Measles outbreak in Somali community; Muslim parents refuse to vaccinate children

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This article at Mic Daily makes it sound like it is all about a fear that vaccines cause autism in vaccinated children.  However not mentioned is the Islamic prohibition on the use of vaccines.

Minneapolis Doctor Madlon-Kay

Here is the story at Mic Network Inc.  Golly gee, why can’t we get our message heard, say health officials.

Minnesota’s Hennepin County is in the midst of the state’s largest measles outbreak since 2011. Nine cases have been reported since last week, and officials expect the number to rise.

So far, all of the cases are among unvaccinated children. They have something else in common too: The affected children are all part of Minneapolis and St. Paul’s Somali-American community. According to a health department official, Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community has been a particular target of the anti-vaccination movement, colloquially known as “anti-vaxxers.”

“They’re very much engaged with and targeting this community,” Kris Ehresmann, infectious disease division director at the Minnesota Health Department, said in a phone call Wednesday.

According to Ehresmann, anti-vaccine groups began to target the Somali community around 2008, amid concerns about autism among Somali-American children. Anti-vaccine groups started reaching out to the Somali community and showing up at community health meetings, she said, disseminating misinformation linking autism to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR.

Since then, the population has seen a “steady decline in MMR vaccine rates.”

[….]

She [Dr. Diane Madlon-Kay, a practicing physician who has studied the low vaccine rates among Minnesota’s Somali community] and other doctors who serve that population have had little luck dispelling myths about autism and vaccines that travel quickly though the community via word-of-mouth, she said.

“We don’t seem to be making any headway with that at all,” Madlon-Kay said.

Despite countless studies indicating there’s no connection between vaccines and autism, Madlon-Kay doesn’t have much hope that science will change the minds of scared parents within the Somali community anytime soon.

Continue reading here.

What about Islam?

Not a word in the story about Islam and vaccines which is likely the bigger reason why health officials can’t educate the Somalis.  In only a few minutes search, here is one of many articles about “religious” prohibitions in Islam.

Islam and Medical Science Must Oppose Vaccination

The case against vaccination is first an Islamic one, based on Islamic ethos regarding the perfection of the natural human body’s immune defence system, empowered by great and prophetic guidance to avoid most infections. The case against vaccination is also a medical and health-related one. Incredible evidence, unbeknownst to most, has emerged in the West regarding the many serious health hazards that affect those who have been vaccinated.

For inquisitive minds, we have hundreds of articles about refugees and health issues (including mental health issues) in our ‘Health Issues’ category, here.  Measles is not the worst illness you will find there.

HIJRAH: Radical Islam’s Global Invasion

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THE STORY

hijrah cover dvdHIJRAH – RADICAL (FUNDAMENTAL) ISLAM’S GLOBAL INVASION

Scenes of chaos are unfolding across the globe as millions of Muslim ‘refugees’ make their way out of the Middle East and into the west. Western governments are unprepared for the onslaught of Muslim migrants and world leaders appear completely ignorant of what the underlying mass movement is about. If we’re to believe the words of corporate media, and of course we shouldn’t, it’s all about human rights with virtually no potential for deadly consequences. But is that really what this is all about?

Refugees?

Is it all a harmless movement of people fleeing their homeland for hope of a better future in the west? Are the millions of Muslims migrating into the nations of the West willing to integrate into our culture and way of life?The following story should shake you to your core being. Because I’m about to show you truth the media is unwilling to share. I’m about to show you how this mass movement of Muslims is carefully and strategically designed to provide cover for something sinister. I’m Paul Nehlen and this is the story of modern day radical Islamic Hijrah.

Hijrah immerses viewers deep into the dark underworld of the Muslim refugee crisis. The story provides an extensive background into the origins of Hijrah, the true purpose of the refugee invasion happening across the globe and the shocking reality of how our very own government is fueling its rise.

RELATED ARTICLE: Europe: What Happens to Christians There Will Come Here

The Cost of the Tax Code, Understandably

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Complying with the tax code costs the United States a cool trillion dollars per year. That’s the entire GDP of Mexico, wasted because of the sheer complexity of our tax code, which runs to 74,000 pages or so when taken with the IRS policies and parts of the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) that bear directly on it.

And let’s imagine that we outsourced all the work done by Americans to comply, so that we could spend our time doing more good for ourselves and each other: it would require the whole population of Paraguay to spend every working hour calculating and filing our taxes for us… with no time for anything else!

As for those penalties that the IRS collects from us, largely for making honest mistakes and not rectifying them in time – they total up to the GDP of Estonia.

Think about that – about the shear human cost and waste – all the good not done for others, all the time not spent with families, all the industrial production foregone – because our politicians can’t wrest themselves away from the special interests and campaign donors, or put the well-being of Americans before their re-election or their preferred political ideology.

Disgusted by this state of affairs, a few folks from an outfit called the Tax Revolution Institute are about to draw a little attention to the problem.

They won’t be marching in the street or writing letters to politicians to explain the need to solve this problem, knowing full well that they are utterly incapable of working out how.

Rather, their protest will be altogether more sedentary and civilized.

They are just going to read it.

… But they are going to do so outside the IRS building in DC from dawn to dusk on Tax Day, April 18th, and they’re going to livestream the whole event on their website at TaxRevolution.us.

Now that I’d like to see… but probably not for the full 14 hours…

They will have the entire tax code with them… along with, I hope, plenty of water.

They’re really going to do it. How many of the 74,000 pages will they get through, though…?

Robin Koerner

Robin Koerner

Robin Koerner is British-born and recently became a citizen of the USA. A decade ago, he founded WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over 200 volunteers that translates and posts views about the USA from all over the world, works as a trainer and a consultant, and recently wrote the book If You Can Keep It.

Marine Le Pen: ‘Give us France back, for God’s sake’

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Marine Le Pen said:

The choice on Sunday is simple: It is a choice between a France that is rising again and a France that is sinking.

She is right. Far too many Westerners are still licking old (now gangrenous) wounds from eons ago. Europeans and white people are deemed inherently or inveterately evil because of colonialism and racism, and so deserve to be punished, no matter how the global situation has changed since colonial days. This punishment, moreover, is without limitations.

Buzzwords such as “globalization,” “diversity,” and “tolerance,” which may once have had relatively benign meanings, have been warped and manipulated as part of the larger endeavor to destroy Western civilization from within. Unscrupulous Islamic supremacist warriors play the victimhood ploy with proficiency. They would have us all turn a blind eye to the history of Islamic jihad conquest prior to the era of colonialism, as well as to present-day slavery in some Muslim countries, the general Islamic intolerance and abuse of religious minorities and infidels, and the sickening treatment of women that is sanctioned by Sharia law.

