The Failure of Iranian Theocracy Takes Extremists and Fundamentalists by Surprise

June 25th | By: Michael van der Galien

The best part of the crisis in Iran, is that extremists and fundamentalists everywhere are panicking. They thought that the Iranian regime would remain in place for years, perhaps decades to come. Tehran has been supporting them - think of Hizbullah, Hamas but also dozens of other fundamentalist and extremist* organizations, newspapers, groups, etc. - since the very start of the Iranian Islamic Revolution back in 1979. They rely heavily on the Mullah’s for spiritual and material support. If Khamenei is removed from power, and replaced by a group of reform-minded clerics and politicians, they have a major problem.

And they know it. Which is why both Hamas and Hizbullah sent fighters to Iran a week ago or so. Reports say that Iranians are aware of this, and even talk to Basij militia members before they beat them up, to find out whether they speak Farsi or Arabic. If it is the latter, they can count on no mercy whatsoever. And rightly so.

The Jerusalem Post published an incredibly fascinating article about this matter. From it:

"Iran spends billions of dollars in different regions for various causes. Iran is the second-largest source of funds in the world, exceeded only by Saudi Arabia, for Islamic causes. From Somalia to Lebanon’s Hizbullah, from Hamas to the Egyptian Shiite movement, Iranian support - whether through direct funding or military and training - will be jeopardized if the theocrats are unseated. So would Iran’s support as a major donor to various proactive Muslim organizations in Europe, North America, and South America. The Iranian government’s role in supporting, training and facilitating the Sudanese Holocaust in Darfur is significant, with only the Chinese playing a larger role."

And that’s exactly why people such as Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a pan-Arab newspaper, writes article after article in which he defends the regime, and criticizes the protesters. He fears they will rid themselves of their oppressors, because them doing so would weaken the entire fundamentalist and extremist movement considerably.

"It is certain that those groups and organizations that might expect their funding to be in danger would start lobbying various governments to turn a blind eye to events in Iran. Whether Western politicians have any stomach for this type of lobbying at this point is another topic of discussion. Indeed the global Muslim theocracy movement is in danger at the hands of the Iranian people not only financially, but also in terms of the legitimacy of theocracy as a political system.

It is too early to say what the long-term impact will be, but it is certain that there has been at least a negative psychological impact on the legitimacy of theocracy as a result of the Iranian protests. There may be those who will try to spin the story and claim that the people of Iran still support theocracy and their beef is only with the election and Ahmadinejad. One can say with certainty that for the first few days the Iranian people tried to manage this evolution leaving some wiggle room for the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. But as of last Friday the gloves were off. With Ayatollah Khamenei showing no restraint, people started chanting “death to Khamenei”, a sign of the realization that they could even go further and let the world know what they really want: the abolition of theocracy in Iran.

Whether the brave people of Iran are successful in their aspirations to live without theocratic rule is unknown. However, it can be said with certainty that their efforts have changed the face of the theocracy movement not only within Iran, but also globally."

To me, that’s the most significant effect of the crisis in Iran.

The Mullahs have proved that their ideology is not merely radical, but also weak and opposed by the majority of Iranians. They rule by the point of a gun, as every extremist group has to. They don’t have support. When push comes to shove, they stand alone. And that is how it will always be. That’s a major setback for fundamentalists everywhere, and that’s also why it’s so important that world news organizations and blogs show this truth - that the Mullahs have failed because their ideology is both wicked and weak - to everyone out there.

*Fundamentalist and extremist are not per definition the same. Extremists do not merely wish to live according to a fundamentalist interpretation of their religion, they also want others to do so, and are even willing to use violence to reach their goal.

Source: PoliGazette

'Fundamentalists spreading harsh ideology in Canada'

* Moroccan writer says indifference of Canadian authorities to extremism shocked her
* Says vulnerability of moderate Muslims scared them to confront ‘Islamists’

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Fatima Houda-Pepin from Morocco, who is Canada’s first elected Muslim woman politician, has expressed dismay at the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam and the spread of a harsh ideology in the country where she has lived for the last 35 years.

