A must-see 4 video clips from a new documentary on the cultural jihad already taking place in America.
Showing posts with label Terror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terror. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Third Jihad
A must-see 4 video clips from a new documentary on the cultural jihad already taking place in America. 
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Al-Qaeda Issues Hebrew-Language Threat
Online recording tells 'aggressor Jews' they will not be safe until they 'leave land of Palestine'
by Reuters
An al-Qaeda-linked group issued a Hebrew threat on Thursday to avenge Israel's killing of two Gaza militants, in what an expert said was the first use of the language for such propaganda.
In the half-minute-long recording posted on a website used by declared al-Qaeda affiliates, a hoarse male voice tells the "aggressor Jews" they will not be safe from rockets and other attacks until they "leave the land of Palestine".
The speaker identifies himself as a member of the group Jemaa Ansar al-Sunna or "Community of Sunna Supporters", which has a presence in Gaza.
Mohammed Nimnim and Islam Yassin, killed in Israeli air strikes on Nov. 3 and Nov. 17, were Gazan leaders of the Army of Islam, a Palestinian Islamist group inspired by al-Qaeda. Israel accused them of having planned to attack Israelis in the Egyptian Sinai.
Matti Steinberg, an Israeli intelligence veteran who specialises in Islamism, said it was unprecedented for Hebrew to be used on an al-Qaeda forum.
While Osama bin Laden's followers have made public appeals in languages other than Arabic, this was usually to "win over, educate and preach to the wider Muslim world", Steinberg said.
"Here, by contrast, it seems the idea to make Jews feel that the threat is close at hand and not some distant menace."
The recording, which was quoted on Israel's Army Radio, ends by invoking "al-Quds", Arabic for Jerusalem.
by Reuters
An al-Qaeda-linked group issued a Hebrew threat on Thursday to avenge Israel's killing of two Gaza militants, in what an expert said was the first use of the language for such propaganda.
In the half-minute-long recording posted on a website used by declared al-Qaeda affiliates, a hoarse male voice tells the "aggressor Jews" they will not be safe from rockets and other attacks until they "leave the land of Palestine".
The speaker identifies himself as a member of the group Jemaa Ansar al-Sunna or "Community of Sunna Supporters", which has a presence in Gaza.
Mohammed Nimnim and Islam Yassin, killed in Israeli air strikes on Nov. 3 and Nov. 17, were Gazan leaders of the Army of Islam, a Palestinian Islamist group inspired by al-Qaeda. Israel accused them of having planned to attack Israelis in the Egyptian Sinai.
Matti Steinberg, an Israeli intelligence veteran who specialises in Islamism, said it was unprecedented for Hebrew to be used on an al-Qaeda forum.
While Osama bin Laden's followers have made public appeals in languages other than Arabic, this was usually to "win over, educate and preach to the wider Muslim world", Steinberg said.
"Here, by contrast, it seems the idea to make Jews feel that the threat is close at hand and not some distant menace."
The recording, which was quoted on Israel's Army Radio, ends by invoking "al-Quds", Arabic for Jerusalem.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Radical Islam Targeting America
Terrorists convinced that they can get away with murder, and even be rewarded.by Yoram Ettinger
The United States is justly perceived as the role-model for democracy: freedom of expression, religion, movement, media, Internet and election. Therefore, the US is perceived as a lethal threat by Muslim regimes in the Middle East, all of which are autocratic, representing an ethnic minority (or a military clique), suppressing the majority and fearing democracy.
The US is properly perceived – by rogue Muslim regimes - as the most effective hurdle on their way to attain historically-strategic goals: Saddam Hussein's drive to control the Arab World, Assad's aim to reassert Greater Syria (encompassing Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, parts of Turkey and Israel), Iran's aspiration to dominate the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, etc.
The US has been targeted as a scapegoat by autocratic Muslim regimes, blaming the US – along with the West and the Jewish State – for the humiliation, frustration and rage over the failure to reclaim the glory of ancient Islam.
Since the 7th century, the vision of Islam has been the gradual domination of the globe. According to Prof. Bernard Lewis, the leading expert on Islam, Muslims believe that their victory in Afghanistan, over the USSR, caused the fall of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, they are convinced that defeating the US would be less difficult, in view of American retreats from Vietnam (1973), the US Embassy in Teheran (1979/1980), Beirut (1983) and Somalia (1993) and the expected evacuation/retreat from Iraq and Afghanistan.
They assume that anti-US terrorism (e.g. 1995/6, 1998 and 2000 anti-US Islamic terrorism in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen, culminating in 9/11) entails sustained punishment, while yielding US concessions and retreats overseas and eventually on the US mainland.
Anti-US Islamic terrorism has been emboldened by counter-terrorism officials – such as John Brennan and Eric Holder, President Obama's Advisor on Countering Terrorism and Attorney General respectively - who claim that there is no military solution to terrorism, that there is no global terrorism, that there is no Jihadist terrorism, since "Jihad is a process which purifies the soul" and that terrorism is largely a law-enforcement challenge rather than a military issue. Such deficient moral clarity breeds a deficient operational clarity, emboldening further terrorism.
Rogue/autocratic Muslim regimes have realized that terror is the most effective anti-US weapon, increasingly on the American mainland. They assume that Western leaders have reconciled themselves to engagement and coexistence with terrorism, rather than endeavor to devastate terror regimes through a systematic series of disproportionate traumatic blows.
Terrorism provides the element of deniability, while eroding the confidence of Americans in the capability of their government to maintain homeland security. Terrorists are convinced that they can get away with murder, and even be rewarded. They have concluded that the pen and the tongue are extremely effective in complementing the sword in the battle against Western civilization, led by the US.
The current Islamic assault on the US mainland, through the proliferation of many dormant terror cells and a campaign of conversion to Islam - largely funded by Saudi Arabia - is presented by Yehudit Barsky, Director of Middle East and International Terrorism Division of the American Jewish Congress:
Omar Ahmed, co-founder of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), which has been connected to Hamas and other Islamic terror organizations: "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant…The Koran should be the highest authority in America and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."
US-born Imam Zaid Shakir, a frequent participant at CAIR's seminars, is a co-founder of the Muslim Zaytuna College, Berkeley, California, which aims at producing Islamic scholars, who will entrench Islam in the US: "Every Muslim who is honest would like to see America become a Muslim country. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be a Muslim." Zaytuna College highlights the supposed relevance of the Sharia laws to the US legal system.
US-born Al-Qaeda operative, Anwar al-Awlaki, inspired US-born Nidal Malik Hasan, who murdered 13 American soldiers on November 9, 2009 at Ft. Hood, Texas. He trained Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, who attempted to detonate explosives on December 25, 2009 in Northwest Airlines flight on route from Amsterdam to Detroit.
US citizen Faisal Shahzad was trained by Taliban and inspired by Anwar Al-Awlaki, attempted the May 1, 2010 Times Square car bombing.
The Al Shabaab, "Holy Warrior Youth Movement," is recruiting in the US via Internet. Eight Al Shabaab recruits – including converts to Islam - were arrested in Minnesota.
Is it realistic to assume that rogue Muslim regimes, which have employed terrorism since the 7th century in order to settle intra-Muslim conflicts, would not employ terrorism in order to settle their conflicts with the US – the "Big Satan"?! Islamic terrorism constitutes a clear and present danger to the US and to the Free World, irrespective of the Arab-Israeli conflict, independent of the Palestinian issue and regardless of Israel's policies or even the very existence of Jewish State – the "Little Satan."
Professor Fuad Ajami, a leading Middle East scientist, issued a warning to US policy-makers in the NY Times back in 1986: "No American diplomatic scheme would spare America the fury of those bent upon eradicating its presence in the region. It is a false reading of a large civilization to say that the terror springs from the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians... It springs from deeper social, economic and political pressures within Mideast society, from the traumas of dislocated newly urbanized youth...Some of it is hatched by merciless men for whom terror is a profession that pays... It does not advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians to pretend that it would solve a problem much larger than their conflict..."
Ynet News
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Baghdad Under Attack: Blasts Kill Dozens
Mayhem in Baghdad as explosions rip through at least 10 neighborhoods across Iraqi capital.
Bloody day in Baghdad: Iraqi hospital and police officials say blasts ripping through Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhoods have killed at least 76 people and wounded some 200.
The blasts took place in at least 10 neighborhoods across the capital Tuesday evening.
"Ten cars exploded with bombs inside them. There were also four roadside bombs and two sticky bombs," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said. "(They were) all in Shiite neighborhoods."
One of the biggest explosions appeared to target restaurants and cafes in the Shiite slum of Sadr City. Earlier, a police source in the area said 15 people had been killed and another 23 wounded.
The blasts come just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Iraq remains in political limbo almost eight months after an inconclusive vote, raising fears that insurgents might exploit tension to try and reignite sectarian war. Tuesday's attack was the third major assault in Iraq since Friday.
Violence has subsided significantly in Iraq since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07 but attacks by Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Shiite militia continue daily. On Friday, 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi cafe northeast of Baghdad.
by News Agency
Bloody day in Baghdad: Iraqi hospital and police officials say blasts ripping through Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhoods have killed at least 76 people and wounded some 200.
The blasts took place in at least 10 neighborhoods across the capital Tuesday evening.
"Ten cars exploded with bombs inside them. There were also four roadside bombs and two sticky bombs," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said. "(They were) all in Shiite neighborhoods."
One of the biggest explosions appeared to target restaurants and cafes in the Shiite slum of Sadr City. Earlier, a police source in the area said 15 people had been killed and another 23 wounded.
The blasts come just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Iraq remains in political limbo almost eight months after an inconclusive vote, raising fears that insurgents might exploit tension to try and reignite sectarian war. Tuesday's attack was the third major assault in Iraq since Friday.
Violence has subsided significantly in Iraq since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07 but attacks by Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Shiite militia continue daily. On Friday, 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi cafe northeast of Baghdad.
by News Agency
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Iran's Burnt the Bible
Iranian Ayatollahs Issue Death Fatwas for Koran Burners, but Iranian Authorities Burn Hundreds of Confiscated Bibles…A spokesperson for FCNN told the ASSIST News Service (ANS), "This action [of burning the Bibles], which has been confirmed by informed sources, was aired on a site belonging to the Pasdaran paramilitary organization, is nothing less than shameful and the persons responsible must be identified and exposed to the whole world."
The report said that on Saturday, May 29, 2010, Ati News, a site belonging to Morteza Talaee, the previous head of the security forces and the current member of the Tehran's city council, "in its usual anti-Christian propaganda" reported that their social-life reporter had disclosed that shipments of so called, "Perverted Torah and Gospels" had entered Iran through its Western borders.
Two days later, on Monday, May 31, 2010, the same report was reiterated by the official anti-crime website of the Pasdaran Army called "Gerdaub" which said that a large shipment of Jewish and Christian Scriptures had entered Iran through the Western Azerbaijan province and, according to security officials of that province, the "occupier forces" that operate in the Western regions of Iraq were responsible for such activities.
FCCN stated that Gerdaub, the official website of the Pasdaran Army [also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG] continued its report by quoting the security official who had stated: "Some of these books are distributed locally, but most of the books are smuggled and distributed all over the country. In just the last few months, hundreds of such 'perverted Bibles' have been seized and burned in the border town of Sardasht."
