Missing Egyptian Exchange Students

Breaking news from Fox:

FBI Warns Law Enforcement to Look Out for 11 Missing Egyptian Exchange Students

The FBI alerted state and local authorities Monday to be on the lookout for 11 Egyptian exchange students who arrived in the U.S. last month but never showed up for class.

The men, who range in age from 18 to 22, were scheduled to attend a month-long program in U.S. history and culture, plus English language instruction, at Montana State University along with six other students. The group flew from Cairo and arrived in the U.S. on July 29. All entered the U.S. legally, but officials said the no-shows violated the terms of their visas and that the government would likely send them home once they turn up.

And the obligatory disclaimer:

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko emphasized that there was no indication that the men were involved in any illicit activity.

Here’s the part I like best - something in the post-9/11 security systems apparently is working right:

Montana State has tried repeatedly to contact the students, university spokeswoman Cathy Conover said. When that failed, the school notified Homeland Security officials and registered the Egyptians as “no-shows” in the system developed after Sept. 11 to track foreign students.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this story.

Letter from a Swede

Reader Patrik Ingelmo sent us the following note, with our permission to post it. His first reference to what I wrote is actually referring to Fjordman’s post about Sweden.

Dear Baron Bodissey,

I am from Sweden, Halmstad to be more precise, not too far south of Gothenburg. I lived there until July 2005 when I moved to Michigan, USA where I have been living since.

I must say your article made my stomach turn. I can easily discard what many bloggers responded to your article with, as I have seen a lot of what you wrote with my own eyes. I am 20 years old and even I can say that when I was younger Sweden was a better place, the last 10 years have brought a new wave of “civilization” there.

Posing with a Swedish flag, singing the National Anthem or discussing immigration is labeled as “racism”, not only by immigrants, but by the Swedish media as well. Aftonbladet is probably the Swedish biggest newspaper, and not too long ago they presented pictures of people involved with nationalistic parties, including their home address, phone number and other information. Yet when 5 Arabic boys between 16 and 21 raped a 14 year old girl, they showed only blackened profile pictures and no other information, not even a first name.

I can say I have really seen the negative impact of the immigration. The USA may have a lot of immigrants but the US Government does not play sissy games as Sweden does. The immigrants in Sweden take full advantage of what they can, and no one says it’s enough, that when you move to a country, you have to adapt to it. I am not saying to disband your culture or beliefs, not at all, but enforcing it and disregarding the culture of the citizens of the actual country you come to is beyond disrepectful.

As you stated, we were once the Vikings, the pride of the North and now we have gone in reverse and are beyond polite and weak in determination.

I hope your article does not go unnoticed, though I am fairly sure it will to the people who actually handle the current situation in Sweden.

We had a saying during World War II, “en Svensk tiger”, which basicly means that a Swede keeps silent. Since they Germans took over Norway and wanted to build a railroad through Sweden we let them, since we had no army to fight it. The saying basically is that you are free to think what you want, just do not say it out loud. This still lingers, this is how we are brought up. Think what you will, discuss it in the home, within closed walls where no one else can hear you except those like you. In public you don’t; you don’t misbehave in public. Most Swedish people do not even send their food back in resturants if it is bad, since it is considered rude. We are polite, even though we do not want to be. We smile and nod, accept it then lash out when we are home, out of reach of the ears of others. This is the way I was brought up as well, this is the way the people from Sweden that I know behave.

We are a nation of weaklings who won’t speak up or stand up for ourselves, and when you don’t stand up, you get stomped on and that is what is happening.

Sweden still is not overall bad, but it is changing for the worse; it has been. We took on immigration in the 70’s because our factories needed workers, now even the Swedish people can’t get a job, let alone immigrants. It is frustrating, seeing your country fall apart. Frankly I have no hope for Sweden, not that long ago I used to read all this weird crazy stuff happening everywhere else; now all of a sudden it is happening all the time in Sweden, rapes, murders and whatnot, sickening it is. I cast my vote for the Nationalistic Parties, not because I am a racist, not because I am against immigration, in fact I am an immigrant in the USA myself, but because things are only good or useful in healthy doses, be it fast food or immigration — too much has its consequences.

