Islam and Islamism in America in 2015: Part II - Soeren Kern

by Soeren Kern

• More than half (51%) of Muslims in America believe they should "have the choice of being governed according to Sharia." Only 39% of those polled said that Muslims in the U.S. should be subject to American courts. Nearly a quarter believed that, "It is legitimate to use violence to punish those who give offense to Islam by, for example, portraying the prophet Mohammed." Nearly one-fifth of Muslim respondents said that the use of violence in the U.S. is justified in order to make Sharia the law of the land in this country. – Poll commissioned by the Center for Security Policy, Washington, D.C.
• "Ramadan is a special prayer time, a time for religion. We double-park here every Friday and they [allow it], but today they gave us all tickets, almost 100 cabs. This has never happened before. I can't help but to think they are being prejudiced. They don't understand. We have to be here." – Mohammad Zaman, New York City cab driver.
• "We have no way ... to know who these people are ... we don't have databases on these individuals so we can't properly vet them, to know where they came from, to know what threat they pose." – Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, commenting on the Obama administration plan to resettle Syrian refugees in the U.S.
• ISIS is operating training camps just a few miles from El Paso, Texas. – Judicial Watch, citing Mexican law enforcement and intelligence sources.
• Officials at Mason High School in Mason, Ohio, canceled "hijab day" after parents expressed opposition. Female students were asked to wear a headscarf, or hijab, for an entire school day, followed by a time for reflection and discussion.

The following is a chronological survey of some of the main stories about Islam and Islamism in America during the second quarter of 2015. Part 1 of this series can be found here.

Left: In June 2015, the New York Police Department issued parking tickets to more than 100 Muslim cab drivers parked illegally outside a mosque on the Upper West Side during Ramadan. Right: In January 2015, after complaints from Muslim students at the University of Minnesota, the university ordered that posters depicting a caricature of Mohammed be taken down. The ban was later rescinded.

APRIL 2015
April 1. Ahlam Ahmed, an 18-year-old year-old from Queens, said she wanted to become the first female Muslim firefighter in New York City. Ahmed stands five feet tall and weighs just 105 pounds. In an interview with the Village Voice, Ahmed expressed more concern over the dress code than the physical requirements for the job. "I have to be covered," she said. "I love wearing the scarf. It's for protection." FDNY press officer Elisheva Zakheim said: "We try to accommodate religious practices, but safety is our first concern, be it male or female. We approach a lot of these questions on a case-by-case basis."

April 2. A study by the Washington, DC-based Pew Research Center forecast that, if current trends continue, there will be more Muslims in North America than Jews by 2035. The study, "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050," states that in the United States, Muslims will comprise 2.1% of the population in 2050, up from 0.9% in 2010. Jews, meanwhile, will fall to 1.4% of the U.S. population from 1.8% in 2010.
April 2. A newsletter distributed by the Republican Central Committee in Bonneville County, Idaho, included an article, "Islam in Idaho," which warned that Muslims are "infiltrating" the state, and that Muslims have been taught to "be ready to rise up and kill" non-Muslims. The article called on readers to "demand that our lawmakers and law enforcers pay attention and ascertain whether or not there is a potential threat."
April 7. U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking at an Easter prayer breakfast at the White House, criticized "less-than-loving" Christians. His remarks came just days after he sanitized any reference to Islam after jihadists slaughtered 148 Christians at a college in Garissa, Kenya. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said Obama's comments at the prayer breakfast were "very disturbing." He added:

"This comes right on the heels of Muslim madmen singling out Christians, calling them out by name, knowing which ones they wanted to execute, in Kenya. We have a president who never mentions the word 'Christians' except when he wants to denigrate them."
He doesn't want to offend Muslims. But he obviously doesn't mind offending Christians. Somehow it's okay to speak about Christians disappointing him, because they don't always act with love. Well, that's true. But what a grand opportunity to make a statement about what happened last week in Kenya. And once again, he's silent with Christians when it comes to us being the victims of genocide."

April 7. A scheduled screening of "American Sniper" at the University of Michigan was abruptly cancelled after school officials received complaints that the film perpetuates "negative and misleading stereotypes" against Muslims. A statement said: "While our intent was to show a film, the impact of the content was harmful, and made students feel unsafe and unwelcomed at our program." On April 16, the university reversed its decision.
April 8. Writing in a magazine called Index on Censorship, the organizers of a women's conference at the University of South Dakota recounted attempts by Muslim groups to ban a screening of Honor Diaries, a documentary film about the worldwide problem of honor killings and other violence against women.
April 8. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded that a high school teacher in Richmond, Texas, be disciplined for distributing "virulently anti-Muslim" material to students. The 8-page handout, distributed in a senior economics class at Richmond's Foster High School, said that "Islam is more of an ideology than a religion. It is also an ideology of war." The document also said that Muslims believe all governments except Islamic ones should be overthrown. "Only a strong response to this attempt at student indoctrination will send a message that our schools must never be incubators of hate," said CAIR.
April 10. A HuffPost/YouGov poll found that more than half (55%) of Americans say they have unfavorable views of Islam, and six in 10 either are not interested or do not know whether they want to learn more about the faith. Just 7% said they had a very favorable view of the religion, and 14% said they saw it somewhat favorably.
April 13. Writing in Time magazine, Muslim feminist Asra Nomani described how Muslim groups pressed Duke University to cancel a speech she was invited to give to argue for a progressive, feminist interpretation of Islam in the world. The president of the Duke chapter of the Muslim Students Association sent an email to Muslim students about Nomani's "views" and alleging that she was in a nefarious "alliance" with "Islamophobic speakers." After she asked for evidence against her, Duke University re-invited her. Nomani wrote:

"This experience goes beyond feminism to a broader debate over how too many Muslims are responding to critical conversations on Islam with snubs, boycotts, and calls for censorship, exploiting feelings of conflict avoidance and political correctness to stifle debate. As a journalist for 30 years, I believe we must stand up for America's principles of free speech and have critical conversations, especially if they make people feel uncomfortable.
"By standing on stage, I was standing up to the forces in our Muslim communities that are increasingly using tactics of intimidation and smears such as "Islamophobe," "House Muslim," "Uncle Tom," "native informant," "racist" and "bigot" to cancel events with which they disagree.
"These dynamics of silencing are often used against women such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born activist and author of a new book, Heretic. Brandeis University uninvited her from speaking after protests from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Students Association last year, and the Muslim Students Association at Yale University protested her speech at the university last fall."

