Change Looms After Quirinale Meeting
Prime minister reported to have admitted difficulties to head of state
ROME — Concern and anxiety shading into lack of confidence. Recrimination at pressure from all sides. A black mood worsened by Sunday’s humiliating irony from the French and German leaders in Brussels. But despite the alarm bells, the PM has a keen desire to react. To patch up relations with allies. To show he is still operational. In other words, to mount a stout resistance. So Silvio Berlusconi will not — at least for the time being — be stepping down “for the country’s sake”, as he has been asked to do by many.
It’s the first time this has happened but apparently “can-do” Silvio Berlusconi, a man used to spreading optimism wherever he goes, yesterday openly admitted his difficulties to Giorgio Napolitano. And there was more. During the midday conversation at the Quirinale Palace, the possibility emerged that a government not led by Silvio Berlusconi could be formed from the same majority, perhaps extended to include the Christian Democrat UDC. It was another first. This spectacular possibility kept the entire Centre-right talking late into the night, discussing the relative merits of Gianni Letta and Renato Schifani as two possible prime ministerial candidates in a scenario that is now on the verge of crisis. Nonetheless, Silvio Berlusconi rejected the possibility in his talk with President Napolitano, recovering his trademark determination typical of a man resolved to dig in and fight. It remains to be seen whether the surge of pride with which Mr Berlusconi took his leave of the president after fifty minutes of “very frank” (i.e. no holds barred) cut and thrust will induce the Prime Minister’s Office to set out “solid facts, figures and dates” in rapid decisions, as Europe has now urged with a peremptory diktat and as Mr Napolitano has been recommending for months.
Mr Napolitano was none too confident about this yesterday. He was expecting the conversation to be inconclusive, a mere “pass” before the insidious Council of Ministers meeting that began late in the evening and ended without agreement. Discussions will continue today but with no guarantees of any result. A successful conclusion will depend on the Northern League’s giving ground over the pensions issue and on economy minister Tremonti’s ability to work out a grid of development measures to convince Italy’s eurozone partners and the financial markets.
“So how are you intending to surmount this obstacle?” “What are you going to tell Brussels on Wednesday?” “Do you have agreement on a package of structural measures?” “And above all, do you in the majority agree on them?” “Can you guarantee this cohesion?” “Bear in mind that your answers have to be responsible and worthy of Italy’s role in Europe”. These are the questions and considerations that President Napolitano put to the prime minister after listening to his personal account of private and collegiate meetings at the EU summit. During his report, Mr Berlusconi interspersed his customary confidence with timid, worried admissions. “I made assurances. They believed me”. He said he was astonished at the regrettable pantomime put on by Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel over the Italian government’s reliability: “Really, I confess that I cannot make any sense of it”.
Giorgio Napolitano, on the other hand, certainly could, although he might have found it irritating. Last Thursday, the president received a highly guarded phone call from the German chancellor, and a similar call from the Eurogroup chair Jean-Claude Junker. Among other things, Mrs Merkel expressed to the president her doubts over Italy’s political future, in other words over the government’s ability to survive and the scenarios that would unfold if it were to fall without warning. “What would happen then?” asked Mrs Merkel…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: One in Four Shops Have Been Forced to Close
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, OCTOBER 25 — Figures show that one in four commercial businesses in Greece has closed down since the start of the crisis, while it is doubtful that many of those that are still operating today will be open after this coming January. The recession has dealt an enormous blow to all sectors, though it has hit commerce and manufacturing hardest, where the majority of businesses are small or medium-size, as daily Kathimerini reports. Large commercial firms have not been immune to the knock-on effects of the crisis, with a number of major clothing importers and retailers declaring bankruptcy, and wealthy shopping districts in the capital, such as Kolonaki, Kifissia and Glyfada, also feeling the heat, with a succession of store closures. According to the latest data released by the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE), the percentage of the total number of businesses listed that has closed has risen from 15% in the summer of 2010 to 25% in August 2011. In fact, on a number of central commercial streets in the Greek capital, the percentage of closed shops exceeds 30%. The streets that have been hit the hardest are Solonos (42%) in central Athens, Tsakalof in Kolonaki, Plastira in Maroussi (35%), Kolokotroni (33%) in Kifissia and central Stadiou (32%).
More and more shops are shutting in Thessaloniki, where the percentage has risen from 10.1% in August 2010 to almost double that at 19.1% a year later. Things do not look bright for the future either, as an index compiled by the ESEE suggests that if the rate of closures continues at the current pace, in February 2012 there will be 228,000 commercial business in operation, compared to 255,000 today and 324,000 at the beginning of 2009.
This means that 122,000 businesses will be wiped off the country’s map, with everything that this entails in terms of entrepreneurship and unemployment.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Northern League Leader Says Hands Off Seniority Pensions
(AGI) Rome — The government will leave seniority pensions untouched. Northern League leader Umberto Bossi said so as he left the parliament. “Seniority pensions will not be affected — he added — but we did find a solution. Let’s see what the EU has to say about it now”. When asked by the reporters whether the government is at risk, he replied “yes”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Appeals Court Won’t Stop Hillsborough Judge From Considering Islamic Law
TAMPA — A Florida appeals court appears to have cleared the way for a Hillsborough judge to use Islamic law to decide a key issue in a lawsuit involving a local mosque.
In a case that has attracted national attention, the 2nd District Court of Appeal on Friday denied without comment a petition to prevent Judge Richard Nielsen from invoking Islamic law. The petition, filed by the Islamic Education Center of Tampa, contested a March ruling by Nielsen announcing his intent to use “ecclesiastical Islamic law” in the case.
Nielsen limited his use of Islamic law to deciding whether arbitration by an Islamic scholar mediating a dispute between the mosque and ousted trustees followed the teachings of the Koran.The arbitration itself is in dispute, with mosque officials saying it never took place. The arbitrator ruled in favor of several men ousted as mosque trustees, a decision that, if upheld, could wrest control of $2.2 million in mosque coffers. Like everything else in the litigation, the meaning of the appeals court ruling is in dispute.
Attorney Paul Thanasides, representing the mosque, said an appeals court decision without a written opinion means the court wasn’t addressing the merits of the case. Thanasides said the U.S. Constitution and Florida law prevent Nielsen from following Islamic law. On Monday, he filed a motion with the judge asking him to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction. “Florida law is clear that courts may not decide corporate governance disputes involving religious organizations,” the motion said.
Lee Segal, a lawyer representing four ousted trustees, said the appeals court ruling was a “big-time” win for his clients and vindication for Nielsen, who does not comment on pending cases. “This basically puts the case back in front of Nielsen, who has a good handle of what the issues are,” Segal said. He noted the judge could still rule against his clients if he determines that Islamic law was not, in fact, followed. “There’s still lots of barriers for us to cross,” Segal said.
The case touched off a storm of criticism against Nielsen earlier this year. Web commentators have misidentified the judge as a liberal trying to subvert U.S. law. Nielsen is, in fact, a conservative Republican appointed to the bench by former Gov. Jeb Bush. At the time of Nielsen’s original decision, the political atmosphere was already charged with debate that Islamic law had gained a toehold in U.S. courts. Even before Nielsen’s ruling, two Florida lawmakers, Sen. Alan Hays and Rep. Larry Metz, announced legislation to prevent the use of any foreign legal code being applied in state courts.
The legislation was not adopted by Florida lawmakers. In May, the Center for Security Policy released a study that evaluated 50 appellate court cases in 23 states involving issues related to Islamic law. The study noted Islamic law has been “formally recognized” in state courts. The cases involved mostly Muslim women and children “who were asking American courts to preserve their rights to equal protection and due process,” said the center’s president, Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
“When our courts then apply sharia law in the lives of these families, and deny them equal protection, they are betraying the principles on which America was founded,” he said.
To others, Nielsen’s decision has been widely misunderstood. Markus Wagner, a professor of international law at the University of Miami School of Law, said courts often refer to religious codes in arbitration cases. If two sides in an arbitration, for example, agree to use Jewish law, then a judge could properly use the Talmud in deciding a case, Wagner said.