Thank you for a very well written article, I appreciate an honest view on the current situation in a country that once was mine.

Regards,
Patrik Ingelmo

Islamophobic Pencils

Reader LN, after seeing Dymphna’s post about our tip cup (and my attempts to sell my graphics), sent me this image to torment me. It’s evidently from some online German merchandising outfit. Those little things you see over my head are wingèd dollar bills, flying away…

Islamophobic and proud of it! Tasse, aus Keramik, weiß Artikelnummer 2909566

The Expanding No-Go Zones

Reader JDM has been busy translating Norwegian articles and blog posts for us. Here are two related pieces, each highlighting a different aspect of the gradual surrender of Norwegian civil society to the lawlessness of Muslim immigrants.

The first of these is from HonestThinking (which apparently has no permalinks; readers who want to see the Norse version will have to scroll down):

Well, it’s finally happened

August 2, 2006 — HonestThinking and others have, for a long time, warned that sooner or later Oslo will come to see conditions similar to those seen for some years in Malmö in which certain portions of town are gradually taken over by immigrants. There are, for example, countless neighborhoods and areas of Paris and other French towns where the police are powerless.

But, of course, this will never happen in Norway, so we ought not talk about it. This kind of fear-inducing propaganda will, in addition, just destroy all the work going on with integration. We don’t want to create a climate of hate. Right?

Unfortunately, [the Norwegian newspaper] VG, reported last week that a policeman had to run for his life from an angry crowd:

The plainclothes officer was hit in the face and told to leave the Furuset [shopping] center. The policeman, who was on duty at the time the episode took place Thursday (7/20) afternoon, had to run for his life to get away from the angry men. VG has found out that he was told that this area was none of his business […] Sources told VG that a gang of young men have basically defined Furuset as their area and that they don’t accept “intruders”.

HonestThinking comments: We believe this episode marks an important transition, and we find it odd that it has not received more attention from the media. This is a clear indication of future developments and [certain Norwegian] politicians do not, in the future, have any excuse for painting a utopian picture of a tolerant and harmonious Oslo.

If the government doesn’t soon do something drastic, we will, in the years ahead, lose control not just of Furuset but also other neighborhoods and sections of Oslo. The same thing will happen in other towns as present demographic developments continue. Increased efforts at integration will have no effect.

HonestThinking to certain Norwegian politicians: don’t come whining in five, 10 or 15 years that no one could’ve predicted how badly things would go. These developments are obvious to anyone who is willing to face the truth.

These immigrants have, in addition, little use for those empty phrases like “artificial barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’”. Their message is clear: here, increasingly, it is us who run things.

The second piece is an article from VG Nett:

Muslim milieux accept violence against homosexuals

In the space of a week in July, two gay men were brutally beaten up in downtown Oslo by immigrant youth for being homosexuals.

“There is a quiet acceptance of violence against gays in the Muslim milieu”, says André Dahl.

“Youths with an immigrant background are responsible for aggravated assaults against homosexuals. It is extremely strange that the entire Norwegian élite will line up in protest if an immigrant is ever assaulted, but a violent episode against a homosexual for being gay rates merely a notice in the papers”, states André Dahl, himself a homosexual and half-Turkish. This gives him insight into both communities.

“There is a need for a national discussion of the responsibility of Muslim leaders and immigrant organizations and the reality of this quiet acceptance of violence against homosexuals”, says Dahl.

I’m certain that the mainstream press in Norway, just as in this country, would rise up as one in outrage against any right-wing Christian extremist who dared to harm a homosexual. But the rules are different for Muslims.

One of these days the disconnect on the Left between Islamophilia and Homophilia will reach its limit, and either Bruce or Abdul will have to be pitched headlong off the PC sled. Who do you think it will be?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
If current demographic trends continue, the Islamicization of Europe is inevitable. But the current governing élite — the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, the revolving-door socialist-coalition politicians of most European countries, and the academic left — will not relinquish power to Islam willingly. When the changeover finally occurs, when the baton is passed from the current occupants to the enforcers of the shari’ah, how will it happen?