The same unidentified security source added that his intention has been to "inform and enlighten" people.
"While the depiction of the Prophet of Islam and other historical religious leaders, whether in good or bad taste, has caused uproar and violent protests, threats of retaliation and assassinations, closure of embassies, long and mournful marches in various parts of countries of the world such as Pakistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, its quite interesting that the official website of the most powerful military wing of the Islamic Republic of Iran engages in the shameful act of reporting the burning of Bibles," said the FCNN spokesperson.
"Of course, the security officials have not clarified the difference between these so called 'perverted Bibles' and those that are commonly used by people around the world - including Iran.
"These officials shamefully label the Holy Scriptures of the Christians 'contraband' without realizing the over two billion people around the world and at least five hundred thousand people in Iran revere and consider holy. This action is no different than what the government has wrongfully accused many Christians of insulting the sacred beliefs of Islam.
"On the hand the defenders of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the international organizations and human rights forums claim that religious minorities such as Jews and Christians enjoy constitutional protection and the adherents of these religions not only can elect their own representatives to the parliament, but exercise their religious rights freely and openly.
"But, as with many other rights and freedoms granted to the people in the constitution, this fundamental right has also been violated and repressed by the Islamic government."
The spokesperson went on to say, “The leaders of the Islamic Republic not only use the weapon of their pre-selected parliamentary candidates to control who gets into the legislature, but severely suppresses the religious minorities by demanding the names of those attending church services, banning the entry of Farsi-speaking members into church building and any preaching in the Farsi language, rejecting any building permits for church buildings, and the publishing of Bibles and other Christian literature which amounts to nothing but direct interference in the religious affairs of the very people it claims to be protecting.
For these reasons Christians have taken refuge at homes and congregate in home-style churches form small home-based churches. Even then, many of these Christians are harassed and often pursued by security agents and are arrested and detained. Many Christian leaders have been detained for long periods of time in undisclosed locations and often very expensive bails have to be posted to secure their freedom.
The question remains as to how long the Christian community outside of Iran can tolerate such persecutions and atrocities? Moreover, and not withstanding the fact that Iranian Christians do not have the right to publish their holy scriptures, those Christians from around the world who donate Bibles to their brothers and sisters inside Iran are insulted by labeling their donated Bibles as contraband and burned by the security agents.
It is only appropriate that the official website of the Pasdaran army that has published this report and has confirmed the validity of this news through one of its security agents be condemned by the international Christian community and the world to demand the identification of those perpetrated this shameful act.
Such insults and offensive actions in burning the Christian Bible coincides with the Islamic community's full enjoyment, freedom, and the blessings of the Western nations that allow them to publish the Islamic Holy Book, the Quran, and to build as many mosques as its needed in various European and North America cities.
The Quran states that the Torah and the Gospels are Holy Scriptures as well. Nevertheless, the Islamic leaders claim that the Bibles used by Christians and Jews are not the authentic scriptures but have been changed by the church. Considering the fact that the Quran also states that no man can destroy the word of God, the question remains that if the currently used Bible is, as the Islamic leaders so claim, a changed and untrustworthy document where is the real Torah and the Gospels?
If the Quranic claim that the word of God can never be perverted and changed, then there must be a copy of the real Torah and the Gospels somewhere. To this question Muslims have not credible answers. There is no such difference or variance between today's Scriptures and the original writings. Our modern Bibles go back to the very ancient copies of the scriptures that in some cases date back to only 50 years from Christ Himself. There are even copies of the Old Testament that date several hundred years before Christ.
Definitely, and for sure, one can not find any ancient writings that have been as carefully and precisely copied and preserved as the Bible has been. There are thousands of ancient manuscripts in world museums that testify to this fact. Therefore the claim that the Bible is a changed and false scripture is totally baseless and is nothing but a ploy to confuse and mislead people by the Islamic leaders.”
The spokesperson concluded by saying, “In any event, the burning of any book, especially one that is honored and revered by a great majority of people around the world, is an unacceptable and immoral act and must be condemned by the world community.
”
Assist News
Saturday, October 30, 2010
West Bank Terrorists Target Israeli Vehicle
Terrorists fire at settler couple traveling near Bethlehem; No injuries reported in attack.
Another West Bank terror attack: An Israeli vehicle was fired at Saturday evening northwest of Bethlehem.
No injuries were reported in the shooting attack.
A couple residing in the settlement of Har Gilo was traveling from the Mount Hebron area to Jerusalem when it came under fire. Security forces identified bullet holes on the vehicle.
The driver of the car reported the attack when he arrived at the Ein Yael roadblock in the area. IDF troops were promptly dispatched to the shooting site and are scouring the area in an effort to apprehend the shooters.
More than a month ago, an Israeli couple sustained wounds in a shooting attack in the south Mount Hebron area. The woman hurt in that attack was at late stages of pregnancy and gave birth the same night at the hospital.
In late August, four Israelis were murdered in a West Bank shooting attack perpetrated by Hamas terrorists. About three weeks ago, IDF troops killed two terrorists involved in the attack.
Ynet News
Another West Bank terror attack: An Israeli vehicle was fired at Saturday evening northwest of Bethlehem.
No injuries were reported in the shooting attack.
A couple residing in the settlement of Har Gilo was traveling from the Mount Hebron area to Jerusalem when it came under fire. Security forces identified bullet holes on the vehicle.
The driver of the car reported the attack when he arrived at the Ein Yael roadblock in the area. IDF troops were promptly dispatched to the shooting site and are scouring the area in an effort to apprehend the shooters.
More than a month ago, an Israeli couple sustained wounds in a shooting attack in the south Mount Hebron area. The woman hurt in that attack was at late stages of pregnancy and gave birth the same night at the hospital.
In late August, four Israelis were murdered in a West Bank shooting attack perpetrated by Hamas terrorists. About three weeks ago, IDF troops killed two terrorists involved in the attack.
Terrorists fire at Israeli vehicle
Ynet News
Friday, October 29, 2010
'Death to Israel' Chanted at Gaza Rally
Thousands take to streets in support of Islamic Jihad, leader backs 'wiping Israel out of existence'.
Tens of thousands of supporters of Islamic Jihad rallied in the streets of Gaza on Friday, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".
Young men and boys wearing white T-shirts with a slogan in the shape of a rifle bore portraits of militants killed in combat, under the black flags of Islamic Jihad.
"Israel will not bring peace to the region, it will only bring war and destruction and therefore, the slogan of all should be that Israel must be wiped out of existence," said Ramadan Shallah, the group's exiled chief in Damascus
Shallah, who is on a United States wanted list, sent a recorded message marking the anniversary of the assassination of the group's leader Fathi Shiqaqi in Malta in 1995, by presumed Israeli secret agents.
Senior leaders of Hamas joined the open-air gathering, the largest for years in honor of Islamic Jihad with up to 100,000 attending according to its organizers.
Hamas allowed the group to use city terrain it usually reserves exclusively for its own rallies, and Hamas forces provided security for the parade by its smaller rival.
Islamic Jihad officials said Friday's turnout was a "referendum by the Palestinian people rejecting peace-making with Israel".
"The choice of negotiation has reached deadlock, and we are wondering why is there such an insistence by the Palestinian Authority on negotiation with the enemy," said Shallah.
He urged an end to peace talks and fresh efforts to heal the rift between Fatah and the Islamist militants. Raising hopes that the three-year-old split may be coming to an end, Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said it was time for unity in the face of Israel.
"There is only the choice of Jihad and nothing else ... There is no more room to make bets, on the Americans or anyone else," said Hayya.
President Abbas, however, has ruled out violence and said he will pursue diplomatic alternatives should the peace talks with Netanyahu collapse definitively.
by Reuters
Tens of thousands of supporters of Islamic Jihad rallied in the streets of Gaza on Friday, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".
Young men and boys wearing white T-shirts with a slogan in the shape of a rifle bore portraits of militants killed in combat, under the black flags of Islamic Jihad.
"Israel will not bring peace to the region, it will only bring war and destruction and therefore, the slogan of all should be that Israel must be wiped out of existence," said Ramadan Shallah, the group's exiled chief in Damascus
Shallah, who is on a United States wanted list, sent a recorded message marking the anniversary of the assassination of the group's leader Fathi Shiqaqi in Malta in 1995, by presumed Israeli secret agents.
Senior leaders of Hamas joined the open-air gathering, the largest for years in honor of Islamic Jihad with up to 100,000 attending according to its organizers.
Hamas allowed the group to use city terrain it usually reserves exclusively for its own rallies, and Hamas forces provided security for the parade by its smaller rival.
Islamic Jihad officials said Friday's turnout was a "referendum by the Palestinian people rejecting peace-making with Israel".
"The choice of negotiation has reached deadlock, and we are wondering why is there such an insistence by the Palestinian Authority on negotiation with the enemy," said Shallah.
He urged an end to peace talks and fresh efforts to heal the rift between Fatah and the Islamist militants. Raising hopes that the three-year-old split may be coming to an end, Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said it was time for unity in the face of Israel.
"There is only the choice of Jihad and nothing else ... There is no more room to make bets, on the Americans or anyone else," said Hayya.
President Abbas, however, has ruled out violence and said he will pursue diplomatic alternatives should the peace talks with Netanyahu collapse definitively.
Organizers: 100,000 in attendance
by Reuters
Jihad Threatens Europe
Ron Ben-Yishai analyzes concrete al-Qaeda threat faced by Europe.
The travel advisory issued on Sunday by the US State Department in Washington is neither standard, nor exaggerated. It is based on concrete intelligence from agencies in the US, Pakistan, Britain, France, and Germany. A picture has come together in recent days justifying the warning and the beefed up security measures in Europe.
In general, the elements posing a threat are two jihadist cells – i.e. al-Qaeda or an organization operating under the terror network's influence. The group planning terror attacks in Britain and Germany (and in Sweden, too, apparently) is hiding, organizing, and training in the tribal area in western Pakistan. Its members are Muslims with German and British citizenship and it is led by extremist religious figures. They arrived in Pakistan and Afghanistan about a year ago in order to train and join the jihad. Now, they are trying to carry out missions in their home countries.
This group's immediate objective is to avenge the fatal blows sustained by al-Qaeda in Pakistan as result of US drone attacks in recent months. Since entering the White House, US President Barack Obama has authorized no less than 122 drone hits against senior al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders hiding out in the tribal regions of the country. This is more than double the number of attacks former President George W. Bush authorized in all eight years of his presidency.
Just last month, at least 22 such attacks in Pakistan alone killed dozens of Muslim terrorists. In response, and in a bid to deter the US and its European NATO allies deployed in Pakistan and Afghanistan, jihadists are now trying to leave Pakistan for a revenge campaign in Europe. The reasoning is clear. There are many American tourists on the continent, whose urban centers and public transportation systems are packed with people, and security measures are relatively lax.
The Mumbai model
The preferred method of attack is shooting attacks and taking hostages. This modus operandi, which was successfully executed last year in Mumbai, India, does not necessitate the smuggling and transport of large explosive devices, nor the expertise required to operate them. It allows the perpetrators, British and German citizens, to reach their targets unhindered, armed with assault rifles and handguns that can be obtained on the local market and hidden in handbags.
