Tag Archive for: ISIS

Islamic State recruiter traveled through Europe ‘like a pop-star on tour’

Omerovic’s “flat was stuffed with jewellery, cash and savings books worth a fortune when it was stormed by Austria’s elite heavily-armed police special forces team WEGA.” Who was financing him?

And the characteristically witless Daily Mail portrays him as having magic powers to “brainwash” people. They don’t explain exactly how he does this, because if they did in any honest manner, it would lead them right back to the Qur’an and Sunnah.

“Islamic hate preacher who recruited ISIS poster girls travelled through Europe ‘like a popstar on tour as he brainwashed teenagers,’” by Gianluca Mezzofiore, Mailonline, February 22, 2016:

An alleged Islamic hate preacher reported to have been the terror mastermind who recruited the Austrian jihad ‘poster girls’ and more than 160 others was travelling Europe ‘like a popstar on tour’, a court heard.

Mirsad Omerovic, 34, known by the Islamic name of ‘Ebu Tejma’, was arrested in November last year at the council flat he shared with his pregnant wife and five children.

Authorities believe Omerovic, originally from Bosnia now on trial in Austria’s southern city of Graz, recruited Samra Kesinovic, 17 and Sabina Selimovic, 16, who became the public face of jihad.

He was also involved in a further 166 defections of European youngsters to fight in holy war.
Tejma’s ‘main message was that Islam needed to be spread to the world through jihad,’ a prosecutor said. He added that Ebu Tejma was travelling through Europe ‘like a popstar on tour’.

Tejma’s ‘main message was that Islam needed to be spread to the world through jihad,’ a prosecutor said. He added that Ebu Tejma was travelling through Europe ‘like a popstar on tour’.

Omerovic [sic] flat was stuffed with jewellery, cash and savings books worth a fortune when it was stormed by Austria’s elite heavily-armed police special forces team WEGA. He had also been spotted driving top-of-the-range sport cars.

Opening his trial in Austria, the prosecutor told the court that Omerovic’s ‘main message was that Islam needed to be spread to the world through jihad.’

He added that Ebu Tejma was travelling through Europe ‘like a popstar on tour’.

And he added that the popstar analogy was particularly appropriate because Omerovic even had his own YouTube channel aimed at young Muslims aged between 14 and their late twenties.

He added it offered ‘to carry out brainwashing on those that viewed it’.

The two Austrian teens became the terror organisation’s latest PR coup when they turned out to be poster girls for the death cult, and featured on ISIS websites carrying AK-47s and surrounded by groups of armed men.

Neither however has been seen for almost a year, with a Tunisian ISIS returnee telling investigators that Samra had been forced to become a sex slave who was offered as a present to new fighters, and that she was later stoned to death when she tried to escape.

With regards to Sabina, a United Nations official revealed a girl ‘of Bosnian origin from Austria’ – believed to be Sabina – had died fighting in Syria.

Both had allegedly become radicalised by Omerovic. When they had left their homes, they left a note for their families which read: ‘Don’t look for us. We will serve Allah and we will die for him.’…

RELATED ARTICLE: Brooklyn: Muslim wounds two cops in shootout

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Islamic State recruiter Mirsad Omerovic (a.k.a. Ebu Tejma).

Confirmed: Islamic State Used Mustard Gas to Attack Kurds

Independent experts confirmed that attacks on Kurdish fighters in Iraq last August used mustard gas, in addition to previous attacks in Syria.

The Islamic State used mustard gas in attacks on Kurdish fighters in Iraq last year, Reuters reported it has now been confirmed.

An independent analysis of samples from the battlefield confirmed mustard gas was used in an attack last August in which 35 Kurdish soldiers were poisoned and showed symptoms of the chemical agent. Mustard gas is a chemical weapon first used in World War I, which burns the lungs and eyes.

The analysis was carried out by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The tests confirmed the gas was used by the Islamic State, an unnamed diplomat told the press on condition of anonymity.

The OPCW also found evidence that sarin gas has been used in Syria, although it is unclear in what circumstances.

Confirmation of the attack in Iraq follows proff that the Islamic State used mustard gas in Syria last October.

One diplomat speculated ISIS had captured its chemical weapons from the Syrian regime. “If Syria has indeed given up its chemical weapons to the international community, it is only the part that has been declared to the OPCW and the declaration was obviously incomplete,” the diplomat told Reuters.

Another theory is that ISIS is manufacturing its own mustard gas. “I’m pretty convinced that the mustard IS are using in Iraq is made by them in Mosul,” chemical weapons specialist Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told Reuters. “They have all the precursors at hand from the oil industry and all the experts at hand to do it.”

Watch the original report from August about the attacks:

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RECOMMENDED READING
The Psychology of Radicalization and Terrorism

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RADICALIZATION AND TERRORISM

By Willem Koomen and Joop Van Der Pligt

A unique and systematic approach to a vital topic, integrating knowledge from diverse literatures, and using social psychology as a basis for comprehending human behaviour. Essential reading for students and researchers from all disciplines seeking a greater understanding of terrorism and violent political conflict in all its forms.

Buy Now

 

Russia hit 1,888 targets in Syria in a week — U.S. count? Just 16

The Russians have often accused the Obama Administration of just pretending to go after the Islamic State by mounting a few airstrikes just for show. And here we are.

Putin7

“Russia hit 1,888 targets in Syria in a week; US count? Just 16,” by Matthew Schofield, McClatchy, February 12, 2016:

BERLIN — In the seven days before the announcement early Friday that a cease-fire might go into effect in Syria in another week, Russian forces hit more than 100 times as many targets within the embattled nation as a military coalition that includes the United States.

