ChristiansUnite Forums

'Al Qaeda' in Commons

By MICHAEL LEA

A TERROR suspect allegedly linked to al Qaeda has visited the Houses of Parliament — as the guest of a Labour peer.

Former detainee Mahmoud Suliman Ahmed Abu Rideh even sat in the Commons public gallery for a debate.

He was invited to Westminster on Tuesday by Lord Ahmed, who met him at Regent’s Park mosque three weeks ago.

The father of five — suspected of being a money man for terror groups — was given a SECURITY sticker for his Parliamentary visit.

And he boasted yesterday of sitting in the Commons gallery, adding: “It was very interesting.”

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis last night said Abu Rideh had been able to “walk around one of the UK’s biggest terror targets”.

Lord Ahmed confirmed he invited Abu Rideh, 34, to see him — and said he QUIZZED him over the suspected al Qaeda link.

He said: “I gave an appointment to see him this week. He came to see me as a Parliamentarian. It was my duty to hear what he had to say.

“He came through the peers’ entrance. He went through the security check and I met him at security. He did not leave me for one second.

“I did not take him into any public gallery.

“I asked him, ‘Have you ever been linked with al Qaeda?’ and he denied it.”

Lord Ahmed said he escorted Abu Rideh from the building after the interview in his office.

It is not known when the suspect got into the Commons gallery.

Abu Rideh explained the visit by saying: “I was meeting some people to help me with my problem.”

The Palestinian suspect came to Britain in 1995 and was given permission to remain permanently in 1998.

He was detained as a terror suspect in December 2001, accused of fundraising for groups linked to al Qaeda.

David Blunkett directly accused him of the link to Osama bin Laden’s organisation when Home Secretary.

Abu Rideh has admitted to officials in a statement that he “used to travel around Afghanistan, disguised as a beggar, with large sums of money hidden in a plaster cast on his leg”.

Another document from the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said he admitted fundraising for a school which had “some of the world’s most wanted men” among its parents.

He was first held in London’s Belmarsh jail. But he was then moved to Broadmoor secure hospital in Berkshire after he slashed his arms and wrists.

The SIAC bailed him in 2003 and gave him a Control Order, which places restrictions on his freedom outside.

Abu Rideh returned to his three-bedroom council home in West London — but now wears a tag and must be there from 7pm until dawn.

Lord Ahmed, 48, comes from a working-class background in Rotherham, South Yorks, where he used to run a chip shop.

He entered the House of Lords in 1998, becoming the first Muslim to receive a life peerage.

In November he spoke out against parts of the the Government’s Terrorism Bill, which he said restricted political views.

He has previously called for jailed cleric Abu Hamza to be stripped of his citizenship and deported.

Media shockingly ignorant of Muslims among us

March 12, 2006

BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Advertisement

[-93330]

This week's Voldemort Award goes to the New York Times for their account of a curious case of road rage in North Carolina:

"The man charged with nine counts of attempted murder for driving a Jeep through a crowd at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill last Friday told the police that he deliberately rented a four-wheel-drive vehicle so he could 'run over things and keep going.' "

The driver in question was Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar.

Whoa, don't jump to conclusions. The Times certainly didn't. As the report continued:

"According to statements taken by the police, Mr. Taheri-azar, 22, an Iranian-born graduate of the university, felt that the United States government had been 'killing his people across the sea' and that his actions reflected 'an eye for an eye.'"

"His people"? And who exactly would that be? Taheri-azar is admirably upfront about his actions. As he told police, he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world."

And yet the M-word appears nowhere in the Times report. Whether intentionally or not, they seem to be channeling the great Sufi theologian and jurist al-Ghazali, who died a millennium ago but whose first rule on the conduct of dhimmis -- non-Muslims in Muslim society -- seem to have been taken on board by the Western media:

The dhimmi is obliged not to mention Allah or His Apostle. . . .

Are they teaching that at Columbia Journalism School yet?

A fellow called Mohammed mows down a bunch of students? Just one of those things -- like a gran'ma in my neck of the woods a couple of years back who hit the wrong pedal in the parking lot and ploughed through a McDonald's, leaving the place a hideous tangle of crumbled drywall, splattered patties and incendiary hot apple-pie filling. Yet, according to his own statements, Taheri-azar committed an act of ideological domestic terrorism, which he'd planned for two months. He told police he was more disappointed more students in his path weren't struck and that he'd rented the biggest vehicle the agency had in order to do as much damage to as many people as possible. The Persian car pet may have been flooring it, but the media are idling in neutral, if not actively reversing away from the story as fast as they can. Taheri-azar informed the judge he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah," and it was apparently the will of Allah that he get behind the wheel of Allah.

Meanwhile, a new Washington Post/ABC poll finds that, in the words of the Post, "nearly half of Americans -- 46 percent -- have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence."

"Often" targeted? Want to put some hard numbers on that? Like to compare the "violence" Americans perpetrated on Muslims after the slaughter of thousands of their fellow citizens in the name of Allah with, say, the death toll perpetrated by Muslims annoyed over some itsy-bitsy cartoons in an obscure Danish newspaper? In September 2001, 99.99999 percent of Americans behaved with remarkable forbearance. If they're less inclined to give the benefit of the doubt these days, perhaps it's because of casual slurs like the Post's or the no-jihad-to-see-here-folks tone of the Times.

Ronald Stockton of the University of Michigan doesn't see it that way: "You're getting a constant drumbeat of negative information about Islam," he told the Post. By "negative information," Professor Stockton presumably means the London bombings, and the Bali bombings, and the Madrid bombings and the Istanbul bombings. But surely it's worth asking why in 2006 the Washington Post needs a man with a name like "Ronald Stockton" to explain Islam to us? The diversity bores in the media go out of their way to hire writers of color, writers of gender, writers of orientation. Yet, five years after 9/11, where's the New York Times' Muslim columnist? Where's the ''Today Show's'' Islamic weather girl? Why, indeed, are all the Muslim voices in the press broadly on the right -- Amir Taheri in the New York Post, Stephen Schwartz in the Weekly Standard, Fouad Ajami in the Wall Street Journal?

If Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar is not a free-lance terrorist, then what is he? Who is he? What's he thinking? In the absence of any explanatory voices from the Muslim community, all we have are the bare bones of his resume: He's a 22-year old UNC psychology major who graduated in December. And what's revealing is the link between Taheri-azar's grievance and his action.

Take him at his word: He's upset about "the treatment of Muslims around the world" -- presumably at the hands of Israelis on the West Bank, of the Russians in Chechnya, the Indians in Kashmir, the Americans in the Sunni Triangle and the Danes in the funny pages. So what does he do to avenge Islam? He goes to the rental agency, takes out the biggest car on the lot, drives it to UNC and rams it into the men and women he's spent the last few years studying with and socializing with -- the one group of infidels he knows really well.

How many Muslims feel similarly? Not many in America, perhaps -- if only when compared to Europe: For all the multiculti blather, the United States still does a better job assimilating immigrants than France or Germany. A recent poll found that 40 percent of British Muslims want sharia introduced in the United Kingdom and 20 percent sympathized with the "feelings and motives" of the July 7 London Tube bombers. Or, more accurately, 20 percent were prepared to admit to a pollster they felt sympathy, which suggests the real figure might be somewhat higher. Huge numbers of Muslims -- many of them British subjects born and bred -- see their fellow Britons blown apart on trains and buses and are willing to rationalize the actions of mass murderers.

"East is east and west is west/And ne'er the twain shall meet," wrote Kipling. Obviously, they meet every moment of the day -- the cabbie driving you to your appointment in Washington, the affable fellow at the corner store. But proximity isn't the same as understanding: Taheri-azar and that 20 percent of British Muslims think they know "the west" and they don't like it. By contrast, the New York Times and Co. insist they like "the east" but go to an awful lot of trouble to avoid finding out anything that would ruffle their illusions. The twain would never meet, said Kipling, "till Earth and Sky meet presently/At God's great judgment seat."

A more correct statement would be "Media shockingly ignorant".

I know that but how many newspapers will say that, brother? Least this one admitted the problem.

Child Bride
Posted by Kevin Sites
on Mon, Mar 20 2006, 4:55 PM ET

Married at the age of four, an Afghan girl was subjected to years of beatings and torture, finally escaping to discover that within all the world's cruelty, there is also some kindness.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Eleven-year old Gulsoma lay in a heap on the ground in front of her father-in-law. He told her that if she didn't find a missing watch by the next morning he would kill her. He almost had already.

Enraged about the missing watch, Gulsoma's father-in-law had beaten her repeatedly with a stick. She was bleeding from wounds all over her body and her right arm and right foot had been broken.

She knew at that moment that if she didn't get away, he would make good on his promise to kill her.

When I meet her at the Ministry of Women's Affairs I'm surprised that the little girl, now 12, is the same one that had endured such horrible suffering. She is wearing a red baseball cap and an orange scarf. She has beautiful brown eyes and a full and animated smile. She takes one of my hands in both of hers and greets me warmly, without any hint of shyness.

"She looks healthy," says Haroon, my friend and translator. I nod. But she looks older than her years, we both agree. In orphanages — first in Kandahar, then in Kabul — she has had a year to recover from a lifetime's worth of unimaginable imprisonment, deprivation and torture.

In one of the ministry's offices she sits in a straight-backed wooden chair and tells us the story of her life so far. She is stoic for the most part, pausing only a few times to wipe her eyes and nose with her scarf.

Her story begins in the village of Mullah Allam Akhound, near Kandahar.

"When I was three years old my father died, and after a year my mother married again, but her second husband didn't want me," says Gulsoma. "So my mother gave me away in a promise of marriage to our neighbor's oldest son, who was thirty."

"They had a ceremony in which I was placed on a horse [which is traditional in Afghanistan] and given to the man."

Because she was still a child, the marriage was not expected to be sexually consummated. But within a year, Gulsoma learned that so much else would be required of her that she would become a virtual slave in the household.

At the age of five, she was forced to take care of not only her "husband" but also his parents and all 12 of their other children as well.

Though nearly the entire family participated in the abuse, her father-in-law, she says, was the cruelest.

"My father-in-law asked me to do everything — laundry, the household chores — and the only time I was able to sleep in the house was when they had guests over," she says. "Other than that I would have to sleep outside on a piece of carpet without even any blankets. In the summer it was okay. But in the winter a neighbor would come over and give me a blanket, and sometimes some food."

When she couldn't keep up with the workload, Gulsoma says, she was beaten constantly.

Gulsoma's scars

"They beat me with electric wires," she says, "mostly on the legs. My father-in-law told his other children to do it that way so the injuries would be hidden. He said to them, 'break her bones, but don't hit her on the face.'"

There were even times when the family's abuse of Gulsoma transcended the bounds of the most wanton, sadistic cruelty, as on the occasions when they used her as a human tabletop, forcing her to lie on her stomach then cutting their food on her bare back.

Gulsoma says the family had one boy her age, named Atiqullah, who refused to take part in her torture.

"He would sneak me food sometimes and when my mother-in-law told him to find a stick to beat me, he would come back say he couldn't find one," she says. "He would try to stop the others sometimes. He would say 'she is my sister, and this is sinful.' Sometimes I think about him and wish he could be here and I wish I could have him as my brother."

One evening, Gulsoma says, when her father-in-law saw the neighbor giving her food and a blanket, he took them away and beat her mercilessly. Then, she says, he locked her in a shed for two months.

"I would be kept there all day," she says, "then at night they would let me go the bathroom and I would be fed one time each day. Most of the time it was only bread and sometimes some beans."

She says every day she was locked in the shed, she wished and prayed that her parents would come and take her away. Then she would remember that her father was dead and her mother was gone.

But Gulsoma had an inner strength even her father-in-law couldn't comprehend.

"When he came to the shed he kept asking me, 'Why don't you die? I imprisoned you, I give you less food, but still you don't die.'"

But it wasn't for lack of trying. Gulsoma said when her father-in-law finally let her out of the shed, he bound her hands behind her back and beat her unconscious. She says he revived her by pouring a tea thermos filling with scalding water over her head and her back.

"It was so painful," she says, dabbing her eyes with her scarf and sniffling for a moment. "I was crying and screaming the entire time."

Five days later, she says, her father in law gave her a vicious beating when his daughter's wristwatch went missing.

"He thought I stole it," she says, "and he beat me all over my body with his stick. He broke my arm and my foot. He said if I didn't find it by the next day, he would kill me."

Gulsoma found hope after escaping

She crawled away that night and hid under a rickshaw.  When the rickshaw driver found Gulsoma, broken and bleeding, he listened to her story and took her to the police. She was hospitalized immediately.

"The doctor at the hospital who treated me said, 'I wish I could take you to the village square and show all the people what happened to you, so no one would ever do something like this again,'" Gulsoma says.

It took her a full month to recover from her last beating. But the fear and psychological trauma may never go away.

"I was happy to have a bed and food at the hospital," she says. "But I was thinking that when I get better they will give me back to the family."

However, Gulsoma says when the police questioned the family, the father-in-law lied and tried to tell them she had epilepsy and had fallen down and hurt herself. But the neighbor who had helped Gulsoma confirmed the story of her beatings and torture.

The police arrested her father-in-law and "husband." They told her, she says, they would keep them in jail unless she asked for their release.

"Everyone was crying when they heard my story," Gulsoma says.

Gulsoma says she stayed at an orphanage in Kandahar, but was the only girl in the facility. Eventually, her story was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

The toll of torture

Gulsoma was then brought to a Kabul orphanage, where she lives today. She takes off her baseball cap and shows us a bald spot, almost like a medieval monk's tonsure, on the crown of her head where she was scalded.

She then turns her back and raises her shirt to reveal a sad map of scar tissue and keloids from cuts, bruises and the boiling water.

Haroon and I look at each other with disbelief. Her life's tragic story is etched upon her back.

Yet she continues to smile. She doesn't ask for pity. She seems more concerned about us as she reads the shock on our faces.

"I feel better now," she says. "I have friends at the orphanage. But every night I'm still afraid the family will come here and pick me up."

Gulsoma also says that when the sun goes down, she sometimes begins to shiver involuntarily — a reaction to the seven years of sleeping outdoors, sometimes in the bitter cold of the desert night.

She says she believes there are other girls like her in Kandahar, maybe elsewhere in Afghanistan, and that she wants to study human rights and one day go back to help them.

As we walk outside to take some pictures, I ask her if, after all she's been through, she thinks it will be harder to trust, to believe that there are actually good people in the world.

"No," she says, quickly.

"I didn't expect anyone would help me but God. I was really surprised that there were also nice people: the neighbor, the rickshaw driver, the police," she says. "I pray for those who helped release me."

Looking directly into the camera, she smiles as if nothing bad had ever happened to her in her entire life.

"I think that all people are good people," she says, "except for those that hurt me."

I wish I could post the link, due to advertisment I can't.

A Birth-Based Recipe for Australia Becoming a Muslim Nation

by Chad Groening
March 22, 2006

(ChristiansUnite.com) - - A pro-family organization dedicated to ending the overpopulation myth says falling birth rates in Australia could dramatically change the long-term future of that country.

Recently an Australian-based Muslim imam bragged that with that nation's low birth rates, the continent could become Muslim-dominated with the next 50 years. Muslims currently make up between 1.5 and 3 percent of the Australian population, and average a birth rate of 2.7 children per woman -- considerably higher than the nationwide average of 1.7. While those statistics somewhat mirror the increasing Muslim population in Europe, Joseph D'Agostino of the Population Research Institute says Australia is not yet Europe.

"The danger that Europe is facing is all these unassimilated Muslims who could easily be in the majority in some of these countries in 50 years or so," says D'Agostino. "Australia's situation is the immigrants could be in the majority in 50 years or so, but most of those people will not be Muslim."

But PRI's vice president for communications says while most Australian immigrants come from non-Islamic countries like China, the immigration patterns could change. He sees that as the only way the imam's prediction could come to pass.

"[Nearby] countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, which are [predominantly] Muslim, still have relatively high birth rates -- and those countries could, in the future, become greater sources of immigrants for Australia, which is going to need laborers," he observes. According to D'Agostino, countries from which Australia receives many of its immigrants now have very low birth rates, resulting in a labor shortage in those countries over the next couple of decades.

"So the immigration from those countries may really drop," he says. "And therefore, if the immigration patterns change, it is possible for Australia to become a Muslim nation much faster."

In a recent column for Human Events Online, D'Agostino says that regardless how "Islamic" Australia should become, the character of the country will change due to factors such as high rates of immigration and low birth rates among the native population. "Those who value Australia's Western, English, ordered, and Christian-influenced culture should be concerned," he writes. "Unfortunately, Australians aren't concerned enough to produce their future generations."

A Birth-Based Recipe for Australia Becoming a Muslim Nation (http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04196.shtml)

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

Official: 7 arrested in Sears Tower plot

By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

MIAMI - Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S., including the FBI office here, a federal law enforcement official said.

As part of the raids tied to the arrests, FBI agents swarmed a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area, using a blowtorch to take off a metal door. One neighbor said the suspects had been sleeping in the warehouse while running what seemed to be a "military boot camp."

The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami.

Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday.

"There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, questioned about the case during an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live," said he couldn't offer many details because "it's an ongoing operation."

"We are conducting a number of arrests and searches" in Miami, Mueller said, which were expected to be wrapped up Friday morning.

Managers of the Sears Tower, the nation's tallest building, said in a statement that they speak regularly with the FBI and local law enforcement about terror threats and that Thursday "was no exception."

"Law enforcement continues to tell us that they have never found evidence of a credible terrorism threat against Sears Tower that has gone beyond criminal discussions," the statement said.

Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their apparently militaristic group.

The residents said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men, who appeared to be in their teens or 20s, had lived in the area about a year.

The men slept in the warehouse, said Tashawn Rose, 29. "They would come out late at night and exercise. It seemed like a military boot camp that they were working on there. They would come out and stand guard."

She talked to one of the men about a month ago: "They seemed brainwashed. They said they had given their lives to Allah."

Rose said the men tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class. "It was weird," she said.

Benjamin Williams, 17, said the group had young children with them sometimes. Sometimes, he added, the men "would cover their faces. Sometimes they would wear things on their heads, like turbans."

Xavier Smith, who attends the nearby United Christian Outreach, said the men would often come by the church and ask for water.

"They were very private," said Smith, 33. "The spoke with like an accent, sort of a Jamaican accent."

The warehouse owner declined comment. "I heard the news just like you guys," George F. Mobassaleh told the AP. "I can't talk to you."

Gov. Jeb Bush was briefed on the situation Thursday, according to his spokeswoman, Alia Faraj.

"We have great confidence in the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who are committed to keeping our country safe," Faraj said.

She added that there has been greater communication between state and federal agencies since the 2001 terror attacks.

Security at the 110-floor Sears Tower, a Chicago landmark, was ramped up after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 103rd-floor skydeck was closed for about a month and a half.

A spokesman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Illinois officials had been in contact with the FBI about the arrests. He would not comment further, referring additional questions to the FBI.

The FBI's headquarters in Miami sits near a residential neighborhood just east of Interstate 95.

A huge crowd — up to 250,000 people — was expected downtown Friday for a parade to honor the NBA champion Miami Heat. Security measures consistent with such an event were in place, city officials said, and the raids were not expected to affect it.

Several terrorism investigations have had south Florida links. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, and several plots by Cuban-Americans against Fidel Castro's government have been based in Miami.

Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the U.S., is charged in Miami with being part of a support cell for Islamic extremists. Padilla's trial is set for this fall.

Official: 7 arrested in Sears Tower plot (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060623/ap_on_re_us/terrorism_investigation;_ylt=AnBQkjHkznZXbcqpzHP5W.Ws0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-)

Hamas: Islam will conquer US and Britain

By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, June 22, 2006

Hamas Video
A Hamas video just released on their web site focuses on the broader Palestinian Islamic ideology, promising the eventual conquering and subjugation of Christian countries under Islam. The way Israel "ran" from Gaza after terror is presented as the prototype for future Israeli and Western behavior in the face of Islamic force.

The video is a collection of statements by Hamas terrorist leader, Yasser Ghalban, killed last week by Palestinians, in the ongoing internal fighting.


The following is the transcript of selections from the Hamas video:

"We will rule the nations, by Allah's will, the USA will be conquered, Israel will be conquered, Rome and Britain will be conquered…
The Jihad for Allah... is the way of Truth and the way for Salvation and the way which will lead us to crush the Jews and expel them from our country Palestine. Just as the Jews ran from Gaza, the Americans will run from Iraq and Afghanistan and the Russians will run from Chechnya, and the Indian will run from Kashmir, and our children will be released from Guantanamo. The prisoners will be released by Allah's will, not by peaceful means and not by agreements, but they will be released by the sword, they will be released by the gun".

The video identifies itself as from the "Al-Qassam Brigades Media Office." "Al-Qassam Brigades" is the name the Hamas calls its military wing.

Al-Qaeda Video
The ideology is similar to the Al-Qaeda ideology, and this can be seen by viewing an Al-Qaeda video seen now on many sites on the Internet, likewise anticipating battles with other religions throughout the world. "They Are Coming" is 12 minute collection of scenes of Al-Qaeda's training around the world: Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, Eritrea, Indonesia, Kashmir, Somalia, Philippines, UK, Algeria and Pakistan. This propaganda video addresses the American public with captions in English, images of dead and injured American soldiers, and threats such as: "They Are Coming", "Start digging your graves", and ends with a burning US flag.


Taking credit for the video is: "Al-Qaeda's 'Jihad Media Battalion'

And God will conquer them.

You know it brother, God always wins hands down!!

Officials say terror suspects lacked the means to match ambitions

Robert Nolin, Vanessa Blum and Madeline Baro Diaz
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted June 24 2006
 
Miami--Seven South Floridians accused of domestic terrorism were long on ambition, according to prosecutors, but they were far short on substance, according to neighbors and relatives.

A federal indictment unsealed Friday said the seven young men arrested for attempting to establish an al-Qaida terrorist cell harbored dreams of forming an "Islamic Army" in Liberty City to unleash a "full ground war" against targets in the United States.



LocalLinks
But the alleged plot didn't get far. The men acquired combat boots, photographed targets and recited a loyalty pledge, or "bayat" to al-Qaida -- then told a government informant their organization was having "various problems."

"They certainly had the will," Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said Friday. "They were searching for the way."

Those arrested are: Patrick "Brother Pat" Abraham, 26, North Miami; Burson "Brother B" Augustin, 21, Miami; Rotschild "Brother Rot" Augustine, 22, Miami-Dade County; Narseal "Prince Manna" Batiste, 32, Miami; Naudimar "Brother Naudy" Herrera, 22, Miami; LyglensonÖ "Brother Levi" Lemorin, 31, Miami; and Stanley Grant "Brother Sunni" Phanor, 31, Miami.

Each was indicted on two counts of conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization, one count of conspiring to destroy buildings by use of explosives, and one count of conspiring to levy war against the government. Each, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of 70 years.

The men's families, however, insisted the group was more humanitarian than military, and incapable of what they are accused of plotting.

"This is a very spiritual thing. It has nothing to do with terrorism," said Sylvain Plantin, cousin of one of the defendants.

Leo Casino, a musician who lives near the Liberty City warehouse where some of the men were arrested Thursday, agreed. He said the suspects were vegetarians who fed the homeless.

The group didn't carry guns, Casino said, and "the neighbors weren't afraid of them."

The case may be a tough one for the government to prove because it weighs heavily on an informant's involvement, said Jeffrey Harris, president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"If the authorities created the crime, that's classic entrapment," he added.

According to the indictment, the seven men plotted to "kill all the devils we can" by blowing up FBI buildings in downtown Miami and four other cities, as well as Chicago's 110-story tall Sears Tower.

"They hoped for their attacks to be, quote, 'just as good or greater than 9-11,'." U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in Washington, D.C.

But the planned attacks, deputy FBI dDirector John Pistole said from Washington, were "more aspirational than operational."

The group never attained any bombs or weapons, but Acosta said the government decided to act before the plot developed further.

"I don't think anyone would want us to wait until they had acquired the capability to execute their plan," Acosta said.

Batiste first came to the attention of law enforcement in October 2005, when, according to court documents, he asked an individual who was traveling to the Middle East to help him find foreign Islamic extremists to fund his mission. Instead, court documents say, the person alerted the FBI, which in turn infiltrated the group.

By then, the men had caught the attention of many of their neighbors in Liberty City, a predominantly black Miami area indelibly scarred by the city's worst race riots in 1980.

The charging document said that starting in November, the men met with the informant and pledged an oath to al-Qaida in hopes of obtaining uniforms, cash, guns, radios and vehicles. In December, the informant produced eight pairs of military boots, a cell phone, $3,500 and a digital camera to photograph targets.

 Batiste, a construction worker who once lived in Chicago, spoke about taking down the Sears Tower. "If I can put up a building, I should definitely know how to take one down," the brief quoted him as saying.

Batiste also said he wanted to use land he owned in Louisiana to set up an al-Qaida-style training camp, according to the brief.



LocalLinks
Though the government said the defendants dreamed grand schemes, they actually had a hard time maintaining their warehouse headquarters. A neighbor said the structure, near Northwest 15th Avenue and 62nd Street, had no water or electricity, and was lit by candles.

The seven apparently lived at the warehouse and variously told neighbors they were building a temple or starting a karate school. The warehouse's interior resembled a living room, with chairs and tables, said Marilyn Rose, who lives across the street. During the day, the men dressed normally, Rose said. Her daughter, Latia Williams, 14, said at night they wore black and exercised behind the warehouse. "They looked like a cult," Rose said.

Though the government called the defendants a "radical Islamic group," Casino said that may be innacurate. "I think it was a hodgepodge of religions -- Muslim, Christian, even Hebrew Israelite," he said.

Each defendant except Phanor and Lemorin appeared in Miami federal court Friday. Batiste, the alleged ringleader, spoke softly and displayed little emotion as he answered questions.

Batiste said he was self-employed, earning roughly $30,000 annually. He said he had four children and owns no property worth more than $5,000.

Magistrate Patrick White ruled all were entitled to be represented at no cost. The defendants are scheduled to be back in court June 30 for a bond hearing.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Abraham was here illegally from Haiti. Others were native-born or had attained citizenship.

Lemorin and Phanor grew up on the same street in a working class neighborhood in northwest Miami, family members said. Both were Haitian-American.

Lemorin was arrested in Atlanta, where his mother, Julian Olibrice, said he had been living for the past few months.

She sobbed outside her Miami home Friday, and denied any wrongdoing by her son. "My son never go to jail. My son never had problem," Olibrice said. "My son did nothing."

Phanor and Lemorin, a single father of two, were intrigued by Batiste's view of the Bible and his martial arts skills, said Lemorin's cousin Plantin. The men were in a Bible study group with Batiste, who also got them construction jobs.

Phanor's mother, Elizene Phanor, said her son helped support her, a sister and nieces and nephews. "He don't have the heart to kill people," she said.

Officials say terror suspects lacked the means to match ambitions (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cterror23jun23%2C0%2C6811539.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines)

              Those of us "in Christ" already know the ending to this story!!

        "Victory in JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                  Prasing HIM...Tina

British history 'needs rewrite' to include muslims
By Brian Wheeler
Political reporter, BBC News, at the Labour conference

British history should be rewritten to make it "more inclusive", says Trevor Phillips, the head of the new human rights and equality commission.

He said Muslims were also part of the national story and "sometimes we have to go back into the tapestry and insert some threads that were lost".

He quoted the example of the Spanish Armada, which was held up by the Turks at the request of Queen Elizabeth I.

"It was the Turks who saved us," Mr Phillips told a Labour fringe meeting.

Mr Phillips said he had also been persuaded of the need for a written constitution, saying the UK needed to be "more explicit in our understanding about how we treat each other".

He said population changes and immigration were happening at unprecedented rate and there was "no going back".

So it was no longer enough to assume people would inherit the values which bound the country together.

Speaking at an event organised by The Smith Institute, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Young Foundation, he said it was important that new arrivals learned English.

Must be 'native' and 'right for us'

But he also stressed the importance of celebrating Britain's "human rights culture" and said the government had to be more specific about what it meant to be British - rather than simply stressing values such as "freedom" which were universal.

"We have to have a more explicit set of understandings which we can all share about how we treat each other and we talk to each other and they have to be based on real values.

"I think the prime minister is right to talk about values but I think what is important is not the abstract values. Freedom is shared by all sorts of people."

If there was a written constitution it would have to be "an expression which is native and right for us".

He also stressed the importance of a national story in forging a shared sense of identity.

"I think we have to rewrite, redevelop, our national story so that it is inclusive.

"And what I mean by that in practice is this: not that we have to re-write what we are but sometimes we have to go back into the tapestry and insert some threads that were lost."

'Stormy times'

He said the abolition of the slave trade, for example, could be retold as being part of the English radical tradition.

"Part of the job of heritage is to cognitize - give physical existence - to that national story.

"And if there is a practical thing, I would say it is that we need to revisit some parts of that national heritage. to rewrite some parts of that national story to tell the whole story.

"When we talk about the Armada it's only now that we are beginning to realise that part of it is Muslims," Mr Phillips told the meeting.

"It was the Turks who saved us, because they held up Armada at the request of Elizabeth I.

"Now let's rewrite that story, let's use our heritage to rewrite that story so it is truly inclusive.

"That's the reason for this so we have an identity which brings us together, which binds us in the stormy times that we are going to have in the next century."

British history 'needs rewrite' to include muslims (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7012698.stm)

Tension between Sunnis, Shiites emerging in USA
Growing diversity of Muslim community here challenges tradition of assimilation

By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA TODAY

When Muslim journalist S. Hussain Zaidi toured the USA recently, he was stunned by what he saw: Shiite and Sunni Muslims, whose conflicts have fueled the war in Iraq and tension in the Middle East and beyond, were praying together in U.S. mosques.

"It is something we never see at home," says Zaidi, of India. "They want to kill each other everywhere except in the USA."

For years, Sunnis and Shiites in this country have worked together to build mosques, support charities, register voters and hold massive feasts for Eid al-Fitr (on Oct. 13 this year in the USA), the celebration at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Now there are small signs of tension emerging in America's Muslim community that are raising concerns among many of its leaders. They worry that the bitter divisions that have caused so much bloodshed abroad are beginning to have an impact here. Such concerns are rising at a time when the USA's Muslim population has grown from fewer than 1 million in 1990 to nearly 2.5 million today, with two of three Muslims born overseas, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

"You have people who recently arrived from other places where things may have gotten out of hand," says Sheik Hamza Yusuf, the U.S.-born co-founder of the nation's first Muslim seminary, the Zaytuna Institute, in Berkeley, Calif. "It takes just one deranged person with a cousin back home who died in a suicide bombing to create trouble here."

Several recent incidents pointing to rising tension among Sunnis and Shiites here have led Muslim leaders to call on their followers to reach out to those in other sects. None of the incidents has been violent, but Yusuf and other leaders worry that these could be signs of increasingly cool relations between Sunnis and Shiites here or undermine other Americans' views of a religion that has been under particular scrutiny since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Among the incidents:

•Shiite mosques and businesses in the Detroit area were vandalized in January, and a Shiite restaurant owner said he had received a threatening call mentioning his sect.

Authorities have yet to identify the vandals, but some Shiite Muslims told local news media they believe Sunnis were behind the broken windows and graffiti because Shiites had celebrated publicly when former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, was executed in December by Iraq's Shiite-led government.

•On several Muslim websites in recent months, Sunnis and Shiites from Seattle to Manhattan have traded accusations that they have been rebuffed from worshiping at each other's mosques.

Meanwhile, a small Sunni group known as the Islamic Thinkers Society, which has branded Shiites as heretics and is known for distributing provocative leaflets in New York's Times Square, has gone online to urge its followers to "avoid" contact with a range of Islamic studies scholars and theologians, several at U.S. colleges.

•Muslim Student Associations on a few campuses, such as Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and the University of Michigan at Dearborn, have disagreed so vehemently over which sect could lead prayers that students sometimes have refused to pray together.

The factionalism on those campuses has cooled recently, but many observers worry it could return. They say it's partly a reflection of the rising numbers of Muslim students. "If you have nine Muslims in one MSA, they have to get along," says Muslim sociologist Eboo Patel, 31, of Chicago. "If you have 90, there's enough to break into splinter groups."

Other Muslim activists, scholars and imams, who lead the important Friday communal prayers in the nation's 1,000 mosques, agree that the episodes partly reflect their community's growth and diversity in America.

They fear such incidents could fuel "Islamophobia" — their term for irrational prejudice against anyone Islamic.

"The sad reality is that there are extremists" who selectively misuse Islamic teachings to justify their violence, says Ingrid Mattson, a professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn., and the president of the USA's largest Muslim civic and social group, the Islamic Society of North America.

At the society's annual Labor Day weekend gathering — an event in suburban Chicago that was part academic seminar, part community rally and part reunion for more than 30,000 families — Mattson's keynote speech urged Muslims to "look beyond the seventh-century tribal society into which Islam was first revealed."

Sunnis and Shiites share belief in the five pillars of Islam — submission to God, daily prayer, fasting, charity and a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in any able Muslim's life. But they split over Islam's spiritual leadership.

The schism dates to the death of the prophet Mohammed in A.D. 632. Shiites believe that a relative, Ali ibn Abi Talib, had been named successor and that his son Ali, assassinated in 661, and grandson Hussein inherited the rightful imam's miraculous knowledge and powers.

Sunnis, however, believed the Muslim community should elect its leader based on scholarly merit, not heredity. They chose Abu Bakr, a companion of the prophet, instead.

By 680, the sects were at war. Hussein was killed at the battle of Karbala in modern-day Iraq that year, and to this day, Shiites mourn him and other martyred imams.

Since then, like Christians who waged religious wars across Europe for centuries over how to interpret the Bible or baptize a believer, Muslim sects and the legal schools within them have developed differing views on faith and practice, each certain that salvation is at stake.

Among the world's estimated 1.4 billion Muslims, about 85% are Sunni and about 15% are Shiite.

For all the conflicts among Muslims abroad, those in America historically not only have gotten along, but assimilated to the point that their sects have become secondary. In a 2006 survey of 1,000 Muslim registered voters, about 12% identified themselves as Shiite, 36% said they were Sunni, and 40% called themselves "just a Muslim," according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"America gives people the unique opportunity to leave cultural, historical baggage behind," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper says. "We can serve as a model to the world of an Islam that is clear, calm, articulate, forthright and civil."

Even so, it's an opportunity a few Muslims in the USA refuse.

"I've seen people fight over how close their toes can be when they kneel in prayer. It's got to stop," says Imam Mohamed Magid of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), which has seven mosques in the Washington, D.C., area.

ADAMS is primarily Sunni, but Magid has his own way of quelling sectarianism.

"We teach all the scholars and traditions, and we invite Shia and Sunni imams to lead prayers," says the Sudanese-born Magid. "We don't have to fight."

He says he was heartened when 10,000 people at the Islamic Society event cheered for a new Muslim Code of Honor, pledging Sunni and Shiite respect and cooperation.

The code, drafted by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a civil rights group, initially was circulated in Southern California after the Detroit vandalism incidents. It moved quickly to Michigan and then to the leadership of several major U.S. and Canadian Muslim political, social and religious groups.

In June, a half-dozen groups launched an "American Muslim Iraq Peace Initiative" intended to build harmony and make clear that "America cannot be a scene of conflict," says Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR.

Besides the efforts to encourage dialogue, there's another phenomenon that could help ward off sectarian friction here: the inexorable force of assimilation.

cont'd next post

At a time when rising numbers of American Protestants are attending non-denominational community churches and referring to themselves simply as Christians rather than Baptists, Methodists or Lutherans, a similar thing is happening among Muslims in the USA.

"It's a whole new era," says Patel. "The bulk of the American Muslim community is overwhelmingly young, under age 40. And they are experiencing a huge momentum toward 'big-tent Islam.' "

"We don't want to be defined by the classifications of history and the Middle East. The Quran is our authority," says Salim Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Al-Marayati, a Shiite married to a Sunni, expects to see 10,000 Muslims of all sects celebrate the Eid with the Islamic Center of Southern California next month in Los Angeles.

He calls himself "Sushi," the popular term for a combination of Sunni and Shiite. Once the glib nickname for the children of intermarried couples, it has become shorthand for Muslims who blur sectarian lines.

All that mixing and melding comes to life at the Islamic Society gathering's annual bazaar and the matrimonial meet-up events — the Islamic equivalent of speed dating for singles whose religion bans Western-style dating.

The five-acre bazaar at a convention center in Rosemont, outside Chicago, is a cacophony of blaring music and kaleidoscopic colors, with booths featuring honey, saris, music, travel, bank services, real estate, silver, shampoo, funeral services — and ideas, as well.

There were Sunni and Shiite book stands, promotions for online education programs, and booths for major Muslim political and social groups. Several federal agencies had stands just aisles away from where entrepreneurs hawked T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as "Frisk Me, I'm Muslim."

At the adjacent Hyatt Hotel grand ballroom, a more familiar form of unity is the focus: marriage.

At each of two "matrimonial events," 200 women, ages 18 and up, were seated at 40 tables, with an empty seat between each woman so 200 men could rotate around the room, chatting with each woman for a few minutes before jumping to the next chair.

Zipping from chair to chair in the ballroom, "I don't think I even had time to ask a girl whether she was Sunni or Shia," says Faizan Arshad, a 24-year-old medical student in Chicago who's discussing a future with a woman he met that day. "To split hairs about sect did not seem the best use of my time," he says in a later e-mail.

Arshad is typical, says Patel, author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim. Patel, a Shiite, is married to a Sunni and says they want their "Sushi" child to grow up "fluent in all the multiple rituals and practices of Islam."

Or perhaps Patel's child will be more like Sarah Soliman, 17, of Cincinnati, daughter of Egyptian-born Sunni parents and a conference organizer for the Islamic Society's teen wing, Muslim Youth of North America.

"I didn't know until I was in middle school that there were any differences among us," Sarah says, "and I still don't get the split."

Tension between Sunnis, Shiites emerging in USA (http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070925/1a_cover25.art.htm?loc=interstitialskip)

Irrational ??? They are the religion of peace and if you say different, they will shoot you.


Professor and president?? Has she read the koran??


CAIR is baggage I'd rather leave behind. It is so hard to read these double speaking Orwellian articles, they migraines!!

New piety squad patrols Ramallah

By DALIA NAMMARI, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 27, 4:44 PM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A new squad of morality police has begun detaining Palestinians who eat or drink in public during Ramadan in the West Bank, where the Islamic month of daytime fasting was always widely observed but never imposed.

The 12-member (goon) squad appears to be an attempt by President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank government to challenge the monopoly on religious righteousness claimed by the militant group Hamas, the rival ruler of Gaza.

The sudden deployment of Ramadan police was unexpected in Ramallah, the seat of Abbas' government and the most cosmopolitan and well-to-do of the Palestinian cities. Ramadan squads have not been set up in other West Bank towns.

Watching observers arrive at one of the town's main mosques one recent afternoon, vice squad Lt. Murad Qendah got a radio call telling him a suspect has been spotted in the street imbibing "karoub" — a local soft drink made from carob pods. He ordered his six-man squad to seize the man's papers pending investigation. Police say violators are usually held for 24 hours.

"If anybody violates respect for Ramadan in the street, we take their identity papers and hold them for investigation," said Qendah, 27, whose officers wear red shoulder badges reading "morality police."

Police spokesman gotcha98 al-Damari said police have arrested at least 50 alleged public morality offenders in Ramallah since the start of Ramadan, but would not be going after people who break the fast in their own homes.

"The duty of the morality police is to preserve public manners in public places, and to preserve the feelings of the people who are fasting," he said. "Violating the holiness of Ramadan is a violation of people's freedom. "

Islamic custom demands that believers fast and refrain from self-indulgence between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan, which began Sept. 13 in the West Bank this year. The fast is largely observed across the Muslim world; voluntarily in some countries and under strict enforcement in others such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Writer Hassan Dandees, 58, said the government was right to seek to uphold religious standards.

"This is not a violation of anybody's freedom," he said. "Ramadan has a holiness every person should respect." ::)

But Ruba el-Mimi, 21, said she opposes the police action.

"It interferes with the privacy of the individual. People are free to fast or not," she said. "If somebody is not fasting, he's not doing harm."

In addition to booking smokers, snackers and carob juice drinkers, Qendah is also on the alert for young men whistling at girls or drivers playing their car stereos too loud.

Although the piety squad has government sanction, Cabinet minister Ashraf al-Ajrami, said he is uncomfortable with the operation and the impression that the government was trying to be more zealous than Hamas.

"We are studying this issue, and there's a possibility we shall end it," he said. "We don't want to change the order of things and appear as if we are following in the footsteps of somebody or imitating somebody."

Hamas rode support for its pious and incorruptible image to a landslide parliamentary election victory in 2006, then ran Fatah out of the Gaza Strip by force in June.

The religious party has imposed no Ramadan patrol of its own in Gaza, where the population is overwhelmingly conservative and social pressure alone is enough to stop public violations of the fast. Even members of the strip's small Christian community are careful not to cause offense by breaching the Ramadan code in front of their Muslim neighbors.

New piety squad patrols Ramallah (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_ramallah_vice;_ylt=AsdEmxNuZw3S3ubajNkhvO0LewgF)

Muslim cleric suspected in smuggling fighters to Iraq shot dead in northern Syrian, aide says

© AP
2007-09-28 20:09:26 -

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - A Sunni Muslim cleric who in the past has been suspected of recruiting militants to fight in Iraq was shot dead as he left a mosque after Friday prayers in the northern city of Aleppo, an aide said.

Mohammed Gul Aghassi, 34, was instantly killed by a gunman who pumped five bullets into his body as he left the Imam Mosque where he regularly preaches after the noon prayers.

The aide, Ahmed Sadeq, told The Associated Press that he pursued the gunman and captured him, handing him over to authorities.

Sadeq accused «terrorists» of killing Aghassi for his «nationalist positions.» He did not elaborate.
It was not clear whether the killing was politically motivated or a personal vendetta.

Such attacks are uncommon in Syria, a country where security is generally tight.

Aghassi, also known as Abu Qa'qa', headed a theology school in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city.

Western media in 2005 cited interviews with Sunni insurgents saying that he was a prominent figure in recruiting Arab fighters and helping funnel them into Iraq to fight U.S. and Iraqi troops. Aghassi denied the claims.

Syria has been accused by the United States of not doing enough to stem the flow of militants across its desert border with Iraq.

Muslim cleric suspected in smuggling fighters to Iraq shot dead in northern Syrian, aide says (http://www.pr-inside.com/muslim-cleric-suspected-in-smuggling-fighters-r227162.htm)

More evidence showing why Syria is the onr of the world headquarters for terrorism. Apparently not as safe a haven as they might think.

'Kill Jews and Christians' fliers found on cars
'Fight those who do not believe ... in Allah and Muhammed'

 Police said anti-Jewish and anti-Christian fliers were found on cars parked in a lot on the northwest corner of 15 Mile and Ryan roads.

Sterling Heights police Detective Sgt. Paul Jesperson said three separate complaints were filed by residents Tuesday who found the fliers on their windshields.

He said the flier said: "Kill Jews and Christians if they don't believe in Allah and Mohammad."

It further advises people to "Fight those who do not believe."

"I really don't know what it means other than suggesting violence to Jews and Christians," Jesperson said. "We certainly have no intentions of stifling someone's religious beliefs but it is most certainly a violation of the law if you're condoning violence with this hate literature."

Jesperson said police received three complaints and the fliers were seen on at least 15 other cars in the parking lot.

He said there was no damage to the cars and no one else filed a complaint.

"I would imagine many people thought this was some type of advertising flier and didn't even read it," Jesperson said.

Sam Richardson, who was shopping at the Kroger store on Tuesday, saw the flier on his windshield while walking to his car and asked his 11-year-old daughter to remove it.

He said she walked toward him while she was reading the flier and then she started crying.

"She asked me what the flier was all about," said Richardson, an electrician at General Motors. "I tried to explain to her what it meant and I then had to explain it to my 7-year-old son."

The operators of the New Sahara restaurant, located near the Kroger store, said they are Chaldean Catholics and do not condone violence against others who have opposite religious beliefs.

Jay, a longtime waiter at Sahara, said he was unaware of the fliers.

"These are touchy times and I don't want my name used," said Jay. "But we are peace-loving people who love the United States and feel all people can live here harmoniously."

Richardson said it is hard for a parent to explain to his children why some people want to kill others simply because of religious disagreements. He told his son and daughter that regardless of their feelings about another individual, a person in the United States has a right to practice any religion.

"We try to protect our children but we cannot shield them from all of the hate in this world," said Richardson, a Sterling Heights resident. "The person who put this flier on my car saying someone should be killed understandably upset my daughter and son."

Police said they will continue to investigate the fliers.

Muslim footbaths spark another fight 
Pastor warns trend 1st step in Islamic goal of imposing sharia in U.S.

Indianapolis airport officials have announced plans to add footbaths for Muslims who wish to wash before their five-times-daily prayer rituals, and that's just too much for one pastor, who has called for residents to organize and protest.

The issue has been appearing in more and more airports and other public facilities in recent weeks, where Muslim immigrants are a growing segment of cab drivers, who spend hours waiting on arriving passengers for their fares.

Several years ago, officials with Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix boasted of a new "customer service," providing footwashing facilities for Muslims.

"The cab drivers were asking for more washroom facilities as a group, and a majority of them wanted some place to wash before they pray," Deborah Ostreicher, public information officer, told the Arizona Republic. "This is a way we thought we could reach out as a customer service."

Similar facilities have been built at Kansas City International, although airport officials repeatedly have insisted the washing facilities are for anyone aided by the presence of seating and low faucets.

One editorial writer called it "creeping dhimmitude," where America is joining the "global community of nations dominated by Islam," and now Rev. Jerry Hillenburg, pastor at Hope Baptist Church in Indianapolis, says he's going to be working to halt such changes at the city's airport.

He's announced a rally Saturday at 11 a.m. to oppose the tax-funded footwashing sinks for Muslims at the airport.

"How do you eat an elephant?" Hillenburg asked during an interview with WND. "One bite at a time. And this is just the first bite of the elephant, a step towards Islam's desired goal, which is to thrust the entire world under one single Islamic caliphate under sharia law."

He told the Indianapolis newspaper that such actions reflect a "fraternization" with enemies during a time of war, and he's calling on Mayor Bart Peterson to halt the installation of the facilities.

His sermon in response to the situation was titled "Stop Caving in to Islam," and Hillenberg said it's unreasonable to use such public facilities for the support of a single religion.

Airport officials, faced with the sudden publicity and demands from the public, admitted their plans to build facilities on airport property to accommodate the prayer needs of Muslims are not final. But they were planned as part of restrooms in a new airport terminal that is due for completion next year.

"We're really a long way from having this set in stone," said Airport Authority spokesman David Dawson.

He told the newspaper that comments from members of the public will have an effect on the final plans for the property, which is owned by the Airport Authority, a public entity.

Shariq A. Siddiqui, executive director of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana, said the real issue is that American Muslims face intolerance every day.

"The problem I have with him is that he associates Muslims with the enemy," Siddiqui said. "For him to demonize all of us is the problem."

Hillenburg told the mayor that putting sinks on public property that would primarily serve Muslims could be unconstitutional. That move, Hillenburg said, simply is an "appeasement" of Muslims.

While the airport has an interfaith chapel, Hillenburg said he would be surprised if the authority would allow the installation of a baptistry or basins for holy water.

"I don't hate Muslims. I don't hate people who follow Islam," he said. "But I am at odds with anyone who threatens America and its citizenry; and I am at odds with anyone, period, who wants to destroy Christianity."

The ACLU has not opposed the installation of the religion-specific facilities in other locations. When the University of Michigan installed footbaths in campus restrooms, it concluded that the university's reason was for "practical cleanliness and safety."

"They won't let us (Christians) have the Ten Commandments, Merry Christmas or children praying at a school convocation," Hillenburg told WND. "We've had the Establishment Clause shoved down our throats for the last 40 years."

"[This situation] boils down to the appeasement of Islam at the cost of oppression to Christianity," he said. "We have lived with the Supreme Court's separation of church and state for years. We've had Christmas trees banned, Nativity scenes taken down, in the state General Assembly in Indiana a federal judge ruled it is unconstitutional to have a Christian prayer."

Russ Richards, who works in the transportation industry at Sky Harbor in Phoenix, said he's documented similar facilities that have been on the airport property for several years already.

"In the airport's cab lot (C-lot) they not only have footbaths but also a covered designated prayer area with 'misters,' benches, and prayer rugs," he said. "If people other than Muslims go into the area, they are 'swooped' on by Islamic followers as to the intent of any non-Muslim."

He told WND the facility essentially is a mosque on public property for the benefit of Muslims. "It's their space. They mark it with their rugs."

The earlier report in the Arizona Republic said it might be the first such facility in the nation.

Abdul Malik Omar, who owns Metro Transportation, a limousine company on Phoenix, said observers sometimes can see 30 or 40 people praying together in open space. He said even more accommodations should be added, including a permanent place to pray.

Robert Spencer, who founded Jidah Watch, compared installing a footbath for a Muslim to putting in a holy water font to accommodate Catholics.

"The only conceivable group that will use the footbath are Muslims for prayer," he said. "It's a religious installation for a religious use."

WND earlier reported on the situation at Kansas City International Airport, where officials completed the installation and then announced the washing areas could be used for any number of purposes.

"Many of us believe that had this request come from, say, a majority of Catholic cab drivers who requested holy water founts or to have a Ten Commandments plaque installed in airport public facilities, even at their own expense, there would have been a severe outcry from the PC (politically correct) bully pulpit about 'separation of church and state' and in the name of 'religious tolerance,'" said Missy Holthoefer, a longtime KCI user.

"When will the PC bureaucrats get a real clue from history and religious studies that appeasement is the worst way to counter the growing threat from Islamic radicals? To the PC crowd: 'Muslim appeasement' [equals] 'showing weakness and thus vulnerability,'" she said.

One official at KCI even apparently tried intimidation in an effort to eliminate discussion about the recently installed footbaths, after repeated denials that they are intended for Muslims to perform their ritual.

"That's the way I perceived it," Kevin Peterson told WND in a telephone interview.

Peterson said he shares his name with a union steward for the Air Traffic Controllers Union at Kansas City's airport, but he is not the same individual. He was sent an e-mail from airport spokesman Joe McBride, who assumed he was writing to the union steward. about the issue.

"The Indianapolis Star reports that the Indianapolis Airport is installing Muslim foot-washing basins in an upcoming renovation," Peterson wrote. "The paper says that Muslim footwashing basis are already installed at KCI.

"Are you planning to issue a denial as to the purpose of the KCI basins to the Indianapolis Star?" he asked.

"I assume you are the Kevin Peterson who is the union steward for the air traffic controllers union," the e-mail, signed electronically with McBride's name, said.

"Point number one on the first e-mail suggests that your [sic] are in the control tower near the cab facility. I read your previous e-mail on this topic. Your stance is not in the best interest of the airport and the federal government, your employer," the e-mail said.

Peterson, however, said McBride had called later to apologize for the tone of his note.

"My opinion is that the decision makers at KCI were hiding behind Mr. McBride," Peterson said.

Threatened Islam critic forced to leave U.S. 
Ayaan Hirsi Ali loses Dutch-financed personal security, Americans won't pick up

A leading critic of Islam reportedly has been forced to leave the U.S. because American authorities will not finance her personal security.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali – who wrote the script of a controversial film about repression of women in Muslim culture – has returned to the Netherlands, said the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad.

The Dutch government says that since Ali has been in the States for more than a year, it no longer would pay the expenses for her security.

Ali, 37, had been working for the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute since August 2006.

She has been living under strict personal security measures provided by the Dutch government since 2004, when her life was threatened by Muslim radical Mohammed Bouyeri.

In November 2004, Bouyeri assassinated the director of the film "Submission," for which Ali wrote the script.

Ali, a native of Somalia, was granted asylum in the Netherlands in 1992 and became a legislator for the Liberal VVD party.

Her family moved to Saudi Arabia when she was 6 years old then went on to Ethiopia before settling in Kenya.

Ali told her story in the best-selling book "Infidel," published this year.

Her straightforward criticism of Islam and unabashed appreciation of America were on display in an interview with incredulous Canadian TV host Avi Lewis.

"Islam means submission to the will of Allah, a doctrine that requires from the individual to become a slave," Ali told Lewis.

Islam, she said, "keeps people backward" by limiting their imaginations to what can be found in the Quran and the example of Muhammad.

Lewis retorted: "Surely there are many versions of Islam, like there are may versions of Christianity or Judaism, of all major religions. You are presenting it as one thing, and it's just obviously not."

Ali replied: "Islam, as a faith, as a doctrine, defined by what's in the Quran and the example of the prophet Muhammad – unreformed, unchallenged – is a monolith.

Fanatic Muslim Family Day

On Sunday, October 14, 2007, Six Flags Over Texas, a Dallas-area amusement park, will be invaded by a radical Muslim organization that has physical ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and financial ties to Hamas. While most patrons of the park come for the games and rides, those involved with this group’s event, Muslim Family Day, may very well have found an original and appealing way to spread anti-Western hatred.

The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), an umbrella organization for South Asian-oriented mosques and Islamic centers throughout the United States and Canada, has been in existence for over three decades. Those that founded it had done so in order to create an American arm for the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and never has ICNA relinquished that connection. Indeed, just one year ago, ICNA was the top donor of a JI charity, the Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), that provided tens of thousands of dollars to the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal.

Apart from its working relationship with terrorists abroad, ICNA does an exceptional job of portraying itself as “mainstream.” The group runs annual functions, in a number of cities, that are presented as family entertainment. The same will be the case, next month, when members of ICNA embark on Arlington, Texas, at Six Flags Over Dallas, for their Muslim Family Day.

Co-sponsoring the day is the Islamic Association of North Texas (IANT) a.k.a. the Dallas Central Mosque. IANT has helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the legal defense of Hamas operative Ghassan Elashi and his four brothers, one of which was on the mosque’s board. The Elashis have been tied to a Hamas financing ring, which included an internet company, InfoCom Corporation, and an Islamic charity, Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). A Dallas trial regarding the Elashis and HLF, which began in July, is currently in its closing stages.

The upcoming event will feature prayer sessions at the Music Mill Theatre, halal food vendors, and Islamic organization tables offering the latest in extremist propaganda. As well, drawing parallels to Hamas TV’s late Mickey Mouse look-alike, Farfur, Muslim Family Day will offer a Bugs Bunny and Friends parade.

This is not the first time ICNA has used Six Flags to spread its message. The group holds yearly events at Six Flags’ Great Adventure in New Jersey, the most recent of which took place in September of 2006. While many would consider it a harmless gesture for an organization to rent out an amusement park, with regard to ICNA, nothing is harmless.

As stated previously, ICNA was found to have been a recent donor to Hamas. However, ICNA has also been involved in the financing of Al-Qaeda. Shortly before (and after) the attacks on 9/11, ICNA’s Southeast division called on its website viewers to give “material support” to their brethren in Chechnya. Attached to this call was a link to one of the main websites raising funds and recruiting fighters for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The site, Jihad in Chechnya, was produced by Azzam Publications, named for the mentor of Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam. Additionally, one of the individuals involved in the creation of the website, Mazen Mokhtar, who has since been indicted on charges of tax fraud, was a featured speaker at different ICNA and ICNA-affiliate events.

Over time, ICNA has worked to create various radical projects. Among them are its youth wing,Young Muslims (YM), and a web information center called Why Islam? [The logos of YM and Why Islam? are found on the homepage of the Muslim Family Day website.] Both of these institutions provide forums on the internet for members and organization leaders to converse with one another. Found on the forums have been support for overseas terrorist organizations and calls for violence against Americans and Jews.

On the YM site, forum Moderator Living Shaheed wrote, “I pray to Allah that I would become violent if someone stole my home, or killed by brother or sister, of denied that I existed or even had a history... Israel and America have to be made to realise that a JUST PEACE is the only solution, even if it means they realise it at the barrel of a gun!” Forum Moderator Mujahideen Ryder wrote, “Let’s go al aqsa martyrs brigade! Where u at hamas? Where my hezbuallah brothaz at? Iz all good brothers and sisters, they’ll be more yahoodi [Jewish] blood.”

On the Why Islam? site, forum member New User wrote, “I could careless for PEACE B.S. examples and B.S. [sic] refernces, PEACE is for the weak people that can be stepped on; PEACE is for fools that want to remain under control. Peace is a fragment of your imagination; PEACE will not bring back [founder of Hamas] Shiekh Yassin.” Forum member Brother Jim C. wrote, “I don’t think Hamas has a reason to not want to destroy Israel.” And member True Mu’min, who uses a forum avatar (icon) of Looney Tunes character Taz, wrote, “I hope that I die as a martyr.”

While using images of cartoon characters and sponsoring events at amusement parks may seem innocuous, the danger that the Islamic Circle of North America poses to the United States, Canada and others is clear. As a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization looks to impose Islam on Western society, and as a donor to a terrorist organization, the group is a willing participant in the act of violence.

ICNA’s Muslim Family Day that will occur on October 14, 2007 is nothing but a charade, created to spread hatred, but veiled in a way to make the sponsoring organization look harmless. Six Flags will play host to this dangerous farce. If events, such as these, are allowed to continue, more and more Americans could become desensitized to those groups – fifth columns within our borders that wish to do us harm. It is up to those concerned to speak out against these travesties that threaten our way of life.

Americans Against Hate will be leading a protest outside Six Flags Over Texas, on Sunday, October 14th to call attention to ICNA’s ties to terrorist financing.

Well this isn't a satire but still hilarious. This from a nation that, to my understanding, makes issues over visitors to SA wearing crosses and won't allow "non-believers" free access to all of Mecca.


Saudi Arabia complains about treatment of Muslims in Europe

HRC to Address Muslim Rights Issues in Europe
Raid Qusti, Arab News
 

RIYADH, 4 October 2007 — Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) will urge its counterparts in the European Union to ask their governments not to link terrorism to Islam and also to issue regulations to protect Muslims from prejudice and discrimination because of their faith.

According to a source at HRC, the government-funded rights body will also address various human rights issues in Europe: when Muslims are unjustly interrogated, treated with disrespect, physically or mentally abused, or not allowed to practice their faith freely such as Muslim girls being prevented from wearing the hijab (head cover) in some schools.

The points are expected to be addressed during HRC’s official participation in the Second Arab-European Dialogue on Human Rights and Terrorism, which will take place in Copenhagen on Oct.21-23. “The dialogue is significant because it is being held in Denmark, where the controversy started over the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) cartoons,” the source told Arab News.

HRC President Turki Al-Sudairi has assigned two HRC officials, Khaled Al-Obeid and Ali Al-Mustaneer, to represent the organization in the dialogue.

“HRC’s participation in the dialogue is part of its role to communicate and discuss with regional and international rights bodies matters that concern the rights of humans against discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, or sex,” the HRC said in an official statement.

Among topics up for discussion are “Islamaphobia” and the fear Europeans have of Muslims or Islam as a religion. People’s general attitudes toward Muslims will also be on the agenda. Another topic the rights body is expected to address is the history of Islam in Europe, specifically in Spain where Muslims contributed to the prosperity of humanity at a time when most of Europe was struggling through the Dark Ages.

According to HRC, this second dialogue is expected to come up with several recommendations similar to the first dialogue held in Amman on April 18 and 19 this year. The Amman conference concluded by backing the international bill of rights and other human rights instruments, emphasizing that states are obliged to ensure that anti-terrorist measures comply with human rights standards, and stressing the importance of national human rights agencies in advising governments and monitoring anti-terrorist legislation.

The delegates also urged governments, politicians and the media not to resort to discriminatory ethnic stereotypes in their battle against terrorism. In addition, the delegates recommended the establishment of an Arab-Euro working group, consisting of representatives from two Arab and two European human rights organizations.

These working groups would be able to enter into dialogue with governments and politicians as well as engage with professionals employed in the police force, intelligence services, the courts, civil society and the media.

Saudi Arabia complains about treatment of Muslims in Europe (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=102017&d=4&m=10&y=2007)

Is this the complaint department? Great. I would like to file a complaint about the treatment of all woman and all Christians in Saudi Arabia. What? What do you mean I can't ask for such things? What do you mean I'm discriminatory against their religions and culture? Woah, wait, you're telling me I am the one violating their human rights? What about the rights of my religion and my culture? OH, ok, I'm being selfish.... I get it.... Ok, ok, so what you are saying is that I need to just shut up, give them what they want and "go with the flow." Right, like that's worked in the past.... *click*

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest exporters of terrorism in the world!!

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Men get 7000 lashes for sodomy

From correspondents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
October 04, 2007 08:56pm

TWO men in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to 7000 lashes each after being convicted of sodomy and have received their first round of punishment in public, a newspaper said today.

The men, who were not identified, were meted out an unspecified number of lashes in public in the the southwestern city of Al-Bahah on Tuesday evening, the Al-Okaz daily reported.

They were then returned to prison where they are to be held until the full punishment is completed, the newspaper added, without saying how many sessions this would involve.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Saudi Arabia, which metes out strict punishment based on sharia, or Islamic law.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in the kingdom, with public beheading the common form of execution.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Men get 7000 lashes for sodomy (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22532620-23109,00.html)

I'm not condoning their lifestyle but do think this penalty is barbaric.

