Ibrahim bin Ali al-Khazali who was also killed by the GNA militia received his body in his hometown of Bayda. The body was sent from the morgue of the Gharyan University Hospital. The slain soldier first appeared in a footage which was published on Facebook at the same hospital, where he appeared to be injured and was speaking consciously, before he was killed by the militias. The father of the victim made a statement following the funeral of his son on Saturday. In a video release (see below), the family of the deceased soldier blamed Major General Usama Juwailli, Commander of the Western Military Region of the Government of National Accord (GNA), for the massacre. The House of Representatives (HoR) condemned the Gharyan summary executions of the LNA and CSA soldiers and declared mourning for three days. The HoR statement said: The Foreign Affairs, Defense and National Security Committees of the HoR held Turkey responsible for the massacre due to their use of Turkish killer drones in the attack on Gharyan and assistance in the planned capture of Gharyan from LNA forces. This was confirmed by Major General Mohammad al-Manfour who announced last night the destruction of a Turkish drone on a runway at Mitiga airport. There is still deafening silence from the international community on the massacre by GNA Islamist militiamen in Gharyan. There has been no official outrage from Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the EU Commission. Ghassan Salamé the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has yet to issue a condemnation of the massacre against the POWs in Gharyan. Some EU Ambassadors, such as the German Ambassador to Libya, Oliver Owcza, were insensitive in their official tweets on Gharyan and avoided any reference to the war crimes. International human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch have not issued any statement on Gharyan or called for an inquiry in what has been beyond doubt a horrendous crime according to the norms of the Geneva Conventions and abuse of human rights. Activists such as Hanan Salah and Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch made no mention as of yet of the war crimes and massacre at Gharyan. Also surprisingly silent on the massacre and war crimes committed by GNA militias are the western experts, newswire agencies and journalists on Libya. Their focus is typically on the actions of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the House of Representatives (HoR), and seem to be alarmingly negligent on the human rights abuses and criminal activity of Islamist militias under the GNA, or even on the nature of Turkey’s involvement and support for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tripoli-based government and their actions in Gharyan. The recent US State Department 2019 report issued last week which documented the collusion of the GNA with criminal human trafficking rings and the abuse suffered by migrants at the detention centres is likewise swept under the rug. The report revealed disturbing collusion of the GNA with criminal networks: The fact that such information goes uninvestigated is an indication on how much is unreported by established western media organs and experts aligned to Islamist institutions. As the Libyan nation mourns the death of over 40 POWs killed brutally by militias under the GNA, in what has been regarded as one of the most brutal massacres and war crimes since the Brak El-Shati massacre by GNA militias in 2017, Libyan commentators hold the GNA government of Fayez Sarraj responsible and are publicly calling for an international enquiry into the war crimes committed in Gharyan. Forensic reports of five bodies examined and identified: Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc. All images in this article are from Al Marsad
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Al Marsad
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/war-crimes-gharyan-forensics-confirm-executions-gna-militias-gharyan-hospital/5682679
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2019-07-04 13:35:18+00:00
| 1,562,261,718 | 1,567,536,870 |
conflict, war and peace
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massacre
|
230,335 |
globalresearch--2019-08-03--Were the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a War Crime and a Crime Against Humanity
| 2019-08-03T00:00:00 |
globalresearch
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Were the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a War Crime and a Crime Against Humanity?
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74 Years Ago, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 Was President Harry Truman “a murderer,” as the renowned British analytic philosopher Gertrude Elizabeth Anscombe once charged? Were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki indeed a war crime and a crime against humanity, as she and other academic luminaries have publicly claimed? A Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at Oxford and Cambridge, who was one of the 20th century’s most gifted philosophers and recognizably the greatest woman philosopher in history, Dr. Anscombe openly called President Truman a “war criminal” for his decision to have the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki leveled by atomic bombs in August 1945 (Rachels & Rachels 127). According to another academic critic, the late American historian Howard Zinn, at least 140,000 Japanese civilians were “turned into powder and ash” in Hiroshima. Over 70,000 civilians were incinerated in Nagasaki, and another 130,000 residents of the two cities died of radiation sickness in the next five years (Zinn 23). The two most often cited reasons for President Truman’s controversial decision were to shorten the war and to save the lives of “between 250,000 and 500,000” American soldiers who could have possibly died in battle had the U.S. military had to invade the home islands of Imperial Japan. Truman reportedly claimed that But Dr. Gertrude Anscombe, who along with her husband, Dr. Peter Geach, Professor of Philosophical Logic and Ethics, were the 20th century’s foremost philosophical champions of the doctrine that moral rules are absolute, did not buy this morally callous argument: In 1956, Professor Anscombe and other prominent faculty members of Oxford University openly protested the decision of university administrators to grant Truman an honorary degree in gratitude for America’s wartime help. She even wrote a pamphlet, explaining that the former U.S. President was “a murderer” and “a war criminal” (Rachels & Rachels 128). In the eyes of many contemporaries of Elizabeth Anscombe, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki violated famous philosophical-ethical norms such as the “Sanctity of Human Life,” the “Wrongfulness of Killing,” and also that “it is wrong to use people as means to other people’s ends.” Former President Herbert Hoover (image on the right) was another early critic, openly declaring that Even President Truman’s own Chief of Staff, the five-star Admiral William D. Leahy (the most senior U.S. military officer during the war) made no secret of his strong disapprobation of the atomic bombings: The apologists for President Truman, on the other hand, seem to be using the quasi-Utilitarian “Benefits Argument” to justify the barbaric use of a devastating weapon of mass destruction, which killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the two targeted Japanese cities even though (contrary to Truman’s many public pronouncements at that time) there had been no military troops, no heavy weaponry, or even any major war-related industries in either city. Because nearly the entire adult male population of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been drafted by the Japanese military, it was mostly women, children, and old men who fell victims to fiery death from the sky. The excuse that Truman himself repeatedly offered was: He even boasted that he had “slept like a baby” the night after signing the final order to use the atomic bombs against Japan (Rachels & Rachels 127). But what Truman was saying in self-justification was far from being the truth—let alone the whole truth. At the urging of a fellow nuclear physicist—the anti-Nazi Hungarian émigré Leo Szilard—Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 2, 1939, recommending that the U.S. government should start work on a powerful atomic device as a defensive deterrent to Nazi Germany’s possible acquisition and use of nuclear weaponry (Ham 103-104). But when the top-secret Manhattan Project finally got off the ground in early 1942, the U.S. military obviously had other, much more offensive plans regarding the future targets of America’s A-bombs. While at least 67 other Japanese cities, including the capital Tokyo, were reduced to rubble by daily conventional firebombing, including the use of napalm and other incendiaries, Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been deliberately spared for the sole purpose of testing the destructiveness of the new atomic device (Claypool 11). An even more important reason for employing the bomb was to scare Stalin, who had turned quickly from “Old Uncle Joe” at the time of the FDR presidency into “the Red Menace” in the eyes of Truman and his top advisers. President Truman had quickly abandoned FDR’s policy of cooperation with Moscow, replacing it with a new policy of hostile confrontation with Stalin, in which America’s newly-acquired monopoly over nuclear armaments would be exploited as an aggressive tool of Washington’s anti-Soviet diplomacy (Truman’s so-called “atomic diplomacy”). Fully two months before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the same Leo Szilard had met privately with Truman’s Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes, and had tried unsuccessfully to persuade him that the nuclear weapon should not be used to destroy helpless civilian targets such as Japan’s cities. According to Dr. Szilard, The Truman Administration had, in fact, postponed the Potsdam meeting of the Big Three until July 17, 1945—one day after the successful Trinity test of the first A-bomb at the Alamogordo testing range in New Mexico—to give Truman extra diplomatic leverage in negotiating with Stalin (Alperovitz Atomic Diplomacy 6). In Truman’s own words, the atom bomb “would