 Richard Lloyd Parry The church attacks reflect deep and long-running tensions in Malaysia. It seemed to come out of nowhere, it ran its course within a fortnight, and the damage inflicted was mild compared with religious conflicts in other parts of the world.
But this month’s attacks on churches in Malaysia, which petered out last week leaving one gutted by fire and nine others vandalised, is a sinister development, a portent of great changes afoot in what used to be one of South East Asia’s most stable and peaceful democracies. On the face of it, the attacks were provoked by a simmering and – to many outsiders – absurd controversy about the use of the word Allah. But below that, they suggest deep and long-running tensions in a country which has successfully bottled them up for 40 years. The row – over whether Christians should have the right to use the word Allah to refer to their own God in Malaysian-language Bibles and liturgy – is just the latest in a series of manifestations of a rising current of conservative Islam. In other incidents last year, a 32-year old mother was convicted for drinking a can of beer, and Muslim demonstrators outraged Hindu opinion by marching with the head of a dead cow, an animal sacred to Hinduism, to oppose the construction of a proposed temple. Malaysia’s success since its independence from Britain in 1963 has been to neutralise the rivalry and mutual dislike between its small majority of Malays (who by law are Muslim) and its Chinese and Indian minorities (who are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh). Relations between Malays and Chinese, in particular, have been marked over the years by outbreaks of mutual antipathy rooted in racial dislike which in Malaysia’s neighbour Indonesia have intermittently erupted into deadly violence. In the Chinese racist stereotype, Malays are lazy, stupid, uneducated, unhygienic and feckless. The equivalent Malay view sees Chinese as clannish, patronising, greedy, dishonest and opportunistic. In May 1969, these resentments boiled over in race riots which killed scores, and perhaps hundreds, of people in Malaysia. The Government’s response was to establish the New Economic Policy, based upon a system of positive discrimination for Malays, who were given favourable access to education, and to business and property subsidies. For years, the resentment among the minorities of such official discrimination was offset by an understanding that it was also a guarantee of long-term racial harmony. The racial character of Malaysian politics was engraved in the name of its rulers. The Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, which has held power since independence, is a coalition of parties based upon ethnic identity – one Indian, one Chinese, and, dominating all of them, the United Malay National Organisation (Umno). But in the past ten years, the racial texture of Malaysian life and society has altered, and politics is struggling to keep up. Better educated, better off, and increasingly cosmopolitan, young Malaysians of all backgrounds are less prone to identify themselves purely in racial terms. Opposition parties have been successful campaigning on an inclusive, non-racial platform. After making huge gains in the last general election in 2008, they are now in a position to drive the Barisan Nasional out of power at the next. The result has been confusion among Umno and its partners. Since the retirement of Mahathir Mohamad, the towering figure in Malaysian politics since the 1970s, the party has lacked a convincing leader. Umno is not essentially a party of fundamentalist Islam, but as its racial base erodes it has – inconsistently and without much strategic planning – attempted to curry favour with ultra-conservative Muslims in the hope that religion may fill the ideological gap left by Malay nationalism. A shrewder leader, such as Dr Mahathir, would not have let the Allah row – a ridiculous dispute over a word used without comment by Christians in countries such as Indonesia and Syria – assume the dimensions which it has. But his successor as Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has stoked it. When a court ruled on December 31 that the ban on the use of Allah by Christians was unconstitutional, he had an opportunity to drop the whole thing. Instead, his Government appealed against the decision, and the attacks followed. The police have made no arrests. The physical damage which the attacks have caused may have been minimal. But the damage to the cause of racial harmony in Malaysia is impossible to calculate. Times Online 
