Welcomed POTUS to @StateDept this AM. Tackling threat posed by violent extremism has been a top priority for him since day one. #CVESummit
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) February 19, 2015
Yes, he tweeted that, and yes, President Hussein Obama went to the State Department on Thursday to talk about 'violent extremism.' And he actually mentioned Islam.
In Iraq and Syria, our coalition of some 60 nations, including Arab
nations, will not relent in our mission to degrade and ultimately
destroy ISIL. And as a result of a separate ministerial here yesterday,
many of our governments will be deepening our cooperation against
foreign terrorist fighters by sharing more information and making it
harder for fighters to travel to and from Syria and Iraq.
Related to this, and as I said at the United Nations last fall,
nations need to break the cycles of conflict -- especially sectarian
conflict -- that have become magnets for violent extremism. In Syria,
Assad’s war against his own people and deliberate stoking of sectarian
tensions helped to fuel the rise of ISIL. And in Iraq, with the failure
of the previous government to govern in an inclusive manner, it helped
to pave the way for ISIL’s gains there.
The Syrian civil war will only end when there is an inclusive
political transition and a government that serves Syrians of all
ethnicities and religions. And across the region, the terror campaigns
between Sunnis and Shia will only end when major powers address their
differences through dialogue, and not through proxy wars. So countering
violent extremism begins with political, civic and religious leaders
rejecting sectarian strife.
Second, we have to confront the warped ideologies espoused by
terrorists like al Qaeda and ISIL, especially their attempt to use Islam
to justify their violence. I discussed this at length yesterday.
These terrorists are desperate for legitimacy. And all of us have a
responsibility to refute the notion that groups like ISIL somehow
represent Islam, because that is a falsehood that embraces the terrorist
narrative.
At the same time, we must acknowledge that groups like al Qaeda and
ISIL are deliberately targeting their propaganda to Muslim communities,
particularly Muslim youth. And Muslim communities, including scholars
and clerics, therefore have a responsibility to push back, not just on
twisted interpretations of Islam, but also on the lie that we are
somehow engaged in a clash of civilizations; that America and the West
are somehow at war with Islam or seek to suppress Muslims; or that we
are the cause of every ill in the Middle East.
That narrative sometimes extends far beyond terrorist organizations.
That narrative becomes the foundation upon which terrorists build their
ideology and by which they try to justify their violence. And that
hurts all of us, including Islam, and especially Muslims, who are the
ones most likely to be killed.
But Obama doesn't get that this is a threat to the West. He thinks it's only a threat to Muslims. He's totally unwilling to act against it. And ignoring the fact that it has been shown time and time again that terrorists come from all economic classes, he's trying to convince us that if only they could take constant luxury vacations like he and Mooch do, these Muslims wouldn't be terrorists anymore.
Third, we must address the grievances that terrorists exploit,
including economic grievances. As I said yesterday, poverty alone does
not cause a person to become a terrorist, any more than poverty alone
causes someone to become a criminal. There are millions, billions of
people who are poor and are law-abiding and peaceful and tolerant, and
are trying to advance their lives and the opportunities for their
families.
But when people -- especially young people -- feel entirely trapped
in impoverished communities, where there is no order and no path for
advancement, where there are no educational opportunities, where there
are no ways to support families, and no escape from injustice and the
humiliations of corruption -- that feeds instability and disorder, and
makes those communities ripe for extremist recruitment. And we have
seen that across the Middle East and we've seen it across North Africa.
So if we’re serious about countering violent extremism, we have to get
serious about confronting these economic grievances.
It's therefore not surprising to hear Obama's Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson come out with a statement like this.
We in the administration and the government should give voice to the
plight of Muslims living in this country and the discrimination that
they face. And so I personally have committed to speak out about the
situation that very often people in the Muslim community in this country
face. The fact that there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world and the
Islamic faith is one about peace and brotherhood.
And you wonder why Obama wants to let Iran have nuclear weapons? What could go wrong?