Le Pen also said:

Mass immigration is not an opportunity for France, it’s a tragedy for France…Give us France back, for God’s sake.

Marine Le Pen

“Front National’s Marine Le Pen attacks the ’savage globalisation’ of rivals”, by Jon Rogers , Express, April 17, 2017:

FRONT National presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has told a rally in Paris that French voters have a choice between the “savage globalisation” promoted by her rivals and her patriotism.

She said: “The choice on Sunday is simple: It is a choice between a France that is rising again and a France that is sinking.“

In an attack on her rivals such as Francois Fillon and Jean-Luc Melenchon she said they advocated “savage globalisation” compared to her “camp of patriots”.

She added: “Give us France back, for God’s sake,” which sparked the 5,000 supporters who had filled the Zenith concert hall in the French capital to chant: “This is our home.”

Ms Le Pen also played on her familiar topics of the party being anti-European Union and anti-immigration.

She said: “I will protect you. My first measure as president will be to reinstate France’s borders.

“Mass immigration is not an opportunity for France, it’s a tragedy for France,” she said, adding that she would immediately impose a moratorium on immigration.”

She continued: ”We can’t decide who is allowed to come here any more. The French sometimes have fewer rights than foreigners – even illegal ones.”

Scuffles with police erupted outside the Zenith concert hall in north-east Paris earlier this evening with around 60-80 anti-Front National protestors taking to the streets of the French capital for the second night running.

Police fired teargas at the protesters, some of whom threw chunks of wood. The protesters then left, followed by a small group of police.

The French presidential contest is seen as being very close and none of the candidates can be assured of making it through to the second round with the polls being volatile and too close to call with certainty.

All the main candidates are making a concerted effort as the campaign enters the final week for the first round of voting which takes place on Sunday.

According to the latest poll, the centrist Emmanuel Macron is marginally in the lead and is expected to gain 23 percent in the first round of France’s presidential election.

Ms Le Pen is only just behind on 22.5 percent with Francois Fillon and Jean-Luc Melenchon on an equal footing, both on 19.5 percent.

Mr Macron would bet Ms Le Pen in the second round by 60 percent to 40 percent, according to the Fop-Fiducial poll.

A separate daily Opinionway poll showed on Monday that Macron was tied with Le Pen in the first round of voting at 22 percent, with Fillon at their heals on 21 percent followed by Melenchon on 18 percent.

Mr Macron was seen beating Ms Le Pen in the runoff by 64 percent to 36.

There are a total of 11 contenders for the presidency but only four are seen as serious contenders.

There was chaos on the streets of Paris yesterday as activists took the streets with flares as they protested about the rise of Ms Le Pen.

Protestors shouted: “This is Paris! Paris is antifascist.”

Eye witnesses said that around 400 people had taken part in a march. Most protestors were peaceful but a small group were said to have formed an angry mob, throwing flares…..

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Muslim screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ murders three people! Fresno police unsure if this was terrorism?

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It is unclear as of yet whether or not Kori Ali Muhammad had an ISIS membership card, hence cops are holding out hope that he is “mentally ill.”

And so the denial and willful ignorance persist in the face of the ongoing jihad.

Kori Ali Muhammad

Kori Ali Muhammad

“3 people killed in ‘random’ shootings in downtown Fresno,” BNO News, April 18, 2017 (thanks to Good Ideas Vs Bad):

Three people have been killed in California after a series of “random” shootings in downtown Fresno, officials say. The suspect – who shouted “Allahu Akbar” while being taken into custody – is also a suspect in an earlier shooting.

The incident began just before 11 a.m. PT on Tuesday when officers received reports of a shooting in downtown Fresno, followed soon after by 3 additional shootings. A total of 3 people were shot at 3 separate locations.

According to Police Chief Jerry Dyer, the suspect was later spotted by a police officer, after which he “literally dove onto the ground”. While being taken into custody, the man – identified as 39-year-old Kori Ali Muhammad – shouted “Allahu Akbar.”

It is not yet known whether the shootings are an act of terrorism, Chief Dyer said. Muhammad was already wanted in connection with the murder of a security guard at a motel in Fresno.

As a result of the shootings, all Fresno County government offices and a number of businesses in the area were put on lockdown….

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Why is the U.S. DOE Promoting Islam to School Kids? by Dan Miller

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The U.S. Department of Education has proselytized in our public schools on behalf Islam for many years through its “Access Islam” program. Federally funded, it is directed at children in grades 5 through 12. The Christian Action Network recently demanded that President Trump’s recently confirmed Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, terminate the program.

According to an article at Breitbart, a predecessor program began during the Bush administration in 2005. It “simply taught students about the traditions, culture, and holidays of Islam. Then, it became greatly expanded under the Obama administration. It has continued to develop, and now has had a greater, broader outreach.”

According to the linked Breitbart article, “Access Islam” is not only funded by DOE. It is also “being promoted on various websites,” Martin Mawyer, president and founder of CAN, told Breitbart News. “PBS Learning Media is one of the websites that is promoting it. The Smithsonian also promotes it, the Indiana Department of Education promotes it, and even the United Nations promotes it.”

The video features prominently a Christian convert to Islam, who declares emotionally how he has found the true religion without any “intermediaries.”

Here is the blurb following the video:

The United States Department of Education has developed an Islamic indoctrination program for public schools called, “Access Islam.”

The lesson plans are written for grades 5 through 12. They include worksheets and videos to help students perform the 5 Pillars of Islam – prayer, fasting, alms giving, pilgrimage to Mecca and the proclamation of Muslim faith. [emphasis added].”

This short video contains excerpted clips taken from the “Access Islam” program which not only teaches children how to perform a Muslim prayer, but asks students such questions as: “What does a Muslim prayer sound like?” “What do the movements look like?” and “What are some of the things Muslims say during prayer?”

Children are also expected to memorize verses from the Quran and give the meaning of those verses.

Taken as a whole, the U.S. Department of Education’s “Access Islam” program is nothing short of a Sunday school class on Islam.

DOE provides no even remotely comparable promotion of any other religion. Nor should it, because for any federal (or for that matter state) agency to do so is inconsistent with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Watch a video of an interview by Tucker Carlson of Fox News with the founder of the Christian Action Network on the DOE program:

Will any of the many major “civil rights” organizations with which America is “blessed” take legal action against state entities which use Access Islam? They have been quite active in opposing even the display of Nativity scenes and the Ten Commandments on public property.

