Homicide bomber kills Afghan official

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing Helmand province's deputy governor and five other people, officials said.

The bomber struck while people were praying inside the mosque in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said.

Helmand's deputy governor, Pir Mohammad, was killed in the blast, said Nisar Ahmad, a provincial health official.

The blast killed five other people and wounded 18 others, seven seriously, Andiwal said. Read more ...

Source: AP

Muslims Against Sharia condemn the murderers responsible for the homicide bombing in Lashkar Gah.
Our prayers are with the victims of this atrocity. We send our condolences to their loved ones.
May the homicide bomber rot in hell for eternity. May his accomplices join him soon!

Islam's Advance

There is a new blog up by the Washington Post Islam's Advance that plans to examine the different ways Islam is adapting to a changing world. In the words of the blog's author:

This blog aims to challenge our perceptions of Islam as a monolithic and extremist creed, and to look for answers to some of the most important questions facing the world today: how is Islam adapting to the demands of the 21st century? What can the religion do to reform from within? And how do those tensions play themselves out in the lives of ordinary Muslims?

Over the next few months, I’ll be traveling around Central Asia and the Middle East in search of answers to these questions. Starting in Afghanistan, I’ll be talking to dozens of young Muslims about what their faith means to them, how to they see the world around them changing, and what their role in it will be.

He already has a couple of videos up. Have a look.

H/T: Instapudit

President Clinton v. 9/11 truther

Source: MSNBC
H/T: TFO

Vouchers for Jihad: American Youth Academy

First incorporated in the state of Florida in 2003, the American Youth Academy (AYA) is a co-educational school for Muslim children (kindergarten through 12th grade) based in the Temple Terrace suburb of Tampa Bay. AYA describes itself as "a non-profit organization dedicated to educating our community in the Greater Tampa Bay area." It is an outgrowth of the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF). Soon after IAF was suspended from receiving taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers because of its numerous ties to the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), it began doing business under the new name, "American Youth Academy." Read more ...

Source: DiscoverTheNetworks.org
H/T: FrontPage

Teaching Children to Die

By MEMRI

In two columns in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, titled "What's Happening in the Girls' Schools?" and "Who Will Sound the Warning Bell in the Girls Schools?" Halima Muzaffar criticizes the Saudi education system for using scare tactics and for instilling in young children the fear of death, as part of their religious education. She claims that this "culture of death" is the reason for the spread of terrorism in Saudi society. Read more ...

Source: FrontPage Magazine

More than 50 Bahá’ís get prison terms for talking about their faith

Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Iran yesterday sentenced three Baha'i to four years in jail for security offences after being convicted of propaganda against the political system and proselytism in the southern city of Shiraz under the pretext of helping the poor. Another 51 were given a year in prison with suspended sentences handed condition they attend courses by state propaganda officials, judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said.

The Bahá’í religion was founded in 1863 by a Persian aristocrat who came to be known as the Bahá'u'lláh and who saw himself as a new prophet along the lines of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. This was in direct violation of the Islamic claim that Muhammad was the last of the prophets. Read more ...

Source: Asia News
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Muslims Against Sharia in the Media - January '08

1/31/08
Shawarma Mayor: A must read!
1/25/08
Citizens Against Sharia: Can and Should Islam Be Reformed? Part VII: Conclusions
Winds of Jihad: Ezra Levant on CNN Glenn Beck Program
1/24/08
Amillennialist Contra Mundum: Admission by omission
1/23/08
Infelix Ego: Muslims against sharia and that damned logical principle of non-contradiction
1/20/08
Orwell's Picnic: Muslims against Sharia and that damned Logical Principle of Non-Contradiction
One More Middle Aged Guy: Selectively Silent MSM !
The Hesperado: Muslims Against Sharia
1/19/08
Валерий Цапков: Все люди братья
1/18/08
Mitchell Langbert's Blog: Muslims Against Sharia
SoCon or Bust: Muslims Against Sharia make Left look like fools to support HRCs - for the record, MASH's policies are based on particular issues rather than on Left/Right ideologies.
1/17/08
Citizens Against Sharia: Can and Should Islam Be Reformed? Part I: The Quran
1/16/08
Human Rights Service: Ytringsfrihet til spott og spe i Kanada
1/15/08
Rootleweb: Muslims Against Sharia
Stage Left: If You Can't Beat'em...
1/14/08
One More Middle Aged Guy: Muslims Agains Sharia - Fighting an Uphill Battle
1/13/08
Stage Left: Meet Ezra's New Non-Muslim "Muslim" Friends!
1/9/08
New English Review: Muslims Against Sharia revisited
1/7/08
A Keyboard and a .45: From the Comments...
1/5/08
Conservative Beach Girl: Muslims against Sharia: a response to ponder
1/4/08
Timothy Birdnow: Muslims Against Sharia
B.L.O.G. - Bissige Liberale ohne Gnade: Moderate Muslime
1/3/08
Telegraph: Muslims against 'homicidal zombies'
1/2/08
Not A Potted Plant: Muslims Against Sharia

December

Austrian Islamofascists Support Hamas

By Karl Pfeifer

If this had been a demonstration organized by racist and terrorist Hamas, attended by the Liga Kultur [according to its website “an association to further integration and cultural exchange”, in the name of Allah, of course] and the Gesellschaft für Österreichisch-Arabische Beziehungen [Society for Austro-Arab Relations] as well as by anti-imperialist sects sympathizing with Holocaust deniers, this would not have been worth a single comment.

But because the Austrian Muslim Association (IGGiÖ) staged this demonstration - "Keep Gaza Alive" - on Saturday afternoon [January 26, 2008], a comment is in fact called for, especially in light of the fact that it was unsuccessful enough for the mainstream media to completely ignore it. Read more ...

Source: Die Jüdische
H/T: Atlas

MI6 Urged UK to Drop Saudi Inquiry

LONDON - Britain's head of overseas intelligence warned that Saudi Arabia likely would stop sharing vital information on terrorism if prosecutors pursued an investigation into alleged corruption in an arms deal, lawmakers disclosed Tuesday.

Ministers were told the inquiry into the BAE Systems PLC arms deal with Saudi Arabia could lead to a withdrawal of Saudi assistance on counterterrorism, according to the annual report of the Intelligence and Security committee. The committee scrutinizes the work of Britain's intelligence and security agencies.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office in December 2006 ended the inquiry into allegations that BAE Systems ran a $118.9 million "slush fund" offering sweeteners to Saudi Arabian officials in return for lucrative arms contracts. Read more ...

Source: AP
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Danish library to exhibit Mohammed cartoons

Denmark's Royal Library is risking the wrath of Muslims with plans to display controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that sparked violent protest throughout the Islamic world two years ago.

The 12 caricatures of Islam's founder were published in Danish newspapers in September 2005 triggering riots and violence which claimed the lives of over 50 people. Read more ...

Source: Telegraph
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Salt Lake Airport: Muslim cabbies turn driver breakroom into mosque

Sarah Dallof reporting

A shuttle driver has filed a complaint with the FAA against the Salt Lake International Airport, saying officials allowed thousands of religious services to be conducted on public property. Muslim cab drivers began praying in a small airport building used as a break room after 9-11, because, the airport says, they became targets, with people yelling at them and throwing things.

Last week we brought you the story of a Muslim cab driver at the airport who says he was assaulted when he tried to pray inside the building. Tonight the man charged in that case speaks out about his case against the airport.

Shuttle driver Jeff Brueningsen took photos inside the building he and other drivers share at the airport. "It was definitely an Islamic center." He said it didn't feel right, so he filed a complaint with the FAA against the airport. Read more ...

