Posted tagged ‘Islamic Jihad’

Israel Warns Citizens to Leave Turkey ASAP

March 28, 2016

Israel counter-terrorism bureau has warned Israelis to leave Turkey immediately due to a concrete terror threat.

By: Hana Levi Julian Published: March 28th, 2016

Source: The Jewish Press » » Israel Warns Citizens to Leave Turkey ASAP

Hebrew inscription above the entrance to the ancient Ahrida Synagogue in the Balat neighborhood in Istanbul. The synagogue is 500 years old but “because Jews no longer come to pray during the week” it opens only on the Sabbath, according to Turkish officials.
Photo Credit: Hana Levi Julian

Israel’s National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau (NSCCTB) upgraded its travel warning for Turkey on Monday to that of a “high concrete threat.”

But the threat is not just terrorism, although that is where the current danger lies. Ultimately, there is a greater existential threat beneath.

The counter-terrorism bureau warned Israelis not to travel to the country, and told those who are already there to leave as soon as possible.

“The deadly 19 March 2016 attack in Istanbul, in which a group of Israeli tourists was hit, underscores the threat by Da’esh (ISIS) against tourist targets throughout Turkey and proves high capabilities of carrying out further attacks.

“Terrorist infrastructures in Turkey continue to advance additional attacks against tourist targets – including Israeli tourists – throughout the country,” the warning continued.

Although Da’esh has carried out most of the attacks and the outlawed PKK Kurdistan Workers’ Party terror group has carried out the rest, for Israelis, the Hamas terrorist organization presents an equal threat. The international Hamas headquarters is located in Istanbul, and yet no mention has been made of its existence despite its ongoing pledge to annihilate Israel and her Jewish citizens. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party welcomed Hamas to the country; Erdogan is a passionate supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood which gave birth to Hamas.

This fact stands in stark contrast to Erdogan’s recent vows to “fight terrorist together with Israel,” leaving one to wonder where he really stands.

“In the wake of an NSCCTB assessment of the situation, it has been decided to upgrade the existing travel warning vis-à-vis Turkey from a basic concrete threat to a high concrete threat, and to reiterate our recommendation to the public to avoid visiting the country and – for Israelis currently in Turkey – to leave as soon as possible.”

There are many Israelis who live in Turkey. A large number are intermarried with Turkish citizens. Some are there because they simply love the beauty of the country, its music and its art. Others are there for reasons relating to their business or artistic concerns.

While it is possible to find a few imported kosher items here and there in Istanbul, one has to hunt very hard to track them down. There are no local kosher supervising agencies. The only exception is the hechsher provided by the Chief Rabbinate of Turkey on a few tourist-related items such as “Turkish Delight” candies.

For the kosher traveler, one can order La Casa packaged meals that are used by Turkish Airlines and under the hechsher of the Chief Rabbinate of Turkey. As it happens, La Casa is also a catering service and actually creates one of the best-quality meals in the industry. Jewish travelers rely on it when visiting Turkey — with the exception of one restaurant and a kosher butcher who stocks frozen foods, there are no other options.

JewishPress.com spoke exclusively with some Jews who live in the country during a recent visit to learn how Jews are faring in Turkey and to give them a voice, if possible.

Not one of the Turkish Jews with whom this news outlet spoke was willing to be identified and most were unwilling to meet in person. Of those who did agree to meet, the tension – nay, fear – was palpable. Even after assurances this reporter would not record the conversation, it took repeated promises that no names would be used before sources could relax enough to speak.

The following narrative is a mashup of the comments of several sources with whom this reporter spoke while in Turkey, in order to fulfill that promise of protecting their identities.

“We are not safe,” a Jewish source said in a theme that was repeated over and over, in every conversation with JewishPress.com. “In fact, no one is truly safe at the moment – my Muslim friends are in just as much danger right now as I am. Da’esh (ISIS) looks upon them as infidels because they drink coffee with me, we relate to each other. The PKK targets us all. Terrorism is a scourge that knows no boundaries. But for Jews there are other dangers besides anti-Semitism, which is also still rampant here.

