May 2011 Archives

"War is deceit," Muhammad said. "Iraqi refugees in Kentucky charged with planning to help arm Al Qaeda," by Warren Richey for the Christian Science Monitor, May 31 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Two Iraqi nationals who came to the US as refugees have been arrested in Kentucky on charges that they conspired to provide money, weapons, and other support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, federal officials announced on Tuesday.

Waad Ramadan Alwan and Muhamad Shareef Hammadi, both of Bowling Green, have entered not guilty pleas and are being held pending a pretrial detention hearing.

They were charged in a 23-count indictment returned last week.

Mr. Alwan is accused of conspiring to kill US nationals abroad, distributing information on the manufacture and use of improvised explosive devices in Iraq, and plotting to transfer Stinger missiles to Iraq.

Mr. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, and conspiring to transfer Stinger missiles.

“Over the course of roughly eight years, Waad Ramadan Alwan allegedly supported efforts to kill US troops in Iraq, first by participating in the construction and placement of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq, and, more recently, by attempting to ship money and weapons from the United States to insurgents in Iraq,” said Todd Hinnen, acting assistant attorney general for national security.

Both Alwan and Hammadi came to the US from Iraq in 2009.

The FBI began investigating Alwan five months after he arrived after being granted refugee status. A year later, in August 2010, the FBI began using a confidential human source who engaged in recorded conversations with Alwan.

The investigation of Hammadi began in January.

Alwan admitted in recorded conversations that from 2003 to 2006 he was an insurgent who used IEDs and sniper rifles to target US forces in Iraq, according to court documents.

Based on these representations, the FBI has identified two latent fingerprints belonging to Alwan on a component of an unexploded IED recovered by US forces near Bayji, Iraq, according to officials. Alwan is believed to have worked at the power plant at Bayji and lived nearby before moving to the US.

He reportedly told the FBI source that he worked on the IED with an associate who had lost an eye in a premature explosion. US officials have discovered a latent fingerprint on a recovered unexploded IED that they say belongs to an individual with one eye who was detained by US forces in June 2008.

Federal officials say in September 2010 Alwan expressed interest in helping the FBI’s confidential source provide support to militants in Iraq. They plotted to provide money, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 plastic explosives, and Stinger missiles to insurgents fighting US troops.

Later, Alwan allegedly recruited Hammadi to help in the effort.

Officials stressed that none of the money or weapons involved in the undercover operation in the US was actually provided to Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The work of Syed Saleem Shahzad of Asia Times Online has appeared many times here at Jihad Watch. You can see here that he was closely monitoring jihad activity in Pakistan -- and given their preference for working under the cover of darkness, it is only natural that they would want him dead.

"Missing Pakistani journalist found dead in Punjab," from AP, May 31 (thanks to Jaladhi):

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani journalist who investigated al-Qaida's alleged infiltration of the country's navy was found dead on Tuesday, and police said there were signs he'd been tortured.

The journalist, Syed Saleem Shahzad of the Asia Times Online, had been missing for two days. He had told a rights activist in recent months that he feared the country's intelligence agencies planned to retaliate against him over some of his reporting. Shahzad's stories on the alleged infiltration followed a deadly 18-hour militant siege of a naval base earlier last week in Karachi....

Human Rights Watch researcher Ali Dayan Hasan said that the 40-year-old Shahzad had told him he feared that the spy agencies were after him, and that he had received a veiled threat in a meeting with a navy officer at the headquarters of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency in October.

Shahzad forwarded notes from that meeting to Hasan, saying in an email that it was for the "record only if in case something happens to me or my family in future." The rights activist also said he was told by some Pakistani government officials that they believed Shahzad was in ISI custody.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official denied allegations that the agency had anything to do with Shahzad's case.

"It's absurd," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the record....

It is not in the least absurd. The ISI is linked to the Mumbai jihad attacks, and to other jihad activity. Why wouldn't it take out a journalist who got too close to things they didn't want known?

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists in 2010, with at least eight media workers killed in the line of duty. Six of the journalists in Pakistan were killed in suicide attacks, the group said.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists strongly condemned Shahzad's killing, and demanded a high-level investigation.

"This is tragic," said Amin Yousuf, secretary-general of the union. "We are losing our professional colleagues but the government never unearths who is behind the killing of journalists."

Gee, I wonder why.

Iraq’s Kristallnacht: 70 Years Later
By Robert S. Wistrich

Seventy years ago, on June 1, 1941, the most dramatic and violent pogrom in the Arab Middle East during World War II took place in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Known in Arabic as the Farhūd, this devastating pogrom left approximately 150 Jews dead, hundreds more wounded, and led to the ransacking of nearly 600 Jewish businesses. The grim events of June 1-2, 1941 were the Iraqi Arab equivalent of the mass violence on Kristallnacht, which had taken place some two and a half years earlier across Nazi Germany. The anti-Jewish riots were mainly led by Iraqi soldiers (bitter and frustrated by their defeat at the hands of the British Army), some members of the police and young paramilitary gangs, swiftly followed by an angry Muslim population that went on the rampage in an orgy of murder and rapine.

The pogrom struck at what was the most prosperous, prominent and well-integrated Jewish community in the Middle East – one whose origins went back more than 2,500 years – long before there was any Arab presence in the country. The 90,000 Jews of Baghdad, it should be said, played a major role in the commercial and professional life of the city. However, in the 1930s they already found themselves confronted by an increasingly virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist propaganda in the Iraqi press and among nationalist political groups. This agitation treated the intensely patriotic Iraqi Jews as an alien, hostile minority who had to be ejected from all the social, economic and political positions it held in the Iraqi state.

Iraqi Arab nationalists, like their counterparts in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt, had been much influenced in the 1930s by the rise of Nazi Germany. Hitler’s National Socialism attracted them as a spectacular, authoritarian model for achieving Iraqi national unity and a wider union of Arabs in the region. It was no accident that the pro-German ideologue of pan-Arabism, Sati al-Husri, exerted a major influence on Iraqi education after arriving in Baghdad in 1921, or that Michel Aflaq, the chief theoretician of the Iraqi and Syrian Ba’athists had also absorbed German national-socialist ideas while studying in Paris between 1928-1932. The Director General of the Iraqi Ministry of Education in the 1930s, Dr. Sami Shawkat, was another fanatical ideologue, especially active in instilling a military spirit (resembling the German Nazi model) in Iraqi youth. He also developed radically anti-Jewish ideas which were heavily indebted to Nazi anti-Semitism. In a book published in Baghdad in 1939, These Are Our Aims, Shawkat openly called for the annihilation of the Jews in Iraq, as a necessary prerequisite for achieving an Iraqi national revival and fulfilling the country’s ”historical mission” of uniting the Arab nation.

Significantly, it was also in Baghdad that the first official Arabic translations of parts of Hitler’s Mein Kampf appeared in 1934. In order not to offend Arab sensibilities the final translation “edited” out Hitler’s racial theories about inferior “Semites” – making it clear that anti-Semitism related only to Jews, not to Arabs. The Iraqi translator of Hitler’s “magnum opus” was Yūnus al-Sab’āwī, a young Nazi enthusiast and extreme anti-Semite. A close confidant of nationalist officers in the Iraqi army, Al-Sab’āwī came to play an important role in Iraqi politics. From April to June 1941 he even served as Iraqi Minister of Economics. Al-Sab’āwī was indeed one of the architects of the Farhūd in which his anti-Semitic para-military youth group also took part. Al-Sab’āwī had earlier established a close connection with Nazi Germany’s Ambassador to Iraq in the late 1930s, Dr. Fritz Grobba. The latter was a distinguished Orientalist (fluent in Arabic, Persian and Turkish) who eventually convinced Hitler that helping Arab nationalists to throw off British control of Iraq should be part of German strategy. Grobba also contributed much through the networks he had established in Iraq, towards spreading the idea that Iraqi Jews were a “fifth column” of Great Britain – sworn enemies of Germany and of the Arab nation. Equally, Palestinian nationalists, led by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini (who had had fled to Baghdad in the late 1930s), conducted an especially vicious campaign to incite a jihad among the local Arab population against Great Britain, Zionism and the Jews of Iraq. The Mufti – a close ally of Hitler during the four years he spent in Berlin between 1941 and 1945 – would also exert a particularly toxic influence on the pro-Nazi politician Rashid Ali al-Kailani, whose successful anti-British coup had forced the unpopular Hashemite Regent Abd al-Ilāh to flee the country. The coup brought to power on April 1, 1941 some of the most rabid Jew-baiters in Iraq. Anti-British and anti-Semitic propaganda now reached a zenith that greatly contributed to the violence that burst forth two months later.

