Muslim student accused of stabbing Jewish prof

A Muslim anthropology graduate student is being charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Jewish professor at Binghamton University in Vestal, New York.

The victim is Richard Antoun, 77, professor of Middle Eastern studies and the author of "Understanding Fundamentalism: Christian, Islamic and Jewish Movements."

The man in custody is Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani, 46-year-old Saudi national.

The attack took place Friday afternoon when the student entered the professor's office and stabbed him, according to an eyewitness. Campus police tackled the assailant to the ground, while emergency service workers rushed to Antoun's side.

University President Lois DeFleur issued the following statement Friday: "This afternoon, in an act of senseless violence, the Binghamton University community lost one of its long-time faculty members. ... Our hearts go out to the Antoun family and we will provide them with as much assistance as we can in this time of sorrow."

New York Gov. David Paterson also released a statement about the victim: "He touched the lives of many students and was respected by his colleagues. Though he will be missed on campus, he will live on in his writing, his research and his students, whose lives he forever changed."

Antoun received a doctorate from Harvard in 1963 and joined the Binghamton faculty in the early 1970s. He was "a sociocultural anthropologist who has conducted research among peasants in Jordan, urbanites in Lebanon, peasant farmers in Iran and migrants in Texas and Greece," according to the univerrsity's website. He retired in 1999 as professor emeritus.

"He dedicated his life to trying to understand the people of the Middle East," the professor's sister Linda Miller, of Holden, Mass., told the New York Times. "He never said an unkind word to anyone in his life. "Miller’s husband, the Rev. David J. Miller, said that Antoun had been married to his wife, Rosalyn, for 17 years and had a son, Nicholas, 40.

WND

Can Radical Islam Be Defeated by Modernizing Islam?

May 13, 2009 By Dr. Sami Alrabaa

In contrast to most religions of the world, in particular Christianity and Judaism, Islam has not yet gone through a modernization process. While Christians and Jews have managed throughout their history to reconcile religion with freedom, Muslims have not. Why is that?

Before the Industrial Revolution, the Christian Puritans were in charge in their societies. Monks in England and France used to roam the streets and force people to go and pray exactly like the Mutawas (morality police) in today’s Saudi Arabia.

In 1600 Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake, accused of being heretic, by the Roman Inquisition for his scientific ideas, which were incompatible with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Bruno’s “crime” was that he dared to suggest the universe was boundless and that the sun and its planets were but one of a number of similar systems. He also suggested that there might be other inhabited worlds with rational beings equal or possibly superior to ourselves.

In 1633 Galileo Galilei was accused of heresy for "following the position of Copernicus,” which was “contrary to the authority of Holy Scripture.” Under torture, he was forced to his knees to renounce all belief in Copernican theories, and was thereafter sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life. Read more ...

Source: FSM

Pope calls for peace in Israel

From correspondents in Tel Aviv, Israel | May 11

POPE Benedict XVI has denounced anti-Semitism as "totally unacceptable'' and pleaded for Middle East peace as he began his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"Sadly anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world,'' Pope Benedict said after he touched down in Israel from Jordan on the latest leg of an eight-day Holy Land pilgrimage.

"This is totally unacceptable. Every effort must be made to combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found, and to promote respect and esteem for the members of every people, tribe, language and nation across the globe.''

The Pontiff also pleaded for Israelis and Palestinians to do everything to resolve their conflict that has caused decades of bloodshed in the land sacred to the world's three major monotheistic faiths.

"The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace between Israelis and Palestinians,'' he said at the welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion airport.

"I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties so that both people may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognised borders.''

Security-obsessed Israel is laying on stringent measures for the trip under "Operation White Robe'', with tens of thousands of law enforcement officers deployed, entire sections of Jerusalem to be shut down and Israeli air space closed for the Pope's arrival.

During his five-day pilgrimage, the Pope will follow in the footsteps of Jesus and visit Jewish and Muslim holy sites, but the visit comes at a delicate time, with Israel-Vatican ties strained and the peace process stalled.