Disclosed: French police foiled plot to attack anti-Semitism conference
The French newspaper Le Progres disclosed on Tuesday that French police foiled a terror attack that was planned in September against an anti-Semitism conference in Lyon (Hat Tip: Daniel Greenfield).
The five suspects who were arrested in a
series of sweeps by French police between Sept. 16 and Sept. 18 were
planning to strike on Sept. 18 at an event organized in Lyon by the
regional branch of the CRIF umbrella of French Jewish communities and
organizations, according to a report Tuesday in the Le Progres daily.
An unnamed police officer who is in charge of
the investigation confirmed to the daily that the suspects were arrested
following the interception of a September 5 telephone conversation in
which they discussed their plans.
Among the five arrested are Karim and Reda
Bekhaled, two brothers who are believed to have been involved in
recruiting radical Muslims to fight in Syria, along with the remaining
three suspects. Reda Bekhaled was heard discussing the plans in the
recorded conversation.
The police officer said the brothers “had the
ambition of dying as martyrs” and “planned to carry out imminently an
act of violence.”
How many more Muslims are there in France who have the 'ambition of dying as martyrs'? There seem to be an awful lot of them.
NY Times wants to hear about minority experiences in Europe... but only if they're Muslims
If you're a minority in Europe, the New York Times is interested in hearing about your experiences this month. But only if you're a Muslim.
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks last week, the New York Times
is understandably interested in hearing about the experiences of
minorities in Europe these days. That is commendable. It’s just the kind
of journalism that sheds light on everyday life of people facing
adversity the world over. It’s important and informative and insightful,
and we applaud it, and look forward to reading it.
Scratch that. Actually, the Times is obsessively interested in the experiences of only one minority group in Europe: Muslims.
To that end, the paper has issued a call to its Muslim readers abroad to share their experiences.
“The deadly attacks in Paris on Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French newspaper that lampooned Islam, and a kosher grocery store
heightened tensions in Europe, where the increasing radicalization of
young Muslims appears to coincide with a growing anti-Islamic
sentiment.”
It’s hard to understand the paper’s continuing obsession, in their surveys and on their editorial page,
with the mortal threat of “Islamophobia”—a dubious term that lumps
together actual crimes with thought-crimes, like reprinting the cover of
Charlie Hebdo—when the people being harassed, beaten, and murdered in
Europe these days are Jews. This is especially true when the people
doing the harassing, beating and killing are Islamists.
The Times changed its headline during the day on Thursday. But the bottom line is that they're really only interested in hearing from Muslims. And the stupid Jews keep reading that rag and trusting it as a news source.
It is difficult for the Western liberal to observe the new Middle
East. His worldview is based on criticizing the West and granting
sweeping amnesty to those who are seen as its victims. This liberal’s
code of values forbids him to define Third World evil as such. So he
demonstrated against the war in Vietnam, but kept silent in the face of
the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. He opposed the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, but kept silent in the face of the oppression in Iran.
This
is why he hastens to denounce Israel, while displaying leniency toward
Hamas’ fascism. The Western liberal knows how to rise up against Western
exertion of force and likes doing so. But at the sight of Arabs
slaughtering Arabs, he is lost. Whom will he rage against? Whom can he
demonstrate against? At whom will he feel holy fury?
...
The new Middle East is now raising penetrating questions that must
generate an upheaval in liberal thought. Liberals can no longer ignore
the awful plague of Middle Eastern brutality and the fact that millions
of Arabs live with no rights and no future.
While voicing
justified criticism against Israel (for the occupation, settlements,
racist fringes), they must lift their eyes and see the expanse in which
Israel is located. An expanse in which Yazidis are massacred and
Christians are persecuted and women are stoned. An expanse in which
there is no democracy, or peace, or grace. This is a Middle East that
liberals must see as it is – and deal with its diseases courageously.
Lauren Booth wants brother-in-law indicted for war crimes
Just be happy she's not your sister-in-law (Hat Tip: Soccer Dad via Twitter)....
Former prime minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth, a rights campaigner and Muslim convert, said on Wednesday that he should be tried for war crimes over the invasion of Iraq.