Ironically enough, it was the decisive victory of the British and the return of the Regent on June 1 that immediately provoked the pogrom, an act of unparalleled revenge by the Muslim masses against the Jews of Baghdad that expressed their deep disappointment at the fall of the popular Rashid Ali regime. The British Army, now encamped on the outskirts of Baghdad, could easily have intervened but it chose not to do so, dubiously claiming this would have damaged the prestige of the (pro-British) Regent in the eyes of his own people. The British behaved in a similar fashion on several occasions in Mandatory Palestine, in Libya (November 1945) and in Aden (December 1945) – standing by as Arab mobs killed defenseless Jews. In fact, for most Iraqi Muslims in 1941, the British were perceived as oppressive colonizers, the Jews as their “agents” and the German Nazis as “anti-imperialist” saviors! But German military assistance, when it finally came, was too little and too late to save the Rashid Ali regime.

The Farhūd has been incomprehensibly ignored or downplayed both in Zionist historiography and even more in general histories of the Middle East. Arab historians have been silent or else falsified the facts and there are even Israeli and Jewish writers who have unconvincingly tried to dismiss its importance. Yet this traumatic event was indeed of seminal importance. It proved beyond reasonable doubt the strength of Arab nationalist anti-Semitism and of Nazi-style incitement on a Muslim population that had come to see in its patriotic Jewish minority “the enemy within.” The Jews of Iraq, seventy years ago, suddenly found themselves in the crossfire of three converging forms of murderous anti-Semitism – that of the German Nazis, the Palestinian exiles in Baghdad led by Amin el-Husseini, and Iraqi pan-Arab nationalists. Ten years later, the government of Iraq under the pro-British Nuri es-Said, expropriated, dispossessed, disenfranchised and brought about the forced emigration of nearly 120,000 Iraqi Jews, thereby cruelly terminating the oldest of all Diaspora histories. This was not only a crime against humanity but an insufficiently acknowledged part of the history of the Holocaust. The Farhūd exposed with shocking clarity just how vulnerable the Jews in Arab lands really were and what their fate was likely to be under any decolonized Arab regime in the future, especially if there was a breakdown of law and order.

Despite the “Arab Spring” not much has changed for other minorities in the Middle East in the last 70 years. As for the Jews, from Morocco to Iraq and Iran they would be “ethnically cleansed” after 1945 by their Muslim rulers. The Farhūd already represented the writing on the wall for those willing to read it. The reinforcement of a strong Israel was and still remains the only viable long-term answer to the repetition of such horrific atrocities in the future.

Prof. Robert S. Wistrich is the director of The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (http://sicsa.huji.ac.il/) and the author of A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad (Random House, January 2010). This article is a condensed version of a recent lecture on the 1941 pogrom in Baghdad hosted by the Center in Jerusalem.

An article from IslamOnline (posted several years ago and since taken down, but captured here) shows how Mark Elchardus could have gotten this horrific Islamophobic idea:

Dear Sheikh! As-Salam `Alaykum. What, according to the Qur’an, are the main characteristics and qualities of Jews?

Answer: [...] As regards the question you posed, the following is the fatwa issued by Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former Head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, in which he states the following:

“The Qur’an has specified a considerable deal of its verses to talking about Jews, their personal qualities and characteristics. The Qur’anic description of Jews is quite impartial; praising them in some occasions where they deserve praise and condemning them in other occasions where they practice blameworthy acts. Yet, the latter occasions outnumbered the former, due to their bad qualities and the heinous acts they used to commit.

The Qur’an praises them on the verse that reads: “ And verily We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture and the Command and the Prophethood, and provided them with good things and favored them above (all) peoples.” (Al-Jathiyah:16) i.e. the peoples of their time.

Among the bad qualities they were characterized with are the following:

1. They used to fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah. Allah Almighty says: “ That is because they say: We have no duty to the Gentiles. They speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly.” (Al-`Imran:75) Also: “The Jews say: Allah's hand is fettered. Their hands are fettered and they are accursed for saying so. Nay, but both His hands are spread out wide in bounty. He bestoweth as He will.” (Al-Ma`idah:64)

In another verse Almighty Allah says: “Verily Allah heard the saying of those who said, (when asked for contributions to the war): "Allah, forsooth, is poor, and we are rich! We shall record their saying with their slaying of the Prophets wrongfully and We shall say: Taste ye the punishment of burning!” (Al-`Imran:181)

2. They love to listen to lies. Concerning this Allah says: “and of the Jews: listeners for the sake of falsehood, listeners on behalf of other folk” (Al-Ma’idah: 41)

3. Disobeying Almighty Allah and never observing His commands. Allah says: “And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts.” (Al-Ma’idah: 13)

4. Disputing and quarreling. This is clear in the verse that reads: “Their Prophet said unto them: Lo! Allah hath raised up Saul to be a king for you. They said: How can he have kingdom over us when we are more deserving of the kingdom than he is, since he hath not been given wealth enough?” (Al-Baqarah: 247)

5. Hiding the truth and standing for misleading. This can be understood from the verse that reads: “…distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture.” (Al-`Imran: 78)

6. Staging rebellion against the Prophets and rejecting their guidance. This is clear in the verse: “And when ye said: O Moses! We will not believe in thee till we see Allah plainly.” (Al-Baqarah: 55)

7. Hypocrisy. In a verse, we read: “And when they fall in with those who believe, they say: We believe; but when they go apart to their devils they declare: Lo! we are with you; verily we did but mock.” (Al-Baqarah: 14) In another verse, we read: “Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practice it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no sense?” (Al-Baqarah: 44)

8. Giving preference to their own interests over the rulings of religion and the dictates of truth. Allah says: “…when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?” (Al-Baqarah: 87)

9. Wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them. This is clear in the verse that reads: “Many of the People of the Scripture long to make you disbelievers after your belief, through envy on their own account, after the truth hath become manifest unto them.” (Al-Baqarah: 109)

10. They feel pain to see others in happiness and are gleeful when others are afflicted with a calamity. This is clear in the verse that reads: “If a lucky chance befall you, it is evil unto them, and if disaster strike you they rejoice thereat.” (Al-`Imran:120)

11. They are known of their arrogance and haughtiness. They claimed to be the sons and of Allah and His beloved ones. Allah tells us about this in the verse that reads: “The Jews and Christians say: We are sons of Allah and His loved ones.” (Al-Ma’idah: 18)

12. Utilitarianism and opportunism are among their innate traits. This is clear in the verse that reads: “And of their taking usury when they were forbidden it, and of their devouring people's wealth by false pretences.” (An-Nisa’: 161)

13. Their impoliteness and indecent way of speech is beyond description. Referring to this, the Qur’anic verse reads: “Some of those who are Jews change words from their context and say: "We hear and disobey; hear thou as one who heareth not" and "Listen to us!" distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said: "We hear and we obey; hear thou, and look at us" it had been better for them, and more upright. But Allah hath cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few.” (An-Nisa’:46)

14. It is easy for them to slay people and kill innocents. Nothing in the world is dear to their hearts than shedding blood and murdering human beings. They never give up this trait even with the Messengers and the Prophets. Allah says: “…and slew the prophets wrongfully.” (Al-Baqarah: 61)

15. They are merciless and heartless. In this meaning, the Qur’anic verse explains: “Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness.” (Al-Baqarah: 74)

16. They never keep their promises or fulfill their words. Almighty Allah says: “Is it ever so that when ye make a covenant a party of you set it aside? The truth is, most of them believe not.” (Al-Baqarah: 100)

17. They rush hurriedly to sins and compete in transgression. Allah says: “They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!” (Al-MA’idah:79)

18. Cowardice and their love for this worldly life are their undisputable traits. To this, the Qur’an refers when saying: “Ye are more awful as a fear in their bosoms than Allah. That is because they are a folk who understand not. They will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from behind walls. Their adversity among themselves is very great. Ye think of them as a whole whereas their hearts are divers.” (Al-Hashr:13-14) Allah Almighty also says: “And thou wilt find them greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters.” (Al-Baqarah:96)

19. Miserliness runs deep in their hearts. Describing this, the Qur’an states: “Or have they even a share in the Sovereignty? Then in that case, they would not give mankind even the speck on a date stone.” (An-Nisa’:53)

20. Distorting Divine Revelation and Allah’s Sacred Books. Allah says in this regard: “Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands anthem say, "This is from Allah," that they may purchase a small gain therewith. Woe unto them for that their hands have written, and woe unto them for that they earn thereby.” (Al-Baqara: 79)

"Belgium Muslim organization sues sociologist for making link between Islam and antisemitism," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, May 31 (thanks to Twostellas):

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Vigilance Musulmane (Muslim Vigilance) think-tank lodged a complaint with the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism (CGKR) against VUB professor of sociology Mark Elchardus, for statements about Islam and antisemitism he made in the De Morgen newspaper.

