Islamization Watch: 8/29/10

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Eating Violation: Algerian men face up to 2 years in slammer for breaking the Ramadan fast

Najib Chaouki, a young Moroccan from the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms, who created a Facebook group 'Moroccans for the right not to fast' poses in Rabat on August 14, 2010.

In Morocco it is 6 months in prison for choosing to eat during the fast!!

But this Moroccan has started a group calling for the right not fast during Ramadan.

If we want to support anyone in the Muslim ~ we should support those who actually support freedom. Not freedoms within the limited confines of Islam ~ real on the ground freedoms!

Human rights groups bemoan religious oppression in the North African country; offenders face up to 2 years in jail.

Police in Algeria have detained ten men for allegedly eating in public in violation of the sanctity of Ramadan.

Police picked up the young men in a restaurant in the province of Bejaya, east of the capital Algiers after neighbors complained of the alleged public desecration of the Islamic faith’s ban on eating during daylight in the holy month.

The young men face up to two years in prison for the “crime” if convicted. Police reportedly held one man in jail and all face trial. Charges were presented against the group on Monday in a court in the town of Akbou. The court delayed its verdict until early November.

While seemingly an isolated incident, it reflected a growing trend by governments to cater to devout public sentiment in the Muslim world. However, human rights’ groups have decried the move, saying the men had not committee any crime and that observing the daylight fast during Ramadan was a “personal matter.”

"There is no law in Algeria prohibiting eating on Ramadan, only one banning 'mocking Ramadan'," said Moustafa Bouchachi, President of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights. "The prosecutor has implemented the law improperly, and therefore the last man still arrested in the case was released yesterday."

Bouchachi told The Media Line that two years ago Algerian police had arrested four young men on similar charges. They were subsequently released. He added that people are sometimes arrested for eating in public places, but rarely for doing so in a closed restaurant.

Attorney general: Quran-burning plan 'idiotic, dangerous' [Video] ~ But where can you get a bible in the Muslim world??

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

TV Host Chris Mathews mentions ~ what if there was a response such as the burning of Christian bibles in Cairo. But Muslim customs already confiscate bibles of tourists and workers when entering Maldives and Saudi Arabia ~ doubtful if they could even get hold of a bible in a place like Afghanistan to burn. Expats express fear of being in possession of a bible ~ and prefer to read it online in the Maldives. A place where churches are 'illegal'. And where no non-Muslims are allowed to be citizens. Though calling all of the Maldives radical ~ this is where the whole moderate radical thing breaks down ~ when Muslims follow the Koran. In Algeria the penalty is 5 years in prison for being in possession of a bible. Especially where it can be proved you planned to give them to others. Last year a preacher was imprisoned in Egypt [or Algeria] for coming to the home and praying over a man who had a stroke ~ he was charged with holing an unauthorized prayer session.

I tend to agree with the pastor ~ Muslims praying in a mosque is not a problem ~ the implementation or the attempts to implement Shari'a is. The US has its Constitutional buffer ~ but in Europe, in the UK the largest Islamic organization akin to CAIR in the US has openly called for Islamic law to be made legally binding in the UK ~ as in fully integrated into British law. The largest Muslim group in Germany ~ was found to have a video game for children where democracy was being shot down. Across Europe from Malta, to Switzerland and the UK Muslim leaders [the moderate ones] have called for harsh Islamic punishments ~like amputation. One said it was his Islamic duty.

One thing for sure Muslims don't care if we are offended! Islamic law teaches that Muslims are supreme and all others lesser [unless the convert] ~ and that is how they conduct their nation states.

MIAMI — The government turned up the pressure Tuesday on the head of a small Florida church who plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, with Attorney General Eric Holder calling the idea "idiotic and dangerous."

Waking up an Islamic world: What it might be like: Daffy Duck Does Hilter ~ But it might well be heil Islam one day [Video]

A system that can't be questioned ~ believes that challengers should be put to death. But promises to offer solution to all the world's problems. That holds one citizen above another not on race but on religion. And wishes to take over the world by any means. Hmmm...

Ramadan violence continues in southern Thailand: 6 killed /5 wounded ~ what can anyone say ~ Islam means peace!

Thai security personnel investigates the site of an improvised explosive device attack in the southern Yala province September 6,2010.

(Reuters) - Six people have been killed and five wounded in Thailand's restive Muslim south, police said on Tuesday, the latest upsurge in violence blamed on separatist militants.

The attacks, which included drive-by shootings and bombings, took place late on Monday and on Tuesday and targeted both Muslims and the region's minority Buddhists.

A Buddhist couple, both teachers, were killed by unknown gunmen while riding on a motorcycle early on Tuesday in Rangae in Narathiwat province, police said.

In the same district a few hours later, a Buddhist defence volunteer was gunned down and killed in another drive-by attack.

The shootings came two days after suspected ethnic Malay rebels torched government offices, bus shelters, shops and phone booths in simultaneous attacks in seven districts of Narathiwat, which borders Malaysia.

Later Tuesday in Yala province, a Buddhist rubber tapper was wounded when a bomb exploded. The previous night in Bannang Sata, the most dangerous place in the region, a Muslim woman was shot dead and three soldiers wounded in a roadside bombing.

Around the same time, two Muslims were killed in separate drive-by shootings in Pattani and an assistant village leader was badly wounded in Narathiwat when unknown assailants sprayed automatic gunfire at his vehicle.

The attacks took the death toll to 19 in the past 10 days, with 38 people wounded, according to police data.

A Muslim woman greeted by a billboard: 'Nice that you're here!'

“When immigrant children are not sent to kindergartens or to school, then cuts to their Hartz IV welfare benefits must be sanctioned.”

As the integration debate stoked by Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin continues to smoulder, conservatives have begun calling for heavier sanctions against immigrants they deem unwilling or unable to become part of German society.

General secretary for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), Hermann Gröhe, told daily Leipziger Volkszeitung that his party was taking the debate about Sarrazin’s controversial comments over immigration “very seriously.”

Sarrazin is currently under fire for claiming, among other things, that Muslim communities don’t want to integrate with mainstream Germany, that they are making the country “dumber” and that ethnic groups, such as Jews, are distinguished by particular genes [doubt if anyone will be acting on these gene ideas]. But the issue of Muslim integration keeps coming up in German society ~ obviously right across Europe ~ the issue arises again and again. The main aim is to raise children solely to marry and help another relative immigrate ~ is a problem ~ for the whole of Europe. A person needs to contribute more than this.