The planned attack is not the first time this year that extremist Muslims have tried to attack the West in revenge for the drone attacks. In the beginning of May, members of an extremist Muslim organization attempted to detonate an explosive-laden jeep in the bustling hub of Times Square. Fortunately, the explosive was faulty, and no one was hurt. The main operative who transported the car bomb to New York City and detonated it was caught in a quick FBI operation. During his interrogation, he indicated that he sought to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed by drones in Pakistan.
American and Pakistani intelligence officials, bolstered by British and German sources, have been on to this group for more than a year. However, only in July did they reveal the group's preparations to carry out attacks via cell phone conversations between the German citizens and their handlers. In these telephone conversations, eight German and two British operatives tried to secure weapons, cars, and hideouts where they could prepare their attacks.
More critical information was received in recent days following the killing of the group's leader, Sheikh Fatah al-Masri (apparently an Eygptian), and one of its members, a British Muslim of Pakistani descent, Abdul Jabar. It is unclear how the two were killed, but the rest of the group's members who weren't caught or killed were believed to be working on the final preparations for the attack, and perhaps may have already arrived in Europe.
France's Twin Towers
Another group, threatening to carry out attacks in France and maybe Italy, belongs to an organization called "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" and is a splinter of the mother organization operating in North and Sub-Saharan Africa. This group is also aiming to avenge the actions against it members undertaken by special French forces sent to fight in Nigeria and other African countries.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb recently kidnapped several groups of French citizens, including tourists and professionals from the mining and oil industries. The terrorists even executed one of the French hostages. In response, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered special troops be sent to take action against al-Qaeda. In at least one case, the forces successfully released the captives.
Following the French operation, the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's leadership decided to carry out a mass-casualty attack by detonating explosives at central French tourist sites, first and foremost being the Eiffel Tower. This is the reason that French authorities have evacuated the site, a symbol of France's strength, twice in recent weeks. Like the Twin Towers in New York that symbolized the power of America, the Eiffel Tower is high-up on the terrorists' list of targets due to its symbolism of French achievement.
There is concrete intelligence indicating terrorist intentions to carry out the said attack in France. It is likely that this information reached the security establishment in Paris after Italian police arrested a French citizen of Algerian descent in possession of explosive devices about a month ago.
It remains unclear whether the Pakistani group and the North African group are coordinating their attacks with one another. It is more likely than not, however, that each group chose the timing most befitting of its objectives, and only by chance their two attacks are being planned for the same time period. The modus operandi adopted by the two groups is also different.
However, it is likely that al-Qaeda is trying to time the actions of the two groups in order to create the impression of simultaneous, coordinated attacks on different sites in Europe, something which would increase their deterrent effect and grant al-Qaeda new momentum in its effort to recruit new members.
Ynet News
The travel advisory issued on Sunday by the US State Department in Washington is neither standard, nor exaggerated. It is based on concrete intelligence from agencies in the US, Pakistan, Britain, France, and Germany. A picture has come together in recent days justifying the warning and the beefed up security measures in Europe.
In general, the elements posing a threat are two jihadist cells – i.e. al-Qaeda or an organization operating under the terror network's influence. The group planning terror attacks in Britain and Germany (and in Sweden, too, apparently) is hiding, organizing, and training in the tribal area in western Pakistan. Its members are Muslims with German and British citizenship and it is led by extremist religious figures. They arrived in Pakistan and Afghanistan about a year ago in order to train and join the jihad. Now, they are trying to carry out missions in their home countries.
This group's immediate objective is to avenge the fatal blows sustained by al-Qaeda in Pakistan as result of US drone attacks in recent months. Since entering the White House, US President Barack Obama has authorized no less than 122 drone hits against senior al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders hiding out in the tribal regions of the country. This is more than double the number of attacks former President George W. Bush authorized in all eight years of his presidency.
Just last month, at least 22 such attacks in Pakistan alone killed dozens of Muslim terrorists. In response, and in a bid to deter the US and its European NATO allies deployed in Pakistan and Afghanistan, jihadists are now trying to leave Pakistan for a revenge campaign in Europe. The reasoning is clear. There are many American tourists on the continent, whose urban centers and public transportation systems are packed with people, and security measures are relatively lax.
The Mumbai model
The preferred method of attack is shooting attacks and taking hostages. This modus operandi, which was successfully executed last year in Mumbai, India, does not necessitate the smuggling and transport of large explosive devices, nor the expertise required to operate them. It allows the perpetrators, British and German citizens, to reach their targets unhindered, armed with assault rifles and handguns that can be obtained on the local market and hidden in handbags.
The planned attack is not the first time this year that extremist Muslims have tried to attack the West in revenge for the drone attacks. In the beginning of May, members of an extremist Muslim organization attempted to detonate an explosive-laden jeep in the bustling hub of Times Square. Fortunately, the explosive was faulty, and no one was hurt. The main operative who transported the car bomb to New York City and detonated it was caught in a quick FBI operation. During his interrogation, he indicated that he sought to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed by drones in Pakistan.
American and Pakistani intelligence officials, bolstered by British and German sources, have been on to this group for more than a year. However, only in July did they reveal the group's preparations to carry out attacks via cell phone conversations between the German citizens and their handlers. In these telephone conversations, eight German and two British operatives tried to secure weapons, cars, and hideouts where they could prepare their attacks.
More critical information was received in recent days following the killing of the group's leader, Sheikh Fatah al-Masri (apparently an Eygptian), and one of its members, a British Muslim of Pakistani descent, Abdul Jabar. It is unclear how the two were killed, but the rest of the group's members who weren't caught or killed were believed to be working on the final preparations for the attack, and perhaps may have already arrived in Europe.
France's Twin Towers
Another group, threatening to carry out attacks in France and maybe Italy, belongs to an organization called "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" and is a splinter of the mother organization operating in North and Sub-Saharan Africa. This group is also aiming to avenge the actions against it members undertaken by special French forces sent to fight in Nigeria and other African countries.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb recently kidnapped several groups of French citizens, including tourists and professionals from the mining and oil industries. The terrorists even executed one of the French hostages. In response, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered special troops be sent to take action against al-Qaeda. In at least one case, the forces successfully released the captives.
Following the French operation, the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's leadership decided to carry out a mass-casualty attack by detonating explosives at central French tourist sites, first and foremost being the Eiffel Tower. This is the reason that French authorities have evacuated the site, a symbol of France's strength, twice in recent weeks. Like the Twin Towers in New York that symbolized the power of America, the Eiffel Tower is high-up on the terrorists' list of targets due to its symbolism of French achievement.
There is concrete intelligence indicating terrorist intentions to carry out the said attack in France. It is likely that this information reached the security establishment in Paris after Italian police arrested a French citizen of Algerian descent in possession of explosive devices about a month ago.
It remains unclear whether the Pakistani group and the North African group are coordinating their attacks with one another. It is more likely than not, however, that each group chose the timing most befitting of its objectives, and only by chance their two attacks are being planned for the same time period. The modus operandi adopted by the two groups is also different.
However, it is likely that al-Qaeda is trying to time the actions of the two groups in order to create the impression of simultaneous, coordinated attacks on different sites in Europe, something which would increase their deterrent effect and grant al-Qaeda new momentum in its effort to recruit new members.
Ynet News
Synagogues Targeted in Possible Terror Plot
US president says suspicious packages from Yemen found in UK, Dubai apparently contained explosives, adds US views case as 'credible terrorist threat' and security to be increased for as long as necessary.
US President Barack Obama said Friday that suspicious packages sent from Yemen to the US apparently contained explosives, and that they were intended for Jewish institutions in Chicago.
Obama said investigators had discovered a "credible terrorist threat" against the United States and that security would be increased in response to the incident for as long as it takes. He said the parcels were bound for "two places of Jewish worship in Chicago."
Speaking at the White House, Obama said Yemen's president had pledged to cooperate in the investigation. Obama expressed suspicions that a militant group called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is behind the incident, saying the group continues to plot attacks against the United States.
The packages were found in Dubai and the United Kingdom. Obama said an initial examination has determined that "they do apparently contain explosive material."
Obama pledged US officials will spare no effort to find the source of the packages and any additional plots.
Jewish groups warned ahead of time
Michael Kotzin, vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, told Ynet Friday that synagogues and other locations associated with Judaism were asked to check their mail with additional care even before the bomb threat surfaced.
Kotzin said the first warning came regarding packages originating in Yemen, and later came warnings regarding Saudi Arabia and additional countries.
"We need to be careful on all days of the year, not just today," he said. "We remind synagogues and Jewish institutions every once in a while to be alert and aware of the dangers, and provide lectures on this issue – how to act when such information is received."
The Anti-Defamation League also stated Friday that it had been notified by law enforcement officials that Jewish institutions may be targeted soon. The league also reported mention of warnings against packages arriving from Britain, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. In response, the organization ordered Jewish facilities to remain alert.
'Terrorists were performing trial run'
One of the suspicious packages was found on a United Parcel Service cargo plane at East Midlands Airport, about 260 km north of London. The other was discovered at a FedEx Corp facility in Dubai.
British police said an item found on the UPS plane was sent for further testing. CNN said it was an ink toner cartridge converted into a bomb.
Before Obama spoke, an FBI source had told Reuters that initial tests in Britain revealed no explosives.
In the United States, UPS planes were checked in New Jersey and Philadelphia. The Transportation Security Administration said they were searched "out of an abundance of caution."
US officials and some analysts speculated that the suspicious parcels may have been a test of cargo screening procedures and the reaction of security officials.
"One possibility, if this is terrorism related, is that this may be a trial run," one US official said.
Intelligence about the possible plot had come from an ally abroad, the official said, without elaborating.
The US Department of Homeland Security said it was stepping up aviation security measures as a result of the scare. The British government said it was "too soon to say" whether it would follow suit but was "urgently considering" what steps to take about freight coming from Yemen.
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan later told reporters that the explosives "were in a form that was designed to try to carry out some type of attack," but he provided no further details.
"The forensic analysis is under way," he said, adding, "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."
by Reuter
US President Barack Obama said Friday that suspicious packages sent from Yemen to the US apparently contained explosives, and that they were intended for Jewish institutions in Chicago.
Obama said investigators had discovered a "credible terrorist threat" against the United States and that security would be increased in response to the incident for as long as it takes. He said the parcels were bound for "two places of Jewish worship in Chicago."
Speaking at the White House, Obama said Yemen's president had pledged to cooperate in the investigation. Obama expressed suspicions that a militant group called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is behind the incident, saying the group continues to plot attacks against the United States.
The packages were found in Dubai and the United Kingdom. Obama said an initial examination has determined that "they do apparently contain explosive material."
Obama pledged US officials will spare no effort to find the source of the packages and any additional plots.
Jewish groups warned ahead of time
Michael Kotzin, vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, told Ynet Friday that synagogues and other locations associated with Judaism were asked to check their mail with additional care even before the bomb threat surfaced.
Kotzin said the first warning came regarding packages originating in Yemen, and later came warnings regarding Saudi Arabia and additional countries.
"We need to be careful on all days of the year, not just today," he said. "We remind synagogues and Jewish institutions every once in a while to be alert and aware of the dangers, and provide lectures on this issue – how to act when such information is received."
