Month: September 2025

Voter turnout plummets in German city after ban on AfD candidate

Joachim Paul. Photo: Screenshot YouTube/AfD-TV

Voter turnout plummeted to just 29 per cent in the mayoral election in Ludwigshafen, an industrial city in Southwestern Germany.

Many inhabitants apparently chose to boycott the ballot yesterday following the ban of the mayoral candidate of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party shortly before the vote.

Out of an electorate of more than 118,000 people only 34,631 voters or 29.3 per cent cast their vote  – compared to a turnout of 60.2 per cent in the first round of the last mayoral elections in 2017.

In addition, the official count of the City of Ludwigshafen lists 3,201 invalid votes – 9.2 per cent of the total number of votes.

The election there had gained notoriety beforehand after the AfD candidate, Joachim Paul, on August 5 had been banned from running, seven weeks before the election.

Local newspaper Rheinpfalz reported yesterday that many AfD supporters had written Paul’s name on their ballots, even though this rendered them invalid.

Paul himself told press agency dpa he would challenge the election in court, saying: “We are determined to contest the election. Whether this will be after the first round or after the run-off, my lawyers will have to clarify.”

In the first round yesterday, Conservative candidate Klaus Blettner (CDU) got 41 per cent of the vote while Jens Gotter (Social Democrats, SPD) came in second with 35 per cent. Blettner and Gotter will now face each other in a run-off ballot.

Blettner told Welt TV he was surprised about the low turnout. He surmised it was due to the fact that the mayoral election did not coincide with any State or federal elections this time, saying: “A standalone mayoral election – that was a first for Ludwigshafen. I believe that this, combined with the Joachim Paul affair, led to this low voter turnout.”

Paul had been excluded by an election committee manned by his political opponents. The committee members voted with a six to one majority that Paul should not be allowed to run as he “lacked constitutional loyalty”.

Committee members said they had followed recommendations from the administration of the State of Rhineland Palatinate, including the State interior ministry in Mainz.

The ministry – which is run by Social Democrat politician Michael Elbing (SPD) – had compiled a list of reasons for recommending Paul’s exclusion. They included the fact that he had commended the oeuvre of British fantasy author J R Tolkien, specifically the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as “especially valuable for modern Conservatism” in a newspaper article.

Paul has appealed the committee’s decision in several courts. Judges upheld the decision before the election. A suit in front of the German Federal Constitutional Court is still ongoing.

The ban of the AfD candidate has even made headlines overseas, with Paul joining an AfD delegation on an invitation to the White House in Washington earlier in September.

brusselssignal

Where anti-racism speaks of reparation, Islamism speaks of extermination

Islamist Swastika protester

by Giulio Meotti

Three Jews attacked at a vigil for Israeli hostages in Frankfurt.

Two Israeli tourists attacked in a park in the Netherlands and hospitalized.

In Essen, Germany, a knife attack outside a synagogue.

Jewish-owned cars defaced in Haute-Savoie, France.

In Athens, a Jew attacked by three Palestinian Arabs.

In Venice, a Jewish tourist couple attacked by ten North Africans shouting “Free Palestine.”

Also in Venice, two Jews spat on, attacked with a dog, and insulted.

In Nice, pro-Palestine protesters attempted to enter a synagogue.

In Pisa, a professor beaten in a university classroom.

Jewish homes vandalized in Dorset, England.

British Jews evicted from a restaurant in Greece.

Jewish women and children hit by a scooter in London.

Jewish teenagers attacked on the street in Lyon.

In Antwerp, concerts by Israeli Lahav Shani, director of the Munich Philharmonic and successor to Zubin Mehta, have been canceled.

A doctor in Belgium writes “Jew” on a child’s medical record.

Posters saying “Zionism is poison” are distributed in a London hospital.

An El Al office vandalized in Paris.

Threatened attacks on Jewish events in Oslo.

In Montreal, a Jew beaten on the street in front of his daughter.

In Belgium, articles on Jewish escape.

In Edinburgh, Jewish authors cancelled from a literary festival.

