Thursday, May 16, 2019

RAYMOND IBRAHIM - MUSLIM SEX SLAVES

Islamic Sex Slavery Painting Stirs International Controversy



An American museum is vociferously calling on a German political party to stop using one of the former's paintings in the latter's campaign poster for the European elections.
Titled "Slave Market" and painted by a Frenchman in 1866, the painting "shows a black, apparently Muslim slave trader displaying a naked young woman with much lighter skin to a group of men for examination," probably in North Africa (AKA "Barbary").
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, founded in 2013 and first elected to Germany's national parliament in 2017, has been putting up posters of the painting with the slogan, "So that Europe won't become Eurabia."
"We are strongly opposed to the use of this work to advance any political agenda," objected Olivier Meslay, director of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, which houses the original painting.  He said his museum had written to AfD, "insisting that they cease and desist in using this painting."  Despite the rather legal tone, the painting is in the public domain; even Meslay acknowledges that "there are no copyrights or permissions that allow us to exert control over how it is used other than to appeal to civility on the part of the AfD Berlin."
For its part, the AfD said the U.S. museum's call is "a futile attempt to gag the AfD," adding that "[t]he German public has the right to find out about the truth about the possible consequences of illegal mass immigration."  Even so, other elements in Germany are even more hostile to the AfD's poster: "party workers have had to repeatedly put up new copies, only to see them destroyed again the following night."
What to make of all this?  Objectively, the "Slave Market" painting in question portrays a reality that has played out countless times over the centuries: African and Middle Eastern Muslims have long targeted fair "infidel" women — so much so as to have enslaved millions of them over the centuries (as copiously documented in my recent book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, from which the following quotes and statistics are derived).
Concerning the Muslim demand for, in the words of one historian, "white-complexioned blondes, with straight hair and blue eyes," this traces back to the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, who enticed his followers to wage jihad against neighboring Byzantium by citing its fair and blonde women who awaited them as potential concubines.
For over a millennium afterward, Islamic caliphates, emirates, and sultanates — of the Arab, Berber, Turkic, and Tatar variety — also coaxed their men to jihad on Europe by citing (and later sexually enslaving) its fair women.  Accordingly, because the "Umayyads particularly valued blond or red-haired Franc or Galician women as sexual slaves," Dario Fernandez-Morera writes, "al-Andalus [Islamic Spain] became a center for the trade and distribution of slaves."
The insatiable demand for fair women was such that, according to M.A. Khan, an Indian author and former Muslim, it is "impossible to disconnect Islam from the Viking slave-trade, because the supply was absolutely meant for meeting [the] Islamic world's unceasing demand for the prized white slaves" and "white sex-slaves."  Emmet Scott goes so far as to argue that "it was the caliphate's demand for European slaves that called forth the Viking phenomenon in the first place."
As for numbers, according to the conservative estimate of American professor Robert Davis, "between 1530 and 1780 [alone] there were almost certainly a million and quite possibly as many as a million and a quarter white, European Christians enslaved by the Muslims of the Barbary Coast" (the appropriate setting of the "Slave Market" painting).  By 1541, "Algiers teemed with Christian captives [from Europe], and it became a common saying that a Christian slave was scarce a fair barter for an onion."
With countless enslaved European women — some seized from as far as Denmark and even Iceland — selling for the price of vegetables, little wonder that European observers by the late 1700s noted how "the inhabitants of Algiers have a rather white complexion."
Further underscoring the rapacious and relentless drive of the Muslim slave industry, consider this: the United States of America's first war — which it fought before it could even elect its first president — was against these Islamic slavers.  When Thomas Jefferson and John Adams asked Barbary's ambassador why his countrymen were enslaving American sailors, the "ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that ... it was their right and duty to make war upon them [non-Muslims] wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners."
The situation was arguably worse for Eastern Europeans;  the slave markets of the Ottoman sultanate were for centuries so inundated with Slavic flesh that children sold for pennies, "a very beautiful slave woman was exchanged for a pair of boots, and four Serbian slaves were traded for a horse."  In Crimea, some three million Slavs were enslaved by the Ottomans' Muslim allies, the Tatars. "The youngest women are kept for wanton pleasures," observed a seventeenth century Lithuanian.
Even the details of the "Slave Market" painting/poster, which depicts a fair and naked female slave being pawed at by potential buyers, echoes reality.  Based on a twelfth-century document dealing with slave auctions in Cordoba, Muslim merchants "would put ointments on slave girls of a darker complexion to whiten their faces; brunettes were placed for four hours in a solution to make them blond ('golden'); ointments were placed on the face and body of black slaves to make them 'prettier.'" Then, the Muslim merchant "dresses them all in transparent clothes" and "tells the slave girls to act in a coquettish manner with the old men and with the timid men among the potential buyers to make them crazy with desire."
In short,  the Clark Art Institute's objection to the Alternative for Germany party's use of the "Slave Market" painting as a poster is just another attempt  to suppress the truth about Muslim/Western history, including its glaring continuity with the present.  For the essence of that painting—Muslim men sexually pawing at and ultimately preying on fair skinned women—continues to this day all throughout Western Europe, especially Germany.
The historic events, statistics, and quotes narrated above are from and documented in Raymond Ibrahim's book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West.  American Thinker reviews appear here and here.



"In the East, Islam has persecuted and terrorized the Christians; but in the West, Islamist Muslims have been free to advance an Islamist agenda – in schools, in mosques, in public and political fora, in the media – successfully intimidating the weak-willed while glorifying the supremacy of Islam over all other cultures and religions."



Can Islam Be Rescued from Islamism?