The Anti-Defamation League also stated Friday that it had been notified by law enforcement officials that Jewish institutions may be targeted soon. The league also reported mention of warnings against packages arriving from Britain, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. In response, the organization ordered Jewish facilities to remain alert.
'Terrorists were performing trial run'
One of the suspicious packages was found on a United Parcel Service cargo plane at East Midlands Airport, about 260 km north of London. The other was discovered at a FedEx Corp facility in Dubai.
British police said an item found on the UPS plane was sent for further testing. CNN said it was an ink toner cartridge converted into a bomb.
Before Obama spoke, an FBI source had told Reuters that initial tests in Britain revealed no explosives.
In the United States, UPS planes were checked in New Jersey and Philadelphia. The Transportation Security Administration said they were searched "out of an abundance of caution."
US officials and some analysts speculated that the suspicious parcels may have been a test of cargo screening procedures and the reaction of security officials.
"One possibility, if this is terrorism related, is that this may be a trial run," one US official said.
Intelligence about the possible plot had come from an ally abroad, the official said, without elaborating.
The US Department of Homeland Security said it was stepping up aviation security measures as a result of the scare. The British government said it was "too soon to say" whether it would follow suit but was "urgently considering" what steps to take about freight coming from Yemen.
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan later told reporters that the explosives "were in a form that was designed to try to carry out some type of attack," but he provided no further details.
"The forensic analysis is under way," he said, adding, "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."
by Reuter
The Hidden Costs of Jew-Baiting in England
by Richard Landes
London is an amazing place, full of vitality, intensity, foreign tourists and residents, a patchwork of pluralism. Talk to the average person, and nothing seems amiss: this cab driver, having driven in London for 40 years, sees no significant change in the neighborhoods he travels through; this financier sees no signs of intimidation; this shopper, this tavern-hopper, this man on the bus, lives in an interesting and relatively normal world. A superficial walk through the [Regent's] park gives the distinct sense of normality.
But talk to the Jews, and you get a different story. The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists held a conference here this week. The topic: Democratic and Legal Norms in an Age of Terror. Panels discussed everything from the Goldstone Report, to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, to "universal jurisdiction" (lawfare against Israelis brought in foreign courts). Here, in the Khalili Lecture Theatre of the SOAS (School for Oriental and African Studies), Jewish lawyers discussed a grim reality whose only public appearance on an everyday basis is the drumbeat of calumny that a boisterous elite — NGOs, journalists, academics — rain down on Israel.
Perhaps the most startling of the sessions concerned the BDS movement. Jonathan Rynhold, from the BESA Center at Bar Ilan, and Anthony Julius, author of Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England, both presented a picture of British anti-Zionist activity whose intellectual and moral foundations were profoundly irrational, a dogmatic will to stigmatize and destroy Israel that responded to no argument about proportion (what about other places?) or reason (you make no moral demands of the Palestinians). And behind that lies a much weightier volume of negative feeling, a kind of unthinking animosity that expressed itself in its most banal form when a woman explained to Julius: "We all know why the Jews are hated: you marry among yourselves and live in ghettos like Golders Green and Vienna [sic]." In so doing, she put her finger on the most widespread subtext for hostility to Jews — "they think they're the chosen people."
Daniel Eilon, an English barrister, explained to me one of the mechanisms. It isn't real anti-Semitism. In fact, most of the stuff that comes out against Israel is intellectually hopeless — phony narratives based on fantasy "facts." This is really just good old-fashioned Jew-baiting. It's saying things in all righteous innocence that you know will hurt the Jews to whom you address the criticism. The problem for the Brits (and the Europeans in general), he pointed out, is that historically, there's never been a particularly high price to pay for Jew-baiting. Now there is.
What my friend referred to with this last remark is lucidly analyzed by Robin Shepherd in his recent book, A State Beyond the Pale: Europe's Problem with Israel. The elephant in the room, of course, is radical Islam — the people who interpret being "chosen" by Allah as a charter to dominate the world and submit everyone, willingly or not, to Islam. They're the people no one dares bait; and they're the folks who take full advantage of every deference to press for more. Daily aggressions from violent gangs constantly expand the territories where the Queen's writ does not run. In tempo with the retreat of British law and enforcement, Sharia advances from internal community affairs (explicitly on the model of Jewish religious courts) towards the policing of community boundaries and claims on the state for special treatment. The British — like so many other Western nations — mainstream the extremists and marginalize the moderates. As Nick Cohen put it: "The world faces a psychotic movement and won't admit it to themselves."
A documentary filmmaker reveals a double assault on freedom of speech: on the one hand, everyone is terrified of peers calling them Islamophobes; and on the other, anyone who does something negative on Islam puts his or her life in danger. When I respond animatedly to her point, she looks around nervously and signals for me to lower my voice. How often did my British informants tell me in hushed tones about being intimidated!
News agencies send their journalists to special courses in self-defense for how to deal with hostile situations. How much of this responds to the pervasive dangers of doing journalism in Muslim countries, and how often does it come up in those areas where the Queen's writ does not run? One such journalist who works for the BBC reports that when a mob turns ugly, they are told to stand back to back, palms open, pointing down and out — a posture of non-threat, but also one of subjection.
And of course, the best protection is positive coverage. Most of the time, "but we're from the BBC" works to allay Muslim hostility: it's code for "we're on your side." But for some crowds, even that's not enough.
The result of this pervasive intimidation that comes from both peers and enemies is a body politic that feels no pain. Like a victim of CIP (congenital insensitivity to pain), the British public receives only vague hints of the assaults on its body. A widespread omerta operates in the mainstream news media, guaranteeing that many, if not most aggressions go unreported, or in a code — Asian street gangs — that only those looking for clues will notice. Aggregator sites online offer deeply disturbing collections of news items.
As a result, Brits look away while their Muslim communities are taken over by fascist zealots who enforce dress and behavior codes, who silence dissent, and who mobilize a resentful youth with violent hatreds. For these men, infidels are by definition guilty, deserving rape and lethal assault, as part of Allah's justice. Douglas Murray's study of twenty-seven Muslims, targeted by zealots, reveals the workings of a community hijacked by thugs.
The trials and tribulations of Afshan Azad, the Bengali Muslim-born actress in the Harry Potter films, beaten and threatened with death by her family, illustrate the depth of the community pressures. Her brothers' failures to bring her to heel (or kill her) endanger their lives: "We are going to get trouble from the community now. It is bad news for our safety, her safety. My younger brother is going to get harassed at college. All our family is going to be harassed by the community because of this." The tribal community rules, even in college.
So while a large and growing population falls under the grip of a Mafioso culture with an imperialist ideology of world conquest, the British look away. The "prestigious" London School of Economics disinvited Douglas Murray from speaking, lest his presence provoke violence. Paralyzed by an inability to discuss the problem, they become a train-wreck in slow motion. The lavish expenses that the government has paid out to immigrant families, which has at once increased their numbers and stilled their rage, is now run out. Budget cuts of up to 40% across the board will only exacerbate the frictions, and if the government pours money into appeasing the Muslims, they will alienate the British working class losing their benefits.
Which brings us back to Jew-baiting. As Shepherd explains in his chapter on Islam in Europe, this is a European-wide phenomenon that is directly related to the fear of criticizing Muslims. Anti-Zionism is the key extremist discourse by which jihadis radicalize communities and mobilize warriors for Allah's armies. The disturbing figures for how many British Muslims support terror, think Muslims did not commit either 9-11 or 7-7, think the law should punish people who insult Islam, and think that apostates from Islam should die should not be read the way we read political polls in the West. These minorities are the dominant voices in their communities, if only because they use their terror tactics against fellow Muslims far more readily than against outsiders.
So while their enemies advance, the British elites are like deer in the headlights, incapable of speaking up for even their own principles of free speech and tolerance. Intimidated into silence about Muslims, somehow, they find their voice in denouncing the "real" genocidal evil empire: Israel. Thus some wax eloquent, like the Methodists with their thinly-disguised, resentful supersessionism; and others wax violent, like the anti-Zionist vandals, who damaged hundreds of thousands of pounds of property and got off scott free to the cheers of a Green MP.
Of course, every sin these brave ideologues accuse Israel of committing is done a thousand-fold by the very people who generate their demonizing narrative — the radical Muslims. It is these zealots who interpret their chosenness as a warrant to rape and massacre, to dominate and humiliate infidels. They are the toxic communitarians who believe in their side right or wrong, to the death — not the Jews, who can't stop publicly beating their breasts about all their sins. Indeed, one of the mysterious factors in this madness is the role played by Jewish anti-Zionists, who, in Julius' memorable phrase, are "proud to be ashamed to be Jewish."
Instead of taking note of such sobering perspectives, Western anti-Zionists shy away from the dangerous and painful but legitimate and necessary criticism of Muslim radicals. They prefer the easy, cost-free baiting of any Jew proud enough to feel that his or her own people deserve a state. Instead of turning to the Muslims and saying "why can't you express a fraction of the self-criticism of the Zionists?" they prefer to repeat the most toxic accusations against the Jews and claim: "I'm not saying anything that Jews haven't said."
They are the true Islamophobes — afraid to criticize Islam, eager to join in its chorus of hatred.
And in this act of demission before the Islamist challenge, British opinion makers and shapers also submit to their own bullies, their own zealots who push the Jew-baiting beyond the weekend sport of the salons, into the professional arena of anti-Zionist activism. When the founders of Hamas in 1988 penned their genocidal charter that explicitly targeted all infidels, little did they suspect that within twenty years, those infidels would chant "We are Hamas!" in the streets of London. Who could hope for a more useful infidel than that?
In the European past, Jew-baiting may have seemed relatively cost-free. After all, humiliate a Jew and the worst he'll do is hector you. Sure, sometimes the sport got out of hand, and killing Jews en masse, or forcing them to convert, or kicking them out may have deeply damaged the economy and empowered repressive forces, like the Inquisition, to go after other religious dissidents. But who really noticed?
Today, however, the situation has changed dramatically because Europe doesn't just run the risk of internal failure, but getting vanquished by an implacable and merciless foe. By failing to denounce toxic Muslim communitarianism and instead adopting its shrill discourse of demonization about Jews, Brits feed the monster that devours them. If it continues apace, if the British do not make Muslim civility towards Jews the shibboleth of assimilation to a free and democratic culture, they risk losing that civil polity entirely. As always with real anti-Semites, the Jews are only their first target.
Can Britain wake up in time? And if and when it does, can it swallow the painful price of giving up its addiction to Jew-baiting? Or will it be, as some close observers think, the first country in Europe to succumb to Islamism? Walking through the delightful streets of London, watching a brilliant performance of Henry IV Part II at the reconstituted Globe Theatre, passing by a multi-cultural mass of dancers by the embankment at night, viewing the vibrant energy of the city, one has little clue to the problem.
Or is watching this joyful celebration akin to seeing a fat man with a serious cholesterol problem dine on his deep-fried fish-and-chips and wash down those tasty truffles of moral Schadenfreude that so grieve the Jews and comfort the resentful?