Watch Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Britain, and France. The “no-go zones” are expanding imperceptibly, engulfing whole neighborhoods and encroaching on middle-class areas. Eventually the lawlessness will consume entire cities, turning places like Malmö into “Gaza North”.

And, like Gaza, these Islamic enclaves will depend economically on the European welfare state. Their metastasis, as Fjordman has pointed out, will cause the welfare state to collapse.

The parasite will have caused the death of its host. The welfare feeding tube will dry up. What happens next?

The system is chaotic and the results are unpredictable. But it seems unlikely that Europe will avoid bloodshed before political stability returns.

Taqiyya for Fun and Prophet

Planck’s Constant has an excellent explanation for the photo-shopping of the war in Lebanon:

It’s not photoshopping, it’s al-taqiyya.

He’s right, of course. Not only is the photoshopping taqiyya, but the picture bites from all those Palestinians - oops, all those poor Palestinians being massacred here and there by the wicked Israelis are also examples of blatant lies taqiyya.

Whether it’s Jenin, or the Gaza beach, or the checkpoints where children are killed by evil Joos, it’s all taqiyya, all the time. If any one of these “victims” told me the sun was shining, I’d still go to the window to look.

In Western culture, we call this pathological lying. In Islam, at least when engaged with the infidel or with some sect of Islam you don’t agree with, taqiyya is not only allowed, it is considered a virtue. Don't forget this is the religion that gave us assassination.

This may be a chasm we can’t bridge. Rather like the chasm between the MSM and reality…and in the case of “journalists” it’s always a good idea to verify, using at least three sources. In the event you’ve been out of the loop for a bit, and missed the Pallywood video, go here. This is a pluperfect example of taqiyya in action. It will prepare you well for any “news” out of Lebanon -or the whole Middle East, for that matter.

And be sure to check out the wonderful photoshopping on Planck’s Constant, linked above. My favorites? The ancient little squirrel in her slippers, using her walker to get around, and the two-legged Muslim horse. Depending on your gender, you may prefer his pictures of feminine pulchritude - as in Scarlett Johansson, who is not photoshopped, though on the other hand she may have done a little enhancement here and there. But that’s Hollywood, not Pallywood’s taqiyya.

Just ignore P.C.’s apologies for photoshopping and his claim that he’s ashamed. That picture of George Bush is fine work, and he knows it. Such assertions are but another example of taqiyya, if you ask me.

Pencils, Anyone?

Okay, folks, here we go!

Ever since Gates of Vienna first hit the æther, people have asked us why we didn’t have a tip jar, or suggested that we put one up, or asked for — gasp! — our snail mail address in order to send a donation. We thought about it, but since the Baron made a good living and the blog was more or less a hobby — albeit a compelling one at times — it didn’t feel right to put up a donation request.

However, times, as they are inclined to do, changed. The Baron is not employed at the moment and I no longer work due to various and sundry ailments that keep me from being dependable about time constraints. I’ve done sporadic freelance editing, but the effort of sitting in front of the computer screen correcting someone else’s work isn’t difficult. Composing my own original and deathless prose is another matter.

Like many others, our blog came into existence as a result of our changed perception of the world after 9/11. We followed the usual path: lurking at first, followed by commenting, followed by comments that began to take up too much room on others’ bandwidth. It was obvious we needed to strike out on our own.

And we knew exactly what we wanted to write about: the evil that had created 9/11, that had destroyed the USS Cole, that had killed the Marines in Beirut, that had invaded our embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage until Jimmy Carter left office. Our previous inattention to this phenomenon — and you could add your own examples to the list — made it seem, when looking back on it, as though we had been sleepwalking. For decades we had been somnambulists.

Waking up is hard to do. First you have to sort out the most imminent problems. For us, it was the danger to Israel from the march of Islamofascism. Were Israel ever to be defeated, to be “pushed into the sea,” it was only a matter of time for the rest of us.

Then, being the intellectuals we are, we were struck by the repetition of history: another marauding, bloody march into the West by militant Islam. Another desperate pushback by John Sobieski. Another Gates of Vienna.

And so, almost two years later, here we are. The Gates still hold, though some of us fear that Eurabia is doomed. On the other hand, some hold onto hope in the example of Denmark, where the Muslim tide seems to be on the wane. And some of us weep for a Britain that is no more. Many of us believe that America is not only the last, best hope for Western civilization, but that in time it may become the only hope.