Islamic terrorism in its violent expressions coexists with Islamic terrorism in thought. The blatant and barbarous aspect of Islamism, its murderous activities in New York and Jerusalem, Bali and London, Paris and Nairobi, Argentina and the Philippines, Madrid and Mumbai, Syria and Sri Lanka, mesmerizes world attention. Yet the terror of thought is no less, and perhaps more, menacing and paralytic: it constricts freedom of consciousness, intimidates free speech, and submits and smothers society under conformist Islamist religious forces.  Islam from its beginning promoted both jihad warfare "in the path of Allah" and dawamissionizing to advance the new religion and make it supreme, if not exclusive, in the world.
Salim Mansur, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, is a believing but dissident Muslim. Among Muslim reformers and free thinkers in the West, like his fellow-Canadian Irshad Manji, also Nonie Darwish and Boualem Sansal, are those who categorically denounced Islam, pointing to the obscenity of compulsory female genital mutilation and "honor killings," beheadings, and brutal massacres. Some left the fold; among these apostates are Ibn Warraq, Mohamed Sifaoui, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Some dissidents in Muslim lands fled into exile and required police protection. A noteworthy and particular case was that of Nobel Literature laureate Naguib Mahfouz, a Muslim secularist, who was assaulted by fanatics in Cairo, survived the attack, and remained in his country.    
In The Qur'an Problem and Islamism, published by Mantua Books in Canada, Salim Mansur offers an exceptionally courageous and principled Muslim narrative of his personal beliefs and philosophy of life in a world where Khomeinism, Al-Qaeda, Wahhabism, the Muslim Brotherhood, and ISIS, dominate and suffocate the Islamic conversation. Islamism is a "monstrosity," affirms Mansur, reflecting the rot in the Muslim world. Its savagery in murdering thousands of innocent human beings in Nigeria and Pakistan, France and Spain, Egypt and Iraq, has brought shame upon many good Muslims globally.  
Which Islam?
As a classic liberal and modern-day political conservative, Mansur is an intellectual savant whose worldview includes rationalism, individualism, and enlightenment, buoyed by loyalty to Canada and her roots in liberty and law. In his quest to sustain Islam as a religion embodying morality and humanism, Salim Mansur reads, with an open and critical eye, the Qur'an and the life of Muhammad, who spread "the Word of God." Manifestly explicit passages in the Islamic holy book call upon believers to practice righteousness, to give alms to the poor, to treat orphans with fairness, and honor and show kindness to parents; faith demands belief in Allah and the final Day of Judgment. Muslims are to attend to their prayers and reject idolatry. They are obligated to refrain from imposing their faith on non-Muslims.  
With support from the Qur'an, Mansur reaches out to "one human family" with a universalism to encompass all people and believers – not only Muslims -- in the One God. The Qur'an that "makes things clear" is part of the prophetic legacy in monotheism. Islam is one path and not the only one toward this truth. In his writings and interviews, Salim conveys his love for humanity whatever people's background or faith. This is for him the message of Islam writ large in daily life.
So where is the problem? It is in the totalitarian ideology of Islamism, this "crippling of Islamic culture and civilization," which abandoned philosophy and reason, and formulated a "fascistic" and perverted version of Islam. Great Muslim thinkers like Al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd (Averros), and Jalaluddin al-Rumi, have been ignored or rejected. The infamous preachers advocated jihad, militancy, and martyrdom. Among the radical fundamentalists were Ibn Taimiyya, Hasan al-Banna, and Sayyid Qutb. Islam, now reduced to warfare and blood, metastasized into Islamism. This is Mansur's central claim and he is therefore at one with non-Muslim authors like Bat Ye'or, Robert Spencer, and Andrew Bostom, who have elucidated the warlike and expansionist ambitions of a conquering Islam pursuing the vision of a world caliphate.
One chapter in the book deals with Muslim anti-Semitism that, for Mansur, is a diabolical strand that has no inherent foundation in the Qur'an and Islam. Anti-Jewish bigotry is foreign to the holy text and Jews indeed survived and even sometimes flourished in Muslim lands. There are ways to interpret the Qur'an through the method of abrogation (naskh) and contexualizing to invalidate the contemporary relevance of harsh Qu'ranic verses.  The text then becomes subject to the meaning the reader gives to it. Yet, radical Muslim preachers today are rife with blistering Qur'anic-based attacks against Jews as cursed, vile people, murdering prophets and breaching agreements, to the crescendo of likening them to apes and monkeys. For Mansur, the Qur'anic demand that Jews be reduced to "humiliation and misery" (Ch.9, 29) is limited to an earlier period of history alone.
When Muslims promote hatred for Jews and Christians, this is in the view of Mansur a deviation and distortion of Islam's basic tolerance for other monotheistic religions.
Is There a Non-Political Islam?
Salim Mansur and other Muslims who share his frustration and rage confront the Islamist domination of Islam's agenda and activity that possess vast financial and educational networks with a radical program to Islamize the world, America and Europe included. Over a thousand years ago, the fanatical Hanbali Muslims in Baghdad raided houses if they found wine  and poured it away; if they found a singing girl they beat her; if they saw a man going with a woman, they charged them with immorality and dragged them to the police. These scenes of oppression sound familiar in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan of today.
However, other Muslims a millennium ago evoked a very different sensibility. Avicenna, born in Bukhara (Uzbekistan), was educated in the Qur'an and jurisprudence, also in mathematics and logic, Aristotelian philosophy, astronomy, geometry, and medicine.  He was a man of learning and open to acquiring knowledge from whoever could teach him. In Baghdad Islamists hounded the people in the name of Islam, in Bukhara and beyond Avicenna sought the horizons of scholarship in tandem with Islam. The debate regarding the true version of Islam continues until today.
Salim Mansur is a modern man, valuing reason while not discarding revelation, though choosing the former over the latter. He seeks coherence and comprehensiveness in knowledge, without sacrificing his deep faith in Islam. Perhaps he is trying to square the circle, hold the rope from both ends. He confidently recognizes the cultural continuity in evolving revelations, Muhammad's included, throughout history. As a Muslim believer, he seems drawn to the softness and individuality embedded within the Sufi track, as in the thought of Ibn 'Arabi who identified the "Oneness of Being" for the mystical climb to be at one with God. This is an invitation for all human beings regardless of their particular religious affiliation. God transcends all, and distinctions among men dissolve with the common quest for a god-like experience and life. Mansur's is a personal religion rather than a political religion; the classic characterization of Islam as din wa-dawla (religion and state) is alien to Salim's sensibility.
His nobility of character in an age of extremism is exceptionally admirable. He feels engaged in the vortex of a historical moment that imperils both Islam and the West. In Ontario, where he lives, he had to change the mosque he attends. He was threatened for his 'unorthodox' ideas.  No less, he is a spiritual brother to the Jews and a vigorous supporter of Israel. These convictions fly in the face of the ideological rigors of Islamism.
Overall, Mansur wants an Islam of "many faces." He chooses the West for its modernity and openness, individual liberty and the rule of law. This he found in Canada, the country he adopted and embraces. He hopes to enter Canadian politics; as a Member of Parliament he could be a commanding voice for moderation and common sense to challenge the vagaries of multi-culturalism, religious fanaticism, and anti-Semitism.
As of today, the chicanery of Islamophobia and Political Correctness control much of the language and discussion. The West has been artfully and partly disarmed of its heritage – including Christianity, and values of equality and liberty, progress for all -- choosing to privilege Islam by accommodating its parallel society separatism, sharia courts, and execrable youth marriages (as in parts of Europe today). In the East, Islam has persecuted and terrorized the Christians; but in the West, Islamist Muslims have been free to advance an Islamist agenda – in schools, in mosques, in public and political fora, in the media – successfully intimidating the weak-willed while glorifying the supremacy of Islam over all other cultures and religions.
Dr. Mordechai Nisan is a retired lecturer in Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  His most recent book is The Crack-Up of the Israeli Left, published by Mantua Books in Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

Prophet Muhammad

 

Should Spain Apologize to Muslims?



