BY JEFF STEIN, NEWSWEEK

A COMMENTARY Editorial

I. The jihadist siege of a kosher grocery store in eastern Paris on January 9 was not the beginning of a new threat to French Jews and the Jews of Europe. Rather, it was the culmination of a decade of crisis. And it will not be the end.

The new era of deadly anti-Semitism in France began with the January 2006 murder of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi. Shortly after a Shabbat meal with his mother, he was lured to a Paris slum, where he was ambushed by a gang. They held him captive for 24 days, during which time he was beaten, stabbed, burned with acid, mutilated, lit on fire, and tortured to death. Halimi’s murderers were African and North African Muslim immigrants with ties to Islamic extremists. They called themselves the Gang of Barbarians. And they chose Halimi because he was a Jew.

France’s 5 million Muslims account for 10 to 12 percent of the country’s total population. It is the largest Muslim population in Europe; it is also the most problematic. Several factors contribute to this reality.
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Obama phoned Netanyahu yesterday to assure him that the U.S. continues to seek a comprehensive agreement that prevents the Islamic Republic “from acquiring a nuclear weapon and verifiably assures the international community of the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program.”

According to the statement, Obama stressed the U.S.’ commitment to Israel’s security and the importance of close cooperation with Jerusalem on the issue. Congress doesn’t trust him and nor should Israel.

By Daniel Wiser, THE BEACON

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) warned the Obama administration on Tuesday that Congress will hold a vote on any final deal on Iran’s nuclear program—and, if unable to prevent the president from lifting sanctions on Iran, would work with the next administration to re-impose them.

Cotton said lawmakers aim to soon bring legislation to the floor that would impose additional sanctions on the regime in Tehran if the current negotiations collapse. The bill would likely include language authored by Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) that targets Iran’s oil, gas, and banking sectors and requires the administration to certify that the regime is not sponsoring terrorist attacks against U.S. forces.
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By Carol Brown, AMERICAN THINKER

Obama is a shill for Islam. Hardly a day goes by when he, or someone in his administration, doesn’t do something that proves it. Some days, the garbage spews so fast it’s difficult to keep up. Just this week alone, the cow manure that was dumped on the American public (and the entire world) came fast and furious and without shame.

There was the predictable refusal to name the enemy, even after the jihad attacks in France. Obama’s determination to avoid taking this most basic step has become a dangerous obsession.

Islam has been at war with the rest of the world for 1400 years. And here we are in the 21^st century going backwards; the President of the United States refuses to name the enemy. We can’t even get to square one.
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By Ed Lasky, AMERICAN  THINKER

The spread of Islam apparently trumps the First Amendment in the view of President Obama.

By now, most of America should realize that Barack Obama has a special mission in life to shield Islam from criticism.

But pressuring the media should be a step too far considering the President takes an oath to defend the Constitution and thus the most important of amendments: free speech.

But, according to the president’s press secretary, Barack Obama has no such desire when it comes to criticism of Islam.
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Michael Ordman, Good News Israel

Last week, Ben Gurion University researchers made an “accidental” discovery, when testing an experimental anti-inflammatory drug, that could signify a breakthrough in the treatment of deadly infections.  My immediate thought was how “lucky” the BGU scientists were – but in reality, the discovery followed the proscribed use of methodical testing procedures and meticulously careful observations.  Here are some further recent cases of where Israelis definitely do not rely on “luck” when it comes to vital innovations and activities.

Traditional cancer chemotherapies depend on the laws of chance in that sufficient numbers of cancer cells will be destroyed alongside the (unwanted) death of normal, healthy cells.  Several Israeli companies, however, are working on removing this random, “splatter-gun” approach. One of these, Quiet Therapeutics, has developed the “GAGomer,” a new class of nano-particle that specifically targets tumors and blood cancers.  Another Israeli biotech, Compugen, has announced positive initial experimental results for two Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) treatments.  ADC therapy uses antibodies to target proteins present at high levels in cancer cells, releasing a toxic payload to kill the cells.

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By Steven Plaut

1.  Where are the Je Suis Tatiana Protesters? Here is her story.

Americans must demand that their government defend their country and their way of life.

By Prof. Phyllis Chesler, INN

If Europe does not do the following immediately, the birthplace of the Western enterprise will soon be conquered by barbarism.

First, the European Union must dissolve itself. Borders and passports must return. No one should be allowed to travel unhindered from European country to European country.

Second, each European country must pass legislation to deport all those who are on “no fly” lists; all radical imams at radical mosques, together with their radicalized followers in mosques and in prisons; and all those who have traveled to Iraq, Syria, and Yemen for jihadi training.

Third, legislation must empower police and military forces to physically abolish the “no-go” zones–the hostile, separatist Muslim-only neighborhoods in which the European rule of law does not exist and which are ruled, instead, by vigilantism, terrorism, and a superstitious version of Sharia law.
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Iranian exports down by 1.5 million barrels per day.