Exactly how the cease-fire proposed at an international conference in Munich would work is still being decided. The agreement announced by Russian and U.S. officials said “a nationwide cessation of hostilities … should apply to any party currently engaged in military or paramilitary hostilities” except the Islamic State, al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate — Jabhat al Nusra — “or other groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations Security Council.”

Since Russia considers any organization attacking the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad a terrorist group, the question arises of just how its efforts might change.

And those efforts are substantial, as a weekly report by the Russian Ministry of Defense makes clear. In a report posted Thursday on its website, the ministry noted that its jets flew 510 combat sorties and hit 1,888 “terrorist objects” in Syria. The previous week’s report claimed 464 sorties that hit a total of 1,354 “terrorist objects.”

Daily reports from the U.S. military for the same period indicate a much lower level of activity: 16 targets struck in Syria. The reports also said those forces hit 91 targets in Iraq.

The reports suggest Russia has been far more aggressive than the United States has leading up to the cease-fire proposal.

The most recent Russian report, for instance, notes, “During air duty mission, Su-25 attack aircraft detected three hardware columns transporting militants, armament and munitions along the highway al Qaryatayn-Homs. The strike resulted in elimination of nine heavy trucks with munitions and more than 40 militants.”

A Feb. 9 report from U.S. Central Command gave that day’s actions this way: “Near Kobani, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit. Near Manbij, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit. Near Mar’a, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.”…

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Video – Row, Row Your Boat into Islamic State Land

There’s no doubt the idea of the Islamic State is very attractive for many Muslim’s around the world. Behold – a caliphate was established in which every Muslim can plant roots and where sharia is the order of the day.

Because of this many Muslims relocate to ISIS territory and others donate money to the Islamic state.

Nevertheless, of late it seems not everything is rosy in the Islamic state and people, particularly in the West, are not so thrilled at the prospect of giving up a life of luxury to move to Islami- State land, especially when it is in the context of jihad.

Apparently, many Muslims understandably conceive the idea of jihad as something equating to certain death.

As a result, it is now tougher for ISIS to recruit fighters and therefore the organization has changed tactics. Instead of calling Muslims to join a jihad, ISIS is using a new slogan “migrate (hijrah) to the Islamic State.”

Jihad today, especially as viewed by ISIS, is a violent struggle against infidels or Muslims that are not properly implementing the laws of sharia.

The hijrah is a concept that describes the migration of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. That event marks the starting point of the Islamic calendar. So, when a Muslim performs hijrah, this is a re-enactment of the life of Mohammed and a connection with the roots of the faith. ISIS hopes this will be perceived as making one’s life more meaningful.

With this in mind, we can understand a new ISIS video clip published on February 2, entitled We Will Surely Cause Him to Live a Good Life (a translation of the Quran: Chapter 16 The Bee; Verse 97).

It should be mentioned jihad plays a role in the film but is not the main part. ISIS combines the principles of happiness and family values.

The clip begins with images of the Islamic State attacks on the West in order to show how bad things are in that part of the world, as opposed to the peaceful life in the caliphate.

Early in the video one sees happy children living in the Islamic state:

The clip’s title follows, with a blonde child in the background, giving the viewer the impression the infant is being held by a jihadist:

The clip portrays more serene images. However, the key scene begins pastorally, with a rowing boat making its way across blue water, with mountains in the background. Enter our hero. Abu Shahid the Belgian. He is sitting in the boat. Next to him is his young child. While Abu Shahid talks, his daughter rows the boat.

Our hero tells the audience of his hijrah (immigration), which he describes as a journey from slavery to freedom under sharia:

He relates of an idyllic state, which includes people from across the globe: Africa, Europe, Asia and America, in which there is no racism, the door is open for all and everyone helps their neighbor.

Father and daughter then prepare, cook and share a picnic with like-minded folk in the countryside:

There is no doubt the aim of the film is to recruit new fighters to the organization. ISIS is simply attempting to sweeten the pill.

If the Muslim’s in the West won’t fall for the softly-softly approach and particularly if Western nations start to strengthen liberal Muslims domestically, ISIS will probably face a tough challenge in recruiting new warriors.

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Muslim plotted Islamic State mass murder attacks on U.S. church

“I tried to shoot up a church one day. I don’t know the name of it, but it’s close to my job. It’s one of the biggest ones in Detroit. Ya, I had it planned out. I bought a bunch of bullets. I practice a lot with it. I practice reloading and unloading. But my dad searched my car one day and he found everything. He found the gun and the bullets and a mask.” Why a church? “It’s easy and a lot of people go there. Plus people are not allowed to carry guns in church. Plus, it would make the news. Everyone would’ve heard. Honestly, I regret not doing it. If I can’t do jihad in the Middle East, I would do my jihad over here.’”

Did Free Press “journalist” Niraj Warikoo, who has done so much to defame and smear foes of jihad terror, feel a twinge of regret as he wrote this story? Did it dawn on him what he has been enabling? Probably not.

“FBI: Dearborn Hgts. man plotted ISIS attacks on church,” by Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, February 6, 2016:

A 21-year-old Dearborn Heights man threatened terror attacks in support of ISIS with targets including police and a Detroit church with up to 6,000 members, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.

Khalil Abu-Rayyan, 21, has not been charged with any terrorism crime. In an affidavit filed in a criminal complaint on a weapons and marijuana charge, he’s described as being an ISIS supporter who talked about committing violent acts of terrorism, including shootings and beheadings.

In his affidavit, FBI Special Agent Alan Southard said that Abu-Rayyan had been investigated by the FBI since May.

“Since May of 2015, the FBI has been conducting an investigation of Khalil Abu-Rayyan regarding increasingly violent threats he has made to others about committing acts of terror and martydom — including brutal acts against police officers, churchgoers and others — on behalf of the foreign terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraqi and Levant.”…

The FBI had been tracking Abu-Rayyan through social media, phone conversations, and surveillance. He had two Twitter accounts on which he expressed support for ISIS, the FBI said in the complaint.

