By David Suissa I’m not sure, but I think I have a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or at least another way of looking at it. It hit me the other day after I broke bread at Pat’s Restaurant with some people connected to Americans for Peace Now, a leftist Jewish organization that actively promotes the two-state solution. Now, you should know that whenever I hear the words “peace now,” something inside of me cringes. I have never understood how Israel could make peace now with an enemy that hates her no matter what she does. Over the years, I’ve asked this question of a number of people across the ideological spectrum: “If Israel dismantled all the settlements in the West Bank tomorrow, would it stop Palestinian hostility and violence toward Israel?” I never once got a yes. Why? I think it’s because most people intuitively understand that dismantling settlements is not the same thing as dismantling hatred. The hatred that has been taught for years in Palestinian schools and summer camps, through television shows and billboards and in mosques is not just aimed at Jewish settlers but at all Jews and at all of Israel. This kind of hatred is too deep to be washed away by well-meaning gestures. So I came to my Peace Now lunch with some apprehension — and a lot of prejudice. I can’t say I connected ideologically with my lunchmates, but I did end up connecting emotionally. The reason was that I trusted their deep commitment to Israel and their sincerity in their search for peace. There was something very Jewish about their attitude toward the conflict. First, the idea of hope, of never giving up. Where would the Jews be today if we didn’t have hope? There was also the idea of taking responsibility for our situation — of not blaming others for our fate. Again, where would the Jewish nation be today without that character trait? My peace-loving lunch companions are not naive. They know about the spread of Jewish hatred in Palestinian society, and they understand the fear many of us have that a Palestinian state could easily become a terrorist state. But they believe the ideals of peace and a two-state solution are so valuable to Jews and to Israel that it is worth pursuing relentlessly, even if it means paying a significant price. It’s this idea of paying a price for peace that made a lightbulb go off. For nearly two decades, Israel has gone to one failed peace meeting after another with this question in mind: How much are we willing to pay for peace? In doing so, they have acted as if the Palestinians actually have something to sell. Apparently, no one ever stood up during one of those meetings to say to the Israelis: “Wait a minute, you’re not the buyers, you’re the sellers!” Why sellers? Because everyone knows that when Israel signs an agreement with an Arab country, it is capable of honoring it. On the other hand, it’s no secret that the Palestinians, with or without Hamas, are in no position to deliver peace to Israel. It follows that if any party should be selling, it is Israel. Yet, incredibly, it is always the reverse: The Palestinians are selling a peace they can’t deliver, while the Israelis are buying a peace that doesn’t exist. Is it any wonder that all the peace plans keep failing? That groups like Peace Now keep banging their heads against the wall, hoping that more concessions from Israel will somehow bring us closer to that elusive solution? The problem with pressuring Israel to buy peace through concessions is that it perpetuates the illusion that the Palestinians have something to sell. What the peace process needs more than anything is for the Palestinians to be able to deliver their end of the bargain. Until that happens, any question of creating a Palestinian state is moot. My solution? Have the sides switch roles or mind-states. Israelis should act like “peace owners,” and Palestinians should act like “peace buyers.” With a buyer mentality, Palestinians will be more likely to make their own offers, rather than passively rejecting Israeli offers, which is what they often do. As buyers, Palestinians would also learn that Israel needs a minimum security deposit: Stop teaching Jew-hatred to your children. Palestinians can’t offer peace while they’re teaching war. Tragically, the anti-incitement clause was the great ignored clause of Oslo — so for more than 15 years, Palestinian society fell back on its habit of demonizing Jews, which contributed to the growth of terrorism and rejectionist forces like Hamas. Israel is hardly blameless in this picture, and it has made its share of mistakes. But settlements or no settlements, the fact remains that the great majority of Israeli Jews have been more than ready to pay a huge price for peace, including evacuating most of the West bank. Had the Palestinians been smart, had they taken more responsibility for their situation and developed a culture of co-existence, they would have long ago made Israel an offer it couldn’t refuse. They would have called Israel’s bluff and made the process real. Instead, we’ve all been treated to the continuing and sorry spectacle of global diplomats parachuting into Jerusalem to coax adversaries into yet another round of the “let’s play peace process” game. Leading the latest charge is our new can-do president, who believes that a solution is possible if only the U.S. becomes more “engaged.” He will soon learn that no amount of American engagement or Israeli concessions can undo the reality that for the foreseeable future, the Palestinians are utterly incapable of delivering peace to Israel. All this, of course, is very sobering for those of us who fear for the future of Israel as a Jewish democratic state. Going forward, the one thing we can be sure of is that groups like Peace Now will continue to pressure Israel to make concessions, and people like me will lament that the whole process is upside down. David Suissa, an advertising executive, is founder of OLAM magazine, Meals4Israel.com and Ads4Israel.com. He can be reached at dsuissa@olam.org. Source: Jewish Journal H/T: Tundra Tabloids
 (ANSAmed) - MADRID, MARCH 24 - Morocco announces the end of tolerance with regard to homosexuality, is the title of the full page article in today's El Pais, referring to the initiative which the Ministry for the interior in Morocco is using to 'confront all actions which go against religious and moral values, within the framework of the law''. An article with the headline in red on the front page of magazine Al Michaal triggered the reaction by the government in Rabat; in it a gay Moroccan couple tell the story of their wedding, reciting a prayer which comes before the reading from the Koran. The formula is very common in Morocco, between heterosexual couples as well, but it does not mean that the union is legal. In a message quoted by El Pais, the Ministry for the interior registered "voices in the media which are trying to make a case for ignoble behaviour which is a provocation to national public opinion and which are against the moral values and teachings of our society". The government will carry act against these people "within the framework of current laws". Homosexuality is punishable in Morocco from six months to three years imprisonment, even though courts do not usually pass sentences for this kind of crime. Nevertheless arrests of gays are commonly made as a 'deterrent''. El Pais notes that "while several publications are indulgent towards Moroccan gays, the main body of the press is asking for a strong hand against perverts". Spain's ambassador in Rabat, Luis Planas, recently became involved in the controversy, when he was photographed with the secretary of Colegas, a Spanish association which defends the rights of gays and lesbians, and with Bargachi, the coordinator of Kifkif (from equal to equal), an association which supports gays in Morocco. (ANSAmed). Source: ANSAmedH/T: Jihad Watch
 Palestinian children from the Jenin refugee camp in
the West Bank play for Holocaust
survivors at a center in Holon, last Wednesday.By Khaled Abu Toameh Palestinian authorities disbanded a youth orchestra from a West Bank refugee camp after it played for a group of Holocaust survivors in Israel, a local official said on Sunday. Adnan Hindi of the Jenin camp called the Holocaust a "political issue" and accused conductor Wafa Younis of unknowingly dragging the children into a political dispute. He added that Younis has been barred from the camp and the apartment where she taught the 13-member Strings of Freedom orchestra has been boarded up. On Saturday, The Jerusalem Post found that leaders and representatives of the Jenin refugee camp condemned the participation of Palestinian teenagers from the camp in a concert honoring Holocaust survivors in Holon last week. Read more ...Source: Jerusalem PostH/T: Jihad Watch
Turkey's crackdown on the practice of honor killing has resulted in unintended consequences – instead of being murdered by a close male relative for bringing dishonor to their families, Muslim women are being pressured to commit suicide. And the numbers of "honor suicides" are soaring, reported the UK's Independent. Despite a 2005 change in the nation's penal code requiring a mandatory life sentence for honor killers, the number of women killed by male relatives is at a record level – more than 200 a year, half of all murders committed in Turkey. But it is that change in the law that has given rise to the growing phenomenon of women taking their own lives. Prior to 2005, killers were able to receive reduced sentences by claiming provocation. Read more ...Source: WND
 By David Lewkowict As America's Muslim population grows, so too does the influence of Islamic law, or Shariah, in daily life in the U.S."Shariah Law is the totality of the Muslim's obligation," said Abdullahi An-Na'im, a professor of law at Emory University in Atlanta. According to An-Na'im, Shariah is similar to Jewish Talmudic Law or Catholic Canon Law in that it guides an adherent's moral conduct. "As a citizen, I am a subject of the United States," An-Na'im said. "I owe allegiance to the United States, to the Constitution of the United States. That is not inconsistent with observing a religious code in terms of my own personal behavior." While many view this as a testament to the "great American melting pot," others see Islamic law's growing influence as a threat. Shariah's critics point to cases such as the airport in Minneapolis, where some Shariah-adherent taxi drivers made headlines in 2006 for refusing to pick up passengers they suspected of carrying liquor. The drivers' aversion to alcohol stemmed from a verse in the Qur'an that describes "intoxicants and gambling" as "an abomination of Satan's handiwork." Read more ...Source: Fox NewsH/T: WND
 An advertisement in the new issue of the Weekly Standard is most welcome to those who argue the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) inflates its support among American Muslims. The ad notes that U.S. government officials have been "mostly baffled by extremism among American Muslims," a state best illustrated by past, warm relations with CAIR: "We, the undersigned American Muslims, have long known the true character of CAIR and its allies." The FBI broke off most contacts with CAIR last summer and has indicated "certain issues" must be resolved by CAIR leaders before its access is restored. Those issues appear connected to evidence in the terror-finance trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) which ended with the conviction of five men on 108 counts related to Hamas-support last November. Sentencing is scheduled for late May. Evidence in the trial places CAIR founders in pivotal conversations among members of a secret Hamas-support network in the U.S. Other transcripts indicate CAIR was a direct outgrowth of that network. The advertisement It was placed by the Center for Islamic Pluralism and signed by four center officials – President Kemal Silay, Executive Director Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, fellow Imaad Malik, Nawab Agha Mousvi and Southern Director Jalal Zuberi. Joining them were Supna Zaidi, an assistant director at Islamist Watch, M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, Khalim Massoud of Muslims Against Sharia, Kiran Sayyed of the Council for Democracy and Tolerance, and Shia.Protest@yahoo.com. Under the heading "American Muslims Commend FBI for Rejection of CAIR," the group explains the reasons it supports the FBI move. Among them: "We observe their commitment to radical aims, their attempts to chill free speech by calling critics of radical Islam "Islamophobes," and their false, ugly accusations against moderate American Muslims who disagree with their agenda.
We reject any claim that CAIR and its supporters are legitimate civil liberties advocates or appropriate partners between the U.S. government and American Muslims." Click here to see the entire ad. Source: IPT BlogCAIR
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 True to his campaign promises, President Barack Hussein Obama has picked a rabid judicial activist as his first federal court pick. Judge David Hamilton has been chosen by Obama to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
Hamilton is precisely what Obama wants in a judge: Someone who ignores the Constitution and imposes his own liberal ideas on each case. Hamilton will have what Obama calls “empathy” for the poor, child molesters, abortionists, murderers, etc.
Hamilton has ideal liberal credentials. He is a former ACLU lawyer and was a fundraiser for the corrupt group known as ACORN. This organization engages in fraudulent voter registration campaigns and is deeply involved in housing and poverty issues. Obama was an attorney for ACORN when he worked as a “community organizer” in Chicago. ACORN will be gathering data for the 2010 Census.
This lawyer is so radical that the liberal ABA rated him as “not qualified” when Bill Clinton nominated him for a district court post in 1994.
As a judge, Hamilton was a friend of abortionists, criminals, drug pushers and child sex offenders. He made is easier for child sex offenders to move around Indiana by invalidating a law designed to protect children. He helps criminals by suppressing evidence and warrants. He has ruled against waiting periods for those women seeking abortions.
Hamilton is also an enemy of the First Amendment and religious freedom. Interestingly enough, Hamilton has ruled that prayers in Jesus Name at the Indiana House of Representatives was unconstitutional, but prayers to Allah were not. [MASH consider ANY government-sponsored prayer that invokes specific religion a violation of the First Amendment]
The Senate Judiciary Committee should soundly reject him as an out-of-control radical who has no respect for the Constitution or the rule of law. With a liberal majority on this committee, however, it is likely that Hamilton will be easily approved and his nomination will then go to the full Senate for confirmation. With a liberal majority in the Senate, his confirmation is virtually assured.
