February 2010 Archives

Caught. "Muslim leader implodes on air: Key critic of Rep. Sue Myrick exposed as radical by radio jock," from WorldNetDaily, February 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A Muslim leader who has tried to portray the founder of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus in Washington as an extremist "hatemonger" was himself exposed as an extremist on a popular radio program.

For years, Jibril Hough has represented himself and his North Carolina mosque as "moderate," while putting Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., on the defensive as an anti-Muslim fanatic who "shoots from the hip" when sounding the alarm about homegrown Islamic terrorism. Myrick, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, co-founded the Capitol Hill caucus after 9/11 to educate Americans about the growing threat from jihadists.

But during an in-studio interview Friday with Charlotte radio personality Keith Larson of WBT-AM, Hough was confronted with documents revealing his mosque - the Islamic Center of Charlotte - is owned and controlled by an organization connected to a plot to funnel millions of dollars to Islamic terrorists.

The North American Islamic Trust holds the deed to ICC, an 800-member Sunni mosque located on five acres at 1700 Progress Lane in Charlotte. The U.S. Justice Department recently blacklisted its owner NAIT as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror finance case in U.S. history. The government also identified NAIT as a front for Hamas and the radical Muslim Brotherhood in America.

Saudi-funded NAIT owns the title to hundreds of radical mosques across the country, including the notorious 9/11 mosque in Northern Virginia - Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center (deed) - which helped some of the hijackers obtain housing and IDs and also counseled the Fort Hood terrorist and several other known terrorists.

Hough, ICC's spokesman, at first expressed surprise when confronted with the information, claiming he'd never before seen the deed and did not know NAIT was named in a federal terror probe.

"I'm not aware of this information here," he said, reviewing the documents.

Pressed by Larson, the ICC spokesman later admitted NAIT is the "parent" of his mosque, but quickly added that he was not a member of the mosque when NAIT took control in 1992.

"I was not involved in the decision to allow NAIT to be the (title) holder," he said.

Asked if he were a member of NAIT, Hough paused before answering: "Not necessarily."

Larson said it looked as if his mosque was acting as a "front" for an organization tied to terrorism, and wondered why Hough was not more concerned.

"It's concerning, yes," Hough conceded.

"To everybody else it looks not just concerning but absolutely damning," the host responded. "Do you understand that?"

"What else can I say?" Hough said.

"Will you disassociate yourself" from NAIT? Larson asked.

"I told you I was going to look into it and was going to take it to my board," Hough snapped....

Read it all.

No. The existence of his genocidal, hateful regime, and his ideology of subjugation, violence, and hatred -- that's an insult to all of humanity.

Note also the projection: he represents an expansionist, supremacist doctrine, as he himself has avowed, and he attributes this world-conquering imperative to Israel.

"Existence of Zionist regime an insult to humanity, president," from IRNA, February 28 (thanks to Pamela, who has some apposite remarks here).

Tehran, Feb 28, IRNA -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to the entire humanity.

Addressing International Conference on 'National and Islamic Solidarity for Future of Palestine', he said that it is well-known for all that the Zionist regime's mission is threat, violence and beating drums of war.

Supporters of the Zionist regime who are shouting slogans of human rights and anti-terrorism, support systematic crimes of the occupying regime, the president said.

He said that everybody knows that the regime is seeking hegemony over the world.

He said that the Zionist regime is the origin of all the wars, genocide, terrors and crimes against humanity and that they are the racist group not respecting the human principles....

Note to Baghdad: Saying you're concerned, or saying you're doing something won't count as actually doing something. An update on this story. "Iraqi Christians protest over killing," from BBC News, March 1:

Hundreds of Iraqi Christians have taken part in protests calling for government action after a spate of killings.

At least eight Christians have been killed in the past two weeks in the volatile northern city of Mosul.

The killings prompted an appeal by Pope Benedict on Sunday for Iraqi authorities to protect vulnerable religious minorities.

The UN says more than 680 Christian families have fled Mosul since the recent attacks.

Sunday's protests took place in the town of Hamdaniyah, 35km (22 miles) east of Mosul, and also in the capital, Baghdad.

Marchers in Hamdaniyah, many carrying olive branches, were led by priests including the second-most-senior Chaldean bishop, Shlemon Warduni.

"The government has done nothing so far," he said, calling on the US, UN and EU to "defend the rights of Christians in Mosul".

They most likely won't, for fear of appearing "Islamophobic."

You mean, as opposed to the one they're already waging?

"Iran Spy Chief Urges Media Intifada Against Israel," from Eurasia Review, February 28:

Iran's Minister of Intelligence, Heidar Moslehi on Sunday urged Muslim nations to set up a 'Media Intifada' against Israel, the state news agency ILNA reported.

Addressing the 'National-Islamic solidarity for the future of Palestine' in Tehran, the minister said forming a social Internet network would help begin a media campaign against "the Zionist regime and America," according to ILNA.

"Forming an Internet network would help disclose plots of America and the Zionist regime at the cyber space and begin a media campaign against them," Moslehi was quoted as saying.

Moslehi said "the third intifada must be the cyber intifada," reported the semi-official news agency ISNA.

"Considering our great experience in this field and in creating social networks, we could reveal the Zionist regime's crimes and its supports, we could create a full media war," Moslehi was quoted by ISNA as saying, adding that the cyber intifada against the international Zionism could be very successful....

Who wouldn't want non-Muslims on the Arabian Peninsula? Well, Muhammad, for one:

"I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim." - Sahih Muslim 19.4366.

Islamic Tolerance Alert. "British cyclist "deliberately run down" in Saudi Arabia," by Andrew Alderson for the Telegraph, February 27 (Thanks to all who sent this in):

John Currie, who worked for BAE Systems - formerly British Aerospace - is believed to have been one four cyclists who started being "cut up" by local youths in two cars on a main road on the outskirts of Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Initially, it is understood that one of the cars clipped a cyclist causing him to fall off his bike. Then, however, one of the drivers is alleged to have turned around and deliberately ploughed his car into the cyclists. [...]

In the past 15 years, there have been a number of terrorist attacks on British and other western nationals in Saudi Arabia by Muslim extremists. Several westerners have been killed - and even more injured - in a series of bombs and gun attacks. Radicals are angry that US and British oil companies and their staff are operating on Saudi soil.

In one incident, Simon Cumbers, 36, an Irish freelance cameraman, was shot dead and Frank Gardner, the BBC's security correspondent, was critically injured by apparent al-Qaeda sympathisers as they filmed in Riyadh in 2004.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed the death on Saturday. A spokesman said: "A British national, John Currie, died in a road traffic accident on Feb 25 and we were informed. We have offered consular assistance to the family." Sources at the FCO said it would be for the Saudi authorities to determine if there was a "guilty party" involved in the incident. [...]

Company sources say that the arrest of an individual in such circumstances would not necessarily mean that criminal charges will follow. "Under Sharia law - the Muslim law - the driver is arrested even if it is an accident," said one source. "Under Sharia law too, he may have to pay a certain amount [to the family of the victim] depending on whose fault it was."

But they fail to mention that under Sharia law and Saudi law (see "Settlement of Death Compensation Claims, item 5), the blood money prescribed for killing a non-Muslim is less than for a Muslim.

But despite the involvement of multiple directors and trustees of the mosque in IFE, we're assured it's a positively teensy minority of extremists there who support the IFE's work.

More on this story. "Inextricably linked to controversial mosque: the secret world of IFE," by Andrew Gilligan for the Telegraph, February 28 (thanks to Twostellas):

For most of the 15,000 ordinary Muslims who pray there each week, it is simply a place of worship. For many, it provides valuable social facilities, and creche and outreach services.

But for a small number, the mosque is the headquarters of a secretive, fundamentalist political network. The Islamic Forum of Europe is dedicated, in its own words, to changing the "very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed ... from ignorance to Islam".

The mosque and IFE are inextricably intertwined. Dr Mohammed Abdul Bari, the chairman of the mosque, and its vice-chairman are former IFE presidents.

The director and imam of the mosque are trustees of the group. Of 22 IFE trustees in recent years, only five have not also been trustees or officeholders of the religious centre.

The mosque calls the IFE a "social welfare organisation" and the IFE presents itself as committed to "community cohesion" and "tolerance".

Caveat emptor: Tolerance within the limits of Islamic law. Note also the Hamas- and Hizballah-style combination of jihadist ideology and activity and "social services." The latter must not in any way excuse the former.

But the undercover reporters discovered that it was also a sophisticated political group with a structured rank system and hardline goals.

Prospective recruits must attend training. One undercover reporter was told that she would have to take an exam and swear an oath of allegiance and ordered to keep her membership of the IFE a secret.

The reading list for the recruits' training course consists of the key works of the revolutionary political creed known as Islamism, which advocates the overthrow of secular democratic government and its replacement by Islamic government.

Above is the use of "Islamism" to displace responsibility from Islam's own texts and traditions -- most notably, the imperative to wage jihad to impose Islamic law, and offer unbelievers conversion, subjugation, or war (Qur'an 9:29).

The key text, Let Us Be Muslims, by Syed Mawdudi, a high priest of Islamism, instructs recruits: "The sacred duty of Muslims ... wherever you are, in whichever country you live, you must strive to change the wrong basis of government, and seize all powers to rule and make laws from those who do not fear God." [...]

This newspaper obtained an official transcript from the two-day annual training camp held for the IFE's youth wing, the Young Muslim Organisation UK, held in Leicestershire last June. In one talk, Muhammad Rabbani, a trustee of the youth wing, told the recruits: "Our goal is to create the True Believer, [and] to then mobilise these believers into an organised force for change who will carry out dawah [preaching], hisbah [enforcement of Islamic law] and jihad. This will lead to social change and Iqamatud-Deen [an Islamic social and political order]."

Quoting Qur'an 3:85:

The nature of that Islamic social and political order in Britain was made clear when Mr Rabbani said: "Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." He instructed the recruits to "protect yourselves" from music, television and "free mixing with women in that which is not necessary"....

Read it all.

Yes, but jihad to what end? If Qaddafi means jihad in order to subjugate non-Muslims and women under the hegemony of Islamic law, then he ought to be opposed just as energetically, if not more so, than if he had endorsed terrorist acts. The focus in the West has been entirely on the means -- terrorism -- and not to the slightest degree on the purpose of that terrorism. And that has been to our great detriment. "Gaddafi: We Reject Terrorism, We Never Abandon Jihad," from the Tripoli Post, February 28:

Speaking on Thursday on the holy occasion of the birth of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), the Leader of the Revolution condemned continuous attempts to equate Islam with terrorism saying that Jihad or armed struggle is a duty and part of the Muslim faith.

Will CAIR issue a statement condemning Qaddafi's Misunderstanding of Islam? Don't hold your breath.

He demanded that Muslims declare Jihad against Switzerland and called on the Palestinians to continue their struggle to liberate their occupied homeland.

Leader Gaddafi called on a huge gathering of Muslims to start defending Islam and Muslims that have been subjected to attack everywhere.

The huge crowed which gathered in Benghazi, over 1000 kms east of Tripoli, included delegations who came from more than 90 countries including presidents, prime ministers, kings and VIPs from all over the Islamic world.

Gaddafi said while we reject terrorism of any kind such as that of Al Qaeda, we are entitled to armed struggle to defend ourselves, homes and holy places.

"They want to prevent Muslims from undertaking Jihad which means 'struggle' by calling it 'terrrorism'," Gaddafi said.

By doing so, they aim at terrorizing us so we would not be able to defend ourselves, Gaddafi stressed.

"They destroy mosques in Switzerland, they destroy Al-Aqsa mosque, and they commit aggression against our sanctities and attack our homes as we keep silent. When we react they call our actions terrorism.

"We will not abandon Jihad because it is Islamic duty," he said. "It is the defense of oneself, defense of religion, defense of the Prophet, defense of the Qura'an ... defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and defense of our independence."

"Any Muslim anywhere in the world buys Swiss goods is an apostate. The one who does so is against Islam, against Prophet Mohammad, against Allah and against Qura'an."

"The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbors and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold," Gaddafi said.

Those who made fun of the Prophet and destroying Al-Aqsa mosque should not be dealt with in anyway and should not be hugged. "Those who do so are not related to Islam."

"We reject terrorism and we do not abandon Jihad"

"It must be clear that the holy Palestinian struggle is Jihad and it is not terrorism," Gaddafi stressed. In Palestine, people are fighting to liberate their country from Zionist occupation, they fight to liberate prisoners from Zionist prisons, they fight to go back to their villages that were occupied in 1948 and 1967, they fight for the return and to its farm that was occupied. All this is holy struggle, it the holiest of struggles," Gaddafi said.

Not that he had forgotten about Jordan: "There is no solution to the situation in Jordan other than mobilizing to the land of jihad to learn the arts of war and train in them, then return to Jordan and begin operations."

More on this story. "Al Qaeda double agent calls for jihad in Jordan," from the Associated Press, February 28 (thanks to Twostellas):

CAIRO, Egypt -- An al Qaeda double agent that killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian spy called for jihad in Jordan and attacks on its intelligence agency in a posthumous video message posted on extremist Web sites Sunday.

Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi also described Sunday in the 43-minute video his recruitment by Jordanian intelligence and how he double crossed them after they sent him to Afghanistan to spy on al Qaeda.

The video was apparently filmed shortly before the 32-year-old al-Balawi blew himself up at a CIA facility on Dec. 30 in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost where he'd been invited to reveal information on al Qaeda No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Al-Balawi said he only expected to kill his Jordanian handler, Ali bin Zaid, but the addition of the CIA members was a windfall.

"We planned for something but got a bigger gift, a gift from Allah, who brought us, through His accompaniment, a valuable prey: Americans, and from the CIA. That's when I became certain that the best way to teach Jordanian intelligence and the CIA a lesson is with the martyrdom belt," he said in the video.

The secretive eastern Afghan CIA base was reportedly used as a key outpost in the effort to identify and target terror leaders, many of whom were taken out by the drone-fired missile strikes.

It was one of the worst losses for the CIA ever and revealed the co-operation between the American and Jordanian intelligence services.

Al-Balawi, who appeared in a military fatigues cradling an assault rifle and what appears to be C4 explosives, described the successes of Jordanian intelligence against extremists over the years and their close working relationship with the CIA.

He said Jordan had provided information for the killing of al Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 as well as that of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who died in a car bomb in Damascus in 2008.

"The Jordanian intelligence apparatus has a record which emboldens them to such behaviour, but with Allah's permission, after this operation, they will never stand on their feet again," he said.

Al-Balawi, a doctor, hailed from the same hometown of Zarqa as al-Zarqawi and was a prolific contributor to extremist Web sites, but was never able to realize his dream of joining the jihad until he was arrested by Jordanian security.

In the video he described how they plied him with money and material goods and bragged about their past successes before sending him to Afghanistan to spy on al Qaeda there -- finally giving him the chance he had long sought to join the insurgency.

"I cut ties for four months, then came back to them with some videos taken with leaders of the Mujahideen, so that they would think that I was leaking videos and betraying the Mujahideen," he said.

In light of Jordan's strong support for the United States, al-Balawi called for attacks on members of its intelligence agency and the need to overthrow its government.

"There is no solution to the situation in Jordan other than mobilizing to the land of jihad to learn the arts of war and train in them, then return to Jordan and begin operations," he said.

The Arabic-language video came with an English transcript and a second version dubbed into English, part of the extremist group's continued outreach to non-Arabic speaking jihadists, such as in Pakistan.

And that's just one of the threats and acts of intimidation attributed to this institution. Indeed, "we have to pinch ourselves to remember that we're talking here about a Minnesota public school -- financed with our tax dollars."

We also must demand action against further funding of a taxpayer-supported train wreck such as this. "Affidavits portray TiZA as threatening," by Katherine Kersten for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, February 28 (thanks to JF):

Most of us occasionally have differences of opinion with our neighborhood public school. If you voice your complaints, you may risk a frown from the principal or a cold shoulder from other parents at a school softball game.

But at one Minnesota public school, critics may be in for something more sinister. Khalid Elmasry says in an affidavit that after he criticized Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), which his child used to attend, the school's executive director made a statement at a parent meeting that Elmasry took "as an attempt to incite violence against me and my family." Even more disturbing is what Janeha Edwards -- a former administrative assistant at the school -- says in an affidavit the director suggested after she displeased him: "We could just kill you, yeah tell your husband we'll do his job for him."

These bizarre developments are described in documents filed in a legal battle royal between TiZA -- a K-8 charter school with campuses in Inver Grove Heights and Blaine -- and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. Last year, the ACLU filed a federal suit claiming that TiZA impermissibly promotes religion.

In January, the ACLU sought a protective order, telling the court that intimidation by TiZA was discouraging potential witnesses from appearing. On Feb. 10, the court barred witness harassment or intimidation by either party.

Elmasry is one witness who sought such protection. In January, he testified about TiZA's financial entanglement with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota at a Minnesota Senate subcommittee hearing on charter school lease aid. Shortly thereafter, Elmasry says in an affidavit, he was informed by a friend and TIZA parent that TiZA authorities had called a parent meeting, where they showed a video of Elmasry's testimony. Then, according to the parent's account, Asad Zaman, the school's director and an imam -- or Muslim religious leader -- accused Elmasry of talking to the Minnesota Department of Education and "selling" his "Iman," meaning his Islamic faith, according to Elmasry's affidavit.

Elmasry was frightened, he says. "It is well-known in Islam that a Muslim who rejects his or her faith is committing an act punishable by death," according to his affidavit. "There are many accounts of Muslims taking matters into their own hands and killing people they believe have sold or rejected their Islamic faith or Iman."

Elmasry was worried, he says in the affidavit, because "the overwhelming majority of TiZA's enrollment is Somali, living in a community that has been troubled with many acts of random violence. I am concerned that Zaman could be exploiting this fact in the hope that word will reach a radical or unstable individual or group within the Twin Cities Muslim community that a Muslim has sold his Iman and is trying to shut down a Muslim school that serves Somalis."

TiZA denies that a threat was intended, according to documents filed with the court. "Even if the Court accepts the comment alleged by Elmasry," the school maintains, "such remarks have significance only when issued by a proper Islamic judge, of which Elmasry and Zaman are not."

Note, however, that they don't deny the death penalty for apostasy. Oops.

Elmasry is not the only fearful witness. Edwards, who left her job at TiZA in 2009, also hesitates to testify about what she saw and heard during her years there.

During her tenure, she says in an affidavit, she saw "no real distinction" between the operations of TiZA and the Muslim American Society, with which the school shares a building. For years, "I watched [school officials] lash out in order to control those around them, and to retaliate against anyone who spoke poorly of the school, or otherwise challenged their authority." According to her affidavit, Zaman suggested that "we could just kill you" after becoming upset when she "challeng[ed] his authority."

Zaman has no recollection of making such a statement, he said in an affidavit.

According to the ACLU, the alleged pattern of intimidation extends to any "who might speak publicly about events at TiZA and its use of public funds." Even Chuck Samuelson, the ACLU's executive director, has been a target. In July 2009, the school filed a defamation claim in excess of $100,000 against the ACLU, citing Samuelson's simple statement that "[TiZA is] a theocratic school ... as plain as the substantial nose on my face."

Alan Dershowitz, a noted Harvard law professor, has described TiZA's defamation claim as "lawfare -- the use of law as a weapon of warfare." Controversial Islamic organizations "sue their critics for defamation, not with the intent to win the case, but with the hope of imposing an unaffordably high cost on criticism of their actions," he and Elizabeth Samson wrote in the British newspaper the Guardian.

In December, the court dismissed TiZA's defamation claim against the ACLU.

One more attempt at legal harassment averted. But we have to pinch ourselves to remember that we're talking here about a Minnesota public school -- financed with our tax dollars.

Dr. Majid al-Balushi (I'll bet they called him "Bluto" in college) said it. He must be some kind of Islamophobe. No doubt Honest Ibe Hooper will be on the line to al-Balushi momentarily, explaining to him how he is misunderstanding the Religion of Peace.

"A Moderate Muslim Can Change into an Extremist Muslim or Terrorist in a Single Night," from Translating Jihad, February 27 -- a translation of "'Yes' to Secularism," by Dr. Majid al-Balushi, al-Watan Voice, February 25:

...the extremist Muslims [say] "I require you to comply with my demand, which is that you believe in my God, or pay me money (the jizyah), or I cut off your head." They resort to Qur'anic verses such as "the verse of the sword," which is the twenty-ninth verse from Surat "al-Tauba" (the 9th sura): "Kill those who believe not in Allah nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of truth, from among the people of the book, until they pay the jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

That is indeed Qur'an 9:29, but the Verse of the Sword is actually Qur'an 9:5: "Kill the polytheists wherever you find them..."

This is also called the verse of the "jizyah" by some commentators. It is also the verse which abrogates all the verses which call for peace and understanding with others i.e. non-Muslims. In their view, it is a requirement to apply the command of Allah, which is what our brother, Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah lengthen his life, is trying to do. Also not only the Taliban and al-Qa'ida and other groups, but this is indeed the hope of every Muslim faithful to his religion, whether he be a moderate or an extremist Muslim.

The truth is that the difference between the moderate Muslim and the extremist Muslim is quantitative and not qualitative. In other words, a moderate Muslim can change into an extremist Muslim or terrorist in a single night, provided he delve deeper into Qur'anic verses, especially the verse of the sword, and the prophetic ahadith (sayings) calling for fighting and jihad in the path of "establishing the word of truth." Or by attending the "principles of fiqh" or "studies of fiqh" which are held in mosques normally after the evening prayers. It is here that attendees are brainwashed with a list of Qur'anic verses and prophetic ahadith and books of Islamic jurisprudence, and more, related to what is halal and haram, to apostasy and jihad... and the torment of the grave and the horrors of the hell-fire...and the Houris (wide-eyed women of paradise that will be given to the believers)....

Read it all.

For telling the truth, he will be denounced as an Islamophobe in 3... 2... "Islamic radicals 'infiltrate' the Labour Party," by Andrew Gilligan for the Telegraph, February 27:

The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) -- which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state -- has placed sympathisers in elected office and claims, correctly, to be able to achieve "mass mobilisation" of voters.

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Environment Minister, said the IFE had become, in effect, a secret party within Labour and other political parties.

"They are acting almost as an entryist organisation, placing people within the political parties, recruiting members to those political parties, trying to get individuals selected and elected so they can exercise political influence and power, whether it's at local government level or national level," he said.

"They are completely at odds with Labour's programme, with our support for secularism."

Mr Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar and Canning Town, said the IFE had infiltrated and "corrupted" his party in east London in the same way that the far-Left Militant Tendency did in the 1980s. Leaked Labour lists show a 110 per cent rise in party membership in one constituency in two years.

In a six-month investigation by this newspaper and Channel 4's Dispatches, involving weeks of covert filming by the programme's reporters:

IFE activists boasted to the undercover reporters that they had already "consolidated ... a lot of influence and power" over Tower Hamlets, a London borough council with a £1 billion budget.

We have established that the group and its allies were awarded more than £10 million of taxpayers' money, much of it from government funds designed to "prevent violent extremism".

IFE leaders were recorded expressing opposition to democracy, support for sharia law or mocking black people. The IFE organised meetings with extremists, including Taliban allies, a man named by the US government as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and a man under investigation by the FBI for his links to the September 11 attacks.

Moderate Muslims in London told how the IFE and its allies were enforcing their hardline views on the rest of the local community, curbing behaviour they deemed "un-Islamic". The owner of a dating agency received a threatening email from an IFE activist, warning her to close it.

George Galloway, a London MP, admitted in recordings obtained by this newspaper that his surprise victory in the 2005 election owed more to the IFE "than it would be wise - for them - for me to say, adding that they played a "decisive role" in his triumph at the polls.

Mr Galloway now says they were one of many groups which supported his anti-war stance and had never sought to influence him.

The IFE has particularly close links to Tower Hamlets council. Seven serving and former councillors said Lutfur Rahman, the current council leader, gained his post with the group's help.

Some said they were canvassed by a senior IFE official on his behalf. After Mr Rahman was elected, a man with close links to the group, Lutfur Ali, was appointed assistant chief executive of the council with responsibility for grant funding.

This was despite a chequered employment record, a misleading CV and a negative report from the headhunters appointed to consider the candidates. The council's white chief executive was subsequently forced from his post....

And no one seems to have stood up and asked, "You mean Interior Spiritual Struggle groups?" Sunnis-And-Shia-Will-Never-Work-Together Update: "Iran's Khamenei urges jihad unity: Leading Palestinian terror figures visit Tehran, meet with Islamic Republic's supreme leader," by Dudi Cohen for Ynet News, February 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Iran's Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal Saturday and told him that the liberation of Palestine will only be achieved through further resistance.

"Palestine will be liberated through the Palestinian people's tough resistance and unity among jihad groups. Those who support Zionism will be shamefully ushered off the stage of history and departing with a tarnished image," Khamenei said during the meeting, which was also attended by Ahmad Jibril, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah.

The three terror leaders arrived in Iran in order to participate in a conference supporting the Palestinians. On Thursday, they met in Damascus with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who said that Israel "was doomed" and urged them to remain alert to the possibility of an Israeli strike....

Time and again, we find that just doesn't take a whole lot. Asia News reports that the defendant is a Christian, which adds an important dimension to the story: namely, the use of Pakistan's blasphemy laws to terrorize and repress religious minorities.

"Life term for blasphemy accused," by Ishaq Tanoli for Dawn, February 25:

KARACHI, Feb 25: A blasphemy accused was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday by a sessions court for outraging religious feelings of Muslims while a co-accused was acquitted for want of evidence.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (South) Jangu Khan found Qamar David guilty of using blasphemous remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and Holy Quran and pronounced the verdict after hearing final arguments from both sides.

The court imposed a total of Rs101,000 in fine. In case of non-payment, the convict would serve a prison term for another seven months and 10 days.

The sentences will run concurrently.

According to the verdict, a SIM (subscriber identity module) card was found in possession of the convict and the data produced by the cellular company established that messages were sent from the seized SIM.

According to prosecution, Qamar David spread blasphemous messages through his cellphone. Police arrested him in April 2006 and seized his cellphone.

And Dawn just reports all of this so matter-of-factly. All in a day's work...

Wilders stands up against a symbol of Islamic supremacism and subjugation of women. Read the comments at the Dutch News site, comparing him to Hitler -- and then remember that it is the coreligionists of the headscarf wearers who are breathing threats and murder against others, boasting about how they are going to take over, threatening bomb attacks (and carrying some of them out), etc. The world is upside down when a man who is determined to stop the advance of all that in the name of freedom and democracy is smeared as a Nazi by those who are enabling it to happen.

We will prevail, the truth will prevail, the human spirit will prevail, but it will be a long hard fight. Eye of the tiger, baby.

"Wilders goes for headscarf ban in the Hague," from Dutch News, February 26 (thanks to Twostellas):

A ban on headscarves for city council workers and in all institutions and clubs which get local authority money will be the most important point in the PVV´s negotiations to join governing coalitions in Almere and the Hague, says party leader Geert Wilders.

Speaking to RTL news, Wilders said the ban would be central to talks to form new local authority executives in the only two cities where the party is contesting the March 3 local elections.

The ban will apply to 'all council offices and all other institutions and clubs which get even one cent of council money,' he said.

The PVV is tipped to emerge as the biggest party in Almere and second biggest in the Hague.

Speech

Wilders brought up the ban again in a speech to supporters in Almere, where he entered the room to the Rocky theme tune Eye of the Tiger.

The ban will not apply to other religious items such as Christian crosses and Jewish skull caps because these are symbols of our own Dutch culture, Wilders said in his speech, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

The speech began with a 'lengthy tirade' against the 'arrogant Labour party', according to the Volkskrant report of the meeting. 'If you translate the PvdA's Arabic language election brochures they say 'bring your family here. You get benefits, we pay for everything', the Volkskrant quoted the PVV leader as saying.

'Almere must become the safest city in the Netherlands,' he said. 'There will be an end to subsidies for Turkish macramé and Arabic finger painting. Not just the Netherlands but all of Europe will look to Almere.'...

To be precise, at least according to this AP report, he said that "a dictatorial cult is ruling Iran in the name of Islam." So presumably he thinks that Islam actually teaches something other than what the mullahs represent and teach. It would be interesting if he were to spell this out, since everywhere in the world where we have seen Islamic Republics and other self-styled Islamic polities, they don't differ significantly from what we see in Iran.

And with Sharia on the confident advance in the West, this is a pressing question. "Opposition leader: A cult ruling Iran," from The Associated Press, February 27:

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's opposition leader says a dictatorial cult is ruling Iran in the name of Islam.

The criticism was the strongest yet by Mir Hossein Mousavi.....

In "Prosecuted for Saving A Girl's Life" in the American Thinker, February 27, Pamela Geller discusses the plight of Brian Williams, a Christian pastor who is being targeted by Ohio authorities for helping ex-Muslim teenager Rifqa Bary when she ran away from home in fear that her father would kill her for leaving Islam.

[...] Brian Williams was helping a girl who was afraid she would be murdered. Yet Rifqa's legal team seems unable to do anything to head off his, or to compel the court to punish Tarazi's duplicity in reneging on the deal. If the Islamic death penalty for apostasy were explained in court in light of Rifqa's situation, the Franklin County prosecutor would not pursue Brian Williams. Instead, Rifqa's legal team urged him to plead guilty to these outrageous charges at enormous personal expense. Who are they working for? CAIR?

They are wrong. Williams should not plea it down. Why should Brian Williams have a record for helping Rifqa? Yet the dhimmi media is right there reinforcing this outrage, like the cheering crowds at the gallows. The sharia-compliant Columbus Dispatch ran an AP story about Williams retaining counsel. The incompetent AP reporter, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, wrote: "The girl claimed she could be harmed or killed for converting to Christianity, a charge her parents, immigrants from Sri Lanka, have denied." The girl "claimed" -- got that? Everything that the unindicted co-conspirators at CAIR and the lawyer they chose for Rifqa's parents is reported as gospel. But a young girl terrified for her life whose words are supported by the sharia mandate of death for apostasy only makes "claims."

What kind of nation, what kind of society are we living in, when someone who helps a girl whose life is in danger is prosecuted for it? An Islamic one. Not so fast, buster.

I am proud to say that Robert Spencer and I were able to connect Brian Williams with the Thomas More Law Center. The Thomas More Law Center will be representing Brian Williams pro bono. The Islamic supremacists pursuing Rifqa Bary and the Christians who helped her will be met with a vigorous freedom of religion defense.

What wonderful news, that as he is prosecuted Brian Williams will be defended by legal counsel who understand that this is enforcement of sharia and are unafraid to fight the oppression and intimidation of the Islamic machine. This is in contrast to Rifqa's lawyers, who naively made numerous back door deals with her parents' CAIR-appointed attorney. Every underhanded dirty deal that Rifqa's lawyers made with the attorney for her parents was broken.

Why should CAIR be able to use our judicial system to send a message to non-Muslims that they will be punished for helping a Christian? Brian Williams, and Rifqa Bary, must prevail. If the Islamic machine succeeds in making an example of them, we are all in trouble.

Read it all.

Feel the love, experience the peace. "Abu Sayyaf militants raid Philippine village," from the BBC, February 27 (thanks to Mackie):

Islamist militants have attacked a village in the southern Philippines, killing at least 11 people, military officials have said.

About 70 members of Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to al-Qaeda, raided Tubigan village on the southern island of Basilan, an army spokeswoman said.

Lt Steffani Cacho said homes had been raked with gunfire and set ablaze in a pre-dawn attack.

Philippines army reinforcements have been sent to the area, she added.

The militants were believed to have been avenging the death of a senior leader on nearby Jolo island, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold, Lt Cacho said.

However, Basilan police chief Antonio Mendoza said the attack had been motivated by a personal grudge with the village chairman....

Nope, no "Islamophobia" here, oddly enough! Actually the perpetrator was a jihad/martyrdom bomber, hoping to reap the Qur'an's promise of Paradise for those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111).

"Pakistan suicide attack kills 3, wounds dozens," from AP, February 27 (thanks to Twostellas):

Islamabad: A suicide car bomber attacked a police station on Saturday in northwest Pakistan, killing three people and wounding about two dozen.

The blast also toppled a mosque next to the police station in Karak in North West Frontier Province, said Ajmal Khan, a government official. Both police and civilians were among the wounded....

Here are translations of two letters that Misunderstanders of Islam sent to the family of the imprisoned Pakistani Christian human rights activist Hector Aleem. Background of the case here.

LETTER 1 "Kausar Parveen, wife of Hector Aleem,

"We know where you and your children live. This blasphemer [Hector] has been arrested because of us, now take care of yourself. As I told your husband, no one will be left from his generation. We will destroy your whole generation. You are Christian and it is a good deed to kill you. My Allah will be very happy if I kill you.

"That bastard's bail had been rejected because of us. Now it's your son's turn. I will keep your daughters, and then you can call your Americans and Germans. Your husband is a traitor and his torment has just started, you just wait for your turn. We are very close to you. You can't hide from us. If you all want to save yourself then there is only one condition: Just embrace Islam. Allah will be happy for you; we only want this.".

LETTER 2

"Kausar Parveen, wife of Hector Aleem,

"Toilet cleaners, Christians. You all deserve to be shot with a gun. First your husband blasphemed against our beloved Prophet Muhammad, and now you don't want to get punished? Remember! If there comes a bastard judge who releases your husband, then we won't leave your husband. Even If you try to leave this country, then we won't let you go easily. I am proudly announcing that Sunni Tehreek will be responsible for your death. Go and show this letter to anyone. We can sacrifice every life on our beloved Prophet."

Note yet again the projection, self-righteousness, and total absence of any sense of responsibility -- these are always the hallmarks of Islamic supremacist rhetoric. "Hezbollah chief Nasrallah meets Ahmadinejad in Syria," from the BBC, February 26 (thanks to all who sent this in):

The head of the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has made a rare public appearance in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Sheikh Nasrallah attended a dinner with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He is under an Israeli death threat and makes very few appearances in public. When he addresses Hezbollah, he does so by video from a secret location.

Both Syria and Iran provide the group with financial and military support....

Since 2006, the Hezbollah leader has made few public appearances in Lebanon, even avoiding key religious and political occasions....

Before Thursday's dinner, Sheikh Nasrallah and President Ahmadinejad discussed "the latest developments in the region, and Zionist threats against Lebanon and Syria", Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported.

"If the Zionist regime decides to repeat its past mistakes, the region will finish it off," al-Manar quoted the Iranian leader as saying.

After bilateral talks on Thursday, President Assad said Syria and Iran were working together to confront "Israeli terrorism".

Both leaders dismissed US calls for Syria to distance itself from Iran, emphasising their "deep and brotherly" ties....

An attempt by Pakistani officials to harass the Christian community. "Unnamed Christians Accused after Muslim Attack in Pakistan," from Compass Direct News, February 26 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

KARACHI, Pakistan, February 26 (CDN) -- In the wake of an attack this week by 150 armed Muslims on a Christian colony in this city in Sindh Province, police have filed a false First Information Report (FIR) against 40 unnamed Christians and arrested five, Christian leaders said.

They said the 40 unnamed Christians in the FIR are accused without basis with beating Muslim men, abusing Muslim women and girls, ransacking Muslim homes and looting expensive items from Muslim homes. The false FIR is designed only to harass the Christian community, they said, adding that the five arrested Christians were visitors to the area - the only ones on the street available for police to summarily round up, as they were unaware of the FIR.

Some 150 armed Muslims assaulted the Christian colony of Pahar Ganj in North Nazimabad, Karachi, on Sunday (Feb. 21), damaging two churches, shooting at houses, beating Christians and burning shops and vehicles after a fruit stand vendor attacked a Christian boy for touching his merchandise.

Christian leaders said Muslim extremists helped gather and inflame the assailants, but they said the fruit stand vendor upset with the 14-year-old Christian boy for touching plums on his hand-pulled cart initially instigated the attack. The unnamed vendor reportedly had a previous conflict with the boy, whose name was also withheld, and in objecting to the teenager's actions he slashed his hand with a fruit knife and threw an iron weight at him, Christian leaders said....

Read it all.

Maybe they're enraged about those Christians getting in the way of Muslim torches over in Nigeria. "Liberia town hit by sectarian unrest," from the Associated Press, February 27 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The United Nations has deployed peacekeepers to a northern Liberian town where sectarian violence has left at least three people dead and forced hundreds to flee.

Local government official George Tengbeh says the violence in Voinjama was sparked after unconfirmed rumors that a mosque had been attacked by residents in another town in the region.

He says Muslim residents in Voinjama went on a rampage Friday, burning down two churches, a clinic, shops and the mayor's residence....

Obama's open-handed policy of engagement is bearing wonderful fruit now, eh? "Iran, Syria mock U.S. policy; Ahmadinejad speaks of Israel's 'annihilation,'" by Howard Schneider for the Washington Post, February 26 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

JERUSALEM -- The presidents of Iran and Syria on Thursday ridiculed U.S. policy in the region and pledged to create a Middle East "without Zionists," combining a slap at recent U.S. overtures and a threat to Israel with an endorsement of one of the region's defining alliances.

The Obama administration is trying to build an international coalition behind economic sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's uranium-enrichment program, which the United States and others fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. The United States also recently announced that it will send an ambassador to Damascus after a five-year absence, part of an effort to weaken Syria's relations with Iran and discourage the country's support for militant groups antagonistic to Israel.

But the message delivered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a joint news conference was sharp and spoke to a shared sense that Iran is gaining influence in the region despite U.S. efforts. Until the outcome of the broader struggle over Iran's nuclear program becomes clear, analysts here say, it is unlikely Syria will change direction -- or that progress can be made toward an Israel-Syria peace agreement.

The United States wants "to dominate the region, but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that," Ahmadinejad said. "We tell them that instead of interfering in the region's affairs, to pack their things and leave."

Ahmadinejad, a Holocaust denier, spoke of Israel's eventual "demise and annihilation" and said the countries of the region could create a future "without Zionists and without colonialists."...

He was a "Muslim convert thirsty for knowledge," and yet he ended up with the wrong crowd -- you know, the violent jihad crowd. It's amazing, isn't it, how many Muslim converts thirsty for knowledge end up being Misunderstanders of Islam, despite their earnestness in trying to get it right. "Accused in Toronto 18 plot pleads guilty: Jamal James gets 3 years probation," by Bill Gillespie for CBC News, February 26 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Another accused in the so-called Toronto 18 bomb plot case will spend one more day in custody after pleading guilty Friday to participating in a terrorist group.

Jamal James, 26, who was charged under Canada's anti-terrorism laws, entered the guilty plea in a Brampton, Ont., courtroom.

He admitted to going to Pakistan in November 2005 to seek paramilitary training from a terrorist group with the intention of returning to Canada and sharing his training with others in the Toronto 18. He got sick while in Pakistan and never received training....

Defence lawyer Donald McCleod has described James as "a Muslim convert thirsty for knowledge." He got in with the wrong people and consequently his religious ideas came to include violent Jihad, the lawyer said.

James split with the Toronto 18 before officials busted the group on June 2, 2006. Members of the group are accused of plotting to wreak havoc and bomb the Toronto Stock Exchange, a Canadian Security Intelligence Service building and an Ontario military base....

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Muslim Mob Burns Down Christian Shops, 8 Churches in Nigeria," from Persecution.org, February 23 (thanks to Loganswarning):

Washington, D.C. (February 23, 2010)-International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on February 21 a Muslim mob burned down several Christian shops and eight churches in Kazaure, northern Nigeria. The mob carried out the attack after Muslim traffic police fatally assaulted a Muslim tractor driver. Unfortunately, it is common for Muslims to attack Christian minorities in northern Nigeria without any provocation by Christians.

The police chased the tractor driver for refusing to stop after a traffic violation in the city of Kazaure. The police caught the driver and severely assaulted him. The driver was later taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on February 21 at 8 PM local time.

Soon after, a Muslim mob attempted to attack the police station but was chased away by the police. Enraged, the mob turned their attention instead on one of this region's most vulnerable targets-Christian churches and shops. The mob burned down the following churches: Deeper Life Bible Church, Catholic Church, Apostolic Church, ECWA Church, Redeem Christian Church, Anglican Church, Word of Faith, and Assemblies of God Church all in the city of Kazaure....

Department of Jihad, Department of Dhimmitude. "DOJ: Department Of Jihad?," from Investors Business Daily, February 24 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

War On Terror: The Justice Department employs nine lawyers previously involved in the defense of terrorist detainees. This is a colossal conflict of interest. Just whose side are they on?

From the dropping of a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party to the decision to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammed in a civilian court within blocks of where the World Trade Center once stood, the actions and attitudes of the Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder toward the thugs and terrorists who threaten us has grown curiouser and curiouser.

We may now have a clue as to why. Last November, Sen. Charles Grassley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the Justice Department how many of its lawyers had defended terrorist detainees over whom the department holds sway.

Grassley knew from earlier press reports of two such lawyers who worked on behalf of detainees at the liberal organization Human Rights Watch. He wanted to know how many more there were. Last Friday, Holder answered nine.

"To the best of our knowledge, during their employment prior to joining the government, only five of the lawyers who serve as political appointees in those components represented detainees," Holder said in a letter dated Feb. 18. "Four others contributed to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases involved in advocacy on behalf of detainees."

So the decision to Mirandize the Christmas bomber, Umar Abdulmutallab, and to quickly get him lawyered up was made by a department populated by leftist lawyers who believe terror is a law enforcement matter and who have tried to get off those actively trying to kill us....

Read it all.

They probably don't believe he will actually do anything. And maybe he won't. Maybe. An update on this story. "Switzerland Plays Down Qaddafi's Calls for 'Jihad,'" by Steven Erlanger for New York Times, February 26 (thanks to all who sent this in):

PARIS -- The Swiss government reacted blandly on Friday to the latest rhetorical sally from the eccentric Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who called on Thursday for a "jihad" against Switzerland. The two countries have been sparring ever since the Swiss arrested one of Colonel Qaddafi's sons and his wife in 2008 on suspicion of beating their servants.

On Thursday, in a rambling address in Benghazi, Libya, before a gathering to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, Colonel Qaddafi called for jihad, or a holy war, against Switzerland because of its ban on new minarets for mosques and urged Muslims to boycott Swiss products and ban Swiss planes and ships.

"Those who destroy God's mosques deserve to be attacked through jihad, and if Switzerland was on our borders, we would fight it," Colonel Qaddafi was quoted as saying by Libya's official news agency....

No apology from me

Several years ago I was speaking somewhere and someone in the audience challenged me for having the notorious caricature of Muhammad with his bomb in his turban, above, on the sidebar of this website. He said that while he opposed the advancing jihad and Islamic supremacism, he wanted to conduct his opposition respectfully, and not do anything that offended Muslims gratuitously.

What he failed to realize, of course, was that Islamic supremacist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood use the claim that they are offended precisely in order to cow and intimidate people like him. They label offensive any honest analysis of how jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to recruit Muslims into waging war against unbelievers, so as to stifle such analyses. Once the West starts acquiescing to Muslim calls for censorship in the name of avoiding giving offense, it is enabling the effort to render it mute and defenseless in the face of the jihad.

Hence the cartoon above. I will never apologize for publishing it here. Freedom of speech is the only bulwark against tyranny.

"Danish paper apologises to Muslims in cartoon row," from USA Today, February 26 (thanks to Joseph):

Danish daily Politiken on Friday apologised to Muslims for possibly offending them by reproducing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2008, but said it did not regret publishing the drawings.