The chutzpah is off the charts: Voice of Europe reported on Saturday that the Ishbilia mosque in Seville, Spain, is demanding that King Felipe VI apologize for the Reconquista, the Christian Reconquest of Spain.
The mosque’s president, Yihad Sarasua, addressed the King in a Facebook post: “Sir, being the King of Spain, I believe that the historical moment has arrived to carry out the recognition of the vileness, plunder, displacement and murders carried out by orders of the Catholic kings and their most direct collaborators, which culminated with the surrender of Granada and the breach of everything subscribed to the Muslim community.”
Sirasua claimed: “Never has existed such a fierce persecution and eagerness to eliminate a religious community, as was carried out by the old Spanish royalty in the times of Felipe II, an extermination that culminated in the War of the Alpujarres subsequent to the Pragmatic Sanction of 1567.”
He concluded: “As a descendant of the aforementioned kings, what a formidable opportunity you would have to demonstrate to the Muslim community your respect and your discrepancy, with the Islamic theses, apologising to our community for so many atrocities and interceding for the recognition of Spanish nationality for the descendants of Al Andalus, as was done with the Sephardic Jewish community.”
Sure, Yihad. Right after you folks apologize for the Islamic conquest of Spain that preceded the Reconquista. But of course, you will never, ever do that, because for jihadis and Islamic supremacists, every atrocity they ever commit is the Infidel's fault.
But if Yihad Sirasua were inclined to be honest, he would have plenty to apologize for. The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, the first and only comprehensive history of the 1,400-year jihad phenomenon worldwide in the English language, shows that Muslim Spain was anything but pluralist -- it was miserable to live as a Christian there. Christians could never be sure that they would not be harassed. One contemporary account tells of priests being “pelted with rocks and dung” by Muslims while on the way to a cemetery. The dhimmis suffered severe economic hardship: Paul Alvarus, a ninth-century Christian in Córdoba, complained about the “unbearable tax” that Muslims levied on Christians.
Nor could Christians say anything about their lot, because it was proscribed by Islamic law, and criticizing Islam, Muhammad, or the Qur’an in any manner was a death-penalty offense.
In 850, Perfectus, a Christian priest, engaged a group of Muslims in conversation about Islam; his opinion of the conquerors’ religion was not positive. For this, Perfectus was arrested and put to death. Not long thereafter, Joannes, a Christian merchant, was said to have invoked Muhammad’s name in his sales pitch. He was lashed and given a lengthy prison sentence. Christian and Muslim sources contain numerous records of similar incidents in the early part of the tenth century. Around 910, in one of many such episodes, a woman was executed for proclaiming that “Jesus was God and that Muhammad had lied to his followers.”
Far from being a paradise of tolerance, Umayyad Spain became a center of the Islamic slave trade. Muslim buyers could purchase sex-slave girls as young as eleven years old, as well as slave boys for sex as well, or slave boys raised to become slave soldiers. Also for sale were eunuchs, useful for guarding harems. Blonde slaves seized in jihad raids on Christian nations north of al-Andalus were especially prized and fetched high prices. Slave traders would use makeup to whiten the faces and dye to lighten the hair of darker slaves, so that they could get more money for them.
A 12th-century witness of the sale of sex slaves described the market:
The merchant tells the slave girls to act in a coquettish manner with the old men and with the timid men among the potential buyers to make them crazy with desire. The merchant paints red the tips of the fingers of a white slave; he paints in gold those of a black slave; and he dresses them all in transparent clothes, the white female slaves in pink and the black ones in yellow and red.
If the girls did not cooperate, of course, they would be beaten or killed.
The primary market for slaves among Muslims was for non-Muslims, as enslaving fellow Muslims was considered a violation of the Qur’an’s requirement to be “merciful to one another” (48:29); hence Muslim slave traders had to look to non-Muslim communities for merchandise.
Yihad Sirasua will never tell you any of that, because if the public knew those facts and others, they wouldn’t favor the policies he wants Spain, and the West in general, to adopt. The truth that he doesn’t want you to know is in The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS -- truths he and his allies have been working actively suppress. As his letter to the King shows, history has today become a weapon to influence current public policy.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His new book is The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.

 

