Birth Pangs of Matthew 24, Jan. 10-12, 2007

[Shammu]

‘There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised’
Persecution against Christians in Burma revealed in new report called ‘Carrying the Cross’

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- A shocking new report about a range of tactics used by the military regime in Burma to suppress Christianity is about to be released in London.

Called “Carrying the Cross: The military regime’s campaign of restriction, discrimination and persecution against Christians in Burma” it cites a document, allegedly from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which has been widely circulated in Rangoon with the headline “Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma.”

It begins: “There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised.”

The report will be launched at a meeting of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Burma to be held in the Wilson Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, London, on Tuesday January 23.

“The meeting will be chaired by John Bercow MP,” says a report from www.AsianTribune.com. “The report will be presented by Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Advocacy Officer for South Asia and author of the report, Benedict Rogers, and a delegation of Chin and Kachin activists from Burma will present evidence of human rights violations.

“‘Carrying the Cross’ is the most comprehensive analysis of its kind, and the first to examine the military regime’s policies towards Christians of all denominations and ethnicities in Burma. It follows reports in recent years on the persecution of Muslims and the imprisonment of Buddhist monks.”

“Echoes of Hitler and the Nazis”

The story goes on to say that the report claims that Burma’s regime is “shaped by a fascist mentality with echoes of Hitler and the Nazis,” found in the junta’s hostility towards ethnic and religious minorities. Citizens who do not conform to the regime’s version of Burman Buddhist nationalism – which, the report argues, is a “perverted and distorted form of Buddhism” – face “potentially serious consequences.” The regime’s tactics range “from churches in Rangoon finding it difficult to obtain permission to renovate their buildings, to pastors in Chin State being killed,” the report claims.

The report quotes a plea from six Christian organizations in 2006, who wrote a letter to the junta’s Senior General Than Shwe saying: “We simply cannot let things go on without doing anything. This is because Christian associations have been suffering, and we are feeling the pain deep in our hearts.”

“Carrying the Cross” has received praise from several leading public figures, with Foreword written by Baroness Cox, a member of the House of Lords who has visited Burma’s border areas many times, and Preface by the former Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Rev. John Perry.

John Bercow MP, the Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma, who visited the Thai-Burmese border with CSW in 2004, says: “As this report makes clear, all the people of Burma are suffering at the hands of this brutal regime, whatever their religion or ethnicity. But there can be no doubt that Christians are singled out for an extra dose of discrimination and barbaric abuse. CSW (Christian Solidarity Worldwide) has made a unique and vital contribution to the campaign for freedom in Burma by publishing this evidence. The United Nations and the international community must now act to bring an end to the sadistic behavior of these dictators.”

The report’s author, CSW’s Advocacy Officer for South Asia Benedict Rogers, says: “It is time that the United Nations Security Council pass a resolution on Burma calling for an end to the grotesque human rights violations perpetrated by the regime. We urge the United Nations to investigate the violations of religious freedom in Burma and to put pressure on the regime to change. Burma’s people, of all religions and ethnicities, have suffered in silence for too long.”

‘There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised’

[Shammu]

Viral fever spreads from Kenya to Somalia -officials

GARISSA, Kenya, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The Rift Valley Fever, a virus that has killed nearly 80 people in Kenya, has spread to the Somali border town of Doble, where thousands of refugees fleeing conflict are assembled, officials said on Friday.

The disease was largely confined to remote parts of Kenya's northeastern and coast provinces. However, the disease which is spread through the movement of infected livestock, has crossed over to neighbouring Somalia.

"In Doble, there were reports of people falling sick and animals dying," Kariuki Njenga, a virologist with the Centre for Disease Control, told Reuters. "There are also reports of animals aborting for the last two weeks. These are some of the symptoms of the Rift Valley Fever."

Although transmission from animals to humans is rare, the disease develops into a much more severe illness once it crosses over causing victims to abort, vomit blood or bleed to death.

The disease is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites or frequent contact with contaminated animals.

"Four more people have died of Rift Valley Fever in the region today. This brings the total death toll to 78. There are now 214 confirmed cases since Dec. 14," said Ahmed Omar, medical officer for North Eastern province.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said its teams were having difficulties getting help to affected people as heavy rains over Kenya had made roads impassable, meaning the disease could spread to other areas.

The WHO, Medecins Sans Frontieres and other agencies have deployed teams of experts to reinforce local hospitals and clinics and stop the epidemic spreading any further.

