Hussam "Hot Air" Ayloush Questions FBI Role in Terrorist Arrest

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



Hussam "Hot Air" Ayloush


Yesterday, the FBI in Los Angeles announced the arrest of Mark Steven Domingo, a 26-year-old Muslim convert living in Reseda, California, who is charged with planning to set off explosives and kill people as revenge for the attack against two mosques in New Zealand.

The Southern California CEO of CAIR, Hussam "Hot Air" Ayloush, is in damage control mode with his public response. Once again, a CAIR official implies that the FBI entrapped a Muslim.

https://ca.cair.com/losangeles/news/cair-la-expresses-relief-at-foiling-of-alleged-bombing-plot/

Before Mr Ayloush gets too wound up and invested in his entrapment conspiracy theory, let me explain a thing or two about entrapment law. I say this based on my own 25-year career as a Customs and later DEA agent.

Entrapment exists when law enforcement (or their informant) actually lead a person to commit an crime that person was not predisposed to commit. Predisposition is the key word. In this case, the question is-was Domingo predisposed to commit an act of terror prior to coming into contact with the FBI or its informant acting undercover? It appears from the information provided in the FBI press conference that he was predisposed- putting it out online what he wanted to do.

The fact that an FBI undercover agent or informant made contact with Domingo and acted with him-apparently delivering a fake bomb- is not entrapment. A person who is predisposed to commit a crime may be "afforded the opportunity" by an undercover operative. In this case, the undercover person pretended to help Domingo in his mission. Another example would be if an agent infiltrated a drug ring and was tasked with picking up a shipment of drugs and delivering it from point A to point B or person A to person B. That's not entrapment; it's just good undercover work. Same with an agent being introduced as a buyer to a drug dealer, who was already in the business. It is not entrapment when the drugs are delivered and the dealer is arrested. Again, prior statements or acts by a defendant and taped conversations will generally effectively counter any claims of entrapment.

If CAIR hacks like Ayloush want to (once again) claim FBI entrapment, good luck. That will be dealt with at trial. There are many safeguards and rules that go along with undercover work or using informants. These will be properly examined at trial. I suspect once this case is adjudicated, H.A. will once again have egg on his face.

And don't be fooled: CAIR is not relieved about anything. They are in damage control mode.

Swedish State Media and Islamic Terror

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



Hat tip Katerina Magasin and Kronans Martell. Translation by Fousesquawk.

It would be hard to argue that any European country has caved to Islamic terror and supremacy more than Sweden. The rape capital of Europe even allows ISIS fighters who left Sweden to return with their families. Not only that, but they are given new identities, their old identities are erased even from police inspection, they are given job training and new residences.

The below article by Katerina Janouche in her blog, Katerina Magasin, reveals how Swedish state media is under reporting or covering up the Muslim slaughter of Christians and other religions. As example, she gives Sri Lanka, the disruption of a church service in Munich and the case of Nusrat Jahan Rafi.

http://katerinamagasin.se/sa-vilseleder-skattefinansierad-public-service-medvetet-om-muslimers-kriminalitet-och-terror/

How Much the Tax Financed Public Service Deliberately Misleads (on) Muslim Criminality and Terror


22 April 2019, 10:50am

Since January 1, 2019, all are involved and pay via our tax bills to be disinformed and misled by the large media platform, Public Service, which includes Swedish Television and Swedish Radio. If one were conspiracy (oriented), one might believe that there is an agenda to diminishing and hiding the acts carried out against Christians, Atheists and Jews by Muslims, in the name of Islam. Swedish Public Service  has taken on the role for itself as educator of the people, where criticism against Islam is now seen as blasphemy, and where one is obviously expected to forgive and tolerate abominable acts when the perpetrators are Muslims.

It became clear with the terrible terror attack in Sri Lanka yesterday. Though, in principle, all the large international news channels reported early on that the terrorist acts were carried out by jihadists, i.e. radical Muslims, SVT chose several hours later to write that it was still not known who carried out the act.

In a long article, it was speculated instead that it could be Buddhists who were behind the attacks, where over  290 people, including many children, died and over 500 were injured. Only in a short bite are Muslim terrorists mentioned. This is generally an approach that Public Service has toward Islamic terror.

Now it is said that (a) "militant group" is behind the "attacks".

That there occurred an attack against church visitors in Munich by a Muslim criminal, where 24 people were injured, has not even been reported by Public Service.

Last week, the same thing occurred when SVT (Swedish Television) reported on Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a 19-year-old student who was killed by her school mates after she refused to take back her report of sexual harassment against the headmaster  of the Islamic school in Bangladesh where she was studying. Nusrat Jahan Rafi was attacked and burned to death by five women in burkas. SVT, however, left out the connection to Islam in its reporting. SVT, however, uses BBC as a source, and thus, it is evident that it was known that the school was Islamic and that the killers were dressed in burkas, but they still chose to leave this out, (and) it does not even appear that all were women. It would be a stretch to believe that that SVT (would)  leave out information that the perpetrators were white men or for that matter what  one would call, "right extremists". Imagine if a black woman were attacked by a white man in a Nazi uniform? I guess  that SVT wouldn't leave out these details. That tax-financed SVT, which should be impartial, fails to write the connection  to Islam in the Rafi case is a scandal.

BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-47947117

SVT: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/anmalde-rektorns-overgrepp-brandes-till-dods

That other mainstream media and weak politicians back off from Islam and Muslim criminality and crimes against democracy and human rights is, unfortunately, a fact. The politicians are employed by the people, but lie wildly. Then one verbally changes Christians into "Easter worshippers" according to any international manual appears to be used by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Left party leader, Jonas Sjöstedt. Sweden's prime minister, Stefan Löfvén, who held a press conference after the terror attack against mosques in New Zealand, is carefully silent when Christian children are slaughtered. There isn't much talk about solidarity now. I wonder if the great Social Democrat leader is afraid to come up against his constituents, who, in large part, consist of Muslims?

He has seen what happened in Copenhagen last week, when riots arose when one dared to criticize the religion of peace and love, and threw a Koran (in the air). Twenty-three people were detained in the riots that arose....

