brainfisch

RE: Islamic Culture in the Middle East and Central Asia I sense that too many Americans do not understand the public face-saving that is integral to Islamic culture in the Middle East and Central Asia. I recall numerous times I dealt with government or military officials in the region where they let me know that what was being said publicly was in no way related to what was actually going on. A leader or politician in these countries will never, ever publicly say the truth if the truth suggests weakness or vulnerability. Never. It just does not happen. They will lie publicly with outrageous bombast, knowing full well that what they are saying is untrue, because their culture demands it. Additionally, they respect the strongman. The strongman who speaks with ferocity and then backs it up with deeds is always respected (or feared, depending on the situation). These are vital concepts to understand when analyzing the public pronouncements of the Iranian regime and the Truth Social declarations of President Trump. The Iranians must save face no matter what. Literally none of their public pronouncements can be trusted as being accurate or truthful. At the same time, when Trump posts things like “ending a civilization,” he is NOT TALKING TO YOU. He is talking to the mullahs in the only language they understand. In fact, as the Democrat/Media Complex derides Trump as an idiot for such pronouncements, HE is the one who is culturally attuned in a very profound way that totally flies over the heads of his critics. These are vital concepts that must be understood to accurately interpret the very public exchange of declarations between Trump and the mullahs.

Every time a new regulation gets introduced, all you hear about is who it's going to help. Nobody ever talks about what it quietly killed.  The woman who was saving up to open a small restaurant and then found out she'd need 15 different approvals she couldn't afford, so she just gave up. Or the kid who had a real product people wanted to buy but walked away after four months waiting on a permit that never came. Those people will never make the news because they never got started.  Their businesses, the people they would have hired, the families those jobs would have fed, none of it ever happened. And that's why bad regulations last forever.  You can't point at something that was never allowed to exist and say, "Look what you destroyed."

Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is one of history’s most brutal lessons in political betrayal. The revolution was not only carried by Islamists. It was a broad coalition. Leftists. Marxists. Intellectuals. Nationalists. All united by one thing - they wanted the Shah gone. And Khomeini let them do the work. He waited. He let all the other groups help overthrow the Shah. And then - once power was won - he systematically began to eliminate all his former allies. The leftists and Marxists who had fought by his side were the first to end up in the prisons and at the execution lines. The Tudeh Party - Iran’s Communist Party - was completely wiped out. The Mojahedin-e Khalq - left-wing Islamists - who had fought against the Shah were declared enemies and massacred. The bitter point: The leftists helped build the prison they ended up in themselves. This is exactly the same pattern we see in the West today - where leftists defend an ideology that would kill them for their values. History repeats itself. And those who refuse to learn it…are already building their own prison.

Anyone who thinks this isn’t real is mistaken. I went to a public school in Jordan, and in second grade our Arabic language textbook included the story of Muhammad’s companion, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, and how he beheaded his non-believing father, and how Allah praised his act in the Quran. Muslims are exposed to stories like this every day because Islam’s canonical books and history are full of violent stories, normalized because they are against the enemies of Allah. This is how Islam normalizes violence and sacralizes it.

An alle Schweizer Stimmberechtigten: Wir brauchen ein deutliches JA zu der 10 Millionen Initiative - vor allem von den älteren Generationen. Schon gegen die Politiker, die uns jetzt die Schuld an der Sozialsystemmisere geben wollen, obwohl wir jahrzehntelang einbezahlt haben.

Ich denke nicht, dass es mit "Angst" zu tun hat, sondern mit Ablehnung. Und es ist auch nicht so, dass man nicht weiss, was der Islam bringen kann. Es reicht, wenn man sich in unseren Nachbarländern umsieht. Viele wollen den Islam hier in der Schweiz nicht haben. Punkt.

2024 wurden in Berlin 539.049 Straftaten erfasst. In ganz Polen 440.269. In Berlin leben 976.419 Ausländer (ohne Pass). In ganz China 845.697. Ohne Athen würde das griechische BIP um 18,9% zurückgehen. Ohne Berlin würde das deutsche BIP um 0,2% steigen. Vernichtende Zahlen.

So let me get this straight. Since 1776, every immigrant community has assimilated to American cultural norms, but that does not apply to Muslims? Does not seem moral, correct or American to me. In fact, pretty much every immigrant community historically has sought to assimilate as soon as possible. That is a big part of what has made America great--the melting pot. Does this guy have the slightest clue how offensive this is to Americans?

Gerne möchte ich von @tagesanzeiger wissen, inwiefern dieser Kommentar gegen die Kommentarregeln verstossen. Danke.

