Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/3/2008

USA
Islamic Jihadists Post 50k Bounty on McCain’s Spiritual Advisor Pastor Rod Parsley
Tunnel Found in Mexicali Two Blocks South of the Border
 
Europe and the EU
“Fitna” Filmmaker Wilders to Speak in Jerusalem
Crime Rates for Every Neighbourhood in London Displayed on Police Website
Denmark: Preliminary Hearings See More Youth From Ethnic Minorities
Dutch Government: Bombing Iran is Racism!
Dutch PVV: No Sponsorship of British Ramadan Festival by Dutch Embassy — Questions in Parliament
EU Parliament Calls for Less Sexism in Advertising
France: French Muslims’ Heart Lies Left, Survey
Norway: Police Can’t Survive on Nok 320,000 a Year
Sharp Rise in Swedish Nazi Groups
Sweden:Court Awards Compensation for Stolen Drug Money
 
North Africa
Algeria: FLN Says Algerian Francophone Traitors
Egyptian Presenter Accused of Descrating Mosque
 
Israel and the Palestinians
An Apartment House is Not a Homeland
Middle East: New Militant Group Emerges in Gaza
Palestinian Father Buries His Daughter Alive
 
Middle East
Fresh Violence in Mosul, Two Christians Kidnapped and Killed
Saudi Arabia: Calls Grow to Boycott Danish Products
 
Russia
A Major War: Not Just Rumors
 
South Asia
Protests in Tamil Nadu Town Against “Prophet Cartoon”
Vellore Muslims Protest Against a “Mohammed Cartoon”
 
Immigration
Immigration: More Illegal Immigrants Land at European Coasts
 
Culture Wars
Boycott of Random House
Controversial ‘Child Bride of Muhammad’ Novel Finds UK Publisher
Islam is Not a Subject for Comedy
 
General
Leaving Islam

Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Dymphna, Fjordman, Henrik, Holger Danske, Insubria, KGS, Srdja Trifkovic, TB, The Observer, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Details are below the fold.
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USA

Islamic Jihadists Post 50k Bounty on McCain’s Spiritual Advisor Pastor Rod Parsley

Courtesy of “Archangel” The Northeast Intelligence Network has secured an Islamic Jihadist threat posted just last night on the life of American Evangelical Pastor Rod Parsley.

Pastor Parsley is the spiritual advisor to presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain. The threat offers a $50,000.00 bounty for the head of Pastor Parsley.

Here is the text of the threat:

50 thousand dollars to those who come Presse Rod Parsley

Name of God the Merciful

(To hear from those who were given the book before you who have been involved is often abused) of Imran, 186

To each of Nasser taghoots this is America incite fighting all MuslimsTo both defend Americans from the Muslims, this is America incite fighting all MuslimsTo all secular Ethan, this is America incite fighting all MuslimsToner to the bad and scientists Sultan, this is America incite fighting all MuslimsThe dogs and interior ministries in the Arab and Muslim worlds, this is America incite fighting all Muslims

The sincerity of the Mujahideen in the name of Allah and there is superseding Khose and Almkzlon, the Americans claim to a crusade and annoy Allah and His Messenger, it would read the article fully aware repugnant to Islam and the Reverend Enough of this lowliness and Hakarh when he says that God Almighty is the devil who was revealed to Muhammad peace be upon him.

This is Rod Carsley Rod Parsley, who incited Christians in the United States to prepare to fight a war to eliminate the new crusade against Islam and Muslims, through speeches and written by the famous religious center in the pro-American Republicans. This is a priest’s spiritual adviser McCain now This picture of the American priest — Treasury God — Muslims, it is able to do it already, who is president of the Church “World Harvest” and you following URL who wants to prosecute and eliminate And praise to God we have God for the allocation of $ 50 thousand dollars to those who bring this dog’s head, which hurt Allah and His Messenger.

           — Hat tip: Holger Danske[Return to headlines]


Tunnel Found in Mexicali Two Blocks South of the Border

The Policia Estatal Preventiva (state police) in Mexicali arrested eight men Monday afternoon. Police say the men were digging a tunnel that was headed towards Calexico, California.

Right now, the suspects are all being questioned at a local police department. The charges will come later.

State Police say at about 2 p.m. a concerned citizen called police and said there was suspicious activity at the home just two block from the border. Minutes later, police moved in to find several people digging a tunnel.

In a press conference Juan Manuel Guillen, the Director of the Policia Estatal Preventiva said, “We discovered a tunnel, its diameter is one meter and a half, it is 6 meters in depth, it measures 120 meters from the home to its end point. The tunnel was 60 meters away from the border. We also found the tunnel had light, an elevator and it is equipped with an air conditioner.”

Police searched the home and found a 38 caliber revolver, digging tools and an F-350 truck. The men in custody are from 27 to 52 years of age; police say the men are either from the Sinaloa or Guadalajara.

           — Hat tip: Dymphna[Return to headlines]

Europe and the EU

“Fitna” Filmmaker Wilders to Speak in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Dutch legislator and filmmaker Geert Wilders will screen a film that has outraged Muslims around the world at an upcoming Jerusalem conference of European legislators seeking to combat radical Islam, an Israeli lawmaker said Wednesday.

Wilders’ film “Fitna,” which appeared on the Internet on March 27, linked attacks by Islamic militants to texts from the Quran, Islam’s holy book. It sparked angry street protests in Muslim countries.

Arieh Eldad of the ultranationalist National Union Party, told a news conference that lawmakers from the Netherlands and Denmark would attend the two-day December gathering, along with colleagues from Britain, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland.

Eldad said “Fitna” would be screened and the visiting politicians, acting as a “defensive coalition” in the European Parliament, would discuss common action to counter militant Islam and its culture of Jihad, or holy war.

Other participants will include Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury, an independent member of the House of Lords, the British parliament’s unelected second chamber, he said.

Eldad said Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians was part of a broader clash of cultures, rather than a territorial dispute.

Eldad showed journalists a brief clip from “Fitna” which juxtaposes quotations from the Quran with images from the 2004 bombing attacks that killed 191 people on four trains in Madrid and the 2005 London blasts which killed 52 commuters.

Islamic militants claimed responsibility for the Madrid bombings, and the four London suicide bombers were all British Muslims. “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but most terrorists are Muslims,’ Eldad said. “I don’t want to offend Muslims, I just want to expose the true nature of Islam.

Israeli parliamentarian Ahmed Tibi, a Muslim Arab, said Eldad’s initiative and his comments were incendiary and “Islamophobic,” but Muslims should not allow themselves to be goaded into violent protest.

“We should not cooperate with this provocation, that’s to say we will not demonstrate, we will not destroy, we will not burn. Our protest should be only vocal,” he told Associated Press Television News.

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Crime Rates for Every Neighbourhood in London Displayed on Police Website

A website which shows Londoners crime figures for their neighbourhood was launched today by Boris Johnson and Scotland Yard. The website provides a set of interactive maps, showing numbers and rates of crime and comparisons with the London average.

