Sergeant First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, California. Loved camping, fishing and hunting and was very proud of serving his country. http://www.warriorwishes.org/2014/04/32in30-san-francisco-giants-warrior.html
Editor: This is a very sad story from our indispensable reporter ‘Pungentpeppers:’
A Kurdish Iraqi man, who settled as a refugee in Canada while still a teen, has been extradited to New York and is facing terrorism charges. Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, 36, who also goes by the name Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, is accused of helping orchestrate an April 2009 truck bombing in Mosul, Iraq. Five American soldiers died in the attack, and two Iraqi policemen.
Muhammad ‘Isa admitted he corresponded by email with two of the terrorists while they were in Syria, and that they were on a mission to kill Americans. He wired $700 to a “facilitator” who helped one of the attackers, a Tunisian, enter Iraq.
On wiretaps last year, Muhammad ‘Isa was overheard explaining to someone in Iraq how he used code words when discussing the Iraq operation.”For example, when I want to name the brothers, I say the farmers — because they plant metal and harvest metal and flesh.” He also explained that he used the term “married” to mean “in the afterlife.”
Muhammad ‘Isa pleaded “not guilty” to the charges on Saturday.
Although the press describes him as “Canadian” – he arrived in Canada in 1993, and became a Canadian citizen four years later – he is Canadian on paper only.
This turncoat needs to get “married” and see “the afterlife” – but first he’ll spend his time in prison.
The five American servicemen who were killed in the attack:
Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods, 24, of Lebanon Junction, Kentucky;
Sgt. First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, California;
Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis, Missouri;
Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport Iowa; and
Army Pfc. Bryce E. Gaultier, 22 of Cyprus, California.
To learn more, here are the links for this breaking news:
This month we are on target to having the best daily visitor average ever! However, since I am going away to speak about refugees at the end of the coming week and won’t be able to post for three days, we might not make it to the best month ever (which so far is October 2014).
We didn’t publish a weekly summary last week mostly because the same posts that topped the list were the same ones that everyone was reading the previous week! And, because I am lazy sometimes!
I don’t get it, but one of those posts is still the Top Post three weeks running!Here are this week’s top three (daily top posts are in the right hand side bar):
Here are the top ten countries from which we received readers (excluding the US) this past week. Looks like many of the usual ones:
UK
Canada
Australia
France
South Africa
Germany
Netherlands
Sweden
Kenya
Finland
Slightly lower on the list and much more interesting are: Jamaica, Japan, Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Turkey, Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia.
For new readers!
Since we get new readers every day, here is my usual spiel with two new comments from me:
First, we do screen our comments and don’t post any that threaten any kind of violence and we don’t post ones filled with foul language. An occasional expletive might slip in if the comment is otherwise a good one. You are always free to disagree with our point of view if you follow those two simple rules.
And the other thing I want to mention is about e-mails that come to you every time we post. They come directly from wordpress to subscribers. We don’t send out e-mails. So, if we are posting too much for your e-mail inbox, then just unsubscribe and visit RRW when you have the time. I understand completely about too many e-mails! You might want to simply follow us on twitter or on facebook (below).
This is where you can find information if you are arriving here at RRW for the first time (in addition to our fact sheet). We have over 6,000 posts.
* See our categories (left hand sidebar)
* See the tag clouds (right hand sidebar)
* Also, we have a great search function and since neither the categories nor the tags go all the way back to our first posts more than seven years ago, use the search window with a few key words. You might want to first try your city, state, or country to see what we have reported from there over the years.
Readers from Europe should search for key words ‘Invasion of Europe’ for all of our many posts on the migration crisis on the Continent.
By the way, our category entitled ‘where to find information’ is filled with reports and documents, but with 319 posts archived there, it is pretty unwieldy now.
Past weekly roundups can be found in our category entitled ‘blogging.’
If you wish to be notified when we post, consider subscribing or follow us on twitter (@refugeewatcher) or facebook (RefugeeInfoResource). ‘Like us’ on facebook!
And apologies to all who e-mail and comment, sorry if I don’t respond much, there are just not enough hours in my day!