“Those of us who still remember who and what we are, and want to remain as Jews, must consider our next steps carefully. Some have already left – many, in fact – quietly, carefully. It’s frowned upon because we are loyal Turks; but our loyalty is no longer appreciated by our government or even most of our countrymen.

“Most of the synagogues are closed. There are no kosher stores left. Our neighborhoods are gone. Those of us who want to marry have few options to find Jewish mates. Every time Israel gets involved in a war, we are blamed by extremists here, regardless of what happens — and we have nothing to do with it! But underneath, way deep, our neighbors hate us.

“Probably when those who decide to leave here, finally actually go, they will be allowed to take with them only a fraction of what they now own, if even that — just like any other Jew who has ever left anywhere else in this region.

“But Turkish Jews must soon make a choice: do we survive as Jews, or do we choose Islam?”

Putin congratulates Assad on liberating Palmyra, says Russia to aid in demining ancient city

March 28, 2016

Putin congratulates Assad on liberating Palmyra, says Russia to aid in demining ancient city

Published time: 27 Mar, 2016 15:15 Edited time: 27 Mar, 2016 21:14

Source: Putin congratulates Assad on liberating Palmyra, says Russia to aid in demining ancient city — RT News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Syrian President Bashar Assad on retaking the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State terrorists. Putin stressed the importance of preserving the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read more

A view of the central part of modern Palmyra. © Mikhail Voskresenskiy

In a telephone conversation with the Syrian president, Vladimir Putin congratulated his counterpart on retaking the city of Palmyra from terrorists and noted the importance of preserving this unique historic site for world culture,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

Putin once again stressed that despite the withdrawal of the bulk of Russia’s military contingent from Syria, Russia’s forces will continue to help the Syrian authorities in their anti-terrorist efforts,” he added.

“Assad highly valued the help Russian air forces have provided and underlined that such successes as regaining Palmyra would have been impossible without Russia’s support,” Peskov said.

On Sunday, the Syrian Army retook the historic city of Palmyra from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), which had occupied it since last May. Russian warplanes were providing heavy support from the air.

The Russian Air Force has made 40 flights over the area of the Syrian city of Palmyra in the last 24 hours, hitting 117 targets and killing over 80 militants, the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria said Sunday.

Putin also held a phone call with UNESCO head Irina Bokova on Sunday. Peskov said Putin told Bokova that “representatives of the Russian contingent will participate in the demining of the ancient city.

READ MORE: Palmyra ‘not just an archaeological site but a symbol of Syria’ – UNESCO

The two agreed that UNESCO, Russia and Syria will soon take the necessary steps to evaluate the damage to the historic site and map out a “plan of restoring what can still be restored,” Peskov added.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Bokova thanked Putin for Russia’s contribution and confirmed UNESCO’s readiness to cooperate.

While summarizing the results of Russia’s five-month anti-terror campaign in Syria earlier in March, Putin expressed hope that Palmyra would soon be returned to the Syrian people. On March 18, Russia’s military said that the groundwork had been laid for defeating IS in Palmyra.

Read more

© Mikhail Voskresenskiy

At that time, the Syrian Army had already taken control of all dominant heights and major roads around the city, and the terrorists’ logistical support had also been cut off, according to Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Staff’s main operations department.

Palmyra shows Damascus strategy more effective than US-led efforts in Syria – Assad

Calling the Syrian Army’s liberation of Palmyra an “important achievement,” Assad told a delegation of French parliamentarians visiting Syria on Sunday that the victory is “new evidence” that the strategy being pursued by Damascus and its allies is effective, according SANA, Syria’s state news agency.

He also pointed out that the strategy’s success is especially apparent when compared to that of the US-led coalition, which involves more than 60 countries, but has achieved very little since its establishment one and a half years ago, for which he blamed a lack of seriousness in fighting terrorism.

The US-led coalition launched its air campaign in Syria in September of 2014 without permission from the Syrian government. Damascus has repeatedly called the intervention ineffective, saying it has failed to weaken terrorists in the region.

