GRANADA, Spain: Two hundred Muslims rallied in the streets of Granada, southern Spain, on Wednesday in protest against a surge in anti-Daesh crimes following last week’s deadly attacks in the country.
The protest was called after the city’s main mosque was attacked with flares on Saturday by a handful of members from a far-right group, Hogar Social, who also unfurled a Spanish flag outside the building, according to images on Spanish TV.
Muslim groups have reported a jump in anti-Daesh incidents since the twin vehicle attacks in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils that killed 15 people last week. Those attacks were claimed by the Daesh group.
“It is very important for us to affirm our values as Muslims which are the same as those of all other human beings on this planet,” said Nizar Liemlahi, director of the Dar Loughat Muslim cultural association, one of the co-organizers of the rally.
Only 0.1 percent of the world’s Muslims commit attacks and these people “do not represent our values or our principles,” added Liemlahi, a psychologist who moved to Spain from Morocco in 2010.
The protesters brandished banners with slogans such as “I am Muslim and I want to live in peace” and “We also are victims” as they gathered outside Granada city hall.
Mounir Benjelloun, head of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI), said the increase in anti-Islamic incidents since the attacks was “unbearable.”
“Unfortunately, after what happened, there is an avalanche of cases. In my 25 years in Spain I have not seen anything like it.”
Vandals have defaced mosques with racist graffiti and some people have posted videos on social media sites calling for the expulsion of all Muslims, he said.
About 1,000 Muslims marched in Barcelona on Monday against terrorism.
Muslims rally in Spain against terrorism after attacks
Muslims rally in Spain against terrorism after attacks
Trump insists he struck Iran on his own terms
- “We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X.
- Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway”
WASHINGTON, United States: President Donald Trump and his team scrambled Tuesday to reclaim the narrative on why he decided to attack Iran, after his top diplomat suggested the US struck only after learning of an imminent Israeli strike.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio alarmed Democrats — who say only Congress can declare war — as well as many of Trump’s MAGA supporters on Monday when he said: “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.”
“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters.
Administration officials quickly backpedalled, insisting Trump authorized the strikes because Tehran was not seriously negotiating an accord on limiting its nuclear ambitions, and the United States needed to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities.
“No, Marco Rubio Didn’t Claim That Israel Dragged Trump into War with Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Tuesday on X.
At an Oval Office meeting later with Germany’s chancellor, Trump went further, saying that “Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen.”
“So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
- Had to happen? -
Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway.”
“The president made a decision. The decision he made was that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide... behind this ability to conduct an attack.”
Critics seized on the muddied messaging to accuse Trump of precipitating the country into a war without a clear rationale, without informing Congress — and without a clear idea of how it might end.
They noted that just two weeks ago, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump again in Washington to take a hard line, in their seventh meeting since Trump’s return to power last year.
Some Republican allies rallied behind the president, with Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, insisting that “No one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere.”
“He acts in the vital national security interest of the United States,” Cotton told the “Fox & Friends” morning show.
But as crucial US midterm elections approach that could see Republicans lose their congressional majority, Trump risks shedding supporters who had welcomed his pledge to end foreign military interventions.
“We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top former Trump ally and a major figure in the populist and isolationist hard right, posted on X.
