Rehabilitating Jihadists

"I was on the bus coming southbound over London Bridge. We had just pulled away from the bus stop when the bus came to a sudden stop, because there were people running across the bridge into the road, sort of looking over their shoulders and filming behind them."
"It looked like there was a fight going on ... people tussling with each other. And then you realize it was police wrestling with one tall bearded man. I had my baby with me, so I moved her behind the stairwell to be safe. Then there was two shots or two loud pops. I think they were gunshots."
"[I saw the attacker lying on the ground and pulling his coat back, revealing] some sort of vest underneath. The police then really quickly moved backwards."
Karen Bosch, London stabbing aftermath witness

"I jumped in and kicked him [the knife-assailant] in the head to make him release his knife. A few others did so."
"He was shouting 'get off me, get off me'."
Stevie Hurst, London tour guide

"Our Counter Terrorism detectives will be working 'round the clock to identify those who have lost their lives, to support all the victims and their families."
"We are also working at full tilt to understand exactly what has happened and whether anyone else was involved."
London police chief Cressida Dick

"I ... want to pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery of those members of the public who physically intervened to protect the lives of others."
"This country will never be cowed, or divided, or intimidated by this sort of attack."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

A police officer cordons off a street close to the scene of Friday's deadly stabbings at London Bridge. (Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA-EFE)

Police Chief Cressida Dick might want to have a conversation with the head of MI5. Which was ostensibly tracking the knifer, a known Islamist terrorist whose early release from a lengthy prison sentence for conspiring to bomb on behalf of al Qaeda, the London Stock Exchange, allowed him to attend a workshop designed to guide wannabe terrorists such as he back from the dark to the light taking place at Fishmongers' Hall, which he used as a launching point for his obviously planned knife attacks.

Earlier this month Britain had decided, likely on the advice of its Intelligence services, to lower the national alert status from "severe" to "substantial", the lower rating not necessarily an opportunity to relax, but that the terror threat level in the U.K. rated somewhat less vigilance. While the new rating still judged an attack to be likely, it was not quite so much as the previous level. One step behind the mindset of those who fester in bleak hatred, anxious to kill innocents to prove to themselves and others that jihad is serious business, downgrading aside.

Uzman Khan, the 28-year-old from Birmingham, had more all-encompassing plans than merely stabbing unfortunate passersby in central London; he envisaged his grand role in co-sponsoring a "terrorist military training facility" for the greater glory of Islamist jihad. What he is now known for is killing two people, wounding three others, while wearing a mock suicide belt. His victim count is remarkably high, but would have been far more so, had it not been for the response of witnesses to his attack.

Witnesses were widely praised for intervening in the attack  
@HLOBlog/Twitter/PA Wire

One man had hauled down from the wall at Fishmongers' Hall a narwhal tusk, a long, straight,  twisted spiral of a 'tooth', reminiscent of a Unicorn's fabled horn, meaning to use it as a cudgel as he responded to the attack. Khan was wearing an ankle bracelet as part of his pre-release conditions, and presumably he was being tracked. That he was able to arm himself, plan and mount an attack of this magnitude in a public place surely means that he wasn't being monitored as closely as he should have been.

While this can be viewed as a fault of Intelligence services, it can also be viewed from the perspective of staff shortages. As many people on staff to do the required due diligence to ensure that none such as he run amok, terrorizing and slaughtering, there will never be sufficient numbers for the job at hand. Polls taken in Great Britain attest to the large number of sympathizers among the much larger number of British Muslims who feel violence in the name of Islam and its mission to jihad is perfectly acceptable.

As for the proposed "terrorist military academy", in the case of Khan, his Pakistani-born family proves that old adage of the apple never falling far from the tree. Khan's family owns land in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan geography between India and Pakistan that has been a flashpoint for conflict since India was partitioned for the creation of Pakistan in 1947. A mosque was built on the land and plans were to proceed to "establish and operate a terrorist military training facility" there.

Khan busied himself with the thought of producing "more serious and effective terrorists". Charges against the man and another suspect were of attending operational meetings, fundraising and preparing to travel abroad for the purpose to "engage in training for acts of terrorism", earning him a 16-year-sentence, which British jurisprudence obviously saw fit to reduce by half, giving him early pre-release and the opportunity to practise what he was so eager to preach.

One of the people he stabbed to death was involved as a university graduate student with the Cambridge University conference on prison rehabilitation, which Khan was instructed to attend. For his troubles as a course coordinator for Leaning Together, a prisoners' rehabilitation program hosting the conference at Fishmongers' Hall, Jack Merritt became a sacrifice to Islam, making his killer a martyr whose death and daring exploits in murdering those who attempted to help him, a hero in his native Pakistan.

Usman Khan appeared as case study in a report by Learning Together

In the event, as things played out, when the bystanders to this London stabbing atrocity tackled the knife attacker to bring him down and remove his knife, the police arrived to take charge. They hauled one of the courageous witnesses off the prostrate Khan who then revealed the fake suicide belt he was wearing. Its revelation caused his death. Police shot him dead to stop him from detonating the bomb vest, and completed his mission to become a martyred hero of Islam.

Democracy Progressing in Hong Kong

"I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong."
"They are being enacted in the hope that leaders and representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long-term peace and prosperity for all."
U.S. President Donald J. Trump

"These two bills are an obvious intervention of Hong Kong's internal affairs. They are unnecessary and without grounds."
"They will also harm the relationship and interests between Hong Kong and the United States."
The Hong Kong government of Carrie Lam, Chief Executive

Protesters wear masks and hold US flags in Hong Kong Thursday. Photo: AP

"For starters, Hong Kong’s citizens are unhappy about squeezed living standards and high housing costs. Moreover, increasingly heavy-handed policing of the protests provoked an often-violent response, which in turn led the police to escalate their tough tactics. Pro-Beijing factions, clearly organized by local United Front communist activists, colluded with gangsters to beat up demonstrators and target the families of their suspected leaders. Suspicions grew that the Hong Kong authorities knew what was going on but had chosen to do nothing about it."
"Above all, it became increasingly apparent that China’s leaders would not allow Lam and her ineffective and often invisible government to seek any compromise with public opinion. Many demonstrators seemed to conclude that the only thing to do was to put on helmets and gas masks and brave the tear gas and water cannon. This is not to condone the violent protests, but it perhaps explains them."
Chris Patten, last Governor of Hong Kong under British Colonial Rule, 1992-97