While politicians on both sides of the issue have discredited Sarrazin’s remarks, recent polls polls have revealed that almost one-fifth of conservative voters support his ideas.

“Our policy requires integration courses and citizenship tests,” Gröhe told the paper. “We also have sanction possibilities for those who persist in refusing to integrate. These must be consistently implemented.”

The banquet theme is "Defining Our Faith, Defending Our Rights" ~ might they take a moment to defend or even define/reflect on the rights of non-Muslims in the Islamic world ~ who all live as Dhimmis or second class citizens under Islamic-based laws.

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan who champions the idea of a Europeanized Islam ~ that does or does not include a clause for Dhimmi status. Many Muslims feel that the lower status imposed on non-Muslims as well as the imposition of the jizya tax were acts of kindness. You would have to get up early to corner Ramadan into answering a question on Dhimmitude directly. You would have to have your comeback ready.

Though we do need Muslims to talk about these issues openly. Two-thirds of America's Muslims are foreign born and hail from the Islamic world. That means that they have have first hand knowledge of Shari'a and how non-Muslims are marginalized by it. [Koran 9:29]

If some reporter could just level a question at CAIR! To get them to talk about religious rights and freedoms in the Muslim world and what their expectations are for the USA in a few years time?

Day-long leadership skills training conference will precede the banquet

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced today that internationally-renowned Muslim scholar Dr. Tariq Ramadan will offer the keynote address at its 16th annual banquet on Saturday, October 9 in Arlington, Va.

At the banquet, themed "Defining Our Faith, Defending Our Rights," a lifetime achievement award will be presented to noted journalist Helen Thomas, and Mo Amer of the "Allah Made Me Funny" comedy group will provide entertainment.

A day-long leadership skills training conference for community leaders and activists is scheduled to precede the banquet on Saturday. The leadership conference will offer workshops, taught by top trainers in their fields, such as "Methods for Successful on-Camera Interviews," "Effective Engagement of Social Media," "Successful Political Engagement," "Becoming a Dynamic Public Speaker," "Know Your Rights with Law Enforcement," and "Challenging Islamophobia."

[...]

On the menu also:

"Know Your Rights with Law Enforcement,"

In case you might be involved in a terrorist plot!

...and "Challenging Islamophobia."

Is this a lesson in imposing Shari'a by stealth ~ other than this who cares about Islam. We simply don't want its laws! AND we don't want to be attacked!!

And what is the equivalent to Islamophobia in the Muslim world's treatment of others ~ what do you call it when Saudi Arabia doesn't have a church and the Maldives recently followed suit!! BS-ing us!!

Indonesia: Second Expat’s Home Stormed in Ramadan Riot Over Statues Resembling Hindu Deities

German national Stephen Alexander at Senggigi Police headquarters in Lombok on Tuesday. The long-term expatriate's villa was badly damaged and his motorcycle set on fire for allegedly insulting Islam

Oh Dear ~ Banged up in Islamonesia!!

The first guy an American is imprisoned for blasphemy against Islam !!! Warning !!!

Ramadan is a time when Muslims go crazy ~ leave the country!! As the days go on they look more and more menacingly at things which they consider not in keeping with Islam or the practise of Ramadan. And in most states they don't have a choice whether to follow the ritual or not. In moderate Morocco its six months jail time for not participating in the fast.

The other guy is a German and it seems the villagers did not take to his western version of Islam ~ tired of looking at his Hindu-like statuses ~ at Ramadan they pounced and ransacked his house. Which left him stuck doing the ~ I'm a good Muslim act ~ but they pointed out that he was inappropriately dressed at the time!! He's now in police custody [prusumably for causing offence.]

The fact is most converts to Islam would be shocked at how deep the Islamic rabbit hole goes. We are western.

This is a serious turn of events ~ because it shows the Indonesians are turning against the western foreigners ~ whatever they say they believe ~ and imposing Islamic law on them.

It is the same pattern across the Islamic world ~ Muslims attack and the police back the Muslim attackers.

Jakarta. A German man was the second foreigner to see his home destroyed in Lombok during the holy month after his complaints about damage to his property interrupted evening prayers.

Stephen Alexander, 35, who has lived on the resort island for 10 years, was “loudly” complaining outside the village chief’s home about the destruction of statues he kept in his yard, enciting about 200 residents from Lembah Sari, West Lombok, to ransack his villa and set fire to a motorcycle, said Mustan, a local.

Locals from Sidemen village on Lombok’s main tourism area of Senggigi told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that hundreds of residents had attacked and wrecked a villa belonging to a German national and torched his motorcycle for blaspheming Islam.

Police identified the man as Stephen Alexander, 35, also known as Abu-Can Peter.

Mustan, a local, said Alexander discovered that a vandal had decapitated one of the statues in front of his villa on Monday evening and took the severed head to the home of village chief Amalsah.

“He came carrying the statue head and got angry at the village chief, accusing the villagers of damaging his statues.”

Alexander threatened to report the vandalism to the police if Amalsah could not find the vandal within two weeks, Mustan said.

He said villagers had just finished tarawih (evening prayers during Ramadan) and were insulted when Alexander demanded to know, “What kind of Muslims we were?”

“His words were deeply hurtful.” [+]

“He barged into the village chief’s house, accusing residents of destroying his statues, and questioned what kind of Muslims we were,” Mustan said.

Alexander, who is also a Muslim, had been “warned” to remove the statues because they resembled Hindu deities.

Residents were reportedly angered by Alexander’s disruption of their prayers.

Soon after, the mob had grown to about 200 people, who then gathered outside his villa in the tourist district of Senggigi. Alexander managed to escape the rampage, but was later picked up by police.

It was unclear whether police had placed him in protective custody or detained him pending charges.

Hadli, the village chief, said Alexander’s asking “what kind of Muslims are your residents?” had sparked the mob’s violent reaction.

He added that the German had been impolite, “because he wasn’t wearing a shirt while he was complaining.”

But when talking to reporters at the police station, Alexander said he had never raised the issue of faith during the prayer session.

“I only asked about the two people who destroyed my statues,” he said.

“I know Islam. I did not bring a knife, I did not do anything. But why did 200 people destroy my house? It is Ramadan now, it is forbidden to be violent.”

West Lombok Police Chief Agus Supriyanto said officers were still investigating the case.

“What we have learned is that he approached the village chief’s house, yelling as if he was mocking the residents,” Agus said.

On Aug. 22, American expatriate Luke Gregory Lloyd was nearly mobbed by villagers in Central Lombok after he allegedly barged into a prayer session at a mosque with his shoes on, unplugged a microphone and may have even assaulted one of the worshipers.