 

EXCLUSIVE – Top Gazan Terrorist: Only A Matter of Time Before ‘Big Operation’ in Eilat

March 28, 2016

Top Gazan Terrorist: Only a Matter of Time Before ‘Big Operation’ in Southern Israel

By Breitbart Jerusalem

27 Mar 2016

Source: EXCLUSIVE – Top Gazan Terrorist: Only A Matter of Time Before ‘Big Operation’ in Eilat

David Silverman/Newsmakers/Getty

TEL AVIV – It is only a matter of time before the Islamic State’s branch in the Egyptian Sinai carries out a “big operation” in the Israeli resort town of Eilat and other parts of southern Israel, a leading Islamic State-allied militant claimed in an exclusive interview.

Abu al-Ayna al-Ansari, a Salafist movement senior official in the Gaza Strip, made the claim in a pre-recorded, hour-long interview to air in full on Sunday on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” the popular weekend talk radio program broadcast on New York’s AM 970 The Answer and NewsTalk 990 AM in Philadelphia. Klein doubles as Breitbart’s senior investigative reporter and Jerusalem bureau chief.

Ansari is a well-known Gaza Salafist jihadist allied with Islamic State ideology. During the interview with Klein, Ansari seemed to be speaking as an actual IS member, repeatedly using the pronoun “we” when referring to IS and even making declarations on behalf of IS.

IS has been reluctant to officially declare its presence in Gaza for fear of a Hamas crackdown, but the group is known to be active in the coastal enclave and Ansari is a suspected IS leader. IS-aligned militants have taken responsibility for recent rocket fire from Gaza aimed at Israel.

Klein asked Ansari about IS’s capabilities inside Israel.

Ansari replied:

Israel and the United States are at the top of the list of the targets of the Islamic State. The Islamic State educates its people that Israel and the United States are the leaders of the infidels and we believe that Israel should be disappeared.

As for the question about the cells, I cannot give you any details but there is no doubt that the Islamic State keeps working on creating its infrastructure and cells all around the world. And I can confirm that the Wilayat Sinai, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State that is operating in the Sinai, will be the pioneers in this confrontation with Israel or what is called Israel.

And I can confirm that it is only a question of time when there will be a big operation in Eilat and in the south of Israel. The Wilayat Sinai will be the ones responsible for the confrontation with Israel.

The Jerusalem Post, which also reported on Klein’s interview, noted Col. Yehuda Cohen, the commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ Sagi Brigade operating on the border with Egypt, warned in September that the Islamic State in Egypt will likely eventually attempt terrorist attacks against Israel.

“In the end it must be remembered this organization was formed by terrorists that dream of a terror attack against Israel, and it will come. It’s clear that there will be a terror attack against Israel, I believe that it will happen during my tenure,” Cohen told Israel’s Army Radio at the time.

“I teach my people to expect it to come tomorrow, to always be ready for it. When it happens, my doctrine is that we must strike a very strong blow at the same point and ensure that there are zero successful actions for the enemy,” he said, referring to the IDF.

Before our eyes: Syria’s Battle for Palmyra in latest RT reports (VIDEOS)

March 26, 2016

Before our eyes: Syria’s Battle for Palmyra in latest RT reports (VIDEOS)

Published time: 26 Mar, 2016 06:36

Source: Before our eyes: Syria’s Battle for Palmyra in latest RT reports (VIDEOS) — RT News

© Joseph Eid / AFP

Syrian army is close to regaining full control of the ancient city of Palmyra. Check out some of RT’s exclusive footage and battleground reports on how Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) militants are being pushed from the UNESCO heritage site.

Fierce fighting rages on

RT’s agency Ruptly’s latest video footage shows units of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) battling IS militants in and around Palmyra on Friday. The historical ruins of Palmyra are clearly visible from the position of Syrian mortar crews.

READ MORE: Syrian Army retakes historic citadel from ISIS continuing advance on Palmyra – state media

In the latest update, Syria state TV said that troops have regained control of the Syriatel hill near Palmyra’s castle and are a step closer to retaking the whole city, which has been under Islamic State control since last May.

Russia helping with air sorties

Russian warplanes offered crucial support to the Syrian forces on the ground this week by carrying out 41 sorties and destroying 146 terrorist targets from Tuesday to Thursday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

READ MORE: Russian Air Force carried out 41 sorties to support Syrian army’s Palmyra offensive

One of the stories that stood out was a report on Russian Special Operations Forces officer who called a strike onto himself when he was compromised and surrounded by IS militants near Palmyra. Thanks to the brave actions of this officer and others, Russian military planes have been able to pinpoint IS targets with precision – something absolutely crucial in the circumstances.

