fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Tunisian Jihadists on the border with Algeria behead a shepherd
By: Benjamin Richards
Tags: Tunisia, Algeria, Terrorism

A teenage shepherd was abducted by armed militants in the Tunis mountains near the Algerian border and decapitated on Sunday. Security forces found the body of a young man, Uqba Adabi, after his abduction yesterday. Commenting on the news, Tunisian Prime Minister Hicham El Mechichi said this act would not go unpunished.

In order to remove the extremists and jihadists of the army of the Organization of the Caliphate, an affiliate of Isis (Daesh), the Special Forces are carrying out operations on the Kasserine mountain range and Mount Salloum. Militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have for years sought shelter in the rough mountainous regions of Tunisia along the border with Algeria. Residents have reported clashes there many times between militant groups and security forces, but authorities consider their threat to be under control.

Tunisia is in a political transition process, with important economic and social problems resulting in regular social protest movements. Although the situation in the country is basically peaceful, there can be strikes and demonstrations at any time and throughout the nation, as well as clashes between protesters and law enforcement, for which a curfew has often been decreed by the government.

A jihadist on a moped blew himself up in front of the US Embassy in Tunis in March 2020. A kamikaze attack targeted a checkpoint in the tourist region of Sousse a few months ago. This latest attack was alleged by an extremist Sfaxian group called ‘El-Mahdi,’ hitherto unknown to law enforcement.

Two militiamen carried out another attack on security forces in the capital of Tunis on June 27, 2019. One person died and others, including several civilians, were wounded. Another man stabbed two tourists in a hotel near Tunis in August last year. A suicide bombing in central Tunis left several individuals wounded on October 29, 2018. In 2015, a Presidential Guards bus in Tunis was attacked by kamikazes.

There have been many assaults against a hotel in Sousse and the Bardo museum in the capital. Dozens of individuals lost their lives in these attacks. A variety of steps have been taken by the Tunisian authorities to dismantle terrorist cells and improve security in busy areas, without success so far. They have, above all, strengthened the presence of police forces in the country, particularly in tourist places.

Throughout the country, including tourist resorts, the risk of terrorist attacks persists. Still in place is the state of emergency decreed in 2015. Controversy has recently emerged over the fact that an illegal immigrant who fled Tunisia and landed in Lampedusa arrived undisturbed in Cannes, stabbing a number of people and killing a woman inside a cathedral.

Experts say the young man was radicalised in Tunisia, according to the reconstruction. Contrary to what was reported by the Tunisian media, he speculated that he may have come into touch with terrorist groups in Europe.
How did a neo-fascist thug get into the White House?
By: Manny Otiko
Tags: Fascism, Politics, Trump, Justice, Terrorism

Enrique Terrio (Anthony Crider/Flickr)

How did a neo-fascist thug get into the White House? Enrique Tarrio, president of the Proud Boys, recently was given a personal tour of the White House. The outrages never end. It’s just one long nightmare. This is exhausting. I’m sure that when Biden takes over, he’s going to discover even more crimes!
US lawsuits reveals involvement of Qatar Banks, charity organizations in funding terrorism
By: Saad Rashid
Tags: Qatar, News, Middle East, USA, Terrorism

The US lawsuit cases reveal that several people have been victims of Qatar funding terrorisms through national banks and charity organizations. After shedding light on this issue earlier this year followed by the same thing in September, this time too American victims of terrorist attacks in Israel have filed a suit against top Qatari financial institutions.

The people who have filed these lawsuits alleged the Qatari royal family to be the prime source of funding to these terrorism activities. One of the lawsuits alleged that Qatar charity and two of the banks — Masraf Al Rayan Bank and Qatar National Bank — advanced the finances for the support of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas in between 2015–1016.

The reports covered by the Washington Post also reveals the details of the second lawsuit yesterday. The terror affected people claimed that Doha charity of directing nearly $28 million to the two terror groups and they repeated the same activity to the families of martyrs. It also revealed that the two banks which are involved in the matter manage bank accounts of some of the known terrorists.

Accounts of one of the big names in the terror world, Ahlam Aref Ahmad al-Tamimi, responsible for killing of 15 people in 2001 suicide bombings in Jerusalem, is also managed by these two banks.

Multiple media reports had already revealed the intentions of Qatar and the Qatari royal family suggesting that the country has been supporting terrorist groups in Palestine through charitable trusts. The confirmation from the US lawsuits and the reports published in the Washington post further strengthens these allegations.

The whole investigation in the matter started in June this year. A suit was filed by 51 plaintiffs targeting the three Qatari institutions and among the plaintiffs was a 28-year-old former US army captain, who was killed in a 2016 stabbing attack in Jaffa which is now considered to be a part of Israel.

The cases have been filed under the US terrorism act, confirm the report. The act lets US citizens affected in the matter to seek triple restitution from private institutions but they cannot sue the government officials.

