12 dead in attack on Paris newspaper; France goes on alert
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Between now and 2030, Britain and America's Muslim populations are each expected to double.
Canada's Muslim population, however, is expected to TREBLE in that time period. Canada's Muzzie population is growing far quicker than Britain's. There's something for you to think about.
Number of British Muslims will double to 5.5m in 20 years | Daily Mail Online
'Religion of peace' is not a harmless platitude
To face Islamist terror, we must face the facts about Islam's history
17 January 2015
Douglas Murray
The Spectator
144 Comments
The West’s movement towards the truth is remarkably slow. We drag ourselves towards it painfully, inch by inch, after each bloody Islamist assault.
In France, Britain, Germany, America and nearly every other country in the world it remains government policy to say that any and all attacks carried out in the name of Mohammed have ‘nothing to do with Islam’. It was said by George W. Bush after 9/11, Tony Blair after 7/7 and Tony Abbott after the Sydney attack last month. It is what David Cameron said after two British extremists cut off the head of Drummer Lee Rigby in London, when ‘Jihadi John’ cut off the head of aid worker Alan Henning in the ‘Islamic State’ and when Islamic extremists attacked a Kenyan mall, separated the Muslims from the Christians and shot the latter in the head. And, of course, it is what President François Hollande said after the massacre of journalists and Jews in Paris last week.
All these leaders are wrong. In private, they and their senior advisers often concede that they are telling a lie. The most sympathetic explanation is that they are telling a ‘noble lie’, provoked by a fear that we — the general public — are a lynch mob in waiting. ‘Noble’ or not, this lie is a mistake. First, because the general public do not rely on politicians for their information and can perfectly well read articles and books about Islam for themselves. Secondly, because the lie helps no one understand the threat we face. Thirdly, because it takes any heat off Muslims to deal with the bad traditions in their own religion. And fourthly, because unless mainstream politicians address these matters then one day perhaps the public will overtake their politicians to a truly alarming extent.
If politicians are so worried about this secondary ‘backlash’ problem then they would do well to remind us not to blame the jihadists’ actions on our peaceful compatriots and then deal with the primary problem — radical Islam — in order that no secondary, reactionary problem will ever grow.
Yet today our political class fuels both cause and nascent effect. Because the truth is there for all to see. To claim that people who punish people by killing them for blaspheming Islam while shouting ‘Allah is greatest’ has ‘nothing to do with Islam’ is madness. Because the violence of the Islamists is, truthfully, only to do with Islam: the worst version of Islam, certainly, but Islam nonetheless.
Last week, a chink was broken in this wall of disinformation when Sajid Javid, the only Muslim-born member of the British cabinet, and one of its brightest hopes, dipped a toe into this water. After the Paris attacks, he told the BBC: ‘The lazy answer would be to say that this has got nothing whatsoever to do with Islam or Muslims and that should be the end of that. That would be lazy and wrong.’ Sadly, he proceeded to utter the second most lazy thing one can say: ‘These people are using Islam, taking a peaceful religion and using it as a tool to carry out their activities.’
Here we land at the centre of the problem — a centre we have spent the last decade and a half trying to avoid: Islam is not a peaceful religion. No religion is, but Islam is especially not. It is certainly not, as some ill-informed people say, solely a religion of war. There are many peaceful verses in the Quran which — luckily for us — most Muslims live by. But it is by no means only a religion of peace.
I say this not because I hate Islam, nor do I have any special animus against Muslims, but simply because this is the verifiable truth based on the texts. Until we accept that we will never defeat the violence, we risk encouraging whole populations to take against all of Islam and abandon all those Muslims who are trying desperately to modernise, reform and de-literalise their faith. And — most importantly — we will give up our own traditions of free speech and historical inquiry and allow one religion to have an unbelievable advantage in the free marketplace of ideas.
It is not surprising that politicians have tried to avoid this debate by spinning a lie. The world would be an infinitely safer place if the historical Mohammed had behaved more like Buddha or Jesus. But he did not and an increasing number of people — Muslim and non-Muslim — have been able to learn this for themselves in recent years. But the light of modern critical inquiry which has begun to fall on Islam is a process which is already proving incredibly painful.