It allows visitors to report offences and contains links to other sites including Safer Neighbourhoods Team pages. The crimes recorded involve cars, burglary and robbery but further categories including anti-social behaviour will be added. […]

——- Adding:

The website is here:

http://maps.met.police.uk/

An American equivalent is here:

http://www.crimemapping.com/

[covers Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Virginia]

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Denmark: Preliminary Hearings See More Youth From Ethnic Minorities

Crime among young Danes from ethnic minorities in Copenhagen is “very alarming” according to Police Commissioner.

The effort to halt serious crime among young immigrants in Copenhagen is not giving the intended results, according to Copenhagen Police Commissioner Hanne Bech Hansen. Her warnings come in the wake of new statistics from preliminary hearings.

A critical problem

Of a total of 85 under 18’s who appeared in preliminary hearings in Copenhagen in the first half of 2008, for crimes that can give a maximum penalty of 18 months or longer, 67% had a non-Danish ethnic background compared with 56% in 2007.

Bech Hansen tells Jyllands-Posten that crime among young immigrants is “the biggest and most critical problem in the Danish capital”.

“It is very alarming that young people of immigrant backgrounds constitute an increasing number of those appearing for preliminary hearings. It is vital that we start a massive preventive effort,” the Police Commissioner says.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Dutch Government: Bombing Iran is Racism!

Dutch biggest blog Geenstijl.nl is warned (NL) by the Dutch governments Complaints Bureau for Discrimination on the Internet (MDI) because Geenstijl.nl refuses to censor a comment (NL) on it’s news website spitsnews.nl. The MDI claims that a reaction to a news message about Israel preparing to bomb Iran was offensive. The commenter had written: “Bomb them now!” a statement that the MDI censor deemed unacceptable racists.

Weblog geenstijl.nl however did not understand what was racist about the remark and refused to censor the comment from it’s website. They asked the MDI officials to clarify their position and describe what was actually racist about the comment. The weblog received this answer of the MDI:

“We have also internally discussed the comment. Eventually we concluded that according to our opinion it is nevertheless punishable by law. The call for bombing a country includes a call for violence against the people living in that country, in this case Iranian people. It’s after all not possible to bomb a country without hurting it’s inhabitants. These kind of calls are prohibited by article 137d Sr [of the Dutch criminal law]”

To clarify, Article 137 is an article that prohibits discriminatory defamation, incitement to hatred and discrimination. It was also the MDI that was involved in the arrest and incarceration of a Dutch cartoonist of which we reporter earlier.

Update: Also today in the press (NL): How Christian Democrat minister of economic affairs, Maria van der Hoeven, published in July a story on her departments public website in which she described how she recently talked with the Iranian minister about energy shipments to The Netherlands. This remarkable show of the real political position of the Dutch government was today denounced by the Dutch parliament.

Today the Dutch government also announced that the terror threat to foreign Dutch target has increased (NL). The general Dutch terror threat level stays “substantial” and that’s the second highest possible threat level possible in The Netherlands (in effect from last March when Fitna was released).

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Dutch PVV: No Sponsorship of British Ramadan Festival by Dutch Embassy — Questions in Parliament

Wednesday 03 september 2008

Questions from the member Wilders (PVV) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs about the sponsoring of the British Ramadan festival by the Dutch Embassy in London:

1.) Is it true that the Dutch Embassy in London sponsors or supports the British Ramadan festival *? If yes:

2.) What is the amount of money involved?

3.) Is the embassy proud to serve as sponsor side to side with the embassies / consulates of the dictatorial countries of Egypt, Algeria and Syria?

4.) Is the embassy familiar with the fact that 32 percent of the British moslim students believe that murder in the name of Islam can be justified, 40 percent intend to introduce the Sharia and that 33 percent are in favour of a worldwide caliphate **?

5.) Is the embassy aware of the fact that 24 percent of British Muslims in certain cases support suicide bombings against innocent civilians and that 56 percent deny that Muslims committed the attacks of 11 september ***?

6.) Do you share the opinion that the person who came up with the idea that the Dutch embassy should sponsor the Ramadan festival should be fired immediately? If not, why not?

7.) Do you share the opinion that Dutch taxpayers money should not be wasted on a Ramadan festival? If not, why not?

8.) Are you going to ask the embassy immediately for an explanation and demand that they immediately reverse this sponsorship and that in the future they will never sponsor such a festival? If not, why not?

* Http://www.Ramadanfestival.co.uk/sponsors.htm

** Centre for Social Cohesion, Islam on Campus, 2008.

*** PewResearchCenter, The great divide: How Westerners and Muslims view each other, 2006.

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


EU Parliament Calls for Less Sexism in Advertising

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of a report which calls on advertisers to stop portraying men and women in tradition gender roles.

European lawmakers are concerned that the way women and men are portrayed in marketing and advertising is making it more difficult to dispell old-fashioned ideas of traditional gender roles.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday adopted a new report that calls on member states to make a greater effort to monitor how gender is portrayed in advertising. Constant images of women in the kitchen while men clean their cars outside are reinforcing sexist stereotypes, the study argues.

The non-legally binding report, which was drafted by Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson [form Nordisk grön vänster], also calls on EU institutions to monitor the implementation of existing European laws on sex discrimination.

“MEPs call on the EU institutions and member states to develop awareness actions against sexist insults or degrading images of women and men in advertising and marketing,” the lawmakers said in a statement after adopting the report by 504 votes in favor, 110 against and 22 abstentions.

The report also called on the media and advertising to set good examples from a gender perspective.

Before the vote, Svensson told the German news agency DPA that people are often not aware of how much they are influenced by advertising. “When women and men are portrayed in a stereotypical way the consequence may be that it becomes difficult in other contexts to see women and men’s resources and abilities in areas other than those of the traditional gender roles.”

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Euro Parliament Ruling Means Britons Could be Convicted in Absence

Britons tried abroad in their absence will be automatically deported to serve their sentence under planned new European laws. The refinements to the controversial European Arrest Warrant system means a British citizen can be arrested and sent to prison elsewhere in Europe even if they never knew they had been charged with a crime.

The new rules on defendants tried in their absence will apply to an extensive range of crimes, running from the most serious offences such as murder and rape to crimes such as ‘racism and xenophobia’ which are entirely unrecognised in British law.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has given British backing to the new extradition laws on the grounds that it will improve ‘mutual trust’ among the 27 EU countries. The scheme was given a vote of confidence at the European Parliament today in advance of final approval by national governments later this year.