Anti-government protesters wearing masks depicting Simon Cheng, a former British Consulate employee, hold banners as they attend a rally outside the British Consulate General in Hong Kong on Nov. 29. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Hong Kong protesters are delighted that U.S. President Donald Trump finally signed the U.S. legislation in support of the pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters. That done, they lauded Trump, and turned their eyes toward Britain whose long history with Hong Kong, endowing it with the full appreciation of democracy and parliamentary procedures to reflect the will of the people, that has given confidence to the protesters of Hong Kong that demanding their human rights and autonomous status within China are one and the same.

Now, the protesters are calling upon Britain to become involved in their campaign for greater democracy. They're dialing their past history at a time when Britain is embroiled in Brexit, in trials and tribulations with Scotland, Ireland and Wales linked to Brexit, when the Labour Party is in turmoil over accusations of anti-Semitism, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson is stick-handling another election to bring Britain to its final departure from the European Union.

But they want Britain to voice a strong pro-protest, pro-democracy statement, to go above and beyond the Foreign Office statement that "Today’s events are deeply disturbing. We are seriously concerned by the ongoing violence, and the escalation between protesters and police".

Mong Kok. Photo: Tam Ming Keung/United Social Press.

He did commit to stating his personal sympathies lie with the protesters, mindful of Beijing's reaction. "Political dialogue is the only way forward and we want to see the HK authorities agree [to] a path to resolve this situation." He has made it opaquely clear what his position is, urging "calm and restraint on all sides”, and that he is in full support of “the right to peaceful protects". He has yet to, and likely will not, damn Beijing for its increasingly overt control of Hong Kong.

Much less draw the British Parliament into enacting legislation similar to that of the U.S. where the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act has the U.S. State Department certifying annually Hong Kong's autonomy from mainland China to ensure that Beijing can depend on favourable trading terms and that any deviation from such expectations continuing Hong Kong's semi-autonomous status could lead to regional human rights violators facing sanctions.

A second bill was signed by President Trump that bans the sale of munitions including rubber bullets, stun guns and tear gas to police in Hong Kong. This is of course the same president who previously indicated that President Xi Jinping was a friend of his and he had no wish to counter him, yet he sympathized with the aspirations of the protesters in Hong Kong for greater democracy. But that's the thing about Donald Trump, no one can ever be certain what he will ultimately decide as  his preferred course of action.

Still, Sunday's Hong Kong government was put on further notice by the people of Hong Kong when there was an extraordinary turnout at the polls and voting went in favour of the protest demands, leaving pro-democracy candidates with control of 17 out of 18 districts in local council elections. The campus of Hong Kong's Polytechnic University was swept by 400 police officers, removing objects linked to a violent standoff between police and demonstrators. With, needless to say, more to come.

Central. Photo: Benjamin Yuen/United Social Press

France, Eager to Fill a Vacuum

"We've seen deliberate, gradual US disengagement [in the Middle East]."
"When the mining of ships went unanswered, a [U.S.] drone got shot. When that in turn went unanswered, major oil facilities were bombed [in Saudi Arabia]. This is dangerous even for those who think they gain – because bold is never far from daring, and daring never far from reckless."
"The edifice has started shaking and opportunists rush in/"
"[The signs in the region] hint at the severe weakening of an order based on cooperation; that mix of US presence, norms, a degree of multilateralism, some stability of governance and a great deal of deterrence."
"I have sent a robust package of advance warning, including sophisticated radar and tens of operators to deter drone and cruise missile attacks."
French Defense Minister Florence Parly

During the Green Revolution when Iranians finally got fed up with their theocratic government ordering every facet of their lives, demeaning their human rights, oppressing the population, discriminating against minorities, imprisoning dissenters, forcing women to cover themselves, resurrecting capital punishment to a degree reflective of the medieval era, supporting and arming terrorist groups to mount atrocities in the region and abroad, the outside world looked in with fascination while the major Western influencer and dominant authority in the U.S. did nothing to support Iranians.

Now another, larger, more widespread series of protests has been taking place in the Islamic Republic with hundreds of thousands of people mustering the courage to confront their brutally oppressive government, demanding the ouster of the Ayatollahs, a stop to interference in neighbouring countries like Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, and relief for impoverished Iranians whom reimposed sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program, have increased economic hardships for -- an already-hard-pressed population.

The government's response to the protests has been much the same as their Syrian puppet Bashar al-Assad's was, though they have not yet employed barrel bombs and chemical weapons in hopes of disrupting the protests. They have in the process of damping down dissent, seen to the deaths of several hundred Iranians, and have wounded thousands in the government's response. Thousands of Iranians have been arrested. Although news has been hard to come by in the wake of a complete Internet shut-down by the government, credible claims of torture and murder have arisen.

According to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the past two weeks of violence represents the work of a "very dangerous conspiracy". Originally caused by an increase in fuel prices for Iranians reflecting the dire state of the nation's finances (which could be addressed by no longer funding terror and by Iranian government elites restoring to state treasury the funds they have spirited into their own Swiss bank accounts), Khamenei has announced that the rioting has been quelled. Strangely enough, they have continued....

Mobile Internet was restored in Tehran and a number of other areas in mid-week. Eight people whom Iran's Intelligence Ministry has linked to the American Central Intelligence Agency were arrested during the protests. "These elements had received CIA-funded training in various countries under the cover of becoming citizen-journalists", claimed state news agency IRNA, quoting the ministry. If true, which is doubtful, that describes precisely the Republic's modus operandi; funding, training, inspiring terrorism abroad.

