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Saturday, April 19, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/world/intelligence-stockholm-koran-burner-works-for-mossad/

World

Intelligence: Stockholm Koran burner worked for Mossad

  • Two weeks ago, the Koran was desecrated and burned in front of the Stockholm mosque by Iraqi Salwan Momika during the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha.
  • In the aftermath of the event, Saudi media have highlighted Momika's past, with videos published of him speaking out for Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq.
  • The Koran burner is now accused by Iranian intelligence of working for the Israeli security service Mossad.
  • One of the main motives behind Momika's action, they say, was to divert attention from what Israel was doing in the West Bank at the same time.
Published 12 July 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Salwan Momika desecrated the Koran in an action at the Stockholm mosque on June 28. On the right, Momika speaks for the Imam Ali Battalions in Iraq.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

In a statement on July 11, 2023, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announced via the official state-run Islamic Republic News Agency that the desecration of a copy of the Koran by 37-year-old Salwan Momika (who later on January 30 2025 was shot dead) in Stockholm was an operation by the Israeli security service Mossad. The aim, it said, was to create “media waves” to divert attention from one of the largest Israeli operations in the West Bank in recent years, in which eight Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded.

This article was originally published on 11 July 2023

According to what is described as reliable information, Momika joined the Mossad as early as 2019. During his time in Iraq, he was very politically active and is said to have played an important role in spying on various resistance movements, first gaining acceptance from the Israeli side by alluding to a previously infamous reputation and criminal record. As a reward, he is said to have been helped to obtain Swedish citizenship. After settling in Sweden, Momika is said to have continued his missions on behalf of Israel.

Alleged motive: “Freedom and prohibition of the Koran”

Momika, a self-described liberal, explained the provocative action, which involved desecrating the Koran with slices of bacon, tearing out pages and wiping his shoes before burning it, by saying he wanted to fight for “freedom” and “enlightenment” and to form an opinion to ban Islam’s holy text in Sweden. This is according to a June 24 post on his Facebook page.

“Today, I have completed 36 years of my life and I am still fighting for freedom, enlightenment and building educated generations to preserve human values, freedom and justice, and I will continue to do so until my last breath, and next Wednesday 28.06. 2023 which is the Muslim holiday, I will burn the Quran in front of the Great Mosque in Stockholm and I will demand that this book be banned which is a threat to Swedish values, freedom, laws and human rights. I thank everyone who congratulated me on my birthday and wish you peace and a happy life”, Momika writes.

Politically and militarily active in Iraq

In a lengthy investigative article published on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s Arab News draws attention to what it describes as Marwan’s contradictory past. Among other things, it shows video clips of Marwan pledging allegiance to a Christian armed branch of the Imam Ali Battalions, the Shiite military grouping that has received logistical support from Iran in the war against the Sunni Islamist organization known as the Islamic State.

Reportedly Salwan Momika during an interview in Iraq for the Imam Ali Battalions.

– We either live with dignity or die courageously. I am the officer in charge of Kata’ib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam (the Brigade of the Spirit of God Jesus, Son of Mary), which is affiliated with the Imam Ali Brigades, peace be upon him, he says in the video interview, which has been further verified by France24.

In a statement to the Bonnier-owned newspaper Expressen, Marwan confirms that he was the leader of the Syrian Democratic Party in Iraq, which had armed forces, but says he has no links to the Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces or al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Arabic.

– No, we were not part of al-Hashed al-Shaabi, but we had our own armed forces protecting our areas in the Nineveh Plain and elsewhere, says Marwan.

Salwan Momika was granted a three-year residence permit in Sweden in April 2021 and is currently not a Swedish citizen. His action has attracted widespread international attention and has caused serious diplomatic complications for Sweden, in addition to the strong offense it has caused in the Muslim world.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/world/us-shuts-down-bidens-censorship-agency/

World

US shuts down Biden’s censorship agency

Donald Trump's USA

Published today 9:57
– By Editorial Staff
Members of the Trump administration have long expressed concerns about how freedom of expression is being restricted and curtailed in various ways.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The United States has now officially shut down an agency that, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was used by the Biden administration to systematically censor US citizens with uncomfortable views.

The Global Engagement Center (GEC) was established in 2016 within the US Department of State, with a mission to “recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation”.

In December, the center was renamed Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), but on Wednesday, Marco Rubio announced that it had been permanently shut down.

– Under the previous administration, this office, which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year, spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving, Rubio said.

– This is antithetical to the very principles we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America.

In an interview published Wednesday with conservative activist Mike Benz, Rubio explained that the GEC was initially intended as a tool to combat extremist propaganda from groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, but that the operation later began “going after individual American voices”.

– We ended government-sponsored censorship in the United States through the State Department, he declared.

“Worst offender in US government censorship”

Rubio added that the Biden administration had supported groups that “literally tagging and labeling voices in American politics – Ben Shapiro, The Federalist, others – tagging them as foreign agents”.

The GEC had an annual budget of $61 million and employed about 120 people. In December, Republican members of Congress refused to provide continued funding for the unit.

President Donald Trump and his supporters have long accused Democrats of using government institutions to silence conservative views online. In 2023, tech billionaire Elon Musk also criticized the GEC, calling it “worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation” and “a threat to our democracy”.

Journalist Matt Taibbi also accused the center of trying to suppress discussions on COVID-19 under the pretext of fighting “Russian personas and proxies”.