“On the legal side, it’s just not all that unusual,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Electoral College Battle
The chicanery being played against the American people by lunatics working so hard for their own destruction is cranking up:
Eliminating the Electoral College Eliminates States Rights and Obama Remains As President
“While we are paying attention to the OWS and to Republican debates where the candidates annihilate each other, the Progressives have a plan to keep themselves in power forever, starting in 2012.
“They plan to do this by eliminating the role of states, a protection written into our Constitution, and they are doing it covertly while in plain sight. The Progressive initiative is called the “National Popular Vote Compact” aka NPVC and their information is being spread nationwide via the Internet since 2008.
“They claim it is “true democracy” but “democracy” to them is interchangeable with “socialism” and worse, as it was in the sixties. They are moving state by state to bypass the Constitutional amendment process, relegating our SCOTUS to complete insignificance. As per the Communist Manifesto, “popularism” is the means of “democracy.” It achieves a monopoly of democratic parties for the worldwide Socialist order.
“Their goal is to have all the required 270 Electoral Votes needed for a “winner” given to the candidate who wins the largest number of popular votes nationally — no matter how small the win margin and no difference how many states voted to oppose him.
“Once enough states have passed it to reach the 270 Electoral Votes, the NPVC goes into effect for the next and all Presidential elections. This bill currently has passed enough state houses to reach 160 EV’s out of the 270 needed. It won’t matter how strongly some states are against it. NPVC has passed 1 of the 2 required chambers in more than 30 other states.
“This could become the Law of the Land, trashing our Constitution and the rights of individual states and their residents. Are you surprised given Obama’s penchant for suing states? Plus, we’d never get rid of this thing.
“The electoral college system gives all states representation in our government, so that ranchers in Wyoming, and elite et al in NYC have a say in who becomes President.”
Not surprising if you understand the bigger picture. This isn’t just about putting the same ineligible candidate back in the White House. It’s about the continuing effort to subvert our legal form of government (a constitutional republic) and force democracy (mob rule) to finish us off. Please note at the bottom of the column above (Eliminating EC Eliminates States Rights) the list of states who have already sold out and ones considering giving us the shaft.
| [Return to headlines] |
Georgia Birther Convicted in Plot to Take Over Tennessee Courthouse
A jury convicted 41-year-old Darren Wesley Huff Tuesday on federal firearms charges for carrying guns across state lines. Authorities say Huff was arrested in the middle of an attempt to take over a Tennessee courthouse and force President Barack Obama out of office.
The Georgia man was found guilty of carrying a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to use it in a civil disorder, but acquitted of using his .45-caliber handgun and Ak-47 assault rifle to takeover a Monroe County courthouse in April 2010, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. AP writes that Huff faces up to five years in prison:
“The verdict on count one reflects exactly what the law is supposed to do, which is prevent harm before shots get fired, people hurt, or property damaged,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Mackie told reporters after the verdict.
| — Hat tip: Van Grungy | [Return to headlines] |
Hutton Hotel Cancels Nashville Anti-Sharia Conference Contract
Hutton Hotels’ parent company has confirmed it won’t host the Nov. 11 Preserving Freedom conference, which was slated to include some of the nation’s leading opponent of Sharia law. Steve Eckley, senior vice president of hotels for Amerimar Enterprises, said he wasn’t fully aware of the topic or the people involved when he booked the event in Nashville, and now he fears that resulting protests could turn violent. As well, the hotel’s other clients that day expressed concerns. William Murray, chairman of the Preserving Freedom conference, responded: “The Hutton Hotel is now under Sharia law.” He said there’s no alternate site at this time, but organizers have been looking for one since a similar event was cancelled in Houston last week. Organizer Lou Ann Zelenik said a new site could be announced as early as tomorrow.
Among the events scheduled speakers are blogger Pamela Gellar; Murfreesboro mosque opponent Frank Gaffney and former Republican Congressman Fred Grandy, who played the character Gopher on the popular TV comedy “The Love Boat.” Tennessean.com will have more details as they’re available.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mizzou Climate Series: Muslim-Americans
Two Muslim-Americans speak highly of acceptance at MU.
In the decade since 9/11, Islamophobia has gripped the nation. For example, controversy surrounded an Islamic center called Park51 recently built near ground zero, and more than a dozen states moved to ban the Sharia law, part of the Islamic faith. Earlier this year, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., held a series of Congressional hearings regarding the “extent of radicalization in the American Muslim community.” In response to the Park51 issue, the Muslim Students Organization pushed forward with Islam Awareness Week at MU.
“People really want to know what it’s about,” said junior Rafa Nizam, who practices Islam. Sophomore Storai Momeni, who also practices Islam, said Columbia helps improve the climate on campus for Muslim students. “Columbia is more open minded than you would think,” Momeni said. She said she was the only Muslim at Lindbergh High School in south St. Louis County.
Momeni and Nizam both said they credit the size of the MU campus and the wealth of programs that exist to help facilitate a more diverse campus to creating a more accepting environment than other places in the United States. Additionally, Nazam said MU intrinsically offers a more educated and diverse population that creates a more tolerant environment for Muslims on campus. Niether Momeni nor Nizam see harassment very often on campus. Instead, most people react to their faith with curiosity, they said. They emphasized the mainstream nature of Islam in the MU community.
“Muslims have settled into into every sector of society,” Nizam said. Momeni said contrary to some media depictions, Muslim immigrants really just want the same things most Americans want. Being Afghan-American, she described Muslim-Americans as hard working people. She said she has hard-working parents who want to work their way up. There are challenges that occur when their Muslim faith intersects with the stereotypical Christian, American college lifestyle. For example, Nizam described the difficulty in balancing Islam, which forbids alcohol consumption, with some of the less formal events that occur in a college town, which often involve drinking. Additionally, many Muslims choose to pray five times a day toward Mecca, a religious gesture Nizam has to work in between his classes and other obligations. He calls mediating the two identities, being Muslim and being a college student, a full-time job.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tennessee Hotel “Now Under Sharia Law, “ Anti-Shariah Activist Says
If you didn’t buy your plane tickets yet to November’s Preserving America Conference in Nashville, you might want to wait a little while. The Veterans Day conference is dedicated to combatting the very, very stealth threat posed by Islamic Shariah law in the United States. But on Thursday, the hotel that was scheduled to host the shindig announced that it was cancelling the contract and asking organizers to find a new location. That’s too bad, because Central Tennessee-where local activists (with some help from GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain) have been pushing to halt the construction of a mosque they believe is a front for the Muslim Brotherhood-seemed like a natural place for the conference. Per the Tennessean:
Steve Eckley, senior vice president of hotels for Amerimar Enterprises, said he wasn’t fully aware of the topic or the people involved when he booked the event in Nashville, and now he fears that resulting protests could turn violent. As well, the hotel’s other clients that day expressed concerns. William Murray, chairman of the Preserving Freedom conference, responded: “The Hutton Hotel is now under Sharia law.”
Devastating. Given that these kinds of events go off without incident all the time in the United States, it’s hard to see why the hotel was so concerned about violent protests. As the Murray’s reaction suggests, the only real consequence of the cancellation will be to further the organizers’ perception that their views under siege, and the Caliphate is one step closer to being realized. Anyway, according to the conference’s website, the event will be headlined by Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney (who believes Grover Norquist’s American Conservative Union has been infilitrated by the Muslim Brotherhood), blogger Pamela Geller, former congressional candidate Lou Ann Zelenik, and-not making this up-”Gopher” from Love Boat: […]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
“You Are Entering a Sharia Controlled Zone”
by Soeren Kern
Hezbollah Pitches Tent in Denmark
A Muslim group in Denmark has launched a campaign to turn parts of Copenhagen and other Danish cities into “Sharia Law Zones” that would function as autonomous enclaves ruled by Islamic law.The Danish Islamist group Kaldet til Islam (Call to Islam) says the Tingbjerg suburb of Copenhagen will be the first part of Denmark to be subject to Sharia law, followed by the Nørrebro district of the capital and then other parts of the country, the center-right Jyllands-Posten newspaper reported on October 17.