And the Swedish Church, with Bishop Antje Jackelen in the lead, doesn't say much about if people should form human shields to protect Christian buildings and churches. The Swedish Church, which has even turned its back on its own symbol, the cross, has long since betrayed its Christian values, so it isn't very surprising. Nonetheless, it is true, really unpleasant.

The mainstream media is reluctant to write that it is about the terror by radical Muslims against Christians and non-believers, so called "unbelievers". Svenska Dagbladet, a newspaper that used to be bourgeois, expresses worry that the terror act in Sri Lanka will result in revenge against Muslims.

Nor does Swedish mainstream media report on the frequent attacks that take place against Christian buildings and targets all over Europe. Vandalism, graffiti, destruction. And quickly the fire  at Notre Dame in Paris is dismissed as an "accident" despite the fact there are many indications that it may have been attack.

And at the same time, jihadists and their families are evidently welcome to Sweden.

With sadness in the heart, I am forced once again to note that lies, disinformation and coddling of terrorists seems to be the new Swedish model.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fousesquawk comment:

To a lesser extent, this is also true in the US. Our media also is hesitant to report Muslim terror and crime, and when they have to, they are careful to couch it very carefully. But when the media and people like Barack Obama downplay these horrible atrocities by referring to "Easter worshippers" and not saying anything about the fact that the attackers were Muslims on ba mission of jihad, they are betraying their own public, which is entitled to be fully informed on the dangers we are facing.

Make no mistake: The Islamists have turned it up a notch and things are getting worse instead of better despite the efforts of our political and religious leaders to placate Muslims hoping that if we were just a little bit nicer, it would all go away. Now they are attacking our churches and synagogues and in the case of Sri Lanka, while we are present and worshipping. Weakness and kindness have produced no positive results. On the contrary, it has only emboldened our enemies who believe we are ripe for the kill.

I write this not forgetting the horrible attack against Muslims in New Zealand. It also must be condemned, and we must not take out our rage on innocent Muslims who live in our countries. Yet, we as a people must stand up and tell the jiahdists and their US apologists that we will never submit to Islam. We must also let the phony Muslim moderates like CAIR, MPAC, the Shura Council, and so many other extremist Islamic organizations that we are onto their game of telling us that Islam is a religion of peace and that Islamophobia is some evil danger, that Muslims are the real victims when these attacks occur. We must also continue to speak out openly about the true nature of this ideology, which is built around violence and hate towards those who follow other religions. In Sweden, that exposes people to risk that they could have their careers and lives destroyed by the power machine of the Social Democrats and the media. It is shameful, and true here in the US albeit to a lesser extent. We still have the First Amendment. We need to use it and protect it.

In Praise of Judea Pearl

Gary Fouse
Fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This article first appeared in New English Review.


Hat tip Algemeiner, (L.A.) Jewish Journal, ZOA, Israeli-American Civic Action Network, and The Israel Group


Dr Judea Pearl, UCLA


“The incomprehensible blunder of the city of North Hollywood made me realize that my generation, the Counter-Holocaust Survivors of 1945-1948, is in danger of becoming extinct, and that the American public, Jews included, knows close to nothing about the intended Arab genocide of 1947-1948. Like European Holocaust survivors, we must bear witness.”
-Dr Judea Pearl, UCLA


On a campus that has had more than its share of lunacy and anti-Semitic expressions the past several years, UCLA professor Judea Pearl stands out like a shining star. Pearl is the father of slain journalist, Daniel Pearl, a victim of Islamic terror in Pakistan. Dr Pearl has long had to contend with campus anti-Semites posing as human rights activists on behalf of the Palestinian cause. This week, Dr Pearl has twice taken the lead in making a principled stand.

In the wake of New York University (NYU) presenting their "President's Service" award to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Pearl has notified NYU that he is renouncing his status as a distinguished alumnus.

Dr Pearl also refused an invitation to join a panel for a post-film discussion on the controversial anti-Israel film, 1948-Creation and Catastrophe, which was put on by the municipality of West Hollywood on April 16.

I commend Dr Pearl for both of his actions. In the latter case, what is the point of being the only pro-Israel member of a panel that is made up of anti-Israel activists like Robin Kelly, Sandy Tolan, and James Gelvin, not to mention the moderator, Estee Chandler (Jewish Voice for Peace)?

As we have previously reported, this one-sided "documentary" was recently shown at UC Irvine, presented by the two producers and moderated by UCI comedian, Mark LeVine, who, when he isn't teaching whatever he teaches at UCI, is a frequent speaker against Israel.

Here is an article from Jewish Journal (Los Angeles) on the film's showing in West Hollywood on April 16. It  features the above quote from Professor Pearl.

The pro-Palestinian movement in the US is masked as a human rights movement. It is actually a thinly disguised effort to bring about the downfall of Israel and the removal of Jews from the Middle East. It is anti-Semitic to its core. As for Students for Justice in Palestine, they are nothing more than a national organization of brown-shirts who use tactics of intimidation and disruption to further their cause. Sadly, there are even American Jews who have linked arms with this movement.

Dr Judea Pearl is not one of them.

Why the Criticism of William Barr is Unfair

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Now that the Mueller investigation has finally come to an end, Democrats, the media, and Hollywood celebrities are having a major hissy fit trying to figure out how to keep the collusion mantra going. Some have accused Mueller of being a Russian agent just like President Trump. Far fetched? Of course, but that's the direction that the Democrats and media have gone.

Then there is the matter of Attorney General William Barr, newly appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate. Barr is a much respected professional who served as AG under George H W Bush. He is a convenient target not only because he is a political appointee, and a Republican, but wrote a memo back in 2017 criticizing Mueller's investigation of possible obstruction of justice by the president. His critics are now charging that he took the Mueller report and made the final call on whether to charge any crimes. Thus, the reasoning goes, the final call was made by a political appointee of the president.

