Short-sighted electoral politics. "Temples vandalised, Hindus under siege in Bengal," by Sandhya Jain for Niti Central, May 22 (thanks to Amit):

Amidst tensions over attempts to encroach land belonging to a temple in Balagarh, Hooghly, West Bengal, prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed, even as the mainstream media abides by an informal diktat to black out the news. Aggrieved Hindus say the trouble arose when members of one community sought to extend a nearby graveyard into the temple space, and attacked the temple deities, triggering violence. The administration, in a display of blatant partisanship, has arrested six persons from the wronged community only.

The Lakshmi Narayan temple possesses 48 decimal area as devottar property, and lays adjacent to a graveyard (kabristan). The State Government allotted Rs 10.5 lakh to construct a boundary wall for the graveyard. But when construction began, the Hindus objected that it was encroaching upon the devottar area.

According to volunteers of the Hindu Samhati that monitors Hindu grievances in the State, on the night of May 19, some miscreants entered the temple and damaged the principal deity. The next day, angry Hindus blockaded the road, but calmed down when the block development officer came to the village and made some assurances. But on the morning of May 21, the deities were thrown out of the temple, triggering high tension in the village.

The administration has taken a blatantly pro-minority stand and arrested six persons from the Hindu community only. Four of the arrested persons are being held at Balagarh police station, but two have been shifted to Chinsurah police station. The arrested persons include the BJP block president Subhash Khan, who was produced in the Chinsurah court today. Another person, Samir Singha, was badly beaten in the course of protests against the iconoclasm, and is currently in a hospital.

The forthcoming panchayat election – scheduled to be held in three phases on July 4, 6 and 9 respectively, is widely believed to be the cause of the administration’s laxity (or indulgence) of the belligerence of the minority community that has been increasingly assertive in recent times.

Ironically, while neighbouring Bangladesh is convulsed in a struggle against Islamic fundamentalism and is demanding punishment for Jamaat-i-Islami cadres who participated in war crimes during the bloody conflict that led to independence from Pakistan in 1971, in West Bengal, the Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind organised a massive rally in support of Bangladesh’s criminals, and denounced the Sheikh Hasina Government.

As Muslims comprise approximately 27 per cent of the population, their vote determines the outcome of every election. Hence, few parties care to confront or even contain the assertiveness of the community. In a tripartite contest between the CPM, the Congress, and the ruling Trinamool Congress, the winner is decided by the Muslim vote.

Under the first-past-the-post system, a party needs only around 33 per cent of the vote to win. Once the Muslim vote is assured, there is no need to woo the 63 per cent Hindu majority as only about 10 per cent additional vote is needed to beat one’s rivals to the victory post. That much is available from the cadre base of each party, caste of the individual candidate, and so on.

This is a backdrop against which incidents have been taking place in West Bengal in recent days. On May 20, Hindus of Malancha, a village under Diamond Harbour police station in 24 Paraganas South district, prevented radicals from the neighbouring Muslim-dominated village of Kamalpur from hooking (stealing) electricity in their village. Thanks to the local police and administration turning a blind eye, hooking electricity from Hindu-dominated villages by Islamists in 24 Paraganas South is a routine affair.

Matters came to a head on May 17, when Hindus disconnected a number of electric wires. Previously, a freak thunderstorm had ripped a number of electric wires from the lampposts and almost electrocuted some Hindus. To prevent electrocutions, the Hindus disconnected the wires and this annoyed the Muslims who descended on the village in large numbers. This triggered a scuffle between the two communities.

Thereafter, on the evening of May 20, around 7.30 pm, some miscreants attacked Hindus with lethal weapons to restore the connections. The Hindus did not react but telephoned local Trinamool leaders Jayanta Ghosh, Aman Sanpui, Razzaq Sheikh and warned them about the fast-deteriorating situation in the village. Although Jayanta Ghosh reportedly promised to send a police contingent to the village, this did not happen according to the locals.

This incident closely follows an attack on a Kali temple in Keranitola, Medinipur town, West Midnapore District, on May 12, by a large crowd of fundamentalists. In protest, the Bajrang Dal and other youth clubs blocked roads and observed a bandh in some areas of the town.

Tensions rose when a Hindu, riding a motorcycle, collided with a Muslim bicycle rider and was caught and held for a ransom of Rs 25,000. However, he was rescued by members of his community without paying ransom. In revenge, the local Kali Temple was attacked and the icon of the deity damaged.

To prevent the situation from getting out of hand, the Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) descended on the area to pacify the crowds. Three Hindu boys were detained and later another six were arrested even though it was a temple that had been desecrated.

Recently, on the morning of May 20, a Bajrangbali (Hanuman) temple near Kansai Bridge, near Midnapore, was desecrated and the murtis damaged. The local MLA rushed to the spot, supervised removal of the debris, and promised early installation of a new icon.

Communal tensions are simmering in Bengal on account of the myriad concessions the Trinamool regime has showered upon the minorities. These include grants to Imams and Muezzins, distribution of cycles among Muslim girl students, and special advantages to others under schemes to improve the lot of OBCs. No commensurate scheme has been invoked to benefit any Hindu group so far.

With nearly seven weeks to go for the Panchayat poll, Hindus in the State are a nervous lot as they have few choices between the CPM and the Trinamool, and neither party protects them.

It's the same story the world over.

Watch this entire video. Here is a man who is justly concerned for his country and determined to defend it -- and for that he is vilified, defamed, and persecuted by his countrymen.

And still the media persists in denying and obfuscating who is rioting and what the root cause of the riots really is. "Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night," from The Local, May 25 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Stockholm experienced a sixth straight night of riots early Saturday, with cars torched in several immigrant-dominated suburbs, as Britain and the United States warned against travelling to the hotspots.

