Holocaust Remembrance Day & the Concept of Chosenness

Idea for cover ..

Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. A day that reminds of one of the most horrible episodes of recent human history and to one of the most beautiful aspects of Jewish culture: commemorating every individual.  The reason for making this video is twofold. Last Christmas, literally on Christmas Day, I wrote what I thought was a… Continue reading Holocaust Remembrance Day & the Concept of Chosenness

Elephants in courtrooms–IV; The case Erbakan vs Turkey

ECHR: office Strasbourg France

For decades now, Islam is growing stronger in Turkey. ‘European’ judicial activism contributed to this. Necmettin Erbakan (1926–2011), founder of Millî Görüş [1], former prime minister and mentor to Erdowahn, was one of the main forces behind the re-Islamization of Turkey. In 2006 a group of judges from the European Court of Human Rights –… Continue reading Elephants in courtrooms–IV; The case Erbakan vs Turkey

The very little known ‘Atatürk’

How coincidental do you want it?In October 1927, Kemal Mustapha gave a speech that lasted six days. Yes, Fidel Castro certainly fell short of that with his six or eight hour speeches. When I was preparing my book “IS, the Kurds and the Caliphate. Turkey: from sick occupant to paranoid neighbor” (E-book available via the… Continue reading The very little known ‘Atatürk’

Inspiration

City wall with restaurant

Visiting Malta to get inspiration for my faction novel, this was the first photo I took of the capital, Valletta. Work was underway on the impossibly thick wall surrounding the new capital, which the Maltese started to build immediately after the Ottoman invasion of the island was repelled in 1565.So a restaurant was built IN… Continue reading Inspiration