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Tag Archives: Islamophobia

America

06 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Climate Change, Islam, Refugees, The United States

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

"Dreamers", Global Issues, Iraqi Christians, Islamophobia, Plight of Immigrants, President Trump, Rachel Aviv, Resignation Syndrome

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US Flag and Fireworks (Google images)

I missed July 4th, Independence Day for the citizens of the United States, but wish to send special greetings to my neighbours.  I spent several holidays at my grandfather’s house in Massachusetts. I grew to love his home and his land. The year is young, so greetings to everyone.

Life has not been easy for many of you since Mr Trump was elected to the presidency of the United States. You have had to rely on courts to block some Executive Orders. These are your courts and they represent you, your vision, your values. Many Americans would keep law-abiding “dreamers,” rather than deport them.

https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/articles/2017/02/15/dreamer-doctors-fear-deportation-under-trump-migrant-crackdown

The children of undocumented immigrants may be safe. Their parents, however, are being returned to an uncertain future and some may be executed because they have stood against a tyrant. Iraqi Christians are being deported. Yes, there are Christians in the Middle East, but fewer and fewer. As for Muslims, the majority are good persons who deserve respect and love.

A Strange Illness

A large number of nations are home to refugees whom they may deport. Countries have a right to limit immigration. However, one should consider the plight of immigrants and refugees and that of persons who may be deported to their native land. In Sweden, upon learning that they their family would be deported, the children of Russian refugees have fallen ill. It’s a strange disease. They do not die, but enter into a state of resignation so complete that they are neither dead nor alive. They lose consciousness. Such phenomena are difficult to explain, but these children may have felt, or feel, they were, and are, not worthy of living.

In Sweden, hundreds of refugee children have fallen unconscious after being informed that their families will be expelled from the …

Rachel Aviv

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Uppgivenhetssyndrom, or resignation syndrome, is said to exist only in Sweden, and only among refugees. The patients seem to have lost the will to live. “They are like Snow White,” a doctor said. “They just fall away from the world.” Photograph by Magnus Wennman for The New Yorker

Canada and “Illegal” Immigrants

Certain immigrants and asylum-seekers were not allowed to stay in the United States under former President Obama’s administration. But they were deported at a slower rate and in smaller numbers. We did not see “dreamers” cross the border and the cost of frozen limbs. No one can enter Canada illegally, but recent asylum seekers who arrived during winter months, were helped by the police and then arrested, but not in a brutal manner. Canada has to protect its citizens. It has immigration laws and it may deport would-be Canadians, rightly or wrongly.

Refugees

  • Christians
  • The Plight of Immigrants

Canada’s Armenian community sponsored at least one flight of threatened Armenians. These refugees were Christians as are Iraqis being deported from the United States. One may think the Armenians who were on that one flight to Canada were “lucky.” To a certain extent, they were. Members of Canada’s Armenian community felt relief and newly-arrived Armenians were greeted to this country. They had nevertheless lost their home and, perhaps, children and relatives. It has often been said, in France and Canada, that “nous sommes tous du pays de notre enfance.” We all belong to the country of our childhood. Immigrants lose their native land and some remember circumstances that were better in the country of their birth. History or destiny are not always kind to people. Most immigrants have to learn a new language and they may be underemployed in their new country, which may constitute a profound loss.

President Trump’s Islamophobia

In this regard, we have learned that President Trump’s Islamophobia is selective. It does not include Saudi Arabia.

https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-and-saudi-arabia-against-the-world/

He could also be that he does not realize that there may be tragic consequences to his Islamophobia. For one thing, he may be cultivating terrorism. How long will Muslim migrants accept being looked upon as would-be terrorists on the basis of their religion? Think, moreover, of the copycat phenomenon. Think also that there is a degree of diversity in the Middle East. Although most citizens are Muslims, certain minorities were not “Arabised” in the 7th century CE. Some did not convert to Islam. For instance, there are Buddhists in Saudi Arabia. (See Buddhism in Saudi Arabia, Wikipedia.) Finally, deporting people who have grown roots in a country other than their native country may lead to an illness resembling the fate of those children in Sweden who have given up: uppgivenhetssyndrom.

War and terrorism have caused a large number of innocent people to walk away from their homes in the Middle East. It’s a crisis and such crises have happened before. We have to manage them.  

