From CNN and Act! For America:
Islamic community center developer seeks federal funding
By Allan Chernoff, CNN Senior Correspondent
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
New York (CNN) -- The developer behind the controversial Islamic community center and mosque planned for Lower Manhattan has requested federal funding through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to support the project known as Park51.
The funding would come from money the Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated to help rebuild the neighborhood after the 9/11 attacks.
"Park51 has applied for a Lower Manhattan Development Corporation grant," said Sharif El-Gamal, CEO of SOHO Properties, the developer behind the Islamic center. In a statement, El-Gamal said the money would "in part fund social service programs such as domestic violence programs, Arabic and other foreign language classes, programs and services for homeless veterans, two multi-cultural art exhibits and immigration services."
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation received more than 265 applications seeking more than $175 million for community and cultural programs, though the LMDC has only $17 million of federal funding to allocate.
"We are now turning to the challenging but important task of sorting through the applications to identify those that address long-standing community and cultural needs," said Avi Schick, chairman of LMDC.
The grants will range from $100,000 to $1 million, according to Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1 and a member of the LMDC board. Among the criteria used to judge applications, Menin said, are financial viability, job creation, revitalizing the community and a track record of service in Lower Manhattan.
"We have funded museums, public schools, programs to help small businesses hurt after 9/11," said Menin.
An online report said Park51 had requested $5 million, but neither the developer nor LMDC board members would confirm that amount.
The LMDC plans to decide how to allocate the $17 million "towards the end of the first quarter of next year," said Menin.
Park51 has yet to raise significant funds for the community center located two blocks north of Ground Zero, a project that could cost $100-million.
"Park51 has not launched a formal fundraising program and is currently in the process of expanding its Board of Directors to plan, manage and oversee such efforts," said El-Gamal, adding that the project has not yet applied for federal tax-exempt status, but plans to do so "in the coming weeks."
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/11/22/new.york.islamic.center/index.html?hpt=T2
Monday, November 29, 2010
Pakistani Court Issues Stay Order Against The Release Of A Christian Woman
From continental news and Alliance Defense Fund:
Pakistani Court Issues Stay Order Against the Release of A Christian Women
Posted by Aftab Alexander Mughal - Minorities Concern of Pakistan on November 28, 2010 in Christian news
0 Comment
By Aftab Alexander Mughal
On November 29, Lahore High Court (LHC) in Punjab province of Pakistan has issued a stay order against the release of Aasia Noreen, a poor Pakistani Christian woman, under Presidential Order.
Mrs Noreen, 45-years old and a resident of Ittawali village (a Muslim village) in Nankana district, Punjab province of Pakistan, was sentenced to death by District and Session Judge Nankana Judge Naveed Iqbal after the court found her guilty of making blasphemous statements against Prophet Muhammad. On November 8, 2010, she was charged under a controversial blasphemy law Section 295 C, Pakistan Panel Code (PPC). Under the law it is a crime punishable by death to blaspheme the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The case became very famous because human rights organisations and Christian groups in Pakistan started a campaign for her release and for the repeal of blasphemy laws.
Earlier, she has sent a clemency appeal to the President Asif Ali Zardari for her release through the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer. Since then the hardliner Islamic parties have been organising protest rallies against the Governor and any likely pardon of Aasia Noreen.
A petition filed at the LHC by Shahid Iqbal said Aasia Noreen’s matter is subjudice; hence, the President is not authorized to give the reprieve. Aasia Noreen cannot be pardoned free until the judicial process is complete, the petitioner said.
The LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, who has allegedly biased attitude against religious minorities, issued a stay order, sought a reply from the federal and provincial governments.
Pakistan is an Islamic country where Christians make up less than two (2) per cent of the total population of the country. Since the country slowly Islamised, Christians have become more vulnerable to malicious accusations under blasphemy laws. Christians have been suffering by routine discrimination in many areas of life; socially, culturally, economically and politically. Many Christian girls are abducted and forced to convert to Islam. Sometimes local mobs are incited by imams to attack Christians under alleged allegations of blasphemy against Islam, Prophet Muhammad and the holy book Quran. In a one major case after few years of Pakistan’s independence, in 1952, a Christian family of 7 were burned alive in the village of Matti, Punjab province.
The controversial blasphemy laws which protect only one religion, Islam, were introduced in the 1980s by General Zia ul Haq.
A report says that from 1986 till now, 4,000 cases were reported. From 1986 till 2007, 361 cases were registered in which 761 people (49 per cent were non-Muslims) were sentenced by the courts. Majority of cases, 69 per cent, were registered in Punjab province, 25 per cent in Khyber Pukhtonkhaw province and 25 per cent reported in Sindh province.
Aftab Alexander Mughal
Editor, Minorities Concern of Pakistan
November 29, 2010
Pakistani Court Issues Stay Order Against the Release of A Christian Women
Posted by Aftab Alexander Mughal - Minorities Concern of Pakistan on November 28, 2010 in Christian news
0 Comment
By Aftab Alexander Mughal
On November 29, Lahore High Court (LHC) in Punjab province of Pakistan has issued a stay order against the release of Aasia Noreen, a poor Pakistani Christian woman, under Presidential Order.
Mrs Noreen, 45-years old and a resident of Ittawali village (a Muslim village) in Nankana district, Punjab province of Pakistan, was sentenced to death by District and Session Judge Nankana Judge Naveed Iqbal after the court found her guilty of making blasphemous statements against Prophet Muhammad. On November 8, 2010, she was charged under a controversial blasphemy law Section 295 C, Pakistan Panel Code (PPC). Under the law it is a crime punishable by death to blaspheme the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The case became very famous because human rights organisations and Christian groups in Pakistan started a campaign for her release and for the repeal of blasphemy laws.
Earlier, she has sent a clemency appeal to the President Asif Ali Zardari for her release through the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer. Since then the hardliner Islamic parties have been organising protest rallies against the Governor and any likely pardon of Aasia Noreen.
A petition filed at the LHC by Shahid Iqbal said Aasia Noreen’s matter is subjudice; hence, the President is not authorized to give the reprieve. Aasia Noreen cannot be pardoned free until the judicial process is complete, the petitioner said.
The LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, who has allegedly biased attitude against religious minorities, issued a stay order, sought a reply from the federal and provincial governments.
Pakistan is an Islamic country where Christians make up less than two (2) per cent of the total population of the country. Since the country slowly Islamised, Christians have become more vulnerable to malicious accusations under blasphemy laws. Christians have been suffering by routine discrimination in many areas of life; socially, culturally, economically and politically. Many Christian girls are abducted and forced to convert to Islam. Sometimes local mobs are incited by imams to attack Christians under alleged allegations of blasphemy against Islam, Prophet Muhammad and the holy book Quran. In a one major case after few years of Pakistan’s independence, in 1952, a Christian family of 7 were burned alive in the village of Matti, Punjab province.
The controversial blasphemy laws which protect only one religion, Islam, were introduced in the 1980s by General Zia ul Haq.
A report says that from 1986 till now, 4,000 cases were reported. From 1986 till 2007, 361 cases were registered in which 761 people (49 per cent were non-Muslims) were sentenced by the courts. Majority of cases, 69 per cent, were registered in Punjab province, 25 per cent in Khyber Pukhtonkhaw province and 25 per cent reported in Sindh province.
Aftab Alexander Mughal
Editor, Minorities Concern of Pakistan
November 29, 2010
Iranian Court Decides Pastor To Be Executed By Hanging
from BosNewsLife and Alliance Defense Fund:
URGENT BREAKING NEWS: Iran Court: ‘Pastor To Be Executed By Hanging’ (BosNewsLife Exclusive)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 (1:06 pm)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent
Yousef Nadarkhani, 33, faces execution by hanging.
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A detained pastor of a major network of Christian house churches in Iran will be executed by hanging for "apostasy", or abandoning Islam, according to translated court documents seen by BosNewsLife Wednesday, November 24.
The 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan said Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani had proved his "apostasy" by "organizing evangelistic meetings and inviting others to Christianity, establishing a house church, baptizing people, expressing his faith to others and, denying Islamic values."
Nadarkhani is "an apostate [and] will be executed by being hung...Somehow his soul is taken from him," the court wrote.
The written verdict was "officially officially handed out" Tuesday, November 23, said a source of Nadarkhani's evangelical Church of Iran network speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lawyers Naser Sarbazi from Tehran and Abbas Salmanpour from Gilan's capital Rasht, who already learned about the verdict earlier this month, are appealing the sentence, BosNewsLife learned.
SUPREME COURT
Under Iranian law, once the written verdict is delivered, there will be 20 days to appeal to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Court.
The 33-year old Nadarkhani, who was detained in October last year, is currently held in a security prison in Lakan, Iran, just south of his hometown of Rasht.
He was arrested after protesting against the enforced reading of the Koran, viewed as a holy book by Muslims, to Christian children including his own. His wife Fatemeh Passandideh was released October 11 by a court in Gilan province, after she was detained on similar apostasy charges, Christians said.
In comments accompanying the death sentence, the court claimed Nadarkhani confirmed he converted to Christianity from Islam, despite possible execution. "Even in his last defense...when he was asked [by the prosecutor] 'from the age of puberty until the age of 19, what religion have you had?', he replied... 'Since I was born in a Muslim family I was Muslim until I converted to Christianity at the age of 19'."
Nadarkhani said the persecutor "induced" him "to believe whoever is born from Muslim parents and does not choose any religion after passing the puberty age, is a Muslim," the court acknowledged.
ISLAM DISPUTE
However adding to the "apostasy" were indications that he did not agree with all aspects of Islam, according to the verdict obtained by BosNewsLife. The court noticed that Nadarkhani believes in "the unity of God and the resurrection of the dead" but expressed concerns that in his view Mohammad "is the prophet of Muslims but not a messenger from God..."
Nadarkhani's defense team argued that their client confirmed that "Muhammad was a prophet of Islam" and that he did not commit a crime of apostasy because he was never a true Muslim.
The lawyers also pointed out that there is "no punishment specified in the Islamic judicial system of Iran and other penal laws" for these kind of cases and that their client "has not committed a crime to deserve a punishment."
The court disagreed. "It has been proven to the members of the jury that Mr. Yousef Nadarkhani, son of Biram, has been born from Muslim parents, choose Islam [but] abandoned it at the age 19. His actions according to the fatwas of all Shia theologians is considered as inherent apostasy from the sacred religion of Islam."
MORE EXECUTIONS
If confirmed, Nadarkhani would be the first Christian to be officially executed in Iran for religious reasons in 20 years. The last Iranian Christian convert from Islam executed by the Iranian government was Assemblies of God Pastor Hossein Soodmand in 1990.
However several other Christians, including at least six Protestant pastors, are known to have been assassinated by unknown killers in recent years.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has asked President Barack Obama Obama to seek the release of Nadarkhani, who is married with two young children.
Yet, citing from the Bible, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani wrote to his fellow believers not to fear persecution in the strict Islamic nation, saying Jesus Christ gives him strength. "As we’ve heard He has said: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
Despite reported persecution there are at least 100,000 believers in the nation, most of them former Muslims, according to Elam Ministries, a mission group of Iranian church leaders. Many of them worship in underground house churches, including those of the Church of Iran movement.
Copyright 2008 BosNewsLife. All rights reserved. This material may only be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by those sponsoring BosNewsLife for $10/month and/or with our prior written consent.
URGENT BREAKING NEWS: Iran Court: ‘Pastor To Be Executed By Hanging’ (BosNewsLife Exclusive)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 (1:06 pm)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent
Yousef Nadarkhani, 33, faces execution by hanging.
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A detained pastor of a major network of Christian house churches in Iran will be executed by hanging for "apostasy", or abandoning Islam, according to translated court documents seen by BosNewsLife Wednesday, November 24.
The 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan said Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani had proved his "apostasy" by "organizing evangelistic meetings and inviting others to Christianity, establishing a house church, baptizing people, expressing his faith to others and, denying Islamic values."
Nadarkhani is "an apostate [and] will be executed by being hung...Somehow his soul is taken from him," the court wrote.
The written verdict was "officially officially handed out" Tuesday, November 23, said a source of Nadarkhani's evangelical Church of Iran network speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lawyers Naser Sarbazi from Tehran and Abbas Salmanpour from Gilan's capital Rasht, who already learned about the verdict earlier this month, are appealing the sentence, BosNewsLife learned.
SUPREME COURT
Under Iranian law, once the written verdict is delivered, there will be 20 days to appeal to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Court.
The 33-year old Nadarkhani, who was detained in October last year, is currently held in a security prison in Lakan, Iran, just south of his hometown of Rasht.
He was arrested after protesting against the enforced reading of the Koran, viewed as a holy book by Muslims, to Christian children including his own. His wife Fatemeh Passandideh was released October 11 by a court in Gilan province, after she was detained on similar apostasy charges, Christians said.
In comments accompanying the death sentence, the court claimed Nadarkhani confirmed he converted to Christianity from Islam, despite possible execution. "Even in his last defense...when he was asked [by the prosecutor] 'from the age of puberty until the age of 19, what religion have you had?', he replied... 'Since I was born in a Muslim family I was Muslim until I converted to Christianity at the age of 19'."
Nadarkhani said the persecutor "induced" him "to believe whoever is born from Muslim parents and does not choose any religion after passing the puberty age, is a Muslim," the court acknowledged.
ISLAM DISPUTE
However adding to the "apostasy" were indications that he did not agree with all aspects of Islam, according to the verdict obtained by BosNewsLife. The court noticed that Nadarkhani believes in "the unity of God and the resurrection of the dead" but expressed concerns that in his view Mohammad "is the prophet of Muslims but not a messenger from God..."
Nadarkhani's defense team argued that their client confirmed that "Muhammad was a prophet of Islam" and that he did not commit a crime of apostasy because he was never a true Muslim.
The lawyers also pointed out that there is "no punishment specified in the Islamic judicial system of Iran and other penal laws" for these kind of cases and that their client "has not committed a crime to deserve a punishment."
The court disagreed. "It has been proven to the members of the jury that Mr. Yousef Nadarkhani, son of Biram, has been born from Muslim parents, choose Islam [but] abandoned it at the age 19. His actions according to the fatwas of all Shia theologians is considered as inherent apostasy from the sacred religion of Islam."
MORE EXECUTIONS
If confirmed, Nadarkhani would be the first Christian to be officially executed in Iran for religious reasons in 20 years. The last Iranian Christian convert from Islam executed by the Iranian government was Assemblies of God Pastor Hossein Soodmand in 1990.
However several other Christians, including at least six Protestant pastors, are known to have been assassinated by unknown killers in recent years.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has asked President Barack Obama Obama to seek the release of Nadarkhani, who is married with two young children.
Yet, citing from the Bible, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani wrote to his fellow believers not to fear persecution in the strict Islamic nation, saying Jesus Christ gives him strength. "As we’ve heard He has said: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
Despite reported persecution there are at least 100,000 believers in the nation, most of them former Muslims, according to Elam Ministries, a mission group of Iranian church leaders. Many of them worship in underground house churches, including those of the Church of Iran movement.
Copyright 2008 BosNewsLife. All rights reserved. This material may only be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by those sponsoring BosNewsLife for $10/month and/or with our prior written consent.
Stopping The Spread Of Sharia Is Central To Countering Radicalization
From Conservative Home Comment and Alliance Defens Fund:
Martin Parsons: Stopping the spread of sharia is central to countering radicalisation
Martin Parsons begins a three-part series considering how to counter radical islamism.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” warned the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu reputed author of The Art of War.
Unless we understand the ultimate aims that Islamist terrorists are seeking to achieve, then every public policy aimed at countering them will be no more than tactics, with little hope of strategic success.
Fundamentally, the ultimate aim of Islamist terrorists is that Islamic law (sharia), which is the primary instrument of Islamic government, should be imposed across the entire world on Muslim and non Muslim alike.
However, even the most cursory look at the previous government’s policies for countering violent Islamism suggests that they lacked this basic understanding of Islamist aims. This ignorance, whether wilful or otherwise, not merely delayed effective advance against Islamism, but in some respects led to tactics that actually gave specific ground to Islamists in terms of achieving their long term aims in Britain and overseas. In particular, the previous Labour government pursued a policy of partially appeasing non violent Islamist groups in the misguided belief that this would prevent radicalised Muslims moving onto violent Islamism.
In doing so they ignored the clear evidence that non-violent Islamist groups have the same ultimate long term aims as violent Islamists – the imposition of sharia in Britain and elsewhere. In broad terms it is not their strategic aims that differ, but merely their tactics. Non-violent Islamists have long recognised that Britain is unlikely to become an Islamic state overnight, so they have concentrated on pursuing a gradual Islamisation process.
This strategy has involved seeking to align British law gradually with sharia. They have done this by a combination of pushing test cases through the courts; by lobbying for specific changes to parliamentary law; by seeking various accommodations towards Islamic practices from public bodies; and by looking for legal loopholes such as the use of arbitration tribunals to create sharia courts deciding cases involving family law and even reputedly some criminal cases.