1000 Familien. Harald Martenstein: „… Michael Kyrath. Seine 17-jährige Tochter Ann-Marie und ihr 19-jähriger Freund Danny wurden 2023 bei Brokstedt in einem Nahverkehrszug ermordet. Der Täter, ein Palästinenser, vorbestraft und ausreisepflichtig, stach mit seinem Messer ohne erkennbaren Anlass 38 Mal zu, vornehmlich in Hals und Gesicht. Kyrath steht, wie er schrieb, mittlerweile mit mehr als 1000 Familien in Kontakt. 1000 Familien, die in den letzten zehn Jahren Kinder oder einen anderen Angehörigen verloren haben. Alle Taten haben entscheidende Merkmale gemeinsam. Immer das gleiche Täterprofil. Immer ein Messer. Immer ein ähnlicher Tatverlauf und kein erkennbares Motiv außer blinder Hass. Und danach: immer die gleichen Politiker-Floskeln.“

If you said you were sending your daughter to, say, Afghanistan or Pakistan on holiday, people would call you insane. But if you express concern that your daughter could be at risk from men coming from those same places, suddenly you’re labelled a bigot. Round and round it goes, until we reach the point where schoolgirls are handed rape alarms just to get through their day. And what about the boys? Do they get alarms too? Because they need them as well.

As someone living in Iran right now: there has been no regime change. The same evil murderers who carried out a mini-holocaust are still in power. Whoever was killed was simply replaced by others from the exact same pool. They slaughtered tens of thousands of us and washed the blood away in hours. The president, parliament speaker, and head of judiciary were not changed or killed, even though they are just the public face of the “republic” — they all ultimately serve the Supreme Leader and the IRGC, who remain the real rulers. The Supreme Leader was replaced by his son, and the IRGC leadership is the same breed. The atmosphere inside the country is extremely tense and deeply polarized. In daily life, you can instantly tell regime supporters from the opposition — and the opposition is the clear majority. Regime rallies are a loud, government-funded minority that do not represent the Iranian people. This ceasefire feels very fragile. The gaps on nuclear weapons, missiles, and proxies are absolute — no real compromise is possible. One side will have to accept defeat, and Iran’s position is clearly the weaker one. My people and I are anxiously watching every development. With the internet cut, the people rely on satellite TV, radio, and voices like mine and others who either have Starlink or rare VPN configurations. I’m not someone who usually makes absolute statements, but this evil Islamic regime must go. No cost seems too great for freedom. Reza Pahlavi is still the only viable candidate for a transitional leader. Its not about wanting a constitutional monarchy or a true republic. Someone must lead us there and no one else has the same influence and precedence. #IranMassacre‌ #KingRezaPahlavi‌ForIran

@AllesStephanie @AimeeValeur @HematiShila Wieviel Schutzgeld zahlen Sie selbst? Und wie oft wurden Sie schon von der Mafia vergewaltigt und zusammengeschlagen?

@AimeeValeur @HematiShila 🙄 Daß die Mafia hier gelernt hat, unter dem Radar zu bleiben, bedeutet nicht, daß ich nicht wüsste, daß jede Pizzeria Schutzgeld zahlt. Es könnten auch wieder Zeiten wie in den 1990ern anbrechen, wo es Messerstechereien auf offener Straße gab.

Wenn angeblich die Mehrheit hinter der Islamischen Republik steht, warum kappt man seit über einem Monat für 90 Mio. das Internet und lässt nur Auserwählte Propaganda posten? Warum darf nicht einfach das Volk selbst sprechen?

I officially recognize the State of Catalonia, with Barcelona as its capital.

Wer über das Asylrecht nach Deutschland kommt, sollte generell kein deutscher Staatsbürger werden dürfen. Es ist ein Recht auf Zeit - nicht das Einfallstor für Migration

The shirt was a custom-made birthday gift to Matt Taylor from his close friend Elly Prizeman, a female artist and clothing designer. She created the design herself—bright, colorful cartoon-style illustrations of women in revealing outfits holding guns, printed on fabric—and sewed the shirt as a personal present for him. Taylor is a nerd. He saw wearing it as a show of support and appreciation for her work. He viewed it as a fun, individualistic piece (he has tattoos and a generally unconventional personal style), and Prizeman later publicly defended him, expressing pride that he chose to wear her gift on such a major occasion and calling him a "close and very loved friend." Woke sucks!