But Tories said it would undermine the right of an accused individual to defend himself in a trial, and lawyers warned of the risk of serious miscarriages of justice.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve called the plan ‘alarming’ and added: ‘Allowing British nationals to be extradited to face prison in European jails, based on trials in absentia, is simply not compatible with the principles of British Justice.”‘ […]

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


France: French Muslims’ Heart Lies Left, Survey

(ANSAmed) — PARIS, SEPTEMBER 1 — French Muslims sympathise with left-wing politicians more than the rest of the country, the result of a survey conducted by the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO) and published in daily La Croix shows. According to the survey, the Muslims having sympathies for the Socialist party are 51.8%, or almost double the national average, which is equal to 26.8%. A percentage becoming even more significant if the points of the Socialist party are added to those of the other left-wing and extreme left parties. The final result speaks for itself: 73% of Muslim voters vote left. But the data collected by IFPO also show that the electorate of Muslim faith is alert for the developments in the centre of Francois Bayrou and — above all — very critical towards French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Just 9.2% say they sympathise with UMP, the president’s party, the popularity of which among Muslim citizens stands at 21%, against a national 37%. And the “anti-Sarko” component triggers reflections, in particular taking into account the fact that “in 2004 the majority of Muslim voters voted left, but had respect for former president Jacques Chirac,” La Croix comments. An apparent contradiction, which Jerome Fouquet, author of the survey, explains in this way: “Chirac benefited from this special status among Francés Muslims because in 2002 he won the presidential elections beating right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen”. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Islam: Ramadan; France, Observed More by Youths, Children

(ANSAmed) — PARIS, SEPTEMBER 1 — The number young and mainly minor Muslims, who observe the Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, is growing in France. According to Abderrahim Hafidi, university professor and anchorman of Sunday programme Islam on France 2, “it is almost a trend, an initiatory rite conducted by parents, older brothers and sisters, a kind of identity recognition, of belonging to a group”. In general the Koran exempts from fasting the minors who have not reached puberty. “The theologians are extremely clear,” Hafidi told ‘Le Parisien’. “No faithful must undertake the fast if he does not have the age or the ability to do it”. But this does not stop some children at pre-teenage age, under family pressure or due to spontaneous wish, from discovering one of the five pilasters of the Islam. Kawther, 11, tells that still last year at school there were 15 classmates out of 23 who observed the fast, she did it only in the weekend at home, but this year she will follow it during the whole month. Obviously without paying the cost of the school canteen and this tendency will also have repercussions on the development of the classes. Rachid Djouadi, professor in Paris, reminds that the Ramadan “has consequences on the physical condition of the students and this is expressed in delays in the morning, sleepiness and less concentration in the afternoon. Positive thing is that there is less fuss and less misbehavior”. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Islam: Morocco Invests in Moderated Imams, Mosques in Europe

(ANSAmed) — ROME, AUGUST 29 — Providing for the religious education of the Moroccans resident abroad with an investment of over $16 million for the imams’ education and building of mosques in Europe, with the objective to stem the influence of the Islamic extremists and to export the fight against the terrorism is the goal of the government of Morocco which has drafted a programme “adapted to the religious needs of the Moroccans abroad”, for their “healthy setting” in the religious field and initiatives in favour of the emigrants’ community, Internet site Arabiyya.com reads. Moreover, the religious organisation of the Moroccans abroad will not be related anymore only to the religious activities but it will become constant, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Towfiq, affirmed. The minister spoke about that at the meeting of the chamber of representatives’ committee of foreign affairs, national defence and Islamic affairs, called in relation to these themes, Internet site Arabiyya.com reported. The government programme also envisages bilateral agreements with the European countries for appointment of qualified imams; a total $16.42 million was allotted for imams and mosques in Europe. This initiative is following the forwarding from Morocco to the EU countries of 176 imams and 13 mourchidats (female spiritual guides) for the Ramadan. Some thirty are directed to Italy. “Finally, our appeals have been heard and the second generation of Moroccans will not have self-educated imams. Finally, we could speak about a controlled Islam, not anymore in the hands of extremism,” Souad Sbai, MP from PdL and president of the Association of Moroccan Women in Italy, commented. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Norway: Police Can’t Survive on Nok 320,000 a Year

Police officers are leaving the force in droves, heading for better paid jobs in the private sector.

Many police officers are resigning from the police force because they simply feel that they can’t manage to survive on a meagre police salary. Twelve highly experienced police officers in the Bergen region resigned last year, according to NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation).

The salary of a newly graduated police officer is NOK 320 000.

The majority of those who resign find jobs in the private sector, where they experience a substantial increase in pay, and get to work more normal hours.

Director of the Police Ingelin Killengreen, admits that it is a problem that more police officers are leaving the force now than earlier. (NTB)

           — Hat tip: The Observer[Return to headlines]


Sharp Rise in Swedish Nazi Groups

Locally-based violent groups of Nazis are sprouting up in more and more places around Sweden, new figures show.

In the last two years 17 new groups have been formed, according to a survey carried out by the anti-racism foundation Expo.

The study shows that that there are currently around 30 Nazi groups in Sweden.

Every Swedish county except for Gotland and Jämtland have at least one group, although the highest concentration is found in middle and southern Sweden.

Most of them lack formal leaders and are often inclined to carry out violent actions near their bases of operations.

They call themselves free or independent, but are often tied to networks created by more established organizations such as Info-14 and the Nordic Union (Nordiska förbundet).

Swedish security police service Säpo confirms the increase but are focused on a smaller number of organizations.

“We are primarily interested in the criminal manifestations and thus we’re talking about a handful of groups,” said Säpo analyst Ahn-Za Hagström to Expo’s internet newspaper.

Nazi groups focus mostly on recruiting new members through schools, something which has increased in recent years, according to Säpo.

The four most noteworth Nazi organizations in Sweden are Info-14, Nordic Union, the National Socialist Front (Nationalsocialistisk front), and the Swedish Resistance Movement (Svenska motståndsrörelsen).

Splits and competition between the groups has also been evident in recent years.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Students Face Police Probe for Waving ‘Bring Back Slavery’ Sign at York University Seminar



Police are investigating race hate allegations at a leading university after a Bring Back Slavery sign and controversial black crime statements were made at a training session for student representatives. It is alleged the shocking sign was displayed during the Active Political Training event for National Union of Students (NUS).

It also featured a crisis management workshop where participants were allegedly told having too many black students would increase knife and gun crime on a fictional campus. The NUS in York made it clear none of its team was involved in the incidents and said it was merely hosting the event, which rotates around British educational institutions yearly. […]

The training session was a four-day event for more than 100 student union officers from the North of England to train them in activities like running campaigns on campus. Much of the training focused in ‘what if’ scenarios to teach the young people how to deal with a crisis at their university and handle heated situations such as the severe heckling of a university chancellor during a speech. […]

According to a complaint by the NUS Black Students section, one officer warned participants against increasing black representation in the fictional university, as ‘the presence of such students would increase gun and knife crime and so require more security.’

York NUS president Tom Scott said he believed this was an attempt to ‘wind up’ the politically correct audience and get a reaction. He said: ‘There is a lot of political correctness in the union. There were people on the course with strong political views. The student involved was frankly poking people to see if he could get a response which worked — but I don’t think there was any malice intended.’