The ability of Islamists to push test cases through the courts was significantly aided by Labour’s formal introduction of the European system of human rights in the 1998 Human Rights Act. Although Britain had already signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, Labour’s Human Rights Act, which focused on the rights of individuals, enabled Islamists to push test cases through the courts much more easily. In contrast to this the historic British approach of protecting individuals by limiting the power of government that was enshrined in the Magna Carta (1215), the Habeas Corpus Act (1679) and the Bill of Rights (1689) allowed parliament rather than judges to decide what was and was not acceptable in Britain.
There is an urgent need to replace Labour’s Human Rights Act with one based on the historic British approach of limiting the power of government. Only then will we be able to stop Islamists seeking to obtain ‘sharia compliant concessions’ such as the ‘right’ to wear sharia-compliant school uniform. It will also of course enable the government to protect ordinary people’s right to security more effectively by enabling them to deport foreign extremists who have been plotting terror against us.
Equally, the ability of Islamists to lobby directly and sometimes successfully, for changes in parliamentary law was aided by Labour’s patronage of a range of Islamic organisations, many of which had significant Islamist influence in their leadership. Illustrative of this was Labour’s Incitement to Religious Hatred legislation which was widely seen by Islamic organisations as the Islamic blasphemy law they had campaigned for since the Rushdie affair. Blasphemy against Muhammad is in fact the most serious offence in sharia and carries a mandatory death penalty.
An even more overt example occurred when Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly met with some of these leaders immediately following the Heathrow terror plot arrests in Summer 2006. The ministers were asked for two things: Islamic festivals to become British public holidays and a partial implementation of sharia in Britain in respect of family law. Both of course had absolutely nothing to do with countering terrorist plots! However, the then Labour government responded by setting up a commission to investigate whether such requests should be acceded to.
Similarly, the previous Labour government made a whole range of accommodations to the Islamist agenda including allowing the hijab to be part of Metropolitan police uniform (hardly a comforting sight for Muslim women seeking the protection of the law from Islamist intimidation), to the legalising of sharia complaint finance. What is noteworthy about these is that they are both aspects of the Islamist agenda that many Muslim countries have resisted.
It is by no means uncommon for female police officers in Muslim majority countries to wear Western-style uniforms without the option of the hijab that Britain has introduced. Equally, the only countries in the entire Islamic world to have sought a general Islamicisation of their banking systems are Iran, Sudan and Pakistan. Even in Saudi Arabia in 2005 70% of banks were not sharia-based. Yet, under the last Labour government Britain progressively legalised sharia finance. It is noteworthy that at the same time Muslim countries such as Oman have resolutely refused to license any form of sharia finance whatsoever because they recognise it as part of the Islamist agenda to bring increasing areas of the economy and society under Islamist influence and control.
I have previously outlined Labour’s record of appeasement of the agenda ‘non-violent’ islamists in Britain, but let me here draw attention to just three key areas of government policy – Education, Economics and Family Law:
1. Education. The Labour government asked a leading member of the Islamic Foundation, the UK’s largest overtly Islamist group to write, on his own, a government-sponsored report on the teaching of Islam in Britain’s universities. Amongst the reports most unacceptable recommendations was that non-Muslims should be banned from teaching the main Islamic subjects in British universities! Yet when the report was published in June 2006 the Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly welcomed it. The previous government also allowed the same organisation, which draws its primary inspiration from the leading twentieth century Pakistani Islamist Sayyid Mawdudi, to set up a higher education institute in Leicester that awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in a range of Islamist subjects including Islamic Economics, Islamic Banking and Finance, Islamic Education and Sharia. This academic institution was set up by Khurshid Ahmad, one of the key followers of Mawdudi and has been central to the promotion of the Islamist vision of sharia finance in Britain.
2. Finance and Economics: Within a few months of Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister the Treasury announced a consultation on introducing Islamic sukkuk bonds that are compliant with sharia, something that potentially makes a whole section of government debt subject to the judgement of sharia lawyers, as well as being almost impossible to subject to normal financial scrutiny regulations as it is not based on interest. In Islamic countries sharia finance has in fact been shown to be extremely vulnerable to fraud and large scale money laundering.
3. Family Law: In February 2008 the Department for Work and Pensions announced that where there was a ‘valid’ polygamous marriage it would pay extra benefits. It was somewhat strange for the government to claim that a polygamous marriage could be 'valid' - as bigamy has for many years been a criminal offence in Britain. It is however, legal under sharia for a man to have up to four wives.
In the eyes of Islamists what each of these did was to take a further step in aligning British law with sharia. The introduction of sharia to Britain is, at least in broad terms, the long term strategic aim of both non-violent and violent Islamists. It is simply their tactics to achieve this that differ.
Tomorrow I will examine how sharia forms a touchstone for identifying radicalisation.
November 28, 2010 at 07:00 in Martin Parsons
Permalink
Martin Parsons: Stopping the spread of sharia is central to countering radicalisation
Martin Parsons begins a three-part series considering how to counter radical islamism.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” warned the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu reputed author of The Art of War.
Unless we understand the ultimate aims that Islamist terrorists are seeking to achieve, then every public policy aimed at countering them will be no more than tactics, with little hope of strategic success.
Fundamentally, the ultimate aim of Islamist terrorists is that Islamic law (sharia), which is the primary instrument of Islamic government, should be imposed across the entire world on Muslim and non Muslim alike.
However, even the most cursory look at the previous government’s policies for countering violent Islamism suggests that they lacked this basic understanding of Islamist aims. This ignorance, whether wilful or otherwise, not merely delayed effective advance against Islamism, but in some respects led to tactics that actually gave specific ground to Islamists in terms of achieving their long term aims in Britain and overseas. In particular, the previous Labour government pursued a policy of partially appeasing non violent Islamist groups in the misguided belief that this would prevent radicalised Muslims moving onto violent Islamism.
In doing so they ignored the clear evidence that non-violent Islamist groups have the same ultimate long term aims as violent Islamists – the imposition of sharia in Britain and elsewhere. In broad terms it is not their strategic aims that differ, but merely their tactics. Non-violent Islamists have long recognised that Britain is unlikely to become an Islamic state overnight, so they have concentrated on pursuing a gradual Islamisation process.
This strategy has involved seeking to align British law gradually with sharia. They have done this by a combination of pushing test cases through the courts; by lobbying for specific changes to parliamentary law; by seeking various accommodations towards Islamic practices from public bodies; and by looking for legal loopholes such as the use of arbitration tribunals to create sharia courts deciding cases involving family law and even reputedly some criminal cases.
The ability of Islamists to push test cases through the courts was significantly aided by Labour’s formal introduction of the European system of human rights in the 1998 Human Rights Act. Although Britain had already signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, Labour’s Human Rights Act, which focused on the rights of individuals, enabled Islamists to push test cases through the courts much more easily. In contrast to this the historic British approach of protecting individuals by limiting the power of government that was enshrined in the Magna Carta (1215), the Habeas Corpus Act (1679) and the Bill of Rights (1689) allowed parliament rather than judges to decide what was and was not acceptable in Britain.
There is an urgent need to replace Labour’s Human Rights Act with one based on the historic British approach of limiting the power of government. Only then will we be able to stop Islamists seeking to obtain ‘sharia compliant concessions’ such as the ‘right’ to wear sharia-compliant school uniform. It will also of course enable the government to protect ordinary people’s right to security more effectively by enabling them to deport foreign extremists who have been plotting terror against us.
Equally, the ability of Islamists to lobby directly and sometimes successfully, for changes in parliamentary law was aided by Labour’s patronage of a range of Islamic organisations, many of which had significant Islamist influence in their leadership. Illustrative of this was Labour’s Incitement to Religious Hatred legislation which was widely seen by Islamic organisations as the Islamic blasphemy law they had campaigned for since the Rushdie affair. Blasphemy against Muhammad is in fact the most serious offence in sharia and carries a mandatory death penalty.
An even more overt example occurred when Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly met with some of these leaders immediately following the Heathrow terror plot arrests in Summer 2006. The ministers were asked for two things: Islamic festivals to become British public holidays and a partial implementation of sharia in Britain in respect of family law. Both of course had absolutely nothing to do with countering terrorist plots! However, the then Labour government responded by setting up a commission to investigate whether such requests should be acceded to.
Similarly, the previous Labour government made a whole range of accommodations to the Islamist agenda including allowing the hijab to be part of Metropolitan police uniform (hardly a comforting sight for Muslim women seeking the protection of the law from Islamist intimidation), to the legalising of sharia complaint finance. What is noteworthy about these is that they are both aspects of the Islamist agenda that many Muslim countries have resisted.
It is by no means uncommon for female police officers in Muslim majority countries to wear Western-style uniforms without the option of the hijab that Britain has introduced. Equally, the only countries in the entire Islamic world to have sought a general Islamicisation of their banking systems are Iran, Sudan and Pakistan. Even in Saudi Arabia in 2005 70% of banks were not sharia-based. Yet, under the last Labour government Britain progressively legalised sharia finance. It is noteworthy that at the same time Muslim countries such as Oman have resolutely refused to license any form of sharia finance whatsoever because they recognise it as part of the Islamist agenda to bring increasing areas of the economy and society under Islamist influence and control.
I have previously outlined Labour’s record of appeasement of the agenda ‘non-violent’ islamists in Britain, but let me here draw attention to just three key areas of government policy – Education, Economics and Family Law:
1. Education. The Labour government asked a leading member of the Islamic Foundation, the UK’s largest overtly Islamist group to write, on his own, a government-sponsored report on the teaching of Islam in Britain’s universities. Amongst the reports most unacceptable recommendations was that non-Muslims should be banned from teaching the main Islamic subjects in British universities! Yet when the report was published in June 2006 the Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly welcomed it. The previous government also allowed the same organisation, which draws its primary inspiration from the leading twentieth century Pakistani Islamist Sayyid Mawdudi, to set up a higher education institute in Leicester that awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in a range of Islamist subjects including Islamic Economics, Islamic Banking and Finance, Islamic Education and Sharia. This academic institution was set up by Khurshid Ahmad, one of the key followers of Mawdudi and has been central to the promotion of the Islamist vision of sharia finance in Britain.
2. Finance and Economics: Within a few months of Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister the Treasury announced a consultation on introducing Islamic sukkuk bonds that are compliant with sharia, something that potentially makes a whole section of government debt subject to the judgement of sharia lawyers, as well as being almost impossible to subject to normal financial scrutiny regulations as it is not based on interest. In Islamic countries sharia finance has in fact been shown to be extremely vulnerable to fraud and large scale money laundering.
3. Family Law: In February 2008 the Department for Work and Pensions announced that where there was a ‘valid’ polygamous marriage it would pay extra benefits. It was somewhat strange for the government to claim that a polygamous marriage could be 'valid' - as bigamy has for many years been a criminal offence in Britain. It is however, legal under sharia for a man to have up to four wives.
In the eyes of Islamists what each of these did was to take a further step in aligning British law with sharia. The introduction of sharia to Britain is, at least in broad terms, the long term strategic aim of both non-violent and violent Islamists. It is simply their tactics to achieve this that differ.
Tomorrow I will examine how sharia forms a touchstone for identifying radicalisation.
November 28, 2010 at 07:00 in Martin Parsons
Permalink
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Foiled Oregon Somali-Born Jihadist: "I Want Whoever Is Attending That Event [The Christmas Tree Lighting] To Leave, Either Dead, Or Injured
From Jihad Watch:
Foiled Oregon jihadist: "I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or injured"
The kid must not read the news. Mohamed Osman Mohamud's foiled plot and subsequent arrest were in many ways an exact replica of those of Hosam Smadi, the failed Dallas jihadi, and Talib Islam, who tried to bomb an Illinois federal building just before Smadi's arrest. And tellingly, his rhetoric was also familiar, as he said he was looking for a "huge mass [i.e., crowd] that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays," just as Smadi proclaimed "We shall attack them in their very homes."
One thing we're waiting for: the mainstream media's account of how Mohamud got "radicalized." How was Islam misunderstood this time? That is, if Islam is mentioned at all except to 1.) recite the standard boilerplate that Islam is a religion of peace and denounces "terrorism" (wink), and 2.) broadcast the also-standard material playing up the risk of anti-Muslim "backlash" wherein criticism of Islam is cast as dangerous. Let the verbal game of Twister begin.
More on this story. "Somali teenager 'tried to set off car bomb in US'," from the Telegraph, November 27:
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, attempted to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. However, undercover FBI agents had been monitoring his plans and had ensured that the "bomb" was a dud.
Mohamud, a naturalised US citizen of Somali descent, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Portland police around 5:40 pm Friday (0040 GMT Saturday). Detectives swooped on him just after he dialled a cell phone number that he thought would set off the bomb. As they closed in, Mohamud tried to kick at them and yelled "Allahu Akbar!" - Arabic for "God is great!"
Prosecution documents lodged in a US court claimed that since the summer of 2009, Mohamud had been in email contact with a suspected terrorist in Pakistan's lawless northwest frontier province, currently a haven for al Qaeda cells. After discussing the possibility of Mohamud traveling to Pakistan to engage in jihad, or holy war, the accomplice allegedly gave Mohamud contact details of a terrorist cell overseas with whom a terror plot would be hatched.
It's not that northwestern Pakistan is "lawless." Rather, the past few years in the area have seen the ever-increasing encroachment of Sharia, imposed by jihadists advancing on a government in Islamabad that was unwilling to assert sovereignty over its own territory.
Repeated attempts by Mohamud to contact his would-be partners failed, and then last June, an FBI undercover agent contacted Mohamud via email pretending to be an associate of his Pakistani contact.
At a meeting in Portland a month later, Mohamud told the FBI operative that he had written articles that were published in "Jihad Recollections," an online magazine that advocated violence against non-Muslims.
He later told the agents that he had wanted to conduct a holy war against "infidels" since the age of 15, and that he had identified the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square as a good target.
There would be massive casualties and panic at the site, the symbolic significance of attacking an event related to a non-Muslim religious holiday, and economic impact well beyond Portland -- on "Black Friday" weekend, of course (and one just knows the jihadist propaganda puns that would follow from that).
Earlier this month, Mohamud and the agents traveled to the Oregon backcountry and detonated a bomb as a trial run. On the drive back, the undercover officials asked Mohamud if he was capable of looking at the bodies of those killed, according to the federal documents.
"Mohamud responded: 'I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or injured."'
On Friday, an undercover agent and Mohamud drove to downtown Portland in a white van that carried six 55-gallon drums with detonation cords and plastic caps, but all of them were inert.
They got out of the van and walked to meet another undercover agent, who drove to Union Station, the Portland train station, where Mohamud was given a cell phone that he thought would blow up the van.
They had enough details to look after, but this would have made a nice ringtone for the occasion.
FBI operatives apparently cautioned Mohamud several times about the seriousness of this plan, noting that there would be many children at the event. But Mohamud responded that he was looking for a "huge mass that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays," the court documents said.... Posted by Marisol on November 27, 2010 12:44 PM
And this, related, also from Jihad Watch:
Oregon jihad car bomb plot: "The threat was very real"
"Since I was 15 I thought about all this...It's gonna be a fireworks show ... a spectacular show," said Mohamed Osman Mohamud as he plotted "violent jihad."
More on this story. "Feds: Somali-born teen plotted car-bombing in Ore.," by William McCall for Associated Press, November 27 (thanks to JCB):
PORTLAND, Ore. - Federal agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, authorities said.
The bomb was an elaborate fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the blast but instead brought federal agents and police swooping down on him.
Yelling "Allahu Akbar!" -- Arabic for "God is great!" -- Mohamud tried to kick agents and police after he was taken into custody, according to prosecutors.
"The threat was very real," said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale," [sic]...
It said Mohamud was warned several times about the seriousness of his plan, that women and children could be killed, and that he could back out, but he told agents: "Since I was 15 I thought about all this;" and "It's gonna be a fireworks show ... a spectacular show."
Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Corvallis, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. A court appearance was set for Monday. Few details were available about him late Friday. [...]
U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents to The Associated Press and the Oregonian newspaper that show the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that Mohamud had been in regular e-mail contact with an "unindicted associate" in Pakistan's northwest, a frontier region where al-Qaida and Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are strong.
The two used coded language in which the FBI believes Mohamud discussed traveling to Pakistan to prepare for "violent jihad," the documents said....
An undercover agent met with him a month later in Portland, where they "discussed violent jihad," according to the court documents....
"This defendant's chilling determination is a stark reminder that there are people -- even here in Oregon -- who are determined to kill Americans," Holton said....
Yes, there are "people" who are "determined to kill Americans," even "here in Oregon"! If only there were some way to figure out who they are, or where they might congregate!