Booth, the half-sister of Blair’s barrister wife Cherie, is in Malaysia for lectures organised by Viva Palestina, a British-based organisation associated with controversial politician George Galloway.
Asked whether Blair should be arrested and sent to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for war crimes, Booth replied: “Absolutely. He misled the British people and took Britain to war on a lie.”
The conflict in Iraq was “an offence”, she told reporters after a speech at a Malaysian university, saying it was organised well in advance between Blair and the United States leadership.
In case you need any proof of Ms. Booth's lack of sanity....
“Muslim women are not oppressed, it is Western women who are oppressed… Western women are bored, lonely and oppressed.”
Illegal alien Muslim caught taking pictures at Miami International Airport
A Nigerian Illegal Alien Muslim was caught taking pictures of sensitive areas of Miami International Airport in January 2011. But, hey, nothing to see here, move along.
LATMA tribal update: The UN on Muslims and a trailer for a new horror film
In this report, Jamil and Awad join the International Organization for Peace and Human Rights so that they can draw a salary from the European Union, the United Nations gives its perspective on Muslims, and you'll see a trailer for a new horror film called... I won't give it away.
Jennifer Rubin says that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deserves some of the blame for the miserable state of President Obama's Middle East policies.
The Egyptian elections are yet another failure for Obama's "Muslim outreach." Our quiet diplomacy -- the Obama team likes to refer to its efforts as "smart" diplomacy -- has proven to be utterly ineffective. It's clear that Hosni Mubarak doesn't take the administration very seriously. And in fact that's increasingly true throughout the Middle East.
Syria's fresh interference in Lebanon and its increasingly sophisticated weapons shipments to Hezbollah have alarmed American officials and prompted Israel's military to consider a strike against a Syrian weapons depot that supplies the Lebanese militia group, U.S. and Israeli officials say.
The evidence of a resurgence by Syria and its deepening influence across the region has frustrated U.S. officials who sought to change Syrian behavior. But the Obama administration has so far failed through its policy of engagement to persuade the country to abandon its support for Hezbollah and sever its alliance with Iran.
Syria is now closer than ever to Iran, its influence in Lebanon has never been greater and the U.S.'s standing has since WWII never been weaker. Some are calling for Hillary Clinton's scalp over the WikiLeaks leaks, something she had little control over. Her contribution to the state of our Middle East policy, however, is something else. But, you object, this is all a reflection of Obama's own flawed vision. True, but nothing to do about that for a couple of years. And meanwhile, the centrifuges keep spinning in Iran.
Given that Mrs. Clinton says she has no interest in running for any elected office in the future, one has to wonder why she is not taking a position that is more independent of the Obama administration. Unless she has decided that she doesn't care about her place in history either.
In her latest article at the Daily Beast website, Nomani makes the argument for airline profiling based on religious and ethnic backgrounds. Citing academic research and nearly a quarter-century of Islamist driven airline bombing plots, including World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef's work with al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to blow up a dozen airplanes to the attempted Christmas Day bombing over Detroit last year, the most likely threats to airplanes share certain traits, she said. It's an extension of an argument she made during a debate last week.
"In the debate, I said, 'Profile me. Profile my family,' Nomani writes, "because, in my eyes, we in the Muslim community have failed to police ourselves."
It's about time someone in that community started to take responsibility for their actions. Maybe they'll grow up. Someday.
The real problem in the Middle East isn't Israeli 'settlements,' argues Brett Stephens in the Wall Street Journal. It's 'Palestinian' (and for that matter - I might add - Arab and Muslim) illiberalism (those without full access to the Journal may find the full article here).
The systematic violation of Palestinian rights by Palestinian officials is an old story, as is the increasingly Islamist tilt of what was once supposed to be a relatively secular, progressive society. Whatever might be said in favor of freedom for Palestine, there has been to date precious little freedom in Palestine, whether in the Hamas-controlled statelet of Gaza or in the parts of the West Bank under Fatah's dominion.
