Norwegians Boycott Holocaust Event After Jews Are Invited

By Ludovica Iaccino
From The International Business Times

Anti-racism activists in Norway have refused to participate in a Holocaust commemoration after
members of the Jewish community were put on the guest list, a Norwegian blog has claimed.

According to Norway, Israel and the Jews, Norwegian activist organisation New SOS Racisme
-- which claims to reduce racism in society -- asked for the "Zionist Jews of Bergen" to be
banned from attending the Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass, an event aimed at
remembering the escalation of the persecution of Jews in Germany, between the nights of 9th
 and 10th November 1938.

They "refused to participate in the Kristallnacht commemoration since a representative from
the Mosaic Congregation [a conservative Jewish Congregation ] was invited. Yes, they balked
at a Jew participating," the blog added.

The incident occurred a few days after Denmark's ceremony in Norrebro district marking
the Holocaust was used to raise money for Gaza, following the 2014 Israel-Gaza war which
killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.

A local leader of the Jewish community criticised Denmark's decision to raise funds for Gaza. 

"When the profits from the Norrebro event go to Gaza, whose government is at war with Israel,
 I think that there is an inappropriate confusion," Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, president of the
Jewish Community in Copenhagen, told the Kristelig Dagblad newspaper.

"I do not know if this is a deliberate attempt to draw a parallel between the actions of Germans
 then and those of Israelis today – a parallel drawn before by people on the left and one which
 I strongly reject. If it's a coincidence, I think it is unfortunate."

Enemy, Thy Name is Turkey

Former Turkish Prime Minister and newly elected Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan. Picture from Faz.net.

If the enemy of our enemy is our friend, then is the friend of our enemy our enemy as well? That inverted logical reasoning is the question that we must now ask ourselves given the current situation in Turkey.

As a secular Muslim majority state straddling the continents of Europe and Asia，Turkey would seem to be a natural adversary to the fundamentalist Islamic State or ISIS. 

“ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, but rather consists of militants who are drug addicts” were remarks made by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in reference to the Islamic State, a week after he lambasted Western nations at the United Nations for not doing enough to stop the surge of foreign recruits from swelling the Islamic State’s ranks. A bit of irony considering, as Syria’s foreign minister noted, that the vast majority of Islamic State (IS) recruits enter Syria via the land border his state shares with Turkey.

Turkish intransigence is  not just limited to its passé reaction towards foreign fighters crossing its borders to join the Islamic State.  When the Islamic State expanded its Syrian insurgency to neighboring Iraq an American- led coalition of Western and Arab states responded by launching air strikes against ISIS targets in the region. Noticeably absent from the coalition was Turkey. Even after IS brought its holy war to the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkey refused to engage the encroaching militants. Instead, the Turkish military targeted Kurdish forces: the one reliable Western- backed group which has continuously engaged Islamic State fighters on the ground. Furthermore, Turkey blocked Kurdish fighters from joining their brethren in defending the Syrian-Turkish border town of Kobane from IS and refused to allow the United States and other NATO allies access and use of key Turkish airbases, including the strategically important one in Incirlik, as bases of operation for the coalition to launch airstrikes against ISIS.  

So why would Turkey, a secular Muslim nation and member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), not only balk at joining the coalition against IS but also attack the Western backed forces fighting them?

Only two actors are actively engaging the Islamic State directly, the Syrian Government under Bashar al- Assad and Kurdish paramilitary forces known as the Peshmerga.  A third actor, the free Syrian army, have engaged IS. However, they have done so on a limited basis and are focused more on engaging the Syrian army in a few urban areas.  While coalition forces have engaged ISIS targets through aerial bombardment, the Syrian military and Peshmerga have been actively waging a ground campaign to physically dislodge IS from its positions in Syria and Iraq. 

Even though the Syrian Government and Peshmerga are the only forces actively fighting and resisting IS, they represent the two actors which the present government in Ankara view as the greatest threats to Turkey and Turkish interests.

Syria and Turkey have been historic adversaries since the partition of the Ottoman Empire following the conclusion of World War One. As a founding member of NATO, an ally of the United States, and the secular Muslim nation, Turkey has been viewed skeptically by its Arab neighbors who were more closely aligned with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Furthering the skepticism was Turkey's recognition and relatively good relations with the Jewish state which Syria had opposed militarily during the Israeli War of Independence, Six-Day War, and Yom Kippur War.