 Google, the Internet’s ubiquitous search engine, is under fire this week for censoring negative search results about Islam. If you type “Christianity is” into the Google search box, there immediately pop up a series of suggested completions to the sentence, most of them derogatory: “Christianity is bulls—t,” “Christianity is not a religion,” “Christianity is a lie,” “Christianity is false,” “Christianity is wrong,” “Christianity is fake.” No positive suggests come up. Likewise with “Buddhism is,” and the sentence is once again completed with numerous negative suggestions: “Buddhism is wrong,” “Buddhism is not what you think,” and so on. But type in “Islam is,” and nothing comes up at all. The negative suggestions inundating the searcher for other religions are nowhere to be seen. Google, however, says it was all a mistake, and denies have done anything to favor Islam. “This is a bug,” insisted a Google spokesman, “and we’re working to fix it as quickly as we can.” Oddly enough, however, even with all of Google’s technical savvy, this “bug” persisted for days and continues as of this writing, long after Google’s announcement that it would quickly be fixed. Or perhaps it isn’t so odd, in light of Google’s long-established penchant for favoring the hard Left and its allies in the global jihad. Critics have complained for years about Google’s tendency to decorate its logo colorfully for cherished days of the Left such as Earth Day and International Women’s Day, while ignoring Christmas (aside from bland Holiday greetings) and Easter. What’s more, Google-owned YouTube has more than once removed material critical of Islamic jihad supremacism, while allowing blood-curdling pro-jihad and vile anti-Semitic material to remain on the site. Google’s policies on removing videos all too often has appeared to follow a consistent Leftist line: anti-American, anti-Israel, pro-jihad. It is also a remarkable coincidence that Google’s “bug” would appear in Google not about Judaism or Christianity or Hinduism or Buddhism, but in connection with the world’s most thin-skinned religion.
The one religion shielded from adverse judgment at Google is also the only religion that has is currently engaged in an organized campaign to stifle honest discussion about its texts and teachings that inspire violence. In 2008 the Secretary General of the 57-government Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the largest voting bloc at the United Nations today, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, warned the West about “red lines that should not be crossed” regarding free speech about Islam and terrorism. For years now the OIC has spearheaded an effort at the UN to compel member states to criminalize what it calls “defamation of religions,” but by which it clearly means any honest discussion of the texts and teachings of Islam that jihadists invoke to justify violence and supremacism. Interestingly enough, the OIC stepped up this campaign in the wake of the publication of cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper that touched off worldwide Muslim riots. Google, at the time those riots were raging, was dutifully removing from YouTube videos that depicted the cartoons. Thus when the OIC has Google, it doesn’t need international edicts muzzling free speech. Like many on the Left, Google seems all too willing to carry water for the Islamic bloc’s war against free speech and to oblige the OIC’s totalitarian and thuggish influences, by voluntarily refraining from doing anything that might offend Muslims. While its restriction of the automated search suggestions may seem insignificant, its overall willingness to conform to notoriously fragile Islamic sensibilities and deep-six criticism of Islam is anything but trivial. What’s more, what with Google’s influence as by far the premier search engine, the idea that Western non-Muslims must make special allowances for easily-offended Muslims sets a precedent that can only bear bitter fruit in the future.