Source: KSL
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

January 30th, Solidarity of Bloggers with the Imprisoned Iranian Students

Solidarity of Bloggers with the Imprisoned Iranian Students

"There is no doubt winter will have an end
And, the post of spring will come to our land
With thousands of flowers in his hand
Certainty it will come,
That other should be passed"

The spring is coming while many Iranian students are still behind the bars. Here is the names of some of them:

• Arash Paknejad (m), Mozandaran University
• Saeid Habibi (m), as member of student's human rights reporters
• Anoshe Azadbar (f), Tehran University
• Elinaz Jamshidi (f), Azad University of central Tehran student of communication
• Mehdi Gerilo (m), Tehran geophysics center
• Nader Ahseni (m), Mazandaran University
• Behroz karimizade (m), Tehran University
• Nasim Soltan-beigi (f), Alame Communication University
• Ali Sa'lem (m), Polytechnic University, student of Master degree in polymer
• Mohsen Qanim (m), Polytechnic University
• Rozbeh Saf-Shekan (m), Tehran University
• Yaser (Sadra) Pirhaiaty (m), Shahed University
• Saeid Aqam-Ali (m), Yazd University
• Ali Kolaee' (m), Azad University of Shahriar City
• Amir Mehrzad (m), (high School Student)
• Hadi Salary (m), Rajaey University
• Farshid Ahangaran(m), Rajaey University
• Amir Aqai (m), Rajaey University
• Milad Omrani (m), Rajaey University
• Keivan Amir Eliasy (m), Master of industrial engineer
• Soroush Hashem-poor (m), Ahvaz University
• Farshad Doosti-poor (m)
• Sohrab Karimi (m)
• Javad Alizade (m)
• Mohammad Salleh Auman (m)
• Mehdi al-lahyari (m), Sharif industrial University, student of master degree
• Rozbehan Amiri (m), Tehran University, Student of computer sciences
• Bahram Shojaee (m), Tehran-south Azad University, Student of Chemistry engineer
• Saied Aqakhani (m)
• Majid Ashraf Nejad (m)
• Peiman Piran (m), by other student report about him
• Aabed Tavanche (m), Polytechnic University
• Soroosh Dastestany (m)
• Amin Qazaei (m)
• Bijan Sabaq (m), Mazandaran University
• Anahita hosini (f), Tehran University
• Morteza Khedmatlo (m)
• Mohamad Pour Abdol-lah (m), Tehran University
• Bita Samimi-zad (f), Polytechnic University
• Behzad Baqery (m), Mazandaran University
• Soroosh Sabet (m), Sharif University
• Morteza Eslahchi (m), Allame University
• Mostafa Shirvani (m)

In the past month and half, many students from different cities and universities have been arrested, on charges related to holding peaceful ceremonies for the celebration of the 7th of November, the National Day for Students. They have been behind the bars since. During these days, their families have not been able to visit them and only some of them have been given the chance to have short phone calls with the inmates. This has caused a lot of anxiety and tension for the families and has resulted in their many protests in order to pressure the government to release the students, to no avail.

We honor the freedom-loving students of Iran, some of whom are also bloggers, and thus on January 30th we rename our blogs to "Bloggers' Solidarity with Imprisoned Iranian Students".

We wish the release of our friends.

Source: Kamangir
H/T: Gramfan

Muslims Against Sharia support imprisoned Iranian Students.

Former IAP President Indicted For Naturalization Fraud

Yaser Bushnaq, a former president of the Islamic Association for Palestine has been indicted in Virginia for naturalization fraud.

In applying to become a U.S. citizen in 2000, Bushnaq is accused of failing to disclose his affiliations with a series of organizations that the indictment links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The indictment clearly defines the IAP as "an overt arm of the covert organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood."

In addition, it alleges that when Bushnaq applied to become a citizen he failed to disclose:

• He was the IAP's president from 1989-1991.
• That he worked under the pseudonym Yaser Saleh.
• He was a board of trustees member for the Al Aqsa Education Fund, "an organization that sought to raise funds for Hamas."
• He was an authorized signatory for the Marzook Legal Fund, established in 1996 to support Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook after his arrest by U.S. authorities.
Read more ...

Source: IPT News

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Mayor Rudy Giuliani kicks Arafat out of the UN anniversary event

Source: New York Daily News
H/T: Atlas

Hamas' staged blackouts: Candlelight in Daylight

Source: Reuters
H/T: Atlas

Holding America Over a Barrel ... Again

By Ruth S. King

When President Bush recently asked the Saudis to increase their production of oil, the media reported that the request was turned down. In fact, the Saudis offered to discuss the issue only if the President would promise a waiver of visas for Saudi students, something that Americans of all political parties would find unacceptable, given the fact that 15 of the 9/11 terrorist hijackers hailed from the oil kingdom.

This is not the first time in our history that the Muslim Arab states have held us over a barrel. In the aftermath of independence in 1776, American merchant vessels lost the protection of the British navy, and our ships were routinely attacked and boarded by Arab pirates from Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli – a federation of coastal, semi-autonomous states within the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. The pirates looted all goods which were then carried in barrels, and the American crews were enslaved or used as hostages to extract ransom known as "tributes." Read more ...

Source: Family Security Matters

UK: Man Admits Plotting To Behead Muslim Soldier

By Adrian Morgan

In January 2007, police carried out raids in Birmingham. At the time, there was hostility and resentment from Muslim "representatives" to the raid. Dr. Mohammad Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque, claimed Britain was becoming a police state, and compared Muslims in Britain to Jews living under Hitler. Mahmoud Shadrajeh, head of the improbably named "Islamic Human Rights Commission" – himself a supporter of Hizbollah's terrorism – claimed the Birmingham raids gave to the public a "bad image" of Muslims.

Adam Mussa of the Muslim Brotherhood-founded Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) claimed: "Some of the people arrested are just individuals with loud voices, who are vocal about various neighborhood issues, but that doesn't make them terrorists. It's not fair. This seems to be happening again and again. This is a form of victimization and your average 'Mo Public' is feeling very cynical. When you come in and do a job you should make sure you clean up after yourself, and that's what the police need to do here." Read more ...

Source: Family Security Matters

Give Gaza to Egypt

By Daniel Pipes

Startling developments in Gaza highlight the need for a change in Western policy toward this troubled territory of 1.3 million persons.

Gaza's contemporary history began in 1948, when Egyptian forces overran the British-controlled area and Cairo sponsored the nominal "All-Palestine Government" while de facto ruling the territory as a protectorate. That arrangement ended in 1967, when the Israeli leadership defensively took control of Gaza, reluctantly inheriting a densely populated, poor, and hostile territory.

Nonetheless, for twenty years Gazans largely acquiesced to Israeli rule. Only with the intifada beginning in 1987 did Gazans assert themselves; its violence and political costs convinced Israelis to open a diplomatic process that culminated with the Oslo accords of 1993. The Gaza-Jericho Agreement of 1994 then off-loaded the territory to Yasir Arafat's Fatah. Read more ...

Source: FrontPage Magazine

Arab Columnists Blame Hamas

By MEMRI

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Editor: Hamas Fails to Understand that the Role of a Leadership Is to Protect the People and Guarantee their Security and Livelihood

In response to statements addressed to Arab leaders by Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al on Al-Jazeera TV blaming them for the situation in Gaza, in which he said, "If you fail to help the Palestinians, Allah will not forgive you, your own people will not forgive you, and the Palestinian people will not forgive you." Al-Sharq Al-Awsat editor-in-chief Tariq Alhomayed wrote: "[Khaled Mash'al], did you make sure that Allah would forgive you before you elected the Palestinians to be the first people [in history] to carry out a coup under occupation, and [before you sent] your people to cast their brothers from [the roofs of] 15-story buildings?... What can the Arab [countries] do beyond what they have [already] done? Did you make sure that Allah would forgive you [before] asking the Saudi king to intervene once again in order to heal the rift within the Palestinian [people] - a rift created by you and your supporters?..." Read more ...

Source: FrontPage Magazine

Islamic terrorists take schoolchildren hostage in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 28: A group of Islamic militants entered a high school in a town in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) Monday and took around 300 children hostage, media reports said.

The insurgents stormed into the school to escape arrest after failing to abduct a government health official and his driver in the Battal Khel area of Bannu district, 200 km south of the NWFP capital Peshawar, the Aaj television channel reported. Read more ...

Source: Indo-Asian News Service
H/T: Jihad Watch

Al-Arian's Third Strike

By Steven Emerson

In a ruling issued Friday, the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative Sami Al-Arian can't duck a grand jury subpoena in Virginia based upon a phantom claim that his 2006 guilty plea ruled out any future cooperation with law enforcement.

Al-Arian was serving out the remainder of a 57-month sentence for conspiring to provide goods and services to the PIJ when a federal grand jury in Northern Virginia subpoenaed him to testify about the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). The IIIT is a think tank under investigation since at least 2002 for suspected terror financing. It was among the largest patrons of Al-Arian's own think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), which was based in Tampa during the early 1990s and housed no less than four members of the PIJ's governing board. Read more ...