Writing in Le Presse, a Montreal-based French daily, Houda-Pepin says that what shocked her on arrival in Canada was her discovery of circles of indoctrination where women are veiled even inside their own houses, with ramifications in the Middle East, Pakistan, Iran, Europe and the United States. Imams trained in fundamentalist ideology, sent on missions and paid by foreigners, spread a radical Islam aiming at isolating Muslims from their host society. Messages call for jihad and to hate the agnostics, Jews, moderate Muslims, and Christians.

Shock:
Her ‘second shock’, she records, was the indifference of the authorities, which felt that as long as these problems were contained within the communities, they did not have to bother. A lack of knowledge of Islam and Muslims allowed radicals freedom to impose their views.

Houda-Pepin writes that the ‘Islam of knowledge and tolerance’ that marked her youth in Morocco was transformed in Canada into a straitjacket, reduced to a series of impositions, most often on women. At the same time Muslims were being degraded with pictures of violence coming from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the 9/11 attacks. Islamic groups, using indifference and surrounding ignorance, adapted a negative strategy. They managed to set themselves up as ‘spokesperson’ of communities to the distress of the moderate Muslims who struggle to integrate and ask only to live in harmony with their fellow countrymen.
Vulnerability:
“This is the vulnerability of these communities, among which the silent majority do not dare to confront the Islamists on their own ground. A broken up leading role, weak community structures and the feeling of exclusion from the young people also contributes to their marginalisation. However their contribution in human resources, competences, economic and cultural provision is considerable,” she points out.
She maintains that a pluralist society must be fair and equitable in its protection of minorities against abuses of the majority. Religious extremism is first obvious inside minorities themselves. In 1990, fundamentalists tried to impose shariah (Islamic law) in Toronto before standing back under the pressure of Muslim women. This battle was won inside communities themselves, before it surfaced in the public in 2003, with a more sophisticated sales talk and a plan of communication. Ontario abandoned the plan. She also writes about the ascent of the right-wing religious forces in America. In 1978, 22 percent of the Americans declared themselves Evangelists, a number that rose to 33 percent in 1986. The movement has not ceased growing and it is being completely transformed. The rise of the religious right is swarming everywhere, she notes. In Canada, different fundamentalist spheres of influence are already at work. Everywhere they aim at the school, at the family, at institutions and at political power.

At the same time, according to Houda-Pepin, Islamic spheres of influence have spread in several Muslim countries where they lead a conflict against regimes in place, considered as corrupted, ‘faithless’ and morally ‘decadent’. The law, which guarantees them religious freedom, is targeted as backward to destabilise these political regimes and at the same time, allow postponement of democracy. The ‘Islamists’ strategy, she warns, as they move forward in the closed circles, is an incorporation of a community without borders - an Islamic planet where a Muslim must be governed according to the shariah, independently of the country where he lived.
This allows fundamentalists, in the eyes of community and government leaders, as the spokespersons for all Muslims. In this sense, any advancement of these groups on juridical or symbolic plan is a powerful lever to impose an ultimatum in the name of religious freedom - in a secularised society a model of governance where the sovereignty of God will dominate the men.

Source: Daily Times Pakistan

Saturday Morning Confusion about Islam!

For anyone who is not yet hip to the true nature of radical Islam I would like to give a few examples here on just what sort of a problem we are facing, and will continue to deal with in the foreseeable future.

I saved the best for last so make sure you read all the way down!

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The extremist Muslim speaker Omar Bakri Muhammad has declared Paul McCartney “the enemy of every Muslim” due to his decision to perform in Israel in honor of the country’s 60th anniversary.

In an interview with the British tabloid ‘Sunday Express’ Bakri said, “If he values his life Mr. McCartney must not come to Israel."

"He will not be safe there."

"The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him.”

The Syrian born orator, defined by CNN News as a friend of al-Qaeda, was excommunicated from the UK and now operates out of Lebanon, where he broadcasts hate-filled sermons over the internet.

The Sunday Express wrote that sources associated with the former Beatle claim he was shocked by the threats against him, “but refused to be intimidated.”

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Saudi Arabia’s religious police have banned selling cats and dogs or exercising them in public in the Saudi capital, because of men using them as a means of making passes at women, an official said.

Othman al-Othman, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Riyadh, known as the Muttawa, told the Saudi edition of al-Hayat daily the commission has started enforcing an old religious edict.

The reason behind reinforcing the edict now was a rising fashion among some men using pets in public “to make passes on women and disturb families,” he said, without giving more details.

