It looks like the Mumbai attacks are shaping up to be the Gavrilo Princip and Franz Ferdinand of the 21st century — only this time with nukes. India is saying publicly that the ISI — an organization which is part of the Pakistani military — was involved in the planning of and training for the Mumbai atrocities. It’s hard to see how the situation can be resolved short of war.Thanks to C. Cantoni, Conservative Swede, Diana West, Fausta, Insubria, JD, Steen, TB, Tuan Jim, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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GOP-Killing Juggernaut Puts Bull’s-Eye on States
Millionaires, billionaires donating to takeover plan
George Soros and others “were angry and discouraged after contributing to the Media Fund which spent $57 million on TV ads attacking President Bush in swing states and to American Coming Together which spent $78 million on get out the vote efforts,” the report said.
The result was a victory for President George W. Bush. So assembling in 2005, 70 millionaires and billionaires met in Phoenix “for a secret long-term strategy session.” Their principal point of agreement was “the conservative movement was ‘a fundamental threat to the American way of life.’“
They studied the success of conservatives, their network of organizations, funders and activists, including think tanks, legal advocacy organizations and leadership schools.
Former Clinton administration official Rob Stein explained Democrats, meanwhile, had become a top-down organization run by professional politicians. Result? The birth of the Democracy Alliance, “a loose collection of super-rich donors committed to building organizations that would propel American to the left,” the report said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Krugman in US Doomsday Prophecy
Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman says in a speech in Copenhagen that the U.S. economic crisis will be lengthy.
The world’s largest economy — the U.S. — is contracting at an ‘alarming rate’ according to Paul Krugman, who has won this year’s Nobel Economics Prize.
In a speech to a Copenhagen Business School audience, Krugman painted a bleak picture of the U.S. economy saying: “At a rough guess, the annual growth rate in the U.S. is currently minus 4-5 percent and unemployment is growing with almost 500,000 people each month.”
“This will mean that 12 million Americans will be shoved under the poverty level,” said Krugman as he foresaw current developments leading to 10 percent unemployment…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon’s Domestic Security Plans Could Have Arizona, Southwest Focus
U.S. Defense Department plans to deploy as many 20,000 U.S. troops within the U.S. for homeland security and anti-terrorism efforts could result in a significant number being placed or having some kind of presence in Arizona and the Southwest, according to security experts.
There have been threats against the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix, the Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border as well as the Las Vegas Strip and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Arizona is also home to U.S. military intelligence operations at Fort Huachuca and has become a focal point with border security efforts along the Mexican border.
The Washington Post recently reported the Pentagon plans to have up 20,000 U.S. troops placed in domestic locations with the charge of responding to security matters.
Some of those troops — which are under the U.S. Northern Command — have already been active in Arizona, helping with security efforts along the Mexican border.
The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Northern Command was created after 9/11 and is geared towards homeland security and civil defense within the U.S.
[…]
Civil libertarians on the left and right wonder what role the U.S. troops deployed on U.S. soil will play in security efforts and point to long-held precedents against having the military be involved in law enforcement matters.
| [Return to headlines] |
Should US Taxpayers be Bailing Out Sharia?
by Diana West
In a word, NO.
But that is exactly what we American taxpayers are doing via the government’s no-strings $85 billion bailout of AIG. As the diligent and crucial reporting of Jeffrey Imm reveals, AIG sells sharia-compliant finance products through its sharia mutual trusts and its AIG Takaful division, which sells sharia-based insurance. Such financial products both promote and institutionalize the supremacist and repressive tenets of Islamic law, which are wholly at odds with Western notions of individual liberty and equality before the law.
As Jeffrey recounts:
In October 2008, I wrote how the U.S. government gave an $85 billion loan to AIG, without demanding divestment of its business ventures reselling Sharia mutual trusts and its AIG Takaful division selling Sharia-based insurance.
In November 2008, I wrote about how the U.S. government purchased $40 billion in AIG stock, making you as a taxpayer, an owner of a company promoting Sharia through such businesses.
For two months, I have warned that AIG’s Takaful division was planning to expand to offer such AIG-specific Sharia products here in the United States. Now AIG has announced that it has Sharia-based insurance products for the United States, and AIG is promoting them.
What can you do? First, read Jeffrey’s article.Then, you can call or email Jim Crain, whom AIG lists as the point man on the Takeful division (617-345-4105 or jim.crain@aig.com)…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
‘Tribune’ Ad Creates Stir Birth Certificate Issue Refuses to Go Away
Despite the lack of media coverage and the derision of President-elect Barack Obama’s supporters, a newspaper ad signaled that the controversy surrounding Mr. Obama’s citizenship is not going away.
The We The People Foundation, an organization designed to increase understanding of the Constitution, took out two full-page ads in the Chicago Tribune calling on Mr. Obama to release his proof of natural birth and U.S. citizenship.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Swede | [Return to headlines] |
US Muslims Await Obama’s Change
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet choices have sparked worries about whether the change mantra he campaign on would be put into effect, but Muslim community leaders still believe the change is coming, albeit slowly.
“Obama’s promise of change is being materialized but not by doing the usual ‘out with the old and in with the new’,” Samina Faheem, executive director of the American Muslims Voice (AMV), told IslamOnline.net.
Obama wrapped up his administration line-up on Wednesday, taping New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as commerce secretary.
This came shortly after Obama, who takes office on January 22, unveiled his national security team, led by rival Hilary Clinton as secretary of state and Robert Gates who will who will stay on as Defense Secretary.
Muslims in White House Race (Special)
US Muslims See Hope in Obama
89% Muslims Voted for Obama: Poll
The mixed line-up of Democrats and Republicans, featuring many hawks, is worrying many that Obama might be willing to compromise on his change promise.
“Change does not mean bring everyone new, it means a combination of experience with new to get the job done,” says Ali Khan, National Director of the Chicago-based American Muslim Council, is even more optimistic.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Weatherman Terrorists: Obama’s Centrism a ‘Smokescreen’
Forecast a radical agenda that would impress Lenin coming
President-elect Barack Obama is “feigning” a centrist position on some issues so he can ultimately push through a radical agenda, including universal healthcare and trimming the military, according to analysis by a founder of the Weathermen terror group , Mark Rudd, who has ties to Obama mentors.
Another top former Weathermen terrorist with ties to Obama mentors, Jeff Jones, concurred the president-elect will attempt major change, including “redistributing financial resources downward.” He called Obama’s “centrist” appointments a “smokescreen” to “co-opt the moderate center,” declaring, “even Lenin would be impressed!”
[…]
Rudd stressed what he called Obama’s second-tier appointments to various agencies, claiming those individuals are far more “progressive.”
[…]
He said Obama ultimately seeks to shrink the military but cannot make that goal public for some time.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Europe: Court Rules EU Illegally Froze Iranian Group’s Funds
Luxembourg, 4 Dec. (AKI) — A top European Union court has overturned a decision by the EU’s top decision-making body to freeze the funds of an Iranian opposition group on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations. In its decision, the Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance said EU governments had “violated the rights” of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran.
“By refusing to communicate to the court certain information about the case, the (EU) has equally infringed the fundamental right of the PMOI to effective judicial protection,” said a media release on the court’s website.
The ruling effectively overturns a July decision by the EU to continue labelling the group a terrorist organisation, after new information came to light.
This will now force the EU to either appeal the decision within two months or take the group off its terrorist blacklist.
“The hearing in this case took place on 3 December and today, only one day later, the court has delivered its judgement. This one-day period is the quickest that the court has ever delivered its judgement following the hearing,” the court statement added.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi recently said the group is well-known for collaborating with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to suppress the Iraqi Kurds. He also said it was responsible for bombings, killings and attacks against civilians and government officials.
The PMOI was founded in 1965 with the aim of replacing Iran’s Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Its leader Maryam Rajavi (photo) has allegedly operated an armed group inside Iran, called the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
The group says that it renounced violence in 2001.
Rajavi visited various European countries this year to lobby for the group to be taken off the terrorist blacklist and have its funds released.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Finnish Law Professor: Constitution Should Prevent Extradition to Iran
Ministry to decide on fate of men ordered not to leave Finland
The Ministry of Justice is expected to decide in the coming weeks on whether or not to extradite two men wanted by Iran on charges of terrorism. In recent years Finland has refused to extradite a criminal suspect to another country only once, but this case is likely to be an exception.
It involves two Iranian men who were detained on an international arrest warrant as they entered Finland on Sunday. The two, who live in exile in France, are members of an Iranian opposition group. They came to Finland to participate in NGO activities linked with the OSCE foreign ministers’ meeting, and to prepare for a visit to the Finnish Parliament by Iranian human rights advocates.
