Category Archives: Fundamentalism

Saudi Arabia, UAE urge citizens against traveling to Lebanon | News | DW.COM | 23.02.2016 {Cutting off noses to spite… themselves?}

Now, the countries’ anger has turned toward Lebanon for its support of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Shiite terrorist organization, as well as embattled President Bashar al Assad, whom those countries want to see ousted. Billions in aid halted Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE specified why they were calling on their citizens not to go to Lebanon. However, their announcement followed a decision by Saudi Arabia to halt a deal to arm the Lebanese army with some $4 billion (3.7 billion euros) in weapons, citing the country’s refusal to condemn the embassy attacks in Tehran. In a statement carried by Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, the government called Lebanon’s support for Iran “regrettable and unjustified” and “inconsistent with the fraternal relations between the two countries.” Relations in the Middle East have become fraught as Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for influence in the region. The two countries’ support for opposing sides in the ongoing Syrian conflict has contributed considerably to the tensions.

Source: Saudi Arabia, UAE urge citizens against traveling to Lebanon | News | DW.COM | 23.02.2016

State-funded Danish Muslim school tells girls not to date – The Local

The psychologist’s remarks led Copenhagen City Council member Lars Aslan Rasmussen to call for the school’s funding to be yanked.    “One should definitely remove support from a school whose psychologists can’t figure out how to be psychologists but instead act like imams,” he told Radio24syv.    “The majority of the school’s subsidy is covered by Danish taxpayers, so this should definitely have consequences,” he added.    Rasmussen said the school’s advice to female students is “crazy” and he called on the Education Ministry to take the school’s policy “very seriously”.

Source: State-funded Danish Muslim school tells girls not to date – The Local

German officials shocked by ‘disgusting’ anti-refugee mobs – The Local

A group of 20-30 apparently drunken onlookers applauded as fire took hold in a former hotel being converted into home for asylum seekers, in a suspected arson attack in the town of Bautzen in Saxony state overnight. Some members of the group also tried to impede the work of firefighters dispatched to the scene, police said. A police spokesman said that the group showed “unabashed delight” at the blaze and made “disparaging comments” about the efforts to contain it.

Source: German officials shocked by ‘disgusting’ anti-refugee mobs – The Local

The Siege of Aleppo Is an Emblem of Western Failure in Syria – SPIEGEL ONLINE

A Nightmare Worse than Sarajevo “But here in the center of Aleppo,” the doctor says, “there aren’t any Free Syrian Army positions. Only civilians. They are bombing us to soften us up for the regime.” Assad’s troops, he explains, have already taken many surrounding towns and villages and he is afraid that Aleppo will soon be completely surrounded. One thing he is no longer hoping for is external assistance, saying the international community abandoned Syria long ago. “After all, the US supports the attacks,” he says. Hamza is unsure how he will survive. He does not know. But leaving the city would mean one fewer doctor, which in turn would translate into more deaths. He says that more and more people are leaving Aleppo and that entire city quarters are emptying out. Those who are able are fleeing while they still can. Once upon a time Aleppo was the largest city in Syria, an economic powerhouse with a city center listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. But over the last three years, it has been divided between the regime and the rebels — the same rebels who joined together to drive Islamic State (IS) out of the city two years ago. Aleppo is the most important symbol of the resistance in the country, but now it is all but surrounded and cut off from the most important supply routes. There is no more diesel, hardly anything to eat and there are severe shortages of electricity and water. According to the United Nations, there are still some 300,000 people living in Aleppo — a population that may now have been abandoned to a rapid death from the sky or the slow death of starvation. It is a nightmare that could ultimately become worse even than Sarajevo was.

Source: The Siege of Aleppo Is an Emblem of Western Failure in Syria – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Why Narendra Modi’s government is at war with students | Opinion | DW.COM | 16.02.2016 (Was only a matter of time before Hindu Nationalists showed their fascist core!)

Both the government and its political supporters are upping the ante with overblown and anti-leftist nationalism. Virtually every institution and individual is being marked as either traitorous or nationalist. Since JNU is considered a leftist bastion, Hindu nationalists are demanding on Twitter that the university be shut down, and the demand to arrest “traitors” is trending on Twitter. One section of the political divide has assumed the monopoly over the power to issue certificates of patriotism. Shivam Vij writes for DW from India It has long been a grouse of Hindu nationalists that intellectual spaces in India, such as academia and English-language media, are dominated by leftist elements. Since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the government has tried to install right-wing heads in many such institutions, the key criterion being political affiliation and not talent. This in itself caused protests. But now the nationalists seem to have decided to go a step further, turning students into political prisoners and taking to vigilantism and violence with impunity, as the police often stand by and do nothing. On Monday, journalists, academics and activists were attacked by lawyers close to the ruling party. “We’ll break your phones and your bones,” they said. Journalists were punched, slapped and abused, called terrorists and asked to leave.

Source: Why Narendra Modi’s government is at war with students | Opinion | DW.COM | 16.02.2016

Israeli security forces briefly detained Washington Post bureau chief in Jerusalem

A passerby in Jerusalem accused the journalist of inciting violence, and police took him in to custody even though he showed them is press credentials. The US-based daily called the incident “extremely troubling.”

Source: Israeli security forces briefly detained Washington Post bureau chief in Jerusalem

Netanyahu: Israel needs walls to defend itself against wild beasts – PNN

Biggest Fail Yet?

“Will we surround all of the State of Israel with fences and barriers? The answer is yes. In the area that we live in, we must defend ourselves against the wild beasts,” he added.Netanyahu’s comments came during a visit to the southern Israeli border with Jordan, where he was viewing the first stage of the planned “security barrier” that will stretch across the entirety of Israel’s eastern border.

Source: Netanyahu: Israel needs walls to defend itself against wild beasts – PNN

Alternative for Germany Shows Its True, Right-Wing Colors – SPIEGEL ONLINE

There are many conservative, upper middle-class voters — most of them older, white males — who had hoped that the AfD would provide them with a new political home reminiscent of the Helmut Kohl-era Christian Democrats. For these voters, Angela Merkel’s CDU has become too liberal, too unprincipled, too un-Catholic and too multicultural. It is a natural pool of voters for a party to the right of the CDU.

Source: Alternative for Germany Shows Its True, Right-Wing Colors – SPIEGEL ONLINE