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Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Soeren Kern • October 22, 2017 at 5:00 am
The election outcome, the result of popular discontent with established parties, is the latest in a recent wave of successes for European populists, including in Austria and Germany. The populist ascendancy highlights a shifting political landscape in Europe where runaway multiculturalism and political correctness, combined with a massive influx of unassimilable migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, have given rise to a surge in support for anti-establishment protest parties. "It is unthinkable that the indigenous European population should adapt themselves to the refugees. We must do away with such nonsensical political correctness. The refugees should behave like guests, that is, they should be polite, and they certainly do not have the right to choose what they want to eat.... There is a deep chasm between what people think and what the media tell them." — Andrej Babis, in the Czech daily Pravo, January 16, 2016. As prime minister, Babis would share government with Czech President Milos Zeman, who has described political correctness as "a euphemism for political cowardice."
Populist tycoon Andrej Babis (pictured) and his Eurosceptic political party have won the Czech Republic's parliamentary election, making Babis the main contender to become prime minister after coalition negotiations. (Image source: Jiří Vítek/Wikimedia Commons)
Populist tycoon Andrej Babis and his Eurosceptic political party have won the Czech Republic's parliamentary election — by a landslide — making the "politically incorrect" billionaire businessman the main contender to become prime minister after coalition negotiations. With all of the votes counted, Babis's anti-establishment party ANO (which stands for "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" and is also the Czech word for "yes") won nearly 30% — almost three times its closest rival — in elections held on October 20. The Eurosceptic Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the anti-establishment Czech Pirates Party and the anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) came second, third and fourth, with around 11% each.
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by Amir George • October 22, 2017 at 4:30 am
It is a solution to the refugee problem after centuries of persecution. Not only could Assyrian Christian refugees stay where they were, but as Jews did in Israel, they could come "home". In the rush to condemn the liberation of Iraq as a mistake, we forget the terror that Saddam Hussein and his two sons inflicted on their people. A visit to nearly every home in Iraq will have a picture of one or more family members among the nearly one million slaughtered by Saddam. For the Assyrian Christians, this promise of Isaiah 19:23-25 is twofold. First, that "in that day" they will finally have their nation, called Assyria. Second, that their allies will be Israel and Egypt.
Assyrian Christian priest Charbel Aesso leads an Easter service at Saint John's Church (Mar Yohanna) in the predominantly Christian Iraqi town of Qaraqosh on April 16, 2017 near Mosul, Iraq. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Nearly six million Assyrian Christians dot the world. In 2003, according to the Iraqi government, there were 2.5 million Assyrian Christians in the country, or 10% of the population. Another approximately 3.5 million are scattered from Australia to Europe to Lebanon, Jordan, the US and more. The Assyrian Christians -- descendants of the Assyrian Empire and the first nation to accept Christ -- are the indigenous people of Iraq. In spite of being one of the oldest civilizations, and even today speaking Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, they are refugees in their own homeland. Following the recent move towards independence by the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Assyrian Christian organizations worldwide have organized formally to request, in accordance with Iraq's constitution, their own area in their homeland in northern Iraq, on the Nineveh Plain.
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by Amir Taheri • October 22, 2017 at 4:00 am
Then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on May 17, 2016 in Vienna, Austria. (Image source: U.S. State Department)
"Trump violates international treaty!" "Trump tears up pact signed by world powers!" These were some of the headlines that pretended to report US President Donald Trump's move on the "Iran nuclear deal" last week. Some in the Western media even claimed that the move would complicate the task of curbing North Korea as Pyongyang might conclude that reaching any deal with the world powers, as Iran did, is useless. But what is it exactly that Trump has done? Before answering that question let's deal with another question. Is Obama's Iran "deal" a treaty? The answer is: no. It is, as Tehran says, "a roadmap" in which Iran promises to take some steps in exchange for "big powers" reciprocating by taking some steps of their own.