The charity that is named in these cases was headed by a royal family member Hamad bin Nasser al-Thani, who also reportedly has 50 percent stake in Qatar National Banks and Masraf Al Rayan Bank.

As always, Qatar has chosen to completely deny the charges despite being presented by solid proof. But what is even more questionable is that these lawsuits are coming after the US trying to push Gulf countries to normalize their relationship with Qatar after deadlock. Qatar also opposes the countries who are normalizing their relations with Israel. Israel first normalized its relations this year with the United Arab Emirates after Egypt and Jordan in previous years.
I LOST HOME
By: Baba_Baale, Adeniran Ridwan
Tags: Boko Haram, Bababaale, Terrorism, Ridwan Adeniran, Bandits

I LOST HOME

I LOST HOME

I lost home to demons powerful than elected gods.

They store victims in forests like grains in silos.

And they harvest lives as they will year-round.

Markets, schools and even sanctuaries, no rest of mind.

I lost home to demons powerful than military chiefs.

Fearless, and mindless of presence of any Commander-in-chief.

From Chibok girls of 2014 to Kankara boys of 2020.

Here hosts sadness and trauma as esteemed deities.

I lost home to demons powerful than powerless citizens.

Yesterday, farmers were butchered for no reason.

Today, a breadwinner was shot returning from his bakery.

If I live to see tomorrow, it'd be more of a mystery.
Never forget. But didn`t we?
By: Hammad Anwar
Tags: Aps Attack, Pakistan, Children, December 2014, Terrorism

December 16, 2014: I still remember I was at home and my cousin`s kids were visiting us. It was around noon and we were playing games on iPad and then drove to nearby market to buy a lot of junk, bought kurkarey, took a happy selfie and came back. It was then when I read tweets about the attack on army school in Peshawar. After the initial shock of a terrorist attack on a school, the concern was for the safety of people there. They were more or less of the same age as of the kids sitting right next to me playing on tablet. Unfortunately rest is history as we ended the day with 144 grieving families and millions mourning. It was a day when actually streets of Lahore were less crowded, a day when parking of restaurants were empty. I could not leave my room that day; it remains one of the darkest days of my life and this nation. Words fail when one try to write about it, there are too many stories. As a brother, I cannot imagine losing my siblings to something like this, hard to imagine what goes in the mind and hearts of those parents and kids who lost their sons and brothers.

Six years on, we have at least somewhat admitted (rather reluctantly) that there are no strategic assets and we need to eradicate everything which promotes hatred and discrimination. But we have long way to go, this war cannot be won in far flung mountains of Wazirisitan, the battle is also raging right in the heart of Gulberg, Lahore. Carpet bombing might wipe out their arsenal and hideouts but until you address the issues like social, religious and economic discrimination in our daily lives, this won`t stop. We need to rise above all of this; schools, parents, teachers, friends, mentors, religious scholars and institutions need a better collaborative effort. Yes, Muslim can do bad things and they are doing it, not just APS but we have children being beaten, raped, murdered, and kidnapped on daily basis. About time we stop blaming everything on one country or the other and clean up our own mess.

So yes please change DPs, please write long statuses and letters, please make videos (I did all of the above myself) but please tomorrow try to pay tribute to them in another way. Be empathetic to people around you, embrace any differences or disagreements based on any social, religious & political factors and lets all agree to disagree. Banning one community or blaming one country won’t help. So next time you see or hear something that you totally disagree with, please go ahead and disagree but please understand the worth of one life.
US Remove Sudan From State Sponsor Of Terror List
By: Lucas Bakker
Tags: Sudan, Us, Terrorism

The US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has signed a notification, removing Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, said the US embassy in Khartoum on Monday.”

The congressional notification period of 45 days has lapsed and the Secretary of State has signed a notification stating rescission of Sudan’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation is effective as of today (December 14), to be published in the Federal Register,” read a Facebook post from the US embassy in Khartoum.

This comes after US President Donald Trump sent Congress a letter formally informing the lawmakers that his administration has rescinded Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, in late October.

Trump additionally same that Sudan has provided assurances it’ll not support acts of act of terrorism within the future.

Earlier, in October, the President proclaimed that Sudan are off from its State Sponsors of terrorist act list once it pays USD 335 million to the victims of previous attacks in the US.

According to a report by Anadolu news agency, the announcement marks a milestone in relations between the countries that are steady up following the 2019 ouster of former old leader Omar al-Bashir.

Sudan, that secure Osama Osama bin Laden for nearly 5 years at a time once the terrorist organization leader was concerned in attacks within the United States, was placed on the United States State Sponsors of terrorist act list in 1993, orbiter quoted the US State Department.
Top 5 Meaningful Insights
By: Bella Troppoli
Tags: Leap 3, Art And Activism, Partisanship, Conspiracy Theories, Terrorism

By: Isabella Troppoli

Meme that represents the knowledge, skills, and value I have gotten out of this course.