Lloyd, who is facing six years in prison after police charged him with blaspheming Islam and immigration violations and whose home was also ransacked, denies wrongdoing in the case.

Jakarta Globe

US pastor Terry Jones promises to hold Koran burning

...to send a warning "to the radical element of Islam".

"We wanted to send a very clear message to them that we are not interested in their Sharia law," he said.

"And we do not tolerate their threats, their fear, their radicalness. We live in the United States of America."

We are not interested in your Shari'a and will not tolerate your threats... hmm... we all should be saying more of the same!!

If a group of Muslims could build a mosque on ground zero ~ as offensive as that is ~ under freedom of religion. The pastor should be able to burn a Koran ~ under freedom of expression. This is his protest.

THE pastor of a small Florida church has promised to hold a Koran burning in defiance of a top US commander who warned his actions will spark violent ractions in the Islamic world.

Terry Jones said he had given "serious" consideration to the concerns expressed by US commander General David Petraeus over plans to torch the Koran, but remained ademant the event would proceed anyway.

Pastor Jones, who heads the Dove World Outreach Center in the town of Gainesville, said the burning would take place to mark the September 11 terror attacks and would send a message to Muslim extremists.

"We are taking the general's words very serious," he said before noting he had "firmly made up his mind" to go ahead with burning the Muslim holy book.

"I mean, how long, when does America stand for truth?" he asked..

"Instead of us being blamed for what other people will do or might do, why don't we send a warning to them?

"Why don't we send a warning to radical Islam and say, don't do it. If you attack us, if you attack us, we will attack you," he said.

In a statement, Gen Petraeus, who is the US commander of the Afghan war, expressed concern that the planned torching of the Koran would be a propaganda coup for Islamic extremists.

But the pastor insisted that the Koran torching to be held on Saturday aimed "to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11th" and to send a warning "to the radical element of Islam".

"We wanted to send a very clear message to them that we are not interested in their Sharia law," he said.

"And we do not tolerate their threats, their fear, their radicalness. We live in the United States of America."

The pastor's words sparked violent protest in the Afghan capital of Kabul where hundreds turned out to burn an effigy of the outspoken Christian during a demonstration.

Protesters railed against the US and called for President Barack Obama's death before denouncing the American church's plans to burn the Islamic holy book.

Muhammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard to receive German prize

Berlin: Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who in 2005 portrayed the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb in his turban, is to receive the M100 Media Prize in Germany on Wednesday, organisers said.

The prize is to be awarded for Westergaard's 'unbending engagement for freedom of the press and freedom of opinion, and for his courage to defend these democratic values despite threats of death and violence,' the prize committee said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to deliver the keynote speech at the ceremony, held in the Sanssouci palace in Potsdam and attended by editors and publishers from Europe's top media companies.

Westergaard's cartoon, published along with other portrayals of Mohammed in the Jyllands-Posten in 2005, caused a storm of protest when they became known in the Arab and Muslim world. Many took offence at the personal and disrespectful portrayal of the prophet.

The Mohammed cartoon scandal came to represent a struggle between values of press-freedom and respect for religion. Westergaard has received numerous death-threats and remains under police protection.

In January 2010 a Somali man entered Westergaard's house and attempted to attack him with an axe. The 75-year-old was rescued by police.

Japanese freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka speaks to the press in Tokyo on September 7, 2010 after returning to Japan following five months' captivity in Afghanistan.

TOKYO — A Japanese journalist held hostage in Afghanistan for five months managed to send out a message via Twitter that he was alive when his captors asked him how to use a cell phone.

Just days before he was freed, Kosuke Tsuneoka said one of the militants brought him his new cell phone and asked the prisoner to set it up.

The younger militants were more interested in accessing Al-Jazeera on the phone, but Tsuneoka managed to shift their attention to Twitter, successfully getting them to ask him to demonstrate how it worked.

"That's how I got the message out," Tsuneoka told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, a day after he arrived safely back in Japan. "I'm sure they never thought they were tricked."

A couple of days later, the militants — whom Tsuneoka said identified themselves as members of Hizb-e-Islami but posed as Taliban to the Japanese government — set him free in part because he is a Muslim. He had converted to Islam in 2000.

The Japanese government said it paid no ransom to free Tsuneoka. He said he believes that because the captors didn't seem to be overjoyed at the time of his release or suggest they had received any cash.

Aussie Imam radio broadcast ~ says Wilders should be beheaded for criticizing Islam [Video]

Imagine the thought that anyone who criticizes Islam should be beheaded ~ meant that for centuries Muslims could not take an objective look at their religious beliefs ~ and so their condition ~ for fear of being killed.

Enter the real world ~ and Muslims are shocked at the open questioning of the Prophet's behavior ~ he sanctioned rape for example. In a battle [to convert] Muhammad saw his men were reluctant to have intercourse with the captive women in front of their husbands [Hadith] ~ and on the spot was inspired by 'God' to come up with Koran 4:24* which allows Muslim men to rape/ go with any woman in his possession. And this is besides his relations with a 6 year old child. And it is even questionable whether the child was even 9 when he had relations with her ~ as the Islamic year is based on the cycle of the moon. As far as we know she never bore children. If this is the perfect man ~ he was one who perfectly fulfilled his own desires.

Top cleric from Ayatollah's Office: Democracy and Human Rights Have No Place in Islamic Theology

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi

Get Esposito ~ the Georgetown professor who would stake the reputation of his Saudi funded Islamic Center on the compatibility of Islam and democracy.

We the people ~ doesn't fit in with the Islamic idea of democracy. And the problem starts when ~ we the people want rights and freedoms.

Earlier, Mesbah Yazdi openly supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, even elevating him to God's level, saying, "When the president received the supreme leader's confirmation, obeying him is like obeying God."

Hardline Shiite cleric and the spiritual and religious father of members of the administration said during a speech he delivered at ayatollah Khamenei's office in the city of Qom that opponents to the rule of the Islamic republic supreme leader are "moharebs" [enemies of God] and that "Democracy, freedom, and human rights have no place" in Islamic theology.

The religious leader of the Shiite Taliban, who has resumed delivering speeches among military and paralimitary forces and his followers after several months, said, "Today, if people came and surrendered and submitted to the rule of the guardian of all Muslims, others who disrupt, make trouble or seek to carry out a coup must be stopped with the use of force."