keep the Russians straight” and “put us in a position to dictate our own terms at the end of the war” (Alperovitz Atomic Diplomacy 54, 63). At this point, the Truman Administration was no longer interested in having Moscow’s Red Army liberate Northern China (Manchuria) from Japanese military occupation (as FDR, Churchill, and Stalin had jointly agreed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945)—let alone invade or capture Imperial Japan itself. Quite to the contrary. Publicly deploring the “political-diplomatic rather than military motives” behind Truman’s decision to nuke Japan, Albert Einstein complained that “a great majority of scientists were opposed to the sudden employment of the atom bomb. I suspect that the affair was precipitated by a desire to end the war in the Pacific by any means before Russia’s participation” (Alperovitz The Decision 444). Winston Churchill privately told his Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, at the Potsdam Conference that Not even Tokyo’s last-minute desperate offer (made during and after the Potsdam Conference) to surrender if the Allies promised not to prosecute Japan’s god-like emperor or remove him from office—could prevent this deadly decision, even though Truman “had indicated a willingness to maintain the emperor on the throne” (Dallek 25). Therefore, sparing the lives of American GIs was hardly one of Truman’s more convincing arguments. In early 1945, FDR and Army General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, had together decided to leave the capture of Berlin to Soviet Marshal Georgi Zhukov‘s battle-hardened troops in order to avoid heavy American casualties. After officially declaring war on Tokyo on August 8, 1945, and having destroyed the Japanese military forces in Manchuria, Stalin’s Red Army prepared to invade and occupy Japan’s home islands—which certainly would have saved the lives of thousands of U.S. servicemen about whom Truman seemed so vocally concerned. But following Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender in May 1945, Truman had come to share Winston Churchill’s famous revisionist assessment that “We have slain the wrong swine.” It is not even clear whether Tokyo finally surrendered on August 14 due to the two U.S. nuclear attacks carried out on August 6 and August 9, respectively (after which there were practically no more Japanese cities left to destroy nor any more U.S. A-bombs to drop)—or because of the threat of Soviet invasion and occupation after Moscow had entered the war against the Empire of Japan. Just days before the Soviet declaration of war, the Japanese ambassador to Moscow had cabled Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo in Tokyo that Moscow’s entry into the war would spell a total disaster for Japan: To nuke or not to nuke General Eisenhower was later quoted as stating his conviction that it had not been “necessary” militarily to use the bomb to force Japanese surrender: In private, Eisenhower repeated his objections to his direct boss, Truman’s Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson: Admiral William F. Halsey, commander of the U.S. Third Fleet (which conducted the bulk of naval operations against the Japanese in the Pacific during the entire war), agreed that there was “no military need” to employ the new weapon, which was used only because the Truman Administration had a “toy and they wanted to try it out…. The first atomic bomb was an unnecessary experiment…. It was a mistake to ever drop it” (Alperovitz The Decision 445). Indeed, it was quite “certain” at the time that a totally devastated Japan, which was on the verge of internal collapse, would have surrendered within weeks, if not days, without the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or even without the Soviet declaration of war against Tokyo. As the official U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey concluded at the end of the war, “certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated” (Alperovitz Atomic Diplomacy 10-11). Major General Curtis E. Lemay, commander of the U.S. Twenty-first Bomber Command which had conducted the massive conventional bombing campaign against wartime Japan and dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, stated publicly: “I felt there was no need to use them [atomic weapons]. We were doing the job with incendiaries. We were hurting Japan badly…. We went ahead and dropped the bombs because President Truman told me to do it…. All the atomic bomb did was, in all probability, save a few days” (Alperovitz The Decision 340). The fateful decision to drop the two atomic bombs code-named “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” on Japan may have been made a little bit more morally acceptable for Truman by the daily carpet bombing of German and Japanese cities throughout the war, including the firebombings of Hamburg, Dresden, and Tokyo, which had nearly wiped out their civilian populations. The declared goal of these relentless city-busting air raids was to destroy the morale and the will to fight of the German and Japanese people and thus shorten the war. But many years after the war Dr. Howard Zinn (himself a B-17 co-pilot and bombardier who had flown dozens of bombing missions against Nazi Germany) sadly mused: “No one seemed conscious of the irony—that one of the reasons for the general indignation against the fascist powers was their history of indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations” (Zinn 37). But, in fact, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Admiral William Leahy, and Army General Douglas MacArthur were no less disturbed by what they saw as the barbarity of the “terror” air campaign, with Stimson privately fearing that the U.S. would “get the reputation for outdoing Hitler in atrocities” (Ham 63). Clearly, Japan was defeated and was preparing to surrender before the bomb was used, whose main—if not the only—purpose was to intimidate the Soviet Union. But there had been several viable alternatives, some of which were discussed prior to the atomic bombings. The Under Secretary of the Navy, Ralph Bard, had become convinced that “the Japanese war was really won” and was so disturbed by the prospect of using atom bombs against defenseless civilians that he secured a meeting with President Truman, at which he unsuccessfully pressed his case “for warning the Japanese of the nature of the new weapon” (Alperovitz Atomic Diplomacy 19). Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, who replaced Bard after the latter’s angry resignation, also believed that “the war was very nearly over. The Japanese were nearly ready to capitulate.” That is why Admiral Strauss insisted that the atom bomb should be demonstrated in a way that would not kill large numbers of civilians, proposing that “…a satisfactory place for such a demonstration would be a large forest of cryptomeria trees not far from Tokyo” (Alperovitz Atomic Diplomacy 19). General George C. Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, was equally opposed to the bomb being used on civilian areas, arguing instead that General Marshall also insisted that instead of surprising the Russians with the first use of the atom bomb, Moscow should be invited to send observers to the Alamogordo nuclear test. Many of the scientists working for the Manhattan Project likewise urged that a demonstration be arranged first, including a possible nuclear explosion at sea in close proximity to Japan’s coast, so that the bomb’s destructive power would be made clear to the Japanese before it was used against them. But, like the U.S. military’s dissenting views, the nuclear scientists’ opposition was never considered seriously by the Truman Administration (Alperovitz Atomic Diplomacy 20-21). As a result of Truman’s immoral decision to use nuclear explosives against the “Japs” (a derogatory name for the Japanese commonly used in public in wartime America, including by President Truman himself), well over 200,000 civilians were instantly cremated and many thousands died later of radiation sickness. J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project and “father” of the U.S. atom bomb, declared that Truman’s decision was “a grievous error,” because now “we have blood on our hands” (Claypool 17). Howard Zinn agreed with Dr. Oppenheimer’s judgment, remarking that “much of the argument defending the atomic bombings has been based on a mood of retaliation, as if the children of Hiroshima had bombed Pearl Harbor…. Did American children deserve to die because of the U.S. massacre of Vietnamese children at My Lai?” (Zinn 59). The controversial General Curtis Lemay, who had opposed the two atomic blasts, later confided to former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (who had worked for Lemay during the war, helping select Japanese targets for the American firebombing raids): “If we’d lost the war, we’d all have been prosecuted as war criminals” (Schanberg). Given the unjustifiable and unnecessary use of such an inhumane and indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction as the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Professor Elizabeth Anscombe called President Truman a murderer and a war criminal. Until the day she died, Dr. Anscombe believed that Truman should have been put on trial for having committed some of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity during WWII. Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc. Rossen Vassilev Jr. is a journalism senior at the Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Alperovitz, Gar. Atomic Diplomacy: Hisroshima and Potsdam. The Use of the Atomic Bomb and the American Confrontation with Soviet Power. London and Boulder, CO: Pluto Press. 1994. Print. —-. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. New York: Vintage Books. 1996. Print. Barnes, Michael. “The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb: Arguments Against.” Web. 14 Apr. 2019. Claypool, Jane. Hisroshima and Nagasaki. New York and London: Franklin Watts, 1984. Print. Ham, Paul. Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 2011. Print. Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. The Elements of Moral Philosophy (8th edition). McGraw-Hill Education, 2015. Print.
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Rossen Vassilev Jr.