The two were released from custody on Wednesday, and ordered not to leave the country for the time being.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
France: Sarkozy’s ‘Bewildering Mish-Mash of Measures’
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday unveiled a scheme to spend €26 billion to energize the flagging French economy. But German editorials look beyond the big number — and warn it is far from a magical economic elixir.
France has become the latest European Union country to dig into its pocket to try to halt the economic slide. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s €26 billion economic lifeline hopes to encourage recovery by funding investment projects rather than direct boosts for consumers.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy outlines his economic stimulus plan: “Our answer to the crisis is investment.”
And while the French economy is predicted to veer into recession, the government says that the new package will expand gross domestic product by 0.6 percentage points in 2009…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
French Muslim Girls Lose Veil Case in European Court
Europe’s human rights court today threw out a complaint by two French Muslim girls who were expelled from their school for refusing to remove their headscarves during sports lessons.
France, which takes secularism in state schools very seriously, passed a law in 2004 banning pupils from wearing conspicuous signs of their religion at school after a decade of bitter debate about Muslim girls wearing headscarves in class.
“The court observed that the purpose of the restriction on the applicants’ right to manifest their religious convictions was to adhere to the requirements of secularism in state schools,” the European Court of Human Rights said.
The two girls were 11 and 12 when they were expelled in 1999. After French courts ruled against them, they complained to the European court that their school had violated their freedom of religion and their right to an education.
The court, based in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, rejected both complaints by a unanimous ruling of seven judges. It said the school had done its best to balance the interests of the girls with respect for France’s secular model, and their expulsion was a consequence of their refusal to respect rules of which they had been properly informed. It also said they had been able to continue their education by correspondence classes.
The French veil debate divided a nation torn between its deep attachment to secularism and the need to accommodate Europe’s largest Muslim minority. It also raised questions about how the influence of Islam was changing Europe.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Cota, Immediate Moratorium on Building Mosques
(AGI) — Rome, Dec. 3 — “We ask for an unlimited moratorium on the construction of new mosques and presumed cultural centres until parliament approves a law which regulates the building of places of worship that have not signed understandings with the state. We will present a relative motion in parliament. There is already a bill to regulate the building of these places of worship which we have asked to be put on the agenda”, declared the President of the Deputies from the Lega Nord, Roberto Cota after the arrest of two Moroccans for terrorist activities who attended the Islamic cultural centre in Macherio.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ronchi, No More Mosques Managed by Islamic Communities
(ANSAmed) — VITO D’ASIO (PORDENONE), DECEMBER 4 — “The mosques cannot be managed by the Union of Italian Islamic Communities (Ucoii), an organisation that attacked the State of Israel two years ago”. So said Andrea Ronchi, Minister for European Politics. “For two years” the minister continued “I have been fighting the construction of enormous mosques that have nothing to do, but that hide other objectives”. He then agreed with Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on the fact that “in Italy terrorism is on the rise. We must be very alert, we must not accept things that are outside the final scope of dialogue”. According to Ronchi “we need an immediate census, without any favours and expel those who don’t follow the rule of dialogue, tolerance and integration”. The minister concluded by saying that “freedom of religion must be guaranteed, but I’ve been fighting fundamentalism for years: I am pleased that the government is so united on the fact that we need to pay attention to the Islamic centres”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Mosques OK But Must be Controlled, Vatican Says
(ANSAmed) — VATICAN CITY, DECEMBER 4 — Italy’s Muslims should have more mosques as long as they are controlled to make sure they are not turned to other ends, the Vatican’s ‘‘cultural minister’ said today. Speaking after two terrorist arrests in Milan sparked calls for a freeze on mosque construction, Vatican Cultural Council Chief Msgr Gianfranco Ravasi said Islamic places of worship must not become ‘‘a different model’’, such as those that turn out to be preaching extremism. ‘‘If (the mosque) does become something different, civil society has a right to intervene,’’ Ravasi said at a conference on interreligious dialogue. Another influential bishop echoed Ravasi’s call. ‘‘We must ensure that the Muslims present in our country can cultivate their religion in an appropriate way,’’ the No.2 of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI), Msgr Mariano Crociata said. Ravasi and Crociata were speaking after calls, repeated on Wednesday by rightwing government party the Northern League, to freeze the construction of mosques. The League, which has been vocal in its criticism of immigration, claimed in the wake of two terrorist arrests in Milan that too many mosques had turned out to be preaching Islamism. The party, whose No.2 is Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, has previously called for local referendums in areas where mosques are planned. League members such as Simplification Minister Roberto Calderoli, known for a Danish Islam cartoon T-shirt episode, have gained headlines by leading anti-mosque protests that have brought pigs to building sites. Crociata, who is the secretary-general of CEI behind president Angelo Bagnasco, said calls to freeze mosques were ‘‘excessive’’. In an interview with ‘30Giorni’, a Catholic weekly edited by ex-premier Giulio Andreotti, Crociata stressed the importance of uniting Italian Muslims so that they can have a ‘‘reference point’’ with the Italian state. For years Muslism have been struggling to unite a number of organisations into a single entity to govern relations with Italian authorities. Such a unified body, Crociata argued, could essentially certify mosques, dismissing security concerns. But he stressed that suggesting some parts of sharia law should be incorporated into Italian law, as the Anglican Church has in England, was not necessary for integration. Integration should be based on shared values, he said, and Muslims should have enough mosques that they do not have to worship in the street or in other ‘‘unsuitable’’ conditions. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy to Return Russian Church
State presidents to attend handover of Orthodox site
(ANSA) — Bari, December 4 — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano will attend a ceremony to return a Russian orthodox church in the city of Bari to Russia on Saturday.
The church, dedicated to St Nicholas, was built in the early 20th century to welcome Russian pilgrims coming to the city to visit the 11th-century Basilica of St Nicholas, where the saint’s relics lie.
It was later acquired by Bari city council.
Former Russian president Vladimir Putin made an official request for its return in March 2007 during an Italo-Russian summit in the city.
The church, which has been housing municipal offices, is expected to return to its original function following the handover.
Bari is the most popular destination in the world for Russian orthodox pilgrims, for whom St Nicholas holds great importance.
Saturday’s ceremony coincides with the saint’s feast day, December 6, marking the anniversary of his death in 333 AD.
Metropolitan Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican’s Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi will also attend, along with the Italian and Russian foreign ministers Franco Frattini and Sergey Lavrov.
Medvedev is then expected to visit the Basilica of St Nicholas before a state dinner, at which local dishes such as fava bean puree and chicory will be served.
A fourth-century bishop in what is now Turkey, St Nicholas was famous for his generosity and later developed in some regions of the world into the figure of Santa Claus.
Sailors from Bari stole his remains from the ancient city of Myra in 1087. Photo: The Russian Church in Bari.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Muslims Reject Move to Stop New Mosques
Rome, 4 Dec.(AKI) — Muslim intellectuals in Italy have rejected a plan by the conservative government to halt the construction of new mosques, arguing that a shortage of mosques was making it more difficult to monitor radical Islam. The anti-immigrant Northern League, a coalition partner, has renewed calls to stop any more mosques being built.
Its call followed the arrest on Tuesday of two Moroccans suspected of plotting terrorist attacks on several targets in the northern city of Milan.
One of the suspects accused of planning attacks in Milan was a Muslim preacher at an Islamic cultural centre outside the city.
“Rome’s Grand Mosque is the only official mosque in Italy, so a moratorium on the construction of future mosques is futile,” said the Association of Muslim Intellectuals in Italy’s president, Gianpiero Vincenzo.
“It is far more important to regulate the various ‘cultural centres’ where Muslims in Italy have to gather for prayers because there are no more suitable venues,” said Vincenzo.
The Grand Mosque in Rome has for some time been trying trying to set up a federation of cultural centres in Italy which pledge to abide by the peaceful and moderate principles of Islam, he said.
“It’s a slow, delicate and strategically important task for the Muslim community in Italy and more help from the government and politicians would be invaluable,” he said.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has sought approval to dissolve associations in Italy that promote terrorism.
The chief parliamentary whip for the Northern League party, Roberto Cota on Wednesday renewed earlier proposals by his party for a halt to mosque building in Italy. His call was met with outrage by centre-left opposition politicians.
The Northern League — to which Maroni belongs — has also proposed a referendum be held before any mosque or other place of worship is built.
The party has opposed mosque-building projects in several towns and cities in northern Italy, where Muslim immigrant communities have been growing.
Last November, Muslims and non-Muslims expressed outrage at the attempted ‘desecration’ of a plot of land earmarked for a mosque in the northern city of Padua by Northern League members who paraded a pig on the site.
Senior member and cabinet minister, Roberto Calderoli, last October proposed a regular “pig day” in which he threatened to take his pet pig for a walk on land in the Northern League stronghold of the Veneto region where mosques were planned.