After enduring COM 416 I have been granted knowledge, meaningful skills and taken great value in what I have learned. Propaganda has intrigued me in a unique way, and I found myself being highly engaged every week in what we were learning. Propaganda has the power to target mass audiences, and change the values and beliefs of people. There are new methods that are being developed constantly, and with new media and technology evolving our world; there are endless streams of communication. The five insights that were the most meaningful to me included: artists and activists, memes, terrorism, partisanship in the news, and conspiracy theories. I chose the insight of arts and activism because I was emotionally attached to this topic prior to enduring this class. I have had a passion for art ever since I was young, and I know the power and persuasion it can have on the viewer. This class was able to broaden my knowledge by giving me insight into artists who are activists at the same time. It also showed me how to analyze someone’s work, and interpret it in different ways. I then delved into the topic of partisanship and fake news because it is seen now more than ever that anyone, anywhere can create a story and it is up to the viewer to determine if it is real or not. This course gave me knowledge about fake news and bias in our world today, and I have developed a sense of awareness from this. I next spoke upon the insight of memes because I found that I took the most value out of these throughout the course. I related this to Leap one and two because in both of those leaps I utilized memes to get my point across. Memes are much more than a humorous image; they have the capability to persuade a public on almost any subject matter and they appeal to everyone. Next I wanted to show my appreciation to the knowledge I gained from conspiracy theories and the topic of terrosirm because I was able to look at both with an expanded mindset. This course opened my eyes to what goes on everyday in our society and world, and how propaganda has shaped our culture from generation to generation. I am greatly appreciative to have had the opportunity to take a course like COM 416 and be able to engage immensely with my own opinions and views.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zTkX4wOqLDHTjDHy_K2oAXehkghUUvCbT4KpvfI_A_w/edit?usp=sharing
Can someone please explain to me why the security services are not cracking down on the Proud Boys…
By: Manny Otiko
Tags: Fascism, Race, Politics, Trump, Terrorism

Can someone please explain to me why the security services are not cracking down on the Proud Boys, who are obviously a domestic terrorist group? Four people were stabbed in DC yesterday, Proud Boys were seen ripping BLM posters off churches. Why isn’t this group being surveilled, why isn’t the FBI infiltrating them and staging mass arrests?

I suspect because a lot of law enforcement types agree with their views.
日大中核
By: Ryugekkaりゅーげっか 人肉パーティトマツハルカ
Tags: Asia, News, Terrorism, Japan

in Eudaimonia and Co
Harkat ul Jihad Al Islami:
By: Shabir Ahmad
Tags: Jammu And Kashmir, Harkat Ul Jihad Al Islami, Terrorists Group, Terrorism, Bangladesh

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (حرکت الجہاد الاسلامی) which means "Islamic Jihad Movement" (HuJI) is an Islamic militants agency based on fundamentalist idealogy and are most energetic in South Asian nations of Pakistan , Bangladesh and India in early 1990s. The operational commander of HuJI, Ilyas Kashmiri, used to be killed in a US drone strike the use of a Predator drone in South Waziristan on four June 2011. He used to be linked to the thirteen February 2010 bombing of a German bakery in Pune.

History:

Harkatul Jihad Al Islami was came into being in 1984 by Fazlur Rahman and Saifullah Akhter during the Soviet Afghan war. Later on, Fazulr Rahman broke away to follow his own rule and form his own organization by the name of Harkatul Ansar. It was one of theost active and feared militant group of Kashmir.

Harkatul Jihad Al Islami was initially progressive within Afghanistan in order to eliminate communism. After the Soviet Union, left Afghanistan, they started intervention in Jammu and Kashmir against Indian government. Letter on, they expended their operations in the form of jihad in Bangladesh when Bangladesh established their units in 1992.

They have similar motivations and goals like Jaish e Muhammad and Lashkar e Toiba to bring fundamentalist Islam. They were involved in several attacks occurred in Bangladesh and India.

Lastly, Bangladesh has executed the chief of Harkatul Jihad Al Islami named Mufti Adul Hannan in Kashmir and his two associates being involved in 2004 attack on a shrine in which 3 people were killed and British high commissioners were wounded.
Macron and Al-Sisi are exploring cooperation and regional problems to improve bilateral ties
By: Benjamin Richards
Tags: Europe, Emmanuel Macron, France, Terrorism, Egypt

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt met his French ally, Emmanuel Macron, to discuss and improve bilateral links and the relationship between France and the Arab world.

The two presidents also addressed regional and global issues and issues of common interest, such as counter-terrorism, the Palestinian cause, and the conditions in Iran, Lebanon, and Libya, during the conference held in Paris on Monday.

During a press conference, President Al-Sisi emphasised that the only way to achieve security and stability in Libya is to find a diplomatic solution. The two leaders decided on the need to kill Libyan militias and also remove mercenaries.For standing up for France against the hate campaign against Paris, Macron lauded his Egyptian partners.