Nearly a week of unrest, which spread briefly Friday night to the medium-sized city of Örebro 160 kilometres west of Stockholm, have put Sweden's reputation as an oasis of peace and harmony at risk.

The unrest has also sparked a debate among Swedes over the integration of immigrants, many of whom arrived under the country's generous asylum policies,
and who now make up about 15 percent of the population.

An AFP photographer witnessed a car engulfed in flames before firefighters arrived in the Stockholm district of Tensta. Cars were incinerated in three other areas of the capital as well, according to the Swedish news agency TT.

"I've never before taken part in anything that lasted so long and was spread over such a wide area," police spokesman Lars Byström told TT.

Another police official said earlier that Stockholm police were about to receive reinforcements from Gothenburg and Malmö, the country's second- and third-largest cities, but declined to disclose how many would arrive.

In the city of Örebro, police reported a fire at a school as well as several cars ablaze, but quiet had returned around midnight. The unrest in Stockholm had "rubbed off", police told TT.

About 200 right-wing extremists were reported to cruise around Stockholm suburbs in their cars late Friday, but intense police surveillance apparently prevented any kind of serious violence.

The nightly riots have prompted Britain's Foreign Office and the US embassy in Stockholm to issue warnings to their nationals, urging them to avoid the affected suburbs.

Firefighters were dispatched to 70 fires the night between Thursday and Friday, extinguishing torched cars, dumpsters and buildings, including three schools and a police station, the fire department wrote on Twitter. This was down from 90 blazes the night before.

Parents and volunteer organisations who have patrolled the streets in recent nights have helped decrease the intensity of the unrest, police have said.

Police, who have so far concentrated on putting out fires, are beginning to round up people suspected of criminal acts, so far arresting at least 29.

"Even if we don't intervene, we regularly make video recordings and get information from the public. That way we can get people a couple of days later," police spokesman Byström told TT.

The troubles had begun in the suburb of Husby, where 80 percent of inhabitants are immigrants, triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old Husby resident last week after the man wielded a machete in public.

Local activists said the shooting sparked anger among youths who claim to have suffered from police brutality and racism.

One of the rioters in Husby told Sveriges Radio that racism was rampant where he lived, and that violence was his only way of being noticed.

"We burned cars, threw rocks at police, at police cars. But it's good, because now people know what Husby is... This is the only way to be heard," said the rioter, identified only by the pseudonym Kim.

Stockholm county police chief Mats Löfving said Friday the rioters were local youths with and without criminal records.

In addition, "in the midst of all this there is a small group of professional criminals, who are taking advantage of the situation to commit crimes like this," he told Sveriges Radio.

A 25-year-old who grew up in Husby said he didn't think the riots had anything to do with the shooting.

"I'm not saying there are no problems... but people are glorifying this a little bit," said the man, who declined to be named, adding that the rioters were often aged 12 to 17.

"I can imagine they get a big kick out of seeing themselves on TV," he said.

Due to its liberal immigration policy, Sweden has in recent decades become one of Europe's top destinations for immigrants, both in absolute numbers and relative to its size.

But many of those who have arrived struggle to learn the language and find employment, despite numerous government programmes.

Official data show unemployment was 8.8 percent in Husby in 2012, compared to 3.3 percent in Stockholm as a whole.

Eric Zemmour, a right-wing French commentator known for his controversial views, meanwhile told RTL radio the riots showed that the Swedish "kingdom of social democracy and of political correctness" was little different from countries like Britain and France.

Yep.

Tightening the Sharia noose in rapidly desecularizing Turkey. "Parliament passes bill limiting sale of alcohol, banning ads," by İbrahim Asalıoğlu for Today's Zaman, May 24 (thanks to Joshua):

A bill proposed by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government seeking limitations on the consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco was approved by Parliament on Friday, bringing in strict restrictions on the sale of alcoholic drinks and sanctions for those violating the law.

The government drafted the bill in order to protect children and young people from the harmful effects of alcoholic beverages. The bill was adopted following a 17-hour debate in Parliament, during which tensions sometimes rose among deputies.

Some deputies from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) stayed in Parliament until the early hours of Friday in an attempt to prevent the passage of the bill.

A fight erupted between CHP deputy Levent Gök and AK Party deputies. CHP deputies accused the AK Party of acting like Murat IV, an Ottoman sultan who banned alcohol and tobacco, and said that the AK Party is interfering in people's lifestyle choices. The bill received the support of 193 AK Party deputies. Four Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies voted against it.

The newly approved bill, which will go into effect once approved by President Abdullah Gül, will also ban the advertising of alcoholic beverages and all forms of their promotion.

Campaigns, promotions or events that aim to encourage the use or sale of these products will not be allowed. Companies that produce, import or market alcoholic beverages will not be permitted to sponsor events using the brand or logo of their products. These companies will also not be allowed to offer free alcoholic beverages as a promotion or giveaway. Violation of this bill will incur a fine of between TL 5,000 and TL 200,000. No images of alcoholic beverages will be allowed in TV series, movies or music clips, and any that do appear will be blurred.

In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be banned between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Those who violate this law will incur a fine of between TL 20,000 and TL 100,000.

According to the bill, alcoholic beverages will not be sold to individuals under the age of 18 for them to consume on the premises or take with them. Violation of this could lead to a fine of between TL 10,000 and TL 500,000. If a minor's health is placed at risk, the offender will be given a prison sentence from six months to one year.

Individuals who are under the age of 18 will not be allowed to be employed in the production, sale and marketing of alcoholic beverages. If there are individuals already working in this sector under the age of 18, they will be allowed to continue working for one more year.