Ultimately Google, and every individual, group, business, and governing authority in the West, is going to have to decide whether it is going to stand for the hard-won principles of free speech and free inquiry, or kowtow to Islamic supremacism and intimidation. When the censorship is voluntary and self-imposed, as in Google’s case, it is all the more shameful. FPM
 KUALA LUMPUR - Arsonists in Malaysia struck a fourth church on Saturday as the government tried to soothe tensions arising from a row over the use of the word "Allah" to refer to the Christian God. The unprecedented attacks risk dividing the mainly Muslim nation of 28 million people, which has significant religious minorities, and complicating Prime Minister Najib Razak's plan to win back support from the non-Muslims before the next elections by 2013. The row, over a court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language editions, prompted Muslims to protest at mosques on Friday and sparked arson attacks on three churches that saw one Pentecostalist church gutted. While Najib visited the badly damaged Pentecostalist church and offered a government grant of half a million ringgit ($148,100) to maintain "a harmonious society," church leaders said they wanted more concrete assurances of safety. "We ask the government to make a strong statement to these wrongdoers so we can worship in peace on Sunday," Reverend Hermen Shastri, secretary-general to the Council of Churches Malaysia, told Reuters. Malaysia is mainly Muslim and Malay but there are substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who mainly practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. These minorities handed the government its biggest losses in 2008 state and national elections in part due to feelings of religious marginalization and growing disillusionment with corruption. In the latest attack on early Saturday, unidentified attackers flung a home-made petrol bomb at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in a suburb in Selangor state. The two-storey bungalow sustained minor damage, church officials said. Police said they have stepped up security at all places of worship but faced a manpower shortage. Inspector General of Police Musa Hasan told churches across the country to hire more security guards. Christians account for nine percent of the 28 million population, with a sizable number of non-English speaking Christians in Malaysia's Borneo island states of Sabah and Sarawak who have used the word "Allah" for decades. Najib's handling of the issue will determine whether he can keep the support of the Malays and win back ethnic Chinese and Indian voters to solidify his grip on power after taking control of the government last year. "Till today we are protecting the interests of other races besides championing those of the Malays," Najib was earlier quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama. "Don't point fingers and say UMNO is racist...when churches are burned," he said referring to his party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) that is the linchpin of the National Front that has ruled the country for 52 years. But Malay-Muslims, including those in UMNO, fear the word could be used by Christians to proselytize to Muslims, which is already illegal in the Southeast Asian country. More than 169,000 Malaysians have joined a group page on social networking site Facebook called "Protesting the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims," a fourfold increase from the start of this week that signals growing Islamic anger. Reuters
 New Delhi: The former Union Law Minister and senior lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, caused a flutter at an international conference on terrorism here on Saturday by alleging that Wahabism was responsible for terrorism, provoking a walkout by Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to India Faisal-al-Trad. In his address, Mr. Jethmalani, who is president of the All-India Senior Advocates Association, said:
“Unfortunately in the 17th century, they produced an evil man in Saudi Arabia by the name of Wahab, who was concerned about the decline of the Muslim world, but he hit upon a wrong remedy.” He alleged that the Wahabi terrorism instilled rubbish in the minds of young people to carry out terrorist attacks. When he said “India had friendly relations with a country that supported Wahabi terrorism,” Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador Faisal-al-Trad was seen walking out of the conference held at Vigyan Bhavan. Adish C. Aggarwala, chairman, All-India Bar Association and joint organiser of the conference, said the Ambassador returned after Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily clarified that Mr. Jethmalani’s views were not those of the government. Mr. Jethmalani said: “It was unfortunate that entire Islam as a religion was being blamed for terrorism. There are also Hindu terrorists and Buddhist terrorists.”
He said he was a student of all religions, including Islam, and had the highest respect for the Prophet, who he said was a man of peace. Describing the Non-Aligned Movement and Panchsheel as evil, he said India should align with the forces of good to combat evil forces. “India and its Foreign Ministers must learn to reassess the doctrines of the past. India’s foreign policy establishment should be courageous to shun the country’s relationships with its enemies.” Mr. Jethmalani, who is representing the Anil Ambani group RNRL in the Ambani brothers’ gas dispute in the Supreme Court, said the government, in its arguments, had said it intended bringing gas from the country which supported terrorism, an apparent reference to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. Taking exception to Mr. Jethmalani’s remarks, Mr. Moily said: “India’s commitment to the Non-Aligned Movement would not be shaken by any country or any individual. The views expressed by my senior colleague Mr. Jethmalani are not the views of the government.” He said: “Terrorism cannot be attributed to any particular religion, as no religion teaches terrorism.” The government was against any attempt to link terrorism to a particular religious community, but it stood for “inclusive development” of all. In July, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed a comprehensive convention on international terrorism at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt, and the government was committed to dealing with trans-border terrorism in that spirit, he said. Singapore Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong described the Mumbai terror attacks as a “grave tragedy” against humanity. He called for better coordination among nations to deal with the menace, because no individual nation could fight it on its own. “The countries must exchange and share information with each other to tackle terrorism.” Justice Awn S. Al-Khasawneh, judge of the International Court of Justice, asked Mr. Jethmalani not to make sweeping statements. He decried any attempt to link terrorism to any religion, thus creating a fear psychosis. “The message from this conference must not be fear-mongering, but tackling terrorism within the framework of law. Combat it with methods such as combination of cooperation among countries by preaching the message of law and peace rather than fear mongering.” The Hindu
 A leading Al-Qaeda militant on Wednesday called on Muslims worldwide to defend Uighurs in China's restive northwestern region of Xinjiang. He told Uighurs to prepare for a holy war or Jihad and urged a "vast media campaign" to raise awareness of their fate at the hands of "oppressive" China.