He described the slavery poster incident as ‘more of the same’. It took place during the final debate when a senior NUS official took on the role of vice chancellor of a fictional university being subjected to heckling and ‘various comedy protests’. […]

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Sweden: Special Courts to Deter Youth Crime

The Christian Democrats want young people in Sweden accused of crimes such as shoplifting, graffiti, vandalism, and unlawful driving to have their punishments meted out quickly in a special youth court.

“We must have quicker processing times for cases involving young people; the time between the crime and the punishment is too long,” said Inger Davidson, vice-chair in the Riksdag’s committee on justice to the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

“Those involved have nearly forgotten what has happened and commit new crimes.”

Through a youth court, teenagers who have stand accused with petty crimes could be “convicted continuously and receive their sentence”, according to the Christian Democrats in their report entitled “Stop youth crime in time”, to be released on Wednesday.

Around 27,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 20 were convicted of crimes last year.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Sweden:Court Awards Compensation for Stolen Drug Money

Sweden’s highest court has ruled that a drug dealer robbed of the proceeds from his illicit activities has the right to compensation from the state.

Thieves broke into the home of the 44-year-old man from Borås in western Sweden and stole 140,000 kronor ($21,900) — money the man had earned from selling drugs, reports the Borås Tidning newspaper.

But according to the Supreme Court (HD), the fact that the money came from criminal activities, including the sale of heroin, didn’t make a difference.

The cash had been stored in a bag which the thieves took during a robbery of the man’s apartment in December 2004.

The robbers were later convicted for grand theft, while the 44-year-old was sentenced to four nd a half years in prison and deportation for serious narcotics crimes.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Sweden: Fan Files Consumer Complaint Against Football Club

An extended winless streak by one of Sweden’s biggest football clubs has caused a disgruntled fan to report AIK to the Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) for misleading marketing practices.

“The club has made a fool of itself again this year,” AIK supporter Kristoffer Gahlin told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

AIK’s chances of success this year in Sweden’s top football league, the Allsvenskan, have gone from bad to worse in recent weeks as the team has failed to win in its last five matches.

Gahlin has been a registered supporter of the club since 1978 but has now decided he’s fed up with the team’s haplessness.

“Every year they go out and promise how good things are going to be, and then everything ends up being as it has been,” he told DN

“The supporters are the only ones who fall for it, spending a lot of money and getting used.”

AIK is one of three Allsvenskan-level clubs located in the Stockholm area. The club is known for having some of the country’s most rowdy fans.

Mattias Grundström, a lawyer with the KO who is himself an AIK supporter, confirmed that Gahlin’s complaint had been received but didn’t think it would be a priority.

“I can understand that many in AIK feel troubled, but it’s not the same as when a case deals with food prices, for example,” he said.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Sweden: EU Court Exonerates Somali-Born Swedes

The European Court of Justice in Luxemburg has annulled a 2005 ruling against a Sweden-based Somali banking network which had its assets frozen due to suspicions of ties to terrorism.

Because those associated with the al Barakaat International Foundation, based in the Stockholm suburb of Spånga, had no way to defend themselves against the charges, the Court of Justice ruled that their fundamental rights had been violated.

“It’s with great joy that this ruling has come. Time after time we have said that we were subjected to a violation of our legal rights, and the judgment confirms that,” said Abdirisak Aden, one of the three Somali-born Swedes who was singled out by the United Nations, the EU, and Sweden for associating with terrorists and subsequently had their assets frozen as a result.

Thomas Olsson, who handled the case for the three Swedes, sees the decision as good news for everyone who has used the informal al Barakaat banking network for sending money to relatives back in Somalia.

“But this is also an unbelievable relief for all of us. The court showed that human rights must be enforced when we are fighting terrorism, and that there is a guarantee that the battle is about something which is worth protecting, namely the democratic state governed by law,” he said.

The court also nullified the regulations which made the freezing of al Barakaat’s assets possible.

In setting aside the 2005 ruling, the court concluded that “the rights of the defence, in particular the right to be heard, and the right to effective judicial review of those rights, were patently not respected”.

The al Barakaat asset freeze took place following the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington.

At the time, the United States Treasury Department generated a list of individuals and organizations it saw as having ties to terrorism.

The list was subsequently accepted in its entirety by the United Nations, which in turn created its own list.

As a UN member, Sweden was required to make legislative changes in order to enact the provisions.

In addition to al Barakaat, three Somali-born Swedes were affected by the new asset-freezing legislation.

None of them ever saw any concrete evidence against them, nor were they given the possibility to defend themselves in court.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Terrorism: Algerian in Prison, Family Accuses France

(ANSAmed) — PARIS, AUGUST 29 — The family of M’hamed Benyamina, arrested at the airport of Orano while he was returning to France after his holidays in September 2005 and held in prison in Algeria with the accusation of “terrorism-related events”, appealed to the European Human Rights Court, accusing the French justice system of “demanding his arrest” and refusing to carry out an enquiry on what it considers “a kidnapping”. Lawyer Salah Djemai stated that the man “was arrested on request of the French secret services”. Benyamina had talked before Algerian policemen about projects to carry out attacks on the underground in Paris, on the headquarters of French counterespionage and at the airport of Orly. His statements, which he later on denied, led soon afterwards to the discovery of an alleged terrorist cell, and nine of its members, including Safé Bourada, will be on trial in Paris in the autumn. The accusations against them, according to the lawyer, “are based on a confession obtained by force”. But the French justice system has never felt the need to interrogate Benyamina, the lawyer remarked. Benyamina therefore asked for the condemnation of France, for its refusal to carry out a legal enquiry on the matter. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Terrorism: EU Court Revokes Bin Laden’s Men Capital Freeze

(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 3 — The EU Court of Justice revoked today, suspending for three months the application of its decision, the regulation of the EU Council of Ministers which freezes the capitals of Yassin Abdullah Kadi, resident of Saudi Arabia and of Al Barakaat International Foundation, based in Sweden, accused by the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee of being linked to Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda or Taleban. This regards EU regulation 881, issued by the Council of Ministers on May 27, 2002, which imposes restrictive measures to determined associated people and entities, in order to fight against the international terrorism. The court pronounced on two essential elements. First, regarding a first sentence by the EU Court of First Instance, has recognised that the EU judges are competent to control the measures adopted by the EU in carrying out resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. Second, it pointed out that the regulation on the matter violates the right to defence and in particular the right of appeal to court, since it does not envisage any communication to the interested people of the grounds for the move. Moreover, according to Kadi,”the freeze of capitals represents an unjustified restriction of the right of property”. The EU Court of Justice however recognises that the annulment with immediate effect of the EU regulation could bring a serious and irreversible prejudice to the efficiency of the restrictive measures and therefore ¿maintains the effects of the regulation for a period of no more than three months running from today, in order to allow the (EU) to remedy the infringements found”. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]