President Al-Sisi appeared in Paris on Sunday to have political discussions with Macron and with the French authorities.Following the uproar surrounding the cartoon of Prophet Muhammad and the most recent acts against the Muslim community in France following the terror attack, the visit came amid a continuous conflict between France and the Islamic nations.

During the meeting, Macron said that Al-Sisi was a valuable partner in the fight against terrorism and adulated the release from custody of some human rights activists.

Macron reported that he had spoken about the problem of human rights in Egypt with Al-Sisi. He noted that he opposes imposing any political or financial requirements on Egypt due to human rights issues regardless of being a “legal advocate of democratic rights.”President Al-Sisi, meanwhile, rejected Egypt’s image of an autocratic state governed by abuse and rejected the existence of political prisoners in the country.

He accused the French media of depicting the heads of Egypt as oppressors of violence against the residents of the nation.“We are confronting terror groups that undermine the security of both Europe and Egypt,” Al-Sisi said, “We are fighting for a better tomorrow for our kin in a profoundly violent locale.” Egypt supports human rights and has more than 55,000 civil society organisations in the country. He can however, defend 100 million Egyptians from terrorism,” he added.
Iran
By: Aaron Samuel
Tags: Russia, USA, Terrorism, China, Japan

Vietnam Is Losing Its Best Friends to China

The wide range of Chinese activities with Cambodia and Laos must be jarring for Vietnamese leaders. China has eclipsed…
Europe has yet another moment on the Muslim issue
By: Rashmee Roshan Lall
Tags: Europe, Sebastian Kurz, Terrorism, Islam, Macron

In Austria, chancellor Sebastian Kurz will push a law this month to criminalise a mindset he has denounced as “political Islam”. In France, president Emmanuel Macron will, on December 9, give his cabinet the chance to review a draft law against what he has called “Islamist separatism.”

Mr Kurz’s move potentially goes further than that of Mr Macron even as both men stress that their target is not the Muslim community as a whole. Incidentally, France has some five million Muslims. According to the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the number of Muslims in the country of nine million has doubled to 700,000 since 2001 and only a tiny minority are linked to foreign Islamist groups.

Mr Kurz hasn’t defined “political Islam”, preferring to restrict himself to a description of what his legislative efforts are not: “This is not a fight between Christians and Muslims, or Austrians and migrants, but a fight between civilization and barbarity”.

As for Mr Macron, he insists that he is taking aim at “Islamist separatism, never Islam”. He also says he isn’t “stigmatizing French Muslims.”

Whatever the leaders’ real intentions, their parallel initiatives throw up more questions than answers.

First, is tough talk the right response to isolated terrorist attacks? It is understandable that such rhetoric is aimed at voters and domestic political opinion, but short-termism is hindering efforts to bind Europe’s citizens together.

Second, shouldn’t European leaders have learnt by now that it’s self-defeating to aggrandize isolated, lone-wolf incidents? They are tragic and disturbing, of course, but it’s inaccurate (and unwise) to portray them as attacks on Europe’s values and democracy.

Jorgen Nielsen, emeritus professor of contemporary European Islam at Birmingham University and former chair of the Centre for European Islamic Thought at Copenhagen University, recently said European leaders shouldn’t give terrorist attackers more credit than they deserve. Most importantly, he said, Europe’s leaders must find a way to link arms with Muslim constituents.

“In one way or another, show solidarity in their (the leaders’) statements, in their actions,” Professor Nielsen said. “Show that they realize, that they recognize that the vast majority of their own Muslim community is as horrified, in some ways more horrified” by the attacks.

That sounds about right. It’s not clear, however, if that’s where we’re headed.

Consider this. In 2015, Mr Kurz was instrumental (as Austria’s foreign minister) in overseeing changes to the 1912 Islamgesetz. That Habsburg-era legislation regulated the relationship between the state and its Muslim citizens and was originally meant to guarantee the rights and freedoms of Muslims in the Habsburg empire.
CBI’s Comments on Treasury’s Request for Comment on TRIA’s Certification Process
By: Jason Schupp
Tags: Terrorism Risk, Captive Insurance, Insurance, Terrorism

Photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash

Last month U.S. Treasury published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments with respect to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program.

The Advisory Committee on Risk-Sharing Mechanisms (ACRSM) recommended Treasury “establish a petitioning procedure under the Program rules that would permit third parties to request that Treasury commence a certification process under its rules.”

CBI has filed comments urging Treasury not to adopt a process permitting a formal petition for certification of an act of terrorism because:

Congress intended the Secretary of Treasury to take full personal responsibility for the decision whether to certify an act of terrorism without armchair quarterbacking by corporate interests or second-guessing by the courts.

Large corporations that have set up captive insurers to tap into the Program stand to receive hundreds of millions or even billions of federal dollars if the Secretary of Treasury decides to certify.

