This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Blunt language from Canada’s Stephen Harper to Vladimir Putin
- Merger of ISIS and al-Nusra seen unlikely, despite reports
- Turkey’s Erdogan says Muslims, not Christopher Columbus, discovered America
- UN committee in Jordan investigates Israeli war crimes
Blunt language from Canada’s Stephen Harper to Vladimir Putin
Stephen Harper and Vladimir Putin at G20 meeting on Saturday
As we reported yesterday, Russia’spresident had to eat lunch alone on Saturday at the G20 meeting beingheld in Brisbane, Australia, because none of the other countries’national leaders wanted to be seen with the man who invaded Ukraine.
It’s now been revealed that the conversation between Canada’s primeminister Stephen Harper and Putin was particularly blunt:
HARPER: “I guess I’ll shake your hand, but I have onlyone thing to say to you: you need to get out of Ukraine.”
PUTIN: “I’m not in Ukraine.”
HARPER: “That’s why I don’t want to have a meeting with you,you’ll just lie to me.”
Merger of ISIS and al-Nusra seen unlikely, despite reports
There have been several recent news reports about a possible mergerbetween the Syrian jihadist groups Islamic State of Iraq and Syria(IS or ISIS or ISIL) and the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-NusraFront). However, examination of these reports make it evidentthat they all come from the same unreliable sources.
Although al-Nusra and ISIS fighters have cooperated in one or twospecific local instances, ISIS would demand full subjugation ofal-Nusra to itself, and that’s not going to happen. In fact,statements from al-Nusra have expressed contempt for ISIS’ claim to beeither a “state” (“Islamic State”) or a Caliphate, as ISIS leader AbuOmar al-Baghdadi has claimed.
In the larger picture, al-Baghdadi has asked jihadist groups aroundthe world to subjugate themselves to his self-declared ISIS caliphate,and a scattering of smaller jihadist groups from Indonesia to Algeriahave done so. However, neither of the major al-Qaeda umbrella groups– Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) headquartered in Yemen, norAl-Qaeda on the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)– headquartered in northernAfrica, is going to give up its identity and subjugate itself to ISIS.
Turkey’s Erdogan says Muslims, not Christopher Columbus, discovered America
At a meeting of the 1st Latin American Muslim Religious Leaders Summitin Istanbul on Saturday, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan saidthat Muslims discovered America long before Christopher Columbus did:
Latin America’s contact with Islam dates back to the12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not ChristopherColumbus. Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178. ChristopherColumbus mentions the existence of a mosque on a hill along theCuban coast. I will talk to my brothers in Cuba and a mosque wouldsuit the top of that hill today as well. We would build it if they[the Cuban government] say so. Islam had expanded in the Americancontinent before Columbus arrived.
Various groups, from Malians to Vikings, have claimed to be the firstto “discover America,” but there’s no archaeological evidence of anypermanent settlements prior the expedition of Italian explorerChristopher Columbus in 1492.
There is a small Muslim minority in Cuba, many of whom claim thatthey’re discriminated against. A delegation from Turkey traveled toCuba earlier this year to seek permission to build a mosque in Havana,but the Cuban authorities rejected the request. Today’s Zaman (Istanbul) and Independent (Ireland)
UN committee in Jordan investigates Israeli war crimes
The investigation committee of the UN Human Rights Council is meetingin Amman Jordan to hear the testimonies of Palestinians claiming to bevictims of Israeli violence, to gather evidence of Israeli war crimesin the Gaza war of several months ago. They’re meeting in Jordanbecause Israel has denied its members entry into the West Bank and theGaza Strip. Likewise, Egypt has denied them entry into Gaza via theRafah border crossing.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry officially announced last week that it wouldnot cooperate with the Council’s investigation, saying that theCouncil has already predetermined that Israel is guilty, and is notinvestigating crimes by Hamas. The probe is headed by Canadian legalexpert William Schabas, who previously stated that he believes PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu should be brought before the InternationalCriminal Court on war crime charges. Ma’an (Bethlehem) and Jerusalem Post
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Canada, Stephen Harper, Russia, Vladimir Putin,G20, Brisbane, Australia, Ukraine,Al-Qaeda on the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM,Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, Yemen,Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Nusra Front, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi,Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Latin America, Christopher Columbus,Cuba, Mali, Vikings, UN Human Rights Council, Jordan, West Bank,Gaza Strip, Israel, William Schabas, Benjamin Netanyahu,International Criminal Court
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