Viral fever spreads from Kenya to Somalia -officials

[Shammu]

Special NHS care for Muslims call
The Press Association Friday January 12, 12:14 PM

The NHS must provide "faith-specific" care for Muslims, a medical expert has argued.

Professor Aziz Sheikh, of Edinburgh University, called for a raft of religion-based measures to help improve the health of the UK's Muslim population.

Suggestions include allowing infant male circumcision throughout the NHS, and providing better access to Muslim prayer facilities for patients and doctors.

With a population of around 1.6 million the faith group has the poorest health profile of any in the UK, the professor said.

Prof Sheikh writes in the British Medical Journal that the situation has resulted from the "general failure" of medical providers to appreciate Muslim needs, as well as "endemic" religious discrimination.

To counter this, the professor advocated recording the religious affiliation of patients, possibly with standard codes, allowing Muslim patients to maintain their modesty if required by seeing a clinician of the same sex, and enabling Muslims to avoid pork and alcohol-derived drugs.

Infant male circumcision should be provided throughout the NHS, he said, which would not force parents to use what he describes as the poorly regulated private sector.

Prof Sheikh, who is professor of primary care research and development at Edinburgh, also wants to see better access to prayer facilities for patients and staff in hospitals, as well as Muslim chaplaincy services made available.

He said: "There are few faith-centred initiatives aiming to improve health outcomes for our largest minority faith community. This reflects the general failure among academics, policy-makers and clinicians to appreciate the particular needs faith communities may have."

The professor added: "There are important moral, political, and increasingly legal arguments underscoring the need to ensure equitable delivery of public services to all sections of society, including Muslims. In the short to medium term, these needs will most efficiently be met by taking several faith-specific healthcare initiatives."

Special NHS care for Muslims call

[Shammu]

Mushrooms over the Middle East
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Hal Lindsey
© 2007

I don't know why it staggered me to read the report in the London Sunday Times. I've not only expected it, I've discussed it previously on numerous occasions.

The story in last Sunday's edition of the Times revealed that Israel plans to use tactical nuclear weapons in a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear program. I believe it's the only logical choice available to Israel, but reading the report rocked me back on my heels anyway.

Like when you hear of someone dying whom you already knew had cancer – it isn't surprising, but that doesn't soften the blow. The government of Israel immediately denied the report, but official denials are to be expected, so they're basically meaningless.

The most significant fact is the story found its way to the front page of the London Sunday Times and NOT the Jerusalem Post, Washington Post or New York Times. Why is that significant? The London Sunday Times is – by and large – untainted by U.S. Middle East politics.

And it's certainly no friend of Israel. It is, therefore, widely respected throughout the Arab Middle East. That makes it the perfect place for Israel to "plant" the story. Now, the obvious question is: Why would Israel plant such a story? I think there are a couple of reasons.

The first and most important is to measure and soften-up public opinion to whatever degree possible in advance of such a strike. Leaking the plan in advance will help Israel gauge the level of potential global anger if it does, indeed, launch a tactical nuclear strike.

They can also judge whether the world might actually be relieved if someone takes out Iran's nukes before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launches them on Israel and starts a regional nuclear holocaust. It's increasingly the global consensus that this is exactly what will happen if Iran develops a nuclear capability.

It's especially true in Washington and Brussels. Everyone knows that some nation or coalition must destroy or cripple Iran's nuclear facilities – but no one wants to do it. There is, however, one disturbing fact that ought to trouble the cowardly Europeans. London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels are just as much in range of Iran's nuclear missiles as Tel Aviv. And Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic vision includes subjecting all infidels to Allah.

The current recommendations, ranging from threats to bribes to endless negotiations, are like castles in the air. They're just wishful thinking with no foundation beneath them. Ahmadinejad's objective is to begin an apocalyptic nuclear war that brings the Muslim messiah called the Mahdi back to earth.

One of the reasons suicide bombers are so effective is because their goal is to die. They needn't trouble themselves with escape routes or back-up plans. They aren't concerned with the risks.

How does one threaten someone whose goal is martyrdom for Allah? What kind of bribe would entice a suicide bomber? He believes that Paradise awaits him, with all his wildest fantasies to be fulfilled.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes it's his divine mission to begin the Apocalypse and bring about the return of the Islamic messiah. He believes that is the will of Allah. How do you negotiate with Allah?

The recent unanimous Security Council vote imposing sanctions on Iran suggests that even the Russians and the Chinese are starting to get a bit nervous about Ahmadinejad's religiously driven objectives. They demanded a watered-down version, but they could have vetoed it completely.