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi in a meeting with IRGC leaders (July 2010)

Mesbah Yazdi, who is also a member of the Association of Teachers of Qom Theological Center (Jame Modaresin Hoze Elmie Qom), declared that the imposition of "Islamic laws are mandatory following submission,' adding, "Some say, we are Muslims and want to implement Islamic laws. Executive work and management also requires an Imam, and when people submit to their Imam, and an Islamic government was established, and the holy order has materialized, if, after that, someone protested, he must be confronted and put in his place. Also, implementing Islamic laws requires implementing Islamic penal laws. If someone is a thief, his hand must be amputated, and this is not a place to back down for cultural reasons against people who promote corruption."

"Mullah Barack Hussain Obama" Caliph of all Muslims.

They want Obama as leader of all Muslims to offer his prayers at the Ground Zero site. That is nothing short of creepy! But it shows that this site has relevance for Muslims ~ to them it is Dar al-Islam the conquered land. The rest of New York is Dar al-Harb land of war or unconquered land. This is sick ~ highly provocative statement.

This is the problem of blindly getting behind Islam ~ you will end up being used for their religious purposes ~ the question is will you like what they represent. Let's start with equal rights for all!

Islamabad, Sep 2 (PTI) A Pakistani minister wants US President Barack Obama to offer Eid prayers at Ground Zero in New York and become the "Amir-ul-Momineen" or Caliph of Muslims.

Minister of State for Industries Ayatullah Durrani, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People''s Party, said the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival, expected to be observed on September 11, would be a "golden opportunity" for Obama to offer Eid prayers and declare himself the leader of all Muslims.

"In this way, all the problems of the Muslim world would be solved," Durrani told The Nation newspaper.

Durrani, a former member of the Pakistan Ideological Council, contended that the Muslim world is in "dire need" of a Caliph and occupying this distinguished slot would provide Obama "exemplary titles" like "Mullah Barack Hussain Obama" or "Allama Obama".

He said: "The time is approaching fast. Barack Hussain Obama must act now. This is a golden opportunity, Muslims badly need it."

Obama''s elevation to the Islamic Caliphate would be the "key to success, he claimed but did not offer any explanation for his remarks.

''Ground Zero'' is the former site of the fallen twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Christopher Hitchens: Domesticating Islam

But is it only the extremists?

Hitchens never mentioned along with other Muslims hopes and dreams ~ is that non-Muslims should live under their protection as second class citizens. The Arabic word is Dhimmi. Those with limited status in any Islamic society. If you listen the moderate Muslims aren't complaining.

The main argument to support Islam ~ is that all opposition to Islam has to be racist ~ and so the child-like=talks-called-articles appear to guide Islam's critics along the right path. But the belief that all opposition to Islam is based on race or is racism, creates a cosy shield from Islam's reality. So shielded some of Islam's supporters might even be reluctant to lay their eyes on a human rights report that spell out in no uncertain terms Islam's religious Apartheid. That people can't change their religion is real. That non-Muslims live as second class or non-citizens in virtually every Muslim country on earth is real. This is not a fantasy and it is not going to go away by calling the critics of it racists and bigots. Although it also creates a cosy nook for Muslims - in particular those in the west ~ who tag on to their unwitting protectors to push their Islamic agendas. That being the loss of religious and other basic freedoms ~ like exists in the Islamic world ~ in the name of having respect for their Arabian God. Humbled ~ domesticated, either one will do!

Another thing is the whole way the word Islamophoobia is used ~ is worrying. It seems if you disagree with the tenets of Islam or you question what Muslims claim to be true about them ~ then you are Islamophobic. This is dangerous. Those supporters of Islam should be a little bit more careful how their support is being used.

A recent blizzard of liberal columns has framed the debate over American Islam as if it were no more than the most recent stage in the glorious history of our religious tolerance. This phrasing of the question has the (presumably intentional) effect of marginalizing doubts and of lumping any doubters with the anti-Catholic Know-Nothings, the anti-Semites, and other bigots and shellbacks. So I pause to take part in a thought experiment, and to ask myself: Am I in favor of the untrammeled "free exercise of religion"?

No, I am not.

[...]

Now to Islam. It is, first, a religion that makes very large claims for itself, purporting to be the last and final word of God and expressing an ambition to become the world's only religion. Some of its adherents follow or advocate the practice of plural marriage, forced marriage, female circumcision, compulsory veiling of women, and censorship of non-Muslim magazines and media. Islam's teachings generally exhibit suspicion of the very idea of church-state separation. Other teachings, depending on context, can be held to exhibit a very strong dislike of other religions, as well as of heretical forms of Islam. Muslims in America, including members of the armed forces, have already been found willing to respond to orders issued by foreign terrorist organizations. Most disturbingly, no authority within the faith appears to have the power to rule decisively that such practices, or such teachings, or such actions, are definitely and utterly in conflict with the precepts of the religion itself.

Reactions from even "moderate" Muslims to criticism are not uniformly reassuring. "Some of what people are saying in this mosque controversy is very similar to what German media was saying about Jews in the 1920s and 1930s," Imam Abdullah Antepli, Muslim chaplain at Duke University, told the New York Times. Yes, we all recall the Jewish suicide bombers of that period, as we recall the Jewish yells for holy war, the Jewish demands for the veiling of women and the stoning of homosexuals, and the Jewish burning of newspapers that published cartoons they did not like. What is needed from the supporters of this very confident faith is more self-criticism and less self-pity and self-righteousness.

Those who wish that there would be no mosques in America have already lost the argument: Globalization, no less than the promise of American liberty, mandates that the United States will have a Muslim population of some size. The only question, then, is what kind, or rather kinds, of Islam it will follow. There's an excellent chance of a healthy pluralist outcome, but it's very unlikely that this can happen unless, as with their predecessors on these shores, Muslims are compelled to abandon certain presumptions that are exclusive to themselves. The taming and domestication of religion is one of the unceasing chores of civilization. Those who pretend that we can skip this stage in the present case are deluding themselves and asking for trouble not just in the future but in the immediate present.

Slate

Iran activist on trial for 'warring against God' ~ Jihad meets Greek mythology

Leave it to the Iranians to think up a sentence like this ~ waging jihad against Allah!!

A vocal female human rights activist and journalist went on trial in Iran Saturday on charges including "warring against God," which is punishable by death, her lawyer was reported as saying.

Shiva Nazar-Ahari, 26, went on trial "on charges of Moharebeh (warring against God), conspiring and gathering to commit a crime, propaganda against the regime and harming public order," lawyer Mohammad Sharif told ILNA news agency.