The ‘cartoon wars’ — which began when the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten published a set of cartoons in 2005 — are part of that. But as Flemming Rose, the man who commissioned those cartoons, said when I sat down with him this week, there remains a deep ignorance in the West about what people like the Charlie Hebdo murderers wish to achieve. And we keep ducking it. As Rose said, ‘I wish we had addressed all this nine years ago.’
Contra the political leaders, the Charlie Hebdo murderers were not lunatics without motive, but highly motivated extremists intent on enforcing Islamic blasphemy laws in 21st-century Europe. If you do not know the ideology — perverted or plausible though it may be — you can neither understand nor prevent such attacks. Nor, without knowing some Islamic history, could you understand why — whether in Mumbai or Paris — the Islamists always target the Jews.
Of course, some people are willing to give up a few of our rights. There seems, as Rose says in his book on the Danish cartoons affair, The Tyranny of Silence, some presumption that a diverse society requires greater limitations on speech, whereas of course the more diverse the society, the more diverse you are going to have to see your speech be. It is not just cartoons, but a whole system of inquiry which is being shut down in the West by way of hard intimidation and soft claims of offence-taking. The result is that, in contemporary Europe, Islam receives not an undue amount of criticism but a free ride which is unfair to all other religions. The night after the Charlie Hebdo atrocities I was pre-recording a Radio 4 programme. My fellow discussant was a very nice Muslim man who works to ‘de-radicalise’ extremists. We agreed on nearly everything. But at some point he said that one reason Muslims shouldn’t react to such cartoons is that Mohammed never objected to critics.
There may be some positive things to be said about Mohammed, but I thought this was pushing things too far and mentioned just one occasion when Mohammed didn’t welcome a critic. Asma bint Marwan was a poetess who mocked the ‘Prophet’ and who, as a result, Mohammed had killed. It is in the texts. It is not a problem for me. But I can understand why it is a problem for decent Muslims.
The moment I said this, my Muslim colleague went berserk. How dare I say this? I replied that it was in the Hadith and had a respectable chain of transmission (an important debate). He said it was a fabrication which he would not allow to stand. The upshot was that he refused to continue unless all mention of this was wiped from the recording. The BBC team agreed and I was left trying to find another way to express the same point. The broadcast had this ‘offensive’ fact left out.
I cannot imagine another religious discussion where this would happen, but it is perfectly normal when discussing Islam. On that occasion I chose one case, but I could have chosen many others, such as the hundreds of Jews Mohammed beheaded with his own hand. Again, that’s in the mainstream Islamic sources. I haven’t made it up. It used to be a problem for Muslims to rationalise, but now there are people trying to imitate such behaviour in our societies it has become a problem for all of us, and I don’t see why people in the free world should have to lie about what we read in historical texts.
We may all share a wish that these traditions were not there but they are and they look set to have serious consequences for us all. We might all agree that the history of Christianity has hardly been un-bloody. But is it not worth asking whether the history of Christianity would have been more bloody or less bloody if, instead of telling his followers to ‘turn the other cheek’, Jesus had called (even once) for his disciples to ‘slay’ non–believers and chop off their heads?
This is a problem with Islam — one that Muslims are going to have to work through. They could do so by a process which forces them to take their foundational texts less literally, or by an intellectually acceptable process of cherry-picking verses. Or prominent clerics could unite to declare the extremists non-Muslim. But there isn’t much hope of this happening. Last month, al-Azhar University in Cairo declared that although Isis members are terrorists they cannot be described as heretics.
We have spent 15 years pretending things about Islam, a complex religion with competing interpretations. It is true that most Muslims live their lives peacefully. But a sizeable portion (around 15 per cent and more in most surveys) follow a far more radical version. The remainder are sitting on a religion which is, in many of its current forms, a deeply unstable component. That has always been a problem for reformist Muslims. But the results of ongoing mass immigration to the West at the same time as a worldwide return to Islamic literalism means that this is now a problem for all of us. To stand even a chance of dealing with it, we are going to have to wake up to it and acknowledge it for what it is.
This article first appeared in the print edition of The Spectator magazine, dated 17 January 2015
'Religion of peace' is not a harmless platitude » The Spectator
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So who's in that trashy looking box?
You didn't read it did you? If you had I'm sure that an illuminate of your candle power wouldn't have failed to recognize the work of a common sh it disturbing yard ape.
You didn't read it did you? If you had I'm sure that an illuminate of your candle power wouldn't have failed to recognize the work of a common sh it disturbing yard ape.