Why didn't they? Because the version that made it out of the Security Council still gives Russia and China the opportunity to continue their lucrative nuclear monopoly with Iran. It's a calculated risk. As long as Iran's nuclear program continues, so do their profits. If Israel destroys Iran's program, they still keep their profits. And now there's the possibility of future profits repairing the damage.

But neither the Russians nor the Chinese are stupid. They are useful infidels, but infidels nonetheless. They know the sword of Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic jihad would turn against them, too.

In a worst-case scenario, Russia and China left themselves the option of ducking for diplomatic cover behind their Security Council vote if world opinion turns against them.

So Israel is carefully observing global reaction to its carefully planted "leak." The second reason for Israel to "leak" the report is to warn the Arab world without officially abandoning its policy of nuclear ambiguity. Israel historically refuses to confirm or deny it possesses nuclear weapons. Since it refuses to confirm they exist, Israel doesn't have to reveal the size of its arsenal.

For the Arabs, that's always made attacking Israel a gamble. For all they know, Israel could be bluffing. Or Israel could possess a large enough nuclear arsenal to reduce the Middle East to a sea of glass. But a nuclear Iran makes Israel's nuclear ambiguity a liability, rather than an asset.

Leaking the story to the London Sunday Times sends a clear message to Tehran that Israel not only has nukes, but will use them if it feels its survival is at stake. And Ahmadinejad has made it clear that Israel's survival is at stake.

What the Iranian president has failed to calculate is that Israel would readily use tactical nuclear weapons to destroy Iran's otherwise invulnerable nuclear facilities. And the plot thickens.

Mushrooms over the Middle East

[Shammu]

Three explosions jolt southern Iran

11 Jan 2007 11:14:57 GMT
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Three strong explosions jolted southern Iran on Thursday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, but it was not clear if there were any casualties.

The cause of the explosions in Khorramshahr in the province of Khuzestan, which borders Iraq, was not clear, but a local journalist said they were controlled explosions to destroy land mines left in the area since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

"The governor's office informed people on Wednesday night that mine-sweeping activities will take place on Thursday," the journalist with Iran's state television told Reuters.

An Oil Ministry official said the explosions occurred far away from any oil facilities in Khuzestan, the heartland of Iran's oil industry, where small bombs damaged 15 pipelines and one oil well in September 2005.

Khuzestan has been simmering with unrest among the province's mostly Arab population for more than a year.

Slightly more than half of Iran's 69 million people are Persians and the rest are ethnic Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Baluchis and Lors.

About 3 percent are Arabs and authorities are sensitive about protests and discontent in the southwestern Arab territories.

Three explosions jolt southern Iran

[Shammu]

 London Mosque DVD: Jews Face Mass Extermination
12:26 Jan 12, '07 / 22 Tevet 5767
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

      A leading mosque in London is selling DVDs that proclaim the coming mass extermination of Jews around the world on a "day of judgment." It also attacks Christian groups and the United Nations.


The London Central Mosque, also known as Regent's Park Mosque, is "the spiritual focal point for Muslims" throughout Great Britain, the European Jewish Press reported. It is also home to the Islamic Cultural Center, which educates Muslim children.

The report said that a British television station will air on Monday a documentary on Muslim extremism in Britain, and will report the selling of the DVD.

The DVDs are being sold at the London Central Mosque Shop. One excerpt shows a preacher, Sheikh Feiz, imitating the sounds of a pig and referring to the Jewish people who will be killed on the "day of judgment."

Another preacher, Sheikh Yassin, states that United Nations missionaries and Christians conspired to inject an AIDS virus in inoculations against diseases in Africa.

Faced with charges of selling the DVDs, the manger of the shop at the mosque said there were only 10 DVDs and all of them have been sold. He claimed that the supplier asserted the excerpts were taken out of context.

The television documentary discusses Muslim extremism and the July 2005 attacks on London's transportation system, which killed 52 people.

London Mosque DVD: Jews Face Mass Extermination

[Shammu]

EU must help Islam embrace Enlightenment - Germany
Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:07 PM GMT136

 By Paul Taylor, European Affairs Editor

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's interior minister said on Thursday that parts of the Islamic world had yet to embrace the values of the Enlightenment, and the European Union should help integrate Muslims by promoting the training of imams.