On May 12 the newspaper published the results of a study 'Jong in Brussel' by the Youth Research Platform. In the article Mark Elchardus said that antisemitism among Muslim students was theologically inspired and that there is a direct link between being Muslim and harboring antisemitic feelings.

Vigilance musulmane played the usual cards: claiming that this amounted to saying that all Muslims thought this way, which is a logical fallacy, and claiming also that Elchardus was trying to incite "hate":

Vigilance musulmane say that this goes back to the idea that every Muslim is antisemitic. His statements incite the public opinion to hate all Muslim citizens on the basis of their religious convictions. The think-tank say Elchardus' claim violates the anti-discrimination law of 2007 , which forbids discrimination on the basis of 'religious convictions'. They say his statements also violate article 444 of the penal code, since they were repeated extensively in print.

The think-tank wants CGKR to legally review this type of public statement, and if it applies, to act appropriately.

In other words, to quash the freedom of speech about Islam, which longtime Jihad Watch readers will know has for years been at the forefront of Islamic supremacist efforts in the West.

I guess that's one way to make sure Jonathan isn't elected again: kill all those who voted for him. Bars were probably targeted in order to make sure that no Muslims would be killed.

"Nigeria hit by multiple blasts after inauguration," from AP, May 30 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Multiple blasts rocked Nigeria's restive Muslim north and a city near the capital following the inauguration of the country's southern Christian president, officials said Monday.

The most powerful of the blasts tore through a bar in a military barracks in the northern city of Bauchi on Sunday, killing 15 people just hours after the swearing-in ceremony, said an official who participated in the rescue efforts.

Bauchi state police chief Mohammed Indabawa said Sunday's blast in the city of Bauchi hit an outdoor bar at about 8 p.m., just hours after the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria's capital of Abuja....

One bomb went off Sunday at a beer garden in Zuba, near Nigeria's capital, killing two people and wounding at least 11, Shuaib said.

Another explosion in the northern city of Zaria on Sunday also targeted a bar hours after the inauguration, police spokesman Aminu Lawal said. He said police were still looking into how many may have been wounded in that blast....

In the northeast city of Maiduguri, a bomb targeted on Monday an army patrol vehicle, Lt. Abubakar Abdullahi said, adding that there were no casualties and five arrests were made after the incident....

Bauchi city has a history of sectarian violence and was a scene of rioting and destruction after the April elections.

Bauchi is also a stronghold of a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram. Its members are accused of a rash of killings in the area in recent months which have targeted police officers, soldiers and political and spiritual leaders.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language, has asked pushed for the implementation of Sharia law in northern states.

Authorities blame the group for an explosion at a hotel in April that killed three people and wounded 14 others in Maiduguri, a city close to Bauchi, only days before the state's gubernatorial election....

After he escaped two attempts to abduct him 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).

"Othodox [sic] Christian shot to death in Mosul," from AsiaNews, May 30 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Mosul (AsiaNews) – Iraq’s Christian community has been the victim of another targeted killing. This morning, an Orthodox Christian was killed in Mosul, northern Iraq. The dead man had been the victim of two attempted ransom abductions in the past, but in both cases, he was able to escape from his attackers. This time, the murderers waited for him as he went to work, firing at him several times in cold blood.

Sources, on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told AsiaNews that Arkan Jihad Yacob was an Orthodox Christian, and the vice director of a cement factory.

Born in 1948 in Mosul, the married father of four was the victim of two previous abduction attempts, ostensibly to extort ransom from his family. In both cases, he was quick enough to thwart his attackers.

This morning however, the men who went after him meant to kill and they succeeded. Arkan Jihad Yacob was shot several times as he made his way to work in an execution-style cold-blooded murder. His killers used a silencer.

The local community took part in Arkan’s funeral in Mosul’s Syro-Orthodox cathedral. With his death, Iraqi Christians find themselves again under attack from Muslim extremists.

The previous incident goes back to 16 May, in Kirkuk, when the body of a Christian man was found. He had been killed after being abducted, his body mutilated, because his family could raise US$ 10,000 to pay for the ransom (see “Kirkuk: young Christian abducted, tortured and beheaded,” in AsiaNews, 16 May 2011).

Speaking to AsiaNews, sources in Iraq say that Christians continue to endure an atmosphere of tensions and fear, as they continue to be targeted for abductions, which end in blood when they are unsuccessful. (DS)

These are the people Barack Obama wants Israel to accommodate and make concessions to, in a futile chase after a chimerical peace that will in reality only be a pause before the next round of their jihad. "PA continues to deny Israel's right to exist," by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik for Palestinian Media Watch, May 31:

The Palestinian Authority's ideology is to refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist. The media it owns and controls regularly publish articles that demonize the modern State of Israel and its establishment as a "colonialist plan".

Recently, the official PA daily went even further, not just maligning the modern State of Israel but also labeling the Jewish/Israelite presence in the land of Judea/Israel 2000 years ago as a "crude form of colonialism".

Whereas Hamas openly denies Israel's right to exist in both English and Arabic, the PA professes in English before the international community to have recognized Israel's right to exist. As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, when addressing its own people in Arabic, the PA - like Hamas - completely denies Israel's right to exist.

The following is the PA daily's defining ancient Judea/Israel as "colonialism":

"The Zionists must acknowledge publicly, in front of the world, that the Jews have no connection to the Palestinian Arab land, upon whose ruins arose the colonialist settler Zionist plan that settles and expels, represented by the Israeli apartheid state. That which occurred two thousand years ago (i.e., the Jewish/Israeli presence in the land), assuming that it is true, represents in the book of history nothing more than invention and falsification and a coarse and crude form of colonialism." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 27, 2011]

Read it all.

Tyranny leads to morally stunted people, whose internal mechanisms of self control never grow beyond responding to the threat of external punishment. Add to that the mentality that women who don't meet some standard of modesty are fair game, as is often seen in Islamic countries (and imported into the West by characters like the "uncovered meat" Sheikh Hilali) and you get, well, this guy.

"Foreign student upset by the way women dressed jailed for sex attacks," by Elissa Hunt for the Herald Sun, May 31 (thanks to L):

A foreign student who sexually assaulted seven victims claimed he was upset at the way Australian women dressed and behaved, a court has heard.

Libyan masters student Almahde Ahmad Atagore, 28, was this morning jailed for at least three years over the assaults in August and September last year.

He had been in the country only a month, on a sponsorship funded by his government.

But County Court Judge Margaret Rizkalla said Atagore wasn’t prepared for the cultural differences and felt isolated and depressed.

He indecently assaulted two teenagers leaving the Mentone Hotel, laughing at them afterwards.

Atagore returned another night to attack two more outside the same pub.

Two more victims, including a 13-year-old girl, were assaulted as they used escalators at Flinders St station.

Another, 17, was attacked outside Mentone train station.

Atagore was identified in footage from Flinders St and cameras outside the hotel, but when confronted by police denied he had molested the victims.

Judge Rizkalla said he struggled to adapt to Australian life, without a mosque nearby and with little support.

Atagore told a psychiatrist he was upset at the way local women dressed and behaved, leaving him feeling both angry and aroused.

But he now felt shame and regret for his crimes, the judge said.

She said Atagore was suffering from an adjustment disorder, which contributed to his offending, and would face a hard time in prison with his poor grasp of English.

But the attacks happened in public places and had left the victims fearful of public transport, robbing them of security and independence.

Several of the victims were in court and welcomed the maximum sentence of five years and three months, with at least three years to serve before being eligible for parole....

Where did Sheikh Abi-Ishaq al-Huwayni get these ideas? Why, from Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, of course. Umar, the second caliph, said: "I advise you to fulfill Allah's Convention (made with the Dhimmis) as it is the convention of your Prophet and the source of the livelihood of your dependents (i.e. the taxes from the Dhimmis.)" That is, subjugating the dhimmis and bleeding them dry is to be the source of the Muslims' livelihood.

"Egyptian Shaykh: Jihad Is Solution to Muslims' Financial Problems," from Translating Jihad, May 31:

In this short audio file, prominent Egyptian Salafi Shaykh Abi-Ishaq al-Huwayni explains that Muslims' financial difficulties are due to the fact that they have abandoned jihad. [...]

Transcript:

We are in the era of jihad. The era of jihad has come over us, and jihad in the path of Allah is a pleasure. It is a real pleasure. The companions (of the Prophet) used to compete to (perform jihad). The poverty that we’re in—is it not due to our abandonment of jihad? But if we could conduct one, two, or three jihadist operations every year, many people throughout the earth would become Muslims. And whoever rejected this da’wa, or stood in our way, we would fight against him and take him prisoner, and confiscate his wealth, his children, and his women—all of this means money. [...]

Read it all.

