Category Archives: Gun-violence

Is defeating the Islamic State impossible? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

To defeat IS, the world needs to hit the core of the group, and this means untying the shroud of knots surrounding it and cutting blood off from IS’ heart. A counter model is needed to fight the IS model, a model that is powerful, modern and shows real respect and appreciation for Islam. With such a model it would be easier to deprive the terrorist entity of sympathizers who might become future operatives. As former IS operative Abu Omar told me, “IS is very clever and smart in attracting people with potential; they know how to talk to them and how to address their ambitions. They are also very smart in exploiting mistakes committed by their enemies, and use these mistakes to prove to their supporters why they are the right choice.” He said, “I was behind their walls; therefore, I understand the mentality. If you really want to finish IS, you need to address people’s concerns, let the sheikhs talk to youths and stop making big mistakes. IS is surviving as the result of the dire mistakes committed by governments of the region.”Defeating IS should not be impossible if the above is addressed and serious military and economic steps are taken to prevent the group from expanding both financially and geographically. This means doing battle on the war fronts and imposing sanctions on countries and individuals financing the group or allowing money to flow to it or buying goods, mainly oil, from territories under its control. Long-term strategic steps must be taken or IS will be here to stay and expand. ​

Source: Is defeating the Islamic State impossible? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

As a Judge Sentences Miller to Death, He Still Spews Hate | Southern Poverty Law Center

Even as he formally was sentenced to death this week for three murders, Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. continued spewing hate.“I thrive on hate,” the 74-year-old former Ku Klux Klan leader said in a Johnson County courtroom in Olathe, Kan. “If I didn’t thrive on hate, I would go crazy.”It was his hatred of Jews and a fervent idolization of Adolf Hitler, Miller told a jury this past summer, that drove him to kill three people in April 2014 outside two Jewish facilities in the Kansas community. The jury convicted him of three capital murders charges and took an 90 additional minutes to decide he should get the death penalty.

Source: As a Judge Sentences Miller to Death, He Still Spews Hate | Southern Poverty Law Center

Video: Israeli soldiers arrest young child | The Electronic Intifada

“If you get one step closer to me I’ll detain you,” a soldier shouts at Amirah in Hebrew, and yanks the boy backwards. The soldiers then attack Amirah while continuing to detain the child.Ajarma said that the boy’s mother, father and grandfather came to the scene.The soldiers ordered the mother and father to go and tell local youths to stop throwing stones if they wanted their son to be released, Ajarma said.They arrested Amirah and let the boy go after holding him for several hours.Ajarma said that he visited the family on Wednesday morning and that Abdallah was traumatized by the experience.Ajarma said that the Israeli soldiers looked little older than teenagers.“You’re young, but you must have a family. What you’re doing to a young child isn’t right,” Ajarma recalled telling one of the gunmen holding the child.“I feel that if this soldier was a father, he wouldn’t be able to carry on this way,” Ajarma told The Electronic Intifada.“The one thing that made the army act in a slightly less violent way is that I was filming everything,” Ajarma said.

Source: Video: Israeli soldiers arrest young child | The Electronic Intifada

When Solidarity Only Goes So Far | Dame Magazine

As news of the attacks spread, dozens of my Syrian friends, most of whom I have met while they are living as refugees in Lebanon, were changing their profile pictures to the French flag, expressing genuine sympathy—and solidarity—with the people of Paris.One friend, a former tour guide in Palmyra—the oasis of ancient ruins in the Syrian desert that was a UNESCO world heritage site and popular tourist destination before it was recently plundered by the Islamic State—changed his profile picture to an image of the French tricolor superimposed over the ancient city that he once called home.“We had to flee ISIS in Tadmur,” he says, using the Arabic name for Palmyra. “Now France has a taste of how we felt.”Just the day before, I had been having coffee near the memorial at Republique with Bashar, a Syrian refugee who sought asylum in Paris around a year and a half ago. We were talking about whether or not the recent attacks would affect refugee policy in Paris when suddenly, a panicked crowd started running for the café, toppling tables and frantically diving down the stairwell, startled by what turned out to be fireworks, set off at the wrong time.“I felt so bad for the people of Paris,” said Bashar, as we waited inside of the restaurant’s basement kitchen to find out what was going on, and whether or not the coast was clear.“I know how it feels because we had to face so much of this in Syria.”