The Belgians foil a terrorist atrocity which was aimed at killing policemen and which was going to be committed by....yes, you guessed it, the Muslims.
Belgium Verviers plot 'aimed to kill police'
16 January 2015
BBC News
An Islamist militant group targeted in a major anti-terror raid on Thursday had been planning to kill policemen in the street and at police stations, Belgian prosecutors say.
The planned attacks were imminent, prosecutors said, adding that two suspects shot dead in Verviers during the raids were still being identified.
Searches were also carried out overnight in the Brussels area.
Thirteen suspects had been arrested, while two were arrested in France.
BBC News - Belgium Verviers plot 'aimed to kill police'
And guess what religion Boko Haram are.
Belgium Verviers plot 'aimed to kill police'
16 January 2015
BBC News
An Islamist militant group targeted in a major anti-terror raid on Thursday had been planning to kill policemen in the street and at police stations, Belgian prosecutors say.
The planned attacks were imminent, prosecutors said, adding that two suspects shot dead in Verviers during the raids were still being identified.
Searches were also carried out overnight in the Brussels area.
Thirteen suspects had been arrested, while two were arrested in France.
BBC News - Belgium Verviers plot 'aimed to kill police'
And guess what religion Boko Haram are.
"That time John Kerry got James Taylor to sing 'You've got a friend' to France"
Wake me when the last hippie is dead.
Global Test - Small Dead Animals
Wake me when the last hippie is dead.
Global Test - Small Dead Animals
"That time John Kerry got James Taylor to sing 'You've got a friend' to France"
Wake me when the last hippie is dead.
Global Test - Small Dead Animals
James Taylor is an immense talent.....unlike John Kerry, I thought Taylor would have sense enough to be embarrassed by the very idea of this.
The Belgians foil a terrorist atrocity which was aimed at killing policemen and which was going to be committed by....yes, you guessed it, the Muslims.
Belgium Verviers plot 'aimed to kill police'
16 January 2015
BBC News
An Islamist militant group targeted in a major anti-terror raid on Thursday had been planning to kill policemen in the street and at police stations, Belgian prosecutors say.
The planned attacks were imminent, prosecutors said, adding that two suspects shot dead in Verviers during the raids were still being identified.
Searches were also carried out overnight in the Brussels area.
Thirteen suspects had been arrested, while two were arrested in France.
BBC News - Belgium Verviers plot 'aimed to kill police'
And guess what religion Boko Haram are.
:lol: LOL now he's happy because it made it too BBC. :lol: :lol:
I might have to be quick if I want to get my copy of the new Charlie Hebdo:
Charlie Hebdo attacks: Londoners queue for latest edition
By Emma Ailes
BBC News
16 January 2015
About 1,000 copies of the French-language version of the 'survivor's edition' of Charlie Hebdo went on sale on Friday
By dawn on Friday, a dozen people stood huddled outside a small French bookshop in London's leafy South Kensington.
They had been queuing since midnight to buy the first copies of Charlie Hebdo to go on UK sale since two gunmen stormed the magazine's Paris offices, killing 12 people, including eight of the magazine's staff.
Dubbed the "survivor issue", its front-page cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad is seen by some as a bold statement in defence of free speech but by many Muslims as highly offensive.
Third in line is German student Moritz Riewoldt.
He took the last train from Putney, south-west London, to arrive shortly after midnight.
German Moritz Riewoldt queued from the early hours for a copy of Charlie Hebdo
"I'm here to show I stand against threats to freedom," he said.
"Being German, I carry our history with me. My parents were about 10 when the Holocaust happened.
"Where freedom of speech is curtailed, oppression starts."
By the time the Tube opens, the queue stretched around two corners - at a rough count about 200 people - as well as a large gaggle of journalists and several police officers.
At 08:15 sharp, the doors opened.
Moments later Moritz emerged holding his copy aloft to a volley of flashbulbs from the waiting media scrum. Many more follow.
Some had never bought Charlie Hebdo before - never even heard of it before the attack - but now felt strongly enough about what it represented that they had turned out in the early hours to queue.
"I personally and politically disagree with what Charlie Hebdo stands for," said Joachim Sabbat, 24, from Surbiton, south-west London.
"My politics are naturally right wing. But this is about defending a free society."