According to the affidavit in the complaint, an undercover FBI employee was communicating with Abu-Rayyan. In December, the undercover FBI employee and Abu-Rayyan had “daily conversations” that took place “over the course of several weeks,” said the affidavit.

“During these conversations, Abu-Rayyan consistently expressed support for ISIL and repeatedly expressed his desire to commit a martyrdom operation.”

According to the affidavit, Abu-Rayyan also told the undercover FBI employee: “I tried to shoot up a church one day. I don’t know the name of it, but it’s close to my job. It’s one of the biggest ones in Detroit. Ya, I had it planned out. I bought a bunch of bullets. I practice a lot with it. I practice reloading and unloading. But my dad searched my car one day and he found everything. He found the gun and the bullets and a mask.”

“Abu-Rayyan said he targeted a church because, ‘it’s easy and a lot of people go there. Plus people are not allowed to carry guns in church. Plus, it would make the news. Everyone would’ve heard. Honestly, I regret not doing it. If I can’t do jihad in the Middle East, I would do my jihad over here.’”

The FBI said a church that has up to 6,000 members and fits the description given by Abu-Ryyan is about half a mile from where he works.

Abu-Ryyan said he didn’t carry out the shooting because a gun he bought in October “only held six shots and he would have to keep on reloading.”

Abu-Ryyan also took photos of himself at gun ranges firing an AK-47-type and AR-15-type rifles. He “captioned one of the photos, ‘Sawhat hunting,’ ” said the affidavit.

“Sawhat is a term for Iraqis who oppose ISIL,” said the affidavit.

On Oct. 7, Detroit Police had pulled over Abu-Ryyan for speeding, finding marijuana on him and a pistol. He told police he didn’t have a concealed pistol license.

On Nov. 17, Wayne County prosecutors issued a warrant charging him with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a controlled substance, marijuana.

On Jan. 15, he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana. He faces a trial on Feb. 16 on the charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

On Jan. 21, he told the undercover FBI employee that “he wanted to kill the officer who arrested him in October.”

He told the undercover FBI employee that his trial had been delayed because the officer who arrested him was in the hospital after suffering a heart attack.

“Abu-Rayyan explained he wanted to do a martyrdom operation in the hospital, killing the police officer in the process,” said the affidavit.

On Jan. 22, he talked about having a large sword or knife in case he gets into a fight.

“Abu-Rayyan also said hearing about shootings and death makes him excited. He continued, ‘I would gladly behead people if I needed to…It is my dream to behead someone.”

Dearborn attorney Majed Moughni, who often deals with Arab-American issues, said that what Abu-Rayyan was planning to do was “terrifying …Clearly terrorism is not a joking matter. … Muslim Americans are working with law enforcement to stamp out threats to our community.”

As in other cases tied to ISIS, Abu-Rayyan used social media to communicate support for the group.

The FBI said in the affidavit that Abu-Rayyan had been using a Twitter account since at least November 2014 to retweet, like and comment “on ISIL propaganda.” The propaganda included videos of a Jordanian pilot burned alive, Christians being beheaded, and men being thrown from buildings in executions.

In his Twitter profile, Abu-Rayyan described himself as Palestinian and Muslim, according to Tweet Tunnel, which captures images of old tweets and Twitter accounts.

In November 2015, Abu-Rayyan got another Twitter account, using the same Twitter profile photo in his previous account: a photo of him standing in the driveway of his residence, his right hand raised with his index finger pointing upward.

“Raising a single index finger is a gesture commonly found in images of ISIL supporters,” the FBI said in the affidavit….

Here are some Muslim students at Brooklyn College making that gesture in April 2015. Are they being investigated? Probably not.

Brooklyn Collegeonefinger

Here is a woman making the same signal at the Noor Islamic Center in Michigan in October 2015, even as she was supposedly being kind to an “Islamophobe.” Is she being investigated? Probably not.

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Obama Addresses Terror Linked Baltimore Mosque which Practices ‘Gender Apartheid’

President  Obama went to Baltimore for a friendly gathering at the Islamic Center of Baltimore Mosque in Catonsville, Maryland. He was there  to convey a message that Muslims are as American as apple pie. Problem is that he chose a Mosque deep into political Islam, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate, the Islamic Society of North America , supporting suicide bombers  and professing  hate  for U.S. ally Israel.  All despite the FBI file sent to the White House confirming this information. No matter. It was a photo op moment to show support for embattled American Muslims  given statements from Republican  hopeful, Donald Trump that he would stop immigration of Muslims.

The scene was replete with introduction by a hijab swathed college student on track for a medical career. The President in his remarks pointed out another  hijab wearing  fencing marvel that may be carrying the U.S. flag at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero this summer. The President spoke of the kind comments of  founding Fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson who purportedly included Mohammedans in the ambit of freedom of worship in America guaranteed by our First Amendment.

Problem is that he forgot to mention the real reason Thomas Jefferson had a copy of a Qur’an in his library at Monticello. A Qur’an, upon which , the first elected U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) swore a private oath of office on January 4, 2007. I know I passed by his office with a clutch of TV cameramen recording this for posterity. Ellison was at the ISB gathering,  as was the second elected Muslim Congressmen, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN).  Doubtless, as this was the President’s alleged first visit to an American Mosque, there may have been notables at the Mosque in Catonsville from CAIR and ISNA.  But not too worry this was kumbaya day at the ISB.

