Israeli naval ship bombs Palestinian children on Gaza beach, killing four young children

Israeli naval ship bombs Palestinian children on Gaza beach, killing four young children

    Tuesday, July 15, 2014   No comments

 Four children were killed in Gaza City on Wednesday, medics said, in Israeli shelling witnessed by The Telegraph and other foreign journalists.

The four were among a group on the beach when the attack took place, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, with some of the surviving injured children taking refuge at a nearby hotel where journalists were staying.


Journalists heard two loud explosions outside the Gaza City hotel, before children were pulled into the restaurant area for treatment.

A journalist who saw the incident said some of the children who survived were running away when another shell seemed to be aimed at them.

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When Taliban thinks the "Islamic State" and its caliphate are extremists...

When Taliban thinks the "Islamic State" and its caliphate are extremists...

    Friday, July 11, 2014   No comments

The Taliban has issued a statement directed at fighters in Iraq and Syria warning them against extremism in a clear rebuke to the Islamic State and its caliphate.

It calls on jihadists to remain united and not to judge others without evidence in what appears to be the latest tussle between Islamist groups for supremacy in their global fight.

The Arabic message was posted on the Afghan Taliban’s website and translated by Site intelligence group.

“It is worthy for a shurah [consultation] council to be formed from the leaders of all the jihadi factions and the distinguished people among the experts and the scholars in Sham [Syria] in order to solve their conflicts,” the message said.

“Muslims also should avoid extremism in religion, and judging others without evidence, and distrusting one another. They should avoid conflict and dispute, and not think their opinions are better than others. Mercy and compassion should prevail.”

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Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, emerged from the shadows to lead Friday prayers at Mosul’s Great Mosque, calling on the world’s Muslims to “obey” him as the head of the caliphat

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, emerged from the shadows to lead Friday prayers at Mosul’s Great Mosque, calling on the world’s Muslims to “obey” him as the head of the caliphat

    Saturday, July 05, 2014   No comments

The notoriously secretive jihadi, who has never before been seen in public, chose the first Friday prayer service of Ramadan to make an audacious display of power in the city that the Sunni Islamists have now controlled for three weeks.

Speaking from the balcony in his new incarnation as self-anointed “Caliph Ibrahim”, al-Baghdadi announced himself as “the leader who presides over you”, urging Muslims to join him and "make jihad" for the sake of Allah. (ISR editors' note: The Iraqi government claimed that the video is fake, giving no more details).

Under his direction, the Islamic world would be returned to “dignity, might, rights and leadership”, he said.



“I am the wali (leader) who presides over you, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, assist me,” he said, dressed in a black turban and robe reminiscent of the last caliphs to rule from Baghdad.

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Foreign Minister Zebari: 'Iraq Is Facing a Mortal Threat'

Foreign Minister Zebari: 'Iraq Is Facing a Mortal Threat'

    Friday, July 04, 2014   No comments

Interview Conducted By Bernhard Zand

In an interview, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, warns that his country is threatened with collapse under the pressure posed by ISIS terrorists. But, he says, it isn't a civil war yet.

You have to cross a total of four checkpoints before you reach the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad. Such security measures are necessary. An attack in 2009 resulted in the deaths of a hundred people. For its latest issue, SPIEGEL traveled to the Iraqi capital to meet with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to discuss the current developments in the country. Zebari, 61, has extensive experience with political violence. During the 1980s, he fought as a member of the Kurdish Peshmerga against dictator Saddam Hussein. He has served as foreign minister of Iraq since 2003.

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'Caliph' al-Baghdadi: "Rome will be conquered next." Should't he wait until someone reinstate the Roman Empire?

'Caliph' al-Baghdadi: "Rome will be conquered next." Should't he wait until someone reinstate the Roman Empire?

    Wednesday, July 02, 2014   No comments

Rome will be conquered next, says leader of 'Islamic State'

 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of the 'Islamic State' stretching across Iraq and Syria, has vowed to lead the conquest of Rome as he called on Muslims to immigrate to his new land to fight under its banner around the globe.

Baghdadi, who holds a PhD in Islamic studies, said Muslims were being targetted and killed from China to Indonesia. Speaking as the first Caliph, or commander of the Islamic faithful since the dissolution of the Ottoman empire, he called on Muslims to rally to his pan-Islamic state.

"Those who can immigrate to the Islamic State should immigrate, as immigration to the house of Islam is a duty," he said in an audio recording released on a website used by the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

"Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims.