Concurrently with and pre-dating the Iranian protests were similar protests taking place in Iraq and Lebanon, where people there have demanded their governments disassociate themselves with Iran, and stop permitting the Republic the large and commanding voice it has in their internal affairs. That would be quite the trick in Lebanon where Iran's proxy Hezbollah militias have fully infiltrated the Lebanese government, taking their orders from Iran.

President Rouhani blamed the protests on "subversive elements" backed by foreign enemies  Reuters

Tehran has made it abundantly clear that "thugs" (ordinary Iranians protesting their leaders) with links to regime opponents in exile in lock-step with the  United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia are the devils in residence, supporting and inciting the villains rioting in the streets of Iranian cities. "A deep, vast and very dangerous conspiracy that a lot of money had been spent on ... was destroyed by the people", stated Khamenei.

The paramilitary Basij force, a civilian volunteer offshoot of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, aiding in the crackdown on protests did their work well, beating and flogging protesters whom the Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli claimed destroyed 731 banks, 70 gas stations and 140 government sites by putting them to the torch. Over 50 security forces bases were 'attacked'. But the situation is now well in hand, assured Iranian authorities.

A tear and a thought for the Iranian people whose courage in the face of a government intent on enslaving them to their vision of fundamentalist, venomous Islam has not yet succeeded in delivering them from their cruel dilemma.

I recommend [foreign countries] look at the marches ... to see who the real people in Iran are': Foreign Ministry spokesman

Identifying Anti-Semites

"Anti-Zonism is unique because its view is that the Zionist enterprise, that is to say, the state of Israel, is misconceived, it's wrong, and at the end of the day, it isn't simply Israeli policy that has to change, but it is Israel itself that has to go."
"This is unique when you think about other countries around the world. Many of us are critics of China's occupation of Tibet, or Russia's occupation of parts of Ukraine. Some people are aware that Turkey is occupying norther Cypress, in violation of international law and putting down settlements there too. But none of those critiques extend to calls that are now increasingly pervasive around the world, not only for Russia, China, or Turkey to change their policies but for the states themselves to disappear, to be eliminated. So even if you accepted the premise for one second that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, you have to come to grips with the eliminationist ideology that is at the heart of anti-Zionism."
Bret Stephens, New York Times columnist, Munk Debates 

"[Anti-Semitism is a] poison [within the British Labour party led by Jeremy Corbyn aspiring to the Prime Ministership of Great Britain, raising deep concerns about Britain's] moral compass [should Labour win the scheduled December 12 election]."
"It is a failure to see this [the place of Jewish life in Britain under a Labour government] as a human problem rather than a political one."
"It is a failure of culture. It is a failure of leadership. A new poison -- sanctioned from the top has taken root in the Labour party."
"It is not my place to tell any person how they should vote. I regret being in this situation at all. I simply pose the question: What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country?"
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

"I'm looking forward to having a discussion with him [Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis] because I want to hear why he would say such a thing [a 'mendacious fiction' to say Labour was doing everything possible to tackle anti-Semitism]."
"He's not right. Because he would have to produce the evidence to say that's mendacious. [Anti-Semitism] didn't rise after I became leader."
"I am determined that our society will be safe for people of all faiths. I don't want anyone to be feeling insecure in our society. Racism in our society is a total poison."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbin

Jeremy Corbyn has said he was present but not involved at a wreath-laying for individuals behind the group that carried out the Munich Olympic massacre    Photo posted on the Facebook page of the Embassy of Palestine in Tunisia, in October 2014, of Jeremy Corbyn’s visit to the Cemetery of the Martyrs of Palestine, Tunis. Photograph: Embassy of the State of Palestine in Tunisia

London's Times newspaper published a highly unusual opinion piece, a reluctant one, to be sure, but one the author, the chief rabbi in Britain, felt constrained to write and to find a public space for, to make certain that if there were any lingering doubts that the fewer than 300,000 Jews who are British subjects feel themselves under the oppressive and frightening re-introduction of anti-Semitic fire, those doubts should be put to rest. Labour, once the natural-gravitational-political-pull of Jews, has become a comfortable home under Corbyn for a renaissance of anti-Semitism.

Because the Labour leader is seen to be quite at home among Jew-haters and -baiters, Labour has attracted the new membership of formerly closet-anti-Semites whose rancid hatred and expressions leaving no question of their toxic sympathies having caused staunch former Labour supporters to remove themselves from the once-trusted umbrella of Labour. Prominent Jewish Labour members have denounced the starkly obvious turn the party has taken, have stepped down and the situation has become so dire British Jews feel their future in the country of their birth untenable.

This is not a situation where uber-sensitive Jews whose anti-Semitism feelers are always on high alert have overplayed the situation. It is clear enough to anyone the direction that Labour has taken. In the wake of Rabbi Mirvis's published sentiments, the Reverend Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Church of England, endorsed those views, himself remarking on the "deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews", a fear and insecurity that does not emanate from nowhere, with no just cause.


Corbyn's sensitive empathy for the 'plight' of the Palestinians under 'occupation' by Israel has resulted in ample public statements to clarify his sympathies: "We cannot stand by or stay silent at the continuing denial of rights and justice to the Palestinian people. The Labour Party is united in condemning the ongoing human rights abuses by Israeli forces, including the shooting of hundreds of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza - most of them refugees or families of refugees - demanding their rights." In a gross, one-sided view of a complex issue of self-defence by the IDF against the violent intentions of Hamas-inspired threats to Israeli lives.

And his very public actions in attending 'Nakba Day' events in memory of the creation of the modern State of Israel, returning as a people to their historical homeland and re-establishing its permanent presence, a contrary devastating blow for Palestinians who refused the United Nation's Partition Plan, has endeared him to the very Palestinian groups that most Western democracies classify as terrorists: "We have received with great respect and appreciation the solidarity message sent by the British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to the participants in the mass rally", Hamas stated. "We also salute Mr Jeremy Corbyn for his principled position in rejecting the so-called Trump plan for the Middle East."