Othman said that the commission has instructed its offices in the capital to tell pet shops “to stop selling cats and dogs”.

The 5000-strong religious police oversees the adherence to Wahabism - a strict version of Sunni Islam, which also forces women to cover from head to toe when in public, and bans them from driving.

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A college has renamed the traditional Christmas and Easter breaks in a bid to avoid offending students from other religions. (i.e. Muslims)

The college’s new calendar shows that both of the traditional holiday periods have now been re-branded as ‘end of term breaks’.

Critics have complained that the decision by Yorkshire Coast College is nothing more than ‘political correctness’.

Tory MP Robert Goodwill said:

‘I have heard that some people refer to the Christmas period as the Winterval, which is worse. This is absolutely barmy.‘We are a Christian country and, to be honest, religious tolerance in this country is about respecting other people’s religious beliefs.’ ‘School terms are traditionally separated by Christmas and Easter and they should be referred to as such. ‘They are petrified that they offend the minority but what they are doing is offending the majority. ‘It’s political correctness gone mad and I am disappointed.’

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Mickey Mouse has made it onto the Muslim hit list!

Sheikh Muhammad Munajid claimed the mouse is "one of Satan's soldiers" and makes everything it touches impure.

But he warned that depictions of the creature in cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, and Disney's Mickey Mouse, had taught children that it was in fact loveable.

The cleric, a former diplomat at the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, said that under Sharia, both household mice and their cartoon counterparts must be killed.

Mr Munajid was asked to give Islam's teaching on mice during a religious affairs programme broadcast on al-Majd TV, an Arab television network.

According to a translation prepared by the Middle East Media Research Institute, an American press monitoring service, he said: "The mouse is one of Satan's soldiers and is steered by him. "If a mouse falls into a pot of food – if the food is solid, you should chuck out the mouse and the food touching it, and if it is liquid – you should chuck out the whole thing, because the mouse is impure."

"According to Islamic law, the mouse is a repulsive, corrupting creature. How do you think children view mice today – after Tom and Jerry?"


"Mickey Mouse has become an awesome character, even though according to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases."

By the way, last month Mr Munajid condemned the Beijing Olympics as the "bikini Olympics", claiming that nothing made Satan happier than seeing females athletes dressed in skimpy outfits.

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Meanwhile, Muslim newspaprs spread a distinclty unsavoury image of Europeans......

In an article titled 'The Qualities of the European,' the columnist made the following observations about Europeans:

'As for the Europeans' relations with the Creator, animals are better than they are...for they do not permit what is permissible, and do not forbid what is forbidden. Moreover, whenever they find a way to please the Devil, they pursue it...

'Europeans [also] usually smell bad, because they do not wash until it is absolutely necessary. They do not clean themselves properly after urinating, nor do they wipe the filth off [themselves].

Whoever mingles with them notices this characteristic.

If Allah had not given them a cold climate, the stench would have been overwhelming, driving away the birds and withering the vegetation. For real cleanliness means nothing to them...

"Most Europeans today are disciplined, law-abiding, and punctual.

But they behave in this manner not because they believe in [these virtues], but because they are afraid of penalties and fines.

Just imagine, dear reader, a civilized city like London, New York, Paris or Frankfurt with the electricity cut off for even one day.

What do you think the European man, in his elegant suit, and the European woman, with her elegant figure, would do?

"[Imagine] just one day without electricity, during which the surveillance cameras and the alarm systems fail.

In this situation, these civilized people would turn into wild animals that would devour everything!!

"Yes, that is the truth about the West. It is not restrained by religion, values or virtue, but only by fear of punishment and fines. Furthermore, without surveillance, even the police would take part in the thievery."

"As for stinginess, the Europeans are the very model of it. The European is miserly even towards his own wife and children. He may dine with his wife in a restaurant, and then each of them pays their own bill!! And when his son or daughter turns 18, he asks them to pay rent for living under his roof!"

"Just as generosity and courage are man's finest qualities, so are stinginess and cowardice his worst, and the latter are especially characteristic of the European.

He lives for his material interests only, and does not recognize social ties. Father and mother usually mean nothing to him, and even his children - his only interest in them is materialistic."