When will Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s recently confirmed Secretary of Education, repudiate the “Access Islam” promotion and insist that all video and other presentations of related materials it provided be returned? The DOE apparently remains a big swamp, very much in need of draining.

ABOUT DAN MILLER

Dan Miller, a retired lawyer, blogs at DanMillerInPanama.

RELATED ARTICLE: Arizona State U Prof Lets Students Organize Anti-Trump Protest Instead of Taking Final Exam

Syrian Christian Forces Ask President Trump for Help by Ryan Mauro

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A Syriac Christian militia in Syria that is fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda and also opposes the Assad regime is asking President Trump for direct military assistance and to be treated as equals with the U.S.-backed Arab forces preparing to take Raqqa, the “capitol” of ISIS.

The Syriac Military Council (MFS) is a Christian component of the 50,000-strong Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurds, Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Christians backed by the United States and formed in October 2015. The U.S. military describes the alliance as its “best partnered forces” in Syria. The special operators helping the forces to fight ISIS say they have “absolute confidence” in them as the forces, including 1,000 women, prepare to attack Raqqa.

The MFS’ request for President Trump’s help reads in part:

 “There is no single reason to exclude us from the same support in equipment as is given to the Arabs. The fact that we suffered under genocides emphasizes the need for delivery of military equipment. If we are weak, we are a target of the extremist forces that the SDF is fighting against. 

“We will be part of any operation against Raqqa, regardless our current level of military equipment. We cannot imagine that the U.S. would deliberately want us to be poorer equipped than our Arab partners when we go into that big battle. 

“We thank the U.S. for the air support given in crucial battles and the support to the SDF. We also hope that this is an opportunity to work together for the long-term security and freedom of our people and all the peoples of the region.”

The MFS statement says that the U.S. military assistance favors the Turkmen and Arab components of the SDF over the Christians and Kurds. It also disputed Turkey’s claim that the Kurdish component is part of the PKK terrorist group.

The MFS has a presence in the Christian areas of northeastern Hasakah Province, a multi-ethnic province with Kurds and Arabs. The province has great potential for U.S. strategy, as it has been suggested as a candidate for a “safe zone” for refugees, most prominently by Dr. Ben Carson when he was running for the GOP presidential nomination. About half of Syria’s oil production is based in Hasakah Province.

The Syriac Military Council (MFS) launched by the Syriac Union Party in January 2013 and is estimated to be about 2,000-strong and includes a Christian female unit named the Beth Nahrin Women Protection Forces. The organization includes Christians identifying as Assyrians, Syriacs and Chaldeans.

Watch a video of the Christian females’ training camp in the Kurdish area of northern Syria. 

The MFS initially tried to ally with various Syrian rebel groups, such as those backed by Turkey who are fighting under the Free Syria Army banner, but their Islamist orientation prevented it from going anywhere. A MFS commander said, “Most have a mentality that they can’t accept diversity within Syria.”

In early 2014, MFS allied with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers to be a branch of the PKK Kurdish terrorist group. The U.S. position is that they are operationally separate, which MFS agrees with, even if they are ideologically unified. The YPG is the Kurdish component of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The MFS is on the side of the secular-democratic Syrian opposition, even if it doesn’t directly engage Assad’s forces. It “started out as a staunchly anti-government militia, and its leaders insist that its views have not changed,” reports Middle East Eye.

The Syriac Military Council (MFS) and its Beth Nahrin Women Protection Forces (HSNB) condemn the Assad regime as a “murder machine.” When they launched, they declared support for “the Syrian people’s revolution in its desire to bring down the Ba’ath regime.”

The MFS commander in Hasakah says the Assad regime and ISIS should be viewed as part of the same enemy, accusing the ruling dictatorship of exploiting ISIS to stay in power.

“They [the Assad regime] are the ones that bring ISIS in…We want to launch attacks on ISIS, but the army of the regime does not allow us to. They have contracted different outside militias, some of which are sympathetic to ISIS, and allowed them to enter and loot homes,” he said.

With President Trump’s reversal on the Assad regime, U.S. policy is now aligned with the Syrian Christian forces that belong to the Syriac Military Council and oppose Assad, ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Islamist rebels.

As the MFS Christians prepare for the bloody battle in Raqqa, they are hoping that President Trump hears their voice. Let’s hope that their statement reaches him.

ABOUT RYAN MAURO

Ryan Mauro is ClarionProject.org’s national security analyst and an adjunct professor of homeland security. Mauro is frequently interviewed on top-tier television and radio. To invite Ryan to speak please contact us.

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7,000 Africans made it to Europe over the Easter weekend as Muslim invasion heats up

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Also heating up is the exchange of words between the so-called rescue ships and the EU’s migration authority. EU agencies accuse NGO migrant rescue boats of creating a “pull factor” which only encourages more people to try to reach Europe in anything that floats.

Hillary Clinton.

I will never let you forget! Hillary Clinton is directly responsible for the invasion of Europe from Libya! Call it Gadaffi’s revenge.

There are a bunch of news stories today and yesterday about the increase in numbers of African migrants trying to get to Europe from launch-pad-Libya (we should call it Hillary’s invasion of Europe!).

Here is one at CNN:

Calm seas, desperate migrants and ruthless human traffickers all played a role in a record-breaking weekend of maritime rescues in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Libya.

But even as the rescue vessels race against time to save lives, another battle is brewing with accusations from the European Union’s border control agency Frontex against nongovernmental organizations like Doctors Without Borders and the Mobile Offshore Aid Station, or MOAS, that run so-called charity rescue ships. Frontex says the charity rescue vessels create a pull factor for migrants and traffickers; the NGOs say they are out there in the absence of an EU strategy to save lives at sea and a lack of initiative to provide a safe corridor option for migration and asylum.

On Sunday evening in Italy, the Italian Coast Guard estimated the number of those rescued since Friday was approaching 7,000, though that number will surely grow as a steady stream of rubber dinghies and rickety wooden fishing vessels were still being spotted off the coast of Libya.

[….]

In a press release, MOAS co-founder and director Regina Catrambone agreed. “Every day people continue to risk their lives while we, as civil society, stand witness. We must continue to call on European governments to act so that people, such as those rescued by us today, do not die, not in Libya nor in the Mediterranean Sea.”