The G20 Summit

Mr Trump is at the G20 Summit. It would appear he may be compromising the United States’ status as global leader. He is, at any rate, facing opposition. The climate, for instance, is a global issue and there are trading agreement, defence alliances and questions such as migration and various international accidents.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/g20-summit-could-mark-end-of-us-as-global-leader-but-what-is-next#img-2

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/05/opinions/merkel-trump-negotiating-style/index.html

Greetings to all my Americans readers.

Love to everyone ♥

 

George Gershwin‘s “Summertime”

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© Micheline Walker
6 July 2017
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Reading Recent Events

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Terrorism, The Middle East

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Attacks on Britain, British General Election, European Migrant Crisis, ISIL, Islamophobia, retaliation, terrorism, The Middle East

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A member of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Raqqa. Isil has issued a new call to arms after the Manchester attack. CREDIT: REUTERS

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/04/london-attack-six-dead-van-rampage-stabbings-terrorists-killed/

My last post was published on 3 June 2017. I have not been able to work since. However, in the wake of the London Bridge attack and previous attacks on Britain, three in as many months, I reflected on terrorism, wondering if it could be stopped. (But not if the United States sells weapons to Saudi Arabia.)

Terrorism is extremely difficult to quell. The mind of a terrorist is inflexible. He or she has been radicalized through indoctrination.  A terrorist probably thinks his victims deserve to die. Moreover, ISIL terrorists kill in the name of Allah and are probably looked upon as martyrs by fellow terrorists.

Martyrdom may explain why ISIL claims responsibility for acts of terrorism perpetrated by a Muslim, even if the attack has little to do with promoting the Islamic State. ISIL claimed responsibility for the Orlando, Florida attack by Omar Mateen. Omar Mateen did not mention ISIL until he was about to be shot to death by the police. He had attacked innocent civilians enjoying a night out at an LGBT facility, the Pulse. He had been taught that his sexual orientation was not acceptable. 

It seems terrorism is permanent, but that movements such as ISIL aren’t. ISIL will probably be defeated in the not-too-distant future, but a new movement could replace the one that has been abolished and several of its members will justify killing on the basis of the destruction of ISIL. Human beings retaliate and so do terrorists. Attacks follow one another and new movements avenge the old. It’s a vicious circle.

ISIL, a movement created in 1999 and first known as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, originally pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda (See Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Wikipedia.) ISIL beheaded American-Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. However, regular beheading incidents did not begin until 2014, three years after the death of Osama bin Laden, on 2 May 2011. ISIL is a Salafi jihadist movement. The beheadings were shown on videos and the United States seemed ISIL’s primary target. Although American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were the first to be beheaded, ISIL’s next victims were British aid workers David Cawthorne Haines and Alan Henning. Japanese journalist Kenji Goto was also beheaded.  The victims I have named were beheaded by British Arab Jihadi John, Mohammed Emwazi, who was killed in 2015.

It is difficult to neutralize or defeat a group of terrorists. They are radicalized. Many ISIL terrorists are heroes without a cause who converted to Islam and travelled to the Middle East. Attackers often see their victims as deserving to die. They kill in the name of Allah and may be looked upon by other terrorists as martyrs.  I wonder to what extent ISIL militants realize that they harm moderate Muslims fleeing terrorism and war and who have lost everything. ISIL fuels Islamophobia and hurt Islam. The refugees started to walk towards Europe in 2015 and many drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea in fragile crafts. Migrants are Muslims for the most part, but they include minorities: Yazidis, Assyrians, Mandeans, etc.

With respect to the Migrant Crisis, I should note again that  William Lacy Swing, Head of the International Organization of Migration, reports that people smugglers make $35 bln a year on the Migrant Crisis. It’s an industry.

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Nearly 1,500 migrants in 12 boats were rescued from the Mediterranean by Médecins Sans Frontières in just 12 hours last month. This rescue ship has a capacity of 600 people. Photograph: Cesare Abbate/EPA

Islamophobia helped Donald J. Trump’s election to the Presidency of his country. He looked upon all Muslims as dangerous, which is a generalization, but atrocious crimes were being committed in the name of Allah. However, recently, President Trump allowed a large number of Muslims to enter the United States. The European Migrant Crisis also led to nativism. Many French citizens rallied behind Marine Le Pen‘s Front National.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/marine-le-pen-prepares-for-a-frexit

It could be that France’s National Front party influenced the Brexit vote. A little over half of Britons voted in favour of Brexit. However, support for Brexit may wane following a significant loss of seats for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party.

