(h/t: Mario)
The intentional hypocrisy and double-standards have reached a point of sickness and dementia.
OpenDemocracy Interviews Arun Kundnani on the Ramifications of the “War On Terror”
“In this interview, he unveils and critiques the ramifications of the ‘war on terror’, from the conservative and liberal rhetoric of the intellectuals and commentators who have emerged, to the theories of ‘radicalisation’ which have fuelled counter-terrorism programmes in the west.”
Is everywhere a war zone now? How does this connect to the rhetoric of the ‘war on terror’?
The promise of the ‘war on terror’ was that we would kill them ‘over there’ so they would not kill us ‘over here.’ Hence mass violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Yemen, and Somalia – in the name of peace in the west. The “Authorization to Use Military Force” that the US Congress passed in the days after 9/11 already defined the whole world as a battlefield in the ‘war on terror’. President Obama continues to rely on the authorization to give his drone-killing programme a veneer of legality. This is the old colonial formula of liberal values at home sustained by a hidden illiberalism in the periphery – where routine extra-judicial killing is normalised.
We all know the ‘war on terrorism’ kills more civilians than terrorism does; but we tolerate this because it is ‘their’ civilians being killed in places we imagine to be far away. Yet colonial history teaches us that violence always ‘comes home’ in some form: whether as refugees seeking sanctuary, whether as the re-importing of authoritarian practices first practised in colonial settings, or indeed as terrorism. The same patterns repeat today in new forms.
Colonial history teaches us that violence always ‘comes home’.
For Muslim citizens in western states, these dynamics bring an enormous burden: they are reduced to the false choice of moderate or extremist, good Muslim or bad Muslim. The question that hovers over their very being is whether they will detach themselves from their connections to zones of violence abroad or channel that violence within the west. But this question is not posed directly; it is always displaced onto the plane of culture: do you accept western values?
This framework imposes itself relentlessly on Muslim public expression, rendering suspicious anyone who refuses to engage in rituals of loyalty to western culture. Meanwhile, ISIS casts these Muslims as living in the “grey zone” between western imperialism and the claim of a revived caliphate.
What results is a mutual reinforcing of the militarized identity narrative on both sides: the jihadists point to numerous speeches by western leaders to support their claim of a war on Islam; and western leaders legitimise war with talk of a ‘generational struggle’ between western values and Islamic extremism. What is striking today is the tired rhetoric of military aggression – Hollande’s “pitiless war” – once again recycled, despite the obvious failures of the past 14 years.
Where did the ISIS attackers in Paris come from? Can theories of radicalisation explain what drove them?
Theories of radicalisation developed by think-tanks, intelligence agencies, and academic departments linked to the national security apparatus have tended to make a number of false assumptions in their attempts to understand jihadist violence. First, they assume a deep difference between ‘Islamic’ and other forms of political violence; the history of political violence in the twentieth century – particularly in colonial contexts – is therefore forgotten and its lessons ignored. Second, they assume some form of Islamic religious ideology is the key factor in turning someone into a terrorist; some analysts grant the relevance of what they call ‘perceived grievances’ or emotional crises as enabling factors but ideology is still taken to be the primary cause.
Continue reading…
England: Man Pushes Hijab Wearing Muslim Woman Into Oncoming Train
Why would this elderly, 81 year-old Shinohara do this? Has he been poisoned by the Islamophobic rhetoric in the UK? (h/t:J)
via. Daily Mail
In the horrifying footage, a man is seen loitering on the platform of the station.
As the train approaches, he seems to rush towards her and push her into the side of the moving train.
She then collided with the side of the train before landing back on the platform.
The female victim suffered minor injuries and was treated for grazes to her face at hospital, the British Transport Police revealed.
[…]
Yoshiyuki Shinohara, 81, of no fixed abode, was arrested and charged on suspicion of attempted murder.
Racist Criminal Jodie Marie Burchard-Risch Smashes Beer Mug on Muslim Woman’s Face For Speaking Swahili At Applebees
Jodie Marie Burchard-Risch smashed a beer-mug across the face of a Muslim woman at an Applebees because she didn’t like the fact that she wasn’t speaking English. Where was Burchard-Risch indoctrinated to hate?
There is no rational thought that can dissuade these nativists who blame their miserable existence on those who are not like them.
Maybe this is how Jodie Marie Burchard-Risch and those like her will “Make America Great Again”?