It occurs to me that I do see everyone’s comments to posts because we do screen them (no foul language, no threats), so if you have something you want me to see, I don’t at all mind if you send the link as a comment to a post, even if it’s off-topic.
To regular readers, thank you for your continued concern for this very important issue.
Thousands turned out to march for Khalid, the murdered Muslim, when they thought some crazed PEGIDA supporter had knifed him to death.
We didn’t mention the story (the murder) when it happened mostly because it seemed too convenient that just as the anti-immigration (anti-Islamization) movement PEGIDA was expanding dramatically, and the Paris slaughter had just occurred, the media directed us to ‘look over here’ where some German right-winger MIGHT have murdered a poor African migrant in Dresden.
January 15th: Here is just one of MANY articles that came out after an Eritrean Muslim ‘asylum seeker’ was found dead in Dresden:
Germany’s recent upsurge in anti-Islam sentiment appears to have taken a dark new turn, as a 20-year old asylum seeker was murdered in Dresden this week.
Khaled Idris Bahray, a Muslim originally from Eritrea, was found stabbed to death close to his home in southern Dresdenon Tuesday morning. The previous night, an estimated 25,000 demonstrators from the far-right Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) group, which proclaims to oppose Islamic extremism, had marched through the center of the German city. Many have now linked the murder of the 20-year-old to the ongoing increase in racist attacks there.
[….]
Immediately following the incident, questions were raised regarding the increasing prevalence of anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiments in the city. Just days before the attack, neo-Nazi graffiti, including a swastika, was painted on the door of the flat in which Khaled was living, accompanied by the message “We’ll get you all.”
Many foreigners feel insecure on the streets of the city amid the upswing in attacks in Dresden. After a PEGIDA demonstration in December, a group of “foreign-looking youths” came under attack in a Dresden mall, with several injuries reported. An Eritrean speaker at a vigil held in memory of Khaled told the crowd: “We are afraid. Help us,” before claiming that most asylum seekers in the city want to leave.[So let them leave!—ed]
The rise in hostility towards refugees and migrants has been linked to the ongoing PEGIDA demonstrations, which began in October 2014 and have now risen to attendance levels estimated at 25,000 people.
Then get this! Thousands turned out to proclaim,”Ich bin Khalid!”
Under the slogan “Rights and security for refugees – in memory of Khaled,” the march on Saturday aimed not only to remember Khaled I., but also to show a sign of solidarity with asylum seekers and refugees in Dresden, particularly in light of an apparent increase in xenophobic sentiment in recent months.
Following in the footsteps of mourners across the world who last weekend remembered the Paris attack victims with the slogan “Je suis Charlie,” many of those marching in memory of Khaled I. on Saturday were seen holding signs bearing the words “Ich bin Khaled” (I am Khaled).
Amid claims that Khaled I.’s stabbing could have been racially motivated, the participants at the march also demanded an explanation for his death and criticized the anti-Islamization group PEGIDA, which the marchers accuse of turning Dresden into a “center of xenophobia.”
Another asylum seeker arrested in the murder!
January 22nd: Oopsy! Deutsche Welle, with no apology for its previous reporting, tells us that Khalid’s roommate, another Eritrean, has been arrested in the murder. Shouldn’t the press now be asking about the sorts of people being allowed to reside among German citizens?
The Dresden district attorney’s office confirmed on Thursday that an arrest warrant for manslaughter had been issued in the case of an asylum seeker who was found dead a little over a week ago. The accused killer had been remanded into custody as a result of DNA evidence found on the murder weapon.
The suspect was a housemate of Khaled B., the 20-year old from Eritrea who was discovered dead in his high-rise in Dresden’s Leubnitz-Neuostra district where he lived with other asylum seekers. The police originally issued a report saying there was no evidence of foul play, but reversed this statement when a coroner’s report listed multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest.
The 26-year-old suspect is also thought to be from Eritrea, quelling rumors that the murder was a hate crime, which had been circulating since swastika graffiti was found in the staircase near Khaled’s apartment.The accused has alledgedly confessed while in custody and given his motive as a fight over household concerns that turned violent. [Ha! “Rumors” that Deutsche Welle has been only too happy to perpetuate.—ed]
Have you noticed that the authorities almost never figure out who is doing the graffiti writing—I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t the wannabe new Germans doing it themselves.