TRIA currently prohibits Treasury from obtaining information about corporate financial engineering designed to access the Program — meaning petitioners may have massive undisclosed financial interests in the Secretary’s decision.

In contrast, the Secretary’s decision to certify an act of terrorism would deprive up to 40% of small businesses of otherwise available insurance coverage.

The interests of small businesses would surely be drowned out by the aggressive petitioning of large corporations looking to tap into federal billions.

These are not hypothetical concerns:

Following a lone gunman’s killing of 58 and wounding of 489 at the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival, MGM Resorts International (the operator of the hotel from which the gunman fired on the crowd below) claimed immunity under the SAFETY Act alleging the massacre amounted to an “act of terrorism”.

Insurers reportedly withheld insurance payments for months after the Boston Marathon Bombings while waiting to see if the Secretary of Treasury would certify the bombings as an act of Terrorism under TRIA (thereby relieving the insurers of their payment obligations).

Congress has taken extraordinary steps to empower the Secretary of Treasury to make what very well could be the difficult choice between saving insurance companies or savings small businesses. No good could come from interjecting corporate lawyers representing billions of dollars in undisclosed financial interests into the process of making such a solemn decision.
9/11 Film Raises New Questions About Building Seven
By: Trevor Fitzgibbon
Tags: Movies, Documentary, Terrorism, NYC, September 11

SEVEN Available this Tuesday on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft and Vudu.

FF

NEW YORK CITY, NY, December 4 — The highly anticipated new documentary SEVEN focused on the controversial collapse of Building 7 of the World Trade Center on 9/11 launches this Tuesday.

Directed by Loose Change creator Dylan Avery, the film covers the explosive findings of the recently completed University of Alaska Fairbanks study on the destruction of the 47-story office building. The film was produced by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

SEVEN will be available for purchase this Tuesday on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft and Vudu.

This past June, PBS began airing a short segment of the film entitled Spotlight On: SEVEN, which has so far run on 121 stations across the country to an estimated 4.1 million viewers.

The film takes aim at the official report issued in 2008 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which concluded that fires were to blame for Building 7’s demise. Critics have long argued that only controlled demolition can account for the building’s symmetrical, free-fall collapse, which was reported by the BBC and other networks before it actually happened.

“There was no reason for anyone to suspect that Building 7 was going to collapse at all,” fire protection engineer Scott Grainger says in the film. “Now that we have the Hulsey report, we know that every column in the building had to fail almost simultaneously for the building to fail in the manner that it did.”

The landmark study, led by Professor Leroy Hulsey, and a related request for correction to the NIST report, spearheaded by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, have been covered favorably in Daily Commercial News, one of Canada’s top construction news publications, and on Fox News Radio.
CBI’s Comments on Treasury’s Proposed Rules for TRIA
By: Jason Schupp
Tags: Treasury Department, Terrorism Risk, Insurance, Terrorism

Definitions of “Act of Terrorism” and “Insured Loss”

Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash

Last month U.S. Treasury published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments with respect to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program. Treasury has proposed specific wording changes to the definitions of:

· “Act of terrorism” in order to clarify the methodology for computing the $5 million threshold for certification; and

· “Insured loss” in order to clarify that amounts paid by the policyholder (such as a deductible) are not included within an insurer’s reporting of insured loss.

CBI has filed comments agreeing with the overall purpose of Treasury’s proposed changes but urging a different approach.

Calculation of the $5 million threshold

In determining whether the $5 million certification threshold has been reached, Treasury proposes to include in its computation (a) the amount of losses that would be excluded as a result of any certification; and (b) the amount of loss retained by policyholders through deductibles and self-insured retentions.

CBI is particularly concerned that Treasury’s proposal rule would increase the likelihood of unnecessarily triggering terrorism exclusions following a small-scale terrorist attack that the insurance industry is well prepared to manage. In addition, CBI points out that the proposed rule would be impractical and likely impossible from a data collection standpoint.

In its comments, CBI urges Treasury to instead consider only “insured loss determined as if the act had been certified by the Secretary” in ascertaining whether the $5 million certification threshold has been satisfied.

Exclusion of Retentions from Insured Loss

In an effort to clarify that insured losses eligible for reimbursement through the backstop are limited to loss amounts paid by the insurer under the policy, Treasury’s proposed rule risks introducing considerable confusion.

For example, Treasury’s proposal would open the backstop to cover credit risk voluntarily assumed by insurers under complex and sophisticated insurance programs. The proposal also threatens to contradict established rules for the treatment of reinsurance where that reinsurance is provided through the policyholder’s captive.

Perhaps most concerning, Treasury’s proposed rule invites gaming of the Program through the strategic use of side agreements, deductible waivers and other devices.