As an Iranian who stayed connected through Starlink during the total internet blackout, I want to wholeheartedly confirm what President Trump just said: "The Iranian people want to be free. They have lived in a world that you know NOTHING about." For 47 years, my people have endured systematic torture, rape, murder, humiliation, anxiety, suppression, and grief under the Islamic Republic. It’s been a long, grinding suffering — punctuated by brutal spikes like the January protests, mass executions, and now war. The world has no idea of the scale or depth of these horrors. Only when this evil regime finally falls will the full truth pour out — in quality and quantity that will shock humanity. We have now reached a point where almost no cost is too great if it rids us of this regime. Because the cost of it staying in power is infinitely higher. If you’re reading this and you can’t understand how any Iranian could feel relief at their own country losing a war and getting bombed… I envy you. You have never lived what we have lived. You have never watched your people, friends, family, and loved ones get tortured, raped, or killed almost daily and over half a century. You have never seen an entire nation slowly but brutally suffocated like this. We tried every alternative imaginable: massive protests, dissent, peaceful reform, negotiations — everything. None of it worked. The regime’s answer has always been bullets, gallows, and more terror. Now, less than 24 hours before Trump’s deadline, I write this with a heavy heart from inside Iran: Whatever happens next — if there is still an Iran left to save and this regime is gone — the Iranian people will be happy with the result. No matter the cost. Because the cost of the regime remaining is higher, and for many of us, death itself is preferable to another day under this nightmare. This is the true sentiment of the majority of Iranians — the voice of a people who often have no internet, no platform, and no way to be heard. The world will soon understand why we say: Anything to be free. Anything to end this evil. #IranMassacre‌ #IranRevolution2026‌

People didn't stop caring about Gaza, they never cared in the first place. They just rode an anti-Western wave that led nowhere. Now that Gaza has been sent back to the Stone Age, the Free Gaza crowd is ghosting. Now they're hyping Iran, but they'll forget them too. The reality is they don't love the Mullahs, they just hate Israel and America.

FACTS Many supporting the false narrative that Jews / Zionists stole Palestinian land may wish to read The Land Question in Palestine by Kenneth W. Stein . Through diligent and meticulously researching and identifying land transfer documentation from a number of historical legal , and thankfully still maintained sources , Arab , Jew , Palestinian , Zionist and British , Stein has listed numerous land sales from Arabs to Jews prior to the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. To a political researcher such as myself it is unsurprising how many Arabs yelled foul at the false narrative of a Zionist land grab whilst duplicitously selling at overinflated prices to those very same Zionists they were accusing of land theft . Both Churchill in several speeches and the Arabs themselves in recorded testimony under oath to various commissions notably the Hope Simpson and Peel Commissions stated that no Arab Palestinian land had been stolen but all legally acquired. As just one glaring example appendix 3 of the book which exposes numerous such legally documented land sales is as follows. Name of seller - Abu Hantash Abd al - Latif Position / status / short biography - Village shaykh at Qaqun ; participated in attacks on Jews at the Hadera massacre in 1921 ; helped to organise the Farmers Party in 1924 and organised opposition to Jewish purchase of Wadi Qabbani in the 1930’s. Land sales - sold 821 dunams at Qaqun in 1925 for £P 2,564 in the Tulkarm sub district . ( one dunam is 0.247 acres ) Name of seller - Basiso Khalil Yusuf Position / status - Member of the Arab Executive, elected to 7th Gaza Congress Land sales - April 1942 sold 472 dunams to the Jewish National Fund in Gaza for £P 1200.00 ( ref ISA , box 3874/ file 7 Schedule for April 1942) Second update Listed at the end of the post , the lands sold by the Sarsouk family ( from Lebanon I believe) to Zionist organisations alluded to by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem under oath to Sir Laurie Hammond during the 1937 Peel Commission enquiry. Further evidence of Arab land legally acquired Name of seller - Al Alami Musa Position / status / short biography - Government advocate; private secretary to High Commissioner Wauchope ; member of the Arab Delegation to the London Conference of 1939 ; brother - in - law of Jamal al - Husayni; in 1946 was a member of the Arab Executive Committee Land sales - sold 900 dunams of land in Beisan ( as per minutes of St.James Palace Conference London Feb.20 1939 Ref CZA 525/7333).2 Name of seller - Asim Bey Al Said Position / status - Mayor of Jaffa 1927 ; member of Arab National Defence Party Land sales - sold 5000 dunams at Qubeiba Jaffa district September 1924 ( ref CZA , KKL s/file 1203 ) Name of seller - Sa’d Fu’ad Position / status - leader of Greek Catholic community in Haifa and member of the Arab Executive Committee Land sales - various between 1903 and 1929 including 7838 dunams for £P 2.00 per dunam in Haifa sub district 9 And the photo below is documenting proof of the land sales made by the Sarsouk family from Beirut , Lebanon to Jewish organisations and referred to by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem under oath to Sir Laurie Hammond during the Peel Commission Report of 1937

Als dieser rauschebärtige, glutäugige Einmann, der vor kurzem samt seiner verschleierten Frau in die Wohnung über ihm eingezogen war, plötzlich vor seiner Tür stand und ihn mit wutverzerrtem Gesicht anbrüllte, weil er, wie sich ihm inmitten des rudimentär ans Deutsche erinnernden Sprachbrockenbombardements allmählich erschloss, angeblich zu laut Musik hörte, und ihm dabei bedrohlich nahe kam, da, ja da machte ein einziger Augenblick dreißig Jahre Suhrkamp-Lektüre zunichte.