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Category: Europe

Dutch Justice Ministry employee: ISIS a Zionist conspiracy

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — A senior employee of the Dutch Justice Ministry said the jihadist group ISIS was created by Zionists seeking to give Islam a bad reputation.

Yasmina Haifi, a project leader at the ministry’s National Cyber Security Center, made the assertion Wednesday on Twitter, the De Telegraaf daily reported.

“ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. It’s part of a plan by Zionists who are deliberately trying to blacken Islam’s name,” wrote Haifi, who described herself on the social network LinkedIn as an activist for the Dutch Labor Party, or PvdA.

Haifi later removed her original message, explaining, “I realize the political sensitivity in connection with my work. That was not my intention.”

Two right-wing lawmakers, Joram van Klaveren and Louis Bontes of the VNL faction, asked the ministry how one with such views reached a prominent position in the ministry and if Haifi’s employment constituted a security risk.

A series of rallies supporting ISIS, which is considered a terrorist organization in many Western countries, were held in the Hague in July and earlier this month. Some demonstrators called for violence. The demonstrations on July 2 and 24 featured calls to kill Jews.

When anti-ISIS demonstrators tried to march through the heavily Muslim neighborhood of Schilderswijk on Aug. 10 to express their disapproval, a crowd of approximately 200 men barricaded the main street and staged an illegal counter demonstration in support of ISIS.

Some of the protesters hurled stones at police who tried to remove the obstacles. Six people were arrested

www.jta.org, August 13, 2014

August 16, 2014
Armenian Australian church leader ‘was a KGB spy’

Phillip Dorling

A highly respected Australian church leader was a KGB spy, according to newly released Russian intelligence archives.

Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand, was listed as a KGB agent, codenamed “Zorik” in the papers of former KGB archivist and defector Vasili Mitrokhin, which were released by the UK’s Churchill College Archive last month.

Born in Syria in 1946, the late Archbishop Baliozian arrived in Australia in 1975 to serve as Vicar General of the diocese of the Armenian Church before being appointed as Primate of Australia and New Zealand in 1982.

A highly respected religious leader and a well-known figure in Chatswood, Sydney, Archbishop Baliozian was strongly committed to ecumenism, working for cooperation and greater unity between Christian churches.

He was the first president of the National Council of Churches in Australia from 1994 to 1997 and president of the NSW Ecumenical Council from 2005 to 2007. He represented the Armenian Church at the World Council of Churches.

Archbishop Baliozian was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1995 “in recognition of service to the Armenian community” and the Centenary Medal in 2001, again for community service.

However, Mitrokhin’s papers on KGB espionage operations in Australia allege Archbishop Baliozian was recruited by Soviet intelligence in 1973 while undertaking theological studies in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union.

According to Mitrokhin’s notes of Soviet state security files, Aghan Baliozian went on to work as a KGB agent while studying and teaching in Jerusalem in 1974, and maintained “ongoing communications in three countries”. He continued contact with the KGB after he transferred to the Armenian Church in Australia, according to the papers.

However, Mitrokhin’s papers also suggest that his performance in Australia was considered unsatisfactory. The third department of the KGB’s foreign intelligence directorate, responsible for operations in Australia, concluded Archbishop Baliozian had “insufficient operational training” and eventually discontinued his employment.

The precise terms of Archbishop Baliozian’s separation from the KGB are not recorded in Mitrokhin’s notes and it is not known whether he had any further dealings with Soviet intelligence in the 1980s.

Mitrokhin’s notes of KGB files record Soviet state security’s extensive efforts to recruit clergy as agents and informants, especially in churches with a significant presence in the former Soviet Union.

British intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, who collaborated with Mitrokhin on two books, claims that, during the Cold War the KGB recruited a number of representatives on the World Council of Churches, mainly from the Russian Orthodox Church but from other denominations as well, in successful efforts to influence the Council’s policies.

Archbishop Baliozian died in September 2012. More than 600 people attended his funeral at the Armenian Apostolic Church in Chatswood, including three archbishops from Jerusalem, India and Armenia.

Many NSW political figures paid tribute to the archbishop, with Liberal MP Jonathan O’Dea applauding his commitment to inter-religious dialogue as well as his abilities as an orator.