Mr. Corbyn's support and affection for --  and affiliation with violent Palestinian groups whose actions have earned them the identifying terrorist stamp, is certainly not new; his leftist 'progressive' activism puts him squarely in the camp of any number of brutal tyrants on the left, in support of the former USSR, Cuba's Castro, Venezuela's Chavez among others. He attended a 2012 conference in Qatar whose featured speakers were Palestinian militants released by Israel in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier.

UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn (second right) attends a 2012 conference in Doha along with several Palestinian terrorists convicted of murdering Israelis. (Screen capture: Twitter)

Among those speakers was Abdul Aziz Umar, convicted in Israel for his active participation in a 2003 suicide bombing that took place in Jerusalem killing seven people. Along with Husam Badran, a former head of Hamas’s military operations who had engaged in the planning of suicide bombings that destroyed the lives of over one hundred people. Corbyn thought their contributions to the conference to be "fascinating and electrifying".

The kind of 'fascination' that lends ready support to slanderous descriptions of Israel and proposals in support of delegitimizing the state's right to exist. Yet as a result of all the damning publicity that has come Labour's way,  Corbyn stated last year a review undertaken of online posts Labour members were responsible for, revealed "examples of Holocaust denial, crude stereotypes of Jewish bankers, conspiracy theories blaming 9/11 on Israel, and even one individual who appeared to believe that Hitler had been misunderstood."



He himself hosted a panel in 2010 where Israelis were described in comparison to Nazis, while in 2012 he spoke of an artist's "freedom of speech", in defending that artist's London mural depicting Jewish bankers playing a game of monopoly with a board balanced on the bent backs of workers. That ages-old accusations of Jews ruling the world of finance, of oppressing ordinary working people, as though the plot for world domination pace The Protocols of the Elders of Zion represented Labour's working manual on addressing the Jewish menace.

The 'Freedom for Humanity' mural by artist Kalen Ockerman in London in 2012. Photographer: Mike Kemp/In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images

 

Appeasing China

"Is it because if you do it, [find some 'guts' and stand up to China] you will make less money? You will make enemies? So your country, your companies, will get less rich."
"They [Beijing] know your game very well."
"I hope that the prime minister [Justin Trudeau] would have some guts and a sense of dignity and courage."
"The Chinese are very afraid that it [the possibility of sanctions and trade penalties] may become an infectious disease and spread around the world, and I hope it does."
"They [Chinese authorities] think you're fools."
Emily Lau, chair, foreign affairs committee, Hong Kong Democratic Party

Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker Emily Lau talks to a girl during a election campaign in Hong Kong. (Vincent Yu/The Associated Press)

As a guest and featured speaker at the Halifax Security Forum held this past this weekend, Emily Lau was blunt in her assessment of Canada's failure to address a number of critical foreign relations issues. Canada's timidity in criticizing China drew her cynical tongue to lash out at a failure in foreign policy on the part of a government and its leader who espouse human rights and the democratic ideal, but have failed abysmally in a critical test of living up to its 'progressive' values.

She and other Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to emulate American lawmakers in Congress in holding Beijing to account for its human rights abuses and its actions relating to ongoing protests in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong. In the audience where she spoke, an assemblage of conference attendees representing defence, security and diplomatic officials along with academics were present, some strongly in favour of her scornful take of a lapse in Canadian diplomatic action, others somewhat less so.

Canadian Minister of Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan was present at the event, and it was his contention that China was not an adversary of Canada. Canada remained prepared to move toward a new trade deal with China. Expecting in the process that China would follow 'the rules'. Knowing full well that China makes the rules, with no intention of following either universal rules or those that other nations wishing to trade with China might propose. And China, given the current situation, would consider moving forward on a free trade agreement with Canada only if Canada moves toward propitiating China's bruised feelings.

That could be done to China's satisfaction with a profuse apology and the immediate release from pending extradition on a signed treaty with the United States, of Huawei Technology's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. China might then relent and release from brutal incarceration two Canadians, a businessman and a former diplomat charged with espionage, and release from death row another two Canadians held to be drug smugglers. And only then, with a compliant, apologetic Canada, might China deign to move forward on trade.

Thousands of Hong Kong demonstrators have been injured, some in serious medical condition, as a result of police deploying increasingly aggressive adversarial techniques with the intention to destroy the mass demonstrations and release Hong Kong from its paralysis. The weekend Hong Kong election that gave pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong a majority lift is barely acknowledged by Beijing. Thousands of Hong Kong protesters have been detained, amid credible reports of beatings and torture by security officials.

Police in riot gear move through a cloud of smoke as they detain a protester at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong on Monday, Nov. 18. (Ng Han Guan/The Associated Press)

Ms.Lau and her colleague Figo Chan were present at the conference, representing the people of Hong Kong upon whom the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service was to be presented. Figo Chan explained of Hong Kongers and their insistence on their autonomous status to be enhanced, not diminished, as is evidently the plan of the Chinese Communist Party. "It is a sleeping tiger. And it's woken up", he stated with the conviction of someone who has gone through the gruelling process of protest, been detained and beaten for his troubles.

Ms. Lau had been on the Hong Kong Legislative Council for two decades, serving as chair of the Democratic Party. Before the forum on the weekend, the U.S.Congress passed the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights Act close to unanimously with bi-partisan support. China would be penalized under the bill, should it undertake to limit the independent economic status of Hong Kong. Chinese officials found to be responsible for human rights violations would be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act that both the U.S. and Canada have adopted.

Canada issued a meek diplomatic recognition wen the democratic camp scored high in the local Hong Kong elections. No congratulations; that would be too bold a step, infuriating Beijing. Rather, an anodyne declaration was issued: "Canada is pleased that the District Council elections in Hong Kong proceeded peacefully." Canada faces yet another dilemma with China; whether it should allow Huawei to build a portion of its 5G telecommunications infrastructure, with the certain knowledge that to do so would leave Canada out of the Five Eyes group of New Zealand, Britain, Australia, the U.S. -- and Canada for shared Intelligence purposes.

Beijing has warned Ottawa on more than one occasion, the latest being through its newly-accredited Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, that China would not look kindly on Huawei not being invited to work on Canada's telecommunications upgrade in fear that the telecommunications giant, closely aligned with the Chinese government, would have the opportunity to indulge in cyber-espionage.

