Turkey's Islamist Regime Works to Silence Free Press

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reports that 57 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey today and is calling on the country's Islamist government to bring media laws in line with OSCE commitments to support press freedom. Ongoing trials in Turkey could result in the imprisonment of between 700 and 1,000 journalists, according to Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE's representative on media freedom.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has attacked critics from the OSCE and the European Parliament, which last month raised questions about "the deterioration in freedom of the press, about certain acts of censorship and about growing self-censorship within the Turkish media, including on the Internet." Erdogan said last month that 27 journalists in Turkey were behind bars because of terrorist ties or involvement in efforts to overthrow the government.

Critics contend the journalists are not being jailed due to security concerns but rather because of the prime minister's desire to silence critics. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that in 2010:

"Authorities paraded journalists into court on anti-terror, criminal defamation and state security charges as they tried to suppress critical news and commentary on issues involving national identity, the Kurdish minority, and an alleged anti-government conspiracy."

In June 2007, investigators found an arms cache in the attic of a house in Istanbul. Since then, hundreds of people, including Turkish editors, writers and four-star generals have been detained as part of an investigation into a purported terrorist conspiracy against the government. Turks outside the government maintain that Erdogan seeks to use the investigation as a pretext to crack down against Turks who want their country to remain a secular state.

Other comments by Erdogan suggest that he blames the press for the country's economic woes. Last year, he linked the hiring policies of Turkish media companies to societal and economic instability in the country.

"You cannot say, 'I don't want tension, but I cannot do anything about the publications provoking the tension," Erdogan said. "If you open a shop or a company, will you keep staff who do their best to sink the company? No, you fire them the next day."

He called on the media to "act with responsibility" when writing commentaries about the economy. "We are in the same boat and we're not going to allow a hole in the bottom," Erdogan said.

Israel Indicts Hamas Terror Rocket "Godfather"

The Shin Bet filed an indictment Monday against Dirar Abu Sisi, a Palestinian engineer from Gaza, charging that he played a major role in increasing the capabilities of Hamas anti-tank missiles and Qassam rockets targeting Israel .

During the past five years, the Qassams' range increased from less than four to almost 15 miles and the armor penetration capability of Hamas anti-tank missiles increased more than fourfold. According to the indictment, Abu Sisi (called the "rocket godfather" of Gaza by the Shin Bet) was deeply involved in making these improvements a reality. He faces hundreds of charges in Israeli courts, including involvement in a terrorist organization, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

After Israel concluded Operation Cast Lead in 2009, Abu Sisi was allegedly assigned responsibility for establishing a Hamas military academy in Gaza.

He was kidnapped Feb. 19 from a train in Kiev, Ukraine, and brought to Tel Aviv by Israeli agents. According to the indictment and press reports, Abu Sisi had studied in Ukraine during the 1990s at the Kharkov Military Academy under Professor Konstantin Petrovich, who had been a key developer of the Soviet Union's Scud missile.

While working as an engineer for the Gaza electric company, Abu Sisi secretly joined Hamas, where he worked on developing and improving missiles and mortars. He also reported to Muhammad Deif, head of Hamas' military wing, Israeli officials say.

The indictment illustrates how Abu Sisi helped transform Hamas from an organization best known for training suicide bombers into a military force with potential strategic implications for Israel, the Jerusalem Post's Yaakov Katz wrote.

Hamas' interest in developing a rocket industry in Gaza may also indicate that the terror organization wants to reduce its dependence on Tehran and Damascus. "It could also be a sign of Hamas concern that one day Israel, Egypt and the rest of the world will begin to take more effective steps to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza, meaning its supply from Iran will slow down," according to Katz.

Abu Sisi's family said he went to Ukraine in February because he wanted to make arrangements to move his family from Gaza to the former Soviet republic. There are unconfirmed reports that Israeli authorities believe Abu Sisi may have information about kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Durbin: Hearing was My Idea

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is denying a report that his recent hearing on anti-Muslim bigotry was triggered by a request from a radical mosque outside of Chicago.

The Daily Caller reports that people associated with the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Ill. said the hearing was a result of Durbin having "listened to the concerns" of a mosque committee. As the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported, Durbin visited the Mosque Foundation last month, posing for a photograph with its leaders. Among them were two people tied to terror-financing operations by federal prosecutors.

Durbin's office issued a statement to the Daily Caller denying the hearing was prompted by a Mosque Foundation request. "The hearing has been long-planned and was first discussed internally late last year in response to stories about Quran [Koran] burnings and discrimination involving building permits for mosques."

But in a Twitter posting by Zaher Sahloul, who heads the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, praised Durbin, saying he "fulfilled his promise to @CIOGC and is holding hearings on Muslim civil rights. Good man who deserves our support."

Durbin's office also minimized the significance of his meeting with two men – Kifah Mustapha and Jamal Said – who prosecutors say were part of a Hamas-support network in the United States. He meets with thousands of people each year, he told the Daily Caller. In a subsequent statement, he said that "American Muslims are entitled to the same civil rights as any other American, including the right to participate in the political process and meet with their elected officials."