Wolfgang Schaeuble told visiting Brussels journalists he would use Germany's six-month presidency of the 27-nation bloc to establish an EU-wide dialogue with Muslim leaders to improve integration, defuse tensions and fight "home-grown terrorism".

"Part of the Islamic world has yet to implement the Enlightenment," the Christian Democratic politician said, referring to the 17-18th century European movement to value freedom and reason rather than tradition.

"We should not be arrogant but only helpful. After all, Christianity waged terrible conflicts for a few centuries until the process of Enlightenment took root, and part of Christianity shows signs of falling back in that direction."

The Islamic world must accept that equal rights for women was a universal principle enshrined in the United Nations charter and not "some peculiarity" of Europe, he said.

"Anyone who cannot accept the equality of men and women has not even come close to meeting one of the basic conditions for the 21st century. It's in Islam's own interest to make that very clear and decisive," he said.

He said Germany and the European Commission would encourage initiatives to train Islamic preachers so they helped integrate Muslims into European society rather than promote separateness.

Berlin was already in talks with Turkey, the country of origin of most of its Muslim immigrant population, to ensure that imams sent to preach in Germany spoke German, he said.

"It won't be the EU that organises this training, but we want it in Europe because we want imams to make a contribution to integration and not to the opposite of integration."

The EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini backed Schaeuble's plans "by stressing the possibility of having not only a European Islam but specific training projects for imams," he told reporters on Wednesday after meeting Schaeuble.

An EU official said the EU would not directly finance training but that EU states can use a new 825 million euros "Integration Fund" to promote the exchange of best practices on that issue as well as dialogue between religions.

BURQA

Schaeuble voiced support for European politicians such as former British foreign minister Jack Straw who have stirred controversy by criticising the wearing of the all-covering burqa or niqab garments by Muslim women.

Stressing he was not speaking as president of the council of EU interior ministers, Schaeuble said his personal view was that "the burqa, where you can only see a person's eyes -- if at all -- is the opposite of what we consider communication".

"Open societies mean living and talking together and not being separated from each other. And to that extent the burqa is an element that hinders communication," he said.

But politicians should not try to regulate what headgear men or women wore, because "they very quickly get into a minefield. People should decide that for themselves", he added.

Dialogue with Muslim community leaders had helped defuse issues such as a production of Mozart's opera "Idomeneo" in Berlin last year, in which a scene featuring the Prophet Mohammad's severed head sparked months of controversy, he said.

Schaeuble also said it was in the interest of Muslim communities to cooperate with security authorities to help identify terrorism suspects and avoid the unacceptable situation where Muslims fell under general suspicion.

"My impression is a growing number of Muslims and Muslim representatives react better if they have a bit more hope that they are fully accepted as citizens with equal rights," he said, citing improved social conditions and job opportunities.

EU must help Islam embrace Enlightenment - Germany

[Shammu]

EU official backs training for imams
By Paul Taylor, Reuters  |  January 12, 2007

BERLIN -- Germany's interior minister said yesterday that parts of the Islamic world had yet to embrace the values of the Enlightenment, and the European Union should help integrate Muslims by promoting the training of imams.

Wolfgang Schaeuble told visiting Brussels journalists he would use Germany's six-month presidency of the 27-nation European Union to establish a dialogue with Muslim leaders to improve integration, defuse tensions and fight "home-grown terrorism."

"Part of the Islamic world has yet to implement the Enlightenment," the Christian Democratic politician said, referring to the 18th-century European movement to value freedom and reason over religious or social traditions.

"We should not be arrogant but only helpful. After all, Christianity waged terrible conflicts for a few centuries until the process of Enlightenment took root, and part of Christianity shows signs of falling back in that direction."

The Islamic world must accept that equal rights for women is a universal principle enshrined in the United Nations charter and not "some peculiarity" of Europe, he said. "Anyone who cannot accept the equality of men and women has not even come close to meeting one of the basic conditions for the 21st century. It's in Islam's own interest to make that very clear and decisive," he said.

Some forms of unequal rights for women, in divorce and inheritance for example, are enshrined in traditional Islamic law, and few Muslim scholars are prepared to challenge that.

Many of the scholars also reject the secularism associated with the Enlightenment.

Schaeuble said Germany and the European Commission would encourage initiatives to train Islamic preachers so they would help integrate Muslims into European society rather than promote separateness.

EU official backs training for imams

[Shammu]

Iran plans to ration fuel after March 2007
By Reuters

TEHRAN - The Iranian government has decided to ration gasoline in OPEC's second biggest producer in the Iranian year that starts in March 2007, state-owned Iran newspaper reported Wednesday.

