RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16091/turkey-war-on-christians

When pretexts cannot be found, assailants sometimes resort to other tactics. In an apparent attempt to conceal the online presence of at least one church, for instance, authorities labeled its website “pornographic,” and blocked it.

“[T]his hateful environment did not emerge out of nowhere. The seeds of this hatred are spread, beginning at primary schools, through books printed by the Ministry of National Education portraying Christians as enemies and traitors. The indoctrination continues through newspapers and television channels in line with state policies. And of course, the sermons at mosques and talk at coffee houses further stir up this hatred.” — Uzay Bulut, Ahvalnews.com., March 16, 2020.

Just what, then, do so-called “radical” Muslims… regard as the “proper” treatment of Christians?

Islamic terror attacks that target Christians in Turkey have been noticeably on the rise. During Christmas in 2011, for instance, a large-scale al-Qaeda plot to bomb “all the churches in Ankara” was exposed. Before Christmas 2015, ISIS issued death threats to at least 20 Protestant churches, and warned that “Koranic commandments… urge us to slay the apostate like you.”

In 2017, as widely reported, a gunman dressed as Santa Claus entered a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year celebrations, and murdered 39 people. A “heroic soldier of the caliphate,” the Islamic State (“ISIS”) later claimed, “attacked the most famous nightclub where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast.” The statement further characterized the government of Turkey as being the “servant of the cross.”

In once-secular Turkey, hate for Christians has, in fact, come to permeate every segment of society — from the average Muslim citizen to the highest levels of government. The examples are many; two of the most obvious — the slaughter of Christians and attacks on their churches — follow:

In 2009, a group of young Turks — including the son of a mayor — broke into a Bible publishing house in Malatya. They bound its three Christian employees, tortured them for hours, and murdered them. “We didn’t do this for ourselves, but for our religion,” one of the Turks accused said. “Let this be a lesson to enemies of our religion.” Later, they were all released from prison on a technicality.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16090/return-of-nation-states

The trend we witness in world politics is away from the initial forms of globalization and toward a reassertion of the nation-state as one of the two key players in international economic and business relations, the other player being transnational businesses.

The disastrous performance of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the current Covid-19 pandemic is just one example of a more general malaise. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been shining in their absence in the looming economic crisis affecting every single nation on earth. As the World Trade Organization (WTO) fades into irrelevance, its director jumps ship to look for a more rewarding job.

Apart from Trump… nationalism has made spectacular comebacks in some other places, notably India, Brazil, Australia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and, with Brexit, even Great Britain.

The return of the nation-state, if reconfirmed in the years to come, could lead to a revival of classical international cooperation that, taking shape after World War II, created the mechanisms which have helped keep the peace, spread prosperity and foster the rule of law as never before in human history.

For that to happen we must do away with trompe-l’oeil devices such as G7 which, at best, have never been more than insipid photo-ops for politicians craving attention.

Nations reasserting their identity need not be a threat to world order; it may actually offer a second youth to an ailing geriatric system.

Had things continued as before, that is to say before the twin pandemic and economic downturn, reporters would have been packing their bags to head for Washington to cover yet another of the G7 summits that have grabbed headlines since the 1970s.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/06/sordid-side-germanys-moral-responsibility-joseph-puder/

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported on May 19, 2020 that “Germany and the Palestinian Authority (PA) released a joint statement expressing ‘grave concern’ over Israel’s declared intention to begin annexing parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The same German government has ignored Israel’s legal rights in Judea and Samaria and imposed Nazi-like sanctions on Israeli products from these Jewish communities.

Germany has been on the side of Israel’s enemies time and again. Germany was a partner in the 2015 flawed Iran nuclear deal, which Israel vehemently opposed, charging that it gave the radical Islamic Republic a clear path to a nuclear bomb. Germany has also been Iran’s major trading partner, and a leader in thwarting the U.S. imposed sanctions on the ayatollah’s dictatorship. The Iranian regime has repeatedly threatened to “wipe the Jewish state off the map.”

Germany is also opposed to the Trump administrations “deal of the century” Middle East peace plan, which Israel overwhelmingly supports. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, complained that the Trump plan required a “balanced approach.” He stated that, “Only a negotiated two-state solution acceptable to both sides can lead to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.” In his apparent pro-Palestinian bias, Maas clearly ignored Mahmoud Abbas’ (Palestinian Authority President) repeated rejections of Israel’s peace proposals, including the 2008 generous peace offer by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s repeated invitations to Abbas to come to the negotiating table. Abbas also rejected the Trump peace plan even before it was presented.

Germans are guilty of perpetrating the greatest crime in history, the industrial liquidation of European Jewry, known as the Holocaust. Germany’s history, moreover, is replete with antisemitic violence against Jews. Whether during the crusades, or the ‘hep hep’ pogroms against the Jews throughout Germany in 1819, ostensibly aimed against Jewish emancipation. Germany has been, throughout history, a leading source of antisemitism and anti-Jewish racism. Today, with the memory of the Holocaust still fresh, German hostility to the Jewish state, although hidden from view, is alive and well in Germany’s Foreign Ministry, and it is reflected in its major policies.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15859/switzerland-free-speech

ECRI’s monitoring of Switzerland, since its first report about the country was published in 1998, is an illustrative example of the organization’s persistent efforts — and considerable success — over the past two decades in limiting free speech in Europe.