Pigs are considered unclean in the Muslim and Jewish faiths.
The Northern League is a coalition partner of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling People of Freedom party.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Honour Killing’ Verdict Upheld
Landmark conviction of father confirmed on appeal
(ANSA) — Brescia, December 5 — An Italian appeals court has upheld the country’s landmark first conviction for a so-called ‘honour killing’, committed by three Pakistani men.
A Brescia court confirmed a 30-year term handed down a year ago on the father of 20-year-old Hina Saleem, who was found brutally murdered near this northern Italian city in August 2006.
But it reduced from 30 to 17 years the jail time for Saleem’s two brothers-in-law, who were found guilty of taking part in the killing. Hina’s mother gave way to desperate wails after her husband’s conviction was upheld, refusing to leave the court.
A 30-year sentence is the longest possible under Italian law in the fast-track process which was adopted in the first trial.
Experts said that in a full-length trial the sentence would probably have been life imprisonment, Italy’s ultimate penalty.
Hina Saleem was stabbed 28 times on the third floor of her family home in the northern town of Sarezzo and buried in the garden.
Her Italian boyfriend, with whom she was living at the time, found her body the next day after she failed to return home or answer her phone.
According to the prosecution, Saleem was deliberately lured back to the family home following a meeting of male relatives, who decided to punish her for bringing shame upon the family.
Hina Saleem, together with her mother and sisters, left Pakistan in 2001, joining her father who settled in Italy in 1996.
Her boyfriend, 31-year-old Giuseppe Tempini, told investigators she had been arguing with her family for weeks before the murder. She had apparently refused to marry the man her family wanted and would not return to Pakistan with her mother and sisters.
CLOSELY WATCHED TRIAL.
The November 2007 sentence was welcomed by female politicians, many of whom had followed the trial closely.
The rightwing MP Daniela Santanche’, who received a death threat earlier in 2007 after claiming the Koran doesn’t require women to wear veils, said she hoped the full sentence would be served.
Silvana Mura, an MP with the centrist Italy of Values party, also praised the ‘‘fair decision’’ of the judge.
‘‘Let’s also hope the figure of young Hina becomes a symbol of courage, of joy in life, and of a willingness to integrate one’s own culture with that of the country one lives in,’’ she said at the time.
Brescia province has one of the highest immigrant populations in Italy, accounting for some 15%% of its inhabitants.
Pakistanis are the largest community, making up around 10,000 of the 120,000 immigrants living in the province.
Police in Islamic countries often turn a blind eye to honour killings and they are not always pursued by Western police either.
There was a landmark conviction in Britain in 2007, where more than 100 homicides are now being treated in the same light.
There have been reports of such killings spreading from Pakistan to Italy — as well as suicides of women forced into marriage.
Honour killings are also part of Italy’s own history, where the idea of ‘‘honour’’ was an admitted legal defense until 1981. Prior to its reversal, an article existed in the Italian Criminal Code that provided a reduced penalty of imprisonment of only three to seven years for a man who killed his wife, sister or daughter to vindicate his or his family’s honor. Such crimes were once a feature of highly traditional communities in southern Italy, when young women were murdered for allegedly bringing shame on the family.
The Mafia, even recently, has been known to kill women who ‘stray’ sexually or have children without being married.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mido Blames Football Association for Islamophobic Abuse
Middlesbrough striker Mido has blamed the Football Association for the Islamophobic chanting he suffered against Newcastle last weekend. The FA [Football Association] are set to look into reports of abuse directed at the Egyptian striker during the Tees-Tyne derby after Mido was targeted for the second time in as many seasons.
And the Boro forward believes the FA’s lack of action when it happened last year contributed to a repeat this season. “They kept chanting disgusting words, racist words about Islam and unfortunately, this is the second time that the same fans have done this,” Mido told Egyptian television station Al Hayat.
“It happened again because after the first time the English FA did nothing. I considered this as an invitation from the English FA to the Newcastle supporters to repeat such shameful acts.
“I can assure you that nothing is going to happen this time again. The English FA said that they will be investigating the issue and will make use of the latest technology to stop such racist abuse of players but I feel that nothing will happen.
“I am asking the English FA to take serious action to stop such things.. These chants are not directed at me as a person but it is directed at Islam.”
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Rice, PM Talk ‘Serious’ Issues
Pressing world issues such as the recent terrorist attacks in India, relations with Russia and the military effort in Afghanistan were the main topics of discussion during Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s meeting with out-going US Secretary of State Conoleezza Rice in Copenhagen today.
‘We talked about the serious situations around the world — especially the challenges we face in Afghanistan,’ Rasmussen said during a post meeting press conference.
Denmark’s 500 troops stationed in the volatile Helmand province are one of the largest per capita contingents in Afghanistan, and the prime minister has echoed US calls for other countries to contribute more to the military effort there.
Rasmussen has been rumoured to be on a short list of candidates to become Nato’s next secretary general. Asked her opinion of whether the prime minister was a good canditate to lead the alliance, she called him a ‘a true leader in Nato’.
‘No matter what role he plays or doesn’t play moving ahead, I know that as long as we have strong leaders at the head of state level then it is an alliance that will bear fruit,’ Rice said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Rice: Denmark ‘Terrific’ Ally
Arriving in Denmark on Thursday for a two-day visit, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice her expressed her thanks to the country for its support of the war on terror, as well as her condolences to the families of two Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Thursday.
‘Nothing can replace these lives, but nothing of value was ever won without sacrifice and this was a sacrifice that was not in vain,’ Rice said.
Rice was due to call on a number of European capitals on what was billed as her farewell tour of Europe before leaving office in January, but was forced to cancel all but the visit to Copenhagen in order to visit India and Pakistan in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks.
The Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office viewed the decision not to cancel the visit to Copenhagen as a sign of the good relationship between the US and Denmark.
Prior to an informal dinner with Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller and US Ambassador James P Cain Thursday evening at Tivoli’s Nimb Restaurant, Rice told the press that ‘Denmark has been a terrific ally in the fight against terrorism.’
Møller called Rice a ‘good colleague’ that he had worked closely together with on issues such as Darfur and the Middle East peace process.
Møller and Rice will meet again today with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen when they are expected to discuss issues such as Somali piracy and military efforts in Afghanistan.
In addition to its contributions to efforts to fight the Taleban in Afghanistan, Denmark also supported the US-led military coalition in Iraq.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
The Death Threats Come With the Job
The president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Charlotte Knobloch, has long been the target of death threats, hate mail and anti-Semitic Web postings. All previous council presidents required bodyguards, as does Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and the first female president of the 105,000-member Jewish community.
“When I look at the Internet or at my mail, there are people who would like to see me in the cemetery,” she told Germany’s largest newspaper, Bild, in an interview on November 9.
On Thursday, Yediot Aharonot reported that the threats were ongoing.
A source with close ties to Knobloch told The Jerusalem Post, “There are always people who are writing letters” threatening Knobloch. Her security needs are comparable to those of Chancellor Angela Merkel, i.e., the highest in Germany, the source said.
Knobloch, who was born in Munich in 1932, witnessed the Kristallnacht violence in 1938 and survived the Nazi period in hiding.