Source: IPT News

CAIR: Demanding Israel Appease Hamas Terrorists

On 21 January, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington D.C. based Islamist terrorist supporting front group, issued an “Action Alert” calling on readers to contact American political leaders in order to pressure Israel to lift a “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.

The “humanitarian crisis” developed when Israel reduced deliveries of fuel, food, and medicines in response to rocket attacks by members of the Hamas terrorist group. Hamas terrorists have been firing rockets into Southern Israel since taking power by force in June.

In the action alert, CAIR states:

“Because American taxpayers provide Israel with billions of dollars of
economic support each year, we have the right and the responsibility
to demand that Israel abide by American and universal human rights
standards and end its practice of collective punishment against the
Palestinian populations. Such practice amounts to war crimes.”

CAIR, true to its lap-dog propagandizing on behalf of Islamist terrorism, states that the United States has the “right and the responsibility to demand Israel abide by American and universal human rights standards.”

But what about the rights of the Israeli civilians terror murdered or wounded by the Hamas rockets? Or does CAIR consider all Israelis to be soldiers?

Why doesn’t CAIR demand that Hamas abide by “American and universal human rights standards” and stop the rockets?

Because CAIR has proven links to and was founded by Hamas members and supporters.

CAIR continues:

“Seventy-nine percent of Gaza households live under the poverty line,
40 percent suffer from unemployment and almost half the population
in the Gaza Strip is made up of children.”

Hamas rules Gaza with an iron fist, claims to represent the Palestinian people, and yet is unable to provide even basic civil services in an area of about 139 square miles. But Hamas seems to have plenty of money for weapons, rockets, and ammunition despite the “Israeli blockade”.

Why is it that Hamas, faced with this “humanitarian crises”, would prefer to import weapons over food for the very Palestinian civilians it claims to protect?

What does it say about Hamas that they’d rather kill Israeli civilians than feed “almost half the population in the Gaza Strip” that is “made up of children”?

Of course, CAIR can’t criticize Hamas; to do so would be to criticize family.

So, the world will condemn Israel for cutting off supplies to a terrorist government and will say nothing to Hamas terrorists who would starve their own children in a propaganda exercise designed to make Israel appear to be the aggressor.

What does this say about CAIR that they condemn Muslim children to starvation ...?

Source: Anti-CAIR
H/T: Lake Minnetonka Liberty

Department of the Defenseless

By Joe Kaufman

There used to be a time when the greatest threat within the United States government emanated from Arabists in the State Department, Arabists meaning those persons who favor Arab interests and positions in international affairs. Today, a new threat has emerged and from the most unlikely of places, the Department of Defense (DOD), and this time it’s not from Arabists but from Islamists, coming from outside the department, looking to infiltrate the most sensitive of areas in our nation.

On September 1, 2006, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England was featured as a speaker at the 43rd annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America or ISNA. He began his speech by stating the following:

Friends, fellow Americans, people of faith - Good afternoon! Thank you to Dr. Louay Safi for the kind introduction, and a special thank you to Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdulla, and Dr. Ingrid Mattson, for your leadership and for the invitation to join you at this Islamic Society of North America conference.

Thank you also for the pleasant lunch, and the opportunity to dialog with the Society's leadership. It was most beneficial to share ideas and values.

It is a profound honor for me to be here with you today, representing all the men and women in the United States military, and all the civilians who serve America in the Department of Defense and throughout the US Government.

ISNA was established by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB)-associated Muslim Students Association (MSA) in 1981, helped into existence by a group of MSA alumni and a teaching assistant at North Carolina State University (NCSU) named Sami Al-Arian, who only two years prior co-founded Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Egypt. ISNA was incorporated using the same physical address as the MSA, which was also the address used to incorporate the American Hamas financing wing, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). Read more ...

Source: FrontPage Magazine

Teenage girl strangled in 'honour killing'

Jordan: A 17-year-old girl died after being strangled to death by her brother in a Palestinian refugee camp near the Jordanian town of Jerash .

He was apparently angered by her absence from home.

The woman, who had been married for eight months, was accused of shaming her family and killed in a so-called "honour" crime.

This is the second murder of its kind in a month.

A Jordanian prosecutor has charged the victim’s brother, a 20-year-old man, with premeditated murder.

Local newspapers reported that he had stuffed a scarf in his sister's mouth, choked her with an electric cable and smoked a pack of cigarettes before turning himself in.

Source: Gulf News
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Indonesian biggest Muslim organization declares to halt terrorism

JAKARTA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian biggest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulema (NU) vowed on Friday to stop the spread of misteaching of Islam, which could trigger radicalism and spark terrorism in the biggest Muslim country, the chairman of the organization Hasyim Muzadi said here.

Terrorim has grown fast in recent years in the country, which was supported by poverty and lack of understanding of the true Islam, through the spread of misteaching of the religion.

Among the teaching was hatred to the West and encouragement for retaliation through jihad in the form of attacks or suicide bombings targeting on the Western people or interest in Indonesia. Read more ...

Source: Xinhua
H/T: Jihad Watch

Imam E-Date From Hell

January 27, 2008 -- A Wall Street stockbroker fears for her life after she rebuffed a Brooklyn imam she met on a Muslim dating Web site.

In an explosive $50 million lawsuit that blows the lid off the wacky world of Muslim dating in New York, Cherine Allaithy alleges the religious leader promised he would make her one of four future wives and boasted of a cousin in al Qaeda. When she dumped him, he trashed her reputation in the Arab press.

The imam, Tarek Youssoff Hassan Saleh, 42, says Allaithy is a loose, mentally unstable woman. He has filed criminal charges against her in Brooklyn for allegedly destroying two computers at the Oulel-Albab mosque in Bay Ridge. He also claims she threatened to frame him for rape.

Allaithy, 32, says she met the imam, who goes by the name Sheikh Saleh, online at the Muslim Matrimonial Network site in May 2007. They courted for a month. Read more ...

Source: New York Post
H/T: Jihad Watch

Bangladesh Christian Woman Burned For Seeking Baptism

DHAKA, BANGLADESH (BosNewsLife) -- A 70-year old woman remained in critical condition Sunday, January 27, in Bangladesh after suspected Muslim extremists reportedly tried to burn her alive to prevent her from being baptized as a Christian.

Rahima Beoa, who was planning to be baptized on February 13 in Muslim-majority Rangpur district, 248 kilometers (154miles) northwest of the capital Dhaka, suffered burns on 70 percent of her body, reported Compass Direct News, a Christian news agency investigating reports of persecution.

The attack apparently happened January 7 while she and her 9-year-old grand child were sleeping at home. Unknown attackers set their home, made from bamboo and wood, ablaze, local villagers said.

"The boy managed to escape the fire, but the elderly woman was injured and got 70 percent burnt on her body...The cattle and other stuff of the house were incinerated," said Khaled Mintu, a regional supervisor of the Rangpur district of the evangelical Isha-E-Jamat Bangladesh denomination in published remarks. Read more ...

Source: BosNewsLife
H/T: Atlas

Muslims Against Sharia condemn this barbaric act and implore Bangladeshi government to bring those who are responsible to justice.

Palestinian Authority demonization of USA continues

By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

The official media of the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas continues to portray the United States as the merciless enemy of the Palestinians. A cartoon in the PA official daily last week shows Gaza drowning in blood, while the US is cruelly stamping on the outstretched Arab arm trying to help Gaza.

Source: Palestinian Media Watch
H/T: Atlas

Fatah TV Broadcasts Daily Call For Ethnic Cleansing of Jews

By Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Fatah chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's PA television has been repeatedly broadcasting a hate-filled music video calling for the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people from Israel.

"My enemy, oh snake! Around the land, you are coiled. You have no choice, oh enemy, but to leave my country," is the refrain in the video, which has been broadcast on a daily basis for the past several months, according to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

"The song's refrain, 'My enemy, oh enemy,' is repeated over and over throughout the song. Israel is not even given the courtesy of a name, but is tagged with such labels as 'treacherous,' 'imperialism' and a 'coiled snake,'" PMW Director Itamar Marcus points out. "The Palestinian is portrayed as a heroic victim who courageously confronts the evil 'enemy' Israel."

Source: Israel National News
H/T: Atlas

George Habash Dies. One terrorist down, about a million or so to go.