'Crazy numbers'
While most people in line said they wanted a copy of the magazine for its symbolic import, others had more prosaic motives.
"I won't lie, I have seen some crazy numbers on eBay," said 21-year-old Cory Dupuis, from north London.
"Of course what happened was tragic. But if I'm getting crazy numbers..."
Cory Dupuis says he will sell his copy on eBay for the right price
Another man said simply: "If it's a good price, it's good business."
The numbers they talk about are bids exceeding £1,500 on the auction site on Wednesday.
But others expressed their disgust at the idea of making profit from the so-called "survivor issue".
"I think it's despicable to sell it for profit, unless they donate that money to charity," said 33-year-old Alan Smith.
"I think eBay should take the listings down."
Short supply
It took little more than an hour for the several hundred copies at the bookshop to sell out.
Many other shops who had ordered copies were left disappointed.
"I ordered a handful of copies after a request from a customer," said Philip Leach, who runs Backwell Post Office in Somerset.
"Last night it looked like we'd get them, but this morning we were told there aren't any.
"I'm very disappointed.
"From the comments on our newsagents' Facebook group, it doesn't look as if any independent newsagent received any copies of Charlie this morning."
Hundreds queued for Charlie Hebdo in London, but elsewhere many shops did not receive any copies
Distributors have been notably reticent on the topic.
One, Smiths, said 1,000 copies landed in the UK on Friday, of which it received 100. It would not comment on whether it would get any more.
Another distributor, Comag, would not comment at all - even to confirm whether or not they had received any copies.
They are perhaps understandably cagey.
It was reported on Friday that a number of book shops in Brussels had received threatening letters warning them not to sell Charlie Hebdo.
In Pakistan there have been violent protests against the magazine.
'Insulting images'
As many Muslims gathered for Friday prayers, reaction in the British Muslim community was mixed.
The Muslim Council of Britain held "unity" gatherings in London and Manchester, calling for a calm response.
Secretary general Dr Shuja Shafi said: "We're at risk of doing the very thing the terrorists want us to do - divide our society.
"Yes Muslims are no doubt hurt and offended by those depictions. But nothing offends us more than the insult, hurt and dishonour this attack has brought on our community and faith."
There were clashes at a demonstration against Charlie Hebdo in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday
But others feel strongly that the magazine's front page, depicting a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, has crossed a line.
Mohammed Khan, a pharmacist from London who describes himself as a strict Muslim, said: "There's a difference between saying something which will offend somebody somewhere, and knowingly putting something on the front page which you know will offend people.
"Muslims need to make their voices heard and command respect for their values, within the remit of the law."
The cover of the new Charlie Hebdo
BBC News - Charlie Hebdo attacks: Londoners queue for latest edition
There's still been nothing on BBC or Sky News on any mythical hostage situation having taken place yesterday. There's been no mention of it at all. I still think you imagined it.
Charlie Hebdo attacks: Londoners queue for latest edition
By Emma Ailes
BBC News
16 January 2015
About 1,000 copies of the French-language version of the 'survivor's edition' of Charlie Hebdo went on sale on Friday
By dawn on Friday, a dozen people stood huddled outside a small French bookshop in London's leafy South Kensington.
They had been queuing since midnight to buy the first copies of Charlie Hebdo to go on UK sale since two gunmen stormed the magazine's Paris offices, killing 12 people, including eight of the magazine's staff.
Dubbed the "survivor issue", its front-page cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad is seen by some as a bold statement in defence of free speech but by many Muslims as highly offensive.
Third in line is German student Moritz Riewoldt.
He took the last train from Putney, south-west London, to arrive shortly after midnight.
German Moritz Riewoldt queued from the early hours for a copy of Charlie Hebdo
"I'm here to show I stand against threats to freedom," he said.
"Being German, I carry our history with me. My parents were about 10 when the Holocaust happened.
"Where freedom of speech is curtailed, oppression starts."
By the time the Tube opens, the queue stretched around two corners - at a rough count about 200 people - as well as a large gaggle of journalists and several police officers.
At 08:15 sharp, the doors opened.
Moments later Moritz emerged holding his copy aloft to a volley of flashbulbs from the waiting media scrum. Many more follow.
Some had never bought Charlie Hebdo before - never even heard of it before the attack - but now felt strongly enough about what it represented that they had turned out in the early hours to queue.