IMRA

By Daniel J. Graeber

TEHRAN, Jan. 12 (UPI) — A decline in oil exports, largely because of Western economic sanctions, has cost the Iranian economy more than $100 billion, a senior official said. Iran under the terms of a November 2013 agreement is allowed some oil exports in exchange for commitments to curb some of its nuclear research activity. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the influential Expediency Council,
said exports since have dropped by 1.5 million barrels per day and inflicted more than $100 billion in revenue losses.

Iranian officials have said the government is working to decrease the share of oil revenues in the budget. The government in early January said non-oil exports from the beginning of the Iranian year, which starts in March, increased to $35 billion, or about 20 percent year-on-year.
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by Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post

For the past few days, the world’s attention has been focused on Paris, where a band of Islamic terrorists went on a rampage, attacking the offices of a satirical magazine and a kosher market and brutally snuffing out the lives of 17 innocent people. Millions of people took to the streets on Sunday, together with dozens of world leaders, in a “unity march,” as cries of “we are not afraid” echoed down the avenues and boulevards of the City of Lights.

It was an impressive display, with all the theatrics and emotion of a Victor Hugo novel, and for a brief moment it appeared that perhaps, at last, France was awakening to the threat posed by Islamic extremism.

But don’t let the remarkable optics fool you. For, judging by the remarks and behavior of French President Francois Hollande, France has learned little, if anything, from the horrific events of last week. Take, for example, Hollande’s remarks in a speech to the nation on Friday night, just hours after four Jews had been murdered by Muslim terrorist Amedy Coulibaly in the kosher store. Even though Coulibaly reportedly told his hostages, “I am Amedy Coulibaly, a Muslim from Mali. I belong to the Islamic State,” Hollande nonetheless asserted that, “Those who committed these acts have nothing to do with the Muslim religion.”
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By Isi Leibler

The ill winds that have been gathering over Europe descended with a tornado last week in Paris with the barbaric Charlie Hebdo massacre, followed by the horrific terror attack at a kosher supermarket – a total of 17 dead in three days. But alas, the horrors will in all likelihood soon recede and life will continue as usual until the next attack.

Let me say at the outset that, while obviously condemning the murders and unequivocally defending freedom of expression, I do not associate myself with the “Je suis Charlie” movement. In condemning these barbaric acts, we are not obliged to identify with the racism and vulgarity of the victims. Charlie Hebdo was obscenely offensive to Christians and Muslims and promoted vulgar anti-Semitic satire. On the other hand, some Mormons were presumably outraged by the satirical musical “The Book of Mormon” but that did not grant them license to embark on a killing spree of the producers.
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From Steven Plaut.

Speaking of the terrorist assault against those who make cartoons of poor taste, isn’t it interesting that not a single Je Suis Charlie postureur in Israel has spoken out about the judicial atrocity of the imprisoning for a long prison term of Tatiana Suskin for drawing a cartoon!!!

I repeat – she served a long prison term! Two years !!(see http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jan/09/news/mn-6636)

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/31/world/israeli-jew-from-outlawed-group-is-convicted-of-insulting-islam.html

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA , JPOST

Turkey’s Recep Teyyip Erdogan on Monday blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for daring to attend Sunday’s anti-terror solidarity march in Paris.

Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other world leaders took part in the march on Sunday to commemorate 17 people killed in terror attacks last week by extremist Islamists.

The Turkish leader said that Netanyahu had no right to be at the rally due to the civilian casualties in Gaza during this past summer’s Operation Protective Edge.

“I also hardly understand how he (Netanyahu) dared to go there. For once, you give an account for the children, women you massacred,” Erdogan said in a joint press conference with Abbas in Ankara, AFP reported.
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Kulanu chairman says faction will not join coalition after March elections unless they are allowed to dismantle authority in charge of public lands.

By Moran Azulay, YNET

Kulanu Chairman Moshe Kahlon set terms on Monday for entering the governing coalition after the elections in March – “if we are not given the responsibility over the Israel Land Administration, we will not participate in the government.”

At a Ben Gurion University conference in Be’er Sheva on Monday evening, Kahlon said, “Reform against the weak is easy; reform against the strong is the difficult problem. Reforms are not manifested by writing updates on Facebook or interviewing well on television. Reforms are manifested in acts, not in speeches.”

Kahlon insisted: “In the end, we have to fight the monopolists. The monopolists are strong – they have a lot of money – and it is not easy, at all.”
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The invite is for Cambridge’s Lent termcard.  The event will be held on March the 2nd, during the Lent observance leading up to Easter Sunday.  2015 marks the 200th anniversary of the Cambridge Union Society.