Hamilton’s confirmation will be one more nail in the coffin of freedom in America – and Obama will have been the hammer. Source: TVCH/T: Gramfan
By Beila Rabinowitz and William Mayer March 26, 2009 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - On April 1 the Hillel and Muslim Student Association of the University of Pennsylvania will be hosting an event titled "Shariah 101: It's contemporary applications and theological validity." The discussion will take place on the second floor of the Hillel building and in true dhimmi mode, the Hillel will be serving a Halal [Shari'a compliant] meal. This is not the first time that the Hillel at UPenn has worked with the Muslim Student Association despite being alerted to their Islamist agenda. As these writers have documented in U Penn's Hillel and MSA's Excellent Spring Break Interfaith Jihad Adventure UPenn has a long history of conducting harmful outreach with the MSA, damaging its own credibility in the process. Read more ...Source: Militant Islam MonitorHillel
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 ATTACKERS armed with guns and grenades killed at least 20 policemen at a training centre in the Pakistani city of Lahore today. Other police officials said the number of casualties may be higher given the heavy crossfire between the attackers holed up at the training centre and paramilitary troops who fanned around the perimeter of the ground.“The number of killed is at least 20,” police sub inspector Amjad Ahmad told AFP outside the police training ground in Manawan. “The number of casualties may be more,” said police official Rias ad Bajwa.Television footage showed bodies of policemen lying face down on the parade ground as heavy gunfire rattled out of the training ground at Manawan outside Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore.Paramilitary soldiers, armed and wearing flak jackets and helmets, opened fire and fanned out around the perimeter of the site, which was surrounded by scores of police cars and armoured vehicles, an AFP reporter said.Officials in Islamabad said the interior ministry chief was locked in an emergency meeting with senior police and security officials. The attack came weeks after another attackers armed with guns and grenades mounted a coordinated assault on Sri Lanka's touring cricket team on March 3, killing eight people and wounding seven members of the squad. Those attackers walked away unhindered by police and authorities have not announced any high-profile arrest in connection with the assault, which has at least temporarily ended Pakistani chances of hosting international sport. Officials said that assault bore the hallmarks of the November 2008 attack on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, which was blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militants and killed 165 people. Lahore is Pakistan's second largest city and capital of wheat-bowl Punjab province which also country's political nerve centre. Extremists opposed to the Pakistan government's decision to side with the US in its “war on terror” have carried out a series of bombings and other attacks that have killed nearly 1,700 people in less than two years. Much of the unrest has been concentrated in northwest Pakistan, where the army has been bogged down fighting Taliban militants and al-Qa’ida extremist On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a packaged mosque in a town in the northwestern tribal town of Jamrud, killing around 50 people. US officials say northwest Pakistan has degenerated into a safe haven for al-Qa’ida and Taliban militants who fled the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and have regrouped to launch attacks on foreign troops across the border. Such is the scale of extremist violence that US President Barack Obama has placed Pakistan at the heart of the fight against al-Qa’ida, tripling US aid to the nuclear-armed nation as part of a new strategy that also commits billions of dollars and thousands more troops to the Afghan war. Mr Obama said al-Qa’ida and its allies were “a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within” and warned Islamabad to “demonstrate its commitment” to eliminating extremists on its soil. Last month Zardari's government suspended Punjab's provincial assembly and administration, imposing central rule after a court ruling disqualifying its chief minister Shahbaz Sharif - brother of Pakistan's opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. The governor who assumed administrative powers shuffled the bureaucracy and police in order to establish his hold, but critics say the hurried transfers undermined the security apparatus. Source: The Australian
The trail of terror continues with cricketers as the latest target. The Mumbai and Lahore attacks, public executions and the murder of over a thousand civilians in the Swat valley by Taliban style terrorists are horrifying examples of atrocities committed by militant groups thriving on political Islam. Global Muslim communities require urgent measures in condemning the agenda of political Islam that distorts religious scriptures to legitimise violence. This ideology of Islamism is threatening to replace a moderate and spiritual Islam, leading to the destruction of society, particularly oppressing women and minorities. Muslims have a moral responsibility to engage in the social, political and economic development of the societies they live in. Global Muslim societies would do well in following the exceptional efforts of the Indian clerics in denouncing terrorism and de linking it with Islam. Sincere moral outrage needs to be expressed at Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, political kidnappings and assassinations, militancy in Kashmir, Shia Sunni killings in Iraq and Pakistan, fatwas that condone suicide bombings in the Israel Palestine conflict and other such atrocities that effect innocent lives. Muslims require the consensus of the international in combating extremism but our credibility is lost when we demonstrate selective outrage as in the aftermath of the Danish cartoons. Political Islam draws its lifeblood from the ideology of fighting the oppressor, but has clearly become the oppressor. Even though some Islamist groups have renounced violence and accepted the principles of democracy, marginally improved their stand on women and minority rights, they remain socially conservative. In Jordan, the Islamist party does not support the rights of women to file for divorce. In Kuwait the Islamists fought against the right of women to vote. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood will not allow a woman or a person from a minority community to become head of state. Unfortunately, militant Islamist groups thrive in the political vacuum created by oppressive regimes in most Islamic countries. Muslims must stop blaming the problem of extremism on catastrophic foreign policies for two wrongs simply do not make a right. Islamism is primarily a Muslim problem, threatening both Muslim and non- Muslim societies. We need to acknowledge there is a problem of theology when extremists talk of going straight to heaven after taking innocent lives. The roots of all modern militant Islamic movements can be traced to one man called Abdul Wahab from Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula. He set out to ‘purify’ Islam, believing that Muslims had drifted away from true religion. Wahab’s followers destroyed many sacred sites he considered idols. Attacking the arts for being frivolous and dangerous, Wahab sanctioned the rape; murder and plunder of those who refused to follow his injunctions. He was considered a heretic by most, for Makkah and Madinah were then centres of contemplative Islam, inhabited by Sufis from all over the world. In 1774-5 Wahab negotiated a deal with the then nomadic tribe of Saud, forebears of the current royal family in exchange for support in their quest for political domination. Most Saudi’s reject the name Wahabbi; they either call themselves Muwahuddin- Unitarians- or Salafi, refering to salaf, the venerated companions of the Prophet. In this blinkered view, no other version of religious truth can exist. This new face of Islam has nothing to do with Sufis, music, poetry, miracles or the countless devotional customs of Muslim cultures across the world. Under the patronage of the Saudi Arabia, Wahabism went from strength to strength. Abul Ala Mawdudi, a journalist who translated the Quran outside the paradigms of classical propagated the Wahabi ideology. He founded the political party Jamaat e Islami in Pakistan, making jihad central to Islamic discourse. Addressing non-Muslims as infidels, he grouped Muslims into ‘partial’ and ‘true’ Muslims. Mawdudi’s ideas of Islam as a revolutionary doctrine to take over governments and overturn the whole universal order deeply influenced Syed Qutub of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. These groups have been motivated by political upheavals and the rejection of traditional scholars. Syed Qutub’s brother happened to be among the teachers of Osama bin Laden. The extremism now found in Makkah and Madinah, the heartland of Islam, is the Wahabi ideology that the Saudis have spent millions in promoting through their outreach programs. There is no tolerance for Shias, Sunni Sufis or other Muslim traditions, leave alone non -Muslims. Unfortunately, there is no collective Muslim protest against the Saudi regime for bulldozing graveyards, destroying cultural and religious heritage in the holy cities, imposing a certain sexual segregation of the sexes inside the Prophets mosque at Madinah, radical sermons, or the distribution of radical literature outside Saudi mosques, many of them issuing calls for death to whoever they view as infidels or innovators of Islam. The problem of Muslim extremism began in the Muslim world and the responsibility of resolving it lies with us. The inability to present a picture of Islam as a peaceful religion is a collective failure of global Muslim communities. We could begin with increasing the decibel in condemning violence, sectarianism, standing up for the rights of women, stop demonising the other as kufaar (infidels) and show increased support for democratic movements in Muslim countries. It is time for the devout, silent peace-loving Muslim majority to speak for Islam. Let us become louder than the radical voices that claim to represent us. Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi based writer and author of the forthcoming book, “Sufism: The Heart of Islam” published by HarperCollins India. Source: Indian Muslims
Paul Sheehan | March 30 I've been considering a request from a post-graduate student who wants to do a thesis on Islamophobia in Australia. She writes: "I am researching the topic Islamophobia, and I am trying to prove whether Islamophobia is based on religion fear or cultural fear of Islam." What about proving that Islamophobia exists at all? That would be the logical, ethical and scholarly starting point. But it appears the outcome has already been decided. This would fit the prevailing orthodoxy in academia that the default position for Muslims in Australia is victim. The jargon, "Islamophobia" is part of this ideological construct. Literally, it means fear of Muslims. I reflected on all this while on holiday in Malaysia and the Maldives last week. This was my twelfth visit to Muslim societies because I do not "fear" Muslims and do not "fear" Islam. Yes, there is ample evidence that Australians have become uneasy about Muslims in general and hostile in specific cases, but this is about cause and effect. Consider the series of blows to the image of Muslims in just the past three weeks, where the everyday decency of the majority have been collaterally damaged by the antics of the few. On March 8, the night of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, police say a group of about 100 young Muslim men, allegedly members of a loose gang called MBM - Muslim Brotherhood Movement - moved through the centre of the city intimidating, harassing and beating bystanders. On March 15, Abdul Darwiche was murdered, shot to death in a shopping centre in the latest hyper-violence involving two warring Lebanese Muslim clans. Police later arrested Darwiche's brother, Michael, for driving around with a loaded pistol. A third brother, Adnan, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court three years ago to be sentenced for a double murder. He and his fellow accused, Nasaem El-Zeyat and Ramzi Aouad, laughed and joked, going out of their way to express their contempt for Australian law. After the three men were all given life sentences they shouted "God is great!" This was the same Adnan Darwiche who purchased rocket launchers stolen from the Australian Army, which have never been recovered. Hundreds of mourners attended Abdul Darwiche's funeral at the Lakemba Mosque, where, within days, Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly was involved in yet another controversy. Channel Nine obtained a copy of a video surveillance tape which shows the former mufti of Australia kicking in a door, then returning soon after in the company of police. Apparently he called police over vandalism which he committed, blaming others who are engaged in a power struggle at the mosque. Sheik Hilaly has been embroiled repeatedly in controversy and provocation, making numerous inflammatory remarks about Australia and Australians. A few days later, yet another rape sentence was handed down to one of the K brothers, three of whom, during their various trials for gang rape, claimed they were victims of an anti-Muslim conspiracy. Between them, four K brothers have been convicted of gang-raping five girls. This sentencing followed closely on the conviction of seven Sydney schoolboys for the aggravated sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in a toilet block in Yagoona in 2007. According to police, the ring-leader was on his phone speaking in Arabic during the assaults and most or all of the boys are of Muslim background. If this is so, these latest convictions produce a morbid tally of more than 30 young Muslim men involved in serious proven sexual assaults of non-Muslim girls in Sydney, involving the Skaf brothers, the K brothers, the E-M cousins, the Yagoona schoolboys and various others. Because sexual assault is the least reported crime (about 15 per cent of incidents are reported to police) this particular phenomenon was certainly much broader. Finally, there has been fatal violence between bikie gangs, accompanied by news that there has been an infusion of young Muslim men into the bikie culture. There is now warring between new gangs and traditional Anglo criminal gangs for control of the drug and protection markets. Gang leaders named Mahmoud and Hassan and Ismail have been prominent. Gangs like MBM, Notorious and Asesinoz have flaunted their ethnicity. Overtly racist videos have been posted on YouTube, such as the message that "Asesinoz is now targeting Aussies", with an image of a vandalised Australian flag. The events of the past week have been a variation on a theme police have been dealing with for years. It erupted spectacularly in 2005 when a self-styled "intifada" by armed Muslim men, travelling in convoys, staged numerous co-ordinated assaults across the eastern beach suburbs of Sydney. The attacks were in response to the most notorious case of anti-Muslim feeling in Australia, the Cronulla riot in December, 2005. The roots of this demonstration was the failure of the police, who for years had preferred to pretend the problem did not exist. Given the abundant evidence of violent cause and fearful effect, involving a small percentage of antagonists, the general charge of Islamophobia is an ideological fabrication. As for the criminal gangs, for more than 10 years I have argued that Australia needed anti-gang laws similar to the RICO laws (racketeering influenced corrupt organisations) used in the United States, which smashed the code of silence and solidarity by criminal gangs. Finally, the state Labor Government has begun to stir on this issue. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