COON RAPIDS, Minn. – A woman is charged with assault for allegedly smashing a beer mug across a diner’s face at a local Applebee’s — all because the victim wasn’t speaking English, according to the complaint.
Jodie Marie Burchard-Risch, 43, was charged with third-degree assault for an incident that occurred on Oct. 30 at the Applebee’s in Coon Rapids.
According to the criminal complaint, Burchard-Risch was dining with her husband when she became upset after hearing the victim speaking in a foreign language in the neighboring booth.
Authorities say that’s when managers stepped in and tried to get Burchard-Risch to leave.
Charges say she refused, continued to yell at the victim and threw her drink at the woman. Then she “smashed” her beer mug across the woman’s face in a “round house punch” motion and fled the scene, according to the complaint.
One of the Applebee’s managers followed Burchard-Risch out of the restaurant until she was arrested by responding officers.
Police met with the victim inside the restaurant and noticed a deep cut across her nose, a cut on her right eyebrow and a large, deep cut on her lower lip.
Massachusetts: Mosque Vandalized
A mosque in Burlington, Massachusetts has been vandalized for the second time. Perhaps the culprits have bought into the idea that mosques are “unAmerican” hence they decided to spray-paint “USA” on the mosque walls. On the other hand maybe they thought the congregants of the mosque needed a helpful reminder that there are still bigots in the neighborhood.
A mosque in Burlington was vandalized overnight.
Vandals spray-painted “USA” repeatedly on the exterior walls of the Islamic Center of Burlington.
The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which posted photos of the graffiti online, says it was discovered early Sunday morning.
In a statement, the group suggests the graffiti reflects growing anti-Islamic sentiment that Muslim are not “real” Americans.
Police say they are looking for to men who were driving a white Ford Crown Victoria early this morning. They believe two white men were involved.
Police say the suspects were in the area for at least 20 minutes before driving away.
This is the second time the mosque has been vandalized in the past two years. Another group of vandals also spray-painted the word “USA” on the mosque back in 2013.
Shaker Aamer: Moazzam Begg Takes On Torture Apologist David Rivkin
Shaker Aamer was finally freed from captivity in Guantanamo Bay and returned to his home in the UK. In Guantanamo he faced what amounted to illegal detention without due process; never being charged of a crime and formally cleared for release as early as 2007.
Aamer has recounted the torture that he was subjected to at the hands of interrogators and guards, also alleging that there were UK officials present at some of the torture sessions. Many individuals and organizations in the UK campaigned for him to be freed, including CAGE, Reprieve and Amnesty International.
While most of the UK has received news of Aamer’s release positively, neo-Cons and White supremacists such as Douglas Murray continue to loath Aamer as essentially a lying Muzzie terrorist who can’t be trusted. No mention of all the Guantanamo Bay guards and even prosecutors who corroborate that torture occurred at the prison camp.
In the following BBC segment, Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo detainee who endured torture himself, debates David Rivkin, legal counsel to the White House during the Bush-era who justified torture.
The Threat of Islamist Plumbing: Handheld Bidets Coming to a Public Toilet Near You!
By Emperor
The Islamic transformation of America is near complete: all that is left is for the handheld bidets to be installed. That’s according to one of Fox News’ best anti-Islamist defender’s of Judeo-Christian civilization reporters, Todd Starnes.
A story about a Wichita, Kansas university chapel that removed its pews, (a move interpreted by one Christian student as a sinister Muslim plot conceived and led by a bunch of dhimmi Christians no less), led Starnes to pen the greatest article ever to save Judeo-Christian Western civilization AND at the same time save Americans the time and effort of cleaning their ass.
Starnes, expertly placed the Christian led move to remove the chapel’s pews in the broader context of that most pressing issue: the politically correct marginalization of Christianity and the march to inevitable and complete Islamization.
Starnes, writes warning us all of the impending future,
Muslims students have presented a petition calling for the university to install Islamic-friendly plumbing. They want handheld bidets installed in restrooms around campus.
This is what the Islamic transformation of a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values looks like, folks. The Christian faith is marginalized while the Islamic faith is given accommodation.
An abomination. Are Americans now going to be required to clean their butts? Sorry to be so crass here but what happened to the Constitutional right to walk around with dingleberries in your draws?