George Habash, founder of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which he led for three decades and opponent of compromise with Israel, died on Saturday in Jordan's capital.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas paid tribute to the "historic leader" and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for three days in the Palestinian territories in mourning for his death.

Source: AFP

Muslims Against Sharia denounce Mahmoud Abbas for calling terrorist George Habash a "historic leader" and ordering flags to be flown at half-mast. Terrorist Habash is responsible for multiple hijackings and murders; acts like that makes us question Palestinian President's commitment to peace.

Urgent! Please Help Pass the "Libel Terrorism Protection Bill"

Dear Friends,

The bi-partisan "Libel Terrorism Protection Act" ( S.6687/A.9652), was introduced two weeks ago in the New York Assembly and Senate by Assembly Members, Rory Lancman (D) and Senator Dean Skelos (R). This bill was introduced to protect New York authors who expose terrorism and terror funding from libel lawsuits filed in foreign courts. If U.S. legislators do not act to stop these lawsuits, the ramifications will be chilling and ominous. A wealthy Saudi has now successfully silenced more than 40 authors and publishers, including many Americans, through threats and lawsuits. Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed – And How to Stop It (www.acdemocracy.org), was a target of one of those lawsuits. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) strongly supports this bill.

We need to mount a massive campaign--NOW--or this bill will die. America, not only New York, needs this legislation. This matter is CRITICAL to protect the U.S. Constitution--the First Amendment--not only in New York State. We must protect journalists' right to expose terror funding, and citizens' rights to be educated.

Action Item: Please copy and paste the sample letter below, or write you own. Please fax or email to the Legislators who authored the bill, listed in the letter below. If you have time to make a call or send a fax asking that they please pass the "Libel Terrorism Protection Act", it would be greatly appreciated. You do not have to live in New York to write, it's important that the legislators hear from everyone. If you live in New York and would like to add your own representative to the letter, they are all listed here: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

This is a very important bill, thank you for taking the time to help get is passed.

Phone numbers and more information below letter. Please pass this on to your lists.

Thank You very much!

---

Dear New York State Assembly Members: Dean Skelos, Rory Lancman, Helene Weinstein, Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Senators: John DeFrancisco and Dean Skelos:

I urge you and your colleagues to pass the bipartisan "Libel Terrorism Protection Act", which was introduced two weeks ago in the New York Assembly and Senate by Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D) and Senator Dean Skelos (R). This bill was introduced to protect New York authors who expose terrorism and terror funding, from libel lawsuits filed in foreign courts. Our First Amendment rights, protections of speech and free press are in jeopardy. If U.S. legislators do not act to stop these lawsuits, the ramifications will be chilling and ominous. This matter is CRITICAL to protect the U.S. Constitution--the First Amendment. We must protect journalists' right to expose terror funding, and citizens' rights to be educated.

A wealthy Saudi has now successfully silenced more than 40 authors and publishers, including many Americans, through threats and U. K. lawsuits. Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed – And How to Stop It, was a target of one of those lawsuits. The Association American of Publishers (AAP) strongly supports this measure.

The bill will change New York state "long arm" statutes that govern business relationships with distant entities--to COVER and PROTECT New York writers and publishers from foreign libel lawsuits. As things stand, Saudis from foreign jurisdictions are successfully diluting America's First Amendment protections of speech and free press.

The sooner New York passes the proposed "Libel Terrorism Protection Act" into law, the sooner the publishing capital of the U.S. and free world--and NY authors--will be safe from foreign jurisdictions that allow outsiders to file frivolous libel suits, without merit. Without a free press, Democracy cannot survive.

Sincerely,
Your name

CONTACTS

Assemblyman Rory Lancman:
Tel: 518-455-5172 (Albany Office)
Tel: 718-820-0241 (District Office)
Fax: 718-820-0414
Email: LancmanR@assembly.state.ny.us

Senator Dean Skelos:
Email: skelos@senate.state.ny.us
Tel: 518-455-3171
Fax: 516-766-8011

New York State Assembly -Speaker, Sheldon Silver
Tel: 212-312-1420
Email: speaker@assembly.state.ny.us

Assemblywoman Helene E. Weinstein
Tel: 718-648-4700
Email: weinsth@assembly.state.ny.us

NY Senator John A. DeFrancisco
Albany Office
Tel: 518-455-3511
Email: jdefranc@senate.state.ny.us

American Muslim 'spokesman': "violent protests" to Dutch film on Qur'an would be "natural"

Bob Crane, the notorious former Nixon aide and convert to Islam, says so in a revealing new piece. He's against such violent protests, mind you, and he thinks Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who is making the film, is just trying to provoke such reactions (Wilders explains himself eloquently here and here.) But he does think they would be "natural." "Challenge and Response: The Case of Islamophobic Wilding," by Dr. Robert D. Crane of The Center for Understanding Islam at "The American Muslim."

Source: Jihad Watch

Muslims Against Sharia denounce Crane's perverted interpretation if Islam. He does not speak for Muslims. Moderate Muslims will NOT have a violent or angry response to a depiction of the Prophet, however distasteful that depiction might be. Muslims who do react violently, are Islamofascists and do not represent all Muslims.

Banks are helping sharia make a back-door entrance

By Tarek Fatah

It seems only yesterday that Premier Dalton McGuinty declared: "There will be no sharia law in Ontario." Many of us, who witnessed the medieval nature of manmade sharia laws in our countries of birth, heaved a sigh of relief back in September of 2005. We thought this was the end of the attempt by Islamists to sneak sharia into a Western jurisdiction. We were wrong.

The campaign to introduce sharia is back. Last time, the campaign took a populist approach, invoking multiculturalism. This time, the pro-sharia lobby is dangling the carrot of new niche markets and has the backing of Canada's major banks. Such icons of the corporate world as Citibank NA, HSBC Holdings PLC, and Barclays PLC have endorsed sharia banking and have started offering Islamic financing products to a vulnerable Muslim population. Read more ...

Source: Globe and Mail
H/T: Atlas

Death Sentence for Afghan Student

By Abdul Waheed Wafa and Carlotta Gall

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan court in northern Afghanistan sentenced a journalism student to death for blasphemy for distributing an article from the Internet that was considered an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, the judge in charge of the court said Wednesday.

The student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, 23, who also works for a local newspaper, was charged with insulting Muhammad by calling the prophet "a killer and adulterer," the judge, Shamsurahman Muhmand, said in a telephone interview.

The sentence was denounced as unfair by Mr. Kambakhsh's family and journalists' organizations. Mr. Kambakhsh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, denied that his sibling had committed blasphemy, and said that his brother was not given enough time to prepare his defense and was denied a lawyer.

Mr. Kambakhsh has the right of appeal to the regional court and the Supreme Court.

He is being punished for articles written by his brother, said Jean Mackenzie, director of the Institute for Peace and War Reporting in Afghanistan, which has printed some of Mr. Ibrahimi's articles. Officials from the National Directorate of Security raided Mr. Ibrahimi's home and seized his computer hard drive the day after his brother was arrested in October, she said. They were most interested in the sources for an article critical of a local militia leader and legislator named Piram Qol, she said.

The case is the third time that clerics have called for death for a blasphemer in the six years since the removal of the Taliban leadership and reflects the deep conservatism that prevails even under the more liberal government of President Hamid Karzai.

Mr. Kambakhsh is a student in the town of Mazar-i-Sharif and also works as a reporter for a daily paper, Jahan-e-Naw. He was accused of downloading a controversial article and adding some of his own words about the ignorance of the Prophet Muhammad on women's rights.

Source: The New York Times
H/T: Atlas

Muslims Against Sharia strongly denounce this draconian sentence. We appeal to President Hamid Karzai, NATO, and the International community to intervene on behalf of Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh. Afghanistan cannot be a member of the free world while its citizens are being charged with blasphemy.

Update: UN urges review of journalist's death sentence

Profiles of American Islamofascists: Hesham Islam

By Claudia Rosett

Questions for the Pentagon: Who is Hesham Islam?

In the sorry tradition of shooting the messenger, the Pentagon is cashiering its top expert on Islamist doctrine, Stephen Coughlin. Some members of Congress are now contemplating hearings to ask why. Along with drawing attention to Coughlin's research, now circulating on the Internet, the growing controversy has thrown a spotlight on Coughlin's alleged nemesis at the Pentagon, a top aide named Hesham Islam - whose tale deserves closer attention. Not least, as a reporter for the Armed Forces Press Service observed last year, it would make a great Hollywood blockbuster.