"The cabinet has agreed upon implementing the plan to ration gasoline in the next [Iranian] year [beginning March 21]," the newspaper said without giving a source.

The plan needs to be approved by the conservative-dominated parliament before being implemented.

Officials were not immediately available for comment.

After originally slashing the budget for gasoline imports to $2.5 billion for the Iranian year that runs to March 2007, parliament agreed in November to provide an additional $2.5 billion when the initial funds ran out.

Iran, which lacks refining capacity, has to import about 40 percent of the 70 million litres of gasoline it burns daily.

Fuel is heavily subsidised in Iran, where gasoline price per liter is 9 U.S. cents. Economists say such a cheap price encourages waste and a thriving trade in contraband fuel to Iran's neighbors.

In November, Iran also said it was planning to launch a system of "smart cards" for purchasing gasoline, a move which analysts said paved way for possible fuel rationing next year.

Rationing would be sensitive in a country where cheap, abundant fuel is considered a national right.

Many Iranian officials say Iran's dependence on imported fuel threatens national security, particularly when the country faces United Nations sanctions over its disputed nuclear program.

Asian and European traders watch Iran closely for any suggestion of fluctuation in demand. International trading house Vitol is a major supplier, according to industry sources.

Iran plans to ration fuel after March 2007

[Shammu]

Hilali urged to stay out of Australia
January 12, 2007

POLITICIANS today urged gaffe-prone cleric Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali not to bother returning to Australia.

But it's unlikely the Muslim cleric, who has been overseas since November, knows his latest controversial comments are causing such outrage in Australia.

The mufti labelled white Australians “liars” and said Muslims were more entitled to be in Australia than those with a convict heritage during his appearance on an Egyptian chat show.

The sheik also reiterated his view that the furore over him likening immodestly dressed women to uncovered meat was a conspiracy, and he also said Australian courts were anti-Muslim.

But his family is shielding him from the storm of condemnation from politicians and community groups, including Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone who today questioned his commitment to Australia.

“I remind Sheik Alhilali that if he doesn't like Australia, our heritage or our way of life, he doesn't have to come back,” she said.

Her comments were echoed by NSW Premier Morris Iemma, while federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the sheik appeared to be “several sandwiches short of a picnic”.

Prime Minister John Howard said the sheik was becoming a “growing embarrassment to his community”, a spokesman said.

“The prime minister remains of the view that this is an issue that can only be resolved appropriately by the Muslim community.”

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the public no longer took the mufti of Australia's largest mosque seriously.

But long-term friend and president of Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad defended the him, saying the comments appeared to be a “slip of the tongue”.

“I don't believe that he intended to take a swipe at Australian society, I got the impression that he was trying to justify living here to a person that was probing him,” Mr Trad said.

“You can see some of his comments are clear generalisations that would certainly not be his views.”

Mr Trad said the sheik's family in Egypt did not want to tell him about the escalating public outrage because they feared for his health.

“I've been communicating with his daughter and she wasn't particularly keen on telling him because he is unwell,” Mr Trad said.

Sheik Alhilali was hospitalised in October last year amid calls for his resignation.

He had been under pressure to step down since a September sermon in which he suggested women invited sexual assault if they were scantily clad.

The sheik was due to return to Australia at the end of next week, but Mr Trad said his trip may be extended because of the controversy.

Chairman of the prime minister's Muslim Community Reference group, Dr Ameer Ali, also slammed Sheik Alhilali's comments, saying he had a lot of explaining to do when he did return to Australia.

“He loves to be in controversy all the time and that's not good because a person in that position needs to be mending fences,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muslim groups have distanced themselves from the remarks.

Kuranda Seyit, executive director of the Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations (FAIR), said the comments were the sheik's extreme personal opinions and did not represent the views of the majority of Muslims.

The sheik's future remains in the hands of Australian National Imams Council, who are due to meet early this year.

A council representative did not return calls today.

Hilali urged to stay out of Australia

[Shammu]

11 January 2007
BRITAIN'S NEW PREACHERS OF HATE
By Bobby Pathak

IN a dilapidated mosque, half a dozen awestruck young men listen to a preacher spell out his vision for Britain.

"King, Queen, House of Commons... if you accept it, you are a part of it," says Dr Ijaz Mian. "If you don't accept it, you have to dismantle it.

"So you being a Muslim, you have to fix a target. There will be no House of Commons. From that White House to this Black House, we know we have to dismantle it.