Alcoholic beverages will not be sold in vending machines. Signboards advertising alcoholic beverages will be removed within a year.

Health warnings will be included on the bottles or other packaging of alcoholic drinks. Any bottles or packages that do not carry a warning message cannot be sold.

If a beverage includes any quantity of alcohol, this quantity must be written on the bottle in a way that is easily visible to consumers.

The sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages will not be allowed at facilities along highways. In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be banned at the restaurants of student dormitories, medical facilities, stadiums, closed sports halls, all kinds of educational facilities, coffee houses, pastry shops and restaurants of gas stations. Violation of this law will warrant a fine between TL 10,000 and TL 100,000.

Shops selling alcoholic beverages will need to be at least 100 meters away from schools, university preparation course facilities, student dormitories and places of worship. The 100-meter obligation will not apply to facilities that have a tourism certificate. Shops that already have a license to sell alcoholic beverages will be exempted from this 100-meter obligation.

According to the bill, drivers who register a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05 will be given a fine of TL 700 and their driver's licenses taken away for six months. Drivers who refuse to take the blood alcohol test will be taken to the nearest hospital or forensic medical council where they will give blood, saliva or urine samples.

Drivers who register a BAC of more than 0.1 will face a jail sentence of up to two years.

If a driver's license has been suspended for drunk driving and the driver commits the same crime within a five-year period, they will face a fine of TL 877 and their driver's licenses will be taken away for two years.

The bill also bans smoking in the driver's seat of private vehicles.
PM defends alcohol ban

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday defended the bill limiting the sale and advertising of alcoholic beverages across the country, saying the government does not want a “wasted” generation.

“We do not want a generation that drinks day and night and that is wasted. They [young people] should be awake and equipped with knowledge. We want such a generation and we are taking steps in this regard,” Erdoğan said.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ also commented on the newly approved bill on Friday, saying that the bill brings European and US standards to Turkey with regards to the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“The amendments are not aimed at banning the consumption of alcohol,” he said.

He also said that Article 58 of the Constitution says that the state has a responsibility to protect young people from alcohol addiction, adding: “When you look at Europe and the US, you see that there are advertising bans there. But Turkey was not in compliance with the standards in these countries to this effect. These amendments aim to maintain a harmony with their standards. In many countries, shops selling alcoholic beverages cannot sell them after a certain hour at night.”...

Islamic supremacists have taken over the Central African Republic, and the Christians there are suffering for it. "'Reign of terror' against Christians in Central African Republic," from Barnabas Aid, May 20 (thanks to Liam):

Christians in the Central African Republic (CAR) are being targeted by Islamist militants who seized control of the country in March; they are being tied up, beaten and forced to hand over money to save their lives.

A pastor in CAR said that “a reign of terror” is being conducted against Christians by the Seleka rebels who took over the country in a bloody coup on 24 March. A number of Christians have been killed or wounded.

The church leader said that the rebels have a hit list of pastors and other Christian workers, and that places of worship are being attacked. Christian property is being looted. In one incident towards the end of last month, Seleka troops seized all the collection money given at a gathering of church leaders.

Many Christians have fled their homes to the countryside and are too fearful to return. More than 200,000 people are internally displaced, while 49,000 refugees have been registered in neighbouring countries.

On 10 May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report citing “grave violations” committed by the Seleka rebels against civilians, including pillage, summary executions, rape and torture.

Among the incidents described was a raid on a church in the capital Bangui. HRW said that this was one of Seleka’s first targets upon entering the city. The rebels fired into the air and robbed the worshippers.

HRW also recounted an attack on a funeral procession on the Ngaragba Bridge in Bangui on 13 April. As Seleka forces opened fire on the crowd, a church leader was killed as he appealed for calm. An eyewitness said:

[He] walked toward the Seleka elements on their pick-up raising a Bible in his hand and calling to stop shooting… [he] was shot dead by two Seleka fighters.

The crisis in CAR has largely slipped under the radar of the world’s media, and the predominantly Christian population feels abandoned by the international community....

What a surprise.

Why not? Like all Muslims as far as Western authorities are concerned, Adebolajo was a moderate who abhorred jihad terror -- right up until the moment he sank his meat cleaver in Lee Rigby's neck. This is yet another example of how the Western willful blindness about Islam and jihad leads to disastrous errors, large and small. Keystone Kops Alert: "Woolwich attack: MI5 'offered job to suspect,'" from the BBC, May 24:

MI5 asked Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo if he wanted to work for them about six months before the killing, a childhood friend has said.

Abu Nusaybah told BBC Newsnight his friend - one of two men arrested after Drummer Lee Rigby's murder in south-east London on Wednesday - had rejected the approach from the security service.

The BBC could not obtain any confirmation from Whitehall sources.

Abu Nusaybah was arrested at the BBC after giving the interview.

The Met Police said a 31-year-old man had been arrested at 21:30 BST on Friday in relation to suspected terrorism offences and search warrants were being executed at two homes in east London.

The arrest was not directly related to the murder of Drummer Rigby, it said.

'Bugging me'

In his Newsnight interview, Abu Nusaybah said he thought "a change" had taken place in his friend after his detention by security forces on a trip to Kenya last year.

Abu Nusaybah said Mr Adebolajo suggested he had been physically and sexually abused during an interrogation in a prison cell in the African country.

After this, he became withdrawn "and less talkative - he wasn't his bubbly self", Abu Nusaybah added.

He said Mr Adebolajo also told him that, upon his return, he was "followed up by MI5" who were "knocking on his door".

He was "basically being harassed", Abu Nusaybah said.