"After presenting the last defence, the end of the trial was declared," he said. "We are awaiting the verdict and I am not pessimistic about the fate of the case."

Sharif did not offer further details and could not be reached by AFP for comment.

But Kaleme.com, the website of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, said Nazar-Ahari, jailed since December 2009, had also been charged with ties with the exiled opposition People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), the Tehran regime's most hated foe.

"In the court, she expressed repulsion at this organisation (PMOI), denied any links with them and dismissed the accusation as completely baseless," the website said.

'Superstition:' Shi'a Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi says the Nazi Holocaust is a 'superstition' perpetuated by the West

You have to ask why are they so adamant that the Holocaust was a fiction. That is because they are thinking like Hitler ~ they want to kill the Jews or annihilate the Jewish state. They are preparing their minds for that.

A senior Iranian cleric has dismissed the Nazi Holocaust during World War II as a 'superstition' created by the West.

Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi - among the highest authorities in Shiite Islam - said in reports released yesterday. 'The Holocaust is nothing but superstition, but Zionists say that people of the world should be forced to accept this,' he was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

'Americans and Westerners are affected by newly appeared superstitions such as the Holocaust.'

He continued. "The truth about the Holocaust is not clear, and when the researchers want to examine whether it is true or the Jews have created it to pose as victims, they jail the researchers,' said Makarem Shirazi, who is a 'marja,' or among the highest authorities in Shiite Islam.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly branded the Holocaust a 'myth' in his frequent anti-Israel diatribes drawing international condemnation, but Iran's prominent clergy have rarely echoed such comments.

Several opposition figures have also rebuked Ahmadinejad over questioning the Holocaust while backing the Palestinian cause.

Denied: The cleric has denied the genocide of nearly six millions Jews, such as those at Auschwitz, southern Poland

Thai Muslim women gather for a prayer outside a mosque in the southern province of Pattani during the month of Ramadan late August 24, 2010

BANGKOK, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Four locals were injured and at least 10 motorcycles were damaged when a 5-kg Improvised Explosive Device (IED) hidden in a motorcycle went off in a market in the southern province of Pattani on Sunday morning.

According to the initial investigation by police, army and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) officers, the bomb hidden in a motorcycle parked in the parking lot opposite from a market in Khok Pho district was detonated by a mobile phone while around 1, 000 local people were shopping.

The motorcycle was believably stolen but further examination is currently carried out. Police blamed the attack on southern insurgents.

During the past six years since the violence renewed in the region in 2004. Almost 8,000 insurgent attacks have taken place in the southernmost provinces -- Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, which once were part of Sultanate of Pattani State. The majority of people there is Malay Muslims.

During Ramadan or Muslim month of fasting, which begins Aug. 11 and ends Sept. 10 this year, violence in the region always flares up.

Thai police officers survey the site of a motorcycle bomb outside a hospital in southern Thailand's Pattani province, south of Bangkok September 5, 2010

Evangelist preaches against Islam near 9/11 site

NEW YORK (AP)— An Internet evangelist from Florida has begun holding services near ground zero to preach against Islam as debate continues over plans for a nearby Muslim community center.

Bill Keller has gained a following through his Liveprayer.com website, and has promised to establish a "9/11 Christian Center" to counter what he referred to Sunday as "the lies of Islam."

Keller says developers have a right to build the Muslim center but the plan to locate it near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is "in poor taste."

He began preaching Sunday at the New York Marriott Downtown Hotel, his temporary headquarters. His center is to open by Jan. 1. Early plans for the Islamic center call for a 500-seat auditorium, prayer space and Sept. 11 memorial.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Mother-of-two sentenced to stoning in Iran, now sentenced to 99 lashes for appearing in a published photo without a headscarf

They just probably had to beat her for something ~ the headscarf-gate provided the perfect excuse.

Sentence to stoning, hanging and now whipping ~ can it get any worst for this lady!

>In an open letter, he said his mother had been sentenced to receive 99 lashes "on false charges of spreading corruption and indecency by disseminating this picture of a woman presumed to be her without hijab".

A woman walks past a poster in support of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, hung outside the Italian Equal Opportunities Ministry palace in the center of Rome on September 1, 2010.

An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery now faces being whipped for indecency, her son says.

Iranian authorities sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to 99 lashes after the Times newspaper published a picture purportedly of her without a headscarf.

The Times later published a correction, saying the photograph was of a different Iranian woman.

After an international outcry, Iranian officials temporarily halted Ms Ashtiani's stoning sentence in July.

There are fears the death sentence could still be carried out by hanging.

Contested confessions
Ms Ashtiani's son has given several interviews saying he was told of the new sentence of 99 lashes by people who have recently been released from the prison in Tabriz where his mother is being held.

Laila, an investment lawyer with a practice in London, in a swimsuit

The Facebook group also published a snapshot of what it said was Laila’s profile in which she presented herself as agnostic, a claim that is likely to be seen by some as further evidence of western decadence in the ElBaradei family.

Ramadan ~ marked most in the Muslim calendar by Muslims controlling each other.

ElBareadei's daughter admirably has made a conscious decision as to what she wants to believe. Muslims say you should not force a woman to wear a headscarf ~ but you also cannot force her to believe in Islam.

To suggest that Islam could forever hold humanity in its grip by force ~ is a folly!

The Egyptian government has been blamed for the emergence of photographs of Mr ElBaradei's daughter Laila variously dressed in swimming costumes or sitting in places were alcohol was served, in an attempt to outrage more conservative members of Egyptian society.

The photographs, apparently taken from her Facebook profile without her knowledge, were posted elsewhere on the social networking site under the title "ElBaradei's Family Secrets".

Although the creator of the group by claimed to be a friend of Laila's who was opposed to her father's activities, Mr ElBaradei told a local newspaper that he believed the government was behind the Facebook group because he had called for "democracy and economic reform" in Egypt.

"Such a campaign is the usual and only response of the regime towards whoever demands democracy," he told the independent Dustour newspaper.

Since he returned to Egypt in February, after serving 12 years as the head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr ElBaradei has emerged as the most recognisable dissident in the country which has been ruled by President Hosni Mubarak for nearly three decades. Mr Mubarak, 82, is widely believed to be preparing his son Gamal for succession.

A member of the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia carries a Koran during a protest in Makassar, South Sulawesi September 4, 2010. Hundreds of members from the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia condemned a Florida church's plans to hold a "Koran-burning" on September 11, which this year coincides with Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The holy book that inspires terrorists.