It seems the lashes are not done in succession. This way they have time to heal and then the lashes resume. So they probably won't die. And they will probably continue being practicing homosexuals. It's just the next time they'll be more careful.

As for them "not having this problem in Iran"..... I wouldn't bet on it.

We all deserve 7000 lashes and then some, but Jesus paid the price in our sin. Such a concept should leave us humbled and with great compassion for the lost.

You know, I can find humor in almost any thing, but this... well, it's disturbing, to say the least.

"Muslims are masters of the world, its leaders and teachers, even if the West rejects this."

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

One of the defining principles of Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood is their insistence that the only truth is Islam and that the world is destined to be enlightened only when ruled by Islam. A similar Islamic supremacist ideology was expressed recently in an article by a Palestinian Authority religious leader who was appointed last year by Mahmoud Abbas as member of the Supreme Fatwa Council: "Muslims are masters of the world, its leaders and teachers, even if the West rejects this."

    "The Muslims and their societies are more advanced and more sublime than the West and its societies… are more perfect in value system and humanity. The fact that there are those who believe that these are Western values – it is a delusion and false, since the Muslims are masters of the world, its leaders and teachers, even if the West rejects this."

This continues the ongoing social-religious evolution that PMW has been reporting for some time, in which the radical Islamic ideology of Hamas is being adopted by the Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas. See PMW's recent report on the newest PA schoolbooks, "From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict".

The following was written by Dr. Hamza Dhib Mustafa, member of the Supreme Fatwa Council, appointed by Abbas in August 2006:

    "To what does the publication of the declaration of human rights in the West testify in 1948? Didn’t Islam issue something much greater 14 centuries ago?

    "Despite these rights, reserved for humans… we see chilling and embarrassing operations from the states who claim to be democratic, or is it possible that they classify themselves as one of the states of the First World, since… what did the United States do in South America? What did America do in Iraq and Afghanistan? And what does the Israeli occupation do to our Palestinian people, by occupying its land, the requisition of its property and its banishment to everywhere on the face of the earth?

    "All this in the era of the declaration on human rights. Despite this declaration, humanity is still suffering much from the degradation of human respect, from racial discrimination and from social injustice, and by whom? By those that declared these rights!...

    "Yet, these rights… Islam espoused them 14 centuries ago… Europe and the West in general, would never have reached these principles, had they not been influenced by the advanced Islamic culture and had they not borrowed much from it, including this declaration…

    "Islamic societies are cultured, humane and righteous societies, since oppression had not found its way to them and the killing did not spread nor extend among them. They do not go beyond the punishment defined by Islamic law with all that pertains to human rights, regardless of their religion, race, color and their countries [of origin], since human beings are equal from the point of view of Islam… Everyone is equal under the law in terms of their rights and obligations…

    "It says in the Quran… in the words [of Allah], praise him: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.” [Quran, 49,13]

    "This and more, Islam promises various rights to the human. It promises him freedom of religion and citizenship, freedom of thought, the right to property, political freedom and his right to employment. The thing that has no doubt… is that Islam preceded Europe and the West, in general, with all that pertains to matters of human rights by no less than 13 centuries …

    "The Muslims and their societies are more advanced and more sublime than the West and its societies. They are earlier in human civilization, and are more perfect in value system and humanity. The fact that there are those who believe that these are Western values – it is a delusion and false, since the Muslims are masters, leaders and teachers of the world, even if the West rejects this. It is no wonder that this is rejected by the West, the most eager rival of Islam, its followers and its culture. But shocking and amazing is that these are opinions of some Muslims, and this misdirects their compass from the path of truth, righteousness and wisdom.

    “Quite a number of the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] wish they could turn you (Muslims) back to be infidels after you have believed, from selfish envy, after the Truth hath become Manifest unto them.” [Quran, 2,109]

Muslims are masters of the world, its leaders and teachers, even if the West rejects this. (http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_oct2007.htm#b021007)

Excuse me, God is, was, and always will be Master of the World. There ain't no substitute!

Officials Invite Iranian, World Muslims to Int'l Qods Day Rallies

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran's Supreme Leader, president, parliament speaker, judiciary head, cabinet ministers and armed forces as well as other governmental and non-governmental bodies, institutions and universities called on all Iranians and the world Muslims to show their support for the Palestinians by participating in the International Qods Day rallies this Friday.
   

In separate statements, Iranian officials demanded the Muslim people worldwide to show their strong support for the oppressed Palestinian people and cry out their opposition to the atrocities of the illegal regime of the Zionists who still continue their daily massacre of the innocent people even after 60 years of invasion and occupation of Palestine.

The statements said that Muslims' outcry against the Zionist regime would display the vigilance and unity of the world Muslims and their resistance and struggles against oppression, cruelty and injustice.

Meantime, the Iranian officials all said that they would participate in the International Qods Day rallies to show solidarity of the Iranian people and government in supporting the Palestinians against the Zionist and usurper regime of Israel.

In Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to address millions of demonstrators after participating in the Qods Day rallies with his ministers.

 Officials Invite Iranian, World Muslims to Int'l Qods Day Rallies (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8607120274)

HAMAS in the House

The Ohio State Capitol in Columbus will be the setting for a curious convocation later this month when it hosts an event featuring several well-known Islamic extremists as part of an “interfaith” conference entitled, “The Many Faces of Islam”. The conference, which is to be held in the atrium of the Statehouse on Sunday, October 28th, will feature two well-known speakers with multiple connections to the HAMAS international terrorist organization, a host of convicted terrorist leaders, and colleagues who fled the US to avoid prosecution on terrorism-related charges. The event is sponsored by the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio.

One of the featured speakers at the conference will be Anisa Abd El Fattah, the chair of the National Association of Muslim American Women based in Columbus. Fattah is best known for co-authoring two books with current HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef, The Agent: The Truth Behind the Anti-Muslim Campaign in America and Al-Aqsa Intifada. Yousef fled the US in 2005 to avoid prosecution in the Fawaz Damra terrorist support trial and reappeared in Gaza as the official spokesman for HAMAS, a position he still holds. One recent report in Asharq Alawsat described Fattah’s co-author Yousef as “The Smiling Face of HAMAS”. President Clinton identified HAMAS as a Specially Designated Terrorist Organization in a January 1995 executive order.

Both Yousef and Fattah worked together at the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), where Fattah served respectively as both president and director of public affairs. Yousef and Fattah also co-edited the UASR’s quarterly publication, the Middle East Affairs Journal. As UASR director of public affairs, Fattah issued a press statement in March 2004 condemning the assassination of HAMAS founder Sheikh Yassin and saying that Yassin, who had ordered numerous suicide bombings targeting civilians and was responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent men, women and children, was a man of peace.

UASR was founded in 1989 by Mousa abu Mazook, who currently serves as the Deputy Chief of the HAMAS political bureau in Damascus, Syria, and has been listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US government in 1995. According to a February 1993 New York Times article, convicted HAMAS terrorist operative and former UASR employee, Mohammed Salah, told federal authorities that UASR served as “the political command of HAMAS in the United States”. Another 2004 report by investigative journalist Scott Wheeler, “Alleged Terrorist Threat Operates in DC Suburb”, describes multiple ties between UASR and al-Qaeda.

This past May, UASR was named as unindicted co-conspirator by federal prosecutors in the current Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial. During the trial, FBI agent Lara Burns testified that UASR was part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee in America. A 1991 Palestine Committee document introduced as evidence shows that the head of UASR, a position Fattah previously held, was a part of the Central Committee, and states that UASR was “the official organization which represents the media and the cultural aspects to support the cause [HAMAS]. The recording of that history of Islamic work for Palestine and providing a frame for media, political and cultural address is done through it.”

Fattah’s ties to terror are not limited to heading the primary political front group for HAMAS in the US and co-authoring two books with the terrorist group’s current spokesman. In fact, Fattah was actively involved the in formation of the American Muslim Council, which was founded and led by convicted terrorist leader and fundraiser, Abdurahman Alamoudi. Her own bio states that she “has been credited with developing the blueprint for what later became the American Muslim Council, and served for nearly 10 years as an unofficial advisor”, indicating her critical role in the planning and continued operations of the organization. She was also a founding board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

As one of the foremost spokesman for HAMAS in the US, Fattah has published a litany of screeds denouncing “Zionism” and promoting violence against Israeli civilians. A letter to the editor she had published last month in the Columbus Dispatch (“Israelis in Gaza aren’t civilians”), Fattah indicated that any Israeli man, woman or child in Gaza was fair game for terror attacks: “There are no Israeli civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are only illegal Jewish settlers, who, by Israeli law, are also citizen-soldiers. They are heavily armed with fully automatic weapons.”

In a May 2006 article, “Condemning Zionism is crucial to world peace”, Fattah rages against Israel, arguing that Zionism is an “evil and racist ideology that not only directly contrasts everything we profess to stand for as a country, but that also violates every relevant divine, human rights, or other law, including our own laws, as well as every norm of decency known to the human species.” She concludes her article by adding that Zionism was attempting “to expand into Sudan through Darfur”, and thus, responsible for the genocidal violence there, rather than the Islamic government in Khartoum.

An April 2006 article by Fattah, “A Religious History of Justice and Palestine”, begins with her pronouncement that “[t]he racist and colonizing legacy of the Zionist Christian Church, and the Synagogue continues into the 21st Century…”.

This is one of the featured speakers at the “interfaith” conference at the Ohio State Capitol.

Also appearing with Fattah on the “interfaith” panel is Robert D. Crane, who according to his bio served on the UASR Board of Directors from 1996 until its demise after Ahmed Yousef fled the country, and also was instrumental along with Fattah and convicted terrorist leader Abdurahman Alamoudi in the formation of the American Muslim Council, where he was the director of the group’s legal division. He also was the managing editor, in cooperation with co-editors Fattah and HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef, of the UASR’s Middle East Affairs Journal. He is currently an editor for The American Muslim online magazine.

Additionally, Crane served as the director of publications for the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT), which in 2004 the Washington Post described as the center of the DC-area terror financing network that “was set up in the 1980s largely by onetime Brotherhood sympathizers with money from wealthy Saudis”. In 1992, IIIT established a partnership with the World Islam and Studies Enterprise (WISE) at the University of South Florida, which was led by Sami al-Arian, the North American leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Another WISE founder, Ramadan Abdulah Shallah, fled the US in 1995 and is currently the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad based in Syria. WISE received more than $50,000 in funding from IIIT, while much of the IIIT’s funding came from the SAAR Network, which was raided by federal authorities as part of Operation Greenquest.

If it weren’t troubling enough that a major HAMAS operative and another individual with multiple connections to terrorist organizations and convicted terrorist leaders were featured speakers at an event at the Ohio State Capitol, the news that outspoken terror apologist Abukar Arman, who was the subject of a FrontPage exposé just a few months ago, “Hometown Jihad: The Somali Terror Apologist Next Door”, which led to his forced resignation from the board that oversees Central Ohio Homeland Security (see “Terrorist Sympathizer Tossed from Homeland Security Panel”), is the individual responsible for organizing this “interfaith” conference will hopefully get the attention of Ohio state legislators. Abukar Arman is a board member of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, and he is listed as the contact person for the event and identified as a member of the group’s Education and Executive Committees.

An additional note worth mentioning is that an August 11th conference scheduled to be held at the US Capitol in Washington DC featuring Fattah, Abukar Arman, and CAIR national vice chairman Ahmad Al-Akhras (also a Columbus, Ohio resident and the subject of a FrontPage exposé, “Hometown Jihad: Getting By With a Little Help From His (Terrorist) Friends”), was cancelled the day before the event and denied entry by the US House of Representatives Sergeant-at-Arms when the extremist background of the speakers was discovered.

What remains to be seen is whether officials responsible for booking this conference at the Ohio Statehouse were aware of the extremist views of the scheduled speakers, and whether a sponsoring Ohio legislator was needed to book the event. But in light of the precedent recently established by the US House Sergeant-at-Arms in denying these extremists from holding their event in such a prominent public venue, perhaps Ohio legislative leaders will be prompted to reconsider their tacit endorsement for these terror-tied extremists and the legitimacy that such an event held in the political epicenter of Ohio would give them.

Thanks but No Thanksgiving

In the days after 9/11, President Bush exhorted America and the world that Islam was a religion of peace, and that the perpetrators of the attacks had violated the very tenets of the religion they claimed to be killing for. Throughout the Iraq War, the Bush administration has made the case that democracy and Islam are compatible with one another, that they are not mutually opposing ideologies – despite the reality that very few Islamic countries can be truly thought of as democratic.

Nevertheless, I and others have earnestly tried to believe that Islam does not condone the wanton killing of women and children, and that democracy can work in Islamic nations like Indonesia, Turkey, and Malaysia. However, some Muslims in the West seem to be making the argument to the opposite that Islam cannot integrate smoothly, or is entirely incompatible, with Western values and traditions.

A Toronto mosque called, Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque, has encouraged its patrons to not celebrate Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving in Canada is October 8th this year). It would be understandable if the mosque did not condone the celebration of Christmas, Hannukah or other holidays related to other religions. Certainly, I would not appreciate hearing my pastor encourage me to observe Ramadan. However, Thanksgiving has become a celebration of the blessings we have in North America and a remembrance of the struggle to settle the rugged New World more than a religious holiday. It is true that Thanksgiving has Christian roots, but even the ACLU isn’t campaigning against pictures of turkeys and pumpkins in city hall.

The Khalid Bin Al Walid Mosque has a record of such extremist stances. The National Post reports that the Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque says to "avoid participating" in dinners, parties or greetings on Thanksgiving because it is a kuffaar, or non-Muslim, celebration. Not only is this surprising, but the term kuffaar is a derogatory one, meaning “ingrate” that was once applied to slaves.

It gets better,

“How can we bring ourselves to congratulate or wish people well for their disobedience to Allah? Thus expressions such as: Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday, Happy New Year, etc, are completely out," it says.

In 2003, the Khalid mosque, which mainly serves the Toronto Somali-Canadian community, apologized for a newsletter that compared wishing someone a Merry Christmas to congratulating a murderer.

Happy birthday, happy Thanksgiving, and Happy New Year are “completely out”. Thus, I pose the question: can such extremism be compatible in Western civilization? Certainly this Somali mosque in Toronto is not alone in its views within North America’s Muslim community. The mosque also bans “watching sports or soap operas, walking dogs, family photos, wedding bands, western hats, mingling and shaking hands with the opposite sex”.  Allah forbid…

Canada has a long history of multiculturalism, as do many other countries in Europe. The United States has traditionally been more of a “melting pot” than a mosaic, encouraging its immigrants to adopt American values, traditions, and customs to a greater extent than in Canada and Europe.  Nevertheless, polls have shown shocking statistics that 25% of U.S. young Muslim men support suicide bombings to “defend Islam” , and 5% have a favorable view of al Qaeda .  Another poll of Muslims in Western countries found that 14% of Canadians, 25% of British, 14% of Germans, and 10% of French identified with extremists in the struggle between
“moderates” and “extremists” within Islam.

Another Environics poll of Canadian Muslims found that 12% of Muslim Canadians supported the foiled plot to kidnap and behead the Prime Minister of Canada, blow up the parliament buildings, and bomb the Toronto Stock Exchange. In Britain, 6% of Muslims surveyed thought that the 7/7 in 2005 bombings were fully justified.

Fortunately for the West, the majority of Muslims are opposed to using violence to further Islam, and most are in favor of democracy and opposed to bringing in Sharia law. Nevertheless, the statements made by the Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque are troubling and may point to a growing division between Muslims and the majority of the populace in the West.

Australia has, again, set an example for other Western nations on embracing traditional Western values rather than apologizing for them as so many on the Left would have it. The Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has sharply criticized “mushy misguided multiculturalism,” going on to state, "Before entering a mosque visitors are asked to take off their shoes. This is a sign of respect. If you have a strong objection to walking in your socks don't enter the mosque. Before becoming an Australian you will be asked to subscribe to certain values. If you have strong objection to those values don't come to Australia.”

It is instructive to recall that Western Civilization is successful today because of its Judeo-Christian heritage, its commitment to the rule of law, its respect for human rights, its goal of providing equality of opportunity regardless of race, gender, or class, all grounded by the foundation of democracy providing government representative of the people. Should we forget where we came from and compromise our values and traditions, we will be waiving the cultural white flag.

I think President Bush needs to read the koran. Cause islam was a religion of pain and grief, for everyone else!!

islam is a religion of pain and grief for all including all muslims.

Also a religion of stupidness

CAIR Pressures Hollywood...

An Islamic advocacy group wants the entertainment industry to present a more positive image of Muslims and Arabs, who often play terrorists on television and in the movies -- especially after 9/11, when Arab Muslims attacked the United States.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Los Angeles office (CAIR-LA) and FOX Television recently co-hosted a "Hollywood 101" workshop to introduce aspiring Muslim writers, directors and actors to the entertainment industry.

The event, held at FOX Studios in Century City, was intended to promote a positive change in Hollywood's portrayal of Muslims and Arabs, CAIR-LA said.

In January, CAIR complained about the storyline on the Fox network's popular television drama "24," which depicted terrorists attacking the United States. CAIR said the Fox show would increase anti-Muslim prejudice in American society.

The recent "Hollywood 101" event -- a result of CAIR's discussions with Fox -- included students and entry-level professionals who are hoping to build contacts and advance their careers in the entertainment industry.

Participants were given a tour of the studio lot, a presentation on FOX internships and a one-hour interactive seminar featuring five industry professionals, CAIR said in a news release.

CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said the best way to promote an "accurate and balanced portrayal of Muslims in America and around the world" is thought media outlets that shape popular culture.

"Our goal is to help nurture aspiring Muslim artists and to act as facilitators in providing support to emerging Muslim talent in the entertainment industry," said Ayloush.

Ayloush thanked Fox and its Diversity Department for co-hosting the event - "and realizing the importance of engaging young American Muslims who seek to work as entertainment content creators."

Go ahead and ignore the truth. Don't go crying when North America is taken over and ask, how did this happen? Why did this happen? What could we have done to stop this?

You're right, David. This is just like the situation with Hitler. No one believed that he would try to do the things that he did either and it was very close to being the ruin of the entire world because of that.

Brother, all really depends on whether one wants to believe the specific teachings of the Koran. If one does, it's "Death to the infidels." If they want to be nice, they give the infidel a chance to convert to Islam first, but being nice isn't required. It all really boils down to one simple question:  "Is the Koran their holy book and is it to be obeyed? If it IS, Islam is a very violent religion that has NO tolerance for other religions. The last I heard, the Koran is their holy book, so the answers are very simple. If they practice peace and tolerance for other religions, they are in violation of the Koran!

The civilized world does want to practice peace and tolerance for other religions. However, the civilized world won't tolerate being threatened with extinction or converting to Islam. This is barbaric and simply won't be tolerated. It really is just this simple! If they wish to live in the lands of FREEDOM, they WILL adopt our CIVILIZED ways. If not, they can GO HOME, back where they came from! Any plots to take over or use force should result in IMMEDIATE DEPORTATION! Teaching their children the ways of violence in schools on our soil should NOT BE PERMITTED! Violence is NOT religious freedom and it never will be!

Our politicians need to take a few lessons from John Quincy Adams


John Quincy Adams Knew Jihad     

Professor John Lewis Gaddis’ recent provocative analysis of the origins of “unilateralism” in American foreign policy highlights the pivotal role of John Quincy Adams. With candor and humility, Gaddis further reveals that his own contemporary assessment,  “…is not a new interpretation. If you go back and read the famous Samuel Flagg Bemis, the very distinguished Yale diplomatic historian from half a century ago, Bemis was certainly making this argument about the importance of John Quincy Adams.

But I think this has been lost somewhat in intervening years. So, to an extent, I am trying to rediscover John Quincy Adams, in that sense.” Bemis extolled Adams’ seminal contribution to the formulation of U.S. foreign policy:

“Adams grasped the essentials of American policy and the position of the United States in the world more surely than any other man of his time. He availed himself of matchless opportunities to advance the continental future of his country and the fundamental principles for which it stood in the world. Nothing is clearer than that the fourteen fundamentals (above reviewed) remained the main tenets of American foreign policy during the century following…we may surmise that he and the fathers of American Independence as well, had they lived to share the troublous times beyond the British Century in the science-shrunken smallness of the globe, and to experience the extraordinary vicissitudes, combinations, and wars of global politics would have joined the diplomatic revolution rejecting Isolation, and that he [Adams] would say, as he did say at the time of the Congress of Panama: ‘I do not recollect any change in policy; but there has been a great change in circumstances.’…Even if  John Quincy Adams was not to have another great career, as a crusader against the expansion of slavery, this first and mighty achievement, of no less than continental proportions, in laying the foundations of American foreign policy, would have been great enough for one lifetime.” 1

 

Bemis’ landmark 1949 review also included a vague footnote referring to a work which I located formally in a comprehensive annotated bibliography of John Quincy Adams’ writings, compiled by Lynn H. Parsons 2:

 

“Unsigned essays dealing with the Russo-Turkish War, and on Greece, written while JQA was in retirement, before his election to Congress in 1830” [Chapters X-XIV (pp. 267-402) in The American Annual Register for 1827-28-29. New York, 1830.]

 

A brief contribution appeared in the Claremont Review in December, 2002, purporting to summarize the contents of John Quincy Adams’ 136 pages of analysis (although, curiously, never providing the citation, above, for the original essays). Upon reading Adams’ full set of essays, however, it is apparent that this rather uninformed, sanitized Claremont Review piece missed the mark widely.

 

John Quincy Adams possessed a remarkably clear, uncompromised understanding of the permanent Islamic institutions of jihad war and dhimmitude. Regarding jihad, Adams states in his essay series,

 

“…he [Muhammad] declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind…The precept of the Koran is, perpetual war against all who deny, that Mahomet is the prophet of God.”

 

Confirming Adams’ assessment, the late Muslim scholar, Professor Majid Khadduri, wrote the following in his authoritative 1955 treatise on jihad, War and Peace in the Law of Islam :

 

“Thus the jihad may be regarded as Islam’s instrument for carrying out its ultimate objective by turning all people into believers, if not in the prophethood of Muhammad (as in the case of the dhimmis), at least in the belief of God. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have declared ‘some of my people will continue to fight victoriously for the sake of the truth until the last one of them will combat the anti-Christ’. Until that moment is reached the jihad, in one form or another will remain as a permanent obligation upon the entire Muslim community. It follows that the existence of a dar al-harb is ultimately outlawed under the Islamic jural order; that the dar al-Islam permanently under jihad obligation until the dar al-harb is reduced to non-existence; and that any community accepting certain disabilities- must submit to Islamic rule and reside in the dar al-Islam or be bound as clients to the Muslim community. The universality of Islam, in its all embracing creed, is imposed on the believers as a continuous process of warfare, psychological and political if not strictly military.”3

 

And Adams captured the essential condition imposed upon the non-Muslim dhimmi “tributaries” subjugated by jihad, with this laconic statement,

 

“The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute.”

 

Indeed, the famous Shafi’i jurist of Baghdad, al-Mawardi (d. 1058), highlights the most salient aspect of the consensus view of classical Islamic jurisprudence regarding the vanquished non-Muslims “tribute”, i.e., the   jizya: the critical connection between jihad and payment of the jizya. He notes that “The enemy makes a payment in return for peace and reconciliation.” Al-Mawardi then distinguishes two cases: (I) Payment is made immediately and is treated like booty, however “it does, however, not prevent a jihad being carried out against them in the future.”. (II). Payment is made yearly and will “constitute an ongoing tribute by which their security is established.” Reconciliation and security last as long as the payment is made. If the payment ceases, then the jihad resumes. A treaty of reconciliation may be renewable, but must not exceed 10 years.4 The nature of such “protection”, i.e., a blood ransom, is reinforced in this definition of jizya written by E.W. Lane, based on a careful analysis of the etymology of the term:

 

“The tax that is taken from the free non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim government whereby they ratify the compact that assures them protection, as though it were compensation for not being slain” 5

 

Adams’ staunch anti-imperialism, one of the “fourteen fundamentals” of U.S. foreign policy which Samuel Flagg Bemis states, “…we may connect with the name of John Quincy Adams more than with that of any other man” 6, is consistent with Old Man Eloquent’s support for the struggle of the Greeks 7 to liberate themselves from the yoke of centuries of dhimmitude, imposed by the imperialism of Ottoman jihad 8. At minimum, in light of the global war on jihad terrorism, John Quincy Adams’ candid, timeless ruminations should be required reading for all contemporary U.S. diplomats and politicians. 

 

Key annotated excerpts from John Quincy Adams’ remarkable series of essays, are provided below.

 

Adams on Jesus Christ and Christianity, Relative to Muhammad and Islam

 

"And he [Jesus] declared, that the enjoyment of felicity in the world hereafter, would be reward of the practice of benevolence here.  His whole law was resolvable into the precept of love; peace on earth – good will toward man, was the early object of his mission; and the authoritative demonstration of the immortality of man, was that, which constituted the more than earthly tribute of glory to God in the highest… The first conquest of the religion of Jesus, was over the unsocial passions of his disciples.  It elevated the standard of the human character in the scale of existence…On the Christian system of morals, man is an immortal spirit, confined for a short space of time, in an earthly tabernacle.  Kindness to his fellow mortals embraces the whole compass of his duties upon earth, and the whole promise of happiness to his spirit hereafter.  THE ESSENCE OF THIS DOCTRINE IS, TO EXALT THE SPIRITUAL OVER THE BRUTAL PART OF HIS NATURE." (Adam's capital letters)….[pp. 267-268]

 

 cont'd

“In the seventh century of the Christian era, a wandering Arab of the lineage of  Hagar [i.e., Muhammad],  the Egyptian, combining the powers of transcendent genius, with the preternatural energy of a fanatic, and the fraudulent spirit of an impostor, proclaimed himself as a messenger from Heaven, and spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth.  Adopting from the sublime conception of the Mosaic law, the doctrine of one omnipotent God; he connected indissolubly with it, the audacious falsehood, that he was himself his prophet and apostle.  Adopting from the new Revelation of Jesus, the faith and hope of immortal life, and of future retribution, he humbled it to the dust by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion.  He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind.  THE ESSENCE OF HIS DOCTRINE WAS VIOLENCE AND LUST:  TO EXALT THE BRUTAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL PART OF HUMAN NATURE (Adam's capital letters)….Between these two religions, thus contrasted in their characters, a war of twelve hundred years has already raged.  The war is yet flagrant…While the merciless and dissolute dogmas of the false prophet shall furnish motives to human action, there can never be peace upon earth, and good will towards men.” [p. 269]

 

Adams on Jihad War, Dhimmitude, and the Muslim View of Non-Muslims; Examples of the Perfidy of Muslim States, Including the Ottoman Turkish State

 

“As the essential principle of his faith is the subjugation of others by the sword; it is only by force, that his false doctrines can be dispelled, and his power annihilated.

 

They [The Russians] have been from time immemorial, in a state of almost perpetual war with the Tatars, and with their successors, the Ottoman conquerors of Constantinople.  It were an idle waste of time to trace the causes of each renewal of hostilities, during a succession of several centuries.  The precept of the Koran is, perpetual war against all who deny, that Mahomet is the prophet of God.  The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute; the victorious may be appeased by a false and delusive promise of peace; and the faithful follower of the prophet, may submit to the imperious necessities of defeat: but the command to propagate the Moslem creed by the sword is always obligatory, when it can be made effective.  The commands of the prophet may be performed alike, by fraud, or by force.  Of Mahometan good faith, we have had memorable examples ourselves.  When our gallant [Stephen] Decatur ref had chastised the pirate of Algiers, till he was ready to renounce his claim of tribute from the United States, he signed a treaty to that effect: but the treaty was drawn up in the Arabic language, as well as in our own; and our negotiators, unacquainted with the language of the Koran, signed the copies of the treaty, in both languages, not imagining that there was any difference between them.  Within a year the Dey demands, under penalty of the renewal of the war, an indemnity in money for the frigate taken by Decatur; our Consul demands the foundation of this pretension; and the Arabic copy of the treaty, signed by himself is produced, with an article stipulating the indemnity, foisted into it, in direct opposition to the treaty as it had been concluded.  The arrival of Chauncey, with a squadron before Algiers, silenced the fraudulent claim of the Dey, and he signed a new treaty in which it was abandoned; but he disdained to conceal his intentions; my power, said he, has been wrested from my hands; draw ye the treaty at your pleasure, and I will sign it; but beware of the moment, when I shall recover my power, for with that moment, your treaty shall be waste paper.  He avowed what they always practised, and would without scruple have practised himself. Such is the spirit, which governs the hearts of men, to whom treachery and violence are taught as principles of religion.” [p. 274-275]

“Had it been possible for a sincere and honest peace to be maintained between the Osmanli and his christian neighbors, then would have been the time to establish it in good faith.  But the treaty was no sooner made than broken.  It never was carried into effect by the Turkish government.” [p. 276]

 

“From the time when the disaster of Navarino ref had been made known to him, the Reis Effendi [Ottoman diplomat assigned to Russia] had assumed the tone of the aggrieved party, and made formal demands of indemnity, and the punishment of the offending admirals.  He still manifested however, a solicitude to prevent the rupture of the negotiations by the departure of the ambassadors…” [p. 298]

 

“Upon the departure of the ambassadors, the Sultan, who must have been, however, unwillingly preparing his mind for that event, immediately determined upon two things; a war with Russia alone – and a dallying attempt to protract the negotiation, and gain time of preparation for the conflict.” [p. 298]

 

[From the Ottoman Reis Effendi, to his Russian counterparts] ‘The present friendly letter has been composed and sent, to acquaint your excel­lency. with the circumstance; when you shall learn, on receipt of it, that the Sublime Porte has at all times; no other desire or wish than to preserve peace, and good understanding ; and that the event in question has been brought about, entirely by the act of the said minister, we hope that you will endeavor, do every occasion, to fulfil the duties of friendship.’ But precisely at the time when this mild, and candid, and gently expostulary epistle was despatched for St. Petersburg, another state paper was issued, addressed by the Sultan to his own subjects-this was the Hatti Sheriff of the 20th of December, sent to the Pashas of all the provinces, calling on all the faithful Mussulmen of the empire to come forth and 'fight for their religion, and their country, against the infidel despisers of the Prophet. The comparison of these two documents with each other, will afford the most perfect illustration of the Ottoman faith, as well as of their temper towards Russia.

 

The Hatti Sheriff commenced with the following admirable com­mentary upon the friendly profession, which introduced the letter to count Nesselrode. ‘It is well known (said the Sultan) to almost every person, that if the Mussulmen naturally hate the infidels, the infidels, on then part, are the enemies of the Mussulmen : that Russia, more espe­cially, bears a particular hatred to Islamism, and that she is the principal enemy of the Sublime Porte.’

 

This appeal to the natural hatred of the Mussulmen towards the infidels, is in just accordance with the precepts of the Koran. The document does not attempt to disguise it, nor even pretend that the enmity of those whom it styles the infidels, is any other than the ne­cessary consequence of the hatred borne by the Mussulmen to them—the paragraph itself, is a forcible example of the contrasted character of the two religions. The funda­mental doctrine of the christian religion, is the extirpation of hatred from the human heart. It forbids the exercise of it, even towards enemies. There is no denomina­tion of christians, which denies or misunderstands this doctrine. All understand it alike—all acknow­ledge its obligations ; and however imperfectly, in the purposes of Divine Providence, its efficacy has been shown in the practice of christians, it has not been wholly inoperative upon them.  Its effect has been upon the manners of nations.  It has mitigated the horrors of war – it has softened the features of slavery – it has humanized the intercourse of social life.  The unqualified acknowledgement of a duty does not, indeed, suffice to insure its performance.  Hatred is yet a passion, but too powerful upon the hearts of christians.  Yet they cannot indulge it, except by the sacrifice of their principles, and the conscious violation of their duties.  No state paper from a Christian hand, could, without trampling the precepts of its Lord and Master, have commenced by an open proclamation of hatred to any portion of the human race.  The Ottoman lays it down as the foundation of his discourse. [p. 299-300]

 

cont'd

“The last appeal of the Sultan to the fanaticism of his people, and to the protection of his prophet, has been vain.  He told them, that since the happy time of their great prophet, the faithful Mussulmen had never taken into consideration the numbers of the infidels.  He reminded them, too truly reminded them, how often they had put millions of Christians to the sword; how many states and provinces they had thus conquered, sword in hand.” 9 [p. 302]

 

“[More from the Ottoman Sultan’s pronouncement to his subjects]...‘all infidels are but one nation…This war must be considered purely a religious and national war.  Let all the faithful, rich or poor, great or little, know, that to fight is a duty with us; let them then refrain from thinking of arrears, or of pay of any kind; far from such considerations, let us sacrifice our property and our persons; let us execute zealously the duties which the honor of Islamism imposes on us – let us unite our efforts, and labor, body and soul, for the support of religion, until the day of judgement.  Mussulmen have no other means of working out salvation in this world and the next.’”

 

Those provinces are the abode of ten millions of human beings, two thirds of whom are Christians, groaning under the intolerable oppression of less than three millions of Turks.  Those provinces are in some of the fairest regions of the earth.  They were Christian countries, subdued during the conquering period of the Mahometan imposture, by the ruthless scymetar of the Ottoman race; and under their iron yoke, have been gradually dwindling in population, and sinking into barbarism.  The time of their redemption is at hand.” [p. 303]

 

“With regard to the Hatti Sheriff of the 20th of December, summoning the whole Ottoman nation to arms against Russia, the sultan now thinks proper to say, that it was only a proclamation which the Sublime Porte, for certain reasons, circulated in its states; an internal transaction, of which the Sublime Porte alone knows the motives, and that the language held by a government to its own subjects cannot b a ground for another government to pick a quarrel with it – especially, as the Grand Vizier had, immediately after the departure of the Russian envoy, written a letter to the prime minister of Russia, declaring the desire of the Sublime Porte till to maintain peace.  That if Russia had conceived suspicions, from the Sultan’s address to his subjects, she might have applied amicably to the Porte to ascertain the truth and clear up her doubts.” [p. 311]

 

Remonstrating Against the Moral Equivalence of Britain and the European Powers

“In the kings [British King, George IV] speech, at the opening of the session of Parliament, on the 29th of January, he said that, ‘for several years a contest had been carried on between the Ottoman Porte, and the inhabitants of the Greek provinces and islands, which had been marked on each side, by excesses revolting to humanity’.” [p. 304]

 

“Still more extraordinary was it to the ears of Christendom to hear a British king, in a speech to his parliament, style the execrable and sanguinary head of the Ottoman race, his ancient ally; and denominate a splendid victory, achieved under the command of a British admiral, in the strict and faithful execution of his instructions, and untoward event.  But the last member of the paragraph from his majesty’s speech, which we have quoted, to those accustomed to the mystifications of royal speeches and diplomatic defiances, explained these apparent disparates.  He declares the great objects to which all his efforts have been directed, and of which, while adhering to his arrangements, he will never lose sight, are the termination of the contest between the hostile parties; the permanent settlement of their future relations to each other, and maintenance of the repose of Europe, upon the basis on which it has rested since the last general peace.” [p. 305]

 

“And where is the protection to the commerce of his majesty’s subjects! And where is the determination to launch all the thunders of Britain at half a dozen skulking piratical cockboats, driven by the desperation of famine to seek the subsistence of plunder, assigned in the protocols, the treaty and the communications to the Ottoman Porte, as the great objects of his majesty’s interference between a legitimate sovereign and his revolted rayahs?...In all these documents, issuing from the profound and magnanimous policy of the British warrior statesman, nothing is more remarkable, than the more than stoical apathy with which they regard the cause, for which the Greeks are contending; the more than epicurean indifference with which they witness the martyrdom of a whole people, perishing in the recovery of their religion and liberty…The royal speech of January, 1828 indicates that in the protocol and in the treaty, the government of George IV, had outwitted themselves, and were the dupes of their own policy.  It presents the singular spectacle of a sovereign, wincing at the success of his own measures, and repining at the triumph of his own arms.  From that time the partialities of England in favor of he ancient ally, have been little disguised; and the disposition to take side with the Porte has only been controlled, by the unwelcome necessity of adhering to the faith of treaties.” [pp. 306-307]

 

“Far from being like the Hatti Sheriff of the 20th December, an appeal to the Ottoman people, a bold and candid avowal of the precepts of the Koran; it is an utter departure from them, and an assumption, equally shameless and hypocritical, of argument on Christian grounds.” [pp. 308-309]

 

Justice of the Greek Revolution

 

“If ever insurrection was holy in the eyes of God, such was that of the Greeks against their Mahometan oppressors.  Yet for six long years, they were suffered to be overwhelmed by the whole mass of the Ottoman power; cheered only by the sympathies of all the civilized world, but without a finger raised to sustain or relieve them by the Christian governments of Europe; while the sword of extermination, instinct with the spirit of the Koran, was passing in merciless horror over the classical regions of Greece, the birth-place of philosophy, of poetry, of eloquence, of all the arts that embellish, and all the sciences that dignify the human character.  The monarchs of Austria, of France, and England, inflexibly persisted in seeing in the Greeks, only revolted subjects against a lawful sovereign.  The ferocious Turk eagerly seized upon this absurd concession, and while sweeping with his besom of destruction over the Grecian provinces, answered every insinuation of interest in behalf of that suffering people, by assertions of the unqualified rights of sovereignty, and by triumphantly retorting upon the legitimates of Europe, the consequences naturally flowing from their own perverted maxims.” [p. 278]

 

“This pretended discovery of a plot between Russia and the Greeks, is introduced, to preface an exulting reference to the unhallowed butchery of the Greek Patriarch and Priests, on Easter day of 1822, at Constantinople, and to the merciless desolation of Greece, which it calls ‘doing justice by the sword’ to a great number of rebels of the Morea, of Negropont, of Acarnania, Missolonghi, Athens, and other parts 10 of the continent.The document acknowledges, that although during several years, considerable forces, both naval and military, had been sent against the Greeks, they had not succeeded in suppressing the insurrection.”  [p. 301]

 

NOTES

 

1. Bemis, Samuel Flagg. John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy, New York, 1949. pp. 571-572.

 

2. Parsons, Lynn H. John Quincy Adams- A Bibliography, Westport, CT, 1993, p. 41, entry # 194.

 

3. Khadduri, Majid. War and Peace in the Law of Islam, 1955, Richmond, VA and London, England, pp. 63-64.

 

4. Al- Mawardi, The Laws of Islamic Governance [al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah], London, United Kingdom, 1996, pp. 77-78.

 

5. E. W. Lane,  An Arabic-English Lexicon (London, 1865), Book I Part II, Jizya, p. 422.

 

6. Bemis, S. F. John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy, p. 570.

cont'd

7. Ackowledging his earlier position of strict neutrality, while Secretary of State, Pappas makes clear how as President (perhaps under the influence of Lafayette), Adams came to support the Greek cause (Pappas, Paul C. The United States and the Greek War for Independence, 1821-1828, New York, 1985, pp. 125-126.):

 

“The case of the Greek frigates demonstrated once again America’s benevolent neutrality toward Greece. Motivated no doubt by philhellenic zeal, the United States government came to the Greek’s rescue in violation of the nation’s law and the international laws of neutrality.  President Adams and members of the cabinet and of Congress enthusiastically helped Contostavlos [the Greek national seeking warships for his country] and cooperated in passing swiftly and discreetly a bill authorizing the government to purchase one of the Greek frigates.  The American government also cooperated in postponing the purchase of the frigate so that Contostavlos could deal with the houses, which refused to compromise on their high demands.  And finally, when Contostavlos was ready to sail with the frigate Hope to Greece, President Adams temporarily put aside neutrality to allow an armed ship to sail out of New York with American officers and sailors…”

 

8. Vacalopoulos describes how jihad imposed dhimmitude under Ottoman rule provided critical motivation for the Greek Revolution (Vacalopoulos, A.E. Background and Causes of the Greek Revolution, Neo-Hellenika, Vol. 2, 1975, pp.54-55):

 

“The Revolution of 1821 is no more than the last great phase of the resistance of the Greeks to Ottoman domination; it was a relentless, undeclared war, which had begun already in the first years of servitude.  The brutality of an autocratic regime, which was characterized by economic spoliation, intellectual decay and cultural retrogression, was sure to provoke opposition.  Restrictions of all kinds, unlawful taxation, forced labor, persecutions, violence, imprisonment, death, abductions of girls and boys and their confinement to Turkish harems, and various deeds of wantonness and lust, along with numerous less offensive excesses – all these were a constant challenge to the instinct of survival and they defied every sense of human decency.  The Greeks bitterly resented all insults and humiliations, and their anguish and frustration pushed them into the arms of rebellion.  There was no exaggeration in the statement made by one of the beys if Arta, when he sought to explain the ferocity of the struggle.  He said:  ‘We have wronged the rayas [dhimmis] (i.e. our Christian subjects) and destroyed both their wealth and honor; they became desperate and took up arms.  This is just the beginning and will finally lead to the destruction of our empire.’ The sufferings of the Greeks under Ottoman rule were therefore the basic cause of the insurrection; a psychological incentive was provided by the very nature of the circumstances.”

 

9. Bat Ye'or summarized the impact of the first two centuries of Arab Muslim conquests on indigenous Jews and Christians of the Middle East, as follows (The Jerusalem Quarterly 1987; Vol. 42, Pp. 84-85):

 

“Muslim chroniclers described the ongoing jihad (holy war), involving the destruction of whole towns, the massacre of large numbers of their populations, the enslavement of women and children, and the confiscation of vast regions. This picture of catastrophe and destruction corresponds to the period of gradual erosion of Palestinian Jewry. According to [the Muslim chronicler] Baladhuri (d. 892 C.E.), 40,000 Jews lived in Caesarea alone at the Arab conquest, after which all trace of them is lost…".

 

The six centuries between 640 and 1240 C.E., she further observes:

 

“. witnessed the total and definitive destruction of Judaism and Christianity in the Hijaz (modern Saudi Arabia), and the decline of once flourishing Christian and Jewish communities in Palestine (particularly in Galilee for the Jews), Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia. In North Africa, the Christians had been virtually eliminated by 1240 C.E., and the Jews decimated by Almohad persecutions… notwithstanding some brighter intervals, these six centuries witnessed a dramatic demographic reversal whereby the Arab-Muslim minority developed into a dominant majority, resorting to oppression in order to reduce the indigenous populations to tolerated religious minorities…”

 

Professor H.Z. Hirschberg includes this summary of a contemporary Judeo-Arabic account by Solomon Cohen (which comports with Arab historian Ibn Baydhaq’s sequence of events), from January 1148 C.E, describing the Muslim Almohad conquests in North Africa, and Spain (Hirschberg, H.Z.,  The Jews of North Africa, Leiden, Vol. 1, 1974, pp. 127-128):

 

“Abd al-Mumin…the leader of the Almohads after the death of Muhammad Ibn Tumart the Mahdi [note: Ibn Tumart was a cleric whose writings bear a striking resemblance to Khomeini’s rhetoric eight centuries later] …captured Tlemcen [in the Maghreb] and killed all those who were in it, including the Jews, except those who embraced Islam…All the cities in the Almoravid [dynastic rulers of North Africa and Spain prior to the Almohads] state were conquered by the Almohads. One hundred thousand persons were killed in Fez on that occasion, and 120,000 in Marrakesh….Large areas between Seville and Tortosa [in Spain] had likewise [emphasis added] fallen into Almohad hands.”

 

Speros Vryonis provides a contemporary Georgian chroniclers account of the Seljuk jihad in Asia Minor and Georgia during the late 11th and early 12th centuries (Vryonis, Speros Jr. “Nomadization and Islamization in Asia Minor”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29, 1975, pp. 50-51):

 

“The process itself is described in its essential details by the Georgian chronicle for northeast Asia Minor and the adjoining Georgian regions.  The process which it describes was not unique to the northeast, for we see it in the west and the south of Asia Minor as well..

 

cont'd

‘The emirs spread out, like locusts, over the face of the land…The countries of Asis-Phorni, Clardjeth, up to the shores of the sea, Chawcheth, Adchara, Samtzkhe, Karthli, Argoueth, Samokalako, and Dchqondid were filled with Turks who pillaged and enslaved all the inhabitants.  In a single day they burned Kouthathis, Artanoudj, and hermitages of Clardjeth, and they remained in these lands until the first snows, devouring the land, massacring all those who had fled to the forests to the rocks, to the caves…The calamities of Christianity did not come to an end soon thereafter, for at the approach of spring, the Turks returned to carry out the same ravages and left [again] in the winter.  The [inhabitants] however were unable to plant or to harvest.  The land, [thus] delivered to slavery, had only animals of the forests and wild beasts for inhabitants.  Karthli was in the grip of intolerable calamities such as one cannot compare to a single devastation or combination of evils of past times.  The holy churches served as stables for their horses, the sanctuaries of the Lord served as repairs for the abominations [Islam].  Some of the priests were immolated during the Holy communion itself, and others were carried off into harsh slavery without regard to their old age.  The virgins were defiled, the youths circumcised, and the infants taken away.  The conflagration, extending its ravages, consumed all the inhabited sites, the rivers, instead of water, flowed blood.  I shall apply the sad words of Jeremiah, which he applied so well to such situations: “the honorable children of Zion, never put to the rest by misfortunes, now voyaged as slaves on foreign roads.  The streets of Zion now wept because there was no one

Thanks Pastor Roger!

This is fascinating. If anyone studies history, they should know that the entire history of Islam is inseparable from the sword and violence. After all, that's what the Koran teaches very plainly. Anyone can read it for themselves and easily understand without question what the Koran teaches. If anyone has doubts, read it for yourself and end your doubts.

no thank you

I can't blame you. Reading the koran is a difficult thing to stomach. There is so much hatred and blasphemy in it that it does make one sick.

Yes it does, some where I have a big thread on islam.

Edited to add:

Here is the link on islam I told y'all about.  Peaceful religion isn't spelled Islam  (http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?topic=8327.msg106563#msg106563)this link is on the forum, there are 6 pages. :o

Muslims Leaders Warn Pope 'Survival of World' at Stake

Thursday, October 11, 2007

The "survival of the world" is at stake if Muslims and Christians do not make peace with each other, leaders of the Muslim world will warn the Pope and other Christian leaders today.

In an unprecedented open letter signed by 138 leading scholars from every sect of Islam, the Muslims plead with Christian leaders "to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions" and spell out the similarities between passages of the Bible and the Koran.

The scholars state: "As Muslims, we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them - so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes."

The phrasing has echoes of the New Testament passage: "He that is not with me is against me" - a passage used by President George Bush when addressing a joint session of Congress nine days after 9/11.

The Muslims call instead for the emphasis to be on the shared characteristics of world's two largest faiths.

The letter, addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, to the Orthodox Church's Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew 1 and all the other Orthodox Patriarchs and to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and the leaders of all other Protestant churches worldwide, will be rolled out around the world this morning in a series of press conferences beginning in Jordan. It is supported by the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres.

It is expected to be followed by a joint conference between Muslim and Christian world leaders at on "neutral" ground, such as at an American university.

"Finding common ground between Muslims and Christians is not simply a matter for polite ecumenical dialogue between selected religious leaders," the Muslim scholars say, noting that Christians and Muslims make up over a third and a fifth of humanity respectively.

"Together they make up more than 55 per cent of the population, making the relationship between these two religious communities the most important factor in contributing to meaningful peace around the world. If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace."

The Muslims even quote passages verbatim from the Bible, extremely rare in a publication of this kind and at this level and an indication of their resolve to bring the two faiths together and end the present tensions between them.

The letter continues: "With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants. Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake."

It says: "And to those who nevertheless relish conflict and destruction for their own sake or reckon that ultimately they stand to gain through them, we say that our very eternal souls are all also at stake if we fail to sincerely make every effort to make peace and come together in harmony."

Concluding with a quote from the Koran, the scholars say: "So let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works."

The letter is being sent out today by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan.

Among those launching the letter in the UK will be two world leading figures in interfaith dialogue Professor David Ford and Aref Ali Nayed.

Professor David Ford is Regius Professor of Divinity, and Fellow of Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Professor Ford is also the Founding Director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Program and led this year’s international inter-faith conference at Lancaster House in June on ‘Islam and Muslims in the World Today’.

Aref Ali Nayed is a leading theologian and senior adviser to the Cambridge Inter-Faith Program. He is formerly Professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, and the International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization in Malaysia.

Signatures include Shaykh Sevki Omarbasic, Grand Mufti of Croatia, Dr Abdul Hamid Othman, adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Dr Ali Ozak, head of the endowment for Islamic scientific studies in Istanbul, Turkey. They also include Shaykh Dr Nuh Ali Salman Al-Qudah, Grand Mufti of Jordan and Shaykh Dr Ikrima Said Sabri, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Muslims Leaders Warn Pope 'Survival of World' at Stake (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301116,00.html)

Anger over plan to dig up 350,000 bodies in historic London cemetery for Muslim burial site
11/Oct/07

A row has erupted over a plan to dig up a third of a million bodies from an historic east London cemetery to make way for a new Muslim burial site.

Tower Hamlets council in London is considering reopening the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park in Mile End to answer a long-running campaign for a Muslim graveyard in the area.

The park, off Bow Common Lane, was deconsecrated as a Church of England cemetery by Parliament in 1966, after being deemed full with about 350,000 bodies buried there.

It is not yet clear what the Council proposes to do with the remains, if they are ultimately removed from the graves and a new burial site built in their place.

Council sources have said the plans are not yet at a stage where this has been properly considered.

But already opponents to the proposal are lining up. They include the environmentalist and broadcaster, who is leading calls for the park to be kept as a wildlife haven.

The botanist, who is patron of a charity that acts as the guardian of the graveyard, said he will 'pray that the wisdom of all faiths' prevails in the decision over the cemetery's future.

The other options are to find land outside Tower Hamlets or redevelop the Bow Common gas works.

The Labour-controlled council had asked officers to find ways of opening a Muslim-only cemetery - but lawyers warned them that would be illegal.

The authority then examined the possibility of a multi-faith site, clearing existing graves to create a new cemetery with an area set aside for Muslim burials.

But now outraged East Enders have declared "there is no way we'll allow them to dig up our ancestors".

They have bombarded their local paper, the East London Advertiser, with protests against the plan to exhume 350,000 graves dating back to 1841, including those of the children of Dr Barnardo.

Religious leaders and politicians have also reacted angrily.

Tower Hamlets Tory group leader Peter Golds said no new cemetery had been opened in an inner city area for decades.

Cllr Golds insisted: "Of course, there must be respect for the recent dead and for those who mourn, but this proposal will cause untold damage to community cohesion in a borough that seriously wants for tranquil open space."

Labour's Poplar and Canning Town MP Jim Fitzpatrick said: "The cemetery is a very special piece of green space and I would personally want to examine very carefully any proposal to change that."

The Rev Alan Green, chair of the Tower Hamlets Inter-Faith Forum and dean for the borough, said the former Church of England graveyard was not an 'appropriate' place for a new cemetery.

Rev Green said: "The Church supports the move to ensure suitable future provision for the burial and cremation needs for all local residents.

"However, we do not believe that the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is an appropriate location due to the emotional, practical and ecological issues of removing thousands of bodies and destroying an important wildlife centre.

"Therefore, we hope that we can work with the council and other faith groups to find a more suitable alternative."

Even Respect group leader Abjol Miah, who has been at the forefront of calls for a Muslim cemetery, opposed the blueprint.

Mr Miah said: "The Bow cemetery is an historic site and a nature reserve and therefore appears not to be an appropriate place.

"However, there is an urgent need for new cemetery facilities for Tower Hamlets residents.

"The lack of such facilities affects everyone, and is pressing because many, including most Muslims, prefer to bury their loved ones."

But defending the plan, Labour's environment spokesman in Tower Hamlets, Abdal Ullah, said: "To preserve the respect and dignity for everyone, I think most of the graves would have to be cleared out and we'd start afresh."

He said a corner of the cemetery would be reserved for Muslims who are buried in shrouds at a depth of 6ft and on their side facing Mecca.

With the fast-changing demographics of Tower Hamlets, the cemetery would be pre-dominantly Muslim.

Re-opening the cemetery would require an Act of Parliament - involving widespread public consultation and scrutiny but by law, any graves more than 75 years old can be removed.

Even satan knows how to quote scripture to his advantage.

Exactly why I say, just because one can quote the entire Bible, doesn't mean you're a Christian

NYC's Tallest (Surviving) Building Lit in Honor of Islam...

Empire State building tower lit for Islamic holy days

The Empire State Building will be illuminated green this weekend to mark the Islamic holy days of Eid-al-Fitr (EED-ALL-FEET-er).

The joyous "Festival of Fast-breaking" marks the end of Ramadan, a month of intense spiritual renewal.

This year is the first time the famous skyscraper will be aglow for the Islamic holiday. A spokeswoman for the building's owner says it will be an annual event, in the same tradition of the yearly skyscraper lighting for Christmas and Hanukah.

In Islam, the color green symbolizes a happy occasion and the importance of nature. It will be illuminated from Friday through Sunday.

What a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Surprise? 'New' Muslim Brotherhood Platform Sexist, Christophobic, Backwards...

Muslim Brotherhood sets up Islamic clerical power

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's powerful opposition movement, has laid down its first detailed political platform, which would bar women and Christians from becoming president and establish a board of Muslim clerics to oversee the government, reminiscent of Iran's Islamic state.

The platform has dismayed secular reform activists who have cautiously hoped the Brotherhood was becoming more moderate and who supported the movement in the face of a tough government crackdown against it.

The document also complicates the debate in Egypt over how to deal with the Brotherhood, which proved its widespread popularity in 2005 parliament elections.

The Brotherhood in recent years has increasingly touted itself as a pro-reform movement, insisting it wants a democratic playing field and an end to the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Some secular reformers increasingly have said that, given the Brotherhood's popularity, there can't be real democracy in Egypt unless the group has a seat at the political table.

But the blueprint illustrated the dominance of a more hard-line trend in the Brotherhood, known as the "Daawi" - Arabic for "preaching" - over a minority of moderates who seek to reform the group and call for a civic government that respects Islamic principles.

"Conservatives are the majority inside the group in general," said Abdel Moneim Mohammed, a young Brotherhood activist who has criticized the controversial aspects of the platform on his blog.

The blueprint is a draft platform for a Brotherhood political party, which Mubarak's government has vowed never to allow. The Brotherhood circulated the draft last month to a number of intellectuals for reaction.
So far, it has been strongly negative.

"It establishes a religious state," Abdel Moneim Said, head of the leading Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, said. "Its an assassination to the civic state."

The program calls for the formation of a commission of senior religious scholars, chosen in national elections, "to give consultancy to parliament and presidents," according to a copy of the program obtained by The Associated Press.

The commission's opinion on government and parliament decisions would be the "recommended one," suggesting it could veto those decisions.

The platform says parliament could overrule the board but not in issues governed by "proven texts" of Islamic Sharia law, a vague phrase which could be a wide range of issues.

The body recalls the system in Iran, where clerical councils have final say on a wide range of political issues and can even vet candidates running for president and parliament.

Mohammed Mursi, head of the Brotherhood committee that drafted the blueprint, defended it saying that the clerical body will only play a consultative rule. "We don't want a religious state," Mursi said.

He said the Brotherhood could make changes in the draft before it publishes its final version. He did not say when the final text would be announced.

The program also bars women and Christians from holding the post of president - Christians because the presidency and the prime minister's post have Islamic religious duties so "non-Muslims are excused from holding this mission."

The president cannot be a woman because the post's religious and military duties "contradict with her nature, social and other humanitarian roles," the document says.

The blueprint discusses women's issues under its "Issues and Problems" chapter, alongside problems like unemployment and child labor. It underlines "equality between men and women in terms of their human dignity," but also warns against "burdening women with duties against their nature or role in the family."

Sameh Fawzy, a Christian political analyst, described the Brotherhood stance as "very distant from the principle of a modern nation state."

The platform is the most concrete policy paper yet by the Brotherhood, which won a fifth of the parliament's seats in the 2005 elections, making it the biggest opposition bloc. The Brotherhood has been banned since 1954 but its candidates run in elections as independents.

In the past, the group has been vague about its goals, saying it seeks greater rule of Islamic law in Egypt without giving details.

Bahy Eldin Hassan, head of Cairo Center for Human Rights, said the new platform shows the Brotherhood has added "vocabularies of democracy and human rights (to their rhetoric). But the content remains the same as the old generations."

Hassan said reformists inside the group have "no weight" inside the decision-making body of the group.

In his blog, Mohammed, the Brotherhood activist, criticized the idea of the clerical council as a "flaw" in the platform.

He also opposes the ban on women and Christians from the running for president. "As a Muslim, I have the right to reject a Christian as my president, but I will decide that in the ballot, not before," Mohammed, who was detained for several weeks earlier this year in the government crackdown, told AP.

But he doubted the platform would be a blow to the group's wider popularity, saying many Egyptians back it as a protest vote against the government. Even critics within the Brotherhood will "follow whatever the supreme leader says, since the group's membership is based upon listening and obedience," he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which operates in America as the Muslim American Society, has a plan and a vision: remake American society and turn it into an Islamic nation, ruled by Islamic law and led by Muslims. No, these aren't the extremists and terrorists - these are mainstream, if conservative, Muslims in America. Their goal in the U.S. is the same as it is in Egypt and in all other nations. They are continually working hard to make their dream a reality and are willing to take any means necessary to achieve that goal.

Vatican welcomes Muslim peace initiative
Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:39am EDT

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam on Friday welcomed an unprecedented call from 138 Muslim scholars for peace and understanding between their religions.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran told Vatican Radio he found the letter, released on Thursday, "very interesting," in part because it was signed by both Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims and made numerous references to the Old and New Testaments.

The letter, addressed to Pope Benedict and other prominent Christian leaders, said finding common ground between the world's major faiths had to go beyond polite dialogue because "the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake".

Tauran, a Frenchman who heads the Vatican's department for inter-religious dialogue, said he welcomed the fact that the letter was "not polemical" and called for a spiritual approach to inter-religious dialogue.

Such a joint letter was unprecedented in Islam, which has no central authority that speaks on behalf of all worshippers.

The list of signatories includes senior figures throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. They represent Sunni, Shi'ite and Sufi schools of Islam.

Relations between Muslims and Christians have been strained as al Qaeda has struck around the world and as the United States and other Western countries intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pope Benedict sparked Muslim protests last year with a speech hinting Islam was violent and irrational. It prompted 38 Muslim scholars to write a letter challenging his view of Islam and accepting his call for serious Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Benedict repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to the speech, but stopped short of a clear apology sought by Muslims.

Vatican welcomes Muslim peace initiative (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1211263420071012?sp=true)

Unprecedented Muslim call for peace with Christians
Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:21am EDT

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 130 Muslim scholars from around the globe called on Thursday for peace and understanding between Islam and Christianity, saying "the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake".

In an unprecedented letter to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders, 138 Muslim scholars said finding common ground between the world's biggest faiths was not simply a matter for polite dialogue between religious leaders.

"If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants," the scholars wrote.

"Our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake," they wrote, adding that Islam and Christianity already agreed that love of God and neighbor were the two most important commandments of their faiths.

Relations between Muslims and Christians have been strained as al Qaeda has struck around the world and as the United States and other Western countries intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Such a joint letter is unprecedented in Islam, which has no central authority that speaks on behalf of all worshippers.

The list of signatories includes senior figures throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. They represent Sunni, Shi'ite and Sufi schools of Islam.

Among them were the grand muftis of Egypt, Palestine, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Bosnia and Russia and many imams and scholars. War-torn Iraq was represented by both Shi'ites and Sunnis.

Mustafa Cagrici, the mufti who prayed with Benedict in Istanbul's Blue Mosque last year, was also on the list, as was the popular Egyptian television preacher Amr Khaled.

"MAINSTREAM VOICES DROWNED OUT"

The letter was addressed to the Pope, leaders of Orthodox Christian churches, Anglican leader Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the heads of the world alliances of the Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and Reformed churches.

Williams said he welcomed it as "indicative of the kind of relationship for which we yearn in all parts of the world".

"The call to respect, peace and goodwill should now be taken up by Christians and Muslims at all levels and in all countries," he said.

A Vatican official in Rome said the Roman Catholic Church would not comment until it had time to read the letter.

Aref Ali Nayed, one of the signatories and a senior adviser to the Cambridge Interfaith Program at Cambridge University in Britain, said the signatories represented the "99.9 percent of Muslims" who follow mainstream schools and oppose extremism.

"In Islam we have had a problem for some time now where the mainstream voices are drowned out by a minority that choose violence," he said.

Nayed said organizers of the letter had set up an ad hoc network among Muslim leaders that could lead to more cooperation in future.

"These people don't take their signatures lightly," he said. "We are trying to institutionalize this so we don't lose it."

The overture to Christians could be followed by similar letters addressed to Jews or secularists, he added.

Pope Benedict sparked Muslim protests last year with a speech hinting Islam was violent and irrational. It prompted 38 Muslim scholars to write a letter challenging his view of Islam and accepting his call for serious Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Benedict repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to the speech, but stopped short of a clear apology sought by Muslims.

The new letter argues in theological terms, giving quotes from the Koran and the Bible that show both Christianity and Islam considered love of God as their greatest commandment and love of neighbor as the second greatest.