Certainly there are subplots here that seem made for the movies, including tales of Islam, in his youth, living through an air raid in Egypt, a ship sinking in the Arabian Sea, and now, years later, this scuffle under the Pentagon rug over how to deal with the chief threat to America today - Islamic extremism.

Hesham Islam is a native Arabic speaker, a Muslim, born in 1959 in Cairo and schooled in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In 1980 he immigrated to the U.S. From 1985-2005 he served in the U.S. Navy, rising to the mid-level officer rank of commander. At some point after former defense-industry executive Gordon England joined the Bush administration as secretary of the Navy, in 2001, Islam went to work on his staff. In 2005, when England, after a stint in Homeland Security took over from Paul Wolfowitz in the Defense Department's number two slot of deputy secretary, Islam came with him.

In England's office, Islam's official title is special assistant for international affairs. In that capacity he pops up as a man-about-town in Washington, making the rounds of embassies. But Islam also works as England’s point man for Pentagon outreach programs to Muslim groups. These include organizations such as the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, with whom Islam and England have forged ties — attending ISNA conventions, and hosting ISNA delegations at Pentagon events, and in England's office.

That's alarming to some, such as terrorism expert Steven Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, who, for more than a decade, has been tracking Islamic extremist networks in the U.S. In a recent appearance on Fox News, Emerson described Hesham Islam as, in his view, "an Islamist with a pro-Muslim Brotherhood bent who has brought in groups to the Pentagon who have been unindicted co-conspirators."

Emerson was apparently referring to ISNA, named last summer by the Department of Justice as a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in the case of the Holy Land Foundation, an Islamic charity indicted in 2005 in Dallas federal court for allegedly providing millions of dollars to the terrorist group Hamas (itself an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood). ISNA, in a press statement, says it "remains unjustly branded by the government as an unindicted co-conspirator." (The Holy Land Foundation case resulted in a mistrial last fall, and is expected to be re-tried).

But whatever Emerson's worries, Islam's boss, Gordon England, apparently can't praise Hesham Islam and his work enough. In public statements over the past year, England has described Islam as "my personal close confidante," "my interlocutor," a man who "represents me to the international community," and "assists me in my own outreach efforts." Photos taken on the Washington’s diplomatic reception circuit show England and Islam side-by-side, chatting up contacts. Last October, England described Islam to a Pentagon in-house reporter as a man with "wonderful friendships and relationships" which allow Islam to "give me extraordinarily good advice in dealing with countries and people." England added, "I take his advice, and I listen to him all the time."

As for the Pentagon's soon-to-be-evicted Stephen Coughlin, who sits well below Islam on the Defense totem pole - he is a lawyer by training, and a major in the U.S. Army Reserve. On contract with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Coughlin made it his mission to set aside the feel-good assumptions about Islam which have been guiding U.S. strategy, and take an unblinkered look at facts. Read more ...

Source: National Review
H/T: Jihad WatchHesham Islam
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award


Gordon England
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award

Witness: FrontPage Interview with Pierre Rehov

By Jamie Glazov

Frontpage Interview's guest today is Pierre Rehov, a French filmmaker who has filmed six documentaries on the Palestinian Intifada. One of his recent documentaries, Suicide Killers, explores the psychology of suicide bombers. It is based on interviews with the victims of suicide bombers, the families of suicide bombers, would-be bombers themselves, and experts on suicide killer mentality. He is currently in Iraq filming a new documentary on the psychology of suicide killing.

FP: So let's begin with why you decided to go to Iraq.

Rehov: After the success of Suicide Killers, and you have to remember that I invented the term by contraction of "Suicide Bombers" and "Serial Killers," I decided to make a new film about the "proliferation" of suicide killing. After addressing this dangerous trend in "Suicide Killers," I decided to go deeper into the psychopathology of individuals who are ready to sacrifice their lives as long as they kill others.

The question I am asking myself in making this film is: "What do kamikazes from WWII, Palestinian suicide killers, the murderers of Columbine, Cho at Virginia Tech and other suicide criminals around the world have in common?” "Proliferation" (The tentative work title for now) is a new survey of this phenomenon.

I am trying to answer another very important question: "How do we stop it?" Knowing that the US attacked Iraq in part as a response to 9/11, I wanted to see how this was handled. That's why I went to Iraq.

But we also went to Japan to interview former Kamikazes, to Virginia Tech to understand what really happened there, to Gaza so we could follow the "making" of a suicide killer, to Bethlehem to find families and neighbours of these killers, and also to interview the family of Professor Librescu -- who sacrificed his life also at Virginia Tech, not to kill others, but to save as many lives as he could. Read more ...

Source: FrontPage Magazine

Radical Islamist Dutch Politician Refusing to Resign

ROTTERDAM, 25/01/08 - Labour (PvdA) politician Bouchra Ismaili is refusing to resign. She is ignoring requests from her party to step down because she lied about signing a petition of the radical Muslim organisation Hizb Ut Tahrir.

Ismaili, a Muslim immigrant of Moroccan origin, is a PvdA member of Rotterdam's Charlois district council. Last week, she wrote in an e-mail to a citizen: "You filthy idiot. WE ARE HERE TO STAY hahahahahahhahah DROP DEAD". The email contained reams more similar remarks and urged the man to convert to Islam.

Ismaili's email was a reply to an email in which the citizen, Jos Parbleu, had confronted the council member with statements by Okay Pala, a spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir Nederland. Pala had said in newspaper De Telegraaf: 'We do not agree with freedom of expression, as we reject democracy' and 'what you need is a big bomb attack!'

The PvdA leadership in Charlois did not consider it necessary to boot Ismaili out. But meanwhile, during a meeting of Charlois district council, it has become clear that Ismaili also signed a petition from Hizb Ut Tahrir and lied about it.

The Hizb ut Tahrir petition stated: "It is time to rid ourselves of a culture that damages our Islam." Initially, Ismaili denied emphatically that she signed the petition. But when opposition party Liveable Rotterdam (LR) produced a printout of the Internet page with her signature, she had to admit it.

Ismaili said after being unmasked by Liveable Rotterdam that she felt ashamed because she had "embarrassed the Muslim community in the Netherlands." Both Ismaili and her PvdA colleagues rushed out of the building after the meeting and declined to comment further.

Yesterday, the PvdA decided after all that Ismaili should resign because she lied. But a spokesperson for Ismaili stated she was not prepared to leave the Charlois council. The PvdA cannot force her to resign.

Hizb Ut Tahrir is banned in Germany due to its extremist and anti-Semitic character, but not in the Netherlands. The national PvdA did not want to comment.

Source: NIS News
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Beirut blast kills anti-terror chief

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- An explosion in Beirut has killed four people, including Lebanon's top anti-terror investigating officer, sources with the Lebanese Internal Security Forces and a government minister told CNN.

The attack in Hazmiyeh, a Christian neighborhood northeast of the capital, also wounded 38 others, security sources said.

"It was a powerful blast," CNN's Anthony Mills said. "I was less than half a mile away when it occurred and I felt the shock waves in the car I was traveling in.

"I arrived on the scene several minutes later and there was widespread damage -- several vehicles that had been reduced to hulks of burning, twisted metal ... debris scattered over a wide area."

The explosion killed Capt. Wissam Eid and his driver, the sources said.

Attacks of this nature have escalated as Lebanon has been in the midst of a political crisis as pro- and anti-Syrian lawmakers in parliament are locked in a battle to elect a president.

The nation has been without a president since November 23, when the pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term.

Last week, a car bomb struck a U.S. Embassy vehicle as it traveled along a coastal highway north of Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese civilian bystanders. The driver of the embassy vehicle sustained minor injuries, and the sole passenger walked away unscathed. Read more ...

Source: CNN

Get with the program or get out!

There is an article here that I think bears repeating in full and to a larger audience than just San Francisco. If you can take the time to read the whole thing I would like to make a comment at the end.

Guest Post by Cinnamon Stillwell; San Francisco Chronicle.

Throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, young Muslim women are being targeted for violence. Lest it be thought hate crimes are to blame, it is, in fact, their own relatives who are the perpetrators. So-called honor killings, whereby a Muslim male family member, typically the father, murders his daughter in order to defend the family’s honor, is a growing problem.