"We apologise to anyone who was offended by our decision to reprint the cartoon drawing," the newspaper said in a statement.

Politiken is the first Danish newspaper to formally apologise to those who may have resented the publication of the cartoons.

It published on Friday an agreement reached with eight organisations from Australia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian territories representing 94,923 descendants of the Muslim prophet.

What kind of agreement? What was agreed upon?

In the agreement Politiken said it regretted if it had insulted Muslims' faith, but that it did not regret publishing the drawings and that it did not renounce the right to publish the controversial drawings again.

The newspaper's editor-in-chief, Toeger Seindenfaden, said he was happy with the outcome.

"We deplore that Muslims were offended even if that was not our intention," he told AFP.

Friday's agreement emerged from an August 28 request made by a Saudi lawyer, Faisal Ahmed Zaki Yamani, to 11 Danish newspapers.

He had asked the newspapers to apologise, promise they would not republish the drawings, and remove the controversial cartoons from their websites.

Politiken's apology was widely condemned by Danish politicians, who charged that the paper had caved in to pressure and had sacrificed freedom of expression, which is considered a cornerstone of Danish democracy.

A number of other Danish newspapers also condemned the apology, but said they would not republish the cartoons.

Jyllands-Posten, which first published the 12 caricatures of Mohammed in September 2005, blasted Politiken's decision.

"It's a sad day for Danish media, it's sad for freedom of expression and it's sad for Politiken," Jyllands-Posten chief editor Joern Mikkelsen wrote....

Indeed.

As far as the Taliban is concerned, the Bamiyan Buddhas were worthless trash from the jahiliyya period of Afghanistan -- the time of pre-Islamic ignorance. "Japan offered to hide Bamiyan statues, but Taliban asked Japan to convert to Islam instead," from Japan Today, February 27 (thanks to Twostellas):

WASHINGTON -- Japan offered to hide Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddha statues to prevent the Taliban from destroying them, but the hardline regime instead suggested the Japanese convert to Islam, a new memoir says.

Abdul Salam Zaeef, who was Taliban-ruled Afghanistan's most public face as ambassador to Pakistan, wrote that Japan was the most active country in pressing the regime not to demolish the 1,500-year-old statues in 2001.

He said that an official delegation from Japan, along with a Buddhist group from Sri Lanka, offered to remove the statues piece by piece and reassemble them abroad.

"Another suggestion they had was that they cover the statues from head to toe in a way that no one would recognize they had ever been there, while preserving them underneath," Zaeef wrote in "My Life With The Taliban," just published in the United States.

He said that the Japanese told the Afghans that they were forefathers of their religion and should preserve its heritage, but Zaeef said Afghans considered Buddhism "a void religion."

"Since they saw us as their forefathers and had followed us before, why had they not followed our example when we found the true religion, I asked them," he wrote.

Defying the intense international appeals, the Taliban spent a month using first anti-aircraft guns and then dynamite to obliterate the Buddha statues, arguing that Islam forbade idolatry.

Zaeef said he believed that the destruction was within Islamic sharia law. But he wrote that the decision had "bad timing," as it worsened the Taliban's foreign relations....

Projection, conspiracy paranoia, bloodlust -- it's all here. "Evil Zionists Manufacture Super Mini-Gun to Kill Arabs," from Translating Jihad, February 25 -- translating "A Call to All Arab Intelligence Services to Kill the Head of Mossad Meir Dagan," by As'ad Ambeh in Gaza's al-Watan Voice, February 25:

[...] I begin by saying that I have disclosed to the Arab readers a message from the Zionist Mossad calling for the killing of Arabs. But before I finish the rest of the message in this article I want to thank the newspapers Khaleej Times, al-Quds al-Arabi, and al-Arab al-Qataria, as well as the websites of the al-Manar TV station and The View from Syria for publishing my article in full. I also thank a great number of internet sites which have published the article, I don't have the space here to mention all of them by name. I am, however, perplexed by the Palestinian newspapers not publishing my article under the pretext of it being a call for murder (terrorism). But I don't want to further delay this message from the Zionist Mossad.

Headlines

* Zionist arms are for sale on the internet to kill Arab leaders, presidents, kings, emirs and citizens
* A call for all Arab intelligence services to kill the head of Mossad, Meir Dagan, the Arab agents of Mossad, and to track down and kill Israeli authorities and not Arab citizens
* The smallest gun in the world for terrorists and the killing of Arab citizens
* The Zionist Mossad has transmitted this information through e-mail and published it on websites, particularly regarding the making of the smallest gun in the world...

Read it all.

Propagating other faiths is forbidden under Islamic law; hence, the clerics apparently decided it was time to ensure the dhimmis know their place. "Iran: Pastor among nine Christians arrested," from AdnKronos International, February 26:

Tehran, 26 Feb. (AKI) - An evangelical priest was among nine Christians arrested in central Iran on Friday as authorities continued a crackdown against Christians in the Islamic country. The Christians' evangelical church in the city of Isfahan was closed down last month, according to advocacy group International Christian Concern.

"Iranian Christians are under constant threat of discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and even execution by the Iranian government," said Washington DC-based ICC president Jeff King, quoted by Christian news agency BosNewsLife.

"This severely restricts religious freedom," King added.

Reverend Wilson Issavi was arrested by Iranian state security agents in Isfahan, some 340 kilometers south of the capital Tehran, King said.

"Reverend Issavi, his hosts and others were apprehended by the security agents and immediately taken to prison. Friends and family are deeply concerned as they are unable to contact Reverend Issavi," King stated.

Christian and opposition groups say Christians are the target of oppression by the Iranian government. Iranian intelligence services arrested six Christians accused of proselytism on 15 January, according to the opposition website 'Rah-e sabz'. [...]

Elam Ministries believes Iran's conservative clerical leadership is concerned about the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation.

King said he could not reveal the names of eight people who had been arrested, citing security concerns.

Issavi was visiting a friend's home in Isfahan's Shahin Shahr area when state security raided the house unannounced, King said.

The location where the nine Christians are being held and their physical condition is unknown, he said.

King said before Issavi's church, the Evangelical Church of Kermanshah, was closed down on 2 January, it was among the few remaining churches still open in Iran.

Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under international pressure to improve religious rights but he has denied wrongdoing....

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a West Bank Hamas leader. Mosab Hassan Yousef is a convert to Christianity. In this interview he speaks about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as not being one over land, but over Islamic doctrine, which is intransigent and can never allow for the existence of an Infidel polity, much less a Jewish State, on what Muslims consider to be Islamic land. He speaks about the problem being rooted in the Qur'an.

This is what we have said here many, many times, and so it should come as no surprise to longtime Jihad Watch readers, or to anyone who is fully informed about the motives and goals and beliefs of the jihadis. But it will come as a total surprise to the learned analysts who dominate the discourse in Washington, and they will dismiss it out of hand. "Israel's spy in Hamas (Part II)," by Avi Issacharoff for Haaretz, February 26 (thanks to Mladen Andrijasevic):

[...] "Many people think the terrorists' motivation is the Israeli occupation, the corruption, but all that is just the backdrop. It is not the root of the problem. The occupation is like the rain that falls on the soil in which the seed has been planted, but it is not the seed itself. The root of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not lie in security or politics: It is a war between two gods, two religions. Between the God of the Torah and the God of the Koran. The Koran teaches that this is Waqf land - a sacred endowment which must not be given up. The Torah taught the Jews that this is their land and must not be given up.

"It follows that there will be no peace in the Middle East. Israel's problem is not with Hamas or with any other organization, nor with the interpretation Hamas reads into the Koran. It is with the god of the Koran. After all, even a moderate Muslim who reads the Koran must read that the Jews are the sons of apes and that the infidels must be killed. The Palestinians must stop blaming Israel, or the West, for all their problems. If they want true freedom, they must free themselves from their God."

You sound completely pessimistic. What about a Palestinian state?

"That is not a solution. Today we do not have a leadership worthy of ruling, not Hamas and not Fatah. The Palestinians move between the corrupt leadership of Fatah, and the Hamas leadership, which sends them all to die. Besides, Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis. That is against what their God tells them. It is impossible to make peace with infidels, only a cease-fire, and no one knows that better than I.

"The Hamas leadership is responsible for the killing of Palestinians, not Israelis. Palestinians! They do not hesitate to massacre people in a mosque or to throw people from the 15th or 17th floor of a building, as they did during the coup in Gaza. The Israelis would never do such things. I tell you with certainty that the Israelis care about the Palestinians far more than the Hamas or Fatah leadership does. Israel withdrew from Gaza, and instead of the place being built up and cultivated, look what happened there. We need to take a break from these leaders. And I call on the government of Israel: Never accede to Hamas demands, not even about Gilad Shalit. They will not hurt him - he is too important to them. Even if it goes on for 10 years, Israel must not give in and release all those people from prison."

I'll bet you thought body scanners were un-Islamic. After all, didn't the Fiqh Council of North America just say so? And yet here they are being installed in, of all places, the Islamic Republic of Iran -- here is the Fars News Agency story (thanks to Block Ness).

Should the Islamic Republic of Iran be renamed the Misunderstanders of Islam Republic of Iran? Or is this a Sunni/Shi'ite thing, with the Sunnis of the Fiqh Council being all uptight while those insoucient, mystically-minded Shia have no problem with appearing buck naked in front of the prying, hungry eyes of kuffar TSA personnel?

Unlikely. More likely is the fact that there is nothing really Islamically objectionable about body scanners, but if the Fiqh Council can intimidate the clueless, hopelessly compromised dhimmis of the TSA to allow an exemption for Muslims, they will have enabled the jihad against the West to advance that much more smoothly and unimpeded.

Who would have thought that the legendary Libyan "strongman" would turn out to be a Misunderstander of Islam? Why is it that those who understand Islam correctly as a Religion of Peace seem to inhabit only Western university posts, not leadership positions in the governments of Muslim countries? "Kadhafi calls for jihad against Switzerland over minaret ban," from AFP, February 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi called on Thursday for jihad (holy war) against Switzerland over the ban adopted last year on the construction of minarets in the country.

"It is against unbelieving and apostate Switzerland that jihad ought to be proclaimed by all means," Kadhafi said during a speech in the Mediterranean coastal city of Bengazi to mark the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

"Apostate" Switzerland because Islam teaches that all people were originally Muslim.

"Jihad against Switzerland, against Zionism, against foreign aggression is not terrorism," Kadhafi said.

"Any Muslim around the world who has dealings with Switzerland is an infidel (and is) against Islam, against Mohammed, against God, against the Koran," the leader told a crowd of thousands in a speech broadcast live on television....

Expect Honest Ibe Hooper to book the next flight to Tripoli to explain to Libya's aging rock star that the Qur'an actually teaches peace, respect for the People of the Book, etc. etc. etc.

Apparently they think that it is un-Christian to resist a totalitarian, supremacist ideology that would deny the freedom of conscience and freedom of speech, and institutionalize the subjugation of women and non-Muslims, including Christians. "Christians can't vote for Wilders, say vicars," from Dutch News, February 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A Christian cannot vote for Geert Wilders' anti-immigration party PVV, say 75% of church leaders in a poll of 1,200 ministers and church workers in the Nederlands Dagblad.

The ministers represent a cross-section of all the Netherlands' Protestant churches, representing 2.3 million people, the paper says.

One third of the people polled said there were people who supported Wilders in their communities and 5% said Wilders had a lot of support.

'Wilders and the PVV's views contradict Christianity,' one minister told the paper.

Supine, postmodern, multicultural, compromised Christianity, sure. But not the real thing.

In "CPAC Shills for Islamic Terrorists" at FrontPage today, Jamie Glazov interviews Pamela Geller about Grover Norquist and how he has enabled Islamic supremacists to gain access to the highest levels of the U.S. government (as well as to blunt any critique of the global jihad that might have been offered at CPAC):

Geller: I think CPAC's agenda in 2010, as well as 2009 and before that, reflects the influence of Grover Norquist, the conservative powerhouse and kingmaker. He is a board member of the ACU, and from the looks of CPAC's covered topics and omission of discussion of jihad, it looks as if he exerts enormous influence over David Keene, the ACU's nominal leader. Norquist and his ally Suhail Khan seem to be in charge at CPAC -- no CPAC event goes on that doesn't reflect their perspective.

FP: Expand a bit on what perspective Norquist represents.

Geller: Jamie, Grover Norquist's troubling ties to Islamic supremacists and jihadists have been known for years. He and his Palestinian wife, Samah Alrayyes, who was director of communications for his Islamic Free Market Institute until they married in 2005, are very active in "Muslim outreach." Just six weeks after 9/11, The New Republic ran an expose explaining how Norquist arranged for George W. Bush to meet with fifteen Islamic supremacists at the White House on September 26, 2001 -- to show how Muslims rejected terrorism. Wrote TNR author Franklin Foer:

Unfortunately, many of the leaders present hadn't unambiguously rejected it. To the president's left sat Dr. Yahya Basha, president of the American Muslim Council, an organization whose leaders have repeatedly called Hamas "freedom fighters." Also in attendance was Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who on the afternoon of September 11 told a Los Angeles public radio audience that "we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list." And sitting right next to President Bush was Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Islamic Society of North America, who last fall told a Washington crowd chanting pro-Hezbollah slogans, "America has to learn if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come."

It was Norquist who ushered these silver-tongued jihadists into the Oval Office after the worst attack ever on American soil. Don't you think that the likes of Ibn Warraq, Bat Ye'or, and Wafa Sultan should have been advising the President instead of Hamas, Hizballah and the Muslim Brotherhood? But that wasn't to be. So at that September 26 meeting Bush declared that "the teachings of Islam are teachings of peace and good." It was a critically important, historic moment. What should have been the most important teaching moment of the long war became a propaganda tool for Islam. A singular historic opportunity was squandered, and the harm that has resulted is incalculable.

FP: Why did Bush do that?

Geller: Because he trusted Norquist, who vouched for these Muslim leaders. Yet "the record suggests," wrote Foer, "that Norquist has spent quite a lot of time promoting people openly sympathetic to Islamist terrorists." And this continued for years. In December 2003, David Horowitz wrote that Norquist:

"has formed alliances with prominent Islamic radicals who have ties to the Saudis and to Libya and to Palestine Islamic Jihad, and who are now under indictment by U.S. authorities. Equally troubling is that the arrests of these individuals and their exposure as agents of terrorism have not resulted in noticeable second thoughts on Grover's part or any meaningful effort to dissociate himself from his unsavory friends."

Horowitz wrote this in an introduction to a detailed expose by Frank Gaffney here in Frontpage showing how Norquist had given Muslims with jihad terror links access to the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Grover Norquist was on the jihad payroll before and after the carnage and death of September 11. Gaffney revealed Norquist's close ties to Abdurahman Alamoudi, who is now serving twenty-three years in prison for financing jihad activity. In 2000, Alamoudi said at a rally, "I have been labeled by the media in New York to be a supporter of Hamas. Anybody support Hamas here?...Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of Hamas. I wished they added that I am also a supporter of Hizballah." Alamoudi was at that time head of the now defunct "moderate" group known as American Muslim Council (AMC), and was active in other Muslim groups in the U.S. that showed sympathy or support for jihadists. And Alamoudi, according to Gaffney, gave $50,000 to the lobbying group Janus-Merritt Strategies, which Norquist cofounded.

His money bought influence. Gaffney wrote back in 2003: "It seems unlikely that even in Alamoudi's wildest dreams he could have imagined the extent of the access, influence and legitimacy the American Muslim Council and allied Islamist organizations would be able to secure in Republican circles, thanks to the investment they began in 1998 in a relationship with Norquist."

Alamoudi also helped found Norquist's Islamic Institute with a $10,000 loan and a gift of another $10,000. The founding director of the Islamic Institute was Khaled Saffuri, a Palestinian Muslim who had previously been active in Islamic groups in Bosnia, where Islamic jihadists from all over the world gathered "to establish," says Gaffney, "a beachhead on the continent of Europe." Gaffney adds that Saffuri "has acknowledged personally supporting the families of suicide bombers - even though, in public settings, he strenuously denies having done so." Saffuri also denounced Bush's shutdown of the Holy Land Foundation, which was funneling charitable contributions to Hamas.

Norquist has also carried water for Islamic supremacist efforts to weaken anti-terror efforts. Gaffney reveals that:

"Norquist was also a prime-mover behind efforts to secure one of the Islamists' top pre-9/11 agenda items: the abolition of a section of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act that permits authorities to use what critics call 'secret evidence.'...Norquist was an honoree at an event held by Sami Al-Arian's National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom in July 2001, two months before 9/11. The award was for being a 'champion of the abolishment movement against secret evidence.'"

Al-Arian in 2006 pleaded guilty "conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds to or for the benefit of Palestinian Islamic Jihad." Palestinian Islamic Jihad is even worse than Hamas, celebrates the killing of Israeli civilians and calls repeatedly for the destruction of Israel.

Scott Johnson of the Powerline blog noted shortly after Gaffney's article appeared that Norquist's reponse to this exhaustively documented expose was:

"personal and evasive. He attacks Gaffney as racist and bigoted; not a trace of evidence in the public record supports these charges. I heard Norquist respond to Gaffney in this manner at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington this past January. He did not deign to respond to Gaffney's remarks in substance."

Norquist also introduced Nihad Awad, cofounder and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, to President Bush. CAIR is one of the foremost Islamic supremacist hate sponsors in the U.S. Terror expert Steve Emerson wrote that "CAIR, which touts itself as America's premier Muslim civil rights organization, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Terror trial." He noted that CAIR cofounders Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad attended "a 1993 Philadelphia meeting where the HAMAS members and supporters discussed a strategy to kill the Oslo Peace Accords, which threatened to marginalize HAMAS. The group also discussed ways to improve HAMAS fundraising in America."

Emerson also reveals that according to the testimony of an FBI agent, "CAIR was listed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee." The Palestine Committee is dedicated to jihad for the destruction of Israel. Emerson reveals that a 1992 memo seized from a jihadi's home explains that "Palestine is the one for which Muslim Brotherhood prepared armies - made up from the children of Islam in the Arab and Islamic nations to liberate its land from the abomination and the defilement of the children of the Jews and they watered its pure soil with their honorable blood which sprouted into a jihad that is continuing until the Day of Resurrection and provided a zeal without relenting making the slogan of its children 'it is a Jihad for victory or martyrdom.'" Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad were also listed as members of the Palestine Committee....

Read it all.

Recently there was some controversy over whether Joseph Stack's flying an airplane into a building in Texas ought to be called "terrorism." CAIR was complaining that only Muslims are ever labeled terrorists, which of course is patently false, but in any case I think the whole discussion was based on false premises. Anyone can apply the label "terrorism" to anything he wishes. The focus of this site has never been "terrorism" as such. What is more important is the ideology motivating the act of "terrorism," and at this site what I have been doing for over six years now is tracking the advances (and very occasional setbacks) of those who hold to the ideology and belief-system of Islamic jihad, as rooted in the Qur'an and Sunnah. That jihad advances by means of acts of terror, i.e., assaults on civilian populations designed to demoralize and weaken an enemy, but also by other means.

This cleric's statement is interesting because he forthrightly avows that jihad does involve what most Westerners think of as terrorism; he is refreshingly forthright amid all the steaming piles of Jihad-Is-An-Inner-Spiritual-Struggle that Islamic apologists routinely serve up in the West.

"Egytpian [sic] Cleric Wagdi Ghoneim: We Pray to Allah That We Be Terrorists, If Terror Means Jihad," from MEMRI, February 4-14 (thanks to all who sent this in):

The following excerpts are from an interview with Egyptian cleric Wagdi Ghoneim, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 4-14, 2010.

February 4, 2010:

Wagdi Ghoneim: God did not say that there was only one way to conduct Jihad, and if you missed it - that's it. No, Jihad is a huge issue. Surat Al-'Ankaboot ends with: "Those who strive in our [cause] - We will guide them to Our paths." Our paths, not our path. "Path" would have meant that there is only one. But there are "paths."

What are the paths of Jihad? One is the Jihad of the soul. If you cannot get up in time for morning prayer - you are hopeless. Hopeless. How will you sacrifice your life, if you can't sacrifice a few hours of sleep? If you are asleep and snoring during morning prayer - will you sacrifice your life? That is why the accursed Zionist Jews said that so long as the number of Muslims who pray in the morning prayer is less than the number of Muslims who pray in the Friday prayer, the Zionist entity is safe.

[...]

We are a nation that excels in the production of the art of death. Sheik Hassan Al-Bana said that we are a nation that excels... "To excel" means that we are very good at... At what? At the production of the art of death. I will die anyway, so I should be creative to make sure my death is for the sake of Allah. We should think how to die for the sake of Allah, rather than be run over by a car on the highway.

[...]

We are a nation that excels in the production of the art of death. That's why our enemies are terrified of us. Don't our enemies say that we are a backward nation? Don't they say that our countries are not clean? That we don't have proper science? So why are they afraid of us? Why are they terrified of us?

It is because we have something that they don't have: faith. They do not believe in God. Their God is the dollar. [...]

We are a Jihad-fighting nation, and we should guide all the people to this path. I am sorry to tell you that some preachers and scholars are ashamed to utter the word "Jihad." They do not use the word "Jihad." They are all afraid. They ask you not to use the word "Jihad." Why not? "So that they won't say that we are terrorists." A mujahid is called a "terrorist" nowadays. Brothers, we pray to Allah that we be terrorists, if terror means Jihad for the sake of Allah.

[...]

[In the West] they say: "Ladies, Mademoiselles, and Gentlemen..." The men come at the end - that is, if they have real men over there at all. We should start with "Gentlemen," then "Ladies" and finally, the unmarried women. I said this when I was lecturing in Japan in English. I said to them: "Gentlemen and Ladies..." They said: "What is this?!" I said to them: I know what you're thinking, but this is our religion. This is Islam. Men are the guardians of women.

[...]

February 14, 2010:

Wagdi Ghoneim: For women, Islamic law permits things that are compatible with their nature as females, as well as things that are compatible with the work they are required to do. What is the work you should do? It is the work God created you for.

Think about it. I am a man. Anything you women can do, I can do better, because I am a man, and I am stronger than you. My body is stronger. For example, I can put out a fire. I can climb the ladder and hold the hose, but you can't, because you are a woman. You are weak. I can work as a night guard. I have a pistol, a gun, or even a baseball bat. If I hear anyone coming, I say: "Where are you?" But you? You're a female. You are startled if a mouse gets near you.

[...]

Therefore, there are jobs you women cannot do - like being judges. You cannot be a judge, because your heart will not allow you to sentence someone to death. Can you sentence someone to death? As a man, I can sentence a person to death - even by hanging. But you - if a murderer brings his children to court, and he holds his newborn child in front of you... If you sentence him to death - who will raise this child? Your soul will not let you sentence him to death. [...]

Lovely guy.

Will the Islamophobia never end?

But seriously, how could King's College allow this? Has multiculturalism and political correctness rotted their judgment to such a degree that a Muslim preacher can say anything and do anything and still receive their approval? Or are they themselves antisemitic enough -- as Leftists increasingly tend to be -- to wink at this?

"Islamic preacher who called Jews 'filth' to speak at London university," by Felix Allen for the London Evening Standard, February 25 (thanks to Paul):

A London university has been condemned for inviting an Islamic preacher with anti-Semitic and homophobic views to give a lecture to students.

Sheikh Abdullah Hakim Quick is due to speak at King's College's Strand campus at six tonight.

Peter Tatchell, of pressure group Outrage, accused university bosses of cowardice and "complicity with fundamentalism" by giving the preacher a public platform.

Sheikh Quick has denounced the "filth" of Jews and once gave a televised lecture in which he said the Islamic position on homosexuality is "death".

He added: "Muslims are going to have to take a stand [against homosexuals] and it's not enough to call names."

He is due to give a talk on the environment in an event organised by the University of London Union Islamic Society for its Green Week campaign.....

Islamic law deprives women of many rights, and that's bad enough -- and then in practice, marriage contracts sometimes deprive them of even more. "I Should Have Read My Islamic Marriage Contract: Why didn't I? Why don't a lot of Muslim women?," by Ayesha Nasir for Slate, February 25:

[...] Marriages in Pakistan are physically and emotionally exhausting. The rituals are designed to remind the woman that there is no turning back. Drained by the festivities and eager for a smooth end to the 14-day-long wedding, I gave in.

And so, during the ceremony, I sat a mile away from my fiance, could barely hear the words being recited, and felt as removed from the proceedings as a guest. I heard the microphone being passed to my husband. I heard him say "yes" three times, as is the tradition in Islam. I heard a round of congratulations. When my mother engulfed me in a tight hug, I protested that I had no idea what was happening.

Other women I know walked into marriage wearing similar blinders. One friend, who works as a pediatrician at one of Pakistan's largest private hospitals, described her nikah ceremony as "confusing and far too quick." She said that her father had simply thrust a sheaf of papers toward her and instructed her to sign on the dotted line. "Much later I realized I had no idea what I had signed," she said. Another friend--who is a lawyer!--said she never got to see the complete contract. "I was given this single sheet of paper and told to sign, while the rest of the contract was being vetted by my husband," she said. "Now, looking back, I don't know why I signed it at all."

Women's rights activist Rubina Sehgal has an answer. She thinks no more than 2 percent of Pakistani women are familiar with their marriage contracts, which even educated and progressive women don't view as a binding legal document, even though that's what it is. "It has to do with their upbringing," she said. "Women are brought up to believe that marriage implies submission and obedience and so, when it comes to the marriage contract, they just sign it. They forget at that time that they have the right to read it, vet it, and even suggest changes. At the time of tying the knot, a lot of importance is given to trust--trust your soon-to-be-husband, trust your parents."

The problem is that marriage contracts often take away rights women otherwise have under Islamic law. This includes the right to file for divorce: Almost all the men in my family and in my husband's family cancel this provision before handing the contract over to the woman's family. It's considered impolite, and a breach of the trust that Sehgal talks about, for a woman or the relative representing her to insist otherwise.

Women also forfeit the right to other protections. For example, in Islam, a woman is promised a certain amount of money (in keeping with her husband's income) usually given to her if she chooses to divorce. The money is meant to provide her with some degree of financial security, especially if she leaves her husband. Despite the excellent logic behind this right, most men frown upon it. They put into the contract measly amounts, such as $1 or $10, simply to fill in the blank. And women don't ask questions. An elderly aunt of mine takes great pride in saying that she agreed to 1 cent when it was time to marry off her daughter. "I had faith in Allah, so 1 cent was all I asked them to put down," she said.

But Allah is the one who gives women this right, I protested. My aunt dismissed me....

No, this story is all about the Muslim Brotherhood -- presented as an innocent party with no nefarious agenda. Just pious, disenfranchised, moderate folks. The focus of the story is the general silence on the part of the U.S. regarding the behavior of its "friend and ally" in this regard.

A story about the shadiness of the Mubarak regime would be far more meaningful -- not to mention fair -- if it took up the issue of religious minorities (Copts, Baha'i, and others), and/or the persistence of female genital mutilation and other women's rights issues in Egyptian society. But, alas, all we get is a story devoid of depth and context on a group the author has clearly not investigated with any degree of diligence.

"Egypt's Crackdown: When a U.S. Ally Does the Repressing," by Abigail Hauslohner for Time, February 24:

The U.S. government has never been shy to criticize Iran over its dismal human-rights record, particularly since Tehran launched a crackdown on opposition voices following last summer's election. But the U.S. stance remains considerably more subdued when Egypt, Washington's biggest Arab ally in the region, exercises similar bad behavior. And the months ahead will test just how subdued it intends to be.

For Egypt, which receives an annual $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid, the equivalent of Iran's election drama hasn't unfolded yet. Parliamentary elections are still several months away, and presidential elections aren't slated until next year. But there are signs of an imminent crackdown on opposition groups. U.S. silence on the issue suggests that Cairo may be able to avoid the international spotlight in a way that Tehran did not.

On Feb. 8, for example, Egyptian security forces arrested 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most popular opposition group. Those arrested included three senior members, including the deputy leader, Mahmoud Ezzat. More than 30 others had been arrested in the two weeks prior to that. "They were arrested having done nothing except calling for reform and freedom and for adopting a moderate approach which Egypt needs the most at this time," read a statement posted on the Muslim Brotherhood website on Feb. 9.

There's an exquisite demonstration of how the term "moderate" is thrown about, with the hopes that people will project their own understanding of the term onto it without further inquiry.

This isn't anything new for the Brotherhood. The group has been banned since 1954, but its popularity -- derived mainly through Islamic charity work, calls for political reform and appeals to Muslim religiosity -- makes it especially threatening to the authoritarian regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Even so, the Brotherhood has been tolerated to varying degrees over the years, the state having found a way to keep its members in check through a system of arbitrary arrests and detentions that rights groups say are illegal under international law. "It's a repeated situation," says Taha Ali, a political analyst at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, a Cairo NGO. "But this time, we're going to see the parliamentary election in the upcoming period, so it's a historical moment for the regime and the Brotherhood."...

Islam is peaceful and tolerant, except when it isn't. And the assurances by Western apologists ring especially hollow in light of stories like these, which are in all-too-ready supply. An update on this story. "Bishop of Mosul: humanitarian emergency. Hundreds of Christian families fleeing violence," from Asia News, February 25:

Mosul (AsiaNews) - Mosul is experiencing a veritable "humanitarian emergency" in just one day, yesterday, "hundreds of Christian families" left the city in search of shelter, leaving behind their homes, property, commercial activities: the situation "is dramatic". Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona, Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, confirmed to AsiaNews about the exodus of the faithful from the city. Meanwhile, Mgr. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, will launch "a demonstration and a fast", to sensitize the international community to the "massacre of Iraqi Christians" and stop the violence in the country.

The archbishop of Mosul is concerned about the many families, "hundreds" in one day yesterday, leaving the city. Bishop Nona speaks of an " unending via Crucis" and denounces the "change in methods" operated by the armed gangs. "In the past we said to the Christians to remain closed in the house - he remembers - but now they are even attacked in their own homes". The reference is to the murder took place last February 23: commandos entered the house of Aishwa Marosi, a Christian of 59, killing the man and two boys. His wife and daughter witnessed the murder but were spared by the criminals.

Bishop Nona confirms the risk that "Mosul will be emptied completely of Christians", who are fleeing towards the plain of Nineveh and other places considered safer. "Yesterday I visited some families - he continues - I have tried to bring comfort, but the situation is dramatic. The people fled without taking anything with them". This is why the local archdiocese has launched an initial emergency response, trying to provide "essential supplies and relief", but the danger of "a humanitarian crisis is real."

The archbishop of Mosul plans to travel to Baghdad to meet with politicians and the central government, to demand their intervention. It is difficult to maintain the Christian presence, he continues, and it is likely that the general elections - scheduled for March 7 - no one will vote. The confining of Iraq's Christians in the Nineveh Plain, victims of a power struggle between Arabs and Kurds, seems an increasingly concrete likelihood, although the Church leaders have always been opposed to this "ghettoisation". So far, the warring factions have used the excuse of religion and armed gangs to drag the Christians into the conflict. "For this - concluded Mgr. Nona - we now need to find a 'political response' to the conflicts, the struggle for power."

Archbishop Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, plans to launch - in the next few days - "a demonstration and a fast", to sensitize the international community to the "massacre of Iraqi Christians" and stop the violence in the country. The policy that aims to see Mosul emptied of Christians must be stopped, negotiations with the central government and local parliament started to enhance "the idea of national unity" that is lost in the conflicts between different ethnicities, religions and influences foreign in a shattered Iraq. The prelate confirms the will of the Christian community to "participate in the political life of the country", while there is an increasingly concrete danger that they will be considered "second-class citizens."

That is, dhimmis.

The general elections scheduled for March 7 will cause an even greater escalation of violence. The warring parties - Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds - are sparing no methods or use of force to gain control of the territory. Baghdad, like Mosul and Kirkuk, is tempting for its many rich deposits of oil. Sectarian violence in Mosul, also does not seem linked to al Qaeda, but rather confirms the infiltration in the army and police of "big powers" that are aligned to political parties, religious denominations, or to the tribes. They are a clear indication of the failure to create a unitary state, the "Republic of Iraq" mentioned in the Constitution, but never born because of internal divisions. Added to this the external pressures from neighbouring countries including Iran: Baghdad AsiaNews sources confirm that "Tehran has both hands in the internal politics of Iraq" and is an influence that touches the economic, political and religious sphere.

"There is a state, a home - underlines Msgr. Sako - and sectarian divisions are an obvious fact. Christians who are not interested in power games, economic hegemony, but the creation of a State in which the different ethnic groups can live together peacefully. " An objective to be achieved, must begin first of all with "the unity of the Christian community and Church leaders, who must make their unity a strength at the bargaining table with the central government and the political forces of the country ".

In March 2007 I wrote about the question of whether or not Barack Obama was, according to Islamic law, an apostate from Islam who thus merited the death sentence Islamic law mandates for apostates.

This article was frequently pointed to as the source of the "Obama is a Muslim" rumors during the 2008 campaign, and therefore also frequently dismissed out of hand. But now three years later, an Arab newspaper, the Gaza-based Watan Voice, is discussing a question that will get you ridicule and scorn in the American mainstream media simply for asking: was Barack Obama ever a Muslim? The author considers the evidence and then draws his conclusion from Islamic jurisprudence.

Incidentally, in the course of his article he includes this, which bears out the truth of what I wrote in March 2007: "Islamic law does not oblige those who have not reached puberty to practice Islam.." That is, it doesn't command their deaths if they don't practice Islam. I had written this:

So is Obama under a death sentence? Probably not - particularly if he left Islam while still a child. This is a crucial point, for according to Islamic law an apostate male is not to be put to death if he has not reached puberty (cf. 'Umdat al-Salik o8.2; Hidayah vol. II p. 246). Some, however, hold that he should be imprisoned until he is of age and then "invited" to accept Islam, but officially the death penalty for youthful apostates is ruled out.

For a full consideration of Obama's curious and shifting attitude toward the Muslim elements of his life story, pre-order my forthcoming book with Pamela Geller, The Post-American Presidency, coming in July from Threshold Editions/Simon & Schuster.

"Is President Obama a Muslim or an Apostate?," by Mu'ammar Ahmad 'Abd-al-Latif Rajeh for the Watan Voice (in Arabic), January 30 (translated by al-Mutarajjam at Translating Jihad):

[...] Within this introduction, certain aspects of President Obama's introduction to his autobiography beg the following question: What is the position of Islamic law concerning this biography?

Islamic law stipulates that if a child is born with either one or both of his parents being Muslim, then the child's religion will also be Muslim. This applies if the father is Muslim and the mother is non-Muslim, such as in President Obama's case. Al-Hassan, Shurayh, Ibrahim, and Qatada said: "If one of (the parents) has submitted (to Islam), then the child is with the Muslim," for Islam dominates, but is not (itself) dominated (comment: This is a famous phrase from either the Qur'an or the hadith, but I'm not sure exactly how it's worded in English; it basically means Islam is superior to everything, and submits to nothing). And also according to the word of the prophet of God (PBUH): "No child is born except on nature (i.e. Islam), and then his parents make him Jewish, Christian, or Magian (Zoroastrian), as an animal produces a perfect young animal: do you see any part of its body amputated?" (Sahih al-Bukhari, V 2, Bk 23, No 441). Although Islamic law does not oblige those who have not reached puberty to practice Islam, the father of such a child is required to pay zakat and pray the funeral prayer if the child dies before reaching puberty. This shows that the child is Muslim from birth. Through these Islamic judgments, in comparison with the autobiography of President Barack Hussein Obama, we find that this president is either a Muslim or an apostate from Islam according to the strongest viewpoints of Islamic jurisprudence.

Read it all.

In Human Events this morning I discuss a troubling new manifestation of PC multiculturalism in the Noor Almaleki honor killing case in Arizona:

Last October there was another in the growing number of Islamic honor killings in the United States when a Muslim in Peoria, Arizona, Faleh Almaleki, got into his Jeep Cherokee and ran down his twenty-year-old daughter Noor, as well as her boyfriend's mother, Amal Khalaf.

Noor died not long thereafter, and Faleh Almaleki was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of leaving the scene of a serious accident. But prosecutors announced this week that he will not face the death penalty - it wouldn't be multicultural.

Faleh Almaleki's lawyer, public defender Billy Little, requested that the death penalty not be sought in this case because County Attorney Andrew Thomas is a Christian and Almaleki is a Muslim: "An open process provides some level of assurance that there is no appearance that a Christian is seeking to execute a Muslim for racial, political, religious or cultural beliefs."

And indeed, the County Attorney's office ultimately decided not to seek the death penalty, although it denied that Little's request had anything to do with the decision: "The defendant is charged with first degree murder and, if convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison," said County Attorney Office spokesman Mike Scerbo. "As is in all first degree murder cases, the decision on whether to seek the death penalty is made on a case by case basis. Cultural considerations played no part in the decision not to seek the death penalty."

This denial, however, did not ring true in light of the calculated nature of Almaleki's actions: "By his own admission," said county prosecutor Stephanie Low, "this was an intentional act, and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family. This was an attempt at an honor killing."

If a cold-blooded, premeditated murder doesn't warrant the death penalty, what murder does? If the death penalty is to be applied or contemplated at all, one would be hard-pressed to find a case more appropriate than one in which a father murders his daughter freely, not in the heat of passion, and with full intentionality, because she does not share his values.

Honor killing is the murder of a wife, daughter or sister by a husband, father or brother in order to cleanse the family's honor after a sexual indiscretion. Noor Almaleki had enraged her father by becoming "too Westernized" and living with her boyfriend. Honor killing is broadly tolerated in many Islamic countries, and is encouraged by the fact that traditional Islamic law mandates no penalty for a parent who kills a child. Syria and Jordan, among other countries, punish honor murderers more lightly than other murderers, and in Jordan Islamic clerics led the fight against an attempt several years ago to stiffen penalties for honor killing.

This is a human rights issue that ought to merit the attention of anyone who cares for the lives lost to this barbaric practice. Yet American law enforcement officials are doing nothing to call Muslim communities in this country to teach against and work against this practice. And relativist multiculturalists like Billy Little seem to think that taking a strong stand against honor killing would be an illegitimate imposition of Christian values upon a Muslim.

There are larger implications of this decision as well. In my 2008 book Stealth Jihad, I laid out evidence that Islamic groups in the U.S. were working in the courts, businesses, and educational institutions to secure special privileges for Muslims, in accord with Sharia provisions that give them a place above non-Muslims in Islamic societies. And while they have succeeded in local efforts here and there to get special break times in workplaces for prayers, even the most dedicated Muslim Brotherhood entities in America have not yet begun pressuring for the kind of concession that Billy Little handed them.

But they will surely take the hint. For the first time, the idea that all are not equal before the law, but that some are more equal than others, has been given credence by an American court. Despite the County Attorney's Office denials, a precedent has been set that Islamic pressure groups are certain to exploit to the hilt.

UPDATE: Pamela Geller had some important observations on this story on February 19.

Feel the love. Just don't get too close. "Saudi cleric backs gender segregation with fatwa," from Reuters, February 23 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

RIYADH (Reuters) - A prominent Saudi cleric has issued an edict calling for opponents of the kingdom's strict segregation of men and women to be put to death if they refuse to abandon their ideas.

Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak said in a fatwa the mixing of genders at the workplace or in education "as advocated by modernisers" is prohibited because it allows "sight of what is forbidden, and forbidden talk between men and women".

"All of this leads to whatever ensues," he said in the text of the fatwa published on his website (albarrak.islamlight.net).

"Whoever allows this mixing ... allows forbidden things, and whoever allows them is an infidel and this means defection from Islam ... Either he retracts or he must be killed ... because he disavows and does not observe the Sharia," Barrak said....

Yet another Islamic cleric misunderstands the Religion of Peace!

...because only men are allowed to pray there. Sharia Alert from...Washington, DC: "Muslim Women Protest Policies At Islamic Center Of Washington," by Kavitha Cardoza for WAMU.org, February 22 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Some women who protested at the Islamic Center of Washington, wanting to be able to worship in the main prayer hall with their male counterparts, were asked to leave by the police. But they say their struggle will continue.

Carpets with intricate designs cover the floors of the main prayer hall and turquoise tiles line the walls. But the source of contention is a small room created with seven foot high wooden walls. Jannah B'int Hannah describes how she feels in there where she cannot see the imam, or leader of the mosque, speak.

"Boxed in, stifling, suffocating and totally a second class citizen," says Hannah.

Over the weekend, Hannah and approximately 20 other women prayed in the main hall, but D.C. police were called. They asked them to leave or be arrested....

Eurabia Alert: "London has become center of Hamas activity," from Israel Today, February 24 (thanks to Mackie):

A report by Israel's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) labels London as the new international hub of Hamas political, legal and propaganda efforts.

ITIC, a non-governmental organization dedicated to uncovering the activities of Israel's enemies, wrote that Hamas today directs the bulk of its non-violent efforts against Israel via operatives and activists in the British capital.

That was evidenced recently in a string of attempted indictments against Israeli leaders in British courts. According to ITIC, Hamas was behind those legal actions.

Hamas has found London a perfect center for its operations due to the easily manipulated British free speech laws, an overly tolerant British legal system and the large Arab and Muslim population in the city.

If these premature detonations continue, there will have to be a fatwa on whether these guys are entitled to the virgins or not. "Five Taliban killed while planting bombs in Kurram," from the Daily Times, February 24 (thanks to Twostellas):

PARACHINAR: Five Taliban were killed and four others were injured on Tuesday when the explosives that they were planting around their hideout detonated accidentally in Ali Sherzai Dar village, Kurram Agency, officials said. According to eyewitnesses, the Taliban wanted to blow up the house -vacated by local anti-Taliban leader Ghazi Marjan - due to the security forces' operation in the area when the explosive material accidentally went-off, killing five of them and injuring four others. Two of the injured reported to be in critical condition. However, AFP put the death toll at four and reported six Taliban wounded in the explosion. The Taliban had been using the deserted house as a dumping ground for people kidnapped for ransom.

"As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, 'When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks' (Qur'an sura 47, verse 4)" -- Al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah, (The Laws of Islamic Governance).

This one seems to have been ransomed in exchange for prisoners.

"French hostage freed in Mali," by Angela Doland for The Associated Press, February 23:

PARIS -- A French hostage held captive in Mali for three months by Al-Qaida's North Africa offshoot was freed Tuesday, following a contested court decision ordering a jail release for four suspected members of the militant group that abducted him.

Pierre Camatte, who ran a small organization fighting malaria in Mali, was en route to Bamako, the country's capital, from where he planned to head to France, the French Foreign Ministry said. Officials in Paris did not provide details about his release.

There had been suggestions Camatte's liberation was imminent. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the militant group that captured Camatte in late November, had posted a message on militant Web sites agreeing to hand him over if Mali released four of its members from jail....

Maybe more Charlie Chaplin than Osama bin Laden, but you never know. "Exposed, the 'Blackburn Resistance': Gang 'filmed preparations for terror,'" by James Tozer in the Telegraph, February 24 (thanks to Twostellas):

Brandishing machetes and guns, the young men pose for the video camera.

The three British Muslims filmed themselves as they prepared for a terrorist attack, a court was told yesterday.

They also recorded themselves crawling on their bellies through piles of leaves in a town centre park for a military-style training video, it was alleged.

The prosecution claimed that while the footage might appear 'almost comical in its amateurishness', in reality it showed a group 'intoxicated by the evil of terrorism'....

Of course, they didn't believe what they were doing was evil. They thought they were serving the supreme deity. That made it all the more intoxicating.