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/were-atomic-bombings-hiroshima-nagasaki-war-crime-crime-against-humanity/5683441
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2019-08-03 13:08:49+00:00
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conflict, war and peace
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massacre
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479,075 |
russiainsider--2019-12-09--WW2 War Crimes of Churchill and the Americans Were Far Worse Than Hitler's
| 2019-12-09T00:00:00 |
russiainsider
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WW2 War Crimes of Churchill and the Americans Were Far Worse Than Hitler's
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Partly as a consequence of their media-fabricated victimhood status, they have managed to seize control over much of our political system, especially our foreign policy, and have spent the last few years doing their utmost to foment an absolutely insane war with nuclear-armed Russia. If they do manage to achieve that unfortunate goal, they will surely outdo the very impressive human body-count racked up by their ethnic ancestors, perhaps even by an order-of-magnitude or more." Today’s American Neocons are just as heavily Jewish as were the Bolsheviks of a hundred years ago, and they have greatly benefited from the political immunity provided by this totally bizarre inversion of historical reality. "... the inescapable conclusion is that in per capita terms Jews were the greatest mass-murderers of the twentieth century, holding that unfortunate distinction by an enormous margin and with no other nationality coming even remotely close. And yet, by the astonishing alchemy of Hollywood, the greatest killers of the last one hundred years have somehow been transmuted into being seen as the greatest victims, a transformation so seemingly implausible that future generations will surely be left gasping in awe. This article serves to introduce readers to the third and final Installment of Ron Unz’s “Understanding World War II” series. When we want to demonize someone the worst epithet we can think of is to call him a Nazi or compare the person to Hitler, as Hillary Clinton did when she declared Russia’s President Putin “the new Hitler.” This ingrained habit comes from the influence of the massive anti-German World War II propaganda. Revisionist historians who have actually dug up the buried evidence and examined it have made a case that whatever the Nazi crimes, they were rivaled, if not exceeded, by those of Churchill and the Americans. Unz, a prolific reader with a knack for tying things together reviews some of the true history in what follows. To condition yourself for the coming shock, keep in mind that the same Hitler that is said to have hated Jews and systematically gassed and burnt them, had 150,000 half-and quarter-Jews serving in his armies, “mostly as combat officers, and these included at least 15 half-Jewish generals and admirals, with another dozen quarter Jews holding those same high ranks. The most notable example was Field Marshal Erhard Milch, Hermann Goering’s powerful second-in-command, who played such an important operational role in creating the Luftwaffe. Milch certainly had a Jewish father, and according to some much less substantiated claims, perhaps even a Jewish mother as well, while his sister was married to an SS general.” When truth-tellers rattle our cages, we get upset over having our comfortable make-believe world disturbed and shout invectives. Rather than condemn the messanger, the more mature response would be to condemn those who lied to us and institutionalized false history into our consciousness. Keep in mind that the few who tell you the truth pay a high price for doing so; therefore, you should refrain from adding your invective to the copious amount heaped on them by the Establishment. Think about it. Which is your true friend, the one who tells you the truth, or the one who controls the explanations you receive in order to advance his own agenda? I again state my admiration of Ron Unz. He is Jewish. He is highly intelligent. He is a Harvard graduate. He is an entrepreneur who made himself a multi-millionaire. He could have held his fire and risen to the top of the establishment. Instead, he chose to tell us the truth. Ron Unz is the person who should be President. Unlike Trump, Unz would know how to staff a government that would put truth and morality back in charge of our future. Here is Ron Unz weighing for us the historical evidence on who was the worst war criminal. The emphasis is added: For most present-day Americans, the primary image associated with Hitler and his German regime is the horrendous scale of the war-crimes that they supposedly committed during the global conflict that they are alleged to have unleashed. But in one of his lectures, Irving made the rather telling observation that the relative scale of such World War II crimes and especially their evidentiary base might not necessarily point in the direction of implicating the Germans. Although Hollywood and those in its thrall have endlessly cited the findings of the Nuremberg Tribunals as the final word on Nazi barbarism, even a cursory examination of those proceedings raises enormous skepticism. As time passed, historians gradually acknowledged that some of the most shocking and lurid pieces of evidence used to secure worldwide condemnation of the defendants—the human lampshades and bars of soap, the shrunken heads—were entirely fraudulent. The Soviets were determined to prosecute the Nazis for the Katyn Forest massacre of the captured Polish officer corps even though the Western Allies were convinced that Stalin had actually been responsible, a belief eventually confirmed by Gorbachev and the newly-opened Soviet archives. If the Germans had actually done so many horrible things, one wonders why the prosecution would have bothered including such fabricated and false charges. And over the decades, considerable evidence has accumulated that the Gas Chambers and the Jewish Holocaust—the central elements of today’s Nazi “Black Legend”—were just as fictional as all those other items. The Germans were notoriously meticulous record-keepers, embracing orderly bureaucracy like no other people, and nearly all their archives were captured at the end of the war. Under these circumstances, it seems rather odd that there are virtually no traces of the plans or directives associated with the monstrous crimes that their leadership supposedly ordered committed in such massively industrial fashion. Instead, the entirety of the evidence seems to consist of a tiny quantity of rather doubtful documentary material, the dubious interpretations of certain phrases, and various German confessions, often obtained under brutal torture. Given his crucial wartime role in Military Intelligence, John Beaty [The Iron Curtain Over America] was particularly harsh in his denunciation of the proceedings, and the numerous top American generals who endorsed his book add considerably to the weight of his verdict: By contrast, Irving notes that if the Allies had instead been in the dock at Nuremberg, the evidence of their guilt would have been absolutely overwhelming. After all, it was Churchill who began the illegal terror-bombing of cities, a strategy deliberately intended to provoke German retaliation and which eventually led to the death of a million or more European civilians. Late in the war, military reversals had even persuaded the British leader to order similarly illegal poison gas attacks against German cities, along with the initiation of even more horrific biological warfare involving anthrax bombs. Irving located these signed directives in the British archives, although Churchill was later persuaded to countermand them before they were carried out. By contrast, German archival material demonstrates that Hitler had repeatedly ruled out any first use of such illegal weapons under any circumstances, even though Germany’s far deadlier arsenal might have turned the tide of the war in its favor. Although long forgotten today, Freda Utley was a mid-century journalist of some prominence. Born an Englishwoman, she had married a Jewish Communist and moved to Soviet Russia, then fled to America after her husband fell in one of Stalin’s purges. Although hardly sympathetic to the defeated Nazis, she strongly shared Beaty’s view of the monstrous perversion of justice at Nuremberg and her first-hand account of the months spent in Occupied Germany is eye-opening in its description of the horrific suffering imposed upon the prostrate population even years after the end of the war. Moreover: The population movement certainly seems to have represented the largest ethnic-cleansing in the history of the world, and if the Germany had ever done anything even remotely similar during its years of European victories and conquests, the visually-gripping scenes of such an enormous flood of desperate, trudging refugees would surely have become a centerpiece of numerous World War II movies of the last seventy years. But since nothing like that ever happened, Hollywood screenwriters lost a tremendous opportunity. I think perhaps the most plausible explanation for the widespread promotion of a multitude of largely fictional German war-crimes at Nuremberg was to the camouflage and obscure the very real ones actually committed by the Allies. Other related indicators may be found in the extreme tone of some of the American publications of the period, even those produced well before our country even entered the war. For example: Surely any such similar book published in Hitler’s Germany that advocated the extermination of all Jews or Slavs would have been a centerpiece at Nuremberg, and any newspaper reviewers who had treated it favorably would probably have stood in the dock for “crimes against humanity.” Meanwhile, the terrible nature of the Pacific War fought in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor is suggested by a 1944 issue of Life magazine that carried the photo of a young American woman with the skull of a Japanese soldier her boyfriend had sent her as a war souvenir. If any Nazi magazines ever featured similar images, I doubt the Allies would have had any need to fabricate ridiculous stories of human lampshades or soap. And remarkably enough, that grotesque scene actually provides a reasonably accurate indication of the savage atrocities that were regularly committed during the brutal fighting of the Pacific Theater. These unpleasant facts were fully set forth in War Without Mercy, an award-winning 1986 volume by eminent American historian John W. Dower that received glowing accolades by leading scholars and public intellectuals. The unfortunate truth is that Americans typically massacred Japanese who sought to surrender or who had even already been taken as prisoners, with the result that only a small slice—during some years merely a tiny sliver—of Japanese troops defeated in battle ever survived. The traditional excuse publicly offered for the virtual absence of any Japanese POWs was that their Bushido code made surrender unthinkable, yet when the Soviets defeated Japanese armies in 1945, they had no difficulty capturing over a million prisoners. Indeed, since interrogating prisoners was important for intelligence purposes, late in the war U.S. commanders began offering rewards such as ice cream to their troops for bringing some surrendering Japanese in alive rather than killing them in the field. American GIs also regularly committed remarkably savage atrocities. Dead or wounded Japanese frequently had their gold teeth knocked out and taken as war-booty, and their ears were often cut-off and kept as souvenirs, as