Richard Landes is a Professor of History at Boston University. He blogs at The Augean Stables, and maintains The Second Draft as an archival site for all matters pertaining to Pallywood and al Durah. The Second Draft has recently been reorganized and relaunched with new features. This article was published July 10, 2010 on Pajamas Media
London is an amazing place, full of vitality, intensity, foreign tourists and residents, a patchwork of pluralism. Talk to the average person, and nothing seems amiss: this cab driver, having driven in London for 40 years, sees no significant change in the neighborhoods he travels through; this financier sees no signs of intimidation; this shopper, this tavern-hopper, this man on the bus, lives in an interesting and relatively normal world. A superficial walk through the [Regent's] park gives the distinct sense of normality.
But talk to the Jews, and you get a different story. The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists held a conference here this week. The topic: Democratic and Legal Norms in an Age of Terror. Panels discussed everything from the Goldstone Report, to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, to "universal jurisdiction" (lawfare against Israelis brought in foreign courts). Here, in the Khalili Lecture Theatre of the SOAS (School for Oriental and African Studies), Jewish lawyers discussed a grim reality whose only public appearance on an everyday basis is the drumbeat of calumny that a boisterous elite — NGOs, journalists, academics — rain down on Israel.
Perhaps the most startling of the sessions concerned the BDS movement. Jonathan Rynhold, from the BESA Center at Bar Ilan, and Anthony Julius, author of Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England, both presented a picture of British anti-Zionist activity whose intellectual and moral foundations were profoundly irrational, a dogmatic will to stigmatize and destroy Israel that responded to no argument about proportion (what about other places?) or reason (you make no moral demands of the Palestinians). And behind that lies a much weightier volume of negative feeling, a kind of unthinking animosity that expressed itself in its most banal form when a woman explained to Julius: "We all know why the Jews are hated: you marry among yourselves and live in ghettos like Golders Green and Vienna [sic]." In so doing, she put her finger on the most widespread subtext for hostility to Jews — "they think they're the chosen people."
Daniel Eilon, an English barrister, explained to me one of the mechanisms. It isn't real anti-Semitism. In fact, most of the stuff that comes out against Israel is intellectually hopeless — phony narratives based on fantasy "facts." This is really just good old-fashioned Jew-baiting. It's saying things in all righteous innocence that you know will hurt the Jews to whom you address the criticism. The problem for the Brits (and the Europeans in general), he pointed out, is that historically, there's never been a particularly high price to pay for Jew-baiting. Now there is.
What my friend referred to with this last remark is lucidly analyzed by Robin Shepherd in his recent book, A State Beyond the Pale: Europe's Problem with Israel. The elephant in the room, of course, is radical Islam — the people who interpret being "chosen" by Allah as a charter to dominate the world and submit everyone, willingly or not, to Islam. They're the people no one dares bait; and they're the folks who take full advantage of every deference to press for more. Daily aggressions from violent gangs constantly expand the territories where the Queen's writ does not run. In tempo with the retreat of British law and enforcement, Sharia advances from internal community affairs (explicitly on the model of Jewish religious courts) towards the policing of community boundaries and claims on the state for special treatment. The British — like so many other Western nations — mainstream the extremists and marginalize the moderates. As Nick Cohen put it: "The world faces a psychotic movement and won't admit it to themselves."
A documentary filmmaker reveals a double assault on freedom of speech: on the one hand, everyone is terrified of peers calling them Islamophobes; and on the other, anyone who does something negative on Islam puts his or her life in danger. When I respond animatedly to her point, she looks around nervously and signals for me to lower my voice. How often did my British informants tell me in hushed tones about being intimidated!
News agencies send their journalists to special courses in self-defense for how to deal with hostile situations. How much of this responds to the pervasive dangers of doing journalism in Muslim countries, and how often does it come up in those areas where the Queen's writ does not run? One such journalist who works for the BBC reports that when a mob turns ugly, they are told to stand back to back, palms open, pointing down and out — a posture of non-threat, but also one of subjection.
And of course, the best protection is positive coverage. Most of the time, "but we're from the BBC" works to allay Muslim hostility: it's code for "we're on your side." But for some crowds, even that's not enough.
The result of this pervasive intimidation that comes from both peers and enemies is a body politic that feels no pain. Like a victim of CIP (congenital insensitivity to pain), the British public receives only vague hints of the assaults on its body. A widespread omerta operates in the mainstream news media, guaranteeing that many, if not most aggressions go unreported, or in a code — Asian street gangs — that only those looking for clues will notice. Aggregator sites online offer deeply disturbing collections of news items.
As a result, Brits look away while their Muslim communities are taken over by fascist zealots who enforce dress and behavior codes, who silence dissent, and who mobilize a resentful youth with violent hatreds. For these men, infidels are by definition guilty, deserving rape and lethal assault, as part of Allah's justice. Douglas Murray's study of twenty-seven Muslims, targeted by zealots, reveals the workings of a community hijacked by thugs.
The trials and tribulations of Afshan Azad, the Bengali Muslim-born actress in the Harry Potter films, beaten and threatened with death by her family, illustrate the depth of the community pressures. Her brothers' failures to bring her to heel (or kill her) endanger their lives: "We are going to get trouble from the community now. It is bad news for our safety, her safety. My younger brother is going to get harassed at college. All our family is going to be harassed by the community because of this." The tribal community rules, even in college.
So while a large and growing population falls under the grip of a Mafioso culture with an imperialist ideology of world conquest, the British look away. The "prestigious" London School of Economics disinvited Douglas Murray from speaking, lest his presence provoke violence. Paralyzed by an inability to discuss the problem, they become a train-wreck in slow motion. The lavish expenses that the government has paid out to immigrant families, which has at once increased their numbers and stilled their rage, is now run out. Budget cuts of up to 40% across the board will only exacerbate the frictions, and if the government pours money into appeasing the Muslims, they will alienate the British working class losing their benefits.
Which brings us back to Jew-baiting. As Shepherd explains in his chapter on Islam in Europe, this is a European-wide phenomenon that is directly related to the fear of criticizing Muslims. Anti-Zionism is the key extremist discourse by which jihadis radicalize communities and mobilize warriors for Allah's armies. The disturbing figures for how many British Muslims support terror, think Muslims did not commit either 9-11 or 7-7, think the law should punish people who insult Islam, and think that apostates from Islam should die should not be read the way we read political polls in the West. These minorities are the dominant voices in their communities, if only because they use their terror tactics against fellow Muslims far more readily than against outsiders.
So while their enemies advance, the British elites are like deer in the headlights, incapable of speaking up for even their own principles of free speech and tolerance. Intimidated into silence about Muslims, somehow, they find their voice in denouncing the "real" genocidal evil empire: Israel. Thus some wax eloquent, like the Methodists with their thinly-disguised, resentful supersessionism; and others wax violent, like the anti-Zionist vandals, who damaged hundreds of thousands of pounds of property and got off scott free to the cheers of a Green MP.
Of course, every sin these brave ideologues accuse Israel of committing is done a thousand-fold by the very people who generate their demonizing narrative — the radical Muslims. It is these zealots who interpret their chosenness as a warrant to rape and massacre, to dominate and humiliate infidels. They are the toxic communitarians who believe in their side right or wrong, to the death — not the Jews, who can't stop publicly beating their breasts about all their sins. Indeed, one of the mysterious factors in this madness is the role played by Jewish anti-Zionists, who, in Julius' memorable phrase, are "proud to be ashamed to be Jewish."
Instead of taking note of such sobering perspectives, Western anti-Zionists shy away from the dangerous and painful but legitimate and necessary criticism of Muslim radicals. They prefer the easy, cost-free baiting of any Jew proud enough to feel that his or her own people deserve a state. Instead of turning to the Muslims and saying "why can't you express a fraction of the self-criticism of the Zionists?" they prefer to repeat the most toxic accusations against the Jews and claim: "I'm not saying anything that Jews haven't said."
They are the true Islamophobes — afraid to criticize Islam, eager to join in its chorus of hatred.
And in this act of demission before the Islamist challenge, British opinion makers and shapers also submit to their own bullies, their own zealots who push the Jew-baiting beyond the weekend sport of the salons, into the professional arena of anti-Zionist activism. When the founders of Hamas in 1988 penned their genocidal charter that explicitly targeted all infidels, little did they suspect that within twenty years, those infidels would chant "We are Hamas!" in the streets of London. Who could hope for a more useful infidel than that?
In the European past, Jew-baiting may have seemed relatively cost-free. After all, humiliate a Jew and the worst he'll do is hector you. Sure, sometimes the sport got out of hand, and killing Jews en masse, or forcing them to convert, or kicking them out may have deeply damaged the economy and empowered repressive forces, like the Inquisition, to go after other religious dissidents. But who really noticed?
Today, however, the situation has changed dramatically because Europe doesn't just run the risk of internal failure, but getting vanquished by an implacable and merciless foe. By failing to denounce toxic Muslim communitarianism and instead adopting its shrill discourse of demonization about Jews, Brits feed the monster that devours them. If it continues apace, if the British do not make Muslim civility towards Jews the shibboleth of assimilation to a free and democratic culture, they risk losing that civil polity entirely. As always with real anti-Semites, the Jews are only their first target.
Can Britain wake up in time? And if and when it does, can it swallow the painful price of giving up its addiction to Jew-baiting? Or will it be, as some close observers think, the first country in Europe to succumb to Islamism? Walking through the delightful streets of London, watching a brilliant performance of Henry IV Part II at the reconstituted Globe Theatre, passing by a multi-cultural mass of dancers by the embankment at night, viewing the vibrant energy of the city, one has little clue to the problem.
Or is watching this joyful celebration akin to seeing a fat man with a serious cholesterol problem dine on his deep-fried fish-and-chips and wash down those tasty truffles of moral Schadenfreude that so grieve the Jews and comfort the resentful?
Richard Landes is a Professor of History at Boston University. He blogs at The Augean Stables, and maintains The Second Draft as an archival site for all matters pertaining to Pallywood and al Durah. The Second Draft has recently been reorganized and relaunched with new features. This article was published July 10, 2010 on Pajamas Media
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Ex-Muslim: Proposal that Islam is Tolerant is Fallacious, Dangerous
Outspoken activist and author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim, speaks at the National Press Club Monday, Oct. 25, 2010
"I'm frustrated with the continuous belief and, I think, self-delusion that Islam is only a religion,"
The Prophet Muhammad defined the state of peace and tolerance as a moment when the entire world submits to Allah and embraces Islam, said Hirsi Ali.
In Islam, the way to achieve peace is through settlement, jihad, and the institution of sharia (Islamic law), she explained.
And before the state of universal Islamization, "it is the duty of every Muslim male to wage war" – not just by carrying weapons but by preaching and persuading, she added.
WASHINGTON – Though most Muslims are tolerant and peace-loving, Islam itself is not a religion of tolerance, a former Muslim asserted.
Well-known activist and author Ayaan Hirsi Ali made the argument Monday at the National Press Club as security guards stood in the back of the ballroom. An outspoken critic of Islam, Hirsi Ali has been living under a fatwa, a religious ruling or in this case an order to kill, for years.
The Somali native addressed the question "Is Islam a Religion of Tolerance?" to highlight the political dimension of the widely practiced faith.