Much more here.

For those who think this doesn’t affect you in America, it does.  We have an extensive archive on the fact that we have been taking some of the illegal migrants who reach the island nation of Malta to your towns as refugees. Here is one recent post.

Our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive is here.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of ‘humanitarians’ picking Muslim migrants off the Libyan coast.

Turkey rejects secularism, turns Islamic

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The news from Turkey is disquieting. The Guardian reported;” Erdogan clinches victory in Turkish constitutional referendum:”

Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has achieved victory in a historic referendum on a package of constitutional amendments that will grant him sweeping new powers.

Sadi Güven, the head of Turkey’s high electoral board (YSK), confirmed the passage of the referendum on Sunday night, based on unofficial results.

The yes campaign won 1.25m more votes than the no campaign, with only about 600,000 votes still to be counted, Güven told reporters in Ankara, meaning the expanded presidential powers had been approved.

However, disparities persisted into Sunday evening, with the opposition saying not all ballots had been counted and they would contest a third of the votes that had been cast.

Güven said the YSK had decided to consider unstamped ballots as valid unless they were proved to be fraudulent, after a high number of complaints – including one from the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) – that its officials had failed to stamp some ballot papers.

The no campaign said the YSK’s last-minute decision raised questions about the validity of the vote. But Güven said the decision was taken before results were entered into the system and that members of the AKP and the main opposition were present at almost all polling stations and signed off on reports. He said official results were expected in 11-12 days.

The result of the referendum sets the stage for a transformation of the upper echelons of the state and changing the country from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential republic, arguably the most important development in the country’s history since it was founded on the ashes of the Ottoman Republic.

Erdogan said he would immediately discuss reinstating the death penalty in talks with the prime minister and the nationalist opposition leader, Devlet Bahçeli. The president said he would take the issue to referendum if necessary.

Not a resounding mandate was achieved  in today’s “muted victory” in the Turkish  national referendum leaving the country divided:

The narrow victory will nevertheless come as a disappointment for the country’s leadership, which had hoped for a decisive mandate for the plan that could see Erdogan remain in power until 2029 if he wins successive elections.

The result will set the stage for a further split between Turkey and its European allies, who believe Ankara is sliding towards autocracy. The European commission said on Sunday night that Turkey should seek the “broadest possible national consensus” in its constitutional amendments, given the yes campaign’s slim margin of victory.

Results carried by the state-run Anadolu news agency showed the yes vote had about 51.3% compared with 48.7% for the no vote, with nearly 99% of the vote counted. Turnout exceeded 80%.

The country’s three largest cities – Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir – voted against the changes, and so did the vast majority of Kurdish voters and many of the coastal cities, indicating a general decline in the ruling party’s support

In a press conference in Istanbul following his party’s declaration of victory, Erdogan said that unofficial results showed there were about 25m yes votes, 1.3m more than no.

But in an unusually muted victory speech, Erdogan said foreign powers should respect the referendum’s outcome. He said: “We’ve got a lot to do, we are on this path but it’s time to change gears and go faster … We are carrying out the most important reform in the history of our nation.”

Erdogan claimed support for constitutional change had risen in south-east Turkey and hailed a “profound” jump in support for a presidential system that was unpopular just two years ago. Overseas votes were a “big part” of that success, he said, adding that his new executive presidency would probably come into effect after the 2019 election.

Erdogan called the prime minister, Binali Yildirim, and other political allies to congratulate them on the victory, although, in an indication of the ruling AKP’s disappointment, the deputy prime minister said they had received fewer votes than they expected.

Turkeys Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Our comment

Erdogan and AKP celebrate while concerned opposition challenges alleged narrow victory requesting a recount of 60 percent of votes cast.

Was there the expected jiggery pokery over the ballot counting in the nation referendum? Without independent foreign monitors present, how do we know if this vote count wasn’t tampered with? How can Turkish voters trust the integrity of the ballot system under the Islamist autocracy of the neo Sultan Erdogan and his cronies conspiring to overturn the 1923 Constitutional legacy of Turkish Republic founder Kemal Ataturk.

In a land of Islamic ascendency under Erdogan, dystopia will follow today’s referendum under cover of darkness at noon.

Darkness at Noon in Erodgan’s Turkey

If you want to know what was at stake in today’s National Referendum in Turkey read this New York Times Magazine article, “Inside Turkey’s Purge”. The article by Suzy Hansen rivals the paranoia portrayed in the thinly disguised world of Stalin’s Great Purge of the 1930’s in Russia in former Communist Arthur Koestler’s classic novel, Darkness at Noon.

Great swaths of lives swept aside by the dystopian vision of President Erdogan, that if implemented by today’s outcome would end the last vestige of freedom of thought, free expression with random imprisonment, torture sending those desperate to leave to opt for refugee smugglers to bring them to exile in Europe and elsewhere.

All because Erdogan brooks no opposition following his faux coup of July 2016 allegedly perpetrated by exiled former ally Sheik Fethullah Gulen’s mythical FETO network. Then there are the Kurds whose liberal Peoples Democratic Party leader, (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas and thousands of elected officials he accuses of being stalking horses for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, the cease fire of 2013 which he struck with jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan he overturned in July2015 with open warfare against the largely Kurdish southeastern region turning cities there into virtual moonscapes.

Erdogan’s quest of becoming autocrat for life will denude Turkey of its educated class, industrialists, journalists, educators, jurists, prosecutors and secular military. It will. likely lead to oppression of significant religious and ethnic minorities, prominent among them, Alevis and Kurds. The economy will suffer from lack of foreign investment, unemployment rising and real income plummeting. The Erdogan family and AKP operatives will reap enormous wealth from corruption. Foreign relations with the EU, UK and US may enter a dark period, with the threat of loss of NATO membership and alliance with another dystopian country Putin’s Russia.

Read this opening stanza of Ms. Hansen’s riveting and disturbing profile of Darkness at Noon :

The police officers came to the doctor’s door in Istanbul at 6 a.m. — dawn raids usually start then, sometimes 5:30 — and one of them said, “You are accused of attempting to kill President Erdogan.”

The doctor couldn’t help it; he laughed. “Really? I did that?”

The police officers smiled, too. “Yes. Also for attempting to destroy Turkey and for being a member of a terrorist organization.”

“Really?” He looked at them. They carried pistols. “Can I have a cigarette then?”

The police seemed surprised. They didn’t expect a Gulenist to smoke. I’m not a Gulenist, the doctor insisted. That didn’t help him. He would soon be one of the many thousands of people in Turkey caught in the machinery of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s purge.

