Cruel Britannia
Source: flickr.com
Anyone watching the news will have heard that there is a refugee crisis going on.
The coverage of the refugees has certainly softened over time, from describing them as vermin to swarms, to now describing them as migrants.
While this is still not accurate, it be better than the earlier coverage.
News has mostly turned to the stance taken in relation to refugees by Germany and Hungary.
Eastern European Hostility
The Hungarian Prime Minister has declared himself as the protector of Europe from the scurge of Islam (conveniently forgetting where some refugees from Hungary went during the time of the Ottoman Empire). He does not want any refugees in his country and considers the refugees as a German problem.
A solution for the refugees?
An Egyptian Telecoms billionaire has proposed buying a Mediterranean island to shelter refugees fleeing from Syria and other countries.
Naguib Sawiris, who is believed to be worth $2.9billion, announced his idea on Twitter this week.
He tweeted: “Greece or Italy sell me an island, I’ll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country.”
He added: “Crazy idea… Maybe but at least temporary until they can return to their countries??!!”
Speaking to AFP later, he said: “Of course it’s feasible. You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.”
He estimated an island off Greece of Italy could cost between $10-$100million but stressed “the main thing is investment in infrastructure.”
Sawiris admitted the plan has its challenges – including whether Greece or Italy could be persuaded to sell an island, as well as arranging jurisdiction and customs regulations.
But he insisted refugees who came to it would be treated as “human beings”, complaining: “The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle.”
Speaking to CBC on Wednesday he said: “No sane person with integrity would look at the news and decide not to take action.”
Aylan Kurdi | Tears for The Little Syrian Boy
Don’t turn away and hide your face,
It's not the time, it’s not the place,
Look at me, stand and stare,
Lifeless and listless do you care?
My only crime was to be born,
Three years ago in a place war torn,
My short lived life, my mother’s tears,
Hopes and dreams destroyed by fears,
And as the world turns inside out,
Back to front and full of doubt,
My picture goes around the earth,
Governments decide what we are worth,
An immigrant, or a refugee,
Is that your eyes can see,
Human beings are we not the same,
Being used as pawns in a political game,
For now my life has ended here,
On a beach somewhere, so far so near
Close to freedom, a promised land,
As waves crash over, covered in sand,
The British should not bomb Syria
This may seem obvious, but the UK should stay out. SO should the rest of the "west".
There are plenty of people calling for intervention, and not only from the west. But my opinion is that we should stay out.
We don't have a good track record - recent examples and Iraq and Libya, but this goes all the way back to World War 1.
Well, I should rephrase that - we don't have a good track record for the people living there. I am sure prestige was gained and riches obtained in them all.
Another thing to remember is that when you go to war, there is always a reaction.
Western liberals fear destruction of history while ignoring human lives in Syria
From The Guardian
Isis reaches gates of ancient Syrian city Palmyra, stoking fears of destruction
Islamic State group fighters have advanced to the gates of ancient Palmyra on Thursday, raising fears the Syrian world heritage site could face destruction of the kind the jihadis have already wreaked in Iraq.
Isis fighters were battling Syrian troops less than two kilometres (barely a mile) from the remains of one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, Syria’s director of antiquities said.
The comments following the story are extra fun.
I guess the stones and buildings matter more to some than the hundreds and thousands being killed.
The Palestinians of Yarmouk and the shameful silence when Israel is not to blame
Palestinian refugees are being starved, bombed and gunned down like animals. “If you want to feed your children, you need to take your funeral shroud with you,” one told Israeli news website Ynet. “There are snipers on every street, you are not safe anywhere.”
This isn’t happening, however, in southern Lebanon, or even Gaza. And these particular Palestinians aren’t being killed or maimed by Israeli bombs and bullets.
This is Yarmouk, a refugee camp on the edge of Damascus, just a few miles from the palace of Bashar al-Assad. Since 1 April, the camp has been overrun by Islamic State militants, who have begun a reign of terror: detentions, shootings, beheadings and the rest. Hundreds of refugees are believed to have been killed in what Ban Ki-moon has called the “deepest circle of hell”.
But this isn’t just about the depravity of Isis. The Palestinians of Yarmouk have been bombarded and besieged by Assad’s security forces since 2012. Water and electricity were cut off long ago
Read more @ The Guardian
Briton killed fighting in Syria
Today there are reports about a Briton who was so enraged by events that he went to fight in Syria has been killed.
He allied himself with groups many consider to be terrorists.
However, most news reports will be sympathetic to his case for he was not Muslim.
His case will be shown more nuance than for Muslims who may return or die in Syria - who may have even been fighting against the same group!
Many of them will also have been fighting against terrorism and barbarity - the top two groups responsible are probably Assad's forces followed by ISIS. The barbarity of Assad's forces is probably an order of magnitude greater than all the other groups combined.
How should the UK deal with returnees from Syria?
There is a story on BBC News today: a mother who cooperated with the police when she found out about her son, Yusuf Sarwar, had traveled to Syria to fight felt betrayed by his arrest and subsequent 12 years and 8 months sentence under the anti terrorism laws.
His mother Majida told the BBC she believed the sentence would discourage other Muslims from helping the police.
There is a question of how these returnees should be treated. Should they be incarcerated and seen as a problem? Surely they cannot be left alone, after coming back from carrying out "terrorist activities" abroad?
Random thoughts on Kobane, ISIS, Turkey and the Khorasan
Kobane/Kobani in Syria next to the Turkish border and has for a couple of months now been under assault by SIS.
There has been immense international pressure on Turkey to intervene and when it didn't, mass accusations that it was aiding ISIS.
It has often been stated that Turkey is often a route used by westerners to get into Syria/Iraq and potentially join ISIS. Further "damning" evidence against Turkey is that potentially around 400 Turks have joined ISIS.
What is often ignored when quoting this number is that there are more suspected britons (500) of having joined ISIS that Turks (400) even though Turkey is a Muslim country and is right next to the theatre of operations.
"ن": When Muslims partake in white supremacy
Someone informed me recently about an online campaign raising awareness of the plight of persecuted Christians in Iraq.
The symbol of solidarity for that was the Arabic letter n, or "ن".
On Sunday I was listening to the news and there was someone from the church on saying that the UK government has been far too quiet for far too long on the plight of Christians in Iraq.
I haven't liked what the campaign represented for the first moment. I understand that for western individuals this may seem worthy and they may focus on the non-muslim minorities. I think it is misguided for Muslims to join any such campaign
What this campaign and others do is devalue Muslim blood.