ISIS pillage of Palmyra

A Russian TV crew captured a striking footage of Palmyra revealing the damage endured under IS occupation. The iconic 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph was blown up by the jihadists in October 2015.

READ MORE: Striking drone footage shows what remains of Palmyra after ISIS pillage

Good win or bad win? US undecided

The US government still seems on the fence on whether or not the ancient city should be liberated from the hands of Islamic State by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. Only when pressed by reporters did the State Department call IS “probably a greater evil” than President Assad.

READ MORE: US State Dept fails to say if ISIS must be pushed out of Palmyra or not

Bomb traps danger 

The Syrian army is very close to retaking control of the whole city, but it fears that IS militants have hidden bombs at ancient sites. Before more information can be gathered, the troops will not know when to expect a full-scale offensive against IS.

IS has used this tactic in the past. Also, the extremist group has carried out brutal executions at historical parts of the city by binding individuals to ancient columns and blowing them up.

RT crews remain on battlefront

The RT crew was one of the few that filmed the fighting in Palmyra, offering an exclusive look into the progress of Syrian soldiers in pushing out Islamic State fighters.

READ MORE: RT EXCLUSIVE: ISIS position in Palmyra up-close, RT 1st intl TV crew to follow Syrian Army assault

The conditions they faced while on the ground were extremely dangerous. RT’s Lizzie Phelan and her team risked their lives to report from a position with direct sight of Islamic State militants.

Just meters from where the crew was filming, a mortar landed next to their car. Shrapnel injured one of the Syrian Army soldiers.

Jordan’s king accuses Turkey of sending terrorists to Europe

March 26, 2016

Jordan’s king accuses Turkey of sending terrorists to Europe #Abdullah’sWar Abdullah tells US politicians that radicals are being ‘manufactured in Turkey… as part of Turkish policy’

Last update:
Saturday 26 March 2016 9:20 UTC

Source: Jordan’s king accuses Turkey of sending terrorists to Europe | Middle East Eye

Jordan’s king, Abdullah, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AFP)

King Abdullah of Jordan accused Turkey of exporting terrorists to Europe at a top level meeting with senior US politicians in January, the MEE can reveal.

The king said Europe’s biggest refugee crisis was not an accident, and neither was the presence of terrorists among them: “The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy and Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.”

Asked by one of the congressmen present whether the Islamic State group was exporting oil to Turkey, Abdullah replied: ”Absolutely.”

Abdullah made his remarks during a wide-ranging debriefing to Congress on 11 January, the day a meeting with the US president, Barack Obama, was cancelled.

The White House was forced to deny that Obama snubbed one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East, attributing the cancellation to “scheduling conflicts,” although Obama and Abdullah met briefly at Andrews Air Force Base a day later.

Present at the meeting in Congress were the chairmen and members of the Senate Intelligence, Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, including Senators John McCain and Bob Corker, and Senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority and Minority leaders respectively.

According to a detailed account of the meeting seen by MEE, the king went on to explain what he thought was the motivation of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Abdullah said that Erdogan believed in a “radical Islamic solution to the region”.

He repeated: “Turkey sought a religious solution to Syria, while we are looking at moderate elements in the south and Jordan pushed for a third option that would not allow a religious option.”

The king presented Turkey as part of a strategic challenge to the world.

“We keep being forced to tackle tactical problems against ISIL [the Islamic State group] but not the strategic issue. We forget the issue [of] the Turks who are not with us on this strategically.”

He claimed that Turkey had not only supported religious groups in Syria, and was letting foreign fighters in, but had also been helping Islamist militias in Libya and Somalia.

Abdullah claimed that “radicalisation was being manufactured in Turkey” and asked the US senators why the Turks were training the Somali army.

The king invited the US politicians present to ask the presidents of Kosovo and Albania about the Turks.

Abdullah said that both countries were begging Europe to include them, before Erdogan did.