North Africa

Algeria: FLN Says Algerian Francophone Traitors

(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, AUGUST 26 — Former prime minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, Secretary-General of the National Liberation Front (FLN, the only legal party in the past), attacked the Algerian French-speaking elite, ruling them a threat against “the intellectual and linguistic security” of the nation, daily El Watan reported today. “It would not be logical to accuse our enemies of trying to destroy others,” the current personal representative of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said. “But we regret that some sections of our people have adopted the same state of mind. What we fear most from those who are sticking to the foreigner’s language and despise the Koran’s language is a political allegiance”. “The political allegiance is established through the language in first place and then through the mind,” Belkhadem said at a meeting of FLN. “If a nation loses its language, it loses its present and its future.” The former prime minister sustains the necessity of a total Arabisation of the Algerian university. Currently some faculties, mostly scientific ones, hold classes in French. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]


Dutch PVV: No Ramadan Propaganda by Aboutaleb — Questions in Parliament

Tuesday 02 september 2008

Questions from the paliament member Fritsma (PVV, Party for Freedom) to the Minister for Housing, Districts and Integration about the statements of the State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment that Ramadan should be as widely celebrated as Christmas *

1.) Is it true that the State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment [Aboutaleb] at the opening of the Ramadan Festival on 1 september 2008 in Amsterdam has expressed the desire to have Ramadan celebrated as widely as Christmas? If yes:

2.) Do you share the opinion that it is particularly undesirable that a member of the Government expresses this kind of provocative pro-Islam statements? If so, how are you going to engage him on this? If not, why not?

3.) Do you realize that this expression is a gross insult of the Dutch population, most of whhom have nothing to with Islam, and thus do not want the Ramadan foisted opon them? If not, why not?

4.) Does said Secretary of State do his bizarre expression on behalf of the entire Cabinet? If not, what is the principle still worth that the government speaks as one? If so, can the government immediately stop this awful self-Islamizing and return to honour the separation between church and state?

5.) Do you share our opinion that when Secretary of State Aboutaleb wants to live in a country where the Ramadan is widely celebrated, he better return to Morocco? If not, why not?

* Metro, 2 september 2008

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Egyptian Presenter Accused of Descrating Mosque

The Egyptian prosecution is interrogating activist and host of an advice show on Orbit TV and Egyptian radio for allegedly deriding religion and desecrating a mosque.

The incident revolves around a dispute between Buthaina Kamel, a popular presenter and co-founder of an anti-corruption movement in Egypt, and her landlord.

The conflict began when a spare-parts dealer bought a historic building in downtown Cairo and removed its garden to build a shopping mall in its place. The dealer’s plans were met by opposition from the building’s residents, among who were Kamel and her husband, university professor Emad Abou-Ghazi.

Political motivations?

To avoid confrontation with the residents, most of who are Christians, the new owner put a prayer rug in the disputed building and put a sign outside that said “Mosque inside.”

According to the complaint lodged against her, Kamel entered the mosque with her shoes on. The files also labeled Kamel a “communist” and an “atheist.”

“They did that to turn religious people against us,” Kamel told AlArabiya.net.

“I never thought things will go that far. Now the victim is the criminal, and the authorities are not taking any action.”

Kamel is the co-founder of the anti-corruption movement Shayfeen (Arabic for “We can see”) and a member of the Egyptian Movement for Change, nicknamed Kefaya (Arabic for “Enough”), and took part in the campaign for the independence of the judiciary. She also made many documentaries about assaulting judges, election rigging, and the imprisonment of journalists.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Sexual Harassment Sky-Rocketing in Egypt

Interesting correlation: sexual harassment in Egypt is becoming “increasingly common” just as it is also becoming increasingly Islamic.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman[Return to headlines]

Israel and the Palestinians

An Apartment House is Not a Homeland

by Barry Rubin

I read recently that Labour party leader and minister of defense Ehud Barak is trying to sell his luxury apartment for 40 million shekels which is, at current exchange rates…well, a lot of money. In fact it is about 10 times what the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s apartment sold for not long ago.

Like many people selling their apartments or houses, Barak must be setting the price too high. As any real estate agent can tell you, if you ask for too much money you might not make a sale. On the other hand, if you have patience, someone may come along and meet your price or something close to it.

And then it hit me: this is the ideal strategy for Israel’s leaders. For a number of years, their main strategy has been to make concessions in order to be liked or in hope that this will lead to a peace deal. They acted as if they had to make an agreement fast, even on worse terms. Thus, they gave away a lot of real estate and are offering bargain basement prices for more.

This didn’t work for several reasons. First, Israel could afford to be patient, far more so than many outside pretend-experts argue. Second, when you signal that you are in a hurry and willing to lower the price fast, the buyer takes advantage of that to offer even less.

So that’s the answer: Israeli leaders should treat the real estate of the land of Israel like they do their own personal real estate. That doesn’t mean they should never give up any land at all, but only if the price and terms are real good. Until then, they should signal, I can afford to wait. Come back when you have a serious offer.

           — Hat tip: Barry Rubin[Return to headlines]


Arab MK Bolts Knesset Studio Over Fitna Clip

Arab MK Talab A-Sana just walked off the set of the Knesset Channel news studio after the presenter said the channel was going to show a clip from the contraversial Fitna film. A-Sana was taking part in a debate on live Knesset TV with right wing MK Aryeh Eldad about the film.

As the debate heated up, the presenter said he was hoping to show a clip from the documentary, at which point A-Sana got up and said that he would not sit in the studio if the movie was shown, got up and left, even before the decision to play the clip was made.

Once A-Sana was gone, the presenter said, “since MK A-Sana left before the decision was made on whether to view the clip or not, we might as well watch the clip.”

This film and the reactions surrounding it have been a terribly sensitive issue all over the world. A-Sana said that if a similar movie about Jews would be shown Israelis and Jews would react the same way as Muslims are reacting to ‘Fitna’. And finally, the storm has been brought to Israel. […]

           — Hat tip: VH[Return to headlines]


Middle East: New Militant Group Emerges in Gaza

Gaza City, 2 Sept. (AKI) — A new armed group linked to Al-Qaeda has been established in the Gaza Strip.

Known as the Umma Army, it has been publicised in the Middle East media for the first time.

Several journalists reportedly attended a training session conducted by the militants on Monday in the area of Khan Yunes, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

According to the Arab daily, Al-Quds al-Arabi, Hamas leaders have given the Umma Army approval to conduct military training and operate freely providing it does not interfere in party affairs or Palestinian politics, or impose their ideology on the people of Gaza.

The armed group is led by a 35-year-old called Abu Hafs who has been arrested by Hamas police several times in the past.

Around 25 men joined him for training on Monday with their faces covered because they did not want to reveal their identity and allegiance to his organisation in the Palestinian territories.

“We are not a branch of Al-Qaeda and at the moment we do not have contact with them,” said Abu Hafs. “We are linked to the brothers of the Al-Qaeda organisation only from an ideological point of view.

“We believe in the establishment of the law of Allah and to change the democratic process undertaken by Palestinian society that is based on the secularism of the non-believers.”

The group surfaced for the first time last January when Gaza had threatened to carry out attacks in Israel during the visit of American President George W. Bush.