Meanwhile, life goes on and things change. Having the Baron here every day has been wonderful. When he went to work, he had to give up painting full time. As work got heavier, he had to abandon it altogether. Fortunately, he was able to make his computer work interesting and creative so that was there as an outlet. Now, home once more, he has turned his creativity to computer images. He’s always done that, but the present situation allows him more time to devote to programming so that he can build images more quickly — and the images themselves are more creative the longer he works at it.

Someone once said of the Baron’s paintings that they “teach you how to see.” These new images are not like that. Perhaps they teach us how to think? I mean, perhaps an image can encapsulate an idea more readily than a whole essay could do.

Thus, the tin cup with the pencils, meant to evoke leaner times when people did what they had to in order to get along. I love that cup. And I especially like the pencils in it, since they evoke the Baron’s true calling: to make pictures you will remember.

Scroll a little ways down the sidebar and you’ll see our new “Tip Cup”. Scroll a little further down to the “Gates of Vienna Gallery”, and you’ll see some thumbnails of his previous digital work. It’s all freely available under the “fair use” terms of copyright law (with the caveat that some of the photoshopped composites may contain the copyrighted works of others).

The page that the thumbnails bring up displays the larger images. In addition it has contact information so that you can consult with the Baron, in his new career as a blogospheric ne’er-do-well, about any images you might have in mind for your own blog, but don’t know how to execute. You can email him with your ideas and he’ll tell you if they’re feasible and what he would charge to create them.

Meanwhile, be sure to throw some change into the cup. I do wish I could say “and then take a pencil,” but there are limits to digital images.

Here’s to prosperity!

Castro and Le Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

UPI has a story that it says is making the rounds on the internet. So let us by all means join the chorus:

According to this MSM version, a Spanish priest who had come to Cuba in the 1850’s to serve, and who eventually was to become the Archbishop of Santiago, had a strange vision in which La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre told him that someday Cuba would be overtaken by a leader with long hair and a beard. He would wear a uniform and would be accompanied by similar followers. He would betray his people and for forty years they would suffer under his rule.

In this legend, it is also reported that the vision occurred while the priest was riding his horse through Sierra Maestra, the mountain stronghold which would one day serve as Castro’s starting place.

The Virgin promised that eventually the young man would grow old and die and Cuba would again be free.

However, there are other legends about Cuba’s patron saint. Here is another:

The pretty mulatta with dangling earrings and golden robe is Cuba’s patron saint, and she is found in every chapter of the island’s history.

“Without the Virgin, we Cubans are nothing,’’ said Ariel Abreu, 40, a guide who brings tourists to the small cream-colored shrine housing the statue of the Virgin in this mining town outside Santiago.

“She is for all Cubans because she does not recognize political ideology,’’ said Abreu. “You can be a communist or even an exile in Miami and she won’t care,’’ he added.

Legend has it that the statue was discovered in 1682 in the Bay of Nipe near Santiago by two mulatto brothers and a black boy of about 10.

Struggling in a storm-tossed boat, they heard a voice declare, “I am the Virgin of Charity.’’ Across the waves they spied a wooden board carrying the statue.

In her left arm, she carried a mulatto baby Jesus. In her right hand, she held a cross with precious stones.

For centuries, huge celebrations on the Virgin’s Sept. 8 feast day lasted for up to two weeks.

During the independence wars of the late 1800s, she became a patriotic figure, dubbed the “Mambisa Virgin’’ by the freedom fighters known as “Mambis.’’

Practitioners of Cuban-African faiths associated her with Ochun, a deity of maternal love and the sea.

Shortly after the 1959 revolution, even Castro reportedly wore a medallion engraved with the Virgin, given to him by a little girl. He stopped wearing it after his government became increasingly Marxist, and finally atheist.

Still, a letter written by his mother, Lina Ruz, giving thanks for protecting her son in the mountains, was displayed in the shrine for many years. It was later removed for safekeeping.

As the days go on and Castro, like Franco before him, becomes more and more dead, no doubt we will hear other stories of Cuba’s patron saint. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre wouldn’t be a patron if she didn’t have the accretions of many, many compelling legends.