Source: When Solidarity Only Goes So Far | Dame Magazine

www.german-foreign-policy.com German media pushing WWIII

The current front of Germany’s major national media, orchestrating domestic public opinion and publicistically habituating the population to a “World War” has been broken by a renowned business magazine. Gabor Steingart, Chief Editor of the German Handelsblatt warns, “the West shares the blame for the hostile climate between the cultures.” “Of the 1.3 million lives that the wars from Afghanistan to Syria have cost, the crusade against Iraq, waged under false pretenses – and therefore in violation of international law – alone, accounts so far for 800,000 dead,” explains Steingart. “The majority of these victims were peaceful Muslims – not terrorists.” “The automatism of severity and mercilessness, the premeditated incomprehension of one’s counterpart, the fiery speeches for the respective populations at home, the rapid take-off of bomber squadrons” have “brought us to where we are today.” “This is not how you stop terrorism; this is how you fan its flames. This is not how you obtain peace; this is how you spawn suicide bombers.” In the future, rather than banking on “combat or capitulation,” we should promote “order, respect, and moderation.” “There are alternatives to military escalation.”[13] Among the leading personalities of the German mainstream media, Steingart stands alone with his warning.

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com

Islamic State posts audio message in Bengali – The Hindu

The Islamic State’s tape of nashid (chants) in Bengali was posted on the terror outfit’s media platform Al Hayat Media Centre on October 27.“A few Bangladeshi men of foreign origin have joined the IS ranks and are said to be in Syria and Iraq. This message was most probably uploaded by them to connect to the Bangladesh audience. We don’t think it can have any impact in India. But we are still keeping a watch,” said a senior Home Ministry official.Bangladesh has denied the presence of IS on its soil, though the group itself has claimed responsibility for the recent killings of an Italian and a Japanese national in that country.The official asserted again on Tuesday that the government had not so far come across any information that would suggest the IS was planning an attack on India. However, the Home Ministry has issued an advisory to all the States which stated that the IS intended to “expand the arc of high profile terror actions beyond the core area of Syria and Iraq.” This advisory comes in the wake of the Paris attacks engineered by the outfit which killed 129 people.“Though the IS has not been able to establish any significant presence in India, its success in radicalising some youth, attracting certain sections of the local population or the Indian diaspora to physically participate in its activities, or the possibility of piggy-backing on terrorist groups operating in India, have opened up the possibility of IS-sponsored terrorist action on Indian territory,” said the advisory dated November 16. “In this regard, the security arrangements for the diplomatic interests of France, U.S., U.K., Germany, Russia, Australia, Turkey and Israel may be particularly reviewed and strengthened.”

Source: Islamic State posts audio message in Bengali – The Hindu

Pussy Riot brings protest message to Mexico, shows support for families of 43 missing students | Fusion

After the speech, several young woman jumped into the stage wearing the band’s signature neon-colored ski masks and started dancing to one of the collective’s punk rock songs.“I feel free when I can shout Ayotzinapa lives!” shouted a woman on stage, referring to the missing students who were allegedly kidnapped and murdered last year by a criminal gang in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.Alyokhina and Zhivago later met with the Mexican branch of H.I.J.O.S., a human rights activist organization created in Argentina in 1995 by family members of those who disappeared during that country’s military dictatorship. In Mexico, H.I.J.O.S., along with other rights groups, has actively pushed for more answers from the government in the case of the missing students.

Source: Pussy Riot brings protest message to Mexico, shows support for families of 43 missing students | Fusion

NSW police trained to shoot extremists ‘on sight’, rather than negotiate – Australian Broadcasting Corporation {OZ knows how to over-react too!}

“We would be mad to continue to say we will do nothing but contain and negotiate.”However, Mr Kaldas stressed the “shoot on sight” order would not be appropriate in all circumstances.

Source: NSW police trained to shoot extremists ‘on sight’, rather than negotiate – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Paris massacre: One attacker identified, rifles found in getaway car – The Hindu

The intent of the coordinated terror attacks in Paris on Friday night was clearly to deepen religious and political divisions within France, the media quoted prosecutors as saying.One of the dead terrorists had carefully placed a Syrian passport in his pocket in an obvious attempt to drive popular hostility against Syrian refugees who have been entering Europe, fleeing from the civil unrest in Syria.The attacks are believed to have been launched in retaliation for French military involvement in Syria and Iraq.‘Well-coordinated attacks’The media quoted officials as saying that the well-coordinated attacks were planned and executed by a cross-country team with links to Syria and West Asia, Belgium, Germany and France.“We must now see what measures President Hollande puts in place,” said Aurelien Mondon, an expert on French politics from the University of Bath.“Terrorism seeks to divide and unfortunately these attacks will create fertile soil for that. The media and French politicians must be very careful not to target sections who are already discriminated against.”

Source: Paris massacre: One attacker identified, rifles found in getaway car – The Hindu