The Italian Renascence 

"Haters are people we should feel sorry for."
"I thought a committee against hatred, as a matter of principle, should be accepted by everyone. I thought it was almost banal."
"I have been worrying about our society. It made me think of a farcical and dangerous revival of the 'Gott mit uns; [alluding to the motto 'God is with us', featured on Nazi uniforms]."
"I personally experienced how easy it is to move from words of hatred to acts of hatred. I was taught that whoever saves a life saves the whole world."
"For this reason, a world where those who save lives are punished instead of honored sounds upside down to me."
"They’re serial haters who need to hate someone. Wasting time writing to wish death on a 90-year-old, anyway nature will soon take care of that."
"I don’t forgive [her experience at the hands of the Nazis]. I don’t forgive and I don’t forget, but I don’t hate."
Liliana Segre, 89 year-old Holocaust survivor, Rome

Italian Holocaust survivor and senator for life Liliana Segre

(photo credit: DANIEL REICHEL/PAGINE EBRAICHE)

"She is not afraid."
"She is shocked by these tensions and by this entire situation."
"People who were once forced to feel ashamed of these [hateful anti-Semitic] views now express them with pride."
Luciano Belli Paci, 61, Rome, Liliana Segre's son

"Every time prominent Jews are at the center of media attention in Italy, they get subjected to online anti-Semitic abuse."
"The anti-Semitic insults come from far-right circles that have a past, and sometimes present, of violence. It's part of their radical rightwing code, this pugnacious attitude."
"Since the beginning of the year to the end of September, we recorded about 190 anti-Semitic incidents, about 70 percent online."
"The radical far-right feels more legitimized and stronger, thus they're more active."
"Twenty years ago you couldn't hang around shouting 'Viva il Duce,' there was greater resistance towards extremist themes. The dam barriers have been lowered, so people feel they can freely pour hatred towards Segre online."
Stefano Gatti, Foundation Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center, Milan

She was thirteen years old when she was packed off with her family from their home in Italy to Auschwitz, the death camp in Poland where her family was murdered, and she managed somehow to survive, one of only a few Italian-Jewish children whom fate spared from the death that overcame six million European Jews in Nazi Germany's campaign to completely eradicate Jewish life through a meticulously planned Final Solution, approached initially by dehumanizing Jews, by depriving them of every human right; ghettoizing, then shipping them to work- and death-camps, and finally annihilating them in gas chambers and reducing them to ashes in giant furnaces.

This is a woman who has spent her life reminding the world of what it would far prefer to forget. Who became a public speaker, explaining to those who were too young to know, the dehumanization campaign that allowed Nazi Germany to 'legitimize' the cleansing of the social order, rounding up Jews, political dissenters, Roma, Homosexuals, the disabled, critical clergy, as enemies whose presence within society was a threat to law and order and public decency. In the process succeeding in extinguishing millions of lives of innocents, children, women and men from all walks of life.

Holocaust memorials at a doorstep, Via del Portico d'Ottavia, Rome.

Sylvia Poggioli/NPR

The rising spectre of renascent anti-Semitism has raised its ugly head everywhere in the world, including Italy. Ms. Segre's activism to ensure that the Holocaust not be forgotten, shelved far from public scrutiny, has failed to endear her to the Axis countries that were allied with Nazi Germany. Racist language has begun to consume Italy in lock-step with the rise of far-right groups signalling a return to fascism and a renewed fascination with Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini. No fewer than 200 threats each and every day went out to warn this woman that there were ample Italians who despised her message and threatened her.

A Black Italian soccer star, Mario Balotelli, who had been adopted and raised by Jews, was the recipient of racist chants from fans of the Hellas Verona team, whose leader argued that "Hitler chants are just kidding around". Even games between ten-year-olds are not exempt from the venomous sting of racism, with a mother at a soccer game using a racial epithet on a Black child. A prominent Jewish journalist at a rally of the League party was told "You're not Italian, you are Jewish, go home!"

The country, said Noemi Di Seni, president of the Union of the Italian Jewish Community, was going through a "rise in anti-Semitism, which manifests itself in many ways". The heated atmosphere and the ongoing, copious threats have resulted in police being assigned to protect Ms.Segre when she speaks in public. Rallies have been organized by politicians and Jewish groups in Milan and Rome to show Italians there is solidarity with Ms.Segre. Italian President Sergio Mattarella, recognizing the importance of Ms.Segre's testimony on the Holocaust to Italian students, made her a lifetime senator.

Senator Segre last month called for the formation of a counteracting parliamentary commission that would be tasked with investigating hate, racism and social media in Italy. Her motion passed, despite the nationalist League Party, post-fascist Brothers of Italy and center-right Forza Italia opposing it.

Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre has been put under police protection after repeated anti-Semitic threats against her life [Luca Bruno/AP]

China, Helping Canada See the Error of its Ways ....

"I had never even thought of China [back in 1979 when Beijing began opening up to its version of democracy-plus-free-enterprise]. It was not on my radar at all, but this sounded really interesting."
"So, my husband and I went over to China [to travel in China, which led to a master's degree in international relations with a Chinese focus]."
"When I came home [40 years later], I decided to speak out. Up until January [of 2019], I had never done an interview in my life. But I feel it's important that friends of China -- former friends of China -- speak out about this [Beijing's increasingly authoritarian streak]."
"I'm not feeling very friendly toward China, if you can tell."
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, former vice-president, Canada-China Friendship Association

"We are rolling over, we are acquiescing, at a time when Chinese aggression is on the rise. We should be working with like-minded allies to send a real signal that such conduct is not condoned."
"[If keeping quiet and friendly were going to work with China, Spavor and Kovrig] would have been released months ago."
Erin O'Toole, Parliamentary opposition, foreign affairs critic

"[Beijing] is good at co-opting former government officials and politicians by offering them seats on boards and contracts."
"Obviously, then it becomes very difficult for you to become critical of China."
Guy Saint-Jacques, former Canadian ambassador to China