April 13. Nearly 300 Muslim delegates from more than 20 states met with elected officials and congressional staffers on Capitol Hill during the first-ever National Muslim Advocacy Day. The event was sponsored by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of American Muslim groups, some of which are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Former FBI counterterrorism agent John Guandolo said the event was a "cunning bid by radical Islam to gain political power in the United States."
April 14. Judicial Watch, citing Mexican law enforcement and intelligence sources, reported that ISIS is operating training camps just a few miles from El Paso, Texas:

"The exact location where the terrorist group has established its base is around eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as "Anapra" situated just west of Ciudad Juárez. Another ISIS cell to the west of Ciudad Juárez, targets New Mexico towns for easy access to the United States.
"During the course of a joint operation last week, Mexican Army and federal law enforcement officials discovered documents in Arabic and Urdu, as well as "plans" of Fort Bliss. Muslim prayer rugs were recovered with the documents during the operation.
"According to these same sources, "coyotes" engaged in human smuggling — and working for Juárez Cartel — help move ISIS terrorists through the desert and across the border. These specific areas were targeted for exploitation by ISIS because of their understaffed municipal and county police forces, and the relative safe-havens the areas provide for the unchecked large-scale drug smuggling that was already ongoing.
"Mexican intelligence sources report that ISIS intends to exploit the railways and airport facilities in the vicinity. The sources also say that ISIS has "spotters" to assist with terrorist border crossing operations. ISIS is conducting reconnaissance of regional universities; the White Sands Missile Range; government facilities in Alamogordo, NM; Ft. Bliss; and the electrical power facilities near Anapra and Chaparral, NM."

April 14. Students at Union Grove High School in Wisconsin were asked to "pretend you're a Muslim" and "give three examples of what you do daily for your religion and any struggles you face." WISN talk radio host Vicki McKenna posted the writing assignment on Twitter. "I feel that the purpose of the assignment is to show prejudices towards Muslims in America or to invent them or exaggerate them," said one parent.
April 14. The Justice Department said U.S. citizens and residents can now find out whether they are on the "no-fly" list and possibly receive a summary of the reasons for their placement in the secret database. Around 47,000 people are on the no-fly list, 800 of whom are Americans. They are barred from boarding a U.S. carrier, a U.S.-bound flight or entering U.S. airspace.
April 16. A legislative committee in Augusta, Maine, voted 8-2 to reject a bill that attempted to codify the state and U.S. constitutions as the law of the land. The legislation, LD 330, was modeled after a law passed in Tennessee aimed at preventing the use of Muslim Sharia law in state courts there.
April 17. Officials at Mason High School in Mason, Ohio, canceled "hijab day" after parents expressed opposition. Female students were asked to wear a headscarf, or hijab, for an entire school day, followed by a time for reflection and discussion. Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart said the "Covered Girl Challenge," sponsored by MHS' Muslim Students Association, was meant to combat stereotypes Muslim women may face when wearing head coverings. Former school board candidate Sharon Poe said: "My belief is wearing these hijabs represents the oppression of women and Sharia law. I do not recall ever getting an email announcing a Christian Cross Wearing day or a booth for information about the Christian persecution from Islamic terrorists. What happened to the argument of the separation of church and state?"
April 20. The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of groups, defended Turkey ahead of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24. The USCMO published a statement opposing any recognition of the genocide of Armenian Christians in 1915 by the Ottoman Turks. The group claims there has not been a "proper investigation of these events by independent historians."
April 20. Turkish media reported that U.S. President Barack Obama had agreed to accompany Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the inauguration ceremony of a $100 million mega-mosque in Lanham, Maryland.
April 22. Amir from Seattle, Washington, sought advice on his student loans from financial guru Steve Rhode:

"I recently called to ask if I could get a lower pay-off amount as the original loans were 32K and now they are up to about 64K because of deferment and interest. They said no. My conditions have changed. I was born into Islam, however, never knew much about my religion. Since 2012, I have been learning more about my faith and it is strictly forbidden in my faith to have dealings with interest. I am offering to pay off the original amount I owe. However, due to religious reasons, I would like them to recognize that my awareness and conditions have changed from the time of originally accepting the loan. Can I get the interest wiped out and close this account and case with just paying the original amount borrowed?"

April 22. Mohamed S. Abdullahi, 30, of Phoenix, Arizona, was arrested after physically and sexually assaulting a woman after their arranged marriage. Police said the victim's parents had married her to Abdullahi without her knowledge. After she learned of the marriage, she fled the state, but returned two weeks later to finish high school. The victim's family members reportedly took her to Abdullahi's residence against her will on April 20. Police said Abdullahi punched, bit and strangled her before sexually assaulting her.
April 23. In a letter, U.S. Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and André Carson (D-IN) asked the Obama administration to ban Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders from visiting the United States because of his anti-Islam views: "We respectfully request that the U.S. government deny Mr. Wilders entry due to his participation in inciting anti-Muslim aggression and violence. Mr. Wilders' policy agenda is centered on the principle that Christian culture is superior to other cultures."
April 24. The U.S. Justice Department said it would "monitor" an Arkansas gun range that declared itself a "Muslim-free zone." The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) complained about statements by Jan Morgan, the owner of Gun Cave Shooting Range in Hot Springs. In a letter addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder, CAIR said the range was "systematically banning Muslims from a place of business" and that doing so was "a violation of federal laws prohibiting racial and religious discrimination."
April 24. The University of Maryland (UMD) postponed a screening of the film, American Sniper, after the UMD's Muslim Students Association complained that the film "only serves to fuel hatred, promote Islamophobia, and discriminate against Muslim individuals." One of UMD's most famous graduates, retired American football quarterback and current sports commentator Boomer Esiason, tweeted he was "never donating another dime" to the school. "As a 9/11/01 victim I'm deeply saddened and insulted. #ChrisKyle is a hero!" Pastor Franklin Graham wrote:

"Can you believe that the University of Maryland canceled a screening of the movie American Sniper after Muslim students complained? Shame on the University of Maryland for listening to these voices! If these Muslim students can't support the military members who do their job to protect us, let them leave America and go to a Muslim country. God bless America and our heroes!"