"Most of the Europeans today are racist, especially the Germans and the French. They despise one another, and [also] despise others. They believe that they deserve a good life, while others have only the right to serve them. Those compelled to live among them experience this racism.

Given an opportunity to crush the others, [the Europeans] would grab it without hesitation. In fact, their history [provides] proof of this evil quality."

* I am not going to comment on this, just be aware what some clerics are saying this about us to create the impression that hurting us is not that bad since we are sub-standard humans anyway!

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NOW COMES THE WORST PART...................

In spite of all these bad feelings toward, and bad press about radical Islam, the average Muslim does nothing to help the situation.

Instead of rising up in indignation at the acts of a cowardly few, who are led by a clergy that is fighting a life an death struggle to hold on to their power base and influence, they choose to do nothing and therebye get painted with the same brush!

Muslims must realize that the only way to get along with the West is to integrate to some degree and not keep themselves apart from the majority.

And please don't give me that bullshit about; "In twenty years we will be the majority!"

Keep this up and the backlash might be a whole lot nastier than you can imagine!

That's not a threat, just a prediction.

Dialoge is what's needed, and it has started on a few fronts in Britain where some people are trying to open up lines of communication.

British Muslims are guilty of a “victim mentality” and should take greater responsibility for their lives, a Muslim Labour MP has argued.

Sadiq Khan also said more British Muslims must tackle sexism, learn English and condemn forced marriages.

The representative for Tooting, south London, made his comments in a report for the Fabian Society think tank.

In his report, entitled Fairness, Not Favours, Mr Khan said: “We need to take more responsibility for our own families, ignore those who propagate conspiracy theories, and above all we need to leave behind our victim mentality."

“We must all agree that honour killings are murder and forced marriages are kidnapping.

These traditions have no place here or anywhere.”

By its very nature, Islam makes it extremely difficult for Muslims to integrate. Islam means submission, and the Quran makes it clear that Muslims expect non-Muslims to submit to Islam. Western values are not compatible with Islam. As a result, many Muslims form ghettos and engage in other forms of non-integration.

Hair-trigger sensitivities that have Muslim extremists respond to real or perceived insults with death threats, violent demonstrations, murder and terrorism, make it difficult or even impossible for non-Muslims to believe the claim that Islam is a ‘religion of peace.’

Therefore a high birthrate among Muslims, combined with high (legal and illegal) immigration figures, have Europeans and others worried about the Muslims in their midst.

some examples;

• Europeans worry that Muslims cannot assimilate
• German politician blames Islam for religious violence
• Muslims are waging civil war against us, claims French police union
• Muslims not trying to fit with society, says Martin Amis
• UK: Muslim integration has come to a halt
• Sections of Muslim Britain in denial about extremism
• A quarter of UK Muslims believe the terrorist bombings in London were justified
• The seductive beat of the militant, Islamic drum
• Europe’s angry young Muslims
• Europe fears threat from its converts to Islam
• Europe is learning a hard lesson from Muslim immigrant experience

He also claimed that Muslims in Britain are pre-occupied by foreign policy and not concerned enough about day-to-day political issues.

“Muslims need to recognise childcare is as important as Kashmir,” he said.

Assistant whip Mr Khan said there was no question that people coming to live in Britain should learn English and he criticised “liberal anxiety” about the issue.

“The requirement to learn English is not colonial. English is a passport to participation in mainstream society - jobs, education and even being able to use health services,” he said.

“Having poor English creates multiple barriers to work; it decreases your confidence, makes it harder to gain other skills and qualifications and increases the likelihood of unemployment and your withdrawal from the labour market.”

Meanwhile, Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said the “real issues” holding Muslims back were “poverty, crime, racism and Islamophobia.”

He said: “We do not have a victim mentality but are victims of this government’s failure to deal with real issues, issues around poverty, tackling the underlying causes of why there is terrorism in this country.”

He said the Ramadhan Foundation had a long history of opposing forced marriages and so-called honour killings.

Mr Shafiq added there was no conflict between a concern for the fate of Muslims abroad and an awareness of the domestic political issues of Britain.

However Shaista Gohir, director of both Muslim Voice UK and Muslim Women’s Network UK, agreed that more needed to be done by Muslims to tackle sexism, forced marriages and honour killings.

She also agreed it was important for British Muslims to speak English.