And if you reduce them to mere ethnology or primitive, pre-rationalist belief systems, then you are all the poorer for your unassailable orthodoxies.


Hat tip: Bill Quick at Daily Pundit.

Oops! It was The Brothers Judd who linked to the UPI article. Oh well, drop by Bill's too…for other reasons.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

A reader sent this (need I say "photoshopped?) image…seems that al-Reuters’ now-suspended photographer missed the best part of his picture. His incompetence is worse than we expected.

Look for Hezbillah on the right. Perhaps he is assessing the situation.

Maybe he’s their mascot?

Reuters, Suspended in Mid-Air

LGF rides to the rescue again. If you haven’t seen “The Incident of the Incompetent Photoshopper” yet, by all means cruise over to Charles’ link and look for yourself.

Thanks to his efforts (and the others, whose links you can follow there, including a forum of photographers who have lots of experience to offer), Reuters has been forced to withdraw its photofib, while of course blaming the photographer. “Wasn’t us.”

Fortunately, Ynet captured the “apology” from al-Reuters:

A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs. The blogs accused Reuters of distorting the photograph to include more smoke and damage.

The photograph showed two very heavy plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut after an Air Force attack on the Lebanese capital. Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along [with] a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors.

[…]

In the message, Reuters said that “photo editing software was improperly used on this image. A corrected version will immediately follow this advisory. We are sorry for any inconvience[sic].”

Yes, they really called it an “inconvenience” - or at least they meant to say that. Now there’s an MSM euphemism for you. “Getting caught” equals “inconvenience.” And fabricated stories are “fake but accurate.” And, above all, the ends justify the means. And just for your information, Word’s spell-check , when presented with inconvience offers you instead incontinence and unconvinced.

As is well known to Gates of Vienna readers, I loathe The New York Times and all its pimp-papers who copy their lies, treasonous revelations, and sanctimonious blathering. Not to mention having the worst “economist” on board. They actually pay him for his prognostications, most of which are wrong and wrong-headed. The old grey doxy puts the old Pravda to shame… maybe that’s where they learned their tricks?

I also loathe al-Reuters and its attempts to twist, manipulate and otherwise turn the “news” to their own devices. For your convenience, here is a clickable link to al-Reuters. If the spirit moves you, by all means send them a nastygram. Consider it your good deed for this fine summer Sunday.

Meanwhile, Ynet reminds us of the earlier “suspended” Reuters employee who was sending Charles Johnson several death threats from an IP address that belonged to - tah dah - Reuters. Well, I’ll be doggoned. One of Reuters’ employees thinks Mr. Johnson is a “Zionist pig”? Nah…just a misunderstanding.

Gosh, with all these Reuters employees hanging suspended in mid-air like that, it must be quite a place to work. Castles in the air? Is that the Reuters mission statement?

Ah, J-school. Where you learn to dissemble for a living.

Reversing the Demographic Tide

According to legend, the sycophantic courtiers of Canute, the 11th-century Danish king of England, told their king that in his might he could command even the heavens and the earth. To demonstrate to them the limits of temporal power, the king had his throne carried to the seashore and there ordered the tide to turn back.

Canute’s descendants in modern Denmark may have better luck in reversing a different kind of tide. Danish reader and commenter Kepiblanc has translated an article from yesterday’s Jyllands-Posten for Gates of Vienna. His comments:

Maybe there is hope — after all…

If this trend holds I think the key to the whole problem lies with the Muslim women. How long will they tolerate oppression, violence and neglect?

Living in a modern, secular society will hopefully give them second thoughts.

And here is the Jyllands-Posten article itself:

The proportion of immigrants rapidly declining

A new projection reveals a dramatic — long term — reduced proportion of immigrants and their offspring in Denmark. Two years ago the projection talked about 15.3% from less-developed countries in the year 2080. Strict legislation and dramatic decline in birth-rates now reduce that proportion to 8%.

In 1980 an immigrant woman gave birth to an average of 4.0 children. That number fell to 3.5 in 2000. But during successive years the number has fallen significantly and last year it reached 2.4 children per woman. That trend can be viewed as a consequence of the tightened immigration policy, especially concerning family reunions.