The police searched the doctor’s house and his books and overturned his things, looking for evidence that he was a Gulenist, or a supporter of Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric who began preaching in Turkey in the 1960s and whose followers number as many as five million. Gulen has been living in exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, which partly explains why the police were looking for American $1 bills whose serial numbers start with “F” — the Turkish government claims that these were used in some mysterious way by something it has branded the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization, or FETO, which it blames for the attempted coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016.

At present, several pieces of evidence can suggest that you may be a member of FETO, including having had an account at Bank Asya, which was founded by Gulenists; running the ByLock encrypted communication app on your phone (thought to have facilitated planning for the coup attempt); possessing those F-series dollar bills; sending your children to a school associated with Gulen; working at a Gulen-affiliated institution (a university, say, or a hospital); having subscribed to the Gulen newspaper Zaman; or having Gulen’s books in your house. One action implicated the doctor: When he returned to Turkey after living abroad for three years and moved into a new house with his wife and children, he opened an account at the nearest bank up the street: Bank Asya.

(READ MORE)

RELATED ARTICLE: How Erdogan’s Victory Might Be Europe’s Defeat

Top ten countries for persecution of Christians: North Korea and nine Muslim countries

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Why is this the case, and why is it the case year after year? Might it have something to do with these teachings?

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day, and do not forbid what has been forbidden by Allah and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are of the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29)

Muhammad said:

“Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war…When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them…. If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them. (Sahih Muslim 4294)

Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and Eritrea. Trump’s ill-fated travel ban included six of these countries: Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen, plus Libya. How racist.

“Christian persecution: How many are being killed, where they are being killed,” by Georeen Tanner, Fox News, April 14, 2017:

Is Christianity in the Middle East coming to an end?

This past Palm Sunday was a dark day in Egypt. Suicide bombings at two Coptic Christian churches, one in Alexandria and the other in Tanta left 45 people dead and many more wounded. Although there has been an uptick in violence against Christians in the region, Egypt is hardly alone in a long list of countries — many in the Middle East — that are violently hostile towards Christians.

A list generated by Open Doors USA, a nonprofit organization focused on serving persecuted Christians, shows the Middle East accounts for a majority of countries ranked in the top 10 for extreme persecution of Christians. In order, the countries are as follows:

1. North Korea
2. Somalia
3. Afghanistan
4. Pakistan
5. Sudan
6. Syria
7. Iraq
8. Iran
9. Yemen
10. Eritrea

Egypt ranks No. 21. According to the Christian advocacy group, one in 12 Christians today experiences high, very high or extreme persecution for their faith. Nearly 215 million Christians face high persecution, with 100 million of those living in Asia.

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity, an academic research center that monitors worldwide demographic trends in Christianity, estimates that between the years 2005 and 2015, 900,000 Christians were martyred — an average of 90,000 Christians each year.

From Nov. 1, 2015, to Oct. 31, 2016, Open Doors documented as many as 1,207 Christians who were killed around the globe for faith-related reasons during the 2017 list’s reporting period. This is a conservative estimate since it only includes documented cases and does not include statistics from North Korea and large areas of Iraq and Syria. Of the lists procured, these are the Middle Eastern or Muslim-dominated countries where Christian deaths occurred during the same time period:

1. Pakistan: 76
2. Syria: 24
3. Somalia: 12
4. Egypt: 12
5. Afghanistan: 10
6. Yemen: 4
7. Libya: 2
8. Iraq: 1

Open Doors also documented a total of 1,329 churches attacked worldwide for faith-related reasons. These are the Middle Eastern or Muslim-dominated countries where those attacks happened between Nov. 1, 2015, and Oct. 31, 2016:

1. Pakistan: 600…

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Jesus: Man, Myth, Son of God?

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Jesus Christ died.  He died quivering on a cross, after receiving a horrific public thrashing that would have killed any other human.  He died after carrying His own instrument of death, the top part of the cross, to Golgotha where He was brutally and efficiently nailed to the beam He carried. He died after hanging between heaven and earth for about six hours in unexplainable agony.

To make certain of His death, the order was given to pierce His side with a spear which released the very last drops of His blood.  The professional soldiers who carried out the crucifixion detail were seasoned veterans with many crucifixions on their resumes; these hardened men were so certain of Jesus Christ’s death they did not even take the time to break His legs, as it was quite plain to see He was dead, He was finished.  Pilate, the Temple High Priest, and all of the religious leadership in Jerusalem were also certain of this fact, and rested in the knowledge that they had successfully killed an uprising, as well as this so-called King of the Jews, this Son of God.  It is done!  It is finished!

As the afternoon sun faded and the late day shadows began to grow so did the shadows of hopelessness and utter dismay and gloom by Christ’s disciples.  Such brooding sadness appeared that only dazed looks with puzzled grief that knew no words were exchanged among those who had been the closest followers, and may I say, “Believers.”  Utterly crushed, beaten, and most likely Wanted Men…these men had just hours prior sat at table with the man they came to know as The Son of God; the long awaited Messiah!  These men now scattered in an attempt to pick up any remaining pieces of their lives interrupted a little over three years before.

Jesus was confirmed dead, but Pilate was reminded that this strange, troublesome religious Dreamer (Nut) claimed He would rise on the third-day.  So to make certain that no theatrics could be accomplished a Roman Guard was set at the tomb.  The tomb was sealed with the Official Roman Seal to make certain no one would enter (or leave) the burial chamber thereby beginning a new round of zealotry.  Even if an attempt was made to tamper with the seal, the soldiers standing post would prevent a successful conclusion, as well as bring instant death to anyone attempting such an act.  There would be no more talk about His kingdom being established.  There would be no more statements that He could summon twelve legions of angels to His assistance.  There would be no more Messiah…He will trouble us no more!

Then came Sunday morning.

Sometime prior to dawn, in a borrowed burial tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, there was a stirring, a fluttering of unseen forces…the presence of angels, and the unexplainable breath of God moving through the garden and into the tomb.  Immeasurable forces poured life back into the dead body that laid on the cold stone slab in that tomb; and the dead man rose and came out of the grave, and out of the grave clothes, and into life just prior to Mary’s arrival as she came to grieve and stand watch.  But Mary stood in shock and awe in front of the tomb as the massive stone had been rolled away, and now the sepulchre was empty except for the two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

As Mary cried-out asking, “What have you done with Him?” she heard her name spoken as only her dear, dear friend, Jesus could speak it, only this time all of heaven was in His tone.  And she knew.  She simply replied to Him, “Rabboni,” which is to say, “Master.”