"The basis for this peace and understanding already exists," it said. "It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the one God and love of the neighbor."

Unprecedented Muslim call for peace with Christians (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1162787420071011?sp=true)

NYC tries to increase share of Sharia finances
Big Apple hopes to capture piece of Islamic financial market

New York will play host to two major conferences on Islamic finance this month, events likely to underscore that the city is a bit player in this vast and growing market sector — particularly when compared to London.

The British capital is New York's chief rival as a global financial hub, and it has a big head start in the race to attract the billions of investment dollars from the oil-rich Middle East. This is critical because Islamic finance — banking and investing in compliance with Islamic religious law, known as Sharia — is perhaps the fastest-growing sector of the global financial services market. Islamic institutions around the world hold assets estimated at more than $300 billion, with another $400 billion in financial investments, according to a 2006 study by the accounting firm KPMG. Islamic finance is growing at a rate of about 15% a year, the study found. A consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., predicts growth of at least 20% in this sector over the next five years.

"There is not much value added that New York can bring to the party," a Harvard Business School professor emeritus who is an expert on Islamic finance, Samuel Hayes, said. "This is not where they come to look for products," he added, referring to Muslim investors.

Over the next three weeks, two conferences will attempt to change this. Shariah Capital, an Islamic financial advisory firm based in Greenwich, Conn., is sponsoring a conference October 23–24 titled "Islamic Finance in North America: Accessing Innovative Islamic Finance Opportunities" at Manhattan's 3 West Club. A conference company, Financial Research Associates, is holding a second event, the "Islamic Finance Summit 2007," at the Helmsley Hotel in Midtown on October 29.

Sharia-compliant finance firms do not collect interest on investments, eschew borrowing money, and do not short-sell stocks. There is also a prohibition against investing in "sin stocks," including companies that promote gambling, pornography, or alcohol.

London firms have successfully attracted Islamic money by catering to these rules. London-based law firm Clifford Chance advised on $18 billion worth of Islamic transactions last year and, at a British conference on Islamic finance last year, Gordon Brown, then chancellor of the Exchequer, said he wanted to make Britain "the gateway to Islamic finance and trade."

Despite its difficulty in attracting Islamic financial business, America has taken some encouraging steps, including the U.S. Treasury Department's appointment of a scholar-in-residence on Islamic finance in 2003. Since 1999, Dow Jones has begun tracking a number of indexes of Islamic markets that screen stocks based on Sharia criteria, even employing a dedicated board of Sharia scholars. In addition, Islamic mortgages, one of the first products to gain acceptance in America, have been growing since they first became available a decade ago, and in recent years, even Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been buying them.

Still, the Islamic mortgage market has not grown as quickly as some observers predicted. In fact, these mortgages remain just a fraction of the more than $2 trillion annual residential mortgage market. In December of last year, HSBC Bank USA, which had written some $50 million in Islamic mortgages over the past six years, stopped offering them, according to the Real Deal, a real estate magazine.

Now, in light of the recent subprime mortgage credit crisis, it could be even tougher for New York to catch up with London.

"The recent turmoil in the financial markets will probably slow down this trend" of new Islamic product offerings in America, a professor of Islamic banking and finance at Tufts University, Ibrahim Warde, said. "People have quickly become more wary of financial innovation."

This month's conferences, however, could be a turning point.

"Wall Street is the go-to place on the capital markets," the global director of Dow Jones's Islamic Market Group, Rushdi Siddiqui, said. "As regards New York, it's just a matter of time."

 Terror jury hears al-Qaida oaths

A videotaped pledge of allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden by seven men accused of plotting terror attacks on U.S. soil was played Thursday for jurors, who saw each man repeat the oath, give his name and then break into applause.
ADVERTISEMENT

The oath was led by an FBI informant, Elie Assad, who was posing as an al-Qaida operative named Mohammed supposedly sent to help the group with its purported plot to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI buildings in several cities to spark an insurrection.

"We'll be doing, in the future, a great job together," Assad tells the men after administering the oath at a warehouse in Miami's impoverished Liberty City neighborhood. The warehouse had been supplied by the FBI and was wired for video and audio recording.

"I'm just happy," says the alleged ringleader, Narseal Batiste, after the ceremony.

Among the oath's words repeated by all the so-called "Liberty City Seven" are "to be a loyalist to the path of holy war and to my brothers." Assad told the group at the outset he was authorized to give the oath as a representative of bin Laden.

The ceremony took place March 16, 2006, and is critical to the prosecution's charges that the group conspired to provide support to al-Qaida and to levy war against the United States. Each of the seven faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Earlier Thursday, Assad testified that Batiste provided a detailed list of gear the group wanted, including machine guns, bulletproof vests, sport utility vehicles, motorcycles and $50,000 in cash. He said Batiste sought dynamite to destroy the 110-story Sears Tower.

"He told me he was a professional, and he knows how to build buildings, and he knows how to take them down," Assad testified.

Attorneys for Batiste and the others have said they never intended to mount a terrorist attack and that they went along with the FBI informants only to attempt to extort money from them. Their trial is expected to last up to two more months.

Assad's testimony marked the first public appearance by the key prosecution witness. Assad described himself as a Lebanese national of Syrian descent who speaks six languages. He said he was enlisted by the FBI to act as an al-Qaida emissary after agents were tipped in fall 2005 that Batiste was allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Assad testified that Batiste gave him a handwritten, three-page list of requested supplies at a meeting Dec. 29, 2005, including the weaponry, $50,000 in cash, binoculars, dirt bikes, street motorcycles, SUVs and two large recreational vehicles capable of holding his entire group.

Batiste also told Assad he had access to private land in Louisiana and Alabama, where he hoped to use these supplies to train his "soldiers" there so they could mount a guerrilla war to be triggered by the toppling of the Sears Tower.

"I'm really serious about everything I told you," Batiste said in one recorded conversation. "There's only one government — and that's the government of Islam."

Assad said he gave the list to the FBI and ultimately supplied only military-style boots and a cell phone to Batiste. "It's not safe to give him machine guns," Assad said.

Prosecutors also played a recording of a Jan. 28, 2006, meeting of Assad, the other informant and Batiste in the Florida Keys. The two informants had been unexpectedly driven there from Miami amid increasing suspicions among Batiste's group that they might be working for the FBI, prosecutors said.

During the meeting, held in a tent in the town of Islamorada, Batiste notes that the Bush administration has become increasingly concerned about homegrown terrorist cells and that "it would have been easy" for Assad to have recorded their previous talks — which, in fact, he did.

"You've got to understand, in this country right now, right now, there are spies everywhere," Batiste said on the recording.

Assad assured Batiste that he was a legitimate al-Qaida representative and the two informants were driven back to Miami unharmed.

Ohio's Taxpayer-Financed Terror-Fest     
By Patrick Poole
FrontPageMagazine

Just a week after I revealed that an event is currently scheduled to be held at the Ohio State Capitol later this month featuring a known HAMAS operative with multiple immediate connections to designated terrorists (“HAMAS in the House”), new details have emerged that not only are taxpayers partially footing the bill for the event, but yet another speaker at the event also has multiple terror ties.

According to a flier for the “Many Faces of Islam” conference (a copy of which is posted at Central Ohioans Against Terrorism), the event is being co-sponsored by the Ohio Humanities Council (OHC), an organization that receives virtually all of its funding through government grants. According to the group’s most recent IRS Form 990, it received $903,715 from direct government contributions and only $27,819 from private sources during the 2005 fiscal year. OHC receives most of its funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as the state affiliate of the national organization. Inquiries about how much taxpayer money OHC is providing for the “Many Faces of Islam” event have not yet received a reply.

As I reported last week, one of the featured speakers at “The Many Faces of Islam” conference to be held on October 28th in the Ohio Statehouse atrium is HAMAS operative Anisa Abd El Fattah. Fattah is past president of the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR). According to a February 1993 New York Times article, convicted HAMAS terrorist operative and former UASR employee, Mohammed Salah, told federal authorities that UASR served as “the political command of HAMAS in the United States,” and UASR was founded by Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mousa abu Marzook. Fattah also co-authored two books with current HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef, and served as a longtime consultant to convicted terror leader Abdurahman Alamoudi’s American Muslim Council (AMC).

Another speaker, Robert D. Crane, also held positions with UASR and Alamoudi’s AMC, in addition to the International Institute for Islamic Thought, which provided initial funding for convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian’s World Islam and Studies Enterprise (WISE) at the University of South Florida.

But according to other press reports yet another listed speaker for the upcoming conference, Dr. Zilfiqar Ali Shah, has also worked for organizations that have been closed by the U.S. government for terrorist support activities. Shah is the past president of the Islamic Circle of North America and the former Southeast Asia director for KindHearts, a Toledo, Ohio-based charity closed by federal authorities in February 2006 for financing terrorist organizations.

In his role as Southeast Asia director for KindHearts, Shah established a partnership with the Al-Khidmat Foundation, the charitable arm of the Jammat-i-Islami in Pakistan. But Al-Khidmat also played a critical role in the formation of Al-Qaeda, as Steve Schippert of TheatsWatch explains:

    While the al-Khidmat Foundation is described as a “welfare organisation run by the hard-line Islamist party Jamaat-i-Islami,” it is far from that. It is the Maktab al-Khidmat, the group founded in 1980 by Usama bin Laden’s mentor and ideological inspiration, Abdullah Azzam. Its primary purpose was then and is now to serve as “a support organization for Arab volunteers for the jihad in Afghanistan” and elsewhere today. Usama bin Laden financed this group from its inception. It is from this group that al-Qaeda sprang to life in 1989.

And as Joe Kaufman has reported here at FrontPage, “The Two Faces of Zulfiqar Ali Shah,” an event organized by Khan for his Universal Heritage Foundation, which ostensibly was dedicated “to promote a greater understanding and respect for and among people of all faiths, colors, and gender,” for its inaugural event he invited Shaikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, the chief cleric of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, who had called for the murder of “Jews, Christians, and Americans.” Al-Sudais had also described Jews as “the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the killers of prophets, and the grandsons of monkeys and pigs.” Due to Kaufman’s exposure of the event, Al-Sudais’ appearance was cancelled.

Shah has also has made his own shocking statements that question his pretended “interfaith” image. As reported by IslamOnline (run by Specially Designated Global Terror Yousef Al-Qaradawi), during a June 2001 meeting of Muslim leaders in Chicago, Khan said:

    If we are unable to stop the Jews now, their next stop is Yathrib (The Prophet's city of Medina), where the Jews used to live until their expulsion by Prophet Muhammad. That's the pinnacle of their motives.

Kaufman notes elsewhere that in his position with KindHearts, Khan promoted their efforts and conducted fundraising in association with groups operating openly with Al-Qaeda:

    Prior to the organization's closure, Shah went on a ten day KindHearts tour - through more than ten cities - with members of Tablighi Jamaat, a Pakistani organization that The New York Times described as a "recruitment" center for Al-Qaeda. The Tablighi members were Junaid Jamshed and Saeed Anwar. During this tour, KindHearts claimed to have raised $1.5 million.

After the shuttering of KindHearts, Khan took up a new position with the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, which prompted the local establishment media to investigate his background. In a May 2006 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Questions arise about Muslim scholar,” Khan defended his statement about Jews wanting to take over the city of Medina as a “joke” and denied knowing the extremist statements of Al-Sudais prior to inviting him to speak and the terror connections to KindHearts – connections that Khan himself helped establish.

With at least three of the four speakers scheduled to appear at the “Many Faces of Islam” event at the Ohio Statehouse having multiple connections to extremism and terrorism, it’s hard to believe that the primary sponsoring organization, the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio (IACO), was unaware of the highly controversial backgrounds of these individuals. In fact, it seems they were especially chosen for their very narrow understanding of Islam, which raises the question of why a publicly-funded organization like OHC would lend its weight and financial support to such an event. Because of the highly partisan nature of the speakers, it is highly doubtful that the conference will better help anyone better understand of Islam.

It seems more appropriate that the October terror-fest at the Ohio Statehouse should be renamed, “The Many Faces of Islamic Extremism.”

Hello Pastor Roger,

I know more than I want to about Islam, and it irritates me to no end that our tax dollars are being used for things like this. Everything Christian is being driven out, and they're using our own tax dollars to do it. It's freedom for everyone but Christians in a Christian nation.

Alarm raised about Saudi school in Virginia

McLEAN, Va. - A private Islamic school supported by the Saudi government should be shut down until the U.S. government can ensure the school is not fostering radical Islam, a federal panel recommends.

In a report released Thursday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom broadly criticized what it calls a lack of religious freedom in Saudi society and promotion of religious extremism at Saudi schools.

Particular criticism is leveled at the Islamic Saudi Academy, a private school serving nearly 1,000 students in grades K-12 at two campuses in northern Virginia's Fairfax County.

The commission's report says the academy hews closely to the curriculum used at Saudi schools, which they criticize for promoting hatred of and intolerance against Jews, Christians and Shiite Muslims.

"Significant concerns remain about whether what is being taught at the ISA promotes religious intolerance and may adversely affect the interests of the United States," the report states.

The commission, a creation of Congress, has no power to implement policy on its own. Instead, it makes recommendations to other agencies.

The commission does not offer specific criticism of the academy's teachings beyond its concerns that it too closely mimics a typical Saudi education.

The report recommends that the State Department prevail on the Saudi government to shut the school down until the school's textbooks can be reviewed and procedures are put in place to ensure the school's independence form the Saudi Embassy.

Messages left Wednesday with the State Department and the Saudi Embassy were not immediately returned.

Several advocacy groups in recent years have cited examples of inflammatory statements in religious textbooks in Saudi Arabia, including claims that a ninth-grade textbook reads that the hour of judgment will not come "until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them."

Saudi officials said they have worked in recent years to reform the textbooks and the curriculum, but critics say progress has been insufficient.

The school's director-general, Abdalla I. Al-Shabnan, said Wednesday that he had not seen the report. But he said the academy has adjusted its curriculum in recent years and removed some of the inflammatory language that had been included in the Saudi text. The school's curriculum may now serve as a model for the Saudi government to use in continuing its reform of Saudi schools, he said.

"There is nothing in our curriculum against any religion," Al-Shabnan said.

He also said he is willing to show the school's curriculum and textbooks to anybody who wants to see them, and he expressed disappointment that the commission did not request materials directly from the school.

"We have an open policy," he said.

He also pointed out that many of the school's teachers are Christian and Jewish.

The commission based its findings in part on a the work of a delegation that traveled to Saudi Arabia this year. The commission asked embassy officials to review the textbooks used in Saudi schools generally and at the Islamic Saudi Academy specifically but did not receive a response.

Commission spokeswoman Judith Ingram said the commission did not request to speak to academy officials because that went beyond the commission's mandate.

The report also criticizes the school's administrative structure, saying it is little more than an offshoot of the Saudi Embassy, with the Saudi ambassador to the United States serving as chairman of the school's board of directors. The structure "raises serious concerns about whether it is in violation of a U.S. law restricting the activities of foreign embassies."

After the Sept. 11 attacks, critics questioned the nature of the religious education at the Saudi academy. The school again found itself in the spotlight in 2005, when a former class valedictorian, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was charged with joining al-Qaida while attending college in Saudi Arabia and plotting to assassinate President Bush.

Abu Ali was convicted in federal court and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is appealing his conviction.

Former NYC Madrassa Intifada Principal Seeks Reinstatement

New York CAIR yesterday participated in a news conference at City Hall in support of the former Madrassa Principal reinstatement. Debbie Almontaser resigned after a controversy erupted over a T-Shirt with the words Intifada NYC on it. New York City School officials have said today that the former principal will not be rehired.

CAIR supported Debbie Almontaser, has threatened to file a law suit against the City of New York and possibly Mayor Bloomberg for allegedly violating her rights by forcing her to resign her position as Principal of the Madrassa.

Almontaser voluntarily resigned her position as the Principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy when the City of New York threatened to close the school down if she did not leave. Almontaser currently works in an administrative position for the public school system.

Controversy continues to surround the Madrassa as radical Imam Talib Abdur Rashid, sits on the Advisory Board of the school. The Imam has served at the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood since 1989 the radical Islamic group has been linked to supporting terrorism and devotion to Ahmadinejad Holocaust denials.

A White Christmas in Mecca?

By Phyllis Chesler

Towards the end of Ramadan, (October 11th, 2007), a group of 138 Muslim clerics released a Letter which called for peace between Muslims and Christians. Jews, (my people), Hindus, Buddhists, other non-Christian denominations, secularists, and atheists were not included in this theologically-based appeal.

Already, I’m worrying. Why are they only talking to Christians? Although Jews represent less than 1% (.003%) of the world’s population, (there are perhaps 14 million of us), why not talk to Jews—since Jewish scripture is cited in the Letter; and because we are also viewed as so very powerful?

But, what’s wrong with approaching Buddhists and Hindus who number 360 million and 900 million, respectively? What about Chinese traditionalists who number 225 million, or primal-indigenous worshippers who number 190 million? Secularists and atheists number 850 million; that’s a lot of people. (Yoruba, Juche, and Sikhs number 20 million, 19 million, and 18 million, respectively.)

The reason for excluding these other groups is quite obvious—and chilling. Historically, Muslims have been taught to sue for (a temporary or a false) “peace” only when they are in the weaker, not stronger position, as a way of buying time to better prepare for a military-religious triumph.

Demographically, the only group that outmatches the Muslims is Christians. Therefore, although all the other denominations add up to one billion, thirty three million, their combined number is still smaller than the number of Muslims in the world, who number 1.2 billion. Christians number 2 billion. (I am also counting secularism and atheism as religious denominations – they often have fundamentalists among them too.)

As someone who has gone on record calling for Judao-Christian alliances with dissident, moderate, secular, and “peace” oriented Muslims and ex-Muslims, I do not think that this Letter or its signatories are serious about finding “common” ground.

I fear that the Letter’s purpose was to dis-inform and disarm uninformed Westerners who have been led to believe that their own concepts of “peace” are the same as Muslim concepts.

Indeed, The Letter has already been received very positively in the western mainstream media: the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, International Herald Tribune, the Times of London, the London Guardian, Ecumenical News International, and the BBC did not challenge the Letter’s motives or signatories or place the Letter in historical or theological context.

However, both the Times of London and the Washington Post quote Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali who noted that “the two faiths’ understanding of the oneness of God is not the same. One partner cannot dictate the terms on which dialogue must be conducted.”

Last year, I debated a number of people on Al-Hurrah about the Islamic Veil. Yvonne Ridley, a British convert to Islam, was one of the debaters. She characterized the plight of Muslims in the West as being oppressed and attacked; she said that her people’s blood was flowing in the streets of London and on the West Bank. She threatened a lawsuit in The Hague on behalf of Muslim religious freedom in the West. Knowing that people were watching this debate all over the Arab Middle East and Muslim world I politely and diplomatically appealed to those living in Saudi Arabia and on the West Bank.

I did not call for an international lawsuit on behalf of the rights of all those non-Muslim religions that are savagely persecuted in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and in Gaza and on the West Bank. But I pointed out that religious intolerance did not exist in the West but in the Muslim world. Rather than bring such a lawsuit, I called upon Saudi Arabia to start practicing some version of Western Judao-Christian religious tolerance.

Ridley went ballistic.

One more personal example: When I was interviewed in the London Guardian and in the Chicago Tribune (in 2006), both interviewers were very respectful and even friendly. However, when the interviews appeared, the questions suddenly contained negative critiques that were never presented to me. In one instance, a Muslim religious feminist rebutted what I was about to—but had not yet said. In another instance, the interviewer told me that “the new material had been imposed” from on high.

I doubt that Jewish, Christian, non-Christian, and secular and atheist views are this carefully preserved and protected in the Arab Muslim world.

In my view, the West is not at war with Islam: Count up the number of Muslim immigrants and mosques in the West. But Islam is certainly at war with the West. Count how few churches, temples, shrines and synagogues exist in the Arab and Muslim world and how endangered infidels are in the Islamic world.

Rural town may block Muslim site
MARYLAND | Local leader draws up legal hurdle that could derail plan for mosque on farm

WALKERSVILLE, Md. -- A Muslim group's plan to build a mosque and convention site on a 224-acre farm has met with resistance from many residents of this rural, overwhelmingly Christian town who fear its tranquility and security may be jeopardized.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA insists it will be a friendly neighbor, but its proposal -- including an annual national gathering of thousands of Ahmadis -- could be blocked by a measure under consideration by the town commissioners.

''Muslims are a whole different culture from us,'' said the mayor, Ralph Whitmore, taking a break at his livestock feed store. ''The situation with the Muslims is a touchy worldwide situation, so people are antsy over that.''

Two days after Ahmadiyya leaders fielded questions at a public forum in August, town Commissioner Chad Weddle introduced a zoning amendment that would prohibit places of worship, schools and private clubs on land zoned for agriculture -- including the farm the Ahmadis have contracted to buy.

If the five commissioners approve the measure in a vote expected as early as next week, the Ahmadis could be blocked from building a mosque on the site. Even if the amendment fails, the group still would need a special exception to proceed -- their request for one is pending before the town's planning commission.

To some, Weddle's amendment smacks of discrimination.

''The situation indicates this is an action that is being directed toward one specific faith community and, as such, that makes it highly suspect,'' said Roman P. Storzer, a Washington attorney who has been retained by the land's prospective seller, David Moxley.

Muqtedar Khan, a political science professor at the University of Delaware, said the blunt opposition voiced by some Walkersville citizens is reminiscent of the persecution Ahmadis have endured in Pakistan. There, they are forbidden to practice their religion because they believe there was a prophet after Muhammad -- Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908.

''It is quite ironic,'' Khan said, that the Ahmadis -- allowed to worship freely in the United States -- ''are suffering a backlash because of their association with Islam.''

But Syed Ahmad, a federal economist who is managing the Walkersville project for the group, said the persecution in Pakistan is far worse.

''Here, people are civilized and they get up and they talk and they oppose you,'' Ahmad said, ''but they're not going to kill you.''

Ahmad, who emigrated from Pakistan in 1980, says members of his community won't go where they're not wanted. The group's leaders have gone door-to-door to persuade Walkersville residents that Ahmadis are not terrorists.

Ahmad acknowledged that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the U.S. campaign against terrorism have made residents wary.

''They hear 'Muslims,' and they don't know anything beyond that,'' he said. ''To me, it's natural until they get a chance to ask questions what our beliefs are -- and then they realize these are good people.''

Some residents aren't convinced. When the Ahmadis visited Kambra Minor, a clerk at the Walkersville Market, ''I told them, you have to understand -- there's a certain connotation to a Muslim group, especially in a blue-collar area like this,'' Minor said.

Resident David Sample testified during a hearing last month that he is an intelligence officer whose office at the Pentagon, about 40 miles away, was destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

''I just stress to the board and the community that we pay attention to what's going on, what the motive is, who the people are,'' he said.

Immigrant youths turn to violence in Amsterdam
Georg Schreuder Hes

19-10-2007

It has been an unusually violent week for Amsterdam's western Slotervaart district. Cars were torched and youths clashed with police on several consecutive nights after a 22-year-old ethnic Moroccan was shot dead at a police station. He was killed by a policewoman he had just stabbed a number of times. The riots that followed reminded Amsterdam's Chief Commissioner Bernard Welten of a major nightmare for Western European cities: violence on a Parisian scale.
 
Every major town in the Netherlands has its share of so-called problem youths, the type of violent adolescents who gang up to terrorise the neighbourhood. Many of them are the children of migrant workers of Moroccan descent who arrived in the Netherlands in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Dutch called them guest workers, the operative idea being that they would return to their country of origin when they were no longer needed. So nobody bothered to teach them Dutch, or much of anything else for that matter. The guest workers had their wives come over, but they, just like their husbands were not expected, or encouraged, to integrate into Dutch society.
 
The next generation
However, very few went back. What they did do, much to the government's surprise, was have children. These children were raised in a strange and often openly hostile environment, by parents who did  not speak the language and tried to instil moral values completely at odds with those of the country they lived in. So, kids being kids, they began taking advantage of the language gap by playing off their parents against their teachers and pretending not to understand what any Dutch person in a position of authority was saying.
 
The situation was substantially exacerbated by successive governments that chose to ignore what people in the streets knew was an increasingly serious problem. For years, political correctness dictated that problems with migrant children could not be openly discussed. Anybody trying to do so would be accused of blatant racism and Islamophobia. So by the time the social climate began to change, in the late 1990s, the situation had spun well and truly out of control.
 
Violent incidents
Slotervaart, a district in the west of Amsterdam, is not very different from any other poor district in the Netherlands' major cities. What sets it apart from similar districts is a recent series of violent incidents. On 11 October, a 16 year-old Moroccan boy died of a stab wound he sustained in a fight with a 14-year-old classmate after the two got into an argument over a pen. Only three days later, a disturbed Moroccan man walked into the local police station and, without any provocation, stabbed and seriously injured a police woman and one of her colleagues. The man was shot dead by one of the officers.
 
In the following days, local Moroccan youths torched four cars in the district and smashed the windows of the police station. Since then, police have been intensively patrolling the district, which led to the arrests of eight youths who were detained when officers found jerry cans full of petrol in their vehicle. In the past few days, senior police officers have been making comparisons with the riots that raged in Paris in which more than 9,000 cars were torched two years ago.
 
Fundamental differences
However, both Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst and experts on the Moroccan youth gangs issue say that the two situations are fundamentally different. There is reportedly far more poverty, unemployment and racism in the Paris suburbs. Criminologist Frank van Gemert from the Free University said in today's de Volkskrant that another major difference with the French situation lies in the fact that the Dutch government is spending millions of euros on aid to the Slotervaart district. And police are in regular contact with religious leaders and other representatives of the local community. Mr Van Gemert says these youths may feel frustrated, but they can't say that they are being abandoned by the government.
 
His argument that they are simply using the recent incidents as an excuse to raise hell is born out by police reports showing that they are dealing with a limited group of around 35 youths, all of them repeat offenders. In NRC.Next, district council chair Ahmed Marcouch says that the vandalism in his district has nothing to do with emotions over the recent deaths:

Immigrant youths turn to violence in Amsterdam (http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/071019-slotervaart-youth-mc)

Moroccans are 99% Muslim, so it would be 99% safe to say that these rioters are Muslim.

Mistrial declared in Muslim charity case

A judge declared a mistrial Monday for most former leaders of a Muslim charity accused of funding terrorism, after chaos broke out in the court when three jurors disputed the verdict that had been announced.

The trial of five former Muslim charity leaders was thrown into turmoil when jurors acquitted three of them of funding terrorism - but some members of the panel disputed the verdict announced against the two others.

U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish sent the panel back to resolve the differences, and because of the confusion, did not officially accept any of the jury's findings.

The verdicts were announced after a two-month trial and 19 days of deliberation. When they were read in court, three jurors said they were incorrect.

The jury forewoman said she was surprised by the three jurors' actions.

"When we voted, there was no issue in the vote," she said. "No one spoke up any different. I really don't understand where it is coming from."

The judge had announced that Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development fundraiser Mufid Abdulqader was acquitted on all counts, and two co-defendants - former chairman Mohammed El-Mezain Mohammed El-Mezain and the group's New Jersey representative, Abdulrahman Odeh - were acquitted on most counts.

The verdicts questioned by the jurors were on charges against the foundation, as well as former chief executive Shukri Abu Baker and former chairman Ghassan Elashi.

In all, five former Holy Land leaders and the group were accused of providing aid to the Middle Eastern terrorist group Hamas. The U.S. government designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1995 and again in 1997, making financial transactions with the group illegal.

Israel to come under Sharia law, says Israeli Arab cleric

A leading Israeli Arab Muslim cleric said at the weekend that the Jewish state will very soon cease to exist and the whole of the country will come under Sharia (strict Islamic) law as another piece in the puzzle to reconstituting the Islamic Caliphate.

In an interview with a local Arabic-language newspaper, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, deputy head of northern Israel's Islamic Movement, insisted that the world is "on the threshold of a new era. The future belongs to Islam and the Muslims."

Khatib said that in preparation for the coming Islamic takeover, Muslims who hold Israeli citizenship like himself should begin to actively rebel against the state by refusing to cooperate with and forming alternatives to the Israeli authorities.

Also at the weekend, Khatib's boss, Sheikh Raed Salah denounced current peace negotiations leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict as an "evil Israeli scheme." Salah, who is also an Israeli citizen, has long maintained that that Muslim world must not recognize Israel's right to exist.

Israel to come under Sharia law, says Israeli Arab cleric (http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=14338)

WOW! Stupid statements like this are being made all of the time now, some even by heads of countries, so I would say that the time is short.

For the record, Israel will never cease to exist, but Islam will. Islam's Waterloo awaits them, and it will be final. Until then, I have no doubt that they will butcher great hosts of innocent people. They might even see their dreamed of Caliphate, but it will be extremely short and suffer a bloody ending by JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF!

AMEN!!

Brother, I like using, islam's fireloo awaits them, and it will be final. For we know, the Lake of Fire is the final destination for those who have died for islam, and will die for islam in the future.

That actually makes much more sense, and there certainly won't be any virgins waiting for them. All of it will be the smoking section, and there won't even be a choice between crispy or extra-crispy.

It's extremely sad that the powers over them have made it almost impossible for us to witness to them. Many wonderful Christians have died trying, and I feel quite certain that many more Christians will continue to die all over the world while attempting to share the GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD'S GRACE. This is still the most powerful message in the entire world, and the devil can't stand the message of JESUS CHRIST and the CROSS. So, I want to take every reasonable opportunity to keep sharing it. This thread is perfect because Muslims might be reading it.


1:  Romans 3:10 NASB  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

2:  Romans 3:23  NASB  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3:  Romans 5:12  NASB  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--

4:  Romans 6:23  NASB  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:  Romans 1:18  NASB  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

6:  Romans 3:20  NASB  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

7:  Romans 3:27  NASB  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

8:  Romans 5:8-9  NASB  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

9:  Romans 2:4  NASB  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

10:  Romans 3:22  NASB  even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

11:  Romans 3:28  NASB  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

12:  Romans 10:9  NASB  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

13:  Romans 4:21  NASB  and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

14:  Romans 4:24 NASB  but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

15:  Romans 5:1  NASB  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

16:  Romans 10:10  NASB  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

17:  Romans 10:13  NASB  for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

There should be nothing more convincing than a report given by someone that has "been-there-done-that". Unfortunately there are those that have ruined this concept by telling falsehoods about there experiences for political or financial gain. This is not the case of Nonie Darwish who risks her very life in order for the world to know the truth.

Nonie's father was the head of the secret police for Egyptian dictator Gamel Abdel Nasser who in 1949 made him the head of the fedayeen in Gaza, the first terrorist army to attack Israel. Nonie's father was killed by the Israelis but when her brother's appendix burst and he had a choice of going to a hospital in Israel for care or a hospital in Gaza, he went Israel. He did so knowing that the Israelis would save his life, despite the fact that he was a Muslim from Gaza and his father was a terrorist dedicated to the destruction of Israel. No Jew could expect similar treatment from any Arab or Muslim state.

These facts opened Nonie's eyes to the genocidal and hypocratical hatred that was being instilled in Arab Muslims by their dictatorial and fascist regimes. She became the defender of Jews and the state of Israel and hence hated by all those who want to destroy the Jewish state. She has been the recipient of fatwas, death threats and assassination attempts.

The following is a speech given by Nonie Darwish, the founder of Arabs for Israel, at last night’s kickoff event at UC Berkeley for Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. It is preceded by a short intro written by Nonie Darwish regarding her impressions of the events surrounding her speech. Nonie was shouted down before she began to speak. Insults were hurled at her. Raucous obstructors had to be ejected by police from the audience.

___________


Intro:

The atmosphere required extensive security -- which made me feel that without it I would have been physically hurt at UC Berkeley. The first statement from the Al-Jazeera representative to me was: “You are the most hated woman in the Arab world.” The hatred was also felt from the far leftist American audience. My response to the Al-Jazeera statement was: “Arab media spread a hate campaign against me after my book came out. Egyptian media, without reading the book, called me a traitor to my father because I support Israel. I love my father and I believe that if he had lived he would have been part of the peace treaty that Sadat had singed with Israel.” I believe Arab media is trying to misrepresent my views in order to silence me.

A man was sitting in the audience with a black sheer bag covering his head to protest ‘Abu Greib’ when the discussion had nothing to do with Iraq. There were screams from the audience: "Fascist," then "racist" then "Osama Bin Laden is a CIA agent." The noise was getting louder and I could not speak any more. I felt that even in America I am being silenced. My response was: “Who will speak for women who are stoned and for Muslims terrorized in radical Muslim countries? It is sad that I left oppressive Sharia Muslim culture, where I had no freedom of speech, only to find myself silenced in America, by groups who claim they are for free speech.”

The sad thing about this whole event was the feeling that radical Muslims and their far Left supporters would rather never criticize Islamic culture than stand up against the culture that flogs, stones, beheads and amputates limbs. Not offending a religion has become more important to the far Left (unless it is Christianity or Judaism) than human rights of Muslims and victims of terror. Honor killing and female genital mutilation can be tolerated -- but noone better dare utter the word "Islamo-fascism."

American universities are becoming tyrannical when it comes to Conservative values and to Arab Americans who dare to speak out against the culture of jihad. It does not matter how many people in my early life in Egypt suffered from honor killing, female genital mutilation and oppression of women, I must shut up on American campuses.

cont'd

The Speech:

As an American woman of Muslim Arab origin, I cherish the freedoms America has given me; a right all too scarce in the Middle East where speaking for human rights, women’s rights, democracy and even peace with Israel, is a taboo with serious consequences.

In America, I learned that no ideology or religion is beyond questioning. Ideologies that don’t answer the hard questions will face intellectual bankruptcy. I would like to stress that this is not a discussion about the good and peace loving Muslims, but about an ideology of violence and hatred that has brought oppression, unrest, violence and terror to the Middle East and has now spread to the rest of the world. Radicals have made the slightest criticism, critical thinking and free inquiry an insult to Islam. Arab feminists, reformers and intellectuals are intimidated, threatened or killed. Even the late Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, was stabbed in Cairo in 1994 by a radical Muslim who claimed he insulted Islam. That is why we all must welcome an open discussion. The best weapon in the war on terror and Islamo-Fascism is the truth.

I’d like to start with my background. I was born and raised as a Muslim in Cairo, Egypt and the Gaza Strip; a time when President Nasser was committed to unify the Arab world and destroy Israel. In the 50’s, my father headed the Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza and started the Fedayeen, which means ‘armed resistance and self sacrifice’. They made cross-border attacks into Israel and caused death, damage and destruction. There were assassination attempts on my father in response to the terror.

One night Israel sent commandos to our heavily guarded home, but my father was not home. All the Israeli soldiers found were us, women and children. The Israeli soldiers left us unharmed.

I attended Gaza elementary schools. It is there that we learned hatred vengeance and retaliation; peace was never an option; but a sign of defeat and weakness. Jews were portrayed as less than human; I was told ‘don’t take candy or fruit from a stranger, it could be a Jew trying to poison you’. They filled our hears with fear of Jews; that made hatred come easy and terrorism acceptable, even honorable.

After two years of intense Fedayeen operations, my father was killed in the first targeted assassination in Gaza in 1956. I was 8 years old. In Nasser's famous speech to nationalize the Suez Canal, he hailed my father as a national hero, a ubgone19. President Nasser vowed that all of Egypt would take revenge and made no mention of the heavy toll of death and destruction brought upon Israel by the Fedayeen. My siblings and I were asked by top government officials "which one of you will avenge your father's blood by killing Jews." I felt very uncomfortable with a question. We were speechless.

After my father’s death, my mother had to face life alone with five children in a culture that gave respect only to families headed by a man. In the 50’s few women drove cars and she was criticized and called names for buying a car to take us to school. Arab women are expected to sacrifice their family by giving up their husbands and sons to martyrdom, but are given little respect to live their life with freedom and dignity.

I lived for 30 years in oppressive dictatorships and police states. I witnessed honor killing of girls (our maid), oppression of women and female genital mutilation. We regularly heard the cursing of non-Muslims from the pulpits of mosques. As a young woman, I visited a Christian friend in Cairo during the Friday prayers, and we both heard the verbal attacks on Christians and Jews from the loudspeakers. We heard "May God destroy the infidels and the Jews, the enemies of God. We are not to befriend them or make treaties with them." We also heard the worshipers respond "Amen". I heard ‘cursing prayers’ all my life from the pulpits of mosques -- and believe it or not if you grow up with cursing prayers, it can feel and sound normal. My Christian friend looked scared, and I was ashamed. That was when I first realized that something was very wrong in the way my religion was taught and practiced.

I moved to the US in 1978. In my first visit to a mosque in America, we were told not to assimilate in America and that Islam is here to become the dominant religion. I was told to cover up in Islamic clothes; but how can I do that when I have never worn Islamic clothes in Egypt? Women in Egypt until the 1980’s did not wear Islamic clothes.

In August 2001, I visited my birthplace, Cairo, Egypt. I was stunned to see how radical Islam had taken over. The level of anger and hate speech was alarming. I saw extreme poverty, pollution, hazardous material and garbage along the Nile. There was high unemployment, inflation and widespread corruption. But when I read Arab media, all I saw was Israel and America bashing. Citizens were unaware of Muslim against Muslim atrocities in Iraq, Algeria, Sudan etc. As a matter of fact, the term “Islamo-fascism” was coined by Algerian Muslims and ex-Muslims to describe the Islamic fanatics who slaughtered 150,000 fellow Algerian Muslims in the 1990s. Arab media have failed human rights of the ordinary Arab citiznes. They have no understanding of their role in defending the interest of the public; this mentality was created from an Islamo-Fascist environment that rejects change.Western media was also under-reporting the threat.

I was happy to return to the US on the evening of Sept. 10th. 2001. The next morning I saw the second airplane hit the twin towers, I knew ‘Jihad has come to America.’ Muhammad Attah was from Cairo, the same city I came from.

I called several friends in Cairo, they were all in denial and said ‘How dare you say that Arabs did this? Don’t you know this is a Jewish conspiracy?'

These were not radicals, but ordinary Egyptians who otherwise are very nice people. I hung up the phone and felt alone and disconnected from my culture of origin. Once again, my people are accusing the Jewish people of something we know very well, we Arabs have done ourselves. In any religion this is considered a sin, but in the eyes of radial Islam, Jews do not deserve the truth, justice or mercy. The Jews that we describe in our mosques, Arab textbooks and media don't exist. We, Arabs are fighting an imaginary Jew of our own creation. Israel is not perfect; no society is; but the way the Jews and minorities are treated by my people is tragic and a disgrace.

The global war we are fighting against Islamo-fascism and jihad is not just about bombs and hijacked planes; It’s also about tyranny and oppression of women. Oppression of women and support of terror are two facets of the same fundamentalist mentality. Islamic law – Sharia – that terrorists are fighting to impose upon the world, would create a global state of gender apartheid.

cont'd

Under criminal Sharia, punishment could be flogging, stoning, beheading and amputation of limbs. Cruel and unusual punishment by Western and humane standards. Leaving Islam is punishable by death. If the State fails to kill an apostate, his death is guaranteed at the hands of a street mob. That makes Islam more than a religion; it is a one party state; and also an elaborate legal system, called Sharia, that can put you to death if you leave Islam. Sharia must guarantee there is no defection from the Berlin Wall of the Muslim State. Amazingly, the majority of Muslim countries don’t practice criminal Sharia because they cannot stomach it.

I have lived under Family Sharia for 30 years of my life. This is practiced in all Muslim countries; it allows only men the right to an easy divorce,  having up to 4 wives, allows wife beating, half the inheritance of a man to a woman and her testimony in court is only half valid. She is respected only when she shields her body, face and even her identity. As many as seventy-five percent of women in Pakistani prison are behind bars for the crime of having been raped. Sharia codified into permanent Law a 7th century Arabian Peninsula tribal culture for every Muslim in any culture for ever.

Under Sharia, the Muslim Khalifa or Amir, meaning leader, is exempt from being punished under Sharia. Islamic Sharia law is a dictator’s dream handed to him by Allah.

Polygamy has a devastating effect on family dynamics, husband/wife relationship and women relationships. Many Moslem men only have one wife, but the damage to wife/husband relationship has already been done in the Muslim marriage contract itself; where a man does not pledge loyalty to his wife and the wife cannot expect his loyalty. The marriage contract has 3 more spaces to be filled out by other women if the man wishes. That is why a good Muslim woman must accept her destiny under Sharia Law for one simple reason, challenging Allah’s Law is like challenging Allah himself.

In the latest Bin Laden tape, the terror guru was calling on Muslims in the West to increase their numbers through converting as many Americans to Islam and through immigration in order to accomplish, what he called, jihad from within. That is why Islamists in the West are pushing the envelope to see how far the West can take it. Some demand Sharia Law and even claim that Sharia is comparable with democracy.

In a Muslim parade in New York this September, right before the 6th anniversary of 9/11, Muslims carried signs saying “Muslims against Democracy and Western Values”, “the Holocaust is a hoax” and “Ban the Talmud”. They were selling books on jihad with an AK 47s on the cover. This comes from people who are complaining of Islamo-phobia. Do they think this will bring them sympathy and understanding?

A Muslim woman in Florida insists on covering her face for a driver’s license, cab drivers in Minnesota refuse to take passengers carrying wine from the duty-free shop, the 6 flying Imams who scared everyone on the airplane and are now suing. And lately demands for special faucets at the level of the feet in American schools for Muslim kids to Wada “wash” before praying.

I have lived in the Middle East for 30 years and have never seen special faucets for Wada in schools or universities, except in mosques. This only exists in Saudi Arabia. The deception is phenomenal. Islamists are pushing Wahabi Saudi values in America; values that I have never even seen in Egypt.

I have not come to America to become a Wahabi Saudi.

On Arab TV, I once saw a Muslim preacher telling little children that lying is not allowed except under three conditions 1- Lying to non-Muslims when it is in the best interest of Islam. 2- Lying to Muslims if it will end conflict between them. And 3rd: Lying to one’s wife to improve the relationship.

Lying thus has become an obligation in international relationships, Muslim relationships and family relationships. Any wonder why Muslims were silent after 9/11? Those who expose the lying game are considered traitors. By allowing lying, Muslims have created a culture unable to distinguish between lies from truth; truth has become a convoluted game of saving face for the best interest of Islam.

The Times of London reported that Muslim students in Britain are being taught to despise non-Muslims as ‘filth’. The Arabic word for this is ‘Nagas.’ That is why many Arabs believe that the existence of non-Muslims on Muslim land is a desecration or occupation.

US soldiers, at the request of Saudi Arabia, sacrificed their lives to protect it from Saddam. Under normal conditions that could have been met with appreciation, but instead, the Arab street reaction was “how dare the infidels desecrate Muslim land.” That is why America’s defense of the Muslims against the Serbs, the Afghani Muslims against the Soviet Union, feeding the Somali Muslims starved by their own leadership, all did not get the US any credit in the Muslim world; just the opposite, the more America tries to help stabilize the region, the more it is despised. Arab-Muslims do not want to be rescued by infidels. This is a proud culture that is easily shamed by feelings of dependency on the non-Muslims. This is the psychology of the Arab Street.

cont'd

That is how the West is perceived. In the Judeo Christian culture they say: “we are all sinners” -- but in the Muslim culture “they are all sinners; but we are Muslims”. Non-Muslim are “Cafir”, non-Muslims are not innocent; they are viewed as sinners who need Islam and Islamists have given themselves the role of Allah to force Islam on the world, against their will, through the principle of Jihad.

Moslem clergy are constantly looking for the ideal Muslim State and cannot find it. They have failed miserably in stabilizing their society. Instead of being a source of comfort, stability and wisdom, they have become a source of hate, rage and subversion. To them, the solution is always an intifada, uprising, a coup d’etat, an assassination or violence on the streets. They have no respect for the legitimacy of any government and no government is Muslim enough for them; not even Saudi Arabia.

In this dynamic only tyrannical governments can survive. Leaders who want peace, modernity and reforms are assassinated, like Sadat. Every Muslim country is suffering from underground radical Muslim groups who are trying to overturn the government and the constitution, in their pursuit for the perfect Muslim state. That is why the Muslim world is in a constant turmoil, stagnation and conflict. Islamo-fascism is the end result.

America is very concerned since all of this is spilling to the rest of the world. In 1998 the same attitude was expressed by a Muslim leader who asked Muslims in America not to assimilate and said we are here to make the Koran the law of the land in America. What Arab leaders are suffering from is now moving to America and if that will continue our freedoms will erode. Islamo-fascist unrest, turmoil, destructive mentality and hatred of order and the rule of law is now here.

Arab governments have access to build mosques in the West, but give Americans no access to build churches or synagogues in Muslim countries. They finance Muslim and Middle East studies departments on American Universities -- but there is not one University in any of the 52 Muslim countries that have a Christian or Judaism Studies Department. They freely preach Islam all around the world, but imprison and kill Christian missionaries.

If this trend continues Bin Laden’s dreams of internal jihad within America will come true. If that happens America will never be the same again. We could see a large Muslim population congregate in London, Paris or Detroit demanding Sharia or else. If their demands are denied then they will demand a separatist movement; Chechnya can happen in the West. Islamic separatist movements are alive and well in Chechnya, the Philippines and other parts of the world. It caused India to split Pakistan away and give it to Muslims, but Islamic terrorism inside India has not stopped.

And now Islamists have caught the West in a time of political correctness and multiculturalism. By tolerating hatred and violence, the West is not doing Muslims or Islam a favor. Tolerating intolerance is not a sign of compassion; it is gross negligence.

To conclude: Religion, any religion, must adapt to the universal concept of Human Rights, freedom of choice of one’s religion, equal rights of women and minorities. As Arab Americans what are we going to do about it? Are we going to remain silent and defensive? We owe America honest answers. We need to inspire true reform in our culture of origin. There are 7 women in Iran right now awaiting death by stoning -- are we going to stand by them or are we going to fail them? Muslim converts out of Islam are in hiding; are we going to allow them to get killed under the name of Islam? Are we going to see the Egyptian Christian population continue to suffer discrimination?

If Islam is a religion of peace then we must demand better from our religious leaders. We’ve had it with the self-anointed intolerant Ayatollahs, Mullahs and Sheikhs who act like Allah and silence speech by issuing Fatwas of death.  I ask the support of the American Left. You should be our natural allies because we are the reformers and defenders of freedoms in the Middle East.

Western feminists must embrace a single standard for both the West and Muslim society. Feminists and everyone else concerned with human freedom must support Muslim dissidents, both male and female, who are risking their lives in a battle for women’s rights under Islam. I ask the support of the American left. You should be our natural allies because we are the reformers and defenders of freedoms in the Middle East.

Thank You.

"Islamofascism Awareness Week" is a project by David Horowitz and friends. This project is arranging speakers on campuses throughout the U.S. to bring attention to the atrocities of islam.

__________


Defending Islamofascism
It's a valid term. Here's why.

The attempt by David Horowitz and his allies to launch "Islamofascism Awareness Week" on American campuses has been met with a variety of responses. One of these is a challenge to the validity of the term itself. It's quite the done thing, in liberal academic circles, to sneer at any comparison between fascist and jihadist ideology. People like Tony Judt write to me to say, in effect, that it's ahistorical and simplistic to do so. And in some media circles, another kind of reluctance applies: Alan Colmes thinks that one shouldn't use the word Islamic even to designate jihad, because to do so is to risk incriminating an entire religion. He and others don't want to tag Islam even in its most extreme form with a word as hideous as fascism. Finally, I have seen and heard it argued that the term is unfair or prejudiced because it isn't applied to any other religion.

Well, that last claim is certainly not true. It was once very common, especially on the left, to prefix the word fascism with the word clerical. This was to recognize the undeniable fact that, from Spain to Croatia to Slovakia, there was a very direct link between fascism and the Roman Catholic Church. More recently, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, editor of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica, coined the term Judeo-Nazi to describe the Messianic settlers who moved onto the occupied West Bank after 1967. So, there need be no self-pity among Muslims about being "singled out" on this point.

The term Islamofascism was first used in 1990 in Britain's Independent newspaper by Scottish writer Malise Ruthven, who was writing about the way in which traditional Arab dictatorships used religious appeals in order to stay in power. I didn't know about this when I employed the term "fascism with an Islamic face" to describe the attack on civil society on Sept. 11, 2001, and to ridicule those who presented the attack as some kind of liberation theology in action. "Fascism with an Islamic face" is meant to summon a dual echo of both Alexander Dubcek and Susan Sontag (if I do say so myself), and in any case, it can't be used for everyday polemical purposes, so the question remains: Does Bin Ladenism or Salafism or whatever we agree to call it have anything in common with fascism?

I think yes. The most obvious points of comparison would be these: Both movements are based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind. ("Death to the intellect! Long live death!" as Gen. Francisco Franco's sidekick Gonzalo Queipo de Llano so pithily phrased it.) Both are hostile to modernity (except when it comes to the pursuit of weapons), and both are bitterly nostalgic for past empires and lost glories. Both are obsessed with real and imagined "humiliations" and thirsty for revenge. Both are chronically infected with the toxin of anti-Jewish paranoia (interestingly, also, with its milder cousin, anti-Freemason paranoia). Both are inclined to leader worship and to the exclusive stress on the power of one great book. Both have a strong commitment to sexual repression—especially to the repression of any sexual "deviance"—and to its counterparts the subordination of the female and contempt for the feminine. Both despise art and literature as symptoms of degeneracy and decadence; both burn books and destroy museums and treasures.

Fascism (and Nazism) also attempted to counterfeit the then-success of the socialist movement by issuing pseudo-socialist and populist appeals. It has been very interesting to observe lately the way in which al-Qaida has been striving to counterfeit and recycle the propaganda of the anti-globalist and green movements. (See my column on Osama Bin Laden's Sept. 11 statement.)

There isn't a perfect congruence. Historically, fascism laid great emphasis on glorifying the nation-state and the corporate structure. There isn't much of a corporate structure in the Muslim world, where the conditions often approximate more nearly to feudalism than capitalism, but Bin Laden's own business conglomerate is, among other things, a rogue multinational corporation with some links to finance-capital. As to the nation-state, al-Qaida's demand is that countries like Iraq and Saudi Arabia be dissolved into one great revived caliphate, but doesn't this have points of resemblance with the mad scheme of a "Greater Germany" or with Mussolini's fantasy of a revived Roman empire?

Technically, no form of Islam preaches racial superiority or proposes a master race. But in practice, Islamic fanatics operate a fascistic concept of the "pure" and the "exclusive" over the unclean and the kufar or profane. In the propaganda against Hinduism and India, for example, there can be seen something very like bigotry. In the attitude to Jews, it is clear that an inferior or unclean race is being talked about (which is why many Muslim extremists like the grand mufti of Jerusalem gravitated to Hitler's side). In the attempted destruction of the Hazara people of Afghanistan, who are ethnically Persian as well as religiously Shiite, there was also a strong suggestion of "cleansing." And, of course, Bin Laden has threatened force against U.N. peacekeepers who might dare interrupt the race-murder campaign against African Muslims that is being carried out by his pious Sudanese friends in Darfur.

This makes it permissible, it seems to me, to mention the two phenomena in the same breath and to suggest that they constitute comparable threats to civilization and civilized values. There is one final point of comparison, one that is in some ways encouraging. Both these totalitarian systems of thought evidently suffer from a death wish. It is surely not an accident that both of them stress suicidal tactics and sacrificial ends, just as both of them would obviously rather see the destruction of their own societies than any compromise with infidels or any dilution of the joys of absolute doctrinal orthodoxy. Thus, while we have a duty to oppose and destroy these and any similar totalitarian movements, we can also be fairly sure that they will play an unconscious part in arranging for their own destruction, as well.

Islamo-Fascism Denial

Muslim organizations are joining U.S. radical groups in mounting a national hate campaign against Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency has published an article denouncing the week, as have campus newspapers and organizations including the Socialist Workers Party and the Revolutionary Communist Party. And now MSA West, which describes itself as “an organization comprised of Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) representing campuses across the west coast,” has distributed a packet that it hopes will “serve the needs of MSA’s to intelligently and successfully confront IFAW.” The packet describes Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week as an “effort to curb critical thinking and academic freedom, spread racism and hate, and slander Islam and Muslims with lies and deception.”

This packet by MSA West and the growing effort to mobilize Muslim groups against an open, objective, and fair minded discussion of an Islamo-fascist ideology whose chief target is Muslims—Muslim women, gays, and free thinkers who become “infidels” the moment they question Islamic fundamentalism—shows exactly why Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week is necessary. By calling the effort to create a heightened awareness of Islamo-Fascism “racist,” these Muslim groups, and their hardcore radical allies, are attempting to invoke cloture on one of the most pressing issues of the day. They degrade real racism with their cynical charges as surely did those who formed a rhetorical lynch mob to hunt down the Duke lacrosse players. In trying to stifle Islamo-Fascism Awareness, they stifle free speech and free inquiry itself.

The witch-hunt involves fringe groups such as the Revolutionary Communist Party. It also involves groups embedded in the heart of our political process such as Campus Progress –a campus project funded by the Center for American Progress, an operation created by George Soros and Hillary Clinton and run by Bill Clinton's former chief of staff John Podesta. The group has put up a "kit" for attacking Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. In the literature, David Horowitz is described as a "racist" -- the standard label the Left attaches to anyone with whom it disagrees. The literature claims -- ludicrously -- that Horowitz has said that slavery was good for blacks. Of course Horowitz has never said any such thing. Campus Progress is distorting the meaning behind Horowitz's campaign against a proposal to have people who were not slaveowners pay reparations to people who were not slaves, and to do so 137 years after slavery was abolished. And what he said about reparations can be read here. In any case, none of this has anything to do with Islamo-Fascism -- or contradicting any of the evidence exposing the evil that it creates. This assault on Horowitz and Islamo-Fascism Awareness show how dependent the Left -- and now the Muslim groups with which it has formed an unholy alliance -- has become on the tactic of assaulting a political opponent's character to direct the discussion away from a truth that it cannot deny.

Now the MSA West Packet imitates this dependence on slander and deception. The packet takes issue with the term “Islamo-Fascism” itself. “Islamofascism,” we’re told, “is a term coined by neo-conservatives. According to neo-conservatives, Islamofascists are Muslims (hence the word ‘Islam’) who seek to rule the world under a totalitarian, oppressive regime (hence the word ‘fascists’.) Such diverse people and groups like Saddam Hussein (a secularist), Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Republic of Iran are labeled Islamofascists….According to the proponents of Islamofascism Week, such groups pose a threat to the United States. They link these groups by stating such groups want to dominate the world under an oppressive ‘caliphate’. This accusation has no basis whatsoever.”

Really? Let’s see.

First things first: "Islamo-Fascism" has connections to fascism, as Christopher Hitchens has pointed out, because “both movements are based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind.” Both are nostalgic for past glory, obsessed with real and imagined humiliations and thirsty for revenge, filled with anti-Semitism, and committed to sexual repression and its subordination of the female.

There is nothing artful or contrived in the term “Islamo-Fascism.” It is derived from history itself. Hassan al Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (from which today’s radical Muslim groups descend) was, after all, an open admirer and supporter of Adolf Hitler -- as was the principal theorist of the modern jihad, Sayyid Qutb. During World War II, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, cousin of Yasir Arafat and spiritual godfather of Palestinian nationalism, ubgone86 Amin al-Husseini, pronounced his pro-Nazi sympathies openly and proudly. In May 1941, he issued a fatwa calling upon the Germans to bomb Tel Aviv, and in November 1941 traveled to Berlin and met with Hitler. He implored the Nazi dictator to help implement a Final Solution in the Middle East. Then he went to the Balkans, where he spearheaded the creation of Muslim units of the Waffen SS.

In terms of the specific terrorist groups and entities mentioned in the MSA packet, all of them -- along with many others -- have indeed made clear that they wish to destroy the United States and dominate the world under an oppressive caliphate – that is, a unified Islamic state ruled by Islamic Sharia law:

    * Al-Qaeda: Osama bin Laden has said that the 9/11 attacks strengthened the Muslims, “which is a very good sign and a great step towards the unity of Muslims and establishing the Righteous Islamic Khilafah [caliphate] insha-Allah [Allah willing].” His second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, has declared: “The war with Israel is not about a treaty, a cease-fire agreement, Sykes-Picot borders, national zeal, or disputed borders. It is rather a jihad for the sake of God until the religion of God is established. It is jihad for the liberation of Palestine, all Palestine, as well as every land that was a home for Islam, from Andalusia to Iraq. The whole world is an open field for us.”
    * Hamas: The Hamas Charter sets out its Islamic mission as global: “Its spatial dimension extends wherever on earth there are Muslims, who adopt Islam as their way of life; thus, it penetrates to the deepest reaches of the land and to the highest spheres of Heavens. . . . By virtue of the distribution of Muslims, who pursue the cause of the Hamas, all over the globe, and strive for its victory, for the reinforcement of its positions and for the encouragement of its Jihad, the Movement is a universal one.” Universal in what way? The Palestinian Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi exhorted believers in 2002 “Oh beloved, look to the East of the earth, find Japan and the ocean; look to the West of the earth, find [some] country and the ocean. Be assured that these will be owned by the Muslim nation, as the Hadith says . . . ‘from the ocean to the ocean.’”
    * The Muslim Brotherhood: Its founder, Hasan Al-Banna, wrote that “it is a duty incumbent on every Muslim to struggle towards the aim of making every people Muslim and the whole world Islamic, so that the banner of Islam can flutter over the earth and the call of the Muezzin can resound in all the corners of the world: God is greatest [Allahu akbar]!” Despite recent claims to the contrary, there is no evidence that the Brotherhood has renounced this goal.
    * Hezbollah: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has made clear that he wishes to pose a threat to the United States: “Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan is absolute.…I conclude my speech with the slogan that will continue to reverberate on all occasions so that nobody will think that we have weakened. Regardless of how the world has changed after 11 September, Death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America.”
    * The Islamic Republic of Iran: While as a Shi’ite he does not wish to see the establishment of a caliphate, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad harbors similar dreams of Islamic domination. He said in 2005: “we will soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism and will breathe in the brilliant time of Islamic sovereignty over today’s world.”

cont'd

And in terms of Saddam Hussein, suffice it to say that there was a reason he trained thousands of Islamic jihad terrorists from all over the Middle East at camps in Iraq over the four years preceding the U.S. invasion.

The Minaret of Freedom Institute of Bethesda, Maryland, also takes issue, in a paper entitled “Islamo-fascism or Neocon-fascism?,” with the term “Islamo-Fascism.” Neither MSA-West nor the Minaret of Freedom Institute mentions the Algerian sociologist Marieme Helie Lucas’s observation that the term “Islamo-Fascism” was “initially coined by Algerian people struggling for democracy, against armed fundamentalist forces decimating people in our country, then later operating in Europe, where a number of us had taken refuge.”

In other words, the term “Islamo-Fascism” originates with moderate Muslims under attack from Muslim hardliners, who murdered more than 150,000 Muslims whom they regarded as infidels in Algeria in the 1990s. The Minaret of Freedom declares that “Islam rejects the teachings of fascism because it is idolatry. Instead of worshipping God and receiving one’s moral guidance through the Qur’an and other revealed scriptures (the Torah, Psalms, Gospel, etc.), the fascist receives his or her moral guidance from the State and its leader.”

For what could be a more precise term to describe the codification of the moral guidance of the Qur’an into a totalitarian system that attempts to regulate an individual’s entire way of life, as the world has seen in the Iranian and Taliban regimes? Islamic Sharia law traditionally does indeed regulate an individual’s entire way of life; when this regulation becomes a matter for state enforcement, this is indeed fascist by the very definition used by the Minaret of Freedom.

If the MSA-West and the Minaret of Freedom are really opposed to the Islamic supremacist agenda advanced by jihadists today, they should end the denial and obfuscation manifest in their responses to Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, and join with its sponsors in defending the human rights of women, religious minorities, homosexuals and others oppressed under Islamic Sharia today. Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week is, after all, a defense of millions of Muslims who are being tortured, persecuted and murdered today by those whose deformed universe of ideas is fascist to the core.

One clue may be in the MSA’s own questionable record and associations: according to Discover the Networks, “MSA was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood memorandum as one of the Brotherhood’s likeminded ‘organizations of our friends.’ These ‘friends’ -- which included also the Islamic Society of North America, the Islamic Circle of North America, the Muslim Arab Youth Association, the Islamic Association for Palestine, the United Association for Studies and Research, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought -- were identified by the Brotherhood as groups that could help teach Muslims ‘that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands ... so that ... God’s religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions.”

Moreover, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, “At the 7th annual MSA West Conference held at the University of Southern California in January 2005, a former MSA UCLA member, Ahmed Shama stated, ‘We want to restore Islam to the leadership of society...We are trying to establish that system of government, of Islamic governance, and to the helm of life in all walks of life. In short, we want to make the word of Allah (swt) supreme in every single aspect of life...The end goal of everything that we’re talking about is the reestablishment of the Islamic form of government...” He added: “The only justification -- the only justification -- that Muslims have to live in this country is da’wah. I say it again. It might be controversial...The only obligation that we have living in this country is da’wah...The end goal of everything I was talking about is the establishment of, the reestablishment of, Islamic form of government.”