That's a problem. It's also a problem that when the Associated Press covered Mr. Husayin's ordeal, reporter Diaa Hadid offered that "the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is among the more religiously liberal Arab governments in the region," and that "Husayin's high public profile and prickly style . . . left authorities no choice but to take action."
How nice to see AP reporters sticking up for free expression. Indeed, the consistent willingness of Western news organizations to downplay stories about Palestinian illiberalism and thuggery goes far to explain why so much of the world misdiagnoses the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Settlements are a convenient alibi: They foster the illusion that the conflict can be resolved by Israeli territorial concessions alone. But if that were true, Gaza would have turned peaceful the moment settlements were withdrawn five years ago. The opposite happened.
Why did Gaza become more violent, internally as well as toward Israel and Egypt, the moment it was rid of Israelis? That's the central question, and one too few observers seem willing to address for fear of where the answer might lead. Yet it ought to be self-evident. The culture of Palestinian illiberalism gave rise to the discontents that brought about civil war and then Hamas's swift rise to power. Hamas is theologically committed to Israel's destruction. That commitment is politically popular: It shapes, and limits, what even the most progressive Palestinian leaders might be willing to concede to Israel in any deal. The result is what we now have: Negotiations that are going nowhere, at an increasingly heavy price for all parties, including the United States.
Like George W. Bush before him, President Obama has observed that the U.S. can't want peace more than Israelis or Palestinians themselves do. But America can, uniquely, stand for freedom like no other country. Mr. Husayin—assuming he's the author of those blog posts—surely knew how much he risked by speaking his mind, and it's tempting to conclude he had it coming.
But if Palestinians cannot abide a single free-thinker in their midst, they cannot be free in any meaningful sense of the word. And if the U.S. can't speak up on his behalf, then neither, in the long run, can we.
CAIR said Muslims who object to full-body scans for religious reasons should know their rights if they are required to undergo a pat-down, including asking for the procedure to be done in a private place. In addition, CAIR offered a “special recommendation” for Muslim women who wear a hijab, telling them they should tell the TSA officer that they may be searched only around the head and neck.
In the “special recommendations for Muslim women who wear hijab,” it states: “Before you are patted down, you should remind the TSA officer that they are only supposed to pat down the area in question, in this scenario, your head and neck. They SHOULD NOT subject you to a full-body or partial-body pat-down.”
It also states: “Instead of the pat-down, you can always request to pat down your own scarf, including head and neck area, and have the officers perform a chemical swipe of your hands.”
Someone let me know the first time a Muslim is denied boarding of a flight in the US for declining the 'enhanced security measures.' The problem with flying out of Israel is that you have to fly back. This is unbelievable.
The Wall Street Journal blasts President Obama's attack on Israelfrom Jakarta earlier this week.
Why Mr. Obama chose to pick this fight from the distance of Southeast Asia is anyone's guess. Israel's decision to proceed with the building of some 1,000 housing units in the Har Homa neighborhood of municipal Jerusalem—a "settlement" only in the most jaundiced sense of the term—was made in October. Israeli governments of both the right and left have encouraged similar building projects since Jerusalem was reunified in 1967. And construction of the new housing will not begin for months if not years.
None of that deterred Mr. Obama, who warned the Israeli government that "this kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations." The State Department also chimed in, saying it was "deeply disappointed," while Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat added that the new construction proves "that Israel chooses settlements, not peace." This is the same Mr. Erekat who recently wrote an admiring letter to Ahmed Sa'adat, the mastermind of the 2001 assassination of an Israeli cabinet member.
All Israel has done is insist that Jews have a right to live anywhere in their capital city, something that might be controversial in Ramallah but ought not to be in Washington. Mr. Obama's public endorsement of the Palestinian view of what constitutes a settlement only puts the negotiated peace he seeks further out of reach.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government forbids Israeli citizens from visiting their country. If Mr. Obama wants to bridge the distance between Jakarta and Jerusalem, maybe he can start with that one.
Why in Jakarta? This isn't even about Israel. It's about President Obama's pandering to Muslims and trying to improve America's relations with the Muslim world. The easiest way to do that is at the Jews' and Israel's expense.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
