RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-cope-with-covid-the-worlds-poor-need-debt-relief-11604535612?mod=opinion_lead_pos7

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken lives and disrupted livelihoods in every corner of the globe. It has knocked more economies into simultaneous recession than at any time since 1870. According to World Bank estimates, in its first year it may push up to 150 million people into extreme poverty, ending two decades of steady progress on poverty reduction.

The current crisis stands in contrast to the recession of 2009, when much of the damage fell on financial assets and advanced economies were hit harder than developing countries. This time the economic downturn is much broader and deeper, and it has had an outsize impact on the poorest countries and the poorest people within each country, adding to inequality. It has hit workers whose jobs are unsteady or undocumented, and many of the most vulnerable.

The World Bank Group has moved rapidly to deploy its full financial capacity. We are on track to commit a record $160 billion over 15 months, and 40% of this amount was committed in the first six months. Our funding helps developing countries tackle the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic. But even with the World Bank Group delivering massive positive net flows, the poorest countries need much more help.

For the most impoverished countries, the crisis and associated economic shutdowns came at a moment of particular peril. In 2019 almost half of all low-income countries were assessed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to be either in debt distress or at a high risk of it. With the pandemic, the debt burden has gotten much heavier due to the devastating contraction in output, remittances and family income across the developing world. If this mounting debt goes unaddressed, it could lead to a lost decade for the world’s poorest people.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16529/france-islamic-radicalization

The commission found the consequences of radicalization alarming, particularly the “dissemination of behaviors that… directly affect freedom of conscience, equality between men and women, and the rights of homosexual persons”.

“Under the guise of Islamophobia, political Islam was able to thrive by making people believe it could be nonviolent “. — Mohammed Sifaoui, journalist.

The report concludes that there is a risk of political infiltration from extremists in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, especially in municipal councils.

The report sets forth 44 proposals in a multi-pronged effort to deal with radicalism.

A report published in July by a commission of inquiry of the French Senate, the upper house of the French Parliament, has found that “Islamist radicalization” is a “reality” in France. The commission of inquiry, made up of approximately thirty senators, interviewed a large number of researchers, politicians and other experts on the subject.

The commission found the consequences of radicalization alarming, particularly the “dissemination of behaviors that… directly affect freedom of conscience, equality between men and women, and the rights of homosexual persons”.

“[T]his religious revival, for some, is accompanied by a desire to affirm their belief in the public space, in the company, in the school, and of recognition by institutions and public services, which conflicts with the laws of the Republic and secularism”.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16724/the-real-enemy-of-islam

“The beheading of the French history teacher proves that political Islam has become a real threat to world peace in light of its expansionist tendency, which is currently embodied by Erdogan’s project, which not only targets the societies of Muslim countries, but also other societies that incubate important Islamic communities.” — Al-Habib Al-Aswad, Tunisian journalist, Al-Arab, October 28, 2020.

He wants to represent himself as a defender of Islam. Which Islam does he speak for? Erdogan has committed crimes in Libya, Syria and all Arab countries. He is the one who is offending Islam.” — Mustafa Bakri, Egyptian media personality, Al-Dostor Studio, October 30, 2020.

The reactions of many Arabs and Muslims show that they view Erdogan as a more serious threat to Islam than Macron or others in the West.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not authorized to speak on behalf of the Muslims, especially regarding the current controversy surrounding France’s attitude toward Islam and Muslim terrorist attacks. That is what many Muslims are saying these days in the aftermath of Erdogan’s attempt to present himself as the grand defender of Islam in a conflict that recently erupted between Muslims and France.

According to several Muslim political analysts and writers, Erdogan is trying to take advantage of the anti-France campaign in the Muslim world for his own political gain. The message the Muslims are sending to France and the rest of the world is that Erdogan is a hypocrite and opportunist, who is acting from personal interest and not out of concern for Muslims or Islam.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16690/turkey-historic-crimes

“In our civilization, conquest is not occupation or looting. It is establishing the dominance of the justice that Allah commanded in the [conquered] region…. This is why our civilization is one of conquest.” — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, MEMRI.org, August 26, 2020.

“Turkey will take what is its right in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Aegean Sea, and in the Black Sea…. This is why we are determined to do whatever is necessary politically, economically, or militarily. We invite our interlocutors to put themselves in order and stay away from mistakes that will open the way for them to be destroyed.” — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, MEMRI.org, August 26, 2020.

“The most savage treatment was always reserved for those visibly proclaiming their Christianity: clergy and monks ‘were burned to death, while others were flayed alive from head to toe.'” — Raymond Ibrahim, historian, Frontpage Magazine, August 7, 2019.

In 2018, the Speaker of Turkey’s parliament, İsmail Kahraman, described Turkey’s military offensive against northern Syria as “jihad.” “Without jihad,” he added, “there will be no progress.” During the same offensive, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) also called for “jihad” and declared in a weekly sermon that “armed struggle is the highest level of jihad.”

The Turkish government has, in recent years, escalated its rhetoric of neo-Ottomanism and conquest.

On August 26, for instance, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a speech at an event celebrating the 949th anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert. This battle resulted in Turks from Central Asia invading and capturing the then majority-Armenian city of Manzikert, within the borders of the Byzantine Empire.

Parts of his speech were translated by MEMRI:

“In our civilization, conquest is not occupation or looting. It is establishing the dominance of the justice that Allah commanded in the [conquered] region.

“First of all, our nation removed the oppression from the areas that it conquered. It established justice. This is why our civilization is one of conquest.