Abdullah was supported in his remarks by his foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, who said that the Albanian president (Bujar Nishani) was a Catholic married to a Muslim, and that that was a model which should be protected in a Muslim majority country.

Judeh said that when the Russian bombing campaign prevented Turkey from establishing safe zones in northern Syria to stop refugees from coming to Turkey, “Turkey unleashed the refugees onto Europe”.

Both Judeh and Abdullah bridled at the $3bn deal offered by Europe to Turkey, noting that Turkey had only 2m Syrian refugees out of a population of 70m, whereas Jordan was facing “a bigger problem proportionally”.

Jordan and Turkey are officially allies. The Turkish prime minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, cancelled an official visit to Jordan after the latest bomb attack in Turkey, which on 13 March killed 34 people in Ankara.

The Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK), an offshoot of the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The postponed visit is due to take place this weekend and Davutoglu will be mindful that Abdullah told senators that Turkey was using the Kurds as an “excuse” for its policies in Syria.

Galip Dalay, research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies, said it was wrong to portray Turkey as having a strategic goal of establishing an Islamist government in Syria.

He said: “Turkey did its best in the first eight months of the Syrian crisis to find a political solution to the crisis, which would have included [Syrian President] Bashar Assad. Back then, Turkey was criticised in the region and the West for being too soft on the Assad regime and being too optimistic about the possibility of reform. When it became clear, after eight months of arduous attempts, that Assad had no intention of initiating a political and democratic process to meet the demands of the protestors, Turkey threw its weight behind the opposition.”

Dalay said that the claim Turkey was buying oil from the Islamic State group was a Russian fabrication concocted by Moscow after Turkey shot down the Russian fighter. “Turkey is not the only one saying there is no evidence to support this claim. The United States said it too.”

The Turkish government would not comment officially on Abdullah’s reported remarks on 11 January. But a senior Turkish source accused the king of becoming “the spokesman for Bashar al-Assad”.

He said the portrait emerging from these remarks was not one of a king speaking but of a “Western journalist with a fuzzy state of mind and little familiarity with the region”.

He said: “Turkey is definitely carrying out an intense struggle against Daesh [a reference to the Islamic State group]. Bombings take place in Turkey, not in Jordan. When this is the case, groundless accusations by King Abdullah are totally unacceptable.

“Moreover, his tackling of the Daesh issue with such unfounded information also raises the question about whether Jordan could play a meaningful role in the fight against Daesh.”

He said the king’s claims that IS was selling oil to Turkey were not only absurd but showed that Abdullah did not have the slightest idea about what was going on in Syria.

“The king’s statements and accusations against Turkey are not the first. Unfortunately, all of his allegations are the same as the slanders frequently expressed by the Assad regime.

“It would be to Jordan’s and the region’s interest if Jordan, as a friend of Turkey, were to work for a strategic cooperation with a strategic power like Turkey, instead of acting like the spokesperson of Assad.”

IRA, ISIS and the Fate of Great Britain

March 25, 2016

IRA, ISIS and the Fate of Great Britain, Clarion Project, JC Dash, March 25, 2016

(Here’s a video, in honor of Easter Week, which eventually ended oppressive British rule over Ireland after more than a century.

Did I mention that I’m half Irish? — DM)

 

London-bombing-7-77/7/05 is a day etched in the collective memory of the British. (Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=215746)

The first time I was invited to Belfast I have to admit I was terrified. After a lull with relatively few bombings in the 80’s the 90’s there was a resurgence of bombing campaigns. I was travelling in the wake of a double bombing in London in several other places on mainland Britain. At the time the Irish population in England was forced to live in the shadows. The Irish communities came under enormous amounts of surveillance and Irish residents were viewed with the same suspicion.

The United Kingdom was not bound by the constraints of political correctness and threats from the Irish community. The government was concerned with the safety and security of its citizens. That’s not to say Britain did not make mistakes. Many were made but Britain recognized the problems and dealt with them.

So what changed?

On July 7, 2005 a series of deadly bombings hit London. ‘Traditional terrorism’ died and radical Islam took up the terror reigns.