"Muslims must grow in strength... then take over."

A 10-month undercover investigation into home-grown extremism has revealed hard-line Islamic fundamentalism being preached in British mosques.

Some speakers call for girls to be hit if they don't wear Islamic dress and say that they can marry before puberty, others praise the Taliban.

Speaking at the Ahl-e-Hadith mosque, in Derby, Dr Mian tells his listeners: "You are in a situation in which you have to live like a state-within-a-state - until you take over.

"But until this happens, you have to preach, until you become such a force that the people just submit to you."

Dr Mian wants to see religious policemen roaming our streets, modelled on the feared Saudi Arabian force.

He says of their strict implementation of Sharia - or Islamic - law: "They send the police and they say: 'Well, if you don't come for prayer, we will arrest you. But if you still don't, then we have to bring the punishment on you - you will be killed and nobody will pray for you.'"

Dr Mian is just one of many UK preachers who've been taught the wahhabi branch of Islam in Saudi Arabia, then come back here to spread the word.

The radical ideology, which is bitterly opposed to multi-culturalism and integration, is spreading in Britain.

And it's coming from clerics in a country that the British government claims is its main Middle Eastern ally in the fight against terrorism.

At UKIM's Sparkbrook Islamic Centre, in Birmingham - which PM Tony Blair has lauded for its multi-cultural activities - a preacher praised the Taliban.

He gloated over the fate of British Muslim Jabron Hashmi, who joined the British Army and was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. "The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders," he says.

A spokesman for UKIM, which runs the mosque, said their mosque had been hired out to another group and the speaker had been talking at that event.

The spokesman added: "We are a nationwide organisation and hold different programmes in our mosques. Anyone can air their views.

"These are his own views, not those of UKIM. We're very concerned about this."

The probe uncovered British preachers being trained in Saudi Arabia and mosques taking money from rich sheikhs. DVDs and tapes of radical speakers, who are linked to Saudi, are available. They attack integration, multiculturalism and even other Muslims who don't follow their extreme brand of Islam. It's a theology which many moderates are deeply concerned about, as they see the traditional, more tolerant beliefs being eroded.

On one DVD, filmed in a mosque run by a national Islamic charity - which claims to be committed to moderation - a speaker said girls should be "forced" to wear the hijab and, shockingly, adds: "If she doesn't wear hijab, we hit her."

Undercover reporters spent four months filming at Green Lane mosque, in Birmingham, an enormous place which caters for thousands of worshippers.

One preacher there said that marrying your daughter off before she reaches puberty is permissible in Islam.

But the main preacher at Green Lane is Abu Usamah, an American convert who studied at Medinah University in Saudi Arabia.

He rails against non- Muslims, telling listeners not to believe in the arrests of alleged terrorists in Britain - as non- Muslims are liars.

Green Lane mosque says it is a centre for "interfaith communication and dialogue", welcoming people of all religions and cultures. But in front of a Muslim-only audience, Abu Usamah says that Jews and Christians were "enemies" to Muslims. He goes on to condemn the kuffaar - infidels or non-believers.

"No one loves the kuffaar, not a single person here loves the kuffaar," he rants. "We hate the kuffaar!"

Although he says he doesn't agree with Osama Bin Laden's violent actions, he says he prefers him to non-Muslims, because Bin Laden is a Muslim. "He's better than a million George Bushs, he's better than a thousand Tony Blairs.

"Allah has not given those people who are kuffaar a way over the believer. They shouldn't be in authority over us," he tells his listeners. "Muslims shouldn't be satisfied with living in anything other than a total Islamic state."

He urges worshippers to discriminate against homosexuals but in a way that ensures they don't get caught. "If I were to call homosexuals perverted, dirty, filthy dogs who should be murdered, that's my freedom of speech, isn't it?" he says. "But they'll say no, I'm not tolerant."

Women, too, are inferior in Abu Usamah's eyes. He tells his audience: "Allah has created the woman - even if she gets a PhD - deficient. Her intellect is incomplete, deficient. She may be suffering from hormones that will make her emotional. It takes two witnesses of a woman to equal the one witness of the man."

Abu Usamah says that he condemns terrorism. But he predicts that an army of Muslims will soon arise to wage jihad - or war - against non-believers.

"They will fight in the cause of Allah. I encourage all of you to be from among them, to begin to cultivate ourselves for the time that is fast approaching - where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in the position of being uppermost in strength.