was also sometimes the case with their skulls. Meanwhile, Dower notes the absence of any evidence suggesting similar behavior on the other side. The American media generally portrayed the Japanese as vermin fit for eradication, and numerous public statements by high-ranking American military leaders explicitly claimed that the bulk of the entire Japanese population would probably need to be exterminated in order to bring the war to a successful conclusion. Comparing such thoroughly-documented facts with the rather tenuous accusations usually leveled against Nazi political or military leaders is quite revealing. During the late 1980s evidence of other deep wartime secrets suddenly came to light. While visiting France during 1986 in preparation for an unrelated book, a Canadian writer named James Bacque stumbled upon clues suggesting that one of the most terrible secrets of post-war Germany had long remained completely hidden, and he soon embarked upon extensive research into the subject, finally publishing Other Losses in 1989. Based upon very considerable evidence, including government records, personal interviews, and recorded eyewitness testimony, he argued that after the end of the war, the Americans had starved to death as many as a million German POWs, seemingly as a deliberate act of policy, a war crime that would surely rank among the greatest in history. For decades, Western propagandists had relentlessly barraged the Soviets with claims that they were keeping back a million or more “missing” German POWs as slave-laborers in their Gulag, while the Soviets had endlessly denied these accusations. According to Bacque, the Soviets had been telling the truth all along, and the missing soldiers had been among the enormous numbers who had fled westward near the end of the war, seeking what they assumed would be far better treatment at the hands of the advancing Anglo-American armies. But instead, they were denied all normal legal protections, and confined under horrible conditions where they rapidly perished of hunger, illness, and exposure. Without attempting to summarize Bacque’s extensive accumulation of supporting material, a few of his factual elements are worth mentioning. At the close of hostilities, the American government employed circuitous legal reasoning to argue that the many millions of German troops that they had captured should not be considered “prisoners of war” and therefore were not covered by the provisions of the Geneva Convention. Soon afterward, attempts by the International Red Cross to provide food shipments to the enormous Allied prison camps were repeatedly rejected, and notices were posted throughout the nearby German towns and villages that any civilian who attempted to smuggle food to the desperate POWs might be shot on sight. These undeniable historical facts do seem to suggest certain dark possibilities. Although initially released by an obscure publisher, Bacque’s book soon became a sensation and an international best-seller. He paints Gen. Dwight Eisenhower as the central culprit behind the tragedy, noting the far lower POW losses in areas outside his control, and suggests that as a highly ambitious “political general” of German-American ancestry, he may have been under intense pressure to demonstrate his “harshness” toward the defeated Wehrmacht foe. Furthermore, once the Cold War ended and the Soviet Archives were open to scholars, their contents seem to have strongly validated Bacque’s thesis. He notes that although the archives do contain explicit evidence of such long-denied atrocities as Stalin’s Katyn Forest massacre of Poland’s officer corps, they show absolutely no signs of any million missing German POWs, who instead had very likely ended their lives in the starvation and illness of Eisenhower’s death camps. Bacque points out that the German government has issued severe legal threats against anyone seeking to investigate the likely sites of the mass graves that might hold the remains of those long-dead POWs, and in an updated edition, he also mentions Germany’s enactment of harsh new laws meting out heavy prison sentences to anyone who merely questions the official narrative of World War II. Bacque’s discussion of the new evidence of the Kremlin archives constitutes a relatively small portion of his 1997 sequel, Crimes and Mercies, which centered around an even more explosive analysis, and also became an international best-seller. As described above, first-hand observers of post-war Germany in 1947 and 1948 such as Gollanz and Utley, had directly reported on the horrific conditions they discovered, and stated that for years official food rations for the entire population had been comparable to that of the inmates of Nazi concentration camps and sometimes far lower, leading to the widespread malnutrition and illness they witnessed all around them. They also noted the destruction of most of Germany’s pre-war housing stock and the severe overcrowding produced by the influx of so many millions of pitiful ethnic German refugees expelled from other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. But these visitors lacked any access to solid population statistics, and could only speculate upon the enormous human death toll that hunger and illness had already inflicted, and which would surely continue if policies were not quickly changed. Years of archival research by Bacque attempt to answer this question, and the conclusion he provides is certainly not a pleasant one. Both the Allied military government and the later German civilian authorities seem to have made a concerted effort to hide or obscure the true scale of the calamity visited upon German civilians during the years 1945-1950, and the official mortality statistics found in government reports are simply too fantastical to possibly be correct, although they became the basis for the subsequent histories of that period. Bacque notes that these figures suggest that the death rate during the terrible conditions of 1947, long remembered as the “Hunger Year” (Hungerjahr) and vividly described in Gollancz’s account, was actually lower than that of the prosperous Germany of the late 1960s. Furthermore, private reports by American officials, mortality rates from individual localities, and other strong evidence demonstrate that these long-accepted aggregate numbers were essentially fictional. Instead, Bacque attempts to provide more realistic estimates based upon an examination of the population totals of the various German censuses together with the recorded influx of the huge number of German refugees. Based upon this simple analysis, he makes a reasonably strong case that the excess German deaths during that period amounted to at least around 10 million, and possibly many millions more. Furthermore, he provides substantial evidence that the starvation was either deliberate or at least enormously worsened by American government resistance to overseas food relief efforts. Perhaps these numbers should not be so totally surprising given that the official Morgenthau Plan had envisioned the elimination of around 20 million Germans, and as Bacque demonstrates, top American leaders quietly agreed to continue that policy in practice even while they renounced it in theory. Assuming these numbers are even remotely correct, the implications are quite remarkable. The toll of the human catastrophe experienced in post-war Germany would certainly rank among the greatest in modern peacetime history, far exceeding the deaths that occurred during the Ukrainian Famine of the early 1930s and possibly even approaching the wholly unintentional losses during Mao’s Great Leap Forward of 1959-61. Furthermore, the post-war German losses would vastly outrank either of these other unfortunate events in percentage terms and this would remain true even if the Bacque’s estimates are considerably reduced. Yet I doubt if even a small fraction of one percent of Americans are today aware of this enormous human calamity. Presumably memories are much stronger in Germany itself, but given the growing legal crackdown on discordant views in that unfortunate country, I suspect that anyone who discusses the topic too energetically risks immediate imprisonment. To a considerable extent, this historical ignorance has been heavily fostered by our governments, often using underhanded or even nefarious means. Just like in the old decaying USSR, much of the current political legitimacy of today’s American government and its various European vassal-states is founded upon a particular narrative history of World War II, and challenging that narrative might produce dire political consequences. Bacque credibly relates some of the apparent efforts to dissuade any major newspaper or magazine from running articles discussing the startling findings of his first book, thereby imposing a “blackout” aimed at absolutely minimizing any media coverage. Such measures seem to have been quite effective, since until eight or nine years ago, I’m not sure I had ever heard a word of these shocking ideas, and I have certainly never seen them seriously discussed in any of the numerous newspapers or magazines that I have carefully read over the last three decades. Even illegal means were employed to hinder the efforts of this solitary, determined scholar. At times, Bacque’s phone-lines were tapped, his mail intercepted, and his research materials surreptitiously copied, while his access to some official archives was blocked. Some of the elderly eyewitnesses who personally corroborated his analysis received threatening notes and had their property vandalized. In his Foreword to this 1997 book, De Zayas, the eminent international human rights attorney, praised Bacque’s ground-breaking research, and hoped that it would soon lead to a major scholarly debate aimed at reassessing the true facts of these historical events that had taken place a half-century earlier. But in his update to the 2007 edition, he expressed some outrage that no such discussion ever occurred, and instead the German government merely passed a series of harsh laws mandating prison sentences for anyone who substantially disputed the settled narrative of World War II and its immediate aftermath, perhaps by overly focusing on the suffering of German civilians. Although both of Bacque’s books became international best-sellers, the near-complete absence of any secondary media coverage ensured that they never entered public awareness with anything more than a pinprick. Another important factor is the tremendously disproportionate reach of print and electronic media. A best-seller may be read by many tens of thousands of people, but a successful film might reach tens of millions, and so long as Hollywood churns out endless movies denouncing Germany’s atrocities but not a single one on the other side, the true facts of that history are hardly likely to gain much traction. I strongly suspect that far more people today believe in the real-life existence of Batman and Spiderman than are even aware of the Bacque Hypothesis. Many of the elements presented above were drawn from my previous articles published over the last year or so, but I believe there is some value in providing this same material in unified form rather than only separately, even if the total length necessarily becomes quite considerable. World War II dominates our twentieth century landscape like a colossus, and still casts huge shadows across our modern world. That global conflict has probably been the subject of far more sustained coverage, whether in print or electronic media, than any other event in human history. So if we encounter a small handful of highly anomalous items that seem to directly contradict such an ocean of enormously detailed and long-accepted