At the ground-breaking ceremony she attended for the Munich Synagogue in 2003, neo-Nazis planned to detonate explosives. German police intervened, arresting 10 hardcore neo-Nazis and seizing two handgrenades, 1.7 kilograms of TNT, and 14 kilograms of other explosives…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
When Town Halls Turn to Mecca
For many European municipalities and a few American ones (see article) accommodating Islam is a big dilemma—but not an insoluble one
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Morocco:Solana Discussed Advanced Status With Fassi-Fihri
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 3 — EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Javier Solana, met today Morocco’s Foreign Minister, Taib Fassi-Fihri, in Brussels, and discussed the advanced status of EU-Morocco relations. As stated in a Council press release, among the other issues, they discussed the Middle East Peace Process, on which they noted that the Annapolis negotiation process remains the only possible way forward.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Egypt: Italian University in Cairo, Meeting
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 3 — The construction of a future Italian-Egyptian university in Cairo, discussed in Rome during the last visit by President Hosni Mubarak, and the gift of 8 million euro to modernise the Egyptian railways — an agreement which was signed by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini during his visit to Cairo on September 18 — were some of the topics discussed by the Italian Ambassador in Cairo, Claudio Pacifico, meeeting Egypt’s Minister for International Cooperation, Fayza Abul Naga. During the meeting the opportunity was confirmed to intensify the Egypt-Italy partnership for cooperation in other development projects, and in particular to intervene in the small and medium sized enterprises. Reference was also made to Italian contributions to mine-clearing work and development of the north-western coast of Egypt, in particular the minefields left after the 1942 battle of El Alamein, as well as cooperation in the training sector with the relaunch of centres for specialised training. Courses in Italian will be organised to guarantee a qualified workforce and to give a boost to the agreement on the regulation of legal immigration to Italy, which was signed in 2005. During the meeting the visit next year of Minister Abul Naga for talks with Franco Frattini was also discussed, along with the preparatory mission by the Director General for Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry, Elisabetta Belloni, in Cairo from December 14. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan-EU Launch Project to Fight Terrorism, Organized Crime
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, DECEMBER 4 — Jordan and the European Commission have launched an 18 month twinning project to fight terrorism and organised crime, a senior Jordanian official said. The EU funded Twinning Project is the first European Commission project in the area of counter terrorism in Jordan, said Jordan’s minister of planning, Suheir al Ali, during the launch ceremony in Amman. It is a pilot initiative, focused on delivering training courses to the Explosives Unit in the Preventive Security Department and to the Forensic Laboratories Department (FLD). The training program to the FLD will concentrate on general forensic methods; preparation for accreditation to ISO 17025:2005 standard and operation and functioning of the trace Explosives and Controlled chemicals Laboratory, according to a statement by the EU commission in Amman. To maximize the impact of this Twinning Project, the EC supplied laboratory equipment worth 1 million to the FLD for the establishment of the Explosives and Controlled Chemicals Analysis Lab at the Forensics Laboratories Department of the PSD. “Jordan was the first Middle Eastern country to embark on new association ties with the European Union in 1997. The Association agreement was ratified by the EU member states in May 2002”, said Al- Ali. “The project is a Jordan-EU cooperation in the field of security and counter terrorism through twinning the Public Security Directorate with an equivalent EU member state administration (namely NICO and other agencies). The capacity building program will target two security agencies in Jordan, namely the Forensic Laboratories Department (FLD) and the Explosives Handling Unit in the Preventive Security Department. Both departments report to the Public Security Directorate (PSD),” she added. Jordan has been stepping up its efforts to fight organized crimes and terrorism ever since it was struck by triplet bombings in the capital in 2005 that killed 60 people and injured nearly 100 others. Jordan is a safe country and political stable compared to its neighbors, but officials fear extremist groups could spill over from Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Aids: Morocco; 3000 Cases Since 1986, Increase Since 2000
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, DECEMBER 2 — The Algerian health ministry has revealed data showing that there have been 2,798 registered cases of Aids in the country since 1986 and up to the present day. The ministry has urged the population to remain vigilant against an epidemic, even if numbers are currently low. “The level of infection is 0.0008% of the Moroccan population, which numbers more than 30 million”, emphasised the ministry in the memo it released the day before World Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis Prevention Day. The worrying part of the data concerns the recent increase in the incidence of the disease. The number of Moroccan citizens with HIV was 1,100 in the year 2000, whilst today the number is over 2000. In the last three years, health authorities have launched a series of initiatives for the prevention of Aids (particularly among young people and women) encouraging the use of condoms. To mark tomorrow’s world day, Moroccan artists are joining together, and will conclude various initiatives with a ceremony for “the artists’ pact against Aids”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Child Abuse, 4,000 Calls to the Toll-Free Number
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, DECEMBER 4 — In only six months, the new toll-free number (3033) set up in Algeria for children who have suffered abuse has received over 4,000 calls. “I’m Listening,” the service launched in April by the Algerian Postal and IT Ministry in collaboration with Nada (Algerian network for children’s rights) has responded to 1920 calls related to judicial matters, reported La Soir d’Algerie, 1650 SOS for psychological help and 430 requests for information on the rights and protection of children. Most of the calls were made by divorced mothers who had not received any financial help from their former husbands and for advice on conflicts concerning child custody, though there were also calls to report sexual abuse of children. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Forces Evacuate 250 Settlers From Hebron’s ‘House of Conflict’
About 600 policemen and soldiers move into the four-storey building held by settlers in the heart of the West Bank city. Israel’s High Court had ordered eviction by 16 November but settlers claim they bought the building.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) — Israeli security forces have evacuated some 250 Jewish settlers from a house in the West Bank city of Hebron. Local media report that it took five minutes for 600 soldiers and policemen to take over the four-storey building and half an hour to evict those inside.
The operation caught residents by surprise. Whilst police took people out one at a time security forces used tear gas and stun grenades against the settlers who resisted by throwing stones, eggs and cleaning fluid.
Magen David Adom emergency services deployed two helicopters along with a fleet of ambulances to the scene to evacuate the wounded. Israel’s rescue service said that 25 people on both sides were hurt.
After the evacuation settlers, attacked nearby Palestinian properties.
Once called the ‘House of Peace’ but renamed the ‘House of Conflict”, the building had become a flashpoint between the Israeli government and the settlers.
Located in a strategic part of the city but under Israeli control it was part of an area that constitutes the settlers’ enclave in the Palestinian city.
Following clashes between settlers and Palestinians, Israel’s High Court had ordered the former out setting 16 November as the deadline.
Settlers repeatedly said that they had legally bought the building from a Palestinian who however denied the claim.
As the evacuation date approached rightwing Israeli activists arrived in Hebron to prevent the eviction of the building’s residents.
The problem of the ‘House of Conflict’ goes back to March 2007, but is part of a broader problem that affects Hebron as a whole.
The city has been the scene of a dual conflict. On the one hand, the Israeli government has had to contain settlers’ aggressive occupation and anti-Palestinian actions. On the other, it has had to respond to continuous protests by Palestinian authorities and local Palestinian residents who have been victimised by settler vandalism against Palestinian mosques, cemeteries and properties, violence which has always been blamed on the settlers.
According to Israeli authorities the forced evacuation order was implemented only as a last resort.
Israeli defence Minister Ehud Barak had repeatedly tried mediation with the settler leadership but failed to get any agreement for a peaceful evacuation.
At the same time a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority, Jamal Zakut, said that the AP would do all it could to stop violence by the Palestinian population but called on Israel to stop settler terror.
Today’s action is the largest operation by the army of its kind since January 2006.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Has a New Mayor
Yesterday, Nir Barkat officially became Mayor of Jerusalem. Appearing with outgoing Mayor Uri Lupolianski, the recently elected Barkat vowed to “save Jerusalem.”
Barkat’s impressive electoral victory gives him a mandate to implement his vision for improving life in the city he now governs. In recent years Jerusalem has undergone many changes. The most obvious is a building boom that appears to have stalled because of the world-wide economic crisis.
Jerusalem has also become a city that has a growing population of poor people in the midst of great wealth. During the recent campaign, Barkat advocated policies that would attract and keep more middle class professionals.
Needless to say, the new Mayor will be thrust into the middle of the national and international debate over the future of Jerusalem. Barkat has repeatedly stated his commitment to a united Jerusalem and he caused a stir by declaring that he believes that Jews should be allowed to live and work in areas that have been considered “Arab”. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
PNA: EU Provides Eur 42ml to Ensure Public Services Delivery
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 3 — The European Union has provided an additional euro42 million to the Palestinian Authority to help meet its recurrent expenditures and ensure the continued delivery of public services until the end of the year. The funds include a one million euro contribution from the Government of Austria, with the remainder being provided by the European Commission. The EUR 42 million will be channelled through the EU’s Palestinian assistance mechanism, PEGASE, to help pay for salaries and pensions, and fuel for the power plant to provide electricity to the people of Gaza. “This additional contribution from the EU will help to ensure that the Palestinian Authority can meet its obligations towards its citizens until the beginning of 2009, when fresh funds from all donors, including the EU, will become available”, Roy Dickinson, the Head of Operations at the European Commission office in Jerusalem said. Prime Minister Fayyad asked all donors in 2008 to help him to meet the recurrent expenditures of the Palestinian Authority, given the current difficult economic climate in the occupied Palestinian territory and the small customs and revenue base.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran’s Judiciary Chief Lauds U.S.-Iraqi Pact
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran took a surprisingly positive stance Monday on the Iraq-U.S. security pact after months of harshly denouncing the deal, which would keep American troops in Iraq for three more years. One of the clerical state’s most powerful figures praised the Baghdad government’s handling of the agreement.
Some hard-liners continued to lash out against the agreement. But the positive comments by judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and in the state media signaled Tehran may be taking a realistic view — that no matter what it dislikes in the deal, it will eventually mean the departure of the Americans.
“The Iraqi government has done very well regarding this (security pact),” the website of Iran’s state television quoted Shahroudi as saying. “We hope the outcome of (the deal) will be in favor of Islam and Iraqi sovereignty.”