He added: "His wording was, 'They are bugging me - they won't leave me alone.'
Michael Adebolajo in street in Woolwich Michael Adebolajo was filmed after the attack

"He mentioned initially they wanted to ask him if he knew certain individuals.

"But after him saying that he didn't know these individuals, what he said was they asked him if he would be interested in working for them.

"He was explicit in that he refused to work for them but he did confirm he didn't know the individuals."

Newsnight reporter Richard Watson said that, in general terms, it was not out of the ordinary for the security service to approach people for information or even to act as covert sources.

Mr Adebolajo, 28, originally from Romford, east London, and fellow suspect Michael Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, south-east London, had been known to MI5 for eight years, Whitehall sources told the BBC on Thursday....

The Guardian is deeply impressed that Muslim groups in the U.K. are condemning the jihad murder of a British soldier on a London street yesterday -- so impressed, in fact, that it insists that "Muslim groups are doing all they can to counter the divisive intent of the killers." But what, exactly, are these Muslim groups doing? Do any of them have any kind of program to teach young Muslims why they should reject the understanding of Islam that the jihadist enunciated yesterday? Why, no, they do not. No one, however, seems to notice or care.

"Woolwich attack: 'these poor idiots have nothing to do with Islam,'" by Peter Walker and Matthew Taylor in The Guardian, May 24:

...If there is a wider message from the reaction in south-east London and more widely around Britain since Rigby's death it is that Muslim groups are doing all they can to counter the divisive intent of the killers.

Perhaps the biggest single expression of solidarity came at the East London mosque, in Tower Hamlets, as leaders of the Christian, Jewish and Buddhist faiths joined around 6,000 Muslims for Friday prayers.

The group included the Bishop of Stepney, Adrian Newman, and Leon Silver from the East London central synagogue. Speaking before prayers started they said they had come to condemn the Woolwich attacks and show that the various faith communities were standing shoulder to shoulder with their Muslim neighbours....

The first rule after an Islamic jihad attack: do not insult Islam! British authorities appear to have a death wish. A jihadist murders a soldier in cold blood and they're cracking down not on jihadists, but on those who dare to express anything less than fulsome respect for the Islamic ideology that led the murderer to kill. "Man charged with making 'racist or anti-religious' Facebook comments about British soldier’s death," from the Daily Mail, May 24 (thanks to Howard):

A 22-year-old man has been charged on suspicion of making malicious comments on Facebook following the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby.

Benjamin Flatters, from Lincoln, was arrested last night after complaints were made to Lincolnshire Police about comments made on Facebook, which were allegedly of a racist or anti-religious nature.

He was charged with an offence of malicious communications this afternoon in relation to the comments, a Lincolnshire Police spokesman said.

A second man was visited by officers and warned about his activity on social media, the spokesman added.

It comes after 25-year-old Drummer Rigby was brutally murdered on a street in Woolwich, south east London, on Wednesday.

The father-of-one, from Manchester, had fought in Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Flatters has been remanded in police custody and will appear before magistrates in Lincoln tomorrow.

The charge comes after two men were earlier released on bail following their arrest for making alleged offensive comments on Twitter about the murder.

Complaints were made to Avon and Somerset Police about remarks that appeared on the social networking website, which were allegedly of a racist or anti-religious nature.

A 23-year-old and a 22-year-old, both from Bristol, were held under the Public Order Act on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred.

Detective Inspector Ed Yaxley, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: 'On Wednesday evening, we were contacted by people concerned about comments made on social media accounts.

'We began inquiries into the comments and at around 3.20am two men, aged 23 and 22, were detained at two addresses in Bristol.

'The men were arrested under the Public Order Act on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred. Our inquiries into these comments continue.

'These comments were directed against a section of our community. Comments such as these are completely unacceptable and only cause more harm to our community in Bristol.

'People should stop and think about what they say on social media before making statements as the consequences could be serious.'...

Almost as serious as if you behead a soldier on a London street.

Many Muslim organizations have condemned the attack. However, they have no programs in place to teach young Muslims against Bakri's understanding of Islam. "Exiled cleric who taught UK knifeman praises 'courage,'" by Dominic Evans for Reuters, May 24 (thanks to Block Ness):

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Syrian-born Islamist cleric who taught one of the men accused of hacking to death an off-duty British soldier on a London street praised the attack for its "courage" and said Muslims would see it as a strike on a military target.

In an interview in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, where he has lived since being banished from Britain in 2005, Omar Bakri, founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, said he knew suspect Michael Adebolajo from his lectures a decade ago.

"When I saw the footage I recognized the face immediately," Bakri told Reuters. "I used to know him. A quiet man, very shy, asking lots of questions about Islam."

"What surprised me (is) the quiet man, the man who is very shy, decided to carry out an attack against a British soldier in the middle of the day in the middle of a street in the UK. In east London. It's incredible.

"When I saw that, honestly I was very surprised - standing firm, courageous, brave. Not running away. Rather, he said why he carried (it out) and he wanted the whole world to hear it."

The attack has been vociferously condemned by Muslim organizations across Britain.

Adebolajo, 28, a British-born convert from a Christian Nigerian immigrant family, went by the nickname Mujahid - warrior - after taking up Islam as a teenager in a suburb on the northeast outskirts of London.

He was filmed with his hands still covered with the blood of Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby, 25, after the attack. Clutching a butcher's knife and meat cleaver, he said the killing was revenge for British participation in wars in foreign countries.

He and a second knife-wielding attacker, Nigerian-born naturalized British citizen Michael Adebowale, 22, are in hospital after being shot by police during their arrest. They have yet to be charged. Police have also arrested another man and a woman under suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

"WE DON'T SLEEP ON OUR GRIEVANCES"

The interview with Bakri in his flat in the Abu Samra district of Tripoli was twice interrupted by his infant son Osama, who broke into the room playing with a plastic toy. The boy was named after slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"He is supposed to go fight (U.S. President Barack) Obama in the future, and maybe to deal with the Obama of his times. We called him after... Sheikh Osama," Bakri said, smiling often as he spoke but lacing light-hearted comments with hints of menace.