information, there is a natural tendency to dismiss these few outliers as implausible or even delusional. But once the total number of such discordant seemingly yet well-documented elements becomes sufficiently large, we must take them more seriously, and perhaps eventually concede that most of them are probably correct. As was suggested in a quote widely if doubtfully attributed to Stalin, “Quantity has a quality all of its own.” I am hardly the first individual to gradually become aware of this sweeping and cohesive counter-narrative of the Second World War, and a few months ago I happened to read Germany’s War, published in 2014 by amateur historian John Wear. Drawing from sources that substantially overlap with the ones I have discussed, his conclusions are reasonably similar to my own, but presented in a book length form that includes some 1,200 exact source references. So those interested in a much more detailed exposition of these same issues can read it and decide for themselves. When intellectual freedom is under attack, challenging an officially enshrined mythology may become legally perilous. I have seen claims that thousands of individuals who hold heterodox opinions about various aspects of the history of World War II are today imprisoned across Europe on the basis of those beliefs. If so, that total is probably far higher than the number of ideological dissidents who had suffered a similar fate in the decaying Soviet Bloc countries of the 1980s. World War II ended nearly three generations ago, and few of its adult survivors still walk the earth. From one perspective the true facts of that conflict and whether or not they actually contradict our traditional beliefs might appear rather irrelevant. Tearing down the statues of some long-dead historical figures and replacing them with the statues of others hardly seems of much practical value. But if we gradually conclude that the story that all of us have been told during our entire lifetimes is substantially false and perhaps largely inverted, the implications for our understanding of the world are enormous. Most of the surprising material presented here is hardly hidden or kept under lock-and-key. Nearly all the books are easily available at Amazon or even freely readable on the Internet, many of the authors have received critical and scholarly acclaim, and in some cases their works have sold in the millions. Yet this important material has been almost entirely ignored or dismissed by the popular media that shapes the common beliefs of our society. So we must necessarily begin to wonder what other massive falsehoods may have been similarly promoted by that media, perhaps involving incidents of the recent past or even the present day. And those latter events do have enormous practical significance. As I pointed out several years ago in my original American Pravda article: Even if the overwhelming majority of the unorthodox claims provided by such non-traditional web-based sources is incorrect, at least there now exists the possibility of extracting vital nuggets of truth from vast mountains of falsehood. We must also recognize that many of the fundamental ideas that dominate our present-day world were founded upon a particular understanding of that wartime history, and if there seems good reason to believe that narrative is substantially false, perhaps we should begin questioning the framework of beliefs erected upon it. George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s and discovered that the true facts in Spain were radically different from what he had been led to believe by the British media of his day. In 1948 these past experiences together with the rapidly congealing “official history” of the Second World War may have been uppermost in his mind when he published his classic novel 1984, which famously declared that “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” Indeed, as I noted last year this observation has never been more true than when we consider some of the historical assumptions that govern the politics of today’s world, and the likelihood that they are entirely misleading: Back in those late Cold War days, the death toll of innocent civilians from the Bolshevik Revolution and the first two decades of the Soviet Regime was generally reckoned at running well into the tens of millions when we include the casualties of the Russian Civil War, the government-induced famines, the Gulag, and the executions. I’ve heard that these numbers have been substantially revised downwards to perhaps as little as twenty million or so, but no matter. Although determined Soviet apologists may dispute such very large figures, they have always been part of the standard narrative history taught within the West. Meanwhile, all historians know perfectly well that the Bolshevik leaders were overwhelmingly Jewish, with three of the five revolutionaries Lenin named as his plausible successors coming from that background. Although only around 4% of Russia’s population was Jewish, a few years ago Vladimir Putin stated that Jews constituted perhaps 80-85% of the early Soviet government, an estimate fully consistent with the contemporaneous claims of Winston Churchill, Times of London correspondent Robert Wilton, and the officers of American Military Intelligence. Recent books by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Yuri Slezkine, and others have all painted a very similar picture. And prior to World War II, Jews remained enormously over-represented in the Communist leadership, especially dominating the Gulag administration and the top ranks of the dreaded NKVD. Both of these simple facts have been widely accepted in America throughout my entire lifetime. But combine them together with the relatively tiny size of worldwide Jewry, around 16 million prior to World War II, and the inescapable conclusion is that in per capita terms Jews were the greatest mass-murderers of the twentieth century, holding that unfortunate distinction by an enormous margin and with no other nationality coming even remotely close. And yet, by the astonishing alchemy of Hollywood, the greatest killers of the last one hundred years have somehow been transmuted into being seen as the greatest victims, a transformation so seemingly implausible that future generations will surely be left gasping in awe. Today’s American Neocons are just as heavily Jewish as were the Bolsheviks of a hundred years ago, and they have greatly benefited from the political immunity provided by this totally bizarre inversion of historical reality. Partly as a consequence of their media-fabricated victimhood status, they have managed to seize control over much of our political system, especially our foreign policy, and have spent the last few years doing their utmost to foment an absolutely insane war with nuclear-armed Russia. If they do manage to achieve that unfortunate goal, they will surely outdo the very impressive human body-count racked up by their ethnic ancestors, perhaps even by an order-of-magnitude or more. • American Pravda: Our Great Purge of the 1940s http://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-our-great-purge-of-the-1940s/
|
Paul Craig Roberts
|
https://russia-insider.com/en/ww2-war-crimes-churchill-and-americans-were-far-worse-hitlers/ri27969
|
Mon, 9 Dec 2019 07:12:30 -0500
| 1,575,893,550 | 1,575,938,082 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
468,582 |
rferl--2019-03-20--UN Court Rejects Karadzics Appeal Against Genocide War Crimes Convictions
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
UN Court Rejects Karadzic's Appeal Against Genocide, War Crimes Convictions
|
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- An international appeals court at The Hague has rejected former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's appeals against his convictions of genocide and war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1990s, and has extended his 40-year sentence to life in prison. However, the court rejected an appeal by prosecutors to overturn Karadzic's earlier acquittal on a second genocide charge related to the killings of Bosnian Muslims and Croats in 1992 in the territory of Republika Srpska. The ruling is the final judgment on Karadzic's role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, his orchestration of a nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, and war crimes committed in 20 Bosnian municipalities for which Karadzic was convicted in 2016. The 73-year-old Karadzic was convicted of genocide in 2016 and initially sentenced to 40 years in prison for the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces. He was also found guilty of leading a campaign of ethnic cleansing that forced Croats and Muslims out of Serb-claimed areas of Bosnia during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war -- including the siege of Sarajevo that resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 people, about half of whom were civilians. A lawyer for Karadzic, Goran Petronijevic, and politicians in the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska -- one of the two entities that make up Bosnia -- called the appeals ruling a "political" decision. The United States and the European Union urged all sides to respect the ruling and work toward reconciliation. SPECIAL REPORT: The Faces Of Srebrenica (click to view) The March 20 ruling on Karadzic's appeals was issued by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), a United Nations court that is dealing with cases left over from the now-defunct trial court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Reading out the appeals court’s decision, Judge Vagn Joensen said Karadzic's sentence was increased to life imprisonment because "the 40-year sentence inadequately reflect[ed] the extraordinary gravity of Karadzic's crime as well as his central and instrumental participation in four joint criminal enterprises." Joensen said Karadzic failed to refute the ICTY's conclusions about his intent to commit genocide. The court ruled that the ICTY was correct to conclude that Karadzic participated in the Srebrenica massacre because he was in constant contact with people on the ground. It said Karadzic also failed to prove that the trial court was mistaken when it concluded he was guilty of taking part in a joint criminal enterprise to terrorize the population of Sarajevo. Regarding war crimes in 20 Bosnian towns and cities for which Karadzic was convicted, Joensen said Karadzic also failed to prove the trial court reached the wrong conclusions in its verdict. Joensen said Karadzic simply listed "his own disagreements with the trial chamber" in his appeal. Murat Tahirovic, the president of the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, told RFE/RL's correspondent at The Hague court that members of his organization were pleased with the court's ruling but also disappointed the prosecutors' appeal for a conviction on a second charge of genocide was rejected. "He got a life sentence, life in prison," Tahirovic said. "Unfortunately, a genocide conviction for crimes in other municipalities has not been adjudicated. But in a nutshell, we got what we feel he must be judged for. And he received that verdict. Those are the facts that will remain." Zeljko Komsic, the Croatian member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, told RFE/RL in Sarajevo that Karadzic's final verdict "presents partial satisfaction" to the relatives of genocide victims. "Unfortunately, this verdict won't replace the pain and the trauma they survive," Komsic said. "Today, before everything, we have to keep in our minds the survivors and the families of genocide victims." The Bosniak member of Bosnia's presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, said that justice had been reached, but only partially. "It hasn't been confirmed that the genocide, except in Srebrenica, happened in seven other municipalities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The absence of legal qualification for genocide in Prijedor, Sanski Most, Kljuc, Vlasenica, Bratunac, Zvornik, Foca, as well as for the whole of Bosnia does not diminish the responsibility of the...perpetrators and the gravity of the crime." Nemin Niksic, leader of Bosnia's Social Democratic Party, welcomed the court's ruling as "a major event for Bosnia and all its citizens, especially for the families of victims of aggression, genocide and other war crimes committed in Bosnia." However, the ethnic Serbian member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Milorad Dodik, warned that the judgment won't help reconciliation in the country. "Republika Srpska for a long time has not had confidence in The Hague tribunal, and Radovan Karadzic's life sentence is a confirmation of that," he said. A spokesman for Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) denounced a "political falsification" of history. In Zagreb, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic told the daily newspaper Vecernji List that "the verdict cannot give back the lives of tens of thousands of victims and alleviate the pain of their families and survivors. But it must serve as a permanent warning." The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo welcomed the verdict, saying that it "represents an important step toward holding to account those individuals responsible for the tremendous suffering of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while providing some sense of justice and closure to victims and their families." It urged "all parties to respect the court's verdict, and rededicate themselves to the continued reconciliation and peaceful coexistence." A spokeswoman for the European Union's foreign-policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that the bloc expected all leaders in the region to "refrain from any statements or actions casting doubt on the independence or the impartiality of the adjudication process." "Reconciliation requires an honest and factual assessment of the past, coming from within societies and bringing together all parties to the conflict," the spokeswoman said in a statement. Valentin Inzko, the high representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, said that a judge's ruling "can't return the loved ones to the survivors, but it can offer them a certain dose of moral satisfaction." "Confirming individual responsibility, and not the collective guilt, the judicial decision should bring relief to all honest people," said Inzko, who oversees the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton agreement that ended the Bosnian war.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/survivors-await-hague-court-karadzic-bosnia-herzegovina-serbia/29831363.html
|
2019-03-20 02:27:23+00:00
| 1,553,063,243 | 1,567,545,551 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
694,036 |
theguardianuk--2019-03-20--Radovan Karadzic faces final verdict in Bosnia war crimes case
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Radovan Karadžić faces final verdict in Bosnia war crimes case
|
The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić will hear the final judgment on his role in the bloody conflict that tore his country apart a quarter of a century ago. In one of the last remaining cases from the break-up of Yugoslavia, UN judges in The Hague will rule on Karadžić’s appeal against his 2016 conviction for genocide and war crimes, and his 40-year sentence. Karadžić, 73, once the most powerful Bosnian Serb political figure, was notorious for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst bloodletting on European soil since the second world war. About 100,000 people eventually died and 2.2 million others were left homeless in the brutal three-year war that pitted Muslims, Serbs and Croats against each other. “I think this verdict is historical for justice,” said Munira Subašić of the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica, adding that they wanted Karadžić to get a full life sentence. She said: “If Karadžić does not get what he deserves it means that there is no justice in this world and that it is possible to commit crimes without risking penalties.” The ruling is due to start at 1pm GMT at the UN’s international residual mechanism for criminal tribunals, which deals with cases left over from now-defunct courts for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Karadžić’s case still bitterly divides the country he helped drive to war, with widows of Srebrenica hoping he dies in prison even as Bosnian Serbs have honoured him with a university dorm in his name. The decision also comes at a crucial time for international courts as they come under attack from quarters including the administration of the US president, Donald Trump, and are reeling after a series of mistrials. Karadžić’s lawyer, Peter Robinson, said his client “fervently believed that the trial chamber judgment was wrong and the product of an unfair trial”. Robinson described Karadžić as “an optimistic person by nature.” In 2016, Karadžić was found guilty on 10 counts including orchestrating a nearly four-year siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, where more than 10,000 people died in a campaign of sniping and shelling, according to prosecutors. He was also found guilty of genocide in Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serb troops slaughtered more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the eastern Bosnian enclave, which was supposed to be under UN protection, and buried their bodies in mass graves. Karadžić, a poet and psychiatrist turned ruthless political leader, has appealed against the sentence on 50 grounds and accused judges of conducting a “political trial” against him. He represented himself at his trial, with Robinson’s assistance. Prosecutors, however, said Karadžić and others including his military alter ego, the former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladić, wanted to “permanently remove Muslims and Croats” from territory claimed by Bosnian Serbs at the time. United Nations prosecutors also asked judges to reverse his acquittal on a second charge of genocide in Bosnia’s municipalities and hand him a life sentence. Mladić, 76, dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia”, is currently appealing against a life sentence on similar charges. He has previously refused to testify at Karadžić’s trial, calling the UN tribunal “satanic”. The former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Karadžić’s long-time patron during the war, was on trial in The Hague until his death in 2006.
|
Agence France-Presse
|
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/mar/20/radovan-karadzic-faces-final-verdict-in-bosnia-war-crimes-case
|
2019-03-20 09:21:19+00:00
| 1,553,088,079 | 1,567,545,539 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
774,858 |
theindependent--2019-11-09--'Terminator' warlord jailed for life for Congo war crimes
| 2019-11-09T00:00:00 |
theindependent
|
'Terminator' warlord jailed for life for Congo war crimes
|
The International Criminal Court passed its highest ever sentence, sending a Congolese warlord known as “The Terminator” to prison for 30 years for crimes including murder, rape and sexual slavery. Bosco Ntaganda was found guilty in July of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role as a military commander in atrocities during a bloody ethnic conflict in a mineral-rich region of Congo between 2002 and 2003. Ntaganda showed no emotion as presiding judge Robert Fremr passed sentences ranging from eight years to 30 years for individual crimes and an overarching sentence of 30 years. The court's maximum sentence is 30 years, although judges also have the discretion to impose a life sentence. Lawyers representing victims in the case had called for a life term. Mr Fremr said despite the gravity of the crimes and Ntaganda's culpability, his convictions “do not warrant a sentence of life imprisonment”. “Bosco Ntaganda's 30-year sentence sends a strong message that even people considered untouchable may one day be held to account,” Ms Sawyer said. Jolino Makelele, a spokesman for the government in Democratic Republic of Congo, said: “We think that justice was done for the victims.” Ntaganda, who has insisted he is innocent, became a symbol of widespread impunity in Africa in the seven-odd years between first being indicted by the global court and finally turning himself in in 2013 as his power base fell apart. Physicians for Human Rights said the sentencing set an important precedent. But Karen Naimer, who directs the group's program on sexual violence in conflict zones, added that “international and local prosecution efforts must be dramatically strengthened if we are to curb the rampant impunity for mass atrocities we see in the DRC and elsewhere around the world”. Judges at Ntaganda's trial said he was guilty as a direct perpetrator of a murder and as an indirect co-perpetrator of a string of crimes including murders, rapes of men and women, a massacre in a banana field and of enlisting and using child soldiers. Child soldiers also were raped by Ntaganda's troops and forced into sexual slavery, leaving them with lasting physical and psychological scars. Ntaganda himself used child soldiers as bodyguards. “Some individuals who survived or witnessed the murders and attempted murders that Mr. Ntaganda was convicted of still bear permanent scars, both physical and psychological, including long-term memory loss, neurological disturbances and extensive physical scarring,” Mr Fremr said. Ntaganda testified for weeks in his own defence, saying he wanted to put the record straight about his reputation as a ruthless military leader. He was the deputy chief of staff and commander of operations for rebel group the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo. The force's leader, Thomas Lubanga, was convicted by the ICC in 2012 of using child soldiers. He is serving a 14-year prison sentence. Ntaganda earned a higher sentence because he was convicted of far more crimes. He has already launched an appeal against his convictions and has 30 days to appeal against his sentence. In their unanimous 117-page ruling, the three judges said they could find no mitigating factors that warranted reducing Ntaganda's sentence. But they found plenty of aggravating circumstances, identifying in the murder convictions the “particular cruelty” of several crimes, the “defencelessness of some of the victims” and the fact that Ntaganda, as a high-ranking commander, personally murdered a man in front of his subordinates. Xavier Macky, executive director of the human rights group Justice Plus in Bunia, Congo, said he wants victims to receive compensation. “This sentence will help heal not only survivors but those who lost their loved ones during the atrocities of Bosco Ntaganda,” Mr Macky said. Under the court's rules, victims can apply for reparations. The court said in a statement that “issues related to the procedure for victims' reparations will be addressed in due course”. The Hague-based court was set up to prosecute atrocities around the world where national authorities are unable or unwilling to hold trials. It has faced opposition and criticism, most notably from the US, which is not a member state of the court. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, last year said the US wouldn't cooperate with the court, adding that “for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us”.