(This video looks at that fateful day🙂 (The video refuses to embed. You will have to click on it to see it. — DM)

There are many differences between the terrorism of the IRA and today’s radical Islamists. Let’s not fool ourselves, both are cruel and heartless with no respect for human life. But the Irish conflict itself was stalled by a peace initiative. The IRA stopped the bombing, even the splinter groups have been relatively quiet for 15 years.

Let’s put one myth to bed. Islamist extremism has no political or religious agenda. It is about world domination under a man-made system of laws perverting the religion of Islam to suit their own means.

They kill without prejudice. Men, women, children of all nationalities and all religions, even Islam, are targeted. They do not bomb to force a political process they bomb to dominate.

It is not just the terror that is forcing Britain to its knees but the hyper-successful way Islamists have penetrated the government, intelligentsia and liberal elite controlling political correctness to breed a generation of apologists. Schools, municipalities, government officials and influencers all willingly feed on their Islamist agenda.

In the wake of the attacks by ISIS in France and Belgium, Britain needs to wake up. David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, is among the few with the guts to speak out. Britain needs to decide what is more important, protecting the people, cultural identity and the rule of law or appeasing radical Islam and just giving up.

Make no mistake, Islamist extremism is also alive and well across the Atlantic. In fact it’s a global problem.

It’s time the U.S. admitted there is a problem, joined the dots and make sure it doesn’t repeat the same mistakes as the United Kingdom.

Robert Spencer on Fox and Friends Discusses the Brussels Jihad Massacre

March 25, 2016

Robert Spencer on Fox and Friends Discusses the Brussels Jihad Massacre, Fox News via You Tube, March 24, 2016

New Syrian constitution by August: Russia, US push for political solutions at Moscow talks

March 25, 2016

New Syrian constitution by August: Russia, US push for political solutions at Moscow talks

Published time: 25 Mar, 2016 03:16

Source: New Syrian constitution by August: Russia, US push for political solutions at Moscow talks — RT News

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shake hands following a news conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 24, 2016. © Andrew Harnik / Reuters

Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and the US’ John Kerry agreed to push for a political transition in Syria by having a new draft constitution ready by August. The Kremlin-hosted talks revealed a softer, more cooperative tone on Syria, as well as Ukraine.

The discussions lasted over four hours and involved Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, and US Ambassador to Russia John F. Tefft.

“We agreed on a target schedule for establishing a framework for a political transition [in Syria] and also a draft constitution, both of which we targeted by August,” Kerry told journalists at a joint news conference with Lavrov following the meeting.

Lavrov also said that both parties had agreed to use their influence to push the Syrian government to engage in “direct talks” with the opposition in order to accelerate discussions on a political transition that could help end Syria’s civil war.

“As the immediate task, we have agreed to push for the soonest start of direct talks between the government delegations and the whole spectrum of the opposition” that will help to create “a transitional governance structure” for Syria, Lavrov said.

Read more

Civilians fix damaged water pipes in the rebel held al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah town, in Deraa province, Syria February 28, 2016. © Alaa Al-Faqir

The Russian FM pointed out that there are still a number of issues that Moscow and Washington don’t agree on, but maintained that this would not prevent them from cooperating “on an equal footing” on the problems on which they have found common ground.

“The US has plenty of partners who do not agree with them… It does not mean that the differences on one particular issue should stop them from talking at all,” Lavrov said.

At the start of the talks, Kerry told Lavrov that the partial truce in Syria was working and reducing the level of violence in the country. “It’s fair to say three weeks ago there were very, very few people who believed a cessation of hostilities was possible in Syria,” Kerry said. “The result of that work has produced some progress. There has been a fragile nevertheless beneficial reduction in violence.”

The tone of Russia-US relations appeared softer than it has been for some time on many issues, including Syria and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as both parties demonstrated an apparent desire to improve bilateral relations.

Kerry said that the productive eleven-month collaboration of Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and American astronaut Scott Kelly on the International Space Station (ISS) should serve as an example for cooperation between the two world powers.

“When they were telling me about how they spent their time in space, they highlighted that their close cooperation demonstrated not only what the two astronauts could do, but what two countries could achieve together as well,” Kerry said at the press conference.