Why Muslim cultures lag behind -- a Muslim perspective
By the Anti Jihadist

Recently, in a discussion here at Jihad Watch as to why Muslim cultures noticeably lag behind much of the rest of the world, the following eight traits were summarised as characteristics of the dysfunctional societies of Islam:

1. Belief in magic
2. Belief in conspiracies
3. Lack of innovation
4. Lack of devotion to non-family/non tribal/non clan organisations
5. Lack of empowerment of women
6. Lack of personal responsibility
7. Lack of skilled labour
8. Lack of meritocracy

Interestingly enough, an article appeared today in one of Malaysia's English daily newspapers that addresses this very topic. Entitled "The Muslim dilemma today", its author Dr. Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad, Senior Fellow/Director at the Centre for the Study of Syariah [Sharia], Law, and Politics, attempts to also summarise the reasons why Muslim nations are stagnating and falling behind. As the Doctor is the director of a major organisation in Malaysia and writing an editorial in a government-backed newspaper, it can be reasonably surmised that he is in fact writing on behalf and with the full backing of Malaysia's Muslim-controlled government.

I started reading Doctor Azhar's article eagerly, hoping that the distinguished, esteemed writer (at least to Muslims) and 'Islamic scholar' would have had the decency to be plainspoken and the courage to let loose at least a little of the truth. It's probably hardly surprising to the 'Islamophobes' reading this, but I was soon to be disappointed. Worse than that, I found the good Doctor's words plainly wrong-headed and disturbing, in yet another instance of denial and self-deception.

Regardless, the good Doctor's words are worth analysing, deconstructing and given a thorough debunking. The analysis is especially needed because Doctor Azhar, as a quasi bureaucrat, writes in encoded bureaucratic language that will baffle many outsiders who try to follow his thinking.

First, the doctor starts by saying this:

MUSLIMS, regardless of times and locations, have been facing a varied magnitude of challenges since the very inception of Islam. This will never cease to happen.

But how could all these 'challenges' happen? After all, Islam is supposed to be the perfect 'deen', the perfect religion and the best way of life for everyone. That's the pitch, at any rate. So why is life so hard for Muslims? Maybe because Islam is not all that it's cracked up to be? But never mind that for the moment.

Let’s examine the conditions of Muslims in this country today. They are generally in a state of crisis almost in every respect of life – religiously, socially, economically and politically. ... But the above phenomenon can be discerned, among other things, from the increasing number of ignorant, secular and non-practising Muslims.

The first sentence is true enough. But while the first part is blindingly obvious, the second sentence is an oblique nod to the usual Islamic sham; namely, any difficulties for Muslims are either due to the scheming of evil outsiders (i.e. non Muslims) or due to the fact that many Muslims are insufficiently pious. This typical drivel should warn the clear-thinking that this 'doctor's' writing is not to be taken seriously.

In terms of politics, Muslims basically rule the country, but have been perceived as compromising too much, even on fundamental matters, at the expense of their own interests and dignity.

The references to 'compromise' and 'dignity' are not explained, so allow me to elucidate. It means anytime when Muslims treat the followers of other belief systems in Malaysia (Christians, Buddhists, Hindus) too much like equals. Namely, if a Buddhist is ever treated as the equal of of a Muslim, or anything approaching equal terms, then this is seen as a 'compromise' to Islam's/Muslims' 'dignity'. And note the author's use of passive voice -- perceived as compromising by whom? This bureaucrat of a writer fails to specify, but I strongly suspect he is referring to the various Muslim pressure groups in Malaysia (Perkasa et al) who constantly agitate for more Islamic 'purity' and 'devoutness' for Malaysians (i.e. more Shariah).

On with the good Doctor's argument.

Once ignorance spreads from top to bottom and defines the character of the ummah, the community will have no integrity and strength. ... They will gradually become more fragile and vulnerable to foreign influences, especially harmful ones.

It is this foregoing disintegration of internal qualities of the Muslim ummah that causes confusion and disunity.

Remember those scheming evil nonbelievers? According to Doctor Azhar, these 'foreign influences' are extraordinarily dangerous to Believers (Muslims), a position which adheres quite well to Muslim orthodoxy. What Azhar has primarily in mind is probably the influence of Western culture, which naturally is harmful to Muslims and their supposed 'perfect' way of life. And since everyone is failing to show up at the mosque every Friday, that's the 'disunity' he is lamenting about.

The most disturbing part of Doctor Azhar's argument is his closing, in which he states:

[Muslims should] give priority to religious consideration or interests and put aside differences in facing their common enemies.

Who are those enemies exactly, Doctor Azhar? Of course, he's keeping it vague here, but Islamic scripture makes it quite clear who he is referring to. So, if you're a non Muslim and you're reading this, you are one of those "common enemies" that he means. Doesn't this sound peace-loving, open-minded and tolerant?

So, to recap, here's Doctor Azhar's list for why the Ummah is stumbling so badly:

• Lack of Islamic piety


• Being too open to outside/'enemy' influences


• Lack of unity

This is what we can expect from the finest minds of Planet Islam. Now, compare his list with the one at the beginning of this column. Which do you think is a better diagnosis?

Doctor Azhar, with all due respect, I suggest a different remedy for you and your co-religionists. Recognize the equality of the so-called 'infidel', embrace your 'common enemies' as 'fellow humans' instead, and acknowledge the universal brotherhood of mankind. As these are all inherently unIslamic ideas, I am sure devout Muslims will not take heed. But there's a chance that the "ignorant, secular and non-practising Muslims" will.

The Anti Jihadist writes at Pedestrian Infidel.

Rejecting the principles of her late father in favor of Islam. "O ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong." -- Qur'an 9:23

"Hasina for Islam as Bangladesh's state religion," from IANS, May 31:

Dhaka, May 31 (IANS) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed herself in favour of retaining Islam as the state religion, moving away from the secular provisions in the constitution that were incorporated when country became free in 1971.

Hasina told a special parliamentary committee formed to study changes in the constitution in the light of Supreme Court verdicts delivered in the last one year that her government would like "Bismillah Rahman-ur-Rahim" retained.

Bangladesh's 150 million population is overwhelmingly Muslim, with about nine percent Hindus and the rest Buddhists and Christians.

Secularism was one of the principles enshrined in the constitution drafted under the leadership of the country's founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina's father.

Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in August 1975. Subsequent military-ruled governments incorporated religious expressions, amending the constitution and issuing a series of rules between 1975 and 1990.

In two separate judgments, the apex court last year declared all these changes void and asked that the constitution be restored to its original 1972 form.

Hasina has repeatedly assured that her government would retain Islam as the state religion. Her aides have explained that the ethos of the majority of the population could not be ignored or tampered with....

In Human Events this morning I discuss Egypt's increasingly belligerent stance toward Israel.

How hopelessly at odds with America’s best interests is Barack Obama? Less than two weeks ago he declared his support for “political and economic reform in the Middle East,” warmly endorsing the “Arab Spring” uprisings there. Then Sunday, Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail announced his candidacy for the presidency of Egypt, promising to transform Egypt into an Islamic state and go to war with Israel. Reform that would indeed be, but not the kind any American president should be applauding.

Maybe Obama is still listening to his ruinously incompetent Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, who at the height of the Egyptian uprising characterized the Muslim Brotherhood as “largely secular.” Secular they’re not, but they’re certainly influential, and Obama knows it: he specifically requested that Muslim Brotherhood representatives attend his speech in Cairo in June 2009. Speaking in a mosque on Saturday, Abu Ismail said that he was confident of victory -- precisely because, unlike the other candidates, he presented a clear call to institute Islamic law in Egypt. “Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, the liberal candidates, will be unable to present a clear vision.”

Abu Ismail was sure all Egyptians would love his pro-Sharia platform: “If I could apply sharia in Egypt, all people, including non-Muslims, would applaud me four years later.” He dismissed all who opposed him as perverts and libertines: “We seek to apply Islamic law, but those who don’t want it prefer cabarets, alcohol, dancers and prostitution, as the implementation of Islamic law will prohibit women to appear naked in movies and on beaches.”

He also promised to go to war with Israel: “The Camp David peace treaty is insulting to the Egyptian people, so it must be canceled, and I will do my best to convince people to cancel it.” Abu Ismail made this pledge as Egypt reopened the Rafah crossing -- the only official point of entry into Gaza other than from inside Israel. Egypt had closed it in 2007 after Hamas took power in Gaza, as part of its uneasy observance of the Camp David Accords, since the Rafah crossing had been an easy route into Israel for jihadis and their weapons suppliers....

There is more.

Move America Forward has compiled care packages that contain goods our troops need and cannot get -- as a way of saying "thank you" for their sacrifices and courage.

You can show your gratitude by sending one to the troops. Each care package will include a personal message written by you where you can express your gratitude to our military.

Move America Forward is a 501(C)3 so all care package donations are tax deductible.