No one said otherwise. In this case, the question is whether it's beneficial to embrace people with a history of radicalism in trying to combat anti-Muslim sentiment.

Egypt May Restore Iran Ties

Egypt is operating under what amounts to an interim government, but its foreign minister already is pursuing renewed diplomatic ties with Iran.

"The Egyptian and Iranian people deserve to have mutual relations reflecting their history and civilization," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi after meeting with his Iranian counterpart.

The two nations broke apart after the Iranian Revolution brought a Shia theocracy to power. Egypt is a predominantly Sunni country. Egypt then pursued peace with Israel while Iran continues issuing threats against the Jewish State.

The rapprochement with Iran comes as religious conservatives in Egypt are trying to lay claim to the country's future. Overwhelming approval of recent constitutional reforms are viewed as enhancing the political fortunes of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is well organized and prepared for parliamentary elections later this year.

During the weekend, a prominent Islamist advocated creating a police squad to enforce dress codes and other morality issues.

Al-Shabaab Recruits Somali Prime Minister's Niece

A Somali-Canadian allegedly lured to Mogadishu to fight for al-Shabaab is the niece of Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Canadian officials said Monday. The 19-year-old woman, who has not been identified, is a University of Toronto student who disappeared in January with a female friend and e-mailed her family later to say she had enrolled in a school in Mogadishu. Both women are believed to have joined al-Shabaab.

"We don't know anything about whether she joined or not, but all we know is that she went to Somalia and she sent an e-mail telling her mother she is fine and attending school," a relative said of the prime minister's niece. Until two years ago, the woman was apolitical and wore jeans. Then she started denouncing foreign powers occupying Somalia and wearing traditional Islamic dress.

Prime Minister Mohamed, an American citizen with relatives living near Buffalo, has led Somalia since October. He warned that Western governments cannot "wait until these crazy people here [in Somalia] recruit youngsters."

Relatives of the young woman said al-Shabaab has established Islamic schools near Mogadishu where Westerners are groomed to become terrorists.

"As far as we know they use women as human shields," said Omar Jamal, who represents Somalia's United Nations mission. "They put them at the front line so they can claim there have been civilians killed."

"Once these young people get there, it is quite difficult," Jamal said. "Even if they change their mind, Shabaab kills them because they don't want anyone to leave."

Mohamed's niece is the second current or former University of Toronto student in the past week to be publically linked to al-Shabaab. On March 29, police arrested Mohamed Hersi at Toronto Pearson International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Cairo through London. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that Hersi, 25, a former University of Toronto health sciences student, planned to travel to Somalia "to join al-Shabaab and participate in their terrorist activities."

Canadian Security Intelligence Service officials have been going door to door in Somali-Canadian communities asking about individuals who may be connected with al-Shabaab.

Hizballah: The Glory of the Mother

"Happy Mother's Day," came the wish from Lebanese terrorist organization Hizballah during the Arab world's celebration of the holiday on March 23. The group chose the time to honor mothers for all of their hard work and giving. It was also the time to encourage them to continue making sacrifices of their children, husbands, and themselves.

"A special tribute to the mothers of martyrs and detainees, and the mothers who gave their lives for the sake of their children, husband or homeland," said the message on Hizballah's media website, Al-Manar. "Happy Mother's Day for all revolutionary mothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, and all other countries seeking freedom and reforms."

"What young men and women achieved in Tunis and Egypt, and will achieve in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and elsewhere was historic and the sacrifices were large," the article stated. "The mothers of all the Arab martyrs had played their part in raising their children on sacrificing for the sake of justice and freedom."

Suhaila, the wife of a longtime political prisoner from the Tunisian Al-Nahda party, had her own message for mothers whose sons were "martyred" or detained. "[For] One day you were the mother and the father, so keep up this struggle and don't be weak," she said. "Your role shouldn't stop with your sons' or husbands' martyrdom or detention, but you should continue to raise small combatants to carry on this path and Inshallah (god willing) we'll be triumphant."

Likewise, Al-Manar saluted Tunisian protester Mohamad El-Bouazizi and his mother's sacrifice. El-Bouazizi torched himself while protesting Tunisian dictator Zein Al Abedein Ben Ali, an act that ignited the revolution.

"His death liberated Tunis and Egypt…Other Arab countries are following [in this] path by strength of the brave young men and women, raised by their mothers on self-esteem, courage, and readiness to sacrifice," Al-Manar said.

Brotherhood Official Calls for Modesty Enforcement

Muslim Brotherhood officials must be confident in their chances in this fall's Egyptian parliamentary elections. David Miller of Media Line picked up an Egyptian newspaper report citing a member of the Brotherhood's governing board calling for a squad of virtue police created to act against "those who commit immoral acts."