By Houriya Ahmed A new report by the Taxpayer's Alliance, Palestinian Hate Education Since Annapolis, shows how £100 million of taxpayer's money donated by the British government to the Palestinian Territories in 2007 supports organisations that propagates hate education. The Palestinian Authority, responsible for disseminating the aid, has funded, for example, media outlets, such as newspapers, radio stations and TV channels. These media outlets have broadcasted statements that have encouraged the continuation of violence instead of peace. One such broadcast is: "Palestine is our dream. Brothers, Oh Fatah's loyal masses the land is thirsty [for martyr blood] [...] Jaffa, Haifa and Acre are calling. Ramallah.. Nablus and Gaza: "When will we meet and break the chains?" To Jerusalem march millions of Martyrs" The Taxpayers Alliance says that there is a responsibility to make sure British taxpayers are not being misused by the Palestinian Authority. Read more ...Source: CSC
 The net has extended the global reach of published material, but writers are finding their right to free speech has been curtailedBy Rachel Ehrenfeld Sitting at my desk on 23 January 2004, I was interrupted by an email from a law firm in London. It was a letter threatening to sue me for libel in a British court, for statements made in my book, Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed – and How to Stop It, about their client, Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz. The letter claimed Mahfouz denied allegations in my book that he "knowingly" funded al-Qaida and other Muslim terrorist organisations. Mahfouz's lawyers demanded my public apology, retraction, removing my book from circulation, legal fees and a donation to a charity of Mahfouz's choice. This was followed by further correspondence and then legal papers were served. As an American citizen, I refused to recognise the British court's jurisdiction over me. I did not believe that I had to defend myself in a country where I do not live, and where my book was not published or marketed. Besides the cost would have been prohibitive. Read more ... Source: The Guardian
 Drastic new tactics to prevent school pupils as young as 13 falling into extremismBy Mark Hughes Two hundred schoolchildren in Britain, some as young as 13, have been identified as potential terrorists by a police scheme that aims to spot youngsters who are "vulnerable" to Islamic radicalisation. The number was revealed to The Independent by Sir Norman Bettison, the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police and Britain's most senior officer in charge of terror prevention. He said the "Channel project" had intervened in the cases of at least 200 children who were thought to be at risk of extremism, since it began 18 months ago. The number has leapt from 10 children identified by June 2008. The programme, run by the Association of Chief Police Officers, asks teachers, parents and other community figures to be vigilant for signs that may indicate an attraction to extreme views or susceptibility to being "groomed" by radicalisers. Sir Norman, whose force covers the area in which all four 7 July 2005 bombers grew up, said: "What will often manifest itself is what might be regarded as racism and the adoption of bad attitudes towards 'the West'. Read more ... Source: The IndependentH/T: Jihad Watch
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - The Organisation of the Islamic Conference has slammed the international arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in conflict-ravaged Darfur. In a statement after a meeting of the OIC executive committee at the United Nations on Friday, the Saudi-based grouping condemned the International Criminal Court action of March 4 as "unwarranted, totally unacceptable." The ICC move would "not only undermine the ongoing efforts aimed at facilitating the early resolution of the conflict in Darfur and promote long lasting peace and reconciliation in the Sudan, but also lead to destabilisation of the country and the region," it said. Read more ...Source: AFPH/T: Jihad Watch
ISTANBUL, March 27 (Compass Direct News) – Just over a month since Pakistan’s fertile Swat Valley turned into a Taliban stronghold where sharia (Islamic law) rules, the fate of the remaining Christians in the area is uncertain. Last month, in an effort to end a bloody two-year battle, the Islamabad administration struck a deal with Taliban forces surrendering all governance of Swat Valley in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Sources told Compass that after the violence that has killed and displaced hundreds, an estimated 500 Christians remain in the area. Traditionally these have been low-skilled workers, but younger, more educated Christians work as nurses, teachers and in various other professions. The sole Church of Pakistan congregation in Swat, consisting of 40 families, has been renting space for nearly 100 years. The government has never given them permission to buy land in order to build a church building. Read more ...Source: Compass Direct NewsH/T: Jihad Watch
By Ruth Ravve DEARBORN, Mich. — The "call to prayer" is a sound heard five times a day in this city, but this is not the Middle East. It’s Dearborn, Michigan — which has the largest Arab-American population in the U.S. Like other immigrant groups, many came here years ago in search of a better life. In the past few decades, the auto industry needed workers, so Michigan became a top destination. Over time, thousands of the Muslim faithful from around the world settled here, opening shops and restaurants and turning Dearborn into a heavily Muslim-influenced community, replete with mosques in every section of town and traditional foods from places like Pakistan and Syria. But while there are plenty of comforts from their home countries, Muslim women say they’re constantly caught balancing their lives between the freedoms they have in Western culture and the restrictions they face from religious and societal pressure. They worry about whether they’re following the habits of "a good Muslim woman." Zeinab Fakhreddine, a Lebanese-American woman raised in Dearborn, walks down the street wearing a traditional two-piece suit and a Muslim headscarf, called a hijab. The scarf covers her hair and tightly frames her face. She says the hijab was designed as a way to honor women in Islam, by concealing their beauty. In her community, she says, so many women are dressed this way, nobody looks twice at her. "It's kind of like a comfort zone in Dearborn, but when you leave here, it kind of becomes very different." Outside Dearborn, it's a different story. Despite the fact that Islamic groups are growing in major cities in the U.S., many Muslim women living here say assimilating into Western culture is still very difficult. Many of the immigrant women come to the United States from Muslim countries where they have few rights. Women are not allowed to drive cars or keep their own passports in Saudi Arabia, for example. It is very difficult for a woman to go to school or even leave her home without a male relative escorting her in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In fact, life for Muslim women in the U.S. is so different that they say they're not sure whether to accept the sudden opportunities they have here, or reject them for fear that it doesn't fit within their religious followings. "In our religion it's forbidden to listen to music and there’s some areas that we stay away from ... because we don’t listen to music," said Fakhreddine. Also under Islam, it's acceptable for a man to have up to four wives at a time. While that's illegal in the United States, Islamic leaders say the religion designates the man as the head of the household. "The big decisions are from the husband. Actually, we have to discuss everything with them," says Umia Mustafa, who moved here from Pakistan 10 years ago, after her parents arranged her marriage to a Pakistani man already living here. She says in her religion, no matter where it’s practiced, there's no question who is in charge. And sometimes clashes of cultures can have deadly consequences. Last month, Buffalo resident Aasiya Hassan, 37, was found decapitated after she had been complaining to police about domestic violence. Her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, was charged with the crime. While Muslim leaders caution against stereotypes and point out that domestic violence happens in all cultures, some women's rights leaders worry that Islam is being used to justify violence against women. "The typical Muslim man, they always are very overprotective, they're very controlling over the women. They're not allowed to do this, they're not allowed to do that," says 23-year-old Fai Oman, who was born in Yemen. She says she feels lucky to be living in the West because she has more freedom and security than she would have in her home country. Taking on Western viewpoints and a less traditional look makes Oman stand out in the typical female Muslim community. She dresses in jeans and a low-cut sweater. Her dark hair is highlighted with blonde streaks, and her eyes are colored with bright blue shadow. Some Islamic leaders fear women like Oman will become more common and that Western culture will have too much influence over generations of Muslim women who grow up and live in America. "It does worry me because it's improper behavior [that] does lead to ... harm to the female," said Yemen native Sakainah Faleh, a teacher who tutors young Muslim girls in the proper ways of Islam. She's concerned about Muslim women straying too far from the religion, she says. But Muslim leaders like Amina Aharif, from the Council on American Islamic relations (CAIR), say that with so many women coming here from multiple Muslim countries, there are already different viewpoints and traditions influencing them. Each comes to the United States with her own versions of cultural and religious practices, she adds. "Just like America is a melting pot for people from all over the world, it is a melting pot for Muslims from all over the world," said Aharif. "It is such a diverse community." Source: FoxNews
Les Kennedy | March 29 THEY call themselves MBM - the Muslim Brotherhood Movement - a gang of 600 men who boast they are the toughest and best young street fighters of Middle Eastern descent in Sydney. MBM claims to be the biggest of four new gangs to emerge on Sydney streets in the past year. Its numbers rival those of the state's largest bikie gang, the Rebels. The sudden appearance of MBM, with its growing membership recruited predominantly from the city's south-western suburbs, has alarmed senior police already battling to combat open warfare among outlaw motorbike gangs. Even hardened private security guards have expressed concern to police about the indiscriminate "punch and run" tactics of MBM members who, in the past two weeks, have arrived in large numbers at city nightclub venues and who walk the streets in intimidating mobs. But the objectives of MBM - its emblem features two crossed pistols and a hand grenade - and its leadership remain unclear to officers of both the Organised Crime and Gang Squad and Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad. Police say that a fortnight ago MBM members embarked upon a campaign of random assaults on men who crossed the path of a mob of about 100 toughs stalking Darlinghurst and Kings Cross during the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. A week ago about 30 MBM members intimidated private security guards at government car auctions at Smithfield. The emergence of MBM also coincides with the rise of two other urban Sydney gangs - the Parra Boyz or Asesinoz MC and Brothers For Life or BFL. Police say BFL - with a logo featuring crossed machine-guns - is not dissimilar to MBM in its extremist views, but membership numbers are unknown. Police describe Asesinoz, comprising teenagers of Middle Eastern decent, as "tough kids" who use the video-sharing website YouTube to promote Islamic extremism and anti-Australian actions such as flag burning. The group, which recently changed its name from the Parra Boyz, has more than 40 members, some of whom are known to police for committing acts of violence and vandalism. Its creation follows that of the Notorious bikie gang, comprising members of Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander extraction, more than a year ago after a split in the membership of the Nomads motorcycle club. Notorious members, who police allege are engaged in a series of tit-for-tat drive-by shootings on members of rival club the Bandidos in western Sydney, declared they will not be stood over by other gangs. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
 27th March Those who are regularly left open-mouthed at the way in which the British media puts across an overwhelmingly Arab narrative about Israel and the Middle East, transmitting lies and distortions as facts and reversing victim and victimiser to present Israel as the regional aggressor and the Palestinians as their targets, may well also scratch their heads at being told with monotonous regularity that ‘the Jews control the media’. Well now Arab Media Watch lifts a curtain to show us the real lobby at work. It boasts: Some 200 guests gathered at Kensington's Royal Garden Hotel on 21 March 2009 to attend Arab Media Watch’s fifth annual fundraising dinner, and to mark its ninth anniversary. Among the guests were almost three-dozen senior journalists from the BBC, Al Jazeera English, Financial Times, Reuters, Daily Mail, Independent, Asharq Al Awsat, Al Quds Al Arabi, Al Hayat and others. The evening began with a welcome speech by AMW chairman Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi, who outlined the extensive work done by the organisation during and since Israel's invasion of Gaza, including: - forcing the media to correct factual errors
- meeting with editors and journalists
- providing them with information
- being interviewed by them or arranging interviews for them
- getting letters and articles published
- being quoted and cited in articles
- publishing studies, press releases and Action Alerts
- organising and speaking at events
- helping university students and researchers ‘All this was done,’ Nashashibi reminded the audience, ‘while continuing our work on media portrayals of the entire Arab world, a huge but vital task undertaken on a budget that’s dwarfed by that of the pro-Israel lobbies.’ He added: ‘We've proven the sceptics wrong for the last nine years, establishing ourselves as a credible, professional, dynamic organisation with the recognition, respect and support of much of the British media, and high-level contacts in every news organisation…AMW is making a considerable and invaluable difference, and wants to continue doing so.’ Here are some of the ‘factual errors’ that on its website AMW has tried to correct: - The ‘myth that Hamas is out to destroy Israel
- The ‘myth that Palestinian rockets are a grave threat to Israeli civilians’
- The ‘myth that five Arab armies tried to wipe out Israel in 1948: ‘Strictly speaking, therefore, the Arab states did not launch a war against Israel, but undertook an armed intervention which was both lawful and justified.’