Posted by Robert on November 27, 2010 7:11 AM
Foiled Oregon jihadist: "I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or injured"
The kid must not read the news. Mohamed Osman Mohamud's foiled plot and subsequent arrest were in many ways an exact replica of those of Hosam Smadi, the failed Dallas jihadi, and Talib Islam, who tried to bomb an Illinois federal building just before Smadi's arrest. And tellingly, his rhetoric was also familiar, as he said he was looking for a "huge mass [i.e., crowd] that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays," just as Smadi proclaimed "We shall attack them in their very homes."
One thing we're waiting for: the mainstream media's account of how Mohamud got "radicalized." How was Islam misunderstood this time? That is, if Islam is mentioned at all except to 1.) recite the standard boilerplate that Islam is a religion of peace and denounces "terrorism" (wink), and 2.) broadcast the also-standard material playing up the risk of anti-Muslim "backlash" wherein criticism of Islam is cast as dangerous. Let the verbal game of Twister begin.
More on this story. "Somali teenager 'tried to set off car bomb in US'," from the Telegraph, November 27:
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, attempted to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. However, undercover FBI agents had been monitoring his plans and had ensured that the "bomb" was a dud.
Mohamud, a naturalised US citizen of Somali descent, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Portland police around 5:40 pm Friday (0040 GMT Saturday). Detectives swooped on him just after he dialled a cell phone number that he thought would set off the bomb. As they closed in, Mohamud tried to kick at them and yelled "Allahu Akbar!" - Arabic for "God is great!"
Prosecution documents lodged in a US court claimed that since the summer of 2009, Mohamud had been in email contact with a suspected terrorist in Pakistan's lawless northwest frontier province, currently a haven for al Qaeda cells. After discussing the possibility of Mohamud traveling to Pakistan to engage in jihad, or holy war, the accomplice allegedly gave Mohamud contact details of a terrorist cell overseas with whom a terror plot would be hatched.
It's not that northwestern Pakistan is "lawless." Rather, the past few years in the area have seen the ever-increasing encroachment of Sharia, imposed by jihadists advancing on a government in Islamabad that was unwilling to assert sovereignty over its own territory.
Repeated attempts by Mohamud to contact his would-be partners failed, and then last June, an FBI undercover agent contacted Mohamud via email pretending to be an associate of his Pakistani contact.
At a meeting in Portland a month later, Mohamud told the FBI operative that he had written articles that were published in "Jihad Recollections," an online magazine that advocated violence against non-Muslims.
He later told the agents that he had wanted to conduct a holy war against "infidels" since the age of 15, and that he had identified the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square as a good target.
There would be massive casualties and panic at the site, the symbolic significance of attacking an event related to a non-Muslim religious holiday, and economic impact well beyond Portland -- on "Black Friday" weekend, of course (and one just knows the jihadist propaganda puns that would follow from that).
Earlier this month, Mohamud and the agents traveled to the Oregon backcountry and detonated a bomb as a trial run. On the drive back, the undercover officials asked Mohamud if he was capable of looking at the bodies of those killed, according to the federal documents.
"Mohamud responded: 'I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or injured."'
On Friday, an undercover agent and Mohamud drove to downtown Portland in a white van that carried six 55-gallon drums with detonation cords and plastic caps, but all of them were inert.
They got out of the van and walked to meet another undercover agent, who drove to Union Station, the Portland train station, where Mohamud was given a cell phone that he thought would blow up the van.
They had enough details to look after, but this would have made a nice ringtone for the occasion.
FBI operatives apparently cautioned Mohamud several times about the seriousness of this plan, noting that there would be many children at the event. But Mohamud responded that he was looking for a "huge mass that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays," the court documents said.... Posted by Marisol on November 27, 2010 12:44 PM
And this, related, also from Jihad Watch:
Oregon jihad car bomb plot: "The threat was very real"
"Since I was 15 I thought about all this...It's gonna be a fireworks show ... a spectacular show," said Mohamed Osman Mohamud as he plotted "violent jihad."
More on this story. "Feds: Somali-born teen plotted car-bombing in Ore.," by William McCall for Associated Press, November 27 (thanks to JCB):
PORTLAND, Ore. - Federal agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, authorities said.
The bomb was an elaborate fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the blast but instead brought federal agents and police swooping down on him.
Yelling "Allahu Akbar!" -- Arabic for "God is great!" -- Mohamud tried to kick agents and police after he was taken into custody, according to prosecutors.
"The threat was very real," said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale," [sic]...
It said Mohamud was warned several times about the seriousness of his plan, that women and children could be killed, and that he could back out, but he told agents: "Since I was 15 I thought about all this;" and "It's gonna be a fireworks show ... a spectacular show."
Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Corvallis, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. A court appearance was set for Monday. Few details were available about him late Friday. [...]
U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents to The Associated Press and the Oregonian newspaper that show the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that Mohamud had been in regular e-mail contact with an "unindicted associate" in Pakistan's northwest, a frontier region where al-Qaida and Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are strong.
The two used coded language in which the FBI believes Mohamud discussed traveling to Pakistan to prepare for "violent jihad," the documents said....
An undercover agent met with him a month later in Portland, where they "discussed violent jihad," according to the court documents....
"This defendant's chilling determination is a stark reminder that there are people -- even here in Oregon -- who are determined to kill Americans," Holton said....
Yes, there are "people" who are "determined to kill Americans," even "here in Oregon"! If only there were some way to figure out who they are, or where they might congregate!
Posted by Robert on November 27, 2010 7:11 AM
"Islamophobia"
From Winds of Jihad:
“Islamophobia”
by sheikyermami on November 27, 2010
How the term “Islamophobia” got shoved down your throat
An Islamophobe is a non-Muslim who knows too much about Islam
I’ve maintained for years that the term “Islamophobia” was a politically manipulative coinage designed to silence critics of Islamic supremacism. Now Claire Berlinski explains how Islamic supremacists devised it for precisely that purpose. “Moderate Muslim Watch: How the Term ‘Islamophobia’ Got Shoved Down Your Throat,” by Claire Berlinski at Ricochet.com, November 24 (thanks to Creeping Sharia via JW):
A unicorn from the Tundra Tabloids
Now here’s a point you might deeply consider: The neologism “Islamophobia” did not simply emerge ex nihilo. It was invented, deliberately, by a Muslim Brotherhood front organization, the International Institute for Islamic Thought, which is based in Northern Virginia. If that name dimly rings a bell, it should: I’ve mentioned it before, and it’s particularly important because it was co-founded by Anwar Ibrahim–the hero of Moderate Islam who is now trotting around the globe comparing his plight to that of Aung San Suu Kyi.Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a former member of the IIIT who has renounced the group in disgust, was an eyewitness to the creation of the word. “This loathsome term,” he writes,
is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics.
In another article concerning the many moderate Muslims whose voices have been drowned out by Saudi-financed Muslim Brotherhood front groups, Muhammad describes the strategy behind the word’s invention:
In an effort to silence critics of political Islam, advocates needed to come up with terminology that would enable them to portray themselves as victims. Muhammad said he was present when his then-allies, meeting at the offices of the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT) in Northern Virginia years ago, coined the term “Islamophobia.”Muhammad said the Islamists decided to emulate the homosexual activists who used the term “homophobia” to silence critics. He said the group meeting at IIIT saw “Islamophobia” as a way to “beat up their critics.”
Really imagine that scene: a bunch of Islamists admiring how astutely the queers–people who in their ideal world would be served with the lash or hanged–had portrayed their critics as mentally disturbed. Brilliant. Let’s take a leaf from them and then kill them. The association of anti-Islamism–the noblest form of liberal anti-totalitarianism–with gay-bashing rednecks in the grip of a psychosexual panic was not just one of those linguistic accidents of history, in other words. These guys were sitting there in Virginia and really thinking about the best way to exploit the weaknesses of the Western psyche. They came up with this word–and admit it, it’s clever; I challenge you to find a better one if you want to yank the West’s chain–and they marketed it with petrodollars, and now it truly does drive public discourse and policy the world over. I was asked when I was recently on a Turkish television news show whether the Tea Party was “Islamophobic.” That’s what they’re hearing here in Turkey, thanks to the IIIT. It’s not an indigenous Turkish concept, I assure you….
Ayaan Ali Hirsi exposed the “Islamophobia” fraud a long time ago, when she ripped the despicable Avi Lewis a new A-sole, here:
This turd (Avi Lewis) is now working for Al Jizz, of course……
“Islamophobia”
by sheikyermami on November 27, 2010
How the term “Islamophobia” got shoved down your throat
An Islamophobe is a non-Muslim who knows too much about Islam
I’ve maintained for years that the term “Islamophobia” was a politically manipulative coinage designed to silence critics of Islamic supremacism. Now Claire Berlinski explains how Islamic supremacists devised it for precisely that purpose. “Moderate Muslim Watch: How the Term ‘Islamophobia’ Got Shoved Down Your Throat,” by Claire Berlinski at Ricochet.com, November 24 (thanks to Creeping Sharia via JW):
A unicorn from the Tundra Tabloids
Now here’s a point you might deeply consider: The neologism “Islamophobia” did not simply emerge ex nihilo. It was invented, deliberately, by a Muslim Brotherhood front organization, the International Institute for Islamic Thought, which is based in Northern Virginia. If that name dimly rings a bell, it should: I’ve mentioned it before, and it’s particularly important because it was co-founded by Anwar Ibrahim–the hero of Moderate Islam who is now trotting around the globe comparing his plight to that of Aung San Suu Kyi.Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a former member of the IIIT who has renounced the group in disgust, was an eyewitness to the creation of the word. “This loathsome term,” he writes,
is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics.
In another article concerning the many moderate Muslims whose voices have been drowned out by Saudi-financed Muslim Brotherhood front groups, Muhammad describes the strategy behind the word’s invention:
In an effort to silence critics of political Islam, advocates needed to come up with terminology that would enable them to portray themselves as victims. Muhammad said he was present when his then-allies, meeting at the offices of the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT) in Northern Virginia years ago, coined the term “Islamophobia.”Muhammad said the Islamists decided to emulate the homosexual activists who used the term “homophobia” to silence critics. He said the group meeting at IIIT saw “Islamophobia” as a way to “beat up their critics.”
Really imagine that scene: a bunch of Islamists admiring how astutely the queers–people who in their ideal world would be served with the lash or hanged–had portrayed their critics as mentally disturbed. Brilliant. Let’s take a leaf from them and then kill them. The association of anti-Islamism–the noblest form of liberal anti-totalitarianism–with gay-bashing rednecks in the grip of a psychosexual panic was not just one of those linguistic accidents of history, in other words. These guys were sitting there in Virginia and really thinking about the best way to exploit the weaknesses of the Western psyche. They came up with this word–and admit it, it’s clever; I challenge you to find a better one if you want to yank the West’s chain–and they marketed it with petrodollars, and now it truly does drive public discourse and policy the world over. I was asked when I was recently on a Turkish television news show whether the Tea Party was “Islamophobic.” That’s what they’re hearing here in Turkey, thanks to the IIIT. It’s not an indigenous Turkish concept, I assure you….
Ayaan Ali Hirsi exposed the “Islamophobia” fraud a long time ago, when she ripped the despicable Avi Lewis a new A-sole, here:
This turd (Avi Lewis) is now working for Al Jizz, of course……
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Just Another Bomb-Plotting Jihadist Yelling "Allahu Akbar!"
From Michelle Malkin:
Just another bomb-plotting jihadist yelling “Allahu akbar!”
By Michelle Malkin • November 27, 2010 09:07 AM
Mohamed O. Mohamud
Ho-hum.
If it’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, it’s just another day in the life of a true believer in violent jihad.
Yes: Violent jihad. Two words the current occupant of the White House won’t say together and about which he remains in stubborn denial.
Violent jihad. A fundamental tenet of legions and legions of Muslims worldwide — and untold numbers of homegrown and immigrant practitioners of the Religion of Perpetual Outrage here on American soil.
I’ll get to the Portland Christmas Day lighting bomb plotter in a moment.
But first: How many times over the years have we said “It’s the jihad, stupid” as p.c.-addled reality-deniers insist the violent jihadists come from a “broad strata” of society? Too many to count. Flashback:
The “broad strata” of 9/11 jihadists.
Photoshop: David Lunde
Lackawanna 6
The paintball jihad sheikh
The Tar Heel terrorist
Convicted Lodi jihadi Hamid Hayat
Convicted NYC bomb plotter Shahawar Matin Siraj
James Ujaama, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to provide goods and services to the Taliban in April 2003
FBI terrorists wanted list
More jihadists sought by FBI
11 Gitmo recidivists on Saudi most wanted list
Nidal Hasan, Soldier for Allah and Fort Hood massacre jihadist
Najibullah Zazi, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to his railway bombing plot hatched in Colorado and NYC in February
So now, this:
Undercover agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van full of what he believed were explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, federal authorities said.
The bomb was a fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the blast but instead brought federal agents and police swooping down on him.
Yelling “Allahu Akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” — Mohamud tried to kick agents and police after he was taken into custody, according to prosecutors.
“The threat was very real,” said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. “Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale.”
You may recall that loony Portland officials several years ago threatened to pull out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force under the Bush administration and refused to cooperate with federal efforts to conduct voluntary interviews of of local Muslims in order to uncover terrorist plots.
You may also recall the Portland 7, black Muslim converts convicted in a conspiracy to wage war against the United States, provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda and contribute services to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The latest Portland arrest follows the Times Square bombing plot attempted by Muslim jihadist Faisal Shazhad in May…
The arrest of Farooque Ahmed in October in the D.C. Metro subway bombing plot:
And the arrest a year ago of Jordanian Hosam Smadi in a Dallas skyscraper bombing plot:
Another official commented on the Portland jihadist:
“This defendant’s chilling determination is a stark reminder that there are people — even here in Oregon — who are determined to kill Americans,” said Oregon U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton.
We’re not the ones who need “stark reminders” about bomb-wielding nuts named “Mohamed” plotting to kill infidels in the name of Allah.
And this, related, from Freedom's Lighthouse:
9:49 AM (13 hours ago)FBI Thwarts Attempted Terror Attack in Portland; Arrest Somali-born Naturalized U.S. Citizen – Video Reports 11/26/10from Freedom's Lighthouse by BrianReport from Portland’s KATU-TV
Report from CNN
Here are two video reports on news out of Portland that the FBI has thwarted an attempted car-bombing in Portland’s “Pioneer Courthouse Square.” The attempted terrorist attack occurred last night, where a large crowd had gathered for a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony.
Reports say that a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia – Mohamed Osman Mohamud – actually went so far as to attach a blasting cap to what he believed to be an explosive device and then tried to detonate it from another location. He was then arrested by the FBI.
This sounds very much like the attempted attack in Dallas last year, where the FBI had been communicating with a 19-year old Jordanian man, Mosam Maher Husein Smadi, and he ended up trying to detonate a fake bomb near the “Fountain Place” skyscraper in Dallas.
CNN: A 19-year-old has been arrested in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, on Friday evening, the Justice Department announced.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He is a resident of Corvallis, Oregon, and a student at Oregon State University, according to the FBI.
Mohamud was arrested by the FBI and Portland Police Bureau after he attempted to detonate what he believed to be an explosives-laden van that was parked near the tree-lighting ceremony in Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, the Justice Department said in a written statement, but the device was actually inert.
“The threat was very real. Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale,” said Arthur Balizan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “At the same time, I want to reassure the people of this community that, at every turn, we denied him the ability to actually carry out the attack.”
The arrest was the culmination of a long-term undercover operation during which Mohamud had been monitored closely as his alleged bomb plot developed, the Justice Department said. Officials said the public was never in danger from the device. . . . . Read More
Once again – great job by the FBI!
Just another bomb-plotting jihadist yelling “Allahu akbar!”
By Michelle Malkin • November 27, 2010 09:07 AM
Mohamed O. Mohamud
Ho-hum.
If it’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, it’s just another day in the life of a true believer in violent jihad.
Yes: Violent jihad. Two words the current occupant of the White House won’t say together and about which he remains in stubborn denial.
Violent jihad. A fundamental tenet of legions and legions of Muslims worldwide — and untold numbers of homegrown and immigrant practitioners of the Religion of Perpetual Outrage here on American soil.
I’ll get to the Portland Christmas Day lighting bomb plotter in a moment.
But first: How many times over the years have we said “It’s the jihad, stupid” as p.c.-addled reality-deniers insist the violent jihadists come from a “broad strata” of society? Too many to count. Flashback:
The “broad strata” of 9/11 jihadists.
Photoshop: David Lunde
Lackawanna 6
The paintball jihad sheikh
The Tar Heel terrorist
Convicted Lodi jihadi Hamid Hayat
Convicted NYC bomb plotter Shahawar Matin Siraj
James Ujaama, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to provide goods and services to the Taliban in April 2003
FBI terrorists wanted list
More jihadists sought by FBI
11 Gitmo recidivists on Saudi most wanted list
Nidal Hasan, Soldier for Allah and Fort Hood massacre jihadist
Najibullah Zazi, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to his railway bombing plot hatched in Colorado and NYC in February
So now, this:
Undercover agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van full of what he believed were explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, federal authorities said.