On the surface, that may sound like a reasonable argument. The problem is that this is the procedure that was supposed to be followed. The special prosecutor was, indeed, tasked to submit his final report to the attorney general. He could make recommendations, such as to charge certain people or not to charge. Mueller's judgment was that no further indictments were called for, there was no evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russians, and finally, he could make no conclusion as to the question of obstruction of justice by Trump.

More importantly, it would have been far more troubling had Barr overruled the conclusions and recommendations of Mueller. The special prosecutor situation is somewhat unique within federal law enforcement, but it can be compared to when investigators from a federal agency,  like the FBI, present a case report to the US Attorney's Office. When the investigative team, in this case, led by Mueller, submits its case report to the prosecutor, in this case Barr, it is the latter who makes the decision on whether to go ahead with prosecution, indictments etc.  If the investigators cannot present a prosecutable case to the prosecutor, it would be the height of folly and unethical for the prosecutor to indict. If the investigators want to charge someone, they need to present a solid case to the prosecutor. (Again, consider Mueller to be the investigator here.) This is something Mueller failed to do.

On the other hand, had Mueller presented a prosecutable case to the attorney general, and Barr declined to prosecute, then the Democrats would have an argument. Of course, this is not even taking into account the legal question of whether a sitting president could be prosecuted in the first place.

There is much to criticize Mueller about over the manner in which he conducted this two-year investigation. In the end, he presented, in my opinion, an honest and proper conclusion as to the president. Barr has followed his role to the letter. If the Democrats in Congress want to keep beating this dead horse, they do so at their political peril.

The Democrats' Abuse of the Law

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


As I write this piece, we are still awaiting Robert Mueller's report on the Trump-Russian collusion investigation to be handed over to the attorney general, possibly sometime this week. Even the Democrats seem to know that Mueller has found no evidence that Trump had anything to do with the Russians' attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

No matter. Already, the House Democrats (who are now in charge of the House of Representatives) are signalling their intentions to launch numerous investigations of every aspect of Trump's life and career. They want his income tax returns. They want to subpoena members of his family to testify. They want to subpoena his past associates to testify. They want to subpoena former White House staff to testify. Even diplomatic interpreters who sat between Trump and Vladimir Putin. Already, they have dragged in discredited lawyer Michael Cohen to tell them and the nation that Trump is a "racist, a con-man, and a liar". It is clear that the Democrat controlled House under committee chairmen like Jerrold Nadler and Adam Schiff are determined to either impeach the President or at the very least, make him unelectable in 2020.

Partisanship aside, here is where they are going wrong, and I say this based on my experience as a retired federal agent (Drug Enforcement Administration). Law enforcement's job is to investigate crimes. That is, when a crime is committed, it is the job of law enforcement to determine who committed the crime. We investigate individuals based on information that they may have committed a crime. What the Democrats are now doing is taking an individual (Trump) and trying to find out everything they can about him in the hopes of finding something-anything- that he has done wrong in his life and career both prior to and during his political career. That is against the very spirit of the law in a free society. There are very few of us who could undergo such scrutiny, and I say this as someone who not only enforced the law but who has obeyed the law.  That said, most all of us have something in our past that at the very least, would sink our chances if we were running for elective office.

What the Democrats in Congress are now saying is this: "Here is the individual (Trump). Let us find the crime." To that, I say, "What is the crime?" Answer (and I have heard this said)? "That's why we need to investigate."

What if we turn all this around and say, "Let's investigate every aspect of Rep. Nadler's life-or Adam Schiff's life. We'll find something eventually. How about Maxine Waters seeing that she has gone off unhinged again at Trump this week? How quickly would we find dirt on her if she were put under the microscope? One day of hearings would be all it takes, but that's not going to happen.

This is not to suggest that Trump is a choir boy-far from it. I could be proven all wrong if tomorrow, Mueller hands over convincing evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians even though even the Democrats seem to know that will not be the case. If that is, indeed, the result of Mueller's investigation, then the Democrats in Congress are reduced to going back to square one and launching multiple investigations against an individual in the hopes of finding a crime. That is not what our criminal justice system is supposed to be about. That is a KGB tactic, whether done by police or political parties in charge of one branch of government.

I also want to address the issue of Trump's tax returns. The Democrats are demanding that he turn them over because they are convinced that a thorough examination of his multi-billion dollar business dealings will eventually reveal something. That is possible, but not the point. The point is that tax returns are private and Trump is under no obligation to show them to anybody. Let me give you an example. When I was a DEA agent-and US Customs agent before that- I had occasion to work often with IRS's Criminal Investigation Division. They were an effective tool in tracing the financial dealings of drug traffickers. However, I never had the ability to gain access to IRS tax returns (unless under specified and very limited circumstances). Were an IRS agent to share someone's tax returns with me, we would have been both liable to prosecution. So Trump should basically give the middle finger to those demands. Is he hiding something? Who knows? He is, however, within his legal  rights, and at the moment, legal rights are more important than ever.

Why? We have already witnessed the abuses of the FBI in whitewashing the crimes of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and manufacturing a case against candidate Trump. A cabal at the highest levels of the FBI and Justice Department have abused their powers and tried to interfere in an election because they could not abide the thought of Trump actually defeating Clinton. It is arguably the biggest political scandal in our nation's history. And it isn't over yet. The Democrat party is actively trying to overturn the results of an election. Plan A was to tie Trump to the efforts of the Russian government to influence our election. With that effort apparently about to fail, Plan B is to start with the individual (Trump) and find a crime-any crime. That is not what our criminal justice system is all about.

CAIR's March 23 Fundraiser in LA

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Investigative Project on Terrorism



Hussam Ayloush

As previously reported, the Southern California chapter of CAIR will be holding yet another fundraiser on March 23, in which Minnesota Congresswoman  Ilhan Omar (D) will be a featured speaker. In the wake of her recent anti-Jewish statements, it is no coincidence that CAIR, whose SoCal director, Hussam Ayloush, has his own history of anti-Jewish statements, would host this already disgraced freshman member of Congress.