These words were not written by David Horowitz, Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes, Michael Ledeen, former Sen. Rick Santorum, or any other so-called “Islamophobe” involved with Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, but by a purported “friend” of the MSA. If this is not really the MSA’s goal, now is the time for the organization to renounce it publicly and stand with the defenders of human rights who are speaking out during Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.

Riots in Amsterdam and Brussels
By Paul Belien
Created 2007-10-23 16:49

Europe’s no-go zones or SUAs (“sensitive urban areas (http://i.ville.gouv.fr/divbib/doc/chercherZUS.htm)") are multiplying. These are areas where the police no longer dares to venture and where Islamists hold sway. Every night since the beginning of last week, immigrant youths have been torching cars and clashing with police in Amsterdam’s Slotervaart district. The incidents started on Oct. 14 when a a policewoman shot dead Bilal Bajaka (http://kleinverzet.blogspot.com/2007/10/suicide-attack-in-amsterdam.html), a 22-year old ethnic Moroccan, whilst he was stabbing her and a colleague with a knife. The officers were stabbed in the breast, face, neck and back. Surgeons could only narrowly save their lives.

Since the incident, Slotervaart has seen rioting almost every night. The Amsterdam Moroccans are  “shocked” because one of them has been killed by an infidel woman. According to his family, Bilal Bajaka was mentally deranged and had a suicide obsession. Ahmed Marcouch, the Moroccan-born Socialist mayor of Slotervaart, criticized the Dutch authorities for failing to provide adequate health care for Bajaka’s mental problems.

Bilal Bajaka was, however, a personal friend of Mohammed Bouyeri, the Jihadist who ritually slaughtered the Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh in 2004. Bilal’s attack on the two police officers came exactly two years after the arrest of his brother, Abdullah Bajaka, the leader of an alleged plot to blow up an El-Al Boeing at Amsterdam airport. Bilal’s family background is not at all deprived. One of his sisters is a medical doctor, another sister is a Dutch judge.

For ten days now, the situation in Amsterdam’s immigrant neighbourhoods has been tense. Senior police officers compare the current situation in Amsterdam to the 2005 Ramadan riots in Paris. Media outside the Netherlands, however, hardly mention the riots, which aim to drive the police from Slotervaart and turn the neighborhood into a new no-go area – yet another pocket of Eurabia on Europe’s soil.

Similar events are currently taking place in Brussels, the capital of neighbouring Belgium and of the EU. Last Sunday, demonstrating Turkish youths ransacked an Armenian restaurant in the Sint-Joost-ten-Node borough. According to the owner the police was present at the scene but did not interfere while his establishment was being demolished. The Armenian had to flee for his life.

Another man who had to run for his life was the Belgian journalist Mehmet Koksal, an ethnic Turk. He was attacked around 11 pm on Sunday evening by a group of some twenty Turkish youths in front of the American embassy in Brussels, a few yards from the Belgian parliament building. The Parliament and the US Embassy are less than one kilometer from Sint-Joost-ten-Node. Koksal fled to a nearby police car, but a female police officer refused to let him into the car, whereupon the youths savagely beat him up. Fearing that they were about to lynch him, the police officer changed her attitude and allowed the journalist to seek refuge in the police car.

Koksal told the press today that he is not going to press charges against the police for failing to help him. “The police woman was more afraid than I was and ultimately the police came to my rescue,” he said.

Riots in Amsterdam and Brussels (http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2584/print)

Mosque or we'll riot, Religion of peace in Amsterdam

THE HAGUE -- If Amsterdam city council bars construction of the Westermoskee mosque, a great demonstration of Turks from throughout Europe will be held. The possibility of this degenerating into violence cannot be ruled out, the Turkish organisation Milli Gorus warns.

The controversial Westermoskee in Amsterdam will be built come what may, said Fatih Dag of the Turkish mosque organisation in Trouw newspaper. If the government blocks its building, Milli Gorus will call on Turks throughout the whole of Europe to demonstrate. Dag hopes this would be a peaceful procession, but fears it could get out of hand. "Our people are emotional and someone crazy can just be walking among them," he said in the newspaper.

The building of the 42 metre tall, 18-million euros Neo-Ottoman Westermoskee was blocked months ago after Milli Gorus' orthodox German head office replaced management in Amsterdam. After that, reports surfaced that Milli Gorus had wheedled billions of euros out of Turks since the 1990s by having them invest in Islamic investment funds.

Amsterdam politicians advised against the building of the new Westermoskee in the 1990s for fears of the orthodox course, but after much lobbying, the project was last year dubbed a symbol of integration by the then Justice Minster Donner, who laid the foundation-stone. Last week, it was made known that municipal authorities and Milli Gorus had suspended their cooperation on the building anyway.

If the licence for the mosque is definitively withdrawn, this would be "extremely foolish," warns Dag. "I will then immediately call for a demonstration. If every Milli Gorus mosque in Europe sends a bus, it will certainly be busy. I have not tipped off Al Jazeera, but they will certainly get wind of it, and I will speak to them. That will go out to the entire Arabic world, cross my heart. All Muslims have a satellite dish, so they will see that a beautiful project for Muslims is being forbidden here."

"Do not forget", added Dag in Trouw, "that we began the project with a number of Turks, but with all the hindrance, it has now become a matter for many Muslims throughout the Netherlands. I expect a revolt among them, naturally within the legal boundaries, but still: Our people are more emotional than you Europeans. And there can be a crazy person among them."

Amsterdam's Mayor Cohen declined to comment on the apparent threats by Dag. According to his spokesman, the mayor does however want to hear "what is going on" personally from Dag.

Build the Mosque or we'll riot, Religion of peace in Amsterdam (http://www.aina.org/news/20070521194558.htm)

One of the most basic rules of law enforcement is that you never give up control of an area to the lawless. This has been learned the hard way many times. It really boils down to something simple:  You either have law, order, and civilization or the law of the jungle takes over. It's sad that the first victims are usually the mob's own innocents - the children, ill, and elderly.

It's a bad mistake to let anyone have what they want because of violence and terrorist acts. In fact, it's a bad mistake to do this even once because it then becomes the standard for their operations. The opposite message should be sent. Violence and terrorist acts should get nothing but vastly increased law enforcement, jail, prison, and deportation. There shouldn't be any compromise of law and order and NEVER any reward for violence. They must be dealt with appropriately for the same reason that a pack of wolves loose in a city must be dealt with. The only other choice is to let the wolves have the city and move to another city. It should be obvious that the wolves will want your new city also, so common sense dictates that you stop the wolves.

Indonesian Group Files Police Protest against 'New Prophet'...

The Muslim Alliance (Alumi) of West Java said it will file a report with the National Police on Monday against sect leader Ahmad Musadek because he has claimed himself a prophet replacing Prophet Muhammad.

"We have entrusted the Muslim Lawyers Team to file the report," Ikhsan Setiadi Latief, the alliance secretary general told detik.com Saturday.

"Hopefully, this legal action can deter other heretical groups as well."

Ahmad Musadek heads the Al Qiyadah al Islamiyah sect, already considered as heretical by the Indonesian Ulema Council.

He claimed he was a prophet after 40 days of meditation.

Alumi, which consists of 46 Muslim organizations has accused Ahmad and his sect for blasphemy against Islam.

Fate of proposed Muslim center in Maryland delayed

A vote on a controversial proposal by a Muslim group to build a large retreat and worship center on farmland in a rural Maryland town has been postponed.

The Walkersville Board of Zoning Appeals was scheduled to hold a final public hearing and vote Thursday on a plan by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to build a worship facility on a 224-acre farm in the town. But according to the Frederick News-Post, the Board voted this morning to postpone the hearing until January 8, with a continuation of January 15.

An attorney for the Muslim group said he might not be ready to present his case by the time of the Board's next meeting on December 6. At issue is an amendment to a zoning ordinance that would prohibit building places of worship and private clubs on land zoned for agriculture.

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland) would not speak with OneNewsNow about the Muslim center controversy brewing in his home district.

U.S. embassy terror plot uncovered 
'There were some specific and credible threat information'

Authorities in Azerbaijan recently uncovered a radical Islamic terror plot against the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Baku, prompting the facility to close its doors to the public Monday, Azerbaijan and U.S. officials told CNN.

 As a precaution, Britain also shut its embassy in Baku to the public on Monday "following security concerns nearby," Britain's Foreign Office said.

The terror plot was unraveled after a weekend raid outside Baku that netted several suspected members of the radical group, two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified and a spokesman for Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry told CNN.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack stressed that the details "are still unfolding," and the threat "may or may not be" linked to the Saturday raid.

"There were some specific and credible threat information concerning the embassy and plans by militants to in some way do harm to individuals in and around the U.S. Embassy there," McCormack said, noting that no specific individuals were targeted.

Several days ago, an Azerbaijani army officer who had connections to a radical Islamic group seized four assault rifles, a machine gun and 20 hand grenades from his military unit and hid them in the outskirts of Baku, the ministry spokesman and U.S. officials said.

Government security forces tracked down the group and arrested several members during a sweep on Saturday in the village of Mastaga, about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Baku, the spokesman said.

One suspected member of the militant group resisted arrest and was killed in the sweep, the spokesman said. Several others are still at large, he added.

He said the terror plot also targeted Azerbaijani government buildings.

The U.S. Embassy in Baku issued a warden message warning Americans in Azerbaijan to take precautions.

"While there is no information at this time that other American or Western interests in Azerbaijan are being targeted, the U.S. Embassy encourages Americans to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to bolster their own personal security," it said.

Azerbaijan is a former Soviet republic that borders the Caspian Sea, and lies just north of Iran.

McCormack said U.S. authorities are working closely with their counterparts in Baku and will determine when normal embassy operations will resume. He said he expects the embassy to limit its operations on Tuesday, as well.

Miami group ready for holy war

A group of men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower were in the final stages of forming a homegrown terrorist cell dedicated to waging an Islamic holy war before they were arrested, a prosecution terrorism expert testified Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT

Raymond Tanter, a Georgetown University professor and terrorism scholar for 40 years, said suspected ringleader Narseal Batiste and the other six had nearly completed the "radicalization process" and moved toward acts of terrorism before their arrests in June 2006.

Hallmarks of this process include religious conversion, operation within a military-style hierarchy and adoption of goals shared by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to destroy U.S. landmarks, Tanter said. The final stage — which he called "jihadization" — means the group is ready to plan, recruit and prepare for an attack.

"I believe that Mr. Batiste falls in the jihadization, or final stage of the radicalization process," Tanter said, adding the other members of the "Liberty City Seven" also fall into that category.

Evidence introduced at trial shows that Batiste "was talking only about violent jihad" and not other meanings of the Arabic word, such as self-examination, Tanter said.

The oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden taken by the seven men — captured on an FBI videotape — "is the manner in which al-Qaida binds individuals to the organization," Tanter said.

The oath was administered by a man Batiste's group knew as "Brother Mohammed" who claimed to be an emissary sent by al-Qaida to assist in the purported terror plot. In reality, "Mohammed" paid FBI informant Elie Assad, who testified earlier that he was playing a role under close watch of FBI agents.

Tanter also testified that al-Qaida uses affiliate groups in many countries that may have local concerns but also share the terrorist organization's broader goals of imposing by force a strict form of Islamic fundamentalist government. Prosecutors say Batiste wanted to stage attacks that would create chaos and ultimately bring down the U.S. government.

"There probably are affiliate groups of al-Qaida in the United States. Al-Qaida would like to extend its reach into the United States," Tanter said.

Tanter's testimony drew strong objections from defense attorneys, who unsuccessfully sought a mistrial from U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard. Albert Levin, attorney for defendant Patrick Abraham, said the jury could unfairly conclude that the group intended to commit terrorist acts based on the expert's opinions.

"This testimony is extremely prejudicial, goes right to the heart of this case," Levin said. "His testimony has totally polluted this (jury) pool."

But Lenard concluded that the testimony did not violate her order prohibiting Tanter from giving an opinion about the group's actual intentions or mental state.

Defense lawyers have sought to portray Batiste and the others as merely hoping to con "Mohammed" out of money by going along with all the terrorist talk. They say the group never intended to attack the Sears Tower or bomb FBI buildings, as the government claims, and never acquired the means to do so.

The defense is expected to begin cross-examination of Tanter on Wednesday, with the prosecution possibly resting its case by the end of the week.

The seven men each face as many as 70 years in prison if convicted of all four charges against them, including conspiracy to levy war against the United States and conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida.

Muhammad Deif: We'll strike in heart of Israel

Senior Hamas member says commander of organization's military wing 'planning an attack against the Israeli occupation, and will not settle for the defensive fighting policy'; adds 'organization has completed its preparations and is only waiting for orders'
Ali Waked

Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas' military wing, has said that the movement will strike in the heart of Israel in the near future, a senior Hamas member said Tuesday.

The man, Sheikh Ahmed Hamdan from the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, said that he recently met with Deif in his hiding place, and heard from him that Hamas will soon replace its defensive fighting policy with an offensive one.

According to Hamdan, "The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, plans to begin its attack against the Israeli occupation in the coming weeks, and will not settle for the defensive policy."

Hamdan spoke as he visited the family of a Hamas gunman killed Monday morning in clashes with the IDF in the southern Gaza Strip. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the incident.

"Deif promised me that the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades will hit the Zionist enemy hard. The organization has completed its preparations and is only waiting for orders," he said.

Deif is responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings he planned. In 1992, he went into hiding and escaped at lease two assassination attempts. In one of the incidents, in which a missile was fired at him, Deif reportedly lost one of his eyes.

Deif inherited the command on Hamas' military wing from Yehya Ayash, known as "the engineer," who was assassinated in 1996. He was behind a series of severe terror attacks which were carried out in revenge for Ayash's assassination.

He was responsible for sending terrorists to carry out suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon, and was behind the groups that kidnapped and murdered IDF soldiers Nachson Waxman and Shahar Simani.

Deif, who knew he was being targeted by Israel, did everything to escape and slip away. At the end of 1996, he apparently escaped to Egypt, but he later returned to plan terror attacks. The more prominent terror activists were assassinated by Israel over the year, the more Deif became involved in planning attacks, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In the past years, he and his deputy gotcha98 al-Rul, who was assassinated at the end of 2004, were involved in developing rockets. In the course of the years he was arrested by Palestinian security forces, but was released after short periods of time.

Various legends and myths have been associated with his health condition, some claiming that he suffered brain damage. Deif once appeared in a Hamas film, in which he issued a statement proving that he was still active.

Muhammad Deif: We'll strike in heart of Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3465779,00.html)

How many times has Israel's enemies threatened or warned about attacking Israel & then Israel either twarts their plans or their enemies 'back off'? You just never know.

Israel handed out face/gas masks this past week.

Syria accused of plot to kill Lebanon PM

By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 30, 4:36 PM ET

CAIRO, Egypt - The leader of Lebanon's parliamentary majority claimed Tuesday that Syria was behind a plot to assassinate him and the Lebanese prime minister ahead of crucial presidential elections next month.

Saad Hariri did not elaborate on the plot but when asked about reports that Syrian officials were behind it, he said, "We have information about this, and it is correct."

"The assassination is not only of me but of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora also," said Hariri, whose father, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was assassinated in a 2005 Beirut truck bombing that was widely blamed on Syria.

Saad Hariri spoke to reporters after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.

Syrian officials in Damascus could not be immediately reached for comment.

Lebanon's anti-Syrian groups, which dominate the government, claim Damascus is behind a two-year killing spree that has claimed the lives of several anti-Syrian politicians and public figures. The latest was the Sept. 19 slaying of lawmaker Antoine Ghanem in a Beirut car bombing.

Syria has denied involvement in any of the killings. Rafik Hariri's assassination provoked an outcry that forced Syrian troops to leave Lebanon after a 29-year presence.

The U.S. State Department said it couldn't confirm Saad Hariri's claims.

"Without commenting on the specifics on those allegations, it's clear that there is a pattern of threat, intimidation and use of violence against those who are trying to further the process of political reform in Lebanon," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

Saad Hariri also accused Syria of trying to stall the election of a new Lebanese president by "influencing recent developments in Lebanon which have negatively affected reconciliation" between the country's rival factions.

Last week, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the parliamentary session to elect a new president until Nov. 12 to give rival factions more time to find a compromise. The parliament, dominated by anti-Syrian legislators, failed to meet twice to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who steps down Nov. 24.

There had been hopes that the presidential vote could break a 10-month political deadlock between Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and pro-Syrian opposition factions led by the militant Hezbollah.

Egypt has been trying to help resolve the deadlock. Media here have reported that Cairo is trying to persuade the rival factions to accept Lebanese army commander Michael Suleiman as a compromise candidate.

Under Lebanon's complex sectarian-based political system, the president traditionally hails from the Maronite community that makes up the largest sect among minority Christians.

The parliament majority is hoping to put one of its own in the post, but the opposition has rejected a president they don't endorse. Over 15 declared or undeclared candidates are vying for the post.

Many Lebanese fear divisions over the presidency could lead to two rival governments — a grim prospect for a country that suffered through a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Syria accused of plot to kill Lebanon PM (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_syria;_ylt=ArPtzTzAls7b3C_pFV3j69ULewgF)

Terrorists frantically concerned about Olmert's health
'We don't want him to die before following through with his promises'
Posted: October 29, 2007
11:52 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Palestinian terrorists today expressed frantic concern for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's health following media reports he would hold a news conference announcing the diagnosis of a medical ailment.

At the news conference, held at 1 p.m. Jerusalem time, Olmert told reporters he will undergo a surgical procedure in the coming months to remove the early stages of a "cancerous tumor" in his prostate.

Olmert told the packed news conference he would continue with his duties as prime minister and will not undergo chemotherapy or radiation. He said the tumor was detected 10 days ago during a routine checkup, shortly before a trip to Russia.

The prime minister's doctors said the microscopic tumor was very treatable and the surgery was not urgent.

Prior to the press conference, television channels and radio networks today dramatically announced Olmert would disclose an unspecified illness.

Following the reports, WND's Jerusalem bureau received calls from almost a dozen terrorists, including senior leaders, asking whether the online news agency had any information about Olmert's illness and expressing concern for the prime minister.

The terrorists were all members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. The Brigades, together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, took responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past three years and has carried out thousands of shootings, grenade attacks and rocket launchings aimed at Jewish civilian population centers.

"I don't want him to leave office or die before he has the occasion to follow through with his promises of granting amnesty," said one leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Olmert in June granted amnesty to nearly 200 members of the Brigades and has been considering offering amnesty to hundreds more on condition the gunmen disarm and refrain from terror attacks.

According to media reports, most terrorists granted amnesty in June failed to disarm. Many reportedly have been involved in a spate of attacks.

Several terror leaders calling WND for information expressed fear Olmert won't be able to attend a U.S.-brokered November Israeli-Palestinian summit at which the Israeli prime minister is widely expected to outline a Palestinian state. There has been a flurry of media reports that Olmert is contemplating handing over sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians, as well.

Earlier this month, Olmert hinted he would be willing to divide Jerusalem, asking during a speech whether it was "really necessary" to retain certain Arab neighborhoods in Judaism's capital.

Richard Gere helped Hamas win power?
Terror group thanks U.S. actor for urging Palestinians to vote

Hamas has thanked U.S. actor Richard Gere for his efforts in urging Palestinians to vote in local municipal elections two years ago, which the terrorist group dominated by a large margin.

"We thank Richard Gere for his efforts in the historic election of the Palestinian Islamic resistance (Hamas)," stated Abu Abdullah, largely considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing.

Abdullah and other Hamas leaders were quoted on the record thanking Gere in the new book "Schmoozing with Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – to a Jew!," by WND Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein.

Working with One Voice, a leftist Israeli organization, Gere starred in a commercial urging voter turnout that was broadcast repeatedly on Palestinian television in January 2005. The local municipal Palestinian elections were one of the first since the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat held what was widely regarded as a sham vote three decades ago.

The elections were split between Hamas legislators and members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, which the U.S. considers moderate.

"Hi, I'm Richard Gere, and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time," said Gere in the commercial.

"It's really important: Get out and vote," continued the actor, his words simultaneously translated into Arabic.

Then, switching to Arabic, the star of such films as "Pretty Woman," "Primal Fear" and "American Gigolo," concluded: "Take part in the election."

Gere appeared in the commercial with Chief Palestinian Justice Taysir Tamimi and former Greek Orthodox Church spokesman Atallah Hanna.

Tamimi, interviewed in Klein's book, is a prominent justifier of suicide bombings who regularly delivers fiery sermons on Palestinian television calling for the downfall of America and Israel.

"Of course the Palestinians have the right to martyrdom attacks," stated Tamimi in "Schmoozing."

Gere's other co-star in the commercial, Hanna, was fired from his church position after Israel accused him of directly aiding terror organizations. He has held public solidarity meetings with leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah and appears regularly on Palestinian television urging children to engage in suicide attacks.

"We encourage our youth to participate in the resistance, to carry out martyrdom attacks," said Hanna during a recent interview.

Palestinians last year took Gere's advice and voted en masse, electing Hamas legislators by a large margin.

Hamas' Abdullah thanked Gere and urged the actor to "tell your American government that they should respect the democratic choice of the Palestinians in the elections that Gere promoted and that they should stop undermining the legitimate government of Hamas."

 Jersey City worker triggerman in Pakistan assassination

A Jersey City grocery clerk had a secret life before he started stocking shelves: He was a Pakistani assassin wanted for a decade-old murder, law enforcement sources said.

Akhtar Hussain Muawia sneaked into the country under an assumed name less than a year after the murder of a top Shia leader, moved in with his sister and worked in his brother-in-law's Mashaallah Grocery, the sources said.

The NYPD unmasked Muawia several months ago when a 30-year-old civilian analyst discovered his true identity, sources said.

"If what you say is true, that was not a holy man," said an employee at the Sunni Rizvi Jamia mosque in Jersey City, where Muawia worshiped.

"They left and no one talked about them. No one said a word. I do not like thinking that was happening here," the worker said.

Muawia was arrested in May as the alleged gunman who killed Shia leader Mahmood Shah in Pakistan in 1997, sources said. He is in federal custody fighting deportation.

"It's 100% not true," said Muawia's lawyer Amy Nussbaum Gell. "They are using buzz words, like 'terrorist,' 'murder,' all because they think they can get away with railroading a Muslim kid," she said.

Gell said Muawia was cleared - in absentia - of the murder in a Pakistani trial in February. "They have nothing on this young man, other than he is Muslim," Gell said.

Immigration sources agreed with Muawia's lawyer.

"He was more of a lamb than a lion," said a federal immigration source familiar with Muawia's arrest.

But a law enforcement source countered that Muawia, 33, was never cleared in Pakistan, and did more than work the cash register at his brother-in-law's food store.

It's believed the three-aisle bodega laundered money for the terrorist organization Sunni Sipah-e-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP).

Muawia was allegedly a favored assassin with the SSP, which has been blamed for the massacres of scores of Pakistani civilians as it pushed a pro-Sunni, anti-American agenda.

An SSP cell was first discovered in New York City in 2003, when investigators raided a Brooklyn apartment and found recruitment documents and membership forms, sources said.

Another SSP member was deported after being caught in 2004 photographing the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges.

Federal immigration officials arrested Muawia's brother-in-law, Mumtaz Ahmed, 47, last October, as part of a money-laundering investigation, sources said. Muawia was arrested at the same time and charged with being in the country illegally. Ahmed was eventually deported, but Muawia was let go.

Aside from his brush with immigration, Muawia remained under the radar until the NYPD analyst began piecing together his history in February last year.

By March this year, the Ivy League analyst felt he had pulled together enough information to prove the Jersey City grocery clerk was the wanted assassin.

A month later, the NYPD tracked Muawia to Jersey City, and put him under surveillance. The NYPD contacted the Newark Joint Terrorism Task Force and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which arrested him in early May.

Al Qaeda threatens Libya attack

CAIRO, Egypt (AP)  -- Al Qaeda's No. 2 figure harshly criticized Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a new audio tape Saturday, accusing him of being an enemy of Islam and threatening a wave of attacks against the North African country because it improved relations with the U.S.

 In the 28-minute audio tape called "Unity of the Ranks," Ayman al-Zawahiri also announced that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was joining ranks with al Qaeda.

"The Islamic nation is witnessing a blessed step ... The brothers are escalating the confrontation against the enemies of Islam: Gadhafi and his masters, the Washington crusaders," al-Zawahiri said in the audio tape.

The recording could not be independently verified, but it appeared on a Web site commonly used by insurgents and carried the logo of al Qaeda's media production house, as-Sahab.

The recording also carried a message from Abu Laith al-Libi, a Libyan al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan who accused Gadhafi of decades of tyranny.

"He is the tyranny of Libya and is dragging the country to the swamp," al-Libi said in the recording that also featured old video footage of him walking with other masked gunmen.

"After long years, he (Gadhafi) discovered suddenly that America is not an enemy ... and is turning Libya into another crusader base," said al-Libi, who has appeared in several recent al Qaeda videos.

For decades, the U.S. had regarded Libya as a pariah state after Gadhafi came to power in a military coup in 1969 and turned against the West.

Libya was demonized for sponsoring various terrorist groups and for trying to undermine pro-Western governments in Africa. Washington put Libya on a list of state sponsors of terrorism and imposed sanctions that barred American companies from doing business in the oil-rich country. In 1986, U.S. warplanes carried out airstrikes against Libya.

But the tide started to turn in 2003, after Gadhafi's surprise decision to dismantle Libya's clandestine nuclear program. That same year, Libya reached a $2.7 billion settlement with families of the victims of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the next year it paid $170 million in compensation to the families of the 170 victims of the 1989 bombing of a French UTA passenger jet.

The U.S. resumed full diplomatic relations with Libya last year and removed Libya from the State Department's list of terrorism sponsors.

The State Department also has praised Libya's cooperation in helping the U.S. in the search for al Qaeda and other terror suspects in the Middle East and North Africa.

Al Qaeda threatens Libya attack (http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11/03/alqaeda.libya.ap/index.html)

Pakistani President Musharraf declares emergency, replaces chief justice, cuts communications

Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday, suspending the constitution, replacing the chief justice before a crucial Supreme Court ruling on his future as president, and cutting communications in the capital.

His leadership threatened by an increasingly defiant court and an Islamic movement that has spread to Islamabad, Musharraf's emergency order accused some judges of "working at cross purposes with the executive" and "weakening the government's resolve" to fight terrorism.

Seven of the 17 Supreme Court judges immediately rejected the emergency, which suspended the current constitution. Police blocked entry to the Supreme Court building and later took the deposed chief justice and other judges away in a convoy, witnesses said.

In an address to the nation late Saturday on state-run television, Musharraf said Pakistan was at a "dangerous" juncture, its government threatened by Islamic extremists. He said he hoped democracy would be restored following parliamentary elections.

"But, in my eyes, I say with sorrow that some elements are creating hurdles in the way of democracy," said Musharraf, who was wearing civilian clothes and spoke firmly and calmly. "I think this chaos is being created for personal interests and to harm Pakistan."

The order drew swift complaints from the United States and Britain — Musharraf's main Western allies. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged restraint on all sides and a return to democracy in Pakistan.

The United States "does not support extraconstitutional measures," Rice said from Turkey, where she was participating in a conference with Iraq's neighbors.

Musharraf claimed that 61 terrorists have been freed on order from the court — an apparent reference a case that has been led by the now-deposed chief justice to press authorities over suspects held by intelligence agencies without charge.

"Extremists are openly roaming," he said "And no one knows whether any of the these freed men were behind recent bomb attacks."

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a longtime rival of Musharraf who recently returned from eight years of exile, flew back to Pakistan from Dubai where she was visiting family. She left the airport under police escort; her house was surrounded by paramilitary troops.

After her arrival at Karachi's Airport, Bhutto said she did not believe there would be fair elections as long as emergency rule remained in place.

"Unless General Musharraf reverses the course it will be very difficult to have fair elections," she told Sky News television by telephone. "I agree with him that we are facing a political crisis, but I believe the problem is dictatorship, I don't believe the solution is dictatorship.

"The extremists need a dictatorship, and dictatorship needs extremists."

The government halted all television transmissions in major cities other than state-controlled Pakistan TV. Telephone service in the capital, Islamabad, was cut.

Musharraf said some independent TV channels had contributed to the uncertainty in the country.

In justification, the emergency order obtained by The Associated Press said "the constitution provides no solution for this situation, there is no way out except through emergent and extraordinary measures," it said.

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and has been a close ally of the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has struggled to contain spreading Islamic militancy that has centered along the Afghan border and spread to the capital and beyond. Hundreds have died in recent weeks.

Pakistanis have increasingly turned against the government of Musharraf, who failed earlier this year to oust Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry — the chief justice replaced Saturday.

It was not clear whether U.S. officials had advance knowledge of Saturday's action.

Rice said that to her knowledge, U.S. officials had yet to hear directly from Musharraf after his declaration. She said she last spoke with Musharraf a couple days ago but that other U.S. officials had made the American position clear to him more recently.

Rice would not detail the conversations, but did say the U.S. told Pakistani leaders that "even if something happens, that we would expect the democratic election to take place because Pakistan has got to return to a constitutional order as soon as possible, and Pakistanis have to have a prospect of free and fair elections."

Crucial parliamentary elections meant to restore civilian rule are due by January. Musharraf himself was overwhelmingly re-elected last month by the current parliament, dominated by his ruling party, but the vote was challenged.

The Supreme Court has emerged this year as the main check on Musharraf's dominance and is due to issue a verdict on whether he could run for president while still serving as army chief before his current term expires Nov. 15.

Most analysts thought Musharraf was on shaky legal ground in his re-election by lawmakers last month — a vote that was boycotted by most of the opposition — but they still expected the court to rule in his favor to prevent further destabilizing Pakistan.

However in recent days some judges had made comments that they would not be swayed by threats from senior officials that an emergency might be declared if the court ruled against the general.

The seven Supreme Court judges rejected the declaration of emergency and ordered top officials, including the prime minister, and military officers not to comply with it. The two-page ruling said there were no grounds for an emergency "particularly for the reasons being published in the newspapers that a high profile case is pending and is not likely to be decided in favor of the government."

At least seven trucks brought armed police and paramilitary ranger troops to Constitution Avenue that passes in front of the court, Parliament and the official residences of the president and prime minister.

Paramilitary troops behind rolled barbed wire blocked access to an official compound housing lawmakers — barring even wives, children and even a ruling party senator from entering.

Bhutto, seen by many supporters as key to a possible return to democracy, went to Dubai after being targeted by assassins in Pakistan last month. Suicide bombers attacked her homecoming parade after eight years in exile, killing more than 140 people.

Musharraf's order allows courts to function but suspends some fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, including freedom of speech. It also allows authorities to detain people without informing them of the charges.

The emergency was expected to be followed by arrests of lawyers and other perceived opponents of the government, including civil society activists and possibly even members of the judiciary itself, a ruling party lawmaker said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Private Geo TV reported the arrest of the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Aitzaz Ahsan — a lawyer for Chaudhry in the case that led to his reinstatement in July.

With telephone lines cut, it was not possible to contact government spokesmen for confirmation.

Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister who was deported in September as he tried to return from exile, condemned the emergency and said Musharraf should resign. He also urged the people of Pakistan to rise against Musharraf.

"If you don't do it today, it will too late then," he told Geo TV from Saudi Arabia.

The time bomb in Pakistan appears to be lit. We just don't know how long the fuse is and whether or not it can be cut.

I think that someone is behind the times. It has been known for sometime now that they are not only in Mexico but also in the U.S.


 US fears Hamas, Hizballah setting up shop in Mexico

Washington believes the Palestinian terror group Hamas and the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist militia Hizballah are looking to set up operations in Mexico with the aim of eventually infiltrating the United States, according to a former CIA counter-terrorism official.

Robert Grenier, who until recently was head of the CIA's counter-terrorism center, told a press conference in Mexico last Thursday that the Muslim terrorist organizations see the illegal immigration and drug trafficking networks in the Latin American nation as the most effective way to move people and equipment into the US.

Grenier said that the Bush Administration fears both Hamas and Hizballah may already have sleeper cells operating in Mexico.

Hamas and Hizballah have both threatened in the past to extend their war against Israel to include the United States.

Brothers and Sisters,

Realistically, we should all know that there are already armies of terrorists among us. That's the cost of dereliction of duty and failure to secure our borders in a time of war. Further, our government already knows this, and they don't care.

Personal agendas and being politically correct is simply more important than our sovereignty and security. The cost will be horrible when it starts, and the innocent will pay that cost while those responsible are sitting in bunkers. All this takes is a tiny bit of common sense to figure out, and we can be sure that the terrorists have figured it out.

SO, what's the answer? It's too late, and there is no answer. We simply take our lumps for being stupid! We'll just have to see how many thousands of lives it will take to wake them up - IF EVER! By the way, it could easily be MILLIONS this time. I'll guess it will be dirty bombs and chemical weapons. It's a very simple matter of just connecting the dots, and the puzzle is one for beginners.

When you said that there were probably sleeper cells in Mexico already, my first thought was that it wouldn't knock me over to find that there are sleeper cells here.  And it does make sense that they could enter the US very easily from Mexico.





This is as true a statement as I've ever heard!
And yes, there is no answer.  It is too late.  And we are going to take our lumps because our government is greedy and because of that greed has sold out her own people.


Without a doubt.  Being a friend of Israel makes us an enemy to many.  My hope and prayer is that if America never does another thing right, that she will not sell out Israel.  And WOE to her if she does!

The organization of Hamas actually originated here in the U.S. under a different name. There are numerous cells already here and they are recruiting many more followers. The following map is just a listing of those that are currently known by "The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is a non-profit research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. It is recognized as the world's most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic terrorist groups. For more than a decade, the IPT has investigated the operations, funding, activities and front groups of Islamic terrorist and extremist groups in the United States and around the world."


http://www.investigativeproject.org/maps.php

Muslim women face worse struggles

By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 8, 9:02 AM ET

GENEVA - Women in predominantly Muslim countries are struggling to compete for jobs, win equal pay and hold political office, falling behind the rest of the world in eliminating discrimination, a report said Thursday.

Nordic nations, by contrast, received the best overall grades for gender parity in education, employment, health and politics, according to the review of 128 countries compiled by the World Economic Forum.

The United States received mixed marks.

"The purpose of the rankings is to bring out where a country stands in terms of dividing the resources that are available between women and men," said Saadia Zahidi, one of the report's three co-authors.

Sweden, which has more women than men holding high political office, topped the list, followed by fellow Nordics Norway, Finland and Iceland. New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, and Spain round out the top 10.

Zahidi said religious and cultural reasons are important in understanding why men have economic, political, education and health advantages over women in much of the world.

Ex-Soviet nations with a Muslim majority, such as Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, were in the middle of the field, but nearly all countries in the Middle East place in the bottom third. Pakistan, Chad and Yemen were at the bottom.

Women living on the Arabian peninsula receive nearly as much education and health benefits as men there, Zahidi said, "but they're held back on political participation and economic empowerment."

The annual study does not take into account a country's overall level of economic development: women in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Cuba and Lesotho all fared better — relatively speaking — than women in industrialized nations such as Japan, Switzerland and the United States, which fell eight places from last year's study to 31st.

The U.S. scored lower because the percentage of female legislators, senior officials and managers fell in 2007, and the pay gap between women and men widened, the report said.

The world's most populous nations — China and India — were hurt in the study by the preference of many parents for boys, which has led to abortions and infanticide being directed primarily against girls.

Muslim women face worse struggles (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_eu/global_gender_gap;_ylt=Aj4AAMWFT27t87r0W.olzVmROrgF)

Muslim Rivalry Hits New York Prisons

BY JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
November 7, 2007

The rivalry and violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims isn't just limited to Iraq. It is increasingly found in one place presumed shut off from the influence of faraway sectarian politics: New York's state prisons.

In the last two decades, the state's Muslim inmates, who number 7,987, have been increasingly identifying as either Sunni or Shiite, a phenomenon that prison chaplains elsewhere say is most pronounced in New York. Shiite inmates, who make up less than 4% of the Muslims incarcerated here, have long reported religious persecution by the Sunni-dominated Muslim chaplaincy employed by the state. The Sunni-Shiite divide has played a role in at least one stabbing between inmates in 2004, e-mails by prison officials show.

Shiite inmates have long demanded their own chaplains and a separate place to pray on Fridays, apart from other Muslim inmates. A little-noticed federal court ruling improves the prospects that Shiite inmates will see their demands met.

The recent ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opens the way for a trial in which jurors will weigh the demands of Shiite inmates seeking a separate Friday prayer service against the staffing and logistical concerns of prison officials. The court ruling overturns a court decision by a federal judge in Syracuse, Paul Magnuson, who ruled last year that Shiite Muslims could either pray individually from their cells or join the general Muslim service, which Shiite inmates say is Sunni-dominated. Noting that at least five Shiites are needed for a prayer quorum, Judge Magnuson said there even weren't likely enough participating Shiite inmates at any facility to constitute a valid communal prayer.

The 2nd Circuit's decision asks Judge Magnuson to look closer at whether joint prayer with Sunnis impinges on Shiite beliefs and at the prison system's capacity to accommodate separate prayer services. The three federal judges who sent the case back to Judge Magnuson were Roger Miner, Jose Cabranes, and Paul Crotty.

One chaplain said he was not aware of any other state prison system currently offering a separate Shiite service.

"I've not heard of that being a big issue in other places," a vice president of the American Correctional Chaplains Association, A.J. Sabree, said.

Imam Sabree, who is a Muslim chaplain in Georgia's state prisons, questioned why a prison system should distinguish between the two Muslim denominations when inmates from a variety of Protestant groups routinely pray together.

"That would be similar to Baptists saying they didn't want to worship with United Methodists," he said.

The New York State Department of Correctional Services offers a general Catholic and Protestant service, as well as occasional Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness, and Seventh-day Adventist services, a prison spokesman, Erik Kriss, said. The state offers services for Jewish inmates, but does not distinguish between the various movements within Judaism. Services are also offered for inmates who follow Nation of Islam, Rastafarianism, and Native American religions.

But New York State has argued that a separate Shiite service in addition to the generic Muslim service would not be feasible because of space considerations and the funds required for staff to supervise another set of services. The official tally of Shiite inmates is 60, a prison spokesman, Erik Kriss, said, adding that the prison system estimated between 200 and 300 inmates identified as Shiite.

The prison system began counting Shiite inmates in 2001, although some refused to cooperate in the count. Doing so required filling out a "Change of Religious Designation Form," which, according to court papers, bothered some inmates, who said it was the prison's tallying system, not their religious beliefs, that had changed. In a given prison facility, there might be between three and seven Shiite inmates, according to several estimates.

The Friday prayer service of the two groups is generally similar in content. The most noticeable difference may be visual: Sunnis generally cross their arms during prayer, while Shiites leave them by their side.

One plaintiff, Antwon Dennis, who is serving a life sentence for murder, said in a deposition that he needs a separate service led by a Shiite inmate or chaplain for his prayers "to be valid."

The prison system's "failure to recognize that Shiite and Sunni Muslims have unique religious traditions, practices, and beliefs is incomprehensible," a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Claire Coleman of Brune & Richard LLP, said.

Depositions and an interview with one former inmate suggest that some Muslim inmates started identifying as Shiite while in prison beginning in the late 1980s. Several of the five Shiite plaintiffs were Sunni at one point. One plaintiff, Hussein Razi-Bey, 57, sentenced for attempted murder and kidnapping, found Shiite Islam after trying several other religions. During sentences in Minnesota and Missouri in the 1960s, Razi-Bey converted first to Nation of Islam, then to Catholicism, then to Baptism. Later, after several years with the Moorish Science Temple, he embraced Shiite Islam while incarcerated in New York, according to his deposition.

Inmates learn about Shiite Islam from other inmates and through mail order books received from publishing houses as far away as Iran, one former inmate, who asked not to be identified, said.

The plaintiffs say the more than 40 Muslim chaplains employed by the state are predominately Sunni and influenced by the Saudi Arabian movement of Wahhabism.

"In the places where it's been most tense, a lot of times the chaplains have been at fault," a Muslim chaplain who retired in 2006 from the prison system after 18 years, Dawoud Adeyola, said. He is not connected to the lawsuit.

The Muslim prison chaplaincy has been under scrutiny since a 2003 Wall Street Journal article disclosed that after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, two New York chaplains spoke in support of the attacks.

The state prison system has reached out to Shiite leaders in the city for help in hiring Shiite chaplains for inmates, but those efforts have run into difficulties. An early candidate to be the prison's first Shiite chaplain was terminated during a try-out period after he was found trying to bring a knife into the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, one source said. The only Shiite prison imam, Muhammad Abdulmubdi, currently employed by the state is in an unusual position: He is barred from entering any prison pending the outcome of an internal investigation into whether he broke an undisclosed regulation, a source said. Mr. Kriss, the spokesman would not comment, and further details were not available.

Muslim Rivalry Hits New York Prisons (http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=65974&v=7993754911)

D.C. imam declares Muslim takeover-plan 
Washington-based cleric working toward 'Islamic State of North America' by 2050

A Washington, D.C., imam states explicitly on the website for his organization that he is part of a movement working toward replacement of the U.S. government with "the Islamic State of North America" by 2050.

With branches in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Philadelphia, the group As-Sabiqun – or the Vanguard – is under the leadership of Abdul Alim Musa in the nation's capital.

Musa's declaration of his intention to help lead a takeover of America was highlighted by noted Islam observer Robert Spencer on his website Jihad Watch.

Spencer told WND that figures such as Musa should not be ignored, "Not because they have the power to succeed, but because they may commit acts of violence to achieve their purpose."

Musa's website declares: "Those who engage in this great effort require a high level of commitment and determination. We are sending out a call to the believers: Join with us in this great struggle to change the world!"

Musa launched the group in the early 1990s at the Al-Islam mosque in Philadelphia. His group says it is influenced by the writings and life work of Muslim thinkers and leaders such as Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb and Iranian revolutionary Ayatollah Khomenei.

The writings of Al-Banna and Qutb figured prominently in al-Qaida's formation.

Musa's organization says its leadership "has delivered numerous speeches in the United States and abroad, contributing their analyses and efforts to solve contemporary problems in the Muslim world and in urban America."

"The paramount goal of the movement is the establishment of Islam as a complete way of life in America," the group declares. "This ultimate goal is predicated on the belief – shared by many Muslims worldwide – that Islam is fully capable of producing a working and just social, political, economic order."

The groups says it does not "advocate participation in the American political process as an ideal method for advancing Islamic issues in the U.S.; instead, it believes in a strong and active outreach to the people of the U.S."

Spencer told WND he does not know of any direct influence Musa has on prominent Muslim leaders or on U.S. policymakers, but he says it's "unclear how much 'mainstream' Muslim leaders harbor similar hopes – because no one dares question them about it."

As WND reported, the founder of the leading Islamic lobby group CAIR, the Council on Islamic-American Relations, reportedly told a group of Muslims in California they are in America not to assimilate but to help assert Islam's rule over the country. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper also has said, in a newspaper interview, he hopes to see an Islamic government over the U.S. some day, brought about not by violence but through "education."

In London last summer, as WND reported, Muslims gathered in front of the London Central Mosque to applaud fiery preachers prophesying the overthrow of the British government – a future vision that encompasses an Islamic takeover of the White House and the rule of the Quran over America.

Musa says he wants to avoid what he calls an "absolutist" outlook on "the advancement of Muslims."

His group's philosophy is to stress unity between the various streams of Islam "in the attainment of common goals."

Although As-Sabiqun is a Sunni movement, it has publicly voiced support for Shia movements and organizations such as the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah, which waged war on Israel in the summer of 2006.

Musa, the group says, repeatedly has "stressed that the tendency by some Muslims to focus on the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam at this juncture in history is counterproductive to the goals of the Islamic movement as a whole."

The group says it encourages social-political advancement concurrent with a program of spiritual and moral development according to the Quran and Sunnah, compilations of stories from the life of Islam's prophet Muhammad.

The group says it has a six-point plan of action which is implemented at each location where a branch of the movement is established.

    * Establishing a mosque "as a place to worship Allah in congregation and as a center of spiritual and moral training."

    * "Calling the general society" to embrace Islam.

    * Establishing a full-time school "that raises children with a strong Islamic identity so they can, as future Islamic leaders, effectively meet and deal with the challenges of growing up in the West."

    * Establishing businesses to "make the movement financially stable and independent."

    * Establishing "geographical integrity by encouraging Muslims of the community to live in close proximity" to the mosque.

    * Establishing "social welfare institutions to respond to the need for spiritual and material assistance within the community as well as the general society."

In addition to daily classes, each mosque in the movement "also provides youth mentorship, marriage counseling, a prison outreach program, and employment assistance for ex-convicts."

As-Sabiqun says its branch in Los Angeles "was instrumental in creating a free health clinic in cooperation with other Islamic groups. The headquarters branch in D.C. has developed scout programs for young members of the community."

The group says the inspiration for its name comes from Quran, 9:100:

    "The vanguard (as-Sabiqun) of Islam – the first of those who forsook their homes, and of those who gave them aid, and also those who follow them in all good deeds – well-pleased is Allah with them, as are they with Him: For them hath He prepared Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever: that is the supreme Felicity."

Inspector general slams watch list's weaknesses

A multiagency effort headed by the FBI that maintains the government's terrorist watch list continues to have significant weaknesses and its information is neither complete nor fully accurate, a Justice Department official said yesterday.

Inspector General Glenn A. Fine told the House Homeland Security Committee that although the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) has made progress to ensure the quality of its watch-list information, it is "critical" that further efforts be made to improve the data's accuracy and remove inaccurate information.

"These weaknesses can have enormous consequences," Mr. Fine said. "Inaccurate, incomplete and obsolete watch-list information can increase the risk of not identifying known or suspected terrorists, and it can also increase the risk that innocent persons will be stopped or detained."

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, said although the TSC has "stopped some really bad people from getting into our country," serious issues must be resolved if the watch list is to expand.

"We can do better, and we have to do better," he said. "An accurate watch list keeps our nation safe and keeps the bad guys out. An inaccurate and incomplete watch list creates more and more misidentifications — which in turn creates fear and frustration."

"If there is accountability, [the American people] will trust it"s being done right, not fear that they"re being monitored by Big Brother," he added.

Mr. Fine said a review of the TSC operation found instances where known or suspected terrorists were not appropriately watch-listed on databases that front-line screening agents — such as U.S. Border Patrol agents and visa-application reviewers — use to identify terrorists and obtain instructions on how to deal with them.

"Even a single omission of a terrorist identity or an inaccuracy in the identifying information contained in a watch-list record can have enormous consequences," he said.

Two weeks ago, the Government Accountability Office said the watch list had grown to include more than 750,000 names of suspected or known terrorists, and it raised questions about its size and effectiveness. The GAO also said some terrorists had boarded international flights bound for the U.S. because the government was not using its watch list effectively.

Because of technological differences and capabilities of the various systems used in the watch-list process, Mr. Fine said, the TSC maintains two interconnected versions of the watch-list database. Although the two databases should be identical in content and contain the same number of records, he said, they had differing record counts.

He also said the number of duplicate records in the TSC database has significantly increased, that not all watch-list records were being sent to downstream screening databases, and that the TSC did not regularly review the contents of the consolidated database to ensure that only appropriate records were included.

Mr. Fine made 18 recommendations to improve the watch-list process and the quality of the data. They include increasing the quality of watch-list data and revising the FBI"s watch-list nominations process.

LAPD plan to map Muslim communities angers some
ACLU: 'We are going down a dangerous road'

A plan by the LAPD counterterrorism bureau to create a map detailing the Muslim communities in that city was reported Friday to be angering civil rights groups.

At least three major Muslim groups and the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter Thursday to top city officials raising concerns about the plan, The New York Times reported.

"When the starting point for a police investigation is, 'Let's look at all Muslims,' we are going down a dangerous road," attorney Peter Bibring of the ACLU of Southern California told the newspaper in an interview.

Some Los Angeles-based Muslim groups were critical of the approach.

"For the LAPD or any police department to assume that one group is more terrorist or violent than another because of their religion alone, that's a very scary phenomenon in our country," a Muslim advocate group representative said.

One representative brought up past incidents, comparing them to the recent developments regarding the map.

"It arouses suspicions in the minds of Muslims that, 'Here we come again,'" a Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California representative said. "They wanted to study us, to classify us, to map us."

The objections started after LAPD Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing, who heads the counterterrorism bureau, testified before a U.S. Senate committee on Oct. 30 that the LAPD was combining forces with an unidentified academic institution and looking for a Muslim partner to carry out the mapping project of Muslim neighborhoods, the Times reported.

He testified that the project would determine the geographic distribution of Muslims in the Los Angeles area and take "a look at their history, demographics, language, culture, ethnic breakdown, socioeconomic status and social interactions."

The idea, Downing told the Times, would be to determine which communities might be having problems integrating and thus might have members susceptible to carrying out attacks.

The estimated 500,000 Muslims living in the Greater L.A. area, including Orange and Riverside counties, represent the second-biggest U.S. concentration outside New York City.

Not all area Muslim groups object to Downing's idea.

Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which is considering being the LAPD's partner in the project, told the Times he supported anything that would help integration, as long as it safeguarded civil liberties.

But other groups argue that the mapping idea is no better than racial profiling.

The letter sent Thursday suggested that representatives of groups opposed to the project meet with Downing to discuss it, the Times reported. Signatories included Muslim Advocates, a national association of Muslim lawyers, and the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, an umbrella organization for mosques.

On Friday, LAPD Chief William Bratton addressed the issue at a police academy graduation ceremony.

"I think what we got hung up on unfortunately was a word -- mapping," Bratton said at a police academy graduation ceremony. "And that unfortunately conjures up partially the concerns in this country we have about profiling, whether for religious purposes or racial purposes -- this is about community engagement."

The engagement is necessary to identify extremist elements, the LAPD said. They referenced European cities as examples where detached Muslim communities are fertile breeding grounds for terrorist recruitment.

Local Muslims disagreed with the comparisons.

"I don't think that American Muslims are very susceptible to that because we enjoy a certain degree of economic prosperity in this country," a woman said.

Muslim groups have scheduled a meeting with LAPD officials next week.

Busted L.A. drug ring linked to Hezbollah
'This was a classic case of terrorism financing, and it was pretty sophisticated'

A seemingly small-time drug ring busted this week in Los Angeles was actually targeted for funding the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, the Daily News has learned.

Prosecutors left out the terror tie when they announced Tuesday that federal agents and local cops had arrested a dozen people for allegedly peddling cocaine and counterfeit clothing in Bell, Calif.

But several sources familiar with the investigation said the predominantly Arab-American gang was believed to have smuggled its crime cash to the Iranian-backed terror group.

"This was a classic case of terrorism financing, and it was pretty sophisticated how they did it," a source close to Operation Bell Bottoms told The News.

The defendants once crammed $123,000 in money orders into a stuffed animal flown to Lebanon, an indictment alleged.

The Justice Department's national security division and an FBI counterterrorism agent have signed all the court filings.

Because information linking the gang to Hezbollah came from classified intelligence, the alleged ringleader and "his siblings and associates" face criminal charges instead of a terror rap.

Theres only one problem, Ibrahim Hooper's vision of no violence won't happen. They, (islam) has proven time, after time violence is the only way they know.

Arafat mausoleum unveiled in Ramallah

By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dedicated Yasser Arafat's sleek new mausoleum in a ceremony Saturday, drawing on his predecessor's continued popularity as he heads into peace negotiations with Israel.

Abbas aides, meanwhile, reported new difficulties in preparations for the U.S.-hosted Mideast conference later this month. Abbas called U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to complain that Israel had backed away from a promise to accept U.S. monitoring of its initial peace obligations, officials said. Israel declined to comment.

Saturday's dedication of the mausoleum, on the third anniversary of Arafat's death, was meant to boost Abbas' legitimacy as he faces a stiff challenge from the rival Hamas. The Islamic militant group, which violently seized control of Gaza from Abbas' security forces in June, maintains Abbas has no mandate to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.

However, Hamas has not dared to criticize Arafat's policies, including his involvement in peace talks, since his death on Nov. 11, 2004, instead embracing him as a national symbol. In Gaza, an Arafat memorial rally on Monday is expected to draw the largest crowd of supporters of Abbas' Fatah movement since Hamas' takeover. On Saturday, Fatah supporters held several marches in Gaza, and Hamas police did not intervene.

Arafat died at 75 in a French military hospital, after spending his final years under Israeli siege at his West Bank headquarters. The exact cause of death remains unknown, fueling persistent rumors that he was poisoned or died of AIDS. Israel has denied involvement in his death.

The mausoleum, made of glass and beige Jerusalem stone, is surrounded on three sides by water, and a piece of railroad track is entombed underneath Arafat's grave. The water and track are meant to symbolize the temporary nature of the burial site, officials said, with Palestinians planning to rebury their former leader one day in Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital.

A mosque has been built next to the tomb, and an Arafat museum is to open at the site next year. The memorial complex will cost $1.75 million, paid for by public funds, said Mohammed Ishtayeh, head of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, which oversees the project.

In unveiling the mausoleum, Abbas said he would press ahead with Arafat's quest for statehood. "We are continuing the path, continuing the pledge, to establish an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, God willing," said Abbas.

The fate of the city, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as a capital, is one of the most explosive issues in the upcoming peace talks.

On Sunday, tens of thousands are expected at the compound to mark Arafat's death, followed by the Gaza rally on Monday. Spreading out the commemorations over three days appeared part of Abbas' attempt to harness Arafat's legacy in the face of the upcoming challenges.

Palestinian officials said Saturday that negotiators are struggling with writing a joint document that is to serve as a basis for the peace conference, to be held in late November in Annapolis, Md. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the two sides have not progressed past the preamble of the document.

In addition, a dispute has arisen over how to implement the obligations laid out in the "road map" peace plan, which is now being revived. Under the plan, Israel must immediately freeze settlement construction and dismantle dozens of illegal settlement outposts, while Palestinians have to disarm militants and round up illegal weapons.

Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that during her latest Mideast trip earlier this week, Rice secured support for setting up a committee of top Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. officials to monitor implementation of these obligations.

The Palestinian officials said Abbas called Rice on Friday to complain that Israel has since backed off the idea of the oversight committee, in which the U.S. would be the final arbiter of disputes.

The Palestinians maintain they have started meeting their road map obligations, including a crackdown on militants, but that Israel has done nothing so far. Israel says the Palestinians haven't done enough to rein in militants.

Arafat mausoleum unveiled in Ramallah (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_arafat;_ylt=AkWyhmIcGrdaVzAl2WdyyB4UewgF)

Islamic terror hits tourist paradise

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer Sat Nov 10, 11:51 AM ET

MALE, Maldives - While vacationing tycoons and bikini-clad Hollywood superstars blissfully sipped drinks on the Maldives' secluded white beaches, an Islamic revolution fueled by preachers trained in Pakistan and the Middle East was brewing.

On Sept. 29, the two faces of the Maldives collided when a homemade bomb exploded in a park in the capital, Male, wounding 12 tourists, threatening the critical resort industry and sending the clear message that even this remote corner of paradise is not immune to terrorism.

The attack, and a bloody confrontation days later between police and masked Islamic extremists armed with harpoons, stunned this Indian Ocean nation and threatened its careful effort to balance its traditionally moderate Islamic heritage with liberal Western values.

The government reacted swiftly to crush the fundamentalist movement that had risen amid the palm trees and crystal blue waters of its 1,190 coral islands. Authorities banned the veil, arrested scores of suspected extremists, sealed underground mosques and promised a crackdown on radical preachers.

"We are not taking chances," Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed said.

So far, the violence has not frightened off the tourists, who account for one-third of the economy, he said. But "if there is another attack, then we just close tourism here. And we can't afford that," he said.

By far the most prosperous country in south Asia, with a per capita annual income of $2,700, the republic had seemed safe from the worldwide rise of Islamic militancy. Its longtime ruler, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, had harnessed his nation's major natural resource — hundreds of small, deserted islands — to create remote, upscale resorts that fueled explosive economic growth.

But the country also suffered deep divisions.

While many high school graduates went to Europe or Australia for a liberal education, others studied religion at extremist institutions in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and spread their radical beliefs across the islands, said Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert hired by the government. He estimated that several thousand of the country's 300,000 people now follow these clerics.

"They are preaching a deviant form of Islam," he said.

These once marginal preachers have found a new wave of adherents in recent years. The global outburst of Islamic anger after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the spread of Internet access to this country's remote islands played a major role in the growing fundamentalism, said Hassan Saeed, the Maldives' former attorney general.

"Suddenly, an island nation cut off from the rest of the world became part of the global village," he said.

So did the Maldives. But despite the relative prosperity, there weren't enough jobs for the huge population of young people, and many turned to drugs or radical Islam, Saeed said. The Islamic Council, the government body that runs official mosques, accredits preachers and controls all aspects of religion here, was still distributing decades-old sermons to its imams and was caught unprepared, he said.

The trauma of the 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 100 people here and devastated many islands, also fueled an Islamic revival. Hussein Mohammed, 40, said he was among 200 displaced people originally from the island of Moondu who spent two years in an abandoned textile factory on the island of Gan before getting a new house. Many in the crowded factory sought solace in the translated copies of the Quran the government provided, and within months nearly all the women began wearing head scarves, he said.

"After something like the tsunami, this frightening thing, people became far more interested in religion," he said.

While many of the fundamentalists were not violent, a Maldivian was caught trying to join the Taliban in Afghanistan, another was arrested in India seeking to buy sniper rifles, and a third was jailed by U.S. authorities in Guantanamo Bay, Saeed said.

"For a small country, there were a large number of alarming signals," said Saeed, who quit the government in August, in part because he felt a report he wrote on the looming problem was ignored.

Like villagers on several other scattered islands, the people of Gan found themselves suddenly confronted by a small group of angry fundamentalists earlier this year.

"They said they are Muslims and others are not Muslims and that others should be killed," said Daoud Ibrahim, the clean-shaven imam at the government mosque. "I have never seen this before ... it's against our traditions."

While rows of villagers in knitted white skullcaps prayed in the spacious mosque with its green tile floors, the fundamentalists — dressed in Saudi-style white robes and headdress_ took over a tiny mosque of concrete and corrugated metal meant for Bangladeshi construction workers. They pressured Maldivian women to wear head scarves, mocked clean-shaven men as unbelievers and quietly plotted to drive tourists out, officials said.

Some in the group were tsunami refugees from the remote island of Kalhadoo, which embraced a strict form of Islam more than a quarter century ago under the tutelage of a Saudi-educated preacher named Mohammed Ibrahim. Angry at Ibrahim's dissident Islamic views, the government banished him from Male to Kalhadoo, where he quickly turned the islanders into his disciples, said Yousef Ismail, a former Kalhadoo resident who now lives in Gan. Ismail spoke as his wife sat nearby, covered head-to-toe in a black robe.

Police say at least one of the men on Gan, whose cell phone was discovered in the ocean near the airport, was directly connected to the Male blast. On Wednesday, police said the man, Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, had fled to Pakistan ahead of the blast along with nine other suspects from different Maldive islands. Six other suspects were already in custody.

The nail-packed bomb exploded just before 3 p.m. in a Male park popular with tourists. The blast wounded 12 vacationers from Japan, China and Britain. Though the bomb was poorly built, it was a sign of more attacks to come if the government did not confront the problem, terrorism expert Gunaratna said.

"This is the way it starts, then the bomb-making becomes more sophisticated because they learn," he said.

After the bombing, the band of fundamentalists on Gan disappeared amid conflicting reports they had been arrested, fled abroad or were hiding in the island's lush palm groves or even in their own homes.

The government swiftly launched a wave of arrests around Male and brought in the FBI. On Oct. 7, scores of police landed on the island of Himandhoo, a reputed insurgent stronghold.

The islanders were waiting. Photographs published in magazines showed masked men, some wearing motorcycle helmets and carrying clubs, gathered in an unauthorized mosque they had rebuilt after authorities demolished it last year.

A melee broke out. Islanders stabbed one officer in the leg with a harpoon, slashed another with a gigantic fishing hook and nearly severed the hand of a third, said spokesman Nasheed. When the fighting ended the next day, more than 30 troops and officers were injured and 65 islanders arrested.

In the wake of the violence, the government announced it would encourage moderate Islamic scholars, update the religious curriculum to make it relevant and enforce an earlier law prohibiting women from veiling their faces. But clusters of veiled women continue to walk the streets of Male, underscoring the challenge the government faces.

Nasheed said he also instructed state-owned media to stop glorifying holy war and cease referring to Palestinian suicide bombers as jihadis. State television will hire no new female anchors who wear head scarves and no longer shows veiled women, even in news reports, he said.

The government will stop accrediting imams from extremist schools — many of them in the Middle East — and will fire all the radical scholars serving on the Islamic Council, he said.

"We are trying to replace them with people who have come from Asian countries, except Pakistan of course," Nasheed said.

Officials from the Islamic party Adalaath blame the rise of extremism on political repression that has kept Gayoom in power since 1978. The latest crackdown would only make things worse, said Asim Mohamed, the party's political secretary.

"We feel the government is using that opportunity to oppress the opposition," he said.

Nasheed said the fight against the extremists was too critical to the country's survival for the government to ignore.

"We have always been a very liberal society," he said. "We can't afford to look back 1,400 years."

Islamic terror hits tourist paradise (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_re_as/jihad_in_paradise;_ylt=AmSp8OOuNyeLDNfNkSJyImEUewgF)

CAIR Seeks to Take Down Radio Host for Criticizing Islam...