In the video posted to jihadist websites, Abu Yahya al-Libi appeared to launch a frontal assault against China.
"This massacre is not being carried out by criminal Crusaders or evil Jews who have committed crimes against our nation," al-Libi stated.
"Today, a new massacre is being carried out by Buddhist nationalists and communists against the Muslim population in eastern Turkestan," said al-Libi.
Islamists call Xinjiang East Turkestan. Uighurs are Muslims native to Xinjiang province, and have cultural ties to Turkic peoples in Central Asia.
"There is no way to remove injustice and oppression without a true return to their (Uighurs) religion and ... serious preparation for Jihad in the path of God the Almighty and to carry weapons in the face of those (Chinese) invaders," he said.
Jihad against Buddhists riding motorcycles to the market Another great victory for the courageous mujahedin in Thailand. "Three Buddhist [sic] killed in Thai south," from The News International, September 10 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): YALA: Suspected Islamic insurgents in Thailand's troubled south shot and killed three Buddhist men, setting the body of one of the victims on fire, police said Thursday.
In the capital town of Pattani province, gunmen shot dead a Buddhist security guard working at an office for military veterans as he rode his motorcycle to a market late Wednesday, police said.
The attackers then torched the 42-year-old's body and his motorcycle in the middle of the road in front of terrified onlookers, they said. Gunmen shot dead a deputy village chief on the same day, also in Pattani province, police said.... Source: JihadWatch.org
Islamic Militants Target Buddhists in Thailand
Posted by Lee Jay Walker on 9/10/09 • Categorized as Jihad & Terrorism
By Lee Jay Walker - THE SEOUL TIMES - Tokyo Correspondent
The Islamic insurgency in Southern Thailand is ongoing and political and military leaders in Thailand appear to be at a loss because of many internal political and economic convulsions. Yet it is clear that radical Islamists desire an independent state and this state is meant to be Muslim to the core, and all Buddhists are deemed to be expendable. In Kashmir the Hindu minority was forced to flee because innocent civilians were targeted by Islamic jihadists and Serbian Orthodox Christians in Kosovo have witnessed the endless destruction of their Christian churches and culture. A similar pattern can be seen because Buddhists face daily fears and gradual Islamization in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. While recently three Christian pastors in Northern Nigeria were beheaded by Sunni Islamists because they refused to renounce Christianity. Sadly, more harrowing stories can be stated about the burning alive of Christians in Pakistan by Sunni Islamists and the continuing persecution of all minorities. Therefore, Ahmadiyya Muslims face the sword of Sunni Islam because of conservative hatred in Pakistan and Baha’is in Iran face severe restrictions and bouts of false propaganda by central forces in Iran. At the same time Christians face either dhimmitude or pogroms in Iraq alongside other minorities like the Shabaks, Yazidis, and Mandaeans because radical Islamists threaten all minorities. In Southern Thailand the current Islamic insurgency is following a similar pattern and this pattern is based on the beheading of Buddhists, killing innocent civilians, killing teachers, and spreading darkness throughout Southern Thailand. Read All here: http://www.faithfreedom.org/2009/09/10/islamic-militants-target-buddhists-in-thailand/
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