Ilhan Omar


But it gets worse. Also appearing at this annual whoopey is CAIR's Florida director, Hassan Shibly, a supporter of Hizbollah, also no stranger to controversy. Shibly is most recently in the news because he is representing none other than Hoda Muthana, the woman who went off to join ISIS and now wants to return back to the US. Presently, the Department of State is refusing to allow her to return. There is a dispute as to whether she is a legitimate US citizen. Shibly argues that she is a citizen and should be allowed to return.

I had forgotten, but Muthana came up in Fousesquawk back in 2015 when she left the US. Back then, Shibley, who is an attorney, was representing the Muthana family in Alabama.



But how coincidental that Ayloush, who back in 2015 was speaking at an event entiltled, "The Crisis of ISIS" in Garden Grove and was complaining that everybody was talking about the "about 20" Muslim Americans who had gone off to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria while nobody was talking about the "thousands" of Jewish American men who had joined the Israel Defense Forces "killing the people of Gaza". And now he is hosting the very man representing one of those jihadists. Small world, indeed.

And returning to Omar, it has recently been disclosed that back in 2016, she was writing to a judge arguing for leniency for 9 Muslims who had been arrested for trying to join ISIS themselves.

Given the natuire of the personalities at this March 23 event, I guess the theme will be something along the lines of, "Bring our troops home."

Regarding the Donate Link on This Site

In 2015, Katie Norcross, the founder of this site, passed away from cancer. At the time, I was one of several contributing writers. After reaching out to the other contributors, it turned out I was the only one who could continue to write articles for the site to keep it going, albeit on a more limited basis.

Since that time, I have cross-posted some of my own articles from Fousesquawk to Monkey in the Middle, about one every couple of weeks.

I should have noticed this earlier, but tonight I noted that Katie had a PayPal link on the site for donations. I want to make it clear that if anyone has contributed money since Katie died, I have no access to it and no idea how to do it. The only "keys to the kingdom" I possess for this blog is the ability to post articles. I don't seem to have the ability to remove this link.

Whether someone in Katie's family has access to any donations I have no idea. Anyone who considers contributing should keep in mind that this is a semi-active site, and that I am not soliciting any donations.


https://findalismonkeyinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2015/06/katie-norcross-findalis-in-memorium.html

Typhus Breaks out in LA City Hall

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Last month, Los Angeles' hapless mayor, Eric "Yoga Pants" Garcetti, finally announced he would not run for the Democrat nomination for president in 2020. This after he wasted everybody's time and money traipsing around places like Iowa when he should have been minding the store at home.

That fact has been underlined this week with the revelations that typhus-TYPHUS- has broken out in and around the rat infested, flea infested City Hall.

It doesn't take the Center for Disease Control to figure out the cause; the area around City Hall is filled with homeless encampments. The lack of hygiene, coupled with urine and feces on the sidewalks, and voila! Welcome back to the Middle Ages. All while the empty suit mayor was off testing the presidential waters.

But there was good news out of City Hall on Friday. A resolution affirmed  that the city is, indeed, a sanctuary city. LA City Councilman, "One Bill Gil" Cedillo and Council President Herb Wesson, who had to have his flea-infested carpeting removed from his office, introduced this "blockbuster" back in September 2017. Things move slowly in LA and not just the traffic. (Cedillo earned his nickname when he was in state government in Sacramento for his never-ending efforts to  allow driver's licenses for illegal aliens in California.) Concerning those carpets having to be removed from City Hall, City Councilman Paul Koretz showed he knows about priorities when he stated his fervent hope that the carpets could be recycled. At least he didn't ask for the fleas to be released back into the wild. Meanwhile, the New Sheriff in Town, Alex Villanueva, is sticking to his guns in not allowing ICE agents in the county jail to harass and deport those unfortunate illegal alien criminals. 

Eventually, somebody will wake up and get the message that homeless encampments are not a good idea for society. If a typus outbreak can't do the job, I guess nothing will. One would have thought that cities like LA and SF would have woken up after illegal alien criminals murdered their citizens on the city streets. Incredibly, not even that has been enough to do the trick. Now LA's own city hall is hit with a typhus outbreak. Will it be enough to open their eyes to the blight that surrounds them every day as they go in and out of City Hall? Don't hold your breath.

Anti-Semitism in Swedish Schools

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


The below article appeared as an op-ed in Aftonbladet, one of Sweden's oldest and largest news outlets. It was sent to me by my friend, Kronans Martell in Sweden. I have translated it into English. This is written by a school teacher who teaches children from other countries, mostly Africa, and the Middle East. She has discovered that these children not only have a negative opinion of Jews, but very little to no knowledge of the Holocaust.

https://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/a/0EREjJ/mina-nyanlanda-elever-tror-att-judar-ar-farliga

My Newly Arrived Students Think that Jews Are Dangerous

Teacher: We have a duty to do something about ignorance

This is a debate article. It is the writer who stands for the opinions expressed in the text, not Aftonbladet.

During more than four years in teaching newly-arrived (in Sweden) pupils, mostly from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia and Somalia, I have noticed a large ignorance  about Jews, the state of Israel, and the Holocaust.

This ignorance can lead to fear and in the worst case hate. Many pupils have become brainwashed  in their home countries that Jews are dangerous and that they should beware of them.

Comments such as "they are terrorists and we have a right to throw rocks at them", and that "they burn children alive" are some of the stories  that come up in discussions with pupils and during lectures in school.

During a series of lectures, we talked about the Nazis' genocide, and it was shown that none of our newly-arrived pupils knew about the Holocaust and its background, where over 6 million Jews were put to death.

The question over Jews and Israel is controversial, and we have had a hard time talking about the subject even though only 20,000 Jews live in Sweden, and they have protection as a Swedish minority.

Tolerance, co-existence, justice and love for fellow humans are born of knowledge, discussion, and analysis based on each person's right to freedom and to be able to feel safe in their society. Together we must punch through this darkness and this ignorance which can have terrible consequences for the Jews who live in Sweden and the rest of Europe-often behind armour, forced security, and not daring to even acknowledge their existence, religion, or their origin.

The numbers from the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) say it in its clear language. In the report, 16,000 Jews were queried in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Great Britain. Countries where around 96% of Europe's  Jews reside.