Watch the You Tube video of the President’s expansive, yet, cautionary message of support for American Muslims:

American Muslims  that he pointed out  in his remarks  assembled Ford automobiles in Michigan, built the first  continuous Mosque in  Cedar Rapids,, Iowa, served  honorably in the US military and some were buried in the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery. Yes, there were those small pockets of extremists in the Muslim Ummah like ISIS or ISIL as he likes to call it with its self-declared Caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Barbarically beheading Christians, enslaving minority Yazidi women and children, destroying ancient cultures in the name of Allah, their God.  Then there are the extremist Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan killing women, homosexuals and Christian infidels. Oh, we forgot the Mahdist Shia in Tehran who the President makes deals with to prevent a nuclear war, he thinks. Last year, they only executed 1,000 for crimes of gender, homosexuality and heterodox beliefs.

As to the reason why Jefferson had a Qur’an in his library, just recall their encounter in London with the Tripolitanian Ambassador in their roles as US Commissioners trying to understand why the Bey of Tripoli enslaved American sailors he seized along with their ships in the Mediterranean. Note this  Notable and Quotable in the Wall Street Journal:

From a March 28, 1786, letter written by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were American diplomats at the time, to U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay reporting on their conversation in London with the ambassador from Tripoli regarding piracy by the Barbary States:

We took the liberty to make some enquiries concerning the ground of their pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation.

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet; that it was written in their Koran; that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussulman [Muslim] who was slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.

Clearly, Adams and Jefferson knew something that President Obama doesn’t choose to admit in public.  That Islam is not the religion of peace and tolerance that its religious theocrats make it out to be.  Subsequently, as the Third President of the US, Jefferson would conduct a covert war that freed American hostages with a few Marines at the fabled ‘walls of Tripoli’ from the likes of the Sharia-mad Bey.

Leo Hohmann at WND, cited an Investigative Project Report by Steve Emerson giving details on why the FBI thought the ISB was a poor choice for the President for this encounter, “Obama.” Hohman cites Emerson  saying:

IPT founder and executive director  Steve Emerson told WND his organization was told by FBI sources that Obama was presented the evidence against the Islamic Society of Baltimore.

According to Emerson’s investigation, federal law enforcement officials told him they were asked about whether the Baltimore mosque had engaged in radical politics or was connected in any way to terrorism in the past.

“They prepared memos for the president’s aides that specifically laid out the sordid history and nexus to terrorism of the Islamic Society of Baltimore,” Emerson told WND.

So what did the president do?

“As he has done so many times in the past, he decided to ignore this evidence and still continue his plans to confer legitimacy on a mosque that has a history of having officials connected to Islamic terrorism and to this day still has officials making outrageously pro-terrorist statements that would seem to conflict with the president’s policies,” Emerson said.

The mosque is affiliated with the Islamic Society of North America or ISNA, which has its own sordid history.

ISNA was started by members of the international Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s. The Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is banned in many countries as an extremist organization.

“One can only conclude that the selection of this mosque by the president was made as part of his consistent policy to not even utter the term ‘radical Islam’ and the simultaneous policy of inviting only radical Islamist groups and leaders to the White House that FBI documents clearly show were derived from the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas,” Emerson told WND.

But there was another problem with the  choice of the ISB, the occurrence of gender apartheid prior to this auspicious occasion.

The media was  atwitter about the President’s  presentation at the Islamic Society of Baltimore. All of those media pundits should read this New York Times op ed by a leader of the Muslim Reform Movement (MRM), Asra Nomani and Ify Okoye, a disaffected member of the Mosque, about the gender apartheid practiced at the ISB, “Obama’s mosque visit demonstrates tacit acceptance of a form of gender apartheid.”

We have interviewed colleagues of Asra Nomani, Dr. M. Zhudi Jasser and Canadian leader of MRM, Raheel Raza who recently returned from a successful trip to Israel on The Lisa Benson Show. We hope to bring back Raza and introduce Ms. Nomani to discuss what the MRM is advocating and doing. Note what Nomani and Okoye wrote:

At the Islamic Society of Baltimore this past Sunday, the air was filled with the scent of Sherwin-Williams paint that workers were rolling onto the walls of the run-down balcony section where women and girls are usually segregated, unable to see the imam unless they peek over the balcony’s edge. A sign outside the door to the balcony said, “STOP Please. No Shoes. No Strollers. No Diaper Change. Beyond this point.”

Asra slipped into the mosque’s main hall to join the “halaqa,” or study circle. There, the study circle leader, teaching a half dozen men gathered around him, talked about the virtues of the first Muslim community in Medina, saying that a society isn’t “civilized” just because it’s technological.

Then, a young man, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned “Who Do You Love?” piped up, “So that means the West isn’t civilized.”

“That’s right,” the study circle leader said.

Another man railed against the West and its “atheists.”

Asra took a deep breath, listening to the sound of the crew white-washing the mosque for the president’s visit. “That’s a very unfair conclusion,” she said. “You are sitting in the West and railing against the West as not being civilized? It is not fair to make the assumption that the West ‘isn’t civilized.’”

The men tried to backtrack. They spoke with more nuance, before the study leader digressed again into the idea that those who aren’t Muslim act out of “self-interest,” while Muslims act out of an “order from God to do righteousness,” a point that Asra also politely refuted as motivated by “self-interest” and as an unfair representation of the many good people who aren’t Muslim.

As women and girls, we should be supported by policies that allow us to be part of such conversations. The president can support this urgent cause by speaking out against gender segregation in American mosques. In the spirit of the civil rights moment when whites stood with blacks, we hope men and women will refuse the privilege that “interfaith” events give them, and, in act of solidarity, stand outside with us on Johnnycake Road and the other pathways leading to the mosques in our world, advocating for equal rights for all.