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by Judith Bergman • October 21, 2017 at 5:00 am
Germany has made no secret of its desire to see its new law copied by the rest of the EU. When employees of social media companies are appointed as the state's private thought police and given the power to shape the form of current political and cultural discourse by deciding who shall be allowed to speak and what to say, and who shall be shut down, free speech becomes nothing more than a fairy tale. Or is that perhaps the point? Perhaps fighting "Islamophobia" is now a higher priority than fighting terrorism?
A German court recently sentenced journalist Michael Stürzenberger (pictured) to six months in jail for posting on his Facebook page a historical photo of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, shaking the hand of a Nazi official in Berlin, in 1941. The prosecution accused Stürzenberger of "inciting hatred towards Islam" and "denigrating Islam" by publishing the photograph. (Image Source: PI News video screenshot)
A new German law introducing state censorship on social media platforms came into effect on October 1, 2017. The new law requires social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, to censor their users on behalf of the German state. Social media companies are obliged to delete or block any online "criminal offenses" such as libel, slander, defamation or incitement, within 24 hours of receipt of a user complaint -- regardless of whether or the content is accurate or not. Social media companies receive seven days for more complicated cases. If they fail to do so, the German government can fine them up to 50 million euros for failing to comply with the law.
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by Giulio Meotti • October 20, 2017 at 5:00 am
"They are those who believe that Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance and love and do not want to hear about an Islam of war, intolerance and hatred". — Michel Onfray, Le Figaro. Le Figaro just devoted an entire issue to Muslim women in France who are trying to fight radical Islam. They are journalists, activists and writers who want equality between men and women, freedom of expression and sexual freedom. These Muslims clearly care more about the French Enlightenment than many non-Muslims who advocate appeasing Islamists. In short, France needs to start fostering its side of this cultural war. Even if it is too late to recover all of the lost ground, if France does not start immediately but just limits itself to "manage" this "state of emergency", the lights turned off will not be only those of the Eiffel Tower, as happens after every terror attack, but also the lights of one of the greatest civilizations that history ever gave us.
(Image source: Falcon® Photography/Wikimedia Commons)
A few days ago Abdelkader Merah, the brother of the Islamic terrorist who gunned down four Jews in Toulouse in 2012, went on trial, charged with complicity in terrorism. "Beginning in 2012, we entered an age of terrorism, where before we believed ourselves protected; it was a turning point in French history", said Mathieu Guidere, a professor of Islamic studies in Paris. Since then, France has faced severe challenges by Islamic fundamentalists in Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron is now trying to manage a terrible situation: some 350 Islamic terrorists currently sit in prisons; 5,800 are under police surveillance; an additional 17,000 have been classified as a "potential threat", while since 2015, more than 240 lives have been lost to jihadi terrorists.
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by Alan M. Dershowitz • October 19, 2017 at 9:30 am
The Saudi Press Agency reported that King Salman called President Trump to offer his support for America's more "firm strategy" on Iran and commitment to fighting "Iranian aggression." Pictured above: President Trump and King Salman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. (Image source: The White House)
The evidence is mounting that Iran is not only violating the spirit of the no-nukes deal, but that it is also violating its letter. The prologue to the deal explicitly states: "Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons." This reaffirmation has no sunset provision: it is supposed to be forever. Yet German officials have concluded that Iran has not given up on its goal to produce nuclear weapons that can be mounted on rockets. According to Der Tagesspiegel, a Berlin newspaper: "Despite the nuclear agreement [reached with world powers in July 2015], Iran has not given up its illegal activities in Germany. The mullah regime also made efforts this year to obtain material from [German] firms for its nuclear program and the construction of missiles, said security sources."
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by Soeren Kern • October 19, 2017 at 5:00 am
"Germany's Christian heritage is not negotiable. The introduction of Muslim holidays is out of the question for us." — Alexander Dobrindt, a senior member of the CSU party. "We have a Judeo-Christian religious character, not an Islamic one. Therefore, I do not understand why we are even having this debate. Instead, we should discuss something else: When will Christians in all Islamic countries have the same religious freedom as Muslims have here?" — Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior member of the CDU party. "CDU wants Muslim holiday. This is the difference: AfD says NO! NO! NO!" — Beatrix von Storch, Deputy Chair of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD).