Call to Islam says it will dispatch 24-hour Islamic ‘morals police’ to enforce Sharia law in those enclaves. The patrols will confront anyone caught drinking alcohol, gambling, going to discothèques or engaging in other activities the group views as running contrary to Islam. Integration Minister Karen Haekkerup told Jyllands-Posten “I consider this to be very serious. Anything that attempts to undermine our democracy, we must crack down on it and consistently so.”
The Call to Islam group promotes Salafism, a fundamentalist sect within Sunni Islam that espouses a literalist reading of Islamic scriptures and adheres to a conservative and highly regulated puritan lifestyle. Salafism also seeks the destruction of Western democracy, which is to be replaced by a Universal Islamic Caliphate, a worldwide Islamic theocracy regulated by Sharia law. In a statement on its website, Call to Islam asks: “How can we [Muslims] claim to be followers of the Sunnah [principles established by the Islamic prophet Mohammed] and defend the best Deen [doctrines of Allah], when we prefer to live among the infidels, be subject to their laws, emulate them and fail to differentiate ourselves from their kufr [camp of unbelievers]? How can we claim to love Allah and His Messenger when we are embarrassed to call for Sharia? How can we be indifferent to the establishment of Allah’s rule on Earth, which is a duty for every Muslim?”
The statement continues: “To work to establish the Caliphate is one of the biggest tasks of our time. And this task cannot be achieved unless we work collectively under an Emir [commander, general or prince]. Moreover, it is known that it is a duty to fight the evil that is prevalent everywhere around us. Man-made laws and rules are present today and it has now become a mandatory obligation for all Muslims to work collectively to rid the world of this great munkar [evil], democracy.”
Denmark’s TV2 public television recently filmed members of Call to Islam in downtown Copenhagen openly campaigning for the abolishment of democracy and calling on people not to vote in parliamentary elections that were held on September 15. A video posted on the Call to Islam website asks: “Do you want to take part in establishing Sharia in Denmark? Or do you want to stand by? The choice is yours!”
Call to Islam in Denmark is emulating similar movements in other parts of Europe. In Britain, for example, a Muslim group called Muslims Against the Crusades has launched a campaign to turn twelve British cities — including what it calls “Londonistan” — into independent Islamic states. The so-called Islamic Emirates would function as autonomous enclaves ruled by Islamic Sharia law and operate entirely outside British jurisprudence.
The Islamic Emirates Project names the British cities of Birmingham, Bradford, Derby, Dewsbury, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Sheffield, as well as Waltham Forest in northeast London and Tower Hamlets in East London as territories to be targeted for blanket Sharia rule. In the Tower Hamlets area of East London (also known as the Islamic Republic of Tower Hamlets), for example, extremist Muslim preachers, called the Tower Hamlets Taliban, regularly issue death threats to women who refuse to wear Islamic veils. Neighborhood streets have been plastered with posters declaring “You are entering a Sharia controlled zone: Islamic rules enforced.” And street advertising deemed offensive to Muslims is regularly vandalized or blacked out with spray paint.
In Belgium, a radical Muslim group called Sharia4Belgium recently established an Islamic Sharia law court in Antwerp, the country’s second-largest city. Leaders of the group say the purpose of the court is to create a parallel Islamic legal system in Belgium in order to challenge the state’s authority as enforcer of the civil law protections guaranteed by the Belgian constitution. The Sharia court, which is located in Antwerp’s Borgerhout district, is “mediating” family law disputes for Muslim immigrants in Belgium. The self-appointed Muslim judges running the court are applying Islamic law, rather than the secular Belgian Family Law system, to resolve disputes involving questions of marriage and divorce, child custody and child support, as well as all inheritance-related matters.
Unlike Belgian civil law, Islamic Sharia law does not guarantee equal rights for men and women; critics of the Sharia court say it will undermine the rights of Muslim women in marriage and education. Legal experts say the Islamic court will also undercut the Belgian state’s ability to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of so-called honor crimes.
Sharia4Belgium says the court in Antwerp will eventually expand its remit and handle criminal cases as well.
In Germany, the spread of Islamic Sharia law is far more advanced than previously thought, and German authorities are “powerless” to do anything about it, according to a new book about the Muslim shadow justice system in Germany. The 236-page book titled “Judges Without Law: Islamic Parallel Justice Endangers Our Constitutional State,” which was authored by Joachim Wagner, a German legal expert and former investigative journalist for ARD German public television, says Islamic Sharia courts are now operating in all of Germany’s big cities. This “parallel justice system” is undermining the rule of law in Germany, Wagner says, because Muslim arbiters-cum-imams are settling criminal cases out of court without the involvement of German prosecutors or lawyers before law enforcement can bring the cases to a German court.
In France, Islamic Sharia law is rapidly displacing French civil law in many parts of suburban Paris. The 2,200-page report, “Banlieue de la République” (Suburbs of the Republic) says France is on the brink of a major social explosion because of the failure of Muslims to integrate into French society. The report shows how the problem is being exacerbated by radical Muslim leaders who are promoting the social marginalization of Muslim immigrants in order to create a parallel Muslim society in France that is ruled by Sharia law.
In Spain, Salafi preachers in the north-eastern region of Catalonia have set up Sharia tribunals to judge the conduct of both practicing and non-practicing Muslims in Spain. They also deploy Islamic “religious police” in Lérida and other Catalan municipalities to monitor and punish Muslims who do not comply. In one case, nine Salafists kidnapped a woman in Reus, tried her for adultery based on Sharia law, and condemned her to death. The woman just barely escaped execution by fleeing to a local police station. In another case, a Salafi imam in Tarragona was arrested for forcing a 31-year-old Moroccan woman to wear a hijab head covering. The imam had threatened to burn down the woman’s house for being and “infidel” because she works outside of the home, drives an automobile and has non-Muslim friends.
Back in Denmark, local politicians appear oblivious to the spread of Sharia law. In September, the city council of Copenhagen gave its final approval for the construction of the first official “Grand Mosque” in the Danish capital. The mega-mosque will have a massive blue dome as well as two towering minarets and is architecturally designed to stand out on Copenhagen’s low-rise skyline. Unlike most mosques in Europe, which cater to Sunni Muslims, the mosque in Copenhagen pertains to Shia Islam. The mosque is being financed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and critics say that theocrats in Tehran intend to use the mosque to establish a recruiting center for the militant Shia Muslim group, Hezbollah in Europe.
The Copenhagen city council says that who pays for building the mosque is none of its concern. But the Copenhagen mosque is, in fact, being built bty Ahlul Beit Foundation, a radical Shia Muslim proselytizing and political lobbying group run by the Iranian government. Ahlul Beit already runs around 70 Islamic centers around the world, and has as its primary goal the promoting of the religious and political views of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ahlul Beit is especially focused on spreading Islamic Sharia law throughout Europe including Denmark.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban in 200 Man UK Attack at Christmas
THE Taliban is planning a campaign of Christmas carnage in British cities, a warlord warned yesterday.
Commander Javed Karmazkhel Wazir — of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan — claimed 200 suicide bombers and assassins are ready to launch attacks.
He said: “We have prepared squads of holy warriors who will target people and government facilities in London and other big cities of the UK.”
And he said their recruits looked “liberal”, adding: “You will not see bearded men or veiled women doing this.”
The TTP are furious at US President Barack Obama’s recent success in overseeing the death of Osama Bin Laden. And the TTP now has a hitlist of its own — believed to include Obama himself.
The TTP claimed responsibility for a 2009 suicide attack on the CIA and the attempted Times Square bombing in 2010
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
UK: “The Ideal Muslim Student”: Uthman Lateef and Extremism at Imperial College Isoc
Last week, University College London provost Malcolm Grant claimed that there is no problem with extremism on Britain’s campuses. He said:
“Talk to our Muslim and Jewish students and they will tell you that it is a non-issue: it just doesn’t exist,”
Last Friday, Imperial College ISOC held its first “Friday Night Live” event of the term. The speaker was the notorious hate preacher, Uthman Lateef:
InshaAllah this Friday will be the first event by FNL. It begins our Ideal Muslim Student series which aims to focus on the lives of Muslims students in the UK. How they can engage in a positive manner with their university community and make a difference to society. Later in the year we will seek inspiration from the great Muslim students of the past as well as showing students how to be successful when it comes to those dreaded exams. So make sure your there this Friday for our first event with inspirational talks from Ustadh Uthman Lateef and Saad Ali Raja. And of course free food afterwards
This is how Uthman Lateef’s talk on The Ideal Muslim Student was billed:
In our first event, of what will inshaAllah be a trilogy of events, we examine the qualities and attributes that make-up the ideal Muslim student drawing on examples from the history of Islam. Further we will look at how we as Muslim students can engage and make a difference to our university community and to society as a whole.