April 28. A middle school teacher in Georgia was fired after she criticized President Barack Obama and his supporters in front of students. Nancy Perry allegedly told students at Dublin Middle School that Obama is Muslim and Christians should not support him.
April 29. The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) voted 9-2 to ban political and religious ads on all subways and buses in New York City. The move came a week after Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl ordered the MTA to run an ad from the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a free speech advocacy group. The ad featured a Muslim man with his face covered and the Hamas quote: "Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah."
April 29. An internal investigation found that the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota did not violate university policies on discrimination when it published a flyer depicting a caricature of Mohammed. Controversy erupted in January, when several professors organized a panel discussion about the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The panel was promoted with a flyer which recreated a Charlie Hebdo cover, with a red "CENSORED" stamp on top of it. After Muslim students complained, the university ordered that the posters be taken down, but then reversed the ban, saying it was a mistake. "There is no question in my mind that this poster was protected speech," said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law. Professor Bruno Chaouat, who helped to organize the event, said the university's decision to launch an investigation was part of a worrisome trend: "I think what's going on is a global problem ... of self-censorship."
MAY 2015
May 1. The Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, purchased a former Lutheran church across from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union and will convert it into a mosque for a growing east side Muslim community. The Islamic Society purchased property — including a 3,150-square-foot worship space and adjacent triplex — for $700,000. In March, the Islamic Society opened a new $3 million mosque in Brookfield — a first for Waukesha County.
May 3. Elton Simpson, 30, and Nadir Hamid Soofi, 34, were killed by police after they opened fire outside the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas. ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting, believed to have been the first ISIS-inspired attack on U.S. soil. Simpson, a convert to Islam with a long history of extremism, had been prosecuted in 2010 for lying to the FBI after he spoke of joining Al Shabaab, a terrorist group in Somalia.
May 3. A contract employee at Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York, was charged with making a terrorist threat after he said he would bring a gun to work and "shoot everybody." Mohammad Salak, a 33-year-old employee of the company Envoy, hired by United Airlines to handle ground services, became the focus of an investigation after fellow employees accused Salak of saying:

"They don't know where I'm from. I've been in wars. I've killed people and killing somebody is nothing to me. I'll leave here and go get my mask and my gun and come and kill everybody."

Police later determined the threats were directed at fellow employees, not travelers or members of the public passing through the airport. The Onondaga County District Attorney's Office significantly reduced the initial charge against Salak from the felony of making a terroristic threat, to misdemeanor menacing, then to disorderly conduct.
May 4. A new instruction manual issued by the Islamic State advises its supporters in the United States and Europe on ways to disguise themselves and their motives when trying to plan and carrying out "lone wolf" attacks. The guide notes:

"Don't make it too obvious you have become a practicing Muslim. For example: If you haven't grown a beard, don't grow it now, because you will bring unwanted attention onto yourself. Mujahideen in Muslim lands remove their beards for deceptive purposes."
"When a Muslim goes out in public, he wants to fit into society to make himself look as normal as possible. Remember this isn't because he fears his Islamic identity, but he is doing this so he is not suspected of being an outsider enemy."
"Making yourself look more friendly and open minded to the Western public. For example: Muslims who call themselves by a Western nickname gain more acceptances by their non-Muslim colleagues."
"People with Islamic names get less jobs than those with Islamic names. This alias might be important if you need an important position in a specific job, i.e. Mujahideen send people to work in power plants or enemy governmental positions to spy on and leak reports to the Islamic State leadership (as double agents)."

May 6. Carmen Harlan, an anchorwoman for WDIV, NBC TV's local affiliate in Detroit, Michigan, angered local Muslims with comments she made about the ISIS threat in Michigan: "Given the fact that we have the largest Arab population outside the Middle East, I guess this [a higher risk of ISIS threats] should not come as a real surprise."
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) called for an apology, saying that Harlon was guilty of making "blanket generalizations about an entire group, unfairly exposing Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans to contempt and ridicule while subjecting them to marginalization in their schools, places of employment, and other spheres of society."
May 7. Noelle Velentzas, 27, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, both of Queens, New York, pleaded not guilty to charges of planning to build an explosive device for ISIS-inspired attacks in New York City. The two were arrested on April 2. Police searching their homes found gas tanks, a pressure cooker, fertilizer, handwritten notes on recipes for bomb making and jihadist literature. Velentzas told an informant that she could not understand why American citizens were traveling overseas to wage jihad when they could simply "make history" at home, according to court papers.
May 8. Police in San Jose, California, arrested Mohammad Khaliqi, 31, for attempting to rape a 13-year-old girl as she returned home from school. The girl told investigators that Khaliqi had forced his way through the front door of her home as she went inside. She fought him off and he fled before police arrived. The girl then locked the door after he left, hid in a closet and texted her father: "DADDY COME HOME NOW. SOME GUY TRIED TO RAPE ME."
May 13. The planning commissioner of El Monte, a city in Los County, California, faced pressure to resign after he wrote that a ban on Islam "sounds good" on his Facebook page. Art Barrios shared a news article on Facebook with the headline "China makes major moves to ban Islam." He added a comment: "Sounds good maybe the rest of the world should do the same." The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called for his resignation. Barrios said his Facebook post was in reference to Islamic extremists "that are going out and killing other people." He said:

"I thought it was about time that we stop kowtowing to the Islam that's doing the racist things and doing the things that are bad for any religion. I'm an American citizen. I have the right to think anything I want to think ... I have the right to do what I want to do."

Haroon Manjlai, the public affairs coordinator for CAIR-LA said:

"Neither the article nor Mr. Barrios' comment on the article give any indication that he was talking about Muslim extremists. It sounded like he was talking about the religion as a whole and that is extremely insensitive and un-American."

May 14. Lawmakers in South Carolina indefinitely postponed a vote on legislation that would prohibit the use of any foreign laws, including Islamic Sharia law, which violate the U.S. Constitution.
May 15. The New York Times published an opinion article that called for an infusion of 50,000 migrants from Syria to revitalize Detroit:

"Detroit, a once great city, has become an urban vacuum. Its population has fallen to around 700,000 from nearly 1.9 million in 1950. The city is estimated to have more than 70,000 abandoned buildings and 90,000 vacant lots. Meanwhile, desperate Syrians, victims of an unfathomable civil war, are fleeing to neighboring countries, with some 1.8 million in Turkey and 600,000 in Jordan. Suppose these two social and humanitarian disasters were conjoined to produce something positive."