In Toronto, a film about October 7th cancelled from theaters.

In Melbourne, a synagogue set on fire with worshippers inside.

In Colorado, marches for hostages hidden to avoid further bombing.

In Lyon, a Holocaust memorial vandalized with the slogan “Free Gaza.”

Jewish violinists kicked out of a Vienna restaurant.

In Flensburg, Germany, a shop displayed a sign saying “No Jews Allowed.”

This is Europe, this is the West. And this is just a flawed list, and this is just the last two weeks.

Events that could pass for news stories, drowned out by the daily noise of violence, are a sign. Not of an imbalance, but of an era in which aggression is no longer just a crime: it is an ideological gesture, a secular liturgy.

When a world changes too rapidly, societies experience a profound sense of humiliation, impotence, and fear in the face of upheavals they don’t understand. It is in these moments of fragility that violence germinates.

Hatred does not change its nature; it recycles its myths, inverts its justifications, changes its mask to better survive. The white man and the Jew are no longer two distinct figures: they are now fused in the same condemnation. Two faces of the same imaginary evil.

Islamism does not invent hatred: it structures it, provides it with an army, supports it with a theology of conquest. Where anti-racism speaks of reparation, Islamism speaks of extermination. And the two merge: in hatred of the West, in the designation of the Jew and the White man as sacrificial targets.

The pogrom has never ceased: only its forms, its justifications, its victims have changed. It returns in the guise of a moral crusade, of vengeful justice, of an imaginary purity.

Fueled by Western anti-racism, exalted by Islamism, a new nihilism transforms Western cities into new shtetls destined for the flames.

israelnationalnews

‘I Am Charlie’ — Thousands Pay Tribute to Charlie Kirk Across Europe

András LÁSZLÓ MEP @laszloan

The global impact of slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was put on full display on Sunday as tributes poured in from across Europe to honour his legacy as a champion of freedom of speech.

While tens of thousands gathered in State Farm Stadium in Arizona on Sunday for the memorial of Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated last week at Utah Valley University during a student debate event, thousands more paid tribute to the 31-year-old American activist throughout Europe.

According to the Metro, thousands gathered in London’s Hyde Park to honour Kirk in a memorial organised by the Turning Point UK organisation that Kirk founded in 2019.

Marching to Speakers’ Corner, the symbolic centre of free speech and debate in England, mourners waved British and American flags, sang Amazing Grace, and chanted Christian slogans such as “Christ is King”. Turning Point UK CEO Jack Ross is quoted as telling the crowd that Kirk was a “modern day martyr” who “stood up against censorship and tyranny, and won.”

Tributes were not confined to Britain, however, with a vigil being held for Kirk in central Budapest on Sunday evening.

Hungarian MEP András László said:  We remember and pray for Charlie Kirk in front of St Stephen Basilica in Budapest.

“May Charlie rest in peace and may his martyrdom be a turning point for many people around the world.”

In Italy, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini dedicated a rally for his populist Lega (League) party in Pontida on Sunday to the memory of Charlie Kirk. Members of the crowd were seen holding signs reading “I am Charlie Kirk” and several speakers wore Turning Point USA t-shirts featuring Kirk.

Taking to the stage, Salvini urged the crowd to devote “not just a minute of silence, but a thought to Charlie Kirk and an applause that reaches Arizona” as screens displayed images of the American activist.

Italian MEP Roberto Vannacci told those in attendance: “We have to be the heirs of Charlie Kirk, we have to do what he did, we have to take our principles and ideas everywhere.”

Separately, at a youth festival in Fenix, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also paid tribute to Kirk, who she said was “dangerous because he dismantled the narrative of the mainstream with logic. He had to be stopped because he was free, brave and capable and people like that scare those who think they can impose their convictions by force”.

The Italian PM — who like Kirk has long faced accusations of being a “fascist” — condemned the “global left” that spread “hatred” against Kirk following his death.

Meanwhile, the president of France’s populist National Rally party, Jordan Bardella also addressed the killing of Kirk, which he said was a “shock for millions of American citizens, but also for millions of people in Europe who followed his videos.”