So join us for a night of true inspiration and a free dinner afterwards.
Uthman Lateef, is an outspoken and vicious homophobe and supporter of jihadist politics. Famously, he appeared at an event at the East London Mosque/London Muslim Centre featuring Anwar Al-Awlaki into 2009, when it was very clear that Awlaki was a leading Al Qaeda operative. He regularly appears at the notorious Belmarsh Iftar event, at which supporters of those held on terrorism charges gather to show solidarity. I recommend that you read the comprehensive posts to which this article links. Here are some highlights:
We can gauge what Uthman Lateef is likely to have said to students, from his conduct in the past. Lateef said this to Queen Mary students in 2007:
“We don’t accept homosexuality … we hate it because Allah hates it”
Can you imagine the uproar that there would be, were a speaker to appear on campus who said “We don’t accept Islam. We hate Islam”?
Last year, at the Belmarsh Iftar solidarity event with those detained on terrorism charges, Uthman Lateef said this:
A Muslim is a brother to another Muslim. He does not wrong him. He does not oppress him. He does not look down on him, does not imprison him, does not hand him over to be imprisoned by anyone, does not hold him in contempt as if he is some kind of criminal.
Comparing those detained on terrorism charges to the biblical figure of Joseph, Lateef said:
What was he in need of? Response. He needed his companions to support him. The same way that Muslims today require our support. The same way that those who found themselves in prison require our support. The same way that those who are humiliated require our support, our voice, our assistance.
Lateef was one of the speakers at the “End of Time” event at the LMC on 1 January 2009, where star turn Awlaki delivered a speech and answered questions via video link from Yemen. In April 2009 Lateef spoke at another Awlaki video link event at the Brady Centre in East London, a public sector facility. The al Wasatiyyah Foundation, a fly-by-night London support operation for Awlaki, still lists Lateef as one of its three teachers. One of the others is the late Al Qaeda leader, Anwar Al Awlaki.
Here is a little of what Lateef said in 2009:
Brothers, if we are teaching the way of life of the disbelievers, of the kuffar, Allah will bring humiliation upon us. If we are seeking this name and fame, and to be pranced around the world as some kind of government spokesmen and representatives, speaking about this reformed and redefined and repackaged Islam, Allah will bring humiliation upon people like that. And be careful. Because people will be in that condition, that they will wake up asmuqimeen (believers) but they will go to sleep as kuffars. And they will go to sleep as muqimeen and they will wake up as kuffars. Because we live in a time of deception. [12:00]
Lateef also attacked Muslims who support secularism, socialism and social democracy, and who believe that it is possible to be both a liberal and a Muslim:
They tell you about a secular Islam, right? Islamic secularism. New Islam. They will sell you a democratic Islam, a socialist Islam, a social democratic Islam, every Islam except the Islam of Mohammed. A new talk. Beware of the new things. The redefined, repackaged Islam. The so-called Islam that speaks of abolition of sharia, like we don’t need sharia anymore. The so-called Islam that speaks about the fact that sovereignty does not belong to Allah. The so-called Islam that speaks about the fact that, you know, we don’t need the laws of Islam anymore. There is no politics in Islam. We’ve got to separate these two things. So beware of them and your fathers should beware of them. Don’t let these people be a cause of misguidance for you. Don’t let these people be a cause of fitna for you. Deception! [19:00]
Every week, up and down the country, ISOCs affiliated to FOSIS are holding meeting after meeting, featuring hate preachers who support terrorists, encourage hatred of gays, attack Muslims who are liberal and who are linked to Al Qaeda figures. This, we are told, is neither a symptom of a growing extremism not a matter for concern.
UPDATE
In a similar vein, read Hasan Afzal in the Huffington Post, on Zahir Mahmood and extremism at University College London’s ISOC.
[Reader comment by Lamia on 25 October 2011 at 10:31 am.]
This, we are told, is neither a symptom of a growing extremism not a matter for concern.
Well it’s certainly not a matter of concern for Malcolm Grant and the rest of the left-wing multiculti establishment. Lateef appears to have a very foreign accent, though that may be pious affectation. If he is foreign, he should be kicked out of the country. So should the apologist liar Malcolm Grant, another foreigner being paid to do a job that millions of Britons could do far better.
[JP note: The authorities and university academics are too busy painting Breivik masks on the EDL to worry about genuine extremism. Islam Über Alles — this is the motto of the Coalition Government.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Generation Which Allows St Paul’s to be Scorned is a Generation Which Has Forfeited the Right to Call Itself British
Parliament Square is one of the sacred places of the British nation. It is a place for contemplation and for celebration. In it, to paraphrase Eliot, history is now and Britain. The Houses of Parliament are history as architecture: glory in stone. Across the square, in Westminster Abbey, the parish church of the British Empire, history meets eternity. The Abbey contains many memorials to the embattled dead who shaped our history in Parliament. The square is solemn and glorious: a heroes’ acre: a majestic link between our present and our past. Dull must the visitor be of soul if Parliament Square does not speak to his deepest thoughts and re-animate his most profound patriotism.
For the past few years, it has also been a tinkers’ encampment, home to a squalid straggle of tents and protestors, Thus solemnity is violated: sacredness, scorned; history, trashed.
A couple of miles to the East, there is another symbol of national pride. In the bleakest days of the War, St Paul’s Cathedral was courage as architecture. Despite their jaunty exteriors, many Londoners were cold and hungry and frightened. No-one knew what the next night’s bombing-raids would bring. But then, come morning, there was still St Paul’s, still standing on its hill: still standing for hope, for serenity, for the promise that evil would not prevail.
Today, St Paul’s has been closed by another protesting rabble, for longer than the Nazis managed. Thus again, solemnity is violated, sacredness, scorned, history, trashed.
This is a country which seems to have forgotten how to take pride in its heritage, to venerate its past, to draw on its history as an inspiration for ts future. A generation which allows Parliament Square and St Paul’s to be treated like this is a generation which has forfeited the right to call itself British.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: EU Referendum: Scandal Over EU Betrayal
Despite the biggest-ever Tory rebellion on Europe, David Cameron faced down a courageous attempt by backbenchers to give voters their first say on Britain’s membership of the EU since 1975.
MPs voted overwhelmingly against the Commons motion calling for a national poll on whether to cut or renegotiate Britain’s ties to Brussels.
Jon Gaunt, of the Vote UK Out of EU campaign, said: “These yellow, two-faced MPs have betrayed the people of the United Kingdom. The fight goes on. This is just one battle in a war that the people will win. We will not rest until we have won our democratic right to vote on our future.”
Chris Bruni-Lowe, of the People’s Pledge campaign for an EU referendum, said: “It is the people not the politicians who should decide this country’s future. The result of this vote at Westminster does not represent the views of the vast majority of the people of this country.”
And Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: “This predictable result shows the divide between the political classes and the people they are in Parliament to represent. In the end, the people’s voice will be heard whatever the political leaders think.”
Thousands of protesters crowded outside as MPs debated the referendum motion, triggered by the Daily Express’s 373,000-strong petition calling for Britain to quit the EU. Yesterday fresh evidence emerged of the huge public support for a say when an opinion poll by ComRes for ITV News at Ten showed that 68 per cent want a vote.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: EU Referendum: David Cameron Hit by Biggest Conservative Rebellion
David Cameron was shocked last night by the biggest ever Conservative revolt over Europe as more than 80 Conservative MPs defied his orders and backed a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
A total of 79 of his MPs voted for a Commons motion calling for a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU, even though Mr Cameron had ordered his party to oppose it. Two tellers indicated they supported the motion.
Another two Tories voted yes and no, the traditional way of registering an abstention. A further 12 did not vote.