Read more

Russian Su-24 tactical bombers at the Hmeimim airbase in the Latakia Governorate of Syria. © Ramil Sitdikov

As an example, Lavrov noted that Russian and US experts could hold joint consultations to discuss the most effective ways to fight cybercrime.

When it came to Ukraine, both sides agreed that the Minsk Accords must be fully implemented.

“We have indeed pledged to ensure that Donbass, that the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk [DPR and LPR], implement what they and their representatives signed under in Minsk,” Lavrov said, while calling on his US counterpart to ensure that similar pressure is put on Kiev.

Kerry reiterated that once the agreement is “fully implemented,” the US will be ready to roll back sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, Lavrov confirmed that Moscow is closely monitoring the health of Ukrainian national Nadezhda Savchenko. “We have confirmed that Savchenko’s health condition, that many try to speculate on, presents no concerns,” Lavrov said. “She is under constant monitoring of Russian doctors.”

Savchenko, a Ukrainian Air Force officer detained in Russia in 2014, was found guilty of murdering two Russian journalists near Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, and of illegally crossing the Russian border. The decision was made by a court in the southern Russian town of Donetsk on Monday.

Kerry, who has called for Savchenko to be sent back to Ukraine, told reporters that Putin indicated that at some point “we will be able to address the issue of Savchenko.”

Following the talks in Moscow, Aleksey Pushkov, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for International Relations, noted that Russia and the US are beginning to develop a closer relationship based on America’s pressing needs, which are forcing the US to forget about its previous goal to isolate Russia.

“About Kerry’s visit: there is nothing more powerful in politics than need. Under its influence, forgetting about isolating Russia, the US has begun to move,” Pushkov tweeted.

An Islamic Apocalypse in Brussels

March 24, 2016

An Islamic Apocalypse in Brussels, Front Page MagazineRaymond Ibrahim, March 24, 2016

gh

[The] spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general … Jihad must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam … Islam must completely be made over before the doctrine of jihad [warfare to spread Islam] can be eliminated.

**************************

Islamic jihad struck Brussels Tuesday morning—first at Brussels Airport and then at a metro station 400 meters from EU headquarters—leaving at least 34 people dead and 230 injured.

It was an apocalyptic scene according to survivors, “with blood and dismembered bodies everywhere,” even “thrown in to the air.”  One man recalled the “horror. I saw at least seven people dead. There was blood. People had lost legs. You could see their bodies but no legs.”

Witnesses heard the attackers yelling in Arabic moments before the bombs—one of which contained nails—detonated.  Other jihadi trademarks—including an unexploded suicide vest and a Kalashnikov rifle beside the body of a slain terrorist—were found.  Islam’s ancient war tactic of blending in with non-Muslims was also implemented.

Horrific as the attack is, its inspiration and Western responses to it are all too typical—meaning, as I opined last year after the Paris massacre, “many more such attacks and worse will continue.  Count on it.”

First, as happened on 9/11, Muslims around the world—those unnamed millions the media refer to as “ISIS supporters”—celebrated, including by once again handing out candy and shouting Islam’s victory war cry, “Allahu Akbar.” Yes, that ancient Islamic hate was back in the air and rampant on social media.  “We are not just clapping, but we are happy again. We are smiling, we are laughing and we are joyful like it’s a day of celebration,” tweeted one ISIS sympathizer.  Another wrote: “#Brussels, if you continue your war against the religion of Allah then this is our response.”  Another wrote: “What a beautiful day today.  F*** Belgium.” Yet another wrote, “A lot of duas [Muslim prayers] were answered today.”

Still, most Muslim sympathizers were quick to portray their bloodlust as a product of grievances against the West: “the most common remark under the hashtag was ‘You declared war against us and bombed us, and we attack you inside your homeland.’ Another popular reaction from ISIS supports on Twitter was that the Brussels attacks were intended to avenge the Muslims’ blood that was spilled in Mosul in a series of airstrikes by the Western coalition over the weekend.”

Meanwhile, and as usual, in its communiques to fellow Muslims, ISIS articulated the attack through a distinctly Islamic paradigm.  It even signaled the attack with the words, “We have come to you with slaughter”—an assertion based on the Muslim prophet Muhammad’s words to a non-Muslim tribe that refused to submit to Islam: “I have come to you with slaughter.”