Jihad and the Media in an Age of Delusion




On Sunday the BBC reported about another horrible news story from London: a knifeman went on a stabbing spree of “defenceless” people in London. The story revealed less about the incident it was purporting to report on than it did about our age of anti-reality and delusion.
In this age, it is not difficult to step back and observe almost indiscernible but seismic historical shifts in the making -- not in the big-bang news events, but in the nitty-gritty details of the social fabric of our daily lives, where life happens. It is usually not so easy to detect such subtleties, let alone observe the silent measures a nation or a civilization takes when it quietly but most decidedly has… given up. One need not be an anthropologist to detect seismic changes in human behavior or societies.
First, it’s language. Language is key. Subtle and not-so-subtle restrictions are placed on what would offend the invading force with its hair-trigger sensibilities.These restrictions are rigorously enforced by quisling societal institutions -- media, academia, and so forth. So, for example, “Muslim” is replaced with “South Asian” or “Asian,” with no fear that the “South Asians” or “Asians” will bomb a pop concert, mow down scores of families on a national holiday such as Bastille day or Halloween or Christmas, shoot up a gay nightclub, and so forth. Actual South Asians and Asians have held demos against the media using them to cover for jihadis, but no media reported on them, of course. Only the small, sagacious group of readers who follow websites such as the Geller Report were aware of the South Asian community’s opposition to the wrongful blame.
Every time there is an attack by a jihadi, all apologies are extended by the host Western country, with admonitions of impending “phobia” of Islam and backlash, and so the cycle of self-flagellation begins and builds with each ensuing attack (all 34,800 since 9/11).
In initial reports of all jihad attacks, we are told “it is not terror related.” The shifting definition of terror is slippery but expected. Then President George W. Bush dropped the ball on September 20, 2001, when he danced around whether “A is A,” decidedly avoiding jihad and Islam. Even with the thick, acrid smell of burnt blood and flesh, ash and steel in the NYC air, Bush opted instead for the vague, blame-free “War on Terror.”
The root cause, above all, is never to be spoken of. Verboten. Anyone who dares cross that line will be ultimately destroyed -- a pariah, his or her good name murdered, unable to make a living. You will submit or you will cease to exist, literally or figuratively. There is no motive, we are told; the motive, we are told, is “mental illness.”
There is almost nothing in Sunday’s BBC article about the London stabbings that is correct, save for the reporting that four people were stabbed. After that it is all… editorial and subtle propaganda. This has all the earmarks of jihad, but it would be a horror, blasphemous (Islamophobic) to dare say it. When there is an incident that isn’t jihad, it is immediately cast in the media as right-wing, white-supremacy bullocks. Absolutely. But jihad is quite different. You can never surmise, let alone speculate about whether some attack or incident might be jihad. And when it is jihad, you still cannot say it. If you use the word Muslim -- as in, “Devout Muslim shouting allahu akbar stabs…” no one will publish it, and social media platforms will block the link. You will land in Facebook jail. Your first infraction gets you three days suspension. Your next “violation” will land you in FB jail for a week, then a month, and eventually, you are terminated.
The BBC headline states that the stabbings were “random attacks.” But they were not random if the knifemen wanted to kill unbelievers. Then they were not random at all. There is a reason these folks were targeted.
The article goes on to say, “The Metropolitan Police said the motive ‘appears to be solely to inflict harm’ as none of the victims were robbed or engaged in conversation before they were attacked.” That, too, screams jihad. It is the very essence of a jihad terror attack. Instead, the BBC tells us, “mental health issues may be a factor.” That they can say; that is accepted language in the age of jihad. The mental health community is not going to blow up Buckingham Palace.
There’s a lot of fluff in the piece, but what the article does not tell you is that Edmonton is home to London’s largest Turkish community. Or that a widow and grandmother described as “such a sweet lady” was beheaded in her own backyard by a devout Muslim in Edmonton not that long ago.
The attack is referred to as “GBH.” Note the obscure terms. One might say thatgrievous bodily harm is too harsh, but the media is shielding the perp, not the reader.
This act of sheer terror is getting no press. And why would it?
Pamela Geller is the President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of The Geller Report and author of the bestselling book,FATWA: Hunted in America, as well as The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the ResistanceFollow her onTwitter or Facebook.

 

 

Brunei Imposes Sharia Law: Homosexuals May Be Imprisoned, Tortured, and Executed



JOHN HAYWARD
 27 Mar 2019341
3:54

Brunei’s already strict Islamic criminal code will enter an even tougher new stage next week with the introductions of laws mandating lengthy prison terms, whipping, and even execution for homosexual behavior. Brunei is set to become the first Asian country to punish homosexuality with the death penalty, as several Arab countries do.

Brunei began imposing sharia law with a three-stage process in 2014. The first stage criminalized Christmas celebrations, getting pregnant out of wedlock, and failing to attend Muslim prayer services. Homosexuality was also criminalized, but the penalty in Stage One of the sharia revolution was merely 10 years in prison.
The sultanate disregarded five years of criticism from international human rights groups and quietly issued court orders to proceed with Stage Two on April 3. Gays will be whipped, imprisoned for much longer sentences, and could be executed by stoning, although Brunei has recently been lax about actually carrying out death sentences.
Another perennial sharia favorite, cutting of the hands of thieves, is included in the upgraded legal code. According to Amnesty International, many of these harsh penalties with be applicable to children.
“Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments and revise its Penal Code in compliance with its human rights obligations. The international community must urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice,” Amnesty International researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said on Wednesday.
Reuters reported on Monday that the new laws are being “fast-tracked” after a period of hesitation on the part of the sultanate. There has been little in the way of a formal announcement, and the prime minister’s office has not responded to media inquiries. This week’s outraged responses from human rights groups were based largely on researchers uncovering government documents ordering implementation of the new punishments to begin in April.
“We are trying to get pressure placed on the government of Brunei but realize there is a very short time frame until the laws take effect. It took us by surprise that the government has now given a date and is rushing through implementation,” said Australian activist Matthew Woolfe of The Brunei Project. His reaction suggests the fast track was chosen so that critics would be caught off guard.
Channel News Asia suggested on Wednesday that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah might be embracing hard line sharia law as an exercise in virtue-signaling, shoring up his Islamic bona fides after a lifetime of conspicuous consumption and some family scandals:
Brunei’s Sultan is no stranger to controversy at home – the monarchy was deeply embarrassed by a family feud with his brother Jefri over the latter’s alleged embezzlement of US$15 billion during his tenure as finance minister in the 1990s.
Court battles and investigations revealed salacious details of Jefri’s jetset lifestyle, including claims of a high-priced harem of foreign women and a luxury yacht he owned called “Tits”.
Human Rights Campaign director Ty Cobb called on the Trump administration to take a public stand against Brunei’s legal code:
We are facing a dangerous crisis as Brunei is close to implementing laws that impose state-sponsored torture and murder of LGBTQ people. It’s absolutely crucial that the international community speak out now and demand that the Sultan of Brunei stop these barbaric changes that threaten the lives of Brunei citizens. The Trump-Pence Administration must also immediately make clear that these outrageous human rights abuses will not be tolerated.
The Trump State Department expressed concerns about the direction of Brunei’s legal system in 2017, noting the laws criticized as anti-gay could technically impose death by stoning against heterosexual couples for engaging in “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” The State Department noted numerous reports of discrimination from gays and lesbians in Brunei, including intimidation by the police.


Nigerian Muslim Militants Kill 120 Christians in Three Weeks

 16 Mar 201943,058
2:37

The recent death toll of Christians in Nigeria has reached 120 with this week’s slaughter of more than 50 by Fulani Muslim militants in the Kaduna state of Nigeria, the Christian Postreported.