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and a few other women then ran and got the disciples, but they ran with the news that “Christ has Risen…He has Risen indeed!”  The disciples did not expect this to happen no matter how much they wanted it to be true.  How about you?  Would you have expected this, regardless of Jesus spending a little over three years sharing and revealing His purpose on earth, and the will of His Heavenly Father?  How about today?  Right now?

Do you believe Jesus of Nazareth died for you, was buried for your sins and deeds, and then rose on the third-day?  Do you believe?  The disciples will understand your doubts, your hesitancy.  So does the Lord who was actually in that tomb, but came out!  He understands.

Eight days passed, and the disciples were together.  Suddenly Jesus was with them.  These men, who just a very short-time prior were in deep mourning and bewilderment were reported by thousands to be “lights to the world” with their faces and manner, joyous and rejoicing in the good news of Christ’s Resurrection.  Ignorant men?  Self-serving?  An invention by a group of men hoping to cash in?  And would you or anyone you know invent such a story so as to be crucified upside down, like Peter?  How about stay with such a story causing your head to be chopped off, like Paul, or to be stoned to death like Steven?

Each of the disciples, save John, met with a horrible death at the hands of church and government authorities who years later still could not afford to have the Resurrection Story of Jesus Christ shared, much less believed by the masses.  Today the forces of darkness, division, confusion, and humanism do NOT want you to learn, much less accept the truth of Christ’s Resurrection from death.  Maybe even more today than thousands of years ago, the powers aligned against God’s Word do NOT want you to come into the saving knowledge and grace of the Risen Christ, the Begotten Son of God who surrendered His Crown in Heaven for a Crown of Thorns on earth; His Seat at the right hand of the Heavenly Father for the rugged and splintered wooden cross that became His seat of death on earth.

cross risen

Luke 23:44-47 NIV: 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

Look at the picture above.  You are looking from inside an empty tomb across the land to an empty cross.  The same cross and tomb Jesus Christ occupied for a short-time before ascending into Heaven for all time, for all eternity.  Jesus is not dead!

The tomb is empty!  Jesus has risen from the dead…He has Risen indeed!

EDITORS NOTE: A Barna study released days before Easter, looking at how U.S. adults see and relate to the central figure of Christianity, shows that almost all Americans believe that Jesus Christ was a real person who actually lived, and that the majority of Americans have made a commitment to Him.

Ninety-three percent of Americans say they believe Jesus is a real person who lived on earth, according to the survey, whose results were released Thursday but was conducted between Aug. 25 and Sep. 10 of 2014 among a representative sample of adults over the age of 18 in each of the 50 United States.

Sixty-three percent of U.S. adults say they have made a commitment to Jesus that is still important in their lives today, shows the study, which included 2005 web-based and phone surveys.

Less than half (43 percent) believe Jesus was God living among humans; 31 percent believe He was uniquely called to reveal God’s purpose in the world; 9 percent say Jesus embodied the best that is possible in each person; and 8 percent say He was a great man and a great teacher, but not divine.

The survey, whose sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points and at the 95 percent confidence level, also found that 59 percent of Americans have no doubt that Jesus will return to earth someday.

A separate, recent Barna study found that while an increasing number of Americans are reportedly abandoning the institutional church and its defined boundary markers of religious identity, many of them still believe in God and practice faith outside its walls, meaning those who “love Jesus but not the church.”

Their beliefs about God are more orthodox than the general population, even rivaling their churchgoing counterparts, that study showed. “For instance, they strongly believe there is only one God (93 percent compared to U.S. adults: 59 percent and practicing Christians: 90 percent); affirm that ‘God is the all-powerful, all- knowing, perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today’ (94 percent compared to U.S. adults: 57 percent and practicing Christians: 85 percent); and strongly agree that God is everywhere (95 percent compared to U.S. adults: 65 percent and practicing Christians: 92 percent).”

While many Christians in the U.S. hold orthodox beliefs, the religious trend in Western Europe appears to be different.

In England, for example, one in four people who identify themselves as “Christians” say that they believe that the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen, according to a recent poll.

The former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II argued that those who identify themselves as “Christians” but do not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus cannot really be Christians. “Those people who neither believe in the resurrection nor go anywhere near a church cannot be ‘Christians,’” the Rev. Dr. Gavin Ashenden said, according to The Telegraph. “As with so many things, the key is in the definition of terms. Discovering the evidence for the resurrection having taken place to be wholly compelling is one of the things that makes you a Christian; ergo, if you haven’t, you are not.”

Somalis arrested in Clarkston, Georgia a long-time haven for ‘refugee diversity’

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President Trump may be admitting new Somalis to the U.S. every day, but at least the Administration is arresting those here illegally.

No time to say much about it, but want readers to see this story from Georgia (hat tip: Joanne):

Federal immigration authorities have started arresting Somali nationals in parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties that have long been havens for newcomers, including in Clarkston, according to African advocacy groups.

Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry welcoming new mosque!

The arrests came after Somalia’s U.S. ambassador recently told Voice of America his embassy has learned that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to deport about 4,000 of his countrymen. ICE confirmed that, as of last week, there were 4,801 Somalis in the U.S. who have been ordered removed. The vast majority of them are not being detained.

Until about a year ago, according to ICE, U.S. authorities could not get travel documents to deport people to Somalia, which has endured persistent deprivation and violence. Since Oct. 1, ICE has deported 237 Somalis, according to federal figures through April 1.

[….]

Omar Shekhey, the executive director for the Somali American Community Center in Clarkston, said as many as 10 Somalis have been arrested in Clarkston, Stone Mountain and in Gwinnett this week alone. He worries they could be deported to Somalia, which is now in the grips of a deadly drought. Those who have been arrested have been in the U.S. for many years, Shekhey said.

[….]

Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry said he is looking into ICE’s activities in his city, adding he is worried how the arrests could impact the relationships between immigrants and refugees and local police.

See my previous post on Somali deportations, here.

RELATED ARTICLE: Reader: Why isn’t Trump sending them all to Hawaii?

Brexit Group calls for ‘five-year ban on unskilled workers’ immigrating

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Brexit group Leave Means Leave says the measures will help migration back to levels last seen in the 1990s and finally hit the failed Tory target of tens of thousands. The group… says Brexit provides a “golden opportunity” to stem immigration at last.