The bomb was a fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the blast but instead brought federal agents and police swooping down on him.
Yelling “Allahu Akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” — Mohamud tried to kick agents and police after he was taken into custody, according to prosecutors.
“The threat was very real,” said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. “Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale.”
You may recall that loony Portland officials several years ago threatened to pull out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force under the Bush administration and refused to cooperate with federal efforts to conduct voluntary interviews of of local Muslims in order to uncover terrorist plots.
You may also recall the Portland 7, black Muslim converts convicted in a conspiracy to wage war against the United States, provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda and contribute services to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The latest Portland arrest follows the Times Square bombing plot attempted by Muslim jihadist Faisal Shazhad in May…
The arrest of Farooque Ahmed in October in the D.C. Metro subway bombing plot:
And the arrest a year ago of Jordanian Hosam Smadi in a Dallas skyscraper bombing plot:
Another official commented on the Portland jihadist:
“This defendant’s chilling determination is a stark reminder that there are people — even here in Oregon — who are determined to kill Americans,” said Oregon U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton.
We’re not the ones who need “stark reminders” about bomb-wielding nuts named “Mohamed” plotting to kill infidels in the name of Allah.
And this, related, from Freedom's Lighthouse:
9:49 AM (13 hours ago)FBI Thwarts Attempted Terror Attack in Portland; Arrest Somali-born Naturalized U.S. Citizen – Video Reports 11/26/10from Freedom's Lighthouse by BrianReport from Portland’s KATU-TV
Report from CNN
Here are two video reports on news out of Portland that the FBI has thwarted an attempted car-bombing in Portland’s “Pioneer Courthouse Square.” The attempted terrorist attack occurred last night, where a large crowd had gathered for a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony.
Reports say that a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia – Mohamed Osman Mohamud – actually went so far as to attach a blasting cap to what he believed to be an explosive device and then tried to detonate it from another location. He was then arrested by the FBI.
This sounds very much like the attempted attack in Dallas last year, where the FBI had been communicating with a 19-year old Jordanian man, Mosam Maher Husein Smadi, and he ended up trying to detonate a fake bomb near the “Fountain Place” skyscraper in Dallas.
CNN: A 19-year-old has been arrested in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, on Friday evening, the Justice Department announced.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He is a resident of Corvallis, Oregon, and a student at Oregon State University, according to the FBI.
Mohamud was arrested by the FBI and Portland Police Bureau after he attempted to detonate what he believed to be an explosives-laden van that was parked near the tree-lighting ceremony in Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, the Justice Department said in a written statement, but the device was actually inert.
“The threat was very real. Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale,” said Arthur Balizan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “At the same time, I want to reassure the people of this community that, at every turn, we denied him the ability to actually carry out the attack.”
The arrest was the culmination of a long-term undercover operation during which Mohamud had been monitored closely as his alleged bomb plot developed, the Justice Department said. Officials said the public was never in danger from the device. . . . . Read More
Once again – great job by the FBI!
U.K.: Muslim Cab-Driver Refuses Service To Blind Couple With Service Dog
from Jihad Watch:
UK: Muslim cab driver refuses blind couple with guide dog
The Muslim revulsion for dogs comes from Muhammad: "Ibn Mughaffal reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) ordered killing of the dogs, and then said: What about them, i. e. about other dogs? and then granted concession (to keep) the dog for hunting and the dog for (the security) of the herd, and said: When the dog licks the utensil, wash it seven times, and rub it with earth the eighth time." -- Sahih Muslim 551
Here again, even in the West, non-Muslims must accommodate Muslim mores -- never the other way around.
Sharia Alert from Staffordshire. "Blind couple's anger as taxi refuses guide dog," from the Staffordshire Newsletter, November 25 (thanks to Europe News):
A BLIND couple were "disgusted" to be turned away by a Stafford taxi driver because of their award-winning guide dog.
Doreen and Ernest Dix were refused entry to a cab parked at the pick-up point behind Stafford market last week.
The Great Haywood pensioners claim the driver did not want Blake, the current West Midlands guide dog of the year, in his cab.
This contravenes the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005 and can land offenders a £1,000 fine unless they certify they have a dog allergy.
Mrs Dix, 71, said this was the first time her golden retriever-labrador cross had been rejected from a taxi.
She said: "I can barely see, but saw the driver wave his hands and say 'no, no, no' as we approached his cab.
"We were both very upset and were made to feel really small, but just got the next taxi in the end. "We're moving to Stafford soon and this is a very poor start indeed." Eight-two-year-old Mr Dix, whose eyesight is worse than his wife's, was "appalled" by the driver's behaviour.
He said: "I've been registered blind for 28 years and have never been discriminated against by a taxi driver before this.
"If he isn't willing to pick up certain people, then he shouldn't be in a queue of taxis earmarked for shoppers.
"The driver we eventually used agreed it was appalling it made me feel like a second-class citizen."...
Get used to it. More is coming.
In recent years, there have been reports of Muslim drivers refusing the blind due to their doctrine's assertion that dogs are unclean.
However, the DDA does not consider this an excuse....
Posted by Robert on November 26, 2010 8:28 AM
UK: Muslim cab driver refuses blind couple with guide dog
The Muslim revulsion for dogs comes from Muhammad: "Ibn Mughaffal reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) ordered killing of the dogs, and then said: What about them, i. e. about other dogs? and then granted concession (to keep) the dog for hunting and the dog for (the security) of the herd, and said: When the dog licks the utensil, wash it seven times, and rub it with earth the eighth time." -- Sahih Muslim 551
Here again, even in the West, non-Muslims must accommodate Muslim mores -- never the other way around.
Sharia Alert from Staffordshire. "Blind couple's anger as taxi refuses guide dog," from the Staffordshire Newsletter, November 25 (thanks to Europe News):
A BLIND couple were "disgusted" to be turned away by a Stafford taxi driver because of their award-winning guide dog.
Doreen and Ernest Dix were refused entry to a cab parked at the pick-up point behind Stafford market last week.
The Great Haywood pensioners claim the driver did not want Blake, the current West Midlands guide dog of the year, in his cab.
This contravenes the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005 and can land offenders a £1,000 fine unless they certify they have a dog allergy.
Mrs Dix, 71, said this was the first time her golden retriever-labrador cross had been rejected from a taxi.
She said: "I can barely see, but saw the driver wave his hands and say 'no, no, no' as we approached his cab.
"We were both very upset and were made to feel really small, but just got the next taxi in the end. "We're moving to Stafford soon and this is a very poor start indeed." Eight-two-year-old Mr Dix, whose eyesight is worse than his wife's, was "appalled" by the driver's behaviour.
He said: "I've been registered blind for 28 years and have never been discriminated against by a taxi driver before this.
"If he isn't willing to pick up certain people, then he shouldn't be in a queue of taxis earmarked for shoppers.
"The driver we eventually used agreed it was appalling it made me feel like a second-class citizen."...
Get used to it. More is coming.
In recent years, there have been reports of Muslim drivers refusing the blind due to their doctrine's assertion that dogs are unclean.
However, the DDA does not consider this an excuse....
Posted by Robert on November 26, 2010 8:28 AM
Friday, November 26, 2010
Connecticut: Roller Rink Submits To Sharia
From Creeping Sharia:
Connecticut roller rink submits to sharia
Posted on November 26, 2010 by creeping
Rules, and laws, for Americans, and rules and laws for Muslims living in America. Is this not sharia? Where does it end? Muslim woman claims she was not allowed to roller skate in scarf – NYPOST.com.
A Muslim woman claims that a Connecticut roller-skating rink discriminated against her because it wouldn’t allow her to skate in her headscarf.
Marisol Rodriguez-Colon, 40, said she was “mortified” when she and another female relative showed up for a niece’s birthday party at the Ron-A-Roll rink in Vernon and were barred at the door.
The venue’s rules, posted at the entrance, read: “No Hats. No Headwear. No Exceptions.”
Colon said her religious hijab shouldn’t count under that policy — and tried to appeal to a rink manager.
“We wear this for religious reasons,” Colon said. “But they didn’t want to hear that.”
The manager, Colon said, gave the women two choices: take off the headscarves, or wear a helmet over them.
Taking off the hijabs was “not an option,” Colon told WTIC-TV in Hartford.
She said she has worn the traditional headscarf for 16 years and has it on “wherever I go.”
She and the other relative went back to their car and missed the party.
“I wear this with pride,” Colon said. “I was mortified — by asking someone to wear a helmet you are actually ostracizing us.
“You are singling us out and showing everyone there is an issue — that something is wrong with these two women.”
Ron-A-Roll management issued a statement spelling out its “no headwear” policy. It said helmets are offered for safety purposes.
“You are not allowed — you are not welcome here. That is what that says to me,” Colon said of the statement.
She said she was insulted that the rink would deny entrance to people “because of what they believe and what they are wearing because of those beliefs.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said yesterday it filed a complaint with Connecticut’s Human Rights Commission.
Several years ago, University of Albany student Zahra Shah was barred from wearing her headscarf at an upstate New York roller rink.
That arena, citing insurance reasons, also banned headwear.
An employee at the time told Shah that other skaters could trip and get hurt if the hijab fell off.
When Shah explained that she wore the scarf for religious reasons, one rink employee told her it was like a cowboy “religiously” wearing a cowboy hat.
After a barrage of phone calls from activist groups and others, the rink management apologized and said Shah could skate with her headscarf.
Activist groups like CAIR – whom a federal judge has confirmed is a front group for the terrorist group Hamas? That kind of activist group? Converts backed by the Muslim Mafia implementing the Muslim Brotherhood’s plan to perfection. Contact the rink at the link above
Connecticut roller rink submits to sharia
Posted on November 26, 2010 by creeping
Rules, and laws, for Americans, and rules and laws for Muslims living in America. Is this not sharia? Where does it end? Muslim woman claims she was not allowed to roller skate in scarf – NYPOST.com.
A Muslim woman claims that a Connecticut roller-skating rink discriminated against her because it wouldn’t allow her to skate in her headscarf.
Marisol Rodriguez-Colon, 40, said she was “mortified” when she and another female relative showed up for a niece’s birthday party at the Ron-A-Roll rink in Vernon and were barred at the door.
The venue’s rules, posted at the entrance, read: “No Hats. No Headwear. No Exceptions.”
Colon said her religious hijab shouldn’t count under that policy — and tried to appeal to a rink manager.
“We wear this for religious reasons,” Colon said. “But they didn’t want to hear that.”
The manager, Colon said, gave the women two choices: take off the headscarves, or wear a helmet over them.
Taking off the hijabs was “not an option,” Colon told WTIC-TV in Hartford.
She said she has worn the traditional headscarf for 16 years and has it on “wherever I go.”
She and the other relative went back to their car and missed the party.
“I wear this with pride,” Colon said. “I was mortified — by asking someone to wear a helmet you are actually ostracizing us.
“You are singling us out and showing everyone there is an issue — that something is wrong with these two women.”
Ron-A-Roll management issued a statement spelling out its “no headwear” policy. It said helmets are offered for safety purposes.
“You are not allowed — you are not welcome here. That is what that says to me,” Colon said of the statement.
She said she was insulted that the rink would deny entrance to people “because of what they believe and what they are wearing because of those beliefs.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said yesterday it filed a complaint with Connecticut’s Human Rights Commission.
Several years ago, University of Albany student Zahra Shah was barred from wearing her headscarf at an upstate New York roller rink.
That arena, citing insurance reasons, also banned headwear.
An employee at the time told Shah that other skaters could trip and get hurt if the hijab fell off.
When Shah explained that she wore the scarf for religious reasons, one rink employee told her it was like a cowboy “religiously” wearing a cowboy hat.
After a barrage of phone calls from activist groups and others, the rink management apologized and said Shah could skate with her headscarf.
Activist groups like CAIR – whom a federal judge has confirmed is a front group for the terrorist group Hamas? That kind of activist group? Converts backed by the Muslim Mafia implementing the Muslim Brotherhood’s plan to perfection. Contact the rink at the link above
Turin, Italy: Official Appeals To School Board To Ban Burqa-Wearing Mothers From Picking Up Children At School
From Bare Naked Islam:
Italy: Turin official appeals to school board to ban burqa-wearing mothers from picking up their children
A government official in industrial northern Italian city of Turin has asked the local school board to stop fully-veiled women from picking up their children at school because it makes it difficult to identify them as the students’ true parents.
Hags in Bags should be banned from every non-Muslim country. Did you know there are bans on burqas in Egypt but not in the US or the UK? Disgraceful.
AKI - The request by Maurizio Marrone – a member of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative People of Liberty party – was prompted after Marrone and other mothers had seen some women dressed in full burqas picking up their children from an elementary school in Turin’s Barriera di Milano working class neighborhood.
“Some mothers with children enrolled in the Albert Sabin elementary school in Turin have seen Islamic women wearing the full burqa picking up their children, and I have seen this as well,” Marrone said, adding that the burqa made it impossible for teachers to “verify the identity” of those picking up minors.
Marrone went on to call the wearing of the burqa, the traditional dress of fundamentalist Islamic women, “damaging to the dignity of women.” Marrone also claims the burqa “slows down the process of integration” for immigrants.
In September this year, two separate bills were presented in the upper and lower chambers of the Italian parliament which aim to end the wearing of face-covering burqa’s in Italy.
Italy: Turin official appeals to school board to ban burqa-wearing mothers from picking up their children
A government official in industrial northern Italian city of Turin has asked the local school board to stop fully-veiled women from picking up their children at school because it makes it difficult to identify them as the students’ true parents.
Hags in Bags should be banned from every non-Muslim country. Did you know there are bans on burqas in Egypt but not in the US or the UK? Disgraceful.
AKI - The request by Maurizio Marrone – a member of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative People of Liberty party – was prompted after Marrone and other mothers had seen some women dressed in full burqas picking up their children from an elementary school in Turin’s Barriera di Milano working class neighborhood.
“Some mothers with children enrolled in the Albert Sabin elementary school in Turin have seen Islamic women wearing the full burqa picking up their children, and I have seen this as well,” Marrone said, adding that the burqa made it impossible for teachers to “verify the identity” of those picking up minors.
Marrone went on to call the wearing of the burqa, the traditional dress of fundamentalist Islamic women, “damaging to the dignity of women.” Marrone also claims the burqa “slows down the process of integration” for immigrants.
In September this year, two separate bills were presented in the upper and lower chambers of the Italian parliament which aim to end the wearing of face-covering burqa’s in Italy.
Another Death Threat
From Jihad Watch:
Be thankful
This morning I received yet another death threat:
You are about to END
Message: YOu will go OFF. and We will live forever.
Die with your ANGER and unexpected things. ALLAH can stop who he wants from what he want.
on the other hand america's suffering financially shows how your money stolen from the land of Muslims given you by these useless kings is drying UP.
More FIRE We will see that TRUTH will Prevails and a STUPIDs LIKE SPENCEr will DRY up like a WET MUD.
And another:
If Muslims had the Chance
Message: A good example is North Koreas response to the agression of the south. they defended them selves and no body was in hurry to criticize them why..cause they know that They HAD N-Weapons.
If some Mulsim countries LIKE Palestine would have such chnace there would be no Spencer for sure.
And yet I live, and so do you. We are still, for the moment, free. I am able to write this, you are able to read it. With an Obama Administration repeatedly on record favoring restrictions on the freedom of speech, we should never take for granted that those who are threatened by Islamic supremacism and jihad will always be able to speak freely about that threat -- and that includes Americans as well.
So we must work hard to defend freedom, and to ensure that murderous thugs like the people who wrote me these emails do not prevail. Work hard. Make the most of every moment.
Give thanks today that you are free. Take a moment to savor all the things that make life worth living, and freedom worth defending. And then set out again to work, to do whatever you can, wherever you are, in whatever situation you're in, to turn back the tide of Islamic supremacist encroachment upon free societies everywhere.
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 2:37 AM
Be thankful
This morning I received yet another death threat:
You are about to END
Message: YOu will go OFF. and We will live forever.
Die with your ANGER and unexpected things. ALLAH can stop who he wants from what he want.
on the other hand america's suffering financially shows how your money stolen from the land of Muslims given you by these useless kings is drying UP.
More FIRE We will see that TRUTH will Prevails and a STUPIDs LIKE SPENCEr will DRY up like a WET MUD.
And another:
If Muslims had the Chance
Message: A good example is North Koreas response to the agression of the south. they defended them selves and no body was in hurry to criticize them why..cause they know that They HAD N-Weapons.
If some Mulsim countries LIKE Palestine would have such chnace there would be no Spencer for sure.
And yet I live, and so do you. We are still, for the moment, free. I am able to write this, you are able to read it. With an Obama Administration repeatedly on record favoring restrictions on the freedom of speech, we should never take for granted that those who are threatened by Islamic supremacism and jihad will always be able to speak freely about that threat -- and that includes Americans as well.