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ISIL changes name and declares its territories a new Islamic state with 'restoration of caliphate' in Middle East

ISIL changes name and declares its territories a new Islamic state with 'restoration of caliphate' in Middle East

    Sunday, June 29, 2014   No comments

Caliphate according to ISIL & affiliates

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) has reportedly declared the areas it occupies in Iraq and Syria as a new Islamic state, removing Iraq and the Levant from its name and ushering in “a new era of international jihad”.

The announcement will see the Isis now simply refer to itself as The Islamic State, and the group has called on al-Qa’ida and other related militant Sunni factions operating in the region to immediately pledge their allegiance.

According to Isis’s chief spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the declaration of the “restoration of the caliphate” was made after a meeting of the group’s Shura Council. In recent weeks, Isis has captured large areas of western and northern Iraq and for two years has held parts of Syria, imposing a harsh interpretation of Islamic law and in many cases, killing large numbers of opposition Shia Muslims.

Adnani said all jihadist organisations must now offer up their support to Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has been declared Caliph of the new state.

Charles Lister, visiting fellow at the Qatar-based Brookings Doha Centre, said that the declaration signalled “massive trouble” regardless of the perceived legitimacy of the Isis group, adding that the next 24 hours will be “key”.

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Obama: There is no "moderate" Syrian opposition forces that could topple Assad

Obama: There is no "moderate" Syrian opposition forces that could topple Assad

    Monday, June 23, 2014   No comments

Obama: Notion that Syrian Opposition Could Overthrow Assad a “Fantasy”

President Barack Obama called the idea that the U.S. could readily arm a moderate Syrian opposition force a “fantasy,” saying his administration is still working to bolster rebel groups.



Obama, in an interview today with CBS News, said the more moderate elements of the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is made of middle-class Syrians who are facing a battle-hardened regime. There is no “ready-made” opposition group for the U.S. to back with arms and military aid, he said.

“The notion that they were in a position to suddenly overturn not only Assad but also ruthless, highly-trained jihadists if we just sent a few arms is a fantasy,” Obama said in an excerpt of the interview broadcast on the network’s evening news program.  Source

A Country Implodes: ISIS Pushes Iraq to the Brink

A Country Implodes: ISIS Pushes Iraq to the Brink

    Saturday, June 21, 2014   No comments

 An evening curfew has been in force in Mosul since last Monday, says Ali. He and his family heard gunshots near their apartment on Tuesday, and when Ali looked outside, he saw a dead body lying on the street. Then the rumors began. "They've occupied all government buildings and the airport," said a friend. "The power station and the water works, too," a neighbor added. There were television reports of banks being robbed, the release of thousands of prisoners and the confiscation of oil wells. A day later, Masoud Ali loaded his family into his car and stepped on the gas. As they drove away, they could see police uniforms and abandoned military vehicles in the ditch. Government troops, most of them Sunnis, had surrendered to the Sunni ISIS fighters.


Ali, like most residents of Mosul, is also a Sunni. He had heard the mayor calling for the citizens of Mosul to defend themselves against ISIS. "But why should I have defended myself?" he asks. "For the Shiite government? For Prime Minister Maliki, who oppresses the Sunnis?" He shakes his head. "The conflict has escalated because people in Iraq don't like the government anymore."

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Masoud Ali, a tall, friendly man with a beard and green eyes, was a taxi driver in Mosul until a few days ago. He likes the desert, and he loves his wife and his yellow Nissan. He never paid much attention to politics until now. "Inshallah," he says. Whatever happens is God's will. But then fighters with the "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria," or ISIS, overran the city of two million.

What do Iraqi Sunni want? ISIL and its allies have different agendas and different plans; but some want Sunni autonomous regions

What do Iraqi Sunni want? ISIL and its allies have different agendas and different plans; but some want Sunni autonomous regions

    Friday, June 20, 2014   No comments

Iraq is a country with competing ethnic and sectarian identities. Iraq is inhabited by Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Azeris, Armenians, and dozens of or other religious and ethnic groups. The divide that is at play today is the Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish one. More than 65 percent of Iraqis are Shi`a. These Shi`as are of Arab, Kurdish, and Turkic ethnicities. 25 percent of Iraqis are Sunnis. These Sunnis are primarily Arab and Kurdish. About 10 percent are Non-Muslim minorities belonging to various ethnic groups as well.