CAIR is usually so vocal on cases involving the prosecution of Muslims -- but when they grow silent, one can be sure that even Honest Ibe Hooper can come up with no plausible spin on the case. More on this story. "Muslim activist group CAIR is unusually quiet about longtime board member's deportation," by Brooks Egerton for the Dallas Morning News, February 23 (thanks to Pamela, who has background on the Islamic supremacist harassment of reporter Egerton here):

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is a high-profile national organization that speaks out frequently when it believes Muslims are being mistreated.

Recently, for example, it denounced the introduction of full-body scanners in airports as a violation of Islamic rules about modesty. Its Web site carries many press releases on a variety of civil rights issues.

But CAIR has been quiet about the recent deportation order against Richardson resident Nabil Sadoun, a longtime member of the group's national and DFW chapter boards.

When I asked national CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper for an interview, he responded with this e-mail: "Peace. Perhaps speak to his attorney. She is the best source of information on the case." Hooper did not respond when I followed up with written questions about CAIR's view of the deportation case and its relationship with Sadoun.

Sadoun's attorney, Kimberly Kinser of Richardson, didn't respond to my phone call and e-mail....

"Today, you have attacked us in the middle of our household, so wait for what will befall you in the middle of yours ... We will blow up the earth from beneath your feet."

"Senior Yemen al Qaeda leader threatens U.S. attacks: site," by Raissa Kasolowsky for Reuters, February 23:

DUBAI (Reuters) - A senior member of al Qaeda's Yemen wing who the Yemeni government said it killed has emerged on an internet forum, threatening to carry out attacks in the United States.

Yemen declared an open war on al Qaeda on its territory last month after the group's regional off-shoot claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack on a Detroit-bound plane in December that grabbed the world's attention.

"Today, you have attacked us in the middle of our household, so wait for what will befall you in the middle of yours ... We will blow up the earth from beneath your feet," Qasim al-Raymi, the wing's military commander, said in an article posted earlier this month on a website used by Islamist militants. [...]

In his article, Raymi said U.S. assistance to Yemen has strengthened the militants' popularity among local tribes.

Addressing the U.S. government, he wrote: "You united us with our people ... the catastrophe unites those it befalls."...

And Western analysts and bright lights like Kelley Beaucar Vlahos actually buy this rhetoric.

Sometimes the Islamic world's conspiracy paranoia is really entertaining.

This one comes in the context of denying and obfuscating the persecution of Copts in Egypt -- read all about it at the excellent Translating Jihad site.

Now wait a minute. A global revolution? But...but...Kelley Beaucar Vlahos says we're making all that up! Ahmadinjehad must be some kind of Islamophobe. "Iran: Ahmadinejad aims for 'global Islamic revolution,'" from AKI, February 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Tehran, 23 Feb. (AKI) - Iran aims to spread its Islamic revolution beyond its borders, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged on Tuesday. "The Islamic revolution's final objective is global revolution," Ahmadinejad said in a live televised address.

Ahmadinejad also vowed to "cut the hands" of Iran's enemies if the Islamic republic was attacked.

"We will welcome a hand which has sincerely reached out for friendship, but if anywhere in the world a hand is extended for aggression against Iranians, the nation will cut it from the arm," he told a rally from northeastern South Khorasan province....

In his televised broadcast Ahmadinejad said Tehran was not making a nuclear bomb and said Iranians did not need them.

Iran has warned it would go to war with is sworn enemy of Israel if the Jewish state acts to eliminate its nuclear programme as it did in 1981 in an air raid which destroyed Iraq's Osriaq nuclear reactor....

If only there were a Family Circus-style drawing from little Billy, because here's what really happened: "He insists it was a misunderstanding over a conversation while he was speaking Spanish and English with a fellow passenger who was Italian."

Never mind that initial reports stated that "witnesses told investigators that Asad yelled anti-Semitic references," and "charged officers while he was in custody, using racial slurs and threats while he chanted, leading police to use a Taser to subdue him."

"Toledo man put on no-fly list speaks with 13abc," by Christine Long for WTVG, February 23:

TOLEDO, OH (WTVG) -- He made headlines around the nation for allegedly yelling he wanted to "kill all the Jews" on a Miami plane bound for Detriot. Last night the Toledo man talked to 13abc's Christine Long.

Mansor Asad, 43, says he wants to tell the community he is not a terrorist and he is grateful to be free. At his Toledo home, Asad is spending quality time with his new baby Camilla since he was locked up for two-thirds of her young life.

The father of five arrived home this weekend. The appliance store co-owner had to rent a car and drive back from Miami because, as a part of his plea deal, he is on the government's no-fly list.

"I took a plea of convenience to come home to Toledo to be where people know me, to my community where I was born and raised and where they know I'm not a racist."

Asad pleaded guilty on charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. He says he made the decision after being in jail for six weeks, just to get back home to his family.

This all began when he was arrested on a plane last month as he was trying to return from a vacation in Miami. However, Asad denies ever making a slur against Jews.

"I never once said I want to kill the Jews. I never once got in an argument, never once did I disrespect anyone on that plane."

He insists it was a misunderstanding over a conversation while he was speaking Spanish and English with a fellow passenger who was Italian.

"I understand what happened. I understand people's paranoia," says Asad. "I'm proud, still to this day, I'm proud to be an American."

But he's not sure he'll ever enter an airport again.

Not only is Asad on the no-fly list for the next three years. He will also have to serve probation in Toledo and pay $27,000 in restitution to Delta Airlines.

How interesting that the same "reporter," Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, who filed this biased and shoddy FoxNews report about my FDI event last Friday at CPAC has now written two broadsides against the event, both at antisemitic paleocon sites: Antiwar.com and The American Conservative. The three pieces are similar -- Kelley Beaucar Vlahos knows how to double-dip and triple-dip -- but since she is plastering the Internet with this nonsense, responses are in order.

First, from Fox:

"Everyone knows Islam is a religion of peace that has been hijacked by a tiny minority," said Robert Spencer, sarcastically and to a great amount of applause and guffaws. Spencer, executive director of Jihad Watch and associate director of the Freedom Defense Initiative, which he recently founded with Atlas Shrugged blogger Pamela Geller, told his audience everyone believes that "like they believe in Santa Claus though no one has ever seen it."

Sloppiness Alert: Pamela Geller's blog is Atlas Shrugs, not Atlas Shrugged.

He declared that "conservative media leaders even parrot this line" that Islam is a peaceful religion at its core.

While holding up my statements as examples of some egregious falsehood -- something she does only implicitly in the Fox article but explicitly in her other iterations of it -- Kelley Beaucar Vlahos cannot and does not produce any mainstream sect of Islam or school of Islamic jurisprudence that does not teach the necessity to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers. But she probably isn't even aware that that's the case.

So defined the event, which repeated the group's message, that political correctness was preventing the American people -- elected officials and the government included -- from acknowledging -- in Geller's words -- that Islamists "have infiltrated at every level of society and all levels of government."

Re that infiltration, see here for information from two former government officials.

Spencer called recent complaints that full body scanners at airports violate the privacy and modesty of Muslim women according to Islamic law and attempts to accommodate them a "perversity," since Muslims "themselves made (scanners) necessary."...

Sloppiness Alert: I said "absurdity," not "perversity." But in any case, Kelley Beaucar Vlahos might be hard-pressed to explain why the full-body scanners are deemed necessary if it is not because of Islamic jihad terrorists like Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, the Christmas day underwear bomber on Flight 253, whose attempted attack is precisely the reason why the full body scanners are being contemplated.

Others speakers included Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, who is being investigated for hate speech in Austria for her critical seminars on Islam; Simon Weng, a former slave in Sudan; Anders Gravers, a Dane who wrote Stop the Islamization of Europe; and Lt. Col Allen West (Ret.), a candidate for congress in Florida.

Sloppiness Alert: Simon's surname is Deng, not Weng. And Stop the Islamization of Europe is a group, not a book. Gravers did not "write" it, he is one of its leaders.

On to Antiwar.com:

[...] Even worse were the CPAC events this year in which the very loyalty of Americans was questioned and entire religions were deemed a threat to global security.

There is a worldwide movement waging war against the United States in the name of a religion, and with no significant opposition from those members of that religion who are not participating in that war. Yet if I point this out, I am "Orwellian":

If there was ever a manifestation of the radical impulses of these political events, it was the simply Orwellian experience of "Jihad: the Political Third Rail," presented by the Freedom Defense Initiative, the latest venture of jihad-hunters Pamela Geller (Atlas Shrugs) and Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch).

Attendees at this "unofficial" CPAC panel (yes, even among this crowd, Geller and friends are pretty radioactive) were forced to show picture identification at the door. Bodyguards roamed the capacity crowd, some of which donned lapel pins featuring crossed American and Israeli flags (meanwhile, new Muslim-American envoy Rashad Hussain should be put to a loyalty test to see if he is Muslim or American first, suggested one panelist)....

Radioactive? Sure. But because of moral and intellectual cowardice, and worse, among those doing the radiation tests.

Rashad Hussain defended a jihad terrorist, as he himself now admits having done. And Kelley Beaucar Vlahos actually likens this to supporting an American ally.

And does Kelley Beaucar Vlahos actually think that bodyguards and ID checks weren't necessary? Of course, her jihad-enabling and antisemitism are fashionable on campuses today, but if she really were an "American conservative" and ventured on to an American university campus without bodyguards today, she might suddenly be awakened to the need for them, emanating from the peace-loving Left and the jihadis whose peaceful religion she insists I was maligning.

Antiwar.com and its panel of apostates were duly dismissed from the outset of the "Third Rail" forum as an "outrageous" affront to the conservative ideas held at CPAC, just before Geller and Spencer went on to blame Islam for 9/11 and charged that Islamists "have infiltrated at every level of society and every level of government" in the United States. The Koran (which Rashad Hussain has supposedly memorized - the horror!) is to blame for global terrorism. If we do not act now, went the message, Shariah law will soon prevail in the U.S.

Yes, we're imagining all that. We're imagining all this also:

The Muslim Brotherhood "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions." -- Mohamed Akram, "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America," May 22, 1991, Government Exhibit 003-0085, U.S. vs. HLF, et al. P. 7 (21).

"We reject the U.N., reject America, reject all law and order. Don't lobby Congress or protest because we don't recognize Congress. The only relationship you should have with America is to topple it. . . . Eventually there will be a Muslim in the White House dictating the laws of Shariah." -- Muhammad Faheed, Muslim Students Association meeting, Queensborough Community College, 2003

"Let us damn America, let us damn Israel, let us damn them and their allies until death." -- former University of South Florida professor and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami al-Arian

"Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital. . . . This capital of theirs will be an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas." -- Hamas MP and Islamic cleric Yunus al-Astal, 2008

"I have complete faith that Islam will invade Europe and America, because Islam has logic and a mission." -- Muslim Brotherhood leader Muhammad Akef, 2004

"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." -- CAIR cofounder and longtime Board chairman Omar Ahmad, 1998 (denial noted and full story explained at link)

"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future." -- CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, 1993

"If only Muslims were clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate." -- prominent American Muslim leader Siraj Wahhaj, 2002

Back to Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, who prefers to pretend that we are making all that up:

Fortunately, many of us still consider standing up to the government for doing things like detaining people indefinitely without charge, or presuming suspects guilty until proven innocent, or trying to prevent the persecution of an entire population based on religious beliefs, to be "constitutional correctness," plain and simple.

Of course, no one is advocating the "persecution of an entire population based on religious beliefs," but by means of that dishonest little reductio Kelly Beaucar Vlahos hopes to bamboozle people into thinking that there is no violent or supremacist imperative in Islam, and that those who think there is a jihad against the U.S. are just imagining it. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Nidal Hasan, and so many others would beg to differ.

And finally, Kelley Beaucar Vlahos at The American Conservative, where her crying need for an attentive editor is especially in evidence:

[...] The Newsmax alert included a headline, "Pope Warns about Full Body Scanners." Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI told an audience of aerospace industry types this week that while he is aware of the terrorist threat that has prompted enhanced screening at airports, "the primary asset to be safeguarded and treasured is the person, in his or her integrity," and that plans to implement devices that present screeners with "virtually naked" images of individual travelers compromises that integrity. [...]

But at CPAC friday [sic!], at an "unofficial" panel sponsored by jihad-hunters Pamela Geller (Atlas Shrugs) and Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch), called "Jihad: the Political Third Rail," participants balked at these religious arguments against full body scanners -- particularly because those concerns had been raised earlier, not by Catholics, but by Muslims. According to a group of Islamic scholars who posted a statement online, the intrusive images taken by full body scanners fly in the face of Koranic teachings on modesty. The group, the Figh [sic! It's Fiqh] Council of North America (FCNA), issued a fatwah, or religious edict, preventing Muslims from going through such scanners at airports.

Of course, as it stands now, anyone can opt out of a full body scan by agreeing to a "pat down." But Spencer roundly mocked these Muslims, because as far as he was concerned, Islam was responsible for 9/11 and Muslims themselves "made (full body scanners) necessary." In fact, the entire thrust of the panel was that Islam is a violent religion, a plague in fact, that needed to be cured. So any idea that Muslims would consider their faith a reason to deny airport screening was rich. "Former Muslim" and speaker Wafa Sultan, cheered the full body scan, suggesting that it would be so repulsive to Muslims -- and thanks to the fatawa [sic! This is plural of "fatwa," but there was only one], inconvenient -- that they might stop trying to bombing [sic!] airplanes....

Interestingly enough, you can add Jewish law to the fatwahs and papal declarations on full body scans...

There are two things I am taking away from this issue: one, the full body scans are creepy and intrusive and violate basic civil liberties of all individuals -- on a global scale. Secondly, the sneering tenor of Robert Spencer about Muslim women and their "modesty" cannot hide the fact that the three major religions of the world -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- all regard modesty a prevailing virtue and, especially in the conservative observances of all three, it cannot be compromised by either the individual or the state.

Politics and the people who practice them can be so crude and reactionary- but all three religions, and the people who practice them, have much more in common outside of those political prejudices than they would care to admit. All three could create a united front on the issue of full body scans, but because one side blames the other for the use of the screening in the first place, they will remain divided....

One wonders if Kelley Beaucar Vlahos is willfully missing the point. She did not bother to speak to me, of course, before compiling this triplicate report; if she had, she might have discovered that on February 11, a week before the FDI event, I wrote that "there may be plenty of reasons to oppose body scanners." I was not expressing scorn for the modesty of Muslim women, as Kelley Beaucar Vlahos suggests, but for the idea that Muslims should be exempt from these scanners when it was the actions of jihadis that made them necessary.

But if Kelley Beaucar Vlahos is as inattentive a listener as she is a speller and writer, it is perhaps understandable that this point escaped her.

A little monetary jihad (jihad al-mal) while hubby Fritz is on trial. "Mr and Mrs Jihad: Wife of Homegrown Terrorist Arrested over Fundraising Activities," from Spiegel Online, February 23 (thanks to Twostellas):

The wife of a well-known German Islamist has been arrested in connection with fundraising activities on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union. Police have also held two other suspected terrorism supporters.

The members of the German homegrown terrorist group known as the Sauerland Cell are currently on trial in Düsseldorf, accused of plotting to bomb American targets in Germany. Now it has been revealed that the wife of the alleged ringleader has been arrested on suspicion of supporting a foreign terrorist group.

The woman, who has not been named, was one of three suspected terrorism supporters who were arrested in Germany on Saturday. The 28-year-old woman and the two men, aged 20 and 31, are accused of having assisted the foreign terrorist group called the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe announced on Monday.

The woman is believed to be the wife of Fritz Gelowicz, the alleged leader of the Sauerland Cell group which plotted to carry out terror attacks against American targets in Germany on behalf of the IJU. Three of the cell's members were arrested in September 2007 as they were preparing to carry out bombing attacks. The verdict in the trial is expected on March 4.

The authorities refused to confirm or deny the woman's relation to Gelowicz, citing the defendant's privacy rights. Gelowicz had earlier told the court that he had abandoned violent jihad. There had been no previous indication that his wife, who has refused to testify in the trial, was involved with the militant Islamist group.

The woman is reported to have collected money on behalf of the IJU, together with the 20-year-old suspect arrested, who was identified as Alican T. According to federal prosecutors, the pair had collected a total of €2,450 ($3,339) since October 2009 -- when Gelowicz was already on trial -- and transferred it to a presumed IJU go-between in Turkey. All the three suspected terrorism supporters have German passports but come from immigrant families.

Alican T. has been under observation for several months. SPIEGEL reported Monday that just over a week ago, police had halted a train traveling to Vienna and had removed the man in order to prevent him leaving the country. He allegedly wanted to travel to the Afghan-Pakistani border region to join Islamist groups based there.

And around we go. "APNewsBreak: Iran nuclear offer falls short," by George Jahn for the Associated Press, February 23:

VIENNA - Iran has formally set out its terms for giving up most of its cache of enriched uranium in a confidential document -- and the conditions fall short of what has been demanded by the United States and other world powers.

The document -- seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday -- says Tehran is ready to hand over the bulk of its stockpile, as called for under a deal brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency and endorsed by the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany.

But Iran adds that it must simultaneously receive fuel rods for its research reactor in return, and that such an exchange must take place on Iranian territory.

The Iranian offer was sure to be rejected by the six powers, which have waited for nearly six months for such an official answer.

The United States and others fear Iran's nuclear program is geared toward making nuclear weapons, while Tehran claims it is simply to provide more power for its growing population. The United Nations has slapped sanctions on Iran for its defiance on nuclear issues.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the chief Iranian delegate to the IAEA, told the AP the letter was "formally reflecting" his country's position, which has been expressed to the IAEA and to the media in various forms.

The U.S. and its allies have previously said there can be no significant deviation from the original deal, which would commit Iran to shipping out its nuclear material first and then waiting up to a year for it to be turned into fuel for its reactor, which makes medical isotopes.

The letter -- dated Feb. 18 and addressed to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano -- says Iran is "still seeking to purchase the required fuel in cash." However, it was unclear how Iran would do that, because there are no stockpiles of fuel specifically made for its reactor.

Iran is ready to exchange its low-enriched uranium for the fuel rods "simultaneously in one package or several packages in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the letter says.

World powers insist that Iran ship out most of its enriched uranium first then wait for the fuel rods because that would delay Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon by leaving it with too little material to make a warhead.

But Iran's continued rejection of the deal appears to have worked in its favor.

When the agreement was drawn up nearly six months ago, it foresaw Iran exporting about 1.2 tons of low-enriched material for further enrichment in Russia to near 20 percent and then reprocessing in France into fuel rods. Back then, that would have been about 70 percent of the Iranian stockpile.

But Iran has continued to enrich since, and now has about 2 tons of low-enriched uranium.

That means that even if Iran now agreed to ship the requisite 1.2 tons, it would still be left with about 800 kilograms (1,765 pounds) -- about two-thirds of what is needed to enrich further to produce weapons-grade uranium....

And to whom can they turn to complain, when the government is torturing them and the global human rights organizations are indifferent? "Egyptian State Security Accused of Torturing Christian Youth, by Mary Abdelmassih for AINA, February 23 (thanks to Joseph):

(AINA) -- Egyptian State Security has been accused by lawyers, rights activists and victims' families of torturing the Christian youths arrested in the aftermath of the Christmas Eve shootings of Copts on January 6, 2010. The shooting in the southern town of Nag Hammadi resulted in the death of six and the injury of nine Christians (AINA 1-7-2010).

Two days after the shootings, nearly 100 Coptic teenagers as young as 15 were arrested randomly without warrants from the streets and their homes in Nag Hammadi and the neighboring villages (AINA 1-13-2010).

The arrests were intensified after Anba Kyrollos, Coptic Bishop of Nag Hammadi, heavily criticized the role of the security forces in the massacre, and the demonstrations that took place in Nag Hammadi by the angry Copts against the security forces. Gen. Mahmoud Gohar, Security Director Qena, explicitly threatened Copts and said that he will deal firmly and strongly with any protests.

The arrested youngsters were tortured and released without charges after nearly one week, except for 15 who were charged with "rioting and resisting the authorities" on January 24, and sent to detention camps; 13 went to the New Valley Camp, 700 km south of Cairo and 2 went to Alexandria. It is not known how they are being treated there. "When we visit them, there is always supervision," said one relative.

Those that were released confirmed that they were beaten and subjected to electrocution. They were asked by security forces to falsely testify against Bishop Kyrollos that he incited them to make demonstrations....

Read it all.

I said it at the Wilders event at CPAC 2009, and it is still an accurate observation: we live in such a cheap and tawdry age that all one needs to do to be a hero is tell the truth -- and yet there are so few heroes.

That is indeed the case, and it means that Chris Gaubatz is something much greater than a hero. In our day when cowardice positively defines our political and media elites, Chris Gaubatz put his life on the line for the defense of free people and free societies against the global jihad and Islamic supremacism. As detailed in the breathtaking book Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America, Chris assumed the identity of a convert to Islam. He secured a position as an intern in the Washington, DC, office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Hamas-linked pressure group that uses legal intimidation and a marionette mainstream media to dominate the discourse about Islam in the U.S., manipulate clueless government and law enforcement officials, obfuscate the role of Islamic doctrine in recruiting and motivating jihad terrorists, and resist anti-terror efforts.

Chris was in extreme danger. If he had been caught, there is no telling what might have happened -- and as the book detailed, he had some extremely close calls, such as when CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, "Honest Ibe" himself, told him to watch out for...Chris Gaubatz!

Muslim Mafia shows the fruits of Chris's risky labors. He was able to secure a large number of internal CAIR documents, showing the group's unsavory associations, connections to corrupt politicians (see the list of top recipients of Muslim cash on page 195), and more. This made CAIR so nervous that the group went to court to get the documents back -- only to have them impounded by the FBI, which is finally investigating CAIR after years of working with the organization and ignoring its ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Buttressed with never-before-seen documentation, Muslim Mafia lays out the whole truth about the thugs and Islamic supremacists of CAIR, detailing how it has obstructed anti-terror efforts under the rubric of cooperating with authorities, co-opted Congressmen with cash, enabled the infiltration of Muslim Brotherhood operatives into high levels of government, and much more. It should be essential reading for every FBI agent and anti-terror analyst in the United States -- and the fact that it isn't only shows again how successful CAIR and its ilk have been in blunting the force of our defense against the global jihad.

Free citizens owe Chris Gaubatz an immense debt of gratitude. If we get through all this, he will stand as one of the heroes of the age -- and as much more than a hero.

Last week a 53-year-old software engineer, Joseph Stack, became enraged about his business failures, and tax problems he had had all during the 1980s and 1990s, and, in particular, with a provision in the Code called "Treatment of Certain Technical Personnel." In his suicide-note-and-farewell, Stack ranted about "pompous political thugs" and about a tax system that he felt was weighted against him, Joe Stack. The note was not that of the Tea Party variety, that is, not against Big Government, but against one very specific provision in the Tax Code, and then against, apparently, not measures to increase government intervention in health care but, rather, against the failure of the government to increase its intervention. He ranted against, as a Wall Street Journal article noted, political "thugs and plunderers," "the joke that we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies," "the vulgar, corrupt Catholic church," and "the recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies." As James Taranto of the WStJ put it dryly: "left-wing bogeymen all." The closing couplet, according to Taranto, was this:

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Taranto's main point was that someone who despised Corporate America, and its handmaidens, and denounced "the recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies" and "the vulgar, corrupt Catholic church" and "the joke that we call the American medical system" could not be called, as he knew so many in the press would want to call Joe Stack, a right-winger, a Palin supporter, an enthusiastic guest at one of the Tea Parties.

It's all right that he defended a jihad terror leader and then tried to cover up that fact, because he wrote about how the Qur'an doesn't justify terrorism. Got that?

If anyone can direct me to Hussain's writings about the Qur'an, please write me at director [at] jihadwatch.org.

"W.H. affirms confidence in Islam envoy," by Josh Gerstein at Politico, February 22:

The White House is expressing its confidence in a White House counsel's office attorney President Barack Obama recently named as U.S. envoy to the Islamic Conference, Rashad Hussain, despite his concession last week that he made ill-considered statements in 2004 about Bush-era terrorism prosecutions.

"Were you misled? Do you maintain confidence in this man the president wants to be his delegate to the Islamic Conference?" Fox News's Wendell Goler asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at the daily briefing Monday afternoon.

"We continue to have confidence," Gibbs said. "This is an individual that has written extensively on why some have used religious devices like the Qur'an to justify this [terrorism] and why that is absolutely wrong. And has garnered support from both the left and the right so we obviously have confidence."

Hussain initially said he had no recollection of comments he was reported to have made in 2004 portraying the Bush Administration's treatment of alleged Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian and the handling other terrorism cases as "politically-motivated persecutions."

However, after POLITICO obtained an audio recording of the event, Hussain acknowledged that he made the comments and that he had earlier approached a magazine about removing them, which it did....

Islamophobia at its most intense: "He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization."

More on this story. "Najibullah Zazi pleads guilty in New York terrorism plot," from CNN, February 22 (thanks to Mackie):

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States.

In an appearance before a federal judge, Zazi admitted his role in the conspiracy, saying, "In spring 2008, I conspired with others to join the Taliban, to fight along with the Taliban against the United States."

"We were recruited to al Qaeda instead," he said.

He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization.

The terms of the plea deal were sealed. Sentencing is set for June 25.

Zazi was arrested in September in an alleged plot to build and detonate bombs in New York around the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

While at a terrorist training camp, he "had discussions with al Qaeda about targets including the New York City subway system," Zazi said in court Monday.

He said he learned how to make explosives at the camp and e-mailed himself bomb-making instructions to use once he returned to the United States.

"In early September 2009, I drove to New York with materials to build bombs," he said.

Federal officials have said the conspiracy involving Zazi represents the most serious terrorism plot since 9/11 and the investigation is intense and ongoing....

Lord, what fools these dhimmis be! An update on this story. "Lockerbie bomber Megrahi living in luxury villa six months after being at 'death's door,'" by Andrew Alderson and Robert Mendick for the Telegraph, February 20 (thanks to Zach):

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is living with his family in a luxury villa in Libya six months after he was released from jail on compassionate grounds because he had less than three months to live.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, no longer receives hospital treatment after ending the course of chemotherapy that he had been given after returning to his homeland last August.

Professor Karol Sikora, the London-based doctor who examined Megrahi and predicted he would be dead by last October, admitted this weekend that the fact the bomber is still alive might be "difficult" for the families of the 270 victims of the attack....

No kidding, really?

"There Is No Compulsion In Religion, But There May Be A Beating Or Two" Alert: "Pakistani Christian Beaten for Refusing to Convert to Islam," from Compass Direct News, February 22:

KALLUR KOT, Pakistan, February 22 (CDN) -- The four older Muslim brothers of a 26-year-old Christian beat him unconscious here earlier this month because he refused their enticements to convert to Islam, the victim told Compass. Riaz Masih, whose Christian parents died when he was a boy, said his continual refusal to convert infuriated his siblings and the Muslim cleric who raised them, Moulvi Peer Akram-Ullah. On Feb. 8, he said, his brothers ransacked his house in this Punjab Province town 233 kilometers (145 miles) southwest of Islamabad. "They threatened that it was the breaking point now, and that I must convert right now or face death," Masih said. "They said killing an infidel is not a sin, instead it's righteousness in the sight of Allah almighty."

Masih begged them to give him a few minutes to consider converting and then tried to escape, but they grabbed him and beat him with bamboo clubs, leaving him for dead, he said.

"They vented their fury and left me, thinking that I was dead, but God Almighty resuscitated me to impart His good news of life," he said.

Masih told Compass that his brothers and Akram-Ullah have been trying to coerce him to convert to Islam since his brothers converted.

"They had been coercing me to embrace Islam since the time of their recantation of Christianity," Masih said, "but for the last one month they began to escalate immense pressure on me to convert."

He grew up with no chance to attend church services because of his siblings' conversion to Islam, he said, adding that in any event there was no church where he grew up. He knew two Christian families, however, and he said his love for the Christian faith in which he was originally raised grew as he persistently refused to convert to Islam.

He said Akram-Ullah and his brothers offered him 1 million rupees (US$11,790), a spacious residence and a woman of his choice to marry in order to lure him to Islam, but he declined....

And behind Door Number Three...

And all it cost was thirteen dead. Ain't multiculturalism grand? "Ft. Hood suspect was Army dilemma: His extreme views possibly overlooked in favor of diversity," by Bryan Bender for the Boston Globe, February 22 (thanks to Block Ness):

WASHINGTON - Army superiors were warned about the radicalization of Major Nidal Malik Hasan years before he allegedly massacred 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, but did not act in part because they valued the rare diversity of having a Muslim psychiatrist, military investigators wrote in previously undisclosed reports.

An obvious "problem child'' spouting extremist views, Hasan made numerous statements that were not protected by the First Amendment and were grounds for discharge by violating his military oath, investigators found.

Examples of Hasan's radical behavior have previously been disclosed in press accounts based on interviews with unnamed Army officials, including his defense of suicide bombings and assertions that Islamic law took priority over his allegiance to the United States.

But the Pentagon's careful documentation of individual episodes dating back to 2005 and the subsequent inaction of his superiors have not been made public before.

The Globe was permitted to review the Army's more complete findings on the condition that it not name supervisory officers who did not act, some of whom are facing possible disciplinary action.

In searching for explanations for why superiors did not move to revoke Hasan's security clearances or expel him from the Army, the report portrays colleagues and superiors as possibly reluctant to lose one of the Army's few Muslim mental health specialists.

The report concludes that because the Army had attracted only one Muslim psychiatrist in addition to Hasan since 2001, "it is possible some were afraid'' of losing such diversity "and thus were willing to overlook Hasan's deficiencies as an officer.''

"Several of his supervisors explicitly mentioned Hasan's potential to inform our understanding of Islamic culture and how it relates to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' the investigators found.

In one classroom incident not previously described by the Army - which parallels another episode around the same time that has received press attention - Hasan gave a presentation in August 2007 titled "Is the War on Terrorism a War on Islam: An Islamic Perspective.''

But the presentation was "shut down'' by the instructor because Hasan appeared to be defending terrorism. Witnesses told investigators that Hasan became visibly upset as a result.

"The students reported his statements to superior officers, who took no action on the basis that Major Hasan's statements were protected by the First Amendment,'' the investigation found. "They did not counsel Hasan and consider administrative action, even though not all protected speech is compatible with continued military service.''

It added: "Soldiers have rights under the First Amendment, but they are not the same rights as civilians. . . . [T]hese statements violated the Army . . . standard to hold a security clearance.''...

He is singing about jihad plots. "New York City Terrorism Suspect to Plead Guilty," from FoxNews, February 22 (thanks to all who sent this in):

The key suspect in an alleged plot to attack New York City with homemade bombs has begun cooperating with investigators and is preparing to enter a guilty plea, Fox News has confirmed.

Najibullah Zazi, 24, has begun talking to authorities and plans a guilty plea that could come as early as Monday, according to law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

As important as a plea would be, Zazi may be far more valuable to investigators as a source for information about co-conspirators in the United States and Pakistan.

Three people with inside knowledge of the investigation confirmed that the jailed Zazi recently volunteered information about the alleged bomb plot during a meeting with his attorney and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. The sit-down, known as a proffer session, typically signals that a defendant has begun cooperating in a bid for a plea deal.

Zazi -- accused of receiving explosives training in an Al Qaeda terrorism camp in Pakistan -- told prosecutors that he was armed with bomb-making components while en route to New York City last year, but flushed them down the toilet in a New York City apartment after getting spooked by a traffic stop on the George Washington Bridge while entering the city, the people said....

Here is Allen West's superb address at our FDI event. Pamela has more video here. Don't miss it -- it was a stirring event and the reviews have been enthusiastic.

Here also are two snapshots from CPAC: the first features David Pietrusza, author of the wonderfully informative and entertaining books 1920 and 1960, and the second is of Nonie Darwish, author of the sobering and enlightening Now They Call Me Infidel and Cruel and Usual Punishment. Both Pietrusza and Darwish are standing with some "greasy Islamophobe" (that's latter-day code for "truth-teller").

"Suicide attacks are the best because they inflict the greatest damage on the enemy."

"Terrorism: Al-Qaeda 'urges young Turks to wage Jihad,'" from AKI, February 22 (thanks to Twostellas):

Dubai, 22 Feb. (AKI) - A video allegedly by Al-Qaeda's media arm features a young Turkish suicide bomber urging young Turks to follow his example. The video posted on Islamist websites on Monday traces the man's final journey to Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, where he is seen apparently carrying out a car bombing against a US military base.

The 22-minute video begins with the young suicide bomber, Muadh, preparing to travel to Afghanistan to carry out his deadly mission.

Later, the video captures his final moments, as he carries out a car bomb attack against a US military base. The video bears the logo of Al-Qaeda's As-Sahab media arm.

"Suicide attacks are the best because they inflict the greatest damage on the enemy," says Muadh, speaking in Turkish with Arabic subtitles.

"Didn't you see what happened on 11 September? It was an operation that changed the course of history.

"The financial cost and the human cost in terms of lives lost is still not known," Muadh says.

Note how he glories in death and destruction.

The video is entitled 'Suicide attack against the headquarters of US forces in Khost' and is the latest in a series of propaganda films by Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan called 'The killing of Crusaders and apostates in Afghanistan'....

Crusaders and apostates.

It may seem like an absurd question, but I recently participated in a FrontPage symposium about an article by Fawaz Gerges in The Nation about how Hamas was doing just that. Here is an excerpt:

In a recent article in The Nation, titled "The Transformation of Hamas," Prof. Fawaz A. Gerges argues that Hamas is ready to accept Israel and to become a moderate and democratic force if it is engaged properly by the U.S. and the West.

What reality is there to this proposition? Today Frontpage Symposium has assembled a distinguished panel to discuss the supposed "transformation" of Hamas. Our guests are:

Kenneth Levin, a clinical instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a Princeton-trained historian, and a commentator on Israeli politics. He is the author of The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege.

P. David Hornik, a freelance writer and translator living in Beersheva, Israel, and a frequent contributor to Frontpagemag.com and Pajamas Media.

and

Robert Spencer, a scholar of Islamic history, theology, and law and the director of Jihad Watch. His latest book is The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran. He is coauthor (with Pamela Geller) of the forthcoming book, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America.

[Editorial note: I emailed Prof. Fawaz A. Gerges several times to invite him to join this discussion, but my invitations went unanswered.]

FP: Kenneth Levin, David Hornik and Robert Spencer, welcome to Frontpage Symposium.

Kenneth Levin, tell us your thoughts on Prof. Fawaz A. Gerges's article. Is Hamas truly ready to embrace Israelis? This means they are ready to abolish Article 11 of their Charter, which is the sole purpose for their existence. This is a bit confusing. What’s your angle?

Levin: Thanks Jamie.

Gerges’s article is simply pro-Hamas propaganda; it is shilling for a murderous organization dedicated to an explicitly genocidal agenda. Unfortunately, this has become standard fare for pieces touching on Israel in the pages of The Nation.

The Hamas charter that you mention not only calls for Israel’s annihilation but asserts the killing of all Jews to be a religious duty, and Hamas leaders continually reiterate their eternal fealty to the charter’s declarations. Just recently, senior Hamas figure Osama Abu Khaled shot down claims of any moderating of the organization’s goals and asserted that its objective remains Israel’s destruction. In addition, Hamas-controlled schools and children’s television continue to indoctrinate their young audience in the virtues of devoting themselves to the murder of Jews.

Gerges supports his stance by citing Hamas statements in the vein of being prepared to accept an Israeli retreat to the pre-1967 cease-fire lines. But Hamas leaders have repeatedly explained that they view any such “acceptance” as an interim step on the path to eliminating Israel. The same is true with regard to Hamas’s willingness to enter into truces. While Gerges asserts that this too is evidence of the organization’s “moderating,” Hamas has made clear that it views truces as vehicles to facilitate its strengthening its own forces until it is in a better position to pursue Israel’s annihilation.

In expounding his thesis, Gerges makes much of other indirect “evidence” as well, “evidence” as meaningless as the examples cited.

Among his other claims, Gerges asserts that the task of governing Gaza and satisfying the needs of its people is one of the factors pushing Hamas to moderation. This has for almost a century been a recurrent – and empty – line of argument proffered by apologists for despotic, murderous regimes. Many were the voices in 1933 that declared Hitler’s rise to the position of chancellor in Germany and his need to govern the nation would inevitably push him to moderate his murderous objectives.

In a similar vein, Gerges cites Hamas’s violent confrontations with other Islamist groups in Gaza as additional evidence of its moderation. Of course, these confrontations are no more than struggles for dominance among competing parties.

After the 1934 “Night of the Long Knives,” when Hitler, apparently fearing a potentially competing power base, had Ernst Roehm and other leaders of the Nazi Sturm Abteilung, the SA, murdered, numerous voices in the West chose to interpret the move as Hitler’s eliminating Nazi extremists and as evidence of his own moderating.

Having established, to his apparent satisfaction, Hamas’s “political evolution and deepening moderation,” Gerges then gets to his predictable conclusion: The real problem is not Hamas and its genocidal agenda but Israel – which, Gerges suggests, is the true “hardline” and “extremist” party in the conflict. The key obstacle to peace is Israel and its refusal to make the concessions that would free Hamas to go public with its new moderation and allow it to follow its heart and abandon more explicitly its goal of killing all Jews.

This is what passes for serious discourse on the Israeli-Arab conflict in The Nation and likeminded anti-Israel outlets.

FP: Robert Spencer, what do you make of Gerges’s article and Kenneth Levin's comments? And I would like you to expand on this idea that Hamas would or could somehow stray from Islamic orthodoxy regarding Jews and territories that are considered to belong to the House of Islam.

Spencer: Jamie, Kenneth Levin is entirely correct, and his observations are important. Gerges's article is indeed, as Levin says, "simply pro-Hamas propaganda...shilling for a murderous organization dedicated to an explicitly genocidal agenda." And it is crucial to bear in mind that "the Hamas charter that you mention not only calls for Israel's annihilation but asserts the killing of all Jews to be a religious duty, and Hamas leaders continually reiterate their eternal fealty to the charter's declarations."

Of course, in contrast to this, Gerges insists that "there are unmistakable signs that the religiously based radical movement has subtly changed its uncompromising posture on Israel." But not even Gerges could bring himself to assert that there have been any signs at all, subtle or not, that Hamas has changed its uncompromising posture on Islam, and that makes all the difference. For as long as Hamas remains a group committed to what it regards as Islamic purity, it also remains committed to the Islamic principle that land that is considered to have once belonged to the dar al-Islam belongs by right to the dar al-Islam forever. It remains committed to the idea that, as the twentieth-century Pakistani jihad theorist Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi put it, non-Muslims have "absolutely no right to seize the reins of power in any part of God's earth nor to direct the collective affairs of human beings according to their own misconceived doctrines." If they do, "the believers would be under an obligation to do their utmost to dislodge them from political power and to make them live in subservience to the Islamic way of life."

This means that if Hamas remains an Islamic group, it remains committed to the destruction of Israel. The strategy that Hamas may pursue in order to attain this goal may change enough to deceive Fawaz Gerges or, if he is in on the joke, then the readers of The Nation, but the goal remains the same.

It is also important to note in light of Gerges' article that Hamas also, insofar as it continues to be an Islamic religious party, also believes in the acceptability of deceiving unbelievers, particularly in wartime. This is based on a hadith in which Muhammad says that lying is permissible in war, and others in which he says "war is deceit." Also, Qur'an 3:28 warns Muslims not to take unbelievers as "friends or helpers" (َأَوْلِيَا -- a word that means more than casual friendship, but something like alliance), "unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them." This is a foundation of the idea that believers may legitimately deceive unbelievers when under pressure. The word used for "guard" in the Arabic is tuqātan (تُقَاةً), the verbal noun from taqiyyatan -- hence the increasingly familiar term taqiyya. Ibn Kathir says that the phrase given above as "unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them" means that "believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers" may "show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ad-Darda' said, 'We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.' Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, 'The Tuqyah [taqiyya] is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.'"

While many Muslim spokesmen today maintain that taqiyya is solely a Shi'ite doctrine, shunned by Sunnis, the great Islamic scholar Ignaz Goldziher points out that while it was formulated by Shi'ites, "it is accepted as legitimate by other Muslims as well, on the authority of Qur'an 3:28." The Sunnis of Al-Qaeda practice it today.

It is much more likely that Hamas is practicing taqiyya in appearing to accept the existence of Israel and being willing to negotiate, than that they have actually abandoned Islamic doctrine on these matters.

FP: Thank you Robert Spencer.

There is much more. Read it all.

Faleh Almaleki murdered his daughter, but we wouldn't want to appear Islamophobic. Would a non-Muslim who ran down his daughter in a car be spared the death penalty? Do you wonder about the answer? "Dad accused in 'honor killing' will not face death penalty," by Dustin Gardiner in The Arizona Republic, February 19 (thanks to Jed Babbin):

A Glendale man accused of slaying his daughter in an "honor killing" will not face the death penalty.

After sparring with the suspect's defense attorney over its death penalty review process, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has said it will not seek death for Faleh Almaleki, 49.

The Iraqi immigrant is accused of slaying his daughter, 20-year-old Noor Almaleki, for being "too Westernized."

Police say he used his Jeep Cherokee to run down his daughter and another woman in a Peoria parking lot Oct. 20. Noor Almaleki later died of her injuries.

Almaleki is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of leaving the scene of a serious accident. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The decision not to seek the death penalty comes after Almaleki's attorney, Billy Little, a public defender, asked a judge to take special precautions to ensure the County Attorney's Office wouldn't wrongly seek the death penalty because Almaleki is a Muslim.

Little requested that the office make public the process it uses to determine whether to seek capital punishment.

"An open process provides some level of assurance that there is no appearance that a Christian is seeking to execute a Muslim for racial, political, religious or cultural beliefs," Little wrote, referring to County Attorney Andrew Thomas' Christian faith....

Prosecutors said Almaleki has admitted killing his daughter because she disgraced the family by not following traditional Iraqi or Muslim values.

They liken the case to honor killings that occur in the Middle East, Africa and other parts of the world. In tribal societies where the practice occurs, male family members feel they must kill a rebellious female relative who shames them by not adhering to traditional values.

Noor Almaleki had reportedly married a man in Iraq and returned to Arizona to live with a boyfriend and his mother in Surprise, police said.

"A sizeable number of Sikhs lived in the tribal belt, particularly Aurakzai Agency, till the Taliban imposed jiziya or religious tax on them in 2009," in accordance with Qur'an 9:29. "Three Sikhs beheaded by Taliban in Pak," from the Economic Times, February 22 (thanks to all who sent this in):

NEW DELHI: In what threatens to cast a shadow on the upcoming Indo-Pakistan talks scheduled for February 25, three Sikh youths were beheaded by the Taliban in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) region after they allegedly refused to convert to Islam. Their severed heads were dumped at a gurudwara in Peshawar.

The Sikh youths -- identified as Jaspal Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Baronat Singh -- had gone to realise the money owed to them by some people in the FATA region adjoining Afghanistan, when they were abducted by the Taliban militia. They were allegedly told by the Taliban to embrace Islam or face death. When the Sikh youth refused, their heads were chopped and sent to the Bhai Joga Singh Gurudwara in Peshawar.

A sizeable number of Sikhs lived in the tribal belt, particularly Aurakzai Agency, till the Taliban imposed jiziya or religious tax on them in 2009. Most members of the community, faced with increasing pressure from the Taliban to convert to Islam, have since fled to cities across Pakistan.