A proposal by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière to introduce Muslim public holidays has sparked another furious debate over the role of Islam in Germany. Pictured: De Maizière (right) with Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo's s Al Azhar mosque, on May 26, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Steffi Loos/Getty Images)
An off-the-cuff proposal by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière to introduce Muslim public holidays has sparked another furious debate over the role of Islam in Germany. Speaking at a campaign rally on October 9 for state elections in Lower Saxony, de Maizière, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that federal states with large Muslim populations should be allowed to celebrate Muslim public holidays: "I am prepared to discuss the possibility of introducing Islamic holidays. In areas where a lot of Catholics live, we celebrate All Saint's Day, and in areas where not a lot of Catholics live we don't celebrate All Saint's Day. So why can't we think about Islamic holidays as well?"
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by Bassam Tawil • October 19, 2017 at 4:00 am
It is precisely the inflammatory speech of Abbas and his senior officials, expressed at every possible podium, which has been trying to turn the conflict into a religious one. If any side has turned the conflict into a religious one, it is the Palestinian side, which has long depicted Jews as sons of monkeys and pigs, enemies of Allah, and killers of prophets. When Abbas and other Palestinians accuse Jews on a daily basis of "storming" and "desecrating" the Al-Aqsa Mosque, they are firing the first shots in their religious war against Israel and the Jews. By turning the conflict into a religious one, the Palestinians are hoping to avoid any discussion about important issues such as security, borders, the status of Jerusalem, anti-Israel incitement and assaults on public freedoms under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Palestinian leaders do not feel comfortable discussing any of these issues; that is why they prefer to make the debate appear as if it is about religious issues.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) has never retracted his blood libel, or even tried to educate his people for peace. Instead, he has doubled down on inciting his people against Israel and Jews. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Despite vocal and self-righteous claims to the contrary, Palestinian leaders continue to incite their people and the rest of the Arab and Muslim world against Israel and Jews. For the past two and a half years, these leaders have been accusing Israel and Jews of seeking to turn the Israeli-Arab conflict into a religious one. The accusation refers specifically to visits by Jews to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The truth, however, is just the opposite: it is the Palestinians that have been aiming at every turn to transform the political and territorial conflict into a religious one.
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by Giulio Meotti • October 18, 2017 at 5:00 am
"The patrons of the false Europe are bewitched by superstitions of inevitable progress. They believe that History is on their side, and this faith makes them haughty and disdainful, unable to acknowledge the defects in the post-national, post-cultural world they are constructing." — The Paris Statement, signed by ten respected European scholars. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière's proposal to introduce Muslim public holidays shows that when it comes to Islam, Europe's official "post-Christian" secularism is simply missing in action.
The European Commission ordered Slovakia to redesign its commemorative coins by eliminating the Christian Saints Cyril and Methonius. (Image sources: Coin - European Commission; Bratislava, Slovakia - Frettie/Wikimedia Commons)
A few days ago, some of Europe's most important intellectuals -- including British philosopher Roger Scruton, former Polish Education Minister Ryszard Legutko, German scholar Robert Spaemann and Professor Rémi Brague from the Sorbonne in France -- issued "The Paris Statement". In their ambitious statement, they rejected the "false Christendom of universal human rights" and the "utopian, pseudo-religious crusade for a borderless world". Instead, they called for a Europe based on "Christian roots", drawing inspiration from the "Classical tradition" and rejecting multiculturalism:
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by Peter Huessy • October 18, 2017 at 4:00 am
While America's adversaries have been increasing their defense budgets and the power of their armed forces, the United States has been doing the opposite. Although the Senate and House Armed Services Committees passed a bill for 2018 that would exceed President Trump's defense budget request, there is still the problem of the 2011 Budget Control Act, which caps defense spending at an extremely low level. Modernization has been curtailed significantly. Unfortunately, there remains a widely held assumption that unless tax reform is "revenue-neutral," deficits will increase. The trouble with this assumption is that although revenue-neutral tax reform may make the system more efficient or fair, it neither increases government revenue nor generates additional investment in the private sector. The purpose of the new tax-reform plan is to do both: increase revenue and spur economic growth at the same time.