May 15. The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, a performance center in downtown Manhattan, canceled an event featuring a new play by Neil LaBute on the grounds that it was offensive to Muslims. The event, "Playwrights for a Cause," featuring four new short plays about censorship in the arts, was set to take place on June 14. The Sheen Center said it "will not be a forum that mocks or satirizes another faith group." LaBute responded:

"This event was meant to shine another light on censorship and it was unexpected to have the plug pulled, quite literally, by an organization that touts the phrase 'for thought and culture' on their very website. Both in life and in the arts, this is not a time to hide or be afraid; recent events have begged for artists and citizens to stand and be counted."

May 21. The Texas Senate passed a measure that would prevent any 'international law' from being used in Texas civil courts. The bill does not specifically mention Islamic Sharia law, but guarantees that no laws from 'foreign courts' will be adopted by Texas civil court judges. "It's just to provide some belt and suspenders to make sure that, with judicial discretion, we don't trump Texas law, American law, with a foreign law regarding family law," said State Senator Donna Campbell. Muslim groups said the bill is a "solution looking for problem."
May 21. The Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Michael McCaul, said that a plan by the Obama administration to resettle Syrian refugees in the U.S. is a "serious mistake" and should be stopped until safeguards are in place:

"We have no way ... to know who these people are ... we don't have databases on these individuals so we can't properly vet them, to know where they came from, to know what threat they pose, because we don't have the data to cross-reference them with. While there are a lot of mothers and kids, there are also a lot of males of the age that could conduct terrorist operations."

A group of Senate Democrats urged the Obama administration to allow at least 65,000 Syrian refugees to settle inside the United States.
May 26. Public school officials in Nashville, Tennessee, announced that six schools in South Nashville, home to a burgeoning Muslim community, would begin offering Arabic language classes. Each of the schools has students who speak Arabic as their primary language. Political commentator Allen West said:

"So the schools were chosen because there's a high number of native Arabic speakers in the neighborhood. Why exactly do they need Arabic lessons? Wouldn't English be more appropriate? And why is it the public school's role to help keep students "connected to their native culture?" I thought that was their parents' role. I thought the purpose of the American public school system was to keep Americans connected to their American culture."

May 28. The governing board of the Washington, DC Metro system banned "issue-oriented" advertising on its trains and buses. The move came after the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a free speech advocacy group, sought to place ads featuring a cartoon of Mohammed. A top Metro official said:

"My view is, you put that ad up on the side of a bus, you turn that bus into a terrorism target. I think it's a very bad outcome for everybody. But it's a risk we don't want to put our passengers under."

AFDI's president, Pamela Geller, responded:

"These cowards may claim that they are making people safer, but I submit to you the opposite. They are making it far more dangerous for Americans everywhere. Rewarding terror with submission is defeat. Absolute and complete defeat."

Also in May, a study released by research corporation Westat, and commissioned by the US Department of Justice, estimated that 23-27 honor killings occur in the United States every year. The study, "Honor Violence Measurement Methods," noted that 91% of victims in North America are murdered for being "too Westernized," and in incidents involving daughters 18 years or younger, a father is almost always involved.
The report — which identified four types of honor violence: forced marriage, honor-based domestic violence, honor killing and female genital mutilation — also estimated that 1,500 forced marriages occur in the United States every year.
A separate study by the Population Reference Bureau estimated that 507,000 women and girls in the United States are at risk or have already undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), more than twice the number estimated in 2000.
JUNE 2015
June 1. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Samantha Elauf, an American Muslim woman who was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because she wears a hijab headscarf. Elauf claimed the company did not offer her a job because her religious identity violates Abercrombie's "look policy." The company said the scarf clashed with its dress code, which calls for a "classic East Coast collegiate style." Justice Antonin Scalia wrote: "An employer may not make an applicant's religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions."
June 3. United Airlines apologized after a flight attendant's refusal to give an unopened can of soda to a Muslim passenger led to a social media firestorm. Tahera Ahmad, 31, a Muslim chaplain at Northwestern University, was traveling from Chicago to Washington, DC, on May 29 when she said she asked for an unopened can of Diet Coke. Ahmad said the flight attendant told her she was "unauthorized to give unopened cans to people because they may use it as a weapon on the plane." Ahmad wrote on her Facebook page that she was in "tears of humiliation from discrimination."
Other passengers on the flight later contradicted Ahmad's account. They said she became irate after the flight attendant handed her an unopened can of Diet Coke rather than a Coke Zero, as she had requested. The flight attendant returned with a Coke Zero, but said Ahmad could not have the entire can because there was not enough to go around for other passengers. Ahmad then went into a rage: "What, do you think I will use this as a weapon? Why can't I have the whole can? I think you are discriminating against me. I need your name." According to passengers seated near Ahmad, she kept repeating, "I need your name. I am being discriminated against." Ahmad then got on her phone and "started spinning this story on social media and she was never in tears."
One observer noted:

"What's really remarkable about this story is, near as I can tell, at no point ... did any of these major media outlets try and independently verify the details of Ahmad's story. I would like to note that what's happened with this story is a complete and total perversion of journalism. Whether it's simply for clicks or because folks are anxious enough to promote any account of injustice that reinforces the media's center-left world view, it is inexcusable to turn someone's one-sided Facebook post into a national news story without making an effort to verify the details."