“Always approachable and gregarious, the archbishop was captivating as a speaker… He would simply speak from the heart, capturing the attention of young and old in his congregation and developing a strong and loyal following,” Mr O’Dea told the NSW Parliament.

m.smh.com.au, August 12, 2014

August 13, 2014
UK Police commissioner cuts short interview to chase thief

Sir Bernard Hogan Howe
UK’s most senior police officer jumps into taxi to pursue suspect who stole money from driver

The UK’s most senior police officer broke off from a radio interview to make an arrest today.

According to Irish Times Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe jumped into a taxi to pursue a suspect after the driver complained his passengers refused to pay the fare and had stolen cash from him.

Sir Bernard, who was taking part in a pre-recorded interview with BBC London 94.9 Drivetime presenter Eddie Nestor near Bruce Grove station in Tottenham, north London, joined the chase first in the minicab and later in a squad car.

He went on to apprehend a teenager, Scotland Yard said.

In a recording of the interview, Sir Bernard can be heard asking the driver if he knows where the suspect is, adding: “I’m going to go with you.”

His force said in a tweet: “Commissioner Hogan-Howe arrested a 19yo man on suspicion of theft this morning after being flagged down by local taxi driver.”

The driver, who gave his name as Mohammed, told the BBC a passenger took £20 (€25) from his dashboard before running away.

He said: “When I see the police, I ask the police ‘please can you stop the guys?”

He said he was not aware who the officer who came to his aid was, but described him as a “very good, very kind” man.

It is not the first time Sir Bernard has gone back to his “bobby” roots.

In 2006, when he was chief constable of Merseyside Police, he chased and arrested a suspected drink-driver in Liverpool.

It means Sir Bernard has made an arrest in every rank he has held since becoming an officer in 1979, Scotland Yard said.

After the pursuit, the commissioner told the BBC: “The important thing for today, at least for me, is that I have made an arrest at every rank as a police officer, so as chief constable at Merseyside, but never as commissioner, and I have been here three years — that’s very slack, it’s a disgrace, but today we have put it right.”

A Met Police statement said the commissioner was recording an interview at around 11.20am when the minicab stopped and the driver asked for help.

It said: “Four males were seen to jump out of the vehicle and run off, closely followed by an officer who was with the commissioner.

“A 17-year old youth was arrested inside Bruce Grove Rail Station on suspicion of theft, handling and making off without payment.

“Descriptions were circulated and the commissioner got into a police car which arrived at the scene and went to look for the outstanding suspects.

“In nearby Napier Road, N1, one of the suspects, a 19-year old man, was seen and arrested on suspicion of theft and making off without payment.”

A spokesman confirmed the commissioner had initially got into the taxi before continuing the pursuit in a police vehicle.

The two suspects are currently being held in police stations in north London.

August 11, 2014
ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Trained by Israeli Mossad, NSA Documents Reveal

The former employee at US National Security Agency (NSA), Edward Snowden, has revealed that the British and American intelligence and the Mossad worked together to create the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Snowden said intelligence services of three countries created a terrorist organisation that is able to attract all extremists of the world to one place, using a strategy called “the hornet’s nest”.

NSA documents refer to recent implementation of the hornet’s nest to protect the Zionist entity by creating religious and Islamic slogans.

According to documents released by Snowden, “The only solution for the protection of the Jewish state “is to create an enemy near its borders”.

Leaks revealed that ISIS leader and cleric Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi took intensive military training for a whole year in the hands of Mossad, besides courses in theology and the art of speech.

globalresearch.ca

August 4, 2014
Less Hitler and Henrys in new history A-level

Less Hitler and Henrys in new history A-level

By Judith Burns

Education reporter, BBC News

Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes will be one of the new topics on offer if the draft A-level is accredited

The rise of Islam and pre-colonial African kingdoms are among topics on offer in a draft new history A-level, due to be introduced next year.

The course, from exam board OCR, will also include options on Alfred the Great and Genghis Khan.

The aim is to give greater breadth to the fifth most popular A-level subject.

OCR’s head of history, Mike Goddard said the subject had been criticised “for being too repetitive and having a 20th Century Western focus”.

Hitler and the Henrys

Mr Goddard said these criticisms were sometimes unfair but added that: “Hitler and the Henrys can dominate.

“Universities tell us they want incoming students to have greater breadth of knowledge.