Shahroudi is very close to Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his comments reflect thinking of conservatives within the ruling system, but not all hard-liners or President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
State media in Iran also toned down its opposition to the agreement.
| — Hat tip: Fausta | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan-NATO Strengthen Cooperation, Joint Military Exercise
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, DECEMBER 4 — NATO and Jordan plan to strengthen and expand the country’s security and political relations as part of the Kingdom’s Individual Cooperation Programme (ICP) with NATO special emphasis on the fight against terrorism, a report said today. NATO is expected to improve cooperation crisis management and increase in the number of joint Jordanian-NATO military exercises, further cooperation in the fight against nuclear proliferation and fields of armament and logistics, according to Nicola de Santis, coordinator of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Countries Section was quoted by the Jordan Times as saying. Israel finalised an ICP with NATO in 2006, while Egypt developed an ICP in 2007. “The aims at enhancing political dialogue between partners, incorporates a number of areas in which full cooperation between Jordan and NATO will be established”, said de Santis. The number of participating non-NATO countries in the MD grew from five to seven since 1994 to include Egypt, Israel, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Jordan also signed an agreement with NATO in December 2007 under which the alliance is financing a two-year programme to locate and destroy explosive remnants of war (ERW) through a 3.4 million euro trust fund. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Nuclear: Jordan, Agreement With s. Korea for Plant
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 1 — The Jordanian Commission for Nuclear Energy has signed a preliminary agreement with the national electric company of South Korea, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), for the construction of a nuclear plant to create electricity in Jordan, reports South Korean Yonhap Nws Agency. For the signature, the two sides agreed to form a committee for work to begin on an analysis of the practicability of the project and to draft a financial plan. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Avoid Cow Slaughter on Eid-Ul-Azha: Deoband to Muslims
NEW DELHI: Leading Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom has suggested to Muslims in the country that they avoid slaughtering cows on Eid-ul-Azha as a mark of respect to the religious beliefs of Hindus.
The appeal has been supported by the All India Organisation of Imams of Mosques (AIOIM), which had earlier asked Muslims to put black ribbons on their shoulders as a symbol of their solidarity and grief for the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.
In a booklet detailing the concept of ‘qurbani’ or sacrifice on the occasion of Bakri-Eid, brought out by Deoband-based Dar-ul-Uloom, the seminary has advised Muslims to refrain from sacrificing cows to avoid hurting sentiments of the Hindus. “They (Muslims) may slaughter other animals that are approved by the Shariah,” the booklet said, asking Muslims to respect the sentiments of other Indians.
Established in 1866, Dar-ul-Uloom is the most respected school of Islamic teaching in the subcontinent.
AIOIM President Hazrat Moulana Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi said slaughtering cows hurts the sentiments of Hindus and “we should not do anything that will disturb communal harmony in the country”. Ilyasi also asked Imams all around the country to pray for the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks during Eid prayers and express solidarity with Mumbaikars.
“They should pray to the Almighty during Eid prayers for restoring peace in the country,” Ilyasi said
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
High Alert Across Airports, Air Chief Major Confirms Aerial Attack Threat
High alert across airports, air chief Major confirms aerial attack threat Airports across the country went on high alert on Thursday in the wake of intelligence reports that terrorists from Pakistan or Afghanistan may strike even as the Indian Air Force said it is prepared to counter a 9/11-type aerial attack. [video]
High-level meeting is on at the civil aviation ministry following terrorist threats to carry out a 9/11 type of attack in India. [video] Frisking of passengers and baggage has been intensified and additional paramilitary and police personnel deployed especially in Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai airports in the light of reports received by the government that they may be targeted around the anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition on December 6. [video]
“This (report about terrorists carrying out a possible aerial attack) is based on a warning, which has been received (by the government) and we are prepared as usual,” Air chief Fali Homi Major told reporters after laying a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate on the occasion of Navy Day.
He said the issue was discussed during the meeting of three service chiefs with Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday at South Block. The reports, which came close on the heels of the bloody Mumbai terror siege, also spoke of possibility of aircraft being hijacked by terrorists.
Authorities have deployed additional contingents of CISF and police inside and outside the Delhi airport, sources said. Passengers have been advised to reach the terminals early for the security checks.
At Chennai, over 300 armed guards with assault rifles took position in and around the airport. The first corridor in front of the airport, used for parking of vehicles, has been closed to traffic as Central Industrial Security Force personnel patrolled the area. The movement of visitors has also been restricted in Chennai airport and only passengers are being allowed in by a separate entry. Additional metal detectors have also been installed.
At the Bengaluru International Airport, entry of visitors into the terminal building has been stopped, the sources said. “CISF patrolling has been intensified and the quick reaction team of the CISF has also been put in a high state of readiness,” the sources added
The Civil Aviation Bureau is understood to have sent out the alert to the three airports following the reports that several suspected terrorists have infiltrated into the country to carry out possible strikes.
In Coimbatore, security was tightened at the airport following a threat of bomb explosion. According to police sources, a message threatening a blast on Thursday was found written with a chalk on a tray in the waiting hall. Bomb detection and disposal squad and sniffer dogs have also been deployed in and around the airport, the sources said.
Sniffer dogs have been deployed at most airports, while security personnel in plainclothes were also keeping a tight vigil. Marshals were being put on planes flying on sensitive routes, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
India Has Proof of ISI Hand in Mumbai Attacks
India has “proof” that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate was involved in plotting the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, sources said on Thursday.
New Delhi had names of ISI operatives who trained the 10 Mumbai attackers as well as details of the internet protocol addresses used by the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, which were previously used by Pakistan’s intelligence service. India was also aware of where the terrorists were trained.
No details of the “proof” were, however, made available. India’s claims came a day after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed doubts that the Lashkar gunman in custody was a Pakistani. By pointing the finger at the ISI, India has, effectively, pinned the blame for 26/11 on the Pakistan army.
According to the sources, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Pakistani leadership on Wednesday that they needed to arrest the Lashkar boss, Hafiz Saeed, and wind up the operations of the terrorist outfit. They revealed that the Americans actually had more intelligence than India given their presence in Pakistan and the tabs they kept on movements in and out of the Karachi port.
On whether India had provided this proof to Pakistan, the sources responded, “We will leave that to the Americans.” Pointing out that the Lashkar had a presence in Afghanistan, Sudan and Chechnya, the sources said there was a need for an international response to the group.
They argued that the Mumbai attack was also a Pakistan army hit on the civilian government and a “declaration of independence”. It was possible that the army, which was using the India threat bogey to wriggle out of the US-led war on terror, might even take power directly in Pakistan. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesian Visas for Sale to Afghans?
CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 2 (UPI) — Indonesian diplomats in Afghanistan are selling visas to desperate people hoping to get to Australia, members of the Afghan community in Australia say.
Hassan Ghulam, who lives in Brisbane, said increasing violence in Afghanistan has led to an increase in the price of Indonesian visas at the embassy in Kabul, The Australian reported Wednesday. He said corrupt staff members at the embassy are now asking $1,500 in U.S. currency, up from $1,200.
“This is because the people are very eager to leave to Indonesia and then try their luck with a smuggler and get on a boat to come to Australia,” Ghulam said.
Ghulam said many are so eager to get to Australia they have sold everything they own. He estimated, based on what he has heard from contacts in Australia and Afghanistan, that at least 100 visas have been sold.
A spokesman for the Australian Immigration Department said officials knew of reports of the visas. An Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman said any visas sold for bribes would be forged and the government plans an investigation.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Most Islamic Studies Teachers Oppose Pluralism, Survey Finds
Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/26/2008 7:06 AM | Headlines
Most Islamic studies teachers in public and private schools in Java oppose pluralism, tending toward radicalism and conservatism, according to a survey released in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The study shows 62.4 percent of the surveyed Islamic teachers, including those from Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah — the country’s two largest Muslim organizations — reject the notion of having non-Muslim leaders.
The survey was conducted last month by the Center for Islamic and Society Studies (PPIM) at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, involving some 500 Islamic studies teachers throughout Java.
It reveals 68.6 percent of the respondents are opposed to non-Muslims becoming their school principle and 33.8 percent are opposed to having non-Muslim teachers at their schools.
Some 73.1 percent of the teachers don’t want followers of other religions to build their houses of worship in their neighborhoods, it found.
Some 85.6 percent of the teachers prohibit their students from celebrating big events perceived as Western traditions, while 87 percent tell their students not to learn about other religions.
Some 48 percent of the teachers would prefer for female and male students to be separated into different classrooms.
PPIM director Jajat Burhanudin said the teachers’ anti-pluralist views would be reflected in their lessons and contribute to growing conservatism and radicalism among Muslims in the country.
“I think they play a key role in promoting conservatism and radicalism among Muslims nowadays. You can’t say now that conservatism and radicalism only develop on the streets like what has been campaigned by the FPI (the Islam Defenders Front), but rather deep within the education (system),” he said, referring to a radical Islamic group.
Jajat said such intolerance threatened the civil and political rights of citizens of other religions.