About 90% of those queried say that anti-semitism is growing in their home countries, and as many as 75% say it is evident in the public space.

The kinds of harassment and anti-semitism revealed by FRA include, for example, destruction of Jewish burial sites, vandalism of Jewish buildings or institutions, and open hostility towards Jews.

The report also points out  that Sweden is one of the countries where the most are of the opinion that anti-semitism has increased. More that 8 out of 10 respondents in Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden believe that anti-semitism is a "very big" or "rather big" problem.

We can not betray the Jews through passivity and silence. Anti-semitism must be fought, and our responsibility for this must be clear-through enlightenment, knowledge by various authorities and in the school.

Those who attack Jews in Malmo and Gothenburg must be condemned  clearly, and political unity on the issue is required. Jewish and Muslim congregations need to continue to meet for cooperation. The forces for good must receive support.

More than four years (worth of) knowledge from my work with the newly-arrived has made me convinced that we must act. My pupils, for example, want to have all the information they can get about the Holocaust, Jews, and Israel in their native language.

They want to understand and they want to know so they can form their view based on knowledge from different sources. It doesn't work if the knowledge fails-first in their home countries and also here in Sweden.

It requires several conversations and discussions with our pupils  to create an understanding of the basis for the Holocaust even being possible and what mechanisms began the process. A single lecture that quickly disappears from memory is not sufficient.

We have a duty to dare to take on these issues even if difficult and thought of as controversial and politically "dangerous". It is so easy to end up in a discussion about right or wrong concerning Israel's policy, but the question is that people should be able to live side by side in Sweden and respect each other.

Otherwise, dark forces take over the empty space we leave behind.. Maybe 2019 will be the year that we take joint action against anti-semitism and its darkness-not just today on Holocaust Memorial Day but all other days of the year.

Annelie Danling Brash, head teacher for newly-arrived (pupils) and learning at Nyköping High School with help from Jonathan Brash, teacher, grades 4-6
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I applaud the article, but what is missing here is the fact that these children have learned their negative opinions of Jews in their homes and most likely from their religion. I suppose in politically correct Sweden, the writer couldn't go that far. I hope education in a Swedish school will turn their attitudes around, but I am sceptical. Their religion (Islam) teaches them a different message about Jews. Hopefully, some can be turned around.

I must also shake my head at Aftonbladet's disclaimer that this is an opinion piece and only reflects the opinions of the writer and not Aftonbladet. I am sure this disclaimer is routine when they publish an opinion piece, but my God-the optics are terrible. 

Insanity in Sacramento

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Daily Wire


Out here in the one-party state of California, it's one big bhong party in Sacramento. The latest is the bit of insanity from Hannah-Beth Jackson, Democrat (what else?) from Santa Barbara. She (excuse the pronoun) has decided that only gender-neutral pronouns will be used during committee hearings.


https://www.dailywire.com/news/42389/watch-democrat-state-senator-announces-politically-amanda-prestigiacomo?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=062316-news&utm_campaign=dwbrand



                                                                                                             


 

Not only do our legislators have to take a Berlitz course in the New English, imagine the extra work for the stenographers (whoever they may be) who have to record every mistake in language and subsequent correction from people like Hannah-Beth Jackson.

Asia Bibi and Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun: The World Is Watching

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This article first appeared in New English Review.



As I write this piece, there are two dramas playing out in Pakistan and Thailand. Both involve two young women, one a Pakistani Christian, the other a Saudi woman of 18 who has fled her family and renounced Islam. At this point, their fates are yet to be decided as Western nations debate offering them asylum.

Asia Bibi was arrested in Pakistan and accused of blasphemy against Islam and the Prophet Mohammad. Blasphemy against Islam is a capital offense in Pakistan-as it is in Islamic law. Sentenced to death, she languished in prison for several years until her conviction was recently overturned by the Pakistani Supreme Court. She is now in hiding, living under security at an undisclosed location until a country can be found to give her asylum. All the while, mobs roam door to door in an effort to find and lynch her. Great Britain, a country that never ceases to prostrate itself to radical Islamic forces, has already refused. Further complicating her situation is that the Pakistani government has now ruled that it will not let her leave the country until the prosecutor's appeals are fully resolved.

Then this week, an 18-year-old Saudi girl named Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, fled her family residing in Kuwait and wound up at Bangkok Airport with an Australian visa. It appeared initially that she was going to be put on a flight back home until the Thais turned the matter over to the UN refugee officials. They have now determined that she is a legitimate refugee. At this writing, she is still in Bangkok and awaiting a decision by the Australians.

Any sensible observer would immediately conclude that by any humanitarian measure, both of these women should already be relocated to a country where they can live in freedom and security from vengeful Islamic law. But consider that another Saudi woman, Dina Ali Lasloom 24, who was trying to flee a forced marriage, was forcefully put on a plane back home from Manila where she was seeking asylum in 2017. Her fate remains unknown.

These cases deserve the widest possible publicity for several reasons beyond even human decency and considerations of human rights. The world needs to confront the basic severity of Islamic law as practiced by countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The death penalty for apostates is affirmed by every leading school of Islamic thought and is enforced throughout Islamic societies either by national courts, tribal councils, or the families involved. It stands in stark contrast not only to our laws in the West, but also against basic principles of human rights. Laws against apostasy and blasphemy have no place in the West or any other civilized society.

Hopefully, Alquhun will be on the next flight from Thailand to Australia. If the Pakistani government insists on keeping Bibi in country until her case is finally "resolved", I would hope the US government and others will inform the Pakistanis that good diplomatic relations and foreign aid will hinge on justice for Asia Bibi.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia stand in shame before the world. If the West doesn't step up and provide refuge for Asia Bibi and Rahaf Mohammed Alquhun, we will stand in shame as well. Our governments and other "human rights" organizations bend over backwards to grant refuge and asylum to hundreds of thousands of people migrating around the world who should not qualify for refugee status. Many of these so-called refugees are Muslims. That we would turn our backs on Bibi and Alquhun would be a disgrace and would signal that we are submitting to Islam. After all, Islam in Arabic means "submission".