Thousands of Indonesian Muslims rallied outside the US Embassy in Jakarta on Saturday to denounce an American church's plan to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Quran.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said it will burn the Islamic holy book Wednesday, the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks.

Local officials have denied a permit for the bonfire on the church's grounds, but the centre - which made headlines last year by distributing T-shirts that said "Islam is of the Devil" - insists it will go ahead with the plan.

About 3,000 members of a hard-line Islamic group marched to the US Embassy in downtown Jakarta waving banners and posters condemning the plan.

The group organized similar rallies in five other cities across Indonesia, the world' largest Muslim nation.

Religious leaders in Indonesia have condemned the plan and called on the US government to use its influence to get the fire canceled. AFP

Does Allah reside in a Black Stone in Mecca?

Could Allah have been seen to reside in the Black Stone a meteorite literally from the heavens?

What was the significance of Muhammad kissing the Black Stone at Mecca?

The Black stone forms the corner stone of the black cube building or Kaaba in Mecca ~ to which all Muslims face when they pray. Could they literally be praying toward the direction of Allah?

When Muhammad took Mecca by force, most importantly its Kaaba [there were others], which he battled his family for as they controlled and maintained it for 700 years before Islam, he did something Muslims continue to do today, he went over and kissed the Black Stone at the Kaaba.

What was so important about this pre-Islamic black rock ~ here was a man who prided himself on taking no idols. But this stone was important enough to kiss. And so much so his followers all continue to do the same.

It is widely accepted that the Black Stone at Mecca is a meteorite ~ could Allah have been seen to reside in this Kaaba stone, a meteorite and so literally from the heavens.

Once he took the Kaaba then he would have begun the task of dismantling its Gods and Goddesses all except for supreme one, Allah. A clue to the original significance of the Black Stone lies with the Meccan Goddesses Allah's Daughters, who where some of the most important of the Kaaba deities and one Manat was also worshipped as a Black Stone between Mecca and Medina.

It is very likely that Allah would have also been worshipped or seen as being represented in the Black Stone at Mecca ~ otherwise why would rejoice at its sight and bend forward to kiss it for all times?

Because the religion hinges on Arabia's pre-Islamic history, it is being kept as a closely guarded secret. All archaeologists working in Saudi Arabia are sworn to secrecy.

However there are multiple artifacts that have been found, which show that the Moon and the Star symbol of Islam was pre-Islamic. If you look down the side of this blog there is the medallion of Allat's hand, one of Allah's daughters, with a Moon and Star symbol next to her all seeing eye hand.

Allah's Daughters Allat, Manat & al Uzza ~ are all mentioned in the Koran 53:19. Their temples destroyed, when the Arabs were first forced upon pain of death to repeat the phrase 'There is no God But Allah'. The negation of the Daughters has begun.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Another day of Ramadan bombings —suicide attack leaves at least 56 dead

Injured people lie down on road after an explosion in Quetta.—AP

QUETTA: At least 56 people were killed and about 160 others injured here on Friday when a suicide bomber struck a procession brought out to mark the Al Quds day. The bomber blew himself up when the rally, organised by the Imamia Students Organisation, reached Meezan Chowk.

Soon after the blast some armed men in the procession started firing into the air, triggering chaos and panic. People fled or lay on the ground to avoid the gunfire.

All shopping centres and business establishments shuttered down in no time after an angry mob set on fire several vehicles and ransacked some shops.

They also attacked DSNGs of different TV channels and fired at the Aaj van, killing its driver. Three policemen were injured.

The outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman identified the bomber as 22-year-old Arshad Muavia. But according to a report from tribal areas, a spokesman of the Tehril-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to official sources, the provincial government imposed a ban on religious processions.

“It was a suicide attack,” Balochistan home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told Dawn. He said that organisers of the procession had been alerted to the threat.

Bomb disposal squad officials said the device packed 15 kilograms of explosives. The impact of the blast smashed windows of a number of shops and buildings.

Police found limbs of the bomber and sent them for forensic tests.

Balochistan IG Iqbal Malik said the organisers had agreed at a meeting that the procession would not go up to Meezan Chowk.

“They were stopped at a place agreed upon for terminating the procession, but they violated the written agreement,” Mr Malik said.

The procession started from an Imambargah on Prince Road after Friday prayers. When it reached near Islamia High School, police stopped the processionists from moving ahead. But they refused, broke the police cordon and marched on Meezan Chowk.

Sources said the bomber had entered the rally near Baldia Plaza and detonated the explosives during speeches by some ISO leaders.

Thirty-five people died on the spot and the rest in hospitals. A number of dead and wounded lay in pools of blood. The blast also enveloped motorcycles and bodies in flames. “I saw a young man entering the procession and after that a powerful explosion took place,” Saqib Khan, an eyewitness, told Dawn. He said that after the blast heavy gunfire shook the area.

An emergency was declared in all government hospitals in Quetta. Thirty bodies were taken to the CMH, nine to the Civil Hospital and two to Bolan Medical College Hospital.

Thirteen people with bullet injuries were taken to the Civil Hospital.

“Fifty-six people were killed and over 160 injured in the blast,” DIG (Operations) Hamid Shakeel said.

Iqbal Malik, the police chief, constituted three teams to investigate the incident.

Amanullah Kasi adds: The Balochistan Shia Council and Ittehad Tajran Balochistan called a shutdown in Quetta for Saturday. They appealed to traders not to open their shops in protest against the attack. The BSC also called for a 40-day mourning.

The Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, PML-N, Jamhoori Watan Party (Talal), Jamaat-i-Islami and Muttahida Qaumi Movement condemned the bombing.

Dawn

A Response to Rt. Bishop of New York's Letter Concerning the "Ground Zero" Mosque

The mantra 'Islam is peace' is almost 1,400 years out of date.

As the debate continues regarding the proposed building of a mosque and Islamic center in lower Manhattan, the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, bishop of New York released a letter to the people of his diocese.

The bishop begins his letter by quoting Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan who has called for "a civil, rational, loving, respectful discussion," regarding the building of the proposed mosque and Islamic center in lower Manhattan.

I would also agree that at this juncture, respectful dialogue is critical, so that the issues surrounding the building of the proposed mosque are clearly identified and discussed.

However, Bishop Mark Sisk exposes his ignorance about the Islamic faith from this point on.

He says, "We must not let our emotions lead us into the error of persecuting or condemning an entire religion for the sins of its most misguided adherents. The worldwide Islamic community is no more inclined to violence that any other."