In all, about half of all Conservatives outside the “payroll vote” of ministers and their aides scorned Mr Cameron’s authority. Rebel leaders warned that the Prime Minister faced a protracted “war” with his own party over the European issue.
The call for a referendum was defeated only because Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs also opposed it. The motion was rejected by 483 votes to 111 in the late-night Commons vote.
At least two junior members of the Government backed the referendum motion and resigned. They included Adam Holloway, an aide to David Lidington, the Europe Minister, who accused ministers of mistreating loyal Conservatives…
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lincoln Dairy Mosque, Housing and Supermarket Approved
A mosque, housing and retail project for Lincoln has been granted outline planning permission. The plans are part of proposals led by the Lincoln Co-operative Society for the former site of the Boultham Park dairy. Opponents said the development will increase traffic in the area causing parking and travel problems. Tanweer Ahmed of the Islamic Society of Lincoln said a further application will be submitted in the near future.
‘Rat run’
“We still have to submit a full planning application and do the fund raising,” he said. He said he hoped the mosque could be completed within two years. The council also granted initial permission for 50 new houses on the site on the corner of Boultham Park Road and Dixon Street. Boultham Residents Association chairman Jean Flannery said: “Dickson Street is going to be gridlocked, Boultham Avenue is going to be a rat run and we are going to have traffic, noise pollution and fumes.” The Lidl supermarket would have 71 car parking spaces and the mosque about 20.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Poverty. Climate Change. Conflict. Made a Difference?
Mon 24 Oct 2011
This is your chance…
Bosnia & Herzegovina: The Journey 2012
Where? Bosnia & Herzegovina
When? 17 June — 17 July 2012
Cost? £950 (which MADE in Europe will help you fundraise)
Check out this short video about the trip www.madeineurope.org.uk/madethejourney
Join MADE in Europe for this unique opportunity to experience life in rural farming communities in a post-conflict country.
- Learn about conflict & development
- Support communities with agricultural activities such as fruit farming and livestock
- Develop your own skills to campaign about global poverty here in the UK
Apply by 28 November 2011!
For more info and to apply visit www.madeineurope.org.uk/madethejourney or contact us on 020 7650 3046 for an application pack.
Sign up to our mailing list for updates by clicking here
MADE in Europe will also be offering a one week programme to Bosnia & Herzegovina in July 2012. More info about this coming soon.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: the Rise of the Stay-at-Home Dad
There are now ten times as many stay-at-home dads as a decade ago, a survey has revealed.
The findings suggest there are 1.4million men — in one in seven families — whose main role is primary carer for their children.
The result is ten times higher than similar surveys found a decade ago and shows that fathers are now willing in large numbers to relinquish the responsibility for being the family breadwinner and instead take on the burdens of the home.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Why is the Left Silent on the Scandal of St Paul’s?
What in God’s name is going on at St Paul’s Cathedral? More to the point, what are we, on the Left, going to do about it? Nothing, apparently. The silence of the so-called progressive majority over the occupation of one of the nation’s spiritual and cultural landmarks has been as deafening as the silence from yesterday’s Evensong. In the build-up to the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest, the blog and twittersphere were thick with messages of solidarity and comradeship. Now the whole thing has degenerated into a shambolic farce, we are reduced to shuffling around and casting an embarrassed stare down at our riot boots. How has it come to this? That the direct action movement, even with its rich and inglorious history of stupid, counterproductive acts of self-indulgence, has somehow contrived to turn a protest against the banks into the closure of one of Britain’s most revered houses of worship, beggars belief.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
What is Going on in Britain’s Mosque Schools? Beatings, Humiliation and Lessons in Hating Britainby Paul Bracchi
The punishment is almost medieval in its cruelty. Victims are forced to crouch down and hold their ears with their arms threaded under their legs. Beatings are often administered at the same time.
This brutal practice has its own name: the Hen, so called because those forced into the excruciatingly painful squatting position are said to resemble a chicken.
It is the kind of shockingly degrading treatment you might expect to feature in an expose of torture techniques, like say, the use of waterboarding (simulated drowning) on terrorism suspects. You’d be wrong, though.
In fact, the Hen is used to discipline children, many under the age of ten, at British madrassas, the after-school Islamic religious classes invariably attached to mosques.
We have been told of one little girl who was forced to stay crouched and contorted in front of her class for an hour.
‘It’s a particularly unpleasant and painful punishment,’ said Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, a founder of the Muslim Institute think-tank, and one of the few Muslim voices in the country to speak out about the abuse of youngsters at madrassas.
The harrowing stories now emerging from such establishments are all too familiar to detectives in Lancashire, where there are 15 madrassas in Accrington alone. They have received at least 37 separate allegations against local Islamic teachers or hafizes, ‘holy men’ who have memorised the Koran by heart.
Among them is a girl who says she was hit and kicked in the leg and face, causing bruising. The victim’s age? Just six.
Then there’s the eight-year-old boy who was punched in the back several times for making a mistake in his studies, or the boy, also eight, who had his head pulled back by the hair for not praying loud enough, or the nine-year-old forced into the ‘Hen position’ before being punched on the back and slapped in the face for not learning his Koranic lines and talking in class.
These are just some of the incidents which have recently been investigated. Yet, so far, not one of the perpetrators has been brought to justice or even reprimanded. Nor are they likely to be. Why? Well, at least some parents, it appears, were pressurised into withdrawing complaints by their own community where the clerical hierarchy are afforded great deference.
Indeed, more than 400 such allegations of physical abuse have been made to local authorities in the UK over the past three years, but there have been only two successful prosecutions.
It’s a shameful indictment of the modern British justice system and one has to wonder if political correctness means the authorities are reluctant to vigorously investigate such crimes for fear of being labelled racist.
The true scale of the scandal is unknown. Many families, it is suspected, are reluctant even to report the ill-treatment of their sons or daughters for fear of upsetting their fellow Muslims. Such fears are more than justified. In some cases, parents have been intimidated and threatened for going to the police.
So the brutal treatment meted out to Muslim children continues; in silence.
The plight of many students inside Britain’s madrassas — and the implications for wider society — was highlighted by the respected File On 4 programme on Radio 4 this week, and follows a Dispatches investigation on Channel 4 in February, which not only captured beatings on hidden cameras, but also pupils being taught hatred for the British way of life, which they were told is influenced by Satan.
Anyone with ‘less than a fistful of beard’ must be avoided ‘the same way you stay away from a serpent or a snake’, some children were instructed. Non-Muslims were referred to as the ‘infidel’.
In other words, religious apartheid and social segregation is being taught to a growing number of Muslim youngsters in our towns and cities; an agenda, it seems, increasingly being reinforced by beatings and brutality.
So how much influence do madrassas hold over impressionable young Muslims? The statistics are compelling.
There are now believed to be around 3,500 madrassas in Britain although such is the demand for them that new ones are springing up all the time, not only in mosques but also in living rooms, garages, and even in abandoned pubs. Some have only a handful of pupils; others several hundred. Overall, up to 250,000 children, aged between four and 14, attend madrassas, all dutifully attired in Islamic dress; girls in headscarves, boys in skull caps.
In a typical daily scene, students hunch over wooden benches, rocking backwards and forwards as they learn the Koran by rote in Arabic, as a man with a long, dark beard dressed in traditional shalwar kameez — tunic and trousers — sits at the head of the class or paces up and down.
These institutions have been compared to Sunday school for Christians.
The comparison is misplaced. By definition, Sunday school takes place only once a week. The majority of madrassas hold classes every evening, six days a week. Lessons last for about two hours. They represent, in effect, a parallel, but largely unregulated education system. Madrassas, unlike state or private schools, are not subject to Ofsted inspections.
Teachers who take pupils for less then 12.5 hours a week are deemed to have the status of being ‘in loco parentis’ which allows them to smack those in their charge under the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’.
It is a loophole that has done little to dispel the impression that some madrassas, at least, are a law unto themselves as the latest raft of allegations above would seem to suggest.
One of the biggest in Lancashire is based at the Raza Jamia Masjid mosque, just off the main road that cuts through Accrington, and consists of several terraced houses converted into one large building.
There are separate entrances for the dozens of male and female pupils. The madrassa has a written policy urging staff to put the welfare of children above all else and there is a strict ‘no hitting’ rule.