On and on its goes, lie after smear after brazen lie. And now just look at how, as AMW goes on to detail, the British media fawned over these purveyors of gross and inflammatory untruths: Ian Black, the Guardian’s Middle East editor, was unable to speak at the dinner due to illness, but he wrote a statement of support that Nashashibi read out. ‘I'd like briefly to pay tribute to the work of AMW,’ the statement began. ‘For anyone in the British media writing about the Middle East or the wider Arab world, AMW - very ably run by Sharif Nashashibi - has become a force to be reckoned with. It has served notice that inaccuracy, misrepresentation, half-truths and prejudice are simply not acceptable - and has done much to monitor and combat them.’ Black continued: ‘AMW has played an especially important role on Iraq and Palestine. Its work on the Gaza war was both combative and effective. Its letters to editors, op-ed articles and complaints about biased or misleading coverage have become part of the landscape.’ He added: ‘To some extent AMW has filled the gap left by the failures of the Palestinians and Arab governments to state their case as effectively as they could and should've done. That's especially true with regard to the Arab Peace Initiative, which surely remains the only workable basis for a just and comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.’ Black concluded: ‘The work of AMW is necessary, courteous and professional. I commend it to you wholeheartedly.’ The next speaker was Barbara Serra, presenter for Al Jazeera English (formerly with the BBC, Sky News and Channel 5), whose introduction was followed by projected footage of her heated interview of Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev during the Gaza invasion. ‘It's easy to forget, when one works closely with and in the Middle East, how little knowledge the general public across the world often has about the issues behind the continuing tensions, from the illegal occupation in the West Bank to the continuing expansion of settlements there,’she said. ‘That's why the work of AMW is so invaluable. They don't just fight against prejudice and distortion in the media, but also highlight inaccuracies which, if left unchecked, would only reinforce the misconceptions many hold towards the Arab world.’ A performance by comedian Ian Stone was followed by the presentation of AMW's annual award for excellence in journalism to world-renowned reporter, author and documentary filmmaker John Pilger, whose daughter Zoe accepted the award and read out a statement by him. ‘This is an honour I very much appreciate, and I send warm thanks from Australia to all of you at AMW, ‘he wrote. ‘I pay tribute tonight to AMW, and to Al Jazeera, and to all the courageous Arab journalists who have brought us the truth...’ Attendees watched clips of Pilger’s documentaries ‘Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror’ and ‘Palestine is Still the Issue.’ A three-course dinner was then served, with Arabic music in the background, quotes from the night's speakers projected on screen, and a raffle and auction which included five-star holidays, paintings by renowned Arab artists, and antique Arab furniture. Peter Oborne, political columnist at the Daily Mail and contributing editor at the Spectator, was unable to speak at the dinner because he had to travel unexpectedly to Afghanistan, but he wrote a message of support that Nashashibi read out: ‘The most noble purpose of journalism is to tell the truth and expose falsehood. Too often, British journalism achieves the exact opposite. It tells lies and glorifies falsehood. That's why the work of AMW is so important. It sets out to combat the climate of deception that dominates too much of our reporting.’ And here is more feedback from AMW’s grateful media client base:
‘Thank you…We did enjoy it.’ - Financial Times / Reuters
‘Many thanks for inviting me. I enjoyed it.’ - The Independent ‘I enjoyed the programme and the company of your nice guests.’ - BBC
‘Thank you very much for the invitation. I wish you all the success you deserve.’ - BBC ‘Thank you very much for the invitation. I really enjoyed the annual dinner. It was refreshing. It was, as before, perfectly organised…’ – BBC ‘Thank you so much for your generous invitation…The event was wonderful and the presentation was flawless…Best wishes for continued success…’ – BBC. Source: The Spectator
 Are there current materials in the mosques and Islamic bookstores that still advocate men to marry (sexually abuse) young girls?By Dave Gaubatz The topic of Prophet Mohammad being a “pedophile” has been hashed out in media forums for years. My personal opinion is that when a 54-year-old man marries a 6-year-old girl, he is a pedophile, regardless if it were 1,400 years ago or today. Islamic scholars, Muslim organizations, liberals, politicians, and many of our law enforcement managers justify the sexual abuse because Mohammad lived 1,400 years ago and “things were different then.” Although I can’t give anyone who marries a 6-year-old a benefit of the doubt, billions of people throughout the world do. I will simply ask the question that if Prophet Mohammad is allegedly the man of great character, moral standing, and a “religious” leader who is supposed to be an example for Muslim men to follow, is it possible some of them still adhere to marrying young children? Are there current materials in the mosques and Islamic bookstores that still advocate men to marry (sexually abuse) young girls? For this article I will use only current statements from Islamic literature distributed and used to teach their worshippers the “Pure Islam” as preached by Islamic scholars now in every city throughout America. I will not use the Koran as reference, because it makes it too easy for Islamic scholars and liberals to say it is “1,400 hundred years old.” Therefore, I will stick to other materials used at Sunni mosques in 2009. Read more ... Source: FSM
March 28 President Barack Obama has escalated war efforts in Afghanistan, thrusting more troops and billions of dollars into the campaign. Obama vowed to win the conflict being waged by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the situation is 'increasingly perilous' and warning terror groups they face defeat. The US moves were welcomed by allies ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague next week. Britain is reportedly preparing a troop increase in Afghanistan and Russia said it's ready to step up cooperation with NATO in the country. EU countries said they could increase civilian help. 'Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al-Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the US homeland from its safe-haven in Pakistan,' Obama said in a televised speech on Friday announcing a review of the war. 'We have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to prevent their return to either country in the future,' he said. The president said 4,000 more US troops will be sent to Afghanistan to train the army and police - on top of an extra 17,000 combat forces already authorised - and aid to Pakistan will be tripled to $US7.5 billion ($A10.65 billion) over five years. 'Make no mistake, al-Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within,' he said, hours after a suicide bomb at a mosque in Pakistan killed more than 50 people and wounded 50 more. But he warned Pakistan must play a more active role in eliminating militant groups. 'After years of mixed results, we will not and cannot provide a blank cheque.' Obama also called on US global partners to join his push to send more civilian and development workers to Afghanistan. Afghanistan embraced the US strategy. 'We agree with the contents of his speech,' President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, told AFP. 'We particularly appreciate the recognition that the al-Qaeda threat mainly emanates from Pakistan and it poses a danger to Afghanistan and our international friends here,' he said. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari also backed Obama's 'initiatives to strengthen democracy', Pakistan's state media reported. Following reports that more US missile strikes on Pakistan militant targets could be part of the tactics, Pakistan's foreign ministry had earlier asked Washington to reconsider. 'Pakistan's concerns in this regard have been conveyed to the US government at the highest level,' foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said. US officials said they expect to secure pledges for additional military help in Afghanistan when Obama presents the strategy at the NATO alliance annual summit on the France-Germany border. Britain's chief of staff, General Richard Dannatt, told The Times that troops from Britain's 12 Mechanised Brigade have been 'earmarked' for Afghanistan. He said there are no plans to send all the brigade's 4,000 troops to join the 8,000 British troops already there. The Times cited defence sources as saying 1,700 to 2,000 extra troops are seen as 'the uppermost ceiling'. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has 60,000 troops and there are another 10,000 US forces not under NATO command. At a conference in Moscow on Afghanistan attended by both the United States and Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country is prepared to expand cooperation with NATO. Moscow has already allowed the transit of non-lethal material through its territory. 'We are ready to examine other kinds of constructive cooperation,' he said. The Moscow meeting's participants emphasised 'the need for sustained international support to strengthen Afghan security institutions to effectively combat the scourges of terrorism and production and trafficking of narcotics'. European foreign ministers said they are ready to increase civilian action in Afghanistan, to support the US strategy. 'We are always prepared to do more,' Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the EU presidency, said at a ministerial meeting. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said more financial aid to Afghanistan will be announced at The Hague meeting on Tuesday. Source: SkyNews
 By Damian Thompson You may have wondered, at times, whether the Guardian-Islamist entente cordiale was a figment of Melanie Phillips's imagination. Well, wonder no more. Today's Guardian leader on the Government's counter-terrorism strategy is sprinkled with little clues that the multiculturalists have won their battle with the secularists at the newspaper. The editorial thinks Hazel Blears was wrong to cut ties with the compromised and self-important Muslim Council of Britain. (So do several of Ms Blears's cabinet colleagues, whose views are reflected in the leader.) "It is not up to ministers whom Muslims choose as their spokesmen," says the newspaper. (Actually, it's not up to ordinary Muslims, either.) Also, it's glad that the Government doesn't regard support for Sharia law as an indication of extremism because, as we all know, there's nothing extreme about Sharia, is there? Likewise, it's good that there is no conflation of "Islamism" (note: not Islam) and terrorism - what an absurd notion! Read more ...Source: Telegraph BlogsThe Guardian
Latest recipient of the Yellow Rag Award
 By Amil Imani During the U.S. presidential election, President Obama boasted that he would embark on personal diplomacy to solve our foreign policy problems with terrorist countries such as Syria and the Islamic Republic. He said that he would meet their leaders without any preconditions to settle our disputes. Doesn't that sound like a change of heart, a real change and a great relief to us all? Never mind the fact that this president has about zero experience in foreign policy matters, he is foolish enough to aim to negotiate with the ever-conniving Assad of Syria and masters of deceptions such as the mullahs of Iran. President Obama, how do you propose to engage the point-man of the end-of-the-worlder Shiite regime in negotiation or discussion without sacrificing the valiant Iranian people who are struggling to free themselves from the yoke of fascist Islamists? You believe that you, still somewhat wet behind the ears, can do better than the four-year combined efforts of seasoned diplomats from France, Germany, and Great Britain? There are those who see the solution in negotiation with the Mullahs. These people are either naïve or dishonest. The Mullahs' idea of negotiation is Islamic to the core. They take all and you give all since you, according to Islamic fiat, are not entitled to anything. The track record of Muslims negotiating even among themselves in places like Iraq, the Palestinian territory, Pakistan and almost every other Islamic land speaks volumes. Read more ...Source: American ThinkerH/T: Gramfan
 In Cataluña alone, 4,846 girls under the age of 19 at risk of enduring this barbaric ritual practiceBy Gabrielle Devon THANKS to the efforts of Cataluña’s regional police force, Mossos d’Esquadra, during 2008, 104 girls living in the region have been spared from having to go through the suffering caused by female genital mutilation, a practice that is carried out mainly in African and Asian countries. Officers have prevented 18 from going ahead so far this year. Since 2000, the Mossos have made contact with families of girls whom they consider may be at risk of undergoing this procedure, considering their country of origin and the fact that they may not have abandoned this type of tradition. They explain the dangers it involves, and attempt to dissuade them from returning to their country of origin for the ritual to be performed or from having it carried out by clandestine witch-doctors residing in Spain. The parents are also informed that in Spain, this practice is considered a crime punishable by law. Read more ... Source: Euro Weekly
Extremists, among them individuals from Macedonia and Kosovo, work to divide Muslims in Albania, the country's Islamic community president said.
Haxhi Selim Mucha, the President of Islamic Community of Albania, claims that aggressive groups carry out divisions of Muslims.
Some Muslim priests described Mucha's claims as an attempt to fix the forthcoming election of Islamic community president.
Media in Tirana said schism deepened among the leading figures of Muslim community in Albania. Source: Makfax
The Bulgarian government has approved a draft bill banning the Muslim head-dress for women and other religious symbols in schools. "We express our disagreement and bitterness with this decision," Hussein Hafazov of the Chief Mufti office told the Reuters news agency. "It completely damages the rights as well as the responsibilities of Muslim women." The bill calls for banning the hijab and other religious symbols in schools. It still needs to be approved by parliament. Bulgaria is the latest European country to ban the Muslim headscarf. France banned the Muslim veil in public places in 2004, with several European countries following suit. The Chief Mufti warned that the bill would increase community tensions in the Balkan country. Read more ...Source: Balkan Insight
 By James Cohen Believe it or not, Finland still has blasphemy laws on the books, but there have been repeated attempts to rescind Section 10 of chapter 17 of the Finnish penal code. All attempts however, at removing the anti-modern statute from the law books have proved unsuccessful, with the latest attempt failing in 1998. Helsinki city councilman, Jussi Halla-aho was charged with blasphemy and incitement of an ethnic-group in the Helsinki district court today, and ordered to stand trial for publishing on his blog that Islam’s prophet was a pedophile. According to the Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Jorme Kalske: “Halla-aho had uploaded to the Internet and submitted writings to the general public, in which Islam and its sacred institutions were combined with pedophilia, and in which was also presented the robbery of pedestrians and the ooting of tax revenue was a certain national group or a specific genetic characteristic.