The Fulani jihadists, who have become a greater threat to Nigerian Christians than the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, stormed the villages of Inkirimi, Dogonnoma, and Ungwan Gora in the Kajuru Local Government Area last Monday, destroying 143 homes, killing 52 people, and wounding dozens more.
The assailants reportedly split into three groups, the first of which fired upon the people, the second set fire to buildings, and the third chased down people fleeing from the scene. Victims of the assault included women and children.
Monday’s incident followed an attack the day before in the Ungwan Barde village in Kajuru, where 17 Christians were killed and dozens of homes were burned.
In the first week of March, Muslim extremists massacred more than 30 Christians in Karamar village, setting fire to several houses and a church. The terrorists reportedly shot at families trying to escape the fire, killing 32.
The spate of recent attacks against communities has taken place within the predominantly Christian Adara chiefdom of southern Kaduna.
The governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the Kajuru Local Government Area to try to contain the violence.
In late February, militants attacked the Maro village, killing 38 Christians and torching homes as well as a Christian church.
The Christian Post reported that Fulani militants killed thousands of Christians in 2018 alone in what many are calling a Christian genocide in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
Last December, a leading Anglican bishop in Nigeria, Dr. Benjamin Argak Kwashi, said that the Muslim Fulani militants represent the number one terrorist threat facing Christians in Nigeria.
“The government is able to provide protection [to the Christians], but what’s obvious to everybody is that the government is unwilling,” Kwashi told Breitbart News.
“The Fulani herdsmen are a bigger threat,” Kwashi added. “Boko Haram operates in the northeast and scantily moves into other areas, but the Fulani herdsmen are widespread. They’re everywhere now. So the Fulani are a bigger threat.”
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter 

 

 

Islamic Scholar: No Western Country Has Successfully Integrated Muslims


 8 Mar 2019319
3:25

Dutch author and sociologist Ruud Koopmans said this week that Muslims are more difficult to integrate into Western society than other migrant groups because of a literal interpretation of the Quran prevalent among Muslims.

Ruud Koopmans, professor at the Berlin Social Science Center and author of several books including Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europetold the Danish newspaper Berlingske that whereas most groups of migrants integrate relatively quickly, especially from one generation to the next, Islam stands out as an exception.
“Although it’s not completely absent in Muslims, the change is much slower,” he said, noting that a literal interpretation of the Quran prevents them from integrating into Western countries.
In an earlier published study titled “Fundamentalism and out-group hostility,” Koopmans compared Muslim radicalism with Christian radicalism to better understand why Islam stands out for its isolationism.
“Almost 60 percent agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam,” he wrote, while “75 percent think there is only one interpretation of the Qur’an possible to which every Muslim should stick.”
Koopmans, who has been studying Islam for over twenty years, also found that “65 percent say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live.”
Regarding Christian citizens on the other hand, Koopmans found that fewer than 4 percent “can be characterized as consistent fundamentalists.”
“I conclude that the Islamic world is lagging behind rest of the world when it comes to democracy, human rights, and political and economic development,” Koopmans told Berlingske in his interview this week.
“The main problem is how many Muslims and, globally, how many Muslim countries interpret Islam. Namely, in a way that basically claims that the Qur’an and the Sunna must be taken literally, and that the way the Prophet lived in the 7th century must be the yardstick for how Muslims should live in the 21st century,” he said.
“Such a brand of Islam is, firstly, a threat to world peace. Secondly, it prevents integration,” Koopmans concluded.
Although it is politically taboo to draw distinctions between ethnic groups when it comes to immigration, some scholars, including Pope Benedict XVI, have urged the West not to assume that all cultures share its basic suppositions about the human person and society.
Prior to his election as pope, Joseph Ratzinger wrote that “the interplay of society, politics, and religion has a completely different structure in Islam” than it does in the West.
Unfortunately, he added, much of today’s discussion in the West regarding Islam “presupposes that all religions have basically the same structure, that they all fit into a democratic system with its regulations and the possibilities provided by these regulations.”
“The Koran is a total religious law, which regulates the whole of political and social life and insists that the whole order of life be Islamic,” Ratzinger wrote. “Sharia shapes society from beginning to end. In this sense, it can exploit such partial freedoms as our constitution gives, but it can’t be its final goal to say: Yes, now we too area body with rights, now we are present just like the Catholics and the Protestants.”
“In such a situation, it would not achieve a status consistent with its inner nature; it would be in alienation from itself,” he said.

 



The next stage in tech overlords' censorship: De-platforming un-PC blogs








It's no longer just Facebook, Twitter, and Google 
who are censoring online content that offends 
political correctness.  Wordpress.com, a blog-
hosting site that offers anyone the opportunity to 
create and publish a blog at no cost, has decided to
 de-platform — in other words, kill — a blog that 
has been operating for 15 years: Creeping Sharia.

As Pamela Geller points out, this move by Wordpress.com is itself an example of the blog's focus of creeping sharia happening in real time.  Shutting down a critic of creeping sharia is an example of creeping sharia.







Wait, what? @creepingsharia has been doing a new-site as long as I have - almost 15 years. This is obscene. Looks like it not "creeping" anymore.
Terrible




It is important to note that Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org are separate entities.  The differences are explained in detail here.  Basically:
WordPress.com is owned by a privately held company called Automattic.
You have to understand a little bit of history of the open-source WordPress project to understand Automattic's contributions and the reasons why they get favorable treatment such as the ability to use the WordPress trademark and the coveted WordPress.com domain as part of their paid product.
Automattic was started by the co-founding developer of the open source WordPress software, Matt Mullenweg.
Matt created Automattic in 2005, almost two years after WordPress, with the primary purpose to make WordPress hosting easier and allow people with little technical knowledge to start a blog with WordPress.
Since WordPress.com platform was powered by the open source WordPress software, Automattic had a vested interest in the further development of the free WordPress software.
Several of the early Automattic employees were contributing developers of WordPress prior to the company, so it should go without saying that financial interest wasn't the only reason why Automattic invested in WordPress.
Because the open-source project didn't really make any money in the beginning, Matt first registered the WordPress trademark through Automattic.
As WordPress grew in popularity, Automattic donated the WordPress trademark to the WordPress Foundation in 2010 to ensure long-term sustainability of the non-profit project.
It's important to note that Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic and also serves in the board of the WordPress foundation.