Teachers who take pupils for less then 12.5 hours a week are deemed to have the status of being ‘in loco parentis’ which allows them to smack those in their charge under the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’.
Earlier this year, however, that rule was flagrantly broken.
‘The mosque teacher came and hit us all with a stick,’ an 11-year-old pupil told File On 4. ‘He hit me on the back. I felt angry because he hit me. He is not allowed to touch anyone in the mosque.’
The ‘stick’, it transpired, wielded by Ibrahim Yusuf, 52, himself a father of eight, who had taught at the madrassa for nearly 12 years, was a 2ft long section of a plastic overflow pipe.
‘How would you feel to be in that situation — to be hit and abused?,’ said the victim’s older sister. ‘As a child you don’t know what to do. We are living in the 21st century. Things like this are not supposed to be happening.’
In all, four boys, including a youngster with learning difficulties, were hit with the pipe during the incident for misbehaving. Details of the beatings emerged at their primary school the following day when the boys spoke about what had happened in front of teachers.
The teachers contacted children’s services, who in turn called the police. ‘It was serious,’ said Det Sgt Julie Cross, because a stick [sic] was used. It is not acceptable for teachers within a madrassa to be relying on implements to control the classroom.’
Yusuf claimed he didn’t usually have a ‘stick’ but had it that day for teaching purposes, as a ‘pointer.’ Nevertheless, he was charged with four counts of assault.
Shortly afterwards, the mother of the boy who spoke to File On 4 says she was approached by another mother at her home, who told her to drop the allegations. The parents of two of the other boys later informed the police they no longer wanted to press charges and would not be part of the case.
The case, however, did come before magistrates in August because CCTV footage inside the madrassa confirmed the boys’ accounts. Yusuf pleaded guilty and was given a 12-month community order. He is now teaching again at the madrassa.
Answering the door of his semi-detached home in Blackburn this week, Yusuf said: ‘The matter has been dealt with and I have nothing else to say. I am teaching there and everyone is more than happy for me to be there.’
Not everyone.
‘It is wrong that he has come back,’ says his 11-year-old victim. ‘They should have kicked him out of the mosque. I don’t go to the mosque any more.’
What seems to be beyond dispute is that abuse at Britain’s madrassas has gone largely unreported for many years. ‘I have been told about this abuse by ex-teachers who have witnessed it as well as families who have suffered it,’ said Dr Siddiqui.
‘The most common acts of violence involve holding a child’s hair and banging his or her head against a wall. Punching them in their heads and bodies is common as well as making them adopt the Hen position.’
In 2006, Dr Siddiqui, then leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain — a forum set up back in the Nineties to lobby and campaign on issues affecting Muslims — accused local imams of not taking their duty to protect children seriously.
His concerns were spelled out in a damning 35-page publication, Child Protection In Faith-Based Environments.
‘The Muslim community,’ he wrote, ‘is at present in a state of denial — denial of the fact that child abuse takes place in places of worship including mosques and madrassas and families. It is a taboo subject.
‘There is very little discussion taking place in the community on the subject at any level. Hence, when such a crime is committed, the victim knows no one to turn to and the abusers are answerable to no one.’
If many in the Muslim community, even parents, are prepared to turn a blind a eye, what chance of preventing children at madrassas being fed a hardline, intolerant version of Islam which may have profoundly dangerous consequences to Britain as a whole?
A recent Government report concluded that over the past decade, Al Qaeda followers have used Britain’s madrassas to radicalise young Muslims.
Indeed, a Home Office-funded project, set up in 2007, to try to spot future terrorists, has identified more than 300 children who are ‘vulnerable’ to Islamic radicalisation. The figure comprises an astonishing 55 under-12s, and another 290 aged up to 16.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Academic and theologian Dr Taj Hargey runs an Islamic school in Oxford where children are taught in mixed-sex classes. Pupils are told to respect other faiths, ask questions about their religion and recite the Koran in English as well as Arabic. He says he set up the madrassa because of the claims Muslim families had made to him about beatings at other establishments.
‘What an outdated, archaic concept,’ he says, ‘and if we inflict violence on our children, we will sow the seeds of violence in them.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Press: Gaddafi Family Moving to South Africa Soon
(ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 25 — Muammar Gaddafi’s family, which is currently in Algeria, has decided that they will move to South Africa soon, instead of taking refuge in a Gulf country as it was initially expected. The news was revealed by Algerian daily Shorouk, citing a source that is very close to the family.
The family members of the former Libyan leader, who was put to death in Sirte — his wife Safia, daughter Aisha and two male sons Hannibal and Mohammed — will leave Algeria very soon at an unspecified date, underlined the source.
The Algerian government, continued the source, already came to an agreement before the death of the colonel with a country in the Gulf Region to host the family, but they decided only to accommodate the women, refusing to host his two sons. After this refusal, the family chose South Africa because they were willing to host all of the family members. The Gaddafi family has the majority of their funds in South Africa.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Panetta Not Against US Troops to Libya, But NATO to Decide
(AGI) Tokyo — Leon Psnetta surprises everyone by saying that he is not ruling out the option of sending US troops to Lybia, even tough this choice would depend on Nato. The Us Secretary of Defense released the following statement from Tokyo: “As to Lybia’s future, I think that at this point much will depend on Nato. A debate will be held within the alliance as to how we will change change our commitment to Lybia. The decision over a future Nato’s role to keep security in Lybia is in Nato’s hands”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Shadow of Sharia Falls Over Libya
Tunisia’s moderate Islamic party has declared victory in the weekend election. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood stands to gain from next month’s poll. So an announcement that Libya’s fledgling government plans to bring in a form of sharia law is sending shudders through Western countries that supported the rebels and that had high hopes the Arab Spring would usher in a new era of democracy for North Africa and the Middle East.
It was particularly worrying after reports surfaced of more than 50 decomposing bodies found with hands bound, apparently executed by rebels in Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte. That followed growing questions about the rule of law after Gadhafi’s own death from bullet wounds as a captive. On Sunday, Libya’s interim leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil — a former justice minister — told a cheering crowd in Benghazi that Libya was an Islamic country and “we take the Islamic religion as the core of our new government. The constitution will be based on our Islamic religion.”
He pledged to reopen Islamic banks that offered interest-free loans before Gadhafi shut them decades ago, and to roll back a ban on polygamy. Observers say the announcement, made so soon after Gadhafi’s death, and before months of deliberation over rewriting the Libyan constitution, doesn’t mean a permanent change in law. But it is symbolic of how quickly the undercurrent of Islamism has gained strength after four decades of secular rule. Some who know Libya well say fears of an Iranian or Saudi-style state are overblown.
They point out that earlier statements from the National Transitional Council, the interim leaders, affirm “the Islamic identity of the Libyan People, its commitment to moderate Islamic values, its full rejection of extremist ideas and its commitment to combatting them in all circumstances.” The council also rejected allegations of links with Al Qaeda. “There seems to be a scare in the media about Islamism,” says former Libyan diplomat Abubaker Saad of Western Connecticut State University. “Libya has always been a religiously conservative country, but not an extreme one. Jalil said sharia would be the source of law, but the interpretation is very flexible. And so far he is just giving his opinion.”
Jalil’s announcement was a crowd-pleaser, Saad said, with the promise to restore interest-free loans from Islamic banks. He added that Jalil is a strong supporter of women’s rights, although with a Muslim slant. “He will encourage them to participate, but they must wear the head scarf,” Saad said. “In Libya they have never imposed full veiling.” Any changes in the basic law will take at least a year to put in place and must be endorsed by a referendum, says Ronald Bruce St John, author of several books on Libya. “But if you go back to 1951 and look at Libya’s first constitution, Islam is the religion of the state,” he said. “When Gadhafi replaced the constitution, he kept Islam as the official religion. This is nothing new.”
On Monday, Jalil took pains to “assure the international community that we as Libyans are moderate Muslims.”