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Another Copt Killed as Alleged Shooters Plead Not Guilty in Egypt," from Compass Direct News, February 16:

ISTANBUL, February 16 (CDN) -- Three men accused of killing six Coptic worshipers and a security guard pleaded not guilty on Saturday (Feb. 13) as the Coptic community mourned the loss of yet another victim of apparent anti-Christian violence.

The three men allegedly sprayed a crowd with gunfire after a Christmas service in Nag Hammadi on Jan. 6. In addition to the seven that were killed, nine others were wounded. The killings were the worst act of anti-Coptic violence since January 2000, when 20 Copts were killed in sectarian fighting in Al-Kosheh.

Defendants Mohammed al-Kammuni, Qorshi Abul Haggag and Hendawi Sayyed appeared Saturday in an emergency security court in Qena, a city 39 miles (63 kilometers) north of Luxor.

In front of the packed courtroom, the three men said little at the hearing other than to enter their plea before Judge Mohammed Adul Magd, according to one attorney present at the hearing. The men are charged with premeditated murder, public endangerment and damaging property.

Numerous Muslim attorneys volunteered to defend them for free as seven attorneys representing the interests of the victims looked on. The next hearing is set for March 20.

Even as the men entered their pleas, the Coptic community mourned the loss of yet another Christian, this one shot dead by police. On the evening of Feb. 9, Malak Saad, a 25-year-old Coptic carpenter living in Teta in Menoufia Province, was walking outside a meeting hall that police had seized from Christians when he was shot through his chest at close range. He died instantly.

Scant details are known about the shooting. Police surrounded the entire village and closed it to all reporters. In a statement, officials at the Interior Ministry said the Saad was killed by mistake when a bullet discharged while a police guard was cleaning his weapon. The Interior Ministry said the shooter has been detained and will be tried in a military court. Such courts are traditionally closed to the public.

One of Saad's cousins, who requested anonymity, disputed the Interior Ministry's version of the incident. He said that the guard had used the bathroom inside the meeting hall and had come outside of the building when he exchanged a few words with Saad and shot him at close range. The bullet went completely through Saad's chest.

The building in question had been Coptic-owned for 16 years, but two days prior to the shooting, police seized it after a group of Muslims started a rumor that the owners planned to convert the hall into a church building.

Disputes over worship venues are common in Egypt. Copts and other Christians are extremely restricted in opening or even maintaining houses of worship because of complex government statutes. Anti-Christian elements within Egyptian society often use the statutes to harass Christians, Christian leaders said....

Sharia forbids dhimmis to build new houses of worship or repair old ones. Even though Egypt is not a Sharia state, that is what is behind these "complex government statutes."

Clueless watchdog makes shocking discovery several years late: "IAEA: Iran's nukes 'also for army,'" from the Jerusalem Post, February 21 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

Israel praised an International Atomic Energy Agency report released on Thursday that says Iran may be developing a nuclear warhead.

"The new IAEA report deals more sharply and clearly than its predecessors with the military aspects of Iran's nuclear program," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday.

Noting that the report is the first during the term of new IAEA chief Yukiya Amano of Japan, Israel said it "establishes that the agency has a lot of trustworthy information about the past and present activities that testify to the military tendencies of the Iranian program."

Among these activities were the recently declared decisions to enrich uranium to 20 percent and the continued construction of the Qom nuclear facility, kept secret until it was discovered by Western intelligence agencies and made public in recent months.

The UN nuclear agency report suggested for the first time that Teheran had either resumed such work or had never stopped when US intelligence thought it did....

Yet the Fantasy-Based Policymaking continues.

Persecution in Iraq, persecution in Egypt, both jihad-motivated, and Obama and other Western leaders are worried about "Islamophobia." "Fifth Christian killed in a week in north Iraq," from AFP, February 20 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi police said they found a Christian shopkeeper shot to death in the restive northern city of Mosul on Saturday, the fifth Christian killing in a week thought to be related to March elections.

Adnan al-Dahan, a 57-year-old Syrian Orthodox, was found with bullet wounds to his head in the northern Mosul district of al-Belladiyat, police and his relatives said.

Dahan had been kidnapped from his grocery shop last week in the neighbourhood of Al-Habda, also in northern Mosul, according to a police officer who did not want to be named....

Dahan was the fifth Christian to have been killed during the past week in Mosul, which is located about 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Baghdad and has a Christian population of between 2,000 and 3,000....

In late 2008, a systematic campaign of killings and targeted violence killed 40 Christians and saw more than 12,000 flee Mosul.

The lead paragraph in this Telegraph article says that Sweden's reputation as a tolerant, liberal nation is suffering -- as if Swedes have suddenly become anti-Semitic. But when you read down into the article a bit, you see that it is actually Muslim immigrants who are responsible for the anti-Semitic attacks. So the problem is that Swedes have been too tolerant and liberal, in tolerating the planting and proliferation of a hateful, supremacist, and anti-Semitic ideology on Swedish soil.

"Jews leave Swedish city after sharp rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes," by Nick Meo in the Telegraph, February 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Sweden's reputation as a tolerant, liberal nation is being threatened by a steep rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes in the city of Malmo.

When she first arrived in Sweden after her rescue from a Nazi concentration camp, Judith Popinski was treated with great kindness.

She raised a family in the city of Malmo, and for the next six decades lived happily in her adopted homeland - until last year.

In 2009, a chapel serving the city's 700-strong Jewish community was set ablaze. Jewish cemeteries were repeatedly desecrated, worshippers were abused on their way home from prayer, and "Hitler" was mockingly chanted in the streets by masked men.

"I never thought I would see this hatred again in my lifetime, not in Sweden anyway," Mrs Popinski told The Sunday Telegraph.

"This new hatred comes from Muslim immigrants. The Jewish people are afraid now."

This article matter-of-factly notes that real neo-Nazis are allied with jihadis, contrary to the Leftist/Charles Johnson myth that neo-Nazis are anti-jihad:

Malmo's Jews, however, do not just point the finger at bigoted Muslims and their fellow racists in the country's Neo-Nazi fringe. They also accuse Ilmar Reepalu, the Left-wing mayor who has been in power for 15 years, of failing to protect them.

Of course. Why should he protect them from a threat he refuses to acknowledge exists?

Mr Reepalu, who is blamed for lax policing, is at the centre of a growing controversy for saying that what the Jews perceive as naked anti-Semitism is in fact just a sad, but understandable consequence of Israeli policy in the Middle East.

While his views are far from unusual on the European liberal-left, which is often accused of a pro-Palestinian bias, his Jewish critics say they encourage young Muslim hotheads to abuse and harass them.

The future looks so bleak that by one estimate, around 30 Jewish families have already left for Stockholm, England or Israel, and more are preparing to go.

With its young people planning new lives elsewhere, the remaining Jewish households, many of whom are made up of Holocaust survivors and their descendants, fear they will soon be gone altogether. Mrs Popinski, an 86-year-old widow, said she has even encountered hostility when invited to talk about the Holocaust in schools.

"Muslim schoolchildren often ignore me now when I talk about my experiences in the camps," she said. "It is because of what their parents tell them about Jews. The hatreds of the Middle East have come to Malmo. Schools in Muslim areas of the city simply won't invite Holocaust survivors to speak any more."

Hate crimes, mainly directed against Jews, doubled last year with Malmo's police recording 79 incidents and admitting that far more probably went unreported. As of yet, no direct attacks on people have been recorded but many Jews believe it is only a matter of time in the current climate.

The city's synagogue has guards and rocket-proof glass in the windows, while the Jewish kindergarten can only be reached through thick steel security doors.[...]

Muslims are now estimated to make up about a fifth of Malmo's population of nearly 300,000.

"This new hatred from a group 40,000-strong is focused on a small group of Jews," Mrs Popinski said, speaking in a sitting room filled with paintings and Persian carpets.

"Some Swedish politicians are letting them do it, including the mayor. Of course the Muslims have more votes than the Jews."

The worst incident was last year during Israel's brief war in Gaza, when a small demonstration in favour of Israel was attacked by a screaming mob of Arabs and Swedish leftists, who threw bottles and firecrackers as the police looked on.

"I haven't seen hatred like that for decades," Mrs Popinski said. "It reminded me of what I saw in my youth. Jews feel vulnerable here now." [...]

The mayor insisted to The Sunday Telegraph that he was opposed to anti-Semitism, but added: "I believe these are anti-Israel attacks, connected to the war in Gaza.

"We want Malmo to be cosmopolitan and safe for everybody and we have taken action. I have started a dialogue forum. There haven't been any attacks on Jewish people, and if Jews from the city want to move to Israel that is not a matter for Malmo." [...]

Mr Eilenberg said he and his wife considered moving to Stockholm where Jews feel safer than in Malmo. "But we decided not to because in five years time I think it will be just as bad there," he said.

"This is happening all over Europe. I have cousins who are leaving their homes in Amsterdam and France for the same reason as me."...

Cue the obligatory mainstream media moral equivalence -- but as you read this, remember that Muslims are not leaving Sweden because of hate crimes, Jews are:

Malmo's Jews are not the only ones to suffer hate crimes.

At the city's Islamic Centre, the director Bejzat Becirov pointed out a bullet hole in the window behind the main reception desk.

Mr Becirov, who arrived in 1962 from the former Yugoslavia, said that windows were regularly smashed, pig's heads had been left outside the mosque, and outbuildings burnt down - probably the acts of Neo-Nazis who have also baited Jews in the past.

He said that the harassment of Jews by some young Muslims was "embarrassing" to his community. Many of them are unemployed and confined to life on bleak estates where the Scandinavian dream of prosperity and equality seemed far away.

For many of Malmo's white Swedish population, meanwhile, the racial problems are bewildering after years of liberal immigration policies....

If Swedish elites had allowed for realistic education about Islam instead of spreading soothing Religion of Peace™ lies while Muslim immigrants poured into Sweden, no one would be surprised.

Last shown on Palestinian TV on February 7, 2010

"Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs in return is the garden of Paradise: they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain..." -- Qur'an 9:111

"Say (O Muhammad): O ye who are Jews! If ye claim that ye are favoured of Allah apart from (all) mankind, then long for death if ye are truthful." -- Qur'an 62:6

"The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death." -- Afghan jihadist Maulana Inyadullah

"We love death more than you love life!" -- New York jihadist Adis Medunjanin

Note that this death-loving mother said this on "moderate" Fatah-controlled television. "Mother celebrates son's Martyrdom death: 'All mothers should sacrifice their child for Palestine,'" by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik for Palestinian Media Watch, February 21:

Palestinian Authority TV news recently chose to feature a Palestinian mother promoting her son's death as a positive goal.

Upon learning of her son's death in an Israeli air strike, the mother explained that she had always hoped for her son's Shahada - death as a Martyr -- and recommended that other mothers likewise "sacrifice their child for Palestine."

The words of another woman, chosen by PA TV news for the pre-recorded news report, described how Palestinian society sees Martyrs as grooms. This is based on the Islamic tradition, promoted actively by the PA and Hamas, that Martyrs will marry 72 virgins in Paradise.

PA TV news report:

Mother upon news of son's death in an Israeli air strike: "We had always hoped for his [my son's] Martyrdom (Shahada), knowing he wanted to die as a Martyr (Shahid). Every time he went out, we would say to him, 'May Allah be with you.' We knew that he wanted to die as a Martyr. Praise to Allah, he sought Martyrdom, and he achieved it. My message to every mother is to sacrifice her child for Palestine." Second woman: "By Allah, we welcome every Martyr as if he were a groom among us." [PA TV (Fatah), Feb. 11, 2010]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that these two ideas -- that death is a higher value than life and that Martyrdom death leads to a wedding between the Martyr and the virgins of Paradise -- have been promoted actively by both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for years.

Palestinian schoolbooks teach children that aspiring to death is better than life:

"O heroes, Allah has promised you victory ... Do not talk yourselves into flight... Your enemies seek life while you seek death." They seek spoils to fill their empty stomachs while you seek a Garden [Paradise] as wide as are the heavens and the earth... Death is not bitter in the mouth of the believers. These drops of blood that gush from your bodies will be transformed tomorrow into blazing red meteors that will fall down upon the heads of your enemies." [Reading and Texts Part II, Grade 8, p. 16. Schoolbook currently in use in PA schools.]...

Read it all.

Raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the jihad. "Feds Say Men Funded Terror With Playstations: Here's betting ICE agents said, 'Game over,'" by Janie Campbell for NBCMIami.com, February 20 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Cue the sad noise when Mario dies by mushroom: federal agents have charged three Miami businessmen with conspiring to smuggle videogame consoles to a shopping center in Paraguay that funds political terrorist group Hezbollah.

Khaled T. Safadi, Ulises Talavera, and Emilio Gonzalez-Neira were arrested Thursday following a nearly three-year investigation of their Miami-based export and freight-forwarding businesses. ICE agents working with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force say the three falsified invoices and export paperwork and used a network of fake addresses to mask the true destination of thousands of Sony cameras and Playstations: the Galeria Page Mall in Cuidad del Este.

The U.S. Treasury has identified Galeria Page as the headquarters for Lebanon-based Hezbollah in the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; they say the manager pays a regular quota to Hezbollah based on the center's sales.

Federal prosecutors say wire transfer payments to the Miami shippers from their contact at Galeria Page, Paraguayan national Samer Mehdi, were routed through various other business to conceal their origin. Mehdi has also been charged but remains at large.

A source said the alleged smuggling ring made "hundreds of millions" of dollars for Hezbollah....

...out the window of his hotel room. "Makeshift bomb thrown at Cairo synagogue, no dead," from Associated Press, February 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):

CAIRO - A man hurled a suitcase containing a makeshift bomb at Cairo's main downtown synagogue in the early hours Sunday morning, but there were no injuries or damage, police said.

According to the police report, a man entered a hotel located on the fourth floor of a building across from the synagogue at around 3 a.m. and as he was checking in, abruptly threw his suitcase out the window.

The case contained four containers of gasoline each attached to a glass bottle of sulfuric acid meant to shatter on impact and ignite the makeshift bomb, said police, who speculated the man may have panicked.

The bag, which also contained clothes, cotton strips, matches and a lighter, fell onto the sidewalk in front of the hotel and briefly caught fire before being extinguished. There were no injuries and no damage to the historic synagogue....

Last Thursday, the anniversary day of the Great Islamic Revolution in Iran, everything went off as the men who run the Islamic Republic of Iran wanted, without a hitch or a hiccup. The Internet sites had been shut down, the leaders arrested, the bloodcurdling threats made, the traffic carefully monitored, the streets flooded with primitives bussed in from the countryside, swelling the ranks of the Basiji and the army, all of them working together to show the dissidents just who was boss. Those who believe that Good Always Triumphs should take a closer look at the last unappetizing century. Hitler and the Japanese militarists were defeated, but not because Germans and Japanese took to the streets. They were defeated by the armed might of the Allies. This was summed up at Wellesley College at a rally attended by, among others, lean lecturer Vladimir Nabokov, who soberly observed: "Morally, democracy is invincible. Physically, that side will win which has the better guns." Take that word "guns" and perform the necessary re-fashioning, and the point is this: force is sometimes the only thing that works.

The Iranian regime is morally bankrupt. But it was always morally bankrupt, from its earlier days. What obscured this was the fact that the "advanced" people in Iran, those who for some reason are called "on the left, " had early on decided that the Shah's regime was so corrupt, and its enforcers, the Savak, so brutal, that it had to go. They did not think that they needed to worry about those Muslim reactionaries around the Ayatollah Khomeini. Who could, in advanced Tehran, possibly take such people seriously? Who could possibly believe that such people as Khomeini might triumph? Before he came to power and consolidated his iron grip, Khomeini spoke soothingly about "democracy" and invoked, too, other of the magic phrases that so often cloud the minds of those who hear them.

Over the past five years, as the Americans have been caught in Tarbaby Iraq, and now as they are caught, in a different way, with a slightly lesser Tarbaby Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been allowed to march, steadily, without any interruption except, just possibly, a few months of prudently waiting, right after the invasion of Iraq, to see if the Americans were so much on the warpath that this time they would not stop at the Treaty of Erzrum line, but cross it, bringing the fight beyond Saddam Hussein right to the Islamic Republic itself. It never happened, and instead of Iraq ending in a Light-Unto-the-Muslim-Nations, as some in the Bush Administration naively assumed could or would happen, the Administration found American forces stuck there, and also doing what Ahmad Chalabi and other Shi'a exiles always hoped they would do: assuring that power in Iraq was transferred, and forever, from Sunni Arabs to Shi'a Arabs, never to be relinquished. That meant not that Iran had necessarily become the new power in Iraq, for many of the Iraqi Shi'a are not friendly to Iran, and the sense of being Arab, as opposed to being Persian, is sufficiently powerful for some to overcome any pan-Shi'ist appeal. And so far the appeal has not been made, as the Islamic Republic of Iran still tries to overcome Sunni Arab suspicions, in order to present itself as the plausible leader of the Muslims against the Infidels.

And now the Americans, even as they withdraw, slowly and stickily, from Iraq, have transferred their main military effort to Afghanistan, on the other side of Iran. But with American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, that does not make the Americans feel more confident of their ability to take on Iran's nuclear project, but less. For they are fearful -- wrongly, I think - of what the Iranians might do to the American troops on either side of Iran. The reason not to be fearful is that in Iraq, the Iranians are not quite as powerful or attractive as some imagine. Ayatollah Sistani is not impressed with them. The Shi'a who are said to be "pro-Iranian" are not really impressed with the Ahmadinejad regime, but are more worried about a possible attempt by Sunni Arabs in Iraq, with the help of Sunnis outside Iraq, to re-take power. Yet this is most implausible, given that the Sunni Arabs constitute less than 20% of the population, and the Sunni population of Baghdad has gone way down, thanks to the Shi'a efforts of the last seven years. And the Sunni heartland, in Anbar and Diyala Provinces, is an area devoid of oil, that is, devoid of money to finance a revanchist movement. In the north, the Kurds, though mostly Sunni, are on the alert to resist any attempts by Sunni Arabs, the ones moved in by Saddam Hussein as part of his arabization of Kurdistan, to retake power in Mosul or Kirkuk.

Yet another CAIR leader linked to jihad terror. Will Newsweek, and the mainstream media in general, revise its assessment of this band of thugs? Don't hold your breath. "Dallas Islamic Leader Deported: Government links him to terror groups," by Scott Gordon for NBCDFW.com, February 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

An immigration judge in Dallas on Friday ordered an outspoken Islamic leader deported after the U.S. government alleged he had ties to terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Nabil Sadoun, a Dallas resident and former board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, was deported to his native Jordan after he failed to appear at his immigration hearing. He entered the U.S. in August 1993.

Sadoun's attorney, Kimberly Kinser, said he was already in Jordan and was unable to return to Texas because the government had taken his permanent resident card, or green card.

She denied he was tied to any terrorist groups....

In court, the judge made vague references to the government's voluminous motion to deport him, including alleged involvement with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The judge concluded Sadoun lied on government forms when he denied he was a member.

The judge also indicated there was evidence Sadoun contributed to the Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was the largest Islamic charity in the United States. Prosecutors convicted the group of funneling money to terrorist groups and several of its leaders were sent to prison. In the case, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator....

Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesman, said Sadoun left the organization several months ago.

Asked the reason for his departure, Hooper said, "Board members come on, (and) they leave."...

A non-answer from that skillful beekeeper of media bees, Honest Ibe Hooper.

The American people still have a right to know who is responsible for the coverup. The White House propagated false statements regarding who actually made the defense of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami al-Arian. Did White House officials know these statements were false when they made them?

"Obama Envoy Admits 'Ill Conceived' Remarks Defending Terror Suspect," from FOXNews.com, February 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Rashad Hussain, named by Obama as an envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, said Friday his comments at the time were "ill conceived or not well formulated."

President Obama's new Muslim envoy Rashad Hussain admitted Friday to once defending a man who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid a terrorist group -- an admission that contradicts earlier claims from the White House that the quotes had been mistakenly attributed to Hussain.

Hussain, named by Obama as an envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, said Friday his comments at the time were "ill conceived or not well formulated."

In 2004, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs quoted Hussain saying at a seminar on Muslim issues that Sami al-Arian was the victim of "politically motivated persecutions" after al-Arian, a university professor, was charged in 2003 with heading U.S. operations of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to aid the group -- designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist group since 1997 -- and was sentenced to more than four years in prison.

The Web version of the 2004 article in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs was later edited to delete all of Hussain's comments. Editor Delinda Hanley told Fox News last week she believed the change was made in February 2009.

Hanley didn't recall who requested the edit, but Hussain said Friday that he had contacted the publication to "raise concerns" about comments that he said were "without context, leaving a misimpression."

"Eventually, on their own accord, they modified the article," said Hussain, who was a Yale Law student and an editor of the Yale Law Journal at the time of the panel discussion.

The White House initially responded to the controversy by saying this week that the remarks about al-Arian were made by his daughter, Laila al-Arian. But on Friday, Hussain affirmed that the comments were his....

Yet another Which-Side-Is-Obama-On moment.

"Unindicted terrorist co-conspirator promotes radical agenda at U.S. mosques," by Aaron Klein at WorldNetDaily, February 19:

A radical Muslim group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas facilitated the controversial meeting last week between Muslim law students and John Brennan, President Obama's top adviser on counter-terrorism.

The Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, boasted in its website that it facilitated the meeting at New York University with Brennan. ISNA, whose members asked Brennan scores of questions during the event, stated the meeting was intended to initiate a "dialogue between government officials and Muslim American leaders to explore issues of national security."

The Justice Department named ISNA an unindicted co-conspirator in its case against the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, which was found guilty of raising money for the Hamas terrorist organization. Last year, Holy Land founders were given life sentences for "funneling $12 million to Hamas."

ISNA is known for its enforcement of Saudi-style Islam in mosques through the U.S.

Discover the Networks notes ISNA, through its affiliate, the North American Islamic Trust - a Saudi government-backed organization - reportedly holds the mortgages on 50 to 80 percent of all mosques in the U.S. and Canada.

"Thus the organization can freely exercise ultimate authority over these houses of worship and their teachings," states DTN.

ISNA was founded in 1981 by the Saudi-funded Muslim Students' Association. The two groups are still partners. WND previously attended an MSA event at which violence against the U.S. was urged by speakers.

"We are not Americans," shouted one speaker, Muhammad Faheed, at an MSA event attended by WND at Queensborough Community College in 2003.

"We are Muslims. [The U.S.] is going to deport and attack us! It is us versus them! Truth against falsehood! The colonizers and masters against the oppressed, and we will burn down the master's house!"...

Here is a fine article on our FDI event at CPAC -- a sharp contrast to the shoddy and biased Fox report. "CPAC Day 2 - Jihad: The Political Third Rail," by Mark J. Koenig at the NewsRealblog, February 20:

(All photos provided courtesy of Pamela Geller - see her coverage of this event here)

While the agenda for day 2 of the CPAC conference featured a long list of additional conservative speakers and panel discussions, I will be focusing here on what I believe to be the single most important event of this three-day conference. Jihad: The Political Third Rail, was a panel discussion presented by Freedom Defense Initiative, a new activist organization started by Pamela Geller of atlasshrugs.com, and the Freedom Center's own Robert Spencer, who runs jihadwatch.org.

This panel featured several American and international resistance fighters working to stop the spread of Islamic supremacism and most importantly, America's infiltration by Muslim sympathizers. The central focus of the event was the Islamic jihad against the West and how Islamic organizations are working to silence free speech both in Europe and America. Security was very tight for this event, and it drew a standing-room only crowd, as you can see in the photo below.

Pamela Geller started the discussion while video was shown of Muslim radicals rioting in multiple cities across Europe and North America over the past couple of years. She pointed out that this is not being reported in the major media, and that fully TWO THIRDS of the jihad attacks since 9-11 happened in 2009. As Pamela stated, there is a cover-up in progress and "Truth has become the new hate speech."

First to speak was Wafa Sultan, author of A God Who Hates, and one of three witnesses approved to testify for Geert Wilders in his hate speech trial. Ms. Sultan is a former Muslim and outspoken critic of Islam. She stated that she has had countless fatwas issued against her. After listing several recent jihadist attacks, including the Fort Hood massacre and the media's unwillingness to connect the dots, she asked: "Jihad - is this a word we dare not speak?" Sultan pointed out that Islam is not merely a religion - it is a dangerous totalitarian political ideology.

After pointing out that President Obama has appointed a special envoy to the OIC, Sultan explained that this envoy is closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. She asked: "Is this man's loyalty to Islam or to the U.S.?" She explained as well that this envoy has been working for some time now to stifle speech critical of Islam.

Body scanners were her next topic. Sultan stated that she believes this machine could be employed against Muslim radicals as a powerful psychological weapon because of its potential for humiliation. It should be noted that Sultan is trained as a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, she stated, after a fatwa was issued claiming these scanners violate Muslim teachings regarding modesty, our TSA agreed to capitulate and substitute pat-downs by members of the same sex for Muslims.

Finally, Sultan explained that Saudi Arabia is a mastermind of Islamic terror, and that Saudi King Abdullah has the power to enforce changes in Muslim behavior if he is brought under enough pressure from the U.S. government. "September 11th was tragic, but infiltration of Islam is a subject of equal concern" she said. "We must fight it."

Robert Spencer introduced the next speaker - Stephen Coughlin - a former Pentagon Islamic law specialist who was fired from his job for his analysis of Islamic infiltration. Coughlin provided a clear and cogent analysis of the Islamic threat. He explained that the question of whether or not these terrorists are following 'true' Islam is irrelevant from a fact-driven perspective. They have repeatedly told us these are the reasons they fight jihad.

A vital part of Coughlin's discussion dealt with the doctrine of abrogation within Islam. This doctrine states that Mohammed was given progressive revelation of Allah's will, and that the later Koranic verses supersede and nullify earlier contradictory more peaceful verses. This is something that is recognized by all schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Coughlin also demonstrated that since the 9-11 commission report, political correctness has expunged words such as Muslim, enemy, Al-Qaeda and Islam from official government documents including the Ft. Hood massacre report. Coughlin: "The 9-11 commission has been completely undermined. You cannot defeat an enemy you are not allowed to define. By definition, this administration has no strategy to defeat this enemy since they refuse to define it."...

Read it all.

Oh, and all that genocidal rhetoric against Israel? Just kidding!

"Imam Khamenei says Iran will never seek atom bomb," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, February 19 (thanks to Block Ness):

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Friday that the country neither believes in atomic bombs nor is it seeking to develop such weapons.

The Leader said the continuation of allegations by the West that the country is pursuing military objectives in its civilian nuclear program signals that the propaganda campaign against Iran has failed.

Iran has announced many times, he said, that its fundamentals and religious principles consider weapons of mass destruction as "illegal and haraam" -- meaning forbidden and prohibited according to Islamic rules....

Iran in no way believes in an atomic bomb, and it does not seek one, Imam Khamenei said....

Yes, but were his fingers crossed when he said it?

Defense from what? Here is an interesting email I received from Jihad Watch reader Terence:

I am a resident of Ireland and I've noticed recently that the website for MPAC ireland has been featuring a link reading "The Muslim Defence Force - I pledge allegiance" betwixt black and white flags of jihad. When the link is clicked, the viewer is redirected to this page, which doesn't really explain much. The site also features articles about implementing sharia in Ireland and reclaiming Al-Andalus. The editors are currently getting behind an English school for Saudi students in Ireland, funded by the Kingdom of S.A.

Also, in Ireland we are soon to receive the blessings of Sharia finance.

Eurabia Alert!

Journalistic irresponsibility and bias example #281,328,616, from "Know Your Conspiracies" in Newsweek, February 12 (thanks to Daniel). Number Nine on this list of crackpot conspiracy theories comes this gem:

9. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill and spread jihad.

Author Dave Gaubatz alleges that the mainstream group is both connected to Islamist terrorists and international jihad and is working to infiltrate the American government by placing interns on Capitol Hill.
Proponents: Dave Gaubatz, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), Joseph Farah.
Kernel of Truth? CAIR has tried to place interns on Capitol Hill, but as it points out, that's standard practice for advocacy groups of all types and allegiances. There's no proof of sinister motives or an effort to encourage international jihad.

Kernel of Truth? Kernel of Half-Truth is more like it. Newsweek does not see fit to mention that CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. It says nothing about how CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Also mentioned is the fact that several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror, and that CAIR's cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Honest Ibe Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements.

It's all just a conspiracy theory, you see, you greasy Islamophobes. So I guess CAIR is not an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas funding case. And that it has condemned Hamas and Hizballah as terror groups. And that none of its formal officials have been convicted of terror activities. We can relax and go back to sleep, because Newsweek says that everything is A-OK.

The inaugural event of the Freedom Defense Initiative this morning at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC, this morning was a big hit, with a standing-room-only crowd. I'm in the airport now and have tried repeatedly to upload the photo of the crowd, but have failed; so go here and here for photos from Atlas.

Meanwhile here is a Fox report that is quite lopsided simply because it focuses on me, when actually along with Pamela Geller I was moderating the event, and spoke very little. I suspect this reporter left before the second half of the program, but, well, I suppose half a report is better than none.

Indeed. The Somali jihadists have already threatened Kenya, Uganda and Burundi, and even Israel, and will eventually attempt an attack outside of Somalia. All of this activity points ultimately to the global nature of the jihadist agenda, above and beyond what are all too often written off as "regional" or "nationalistic" squabbles. In one al-Shabaab figure's own words, "We will attack them once we unite the Somali Holy fighters, then we will unite with our brothers in Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya to help them in their war against the infidels."

"Somalia, Again," by Alex Perry for the March 1 issue of Time:

On the night of Sept. 21 last year, U.S. diplomatic staff in South Africa were telephoned at home and told not to go to work the next day. A State Department official refused to explain the warning, but a Western intelligence officer in Africa told TIME the alarm was raised after a phone call from an al-Qaeda operative to a number in Cape Town was intercepted -- a call in which an attack on U.S. government buildings in South Africa was discussed. No attack took place, and after three days, the embassy in Pretoria and three consulates reopened. But with South Africa expecting half a million fans for the soccer World Cup this June and July, security officials are understandably jittery. Especially because of the origin of the phone call. It came, TIME was told, from Somalia. [...]

If Somalia's extremists are becoming an international threat, that's partly because of their cosmopolitan leadership. One sure result of war is refugees, and decades of fighting in Somalia have seen the rapid growth of a large Somali diaspora in places from Cape Town to Minneapolis. But not all who have been forced to make new lives far away from Africa have done so easily. The past few years have seen the arrival in Somalia of 200 to 300 young ethnic Somali men from the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, migrants' children returning to their ancestral homeland, according to diplomatic and intelligence sources in East Africa. A Western soldier working in Somalia says these foreign-born Somalis now dominate al-Shabab. "All their cells are commanded by a foreigner," he says. "All tactical and strategic decisions are taken by foreigners."

To extend their reach overseas, al-Shabab's leaders in Somalia are thought to circle back to the diaspora, looking for those who can be recruited to extremism. The FBI is tracking more than a dozen Somali Americans who disappeared from their homes and are suspected of joining al-Shabab, and in November, 14 Minnesota men with connections to Somalia were charged with offenses like aiding a terrorist organization; four have pleaded guilty. In August, Australian police arrested five men from the Somali community in Melbourne on suspicion of plotting to attack an army barracks outside Sydney. The September call to Cape Town was picked up because a group of ethnic Somalis in the city were already under surveillance on suspicion of raising funds for al-Shabab, according to the intelligence officer. "If you've been waiting for a moment to declare Somalia a priority threat, what else do you need?" asks the Western soldier in Somalia. "There's no longer a serious risk that southern Somalia could become a jihadi operational deployment facility. It already is."...

Of course, as they're already under the thumb of Sharia enforcers, they can't be sure of what might happen if they said anything else. An update on this story. "Malaysian women say caning "good" for them," by David Chance for Reuters, February 18:

KUALA LUMPUR - Three Malaysians who became the first women to be caned under the country's Islamic laws said they "deserved" their punishment and that it would help stem sex outside marriage.

The three women were caned for having sex out of wedlock in a move that has angered human rights activists and some lawyers who say the punishments are illegal in this mainly Muslim country that runs parallel civil and Islamic justice systems.

"I deeply regret my actions as I should have married before having sex," the New Straits Times newspaper quoted one of the women who it said was aged 17, as saying in its Friday edition.

The newspaper did not reveal the womens' real names and a picture showed the three clad in traditional Malaysian dress and headscarves seated before reporters.

A propaganda photo-op.

The 17-year old said that she had become pregnant and gone into labor while at school, losing the baby, and then had turned herself in to the authorities last December.

A second woman said she had to support her family after her father left home and had a three-year-old daughter out of wedlock. She said that she too turned herself in due to feelings of guilt.

All three women were caned on February 9 and the punishments were announced by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on Wednesday.

Hishammuddin said they were "carried out perfectly."

The punishment of six strokes of the rattan is carried out while the women are fully clothed and while they are seated. The person administering the punishment is not allowed to raise their arm above shoulder level.

"Even though the caning did not injure them, the three women said it caused pain within their souls," Hishammuddin said.

The caning has received widespread support from Muslim groups in this Southeast Asian country of 27 million people where around 55 percent of the population is Malay and Muslim.

"The guilty have also repented and there is no proof of injuries at all. What is the problem now?" Fadhalina Sidek, vice president of the Islamic Youth Movement was quoted as saying on the Malaysian Insider website....

Here's an easy one, Sidek: Adultery takes two. Where are the men in this story?

UPDATE: This report (thanks to Ayeesha) notes that the men were also caned. There was no mention, however, of their being paraded in front of the media in this manner.

Terrorism is a method, not an ideology; hence, it's the ideology that ought to be of interest, but, you know, we're not supposed to talk about that. "Three accused 'intoxicated by the evil of terrorism'," from BBC News, February 18:

Three men "intoxicated by the evil of terrorism" trained in a park to join or carry out violent jihad, a court heard.

Edward Brown QC, prosecuting, said they gathered a stockpile of weapons as they studied guerrilla warfare and filmed the training in Blackburn, Lancashire.

The trio styled themselves as The Blackburn Resistance, a jury at Manchester Crown Court was told.

Abbas Iqbal, 24, his brother Ilyas Iqbal, 23, and Muhammed Ali Ahmad, 26, deny preparing for acts of terrorism.

Abbas Iqbal also denies disseminating terrorist publications and possessing documents likely to be useful to a terrorist.

Ilyas Iqbal pleaded not guilty to two counts of possessing documents likely to be useful to a terrorist.

'Firing weapons'

Mr Brown told the court: "The prosecution does not suggest that this group is a highly sophisticated, well-trained or well-funded terrorist cell.

"We do suggest however these three young men from Blackburn had become intoxicated by the evil of terrorism and had started to train themselves to join or carry out violent jihad...

I have headed back to the old East Coast for this morning's inaugural event of the Freedom Defense Initiative. At 10AM Eastern Pamela Geller and I will be presenting "Jihad: The Political Third Rail -- What They're Not Telling You," featuring Wafa Sultan, Steve Coughlin, Anders Gravers of SIOE, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff of Pax Europa, Sudanese ex-slave Simon Deng, and Lt. Colonel Allen West.

What they're not telling you indeed: the need for a conference like ours was underscored by the revelation yesterday that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson tried to poison the food supply -- two months ago. Why was this not revealed until yesterday? Who was covering it up, and why?

In any case, if you are in the DC area, we hope you'll drop by. Note that security will be extremely tight, as it must be in this wonderful multicultural age, due to the possibility that some adherents of the Religion of Tolerance and Peace will take umbrage.

One final note: I am generally pressed for time to such a degree that I never post everything that I would like to post here at Jihad Watch. In the crush of preparations for this conference and other matters over the last few days, I neglected to post the remaining three speaker profiles for today's event: those for the superb Lt. Colonel Allen West, one of the very few politicians who fully understands the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat; Steve Coughlin, once the Pentagon's only expert on Islamic law, whose job was terminated after politically correct pressure from Muslims in the military; and Wafa Sultan, the peerless freedom fighter and author of the extraordinary book A God Who Hates. Click on the names to read more about each.

"The goggles... they do nothing!"

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel is terrified of the Lebanese resistance and people. The Iranian leader made the comment in a phone conversation with the Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, ISNA reported on Thursday.

"The Zionists are really terrified of the resistance and people in Lebanon and the region," Ahmadinejad emphasized. "But they (the Israelis) are looking for opportunities to make up for their past defeats in Gaza and Lebanon as they feel their credibility and existence are in jeopardy."

However, the Iranian leader insisted, "They don't dare to do anything as they are afraid of the consequences."

Ahmadinejad underlined the need for maintaining readiness against any potential Israeli threats adding, "If the Zionist regime want to repeat the same mistakes they previously made, they must be gotten rid of once and for all, so that the region will be saved from their nuisance for ever."

President Ahmadinejad then reiterated that to this end, the Iranian nation will remain along the side of the Lebanese and other regional nations.

According to the report, the Hizbullah chief, for his part, said that Lebanon and the resistance movement are in favorable conditions. "We are not afraid of the Israeli threats and the Israeli threats will not work," Nasrallah said. "Strategically, Israel is not in a situation to wage a new war, but is after a psychological warfare with its threats... and of course, either way they will not get anywhere."

Prior reports have already suggested the same, with one discussing the possible use of female suicide bombers. "Terrorism: Al-Qaeda warns of 'dozens' of in-flight bombs," from AdnKronos International, February 18:

Sanaa, 18 Feb. (AKI) - Al-Qaeda has prepared "dozens" more bombs like the one used by the young Nigerian accused of trying to blow up an airliner in the United States on 25 December last year. The claim was allegedly made by the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terror cell in a message posted in its online magazine 'al-Malamih'.

"We have dozens of sophisticated explosive devices which are similar to that used by the Nigerian,Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit," said the message in 'al-Malamih'.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in December it had provided Abdulmutallab with the explosive device he allegedly used to try to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with nearly 300 people aboard.

"The plan was to blow up the plane as it approached Detroit, so that it would fall onto buildings below and kill the maximum number of Americans," the message said.

Had it succeeded, it would have been the worst attack on the United States since Al-Qaeda's September 11 2001 assault.

"Four years ago, we began producing similar devices to that used by Umar Farouk," the 'al-Malamih' message said.

AQAP was officially formed in January 2009 from a merger of Al-Qaeda's Yemeni and Saudi branches.

The message claimed that Abdulmutallab trained at camps in Yemen in the second half of last year and was eager to "go into action".

Abdulmutallab was "always quiet and thought a lot," kept to himself, read the Koran and fasted every Monday and Thursday, the message said.

The explosive material used in the device concealed in the Nigerian's underwear was 'Pent', it stated.

Just four grammes of the substance are needed to produce a major blast, it claimed.

"The reason we chose a flight that left from (the Dutch capital) Amsterdam, is that the Netherlands is a country that has offended the Koran and Islam," the message stated.

This may be a reference to late Dutch director Theo Van Gogh's film 'Submission' which was aired on Dutch TV in 2004...

And/or Geert Wilders' Fitna, though the jihadists' claim of revenge on Amsterdam through this act seems like a hollow excuse to agitate for the erosion of free speech in Europe. Never mind that the mandate for jihad to impose Islamic law exists regardless of excuse du jour offered in jihadist propaganda.

They were arrested just before Christmas, but we are only learning about it now, almost two months later. Why the long delay? Was this yet another coverup? Who ordered it, and why?

"CBN Exclusive: Five Muslim Soldiers Arrested at Fort Jackson in South Carolina," from CBN News, February 18 (thanks to all who sent this in):

CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas. It is unclear whether the men are still in custody. The five were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.

The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.

A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the "Fort Jackson Five" may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, DC area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas....

This could be the start of a refreshing change at the IAEA, but much remains to be seen. "IAEA Fears Iran Working Now on Nuclear Warhead," by Mark Heinrich for Reuters, February 18:

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog fears Iran may be working now to develop a nuclear-armed missile, the agency said on Thursday, throwing independent weight behind Western suspicions of an active Iranian weapons program.

In unusually blunt language surfacing under new chief Yukiya Amano, an International Atomic Energy Agency report for the first time suggested Iran was actively chasing nuclear weapons capability rather than merely having done so in the past.

The IAEA seemed to be cautiously going public with suspicions arising from a classified agency analysis leaked in part last year which concluded that Iran has already honed explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon.

The report also confirmed Iran had produced its first, small batch of uranium enriched to a higher purity -- 20 percent.

Both developments will intensify pressure on Iran to prove it is not covertly bent on "weaponising" enrichment by allowing unfettered access for IAEA inspectors and investigators, something it rejects in protest at U.N. sanctions.

The United States is already leading a push for the U.N. Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran because of suspicions that it may be developing nuclear weapons, and has received declarations of support from Russia, which has until now been reluctant to expand sanctions.

Tehran says its nuclear program is meant only to yield electricity or radio-isotopes for agriculture or medicine. It took a diametrically opposing view of the report's conclusions.

"The IAEA's new report confirmed Iran's peaceful nuclear activities and the country's non-deviation toward military purposes," Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told the state news agency IRNA.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States did not understand why Iran had refused to "come to the table and engage constructively" over its nuclear program, adding: "You have to draw some conclusions from that." [...]

IAEA's new chief, Yukiya Amano, is seen as more inclined to confront Iran than his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, who retired on December 1.

"Now we see from (available intelligence) that certain activities may have continued after 2004," said a senior official close to the IAEA. "We want to find out from Iran what they've had to do with these nuclear explosive-related activities."

The U.S. director of National Intelligence concluded last year that Iran would not be technically able to devise a nuclear weapon before 2013. But a new intelligence estimate is due soon....

This bill appeared to have gone down in defeat earlier, but those who insist upon more and more Sharia can be counted on to keep trying. "Iranians Protest Bill on Rights of Women," by Nazila Fathi for the New York Times, February 17 (thanks to John):

In what appeared to be the first burst of activism in months not related to the disputed presidential election, about 1,200 Iranians signed a statement against a bill that would further curb women's rights, the feminist Web site Change for Gender Equality reported.

The statement, issued Wednesday, calls for other groups to protest the bill, which would give men the right to take additional wives without having to tell the current wives under certain conditions and would impose restrictions on alimony for women. The bill was approved last month by Parliament's legal committee.

In Iran, men can have several wives, but they are generally supposed to get permission from their current ones.

"We issued the statement because we are worried that various groups, including women, can lose civil rights under tense political times like now," said Asieh Amini, a lawyer and women's rights advocate living in Oslo. "We have no doubt that democracy will not be implemented without taking women's rights into consideration."

Women have played a major role in the protests since the election in June, which the opposition claims the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole. Many women have been jailed and at least several were killed in the government crackdown on street protests that followed the vote.

Women's rights in Iran have been curtailed since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but in recent years, women have been displaying an increasing determination to achieve equal status in this conservative Muslim theocracy. Women are forced to cover their hair and they have consistently been subjected to intimidation in public over what they wear.

A group of advocates for women, including Ms. Amini and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, met with members of the legal committee of Parliament in late 2008 to try to persuade them not to pass the bill. Some advocates thought until last month that they had won the battle, but now they fear conservatives may be using political unrest to push for new restrictions on women.

Articles in the new bill allow a man to marry a new wife without the permission of a current one if she is absent for more than six months, including time served in prison, or has an incurable disease. The bill would also subject a woman's alimony to a reassessment, although it is vague on what that means. Alimony would, however, be taxed....