June 4. A Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report found that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had failed to identify 73 airport workers with links to terrorism. The revelation came just days after an internal investigation of the TSA found security failures at dozens of the nation's busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95% of tests.
June 5. Michael Wolfe, 24, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced to almost seven years in federal prison and five years of supervised release for attempting to engage in violent jihad in Syria. According to the Justice Department, Wolfe admitted that he planned to travel to the Middle East to provide his services to ISIS. Wolfe also admitted to participating in physical fitness training, acquiring a U.S. passport, and trying to conceal his communications about foreign travel to join ISIS. Wolfe purchased plane tickets to Europe so he could meet with an undercover FBI agent, who he believed would help him travel to Syria through Turkey. Wolfe was arrested on June 17, 2014 in Houston as he attempted to board a flight to Canada.
June 7. Munther Omar Saleh, 20, a college student in Queens, New York, was arrested and charged with trying to learn how to build a pressure cooker bomb for an attack in New York City on behalf of the Islamic State.
June 9. The owners of the Empire State Building reached a confidential settlement with a Muslim family booted from the building's observation deck because they were praying. Fahad and Amina Tirmizi, of Long Island, New York, said in their federal lawsuit that they and their two young children had begun silently reciting their evening prayers in a quiet spot on the 86th-floor deck at about 11 p.m. July 2, 2013, when two security guards "forcibly escorted" them down to the lobby and out of the of the building. The couple was seeking $5 million in damages in the suit, filed in March 2014 in Manhattan federal court.
June 9. The New York Police Department said it was working to recruit more Muslims. There currently are about 800 Muslim uniformed police officers out of about 35,000, according to the NYPD Muslim Officers Society. "The more Muslims who work in the NYPD the better," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "This is a way to break down the mistrust and create bridges in the community."
June 12. Four Muslims who accused the FBI of putting them on a no-fly list because they refused to become informants said they would seek damages, even though the travel ban has been lifted. Plaintiff lawyer Robert Shwartz told U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams that "various FBI agents punished the men and put them on [the list] because they refused to become informants at their mosques." As a result, they suffered the "stigma of being treated as threats to aviation security." Shwartz added: "Money relief is really the only relief."
June 12. Khalifa Said Derenkai, of Salt Lake City, Utah, filed a lawsuit against Pan Am International Flight Academy, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, for refusing to let him use a flight simulator. Derenkai says he was scheduled for flight simulator training, but Pan Am school manager Phil Spessard looked up his LinkedIn profile and denied him access to a flight simulator. Derenkai, originally from Eritrea, said Spessard reported him to the FBI's Terrorism Taskforce because he "looked suspicious" because of his African origins. Derenkai said he was seeking $400,000 in compensatory damages and punitive damages for discrimination.
June 18. Samuel Rahamin Topaz, 21, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, was charged with planning to travel overseas to support the Islamic State. Topaz was arrested one day after federal prosecutors charged Fareed Mumini, 21, of Staten Island, New York, with trying to stab an FBI agent who was executing a search warrant at his home. A criminal complaint alleged that Mumini had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, and that if he failed to join the group overseas, he planned to attack law enforcement in the United States.
June 19. Justin Nojan Sullivan, 19, of Burke County, North Carolina, was arrested on charges of planning terrorist attacks in the United States on behalf of ISIS. The criminal complaint alleges that the FBI became aware of Sullivan's plans to obtain a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, which he planned to use to kill a large number of U.S. citizens. An undercover FBI agent made contact with Sullivan beginning on or about June 6, 2015. Sullivan described himself to the agent as "a mujahid," and as a Muslim convert living in the eastern United States. Sullivan also told the agent that "the war is here," and gave the agent the opportunity to join what he called the Islamic State of North America, whose "doctrine is guerilla warfare in and out."
June 23. A judge in St. Louis, Missouri, ruled that Raja Naeem, a Pakistani taxi driver, has a right to wear religious attire while working. Naeem had been battling the Metropolitan Taxicab Commission, which licenses drivers in the St. Louis area, for years regarding his clothing. The commission requires drivers to wear black pants and a white, button-down shirt. The commission said the dress code makes it easier for the public to identify licensed drivers. After a court ruling in 2013, the commission offered a compromise: a kurta, the loose-fitting clothing worn on the torso. Naeem said his freedom of religious expression was still being violated. Judge Robert Dierker ruled: "Mr Naeem's right to express his religious beliefs by his mode of dress is directly infringed by the Commission's dress code. The Missouri Constitution clearly prohibits such infringement."
June 23. A poll commissioned by the Washington, DC-based Center for Security Policy found that more than half (51%) of Muslims in America believe they should "have the choice of being governed according to Sharia." Only 39% of those polled said that Muslims in the U.S. should be subject to American courts. Nearly a quarter of the Muslims polled believed that, "It is legitimate to use violence to punish those who give offense to Islam by, for example, portraying the prophet Mohammed." Nearly one-fifth of Muslim respondents said that the use of violence in the United States is justified in order to make Sharia the law of the land in this country.
June 23. During an Iftar dinner to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, U.S. President Barack Obama lamented the "distorted impression" that many Americans have of Muslims: "Here in America, many people personally don't know someone who is Muslim. They mostly hear about Muslims in the news — and that can obviously lead to a very distorted impression."
June 26. The New York Police Department issued parking tickets to more than 100 Muslim cab drivers parked illegally outside a mosque on the Upper West Side during Ramadan. Cabby Mohammad Zaman, who was slapped with a $115 ticket for double parking, said:

"This is a special prayer time, a time for religion. We double-park here every Friday and they [allow it], but today they gave us all tickets, almost 100 cabs. This has never happened before. I can't help but to think they are being prejudiced. They don't understand. We have to be here."

June 29. Walmart apologized after the bakery at a store in Slidell, Louisiana refused a man's request for a Confederate flag cake, but accepted a design with the ISIS flag. Chuck Netzhammer said he ordered the image of the Confederate flag on a cake with the words, "Heritage Not Hate," but the bakery said no. "I went back yesterday and managed to get an ISIS battle flag printed. ISIS happens to be somebody who we're fighting against right now who are killing our men and boys overseas and are beheading Christians," Netzhammer said. "That's an ISIS battle flag cake that anybody can go buy at Walmart. But you can't buy a Confederate flag toy, with like, say, a 'Dukes of Hazzard's' car."
 

 

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. His first book, Global Fire, will be out in 2016.

Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7324/islam-islamism-america-ii

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Germany's "Rapefugee" Crisis - Stephen Brown

by Stephen Brown

YouTube plea for protection from 16-year-old German girl reveals the widespread nightmare of migrant sexual violence.

“Why should we children have to grow up in such fear?”

That is the very reasonable question 16-year-old German teenager Bibi Wilhailm asks, in her 20-minute YouTube video, garnering her some much-needed recognition in cyberspace. Her video had first appeared on Facebook, but was taken down for reasons that still remain unclear.

But Wilhailm doesn’t seem to care too much for fame. In her first ever YouTube appearance, she says she only wants her old life back. It is a life that she describes as “toll” (fantastic), before Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed one million, mostly male and Muslim, refugees into Germany last fall. Since then, Wilhailm says, “life has become very unsafe on the streets for young women like me and my friends.”

“This is the truth. We are no longer allowed to walk outside,” said Wilhailm. “We are no longer allowed to wear our clothes. We are no longer allowed to live the German life. This is the sad truth.”

Wilhaim’s fears are neither unfounded nor exaggerated. A security official as prominent as the police chief of Vienna, Gerhard Purstl, confirmed Wilhailm's claim when he warned women not to venture out at night alone and to “avoid suspicious-looking areas.” Purstl’s warning came after several sex attacks in Austria by migrants.