And the German-born 82-year-old Pope Benedict is not expected to receive the warmth that greeted his predecessor John Paul II on his landmark Holy Land tour nine years ago, the first since Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic ties in 1993.

Israel is angered over Pope Benedict's backing the beatification of controversial Nazi-era Pope Pius XII and lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying British bishop.

His trip is a mainly pastoral visit aimed at encouraging the dwindling Christian population to stay in the Holy Land, as well as promoting peace.

The Pope will meet senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders, top Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious officials, and Palestinian refugees living in the shadow of Israel's controversial separation barrier near the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born in Bethlehem.

"I pray that your continuing presence in Israel and the Palestinian territories will bear much fruit in promoting peace and mutual respect among all the peoples who live in the lands of the Bible,'' he said on arrival.

"I come, like so many others before me, to pray at the holy places, to pray especially for peace - peace here in the Holy Land and peace throughout the world.''

Source: The Australian

US Game Satirizes Prophets

CAIRO — A new board game in the United States is lampooning religions and depicting prophets and religious leaders bashing and whacking people all the way to victory in their spiritual warfare.

"Offending people, particularly Christians, Buddhists or Muslims ... seems to be their marketing strategy," Drew Koehler, founder and senior writer for Christian-gaming.com, told the USA Today on Tuesday, November 18.

The Playing Gods: The Board Game of Divine Domination bills itself as "the world's first satirical board game of religious warfare."

Players use plastic figurines depicting game characters from major religions to fight in a spiritual warfare.

The 3-inch figurines include Jesus bashing people with a cross, Moses slugging away with the tablets of the Ten Commandments and a turban-wearing man carrying a bomb and a dagger, hinting at Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

During the fight, the players must kill or convert people all the way to victory.

They move their figurines across the board drawing cards that promise wrath with natural disasters or woo converts with kindness or cleverness.

"Overemphasis on guilt drives millions to depression and suicide. Kill three Christian sects," says one card under the image of an wrathful Jesus.

"Endless 'War on Terror' provides terrorist job stability. Gain three Muslim sects," says another with the turbaned bomb thrower image.

Anti-Religion

The developers claim their game is anti-zealot.

"Much of the world's violence is rooted in religion," claims Ben Radford, who designed the game.

"[It] has no basis in historical reality and doesn't actually represent any religion," insists Carl Raschke, professor of religious studies at University of Denver.

Experts criticize the game for banking on anti-religion sentiments.

"It sounds to me like the company is trying to capitalize on the anti-religious climate of today," said Koehler, whose site reviews games from the Christian perspective.

Raschke agrees that the game is catering to anti-religion people.

"It just appeals to people who hate religion to begin with — the hip subculture of militant popular atheists."

He believes that the developers are no better than the fanatics they claim their game goes against.

"Their thinking is rigid and hostile ... They start from their own dogmatic perspective.

"These people are fanatics, for the most part, themselves."

Source: Islam Online

Jewish Temples never existed, says top Palestinian negotiator Official leading peace talks claims Israel trying to 'invent' historical Jerusalem link

By Aaron Klein

JERUSALEM - The Jewish Temples never existed and Israel has been working to "invent" a Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem, the chief Palestinian negotiator asserted.

Ahmed Qurei, the Palestinian Authority official leading all peace talks with the Jewish state, made the controversial statements in a small media briefing Wednesday attended by WND as well as by a Palestinian media outlet and an Arab affairs correspondent for a major Israeli newspaper.

But the Israeli publication decided not to print Qurei's comments, while the Palestinian publication, the Al-Ayam daily newspaper, made news of the remarks.

Qurei said "Israeli occupation authorities are trying to find a so-called Jewish historical connection" between Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, "but all these attempts will fail. The [Temple Mount] is 100 percent Muslim."

"The world must be mobilized against all these Israeli attempts to change the symbols and signs of Jerusalem," he said. "There is nothing Jewish about the Al Aqsa Mosque. There was no so-called Jewish Temple. It's imaginary. Jerusalem is 100 percent Muslim."