The “West ” as Villain

The West has made mistakes. Colonialism was a mistake and so was the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. The creation of protectorates by the League of Nations was also a mistake.   The Arab-Israeli Conflict began when Mandatory Palestine was partitioned and Israel created. Israel declared its independence on 14 May 1948, the day the British Mandate for Palestine ended. (See Israeli Declaration of Independence, Wikipedia.) At the moment, matters are sensitive and Israel is making a mistake. Israel has yet to return the territory it conquered during the Six-Day War, in 1967. Israelis are settling outside the territory Israel was apportioned in 1948, often deporting Palestinians. Israel has been granted protection from the United States, but the United States did not veto United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 adopted on 23 December 2016. (See United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, Wikipedia.)

http://www.merip.org/primer-palestine-israel-arab-israeli-conflict-new

The Present

However, we need to focus on the present.  On 14 May 2017, the French elected centrist Emmanuel Macron to the leadership of their country and British Prime Minister Theresa May failed to obtain the clear majority she was seeking in the British general election held on 9 June 2017, three days after the London Bridge attack. Consequently, a shift to the extreme right, in France particularly, has been averted. As for Britain, the Brexit vote did not show convincingly that Britons wanted to leave the European Union. It showed division and division is what the general election has confirmed.  Jeremy Corbyn‘s Labour Party secured 30 more seats in Parliament, a substantial increase, while Prime Minister Theresa May lost 12 seats.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-british-right-went-so-very-wrong/2017/06/11/3f51fac2-4d5d-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html?utm_term=.8f27c0ab859d
E. J. Dionne Jr

For a while, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was managing the daunting European Migrant Crisis almost unassisted, but she is supported by France. Jeremy Corbyn is expected to smoothen the Brexit negotiations, if indeed Britain leaves the European Union.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/manuel-cortes/brexit-jeremy-corbyn_b_17124182.html

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/09/jeremy-corbyn-west-nato-russia-215242

Retaliation and “all-out war”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/26/islamic-state-calls-all-out-war-west-start-ramadan-manchester/

ISIL claims that the London Bridge attack was retaliation against American airstrikes in the Middle East. It has declared an “all-out war” on the West, in the name of Allah, and did so during Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims, which this year began on 26 May and will end on 24 June 2017.  The Atlantic reports “staggering loss of life” in the fight against ISIL.

https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/06/the-staggering-loss-of-life-in-the-fight-against-isis/530292/

As it happens, ISIL’s first target was Iran, a twin attack on Tehran. It was not the West.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Tehran_attacks

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rare-double-attacks-hits-irans-capital/2017/06/07/d9f101c2-4b50-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html?utm_term=.f8a8cfb3650c

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Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Terrorists attacked the Parliament building and the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the nation’s Islamic revolution.  According to the Washington Post, approximately 12 people were reported killed and 42 wounded.

Conclusion

Allow me to express my condolences to the family and friends of the victims. These are the saddest of times. Many countries are accepting refugees, but attacks such as the three attacks on Britain scare host countries. Canada passed anti-Islamophobia legislation, which may not have been necessary, but Canada’s Muslim community had to be protected officially.  However, I cannot imagine Canada accepting sharia law. Immigrants to Canada and refugees have to abide by Canadian laws. Canada respects the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The War in Iraq was a mistake. It was, I hope, the last instance of Manifest Destiny. It is my conviction that the countries of the Middle East are capable of looking after themselves. But, following the Arab Spring, certain autocrats would not democratize their nation and heads started to fall. Muath Al-Kasasbeh was burned alive. Human beings were locked in cages that were lowered into the water. The genocide of the Yazidis began, and an American-led coalition started to strike. Drones were used, so attacks were targeted and civilians spared. Targeting is almost impossible. The villain was ISIL.