"There's nothing like back door devices being installed by Huawei. So that's a groundless accusation."
"So we do hope that the Canadian side will provide a fair, just and a non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies, including Huawei."
"We do hope that the Canadian side will reflect on what has happened and take concrete measures to push our relationship back to the normal track. So that's the task for the government."
"And we do hope that those important people in the new [Liberal] cabinet will play an active role in making sure that relations of our two countries return to their normal track on the basis of mutual respect and equality."
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Canada Cong Peiwu

Cong Peiwu spoke to reporters at China's Embassy in Ottawa  CBC

"When they get Huawei into Canada ... they're going to know every health record, every banking record, every social media post -- they're going to know everything about every single Canadian."
"What the Chinese are doing makes Facebook and Google look like child's play, as far as collecting information on folks. The Huawei Trojan horse is frightening, it's terrifying."
"I find it amazing that our allies and friends in other liberal democracies would allow Huawei in ... I'm surprised that there's even a debate out there."
"[Such an intrusion would impact on Canada's participation in the Five Eyes Intelligence alliance of Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.]."
Robert O'Brien, U.S. National Security Adviser

Ambassador Cong, in delivering Beijing's message to Ottawa, is using coded language when he urges the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to 'return to their normal track', and to 'take concrete measures to push our relationship back to the normal track'. He has outlined the 'task for the government' of Canada. There is nothing necessarily that Beijing must do to restore relations between the two nations, for it has done nothing untoward. It was Canada's concurrence through its extradition treaty with its southern neighbour that launched the unfortunate decision to comply with the U.S. by assaulting China.

For in arresting Huawei Technology's CFO Meng Wenzhou at the behest of the U.S. State Department, this is what Beijing has accused Canada of -- criminal malfeasance, defying international law. Whereas China's response to the insult bestowed upon one of its citizens by summarily arresting two Canadians in China for business purposes and accusing them of plotting against China -- charging them with espionage, incarcerating them under harsh conditions while Ms. Meng, out on bail, lives in one of her luxury mansions in Vancouver -- has been mindful of and obedient to the rule of law.

Beijing knows with whom it is dealing. While former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien was in office he led numerous elaborate 'trade missions' to China from Canada, familiarizing himself with useful Chinese officials whom he called upon once he left office to become a private citizen and continued to lead trade missions to China, the prestige of a former prime minister opening doors, and with his insider status intact. When former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policy was to regard trade with China as second to its human rights abuses, Mr. Chretien poured scorn upon him; nothing should impede unrestrained trade alliances with China.

This Liberal government under Justin Trudeau has tread softly around China's outrageous response to the U.S.-Canada extradition treaty, when Beijing arrested two Canadians, imposed death sentences for drug smuggling on another two Canadians and placed punishing constraints on the importation of Canadian canola, soy, peas, pork and beef products, devastating the Canadian agricultural sector through punishing sanctions on a country that refused to come to heel and release the Huawei executive.

Michael Spavor, left, former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, right (Canadian Press)

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston had dedicated her working life to enhancing relations between Canada and China, collaborating to advance the relationship between the two countries. She aided China in its science and technology development during its period of reform, as a Canadian civil servant, while considering herself a staunch "friend of China". And then, after forty years of work in that realm the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, followed by the incarceration of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, she discovered her locked luggage had been unlocked and rifled through in her Shanghai hotel room.

Soon a local business acquaintance informed her of a list of 100 Canadians that Chinese authorities had compiled representing those who could be detained and interrogated, among the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who live and work in China; Hong Kong alone has 300,000 people with Canadian citizenship. In other words, Canadians living in Hong Kong are also under scrutiny and their security is of concern as well, particularly given the violent turn of the protests in the partially autonomous city.

And China has warned Canada, through the stern advice of its latest ambassador that it would not be in Canada's interests to 'interfere' in China's internal affairs.

A protester is detained by riot police while attempting to leave the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) during clashes with police in Hong Kong, China November 18, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

The current Liberal government in Canada takes advice from its past prime minister on such issues; and no doubt the advice was not to further ruffle any feathers, to sit back and let events take their course. Naturally, the imprisoned Canadians, despite the harsh conditions they are suffering, would staunchly opt to sit back and suffer their circumstances, in support of their government's position, for no sacrifice is too great to protect Canadian trade with China.

Some 140 and more signatories in the academic and diplomatic global community demanded through a joint letter that China release Kovrig and Spavor. A mere 6 Canadian academics and six former Canadian ambassadors to China signed.

It has been observed that more than a few advisers to the Liberal government have what they consider to be valued and hard-won ties and interests in China. The new ambassador to Beijing, Dominic Barton, among them. Many Canadian academics, politicians and business leaders have compromised positions finding it difficult to criticize China, for to do so would be to risk the status they have won and cherish for the opportunities and funding that status guarantees them.

Obnoxious Bullying, China's Forte

"The Chinese competent authorities have arrested them [two Canadian citizens] according to law as they are engaged in suspected activities endangering national security."
"The nature [of the trumped-up charges] is the same. It is endangering Chinese national security."
"The United States is using its domestic law to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, because Hong Kong is part of China, that is very dangerous and it sends the wrong signal."
"What they have done is going to embolden those violent criminals [Hong Kong protesters] and that will do nothing to help restore order."
"We are firmly opposed to any foreign interference."
Chinese ambassador to Canada, Ambassador Cong Peiwu

Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Canada Cong Peiwu participates in a roundtable interview with journalists at the Embassy of China in Ottawa on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

"The reason why some people are used to arrogantly adopting double standards is due to Western egotism and white supremacy."
"What they have been doing is not showing respect for the rule of law, but mocking and trampling the rule of law."
Former Chinese ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye

China's new ambassador to Canada is continuing the fray where his predecessor left off, accusing Canada of warping international as much as domestic justice, which China staunchly upholds on both counts. This latest political contretemps which quickly escalated in charges and counter-charges began back in December 2018 when Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the Vancouver airport on a U.S. warrant to detain and extradite the Chinese executive.