After a photographer took his picture, the bearded Bakri, wearing a black cloak over white trousers and white leather shoes, mockingly adopted a threatening pose.

"We know the media, they just want evil pictures," he said. "But we are going to be in power soon... Don't think that we sleep on our grievances. That Michael, after 10 years, he killed (the soldier) in front of everyone ... Was he a man or not?"

"The prophet (Mohammad) said an infidel and his killer will not meet in Hell. That's a beautiful saying," he said. "May God reward (Adebolajo) for his actions."...

Yesterday Obama said: "The best way to prevent violent extremism is to work with the Muslim American community – which has consistently rejected terrorism – to identify signs of radicalization, and partner with law enforcement when an individual is drifting towards violence."

So today Hasmas-linked CAIR's Zahra Billoo tweeted this:

is doing the outreach gig: reminding Bay Area masjid attendees that they can call CAIR for free legal aid if they are contacted by the FBI.

— Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) May 24, 2013

Why not just counsel them to cooperate freely and openly with the FBI? What do they have to hide? After all, the Muslim American community "has consistently rejected terrorism," so what's the problem?

Our suicidal policies in Afghanistan continue amid the carnage. "Policeman, five gunmen killed in Kabul Taliban attack," by Usman Sharifi for AFP, May 24 (thanks to Lookmann):

KABUL — Explosions rocked central Kabul for several hours on Friday after Taliban gunmen launched a major suicide and gun attack centred on a compound of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

One police officer was killed and five militants were shot dead as security forces hunted down the attackers, with prolonged bursts of gunfire and grenade blasts heard across the Afghan capital.

A United Nations building and several other official premises were caught up in the coordinated assault that started when a suicide car bomb sent a plume of dark smoke into the sky.

Commandos shot dead five gunmen who were firing and throwing grenades from a building, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.

One policeman was killed by the suicide car bomb and at least five local civilians and two police officers were injured, he said.

No other fatalities were immediately reported, but an Italian woman working for IOM was seriously wounded by a grenade explosion.

"I strongly condemn today's terrorist attack centred on a compound of the International Organization for Migration," Jan Kubis, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said in a statement.

"Three IOM staff members were injured, one seriously. A staff member from the International Labour Organization was also injured."

The Geneva-based IOM, which is affiliated with the UN, works across the world to improve management of cross-border migration.

IOM spokesman Chris Lom confirmed to AFP that the badly wounded employee was an Italian woman.

Friday's attack comes a week after another suicide car bomb in Kabul targeted a foreign military convoy, killing 15 people including five Americans.

The Taliban announced their annual "spring offensive" on April 27, opening a crucial period as local security forces take the lead in the fight against the insurgents.

The blasts hit the centre of Kabul at about 4:00 pm (1130 GMT) on Friday -- Afghanistan's weekly day off -- and fighting continued into the night.

Norwegian soldiers were among the security forces involved in the response operation, an AFP photographer witnessed, but the NATO-led military coalition gave no further details.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP that his group was responsible and that the main target was a guesthouse allegedly used by Afghan and US intelligence staff.

"A group of mujahideen armed with heavy and light weapons took position in a building and are firing on several targets," he said.

"The main target was a guesthouse where foreigners, including members of the CIA who train members of the Afghan spy agency stay."...

I just received this message from the free speech fighter Imran Firasat:

Imran Firasat: I am going to be killed soon
(The Spanish government approves Imran Firasat´s extradition to an Islamic country)

I am going to die, or I should better say that I am going to be killed soon. The enemy who is going to kill me is not any Muslim but he is a powerful man of the Spanish government who is persecuting me nonstop since last several months and now he is going to kill me any time by abusing his diplomatic power.

Revealing the danger of radical Islam to our free and modern society has become a curse for my life. Before it were only Muslims who used to threaten me of killing but now it is the minister of interior of the Spanish government who is taking all the aggressive, unjust and unnecessary steps to eliminate me.

First he revoked my refugee status without taking in consideration my arguments in defence. Then the minister used his political influence and made the judicial authorities to prosecute me for the hate crime. But the truth was with me, that is why I won that case. Even a single hearing didn´t take place and the judge said there has been no crime committed.

The minister found no other way to persecute me in order to appease Muslims, and then today he has approved my extradition to Indonesia, the biggest Muslim population on earth which 3 years ago fabricated false murder charges against me and asked for my extradition to the Spanish authorities.

It is very important to note here that Indonesia never had intention to prosecute me for that alleged crime but they charged me in absentia just after 8 days of deporting me by themselves back to Spain. Even though my extradition to Indonesia was refused but the Spanish high court judges provided Indonesia an opportunity to prosecute me in Spain. But no surprise, Indonesian authorities never appeared again. They never even appealed the decision of high court to refuse my extradition.

“The international covenant on civil and political rights” was violated by the Indonesian authorities by not giving me a fair chance to defend myself, by trying me in absentia without waiting for a proper time period and by not respecting my right of “Presumption of innocence”. Even a single physical proof was not provided against me such as fingerprint or DNA proof. They did all this with the hidden motives of wanting to kill me for my critics on Islam.

Since the Spanish minister has approved my extradition to Indonesia, I don´t know how long I am going to be alive more. I may be detained soon, I may be extradited soon or I may be killed soon within Spain as the Spanish Minister of interior can´t bear my existence in Spain anymore. For him respecting my right to freedom expression is not that important as it is important to keep happy the Muslims who make riots, burn embassies, kill innocent soldiers etc. in order to intimidate the western world and depriving us from our rights and freedom.