Christians Who Died on Easter Were Victims of a Global – And Escalating – Hatred of Christianity




Paul Coleman
By Paul Coleman | May 16, 2019 | 10:21 AM EDT


Sri Lanka Easter Sunday victims (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Sri Lanka. April 21. Five hundred wounded, over 300 dead in terrorist attacks.
According to mainstream media and many in the international community, these attacks were another senseless assault on “humanity.” But the destruction of Christian churches on Easter morning was not motivated by generic hatred. We know exactly why these men, women, and children died.
They died for their Christian faith.
On the holiest day in the Christian calendar, three bombs ripped through Christian churches, killing hundreds who had gathered peacefully to celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
But international leaders have studiously avoided calling this what it is: anti-Christian persecution.
Former President Barack Obama tweeted, “The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity.” Hillary Clinton tweeted about “today’s horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers.”

The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.



On this holy weekend for many faiths, we must stand united against hatred and violence. I'm praying for everyone affected by today's horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka.



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned “the horrific blasts in Sri Lanka,” but said nothing about how the violence targeted Christians, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the attacks “an assault on all humanity.”
All that is true, but it is not enough—especially given the fact that Obama and Clinton expressly mentioned the Jewish and Muslim communities after recent attacks on a synagogue and a mosque. 
Post-Sri Lanka, these leaders avoided the word “church” and said nothing about the global Christian community—or about the reality that Christians are now the most persecuted religious group in the world.
In fact, just one day after the bombings, CNN completely ignored the attacks in a series of town halls. Many journalists actually scoffed at the notion that Christians face intense persecution around the globe.
Pointing out the double standard here might strike some as petty scorekeeping. But words matter.
When people acknowledge that Jews or Muslims are persecuted for their beliefs but ignore that Christians are being persecuted for theirs, they give us a grossly inaccurate picture of reality.
The truth is that Christians globally are facing the same hatred that spurred the Sri Lanka attacks. Consider:
  • The Middle East, where since 2011, over 200,000 Coptic Christians from Egypt have been forced to flee their homes, and where two years ago, dozens were murdered in Palm Sunday church bombings. In addition, Syrian Christians fear for their lives, and over a million Iraqi Christians since 2003 have fled to avoid persecution.
  • Africa, where 2 million Nigerians, including many Christians, have been driven from their homes by Islamist extremists, with thousands brutally murdered. In Libya and Somalia, radical Islamist militias openly hunt down and kill Christians. A new wave of attacks in recent weeks by Islamist terrorists in Burkina Faso have targeted and killed Christians there during worship, with far too few Western leaders speaking out.
  • Europe, where last year in France, two Christian churches were desecrated every single day. In Germany, Christians who have fled persecution in the Middle East now face harassment and oppression that is painfully similar to what they left behind.
The Christians who died on Easter in Sri Lanka were not victims of isolated, senseless terrorism. They were victims of a global—and escalating—hatred of Christianity.
Like the millions of other Christians whose lives are increasingly forfeited for their faith, the martyrs of Sri Lanka deserve the truth be told about why they died. The best tribute we can give them is not shock or wistful eulogies. Their enduring legacy should be a new determination—on the part of world leaders everywhere—to promote and defend religious freedom.
President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani was one of the few world leaders to speak the truth about these attacks and about Christian persecution when he tweeted: “Even on Easter Sunday, there are those who sow hatred and reap death. The attacks in Sri Lanka churches testify to a real genocide perpetrated against Christians. Let us pray for the innocent victims and work towards religious freedom around the world.”

Even on Easter Sunday, there are those who sow hatred and reap death. The attacks in churches testify to a real genocide perpetrated against Christians. Let us pray for the innocent victims and work towards religious freedom around the world.



The perpetrators of these attacks are part of a growing genocidal effort worldwide to eradicate Christianity. Only by identifying their motive can we effectively counter and end this brutal agenda.
Paul Coleman serves as executive director of ADF International.



NHS nurse stared into London Bridge terrorist's 'evil, empty' eyes and asked him 'what's wrong with you?' before he snapped back 'no, what's wrong with YOU?' - and then slashed her neck

  • French waiter Alexandre Pigeard, 26, was stabbed to death, an inquest heard
  • His terrorist killer 'looked evil' and was smiling as he looked for other victims
  • NHS nurse saw stabbing and was also attacked before 'slipping in my own blood' 
  • Eight people died in June 2017 when terrorists hit pedestrians on London Bridge 
  • Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba then leapt out with knives 
Nurse Helen Kennett arrives for the London Bridge inquests at the Old Bailey today
Nurse Helen Kennett arrives for the London Bridge inquests at the Old Bailey today
An NHS nurse has told how she stared into the 'sorrowless, evil, empty' eyes of an ISIS-inspired killer and asked him 'what's wrong with you?' - before he slashed open her neck in the London Bridge attack.
Helen Kennett was off-duty drinking prosecco to celebrate her birthday with her mother and sister in the courtyard of Boro Bistro when she heard the terrorists' van crash on the street above, an inquest heard today.
When she saw the extremists descend the stairs from the bridge to Borough Market, she thought they were innocent people seeking help after a car accident.
But as she approached to give them first aid, she saw one of the killers, Rachid Redouane, 30, stabbing 26-year-old Alexandre Pigeard from behind and realised it was a deliberate attack.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Ms Kennett said: 'I looked up at the attacker. I did exchange words with him. I looked at him and I said: 'What's wrong with you?' 
'He immediately looked at me and said: 'No, what's wrong with you.' Before I could process what was happening he stabbed me in the neck on the left side.
'He was dark-skinned, I'm sure, he had a bit of a whispy beard, not a proper one. I just remember his eyes, they were completely sorrowless, evil, empty.' 
Despite his fatal injuries, Mr Pigeard warned the NHS nurse to run away before she was also stabbed by Redouane and left for dead in the incident on June 3, 2017.
Ms Kennett recalled 'slipping in my own blood' as she desperately tried to reach her family in an alleyway near the restaurant. 
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Rachid Redouane (pictured left), 30, was the terrorist who stabbed nurse Helen Kennett and killed waiter Alexandre Pigeard. One of his accomplices Youssef Zaghba, 22, is pictured right
Rachid Redouane (pictured left), 30, was the terrorist who stabbed nurse Helen Kennett and killed waiter Alexandre Pigeard. One of his accomplices Youssef Zaghba, 22, is pictured right
Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police at the scene
HSBC financial crime analyst Ignacio Echeverria attacked terrorists with his skateboard during the London Bridge attack (the aftermath of which is pictured)
Khuram Butt walked over to a tap, ran his knife under it to clean off the blood, and wiped it, first on one side of his face, then the other. He was shot dead by police
The three fanatics, Kharum Butt, 27, Youssef Zaghba, 22, and Redouane, murdered Christine Archibald, 30, and Xavier Thomas, 45, with a van, and fatally stabbed Mr Pigeard along with Sara Zelenak, 21, Kirsty Boden, 28, James McMullan, 32, Ignacio Echeverria, 39, and Sebastian Belanger, 36. Another 48 people were injured. 
Ms Kennett said it felt as though someone had 'thrown a bucket of warm water' over her as her blood streamed out of her wound.
'I felt this rushing all down my body and I thought: 'Oh no, I've been stabbed as well.'
Ms Kennett, who had been celebrating a family birthday with her sister Louise and their mother, said she was certain she was going to die.
She remembers hearing 'screaming and shouting' as two of the terrorists hacked away at victims near the Boro Bistro restaurant.
She added: 'I knew at this point I couldn't help people and I thought I was going to die. But I didn't want to die there, I wanted to die around the corner with my family.' 
Alexandre Pigeard, 26, was killed in the London Bridge attack on June 3, 2017
Alexandre Pigeard, 26, was killed in the London Bridge attack on June 3, 2017
After reaching her family members, she told them how to treat her wound, and they stemmed the blood with tea towels and a shirt.
She had to walk to an ambulance near the Bunch of Grapes pub on St Thomas Street before she was taken to Kings Cross Hospital. 'I was very conscious of what was happening,' she said.
'I knew that my airway was punctured, I knew my oesophagus was punctured, I thought if my artery has been punctured I may have a few minutes and that's all.'
Recalling the moments the terrorists came down the staircase after crashing their van, she said: 'I presumed they had come down because of an accident and they have come down for us to help them after the accident.
'The first time I noticed [Mr Pigeard] was when I saw him bleeding a lot and the attacker standing behind him.
'I thought that he had been involved in the car crash and the man standing behind him had dragged him down the stairs for us to help him.
'I went to him because I thought I had to do something, he was bleeding a lot. As I got closer I'm sure there was a cut right across his neck.
Nurse who was stabbed by London Bridge terrorist arrives at inquest