Contribute here

Once again I am captaining a team of contributors: "The Anti-Jihadists"! If you're a blogger, please join our team! Let's take the big prize for largest contribution amount this year! Joining the competition is easy. Simply e-mail MAF Blogger Danny (danny@moveamericaforward.org) to get placed on a team and obtain the correct link to the care packages.

Right now the team consists of:

Jihad Watch
Atlas Shrugs
Creeping Sharia
Cao's Blog
D. C. Watson
Facing Islam
Islam Today Oregon
Newstime.NZ
Patriot's Corner

Does anyone know if the Facebook page calling for women drivers in Saudi Arabia to be beaten is still up? Given Facebook's sorry track record of supporting Islamic supremacists and working against counter-jihadists, I wouldn't be in the least surprised if it were. "Female Saudi Driver Said to Be Freed," from the Associated Press, May 30 (thanks to Bill):

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi woman detained for defying the ultraconservative kingdom's ban on female drivers was released Monday after growing international pressure for her freedom, a rights activist said.

In AP's world, you're an ultraconservative if you want Sharia implemented so strictly that women are treated as mere possessions of men, and aren't even allowed to go out of the house on their own, much less drive. You're also an ultraconservative if you oppose and resist Sharia.

The 32-year-old woman, Manal al-Sherif, became the center of a growing Internet campaign that also served to draw attention to plans for a June 17 rally calling for a mass driving protest to challenge the restriction.

The Saudi activist, Waleed Aboul Khair, credited al-Sherif's release on "pressure from inside and outside" Saudi Arabia, which follows an austere brand of Islam known as Wahhabism that is enforced by morality police.

Al-Sherif had been detained since May 21 after posting an Internet video of her driving as part of a campaign for the planned protest next month. She was ordered to remain in custody until at least early June. [...]

Al-Sherif's Facebook page, called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself," was removed after more than 12,000 people indicated their support. The campaign's Twitter account also was blocked. Hundreds of other sites have sprouted to support her and the protest call.

According to this report, he says, "suicide attacks are not only legitimate but are a must for every Muslim." Probably not all at once: that could create certain logistical issues for the jihad. But if it's a must for "every" Muslim, what is he waiting around for? "Iran cleric: Killing Israeli children OK," by Dudi Cohen for YNet News, May 30:

Evil words in Islamic Republic: A senior Iranian cleric, who is known as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor, urged followers to continue suicide attacks against Israelis, including children.

Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah, considered one of the Islamic Republic's most radical clerics, issued a religious edict on his website whereby suicide attacks are not only legitimate but are a must for every Muslim.

"Just let me step behind this blast-proof wall a minute, dear brothers...."

The senior cleric was responding to a question from a follower regarding the difference between "martyr's death" and "suicide." The man, who wrote anonymously, noted that "some people say that martyrdom acts are considered suicide and are forbidden as they contradict Islam."

In response, Mesbah expressed his regret that his follower has fallen victim to "propaganda by Islam's enemies." He added that the follower was wasting his time instead of focusing on "uprooting the Zionist regime."

"When defending Islam and the nation of Muslim believers via martyrdom acts, this (suicide attacks) is not only permitted, it's a duty," Mesbah wrote.

The follower presented another question regarding Islam's position on harming Israelis, wondering whether "Hamas and Jihad actions against civilians are forbidden. He also asked: "What about children killed in these attacks?"

The Iranian Ayatollah did not see fit to forbid the killing of children, only noting that Israelis can be harmed unless they openly express their objection to their government's position. He added that even in such cases, harming civilians is permissible "if they constitute a human shield or when the war against the oppressors hinges on attacking these civilians."

So as long as that 3-year-old criticizes his government...

Beyond these insights, the cleric did not offer further instructions and failed to censure the killing of children.

Notably, for the followers of Mesbah, his words are considered as a binding religious edict. On several occasions in the past, Iranian President Ahmadinejad also spoke in favor of "martyrdom acts."

And Allah promises paradise to those who "slay and are slain" in his cause (Qur'an 9:111).

A doubly failed jihad: Not only did the bomb go off in his hotel bathroom, now he's going to jail. An update on this story. "Chechen-born boxer found guilty of terror for explosion in hotel in Danish capital," by Jan M. Olsen for the Associated Press, May 30 (thanks to Kenneth):

COPENHAGEN - A Chechen-born man was convicted of attempted terrorism Monday for accidentally setting off a letter bomb that investigators believe was intended for a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

Standard question: Whose prophet?

The Copenhagen City Court said Lors Doukayev, a one-legged amateur boxer, was trying to assemble the bomb when it went off in a hotel bathroom on Sept. 10 last year.

Allahu ak...dang!

Doukayev, a 25-year-old citizen and resident of Belgium, received cuts to his face in the explosion. No one else was injured.

Prosecutors said Doukayev, who pleaded innocent to terrorism, was preparing the bomb to target a Danish newspaper which sparked fiery protests in Muslim countries by printing 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. They believe his intention was for it to arrive on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The court dismissed Doukayev's claim that he carried the explosives and a gun for personal protection and was trying dismantle the bomb when it went off. He was also found guilty of unlawful weapons possession.

The device was filled with steel pellets and contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which terrorists used in bombs that killed 52 people in London in 2005.

Wearing headphones, Doukayev listened quietly as the verdict was read and translated into French. He then smiled and waved to the interpreter.

Doukayev's defence lawyer, Niels Anker Rasmussen, said he was surprised by the verdict, but had not decided yet whether to appeal. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.

Investigators initially had difficulty determining Doukayev's identity, saying he used three different names in his travel documents, and had even scratched the serial number off his prosthetic right leg.

The fact that this was an extrajudicial killing doesn't let Sharia off the hook. The fact that stoning is prescribed for adultery (as often as apologists might also try to deny it for non-Muslim consumption), where the murderers in this case apparently decided for themselves her actions were tantamount to adultery, doesn't let Sharia off the hook, either.

No, the simple fact that this punishment exists in Islamic law, and Muhammad himself participated in it, means Sharia's inherent defects where human rights are concerned have a direct bearing on this case. So does the broader sense that originates in Qur'an 4:34 that violence is an acceptable recourse against "disobedient" women.

The murderers' consciences were informed by these ideas, hence the lack of regret expressed below. "Muslim girl, 19, 'stoned to death after taking taking part in beauty contest'," by Will Stewart for the Daily Mail, May 30 (thanks to Ian):

A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under 'Sharia law' after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.

Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home.

Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest. Her battered body was buried in a forest and was found a week after she disappeared.

Police have opened a murder probe and are investigating claims that three Muslim youths killed her claiming her death was justified under Islam.

One of the three - named as 16-year-old Bihal Gaziev - is under arrest and told police she had 'violated the laws of Sharia'.

Gaziev said he had no regrets about her death because she had violated the laws of Islam.

It was obvious the handful of jihadists who destroyed multi-million dollar aircraft and held Pakistani forces at bay for 16 hours had help. They knew exactly where to go and where to find what they wanted. But these two are only the tip of the iceberg where infiltration is concerned, as military and police installations in the country have seen a wave of attacks, including one where a 300-kg truck bomb passed through 50 checkpoints.

An update on this story, after one more question: Who's watching the nukes? "PNS Mehran Airbase attack: Ex-Navy Commando Kamran Malik arrested," from The Nation, May 30 (thanks to K):

The law enforcement agencies have arrested the former Navy Commando Kamran Malik along with his brother suspected of involvement in PNS Mehran airbase episode here in Lahore on Monday.

He was alleged to have been involved in providing maps and sensitive information to the terrorists.

Former Naval Commando Kamran Malik was arrested at Guro Mangut Road.

Kamran Malik was court marshaled [sic] and dismissed from the Navy due to his suspicious activities ten years ago.

Meanwhile, the agencies have also questioning to the naval officials who are on long leave due to some reasons.

Are U.S. government and law enforcement authorities sleeping as well? More on this story. "COMMENTARY-Lashkar-e-Toiba: Global Outreach," by Shrideep Biswas for South Asia Intelligence Review/India Blooms News Service, May 30:

Lashkar-e-Toiba ranks right up there in the al-Qaida and related groups as terrorist organizations...(Janet Napolitano, US Secretary of Homeland Security, May 27, 2011)

The statement of the US Secretary of Homeland Security, acknowledging the scale of the threat from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), comes in the wake of cumulative and overwhelming evidence that this terrorist formation has long outgrown its initial focus on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to emerge as a global terrorist threat, matching al Qaida in aspiration, resources and reach.

Napolitano’s comment was, however, far from the first acknowledgement of the LeT threat by the United States (US). Recently, on April 13, 2011, Admiral Robert Willard, Chief of the US military's Pacific Command Forces, told the Senate Armed Services Committee: “Unquestionably they [LeT] have spread their influence internationally and are no longer solely focused in South Asia and on India.” He added, further, that the US had evidence of LeT’s presence in Europe and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Willard’s words were almost echoed by former British foreign secretary David Miliband on April 29, 2011, when he cautioned, “If it's true that the LeT is developing global ambitions for its terrorism and its own capacity to do so, as well as regional ones (sic), we have to be even more insistent on the need to roll up that infrastructure.”