In the moment when my government should have stood beside me for protecting me, they are preparing to handover me to the death by Islamic hands. In the time when I needed the support of my country, the Minister has stabbed me on my back.

I have proven my innocence in past. All the signs show that the Indonesian authorities never respected the law and they are simply looking for a chance to execute me for blasphemy. But why should the Spanish minister care about it? For him it is important to eliminate all those who oppose Islam so that he can give a free way to those who want to convert Spain in “Al Andalus” and then go forward to capture whole Europe.

I know that the countdown of my life has begun. But I let you all know that if I get hurt or killed, the responsible will be the Spanish minister of interior and the stains of my blood will remain forever on the national flag of Spain. You will only remember me when Islam will finally rule on Spain. Then some people may say that we have lost a brave soldier who could play an important role in the fight against radicalism and terrorism of Islam.

As long as there are people like the Spanish interior minister, we can´t get rid of the Islamic terrorists. Because people like him encourage the Islamic terrorists by stopping people like me who dare to fight against Islamic Jihad.

Thank you very much. Hope to see you again if I stay alive. Please keep fighting against the violent teachings of Muhammad and never give up. Thanks for all the love and support. Good bye.

Yours sincerely
Imran Firasat
(A proud ex Muslim)

The jihad in Britain is by no means over. It has hardly even begun. "Britain braces for possible copycat attacks," by Paisley Dodds for The Associated Press, May 24 (thanks to Kenneth):

LONDON — Britain is bracing for clashes with right-wing extremists and possible copycat terror attacks after the brutal slaying of a young soldier.

London's Metropolitan Police said more than 1,000 officers will be sent to potential trouble spots with armed response units. Only a fraction of Britain's police officers are armed.

Wednesday's bloody attack was captured on video by passersby and made for gruesome viewing — one man is seen with his hands stained red and holding two butcher's knives as he angrily complained about the British government and troops in foreign lands. A lifeless body is seen on the street behind him.

Terror analysts say the attackers wanted the publicity to inspire copycat attacks, and that they are already seeing an increase in chatter on extremist sites calling for such attacks....

A British government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation, confirmed the increase in chatter since Wednesday's attack but said no specific or credible plots had been detected at this point.

Britain's terror threat level has remained unchanged at "substantial" — the middle of five possible rankings....

How the Media Solves a Problem Like the Woolwich Attack
by Enza Ferreri

The English vocabulary will soon be depleted of words, if everybody starts speaking like the mainstream media. In connection with the Woolwich killing, the media talked about "religious centres", not "mosques", a now obsolete word. Other archaic, disused terms are "Islam" and "Muslim": we just say "man", "woman" and as useful data we add their age.

A news flash on BBC Radio 5 Live delivered the information that, basically, a man had been killed in Woolwich by two men, and there were another man and a woman, both 29, involved. Of course it is that magic age, 29, that makes all the difference. There are plenty of men and women aged 29 who go around slaughtering and slaying, but thankfully none aged 28 or 30. How could anyone listening to that news flash be enlightened on the nature of the act by this kind of very general, non-specific "information"?

A TV news reporter, in a desperate attempt to exculpate Islam, said that there have been more Muslims than non-Muslims killed by Muslim attacks.

What does that mean? The first victims of Islam are Muslims themselves, that seems pretty obvious to me. The simplest way to realize that is to look at the Muslim-majority countries of the world and see in what terrible state they are. But this does not exonerate the doctrine of Islam and its violent nature.

The media commentaries seem to attach a lot of importance to finding out whether this was a "lone wolf" attack or had an organization behind it, the assumption probably being that lone wolves should provoke less concern, causing only a one-off incident.

If that is the assumption, it's far from correct. If we have not had another 7/7 in London and generally the UK, it is because a vast amount of money and resources from our cash-strapped government has had to be allocated to the police and intelligence services' task of keeping an eye on the "Muslim community".

When an attack is planned, it is easier for the security services to discover the plan and foil it. Yesterday's murder, on the surface, looks like it might have been one without much planning or organization: these killings will be practically impossible to be prevented, as the police said.

Therefore, some other Muslim "lone wolf" who has observed the success of this murder and the impossibility of thwarting it may be encouraged to repeat the enterprise. It is likely that we will see many more of these attacks, since the plots by organized groups are more vulnerable to preventative actions by security services.

This is also the prediction of radical Muslim Anjem Choudary, who led the ominous-sounding group Islam4UK, in its own words "working for the establishment of the Shariah - to make it dominate all other ways of life." The group is now banned, but not on YouTube.

Choudary prophesied: "We are a very politicised community. Some people are angered by draconian measures such as 'stop and search' and restrictions on free speech. There is a chance of more lone wolf attacks happening again due to these draconian measures".

A TV commentator said that the killer we saw on a video speaking to the camera is British and has an obvious London accent, but still feels closer to places, like Afghanistan and Iraq, that he's probably never even visited.

But shouldn't that ring an alarm bell? Oughtn't that to be an indication that place of birth and accent are irrelevant in this context? Of course he feels loyal to his "brothers" in Muslim countries. The nation-state is a European invention that followed the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. For Islam the nation is the Ummah, all the world's Muslims. This man does not feel British, he feels Muslim - and many other Muslims living in the UK will feel the same allegiance to the "Nation of Islam", as in the name of a black racist and Islamic supremacist organization in the USA.

The pathetic utterances about searches for "motives" behind the murder are also ridiculous. There is nothing to search: the jihadist on the video shown by TV stations the world over makes it very clear.