The time has come for the US and the West to re-evaluate their relationships with these two countries that still live in the Middle Ages. As for Britain, over history, enemies from Napoleon to Hitler have reportedly called them "a nation of shop keepers". If so, they proved both wrong, but the phrase sure fits now. Winston Churchill must be spinning in his grave.

As We Try to Celebrate Christmas

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Memri and Jihad Watch


First of all, let me wish a Merry Christmas to all my Christian readers. For my Jewish readers who just recently celebrated Hanukkah, I also extend my love and best wishes.

But it is hard not to  feel a sense of anger when Christians and Jews are being persecuted around the world.

As I write, the city of Barcelona is under high alert over credible reports that an unidentified Moroccan man may be planning to strike the city on this holiest of Christian holidays.

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/12/barcelona-police-warn-of-muslim-plotting-jihad-massacre-on-christmas-day-city-on-high-alert

Here is a Spanish report from El Pais (Spain), which I have not had time to translate as yet.

https://elpais.com/ccaa/2018/12/24/catalunya/1545661368_910928.html


From Canada comes yet another report of a Muslim cleric urging his followers not to wish Christians a Merry Christmas. Yes, Canada has a real problem with hate being preached in many of their mosques.

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/12/canada-muslim-cleric-says-wishing-christians-merry-christmas-is-worse-than-murder

Also on high alert are the always beleaguered Christians of Pakistan, fearing attacks on Christmas day as one of their own, Asia Bibi, remains in hiding while Western nations (and the Vatican) studiously ignore her pleas for asylum. It is an international disgrace.

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/12/islamic-republic-of-pakistan-security-high-at-churches-for-christmas-asia-bibi-still-in-hiding

Meanwhile, Pope Francis continues to ignore the persecution of Christians in Muslim majority countries while lecturing Europeans that they must continue to bring in more and more Muslims, some of  whom will torment Europe's Jews and plan attacks on Christmas markets, which are now the target of choice.

And the politicians in Western Europe (with the exception of Italy, Austria, and possibly Denmark) are on the Pope's side as they continue their insane immigration policies, no matter how many people are murdered and no matter how many women are raped. Jews continue to live in fear and many are emigrating. Politicians make statements of support and place guards in front of synagogues and Jewish schools, but the importation of Jew-hating Muslim men continues unabated, thus, the threat continues to increase.

I emphasize  that I am not referring to all Muslims, but the threat is very real and deeply rooted in Islamic doctrine.

But it is not only Muslims who need to take a look in the mirror. Our political and religious leaders, both Christian and Jewish, are letting us down. They are afraid to stand up to the Islamists in our midst and call them out for their hatred. Interfaith events, which appear to be noble on their surface, are nothing more than exercises in surrender by Christian and Jewish religious leaders who allow Muslim leaders to lie to us about Islam's "peaceful" nature. Many of these same Muslim leaders have a completely different (and more hateful) message when speaking to their own followers. Again-not all, but far too many.

Praying for peace seems to be an exercise in futility, but at least we can pray that today will not be marred by Islamic terror in Spain, Pakistan or anywhere else.

Merry Christmas.

UC Berkeley Has to Pay for Abridging Free Speech

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


UC Berkeley has learned the hard way there can be a price to pay for abridging free speech on campus. Now they are paying out $70,000 to Young America Foundation.


https://www.yaf.org/news/yaf-wins-landmark-free-speech-lawsuit-uc-berkeley-to-pay-70000-and-rescind-unconstitutional-policies/?fbclid=IwAR1rahcMqkjCI6AJv0Sd2AwxtLYUDV4g9hAeiBBE0wvTsNfGtaSVmOfr2ks

It is more subtle than a university refusing a student group to bring in a particular speaker. There are other ways a university can limit or eliminate free speech by certain speakers they don't like. They can charge outrageous security fees, for example, that they would not charge to other groups.

Several years ago, I attended an event at UC Irvine where David Horowitz appeared. Not only did the university switch his meeting room at the last minute to a more obscure part of the campus, none of the whiteboard markers had enough ink. Horowitz repeatedly laughed it off at the UCI administrators in the audience who were documenting his words on their laptops.

When Milo Yiannopoulos appeared at UCI not long ago, the event was placed in a room much too small to accomodate the hundreds of people (including myself) who were trying to get in-and whose names were on the registration list.

I salute the YAF for holding UCB's feet to the fire. These institutions all have a ready made statement they release to the media when these things happen to the effect that they are "100 committed to the principles of free speech, inclusions, etc etc etc". It is a joke. When students and assorted riff-raff rioted at UC Berkeley a few years ago forcing a last minute cancellation to Yiannopoulos's appearance, the university all but put their seal of approval on the assaults and destruction of property as campus police stood around like potted plants. Other universities, like UCI, seem to be allowing disruptions to continue for a set period of time before gently ushering the protesters out with no consequences.

Left to their own devices and with the public not paying attention, universities will continue to limit conservative speech and indoctrinate our youth. They need to be countered, and, when appropriate, sued.

SJP Conference Looms Over UCLA

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This article first appeared in Times of Israel.

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will be holding its national conference at UCLA from November 16-18. A few years ago (February 2011), SJP held its Western regional conference on the Westwood campus. That featured the anti-semitic Oakland imam, Amir Abdel Malik Ali, leading his audience in the "pledge of allegiance", which bore no resemblance to the one most of us recite here in the US. Ali's "pledge" swore to fight to the death on behalf of Islam, jihad, and all that charming stuff.

There is much opposition to this year's conference, as well there should be. SJP is anti-Jewish to its core. No matter that they have a few misguided misfits of Jewish background. They are all for the total destruction of the Jewish state of Israel.

Here is an op-ed that the feckless UCLA chancellor, Gene Block, has written in the LA Times regarding the conference.