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Mr Pigeard was killed just three yards away from diners he was serving in Bore Bistro
Mr Pigeard was killed just three yards away from diners he was serving in Bore Bistro
'I looked at his injuries, I looked at the man, then I saw the knives, I saw his throat. I immediately knew in my mind that that was an unsurvivable injury and this was very serious.' 
Ms Kennett said the attacker had an arm around Mr Pigeard and had a knife raised in his other hand ready to stab him again.
Describing Mr Pigeard's dying moments, she said: 'I spoke to him, I put my arm out to him. I said: 'Let me help you, I'm a nurse.' He shook his head. I don't know what he knew. I'm sure he told me to run.'
The inquest also heard from Geoffrey Huet who saw the second attack from outside the bistro and said he believed Redouane was trying to 'finish off' Mr Pigeard.
'I looked at the killer in the eyes and saw the flash of the blade,' he said. 'He had this craziness in his eyes, this anger, he looked furious.'
Alexandre was seen writhing on the floor holding his throat with his hands after it was slashed open by Redouane.
The inquest heard brave NHS nurse Kirsty Boden, 28, also rushed to his aid before being knifed repeatedly.
The three terrorists strapped fake explosive belts made from water bottles on to their torsos in a bid to strike fear into the hearts of officers attempting to stop them
The three terrorists strapped fake explosive belts made from water bottles on to their torsos in a bid to strike fear into the hearts of officers attempting to stop them
The terrorists tied 12-inch knives to their wrists with tape before they launched their attack
The terrorists tied 12-inch knives to their wrists with tape before they launched their attack
Engaged couple walk across London bridge moments before attack

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Tomasso Clemente, who was also out with friends at Boro Bistro, saw her brutal murder.
He said: 'I saw this guy, he was bent over her. He was stabbing this girl.
'At the beginning I thought he was trying to help her to stand up, but then I saw he pulled a knife from her belly.
'Next to her there was a guy lying on the floor, I recognised him as a waiter because I had seen him around the place.
'I noticed he was covered in blood and he was holding his throat with his hands.'
Mr Clemente said Alexandre was laying on his back 'rocking' from side to side as he died in a pool of blood.
Dubbed the 'Angel of London Bridge' for her efforts to help victims, Ms Boden desperately tried to fend off her killer as she was hacked to death.
'She was lying on the floor and she was trying to protect herself with her hands,' said Mr Clemente.
'She was covering her chest and belly. I saw the knife going through her two or three times.'
The witness described seeing the ISIS fanatic raising his 12-inch blade above his head and plunging it down into the victim repeatedly during the horrifying attack.
A map of the London Bridge area shows where each of the victims were injured
A map of the London Bridge area shows where each of the victims were injured 
Earlier, the inquest heard from a diner who saw the terrorist stab her waiter to death and told how she feared she would die next as the 'smiling' killer scoured the scene for his next victim.
Andzelika Abokaityte and her boyfriend were celebrating a friend's birthday at Boro Bistro on the evening of June 3, 2017 when Mr Pigeard, who had been serving them, was brutally killed.
Mr Pigeard, 26, was one of eight victims of the three terrorists who had taped  armed with 12in ceramic knives.
The couple heard the terrorists' van crash into the railings above them, sending debris down onto the tables in the courtyard below.
'My friends stood up and they were looking at what happened above us and they said a van crashed into the bridge,' she told the inquest into the deaths.
One friend was hit on the arm by glass or a brick from above, she said and she was asking him if he was OK when she heard people screaming. 
'Shortly after I was looking and I could see a man holding our waiter,' she said.
The man was three metres away, grasping Mr Pigeard from behind. She said: 'I could only see his face. He looked evil and he was smiling. 
'He was dark skinned, I think, with dark hair. I think he had a little beard. He was holding the waiter and stabbing him from behind.
'I think two times and then I looked at my friend and asked him to run. 
'When I looked around and, I don't know if it was the same person, I saw him slicing the neck.'
Pictured: the battered Renault van used by terrorists during the attack on London Bridge in 2017, leaving it with its bumper hanging off
Pictured: the battered Renault van used by terrorists during the attack on London Bridge in 2017, leaving it with its bumper hanging off
Xavier Thomas walking across London Bridge moments before attack