CAIR Targets Another Conservative Talk Show Host


The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is pressing advertisers to withdraw their sponsorship of Michael Savage's nationally syndicated radio program because of Savage's alleged "anti-Muslim bigotry."

Savage, on his Web site, is fighting back, urging his listeners to protect freedom of speech: "Email your representative; investigate CAIR for manipulating the U.S. media," his Web site says.

On Nov. 1, CAIR urged "radio listeners of all faiths" to contact companies that advertise on "The Savage Nation" to complain about an "anti-Muslim tirade" on Savage's Oct. 29 program. (CAIR periodically issues "incitement alerts," urging its members to contact various media outlets to express their concerns about "Islamophobic attitudes.")

CAIR was particularly disturbed by Savage's "shouted anti-Muslim attacks," which it quoted as follows:

-- I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not getting' on my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don't wanna hear anymore about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you.

-- What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don't tell me I need reeducation. They need deportation. I don't need reeducation. Deportation, not reeducation. You can take C-A-I-R and throw 'em out of my country. I'd raise the American flag and I'd get out my trumpet if you did it. Without due process. You can take your due process and shove it.

-- What sane nation that worships the U.S. Constitution, which is the greatest document of freedom ever written, would bring in people who worship a book that tells them the exact opposite. Make no mistake about it, the Quran is not a document of freedom. The Quran is a document of slavery and chattel. It teaches you that you are a slave.

CAIR also complained that Savage has a "long history of rhetorical attacks on Muslims and other minorities."

Explosive and unafraid

Savage's own Web site describes him as "explosive conservative radio talk show host" who "continues to dominate the airwaves with his brash commentary and unapologetic solutions...Savage is harder hitting than other conservatives...a media icon who is unafraid to take on the establishment."

"...In show, books and speeches, Michael Savage electrifies and galvanizes his audiences. If you're looking for someone with an opinion -- who isn't afraid to tell it like it is -- he's your man."

On Nov. 2, CAIR's Minnesota chapter announced that three companies in that state had agreed to pull their advertisements from "The Savage Nation."

And on Thursday, CAIR thanked Citrix Systems, Inc., for agreeing to drop its advertisements from Savage's nationally syndicated program. "We appreciate Citrix's principled action to disassociate itself from Michael Savage's hate-filled rhetoric," said CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin in a news release on Thursday.

"We urge other local and national companies running ads on Savage's program to follow Citrix's example in support of religious tolerance."

What about free speech?

"Free speech is a precious right that we fully support and strive to protect," Rubin added. "We are not seeking to curb Mr. Savage's freedom of speech, but to demonstrate that Americans and American companies will not tolerate hatred and bigotry."

CAIR, which describes itself as America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, says its mission is to "enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding."

But conservative commentators who have been on the receiving end of CAIR's anti-Islamaphobia campaigns disagree.

Radio talk show host Michael Graham, forced out of his job in the Washington, D.C., market for refusing to apologize for remarks that offended a Muslim group, landed a new job in Boston, Mass., last year.

CAIR, which pressed for Graham's removal, said it received complaints from Muslim listeners who heard Graham say, "Islam is a terrorist organization," "Islam is at war with America," "The problem is not extremism. The problem is Islam," and "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam."

Graham was suspended from his job at ABC-owned WMAL in Washington on July 29, 2005, after he refused a management request to apologize for practicing what CAIR called "hate radio."

"When CAIR is able to quell dissent and label every critic a 'bigot,' the chilling effect is felt far beyond ABC Radio and 630 WMAL," Graham said at the time.

On Thursday, CAIR said radio host Michael Savage has "stepped up his attacks on Islam and Muslims in response to CAIR's advertiser campaign."

cair doesn't want free speech for anyone except for themselves and theirs crosses the line of free speech into speech that not only incites hatred and violence but advocates it as a means to destroy those that disagree with them. It is time for people to put a stop to those that wish us silenced or destroyed.

A Nation Ignorant of Being at War


There can be little doubt that terrorist organizations have arrived on the shores of the United States of America. The thousands of lives lost on September 11, 2001 stand as testimony to this undeniable fact. The attacks signaled to the world that radical Islamofascists were serious in their declaration of war against the United States and her Western allies. An examination of Osama bin Laden’s 1996 fatwa – his declaration of war – indicates that this conflict is a generational conflict and a confrontation as we have never experienced before.

The truth of the matter is that terrorists have been migrating to the United States, establishing their organizational cells, infiltrating and fading into our communities for decades; laying in wait for the correct moments to strike. These are precisely the events that preceded the flights that delivered the nineteen 9/11 hijackers and thousands of innocent people to their destinies.

Today, dozens of terrorist organizations with thousands of operatives exist and operate within the borders of the United States. These organizations include Hezbollah, Hamas, Abu Sayyaf, Islamic Jihad, Jamaat al Fuqra, the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda, to name but a few. These organizations have cells in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C., as well as Tucson, Denver, Tulsa, Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando, Kansas City, Boston and many more cities in the United States.

Radical Islamist front groups and sympathetic “philanthropic” organizations such as the Holy Land Foundation and the Council on American-Islamist Relations – both named in evidence offered in a recent federal court case involving the funding of terrorism – have set up regional branches around the country. They are not only raising, laundering and funneling money back to the Middle East to support their terrorist organizations, they are setting up Jihadi training camps right here in the United States.

The recent exposure of a suspected Islamist Jihadi training compound at Islamberg, New York, and many more like it around the country, stands as a stark warning to the American people (and our government) that we must detoxify from our caustic relationships with moral relativism and political correctness and embrace the reality that radical Islamist Jihadis are here, now, and training among us for future attacks on our nation.

Many counterterrorism experts, including former CIA Director James Woolsey, founding member of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, Dr. Bruce Tefft, and Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, agree, it is not a question of “if” there will be another attack on American soil, it is a question of “when.” The only questions left unanswered about this future attack are how lethal it will be, where it will take place and whether we will have had enough foresight to have acquired the information needed to literally help save our own lives.

In his 1998 fatwa Osama bin Laden said:

“The Americans started it and retaliation and punishment should be carried out following the principle of reciprocity, especially when women and children are involved. Through history, America has not been known to differentiate between the military and the civilians or between men and women or adults and children. Those who threw atomic bombs and used the weapons of mass destruction against Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the Americans. Can the bombs differentiate between military and women and infants and children?”

The key words here are, of course, his references to Hiroshima and Nagasaki but, more importantly, his declaration that “retaliation and punishment should be carried out following the principle of reciprocity.”

The issue of terrorism is a deadly serious one. If we are to take bin Laden at his word – and only the intellectually challenged and the suicidal would ignore him at this point – it is a deadly serious issue that includes his quest for nuclear capability. This absolute threat directly affects every American – as well as every freedom-loving citizen of the world – yet accurate, fact-based, first-source information on the threat of terrorism is not readily provided through traditional channels.

Adequate information about the threat we face is not forthcoming from our government nor are we served by a self-serving and agenda-driven media. Websites that offer accurate information on the threat of terrorism are routinely removed from private sector Internet search engine indexes for mentioning terrorism in relation to Islam, while those who do attempt to educate the public on the origins and activities of terror groups in the United States are either ignored by the mainstream media or smeared by biased special interest groups.

With our nation’s borders left unsecured, a plethora of terrorist organizations with thousands of operatives on American soil and multiple sightings of al Qaeda’s nuclear expert, gotcha98 el Shukrijumah (a terrorist hand-picked by Osama bin Laden to perpetrate what many are describing as the “American Hiroshima” and a member of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List) in North and Central America, we can ill-afford not to be engaged on this, the quintessential conflict of our time.

The American people need accurate information regarding the threat on terrorism so that We the People can understand our government’s actions and engage our elected officials when necessary, providing them with educated opinions and reasoned oversight so that they can act prudently on our behalf.

The fact of the matter is that fundamentalist Islamofascism is being fought in countries around the world. From Iraq and Afghanistan to Somalia and Sudan, Indonesia and India to Paraguay, China, Russia, the U.K., France and the United States, radical Islamists – especially Wahhabis and Salafists – are training, planning and engaging in activities meant to cause harm to the West in general and particularly the United States and those who stand in her defense.

If we don’t embrace the reality that we are a nation at war, if we don’t start taking seriously the threat that radical Islam poses to our nation from both a violent and an ideological standpoint, we will lose this conflict. If we lose this conflict there will be no gay rights, no tax cuts and no need to debate universal healthcare or immigration reform. We will all be pining for the inequitable days of political correctness as we exist under the savagely oppressive tenets of Sharia law.

To those of you who don’t think this can happen or can’t fathom it happening at the hands of a group of 7th Century throwbacks with AK-47s and Soviet Era rocket launchers, to those of you who believe that the United States can remain invincible without an engaged citizenry, I leave you with this thought. The leaders of the USSR couldn’t fathom their nation’s demise either...right up to the moment it no longer existed.

(http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z187/comalong/claphands.gif)
Call it what it is.......Satanism.

Islamberg, New York?????
For Pete's Sake!!!  Not to mention the rest of the article! 
I think this just proves that our own govenment are in bed with the enemy and should all be put in front of a fireing squad.  Traitors all.

Precisely.

Brothers and Sisters,

I don't think that anyone knows how many terrorist training camps we have on our own soil, but we have concrete evidence of some and nothing is being done.

The same is true for Madrassas, the schools where they start teaching 5 year olds to be suicide bombers. YES - they are here also and nothing is being done about it.

There is direct evidence of large numbers of terrorists infiltrating our country through open borders, and nothing is being done about that either.

Brothers and Sisters, there is more here than just gross incompetence. There are other agendas that are more important than survival. It would be a huge job to undo the damage that's already been done, and I fear that it's too late. An attempt to fix some of the damage might trigger events that are already planned and ready to go. Regardless, I think that the effort should be made. Deportation is the legal answer for folks who are planning violence, and it makes no difference if that planning is taking place in a Mosque. There isn't any religious freedom to do that in this country.

Italy: Church opens doors for Muslim Friday prayers

Treviso, 9 Nov. (AKI) - A priest in Paderno di Ponzano near Treviso in the northern Italian region of Veneto, Aldo Danieli, has decided to allow Muslims to meet and pray in church premises in his parish on Fridays to foster better integration of immigrants in the local community, La Repubblica newspaper's website reports.

Volunteers at the church of Santa Maria Assunta have said that their meetings with Muslims from the immigrant community enable them to "experience different cultures and break down barriers caused by misunderstanding and intolerance," La Repubblica said, quoting Italian charity Auser.

The meetings between volunteers from Danieli's parish and local Muslims - many of whom are women - have been organised through Treviso's Islamic Centre.

Some 650 immigrants, many of whom are from North Africa, live in Paderno di Ponzano , a small town of 9,800 people.

Italy: Church opens doors for Muslim Friday prayers (http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.1534802177)

18-year-old Christian woman raped then forced to convert to Islam
by Qaiser Felix

A young Christian woman from Faisalabad is abducted by a Muslim man after visiting an aunt. She was held for ten days and forcibly converted to Islam. Despite a complaint from the victim’s father, the police have not yet taken any steps fearing the religious repercussions they may have.

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – A young Christian woman was kidnapped, raped and forced to convert to Islam by a Muslim man in Faisalabad, Khalil Tahir, chairman of “Adal Trust,” a free legal aid organisation that helps minorities, told AsiaNews.

According to early reports, 18-year-old Razia went to visit her aunt on October 21 but never came home.  Her parents went out looking for her but to no avail. They also contacted a Muslim man, Sajid, who had harassed her in the past, but he denied any knowledge of her whereabouts.

Razia did eventually make it home on October 31 in a state of shock. She told her parents that Sajid had abducted her, repeatedly raped her and forced her to convert to Islam. She is currently under medical care.

“The girl’s father went to the police to file a complaint on the evening of Razia’s return, but they were reluctant to register the case fearing that it might get out of proportion because of its religious element,” Khalil Tahir told AsiaNews.

For the time being “that man is free,” he said. “He can do whatever he wants,” he added, “but as a lawyer I’ll do everything in my power to help the family get justice in a Pakistani court.”

I won't post the link because of graphic images.

The Letter of 138 Muslim scholars to the Pope and Christian Leaders
by Samir Khalil Samir, sj

Beirut (AsiaNews) – The Letter by 138 Islamic academics to the pope and Christian leaders is a first positive step towards dialogue, which however needs to become more universal and more concrete.

The letter lies in the explicit context of an extension of the first letter, sent exactly one year ago to Benedict XVI, as a reply to his masterful address at Regensburg University: the same date was chosen for its publication (13th October 2007), which this year coincided with the end of Ramadan.

A highly representative Letter
"Download" the complete text of the Letter in English  (http://www.acommonword.com/index.php?lang=en&page=downloads)

The fact that its signatories have increased compared to last year is noteworthy: from 38 – as it was last year – they have become 138.  They represent over 43 nations, both Muslim and otherwise (in particular western nations).  Among them are great muftis (that is leaders of the fatwa in a country), religious leaders, academics and scholars.

Beyond representatives of the two great Sunni and Shiite groups, there are also representatives from smaller groups, sects and even diverging trends, for example the most mystic of those trends (Sufi), who are largely represented in te West.  There are also for example Ismailites, derived from the Shiites; jafaarites, also a derivative of Shia Islam; ribadites, which is an ancient group of Islam, rarely spoken of but which has a representation in Yemen.

This indicates a broadening of consensus within a certain Islamic quarter, a step towards what Islam calls ijmaa (consensus). In the Islamic tradition every point of faith is founded in three sources: the Koran, on the muhammadian tradition (hadith or that is the sayings and life of Mohammad), community consensus, in other words ijmaa. This third step up until now has never really been evaluated.  Actually, there is deep division n the Islamic world: one day one Imam says one thing; the next day he says something different.

This letter does not say that there is agreement between all Muslims, but it shows a concerted move towards a certain consensus.  This convergence came about under the auspices of the King of Jordan, and the Aal al-Bayt (family of the Prophet of Islam) foundation, lead by the king’s uncle Prince Hassan. This man represents the best of Islam today, from the point of view of reflection, openness and devotion.  Being a devote and faithful Muslim, he married a Hindu who – quite unusual in modern Islam – did not have to convert to Islam, as is being demanded of the Christian women today in the West, but which is in no way foreseen in the Koran.

The first positive point of the letter is therefore the fact that it is highly representative, coming from a converging group.  The letter is also representative because it has been sent throughout the Christian world.  If you take a look at those to whom it has been addressed, you can see a carefully drawn up and complete list: besides the pope we have all of the eastern Christian traditions, the patriarchs of the Calcedonian and pre Calcedonian Churches; then the protestant Churches and finally the World Council of Churches.  Which amply shows that behind this letter is someone who knows and understands Christianity and the history of the Church.

I – The structure

On coming to the content of the letter what is immediately striking is the fact that the title has been taken from the Koran: “A Common Word between Us and You” (Sura of the family of Imran, 3:64). This is what Mohammed says to the Christians in the Koran: when he sees that he cannot reach agreement with them, then he says: Come let us agree on at least one common ground:  that we shall worship none but God (the oneness of God) “and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God.”.

What must be noted is that this common word in the Koran, does not take into consideration any definition of Mohammed.  This sentence does not speak of Mohammad as a prophet, or the last messenger of God.  What is underlined is the common word and the oneness of God.  Which in itself is a positive step, exactly starting from the Koran.

The structure of the letter is composed of three parts: the first is entitled “love of god”, subdivided into two, “love of god in Islam” and “love of god as the first and greatest commandment in the bible”. In reality, the title in the original Arabic is more precise, it says “in the Gospel”.  By using the word “Bible” (which includes the New and Old Testament) Judaism can be included in the discourse (even if the letter is only addressed to Christians).  The second part is entitled “love of the neighbour” (hubb al-jâr). Also subdivided in two: «love of the neighbour in Islam» and « love of the neighbour in the Bible». Where once again the original Arabic says “in the Gospel”.

The third part concludes by taking up the Koran citation: “come to a common word between us and you”, and offers an interesting analysis in three parts: “common word”, “come to a common word” and “between us and you”.

cont'd next post

II – Reflections on the content

I desire to make some observations regarding this structure.

First and foremost, there is continuity between the first and second letter.  The first letter concluded on the necessity to arrive at an agreement based on love for God and for our neighbour.  With this the scholars wish to say: we are now developing on what we announced as the basis for all relations between Islam and Christianity.

It is most interesting to note that the vocabulary used is a Christian vocabulary and not a Muslim one.  The word “neighbour” (in the Christian sense of brethren) does not exist in the Koran; it is typical of the New Testament.  In fact, the  Arabic text does not use the word “neighbour/brethren” but “neighbour”  (jâr), which only has a geographical meaning (like a neighbour who lives next door), compared to the Christian term qarîb, which also means “brethren”.

The word “love” is rarely used in the Koran. It is not even part of the names of God. It is never said that God is a lover, even if there are less striking synonyms.  Instead the word is widely used in Christianity.  Moreover if the first part, love of God in Islam, is analysed, we Christians would refer to it as “obedience to God”, not “love”.  But here they have termed it so, to align themselves to the Christian vocabulary.  Which is a lovely thought but also a little dangerous as it risks falling into the trap of “settling”. Usually Muslims speak of the adoration of God; but the theme of Love for God is another discourse, which is not excluded from Islam, but found abundantly in the world of Sufism.

Either way in this letter, speaking of “love of God” is a novelty.  Perhaps it is even an able way of referring to Pope Benedict’s first encyclical (Deus caritas est). It certainly shows a desire to draw near to the Christian way of speaking, even if at the same time there is the risk of taking two meanings from the same word.

Other questions of Vocabulary

In this context, the Arab version of the letter uses different terminologies compared to the French, Italian, or English versions.  We have already noted that where the Arabic speaks of the Gospel the western languages speak of the Bible.  I will give other examples.

For example: speaking of Christ, in the western versions “Jesus Christ” is always cited.  In the Arab version’s: "Issa- al-Massih”. This expression cannot be found in the Koran, but is the combined result of how the Muslims call Jesus (Issa) – Arab Christians call him “Jasua” – and the Christian definition of “al-Massih”, Christ, which is found in the Koran.  The expression in the Koran is “Al-Massih Issa Ibn Mariam” (the Messiah Issa son of  Mary), while the usual Christian expression “Jasua’ al-Massih” (Jesus Christ). The text of the letter is littered with expressions from the Koran intermingled with Christian expressions.

When they quote from the Koran and the Bible, they use two different measures.  Quoting from the Koran they say “God said”, as does every good Muslim.  When the quote versus from the bible, they only say “as it is found in the New Testament”, “as it is read in the Gospel”, etc… Which means that they use, in terms of the Bible, a more scholarly studious approach, while for the Koran they use the terminology of a believer in Islam.

But in the end the structure is truly beautiful: from here on in we may say that Christianity, Judaism and Islam have love of God and of ones neighbour as the heart of their faith.  This is the real novelty which has never before been said by the Islamic world.

Use of the Bible

In quotations from the New and Old Testament, they take for granted that the Bible is the word of God.  This too is a relative novelty.  In the Koran this idea is theoretically affirmed, but it is rejected in practice.  Very often Muslims consider the Bible as a product (muharrafah or mubaddalah) manipulated by later additions to the original nucleus.

The 138 (in note 4) even go as far as to quote St Paul regarding the idea of the “heart”.  St Paul is in general totally rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, he is even considered as a traitor of Jesus Christ’s message, which according to them was originally an “Islamic message”.  Often Muslims claim that Christ’s message was like that of the Koran, but that Paul introduced the Trinity, Redemption through the Cross, and the rejection of Moses’ law.  A famous anti-Christian book, published in 2000 and banned in Lebanon, is entitled “Unmasking Paul”!

All of these little signs show a real desire for dialogue at the level of language and biblical testimonies.  There are even some allusions to Hebraism, in order to integrate it in this vision.  Using for example the term “people of the scriptures”, it is clear that this refers to the Jews, even if the discourse is officially addressed to Christians.



III. Positive appreciation and a critical reading

Let us now try to see other positive aspects of this document, while at the same time pointing out its gaps and elements which provoke the need for deeper reflections.  In short, I would like to make a critical reading of the Letter.

The search for a common basis… but not a universal one

On coming to the content of the letter my impression is that by staying at this level it is quite easy to reach agreement.  The method being used is to choose excerpts from sacred texts that can be paralleled.   In the Koran there are texts that are a contradiction of Christianity, but they chose those which are closer and more similar.  This is an important step but if we remain on this level, we risk casting a dialogue based on ambiguities.  In any case as a first step it is useful to highlight our common foundations.

cont'd next post

Even in the Christian tradition there is a search for a common basis with other religions, as well as cultures.  This basis, from the Christian point of view, is not based on the Bible or Koran, because this would exclude non-believers.  The common basis is natural law, the Commandments seen as the natural laws, a common ethics accepted even by atheists.

In a speech to the International Theological Commission on October 5th last the pope spoke of natural moral law, to “justify and illustrate the foundations of a universal ethic which belongs to the great patrimony of human wisdom and which allows the rational creature to participate in God’s law”. Benedict XVI continues then in reference to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 1955): moral life “has as its pivot aspirations and submission to God, source and judge of all good, and the sense that the other is equal to you”. The Commandments are “natural law” and were not revealed in a strict sense.

The pontiff continues by saying that starting from natural law, “in itself accessible to every rational creature, the basis for entering into dialogue with all people of goodwill, and civil society is laid”.

Just as the signatories of the Letter, the pope is trying to find a common basis for dialogue with everyone; this basis cannot be Scriptures, it is instead universal ethics founded on natural law.

The letter sent by Muslim experts to Christians stops at what is common in the Bible and the Koran. I think that the next step between Christians and Muslims is to find a more universal basis.  This can include some elements of the sacred Scriptures as long as acceptable to all; but it should also go beyond this, to find a basis for universal dialogue.

This is what is missing from the letter, which only attempts to re-establish relations between Christians and Muslims.  This is clearly stated in the introduction, recalling that together “we represent over 55% of the world’s population”.  Thus by reaching an agreement we could almost impose peace in the world.  It is a tactical, political approach.  We need to move towards the rational foundation of peace, found in truth.

This is why, as Cardinal Tauran pointed out, the text is interesting, it opens some new roads in both its method and contents, but it needs to be explored more deeply to make it more objective and non selective, to render it more universal and less political.

Distinguishing between politics and people

From this point of view, we must add one more note of criticism.  At a certain point the letter asks Christians to “consider Muslims not as being against them, but with them, on the condition that Christians do not declare war”.  Here perhaps they are alluding to the problems in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan…..but there it is not Christians as such who are committed to war.

The Americans in Iraq (if it is this to which the letter refers) are not in Iraq as Christians who oppress Muslims: neither the Muslim nor the Christian element has any relevance here.  It is rather a political issue between the United States and the Middle Eastern States.  And even if we know that the president of the United States is a Christian and that he is led by his faith, it can be in no way claimed that this is a war of Christians against Muslims.

This is an important point because Muslims tend to see the West as a Christian power, without ever realising the point to which the West has been secularised and far from Christian ethics.  This line of thought strengthens the theory of a clash of cultures (or religions), right at a time when steps are being taken to fight such a theory!

A beautiful conclusion: coexistence in diversity

One last point. In the letter the Koran verse on tolerance is quoted: “Had God willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in good works. Unto God ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ” (Al-Ma’idah, n. 5:48).

This sura is the penultimate in chronological order in the Koran.  This means that this can not have been cancelled or overtaken by another, according to the Islamic theory of Koran interpretation, the so-called from the abrogate to the abrogated (nâsikh wa-l-mansûkh). This verse is fundamental because it states that our religious diversities are destined by God.  The result is: “So vie one with another in good works” as a method of dialogue.  This is truly a beautiful choice for concluding the Letter, because it means that we can live together despite our difference, moreover that God wants these difference!

Towards the future

This Letter is a first step in dialogue between Christians and Muslims.  Often Christians have taken the initiative regarding dialogue, and they have so done well. It is important that this first steps continue in this direction with increased clarity, even showing differences and the need for correction. As the Letter is addressed to various leaders of the Christian world, we can hope that there will be a reply to this letter, which is the result of an immense effort by the Muslim part.

But this Letter is certainly also addressed to Muslims, even if not explicitly.  What weight will it bring to bear in the Muslim world, considering that priests continue to be kidnapped, apostates persecuted, Christians oppressed? Up until now there has been no comment from the Islamic side.  But I think that with time this document could create an opening and a greater convergence.

Above all, it is to be hoped that the next step will focus on the more delicate issues of religious freedom, the absolute value of human rights, the relationship between religion and society, the use of violence, etc.., in short current issues that worry both the Muslim world (and I would say above all Muslim people) as well as the West.

The Letter of 138 Muslim scholars to the Pope and Christian Leaders (http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10577&geo=&theme=&size=A)

 ???   I would be curious about which world this was written from. It doesn't resemble anything in this world.

'Mr. Suicide Bomb'
goes to Washington 
Rice, lawmakers met with Muslim sheik
known for justifying attacks on Israelis

A senior Muslim cleric who is a prominent justifier of suicide bombings met last week with senators and congressmen and consulted last month with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, WND has learned.

Sheik Taysir Tamimi, chief Palestinian justice, also claimed in a recently released book for which he was interviewed that the Torah was "falsified," Jewish and Christian history were "invented," the Jewish Temples never existed and the Al Aqsa Mosque was built by angels.

"I am very glad to have this occasion to speak to Congress and the Senate and have access to groups and individuals that form American policy," said Tamimi in a statement.

"I emphasized in the meetings the importance of religious coexistence and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be solved without creating a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," the he said.

Tamimi is considered the second most important Palestinian cleric after Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

He met in Washington last week with a slew of lawmakers as part of a new interfaith religious organization – the Council for Religious Institutions in the Holy Land – formed with the stated purpose of promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The council includes Israeli chief rabbis, top Muslim Palestinian judges and leading Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant clerics from Israel and the Palestinian areas. It is reportedly funded by the United States Agency for International Development, which also provides millions in annual aid to help the Palestinians build infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Tamimi and the council met Nov. 6 with Sens. Joseph Liebermann, I-Conn.; Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; and John Ensign, R-Nev. The next day the sheik held meetings with more than a dozen House members, including Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress.

Tamimi also reportedly met last week with David Welch, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and consulted last month with Rice regarding how to promote a future Palestinian state.

His office told WND the Islamic cleric is slated to meet with President Bush, but no such visit could be verified.

Tamimi's Washington trip was timed to generate support for an upcoming U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit at which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to outline a Palestinian state including most of the West Bank. Some reports claim Olmert also is willing to cede sections of Jerusalem.

According to media reports, Tamimi and his group expressed to U.S. lawmakers last week a six-point platform that includes plans to set up a panel representing all the faiths that would condemn media or government incitement against any religious group; a board that would review educational materials for incitement; and a "hot line" to address any emerging crisis surrounding access to holy sites.

But in the recently released book, "Schmoozing with Terrorists," by WND Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein, Tamimi presented a different attitude, stating Jews have no right to Jerusalem or to Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mount.

Tamimi also is well-known for his justification of Palestinian suicide bombings and was accused by Israel of inciting violence at the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada that started in September 2000.

When asked to condemn suicide attacks during a video-taped interview with Klein for "Schmoozing" earlier this year, Tamimi refused.

Instead Tamimi stated: "A suicide bomber who sees he will get killed by F-16s prefers to defend himself and has nothing but himself to defend himself. ... We believe he who gets killed will go to Allah in the sky and be with the prophets and the martyrs and the just people."

Tamimi went on during the interview with Klein to claim Jews have no historical connection to Jerusalem or Israel and that the Jewish Temples never existed.

"Israel started since 1967 making archeological digs to show Jewish signs to prove the relationship between Judaism and the city, and they found nothing. There is no Jewish connection to Israel before the Jews invaded in the 1880's," said Tamimi.

"About these so-called two Temples, they never existed, certainly not at the Haram Al- Sharif (Temple Mount)," Tamimi said.

The Palestinian cleric denied in "Schmoozing" the validity of dozens of digs verified by experts worldwide revealing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temples throughout Jerusalem, including on the Temple Mount itself; excavations revealing Jewish homes and a synagogue in a site in Jerusalem called the City of David; or even the recent discovery of a Second Temple Jewish city in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

He said descriptions of the Jewish Temples in the Hebrew Tanach, in the Talmud and in Byzantine and Roman writings from the Temple periods were forged and that the Torah was "falsified" to claim Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs were Jewish when indeed they were prophets for Islam.

"All this is not real. We don't believe in all your versions. Your Torah was falsified. The text as given to the Muslim prophet Moses never mentions Jerusalem. Maybe Jerusalem was mentioned in the rest of the Torah, which was falsified by the Jews."

Asked about the Western Wall, one of the holiest Jewish structures, Tamimi said the wall was a tying post for Muhammad's horse and that it is part of the Al Aqsa Mosque, even though the Wall predates the mosque by over 1,000 years.

"The Western Wall is the western wall of the Al Aqsa Mosque. It's where Prophet Muhammad tied his animal which took him from Mecca to Jerusalem to receive the revelations of Allah."

Tamimi went on to claim to Klein the Al Aqsa Mosque, which has sprung multiple leaks and has had to be repainted several times, was built by angels.

"Al Aqsa was build by the angels 40 years after the building of Al-Haram in Mecca. This we have no doubt is true," he was quoted as saying in "Schmoozing."

2 killed as blast rocks Philippines lower house
Congressman threatened by Muslim militants among those killed

A Philippine congressman who had been targeted by Muslim militants was among two people killed late Tuesday when a bomb exploded at an entrance of the Philippine House of Representatives, police said.

Rep. Wahab Akbar’s chief of staff said the congressman, a former member of a Muslim rebel group that signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, died at the hospital.

Metropolitan Manila police chief Geary Barias said a lawmaker’s driver also was killed in the explosion, which went off as the House ended its session. Eight people were injured.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

Investigators suspect the bomb may have been placed on one of two parked motorcycles then remotely detonated as Akbar approached his car, fatally wounding him and ripping the motorcycles apart, Barias said.

"It looks like Congressman Akbar was the target," Barias said. Police and soldiers in the capital went on high alert.

Akbar, a former governor of southern Basilan province, had been targeted by the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group in the past for launching offensives against them.

"At this point in time I’m saying it’s a bomb, but I can’t say what type of bomb," said Avelino Razon, the national police chief.

The bomb went off as drivers were picking up lawmakers and their staff and damaged a number of cars outside the southern entrance to the building.

"I felt the blast although I was on the other side of the building. The ceiling of the canopy near the south wing entrance came down," Rep. Teodoro Casino told The Associated Press.

Destroyed motorcycle under investigation
Razon said a destroyed motorcycle was found and experts were conducting chemical swabs on it to find out if it was used to carry the bomb.

Police cordoned off the massive House complex in suburban Quezon City shortly after the explosion.

"If this is terrorist action or work of an anarchist I’m sure it was deliberately done to cow us," House Speaker Jose de Venecia told reporters at the site.

Political tensions are high in the country. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is facing a third impeachment complaint in as many years.

"We cannot rule out anything until the investigation is completed," de Venecia said. "There are many threats to us personally and officially. We will have to decide whether we have to augment security."

He said he will speak with Arroyo "to inform her tonight that we will not be cowed by terrorists."

Manila jittery since mall blast
The Philippine capital has been jittery since last month, when an explosion damaged a shopping mall in the financial district, killing 11 people and injuring more than 100. A preliminary police report said it was an accident, although the owners of the mall disputed the finding.

Muslim militants also have bombed targets in the capital in the past.

The slain congressman, Akbar, was once a member of the Moro National Liberation Front, a Muslim rebel group that dropped its secessionist goal and signed a peace accord with the government in September 1996.

Some security officials have suspected that Akbar knew the leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim radical group that has its roots on Basilan island. But they said he later had a falling out with Abu Sayyaf commanders and started fighting them.

Akbar also had political opponents, including those that ran against one of his wives who succeeded him as governor of Basilan.

This has been going on for many years. islamic terrorism actually started in 1521 although it remained fairly quiet until 1969 when it escalated into war being called Guerrilla Warfare at that time. The Philippines being mostly dominated by Roman Catholics (84% of the population) has been declining in recent years with islamists advancing in numbers and in power. As you can see from this it is a trend that is happening worlwide as islam strives to take over and rule the entire world.

Tamimi: Islam is a religion of peace
author Saturday November 10, 2007 13:43author by PNN - IMEMC

In a speech delivered to the US house of congress on Friday, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of the Jurisprudence, Sheikh Taiseer Tamimi, called on the US Administration to support the basic rights of the Palestinian people, and to end the Israeli occupation.

The Sheikh, currently on a tour of the United States, also admonished the Israeli government for its role in barring Palestinains from entering Jerusaelm to worship at their holy sites, arguing that the Palestinian people have the right to live in dignity, and that the benefits of a peaceful and just solution to the Jersualem issue would be felt the world over.

Of religion, the Sheikh branded Islam a religion of peace that rejects war, violence and terrorism, and advocates dialogue, peace, cooperation and the free exchange of knowledge between cultures and religions. 

As part of his tour, the Sheikh is scheduled to meet with a selection of governmental figures and religious leaders across the United States.   

Tamimi: Islam is a religion of peace (http://www.imemc.org/article/51417)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 (http://Sheikh Taiseer Tamimi, called on the US Administration to support the basic rights of the Palestinian people, and to end the Israeli occupation.)

Who did the country belong to first Tami?? ..................... Answer: ISRAEL!!

Tamimi, is a dip-o-mat, who is trying to use words for a take over, in place of violence. I'll almost bet that, given the chance he would use violence to get what he wants.

Intolerance of Muslims 'compares to Nazi Germany'

By Stephanie Kennedy
Updated Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:00pm AEDT

Muslims in Britain are warning that intolerance in the United Kingdom is reaching dangerous levels and they are drawing parallels with Nazi Germany.

The Muslim Council of Britain says perceptions of Islam are so negative there is now a danger people's minds will be poisoned against Muslims as they were against the Jews in Germany in the 1930s.

Last week the head of MI5 revealed that Britain's security organisations are tracking 2,000 people living in the UK who pose a security threat, and that teenagers aged 15 are being groomed to be suicide bombers.

A day later, the Brown Government unveiled details of its tough new anti-terrorism laws, which double the period of detention without charge to 56 days, allows for questioning suspects after they have been charged and a ban on foreign travel for convicted terrorists.

While it is never openly stated, there is little doubt that the majority of the possible terrorists in the UK are Muslims.

Now, the Muslim Council of Britain has accused the Government of stoking tensions, arguing the amount of debate relating to Muslims is disproportionate.

Citing Nazi Germany in the 1930s as an example of how people's minds could be poisoned against a community, the Muslim Council says the air is thick with suspicion and unease about Muslims.

Inayat Bunglawala is the assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council.

"What you had in the 1930s was all sorts of popular fictions were spread about the Jewish community, that they were in control of money in Germany, they were responsible for all the ills that were occurring to Germany," he said.

"I mean, they were made into the folk devils, and I think there is a danger that the word 'Muslim' in the UK is becoming synonymous with bad news.

"I think just as in the 1930s, the Jewish community in Germany was collectively vilified and we saw what happened. I think we need to be careful."

Professor Anthony Glees has written extensively on intelligence issues in the UK and he dismisses the Muslim Council comparison to Nazi Germany.

"That not only demonstrates complete ignorance of the history of the Third Reich, but it totally falsifies the position in the United Kingdom," he said.

"Muslims are as much victims of these jihadists as anybody else."

Sir Paul Lever is a former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and he also disagrees with the Muslim Council's views.

"We mustn't demonise the whole Muslim community - it is a very, very tiny minority who are involved [in terrorist activity]," he said.

"We do need to keep it in proportion, we do need to take care in our public discourse that we don't demonise all Muslims, but equally, we mustn't get into the state where we are so fearful of offending people that we are unwilling to talk about what are, sadly, very, very worrying facts."

The British Government insists the new anti-terrorism laws are not aimed at a particular race, religion, or group.

Intolerance of Muslims 'compares to Nazi Germany' (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/12/2088617.htm)

You notice the muslim council of Britain says nothing about how they treat outsiders??

Pig's walkabout on planned mosque site sparks protests

Padua, 12 Nov. (AKI) - Muslims and non-Muslims have slammed the attempted 'descrecation' of a plot of land earmarked for a mosque in the northern city of Padua by members of the anti-immigrant Northern League party who paraded a pig on the site over the weekend.

"We believe in God not in superstition," said local imam Kahlhil Boussuni, quoted by La Repubblica on Monday. "And we intend to build our place of prayer and worship where only the faithful will be permitted to enter."

Giancarlo Galan, the right-wing president of the northern Veneto region, where Padua is located, also voiced his disapproval. "This is a serious and unacceptable act which we pray will not be repeated," he stated.

"This is a shameful gesture that can only fuel hatred," added Padua's left-wing mayor, Falvio Zanonato.

A cross-party delegation of politicians as well as representatives from pacifist, secular and religious organisations on Sunday visited the patch of land located near an industrial zone to express solidarity with local Muslims.

Pigs are considered unclean in the Muslim and Jewish faiths.

"The legality so much vaunted by the Italian right cannot be in one direction only," said local Green party councillor, Aurora D'Agostino, adding that she was filing a formal complaint to local magistrates about the episode.

"Our objective was to attack the left-wing local council which gives immigrants privileged treatment compared to Italians, and to underline the principle of reciprocity: how many Christian churches are there in Saudi Arabia?" said the secretary of Padua's Northern League branch, Maurizio Conte.

Northern League senator and former minister Roberto Calderoli, in October proposed a regular "pig day" in which he threatened to take his pet pig on land where fast-growing Muslim immigrant communities were planning new mosques.

A growing backlash against Muslim and immigrants in Italy, fed in large part by fears of terrorism and other crimes is especially intense in Veneto.

The region has attracted the largest share of Italy's immigrants because of abundant work in factories and farms. At least 10 percent of Padua's 200,000 residents are immigrants.

Pig's walkabout on planned mosque site sparks protests (http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.1544037867)

Now why do so many people try to offend, the poor pigs??


I can't think of many religions that wouldn't invite you to their place of worship as long as you're respectful. As we know, nearly any Christian church will welcome anyone with open hearts and open arms if they want to come explore and learn.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


Bring on the Pig Parade.


(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/randers/pigparade.jpg)