By 2016, thirteen million Syrians had fled their country to seek refuge in the safer West. But the West was divided. The European Migrant Crisis was a calamity. Were migrants friends or foe?  Fear led to Brexit. In France, Marine Le Pen thought she had found the road to power. She ran a populist campaign, à la Trump, and she was defeated. But suddenly, terrorists were attacking Britain. The attacks occurred after Donald Trump’s inauguration. However, Mr Trump’s travel bans were blocked by the courts.

I believe we are nearing the end of this ordeal, but many have died and more could die.

All of us are human beings. We can hate, but we can love. We can love far more than we can hate. The planet is ours to save and the world is ours to shape and to share.

Love to everyone ♥

Tchaikovsky – Hymn of the Cherubim – USSR Ministry Of Culture Chamber Choir
(extraordinary music!)

Mandate_for_Palestine_(legal_instrument)

© Micheline Walker
16 June 2017, updated
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President Trump, a Dangerous Man

01 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Terrorism, United States

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Executive Order 13769, Islamophobia, Istanbul Attack, Manchester Attack, President Trump, Saudi Arabia

the-infant-samuel.jpg!Large

The Infant Samuel by Joshua Reynolds, 1776, Musée Fabre, Montpellier (Photo credit: wikiart.org)

Condolences

I would like to express my condolences to the people of Britain. On 22 May 2017, only two months after the 22 March Westminster  bridge attack, the Manchester Arena was targeted. Twenty-two (22) persons were killed, including 8-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos, and 53, perhaps more, were wounded. The victims were attending a performance by American singer Ariana Grande.

The killer has been identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi who was born to Libyan parents in Manchester, England, on 31 January 1994. French and British authorities have confirmed that Salman Abedi travelled to Syria and was radicalized.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/26/everything-know-manchester-suicide-bomber-salman-abedi/

Islamophobia as Provocation

Once again, it would be my opinion that the attacker, 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who has been described as a “regular kid,” may have acted in response to the current wave of Islamophobia, in the United States especially. The President’s professed Islamophobia may be incitement to murder.

On Monday, 29 May 2017, “two men were stabbed to death on an Oregon train trying to stop an anti-Muslim rant.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-muslims-portland-idUSKBN18N080

Saudi Arabia and President Trump

President Trump was in Europe last week, but he first visited Saudi Arabia. After his visit, the Saudis suggested that President Trump’s Islamophobia was a ploy aimed at attracting votes. He, Donald Trump, would not allow would-be killers to enter the United States.

This was a callous response to the European Migrant Crisis[1] and, contrary to the Saudis’ view, Mr Trump “made good” on his campaign promises. On 27 January 2017, a newly-inaugurated President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 13769 restricting the entry of Syrian refugees[2] into the United States and imposing a travel-ban affecting seven countries of the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. (See Executive Order 13769, Wikipedia.)

In late March, the Canadian government passed an anti-Islamophobia motion in an attempt to protect its Muslim citizens. I would never have suspected the government of my country would have to resort to a forceful measure to discourage discrimination.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/m-103-islamophobia-motion-vote-1.4038016

President Trump is a dangerous man.

The Istanbul Attack

I should also note that the New Year’s eve attack on Istanbul has revealed a reëmergence of a fear, and probably dislike, of the United States in Turkey.

Turkey is an officially secular country, but at birth, citizens of Turkey are registered as Muslims. (See Religion in Turkey, Wikipedia). Istanbul, the former Constantinople, was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was defeated during World War I.

Since the 15 July 2016 coup d’état, harshly repressed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, there has been a shift away from the West in Turkey. On 4 January 2017, New York Times journalist Tim Arango reported that: “instead of unifying to confront terrorism, Turkish society is fracturing further with each attack. The West, symbolized by the United States, is the perennial bogeyman.”  

Turkey is a member of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, l’Organisation du Traité de l’Atlantique Nord, l’OTAN (see Member States of NATO).

Conclusion

I will conclude by quoting writer, journalist and commentator Fareed Zakaria. On 4 May 2017,  Mr Zakaria wrote that “Trump is turning other countries against the United States.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-turning-other-countries-against-the-united-states/2017/05/04/40bbe7a6-310b-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html?utm_term=.6c2f4ec2bbcb

President Trump is now attacking Germany, and Adam Taylor of the Washington Post reports that  “even Angela Merkel’s political rivals are on her side against Trump.” Of course!  President Trump is attacking Germany, all of Germany!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/29/even-angela-merkels-political-rivals-are-on-her-side-against-trump/?utm_term=.37340eae58b2

In fact, Europe is folding back. On 28 May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke in no uncertain terms when she stated that the continent, we, “really must take our fate into our own hands.”