|
Mike Corder
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/bosco-ntaganda-congo-jail-prison-terminator-war-crimes-child-soldiers-a9196286.html
|
Sat, 09 Nov 2019 11:34:03 GMT
| 1,573,317,243 | 1,573,303,432 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
775,763 |
theindependent--2019-11-14--Rohingya crisis: War crimes court approves investigation into deportation of Muslims from Myanmar
| 2019-11-14T00:00:00 |
theindependent
|
Rohingya crisis: War crimes court approves investigation into deportation of Muslims from Myanmar
|
International Criminal Court judges have approved a request from prosecutors to open an investigation into crimes against humanity committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority. More than 730,000 Rohingya have fled across the border into Bangladesh since a crackdown by Myanmar’s military in 2017, which UN investigators have said was carried out with “genocidal intent”. Judges at the ICC granted prosecutors the permission to examine acts that could qualify as crimes against humanity, such as deportation, and persecution on the grounds of ethnicity and/or religion. However, the accusation of genocide, while within the jurisdiction of the court, will not be investigated by the ICC, a body that is not supported by Myanmar. Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will now begin the formal investigation and said she will conduct an independent and impartial investigation. She had asked judges for permission to investigate in July. “This is a significant development, sending a positive signal to the victims of atrocity crimes in Myanmar and elsewhere ... My investigation will seek to uncover the truth,” she said. A spokesperson for the Rohingya community in Britain welcomed the decision while a human rights expert said it was a “significant move”. “It is the first time that Rohingya victims will actually get to potentially see individuals responsible for those brutal crimes held to account,” Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, told The Independent. “Now that the ICC prosecutor has been given the authority to investigate, she can actually start the process of gathering evidence and building cases identifying those responsible,” Ms Singh said. The next step after the investigation is completed is to ask for arrest warrants and move things along before the court. “The decision today is important because now she has tools at her disposal to formally investigate and gather and preserve evidence and actually build the case which she didn’t have before. “There’s a lot of information already in the public domain in terms of satellite imagery, reports by organisations like Human Rights Watch and others, so in terms of context and background that’s part of the reason why she asked for an investigation.” She said the judges would now speak to victims and work to figure out who was responsible. Ms Singh said: “What’s really interesting about the decision is that the judges said that the investigation relates not just to the crime of deportation from 2017, but also it could include any crime, including future crimes.” She said although Myanmar had benefited from the international community “looking the other way to the atrocities it’s committed”, the decision would give victims “hope that the architects of the crime of deportation could be held to account”. Although Buddhist majority Myanmar is not a member of the ICC, Bangladesh is, meaning the court has jurisdiction to examine alleged crimes that partially took place there. The decision comes days after Gambia filed before the International Court of Justice, on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. The ICC seeks to convict individuals responsible for crimes, such as deportation, while the International Court of Justice (ICJ) settles disputes between nations, such as those concerning genocide. A spokesperson for Rohingya people in Britain said the community celebrated the news. “Everyone wants the perpetrators to be brought to justice,” Nijam Uddin Muhammed, general secretary of the British Rohingya Community, said. “That is our last hope. If they get off without any accountability, in the future none of the world leaders will think before they do bad things to their own people. “When the Rwanda genocide happened people said no more. But it’s still happening in the 21st century to the Rohingya people, to my people. “So if the International Criminal Court bring people to justice and give them punishment then the other world leaders will take a lesson from this and they will think a hundred times before they do anything bad to their own people.” Mr Muhammed called on the UK government to support the ICC case. “I am really surprised by the silence of the UK, because they should take charge,” he said. “I am hopeful that the UK government will fully support and help in this procedure to bring the perpetrators to justice.” He said members of the Rohingya community wanted to return to Myanmar: “If they are held accountable, then my people want to go back. If we get full citizenship, we will go voluntarily. But we need safety and security there.” Rohingya face discrimination in Myanmar, where they are regarded as having illegally immigrated from Bangladesh, even though many families have lived in the country for generations. Most are denied citizenship and basic civil rights. Rohingya refugees say they fled an ethnic cleansing campaign which saw soldiers and Buddhist civilians massacre families, burn hundreds of villages and carry out gang rapes. Earlier this year, a two-year United Nations fact-finding mission said Myanmar’s counterinsurgency campaign in 2017 included “genocidal acts”. The mission said it had a confidential list of more than 100 people suspected of involvement in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in addition to six generals it had already named a year ago. The list is likely to form a key part of evidence for the ICC’s investigation. Myanmar’s government and military have consistently denied violating human rights and committing genocide, claiming its operations were justified in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents.
|
Samuel Osborne
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rohingya-crisis-muslims-deportation-myanmar-icc-crimes-humanity-bangladesh-a9203276.html
|
Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:50:00 GMT
| 1,573,771,800 | 1,573,778,068 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
817,941 |
theonion--2019-02-14--Elliott Abrams Defends War Crimes As Happening Back In The 80s When Everyone Was Doing It
| 2019-02-14T00:00:00 |
theonion
|
Elliott Abrams Defends War Crimes As Happening Back In The ’80s When Everyone Was Doing It
|
WASHINGTON—Explaining to the House Foreign Affairs Committee that it was a totally acceptable practice at the time, Elliott Abrams defended Wednesday the war crimes he committed in Latin America by pointing out that it was just something everyone was doing back in the ’80s. “You’ve got to understand that running roughshod over universally accepted notions of basic human rights was simply how things were done in those days,” said Abrams, who explained that during his years in the Reagan administration, supporting the massacre of an entire village of helpless civilians and then heading out to a bar to celebrate with your buddies was just what you did. “All of us were into that stuff. You’d find a military force friendly to American business interests, get them to slaughter anyone who wasn’t, and then dismiss the victims as communist guerillas. People were doing it all the time. It certainly didn’t stop anyone from letting me be assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs. Hell, I knew people who would make fun of you if you hadn’t committed a war crime or two.” Abrams went on to wax nostalgic about all the crazy late nights he spent with Lt. Col. Oliver North funneling money to right-wing terrorist groups in Nicaragua.
|
The Onion on Politics, shared by The Onion to The Onion
|
https://politics.theonion.com/elliott-abrams-defends-war-crimes-as-happening-back-in-1832632902
|
2019-02-14 21:24:00+00:00
| 1,550,197,440 | 1,567,548,528 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
199,304 |
fortruss--2019-08-03--Ukrainians leaving the Army en masse
| 2019-08-03T00:00:00 |
fortruss
|
Ukrainians leaving the Army en masse
|
KIEV – Of the total number of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine whose contracts with the Ukrainian army expire this year, only one-fifth is ready to renew their contract. This was announced by the head of the press service of the People’s Police Department of the LPR (Lugansk People’s Republic), Yakov Osadchy. “Soldiers are leaving the Ukrainian army en masse. Since the start of this year only, 9,386 people left the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Nikolai Dumenko, 81 percent of those who quit refused to sign a new contract,” he said and added that compared to last year, this figure is 30% higher. Earlier, ex-Chief of Staff Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaman said that the Ukrainian army is experiencing serious problems with understaffing. Armed Forces of Ukraine have to deal with alcoholics, drug addicts or generally desperate people who have nothing to look forward in life and can only run around with a gun. Since the beginning of the war in the Donbass, more than 800 Ukrainian soldiers have committed suicide in the so-called “ATO” zone (zone of operations against Donbass forces). In 2018 only, Kiev lost 370 troops due to rampage, alcoholism, insubordination, and suicides. This amounts to two combat battalions lost in non-combat situations. It is becoming clear that Ukrainians themselves don’t see the point of this bloody war with their Donbass brethren. The atrocities committed by Ukrainian troops were mostly done by Neo-Nazi battalions such as “Azov”, “Right Sector”, “Aidar” and others. Ukrainian artillery crews are told they are shelling enemy soldiers, but what they are really doing is killing civilians. This has to stop if Ukrainians are to ever make peace with the people of Donbass. It’s high time to remove the Western puppets from power and liberate both Ukraine and Dobass from the claws of the outsiders whose only goal is to do as much damage as possible.