(Image source: U.S. Navy)
One crucial aspect of the new tax reform bill, unveiled by President Donald Trump and the "Big Six" group of Republican tax negotiators at the end of September, is the potentially positive effect it will have on the US defense budget, which is sorely in need of an increase. The assertion made by former President Barack Obama during his final State of the Union address in January 2016, that the United States spends "more on our military than the next eight nations combined," bolstered the belief that America's national-security needs are beyond being met. However, as a recent Heritage Foundation report reveals, such claims, which have led to the conclusion that the United States allocates an excessive amount to the defense budget, are "disingenuous," as they "give no consideration to the decisions driving defense spending or the factors contributing to costs across national economies."
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by Judith Bergman • October 17, 2017 at 5:00 am
"We do not know what they are preaching as [it is] all in Arabic." — A petitioner against the Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham mosque, in the middle of one of London's two largely Jewish areas. "[Ayatollah Syed Mohammed Al-Shirazi]... would constantly encourage the establishment of Hussaini centers across the world, especially in non-Islamic countries... so we can propagate the teachings of the Ahlulbayt." — Leading members of the Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham mosque describing its 30-year history and why it was established. The Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Hussaini Al-Shirazi, a leading Iranian cleric who resides in the city of Qom, has a list of religious centers and mosques with which he appears to be involved. Among them is the Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham in London.
A partial screenshot of a post from the Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham Facebook page, advertising the opening of the new mega mosque.
A new Shia Muslim mega mosque and Islamic center – measuring over 3,500 square meters and with room for 3,000 people -- has opened in Golders Green, one of only two largely Jewish areas in London. The Shia Muslim religious center, Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham, owns the mosque.
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by Nonie Darwish • October 17, 2017 at 4:00 am
The true threat to the US, the West, and even stable Arab governments, as Egypt is realizing, is political Islam as furthered by groups such the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, al-Qaeda and their offshoots. This real threat has become a terrible burden to every Muslim head of state and is behind all the political chaos, coups and revolutions currently raging throughout the Islamic world. In a chaotic, propaganda-prone area of the world, Qatar's Al Jazeera has always reported sympathetically about Islamist groups and promoters of sharia, and against moderate Arab leaders. No moderate leader could survive under such conditions. It is unfortunate that the tactics of the Arab media -- to accuse people of collusion in order to silence any opposition -- have now moved into US mainstream media regarding Trump and Russia, which the US media would apparently like to regard as their new "enemies." This the same media that defends sharia law and inaccurately insists that Muslim terrorists who shout "Allahu Akbar" have "nothing to do with Islam."
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi seems to want to encourage Egyptians to develop a fear of succumbing to radical propaganda that aims to bring down moderate governments. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Now that the note supposedly showing "collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia has been outed by Foreign Policy as mainly an attempted Russian hit-job on William Browder, what is the true threat to the United States? For months, the lawless FBI has snubbing subpoenas (is complying with subpoenas optional?), and avoiding transparency under Special Counsel Robert Mueller[1] and his equally lawless, crime-"challenged" "investigation." The true threat to the United states -- if not Mueller and the FBI itself -- is not the president, his campaign or even the Russians. Moreover, it is not exactly a news-flash that many countries have been spying on one another for ages. "Collusion with Russia" was just the the newest dirty word in American politics created by anti-Trump political operatives and the media. It seems intended to confuse the public in order to tarnish Trump's reputation and bring down his administration. It is an extremely old ruse.