Continued Qurei: "The Arab world is called to interfere to stop the Israeli plans in Jerusalem, to stop the Israeli attempts to create a Jewish character to Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa mosque. Also to the Old City, which is the first step in the war to defend Jerusalem and Al Aqsa.

"They are competing against time in order to create facts on ground in the surrounding the imaginary Temple," Qurei added.

The chief Palestinian negotiator was reacting to the reopening last month of a long-closed synagogue just 100 meters from the Temple Mount. The holy structure, located in what is now known as the Muslim Quarter, was abandoned in 1938 in the wake of extreme Arab violence targeting Jews. At the time, thousands of Jews lived in the Quarter. The synagogue is closer than any other Jewish house of prayer to the Temple Mount.

Qurei, who is considered moderate by U.S. and Israeli policy, has been leading talks with Israel initiated at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Summit, which seeks to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, before President Bush leaves office. Israel is widely expected to offer the Palestinians near complete control of the West Bank and significant control of undisclosed parts of eastern Jerusalem.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. The First Jewish Temple was built there by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of over four centuries.

The Jewish Temple was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's shechina or "presence" dwelt. All Jewish holidays centered on worship at the Temple. The Jewish Temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place for the Jewish people.

According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. The site is believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Jewish tradition holds Mashiach, or the Jewish Messiah, will return and rebuild the third and final Temple on the Mount in Jerusalem.

The Kotel, or Western Wall, is the one part of the Temple Mount that survived the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans and stands today in Jerusalem.

Throughout all notorious Jewish exiles, thorough documentation shows the Jews never gave up their hope of returning to Jerusalem and re-establishing their Temple. To this day, Jews worldwide pray facing the Western Wall, while Muslims turn their backs away from the Temple Mount and pray toward Mecca.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed around A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph.

About 100 years ago, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem became associated with the place Muslims came to believe Muhammad ascended to heaven. Jerusalem, however, is not mentioned in the Quran.

Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night from "a sacred mosque" – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest mosque," and from a rock there ascended to heaven to receive revelations from Allah that became part of the Quran.

Palestinians today claim exclusivity over the Temple Mount, and Palestinian leaders routinely deny Jewish historic connection to the site, but historically, Muslims did not claim the Al Aqsa Mosque as their third holiest site and admitted the Jewish Temples existed.

According to research by Israeli author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam previously disregarded Jerusalem. He points out in his book "How Dreadful Is this Place!" that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. Berkovits wrote that Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God.

As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that "in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron."

It wasn't until the late 19th century – incidentally when Jews started immigrating to Palestine – that some Muslim scholars began claiming Muhammad tied his horse to the Western Wall and associated Muhammad's purported night journey with the Temple Mount. A guide to the Temple Mount by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem published in 1925 listed the Mount as the site of Solomon's Temple. The Temple Institute acquired a copy of the official 1925 "Guide Book to Al-Haram Al-Sharif," which states on page 4, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord.'"

Source: World Net Daily

Muslims urinate on Torah scrolls in Hebron

Sunday, September 07, 2008 Israel Today Staff

Jewish worshippers returning to Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs after Muslims were given exclusive access to the holy site at the weekend reported that the cabinet containing their Torah scrolls had been urinated on.

One Jewish resident of Hebron told Israel National News that he and several other men had to move the cabinet to another part of the room because of the strong smell of urine in the area where it is usually positioned.

Additionally, green Hamas flags were found placed in the windows that mark the burial sites of Abraham, Isaac, Sara, Rebecca and Leah.

The Cave of the Patriarchs is split into Jewish and Muslim sections, as both groups revere Abraham.

Several times a year, the holy site is given over to one or the other group exclusively to mark special holy days. Muslims were given exclusive access to the Cave of the Patriarchs on Friday to mark their holy month of Ramadan.

Another Jewish resident of Hebron said that some damage to Jewish religious articles or the Jewish side of the site is found every time the Muslims take over.

Source: Israel Today

Muslims Against Sharia condemn disgusting act of a deranged individual(s). We hope that the perpetrator(s) is promptly caught in placed in a mental institution.