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/29/politics/merkel-trump-europe/

Once again, I offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the Manchester bombing.

RELATED ARTICLE

  • Condolences (24 March 2017)

Love to everyone ♥

______________________________

[1] William Lacy Swing, Head of the International Organization of Migration, reports that people smugglers make $35 bln a year on the Migrant Crisis.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-migration-idUSKBN18R26H

[2] Refugees from the Middle East are Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans. Most are Muslims, but Canada has also welcomed Christians, Armenians and Assyrians  (Syriacs) and Yazidis, whose faith combines a number of beliefs.  The persecution of Yazidis by ISIL was genocidal.

Tchaikovsky – Hymn of the Cherubim

24victims1-blog427

Saffie Rose Roussos

© Micheline Walker
1st June 2017
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Canada: Refugees and CETA

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, European Union, Terrorism

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Angela Merkel, Border Crossing, CETA, European Union, Islamophobia, Justin Trudeau, NATO, St Matthew's Banquet

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers assist a child from a family that claimed to be from Sudan as they walk across the U.S.-Canada border into Hemmingford, Canada, from Champlain in New York. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

cda-us-border-refugees-20170217

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slide_515870_7255010_free

http://ca.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=CAKBN15W2GN&channelName=topNews#a=1

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/02/18/hemmingford-quebec-rcmp-refugees-asylum-border-photo_n_14842790.html (video)

Crossing the Border

The picture above shows a topsy-turvy world. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer is helping a family cross the U.S.-Canada border. An American border patrol, not shown, is trying to prevent them from entering Canada. They had to go through a gully where they had thrown their belongings. Without the help of the police they could not have entered Canada.

Both the American border patrol and the RCMP officer were doing what they had to do. One should keep in mind that the United States has welcomed people fleeing persecutions and oppression for most of its history. One of our WordPress colleagues remarked that the United States had been a lighthouse, a beacon, to the world. It is inhabited by immigrants and descendants of immigrants, many of whom are or have become prominent Americans.

Matters will be remedied, because Mr Trump’s policies are not “American.” They are a violation of the American Constitution. I watched a video showing a man carrying signatures, a petition, from people who are asking that Mr Trump be impeached.

For the time being, Canadians have been asked to shelter refugees who could be the victims of a particularly harsh winter day. I doubt that this reflects a formal policy, but one rescues people who endangered by a harsh winter and could be deported. However, one also dials 9-1-1 and informs the police.

Islamophobia

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/protest-us-consulate-islamophobia-white-supremacy-1.3967434

Many Canadians are protesting against President Trump’s Islamophobia. However, Canada has not escaped a degree of Islamophobia. One Canadian killed 6 Muslims and wounded 5. Investigators reported that Alexandre Bissonnette, the Quebec City shooter, could not be associated to a terrorist organization. He had been influenced by the media as his Facebook accounted reflected. He admired Donald J Trump, the President of the United States, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s Front National. The shooting was investigated immediately and the shooter could not be linked to an Islamic terrorist group. Certain individuals would have liked to link the brutal attack on Muslims in Quebec City to an Islamic terrorist group.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-mosque-gun-shots-1.3957686

Justin Trudeau travels to Europe

  • CETA
  • NATO

On Thursday, 16 February 2017, Justin Trudeau was in Strasbourg, France, where he addressed the European Parliament, which had ratified the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (CETA). CETA had been discussed since 2013, when it was proposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mr Trudeau’s predecessor. The agreement had to be modified in order to be ratified by the European Union, hence the delay. CETA must now be passed by the Canadian Parliament (the House of Commons) and approved by Canada’s Senate.