Already in its first report on Switzerland, in 1998, ECRI — despite admitting that “a decrease in manifestations of racism and intolerance has been noted over the last 2-3 years” and that “overt manifestations of [racial prejudices and xenophobia] are rather rare,” told the Swiss media to promote specific narratives…

“ECRI is concerned that a climate of intolerance or xenophobia towards non-citizens and those who are different from the native Swiss population appears to persist”. No substantial documentation was offered as basis for the allegation — ECRI even criticized in the same report that “little information is systematically collected in Switzerland regarding the extent of racism and discrimination” — but none seemed to be needed, as ECRI’s motivation appeared to be political…

Throughout the years, ECRI has stressed the media’s central role in promoting specific, politicized agendas.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently published its sixth monitoring report on Switzerland.

ECRI is the human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe — not to be confused with the European Union. The Council of Europe calls itself the “continent’s leading human rights organization.”

ECRI was founded in 1994 by the heads of state of the Council of Europe with the mandate, among other things, to “review member States’ legislation, policies and other measures to combat racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance, and their effectiveness”.

The organization is composed of “members designated by their governments… on the basis of their in-depth knowledge in the field of combating intolerance”. They should have … expertise in dealing with racism… and intolerance. ECRI’s members are nominated in their personal capacity and act as independent members”.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/brexit-talks-stall-prompting-leaders-to-intervene-11591369857

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to hold talks with top Brussels officials later this month in a bid to break an impasse in negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal, after the latest round ended Friday with no major breakthrough.

The European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the negotiations needed some “extra political momentum” if the gaps between the two sides on key issues are to narrow.

“This week there has been no significant areas of progress,” Mr. Barnier said. David Frost, the British chief negotiator, said, “Progress remains limited.”

After the U.K. left the bloc at the end of January, the two sides entered a transition period lasting until end of the year, during which their commercial relations remained unchanged. That period can be extended for up to two years, but only if both sides agree to do so by the end of this month.

President Trump has directed the Pentagon to remove thousands of American troops from Germany by September, a move that would dramatically reshape the U.S. military posture in Europe and reflects growing tensions between Washington and Berlin over military spending and other security issues, U.S. government officials said Friday.

The removal order would reduce the U.S. troop presence in Germany by 9,500 from the 34,500 service members who are permanently assigned there. It would also cap at 25,000 the number of American troops in Germany at any one time. Under current practice, overall troop levels can rise to as high as 52,000 as units rotate in and out or take part in training exercises.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-directs-u-s-troop-reduction-in-germany-11591375651

The Trump administration ordered the change in a memorandum signed recently by White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, the officials said Friday.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3087623/tiananmen-vigil-

Police stand back as crowds pour into Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and take up a couple of soccer pitches
Show of defiance comes on a politically charged day as legislature passes a law criminalising disrespect for national anthem

Thousands flooded Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Thursday night for the annual candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, defying a ban on the mass gathering imposed by the police for the first time on health protection grounds.

Police, who had warned they had thousands of riot officers ready and would enforce anti-coronavirus
 rules limiting groups to a maximum of eight people each, stood back as the crowds poured into the park in Causeway Bay and took up a couple of football pitches.

The peace was broken only in Mong Kok when protesters blocked Argyle Street and plain-clothes police officers used pepper spray and batons to stop them. Sources said at least four people were arrested.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16086/palestinians-turkey-erdogan

While Erdogan is paying lip service to the Palestinian cause and praising Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU, Canada and Australia, Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria are complaining of discrimination and mistreatment by the Turkish authorities.

According to Palestinian sources, there are about 10,000 Palestinian refugees in Turkey who are suffering from discrimination and living in dire conditions.

The suffering of the Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria begins the moment they arrive at the border with Turkey, Thuri Tamim, a Palestinian refugee, told the Palestinian Refugees Portal, an independent website covering news related to Palestinian refugees.

If Erdogan really wants to help the Palestinians, he can start by ordering his government to stop arresting and harassing Palestinian refugees. If he really wants to help the Palestinians, he can stop playing host and cash cow to Hamas, a terrorist group that has brought nothing but misery to Palestinians and Israelis alike.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan excels at making statements in support of the Palestinians. His actions, however, suggest quite a different attitude about the plight of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria in the past two years.

For a start, Erdogan does not even recognize these refugees as Palestinian — although they carry ID cards issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as well as other documents defining them as Palestinian.

Erdogan considers these refugees Syrian, not Palestinian, because they arrived from Syria and their temporary travel documents were issued by either the Syrian government or UNRWA.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/06/dear-ilhan-omar-lets-have-conversation-about-raymond-ibrahim/

Two themes permeate much of the discourse surrounding ongoing riots: that racism in America, particularly against blacks, is “systemic”; and that any show of force against the “protesters”—many of whom are simply criminals, looters, and thugs out to capitalize on a tragedy—is more proof of America’s ingrained racism and intolerance.

Wonderfully encapsulating these two points is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).  In a recent interview, she asserted that “we are living in a country that has truly for a long time brutalized African-Americans, from slavery, to lynching, to Jim Crow, to mass incarceration and now to police brutality.”  As for the rioters, they “were terrorized,” Omar claims, “by the presence of tanks, by the presence of the National Guard and the militarized police.”

Let’s respond to these two charges of “brutalization” and “terrorization” by way of analogy—say, by looking at how minorities are treated (including vis-à-vis tanks) in nations where Omar’s religion permeates, that is, Muslim nations.  Egypt is a perfect example, as its non-Muslim minority, the Christian Copts, make for about the same percentage of the general population that blacks do in America: 15%.