In its comments, CBI urges Treasury to expand on its proposal to clarify that credit risk assumed by an insurer under an insurance program should be hedged through collateral, letters of credit or bonds — not through the backstop. Further, CBI proposes provisions to discourage misuse of the program through clever but artificial tactics.
Architecture Designs Preventing Terrorist Attacks
Tags: Architects, Design, Public Relations, Terrorism, Safety

Architecture Designs Preventing Terrorist Attacks

Image supported by The Guardian

The Emirates Stadium in London, home to one of the most famous British football teams. Opening in 2006, the Emirates Stadium has had a deeper architectural design than one may think.

Throughout the 80s and 90s, a series of terrorist attacks taking place all around the world, at the hands of the IRA, prompted a serious change in urban architecture to prevent repeated terrorist attacks similar to those in the late 80s and early 90s. But this architecture remained to subdue the common tourist in awe. One example is seen here at the home stadium of Arsenal.

Image supplied by Twitter fan

The concrete ARSENAL letters outside Emirates stadium are designed to prevent a vehicle attack and are strong enough to stop a seven ton truck.

Being one of the first premiere league club’s to welcome fans back (at a 3% capacity) to the stadium this December, the Emirates Stadium can house up to 60,620 fans. With this huge capacity, it is clear that the stadium was built to withstand more than the common fan club. Having a huge abundance of fans arrive and leave the stadium at the same time, the stadium, much like other arenas (the Manchester Arena in particular), is target to possible terrorist attacks.

Having such a design for a bollard, the common visiter would not look twice to think the Arsenal letters standing outside their stadium was anything but a sign of power and welcoming to fans or even opposing fans visiting on away games. Populous (formerly known as HOK Sports Architecture) designed the bollard’s to withstand any type of vehicle attack upon the stadium or visiting crowds, while maintaining the pleasant and modernised £390 million project.

Image supplied by BBC News

Another £5m project in London named the “Ring of steel” has been set into place to be completed in 2022. The project has been put into place to prevent further terrorist attacks much like the Berlin Christmas market attack which killed 12. The project is also in place to protect London’s skyscrapers.

Such projects, and many projects around the world, have been hidden in plain sight. With benches, bike stands and concrete potted plants lining roads, these hidden bollards have been put into place to protect pedestrians and even buildings from motor attacks. Each tactic has been hidden in plain sight to remain the attraction value of popular tourist places. However, to the common resident in London these projects are a hidden sense of gained safety.

Now in December 2020, countries all around the world have opened up to the new ways of architecture and how the profession can be toyed to protect the public from another terrorist attack much like the Emirates Stadium and the “Ring of steel” here in London.
Feeding the (Muslim) Bears
Tags: Fanaticism, Indian Muslims, Terrorism, India, Islamic Terrorism

An online contact once asked me, “Are you … [also] asking for the head of the Imams in Somalia as well? Of all those that threaten violence over a quote?”

And I replied (expanded here): “That is a fight we have already been fighting in the Muslim world and communities — including what is now the Republic of India, where my forebears are from. And have been for 3 generations now. And another generation is now engaging, in America, in Pakistan, and in India. And for a LOT of that period, the people you might support in government and leadership — in the US government and the Pakistani government, and the colonial British one, and, yes, we have to say this, Mahatma Gandhi himself were supporting the other side [this, for example]. If you want to be adversarial, I’d like to say that y’all be the newcomers to the party. Stay a while this time, will ya?”

The online friend then concluded, “I’ll take that as a “Yes”, I am and I have been, and really, really wish y’all would stop feeding the bears…”

To quote George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States: “Touche.”

[This was all in the wake of Pope Benedict’s ill-advised speech on Islam a while ago. You can read a longer discussion of this here.]
Mumbai Terror Attacks 12th Anniversary
By: Morris T
Tags: Humanity, Global Citizenship, Terrorism, Mumbai Terrorist Attack, Armed Conflict

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Mumbai Terror Attacks 12th Anniversary

A tribute to the fallen and survivors. A question to humanity.

Mumbai. Image by Simon Steinberger from Pixabay

Today is the 12th anniversary of the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

It was a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008 by 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an extremist Islamist organization based in Pakistan. 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai lasted for four days and resulted in the deaths of around 166.

This is a tribute to the fallen and the survivors. May peace be upon all. Violence can never be justified.

A minute of silence.

Question to humanity

I want to share some thoughts as to humanity’s apparent penchant for violence.

Is it part of our biological nature? Are we dictated by our genetic coding to resort to the use of force as the ultimate form of assertion?

This appears moot as the very intelligence that allowed us as a species to shape the Earth to our will is very much capable of realizing that there are no winners when it comes to violence.

We should channel our urges for such destructive means into the betterment of our world. After all, what we all want is a better life. It can be done without detriment to others.

People, children are dying from starvation in a world that has ample to feed all its inhabitants.

Others face extreme discrimination from the moment they were born into this world just for being who they are, usually without any opportunity for a reprieve.

It just does not make sense. Conflicts will always happen and it is normal. It is how we approach it that makes the difference.