This would be a good start for Britain, yet while the main concern discussed there about migration is the economy, let’s not forget the politically incorrect truth about the threat of jihad terrorism from Muslim migrants and the shocking sex assaults on up to a million British girls by Muslim grooming gangs, which led Rotherham’s Labour MP Sarah Champion to describe the situation as a “national disaster” and “demanding a taskforce to fight the horror.” But news about all that has gone rather quiet. This is no surprise, since many reports failed to even mention that Muslims were involved, while others were blunt in stating that “white girls are seen as easy meat by Pakistani rapists,” as also reported here and here.

“Call for new migrant freeze: UK ‘needs five-year ban on unskilled workers to hit targets’”, by David Maddox, Express, April 10, 2017:

Brexit group Leave Means Leave says the measures will help migration back to levels last seen in the 1990s and finally hit the failed Tory target of tens of thousands.

The group, backed by former Cabinet ministers as well as 15 Tory MPs, says Brexit provides a “golden opportunity” to stem immigration at last.

It is particularly concerned about unskilled labour which pressure group Migration Watch claims makes up 80 per cent of existing EU incomers.

The blueprint for “fair” immigration has been drawn up by former UKIP leadership candidate Steven Woolfe.

He wants to see the introduction of a “British working visa system” and have Parliament vote each year on a figure for net migration.

Many pro-Brexit supporters were angered last week when the Prime Minister hinted that free movement from the EU could continue for years into an “implementation period” after leaving in 2019.

In a speech introducing his findings today Mr Woolfe, now an independent, says Britain needs an immigration system that is “fair in its outlook, flexible in practice and forward-thinking for our economy.

“It won’t mean pulling up the drawbridge as we will continue to encourage the best and the brightest to migrate and settle here.

“But by introducing strict controls, an annual cap and a five-year freeze on unskilled migrants, it will reduce net migration year on year, lessen the strain on our public services and help build a more cohesive society”.

His report states that a five-year freeze on unskilled migrants would significantly reduce immigration from its current level of 273,000 a year.

Work permits would only be granted if the applicant had a job offer with a minimum £35,000 salary, had passed an English test, signed a five-year private health insurance contract and could show savings in the bank.

Among the other recommendations is a proposal to combine work visas with an Australian style points system aimed at judging the annual immigration need for different parts of the UK and different sectors.

It also urges the Government not to give preferential treatment to EU citizens as part of a deal for leaving the failed economic bloc.

He wants those in the UK to be allowed to stay but anybody who arrived after March 29, the day Article 50 was triggered, should not have the same rights.

The report says there should be no cap on highly skilled workers, entrepreneurs, investors or those in the highly skilled top category, or restrictions on students.

It also wants a new body set up to assess NHS needs and ensure it is fully staffed. Former Tory minister Sir Gerald Howarth described the report as “thoughtful, measured and constructive”…..

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Journalists Kidnapped, Imprisoned and Tortured in Darfur

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Former  Chadian  General Abakar M. Abdullah , a native of the Zagawa Tribe in Darfur, this writer and Deborah Martin have published a series of articles  on the lies behind the Genocidal Jihad  perpetrated by the  regime of indicted war criminal, President Omar al-Bashir against  the indigenous people of  Sudan.

We published the details of  the regime’s agenda of the secret Arab Coalition Plan that Abdallah recovered in 2015 in the cab of a captured  pickup truck  of the Janjaweed Rapid Support  Force (RSF) renamed by  Bashir, as the Peace Force.  That plan has been implemented with the objective of completing the ethnic cleansing on or before 2020. We reported on the RSF peace force and the recruitment, equipping, training and of a veritable Jihad Army of an estimated 150,000 Arab tribal fighters from the Sahel region, terrorist groups from Africa and the Middle East. That included fighters from the Islamic State deployed in 16 training camps around the capital of Khartoum. It is furtherance of the Bashir plan to create a regional Caliphate in Africa.

We reported on the evidence of the eradication campaign of the regime’s peace force in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains and the deliberate provocations against Internally Displaced Persons camps aimed at intimidating  indigenous tribal people to flee into neighboring countries or urban areas.

We recently reported on the billions of dollars of funded Sudan mineral extraction, water ,infrastructure and agricultural development projects by the Saudi Kingdom and Emeriti governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council.  Saudia  Arabia has also funded over $5 billion for support of Sudanese military in the War in Yemen. Those billions of dollars of projects announced at the recent Amman Arab League Summit were directed at creating  a veritable bread basket for the Sunni Arab Middle East in the lands being cleansed of Sudan indigenous  people replaced by Arab settlers  . These billions of dollar began flowing to Sudan after President al-Bashir ended in 2014 his long term alliance with world’s global supporter of terrorism, the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran.

We noted the folly of the Obama Administration at the end of its eight year term partially lifting long term economic sanctions against the Bashir regime in the face of evidence that Genocide has actually accelerated.

UK Channel 4 Documentary Team, Phil Cox and Daoud Hari, Chad Dafuri Refugee Camp, December 2016. Source:  The Guardian

UK Channel 4 Documentary of Journalists Kidnapping, Imprisonment and Torture in Sudan Police State

You can write about this, but only video documentaries have the power to move concerned governments and activists to undertake take actions to end Jihad Genocide in Sudan.  Such is the case of a recent episode involving UK freelance journalist/documentarian Phil Cox and his US Sudanese émigré producer, Daoud  Hari, who had last reported on the plight of the Darfuri people in 2005. Cox  induced Hari, who was a cab driver in Brooklyn, New York to return with him as producer/translator to pursue reports of the use of  chemical weapons by the Bashir regime in the Darfur mountain redoubt of Jebel Marra.  They  crossed over into  Darfur illegally  in December 2016 from neighboring Chad after visiting a Dafuri refugee camp where they  connected with Sudanese Liberation Army fighters as security and guides.  They were tracked by Sudanese helicopters using  signals from their cell phone sim cards, and eventually, kidnapped  by Janjaweed Rapid Support Force (RSF) militia, chained and kept for four days in the desert while the  kidnapped while they negotiated  a Sudanese  National Intelligence Security Service commander.

Cox  was ultimately blind folded and flown to the capital of Khartoum for imprisonment and torture until he was released under a Presidential Pardon at the end of 70 days. It was during Cox’s imprisonment in the notorious Kober Prison that he met opponents of the Bashir regime; academics, students, businessmen, some of whom were caught using cell text message and  social media. His American Sudanese producer Daoud Hari was initially abandoned by the Janjaweed RSF militia in the desert, allegedly released, but then retaken and like Cox shipped off by air to Kober Prison where he also received the same treatment. Daoud Hari was ultimately released through the intervention of both US and UK governments.

