Media tends not to link terrorist attacks, seeing each one in isolation. But to understand what is happening, attacks need to be linked for us to see the complete picture.
Two recent terrorist attacks are clearly linked, even though the media has not brought it out. London and Pensacola, Florida.
In London, two young people were knifed to death near London Bridge. Their assailant, Usman Khan, had been freed from prison, less that 50% of the way through his sentence for terrorist activities. In Florida, a few days later, a Saudi Arabian pilot in the US for training suddenly turned on other young people, killing three, one of whom was a fellow Muslim. In both cases, sadly, young people were brutally murdered. None of these people was equipped to see the Muslims in their midst as a threat.
But they were. And I wonder how many others are, too.
In the same week, we saw Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, visit Auschwitz. There is a connection here, too. She was there to show the horrors of anti-Semitism, at a time when anti-Semitic acts are on the increase, including a synagogue attack on Yom Kippur, which left two dead. She wasn’t only highlighting anti-Semitism. She was also defending her decision to allow into the country more than a million refugees, many of whom were from the Middle East. Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are often linked. They should not be.
There was and is no justification for anti-Semitism. Islamophobia, on the other hand, is a perfectly rational response to violent acts perpetrated by Muslims (London and Florida being the latest). The Islamic Conference of 57 Muslims countries recently asked the United Nations to ban Islamophobia. This could give countries an excuse to favor Muslims over others.
The only way to overcome Islamophobia, a fear of Muslims, is for Muslims to stop committing violent acts. Unless and until that happens, there will always be Islamophobia.
The latest anti-semitic incident took place on Tuesday in Jersey City, NJ. Two people, both members of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, entered a kosher store and shot three Jews dead. In a seven-hour gun battle with police, one policeman was shot dead, a father with five children. The two perpetrators were also killed.
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NYC MUSLIM PATROLS
“Bullying” and “gangster-like” tactics have been reported by locals in New York areas where the Muslim Community Patrol & Services operates. These tactics are beginning to create a backlash against the self-described “civilian patrol organization” among local residents.
The Muslim patrol gained international attention in the fall of 2018 after several of its patrol cars, which look like New York Police Department (NYPD) cars, were spotted in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
The patrol originally said its purpose was to serve as a liaison between Muslims and the NYPD. But after two consecutive mosque shootings in New Zealand last March, where a gunman live-streamed his murder of 51 Muslims on Facebook, the patrol publicly altered its purpose.
It now describes itself as a law enforcement organization, claiming its goal is to “protect members of the local community from escalating quality-of-life nuisance crimes.” It’s precisely that “law enforcement” definition that is now landing the Muslim patrol into hot water with New York City residents, particularly those living in the Brooklyn area of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“They are bullying people and getting out of their patrol cars looking like gangsters,” said one resident, who asked to remain anonymous. “The people in Bed-Stuy don’t want them there.”
The Muslim patrol originally had a force of three patrol cars when it first formed in November 2018, but it now has seven cars on the streets of New York with the intention of purchasing 23 more cars in the near future. The Muslim patrol’s cars are nearly identical to NYPD patrol cars. Both use Ford Taurus’ and have similar decal schemes, colors and emblems. Though the Muslim patrol cars do not have lights on their hoods, they do have emergency flashing lights in the front and back windshields.
“A lot of people can’t tell them apart,” said the resident. “In fact, most people think they are NYPD detective cars, especially if they are driving behind you.”
Significantly, some Muslim patrol “officers” have been driving their patrol cars with their emergency lights in continuous flash mode, even when not responding to an emergency.
“They never turn them off and people are seeing these lights and thinking [they are] NYPD,” the resident said. The cars also have sirens, which another neighborhood resident says is being used to intimidate people. “They turn on their sirens when they see non-Muslims park next to a mosque during Friday prayer services,” said another resident. (Clarion Project, 12/9)
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NEED FOR EUROPEAN ARMY TO REPLACE US
An EU Army – Former German finance minister Joschka Fischer calls on the EU to develop defense autonomy before Donald Trump pulls the plug on Europe’s security blanket: “Macron understands that the rupture in Europe’s defense following a withdrawal of US troops would be far more severe than many seem to expect. It would unfold not as some gradual, barely noticeable transition, but as a sudden break.