See the above post, "Tamimi: Islam is a religion of peace" then read this.
~~~~~~~~~

Gays Deserve Torture, Death Penalty, Iranian Minister Says

Tuesday , November 13, 2007
By Dominic Kennedy

FC2
ADVERTISEMENT

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learned.

Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged.

President Ahmadinejad, questioned by students in New York two months ago about the executions, dodged the issue by suggesting that there were no gays in his country.

Britain regularly challenges Iran about its gay hangings, stonings and executions of adulterers and perceived moral criminals, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers show.

The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse. Britain said that this demonstrated the unequal treatment of men and women in law and breached Iran’s pledge to restrict the death penalty to the most serious crimes.

A series of reported executions of gays, including two underage boys whose public hanging was posted on the internet, has alarmed human rights campaigners.

The Pet Shop Boys dedicated Fundamental, their Grammy-nominated album, to Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni, who were hanged in Justice Square in Mashhad in 2005. Graphic photographs of the execution of the youths, who were under 18 when arrested, were released by the Iranian Students News Agency.

Gay rights groups in Britain, such as Outrage!, accuse Iran of cloaking executions for homosexuality with bogus charges for more serious crimes.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the FCO released papers to The Times about the death penalty being used in Iran for homosexuality, adultery and sex outside marriage.

Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliament’s energy committee, was unflinching. He "explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted," the record states. "He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce."

Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also took notes of the gathering, told The Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the underage gay hangings. Mr Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases such as Aids.

Ann Clwyd, the Labor MP and head of Britain’s delegation, said yesterday: "It is of great concern that these attitudes persist and we made it clear what we felt."

Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Sharia’s Victims

2005

— Homosexuals Farbod Mostaar and Ahmad Chooka sentenced to death. Iran said Chooka had kidnapped, knifed and raped a student

— A woman called Soghra was sentenced to stoning for adultery and being an accomplice to her husband’s murder

— Two men executed in public after being found guilty of a homosexual relationship. A newspaper said they were convicted of sodomy, rape and kidnapping

— Zhila Izadi, 13, sentenced to stoning after becoming pregnant with her brother’s child

2006

— Malek Ghorbany sentenced to stoning for adultery

— Leila Qomi sentenced to stoning for adultery and assisting a man who killed her husband. He received 100 lashes

2007

— Jafar Kiana stoned for adultery. His female lover Mokarrameh Ebrahimi sentenced to the same fate

Gays Deserve Torture, Death Penalty, Iranian Minister Says (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,311025,00.html)

L.A. caves to political correctness; shelves Muslim mapping

LOS ANGELES- A police plan to map out Muslim communities, a proposal that civil rights groups sharply criticized as racial and religious profiling, has been shelved, a police spokeswoman said Wednesday.



The LAPD planned to have its counterterrorism bureau identify Muslim enclaves to determine which might be likely to become isolated and susceptible to "violent, ideologically based extremism."

Several Muslim groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized the plan and sent a letter to Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing expressing their concerns.

"There was a clear message from the Muslim community that they were not comfortable with it. So we listened," said Mary Grady, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department. She couldn't immediately say when the plan might resume.

Grady said the remaining part of the initiative, which includes outreach efforts to strengthen ties with Muslim communities, would continue, and police planned to meet with Muslim leaders Thursday.

In a statement, Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, praised the decision.

"I am glad to hear (Downing) is putting the plan aside," Al-Marayati said. "All Muslim organizations are united in purpose to defend the rights of Muslim Americans while developing a positive and constructive relationship with the LAPD."

Downing and other city officials had defended the plan, saying the idea was to deepen ties with Muslim communities. The plan would have had data assembled by the University of Southern California's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis.

There are an estimated 500,000 Muslims in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes

Nov 15 10:51 AM US/Eastern

A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The 19-year-old woman -- whose six armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms -- was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," the Arab News reported.

But in a new verdict issued after Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council ordered a retrial, the court in the eastern town of Al-Qatif more than doubled the number of lashes to 200.

A court source told the English-language Arab News that the judges had decided to punish the woman further for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict Islamic doctrine known as Wahhabism and forbids unrelated men and women from associating with each other, bans women from driving and forces them to cover head-to-toe in public.

Last year, the court sentenced six Saudi men to between one and five years in jail for the rape as well as ordering lashes for the victim, a member of the minority Shiite community.

But the woman's lawyer Abdul Rahman al-Lahem appealed, arguing that the punishments were too lenient in a country where the offence can carry the death penalty.

In the new verdict issued on Wednesday, the Al-Qatif court also toughened the sentences against the six men to between two and nine years in prison.

The case has angered members of Saudi Arabia's Shiite community. The convicted men are Sunni Muslims, the dominant community in the oil-rich Gulf state.

Lahem, also a human rights activist, told AFP on Wednesday that the court had banned him from handling the rape case and withdrew his licence to practise law because he challenged the verdict.

He said he has also been summoned by the ministry of justice to appear before a disciplinary committee in December.

Lahem said the move might be due to his criticism of some judicial institutions, and "contradicts King Abdullah's quest to introduce reform, especially in the justice system."

King Abdullah last month approved a new body of laws regulating the judicial system in Saudi Arabia, which rules on the basis of sharia, or Islamic law.

Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071115145104.rykb7bub&show_article=1)

Isn't islam wonderful? Just look at how loving and tender this peaceful Religion is...... a woman gets raped by multiple men, and her body is going to be turned into hamburger meat. Words can't describe how disgusted I am right now!!

I have a feeling she isn't going to survive the flogging, 200 lashes will probably kill her. Women in Saudi Arabia are treated like Dogs, the population is brainwashed from the beginning and they only hear one thing their whole lives.... islam. Again islam says they are a religion of peace.

I say HOG WASH!!

The weird part of this is she's the VICTIM. There is no interest in finding and punishing the men who did this to her. Bluntly, this is twisted and evil.

Israeli Arab panel rejects Israel as Jewish state
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
17/11/2007

The Israeli Arab Higher Monitoring Committee will draft a document expressing its refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, the group decided on Saturday.

During a meeting in Nazareth, committee members announced they will send the document when it is completed to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Arab countries and international organizations.

The committee said its decision was influenced by Israel's insistence that the PA recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Israeli Arab official Raja Agabaria has been entrusted with formulating the document.

Committee members' opinions varied considerably during the discussion. The Hadash party that raised the issue are focusing on expressing its disapproval of the state's definition as Jewish in the context of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Other parties, such as Balad, believe the committee must express a principled disapproval of such a definition.

Such may be a breach of Israeli law, which stipulates that no party can participate in the elections if it rejects the democratic and Jewish nature of the State of Israel.

Israeli Arab panel rejects Israel as Jewish state  (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925030.html)

There really isn't anything to negotiate and there never has been. What the Muslims have always wanted is the annihilation of Israel and for Israel to cease to exist. They want it wiped from all maps, and that's the only thing that will make them happy. This is obviously not going to happen. As Christians, we should know what the current status is and what GOD has promised. The land belongs to GOD and it isn't subject to negotiation. At the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, JESUS CHRIST will claim what is HIS, and that will include the Throne of David in Jerusalem. Israel will be restored, and JESUS CHRIST is their Anointed KING and MESSIAH. What man wants will make no difference at all.

As for the world, GOD will pour out HIS Righteous Wrath on evil men who have rejected HIM, and they will be reserved for final Judgment for the fires of Hell.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Saudis defend punishment for rape victim

Wed Nov 21, 9:19 AM ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi judiciary on Tuesday defended a court verdict that sentenced a 19-year-old victim of a gang rape to six months in jail and 200 lashes because she was with an unrelated male when they were attacked.

The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Islamic law requiring segregation of the sexes.

But in considering her appeal of the verdict, the Saudi General Court increased the punishment. It also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman, Saudi news media said last week.

The reports triggered an international outcry over the Saudis punishing the victim of a terrible crime. (as it should have!! DW.)

But the Ministry of Justice stood by the verdict Tuesday, saying that "charges were proven" against the woman for having been in a car with a man who was not her relative.

The ministry implied the victim's sentence was increased because she spoke out to the press. "For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows an appeal without resorting to the media," said the statement, which was carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.

The attack occurred in 2006. The victim says she was in a car with a male student she used to know trying to retrieve a picture of her. She says two men got into the car and drove them to a secluded area where she was raped by seven men. Her friend also was assaulted.

Justice in Saudi Arabia is administered by a system of religious courts according to the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic law. (which treat women worse then dogs. DW)

Judges have wide discretion in punishing criminals, rules of evidence are vague and sometimes no defense lawyer is present. The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. A rapist, for instance, could receive anywhere from a light sentence to death.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack avoided directly criticizing the Saudi judiciary over the case, but said the verdict "causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment."

"It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it," McCormack said.

Canada's minister for women's issues, Jose Verger, has called the sentence "barbaric." (http://forums.christiansunite.com/Themes/babylon/images/post/thumbup.gif)

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the verdict "not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators."

Saudis defend punishment for rape victim (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_rape;_ylt=AjvRwQLvX67ZaREK40WN0k2ZsdEF)

Bomb That Killed 170 in Pakistan Was Strapped to a 1-Year-Old Child

For those who still believe there are some lines even a militant jihadist won’t cross.

    The homicide terror bomb used in an assassination attempt on former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last month may have been strapped to a 1-year-old child who was being carried by his jihadist father, The Australian newspaper reported Thursday.

    The bomb, which killed 170 people and injured hundreds more, detonated during a crowded procession for Bhutto as she returned from exile.

    Investigators from Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party said the homicide bomber tried repeatedly to carry the baby to Bhutto’s vehicle as it proceeded through the streets of Karachi.

    “At the point where the bombs exploded, Benazir Bhutto herself saw the man with the child and asked him to come closer so that she could hug or kiss the infant,” investigators were reported as saying.

    “But someone came in between and a guard felt that the man with the child was not behaving normally. So the child was not allowed to come aboard Benazir’s vehicle.”

    According to The Australian, Bhutto said she recalls the face of the man who was carrying the infant and has asked to see recordings of the incident in hopes of identifying the man.

Only four words come to mind:

There is one more that we can add to that


UNGODLY

Iran: 50 young people condemned to death for 'immorality'

Tehran, 21 Nov. (AKI) – Iranian police responsible for moral crimes have announced death sentences for 50 people in the latest clampdown on what the authorities term as "immoral behaviour".

"Fifty of the 3,400 people arrested for immorality in recent weeks, have been condemned to death," said General Ahmad Roozbahani, who is in-charge of moral crimes.

While announcing that arrests would continue, the Iranian general said that 53 percent of those arrested were aged between 17 and 25 years.

He said 5 percent of those arrested in the moralisation campaign, which began in March, were minors under the age of 17.

Iran: 50 young people condemned to death for 'immorality' (http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1580186303)

And they say islam is peaceful, and none violent. BULL!!!!

Sunnis, Shiites in Firefight With Al Qaeda in Iraq

Thursday , November 22, 2007

FC1
ADVERTISEMENT

BAGHDAD —
Suspected al-Qaida fighters killed two Iraqi soldiers early Thursday, then stole their Humvees to ambush rival Sunnis south of Baghdad, the Mulit-National Force-Iraq tells FOXNews.

A series of mortars later struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone, Iraqi police said. The attack coincided with the celebration of Thanksgiving but there were no immediate reports of casualties in the heavily fortified area, which houses the U.S. Embassy, thousands of American troops and contractors, and Iraqi government headquarters.

About 10 blasts were heard in central Baghdad just before 5 p.m., and a huge plume of black smoke rose into the sky as the sun was setting. The U.S. government public address system in the Green Zone also warned people to "duck and cover" and to stay away from windows.

The attack by the al-Qaida fighters south of Baghdad began when they targeted an Iraqi army patrol near the rural area of Hawr Rijab, killing three soldiers and commandeering two Humvees, according to a local police report.

The militants then drove in the Humvees to the nearby headquarters of a group of Sunnis who have turned against the terror network and formed a so-called Awakening Council.

Fierce clashes broke out, killing seven people, the MNFI tells FOXNews.

Associated Press Television News footage showed Iraqi police and soldiers forming a protective cordon around wailing women and children as they loaded wooden coffins onto the cars for funeral processions of those killed.

Northeast of the capital, Iraqi security forces killed 19 al-Qaida fighters in Baqouba, police said, adding that two civilians also died and two others were wounded in the crossfire.

The U.S. military has claimed a large measure of success in quelling the violence in Baqouba, which was an al-Qaida stronghold some 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. But pockets of resistance remain there and elsewhere, underlining fears about the fragility of security gains made in recent months with the influx of troops and the swelling of popular movements against extremists.

In another example, a suicide car bomber blasted a police checkpoint outside a courthouse on Wednesday, killing up to six people and wounding as many as 22 in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province and the site of the genesis of the anti-al-Qaida sentiment among Sunni tribal leaders and even some former insurgents.

Iraqi security forces also found 40 decomposed bodies on Wednesday, including women and children, north of Ramadi near Lake Tharthar in an area controlled until recently by al-Qaida in Iraq.

The victims had been shot and did not have ID cards with them, although it could not be determined when they were killed, an Iraqi army officer said, also declining to be identified because the information was confidential.

The mass grave unearthed near Ramadi was the latest in a series of such finds as Iraqis from both Islamic sects step up patrols of areas after ousting extremists.

Nationwide, the U.S. military maintains attacks have fallen 55 percent since a troop buildup over the summer because stepped up American military operations have driven Sunni and Shiite extremists from most of their longtime strongholds around the city.

But U.S. commanders have been careful to avoid declaring victory over al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremist organizations, acknowledging militants have fled the security crackdowns to other parts of the country.

Several Iraqi refugees returned home to Baghdad from Syria on Thursday, saying they felt confident about the dramatic drop in the level of sectarian attacks.

"Thanks to be for God that we arrived here today. We have learned that the security situation improved and we hope all Iraqis will get back to Iraq," Muhanad Ibrahim said as he arrived in the western neighborhood of Mansour.

Thousands of Iraqis living in Syria have headed back home in the past weeks.

A bus bound from Syria with heaps of luggage tied to the roof was one of two that were greeted by relatives who cheered and hugged the returned refugees as they got off.

While many are relieved about the improved security situation, the move also has been attributed to harsh visa requirements imposed by Syria since last month that make it more difficult for Iraqis to stay in the neighboring country.

The Iraqi government also has started to organize free trips for those who want to return home, offering protected convoys and even flights.

The New York Times, meanwhile, quoted senior American military officials as saying that Saudi Arabia and Libya were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks.

The report said that data came largely from documents and computers discovered in September, when a U.S. raid near the Syrian border targeted insurgents believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign fighters into Iraq.

A key discovery was a listing of hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006, the newspaper said, according to the U.S. officials who were not further identified. Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed with 305, followed by Libyans with 137. United States officials have previously offered only rough estimates of nationalities of such fighters.

Sunnis, Shiites in Firefight With Al Qaeda in Iraq (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,312552,00.html)

Deadly Blasts Shake Indian Courthouses

By BISWAJEET BANERJEE – 8 hours ago

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A series of near-simultaneous explosions ripped through courthouse complexes Friday in three north Indian cities, with blasts going off in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad, killing at least 10 lawyers and injuring dozens of other people, officials said.

Federal authorities blamed militants trying to spark unrest between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority, though a legal group noted all the blasts came in a state where lawyers had decided earlier this year not to defend terrorist suspects.

At least seven lawyers were killed in three explosions in Varanasi, one of Hinduism's holiest cities, said Brij Lal, a top official in Uttar Pradesh state, where all three cities are located.

At least two of those bombs were attached to bicycles, police said.

In Faizabad, a pair of bombs killed three lawyers and injured 10 to 12 more, Lal said.

One of the bombs was rigged to a motorcycle, said R.N. Singh, a local police officer. Faizabad is near the town of Ayodhya, where Hindu extremists destroyed the 16th century Babri Mosque in 1992, sparking widespread Hindu-Muslim riots.

There were no confirmed deaths in Lucknow, the state capital, though police said at least a few people were believed to be injured in twin explosions.

Lal said at least 40 people were believed to have been injured, most of them lawyers.

The blasts went off less than 15 minutes apart inside court complexes, though not in courtrooms, said Vipin Mishra, spokesman for the Home Ministry of Uttar Pradesh state.

Indian court complexes are crowded, chaotic places, with lawyers often setting up small outdoor "offices" in makeshift, open-walled shacks built in courtyards.

"It's a conspiracy ... This is the handiwork of some group that wants to disturb communal harmony in the country," the junior federal home minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, told reporters. "They may have targeted the courts because large crowds gather in courthouses here."

But Padam Kriti, a spokesman of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Association, said the state's lawyers had decided earlier this year not to defend any terror suspects, adding "it looks like" that decision may have been behind blasts.

A series of terrorist bombings have ripped across India in the past two years. In August, a pair of explosions killed 43 people in the southern city of Hyderabad. In July 2006, bombs in seven Mumbai commuter trains killed more than 200 people.

Deadly Blasts Shake Indian Courthouses (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJo4OAMGB0xNXoQfikJ5Nk2cD52AD8T3AP600)

The lawyers took a brave stand not to defend Muslim terrorist suspects in court, and it looks like some of them paid with their lives.

Saudis and Libyans top foreign fighters in Iraq
Nov 22, 2007

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - About 60 percent of the foreign militants fighting in Iraq have come from U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Libya, unidentified U.S. military officials said in a newspaper report on Thursday.

The New York Times said the information was found in documents uncovered in a U.S. military raid on an insurgents' camp near Sinjar, in northwest Iraq near the Syrian border, in September.

Material seized at the camp, believed to be used by a cell responsible for smuggling the majority of foreign fighters into Iraq, showed the home towns of more than 700 foreign militants who entered Iraq since August 2006, the newspaper said.

A total of 305 of the foreign fighters listed in the documents, or 41 percent, were from Saudi Arabia. Another 137, or 18 percent, were Libyan. Yemenis were the third largest group, the newspaper said.

Officials also concluded that the number of foreign militants entering Iraq had dropped sharply in 2007, the report said, falling from 80 to 110 per month in the first half of the year to around 40 in October.

Syrians -- via whose country many fighters are suspected of reaching Iraq -- made up 8 percent of the individuals listed.

Accusations that Syria hasn't done enough to stem that flow have long been a point of tension with Washington.

In the article, military officials said most of the fighters had flown into Damascus or entered Syria through Jordan. Some were reportedly captured and then released by Syrian authorities.

General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has praised Syria for steps it has taken to crack down on militants entering Iraq.

"There does appear to have been more robust action by Syria against some foreign fighter networks," he told The Wall Street Journal.

He said the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq each month had dropped by at least one third.

In the interview, published on Wednesday, Petraeus struck a cautious note about the possibility of future troop reductions. as he assessed the sharp drop in violence since an extra 30,000 U.S. troops were deployed in Iraq this year.

President George W. Bush plans to bring about 20,000 troops home by July.

Saudis and Libyans top foreign fighters in Iraq (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-11-22T115219Z_01_RYA223726_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-FIGHTERS.xml)

Bin Laden to air message to Europeans 
Al-Qaida announcement posted to Jihadist forums today

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is to address a message to the European people over the terror network's media wing Al-Sahab, SITE Intelligence Group said on Monday.

"A new message is forthcoming from Osama bin Laden, the head of Al-Qaeda, addressing the European people," it said.

The message has been produced by As-Sahab, the multimedia arm of Al-Qaeda, it said, without giving a date for the message or specifying if an audiotape of video was to be broadcast.

"The announcement of this impending release was posted to Jihadist forums today," said the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.

It said the message carried a statement "urging Jihadists to distribute this notice to various Western sites to 'convey to them the reality of losing their war and facing the reality of the unseen truth'."

Islamic terrorists target Army base -- in Arizona


November 26, 2007

By Sara A. Carter - Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center, changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an attack on the facility.

Fort officials changed security measures after sources warned that possibly 60 Afghan and Iraqi terrorists were to be smuggled into the U.S. through underground tunnels with high-powered weapons to attack the Arizona Army base, according to multiple confidential law enforcement documents obtained by The Washington Times.

"A portion of the operatives were in the United States, with the remainder not yet in the United States," according to one of the documents, an FBI advisory that was distributed to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, Customs and Border Protection and the Justice Department, among several other law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. "The Afghanis and Iraqis shaved their beards so as not to appear to be Middle Easterners."

According to the FBI advisory, each Middle Easterner paid Mexican drug lords $20,000 "or the equivalent in weapons" for the cartel's assistance in smuggling them and their weapons through tunnels along the border into the U.S. The weapons would be sent through tunnels that supposedly ended in Arizona and New Mexico, but the Islamist terrorists would be smuggled through Laredo, Texas, and reclaim the weapons later.

A number of the Afghans and Iraqis are already in a safe house in Texas, the FBI advisory said.

Fort Huachuca, which lies about 20 miles from the Mexican border, has members of all four service branches training in intelligence and secret operations. About 12,000 persons work at the fort and many have their families on base.

Lt. Col. Matthew Garner, spokesman for Fort Huachuca, said details about the current phase of the investigation or security changes on the post "will not be disclosed."

"We are always taking precautions to ensure that soldiers, family members and civilians that work and live on Fort Huachuca are safe," Col. Garner said. "With this specific threat, we did change some aspects of our security that we did have in place."

According to the FBI report, some of the weapons associated with the plot have been smuggled through a tunnel from Mexico to the U.S.

The FBI report is based on Drug Enforcement Administration sources, including Mexican nationals with access to "sub-sources" in the drug cartels. The report's assessment is that the DEA's Mexican contacts have proven reliable in the past but the "sub-source" is of uncertain reliability.

According to the source who spoke with DEA intelligence agents, the weapons included two Milan anti-tank missiles, Soviet-made surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, long guns and handguns.

"FBI Comment: The surface-to-air missiles may in fact be RPGs," the advisory stated, adding that the weapons stash in Mexico could include two or three more Milan missiles.

The Milan, a French-German portable anti-tank weapon, was developed in the 1970s and widely sold to militaries around the world, including Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Insurgents in Iraq reportedly have used a Milan missile in an attack on a British tank. Iraqi guerrillas also have shot down U.S. helicopters using RPGs, or rocket-propelled grenades.

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson would not elaborate on the current investigation regarding the threat, but said that many times the initial reports are based on "raw, uncorroborated information that has not been completely vetted." He added that this report shows the extent to which all law enforcement and intelligence agencies cooperate in terror investigations.

"If nothing else, it provides a good look at the inner working of the law-enforcement and intelligence community and how they work together on a daily basis to share and deal with threat information," Mr. Bresson said. "It also demonstrates the cross-pollination that frequently exists between criminal and terrorist groups."

The connections between criminal enterprises, such as powerful drug cartels, and terrorist organizations have become a serious concern for intelligence agencies monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Based upon the information provided by the DEA handling agent, the DEA has classified the source as credible," stated a Department of Homeland Security document, regarding the possibility of an attack on Fort Huachuca. "The identity of the sub-source has been established; however, none of the information provided by the sub-source in the past has been corroborated."

The FBI advisory stated the "sub-source" for the information "is a member of the Zetas," the military arm of one of Mexico's most dangerous drug-trafficking organizations, the Gulf Cartel. The Gulf Cartel controls the movement of narcotics from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into the U.S. along the Laredo corridor.

However, the sub-source "for this information is of unknown reliability," the FBI advisory stated.

According to the DEA, the sub-source identified Mexico's Sinaloa cartel as the drug lords who would assist the terrorists in their plot.

This led the DEA to caution the FBI that its information may be a Gulf Cartel plant to bring the U.S. military in against its main rival. The Sinaloa and Gulf cartels have fought bloody battles along the border for control of shipping routes into the U.S.

"It doesn't mean that there isn't truth to some of what this source delivered to U.S. agents," said one law-enforcement intelligence agent, on the condition of anonymity. "The cartels have no loyalty to any nation or person. It isn't surprising that for the right price they would assist terrorists, knowingly or unknowingly."

Islamic terrorists target Army base -- in Arizona (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NATION/111260034/1001&template=printart)

Woman held in jail for naming a teddy bear "Mohammed"

Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:28am EST

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A British primary school teacher has been arrested in Sudan, accused of insulting Islam's Prophet by letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Mohammed, her school said on Monday.

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, aged 54 from Liverpool, told Reuters they feared for her safety after receiving reports that young men had already started gathering outside the Khartoum police station where she was being held.

Teachers at Unity High School in central Khartoum said Gibbons made an innocent mistake and simply let her pupils choose their favorite name for the toy as part of a school project.

Police arrested Gibbons on Sunday at her home inside the school premises, said Unity director Robert Boulos, after a number of parents made a complaint to Sudan's Ministry of Education.

Boulos said she had since been charged with "blasphemy", an offence he said was punishable with up to three months in prison and a fine.

A spokesman from the British Embassy in Khartoum said it was still unclear whether Gibbons had been formerly charged. "We are following it up with the authorities and trying to meet her in person," he said.

Boulos said he had decided to close down the school until January for fear of reprisals in Sudan's predominantly Muslim capital. "This is a very sensitive issue."

"We are very worried about her safety," he added. "This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

CHILDREN VOTED

Boulos said Gibbons was following a British National Curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and their habitats. This year's animal was the bear.

Gibbons, who joined Unity in August, asked a girl to bring in her teddy bear to help the Year 2 class focus, said Boulos.

The teacher then asked the class to name the toy. "They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Mohammed. Then she explained what it meant to vote and asked them to choose the name." Twenty out of the 23 children chose Mohammed.

Each child was allowed to take the bear home at weekends and asked to write a diary about what they did with the toy. Each entry was collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover, next to the message "My name is Mohammed," said Boulos.

The bear itself was not marked or labeled with the name in any way, he added, saying Sudanese police had now seized the book and had asked to interview the 7-year-old girl.

Boulos said the first he knew about the course was last week when he got a phone call from the Ministry of Education, saying a number of Muslim parents had made formal complaints.

One Muslim teacher at Unity, who also has a child in Gibbons' class, said she had not found the project offensive.

"I had no problem with it at all," the teacher said. "I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed that she got them to vote."

The country's state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre reported late Sunday that Gibbons had been arrested for "insulting the Prophet Mohammad". It said charges were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law" which covers insults against faith and religion.

No one was immediately available for comment from Sudan's ministries of Education or Justice.

Unity, an independent school founded in 1902, is governed by a board representing major Christian denominations in Sudan, but teaches both Christians and Muslims aged 4 to 18.

Woman held in jail for naming a teddy bear "Mohammed" (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL2653895320071126)

Once again, we are confronted with the religion of peace. What a crock!! There is no freedom and the thought police are everywhere. I hope this woman leaves the country as soon as possible. So much for educating the ignorant.

I'll pray for but, I have no sympathy for the Sudanese. They are barbarians who are led by a false prophet to worship a false god.

Kenyan Muslims deny Sharia claims
27 November 2007

Kenyan Muslim leaders have dismissed as propaganda allegations that an opposition party promised to introduce Sharia for Muslims if it won elections.

The National Muslim Leaders Forum said its deal with the Orange Democratic Movement was to end the current discrimination against Muslims.

Christian leaders have been calling for the pact to be made public to end angry speculation ahead of December's polls.

Roughly one-third of Kenya's population of 34 million is Muslim.

Recent opinion polls show 45% of those interviewed support ODM's Raila Odinga compared to 43% who favour President Mwai Kibaki, who is running on a Party of National Unity ticket.

Rendition probe

Muslim leaders decided to make the pact public after a document circulated on the internet claimed that Mr Odinga's ODM had pledged to introduce Sharia in parts of the country where Muslims are in the majority.

"There was a fear that Muslims will force their faith on other people, Islam does not allow suppression of other religions and we will be the last to advocate for this," said Abdullahi Abdi of the National Muslim Leaders Forum.

Instead the memorandum of understanding, signed in August, states that Mr Odinga has pledged to defend Muslims against harassment and victimisation by state security forces who claim to be fighting terrorism.

If the ODM leader wins, he promises to set up a commission to investigate renditions of Muslims to Somalia, Ethiopia and the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba.

The document also commits Mr Odinga to initiate policies to redress the present marginalisation of Muslims living in the Coast and North-East provinces.

Kenyan Muslims deny Sharia claims (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7115387.stm)

Can they spell LIES!!

In the past 1400 years, Islam has murdered 270,000,000 nonbelievers!!!!!!

Who has caused the majority of wars and killing throughout the history of mankind? It sure isn't the non believers, it's those who are compelled by their beliefs to eradicate the non believers from the earth, or kill those who they feel are not the "chosen people."

Also allah tells his people to spread his glory and name by spreading islam to get more people to bow before him. He doesn't tell them just to love each other and help one another, irrespective of being believers or idol-worshippers. He exhorts them to convert the non-believers and if necessary use VIOLENCE!!!!!

This is the core of Islam, which is really indefensible. Hence, the need for censorship at gunpoint, the need to murder people, or pass death sentences on people who expose islam. Hence the blasphemy laws in Pakistan and other islamic countries.

There is no such thing as radical islam, it’s all just islam. Osma bin laden, all the jihad's, suicide bombers, all those murdering in the name of islam are true muslims . They are following the exact teachings of the koran.  Hitler who once said that when you lie, tell a big lie. The two biggest lies in all history, is that islam is a "Religion of Peace" and muhammad, a prophet of Peace.

Bin Laden: Europe must quit Afghanistan


Mark Tran
Thursday November 29, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden, called on European governments to end their military cooperation with the US in Afghanistan in a new audio message broadcast today.

With his fifth public message this year, bin Laden sought to exploit tensions between European capitals and Washington over the ongoing Nato military campaign in Afghanistan.

He reiterated that he was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the US, not the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan at the time.

"The American tide is ebbing," he said in a message addressed directly to the European public. "It is better for you to restrain your politicians who are thronging the steps of the White House."

In a quick rebuttal to bin Laden's audio message, parts of which were carried on al-Jazeera television, the Afghan government said bin Laden had no right to interfere with its sovereignty. It also rejected his accusations that Afghan civilians were being killed by Nato troops, saying they were being killed by extremists.

His message came as Poland is reconsidering its commitment of 1,200 troops to the Nato mission, following the election of a new government.

Bin Laden has issued four other public statements this year: on September 7, September 11, September 20 and October 22. The September 7 video was bin Laden's first in three years and was issued to mark the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

The last message in October was an audiotape broadcast on al-Jazeera television where bin Laden called for Iraqi insurgents to unite and avoid divisive "extremism".

Bin Laden's followers in Iraq have angered other Sunni groups and tribes through their hardline interpretations of Islam and the indiscriminate killing of civilians.

As a result, Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province have turned against al-Qaida in Iraq and allied themselves with US forces.

In his October tape, the speaker said the strength of faith was in bonds between Muslims, not in a tribe, nationalism or an organisation.

A message released on 20 September called for a holy war against Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, who has sided with the Bush administration against the Taliban since 9/11.

Earlier this week, al-Qaida's media wing announced that it would soon release a new message from bin Laden. As-Sahab said bin Laden would address European countries in the message.

Bin Laden: Europe must quit Afghanistan (http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,2219279,00.html)

al-Qaida and all of their associates have one purpose - killing innocents, elimination of Israel and Christianity, and destabilizing civilization for the end purpose to conquer. They don't ever change. They either continue on their mission or die in the process. The mission must be finished in Afghanistan, Iraq, and anywhere else a single head from al-Qaida pops up. That's not what they want, so that's exactly what should happen. This group is the most likely to start a nuclear war in whatever manner they can dream up. Their allegiance is to terror and death - nothing else. The simple fact is that their goals will be obtained unless they are wiped out, so they need to be wiped out. It won't happen in this Age of Grace, but it will happen at the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.

Where's Ron Paul and his followers on this one?   ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

 ;D    ROFL!  Ron Paul is one guy that I can't figure out at all. You never know what he'll say next. I did find it funny that the Bunny Ranch House of Ill Repute in Nevada endorsed him. He says a few things that are old fashioned Constitutional, but everything else just leaves you scratching your head. So, the guy sounds like an absolute genius about 1 minute out of every hour. The rest of the time, poor Ron is in the Twilight Zone.

lol  ...  I think that he has moved from the Twilight Zone to the No Lights Are On Zone.

Use of the word women 'banned from state TV'

Tehran, 29 Nov. (AKI) - The word 'women' must now be replaced on Iranian state television by 'family', reformist Norouz news agency reports.

In programmes broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women last Sunday, Iranian state TV used the world family instead.

In recent weeks, Iran's Centre for the Participation of Women changed its name to the Centre for Family Matters.

At the time of former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, the centre was set up within the president's office.

Khatami was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.

Use of the word women 'banned from state TV' (http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.1613494695)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MORONS!!!

One year anniversary of Hezbollah's occupation of downtown Beirut
Friday, 30 November, 2007 @ 7:38 PM

Beirut, Lebanon - The Hizbullah-led opposition on Saturday marks the first anniversary of its central Beirut sit-in that has sent 2,700 people unemployed and forced closure of 75 restaurants and coffee shops.

Nevertheless, the protestors vowed to maintain their Tent City for years if need be to force the resignation of Premier Fouad Saniora's majority government.

"The sit-in began because there is a government that we consider illegitimate, and as long as our goal has not been achieved we will stay there indefinitely," Hizbullah spokesman Hussein Rahal said.

The continued protest comes as the country grapples with a dangerous political vacuum that has left the presidency vacant because of a standoff between pro- and anti-Syrian factions.

The year-long sit-in has transformed a large swathe of Beirut's usually bustling downtown into a ghost town and led to the shutdown of some 200 businesses and thousands of job losses.

And although the sprawling tent city pitched by the protesters on streets leading to Saniora's offices is now empty for the most part, it is a sore reminder for passersby of the crisis pitting the government against the Shiite militant group and its ally, opposition leader Michel Aoun.

Groups of young men mill outside the tents at night, some smoking water pipes and others chit-chatting about politics, reading a newspaper or watching television.

Several of the militants interviewed said they work in shifts manning the tents -- which they said number 600 -- with some going to work during the day and returning to the camp at night.

"When we started we thought the government would fall quickly but the days have gone by and now I think it will take a while," Emile Hashem, a spokesman for the militants loyal to Aoun, said.

"Still, we are ready to stay until Saniora leaves and if that takes 10 years so be it," he added.

"We are here 24 hours a day and we are staying," chimed in a Hizbullah militant who did not wish to give his name.

Hashem and a Hizbullah official said a rally was planned Saturday to commemorate the year-long sit-in.

The prime minister for his part has ignored the protesters camped under his windows and refrained from removing them by force to avoid an escalation.

"Mr. Saniora respects their right to demonstrate but what they are doing is infringing on people's freedom and it is translating into millions of dollars in losses for businesses," his spokesman Aref El-Abed said.

Ralph Eid, who owns a shoe store in the downtown area and is a member of the merchants' association, said the Hizbullah-led standoff with the government had spelled the death knell for many businesses.

"They have taken us hostage by their action," he said. "If they want to make a political statement, they can do so for a day, two or 10 days, but it's been a full year and they are killing everybody's business," he said.

Tarek Barakat, a member of the local restaurant association, said of the 105 restaurants, snack bars and coffee shops that operated in the downtown area, only 30 were still in business and some 2,700 employees had lost their jobs.

"It's been more than a disaster because a disaster has an end," Barakat said. "And here there is no end."

One year anniversary of Hezbollah's occupation of downtown Beirut (http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/11/one_year_annive.php)

Chinese missiles 'smuggled into Saudi Arabia' 
Paper says suspected al-Qaida terrorists allegedly able to bring in 8

A Saudi Arabian newspaper said Sunday that suspected Al Qaeda terrorists were allegedly able to smuggle eight Chinese-made missiles into the kingdom before they were arrested as part of a terror sweep.

The daily Okaz, which is deemed close to the government, quoting unnamed officials as saying militants wanted to use the missiles to allegedly target hotels and other buildings in the kingdom.

The newspaper did not further describe the missiles.

The Saudi Interior Ministry last week announced that it made its largest terror sweep to date, arresting 208 Al Qaeda-linked militants in six separate arrests in recent months. One of the alleged terror cells was led by a non-Saudi missile expert, the ministry said.

The ministry said members of that cell were planning to smuggle eight missiles into the kingdom to carry out terrorist operations, but it did not say what kind of missiles or what the targets were. Okaz reported Sunday that the missiles were already inside Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper also quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki as saying the leadership of another one of the alleged terror cells was based in another country. Al-Turki did not name the country.

Last week, the Interior Ministry said authorities arrested 112 alleged members of that cell during the terror sweep. The ministry said the cell was trying to smuggle men to Iraq and Afghanistan for training, after which they would be brought back to Saudi Arabia to try to carry out attacks in the kingdom.

Sudan leader to meet British delegation

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 30 minutes ago

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudan's president will meet a British delegation to discuss a possible pardon for a teacher imprisoned in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad, a presidential spokesman said Sunday.

Two Muslim members of British parliament, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Lord Nazir Ahmed, have been in Sudan for two days trying to set up a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. He is the only one who can pardon Gillian Gibbons, the 54-year-old British teacher who has been imprisoned since Thursday.

"The (Sudanese) president will meet the British delegation at 10:30 (Monday morning) at the presidential palace," Mahzoub Faidul told The Associated Press. "He will discuss the case and a possible pardon."

Al-Bashir's decision to sit down with the two politicians could be a breakthrough in the case.

Gibbons was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation for insulting Islam because she allowed her students to give a teddy bear the same name as Islam's revered prophet — a violation under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law.

Concern for the teacher's safety grew Friday after thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums, burned pictures of her and demanded her execution at a rally in Khartoum.

Gibbons was moved from the Omdurman women's prison to a secret location on Friday after the demonstrations.

The British Embassy said they had not been officially notified about the meeting with al-Bashir. But spokesman Omar Daair said it would be "a positive development."

Earlier Sunday, Warsi said she and Ahmed had "some very, very difficult meetings" with Sudanese officials but indicated the two politicians had canceled their return tickets to Britain early Monday in hopes of a breakthrough.

Ahmed said "progress has been made" in their meetings.

"There is only one item on the agenda and that is Gillian and hopefully obtaining her pardon," said Ahmed.

He expressed hope that the cultural background of the two politicians would help bridge the gap between Britain and Sudan.

"That is very important, we are British and we are Muslim," said Ahmed. "We understand the sensitivity and culture of this part of the world and also our own culture and norms and customs."

The British Embassy said earlier that it was talking directly to the Sudanese government at the same time that the parliamentarians were working for Gibbons' release.

"We are working closely with Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi because we think their initiative has the best chance of success," Daair, the embassy spokesman, said earlier, adding that the British government was pressing for a meeting with al-Bashir.

Gibbons' chief lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, was optimistic on the chances of the British delegation to secure the teacher's release, in part because the whole affair has become an international embarrassment to the government.

"They want to get rid of the problem and the visit of the British lords would be a good opportunity," he said. "This case is a headache for the government. I would not be surprised if Gibbons was released today or tomorrow."

Gibbons escaped harsher punishment that could have included up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine. Her time in jail since her arrest Sunday counts toward the sentence.

During her trial, the weeping teacher said she had intended no harm. Her students, overwhelmingly Muslim, chose the name for the bear, and Muhammad is one of the most common names for men in the Arab world. Muslim scholars generally agree that intent is a key factor in determining if someone has violated Islamic rules against insulting the prophet.

But the case was caught up in the ideology that al-Bashir's Islamic regime has long instilled in Sudan, a mix of anti-colonialism, religious fundamentalism and a sense that the West is besieging Islam.

The uproar comes as the U.N. is accusing Sudan of dragging its feet on the deployment of peacekeepers in the western Sudanese Darfur region.

Sudan leader to meet British delegation (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071202/ap_on_re_af/sudan_british_teacher)

What can't be named Muhammad

British teacher Gillian Gibbons has been jailed for 15 days after insulting Islam's Prophet by allowing her pupils in Sudan to name a teddy bear Muhammad. What are the rules on using the name?

The Arabic name Muhammad is now the second most popular name for baby boys in Britain, adding together its 14 different spellings in English.

Muslim families - of which there are an increasing number in the UK - often choose names which honour the Muslim Prophet or show a link to their religion in another way.

 But is it acceptable for Muslims to name a toy Muhammad? The arrest and subsequent jailing of Ms Gibbons has sparked debate in Islamic circles. As is the case in so many religious matters, the question is open to interpretation.

The issue has been a vexed one for Muslims through the ages. Some believe that the name can only be given to boys - to give it to an object is idolatry (excessive veneration). Others say that pets and toys can bear the name.

Ibrahim Mogra, chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain's interfaith relations committee and an imam in Leicester, says the name should be reserved for boys. "Some of us believe we are assured of heaven if we name our children Muhammad."

But he says it's ridiculous that Ms Gibbons is being punished for a "miscalculation".

"If someone clearly intends to insult and cause offence with a toy in the form of a pig, for example, and someone knowingly and intentionally names it Muhammad, we know exactly where they're going with it - the idea is to cause offence. If it's just a miscalculation, we don't need to go overboard."

Dilwar Hussain, of the Islamic Foundation, has no problem with a teddy bear called Muhammad. For some years, the Islamic Society sold a soft toy made for British Muslim children named Adam the Prayer Bear. "Adam is also the name of a Prophet."

Would it be acceptable to give a religious name to a pet? In much of the Muslim world, he says, animals are seen as functional and so are rarely given names.

Idolatry

But Adel Darwish, the political editor of The Middle East magazine, says that Muslim children - "like children everywhere" - give their pets the names of characters they liked, be it a religious figure, sports hero or pop singer.

 "Millions of Muslim children in Muslim nations give their dolls, pets and teddies Muslim names of the Prophet and his mother, daughters and wives."

Gill Lusk, the associate editor of Africa Confidential and a specialist on Sudan, says the incident will have offended many in the country. As Sudan is a place where religion is never mocked or satirised, it's "unthinkable" that a toy or pet could be given a religious name.

"You're not supposed to give a religious name to any objects - it could be seen as idolatry."

But the majority of Sudanese people won't have wanted to see Ms Gibbons in trouble for the naming of the teddy bear.

"People are very forgiving of foreigners, particularly Europeans. Nobody would think she was trying to offend them - they would just think she was ignorant."

What can't be named Muhammad (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7115821.stm)

Oops, we're in trouble here............ Lizzie and I have a pig named Mohammad. (http://smilies.zx6r.info/lachen/lachend.gif)

This teddy bear incident is incredibly juvenile and ridiculous. Islam DEMANDS respect and tolerance, yet they don't give anyone else any at all. If Christians had a mindset anywhere close to that of Islam, Islam wouldn't be here. Further, we wouldn't have fed and otherwise kept a large percentage of their population alive for so many years. We still are, even though there isn't minimum respect given in return.

One can easily think back to countless incidents of ZERO respect or tolerance. Let's look at Saudi Arabia as an example. While we were there to protect them from the barbaric hordes of Saddam, how much respect and tolerance was shown to our religion while we were saving their very lives? To make matters more ironic, we were saving them from the barbaric hands of people from their own religion.

Isn't there a last question of how much respect and tolerance is shown by members of Islam to other members of Islam? How about NONE - ZERO? How much reason is required for a Muslim to kill innocent Muslim women and children with suicide bombs? Is a whim or making a political statement sufficient? How about NO REASON or it was simply something to do that day? It's reason enough for them to kill each other when we slow down or stop or humanitarian support to keep them alive, so does anyone have their respect or tolerance? The answer is NONE - NOT even their own! Respect and tolerance are ONLY a political necessity for the given circumstances of hours, days, or however long that particular political necessity lasts. Everyone goes back to being cannon fodder when the need is over.

Let's ask one more question: what entity in the world treats Muslims the absolute WORST? THE ANSWER IS OTHER MUSLIMS!

"MODERN" DUBAI SAYS MALE VICTIMS OF MALE RAPE ARE HOMOSEXUALS

The below horrific story of the kidnapping and violent rape of a young French man, a longtime resident of Dubai, is lengthy and concise so I will keep my comments to a minimum.

Aside from the crimes committed against this man what screams out from this article is both the refusal of Dubai to recognize homosexuality and to demonize it not only allows them to use it against a victim as in :

"They immediately reported the crime, going in person to the local police station. But Alex says the police doctor who examined him that night seemed intent on proving there was no rape, just a consensual sexual act between three men and a 15 year-old gay boy. "

but also as an Islamic means to inflict greater punishment on an innocent victim:

"Homosexuality is against the law in the UAE, where anyone found guilty of sodomy faces years in jail.... the French consul, was so worried a case was being built against Alex as an illegal homosexual he advised the boy and his mother to flee Dubai before he was arrested. "

Thus a male victim of male rape is deemed a homosexual and punished as such.

What perhaps is even more telling is the rationalizations and excuses, made by so called "moderate muslim" leaders living in Western societies, of this heinous crime and its Islamic punishment.

"Arab-American psychiatrist Dr. Raymond Hamden works in the Dubai courts and says it's important for foreigners to remember that while everything looks modern there, it is a young, developing city.

"It's no different than were we in America were a hundred years ago, right after or during the end of the Victorian era," said Hamden. "Even though we are seeing globalization, in the city that has defined globalization, were still seeing a value system that still looks like new Victorians."

Equating this travesty of justice to the Victorian period of Britain and early 20th century United States is so ludicrous no comments are needed. Such blatant lies are nothing more than fabrications used to mitigate the barbaric Islamic ideology.

To see Dubai as a thriving globalized skyscraper city is seeing nothing more than a facade that hides the culture and mores of a punitive pre-medieval religion and political ideology that seeks to demonize all non muslims and whose goal is to create a Global Caliphate.  Dubai may want to portray itself as a "modern country" but freedoms in Dubai, like most Islamic countries, are strangled by the Religion of Peace.

French Teen's Rape Case Exposes Dubai's Dark Side
Alleged Victim Tells His Story of Violent Sex Crime in Modern Arab Metropolis

Dubai -- with its world famous luxury hotels and what will soon be the world's tallest building -- is the Arab world's most modern oasis. But beyond the sandy beaches and tourist attractions, the western dress and the bustling buildings, Dubai is struggling to modernize one aspect of its conservative Muslim culture: the taboos and treatment of sexual violence.

16-year-old French-Swiss Alexandre Robert and his mother Veronique were the perfect example of Dubai's cosmopolitan makeup. Alex was living in Dubai when he says he was gang raped at knifepoint, beginning an ordeal that has shed light on how Dubai's justice system treats victims of violent sex crimes.

What happened to Alex has thrown a worldwide spotlight on the dark side of a city where a victim can be treated as a criminal, where homosexuality is outlawed and where AIDS is buried under a layer of shame.

"Homosexuality is taboo, rape is taboo, and AIDS is taboo," said Veronique Robert.

Saturday July 14th of this year was just another summer day in paradise. Then 15-year-old Alex spent the day at the beach with his friend. When it was time to go home, a local teenager they barely knew offered to give them a lift when they couldn't find a cab. He called two older friends who had a car.

Alex and his friend accepted the ride and got in the car. Alex says the man behind the wheel drove past the turnoff to his house, beyond Dubai's landmark Mall of the Emirates, and into a desolate stretch of desert.

"So we keep driving and I see him taking an exit to go in the desert and I told him 'Where are you going?' And this is where I started to think and realize that something was wrong, you know, and they told me to shut up," Alex recalled.

First Alex says the driver secured the child locks on the doors, trapping the boys inside. Then they stopped along a desert road on the outskirts of the city.

"They asked my friend to get out of the car, he said no, so they pulled him out with violence and they started hitting, hitting him and they hit me. And after that -- I'm sorry…" Alex said, unable to continue.

"Alex started to scream," his friend told ABC News, adding that Alex tried to grab his hand. The friend spoke about the attack on the condition that his name be kept secret because he still lives in Dubai and fears retaliation.

"I was very afraid," said the friend. "I thought they wanted to kill me, me and Alex. So it was like the last minute of my life I was living."

Desperate for help, Alex says he tried to call 999 -- Dubai's version of 911 -- on his cell phone.

The local teen who brought them to the car overheard the police respond to the call, Alex says, and grabbed for the phone.

"I had the phone in my hands, I was screaming and shouting for help," said Alex. "He took my phone and he was hitting me. I started screaming and crying."

'I'm Gonna Kill You'

"He was saying, 'I'm gonna kill you, your mother, father. I know where you live. Don't do that any more,'" recalled his friend.

"He said to me right in the eyes, right in the eyes that if I, if I speak about this one day, he knows where I live, he'll go to my house, he'll burn my house, he'll kill my parents, he'll f*** them and he'll burn them," Alex said. "And it was hard."

"They will not touch us. Don't worry about that, it's done," said Veronique. "They will pay for that, they will pay for that."

As dusk settled in the desert, the friend says he was forced to walk behind a sand dune, where he couldn't see or hear anything. That's when Alex says the 36-year-old driver threatened his life.

"He took out a pool stick and a hunting knife. He told me that he wanted to f*** me and I told him no way, I told him this, you can forget about it. I won't let you touch me, I won't let you. And after this, I had no choice."

When he finished, the teenager who had first offered them the ride came back to the car, Alex says. "I told them, 'Listen, if you're going to kill us, just let me use my phone, just give me back my phone and let me, let me call my family, I won't tell them where I am, I'll talk in English, I won't tell them what's happening, but just…if you're going to kill me, just let me call them, tell them that I love them or something, just let me do this," said Alex." And they keep telling us to shut up."

In the end their salvation may have turned on something as simple as sand. Alex says the attackers' car got stuck and they had to call a relative, who drove to the scene.

"I got my head up and I saw this plate number…I still remember it today," said Alex. "And I think this, this plate saved my life."

'Homosexuality Is An Illegal Act'

Instead of killing them, Alex says their attackers brought them to one of Dubai's luxurious hotels, where they were thrown out of the car.

"They pushed us like, like we were nothing, you know, like if we were bags," he said.

Alex says he felt dizzy and passed out. He had survived a violent rape that could happen anywhere in the world, but the legal nightmare ahead would turn out to be a second tragedy, he says.

After the attackers left them on the curb Alex and his friend went to the first safe place they could think of. They took a taxi to a local shopping mall, hid in the bathroom, and called for help.

cont'd

They immediately reported the crime, going in person to the local police station. But Alex says the police doctor who examined him that night seemed intent on proving there was no rape, just a consensual sexual act between three men and a 15 year-old gay boy.

"He told me, admit it, you are a homosexual and everything," said Alex. "I got really angry, I told him, 'Listen, I just got raped by three guys.'"

And perhaps more damaging to Alex's case, the doctor asserts the examination "showed a history" of homosexual activity, according to the doctor's report obtained by ABC News and translated from the original Arabic.

"In their minds if I admit that I am a homosexual, the crime would be over, everything would be over," Alex believed.

Moreover, Veronique Robert says police and local authorities failed to tell Alex that one of the men was HIV positive for weeks after they learned of it.

Alex has so far tested negative for the AIDS virus. However, he can't know for sure until January, since the virus needs six months for definitive test results.

"I have to wait until January, and in January I'll know, so I cross fingers and I hope," he said.

Veronique Robert says the Dubai authorities twice assured there was no threat of sexually transmitted disease, even though there was a report identifying one of the attackers as being HIV positive in government files for years.

"I'm so furious, I cannot tell you how I'm furious, you know, and I said why they lie, they just play with the life of Alex," said Veronique Robert.

The Case Against Alex

Homosexuality is against the law in the UAE, where anyone found guilty of sodomy faces years in jail.

The Dubai government denies that the doctor accused Alex of being gay or that he was ever at risk of being charged with homosexuality. But Robert Jongeryck, the French consul, was so worried a case was being built against Alex as an illegal homosexual he advised the boy and his mother to flee Dubai before he was arrested.

"I think that if we had not reacted and asked the authorities to do something, probably Alexandre would have been charged," said Jongeryck.

A Victorian Value System?

Arab-American psychiatrist Dr. Raymond Hamden works in the Dubai courts and says it's important for foreigners to remember that while everything looks modern there, it is a young, developing city.

"It's no different than were we in America were a hundred years ago, right after or during the end of the Victorian era," said Hamden. "Even though we are seeing globalization, in the city that has defined globalization, were still seeing a value system that still looks like new Victorians."

Dr. Habib al-Mulla, an attorney and government spokesman, defends the social conservatism that makes homosexuality a crime in Dubai.

"Every country and every culture has…its own values, its own morals, and the laws and legislations reflect the way every society looks at those morals," Al-Mulla said.

"This is a conservative society. Homosexuality, conducted homosexuality is an illegal act. And we are not ashamed of that."

"So, when you invite people to come [to Dubai], are you inviting everyone but homosexuals?" ABC News' Jim Avila asked the spokesman.

"Everyone is more than welcomed to come," said al-Mulla. "However, no one is welcome to commit any illegal activity."

In an environment where homosexuality is a crime, can a victim of "forcible homosexuality," as the law calls it, be treated fairly under the law?

The trial is big news in Dubai. The two adult defendants, both of whom face the death penalty, have denied all charges. Veronique Robert says she was in juvenile court -- closed to the press -- when the local boy who first led Alex and his friend into the car pled guilty to charges of kidnapping, threatening, and rape. Because he is a minor he does not face execution.

"I'm sure the court will deal with this [verdict] in a fair and reasonable manner," said government spokesman Al-Mulla, leaving open the possibility that what happened to Alex would lead to some reforms in the handling of rape cases.

"We will look into the system, we'll see if there was anything deficient. And if we believe that there is any room for…improvement in that system of course we'll do that."

Armed with the promise that he would not be prosecuted, Alex returned to Dubai to testify against his alleged attackers, a moment he will never forget.

"You could read it in their eyes, they were saying like, if we go out, if we find you, my God, poor kid, run for your life, run for your life, if we get you, you're dead," he said.

As she waits for a verdict, Veronique Robert relentlessly warns anyone who will listen not to go to Dubai expecting a world-class justice system. She has even created a Web site called www.boycottdubai.com designed to hit the emirate where it hurts -- in the carefully cultivated image put forth to tourists and visitors.

"A part of me is really sad," she said. "I was loving Dubai, I was loving to come here to visit my child, [to] go to the beach with Alex…seven years of my life…it's gone. I think I will not come here…I will never see Dubai with the same eyes."

France stunned by rioters’ savagery

IN retrospect, it was not a good idea to have left his pistol at home. Called to the scene of a traffic accident in the Paris suburbs last Sunday, Jean-François Illy, a regional police chief, came face to face with a mob of immigrant youths armed with baseball bats, iron bars and shotguns.

What happened next has sickened the nation. As Illy tried to reassure the gang that there would be an investigation into the deaths of two teenagers whose motorbike had just collided with a police car, he heard a voice shouting: “Somebody must pay for this. Some pigs must die tonight!”

The 43-year-old commissaire realised it was time to leave, but that was not possible: they set his car ablaze. He stood as the mob closed in on him, parrying the first few baseball bat blows with his arms. An iron bar in the face knocked him down.

“I tried to roll myself into a ball on the ground,” said Illy from his hospital bed. He was breathing with difficulty because several of his ribs had been broken and one had punctured his lung.

His bruised and bloodied face signalled a worrying new level of barbarity in the mainly Muslim banlieues, where organised gangs of rioters used guns against police in a two-day rampage of looting and burning last week.

Not far from where Illy was lying was a policeman who lost his right eye after being hit by pellets from a shotgun. Another policeman displayed a hole the size of a 10p coin in his shoulder where a bullet had passed through his body armour.

Altogether 130 policemen were injured, dozens by shotgun pellets and shells packed with nails that were fired from a homemade bazooka. It prompted talk of urban “guerrilla warfare” being waged on French streets against the forces of law and order.

By the end of the week an extraordinarily heavy police presence in Villiers-le-Bel, where most of the rioting took place, appeared to have halted the violence: on top of public transport strikes and student protests against his reform plans, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, could not afford a repeat of 2005, when a similar incident involving the deaths of two youths provoked the worst French urban unrest in four decades.

Things were so tense in the suburbs, however, that the riots could easily erupt again with the prospect of deaths on either side setting off a much greater explosion and, conceivably, the deployment of the army to keep peace.

“Given the weapons being used, it was lucky that nobody was killed,” said a policeman. Nearby were the charred remains of the local constabulary. The nursery school was burnt down. So was the library.

Rioting two years ago was widely regarded as a protest against poor housing, racial discrimination and unemployment of up to 40% in the grim housing estates surrounding most big French cities.

But “Sarko” dismissed suggestions that nothing had been done to improve the situation, referring to the “Marshall plan” for the banlieues being drawn up by Fadela Amara, his urban development minister.

At the same time he argued that, far from reflecting difficult living conditions, the violence was a result of the “thugocracy” of the suburbs, where drug-trafficking criminals held sway.

“We shouldn’t try to excuse the inexcusable,” said the president in a television address to an anxious nation on Thursday, ridiculing the left’s vision of rioters as “victims of social injustice”. He pledged that those who fired at police would be tracked down, one by one, and tried on charges of attempted murder.

Lawlessness in the suburbs is an awkward issue for Sarkozy because he had promised to deal with it as interior minister, when he introduced “zero tolerance” policing, only to be accused of aggravating the problem by referring to trouble-makers as “thugs” and “scum”. Despite some successes, many of the suburban ghettoes remain a law unto their own and, like parts of New York in the bad old days, policemen do not like to set foot there.

“It felt like they were out to kill us,” said one of the officers in Villiers-le-Bel last week. “We knew that there were weapons in the suburbs, but they have never been turned against us like that. The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sarkozy has ordered a full judicial inquiry into the teenagers’ deaths, even though all the evidence seems to support the police version that the boys were thrown from their unlicensed motorcycle when it accidentally collided with a patrol car. Friends and relatives of the victims dismiss the official account of the incident as fantasy.

As for Illy, he says he is not feeling vengeful but has identified one of his attackers from police photographs. He is certain to be able to pinpoint the rest. “Fortunately,” he said, “I’ve got a very good memory.”

Teacher pardoned in teddy bear insult 
Was jailed for allowing students to name class toy Muhammad

A British teacher jailed for insulting Islam after allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad was released Monday when Sudan's president pardoned her, a British Embassy spokesman said.

The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, said she did not intend to offend anyone and had great respect for Islam.

"She is in British Embassy custody and is with the deputy British ambassador," embassy spokesman Omar Daair said. He would not give her exact location or say when she would leave Sudan.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation for insulting Islam because she allowed her students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad, seen as a reference to Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Her time in jail since her arrest Nov. 25 counted toward the sentence.

The teacher's conviction under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law shocked Britons and many Muslims worldwide. It also inflamed passions among many Sudanese, some of whom called for her execution.

Gibbons escaped harsher punishment that could have included up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine.

Earlier Monday, President Omar al-Bashir pardoned Gibbons after two British Muslim politicians from the House of Lords met with him to plead for her release.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, who met with al-Bashir along with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, said the case was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" and stressed that Britain respected Islam.

In a written statement released by the presidential palace and read by Warsi to reporters Monday, Gibbons said she was sorry if she caused any "distress."

"I have a great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone," Gibbons said in the statement. "I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I am very sorry that I will be unable to return to Sudan."

Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser, said al-Bashir insisted that Gibbons had a "fair trial," but he agreed to pardon her because of the efforts by the British Muslim delegation.

It was unclear when Gibbons would leave Sudan. Earlier Monday, Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahzoub Faidul told The Associated Press that Gibbons would "fly back to England today." However, travel agents in Sudan said the first European-bound flights would not leave Khartoum until early Tuesday.

During her trial, the weeping teacher said she had intended no harm. Her students, overwhelmingly Muslim, chose the name for the bear, and Muhammad is one of the most common names for men in the Arab world. Muslim scholars generally agree that intent is a key factor in determining if someone has violated Islamic rules against insulting the prophet.

The conviction shocked many Britons, but the case was caught up in the ideology that al-Bashir's Islamic regime has long instilled in Sudan, a mix of anti-colonialism, religious fundamentalism and a sense that the West is besieging Islam.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was delighted by news.

"Common sense has prevailed," Brown said in a statement released by his office.

The case also sparked criticism from many Muslims in the West who said she should have never been arrested. On Monday, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, welcomed the pardon.

"It will be wonderful to see her back in the U.K. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities," Bunglawala said.

There were concerns for Gibbons' safety in Sudan after thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums, burned pictures of her and demanded her execution during a rally in Khartoum on Friday. She was moved from the Omdurman women's prison to a secret location after the demonstrations against her, her lawyer said.

There was no overt sign that the government organized the protest, but such a rally could not have taken place without at least official assent.

Sudan's ambassador in London, Khalid al-Mubarak, insisted Monday that the demonstrations "were an argument from the fringe."

'Teddy Bear' teacher leaves Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan - A British teacher jailed for supposedly insulting Islam after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad flew home Monday after Sudan's president pardoned her, a British embassy spokesman said.



Gillian Gibbons' conviction under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law shocked Britons and many Muslims worldwide. Hard-line Muslim clerics in Sudan accused her of intentionally seeking to insult Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and the case angered some Sudanese, sparking a protest where demonstrators called for her execution.

Her release came after two British Muslim politicians from the House of Lords met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir early Monday to plead for her freedom.

Gibbons also sent a written statement to al-Bashir that she did not intend to offend anyone and had great respect for Islam.

Hours after al-Bashir's pardon, Gibbons left the country on a flight home. "I can confirm she has left Sudan," spokesman Omar Daair told The Associated Press. She was believed to be on an Emirates flight with a stopover in Dubai before heading to London early Tuesday.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation for insulting Islam because she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad - a common name among Muslim men - in a class project on animals. The trial was sparked when a school secretary complained to the Education Ministry that Gibbons aimed to insult the Prophet Muhammad. Her time in jail since her arrest Nov. 25 counted toward the sentence.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, who met with al-Bashir earlier Monday along with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, said the case was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" and stressed that Britain respected Islam.

He hoped "the relations between our two countries will not be damaged by this incident," Ahmed told reporters at the presidential palace after Monday's meeting.

Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser, said al-Bashir insisted that Gibbons had a "fair trial," but he agreed to pardon her because of the efforts by the British Muslim delegation.

"We are very relieved and happy that she has been pardoned," said Robert Boulos, director of Khartoum's Unity High School, where Gibbons worked.

In the written statement released by Sudanese presidential palace and read by Warsi to reporters, 54-year-old Gibbons said she was sorry if she caused any "distress."

"I have a great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone," Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday, said in the statement.

"I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I am very sorry that I will be unable to return to Sudan," the statement read.

The teacher escaped harsher punishment that could have included up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine. Her time in jail since her arrest last Sunday counted toward the sentence.

During her trial, the weeping teacher said she had intended no harm. Her students, overwhelmingly Muslim, chose the name for the bear. Muslim scholars generally agree that intent is a key factor in determining if someone has violated Islamic rules against insulting the prophet.

The conviction shocked many Britons, but the case was caught up in the ideology that al-Bashir's Islamic regime has long instilled in Sudan, a mix of anti-colonialism, religious fundamentalism and a sense that the West is besieging Islam.

In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was delighted by news.

"Common sense has prevailed," Brown said in a statement released by his office.

The case also sparked criticism from many Muslims in the West who said she should have never been arrested. On Monday, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, welcomed the pardon.

"It will be wonderful to see her back in the U.K. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities," Bunglawala said.

A small group of about 40 protesters gathered briefly Monday in front of the British embassy in Khartoum and handed over a petition, spokesman Daair said, without describing the petition. But several cars of riot police arrived and dispersed the crowd.

On Friday during a rally in Khartoum, thousands of protesters, many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums, burned pictures of her and demanded her execution.

After the rally, there were fears for Gibbons' safety and she was moved from the Omdurman women's prison to a secret location, her lawyer has said.

There was no overt sign that the government organized the protest, but such a rally could not have taken place without at least official assent.

Sudan's ambassador in London, Khalid al-Mubarak, insisted Monday that the demonstrations "were an argument from the fringe."

Iran-Mexico meeting deepens ties to Islam
President Calderon welcomes Khatami in effort to bypass confrontational West

In a little notice meeting reflecting growing ties between South America and the Islamic world, Mexican President Felipe Calderon welcomed former Iranian President Mohamed Khatami to Mexico City.

The two leaders met Wednesday at Los Pinos, Mexico's official presidential residence, to discuss deepening cultural bonds with the Islamic world in the face of Western notions of a "clash of civilizations.

The visit drew virtually no mention in the press outside of Mexico, even in Iran.

Khatami came at the invitation of the International Center for Dialogue between Civilizations, established in 2006 at the Colegio de San Luis in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi.

A notice on the Colegio de San Luis website said Khatami spoke at the center to oppose the main thesis of Harvard University professor Samuel Huntington's seminal 1996 book "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order."

In his speech, Khatami proclaimed a "Dialogue among Civilizations," a theme echoing a 2001 U.N. declaration.

Similarly, a statement by Calderon emphasized, in diplomatic language, that Khatami was promoting an exchange of opinions "concerning the roads available to promote peaceful co-existence among natures and cultures."

The Mexican newspaper La Jornada echoed the presidential statement: "The government of Mexico shares the conviction that dialogue and negotiation should be promoted as the preferred means to advance agreements."

The radical leftist La Voz de Aztlan in Los Angeles characterized the Khatami-Calderon meeting as "part of a growing alliance between Mexico, South America and Islam."

La Voz de Aztlan also noted, "President Calderon has been worried about the growing racist hostility against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the USA."

The online publication said the visit "may signal the beginning of a new international alignment that may bring into reality what Patrick Buchanan wrote in his new book, 'Day of Reckoning.'"

In July, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met in Tehran with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reflecting Tehran's recent campaign to develop closer ties with Latin America.

In September, Ahmadinejad met with Fidel Castro in Cuba, where the communist dictator endorsed the Iranian leader's efforts to further the goals of the Islamic revolution begun by Ayatollah Khomeini.

The International Center for Dialogue between Civilizations was opened in 2006 by Islamic Dawa of Chauen, a militant Shiite Islamic group originally formed in Iraq, and the radical Junta Islamica of Spain.

Chauen is a city in the Mexican province of Marruecos with historic ties to the Berbers in Morocco. The Junta Islamica derives from the descendents of the Moriscos, the Spanish Muslims expelled from Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a group noted for aggressively promoting the rights of Hispanic immigrants, characterizes the Nation of Aztlan, publisher of La Voz de Aztlan, as a "tiny Chicano group that pushes racism and homophobia."

Aztlan is the name for the mythical place of origin of the Aztec people. In the politics of Hispanic immigration, Aztlan has come to represent the part of the southwestern United States, including a large part of California, sought by the Reconquista movement for Mexico.

Iran completely stops selling oil in U.S. dollars
2007-12-08 19:40:27

    TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, has completely stopped selling its oil in U.S. dollars, the ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.

    "In line with the policy of selling crude oil in non-dollar currencies, currently selling our country's oil in U.S. dollars has been completely stopped," Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari was quoted as saying.

    "The dollar is an unreliable currency in regards to its devaluation and the loss oil exporters have endured from this trend," he added.

    "This is why Iran proposed to OPEC members that a currency (for selling oil) would be determined that would be reliable and would not cause any loss to exporter countries," Nozari said. He was referring to the November summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Saudi Arabia in which Iran proposed that it is necessary to replace the U.S. dollar with other major hard currencies in oil trading.

    Over the past months, Iran has massively reduced its dependence on the U.S. dollar in a bid to counter the United States' pressures on its financial system over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Iran completely stops selling oil in U.S. dollars (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/08/content_7219042.htm)

They said they would, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now. This week the GCC voted to keep trading oil with US dollars, with the promoting of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The only other oil, Arab nation I know of, that has divested from the US dollar this year was Kuwait.

Taliban 'hanged boy, 12, for spying for UK'

By Tom Coghlan in Kabul
Last Updated: 1:53am GMT 09/12/2007

Taliban fighters hanged a 12-year-old boy from a mulberry tree, claiming he was passing information on Taliban roadside bomb attacks to police and British forces, Afghan police have said.

The gruesome murder, which occurred in Sangin, an area held by British forces since driving out the Taliban in April, sparked outrage among politicians, who accused the al-Qaeda-linked militant group of atrocities against villagers. It was the second execution of a child attributed to the Taliban in three months.

"If this is true and the age is right it is an unforgettable crime," said Haji Mohammed Anwar Khan, the head of Helmand provincial council.

"If someone is a child their mind is not considered sufficiently mature to be held responsible under Sharia law. This is just a crime and we condemn it."

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, also accused the Taliban of hanging a 15-year-old boy above a gas stove and lighting the flame beneath him, burning him alive, but it was unclear if he was referring to the same incident.

"Does anyone believe a human being can be so savage as to burn alive a 15-year-old boy?" Mr Karzai said.

Gulam Ali, the Sangin police chief, said Taliban fighters arrived at the home of Abdul Wassee in the village of Haji Nizamuddin on Wednesday night.

"They took him to a small garden about 200 metres away," Commander Ali said. "There was a mulberry tree and he was hanged by the neck from the branches of the tree. The Taliban claimed the boy was a spy for the British."

The incident occurred in an area frequently rocked by roadside bomb attacks on British and Afghan forces.

"Often when the Taliban put the bombs, local people were informing us," the commander said. "We do have spies in the area and that is how we were able to clear the bombs.

"But this boy was not one of our spies. There was no trial of the boy. They just took him and hanged him. He was just a normal boy."

Commander Ali's account of the killing was corroborated by provincial officials in Helmand and senior police.

But Ahmad Muslim, a mullah and Taliban commander operating in Helmand, denied his men were behind the hanging.

"The case of the boy is completely untrue. Do you think that we would do such a thing?" he said.

"Under Sharia law he is not mature. He cannot be hanged. It is possible someone has been hanged because of local enmities and it is blamed on the Taliban. Everything is blamed on the Taliban."

In September, Taliban fighters were accused of hanging a 15-year-old boy from an electricity pole in Sangin, after finding him in possession of five $1 bills and accusing him of collaboration with Western forces.

Taliban 'hanged boy, 12, for spying for UK' (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/09/wafg409.xml)

Turkey Investigates Alleged Ties Between Police, Alleged Killers of Christians

Saturday, December 08, 2007



ANKARA, Turkey —  Turkey has launched an investigation into alleged collusion between police officers and at least one of the suspects charged with killing three Christians earlier this year at a publishing house that produces Bibles, an official said Saturday.

Two senior police inspectors will be assigned to investigate whether any officers provided assistance to the suspects, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He did not provide further details.

The three Christians — a German and two Turks — were killed in the southern city of Malatya on April 18. The killings — in which the victims were tied up and had their throats slit — drew international condemnation and added to Western concerns about whether Turkey can protect its religious minorities.

Five people were arrested and charged with murder. The trial opened last month, but was quickly adjourned until Jan. 14 because defense attorneys requested more time to prepare their arguments.

The Interior Ministry decided to open an investigation after several newspapers published stories Saturday alleging cooperation between police and at least one of the suspects.

Radikal newspaper quoted two of the suspects, Abuzer Yildirim and Salih Guler, as saying in their testimonies that a third suspect Emre Gunaydin told them that he had met with police officials and learned about the locations of Christian churches in the city.

"I asked him who are the police chiefs that you are speaking to, he said: 'Don't ask, take it easy,"' Radikal quoted Yildirim as saying.

Similar allegations have also emerged after the January killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, who was detested by hardline nationalists because he described the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.

Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, insisting those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Critics have accused authorities of failing to act on reports of a plot to kill Dink but there has been no evidence that directly implicates any police or government officials in the slaying of Dink outside his office.

Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state" — a network of state agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime — periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the name of nationalism.

Christian leaders have said they are worried that nationalists are stoking hostility against non-Turks and non-Muslims by exploiting uncertainty over Turkey's place in the world.

The uncertainty — and growing suspicion against foreigners — has been driven by Turkey's faltering EU membership bid, a resilient Kurdish separatist movement and by increasingly vocal Islamists who see themselves — and Turkey — as locked in battle with a hostile Christian West.

Turkey Investigates Alleged Ties Between Police, Alleged Killers of Christians (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316208,00.html)

I find this fascinating but horribly false and hypocritical. There is no racial hostility or hatred involved at all, rather legal immigration versus illegal immigration. We are a melting pot of all races from around the world, and we came here legally.

If control of illegal immigration is somehow linked to racial hostility, MEXICO would be a thousand times more HOSTILE. In fact, they let in illegals when it serves their purposes, and those purposes would involve drugs and other criminal activity. However, illegals without prior approved criminal business to conduct with Mexico are dealt with very harshly. I wonder if Mexico considers itself to be racially hostile, especially considering the fact that their illegal immigration controls are a thousand times more harsh than ours is.

As far as I know, we've welcomed LEGAL immigrants from all over the world since the country was founded. I must add that many of them were from Mexico and were MOST WELCOME. We're all immigrants except the Native Indians, so what is all this racial hostility baloney?

UM? - I wonder if this is just a bunch of political baloney. YES! Dope, gun, and terrorist running might be getting difficult and effecting the incoming revenue to Mexico. Mexico doesn't have any guilt problems about enforcing their extremely harsh immigration policies EXCEPT FOR those involved in criminal enterprise. So, are we supposed to feel guilty for enforcing our puny immigration laws? NO!

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/randers/Muhammad.jpg)


Web Site Sells Teddy Bear Muhammad

Cute and uncommonly cuddly, babies and parents alike will warm up to the adorable features of this cloud-soft plush, Muhammad, says the ad.

The controversial teddy bear Muhammad, which nearly cost British teacher Gillian Gibbons her life, has been put up for sale on the web site as the ideal Christmas gift for only US$9.95.

An Arizona businessman, Mark Bold, thought up how to use the holiday hysteria and publicity from a British teacher in Sudan who was nearly sentenced to death for allowing her students to name their teddy bear Muhammad. Bold founded the web site via which he is selling the first world’s teddy bear officially named Muhammad. He will soon offer other articles for sale, such as t-shirts and other items.

There are not many things that bring a smile to children’s faces such as the teddy bear and if a child, a teacher or anybody else wants one named Muhammad, now they can have one, says a media statement.

Fighting for freedom of speech?

The web site owner says “he’s not the silly, willy, nilly old bear”, but the first teddy bear that is forging world history, upsetting radicals and the intolerant worldwide. 

Although to the superficial observer it may seem that this businessman is earning money of the misfortune of others and using the holiday fever for profit, as the said price is valid only before the holidays, the project does have a noble purpose.

‘Kids and adults of all ages should have the freedom to have a stuffed toy bear that can be given a common name, such as Muhammad, without fear,’ Mark Bold says.

The slogan of the project is “Supporting the Right to Bear Names”. One dollar from every teddy bear sold will go to the USO organisation for the support of American troops worldwide.

‘Satisfaction guaranteed’

“Of course there is some satire in all of this, but there is a much bigger truth; because of the recent events, the Teddy Bear named Muhammad story teaches us to stand up against intolerance, injustice and bigotry; and this little bear reminds us of this importance”, Mark says.

“To be threatened of execution, caning, imprisonment or even standing in a corner over this, the most common name in the world, is ridiculous.”

Wishing that everybody owns at least one of the teddy bears that “makes a profound statement”, the owner is offering a discount on five pieces. The teddy bear comes with button eyes and a brown nose and the owner claims “satisfaction guaranteed”. What the British teacher, who narrowly escaped the death penalty because of Muhammad teddy, thinks of this endeavour, is as yet unknown.

American Islamic Hamas Relief

Last month, this author exposed how the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a group tied to the financing of Hamas, has been “partnering” with the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), claiming to be providing aid to those affected by Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires. It has now been learned that another group said to be linked to Hamas, Islamic Relief, also has a working relationship with FEMA. Question: Has our government placed American disaster assistance into the hands of an overseas terrorist group?

Islamic Relief (IR) was founded in Birmingham, England in 1984. Since then, it has opened up offices around the world; hence its UK headquarters designation, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW). Today, it has subsidiaries located in over 30 countries, including the United States.

According to the group’s website, IR “seeks to promote sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities through relief and development programmes.” As noble as that sounds, the group has had a checkered past. In 1999, it was reported that IR had collected and sent over $6 million to Chechen rebels with ties to Al-Qaeda. The same year, IR received $50,000 from Human Concern International (HCI), a “charity” that the U.S. Department of Treasury described as a “Bin Laden front.” Shortly after the September 11th attacks, IR, itself, would be investigated by the Treasury Department, as a “possible source of funding for Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.”

In May of 2006, Israel labeled IR a Hamas front, after Israeli security services arrested the organization’s Program Manager for Gaza, Ayaz Ali, for providing assistance to the terror group. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IMFA): “[Ali] admitted to being a member of the UK-based Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), which is suspected of supporting Hamas... [H]e worked to transfer funds and assistance to various Hamas institutions and organizations, including the Al Wafa and Al Tzalah associations, which have been outlawed in Israel. He also admitted that he worked in Jordan and cooperated with local Hamas operatives.”

The founder and President of IR is Hani Al-Banna, a former trustee of Muslim Aid, a global “charity” based in London, England. While Al-Banna was associated with MA, the group was a “partner organization” to the Al-Salah Islamic Association, a Gaza-based entity that the U.S. Treasury Department designated a “Key Support Node for Hamas,” along with its Director, Ahmed Al-Kurd, who the U.S. government also designated a “terrorist.” As well, while Al-Banna was involved with MA, the group was a partner to organizations directly related to the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), including the Al-Khidmat Hospital based in Karachi.

Despite the group’s storied connections to entities found on the U.S. State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), IR has been allowed to operate within the United States.

Islamic Relief USA (IR-USA) is located in Buena Park, California, though it has regional offices based in Totowa, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. and Plano, Texas. The corporate address of IR-USA is in Burbank, California. It was incorporated in October of 1993, and the Registered Agent for the incorporation is listed as Kazbek Soobzokov, the former attorney for terror operative Wagdy Ghoneim. Ghoneim, who has just last year called for violence against Jews, was deported from the United States and refused entry into Canada after it was discovered that he was a member of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Not only is IR permitted to operate inside the United States, but the U.S. government is actually involved with the organization.

IR-USA has devoted an entire page on its website to discussing its dealings with Hurricane Katrina, the natural disaster that ravaged large parts of numerous states throughout the South. Under the header ‘Louisiana,’ it is written, “Islamic Relief is working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (our team has secured a desk at their headquarters in Baton Rouge), and now has access to all of its resources, including use of their inter-agency warehouse.”

In IR-USA’s 2006 “Special Edition” newsletter commemorating the 43rd Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) – an umbrella organization for mosques that was named by the U.S. government an “Unindicted Co-conspirator” for the 2007 Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial dealing with millions of dollars in Hamas fundraising – IR refers to FEMA as a “partner.” The newsletter states: “Working with partners such as the Second Harvest Food Bank and FEMA’s Voluntary Agency Warehouse, Islamic Relief has distributed essential goods such as food supplies, water, and other household items to hurricane victims.”

For its efforts, IR-USA has gained the praise of such noteworthy political figures as Senator Ted Kennedy and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, but by overlooking IR’s extremism, FEMA and the politicians are playing a dangerous game with the American public. And not only are these relationships problematic, but the “partnerships” that IR has with other militant Islamist groups has made the problem that much worse.

In September of 2005, in response to Hurricane Katrina, a coalition of major Islamist groups formed the Muslim Hurricane Relief Task Force (MHRTF). In addition to IR, the task force involved, amongst others, CAIR, which was created by Hamas; ICNA, which was involved in Hamas financing; and KindHearts, which was shut down for being a Hamas front.

The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) controls the finances of hundreds of mosques throughout the United States and Canada, including some of the most radical Muslim institutions. NAIT, like its sister organization ISNA, was named as an “Unindicted Co-conspirator” for the HLF trial that began this past July. At the same time NAIT was designated as such, the organization had on its website the following: “At the end of August 2005, NAIT organized a project aimed at restoration of Katrina-affected Islamic centers & schools in Louisiana and Mississippi... Islamic Relief USA joined NAIT in providing financial assistance to the affected centers.”

The above information is still found on NAIT’s site, which further states, “As of fall 2006, NAIT has conveyed formal approval of four grants for a total of $175,000 for the repair of three masajid [mosques] and one Islamic school.” Question: Where did these grants come from? Our government?

On October 11, 2001, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani refused a check for $10 million from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal that bin Talal had handed him for “disaster relief,” following the 9/11 attacks. The reason given for the refusal was that bin Talal had appended to the money statements that attempted to equate terrorists, such as the ones that attacked us, with how the Israeli government fights terrorism. Essentially the check came with a price that was completely unacceptable.

What price is our government paying for allowing Islamic Relief, a Muslim extremist group, to get involved as a “partner” to the government, when it comes to natural disasters, be it Katrina, California wildfires or anything else? And what price are we as Americans going to pay in the end? The American public must demand answers from FEMA, because it is obvious that FEMA, a division of Homeland Security, will not seek them on its own.

I found this article very informative and well worth the reading.


The Sunni-Shia War in America

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dave Gaubatz, the first Federal Agent (civilian) to enter Iraq in 2003. Currently the Director of the Mapping Shari'a Project and owner of Wahhabi Counter-terrorism publications, both of which provide first-hand intelligence for law enforcement and Counter-Terrorism professionals.

FP: I want to talk to you today, among other things, about the Sunni-Shia conflict that is now breaking out on our shores, but first let’s talk a about the Mapping Shari’a Project that you direct. What is it about?

Gaubatz: There are many organizations doing outstanding work helping our country in regards to counter-terrorism issues. Almost a year ago I was contacted by a man who had put the various strategies together and structured a project which may be our country’s last hope for saving America as we know/knew it. David Yerushalmi, an attorney involved in policy work for 25 years and president of the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE), is the person credited with the idea and methodological design of “Mapping Shari’a”. I am the Director of Field Operations and Intelligence for the Mapping Shari’a project.

The Mapping Shari’a project is not complicated and can really be summarized in a few sentences. It is both a law enforcement tool and a policy initiative. The project’s objective is to identify all 2300 plus Islamic Centers in the U.S. and determine through first-hand field research which centers advocate strict adherence to Shari’a Law (laws based on the interpretations of Allah and no other) and which centers advocate violent Jihad and the destruction of the West. The data is then be analyzed and put into a matrix. The project is a rigorously objective empirical investigation to test the thesis: That the driving doctrinal force behind Jihad is Shari’a. Indeed, if the thesis is validated, we expect to see a rigid one-to-one correlation between Shari’a adherence and the promotion of Jihad.

If strict Shari’a adherence is shown to be related (as many counter-terrorism believe) to a Jihadi threat, then it would be a violation of current US law, notably 18 U.S.C. 2385. For a more thorough understanding readers should refer to www.mappingsharia.com.

The Mapping Shari’a project is in full swing and we can report that after the first 100 mosques and day schools, the correlation between Shari’a adherence and the promotion of violence and Jihad against the West is exactly what one would expect.

It is important for people to understand that the Mapping Shari’a project is comprised of many professionals from various backgrounds and religions. The team had a former member of Jamaat Islamia (JI) assist in producing a rigorous objective matrix in regards to Shari’a adherence and the promotion of Jihad; we have former U.S. and Iraqi law enforcement, U.S., and Israeli military personnel. We are comprised of Christians, Muslim, and Jews. The team is working together to protect our country for our children and their children. The Mapping Shari’a project is designed to protect innocent people from ‘all religions’ from the violence driven by a legal code that is fixated on world domination and whose advocates, terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden and Abul Ala Maududi (founder of JI), have disciples spread throughout the world, including right here in the U.S.

FP: Ok, let’s discuss the Sunni versus Shia conflict in the U.S. – as there is all over the world on different levels. What significance and threat does this pose to us here?

Gaubatz: Jamie this question indicates FPM is light years ahead of most simply by asking this question. The majority of people do not even understand the significant differences between Sunni and Shia. Sadly, most of our Presidential candidates could not define them. Most Americans can’t identify which countries are predominately Sunni or which are Shia. Politicians, our military leaders, and every American should understand the majority of Sunni Muslims following ‘Pure Islam’ do not recognize the Shia people as being Muslim. They consider them to have departed from Islam and are considered apostates. The penalty for such apostasy as any Islamic scholar will expand and as the Sunni literature clearly states is death (i.e., abandoning the true religion of Islam). With an ideology such as this no one should be surprised of the fighting between the Sunni and Shia sects in Iraq. Nor should anyone be surprised we have obtained evidence indicating the same rift in the U.S. Keep in mind also that most Muslims are Sunni – about 80%. And while most Jihadists appear to be Sunni, we must keep in mind that one of the most extreme and violent renditions of Shari’a is the one currently promoted by the ruling Imams of Tehran.

In the U.S., the preliminary evidence of this internecine war is from direct conversations with Islamic leaders and the materials they are distributing, which is a by-product of our Mapping Shari’a project. Never in ‘Pure Islam’ will an apostate be accepted, trusted, or allowed to lead Muslims without it subsequently leading to violence. In Islam it is well understood that ‘all people’ were born Muslim, but due to problems in the “families”, many have not accepted Islam. The word ‘convert’ is used by many Islamic scholars as a political tool. In Islam the correct word is ‘revert’ – as in a reversion to one’s original faith.

FP: And the violence in this conflict has already started here hasn’t it?

Gaubatz: Yes. There are signs there has already been violence between Sunni and Shia people living in the U.S. Sunni and Shia sources developed by the Mapping Shari’a project have informed our team that there are many unsolved homicides in the U.S. and other violence that was related to the infighting between Sunni and Shia people. Michigan is an area ripe for violence between the two sects. The ramifications will be for the fighting to become more open and involve anyone considered to be an apostate from Islam.

I will use one example of the many we have found. Within approximately ten miles in a specific region in Utah, there are three Islamic centers which I personally researched. Two are Sunni and one was Shia.

* Khadeela Mosque, West Valley, UT (Sunni)

* Al-Rasool Mosque, SLC, UT (Shia)

* Masjid Noor , SLC, UT (Sunni)

The Sunni leaders in this area do not recognize the Shia people as being Muslim nor as representing Islam. They are considered apostates. As a result, the two Sunni mosques do not recognize the Shia people only a few blocks from them as Muslims. Printed material I obtained proves this, as well as conversations I had with Islamic leaders and members.

Note: On 12 Feb 2007, the Trolley Square shooting tragedy took place. The killer was identified as Sulejman Talovic. He had attended ‘Masjid Noor’. I spent several hours at Masjid Noor speaking with people, attending the prayer, and reviewing the material provided by the mosque leadership. Masjid Noor is Sunni, and the mosque and its leadership promote and distribute violent material. Just one of many examples is the following quote from literature provided at the mosque:

“The Wisdom in killing the Apostate. Islam is a complete methodology for life. It is a religion, and a government, a worship, a leadership, a Holy Book, a sword, a soul, a material, a world, and a hereafter. It is built on the reason and the logic.”

FP: Shed some light for us on U.S. Islamic scholars that are advocating violence in U.S. What can we do about this?

Gaubatz: I will limit this to two Islamic scholars in the U.S. since the research is still ongoing.

cont'd

* Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Brooklyn, NY. He lectures throughout the U.S., has been invited by police organizations to speak, by Congress, and travels throughout the Middle East.

* Wahhaj has lectured during his prayers that America is the worst country in the world. He followed up with a statement informing his audience to begin recruiting gang members from the streets, bring them inside the mosque and give them Islam, then send them back on the streets with Uzis.

* Wahhaj has been invited to speak to law enforcement groups. Afterwards in his lectures he mocks them and tells his members the police are non-believers and should never be trusted.

* Step by step guide books are provided to Muslims pertaining on what to do if ever interviewed by the police, FBI, or other U.S. agencies. The title is “What should you do if you are arrested or framed by the racist, fascist, criminal police? Or the racist, fascist, criminal FBI.” The guide refers to our law enforcement as terrorists. The guide is 80 pages and subsequently informs Muslims to go ‘underground’ if suspected of a crime.

I visited this mosque and obtained the material as evidence. Researchers spoke to leaders of this mosque. Wahhaj is an un-indicted coconspirator of the 1993 WTC bombings.

* Ahmad Sakr: He lectures throughout the U.S. in large part on Shari’a for Muslims in the U.S. He has tapes of his speeches distributed to Islamic day schools throughout the U.S., the audience of which is elementary, middle, and high school age Muslim students. One of his many messages is “Do not follow the U.S. Constitution or the laws of Congress. Only follow Shari’a law. If you follow the US law you will go to ‘hell’ because you will be guilty of “shirk” or polytheism. In Saudi Arabia, the application of the Shari’a criminal code has led to at least one accused “polytheist” to be executed. Specifically, Sakr tells his young American Muslim listeners that members of Congress will go to hell because they have man-made laws which are meant to override Allah’s laws. Sakr’s tapes are still being sold and provided to Muslims. I have one as evidence as well that our Mapping Shari’a project found at an Islamic day school in Atlanta.

FP: What kind of trouble are the Saudis up to here in the U.S. lately?

Gaubatz: The Saudis are providing material to Islamic scholars that advocate violence against non-Muslims. We have been provided (by Islamic scholars) material stamped by the Saudi Ministry which calls for an Islamic nation worldwide under Shari’a law.

It is the objective of the Mapping Shari’a team to only obtain first-hand evidence. In late Oct 2007, I contacted the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Islamic Affairs section, Washington, DC. I requested specific material, one of which was a booklet which was edited by a convicted terrorist who now sits in federal prison. The book is used by most Sunni mosques as recommended reading for one to understand Islam. Again the editor is a person who was convicted in U.S. Federal court of advocating terrorism against the U.S. He is serving 70 years plus life. Why would the Saudi Government distribute this book as an example of Islam? I have additional information that the Saudi Government is actively distributing this book to all public libraries and universities throughout the U.S.

On 1 Nov 2007, I received a package from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. The guide book by the convicted terrorist was inside.

FP: Is our law enforcement prepared to protect America?

Gaubatz: We have the best and most courageous law enforcement in the world, but sadly they are neither trained nor prepared to proactively fight terrorism. Responding to a terrorist event (being reactive) is not fighting terrorism. Once you respond, you have lost. It does not matter how many people get in front of the television (politicians, law enforcement, firefighters, and military leaders) and shake each others hands and congratulate each other on how well the response was carried out. When we are terrorized we have accepted an assault on our liberty and have destroyed the future for our children. We should all hang our heads at this time and be very humble. We lost the fight, and the terrorists beat us. I do not exclude myself. I was a Federal Agent (1811) CT specialist on 1 Sept. 2001. In 2001 I knew little about what I really had to know about CT and how to be proactive. I dedicated my life to insure I would do everything I could to prevent our children from having to suffer another attack.

This meant an enormous amount of hard work, but I did it and continue to do so. I have studied more than 1000 books published by Islamic scholars, listened to hundreds of hours of their lectures and prayers. I have visited mosques in most major cites so I can understand more. I understand not all Muslims embrace Shari’a as so many U.S. Islamic scholars have. One example of this is the fact that we employ highly trained Muslims as field researchers. The Muslims on our team do not want to live in an Islamic nation under Shari’a law. They recognize the sanctity of this nation as a constitutional republic.

During our visits to several law enforcement departments it has become very evident they are not prepared to, nor are they allowed to proactively fight terrorism. Our law enforcement need to be inside the Islamic Centers obtaining first-hand intelligence and they need to study the same manuals (I am not referring to the Quran) the terrorists utilize. They are readily available in the U.S.

But the problem is that law enforcement cannot get into the mosques without probable cause. Further, when even the highly advanced New York Police Department conducts an exhaustive study on homegrown Jihadist recruitment and publishes a 90-page study, the NYPD simply ignores the role of Shari’a and the importance of Shari’a adherence in what it calls “the radicalization” process. The NYPD ignores Shari’a not because it is not obviously a threat to US national security, but because political correctness forbids them from saying what they all know to be true.

I will end by stressing one point. Our government intelligence agencies are recruiting for Arabic/Farsi translators from the same centers that put out the book informing their members never to follow U.S. laws over Shari’a law, and call our FBI and police officers terrorists. One piece of evidence I obtained in NY was a U.S. government brochure recruiting translators; next to this brochure was the guide book calling the FBI racist and fascist. There is little doubt (per direct information to me by people working on translations for our government) that US federal agencies have hired translators that are not loyal to America, and are providing false translations or are collecting intel for their Jihadist brethren.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia Attempt Another Fatah-Hamas Unity Government
2 Tevet 5768, December 11, '07
by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) For the second time in less than a year, leaders of two major Arab nations are working hard to bring the Fatah and Hamas terrorist factions together in a new unity Palestinian Authority unity government.

Officials in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are again attempting to convince leaders of both PA factions to reconcile their differences, according to a report published Sunday in Haaretz.

Hamas politburo chief and arch-terrorist Khaled Mashaal recently traveled to Saudi Arabia to discuss the breakdown in talks between his faction and that of PA chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Egyptian officials are doing their part by trying to arrange a meeting between Hamas and Fatah factions to be held later this month, according to senior PA sources in Judea and Samaria.

Various PA sources have said quietly for weeks that efforts were being made on both sides to reconcile differences between Fatah and Hamas to bring the two rival factions together again.

The last PA unity government, established in March after weeks of cajoling by Arab leaders that ended with outright arm-twisting by Saudi Arabian King Adbullah, lasted less than a day before loyalists of both factions were back at each other's throats.

That deal came after more than a year of internecine bloodshed that followed a landslide victory by the Islamist Hamas terrorist group, who ousted the ruling Fatah faction in PA elections January 2006.  International leaders refused to recognize the Hamas-ruled government, and froze funding to the PA until Hamas would renounce terrorism, formally acknowledge the State of Israel's right to exist, and agree to uphold deals previously negotiated by rival factions within the PA.

Hamas has not fulfilled these conditions, and has staunchly remained true to its vow never to recognize Israel.  Gaza descended into total anarchy, and was eventually taken over by Hamas. Fatah retained control of Judea and Samaria.

In response, Abbas declared an emergency PA government, ousting Hamas. Millions of dollars that were frozen when Hamas took over the PA suddenly flowed in from the USA, Israel and other Western nations.  Millions more dollars, hundreds of thousands of new weapons and more than a year of training for PA security forces by senior American military officials have been provided by the Bush administration to prop up the Abbas government as well.

Abbas vowed, in return, to keep Hamas out of the government.

Hamas is now trying to establish its own relationship with the USA.  Haniyeh advisor Ahmed Yousef has reportedly sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for talks. "We are not anti-American, anti-European or anti-anyone," claimed Yousef in his letter.  "Our party is the legitimately elected party. You owe it to your sense of fairness to engage meaningfully with all relevant parties to the conflict."

Yousef said it was "amusing" that USA Secretary of State Rice had expressed sympathy for Israeli victims of Hamas bombings, arguing that Israel was to blame for the violence.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia Attempt Another Fatah-Hamas Unity Government (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124520)

Algeria bombers were two freed but convicted terrorists

TWO convicted terrorists who had been freed in an amnesty carried out the suicide bombings in Algeria that killed 37 people, a security official said.

One was a 64-year-old man in the advanced stages of cancer.

The other was a 32-year-old from a poor suburb that has produced many Islamic militants.

The security official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak.

The Government has offered amnesties to try to end a 15-year Islamic insurgency, resulting in thousands of militants turning themselves in but sparking fierce criticism from victims' families.

Al-Qaida's self-styled North African branch has claimed responsibility for the twin truck bombings on Tuesday, which came 10 minutes apart.

Victims included United Nations staff from around the world, police officers and law students.

US President George W. Bush called Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to discuss the attacks and offer his condolences, press secretary Dana Perino said.

"President Bush reiterated his commitment to continuing US counter-terrorism co-operation in North Africa to bring the perpetrators to justice," Ms Perino said.

The Interior Ministry raised the death toll to 37, saying six more bodies had been found in the rubble of the UN offices.

In a posting on a militant website, al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa said the UN offices were "the headquarters of the international infidels' den".

The Algerian security official identified the older bomber, who struck the UN offices, as Chebli Brahim, who was suffering from cancer and had lost two sons to army crackdowns on militants.

Brahim was a member of the Muslim fundamentalist party Islamic Salvation Front, arrested after the Government banned the party, the official said.

The younger bomber, who blew up the Constitutional Council building, was identified as Charef Larbi, from a poor Algiers suburb.

He had been arrested for "supporting terrorist groups" and imprisoned in 2004.

Upon release last year, he went into hiding with militants.

Insurgents have largely focused on symbols of the military-backed Government. The strike against the UN signalled a change in tactics.

Marie Heuze, chief spokeswoman for UN offices in Geneva, said 11 UN staffers died and five were missing.

It was the deadliest single attack against the UN since August 2003, when its Baghdad headquarters was hit by a truck laden with explosives, killing 22 including the top UN envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

It was blamed on a group that later affiliated with al-Qaida.

Seven survivors have been pulled from beneath concrete chunks. One woman's legs were amputated.

Algeria's insurgency broke out in the early 1990s, when the army cancelled the second round of the country's first multi-party elections to prevent likely victory by an Islamic fundamentalist party.

Islamist armed groups then turned to force to overthrow the Government. Up to 200,000 people were killed in the ensuing violence.

Until recently the insurgency had been dying out, as militant ranks dwindled after military crackdowns and amnesty offers.

However late last year, the main Algerian militant group changed its name to al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa and began waging larger-scale bombings.

These people are cruel, ruthless killers and this is just one more of many examples that it does no good to give them anything, that they are going to continue in their killing no matter what is given them.

'Mosque' uncovered on college campus
'For all practical purposes, this is essentially a Muslim prayer room'

A Minnesota community college has "a Muslim place of worship" featuring "a schedule for Islam's five daily prayers," according to a local newspaper columnist who visited the campus.

Tax-supported Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., also has a "sign requesting that shoes be removed" and a barrier that divides men's and women's "prayer spaces," writes Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

College officials denied it was anything more than a "meditation" room available for "all faiths."

The description of the facility, however, led one faculty member to tell Kersten the room is "unprecedented" and "goes beyond religious toleration."

"For all practical purposes, this meditation room is essentially a Muslim prayer room," said Chuck Chalberg of Normandale's history faculty.

WND has reported on "accommodations" for Muslims in public institutions, such as schools and airports, and the outrage triggered by the expenditure of public funds on a religion-specific facility.

At Normandale, Kersten reported, an "arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces."

She reported college officials converted a racquetball court into a "meditation" room during remodeling of some school facilities, which held another "meditation" room for students' use.

Her description continues:

    A row of chest-high barriers splits the room into sex-segregated sections. In the smaller, enclosed area for women sits a pile of shawls and head-coverings. Literature titled "Hijaab [covering] and Modesty" was prominently placed there, instructing women on proper Islamic behavior.

    They should cover their faces and stay at home, it said, and their speech should not "be such that it is heard."

    "Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam," the tract read in part. "It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews."

    "[T]he Jews and the Christians" are described as "the enemies of Allaah's religion."

    The document adds: "Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people."

    A poster on the room's door advertised a local lecture on "marriage from an Islamic perspective," with "useful tips for marital harmony from the Prophet's ... life." Other fliers invited students to join the Normandale Islamic Forum, or participate in Ramadan celebrations.

    One thing was missing from the meditation room: evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah.

Normandale President Joe Opatz did not take a reporter's call with questions, instead deferring to college spokesman Geoff Jones, who said the article is "not accurate."

Jones said the school is open to "diversity in terms of beliefs, values and cultural backgrounds."

The room, he said, was "created for use by any person for meditation purposes."

Jones confirmed it does have a partition that partially divides the room "that is something that was placed there."

But he denied there are any brochures, information or religious symbols or representations in the room.

"When I visited the room … there were no postings other than announcing it was a meditation room," Jones said.

"We've always sought to have persons of all cultures and backgrounds welcome here. As such we have student clubs and speakers from the community … that promote the dialogue and the discourse," he said.

"As a public institution, we have a responsibility to allow freedom of speech and freedom of religion. This is America," said Jones.

But he also confirmed there is no set schedule for the various groups to use the room.

"It's just been the ebb and flow [of meetings]," he said.

Opatz, on his website welcome to the school, called Normandale the "crown jewel" of the community college system.

He suggested the "clubs, student government, recreational sports and other organizations" provide "a winning combination for a lasting success."

The school website lists the Baha'I Club, Campus Crusade for Christ, College Democrats, Dental Hygiene, Ethiopian Student Union, Gay & Straight Student Alliance, Latter-day Saint Student Association, Muslim Student Association, Oromo Student Union, Somali Student Association and other special interest groups active on campus.

Kersten wrote that her visit to the meditation room revealed literature titled, "Hijaab [covering] and modesty,]" and instructions that women's "speech should not 'be such that it is heard.'"

"Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam," said a tract she said. "It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews."

She noted the document said, "Jews and the Christians" are "the enemies of Allaah's religion. … Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people."

Ralph Anderson, dean of student affairs, told Kersten the college not only prepared the room but also posted signs at the room's entrance asking students to remove their shoes, which is a Muslim custom.

Anderson called it, "basically a courtesy to Muslim students."

He also told her the room is divided by sex, because "Muslim students prefer that. …"

Anderson refused to respond to questions about such segregation in a public facility.

"I don't want to comment on that," he said.

Chad Lunaas, a former student at the school, told Kersten he frequently on Fridays would discover that "every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet."

He said he was intimidated by Muslims who "seemed to be in charge."

The student also said Muslims took over the meditation room.

"They made people who are not of the Muslim religion feel very uncomfortable, especially if they were female," he said.

Comments on Kersten's column blog were vehement.

"Each and every time this topic comes up I see my former Liberal friends compromising their principles of 'Separation of Church and State' by supporting the open display of religion in public places when it concerns any religion other the Christianity," said on. "Again, if you are against the public display of religion you are against ALL public displays of religion, PERIOD."

Another poster asked, "Why is a publicly funded instituion (sic) providing any accomodation (sic) for any religion on its campus? If you want religious accommodation (sic), go to a private educational institution that will accomodate (sic) this religion."

WND also has reported on a decision by officials at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., to appoint a practicing Hindu to head the college's religion department.

The issue of Muslim accommodations in public facilities such as airports already has attracted attention in Indianapolis, Phoenix and several other locations.

In a letter to Indianapolis officials, Rev. Jerry Hillenberg of Hope Baptist Church asked for a meeting over plans being developed by the airport authority to install footbaths on the airport property.

"I still desire to speak personally with you about this issue. It cannot go unchallenged and unattended to," he wrote. "It remains a concern of the public at large, and certainly is a concern of this pastor and our congregation.

"All of the input that we have received from the citizens of this city, county, surrounding counties, across the country, and around the world; has run 10 to one against the installation of these religious implements," he said.

"Most realize that public property, owned by the taxpayers, cannot be used by Christians for religious displays or implements of their religiosity. Then, the question amongst them becomes: Why can it be used for Muslims?"

More proof that we are not living in the United States of AMERICA anymore.
How can our government and our own citizens be so foolish as to give away our own country to who ever wants it.  They are letting our country slip through our own fingers.
Our own Christian beliefs and Bible are not allowed in our schools, but any other religion is welcome to it.
Excuse me while I step outside to spit.

In the past we have already seen our own countrymen burning our flag in some protest or another.  I suppose next that will become legal and even futher we will be raising up Muslim, Islam, etc flags around the white house!!

Boy, has this article got my dander up this morning!

Next it will be illegal to speak English here!

That time is coming soon.

Al-Qaida targets
Pakistan nukes 
Bin Laden eyes his best shot at seizing power,
grabbing weapons, says West Point publication

Osama bin Laden's quest for a nuclear weapons arsenal now focuses on al-Qaida efforts to destabilizing Pakistan, plunging the nation into civil war, seizing power in conjunction with other radical jihadists and grabbing control of the world's first Islamic bombs, according to a report in a West Point anti-terrorism journal.

Writing in the Combating Terrorism Center's Sentinel, a new publication of the U.S. military academy, Bruce Riedel, a former senior U.S. official now with the Brookings Institution, says Pakistan represents the "real front line in the war against al-Qaida."

The most frightening part of advances by Islamists confronting the government of Perves Musharraf is the determination of al-Qaida to obtain nuclear weapons.

Al-Qaida has been pursuing nuclear weapons for more than a decade, according to former CIA Director George Tenet.

"Today, [al-Qaida] has a secure operating base in the country, its leadership is issuing constant guidance to its global supporters, it is threatening NATO's position in Afghanistan through its Taliban allies, and it is now a growing force in Pakistan itself," writes Riedel. "The current political crisis in Pakistan is endangering the secular democratic forces in the country, polarizing the debate about the country's future and strengthening al-Qaida's Islamist partners."

Riedel reports both bin Laden and his No. 2 commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, could well be in any of Pakistan's remote areas, out of control of government forces.

"From Baluchistan to Kashmir, much of western Pakistan is sympathetic to al-Qaida's message and remains an open field where they can operate," wrote Riedel. "Even in the urban areas, al-Qaida operatives have been able to attack key targets, including military posts, with increasingly deadly results."

Al-Qaida, Riedel writes, "seeks to destroy the secular political leadership and civil society that offers an alternative to its extremist Salafist Islamic preaching. Al-Qaida's goal in Pakistan is to polarize the country into warring factions, break the back of civil and secular society and ultimately see its allies in the Pakistani Islamist movement seize power."

Muslim pilgrims stone wall, cut hair at haj
Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:06pm IST
By Jonathan Wright

MINA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Muslim pilgrims threw pebbles at a stone wall outside Mecca, shaved their heads and bought sacrificial animals on Wednesday, the third day of the annual haj pilgrimage to the Mecca area.

Many arrived for the pebble-throwing ritual with swollen feet and sore legs after walking about 20 km during the night, stopping for a few hours of sleep in the rough in the Muzdalifa area, where they collected at least 49 small stones.

They were coming from the plain of Arafat, where the haj reached its climax on Tuesday afternoon, a period of waiting and private prayer.

On Wednesday most settled in for a two-night stay in the Mina area and the atmosphere was more festive than devotional. The day is the first day of Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice.

The Saudi government has built a vast tent city on every available piece of flat land around Mina but some pilgrims prefer to camp in the rocky hills or by the side of the road.

After the three main duties, many male pilgrims took off the two pieces of white cloth they put on when they entered a state of ritual purity on Monday morning.

The stone-throwing ritual has been the most dangerous stage in an event which has seen a series of tragic accidents in recent years, as easy air travel and increasing prosperity add to the pressure on Saudi Arabia to grant more pilgrim visas.

More than 1.6 million people entered Saudi Arabia for the event this year, about the same as last year. With pilgrims from inside the country -- Saudi and foreign workers -- the total number is well over 2 million; some Saudi media said 3 million.

On Wednesday pilgrims had the choice of three walkways to approach the stone and concrete wall, a modernised version of what used to be a stone pillar. The ritual represents defiance of the devil and commitment to resisting his temptations.

The Saudi authorities have added the two upper levels to relieve crowding on the ground level, where 362 pilgrims died in the crush in January 2006, the worst haj tragedy in 16 years.

In previous years the haj has seen fires, hotel collapses, police clashes with protesters trying to politicise the event and deadly stampedes caused by overcrowding.

VEHCILES AND PEDESTRIANS

Saudi media said hundreds of thousands of people had moved smoothly across the Jamarat Bridge throughout the day on Wednesday without incident. But not all the pilgrims were happy.

Fadel Marhoon, an Islamic studies teacher from Bahrain, said the new walls or pillars, known in Arabic as the jamarat, were so big that pilgrims often threw their stones from afar, endangering those in front of them.

"If you go close and then turn back when you're finished, you might get hit in the face," he said.

Abbas Mubarak, a Shi'ite Muslim from Ahsa in eastern Saudi Arabia, said Shi'ites had to cope with the most severe crowding at the lower level because their clerics have decreed that throwing pebbles from the upper levels does not count.

The two pilgrims criticised the crowding of vehicles in the Muzdalifa area overnight, which made it hard for pedestrians to walk towards Mecca. Drivers had trouble too, some spending 12 hours between Arafat and Mina.

At Mina, barbers set up shop in the street to shave the heads of the most enthusiastic pilgrims. Other pilgrims made do with a severe haircut.

Most pilgrims do not see the animals they buy for slaughter. They buy a coupon from a kiosk and trust that the Saudi authorities will oversee the process of killing the beast and shipping it abroad for distribution to the poor. Sheep, cows and camels are the usual choices.

This year the jamarat opened at midnight and some pilgrims reached Mecca in the early hours of the morning. There they carried out the same rituals they performed earlier in the process -- walking seven times around the stone shrine called the Kaaba and seven times along a nearby walkway.

They have to go back to the jamarat on Thursday and Friday for further stoning ceremonies.

Muslim pilgrims stone wall, cut hair at haj (http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-31052120071219?sp=true)

Disavowal of Pagans ceremony in Arafat Desert
Arafat Desert, Saudi Arabia, Dec 18, IRNA

Iran-ubgone86-Ceremony
Disavowal of Pagans ritual started in this sacred desert on Tuesday attended by a huge group of Iranian pilgrims.

The pilgrims chanted anti-US and anti-Zionist slogans during the ceremony also attended by the Supreme Leader's representative for ubgone86 affairs, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri.

"God is Great," "There is no Deity but Allah," "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" were among the slogans chanted by the masses in unison as they gathered in the Desert of Arafat, 20 km (12 miles) from Mecca, for a day of prayer and meditation.

The faithful -- men clad in two-piece seamless white shrouds and women all covered except for their hands and faces to symbolize equality -- converged on Arafat by bus and on foot from the tent city of Mina, where they spent the night.

The Supreme Leader's message for the Haj pilgrims is to be read by Reyshahri during the ceremony.

A resolution will be issued by the pilgrims at the end of the ceremony.

Disavowal of Pagans ceremony in Arafat Desert (http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-24/0712186451110128.htm)

Philosophy of Haj based on global government - Ahmadinejad
Mena, Saudi Arabia, Dec 20, IRNA

Ahmadinejad-ubgone86-Address
IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday on Al-Adha Eid Day in Saudi Arabia philosophy of Haj can be defined merely through considering Islam's aim at establishment of a global government.

President Ahmadinejad who had attended the gathering of Iranian Haj pilgrims at the Supreme Leader's Mecca Headquarter focused in his address over the significance of major Haj rituals, the philosophy behind them, and their ultimate objectives.

He said, "If we would delete the ultimate objective of establishing a global system from the Haj rituals, the remainder would be deeds devoid of a soul."
Upon President Ahmadinejad's arrival in Mena, he was received by the Emir al-Haaj of the Iranian Haj pilgrims Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri and members of the Supreme Leader's Mecca Headquarters.

Philosophy of Haj based on global government - Ahmadinejad (http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-24/0712207208004919.htm)

I think somewhere deep down a lot of muslims know that their religion is empty. They follow it because that's all they are surrounded with and they don't have anything else to cling to, hoping it will all make sense one day or they will feel close to God one day if they just do everything right. The religious leaders fill this emptiness with hatred to divert people from questioning their faith, learning the truth of their "holy" books, and educating themselves on Jesus. If they do overcome their hate, religious leaders keep dangling a carrot, that if they just keep doing what they are doing their void will be filled and they will know peace. They just have to hang on a little longer.

Sadly, they never find peace and carry that emptiness their whole lives, as long as they deny Jesus Christ.

Hamas aired radio broadcast from the Temple Mount
December 19, 2007

Hamas aired its radio broadcast from the Temple Mount Wednesday while Jews and Christians were banned by the Israeli government from ascending the Mount for fear of offending Muslims on the holiday of Ein ul-Adhaa.

The day was also the Jewish fast day of the Tenth of Tevet, which commemorates the start of the siege of Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the First Temple during the reign of the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar.

Jewish organizations and Temple Mount activist groups were planning mass visits to the Temple Mount Wednesday morning during the fast, but they were informed by the Israeli police that the Mount would be closed to non-Muslims that day.

Due to Israeli restrictions at Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount is open to non-Muslims only Sundays through Thursdays for a few hours in the morning and afternoon, and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Wakf, the Mount’s Islamic custodians. Non-Muslims are banned by Israeli law from praying at the site.

Meanwhile, the Hamas broadcast of morning prayers and sermons from the Mount’s Al Aksa Mosque was aired on Al Aksa radio, Hamas’s official radio network. The network routinely broadcasts sermons and speeches from Hamas leaders and Hamas-affiliated sheiks calling for the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews.

Asked if the police approved the Hamas broadcast, Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmulik Ben Ruby told WorldNetDaily, "As far as I know, the Israeli police is not engaged with this issue."

According to Palestinian security sources speaking to WND, Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds radio used technicians from the Voice of Palestine, the official radio network of the Palestinian Authority, to facilitate the Temple Mount broadcasts, even though the program is not aired on PA radio. The Voice of Palestine has a permit to broadcast from the Mount.

More Temple Mount News

In spite of long-standing denials by top officials, the Israeli government in 2000 agreed to relinquish the Temple Mount – Judaism’s holiest site – to the Palestinians during U.S.-backed negotiations, according to declassified documents made public last week.

The  Israeli government documents, first published by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, stated that during U.S.-led negotiations in 2000 at Camp David, then-prime minister Ehud Barak agreed sovereignty over the Temple Mount would be either "ambiguous" or that control would be determined based on the bond of each party to the site. The Palestinians would therefore control the upper sections of the Mount, which houses the Al Aksa Mosque and also is the site of the First and Second Jewish Temples.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this month denied that talks started at November’s Annapolis summit would lead to Israel giving up its sovereignty over the Temple Mount – although a chief Palestinian negotiator told WND that the Jewish state had already agreed to forfeit Judaism’s holiest site to a coalition of Arab countries.

"What Olmert said [regarding the Mount] is absolutely false. I think he’s not yet ready to tell the Israeli public and is waiting for the right time, and he fears his coalition with religious extremists will fall apart if he announces it now," said the negotiator.

In Exchange For Funding...

The Palestinian Authority has concocted a scheme to fool international donors who pledged $7.4 billion at a funding conference yesterday into believing the PA is carrying out required security reforms, according to security sources and information obtained by WND.

Global donors pledged the massive sum at a conference in Paris this week to bolster Abbas following last month’s U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.

A statement from the European Union noted that a large portion of international aid was specifically conditioned to fund Abbas’s implementation of a Palestinian Reform and Development Plan, which primarily calls for PA security forces to be unified under one command instead of functioning as a series of militias, and for the PA to trim its overall forces on the payroll by 30,000 gunmen.

But according to security and political sources speaking to WND, the PA has put into place a series of moves designed to make it appear that it was trimming its security forces while in some cases actually enlarging its militias.

The sources said the PA will transfer about 10,000 gunmen to the payroll of other Palestinian ministries. The estimated 10,000 gunmen will remain in the PA security forces but will simply collect a paycheck from a different ministry instead of the internal security ministry.

The PA, meanwhile, is planning to expand its security forces by hiring about 15,000 more Palestinian gunmen, including thousands of members of Fatah’s Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades terror group, according to security sources.

Targeting Christians in Lebanon

Last week’s deadly bombing targeting a top Lebanese army general was a bid by anti-government elements to destabilize the country and delay presidential elections, and may be part of a general campaign to intimidate Lebanon’s Christian population, former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel told this column during an exclusive interview.

The blast, the latest in a string of political assassinations to rock Lebanon, killed a top Lebanese Army general. Gemayel noted that it was "very strange" that almost all recent bombings occurred in Christian neighborhoods.

"Maybe this could lead to a situation where Christians feel threatened. There are some Islamist groups here that would like to target Christians," he said.

A recent study in Lebanon found 30 percent of the country’s Christian population is working actively to emigrate. And according to several reports, nearly 600,000 Christians departed Lebanon the past 16 years.

Christians previously made up the majority of Lebanon’s population, but recent surveys indicate that Muslims now constitute a solid majority, with 60 percent. The Shia sect, represented by the Hizbullah militia, is Lebanon’s largest Muslim community.

Hamas aired radio broadcast from the Temple Mount (http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=27289&mode=a&sectionid=1&contentname=Quick_Takes%3A_%3Ci%3ENews_From_Israel_You_May_Have_Missed%3C%2Fi%3E&recnum=0)

Turkish Muslim Columnist: The Jew is a Curse, Runs US

(IsraelNN.com) Fahri Guven of the Islamist Turkish daily Milli Gazete quoted in his column the following excerpts from a recently published book by M. Ertugrul Duzdag and Ali Ulvi Kurucu presenting them as historical truths that every Muslim must take into account (translated by MEMRI):

“The Jew is a curse. If you enter a war against the Jew you end up fighting powerful nations behind him. If you try to make peace, years pass with no result. He lies 70 lies. It is not surprising that America supports Israel. It is because America is a province of Israel! Last century it was god-damned Britain that was under [Jew’s] command, this century they made the U.S. their servant…Don’t forget the Russian revolution. The only non-Jew was Stalin but his wife was Jewish. Karl Marks was a Jewish psychopath. Behind the Free Mason’s that played a role in every revolution is Jewish power and intelligence. The Jew wants to rule the world, and step by step, he is advancing towards his goal of destroying faith, respect, love, honor, family values in the world.

“The Zionist organization, exaggerated what was done to the Jews at the time of Hitler; created a genocide balloon; blew into it hard enough so it could fly. He blew it to ten, fifty, hundred times more than what it really was. Then they [Jews] made this the subject of thousands of novels, plays and films. Who would have believed a hundred years ago? But here it is now; a Jewish state in the midst of Muslims like an abscess."

"Look at Armenia. This too will become tomorrow’s Israel. It was built by Christians to severe the ties between Turkey and the Muslim Turkish world and it will grow. It will be the roadblock between Turkey and Azarbaycan and the rest of the Turkic world."

Turkish Muslim Columnist: The Jew is a Curse, Runs US (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/138300)

King Abdullah invites President Ahmadinejad for Haj

CNN-IBN
Wed, Dec 19, 2007

New Delhi: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the first President of Shia-dominated Iran to make the expedition to Sunni-governed Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian President is in Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz, a close ally of the US.

Over 17 lakh pilgrims from 181 different countries have travelled to Saudi Arabia for the Haj this year, according to official reports, an increase of 3 per cent from 2006.

Ahmadinejad had said at a press conference a few weeks ago that he would go to the Haj if invited.

“It is only respectful to respond positively to an invitation from a brother,'' he had said.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries – incidentally, all Sunni nations and all US allies – had expressed some worries over Shia-dominated Iran’s increasing influence in the region.

According to news agency The Associated Press, King Abdullah’s invitation reflected a readiness on the part of Saudi Arabia to reach out to its prickly neighbour.

King Abdullah invites President Ahmadinejad for Haj (http://www.ibnlive.com/news/king-abdullah-invites-president-ahmadinejad-for-haj/54497-2.html)

Abu Yahya Al-Libi Calls on Muslim Youth to Join the Jihad

On December 19, 2007, the Islamist forum Al-Ekhlaas, hosted by NOC4Hosts Inc. in Florida, USA, posted a 41-minute video address by Al-Qaeda Shari'a Council head Abu Yahya Al-Libi. The video, produced by the Al-Qaeda media company Al-Sahab, apparently comes in response to the growing hostility in Iraq towards foreign jihad fighters, and the rising tension between these fighters and the local mujahideen. Al-Libi explains that when an enemy invades an Islamic country and its people are unable to repel it, it is the duty of Muslims from neighboring countries to come to their aid. He also warns the Muslims not to heed apostates, misguided clerics and other "allies of Satan" who try to discourage them from joining the jihad.

"Were our Muslim brothers in Iraq able to drive out the occupier?... Were our brother mujahideen in Afghanistan able to repel their enemy? For the past six years, they have been fighting and struggling with mixed success, and how many martyrs have fallen?...

"Oh youth of the [Islamic] ummah, rush to the aid of your brothers in Iraq, Somalia, Algeria and Chechnya! Pay no heed to the dubious claims that Satan puts in the mouths of his allies…"

Abu Yahya Al-Libi Calls on Muslim Youth to Join the Jihad (http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/4199.htm)

No Country can Pressure Iran

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- India voiced support for Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy, and said "no country can put pressure" on Tehran in that respect.
   

India's Foreign secretary Mr. Shivshankar Menon, whose country seeks establishment of strategic partnership with the oil-rich Iran, said following his talks in Tehran on expansion of ties in energy and other fields that the issue of Iran's nuclear program should be investigated "only" by the IAEA.

Seeking upgradation of Indo-Iranian ties, which have not been "satisfactory" over the past two years, Tehran said that the two countries should not allow "any foreign powers" to harm their bilateral relations, in an apparent reference to the USA.

"India supports Iran's right to use peaceful nuclear energy," Mr. Menon said.

"No country can put pressure on Tehran in that respect," said the foreign secretary, who was here on a three-day visit for Foreign Office consultations.

Amid threats against Iran by the US, India has been voicing its opposition to use of "coercive" means and maintained that the nuclear row should be resolved through dialogue under the IAEA framework.

Mr. Menon, who held talks with foreign minister Mr. Manouchehr Mottaki and deputy foreign minister Mr. Mahdi Safari during his visit, described Iran as a "factor of stability and security in the region".

He said India and Iran were "important and stable governments" which can help increase stability in the region by establishing strong ties.

"India is interested in establishing a strategic partnership with Iran in the areas of energy and transport," Mr. Menon said, adding New Delhi wants to use the country's high economic, political and cultural potentials to expand ties.

No Country can Pressure Iran (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8609280350)

Full Text of Supreme Leader's Message to ubgone86 Pilgrims

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The following is the detailed text of the message of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, to the most important Muslim congregation, ubgone86, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
   
The message of H. E. Ayatollah Khamenei to the ubgone86 pilgrims from the whole world 18/12/2007.

In the Name of God the Beneficent the Merciful

Praise be unto God, the Lord of all the world and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his pure Household and his companions,

Greetings to the pilgrims of the House of God, the guests of the Almighty's abode and those who have answered His Divine call… and hail to hearts freshened by the remembrance of God and opened to His unsparing blessings and bounties. In these elixir-like days, nights and hours, many a man who gratefully consigned themselves to the Divine attraction, illuminated their hearts through penitence and repentance and cleansed themselves of the darkness of sin and idolatry in the waves of Divine mercifulness coming constantly one after another in this holy land. May God's peace be upon these hearts and these virtuous and self-purified people.

It would be most appropriate if all my brothers and sisters did think deeply over such a blessing and avail themselves of this great opportunity. They should not allow the worldly preoccupations which are our habitual engagements to occupy their hearts as usual. In this atmosphere of monotheism and unadulterated divinity, they should let their craving hearts soar and collect the necessary provisions to persevere on the path of God and the right path by the remembrance of God, penitence and supplication, a resolute will of truthfulness, good thinking and rectitude and seeking the help of God.

Here is the center of true and pure monotheism. Here is the place where Abraham (A.S), The Friend of God, left as a memorial for all the true believers of the world throughout history a symbol of monotheism which is the subjugation of one's carnal desires and complete submission before the Divine command by bringing his beloved to the altar. Here is the place where Muhammad Mustafa (S.A) raised the flag of monotheism against the wishes of the arrogant and bullying elements and the wealthy of his time and deemed aversion to Taghoot along with belief in God as the condition for salvation: "Therefore whoever forsakes Taghoot and does believe in Allah, he shall grasp a most secure handle that never breaks" (2-256).

ubgone86 is the opportunity to review and revisit these great lessons. Disavowal from the infidels and aversion to idols and idolaters is the prevailing spirit of the believers' ubgone86. Each and every corner of ubgone86 is a manifestation of devoting one's heart to God, striving in His name and path, disavowing from Satan, stoning and rejecting and standing against him. Each and every corner of ubgone86 is the embodiment of unity and solidarity among the believers where natural and contractual differences fade away and the significance of the true and monotheistic unity and brotherhood is upheld.
These are the lessons that we, the Muslims, from all parts of the world, have to learn; lessons on which bases we have to plan our lives and futures.

The Holy Koran refers to the strong stand against the enemies, compassion and kindness among the believers as well as courtesy and obedience to God as the three indications of an Islamic society.

"Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and his followers should be solid of heart against the disbelievers, but most compassionate amongst themselves; you see them bowing down, prostrating, imploring Grace from God" (48-29)

These are the three basic pillars necessary for the establishment of the glorious and dignified body of the Muslim Ummah.

Bearing in mind this fact, all the Muslim people can appropriately identify the ailments of the present Muslim world.

Today, the treacherous enemies of the Muslim Ummah are the organizers of the hegemonic centers and expansionist and aggressive powers which consider the Islamic awakening as a great threat to their illegitimate interests and their oppressive domination over the Muslim world. All the Muslim nations led by their political and religious authorities, intellectuals and national leaders need to form a united Islamic front against this invading enemy with full strength. They need to muster all the elements of power within themselves and properly strengthen the Muslim Ummah. Knowledge and insight, resourcefulness and vigilance, responsibility and commitment, confidence and hope in Divine promises, refraining from petty and trivial wants in order to attain the consent of God and abiding by the duties… are all the basic elements contributing to the sovereignty of the Islamic Ummah leading it to dignity, independence and material and spiritual progress and preventing the enemies from the attainment of their unlawful wishes.

Compassion among the believers is the second pillar and another indication for the desired status of the Muslim Ummah. Disunity and conflict among the parts of the Muslim Ummah are dangerous diseases which must be treated with all might. Our enemies have long been making great efforts in this area. Today, those who have become terrified due to the Islamic awakening have intensified their efforts. All that the caring people are saying is that the differences must not turn into conflicts and that plurality should not lead to belligerence.

The Iranian nation has named this year as the year of Islamic solidarity. This naming was used due to the awareness of the intensified plots hatched in order to sow the seeds of discord among our brothers. These plots proved to be effective in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some people in these Islamic countries were instigated to oppose some of their own countrymen and to spill their blood. The traces of this conspiracy were visible in all these bitter and tragic incidents and people with keen sights noticed the hands of the enemy in them.

The command of "being compassionate amongst themselves" in the Holy Koran is tantamount to the extirpation of such pugnacities. In these glorious days and during the various rituals of ubgone86, one may see Muslims from all over the world and from various faiths going around one single house, praying in the direction of one Qibla, stoning in unison the symbol of the rejected Satan, acting in the same way to sacrifice the carnal desires and passions and, in unison, practicing supplication during the Arafat and Mashar gathering places. The same closeness and togetherness is also visible among all the Islamic faiths in terms of the most basic religious percepts, regulations and beliefs. Therefore, why should the prejudices and prejudgments be allowed to kindle fire among them and why should the treacherous hands of enemies be allowed to stoke this ravaging fire?

cont'd next post

Today there are some who, under false pretexts and due to their narrow-mindedness and lack of prudence, consider a great number of Muslims as infidels and even consider spilling their blood as lawful. Whether they are aware of it or not, they are in the servitude of idolatry, unbelief and arrogance. Many a person who used the term of infidelity for the reverence of the holy shrines of Muhammad the Great Prophet of Islam (S.A), the Pious and the Imams (PBUH) which is actually honoring religion and religiousness, became the servants of infields and oppressors and collaborated with them in attaining their wicked goals.

The real religious figures and scholars, committed intellectuals and sincere authorities must combat such perilous phenomena.

Today, Islamic unity and solidarity are definite religious duties which may be materialized and practiced through cooperation among the wise and caring people.

Formation of a fortified front against the Arrogant powers on one hand and compassion and convergence on the other are the two pillars of dignity. Accompanied by the third pillar which is comprised of the courtesy and obedience to God, these pillars enable the Muslim Ummah to tread steadfastly on the same path which led to the pinnacle of glory and dignity for Muslims during the very outset of Islam. Consequently, the Muslim Ummah will be saved from the humiliating backwardness which has been imposed on it in recent centuries. The precursor of this great move has emerged and the awakening waves are more or less on the move in the Muslim world. The media and propaganda belonging to the enemies try to attribute any freedom and justice seeking movement in any part of the world to Iran or Shiism. They try to hold Iran, which was the first flagbearer of the victory of the Islamic awakening, responsible for the blows dealt to them by the zealots in the Muslim countries in the areas of politics or culture. The peerless epic of Hezbollah created in the 33-Day War, the prudent resistance of the Iraqi nation which led to the formation of a parliament and a government not favored by the occupiers, the astonishing patience and perseverance of the legal government of Palestine and its self-sacrificing people and many other signs of the revival of Islam in Muslim countries are all accused of being linked to Iranism or Shiism in order to impede the unanimous support of the Muslim world. However, such a ruse will not be able to withstand the Divine tradition which heralds the victory for the strugglers in the cause of God and the victory-bearers of the religion of God. The future belongs to the Muslim Ummah and each and every one of us may contribute to the nearness of that future proportionate to the amount of responsibility or capability we have.

ubgone86 rituals are a great opportunity for you fortunate ubgone86is to prepare yourselves for this cause more than before.

I hope the Divine aid and the blessing of Hazrat Al-Mahdi, May God hasten His arrival, will be with you in this great aim.

Greeting to you

Peace of God and his blessings and bounties upon you

Sayyed Ali Al-Hosseini Al-Khamenei

Full Text of Supreme Leader's Message to ubgone86 Pilgrims (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8609270555)
~~~~~~~~