With all due respect, Mr Block is full of it. For years, he has allowed Jewish students at UCLA to be bullied and intimidated by the likes of SJP, the Muslim Student Association, and other pro-Palestinian forces. He is hardly alone among UC chancellors. From UC San Diego to UC Berkeley and in-between, it's the same old story. For 20 years, I have seen it first-hand on the UC Irvine campus where I taught part-time from 1998-2016. In the past two years since I stopped teaching there, I have attended subsequent events where the bully-boy antics of the SJP have been on full display. Their tactics are simple: disrupt, bully and intimidate. They are a disgraceful and despicable organization.

And look who is headlining this year's freak show at UCLA. The keynote speaker is Chicago-based Palestinian activist, Hatem Abudayyeh. Here is what Discover the Networks has to say about Abudayyeh.

Abudayyeh was an outspoken supporter of Rasmieh Odeh, the Palestinian woman who was convicted of terrorism in Israel, hid that fact while immigrating to the US, and was finally deported after lengthy and costly legal proceedings. All the while, she appeared in front of the courthouse where she was being tried shouting into a bullhorn to her followers about how unjust America is. And this guy Abudayyeh was one of her biggest boosters.

Lovely fellow. Just what SJP wants to represent them. We should all draw the appropriate conclusions.

As Chancellor Block stated, SJP has the right to free speech. But make no mistake. From November 16-18, hate speech will be on display at UCLA. With the new outbreak of fighting between Israel and the Hamas regime in Gaza, no doubt the rhetoric at UCLA will get even more heated. The 2016 UC Statement of Principles Against Intolerance, which Block referenced, will be violated to the point of making it nothing more than a scrap of paper.

University of Michigan: It's Required

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

"Speaker Emory Douglas, part of the “Penny Stamps Speakers Series Presentation” of the Stamps School of Art and Design, displayed a slide that showed a picture of Netanyahu and Hitler with the words “Guilty Of Genocide” written across their faces. Below the photo was the definition of genocide."

The University of Michigan has been in the news quite a bit lately, and for all the wrong reasons. Just recently, a University of Michigan professor made news when he refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student to study in Israel. Now comes this about a speaker who compared Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu with Hitler. That's bad enough. It was a required attendance for certain students. 


https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/252890

So here we have a former Black Panther who comes to the university to defame Netanyahu as being comparable to Hitler, and attendance is mandatory?

I invite the reader to follow the above link to the Penny Stamps site. If you are left with the impression that it is tilted way to the left, you are not alone. This reminds me of the UC Irvine New Narratives program instituted a few years ago by then Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham. In April 2017, I attended one such event which was loaded with a panel of victims including one black radical Canadian  woman who had recently moved to the US and opened her talk by saying that she had picked the wrong time to come here in referring to President Trump. I tried unsuccessfully to get New Narratives to invite a speaker who had a more favorable image of America, but all I got was a big run-around.

I wonder if the Penny Stamps Speakers Series would consider bringing in a pro-Israel speaker to provide some semblance of balance to those students who are required to sit through these lectures.

Probably not.

Professor Juan Cole's Mohammad

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Campus Watch and Middle East Forum


https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/articles/2018/was-prophet-muhammad-really-illiterate-an-intervi

University of Michigan professor Juan Cole always goes to incredible lengths to defend everything that is Islamic. Now he has come out with a new book on the Prophet Mohammad entitled, Mohammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires. If you had any doubts this would be a hagiographic endeavor, Cole's interview with Joseph Richard Preville erases all doubt.

How one can described Mohammad as a "prophet of peace" when he led armies to fight non-Muslims, took women and children as slaves and ordered the murders of his opponents and the beheadings of captives is beyond me. It is true that when Mohammad began his teaching in Mecca, he was peaceful. After he was driven out of Mecca, he and his followers went to  present-day Medina, where he consolidated his power and evolved into a warlord. Here are some statements by Cole that strain credulity.

JRP: You write that “Islam is, no less than Christianity, a Western religion that initially grew up in the Roman Empire” and that “Muhammad saw himself as an ally of the West.” How does your theory challenge or support other major scholarly interpretations of early Islam?

JC: The Arab Muslim sources emphasize the origins of Islam in Arabia and downplay how integrated the Arabs of late antiquity were into the Eastern Roman Empire, but Roman sources, inscriptions, and Qur'an passages give strong evidence for the Arabs as Roman citizens or  allies.  As for Muhammad being allied with Constantinople, there is some evidence for it in early Arabic sources and the eminent Princeton classicist G. W. Bowersock has hinted at it in his recent work, but I have taken the bull by the horns and said it explicitly.

It is true that all three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam were born in the Middle East. While the first two successfully spread to the West ( the US is a democratic nation founded on Judaic-Christian principles), Islam's spread to the West, largely through recent immigration has hardly been successful. Assimilation has been slight and the clashes are too many to mention especially in Europe today. The fact is that Islam is antithetical to Western ideals of equality and freedom.


JRP: Many biographies portray Muhammad as illiterate and provincial.  Would you agree?

JC: The Muslim tradition calls Muhammad "illiterate," I think in part to protect him from charges by polemicists that he learned things by reading the Bible or other works.  But the tradition also says he was a successful long-distance merchant who regularly traded up to Damascus and Gaza in the Eastern Roman Empire.  Long distance merchants are always literate, and I think Muhammad could read and write Arabic, Aramaic and possibly Greek.  The Qur'an shows knowledge of the Bible, of Jewish tradition, and of classical Greek thought.  It isn't provincial.

An interesting observation and opinion on the part of Cole since he strays from Islamic teaching that Mohammad was illiterate. Also interesting is the reason Cole thinks Muslims say that Mohammad was illiterate. Critics of Islam do not believe that Mohammad truly received the word of God from the archangel Gabriel (He may have imagined he did), therefore the idea that he read the Bible and initially borrowed from it is open to question.

RP: What was Muhammad’s role in the creation of the Constitution of Madinah?  How revolutionary was this document for its time?

JC: The Constitution of Madinah was a treaty among groups in Madinah, to which the Meccan pagans expelled Muhammad in 622.  Madinah had Muslims, Jews and pagans and possibly some Christians. The treaty pledged all these groups to defend the city militarily if it was attacked.  It says that the Muslims have their religion and the Jews have theirs, so it recognizes freedom of conscience and is a political alliance.  In the Roman Empire at that time, Jews were placed under disabilities and would not have been treated as equals this way. 