President Trump is promoting protectionism, which places limits on free trade. Canadians promote free trade between Canada and the European Union. However, CETA was not negotiated to oppose President Trump. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel

Chancellor Merkel will commit a larger financial contribution to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (l’Organisation du Traité de l’Atlantique Nord, OTAN). However, Canada will not. It will contribute otherwise. NATO is a military alliance.  He met with German Angela Merkel on Friday morning.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany Friday, February 17, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-angela-merkel-germany-1.3987562

Chancellor Merkel was close to former American president Barack Obama. Whether or not she will be close to Prime Minister Trudeau remains to be seen, but they had a congenial meeting and she gave him of photograph showing Trudeau père and 10-year-old Justin during a trip to Germany. When leaders talk, ordinary citizens live in a safer world.

Later on Friday, Canada’s prime minister was honoured at Hamburg’s St. Matthew’s Banquet, a black tie and tuxedo event. The Prime Minister did not speak about Mr Trump. However, when asked about Mr Trump, he was reassuring. He has been labelled the Anti-Trump. Not quite. Canada, however, has become home to 40,000 refugees from the Middle East: Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans. (See European migrant crisis, Wikipedia.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/02/17/trudeau-hamburg-black-tie-gala_n_14824820.html

germany-canada-2trudeau-europe-20170217

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, centre, Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz, right, and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, left, pose for photographers at city hall in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday. Trudeau later gave a speech talking about warding off populist anger by addressing middle-class anxiety. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

Conclusion

During the past week, there were attempts to build bridges. The European Union was weakened by the European migrant crisis, which began in 2015. Brexit showed that people tend to fold up if they feel threatened. Nativism arises. The more salient example of this kind of behaviour is the 2016 American Election. Barring Muslims from entering the United States invites further radicalization and terrorism.

ISIL is a reality, but ISIL is an Islamic terrorist organization. Saying that all Muslims are terrorists is false and it is dangerous. So is building a wall to keep Mexicans out. It is divisive. The better path could be to boost the Mexican economy.

Love to everyone ♥

Homemade music video for Salve Regina by Arvo Pärt. Performed by The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Conducted by Paul Hillier.
(Images: Sátántangó, 1994)

charitable-samaritan-also-known-as-the-good-samaritan-1638-jpglarge

The Charitable Samaritan by Rembrandt, 1638 (WikiArt)

© Micheline Walker
20 February 2017
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President Trump inciting Violence

08 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Migrant Crisis, Terrorism, United States

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Inciting Violence, Islamophobia, Nativism, President Trump's Islamophobia, Quebec City shooting, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

800px-europa_copy

Europa and bull on a Greek vase. Tarquinia Museum, circa 480 BCE (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Changing Computers

Changing computers is a challenge. One has the feeling one is entering a store. One no longer buys Office. Every year Office 365 takes money from your credit card and renews itself. Pressure is put on users to choose Microsoft Edge as one’s default browser. Etc.

Fortunately, WordPress was not a problem except that my one image disappeared and my past post, which I started writing on 6 February, but did not post until 7 February, is dated 6 February 2017.

—ooo—

That post contains important information.

The RCMP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has determined that Alexandre Bissonnette, the Quebec City shooter, was influenced by Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the Front National, a nativist, far-right French political party.

The media wanted to link Alexandre Bissonnette, the shooter in the Quebec City mosque attack, to a Muslim terrorist association. Investigators found no evidence linking the shooter, Alexandre Bissonnette, to a terrorist organization. But his Facebook account reveals that he admired President Trump and Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front. Both Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen are nativists.

So a young French-Canadian student killed and wounded Muslims because he was influenced by President Donald Trump’s Islamophobia and by the President’s hatred of foreigners, which was spread by the media and in particular the social media. He was also influenced by Marine Le Pen’s nativism or xenophobia (fear of foreigners).

The Quebec shooting is case number one, but there could be more shootings if Donald Trump does not abandon all plans of barring Muslims from entering the United States. 

President Trump’s Islamophobia and the media conveying his message have caused one young man to kill Muslims, which means that Mr Trump and the media, including the social media, are endangering the life of North-American Muslims.

President Trump should be impeached on the grounds that he is inciting violence.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/quebec-city-mosque-shooter-was-a-criminal-extremist-rcmp-commissioner/article33920071/

Love to everyone ♥

90

© Micheline Walker
8 February 2017
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Quebec shooting: “Criminal Extremism”

06 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Terrorism, United States

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

a "Criminal Extremist", Commissioner Bob Paulson, Dr Julien Clément, Islamophobia, Quebec City shooting, RCMP, the Second Man

aamehzc

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/march-held-to-honour-mosque-attack-victims/ar-AAmCXHX?li=AAadgLE&ocid=spartandhp

 The Shooter in the Quebec City Attack

The notion persists, in President Trump’s mind, that all Muslims are terrorists. Moreover, it had been suggested that the shooter in the Quebec City attack was supported by a Muslin terrorist organization, but such is not the case..