So we must work hard to defend freedom, and to ensure that murderous thugs like the people who wrote me these emails do not prevail. Work hard. Make the most of every moment.
Give thanks today that you are free. Take a moment to savor all the things that make life worth living, and freedom worth defending. And then set out again to work, to do whatever you can, wherever you are, in whatever situation you're in, to turn back the tide of Islamic supremacist encroachment upon free societies everywhere.
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 2:37 AM
Belgium: Eleven Muslims Arrested For Jihad Terror Plot
From Jihad Watch:
Belgium: Eleven Misunderstanders of Islam arrested for jihad terror plot
I received the same email from Sharia4Belgium that was sent also to Pamela Geller and Rusty Shackleford:
Name: sharia
Email: sharia4belgium@hotmail.com
Subject: sharia in belgium
Message: i know you dislike that sharia is talking over the world, but
that is a fact, so get used to it!
first great britain, now belgium, then the netherlands, and we will
continue inshaallah until the rule of Allah swt is applied on the
whole world!
www.sharia4belgium.webs.com/
"Belgium terror probe nets 11 arrests," from CNN, November 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):
(CNN) -- Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with a suspected terror plot targeting Belgium, officials there said Tuesday.
The suspects were using a jihadist website to plan an attack on an unspecified target, police said.
"Long months of undercover investigation" led to the arrests, the authorities said.
It was "clear to us that the target was Belgian soil, just not clear enough to say where and when," Belgian public prosecutor Lieve Pellens told CNN.
Seven of the arrests were in Antwerp, Belgium, she said. One was in Aachen, Germany, and the other three were in the Netherlands. Those arrested are Belgian, Dutch, Moroccan and Chechen, authorities said.
A senior European counter-terrorism official told CNN that members of the group arrested in Antwerp, and their associates in Germany and the Netherlands, had discussed targeting Jews in Belgium as well as NATO vehicles in the country. However, officials say no specific targets appear to have been identified. [...]
Authorities are investigating the links between members of the Antwerp group and Sharia4Belgium, a Belgian Islamist organization, a Belgian counter-terrorism official told CNN. [...]
The sources say police have visited 15 locations in Brussels, Belgium's capital, as part of a continuing investigation into a terrorist cell linked to Bassam Ayachi, who was charged in 2009 with preparing terrorist attacks.
The intentions of that cell are "dangerous but not imminent," Pellens said.
Ayachi, a French citizen, was detained in Italy in 2008. He was head of the Belgian Islamic Center (Centre Islamique Belge or CIB), based in Molenbeek in Belgium.
A senior European counterterrorism official also told CNN that one of the people targeted in the Brussels operation had engaged in jihadist activities in Iraq and returned to Belgium two years ago.
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 10:44 AM
Belgium: Eleven Misunderstanders of Islam arrested for jihad terror plot
I received the same email from Sharia4Belgium that was sent also to Pamela Geller and Rusty Shackleford:
Name: sharia
Email: sharia4belgium@hotmail.com
Subject: sharia in belgium
Message: i know you dislike that sharia is talking over the world, but
that is a fact, so get used to it!
first great britain, now belgium, then the netherlands, and we will
continue inshaallah until the rule of Allah swt is applied on the
whole world!
www.sharia4belgium.webs.com/
"Belgium terror probe nets 11 arrests," from CNN, November 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):
(CNN) -- Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with a suspected terror plot targeting Belgium, officials there said Tuesday.
The suspects were using a jihadist website to plan an attack on an unspecified target, police said.
"Long months of undercover investigation" led to the arrests, the authorities said.
It was "clear to us that the target was Belgian soil, just not clear enough to say where and when," Belgian public prosecutor Lieve Pellens told CNN.
Seven of the arrests were in Antwerp, Belgium, she said. One was in Aachen, Germany, and the other three were in the Netherlands. Those arrested are Belgian, Dutch, Moroccan and Chechen, authorities said.
A senior European counter-terrorism official told CNN that members of the group arrested in Antwerp, and their associates in Germany and the Netherlands, had discussed targeting Jews in Belgium as well as NATO vehicles in the country. However, officials say no specific targets appear to have been identified. [...]
Authorities are investigating the links between members of the Antwerp group and Sharia4Belgium, a Belgian Islamist organization, a Belgian counter-terrorism official told CNN. [...]
The sources say police have visited 15 locations in Brussels, Belgium's capital, as part of a continuing investigation into a terrorist cell linked to Bassam Ayachi, who was charged in 2009 with preparing terrorist attacks.
The intentions of that cell are "dangerous but not imminent," Pellens said.
Ayachi, a French citizen, was detained in Italy in 2008. He was head of the Belgian Islamic Center (Centre Islamique Belge or CIB), based in Molenbeek in Belgium.
A senior European counterterrorism official also told CNN that one of the people targeted in the Brussels operation had engaged in jihadist activities in Iraq and returned to Belgium two years ago.
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 10:44 AM
Chicago: Muslim gets Two years In Prison For Bomb Threat To Jewish School
From Jihad Watch:
Chicago: Muslim gets two years in prison for bomb threat to Jewish school
"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews..." -- Qur'an 5:82
But he was depressed, you see. "Man gets two years in prison for bomb threat," by Andy Grimm for the Chicago Tribune, November 24 (thanks to Mary):
A West Rogers Park man was sentenced Wednesday to 25 months in prison for mailing a letter threatening to blow up a Jewish high school.
A half-dozen friends and neighbors testified that Mohammad Alkaramla, 25, was a peaceful man with many friends in his multiethnic neighborhood until his estranged wife moved to Jordan with their son. The caring man known to friends as "Mo" then became depressed and feared Middle East strife would make life dangerous for his son, they said.
Of course. The first thing a peaceful, caring man will do when he starts having domestic trouble is mail off a bomb threat to a Jewish school. It could happen to anyone!
Alkaramla, who was born in Jordan, mailed a letter in late 2008 to the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, threatening to plant a bomb there if Israel didn't withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip within two weeks, said his father, Tawiq Alkaramla.
"He knows all people are the same," his father said to U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. "He went crazy like with stress. ... He thinks Gaza is by Jordan. All he knows is what he sees on the TV."
At a bench trial in July, Pallmeyer found Mohammad Alkaramla guilty of a single count of making threats against the school. Investigators traced his fingerprints and a stamp on the letter to his home. They found he had searched for targets on the Internet in the days before the letter was mailed.
"Will Give You until 01.15.2009 to back OFF from Gaza in Palestine or will set our explosive in your areas," the letter said in part.
Alkaramla, who has been in custody since July, briefly read from a written statement.
"I realize I was in a downfall of my life, thinking of myself," he said of the decision to make the threat. "I regret and am deeply sorry for all my troubles."...
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 10:53 AM
Chicago: Muslim gets two years in prison for bomb threat to Jewish school
"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews..." -- Qur'an 5:82
But he was depressed, you see. "Man gets two years in prison for bomb threat," by Andy Grimm for the Chicago Tribune, November 24 (thanks to Mary):
A West Rogers Park man was sentenced Wednesday to 25 months in prison for mailing a letter threatening to blow up a Jewish high school.
A half-dozen friends and neighbors testified that Mohammad Alkaramla, 25, was a peaceful man with many friends in his multiethnic neighborhood until his estranged wife moved to Jordan with their son. The caring man known to friends as "Mo" then became depressed and feared Middle East strife would make life dangerous for his son, they said.
Of course. The first thing a peaceful, caring man will do when he starts having domestic trouble is mail off a bomb threat to a Jewish school. It could happen to anyone!
Alkaramla, who was born in Jordan, mailed a letter in late 2008 to the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, threatening to plant a bomb there if Israel didn't withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip within two weeks, said his father, Tawiq Alkaramla.
"He knows all people are the same," his father said to U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. "He went crazy like with stress. ... He thinks Gaza is by Jordan. All he knows is what he sees on the TV."
At a bench trial in July, Pallmeyer found Mohammad Alkaramla guilty of a single count of making threats against the school. Investigators traced his fingerprints and a stamp on the letter to his home. They found he had searched for targets on the Internet in the days before the letter was mailed.
"Will Give You until 01.15.2009 to back OFF from Gaza in Palestine or will set our explosive in your areas," the letter said in part.
Alkaramla, who has been in custody since July, briefly read from a written statement.
"I realize I was in a downfall of my life, thinking of myself," he said of the decision to make the threat. "I regret and am deeply sorry for all my troubles."...
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 10:53 AM
U.K.: Freedom Of Speech Under Attack--Girl Arrested For Burning The Koran, Inciting Religious Hatred
From Jihad Watch:
UK: Teenage girl arrested for burning Qur'an
I don't think the Qur'an should be burned. I think it should be read. But this is a question of whether Britain will preserve the principle of the freedom of expression, or implement Sharia norms regarding reverence for the holy book of Islam. This is an example of the latter. "Girl, 15, arrested over 'Facebook Koran burning video,'" from the BBC, November 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):
A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of inciting religious hatred after allegedly burning an English language version of the Koran.
The 15-year-old, who lives in the West Midlands, allegedly posted the video, filmed two weeks ago on her school premises, on Facebook.
The video was reported to the school and subsequently removed, police said.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of making threats. Both have been released on police bail.
It is thought the girl, who lives in the Sandwell Council area, was allegedly filmed setting the booklet alight while other pupils watched.
Two Facebook profiles have also been removed from the site, police added.
It is understood that the group who published that version of the Koran have since been to the school to talk to pupils....
Well, that's a relief.
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 11:38 AM
UK: Teenage girl arrested for burning Qur'an
I don't think the Qur'an should be burned. I think it should be read. But this is a question of whether Britain will preserve the principle of the freedom of expression, or implement Sharia norms regarding reverence for the holy book of Islam. This is an example of the latter. "Girl, 15, arrested over 'Facebook Koran burning video,'" from the BBC, November 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):
A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of inciting religious hatred after allegedly burning an English language version of the Koran.
The 15-year-old, who lives in the West Midlands, allegedly posted the video, filmed two weeks ago on her school premises, on Facebook.
The video was reported to the school and subsequently removed, police said.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of making threats. Both have been released on police bail.
It is thought the girl, who lives in the Sandwell Council area, was allegedly filmed setting the booklet alight while other pupils watched.
Two Facebook profiles have also been removed from the site, police added.
It is understood that the group who published that version of the Koran have since been to the school to talk to pupils....
Well, that's a relief.
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 11:38 AM
Connecticut: Roller Rink Defends Its Policy On Headgear After Muslim Woman Complains
From Jihad Watch:
Connecticut roller rink defends its policy on headscarves after Muslim woman complains
This incident is yet another attempt to force American businesses to adapt to Sharia mores. Non-Muslims must always change their behavior to accommodate Muslims; it's never the other way around.
An update on this story. "Connecticut Roller Rink Defends Policy on Headscarves After Muslim Woman Complains," by Edmund DeMarche for FoxNews.com, November 24:
A roller skating rink in Connecticut is standing behind its decision to ask a Muslim woman to remove her headscarf because it could present a danger to skaters if it fell off.
Marisol Rodriguez-Colon was set to attend her 4-year-old niece's birthday party at Ron-A-Roll but apparently didn't make it very far past the check-in counter before she was stopped by a rink employee, who offered her two options: remove her headscarf or wear a helmet over it.
Rodriguez-Colon said she felt "mortified" when an employee at a rink asked her to wear a helmet on top of her religious headscarf, or hijab.
But Jennifer Conde, the operations manager at the Ron-A-Roll, said the rink's main priority is the safety of its patrons.
"We are not insensitive to people's religion," she said. "We just focus on safety."
In a statement to FoxNews.com, Ron-A-Roll said it has a policy that prohibits headwear to be worn in the building. Safety helmets are offered to those that are unable to remove headwear for any reason, because they are secured with a chin strap....
Ron-A-Roll's meticulous attention to details, in this case, is troubling to Mongi Dhaouadi, the executive director of the Connecticut office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations[.]
Even Fox makes no mention of the fact that CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several of its former officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. Two of its other officials have made Islamic supremacist statements. CAIR also was involved in the Flying Imams' intimidation suit against the passengers who reported their suspicious behavior.
Dhaouadi said the rink has all but turned a deaf ear when he asked to talk about the matter.
"These were two women who were not allowed in because they wore this headscarf," he said. "They had absolutely no intention to skate."...
Then why did they want to come in? Just to provoke this confrontation?
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 6:08 PM
Connecticut roller rink defends its policy on headscarves after Muslim woman complains
This incident is yet another attempt to force American businesses to adapt to Sharia mores. Non-Muslims must always change their behavior to accommodate Muslims; it's never the other way around.
An update on this story. "Connecticut Roller Rink Defends Policy on Headscarves After Muslim Woman Complains," by Edmund DeMarche for FoxNews.com, November 24:
A roller skating rink in Connecticut is standing behind its decision to ask a Muslim woman to remove her headscarf because it could present a danger to skaters if it fell off.
Marisol Rodriguez-Colon was set to attend her 4-year-old niece's birthday party at Ron-A-Roll but apparently didn't make it very far past the check-in counter before she was stopped by a rink employee, who offered her two options: remove her headscarf or wear a helmet over it.
Rodriguez-Colon said she felt "mortified" when an employee at a rink asked her to wear a helmet on top of her religious headscarf, or hijab.
But Jennifer Conde, the operations manager at the Ron-A-Roll, said the rink's main priority is the safety of its patrons.
"We are not insensitive to people's religion," she said. "We just focus on safety."
In a statement to FoxNews.com, Ron-A-Roll said it has a policy that prohibits headwear to be worn in the building. Safety helmets are offered to those that are unable to remove headwear for any reason, because they are secured with a chin strap....
Ron-A-Roll's meticulous attention to details, in this case, is troubling to Mongi Dhaouadi, the executive director of the Connecticut office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations[.]
Even Fox makes no mention of the fact that CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several of its former officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. Two of its other officials have made Islamic supremacist statements. CAIR also was involved in the Flying Imams' intimidation suit against the passengers who reported their suspicious behavior.
Dhaouadi said the rink has all but turned a deaf ear when he asked to talk about the matter.
"These were two women who were not allowed in because they wore this headscarf," he said. "They had absolutely no intention to skate."...
Then why did they want to come in? Just to provoke this confrontation?
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 6:08 PM
Muslim Lynch Mobs Attack And Kill Christians In Egypt, World Yawns...
From Winds of Jihad:
Muslim Lynch Mobs Attack & Kill Christians in Egypt, World Yawns…..
by sheikyermami on November 25, 2010
Egypt charges 156 Christians for clashes over the building of a church
The controversy started when Egyptian authorities halted the construction of a church. Traditional Islamic law, which is not fully implemented in Egypt, forbids non-Muslims to build new houses of worship or repair old ones. “Egypt: 156 detained over Christian riots,” from AP, November 25 (thanks to JW):
CAIRO – Egypt’s prosecutor general leveled severe accusations Thursday against 156 Christians, including explosives possession and attempted murder, following clashes with police over the building of a church.
One person (at least five) died and 68 others were injured when security forces halted construction on a church citing violations of building permits.
Angry Christians hurled stones while riot police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets near the church and later in clashes outside the governor’s office.
The prosecutor general ordered a renewable 15-day-detention for those arrested, on accusations of sabotage, assault, possession of explosives and attempted murder of police.
Update: Muslims burn crosses in Egypt
“The Muslims reportedly set several crucifixes alight and threw stones at the Copts…” Islamic supremacists in Egypt are very different from the KKK, but as they burned crosses in their recent clashes with Copts, their motive is the same as that of the KKK: to intimidate, to frighten. They want to “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60).
An update on this story. “Egypt: Coptic pope Shenuda III deplores ‘anti-Christian’ violence,” from AKI, November 24/via JW
Some 15 police officers were injured in the clashes. No one arrested or charged over the death of one protester, killed after being shot in the thigh according to forensic reports.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million. They complain frequently of discrimination, though they generally live in peace with the Muslim majority despite occasional flare-ups of violence, especially over limits on church building.
In his first comment after riots, Egypt’s Coptic Pope Shenouda III blamed the local authorities of using violence against the Christians….
The construction had been ordered halted in this case because the building was not licensed to become a house of worship, a government statement said….
The Coptic community says authorities in Egypt are reluctant to approve permits to build churches, which they say they need to accommodate growing numbers of worshippers.
Human rights groups say attacks on Copts are on the rise, underscoring the government’s failure to address chronic sectarian strains in a society where religious radicalism is gaining ground.
Here is the referenced AP article:
Egypt: 156 detained over Christian riots
EmailPrint.. AP – An Egyptian Christian throws stones during a riot after authorities halted construction on a church, … .– Thu Nov 25, 2:09 pm ET
CAIRO – Egypt's prosecutor general leveled severe accusations Thursday against 156 Christians, including explosives possession and attempted murder, following clashes with police over the building of a church.
One person died and 68 others were injured when security forces halted construction on a church citing violations of building permits.
Angry Christians hurled stones while riot police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets near the church and later in clashes outside the governor's office.