"I'm frustrated with the continuous belief and, I think, self-delusion that Islam is only a religion," she said. "Islam is more than a religion. It does have a spiritual dimension ... but there is another dimension to Islam – a political dimension."
In general terms, religious tolerance is understood to be the willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs and practices of others, she noted. But there are different levels of tolerance, she added.
"For instance, if you oppose smoking you may think of yourself as tolerant of smokers but it's different when you allow a smoker in your house ... to smoke," the now atheist pointed out.
The Prophet Muhammad defined the state of peace and tolerance as a moment when the entire world submits to Allah and embraces Islam, said Hirsi Ali, who fled from her Muslim family and an arranged marriage in her early twenties and sought asylum in the Netherlands.
"That word 'peace,' 'tolerant' is not defined in Islam as you define it in the West," she clarified. "It doesn't mean ceasefire or compromise. That's temporary.
In Islam, the way to achieve peace is through settlement, jihad, and the institution of sharia (Islamic law), she explained.
And before the state of universal Islamization, "it is the duty of every Muslim male to wage war" – not just by carrying weapons but by preaching and persuading, she added.
"The proposition that Islam is tolerant is not only fallacious but it's also dangerous," Hirsi Ali underscored.
Citing four main sources of Islamic jurisprudence, including the Quran and the Hadith, the former Muslim said she found explicit commands to conquer and guidelines of how to go about that. The sources also describe in detail how Muhammad, who carried out over 60 military campaigns, defeated his enemies. She also found war tactics, the concept of deception, legislation on crime prevention, punishment of behavior such as the hanging of apostates and the stoning of adulterers, and laws governing family matters such as divorce and marriage.
While U.S. policymakers focus their attention on armed militias such as Al-Qaeda and Hamas, other groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and nongovernmental organizations – which have "postponed" violence and chosen a method of preaching, settling and slowly infiltrating – are being overlooked, she noted.
"The idea that Islam is [of] peace, tolerant and compatible with Western political theory and values, I think, seems to be useful more as a strategy and not as a pursuit of the truth," she maintained.
That strategy, she explained, is as follows: Given the fact that there are over a billion Muslims in the world, that the world is globalizing at a fast pace, and that America is a model empire (that doesn't wipe out enemies), we (the U.S.) should practice self-restraint and use political skills, diplomacy and tools of persuasion until we're able to get around the conflict.
"The hope is we will be able to pacify Islam."
Nothing, she said, angers Muslim elites more than the criticism of Islam. Unlike with other faith groups, Muslims do not appreciate the questioning of the moral perfection of the Quran and Muhammad.
Though an atheist, Hirsi Ali has advocated for the conversion of Muslims to Christianity. Clarifying her position on Monday, she said she supported "opening up the competition."
"[Muslims] want to have complete monopoly on Muslim immigrants who first came to the U.S. not to spread Islam, not to settle or infiltrate but to lead normal, peaceful lives," she said. "For them to incorporate all the diverse ethnic groups, they need to get ... to them fast and convince them of sharia agenda."
"What we can do is open up competition," she continued. "In a country like the United States, you are free to peddle your political theory or philosophy. We are going to go to those same communities and educate them on other competing ...philosophies and challenge [the] principles of Islam. You can start that competition as a Christian, as a humanist, as a feminist."
Hirsi Ali is open to Christians converting Muslims because Christianity has "evolved from absolutism to tolerance, to compassion, to peace," she said.
She has found that most people do not want to be an atheist.
"I'm only acknowledging that the Christian God has gone through the reformation, has gone through enlightenment," she added. "In general, things have evolved to the point where I think that the Christian religion, especially as it is practiced in the West, is much more attractive and far less dangerous than the Islamic God.
"Given the fact that this is almost a losing battle because we are not taking them (Muslims) on ... and given the fact that there are very moderate Christians who offer that combination of a spiritual satisfaction with modernity and the respect and sacredness of life, liberty and human rights, I think it would be wrong and neglectful not to involve Christians to go after that demography of 1.57 billion Muslims who today, I think, many of them are seeking a concept of God and are now only getting Allah."
Hirsi Ali's appearance comes just weeks after she participated in a debate on whether Islam is a religion of peace at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Her latest book, Nomad: From Islam to America – A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations, was released this year.
Christian Post
"I'm frustrated with the continuous belief and, I think, self-delusion that Islam is only a religion,"
The Prophet Muhammad defined the state of peace and tolerance as a moment when the entire world submits to Allah and embraces Islam, said Hirsi Ali.
In Islam, the way to achieve peace is through settlement, jihad, and the institution of sharia (Islamic law), she explained.
And before the state of universal Islamization, "it is the duty of every Muslim male to wage war" – not just by carrying weapons but by preaching and persuading, she added.
WASHINGTON – Though most Muslims are tolerant and peace-loving, Islam itself is not a religion of tolerance, a former Muslim asserted.
Well-known activist and author Ayaan Hirsi Ali made the argument Monday at the National Press Club as security guards stood in the back of the ballroom. An outspoken critic of Islam, Hirsi Ali has been living under a fatwa, a religious ruling or in this case an order to kill, for years.
The Somali native addressed the question "Is Islam a Religion of Tolerance?" to highlight the political dimension of the widely practiced faith.
"I'm frustrated with the continuous belief and, I think, self-delusion that Islam is only a religion," she said. "Islam is more than a religion. It does have a spiritual dimension ... but there is another dimension to Islam – a political dimension."
In general terms, religious tolerance is understood to be the willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs and practices of others, she noted. But there are different levels of tolerance, she added.
"For instance, if you oppose smoking you may think of yourself as tolerant of smokers but it's different when you allow a smoker in your house ... to smoke," the now atheist pointed out.
The Prophet Muhammad defined the state of peace and tolerance as a moment when the entire world submits to Allah and embraces Islam, said Hirsi Ali, who fled from her Muslim family and an arranged marriage in her early twenties and sought asylum in the Netherlands.
"That word 'peace,' 'tolerant' is not defined in Islam as you define it in the West," she clarified. "It doesn't mean ceasefire or compromise. That's temporary.
In Islam, the way to achieve peace is through settlement, jihad, and the institution of sharia (Islamic law), she explained.
And before the state of universal Islamization, "it is the duty of every Muslim male to wage war" – not just by carrying weapons but by preaching and persuading, she added.
"The proposition that Islam is tolerant is not only fallacious but it's also dangerous," Hirsi Ali underscored.
Citing four main sources of Islamic jurisprudence, including the Quran and the Hadith, the former Muslim said she found explicit commands to conquer and guidelines of how to go about that. The sources also describe in detail how Muhammad, who carried out over 60 military campaigns, defeated his enemies. She also found war tactics, the concept of deception, legislation on crime prevention, punishment of behavior such as the hanging of apostates and the stoning of adulterers, and laws governing family matters such as divorce and marriage.
While U.S. policymakers focus their attention on armed militias such as Al-Qaeda and Hamas, other groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and nongovernmental organizations – which have "postponed" violence and chosen a method of preaching, settling and slowly infiltrating – are being overlooked, she noted.
"The idea that Islam is [of] peace, tolerant and compatible with Western political theory and values, I think, seems to be useful more as a strategy and not as a pursuit of the truth," she maintained.
That strategy, she explained, is as follows: Given the fact that there are over a billion Muslims in the world, that the world is globalizing at a fast pace, and that America is a model empire (that doesn't wipe out enemies), we (the U.S.) should practice self-restraint and use political skills, diplomacy and tools of persuasion until we're able to get around the conflict.
"The hope is we will be able to pacify Islam."
Nothing, she said, angers Muslim elites more than the criticism of Islam. Unlike with other faith groups, Muslims do not appreciate the questioning of the moral perfection of the Quran and Muhammad.
Though an atheist, Hirsi Ali has advocated for the conversion of Muslims to Christianity. Clarifying her position on Monday, she said she supported "opening up the competition."
"[Muslims] want to have complete monopoly on Muslim immigrants who first came to the U.S. not to spread Islam, not to settle or infiltrate but to lead normal, peaceful lives," she said. "For them to incorporate all the diverse ethnic groups, they need to get ... to them fast and convince them of sharia agenda."
"What we can do is open up competition," she continued. "In a country like the United States, you are free to peddle your political theory or philosophy. We are going to go to those same communities and educate them on other competing ...philosophies and challenge [the] principles of Islam. You can start that competition as a Christian, as a humanist, as a feminist."
Hirsi Ali is open to Christians converting Muslims because Christianity has "evolved from absolutism to tolerance, to compassion, to peace," she said.
She has found that most people do not want to be an atheist.
"I'm only acknowledging that the Christian God has gone through the reformation, has gone through enlightenment," she added. "In general, things have evolved to the point where I think that the Christian religion, especially as it is practiced in the West, is much more attractive and far less dangerous than the Islamic God.
"Given the fact that this is almost a losing battle because we are not taking them (Muslims) on ... and given the fact that there are very moderate Christians who offer that combination of a spiritual satisfaction with modernity and the respect and sacredness of life, liberty and human rights, I think it would be wrong and neglectful not to involve Christians to go after that demography of 1.57 billion Muslims who today, I think, many of them are seeking a concept of God and are now only getting Allah."
Hirsi Ali's appearance comes just weeks after she participated in a debate on whether Islam is a religion of peace at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Her latest book, Nomad: From Islam to America – A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations, was released this year.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Christian Post
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Fischer in Hamas' Service
Time has come to put end to Bank of Israel fund transfers to Gaza Strip murderers
by Orna Shimoni
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who was honored as the world's best bank governor, is the main party who exerts pressure in favor of fund transfers to Hamas. He is the one who saved the terror group from collapsing, continues to rehabilitate it, and also prevents the collapse of Gaza Strip banks.
The dollars transferred to Gaza by Fischer are used to murder us. With our own hands, we facilitate the killing of our sons, through the ceaseless transfer of cash to the Hamas state.
Ever since the organization took over Gaza in 2007, billions of dollars have been transferred to the Strip. About 80% of this cash is handed over to the terror group's leadership in order to finance its arms smuggling operations. These funds, some of which are transferred to Gaza legally, via bank transfers, enable the Hamas government to pay its monthly salaries.
After all, training and educating martyrs, running Qassam production lines, or testing long-range weapons isn't cheap. Who knows what else is being hidden in Gaza's weapons warehouses. Yet the State of Israel, under Fischer's pressure, continues to let the money which finances this system pour into Gaza uninterruptedly.
We keep on hearing the regular excuses: After all, this isn't our money, we must hand it over, and so on. Yet the most prevalent excuse is also the most dangerous one: Stopping fund-transfers to Gaza is illegal.
Is Gaza a friendly country?
Stanley Fischer, the world's best bank governor, I have some questions for you: Is it legal to bomb Gaza-region communities for 11 years now? Is it legal to sow fear among Sderot's residents and fire Qassams at children playing in their backyard? Is it legal to ignore the fact that UNWRA funds handed over by Israel are used by Hamas and its killers? Is it legal to send our sons to fight an enemy whose weapons we supplied? Does the law really require Israel to transfer funds to Gaza?