The shooter in Quebec City is Alexandre Bissonnette, a student at Laval University. He loved guns and, according to his Facebook account, he was interested in nativist Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, a far-right French political party, and nativist Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States. After the attack, he phone 911, the emergency telephone number, to alert the police and tell where he could be picked up.

But we now have news.

mosque-paulson06nw

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson waits to appear before the Senate Committee on National Security and Defense, Monday, February 6, 2017 in Ottawa (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Alexandre Bissonnette: “non-classic” terrorism

Alexandre Bissonnette is considered a “criminal extremist,” which is a crime that is somewhat new to criminologists. I will quote RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] Commissioner Bob Paulson.

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is warning about “non-classic” terrorism that feeds on hate and controversy on social media, blaming growing political polarization for the deadly shooting at a mosque in Quebec City.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/quebec-city-mosque-shooter-was-a-criminal-extremist-rcmp-commissioner/article33920071/

An Early Report: a Witness not a “Second Man”

  • a man shoveling snow heard shots
  • Alexandre Bissonnette

It was first reported that two men were suspects, one of whom was a Muslim. This Muslim, the “second man,” was not the shooter. He was shoveling snow outside the mosque, heard shots, and entered the building. He saw bleeding bodies and dialed 911, to report that an attack had taken place.

After Mr Bissonnette was taken into custody the “second man” was released. There is no evidence that some Islamic terrorist organization supported Alexandre Bissonnette. Therefore, Alexandre Bissonnette is unlikely to face terror charges.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/terror-charges-unlikely-in-quebec-city-mosque-shooting-lawyer-1.3274551?autoPlay=true

President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Quebec City
Quebec City
Alexandre Bissonnette
Alexandre Bissonnette

 

Setting the Planet Ablaze

  • President Trump’s Islamophobia is dangerous
  • President Trump searching the White House

President Trump’s Islamophobia and the influence he exerts on the media are extremely dangerous and could set the planet ablaze. The Quebec City attack is an example of the harm President Trump’s Islamophobia and xenophobia can cause. Mr Trump is now fuming because, despite the ban, he is hanging on to his conviction that all Muslims are terrorists. Rumour has it that President Trump is also searching the White House to eliminate traces left by President Obama whom he still sees as a Muslim and, therefore, a terrorist.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-politics/trump-immigration-ban-what-we-know/article33822491/

The Injured

  • three released
  • two in intensive care
  • Dr Julien Clément

Three of the injured have been discharged from the L’Enfant-Jésus Hospital, one of three teaching hospitals affiliated with Laval University. Two, however, remain in intensive care. It seems their life is not threatened, but there are complications. Dr Julien Clément was called in. He is a former military surgeon and a trauma specialist who served in the Middle East. Dr Clément originates from Windsor, Ontario, and studied medicine in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and British Columbia. He and his team had difficulty operating because the victims bled profusely. Dr Clément didn’t think he would ever see such carnage in Quebec City.

We must resist President Trump and other nativists and extremists. Allow me to repeat that the suspect in the Quebec City attack is Alexandre Bissonnette, a French-Canadian Laval University student.

I will close by saying that the brutal loss in Quebec City of innocent lives has saddened Canadians “from coast to coast.”

Love to everyone ♥

Gregorio ALLEGRI – Miserere Mei, Deus (+ Lyrics / OXFORD, Choir of New College)

800px-sandro_botticelli_025

The Outcast by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1496 (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
7 February 2017
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Muslims Attacked in Quebec City

30 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Terrorism

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Attack on Mosque, Islamophobia, Premier Couillard, President Trump, Prime Minister Trudeau, Quebec City

canada-quebec-city-mosque-shooting

A member of a Quebec police SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team escorts a woman from houses not far from the scene where two gunmen opened fire inside the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec (Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec) during evening prayers on Jan. 29. (André Pichette/EPA)

 

canada-quebec-city-mosque-shooting1

Six people were killed and 19 wounded in the shooting at the mosque. Here, municipal police patrol outside the Mosque on Monday morning. (André Pichette/EPA)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-mosque-gun-shots-1.3957686

Six men were killed and five are in serious condition after an attack on Quebec City’s main Mosque. According to Radio-Canada, the French-language CBC, there is one suspect, but we are at an early point in the investigation.