Those women arriving in Denmark from less-developed countries — who typically have many children — are now older than they used to be and fewer of them immigrate. According to the scientists behind the Danish projection those reduced rates of childbirth will have drastic consequences for the population in the long run.

The previous projection from 2004 predicted that immigrants and their offspring from less-developed countries like Turkey, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq would amount to 15.3% of the Danish population by the year 2080. In reality that number now gets cut in half, namely 8%, in a new projection from 2006, conducted by the independent institute “Dream” — part of the Ministry of Finance, which conducted the 2004 projection as well.

“Very surprising”

The leader of the team at the “Dream” institute, Lars Haagen Pedersen: “It was very surprising, that the decline in birth-rates among immigrants from less-developed countries is of that magnitude. It cannot go unnoticed that the stricter conditions for family reunions with the 24-year condition plays a significant role. [A special Danish law that only allows for family-reunion if the applicant is 24 years old or older. — translator]. We predict that in the long run the immigrants’ birth-rate will reach the same level as that of Danish women. It must be emphasized, though, that the predictions are uncertain due to this new development”.

The demographic slide of Europe is not irreversible, provided the governments of the countries involved muster the political will to take the necessary action. And, as usual, Denmark is leading the way.

Inspirations for a Saturday

I have to go pick up the Future Baron Bodissey from his summer school session at college, and will be gone most of the day.

Dymphna may take up the slack here at Gates of Vienna, but, if not, here is a pair of important thinkers from the 19th and 20th centuries respectively. I’m sure they will inspire your meditation.

“Property is theft.”

“Power flows from the barrel of a gun.”

There Are Some Things You *Can* Throw Money At

American Jews have not been standing by idly, waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks. From two news reports, the activities of the United Jewish Communities in this country:

From Haaretz and Ynet News :

The Jewish community in the United States is launching a fundraising campaign to raise $250 million to $300 million in aid for northern Israeli residents. The family of abducted soldier Ehud Goldwasser will leave shortly for the U.S. to appear before donors. The campaign, initiated by the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is similar to the one that took place during the wave of suicide bombings in Israel, when a similar sum was raised, which was used mainly to guard schools and purchase emergency medical equipment, among other items. UJC’s Israel director Nahman Shai said yesterday that since the fighting had broken out, the UJC had already pledged $30 million for children’s summer camps, equipment for shelters and for weak sectors of the population.

The UJA Federation of New York will announce the opening of an emergency campaign today to raise $60 million for the residents of the north.

The Federation is also to immediately transfer $10 million to fund stays in the center of the country for some 12,000 children from northern communities, and to provide assistance to widows, orphans and Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

Federation CEO John Ruskay said trauma experts believed that more than half a million children in the north could suffer from post-traumatic stress as a result of the war.

Jewish Agency chairman Zeev Bielski yesterday announced the transfer of NIS 25 million to improve conditions in shelters serving some 10,000 people.

The money, which was raised from Jews in Israel and abroad will be used to purchase and install air conditioners, televisions, emergency lighting and toilets. Bielski noted that a great deal of the work would be implemented in the region’s non-Jewish communities.

The USD 10 million emergency appropriation will provide both immediate needs for those in impacted areas of Israel as well as longer terms needs, a statement issued by the organization said.

The funds will be used to help the thousands of evacuee families, including an estimated 12,000 children by providing safe locations for a summer camp experience; direct aid will also be provided to widows and orphans of fallen Israeli soldiers, the statement said.

[…]

According to the UJA, trauma experts say that 500,000 to 600,000 children will suffer post- traumatic stress disorder along with Holocaust survivors who are reliving their nightmares, the elderly, and immigrants who have no support system.

“After personally witnessing the magnitude of this tragedy, we recognized that we needed to respond swiftly with a comprehensive approach, including this USD 60 million Israel Emergency Campaign,” explained Merryl Tisch, campaign co-chair, UJA-Federation of New York.

“As a provider of essential humanitarian services in Israel, we will work with our established partners on the ground, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and the Israel Trauma Coalition,” said John Shapiro, campaign co-chair, adding, “We are calling on the compassion and generosity of the New York Jewish community to help our brothers and sisters in Israel at this difficult time.”