Did you read what I did?? WOW!!

Senior Qaeda Theologian Urges His Followers To End Their Jihad

BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."

In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.

The disclosures from Mr. Sharif, also known as Dr. Fadl and Abd al-Qadir ibn Abd al-Aziz, have already opened a rift at the highest levels of Al Qaeda. The group's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, a former associate of the defecting theologian in Egypt, personally mocked him last month in a video, remarking that he was unaware Egyptian prisons had fax machines. Meanwhile, leading Western analysts are saying the defection of Mr. Sharif indicates the beginning of the end for Al Qaeda.

The author of "Inside Al Qaeda," Rohan Gunaratna said in an interview this week, "There is nothing more important than a former jihadist as important as Dr. Fadl criticizing the jihadist vanguard." Mr. Gunaratna, who acts at times as a consultant for American and Western intelligence, described the reformed theologian as "both an ideologue and operational leader, but he was primarily an ideologue."

An expert on Islamic terrorism with the Jamestown Foundation, Steven Ulph, also said the defection of Mr. Sharif could hemorrhage support for Al Qaeda. "The important point to make, when you have the combination of a respected ideologue, plus someone who was in the field, say these things it is more important than having a Saudi sheik that moderates his message," he said.

The director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, Frank Cilluffo, said, "Here you have someone with the stature and credibility, who more or less wrote the book on jihadism and is oft cited by other jihadists, making the case against it. This is someone with the heft on legal and religious grounds to make the counter argument that we can't."

Mr. Sharif, currently serving a life sentence in an undisclosed Egyptian prison, wrote in the 1980s two of the modern seminal texts for Sunni jihadism and in particular Al Qaeda, in "Fundamental Concepts Regarding Jihad" and "The Five Ground Rules for the Achieving of Victory or Its Absence." Those books are scholarly justifications, citing the Koran and Hadiths, for joining a war against Muslim apostates such as the Egyptian ruling class and for a broader jihad against the far enemy of America.

Originally rounded up in the arrests following the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, Mr. Sharif served in an Egyptian jail with Ayman al-Zawahri, who would later go on to be the deputy to Mr. bin Laden. In 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, Mr. Sharif was arrested in Yemen and was later sent to Egypt in 2003 or 2004.

His latest texts are a renunciation of his earlier work, saying the military jihad or war against apostate states and America is futile. But the ex-jihadist also calls into question the virtue of Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri. In some ways the manifesto reads in parts like a spicy Washington memoir by an embittered former official.

Of his old associates he writes, "Bin Laden, al-Zawahri, and others fled at the beginning of the American bombing [in Afghanistan], to the point of abandoning their wives and families to be killed along with other innocent people," according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute. It goes on, "I think that a sharia court should be established, composed of reliable scholars, to hold these people accountable for their crimes — even if in absentia — so that those who are ignorant in their religion do not repeat this futility."

Mr. Sharif also says Mr. Zawahri informed on his friends after he was arrested following the Sadat assassination in 1981. "I don't know of anyone in Islamic history having committed such deceit, fraud, falsification, and betrayal of trust with such hostility to someone else's book, and perverted it - no one before Ayman al-Zawahri," he wrote.

Last month, in a video produced by Al Qaeda's production company, Mr. Zawahri said the latest recantations from his one time friend were the result of torture, asking if the electrical current for the fax machine he used to serialize his new book in the Arabic press also powered the prison's electric chair. Egypt has been singled out by Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups for the practice of torture in its prisons, particularly the use of electric shocks. In February, a man named Abu Omar who claimed to be kidnapped by the CIA and transported to an Egyptian prison described in detail how he was tortured during his interrogations by Egypt's security services.

On Monday, an American intelligence official familiar with the interrogation of Mr. Sharif said that in 2004 the Al Qaeda cleric was tortured. "All I am saying is that screw drivers were involved," this official, who asked to be anonymous, said. When asked if Mr. Sharif was tortured, Mr. Gunaratna responded by saying, "He spent time in an Egyptian prison."

But Mr. Gunaratna also said he believed Mr. Sharif's conversion was genuine. "He has had a genuine change of heart because we are seeing a trend today in Egypt where the original members of both of the major jihadist organizations are turning, the senior members of these groups, many have gone back and been remorseful," he said. "He is not an exception because there is a trend. . . The traditional jihad movement is almost coming to an end. What has it accomplished in more than 25 years?"

Two spokesmen for American government agencies yesterday declined to comment on this story.

Senior Qaeda Theologian Urges His Followers To End Their Jihad (http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=68433&v=0344028911)

Qassam lands near Sderot schoolyard

Three rockets land near Sderot, another hits south of Ashkelon despite Haniyeh's statement regarding possible 'hudna' with Israel; One Qassam lands near a Sderot schoolyard, 10 people suffer shock

Shmulik Hadad
12.20.07, 12:16
Israel News

The Qassam attacks emanating from north Gaza are continuing despite talks of a possible hudna (ceasefire) with Israel. Three rockets fired Thursday morning from the Strip landed in open fields near the western Negev city of Sderot, while another Qassam landed earlier just south of Ashkelon.

One of the Qassams landed near a schoolyard in Sderot, causing several people to suffer shock and slightly damaging the surrounding buildings.

"We heard the 'Color Red' alert and then there was a loud boom. We figured a rocket landed close by. A lot of the kids were frightened," Ofek Vaknin, a sixth grader at Sderot's Gil Elementary School, told Ynet.

Landing site near Sderot schoolyard (Photo: Ze'ev Tarchtman)

Soon after, many parents arrived at the school and took their children home. The Sderot Municipality is currently assessing the damage caused to the school's building in order to determine whether or not the school day will go on as scheduled.

The Popular Resistance Committees' (PRC) Salah a-Din Brigades, have claimed responsibility for the shooting.

The rocket fire on Israel has decreased in the past few days due to multiple IDF attacks against Islamic Jihad terror leaders. On Wednesday Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh suggested the possibility of declaring a ceasefire with Israel, but the proposal was rejected by his government.

President Shimon Peres said Haniyeh's suggestion was "a pathetic attempt at diverting attention from Hamas and Islamic Jihad's crimes."

On Tuesday Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "All those responsible for the firing (of Qassams and mortar shells) on our communities – we will reach them.

"The actions will speak for themselves, and the heads of the terror groups will feel them," he told fellow Kadima party members at his official residence in Jerusalem.