It would be easy for us in the United States to believe that Islam is a religion of peace. By far the majority of Muslims in the US are law abiding citizens who seek to live out their lives without recourse to violence, but less than a days aircraft flight from our borders, a classical form of Islam challenges peace and defiantly rejects tolerance of other religions.

Even within our borders we are witnessing a rise in honor killings and the persecution of converts. The mantra 'Islam is peace' is almost 1,400 years out of date. It was only for about 13 years that Islam was peace and nothing but peace. From 622 onwards it became increasingly aggressive, albeit with periods of peaceful co-existence, particularly in the colonial period, when the theology of war was not dominant.

2. The bishop says, "At the Episcopal Diocese of New York we know the leaders of this project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan. We know that they are loving, gentle people, who epitomize Islamic moderation."

Funny or Die: Imam Hitler Learns of Ground Zero Mosque’s Downfall… [Video]

Ground Zero Mosque Downfall - watch more funny videos

It is not everyone is buying into the sweet smelling Islam ~ which sees the imposition of Shari'a law and subjugation of all who don't convert ~ as the only way forward for the world.

Radical Islam is world's greatest threat - Tony Blair

Go Blair!!

"This extremism is so deep that in the end they have to know that they're facing a stronger will than theirs."

Better than fussing over what to call radical Islam ~ is to agree that it must be defeated.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has described radical Islam as the greatest threat facing the world today.

He made the remark in a BBC interview marking the publication of his memoirs.

Mr Blair said radical Islamists believed that whatever was done in the name of their cause was justified - including the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Mr Blair, who led Britain into war in Afghanistan and Iraq, denied that his own policies had fuelled radicalism.

Asked about the argument that Chechens, Kashmiris, Palestinians, Iraqis and Afghans were resisting foreign occupation, he said Western polices were designed to confront radical Islamists because they were "regressive, wicked and backward-looking".

The aim of al-Qaeda in Iraq was "not to get American troops out of Baghdad [but] to destabilise a government the people of Iraq have voted for", he told the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in a World Service interview.

'Stronger will'

“We need to give a message to Iran that is very clear - that they cannot have nuclear weapons capability, and we will stop them”

Tony Blair

The former British leader - who now acts as the Middle East envoy for the international Quartet - said that Iran was one of the biggest state sponsors of radical Islam, and it was necessary to prevent it by any means from developing a nuclear weapon.

"We need to give a message to Iran that is very clear - that they cannot have nuclear weapons capability, and we will stop them," he said.

Mr Blair said he was not advocating military action, but simply saying no option could be taken off the table.

Iran denies pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, and insists its atomic work is for civilian purposes.

Mr Blair told the BBC his view of foreign policy had changed as a result of the 9/11 attacks: "After 11 September, rightly or wrongly, I felt the calculus of risk had changed.

"There is the most enormous threat from the combination of this radical extreme movement and the fact that, if they could, they would use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

"You can't take a risk with that happening."

Mr Blair said he agonised over how to respond to radical Islam and still had doubts that he was right.

These are really difficult issues, he said, but added: "This extremism is so deep that in the end they have to know that they're facing a stronger will than theirs."

BBC

Geert Wilders denounces Australian Muslim leader's call for beheading

It seems the Imam has learned nothing about respect for freedoms in Australia.

Almost guaranteed now the main concern would be not to hurt his feelings!

This is the same Aussie Imam, who after some Afghanistan Muslim refugee immigrants got off the plane, in their new country, they literally went on a raping spree. But when they got 25 years each, in protest, the good Imam, said the women/girls deserved to be raped because they left their houses and who can blame the cat if the 'meat' is left outside.

Mr Wilders, who lives under perpetual death threat and is the country’s most heavily guarded politician, demanded assurance from the country’s Interior Ministry that the message was been treated seriously.

“This is really terrible news and a very serious threat, unfortunately,” Mr Wilders said.“I will ask for clarification from the Dutch minister of interior/justice why the secret service and anti-terrorism unit NCTb have not informed me before and what the consequences will be for me.”

Sydney-born Feiz Muhammad posted a speech on an Internet site in which he condemned Mr Wilders as “this Satan, this devil, this politician in Holland” and called on his followers to “chop off his head” because Wilders “denigrated” Islam.

A report in De Telegraaf newspaper said Muhammad declared that anyone who talks about Islam like Wilders does should be executed by beheading.

The Freedom Party led by Mr Wilders scored the biggest gains in June 9 polls and is currently negotiating to form a new minority government with the Liberals and Christian Democrats. Polls show Wilders would win a new election if one were called now.

MrWilders, who campaigns for an end to Muslim immigration and a ban on the building of new mosques and the Koran in a bid to end the “Islamisation” of the Netherlands, has been under 24-hour protection since 2004.

Mr Muhammad has gained notoriety for, among other things, calling on young children to be radicalised and blaming rape victims for their own attacks.

Telegraph

Religious Minorities Suffering Worst in Pakistan Floods

A policeman removes his motorcycle from the scene as angry protesters burn a vehicle during reaction over after bomb attack during a Shi'ite Muslim procession in Lahore September 1, 2010. Three bombs exploded at a Shi'ite procession in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and wounding over 100, piling pressure on a government already overwhelmed by floods.

TIME article highlighting Pakistan's second class citizens. The non-Muslims and those deemed to be.

But unlike the other flood victims, they were denied access to relief aid, members of the community and human rights groups say. "The local mullahs told the civil administration not to give them any help," says Shahid Ataullah, a senior member of the Ahmedi community. "They said, 'You don't dare do this. These people should be left to fend for themselves because they are non-Muslims.'"

In one of the more unfortunate developments attending the catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the country's religious minorities are being denied relief and aid — and being attacked by extremists belonging to the country's Sunni majority even as the faithful mark the holy month of Ramadan.

Thumping their chests as they wailed, thousands of Shi'ite Muslims gathered in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday to mourn the victims of a triple suicide bombing that ripped through the city the night before. Two of the bombers struck Shi'ite worshippers as they were dispersing after a procession. The third bomber attacked a group clustered in a square. In all, 31 people were killed and more than 200 injured, sparking violent protests against the police for failing to protect them. The bombings came just hours after assailants opened fire on a procession of Shi'ites in the southern port city of Karachi, injuring seven people.

A senior Pakistani security official told TIME that the attacks were ordered by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni extremist group with deep ties to al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. For such groups, it is not only legitimate to attack other Muslim sects but even a virtue to do so during Islam's holy month of Ramadan. Members of the Ahmedi Muslim sect have also been killed recently. On Aug. 18, Najam al-Hasan, 39, an assistant professor of science at Karachi's Dow University, was shot dead by attackers in a passing car as he was shutting to his clinic. The following day, Pir Habib al-Rahman, a U.S. citizen who was visiting Pakistan on business, was slain after masked men stopped him on the way to his farm in the town of Sanghar in Sindh and shot him twice in the head. He was the second Ahmedi American citizen to be killed in as many years while visiting Pakistan.