“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” — Ronald Reagan

These are the matters that keep me up at night. I wonder if I will live to see the day where there is no more unnecessary hurt and sorrow. Only when we learn to stop fighting among ourselves can we then work together for a better tomorrow.

Be kind to each other.
Ataque en Austria.
By: Agostina Mordini
Tags: Libertad Religiosa, Viena, Terrorism

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A different approach to extremism
By: Mesbah Shovon
Tags: Radicalism, Extremism, Different Perspectives, Terrorism, Islam

The current approach to extremism is wrong. The world is trying to defeat extremism by adopting extreme measures like criminalizing it and demonizing it. But as we can see, it is not working.

Like all other ideologies, extremists also belives in a particular ideology. People don’t become extremists overnight. It takes time and consistent effort to radicalize someone and make him or her an extremist. All this starts with a single idea of a single person.

Over time, this idea expands from one man to another, then to a community, and then to a larger one. Eventually, it takes hold of a considerable population and finally emerges to the extent to which we notice it. Interestingly this idea or ideology always replaces one or many prevailing ideologies.

However, the people of power never try to understand their cause or never try to analyze it. They want to erase them or uproot their belief. But this doesn’t work that way.

Only a new ideology or belief defeats any existing one. This new one can be an entirely new or modified version of the existing one or any forgotten part of it which is to be reintroduced.

For example, to deal with Muslim radicals bombing them is not the solution; instead, it will make the situation worse.

The fundamental principle of Islam is tolerance. Other virtues include mercy, patience, forgiveness, generosity, acceptability, and many other humane virtues.

But preachers of radicalism starts by gradually eliminating these virtues from their disciples. They target people who are in distress or subjected to state persecution. They take advantage of the dire situation of these men and start promoting intolerance and violence.

Now honestly, in this situation, how can “persecuting them” solve this situation! This approach is illogical. So what is the solution?

The best approach to this condition is reintroducing Islam to them. Teaching them the real virtues of Islam and presenting the version of Islam that initially its founders used to practice before them.

In this way, the authority can address the underlying cause of radicalization.

Every instance of radicalization is the result of some existing problem in society. Even Nazism got hold of immense power because it had the support of the German people. The prevailing condition in German society led this to happen.

It is valid for all types of radicalization. Be it white supremacy, neo-nazism, or any terrorist activity.

The solution is addressing the underlying cause of it. We need to change our approach towards radicalization; there is no alternative to it. Only by altering our policy towards radicalism can we prevent extremism.
I know a few leftists.
By: Michael Jaqua
Tags: Democratic Party, Domestic Terrorism, Terrorism, Leftist Politics, Democrats

I know a few leftists. My adult daughter is an avowed leftist. She HATES the Democrat party establishment, although not nearly as much as she hates any political entity or office holder who is to the right of a left-leaning Democrat.

Make no mistake. They ARE terrorists.

They want to see radical change in America, and are not above doing anything they deem necessary to accomplish that end.

It is what it is.
Are Muslims not getting offended by Islamists doing violence shouting in the name of their God?
By: Zeeshan Arshad
Tags: God, Violence, Terrorism, Islam, Religion

This question was asked on Quora and here is my answer.

What activity are you counting in “violence in the name of their God” from Muslims?

Muslims are more heavily offended by non-Muslims instead who are doing violence shouting in the name of their gods against Muslims using their advanced weapons and technologies.

While the fact is that Muslims are actually real followers of the KING of universe and non-Muslims worship their names which are not god(s) at all.

Muslims have practical proofs that KING of universe is only Allah while non-Muslims follow only their books and words and have no practical proofs to prove who they worship are real gods.

For example;

I asked several Christians, Hindus, Jews, etc if they can resurrect any dead person from an old grave by the power of their names who they claim as gods and non-Muslims always failed and never dared for this practical.

While there is a legendary Muslim in Islam who’s come in 21st century as “Legendary Freelancer” and officially and publicly offering resurrection service for dead non-Muslims by the power of Allah the God of Islam.

So if you being a non-Muslim can’t practically offer such resurrection for dead Muslims and even for dead non-Muslims by the power of your claimed god then you need to revert back to Islam now because your claimed god has been practically failed against the legend of ALLAH.

The more non-Muslim like you will start reverting to true religion Islam by leaving imaginary gods the less violence in the world we’ll see.

This would be much better for humanity and for majority of poor and middle class people of the world.

Because millions of people have been destroyed and murdered in the name of imaginary gods in the battleground of gods through atomic weapons invented by wasting trillions of dollars just to kill human beings for gods who don’t exist in real except the one Allah the KING of universe.

Muslims are less offended by Muslims and more offended by non-Muslims.

So put your focus on what’s more serious and use common sense and revert back to Islam.