While statistics are notoriously hard to come by due to the private nature of such crimes and the fact that very few are reported, the United Nations Population Fund approximates that as many as 5,000 women are murdered in this manner each year worldwide.

Undoubtedly that’s a low estimate, as reports from Turkey, Jordan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories, among other locales, are filtering in at an alarming rate. Add to the list Germany, Sweden, other parts of Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, and it’s clear that young Muslim women in the West are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

While fathers are commonly responsible for honor killings, they often act in concert with their daughters’ brothers, uncles, and even female relatives. For infringements upon a Muslim daughter’s “honor” constitute the greatest humiliation possible to the religious and tribal tradition from which many such immigrant families emerged.

Acts that demand “punishment” include refusing to wear a hijab (or headscarf), having non-Muslim boyfriends or male friends of any origin, being sexually active, rejecting arranged marriages, aggressively seeking employment and education, and, more than anything else, attempting to assimilate into Western culture.

Trying to balance a tightrope between the demands of competing and in some cases incompatible cultures, young Muslim women in the West are caught between two worlds. And all too often they pay the ultimate price. Indeed, two such cases have rocked the United States and Canada in recent months, bringing the specter of honor killings much closer to home.

On New Year’s Day, residents of Lewisville, Texas were shocked to hear about the brutal murder of teenage sisters Sarah and Amina Said. The two were found shot to death in a taxi after having made a last phone call to a police dispatcher asking for help. The police immediately issued an arrest warrant for the girls’ father, Egyptian-born cab driver Yaser Abdel Said, who remains at large to this day.

A Muslim married to a Christian woman, the elder Said had a history of physical and sexual abuse toward his daughters. This past Christmas, his wife, Patricia, finally fled the state with the girls and set up residence in Tulsa, Okla., under an assumed name.

Said’s violent and domineering behavior was apparently motivated by his concern that, as the Dallas Morning News describes it, “Western culture was corrupting the chastity of his daughters.”

Honor students and athletes at Lewisville High School, Sarah and Amina were the quintessential American teenagers. Amina had been awarded a $20,000 college scholarship and Sarah planned to study medicine. Photos of the two young women demonstrate a vibrancy and attractiveness that undoubtedly induced fear in their controlling father.

The emergence of non-Muslim boyfriends was the final straw.

Although the girls’ mother denied that Said was motivated by religion or culture and their brother, Islam, claimed it was not an honor killing, all evidence points to the contrary.

While, reportedly, the family was not terribly observant, Said, as described by the Dallas Morning News, “often espoused his version of traditional Middle Eastern values,” including marrying his then 15-year-old wife when he was 30, threatening to take one of his daughters “back to Egypt and have her killed,” where, as he put it, “it’s OK to do that … if you dishonor your family,” trying to break up one of his daughters and her non-Muslim boyfriend, and threatening to kill both his daughters on multiple occasions over disputes surrounding their social lives.

Summing it all up, the sisters’ great-aunt Gail Gartrell stated unequivocally, “This was an honor killing.”

The slayings of Sarah and Amina Said came on the heels of another apparent honor killing, that of 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez in Mississauga, Ontario, last December. Aqsa was a vivacious and popular young woman whose attempts at a normal, Western teenage social life angered her Pakistani father, Muhammad Parvez.

Aqsa, who was opposed to wearing a hijab and sometimes changed her outfit once she got to school, often clashed with her father and had left the family home a week before the attack out of fear. But she eventually returned, only to be met with strangulation at the hands of her own father. She died later in the hospital and the elder Parvez, who initially called the police, was charged with her murder. Aqsa’s 26-year-old brother, Waqas, was charged with obstructing police.

Like the Said sisters, Aqsa had long suffered abuse at the hands of her father, reports of which were never adequately pursued by Canadian authorities. But Aqsa’s friends saw trouble brewing and, according to the National Post, noted that “she had been threatened by her strictly religious family before.” According to one of them, Ebonie Mitchell, Aqsa held conflicting opinions with her family on wearing a hijab.

As she put it, Aqsa “just wanted to dress like we do. Last year, she wore like the Islamic stuff and everything, the hijab, and this year she’s all western. She just wanted to look like everyone else.”

As another friend, Krista Garbhet, noted, “She just wanted to be herself; honestly, she just wanted to show her beauty.” However, as Aqsa was to discover, the latter desire can have dangerous consequences for young Muslim women in the West.

In the wake of Parvez’s murder, one would hope for moral clarity from the Canadian Muslim community. But with a few exceptions, the usual suspects issued the usual apologetics.

Following Parvez’s funeral, an anti-violence vigil was held at the Mississauga Civic Centre and organized by the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Unfortunately, CAIR-CAN, like its American counterpart and the Cadaian Islamic Congress,(CIC) is part of the problem, not the solution.

Working to further acceptance of Sharia (or Islamic) law in the United States and Canada and trying to silence — either through accusations of “Islamophobia,” libel lawsuits or boycotts — voices of criticism and reform, CAIR’s agenda would seem to be working against the advancement of Muslim women’s rights.

Accordingly, representatives of other allegedly mainstream Muslim groups, instead of taking the opportunity to address the scourge of honor killings, downplayed the religious and cultural angle.

Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association, claimed that “The strangulation death of Ms. Parvez was the result of domestic violence, a problem that cuts across Canadian society and is blind to color or creed,” while Sheikh Alaa El-Sayyed, imam of the Islamic Society of North America in Mississauga, came to the following conclusion: “The bottom line is, it’s a domestic violence issue.”

In contrast, Canadian Muslim reformer Irshad Manji, in addressing Aqsa Parvez’s murder, put it like so:

Moderate Muslims have warned that we shouldn’t leap to conclusions. Who knows what other dynamics infected her family, spout hijab-hooded mouthpieces on Canadian TV.

Not once have I heard these upstanding Muslims say that whatever the ‘family dynamics,’ killing is not a solution. Ever. How’s that for basic morality?

Similarly, Tarek Fatah, founder of the Canadian Muslim Congress, (CMC) labeled Parvez’s murder “a blight on Islam.” “In my mind,” he added, “this was an honor killing.”

Until this kind of self-reflection and self-criticism become the norm in the Muslim community, much-needed reform will remain elusive.

This includes addressing the root causes of honor killings and sanctioned violence against Muslim women.

Although the Koran does not authorize honor killings, Quran 4:34 instructs men to beat disobedient wives and send them to sleep in separate beds.

Then there are tribal leaders such as Jordanian Tarrad Fayiz, who tells followers that “A woman is like an olive tree. When its branch catches woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society stays clean and pure.” Op-eds such as the one in the Yemen Times earlier this month recommending violence against women and clerics delivering sermons and speeches doing the same further muddy the waters.

Also at question are the vagaries of the Arab honor/shame culture, in which men’s “shame” (or that of the family or tribe) at the prospect of women’s sullied “honor” (or chastity) must be avoided at all costs.

Honor killings are not, as the apologists would have us believe, simple acts of domestic violence akin to those that take place in all communities. They are specific to Muslim religion and culture and must be addressed as such if ever honest debate about the matter is to ensue.

Regrettably, silence is the more typical reaction to these crimes. Fearful of giving offense or being branded with the ubiquitous “Islamophobia” label, law enforcement, journalists, social workers, government officials and, most of all, Western feminists are allowing a grave threat to women’s rights go unaddressed.

The misguided purveyors of multiculturalism — an ideology that holds that all cultures or religions are equivalent and none (save for the dominant, or Western, culture) worthy of condemnation — have rendered the West incapable of addressing evils where Third World cultures are to blame.

But the truth is Western culture offers the greatest boon to women’s rights and must therefore be vigorously defended, even if that means stepping into the realm of the politically incorrect.

Feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women, which put out an occasional press release decrying honor killings, need to make combating this practice as high a priority as defending choice and railing against “glass ceilings.” Instead, it is a precious few who are telling it like it is when it comes to the oppression of women in Muslim culture.

Ironically, many of them are on the right side of the political spectrum or, like author, blogger and activist Phyllis Chesler, have been cast out of the leftist-dominated feminist movement for speaking the uncomfortable truth.