The Sunni minority has ruled Iraq until the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003. Iraqi Shi`a were marginalized during Sunni rule and after the Iraq-Iran war, the marginalization tuned into discrimination, oppression, and persecution. Now, the once dominant Sunnis, are represented according to their numbers. Some are happy with that. But many do not want to be ruled by a "deviant" sect even if that sect is a majority of the population. ISIL represents that view and that is why they want to take the fight all the way to Karbala and Najaf. Other Sunnis want at least some of the power back even if it is over smaller territories.

Here is one articulation of Sunni demands:

 “Maliki must first be deposed,” said Mr Dabash. “Then we demand the fragmentation of Iraq into three autonomous regions, with Sunnis, Shia and Kurds sharing resources equally. And finally we need compensation for the one and half million Iraqis, most of them Sunnis, who have been killed at the hands of the Americans and the Maliki regime.” Source

The problems with Iraq are also historical, since the Ottoman days, when Sunnis were favored:

Sunnis had been favored during the Ottoman Empire, gaining more administrative experience and thus domination in government and the military. Dictatorships emerged as the only way to hold differing groups together, the last Iraqi dictator being Saddam Hussein. Sourse

who is supporting ISIS? The Saudi rulers' struggle to remain consistent and the media coverage that shy away from calling them on it

who is supporting ISIS? The Saudi rulers' struggle to remain consistent and the media coverage that shy away from calling them on it

    Thursday, June 19, 2014   No comments

Saudi Arabia’s rulers are trying to block the rays of the sun with a sieve. They claim that they do not support terrorism, yet they are justifying the war crimes committed by ISIL and its affiliates by accusing Maliki of sectarian policies (policies, not violent acts, mind you). The hypocrisy of the Saudi rulers is stunning: they write a law that is supposed to fight terrorism but they selectively apply it to the Muslim Brotherhood, human rights activists, and bloggers; while providing extensions after extensions to Saudi’s still fighting with ISIL who apparently have ignored the call to return home and burned their passports.

The Saudi rulers are accusing Maliki of a “policy of exclusion and marginalization of Sunni minorities” when they sent troops to crush the Shiite majority in Bahrain, which has been oppressed by a Sunni minority for hundreds of years. They also supported Saddam’s regime who also used the Sunni community to suppress Shiite majority and Kurdish minority. It seems that the Saudi rulers see “political exclusion” when it serves their interests. They are calling the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt terrorists but they call ISIL war criminals legitimate “rebels.” They continue to see the world through a sectarian lens and accuse others of being sectarian. A lie repeated in the age of Internet media will never be believed even by other Saudis. The Saudi rulers will fall by the sword they forged and unsheathed in the face of all their victims; unless they fully commit to fighting the ideology of hate they helped produce.

A sample of the coverage and the soft language used to hint at the above realities:

1 awkward?

The battle between Iraq’s government and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which threatens to plunge Iraq back into the chaos of sectarian civil war, puts Saudi Arabia in an increasingly awkward position.

2 Supporting radical Islamist,

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been working overtime arming rebel groups in Syria.  But events of the last month suggest these American allies have been throwing their lots in with radical, hardline Islamists.

3 We are not supporting ISIL, you are sectarian,

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have rejected Iraq’s accusations that the two countries are supporting and funding the ISIL insurgents.
The Saudi kingdom has warned against foreign meddling in Iraq and blamed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for what it describes “pursuing sectarian policies”.

4 who supports ISIL?

When the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) escalated its fight against fellow rebels in Syria late last year, private donors in the region were rattled. For three years, a network of clerics and Sunni politicians had funded anti-regime groups in Syria, including other jihadi factions such as Ahrar Al Sham and Jabhut Al Nusra – groups now at war with Isil.'

 5 Saudis recruit for ISIL in Riadh,

The al-Qaeda breakaway group that has captured Iraq’s biggest northern city is on a recruitment drive in Saudi Arabia. The evidence showed up last month in Riyadh, where drivers woke up to find leaflets stuffed into the handles of their car doors and in their windshields. They were promoting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, which has grabbed the world’s attention by seizing parts of northern Iraq.

6 Brotherhood are bad, move them over to make room for ISIL:

Islamist politicians swept elections across the region in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, stepping close to power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco and undermining the thesis of Qaeda-style militants that violence offered the only hope for change. Today, those politicians are in frantic retreat from Riyadh to Rabat, stymied by their political opponents, stalked by generals and plotted against by oil-rich monarchs. Instead, it is the jihadists who are on the march, roving unchecked across broad sections of North Africa and the Middle East.