If anyone possessed any doubts about Muslim migrant attitudes toward the ‘infidel’ women of their host countries, these doubts should have been painfully and publicly dispelled last New Year’s Eve at Cologne’s central train station. A thousand of the new arrivals, mostly young Arab men, gathered there that evening and, like packs of hyenas, molested hundreds of women, raping several.

“We are so scared,” said Wilhailm, expressing the fear young women are now forced to face. “We don’t want to be scared to go to the grocery store alone after sunset.”

Since the Muslim migrants’ appearance in Germany, Wilhailm says, “life has been hell. These men often commit verbal and physical acts of sexual violence against women out alone.” She says she herself has had a couple of bad experiences.

“But one day, a terrible thing happened at the supermarket,” Wilhailm said. “I ran all the way home. I was so frightened for my life. There’s no other way to describe it.”

Another time, men she called “Muslims” told her and her friend they were “sluts” for wearing t-shirts. Addressing Muslim men of this ilk in her video, Wilhailm responded:

“You have no right to attack us because we are wearing t-shirts. You also have no right to rape.”

Unfortunately, for Germany’s young women, there are too many new migrants who believe that they do.

Earlier this month, police in Dortmund reported that a migrant approached a girl on the street, offering her money for sex. He explained his behavior to her as German girls are “just there for sex.”

An article by Soeren Kern, published in the Gatestone Institute last September, before Merkel’s great refugee wave, bears this out. Kern provides a list of rapes committed by migrants in Germany. It makes for disturbing and heartbreaking reading. “Growing numbers of German women in towns and cities across the country are being raped by asylum seekers from Africa, Asia and the Middle East,” writes Kern. “Many of the crimes are being downplayed by German authorities and the national media, apparently to avoid fueling anti-immigration sentiments.”

There are also additional reasons why police, media and politicians cover up or obfuscate migrant rapes and crimes. One is that they do not want to give those originally opposed to this migrant invasion the opportunity to say: “I told you so.”

Another, and perhaps the most alarming one, is that European elites believe they are justified in censuring migrant sex attacks, since revealing their shocking details only increases support for hated populist and conservative parties. Regarded as ideological enemies and racist, these parties are gaining strength with every act of migrant sexual violence against women and children.

In other words, the mental and physical health and safety of Germany’s young women, just like those in Sweden these past years, are being heartlessly sacrificed on the altar of politically correct expediency. At the same time, those supporting multiculturalism are portraying, with some success, the people who opposed this mass migration as lacking compassion. Angela Merkel, for example, said such people have “coldness, even hatred” in their hearts.

Stockholm’s police chief, Peter Agren, is an example of those in positions of power willing to sacrifice young women for political correctness. He recently conceded he had covered up the sexual molestation of dozens of young women by a Muslim gang at a music festival last summer so as not to strengthen the position of his country’s populist conservative party.

“This is a sore point. Sometimes we dare not tell how it is because we think it plays into the hands of the Sweden Democrats,” said Agren.

After reading about cover-ups like this, one is left wondering who the barbarians are: the Muslim rapists or Europe’s ruling class? Also, with Agren’s politically correct outlook, it is no wonder Sweden has one of the highest rape rates in the world. Only a couple of African countries rank higher.

Cover-ups of migrant sex crimes began, literally, as soon as the first “refugees” arrived. At a ‘welcoming party’ for one batch of arrivals, in Bonn last November 7, almost two months before the horrific events at Cologne’s train station, female guests were sexually molested by the “100 to 150 asylum-seeking men there.”

“I’d only been there a few minutes, and I got the first hand on my breast,” one woman later said.
A police spokesman added: “The music had to be constantly stopped so that the message could be given out in Arabic to stop men harassing female guests.”

Police were also angry that they were not notified about the crimes committed at the ‘welcoming party.’ Some believe this knowledge may have helped them prevent the New Years’ Eve sexual assaults.

According to one report, an integration official admitted she knew about the sex assaults at the party and didn’t contact police. She also said she ‘cannot remember’ whether she advised women who were attacked to do so. This official said the event’s student organizers also knew about the sexual molestation “but did not want to make a fuss” and had “learned from the situation.”

But these students, obviously, didn’t learn lessons in moral and civic responsibility towards others in society, especially towards women. By not reporting the sex attacks to police and allowing these men to go unpunished, they were setting up other women for victimization. It is very possible that some of these men were among the New Year’s Eve molesters.

But building the multicultural ‘Utopia’ is so important to such people that, if women's and children's well-being has to be sacrificed on the altar leftist ideals to achieve it, then so be it. What the students put on their website about the sex attacks after the incident says it all:  “…instead of just adversely pointing fingers at those who misbehave, we believe it’s as important for everyone in our civil society to tackle these differences in the daily integration.”

One wonders whether the integration official and students would have acted so complacently if anti-immigration PEGIDA members had perpetrated the sexual assaulting. As it was, police only discovered what had occurred at the welcoming event only when a victim approached them after the New Year’s Eve sex attacks.

The current rape crisis in Germany was, of course, completely predictable. Strong and frightening indicators of what was to follow the sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of young Muslim men into Germany were already present on Cairo’s Tahrir Square during political protests in 2011 and 2013 -- and witnessed by the whole world. At that time, dozens of women and a few female journalists were surrounded, sexually molested and even raped, including CNN’s Lara Logan and a Dutch journalist. The unfortunate Dutch woman was so severely injured she had to undergo an operation. Since this is how these Muslim men behave in their own countries, why would they not be expected to do the same elsewhere, especially in a country full of infidel women?

Closer to home, Sweden has for years already served as an example of migrant sexual violence. 

In her video, Wilhailm accuses Merkel of having “killed Germany.”

“I do not think you know what you have done," said Wilhailm. "You do not see how our lives have changed. Open your eyes! Is this normal? Should I, a 16-year-old who is almost 17 be scared to walk outside my house? No, it is not normal.”

Insightful for one so young, Wilhailm also realizes that the state no longer can, nor perhaps has the will, to protect its young women and children. As a result, she makes a desperate plea for Germany’s men to protect them, asking them to go out and patrol the streets:

“Men, please help your women. Please help your children. I am so scared. My friends have the same fears. We are shocked that this has happened. I hope this video has convinced you, and that these terrible events can stop.”

For Wilhaim’s sake, and for millions more like her, one can only hope Germany’s men will firmly respond.