Cox, wrote about the 70 days of their kidnapping, imprisonment and torture in an April 5, 2017 Guardian article  graphically illustrated in a companion UK Channel 4 documentary report released on April 7th.   Read the Guardian report by journalist Cox and view the YouTube video of his and Daoud Hari’s experience inside what can only be termed Sudan’s equivalent of  Iran’s  notorious Evin prison in the police state of Sudan’s al-Bashir Regime.

Note this excerpt from Cox’s  Guardian report of his and Daoud Hari’s experience in Bashir’s police state:

In the early morning of 24 December 2016, my friend Daoud and I lay side by side on a blanket, our legs chained at the ankles, secured with heavy padlocks. The sun beat down on the desert. We pleaded with our captors to be moved to the shade, but they ignored us. It was not how I had imagined spending Christmas Eve.

Sixteen days earlier, Daoud Hari, my local producer and translator, had crossed with me from Chad into Sudan. We had planned to make a film in the war-ravaged Darfur region, where no independent journalist had entered for years. We had come to investigate what was happening on the ground, and to follow up allegations that chemical weapons were being used by the Sudanese government against its own citizens. Instead we had been tracked by the Sudanese military and captured by a local militia. At this point, we had no idea what would happen to us.

It is hard to describe being chained up beneath the desert sun. Your face and hands slowly burn. Your tongue starts to swell and the blood inside your head pounds like a hammer. Our two guards were responsive to us (although they would not give us their names) and when their commander had gone, they were even friendly. Desperate to call London to confirm we were alive, I formulated a plan to persuade our captors to let us use their phone. I had a passport-sized photo of my seven-year-old son, Romeo, in my breast pocket – I called one of the guards over and showed it to him. I let my tears run and explained that I needed to tell my son I was alive. It was Christmas, I pleaded, and he would be all alone.

The man looked at the photograph and patted me on the shoulder – he would try, he said. Daoud suggested that I refuse any water or food to show how miserable I was. After I had turned down food and drink for a whole day, the guards became worried.

The following morning, one of the guards brought sweet tea. Daoud told them I was still refusing to drink. The two guards conferred – then, after a long while, they brought me their satellite phone – on the condition we would not tell their commander. Phone in hand, I realized I could not remember the number of my house in London, or that of Giovanna Stopponi, my producer. But by a stroke of luck, Daoud had his contact list on scraps of paper in a back pocket. He found the right one and we dialed. Giovanna answered the phone but she couldn’t hear me. The handset was falling apart, so I squeezed it together as hard as I could. I could hear Giovanna saying, “Hello? hello?” There was panic in her voice now.

“It’s Phil, we are captured by the Rapid Security Force militia, we are fine, kidnappers are from the Rizeigat tribe, we are 2km from where I last pressed the tracker alarm, we are probably going to be sold to the government.” I breathed out. The information had got through. “Happy Christmas,” I said.

(READ MORE)

Watch the YouTube video, Kidnapped, held hostage and tortured in Sudanese prison: the Channel 4 team who went through “hell”:

Jerry Gordon is a Senior Editor at the New English Review.

Lt. Gen. Abakar M. Abdallah is Chairman of the Sudan United Movement. He is a 23 year vetrean of the Chadian Army. He is a graduate of the US Army War College, the US Army Intrelligence School, Fort Huachuca, Arizona  and the counterterrorism program of the National Defense University at Fort McNair, Washington, DC.

Deborah Martin is a 35 year Sudan linguist and cultural expert and consultant.

Explanation of the Assad Gas Attack: To Prevent Breakdown Of Iranian/Syrian Frontline

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The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) gives an insight to why the Assad regime used sarin gas. According to MEMRI:

The April 4 Sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun, just one day after the U.S. administration changed its position vis-à-vis Syrian President Al-Assad, declaring that his removal from power was no longer a priority, raised questions regarding the underlying motive for the attack. Indeed, the initial Russian claim that the attack had been fabricated by opponents of the Syrian regime was based on its being so clearly against Syrian interests.

While it is now largely accepted that the Syrian regime carried out the attack, the motivation underlying it remains enigmatic, giving rise to conspiracy theories.

sd6873.jpg

Map legend: Red areas: territory held by Iranian/Syrian-regime forces. Green areas: territory held by the Jabhat Fath Al-Sham (formerly JNS) armed rebels. Red circle: Khan Sheikhoun Red arrows: distance from Khan Sheikhoun to the Iranian-backed forces. Black dotted line: opposition frontline prior to March 21 operations and Iranian forces retreat. Red dotted line: current opposition frontline following the Iranian forces retreat

Iranian Website Specializing In Syrian War Reports Provides The Explanation: To Prevent Breakdown Of Iranian/Syrian Frontline

On April 7, 2017, WarReports, an Iranian research group dedicated to monitoring and covering Iran’s role in the war in Syria and Iraq,[1] published a report on its Facebook page, explaining why the Syrian regime had carried out the gas attack.[2] It claimed that the attack had been “in support of the Iranian-affiliated ground forces, Hizbullah, and the Syrian army, all of which were stationed several kilometers behind the frontline.” According to the report, in the past three weeks there had been 21 casualties from among the IRGC forces and the Fatimiyun Afghani Shi’ite militia located in Hama.[3] The report included a map of the region, showing the retreat southward of the Iranian-backed forces from the Khan Sheikhoun region, a retreat that threatened to turn into a complete breakdown of the front. The attack, therefore, was intended to curb the rebel thrust in Khan Sheikhoun, thus preventing this breakdown.

The report further stated that hitting the civilian population in the rebel-held areas was a known tactic of the Syrian regime, intended to crush the fighting spirit of the forces and to stop their operations. This was the case in the August 2013 gas attack on Ghouta, Damascus, and the October 2015 cluster-bomb attack on the civilization population of eastern Aleppo.

It should be noted that in a recent White House intelligence briefing, officials gave the same rationale for the Syrian regime attack, without providing further details: “They were losing in a particularly important area. That’s what drove [the attack].”[4]

[1] https://warreports.org/about-us/; Twitter: @warreports. Facebook: Persian.war.news.

[3] The website provided a link to the image of one of the IRGC members killed there. https://goo.gl/iunWwn