Women and children were not killed as they do not worship in the same room as men. The Mosque had been vandalized earlier when a pig’s head was deposited at the door of the building.

Motivation has yet to be determined with precision, but the target was a Mosque, the most important Mosque in Quebec city.

—ooo—

Quebec Premier, Dr Philippe Couillard, “doesn’t explicitly blame Trump but replies: ‘We are obviously in a world where people tend to divide themselves rather than unite themselves.’”

Premier Couillard “calls on Quebec to be a beacon, to be as inclusive as possible.”

http://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/live-blog/quebec-mosque-shooting

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is travelling to Quebec city with the interim leader of the opposition, Rona Ambrose. For information on Islamic facilities in Quebec City, please click on the following link.

https://www.salatomatic.com/sub/yPNsIlo5Ir

—ooo—

I would not blame President Trump, but I hope he will soon realize that Islamophobia is putting Muslims at considerable risk around the world. I hope he will also realize that Canadians were attacked. Canada is endangered because it welcomes Muslims and is located immediately north of the United States.

He must reverse his stand on immigration or poison the mind of possible terrorists. If he dares suggest that terrorist attacks are to be expected in countries that welcome Muslim immigrants, he will hear differently.

Meanwhile, we will have to intensify the protection of Canadian Muslims.

© Micheline Walker
30 January 2017
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Donald Trump as President? No!

16 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by michelinewalker in Terrorism, Uncategorized, United States

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Donald Trump, Islamophobia, misogyny, Orlando Massacre, President Obama, racism

_89983174_89983029

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/13/politics/donald-trump-orlando-massacre-speech/index.html

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000004469130

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36526028 ♥

Orlando: those who helped

The Orlando Massacre will long be remembered as a horrific event. But we are now hearing about the courage of people who saved dozens of lives risking their own. These accounts are very touching and they show love. The police did all it could. They broke holes through the walls so they could get in and stop the massacre. I thank all these generous and fearless individuals.

Hatred: Donald Trump

In the meantime, however, Donald Trump, a presidential hopeful, has disgraced himself. Should he be voted into office, he would prevent Muslims from entering the United States. Before he started killing, Omar Mateen, the presumed shooter, claimed allegiance to the Islamic State, but it is unlikely that he was directed to kill innocent citizens by anyone. President Obama is calling the crime “homegrown.” We will know more as the investigation progresses.

The Republicans erred in choosing Mr Trump as their candidate to the presidency of the United States. Presidents cannot allow themselves to make statements in which they demonstrate hatred. In fact, candidates to the presidency of the United States cannot even allow themselves to think as Mr Trump thinks.

At the moment, not only has Mr Trump displayed Islamophobia, but he has also made it very clear that he is a racist. Several years ago, I watched an A&E television program and I heard Mr Trump boast to Bill Curtis that a certain club was so exclusive that African-Americans could not enter.

He is also a misogynist and, in this regard, extremely offensive. Does Mr Trump think that women are irresponsible citizens who undergo abortions frivolously? Besides, Mr Trump cannot make pronouncements in this area as he is not a qualified medical practitioner. He’s a bully and, as you know, a liar.

What will we do when President Obama is replaced? He cared for the people. He had the qualifications expected of world leaders. He didn’t rush to judgment. He was able to perform his duties despite systematic obstructionism. He survived two government shutdowns. He has an open, brilliant and beautiful mind and he has earned the respect and admiration of the world.

But Donald Trump! The Orlando massacre was a great tragedy which a presidential hopeful used to foam at the mouth and offend Muslims.

Mr Trump has shown that he is “unfit,” a word I am borrowing, to run for the office of President of the United States.

—ooo—

I apologize for neglecting my very dear readers. Life has been unkind. I’m glad we have each other.

Love to everyone.  ♥
barack-obama3

© Micheline Walker
16 June 2016
WordPress 

 

 

 

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