The prosecutor general ordered a renewable 15-day-detention for those arrested, on accusations of sabotage, assault, possession of explosives and attempted murder of police.
Some 15 police officers were injured in the clashes. No one arrested or charged over the death of one protester, killed after being shot in the thigh according to forensic reports.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million. They complain frequently of discrimination, though they generally live in peace with the Muslim majority despite occasional flare-ups of violence, especially over limits on church building.
In his first comment after riots, Egypt's Coptic Pope Shenouda III blamed the local authorities of using violence against the Christians.
"God has given authority to some people to use it for the help of those under their authority," he said in his weekly lecture on Wednesday attended by thousands of Christians including families of the protesters.
"Violence leads to violence," he said warning governors and local authorities against using force to deal with the Christian issue.
The construction had been ordered halted in this case because the building was not licensed to become a house of worship, a government statement said.
Spokesman of the ruling National Democratic Party Ali Eddin Helal said that local authorities took action against the church after they saw "a dome" rising over the building.
The Coptic community says authorities in Egypt are reluctant to approve permits to build churches, which they say they need to accommodate growing numbers of worshippers.
Human rights groups say attacks on Copts are on the rise, underscoring the government's failure to address chronic sectarian strains in a society where religious radicalism is gaining ground.
(This version CORRECTS corrects number of people injured.)
More on the Cross-Burning article, from Jihad Watch:
Muslims burn crosses in Egypt
"The Muslims reportedly set several crucifixes alight and threw stones at the Copts..." Islamic supremacists in Egypt are very different from the KKK, but as they burned crosses in their recent clashes with Copts, their motive is the same as that of the KKK: to intimidate, to frighten. They want to "strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah" (Qur'an 8:60).
An update on this story. "Egypt: Coptic pope Shenuda III deplores 'anti-Christian' violence," from AKI, November 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Egypt's Coptic Pope Shenuda III on Wednesday deplored the violent clashes with security forces in Cairo's Giza district when thousands of minority Christians marched to demand permission from the government to build a church.
Shenuda III was quoted by pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi as saying he wanted to "forcibly resist action of this kind."
He said he wanted to "work to restore calm and prevent further acts of violence in the city."
A group of Muslims reportedly gathered in the area of Giza where some 3,000 Coptic Christians were reported to have protested outside the office of the local governor.
The Muslims reportedly set several crucifixes alight and threw stones at the Copts....
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 6:37 PM
Here’s a more detailed report in German:
Ägyptische Soldaten lynchen Christen
Muslim Lynch Mobs Attack & Kill Christians in Egypt, World Yawns…..
by sheikyermami on November 25, 2010
Egypt charges 156 Christians for clashes over the building of a church
The controversy started when Egyptian authorities halted the construction of a church. Traditional Islamic law, which is not fully implemented in Egypt, forbids non-Muslims to build new houses of worship or repair old ones. “Egypt: 156 detained over Christian riots,” from AP, November 25 (thanks to JW):
CAIRO – Egypt’s prosecutor general leveled severe accusations Thursday against 156 Christians, including explosives possession and attempted murder, following clashes with police over the building of a church.
One person (at least five) died and 68 others were injured when security forces halted construction on a church citing violations of building permits.
Angry Christians hurled stones while riot police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets near the church and later in clashes outside the governor’s office.
The prosecutor general ordered a renewable 15-day-detention for those arrested, on accusations of sabotage, assault, possession of explosives and attempted murder of police.
Update: Muslims burn crosses in Egypt
“The Muslims reportedly set several crucifixes alight and threw stones at the Copts…” Islamic supremacists in Egypt are very different from the KKK, but as they burned crosses in their recent clashes with Copts, their motive is the same as that of the KKK: to intimidate, to frighten. They want to “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60).
An update on this story. “Egypt: Coptic pope Shenuda III deplores ‘anti-Christian’ violence,” from AKI, November 24/via JW
Some 15 police officers were injured in the clashes. No one arrested or charged over the death of one protester, killed after being shot in the thigh according to forensic reports.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million. They complain frequently of discrimination, though they generally live in peace with the Muslim majority despite occasional flare-ups of violence, especially over limits on church building.
In his first comment after riots, Egypt’s Coptic Pope Shenouda III blamed the local authorities of using violence against the Christians….
The construction had been ordered halted in this case because the building was not licensed to become a house of worship, a government statement said….
The Coptic community says authorities in Egypt are reluctant to approve permits to build churches, which they say they need to accommodate growing numbers of worshippers.
Human rights groups say attacks on Copts are on the rise, underscoring the government’s failure to address chronic sectarian strains in a society where religious radicalism is gaining ground.
Here is the referenced AP article:
Egypt: 156 detained over Christian riots
EmailPrint.. AP – An Egyptian Christian throws stones during a riot after authorities halted construction on a church, … .– Thu Nov 25, 2:09 pm ET
CAIRO – Egypt's prosecutor general leveled severe accusations Thursday against 156 Christians, including explosives possession and attempted murder, following clashes with police over the building of a church.
One person died and 68 others were injured when security forces halted construction on a church citing violations of building permits.
Angry Christians hurled stones while riot police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets near the church and later in clashes outside the governor's office.
The prosecutor general ordered a renewable 15-day-detention for those arrested, on accusations of sabotage, assault, possession of explosives and attempted murder of police.
Some 15 police officers were injured in the clashes. No one arrested or charged over the death of one protester, killed after being shot in the thigh according to forensic reports.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million. They complain frequently of discrimination, though they generally live in peace with the Muslim majority despite occasional flare-ups of violence, especially over limits on church building.
In his first comment after riots, Egypt's Coptic Pope Shenouda III blamed the local authorities of using violence against the Christians.
"God has given authority to some people to use it for the help of those under their authority," he said in his weekly lecture on Wednesday attended by thousands of Christians including families of the protesters.
"Violence leads to violence," he said warning governors and local authorities against using force to deal with the Christian issue.
The construction had been ordered halted in this case because the building was not licensed to become a house of worship, a government statement said.
Spokesman of the ruling National Democratic Party Ali Eddin Helal said that local authorities took action against the church after they saw "a dome" rising over the building.
The Coptic community says authorities in Egypt are reluctant to approve permits to build churches, which they say they need to accommodate growing numbers of worshippers.
Human rights groups say attacks on Copts are on the rise, underscoring the government's failure to address chronic sectarian strains in a society where religious radicalism is gaining ground.
(This version CORRECTS corrects number of people injured.)
More on the Cross-Burning article, from Jihad Watch:
Muslims burn crosses in Egypt
"The Muslims reportedly set several crucifixes alight and threw stones at the Copts..." Islamic supremacists in Egypt are very different from the KKK, but as they burned crosses in their recent clashes with Copts, their motive is the same as that of the KKK: to intimidate, to frighten. They want to "strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah" (Qur'an 8:60).
An update on this story. "Egypt: Coptic pope Shenuda III deplores 'anti-Christian' violence," from AKI, November 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Egypt's Coptic Pope Shenuda III on Wednesday deplored the violent clashes with security forces in Cairo's Giza district when thousands of minority Christians marched to demand permission from the government to build a church.
Shenuda III was quoted by pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi as saying he wanted to "forcibly resist action of this kind."
He said he wanted to "work to restore calm and prevent further acts of violence in the city."
A group of Muslims reportedly gathered in the area of Giza where some 3,000 Coptic Christians were reported to have protested outside the office of the local governor.
The Muslims reportedly set several crucifixes alight and threw stones at the Copts....
Posted by Robert on November 25, 2010 6:37 PM
Here’s a more detailed report in German:
Ägyptische Soldaten lynchen Christen
Thursday, November 25, 2010
How Muslims Are Celebrating Eid-Ul-Adha
From Fire Andrea Mitchell:
Nov 16, 2010 2:23 PMHow Muslims are celebrating Eid-ul-Adhafrom Fire Andrea Mitchell! by adminObama was quick to wish Muslims a happy “Eid-Ul-Adha” on behalf of the American people. So let’s see how Muslims are celebrating the day that Abraham sacrificed his own son.
In what Ayatollah of Iran called “a symbol of spirituality” Muslims at The Hajj chanted “Death to America” “Death to Israel” and “God is Great!”
In Egypt, 4,000 Muslims attacked “Copts” in Upper Egypt’s Kina County. In the town of Al- Nawaed, in the center of Abu Teshet. The attackers surrounded the area, starting fires in Coptic houses while Copts were still inside.
Happy Eid-Ul-Adha indeed! Obama, you DON’T speak for me.
Nov 16, 2010 2:23 PMHow Muslims are celebrating Eid-ul-Adhafrom Fire Andrea Mitchell! by adminObama was quick to wish Muslims a happy “Eid-Ul-Adha” on behalf of the American people. So let’s see how Muslims are celebrating the day that Abraham sacrificed his own son.
In what Ayatollah of Iran called “a symbol of spirituality” Muslims at The Hajj chanted “Death to America” “Death to Israel” and “God is Great!”
In Egypt, 4,000 Muslims attacked “Copts” in Upper Egypt’s Kina County. In the town of Al- Nawaed, in the center of Abu Teshet. The attackers surrounded the area, starting fires in Coptic houses while Copts were still inside.
Happy Eid-Ul-Adha indeed! Obama, you DON’T speak for me.
It Begins...IRS Targets Jewish (And Other) Groups That Support The Existence Of Israel
From Gateway Pundit and Right Network:
It Begins… IRS Targets Jewish Groups That Support Existence of Israel
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, November 25, 2010, 6:49 PM
Do you remember when Jesse Jackson said that under Obama Jews would lose all of their clout?
…He was right.
U.S. Ambassador Eileen Donahoe and First Secretary Mark Cassayre, Geneva, attend a UN meeting on September 15, 2010. Israel was banned from the meeting. (EYE on the UN)
The IRS is targeting American Jewish groups that support the existence of Israel.
Ben Smith at The Politico reported:
A Pennsylvania Jewish group that has claimed the Internal Revenue Service is targeting pro-Israel groups introduced in federal court today a letter from an IRS agent to another, unnamed organization that tax experts said was likely outside the usual or appropriate scope of an IRS inquiry.
“Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?” IRS agent Tracy Dornette wrote the organization, according to this week’s court filing, as part of its consideration of the organizations application for tax exempt status. “Describe your organization’s religious belief sytem toward the land of Israel.”
The document emerged in the course of a lawsuit filed in August by Z Street, a hawkish group that casts itself as the Zionist answer to the liberal J Street. Z Street claims that a different IRS agent reviewing its application for tax exempt status said the agency is “carefully scrutinizing organizations that are in any way connected with Israel” and that “a special unit” is determining whether its activities “contradict the Administration’s public policies.’”
The IRS can deny tax exempt status to groups that work against “established public policy,” a precedent established in its denial of a tax exemption to Bob Jones University over racial discrimination, and Z Street is suggesting that the IRS has begun applying some such policy to pro-Israel groups.
Hat Tip Geri
It Begins… IRS Targets Jewish Groups That Support Existence of Israel
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, November 25, 2010, 6:49 PM
Do you remember when Jesse Jackson said that under Obama Jews would lose all of their clout?
…He was right.
U.S. Ambassador Eileen Donahoe and First Secretary Mark Cassayre, Geneva, attend a UN meeting on September 15, 2010. Israel was banned from the meeting. (EYE on the UN)
The IRS is targeting American Jewish groups that support the existence of Israel.
Ben Smith at The Politico reported:
A Pennsylvania Jewish group that has claimed the Internal Revenue Service is targeting pro-Israel groups introduced in federal court today a letter from an IRS agent to another, unnamed organization that tax experts said was likely outside the usual or appropriate scope of an IRS inquiry.
“Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?” IRS agent Tracy Dornette wrote the organization, according to this week’s court filing, as part of its consideration of the organizations application for tax exempt status. “Describe your organization’s religious belief sytem toward the land of Israel.”
The document emerged in the course of a lawsuit filed in August by Z Street, a hawkish group that casts itself as the Zionist answer to the liberal J Street. Z Street claims that a different IRS agent reviewing its application for tax exempt status said the agency is “carefully scrutinizing organizations that are in any way connected with Israel” and that “a special unit” is determining whether its activities “contradict the Administration’s public policies.’”
The IRS can deny tax exempt status to groups that work against “established public policy,” a precedent established in its denial of a tax exemption to Bob Jones University over racial discrimination, and Z Street is suggesting that the IRS has begun applying some such policy to pro-Israel groups.
Hat Tip Geri
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Europe, Immigration, And Merkel's Christian Values
From Action Institute Power Blog and Alliance Defense Fund:
Europe, Immigration, and Merkel’s Christian Values
By Samuel Gregg
It’s not often senior European political leaders make politically-incorrect statements, but Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has recently made a habit of it. The subject has been the touchy question of Muslim immigration and the challenges it poses for European identity. Not only has Merkel upset the European political class (especially the Left and the Greens) by saying what everyone knows—that multiculturalism has “utterly failed”—but she also argued that the issue was not “too much Islam” but “too little Christianity.”
“We have too few discussions about the Christian view of mankind,” Merkel claimed in a recent speech. She then stressed that Germany needs to reflect more upon “the values that guide us, about our Judeo-Christian tradition.” It was one way, Merkel maintained, of bringing “about cohesion in our society.”
On one level, Merkel is surely stating the blindingly obvious. How can Europeans ask Muslim immigrants to integrate into European society and respect European values without Europeans themselves being clear in their own minds about what values are at the core of European identity and where these values come from?
And as much as significant portions of European society would like to deny it, it’s simply a historical fact that the idea of Europe and European values such as liberty, equality before the law, and solidarity did not suddenly appear ex nihilo in the late seventeenth-century with the various Enlightenments. Central to the formation of European identity and such values was the synthesis of Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem achieved by Christianity following the Roman Empire’s collapse in the West in 476 A.D.
Indeed there’s plenty of evidence that the antecedents of most of the various freedoms and genuine achievements of the various Enlightenments are to be found in Christianity. There is increasing recognition, for example, that the idea of human rights was first given concrete expression by medieval canon lawyers.
Yet it is hardly a secret that the Judeo-Christian heritage sits very loosely on many European societies. We find this in a type of secular-fundamentalism—exemplified by Spain’s current Socialist government—that has become fashionable among sections of the European Left. But the ambiguity also manifests itself in the persistence of historical legends that diminish, distort, and denigrate Christianity’s contributions to European civilization.
A good example is the mythology of the so-called “Dark Ages” that permeates popular and elite discussion of European history. Most of the moral, political, and legal foundations of modern market economies, for instance, were established in Europe well before the sixteenth century. Likewise the scientific method was born in the Middle Ages. Medieval thinkers such as Albertus Magnus made crucial contributions to the development of the natural sciences. Yet despite these facts, many persist in claiming that market economies are essentially a post-Enlightenment phenomenon, or that Christianity is essentially “anti-science.”
But the problem is not only with secular opinion. Since the 1950s, many European Christians have gradually reduced their Christian faith to a vacuous humanitarianism worthy of the best EU-funded NGO. One difficulty with “liberal Christianity” (or whatever’s left of it) is that it isn’t especially interested in affirming any Christian values that go beyond sentimental platitudes about tolerance and equality which are routinely emptied of any specific Christian content. It’s goodbye Thomas Aquinas, hello John Rawls.
This makes it even more ironic that increasing numbers of secular European thinkers believe Europe can only reinvigorate its distinct identity and values through reengaging its Judeo-Christian heritage. This is certainly the conclusion of one of Germany’s most prominent intellectuals, Jürgen Habermas.
A self-described “methodological atheist,” Habermas has been insisting for some time that Europe no longer has the luxury of wallowing in historical denial. As Habermas wrote in his 2006 book, A Time of Transitions: “Christianity, and nothing else [is] the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of western civilization. To this day we have no other options. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter.”
It follows that any serious discussion of Europe’s Christian values in the context of contemporary immigration and identity debates will require many Europeans to go beyond their often-truncated understandings of European history and Christianity. There’s something paradoxical about this being facilitated by the increasing numbers of Muslims living in Europe. But such an engagement is arguably being made even more urgent by the economic reality that Europe will need even more immigrants if its present demographic winter persists for any significant period of time.
What Chancellor Merkel herself understands by “the Christian view of mankind” was not clear from her remarks. Nor is it evident that particular Christian ideas are always compatible with some Muslim positions. Despite the interfaith babble to the contrary, there are some fundamental theological differences between Christianity and Islam, many of which have implications for subjects ranging from religious liberty to the nature of the state. Merkel, however, is undoubtedly correct to insist that any discussion of immigration in Europe should involve Europeans worrying a little less about Islam and paying far more attention to knowing the truth about their own heritage and Christianity’s place in it.
The truth doesn’t just set us free. There’s no future without it.
Dr. Samuel Gregg is Research Director at the Acton Institute. He has authored several books including On Ordered Liberty, his prize-winning The Commercial Society, and Wilhelm Röpke’s Political Economy.