In addition, the UJA-Federation said it is planning a Solidarity Mission to Israel from August 20 through 25to send a powerful message of support in person. Mission participants will meet with top officials and the people from throughout the country who have been affected by the devastation.

Think about it: the children growing up in Israel having been living with trauma for more than sixty years. If you think it's a condition easily outgrown, visit this site. I especially recommend Dr. Perry in the "Articles" Section, since he has done so much research on the effects of trauma on children.

If you want to donate, click on the Ynet story and follow the links to some of the organizations involved. It's the least -- and perhaps the only thing -- we can do.

Pandering to Eteraz

Yesterday’s post with the verse mocking Mohammed caused Eteraz to object vigorously. As a result, a number of people piled on Eteraz in the comments.

I don’t think bashing Eteraz is a good idea. He’s not the enemy, and using him as a convenient stand-in for the enemy serves no useful purpose at all. It’s important to remember that Eteraz represents the kind of Islam we would like to see in the world. If all Muslims were like Eteraz, we wouldn’t have this war, and most of us kaffirs wouldn’t be paying any attention to Islam at all.

To those who enjoin Eteraz to get a thicker skin: you wouldn’t believe what a thick skin he has already. A rhinoceros has nothing on him. Go visit his blog, or the other places where he comments, and observe the spite and vituperation and just plain nastiness directed at him, much of it from his fellow Muslims. They make Gates of Vienna commenters look like cute li’l puppies in comparison.

But I do have substantive issues with Eteraz, and we argue by email sometimes. Yesterday he wrote me about his objections to the guest-posted verse, and said this:

Its almost like you are pandering to people like [one of the critical commenters]. I didn’t imagine you to be one to pander.

Even some of your other statements have become increasingly anti-Islam at large and not Islam in its extremist manifestation.

He’s got a good point there. I’ve caught quite a bit of flak for this, and not just from Eteraz.

The brutality of our Islamist enemies and my frustration at the fools who would appease them have caused me to lash out at the religion itself. Sometimes Islam does seem unredeemable, but that’s not what I want to assert in this forum.

When I replied to Eteraz I said this:

Unfortunately, millions of people say they want to destroy Israel (and America) because of their faith in Allah, their Islamic faith.

I would not be engaging in mockery if the Danish cartoon incident had not come along, if many, many Muslims had not said that they want to kill people who mock the Prophet.

Mockery is a weapon of choice. It helps us, the people who are not Muslims, to create solidarity against Islamofascists, and against the cowardly appeasers who want to accommodate their totalitarian demands.

As a by-product, it hurts people like you, and that’s unfortunate, and I sincerely regret it.

I also will regret it if, at the airport, they start vigorously searching people who look like you, or who have Urdu-sounding names like yours, or have a birthplace in Pakistan like yours listed on their passport. I hate the fact that such things may have to happen to you. But I think they are a necessary step, part of our self-defense.

I hope that you don’t ever end up worshipping in a mosque where Islamists are storing explosives. I hope you don’t visit friends who — unbeknownst to you — have allowed extremists to hide rocket launchers in their back yard. Because you might end up dead as a result. But that doesn’t mean our pilots are choosing their targets incorrectly.

Because of what’s happening, it may eventually become dangerous to be a Muslim in this country. But it’s dangerous right now to be a Christian in Pakistan. Or a Jew anywhere, for that matter.

If 9/11 had never happened, I never would have mocked Islam. But our enemies have decided to fight a religious war, and I have chosen sides in it.

This means that I want to demonstrate that I do not stand with those whose faith is so bizarre, so primitive, and so intolerant that they would cut off the heads of those who do not share it.

I do not lump you in with those people. But, unfortunately, you and they have in common a book of scripture, one which plays an integral part of this ongoing war. Alas, here’s no way to avoid the result…

It’s a broad brush we’re using here, and probably tars quite a lot of folks who don’t deserve it. But how many of them are there? That’s an important question, and one that’s hard to answer. Some of our regular readers believe there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim, and that all them must be converted or exterminated.