In the fuller version of the video published by Jihad Watch, at the beginning he mentions Surat at-Tawba, the ninth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an, which contains exhortations to kill infidels. He says:

The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers. And this British soldier is one. It is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. By Allah, we swear by the almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone. So what if we want to live by the Shari'a in Muslim lands? Why does that mean you must follow us and chase us and call us extremists and kill us? Rather you lot are extreme. You are the ones that when you drop a bomb you think it hits one person? Or rather your bomb wipes out a whole family? This is the reality. By Allah if I saw your mother today with a buggy I would help her up the stairs. This is my nature. But we are forced by the Qur'an, in Sura At-Tawba, through many ayah in the Qu'ran, we must fight them as they fight us.

He also said that he wanted to "start a war in London tonight".

Could this be any clearer?

The only problem is that this is precisely the part that the mainstream media have cut out: it's not so much a search for motives that is needed, as refraining from covering them up.

It would appear that the jihadists were tired of media lies and wanted the public to know why they committed this atrocious beheading, in this day and age a quintessentially Islamic way of killing. The media won again, by depriving them (and more importantly us) of the benefit of telling (and hearing) the truth.

What a strange coincidence, having omitted just that highly explanatory bit!

The parents of at least one of the two perpetrators came from Nigeria, another interesting country where Muslims slaughter Christians like there's no tomorrow. Nigeria is in fact one of the worst countries in the world in this respect, called by International Christian Concern The deadliest place to be a Christian.

The Christianity Today blog has this information:

Nearly 1,000 Nigerian Christians were killed in 2012, and more than 100 have died in the first few months of 2013, according to Jubilee Campaign. Executive director Ann Buwalda says this accounts for “almost 70 percent of Christians killed globally” last year, making Nigeria “the most lethal country for Christians by a huge margin.”

But in the West, who cares? And, further, who is informed by the media? After we've been ignoring what Nigerian Muslims do to people in their country, now they are carrying out the same job here. Will we still ignore it?

Another thing that may make you laugh or cry, depending on your temperament, is the recommendation not to wear uniform in public given by commanders to troops, which has led the soldiers to the opposite behaviour of posting pictures of themselves in uniform on social media.

What next? Clergy advised not to wear cassocks and dog collars? Oh that's already happened, after a number of Muslim attacks on priests in East London some years ago.

We have made so many concessions to Islam that one more or less doesn't make much difference. What's a uniform between friends?

This kind of advice is akin to trying to cure pneumonia with paracetamol. The real treatment would be a bit more radical (from "radix", the Latin word for "root"), going to the root of the problem, addressing the disease rather than the symptom: if there were no Muslims in Britain, there would hardly be any terror attacks.

Enza Ferreri is an Italian-born, London-based author and journalist. She has been a London correspondent for several Italian magazines and newspapers, including Panorama, L'Espresso, and La Repubblica.

Over on The Blaze, via RaymondIbrahim.com, I discuss the Pope's recent comments and how embracing Islam by the sword is not limited to history but alive and well today:

The lost history of Christians forced to convert to Islam—or die—is reemerging, figuratively and literally. According to the BBC: “Pope Francis has proclaimed the first saints of his pontificate in a ceremony [last Sunday] at the Vatican—a list which includes 800 victims of an atrocity carried out by Ottoman soldiers in 1480.They were beheaded in the southern Italian town of Otranto after refusing to convert to Islam.”

The BBC adds in a sidebar: “The ‘Martyrs of Otranto’ were 813 Italians beheaded for defying demands by Turkish invaders to renounce Christianity. The Turks had been sent by Mohammed II, who had already captured the ‘second Rome’ of Constantinople.”

Historical texts throughout the centuries are filled with similar anecdotes, including the “60 Martyrs of Gaza,” Christian soldiers who were executed for refusing Islam during the 7th century Islamic invasion of Jerusalem. Seven centuries later, during the Islamic invasion of Georgia, Christians refusing to convert were forced into their church and set on fire. Witnesses for Christ lists 200 anecdotes of Christians killed—including some burned at the stake, thrown on iron spikes, dismembered, stoned, stabbed, shot at, drowned, pummeled to death, impaled and crucified—for refusing to embrace Islam.

If history is shocking, the fact is, today, Christians—men, women, and children—are still being forced to convert to Islam. Pope Francis alluded to their sufferings during the same ceremony: “As we venerate the martyrs of Otranto, let us ask God to sustain those many Christians who, in these times and in many parts of the world, right now, still suffer violence, and give them the courage and fidelity to respond to evil with good.”

Consider some recent anecdotes:

In Pakistan, a “devoted Christian” was butchered by Muslim men “with multiple axe blows [24 per autopsy] for refusing to convert to Islam.” Another two Christian men returning from church were accosted by six Muslims who tried to force them to convert to Islam, but “the two refused to renounce Christianity.” Accordingly, the Muslims severely beat them, yelling they must either convert “or be prepared to die. . . . the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.”

In Bangladesh some 300 Christian children were abducted in 2012 and sold to Islamic schools, where “imams force them to abjure Christianity.” The children are then instructed in Islam and beaten. After full indoctrination they are asked if they are “ready to give their lives for Islam,” presumably by becoming jihadi suicide-bombers. (Even here the historic patterns are undeniable: for centuries, Christian children were forcibly taken, converted to and indoctrinated in Islam, trained to be jihadis extraordinaire, and then unleashed on their former Christian families. Such were the Janissaries and Mamelukes.)...Continue reading for more.

Still more jihad. "UK Fighters Escort Pakistan Plane to Airport, Two Arrests," from Reuters, May 24 (thanks to Lookmann):

LONDON — British fighter jets escorted a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane to Stansted Airport near London on Friday, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering an aircraft.