The survey also shows 75.4 percent of the respondents ask their students to call on non-Muslim teachers to convert to Islam, while 61.1 percent reject a new Islamic sect.
In line with their strict beliefs, 67.4 percent said they felt more Muslim than Indonesian.
The majority of the respondents also support the adoption of sharia law in the country to help fight crime…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: ‘Moderate Muslim’ Image in Doubt
With radicalism and conservatism appearing to take root across Indonesia without significant public opposition, scholars are questioning just how moderate the silent majority of Indonesian Muslims really is.
They said the recent passage of the pornography bill and the government’s ban on the Jamaah Ahmadiyah minority sect, coupled with the enactment of sharia-inspired bylaws in many regions, was evidence the of rising conservatism.
A discussion, hosted by the Maarif Institute on Thursday, concluded that conservatism is growing in Indonesia — widely considered a moderate Muslim nation — with many Muslims ranking their devotion to their religion higher than their commitment to their country.
Visiting political and Islamic expert Mark Woodward said a number of expanding radical Islamic groups had claimed there was nothing more they needed in their lives than Islam.
“Members of the groups — who wear Pakistani dress that covers their entire body, and even wear gloves — claim that they are wearing Islamic dress, but in fact they are not,” said the professor from Arizona State University in the United States.
Maarif Institute executive director Raja Juli Antoni said the enactment of the pornography law and the ban on Ahmadiyah practices, which many Islamic groups consider heretical, were evidence of the growing conservative sentiment.
The passing of the porn law and the Ahmadiyah ban have received wide support from community members, including Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah — the country’s two biggest Muslim organizations — both considered moderate.
Raja said he was not convinced the most Indonesians were moderate as they had not voiced any opposition to the rising radicalism.
Another scholar, Amali, who is pursuing graduate studies at New York University, said most observers have thought Indonesian Muslims embrace a moderate brand of Islam.
“But now we need to rethink whether it’s true that the majority of Indonesians are moderate,” he told the same forum.
A recent survey by the Center for Islamic and Social Studies at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta found that most Islamic-studies teachers in Java, which is a stronghold for the NU and Muhammadiyah, opposed pluralism, tending toward radicalism and conservatism.
Some 68.6 percent of the teachers are opposed to non-Muslims becoming their school principal and 33.8 percent are opposed to having non-Muslims as teachers at their schools.
Some 85.6 percent of the respondents forbid their students from celebrating big events perceived as Western traditions, while 87 percent ask their students not to learn about other religions.
Woodward said conservative Islam had not yet been adopted into politics, citing the low popularity of Islamic parties campaigning for Islamism.
“Muslims are still very pragmatic in general elections. They’ll vote for parties they believe can bring prosperity. But we have yet to see whether Islamic conservatism will be translated into the politic sphere,” he said.
Woodward said the Islamic political groups were playing a smart game by pushing conservative agendas.
“They managed to easily equate those who reject the porn bill as supporters of pornography, and those backing Ahmadiyah as supporters of heresy.”
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai’s Muslims Denounce ‘Anti-Islam’ Attacks
India’s new home minister said on Friday last week’s attacks had revealed what he called security lapses, while Mumbai’s Muslims sought to distance themselves from what many consider “India’s 9/11.”
The ruling Congress party-led coalition is under renewed criticism from the opposition that it is weak on security after the three-day rampage by 10 Islamist gunmen in India’s financial capital capped a series of bomb blasts this year in India.
“I would be less than truthful if I said there were no lapses,” Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters in Mumbai. “These are being looked into. We will address the causes that led to the lapses.”
Muslims targetted
“ Anybody who is a Muslim has to distance him or herself (from those) who are giving this diabolic face of Islam “
Javed AkhtarMeanwhile, from peace marches to calls for toned-down Eid celebrations, Mumbai’s Muslims are doing all they can to dissociate themselves from the attacks that were carried out in the name of Islam.
Even though dozens of the 172 dead were Muslim, community leaders have expressed concerns that Hindu nationalists could exploit the attacks for political gain — or could target Muslims directly.
The city’s Muslims, who make up about 15 percent of Mumbai’s estimated 19-million-strong population, were to take to the streets after Friday prayers in a peace march.
But they cancelled the event, feeling that participation in the mass rally that attracted tens of thousands of people on Wednesday night to mark one week since the attacks was enough.
“We had already carried out a march on Wednesday and hence decided not to hold a fresh one,” said Ibrahim Tai, president of the Muslim Council Trust, referring to the mass rally by the Gateway of India, opposite the Taj Mahal hotel, which was one of the main targets of the attacks.
Leading figures in the community have called for Eid al-Adha celebrations to be limited only to those rituals that are strictly necessary.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai Attacks: More Than Meets the Eye
Details have emerged regarding who was responsible for the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, with the evidence pointing to the Pakistani-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). But the trail doesn’t end there.
Indications of a coming attack were reportedly received by intelligence agencies well in advance. US signals intelligence (SIGINT) picked up a spike in “chatter” indicating something was brewing, which was supported by information from assets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some of the information that was received by US intelligence was passed on to India as early as September.
The details were specific. The CIA station chief in Delhi reportedly met with his counterpart at India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to pass on intelligence that LeT was planning a major attack that would come from the sea.
Less than a week before the attacks, a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan purportedly killed a British citizen of Pakistani descent named Rashid Rauf, who was suspected of planning to blow up commercial airliners flying from Britain to the U.S. He fled Britain in 2002 after being suspected of stabbing to death his uncle, Mohammed Saeed. He settled in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and married a relative of Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of another militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Besides being linked to JeM, he was also suspected by some intelligence sources of having connections to the ISI. Pakistani authorities arrested him in Bahawalpur in August 2006 at the behest of British authorities, but he escaped police custody when they allowed him to enter a mosque ostensibly to say afternoon prayers. While police waited outside, Rauf walked out the back door. He may have just escaped, but there were also rumors that he was secretly taken into custody by the ISI in a plan that kept him under wraps while preventing him from being extradited to Britain…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Scientist: Our Nukes Are Ready
Missiles ‘can be fired in only 10 minutes, they are on the launchers’
A Pakistani scientist who has worked to develop his nation’s nuclear weapons says the missiles are on rocket launchers and can be fired in 10 minutes.
The comments come from Samar Mubarakmand amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan following the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Many have blamed the attacks on sources in Pakistan.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S., India Becoming Best of Friends
Terrorists tried to drive India and Pakistan to war by their attack on Mumbai.
They failed. But signs are pointing to a deepening U.S.-India alliance instead. It may be the final result of the war on terror.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived Wednesday in New Delhi, offering condolences to India in the wake of the attack that killed 172. “The American people want India to know that the United States stands in solidarity,” she said.
As the U.S. so often does for embattled allies, she also offered support more valuable than just sympathy: intelligence, investigative know-how and training to prevent future terror attacks, the only U.S. foreign aid that really works.
Underlining how important this was, she even cut short most of her European farewell tour to rush to India. While Rice was in New Delhi, U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen tag-teamed in Islamabad, urging Pakistan’s leaders to get serious about cooperating with India in the probe of the attacks.
The entire picture shows something that isn’t well-known: India is not just an ally but now a top ally in what the State Department calls a “priority relationship” with the U.S. It’s bound to be good for the U.S., and may amount to a worthy end to the war on terror.
“I believe that this partnership will be for the 21st century one of the most important partnerships that our country, the United States, has with any country around the world,” former Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in a 2007 speech. “I would wager that in 20 or 30 years time, most Americans will say that India is one of our two or three most important partners worldwide.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Police Uncover 4.5 Mln Dollar ‘Jihadist’ Drug Ring in Prison
Sydney, 4 Dec. (AKI) — Australian police claim to have uncovered a 4.5 million dollar drug ring allegedly run from a maximum security prison cell by a convicted murderer via his cell phone.
The drug ring is allegedly led by Bassam Hamzy, the ringleader of the so-called “Super-Max jihadists”.
He is suing the state of New South Wales for keeping him in segregation in Lithgow prison, 150 kilometres west of Sydney, after an alleged attempt to break out of another top-security jail in the regional city of Goulburn.
Hamzy is alleged to have made 19,000 calls in six weeks, an average of 460 a day. The 29-year-old convicted killer, will be brought out of the state’s top-security jail within the next 48 hours to face 15 fresh criminal charges.
He has not been outside a prison cell for almost a decade after the 1998 shooting murder outside the Mr Goodbar nightclub in the heart of Sydney.
Hamzy, who fled to Lebanon, the United States, Belize and Colombia after killing Kris Toumazis and wounding another man, was recaptured and sentenced to spend 21 years in jail.
