RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-jaranwala-case-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-religious-violence-in-pakistan/

The Jaranwala incident of August 16, 2023, stands as one of the most devastating attacks against Pakistan’s Christian minority in recent history. This tragic event, which unfolded in Jaranwala, Faisalabad district, Punjab, resulted from false blasphemy allegations that spiraled into widespread communal violence. The incident destroyed at least 26 churches and over 400 Christian homes, displacing approximately 10,000 people from their communities and affecting 20,000 individuals overall.

Understanding this case requires examining multiple interconnected factors: the dangerous use of Draconian blasphemy laws, the role of inflammatory rhetoric in inciting violence, systemic failures in law enforcement response, and the complex challenges facing minority rights advocacy in Pakistan. This analysis reveals how a personal dispute between individuals escalated into community-wide destruction through a combination of false accusations, religious extremism, and institutional inadequacies.

Historical Context and Background

To comprehend the severity of the Jaranwala attacks, we must first understand Pakistan’s complex relationship with its religious minorities. Pakistan’s Christian community, comprising approximately 2.3% of the country’s population, has long faced systemic discrimination and periodic violence. The country’s blasphemy laws, particularly sections 295-A, 295-B, and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, have become powerful tools that can be weaponized against Christians and vulnerable individuals.

These laws have created an environment where mere accusations can trigger mob violence before any judicial investigation occurs. The psychological impact of these laws extends far beyond their legal framework, creating a climate of fear where minorities must constantly guard their words and actions to avoid potential accusations.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21823/eu-corruption-foreign-influence

[T]he EU organization itself… — once again –- is at the center of a new corruption scandal….

While Huawei has been effectively banned in the US – and has closed all its official and direct lobbying operations in Washington in early 2024 – the company has been free to do its influence peddling in the EU, where it is not banned. China’s influence in Europe in a multitude of areas is already highly present…

The Belgian raid came roughly two years after the so-called Qatargate: In December 2022, Belgian authorities uncovered the bribery of Members of European Parliament by Qatar…

Politico reported on the leaked files, dubbed “the Qatargate files” in December 2023: “The actions recorded in the documents include some with a significant impact on the workings of the European Union — such as scheming to kill off six parliamentary resolutions condemning Qatar’s human rights record…”

Qatargate is far from over. Trials are only scheduled to begin in late 2025. The EU, therefore, currently has not just one, but two huge corruption scandals on its hands.

The president of the unelected European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her second term in the position, having first maneuvered her way into this post after serving as a scandal-ridden minister of defense in Germany for many years, is herself under scrutiny in what has become known as “Pfizer-gate”…

Qatar has not only bought and invested in large swathes of European real estate, it is also a huge contributing factor to the Islamization of Europe. Qatar funneled — at an extremely conservative estimate — at least €71 million (approximately $78 million) to build 140 mosques and Islamic centers in Europe just as of 2014, according to the latest authoritative report on the issue, the 2019 book Qatar Papers by French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot.

“The European Union is one of the least corrupt regions in the world,” boasts the European Commission on its website.

Oh really? Let us take a look at the EU organization itself, which — once again –- is at the center of a new corruption scandal.

Belgian police raided more than 20 locations in Belgium and Portugal in March in an investigation of alleged “active corruption within the European Parliament,” for the benefit of China’s tech giant Huawei, according to Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office. Huawei’s main lobbying office in Brussels was raided, alongside European Parliament offices.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21820/iran-popular-regime-change

A successful popular uprising without external support is not possible in Iran: The mullahs have repeatedly shown that they are willing to kill as many people as necessary to stay in power.

During the Twelve-Day War, when Iran’s regime was forced to confront an armed adversary, the enforcers who usually beat and abuse unarmed Iranians went into hiding. Their commanders went into hiding. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went into hiding. This is what the beginning of regime change looks like.

The one scenario that is completely unrealistic, and has never happened, is that unarmed Iranian civilians, without any military support, could overthrow a regime that can even bring in militias from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to crush an uprising. When unarmed people confront armed forces, the armed forces win…. There is nothing wrong with overthrowing tyranny with the help of external support, especially when a tyrannical regime is spreading war and chaos throughout the region.