You do the crime, you do the time. Ikebal Patel's objection to that simple concept defies logic. Wouldn't law-abiding, moderate Australian Muslims who denounce "terrorism" want to see this sort of thing prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, rather than making excuses for the perpetrators?

Of course, the game here is blackmail: threatening the country with the "radicalization" of "young Islamic men" (that usual Tiny Minority of Extremists, mind you) over these prison sentences essentially says, "If we don't get our way, members of our community will attack you while we deny responsibility and blame you for it."

An update on this story. "Penalties are harsh, Muslim elders say," by Jacqueline Maley, Rick Feneley, and Malcolm Brown for the Sydney Morning Herald (thanks to Slothy):

SYDNEY Muslims are ''angry and frustrated'' at the severity of the sentences meted out to five men convicted of terrorism offences, say community elders who worry that the strict penalties will serve to radicalise more young Islamic men.

''The penalties, while they are warranted, they seem really harsh,'' said the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ikebal Patel. ''There is a real possibility that this might alienate some members of the Muslim community ... there's a lot of frustration and anger.''

On Monday Justice Anthony Whealy of the Supreme Court sentenced the five men from Sydney's west to jail terms of up to to 28 years.

Justice Whealy admitted there was insufficient evidence the men intended to kill, comments seized upon by Keysar Trad, chairman of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia.

''Even if they had talked about things like this,'' Mr Trad said, ''it is very likely that there would have been a very large number of points along the way where they would have reconsidered because they didn't want to kill anybody.''

Mr Trad added: ''It seems our standard has changed from proving a crime beyond reasonable doubt to the possibility that they might have intended to commit a crime.''

But what of the stockpile of weapons, ammunition and potential explosives?

''That doesn't translate into a wilful intent to commit an act of terrorism,'' he said.

Nah. They were just avid collectors. And if you take the bomb ingredients out of their original packages, their value goes way down, you know.

Sheikh Khalil Chami of the Islamic Welfare Centre in Lakemba regularly visited the convicted terrorist conspirators, who range in age from 25 to 44, in jail. He is certain they were radicalised in Sydney.

But...but...didn't John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism czar, say that "they are not jihadists, for jihad is a holy struggle"? Mohammed Jibril must be a Misunderstander of Islam. Funny how the only ones who don't know Brennan's lessons on jihad are the jihadists themselves. "'Prince of Jihad' to face bombing trial," by Adam Gartrell for AAP, February 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

An Indonesian Islamist nicknamed the "Prince of Jihad" will face trial accused of raising funds for last year's Jakarta hotel attacks but prosecutors admit they may struggle to convict him.

Prosecutors will allege Mohammed Jibril was linked to terrorist Saifuddin Jaelani, also known as Saifuddin Zuhri, one of the chief planners of the July 17 bombings on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels that killed seven, including three Australians.

They will allege Jaelani received funds from a retired Saudi teacher named Al Khelaw Ali Abdullah which he passed on to Jibril to open an internet cafe in 2008.

"From this internet cafe they could generate some more money as well as using it as a way to communicate their views to the outside world," prosecutor Totok Bambang told AAP ahead of next week's trial.

Before the attacks Jibril, 25, was well-known for publishing a popular radical Islamist website and a glossy magazine called Jihadmagz.

He is the son of prominent radical cleric Abu Jibril, a former student of Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the group responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings....

Actually, the perpetrators were jihadis. "A Pakistani intelligence official in Peshawar said the militants were using the mosque as their headquarters..." Using a mosque as heir headquarters? Why didn't the Vast Majority of Peaceful Muslims rise up and say, "Not in our name!"?

"Bomb at Pakistan Mosque Kills Dozens," by Pir Zubair Shah and Salman Masood for the New York Times, February 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A bomb blast in the Khyber tribal area has killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 70 others, residents and security officials in the region said Thursday.

The blast struck a meeting of the militants in the Aka Khel area of the Khyber tribal region, near the Afghan border. Local residents and security officials said a local militant commander, Azam Khan, was killed in the explosion. Mr. Khan, who ran the local FM radio station, was delivering a sermon on the radio when the blast occurred.

There were no claims of responsibility, and the blast appeared to be either an accident or the result of fighting among militants.

Mr. Khan was affiliated with Lashkar-e-Islam, a militant group headed by the militant commander Mangal Bagh. The Khyber District borders the Orakzai tribal region, and an intelligence official said some of the dead were affiliated with Maulvi Noor Jamal, a Pakistani Taliban commander in the tribal areas of Orakzai and Kurram.

A Pakistani intelligence official in Peshawar said the militants were using the mosque as their headquarters and were busy in preparing suicide vests and roadside bombs. The blast happened when one of the vests exploded, he said, adding that the death toll was so high because the mosque is near a market for cattle and hashish....

At Big Government, Pamela Geller responds to the FoxNews article to which I responded here:

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2010, Robert Spencer and I are launching a new organization, the Freedom Defense Initiative (FDI), by presenting a conference entitled "Jihad: The Political Third Rail -- What They Are Not Telling You." The conference is designed to speak the truths that others will not speak - and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is enraged.

The conference is designed to educate Americans about the Muslim Brotherhood's infiltration at the highest levels of the U.S. government, as well as its war on free speech: its attempt to silence and discredit those who speak up against the jihad and Sharia encroachment in the West. Emphasis will be on the international character of the jihad against the West and on how the Islamic war on free speech (and the media's self-imposed blackout on this issue, as in the Fort Hood massacre) is part and parcel of the same jihad against the West that terrorists are pursuing by violent means.

And that's too much for CAIR. Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the unindicted co-conspirator and front for the Muslim Brotherhood CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations), said, "They're free to be anti-Muslim bigots if they like, but it's really up to the organizers of CPAC to determine if they're going to allow their conference to be associated with the hate-filled views of those who will be speaking."

Why doesn't FOX explain what CAIR is? As Robert Spencer explained at Jihad Watch:

"CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR's cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Honest Ibe Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements. CAIR has warred against free speech in the past."

Why doesn't FOX read the documents from the Holy Land trial, which exposed the Muslim Brotherhood's agenda of "eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within," and made plain CAIR's connection to the Brotherhood? Why does FOX cover for this subversive organization? And why do they run everything they say unchallenged while smearing me in every other paragraph?

Why am I called a bigot by a vocal anti-Semite, unchallenged?...

Good question. Read it all.

This is the kind of thing that leads financial institutions to make special accommodations for Sharia finance. "Ottawa Imam issues fatwa against credit cards," by Jennifer Green for Canwest News Service, February 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

In an economy awash in easy credit, Ottawa's leading imam is definitely swimming against the tide.

Imam Khaled Abdul-Hamid Syed has issued a fatwa against credit cards, even if they are paid off every month.

"I conclude that it contains usury ... which is forbidden in Islam, so it should not be used," Imam Syed said in a mass email to members of the city's main mosque.

Islam has always banned interest for the same reason usury is condemned in other faiths: It can sink debtors, even whole economies, as recent years have shown.

"It's to protect people from falling in a lot of debt," the imam said in an interview.

"Interest is demeaning to people," added Ismail Barreh, an MBA student at the University of Ottawa who sat in on the conversation. "They are in need, and then you can take advantage of them."

There are two schools of thought about credit cards among Islamic scholars. Some argue they are permissible as long as no interest is accrued, meaning bills must always be paid in full.

Others disagree, quoting one of the earliest religious authorities, Ibn Mass'ood: "Allah has cursed the one who consumes Riba [usury or interest], the one who gives it to others, the one who records it and the one who witnesses it.... All of them are equal in sin."

This group believes anyone who signs a contract for the card "is ready to pay interest, thus he freely approves of dealing with interest."...

Imam Syed replied in the mass email that she should rely instead on a prepaid credit card that can be loaded with set amounts. Cardholders can only spend what is on the card, and no interest is incurred.

In the interview, the imam stressed the fatwa is not binding, nor would every imam hold the same opinion.

"A fatwa is a religious decision, to tell people what their God loves, and what makes their God angry with them.... It is a religious decision to the person who asked."...

In "Pandering To The Islamic Conference" in Forbes, February 18 (thanks to Twostellas), Claudia Rosett identifies more of what's wrong with the Rashad Hussain appointment:

Controversy is swirling around President Barack Obama's choice of a young American Muslim lawyer, Rashad Hussain, to serve as his special envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Behind this fracas looms the even larger question of whether the U.S. should be sending the OIC any special envoy at all.

[...] Founded at an Islamic summit in Morocco in 1969, the OIC describes itself on its Web site as "the collective voice of the Muslim world"--though in reality many of its members are rulers of states in which the people themselves have no free voice, such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya and Iran. The OIC began with 30 members and today boasts 57 member "states." (Though that's inaccurate, because one of those 57 members listed by the OIC is Palestine, which is not a state.) But the OIC, dedicated to spreading its own vision of a new world order, enjoys a propaganda coup every time someone carelessly refers to its 57 "member states," instead of its 56 states plus the Palestinian Authority.

The OIC is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is dedicated in its documents to spreading Islamic law, or sharia. Its Web site says it has "the singular honor to galvanize the Ummah into a unified body"--and it defines the Ummah as all Muslims of the world.

This campaign has been reflected at the United Nations, where the OIC's 56 members plus the Palestinian observer form one of the biggest and most influential lobbying blocs in the UN's 192-member General Assembly. The OIC itself holds an observer seat as well, which gives it a prime spot for getting involved in UN debates and resolutions.

This amounts to a bonanza for the OIC, which on the financial front hitches a ride effectively subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. While the U.S. alone pays 22% of the UN's $2.3 billion annual core budget and gets one vote on how the money is used, all the 57 OIC members put together pay less than 5% and get 56 votes. On top of that the U.S. contributes many billions more for such UN ventures as peacekeeping, food aid, refugee relief and so forth. The OIC doesn't come close.

But the OIC does have its passions. The OIC has been a big backer of a campaign at the UN for "anti-blasphemy" rules that would effectively gag free speech and muffle any real debate about the nature and direction of Islam. The OIC is also one of the big reasons the UN has not been able to come up with a viable definition of terrorism. The point of disagreement is that the OIC, while condemning terrorism, has a record of then qualifying that by redefining terrorism to exclude "the exercise of legitimate right of peoples to resist foreign occupation."...

A setback for Frosty the Suicide Bomber. "Canada hands Moroccan life sentence for promoting jihad," from Agence France-Presse, February 18 (thanks to all who sent this in):

MONTREAL -- A Moroccan man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for plotting attacks in Germany and Austria and touting terrorism online from his basement apartment in a Quebec village, said media.

Said Namouh, 37, was convicted in October of four charges under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, including conspiring to detonate a bomb, facilitating terrorism, participating in a terrorist group and extorting a foreign government on its behalf.

His attorney Rene Duval told Canada's public broadcaster the sentence, for what he argued at trial was nothing more than a case of freedom of expression, was "extremely harsh."

An Austrian court in 2008 sentenced Namouh's alleged co-conspirators, an Egyptian-born man and his wife, to four years and 22 months in prison, respectively.

Quebec court Judge Claude Leblond, however, said Namouh remained remorseless and dangerous.

Namouh was arrested in September 2007 for engaging in more than 1,000 online conversations and producing videos praising violent attacks on US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as helping distribute ransom demands for kidnappers of a British journalist in Gaza.

Prosecutors accused him of editing videos for the Global Islamic Media Front, said to be a propaganda and recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

In online postings, he also touted his explosives expertise and threatened future attacks in Germany and Austria unless their troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

Namouh, who moved to Canada in 2003, must serve at least 10 years behind bars before he will be eligible for parole.

Ottawa has said it would seek to deport him after his release from prison.

Maybe the students were indeed taunting her by leaving the Bible and the card. Eighth graders can be like that, whatever the religion of the teacher may be. But when the teacher is Muslim, adolescent taunting becomes a "hate crime."

"Religious conflict leads to teacher's suspension," by T. Keung Hui for the Charlotte News and Observer, February 18 (thanks to Parsimonious):

APEX -- A Wake County middle-school teacher may be fired after she and her friends made caustic remarks on a Facebook page about her students, the South and Christianity.

Melissa Hussain, an eighth-grade science teacher at West Lake Middle School in southern Wake County, was suspended with pay Friday while investigators review her case, according to Greg Thomas, a Wake schools spokesman. The suspension came after some of Hussain's students and their parents objected to comments on her Facebook page, many revolving around her interaction with Christian students.

Hussain wrote on the social-networking site that it was a "hate crime" that students anonymously left a Bible on her desk, and she told how she "was able to shame her kids" over the incident. Her Facebook page included comments from friends about "ignorant southern rednecks," and one commenter suggested Hussain retaliate by bringing a Dale Earnhardt Jr. poster to class with a swastika drawn on the NASCAR driver's forehead.

"I don't defend what the kids were doing," said Murray Inman, a parent of one of Hussain's students. "I just couldn't imagine an educator, or a group of educators, engaging in this kind of dialogue about kids." [...]

In Hussain's case, the comments in question were on the public side of her Facebook page. She has since limited public access.

Parents of children in her class said they learned about the comments last month, leading them to complain to the school three weeks ago.

The picture of Jesus

Parents said the situation escalated after a student put a postcard of Jesus on Hussain's desk that the teacher threw in the trash. Parents also said Hussain sent to the office students who, during a lesson about evolution, asked about the role of God in creation.

On her Facebook page, Hussain wrote about students spreading rumors that she was a Jesus hater. She complained about her students wearing Jesus T-shirts and singing "Jesus Loves Me." She objected to students reading the Bible instead of doing her work.

But Annette Balint, whose daughter is in Hussain's class, said the students have the right to wear those shirts and sing "Jesus Loves Me," a long-time Sunday School staple. She said the students were reading the Bible during free time in class.

"She doesn't have to be a professing Christian to be in the classroom," Balint said. "But she can't go the other way and not allow God to be mentioned."

Hussain, a 2004 Florida State University graduate, has been a Wake teacher since 2006. Her religious affiliation isn't on her Facebook page.

Gee, what could it be?

'Merry Christmas'

The flash point for the comments came after the Bible was left on Hussain's desk in December. The Bible was accompanied by an anonymous card, which, according to Hussain, said "'Merry Christmas' with Christ underlined and bolded." She said there was no love shown in giving her the Bible.

"I can't believe the cruelty and ignorance of people sometimes," Hussain wrote on her Facebook page.

Hussain also said she wouldn't let the Bible incident "go unpunished."...

I wonder what form the punishment might have taken.

The intrepid mujahedin, hiding behind women and children in hopes of buying time on the battlefield and scoring propaganda points in the eagerly credulous global press. "Embattled Afghan Taliban rely on human shields," by Alfred de Montesquiou and Rahim Faiez for the Associated Press, February 17:

MARJAH, Afghanistan - Taliban fighters holding out in Marjah are increasingly using civilians as human shields, firing from compounds where U.S. and Afghan forces can clearly see women and children on rooftops or in windows, Afghan and U.S. troops said Wednesday.

The intermingling of fighters and civilians also has been witnessed by Associated Press journalists. It is part of a Taliban effort to exploit strict NATO rules against endangering innocent lives to impede the allied advance through the town in Helmand province, 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul. [...]

As Marines and Afghan soldiers press their offensive, they have been forced to hold their fire because insurgents are shooting from inside or next to mud-walled compounds where civilians are present -- and restraint slows their advance.

Brig. Gen. Mohiudin Ghori, the brigade commander of Afghan troops in Marjah, said in some cases women and children may have been ordered to stand on a roof or in a window of buildings where Taliban fighters are shooting.

Ghori said troops have to decide between firing on insurgents among civilians, or advance much more slowly to keep women and children out of the crossfire.

"They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians," Ghori said.

Journalists embedded with the Marines have seen such cases: a neighborhood is alive with children, then the next minute the streets are empty and gunshots ring out. As the troops advance, children reappear, peering and grinning through half-closed doors.

Rocket-propelled grenades have been fired from behind groups of civilians, who scamper away as the Marines point their weapons toward the source of fire. Marines have come under fire in poppy fields as they are being tended by farmers.

"I myself saw lots of people that were shot, and they were ordinary people," said Afghan soldier Esmatullah, who did not give his rank and like many Afghans goes by one name. Taliban "were firing at us from people's homes. So in returning fire, people got shot," he said....

A none-too-surprising update on this story. "Christians outraged in Lahore over release of young domestic worker's murderer," by Fareed Khan for Asia News, February 16:

Lahore (AsiaNews) - Pakistani Christians have strongly protested the release on bail of a Muslim lawyer accused of raping, torturing and killing last month Shazia Bashir, a 12-year-old Catholic girl, employed in his household as domestic worker. They have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a symbol of judicial independence in Pakistan, to take immediate action against the court's decision.

The girl's parents (mother pictured) led the protest as demonstrators shouted slogans and carried banners, proclaiming "Innocent Shazia's blood calls for punishment of a ruthless murderer and corrupt doctors" and "The bail of murderer raises questions for rulers."

Last Saturday, Judge Shafiq-ur-Rehman of the Lahore Court released Muhammad Naeem, his wife and son on bail.

The accused's lawyer said the girl's autopsy report did not prove she was murdered, but indicated instead that she had died from an infection caused by old injuries.

In his opinion, the case was not about murder, especially since 14 days of police investigation did not yield any evidence that would suggest that Muhammad Naeem or any member of his family was involved in the girl's death.

The Christian community has rejected the lawyer's claims as well as the results of the autopsy, pointing out that Shazia's body showed signs of torture and sexual abuse.

They claim that the powerful former head of the Lahore Bar Association locked the girl in his house against her will and killed her when she refused to work for him.

In protest, a group of Christians blocked the road outside the Lahore Press Club, and burnt the picture of a Jinnah Hospital official, whom they accuse of falsifying the girl's death certificate.

In two weeks of hearings, Christian lawyers and anyone trying to represent the victim's family have received threats and experiencedacts of intimidation.

That includes threats to "burn alive" anyone who took up Shazia's case, likely an allusion to the actual burning alive of 8 Christians last year.

Activists have also alleged that defence lawyers, police, judges and government authorities have worked together, coming close to colluding, in order to bury the case.

The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) and the Human Liberation Commission of Pakistan (HLCP) have organised the Christian protest. Their leaders have complained that in Shazia's case, justice was assassinated by the powerful machinery of the state, which seeks to save the skin of the murderer, Muhammad Naeem.

They also blame doctors for playing a shameful role in doctoring the medical report, and police for manipulating the investigation.

Not only has the appeal against bail reached Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, but it has also seized public opinion, finding its way on online discussion forums and the social network Facebook.

For many in cyberspace, the silence by the chief justice and the minister of minorities is deafening.

"Struggles," indeed -- intended or not, an appropriate choice of word, as it is a common translation of the term jihad. Among the almost innumerable problems with being a dhimmi, or "protected" group, is how quickly and dramatically one can become un-"protected," and instead become pawns in a conflict of agendas beyond one's control, as in this case. "Spate of Christian killings before Iraq March vote," by Jamal al-Badrani for Reuters, February 17 (thanks to Maxwell):

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Four Christians have been killed in the last four days by gunmen in Iraq's turbulent north, weeks ahead of an election in which the minority group's vote could be a factor in a Kurd-Arab tussle for power.

Bombings and shootings are recorded almost daily in the violent northern city of Mosul, where a struggle for territory and power between Arabs and Kurds has hampered effective policing and been exploited by al Qaeda.

"We do not know anything except the situation is miserable in Mosul. We Christians became the target of political struggles," said a Christian priest in Mosul who declined to be named.

With Iraq's March 7 parliamentary vote looming, a spike in attacks against Christians could be a sign of voter intimidation by factions in the bitter Kurd-Arab dispute, or another attempt by al Qaeda to derail the election.

Sunni Islamist insurgent groups such as al Qaeda have little tolerance for those who do not adhere to their severe brand of Islam, and have attacked Iraqi minorities they label crusaders, devil worshippers and infidels.

In a November report, Human Rights Watch warned Kurd-Arab tensions put Iraq's minorities in a precarious position. Tensions are now likely exacerbated by the election.

There is a quota in parliament for Christian seats, but there are Christian lists of election candidates which include some that are closer to the Kurds, others who are independent, and others closer to the Arabs.

An al Qaeda affiliated group in Iraq last week said it would use military means to prevent the vote, given that Iraq's majority Shi'ites, whom they consider heretics, are likely to lead Iraq's next government.

On Wednesday morning police said they found the body of a Christian student, a day after gunmen opened fire on two other Christian students, killing one of them.

On Monday, gunmen stormed a grocery store and killed its Christian owner. A day earlier, a Christian man was shot dead outside his home.

Christians number around 250,000 to 300,000 in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is capital.

Abdul-Raheem al-Shemari, head of the provincial council's security committee, said a "systematic campaign" of violence against minorities had started late last year and that there were "political motives" behind the attacks.

Sabah Belda, a tailor and a Christian, said he had shuttered his shop and would go into hiding after hearing of the latest Christian slayings.

"I will hide in my house to watch out for my family until things change and the assassinations targeting us in recent days end," he said.

From Umdat al-Salik, Englished as Reliance of the Traveller, which carries the endorsement of Al-Azhar University in Cairo as conforming "to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community":

Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada signifying warfare to establish the religion. And it is the lesser jihad. As for the greater jihad, it is spiritual warfare against the lower self (nafs), which is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said as he was returning from jihad.

``We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.''

The scriptural basis for jihad, prior to scholarly consensus (def: b7) is such Koranic verses as:

-1- ``Fighting is prescribed for you'' (Koran 2:216);

-2- ``Slay them wherever you find them'' (Koran 4:89);

-3- ``Fight the idolators utterly'' (Koran 9:36);

and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

``I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the prayer, and pay zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights of Islam over them. And their final reckoning is with Allah'';

and the hadith reported by Muslim,

``To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it.''Details concerning jihad are found in the accounts of the military expeditions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), including his own martial forays and those on which he dispatched others. The former consist of the ones he personally attended, some twenty-seven (others say twenty-nine) of them. He fought in eight of them, and killed only one person with his noble hand, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, at the battle of Uhud. On the latter expeditions he sent others to fight, himself remaining at Medina, and these were forty-seven in number.) [...]

The caliph (o25) makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya, def: o11.4) -which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself-while remaining in their ancestral religions) (O: and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (O: in accordance with the word of Allah Most High,

"Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden-who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book-until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled" (Koran 9.29)

"Brennan, unruffled, talks terror at NYU," by Josh Gerstein at Politico, February 14 (thanks to Pamela):

President Barack Obama's embattled counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, delivered an emphatic defense Saturday of the Obama administration's rhetorical approach to terrorism -- and also slipped in a few criticisms of Bush administration policies he suggested alienated Muslims at home and abroad.

In a speech at New York University's law school, Brennan gave no nod to the calls for his resignation last week from the top Republicans on the House and Senate Intelligence committees. [Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also joined that bandwagon Sunday.]

Brennan seemed at ease speaking to the largely Muslim audience, which included Islamic law students. In fact, he broke out his Arabic at some length, drawing a warm reaction from the crowd. (Scroll to 5:43 in the first video below for that chunk. I think I hear the words youth and student in there.) [...]

While figures like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have accused Obama of being soft on terrorism because he avoids terms like "war on terror" and "jihadist," Brennan strongly endorsed the president's approach.

"They are not jihadists, for jihad is a holy struggle, an effort to purify for a legitimate purpose, and there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- holy or pure or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children," Brennan said. "We are not waging a war against terrorism because terrorism is but a tactic that will never be defeated, any more than a tactics of war will. Rather, such thinking is a recipe for endless conflict. ... We are at war with Al Qaeda and its extremist allies, and any comment to the contrary is just inaccurate. We will destroy that organization."

Brennan also charged that some actions by the U.S. government, presumably the Bush administration, underscored perceptions that the U.S. was in conflict with Islam. He cited as examples of overreach: "Violations of the Patriot Act. Surveillance that has been excessive. Policies perceived as profiling. Overinclusive no-fly lists subjecting law-abiding individuals to unnecessary searches and inconvenience. Creating an unhelpful atmosphere around many Muslim charities that made many Muslims hesitant to fulfill their sacred obligation of Zakat."

Brennan's statement that some individuals, presumably Muslims, were subjected to "excessive" surveillance is one I have not heard before from government officials and one that will hearten civil liberties advocates who have claimed that mosques were subjected to unwarranted scrutiny.

Brennan, who mentioned that he is Catholic, blamed religious leaders for spreading myths about Islam's being a religion of violence. "Those who purport to be religious are frequently the most egregious purveyors of ignorance, prejudice and discrimination -- and it must stop," he said. He did not single out any particular denominations or faith leaders.

Brennan disappointed some in the audience by saying that Obama has no plans to back away from support for Israel. "It's tough, but we're not going to separate ourselves from Israel," Brennan said, according to Fox News.

At times, Brennan suggested that the entirety of the American Muslim community has always stood 100 percent behind U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. "America has rarely noticed that American Muslims, such as yourself, have always denounced violent extremism," Brennan said, citing the head of the NYU center.

That blanket statement may overstate the case somewhat, since some prominent Muslims have been unwilling to endorse U.S. designations of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorists....

Yes, but we're just claiming that there is any chill on free speech because of Islamic jihadist intolerance. "Anti-Islam book launch cancelled," from Radio Netherlands, February 16 (thanks to George):

A conference centre in The Hague has cancelled the launch of a book criticising Islam. The book launch was scheduled for Thursday at The World Forum, but was cancelled because the director of the venue does not believe he can guarantee the safety of his guests.

The book in question is Islamofobie? (Islamophobia?), written by Islam critic and PVV supporter Frans Groenendijk. The PVV, or Freedom Party is an anti-Islamic opposition party led by Geert Wilders.

Green Left party member Tofik Dibi, who was to receive the first book at the launch, says he regrets that the conference centre acted out of fear. The venue says it has not received any threats.

All right. And I do not think this event should have been canceled. It should have been guarded, and all the journalists in the country, if there are any real ones, should have written about the importance of defending free speech. But does anyone actually think that because they had not received any threats, that the organizers of this book launch acted precipitously? Of course their event was under a threat, even if not articulated in this instance. There are ample precedents.

And Fox News once again gives the Council on American-Islamic Relations a platform without breathing a hint of the truth about the group. Judson Berger's bias is obvious and heavy-handed, but he is just another mainstream media reporter: the Society of Professional Journalists has done all it can to ensure that unsavory Islamic supremacist groups like CAIR a free pass, while anyone who dares speak the truth about the Islamic jihad is regarded with intense skepticism at best and open contempt at worst.

In any case, Berger's piece is ironic: it is an object lesson in what happens to those who dare to speak the truth about the global jihad and Islamic supremacism. And so it is a vivid illustration of why our conference is so urgently needed.

"CPAC Session on Jihad, Free Speech Attracts Complaints," by Judson Berger for FOXNews.com, February 17 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A panel discussion on the threat posed by "Islamic supremacism," Shariah and political correctness has been scheduled for this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, stirring complaints from some American Muslims that the exercise amounts to Muslim-bashing.

Longtime Jihad Watch readers will know that this is always the complaint whenever anyone ventures into these areas. The one who are always insisting most loudly that honest discussion of the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism somehow involves the implication that all Muslims are being called terrorists or evil are almost invariably apologists for jihad terror -- not the anti-jihad activists who are being thus criticized.

The two-hour session, titled "Jihad: The Political Third Rail," is set for Friday morning, right in the middle of the three-day annual summit of conservative icons and activists in Washington, D.C.

Scheduled to speak are Steve Coughlin, a former Pentagon specialist on Islamic law who was fired two years ago, allegedly under pressure from pro-Muslim officials, and Wafa Sultan, an author and prominent critic of Islam. The discussion is billed as a window into Islam's "war on free speech," the "encroachment" of Shariah -- or Islamic law -- in the West and efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate American society.

Overall, CPAC is attuned more to political strategy and domestic issues, but organizers of the "Jihad" session have been trying to stir the pot with what they call a blunt and objective discussion of Muslims' attempts to harm the West while silencing criticism.

Notice that Berger portrays the Islamic war on free speech as something we are merely claiming is taking place. He probably made no effort to find out whether such a thing was really going on at all. He probably has no idea that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), to which Obama just sent a special envoy, has for years now spearheaded an effort at the UN to compel member states to criminalize what it calls "defamation of religions," but by which it clearly means any honest discussion of the texts and teachings of Islam that jihadists invoke to justify violence and supremacism. In 2008, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the OIC, which is the largest voting bloc at the United Nations today, warned the West about "red lines that should not be crossed" regarding free speech about Islam and terrorism.

But Judson Berger apparently knows or cares nothing about any of this. He thinks we're just stirring the pot.

Mission accomplished. The pot has been stirred.

"It's unfortunate that a conservative conference would be in any way associated with Muslim bashers and Islamophobes," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It's a free country. They're free to be anti-Muslim bigots if they like, but it's really up to the organizers of CPAC to determine if they're going to allow their conference to be associated with the hate-filled views of those who will be speaking."

It's unfortunate that FoxNews would quote the likes of Ibrahim Hooper, known affectionately here as Honest Ibe, without informing its readers about CAIR's background. CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR's cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Honest Ibe Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements. CAIR has warred against free speech in the past.

But Judson Berger doesn't tell you any of that. He just lets Hooper defame the conference organizers and speakers without even bothering to look into the other side of the issue. While he obviously spoke with Pamela Geller, Berger did not contact me for this article. Nor does he seem to have given Pamela a chance to respond to Hooper's smears.

The session appears to be attracting attention on both sides of the issue. While CAIR and a few blogs have blasted CPAC for putting on the event, co-host Pamela Geller said she's already gotten hundreds of RSVPs.

"It really will be enormously informative," she said. "Conservatives want to know."

Geller, publisher of the AtlasShrugs.com blog, is putting on the talk with Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer. Both are fierce critics of Islam.

Anyone, non-Muslim or Muslim, who isn't a "fierce critic" of a totalitarian, supremacist ideology that is making war against unbelievers in order to subjugate them as inferiors under the rule of that totalitarian legal system, deny women's rights, and extinguish the freedom of speech and the freedom of conscience, ought to embark upon a serious reevaluation of his values and priorities.

Geller said CPAC and the American Conservative Union, which sponsors it, do not do enough to draw attention to the issues being discussed and have tried to avoid such topics in the past.

Referring to a Saturday session titled, "You've Been Lied To: Why Real Conservatives are Against the War on Terror," she said it was "incredible" that the only other related session at CPAC was taking the opposite approach.

Arguing that self-imposed censorship is crippling U.S. understanding of the wars it is in, she noted that the Pentagon's recent report into the Fort Hood shooting did not mention possible religious motivations behind the attack.

"When nowhere in that document was Islam or Jihad mentioned, then Houston, we have a problem," Geller said. "People need to understand what is the motivation."

Geller is a lightning rod for controversy, even without a forum on Islamic Jihad. Her Web site ranges in content from critiques of the Obama administration to alerts about Muslim terror attacks to more conspiratorial and outrageous postings. One blog last August questioned why the media were not reporting President Obama's "strange sexual predilections" and suggested that Obama traveled to Pakistan in the 1980s "for the drugs and came back with Jihad."

Now Berger brings out his hatchet. These statements are from this Atlas Shrugs post. In it, Pamela Geller argued that the mainstream media was avid to print every lie about Sarah Palin, but never investigated similar rumors, and much more substantial allegations, about Barack Obama. It is a call for consistency from the mainstream media -- but Berger here presents two quotes that by themselves suggest that Geller was gratuitously retailing innuendo about Obama. The one with the shady journalistic ethics here is Judson Berger, not Pamela Geller.

Geller said she anticipated being depicted as anti-Muslim for the CPAC session, but was not concerned about the event drifting over the line from thoughtful discussion on political correctness to virulent tirade on Islam as a whole.

"I'm not worried, because if everything is racism, then nothing is racism," she said....

Obviously from her remark about racism, she was saying that when CAIR and its allies level this charge indiscriminately, it loses all force. She was not by any stretch of the imagination saying that she didn't mind if the event became a "virulent tirade on Islam as a whole."

This kind of hit-and-run reportage ought to earn Judson Berger the contempt of every respectable journalist. Except there are hardly any respectable journalists left. He is just another run-of-the-mill mainstream media hack, worthy of the company of Michael Kruse, Meredith Heagney, Phil Keating, S. I. Rosenbaum, and innumerable others.

Islamic Supremacist Chutzpah Alert: CAIR, the thuggish enemy of the freedom of speech, claims the freedom of speech as a defense for the Muslim thugs who disrupted a talk at UC-Irvine by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.

The freedom of speech is the freedom to state one's point of view without fear of government reprisal. The freedom of speech is not the freedom to bully, intimidate, shout someone down. These "students" could have asked Oren questions during the question period if they had wanted to exercise their freedom of speech, or staged their own event. All they really wanted to do was keep him from exercising his freedom of speech.

And parenthetically, the schoolmarmish professor who cries "Shame on you!" to these thugs is simply embarrassing. He doesn't even realize that these Islamic supremacists cannot be shamed by him. He doesn't even realize that they aren't even playing the game he thinks they're playing, and they certainly aren't playing the game he himself is playing.

"Islamic group defends student protest: District attorney should drop charges against 11 students because the incident took place on campus, says CAIR," by Tom Ragan for the Daily Pilot, February 16 (thanks to Twostellas):

A pro-Islamic group is urging UC Irvine to drop disciplinary actions against a group of students who were arrested after protesting the Israeli ambassador's presence on campus by intermittently interrupting him during a speech last week.

In all, 11 students, many of whom yelled and screamed in protest, were detained and cited by campus police for causing a ruckus during Ambassador Michael Oren's speech. Their tones at times reached fever pitch, according to scenes from the event that were captured in a video posted on YouTube.

Oren was trying to speak about diplomatic relations between Israel and the United States, but was interrupted so often that he had a hard time delivering his message, UCI officials said.

The matter has been forwarded to the Orange County district attorney for possible criminal prosecution, but a decision won't be made until later this week because the office has not yet received the complaint, said Susan Schroeder, spokeswoman for the D.A.'s office.

But the D.A.'s office should drop the charges because the incident occurred on campus, said the Anaheim office of a pro-Islamic group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"We feel this is a campus event. It was noncriminal, nonviolent and nonthreatening," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR's Greater Los Angeles Area office. "Off-campus police should not be involved in such matters. The D.A.'s office shouldn't be involved in such matters. It was just a bunch of students who spoke out at a student event."

If the campus decides to pursue disciplinary action, then it would only be perceived as "selective enforcement," Ayloush said, adding that the campus probably does not want to be viewed in such a light.

"We strongly see the protest as a matter of free speech, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees," he said. "Students complain all the time, they interrupt all the time, or they boo people all the time. This is nothing new. People have yelled to me, 'Go home, you terrorist,' and I take it. I don't complain."...

Liar!

"I hope this will not be misunderstood, so that it defiles the sanctity of Islam." Oh, no worries.

Sharia Alert from modern, moderate Malaysia: "Malaysia Court Canes Three Women," by James Hookway in the Wall Street Journal, February 17 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Malaysian authorities said Wednesday that officials caned four Muslim men and, for the first time, three Muslim women this month after being found guilty of having sex out of wedlock.

The move to cane the women under the country's Islamic Shariah laws has raised fresh concerns about the growing political and judicial influence of Islam in what traditionally has been one of the world's more moderate Muslim nations.

The vibrant, resource-rich country came under intense international scrutiny last year after a Shariah court sentenced 32-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel bar. Many moderate Muslims and non-Muslim Malaysians saw that verdict as reflecting the growing reach of Islam in Malaysia over the past several years, although Prime Minister Najib Razak has said he won't let Malaysia drift toward becoming an Islamist state.

The caning of Ms. Kartika, who is a Muslim, still hasn't been carried out despite her requests to the Islamic courts to get it over with.

Wednesday's announcement that three Muslim women were caned on Feb. 9 for having illicit sex thus came as a shock to many Malaysians. "This was a big a surprise. We had no idea this was going to happen," said Ragunath Kesavan, president of the Malaysian Bar Council. "We were always told Ms. Kartika would be the first." [...]

"I hope this will not be misunderstood, so that it defiles the sanctity of Islam," Mr. Hishammuddin said. "The punishment is to teach and give a chance to those who have fallen off the path to return and build a better life in the future."

Two of the women and the four men were struck six times, while the other woman was struck four times.

Mr. Hishammuddin said that a doctor was present at the canings, which took place in male and female prisons, and that the offenders weren't tied. The women were seated while they were struck, and no injuries were reported. The idea, the officials previously have said, is to humiliate rather than injure--unlike the canings administered to drug pushers and other violators of civil laws, which can sometimes leave deep scars.

The offenders, Mr. Hishammuddin said, were then "advised on ways to repent and to get closer to Allah." [...]

"As Shariah courts expand their reach, there is a question of jurisdication--about whether there should be corporal punishment at all," said Mr. Kesavan, the bar council president. "We think it is degrading, and as Malaysia evolves towards adopting international standards in other areas, we should observe international standards in legal matters, too." [...]

"Islam is a big part of the equation here," says James Chin, a political-science professor at the Malaysian campus of Australia's Monash University....

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is right. "Obama names first US ambassador to Syria in five years," by Stephen Collinson for AFP, February 16 (thanks to Chad):

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama nominated career diplomat Robert Ford as the first US ambassador to Syria in five years, seeking to engage a US foe and energize his thwarted Middle East peace push.

Ford will be the first US ambassador to Damascus since Washington recalled its envoy after Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed in February 2005 in a bombing blamed on Syria.

"Ambassador Ford is a highly accomplished diplomat with many years of experience in the Middle East," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

"His appointment represents President Obama's commitment to use engagement to advance US interests by improving communication with the Syrian government and people.

"If confirmed by the Senate, Ambassador Ford will engage the Syrian government on how we can enhance relations, while addressing areas of ongoing concern."

But the nomination ignited a festering row with Republicans over Obama's signature policy of seeking to engage US foes.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committee blasted the move as "reckless engagement" and a reward for a US enemy.

"With this nomination, our foreign policy again risks sending the message that it is better to be an intractable enemy than a cooperative, loyal US ally," she said in a statement.

"Despite the Administration's outreach, Syria continues to sponsor violent extremist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty, and to pursue unconventional weapons and missile capabilities."...

In FrontPage this morning is the second of my two articles today about the Rashad Hussain coverup:

Someone is covering up for Rashad Hussain. But who?

And what did Barack Obama know, and when did he know it?

Rashad Hussain is the Obama administration's newly appointed special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the thuggish international organization that is engaged in a full-scale campaign to intimidate Western governments into adopting hate speech codes that will effectively quash criticism of Islam - including jihad violence perpetrated in its name. Rashad Hussain is an apposite choice for this position, since several years ago he defended a notorious U.S.-based leader of a jihad terrorist group.

But someone doesn't want you to know that, and made a clumsy attempt to cover it up.

In 2004, Rashad Hussain, then a Yale law student, declared that the investigation and prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian, who ultimately pled guilty to charges involving his activities as a leader of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was a "politically motivated persecution" designed "to squash dissent."

Journalist Patrick Goodenough of Cybercast News Service reports that Hussain's remarks in support of Al-Arian were published in the jihad-enabling Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in November 2004. But now all that has gone down the memory hole. The Washington Report's archived version of this November 2004 article lacks two paragraphs that were included in the original version: the ones quoting Rashad Hussain. Otherwise the article is unchanged.

The Washington Report editors, caught red-handed, decided to brazen it out, and blame their accusers - a tried-and-true tactic that is also frequently employed by jihadists in the West. They insist that there was no cover-up, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a venomous Islamophobe: according to Goodenough, "WRMEA news editor and executive director Delinda Hanley denied there was a 'cover-up,' and implied that anti-Muslim discrimination was behind the fact this was now being raised."

Sure. It's just "anti-Muslim discrimination" to be concerned about Rashad Hussain's support for Al-Arian, a vicious suicide-bombing supporter who chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and clearly meant it. When two Islamic Jihad suicide bombers killed eighteen people in Israel in 1995, Al-Arian called them "two mujahidin martyred for the sake of God."

But there was no cover-up! It was all a mistake, you see: according to the Washington Report now, Sami Al-Arian's daughter, Laila Al-Arian, actually said the words that were attributed to Rashad Hussain.

But this explanation doesn't make sense, since the article was altered just to remove the quotes, not to change the name of the person quoted. Also, the author of the original story, Shereen Kandil, contradicts the Washington Report's explanation, telling Goodenough:

"When I worked as a reporter at WRMEA, I understood how important it was to quote the right person, and accurately. I have never mixed my sources and wouldn't have quoted Rashad Hussain if it came from Laila al-Arian. If the editors from WRMEA felt they wanted to remove Rashad Hussain from the article, my assumption is that they did it for reasons other than what you're saying. They never once contacted me about an 'error' they claim I made.'"

Was the Washington Report covering for Rashad Hussain at its own discretion, or at the behest of someone else? Did Barack Obama himself know about this cover-up? Did someone in the White House or the State Department find out about Hussain's defense of Al-Arian, and act to cover for the bright young special envoy before this defense was discovered and he became known as a terror apologist?

Or is the Obama Administration wholly uninvolved - and unaware of the fact that the President has chosen as an envoy to the world's leading organization of Islamic states a man who has openly declared his support for an admitted leader of a jihad terror group? Alternatively, is Hussain's disdain for the war on terror and support for Al-Arian precisely what Obama thought might make him appealing to the OIC? In 2007 Hussain declared that federal law should prohibit "the targeting of non-citizens solely on the basis of their racial, religious, or ethnic backgrounds." In other words, airport security officials should keep on pretending that eighty-year-old Iowa grandmothers present just as much of a terror risk as do young Muslim males. It's an outrage to common sense and a waste of resources, but it pleases Barack Obama, Rashad Hussain, and the Islamic countries to which the Administration is so desperately and fruitlessly reaching out.

Whoever is covering up for Rashad Hussain should come clean. And in the process, Obama should reevaluate the wisdom of sending a man like Hussain, with the views that he holds, to an organization such as the OIC - as should question whether he should really be sending an envoy to the OIC in the first place.

But Obama is in far too deep for that.

"We really like Indonesia..."

Check out the latest Jihad Watch news from modern, moderate Indonesia here.

And why is it incumbent upon the U.S. to help Muslim countries with space technology? Will this end the jihad? Does Obama think it will? Or will it end up giving technological aid to the jihadists?

Note also that this is happening while our own space program is being cut.

"NASA plans more outreach to Muslim countries," by Mark Matthews in the Orlando Sentinel, February 16 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said Tuesday that President Barack Obama has asked him to "find ways to reach out to dominantly Muslim countries" as the White House pushes the space agency to become a tool of international diplomacy.

"In addition to the nations that most of you usually hear about when you think about the International Space Station, we now have expanded our efforts to reach out to non-traditional partners," said Bolden, speaking to a lecture hall of young engineering students.

Specifically, he talked about connecting with countries that do not have an established space program and helping them conduct science missions. He mentioned new opportunities with Indonesia, including an educational program that examines global climate change.

"We really like Indonesia because the State Department, the Department of Education [and] other agencies in the U.S. are reaching out to Indonesia as the largest Muslim nation in the world. We would love to establish partners there," Bolden said....

In Human Events this morning, the first of two articles I have up today on Samigate: "Washington Rashad Hussain Coverup?"

Who is covering for Rashad Hussain? Last Saturday, in a video message to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Qatar, Barack Obama appointed Rashad Hussain to be his administration's special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Rashad Hussain several years ago defended a leader of a jihad terrorist group -- and now the record of his doing so has been deep-sixed.