The charges were presented in the Helsinki District Court. Halla-aho denies the charges” Read more ... Source: IFPS
 The official French umbrella group for Muslims, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) is angry that the Sarkozy Government appears to be encouraging the formation of a rival secular representative body. The CFCM was originally set up in 2003 by President Nicolas Sarkozy when he was interior minister. The intention was to give a representative voice to the estimated six or seven million French Muslims. But now the CFCM thinks that Sarkozy considers them too powerful and influential and is seeking to establish the rival organisation to act as a curb. Malika Belarabi, an Algerian-born deputy governor of Seine-Saint-Denis district in Paris, who is one of the leading lights behind the plans for a secular Muslim council says that it is well advanced. Previous efforts to establish such a council have failed, but Belarabi is convinced that this time it will get off the ground. “The idea is to bring together all Arab and Muslim groups of secular nature within one framework,” he said. “The goal is to set up a body similar to the one which represents secular French Jews; Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF).” Read more ...Source: National Secular Society
It turns out to be just a bad dream. But for "Mohamed Abdallah," apathy about Election Day leads to his arrest. He is rousted from his bedroom, hooded, and dragged before a judge. "You didn't vote," the judge repeatedly says, his voice rising. Mohamed, a young American Muslim, is more interested in playing "Guitar Hero" than in any election. But the judge explains, "By not voting, you are forfeiting your right to change policy that could affect your community, your country and the entire world." He then sentences Mohamed to "a lifetime of silence," laughing maniacally as Mohamed begs the court to reconsider. Read more ...Source: IPT News
 Hon. John ShadeggAn Arizona congressman says it is a problem when U.S. officials fail to speak clearly – for example calling a terrorist a terrorist – when discussing the dangers the nation faces in confronting enemies. U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., was interviewed by Greg Corombos of RadioAmerica.org on the issue of new marching orders in the Obama administration that words like "war on terror" and "enemy combatant" no longer be used. Shadegg said those terms are specifically descriptive so that people can understand what's going on. "I think it is a disservice to the people to somehow not speak with clarity about the enemies we confront," he said. "Clearly when Al-Qaida and other radical Islamists or Islamic extremists specifically express their desire to kill Americans, or wipe America off the face of the earth, let's be realistic in acknowledging that threat." Read more ...Source: WND
“Virulent” anti-Israeli rhetoric is behind a decision by a group representing French Jews not to renew dialogue with the French Muslim Brotherhood.An Israeli newspaper is reporting that the organization representing French Jews has decided not to renew dialogue with the French Muslim Brotherhood as a result of “virulent” anti-Israeli rhetoric. According to a report in the Jerusalem Post: The Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), the umbrella body of French Jewry, will not renew dialogue with French Muslim groups that equated Operation Cast Lead in Gaza with the Holocaust, the group’s vice president, Meyer Habib, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.During Operation Cast Lead, some Muslim organizers of pro-Palestinian demonstrations equated Israel’s actions with the Nazi Holocaust, and even carried banners that read “death to Jews.” Read more ... Source: The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report
Tens of thousands of Somali refugees have resettled in America in recent years to escape the chaos of their homeland, but the transition isn't going smoothly in one small town.By Erick Stakelbeck It has been nearly 20 years since Somalia last had a functioning government. Islamic Jihadists now control most of the country – and sharia is the law of the land. Tens of thousands of Somali refugees have resettled in America in recent years to escape the chaos of their homeland, which is located in the Horn of Africa. But the transition isn't going smoothly in one small town. At first glance, Shelbyville is your typical sleepy southern hamlet. It's nestled in middle Tennessee, where the walking horse is king. There's Main St., the local sheriff, a movie theatre. It's all very "Mayberry," except for one big difference: the recent arrival of hundreds of Somali Muslims. Read more ... Source: FSM
 Recently, I was privileged to receive an advance copy of the first time English translation, released today, of Grigoris Balakian’s epic personal memoir of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1918, “Hai Koghkotan,” “The Armenian Golgotha,” originally published in Vienna, in 1922. The 1922 volume 1, and the second volume (which apparently “fell into a void for lack of funding,” was found among Grogoris Balakian’s sister Rosa Antreassian’s post-humous papers in 1956, and published in Paris in 1959) are presented in a very accessible, elegant English translation by Grigoris Balakian’s grandnephew, Professor Peter Balakian—an accomplished scholar of the Armenian Genocide himself—with the able assistance of two colleagues, Anahid Yeremian, and Aris Sevag. Modern genocide historians who have been wont to re-examine the disintegrating Ottoman Empire’s World War I jihad genocide against its Armenian minority through the prism of The Holocaust, often cite a comment by Hitler that the mass killings of the Armenians served the Nazi leaders as an “inspirational” precedent for predictable impunity. During August of 1939, Hitler gave speeches in preparation for the looming invasion of Poland which admonished his military commanders to wage a brutal, merciless campaign, and assure rapid victory. Hitler portrayed the impending invasion as the initial step of a vision to “secure the living space we need,” and ultimately, “redistribute the world.” In an explicit reference to the Armenians, “Who after all is today speaking of the destruction of the Armenians?,” Hitler justified their annihilation (and the world’s consignment of this genocide to oblivion) as an accepted new world order because, “The world believes only in success.” Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
It's difficult to call Mahdi Bray a private man. He leads the Muslim American Society's (MAS) political arm, MAS-Freedom. His picture appears on numerous MAS and personal websites and he co-hosts a weekly radio program in Washington, D.C. He spent most of Saturday riding on the back of a flat-bed pick-up truck, leading demonstrators on a march through Washington and to the Pentagon in protest of the Iraq war's sixth anniversary. The procession stopped outside the offices of military contractors, where demonstrators left cardboard coffins and chanted slogans. Bray, megaphone in hand, led the way. Read more ...Source: IPT NewsMahdi Bray
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
"Peace will come when the Arabs start to love their children more than they hate us."Attributed to Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel If you do an Internet search for Aqsa Parvez or Amina & Sarah Said, you will notice Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch, Michelle Malkin, and other non-Muslim blogs among top results. Muslim reaction is scarce. Hoverer, when you find it, the articles seem to be focused not on honorcide itself, but on distancing honorcide from Islam. These articles are permeated with claims that honorcide is un-Islamic, that it has nothing to do with either Islamic culture or religion. The fact that most honorcides in the West occur in Muslim families (while Muslims represent a small minority of general population) is dismissed as simple domestic violence and not an honor-related crime. After Aqsa Parvez was murdered, her disgraceful family placed a numbered marker on her grave:  Later, the family refused a headstone (that was offered to them for free); they seem to want to punish Aqsa even after her death. Aqsa's crime? Refusal to wear hijab. How many Muslim (so-called civil rights) organizations took up Aqsa's cause? None. When Pamela Geller started the Aqsa Parvez Memorial Fund, more than a hundred people donated money. Only two of them appear to be Muslims. Golda Meir supposedly claimed that we hate infidels more than we love our own children. Muslim reactions to recent honorcides show even more disturbing trend: the infidels love our children more than we do. I just cannot wrap my head around it. Are we really that scared that image of Islam could be tarnished by these horrible crimes? Is protecting the image worth sweeping the problem under the rug and continue having our children and wives murdered in the name of family honor? Was not only Golda Meir right, but did she actually understate the issue? L.A.
 Source: PJTVReut Cohen
PJTV
Latest recipients of The MASH Award
GHAZIABAD: The police on Wednesday arrested two more persons in connection with the honour killing case, in which a 16-year-old girl was burnt alive in Bhojpur's Teori village on Monday. According to the police, Zalis and Munshaad were arrested from a hideout near the village. "They have confirmed the claims of other accused Asim and Arif that Imrana's father had asked them to straighten his daughter as one Irfan used to visit her frequently. The four accused had also scuffled with Irfan and some others on the day of incident. We will book them under the Gangster Act, the National Security Act, murder and other charges, "said Akhil Kumar, Ghaziabad police chief. As reported earlier, four men on Monday afternoon forced their way into Imrana's house and beat her up. They then set her on fire. Imrana had made a dying statement before a magistrate and named the four accused. Read more ...Source: Times of IndiaH/T: Jihad Watch
 By Ann Keil KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Plans are underway to open a new restaurant in a Fort Sanders neighborhood building that has sat empty for years. Its owner wants to serve alcohol, and that's a problem for members of the Muslim Community of Knoxville nearby. The two buildings are 191 feet apart. The mosque is at 100 13th Street and the restaurant would be at 1105 Forest Avenue. According to a Knoxville city ordinance, beer can't be sold within 300 feet of a house of worship. But as it turns out, there are other laws that make the issue more complicated. "We assumed that in Knoxville, all houses of worship would have some sort of buffer," Nadeem Siddiqi says. Siddiqi is talking about the building being renovated behind Annoor Mosque. It was once an eyesore. In another month, it may become home to "The Hill," a restaurant that serves alcohol and has music and dancing. "We're trying to promote some conservative behavior to some degree, and being right next to a nightclub seems like a bad location for us," Siddiqi says. Read more ...Source: WATEH/T: Jihad Watch / Atlas Shrugs
March 27 BARACK Obama is to deploy an extra 4000 military trainers as part of a new strategy to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" al-Qa'ida in safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The strategy, the product of a 60-day review in conjunction with US allies, will also establish clear benchmarks to judge the performance of the US and its allies in the neighbouring countries, to enable mid-course corrections, administration officials said today on the eve of the announcement. It marks one of the boldest foreign policy bets laid so far in Mr Obama's two months in power and defies those who warn he is walking into a quagmire. The 4000 US troops will build up the Afghan army and are in addition to 17,000 extra troops already promised by the president. Mr Obama will also send hundreds more civilian and development workers into Afghanistan. “It is a clear, concise, attainable goal, and that goal is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qa'ida in its safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” one of the officials said on condition of anonymity. The officials accused the Bush administration of leaving US policy “adrift” in the two nations. “Seven-and-a-half years after September 11, the al-Qa'ida core leadership, Osama bin Laden and others, have moved from Kandahar, Afghanistan, to a location unknown, somewhere in Pakistan,” one official said. “From that location in Pakistan, we know they are plotting new attacks against the US, against our allies, against our forces in Afghanistan, against our Pakistani friends as well.” The officials discounted the arguments of critics who oppose escalating the US role in the conflict, warning that given a vacuum, the Taliban would return in force to Kabul, and bring al-Qa'ida along. The officials also said the Taliban had made a “very significant comeback in the last two years,” that could not be allowed to take root. Mr Obama will formally announce the new strategy to members of the military and development workers who will serve in the two nations in coming months, as well as foreign ambassadors at a White House event tomorrow. He will then present it to US NATO allies at the end of next week at the western alliance's annual summit, along the border of France and Germany. A key ingredient will be benchmarks so that later this year Mr Obama will be able to judge if his policy is working, or if it needs to be adjusted. “We will develop benchmarks and metrics to measure our performance, and frankly to measure the performance of our partners and our allies,” one official said. Another key goal of the strategy is to support Pakistan's besieged Democratic government, and to help Islamabad crack down on al-Qa'ida and Taliban havens on its territory. “In many ways, Pakistan is the hardest part of the problem,” one of the officials said, adding that terror groups had become a “Frankenstein” within the country that threatened the survival of democracy. Mr Obama will support a bi-partisan Senate bill to triple US aid to Afghanistan to $US1.5 billion ($A2.13 billion) a year for five years, and would also look at needed military assistance, particularly helicopters to transport troops to war zones. “We are going from a policy of throwing money at Pakistan and ignoring it, to a policy of consistency and constancy towards Pakistan,” the official added. The officials also said they expected to secure pledges for additional military help for the Afghan war from NATO allies next week. France, for instance, had expressed an interest in working with the Afghan police force, one of the officials said. The administration officials argued that the Bush administration had failed to properly finance the development of the national Afghan army. The review will set a target of expanding the Afghan army to 134,000 men and the police force to 82,000, but the numbers could go higher if needed, the officials said. As a result of the troop increases, the US force in Afghanistan will reach 61,000 to 65,000 by mid-September, which officials said would have a significant impact on the war zone. They also said they would attempt to engage Afghan tribes and foot soldiers, who were not as committed to the fight as Taliban leaders and could be prised away from the force. Source: The Australian
A would-be suicide bomber accidentally blew himself up, killing six other militants as he was bidding them farewell to leave for his intended target, the Interior Ministry said."The terrorist was on his way to his destination and saying good-bye to his associates and then his suicide vest exploded," a statement from the ministry said. Taliban-led attacks in Afghanistan have escalated in the past year with suicide and roadside bombings insurgents' weapons of choice. The incident happened in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan where mainly British troops are struggling against a growing Taliban-led insurgency. Read more ... Source: ReutersH/T: Jihad Watch
Source: PJTV
  By Frank Gaffney Jr. On Friday, CNN.com ran a news item that essentially reiterated the contents of a press release issued earlier in the week by a coalition calling itself the American Muslim Taskforce. The American Muslim Taskforce would be more accurately described as the Muslim Brotherhood since many of the ten 10 signatories - ranging from the parent organization of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to the Muslim Students Association to the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) -have been identified in an internal Muslim Brotherhood strategy memo as “our organizations and the organizations of our friends.” Exhibit One: The U.S. government has identified CAIR as one of the “individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” The memo, which was introduced into evidence by the federal government in last year’s successful prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation on terrorism financing charges, also describes the Muslim Brotherhood’s mission in America as one of “destroying Western civilization from within.” We should, accordingly, be very wary of the pronouncements of folks like those comprising the American Muslim Taskforce. Read more ...Source: Newsmax
 Will the United Nations soon be issuing fatwas? Today the U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to vote on a resolution introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to combat defamation of religion, in particular Islam. This resolution is part of an effort begun in 1999 to establish an international framework that would in practice legitimize religious oppression. It is an assault on the rights of the individual and freedom of conscience.