Reflecting on the varied fields of the revealed speakers, Amy Gregg, President of the Union for Lent 2015, commented: “I’m extremely pleased that we have begun our Bicentenary year with such a diverse range of prominent speakers. As ever, the Union strives to offer members the opportunity to engage with some of the world’s most significant and influential public figures.” (tcs.cam.ac.uk)

In week seven, American politician Sarah Palin will be speaking at the Union. Palin is a trailblazer for women in American politics, as the first woman to have been elected governor of Alaska, and the first female Republican to be nominated for Vice Presidency, when she ran alongside John McCain in 2008.

Palin is a prominent figure in the Tea Party movement and has yet to disclose her plans for the next presidential election. (varsity.co.uk)

I guess she is not as irrelevant as some would have us believe. Cambridge Union ain’t too shabby.

T. Belman. Notice how Sarah refers to the terrorists as “Muslims with the same evil terroristic beliefs as the 9/11 savages, today the world came together again against the death cult that is the radical Islamic “faith.”” and ” the insanity that is Islamic fundamentalism.”

Unfortunately, she gives Abbas a pass.

Sarah Palin’s Facebook post.

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By Maj Gen Yaacov Amidror, ISRAEL HAYOM

Many Israelis are hurting with the French people over the terrorist attacks in Paris, and are sorrowful that French citizens, some of them Jewish, lost their lives. The horrors of terrorism strike in different places and in different ways, but in most cases these attacks have one thing in common: radical Islam.

Europe is struggling to deal with this threat in terms of awareness as well as organization. Europe is likely to find it difficult to counter such threats because of its innate reluctance to sober up to reality and accurately define the problem, Islamist terrorism. These terrorist elements fight against their countries, whose cultures they spurn; against their brethren, who do not share these radicals’ contempt for Western democracies; and against the Jews, regardless of the State of Israel.
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T. Belman. Israel is a repressive state for Jews. In addition to having a law against offending sensitivities, it also has a law against insulting officials. It outlawed Kahane’s Kach Party and is considering outlawing Lehava, the anti-assimilation organization, and even to label it a terrorist group. But it allows the Arabs to get away with murder, literally and figuratively.

In France, freedom of speech is considered a universal right, an Israeli law bans ‘offending religious sensibilities.’

By Ido Amin, HAARETZ

Georges Wolinski, the leading caricaturist at Charlie Hebdo, was among those murdered in the terror attacks in Paris last week. He was one of my cultural heroes when I was starting out.

Neither Superman, Charlie Brown, Asterix nor “The Adventures of Tintin”spoke to me the way Wolinski’s black-and-white sketches did — with his distorted, exaggerated figures openly revealing their dark urges. This half-Polish, half-Tunisian Jew possessed an anarchist spirit that left no sacred cow standing.

Every community was insulted by his brush. His position toward readers was this: Does it bother you? So don’t read it! And if you want to ridicule me back, I won’t sue you.”
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GATES OF VIENNA
As noted here several times in the past, Czech President Miloš Zeman is often outspoken in his politically incorrect opinions about immigration and Islam.

Below is an interview with President Zeman from Blesk, a well-known Czech tabloid, that was published after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Many thanks to Gemini for the translation:

Zeman on Muslims: If they do not conform, deport them!

Muslims who won’t conform to the customs of their new homeland should be deported, President Zeman stated in the interview conducted for Blesk.

“Everyone should be living in his homeland. It is something different to travel and discover other cultures than to live in one’s homeland and work for its prosperity. I think that those people should live and practice their religion in their homelands and shouldn’t try disturbing common life in countries have a different culture,” thinks Zeman.
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Gates of Vienna has this fabulous article pinned to the top.

Note: Scroll down for more recent posts, including “PEGIDA is Not the Disease — It is the Symptom”, Amedy Coulibaly’s martyrdom video, an interview with the politically incorrect Czech President, and last night’s news feed.

In his latest essay, Takuan Seiyo notes the many ways in which the bill is now coming due all across the West for mass Muslim immigration. He also details recent examples of denial and repression against anyone who dares to identify the cause of what is happening.

Vincent van Gogh, ‘Prisoners Exercising’, 1890

Vincent van Gogh, ‘Prisoners Exercising’, 1890

by Takuan Seiyo

[I have left his great opening paragraphs to focus on his remarks about France.]

France is already choking. 10% of its population (per official stats, but there is more) are feral Muslims imported from Africa; Marseilles has been permanently transformed into a backward region of Morocco; native Frenchmen are mowed down by imported Muslims’ cars, bullets or blades seemingly every other day; 1000 cars of Frenchmen are torched every year for a Muslim celebration of Christmas; and 750 areas with over 4 million “Frenchmen” are officially designated as “Zones urbaines sensibles” i.e. zones where no real Frenchman, if he is sensible (that’s my esoteric translation, the weasel French word means “sensitive”), ought to set foot, or else it’s his limbs or life.
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