“The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a symbol: the symbol of the return of violence in politics. This violence did not come out of nowhere, it is the work of the radical left, the most extreme left. This new political totalitarianism legitimises hatred against millions of honest people whose only crime is loving their country and wanting to preserve it,” the 30-year-old French populist leader lamented.

“It legitimises hatred against its political opponents, portraying them as monsters or fascists. It dehumanizes everyone who doesn’t think like them. And the more it loses the support of the people, the more it radicalizes. It is time, all over the world, for us to stand up against the danger of the radical left, to wage this ideological battle directly and firmly. By taking Charlie Kirk’s life, they killed a man. But they will not have destroyed, for those who supported him, his legacy and his memory,” Bardella declared.

“This legacy is also the unwavering defence of freedom of expression and the rational debate of ideas, with respect for individuals and their sensitivities. This legacy is the right to love one’s country and family, the right to defend it. It is also the protection of the fundamental freedoms that the West has developed to their highest degree throughout history. So, this legacy will live on as long as there are patriots in the world to keep it alive.”

breitbart

Rewarding Terror: Israel slams UK, Canada, Australia for recognizing ‘State of Palestine’

AI GROK. thegatewaypundit

By Greg Richter

The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have formally recognized a Palestinian state, declaring the move necessary to revive a two-state solution and curb the bloodshed in Gaza. But to Israel and its supporters, the recognition amounts to nothing less than a reward for terrorism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a blunt rebuke:

“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism.
And I have another message for you: It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”

Israeli officials note that recognizing Palestinian statehood without dismantling Hamas, freeing hostages, and imposing meaningful security guarantees undermines Israel’s survival. One coalition member called it “an absurd prize for terrorism” and urged Israel to “remove the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever.”

Meanwhile, the three leaders presented their decision as a moral imperative. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared:

“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney offered a similar justification:

“Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel.”

Australian officials echoed that recognition was tied to a broader push for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.

But critics say such gestures whitewash grim realities on the ground. British commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti posted on X:

Israeli minister Amichai Chikli likewise blasted the Western leaders’ move, calling it “barren” and warning it will embolden extremists.

The episode underscores the widening gulf between Israel and even its closest allies. To Jerusalem, recognizing statehood under Hamas control is not a path to peace but an incentive for more violence.

americanthinker

Vandalism in the Christian prayer garden in Vienna’s Floridsdorf district – Presumably an Islamist background

Just a few years ago, there was vandalism in the prayer garden. (Christian Democracy Platform)

For the second time in recent years, the prayer garden on the Marchfeld Canal has been targeted by vandals. The ÖVP Floridsdorf and the Christian Democracy Platform have called this an attack on Christians and condemned the destruction as a hate crime. Platform leader Jan Ledóchowski sees a possible Islamist motive and is calling for Christian hostility to finally be taken seriously.
The prayer garden in Vienna’s Floridsdorf district is regularly used by people from across the district for worship and religious celebrations. On Saturday night, it was once again the target of massive damage: prayer figures and crucifixes were destroyed. This is already the second incident of this kind in recent years.

The prayer garden before destruction Gebetsgarten – Google Maps

The ÖVP Floridsdorf condemned the attack in no uncertain terms. District Councillor Alexander Jansa stated: ‘The renewed acts of violence against religious figures and crucifixes show how deep the hatred of peaceful places of worship apparently runs among some people in Floridsdorf. Such acts cannot be tolerated in our district.’

The prayer garden before destruction Gebetsgarten – Google Maps

Club chairwoman Victoria Mayer also emphasised political responsibility: ‘As the ÖVP Floridsdorf, we will address this incident. We will not ignore such hate crimes. As a district, we must also take clear action against them.’

The prayer garden before destruction Gebetsgarten – Google Maps

Support comes from the Christian Democracy platform. Its leader, Jan Ledóchowski, expressed his dismay: ‘I am shocked, but not surprised. This attack is one of a series of attacks, and it is striking that faces were defaced again. This could indicate an Islamist background. We call on the authorities to finally take the issue of anti-Christian sentiment seriously.’