She was released on bail for the interim until her case would be judicially resolved, living at one of her two Vancouver mansions, wearing an electronic monitor, but free to go about normal life in Canada, while Beijing accuses Canada of illegally detaining one of their important nationals. Almost immediately following Ms.Weng's arrest, two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested and ultimately charged with espionage endangering China's security. Like his predecessor, Ambassador Cong denies their arrest has anything to do with Ms.Weng's detention.

Both Canadians remain incarcerated under fairly harrowing conditions, have had sporadic Canadian consular contact permitted them, and no lawyers assigned to their cases. According to Ambassador Cong, the Huawei executive's arrest was completely arbitrary and unlawful, while the imprisonment and charges against the two Canadians is completely lawful and due process will proceed. As for a third Canadian whose lengthy prison sentence for drug smuggling was precipitately transformed to a death sentence, due process will doubtless be applied there as well.

Not to worry. According to Jeremy Paltiel, professor at Carleton University -- a China expert -- now that formal charges have finally been placed against the two Canadians in custody, they should be given access to lawyers. And since 99 percent of such cases in China conclude with conviction, it doesn't seem hopeful that Kovrig and Spavor will be returning home any time soon. Unless, that is, Canada spikes its own system of justice with a pass and returns Ms.Meng to China.

Michael Spavor, left, former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, right (Canadian Press)

In the interview that the new ambassador granted he weighed in as well to warn Canada to stay out of the issue of supporting Hong Kong demonstrations for autonomy and democracy, as the United States has done with the U.S. Congress passing legislation to lead to sanctions. This move is hugely unpopular with the Chinese Communist Party, as is the effort to persuade other governments to themselves place like sanctions on Chinese officials.

Police violence in trying to contain the protests has led to violence on the part of the demonstrators. Beijing has exercised a certain level of restraint in responding to the protests that they characterize as 'riots', knowing that the eyes of the international community are fixed squarely on events in Hong Kong, and that the sympathies and sentiments of the civilized world are with the protesters. The five months of unrest in the city-state have represented a trying time for all involved.

Canada and China established diplomatic relations almost a half-century ago. Beijing's focus on presenting itself as a contender for world power status and its ambitions in the sphere of universal trade, to place itself at the centre of the international community's focus on trade has often been crudely carried out, gaining China distrust from Western democracies just as China's near neighbours have been disturbed and forewarned of its aggressive moves to acquire contested geographic, oceanic and air rights.

"The situation has deteriorated as much as it can and China doesn't want it to deteriorate any further", Professor Paltiel advised . "China has enough problems on its plate that it doesn't need to have fewer friends in the world", he continued, assaying that Beijing would be open to settling the problem it faces with Canada over the Huawei arrest. On the other hand, there would be no settlement possible, should Canada decide that its G5 upgrade will proceed without Huawei inclusion, to ensure that its status as a 'Five Eyes' member will remain intact. 

Protesters were out on the streets again during their lunch hour on Friday as part of the daytime campaign launched last week by the anti-government movement. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

International Students of Today, Canadian Residents of Tomorrow

"The volume of non-compliance should not really be a surprise to anyone. Most international students at the community college level are edu-immigration clients. If they can avoid school and gain immigration status through work opportunities, that's what all of them would do."
"Having a study permit offers direct access to employers for this purpose." 
"Students had no idea what 'actively pursue' meant or what the consequences were until these program delivery instructions occurred six years after the compliance regime was put in place."
Earl Blaney, immigration consultant, London, Ontario

"Sometimes people have valid reasons to be non-compliant with the conditions in their study permits."
"Maybe they have to go home for a family emergency."
"The integrity of the international student program is very important. It's a top priority for us and our members to ensure all students access to quality education in Canada."
"Nobody benefits from students not showing up in class."
Denise Amyot, CEO, president, Colleges and Institutes Canada

"She [international student Kaur Gursimran] changed schools and programs, moving from business programs into a general arts and science program in spite of her permit specifying that she is to study business or commerce."
"Additionally, she took off two semesters in three years, and failed more courses than she has passed."
" Kaur's absences alone are sufficient to demonstrate that she did not comply with the ... requirement that she actively pursue her studies."
Justice Ann Marie McDonald, federal court decision leading to expulsion 

"I would love to know more about those non-compliant cases. Where do they come from? Which institutions? Is it colleges? Is it universities? Is it private [institutions]? Is it public? This would shed some lights and would steer policies one way or another."
"We have a huge body of international students. They contribute a lot to our teaching and learning in the classroom. There are a few non-compliant cases. When we introduce any new policy, we need to make sure we don't complicate life for everybody in the process."
Amira El Masri, international education policies, York University

Anase El Kamel was issued a student visa for the Universite de Moncton in New Brunswick but the young man from Morocco attended not one class at the university, nor did he ever live in New Brunswick. When he arrived in Canada he went directly to Montreal in 2017, took a job with a parking management company, and made the claim that he was too ill to attend school. Eventually he was tracked by immigration officials who ordered  him to leave Canada since he failed to "actively" study, reflecting his visa's requirement.

"The [education] program he was to complete in Canada was not of great concern to him. He simply wanted to quickly complete a program so that he could then apply for permanent residence in Canada", a Federal Court decision found, whereupon he was extradited for failure to live within the expectations of the visa issued to him for the specific purpose of pursuing his further education in Canada, a gateway to eventual residence and citizenship.

According to a report from Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada, about ten percent of international students who enrolled in post-secondary institutions do not "potentially:" comply with study permit conditions. There is no formal monitoring and investigation of international students to determine whether they conform to rules. An honour system of reporting by the hundreds of academic institutions in the detection of "non-genuine students" is what the Immigration Department relies upon.

The program is reliant on school administrators reporting on the status of international student enrolment following an explosion of such enrolment after 2014 when policy changes eased the way for international students at publicly funded institutions to work and apply for permanent residency.
At present 572,000 international students study across Canada, representing a 73 percent increase in the past five years. And of the 655 accredited schools, 90 percent (587 schools) duly submitted enrolment data.