Otherwise leave the matter among Muslims within them, thank you!
The Lies About France’s Alleged War on Islam
By: Ulysse Pasquier
Tags: Emmanuel Macron, France, Terrorism, Islam, Religion

The aftermath of Samuel Paty’s brutal beheading has reignited tensions between France and parts of the Muslim world. Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan have called for the boycott of French products, a move spearheaded by Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has claimed that Muslims are being “subjected to a lynch campaign similar to that against Jews in Europe before World War II.” Pakistan’s Imran Khan has deplored the “attack on Islam” led by Emmanuel Macron. There have been street rallies in Pakistan, in which protestors have burned the French flag and effigies of the French president. The myth that France is at war with Muslims has been promulgated for years — and not just outside the west.

Find the rest of the article in Areo Magazine:

https://areomagazine.com/2020/12/02/the-lies-about-frances-alleged-war-on-islam/
Yemen Aid groups say Houthi terror designation would be a big problem
By: Ajay Vaseegaran
Tags: Yemen, Houthis, Terrorism

In an endeavor to financially squeeze the Houthi cluster and pressure its regional backer, Iran, the State Department is considering naming the whole Houthi movement a distant terrorist organization, as rumored by Foreign Policy earlier this week. Asian country has lobbied arduous for the coercion designation, would possibly} criminalize material support for the Houthis, trigger an plus freeze and impose a travel ban to the United States. The Trump administration might instead designate individual Houthi leaders as specially selected world terrorists, aforementioned a supply conversant in the matter, in an exceedingly largely symbolic action that carries similar monetary sanctions.

The Iran-aligned group has waged a nearly six-year war in Yemen against a Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in early 2015 to revive the internationally recognized government. The fighting killed quite 100,000 folks, desolated Yemen’s health infrastructure and pushed the impoverished country to the brink of famine.

Relief organizations in operation in Yemen warn that slapping a terror label on the Houthis could hamper aid add a rustic wherever an calculable 80% of the population — more than twenty four million people — is dependent on humanitarian help to survive, a majority of whom board Houthi-controlled areas within the country’s mountainous north.

“For voluminous Yemenis living in areas beneath Ansar Supreme Being [Houthi] control, aid is a matter of life or death. We don’t want to think about what will happen if that lifeline is cut,” Sultana Begum, the Norweigen Refugee Council’s advocacy manager in Yemen, told Al-Monitor.

The fighting, meanwhile, has dragged on in Yemen’s oil-rich Marib province as the Houthis try to wrest control of the Saudi-backed government’s last stronghold. Prospects for reaching a political settlement look dim and critics of designating the Houthis as a terror group say doing so could hinder the UN’s work to secure a lasting cease-fire.

“The reality is that the Houthis must be part of any final negotiated settlement to the conflict in Yemen, and designating them a foreign terrorist organization could be taken by the Houthis as a signal that they cannot achieve their goals at the negotiating table,” said Kate Kizer, the policy director for the advocacy group Win Without War.

“That’s a recipe for more war and suffering for the Yemeni people, not peace,” she said.
Why Iraq ordered a mass execution of 21 terrorists in a hurried trial?
By: Akshay Prasad
Tags: Islamic State, Iraq, United States, Terrorism

Since crushing the Islamic State in 2017, Iraq has sentenced several residents to death for their alleged association with the terror groups. Rights groups blame Iraq’s court for carrying out such hurried trials.

On Monday, Iraqi officials again hanged sentenced terrorists at the infamous Nasiriyah jail in the nation’s south but this time they 21 of them, as indicated by the interior ministry.

The men had been sentenced under a 2005 counter-terrorism law, which conveys capital punishment. The authorities didn’t give insights regarding the detail of the crimes, yet as per the interior ministry’s statement, a few of them were engaged in two suicide attacks that killed many people in the northern town of Tal Afar.

Since pronouncing triumph over the “Islamic State” (IS) terror group in 2017, Iraq has put many suspected jihadists under trial and conducted many mass hangings.

IS seized 33% of Iraq in 2014, yet a US-supported military campaign to a great extent crushed the group in both Iraq and neighboring Syria over the time of three years.

Several people have been convicted in terrorism cases in Iraq, however, the authorities have completed a handful of sentences, as they need to be marked by the nation’s president.

Iraqi courts have conducted trials on foreign nationals alleged for having links with the terror organizations, sentenced 11 French nationals, and one Belgian citizen to death.

Iraq’s administration has failed to give details concerning detainment centers or detainees, including the number of individuals who are confronting terror connection charges.

Some confinement facilities have closed down lately, including Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib complex, which got infamous for detainee maltreatment during the US-led control of the nation.

Amnesty International and various rights organizations state that Iraq’s judicial system is torn by large corruption and that judges concluded hurried trials utilizing mere incidental proof. They state that the accused don’t get legitimate protection or admittance to legal counselors. Iraqi authorities deny these allegations.

Iraq positions at fifth number among nations that conduct capital punishments, as per Amnesty International, which archived 100 executions in the nation in 2019. That adds up to one out of seven executions over the world since 2019.