Stephen Brown

Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/261643/germanys-rapefugee-crisis-stephen-brown

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

A Long Night in Benghazi - Elise Cooper

by Elise Cooper

13 Hours answers many questions as to what actually went on during the terrorist assault in Benghazi.

13 Hours is a riveting movie and book. What makes it special is the discussion by the six American heroes about the attack on September 11th, 2012. As with most incidents the names are forgotten, but with these accounts people are able to put a human touch on the terrorist assault against Americans. American Thinker had the honor of interviewing the author of the book, Mitchell Zuckoff, a direct spokesman for the four, as well as two of the heroes from that night, Mark “Oz” Geist, John “Tig” Tiegen. AT also spoke to Jose Rodriguez Jr., former Director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service.

This is the story of an Islamic terrorist attack on the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound and a nearby CIA station called the Annex in Benghazi, Libya on September 11th, 2012. Four Americans were killed: U.S. ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen “Bub” Doherty, and Tyrone “Rone” Woods. The five operators who provided the account are Tiegen, Geist, Kris “Tanto” Paronto, and two others who are known by the pseudonyms Dave “D.B” Benton and Jack Silva. Both the book and the movie tell the story of true heroism in the face of unbeatable odds.

Questions were answered regarding the attacks being premeditated vs. spontaneous, if those in charge were unprepared, was a “stand-down order” given, and what happened with reinforcements. Scene after scene, chapter after chapter the movie and book are an exhausting, pulverizing experience.

Controversy has erupted over the “stand-down order” issued by the CIA base chief, Bob, at the Benghazi CIA Annex. He gave an interview to the Washington Post in which he stated, “There never was a stand-down order. At no time did I ever second-guess that the team would depart.”

Zuckoff stands by what was written. “To believe Bob’s comments you would have to believe the guys decided to wait and then go on their own. This makes no sense because as experienced military men they are aware about the briefness of firefights, the longer the wait, the more the enemy digs in. Four guys told me ‘we were ready to go, but Bob would not let us, so we finally left on our own.’ I am sure, in hindsight, Bob is finding it hard to live with because Stevens and Smith died of smoke inhalation, the product of delay. In the guy’s eyes, if they could have engaged them quickly they could have stopped the terrorists. This weighs on them a great deal.”

Jose Rodriguez Jr., a hero himself and a straight talker, explained to American Thinker that in making the decision several considerations had to be weighed. Having been in the field as station chief four different times, and having served as Bob’s supervisor, “I understand the dilemma Bob faced. This is very complicated. Not being there but having been in similar situations people need to understand there are two concerns. If he let these guys go they themselves might get killed or kidnapped, paraded around, and possibly held for ransom. On the other hand, there is a U.S. Ambassador and Americans in harms’ way and if they are not helped they could die. At that moment you have to make a leadership decision.”

When asked what he would have done in that situation Jose responded, “To be perfectly honest, I hope I would have said ‘Forget Washington. We have an ambassador in harms’ way. I am going to send my troops and hopefully save lives.’ But you had to be there to make that decision. The bigger point to be made is that people are unwilling to make hard decisions on the ground because of the risk-adverse attitude of this administration. If the CIA directors appointed by President Obama would have people’s backs they might be more willing to take chances. This unwillingness to take risks permeates around the ranks.”

Both the book and the movie also explore the decision by Bob to rely more on the Libyan militia force than on the American security team. Oz and Tig agree with the quote by one of their fellow operators, “What’s the difference between how Libyans look when they’re coming to help you versus when they’re coming to kill you? Not much.” They added, “That is how it was. There were no uniforms and we did not know who was who. That was the challenge we faced, the concern that they could turn on you. As the night progressed you had to figure out who was who on an individual basis, not as a group. What you see at the end of the movie was not a rescue. They never fired a shot. Yet, every single time Bob wanted the first responders to be the locals. Back in April of that year when the consulate was attacked he would not let us lead. Yes, we were frustrated.”

Many Americans still wonder if the attacks were premeditated. Both the book and movie note that a cable was sent, “Be advised, we have reports from locals that a Western facility or US Embassy/Consulate/Government target will be attacked,” and the book explains that “The GRS operators neither saw nor heard anything to suggest that anyone in Benghazi was upset about an offensive YouTube video from an anti-Muslim movie.”

When asked about this, Oz and Tig noted, “We had no indication of protests over the movie being repeated in Benghazi. That night there was never any indication to the surviving State Department personnel at the Consulate that there were any protests. Our experience of working throughout the Middle East is that RPGs, used by the Libyans, are not typically brought to protests.”

Zuckoff added, “There is no question in my mind there was advanced planning. The morning of the attack you have Libyans across from the diplomatic compound on the roof taking photos and videos into the compound wearing police uniforms. That to me suggests premeditation.”

Many reviews of the movie criticize the civilian warriors instead of glorifying them. Zuckoff is angered. He believes that “none of us run toward gunfire in our daily life, but they do.” While Rodriguez Jr. says he has the utmost respect for these men. “It never mattered to me if the person talking was a contractor or a staff person. They were working for me. These people are very important because they keep us at the CIA safe. Case officers are dependent on the protection of these people.”

These men risked their lives to save Americans, and although the ambassador and Sean Smith were not saved, others were rescued while the Islamic terrorists were kept at arm’s length. If not for the American security personnel many more would have died. People should read the book and see the movie because they will experience, as the heroes did, the intense, shocking, and horrific 13 Hours of what really happened in Benghazi. Americans owe these men their support and a thank you for their service.


Elise Cooper writes for American Thinker. She has done book reviews, author interviews, and has written a number of national security, political, and foreign policy articles.

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/a_long_night_in_benghazi.html

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

European Governments Ignoring Security Warnings? - Judith Bergman

by Judith Bergman

• "We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a different understanding of society and law." — From a leaked German intelligence document.
• The mayor of Molenbeek, Belgium ignored a list she received, one month prior to the Paris attacks, "with the names and addresses of more than 80 people suspected as Islamic militants living in her area," according to the New York Times. "What was I supposed to do about them? It is not my job to track possible terrorists," Mayor Schepmans said.
• In October 2015, Andrew Parker, director general of Britain's Security Service, said that the "scale and tempo" of the danger to the UK is now at a level he has not seen in his 32-year career. British police are monitoring over 3,000 homegrown Islamist extremists willing to carry out attacks on the UK.

The head of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), Benedicte Bjørnland, was recently a participating guest at a security conference in Sweden, where she warned against further Muslim immigration.