As I have noted previously, the challenges posed by the Muslim world are the next frontier for women’s rights and all those interested in advancing such goals will have the occasion. It is up to every one of us to speak out where, not only women’s, but human rights are in question. Young women’s lives are at stake.

Now here is the point I would like to make, ladies and gentlemen; Let's start with this quote from the article...... Acts that demand “punishment” include refusing to wear a hijab (or headscarf), having non-Muslim boyfriends or male friends of any origin, being sexually active, rejecting arranged marriages, aggressively seeking employment and education, and, more than anything else, attempting to assimilate into Western culture.

If "Honor Killings" are a part of this problem it doesn't matter whether it's from religious reasons, cultural reasons, domestic violence, anger management, mental health issues, (nuts!) or tribal leaders such as Jordanian Tarrad Fayiz, who tells followers that “A woman is like an olive tree. When its branch catches woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society stays clean and pure.” No, my friends, it doesn't matter at all who or what is at fault, what matters is "Attempting to assimilate into Western culture!"

So.....my point? Plain and simple! If you don't want to assimilate into Western culture, WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!

In North America there is a strong tradition of immigrants comming over from far away lands and they have all assimilated, conformed and settled in to make us what we are today. The Ukrainians, the Brits, the Irish, the Scotish, the French, (sort of!) the Italians, the Spanish, the Africans, the Jamaicans, the Spanish, the Russians the Orientals and anyone else you might want to name.

They have all become part of the North American mosaic with a "minimum" of trouble and adjustment because they might come from different cultures but still lived in the modern world.

This is a lesson that people who are staunch Muslims should heed! Bringing seventh century religion and customs into twenty first century countries ain't gonna work baby, no way!

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site www.God-101.com

Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

What Influence Does Saudi Money Buy?

By Asaf Romirowsky

An Islamic group came to Temple University last spring with an offer to provide $1.5 million for an endowed chair in Islamic studies to honor religion professor Mahmoud Ayoub. After months of talks, the deal never got off the ground, once trustees and others raised concerns about the contributor, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a nonprofit research group that had been under scrutiny as part of a government probe into the funding of suspected terrorists.

Some would like to consider money given by Saudis and other Arab nations to American universities as generous gifts to those U.S. universities who have educated their elites. A closer look reveals a different picture that includes incitement, anti-Semitism and a skewed view of Islam. Read more ...

Source: Jewish Exponent
H/T: FrontPage Magazine

Suicide bomber falls down stairs ...

From correspondents in Khost, Afghanistan

A WOULD-be suicide bomber fell down a flight of stairs and blew himself up as he headed out for an attack in Afghanistan, police say.

It was the second such incident in two days, with another man killing himself and three others on Tuesday when his bomb-filled waistcoat exploded as he was putting it on in the southern town of Lashkar Gah.

Yesterday's blast was in a busy market area of the eastern town of Khost, a deputy provincial police chief said.

The would-be attacker tripped as he was leaving a building apparently to target an opening ceremony for a mosque that was expected to be attended by Afghan and international military officials, said Sakhi Mir. Read more ...

Source: NEWS.com.AU
H/T: Atlas

Finally! Suicide bombings we could all celebrate!

The Gender of Islam

For the last fourteen centuries Islam has been one of the world's greatest religions. Born in the sands of Arabia Islam spread throughout the globe and in the Third millennium Muslims live in almost every country on Earth. Some would argue that Islam is not only a religion, but also political ideology, but they would be wrong. Islam is a religion, a relationship between a person and God. Islamism (or political Islam) is an ideology based on Islam. Islamism is what radical Muslims (or Islamic fundamentalists, or Muslim extremists, or Islamofascists, or whatever else you want to call them) preach to wage Gihad for world domination. Moderate Muslims, unlike their radical co-religionists do not believe in Islamic supremacy and global caliphate.

Islamophobia prejudice against anything Islamic. If somebody hates Muslims or Islam, he/she is an Islamophobe. If somebody hates Muslim radicals or Islamism, he/she is not. Blanket degrading of anything Islamic is Islamophobia. Rational criticism of Islam or Muslims is not.

So, up until just a few years ago Islam was just that: a religion. But since the last decade of the Second millennium Western Muslim establishment (which is overwhelmingly Islamists) together with the media (which is overwhelmingly ignorant about Islam, a very dangerous combination, have been trying to convince everyone that Islamophobia is racism, thereby crating a new race: Islam. Do not believe your own eyes. White Muslims, and black Muslims, and Asian Muslims they are all a part of Islamic race and criticizing them makes you a racist, so you'd better shut up. Nobody wants to be called a racist, therefore piggybacking on the legacy of the Civil rights Movement was a stroke of genius. Screaming "Racism!" is guaranteed to attract attention. The rationale behind "Islamophobia = racism" is simple. If you are not allowed to criticize Islamists, they can do whatever they want. Islamic terrorism? Doesn’t exist! Yes, there are some instances of terrorism perpetrated by Muslims, but that has nothing to do with Islam and to say otherwise is racist. Radical Imams preaching hatred of Christians and Jews in American mosques? Never happens! Muslim "leaders" whitewashing terrorism? How dare you, you racist scum!

Did 9/11 change anything? Not much. It took a long time for the American President to use words "Islamic" and "terrorism" in the same sentence. In the meantime, radical Muslim organizations like CAIR, ISNA, MAS, etc., insinuated themselves deep into highest levels of the American government, because denying anything to them is manifestation of racism.

So, up until a few days ago, Islam was both a religion and a race. Enter the great country of Belarus. A former Soviet republic run by a communist dictator and a clique of KGB thugs recently arrested an editor of an independent newspaper for reprinting 2005 Danish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. He is jailed for three years for "incitement of religious and national hatred". The notion that printing some silly cartoons of a religious figure would incite religious hatred is a stretch. But national hatred? Unless, of course, on top of being a religion and a race, Islam is also a nationality.

Well, thanks to fascist KGB thugs from Belarus, now it is official. Islam is a religion, a race, and a nationality. But why stop there? On the next plenary session of Muslims Against Sharia the first item on the agenda will be: "The Gender of Islam." And why not? There are Muslims of every race, yet criticizing Islam is racism. There are Muslims of almost every nationality, yet depicting Prophet Muhammad is inciting national hatred. I'm pretty sure that there are Muslims of both genders; why not equate criticizing Islam or depicting the Prophet with sexism? So, don't even think about criticizing us, you misogynistic pigs!

L.A.

Holland Braces For Possible Backlash From Movie

UPDATE: England's "Guardian Unlimited" reports the following (1/27/08):

Koran film delayed

A far-right Dutch politician's anti-Koran film will likely not be broadcast until March, he said in an interview published yesterday.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, told De Telegraaf the film would be ready two months later than planned. The paper said Wilders had sent it the 10-minute film's opening scene to prove he is making it. Delays in airing the film had led to media speculation that it may have been a hoax.

Wilders's plan to make the film has already prompted the government to alert Dutch cities to prepare for possible violent reactions and warn embassies in Islamic countries.

Dutch politician, Geert Wilders (leader of the right-wing Freedom Party) plans to release a film 10-minute film on Friday (1/25/08) that shows, according to him, how the Koran is used by Islamic radicals to teach homophobia, the abuse of women, and the endorsement of violence. In light of the brutal 2004 murder of another Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, politicians and Muslim leaders fear a repeat of violence and further strain in relationships between the Dutch and the nation's large Muslim immigrant population. In a proactive response to the movie's release, government officials are first distancing themselves from the filmmaker's movie and are also stepping up security both within the country and abroad at its embassies.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has called for Wilders to exercise restraint. "The Netherlands has a tradition of freedom of speech, religion and beliefs," said Balkenende according to the Associated Press. "The Netherlands also has a tradition of respect, tolerance and responsibility. Unnecessarily offending certain groups does not belong here."

Wilders' movie is scheduled to air on January 25th, but so far no Dutch broadcaster willing to air the movie could be found. If a broadcaster could not be found by Friday, Wilders said he would post the movie on the Internet.

In the past, Wilders attempted to have the Koran banned, calling it "that horrible, fascist book that incites violence," and equating it with Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf." The 42 year-old lawmaker has built a public image on stemming the tide of what he calls a "tsunami of Islamization" in the Netherlands, where a population of 16.3 million now includes 850,000 Muslims.