On March 12, 2010, US lawmakers had urged President Barack Obama to push Pakistan to crack down harder on the LeT. The House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing to discuss LeT terrorism, during which Chairman Gary Ackerman accused the Pakistani military of supporting the banned outfit. [...]

Indian authorities have long warned the world of the augmenting international threat of state-backed terrorist formations in Pakistan, prominently including the LeT. India’s then National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan, for instance, warned, on August 11, 2006, “The Lashkar (LeT) today has emerged as a very major force. It has connectivity with west Asia, Europe... Actually there was a LeT module broken (sic) in Virginia and some people were picked up. It is as big as and omnipotent as al Qaeda in every sense of the term.” Again, on April 21, 2010, he reiterated, “The LeT has networks in 21 countries, including Australia, North America, Europe and Asia."

The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database has long documented LeT’s global footprint to note:

LeT has an extensive network that run across Pakistan and India with established branches in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Bangladesh and South East Asia.

LeT has a network of sleeper cells in the US and Australia, has trained terrorists from other countries, and has entered new theatres of 'jihad', such as Iraq.

LeT maintains ties with various religious/military groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya, primarily through the al Qaeda fraternal network.

LeT is part of the 'al Qaeda compact' and is a member of the "International Islamic Front for the struggle against the Jews and the Crusaders" established by Osama bin Laden on February 23, 1998.

LeT was part of the Bosnian campaign against the Serbs.

LeT has links with several international Islamist terrorist groups, including the Ikhwan-ul-Musalmeen [Muslim Brotherhood] of Egypt and other Arab groups....

It's bad enough that this case had to be fought at all, but the victory is still sweet. "Free Speech Victory in Dearborn, Michigan!," from Answering Muslims, May 26:

Maybe I shouldn't say "in" Dearborn, since the city only sought to suppress free speech in this case. An outside court (the United States Court of Appeals) had to impose Constitutional law on the city.

Dearborn hosts an annual Arab Festival on Warren Avenue. During the festival, the street is reserved, but the adjacent sidewalks are not reserved and therefore remain public property. Hence, prior to 2009, many people would distribute pamphlets, DVDs, CDs, etc., on the public sidewalks. However, when Ronald Haddad took over as Chief of Police, he announced that no one would be allowed to distribute materials on the public sidewalks. Indeed, he insisted that no one would be allowed to distribute materials within five blocks of the festival. (He justified his decision by claiming that he needed to keep the area clear for pedestrian traffic.)

From a Constitutional perspective, this was quite disturbing, as the government was officially limiting free speech on public sidewalks. Moreover, those of us who attended the festival noticed that security only enforced the policy on Christians. Muslims remained free to distribute their materials.

Pastor George Saieg, an Arab Christian from the Sudan (who has observed the effects of Islamic law in his home country and therefore understands the importance of free speech better than many of us) decided to take the case to court. The freedom fighters at the Thomas More Law Center (praise God for them) took the case free of charge, and they won.

Lower courts had ruled in favor of Dearborn (i.e. that Dearborn police could stop people from exercising their freedom of speech on the public sidewalks adjacent to the festival). The appeals court reversed the decision on Constitutional grounds. Here are two excerpts:

On the free speech claim, we REVERSE the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants and its denial of summary judgment to the plaintiffs. We thereby invalidate the leafleting restriction within both the inner and outer perimeters of the Festival.1 The restriction on the sidewalks that are directly adjacent to the Festival attractions does not serve a substantial government interest. The City keeps those same sidewalks open for public traffic and permits sidewalk vendors, whose activity is more obstructive to sidewalk traffic flow than pedestrian leafleting is. Moreover, the prohibition of pedestrian leafleting in the outer perimeter is not narrowly tailored to the goal of isolating inner areas from vehicular traffic. The City can be held liable because the Chief of Police, who instituted the leafleting restriction, created official municipal policy. . . .

The leafleting restriction is not a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction. In the inner perimeter, the restriction does not serve a substantial governmental interest. In the outer perimeter, the restriction is not narrowly tailored. The defendants therefore violated Saieg’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Absent an injunction, Saieg will continue to suffer irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law. As a result, on the free-speech claim, we REVERSE both the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants and its denial of summary judgment to the plaintiffs....

Read it all.

Reconstruction is un-Islamic. "Afghanistan: Twin blasts hit western city of Herat," from the BBC, May 30 (thanks to Jaladhi):

At least five people were killed and about 30 wounded after twin bomb blasts struck the Afghan city of Herat.

The fatalities occurred after a roadside bomb in the centre of the city, which is not far from the western border with Iran.

In the second assault, a suicide bomber attacked the Nato-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) base on the outskirts of the city.

The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks in Afghanistan....

At least two suicide bombers were said to have attacked the compound, while a number of insurgents tried to get inside....

The BBC's Quentin Somerville says Herat - a relatively peaceful city - is due to be soon handed to Afghan control, and so the attack is quite significant....

Hey, what about the Zionists? Conspiracy Paranoia and Projection Alerts, and more thoughts on this story: "Amid bombings, Pakistan turns to conspiracies," by Chris Brummitt for the Associated Press, May 29 (thanks to JCB):

ISLAMABAD – Facing a surge in violence after the killing of Osama bin Laden, Pakistanis are taking comfort in conspiracy theories that allege Indian or American agents — not fellow Muslim countrymen — are behind the attacks, especially last week's brazen assault on a naval base.

Lawmakers, media pundits, retired generals and even government officials often hint at suspicions of a "foreign hand" in the violence, despite there being no evidence and often explicit claims of responsibility by militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban.

Aired on television talk shows and in newspapers, conspiracy theories are everywhere — underscoring the challenges facing the United States as it seeks to convince Pakistan's overwhelmingly anti-American population that it faces a shared enemy in the Taliban....

While tales of malign intervention by foreign powers exist in other developing countries, in Pakistan they come with a heavy price. They confuse the country as to who it is fighting and complicate efforts to defeat militants and counter their extremist ideology.

Shifting the blame away from Islamist militants and onto foreigners helps protect the powerful Pakistani army from an uncomfortable truth: its long association with militants that are now turning against the state.

Right-wing Islamists who support the Afghan Taliban and share the Pakistan Taliban's hatred of America and calls for strict Islamic law are also put in a difficult position by the terror being unleashed on the country. For them, it is easier to blame foreigners out to destabilize the country than acknowledge the slaughter carried out in the name of Islam.

Note that for AP, supporters of the Taliban are "right-wing." Opponents of the Taliban and everything it stands for -- jihad, Sharia, Islamic supremacism -- are also "right-wing."

No evidence is ever reported to back up the claims, but unsubstantiated rumors make it into media coverage: the bodies of suicide attackers were uncircumcised, for example, implying they were not Muslims, or Indian-made ammunition was found at the scene.

Ironically, the Pakistani Taliban share Clinton's dislike of the conspiracy theories — but for different reasons.

"Those who are accusing us of working for anyone else's agenda should ask themselves what they are doing," Waliur Rehman, the Taliban's No. 2 commander, told The Associated Press.

"We are neither working for CIA, Mossad, RAW nor any other organization," he said, referring to the Indian spy agency. "We work to get the blessing of God."

The attack on the naval base in Karachi was one of the most brazen in more than four years of militant violence. A team of gunmen infiltrated the base, destroying two U.S-made surveillance planes and killing at least 10 people during a 16-hour standoff. [...]

Ruling party lawmaker Liaqat Ali Khan said it was only natural that suspicion should fall on "India if our army installations are attacked."

"My mind too goes toward RAW. India wants to demoralize the Pakistani army and a demoralized Pakistani army suits India well," he said.

One especially potent conspiracy theory is that the United States wants to seize Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Those who spread the story say the U.S. raid on bin Laden in an army town on May 2 was a practice run for such an operation and the latest bomb attacks are to destabilize the country so Washington has a pretext for moving in.

A Pew opinion poll released in April found that just 10 percent of Pakistanis had confidence in President Barack Obama, while 69 percent judge India to be a very serious threat — far higher than either the Taliban (57 percent) or al-Qaida (41 percent).

That such suspicions should abound is not really surprising. Such is the unpopularity of America here, that the government has never publicly acknowledged collaborating with Washington in the fight against militants.

Militants are normally referred to as "miscreants" and there is no serious effort to discredit their extremist ideology....

Now why is that?

Hamid Gul, a former head of the country's main intelligence agency and a supporter of the Afghan Taliban, is a prime conspiracy theorist. Since the bin Laden killing, he has appeared on television repeating a popular rumor: The al-Qaida leader was really killed in Afghanistan and brought to Pakistan to humiliate the country.