Syrian-Turkish relations have further been soured by Turkish development projects on the upper regions of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The building of new hydroelectric dams limited the volume of water which flows from Turkey into Syria along both rivers, resulting in a decreased water supply in the normally arid eastern portion of the state.

Although relations between Syria and Turkey had warmed somewhat recently, the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War precipitated a re-cooling of relations with Turkey's former Prime Minister and recently elected President, Tayyip Erdogan, declaring that an absolute abdication of power by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was the only acceptable outcome to the current conflict.

While the United States and its allies oppose the Assad regime in Syria, it has refused to militarily engage the Syrian government due to Russian opposition. Furthermore, the West has been slow to support and supply the Syrian Free Army, another opposing force in the Syrian Civil War, due to the group's lack of cohesiveness and the continuing possibility that those supplies may wind up in the hands of radical Islamic groups. Western reluctance to support non-ISIS anti-Assad forces have left ISIS as the only actor willing and able to take on the Syrian government's forces.

Turkish opposition to the Kurds runs much deeper as the Turks view Kurdish nationalism as a threat to the territorial integrity of their country. A majority minority group in the southeastern section of Turkey, the Kurds have been fighting for their own state independent of Ankara and inclusive of areas with a significant population of Kurds in Iraq, Iran and Syria, for close to thirty years. The Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) has been at the forefront of the fight, waging a protracted unconventional war against Ankara until a ceasefire agreement in 2013. For its part Turkey has been adamant in both its opposition to the PKK, classifying it as a terrorist organization, and Kurdish independence.

For Erdogan and his party Western support for the Peshmerga and the Kurds as a whole could have the unintended consequence of solidifying Kurdish military power and autonomy while strengthening the Kurdish independence movement. Were the Kurds to prove successful in their campaign against IS in either Syria or Iraq, the result may be the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state from the territory within one or both of the aforementioned states. Considering that approximately half of the entire Kurdish population worldwide lives in Turkey, an independent Kurdistan that emerges from the ashes of Iraq and/or Syria will undoubtedly press for Turkish territorial concessions in the heavily Kurdish populated southeastern portion of the country.

With its military rise in eastern Syria and northern Iraq, areas where the Kurdish populations of those countries are mostly located, the Islamic State has come into direct confrontation with autonomous Kurdish forces. Since Turkey entered into a peace agreement with the PKK in 2012, ISIS is the only actor who engaging Kurdish groups in an active military campaign.

In fact, instead of targeting ISIS fighters or the Islamic State's infrastructure, Turkey has instead turned its weapons on the Kurds. Turkish fighters bombarded PKK positions in southeast Turkey, in violation of the peace agreement, and until recently prevented the Kurds in Turkey from crossing the border to assist the Kurdish forces battling ISIS forces in the Syrian border town of Kobane.

Erdogan's relatively soft position on ISIS is a continuing saga where under his leadership Turkish interests have diverged considerably from that of its traditional Western allies.

Of considerable note is the increasingly sour relationship between Turkey and Israel. Upon Israel's declaration of independence and statehood, Turkey was one of the first states to recognize the Jewish states, in addition to being one of only two Muslim majority states to do so (the other state being Iran which rescinded its recognition following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, subsequently the Muslim majority states of Egypt and Jordan have recognized Israel per separate peace agreements with the Jewish state in 1978 and 1994 respectively). Turkish-Israeli relations have plummeted to never before seen lows since the botched Israeli commando raid on a Turkish-led flotilla, trying to bring aid supplies to the Gaza Strip by beaching the Israeli blockade, left ten Turkish citizens dead. Since then, Erdogan has openly criticized the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, even as he maintains what the Kurds perceive to be a Turkish occupation of Kurdistan. He has also accused Israel of carrying out a genocide against the Palestinian people, an allegation which has been unequivocally refuted based on facts viewed in the most favorable light for the Palestinians by this blog, while continuing to deny Turkey's commission of the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

On the domestic front, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has infused Islamist values and adopted Islamist influenced policies within a staunchly secular Turkish society. While France has moved to ban the niqab (a cloth or veil worn to cover the face of Muslim women) in a bid to create a more secular society, the AKP has lifted a ban on hijabs (Muslim headscarf) in institutions of higher education.