During the Twelve-Day War, Iran’s regime came closer to collapse than ever before. What was missing was an active agent to carry out the regime change. Iran’s ruling mullahs will never become pro-Western or peaceful…. Countries such as the United States and Israel have a crucial role to play in planning for a successful regime change and mobilizing countries that support such a goal….

A successful popular uprising without external support is not possible in Iran: The mullahs have repeatedly shown that they are willing to kill as many people as necessary to stay in power. 

The Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel is a wake-up call for everyone who has finally had enough of the Iranian regime.

Until now, the Iranian opposition-in-exile and all those hoping for regime change have been waiting for some form of popular uprising from the Iranian people. Such waves of protests have taken place in past years, but each time, the mullahs’ regime has become more adept at crushing these revolts, regardless of how much support they received from the international community.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21815/israel-taiwan-china

The MKs are calling for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in global bodies, with a particular emphasis on health, transportation, environmental protection, and human rights.

The declaration, signed at the end of July, praises Taiwan as “a vibrant democracy committed to promoting the values of freedom, equality, human rights, and the rule of law, all in a challenging geopolitical environment.” It highlights Taiwan’s “impressive contributions during times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Taiwan was a global leader in finding solutions and assisting other countries,” and arguing that its exclusion from organizations such as the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is both “unjustified and irresponsible.”

This is the first and important step to counter the “one-China” policy. To break this “one-China” policy — a policy that leaves the door open for China’s military to attack Taiwan — members of parliament from other countries, as many as possible, would do well immediately to band together and issue similar declarations. Such a move in a large number of countries at the same time could prevent a great deal of bloodshed down the road.

In a significant diplomatic gesture, 72 Israeli Members of Knesset (MKs), representing parties from both the ruling coalition and the opposition, have signed a declaration advocating for Taiwan’s inclusion in international organizations. This unprecedented cross-party initiative underscores a growing sentiment of solidarity with Taiwan, particularly in light of its steadfast support for Israel following the massacre of October 7, 2023.

The declaration, spearheaded by MK Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid), chair of the Israel–Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, and joined by MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionist Party), chair of the Israel–US Relations Caucus, explicitly states that “Taiwan’s systematic exclusion from international forums is unjustified.” The MKs are calling for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in global bodies, with a particular emphasis on health, transportation, environmental protection, and human rights.

https://www.thefp.com/p/niall-ferguson-talks-to-javier-milei

The prerequisite for an economic miracle is an economic disaster. As I wrote in these pages late last month, Argentine president Javier Milei inherited just such a disaster from his Peronist predecessor in December 2023: a currency on the brink of hyperinflation, a contracting economy, a government reliant on the International Monetary Fund.

What he has achieved in the subsequent year and a half is one of the wonders of the world economy today. (Read here; it really is a miracle.)

But—as he himself acknowledged during our conversation last week at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires—it is too early to celebrate an Argentine economic miracle. Political obstacles remain, not just sustaining his achievement thus far, but also launching the next and crucial phase of his radical plan to make Argentina “the world’s freest country.”

The Milei I met was not what I had expected. On social media, he presents himself as a rock star, cavorting onstage, yelling into the mic, tossing his mop of dark hair. Most profiles emphasize his eccentricities, most famously the pack of cloned dogs he has named after his favorite economists.

In the crepuscular light of the presidential office in the Casa Rosada (the Pink House), where the shutters are kept closed as he dislikes bright light, he cuts a very different figure. He is soberly dressed in a dark suit and blue tie. He has a smooth routine for greeting visitors, pointing out the chainsaw that has become the symbol of his drastic cuts in government spending—as if it were time-honored presidential regalia. Photographs are taken and we sit down at a large, glass-topped table.

Only when Milei begins to answer my questions does it become clear that he is no ordinary president.

To call Milei professorial would be an insult. He has always been too much of a dissident—too libertarian on economics, too conservative on social questions—to have played any part in modern academic life. But he is, first and foremost, an intellectual, a man so in love with ideas that nothing excites him as much—certainly not the formal trappings of presidential authority. Yet he is also a man of the people, who relishes his occasional lapses into profane language. And he is learning, late in life, the realities of South American politics.

I spent an hour and a half talking to President Milei. Below is our conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity:

Niall Ferguson: What have you learned since becoming president that you didn’t know before?