Journalist Patrick Goodenough of CNS News has discovered that in 2004 Hussain denounced the prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian as a "politically motivated persecution" designed "to squash dissent."

To be sure, this was a widespread view among liberals at the time. Al-Arian himself pushed all the right Leftist buttons: "I'm a minority. I'm an Arab, I'm Palestinian. I'm a Muslim. That's not a popular thing to be these days. Do I have rights, or don't I have rights?" The American Association of University Professors defended Al-Arian, as did The Chronicle of Higher Education, which published a cover story called "Blaming the Victim?" and featuring a photo of Al-Arian.

In March 2002 Nicholas Kristof went to bat for the professor in the New York Times: "The point is not whether one agrees with Professor Al-Arian, a rumpled academic with a salt-and-pepper beard who is harshly critical of Israel (and also of repressive Arab countries) -- but who also denounces terrorism, promotes inter-faith services with Jews and Christians, and led students at his Islamic school to a memorial service after 9/11 where they all sang 'God Bless America.' No, the larger point is that a university, even a country, becomes sterile when people are too intimidated to say things out of the mainstream."

Phil Donahue fawned over Al-Arian on his show. "So, one more time, sir," he said to the professor, "and I know that you're probably getting tired of these same questions --'death to Israel' did not mean you wanted to kill Jews, do I understand your position?" After Al-Arian assured him of his pacifistic intentions, Phil went on to allege that "the law of innocent until proven guilty doesn't seem to exist for Professor Sami Al-Arian."

All of Al-Arian's defenders had egg on their faces when Al-Arian pled guilty to charges involving his acting as a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a deadly terrorist group that has employed suicide bombings and other terror tactics to murder over one hundred Israelis.

And among the egged faces was Rashad Hussain, apparently. Goodenough reports that Hussain's remarks defending Al-Arian appeared in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in 2004. But now the Washington Report's website carries a version of this article from the passage referring to Rashad Hussain has been removed. Nothing else in the article has been changed.

Was this bowdlerization done by someone at the Washington Report acting on his own discretion, or is the Obama camp involved? Is someone in the Administration aware of the political fallout that could result from the news that Obama is sending a man who spoke up on behalf of a convicted jihad terrorist as his envoy to the leading Muslim organization in the world? Did they perform or ask to be performed a bit of Orwellian image enhancement on Rashad Hussain?

Even aside from this there was enough disquieting about the appointment. In a 2007 article Hussain criticized focusing on Muslims in anti-terror efforts: "Federal law should adopt a standard that protects national security while forbidding the targeting of non-citizens solely on the basis of their racial, religious, or ethnic backgrounds." When the overwhelming majority of terror attacks are committed by young Muslim males acting in the name of Islamic teachings, this is just a call for the waste of resources.

And then there is the idea of sending an envoy to the OIC in the first place. This 57-government Islamic bloc, the largest voting bloc in the UN today, is waging an international campaign against the freedom of speech, trying to pressure the West into passing laws criminalizing criticism of Islam - including counterterror investigations of the motives and goals of jihad terrorists. Is this really an organization to which Obama is well-advised to reach out?

CAUTION: This video contains an extremely grisly sequence. To see this video fullscreen, go here.

"Court ignores 'religious hostility' of Turk who held knife to Christian's throat" -- "Karasu had denounced the Christian as a 'missionary dog' who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelizing others." Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate, secular Turkey. "Assailant in Street Attack in Turkey Ordered Released," from Compass Direct News, February 12:

ISTANBUL, February 12 (CDN) -- An Istanbul court has ordered the release of a jailed Turk who publicly threatened and held a knife to the throat of a Christian he attacked six months ago.

In a ruling on Wednesday (Feb. 10), the Kadikoy Seventh Court of First Instance convicted Yasin Karasu, 24, of making death threats and mounting an armed attack against Ismail Aydin. Shouting to attract passersby as he held a knife to Aydin's throat on Aug. 3, Karasu had denounced the Christian as a "missionary dog" who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelizing others.

The crime is punishable by four years in prison, but Justice Tahsin Dogan ruled that Karasu should be released unconditionally, without serving the remainder of his sentence....

One thing you can say about Chaudary: he is honest, where some of his slicker coreligionists who share his goals dissemble about them. "British Islamist Anjem Choudary: Freedom and Democracy Are Idols That Must Be Destroyed and Replaced with Obedience to Allah," from MEMRITV, February 3 (that is the date of the clip; this was just posted at MEMRI), with thanks to all who sent this in:

Following are excerpts from an interview with Anjem Choudary, head of Islam4UK, which aired on Press TV on February 3, 2010. The interview was held in English.

Anjem Choudary: Our main objectives are to invite the societies in which we live to think about Islam as an alternative way of life, to command good and forbid evil wherever we are, and ultimately, as well, to establish the shari'a on state level - which is the caliphate system of governance - in order to be a beacon again in the world, an example of how people should live their lives.

[...]

Interviewer: Let's talk about some of the statements coming out from your Islam4UK website. They were very incendiary, they've inflamed a big debate in the United Kingdom. One of the photos that you released showed, for example, the Buckingham Palace - the home of the British royal family - converted into a mosque. Is that your aim, and how did you expect the British public to react, by releasing photos like that?

Anjem Choudary: One of our campaigns, in fact, was to invite Britain to adopt the shari'a as a alternative. Part and parcel of that was to give them an example of how Britain may look, had the shari'a been implemented. For example, under the shari'a, there is no monarchy system, so Buckingham Palace certainly would not be the home for the monarch who is in existence today, which is Queen Elizabeth II....

Muhammad said: "When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them....If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. (Sahih Muslim 4294)

So what might be coming next, after Chaudary's invitation?

I do believe, and as Muslims, we do believe, that there is a clash between two civilizations today. One civilization is based upon Man - that believes that Man is sovereign, and they believe they have the right to legislate - and one civilization that believes that sovereignty and supremacy belongs to God.

[...]

The people in the past used to worship the idols which they used to make with their hands. Nowadays, people worship idols which are more intellectual - like democracy, liberalism, freedom, and so on. So these need to be destroyed as well, and replaced with worshipping and obeying Allah....

Rashad Hussain defended jihad terror leader Sami Al-Arian in the jihad-enabling Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. But when Hussain was appointed Obama's special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, suddenly the evidence of his defense of Al-Arian went down the memory hole. But there was no cover-up! It was all a mistake, you see: according to the Washington Report now, Laila Al-Arian actually said the words that were attributed to Rashad Hussain.

But this doesn't make sense, since the article was altered just to remove the quotes, not to change the name of the person quoted. Also, the author of the original story contradicts the Washington Report's explanation.

Did Obama know about this cover-up?

An update on this story. "Publication Denies Cover-Up on OIC Envoy, Implies Anti-Muslim Bias Lies Behind Story," by Patrick Goodenough for CNS News, February 16:

(CNSNews.com) - A Washington-based publication said Tuesday that it incorrectly quoted President Obama's newly-appointed envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference as saying in 2004 that an American who aided a Palestinian terrorist group was the victim of "politically motivated persecutions."

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) was responding to queries about why an archived story quoting Rashad Hussain as making the controversial comments was altered years later.

WRMEA news editor and executive director Delinda Hanley denied there was a "cover-up," and implied that anti-Muslim discrimination was behind the fact this was now being raised.

Yeah, it's just "anti-Muslim discrimination" to be concerned about Rashad Hussain's support for Al-Arian, a vicious suicide-bombing supporter who chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" and was a leader of the bloody terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

At the time of the quoted remarks Hussain was a Yale law student. Last year he was appointed White House deputy associate counsel and Obama at the weekend named him as special envoy to the OIC, the 57-member bloc of Islamic states.

Cybercast News Service reported earlier that Hussain was quoted in a November 2004 WRMEA article as telling a Muslim students' event in Chicago that the situation facing Sami al-Arian - a university professor then in custody and later convicted and jailed for conspiring to aid a Palestinian terrorist group - was "politically motivated" and a means "to squash dissent."

It was also reported that the WRMEA article was amended - at least three years later, according to an Internet archive site - with the paragraphs quoting Hussain removed. (see the original and revised pages).

Responding to queries first sent on Sunday, Hanley said Tuesday that the comments attributed to Hussain were actually made by another person attending the event in Chicago, Sami al-Arian's daughter, Laila al-Arian.

Hanley said an "intern" who attended the event and wrote the story had made an "error." When this was discovered the quotes were deleted, she said.

But the writer, contacted by email on Tuesday, denied this.

"When I worked as a reporter at WRMEA, I understood how important it was to quote the right person, and accurately," Shereen Kandil said. "I have never mixed my sources and wouldn't have quoted Rashad Hussain if it came from Laila al-Arian."

"If the editors from WRMEA felt they wanted to remove Rashad Hussain from the article, my assumption is that they did it for reasons other than what you're saying," she said. "They never once contacted me about an 'error' they claim I made."...

After looking further into the matter, Hanley said several hours later that the WRMEA web master thought the archived story had been altered on February 5, 2009, although it was also possible that the change had been made "when our Web site began an ongoing redesign."...

Clearly they've been caught, and they're scrambling.

This is what happens when you give money on the basis of wishful thinking. This is the result of the Fantasy-Based Policymaking that prevails today in Washington as well as Brussels. "'EU aid funds PA incitement,'" by Ben Hartman for the Jerusalem Post, February 2 (thanks to John):

A British taxpayer watchdog group unveiled two reports on Monday detailing the role of European foreign aid in the transmission of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic narratives in Palestinian Authority schools and media in Jerusalem.

The reports, "Palestinian Hate Education Since Annapolis" and "Funding Hate Education," detail what the Taxpayers' Alliance refers to as a campaign of "demonizing Israel" largely funded by European taxpayers, a policy it says diminishes long-term hopes for peace.

The Taxpayers' Alliance said it has taken up the issue of incitement against Israel in the Palestinian territories because it believes there must be greater scrutiny of aid programs for the PA, so that taxpayer money from the UK and the EU no longer funds programs that harm thepeace process and the national interests of British and EU citizens.

Matthew Sinclair, research director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said at a press briefing in Jerusalem, held with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, that in Palestinian society, "we're looking at a population where 42 percent are under the age of 15. You have a huge younger generation whose views are going to shape the situation for a long time.

"Peace lies in the hearts and minds of people and it's vital that the right attitudes are encouraged in people and the right conditions are created for peace," Sinclair continued.

"It's rare we see it [foreign aid] doing as much harm to the British taxpayers as we do in this case," he said....

Oh, I'm sure they'll find a way to top it.

Whitewashing terror and oppression. Leftist/Jihadist Alliance Update: "Islamic and Leftist Allies Defend Iran's Human Rights Record at U.N. Gathering," by Patrick Goodenough for CNS News, February 16 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

(CNSNews.com) - As the U.N. Human Rights Council scrutinized Iran's domestic rights record on Monday, Western nations raised concerns about abuses including executions, torture and mass arrests, while Tehran's Islamic and leftist allies lined up to defend and praise the regime.

The events once again highlighted the deep divisions in the Geneva-based U.N. body, which the Obama administration joined last year, citing hopes of improving it from within.

After Iran presented the HRC with a 31-page report on its human rights record, the council on Monday held a three-hour "interactive dialogue," with almost 60 states making statements and Iranian delegates periodically responding. The exercise is known as the "universal periodic review" (UPR), which examines every U.N. member state once every four years.

The U.S. led the criticism of Iran, with Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner voicing concern about suppression of post-election protests, restrictions on freedom of expression, violations of religious freedom, "show" trials, and reports of torture of detainees.

Several Western delegates called for an international inquiry into the post-election violence, while some implied that Iran was not an appropriate candidate to join the HRC. Iran hopes to win a seat on the council in elections scheduled for May.

For Iran's allies, however - many of them countries whose own human rights records draw criticism - Iran's UPR was an opportunity to shield Tehran and scold the West.

The Nicaraguan envoy painted Iran as the victim of Western imperialism.

"Nicaragua, as is the case for Latin America as a whole, has been a victim of the same oppressors and this is why my country recognizes this spirit of fighting and hope in the Iranian people," he said.

The international community should not try to impose its principles and cultural values on others, the Nicaraguan added.

"We cannot but take into account the cultural environment in this fraternal country which, like other Islamic countries, believes that it is obliged to respect the norms of the Islamic shari'a."

Venezuela's representative praised Iran's achievements, which he said came despite the country being "subjected to unjust economic sanctions and an ongoing defaming media campaign."

Cuba's envoy similarly said Iranian progress had been achieved despite restrictions imposed from outside.

Pakistan's delegate encouraged Iran to ensure the protection of citizens' rights, then added, "Pakistan firmly believes that human rights are better served when these are pursued through a non-politicized and cooperative approach. We should acknowledge that no country in the world can claim a blemish-free human rights record."

The representative of Algeria noted that the UPR process was meant to be conducted in an "objective, non-selective, constructive, non-confrontational and non-politicized manner ... unfortunately this does not seem to be the case today with Iran."...

In The American Thinker today Pamela Geller and I discuss our upcoming event at the site of the Conservative Political Action Conference. Have you registered yet? Do so now by writing to fdinitiative@aol.com.

The jihad against America is more active and assertive than ever -- and hardly anyone is talking about it. It is time to take action.

Over one-third of the attempted and successful jihad attacks on American soil since 9/11 took place in 2009. This sharp uptick comes at a time when conservative organizations and media figures are talking about jihad and its root causes in Islamic texts and teachings less frequently and less honestly than at any time since 9/11. At the same time, there is a global initiative at the U.N. and elsewhere to muzzle critics of Islam, criminalizing even honest discussion of the Islamic doctrines that terrorists use to justify jihad violence and Islamic supremacism.

Now we have created an organization to stand up against this silence that threatens to our existence and render us defenseless as our freedoms and way of life are eroded away. We are launching the Freedom Defense Initiative, a new activist group, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2010, with a conference entitled "Jihad: The Political Third Rail -- What They Are Not Telling You."

Our nation is at war, and yet our politicians pretend that that war isn't happening. Barack Obama is intent upon trying enemy combatants in that war in civilian courts and making concession after concession to our enemies as if those concessions will make them love us. The mainstream media, both liberal and conservative, and the entire government and law enforcement apparatus appear determined to obfuscate and deny the truth about the enemy's ideology and belief system. This has the effect of minimizing in the minds of Americans the threat just as it is greater than ever and of rendering us blind to very real threats from people and groups that officials seem intent upon assuming to be innocuous.

Like it or not, we are engaged in a defense action against an Islamic jihad -- one whose goals and motives are spelled out in the Koran and the teachings of Islam. Politically correct dissembling about this only makes Americans more vulnerable than they could be or should be.

The conference is designed to speak the truths that others will not speak. It will educate Americans about the Muslim Brotherhood's infiltration at the highest levels of the U.S. government, as well as its war on free speech: its attempt to silence and discredit those who speak up against the jihad and Sharia encroachment in the West. Emphasis will be on the international character of the jihad against the West and on how the Islamic war on free speech (and the media's self-imposed blackout on this issue, as in the Fort Hood massacre) is part and parcel of the same jihad against the West that terrorists are pursuing by violent means....

Read it all.

Brian Williams

Over at Atlas Shrugs Pamela has a most disquieting report about legal maneuvering against Brian Williams, the Christian pastor who helped Rifqa Bary when she fled from her home in fear for her life after her conversion from Islam to Christianity was discovered. Now we know why the CAIR lawyer for Rifqa's parents pursued the "unruly" charge to which Rifqa unwisely, at the insistence of her clueless attorneys, pled guilty. They hope to use it as a stick to beat Rifqa's defenders.

Last week I reported on CAIR's latest move to stop any converts out of Islam and any Christians who might try to help these desperate, brave victims.

Back on January 19th, Rifqa Bary was tricked into pleading guilty to the "unruly" charges against her in exchange for a dependency deal that the Bary parents and their CAIR-appointed attorney have since reneged on, there have been new developments in the case.

The prosecutor, under pressure from powerful and influential CAIR, is pursuing charges against Brian Williams, the pastor and friend whom she contacted after she ran away.

The prosecution is seeking to indict Brian Williams on two charges -- contributing to the "unruliness" of a minor (eureka, now we understand why CAIR demanded a guilty plea in exchange for a meaningless deal with the kuffar) and a second charge of "interference with custody," which carries a sentence of six months to a year.

So now we understand the change in strategy.

Brian Williams is being urged by Rifqa's deal-making attorney, Stemberger-appointed attorney Kort Gotterdam, to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Gotterdam is following the direction of the lawyer who appointed him, John Stemberger, who also brokered broken deals for Rifqa....

But Williams will not do this. More power to him. You can see his remarks in the comments field at Atlas, confirming the veracity of the report there and giving the lie to those who have leveled the false charge that Pamela Geller is passing on rumors, innuendo and hearsay. Of course, the unfolding events of this case demonstrate who is dissembling and concentrating on saving their professional reputations rather than saving Rifqa, and who is telling the truth, more vividly every day.

These six officers are being unjustly targeted. I am sure they did pass up opportunities to do something about Nidal Hasan before he became a jihad murderer, but they were acting in conformity with the prevailing culture of the U.S. Military at this time. In fact, if they had reported Hasan, they would have risked the wrath of their superiors and CAIR, and they probably knew it. These officers should not be disciplined absent a thorough reevaluation and rejection of the dhimmi multiculturalism that allows jihadis into the ranks in the first place.

"Six Faulted Over Fort Hood: Military to Discipline Officers for Failing to Report Views of Suspect in Texas Shootings," by Yochi J. Dreazen for the Wall Street Journal, February 9:

The military will formally discipline at least six officers, mostly from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, for failing to take action against the officer accused of carrying out last year's deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, according to people familiar with the matter.

Senior Army officials said the decision to punish so many officers reflects the military's belief that the November assault, which killed 13 people at the Army base in central Texas, could have been prevented if Maj. Nidal Hasan's superiors had alerted authorities to his increasing Islamist radicalization....

"Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs in return is the garden of Paradise: they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain..." -- Qur'an 9:111

"Say (O Muhammad): O ye who are Jews! If ye claim that ye are favoured of Allah apart from (all) mankind, then long for death if ye are truthful." -- Qur'an 62:6

"The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death." -- Afghan jihadist Maulana Inyadullah

"We love death more than you love life!" -- New York jihadist Adis Medunjanin

"Wife of airline liquid bomb plotter 'prayed he would achieve highest level of martyrdom,'" from the Daily Mail, February 16 (thanks to Kris):

The wife of the extremist who led the plot to kill hundreds of jet passengers prayed he would achieve the highest level of Islamic martyrdom, a court heard today.

Cossor Ali, 28, wrote in her diary how she was desperate for Abdullah Ahmed Ali to kill himself for his cause, it is alleged.

She even wrote of her hopes to be pregnant with a son by the time her husband was dead, jurors heard.

'I am growing more and more attached to the cause for which you are striving for, and the reason for which we are apart,' she wrote.

'I hope and pray Allah grants your wish and gives you the highest level of Shahada.'

Ahmed Ali, also 28, and two other men were convicted of the murder plot in September last year following a trial, Inner London Crown Court heard....

The al-Qaida-inspired terror cell, jailed for conspiracy to murder on a mass scale, planned to detonate home-made liquid bombs on flights bound for major North American cities....

Her diary, written in early 2005, was found in a Next bag between a cupboard and a wardrobe together with notes she had sent to her husband. [...]

'I'm really looking forward to snuggling up to you in bed, while we listen to a talk or either one of us reads Qur'an or a book to each other....

"Oooh honey, snuggle closer and read the part again where Allah will make the unbelievers drink molten lead!" (18:29)

Also in the box was Ahmed's will, which stated: 'Before I detail my last will and requests I would like to say a few words to those who may read it I begin with a reminder to all including myself every soul shall taste death.

'The time and place for every soul is written and with every passing day it draws nearer.

'So let us not fear or worry about it.

'The only thing for us to worry about and work towards is pleasing Allah by obeying all his commandments and abstaining from all his prohibitions.

'This will ensure that our life after death will be successful and that we will die as true Muslims with Imaan.'...

"True Muslims with the Imaan [faith]"? A jihadist suicide bomber? Surely he is Misunderstanding Islam -- can we please get an Islamic spokesman to explain how exactly he is doing so and what they are doing to prevent other Muslims from misunderstanding Islam in a similar way? Honest Ibe? Brave Ahmed? Anyone? Anyone?

So are non-Muslims welcome to eat there anymore?

Eurabia Alert: "French fast food chain makes menus halal," by Henry Samuel in the Telegraph, February 15 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Quick, one of France's most popular fast food chains, has taken pork off the menu at eight of its restaurants, turning them into halal-only outlets.

The chain has replaced bacon with smoked halal turkey in restaurants in three branches in a Paris suburb, two in Marseille, and the remainder in Toulouse, Villeurbanne, near Lyon, and Roubaix, northern France - all of them areas with high Muslim populations.

These restaurants now serve only halal food, seen as permissible according to Islamic law. The company said the move was part of a test, which began in November, and that pork may return to the menu at a later date.

However, it has sparked angry reactions from Catholic groups. A comment on E-Deo, a Catholic website, said: "Quick is in the process of inventing fast-islamisation".

Citing its outlet in Villeurbanne, a Quick spokesman said that no customers were "obliged" to eat halal meat, as "in parallel, we have 10 Quick restaurants in the Lyon area" offering "classic menus".

Some Muslim customers welcomed the move in one branch in Roubaix, northern France. "I'm happy, as I can come with my Muslim friends," said Farid, 17.

But other regular customers were outraged. "I don't understand, why can't they sell halal burgers and bacon burgers at the same time?" asked Delphine, 26.

The far-right National Front waded in on Sunday; its vice-president, Marine Le Pen, who is campaigning ahead of next month's regional elections, said: "All those who come to buy food in this Quick will in reality pay a tax to Islamic certification organisations [paid to rubber stamp the halal label]."

But Al-Kanz, a French Muslim consumers' group, said the reasons were "purely economic", adding that there were no "dark Muslim forces in France putting pressure" on the chain....

Yeah, surrre.

I am pleased to announce that the formidable Antoine Martin has begun translating my Blogging the Qur'an series into French. You can find it here.

You can read the whole series in English here, and in various states of completion in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Danish, and German.

Heartfelt thanks to all those who have taken it upon themselves to translate this series.

The Turks are irked. The Turks are irked. What kind of jerk would irk the Turks? Why, converts from Islam to Christianity, of course. It's a crime to insult Islam in modern, moderate, secular Turkey. Let them into the EU! An update on this story. "Baseless Case Against Turkish Christians Further Prolonged," from Compass Direct News, February 15 (thanks to James):

SILIVRI, Turkey, February 15 (CDN) -- Barely five minutes into the latest hearing of a more than three-year-old case against two Christians accused of "insulting Turkishness and Islam," the session was over.

The prosecution had failed to produce their three final witnesses to testify against Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal for alleged crimes committed under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. The same three witnesses had failed to heed a previous court summons to testify at the last hearing, held on Oct. 15, 2009.

This time, at the Jan. 28 hearing, one witness employed in Istanbul's security police headquarters sent word to inform the court that she was recovering from surgery and unable to attend. Of the other two witnesses, both identified as "armed forces" personnel, one was found to be registered at an address 675 miles away, in the city of Iskenderun, and the other's whereabouts had not yet been confirmed.

So the court issued instructions for the female witness to be summoned a third time, to testify at the next hearing, set for May 25. The court ordered the witness in Iskenderun to submit his "eyewitness" testimony in writing to the Iskenderun criminal court, to be forwarded to the Silivri court. No further action was taken to summon the third witness.

International Inquiry
Judge Hayrettin Sevim, who has presided over the last five hearings on the case, informed the plaintiff and defense lawyers that recently his court had been requested to supply the Justice Ministry with a copy of relevant documents and details from the case file.

An inquiry outside Turkey about the progress of the case, he said, prompted the request.

Seven different state prosecutors have been assigned to the case since Prosecutor Ahmet Demirhuyuk declared at the fourth hearing in July 2007 that "not a single concrete, credible piece of evidence" had been produced to support the accusations against the Protestant defendants. After Demihuyuk recommended that the charges be dropped and the two Christians acquitted, he was removed from the case.

Originally filed in October 2006, the controversial Article 301 case accused Tastan and Topal, both former Muslims who converted to Christianity, of slandering the Turkish nation and Muslim religion while involved in evangelistic activities in Silivri, an hour's drive west of Istanbul in northwestern Turkey....

What a surprise: "The ACLU argued that administrators at the Inver Grove Heights school have intimidated potential witnesses or tried to dissuade them from testifying about TiZA."

"Judge warns TiZA school, ACLU about witness harassment," by Sarah Lemagie for the Star Tribune, February 10 (thanks to Joseph):

A federal judge said this week that witness intimidation by any party will not be tolerated in a lawsuit involving a charter school accused of illegally promoting Islam.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota is suing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) for allegedly crossing the line between religion and public education, a claim school officials have denied.

The ACLU argued that administrators at the Inver Grove Heights school have intimidated potential witnesses or tried to dissuade them from testifying about TiZA, and asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham to issue an order protecting them.

In an order filed Wednesday, the judge stopped short of granting all of the ACLU's requests, but she said no one should harass or tamper with witnesses. In addition, two prospective witnesses, Khalid Elmasry and Janeha Edwards, may request that only attorneys attend their depositions.

Graham also ordered the ACLU to provide a list of witnesses to opposing counsel.

The school and its lawyers take the ACLU's allegations seriously but do not believe they have intimidated any witnesses, said Shamus O'Meara, lead defense counsel for TiZA.

In a written declaration, Elmasry said he was thinking twice about serving as a voluntary witness because of what he called attempts to discredit and intimidate him. The father of a former TiZA student, Elmasry said he also used to be a board member of Minnesota Education Trust, a group connected to the school....

Traducido por Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.

Mi amigo que se llama Jeff me dijo una vez que había intentado leer muchas veces el Corán pero no podía leer toda 'La Vaca'. Con esta parte, hemos leído después de seis semanas toda 'La Vaca', el capítulo más largo del Corán. Esta serie ha de discutir el Corán en su contexto, lo que soy acusado siempre de no hacer, y de iluminar para los no musulmanes ciertos aspectos de las doctrinas del Corán que afectan hoy en día a nuestras vidas porque, como señala el periodista canadiense David Warren, 'es imposible que se presenten las creencias del Talibán, de Al-Qaeda, de Hamas, o de la Hermandad Musulmana del lado suní; o de Hezbollah, de los fascistas iraquíes, o de los ayatolás revolucionarios del lado chiita como aberraciones completas del Islam. Citan con precisión suficiente el Corán y los Hadices, e evocan una historia semi-legendaria de la yihad armada y de conquista que resuena entre los oyentes musulmanes que no se han occidentalizado.

El uso del Corán y de Sunna es, por supuesto, algo que he señalado muchas veces, y he instado de manera repetida que los musulmanes no violentos se enfrenten y renuncien a esta utilización de sus textos sagrados para que menoscaben la capacidad de inspirar la violencia y la supremacía. Y, como leo el Corán y señalo cómo los comentadores musulmanes entienden varios pasajes, continuaré haciéndolo. Al comentar, no la sección de esta semana, sino la de la semana pasada, una persona que dirige un blog me acusó de 'demonizar el Islam'. No puedo ver cómo leer el Corán y señalar cómo los comentadores musulmanes interpretan varios pasajes signifiquen posiblemente la demonización- si informo de manera exacta sobre la materia, todo lo negativo viene de musulmanes, no de mí, y si no lo hago, pues tenga la bondad de mostrar cómo no tengo razón (pero nadie lo ha hecho y nadie puede hacerlo). De hecho sospecho que esto se ha convertido ahora en la respuesta automática a todo lo que hago, pero los que leen lo que escribo en realidad no podrán sostener tal punto de vista.

An update on this story. "Jihadist weapons stockpile in Australia," by Larissa Cummings for the Daily Telegraph, February 16:

Guns, chemicals and ammunition hidden by a group of would-be jihadists remain unaccounted for and could still be used for a devastating terror attack in Australia.

The chilling warning was given in the Supreme Court yesterday as five men, all devout Muslims from Sydney's southwest, were sentenced to between 23 and 28 years jail for conspiring to carry out a terrorist act.

In sentencing the men, Justice Anthony Whealy said they had shown no remorse and would wear their lengthy prison terms as a "badge of honour".

True to the judge's words, all five smiled broadly at each other in the dock after learning of their combined 130 years jail.

The men, who were found guilty by a jury last October after one of the longest criminal trials in NSW history, believed Islam was under attack by the US and its allies.

Each thought it was his duty to come to the defence of his religion by preparing to wage violent jihad in Australia, the court heard.

Justice Whealy said the men embraced a vengeful mindset of, "You kill us, so you will be killed. You bomb us, so you will be bombed" and prepared to build and detonate bombs and to amass firearms and ammunition to carry out their plot.

He said they intended to cause extensive damage to property and posed a serious risk to human life.

Far from being a "remote" possibility, their plan could have been carried out early in 2006 had it not been intercepted by police, he said.

He described the pact as "deliberate, defiant and brazen" and said the men urgently tried to conceal their stockpile ahead of their arrest to "preserve the fruits of the criminal enterprise for later use when the heat died down"....

Leftist/Jihadist Alliance Update from Absurd Britannia. "Friday prayers at the New Statesman," by Douglas Murray in the Telegraph, February 12:

More people moan about the New Statesman than buy it. They usually start by saying, "this once great magazine". I won't because I think the New Statesman was always mostly rubbish.

But events over the last year have made it decline faster than even the magazine's greatest detractors could have hoped.

This week the magazine presents another "Islam special". The front-page headline tells us in big letters: "Everything you know about Islam is wrong".

Now that is almost certainly true for New Statesman readers. And if it weren't the case before this edition, it certainly will be afterwards for anyone who tries to read through it.

The contents waffle interminably, led by Brother Tariq Ramadan and the head of the "Respect" Party Salma Yaqoob. Lovely.

But why has the Left's favourite magazine ended up thinking that the way to boost its tiny and dwindling circulation is to become an Islamic magazine? Might it by any chance have anything to do with the appointment last year of a new political editor, Mehdi Hasan? I've written about him before here.

Hasan appears to be doing everything he can to chase any non-Muslim readers away from the magazine. Though this might upset the Statesman's owner, it couldn't possibly upset Hasan, who has a dim view of the worth of us non-Muslims....

Read it all.

This article's headline actually refers to a new "tough stance" by the US. This means...tougher talk.

"US seeks to shore up support for tough Iran stance," by Robert Burns for AP, February 14 (thanks to all who sent this in):

DOHA, Qatar - U.S. officials sought to shore up support Sunday for a tougher stand against Iran's nuclear program by saying Tehran had left the world little choice and expressing renewed confidence that holdout China would come around to harsher U.N. penalties.

Even as the Obama administration intensifies its diplomacy, Iran is showing little sign of bending to the will of its critics. Past U.N. sanctions have had little effect. Some outside experts have detected what they believe are new slowdowns in Iran's nuclear advances, but the Islamic republic is believed headed toward having nuclear weapons capability in perhaps a few years -- estimates vary as to when.

President Barack Obama's senior military adviser called for more time for diplomatic pressure to work and said from Israel, which has hinted that it might attack if negotiations to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions failed, that such action could have "unintended consequences" throughout the Middle East. Israel views Iran's nuclear program as a threat to its very existence.

While diplomatic patience has its limits, "we're not there yet," U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Tel Aviv.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a quick visit to Persian Gulf allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia, told a forum on U.S.-Muslim relations that Iran has not lived up to its nuclear obligations and has rebuffed U.S. and international efforts to engage in serious talks. She said Iran has a right to nuclear power, but only if shown unequivocally it is to be used just for peaceful purposes.

While Iran insists it has no desire to get the bomb, Clinton said it appears otherwise.

"The evidence is accumulating that that is exactly what they are trying to do," she said during a question-and-answer session with her audience at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, attended by officials and scholars from around the world. She also used pointed language in stressing that after months of failed efforts aimed at direct talks with Iran, tougher action is now required.

"It's time for Iran to be held to account for its activities," she said, alluding to penalties designed to squeeze Iran's economy.

In her speech, Clinton said the U.S. and others were working on "new measures" to try to persuade Iran to change its course.

She added: "I would like to figure out a way to handle it in as peaceful an approach as possible, and I certainly welcome any meaningful engagement, but we don't want to be engaging while they are building their bomb."

Obama has said that work to broaden economic sanctions in the U.N. Security Council is moving along quickly, but he hasn't given a specific timeline. China, one of five permanent members of the Security Council, has close economic ties to Iran and can block a resolution by itself....

Yes, yes, "there is no compulsion in religion" (Qur'an 2:256) and forced conversion is forbidden in Islamic law, but when the prophet of Islam himself tells his followers to offer unbelievers conversion, subjugation, or war, the line between free choice and compulsion can get a little blurred.

"Rapist Jamaile Morally in boiling oil jail attack," by Justin Penrose for the Mirror, February 7 (thanks to Paul):

A jailed killer poured boiling oil over another inmate because he refused to convert to Islam.

Jamaile Morally, 26 - sentenced to life as part of a gang that raped, tortured and murdered a teenage girl and left another for dead - led two other inmates in carrying out the attack....

A prison source said: "There has been a real problem of extremist Muslims trying to convert other inmates to Islam."

No kidding, really?

Note how it is entirely the responsibility of women to avoid provoking men with "unduly sexy gym suits or physical exercises and movements that excite [them]." For that matter, it is noteworthy that the burden of avoiding "provocation" always falls more heavily on those who are subjugated under Islamic law -- that is, women and unbelievers.

The emergence and survival of a civilized society depends on self control, and that cannot be the duty of only one gender or party.

"Aerobics contrary to Islam, promotes lust, Sumatra Islamic leader says," by Mathias Hariyadi for Asia News, February 15:

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - "Sexy attire" used by women during aerobics class is "against the spirit of Islam," said the Indonesian Islamic Ulemas Council (MUI) in Palembang, South Sumatra province. The statement comes only a few weeks after the agency in charge of public morality and the defence of Islamic values had issued a similar fatwa concerning hairdos and pre-marital photos. In its recent pronouncement, it targeted sexy outfits that "provoke lust in men."

For the MUI, it is wrong especially for young women to wear "improper" garments during aerobic exercises in gyms or in the open air, because of their effect on men.

Aerobic exercises early in the morning, especially during weekends, have become a regular activity for thousands of women of all ages.

Kiai Hajj Sodikun, MUI leader in Palembang, said women should wear more chaste clothing so as not to arouse men. Because of this, unduly sexy gym suits or physical exercises and movements that excite men "should be considered haram (morally illicit)".

Mr Kiai does acknowledge the importance of physical exercises for human health, but insists that they must be practiced with the appropriate clothing.

The main problem is that no one knows with any certainty what garment or exercise is illicit and what is not. In many Indonesian provinces, there are many traditional dances and body movements, different from one to the other.

And that's where edicts like this are headed in the long run, not unlike previous legislation that contained vaguely worded injunctions against "pornography."

"Such views are a very poor argument," gym teacher Herlina told AsiaNews. "What about women wearing bikini at the beach or whilst swimming?" Jakarta resident Maria asks. "The MUI seems to be short of arguments to address problems raised in modern society," she added.

Founded in1975 by then President Suharto, the MUI has grown powerful over the years in the areas of morality and behaviour; it has been able to issue guidelines on its own on what constitute licit or illicit attitudes, customs and habits.

Its members act as if they and they alone held the power to define how Islam must be respected and its principles upheld. Over the years, its fatwas over clothing, smoking, fashion and traditions deeply rooted in the archipelago's history and culture have been controversial.

I've been noting for years that the genocide in southern Sudan and Darfur was identified as a jihad by its perpetrators. But the mainstream media and official Washington have always characterized it as "ethnic violence." Will they believe Sadiq al-Mahdi? I doubt it. He must be some kind of Islamophobe.

"Ex-PM Mahdi blasts Sudan ruling party on south, Darfur," from AFP, February 15:

KHARTOUM -- Former Sudanese premier Sadiq al-Mahdi kicked off his presidential campaign Monday with a blistering attack on the ruling National Congress Party, which he accused of devastating the country.

Mahdi, a leading contender against President Omar al-Beshir in April's elections, also accused the NCP of using the "ethnic weapon" in the war-torn Darfur region.

"The catastrophe that afflicted our country began with the takeover by a minority party that imposed an Arabic Islamic identity on a country of diverse religions and cultures, and treating whoever did not agree with it as a renegade to be fought by jihad," Mahdi told a news conference....

As if this coverup weren't enough.

The Muslim Brotherhood "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." -- "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America," by Mohamed Akram, May 19, 1991.

"BREAKING NEWS: New Obama Envoy Has History Of Engagement With U.S. Muslim Brotherhood; Called Al-Arian Case 'Politically Motivated Persecution,'" from the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report, February 15 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

Rashad Hussein, White House official and President Obama's newly appointed Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, has a history of participation in events connected with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood as well as support for Brotherhood causes....[...]

However, in October 2000 Mr. Hussain spoke at a conference sponsored by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) and the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University (CMCU). The conference was titled "Islam, Pluralism, and Demoracy and featured many leaders of the global Muslim Brotherhood including former German diplomat Murad Hoffman, and International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) leaders Louay Safi, Jamal Barzinji, Hisham Al-Talib, and AbdulHamid Abusylayman. The AMSS was founded in 1972 as an outgrowth of the Muslim Student Association and has long been associated with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.

In June 2002, Mr. Hussain was listed as part of a Congressional Staffers panel at the American Muslim Council's (AMC) 11th annual convention. The AMC was headed at that time headed by Abdurahman Alamoudi, a leader in the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and currently imprisoned as part of a plot to assassinate the Saudi head of state, Crown Prince Abdullah. Other important leaders of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood such as Jamal Barzinji were also part of the AMC.

While at Yale Law School, Mr. Hussain was listed as part of the organizing committee for an April 2004 conference organized by a student organization known as the Critical Islamic Reflections (CIR) group. Among the CIR sponsors listed on the their web site was IIIT and the Fairfax Institute, the IIIT educational arm. IIIT is an important component of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and three of the key IIIT/Fairfax leaders Jamal Barzinji, Hisham Al-Talib, and Yaqub Mirza; were also associated with what has been called the SAAR network (Safa Group), a network of Islamic organizations located in Northern Virginia that was raided by the Federal government in March 2002 and which, until at least mid 2007, had been the subject of an ongoing investigation. Also listed as a CIR sponsor was ALIM, most likely referring to the American Learning Institute for Muslims and whose list of instructors includes some of the most important leaders of the U.S./global Muslim Brotherhood including Tariq Ramadan, Jamal Badawi, and Taha Al-Alwani.

In September 2004, while still a Yale law student, Mr. Hussain participated in a session at the annual conference of the Muslim Student's Association (MSA) of the U.S. and Canada. The MSA has long been associated with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and at the session, Mr. Hussain appeared along side the daughter of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian and labeled Al-Arian's prosecution "politically motivated persecution." According to an archived notice in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs:

A session on civil rights called "Get up, Stand up; Stand up for your Rights: The State of Contemporary Civil Liberties" was held Sept. 5 at the annual conference for the Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada, held alongside the Islamic Society of North America's 41st annual convention in Chicago. Laila Al-Arian, daughter of civil and political rights activist and Muslim leader Sami Al-Arian, opened the session with her father's story. She gave a heart-wrenching, emotional account of an innocent man targeted for free-speech activities, whose rights were stripped thanks in part to the PATRIOT Act. Al-Arian, who has not yet been to trial, has been held in a federal penitentiary for over a year and a half. Al-Arian's situation is one of many "politically motivated persecutions," claimed Rashad Hussain, a Yale law student. Such persecution, he stated, must be fought through hope, faith, and the Muslim vote.

(It should be noted that in the latest version of the above report, the two sentences pertaining to Mr. Hussain have been removed, sometime after October 2007 according to the Internet Archive.)

In 2006, Al-Arian was sentenced to 57 months in prison for conspiring to violate a federal law that prohibits making or receiving contributions of funds, goods or services to, or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Defense of Al-Arian and accusations of politically-motivated prosecution has been a long-time U.S. Muslim Brotherhood cause....

Read it all.

Sami al-Arian is the former Florida professor who turned out to be a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and who waged an immensely successful propaganda campaign charging that his prosecution was a manifestation of "Islamophobia" -- until he pled guilty, that is. And Rashad Hussain was part of that campaign, although someone has tried to cover up that fact. "Obama's New OIC Envoy Defended Activist Who Aided Terrorist Group," by Patrick Goodenough for CNS News, February 15:

(CNSNews.com) - President Obama's newly appointed envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference was quoted in 2004 as saying an American who aided a Palestinian terrorist group was the victim of "politically motivated persecutions" who was being used "to squash dissent."

Rashad Hussain was quoted as telling a Muslim students' event in Chicago that if U.S. Muslims did not speak out against the injustices taking place in America, then everyone's rights would be in jeopardy.

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) cited Hussain as making the remarks in connection with Sami al-Arian, a university professor and activist sentenced in 2006 to more than four years in prison (including time already spent in custody) after he had pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

The U.S. government designated the PIJ as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, and in 2003, then Attorney-General John Ashcroft described it as "one of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world."

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has killed more than 100 Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks. Its victims include American citizens Alisa Flatow, a 20-year-old New Jersey college student killed in a 1995 suicide bombing in Gaza, and 16-year-old Shoshana Ben-Ishai, shot dead in a bus in Jerusalem in 2001.

In sentencing al-Arian, Judge James Moody of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida described him as a "leader of the PIJ" and a "master manipulator."

Al-Arian remains under home detention in Virginia pending contempt of court charges relating to his refusal to testify in an unrelated case involving an Islamic think tank. Sympathizers view him as a victim of post-9/11 law enforcement zeal and anti-Muslim prejudice. (The WRMEA article described him as "an innocent man targeted for free-speech activities, whose rights were stripped thanks in part to the PATRIOT Act.")

Among those sympathizers, evidently, was Rashad Hussain, who at the time of the cited remarks was a Yale Law School student and an editor, from 2003-2005, of the Yale Law Journal. He went on to serve as a Department of Justice trial attorney and in January 2009 was appointed White House deputy associate counsel.

On Saturday, Obama named the Texas-born, 31-year-old Indian-American as his envoy to the OIC, the 57-member bloc of Islamic states. The appointment is in line with the president's goal, expressed in his speech in Cairo last June, to reach out to the Islamic world.

Obama made the announcement in a video address at a U.S.-Islamic World Forum meeting in Qatar, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Hussain attended over the weekend.

"Rashad has played a key role in developing the partnerships I called for in Cairo," Obama told the gathering in the video message. "And as a hafiz of the Koran, he is a respected member of the American Muslim community, and I thank him for carrying forward this important work." (A hafiz is someone who has memorized the Islamic text.)

And someone is whitewashing the record:

Article edited

Around three years after the WRMEA article quoting Hussain first appeared, it was edited to remove all references to him.

A copy of the original 2004 article, retrieved via the Nexis news database, includes the following sentences:

Al-Arian's situation is one of many "politically motivated persecutions," claimed Rashad Hussain, a Yale law student. Such persecution, he stated, must be fought through hope, faith, and the Muslim vote (...) Along with many others, said Yale's Hussain, Dr. Sami Al-Arian has been "used politically to squash dissent." The Muslim community must speak out against the injustices taking place in America, he emphasized. Otherwise, everyone's rights will be in jeopardy.