This perceived attack on Turkish secularism, which had been a strict hallmark of the nation since its foundation at the end of World War 1, launched the massive pro-secular Republic Protests in 2007 and became a focal point of the recent 2013-2014 Protests.

In the end Turkey is not the same secular Muslim nation which the United States and West had relied on during the Cold War. Under Erdogan and the AKP, internally, Turkey is moving towards a society which looks less like Europe and more like the Middle East.  All this continues to beg the question is the friend of our enemy still our friend?

Top American General Says Israel Limited Civilian Casualties

By Lazar Berman
The Times of Israel

Israel went to “extraordinary lengths” to prevent civilian casualties during this summer’s conflict in the Gaza Strip, the top US military leader said Thursday.

“I actually do think that Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties,” said General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a forum at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York City.

“In this kind of conflict, where you are held to a standard that your enemy is not held to, you’re going to be criticized for civilian casualties,” he added, according to Reuters.

The Hamas tunnels “caused the IDF some significant challenges,” Dempsey said. “But they did some extraordinary things to try to limit civilian casualties, to include… making it known that they were going to destroy a particular structure.”

Dempsey listed Israel Defense Forces measures such as the “roof-knocking” and the dropping of warning leaflets as part of their attempts to protect civilian lives.

“The IDF is not interested in creating civilian casualties. They’re interested in stopping the shooting of rockets and missiles out of the Gaza Strip and into Israel,” Dempsey argued.

The American general recounted that an American delegation visited Israel three months

ago to learn lessons from the conflict, “to include the measures they took to prevent civilian 

casualties and what they did with tunneling.”

Dempsey’s statements stand in stark contrast to a recent Amnesty International report accusing Israel of displaying “callous indifference” in attacks on family homes in the densely populated coastal area.

The Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, including many civilians, according to Hamas and UN officials. Israel says the number of militants killed was much higher than the figures released by Hamas, and accuses the organization of using civilians as human shields.

On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

During the 50 days of fighting, Hamas fired thousands of rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and cities, including Tel Aviv, and used a sophisticated tunnel network to carry out attacks on Israeli military encampments in southern Israel, close to the Gaza border. Some of the tunnels also had exits abutting Israeli civilian communities, giving Hamas the ability to attack them as well.

For its part, Israeli forces carried out sustained aerial, artillery and infantry attacks on Gaza.

Dempsey also said during the talk that airstrikes on Iran would set back, but not destroy, its nuclear capabilities, as a deadline is looming for a deal between Tehran and major powers.

Israel in the past has raised the threat of military action to prevent Iran from getting the bomb, while Washington has left its options open.

“We do have the capability — were we asked to use it — to address an Iranian nuclear capability,” said Dempsey.

“But… as we look at using the military instrument if necessary to address the Iranian nuclear issue, that would delay it, it will not eliminate it,” he told the forum.

Anti-Corruption Push In China Leads to Casino Losses in Macau

From BBC News

Macau's casinos have recorded their worst monthly revenue performance on record as China continues its anti-corruption drive.

Total casino revenue fell by 23.2% in October from a year earlier, the worst result since the city started recording the data in 2005.

Macau's gaming authority said total revenue was 28bn Macau patacas ($3.5bn; £2.19bn) for the month.

The city is the world's largest gaming centre, ahead of Las Vegas in the US.

The special administrative region of China relies heavily on gambling tourism for its economic growth.

It particularly relies on gambling revenue generated by big-spending tourists.

Macau is the only place in China where casinos are allowed, but the communist government's anti-corruption drive has seen high-stake gamblers cut back on spending.

Recent pre-democracy rallies in Hong Kong may have also seen some Chinese mainland tourists put off from visiting Macau.

The city is a short ferry ride from Hong Kong, through which many mainlanders travel to get to Macau.

Army Will Cede Power in Burkina Faso

From Al Jazeera America

Burkina Faso's army will cede power to a transitional government and appoint a new head of state, said Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Zida, the country's interim president.