"And when that happens, people won't get killed - unjustly," he threatens.

Green Lane mosque is the headquarters of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, a registered British charity which runs more than 40 mosques and branches in the UK.

It's an influential affiliate of the Muslim Council Of Britain, which has praised it as "a national body", "respected among British Muslims for its educational and outreach programmes".

It runs a part-time Islamic school for 200 local children and the mosque has been praised by Lord Nazir Ahmed, Labour's first Muslim peer.

He sat on a highprofile taskforce - set up after the 7/7 attacks - to combat extremism in mosques. He also headed a working group on extremism in mosques and imams.

In 2003, he said of Green Lane mosque: "This is the most amazing place. When I walk in, I feel I am entering the biggest palace on earth." Most of the speakers there have been trained in Saudi universities.

And to underline the point, throughout last year, live satellite links were set up to broadcast talks from the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the country's most senior Islamic cleric.

In the course of one live session, one worshipper asked the cleric, through a translator, if Muslims should establish good relations and forgiveness between religions.

The Grand Mufti slapped him down. "This is not true. Jews and Christians who do not follow the Prophet Mohammed are kuffaar. They will go to hell."

FOR his part, Abu Usamah later said: "Islam allows for any Muslim to peacefully co-exist here in the UK with non-Muslims, even though the UK is not an Islamic society."

He said he had made it clear that it is a religious duty of all Muslims to obey UK law and the carrying out of Islamic law could only be done in an actual Islamic state.

He added: "Homosexuality is an abomination against Allah and all mankind, and I will never condone it. Even though this is the case, I do not believe in disobeying the law when it comes to the way people deal with homosexuals."

Lord Ahmed told us that Green Lane mosque was one of many mosques he visited. "It would be ludicrous to suggest that by visiting an institution I become responsible for, or aware of, every word spoken at that establishment."

The Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith told us that it was "committed to promoting inter-faith dialogue and political harmony in our society".

It said that scholars from many different backgrounds spoke at its mosque and that we had quoted many out of context.

It had not known what each speaker would say beforehand and did not necessarily agree with everything that may have been said.

It said the word kuffaar was a neutral term, and added: "We reject the assertion... that we are influenced by and teach an extreme version of Islam.

"We have no desire or intention to seize power or discriminate against others. We accept the rule of law and we treat our non-Muslim neighbours with respect."

Finally, Dr Mian said that he did not advocate that Islam would be forced upon anyone and said we had not quoted his many speeches condemning terrorism and the killing of innocent people.

BRITAIN'S NEW PREACHERS OF HATE

[Shammu]

Right on!: Say Goodbye to Europe
Michael Freund
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jan. 9, 2007

If you ever wanted to see Paris or Rome before you die, but haven't had a chance to do so, you might want to hurry. Soon enough, most of what we now think of as Western Europe will be transformed into a branch of the Muslim world, which is sure to make it an even less welcoming place for Americans, Israelis and for Jews.

That, at least, is the unpleasant, yet entirely unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from Europe's headlong demographic drive toward oblivion.

Think I'm exaggerating? Consider a few cold hard facts.

According to a recent report by the Rand Corporation, "Across Europe, birth rates are falling and family sizes are shrinking. The total fertility rate is now less than two children per woman in every member nation in the European Union."

Needless to say, demographers consider a birthrate of 2.1 children per family to be the replacement level at which a society's population size remains stable. Barring large-scale immigration, anything less means decline and dissolution.

A research study published last year in the International Journal of Andrology found a similar trend, concluding that, "Fertility rates have fallen and are now below replacement level in all European Union (EU) Member States. In the 20-year period since 1982," it noted, "most EU Member State countries have had total fertility rates continuously below replacement level."

At the bottom of the list are Spain, Italy and Greece, where birthrates hover around just 1.3 per couple, leading some forecasters to suggest, for example, that Italy's population could shrink by one-third by the middle of the century.

Others, such as Germany's 1.37, the UK's 1.74 and Sweden's 1.75, aren't all much better.

The figures are so bad that in many European countries, the total number of deaths each year has actually begun to exceed the number of births.

Indeed, the Council of Europe's 2004 Demographic Yearbook warned that, "for Europe as a whole, more people died in 2003 than were born." In 1990, said the yearbook, "three countries - Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary - had negative natural growth for the first time. By 2002, it was negative in fifteen countries."