Already last year, a group of Republican members of Congress harshly criticized the GEC in a letter to then Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The letter accused the Center of bias in favor of “American progressives” and of trying to silence opinions that were “deemed politically inconvenient or disagreeable”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/reports-the-white-house-demands-uk-abolish-hate-speech-laws/

World

Reports: The White House demands UK abolish hate speech laws

Published yesterday 19:32
– By Editorial Staff
Donald Trump's administration is reportedly very concerned about the repression of dissent in the UK.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

According to reports in The Independent, Donald Trump’s administration is demanding that the United Kingdom abolish the law on incitement to racial hatred as a condition for the conclusion of a new trade agreement between the two countries.

The demand, which is linked to Vice President JD Vance’s view of freedom of expression as fundamental to democracy, has reportedly met with resistance from the UK government.

An anonymous source close to the US administration told The Independent that Trump is “obsessed by the fall of Western civilisation” and that the president is deeply concerned that free speech is being undermined in the UK.

The source claims that the White House wants the Labour government to withdraw hate speech laws, including those targeting LGBTQ groups or various ethnic minorities, in order for a deal to be reached.

– No free speech, no deal. It is as simple as that, the source told the newspaper.

Britons arrested for social media posts

Vance, who is leading the negotiations from the US side, has previously expressed optimism about a new agreement:

– I think there’s a good chance that, yes, we’ll come to a great agreement that’s in the best interest of both countries, he said in an interview with UnHerd.

The UK authorities’ crackdown on ‘opinion criminals’ has long been seen as a major problem by people close to Trump.

The president’s adviser, Elon Musk, has been one of the most vocal critics and has repeatedly highlighted the fact that British authorities arrest people for posts they make on social media.

During Keir Starmer’s first visit to the White House, Vance also warned that freedom of expression was under attack, pointing to how US tech companies are being forced into unacceptable censorship by new European laws introduced under the pretext of protecting citizens from “cyber hate”.

An elite afraid of its own people

The Nordic Times has previously reported how Vance during the security conference in Munich also attacked the European establishment politicians.

– I look to Brussels, where EU commissars warn citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be, quote, “hateful content”

Mr. Vance also touched on Sweden’s verdict against the murdered Iraqi Quran burner Salwan Momika’s colleague who was convicted of participating in the actions.

– As the judge in his case chillingly noted, Sweden’s laws to supposedly protect free expression do not, in fact, grant, and I’m quoting, ‘a free pass to do or say anything without risking offending the group that holds that belief’.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/uk-supreme-court-womanhood-is-something-one-is-born-into/

World

UK Supreme Court: Womanhood is something one is born into

The LGBT lobby

Published yesterday 9:03
– By Editorial Staff
Many British women consider the court's decision a great victory.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the term “woman” in the country’s equality legislation refers to biological sex and nothing else.

The ruling rejects the Scottish Government’s interpretation, which included trans women in the definition and quotas for biological men who have “changed sex” as women in the workplace.

A panel of five judges, led by Justice Patrick Hodge, ruled that the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.

The ruling means, among other things, that transgender people should not be counted as women for the purposes of the Equality Act’s quotas – although the court was careful to emphasize that they should continue to be protected from discrimination on the basis of their gender identity.

The case stems from a 2018 Scottish law requiring public authorities in Scotland to have at least 50% women on their boards. According to the Scottish Government’s interpretation, trans women were included in this quota. However, the women’s rights group For Women Scotland (FWS) disputed this, arguing that the definition of woman cannot be extended beyond biological sex.

“Refers to reality –  not to paperwork”

An early court ruling in 2022 was appealed to the Supreme Court, which has now agreed with FWS.

Maya Forstater of the group Sex Matters considers the ruling a “great victory”:

– The court has given us the right answer: the protected characteristic of sex – male and female – refers to reality, not to paperwork, she says.

FWS director Trina Budge previously warned that a broader interpretation of gender risks filling quotas with “50% men, and 50% men with certificates”, which would undermine the purpose of the law.

Supported by J.K. Rowling

The group also highlighted that transgender access to women’s toilets, women’s prisons and women’s wards in hospitals can have very negative consequences and create insecurity.

FWS lawyer Aidan O’Neill argued during the trial that gender must be understood in law as a “expression of one’s bodily reality. It is an immutable biological state”.

For Women Scotland has received support from well-known author J.K. Rowling, who has reportedly donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the group. Rowling has long argued in the past that it is unreasonable for trans women’s rights to be at the expense of biological women.

However, not everyone is applauding the ruling – on the contrary, the human rights organization Amnesty International is highly critical and claims that transgender people now risk having their human rights violated.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/us-tightens-visa-controls-social-media-to-be-scrutinized/

World

US tightens visa controls – social media to be scrutinized

Published 16 April 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Anyone who has expressed support for any of Israel's enemies is expected to be denied entry to the United States.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The U.S. will begin denying visas based on the content of applicants’ social media – including posts, shares, and messages that express support for what are considered anti-Semitic messages, for example.

The country’s immigration agency, USCIS, will begin reviewing social media for all immigrants applying for lawful permanent residence, work authorization, visas, as well as foreign students and people affiliated with educational institutions.

What will be looked for are, for example, posts or messages supporting groups labeled terrorist in the United States, such as Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthi movement in Yemen. Anti-Semitic messages are also included and will constitute “negative factors” when deciding on a visa or residence permit.

– There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here, said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS, in a press release.

The proposal has raised concerns among immigration and free speech advocates because it could also affect people already in the country legally – not just those applying for entry. Critics also point out that it is unclear how “anti-Semitism”, for example, should be defined, and there is concern that virtually all criticism of Israel will be rejected.

According to AP News, social media monitoring by immigration authorities has been going on for over a decade, starting under the Obama administration and expanding during Donald Trump’s first term.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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