If this assertion is not clear enough concerning the intent and mission of Muhammad—and those who seek to follow him—another canonical assertion attributed to him and regularly quoted by jihadis, including over a decade ago in the opening paragraph of al-Qaeda’s “Declaration of War against Americans,” has the prophet saying:

I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshipped—Allah who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my commandments (The Al Qaeda Reader, p.12).

Unfortunately, this one aspect—that Islamic scripture clearly, plainly, and unequivocally promotes violence against all who refuse to submit to Allah—is the very same aspect most vehemently denied by Western elites.   Already, as always happens after an Islamic terror attack in the West, the talking heads are warning against “rampant Islamophobia” and abacklash against Muslims.  Media are hosting professional liars, like Ramadan Foundation’s Muhammad Shafiq, who insists that “terrorism is forbidden in Islam” (even though the Koran calls on Muslims to terrorize those who resist Islam, e.g., 3:151 and 8:12).

Still, due to these growing numbers of jihadi attacks on Western soil, increasing numbers of politicians are responding with tough—but ultimately meaningless—words: “We are at war,” responded French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.  “We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war.”

This is true.  But just like George W. Bush’s famous “war on terrorism”—a war on a method not its motivation—Valls doesn’t indicate who “we are at war” with, even though the most elemental step in winning a war is to “know your enemy.”

One of the few American political aspirants who need not revise his tone in light of this attack is Donald Trump.  Over two months ago, he said “Go to Brussels. Go to Paris. Go to different places. There is something going on and it’s not good, where they want Shariah law.… You go to Brussels — I was in Brussels a long time ago, 20 years ago, so beautiful, everything is so beautiful — it’s like living in a hellhole right now.”

This latest terror strike in Europe will likely reignite the refugee debate, which, while important, also minimizes the significance of the issue.  The common denominator between all these recent terror strikes throughout the West is not that the culprits were all refugees but rather that they were all Muslim.  Many terror attacks were homegrown. Muslim citizens of America were responsible for Fort Hood (13 murdered), Boston Marathon (four murdered), Chattanooga (four murdered), and most recently San Bernardino (14 murdered).

Of course, Europe could have spared itself if only it would’ve looked to the plight of non-Muslim minorities living in Muslim majority nations.  As far back as 2012, after Western supported jihadi/freedom fighters were unleashed on Assad’s formerly stable Syria, intentionally displacing hundreds of thousands of Christians, the Syrian Christian archbishop correctly predicted “the jihadis will not stop here [Middle East], the war will spread to Europe.”  Four years later and the war has certainly begun.

Consider the 2010 massacre at the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad.  Armed jihadis stormed the church during Sunday worship service, opened fire indiscriminately at the Christian worshipers, before detonating their suicide vests.  At least fifty-eight Christian worshippers, including many women and children, were murdered, and nearly 100 wounded—many, like in Brussels, losing their arms or legs (see here for GRAPHIC pictures).  If the Brussel jihadis used nails in their bombs, the Baghdad church jihadis wore vests “filled with ball bearings to kill as many people as possible.”

Now, if Brussels—or New York, or London, or Madrid, ad infinitum—was really “intended to avenge the Muslims’ blood that was spilled in Mosul in a series of airstrikes,” as aggrieved Muslims regularly claim—then one must ask:  why are immensely weak, outnumbered, ostracized, and politically disenfranchised Christian minorities living in the Muslim world, who are wholly incapable of hurting any Muslim, also being terrorized and slaughtered, to the point of genocide?

The answer should be clear.  So long as Islam calls for jihad against those who reject Allah and his prophet, so long will attacks like Brussels (and the countless before it) continue.  Before the age of political correctness, the Encyclopaedia of Islam put it this way:

[The] spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general … Jihad must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam … Islam must completely be made over before the doctrine of jihad [warfare to spread Islam] can be eliminated.

This is the one ugly fact that few want to accept, much less act on—and understandably so, for the ramifications are immense.

Gingrich: When will our leaders realize we are at war?

March 24, 2016

Gingrich: When will our leaders realize we are at war? Fox News via You Tube, March 23, 2016