Go here to read the rest of the article: "Van Gogh Redux?: Another Anti-Koran Film Stirs Up Holland"

Source: SpiegelOnline

submitted via: kmacginn at hummers & cigarettes

Update: Moroccans want Wilders prosecuted

THE HAGUE – Moroccan organisations in the Netherlands want the public prosecution department to prosecute Freedom party PVV leader Geert Wilders for discrimination against Muslims. If the justice department refuses, then the organisations will approach the court to force the prosecution department to take action. Read more ...

Honor killings: When the ancient and the modern collide

By Cinnamon Stillwell

Throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, young Muslim women are being targeted for violence. Lest it be thought hate crimes are to blame, it is, in fact, their own relatives who are the perpetrators. So-called honor killings, whereby a Muslim male family member, typically the father, murders his daughter in order to defend the family's honor, is a growing problem. Read more ...

Source: San Francisco Gate
H/T: Jihad Watch

French editor back in court over Muhammad toons that "drew an offensive link between Islam and terrorism"

The cartoons drew a link between Islam and terrorism? Really? Wasn't it Osama bin Laden who did that? Or maybe it was Khomeini, who said, "Islam says: Kill in the service of Allah those who may want to kill you!...There are hundreds of other [Koranic] psalms and hadiths [sayings of the prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim." Or maybe it was the Qur'an itself, which tells Muslims to

"strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah" (8:60).

PARIS, January 23, 2008 - The editor of a French weekly, acquitted last year on charges of offending Muslims for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in February 2006, appeared before an appeal court on Wednesday.

Philippe Val, who edits the satirical Charlie Hebdo weekly, was sued by two Muslim organisations who argued that the cartoons, first printed by a Danish newspaper, drew an offensive link between Islam and terrorism.

A Paris court ruled in March last year that two of the cartoons were absolutely not offensive to Muslims and that in the case of the third, the context of its publication made clear there was no intention to offend. Read more ...

Source: AFP
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Imam offers prayer at Iowa Statehouse asking Allah for "victory over those who disbelieve"

The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed.

When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins.

The prayer asked of "Victory over those who disbelieve [infidels]," and "Protection from the great Satan [United States of America]" among other things. Read more ...

Source: Storm Lake Pilot Tribune
H/T: Jihad Watch

Iman issues fatwa against Bollywood star who let Madame Tussaud's make his image in wax

Bollywood actor has had a fatwa issued against him for allowing Madame Tussaud's in London to make his image in wax.

Salman Khan, star of more than 50 movies, unveiled the statue himself last week and described it as an honour.

Most Indians would agree, but Mufti Salim Ahmad Qasmi, a Muslim cleric in India, said the statue is illegal according to the Sharia, which forbids depictions of all living creatures, Mohammed in particular.

The Dioband Seminary which the mufti runs has already issued a fatwa against Khan for dancing at a Hindu festival last month.

The actor says his "bad boy" image is to blame as fellow Muslim and even bigger star Shah Rukh Khan is also in the wax museum and hasn't been singled out.

Film critic Parsa Rao feels Khan doesn't have much to worry about.

"This is just nonsense that no one pays any attention to," he said yesterday.

"These fatwas are becoming a joke."

Source: Daily Mail
H/T: FrontPage Magazine

Three Little Pigs 'too offensive'

A story based on the Three Little Pigs fairy tale has been turned by a government agency's awards panel as the subject matter could offend Muslims.

The digital book, re-telling the classic story, was rejected by judges who warned that "the use of pigs raises cultural issues".

Becta, the government's educational technology agency, is a leading partner in the annual Bett Award for schools.

The judges also attacked Three Little Cowboy Builders for offending builders.

The book's creative director, Anne Curtis, said the idea that including pigs in a story could be interpreted as racism was "like a slap in the face". Read more ...

Source: BBC
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Malaysia Islamic State to Enforce Separate Lines for Women, Men at Supermarkets

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's only state run by the Islamic opposition party will get stricter about enforcing separate lines for men and women at supermarkets, an official said Tuesday. Read more ...

Source: AP
H/T: FrontPage

Mullah Omar wants you, or else: Taliban attacking students in campaign to force teen boys to join militias

KABUL, Afghanistan - The number of students and teachers killed in Taliban attacks has tripled in the past year in a campaign to close schools and force teenage boys to join the Islamic militia, Afghanistan's education minister says.

While the overall state of Afghan education shows improvement, Education Ministry numbers point to a sharp decline in security for students, teachers and schools in the south, where the Taliban thrives: The number of students out of classes because of security concerns has hit 300,000 since March 2007, compared with 200,000 in the previous 12 months, while the number of schools closing has risen from 350 to 590.

The Taliban strategy is deliberate: "to close these schools down so that the children and primarily the teenagers that are going to the schools — the boys — have no other option but to join the Taliban," Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

The Taliban know that educated Afghans won't join the militants, so a closed school leaves students with two options — to join the Taliban or "to cross the border and go into those hate madrassas," Atmar said, referring to Islamic seminaries in Pakistan where "they will be professionally trained as terrorists."

Wakil Ahmad Khan, a top official at Pakistan's religious affairs ministry, said Pakistani "madrassas are doing a wonderful job by providing education to millions of students" and "if the Afghan officials have any such information, they should share it with Pakistan's Foreign Ministry."

Attacks on schools still in operation have actually fallen in the last 10 months — to 98 from 187 in the same period of 2006, Atmar said, attributing the drop to a community defense initiative. But the Taliban have switched to targeting students on their way to and from school or in other places where they congregate.

The U.N. said it couldn't confirm that Taliban fighters were upping efforts to recruit schoolboys, and no educational aid organizations that could confirm Atmar's claims are working in provinces such as Helmand in the dangerous south.

Adam Rutland, a spokesman at the British reconstruction team in Helmand province, said the perception in Helmand province was that more schools were open than in the past, although he added that it's well known that disaffected and poor young men are a recruiting base for the Taliban.

Atmar said 147 students and teachers have been killed in Taliban attacks since mid-March, compared with 46 in the previous year. The 147 include 58 students and teachers killed in a single bombing and gunfire attack in Baghlan province in November.

The number of students and teachers wounded has gone from 46 to 200, he said.

Most of the schools closed for security reasons are in the south. In Helmand, the world's largest opium poppy growing region, 177 schools are closed, along with 150 in nearby Kandahar province, Atmar said.

He said dozens of students he talked with in Helmand province recently told him the Taliban are pushing them to enlist. Some 1,100 students from outlying areas are traveling to the relative safety of the Helmand provincial capital of Lashkar Gah to attend class. Atmar said he hopes soon to provide housing and food for these students.

Of the 13 districts in Helmand, seven have no schools in operation, said Sayed Abrar Agha, the director of education in Helmand. District leaders like Agha provide the figures that Atmar cites.

Agha said he recently visited the town of Musa Qala — which was controlled by the Taliban until last month — and the head education official refused to talk to him.

"He's still afraid of the Taliban and doesn't want to meet with government officials," Agha said.

Atmar predicted attacks on students and teachers would continue to increase unless the international community and the Afghan government delivered protection.

Still, overall there is good news in Afghanistan's educational comeback since the days of the Taliban, when girls couldn't attend schools and fewer than 1 million boys did. Some 5.8 million students now attend class, up from 5.4 million a year ago, 35 percent of them female, Atmar said.

The Education Ministry's goal is that within four years 75 percent of all boys will be in classes — up from roughly 50 percent currently — and 60 percent of all girls — up from less than 30 percent today.

Schools also suffer from a shortage of qualified teachers, particularly female ones, and of infrastructure.

U.S. forces in the eastern province of Kunar are linking Afghan children with schools in the U.S., Italy and Germany that can supply pens, notebooks and chalk, the military said Wednesday.

"Being in the U.S., it is hard to visualize the lack of resources they have here," Army Capt. Jay S. VanDenbos, 30, from Tahlequah, Okla., was quoted as saying in a military news release.

Teachers are underpaid, and of Afghanistan's 9,400 schools, only 40 percent have proper facilities, he said. "Ninety percent of the schools are open-air schools, which are sometimes a tarp and a dirt floor. They'll have a rock that they use as a chalk board, and kids sit underneath the tarp and learn."

"Most of the kids want to learn. They yearn for knowledge," said VanDenbos. "Anytime anyone goes on patrols, the kids are screaming to 'give me pen, give me pen.'"

Source: AP
H/T: Jihad Watch