One cannot," she said, "assume that new arrivals will automatically adapt to the norms and rules of Norwegian society. Furthermore, new arrivals are not homogenous and can bring ethnic and religious strife with them... If parallel societies, radicalization and extremist environments emerge in the long run," she added, "We will have challenges as a security service."

The changes Bjørnland speaks of -- parallel societies, radicalization and extremist environments -- are nothing new; they have been proliferating throughout Western Europe for years. The Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, which was home to two of the perpetrators of November's terror attacks in Paris, is known as a "terrorist den." Yet the mayor of Molenbeek ignored a list she received, one month prior to the Paris attacks, "with the names and addresses of more than 80 people suspected as Islamic militants living in her area," according to the New York Times. "What was I supposed to do about them? It is not my job to track possible terrorists," Mayor Schepmans said. "That is the responsibility of the federal police."

This statement is, in many ways, symptomatic of the European failure to deal with the security problems that Europe faces. The problem is always supposed to be somebody else's.
Anders Thornberg, the head of the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO), literally begged Swedish society for help: "The Islamist environments have grown considerably in the past five years," he said "and tensions are growing between various population groups. We need all of society to help fight the radicalization, there are limits to how much faster a security service can run."

Swedish Security Service chief Anders Thornberg recently said: "The Islamist environments have grown considerably in the past five years and tensions are growing between various population groups. We need all of society to help fight the radicalization, there are limits to how much faster a security service can run."

These are sentiments that are rarely, if ever, voiced by official Norway or Sweden. Apparently, the fear of offending Muslim sensitivities has thus far overridden security concerns. But even Sweden, which sees itself as a "humanitarian superpower," and up until recently had sworn to keep its doors open to all migrants and refugees, has had to reassess its policy. At the end of November 2015, Sweden's Deputy-Prime Minister Asa Romson, reluctantly and in tears, said that the government had been "forced to take reality into account," given the huge number of migrants that entering the country. Sweden (and Denmark) tightened their border controls a few weeks ago.

It is questionable, however, whether the warning cries of the Scandinavian security services will have any noticeable impact on the fundamental political course of their political leaders, especially if the latest statements by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven are anything to take into account.

In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 21, Löfven declared that it was "wrong" to mix up either sexual assaults on European women or the threat of ISIS with the mass migration into Europe: "Sexual harassment is not automatically binding to migration and immigration. We have had sexual harassment in Sweden for many, many years, unfortunately," Löfven told CNBC, thus pretending that the imported Middle Eastern pastime of Taharrush [collective sexual harassment] of thousands of women in Cologne and other European cities on New Year's Eve had nothing to do with migrants.

"What it now takes is to be very clear that this is not appropriate, it is absolutely out of line and we need to take a very clear message now to show to these young girls and women they are of course entitled to walk in the city... without sexual harassment," Löfven added.

No, the girls and the women are not the ones in need of a "clear message." The men harassing and raping them are -- especially in a country now known as the rape capital of the West.

The Swedish prime minister's refusal to "deal with reality" -- including that ISIS terrorists enter Europe together with the migrants -- is disturbing and should be of immense concern to Swedish citizens. It also displays the huge gap in perception of the current situation between the Swedish Security Service and the Swedish government.

The head of the Swedish Security Service has every reason, it turns out, to beg Swedish society to help fight the security challenges Sweden is facing. Considering the current Swedish government, he is going to need all the help he can get.

The additional gap between the genuine concerns of various countries' intelligence and security services on one hand, and governments' fear of offending Muslim sensibilities and venturing beyond the politically correct "narratives" on the other hand, is not confined to Sweden, but evident across Western Europe.

European intelligence and security services have warned for a long time that -- given the increase of mainly Muslim migration and the ensuing growth of parallel societies and extremist environments -- they cannot keep up with the ever-increasing threats of jihadist terrorism, which in the past decade have grown exponentially.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch jihadist movement began a far-reaching process of becoming more professional in late 2010, and adopted propaganda methods developed by British jihadists. "The increasing momentum of Dutch jihadism poses an unprecedented threat to the democratic legal order of the Netherlands," stated the Dutch intelligence service, AIVD, in the autumn of 2014.

In Germany, the intelligence agencies warned in the early fall of 2015 that, "We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a different understanding of society and law."

Four major German security agencies made it clear that "German security agencies... will not be in the position to solve these imported security problems and thereby the arising reactions from Germany's population." Still, this dire warning, which was leaked to the German press, did not cause Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to change her open-door policy. While Germany has introduced border controls, 2000 asylum claims are still processed there every day.

In Britain, the MI5 has openly declared that it cannot stop all terrorist attacks on English soil. In October 2015, Andrew Parker, director general of the Security Service, said that the "scale and tempo" of the danger to the UK is now at a level he has not seen in his 32-year career. He warned that while the threat to the UK from ISIS is on the rise, MI5 can "never" be confident in stopping all terror plots.

Little wonder. British police are monitoring over 3,000 homegrown Islamist extremists who are willing to carry out attacks on the UK, British security sources have warned. That is a 50% increase in less than a decade. Already in November 2014, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, told an international terrorism conference that 25% of the population growth in the UK had arrived in London in the last 10 years, and poses big challenges for the police force, who could not keep up with the pace of immigration.

The difficulties in properly monitoring so many extremists and effectively preventing them from committing acts of terror has also become a tremendous challenge, compounded by the sheer volume of extremists. Dame Stella Rimington, former head of the MI5, estimated in June 2013 that it would take around 50,000 full-time MI5 spies to monitor 2,000 extremists or potential terrorists 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That would be more than 10 times the number of people currently employed by MI5.

The situation is not much different in many other European countries. In Germany, Hans-Georg Maassen, head of Germany's BfV domestic security agency, claimed that his office was aware of almost 8,000 Islamic radicals in Germany. He said that all of these extremists advocate violence to advance their goals, with some trying to win over migrants, and that his office receives one or two 'fairly concrete tips' of planned terrorist activity each week.

Most European countries, such as Germany, Britain and France, are operating at their highest terror alert ever. The intelligence services are trying to cope with a situation beyond anything one could have imagined a decade ago.

The fight against the terrorist threat is never going to be won, however, only by pouring more financial resources and manpower into the counter-terrorism effort, although that is of course a necessary first step. As long as the national political leaders who give orders to the security and intelligence services refuse to openly address the threat without shrouding the issue in politically correct language, they will never be able to reduce it, let alone eliminate it.

Judith Bergman is a writer, columnist, lawyer and political analyst.

Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7309/europe-security-warnings

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.