Israel has already designated Gaza as a hostile terror entity, so why do we keep working vis-à-vis Gaza's banking system? Is Gaza a friendly country? Fischer already announced, back in 2006, that he will only hand over funds to Gaza as long as Hamas adheres to understandings with Israel. So why does he keep on pouring money into the Strip, despite rockets being fired at Israel all the time?
I cannot understand the silence of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who approves fund-transfers to Gaza; I also cannot understand the silence of Foreign Ministry officials, and the silence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When asked about the Gilad Shalit swap, I say that we already have a readily available weapon against Hamas: Terminating its cash supply.
So I'm urging the world's best bank governor: Stop the fund-transfers to Hamas. Yours and Israel's economy would not be boosted via the blood of our sons.
Ynet News
by Orna Shimoni
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who was honored as the world's best bank governor, is the main party who exerts pressure in favor of fund transfers to Hamas. He is the one who saved the terror group from collapsing, continues to rehabilitate it, and also prevents the collapse of Gaza Strip banks.
The dollars transferred to Gaza by Fischer are used to murder us. With our own hands, we facilitate the killing of our sons, through the ceaseless transfer of cash to the Hamas state.
Ever since the organization took over Gaza in 2007, billions of dollars have been transferred to the Strip. About 80% of this cash is handed over to the terror group's leadership in order to finance its arms smuggling operations. These funds, some of which are transferred to Gaza legally, via bank transfers, enable the Hamas government to pay its monthly salaries.
After all, training and educating martyrs, running Qassam production lines, or testing long-range weapons isn't cheap. Who knows what else is being hidden in Gaza's weapons warehouses. Yet the State of Israel, under Fischer's pressure, continues to let the money which finances this system pour into Gaza uninterruptedly.
We keep on hearing the regular excuses: After all, this isn't our money, we must hand it over, and so on. Yet the most prevalent excuse is also the most dangerous one: Stopping fund-transfers to Gaza is illegal.
Is Gaza a friendly country?
Stanley Fischer, the world's best bank governor, I have some questions for you: Is it legal to bomb Gaza-region communities for 11 years now? Is it legal to sow fear among Sderot's residents and fire Qassams at children playing in their backyard? Is it legal to ignore the fact that UNWRA funds handed over by Israel are used by Hamas and its killers? Is it legal to send our sons to fight an enemy whose weapons we supplied? Does the law really require Israel to transfer funds to Gaza?
Israel has already designated Gaza as a hostile terror entity, so why do we keep working vis-à-vis Gaza's banking system? Is Gaza a friendly country? Fischer already announced, back in 2006, that he will only hand over funds to Gaza as long as Hamas adheres to understandings with Israel. So why does he keep on pouring money into the Strip, despite rockets being fired at Israel all the time?
I cannot understand the silence of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who approves fund-transfers to Gaza; I also cannot understand the silence of Foreign Ministry officials, and the silence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When asked about the Gilad Shalit swap, I say that we already have a readily available weapon against Hamas: Terminating its cash supply.
So I'm urging the world's best bank governor: Stop the fund-transfers to Hamas. Yours and Israel's economy would not be boosted via the blood of our sons.
Ynet News
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Third Jihad
30-Minute Version of the New Documentary Film. The Third Jihad movie exposes the war the media is not telling you about. It reveals the enemy our U.S. government is too afraid to name. One person who is not afraid to tell you the truth is Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a Muslim American and former physician to the U.S. Congress. After the FBI releases a radical Islamist manifesto describing how to destroy America from within, Dr. Jasser decides to investigate. The Third Jihad is about what he discovered. Interviews are conducted with radical Islamists in America and the leaders trying to stop them, such as Rudy Giuliani, Clinton CIA Director Jim Woolsey, NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Senator Joe Lieberman, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, and former terrorist group member Tawfik Hamid.
This is a film about Radical Islamic terror in America. A dangerous ideology, fuelled by religious hatred. It's important to remember, most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror. This is not a film about them.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Ahmadinejad: Lebanon a School of Jihad
Hezbollah holds mass rally in honor of visiting Iranian president. Ahmadinejad says Lebanon is ' example and school for unwavering resistance to the world's tyrants'; adds both nations oppose 'crimes of Zionist enemy'
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on a two-day visit to Lebanon, spoke before a mass rally organized in is honor by Hezbollah at the Dahiya quarter of Beirut, which is considered one of the Shiite group's strongholds.
Wednesday's rally, which saw masses gather at a local soccer field, waving Iranian flags and chanted "Welcome" in Persian, was missing Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who welcomed Ahmadinejad to Lebanon via a video feed from his bunker: "I welcome you here on behalf of the injured, the dead, the released prisoners and this people, who have fought to create the miracle of victory. You are a steadfast staff for the resistance."
"I come from the land of the Imam Khomeini, bearing the best wishes of the Iranian people and its leaders," Ahmadinejad told the masses. "Lebanon is the an example and school for unwavering resistance to the world's tyrants and a university for Jihad. Visiting Lebanon and meeting the leaders is a dream come true for me."
Ahmadinejad spoke in Persian and used an interpreter.
The Iranian leader wasted no time in attacking Israel for violating the Palestinians' rights: "Do you see anything but crimes in the past actions of the Zionist regime? The massacre of innocent people, the use of weapons, razing homes, confiscating medicine, food and water, attacking civilians in international waters and threatening the world is an everyday occurrence for them."
The West, he added, considers Israel "means of dominating the world," and to that end it has given it nuclear weapons.
Israel's weakness exposed
Turning his attention to the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, the Iranian president said the two military campaigns "exposed Israel's weakness… it is also possible that those barbaric Zionists will seek a new regional adventure to try and compensate. I say – any attack will only bring this phony regime closer to its end."
As for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the talks are taking place while Israel "is perpetuating the occupation and disrespects International Law," he said. "The only way to resolve the problems in Palestine and bring peace to the region is to recognize the rights of the Palestinians, allow the refugees to return to their land and send the conquerors back to their homelands. The Zionists must return Palestine to its true owner, or they will be obliterated by the wrath of the Palestinian people."
Ahmadinejad accused Israel once more of kidnapping four Iranian diplomats 28 years ago. Israel has denied any involvement in the case, but according to the Iranian leader, "There is clear documentation that they are alive and held in a Zionist prison. The Zionists are responsible for their well being and must allow the Red Cross to visit them."
Iran and Hezbollah's grand plan
"There is negative talk in the Middle East about the Iranian plan, and they are planning to counter it, but I can testify – the Iranians want the same thing as the Palestinians," Nasrallah – speaking from his bunker – told the masses attending the rally.
"The Iranian and Palestinian plan is to see all the land, from river to sea, return to its owners. This was Khomeini's stand and Ahmadinejad said as much in his UN address – Israel is not a legitimate country. As for Lebanon, they want it to be a liberated, respectable country."
Eelier Wednesday, the Iranian president met with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman. After the meeting, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that "Lebanon has changed the equation of hostility in the region, turning the tables in its favor."
As for Israel, the Iranian leader said that Lebanon and the Islamic Republic were "two nations that love each other and share common interests. Both peoples object to the occupation and crimes perpetrated by the Zionist enemy. We support the Palestinian refugees return to their conquered land and the bitter fights against Zionist aggression."
The Hezbollah chief went on to laud the Iranian regime: "They have always supported us. Some say that Iran is the cause for internal strife, but Iran is one of the biggest sources for solidarity in the Islamic world."
Meanwhile, the White House condemned the visit, saying Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon showed he was continuing his "provocative ways."
Jerusalem also harshly criticized the visit, saying that Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon "illustrates how Lebanon has turned into a, Iranian satellite nation, thus joining the axis of radical countries which oppose the peace process and support terror."
Commenting on the Iranian leader's Hezbollah ties, the source said that Ahmadinejad "arrived in Lebanon like a commander arriving to inspect his troops, Hezbollah terrorists, who act as the Iranian military arm in the area.
"Anyone who holds freedom and peace dear is concerned with the Iranian defiance; and Lebanon, which could have enjoyed peace and prosperity, has turned – led by Hezbollah – into a lackey for Iranian aggression."
Ynet News
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on a two-day visit to Lebanon, spoke before a mass rally organized in is honor by Hezbollah at the Dahiya quarter of Beirut, which is considered one of the Shiite group's strongholds.
Wednesday's rally, which saw masses gather at a local soccer field, waving Iranian flags and chanted "Welcome" in Persian, was missing Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who welcomed Ahmadinejad to Lebanon via a video feed from his bunker: "I welcome you here on behalf of the injured, the dead, the released prisoners and this people, who have fought to create the miracle of victory. You are a steadfast staff for the resistance."
"I come from the land of the Imam Khomeini, bearing the best wishes of the Iranian people and its leaders," Ahmadinejad told the masses. "Lebanon is the an example and school for unwavering resistance to the world's tyrants and a university for Jihad. Visiting Lebanon and meeting the leaders is a dream come true for me."
Ahmadinejad spoke in Persian and used an interpreter.
The Iranian leader wasted no time in attacking Israel for violating the Palestinians' rights: "Do you see anything but crimes in the past actions of the Zionist regime? The massacre of innocent people, the use of weapons, razing homes, confiscating medicine, food and water, attacking civilians in international waters and threatening the world is an everyday occurrence for them."
The West, he added, considers Israel "means of dominating the world," and to that end it has given it nuclear weapons.
Israel's weakness exposed
Turning his attention to the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, the Iranian president said the two military campaigns "exposed Israel's weakness… it is also possible that those barbaric Zionists will seek a new regional adventure to try and compensate. I say – any attack will only bring this phony regime closer to its end."
As for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the talks are taking place while Israel "is perpetuating the occupation and disrespects International Law," he said. "The only way to resolve the problems in Palestine and bring peace to the region is to recognize the rights of the Palestinians, allow the refugees to return to their land and send the conquerors back to their homelands. The Zionists must return Palestine to its true owner, or they will be obliterated by the wrath of the Palestinian people."
Ahmadinejad accused Israel once more of kidnapping four Iranian diplomats 28 years ago. Israel has denied any involvement in the case, but according to the Iranian leader, "There is clear documentation that they are alive and held in a Zionist prison. The Zionists are responsible for their well being and must allow the Red Cross to visit them."
Iran and Hezbollah's grand plan
"There is negative talk in the Middle East about the Iranian plan, and they are planning to counter it, but I can testify – the Iranians want the same thing as the Palestinians," Nasrallah – speaking from his bunker – told the masses attending the rally.
"The Iranian and Palestinian plan is to see all the land, from river to sea, return to its owners. This was Khomeini's stand and Ahmadinejad said as much in his UN address – Israel is not a legitimate country. As for Lebanon, they want it to be a liberated, respectable country."
Eelier Wednesday, the Iranian president met with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman. After the meeting, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that "Lebanon has changed the equation of hostility in the region, turning the tables in its favor."
As for Israel, the Iranian leader said that Lebanon and the Islamic Republic were "two nations that love each other and share common interests. Both peoples object to the occupation and crimes perpetrated by the Zionist enemy. We support the Palestinian refugees return to their conquered land and the bitter fights against Zionist aggression."
The Hezbollah chief went on to laud the Iranian regime: "They have always supported us. Some say that Iran is the cause for internal strife, but Iran is one of the biggest sources for solidarity in the Islamic world."
Meanwhile, the White House condemned the visit, saying Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon showed he was continuing his "provocative ways."