But in the version of the same story currently available on the WRMEA Web site those sentences - and only those sentences - have disappeared. An Internet archive search indicates that the edits were made sometime after October 2007.

Contacted by email on Sunday, the writer of the original article expressed surprise but said she no longer worked at WRMEA and could not explain the edit. Queries sent to WRMEA editors brought no response. They were asked whether either Hussain, or anyone else, had asked for the archived story to be altered...

Read it all.

"Religious conviction." Angry Anglicans? Petulant Presbyterians? Cantankerous Catholics? No, wait... An update on this story. "Five Australians jailed for jihad plot," from Reuters, February 15:

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Five Australian Muslim men convicted of plotting to commit violent jihad in Australia were jailed on Monday for terms ranging from 23 to 28 years.

One unanswered question: what measures are in place to prevent them from proselytizing to other prisoners?

The men were found guilty in October 2009 of conspiring to commit a terror attack between July 2004 and November 2005, by stockpiling weapons and chemicals to make bombs, in retaliation at Australia's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During a 10-month trial, the prosecutor told the New South Wales state Supreme Court that the defendants obtained instructions on how to make bombs capable of causing large-scale death and destruction and literature which glorified the actions of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The prosecution never told the court of any suspected target.

Judge Anthony Whealy said in sentencing the men that the group was motivated by "intolerant, inflexible religious conviction" and said the prospects of rehabilitation was poor.

The men, aged between 25 and 44 and who cannot be named by order of the judge, were arrested in Sydney in 2005 as part of Australia's largest ever terror raids...

Rushdie didn't make them up

Most people associate Valentine's Day with romance, but for Salman Rushdie, I expect it has vastly different associations. On February 14, 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie for writing his book The Satanic Verses -- and this death sentence has been perpetually reaffirmed by Iranian leaders, though no assassin has yet carried it out.

It was the first salvo in what has become an all-out Islamic war against the freedom of speech.

Rushdie did not invent the "Satanic verses." The term actually refers to an incident, recorded in Islamic tradition and referred to in Sura 53, in which Satan, not Allah, spoke through Muhammad's mouth. The verses that the devil gave to the Prophet of Islam have been known thereafter as "the Satanic verses."

Jihad Watch reader Luís Cardoso is translating my Blogging the Qur'an series, which you can read in English here, into Portuguese.

Since Brazil is one of the most beautiful countries on earth and one of my favorite places among all those that I've visited, I'm very pleased and grateful for this.

Luis (who is Portuguese, not Brazilian, I must emphasize): muito obrigado!

The egregiously pro-jihad, anti-Israel, and propagandistic Goldstone Report was funded by the Organization of the Islamic Conference -- the same group to which Barack Obama is sending a special envoy.

"Big answers to big lies: Israel refutes UN's despicable Goldstone Report," from the New York Daily News, February 14 (thanks to Larry):

The defamation of the Middle East's lone democracy, victim of relentless terror, by the United Nations Human Rights Council has come into ever sharper focus with Israel's response to the panel's Goldstone Report.

The document is purported to be an account of alleged war crimes committed during Israel's January 2009 offensive in Gaza, as well as an assessment of atrocities by Hamas, the terror group that provoked the war by shelling Israeli civilians with rockets and mortars for more than a year.

In actuality, investigator Richard Goldstone served up what the council craved: a wholesale denunciation of Israel that, if left to stand, would outlaw its ability to fight terrorist attacks.

Goldstone's report included this venomous assertion: "The operations were in furtherance of an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population for its resilience and for its apparent support for Hamas."

Israel has now answered with a sober 46-page missive to the UN secretary general. Most news reports focused on the fact that Israel announced disciplinary action against two senior military officers. But far more significant was a thorough rebuttal of Goldstone's irresponsible narrative.

To appreciate how profoundly Goldstone distorted the record, consider Israel's findings in three of the most inflammatory cases he cited - a water facility supposedly bombed intentionally, a flour mill supposedly targeted for destruction and a home supposedly demolished as part of a deliberate attack on civilians.

Regarding destruction at the "Namar wells," the Israel Defense Forces understood the site to be a military compound, not a water facility. Additionally, standing orders forbade inflicting damage on water installations. "To the contrary, the IDF made significant efforts to ensure that the population of Gaza had a sufficient and continuous water supply," Israel reported.

Or consider what happened at the El-Bader flour mill. Goldstone alleged Israel targeted the site purposely to deprive Gaza's people of food.

Never mind, as Israel points out, that "Hamas had fortified this area with tunnels and booby-trapped houses, and deployed its forces to attack IDF troops operating there."

Never mind that "IDF issued early warnings to the residents of the area, including recorded telephone calls, urging them to evacuate. Such telephone calls were made to the flour mill as well."

Never mind that "IDF troops came under intense fire from different Hamas positions in the vicinity of the flour mill."...

If Goldstone had any honor, he would retract his libel....

I am not holding my breath.

A well-placed source made these telling observations about Obama's appointment of a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. A transcript of Obama's actual remarks is here, and here is more from the special envoy himself, Rashad Hussein. The source noted:

Both Obama and Rashad Hussein refer to "thousands" of townhalls and meetings held around the world, where the US apparently "listened" to Muslims. Can we get a list of these? How much did they cost? Who did the talking? What was the agenda?

Is there any other religion they've had "thousands" of townhalls and meetings with, or are they only listening to Muslims? How about the Coptic and Iraqi Christians being slaughtered -- any listening going on with the authorities there?

Maybe in addition to willful blindness, this government has added willful deafness -- selective listening only to the Muslim authorities and selective deafness to the cries of Christians being persecuted by those Muslim authorities.

And of course they're listening to Muslims at these "thousands" of townhall meetings because Muslims cultivate an air of aggrieved righteousness. It never seems to occur to the governing establishment types that righteous anger may not actually indicate a just cause at all, but may merely be a cleverly deployed instrument of manipulation.

The Useless Sex
by Oriana Fallaci
Horizon Press 1964 pp. 26-32

Moslem women rarely walk alone along the street. Generally they walk in groups, with their children, and with the husband who keeps three paces ahead to make it clear that he is the master and she must follow him. There are times when even girls who are students, the most progressive girls, do not evade this ruling. You can see them coming out of high school, muffled up like nuns, and they are girls who know all about Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci, but if you come too close or try to photograph them, they'll suddenly huddle together in a group, lowering their heads as sheep do when they're afraid.

In a land which is struggling to convince women to take off their veils, explaining that they prevent the skin from breathing, carry infection, and enfeeble the sight, such anachronism is cruel. In the streets you might still happen to see cars with closed curtains: these are the cars of the richest Moslem women, for whom it is not enough to hide their head in purdah. Inside the houses, into which incidentally it is extremely difficult to gain admittance, you will very rarely set eyes on any women. At home they do not wear the veil, and if accidentally or on purpose you mistake the door and enter their quarters, you are met by a concert of shrillest screams. A friend of mine in Karachi who has employed a certain gardener for the last three years, tells me that she has never once seen his wife without her veil. 'I really think,' she says, 'that that woman has never been touched by a ray of sunshine.'

There's plenty of sun in the lands of Islam: a sun that is white, violent, blinding. But Moslem women never see it - their eyes are conditioned to gloom like the eyes of moles. From the darkness of the mother's womb they pass into the darkness of the father's house and from this to the darkness of the tomb. And in all this darkness nobody takes any notice of them. Asking a Moslem about his women is like asking him about a secret vice, and when one fine day I said to the editor of a Pakistani newspaper: 'I have come to ask you about the problem of Moslem women,' he became quite angry and answered: 'What problem? There isn't any problem of Moslem women.' Then. he handed me a sheaf of typescripts which were all about the dress of Moslem women, the jewels of Moslem women, the make-up of Moslem women, and about how they use coconut oil to give lustre to their hair, and how they use henna to stain the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet red, and how they use antimony mixed with rose water to colour their eyelashes. 'Here,' he said, 'you'll find everything about Moslem women.' Then I asked him what the percentage of illiteracy among Moslem women might be, and he replied angrily: 'Why should a woman have to learn reading and writing? And to whom would she need to write? The only person she could write to is her husband. If the husband is living with her, what would be the point of sending him a letter?'

A thousand and three hundred years have passed since Mohammed raised his voice in the scorching desert of Arabia, and although something new is now taking place among the women of Islam, the vast majority of his faithful followers continue to observe his laws as if time has stood still. It is true that in Tunisia President Bourguiba condemns to imprisonment any man who takes more than one wife and exhorts the young women to cast off their veils, but, as the weekly paper L'Action reports, 'the parents are ashamed of this'. It is quite true that at the American University in Beirut and at the Beirut College for Women the girls wear blue jeans, go water skiing and dance rock and roll, but, as Time Magazine reports, you are still likely to overhear a couple of male students make such remarks as: 'Would you ever marry a girl who had been to the cinema with another boy?' 'No, no I really don't think 1 would.' It is quite true that in Nigeria an eccentric woman called Zeinab Wali gives a weekly broadcast in the course of which she urges women to come out of their houses and get to know the trees, the mountains and the butterflies. But when the wife of a minister of Kaduna asked her husband's permission to go out and get to know, the trees, the mountains and the butterflies, the husband held a family council during which it was decided that she should be allowed out only after five in the evening - when there is still sufficient light to be able to see but when the sinful brilliance of the sun is turning to twilight. It is quite true that in Egypt there is an auxiliary force of women in the army, but Nasser still hasn't had the courage to abolish polygamy because, he well knows, the men would revolt against such a measure. If polygamy ceases it certainly won't be his doing; it will simply be because maintaining two wives is expensive.

The Political Third Rail indeed. From Pamela:

[...] The infiltration is so vast and so deep that CPAC, the conservatives' largest gathering in America, does not address jihad. Last year I had to bring Wilders there on my dime (with the help of Spencer, Horowitz...).

This year after Obama, it's worse. There is actually a panel called "You've Been Lied To: Why Real Conservatives are Against the War On Terror," and that's it.

The only part they got right was, "you've been lied to." When it comes to islamic jihad, everything is cloaked in lies and silence. [...]

Speaker Spotlight: Simon Deng

I was proud to march with Simon Deng at the Sudan Freedom March (400,000 Dead in Darfur, 2,000,000 South Sudanese and counting), against the jihad in Sudan.

The international media consistently reports on the violence in Sudan, both in the south and in Darfur, in ethnic terms. But Simon Deng, unlike most who comment so knowledgeably about the situation there, was actually a victim of that violence. Simon Deng lived for years as a slave in the Sudan, and now he challenges the UN and the world "human right" organizations: "How long will the world let my so-called 'infidel' people be slaughtered and enslaved in the name of the ideology of jihad?"

Simon Deng knows what so few in the West today realize: that the Sudanese in Darfur and southern Sudan were subjected to genocide and enslaved in the name of Islamic jihad - the same Islamic jihad that threatens Israel's existence, that took down the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, and that has murdered innocent people in London, Madrid, Bali, and all over the world. Simon Deng calls jihad "the worst evil presently confronting the world," and adds: "Jihad is on the march across the globe, and the people of the Sudan have experienced its cruelty more than any other group on earth."

"I belong to a people," Deng explains, "who have been subjected to mass murder, slavery, systematic rape, religious persecution, enforced starvation, dislocation, exile. We are the victims of genocide, both physical and cultural. We have been targeted for annihilation as human beings and as members of a culture. These miseries did not fall upon us from the sky; we have been and remain the victims of the radical jihadist regime in Khartoum....we Southern Sudanese lost 2 million more to what Khartoum calls a holy war against the infidels....We black 'infidels'in the South, Christians and other non-Muslims, refused to be ruled by Islam, and we refused to be Arabized."

And so they were massacred or enslaved. Deng lived as a slave for several years. And now he asks, "How long will mass murder, slavery,religious persecution , systematic rape, enforced starvation, and 'ethnic and religious cleansing' be allowed to go on? When will those with the power to act to stop these crimes stand up and say enough is enough? Not long ago - only yesterday in historical terms - after the Nazis slaughtered millions of innocent Jews, the UN was created....But in Sudan, when 1.5 million were lost in a genocide perpetrated by the Islamists, nobody said anything at all."

Simon Deng will be speaking these all-important and ignored truths at our Freedom Defense Initiative event.

But will they listen? A message from The Middle East Christian Association (thanks to Ann):

Economic Blow to the Christians in Upper Egypt

Appeal to all international human rights organization from the Christians
of the towns of Farshout, Abu Tesht, Abu Shusha, El-Arky, El-Dahsha, El-Khawaled and El-Kom El-Ahmar.

We, the Christian inhabitants of these towns appeal to you for support, as we have been subjected to brutal terrorist attacks from Muslims residing in our same towns. These attacks resulted in an estimated loss of over five million Egyptian pounds, equivalent to more than one million US dollars.

On the morning of Saturday, November 21 2009, we were stunned by the presence of well-organized groups of people, distributed all over the town of Farshout; they were physically assaulting any Christian person they met in the streets, whether it be a man, woman, girl or even a child, accompanied by Islamic chants, as if they were on a new Islamic invasion.

They broke into all the shops and businesses owned by Christians, breaking down the doors, looting all contents, only to leave after it was completely empty, then setting it on fire. They went from one Christian-owned shop to another.

More than 40 shops have been broken into, all this was happening while they sung Islamic chants as if they were undertaking a legitimate act approved by Islam, or a Muslim invasion which would make the heart of the God of Islam happy.

All this took place before the eyes and ears of the security forces and the Egyptian police without any intervention on their part. The police left the mob to carry out looting and opened the way for them to escape without the slightest objection from them, as if the police were there to protect them during their looting and not to arrest them.

The Coptic Orthodox Society was also broken into and completely vandalized. It was licensed over 30 years ago by the Ministry of Social Affairs and has been engaged in helping the needy in this town and the neighboring ones. It taught crafts to young men and women to combat unemployment and provided micro-credit for poor families to assist them in starting small business projects. In spite of being a Coptic society, it provided assistance to Christians and Muslims alike, without any distinction and was ultimately completely vandalized by those whom it has lent a supporting hand. Some houses were also broken into, forcing the residents to go out and leave their homes behind; they looted the contents of the whole house, while the Muslims in the streets assaulted those families before letting them go.

What we write to you now represents only a fraction of what actually happened to us, we the Christians of these villages, and we have evidence, in pictures and video footage, to prove all what we are saying.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Nag Hammadi to which our village is affiliate, HG Bishop Kyrillos, is fully prepared to take any telephone conversation from any authority wishing to investigate this issue further. HG is also pleading for support since help from inside Egypt is lacking, and so far, the security authorities have failed to respond to this matter.

We appeal to all international human rights organizations to intervene so that we, the Christians, can obtain the least of our human rights, which is to live and co-exist in Peace. We have lost everything that we own in this blow, which was specifically aimed at hitting the Christians economically and destroying the Coptic economic infrastructure in this town and the Province of Qena at large.

Presented by The Christians of Farshout and the affiliated villages

Al-Homsi is on the left, sans hijab

We have heard from Kimberly Suzanne Al-Homsi, a.k.a. Asma Al-Homsi, before. She was apparently conducting surveillance at Love Field in 2007, wearing camouflage pants under her Muslim garb. She is a close friend of convicted jihad terrorist Wadih el Hage, Osama bin Laden's former personal secretary. In July 2007 she threatened to murder a police officer, and ammunition was found in her house.

And now this.

"Two in custody after Fort Worth bomb scare," by Monika Diaz and Rebecca Lopez for WFAA-TV, February 13 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

FORT WORTH -- Southeast Loop 820 and East Rosedale Street in Fort Worth were reopened early Sunday morning after being shut down for five hours overnight.

The Fort Worth bomb squad detonated four charges that were found in a pickup truck that spun out on a slick road during a police pursuit.

Two people are in custody, and one of them -- Kimberly Suzanne Al-Homsi -- is well-known to police and federal agents.

The Fort Worth bomb squad worked through the evening on the threat. They sent a robot to check a possible explosive device inside the truck....

It all started in Arlington as a road rage incident in the 1000 block of West Abrams Street, police said.

"Someone called to say that there was a person in another vehicle that pointed a weapon at them," said Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard. "Officers found that vehicle and tried to conduct a stop. That vehicle did not stop, and as a result, the officers conducted a pursuit."

The chase continued for 20 minutes. It came to an end when the truck spun out on Rosedale at around 5:30 p.m.

Officers took two people into custody: Kimberly Suzanne Al-Homsi, 45, -- who is also known as Asma Al-Homsi -- and Yasinul Alan Ansari, 18.

Al-Homsi was charged with evading arrest, two counts of terroristic threats, and also a prohibited weapons count. Both remained in custody Sunday without bond due to federal holds.

News 8 has learned that Al-Homsi has been under government surveillance and was on the federal "no-fly" list after being involved in a road rage incident in December, 2005.

At that time, she held up an inert grenade and threatened another motorist. The Garland bomb squad found ammunition in her car.

In 2007, the FBI and the Dallas Police Department called Al-Homsi a possible danger. Police say she has explosives and sniper training.

In an exclusive interview with News 8 in 2007, Al-Homsi said she disagreed with U.S. policy in the Middle East....

You Don't Know What Love Is Alert:

Speakers criticise Valentine's Day -- Karachi, The News International

Basant, Valentine's Day aliens' festivals -- Lahore, The Nation (Pakistan)

Scholars oppose Valentine's Day -- Bahrain, Gulf Daily News

Saudi religious police see red on Valentine's Day -- Saudi Arabia, via Inquirer.net

Indonesian Muslims told don't mark Valentine's Day -- Indonesia, via AP

Kiss your beloved today.

Expect that mosque to issue a statement about how Islam condemns suicide and this bomber was a Misunderstander of Islam.

Actually, of course, just in case you aren't aware, we should expect no such thing. Such statements are generally issued only in the West, for the bamboozling of unwary and eager-to-be-fooled Infidels.

"Twin bombings devastate Bannu killing 15," by Zulfiqar Ali in Dawn, February 12:

PESHAWAR: Fifteen people, seven policemen among them, were killed and 25 others wounded in Bannu on Thursday evening when two suspected suicide bombs ripped through Police Lines.

District Police Officer Iqbal Marwat received serious injuries in the second attack and was stated to be in critical condition....

"'Second Bannu bomber was hiding in mosque,'" by Iqbal Khattak in the Daily Times, February 14 (thanks to Twostellas):

PESHAWAR: While Iqbal Marwat, the Bannu district police officer (DPO), battles for his life at the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, an eyewitness of Thursday's twin suicide attacks in Bannu said the second bomber had been hiding in the mosque before blowing himself up.

"Immediately after Marwat arrived at the scene, the second bomber appeared from a nearby mosque and blew himself up about 30 metres away from the police official," Farman Nawaz, a teacher present at the scene of the blast, told Daily Times on Saturday.

More than a dozen of people, including eight policemen, were killed in the suicide attack. Going by sketches of the bombers released by the Bannu Police, the men looked like Uzbeks.

What? Uzbeks? From secular post-Soviet Uzbekistan, a bastion of Islamic moderation? There must be some mistake!

"I could not see his (second bomber's) face nor judge his height as there was smoke everywhere after the first explosion, but what I noticed was that he had come out of the mosque," the eyewitness said....

Thursday's twin attack left question marks over the success of previous military operations against terrorists in Janikhel and Bakhakhel areas last year.

...although the learned analysts in those days enthusiastically trumpeted these military operations as signs that the Pakistani government was genuinely beginning to move against the jihadists.

Islamic Tolerance Alert from the Islamic Republic. Watch for CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper, Honest Ibe himself, to dash off a CAIR Action Alert about how the Islamic Republic is Misunderstanding Islam, and calling for the release of these Baha'is. It's coming right up, isn't it, Honest Ibe?

"Five Baha'i followers arrested in Iran," from Reuters, February 14 (thanks to Kambiz):

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Five members of the outlawed Baha'i faith, which has been a target in a security crackdown sparked by post-election violence in Iran, have been arrested on unspecified charges, an Iranian newspaper said on Sunday.

"Iran's security forces have arrested five members of the outlawed Baha'i faith in Tehran," the pro-government Javan newspaper said, without giving a source.

It identified the fives detainees as Niki Khanjani, Ashkan Basari, Maria Jafari, Houman Sisani and Romina Zabihian.

"Some of the Baha'i leaders have escaped to Dubai and Turkey while others went to border cities to find human smugglers to get them out of Iran illegally," Javan said....

Seven Baha'is went on trial last month on charges of spying and collaborating with Israel. One Baha'i is among 16 being tried on connection with opposition protests that turned violent on December 27.

Exiled Baha'i leaders say hundreds of followers have been jailed and executed since 1979. The government denies it has detained or executed people for their religion....

Behold the courageous mujahedin. "'Hello, police? Screw your sister!,'" by Yaakov Lappin for the Jerusalem Post, February 12 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

Judea and Samaria Police receive between 30,000 and 40,000 abusive calls from Palestinians every month, The Jerusalem Post has been told.

Police operators at the Judea and Samaria phone center undergo special training to learn how to distinguish between abusive and real calls, and a computerized phone system is used to screen out the bogus callers, Ch.-Supt. Nir Carmeli, head of Judea and Samaria Police's Control Room at district headquarters in Ma'aleh Adumim's E1 (Mevaseret Adumim) neighborhood, said on Thursday.

"Without the screening, we would be getting 90,000 to 100,000 bad calls a month," Carmeli said. The calls range from personally abusive to threats of terrorist attacks, he added.

"We often hear people cursing our sisters and mothers. Sometimes we get callers threatening to blow us up or carry out a suicide bomb attack," he said. "When that happens, we treat the call as a real threat. We pass a warning on to the IDF and Shin Bet. It goes through intelligence, and the security forces are alerted. We know it could be bogus, but we don't take chances," Carmeli said.

"Efforts to trace the call continue until we can determine whether it is a real threat or not," he added....

"The decision must be made in seconds, and time is of the essence so that we can provide assistance when needed," Carmeli said. "Let's say we field a call and hear someone say, 'Sharmuta [whore], want to get screwed?' The phone number is immediately tagged by the system, and it cannot be used to get through to an operator for 21 days. The next time an abusive call is made from that number, it cannot be used to call an operator for over a month," he said.

After several repeat offenses, the number is permanently banned from the system.

"The caller will hear a ring tone and the computer will pick up the phone and immediately hang up," he said.

Some of the most determined offenders switch numbers and use stolen cellphones to keep up the harassment, Carmeli said.

No settlers are behind the calls, he said. "All the callers are Palestinians. They curse at us in Hebrew and in Arabic."

Reuters photo: "Protesters dressed as Na'vi characters from the movie Avatar march in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah"

First-run movies! Oh, the horror! Will those wicked Zionists never stop?

Over at Atlas Shrugs, Pamela Geller has an illuminating report on how Brian Williams, who helped Rifqa Bary when she fled from her Muslim parents in fear for her life after converting to Christianity, now faces arrest.

[...] According to Jamal Jivanjee, Rifqa Bary's friend and pastor, the authorities are trying to arrest Brian Williams, the man who helped her escape. If you missed my interview with Brian Williams, listen here.

The impending arrest of the courageous Brian Williams is proof of the incompetence of Rifqa Bary's legal team. The silence is deference and dhimmitude to Islam. If the crime of apostasy in Islam and the threat Rifqa was facing were exposed and heard in an American court of law, Brian Williams would not be pursued by the Franklin County prosecutor. [...]

Jamal Jivanjee wrote me this:

I wanted to take a minute to give you an update on the latest situation surrounding Rifqa Bary's quest for life. According to Brian Williams, the dear friend who helped rescue Rifqa Bary on the night that she fled out of fear for her life, it is looking very likely that he will be arrested by Ohio authorities for his role in helping rescue her. This is very unfortunate because, in my opinion, he is a modern day Harriet Tubman or Corrie Ten Boom. They too risked their freedom in order to rescue those who fled for their lives. I know that I can speak for Brian when I say, if he could do it all over again, he would not hesitate. He knew then, and he knows now, that what he did was the Lord's work. Brian's courage is a breath of fresh air in a day and age when many are not able to see righteousness as clearly as Brian Williams did the night he rescued Rifqa in her hour of need.

I'd like to take a few minutes to point out something that we should be very well aware of right now. We all should be asking why someone who did something that was righteous and humane at the very least, is now possibly facing arrest and criminal charges? It is a good question which I believe points to a much deeper issue at hand.

When the truth is suppressed, the innocent suffer; when truth is proclaimed, justice prevails!

At some point in Rifqa's defense, her attorneys decided that the best course of strategy was to cut deals and settle the dependency case out of court. While it may have seemed easier and less risky to settle dependency out of court by making deals with the opposition, it is clearly not playing out that way in reality. By staying away from a trial for dependency, the court and the authorities are not being made aware of the threats and injustice that Rifqa Bary faced as a result of her conversion to Jesus Christ. This has only emboldened C.A.I.R. and the pro C.A.I.R. Ohio authorities who may be playing election year politics with innocent lives. It is very clear to me that if the truth were to be told in court regarding why Rifqa had to flee for her life, it would be very clear why Brian Williams took the actions that he took. By pressuring Rifqa to admit to wrongdoing as well as making an agreement for temporary dependency out of court instead of allowing Rifqa to be awarded dependency in court because of the truth, the truth continues to be suppressed and this has clearly emboldened those who are out to attack Rifqa and those who helped her.

So why am I bringing this up?

The point of this article is not to be pessimistic or negative, nor is it to simply be a legal commentary. I am not an attorney and I do not pretend to think that the problem that we face is simply a legal problem. There is much at stake in this case, and because this is indeed a precedent setting case in this nation, C.A.I.R. has made a vested interest in silencing Rifqa and those who rescued her. The point that I am trying to make is something I believe very strongly...The courts and the world need to hear the truth about Rifqa's testimony and persecution as a result of her conversion from Islam to Christianity. One way or the other, this story must be told. This is not only true for Rifqa; it is also true for our lives as well. Romans 8:28 says: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." With that said, we can learn an essential truth from the unfortunate strategy that Rifqa's attorneys have employed: When the truth is suppressed, the righteous suffer; when truth is proclaimed, justice prevails. If we learn anything from this situation, let us learn that, and let us find courage and a voice for the struggles ahead.

There is much more. Read it all.

In "A sure-fire legal recipe for airport insecurity" in the San Francisco Chronicle, February 13, Debra J. Saunders offers some common sense on the Nicholas George case:

Last August, Nicholas George, 22, was getting ready to fly from Pennsylvania to Pomona College in Claremont (Los Angeles County) when TSA agents found Arabic-English flash cards in his pocket - the 200 cards included such words as "bomb" and "explosive" - two stereo speakers in his carry-on bag, a Jordanian student ID card, and a passport that showed he had visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sudan. TSA agents detained George for questioning. They determined he was not a security threat and released him less than five hours later. Now, he is suing.

Of course the ACLU is representing George. The group explained in a press release that episodes like George's "may actually make us less safe, by diverting vital resources and attention away from true security threats."

Nonsense. If ever there was a person you want the TSA to look at very carefully, it's a young male who has Arabic flashcards with words like "bomb" in his pocket, studied in Jordan and recently spent time in Sudan, a country that the State Department believes to sponsor terrorism. Add the fact that George had stereo speakers - remember an explosive-laden tape recorder was used to bring down Pam Am Flight 103 in 1988 - in his carry-on luggage, and it would amount to professional malpractice if TSA and FBI agents did not search and question George.

When I first read this story, I had to wonder if, in a world with no shortage of individuals hungry to be victims or discredit the system, the young man was trying to be detained....

(As an aside: The ACLU complaint claims that authorities never Mirandized George during the nearly five hours he was held. That would mean that authorities were faster to Mirandize accused Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab than George. That means authorities questioned George longer than Abdulmutallab without Mirandizing him.)

According to the complaint, a TSA supervisor questioned George "in a hostile and aggressive manner," while he was "polite and calm." Also, FBI agents questioned George to see if he was involved with any "pro-Islamic groups," then determined George was not a threat. However, the complaint alleges that FBI questions were "wide-ranging and strayed far from any conceivable criminal activity."

Boo hoo.

"Nick is not claiming to have been scarred for life. No one is trying to get rich off this," Roper told me. And: "What this is about is accountability."

You see, if learning Arabic or traveling to the Middle East is enough to get you handcuffed and questioned by the FBI, then - Roper said this - "the terrorists have won."

Au contraire, if TSA staff, airport cops and FBI agents - the plaintiffs [sic -- should be defendants] in this lawsuit - are afraid to do their jobs, then terrorists will win.

Look no further than Fort Hood, Texas. Colleagues were afraid to report the radicalized rants of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, lest they seem anti-Islamic, so they looked the other way. The toll: 13 dead....

Of course, Obama has already shown that the OIC's war against free speech doesn't particularly bother him. "Obama Names Envoy to Islamic Group," from Reuters, February 13:

DOHA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday he was naming a special envoy to a top Islamic body to further Washington's cooperation with the Muslim world.

Obama told a U.S.-Islamic World Forum in the Qatari capital Doha in a recorded video message that he was naming White House official Rashad Hussain as special envoy to the 56-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

"As an accomplished lawyer and a close and trusted member of my White House staff, Rashad has played a key role in developing the partnerships I called for in Cairo," Obama said....

"Since then, my administration has made a sustained effort to listen. We've held thousands of events and town halls ...in the United States and around the world ... And I look forward to continuing the dialogue during my visit to Indonesia next month," Obama said.

Obama told Muslims in his June 4 speech in Cairo that violent extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West and that Islam was not part of the problem.

His speech was welcomed by many Muslims, though some said they wanted him to spell out specific actions to resolve long-running problems like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"And as a hafiz of the Koran, (Hussain) is a respected member of the American Muslim community, and I thank him for carrying forward this important work," Obama said in his message to the Doha meeting, using the term for someone who has mastered and memorised the Muslim holy book....

But...but...what do Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya have in common? Don't the learned analysts assure us that those are all separate nationalist insurgencies? And what's all this about a "war against the infidels"? Doesn't Sheik Muqtar Robow know that Obama said that the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam"? Is Sheik Muqtar Robow some kind of Islamophobe?

Global Jihad Alert: "8 killed in fighting in Somali capital," by Mohamed Olad Hassan for AP, February 12 (thanks to Maxwell):

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- At least eight people, including a six-year-old, were killed Friday as mortars pounded the Somali capital during an attack on government soldiers by an extremist Islamic group, witnesses said, as hundreds of residents fled Mogadishu. [...]

After Friday prayers al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam leaders and their fighters and supporters held demonstrations in Mogadishu and three other southern Somalia towns to denounce the Somali government and the governments of Ethiopia, Burundi, Uganda and Djibouti.

"We call for our people to be ready for a war on our enemy. Their military preparation will not deter us from our holy war," said Sheik Muqtar Robow, a senior al-Shabab leader.

"We will attack them once we unite the Somali Holy fighters, then we will unite with our brothers in Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya to help them in their war against the infidels," he told congregants in a Mogadishu mosque after the prayers....

Hmmm. Now what group would want to kill people around a "Jewish prayer house"? Note also that American-based jihadist Dawood Gilani -- "David Headley" -- who scouted out the Mumbai jihad attack sites, visited Pune also. "8 confirmed dead, 33 injured in blast at Pune bakery," from the Times of India, February 13 (thanks to Indian):

PUNE: In a suspected terror attack, eight people were killed and up to 40 injured in a bomb explosion in a popular bakery near a Jewish prayer house here in the first major strike after the 26/11 carnage in Mumbai.

The blast occurred in the German Bakery, an old business establishment in the Cantonment area of the city, at around 1930 hours. ( Watch Video )

The famous Osho Ashram, frequented by foreigners, is also located in the vicinity of the blast site. US terror suspect David Headley is believed to have stayed at the Ashram during his visit to the city.

"It's most probably a terror attack. We are sending a forensic team of CBI and personnel of National Investigative Agency (NIA)", Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said in New Delhi.

Official sources said an Improvised Explosive Device was used to trigger the blast....

He didn't know! He didn't know!

Mohamed Elibiary, who is no less a personage than "the country's leading Muslim deradicalization expert," was quite unhappy with this post, in which I noted that he was one of the speakers at a December 2004 conference in Dallas entitled "A Tribute to the Great Islamic Visionary," Ayatollah Khomeini, and that when Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News called him on this, he threatened Dreher, telling him: "Expect someone to put a banana in your exhaust pipe."

Elibiary demanded a retraction and an apology in an email in which he accused me of "character assassinating others when you claim to be standing up for freedom of speech instead of debating their ideas." This is yet another example of the projection we have seen so often from Islamic spokesmen, since in reality it is I who have so often reiterated my willingness to debate both Muslim and non-Muslim Islamic apologists, while they have contented themselves with making broad-based and inaccurate attacks on my scholarship and integrity, and declining to defend their claims in debate with me. These include:

Ahmed Afzaal
Akbar Ahmed
Karen Armstrong
Jamal Badawi
Robert Crane
Dinesh D'Souza
Carl Ernst
John Esposito
Suhail Khan
Mark LeVine
Khaleel Mohammed
Grover Norquist
Brave Ahmed Rehab
Louay Safi
Omid Safi

Anyway, Elibiary asked me to post his explanation of his appearance at the Khomeini tribute conference, from here:

"I have been asked whether, if I had realized before I spoke that the event honored Imam Khomeini, I would have left immediately. I don't know. My activism, which is designed to bring Muslims into the mainstream, calls upon me not to cede any territory to radical views without presenting a moderating counterpoint."

"I have been asked what I would say to someone who believes that there is no good reason to attend a tribute to Imam Khomeini. If their concerns revolved around the American experience of him, I would say that I echo their feelings. But if anyone wishes to learn about their opponent, they must listen, or they'll remain ignorant and make mistakes that cost them in their struggle to defend their values and views."

Elibiary claims, as you can see here (along with some libelous claims about this website), that he didn't know beforehand that the event was a tribute to Khomeini, and that he never saw the poster advertising it as such. I told him I would have been livid if I had been invited to speak at one kind of conference that turned out to be a different kind, and asked him if he had taken any action against this craven bait-and-switch; no answer. In light of attempts by CAIR and its tool and ally, the libelblogger Charles Johnson, to demonstrate that I have spoken at "racist" or "neofascist" events, when I never have done so and never would, I take this kind of thing very seriously. I can only imagine how indulgent Elibiary's jihadist coreligionists and their non-Muslim stooges on the Left would be if I ever did speak at a conference that really was unsavory in some way, and then claimed that I had not known beforehand what the conference was really about.

Thus I admit to a certain skepticism, but nonetheless, as I am only interested in true and accurate reporting, I pass on to you Elibiary's claim for what it's worth. Perhaps he could clarify matters by being so kind as to repudiate and reject in no uncertain terms Khomeini's assertion that "Islam says: Kill in the service of Allah those who may want to kill you!...There are hundreds of other [Koranic] psalms and hadiths [sayings of the prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim." Would Elibiary be a recipient of Khomeini's spittle? We can only hope so, and perhaps he will enlighten us.

Elibiary also claimed in his email to me that Rod Dreher fabricated the banana-in-the-exhaust-pipe threat:

Concerning the banana threat issue with Rod Dreher. it like some of Rod's postings is a fabrication. There was never a threat to him and his superiors at the DMN and FBI who reviewed the email chains also found no threat. So I don't see any reason to say anything further on that topic other than what I told Rod when he tried to concoct this threat instead of addressing my arguments by cutting partial sentences out of context, call the police/FBI if you feel you were threated [sic].

Note that Elibiary doesn't actually claim here that he didn't say "Expect someone to put a banana in your exhaust pipe." He just says that Dreher was taking his words...that's right..."out of context," and that the Dallas Morning News and the FBI didn't see any threat in them. The "out of context" defense is so tired and flimsy that I am surprised Elibiary was not embarrassed to haul it out again, but maybe it's true: maybe Elibiary said that someone would want to surprise Dreher with a fruit for his lunch and would mistake his exhaust pipe for his glove compartment. You just never know. But the fact that the DMN and the FBI saw no threat in these words doesn't strike me as impressive; after all, this is the same FBI that didn't see any particular threat to me in the words "Motherf**ker, I am coming to kill you. I will hack the head off your face and i will kill your family."

Anyway, Elibiary says that he didn't say it, or didn't say it like that, or didn't mean it as a threat, or something, and there you have it. I know how I would take those words if I were the recipient of them.

And so there you have it. Mohamed Elibiary wants me to retract my statements that he spoke at a conference honoring Khomeini -- except he did, but claims he didn't know it was a conference honoring Khomeini. Since all I said was that he spoke there, and he did, no retraction is necessary on that score. And he also wants a retraction of my statement that he threatened Dreher, and yet Dreher himself took his words in that way, as I believe any reasonable person would.

And so no retraction for that one either, Mr. Elibiary. And certainly no apology for telling the truth.

However, if you wish to present some honest and genuine clarifications, rather than more detours, deceptions, and defamation, I'll be glad to publish them here.

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a premier stealth jihad group in the United States today. Federal prosecutors in 2008 rejected claims that ISNA was unfairly named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas terror funding case.

ISNA has admitted ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood is waging, in its own words, "a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

And now this thuggish, deceptive, unsavory group is, like so many Islamic groups in the West today, warring against the freedom of speech and trying to impose Sharia speech restrictions upon Infidels. ISNA is putting pressure on the Dallas Morning News, inundating the editor with emails attacking reporter Brooks Egerton, because of Egerton's article about ISNA's Louay Safi.

Ironically, Egerton's article doesn't even mention Louay Safi's approval of execution for apostates, as detailed in his book Peace and the Limits of War. The Dallas Morning News, if it had just wanted to make Safi look bad, could have done a much better job simply by quoting his own words.

Here's what the ISNA website says:

Action Requested

The negative article by Brooks Egerton was published on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Dallas Morning News. ISNA appeals to members of the Muslim community in general, and the Texas Muslim community in particular, to let the newspaper know about their feelings regarding this negative presentation. Please make sure that you speak respectfully but firmly on this issue.

Please contact Ms. Maud Beelman, the DMN News Editor, and Brooks Egerton, the article writer, at the Dallas Morning News and request that the newspaper issue a retraction and allow ISNA to publish rebuttal on the DMN op-ed page.
Maud Beelman, The DMN News Editor
Mbeelman@dallasnews.com
214-977-8456
Brooks Egerton, staff writer
begerton@dallasnews.com
214-977-7622

Note that ISNA, even when speaking to its own constituency, doesn't say the report is inaccurate -- just that it was a "negative presentation." Well, Louay, sometimes the truth hurts.

Please write to the same email addresses that ISNA published, expressing your gratitude for Egerton's accurate article and politely urging the Dallas Morning News not to apologize, retract, or bow to Islamic supremacist intimidation.

This report comes just as the Transportation Security Administration has decided to give 10,000 of its workers access to secret intelligence. Some impeccable timing there at the TSA. "Terror Talk Growing Louder on the Web," from CBS News, February 12:

(CBS) CBS News has learned that U.S. Intelligence officials are seeing a marked increase in terror-related Internet chatter with a frightening focus: Jihadists bent on finding gaps in airport security - all linked to al Qaeda in Yemen, reports CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

On one radical website, a writer invites fellow members to post information on how to bypass airport screening.

Another member asks about explosive detection devices, writing: "We have that system in place in Algiers...does anyone know if it's capable of detecting [the flammable gas] butane?"

On another Jihadist site, a visitor questions security involving 3D scanners at British airports asking: "Can I refuse [to pass through] for religious reasons?"

Funny he should mention that.

Before long comes this answer: "...advise those who wish to avoid the Heathrow scanners to take the train to Paris... and then board a plane from there."

Perhaps most disturbing -- the recent discovery of a confidential TSA document on a Yemeni Web site discussing the rules for searching passengers.

"Christian leaders point out that the 'Harmonized Draft' of the constitution discriminates against non-Muslims and contradicts its own Article 10 (1-3), which states that there shall be no state religion, that the state shall treat all religions equally and that state and religion shall be separate."

An update on this story. "Push for Islamic Courts in Kenya Alarms Christians," from Compass Direct News, February 12:

NAIROBI, Kenya (Compass Direct News) - A constitutional battle to expand the scope of Islamic courts in Kenya threatens to ignite religious tensions at a time when authorities are on high alert against Muslim extremists with ties to Somalia.

Constitutional provisions for Islamic or Kadhis' courts have existed in Kenya since 1963, with the courts serving the country's coastal Muslim population in matters of personal status, marriage, divorce, or inheritance. Kenya's secular High Court has jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, and even a decision in the Islamic courts can be appealed at the High Court.

The Islamic courts have functioned only in Kenya's Coast Province, but in a hotly debated draft constitution, their jurisdiction would expand across the nation and their scope would increase. The proposed constitution has gathered enough momentum that 23 leaders of churches and Christian organizations released a statement on Feb. 1 asserting their opposition to any inclusion of such religious courts.

"It is clear that the Muslim community is basically carving for itself an Islamic state within a state," the Kenyan church leaders stated. "This is a state with its own sharia [Islamic law]- compliant banking system; its own sharia-compliant insurance; its own Halaal [lawful in Islam] bureau of standards; and it is now pressing for its own judicial system."

Muslim leaders are striving to expand the scope of Islamic courts to include civil and small claims cases. They also want to upgrade the Muslim tribunals to High Court status. These demands have alarmed Christians, who make up 80 percent of the population and defeated a similar proposal in a 2005 referendum. Muslims make up 10 percent of Kenya's 39 million people, 9 percent of the population follows indigenous religions and less than 1 percent are Hindu, Sikh and Baha'i.

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) said the Committee of Experts (CoE) responsible for "harmonizing" drafts from various stakeholders ignored their concerns. The committee was responsible for determining what matters would be unduly "contentious" and was charged with keeping them out of the draft.

"We wrote to them, but we have been ignored," said the Rev. Canon Peter Karanja, NCCK general secretary. "Who told the CoE that Kadhis' courts were not contentious?"

Saying the committee ignored the crucial requirement of omitting what is "contentious," Karanja said it did little to build consensus. He said that unless the Islamic courts are stricken from the constitution, Christians might be forced to reject the document in a national referendum later this year.

Muslim leaders, just as stridently, insist that recognition of the Islamic courts does not elevate Islam over other religions, and that if the courts are removed they will shoot down the draft in the referendum.

The 2005 referendum split the country and was followed by a bitterly disputed presidential election in 2007 that sparked rioting, reportedly leaving 1,300 people dead. The election dispute was resolved with one candidate becoming president and the other prime minister, and at the heart of the proposed constitution is an attempt to transfer presidential powers to the prime minister.

Christian leaders point out that the "Harmonized Draft" of the constitution discriminates against non-Muslims and contradicts its own Article 10 (1-3), which states that there shall be no state religion, that the state shall treat all religions equally and that state and religion shall be separate. They see the attempt to expand the scope of the Islamic courts as part of a long-term effort by Muslims to gain political, economic and judicial power....

But...but...they really, sincerely, deep down, want peace! Note that Fatah is supposed to be the "moderate" Palestinian faction, the one the U.S. is helping as over against Hamas.

An update on this story. "Fatah wing claims responsibility for Wednesday stabbing attack," from the Ma'an News Agency, February 10 (thanks to Maxwell):

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's armed wing, claimed responsibility on Friday for the stabbing death of an Israeli soldier near Nablus on Wednesday.

Abu Al-Majd, a leader of the armed wing, identified the attacker as Muhammad Al-Khatib, the same Palestinian who Israeli forces took into custody on suspicion of carrying out the attack.

"Al-Khatib, a brigades activist, carried out this attack in response to ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinians and the assassination of three brigade affiliates in Nablus two months ago," Al-Majd said in a phone interview.