Europe, Immigration, and Merkel’s Christian Values
By Samuel Gregg
It’s not often senior European political leaders make politically-incorrect statements, but Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has recently made a habit of it. The subject has been the touchy question of Muslim immigration and the challenges it poses for European identity. Not only has Merkel upset the European political class (especially the Left and the Greens) by saying what everyone knows—that multiculturalism has “utterly failed”—but she also argued that the issue was not “too much Islam” but “too little Christianity.”
“We have too few discussions about the Christian view of mankind,” Merkel claimed in a recent speech. She then stressed that Germany needs to reflect more upon “the values that guide us, about our Judeo-Christian tradition.” It was one way, Merkel maintained, of bringing “about cohesion in our society.”
On one level, Merkel is surely stating the blindingly obvious. How can Europeans ask Muslim immigrants to integrate into European society and respect European values without Europeans themselves being clear in their own minds about what values are at the core of European identity and where these values come from?
And as much as significant portions of European society would like to deny it, it’s simply a historical fact that the idea of Europe and European values such as liberty, equality before the law, and solidarity did not suddenly appear ex nihilo in the late seventeenth-century with the various Enlightenments. Central to the formation of European identity and such values was the synthesis of Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem achieved by Christianity following the Roman Empire’s collapse in the West in 476 A.D.
Indeed there’s plenty of evidence that the antecedents of most of the various freedoms and genuine achievements of the various Enlightenments are to be found in Christianity. There is increasing recognition, for example, that the idea of human rights was first given concrete expression by medieval canon lawyers.
Yet it is hardly a secret that the Judeo-Christian heritage sits very loosely on many European societies. We find this in a type of secular-fundamentalism—exemplified by Spain’s current Socialist government—that has become fashionable among sections of the European Left. But the ambiguity also manifests itself in the persistence of historical legends that diminish, distort, and denigrate Christianity’s contributions to European civilization.
A good example is the mythology of the so-called “Dark Ages” that permeates popular and elite discussion of European history. Most of the moral, political, and legal foundations of modern market economies, for instance, were established in Europe well before the sixteenth century. Likewise the scientific method was born in the Middle Ages. Medieval thinkers such as Albertus Magnus made crucial contributions to the development of the natural sciences. Yet despite these facts, many persist in claiming that market economies are essentially a post-Enlightenment phenomenon, or that Christianity is essentially “anti-science.”
But the problem is not only with secular opinion. Since the 1950s, many European Christians have gradually reduced their Christian faith to a vacuous humanitarianism worthy of the best EU-funded NGO. One difficulty with “liberal Christianity” (or whatever’s left of it) is that it isn’t especially interested in affirming any Christian values that go beyond sentimental platitudes about tolerance and equality which are routinely emptied of any specific Christian content. It’s goodbye Thomas Aquinas, hello John Rawls.
This makes it even more ironic that increasing numbers of secular European thinkers believe Europe can only reinvigorate its distinct identity and values through reengaging its Judeo-Christian heritage. This is certainly the conclusion of one of Germany’s most prominent intellectuals, Jürgen Habermas.
A self-described “methodological atheist,” Habermas has been insisting for some time that Europe no longer has the luxury of wallowing in historical denial. As Habermas wrote in his 2006 book, A Time of Transitions: “Christianity, and nothing else [is] the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of western civilization. To this day we have no other options. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter.”
It follows that any serious discussion of Europe’s Christian values in the context of contemporary immigration and identity debates will require many Europeans to go beyond their often-truncated understandings of European history and Christianity. There’s something paradoxical about this being facilitated by the increasing numbers of Muslims living in Europe. But such an engagement is arguably being made even more urgent by the economic reality that Europe will need even more immigrants if its present demographic winter persists for any significant period of time.
What Chancellor Merkel herself understands by “the Christian view of mankind” was not clear from her remarks. Nor is it evident that particular Christian ideas are always compatible with some Muslim positions. Despite the interfaith babble to the contrary, there are some fundamental theological differences between Christianity and Islam, many of which have implications for subjects ranging from religious liberty to the nature of the state. Merkel, however, is undoubtedly correct to insist that any discussion of immigration in Europe should involve Europeans worrying a little less about Islam and paying far more attention to knowing the truth about their own heritage and Christianity’s place in it.
The truth doesn’t just set us free. There’s no future without it.
Dr. Samuel Gregg is Research Director at the Acton Institute. He has authored several books including On Ordered Liberty, his prize-winning The Commercial Society, and Wilhelm Röpke’s Political Economy.
British Government Warns Muslims About Teaching Sharia In Schools
From The Christian Century and Alliance Defense Fund:
London warns British Muslims on Shariah in schools
Nov 24, 2010 by Al Webb
LONDON (RNS) The British government has warned a network of Islamic schools in the wake of a BBC investigation that claims extremist Shariah law is being taught to thousands of Muslim students.
The televised report, by the BBC's Panorama program, said as many as 5,000 pupils are being taught that thieves should have their hands cut off as punishment and that Jews are working to dominate the world.
The investigation, which aired Monday (Nov. 22), said young Muslims are being instructed in Shariah law that also preaches that non-believers in the Islamic faith are condemned to "hellfire."
Britain's coalition government swiftly issued a statement warning that "we will not accept any proposal where we have concerns about the people behind the proposal, or if we think the school will undermine British democracy."
The Panorama report said textbooks in the schools are part of the Saudi Arabian national curriculum, which includes diagrams for where cuts should be made to the hands and feet of thieves who violate Shariah law.
The report said teachings include punishments for homosexuality ranging from being stoned to being thrown off a cliff, and that when Jews die they are transformed into pigs or apes.
Education Secretary Michael Gove issued his own warning, that extremism, anti-Semitism and homophobia will not be tolerated in British schools.
The Panorama investigation said the network of more than 40 Muslim private schools is part of an umbrella group calling itself the Saudi Students Clubs and Schools in Britain. The Saudi embassy in London disavowed any connection to the group.
"Any tutoring activities that may have taken place among any other group of Muslims in the United Kingdom are absolutely individual to that group and not affiliated to or endorsed by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia," the embassy said in a statement...
London warns British Muslims on Shariah in schools
Nov 24, 2010 by Al Webb
LONDON (RNS) The British government has warned a network of Islamic schools in the wake of a BBC investigation that claims extremist Shariah law is being taught to thousands of Muslim students.
The televised report, by the BBC's Panorama program, said as many as 5,000 pupils are being taught that thieves should have their hands cut off as punishment and that Jews are working to dominate the world.
The investigation, which aired Monday (Nov. 22), said young Muslims are being instructed in Shariah law that also preaches that non-believers in the Islamic faith are condemned to "hellfire."
Britain's coalition government swiftly issued a statement warning that "we will not accept any proposal where we have concerns about the people behind the proposal, or if we think the school will undermine British democracy."
The Panorama report said textbooks in the schools are part of the Saudi Arabian national curriculum, which includes diagrams for where cuts should be made to the hands and feet of thieves who violate Shariah law.
The report said teachings include punishments for homosexuality ranging from being stoned to being thrown off a cliff, and that when Jews die they are transformed into pigs or apes.
Education Secretary Michael Gove issued his own warning, that extremism, anti-Semitism and homophobia will not be tolerated in British schools.
The Panorama investigation said the network of more than 40 Muslim private schools is part of an umbrella group calling itself the Saudi Students Clubs and Schools in Britain. The Saudi embassy in London disavowed any connection to the group.
"Any tutoring activities that may have taken place among any other group of Muslims in the United Kingdom are absolutely individual to that group and not affiliated to or endorsed by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia," the embassy said in a statement...
Conference Promotes Muslim World Control/Domination
From World Net Daily and Vision to America:
Conference promotes Muslim world control
Most 'serious Islamic movements have this as their main objective'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 22, 2010
9:17 pm Eastern
By Michael Carl
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Elliot Spitzer said on his CNN television program recently that Islamic activist Sheikh Anjem Choudary should be in jail for advocating violence against the United States.
The comment came after Choudary confirmed he was in contact with people inside the United States and was encouraging them to attack the United States.
The exchange appears on video:
But instead of being jailed, or even under investigation, Choudary soon will be addressing an international gathering of Muslims in London where a platform will be created to exhort attendees to work for the worldwide spread of Islam and Shariah.
The International Islamic Revival Conference is scheduled for Nov. 27, and Choudary is one of two headline speakers for the one-day event.
The British sheikh says organizers believe the international Muslim community is in disarray and the conference's purpose is to reverse that process.
Find out what Islam has planned for your, get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America."
"You see that Muslims are living in dictatorships and under tyrants who are promoting things that are anathema to Muslims, like democracy and freedom, which we completely reject. They have no foundation in the divine text," Choudary stated.
"One of the main issues that should concern Muslims nowadays is to re-establish the khilafa (the caliphate) which is where the Shariah was being implemented on the state level," Choudary continued.
"This is where the security and the authorities are in the hands of Muslims and the Shariah is being implemented internally and even externally as a foreign policy, and where sovereignty and supremacy belongs to God," Choudary added.
Listen to an interview with Choudary:
"This is a vital issue and you can see that most of the serious Islamic movements worldwide have this as their main, or maybe only, objective," Choudary said.
Choudary's emphasis is on the establishment of the caliphate and the imposition of Shariah law. He says there are many obstacles to this happening.
"The problem that we have obviously are that the obstacles that stand in the way of the implementation of the Shariah are both intellectual and physical. The intellectual are the lack of understanding of the masses of the Muslims, people adopting ideas that are alien to Islam such as secularism, liberalism, democracy and freedom," Choudary claimed.
He says the physical problems include non-Islamic regimes.
"There are also foreign forces on Islamic soil which are trying to continue the status quo. Some of the leaders are Asians, Americans or British and they're looking after their own interests be they economic, strategic or military," Choudary claimed further.
He writes on his web page that he personally is working for Izharudeen, Islamic world dominance. This also happens to be the word used in the conference's internet URL.
Choudary emphasizes that jihad is an integral part of Muslim policy.
Listen to the rest of the Choudary interview:
"The foreign policy of the Islamic state is jihad, jihad in order to remove anything that stands in the way of divine law. The prerequisite of that is having an Islamic state," Choudary asserted.
"Then after that comes the establishment of the foreign policy. So ultimately we do believe the Western nations, the ones in fact where Shariah was never implemented in history, will one day be governed by Shariah. This is the promise of Allah," Choudary further stated.
"We know very well that there are foreign forces in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Palestine. Many of the Muslim states are being oppressed by non-Islamic forces in Xinjiang in China, in Chechnya, Uzbekistan. We have them now in Sudan, in Somalia, we can go on and on," Choudary said.
"There is hardly a country today where there is not some struggle taking place to re-establish the Shariah," Choudary added.
Choudary says he proudly wears the label of an extremist or radical because he says that every Muslim should be a Muslim radical.
"I am a Muslim. If you want to give me a label, I practice Islam and I practice Shariah. So, I am happy to take those labels," Choudary claimed.
"The best man who walked the earth, the messenger Muhammad, was called trustworthy before he got his revelations. After that his enemies called him 'mad.' They said he had the magic of words and he was labeled all kinds of labels," Choudary continued.
"I wear those labels with pride if you want to call me a militant, an extremist or a fundamentalist," Choudary said.
Choudary believes that Islam is under attack and says Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's comment that Western civilization is superior to Islamic is a prime example.
Choudary's fellow conference speaker, Shariah Belgium's leader Abu Imran, says Europe is Islamic territory.
Listen to interview with Imran:
"We would like to revive the spirit of that Islamic state. And we work every day to build that state again. That Europe is rightly an Islamic nation is a fact," Imran remarked.
"Even if it wasn't, we believe that Islam will dominate the world and we are working for that concept," Imran added.
Imran adds that this expansion of Islam also involves the United States.
"Like we said in several interviews, the Islamic flag will rise above the White House," Imran claimed.
Imran speaks of the conversion of the United States in past tense.
"The White House was never Islamic and America was never an Islamic state before," Imran added.
Imran believes that this development will stay in place because it was promised by Allah.
Terrorism analyst, Hoover Institution media fellow, and "Muslim Mafia" co-author Paul Sperry says that Choudary paints with a broad brush claiming that all Muslims agree with his position. But Sperry adds that statistics reflect that Choudary may be right.
"Choudary claims all Muslims support Shariah and jihad, even Muslims in America, only 'behind your backs.' Unfortunately, I suspect there's some truth to that based on surveys of our Muslim population. Pew found that 1 in 4 young Muslims here support suicide bombings, and Gallup recently found that our Muslims are just as 'angry' as British Muslims," Sperry explained.
Sperry adds that the belief that American Muslims have become Americanized is a myth.
"The notion that our Muslims are better assimilated and less radicalized is a myth that was finally debunked this fall by a report on homegrown terrorism put out by a group headed by the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission," Sperry said.
Sperry adds that the persistent myth about a more peace-loving Islam in America has dangerous consequences.
"That stubborn myth has lulled us into a false sense of security about the internal threat we face. The report discovered what frustrated FBI case agents and detectives working Muslim beats have already known anecdotally for years – that a terrorist radicalization and recruitment infrastructure had been established inside the country that includes mosques and madrassas and charities and even prominent Muslim groups – all financed and supported by the Saudi-backed Muslim Brotherhood," Sperry further explained.
"The Islamic radicals in this country aren't, as we've been led to believe, the 'fringe.' They're the establishment. A disturbingly large portion of the Muslim community does fall in line with Brotherhood thinking, which hews closely to Islamic scripture and does not betray it as we've been told," Sperry continued.
Sperry says the authorities have seen the evidence inside Muslim homes.
"When case agents and police go into Muslim homes even in our nation's capital and find computer screen-savers with images of Osama bin Laden and anti-Jew and anti-Christian drawings and poems by their kids hanging on refrigerators, they have to wonder about the community's patriotism and cooperation," Sperry said.
Sperry adds that these details should raise questions about security.
"Are they really self-policing for jihadists in their midst, or are they secretly supporting the bad guys? Are they loyal to the Constitution, or are they trying to erect a parallel legal system based on Shariah law, as Muslims in the D.C. suburbs and elsewhere have tried to do regarding domestic abuse and other family issues?" Sperry asked.
Sperry adds that the evidence suggests that Americans have been deceived.
"How pervasive is the deceit? Is it really as insidious as Choudary boasts? And have we been too eager to buy into pleasant platitudes about a 'religion of peace'? The evidence suggests we have. The evidence suggests that we're being played for suckers about the true nature and scope of the threat from both jihadism and Shariah creep," Sperry explained.
Sperry's comments are borne out by Choudary himself, who said that the type of Islam the West supports is the "religion of peace." Choudary adds that is not true Islam.
"Islam that is practiced by the Muslims who are not selling themselves out to non-Islamic regimes, and that are not going with their begging bowls for some influence or position, believe in the concept of Shariah, believe in the concept of jihad, believe in the concept of khiliafa – those are the kinds of Muslims that Blair and Bush would call terrorists and extremists," Choudary explained.
Other speakers scheduled for the one-day event are the currently imprisoned Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, Abu Izzadeen, Sheikh Hani as Sibaa'I, Ustaad Abu Mujahida, Ustaad Abu Farooq, and Sheikh Abdullah Faisal.
Get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," autographed, from WND's Superstore.
"Why We Left Islam" now from the people who published it – WND Books.
"The Late Great State of Israel"
"Schmoozing with Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – to a Jew!"
The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism: Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous stories:
Muslim leader recruits Americans for jihad
Muslim Brotherhood 'declares war' on U.S.
CAIR leaders sign petition condemning 'threats'
'Son of Hamas' warns U.S. fatally falling for lies
Justice Department confirms CAIR terror ties
U.S. grants asylum to born-again 'Son of Hamas'
U.S. trying to deport born-again 'Son of Hamas' as terrorist
Born-again 'Son of Hamas' now fights 'Islam's god'
'Muslim Mafia' counters in battle to quash book
Justice Department confirms CAIR terror ties
Desperate Muslims launch 'Hail Mary'
Federal judge rules against 'Muslim Mafia'
The First Amendment case the media refuse to cover
Senator's call to profile angers 'Muslim Mafia'
FBI gets 'Muslim Mafia' 'smoking-gun' documents
Hear 'Muslim Mafia' lawyer on CAIR case
CAIR admitted fundraising for convicted terror group
Muslim group asks Obama for protection
Experts: Lawsuit could end 'cancerous pro-jihad group'
'Muslim Mafia' lawsuit response: Legally, CAIR doesn't even exist
FBI swoops in to halt return of 'Muslim Mafia' documents
Lawmakers ask IRS to investigate CAIR
CAIR boasts of influence on media after Fort Hood
CAIR speaker to Muslims: OK to attack Fort Bragg
Army shooter's mosque run by Muslim Mafia
Judge orders: Return 'Muslim Mafia' docs
CAIR files suit against 'Muslim Mafia' author
CAIR linked to FBI shootout
What happened to CAIR's headliners?
Surprise! Guess who's the real 'anti-Muslim bigot' in D.C.
