While in London, much of the news focused on how to tackle home grown British jihadists (ostensibly responsible for the recent very public murder of an American). There was ridicule and support for the government plan for “ASBO for terrorists.” An ASBO is an Anti-Social Behavior Order, which restricts behavior as a punishment for minor offences instead of giving a jail sentence. Hardliners want to revoke British citizenship for those who have joined IS (ISIS) and are participating in armed conflict. In London, there was plenty of self-blame; they’re looking at themselves and saying we’re doing something wrong if IS can connect with young people and young people cannot connect with western democratic society. See stories about Afzal Amin and Alyas Karmani for more details. It has been documented that “highly alienated” middleclass youths are drawn to join Islamists groups, but then you read that these supposed Islamic fundamentalists are really just criminal gangs in business to rake in big bucks. Is their funding primarily from American “allies” Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey or from kidnapping and crime? Some organizations report that ransom is the main way terrorist organizations fund their activities, and a New York Times report revealed that Al Qaeda (which has distanced themselves from ISIS) collected an estimated $125 million in ransom from European governments in the last five years. For more see these links to NBC, Daily Mail, The Guardian.
Islamic State Militants Execute 700 People from Syrian Tribe - Oliver Holmes and Suleiman al-Khalidi (Reuters) The Islamic State militant group has executed 700 members of the al-Sheitaat tribe it has been battling in eastern Syria during the past two weeks, the majority of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday. Reliable sources reported beheadings were used to execute many of the tribe. An activist in Deir al-Zor said that 300 men were executed in one day in the town of Ghraneij.
(Washington Post) Islamic State militants in Iraq on Friday killed 84 men and detained more than 300 women in the Yazidi village of Kocho, Yazidis and Kurdish officials said Saturday, following a week-long siege in which the IS demanded that residents convert to Islam or face death.
Ceasefire holds; Israeli officials say Hamas dealt heavy blow - Lazar Berman and Yifa Yaakov (Times of Israel) Rock throwing by Palestinians across the West Bank is a serious hazard for drivers. One recent report in the Times of Israel included this positive note: A group of Palestinians from Beit Ummar who saw the crash rushed to the scene to help rescue the three Israelis.