I’m not one of those, as I have said repeatedly. But it’s disturbing and disheartening that the voice of moderate Islam is so consistently muted, if not mute.

In his email to me, as an example of a moderate and non-humor-impaired Muslim, Eteraz cited Salman Rushdie. But what kind of example is that? Rushdie is a secular Muslim, and basically an apostate. We all saw what his “moderation” cost him. No wonder the moderates are so quiet.

That’s a large part of the problem. If the extremists, the Islamists, are so intolerant of moderation in Islam that they will attempt to kill those who practice it, and if they are at least 10% of the Muslim population, then they will be able to destroy moderation within Islam unless those Muslims of a moderate temperament organize to defend themselves against such violent intimidation.

Eteraz wrote me another note later on. He said, in part:

You are living under the assumption that the IF’s [Islamofascists] are coming after us. They are. 9/11 was an example of it.

However, the IF’s live under the assumption that the US is coming after the Muslim world. To them, our bases in Saudi; our funding of tyrannical regimes (Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi), are examples of our “attack.”

Both sides are acting and reacting fearing each other’s attack-mongering. You want to ridicule and mock all Muslims because you fear the plans of some Muslims. The extremists want to ridicule and mock all Christians and Jews because they fear the plans of some Christians and some Jews. Each group says: “we who are not the other, want to create solidarity amongst ourselves and mocking the other helps us do that.” I’m rather disappointed by your response.

Unfortunately, my reply to him has disappeared somewhere in the belly of our dysfunctional email service. However, when I responded to him I said something like this:

Eteraz, you are creating a false equivalence, and I don’t buy it. The mockery of Islam by non-Muslims is not equivalent to terrorist attacks on Christians and Jews.

The equivalent would be for Muslims to mock Christians and make fun of Jesus. That OK; it doesn’t bother me at all. I hope they go ahead and mock!

If that were all that were happening, the Twin Towers would still be standing, none of this would be an issue, and I would never have taken up blogging.

We started this blog because thousands of people were killed, are being killed, and will be killed, all in the name of Allah. Every day.

There is no equivalent to this kind of behavior among non-Muslims. None whatsoever.

There are no instances of Christian or Jewish groups behaving like the thousands of Hizbullah cadres in the streets of Beirut who give the Nazi salute and scream “Death to Israel!”

It’s unfortunate, but there’s no way around it: The relationship between Islam and other religions is not symmetrical.

That’s part of the problem.

But I think it’s a good idea to pander to Eteraz and people like him, to coax them up out of the foxholes they’re hiding in. They’re hiding for a good reason, if Salman Rushdie is any example.

Yesterday’s post was offensive; there’s no doubt about it. I’m going to lay off the insulting frivolities for a while and deal with what’s important.

And here’s what’s important: Islam has a bomb in its turban.

Its other clothes, its shoes, its pants, and its shirt are all normal. But there’s a bomb in the turban, and the fuse is lit.

One of these days it’s going to take the head off, and do a lot of damage to everyone who happens to be nearby.

The Council Speaks: August 4th, 2006

The Council winner this week was the new guy on the block, Abbagav, for his post on the IDF: “They’re not what you’ve been told, they’re our neighbors’ kids.” An Israeli citizen himself, he puts it this way:

I know these soldiers. We know these soldiers. They’re our neighbors’ kids. They’re all of our kids — for some of us literally so. We’ve known them since they were little. They’ve grown up in front of us, we’ve watched how they’re raised. We’ve watched them shoot hoops, and play games in the street. We’ve bought cotton candy from their neighborhood stand. We’ve followed their musical ambitions, saw them play in the band.

We know who they are, and who they are not. They’re not killers but defenders, the best that we’ve got.

Second place was a three way tie:

The Glittering Eye for More on Doha

Joshuapundit’s The Qana strike..the making of a Hezbo-wood production

and Shrinkwrapped for his treatise Guilt vs Shame.

The non Council winner was a gripping story by Treppenwitz: A difficult lesson. Highly recommended guy-reading.

Second place went to Patterico’s Pontifications for a clever send-up on the left coast version of the old grey doxy: L.A. Times Editors: “We Just Can’t Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews”

See all the offerings here, at theWatcher’s Place.