CAIR coverage ignores terror ties
Congress targets 'Muslim Mafia'
Meet White House adviser who supports Islamic law
CAIR's 'flying imams' strategy: Sue everyone
'Flying imams' rewarded for ominous airline 'stunt'?
Marriott urged to cancel CAIR banquet
D.C. Muslim group's shocking al-Qaida ties
Yes, CAIR is planting 'spies' on Capitol Hill
Is this man Islamophobic?
'Moderate' CAIR to feature radicals at annual banquet
Myrick: CAIR won't renounce Hamas ideology
Guess who's probing 'Muslim Mafia' now
CAIR attempts to torpedo Capitol press conference
House anti-terror caucus wants CAIR probed
'Now we have proof' jihadis infiltrating D.C.
CAIR spent $160,000 to silence Savage
Lawmakers warn of CAIR threat
CAIR branch boasts of getting DVD censored
FBI asked to investigate Muslim group
Islam investigator ejected from D.C. Muslim conference
Nashville boots anti-jihad conference
Claim: CPS ignored child abuse at U.S. mosque
Private terror probe: 50 mosques in 50 days
Are Americans safe from U.S. mosques?
Get an insider's view of CAIR's banquet
Another day, another CAIR defendant served
Lawsuit's claim: CAIR no longer even exists
Surprise! See CAIR officials get slapped with summons
CAIR's demand for fees from Michael Savage rejected
U.S. 'must oppose' Islamic 'anti-defamation demands'
Islamic takeover of U.S. is already under way
Report: Muslims ripped off by CAIR
Savage lawyers aim at CAIR paymasters
Judge sides with CAIR against Michael Savage
CAIR seeks dismissal of Savage lawsuit
Islamic attacks on Savage target advertisers
CAIR backs film praising convicted terror supporter
CAIR: Civil rights advocates or radical Islamists?
Savage lawsuit calls CAIR 'vehicle of international terrorism'
Islamic attacks on Savage target advertisers
Radio host condemned for 'Islam is a cult'
Feds name CAIR in plot to fund Hamas
'Terrorist apologist' CAIR to meet in Capitol
Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers
Did CAIR founder say Islam to rule America?
Doubts grow over Muslim lawmaker's loyalty
American citizens aided Hamas terror
Internet, talk radio blamed for 'anti-Muslim violence'
Controversial Muslim group gets VIP airport security tour
Muslims fear 'United 93' backlash
CAIR files FOIA on Bush wiretaps
CAIR issues U.S. 'travel advisory'
Boeing apologizes to CAIR for ad
CAIR urges Congress to honor Ramadan
CAIR condemns Jewish attacker
U.S. Muslims' anti-terror fatwa 'bogus'
CAIR to GOP: Repudiate Tancredo
CAIR distributes Quran banned as anti-Semitic
CAIR: Censure Israeli leader for remarks
CAIR gets apology for Muslim remark
CAIR leader convicted on terror charges
CAIR pressures National Review to nix ads
Fox's '24' airs Muslim disclaimer
CAIR presses Fox TV on Muslim terrorists
Jackie Mason calls Islam 'murderous' religion
Muslim group sues critic for $1.35 million
U.S. Muslims silent on Hamas chief's terror
Muslims publish 'Jesus' ad
Muslim group sues congressman for $2 million
Kucinich headlines Muslim fund-raiser
Dr. Laura: No apology to Muslims needed
Dr. Laura rebuked for 'anti-Muslim tirade'
FBI invites Muslim scholars to preach
Feds accused of 'siege' on American Muslims
Muslim-rights voice indicted in jihad plot
Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot
Muslims grooming candidates for 2004
Should Muslim Quran be USA's top authority?
Group forces censure for 'Islamophobia'
Muslims try to quash Bush nominee
University fires 'terror professor'
Muslims try to bar terror expert
American Islamic lobby gets out the vote
Conference promotes Muslim world control
Most 'serious Islamic movements have this as their main objective'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 22, 2010
9:17 pm Eastern
By Michael Carl
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Elliot Spitzer said on his CNN television program recently that Islamic activist Sheikh Anjem Choudary should be in jail for advocating violence against the United States.
The comment came after Choudary confirmed he was in contact with people inside the United States and was encouraging them to attack the United States.
The exchange appears on video:
But instead of being jailed, or even under investigation, Choudary soon will be addressing an international gathering of Muslims in London where a platform will be created to exhort attendees to work for the worldwide spread of Islam and Shariah.
The International Islamic Revival Conference is scheduled for Nov. 27, and Choudary is one of two headline speakers for the one-day event.
The British sheikh says organizers believe the international Muslim community is in disarray and the conference's purpose is to reverse that process.
Find out what Islam has planned for your, get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America."
"You see that Muslims are living in dictatorships and under tyrants who are promoting things that are anathema to Muslims, like democracy and freedom, which we completely reject. They have no foundation in the divine text," Choudary stated.
"One of the main issues that should concern Muslims nowadays is to re-establish the khilafa (the caliphate) which is where the Shariah was being implemented on the state level," Choudary continued.
"This is where the security and the authorities are in the hands of Muslims and the Shariah is being implemented internally and even externally as a foreign policy, and where sovereignty and supremacy belongs to God," Choudary added.
Listen to an interview with Choudary:
"This is a vital issue and you can see that most of the serious Islamic movements worldwide have this as their main, or maybe only, objective," Choudary said.
Choudary's emphasis is on the establishment of the caliphate and the imposition of Shariah law. He says there are many obstacles to this happening.
"The problem that we have obviously are that the obstacles that stand in the way of the implementation of the Shariah are both intellectual and physical. The intellectual are the lack of understanding of the masses of the Muslims, people adopting ideas that are alien to Islam such as secularism, liberalism, democracy and freedom," Choudary claimed.
He says the physical problems include non-Islamic regimes.
"There are also foreign forces on Islamic soil which are trying to continue the status quo. Some of the leaders are Asians, Americans or British and they're looking after their own interests be they economic, strategic or military," Choudary claimed further.
He writes on his web page that he personally is working for Izharudeen, Islamic world dominance. This also happens to be the word used in the conference's internet URL.
Choudary emphasizes that jihad is an integral part of Muslim policy.
Listen to the rest of the Choudary interview:
"The foreign policy of the Islamic state is jihad, jihad in order to remove anything that stands in the way of divine law. The prerequisite of that is having an Islamic state," Choudary asserted.
"Then after that comes the establishment of the foreign policy. So ultimately we do believe the Western nations, the ones in fact where Shariah was never implemented in history, will one day be governed by Shariah. This is the promise of Allah," Choudary further stated.
"We know very well that there are foreign forces in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Palestine. Many of the Muslim states are being oppressed by non-Islamic forces in Xinjiang in China, in Chechnya, Uzbekistan. We have them now in Sudan, in Somalia, we can go on and on," Choudary said.
"There is hardly a country today where there is not some struggle taking place to re-establish the Shariah," Choudary added.
Choudary says he proudly wears the label of an extremist or radical because he says that every Muslim should be a Muslim radical.
"I am a Muslim. If you want to give me a label, I practice Islam and I practice Shariah. So, I am happy to take those labels," Choudary claimed.
"The best man who walked the earth, the messenger Muhammad, was called trustworthy before he got his revelations. After that his enemies called him 'mad.' They said he had the magic of words and he was labeled all kinds of labels," Choudary continued.
"I wear those labels with pride if you want to call me a militant, an extremist or a fundamentalist," Choudary said.
Choudary believes that Islam is under attack and says Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's comment that Western civilization is superior to Islamic is a prime example.
Choudary's fellow conference speaker, Shariah Belgium's leader Abu Imran, says Europe is Islamic territory.
Listen to interview with Imran:
"We would like to revive the spirit of that Islamic state. And we work every day to build that state again. That Europe is rightly an Islamic nation is a fact," Imran remarked.
"Even if it wasn't, we believe that Islam will dominate the world and we are working for that concept," Imran added.
Imran adds that this expansion of Islam also involves the United States.
"Like we said in several interviews, the Islamic flag will rise above the White House," Imran claimed.
Imran speaks of the conversion of the United States in past tense.
"The White House was never Islamic and America was never an Islamic state before," Imran added.
Imran believes that this development will stay in place because it was promised by Allah.
Terrorism analyst, Hoover Institution media fellow, and "Muslim Mafia" co-author Paul Sperry says that Choudary paints with a broad brush claiming that all Muslims agree with his position. But Sperry adds that statistics reflect that Choudary may be right.
"Choudary claims all Muslims support Shariah and jihad, even Muslims in America, only 'behind your backs.' Unfortunately, I suspect there's some truth to that based on surveys of our Muslim population. Pew found that 1 in 4 young Muslims here support suicide bombings, and Gallup recently found that our Muslims are just as 'angry' as British Muslims," Sperry explained.
Sperry adds that the belief that American Muslims have become Americanized is a myth.
"The notion that our Muslims are better assimilated and less radicalized is a myth that was finally debunked this fall by a report on homegrown terrorism put out by a group headed by the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission," Sperry said.
Sperry adds that the persistent myth about a more peace-loving Islam in America has dangerous consequences.
"That stubborn myth has lulled us into a false sense of security about the internal threat we face. The report discovered what frustrated FBI case agents and detectives working Muslim beats have already known anecdotally for years – that a terrorist radicalization and recruitment infrastructure had been established inside the country that includes mosques and madrassas and charities and even prominent Muslim groups – all financed and supported by the Saudi-backed Muslim Brotherhood," Sperry further explained.
"The Islamic radicals in this country aren't, as we've been led to believe, the 'fringe.' They're the establishment. A disturbingly large portion of the Muslim community does fall in line with Brotherhood thinking, which hews closely to Islamic scripture and does not betray it as we've been told," Sperry continued.
Sperry says the authorities have seen the evidence inside Muslim homes.
"When case agents and police go into Muslim homes even in our nation's capital and find computer screen-savers with images of Osama bin Laden and anti-Jew and anti-Christian drawings and poems by their kids hanging on refrigerators, they have to wonder about the community's patriotism and cooperation," Sperry said.
Sperry adds that these details should raise questions about security.
"Are they really self-policing for jihadists in their midst, or are they secretly supporting the bad guys? Are they loyal to the Constitution, or are they trying to erect a parallel legal system based on Shariah law, as Muslims in the D.C. suburbs and elsewhere have tried to do regarding domestic abuse and other family issues?" Sperry asked.
Sperry adds that the evidence suggests that Americans have been deceived.
"How pervasive is the deceit? Is it really as insidious as Choudary boasts? And have we been too eager to buy into pleasant platitudes about a 'religion of peace'? The evidence suggests we have. The evidence suggests that we're being played for suckers about the true nature and scope of the threat from both jihadism and Shariah creep," Sperry explained.
Sperry's comments are borne out by Choudary himself, who said that the type of Islam the West supports is the "religion of peace." Choudary adds that is not true Islam.
"Islam that is practiced by the Muslims who are not selling themselves out to non-Islamic regimes, and that are not going with their begging bowls for some influence or position, believe in the concept of Shariah, believe in the concept of jihad, believe in the concept of khiliafa – those are the kinds of Muslims that Blair and Bush would call terrorists and extremists," Choudary explained.
Other speakers scheduled for the one-day event are the currently imprisoned Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, Abu Izzadeen, Sheikh Hani as Sibaa'I, Ustaad Abu Mujahida, Ustaad Abu Farooq, and Sheikh Abdullah Faisal.
Get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," autographed, from WND's Superstore.
"Why We Left Islam" now from the people who published it – WND Books.
"The Late Great State of Israel"
"Schmoozing with Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – to a Jew!"
The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism: Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous stories:
Muslim leader recruits Americans for jihad
Muslim Brotherhood 'declares war' on U.S.
CAIR leaders sign petition condemning 'threats'
'Son of Hamas' warns U.S. fatally falling for lies
Justice Department confirms CAIR terror ties
U.S. grants asylum to born-again 'Son of Hamas'
U.S. trying to deport born-again 'Son of Hamas' as terrorist
Born-again 'Son of Hamas' now fights 'Islam's god'
'Muslim Mafia' counters in battle to quash book
Justice Department confirms CAIR terror ties
Desperate Muslims launch 'Hail Mary'
Federal judge rules against 'Muslim Mafia'
The First Amendment case the media refuse to cover
Senator's call to profile angers 'Muslim Mafia'
FBI gets 'Muslim Mafia' 'smoking-gun' documents
Hear 'Muslim Mafia' lawyer on CAIR case
CAIR admitted fundraising for convicted terror group
Muslim group asks Obama for protection
Experts: Lawsuit could end 'cancerous pro-jihad group'
'Muslim Mafia' lawsuit response: Legally, CAIR doesn't even exist
FBI swoops in to halt return of 'Muslim Mafia' documents
Lawmakers ask IRS to investigate CAIR
CAIR boasts of influence on media after Fort Hood
CAIR speaker to Muslims: OK to attack Fort Bragg
Army shooter's mosque run by Muslim Mafia
Judge orders: Return 'Muslim Mafia' docs
CAIR files suit against 'Muslim Mafia' author
CAIR linked to FBI shootout
What happened to CAIR's headliners?
Surprise! Guess who's the real 'anti-Muslim bigot' in D.C.
CAIR coverage ignores terror ties
Congress targets 'Muslim Mafia'
Meet White House adviser who supports Islamic law
CAIR's 'flying imams' strategy: Sue everyone
'Flying imams' rewarded for ominous airline 'stunt'?
Marriott urged to cancel CAIR banquet
D.C. Muslim group's shocking al-Qaida ties
Yes, CAIR is planting 'spies' on Capitol Hill
Is this man Islamophobic?
'Moderate' CAIR to feature radicals at annual banquet
Myrick: CAIR won't renounce Hamas ideology
Guess who's probing 'Muslim Mafia' now
CAIR attempts to torpedo Capitol press conference
House anti-terror caucus wants CAIR probed
'Now we have proof' jihadis infiltrating D.C.
CAIR spent $160,000 to silence Savage
Lawmakers warn of CAIR threat
CAIR branch boasts of getting DVD censored
FBI asked to investigate Muslim group
Islam investigator ejected from D.C. Muslim conference
Nashville boots anti-jihad conference
Claim: CPS ignored child abuse at U.S. mosque
Private terror probe: 50 mosques in 50 days
Are Americans safe from U.S. mosques?
Get an insider's view of CAIR's banquet
Another day, another CAIR defendant served
Lawsuit's claim: CAIR no longer even exists
Surprise! See CAIR officials get slapped with summons
CAIR's demand for fees from Michael Savage rejected
U.S. 'must oppose' Islamic 'anti-defamation demands'
Islamic takeover of U.S. is already under way
Report: Muslims ripped off by CAIR
Savage lawyers aim at CAIR paymasters
Judge sides with CAIR against Michael Savage
CAIR seeks dismissal of Savage lawsuit
Islamic attacks on Savage target advertisers
CAIR backs film praising convicted terror supporter
CAIR: Civil rights advocates or radical Islamists?
Savage lawsuit calls CAIR 'vehicle of international terrorism'
Islamic attacks on Savage target advertisers
Radio host condemned for 'Islam is a cult'
Feds name CAIR in plot to fund Hamas
'Terrorist apologist' CAIR to meet in Capitol
Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers
Did CAIR founder say Islam to rule America?
Doubts grow over Muslim lawmaker's loyalty
American citizens aided Hamas terror
Internet, talk radio blamed for 'anti-Muslim violence'
Controversial Muslim group gets VIP airport security tour
Muslims fear 'United 93' backlash
CAIR files FOIA on Bush wiretaps
CAIR issues U.S. 'travel advisory'
Boeing apologizes to CAIR for ad
CAIR urges Congress to honor Ramadan
CAIR condemns Jewish attacker
U.S. Muslims' anti-terror fatwa 'bogus'
CAIR to GOP: Repudiate Tancredo
CAIR distributes Quran banned as anti-Semitic
CAIR: Censure Israeli leader for remarks
CAIR gets apology for Muslim remark
CAIR leader convicted on terror charges
CAIR pressures National Review to nix ads
Fox's '24' airs Muslim disclaimer
CAIR presses Fox TV on Muslim terrorists
Jackie Mason calls Islam 'murderous' religion
Muslim group sues critic for $1.35 million
U.S. Muslims silent on Hamas chief's terror
Muslims publish 'Jesus' ad
Muslim group sues congressman for $2 million
Kucinich headlines Muslim fund-raiser
Dr. Laura: No apology to Muslims needed
Dr. Laura rebuked for 'anti-Muslim tirade'
FBI invites Muslim scholars to preach
Feds accused of 'siege' on American Muslims
Muslim-rights voice indicted in jihad plot
Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot
Muslims grooming candidates for 2004
Should Muslim Quran be USA's top authority?
Group forces censure for 'Islamophobia'
Muslims try to quash Bush nominee
University fires 'terror professor'
Muslims try to bar terror expert
American Islamic lobby gets out the vote
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