So,  the President did what he wanted to do  with the ISB visit; show solidarity with the plight of American Muslims, sidelined by GOP hopeful Donald Trump.  He chose to avoid the advice of the FBI busily tracking down and arresting ISIS inspired lone wolves out to kill Americans on the streets here in the US that he Mosque leaders consorted with terrorist networks. That would upset  the President’s  alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood seeking their active participation in countering violent extremism and conducted a less than strenuous war against the Islamic State inspiring  tens of thousands from across the Ummah to join and practice the pure Islam in the self declared Caliphate.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review. The featured image is of President Obama at the Islamic Center of Baltimore in Catonsville, Maryland, February 3, 2016 – Source: Reuters.

Give the Nazis What They Want: Call Them National Socialists by B.K. Marcus

If you called Donald Trump a Nazi, he’d probably take offense, even though his nationalism is socialistic. If you called Bernie Sanders a Nazi, you’d be dismissed out of hand, though his socialism is avowedly nationalistic. But did you know that Adolf Hitler himself took offense when the word was applied to him and his political party?

“He would have considered himself a National Socialist,” writes word nerd Mark Forsyth in The Etymologicon.

Sure, but as Steve Horwitz reminds us in “Why the Candidates Keep Giving Us Reasons to Use the ‘F’ Word” (Freeman, winter 2015), “Nazi is short for National Socialist German Workers Party [Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei].” So why would even Hitler be offended by the epithet?

Because “Nazi is, and always has been, an insult,” according to Forsyth.

Hitler’s “opponents realised that you could shorten Nationalsozialistische toNazi. Why would they do this? Because Nazi was already an (utterly unrelated) term of abuse. It had been for years.”

The standard butt of German jokes at the beginning of the twentieth century were stupid Bavarian peasants. And just as Irish jokes always involve a man called Paddy, so Bavarian jokes always involved a peasant called Nazi. That’s because Nazi was a shortening of the very common Bavarian name Ignatius. This meant that Hitler’s opponents had an open goal. He had a party filled with Bavarian hicks and the name of that party could be shortened to the standard joke name for hicks.

Something similar has been happening in the Middle East, with opponents of the self-described Islamic State deciding that the group should be called instead Daesh.

Sarah Skwire explains:

ISIS does not want to be called Daesh. The group considers the acronym insulting and dismissive. An increasing number of its opponents do not want it to be called the “Islamic State.” They fear that this shorthand reifies the terrorist group’s claims to be a legitimate government. (“The Islamic State by Any Other Name,” December 8, 2015)

Totalitarians and terrorists shouldn’t get to bully us into using the terminology they prefer, especially when their preferred terms smuggle semantic baggage past our defenses, but neither should we reflexively refuse to apply accurately descriptive names just because it’s what the bad guys say they want.

Whether you consider “Islamic State” to be an appropriate moniker hinges on how you feel about both the nature of Islam and the nature of the state.

But how appropriate was Hitler’s preferred appellation? No one denies that nationalism was central to his ideology, but whether or not he deserved to call himself a socialist depends on how you feel about individual liberty, private property, central planning, and state ownership of industry. It also depends on how much you want the word socialism to carry a connotation of internationalism and social liberalism.

Horwitz writes, “The Nazis were undoubtedly socialist … as even a quick glance at their 1920 platform will tell you.” And those of us who associate private property with public welfare will tend to agree. But ours was not the dominant perspective in the countries that received National Socialism’s exiles.

As Forsyth tells it,

Refugees started turning up elsewhere complaining about the Nazis, and non-Germans of course assumed that this was the official name of the party.… To this day, most of us happily go about believing that the Nazis called themselves Nazis, when, in fact, they would probably have beaten you up for saying the word.

I suspect, however, that the confusion Forsyth describes was less innocent than his story implies. Those who fled east to get out of Germany would have found themselves under the authority of self-described socialists of the Soviet variety. Those who fled west landed among social democrats who, whether or not they were comfortable with the term “democratic socialism,” certainly didn’t want to give weight to the growing association between socialism and totalitarianism.

In the United States, the S-word was never as popular with the general public as it was in Europe, but many in the American intelligentsia did and still do seek to defang socialism in the popular imagination. The more we use the old Bavarian insult as if it were the National Socialists’ name for themselves, the more we cooperate with that agenda.

But you don’t have to oppose socialism to call the German fascists by their party’s proper name. You need only prefer historical accuracy and semantic precision to linguistic confusion — or politically motivated obfuscation.

B.K. MarcusB.K. Marcus

B.K. Marcus is editor of the Freeman.

Muslim convert joins Islamic State, family blames ‘right-wing’ media

“‘The only truth is that Jack is a Muslim and he is overseas. But everything else is made up and it is just getting worse.’ The man, who refused to confirm his identity, said the ‘right wing’ media were only ‘interested in a snappy line like “Jihadi Jack” and “Jihadi John” that rolls off the tongue, but it is all wrong.’” Yes, he doubtless went to Syria to study botany.

“Family of convert feared to be with Isil blame right wing conspiracy,” by Tom Whitehead, Telegraph, January 24, 2016:

The family of a man feared to be Britain’s first white convert to join Isil last night claimed he is the victim of a “right wing” conspiracy.

Jack Letts, 20, has been dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by friends after leaving his Oxford home and travelling to Syria, where he is suspected of having joined the terror group.

He has posted photos of himself on social media, thought to have been taken near the Taqba Dam in Syria. In one he is wearing combat-style clothing.

But a man who identified himself only as a close family member insisted there had been “an avalanche of misinformation” about him in the media.

Mr Letts’ father, John, is a leading organic farmer who has appeared on BBC’s Countryfile and won a Prince Charles grant to help preserve crop biodiversity.

John Letts is an archaeobotanist and a leading light in organic wheat as well as being a master thatcher and baker.