The group is financed by individuals from Gaza who want them to conduct attacks against Israel and support them even though they wear balaclavas inscribed with “gangs of death”.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]


Palestinian Father Buries His Daughter Alive

A Palestinian woman died after her father buried her alive claiming he wanted to preserve the “family honor.” The father, in his seventies, turned himself in and admitted to killing his 24-year-old divorced daughter.

After investigating the crime scene, the police discovered that the woman’s father had tied her arms and legs and muzzled her before burying her alive. According to press reports on Monday, the coroner was to examine the body to determine whether the woman was also beaten before her death.

The police also detained four of the victim’s brothers to investigate their involvement in the crime.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]

Middle East

Fresh Violence in Mosul, Two Christians Kidnapped and Killed

Mosul (AsiaNews) — The Iraqi Christian community is again in the sights of Islamic fundamentalists in Mosul: today news came of the death of a 65-year-old doctor, Tariq Qattan, kidnapped recently by a terrorist group. AsiaNews sources say that his family had paid a ransom of 20,000 U.S. dollars. But it was not enough money to free Tariq Qattan, one of the many Christians kidnapped by fundamentalists for extortion.

Also in Mosul, two days ago — although the news has just been released today — another Christian, Nafi Haddad, was kidnapped and killed. It is not yet known whether or not a ransom was paid. Despite the small signs of improvement that seem to come from Iraq, the Christian community is still witnessing more violence: Mosul has long been the theater of a genuine slaughter, forcing more than two thirds of the faithful to flee elsewhere in search of safety.

The diocese has paid a large tribute in blood in recent years, beginning with the tragic kidnapping of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, whose lifeless body was found last March 13 in an abandoned area just outside of the city. During the ambush that preceded the archbishop’s captivity, the three men acting as his bodyguard were massacred by the terrorists.

In 2007, the Iraqi Christian community suffered 47 deaths, 13 of them in Mosul: these include Fr Ragheed Gani, murdered on June 3, and two other priests.

Between January 6 and 17 of this year, there was also a series of attacks on Christian property. A wave of bombings struck the Chaldean church of the Immaculate Virgin, the Chaldean Church of St Paul, which was almost destroyed, the entrance to the orphanage run by the Chaldean sisters in al Nour, a Nestorian church, and the convent of the Dominican sisters in Mosul Jadida.

The source for AsiaNews in Mosul hopes that the two latest homicides will be “forcefully condemned” by the Muslim community, which has just celebrated the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. Atrocities carried out “in the name of religion”, and which violate the precepts of the Qur’an. “For centuries, the Christian community has contributed in a fundamental way to the development of Iraq. It is the duty of Muslims to respect and protect it, because we all believe in one God, as is written in the holy book”.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni[Return to headlines]


Saudi Arabia: Calls Grow to Boycott Danish Products

By Shahid Ali Khan

RIYADH — Calls to boycott Danish products over blasphemous cartoons have intensified in Ramadan.

The printing of blasphemous cartoons that mocked Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in one of the Danish dailies and the reprinting of the same early this year has angered many Muslims across the world.

The campaign to boycott Danish products in Saudi Arabia took a new turn when some of the leading private hospitals and a group of pharmaceutical companies in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Gulf decided to avoid the import of medicines and other pharmaceutical goods from Denmark and other European countries that reprinted the controversial cartoons.

Dr. Osama Deep, Purchasing Manager, Material Management Group, said Ramadan is the best time to intensify the call to boycott the Danish products by all the Muslim countries.

He said the impact of the campaign was so huge that since the beginning of the boycott, imports of pharmaceutical products from Denmark have dropped by at least 25 percent.

However, the Danish Embassy in Riyadh neither confirmed nor denied the slump in imports of pharmaceutical products in the Kingdom. “I would have to evaluate the impact before divulging any information,” an official from the Commerce Section of the Embassy said.

Deep, however, said that not all companies in the healthcare sector are actively participating in the campaign “and there is lot to be done in this regard.”

Ramadan is a good occasion to mobilize people’s sentiments to get involved and effectively boycott all Danish products, until the paper that first printed the cartoons apologizes to Muslims, he said. He said at the launch of the campaign, there were some problems finding medicines that could replace the ones coming from Denmark. However, the healthcare providers were successful in importing medicines from Egypt, Jordan and India that supplied equally good medications, he said.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Turk Commander Visits Ex Generals Detained in Ergenekon Case

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, 3 SET — The garrison commander of Turkey’s Kocaeli province paid a visit to two retired generals arrested during the controversial Ergenekon operation, the army said in a statement. Observers say the visit shows the army stands behind its former generals. The visit was paid by Lieutenant General Galip Mendi, the statement added. “This visit to the two retired commanders, who served in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for a long time, was paid on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces,” the statement posted on the army’s Website added. It also said the army has full respect and belief in the Turkish judicial system. This visit came shortly after General Ilker Basbug last week took over the Turkish army’s top post from General Yasar Buyukanit. In the controversial Ergenekon case, the two retired generals were arrested in July. The Ergenekon operation allegedly started to crackdown on an illegal organization accused of plotting a series of events that would pave the way for a military coup. However the detainment of anti-government supporters in the operation created question marks about whether this operation was being used as a cover to suppress opponents of the ruling AKP. Hurriyet columnist Cuneyt Ulsever said he is surprised by this visit, adding the new army chief is sending a message that things would be different from now. “The message I get is this: ‘We are taking sides in this case from now on. This would create question marks in the prosecutors’ and judges’ minds although the army says it has full respect and belief in the judiciary… This shows the new army chief says ‘I am different, I am taking a stance’,” he added. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]

Russia

A Major War: Not Just Rumors

by Srdja Trifkovic

The crisis in relations between the United States and Russia over Georgia heralds a particularly dangerous period in world affairs: the era of asymmetrical multipolarity. A major war between two or more major powers is more likely in this configuration than in any other model of global balance known to history.

The most stable system is bipolarity based on the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which was prevalent from the 1950s until the end of the Cold War. The awareness of both superpowers that they would inflict severe and unavoidable reciprocal damage on each other or their allies in a nuclear war was coupled with the acceptance that each had a sphere of dominance or vital interest that should not be infringed upon.

With Brest-Litovsk and the Barbarossa in mind, Stalin “intended to turn the countries conquered by Soviet armies into buffer zones to protect Russia” (Kissinger). The Western equivalent, also essentially defensive, was defined by the Truman Doctrine (1947) Proxy wars were fought in the grey zone all over the Third World, most notably in the Middle East, but they were kept localized even when a superpower was directly involved (Vietnam, Afghanistan). This model was the product of unique circumstances without an adequate historical precedent, however, which are unlikely to be repeated in the foreseeable future.

The most stable model of international relations that is both historically recurrent and structurally repeatable in the future is the balance of power system in which no single great power is either physically able or politically willing to seek hegemony. This model was prevalent from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) until Napoleon, from Waterloo until around 1900, and from Versailles until 1933. It demands a relative equilibrium between the key powers (usually five to seven) that hold each other in check and function within a recognized set of rules that has come to be known as “international law.” Wars between great powers do occur, but they are limited in scope and intensity because the warring parties tacitly accept the fundamental legitimacy and continued existence of their opponent(s).