This is a rallying cry, we must take action against bidets and other forms of Islamist plumbing! Call your senator or local rep., start a petition! Also, don’t forget to thank that modern-day Charlemagne, Todd Starnes, who by the way also wants you to know that he wrote a book,
I documented this phenomenon in my latest book, “God Less America.” Check out the chapter titled, “One Nation Under Allah.”
These are critical times, even some of Fox News’ readers have had the wool pulled over their eyes. Commenter, Rufus Callahan even had the gall to claim, “i mean…handheld bidets would be nice…”
Oregon: Mass Murderer Hated Religion, Targeted Christians
The fact that one of the dislikes of the Oregon mass murderer, Christopher H. Mercer, was religion, and the fact that he picked out Christians to be killed needs to be highlighted. Unfortunately you won’t see it mentioned by the likes of new atheist anti-religion gurus such as Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins.
Police have identified the gunman who killed 10 people at an Umpqua Community College in Oregon on Thursday as Chris Harper Mercer.
A MySpace account belonging to Christopher Harper Mercer is registered to Torrance, California. Mercer and his mother previously lived in Torrance before moving to an apartment in Winchester, Oregon, which police later searched.
An online dating profile, linked to Mercer’s email address and featuring another photo of him, says the 26-year-old was living with his parents and searching for the “yin to my yang.” It identifies his views as “conservative, republican” and lists “organized religion” as one of his “dislikes.”
According to a student at Umpqua, Mercer demanded to know his victims’ religion before killing them.
Anastasia Boylan, who was shot multiple times, spoke to her father before entering spinal surgery. Boyland’s father, Stacy, told CNN that his daughter said Mercer asked students to get on the floor, then asked them to stand up if they were Christians.
“And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you’re going to see God in just about one second,’” Boylan’s father said, relaying his daughter’s account. “And then he shot and killed them.”
India: Four Year Old Boy Beheaded And Sacrificed To Hindu Goddess Kali
A very disturbing story out of India about a man who abducted a four-year-old boy and killed him by strangling him and then decapitating the head as a sacrifice to the Hindu goddess, Kali. Of course Hindus should not be blamed for this grisly act by one individual, however, one has to ask: what if he were Muslim? You can bet that the right-wing and many on the left such as Bill Maher would be yammering about how Islam is uniquely evil. (h/t: J. Hind)
A four year-old-boy has been beheaded in a gruesome “human sacrifice” ritual in a rural village in southern India.
Indian media reports a 35-year-old man abducted the little boy as he was returning home from nursery in the remote Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh state.
The man, named as Tirumala Rao, is reported to have beheaded the child in a ritual to honour the Hindu Goddess Kali and he was alleged to be seeking “divine powers”, according the Times of India.
Mr Rao was discovered next to the little boy’s, named locally as Manu Sagar, body.
Police officers believe he strangled the boy before chopping his head off as they found rope at the scene.
Villagers then attempted to lynch Mr Rao, tying him to a pole, throwing kerosene on him and setting him on fire, reports the Indian Express.
Villager elders rescued him from the mob and called the police.
He was taken to hospital with 40 per cent burns.
Local police chief Ch SriKanth told the Hindu newspaper: “This is a first-of-its-kind incident in Prakasam district.
Bulgaria: Orthodox Church Says ‘Don’t Let Muslims In’
Patriarch Maxim of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church participates in an Orthodox Easter service in the golden-domed Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia on April 15, 2012. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrated Easter, according to the Julian calendar. AFP PHOTO / NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV (Photo credit should read NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP/Getty Images)
This exemplifies the issue with leaders in an institutionalized religion that is wedded to a certain narrative of xenophobic nationalism. It is not limited to the Orthodox Church but can be seen coming from the voices of far too many religio-political figures. Clearly, these people are out of touch with the original and deep teachings of their faiths.
Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church has called on its government not to let any more Muslim refugees into the country to prevent an “invasion”.
The Balkan EU member has largely been bypassed by the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and poverty, many of whom set off from Greece through neighbouring Macedonia and Serbia towards northern Europe.
But Bulgaria has still seen Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis cross its southeastern border from Turkey.
“We help refugees who have already arrived in our motherland, but the government must absolutely not let more refugees in,” the church, which claims 80 percent of the population as its followers, said late Friday on its website.
“This is a wave that looks like an invasion.”
It added that the problems in the refugees’ countries of origin “must be resolved by those who created them and the Bulgarian people must not pay the price by disappearing”.
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