In 2018, school administrators identified nine percent (28,049 of 316,631 study permit holders as "potentially non-compliant", while failing to report the status of another 15 percent (51,041 international students). Additionally, since 2018, officials scrutinized school acceptance letters used to apply for study permits, referring over 10,000 such letters for verification, and finding 1,240 to be fraudulent.

Provinces accredit schools in their jurisdiction to accept international students; the schools in turn must meet standards and monitor student enrolment. The list of recognized schools in Ontario alone has grown from 298 in 2014 to 420 currently. The breaching of employment restrictions by international students, an issue raised by immigration officials in a 2015 report, found many enrolled in Canadian schools linked to the easy access to jobs, where many of the students end up in low-skilled, low-paid work.

Any of the students caught breaking rules face consequences such as losing their permits and being deported. In the first two months of 2019, 1,048 study permits were cancelled. Jobandeep Singh Sandhu, 22, attending Canadore College took employment as a long-haul truck driver. Stopped by Ontario Provincial Police on a routine inspection in 2017, his driver log book revealed he had worked greater hours than his student permit allowed, resulting in his deportation.

In the United States, as an example, eligibility for a postgraduate work permit is tied to employment in the field of study of an international student, who may work off-campus only during school breaks, explained Colorado-based Rahul Coudaha, an international education consultant.

"[Canada already has a] rigorous [study permit application process to screen ineligible students out at the front end]."
"The goal of these mechanisms is to ensure the integrity of the system, but it is also important for Canada to attract and retain these international students."
"There are always those who try to game the system, but you don't want the 90 percent of genuine students being affected."
Rahul Choudaha, international education consultant, researcher, Colorado

"Some educational institutions in Canada offer low-quality education programs with minimal entry requirements and adjust their programs to allow international students to maximize the duration of their postgraduate work permit."
"The current program design ... increases the motivation to create low-quality education programs facilitating long-term work opportunities."
Price of Admission, investigative report

The Loathsome Iranian Kleptocracy

"As often happens when the Iranian regime finds itself under pressure, such as the Green Revolution in 2009, when there were mass protests against the result of the presidential election, the ayatollahs resort to the brute force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij, the IRGC's volunteer militia, to crush dissent. The regime employed similar measures during the Green Revolution, when thousands of Iranian protesters, who were dismayed at the prospect of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad serving another four-year term of office, staged the largest anti-government protests Iran had witnessed since the 1979 Islamic revolution."
"Regular outbursts of dissent have been reported throughout Tehran since the end of last year, mainly in response to the crippling effect the US sanctions regime is having on the economy, where inflation is running at around 40 percent, and the collapse in the value of the rial, the national currency, has caused dramatic rises in the cost of basic staples, with red meat and poultry rising by 57%, milk, cheese and eggs by 37%, and vegetables by 47%."
Con Coughlin, Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute

With the Iranian economy under such intense pressure as a result of the sanctions, the regime has little room for manoeuvre, so it faces a stark choice: either radically reform its conduct or continue to face the wrath of the Iranian people. Pictured: Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and President Hassan Rouhani. (Image source: khamenei.ir)

Iranian citizens have taken to the streets in protest against their Islamist theocratic government's ineptitude in managing the affairs of the country. Its ayatollahs and the Republican Guard Corps' leadership has focused on exporting the Islamic Republic's brand of fundamentalist Islam and in disrupting relations between its Sunni-majority neighbours, intent on acquiring power and prestige for itself to reflect its view that Iran must take its 'rightful' place once again as the controlling centre of the Middle East.

But in its focus on external relations, and the mischief it is able to exert on neighbouring countries, it has attracted unwanted attention to its corrupt regime along with its interference in the internal affairs of other countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, stirring up sectarian antipathies and inciting violence. Its proxy Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, and its support for Hamas in Gaza, both groups involved in threatening the existence of Israel, has given it recognition as the sponsor of terrorism.

Iranians facing difficult economic times and shortages of basic goods, medicines and food, are resentful that their countries' nuclear ambitions and funding of terrorism abroad have brought sanctions crippling to the economy, and they are the ones to suffer, not the Iranian elite, the leading clerics and the leaders of the IRGC, all of whom have amassed substantial private funds siphoned away from the ruined economy and safely nested in Swiss bank accounts.

A country with the kind of vast oil reserves that Iran has, unable to provide for its population, yet funding terrorist groups and deploying its military and their military proxies in the bloody conflict in Syria and Yemen, has failed its people. Thousands of Iranians have joined protests in response to the government of President Hassan Rouhani rationing fuel and pumping up its cost by 50 percent to a population already hard-pressed to feed themselves.



Now that the police, the military and Basij are using live rounds on the protesters, a reputed several hundred people have been killed, characterized by the regime not as citizen-protesters, but as criminals, just as Syria's President Bashar al Assad spoke of Syria's majority Sunni protesters as 'terrorists' he was justified in slaughtering by the hundreds of thousands with the help of Hezbollah and the IRGC al Quds force.

And while Iranians are protesting their government's pursuit of regional power and financial support of terrorism groups -- "not to Gaza, not to Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran", the popular rebuke of the protesters in Tehran and elsewhere -- protests in Iraq and Lebanon against Iranian hegemonic interference in their countries have sparked public anger. Those shot dead in the protests are being held by the government instead of being delivered for burial to their families, in fear of funerals becoming lightning rods for more protests.

The regime shut down the Internet to keep people from organizing protests. Although the United States indicated it was capable with its technical capability to restore Internet service in Iran, the Iranian regime now gloats the protests are almost over, and it has itself restored service. Iranian officials' corruption has been rampant. Its leaders who claim the U.S. and Israel are responsible for Iran's financial losses are known to have hoarded billions for themselves.

And though they detest the West, that hasn't deterred Iranian leaders, despite threats they send to prove how much they hate the democracies which find the Republic's base oppression of its own people loathsome, become host to wives and children sent to live abroad floated by the funding siphoned from public funds.

Demonstrators filled the streets of Tehran to protest economic downtown in Iran.

Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images