But Libyan women will be watching any new restrictions closely, St John said. Under Gadhafi, gender discrimination was officially banned and the literacy rate for women climbed to 83 per cent. But women had few political and official roles, and marriage, divorce and inheritance laws favoured men. Until the recent revolution, women’s freedom and opportunities to work were limited by marriage and domestic duties. “It’s very disappointing that Jalil said that men could have more than one wife,” said St John. “Many women were very active in the revolution — spying, carrying ammunition and protesting. It’s going to make them very angry.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Elections: Accusations Against Ennahda, Cheated
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, OCTOBER 25 — Although few irregularities in Sunday’s Tunisian vote were registered by the Tunisian high council for elections or by local and international observers, many are now pointing the finger at Ennahda, accusing the party of having blatantly violated some of the rules of the electoral campaign. The party, which won a majority at the polls, is accused chiefly of having violated the ban on campaigning, which came into force on Friday evening, continuing propaganda even inside polling stations. A protest backing the accusations was held last night in central Tunis, where demonstrators listed the breaches attributed to the Islamic party.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Five Charged for Exporting Illegal Equipment to Iran
(AGI) Washington — Judicial sources have revealed that five Singapore citizens have been charged in the USA for exporting radio equipment for building Improvised Explosive Devices to Iran. The equipment included at least 16 antennas found in as many unexploded IEDs in Iraq. One Iranian citizen has instead been released.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Hezbollah Leader Reiterates Support of Repression
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 25 — The leader of Lebanese pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah reiterated the group’s support for the repression conducted by the Syrian regime against anti-government protests, stating that they are not spontaneous movements like the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. “Those regimes were obedient to the Americans, unlike the Syrian regime,” said Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with the Shiite movement’s Al Manar TV network. “The foundation of the Syrian regime is the fight against Israel,” said Nasrallah, cited this morning by the press in Beirut, “they are opposed to American plans in the region, they back the resistance in Lebanon and in Iraq and its desire to realise reforms is serious.” According to the UN, since March over 3000 people -mainly civilians- have been killed by the military-police repression conducted by forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad, a close ally of Iran and Hezbollah. According to the Shiite leader, “the majority of Syrian people are in favour of the regime… this is demonstrated by the (recent) massive demonstrations that took place in Damascus and in Aleppo in favour of the regime of (Bashar) al-Assad”. According to Nasrallah, “the real danger that threatens the Middle East is represented by Israel and the USA, which are trying to establish a new regional order based on ethnic and religious divisions and by Salafi movements (Sunni extremists)”.
According to the Lebanese leader, Hezbollah supports the pro-Assad movement in Syria “because it is necessary to prevent the creation of a regime that throws itself into the arms of the Americans, in order to avoid a civil war or dividing the country”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
What is Sharia Law?
(EndPlay Staff Reports) — Libya’s transitional leader declared the country’s liberation on Sunday, ending an 8-month civil war. He also announced that the country would move forward under Sharia or Islamic Law.Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, FOX News reported, said that Sharia Law would be “the basic source” of legislation. He said laws that contradict Islam’s teaching would be removed.
What Sharia Law is and what it encompasses is often questioned and can vary from country to country. The Council on Foreign Relations stated that sharia, which also means “path” in Arabic, guides aspects of Muslim life from daily routines to family and religious obligations and financial dealings. ReligiousTolerance.org said that it is a combination of the teachings of the Muslim holy book the Quran and of the Sunna religious practice taught by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, based upon how he led his life. It is used both to describe Islam law and as an Islamic code of life.
Making it more complex is that there are four main schools of thought of Sharia Law, including what ReligiousTolerance.org stated is Hanbali, the most conservative, and Hanifi, the most liberal. There is also Maliki and Shafi’i. There can be differences, such as how the Maliki school believes evidence of pregnancy is proof that an unmarried woman has been adulterous or has been raped. Only the Maliki school considers pregnancy proof of adultery.
The Council on Foreign Relations stated that Saudi Arabia and the Taliban follow the Hanbali school while Sunnis in central Asia, Egypt, Pakistan, India, China, Turkey, the Balkans and the Causcasus follow the most liberal of Hanafi. Indonesia, Mayalysia and Yemen follow the Maliki school while a Shiite Muslim version called Ja-fari is followed in Iran.
Part of what makes Sharia law controversial is the group of “Haram” offenses such as post-marital sex, theft and highway robbery. Sexual offenses can be punished by stoning to death or flogging, ReligiousTolerance.org said. The Council on Foreign Relations, which refers to them as “Hadd” offenses, said punishment for such offenses can also include amputation, exile or execution. The council, though, said most Muslim countries do not use such classical Islamic punishments and instead go to lesser penalties while keeping the more harsh punishments on the law books as an option. Most Muslim countries, the council stated, have a secular or non-religious government but allow Sharia law to be used in court.
Salon , in an interview with New Jersey-based attorney and Sharia Law expert Abed Awad, stated that the increase of Muslims in America is leading to more discussion on Sharia Law in the United States. Awad said that U.S. courts interpret foreign laws such as Islamic laws when dealing with disputes such as foreign divorces, commercial disputes and enforcing money judgments. It may also come into play in marital disputes. Awad, referring to the state’s attempts to ban Sharia Law, told Salon it’s not needed because the Constitution already gives judges the power to refuse to recognize foreign law. “In the end, our Constitution is the law of the land,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
City Hall Swoops on Moscow Muslims’ Sacrificial Rites
Moscow’s Muslims will have to move their fast approaching Eid al-Adha sacrifices off the streets after City Hall slapped a ban on roadside ritual slaughter.The festival falls on Nov. 6 this year and after dramatic scenes of ritual sacrifice last year, which shocked feint-hearted passers by, the Moscow-based followers of Mohammed will have to move the rites into the slaughter-house or out of the city.
A question of numbers
Gulnur Gaziyeva, official representative of the Russian Council of Muftis, told Moskovskiye Novosti that the ban on public animal sacrifice had been prompted by previous unpleasant scenes, “last year there was an incident in the Otradnoye district when a ram was sacrificed right beside the mosque,” she told MN. Moscow has more and more Muslims coming into the city and local leaders of the Muslim community have called for more Mosques and facilities for the burgeoning numbers as mosque courtyards fail to take the strain. “We would be glad if they organize more places where we can conduct ritual sacrifices. Just sacrificing rams in courtyards is uncivilized. It shocks lots of people,” Gulya Mukhamedzhanova of the Otradnoye mosque administration told MN. She added that sacrifices don’t just happen at Eid al-Adha, so the need for sacrificial places continues throughout the year.
Mosques under pressure
Moscow has few Mosques and plans to build a new one for its Muslim population were thwarted last year when local residents demanded that a park at Tekstilshchiki stay a park and not become a Mosque, as planned. Pressure has been especially acute on the Cathedral Mosque in the center of the city at festival times. Up to 50,000 crowded to the Mosque in August for prayers, causing congestion chaos, Pravda.ru reported. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin had a temporary prayer house set up in Sokolniki Park, expecting 9,000 but the real numbers were a lot lower, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported. The powers that be say the ban on outdoor slaughter would be covered by existing legislation and come under cruelty to animals laws.
Saving grace
Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, comes at the end of the Muslim calendar. It commemorates the Koran account of Ibrahim’s readiness to sacrifice his son Ishmail, until Allah intervened and presented him with a ram to take the boy’s place.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kazakhstan Hires Blair as Economic Adviser
(AGI) Astana — Kazakhstan has employed former British premier Tony Blair as a consultant on political and economic issues,hoping that his help will avoid the risk of a crisis similar to the European one. Rumours in the press about the job offer made to the former Labour prime minister by controversial leader Nursultan Nazarbayev were confirmed by the Deputy Speaker of the Majlis, Vladimir Nekhoroshev.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Asia Bibi Prays for Freedom But Judges Are Hostage of Fundamentalists
Ashiq Masih saw his wife in prison. She is frail but “high in spirit”. Prison guard is suspended for having “hot words” with Asia Bibi as prison security is tightened. The family continues to hope for her release, but judges are threatened by Muslim extremists. Pakistan mourns the death of Begum Nusrat Bhutto.
Lahore (AsiaNews) — Asia Bibi continues to pray in death row. She still hopest she might be released soon and return to her family, her husband Ashiq Masih told AsiaNews. The 45-year-old mother of five was sentenced to death for blasphemy and is in jail waiting for her appeal to be heard. She “is weak and frail, but is high in spirit,” he added. She has a new guard because the one in place was “suspended” after she “had a few hot words with” his wife “over a minor issue.”