If Europe wants to prevent or at least delay that outcome, it must make substantial investments in its military and expand its own capabilities on a massive scale. In other words, it must act as if the break has already happened.” (The Financial Times, 12/5/2019)
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NATO ANNIVERSARY SUMMIT
In spite of fierce internal conflicts, NATO is enhancing its operational readiness, is preparing its next expansion, and is setting its sights on China as a new “challenge.” These are the main results of the war alliance’s anniversary summit, which ended in London yesterday, with the participation of the heads of states and governments of the member countries. As early as next year, NATO will be able to deploy 30 army, air force and naval units in a war within a 30-day maximum. At the London summit, North Macedonia, which is about to join the Alliance, was represented for the first time. In the future, NATO will extensively concern itself with China, however, not exclusively confrontational, as Washington would have wanted. The conflict with Turkey did not escalate, even though the dissentions between Ankara and various other allied states, by no means, had been resolved. In fact, the Turkish government has implicitly been given a blank check for its heavily criticized activities in the occupation of Northern Syria. (German foreign policy, 12/6/2019)
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FRANCE TO FILL VOID LEFT BY US
France laid out a new posture for itself in discussions in the Gulf this week, chiding the Americans for not standing up to Iran’s threats against Saudi Arabia and other countries. Paris now wants to play a more robust role in maritime security as Washington’s influence declines across the region.
French Defense Minister Florence Parly condemned America for leaving the Iran deal and also condemned Iran at the Manama Dialogue confab in Bahrain over the weekend. The conference is organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies and has foreign ministers and leaders from the region, as well as security and defense officials, in attendance.
“We’ve seen deliberate, gradual US disengagement,” she said. She also slammed former president Barack Obama for leaving the “fighter jets on the tarmac,” according to France24, a reference to the US decision in 2013 not to punish Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria for chemical weapons attacks. (Seth Frantzman, MEF, 11/26/2019; from Jerusalem Post)
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Crusaders ‘terror plot’: Another man arrested in Cape Town after explosives, devices found – 6 Dec 2019, News24 Jenna Etheridge
Hawks arrest ‘Crusaders terrorist movement’ leader, discover suspected explosives factory. Another suspected member of the National Christian Resistance Movement (NCRM), also known as the “Crusaders,” has been arrested – this time in Cape Town, the Hawks said on Friday.
A team descended on the man’s business premises in Kuils River on Thursday and arrested him for the illegal possession of a firearm, explosives and explosive devices, said Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi. “The suspect is believed to have links with the other four suspects who have already been arrested and charged for alleged terrorist activities,” he said. The 46-year-old man was expected to appear in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court later on Friday. Harry Knoesen, the self-professed leader of the NCRM, was arrested at his Mpumalanga home on terrorism-related charges last week. Possible explosives factory: This followed a two-year Hawks investigation into an alleged terrorist plot “apparently co-ordinated by the group to target national key points, shopping malls and informal settlements,” Mulaudzi said. Knoesen, 60, is a former national defense force member and retired pastor. He was apprehended and charged for terrorism-related activities in contravention of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorism and Related Activities Act as well as the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. A search at his other residence in the Eastern Cape, according to the Hawks, uncovered a possible explosives factory, electronic devices and documents as well an unlicensed firearm and ammunition that were seized for further analysis. His arrest was soon followed by three others, including that of Riana Heymans, in Kliprivier, Johannesburg. “Various firearms and ammunition, documents and other items were confiscated by the Criminal Record Centre (CRC) for further probing,” Mulaudzi said.
Heyman, 54, together with brothers Eric Abrams, 55, and Errol Abrams, 49, appeared briefly with Knoesen in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. They will remain in police custody until their next court appearance on January 12, 2020. Mulaudzi said their investigation continued.