With the recent incidents in the prayer garden, pressure is mounting on the authorities to address the issue in a targeted manner. Christian Democrats are calling that attacks on religious symbols be consistently classified as hate crimes and prosecuted accordingly.

exxpress

Afghan asylum seekers in UK after ‘fleeing Taliban’ have returned home ‘to go on holiday’

AI generator

Afghan asylum seekers who fled the Taliban have been returning home “to go on holiday”, it has been claimed.

The Government has spent billions on a scheme to protect asylum seekers from persecution in their home country, after they supported British troops deployed there.

However, it has been alleged that asylum seekers have been travelling from the UK back to Afghanistan, with the threats they claim in the country having been exaggerated.

The revelations have been blasted as proof Britain’s “generosity has been taken advantage of”, with critics telling GB News there is an urgent need for change to the UK’s asylum policy.

A former interpreter, who served with British forces in Afghanistan before starting a new life in the UK, claimed that the Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) had been exploited by Afghans.

The allegations were made after a data breach involving details of over 18,000 soldiers and some of their family members involved in Afghanistan, after a super-injunction was lifted.

One Afghan migrant, who has been living in a Home Office hotel in the Midlands, said: “You don’t leave before getting your asylum case accepted because first it is risky and second the British Government will be holding your passport during the process of your application.”

The migrants instead obtain Iranian visas “very easily” and travel to the Afghan border and cross without having Afghan stamps on their passports.

They bribe Iranian and Taliban border forces thorugh prior contacts to avoid passports stamps that would “put them in trouble”.

A Taliban official told The Telegraph that it is not their issue and is up to the Government “to solve their problems”.

One migrant said: “My husband is insisting we should go and visit because it’s been over two years since we saw our families last time.

“But I tell him we have a safe and happy life here, and why should we put our status in danger.”

She explained that a relative of hers has returned to Afghanistan with his family, despite being evacuated to the UK two years ago.

She said: “They went there a few months ago, spent 20 days in Herat and came back without having a problem because British authorities think they were in Iran, not Afghanistan.

“There are a lot of people who are living in the hotels going in and out of Afghanistan daily; they just keep a low profile while in the country.”

Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the foreign policy and national security think tank The Henry Jackson Society, told GB News: “It’s obviously nonsensical that anyone claiming asylum because they fear persecution in a country would return to that country for a holiday.

“We took Afghans in rightly because of our involvement in that country and our fears that the Taliban would exact revenge on innocent people.

“Instead, our generosity has been taken advantage of – as it so often has been under our current asylum system – and this simply highlights the urgent need to change policy to one that will henceforth reject migrants who come here out of choice.”

The asylum seekers have allegedly also “staged torture videos” in order to be able to relocate to the UK.

The former interpreter said that “the only threat is unemployment” for them.

Aghans, who had already been granted asylum in other safe countries such as Belgium, were still granted asylum in the UK.

GB News has approached the Ministry of Defence for comment.

gbnews

German savings bank in Cologne and Bonn fires service provider after expressing sorrow for Charlie Kirk

Sparkasse KölnBonn – Filialdirektion – Google Maps

At a time when empathy and reverence have become rare luxuries, Savings Bank Cologne-Bonn (Sparkasse) has reached a new low: an ‘external service provider,’ as the bank hastened to clarify, had expressed its condolences on the bank’s Instagram account over the murder of US activist Charlie Kirk. ‘Rest in peace,’ one of its employees had written there. Of course, this was the wrong reaction in the conformist left-wing milieu of hateful do-gooders: to mock Kirk’s murder (as ‘El Kotzo’ & Co), hurling hate speech and lies at him (as Hayali and Theveßen did on public broadcaster ZDF) or blaming him for his own murder (as ZDF’s smear -monger Jan Böhmermann did) is fully accepted and applauded by Germany’s left-wing establishment.