"My feeling is that it was all a hoax, a drama which has been crafted, and badly scripted I would say," he told an Indian TV station recently. "But they shouldn't make a scapegoat of Pakistan in this way. This is very wrong."

How hopelessly at odds with America’s best interests is Barack Obama? Less than two weeks ago he declared his support for “political and economic reform in the Middle East,” warmly endorsing the “Arab Spring” uprisings there. Then Sunday, Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail announced his candidacy for the presidency of Egypt, promising to transform Egypt into an Islamic state and go to war with Israel.

Reform that would indeed be, but not the kind any American president should be applauding.

That makes a rather strange backdrop for Memorial Day. It's Memorial Day, and we are in a war, but we cannot name the enemy or understand what he is trying to do or how he is trying to do it. We take enemies for friends and friends for enemies. While we remember those who have fallen to preserve the American Republic, the President of the United States is proceeding down a pathway that can only result in disaster for that Republic and for free people worldwide.

And of course this myopia is not restricted to Obama alone; it is pandemic in Washington, and across America and Europe.

A huge adjustment in our political and military culture is called for if we are going to prevail. The only way we can truly honor the fallen today is to call things by their right names, see things clearly, and begin to move toward doing what is necessary to defend ourselves and Constitutional liberties.

An increasing number of people are waking up. And we must keep fighting. To do anything less would be to dishonor those we are endeavoring to honor today.

Over the years here at Jihad Watch we've often noted the Islamic supremacist tendency to engage in projection. Raymond Ibrahim here examines the phenomenon: "Islamists Project Islam's Worst Traits onto Christians," by Raymond Ibrahim at FrontPageMagazine.com (via RaymondIbrahim.com), May 25:

In recent weeks, we saw how the Muslim world's obsession with gaining converts evinces, in the words of one Muslim intellectual, an "inferiority complex"—a deadly one at that.

As it happens, inferiority complex is not the only psychological ailment besetting the Muslim world: some Muslims are also projecting the worst traits of Islam onto the beleaguered Christian communities living among them.

Take Egypt's Christian Copts, for example. Much of the recent violence inflicted upon them is based on the constant—but baseless—accusation that the Coptic Church is abducting and tormenting Coptic women who convert to Islam. Amazingly, it is precisely the opposite scenario—Muslims kidnapping Christian women and forcing them to convert to Islam—that is a notorious phenomenon in Egypt.

Indeed, a bipartisan group of eighteen members of the U.S. Congress wrote last year to Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director of the State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office, documenting how Coptic females are increasingly subject to "fraud, physical and sexual violence, captivity, forced marriage, and exploitation in forced domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation, and financial benefit to the individuals who secure the forced conversion" (see Christian Solidarity International's full report on the abuse of Christian women in Muslim Egypt for complete details).

A well-known psychological phenomenon, "projection" is defined as "the attribution of one's own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people." An academic article dealing with violence and projection states, "Projection allows the killer to project his (unacceptable) desire to kill (torture, rape, steal, dominate, etc.) onto some target group or person. This demonizes his target, making it even more acceptable to kill."

Of course, projection has long been a means to demonize Israel. Islamists accuse Israel and the Jews of living for "perpetual war," "legitimizing land theft in the name of God," and "plundering their opponent's property."

In fact, nothing less than Islam's holy law, Sharia law, mandates perpetual war, land grab, and the plundering of non-believers. Muslim scriptures, history, and current events are rife with examples; the overwhelming majority of what constitutes the Muslim world was taken by force. Only recently, popular Muslim preacher Abu Ishaq al-Huweini boasted about how jihad is one of the highlights of Islam, specifically because it allows the plundering of infidels and enslavement of their women and children.

Yet, because Muslims are currently in a weakened position, they see themselves as victims—not just vis-à-vis a stronger Israel, but even small and vulnerable communities like the Copts....

Read it all.

Why Muslim cultures lag behind
by the Anti Jihadist

In the past fifty years, many countries have caught up with the rich and developed Western World. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, with virtually no natural resources, have created advanced, urbanized and prosperous societies, complete with world-class technology that often exceed that which is found in the West. India, Brazil and China, although not yet fully developed, now all possess large and affluent middle classes that did not exist just a few decades ago. There is no reason to believe why their economic and social progress of all of these countries will not continue for the foreseeable future.

The Muslim world, on the other hand, has struggled during this era of unprecedented global wealth creation. These countries have profited almost solely, by happy geological accident, from oil and gas extraction. Beyond these activities, economic activity in Muslim countries remains scant, low tech and strictly oriented towards local consumption. Despite trillions of dollars in oil revenue over the past sixty years, Muslim progress in many other areas, such as scientific research, social issues and education, lags badly behind the rest of the world.

How could this be the case? The answer, which the major media dares not touch, lies in the very culture of Muslim countries themselves. Consider the following cultural traits which are all typically found in majority Muslim countries:

Belief in magic. State-owned Malaysian newspapers and television stations routinely run breathless stories about witch doctors (‘bomoh’), evil spirits and other forms of the supernatural. Visitors to Malaysia get a good laugh out of such quaint cultural practices, until they realize with a shock that Malaysian belief in such superstition is absolutely sincere. But it’s not just here in Malaysia where this happens. In Saudi Arabia, witchcraft is considered very real and a capital offence. In Iran, laws are on the books that make 'sorcery' a crime. And in Iraq, many of the locals are absolutely convinced that American soldiers wear sunglasses that can see through clothing and have bases protected by force fields. A culture that is eager to embrace the supernatural takes a giant step away from rationality and deceives itself fundamentally. Self-deception is always, sooner or later, the path to failure.

Belief in conspiracies. Muslims take it as an Article of Faith that various groups of so-called infidels or other outsiders are engaged in various conspiracies to keep Muslims down, make Islam look bad, or are otherwise up to No Good. The lack of evidence means little to a society where ‘skepticism’ is already an unusual and foreign concept. For instance, even well-educated Muslims will tell you, with total earnestness, that the 9-11 terror attacks were actually perpetrated by Zionists, or the CIA, or the U.S. Government, or some other nefarious group. Never mind the vast amount of evidence to the contrary. When presented with rebuttals from non-Muslims, Muslims will usually just shrug it off and carry on with their nonsensical conspiracy theories.

Lack of innovation. Here in Malaysia, it is telling that the word in the Malay language for innovation (“inovasi”) did not exist until it came from English, quite recently, as a loan word. Innovation, meaning to create something without precedent, is a risky and therefore dangerous business in the Islamic world. The reason for this is because Islam already has a word for innovation, “bid’ah”. In Islam, this word is essentially the same in meaning as ‘heresy’, which is yet another capital crime under Islamic law. Hence creativity and individuality are utterly stifled in a totalitarian fashion, even in Muslim countries where Islamic law has not yet been fully implemented. Improvisation is also discouraged for similar reasons. This is a major reason why Islamic countries are usually characterized by a near-total lack of scientific research and reluctance to embrace technology in general.

Lack of devotion to non-family/non tribal/non-clan organizations. In most Muslim societies, loyalty often runs no farther than one’s tribe or sect. People from the far-off central government, or those from the next valley over for that matter, are foreigners to be met with suspicion or hostility. Afghanistan is a perfect example of this sort of chaos. Even if these differences are eventually papered over, so to speak, by the force and coercion of a dictatorship, the lack of cohesion and distrust remain. Muslim leaders usually come into and stay in power by exploiting this very characteristic, by playing one tribe or group off another. Patriotism amongst the general public is another foreign concept, taken for granted in the West. Muslims may remain loyal to Islam in general, but more importantly, to the tribe in particular.

Lack of empowerment of women. The future, no matter what form it may take, is almost certainly going to involve more technology, not less. How well equipped is a society for this future if half of its members are only (at best) grudgingly given their rights? In many Islamic countries, women are often illiterate and have no rights in essential critical life decisions, such as those involving child-rearing, marriage or education. And why should they? Various Quranic verses, age-old Islamic traditions, and core Islamic teachings render women as nothing more than chattel and the property of their male relatives—never the equal of men. And no one can ‘reform’ these teachings to something more enlightened—see the penalty for “bid’ah” above.

Lack of personal responsibility. Muslim leaders often lie to or deceive their own people, to subordinates, or to allies in order to advance their own personal agendas. Remember that most Muslim countries are a patchwork of tribes who barely tolerate one another in the best of times. Loyalty to one’s country as a whole is next to non-existent. So, the main objective of these leaders, whether at the top, middle or bottom, is to steal as much as they can, while they can, in order to enrich themselves and their families, clans or tribes—'national interest’ be damned. If you’re one of the rare incorruptible types, or are otherwise too stupid to steal when presented with the opportunity, then more the fool you are. Other tribes or groups are useful as scapegoats when the need arises or when blame must be deflected.