Jerusalem also harshly criticized the visit, saying that Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon "illustrates how Lebanon has turned into a, Iranian satellite nation, thus joining the axis of radical countries which oppose the peace process and support terror."
Commenting on the Iranian leader's Hezbollah ties, the source said that Ahmadinejad "arrived in Lebanon like a commander arriving to inspect his troops, Hezbollah terrorists, who act as the Iranian military arm in the area.
"Anyone who holds freedom and peace dear is concerned with the Iranian defiance; and Lebanon, which could have enjoyed peace and prosperity, has turned – led by Hezbollah – into a lackey for Iranian aggression."
Ynet News
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Senior German Politician Calls to Stop Muslim Immigration
Christian Democratic Union party leader stirs controversy following racial remarks; says 'we don’t need additional immigrants from 'foreign cultures'BERLIN – A German official on Saturday called to stop Muslim immigration into the country, stirring public controversy.
Horst Seehofer, leader of the Christian Democratic Union Party (CSU), which is a member of the coalition government in Germany, said in an interview to Focus magazine, "It is obvious that immigrants from Turkey and Arab countries face more difficulty integrating into German society than other immigrants."
"In any case," Seehofer added," the conclusion is that we don’t need additional immigrants from 'foreign cultures'."
The German politician's remarks rekindled an already heated public discussion over the question of the Muslim minority's integration in Germany.
During the interview, Seehofer also argued that unemployment benefits should be revoked from immigrants who do not seek employment, arguing that immigrants should be forced to share the basic values of Germany, and have command of the language.
Seehofer's remarks come after German President Christian Wulff's speech on the 20th anniversary to the unification of Germany.
Wulff, whose speech carried a particularly reconciliatory tone, said that Islam constituted a part of Germany's nature, just as Judaism and Christianity have in the past, and will continue to be a part of the nation in the future.
The speech triggered mixed reactions, as Muslim community leaders lauded it, while Christian-rightist elements, including Seehofer, issued fierce criticism.
"I do not understand how the role Christianity has played in Germany can be compared to that of Islam," Seehofer noted during the interview.
According to the conservative politician, tolerance and openness to other religions, as cemented in the German constitution, do not grant these religions direct influence over the country's core values.
Seehofer's remarks angered politicians from across Germany's political spectrum, leading some politicians to dub him a "radical-rightist populist."
The heated debate in German society centers on the integration of nearly three million Muslim immigrants living in the country today – a majority of them of Turkish descent.
The public debate was set in motion by Thilo Sarrazin, a former banker who published a book in which he slammed the Muslim immigration in the country, claiming it led to a drop in Germany's intellectual capacity and has diminished it's cultural assets.
Sarrazin was dismissed from his post at the Bundesbank following the publication of his book, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies and is expected to become Germany's largest best-seller since the end of the Second World War.
Ynet News
The Mosque of War
Isalm will dominante the world!!! by Victor Sharpe
Of the three monotheistic religions, Judaism is considered the mother faith and the other two, Christianity and Islam, her daughters.
The first daughter, Christianity, under the influence of the early church fathers, rejected the mother and distanced herself from Judaism, even to the extent of changing the Sabbath from the seventh day, Saturday, to Sunday and renaming it the Lord's Day. Seventh-Day Adventists retain Saturday as their Sabbath.
The younger daughter, Islam, under Muhammad, turned on both the Jewish and Christian tribes of Arabia, who declined to accept that Muhammad was the Messenger of God and the "Seal of all the Prophets." Both Jews and Christians rejected the claim of the new faith that it alone ushered in "God's final revelation."
After Rome embraced Christianity under Constantine, the Church fathers increasingly used temporal powers to discriminate against the Jews and proscribe and mock the practice of their faith. In time, this repeated denigration of the Jewish faith and its believers sadly led to the horrors of the Crusades, the Catholic inquisition, forced conversions, pogroms, and ultimately, to the Holocaust.
Islam's followers tolerated those they called the "people of the Book," the Jews and Christians, whose faith was based upon the Bible. But Islam, too, practiced forced conversions, pogroms, massacres, and the discrimination of Jews and Christians through the practice of dhimmitude, whereby the "infidels" were forced into second-class status and forced to pay a tax, the jizzya, as a penalty for remaining outside the Islamic faith while under Muslim control.
Like Christendom, Islam often forced the Jews to live in ghettos, called mellahs.
Islamic authorities were the first to coerce Jews into wearing distinctive and often humiliating clothing, preceding the German Nazis by centuries. The Nazis and their European allies forced the Jews into wearing a yellow Star of David, thus marking them for death.
But history is replete with accounts of both daughter religions fighting each other for centuries over territory. When not slaughtering each other, they both often turned upon the hapless and stateless Jews, who, for the most part, had no allies and were unable to defend themselves.
The mother has ample reason to weep at the ferocious degradation and scorn her daughters have heaped upon her with such violence and ingratitude. But many Christians -- not all -- have come to the realization that biblical Jewish roots are inextricable from their own and that their faith is fatefully incomplete without an acknowledgment of those roots.
Islam, too, is immensely indebted to Judaism.
According to Abraham I. Katsh, author of Judaism and the Koran, ... like the Jew, the Moslem affirms the unity of God, that He is one, eternal, merciful, compassionate, beneficent, almighty, all-knowing, just, loving and forgiving.
Like Judaism, Islam does not recognize saints serving as mediators between the individual and his Creator and both faiths believe that each individual is to follow a righteous path and secure atonement by improving his or her conduct and by practicing sincere repentance. But there is another essential and integral part of Islam not shared with Judaism: Jihad.
As Katsh points out in his book, originally written as far back as 1954, the duty of Jihad, the waging of Holy War, has been raised to the dignity of a sixth canonical obligation, especially by the descendants of the Kharijites.
To the Moslem, the world is divided into regions under Islamic control, the dar al-Islam, and regions not subjected as yet, the dar al-harb.
Between this 'area of warfare' and the Muslim dominated part of the world there can be no peace. Practical considerations may induce the Muslim leaders to conclude an armistice, but the obligation to conquer and, if possible, convert never lapses.
Nor can territory once under Muslim rule be lawfully yielded to the unbeliever. Legal theory has gone so far as to define as dar al-Islam any area where at least one Muslim custom is still observed.
Thanks to this concept, the Moslem is required to subdue the infidel, and he who dies in the path of Allah is considered a martyr and assured of Paradise and of unique privileges there.
Here one can understand clearly that peace -- true and lasting peace -- between Islam and nations that adhere still to Judeo-Christian civilization, or to Hinduism, Buddhism, or all other faiths, is a forlorn and baseless hope.
The "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians, for example, is thus a grand illusion, endlessly fostered by Western politicians and diplomats, along with self-deluded Israeli leaders, who all refuse to see a reality that has existed since Islam's creation in the 7th century.
And it is in one abiding respect that this endless spiritual and temporal conflict is seen in its most practical and historical context -- the conversion of places of worship into mosques.
The result has been that since the time of Muhammad, synagogues, churches, Hindu temples, Zoroastrian temples, and pagan shrines have been all too often violently converted into mosques.
After the conquest of Mecca in the year 630, Muhammad transformed the Black Stone in the Ka'aba, which ancient pagan Arabs had worshiped, into the paramount Islamic holy place. It became known as the Masjid al-Haram, or Sacred Mosque.
During the Arab invasions of neighboring lands in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond, under the new banner of Islam, numerous synagogues and churches were converted into mosques. In Damascus, Syria, the church of St. John is now known as the Umayyad Mosque. Also in Syria, the mosque of Job was originally a church.
The Islamic tide swept into Egypt, and many Christian Coptic churches were converted into mosques. From North Africa, the conquests continued into Spain and Portugal, where again churches were converted into mosques. Interestingly, many churches had been built upon the sites of earlier Roman temples. But during the re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by Christian armies -- the Reconquista -- the mosques were reconverted into churches.
In Gaza, the Great Mosque of Gaza was originally a Christian church. In Turkey, the Hagia Sophia Church was converted in 1453 into a mosque and remained so until 1935, when it became a museum. Indeed, the Ottoman Turks converted into mosques practically all churches and monasteries in the territories they conquered.
The most well-known mosques, built upon previous non-Muslim holy sites, are the Al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock, also built upon the site of the two biblical Jewish Temples.
There are four holy cities of Judaism: Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias.
Hebron is the second-holiest city, and in it is the burial place of the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs, known as the Cave of Machpela, where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah are buried.
Herod the Great constructed an enclosure for the burial site. During the later Christian Byzantine period, a church was built upon the site, but this was destroyed in 614 by the Persians. Later, the Arab-Muslim invaders built a mosque in its place.
Jews were not permitted to worship at their nearly-four-thousand-year-old holy place by the Muslim Arabs. They could only ascend to the seventh step leading to the tombs. Indeed, they were refused this right as a place of worship from the 7th century until 1967, when Israel liberated the territory from the Jordanian occupiers. Even before the Israeli liberation, a horrifying massacre of Jewish residents in Hebron by their Arab Moslem neighbors took place in 1929 while under the British Mandate of the geographical territory known as Palestine.
Prior to the present-day Palestinian Authority assuming control of the city of Nablus, which was the ancient biblical Jewish city of Shechem, the Tomb of Joseph, the biblical figure, was a place of Jewish pilgrimage. When it was handed over to the PA, as one of seemingly endless Israeli concessions, the tomb was desecrated by a Moslem mob, which proceeded to convert it into a mosque.
On the Indian subcontinent, Hindu temples were similarly converted into mosques. Lately, Hindu nationalists have reconverted some mosques into temples, and, as in so many other parts of the world, considerable bitterness exists between Moslems and members of other faiths or those of no faith.
Mosques now occupy vast numbers of places of worship for other faiths. In Algeria, the Great Synagogue of Oran is now a mosque after the Jewish population was driven from Algeria. Many other synagogues throughout the Arab world are now mosques after the Jewish inhabitants were expelled.
In the 1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey, many Greek Orthodox churches in northern Cyprus were converted into mosques. And the process continues.
Saudi Arabia invests endless billions of dollars to build mosques throughout the world. The international blanketing of cities with mosques is just another expression of jihad. In western Europe, most famously renamed Eurabia by the writer, Bat Yeor, there may soon come a time when there will be more minarets than steeples.
Perhaps the most egregious and blatant example of Islamic triumphalism is the planned construction of a giant mosque in New York, almost upon the site of the horrific destruction of the Twin Towers by Moslem terrorists acting in the name of Allah.
The proposed mosque is to be opened in 2011 on the very anniversary of the September 11, 2001 atrocity -- a flagrant insult to the memory of the thousands of innocents who died at the hands of Moslem fanatics and believers, most of them Saudis.
But this, after all, is what jihad is all about. Subdue the "infidel" at all costs. The Islamic obligation to conquer and convert the unbeliever must never lapse. Its tangible manifestation can also be characterized as the mosques of war.
Victor Sharpe is a freelance writer and author of Volumes One and Two of Politicide: The attempted murder of the Jewish state. The books may be purchased on line from the publisher www.Lulu.com or from www.Amazon.com
You Might Also Like to Read:
This appeared July 13, 2010 in American Thinker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