Neighbours said he and his family were left devastated and depressed after Jack ran off to Syria in 2014 aged just 18.

One said he first converted to Islam after being encouraged by Muslim classmates but was later radicalised by local extremists.

But speaking at the family home last night, the close family member said: “There has been an avalanche of misinformation.

“We don’t want to comment on all of this, but what I will say is that 95 per cent of what has been published is incorrect, it is desperately wrong.

“The only truth is that Jack is a Muslim and he is overseas. But everything else is made up and it is just getting worse.”

The man, who refused to confirm his identity, said the “right wing” media were only “interested in a snappy line like ‘Jihadi Jack’ and ‘Jihadi John’ that rolls off the tongue, but it is all wrong”.

Mr Letts, now 20, was once a keen sportsman and Liverpool FC fan who had been the “class clown” when a pupil at Cherwell School in Oxford, according to former classmates.

But he converted to Islam and friends fear was then radicalised by local fanatics in discreet prayer meetings.

It is believed he lied to his parents before leaving for Syria and told them he was moving to Kuwait to study Arabic.

Since arriving in Syria, he is thought to have married and had a son.

His father, who is Canadian, is a leading figure in reviving traditional crops that were in common use hundreds of years ago.

He produce heritage flour from wheat grown around Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and feature on BBC Countryfile last year.

In 2011, he was a co-recipient of £25,000 from the Prince’s Countryside Fund.

Neighbours on the terraced street where the family live in Oxford spoke of their “utter sadness” that the “polite and lovely” boy they had seen grow up had allegedly joined Isil.

One woman Muslim neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, told how she became concerned after his conversion to Islam.

“He told me he had started visiting a Wahhabi mosque. I believe he started going there with his classmates and I knew this could be bad as Wahhabi is not Islam, it is very bad,” she said.

“I spoke with his father who became very worried when he converted to Islam. I sat with him and told him not to worry….

Yes, he had nothing to worry about. He probably went home reassured that this neighbor with her peaceful Islam could help his son stave off those who tried to “radicalize” him. She failed. Authorities will almost certainly not try to figure out exactly why.

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EDITORS NOTE: The features image is of Ibrahim Jack Letts making the one-finger sign of allegiance to the Islamic State.

American Muslima: ‘Finally got my Suicide Belt today … to kill non-Muslims’

Alhamdulilah = thanks be to Allah. Kuffars = unbelievers. But don’t be concerned. John Kerry and Marie Harf are going to visit her and offer her a job at Walmart, and she will give up the jihad forthwith, and hey, Richard Chartres has a beard, which should calm her down considerably.

Hizam

“EXCLUSIVE: American Female ISIS Member Brags: ‘Finally Got My Hizam [Suicide Belt] Today,’”MEMRI, January 19, 2016 (thanks to Bob):

On January 19, 2016, an American woman who posted a photo and message on her Telegram channel about possessing a suicide belt. Expressing her desire to use it in a suicide operation, she wrote: “Alhamdulilah finally got my Hizam [belt, i.e. suicide belt] today. May Allah Subhana wa ta’ala grant me the opportunity to use it soon, to grant me the honor to sacrifice myself for Him, for His deen [religion] (To kill the kuffars) [infidels]. May Allah subhana wa ta’ala grant us all shahadah [martyrdom] Ameen.” At the time of this writing, her Telegram channel has 451 members

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Hiba, a 28-year old, mother of five, Suicide Bomber Trainee. Photo: Keith Pounds.

New York City Muslim Threatens to Kill Cop, Vows Support for the Islamic State

After the January shooting of a Philadelphia police officer at point blank range, New York City police took seriously a tip about an ex-con on parole, who allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and threatened to kill a cop.

While the entire NYPD force was put on alert, the suspect, Marcus Shelton, 36, surrendered to a parole officer January 20. Shelton was wanted on two counts of parole violations and it remains undecided as to whether or not he will be charged with making a threat.

Marcus Shelton

Marcus Shelton

The drama began the previous day when the NYPD received an anonymous phone call saying that Shelton intended to shoot a police officer. A similar call (placed from New York) was also received by the Philadelphia Police Department. One of the callers said Shelton had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

Shelton has a history of 20 prior arrests and served time for drug possession and assault.  He was in violation of his parole for possession of marijuana as well as for bending a NYC MetroCard to ride free.

In Philadelphia, police officer Jesse Hartnett was shot three times in the arm on Jan. 7 by Edward Archer, gunman who said he had pledged allegiance to ISIS.

When the call came into the NYPD, all police were issued an Officer Safety Alert. “Be mindful that any call, regardless of how insignificant it appears to be, may be a set up,” said the head of NYPD’s largest union, Patrick Lynch at the time.

“We are taking it serious based on what happened in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago,” said Thomas Galati, chief of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau.

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The Islamic State Issues Dabiq Magazine #13: Gitmo, Trump Not Mentioned

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has released the 13th issue of its English-language magazine, Dabiq. Here are six points that stand out:

There is not a single mention of Guantanamo Bay, which President Obama says is a recruiting poster for ISIS, or of Donald Trump, who Hillary Clinton says is the biggest recruiter for ISIS.

The terrorist group seems to disagree because  the 56-page magazine is almost entirely about complex theological arguments.

The contents of Dabiq exposes the error of assuming that the extremism of Islamists is a byproduct of anger over perceived mistreatment of Muslims by the U.S. The Islamic State does see anti-Muslim sentiment as suiting its purposes and it does cite actions by the U.S. to justify its views, but the foundation of their ideology is an Islamic interpretation. The worldview, including its political grievances, are shaped by those detailed interpretations presented inDabiq.

Jihad against the Shiites got the most focus.