On Thursday, his father Khaled Hamzy, his brother Ghassan Amoun, and his cousin Khaled Hamzy Jnr. were among the associates arrested in a major police operation across Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, and the neighbouring state of Victoria.
Two others, Mohammad Abbas and Thomas Miholic were also arrested in police raids.
It is alleged the group shipped about 162,000 dollars worth of drugs from Sydney to Melbourne each week.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Gay Rights Protest at Vatican
Sit- in on Saturday over opposition to UN declaration
(ANSA) — Rome, December 4 — Gay rights activists on Thursday began preparations for a protest sit-in at the Vatican, under flak for opposing a proposed French-sponsored United Nations declaration to decriminalise homosexuality in the world.
Arcigay, Italy’s biggest gay rights group, urged leftists, intellectuals, trade unions, show business personalities and journalists to join them at the protest on Saturday in a ‘‘show of solidarity and commitment to defend human rights’’.
Sit-ins and rallies will also be held this week and next in a number of Italian cities, Arcigay said.
The Vatican appeared unfazed by the polemics, staunchly defending its stance, announced on Monday by its representative to the UN, Monsignor Celestino Migliore.
In an interview with the French news agency I.media, Migliore said that the Church was against the declaration, which France will present to the UN General Assembly in mid December on behalf of the 27-member European Union.
The Church opposes the idea because it would whip up ‘‘new and implacable’’ forms of discrimination, he said.
‘‘For instance, nations that do not recognise same-sex marriages would be pilloried and be subjected to pressure’’.
Top Vatican officials say the brouhaha has been whipped up to ‘‘denigrate the Church’’.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters this week that the Church was not alone in its opposition to the proposal, with at least 150 UN members sharing its view.
‘‘Fewer than 50 nations of the UN are backing it,’’ said Lombardi, who stressed that the Church had nothing against homosexuals. The former head of the Vatican’s Academy for Life, Msgr Elio Sgreccia, told ANSA on Wednesday that the Church would not waiver on ‘‘its values, whether these are in harmony with society’s trends or not’’.
Sgreccia stressed that the Vatican’s ‘‘no was in fact a yes for the family’’. FRATTINI ATTEMPTS TO DEFUSE POLEMICS.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has tried to defuse the polemics, saying the Vatican’s stance should be ‘‘interpreted in the right spirit’’.
The Vatican, he told the House on Wednesday, was worried about legitimising same-sex unions.
‘‘Italy strongly supports the principle that no homosexual should be sanctioned or imprisoned. But it would be a serious mistake to draw the conclusion that this stance should lead to the international legitimization of family relations between homosexuals,’’ Frattini told the House.
The legislation on same-sex unions is clearly a national issue and cannot be subject to international rules, he stressed.
The editor-in-chief of the Communist Refoundation daily Liberazione, Piero Sansonetti, has urged Italians to boycott the Vatican, guilty in his view of ‘‘siding with scribes and pharisees’’.
He said participants at the sit-in should go ‘‘wearing a pink oufit like the star gays were forced to wear in concentration camps’’.
In an article on Thursday, Liberazione urged Italians not to devote part of their taxes to the Catholic Church when they present their tax returns in 2009.
Provisions allow Italians, if they so wish, to allot eight percent of their taxes to a religious organisation.
Arcigay President Aurelio Mancuso has said the Catholic Church’s decision to oppose the French proposal amounted to ‘‘a sort of real death sentence against the millions of gays and lesbians who unfortunately live in bloodthirsty countries’’.
At least 86 countries ban gays and many others approve torture and imprisonment, said Mancuso, recalling that seven Islamic-led nations foresee the death penalty.
He said these are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Nigeria and Mauritania.
France said that it was presenting the resolution — as part of a wider campaign to promote the declaration of the universal rights of man — while holding the European Union duty presidency, which expires on December 31.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Seals Against Pirates
The Danish navy wants to introduce seals on board freighters off the coast of Somalia.
Admiral Danish Fleet Headquarters wants to introduce elite military units on board freighters off the coast of Somalia so that would-be pirates meet heavy resistance if they try to board ship.
“We have a plan that works like a pilot system in which freighters either take on security guards or soldiers when they enter the area, and land them on another vessel when they leave the area,” says Per Bigum Christensen of Admiral Danish Fleet Headquarters.
Commodore Bigum Christensen is the operational commander of the United Nations-sanctioned 10 vessels of Task Force 150 which is attgempting to protect international shipping in the piracy-prone waters off Somalia.
“About half of the vessels have private security companies on board, and we can see that it works. It’s a sensitive issue, but it works,” says Comm. Bigum Christensen…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Somali Pirates Thrive …Thanks to War on Terror?
Brigands have extorted $100 million since U.S. helped oust their Islamic foes
“They are no longer some ragged bunch of pirates,” says Cornwell. “They are increasingly well armed and organized.” The pirates also are flush with cash, having extorted an estimated $100 million since the 1990s, according to Will Geddes, managing director of ICP Group, a London security company.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Frontex, Libya Must Cooperate on Illegals
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — Cooperation is lacking on Libya’s part. If illegal immigration into Italy continues to increase it is because, unlike what the Senegalese and Mauritanian authorities are doing to stop departures to the Canaries “here cooperation with third party countries is lacking” said vice director of the European agency for the Frontex borders, Gil Arias, during a meeting in Rome on immigration. “While irregular immigration to the Canaries by sea fell by 65% in 2007 and by a further 10% in 2008, it has increased in Italy from January to September by 107%”. According to figures from the agency Span, Greece and Italy hold the record for illegal immigration into Europe (75%): in 2007 irregular immigrants to Europe numbered 163,000, by September 2008 there were already 130,000 however. “Compared to 2007, immigration has remained stable over land borders, and by air, but it has grown significantly by sea.” Those being turned back at air and land borders fell in 2008 by 7%: from the 130,000 in 2007, 106,000 were stopped in the first nine months of 2008. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: 25 Thousand Sea Arrivals in 2008, Up 107%
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — With its 25 thousand arrivals or attempted illegal crossings, between January and September, Italy takes first place in Europés league of illegal immigration by sea. On its coasts, especially at Lampedusa, there was a 107% increase in arrivals compared to the same period in 2007. The figure comes from Gil Arias, Deputy Director of Frontex, Europés frontier agency, speaking at a meeting on illegal immigration held in Rome today. The arrivals originate mainly from Nigeria and Eritrea. July to September saw a ten-fold increase in the number of immigrants from these countries compared to the three previous months. Most embark from Libya and, according to the Frontex, in future the illegal immigration situation in the area around Lampedusa, Linosa and Malta will become increasingly “dramatic”. Arias pointed out that illegal immigrants are also attempting to reach Italy via the air route: during an operation led by Frontex it emerged that Nigerians and Chinese have tried to enter through Romés Fiumicino Airport, with Eritreans attempting through Ciampino, Moroccans via Milano and Bologna and Russians via Rimini and Bologna. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Italy; Green Light to Bill, 150,000 Entries
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — Italy’s Premier, Silvio Berlusconi, has signed a bill to allow 150,000 non-EU workers entry into Italy, for non-seasonal subordinate work. In particular this concerns 105,400 domestic workers or personal helpers and 44,600 domestic or other production sector workers, coming from countries which have signed or are about to sign specific cooperation agreements on migratory matters. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy First in Europe for Illegal Immigration by Sea
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — Italy was first in Europe this year for the arrival of illegal immigrants by sea, according to the deputy director of the European borders agency Frontex, Gil Arias. Frontex data showed that from January to September some 25,000 illegal immigrants reached Italian shores, a whopping 107% increase over the same period in 2007. Most of the immigrants were said to be from Nigeria and Eritrea, with those coming from the latter increasing tenfold from July to September, compared to the previous three-month period, Frontex said. The majority of immigrants heading towards Italy by sea set off from Libya and in the future their arrival on the islands of Lampedua and Linosa, those closest to Libya, could create a ‘‘dramatic’’ situation, Arias warned. Many illegal immigrants are also trying to reach Italy by air, Arias said, and a Frontex study showed that Nigerians and Chinese for the most part tried to arrive at Rome’s international airport Fiumicino, while Eriteans opted for the capital’s secondary airport Ciampino, Moroccans tried to fly into Milan and Bologna and Russians sought to enter through Rimini and Bologna. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Teacher Forces Teens to Question Being ‘Straight’
‘Is it possible your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?’
The mother of a Wisconsin teenager was stunned when her high school senior brought home a questionnaire assigned by his English teacher that asked, among several provocative questions, “Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?”
The mother, Marilyn Hanson, reviewed the questionnaire and thought it completely inappropriate for any class, but especially for a required English class, where, Hanson told WND, “They should be taught to read and write and prepare for college.”
“I really believe this was outright indoctrination to the homosexual viewpoint,” Hanson said. “I could see this being discussed in a debate class, where both sides were presented. But the other side was not presented.”