But those who show human emotion are denounced. The Sparkasse therefore did not respond by defending humanity, but by dismissing the person responsible for the condolences on its account; it is a scandal that has less to do with the content than with the absurd scandalisation of grief.

The hypocrisy of the left-wing fascists, which is also reflected in the German media outlets that reported on the case and used terms such as ‘controversial post’ to turn the expression of sympathy for Kirk into an alleged scandal, is becoming increasingly difficult to bear. Once again, it is clear who the real hate preachers and agitators in this society are: not the evil ‘right-wingers’, but their opponents and model democrats. The provincial bankers at the Sparkasse had probably already had the shits when they read the utterly mendacious and morally depraved newspaper articles in the local press: what the Bonn-based ‘Generalanzeiger’ in particular allowed itself to do here falls below all standards of decency and journalistic integrity.

Instead of standing by the post, the bank caved in to the expected storm of outrage – and summarily fired the employee of its service provider who had written the post. It wrote that it was ‘shocked’ – not by the murder, mind you, but by the fact that human concern had been shown about it. It is sheer cowardice in the face of the mob of the self-righteous. A society in which grief and empathy, universal human emotions, are defamed as ‘controversial’ after the murder of an icon of free speech has once again reached the point that we never wanted to return to. It is a disgrace. The first calls for a boycott of Sparkasse Köln-Bonn are already circulating online – and in this case, quite rightly so.

journalistenwatch

Confusion arises over whether online Bible website is being blocked in UK

Shutterstock

A growing number of social media users are worried that the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) is being used to restrict access to the massively popular Bible Gateway website.

The OSA was passed in 2023 with the purported aim of making Britain the “safest place in the world to be online.” Among other things, the ominous-sounding measure seeks to prevent minors from accessing X-rated websites as well as prohibiting the spread of misinformation, terrorism, child abuse, and similar unsavory content.

On Thursday, dozens of users on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X shared screen shots that seemed to suggest they were being prevented from visiting the website due to the OSA.

“If you ever needed proof this legislation was a Trojan horse and our government is diametrically opposed to our nation’s Christian values and heritage here it is,” Brett Murphy, an Anglican cleric living in the UK, argued. “The ‘online safety act’ has been used to block the website ‘Bible gateway’ a Web page that has multiple bible translations and commentaries available for free.

X user Rikki Doolan, who is based in London, also expressed outrage at the apparent censorship.

But their anger seems to be misplaced.

According to a story published by Premier Christian News on September 10, Bible Gateway issued a statement to its British-based visitors explaining that its services are currently unavailable in the UK and the European Union because of “technical issues.”

Tom Harwood, deputy political editor of GB News in the UK, also seemed to believe visitors were being blocked due to a tech issue.

“This (is) probably GDPR rather than the Online Safety Act but just another little way in which the free open international internet I grew up with is becoming regionally segmented,” he said in an X post.

GDPR is an acronym for General Data Protection Regulation. GDRP laws govern personal data handling, user consent agreements, and breach notifications. They are aimed at protecting citizens’ information, not censoring them.

Still, Tim Hinchliffe wrote an essay for The Sociable this past August warning that the Online Safety Act could be turned into a weaponized “internet passport” to crack down on the free flow of information.

“With the enactment of the Online Safety Act (OSA), which also claims to protect children, everyone must submit to an internet passport check when accessing social media and other large user-to-user services, which the bill refers to as Category 1 services,” he argued.

“Like with the EU, we see that this is not aimed at just allegedly protecting children – this is also aimed at adults. The bill uses Orwellian doublespeak with phrases like ‘Adults will have more control over the content they see,’ which actually means that adults will see what the algorithms nudge them to see.”

Bible Gateway is owned by Evangelical publishing house Zondervan, which is a subsidiary of HarperCollins. It is believed to be the most visited Christian website in the world. Founded in 1993, the site allows visitors to “read, hear, search, study, compare, and share the Bible in more than 200 different versions and more than 70 languages, using their desktops, laptops, tablets, e-readers, or smartphones.”

lifesitenews