And when the Jews supposedly broke the constitution, they were executed, and ever since Jews are hated within Islam. The Koran is replete with hateful verses against Jews (and Christians). Over the centuries Jewish minorities have had to live in a condition of dhimmitud, second class citizenship enshrined in the laws. It is true that in some places, Christians treated Jews as bad or worse as did Muslims, but Cole's answer leaves out tons of facts. 

JRP: How did medieval Muslim clerics slight or minimize the Qur’an’s peace verses by a theory of abrogation?

JC: Peace-making and turning the other cheek are very important themes in the Qur'an.  It allows going to war to defend yourself and innocents, but forbids aggressive, expansionist warfare.  The text was very inconvenient for later aggressive Muslim empires.  So ideologues developed a theory of "abrogation" where later verses invalidated earlier ones. They interpreted late verses on warfare as permitting aggression (they don't), and then alleged that all the peace verses were thus abrogated.  It was an intellectual and spiritual travesty.  Some Muslim thinkers, though, said only 5 verses were abrogated (not the peace verses), and rejected the procedure.   

For Cole to claim that peace making and turning the other cheek are important themes in the Koran is a hoot. Reading the Koran especially putting the suras (chapters) in chronological order contradicts Cole on its very face. The early Mecca suras do tend to be benign and peaceful, but the Medina suras are clearly not. Put in order of time, it all makes sense. Mohammad evolved from a simple preacher in Mecca to a warlord in Medina. As for the principle of abrogation (which Western-based "moderate" imams are loathe to discuss), it makes perfect sense given the transformation of Mohammad ands the obvious contradictory verses in the Koran. Keep in mind that it is the Islamic scholars themselves (not Cole) who are the authorities in Islam since Islam has no Vatican and has no popes.   

JRP: You have placed strong emphasis on Muhammad as a “Prophet of Peace.”  How do you think your book will encourage and strengthen Islamic peace studies?
 
JC: The peace verses of the Qur'an have been there all along, and have been central, but scholarship has not focused on them.  I'd like to see the kind of intersection of Peace Studies with Islam that exists with regard to Christianity.  Christians have fought a lot of wars and even been involved in genocide, but we all also know about the Quakers and Mennonites.  Only a few authors have written on the history of peace movements in Islam, which include the Murid Sufis of Senegal and the Gandhist Muslims in twentieth-century India.

Yes, the peace verses in the Koran have been there all along, but they are not central because they have been abrogated. Sura 9, the last major sura recorded is arguably the most violent and intolerable. It virtually abrogates every peaceful verse recorded earlier in time. As for Sufists and groups like the Ahmadiya Muslims, it is true they have a good track record of not being involved in the terror and intolerance we see in Islam today, but they are not regarded as Muslims by mainstream Islam. In fact, those that live in Muslim countries are persecuted. As for the wars and genocide of Christians, aside from the Crusades (in which both sides were culpable and Christians killed many Jews in the process), how many wars were fought for purely religious reasons? Genocide? I would argue that Hitler and the Nazis had no religious motivations for the Holocaust. They did not object to the theology of the Jews; they considered Jews as a race to be exterminated. And Hitler, despite his Catholic birth, was no Christian. He derided religion in general. If you want to talk about genocide in the modern sense, look no farther than today's Middle East.

If Cole wants to argue that most Muslims are leading peaceful lives and we should not blame them all for the atrocities being carried out today, that is fine. Cole, however, engages in falsehoods that are so easy to disprove just by scratching beneath the surface. If this is the type of scholarship to be found at the University of Michigan, they might as well stick to football.

Islamic Center of San Diego Looking for Immigration Interpreters

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



This is interesting.

The Islamic Center of San Diego is issuing an urgent appeal for interpreters to assist immigration attorneys at the border (in its own words). Specifically, they are asking for interpreters in Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi and other (non-Spanish) languages. Interpreters would be assisting the Federal Defenders of San Diego.

https://m.facebook.com/302790013065190/posts/2050542088289965/

So why is this interesting? It is because, as we have been saying for years, it's not just Mexicans and Central Americans coming across our southwestern border. People from the Middle East and the Near East are also coming via Mexico. If immigration attorneys in San Diego are in need of these kinds of interpreters, it just proves what we have been saying all along.This is nothing more than the Islamic Center of San Diego showing its obvious desire to get more Muslims into the country and now assisting those who come illegally. It is more proof that for the sake of our own national security, we need to build the wall.

A Response From UCLA

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

On May 17, Students for Justice in Palestine disrupted an Israeli event at UCLA. Subsequently, UCLA received many letters of complaint, including one that I signed onto. Today, I received this email from UCLA in response.

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns. UCLA is deeply disappointed that protesters disrupted a May 17th student event that focused on the experiences of Jewish, Armenian and Kurdish indigenous communities. This incident left many students feeling silenced and intimidated. It also dishonored UCLA’s commitment to the free and robust exchange of ideas. University officials and police arrived on the scene promptly, and the disruption ended without physical injury. Campus officials are carefully reviewing the incident to determine precisely what happened, who among the protestors are affiliated with UCLA, and how to appropriately respond to this incident. While we respect the right to lawful protest, such protests cannot prevent speakers from communicating with a willing audience.

Steve Ritea,

Executive Director

Executive Communications

2224D Murphy Hall

Comment: While I appreciate the words in the letter, this is likely the last thing we will here of this.



 "Campus officials are carefully reviewing the incident to determine precisely what happened, who among the protestors are affiliated with UCLA, and how to appropriately respond to this incident." 

First of all, the video clearly shows precisely what happened. Secondly, had campus police identified the disruptors (which I am guessing they did not) they would know who were students. As to how to respond, any students should be, at the least, suspended if not expelled and SJP banned from campus. Finally, they are not protestors. They are disruptors. UCLA is a public campus, thus open to the public. Those who enter the campus for purposes of disruption should be arrested.

Let's follow this to see what happens.