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by Soeren Kern • October 16, 2017 at 5:00 am
A Freedom of Information request revealed that Sammy Woodhouse, a woman sexually abused as a child by a grooming gang, was told by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), a government body, that she was not entitled to compensation because she "consented" to the sexual abuse. Woodhouse appealed the decision: "If an adult can privately think that it's a child's fault for being abused, beaten, raped, abducted, I think you're in the wrong job." Online jihadist propaganda attracts more clicks in Britain than in any other European country and the main internet companies are failing to curb it, according to Policy Exchange, a think tank. The report, "The New Netwar," said that the Islamic State is still producing, at a conservative estimate, about 100 items of new content each week, including execution videos and bomb-making instructions, reaching an audience of, at minimum, tens of thousands, including large numbers of users in the UK. British universities hosted 110 events featuring extremist speakers in the last academic year, 2016/17, with the highest proportion taking place in London institutions. The extremist events listed were overwhelmingly organized by Islamic societies, and groups and speakers included former Guantanamo Bay detainees and Islamists. The findings suggest that despite Prime Minister Theresa May's claim that "enough is enough," British universities continue to be a target for extremists promoting their messages.
On September 1, Mohiussunnath Chowdhury was charged with a terror offense after he attacked police outside Buckingham Palace with a sword and "ranted" that the "Queen and her soldiers will all be in hellfire." Pictured: Police secure a road outside Buckingham Palace after Chowdhury's attack, on August 25, 2017. (Photo by GOR/Getty Images)
September 1. Britain is home to up to 35,000 "Islamist fanatics," more than any other country in Europe, according to European Union's counter-terrorism coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove. September 1. Mike Adamson, Chief Executive of the British Red Cross, wrote: "There is a risk that...an organization with the words 'British' and 'Cross' in its title is confused with a Christian, establishment organization." He added: "We are nowhere near as diverse as we need to be in our volunteer base, our staffing or our leadership... that is why, as CEO, I am personally leading our inclusion and diversity strategy."
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by A. Z. Mohamed • October 16, 2017 at 4:30 am
"As early as first grade, students in Saudi schools are being taught hatred toward all those perceived to be of a different faith or school of thought. The lessons in hate are reinforced with each following year." — Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director, Human Rights Watch. The Saudis "are both the arsonists and the firefighters. They promote a very toxic form of Islam that draws sharp lines between a small number of true believers and everyone else, Muslim and non-Muslim" – which spur jihadis to take action -- yet they are "our partners in counterterrorism." — William McCants, senior fellow, Brookings Institution, to the New York Times, August 2016. In fourth-grade second semester Monotheism textbook, Saudi students learn that polytheists, "the worst of creatures," are condemned to Hell. They also study a Quranic verse in which Allah dictates that: "Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures." (98:6, Sahih International)
Saudi Ministry of Education, Al-Tawhid, Student Book, Fifth Grade, Second Semester, 2016-2017, pp 63-64
A review of the Saudi Ministry of Education's school religion books currently available at the portal for digital curriculum (visited on September 25, 2017) found out that the curriculum still has violent and intolerant teachings. These books were published for the school year 2016-17. At a very early stage, the fourth grade, the curriculum begins to teach Saudi children that Muslims are essentially different but superior to all non-Muslims. In a fourth-grade second semester Monotheism textbook, Saudi students learn that polytheists, "the worst creatures" according to the Quran (98:6), are condemned to Hell. In a lesson entitled "Universality of Islam and Prophet Mohammed" fifth-graders are taught that Prophet Mohammed was sent to all human beings: "Say, [O Mohammed], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all (7:158).
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by John R. Bolton • October 16, 2017 at 4:00 am
Pictured: A uranium conversion facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran, used as part of Iran's uranium enrichment process. (Photo by Getty Images)
As Abba Eban observed, "Men and nations behave wisely when they have exhausted all other resources." So it goes with America and the Iran deal. President Trump announced Friday that the U.S. would stay in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even while he refused to certify under U.S. law that the deal is in the national interest. "Decertification," a bright, shiny object for many, obscures the real issue — whether the agreement should survive. Mr. Trump has "scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it." While Congress considers how to respond — or, more likely, not respond — we should focus on the grave threats inherent in the deal. Peripheral issues have often dominated the debate; forests have been felled arguing over whether Iran has complied with the deal's terms. Proposed "fixes" now abound, such as a suggestion to eliminate the sunset provisions on the deal's core provisions.
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