"I personally and politically disagree with what Charlie Hebdo stands for," said Joachim Sabbat, 24, from Surbiton, south-west London.
"My politics are naturally right wing. But this is about defending a free society."
'Crazy numbers'
While most people in line said they wanted a copy of the magazine for its symbolic import, others had more prosaic motives.
"I won't lie, I have seen some crazy numbers on eBay," said 21-year-old Cory Dupuis, from north London.
"Of course what happened was tragic. But if I'm getting crazy numbers..."
Cory Dupuis says he will sell his copy on eBay for the right price
Another man said simply: "If it's a good price, it's good business."
The numbers they talk about are bids exceeding £1,500 on the auction site on Wednesday.
But others expressed their disgust at the idea of making profit from the so-called "survivor issue".
"I think it's despicable to sell it for profit, unless they donate that money to charity," said 33-year-old Alan Smith.
"I think eBay should take the listings down."
Short supply
It took little more than an hour for the several hundred copies at the bookshop to sell out.
Many other shops who had ordered copies were left disappointed.
"I ordered a handful of copies after a request from a customer," said Philip Leach, who runs Backwell Post Office in Somerset.
"Last night it looked like we'd get them, but this morning we were told there aren't any.
"I'm very disappointed.
"From the comments on our newsagents' Facebook group, it doesn't look as if any independent newsagent received any copies of Charlie this morning."
Hundreds queued for Charlie Hebdo in London, but elsewhere many shops did not receive any copies
Distributors have been notably reticent on the topic.
One, Smiths, said 1,000 copies landed in the UK on Friday, of which it received 100. It would not comment on whether it would get any more.
Another distributor, Comag, would not comment at all - even to confirm whether or not they had received any copies.
They are perhaps understandably cagey.
It was reported on Friday that a number of book shops in Brussels had received threatening letters warning them not to sell Charlie Hebdo.
In Pakistan there have been violent protests against the magazine.
'Insulting images'
As many Muslims gathered for Friday prayers, reaction in the British Muslim community was mixed.
The Muslim Council of Britain held "unity" gatherings in London and Manchester, calling for a calm response.
Secretary general Dr Shuja Shafi said: "We're at risk of doing the very thing the terrorists want us to do - divide our society.
"Yes Muslims are no doubt hurt and offended by those depictions. But nothing offends us more than the insult, hurt and dishonour this attack has brought on our community and faith."
There were clashes at a demonstration against Charlie Hebdo in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday
But others feel strongly that the magazine's front page, depicting a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, has crossed a line.
Mohammed Khan, a pharmacist from London who describes himself as a strict Muslim, said: "There's a difference between saying something which will offend somebody somewhere, and knowingly putting something on the front page which you know will offend people.
"Muslims need to make their voices heard and command respect for their values, within the remit of the law."
The cover of the new Charlie Hebdo
BBC News - Charlie Hebdo attacks: Londoners queue for latest edition
There's still been nothing on BBC or Sky News on any mythical hostage situation having taken place yesterday. There's been no mention of it at all. I still think you imagined it.
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i dont hate muslims individually because i dont have a reason too. But im getting sick and tired of "Muslim this, Muslim that", "Muslims behead kidnap them, or stone little girl".... All im saying is that its getting annoying and im running out of patience towards this kind of ****. Hell even the muslims at my school are sick of this ****. I walk around like im indestructable all the time and when i make eye contact with them no matter how big they are they look at the ground. Im not trying to intimidate them (im a skinny guy) but everyone is getting sick and tired of the false steroetypes. I dont want a suicide bomber killing me or taking me hostage and they dont want some red necks teaming up with his native buddies running them out of town 
Is Muzzie at it again?
Eurostar suspends train services after tunnel smoke detected
Eurostar has suspended all services after smoke was detected in the Channel Tunnel, the company says.
According to the Eurostar Twitter account, all trains are returning to their original stations.
The tunnel will be closed until "further notice", it says.
BBC News - Eurostar suspends train services after tunnel smoke detected
Eurostar suspends train services after tunnel smoke detected
Eurostar has suspended all services after smoke was detected in the Channel Tunnel, the company says.
According to the Eurostar Twitter account, all trains are returning to their original stations.
The tunnel will be closed until "further notice", it says.
BBC News - Eurostar suspends train services after tunnel smoke detected