Ms Gohir, who is a government adviser on Muslim women, told the BBC: “Not being able to speak English is not only a barrier to integration but is also disempowering for individuals, so I agree that Muslims who do not speak English need to make more of an effort to learn.”

This is all well and good but until we takle the main problem, which rests squarely with the fundamentalist clergy of Islam who refuse to give up the old ways and their control over the popultation, there is not going to be peace between East and West.

Your humble scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E ! and as a paperback H E R E !

Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://allans-perspective.blogspot.com

Islam fights back!

There is an article here from "Religion News" blog that struck home with me and I would like to reprint it along with some comments the blog made about the political side of Islam.

The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world’s Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols.

It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in Dakar, Senegal’s capital.

“I don’t think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy,” said Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“There can be no freedom without limits.”

Delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted.

“Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination,” charged Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the group.

The report urges the creation of a “legal instrument” to crack down on defamation of Islam.

Some delegates point to laws in Europe criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic rhetoric.

They also point to articles within various U.N. charters that condemn discrimination based on religion and argue that these should be ramped up.

“In our relation with the Western world, we are going through a difficult time,” Ihsanoglu told the summit’s general assembly.

“Islamophobia cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but (through) a robust political engagement.”

Then the Religious News blog said; "We’ll use our right to Free Speech to say this:"

In the name of Islam countless Muslims use any and every opportunity to stage violent protests, issue death threats, destroy property, murder, and commit other acts of terrorism.

They go nuts (yes, nuts) over cartoons and teddy bears, while they generally keep quiet over acts of terrorism and other human rights violations committed by fellow members of their so-called ‘religion of peace.’

If Muslims want to curtail or deny free speech, they must be prepared to be held accountable for the hate speech produced by Muslims — including its hateful cartoons — targeted against non-Muslims.

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations such as Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.

Although the legal measures being considered have not been spelled out, the idea pits many Muslims against principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous Western governments.

On a personal note here....... This seems to be another attempt by Muslim societies to impose their values on other groups and only further displays the intolerance we can expect from them until they decide to enter the twenty first century. One statement from the Muslims pretty will sums it up: "There can be no freedom without limits!" And there lies the crux of the whole problem.

We in the West have separated religion and state while the Islamic countries still have everything under their religious jurisdiction and will fight like hell to keep it that way.

Don't expect the Religious Hierarchy to give up without one Mother of a fight!

AND FINALLY THIS WORD FROM ANOTHER BLOG! (He sums it up pretty good!)

An open letter to Muslim extremist zealots the world over, from the folks at Irregular Times...

"Since we placed up our several articles of new, original cartoons of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, we have received many messages of praise and condemnation for our act. We thank those who have expressed their support, and for those who have condemned us as satanic infidels in accord with the devil.

To any fundamentalist, we will send the same message. We will not kow-tow to anyone who tries to make us follow the rules of their religion, whether that religion is Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhism.

Hell, if the Wiccans told us we had to bend low in respect of their religious practices, we’d tell them to go stick their heads in the mud, too.

It is bad enough that the Islamic world thinks it has the right to tell the rest of us what we can say and what we cannot say. Even worse, the Bush White House is going along with the radical Imams, and is telling everyone to apologize for a few European cartoons.

Cartoons don’t cause problems - death threats do.

So, we’re doing the only thing it makes sense to do when violent radicals try to silence us with threats of violence. We are getting louder. No one will deter us from speaking our minds.

We will say what we want to say about any religion, and we won’t apologize for the freedom to do so. We will draw anything that we want to draw, and if people want to try to come into our homes to slaughter us as a result, let them come.

I refuse to raise my children in a way that teaches them to be afraid of bullies.

I’m not going to have my children live in a world where they feel that they do not have the right to speak their minds. Nothing is above criticism and satire. Not me. Not you. Not the prophet Mohammed.

So, follow your own religious laws, if you must, but when you demand that I follow them, I will exercise my constitutional right to make fun of you as much as I want.

Fundamentalist Muslims: Got a problem with it? Tough. Your religion is not my religion, and you’d better get used to it, because I will have my head cut off before I submit to you.

So, kill me now, or stop threatening me, and leave me alone so that I can live in freedom without hearing your shrill whining...........!"

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

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