(See pictures of flood-ravaged Pakistan.)

The Ahmedis have endured riots against them for more than 50 years. In 1974, the Ahmedis were excommunicated by the Pakistani government for alleged heresy because the sect considers its 19th century leader Mirza Ghulam Ahmed a prophet. State-sanctioned discrimination has seen many Ahmedis leave Pakistan to find sanctuary in the west. Those who remain have been at increasing risk as militant groups intensify their sectarian attacks and the authorities reportedly deny the Ahmedis adequate protection. In May, the Ahmedi community suffered its worst attack when 95 people were gunned down in an hours-long siege of two separate mosques in Lahore. Authorities suspect that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was behind those attacks as well.

And in the middle of the current calamity, it is not just religious extremists who victimize the Ahmedis. As the floodwaters submerged vast tracts of southern Punjab, some 500 Ahmedi families were among those driven from their homes and forced to seek shelter in makeshift camps. But unlike the other flood victims, they were denied access to relief aid, members of the community and human rights groups say. "The local mullahs told the civil administration not to give them any help," says Shahid Ataullah, a senior member of the Ahmedi community. "They said, 'You don't dare do this. These people should be left to fend for themselves because they are non-Muslims.'"

Obama stands alongside Netanyahu but alongside the Palestinian leader.

New Yorkers Want Islamic GZ Mosque Moved, Poll Finds

In the Muslim world ~ for the most part the sensitivities of others are of little relevance. Where Islamic law places a Muslim in a superior position ~ all other views would then become inferior. Unfortunately that is the picture in most of the Muslim world. And most likely the spirit that Imam Rauf wishes to build the mosque so close to a terrorist action with.

He wrote a book called out of the 'Rubble' of the 'WTC' comes 'Islamic Dawa' or Islamic proselytizing. [its Arabic title]

In the Muslim world all non-Muslims live as 2nd class citizens. And the route out of this lower or inferior status is be to become a Muslim. There Muslim have more rights under the law, and greater access to education and jobs. The belief is that non-Muslim religions make them inferior or unclean. And to become clean and to gain superiority is simple you must convert to Islam.

Although, the US has equal rights laws regardless of religion ~ there is the sense of with Islam that says to get yourself out of your lower mental status or your state of ignorance you should come and join Islam. And the aim would be to create an uber Islamic class ~ that would seek to divide society into the Muslims, 'the knowledgeable' and 'the ignorant' non-Muslims who should obviously have restrictions placed on what they can do within society.

In old Spain conversion to Islam was for rights and privileges. In reverse that is to say non-Muslim live under an inferior status. This is not radical Islam ~ this is Shari'a law.

You can often see this arrogance in new converts ~ they can act like they have some special knowledge, which makes them a better robot. But in the Islamic world this is ingrained ~ it is the system. Society is divided such that Muslims are over non-Muslims ~ in almost every respect.

Two-thirds of New York City residents want a planned Muslim community center and mosque to be relocated to a less controversial site farther away from ground zero in Lower Manhattan, including many who describe themselves as supporters of the project, according to a New York Times poll.

The poll indicates that support for the 13-story complex, which organizers said would promote moderate Islam and interfaith dialogue, is tepid in its hometown.

Nearly nine years after the Sept. 11 attacks ignited a wave of anxiety about Muslims, many in the country’s biggest and arguably most cosmopolitan city still have an uneasy relationship with Islam. One-fifth of New Yorkers acknowledged animosity toward Muslims. Thirty-three percent said that compared with other American citizens, Muslims were more sympathetic to terrorists. And nearly 60 percent said people they know had negative feelings toward Muslims because of 9/11.

Islamic Development Bank begins financing Islamisation of Ukraine

The problem with these schemes is that radicalization will inevitably emerge. Not only from the extremist who preach a message that is likely to attract the young away from the more mundane Islamic message ~ but also from the moderates who preach Islamic supremacy.

The idea of course is to pull them out of this Russian state approved style of Islam and make them more like ~ those of the Arab world.

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Board of Executive Directors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) approved the program of financing of Islamic expansion to the former USSR countries.

According to the bank, IDB allocated $400,000 for expansion of the Islamic cultural and professional educational center in Kiev (Ukraine), which is capital of orthodox Christianity in the former USSR. Also, $350,000 was provided for construction of a student hostel and an educational center in Batumi, one of Muslim enclaves of Georgia. Simultaneously, $11.7 million was allotted for the term of 25 years with 7-year delay of payment for support of secondary schools in Uzbekistan.

Iran: Arrests and Convictions of Rights Activists and Lawyers Escalate

Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

(1 September 2010) Authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran are continuing to arrest and jail civil society activists while persecuting and prosecuting independent lawyers, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.

“With a majority of Iranian human rights activists and lawyers already imprisoned or forced into exile, their remaining colleagues are systematically being taken down by the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Aaron Rhodes, a Campaign spokesperson said.

Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, told the Campaign, “The Judiciary’s lack of independence is resulting in persecution of lawyers. If we look at the Judiciary’s approach during the past year, we see that lawyers defending political prisoners have all been targeted,” said Ebadi.

Ebadi noted that prominent lawyers Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Abdolfattah Soltani have both been imprisoned during the past year and released on large bails, Mohammad Seifzadeh is awaiting his trial, Mohammad Oliaeifar is serving a one year prison sentence, and Shadi Sadr and Mohammad Mostafaie have been forced into exile.

Two members of the One Million Signatures Campaign advocating for gender equality, Fatemeh Masjedi and Maryam Bidgoli, have been sentenced to one year in prison. On 22 August, security forces arbitrarily detained human rights activists Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi and Ali Jamali. Prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been summoned and her assets frozen.

In an interview with the Campaign, Sotoudeh said that a new method of persecuting human rights lawyers by the authorities is to make unfounded financial allegations on tax grounds.

“I was referred to the taxation bureau and while there I noticed in addition to my name, they are conducting special investigations into thirty human rights lawyers,” Sotoudeh told the Campaign. She noted that while human rights lawyers take on cases on pro-bono bases, authorities are using bogus tax charges to prosecute them.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

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Sunday, September 5, 2010

Friday, September 3, 2010

Thursday, September 2, 2010