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POPE ADVOCATES ONE WORLD RELIGION
Rabbi Daniel Asore, a member of the nascent Sanhedrin, noted that the Pope’s intentions were precisely as presented, with no subterfuge at all.
“The Pope wants to unify all religions and all governments under one world order,” Rabbi Asore said. “What is the big surprise? He is not hiding anything. Just listen to what he says and who he is and his plans are right there for all to see.”
The rabbi noted that Pope Francis was unique in several respects; he is the first pope from the southern hemisphere and, most significantly, he is the first Jesuit to be appointed to the position. Though established by papal order in 1540 to stop the spread of Protestantism and convert the indigenous peoples of Africa and the Americas, the Jesuit order has historically been treated with suspicion by the Catholic Church for being power-hungry.
“Brotherhood is a wonderful thing but one religion is only good if it is worshipping the true God,” Rabbi Asore said. “The pope’s vision of brotherhood does not prevent him from sitting in front of a gold idol or uniting with Ishmael. If he wants one religion, we know what God he is not worshipping.”
Pope Francis has come under fire before for connecting the Catholic Church with the children of Ishmael. In 2015, 71 elders of the Sanhedrin tried the Pope in absentia for recognizing a “State of Palestine” with an official treaty. By doing so, the Sanhedrin claimed, the Pope was denying the covenant as described in the Bible in which God gives the land of Israel to the descendants of Jacob.
Pope Francis has also made displays similar to his sitting barefoot in front of the Golden idol of Buddha in Bangkok that showed a shocking level of tolerance for idolatry. In October, a video emerged of what appears to be Pope Francis blessing a Pachama Goddess statue.
Pope Francis has also taken on a policy in which homosexuals are welcomed into the church so much so that the American LGBT magazine The Advocate named Pope Francis their Person of the Year for 2013.
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TO THE POINT
- Palestinian Preacher Yusuf Al-Makharze: Allah Wants Girls To Be Married Off When They Start Menstruating; Our Leaders Have No Right To Prevent This From Happening (MEMRI, 12/8)
- “Israel has always embraced this path [of liberty] in a Middle East that has long rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different.” – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the U.S. Senate, 2011.
- The WorldBank’s board approved a plan to extend up to $1.5bn per year in low-interest loans to China over the next five years, despite American objections. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, said it was time the bank stopped giving financial support to China. For China the amount is piddling; what it values is the World Bank’s advice on policy. (The Economist, 12/6/2019)
- Germany’s industrial output in October fell 1.7% year-on-year. The figures were worse than expected, affected by uncertainty over the US-China trade war and Brexit, and by problems in the auto industry. Germany may not technically be in recession, after a third-quarter expansion of 0.1%, but the gloom shows no sign of lifting. (The Economist, 12/6/2019)
- “The five English speaking democracies have heaps in common. All are free-talking, free enterprise loving places (though they often fall short of these ideals). They are attractive places, too. Between them, they draw in two-thirds of the world’s highly skilled immigrants. By contrast, of the 750 million people who Gallup reports would like to migrate, only 1% want to move to the People’s Republic. Sydney alone has more foreign-born residents than mainland China.” (Anglosphere v Sinosphere, The World in 2020, The Economist).
- Namibia wants to follow Zimbabwe into starvation. Namibia wants to get rid of its white farmers. Twenty years ago, Zimbabwe did the same and millions of people have starved since. Recently, there were calls to allow the white farmers to return. South Africa is also forcing white farmers off their land. Expect the entire region of southern Africa to face endless food shortages in the years to come. The white farmers are commercial farmers, farming on a big scale. African farmers are subsistence farmers, producing only enough to feed their own families.
- Nancy Pelosi, on the defensive, was asked if she hates Donald Trump. She actually said that, as a Catholic, she does not hate anybody as if no Catholic ever hated anybody. Perhaps the Inquisition never happened. At times, the Impeachment hearings have resembled the self-righteous ecclesiastical court. No hatred? No inquisition? No wonder we’re doomed to repeat history!
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