Hanson told WND, “I think they’re trying to shove [homosexuality] down our throats.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Catholic-Islam Marriage ‘Drama’
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 4 — Marriages between Catholics and Muslims can have “dramatic” consequences on the children because of cultural differences, the No.2 of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) said today. Such marriages are “not to be encouraged,” said CEI Secretary-General Msgr Mariano Crociata. A recent CEI study showed that people in such marriages tended over time to return to the social, cultural and religious relations they had before getting married, Msgr Crociata said. This entailed “sometimes dramatic consequences which fall on their children,” he warned. Requests from Catholics for permission to marry Muslims should therefore be handled “with great prudence,” the CEI secretary-general said. Crociata said the problem could be eased by a greater integration of Muslims. Marriages between Italians and immigrants have surged in recent years, according to the Catholic charity Caritas. Some 10% of the marriages are now between Muslims and Catholics. The biggest problems in mixed marriages have to do with children, especially where Muslim or North African men are concerned, Caritas said. By custom and religion these men have a strong perception of their domestic entitlements — a fact that can lead to growing tension, it said. The Muslim tradition of female subservience often leads to marital break-down, even though most Italian women convert to Islam, the recent report said. There have been cases of fathers kidnapping their children to bring them back to more patriarchal societies. Given the tension sparked by these crucial cultural mismatches, mixed marriages can be short, the report said. The current average duration is just five years in Milan, compared to 13 years in the southern melting-pot port of Lecce, the report said. Catholic religious instruction in Italian schools — no longer compulsory, but without alternatives — was also cited by some couples as a problem. Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly called for the greater integration of immigrants into Italian society, saying they are a much-needed resource. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cinema: Romeo and Juliet Between Jews and Muslims
(by Francesca Pierleoni) (ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 24 — The story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with Jewish and Muslim protagonists, who experience emotions beyond the conflict. This is the perspective with which at least three films this year will elaborate upon Shakespeare’s tragedy: ‘In Fair Palestine’, realised by high school students in Ramallah; David and Fatima by Alain Zaloum, about the love of an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian girl, and Canadian, Adam’s Wall, by Michael MacKenzie, about the relationship in Montreal between an Israeli boy and a young Lebanese girl. After it’s debut in January in Palestine, in December at the ‘Sottodiciotto’ Festival in Turin, In Fair Palestine: a story of Romeo and Juliet, a no budget docufiction done by a group of high school students at the Quaker-run Friends’ School of Ramallah. Coordinated by an English professor, Doug Hart, the film, directed by one of the kids, Yazan Al Nahhas, and acted out by his friends, mixes the rereading of the story of Romeo and Juliet, with an everyday setting with Palestinian children. ‘‘We thought about using a story that has universal values and principals and that deals with mixed marriages, wars between families, love at first sight, and adolescent life to express ourselves in a way different from how the western media represents us’’, explained Tarek Knorn, co-writer and actor in the film. In this modernised version, which faithfully follows the Shakespearean text, Palestinian Romeo (Abdul-Majeed Tahboub) and Juliet (Deema Totah), belonging to rival families, meet at a party celebrating the pilgrimage to Mecca. The element of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, incidental in the film, is of central importance in David and Fatima, by Egyptian-Canadian, Alain Zaloum, who included in his cast, Martin Landau (as the non-conventional rabbi) and Tony Curtis, as secondary characters. The film, (which debuted in Los Angeles in September), is set in Jerusalem, but filmed almost entirely in the United States (plus a few scenes in Israel) with American actors, won the Mondavi Award for peace and cultural understanding. The story is about David (Cameron Van Hoy), an Israeli idealist doing his military service, who in the holy city, meets and falls in love with a Palestinian girl, Fatima (Danielle Pollack). As predicted, their relationship encounters ferocious hostility from both of their families. ‘‘I was born in the Middle East and I have an Israeli wife, therefore I think that I can understand the reasons and the tensions between the two sides — said Zaloum -. The fact that I am a Christian maybe gave me more objectivity to tell the story’’. The disputed love between a Jew and a Muslim is also the theme in Adam’s Wall by Michael MacKenzie. The film, just produced and distributed in Canada received its first award at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema du Montreal. The protagonists of the story are Adam (Jesse Aaron Dwyre), an adolescent whose parents were killed in Israel, who lives in Montreal with his Jewish Orthodox grandfather, and Yasmine (Flavia Bechara), a Muslim girl, emigrated from Lebanon with part of her family, who is an activist for Palestinian rights. The two meet at a student protest and an immediate bond forms between them. Disputing their relationship is Adam’s grandfather’s hate for Arabs and new tension tied to the sudden disappearance in Lebanon of Yasmine’s mother. ‘‘Around this conflict there is rage and I did not want to show it in a toned down way — the director explained- at the same time the story is set in a everyday context. There are no immediate solutions for a clash like this one but it should be remembered that even a small gesture can help’’. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cleric Calls on Obama to Convert to Islam: “We Have People Who Are Eager to Die”
[MEMRI Video]
Egyptian Cleric Hassan Abu Al-Ashbal Calls on President-Elect Obama to Convert to Islam, and Threatens: We Have People Who are Eager to Die
Following are excerpts from an address delivered by Egyptian cleric Hassan Abu Al-Ashbal, which aired on Al-Nas TV on November 27, 2008.
Hassan Abu Al-Ashbal: Let me take this opportunity to address the leader of Europe, and the leader of America, who is the leader of the world, the recently-elected Obama, who is the leader of the Byzantines — he is like the Byzantine leaders in the days of Prophet Muhammad.
My message to him is three-fold. First, I invite him to convert to Islam. This is the call of the Prophet and of Allah. Oh Obama — convert to Islam, and you will be saved. I hope that Allah will reward you twice: Once for converting to Islam, and another reward for all those who will convert in your footsteps. If you want glory — you will find it in Islam. If you want honor — you will find it in Islam. In religions other than Islam there is utter humiliation, even if you are the president of the entire world.
[…]
You, Obama, are among those who have pledged before Allah — Allah who created you, sustained you, and brought you to this position — to be a Muslim who believes that Allah is the one God, especially since you have some kind of roots in Islam. Convert to Islam, and you will be saved. All glory and honor lie in following Allah and His messenger Muhammad. Know that the true religion is the religion of Islam, and all other religions are fabricated religions, which are null and void — religions that were abrogated by the shari’a of Muhammad.
If you refuse to return to your [Islamic] origins, to the way Allah created you, withdraw your huge armies and military bases from the lands of the Muslims. Know that all your predecessors have ended up in the garbage bin of history, and that America’s black and bleak history in the land of the Muslims and the Arabs constitutes an evil omen for you, your predecessors, and your successors. Know, Obama, that America, with all its size and might, will know no peace, as long as a single Muslim child lacks food, drink, medicine, or housing. If you refuse, Obama, and insist on remaining in Muslim lands, know that Allah still plants in [Muslims] obedience to Him, and they are willing to wait for Paradise, which is closer than their own shoelaces.
Know, Obama, that in the lands of Islam, there are people who seek death, and are eager for it, even more than you and your people are eager for life — any kind of life, even a life of humiliation.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Lego-Style Fighting Figurines Include Islamic Jihadist
‘It belittles the pain the families of victims of terror have gone through’
A range of Lego-style fighting figurines — including an Islamic terrorist militant — has sparked outrage among Muslims.
The toy mini-figures, made by American Will Chapman, includes a masked terrorist bandit with an assault rifle, grenade launcher and belt of explosives.
Shocked by the playthings, British Muslim organisation the Ramadhan Foundation has branded the figurines “absolutely disgusting”.
Chief executive Mohammed Shafiq said the figures were “glorifying terrorism”.
He said: “I don’t think there’s any difference between someone that shouts hatred through a megaphone and someone that creates a doll that glorifies terrorists.
[…]
A spokesman for Lego UK said they were “not associated” with the toys being sold by BrickArms, “which have been customised without LEGO UK’s knowledge or permission.”
He added Lego is “committed to developing toys which enrich childhood by encouraging imaginative and creative play — and does not endorse products that do not fit with this philosophy.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
If the US GNP is shrinking 4-5 % on an annual basis, this will have a radical effect on the Debt/GNP figure. This figure is currently at 65%, and could grow rapidly, due to the recession only. On top of that comes the usual deficit and bailout packages of various kinds.
To set things slightly into perspective, a hypothetical application from the US to join the Euro would be turned down on the debt/GNP figure alone, as the limit for Euro countries is 60 %.
That is, theoretically. The European Union is not known to follow its own rules very well, and even Greece, Italy and Belgium were permitted to join in spite of absolutely ridiculous public debt figures (details here.
Don't worry, the US federal government is too big to fail.
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