If one of the powers becomes markedly stronger than others and if its decision-making elite internalizes an ideology that demands or at least justifies hegemony, the inherently unstable system of asymmetrical multipolarity will develop. In all three known instances—Napoleonic France after 1799, the Kaiserreich from around 1900, and the Third Reich after 1933—the challenge could not be resolved without a major war…

           — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic[Return to headlines]

South Asia

Protests in Tamil Nadu Town Against “Prophet Cartoon”

Vellore, Sep 2 (IANS) The police resorted to baton charge thrice in this Tamil Nadu town Tuesday to disperse a group of people who were protesting against a Tamil daily that had allegedly published a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed Monday. The police also arrested an empolyee of the daily.

After the protest and the baton charge, there was tension in Vellore and neighbouring towns like Chengam and Tiruvanamalai, the police said.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Vellore Muslims Protest Against a “Mohammed Cartoon”

SUN-TV started broadcasting a news item about the protest of Mohammedans of Vellore against the depiction of Prophet Mohammed (PBCH) in the “Dinamalar” issue in the form of a “cartoon” (in the evening news on September 2, 2008).

Which is the outrage? The so-called controlversial cartoon [image of Kurt Westergaard’s JP cartoon] is taken from the following website:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022512.php

A google-image search gives many such pictures which are already available in many websites.

As per the report and video, it appears that the Mohammedans gathered in large numbers before the local “Dinamalar” publication office staging protest. The protestors showing the paper with the cartoon and it was shown three-four times in the coverage by SUN-TV. The Police disbursed them.

But the Mohammedans again gathered and started pelting stones on the “Dinamalar” office. Therefore, to control the violence, the Police lathi-charged and driven away the stoning mob. After the arrest of one employees, the situation was brought under control.

It was reported that the “Dinamalar” had already clarified today morning itself that it was not intentional to hurt anybody”s feelings.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]

Immigration

Immigration: More Illegal Immigrants Land at European Coasts

(ANSAmed) — ROME, SEPTEMBER 2 — The flow of illegal immigrants to the European coasts continues. Numerous landings took place during the night in Malta, Sicily, Greece, while a group of Sub-Saharan immigrants even reached the Canaries. As many as 29 illegal immigrants (26 men and three women) were intercepted during the night after having landed at a bay in the southern part of the island of Malta. They were sighted by a police patrol in the area of Marsascala while they were wandering disoriented in the middle of the night. All of them were transferred to the detention centre of Safi. Yesterday afternoon, in Sicily, two motorboats of the Pozzallo port harbour-office intercepted a boat with 64 illegal immigrants onboard, among them 13 women and three children, including Somali and Eritrean nationals, who were taken to the customs premises of the port of Pozzallo. However, 37 illegal immigrants, among them a woman, 17 children and a newborn baby, landed at Lampedusa at 0430 local time this morning. The illegal immigrants were traced by the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Guard) on island after their boat was sighted. Another boat, carrying 62 illegal immigrants, landed today at dawn at the coast of Duque, in the municipality of Adeje, in the southern part of the island of Tenerife. There are at least six children among the 62 illegal immigrants, all of them of Sub Saharan origin, who received assistance from the Red Cross staff. Four of the immigrants, with serious symptoms of hypothermia and dehydration, have been transferred to the health centre El Mojon, while the rest have been taken to temporary accommodation centres to await repatriation. Finally, a group of 34 illegal immigrants coming from Turkey were arrested while trying to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi onboard of a rubber boat. In the port of Igoumenitsa the Greek authorities arrested and questioned five persons on suspicion of human trafficking, after discovering a group of 53 immigrants hidden in their vehicles onboard of a ferry preparing to leave for Italy. (ANSAmed).

           — Hat tip: Insubria[Return to headlines]

Culture Wars

Boycott of Random House

Random House and Cowardly Self-Censorship

Random House recently dropped its plans to publish Sherry Jones’s book The Jewel of Medina solely on the grounds that its publication might be offensive to some in the Muslim community and might lead to acts of violence by radical Muslims. While any publisher has the right if not the duty to refuse to publish books that lack literary merit, Random House had previously decided this manuscript was highly publishable. It paid a $100,000 advance, and had arranged for foreign publication, Book of the Month Club selection, and Quality Paperback Book Club selection.

All that triggered Random House’s repudiation of its promise was the receipt of some fairly slight information that there might be violence. Serious ideas, even if offensive to some, flourish in books. Random House has exhibited a degree of cowardly self-censorship that seriously threatens the American public’s access to the free marketplace of ideas.

While this manuscript is not in any of our prize areas, Random House’s actions represent a threat to all literature. We understand that the author’s agent is attempting to find another publisher. Meanwhile, we can not pretend that this type of cowardice will disappear without serious remonstrance. Until The Jewel of Medina is actually published, The Langum Charitable Trust will not consider submissions of any books, for any of our prizes, from Random House or any of its affiliates. We do this reluctantly, since our most recent prize in American historical fiction went to a Random House title. Nevertheless, this issue must be confronted.

It is regrettable that with our national Banned Books Week only one month away, we still must concern ourselves with these issues.

           — Hat tip: Henrik[Return to headlines]


Controversial ‘Child Bride of Muhammad’ Novel Finds UK Publisher

British independent publisher Gibson Square has bought Sherry Jones’s controversial novel about the child bride of Muhammad, which was dropped by Random House US following warnings that it could incite acts of violence from radical Muslims. Jones’s The Jewel of Medina was also pulled from bookshops in Serbia last month after pressure from an Islamic group.

Gibson Square, which has previously published provocative works including Alexander Litvinenko’s Blowing up Russia and House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger, paid what it described as a “compelling” advance to acquire The Jewel of Medina. It will publish it in October in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear,” said Gibson Square publisher Martin Rynja. “As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate. If a novel of quality and skill that casts light on a beautiful subject we know too little of in the West, but have a genuine interest in, cannot be published here, it would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages. The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time.”

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]


Islam is Not a Subject for Comedy

As a piece of insensitive and ill-informed journalism Alf McCreary’s ‘What Utter Tosh’ (Belfast Telegraph, August 30) about Islam being a suitable object for comedy must rank as one of the worst ever.

There is nothing funny about either Islam or its global intentions.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, director of the Barnabas Fund, in his latest prayer focus update, asks for prayers for the family of an Angolan Christian girl decapitated by Muslims in Andulo and for a Christian Bible College that was attacked in Jakarta, Indonesia, by a mob of Muslims.

On July 10 a young Christian convert was shot dead by Muslims in Afgoye, Somalia.

These types of murders and attacks are happening regularly all around the world with one of the worst incidents being in April 2007 with the butchering of three Christian workers in Turkey by 10 Muslim men who had claimed to be interested in studying the Bible.