Final note: A recent poll (before the atrocity in Paris!) in Germany found that 57% of Germans feel that Islam is a threat! See The Local.
The survey was carried out in November – before the massacre of journalists in Paris by Islamist gunmen – but as the numbers attending anti-Muslim rallies in Dresden and other cities began to escalate.
The Bertelsman Foundation think tank survey looked at the perception of Islam in Germany from the eyes of Muslims and non-Muslims. Of the non-Muslims surveyed, 57 percent thought that Islam was threatening or very threatening to German society.
TNS Emnid, which conducted the survey for the Bertelsman Foundation think tank, said it’s a rise of four percent since 2012 when the study was last conducted. The research institute surveyed 937 non-Muslim Germans for the survey in November 2014.
Even more respondents felt that Islam did not fit into western society: 61 percent said not really or not at all. A rise of nine percent over 2012.
Forty percent felt like “foreigners in their own country” because of the perceived increase in the Muslim population.
Thanks to ‘Pungentpeppers’ for many contributions to this story.
One more in our‘Invasion of Europe’ series. See our previous post this morning—Most Europeans want immigration stopped. Click herefor all we have written about Germany’s migration mess.
In North America 39.3 want immigration numbers decreased.
This is a story put out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). I mentioned this US government contractor the other day—their role for us is to prepare and ship out the refugees headed for America (I guess other countries too, just never paid enough attention to them). They have a $1.6 billion budget, here. According to USA Spending, the US donated over $375 million to the IOM in fiscal year 2014.
Illegal migrants arrive in Malta. Is it any wonder 76% of Maltese citizens do not want more? Photo: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23848749
The IOM did a worldwide poll on opinions toward immigration which they say will be out later this year. For whatever reason, they are giving out some preliminary numbers now.
GENEVA: More than half of Europeans want less migration with up to 84 per cent of Greeks against any further rise, the International Organization for Migration said on Friday.
Releasing the preliminary findings of a Gallup poll held across more than 140 nations, the IOM said the trend in Europe went against the sentiment recorded in other regions of the world.
Across Europe, which has been battling to fight an influx of migrants arriving via often perilous land and sea routes, 52.1 per cent said migration levels should drop.
A total of 30.2 per cent Europeans wanted to maintain the status quo while 7.5 per cent wanted more migrants. [Guess that means the cheap labor advocates like German Chancellor Angela Merkel are in the minority—big time!—ed]
[….]
But there was a divide in the continent in North-South terms.
The majority in Scandinavia wanted the level of newcomers to remain constant or increase but countries in the Mediterranean region, an entry point for many migrants, wanted a sharp fall.
Eighty-four percent Greeks were against higher immigration. The figures for other affected countries were also steep with Italy at 67 per cent, Spain (56 per cent) and Malta (76 per cent). [Well, heck, if I were running the government in Malta I would surely be shipping the illegal migrants north!—ed]
[…]
At the same time anti-immigration rhetoric is growing across the European Union, fuelled by concerns about faltering economic growth and prompting calls for tougher border controls.
I betcha that they did this survey involving North America before the US border invasion by the children this past summer! And, don’t you wonder how they asked the question and where they asked it!
But in North America, another coveted region for immigrants, the majority would like the status quo maintained (34.2 per cent) or to see the levels increase (22.8 per cent).
They go on to say that 39.3 of North Americans want immigration levels decreased.
I would say that is a very significant number, and possibly more so if we knew when and where they were polling.
See our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive on the immigration crisis in Europe, here.
About the photo: For our many new readers, we have an extensive archive on the tiny island nation of Malta which has been besieged for all the years (since 2007) we have been reporting. You will be astounded to hear that every year the US State Department takes a significant number of these illegal migrants and transforms them into refugees for resettlement in your towns. Here is just one recent post on that issue. Click here for the whole sad story on Malta and how the US helps to create a “pull” factor for that country.
This month we are on target to having the best daily visitor average ever! However, since I am going away to speak about refugees at the end of the coming week and won’t be able to post for three days, we might not make it to the best month ever (which so far is October 2014).