The language of the resolution seems benign enough, condemning stereotyping, inflammatory statements and so forth. But very troubling is the elasticity of the term "defamation." It is used to silence social critics and other liberal voices in countries where the law is captive of the official religion. "Anti-blasphemy" statutes in Shariah-based legal systems squelch debate over the rights of women, the right to free speech and expression, privacy, criminal justice and a variety of other off-limits issues. This U.N. resolution would give further international sanction to every authoritarian regime that hides its oppression behind the veil of faith. Source: The Washington TimesH/T: JS
 By Robert Spencer An unlikely alliance of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian lawyers’ group that usually fiercely opposes the ACLU, along with several other groups, is contesting a proposed Bureau of Prisons rule that prohibits “materials that could incite, promote, or otherwise suggest the commission of violence or criminal activity” from being placed in prison chapel libraries. It would enable prison officials to remove from libraries books that they deem to be “advocating or fostering violence, vengeance or hatred toward particular religious, racial or ethnic groups” or advocating “the overthrow or destruction of the United States.” The ACLU has framed the issue as one of religious freedom. David Shapiro, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison Project, explained: “BOP officials need to follow the law, not engage in the business of banning religious material. Distributing and reading religious material is as protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as worshipping in churches or preaching from the pulpits. It is not the role of the government to dictate what is religiously acceptable.” Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
Internationaly known anti-Jihadist Bangladeshi journalist and editor of Weekly Blitz, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury received life threat from a Islamist terrorist based in United Arab Emirates. For details, please log on to: www.weeklyblitz.net
 These photos of Barack Obama, with his friend and benefactor Salman Ibrahim, were taken in 2004 in the offices of the infamous Sunrise Equities, Chicago. ( Click photos to enlarge them) Ibrahim is the former CEO of Sunrise and is now wanted by the FBI in connection with the Sunrise Equities scam of late 2008 in Chicago. Sunrise Equities, a "shariah complaint" investment firm, shut down in August, 2008 when CEO Salman Ibrahim and other Sunrise officers vanished with approximately $80 million of investor money. In 2004, while Obama was running for US Senate in Illinois, Ibrahim and Sunrise Equities donated some of the own office space to Obama's campaign. Obama used the space as a fundraising hub.  In the top photo, Obama shakes hands with Chicago Alderman Bernard Stone (50th Ward), just prior to a ribbon cutting ceremony for donated office space. In the bottom photo we see the ribbon cutting. The money seems to have gone with them. The Illinois Secretary of State and the FBI are investigating the scandal. More than 100 investors, mostly Muslim, learned in August that they had lost all of their savings to the Sunrise Equities fraud. Many were completely wiped out financially. Sunrise Equities targeted investors who were mostly Pakistani Muslim immigrants. Many the victims had to take out home equity loans to make ends meet.
By Robert Spencer Some time ago, as you may recall, Pamela Geller took up a collection to provide honor killing victim Aqsa Parvez with a headstone -- at present Aqsa lies in an unmarked grave, plot #774 in Meadowvale Cemetery in Brampton, Ontario. I was honored to be able to join Pamela in this effort. However, Aqsa's family rejected the grave marker we had offered to place at her gravesite, which only contained her name and dates and the legend "Beloved, Remembered, Free." But then the Canadian town of Pelham passed a resolution to honor Aqsa, and to stand up for victims of honor killing. And now, after craven dhimmis blocked many attempts to construct a monument for Aqsa and victims of honor killing in the U.S. or Canada, Pamela has arranged to have a grove of trees planted in American Independence Park in Jerusalem, Israel, through the Jewish National Fund. There will also be a plaque in American Independence Park, inscribed " In Loving Memory of Aqsa Parvez and All Victims of Honor Killings Worldwide." Pictures, details, and further background here. I think it is fitting that this remembrance of Aqsa should end up in Israel, a state that is on the front line of defense against the global jihad -- against, that is, the forces that wish to expand the scope and power of the Islamic laws and cultural attitudes that led to Aqsa's murder. This is one of the first, if not the first, public memorials to the victims of honor killing, and it is a powerful indication that there are some people in the West who will never acquiesce to the destruction of life and memory that is involved in honor killing. I was dismayed by the amount of dhimmitude and fear Pamela encountered in trying to memorialize Aqsa, but not all of us in the West are cringing dhimmis. The grove and plaque, as well as the Pelham memorial, are indications of that. Congratulations and thanks to my friend and colleague Pamela Geller, who had the vision, persistence, and courage to conceive of this project and see it through. Source: Jihad WatchPamela Geller
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
Browsing the Israeli press can provide a broader and more informed picture of events in Israel than the narrower and sometimes slanted international media coverage. Indeed, Israel's press is hardly monolithic with a variety of competing political narratives and a penchant for self-criticism, so much so that many of the most negative stories appearing in the international press are first broken by the Israeli newspapers. Unfortunately, Israeli journalists, like their Western counterparts, also have their own biases and journalistic lapses. Such is the case of a recent Ha'aretz story alleging "war crimes" and serious ethical failures on the part of the IDF in Gaza. Predictably, many international media outlets, including the New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Australian, and Globe & Mail to name but a few, repeated the allegations without bothering to do any rudimentary checks. Read more ...Source: Honest ReportingH/T: Gramfan Haaretz
The Guardian
Latest recipients of the Yellow Rag Award
If you chose "No," please consider providing your solution to Gaza crisis in the comments.
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 Tariq Ramadan's bid to gain a visa to come to the United States received a new hearing today before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. In 2004, Notre Dame University offered a job to the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, but the Bush administration refused to grant him entry.
A contribution from Ramadan to an alleged Hamas front was part of the administration's justification. A judge's 2007 order upholding that decision is the subject of today's argument.
Meanwhile, a group of U.S. academics and civil libertarians is lobbying the Obama administration to reverse course. They wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano protesting what they called "ideological exclusion" of Ramadan and others, saying it "compromises the vitality of academic and political debate in the United States at a time when that debate is exceptionally important."
But in the Netherlands, where Ramadan lives, Rotterdam city officials are reportedly investigating statements he has made that are considered anti-gay and anti-woman.
Gay Krant magazine has excerpts from recordings of Ramadan in which he calls homosexuality "a disturbance, a faulty functioning and an imbalance" and said women should not attract attention based on their looks. "On the street, thus says the law, women must keep their eyes fixed on the pavement."
Ramadan acts as an integration advisor to Rotterdam officials. Source: IPT Blog
 NYPD Muslim Chaplain Khalid Latif has received lavish praise from the press, and even from a part of the US government. However, closer examination raises some disturbing questions. The Christian Science Monitor's March 19, 2009 article "When NYPD wears a Muslim topi," comes close to sanctifying Latif. The Imam, as the CSM describes him, is seeking to "to help develop a particularly American form of Islam - one fully integrated into the social fabric of the United States." The thoughtful Latif wonders, "And now it's like, how do you mesh together this seeming dichotomy of Islam and the West?" and then looks at himself, bearded in a police uniform and concludes, "that's not a dichotomy, it's a reality." Going even further, on September 18, 2008 the State Department's America.gov, part of the Department's Public Diplomacy thrust, had headlined, "Imam Khalid Latif Builds Communities of Faith and Diversity," which presents a Latif "deeply committed to interfaith dialogue and community service as integral parts of what it means to be Muslim in a modern, multicultural world." The State Department subsequently reprinted the article in what it described as "the richly illustrated book Being Muslim in America." A more pertinent question concerns his commitment to free speech. Latif is also Chaplain of the Islamic Center of New York University. Read more ...Source: IPT Blog
All of this is made possible by the clause in the Afghan constitution that stipulates that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam" (Chapter 1, Article 3). Accordingly, in spite of the lack of a formal, Iranian-style Guardian Council, the clerics and their allies in the government ultimately hold veto power over potential reforms that would protect civil liberties and human rights. What-Are-We-Fighting-For Alert. "Afghan TV station falls under government crackdown," by Heidi Vogt and Amir Shah for the Associated Press, March 24: KABUL – The manager of an Afghan television network who refused to censor images of women dancing in short skirts and plunging necklines was arrested in what appeared to be a new sign of the government's struggle to define the role of Islam in a country once led by extremists. Read more ... Source: AP H/T: Jihad Watch
 A study titled "Honor Killings in the Media and Their Impact on Students and Parents" conducted by the Ministry of Education has revealed that parents believe the media play a role in increasing the number of honor killings. The study was conducted in the provinces where the most honor killings in the country were taking place and covered the responses of 440 high school students and their parents. According to the report released by the ministry, 13 percent of the parents and 9.9 percent of students had witnessed an honor killing. The provinces of Batman, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa and Mardin lead in the number of killings, the report indicated. Based on the responses of students and their families, the media play a negative role in regard to honor killings. Whereas only 7.3 percent of the parents and 8.7 percent of the students said the media have a positive effect in preventing honor killings, 22.7 percent and 29 percent of them, respectively, think that the media play a role in increasing the number of honor killings. The respondents did not find the programs aired or the stories printed by media to be impartial or close to reality. Read more ...Source: Today's ZamanH/T: Jihad Watch
 Muslim Leaders in Germany are corrupt. They abuse tax-payer money and smuggle millions of euros for Jihadists across the world, while preaching violence among themselves.By Dr. Sami Alrabaa At last, the German authorities are acting against radical Muslims in Germany. The German Media reported on March 20, 2009 that the general prosecutor raised charges against Oguz Ücüncü, the secretary general of "Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüs" IGMG (Islamic Community of Milli Görüs), an Islamist Turkish organization, and Ibrahim el Zayat, chairman of the “Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschlands (IGD) (Islamic Community of Germany). Both men were born in Germany and have the German citizenship. Both men not only incite to hatred and violence against Germans, but also fund radical Muslim organizations across the Arab and Muslim world, in particular in Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The money is not transferred via banks, but transported by fellow Muslims traveling to these countries. The IGMG has over 87,000 members and the IGD about 50,000. Both organizations run more than 240 mosques across Germany. There are more than 3.5 million Muslims living in Germany, most of them are Turks and Arabs. Read more ... Source: Family Security Matters
 By Khaled Abu Toameh During a recent visit to several university campuses in the U.S., I discovered that there is more sympathy for Hamas there than there is in Ramallah. Listening to some students and professors on these campuses, for a moment I thought I was sitting opposite a Hamas spokesman or a would-be-suicide bomber. I was told, for instance, that Israel has no right to exist, that Israel’s “apartheid system” is worse than the one that existed in South Africa and that Operation Cast Lead was launched only because Hamas was beginning to show signs that it was interested in making peace and not because of the rockets that the Islamic movement was launching at Israeli communities. I was also told that top Fatah operative Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in prison for masterminding terror attacks against Israeli civilians, was thrown behind bars simply because he was trying to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Furthermore, I was told that all the talk about financial corruption in the Palestinian Authority was “Zionist propaganda” and that Yasser Arafat had done wonderful things for his people, including the establishment of schools, hospitals and universities. Read more ...Source: Hudson Institute
 On March 10, 2009, members of a newly formed group called United Voices for America (UVA) traveled to Tallahassee for what was being called Muslim Day at the Capitol. The publicly stated goal of the organization was to lobby the Florida legislature on legitimate issues that affect all Floridians. However, when one looks at who is behind UVA, one can see that the group’s name and its mission were little more than a sinister ruse to gain a foothold within the government. Indeed, the group is nothing but another CAIR. On May 23, 2008, Ahmed Bedier announced on his radio show that he was leaving his position as the Executive Director of CAIR-Tampa and was creating a new group. This was less than two weeks prior to released reports stating that the U.S. Justice Department had named CAIR as a co-conspirator for an upcoming Texas Hamas financing trial. CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations was founded, in June 1994, as being a part of Mousa Abu Marzook’s American Palestine Committee. Marzook at the time was the global head of Hamas, and the purpose of the committee was to raise funds for Hamas from U.S. shores. As this information was finally going to be made public, it was the perfect occasion for Bedier to leave CAIR. Read more ...Source: FrontPage MagazineAhmed Bedier
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 By Nonie Darwish Western media vigorously report on politically incorrect speech, except the type coming from Muslim leaders. Such outrageous speech is a daily diet on Arab TV. The following is a recent statement: “The Jews are the Enemies of Muslims regardless of the occupation of Palestine; we will fight, defeat and annihilate them until not a single Jew remains on the face of the earth.” (January 2009, Egyptian cleric Muhammad Ya’qoub). On February 1, 2009, prominent sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, on Al Jazeera TV, called the holocaust "divine punishment" for the Jews and encouraged Muslims to do same by saying: "Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers [i.e. Muslims]." He then added that he would "shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews." In September 2008, Sheikh Nabil Al-'Awadhi, a Kuwaiti government-appointed preacher said that "Europeans are immoral, unclean and cowardly.” Egyptian Cleric Alaa Said said in January: “Jews spread wars, homosexuality and corruption in the world.” Egyptian cleric Ahmad Abd Al-Salam accused Jews of “Infecting food with cancer and shipping it to Muslim countries.” Also in January, Egyptian cleric Zaghloul Al-Naggar called on “waging war against the Jews, who are devils in human form.” In 2001 I read in the front page of an Egyptian newspaper that Israeli Viagra is flooding Egyptian markets to sterilize Egyptian men. Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
By Jamie Glazov Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Alex Alexiev, adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute in Wash. D.C. FP: Mr. Alexiev, welcome to Frontpage Interview. During the last election campaign you wrote that if Barack Obama emerges victorious “the loudest cheers could come from the sworn Islamist enemies of our civilization.” What are your views of President Obama’s policies with respect to radical Islam so far and do you still believe that the Islamists have a reason to be happy with the new administration? Alexiev: With a caveat that it is still too early in the new administration’s tenure to form a definitive opinion, I’d have to say that the Islamists, foreign and domestic, have every reason to be happy with the direction in which the president is taking the country. This is particularly clear in the realm of foreign policy, but is also manifesting itself in domestic policy. FP: Give an example. Start with the domestic situation. Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
 Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
According to news, catered by internationally acclaimed AFP news agency, Bangladesh security forces are investigating a link between a British-based charity and an Islamic school where a huge cache of weapons and a bomb-making factory were found.