Issam Durbala's vision aims to protect public virtue and modesty with "limited authorities," Miller reports, which means something short of Saudi Arabia's vice police. [Note: Miller identifies Durbala as a Brotherhood official, other sources place him in the Gama'a Al-Islamiya, or Islamic Group]

Moderates and secularists in Egypt are alarmed by the growing influence of religious conservatives in Egypt. They'll have to scramble to compete in the fall elections against the larger, better organized Brotherhood. Those reformers tried to defeat constitutional amendments that called for elections sooner, rather than later, in hopes of buying time to organize.

Those amendments passed by a 3-to-1 margin last month.

Hamas, a Brotherhood offshoot, has imposed its own brand of modesty enforcement in Gaza. Girls must adhere to a religious dress code to attend school, and women have been detained for being in public with a man or for smoking in public.

Magazine: Terrorists Operating Freely in Brazil

Nearly two dozen terror financiers and operatives from al-Qaida, Hizballah and other terrorist organizations are operating in Brazil, despite being known to Western intelligence officials, a Brazilian magazine reports.

Veja, a weekly news magazine, said its report is based on reports it reviewed from Brazilian and U.S. authorities. In addition to raising and moving money, the operatives are believed to be involved in planning attacks. Brazil hosts the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.

One, Khaled Hussein Ali, reportedly has been in Brazil since 1998, and runs an al-Qaida propaganda arm called "Jihad Media Battalion."

Officials long have identified the Tri-Border area between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina as a hub of Islamist terror activity. Despite this, "Brazil has not passed any specific anti-terrorism legislation, does not recognize Hizbollah or Hamas as terrorist groups and disbanded the Federal Police's anti-terrorism service in 2009," reports Robin Yapp of Britain's Telegraph newspaper.

Brazil's new President, Dilma Rousseff, is seeking warmer relations with Washington.

Goldstone's Retraction

Israel wants the United Nations to retract the 2009 Goldstone Report which accused it of war crimes now that its author has rescinded the principal allegation that Israel intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

In a column published late Friday by the Washington Post, Judge Richard Goldstone acknowledged his report got it wrong, but said that was due to Israel's refusal to cooperate with his investigators.

"We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report," he wrote. "If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document."

It "goes without saying" that Hamas deliberately and indiscriminately fired rockets at Israeli civilians, he wrote. Palestinian leaders, from Fatah to Hamas, are downplaying Goldstone's retraction, saying he was forced into it, or that it doesn't change anything.

A retraction in a newspaper column is welcome, but does little to erase the enormous harm done to Israel's reputation. The columns "will not garner a thousandth of the publicity or have a thousandth of the impact that his original, baseless accusations against Israel drew," wrote Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief David Horovitz. "Governments – including, to what should be their abiding shame, self-styled friends of Israel in Europe and beyond who failed to vote against this report – will not rush to deliver the apology they owe our government and our soldiers."

Even in contrition, Goldstone still misrepresents what happened, Horovitz wrote. Information contradicting his findings was available from open sources, including reports issued publicly by Israel. The Israeli military, Horovitz added, "was doing more than most any military force has ever done to minimize civilian deaths, even as it sought to destroy the terrorist infrastructure and pick out the terrorists who had been firing relentlessly into Israel's residential areas."

In the U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., urged Congress to embrace the report's findings and "use this report as a resource to understand a critical part of the world and to grasp fully the devastating human costs of the status quo."

Ellison was among 36 representatives who voted against a House resolution condemning the report. Both the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) issued statements thanking those who stood by the Goldstone report.

"In the interest of seeking the truth of what took place, it is imperative that we support the three dozen members who opposed this extremely biased resolution and the two dozen who voted 'present' rather than supporting it," MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati said at the time.

Al-Shabaab Said to Recruit Two Canadian Women

Two Somali-Canadian women who travelled to Somalia in early January are believed to have joined the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, community members told the Toronto Star. It marks the first known example of the terrorist organization enlisting women, although the group has recruited several dozen young men from the Somali émigré community in Canada and elsewhere in the West.

"No one knows what happened ... how they were brainwashed," said Mohamed Gilao of Dejinta Beesha, a Somali-Canadian organization. "It's very, very worrying."

Previously, women recruits had only been known to have participated in the fundraising aspect of the organization. In 2010, two Somali-American women were indicted for soliciting funds for al-Shabaab in the United States and Canada, part of a group of 14 that ran a recruitment and fundraising ring.

Canada also recently intercepted its first male al-Shabaab recruit on his way to join the group. Police charged 25-year-old Mohamed Hersi with attempting to participate in a terrorist activity and counseling another to do the same. His family had been under the impression that he was travelling to Egypt to study Arabic.

Canadian police are aware of more than a dozen Somali-Canadians who left Toronto between 2009 and 2010, receiving military training and "potentially engaging in al-Shabaab-related violent activities." However, it was not until March 2010 that Canada banned aid to the al-Qaida linked terrorist organization, when it was recognized that al-Shabaab veterans were returning to the country to recruit other young men.

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