In recent weeks, the Pakistani press had reported that some of the guards had “tortured” her, an allegation her husband was quick to put to rest. In fact, Asia has been in isolation for the past few months in Sheikhupura prison (Punjab). In order to prevent any possible attack against her, prison officials have tightened security measures around the Christian woman. Islamic fundamentalists have in fact called for death and offered a reward for her murder.
As Ashiq Masih noted, she “is weak and frail” but “high in spirit” and has “been provided extra security” because “the situation is tense”. In light of this, “She is praying for all the people who are praying for her,” her husband said. Unfortunately, “the judicial system is becoming a hostage in the hands of the extremists.”
For instance, Judge Pervez Ali Shah, of the Anti-Terror Tribunal in Rawalpindi, was removed from his post after he announced the death sentence against Mumtaz Qadri, the security guard who murdered Punjab Governor Salman Taseer because he had defended Asia Bibi.
“We are praying and fasting for our mother so that she can be with us,” said Alishba Bibi, one of Asia’s children. “Each time I meet her, I can’t hold my tears. My mother tries to hold my hand through the gaps in the grilled window and says, ‘Have faith in the Lord. He will bring me home one day’. Every time I hear these words, I cry to the Lord to bring my mother back so that we can be with her again”.
Asia’s youngest daughter laments the situation. “I have not met my mother. I am scared.” She remembers seeing her “only in pictures” and of being unable to “control my tears”.
“There are times that I even lose all hope to see her ever again. I want to keep the memories of her, smiling and playing with us,” she added.
The family continues to live in hiding in a safe place because they too have been threatened by Islamic fundamentalists.
Meanwhile, another woman who has marked the recent history of Pakistan has passed away. Begum Nusrat Bhutto, 82, wife of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, mother of Benazir and mother-in-law of the current president, Asif Ali Zardari, died yesterday afternoon in Dubai.
The authorities have announced a public holiday to mark her death. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has proclaimed ten days of official mourning.
Of her four children, only the youngest daughter is still alive because she has never been interested in politics.
“The Bhutto narrative is beyond history. It belongs to the realm of legends,” the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said in an official statement. “The nation is once more united in their collective grief for a family whose sacrifices remain unparalleled in our lives.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Marines: No Spitting Toward Mecca
by Diana West
Gen. David Petraeus, Col. David Furness, and Shafiq Mubarak (far right). Mubarak served as Furness’s “right hand” during a recent deployment. “I can’t do anything without him,” Furness said.
And who is Shafiq Mubarak? All I can find out is that he is a Pro Sol contractor (?) hired by the Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning to help implement “the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the winning of hearts and minds.” At least that’s how Col. Furness puts it. According to the North County Times, Mubarak didn’t come to the US until 2008 — from where the story doesn’t say — but has been working with US troops in A-stan “for much of the past decade.”
How is that? Why is that? Dunno. What the story does report is that Mubarak teaches the do’s and don’t’s of sharia — kind of, Islam for Leathernecks.
Mubarak teaches US Marines:
Don’t spit toward Mecca.
Don’t urinate toward Mecaa.
Don’t sleep with your boots toward Mecca.
In other words, Mubarak teaches US Marines to become intensely sensitized to the whereabouts of Mecca, and to be guided by that magnetic North for Muslims as a matter of the most personal habits and hygiene — in accordance with sharia (Islamic law). This goes well, of course, with ISAF’s guidance to all troops to revere the Koran and its teachings.
What next, prayer rugs?
Mubarak told the North County Times:…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: More Than 16,000 People Flee From Philippine Offensive, Clashes Between Troops, Muslim Rebels
MANILA, Philippines — More than 16,000 people have fled from four southern Philippine towns where government troops have been battling Muslim guerrillas and outlaws in clashes that are endangering already-shaky peace talks and a years-long truce. Attempts by Philippine authorities to arrest several current and former commanders of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front and allied gunmen accused of kidnappings for ransom and other crimes sparked separate deadly clashes last week in Zamboanga Sibugay province and on Basilan island.
The Moro group has been waging a bloody fight for self-rule in southern Mindanao region, homeland of minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines. A cease-fire has held since 2008. President Benigno Aquino III said Monday his administration would continue talks with the insurgents but seek the arrest of criminals, including those from the rebel group. The 120,000-strong military suffered one of its biggest losses in years in Basilan last week when troops tried to capture a fugitive rebel commander and other outlaws, igniting daylong fighting that killed 19 soldiers.
Fearing more clashes, nearly 6,000 villagers have fled from Al-Barka and outlying towns in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim province about 550 miles (880 kilometers) south of Manila, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Benito Ramos said. In Zamboanga Sibugay, also in the south, about 10,800 villagers have fled to safety from three towns, including in coastal Payao, where air force OV-10 bomber planes, naval gunboats and about 700 army troops and police have been trying to flush out more than 120 former Muslim rebels and bandits encamped in a hilly forest, officials said.
Zamboanga Sibugay police chief Ruben Carriaga said military aircraft staged bombing runs for a second day Tuesday in Payao. Troops assaulted the bandits after OV-10 planes dropped bombs on their lair Monday but were met by heavy machine-gun fire that killed two soldiers, he said. “Our men couldn’t penetrate the area yet because of heavy volumes of fire,” Carriaga said, but added the gunmen, who include members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, have been surrounded. The gunmen, accused of kidnappings for ransom, extortion and other crimes, may be holding at least one kidnap victim, officials said. Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq has urged the military to stop the Payao offensive, saying it has displaced many civilian supporters of his Moro insurgent group and was endangering a cease-fire.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
A Lynch Job
Thanks to Mullah for alerting me to this.
Without much digging, I came up with a Pandora’s box of filth, subversion and deeply rooted anti-Semitism in our institutions of higher learning. Particularly at University of Sydney, where Associate Professor Jake Lynch swims literally like chairman Mao’s fish in the water and does what career Jew-hating, One-World-Under-Socialism & Islam progressives always do: spread hatred and doubt against truth tellers, deny freedom of speech to all but Socialists and their Islamic slave masters, and deny Jews their right to exist.
This taxpayer-funded wacademic, Jake Lynch, a UK agit-prop operating in Australia, has argued that Jews were responsible for the removal of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister and his replacement by Julia Gillard.
Taxpayer-funding for his “Peace and Conflict Studies” outfit at Sydney Uni needs to be urgently reviewed.
I sent the stuff below to Andrew Bolt yesterday and he’s put it up on his blog today:…
| — Hat tip: Winds of Jihad | [Return to headlines] |
Two Foreign Aid Workers Kidnapped in Somalia
(AGI) Mogadishu — Two aid workers from a Danish NGO were kidnapped today in central Somalia. The news was reported by a Somali security officer. The two were working for the Danish Demining Group, an aid association that provides support for people living in areas where there are minefields.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
70 Egyptians Repatriated on Bari-Cairo Flight
(ANSAmed) — BARI, OCTOBER 25 — This morning a charter flight from Bari-Palese Airport departed for Cairo with 70 illegal Egyptian immigrants on board who were stopped yesterday by the Financial Police on a fishing boat off the coast of Bari. Sixty-eight Egyptian minors who were also on the boat, on an order from the Juvenile Court in Bari, were sent to reception centres for minors in Campania and Sicily. The 13 crewmen onboard the boat were arrested by police and accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration and resisting orders from a warship.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Numbers of Foreign School Pupils Grow But More Slowly
(AGI) Milan- There are more foreign pupils in Italy but the rise has slowed and most are from Romania, Albania, Morocco and China. Moldova is a surprise in fifth place ahead of India.
This snapshot of foreign school students in Italian schools is contained in a report prepared by the Ministry of Education and the ISMU Foundation. The number of foreign children in schools totalled 711,064 compared to a mere 59,389 in 1996/97. Numbers increased by 60-70 thousand units a year between 2002 and 2008, but there were 54,000 new admissions in 2008/09, followed by 44,000 in 2009/10 and 38,000 in 2010/11.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
0 comments:
Post a Comment