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The man was 'looking around as if to find the next person to stab', she said. 'I remember thinking I was going to die. The whole thing was horrific'.
The couple retreated inside the restaurant from where a friend jumped through the window, to rescue his wife from under one of the tables and they then escaped through the emergency exit. 
'There was a man holding his neck with a lot of blood trying to stop it and there was a woman lying down, I'm not sure if she was alive.
'I think there were her friends standing around. I think she was wearing a multi coloured dress with flowers on it. She wasn't moving, her eyes were open.'
Mr Pigeart's colleague, Dimitri Gabriel, heard the crash and went out to investigate with Mr Pigeart leading the way.
'The last word he said to me is let's go up and see what happened. Maybe it's an accident on the bridge,' Mr Gabriel told the inquest.
They went through a stone arch and up some stairs, where other witnesses suggest Mr Pigeart was stabbed in the neck before retreating.
'He was just in front of me,' Mr Gabriel said. 'He went towards the arch. As soon as I reached that arch he was already going up the stairs.
'There were loads of people screaming and so I decided to go back. The screams were coming from the top of the stairs. People were coming down.' 
2017 CCTV shows London Bridge attack van before it mounts the kerb


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He retreated down an alleyway and then returned to the restaurant. 'I decided to go and check on the customers and when I went back outside I saw him.
He was laying down right in front of the restaurant. 'My colleagues were saying it's Alexandre, it's Alexandre. I said no. One of my colleagues took a blanket to cover him.
'He was face down but my colleagues together we were in shock as well. We didn't know what to do.'
The inquest continues into the deaths.
Who were the victims of the London Bridge terror attack? 
Ignacio Echeverria

Ignacio Echeverria
Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria was stabbed to death as he tried to fight off the terrorist attackers with his skateboard.
The 39-year-old had been in the UK for over a year was working as a financial crime analyst at HSBC.
Mr Echeverria joined unarmed police constables Wayne Marques and Charlie Guenigault in fighting off the three attackers as they set upon Marie Bondeville, hitting at least one terrorist with his skateboard.
'His courageous efforts were to seek to stop the attack,' Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft said.
Kirsty Boden

Kirsty Boden
Mr Echeverria was the youngest of five siblings and was a Catholic who went to mass every week. He could speak English, German and French fluently. 
Nurse Kirsty Boden was fatally stabbed as she tried to tend to the wounded and the dying.
Miss Boden, 28, moved to London in 2013 from the small town of Loxton, in South Australia.
She was a senior staff nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital and lived with her British boyfriend James Hodder in a flat in Hampstead.
Mr Hodder said: 'She loved people and loved her life helping others. To Kirsty, her actions that night would have been an extension of how she lived her life.' 
Alexandre Pigeard

Alexandre Pigeard
Alexandre Pigeard was working as a waiter at Boro Bistro when he was attacked.
The 26-year-old Frenchman had moved to London to further his ambitions as a dance music DJ.
Minutes before he was fatally stabbed, he video-called his father Philippe during a break from work at the French restaurant.
Mr Pigeard had planned to return to France in the autumn of 2017 to help open a restaurant in Nantes and to record an EP with his musician father.
Mr Pigeard senior told the inquest: 'I'm present here as a devastated father who has lost a child in such circumstances - an inconsolable father.'  
James McMullan

James McMullan
James McMullan was stabbed in the chest near the Barrowboy and Banker pub while he was celebrating getting financial backing for his online education company.
The British-Filipino entrepreneur was watching the Champions League final with friends in the pub.
The 32-year-old, from Hackney in East London, was attacked when he stepped outside to have a cigarette.
He had dreamed of helping children without access to education through his e-learning company.
Mr McMullan's father Simon described his son as 'funny, charming and clever' and said 'his fearlessness could never be underestimated'. 
Sebastien Belanger

Sebastien Belanger
The mother of chef Sebastien Belangersaid she does not forgive the terrorists who 'mutilated and killed him'.
Her 36-year-old son was drinking at the Boro Bistro when he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest.
His mother Josiane Belanger said: 'We miss him so much, his smile, his joie de vivre. I do not forgive what they did to him.'
Originally from Angers in western France, Mr Belanger started work at the Coq d'Argent in the City and was promoted to the role of head chef. 
Australian au pair Sara Zelenak was on the 'trip of a lifetime' when she was stabbed to death while on a night out with a friend.
Sara Zelenak

Sara Zelenak
Miss Zelenak's mother Julie Wallace said 'every sliding door' put her daughter in 'harm's way'.
'She was meant to be working and at the last minute she got the night off,' Mrs Wallace said.
'At 10pm Sara's phone rang and her friend said 'I've finished at the rugby' and so she left her safe haven and walked out into a terrorist attack and was stabbed to death.'
Before leaving for UK in March 2017, Miss Zelenak worked with her stepfather Mark as a crane truck operator in Brisbane to save up for her trip.
Her parents have since set up Sarz Sanctuary to help other families to cope with grief.
Xavier Thomas

Xavier Thomas
Xavier Thomas was walking over London Bridge with his girlfriend Christine Delcros when they were hit by the van.
The 45-year-old father-of-two was catapulted into the Thames and his girlfriend suffered life-changing injuries. His body was recovered downstream three days later.
Mr Thomas, who had arrived in London on the day of the attack, lived near Paris and worked for American Express.
Miss Delcros said: 'Since Xavier disappeared in such tragic and traumatic circumstances our whole world has fallen apart.'
Canadian tourist Christine Archibald told her fiance Tyler Ferguson she loved him seconds before she was mowed down.
Christine Archibald

Christine Archibald
Miss Archibald and Mr Ferguson were walking across London Bridge after dinning at a nearby restaurant when the atrocity unfolded.
Her fiancé said: 'At one point Chrissy stopped me out of nowhere, grabbed me close and gave me a passionate kiss after telling me she loved me.
'I remember it being a warm summer's evening and the sun had just gone down.. And then the attack took place and Chrissy was killed.
'No words can express how I felt when this happened. I was absolutely devastated and inconsolable. Nothing has ever been the same since.'
Miss Archibald's engagement ring was lost during the attack, but later recovered from the bridge. Mr Ferguson now wears it on a chain around his neck. 
Sara Zelenak on the night of the London Bridge terror attack


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London Bridge terrorist smiled as he stabbed a waiter to death

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