Passengers were leaving the plane and no one was hurt in the incident, a spokesman for the airport said.

Flight PK709 from Lahore in Pakistan had been due to land at Manchester in northern England with 297 passengers on board, but was diverted shortly before arrival.

Britain is on high alert after a soldier was hacked to death on a London street on Wednesday in what the government are treating as a terrorist incident.

A security source said early indications were that the plane was not the target of a terrorist attack.

A passenger who had just got off the plane told the BBC the pilot had informed passengers after landing that he had diverted to Stansted because of threats. The passenger, named by the BBC as Mr Munsif, said two men had been handcuffed on board and removed.

"We landed safely and then he announced that they had some kind of threat from someone and that's why he landed the plane," the passenger said, speaking by telephone.

"Essex Police have boarded a passenger plane diverted to Stansted Airport and two men have been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft. They have been removed from the plane," the police said in a statement. The force is responsible for the area where Stansted is located.

"The two men arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft are aged 30 and 41. They are being taken to a police station for interview by detectives," the police added.

Stansted is one of London's less busy airports, preferred as a location for handling airplane security incidents. A spokesman for the airport said the plane was being held in an isolated area and that the rest of the airport was operating as normal.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said 10 fire engines had been sent to the airport....

"Thanks to Allah, we have carried out two operations against the enemies of Islam in Niger. We attacked France and Niger for its cooperation with France in the war against sharia." Yet we're constantly told by Islamic spokesmen in the U.S. that Sharia is benign and completely compatible with American Constitutional freedoms. How very odd that elsewhere it so often leads to violence.

More on this story. "Islamist bombers kill 20 in Niger attacks, seize hostages," from AFP, May 23:

Islamist militants staged brazen twin car bomb attacks on an army base and a French-run uranium mine in Niger, killing at least 20 people and taking several trainee army officers hostage, the government said.

The unprecedented attacks were claimed by an Islamist group as revenge for Niger's involvement in a French-led military offensive in neighbouring Mali and come just four months after Al-Qaeda linked militants seized a desert gas plant in neighbouring Algeria in a siege that left 38 hostages dead.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), one of the Islamist groups which seized control of northern Mali last year before being driven out by French-led troops, claimed the near simultaneous bombings at the Agadez army base and the French majority-owned uranium mine in Arlit.

Oneness -- that is, tauhid, the Islamic concept of the absolute unity of Allah.

"Thanks to Allah, we have carried out two operations against the enemies of Islam in Niger," MUJAO spokesman Abu Walid Sahraoui told AFP.

"We attacked France and Niger for its cooperation with France in the war against sharia (Islamic law)."

Eighteen soldiers and a civilian were killed along with four attackers at the army base in Agadez, the largest city in northern Niger, while around 50 people were wounded at the mine, Interior Minister Abdou Labo said....

The riots are Muslims, but the Islamic contempt for the kuffar and jahiliyya society is never considered as a root cause, any more than it is even when a Muslim beheads a soldier on a London street and invokes the Qur'an by way of explanation. "Riots in Sweden: Cars Burn in Fourth Night of Youth Violence," from Spiegel Online, May 23 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Riots continued for the fourth straight night in Sweden Wednesday, as youth set fire to cars and threw stones at police in immigrant suburbs of Stockholm and the southern Swedish city of Malmo.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has appealed for calm in the wake of the violence, which appears to have been instigated by the police shooting of a machete-wielding 69-year-old man in the Stockholm suburb of Husby this month. Police said the shooting was an act of self-defense, but it has triggered accusations of police brutality.

Riots began in Husby, which has a large immigrant population, on Sunday night and have spread to other locations, including the southern suburb of Fittja.

A police station in another southern suburb was set on fire, but no one was injured in the attack and the fire was quickly extinguished, according to media reports. Dozens of cars have been set ablaze during the riots, testing the resources of the local fire departments, according to the police.

At least one police officer was injured in the riots Wednesday night, and two schools, a restaurant and a cultural center have been damaged this week.

Growing Disparities

The violence has been attributed to the growing disparities between rich and poor in the country, where immigrant communities have been affected the most by cuts in state benefits over the past two decades. Official unemployment among the foreign-born is at 16 percent.

"The reason is very simple," Rouzbeh Djalaie, editor of a local newspaper in Husby told the news agency Reuters. "Unemployment, the housing situation, disrespect from police. It just takes something to start a riot, and that was the shooting."

Djalaie told Reuters that local youths are often the subject of unnecessary identity checks from police, who reportedly called them "apes" during the recent riots. The country ranks fourth among 44 industrialized nations in the absolute number of asylum seekers.

Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask called attacks on police officers or rescue personnel "unacceptable," but said she understood why many people in these suburbs are angry. "Social exclusion is a very serious cause of many problems, and we understand that," she said.

My weekly appearance on Michael Coren's Sun TV show tonight was devoted to the London jihad murder and the predictable government and media reaction: jihad? What jihad?

It was discovered this Thursday evening near Luxor in Egypt that a mother and her two daughters were killed and their bodies thrown into the Nile River. The murderers? Seven male members—from their own Muslim family—who apparently had doubts about the women’s “behavior” (that’s all the Gate Ahram report indicates for motive). Amina, the 54-year-old mother and her two daughters, Sana, 28 , and Madiha, 24, were strangled by their seven male relatives “because the family doubted the behavior of the mother and her two daughters.” Before hurling them into the Nile, their male relatives tied the murdered women to heavy iron objects, to ensure that the bodies do not resurface. Police have thus far found the body of the older sister, Sana, and currently trying to find the other bodies.