New history topics

Alfred and the Making of England: 871 – 1016

The Early Anglo Saxons: 400 – 800

Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes: 1167 – 1405

Japan: 1853 – 1937

African Kingdoms: 1400 – 1800

The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India: 1526 – 1739

The Rise of Islam: 550 – 750

The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire: 1453 – 1606

China and its rulers: 1839 – 1989

The Middle East, Ottomans to Arab Spring: 1908 -2011

“It’s vital that schools and colleges have an opportunity to deliver, for example, the history of pre-colonial, non-Western civilisations, alongside British history.”

The board says the course will continue to include familiar subjects such as the Tudors and Stuarts, Victorian social reform and the rise of Hitler but the aim is to broaden the subject “in time and space”.

Some of the 10 new topics will appear in an A-level syllabus for the first time.

Mr Goddard said the African Kingdoms topic, developed with university experts would “give students, for the first time, the chance to discover the economic and political power of four pre-colonial kingdoms which had far-reaching global trade and diplomatic connections”.

Altogether there will be 58 topics divided into three groups:

world history

British history

historical themes

King Henry VIII is a staple of the A-level history syllabus

Sixth-formers are asked to choose three topics – one from each group.

New subject criteria from Ofqual requires that from 2015 students should take options from across a 200-year range and include the study of more than one state.

‘Under-explored’

OCR says its specification ranges over nearly 1,700 years and includes dozens of states.

The board hopes it might be appealing for teachers to get out of their comfort zones and teach topics that are new to them, using a range of new online resources and support facilities.

Prof Peter Mandler, president of the Royal Historical Society, said the principle of broadening school history was an approach favoured by academics.

“History tells us not so much about who we are as about who we have been and what we might yet be,” he said.

“We welcome efforts by the examination boards to bring recent academic research on hitherto under-explored histories within reach of school pupils.

“It is particularly important not to tell the history of the non-Western world solely through its contact with the West.”

The new course will be submitted for accreditation by the exam regulator Ofqual next month.

If approved it will be taught in schools from September 2015.

via BBC News – Less Hitler and Henrys in new history A-level.

August 2, 2014
British Airways to be sued over child abuse claim

Simon Wood was a pilot for British Airways

British Airways is to be sued for damages over claims one of its pilots sexually abused children in African schools and orphanages.

According to Press Association, lawyers representing 16 young girls and women who claim First Officer Simon Wood assaulted them said the airline bears responsibility because he carried out the alleged attacks while on stopovers.

An inquest is due to be held into the death of Wood, 54, who was struck by a train in August while awaiting a court appearance accused of indecently assaulting a young girl and making indecent images of children.

Law firm Leigh Day said Wood allegedly molested youngsters during stopovers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania while flying for British Airways. Some of their clients are aged just eight.

Lawyer Nichola Marshall said: “We allege that Wood was able to abuse the victims, by reason of his employment with the airline, in particular through his involvement with the airlines’ community relations work.

“The schools and orphanages that our clients attended were all in receipt of charitable donations from the airline, and Wood played a key role in administering those donations, on behalf of British Airways.

“Our team will be travelling overseas over the coming weeks to meet with other potential victims in Nairobi and Uganda that have come forward more recently.”

Wood, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, died after being hit by a train near Potters Bar station on August 18. He had been due to appear at Southwark Crown Court in London on August 30 charged with one count of indecent assault of a girl under 16, two counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of possessing indecent images of a child, Scotland Yard said at the time.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Wood was first arrested over an indecent assault allegation in November 2001 but prosecutors ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

It reconsidered the case in July after receiving new details of similar alleged offences committed overseas and apparent evidence of indecent images.

At Easter 2002, Wood was among 20 crew members from two BA flights who volunteered to spend the holiday period with the Kenyan youngsters, showering the orphanage with presents, medicines and donations raised at home.

He told the Press Association, which covered the trip: “We play, sing, organise activities and generally entertain them. We become very close to the children.”

A British Airways spokesman said: “We were shocked and horrified to hear the allegations against Simon Wood, which appear to relate to his involvement in child-related activities entirely outside the scope of his employment with British Airways.

“Our sympathies are with the victims and it is disappointing that the conduct of one person has caused so much distress to the many thousands of decent people who engage in charitable works on a regular basis.”

The inquest into Wood’s death is due to be held at Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court.

July 30, 2014