 ISIS spent more time justifying the killing Shiites than any other enemy, by far. The biggest point of emphasis was that Shiites qualify as apostates and not as fellow Muslims, and therefore any and all of them can be killed. The emphasis suggests that ISIS does not agree with the many Sunnis who consider average Shiites to be Muslims or, at least, not deserving of being murdered.

Taking aim at Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir.

 This issue of Dabiq goes the extra mile to make the case that ISIS is setting up a functional state in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. A significant amount of space is dedicated to presenting the area as ISIS’ biggest opportunity for growth. A minor mention was made of “pleasant news” coming from Kashmir soon. It appears that ISIS is hoping to present itself as the Sunni shield against the Indian Hindus, much like it presents itself as the Sunni shield against the Shiites in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS repeatedly refers to the Taliban as the “nationalist Taliban” (ISIS holds that nationalism is incompatible with Islam). It also accuses the Taliban of not implementing sharia, betraying the faith by getting too cozy with Iran and being puppets of Pakistani intelligence.

This issue of Dabiq is also dismissive of Al-Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan, saying it has only a few members there.

Assassination plots against Saudi imams. 

One of the first declarations in this issue of Dabiq is a call to assassinate Saudi clerics. the Islamic State is hoping to win over followers of the Saudi brand of Islam (often referred to as Wahhabism) by claiming that the Saudi Royal Family and its supporting religious establishment are disregarding the guidance of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

ISIS feels threatened by the argument that jihad is not permissible because it is counterproductive. This issue spends a noticeable amount of time deriding scholars who argue that Muslims should only wage jihad against its enemies when the time is right. The Islamic State argues for perpetual jihad against its enemies, saying that Allah will bring victory over any militarily superior enemy if the jihad is justified.

“Jewish” Shiites and the mahdi-messiah.

As it almost always does, ISIS ties its jihad to the fulfillment of End Times prophecy. A major portion of this issue claims that Shiite Islam was created by Jews pretending to be Muslims as part of a plot to corrupt the faith and divide the Muslim world. It says that Christianity was corrupted the same way.

It then goes further. Not only is Shiite Islam a plot of the Jews, ISIS claims, but the Jewish messiah and Shiite Islam’s version of themahdi (the “Hidden Imam“) are the same person. This mahdi-messiah is actually the “Antichrist,” or the Dajjal.

In other words, in the minds of ISIS, never mind Israel’s worry about Iran’s pledges to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Iran and Israel—Shiites and Jews—are one. And so the Taliban and other Muslims who play nice with Shiites are complicit with the Antichrist’s agenda.

ISIS doesn’t just make this up out of thin air. They argue their points theologically and devote a significant space doing so. The magazine even ends with a map of Iran and a hadith quoting the Prophet Mohammed as saying that the Antichrist (Dajjal) will be followed by 70,000 Jews from Isfahan, a city in Iran.

In sum, the key takeaway is that jihadists like ISIS will always believe the U.S. and others are at war with Islam no matter what we do because that “fact” is considered an inarguable part of doctrine and prophecy.

Clarion Project documents the Islamic State propaganda magazine in order to expose their hateful ideology. Read every issue of Dabiq here.

ABOUT RYAN MAURO

Ryan Mauro is ClarionProject.org’s national security analyst, a fellow with Clarion Project and an adjunct professor of homeland security. Mauro is frequently interviewed on top-tier television and radio. Read more, contact or arrange a speaking engagement.

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is taken from a graphic from the Islamic State’s Dabiq magazine issue #13.

Geert Wilders: ‘Welcome, Donald Trump’ to the land of thoughtcrimes

Britain: the cradle of freedom, now the land of thoughtcrime.

“Exclusive–Geert Wilders: Delusional Britain Would Rather Ban Donald Trump Than Confront Unpleasant Facts,” by Geert Wilders, Breitbart, January 19, 2016:

Deja-vu. It is not an English word, but French. However, the word immediately springs to mind when hearing about yet another Western politician or Islam critic, whom some British politicians want to ban from entering their country. Welcome, Donald Trump, in the company of Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and myself.

Both Pamela, Robert and myself have been banned from entering the United Kingdom. In my case, it happened on February 12, 2009. Two highly respected members of the British House of Lords, Lady Caroline Cox and Lord Malcolm Pearson, had invited me to show my 2008 documentary Fitna to members of the House in a conference room of the parliament building in Westminster. Fitna is a movie, juxtaposing Koranic versed calling for violence with footage of terrorist attacks and other violent deeds these verses inspired.

Fitna, as well as my view that Islam, rather than a religion, is primarily a totalitarian political ideology aiming for world domination, has resulted in several death threats against my person. I am on the death list of Al-Qaeda, ISIS and the Pakistani Taliban. Since 2004, I have been living under round-the-clock police protection, but I have a mission: Speak the truth about Islam.

However, a Pakistani-born Islamic member of the House of Lords, one Nazir Ahmed, demanded that the then British Labour government ban me from entering the UK. He threatened that he would personally mobilize 10,000 Muslims to prevent me from entering the Upper House. The government complied and had me banned. Though a member of the Dutch parliament, invited by British colleagues, I was locked up in a detention room upon arrival at Heathrow Airport. Three hours later, I was put on the next flight to Amsterdam.

The British authorities said that my “presence in the UK would pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society.” My statements as expressed in Fitna and elsewhere were said to “threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK.” Lord Ahmed boasted of his victory in the Pakistani media. He termed the decision “a victory for the Muslim community.”

However, I challenged the ban before the British Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. On October 12, 2009, this tribunal overturned the ban. In March 2010, I returned to London and showed my movie to my colleagues in Westminster. There were no incidents and no disturbances of Britain’s “fundamental interests,” “community harmony,” or “public security.” The bans served but one goal: It was an attempt to shut me up for speaking the truth about Islam.