|
Drago Bosnic
|
https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/08/ukrainians-leaving-the-army-en-masse/
|
2019-08-03 12:49:48+00:00
| 1,564,850,988 | 1,567,534,966 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
199,331 |
fortruss--2019-08-06--MAJOR US Rolls in MASSIVE 200 truck convoy to Arm Kurds in Iraq
| 2019-08-06T00:00:00 |
fortruss
|
MAJOR: U.S Rolls in MASSIVE 200 truck convoy to Arm Kurds in Iraq
|
IRAQ – [SANA/FRN] – In a new breach of the international laws and conventions, the US brought a convoy of hundreds of trucks and military vehicles affiliated to the so-called “International Coalition” to al-Qamishli City in support for Qasad separatist militias which besiege locals and attack them and steal oil in the eastern region. These moves follow an ongoing strategy on the part of the US to partition Iraq and Syria in order to create a Kurdistan, with support from Israel. Despite a parallel armed conflict between Turkey and Syria, all warrings parties agree on the undesirability of a Kurdish entity, which would operate as a direct proxy for US interests – a staging ground and permanent base for US occupation in the area. Local and media sources said that a new convoy of 200 trucks loaded with logistic aid and military vehicles affiliated to the US-led coalition entered al-Qamishli coming via the illegitimate crossing of Semalka which links Hasaka province with northern Iraq in support of the Kurdish protection units and Qasad militia which work on rapidly developing relations with Israel in different domains. Israel aims to link up with Kurdish forces in order to secure valuable water, mineral, and natural resources which it has sought to obtain full control over since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein resulting from the US invasion of Iraq. In statements to SANA reporter, a number of locals affirmed that the illegitimate US presence in the province serves the US interests, indicating that Washington through the support which it provides for the separatist militias seeks to prolong the war and to preserve the situation of instability and chaos, in addition to providing a cover for stealing the resources of the country. The locals referred to the crimes committed by the so-called “International Coalition” against civilians in the provinces of Deir Ezzor, Hasaka, Raqqa and Aleppo which claimed the lives of thousands and injured others.
|
Joaquin Flores
|
https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/08/major-u-s-rolls-in-massive-200-truck-convoy-to-arm-kurds-in-iraq/
|
2019-08-06 13:42:47+00:00
| 1,565,113,367 | 1,567,534,769 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
375,655 |
newyorkpost--2019-05-05--Netanyahu orders massive strikes against militants in Gaza
| 2019-05-05T00:00:00 |
newyorkpost
|
Netanyahu orders ‘massive strikes’ against militants in Gaza
|
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “massive strikes” against Hamas militants and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza as cross-border fighting continued into a third day Sunday – marking the deadliest clashes since 2014. Netanyahu, speaking at a security cabinet meeting on Sunday, directed military leaders to reinforce tanks, artillery and infantry forces around the Gaza Strip. “Hamas bears responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also those by Islamic Jihad, for which it pays a very high price,” said Netanyahu, who also serves as defense minister. Militant groups in Gaza have launched at least 600 rockets and mortars at towns and villages in southern Israel since Friday, Israel’s military said, noting that its Iron Dome anti-missile system has intercepted more than 150 of them. In retaliation, Israel has pounded more than 260 targets belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip. Officials in Gaza said 16 people, including five civilians, have been killed in the bombardment since Friday. In Israel, authorities said Moshe Agadi, a 58-year-old father of four, was killed when shrapnel struck him in the chest in the southern town of Ashkelon. A 49-year-old man was killed when a rocket slammed into a factory in Ashkelon, a man died when his vehicle was hit by a Kornet anti-tank missile near the border with Gaza and a 35-year-old man was killed when a rocket hit his car in Ashdod. They were the first rocket-related deaths in Israel since the 2014 war when 73 people were killed. According to the United Nations, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed during the 50 days of fighting.
|
Mark Moore
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https://nypost.com/2019/05/05/netanyahu-orders-massive-strikes-against-militants-in-gaza/
|
2019-05-05 20:14:05+00:00
| 1,557,101,645 | 1,567,541,135 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
74,647 |
breitbart--2019-10-16--Erdogan Forgets Armenian Genocide: 'Turkey Has Never Committed Any Civilian Massacre'
| 2019-10-16T00:00:00 |
breitbart
|
Erdogan Forgets Armenian Genocide: 'Turkey Has Never Committed Any Civilian Massacre'
|
Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan falsely claimed Turkey had never “carried out any civilian massacres” in an attempt to assure the world that Ankara is not attempting ethnic cleansing against the Syrian Kurds on Wednesday. The founding of modern Turkey was defined by the genocide of Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Christians that began in 1915; the Turkish government has yet to recognize the genocide and regularly claims that the Christian civilians were actually war combatants, providing no evidence. Some have gone so far as to blame the Armenians for their own massacre. Erdogan launched “Operation Peace Spring” last week, which Turkish officials have admitted is intended to eradicate the ethnic Kurdish presence in Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan, to create a “safe zone” for the return of some of the four million mostly Arab refugees currently in Turkey. Kurdish officials in Rojava say the displacement of the indigenous Kurdish population is akin to ethnic cleansing. Many Kurds and others, in the region and abroad, have blamed President Donald Trump for “Operation Peace Spring,” as Trump announced he would relocate troops in Rojava to other areas of Syria given the lack of an Islamic State threat in the region currently. Trump is only legally authorized to use military action against al-Qaeda and its affiliates as per the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) Congress passed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The Islamic State is an offshoot of al-Qaeda formerly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria. Erdogan, departing Azerbaijan for a summit visit there, attempted to assure the world that Turkey would attempt genocide against the Kurdish people by pointing to Turkey’s history – which, he failed to note, includes modern history’s first genocide. “Turkey has never committed any civilian massacre in its history and it never will. Our religion and culture would never allow to do it,” Erdogan alleged, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. “If you’re looking for civilian massacres, look at Afghanistan, Myanmar’s Rakhine state, Upper Karabakh, and Bosnia,” where Muslims were slaughtered late in the last century and in this one, Erdogan said. “If you want to see civilian massacres, look at Cyprus before Turkey’s intervention, look at Palestine just under your nose, where the Muslims are deliberately killed in the streets.” Erdogan excluded the mass internment of Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang, China – where many are being murdered, forcibly sterilized, or cut open for their vital organs – from his list of alleged genocides against Muslims around the world. Chinese media have previously quoted him supporting the concentration camps. Erdogan insisted once again that the Turkish military is fighting “terrorists” in Rojava, not “Syrians.” Ankara regularly refers to all Kurds as “terrorists” and has arrested dozens of Kurdish politicians and allies from the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) for unsubstantiated accusations of “terrorism.” The Turkish president also rejected any attempt to dialogue with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the largely Kurdish militia that allied with the United States to destroy the physical Islamic State centered in Raqqa. “The Republic of Turkey never in its history sat down at a table with terrorist groups. We are not looking for a mediator for that,” he said. Erdogan’s claim that the Turks have never perpetrated a civilian massacre ignores the murder of 75 percent of the Armenian population existing in 1915, about 1.5 million people. Another nearly million Christians of Assyrian and Greek descent were massacred in the process of creating a “Turkish” state. Referring to the Armenian genocide as a “genocide” is illegal in Turkey. Turkish officials typically claim that the killings either never occurred, were much less numerous than historians claim, or that the Armenians committed genocide against themselves. During the internationally observed anniversary of the Armenian genocide this year, Erdogan instead argued that the killings and relocation of millions of Armenians out of their homes in Turkey was “reasonable.” “The relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period,” Erdogan said. “The doors of our archives are wide open to all seeking the truth.” Erdogan has for months discussed a similar relocation plan of Kurds out of Syria. “We are aiming in the first phase to create safe zones where four million Syrians who now live in our country can return,” Erdogan said in January. The “safe zone” would be in Rojava, created by the removal of the SDF and Kurdish civilians to allow for the establishment of a Syrian Arab population there. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) NGO called the plan “demographic change” at the time. Gulnur Aybet, a senior Erdogan adviser, confirmed this week that the two objectives in “Operation Peace Spring” are the removal of indigenous Kurdish populations, which she referred to as a “terrorist group,” and “the return of about one to two million Syrian refugees,” most of which are of Arab descent. Tens of thousands of Kurds in Europe protested this weekend against “ethnic cleansing” in the service of “jihad,” their interpretation of Erdogan’s plan. Erdogan is an openly Islamist leader who publicly supports the Muslim Brotherhood. In response to “Operation Peace Spring,” President Trump announced this week that he had prepared an executive order increasing Turkish steel tariffs to 50 percent and personally targeting Turkish officials committing human rights crimes. “The Order will authorize a broad range of consequences, including financial sanctions, the blocking of property, and barring entry into the United States,”the president said. “Our goal is clear. We’re not worried about any sanctions,” Erdoğan responded on Tuesday.
|
Frances Martel
|
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/mOs-KC7dTB0/
|
Wed, 16 Oct 2019 15:13:22 +0000
| 1,571,253,202 | 1,571,264,159 |
conflict, war and peace
|
massacre
|
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