Police in southern Bangladesh conducted the raid on the Islamic seminary or Madrassa March 24, 2009, uncovering firearms, bullets and explosive devices. A member of the elite Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] told AFP the school had opened only 45 days ago on the remote island of Bhola in the south of the country.
"It is owned by the Green Crescent charity, which is a UK charity. They were running a school and an orphanage here," RAB officer K.M. Mamunur Rashid said, adding that the building was surrounded by water with a drawbridge so that locals could not access it.
"It's a mini-ordnance factory. “We found small arms – about nine or 10 in total – plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms,” he said.
“We also found enough explosives and other equipment to make several hundred grenades. We found some ordinary Islamic books, but others that are in line with extremists like bin Laden," he said.
"It is a big Madrassa and we have so far gathered that this whole compound is being used for militant training. The charity also has plans to build two more Madrassas in Bhola," the RAB source told AFP.
Green Crescent’s web site, www.greencrescent.org, shows that it is involved in projects in Bhola, as well as several others around Bangladesh and at least one in Pakistan. The charity, which is registered in the UK under the number 1099233, was founded in 1998 by students in Britain and Bangladesh, and is based in Stockport, six miles from Manchester.
In the website of the NGO, it is mentioned “Green Crescent charity was created by students in 1998 from the United Kingdom and Bangladesh who believed that individuals with vision are capable of changing society in a positive way and decided to do whatever possible to make life that much better for those who have very little. The charity operates mainly in Bangladesh, but has also started some work in Pakistan. We concentrate on long-term education and health projects. All donations go directly to where it is needed, as we have no U.K. administration costs, thus, we are able to carry out humanitarian work where ever and whenever the need arises, efficiently.”
Bangladeshi authorities have long viewed Madrassas with suspicion, fearing they could be potential recruiting grounds for Islamic militant groups. The country was hit by a series of coordinated bomb attacks in August 2005, for which Bangladeshi court awarded death penalty to a number of kingpins and members of Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh [JMB], a notorious Islamist outfit in the country.
The recent recovery of the “mini-ordnance factory” inside the Madrassa, funded by British non-governmental organization [NGO] opens a new window for counter-terrorism specialists to re-assess the funding sources of the religious militant groups in Bangladesh as well in the Indian sub-continent. It was already known that notorious Islamist groups like Hizb-Ut-Tahrir, although being banned in a number of countries, are continuing to operate in several nations through its headquarters in Britain.
A neighbor of the Madrassa named Harona Begum said, she had witnessed strange behavior near the building for months.
"I was excited when they started building the school. I wanted my three children to go there but was told no locals were allowed. A lot of people from out of town would go to the Madrassa. They did not talk to anyone in the village.”
Meanwhile, United Kingdom’s Charity Commission, commenting on the recent recovery of militant training camp and arms haul inside Madrassa, funded by British NGO said, “These reported activities said to be run under the auspices of a UK charity, Green Crescent Bangladesh UK, raise very serious concerns.”
It said, “Terrorist activity is clearly under no circumstances acceptable for a charity. We are actively examining the information available.”
The commission's website said that in 2008, Green crescent had a turnover approaching £70,000 [$102,733].
We need protection from the pedlars of religious hatred
By Iqbal Sacranie
In his column last Saturday, Charles Moore began with an almost unbelievably provocative question. "Was the prophet Mohammed a paedophile?" he asked.
The charge of paedophilia refers to Mohammed's marriage with Aisha. Yet a paedophile is one who is primarily aroused by children. For most of his married life, the Prophet (peace be upon him) had one wife, who was a widow with children of her own. After her death, he married others, most of whom were former widows themselves. Why would the Prophet have waited three years after his betrothal to Aisha – his only virgin bride – if not because he was waiting for her to attain puberty?
So the charge of paedophilia is nonsense; and, to be fair, the former editor of The Daily Telegraph acknowledged as much in his next paragraph. "People are perfectly entitled - rude and mistaken though they may be - to say that Mohammed was a paedophile," he wrote. Even so, the conjunction of the Prophet's name and this particular crime will have shocked Muslim readers.
As it happens, poetry in the Muslim world - and, in particular, that of the Urdu poet Allama Iqbal – abounds in complaints and reproaches made to God Almighty. Few poets, however, would dare to cast aspersions upon the name and memory of the blessed Prophet Mohammed. Witness the Persian couplet: Ba khuda deewana basho, Ba Muhammad hoshyar (Take liberty with God if you wish, but be careful with Mohammed).
European writers, though, have a history of taking liberties with the Prophet. As Minou Reeves, a former Iranian diplomat, observes in her book Mohammed in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making: "Over the course of no fewer than 13 centuries, a stubbornly biased and consistently negative outlook had persisted, permeating deep levels of European consciousness. In the works of an overwhelming majority of European writers, Mohammed was portrayed as a man of deep moral faults. Churchmen, historians, orientalists, biographers, philosophers, dramatists, poets and politicians alike had sought to attribute to Islam, and especially to Mohammed, fanatical and disreputable, even demonic characteristics."
It is no easy task to convey to a secular audience the immense love and esteem in which Muslims hold the Prophet. To us, he was the restorer of the worship of the One True God; teacher of an elegant and pristine monotheism; the friend of the orphans and the poor; a wise statesman, brave warrior, loving father, considerate husband; he was also the final of God's Prophets sent to mankind to remind us of the awesome Day of Judgment, when all will be called to account for the deeds we have committed during our lifetimes.
Anyway, back to Mr Moore. We seem to be revisiting the arguments that came to the fore during the Satanic Verses affair. Is freedom of expression without bounds? Muslims are not alone in saying "No" and calling for safeguards against vilification of dearly cherished beliefs. Earlier this year, the BBC accepted complaints from Catholics and withdrew its cartoon series Popetown. Why does society not show the same courtesy and sensitivity towards Muslims?
As you may have gathered, Mr Moore disapproves of the Government's proposal to outlaw incitement to religious hatred, seeing it as an "attempt to advance the legal privilege that Muslims claim for Islam". Quite what "privilege" Islam currently enjoys in Britain over and above other faiths, he does not say.
Yet the proposed legislation does not create a new offence as such. Such an offence already exists in relation to the Jewish and Sikh communities, by dint of their being regarded as mono-ethnic communities. It also exists in relation to all faith and belief communities in Northern Ireland.
The Home Office proposal simply extends the current provisions to all faith communities in mainland Britain. If the present provisions in relation to Jews, Sikhs and Northern Ireland raise no concerns - and there is no real campaign to remove these provisions - why should they raise concerns if extended to other religions in Britain?
So, the incitement to religious hatred proposal is not a matter of advancing privileges for British Muslims. It's about establishing equality under the law.
The current loophole in our legislation has resulted in far Right groups such as the BNP modifying their racist rhetoric of yesteryear - no doubt out of fear of prosecution - into a more explicitly and aggressively anti-Muslim invective, this time without fear of breaking the law.
Stirring up hatred against people simply because of their religious beliefs or lack of them ought to be regarded as a social evil. The BNP's ongoing Islamophobia can and has led to criminal acts, abuse, discrimination, fear and disorder. At the moment, there are laws against those who are stirred into committing these offences, but not against those that do the stirring. In opposing the incitement to religious hatred provision, Charles Moore, Rowan Atkinson and the National Secular Society are unwittingly strengthening the hand of those, such as the BNP, who peddle religious hatred.
Quite a few red herrings have been floated this past week about free speech and the dangers of censorship. To be sure, proscribing legitimate free speech is not in the interest of any religion.
The death of discussion, debate and robust criticism about a religion is the surest way of routing that religion itself. However, we can make a critical distinction between the substance and form of free speech. The law need not infringe on the substance but can assist to moderate the form, so that all people in this country, whatever their religion, may live in dignity, free from hatred and hostility.
As Martin Luther King observed: "The law might not change the hearts, but it can restrain the heartless." Modern Britain, like the rest of Europe, is now home to millions of Muslims. Some may have sought political refuge in our more democratic societies, some migrating for economic reasons.
Whatever their motives, they are now a part of the social fabric that constitutes these societies.
Muslims in Britain do not seek to create an enclave or a parallel culture. They want to be respected as British. That is what they are. And the government that sees and treats them as such, by criminalising offences directed specifically at them, is a government that understands its obligations.
Iqbal Sacranie is secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain
 Sri Lankan postmaster who refuses to serve non-English speakers faces calls from Muslims to be sacked
By Daily Mail Reporter - 20th March 2009
The postmaster who banned customers who can't speak English from his branch today faced calls for him to be sacked from angry local Muslims.
Sri Lankan-born Deva Kumarasiri introduced the ban this week because he believes all immigrants in Britain should learn the language and take pride in the new homeland.
Mr Kumarasiri, who runs Sneinton Boulevard Post Office in inner-city Nottingham, moved here 18 years ago and says everyone should embrace British culture.
Backlash: Local Muslims are circulating a petition for Mr Kumarasiri to be sacked from his Post Office job
But the chairman of the local Mosque confirmed that a petition was circulating among Muslim residents calling for Mr Kumarasiri to go.
Aurangzeb Kahn said: 'There has been concern that people can be denied Post Office services because they can't speak English.
'There is a strong feeling among some local people that this is wrong.
'A single employee should not have the right to make that decision, especially if he is an employee of what is a public facility provided by the Government.'
Mr Kahn confirmed that local Muslims have started a petition calling for Mr Kumarasiri's dismissal but stressed the move had no connection with his Mosque,
He added that the Mosque wanted to investigate the issue moire fully before making any further comment.
The controversial ban was a major talking point among many Muslims attending prayers today in an area of Nottingham with a large Urdu-speaking Pakistani community.
