Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Wednesday, 20 April 2016


Veiling Women: Islamists' Most Powerful Weapon

by Giulio Meotti  •  April 20, 2016 at 5:30 am
  • The first victim of the Islamist war in Algeria was a girl who refused the veil, Katia Bengana, who defended her choice even as the executioners pointed a gun at her head. In 1994, Algiers literally awoke to walls plastered with posters announcing the execution of unveiled women.
  • In April 1947, Princess Lalla Aisha gave a speech in Tangiers and people listened astonished to that unveiled girl. In a few weeks, women throughout the country refused the scarf. Today Morocco is one of the freest countries in the Arab world.
  • In the mid-1980s, sharia law was implemented in many countries, women in the Middle East were placed in a portable prison and in Europe they resumed the veil to reclaim their "identity," which meant the refusal of assimilation to Western values and the Islamization of many European cities.
  • First veils were imposed on women, then Islamists began their jihad against the West.
Look at the photographs of Kabul in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and you will see many unveiled women. Then came the Taliban and covered them.
Laurence Rossignol, France's Minister for the Family, Children and Women's Rights, sparked a furor about the Islamic veil proliferating in her country, when she compared headscarved women to "American negroes who accepted slavery." In addition, Elisabeth Badinter, one of France's most famous feminists, even called for boycotting Europe's fashion companies, such as Uniqlo and Dolce & Gabbana, which are developing Islamically correct clothes (in 2013, Muslims spent $266 billion dollars on clothing, and the figure could reach $484 billion by 2019).
A new trend is also emerging in Western popular culture, which was almost invisible in the media a decade ago: headscarved women are now also present in television programs such as MasterChef.

Erdogan: The World's Most Insulted President

by Burak Bekdil  •  April 20, 2016 at 4:00 am
  • Since Erdogan was elected president in August 2014 he has sued at least 1,845 Turks for insulting him. Now his judicial challenges have been exported to Europe.
  • Angela Merkel's decision to allow Böhmermann's prosecution hardly complies with the European culture of civil liberties.
  • "[N]ow the Turkish journalists and artists will even suffer more." -- Rebecca Harms, co-chair of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance at the European Parliament.
  • The trouble is, the more Erdogan realizes that his blackmailing works the more willing he will be to export his poor democratic culture into Europe. Merkel has set the wrong precedent and given the prickly sultan what he wants.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) has boasted that he is proud of blackmailing EU leaders, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (right), into paying him protection money.
The always angry Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, should have a moment of peace and wonder why is he probably the world's most insulted president.
Since Erdogan was elected president in August 2014 he has sued at least 1,845 people for insulting him.
Now his judicial challenges have been exported to Europe.
An obscure German law, dating back to 1871, was used to silence Iranian dissidents critical of Iran's Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1960s and 1970s. Now Erdogan has become the third foreign leader taking advantage of that law after a popular German comic satirized him in crude terms.
The law allows prosecution in Germany for insulting a foreign leader, but only with the consent of the government. German Chancellor Angela Merkel granted her consent for the prosecution of German comedian Jan Böhmermann, although she promised that the law allowing legal proceedings would be repealed in 2018.

Turkey: Erdogan's Thin-Skinned Government

by Robbie Travers  •  April 20, 2016 at 3:00 am
  • Is there any other person you trust to decide which ideas and speech you are entitled to hear -- or which are too dangerous for you to hear?
  • The thin-skinned government of Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has in the past two years opened at least 1,845 cases over insults to the president.
  • Turkey's World Press Freedom Index ranking has plummeted to 149 out of 180, below Zimbabwe (131) and Burundi (145).
  • Despite the ruling of Turkey's judicial system that Erdogan could not eliminate access to Twitter, he nevertheless continues to advance his agenda of censorship. He pledges to "eradicate Twitter" which, according to him, encourages "blasphemy and criticism of the Turkish government."
Last year, Dr. Bilgin Ciftci of Turkey posted photos on Twitter juxtaposing President Erdogan with the fictional character Gollum. Ciftci was immediately fired from the hospital where he worked. Then he was brought to court for insulting Erdogan, an offense punishable by up to four years in prison.
Is there any other person you trust to decide which ideas and speech you are entitled to hear -- or which are too dangerous for you to hear?
Is there any other person you think should have the ability to decide what criticism of the Government is respectful enough?
Would you cede your autonomy to decide what you to hear to a Government? Probably not.
The Turkish government does not agree. Evidently Turkey's AKP Government in Ankara believes it is fit to be this authority, and not just domestically. Its urge to censor negative press seems to be going global.