LAST YEAR, after the publication of statistics revealing that 30 percent of German women have not had children, Germany's family minister, Ursula von der Leyen, caused a stir when she said that if her nation's birth rate did not turn around, the country would have to "turn out the light." And while Europeans may be busy everywhere but in the bedroom, the Muslim populations in their midst are proving far more expansive.

As columnist Mark Steyn points out in his must-read new book, America Alone, "What's the Muslim population of Rotterdam? Forty percent. What's the most popular baby boy's name in Belgium? Mohammed. In Amsterdam? Mohammed. In Malmo, Sweden? Mohammed."

Last month, the UK Daily Telegraph reported that, "Mohammed, and its most common alternative spelling Muhammad, are now more popular babies' names in England and Wales than George."

This, said the paper, using typically British understatement, "reflects the diverse ethnic mix of the population."

But that "mix," so to speak, is rapidly changing - and not in traditional Europe's favor.

ISLAM, BY all accounts, is the fastest growing religion in Europe, spurred by immigration and high fertility rates. According to projections by the US federal government's National Intelligence Council, the continent's current Muslim population of 20 million will likely double by 2025.

And as Bruce Bawer noted last year in While Europe Slept, "Already, in most of Western Europe, 16 to 20 percent of children are Muslims…within a couple of generations many [European] countries will have Muslim majorities."

Not since September 8, 1683, when the Ottomans were threatening to breach the walls of Vienna, has Islam been so perilously close to seizing control over Western Europe.

The implications of all this are far graver than we can even begin to imagine, and it is not just a matter of choosing new and more hospitable tourist destinations.

An increasingly Islamified Europe will prove ever more hostile to Israel and America, and this trend will only intensify as the Muslim population there continues to grow.

Even if European governments succeed in reversing the curve, which seems highly unlikely, it will be decades before it would begin to be felt. In the meantime, however, Muslim political power on the continent will develop and expand, and European leaders will be hard-pressed to ignore their demands.

This makes it far less likely that Israel and the US can count on Europe - if they ever really could - at times of crisis in the decades ahead. Just pick an issue, from the war on terror to Palestinian statehood, and you'll see what I mean.

For however unbalanced Europe's stance has been until now, it will likely only grow worse in the years to come.

Europe as we know it is a thing of the past, and it is time for Israeli and American decision-makers to take this into account as they plan for the future. The face of Europe is changing rapidly, and with it the continent's social and political make-up.

So if you really want to see the Eiffel Tower up close, you had best not delay. Before you know it, it might just turn into a minaret.

Right on!: Say Goodbye to Europe

[Shammu]

 Al Qaeda Deepens Presence Around Israel
18:47 Jan 09, '07 / 19 Tevet 5767

(IsraelNN.com) Al Qaeda is increasing its presence in 3 of the 4 states neighboring Israel – Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, according to Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, Head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence ('Aman').

"Dozens, perhaps hundreds of Al Qaeda men have reached Lebanon," said Yadlin Tuesday. "The men are trained and possess terrorist knowledge," said Yadlin, adding that the assumption was that Aiman Al-Zwahiri, Al Qaeda's no. 2 person, had given the order for the terror organization's men to spread out in the three Arab countries.

Yadlin said the Al Qaeda terrorists in Lebanon posed a threat mostly to UNIFIL and western interests in Lebanon. He added that a small number of Al Qaeda men had reached Gaza, and that the IDF had arrested several Al Qaeda terrorists in the Shechem area in Samaria. He was speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Tuesday.

Al Qaeda Deepens Presence Around Israel

[Shammu]

IDF not preparing for summer war

Published:    01.11.07, 17:24

Defense Minister Amir Peretz denied reports that the IDF was preparing for a war that would supposedly break out during the summer.

Peretz, speaking before members of the Labor party administration, said "there are no estimates that Israel is preparing for war next summer. There is no data to support this. I call on everyone to be cautious with their statements." Peretz added however that the IDF will of course be ready for any confrontation should it break out.

IDF not preparing for summer war

[Shammu]

Hamas leader Mashaal acknowledges Israel exists

Published:    01.10.07, 17:49

Hamas acknowledges the existence of Israel is an established fact, the movement's exiled leader Khaled Mashaal told Reuters on Wednesday, softening the group's refusal to recognise the Jewish state. Israel is a "reality" and "there will remain a state called Israel, this is a matter of fact," Mashaal said in an interview.

"The problem is not that there is an entity called Israel," said Meshaal, "the problem is that the Palestinian state is non-existent."

Hamas leader Mashaal acknowledges Israel exists