Observed: Deva at his home, which officers are watching in case he attracts the wrong kind of attention
One man, who refused to be named, said: 'There is a lot of anger about this.
'We understand his point but it can take years to learn English and there are some elderly people who are too old to learn.
'A lot of people think he is wrong and want him gone.'
Mr Kumarasiri, who was inundated with cards and messages of support from across the UK said: 'I don't expect everyone to agree with me.
'It was inevitable that those who don't want to be fully integrated into this country would do something like this.
'For me it proves that there are elements out there who have no intention of ever [becoming] integrated.
'But I've had dozens of letters, cards and phone calls all supporting my stand.
[...]
Deva Kumarasiri
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
WITH US President Barack Obama due to ask Kevin Rudd to commit more Australian troops to Afghanistan, it’s time to consider whether there are too many civil liberties. In the simple land of moral absolutes inhabited by so many progressives and civil libertarians, just about everything that George W. Bush did in his fight against terrorism was wrong. For these people, the election of Obama would recalibrate the balance between national security and civil liberties so that America could again hold its head high. Human Rights First said Obama’s decision to shut down Guantanamo Bay would “restore the moral authority and strengthen the national security of the US”. In the more complicated real world, even the man they openly call their messiah is disappointing them, given that naive absolutism is not only misconceived but downright dangerous. Detaining men at Guantanamo Bay was absolutely wrong, declared the anti-Bushies. Obama agreed, two days into his presidency signing an executive order to close down Gitmo.
Last week we learned that Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, the Taliban’s new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan, was a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner released to the Afghan Government in December 2007. Now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, he’s commanding areas where the violence has been ramped up in recent months. In January it was reported that another former inmate at Guantanamo Bay, Said Ali al-Shihri, had emerged as deputy leader of the al-Qa’ida network in Yemen. According to US officials, al-Shihri, allegedly involved in the bombing of the US embassy in Sana’a last year, and released from Gitmo in 2007, was handed over to the Saudi Government and entered a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists. Nice idea. Didn’t work. It turns out you can count on the Taliban and al-Qa’ida to spot the real talent. There’s not a whiff of branch stacking, no insertion of party hacks when they choose their jihadist leaders. Instead, it’s all about merit. That sees the likes of Rasoul and al-Shihri taking up a leadership role to impose a warped Islamist ideology on large swaths of the globe. Gitmo was not the perfect solution. These terrorists were released under the watch of the Bush administration because it’s not easy identifying terrorists. But closing down Gitmo won’t make identifying terrorists any easier. Indeed, that dilemma has just been made harder by Obama’s promise to try to return more detainees to their home countries. Quaint notions of rehabilitation programs no doubt stroke liberal sensibilities. Yemen, the home of the single biggest group among the 250 Gitmo detainees has, with Western backing, set up Saudi-like “edification programs based on moderation to shun extremism and terrorism”. Another nice idea. But al-Shihri’s promotion up the al-Qa’ida ladder shows that releasing many of these men back to Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, undercuts not only the national security of the US but the safety of every citizen in every country targeted by terrorists. And that list grows longer by the day. It takes a sweet but rather dim-witted Pollyanna view of the world to suppose that men infused with an ideology to kill infidels and trained to do so need only spend some time in the equivalent of a detox centre to get those dirty jihadist thoughts out of their minds. These guys don’t have a drinking or drug problem. They have a killing problem. But in a society where we think we can treat every transgression, from swearing to homophobic language, with a stint in rehab, it’s no great surprise that we now think terrorists are just miscreants of a slightly nastier kind. This has always been the liberal mindset. Terrorists, we were told, ought to be treated and prosecuted as criminals in ordinary courts, because we can’t really be at war with a transnational group of religious nutters. The obsession with simple moral absolutes meant that denying habeas corpus rights to alleged terrorists caught on the battlefield was equally wrong. Liberal justices in the US Supreme Court agreed, leading Chief Justice John Roberts to declare, in dissent, that the American people had just lost “a bit more control over the conduct of this nation’s foreign policy to unelected, politically unaccountable judges”. Soldiers would henceforth have to collect evidence and take witness statements from the battlefield like a cop busting a drug ring. As Justice Antonin Scalia said in his dissent, “how to handle enemy prisoners in this war will ultimately lie with the branch that knows least about national security”. Then it was military commissions. They too were wrong, said the civil libertarians. Not even the US Supreme Court agreed on this one. Rendition was apparently the greatest wrong. Secret abductions and holing up prisoners in other countries signalled that Bush’s America had truly lost its moral compass. In fact, rendition was used under the Clinton administration. Moreover, Obama’s executive order closing down secret CIA sites made it clear previous rendition practices would not end. In small print, the order said that the sites closed down “do not refer to facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory nature”. Even Obama apparently wants, or needs, some wriggle room on rendition. Present and former US intelligence officials have said that rendition may now play a greater role as one of the few remaining tools to get suspected terrorists off the streets. “Obviously you need to preserve some tools: you still have to go after the bad guys,” said one Obama administration official. And that’s the point. Gitmo may be closed. Habeas corpus rights are back. But consider this. Our soldiers may now confront more released Gitmo detainees duly promoted up the jihadist ladder on the battlefield. And what was inaccurately regarded as the worst symbol of the Bush era - rendition - may end up becoming a more widely used tool for those enemy combatants captured in Afghanistan. Happily, all done far away from the eyes of those who still see the US President as their liberal saviour. There is no perfect, settled place to draw the line between civil liberties and national security. But those who speak in terms of moral absolutes are as dangerous as they are naive. This is not an abstract academic argument about liberal values and national security. It cuts to the core of how we protect ourselves from Islamists who waged war against us long before we noticed. The danger is that a complacent liberalism will endanger our troops and signal to the enemy that we do not have the stomach for war any more. Source: The Australian
By Steven Emerson Earlier this month, I spoke before the World Affairs Council of the Desert on the threat of radical Islam to the West. My remarks focused on radical Islamic groups, which, posing as "civil rights" groups, try to suppress free speech and intimidate critics by calling them "Islamophobes" and, in some cases, actually threatening and killing such critics. I detailed the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the parent organization of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and Hamas. I described a secret infrastructure of Muslim Brotherhood groups in the United States who promote their radical agenda through a network of front groups that falsely claimed to be "moderate." The bottom line: Radical Islamic groups committed a grand deception by anointing themselves "civil rights" groups or "charities" when, in fact, they were secret political, financial or military fronts for terrorists. Read more ...Source: The Desert Sun
 By Farzana Hassan Things are heating up in the sweepstakes for the most incompetent department of Canadian government to face Islamic radicalism. For a while, bets were on Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board, which, for 11 years, had the president of the extremist-sympathizing Canadian Arab Federation – big on Hamas and Hizballah – on its board. His job there was to decide who was too dangerous to let into the country. But now "Heritage Canada," a Canadian government department whose bid for the title is made with the help of the Calgary-based independent Centre for Faith and the Media (CFM) has jumped in the fray. Heritage Canada pushes a multiculturalism agenda, and the CFM seems to be a one-employee outfit with a volunteer Board of Directors of sympathetic religious people – with one exception. Positioning itself as a link and information clearinghouse between journalists and religious communities, CFM has been decisive in moving Heritage Canada into committing blunders. The current fiasco started when Heritage Canada funded the Centre to start something called "The Muslim Project." This initiative involves a series of cross-Canada "roundtables" prominently displaying CFM's sole paid employee, Executive Director Richelle Wiseman, as moderator. The end-product? A "study" of media portrayals of Muslims and Islam in Canada, due out within the next year or so. Read more ...Source: IPT News
Philip Johnston The Government will tomorrow launch a new counter-terrorism strategy, called Contest 2. For those who missed Contest 1, a brief explanation is in order. It has four strands: to protect, to pursue, to prepare and to prevent. Which of these would you consider the most important? I would hazard a guess that most of us would suggest preventing a terrorist attack happening at all is the most crucial aspect of such a strategy. We should be ready, of course, to resist them; and we should track down those who perpetrate them. We should also protect people with straightforward security measures and with good intelligence. But, if we can stop them happening, that would be best. So it was somewhat odd that when Gordon Brown outlined this updated approach in a newspaper article yesterday, the "prevent" bit seemed less prominent than one imagined it might be. There was talk about "murderous agents of hate" and of "core al-Qaeda" – spook-speak for the central command that is based in the lawless borderlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Read more ...Source: TelegraphH/T: FSM
 Daud AbdullahBy Patrick Goodenough The British government has suspended its engagement with the country’s leading Islamic umbrella group, following reports that a senior leader signed a declaration in support of “jihad” against Israel and appeared to condone attacks on British troops. The rift threatens to deepen over the launch Tuesday of an updated government counter-terror strategy, which the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) says could have the effect of labeling the majority of British Muslims as extremists. Leaked drafts of the strategy suggest a greater focus on how to deal with citizens who are not necessarily breaking the law but are actively opposed to what are considered to be Britain’s “shared values” such as democracy and tolerance. Advocates of shari’a, those who promote the concept of an Islamic caliphate, and supporters of jihad anywhere in the world could fall within that group. Read more ...Source: CNS NewsH/T: FSM Daud Abdullah
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
With almost two dozen attempted attacks thwarted since 9/11 by terrorists either already here or trying to come here to kill Americans it makes no sense to minimize the threat. - James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.By Dr. Candace de Russy To lump the terrorist scourge in the catch-all category of "man-caused" disasters, as Napolitano does, effectively obscures its Islamofascist origins and specific destructive consequences. Such pussy-footing around terror amounts to cynical word games intended to propitiate the Obama Administration’s anti-anti-terrorist supporters. Napolitano’s trifling dismissal of “the politics of fear” is more of the same. Neither politics nor fear caused 9/11, or the bloody parade of related attacks. Islamofascism did. Read more ...Source: FSMJanet Napolitano
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 By Daniel Pipes Palestinians have so loudly and for so long (nearly a century) rejected Zionism that the Mufti Amin al-Husseini, Yasir Arafat, and Hamas may appear to command unanimous Palestinian support. But no: polling research finds that a substantial minority of Palestinians, about 20 percent, is ready to live side-by-side with a sovereign Jewish state. Although this minority has never been in charge and its voice has always been buried under rejectionist bluster, Hillel Cohen of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has uncovered its surprisingly crucial role in history. He explores this subject in the pre-state period in Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917–1948 (translated by Haim Watzman, University of California Press); then, the same author, translator, and press are currently preparing a sequel, Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948–1967, for publication in 2010. In Army of Shadows, Cohen demonstrates the many roles that accommodating Palestinians played for the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in the Holy Land. They provided labor, engaged in commerce, sold land, sold arms, handed over state assets, provided intelligence about enemy forces, spread rumors and dissension, convinced fellow Palestinians to surrender, fought the Yishuv's enemies, and even operated behind enemy lines. So great was their cumulative assistance, one wonders if the State of Israel could have come into existence without their contribution. Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
 By Joe Kaufman Given my line of work, from time to time, I get angry e-mails from people affiliated with hate and/or terror-related groups – groups that I have worked hard to expose and hopefully, one day, help to shut down. Recently, I was sent a handful of e-mails from the President of the campus chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS on Campus) at John Jay College in New York City. The specifics contained within them were a valuable confirmation of things previously suspected to be true. In April of 2003, I received a series of e-mails from an individual identifying himself as “Ismail Royer.” He had been upset at my depiction of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) – a group that he had previously been employed with – as a radical Islamist organization. At the time of his contacting me, he was working as the National Communications Director of the Muslim American Society (MAS), also an extremist Muslim group. Some of the matters discussed in my conversations with Royer included: how he got involved with MAS, his feelings towards the Muslim Brotherhood, and the dates of his time with CAIR – all important subjects. Nearly two months later, he – Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer – was arrested and charged with conspiring with a foreign terrorist organization to attack Americans and Indians overseas. Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
 One of the shirts soldiers were seen wearingT-SHIRTS showing a pregnant Muslim in rifle crosshairs above the slogan "1 shot 2 kills" have been worn by Israeli soldiers to mark graduation.
Another shirt showed a child carrying a gun with the words: "The smaller they are, the harder it is".
The soldiers wore the shirts at the end of basic training and other courses, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.
The Israeli military sought to dismiss the shirts as "tasteless humour" and condemned the soldiers involved as "not in accordance with IDF (Israeli Defence Force) values," according to the Assoociated Press.
AP reported the shirts surfaced as Israel faced accusations of misconduct during its three-week war in Gaza which officials said left about 1300 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers dead. | |