Yesterday, Pamela Geller wrote on this website that in June 2013, she and Robert Spencer, too, were banned from the UK because their presence was “not conductive to the public good” and a “threat to security of our society.” It sounded eerily familiar, as did the arguments of those who want Donald Trump to be banned from Britain for advocating a temporary moratorium on Muslim immigration into the US. Fortunately, they did not succeed.

When the great Ronald Reagan visited the British Parliament in 1982, he told the British parliamentarians that “if history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.” This is an advice that politicians everywhere should take at heart.

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Dr. Riad Hijab, Syria's former Prime Ministe

Dr. Riad Hijab, Syria’s former Prime Minister : Syria’s Supreme Commission for Negotiations Convenes (PRNewsFoto/Office of Dr Riad Hijab)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia /PRNewswire/ — The Supreme Commission for Negotiations held its third meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday January 19-20, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Commission Coordinator Dr. Riad Hijab presided over a wide agenda with several deliberation sessions and reviews, in addition to consultations over outcomes from visits to various Arab and Western capitals.

Following a thorough review of the Commission’s proposed agenda to UN Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura; the Commission agreed to the appointment of Mr. As’ad Al-Zo’ubi as head of the negotiating team, Mr. George Sabra as deputy and Mr. Mohamad Alloush as chief negotiator. Appointment of the delegation was based on a rigorous selection criteria taking into account qualifications, expertise and ability to implement any future agreements on the ground.

Dr. Hijab confirmed that the Commission will request from the UN envoy to formally and directly issue invitations to the Commission to attend the negotiations.  Regarding the idea of a third delegation from outside the charter of the Commission, Dr. Hijab commented:

“The Riyadh Conference incorporated a diverse spectrum of Syrian opposition, including the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, the National Coordination Committee, moderate factions, political groups and independent figures who participated in the Cairo and Moscow conferences, as well as broad ethnic and religious representation and a significant number of independents.

We will not accept attempts by foreign parties to support a particular group at the expense of another, make proposals intended to challenge the credibility and mandate of the Supreme Commission for Negotiations, or to inject individuals in the form of a so-called third delegation, justifying their presence under unfounded pretexts merely to disrupt the political process and prolong the fighting in the name of combating terrorism.”

During the meeting several opposition groups proposed to suspend negotiations and consider the timing in the absence of full adherence by signatory states to UNSCR 2254, particularly:  lifting the siege to enable humanitarian agencies to deliver aid, releasing detainees, ceasing aerial shelling and artillery attacks against civilians.

In response to these valid reservations Dr. Hijab pointed out that, “Dates are not sacred, we will not go to any negotiations while our people suffer from shelling, starvation and siege… debased political bartering at the expense of the Syrian people is tantamount to callous extortion which we will not accept under any circumstance.”

VIDEO: Tactics for Counter Jihad

Many people are afraid of speaking out about Political Islam. But, once you understand the nature of our enemies, you need not be afraid. Actually, we have two enemies: the far enemy (Islam) and the near enemy (the apologists). You only need to deal with the apologists, such as ministers, media editors, school board members and opinion makers. The only damage you will have to contend with is being called names, such as bigot, hater and racist.

We must educate the apologists by understanding their principles and showing them how Political Islam violates their own beliefs. Once they can see this, they can become an ally.

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Obama Administration stonewalling investigation into 113 terrorists inside U.S.

What could possibly go wrong, you greasy Islamophobe?

“Obama Admin Stonewalling Investigation Into 113 Terrorists Inside United States,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, January 11, 2016:

Leading senators on Monday petitioned multiple Obama administration agencies to stop stonewalling a congressional investigation into the immigration histories of at least 113 foreign-born individuals implicated in terrorist operations after legally entering the United States, according to a copy of the letters.

The latest investigation comes just days after the Washington Free Beacon disclosed that an additional 41 foreign-born individuals who legally entered the United States had been arrested for planning a number of terror attacks.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) disclosed Monday that they had been pressuring the Obama administration for months to disclose the immigration histories of these foreign-born individuals implicated in terror plots.

Agencies including the Departments of State and Homeland Security have stonewalled these efforts, declining since mid-2015 to provide Congress additional information. This move has prompted speculation among lawmakers that the administration is withholding information to prevent the exposure of major gaps in the U.S. screening process for new immigrants.

“The American people are entitled to information on the immigration history of terrorists seeking to harm them,” Cruz and Sessions wrote to the secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the attorney general.

Similar requests for information issued sent in August and again in December have not been answered by the administration

The letter cites a recent Free Beacon report detailing that an additional 41 foreign-born individuals had been snagged on terrorism-related charges since 2014. The disclosure of these previously unknown accused terrorists brings the total number of foreigners brought up on terrorism charges to 113.

Sessions and Cruz note that at least 14 of those foreigners accused of terrorism were granted legal entrance to the United States as refugees.

“Many more came through other immigration programs,” they wrote. “A number of immigrant terrorists were even approved for citizenship. Others are the U.S.-born children of foreign migrants whose presence in the country would not be possible but for the immigration of their parents.”

Many of these recently implicated foreigners have been caught by authorities planning terrorist attacks on American soil, while others were found to be involved in efforts to provide funding and material to ISIS, according to an internal list of migrant terrorists codified by congressional sources and viewed by the Free Beacon.

Cruz and Sessions are requesting that the agencies in question fill out a chart that includes only partial information about the 113 accused terrorists.

A senior congressional aide familiar with the investigation said the soaring rate of immigration is taking a toll on the U.S. security establishment.

“The cost of high rates of Muslim immigration are clear: enormous security challenges combined with vast expenses to track and convict those here attempting to wound Americans,” the source said….

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image of a Permanent resident card is courtesy of the Associated Press.