Dr Sookhdeo, in his book Global Jihad, wrote: ‘Muslim attitudes to violence are grounded in classical Islam theology as derived from the Koran, Hadith and Shari’a as well as by the normative example of Muhammad’.

In his book Why I Am Not A Muslim, former Muslim Ibn Warraq wrote: ‘There may be moderate Muslims but Islam itself is not moderate … There is no difference between the aims of Islam and Islamic Fundamentalism … namely the submission of the entire world to the all-embracing Shari’a law’.

Former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat in a DVD explains how Islamic theology divides the world into two spheres locked in perpetual combat — The House of Islam v The House of War.

Islamic ‘peace’ will come when The House of Islam triumphs over The House of War.

World War Three has been raging for some time now and it’s time that politicians and journalists like Mr McCreary woke up to a reality that is anything but a setting for comedy. If he doubts my word let him publish a few cartoons about Islam and its founder in some future article and see how well they are received by the vast majority of Muslims.

           — Hat tip: TB[Return to headlines]

General

Leaving Islam

By Jamie Glazov

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Mohammad Asghar, an ex-Muslim who came out of Islam after discovering its true teachings. Together with studying the Qur’an for over twenty-five years, he has also been writing his commentary on its verses — an endeavor, he hopes, that will help non-Muslim leaders, as well as ordinary citizens, understand the true messages they convey to Muslims.

[…]

FP: So you left Islam?

Asghar: Yes. I am an ex-Muslim. I no more subscribe to the teachings and the doctrines of Islam, as I consider them to be obnoxious and, thus, unfit for good humans.

FP: How did your family and community react to you leaving Islam? Has your life been in danger?

Asghar: I told my family members what I found in the Qur’an and they agreed with me. But it was a different story with the community I was living in; to it, I was a pariah. Most of my friends and acquaintances stopped talking to me, fearing that the information I was trying to disseminate was going to take them out of their religion, while others issued veiled threat against my person. Realizing that I might be harmed, if I continued to live in the country of my birth and talk about the fallacies of Islam, I, along with my family members, migrated to the United States.

Here I feel safe, even though I have already received a couple of threats against my life. The Justice Department of my adoptive country has assured me of all help, should I feel that my life is at risk. My family members and I are obliged to it for standing by our side.

FP: Your thoughts on Islam’s impact on Muslims and on non-Muslims?

Asghar: Muslims themselves are the victims of Islam. Many of them have knowingly become its victims, whilst a vast majority of them have fallen into its trap without knowing anything about its true nature and teachings. Islam has turned them into robots; most Muslims do only what, they believe, Allah told them to do. This is evident from the fact that most, if not all, Muslims do nothing in their lives without first saying “Bismillah …” i.e. beginning everything in Allah’s name, without whose help, so they believe, they can achieve nothing in their lives…

           — Hat tip: KGS[Return to headlines]

9 comments:

Skalman said...

We,, regarding the rising number of alleged "Nazi groups" in Sweden. It may be true but I wouldn´t count on it. Swedish MSM and security police are highly politicized(so is the Expo Foundation that are infected with extreme leftwing elements) and that MUST be taken into account when reading all of those reports.

In my opinion the number of nazis in Sweden are still very low compared to other european countries even though I agree with the fact that they are rising.
That in turn is not to be considered strange. Every person having "wrong" ideas about immigration in general and muslim immigration in particular are, if they dare to go public with their ideas, branded as "Racist", "Nazi" etc. This being said one must also know that officially there are no such thing as a "Berufsverbot" but in all practical aspects it still exists. Anyone having those bad ideas about immigration can coldly and promptly count on a more or less effective expulsion from social networks, employment and judicial rights systems as soon as they go public.

That way a lot of, mostly young, fed up people who are branded as being "nazis" are driven into the arms of the neonazis simply because that is the one place left to them where they can get acceptance, support and protection.

What is not, in general, much spoken about in MSM is the fact that other, and far more violent and dangerous, groups are forming with a speed that can be considered near rocketing. Being made up of members of groups highly prized by MSM journalists and politicians, and in some cases even children of those, they are nearly going free from critical and prying eyes. This also means that the swedish public is virtually unaware of highly violent and dangerous groups. Those groups are of course left wing extremist, being responsible for a vast number of violent attacks, and muslim terrorist cells having, for now, swedish ground as a safe haven between their operations abroad.

Personally I believe that it is just a matter of time before we get a real terrorist attack in Sweden as well. We have so far been spared such an event but as tensions start to rise here I think that will change.

In the meantime we still have the actions of low intensity warfare against ethnic swedes being conducted by mainly muslim youths. These actions are more or less skyrocketing since these youths have practically a carte blanche to continue. So far their punishments are either absent or very low in regards to fines or jail sentences. Mostly their only sentence, due to young age, are correctional conversations with social security officers.

So. Please don´t take all the cr*p from the media about nazis in Sweden and the rise of xenophobia here as the truth. There are more to it than meets the eye if you only read MSM that is, to say the least, are highly biased.

Robert said...

Sad. Jesse Ventura supports wide open borders. Good-he supports a real investigation of 911.

Abrahim's_brother said...

So where the swedish police when the trouble starts

Anonymous said...

Abrahim's brother, don't worry about the Swedish police--it's the Swedish people you should be afraid of.

One_of_the_last_few_Patriots_left said...

Skalman,

Thanks for your comments about the supposed rise of "Nazis" in Sweden. I suspected that this claim was so much horse manure. It seems that in Europe, if you don't swallow the suicidal lunatic agenda of the multiculturalists then you are instantly branded a "Nazi!" whereas here in the USA you would be instantly branded as being "Racist!"

Stormgaard said...

Here's a viral video I whipped up to pass around.

Loaded up and Truckin'!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWFa87cauuI

Joanne said...

Muslims threaten, and the world bows to their will - what a bunch of whimps. When Muslims threaten, we threaten back. Bring it on. I am so sick of people cowering to these people - where is our backbone? If Muslims do not like what we hold sacred, then they should get the hell out of dodge!

We need to unite and form support groups to come to our aid if and when we are threatened. If anything, we should learn this tactic from Muslims - when a muslim is being brought to task, muslims crawl out of the woodwork to come to their aid, even if it means their need to attack the police. If these people do not respect the police, they do not respect anyone or our laws. People need to unite and form these groups, so they will not be fighting the muslim threats alone - safety in numbers.

Darrin Hodges said...

Australia: Candidates play white Australia card

laine said...

I guess we are getting inured to the barbarous depravities perpetrated in the name of Muslim "honor" with recent live burials for at least 3 women in Pakistan for wanting to choose their own husbands and now a Palestinian divorcee whose own father perpetrated this abomination.

Why do we in the West give this depraved thing that calls itself a religion even a minute of consideration or a single footbath of space in our civilization?

There are absolutely no significant demonstrations by practising Muslims to express their revulsion at their co-religionists' actions, communicating "Not in our name, not in our religion's name".

People who are more exercised and offended by cartoons than by torture-murders should be sent packing back to those countries with like minded people. They have no place in a civilized nation.