Qassam lands near Sderot schoolyard (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3484767,00.html)
~~~~~~~~

My definition of islam: Shake hands with the right hand, stab with the left.

Pakistan Police Helped British Terror Suspect Escape

A government inquiry into the escape of a British terror plot suspect who escaped in Pakistan has determined his police escorts helped him flee, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Dawn newspaper said the probe had found “criminal collusion” in the escape of Rashid Rauf, who disappeared last Saturday while in police custody after an appearance in an Islamabad court.

It said the report into the incident, due to be formally handed to the government later in the day, also blamed Islamabad police officials for not taking extra measures to secure a man known to be a “dangerous person.”

The two police officers who escorted him, who have since been formally charged, went with Rauf and his uncle to a fast-food restaurant and a mosque while they were taking him back to jail. At some point, he disappeared.

The paper said that on previous court hearings, the same two police escorts had illegally let Rauf visit his uncle’s home.

Rauf was arrested in 2006 and is suspected in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners with liquid explosives. Reports of the plot led airlines to limit the amount of liquids passengers may carry on board.

Britain has been seeking the extradition of Rauf in a 2002 murder case unrelated to the alleged plane plot.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is a key ally in the US-led ”war on terror” but critics say the country could do more to cooperate in tracking and detaining militant suspects.

'Allah Willing, America Will Soon Be Annihilated… We Will Reach America… The Eyes of the Nation of Muhammad are set on Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Delhi, Beijing'

Following are excerpts from a speech by Muhammad Taher Al-Farouq, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which was posted on December 3, 2007 at http://editedout.org, (you don't want to read the garbage here D.W.) a website hosted in Tampa, FL, and owned by NOC4 Hosts Inc.

Muhammad Taher Al-Farouq: "I would like to congratulate the nation of Muhammad, and especially the mujahideen. In this holy month of Ramadhan, we ask them that, as part of their resistance to the enemies of God, His Prophet, the enemies of the Koran, Islam, and the Muslims, they increase their martyrdom and jihad operations, and fight the sworn enemies of Islam - the Jews, the Christians, and the hypocrites - and carry out the best jihad operations.

[...]

"The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is part of the nation of Muhammad, and it is known by this name to friends and foes alike. The enemies of Islam know this movement by this name. This movement is connected to the Islamic Emirate we had in Afghanistan, under the leadership of the Emir of the Believers, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

[...]

"Our goal is to implement Islamic law, the law of the Koran, in God's kingdom. In other words, this kingdom, which belongs to God, should be ruled by the laws of God alone.

[...]

"Today, the enemies of Islam object to this goal, just like they did during the time of Muhammad, but let me announce to the believers, to the nation of Muhammad, that in the very near future, thanks to the sacrifices made by the nation of Muhammad, we will regain our glory of past times.

[...]

"As long as there are infidels and enemies of God in His kingdom, this movement will continue its jihad. Today, the nation of Muhammad has everything but an Islamic caliphate. We have clerics, mujahideen, and fedayeen, but not a caliphate. One of the most important goals of the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan is to establish an Islamic caliphate at any price.

[...]

"We take pride in the brothers in all the countries of Islam - in Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon, Palestine, Chechnya, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Africa, and Asia, and in all the countries of the world. We take pride in their jihad to elevate the word of Allah. We have good relations with them. As I've said, their joy is our joy, and their sorrow is our sorrow. We all constitute one body. We all have a common goal against the infidels. When mujahideen are taken by the enemy - whether the Americans or other infidels - to Guantanamo or other prisons, it does not ask them to which nation or community they belong. It treats them all the same way, and tortures all of them the same way."

[...]

Interviewer: "Which countries help you?"

[...]

Al-Farouq: "The countries that supported and helped God's Messenger help us.

[...]

"The money in the infidel banks is the daily bread of the mujahideen. The convoys come from Pakistan, through Torkhan or Karachi, are the daily bread of the mujahideen. The money in the banks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere is the daily bread of the mujahideen. The governments that use this money against the Muslims and Islam acquire bombs and airplanes with it, in order to bomb the Muslims. Therefore, this money is the [legitimate] booty of the Muslims.

[...]

"I always tell the mujahideen that if they want to get money, they should beat the infidels and take their money. You must hit them on the head and take their money. You should rob their banks and take the money. You should take their people prisoner, just like the Prophet did. Don't think this is a sin, because the Prophet Muhammad himself exchanged prisoners for ransom. There's nothing wrong with collecting money in exchange for prisoners.

[...]

"Allah willing, America will soon be annihilated, just like the USSR was annihilated. We are convinced of this.

[...]

"The people who made our nation proud by carrying out the 9/11 martyrdom operations in Washington and New York were the 19 best people of our nation. All the martyrs in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Palestine, and elsewhere should be seen as role models.

[...]

"Allah willing, we will reach America. The men of this nation will reach America. The goal of this campaign is not only Kabul, Kandahar, or Baghdad. The eyes of the nation of Muhammad are set on Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Delhi, Beijing, and other countries. This is our goal and, Allah willing, we will get there."

I, for one, hope that if they ever do seriously strike us, we will immediately hit Mecca with a nuke. Yes I know thats now a very Christian attitude but..................

ubgone86 Pilgrims Call for Unity Against U.S.

Thursday , December 20, 2007

AP
ADVERTISEMENT

MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia  —
Millions of Muslims marked the zenith of the annual ubgone86, praying for God's forgiveness on a rocky desert hill here where in Muslim tradition Adam and Eve were reunited after leaving Eden.

The ritual of standing at Mount Rahma is the most spiritual moment of the pilgrimage, when Muslims believe God will grant whatever prayers they make.

Among the faithful this year is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who on Tuesday stopped by the vast tent city where pilgrims are housed on the plateau called Mount Arafat to visit with Iranians there, Tehran's state broadcasting company.

However, Ahmadinejad stayed away from a brief rally held by several hundred Iranian pilgrims, calling on Muslims to unite against the U.S. and Israel, which they said "dominate the Muslim world."

The rally is an annual occurrence at ubgone86, arranged by the Iranian government. An envoy read a statement from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the faithful, telling them that ubgone86 requires them to show love for God and to "expel, fight and stand up to Satan" — lessons Muslims "have to learn all over the world."

"They are hatching plots in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan and pitting one section of Muslims against the other," Ayatollah Mohammadi Reyshahri said, reading the statement.

A few at the gathering shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" and called the two nations the enemies of God. But there was none of the fist shaking that marks such chants at rallies back home in Iran — a nod to the ubgone86's traditional lack of aggressiveness, arguments and disputes.

The protest, directed by Iranian security officers, stayed strictly inside the encampment, following Saudi rules. In the fervent early years after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian pilgrims held public protests outside their camps during ubgone86 rituals, leading to friction with Saudi authorities that climaxed in 1987 when a protest in Mecca turned into a clash with Saudi police that killed several hundred Iranians, Saudi and others. In recent years, Iran has put less effort into the small yearly rally inside the camp.

On Tuesday, most of the Iranians paid little attention to the envoy's speech.

Azam Rahimi, 44, a teacher, said she didn't listen.

"We've heard these slogans for so many years that we know them by heart," she said. But she added, "Of course we don't want America to impose its culture on us. It's the duty of all Muslims to stop this from happening."

Saudi pilgrim Ali Saadi and his friends sat on a plastic mat on a sidewalk nearby.

"This is not the place for politics," said Saadi, a 58-year-old businessman. "ubgone86 is when you get close to God. I guess they have their own justification. As their hosts, we can't stop them."

Mainly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and mainly Shiite Iran are regional rivals, with Saudis concerned over the increasing influence of Iran in the Middle East. The two countries back opposing camps in the crises in Iraq and Lebanon.

Around 3 million Muslims from around the world are attending this year's ubgone86. They flooded into Arafat late Monday and early Tuesday. Lines of buses with pilgrims on the roofs packed highways leading into the site, while others on foot swarmed between the vehicles.

They climbed Mount Rahma, the rocky hill on Arafat where it's believed Adam and Eve were reunited after leaving Eden, and sought God's forgiveness of their sins. They performed noon prayers at the Namira Mosque, where the Prophet Muhammad gave his last sermon.

Young children and old women begged for money as the crush of people pressed ahead on their way to Mount Rahma. Some spread out prayer beads, bags, umbrellas, and cookies on the pavement for sale.

Most pilgrims stay in the sprawling tent city, which is divided by country. But thousands of others slept in the open on blankets, in small makeshift plastic tents.

The Arafat rituals end at sunset Tuesday, after which the faithful move to the nearby Muzdalifah and spend the night there. They collect stones that they will take with them to Mina the next day with which to pelt the devil. This ritual commemorates Abraham's stoning of Satan when he tried to tempt him to disobey God.

For Muslims, the ubgone86 is ultimate dream

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer Thu Dec 20, 2:18 PM ET

MINA, Saudi Arabia _ - The 60-year-old Egyptian farmer spent years scraping together $11,000 to bring his wife and son here to perform Islam's ubgone86 pilgrimage.

They have slept for days in tiny one-person tents near the ubgone86's sacred sites and walked for miles from ritual to ritual — despite his wife's bad knees.

But Mohammed Abdel-Salam Ali said they were not going to let the hardship ruin their journey to answer God's calling.

"It's hard, but it's also beautiful," Ali said Thursday, sitting in his small plastic tent on the roadside at Mina, the ancient spot in the desert outside Mecca where for the second day more than 3 million pilgrims stoned symbols of the devil.

For many Muslims, performing the ubgone86 is a lifelong dream, a chance to fulfill a requirement of their faith and win forgiveness for their sins.

The rituals at Mina commemorate Abraham's stoning of Satan, who is said to have appeared three times to the prophet to tempt him. It is symbolized by three "pillars" — long stone walls called the Jamarat — which pilgrims pelt with pebbles.

On Wednesday, the ritual's first day, pilgrims threw seven stones at the largest one. On Thursday and again on Friday, they pelt all three with seven stones each.

Millions filed past the walls Thursday along a huge platform built so that pilgrims on the ground floor and above can perform the ritual at once. They vigorously hurled pebbles at the pillars, chanting "God is Great" with each throw — and sometimes hitting the pilgrims in front of them.

Afterward, most walked away quietly — a far cry from their aggressive approach to the pillars. They had the look of conquest, having crushed the devil and his temptations with pebbles the size of chickpeas.

Nizar Mohammed, an Afghan bent with age and wearing a turban and shelwar kamiz — loose pants and a tunic — rested on the side of the ramp after hurling his stones.

"I feel very good. I am in good hands," he said.

Over the years, the stoning ritual has been one of the most dangerous of the ubgone86, with stampedes that have killed scores. A crush of pilgrims in 2004 killed 244 people, and the following year more than 360 were killed when several pilgrims tripped over baggage while others behind them kept pushing ahead.

After that accident, Saudi authorities tore down the platform around the Jamarat and built a new one with more entrances and exits, and they plan to expand it to a total of five levels in coming years.

Saudi King Abdullah held his traditional banquet reception Thursday for Muslim leaders performing the ubgone86, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

"If we strive in this direction, our differences will diminish, the distances between us will shrink and together we will make a world full of understanding and peace, where progress will be a fruit for all of us to enjoy," he said.

Friday is the last day of the three-day Muslim Eid al-Adha, ending five days of ubgone86 rituals.

Pilgrims return to Mecca to perform the "farewell" circling of the Kaaba — a cube-shaped stone structure draped in black cloth that Muslims around the world face during the five daily prayers. Tradition says the Kaaba, known as God's House, was built by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham and the descendants of Noah.

The pilgrims also walk back and forth seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa, re-enacting the search by Abraham's wife Hagar for water for her infant son Ishmael in the desert. After her seventh run, the spring known as Zamzam sprang miraculously under Ishmael'sfeet.

The majority of pilgrims come to the ubgone86 on organized tours, staying in large, relatively well-kept tent compounds organized by the Saudi government.

But hundreds of thousands of poorer pilgrims, like Ali, come on their own, sleeping in the open or in makeshift tents.

Having saved every penny to make the journey, they are intent to fight all odds to complete the rituals. Ali, a farmer from Egypt's impoverished Fayoum province, said he saved for four years to make the trip.

His wife, Nada, 50, has bad knees, so she gave her son, 30-year-old Ashraf, her pebbles to throw at the Jamarat in her place.

But despite her knees, she didn't want to pass up the seven-time circling of the Kaaba and running to and from Safa and Marwa. She also walked the three miles between Mina and Mecca.

"Look how we are sitting here in the heat of the sun. But we are happy," she said, rubbing her knees.

"The hardship is worth it because we are carrying out a duty toward God," Ashraf said.

His father said that, once back in Egypt, he will have to start from scratch because he has no money left. But it's worth it, he said.

"ubgone86's reward is heaven," he said. "God is generous."

Then he added with a smile: "God gave us kids to take care of us."

For Muslims, the ubgone86 is ultimate dream (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/journey_to_ubgone86;_ylt=Ap0Ozlw2iP1Uep93O7bgcycLewgF)

Qaeda has regrouped in Pakistan border area
Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:42pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has regrouped in Pakistan's remote Afghan border area and begun to focus attacks on the Pakistani government and military, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday.

But the Pentagon chief said al Qaeda's activities in Pakistan have not yet affected Afghanistan, where U.S. and coalition forces have faced increased Taliban violence in the past two years.

"There is no question that some of the areas in the frontier area have become areas where Al Qaeda has re-established itself," Gates said. "But so far, we haven't seen any significant consequence of that in Afghanistan itself.

"Al Qaeda right now seems to have turned its face toward Pakistan and attacks on the Pakistani government and Pakistani people," he told reporters.

Gates said the Pentagon was looking for ways to improve the Pakistani army's counter-insurgency capabilities by providing training and equipment. The United States provides hundreds of millions of dollars in security-related aid to Pakistan annually.

Attacks on the Pakistan government and military have increased in recent weeks. A suicide bomber killed 10 Pakistani military recruits in the northwestern town of Kohat on Monday.

More than 400 people have been killed in suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan in recent months, most in the North West Frontier Province.

Qaeda has regrouped in Pakistan border area (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN2127184320071222)

Saudi police nab militants as pilgrims complete haj
Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:18pm EST

By Jonathan Wright

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi security forces arrested suspected al Qaeda militants planning attacks during the haj pilgrimage, a Saudi-owned television said on Friday as Muslim pilgrims performed the last rituals in Mecca.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya television quoted an unnamed security official as saying the suspects aimed to cause "security confusion" during the annual pilgrimage, in which more than 2 million Muslims were taking part.

The suspects were arrested in various cities in the kingdom days before the start of the pilgrimage on Monday, the official was quoted as telling the station. The report did not say how many were being held.

One of the world's biggest displays of mass religious devotion, the haj has been marred in previous years by fires, hotel collapses, clashes between police and protesters and deadly stampedes caused by overcrowding.

But as pilgrims drew to the end of their five-day mission on Friday amid strict police controls to avoid crowding, no incidents had been reported this year.

A security source told Reuters attacks had not been planned in the holy city of Mecca or in other haj sites.

Pilgrims held a mass farewell visit to the Kaaba, an ancient stone shrine which all Muslims face during their daily prayers.

Most of the pilgrims earlier performed their third stoning of walls representing the devil and left the Mina area for nearby Mecca. Those unable to leave by sunset were staying a third night in the area.

The ritual passed without incident at the Jamarat, an accident spot during earlier pilgrimages, with its three stone "pillars" now converted into long elliptical walls which can handle a much higher turnover of pilgrims.

Since some 362 people were killed in January 2006 in a crush at the Jamarat -- the worst haj accident in 16 years -- Saudi authorities have completed more than half of a massive infrastructure project which will cost more than $1 billion.

Pilgrims can now throw stones on three levels and a fourth is under construction.

WARY OF ATTACKS

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and home to Islam's holiest sites, has been wary of any militant actions. Al Qaeda-linked militants launched a campaign to destabilize the U.S.-allied monarchy in 2003, and Saudi militants opposed to the royal family seized control of Mecca's Grand Mosque in 1979.

On Friday, police imposed a strict one-way system to curb crowding and insisted that people leave their bags outside.

When pilgrims had thrown their seven pebbles, many shouting: "In the name of God, God is great", police urged them not to linger on the other side. But the traffic was diminishing as the evening approached and the chances of an accident looked slight.

The influx had peaked in the afternoon when many pilgrims carried out the ritual, emulating the Prophet Mohammad, who threw his stones at that time.

Pilgrims said they were delighted with the arrangements, and to have completed their religious obligations with relative ease. Every Muslim who has the means should complete the haj at least once.

"I feel very comforted, like a new person, and I hope that God will accept my pilgrimage," said Mahdy Abdel Halim, an Egyptian-born engineer from Connecticut doing haj with three family members.

"I feel spiritually at peace and everything went perfectly," said Abdel Karim al-Atawi, a Saudi soldier from the northern town of Tabouk.

Mohamed Serajeddin, an Indian engineer living in the eastern Saudi city of Dammam, said no other country could organize such an event, because of the Saudis' experience in crowd control.

He said he was at haj with his mother and father but he had to throw stones for them because they had weak knees and could not face the long walk from the tented encampment.

This year more than 1.6 million pilgrims came from abroad. Adding pilgrims from inside the country, the total was well over 2 million, maybe as many as 3 million.

Saudi police nab militants as pilgrims complete haj (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL214957720071221)
~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll believe it when charges are pressed. To many times it's thrown on a back burner and forgotten, and they are let loose.

Muslims further inter-faith dialogue

By Guy Dinmore in Rome

Published: December 21 2007 22:10 | Last updated: December 21 2007 22:10

More than 130 Muslim scholars and religious leaders will issue a Christmas message of thanks and greetings to the Christian world this weekend as part of a growing movement to strengthen mainstream Islam against violent extremism and to promote inter-faith dialogue.

The message, hailed as unique and historic by theologians on both sides, follows a letter by the same group to Pope Benedict XVI, accepting his invitation to the Vatican and proposing outlines of an agenda focusing on theological, social and moral issues.

Stressing the sanctity of every individual life and calling for healing and peace in a suffering world, the 138 signatories ask for repentance before God and forgiveness between communities.

“Mainstream Islam has regained its voice once again,” said Aref Ali Nayed, one of the signatories and co-ordinators. “Some minority voices, because of their extreme and violent nature, managed to capture media attention. This has resulted in a very skewed and distorted picture of Islam.”

He said individual Muslim thinkers had greeted their Christian counterparts at Christmas throughout history. “However, this is the first time a large group of Muslim scholars from across the schools greet their Christian neighbours,” he added.

The Muslim world’s internal struggle was highlighted this month when Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s number two, accused King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia of insulting Islam by becoming the first custodian of its two holiest sites to meet the Pope. Some Islamist websites say it is forbidden for Muslims to send a Christmas greeting to a Christian.

The Christmas letter, to be published on Sunday, thanks the prominent Christians who responded positively to the group’s first letter – published on October 11 – calling for dialogue with the Christian world. That letter, entitled “A Common Word”, gave warning of those who “relish conflict and destruction”. It said: “The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.”

The 138 include senior figures from across the Muslim world. The grand muftis of Egypt, Russia, Bosnia and Kosovo, two ayatollahs from Iran, and European and US scholars have signed. The October appeal for dialogue was welcomed by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other leading Christian figures, culminating in a letter bearing 300 signatures and published in the New York Times on November 18.

Miroslav Volf, a Yale University theologian involved in this letter, welcomed the Christmas message, saying it was important that the historic initiative of the Muslim intellectuals “contains every affirmation of sanctity of every single human life”.

The Pope replied to “A Common Word” in late November, expressing “deep appreciation” and inviting representatives of the 138 to the Vatican.

He has expressed regret since his speech in 2006 in which he deeply offended Muslims by quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor saying the Prophet Mohammed brought “things only evil and inhuman”, such as “his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached”.

However, the time he took in answering the October message, and the framework he offered for dialogue – with an emphasis on social rather than theological issues – raised concerns.

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, chairman of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, diplomatically addressed those concerns in his recent reply.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the pope’s council for inter-religious dialogue, told the Financial Times last night that events were moving positively and that a preparatory meeting would take place in the spring. But it was too early to talk of an agenda.

Prof Nayed, who has taught at the Vatican’s Gregorian University, says he has “lamented the negativity being fed into the Pope’s perspective on Islam by some of his closest advisers. This negativity is very dangerous and leads the Vatican to make some truly dangerous mistakes”.

Muslims further inter-faith dialogue (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce7eb5c4-b004-11dc-b874-0000779fd2ac.html)

The Islamic Jihad

Following the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas' lead, this ferocious militant group desires nothing more than to 'eliminate the Zionist entity,' as its a-political nature frees it from adhering to any ceasefire achieved between other militant groups and Israel

Ynetnews
Published: 12.22.07, 17:15
Israel News

The Islamic Jihad, or as it is officially called The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, is a radical Muslim terror organization operating in the Middle East.

The organization's main goal is the elimination of Israel, which it calls "the Zionist entity", through Jihad – a holy war, and the establishment of an Islamic state "from sea to sea."

The Islamic Jihad's charter further calls for "Jihad against the Jewish existence in Palestine," and states that "the Jihad is the obligation of every Muslim and must be carried out immediately, regardless of the formation of an Islamic state." The holy war, continues the charter, is a vital step in rehabilitating the Islamic nation and will lead the nation back to its fundamental, original, Islamic values.

The Islamic Jihad is a significantly smaller organization than Hamas. Like Hamas, the Jihad's principles derive from those of the Muslim Brotherhood, but unlike it, it has no civil branch, nor does it work to benefit the Palestinian people; its main focus is on guerrilla warfare and terror activities.

The Jihad operates mainly in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but has also carried out attacks in Jordan and Lebanon

Funding and infrastructure

The Islamic Jihad has large cells in various Arab nations. Financed almost exclusively by Iran, the organization's leadership is located in Syria. Iran is said to funnel several million dollars a year to the Jihad, with nearly all funds going directly to terror activities, and some towards the organization's bureaucracy, maintaining offices, salaries, weapon purchases and aiding its members' families.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad was founded by Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd al-Aziz Awda in the 1970s, as a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

In the early 1980s the two returned to Gaza and began recruiting men and funds, mostly through mosques and other religious establishments. The Jihad's Palestinian cell, known as the al-Quds Brigades, is said to have several hundred operatives, located mostly in Gaza.

Terrorism and militant activity

Soon after establishing itself in the Palestinian territories, the Jihad began training its men in guerrilla warfare, later becoming a driving force in the eruption of the First Intifada, in 1987. In 1988, after a series of terror attack on Israeli citizens and IDF forces, Israel outlawed the Islamic Jihad, subsequently exiling  Shaqaqi to Lebanon.

Many of the Jihad's local leaders fled Israel, settling in Syria and Lebanon, where they tightened their ties with Iran and Syria and formed tactical bonds with other radical terror groups such as Hizbullah.

The PLO's (Palestine Liberation Organization) recognition of Israel's right to exist in 1988 and the subsequent signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, were seen by the Jihad as acts of treason, prompting the organization to escalate its attacks on Israel.

Dozens of suicide bombings swept through the country, as Jihad "ubgone19s" (martyrs) targeted Israeli buses, restaurants and public venues. In one of the Jihad's most infamous attacks in 1995, two suicide bombers targeted a group of soldiers at a northern bus depot; the first bomber killing soldiers and the second slaying the emergency services' personnel who rushed to the scene. Twenty-two Israelis lost their lives that morning.

On October 1995 Fathi Shaqaqi was assassinated in Malta by two bikers who shot him at pointblank range. The international intelligence community has always maintained the Mossad was responsible for the hit, but Israel never claimed it for its own.

Shaqaqi's place in Jihad's leadership was taken by one of his deputies, Dr. Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, who still heads the organization from his hiding place in Damascus. Abdullah makes no secret of Iran's involvement in Islamic Jihad activities: "The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is another fruit of the Ayatollah Khomeini's fructuous tree," he said during a 2002 visit to Tehran.

On March 1996, the Jihad managed to smuggle a suicide bomber through Gaza's Karni crossing, which is used mainly for industrial shippings, into Israel. He later blew himself up in Tel Aviv, during a Purim (Jewish Halloween) holiday parade, killing 13 and injuring 125.

When the Second Intifada erupted in 2000, Jihad once again escalated its terror activities, going as far as joining forces with Hamas, for the first time in both groups' history, in an attempt to carry out even bigger, more ferocious attacks on Israel.

The Jihad made terror history at that time, allowing women into its ranks and training them, alongside its men, to carry out attacks. The Jihad soon flaunted the novelty: On October 4 2003, a female suicide bomber targeted the Maxim Restaurant in Haifa, killing 21 Israelis.

The Jihad went on to claim hundreds of attacks on Israel, carrying out some 422 bombings, shootings and stabbings, in which 134 Israelis were killed and approximately 880 were injured.

The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, was going through some major political changes: In late 2004 Yasser Arafat died. In early 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was named Palestinian president and the following summer saw Israel unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip. In January 2006, the PA held its first general elections in which Hamas achieved a landslide victory, winning 76 of the Palestinian parliament's 132 seats.

Hamas-Fatah infighting began shortly after, escalating over the course of a year to the point of a near-civil war. In mid 2007 Hamas forces took control of the Gaza Strip, forcing Palestinian leadership, including Abbas, to flee to the West Bank city of Ramallah, effectively splitting the PA into two political entities.

Throughout the political turmoil The Islamic Jihad continued its attacks on Israel: Stealthily aided by Hamas – which chose not to be directly involved at the time – Jihad operatives escalated the barrage of Qassam rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel's southwest.

The Jihad's Qassam and mortars are short-range rockets, allowing the organization to target mostly Sderot, the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and the Gaza vicinity communities. Jihad forces have also tried using self-produced mid-range rockets called "Quds 101," "Quds 102," and "Quds 103" aimed at Ashkelon.

Being of a-political nature, the Islamic Jihad is not obligated by any hudna or ceasefire – temporary of permanent – brokered between Hamas and Israel.

The Islamic Jihad is defined as a terror group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel.

The Islamic Jihad (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3484933,00.html)

Islamic Jihad Refuses Ceasefire

(IsraelNN.com) Islamic Jihad spokesmen said Saturday night that their group would not agree to a ceasefire even if Hamas did.  The group said it would continue to fire rockets at Israeli communities.

Spokesmen blamed Israel for Islamic Jihad’s refusal to stop attacks.  Islamic Jihad stopped attacks in the past, they said, but Israel continued counter-terrorism activities.

Islamic Jihad Refuses Ceasefire (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/138529)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prominent figures within Jihad:

Fathi Shaqaqi: Co-founder of the Islamic Jihad, killed in Malta in 1995.

Dr. Ramadan Abdullah Shallah: Current leader of the Jihad, who took over after Shaqaqi's death, currently living in Syria.

Dr. Sami Al-Arian: The North American leader of the Islamic Jihad, responsible for raising funds for the organization's terror activities. He was arrested in 2003 and later indicted by the US attorney general for 50 counts of operating a racketeering enterprise and supporting terror acts. He pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to help members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in nonviolent activities and sentenced to 57 months in prison. He stands to be deported from the US upon completion of his sentence.

Abdullah al-Shami: The Gaza leader of Islamic Jihad.

Mohammed el-Hindi: One of the organization's senior leaders in Gaza, considered a radical hardliner.

Mahmoud Tawalbe: Leader of the Jihad's military forces in the West Bank city of Jenin.; killed by IDF forces during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.

Sheikh Mohammed Khalil: A senior Jihad operative, killed in an IAF airstrike in Gaza in 2005.

Bashir Dabash: Head of the military arm of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, killed by IDF forces in 2004.

Louie Saadi: Head of the military arm of the Islamic Jihad in the West Bank; was one of the IDF's most wanted operatives in the West Bank. Killed by IDF forces in 2005.

Issa Battat: Head of Islamic Jihad military wing in Bethlehem; arrested by IDF forces in 2003.

Mohammed Dadouh: Senior Jihad commander in Gaza, killed by IDF forces in 2006.

Pakistan bombing kills at least 50

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 21, 6:43 PM ET

SHERPAO, Pakistan - Pakistani police raided an Islamic school and arrested seven students Friday, hours after a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people inside a mosque packed with holiday worshippers at the home of the former interior minister.

Suspicion for the blast, which left bloody clothing, shoes and pieces of flesh scattered across the house of worship, focused on the pro-Taliban or al-Qaida militants active near the Afghan border, where the attack occurred.

It was the second suicide attack in eight months apparently targeting Aftab Khan Sherpao, who as interior minister was deeply involved in Pakistan's efforts to combat the Taliban and drive out al-Qaida.

Sherpao was praying in the mosque's front row at the time of the attack, but he escaped injury.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sherpao told the Associated Press in a brief telephone interview. One of his sons was wounded, and witnesses said the dead included police officers guarding Sherpao.

President Pervez Musharraf condemned the blast and directed security and intelligence agencies to track down the masterminds, the state Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

After the bombing, dozens of police and intelligence agents raided an Islamic school in the nearby village of Turangzai and arrested seven students, some of them Afghans, two police officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The officials declined to say whether the raid was connected to the attack.

The blast deepened the sense of uncertainty in Pakistan ahead of Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, which Sherpao, as head of the Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao, is contesting.

The bombing turned a prayer service crowded with hundreds of people celebrating the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Adha into a scene of carnage at the mosque inside Sherpao's residential compound in Sherpao, a village 25 miles, northeast of the city of Peshawar.

The bomber was in a row of worshippers when he detonated the explosive, provincial police chief Sharif Virk said.

"There was blood and body parts everywhere. There was panic everywhere. People were running. Some people were injured in the chaos," said Iqbal Hussain, a police officer in charge of security at the mosque.

District Mayor Farman Ali Khan said between 50 and 55 people were killed, and authorities were collecting information on their identities. Local police chief Feroz Shah said over 100 were wounded.

The hospital in Peshawar was wracked with chaos as the wounded arrived in pickup trucks, ambulance sirens wailed and the injured screamed for help. The bomb contained between 13 and 17 pounds of explosives and was filled with nails and ball bearings to maximize casualties, according to the head of the bomb unit at the scene.

A bulldozer was brought in to help volunteers dig graves for the dead next to the mosque.

Minhaj Khan was digging a grave for the dismembered body of Shah Jee, a 28-year-old father of two from the village.

"He was a poor laborer. Now who will look after his family?" he asked. "It is nothing but extreme cruelty to kill people on such a holy day for Muslims."

Hussain, the police officer, said everyone entering was forced to pass through a body scanner and was searched with metal and explosive detectors. "We don't know how the bomber got in," he said.

Hamid Nawaz, the current interior minister, insisted there was no security lapse.

"All possible care had been taken, there was no lapse as such ... but such an incident can happen at such a gathering," Nawaz told Aaj TV.

After the blast, Sherpao's house was protected by about a dozen police and paramilitary troops.

As interior minister, Sherpao oversaw one of Pakistan's civilian spy agencies, police and paramilitary forces involved in operations against militants along the Afghan border.

He was a longtime supporter of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party before defecting and joining the government after the last parliamentary elections in 2002. He left office last month as a caretaker government took over ahead of the January elections.

Top figures in the government have been repeatedly targeted. In April, Sherpao was slightly wounded by a suicide bomber, and Musharraf himself narrowly escaped assassination in two bombings a few days apart in December 2003.

Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have extended their influence over tracts of Pakistan's volatile northwest in the past two years and in recent months have launched numerous suicide attacks, usually targeting security forces and their families.

The army says the most recent attacks could be retaliation for a military operation against militants in the Swat valley, where it claims to have killed about 300 militants since last month.

The violence came as Pakistan struggled to emerge from months of political turmoil.

Musharraf recently declared emergency rule for six weeks — a move he said was necessary to combat rising Islamic extremism, but was widely seen as a ploy to prolong his own presidency. Thousands of his opponents were rounded up and Supreme Court justices fired.

On Friday, police re-arrested prominent opposition lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, according to his son, Ali Aitzaz. Aitzaz Ahsan, who had been at the forefront of a lawyers' protest movement, was released Thursday for three days for the holy day, but was detained again after just one day.

Pakistan bombing kills at least 50 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=AtHEA0VTCyL01sJLk.g5XbWs0NUE)

What a nice way to spend a muslim holy day, being blown up....

Seriously, you never hear about this going on when a group of Christians are together to worship. All attacks come from obvious non-believers. Even if we put the most conservative and most liberal Christians in a room to worship, Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, everyone, I would think the event would go off without major problems. At the very least, we know we could all go worship without someone blowing each other up.

Brothers and Sisters,

We are living in wild and senseless times, and it is apparent that things are getting worse by the day. I, for one, think that CHRIST will Rapture HIS CHURCH soon. The CHURCH WHICH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST was not formed for wrath, rather for rescue. These do appear to be at least a preview of the end days of this age of Grace. This world is going to be a horrible place.

I was just thinking this is all the more reason to give thanks daily that we belong to CHRIST. This world is NOT our home.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Fox Guarding the Wolf House     

Fox News has long been considered a beacon to those that distrust televised liberal media, meaning every channel other than Fox. One of the indicators of the station’s right-leaning bent is that it has, for the most part, gotten the ‘War on Terrorism’ correct. However, with the undue influence of a Saudi Prince related to militant causes and with this month’s acquisition of Beliefnet, a religious resource website that proudly promotes radical Islam, signs show that the war coverage may soon be taking a turn for the worse.

In September of 2005, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal purchased 5.46 per cent of Class B voting shares in News Corp, the company that owns Fox News and a number of other media and entertainment entities. This had replaced the three per cent stake in Class A non-voting shares bin Talal had previously held through his investment corporation, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).

With his newfound voting rights, bin Talal stated his intention of supporting Rupert Murdoch, the principal owner of News Corp, helping Murdoch to stay in power and avoid hostile takeover by other interested investors. Some have said that this was like making a deal with the devil, as Murdoch has been left vulnerable to the whims of an individual that has been involved in despicable causes.

In April of 2002, bin Talal had donated $27 million during a Saudi telethon that was raising money for the families of suicide bombers. As well, he had given $500,000 to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to be used towards the distribution and propagation of a set of Islamist books for American libraries. The set included Jamal Badawi’s Gender Equity in Islam, which sanctions the beating of women by their husbands, and a version of the Quran, Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s The Meaning of THE HOLY QURAN, which has been banned by the Los Angeles school system.

Utilizing his position of power within Fox News (today, he is the second largest shareholder), bin Talal has worked to influence programming at the station. An infamous example of this was reported in a December 2005 article found in WorldNetDaily, stating:

    During the violent street protests in France one month ago, the prince said, Fox News ran a banner at the bottom of the screen that said “Muslim riots.”

    “I picked up the phone and called Murdoch ... [and told him] these are not Muslim riots, these are riots out of poverty,” al-Walid said.

    “Within 30 minutes, the title was changed from Muslim riots to civil riots.”

This incident was precisely the type of scenario that then-Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani tried to avoid, when after the 9/11 attacks, he rejected a $10 million check from bin Talal for the renovation of New York, that was attached to statements made by the Prince critical of the United States’ relationship to Israel. The question now is how many more incidents, such as the one concerning the French Muslim riots, have occured without the notice of the American public? And how far has bin Talal’s influence been able to reach?

The answer to the latter question may very well be in News Corp’s December 4th acquisition of Beliefnet, an internet-based religious information source.

Beliefnet came on the scene, first as a website in February of 2000 and then as a corporation in May of 2000, acting as basically a clearinghouse for religious thought. On the website, each of the world’s major religions were (are) given their own sections. This didn’t seem to be a problem, as favoritism towards one religion over another was nonexistant. However, within the Islam section, extremists began to gain a foothold.

On December 5, 2000, Beliefnet published an exclusive article written by the National Communications Director of the CAIR, Ibrahim Hooper, entitled ‘Why the Fury?’ a.k.a. ‘Why the Rage?’ [The article is still up on Beliefnet.] CAIR was created in June of 1994 as part of the Hamas terror network. Since then, the group has had a number of its officials charged with terrorist activity. Hooper, himself, has refused to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.

On February 8, 2001, Beliefnet, at the top of the homepage of its Islam section, refered to former Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, as a “tyrant” and published an article calling Prime Minister Sharon a “war criminal.” The article, ‘Ariel Sharon: The War Criminal Takes Over,’ like Hooper’s, is still up on Beliefnet.

On October 13, 2001, Beliefnet prominently placed on its website a piece, what it called a “rallying cry,” by then-Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Ingrid Mattson, entitled ‘American Muslims, It’s Time for Us to Lead.’ ISNA, an umbrella group for radical mosques and Islamic centers throughout the United States and Canada, was recently named an “Unindicted Co-conspirator” by the U.S. government in connection to the raising of millions of dollars for Hamas. [As was CAIR.]

On November 5, 2002, Beliefnet (Beliefnet Books) introduced to its audience a compilation of essays, entitled Taking Back Islam, that comprised of pieces authored by a number of Islamists, such as: Mattson; MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati; CAIR National Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar; and Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), who was barred from entry into the United States, in September of 2004, for having suspected ties to terrorists.

Today, Beliefnet’s Islam section is entirely controlled by, and the content of it is entirely consumed by, radical Muslims.

The editor of Beliefnet-Islam is Dilshad Ali. Besides being affiliated with Beliefnet, Ali is also a correspondent for Islam Online, a site that issues religious rulings (Fatwas) in support of Palestinian suicide bombings, terrorist attacks against American troops, and the death penalty for homosexuals, including the throwing of homosexuals from tall buildings (“Death Falls”).

Indeed, as Fox Entertainment Group’s well recognized logo was pasted to Beliefnet, the face of Siraj Wahhaj adorned the site as an “Islamic Inspiration.” Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam, was named as an “Unindicted Co-Conspirator” to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and served as a witness for the spiritual leader of the attack, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, during Abdel-Rahman’s trial.

Diagonal to Wahhaj’s face was (and currently is) the face of Hesham Hassaballa, a co-founder and former Executive Board member of CAIR-Chicago (CAIR-Illinois) and former writer for CAIR's (dissolved) Independent Writer's Syndicate (IWS). Hassaballa, on his blog, G-d, Faith, and a Pen, has promoted such Hamas-related charities as Islamic Relief and KindHearts.

In addition to the two people just mentioned, on the same page could (can) be seen a fairly large image of Shahed Amanullah, the Director of Beliefnet’s blog, Hungry for Ramadan. Aside from the blog, Amanullah is an advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), an Islamist political lobby group that has, in the past, defended Hezbollah and has called for Israel's destruction. Beliefnet refers to him as an “award-winning Muslim journalist.”

In announcing the deal between his group and News Corp, Beliefnet’s Editor-in-Chief Steve Waldman praised News Corp, saying that the company has enormous reach and that “its proficiency in the areas of video, social networking and media in general is unsurpassed.” Likewise, Fox executive, Dan Fawcett, lauded Beliefnet, stating: “Beliefnet has garnered respect for its commitment to quality, editorial strength and unbiased approach to faith and spirituality from a broad range of consumers, religious and political leaders, journalists and advertisers.”

But is the “respect” that the Fox exec is speaking of truly derived from the places mentioned or could it be that it is coming from somewhere or someone else? And given all of the above, is it possible that his initials are ABT?

Fox News has a niche in our society. Its greatness is that – just as the station advertises – it has brought “fairness” and “balance” to a left-leaning TV news media and information gathering culture. It would, without a doubt, be a terrible day if that balance, in the near future, should somehow tip towards the enemy.

Anger over plan to broadcast Muslim call to prayer on loudspeaker in Oxford
Last updated at 12:46pm on 24th December 2007

Muslim plans to broadcast a loudspeaker call to prayer from a city centre mosque have been attacked by local residents who say it would turn the area into a "Muslim ghetto".

Dozens of people packed out a council meeting to express their concerns over the plans for a two-minute long call to prayer to be issued three times a day, saying that it could drown out the traditional sound of church bells.

But a spokesman for the Central Mosque said that Muslim's also have the right to summon worshippers.

Dr Mark Huckster, who lives in Stanton Road and works at East Oxford hospice Helen House, told the Oxford Mail: "The proposal to issue a prayer call is very un-neighbourly, especially in a crowded urban space such as Oxford.

"I have lived in the Middle East and a prayer call has a very different feel to church bells and I personally found the noise extremely unpleasant, rather disturbing and very alien to the western mindset."

He added: "If an evangelical Christian preacher proposed issuing sermons three times a day at full volume there would be an outcry.

"There could be a sense of ghettoisation of East Oxford. Cowley Road would have a Muslim flavour and could become a Muslim ghetto which is contrary to what we want in a multicultural society."

Dr Huckster was among six residents speaking in opposition to the plans, revealed in the Oxford Mail in November.

Allan Chapman, who lives in East Oxford, said: "We are concerned with civil liberties and civil peace and the right to be able to live in our own space.

"I do not want preaching at. It is not the tradition of this country or the tradition I subscribe to.

"I find this totally, utterly unacceptable and I plan to do whatever I can to stop it."

David Hutcheson, of East Avenue, said: "I'm very happy for people to practice their own religion but very unhappy about the thought of having a loudspeaker broadcasting any messages into my private space."

After the meeting, Sardar Rana, a spokesman for the Central Mosque, said he would be happy to clarify any issues and invited anyone to come to the mosque so he could satisfy their concerns.

He said: "The call is going on in so many places in the UK, and we must get the same right as everybody else.

"When they ring the bells in church, we respect it but that is also a call to prayer.

"We don't want to do anything that will disturb the people or upset the people."

Anger over plan to broadcast Muslim call to prayer on loudspeaker in Oxford (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=504373&in_page_id=1770)

Well, if I lived next door to a mosque, I would buy some really loud speakers and play "Amazing Grace" every time they have a call to prayer.

The county would have to write new noise ordinances. :D :D :D

Islamic child: 'We all can be sacrificed'
Hamas kids program features discussion of martyrdom
Posted: December 27, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A children's program on Hamas television whose main character earlier was "martyred" has continued the theme, with a discussion that includes a child's statement, "we can all be sacrificed for the sake of the homeland."

WND has reported previously on the Hamas' Mickey Mouse lookalike character's "martyrdom."

Al-Aqsa TV, run by the Palestinian Territories ruling party Hamas, had featured a squeaky-voiced Mickey Mouse look-alike named Farfur in the weekly children's program "Tomorrow's Pioneers."

In a show episode, the character was beaten to death, with a teen hostess confirming, "Farfur was martyred while defending his land." She also said he died at the hands of the "killers of children."

As a replacement, Hamas brought forward Nahoul, the bee, who now has continued the discussion of martyrdom.

In a clip captured and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Nahoul responds to a child's request to "convey your holiday greetings on the Feast of the Sacrifice?"

"Who should I convey greetings to, Saraa? Should I convey greetings to my brother, who was martyred in the first Intifada, at the hands of the Zionist Jews? Should I convey greetings to my second brother, who are martyred in the second Intifada? Should I convey greetings to my wounded brother, to my aunt, who was martyred because of the siege, or to her orphans? Who is there for me to greet, Saraa. I won't greet anyone. I am so sad, Saraa," the character said.

"Don't be sad, Nahoul. We can all be sacrificed for the sake of the homeland," Saraa responds. "May Allah help you. All we can say is that we place our trust in Allah against the enemies."

The discussion then continues with comments about the slaughter of a sheep and a calf.

The new character earlier had been highlighted by Palestinian Media Watch, an Israel-based monitor.

PMW reported the character said he wished to "continue the path of Farfur … the path of martyrdom, the path of the jihad warriors … and in his name we shall take revenge upon the enemies of Allah, the murderers of the prophets. …"

Hamas, which won a majority in parliament in January 2006 elections, officially is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

As WND reported in March, an online forum tied to the website of Hamas posted a photo of a little girl in a combat vest and the head band of the terrorist Al-Qassam Brigades.

"Have you seen the new child martyr who will soon shake Israel [to the core]?" says the caption, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute blog.

The message that accompanied the photo on the Shabakat Falastin Lilhiwar online forum says the girl "is part of the Muslim generation which will go down in history [as a generation] … that refused to [accept] humiliation and defeat."

As WND reported, Hamas launched a children's website in 2002, encouraging kids to follow the example of terrorist suicide bombers.

Online Poll Asking 'Do You Support Al-Qaeda's Attacks in Algeria?'

On December 12, 2007, the day after the double suicide-bombing in Algiers for which Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility, Al-Jazeera TV's website aljazeera.net posted an online poll asking, "Do you support Al-Qaeda's attacks in Algeria?" After three days of voting and 30,010 responses, the results were 54.7% in support and 45.3% opposed. The Algerian press and media were unanimous in denouncing the poll, and Al-Jazeera was widely accused of supporting terrorism.

It should be noted that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb posted a screenshot of the Al-Jazeera poll on its homepage (www.yes-edited-out.org ), with the caption "The Results of the Vote as Shown on Al-Jazeera!"

Following are reactions to the Al-Jazeera poll from the Algerian press:

Director of Algerian National TV: Al-Jazeera Is Now an Official Spokesman for Al-Qaeda

The Algerian press made a rare show of unanimity in angrily denouncing the Al-Jazeera poll. The director-general of Algerian national television, Hamraoui Habib Chawki, addressed the issue during primetime, calling the poll "a grave slip that has made this station [Al-Jazeera] into an official spokesman for Al-Qaeda, terrorism, and crime." The director-general of the national press service APS, Nacer Mehal, made similar remarks in Jeddah during a meeting with the Saudi Minister of Information. In addition, the National Liberation Front (FLN) released a statement saying that the poll was "an implicit show of support for terrorist organizations."

The director of Al-Jazeera's website, Ahmad Al-Sheikh, told the Algerian daily El-Shorouq El-Yawmi that the poll had been posted without his knowledge, called it a grave error, and said that it had been removed from the website. He also accused Al-Qaeda members and other interested parties of having thrown the poll results, saying that no one supported "barbaric acts" like the Algiers bombings.

At the same time, 12 Algerian journalists who work for Al-Jazeera, among them the well-known news presenters Khadija Ben Guena and Fairouz Ziani, demanded that the channel offer an official apology to the Algerian people and punish those responsible for posting the poll.

Algerian Minister of National Solidarity Djamel Ould-Abbes announced that family members of terror victims were planning to file a complaint against Al-Jazeera at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, and he added that he and the Algerian government would support them. In an interview with Le Jour d'Algerie, former Algerian Bar president Ahmed Redha Boudiaf said that he also favored legal action against Al-Jazeera and that he didn't understand why there had been no official response to the poll.

In fact, the possibility of an official response seems to have been ruled out by Communications Minister Abderrachid Boukerzaza, who said at his weekly press conference that the Algerian press had been effective in protesting the poll, and that the issue involved a media outlet (i.e. Al-Jazeera) and not a government and thus there was no need for diplomatic action vis-à-vis Qatar.

El-Moudjahid: Al-Jazeera Resembles the Rwandan Station that Incited to Genocide

On December 21, 2007, El-Moudjahid, the official organ of the FLN party, published an editorial denouncing Al-Jazeera as a terrorism enabler:

"The Qatari Al-Jazeera channel no longer needs an introduction. Thanks to the satellite, it has imposed itself in a radical manner in the audiovisual space through its blaring treatment of Arab and Islamic affairs…

"It was bon ton then [in the early years of Al-Jazeera] to appear on the stages of the channel. Viewers, observers, and politicians, swept up in the Al-Jazeera vortex, did not have the time to ask questions concerning the identity and the credibility of the channel, which ended up establishing itself as the bogeyman of the Arab world…

"By successive slips and glides, the channel has turned into a vent for hatred and extremism, and a kind of predator that instrumentalizes the Palestinian cause, problems in Lebanon, or any drama in the Arab and Muslim world in order to rejoice wherever there is blood…

"Something irreparable was committed this week, in the form of this poll that calls for legitimizing terrorism in Algeria. This is the time to go beyond the reaction of nausea and the feeling of horror and indignation when faced with such [moral] bankruptcy - understandable as they are - in order to clearly apprehend the true motivations and the hidden designs of such an ignominy…

"Al-Jazeera has quite simply left the sphere of the mass media in order to enter wholly into another domain… Al-Jazeera is guilty of apology for terrorism, incitement to crime, and legitimization of subversion. It falls under the relevant UN resolutions and the international conventions on this matter. It flouts the recommendations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the League of Arab States, the accords concluded in the framework of the Council of Arab Ministers of the Interior, and the accords among Arab police forces…

"Therefore, the entire international community needs to make its voice heard, and the Arab and Islamic world in particular, in order to denounce as firmly as possible these megaphones of crime, and to demand reparation.

"Today, Al-Jazeera resembles the dismal 'Thousand Hills Radio' that incited to hatred and murder during the genocide in Rwanda…

"Al-Jazeera today is a fortified island of terrorism, and its capacity for harm is greater than that of those who blindly kill innocent people - since it works to give a kind of legitimacy to vile criminals. Al-Jazeera is guilty of a terrorist attack, not just against the Algerian nation, but also against the international community…"

cont'd next post

Columnist Hakim Outoudert: Al-Jazeera Decks Itself Out in the Principles of Liberty - But It Has Revealed Its True Nature

On December 22, 2007, Hakim Outoudert wrote in the editorial of the Kabyle regional daily La Depeche de Kabylie:

"The Qatari Al-Jazeera channel has gone far in its support for terrorism… It is more than clear today that this TV channel is nothing but a media in the service of Al-Qaeda and its branches around the world.

"At a time when the principle concern of the countries of the Western and Muslim worlds menaced by bin Laden's organization is to impede the reach of [terrorist] propaganda… a highly influential media has, completely legally, established itself as a fervent supporter of terrorism…

"It must be said that until [it conducted] this scandalous poll, Al-Jazeera was able, through its disingenuous and subliminal style, to pass on its messages of support for Al-Qaeda and terrorism by decking itself out in the principles of liberty of information. [This was] a strategy adopted above all vis-à-vis the West, and the U.S. in particular. It took our country's suffering the blows of Al-Qaeda, by way of its subcontractors in the GSPC, for the channel… to no longer be able to rein in its sympathies for the terrorist organization and to deign to reveal its true nature…"

El-Watan Columnist: To Insult the Algerians, Who Have Been Fighting Terrorism for 15 Years, Is a Crime

In an editorial titled "The Poll of Shame" in the El-Watan daily on December 22, 2007, Mohamed Tahar Messaoudi wrote:

"… It is difficult to believe that an Arab television channel could ask participants [in the poll] if they are for or against innocent civilians being murdered, Algerians killing other Algerians, and civil strife taking root in this North African country.

"One has the impression that Al-Jazeera is seeking… to legitimize a barbaric act that has been forcefully condemned by the entire international community, or to find a justification, political or other, [for] the two suicide attacks that plunged many Algerian families into mourning on the eve of the Feast of the Sacrifice.

"This was not a simple mistake on the part of this channel that has pretensions of playing 'with the big boys'… [Al-Jazeera] has the professional means necessary to avoid falling into pitfalls that risk making it look ridiculous, like this latest poll. Thus one has to believe that this was a deliberate act of provocation by a media that has continuously harmed Algeria, to the point of making itself the spokesman for the terrorists of the GSPC…

"This poll of shame should make the Algerian authorities react at the level of all the international bodies. They need to move heaven and earth so that such an affront will not be repeated. The Algerians have been fighting the throes of terrorism for more than 15 years; the entire world is witness to the sufferings they have endured. To insult them, as Al-Jazeera has just done, is a crime."

Mustapha Hammouche: Al-Jazeera Supports Al-Qaeda in Algeria, and Algerian TV Supports Them in Iraq

In his column in the December 23, 2007 edition of the daily Liberte, Mustapha Hammouche wrote that Al-Jazeera supports terrorism not just in Algeria, but all over the world. He also criticized Algerian national television, which speaks against terrorism in Algeria but refers to it in Iraq as "the resistance":

"…It is not healthy to have a strictly nationalist reaction [to the Al-Jazeera poll], when the question is one of the status of life and death. Al-Jazeera is in favor of the GSPC/Al-Qaeda in Algeria, just like it was for the GIA. It was for the Taliban in Afghanistan, just like it is for Al-Qaeda in Iraq…

"This anti-Algerian act by Al-Jazeera is anti-Algerian because it is pro-Islamist, and thus pro-terrorist… In Algeria, the official media, through the sole TV channel, has largely contributed to the ideology of the crime. Is it not through this channel that they denounced the 'secularist-assimilationists' before they were targeted? Is it not [the official Algerian] ENTV that calls the Al-Qaeda terrorists who blow themselves up in the markets of Baghdad and massacre innocent civilians 'an Iraqi resistance'?

In the December 24, 2007 lead editorial in El-Shorouq El-Yawmi, Rashid Ould Bousiafa argued that the reaction to the poll was overblown: "All of a sudden, all of Algeria's problems and challenges, foreign and domestic, have come to an end, and the only thing left uniting the nation, its political parties, media, and social society organizations, is the Al-Jazeera website's mistake. They all are rising up to confront the danger descending from Al-Jazeera…"

Mohamed Benchicou, editor of the online Le Matin daily, also chimed in, calling the likes of Algerian TV's director-general and the Minister of National Solidarity "crying Barbie dolls" who condemn Al-Jazeera while ignoring the regime's misdeeds. He also claimed that such people are unmoved by the fact that "the victims of the December 11 [bombings] were murdered by a terrorist who was recently freed from prison" under the provisions of the National Reconciliation.

Online Poll Asking 'Do You Support Al-Qaeda's Attacks in Algeria?' (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD179407)

New bin Laden Internet Message on Iraq Coming Soon

Friday , December 28, 2007

AP
ADVERTISEMENT

NEW YORK —
Terror leader Usama bin Laden will release a new Internet message that focuses on Iraq and an Al Qaeda linked insurgent group, a terrorism monitoring group said Thursday.

The SITE intelligence group said the Al Qaeda leader will discuss Iraq and the group the Islamic State of Iraq, a longtime foe of the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.

SITE, which provides counter-terrorism information to government and private groups, said the announcement of the impending message was posted to Islamic militant Web sites earlier in the day.

The posting said the message — titled `The way to contain conspiracies" — would last 56 minutes. It did not say when it would be released, but such ads usually precede the actual message by one to three days.

The authenticity of the posting couldn't immediately be determined. But SITE said it was signed by As-Sahab, the production branch that releases Al Qaeda messages. The Internet message didn't say if bin Laden's statement would be in a video or just audio form.

The message will mark the sixth public statement by the terror leader this year. Audio or video communiques were sent over the Internet on Sept. 7, Sept. 11, Sept. 20, Oct. 22 and Nov. 29. A video on Sept. 7 was his first in three years and was issued to mark the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Al Qaeda has dramatically stepped up its messages — a pace seen as a sign of its increasing technical sophistication and the relative security felt by its leadership.

The terror group has also been campaigning to reach a broader audience, announcing that its No. 2 figure, Ayman al-Zawahri, would respond to journalists' questions sent over the Internet. The deadline for the queries was Jan. 16.

New bin Laden Internet Message on Iraq Coming Soon (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,318685,00.html)

If Benny-boy brags about Bhutto's murder, that would be a sure way to prove he is still part of the living. If here is just more osama jibberish, it may be more obvious that he is toast. Though if i remember right, Bhutto said that Bin Laden was killed by Omar Sheikh. That was back in November..............

That could be the reason for the death of Bhutto, revenge..................... The islamic's are very vengeful, when one of there own terrorist are killed.

Christians banned from saying 'Allah'
'We cannot let other religions use it, because it will confuse people'
Posted: December 28, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A Malaysian newspaper is reporting that Christians in that Muslim nation are being banned from using the word "Allah."

"We cannot let other religions use it because it will confuse people," Malaysia's Deputy Internal Security Minister, Johari Baharum, told the DNAIndia publication.

He said "only Muslims can use the word 'Allah.'"

The issue erupted when a Catholic publication used the now-banned-for-Christians word.

Herald, the Catholic Church's weekly newsletter, used the word and was warned it is at risk now of losing its publication permit.

The report said the move would shut down the 13-year-old publication, which is available in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil, and has a circulation of about 12,000, because without a renewed permit it cannot operate.

The present permit expires Dec. 31, officials reported.

It is not right, Baharum said, for such a publication to use the protected word. "We cannot allow this … in non-Muslim publications," he said.

An estimated 10 percent of Malaysia's estimated population of 26 million is Christian, and a part of that segment is Catholic. Lawrence Andrew is editor of the Herald, and said "Allah" was not used to offend or confuse anyone.

He said the Malay-language Bible uses the word "Allah" for God, and uses "Tuham" for Lord."

It is not the first problem Christians have had in Malaysia, even though the nation's constitution calls for religious freedom.

The Wall Street Journal has summarized the plight of a Malaysian woman who converted to Christianity, but lost a court case seeking to have "Islam" removed as her religion on her identity card.

"While Muslim-majority Malaysia is considered a largely moderate, modern society, renouncing one's Muslim faith still is considered both sinful and illegal by Islamic authorities – who have gained increasing sway of late. Ms. [Lina] Joy's apostasy case ... has inflamed public debate, divided the legal community … and threatens to set off political tremors in this Southeast Asian nation."

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty said the government's refusal to allow the woman to choose her religion violates customary international law protecting freedom of conscience as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It also violates the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to which Malaysia is legally bound, the Becket Fund said.

As far as that goes, Allah is a false god. These muslims, are mislead by the islamic community. I have used "allah" as an example of a false god, and will continue to do so. I have my own rights of speech.

I guess I should be happy, I don't live in Malaysia..........

'Bhutto could've been bridge to Muslims'
herb keinon and michal lando , THE JERUSALEM POST    Dec. 28, 2007

Israeli leaders paid tribute to slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, even though Israel and Pakistan do not have diplomatic ties.

"I saw her as someone who could have served as a bridgehead to relations with that part of the Muslim world with whom our ties are naturally limited," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told The Jerusalem Post.

He said the assassination was a "great tragedy," and that he received the news "with deep sadness."

Upon her return to Pakistan two months ago, Bhutto had stopped in London and, through a mutual acquaintance, relayed a message that she would "in the future like to strengthen the ties between Israel and Pakistan," Olmert said.

He called Pakistan a "very important country," and said he hoped the assassination would not lead to anarchy there, which would not bring "anything positive to the region or beyond."

President Shimon Peres said he was shocked by Bhutto's killing.

"Benazir Bhutto was a brave woman, who did not hide her opinions, did not know fear and served her people with courage and rare capability," he said in statement.

"I had the chance to meet her on several occasions, in which she expressed interest in Israel and said that she hoped to visit upon returning to power," Peres said. "Benazir was a charismatic leader and a fighter for peace in her country and across the world."

Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman recalled a meeting he had with Bhutto just prior to her return to Pakistan. "My wife and I had an intimate dinner with her and her husband," he said. "We spent over three hours with them. She was an incredibly impressive person, one of the most impressive in terms of her intellect, charm and charisma that I've ever met."

Gillerman said Bhutto was interested in normalizing relations with Israel. "She was interested in me relaying that information to Washington and the US, which I did," he said. "We were in touch since that meeting by e-mail several times and she expressed concern about her personal safety."

Gillerman said Bhutto had spoken about her fears of Pakistan falling into the hands of Islamic extremists. "She shared with us her plans to return Pakistan to democracy," he said. "She was very well aware of the problems facing her; she knew she was endangering her life by returning. I think she met with us to share with Israel, and through Israel, both her plans, fears and dreams."

A Foreign Ministry official said the possibility of sending a representative to Bhutto's funeral was "not even on the agenda," because of Israel's lack of diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

'Bhutto could've been bridge to Muslims' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1198517231264&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Saudi Authorities Arrest Reformist Blogger
 
By: Aafaq.org
Published : 27/12/2007 5:20 PM

(Riyadh – Aafaq) - The Arab Network for Human Rights Information has condemned the arrest of the blogger, Fuad Al-Farhan, who has called for reform in Saudi Arabia in his web log.  He is being detained without bond at an unknown location.

In statement obtained by “Aafaq,” the Executive Director of the Network, Jamal Eid, said that "...it is a perplexing matter that raises misgivings about the truth of the Saudi position on terrorism, when a young man is arrested who writes maturely, who opposes terrorism and calls for reform, and in whose writings it is difficult to find any excesses.  This is a grave indication of the dominance of extremist elements and enemies of the freedom of expression and reform in Saudi Arabia."

Al-Farhan had expected to be arrested and said in a letter published on the blog that “I learned from an official of the Interior Ministry that there is an official order to investigate me, and that my arrest may take place at any time during the next two weeks.”

He added, “The reason the order was issued is that I have been writing about political prisoners, and they believe that I am engaged in a propaganda campaign to defend these prisoners and promoting their cause – which is the cause of reform or change – while all I have done is write some essays and put up some web banners, and call for my fellow bloggers to do likewise.”

Saudi security forces stormed Fuad Al-Farhan’s office, “Smart Info,” in Jeddah, and took him to an unknown location without disclosing the reasons for his arrest. They did not release him after a few days, contrary to the Saudi authorities’ standard practice in dealing with peaceful bloggers who advocate reform in the Kingdom. 

Al-Farhan, who is known as the “dean of the Saudi bloggers,” is considered one of the most important Saudi and Arab bloggers.  He is known and distinguished for his serious writing and support for reform in his blog.

He coined the slogan, “the Search for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, and democratic participation, and the other lost Islamic values ... for the sake of Raghad and Khatab [i.e. “my children”].”

Many Saudi activists expected that the Saudi security agencies would release Al-Farhan after a few days, and on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, but two weeks have passed since his arrest without the Saudi authorities releasing him or announcing the reasons for his arrest or place of detention.  It is a cause for alarm and apprehension that someone is subjected to pressure because of his open support for Saudi reformists and his calls for the support of reform as a primary means of fighting terrorism.

Ahmad Fuad Al-Farhan, 32, is the father of two young children, Raghad and Khattab, and is the director of "Smart Info" in Jeddah.  He holds a M.S. in computer science from the United States, and has gained prominence from his blog, which bears his name.  His writings are characterized by very bold and constructive criticism, which has earned him fame and great respect among Saudi and Arab bloggers.

Saudi authorities have harassed Saudi bloggers from time to time and have arrested some of them, like the blogger "Sarjun Matar," as well as blocking web access to a number of them, such as the blogger “Hawa’ Al-Sa`udiyya” ("Saudi Eve"). 

The following text of the letter written by Fuad Al-Farhan before his arrest:

“I learned from an official of the Interior Ministry that there is an official order to investigate me, and that my arrest take place at any time during the next two weeks.

“The reason the order was issued is that I have been writing about political prisoners, and they believe that I am engaged in a propaganda campaign to defend these prisoners and promote their cause – which is the cause of reform or change – while all I have done is write some essays and put up some web banners, and call for my fellow bloggers to do likewise.

“This source asked me to cooperate with him and to write an apology.  But I do not know that they want me to apologize for.  Do I apologize for saying that the government lied in its allegations accusing reformists of supporting terrorism?  The source asked me to expect the worst, that I will be arrested and held for 3 days to write a favorable report about me, and then I will be released.  There may not be an arrest or even an apology, but if the period of my arrest is longer than three days, I want this letter to reach everyone ... I do not want to be forgotten in prison.”

Saudi Authorities Arrest Reformist Blogger (http://www.aafaq.org/english/aafaq_today.aspx?id_news=112)

Turkish TV Station To Broadcast In Arabic, Persian and Kurdish Languages

Fethullah Gulen affiliated Turkish daily Bugun reported that a new initiative for the foundation of a new TV channel which would broadcast in Arabic, Persian and Kurdish languages for neighboring countries, primarily for Iraq and Iran, is being launched upon the request of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan told his aides, “Many countries try to have a stake in the region and direct the population of the region on the basis of their views. We have to initiate new policies as the most powerful state in the region. We should work on the establishment of a TV channel which would broadcast in Arabic, Persian and Kurdish languages”.

Bugun wrote that the channel will cover a wide range of topics and include music, entertainment programs, cultural programs, sports and news, according to information obtained from sources close to the Prime Minister’s office. Turkey will also be able to convey its culture and its perspective about the developments in the region, same sources said.

It is not yet clear whether the new channel will be formed within the body of Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) or not, but it is believed that a new independent channel and organization will be established for this purpose.

Source: Bugun, Turkey, December 26, 2007

Purported bin Laden message has warnings for Iraq, Israel
updated 1 hour, 24 minutes ago


CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaeda and vowed to expand the terror group's holy war to Israel in a new audiotape Saturday, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."

Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al-Qaeda's latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al-Qaeda's Iraq branch on the run.

The tape did not mention Pakistan or the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, though Pakistan's government has blamed al-Qaeda and the Taliban for her death on Thursday.

That suggested the tape was made before the assassination.

Bin Laden's comments offered an unusually direct attack on Israel, stepping up al-Qaeda's attempts to use the Israeli-Arab conflict to rally supporters.

Israel has warned of growing al-Qaeda activity in Palestinian territory, though terror network is not believed to have taken a strong role there so far.

"We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea," he said, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."

"We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have," bin Laden said.

In Iraq, a number of Sunni Arab tribes in western Anbar province have formed a coalition fighting al-Qaeda-linked insurgents that U.S. officials credit for deeply reducing violence in the province. The U.S. military has been working to form similar "Awakening Councils" in other areas of Iraq.

Bin Laden said Sunni Arabs who have joined the Awakening Councils "have betrayed the nation and brought disgrace and shame to their people. They will suffer in life and in the afterlife."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said bin Laden's tape shows that al-Qaeda's aim is to block democracy and freedom for all Iraqis.

"It also reminds us that the mission to defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq is critically important and must succeed," Fratto said. "The Iraqi people -- every day, and in increasing numbers -- are choosing freedom and standing against the murderous, hateful ideology of AQI. And we stand with them."

Several hours before the tape was issued, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said al-Qaeda was becoming increasingly fearful of losing the support of Sunni Arabs and had begun targeting the leaders of the Awakening Councils.

Petraeus said al-Qaeda attaches "enormous importance" to "these tribes that have turned against them, and to the general sense that Sunni Arab communities have rejected them more and more around Iraq."

"They are trying to counter this and they have done so by attacking them," which is increasingly turning Sunnis against al-Qaeda, he said.

In the audiotape, bin Laden denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the former leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, who was killed in a September bombing claimed by al-Qaeda.

"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said.

Bin Laden said U.S. and Iraqi officials are seeking to set up a "national unity government" joining the country's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq, which would be a wall of resistance against American schemes to divide Iraq," he said.

He called on Iraq's Sunni Arabs to rally behind the Islamic State of Iraq, the insurgent umbrella group led by al-Qaeda. Besides the Awakening Councils, some Sunni insurgent groups that continue to fight the Americans have rejected the Islamic State.

Bin Laden said Sunnis should pledge their allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the little known "emir" or leader of the Islamic State of Iraq. U.S. officials have claimed that al-Baghdadi does not exist, saying al-Qaeda created the name to give its coalition the illusion of an Iraqi leadership.

"Failure to give allegiance to the emir after he has been endorsed leads to great evils," bin Laden warned. "Emir Abu Omar would rather have his neck severed than betray the Muslims ... Emir Abu Omar and his brothers are not one of those who accept compromise or meeting the enemy halfway."

The authenticity of the tape could not be independently confirmed. But the voice resembled that of bin Laden. The tape was posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, issues the group's messages.

The tape was the fifth message released by bin Laden this year, a flurry of activity after he went more than a year without issuing any tapes. The messages began with a September 8 video that showed bin Laden for the first time in nearly three years. The other messages this year have been audiotapes.

In an October tape, bin Laden sought to patch up splits between Iraqi insurgent factions, urging them to unite with the Islamic State of Iraq -- the insurgent coalition led by al-Qaeda. He took a conciliatory stance, chiding even al-Qaeda's followers for being too "extremist" in their positions toward other insurgents.

Bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri took a sharper tone in a December 16 video, branding as "traitors" those who work with the anti-Qaeda tribal councils and calling for Sunnis to purge anyone cooperating with the Americans.

 Purported bin Laden message has warnings for Iraq, Israel (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/29/binladen.message.ap/index.html)

Malaysia faces Christian outcry over word "Allah"
Fri 28 Dec 2007, 10:28 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian Catholic newspaper and church groups cried foul on Friday over a government move to forbid non-Muslims from using the word Allah.

The row could further strain race and religious relations in the country, where many non-Muslims believe their rights are being trampled by the Muslim majority.

The dispute came out in the open after Malaysia's internal security ministry ruled recently the term Allah -- long used by Christians in Malaysia to refer to God -- could no longer be used by non-Muslims.

"Malaysia is probably the only nation where the term Allah by Christians to refer to God is prohibited," parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said in a statement, adding that the term was never banned even in the Middle East.

"The term Allah was used to refer to God by Arabic-speaking Christians before Arabic-speaking Muslims existed," he said.

The government clampdown could force Kuala Lumpur-based "Herald - the Catholic Weekly" newspaper to lose its publishing permit if it failed to drop the word Allah in its publication, the publisher said.

The publisher, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, said on Thursday it had filed a lawsuit challenging the state order.

"We are of the view that we have the right to use the word Allah which right is now sought to be curtailed," his office said in a statement. "We have decided to have our legal position to use the word to be determined by the courts."

Politically dominant ethnic Malay Muslims form about 60 percent of the population of roughly 26 million, while the ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities include Hindus, Buddhists and Christians.

Political analysts say the ruling is an extension of the Malay Muslim supremacy taking firmer root in Malaysia.

"The Malays want to make Islam exclusive to Muslims," said one analyst.

Separately, another church group, the Evangelical Church of Borneo in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, has filed a suit against the ministry's move to stop it from importing Christian books which contain the word Allah.

"From the earliest days of the church, the Malay-speaking congregation of the Church have been freely using the Alkitab, the Bahasa Indonesia translation of the Holy Bible wherein the word Allah appears," it said in the suit.

"The Christian usage of the word Allah predates Islam," it added.

A spokesman for Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum said he could not comment because the cases were before the courts.

Malaysia faces Christian outcry over word "Allah" (http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnKLR316906.html)

The key phrase is the trampling of rights of other by the Muslim majority. Why can't the blind leftists in the world see that everywhere, every time, the Muslims have a majority, they oppress everyone else? Do these people think the Muslims are going to put up with them? I think for true Christians to begin calling The Lord by one of His many biblical names is not a big issue. His children know Him, and He knows His children.

The biggest concern for me is that this is being done as a way to publicly identify the Christians as infidels and subject them to persecution, in the near future.

Arab League ministers to meet on Israel settlements

'Israel's building of settlements will destroy any hope of peace,' says Arab League secretary-general as forum of Arab foreign ministers announces it will convene to discuss continued Israeli construction in West Bank

Reuters
Published: 12.29.07, 16:48
Israel News

Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting soon to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and Israeli settlement policy, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Saturday.

"The international momentum does not seem to be affecting the Israeli position and maybe will not, so we will meet to decide what is to be done," Moussa told a news conference.

"It is now clear that the settlements issue will destroy any hope of peace and will break the course of Annapolis."

Israeli officials have said Israel would allow construction within built up areas of existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but would not expand beyond those areas - a position that could widen the rift in US - backed peace talks launched in Annapolis, Maryland, last month.

The Palestinians say the negotiations, the first in seven years, hinge on Israel committing to halt all settlement activity, including so - called natural growth, as called for under a long-stalled "road map" peace plan.

Israel has said the Palestinian Authority has not fulfilled its own commitments to the plan, which calls for a dismantlement of terror groups operating within Palestinian territory.

It was not immediately clear when or where the meeting will be held, but Moussa told the news conference: "We will have this meeting in a very short period of time."

The call for the meeting came from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Moussa said, adding it will also discuss the political crisis in Lebanon.

Arab League ministers to meet on Israel settlements (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3487958,00.html)