Al-Majd threatened that the Fatah-affiliated faction would carry out more "substantive" attacks in the near future. He also said the delay in claiming responsibility was for security reasons.

Review of Christopher Caldwell's Reflections on the Revolution in Europe
by Fjordman

This is a review of Christopher Caldwell's 2009 book Reflections on the Revolution in Europe. Let me first start with the positive: Mr. Caldwell is not a bad man. He sees through the rhetoric of Tariq Ramadan, for instance, which makes him superior to the majority of Western journalists, although that is admittedly not difficult to achieve given the terrible quality of Western media these days. The problem is that the ground he covers in his book has already been covered by others, for example Daniel Pipes in his posts or Bruce Bawer in While Europe Slept. This is, in other words, not a pioneering work, and while Caldwell may be better than the bulk of journalists on some issues he is nevertheless not good enough.

Although he does indicate that importing Muslims from, say, Somalia or the Yemen may not work out like previous waves of immigration he doesn't say anything substantial about whether North Americans or Europeans should therefore halt Muslim immigration. As Claire Berlinski wrote in a review, "Caldwell's book raises many such questions. It does not answer them. The strength of this book is not in its original reporting, of which there is little, or the solutions it offers, because there are none. What it offers instead is unusual lucidity and comprehensiveness; a reader unfamiliar with the debate would be, upon finishing it, well-informed."

On the other hand, for a reader who is already familiar with these subjects he adds little that is new. Even when he briefly touches upon important subjects he soon moves on to others, leaving an informed reader feeling unsatisfied. Christopher Caldwell points out that the European Union was created in Western Europe under an American political umbrella during the Cold War and that "The EU, although neither Americans nor Europeans are fond of admitting it, is the institutional expression of the Americanization of Europe." That could have made for an interesting discussion, yet he does not cover the subject in sufficient detail.

A surprisingly forthright article in the Monitor about the presence of jihadists in Chechnya, which the mainstream media usually does not acknowledge. "20 insurgents killed as Jihadist attacks rise in Russia's Caucasus," by Fred Weir for the Christian Science Monitor, February 12 (thanks to Larry):

One of the biggest thorns in Russia's side since the Soviet Union's collapse has been Chechnya, one of seven republics along its southeastern flank known collectively as the north Caucasus.

After two wars, Moscow has largely tamed Chechnya's separatists with the help of strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, though not without cost. An estimated quarter million people have been killed, and the tiny republic has turned into a totalitarian statelet. Dissenters face kidnapping, torture, and extrajudicial execution, says Alexander Cherkassov of Memorial, Russia's largest independent human rights group.

"Now we are seeing the same methods being applied in Ingushetia and Dagestan," he says....

But there's one problem: While the Chechnya rebellion was nationalist, this threat has jihadist overtones.

"The Chechen rebels were originally fighting for independence, to break away from Russia and form their own nation," says investigative journalist Yulia Latynina. But now "the problem is jihadists; these people are fighting for God, not for freedom, and that is a whole different kind of challenge."...

That is a distinction that very few analysts have grasped.

All of the possible bad puns aside, there is the usual question of priorities. Again, imagine if the same clerics tackled so-called "extremism" in Muslim communities with such directness and zeal. "Indonesian clerics warn against Valentine's Day's 'free sex'," from Agence France-Presse, February 13:

Muslim leaders in Indonesia told the faithful not to celebrate Valentine's Day because it is sinful and leads to "free sex". "We forbid Muslims to celebrate Valentine's Day," said Abdullah Cholil, an East Java leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the mainly Muslim country's biggest Islamic organisation. "The day is often celebrated by young, unmarried people. They celebrate Valentine's Day by holding hands or having free sex, which they are not supposed to be doing," he said. Lalilurrahman, the East Java branch chief of the country's highest Islamic body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, said the celebration of romance and love was a Western tradition and therefore should not interest Muslims. "Valentine's Day originated from Western culture. It's not in accordance with Islamic and Eastern culture," he said. Shopping centres in Indonesia's major cities are decked out with Valentine's Day gift offerings as well as displays marking Chinese New Year. Most Indonesians are moderate Muslims and few pay much attention to the moral edicts of local Islamic leaders.

There's the standard boilerplate about Modern, Moderate Indonesia. But the usual lack of clarity about what constitutes "moderation" prevails. Here, AFP equates it with inattention or indifference.

This is not just a question of which side is he on. This is a question of which planet is he on. "Obama's National Defence Review ignores Iran and Islam in favour of... climate change!," by James Corum in the Telegraph, February 11 (thanks to Pamela):

Under American law, every four years the US Defence Department must present to Congress a comprehensive review of the security threats and challenges to America. The security picture presented in the review provides the justification for planning and creating the appropriate military forces and capabilities. The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is supposed to be a non-partisan and objective strategic document - free of partisan politics. After all, the duty to protect the nation and its citizens is supposed to take a higher priority than subsidies to labour unions, or hand-outs to party loyalists.

Last week the Defence Department released the 2010 QDR. It is a remarkable document. As guidance for American strategy it might even take a historical place alongside some of the great assessments of the Bush administration--such as the 2003 Congressional testimony by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz that a war in Iraq could be waged at little cost.

The 128-page Defence Review says some important things. It outlines the problems with maintaining the US military's technological lead over potential adversaries. It discusses the need to counter terrorism. The threat to Western cyber systems is noted. The proliferation of Russian high-tech anti-aircraft missiles around the world is noted as a problem.

However, it's not what is in the document that surprises the reader - it's what was left out. There presence of two elephants in their living room apparently escaped the notice of American's top civilian and military leaders. Islamic radicalism does not receive any mention whatsoever in the American Defence Review and the threat posed by a nuclear Iran is mentioned in only one general sentence at the end of a document (page 101). To put this lack of discussion in proportion, contrast this non-discussion with other security issues mentioned in the document. For example, the security effects of climate change are highlighted and discussed in depth in eight pages of the document.

I would not have thought it possible that one could publish a book-length assessment of America's security challenges and responses and NOT address the problem of Islamic radicalism or the Iranian bomb - but that's just what Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mullen have done. From this one can draw one of two possible conclusions: these men are really, really stupid (not very likely), or they have deliberately minimised the current security threats to please the Obama administration and support the President's desire to cut defence spending. The smart money is on the latter explanation....

Yep.

Unspeakable barbarism among the Taliban, the students of Islam. "Taliban Rape Tapes: A 'Muslim Abu Ghraib,'" by my friend the bestselling novelist Brad Thor at Big Journalism, February 12:

With breaking news out of Palestine today that a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas has been literally caught with his pants down, rape tapes seem to be popping up all over the pious Muslim world. And some are horrifically worse than others.

Last month on the FOX Business Network, Colonel Oliver North revealed a startling piece of information. Conservative mullahs and elements within the Haqqani terror network - known as the backbone of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the Af/Pak theater - are working to take the Haqqanis down from the inside. Their key weapon is a disturbing video that shows the serial sexual assault of several young girls.

Colonel North explained that no one in American intelligence had yet seen this video. Here it is:

***STRONGEST POSSIBLE CONTENT WARNING. NOT SAFE FOR WORK***

DOWNLOAD VIDEO HERE.

Transcript here.

When I travelled to Afghanistan to research my novel, The Apostle, contacts of mine introduced me to a mid-level Taliban commander in the Haqqani network. Over tea and considerable time talking together, he provided me with some very good, inside-baseball information on the Haqqanis and how their network operates.

I soon realized that he was part a burgeoning movement of disillusioned fighters, mullahs and commanders who have lost faith in both the network's founder, Jalaluddin Haqqani and its Chief Operating Officer, Siraj Haqqani, Jalaluddin's son.

Recently, this mid-level Taliban commander shared a chilling story with me. He told me it was a scandal that would rock the Muslim world like nothing before and that it would "devastate" the Haqqani network. "What Abu Ghraib was for you Americans," he said, "this will be for the Haqqanis; only worse."

A Muslim Abu Ghraib? Considering the horrific violence that the Haqqanis had perpetrated to date, I had trouble imagining what they could have done now that would suddenly have the power to enflame the Muslim world. After all, that kind of outrage is normally reserved for terrible insults by the West, like cartoons, operas, or free speech. Then, my contact told me his story. It made me absolutely sick to my stomach.

As Siraj Haqqani moved from village to village, rounding up the sons of poor Muslim families to fight for the Taliban and Al Qaeda, he offered the villagers free medical care. He even sent his physician, Dr. Hassan Duraz to conduct the clinics. There was a horrific catch, though. Duraz was a monster.

He arrived in each village with Siraj Haqqani's uncle, Ibrahim, and Siraj's cousin, Ishak, in tow. With them, the Haqqanis brought along their own very special tools of terror - a video camera and an eye for human flesh. You see, with Haqqani healthcare, you not only received a medical exam, if you were an attractive young girl, you also got a screen test. And heaven forbid you passed.

For those women and girls unfortunate enough to catch the good doctor's fancy, it was show time. The Haqqani uncle and cousin would be brought into the exam room, they would set up their video equipment, and Duraz would drop his trousers and go to work.

The Haqqanis and Duraz sexually assaulted poor women throughout the tribal regions and captured every moment of their degradation and humiliation on video to enjoy over and over again.

Times were good for the Haqqani pornography ring. Their enterprise thrived until someone slipped up and word leaked out. In the blink of an eye, Siraj Haqqani was in big trouble.

And what's a good and pious Muslim warrior to do when his moral authority and the very existence of his terror network are at stake? There's only one answer of course. Kill everyone involved. (Everyone that is, except for family.) And that's exactly what Siraj Haqqani did.

Haqqani not only killed the women in the video, but he also killed his own physician, Dr. Duraz. After all, dead men (and dead women for that matter) tell no tales, right?...

Read it all.

"It was a test for Norwegian society - whether this would be a peaceful protest or not." All right. But it is also an ongoing test as to whether or not the freedom of speech will survive in Norway and the West in general. And the jury is still out on that.

"2,500 protest Muhammad cartoon in Norway," from The Associated Press, February 12 (thanks to James):

OSLO -- About 2,500 people marched through downtown Oslo in a protest Friday against a Norwegian newspaper that printed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

The demonstrators chanted "God is great" in Arabic and waved placards calling for a boycott of the Dagbladet daily.

On Feb. 3, the newspaper published a photograph showing a man in front of a computer screen with a depiction of Muhammad as a pig. The picture accompanied an article that said users were posting offensive material about Muslims and Jews on the Facebook page of Norway's security police.

Dagbladet's acting editor-in-chief, Lars Helle, told The Associated Press that he doesn't regret printing the offending image and that he welcomed Friday's protest.

"It was a test for Norwegian society - whether this would be a peaceful protest or not," Helle said....

"We have done nothing to anybody. We want to live here in peace. Norway is our home. Our children live here. Why should they (Norwegian media) hurt us like this?" said Naradim Muhammad, a 43-year-old school teacher who helped organize the demonstration.

The demonstration was peaceful, except for a firecracker that was apparently thrown by a protester onto a restaurant patio. It caused burn damage to a patio sofa, but nobody was injured. After the blast, organizers ordered the crowd to disperse, encouraging them to go home or to a local mosque to pray.

Police spokesman Joern-Kristian Joergensen said the protest concluded without further incident. However, Oslo police, who maintained a low profile during the demonstration to avoid confrontation, would remain on alert throughout the evening, he said....

And how is the screening of the TSA staffers who will see this material being conducted? It is almost certain that no one would dare question any Muslim TSA staffers about their allegiance to the jihad and Islamic supremacism. It is much more likely that this will make us less safe, not safer. "10,000 TSA staff to get secret intel," by Thomas Frank for USA Today, February 11 (thanks to Pamela):

WASHINGTON -- About 10,000 airport security workers will get access to secret intelligence that could help stop terrorist attacks on planes.

The Transportation Security Administration plan aims to help its officers spot terrorists by giving them more detailed information about tactics and threats, TSA officials and security experts said. The agency, viewed by some as throngs of workers pawing through luggage at checkpoints, hopes to empower its higher-level workers as part of an effort to professionalize airport security.

The 10,000 people in line to get classified information are managers, supervisors and "behavior detection officers" who roam airports looking for suspicious people. They represent about 20% of the TSA's airport workforce and exclude screeners who scan passengers and bags.

The information will give workers details about terrorist "tactics, planning, operations and threats," TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said. Those details "give context to things they see every day which may otherwise not appear unusual" and let workers "exercise discretion" in dealing with travelers, Payne added. She would not elaborate on specific intelligence the workers will get. All TSA airport workers now get daily intelligence briefings that include less sensitive information.

So far, 750 people have been cleared to get classified information, Payne said, adding that it will take two more years to get all 10,000 workers cleared....

No one should be shedding any real tears for Nicholas George, especially Nicholas George. What happened to him is an unfortunate consequence of the fact that Arabic-speaking Muslims in places like Egypt, Jordan, and the Sudan have carried out terror attacks in the name of Islam, and so people who are entrusted with the safety of airline passengers have every reason to err on the side of suspicion. Those who are thus inconvenienced should consider it a small price to pay in order to head off the next terror attack.

I speak from experience. More than once I have been held and questioned at airports because of my work. Once I was working on this site on my laptop, someone saw "jihad" on my screen, and presently I was surrounded by police with big dogs and hauled off for questioning.

And just a few months ago I was in an airport, having hurried from a venue where I had just given a talk. I don't ever speak from a written text, but I do carry notes -- a page or two of quotations from various Muslim Brotherhood operatives, etc., including jihadist and Islamic supremacist statements by some putative American moderate Muslims, as well as quotations from the Qur'an and Hadith, etc. I had this material in my suit pocket, and it dropped out when I took off my suit jacket to go through security. So a few minutes later I was again in the friendly presence of police and TSA personnel. One gentleman was holding up my notes and asking me why I had this material. I started laughing, because I realized that there was absolutely nothing in the notes to show that I actually opposed what was written there -- and realized that it might take awhile to straighten the whole thing out.

But I didn't mind. Because I knew what they were doing. I knew they weren't holding the bearded, swarthy fellow with notes full of jihad and hate because they don't like people of Middle Eastern descent, or because they hate Muslims, or what have you. They were doing their job, which was to protect the American people. Nick George, or whoever may be offended by his treatment, should realize that.

"Arabic-language flashcards don't fly with TSA: A Pomona College student from Philadelphia was jailed after airport security workers found study cards, including the words 'bomb' and 'terrorism.' He's suing," by Larry Gordon for the Los Angeles Times, February 11 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Nicholas George planned to brush up on his Arabic vocabulary during a flight in August from Philadelphia to California, where he was to start his senior year at Pomona College. So he carried some Arabic-English flashcards in his pocket to study on the plane.

But those flashcards changed George's life far beyond the classroom. The 22-year-old from Pennsylvania is speaking out against what he contends are abuses by federal authorities in airport security measures.

George, a physics major who is considering a career as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East, is suing the Transportation Security Administration, the FBI and Philadelphia police for jailing him after his flashcards were found and confiscated in a Philadelphia airport screening. His lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, said his four hours in detention, half of that in handcuffs, violated his rights to free speech and protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

"I feel the TSA acts like it has a blank check as long as what it does is in the name of fighting terrorism," George, said Thursday from Claremont, where he lives in a dormitory. "Of course, the TSA's job is to keep us safe -- but they have to follow the Constitution and respect rights."

If his flashcards triggered such deep suspicion, George said, "then we've got a real 1st Amendment issue here. I have a right to study Arabic."

The student acknowledged that a few of the vocabulary words, including "bomb" and "terrorism," may have alarmed authorities, but he also said he needed to learn them in order to understand the news of the day in Arabic-language newspapers.

George said his interest in Arab culture began when he saw "Lawrence of Arabia" as a child. "The more I studied it, the more I was fascinated it by it," he said. He plans to take the State Department exam to become a foreign service officer.

Last year, George spent a semester in Jordan, where he studied Arabic, and then traveled to Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. He said his passport, with stamps from those countries, and a book in his possession that was critical of U.S. foreign policy, may also have raised suspicions at the airport....

The lawsuit, filed with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, details George's allegations of abusive questioning. The suit contends that an FBI agent cursed him and asked George if he was Muslim or a member of any "pro-Islamic" or communist student groups, to which he replied no. The student said he was later released without an apology. Having missed his original flight, he flew to California the next day....

Although George's suit seeks unspecified financial damages, he said he also hoped to help teach airport screeners to respect travelers' civil rights.

"The point I want to make is that rules apply to the TSA," he said. "Rules matter."

Here, via Atlas Shrugs, is the second Speaker Spotlight for our FDI conference at CPAC, Jihad: the Political Third Rail: What The Are Not Telling You:

Freedom Defense Initiative - register here

Help make it happen - contribute.

Our inaugural event for FDI is fast approaching, February 19th -- and if you haven't registered or made it your business to get your infidel ass to CPAC for this totally non-CPAC event, then you are still hopeless.

The infiltration is so vast and so deep, that CPAC, the Conservatives' largest gathering in America, does not address jihad. Last year I had to bring Wilders there on my dime (with the help of Spencer, Horowitz...).

This year after Obama, it's worse. There is actually a panel called "You've Been Lied To: Why Real Conservatives are Against the War On Terror," and that's it.

Here's event. I will be highlighting each speaker as we move closer to the Day.

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is an Austrian human rights and anti-jihad activist. A diplomat's daughter, she was a child in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and later lived in Iraq, Kuwait and Libya. During the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, she was among the Austrian citizens who were kidnapped and held hostage. Today, Sabaditsch-Wolff is an international representative of the Citizens' Movement Pax Europa.

Her extensive knowledge about Islam and the political implications of Islamic doctrine earned her an invitation to teach the Austrian political party FPÖ about the nature, structure and strategies the West faces from Islam.

An unprepared reporter from the Austrian magazine "News" attended the seminar, and was so frightened by what she heard that she wrote a major reportage about 'political hate speech' at the seminar, and reported Elisabeth to the Austrian authorities for the crime of 'hate speech', quoting statements from the seminar.

Late in 2009 she was charged with "hate speech" under Austrian law for statements she made during a seminar on Islam. It was another attempt to silence by brute force those who speak out accurately about the global jihad and Islamic supremacism.

Sabaditsch-Wolff explained: "I want to preserve Europe and its democratic and secular values. Islamic doctrine discriminates against women and non-Muslims. Islamic law, or shariah, cannot be reconciled with democratic principles and universalhuman rights."

Sabaditsch-Wolff added: "There are powerful groups who are working towards the Islamization of Europe. That is a fact. What can we gain from closing our eyes and ignoring this? Even Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi says: 'There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquest. We don't need terrorists, we don't need homicide bombers. The 50+ million Muslims [in Europe] will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.' A head of state confirms what our politicians deny. What else has to happen until we finally get it?"

Noting that she is being prosecuted for statements about Muhammad's marriage to a nine-year-old when he was in his fifties, and Muhammad's exemplary status for Muslim men even in this, Sabaditsch-Wolff emphasized: "In every Islamic system you find thathuman rights of young girls are in grave danger. Look at Saudi Arabia. Look at the former socialist South Yemen. When Khomeini came to power he lowered the minimum age for girls to get married to nine years." Non-Muslims fare no better: "The Islamic world leads in discrimination against religious minorities. Christians are persecuted and discriminated against in all Islamic countries. You have to remember that the Christian culture is not one that immigrated or is foreign; it is indigenous. There is a complete ban on building churches in Turkey. And now Erdogan speaks of discrimination against Muslims in Switzerland? Where are Muslims being discriminated against in Switzerland? The European elite allows the Islamic countries to walk all over themselves while bowing down to them."

"I am a mother and a feminist," says Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff. "I want my daughter and my niece to grow up in freedom and dignity. I want the same for all Austrian citizens, and that includes Austrian Muslims."

While the case against the Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders is higher profile, Elisabeth's case is of the same fundamental nature: it is a battle between fear and superstition on the one hand, and rationality and open debate between free citizens on the other.

Agent of morality

"There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious." -- Ayatollah Khomeini

More on this story. "Saudi Arabia: Black market for red roses surges with Valentine's Day crackdown," by Meris Lutz in the Los Angeles Times, February 12:

It isn't often that cynical singles and religious police find themselves on the same side, but this Sunday they will stand united against a common threat: Valentine's Day and its ubiquitous trappings.

Saudi Arabia's religious enforcers, backed by the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have started their annual purge of anything Valentine-related, including flowers, gifts, candy and the color red.

In the week leading up to the holiday, the commission ran ads in the media warning shop owners against selling Valentine's Day merchandise, and the national newspaper Al-Riyadh did its part by highlighting the downside of cupid's day with articles (in Arabic) like "a fifth of adults prefer to spend Valentine's Day with their pets instead of their partners" and "Valentine's Day flavored with cocaine in the Netherlands this year."

But the ban has also created a boon for enterprising owners of flower and gift shops who don't mind taking a risk for profit. The newspaper Al Watan interviewed one florist in Dammam who said the price of contraband red roses had soared from 5 riyals (about $1.30) to over 30.

The paper went on to say that Valentine's Day is outlawed based on a Fatwa against "pagan holidays."

A spokesman for the commission, Sheikh Ali Qarni, defended the ban on the grounds that Muslims know the true meaning of love -- the love of God -- and behave accordingly throughout the year, and thus have no need for a single occasion to commemorate it.

"Muslims are people of love, as evidenced by the fact that this word appears in [the Koran] 83 times," he told the paper....

Ah yes, I have often felt that love.

This again: yet another sleazy Islamic supremacist claims he was "misunderstood." You would think that after awhile they'd be too embarrassed to bring out this tired, lame excuse yet again, but they seem to be immune from embarrassment.

And compounding the problem here is that his explanation hardly makes matters better. He is counting on his audience not knowing anything about Khaybar. Among jihadis the slogan is familiar: "Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahoud, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud" -- that is, "Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return."

Khaybar. As I explain in my book The Truth About Muhammad, Muhammad led a Muslim force against the Khaybar oasis, which was inhabited by Jews -- many of whom he had previously exiled from Medina. When he did so, he was not responding to any provocation. One of the Muslims later remembered: "When the apostle raided a people he waited until the morning. If he heard a call to prayer he held back; if he did not hear it he attacked. We came to Khaybar by night, and the apostle passed the night there; and when morning came he did not hear the call to prayer, so he rode and we rode with him....We met the workers of Khaybar coming out in the morning with their spades and baskets. When they saw the apostle and the army they cried, 'Muhammad with his force,' and turned tail and fled. The apostle said, 'Allah Akbar! Khaybar is destroyed. When we arrive in a people's square it is a bad morning for those who have been warned.'"

The Muslim advance was inexorable. "The apostle," according to Muhammad's earliest biographer, Ibn Ishaq, "seized the property piece by piece and conquered the forts one by one as he came to them." Another biographer of Muhammad, Ibn Sa'd, reports that the battle was fierce: the "polytheists...killed a large number of [Muhammad's] Companions and he also put to death a very large number of them....He killed ninety-three men of the Jews..." Muhammad and his men offered the fajr prayer, the Islamic dawn prayer, before it was light, and then entered Khaybar itself. The Muslims immediately set out to locate the inhabitants' wealth. A Jewish leader of Khaybar, Kinana bin al-Rabi, was brought before Muhammad; Kinana was supposed to have been entrusted with the treasure of on of the Jewish tribes of Arabia, the Banu Nadir. Kinana denied knowing where this treasure was, but Muhammad pressed him: "Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?" Kinana said yes, that he did know that.

Some of the treasure was found. To find the rest, Muhammad gave orders concerning Kinana: "Torture him until you extract what he has." One of the Muslims built a fire on Kinana's chest, but Kinana would not give up his secret. When he was at the point of death, one of the Muslims beheaded him. Kinana's wife was taken as a war prize; Muhammad claimed her for himself and hastily arranged a wedding ceremony that night. He halted the Muslims' caravan out of Khaybar later that night in order to consummate the marriage.

Muhammad agreed to let the people of Khaybar to go into exile, allowing them to keep as much of their property as they could carry. The Prophet of Islam, however, commanded them to leave behind all their gold and silver. He had intended to expel all of them, but some, who were farmers, begged him to allow them to let them stay if they gave him half their yield annually. Muhammad agreed: "I will allow you to continue here, so long as we would desire." He warned them: "If we wish to expel you we will expel you." They no longer had any rights that did not depend upon the good will and sufferance of Muhammad and the Muslims. And indeed, when the Muslims discovered some treasure that some of the Khaybar Jews had hidden, he ordered the women of the tribe enslaved and seized the perpetrators' land. A hadith notes that "the Prophet had their warriors killed, their offspring and woman taken as captives."

Thus when modern-day jihadists invoke Khaybar, as this hate mailer did indirectly by echoing the familiar chant about Muhammad's Army, they are doing much more than just recalling the glory days of Islam and its prophet. They are recalling an aggressive, surprise raid by Muhammad which resulted in the final eradication of the once considerable Jewish presence in Arabia. To the jihadists, Khaybar means the destruction of the Jews and the seizure of their property by the Muslims.

That's what Noor Rashid is now claiming that he did say. This is supposed to reassure us.

An update on this story. "Student says 'slaughter the Jews' remark was misunderstood," by Donald Macintyre in The Independent, February 12:

A student who spoke out in Arabic during protests against a speech by an Israeli minister at the Oxford Union has denied he called out the words: "Slaughter the Jews".

A statement issued by the office of Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, on Wednesday said that a student protester had uttered the words in question as Mr Ayalon faced protests over his appearance at the Union on Monday night.

But the Oxford Student newspaper yesterday quoted second year St Edmund Hall student Noor Rashid as saying he was in fact using the words of a classical Arabic chant commemorating a seventh-century battle between Arabs and Jews at Khayber, in the Arabian Peninsula.

The statement from Mr Ayalon's office maintained that a student had called out "Itbah Al Yahud" which translates as a call to slaughter Jews.

But Mr Rashid said that he had in fact said: "Khaybar ya Yahod." A Jewish Chronicle report yesterday said this referred to a seventh century attack by the Prophet Mohammed on the Jewish community in Khaybar in which the Jews were defeated and made to pay half their income to the Muslim victors.

Mr Rashid told Oxford Student: "My version went: 'Khaybar, O Jews, we will win'. This is in classical, Qur'anic Arabic and I doubt that apart from picking up on the word 'Jew', that even the Arabic speakers in the room would have understood the phrase.

"As you can see, I made no reference to killing Jews." he said, adding that 'Jew' and 'Israel' were interchangeable terms. Mr Rashid said the remark carried "absolutely no derogatory or secondary meanings."

Mr Rashid told the paper he may have been misunderstood: "There was a great deal of confusion and several people were shouting at the same time so I do acknowledge that people may have misheard me and assume that I uttered something else - namely to 'slaughter the Jews' which is something that I do not believe.

"I express the deepest regret if my remarks were misunderstood or misheard to mean anything that even comes close to encouraging the slaughter of innocents. I will be writing letters to all my Jewish friends to express my sincere apologies, and also to clarify my remarks."...

A magnificent post by my choice for the next Prime Minister of Canada, Kathy Shaidle:

Blaming a local news report on a suspicious Muslim compound for the vandalism of a mosque, Nashville Somalis otherwise seem confused about stuff:

"Muslims Go Home" and a Crusade-style cross were scrawled across the front of Al-Farooq Islamic Center on Nolensville Road, says Salaad Nur, a spokesman. (...)

That right there is suggestive of fakery. The Crusades, as we know, are very much on the minds of Muslims, but it is highly doubtful that the racist Tennessee rednecks (so beloved of mainstream media myth) who are supposed to have done this would know or care what a "Crusade-style cross" looks like. The cross that was painted on the mosque doesn't look like the crosses you see in the local churches in Nashville.

The article Shaidle quotes goes on to get entangled in an obvious contradiction:

"It's unexpected," he adds. "The only thing I can think of is the sensationalized reporting [by Channel 5] over Sunday and Monday. That's the only thing I can think of. Even after 9/11 we have never had any vandalism." (...)

In an email to the media, Elias Feghali of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition says:

"This event is particularly troubling as it comes on the heels of a sensationalist report by News Channel 5 this past weekend about a long-time Muslim community in Dover, TN, who they initially insinuated as having links to terrorists (link). The Muslim community in TN has faced what seems like an onslaught of hatred and violence since 9/11, from individuals and groups determined to enforce their rigid worldviews on a peaceful Muslim Americans.

Besides the contradiction -- get your story straight, fellas -- note that Nur and Feghali both claim that the attack was "backlash" after an article exposing the terror ties of a local Muslim community. The subtext is: Don't investigate mosques for terror ties. If you do, you will be charged with racism, bigotry, and even worse: incitement to violence.

That's why CAIR and others have not hesitated to stoop even to fabricating "hate crimes." They want and need hate crimes against Muslims, because they can use them to shift the focus away from Muslims as perpetrators of violence to Muslims as victims of violence, needing special concessions and privileges to protect them from that violence. "Hate crimes" are also useful to Islamic pressure groups as weapons to intimidate people into remaining silent about the jihad threat.

Was this one faked? I don't know. But it certainly smells.

Oxford demonstration from Jewish Chronicle on Vimeo.
Oxford Union: Muslim thug shouts "slaughter the Jews" at talk by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon

How long is Islamic antisemitism going to stand unchallenged? The self-righteous anger of these student protesters is baseless -- the Palestinians are the ones with the imperative to genocide, and the targeting of civilians. And yet even the people who challenge them in these clips seem weak, schoolmarmish, and scolding, instead of telling them straight out that they have no case, that it is known that they have no case, and that their thuggish attempts to silence and intimidate dissenting voices is intolerable. Intolerable not just as an empty word -- it should be made clear by how these students are now dealt with that their behavior was intolerable in fact. Some of these students were arrested. They should all be expelled, and admitted to no other university. Behavior like this has no place -- especially in a university -- and should not be allowed to stand.

Details here and here.

See also here: the thugs who disrupted Oren's speech were members of the UC-Irvine Muslim Students Union, a Muslim Brotherhood group.

It's not that they would decline to celebrate it themselves that is noteworthy, but that they called for a ban on it. Sharia is, after all, where "government knows best" meets "Allah knows best," and consequently offers unlimited license to mind other people's business.

"Russian Muslims call for ban on Valentine's Day," from Agence France-Presse, February 11 (thanks to Twostellas):

MOSCOW - Muslim leaders in Russia have called for believers to boycott Saint Valentine's Day, saying it "preaches universal permissiveness, amorality and nihilism."

Saint Valentine might beg to differ. But even observing the holiday in its traditional context as the feast day of a saint would be plenty haram.

A council of Muslim leaders in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region released a statement Wednesday calling for a "ban" on celebrating Valentine's Day, which is growing in popularity in Russia although it is not an official holiday.

"We call on all believers and sensible people to say no to celebrating this day, since it contradicts not only the norms of Islam, but also recognised human morality," the statement said.

The Muslim leaders also appealed to head teachers at the region's schools to cancel celebrations for "moral and ethical reasons."

Little known a decade ago, Valentine's Day is now big business in Russia, with stores selling heart-shaped trinkets and cards and restaurants laying on special menus.

In 2008 the wife of President Dmitry Medvedev, Svetlana Medvedeva, launched a rival holiday called the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity, which emphasises Orthodox Christian traditions.

Under Sharia, that would also be forced underground.

Priorities: Imagine if they were as zealous about rooting out "extremism" as they are about saving souls from the horrors of red roses and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. Of course, if that were really the case, the muttaween would have to arrest themselves. "Saudi Arabia's religious police out in force in run-up to Valentine's Day," by Hugh Tomlinson for the Times Online, February 12:

If you can't stand shops filled with roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, teddy bears, cards and novelty gifts, Saudi Arabia is the place to be this Valentine's Day.

The country's feared muttawa -- religious police -- have launched a campaign to banish from the shelves anything that could be construed as a romantic gift. As Sunday approaches, they have been patrolling the shops and posting warnings in local newspapers to remind traders that anyone caught violating the ban will be punished.

Saudi Arabia adheres to a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and bans the celebration of Western holidays -- and Valentine's Day is a particular target because of its nominal connection to the life of a Christian saint. The kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, also bans birthday celebrations and Mother's Day, and even several Muslim holidays, because it considers them "religious innovations" that Islam does not sanction.

But roses and romantic gifts are legal for the rest of the year -- so amorous Saudis and expatriates have been buying their gifts well in advance of the Valentine's Day crackdown.

The interpretation of what constitutes a romantic gift can be a little arbitrary:one Western resident in the capital, Riyadh, said that the shelves in his local store had been stripped of almost all red items, with nervous storeowners taking no chances.

More liberal Arab countries in the region have no such reservations. In Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and Dubai, for example, shops and restaurants mark Valentine's Day with an abundance of red ribbon and heart decorations, in a manner as garish as any Western capital.

In Riyadh, dating in the Western sense is not socially acceptable, though unmarried couples do meet in restaurants and cafés that have partitions to hide them. However, the arrival of mobile phones, e-mail and internet chatrooms has radically altered the dating scene, allowing couples to communicate in private....

Jihad Watch reader John, who kindly sent this in, comments: "From Egypt's Al Nas TV. Go to the 5 remaining minutes point of the clip where she must read the verse about Allah torturing and granting victory over the unbelievers. She starts to cry and asks for candy."

"Egyptian Man Brings 3-Year-Old Daughter to Tears, Forcing Her to Demonstrate Her Koran-Reciting Skills Live on TV," from MEMRI, January 1 (that is the date of the broadcast; the posting is recent), with thanks to John:

The following are excerpts from a show in which a toddler is taught to recite the Koran. The show aired on Al-Nas TV on January 1, 2010.

Host: We have a special show today. We have with us a father, who taught his daughter to read the book of Allah properly, according to rules of Koranic recitation. No one could imagine that any child of that age could do this.

Let's meet this father, who should be a role model for Muslim fathers in the Islamic world. Welcome, sheik.

Father: May Allah bless you.

Host: What is your name?

Father: Bahaa Ahmad Badr Al-Najjar.

Host: Welcome, Bahaa Ahmad Badr Al-Najjar.

Father: God bless you.

Host: This is your daughter...

Father: Yes.

Host: What's her name?

Father: Duaa.

Host: Does she know how to say her name?

Father: Say your name, Duaa.

Toddler mumbles something

Host: Nobody can hear you. What's your name?

Toddler: Duaa Ahmad Badr Al-Najjar.

Host: Al-Najjar?

Toddler: Yes.

Host: May God bless you, and you too, sheik. Tell us about the beginning of this successful journey.

Father: We began by teaching her how to read from the Koran. We taught her how to recite the Koran in its entirety. We began teaching her when she was 2 years and 4 months old. With the grace of Allah, we finished within 5-6 months.

[...]

With the grace of Allah, Duaa was blessed with an extraordinary memory, and her grasp is better than that of the rest of our kids. With the grace of Allah, all our children got the hang of it, but nobody reached the level of Duaa, despite her young age.

[...]

Host: Sister Duaa...

Father: Now recite for us, and then you can do what you want, okay?

Host: This is Surat Al-Taubah. I opened the Koran at a random page. We will start at the top of the page. Come on, read. This is page 189.

Toddler: "Fight them. Allah will torture them at your hands, and will bring disgrace upon them and will grant you victory..."

Host: Allah will grant you victory...

Father: Read from here. From this line.

Toddler: I want one [candy] first.

Father: Come on, Duaa.

Toddler: Where did you put the lollipop?

Father: First, let's read.

Host: Allah will grant you victory...

Toddler: "...Allah will grant you victory over them, and will heal the hearts of the believers."

Father: Come on, complete it.

Toddler: I want my candy.

Father: After you finish, I will ask you about the rules of recitation, and that's it.

Host: Let's open another chapter. Just this line. From here...

Father: Read this, and then I will ask you about the rules of recitation, and that's it.

Toddler starts to cry

Host: She is affected by the Koran....

Our FDI inaugural event is next Friday at CPAC, on February 19 at 10:00AM Eastern. Security will be very tight due to the open-mindedness of our friends on the Left and the delight in discussion and debate so often exhibited by the adherents of the Religion of Peace™. Register to attend by writing to FDInitiative@aol.com.

I'll be giving you some information about each speaker as we move closer to the big day.

Anders Gravers is one of the coordinators of the European human rights group Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE).

Stop the Islamisation Of Europe (SIOE) is an alliance of people across Europe with the single aim of preventing Islam becoming a dominant political force in Europe.

SIOE exists to legally combat the overt and covert expansion of Islam in Europe and states that Islam and democracy are incompatible due to teachings within the Koran itself and some of the hadiths which comprise sharia law.

Such incompatibility is self-evident when those tenuous democracies in countries where Islam is the dominant religion are scrutinized.

Western values are under the most severe threat from Islamisation, but particularly Europe, at the present time.

The formation of the European Union was done covertly with the European people being kept in the dark about its aims and development. Democracy has been systematically eroded, the latest example being the Lisbon Treaty.

However, the plan goes much further with the ultimate goal being a Eurabian superstate incorporating Muslim countries of North Africa and the Middle East andthe European Union.

This was already initiated with the signing of the Barcelona Treaty in 1995 by the EU and 9 North African States and Israel and which became effective 1st. January 2010. It is also known as the Euro-Mediterranean co-operation.

In return for some European control of oil resources, Muslim countries will have unfettered access to technology and movement of people into Europe.

The price Europeans will have to pay is the introduction of Sharia law and removal of democracy.

Anders Gravers and Thor Poulsen from Denmark and Stephen Gash from England are co-ordinators of SIOE.

And please make a donation. Pamela and I are doing this all ourselves. As she says, "This isn't grassroots. This is grass seed, baby."

The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) is affiliated with ISNA, which is a Muslim Brotherhood group. The Brotherhood is dedicated in its own words to "eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within." The FCNA issued a flimsy, loophole-ridden condemnation of terrorism several years ago. And CAIR, of course, is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR's cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Honest Ibe Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements.

And so now these groups say that body scanners are un-Islamic. Very well. There may be plenty of reasons to oppose body scanners, but when they put it this way, they suggest they'd be just fine with some sort of exemption from such scanning for Muslims. That would mean that the one group that would be subjected to lighter airport security checks than any other group would be...Muslims. And that would in turn make things easier than ever for jihad terrorists. Surely that can't be the objective of the FCNA and CAIR, now, can it?

"Airport Body Scanners Violate the Teachings of Islam, Says Muslim Group," by Susan Jones for CNSNews.com, February 11 (thanks to all who sent this in):

(CNSNews.com) - A group of Muslim scholars says it supports airline safety, but it is "deeply concerned" about the use of airport scanners that show nude images of the human body.

"The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) emphasizes that a general and public use of such scanners is against the teachings of Islam, natural law and all religions and cultures that stand for decency and modesty," the group said in a Feb. 10 statement posted at Islam Online.

"It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women," FCNA explained. The group noted that Islam emphasizes modesty, considering it part of the faith. "The Qur'an has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts" and to be modest in their dress.

While exceptions can be made in cases of "extreme necessity," FCNA indicated that passenger body scans do not rise to that level.

FCNA is asking for changes in scanner software so the machines will produce only body outlines. In the meantime, the group says Muslim travelers should choose pat-down searches over scanner images - in cases where searches are necessary.

The Fiqh Council of North America is an affiliate of the Islamic Society of North America, which advises and educates its members and officials "on matters related to the application of Shari'ah (Islamic law) in their individual and collective lives in the North American environment."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also issued a news release on Wednesday, endorsing FCNA's statement on the use of body scanners.

The jihad against the United States picked up steam in 2009: over one-third of the attempted and successful jihad attacks on American soil since 9/11 took place in the last year. Muslim Brotherhood organizations have infiltrated our government at the highest levels.

Still, the mainstream media won't tell you about the jihad. Even the conservative media won't tell you about the jihad. It's up to free citizens to stand up now, before it's too late. That's why Pamela Geller and I have created a new organization to stand up against this silence and willful blindness that threatens our existence and renders us defenseless as our freedoms and way of life are eroded away. We are launching the Freedom Defense Initiative, a new activist group, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2010, with a conference entitled Jihad: The Political Third Rail - What They Are Not Telling You.

We're bringing in some of the leading speakers about the jihad threat in the U.S. and around the world. The main speakers are Steve Coughlin and Wafa Sultan. Steve Coughlin is the former Pentagon Islamic law specialist who was fired after pressure from Islamic infiltrators. He is making his first public appearance for us at CPAC, and has startling information about Islamic infiltration in our government. Wafa Sultan stood up for human rights against Sharia on Al-Jazeera in a debate with an Islamic cleric on a famous viral video. She is the author of a blistering indictment of Islam's denial of rights to women and non-Muslims, A God Who Hates.

Other speakers include Simon Deng, a former slave in Sudan, and a leading human rights activist against jihad and Islamic supremacism; Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, who is facing "hate speech" charges in Austria for telling the truth about Islam and the Islamization of Europe; Anders Gravers of the group Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE); and Lt. Colonel Allen West: a war hero who offers a real alternative to Obama's socialism at home and appeasement abroad.

It promises to be an enlightening event, and it's certainly unique given the general media blackout on these issues.

But to hold this event, we need your help.

This conference will be held at the site of CPAC, but it is an independent event, not a CPAC event. Pamela Geller and I are holding this event at our own expense. We are paying the speakers' airfare and hotel bills, we are covering the costs of publicity - we are staging this entire event ourselves. We don't have big donors, we don't have large bankrollers. We are not a slick organization with professional fundraisers making elaborate presentations to wealthy philanthropists. All we have is a determination to get the word out about this, the gravest threat to our freedoms that this country has ever faced.

Last year, 9,000 people came to CPAC. This year it promises to be even bigger. Our event is the only one where the truth will be heard about the jihad threat. Then the videos will go up on the Internet and be a reference source to awaken people to this threat for years to come.

Please stand with us. Please help us get the word out. Please hit the "Contribute to Jihad Watch" link on the right and specify that you're contributing to the Freedom Defense Initiative's CPAC event. Or go here and contribute directly to the Freedom Defense Initiative.

It is going to take each one of us pitching in what we can in order to win this fight. It is going to take ordinary Americans who love our country and our way of life to stand up now. We are presenting truths at CPAC on which hang the very future of our nation. Please help us let these crucial voices be heard.

No doubt the mullahs are quaking in Tehran today! Sanctions are about to become...significant! "US considers "significant" sanctions against Iran," from BBC-Arabic, February 11:

Presenter, Male #1 American President Barak Obama announced that the US is considering new sanctions against Iran in response to the Iranian decision to enrich uranium to a level of 20%. Obama added that plans for new sanctions are going forward but did not set a timetable.

Guest, Man # 2
Iran is still willing to accept the enriched uranium exchange deal if its demands are met.

Reporter, Woman #1
Statements by the Iranian foreign ministry's spokesperson may no longer be listened to in the West, especially after Iran announced that it has started enriching uranium to 20%. The Iranian announcement generated a great deal of reactions in the international community. Most important of which was the American response, which seems to be decisively intent on stopping the new Iranian decision.

Guest, Man # 2 (Obama)
"And if not, then the next step is sanctions. They have made their choice so far, although the door is still open. And what we are going to be working on over the next several weeks is developing a significant regime of sanctions that will indicate to them how isolated they are from the international community as a whole."

Reporter, Woman #
The same position was taken by Israel; which considers Iran to be one of the largest threats in the region.

Guest, Man # 4
"This means not moderate sanctions or watered down sanctions, this means crippling sanctions, and these sanctions must be applied right now,"...

Yeah, sure. Re "crippling sanctions," see Hugh here.