"We are going to move very fast, but be careful not to commit a mistake that might damage our country," Zida said on Monday adding that a new head of state would be chosen following broad discussions with various groups.

Zida did not specify that the proposed leader would be a civilian and did not provide a timetable.

His announcement came in the wake of crisis meetings late on Sunday and Monday between Zida and opposition leaders after thousands gathered to denounce his appointment in the central Place de la Nation — the scene of violent protests last week during which the parliament was set alight.

Earlier on Monday the African Union's Peace and Security Council, gave the military two weeks to return the country to constitutional rule or face sanctions.

The army stepped into a power vacuum after Blaise Compaoré was forced to resign the presidency last week in the wake of violent demonstrations over an attempt to extend his 27-year-rule. But protests erupted again after Lt. Col. Isaac Zida assumed control of the interim government over the weekend, out of fears he might try to transition the country towards military rule.

"We ask the armed forces to transfer power to the civil authorities, and the council has determined a period of two weeks for the transfer," Simeon Oyono Esono, head of the AU's Peace and Security Council, said on Monday following a meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"The African Union is convinced that the change has been against democracy. However, we know that popular pressure led to the resignation of the president,” Esono said. "Those circumstances were taken by the armed forces to get into power, but it originated from the people.”

In an emergency meeting with diplomats in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou earlier on Monday, Zida reiterated that the military would cede power to a transitional government, without giving a timeframe for the changeover.

"Our understanding is that the executive powers will be led by a transitional body but within a constitutional framework that we will watch over carefully," Zida said. 

After Zida assumed the leadership role on Saturday, the military said it was acting in the interests of the nation and that "power does not interest us."

But the move promptly sparked angry protests among those concerned one autocratic ruler would simply be replaced by another. The army on Sunday launched a sharp crackdown when several thousand protesters gathered at a rally against the military takeover in the city's central square. One protester was killed.

Some protesters had headed to the national television station headquarters where two opposition leaders made separate attempts to go on air to declare themselves interim leader.

Former defense minister Kouame Lougue, whose name was chanted by thousands in the streets following Compaore's downfall, told the AFP news agency: "The people have nominated me. I came to answer their call."

But the TV technicians walked out, interrupting transmission and foiling another bid by Saran Sereme, a former member of the ruling party, to make her claim as leader.

As of Monday afternoon, the streets in the capital had calmed down, but citizens told Al Jazeera they wanted to see the transition happen as quickly as possible.

Zida on Monday also held meetings with French, American and European Union diplomats, all of who urged him to hand power back to civilian leaders.

Meanwhile, senior opposition figures met with their leader, Zephirin Diabre.

"The political opposition and civil society organizations insist that the victory of the popular uprising belongs to the people and therefore the transition government legitimately falls to them and should under no circumstances be confiscated by the military," Jean-Hubert Bazie, a spokesman for the opposition parties, told Al Jazeera.

Pakistani Couple Burned Alive For Torching Quran

A picture from the alleged site of the incident. Picture from NBC News.

From NBC News

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Christian couple were allegedly burned alive in an industrial kiln in Pakistan on Tuesday after angry workers discovered they had set fire to several verses of the Quran, a local activist said. Shahbaz Maseeh, 26, and his wife Shama Bibi, 24, were attacked by colleagues at the brick factory where they worked in Punjab province, according to Mushtaq Gill, chief advocate at Pakistani minority rights group LEAD. He said they had planned to flee their town with their three young children.

"A mob of several dozen attacked the building where they were, " said Gill, whose organization’s full name is the Legal Evangelical Association Development. "They broke their legs so they couldn't run and then threw them in the fire. Only some bones and hair were found at the site." Punjab province is home to the majority of Pakistan's around four million Christians. Gill said that word got out over the weekend that several verses of the Quran were among items burnt by Bibi after they were left behind by her deceased father. Setting fire to the religious text is considered blasphemy in Pakistan. While technically punishable by death under strict Islamic law, it is more common for vigilante mobs to take matters into their own hands. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police official told NBC News up to 35 people were believed to be involved in the attack and that arrests were under way.