Lack of skilled labour. Rich, developed and successful countries like Germany, Japan and others do not just spring into existence. It takes the efforts of millions, skilled specialists toiling endlessly in dangerous and/or monotonous drudgery for decades, to build and also maintain the ever-growing complex web of systems that modern nations depend on to function. But Muslim countries, even the ones with trillions from oil revenue, have consistently failed to create large enough castes of technical specialists that modern nations must have. As there are never enough people willing or able to work within their own borders, Muslim nations are forced to outsource their labour needs. In Saudi Arabia and most Arab states, for instance, cleaners and maids come from India or the Philippines, while engineers and others in the technical trades come from America, Europe and increasingly east Asia. This trend is accelerating, paradoxically enough, at a time when the governments of the burgeoning Arab world are having an increasing problem just feeding their exploding populations.

Lack of meritocracy. The West has thrived not only because they have learned to hold people responsible for their actions, but also they have learned to give out rewards based on individual achievement. Hence higher–performing individuals tend to be eventually in charge and reap the most rewards (in prestige, rank, money, etc.). Westerners do not always manage to live up to these ideals, but the concepts themselves are not questioned. In the Islamic world, however, what counts is personal loyalty, personal connections, and tribal/sect membership. Incompetent leaders are preferable to competent ones, so long as they are properly loyal. Such a state of affairs makes for incredible inefficiency on a normal day and catastrophic consequences when any sort of crisis arises. Muslims are fond of saying “it’s God’s will” at difficult times, which for Muslims seems like most of the time. Actually, it’s not so much “God’s will” but more like the inevitable consequences of their dysfunctional culture.

If you’ve read up to this point, no doubt that you could add a few more things to this list. But remember, political correctness dictates that all cultures are somehow ‘equal’, and Muslims are convinced their cultures are somehow superior; never mind the reams of evidence to the contrary. So while I want to be optimistic, the smart money is not riding on the would-be reformers of the under-performing societies of the Muslim world. At least not yet.

Yes, "wives," one of whom he also had a "domestic violence" incident with, as described below. Just a little Qur'an 4:34 in action. "FBI ignored warnings on Headley's jihadist career," by Praveen Swami for The Hindu, May 30:

CHICAGO: Federal Bureau of Investigation detectives disregarded multiple warnings that the Pakistani-American jihadist David Headley was working with the Lashkar-e-Taiba — two of which came from his own wives.

The FBI, intelligence sources have told The Hindu, instead chose to believe Headley's claims that he had only made contact with the jihadist group to further his work as a counter-narcotics informant.

FBI officials, the sources said, were long aware of Headley's links with jihadists in Pakistan's north-west, and even interviewed him for information in the weeks after 9/11.

But they believed Headley was working for the United States' Drug Enforcement Agency, which he developed a relationship with, after being arrested in 1988 for smuggling heroin from Pakistan.

In 1997 Headley was arrested by the DEA again, and this time secured his freedom by becoming a key informant. In a 1998 letter, prosecutors said he “helped the DEA infiltrate the very close-knit Pakistani narcotics dealing community in New York.”

He was still on probation when he travelled to Pakistan in 1999 for his arranged marriage with Lahore resident Shazia Geelani — setting off events which would lead to his second brush with the FBI.

Following a domestic violence incident in 2005, Ms. Geelani — with whom Headley has four children, Haider, Osama, Sumya and Hafsa — said her husband had trained with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. She told authorities that he often bragged of successfully deceiving the FBI.

Headley was briefly detained by police in New York on domestic violence charges, but not prosecuted. FBI detectives looked into Ms. Geelani's allegations, but decided no action was needed.

Later, in 2006, Headley ran into fresh trouble with police — and this time ended up spending eight days in custody at Lahore's Race Course police station. The arrest, a credible Pakistani media source told The Hindu, was made after a Lahore-based Moroccan medical student complained that Headley had reneged on a promise to marry her. Extra-marital sexual relations are a crime in Pakistan.

Bailed out by Ms. Geelani's father Javed Ahmed, Headley married Ms. Outhalla weeks later — though his first wife was never informed of their relationship.

In April 2007, Ms. Outhalla accompanied Headley to Mumbai. Less than a month later, Headley enjoyed a holiday in Dubai with Ms. Geelani.

Later though when Ms. Outhalla discovered that Headley was already married, she visited the U.S. embassy in Islamabad and informed them of his links to jihadists. “Indirectly,” she told The New York Times last year, “they told me to get lost.”

The United Kingdom's domestic intelligence service, MI5, finally sparked off action against Headley when it reported to the FBI that he had made contact with two jihadist suspects in the town of Derby.

Confident in the future

The Basij is the gang of thugs that the mullahcracy uses to crush the demonstrations in Iran. In any case, he is referring here to communications technology. But given the warmly positive stance of official Washington, during both the Bush and Obama administrations, toward the Westward spread of Sharia and Islamic supremacism, Naqdi may be closer to right than most people realize. "U.S. itself is laying the ground for reign of Islam in world: Basij commander," from the Tehran Times, May 29:

TEHRAN - Basij Commander Mohammad-Reza Naqdi has said that the United States is setting the stage for the future dominance of Islam over the world by its own hands.

“The United States, through expanding communications, is developing the infrastructures for the universal reign of Islam. Expansion of communications in the world has provided a historic opportunity for the faster and wider propagation of the Islamic Revolution and the thoughts of the Late Imam (Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic) throughout the world and (the opportunity) must be used appropriately,” Naqdi stated in Tehran on Sunday.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Basij commander made a mockery of U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent call for Israel to halt its settlement activity in the West Bank and said, “Our recommendation to the Zionists is that they push ahead with their settlement activity in the occupied territories, regardless of the U.S. president’s remarks so that the Palestinians, who will return to their homeland soon, would not face housing problems.”

Naqdi also said, “Today the world’s nations have chosen the Islamic Republic as their leader, and as the first step, Muslims in the region will soon bring the borders of the Middle East back to the lines set before 1919.”

He was referring to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, organized by the victors of World War I to negotiate the peace treaties between the Allied and Associated Powers and the defeated Central Powers, which led to the conclusion of a number of peace treaties that reshaped the map of Europe and the world....

You guessed it: hysterical rumor-mongering and conspiracy theories. "Conversion, Adultery, and Savagery Strike Egypt," by Raymond Ibrahim in FrontPageMagazine.com (via RaymondIbrahim.com), May 23:

The true story behind the recent Islamist attacks on Egypt's Copts—wherein over a dozen Christians were killed, hundreds wounded, and their churches torched—is as illuminating as it is sordid.

To recap, Islamists—or "Salafists," as many in the Egyptian media are referring to the "Taliban-looking guys in slippers"—demonstrated before St. Mark Cathedral, insisting that their "Muslim sister" Camelia Shehata be released by the Coptic Church, which was supposedly holding and torturing her, a Copt, for converting to Islam. So Camelia once again appeared announcing unequivocally that she never converted to Islam, and would live and die as a Christian.

Not ones to be deterred, Islamists immediately began rioting about how another Coptic girl, Abeer Talaat, had converted to Islam and was abducted and imprisoned by the Coptic Church—hence the violent rampage (which continued into the weekend, when Christians demonstrating against the attacks were attacked again, with one killed and over 100 injured).

In fact, Abeer did convert to Islam. However, her family did not know; all they knew is that their married daughter had run off with another man. They brought her to stay at a guest house belonging to the church, designed to help separated couples reconcile. According to the priest, she left the guest house well before the Islamists began insisting that she was being held "against her will" in the church.

More telling is why Abeer converted to Islam: to get an instantaneous divorce from her husband. A Muslim cabdriver she knew told her that if she converted to Islam and "married" him (i.e., lived with him), that would automatically annul her marriage from the Christian. This of course is a Sharia stipulation, though one that (currently) contradicts Egyptian law, which views her as a bigamist for marrying another man while still being legally wed (she is currently in jail under investigation).

Asked in a recent interview if she converted to Islam for its own appeal, or simply to get rid of her Coptic husband, Abeer said "No, I had a lot of problems with my husband and that's what caused me to do this [convert to Islam]. I asked 'How can I be rid of him [her husband]' and was told to 'be done of him by changing your religion' [to Islam], so I did this to be rid of him."

Asked "Do you want to stay a Muslim, Abeer?" she responded with a small "Well, it's something that there's no return from."...

Clearly Abeer misunderstands her tolerant new religion. Surely Salam al-Marayati or M. Cherif Bassiouni or Ali Eteraz will be able to explain to her, or to Egyptian authorities who might threaten her if she leaves Islam, that Islam actually has no death penalty for apostasy. Right, gentlemen? On your way to Cairo yet?

Gee, what would a Copt need with weapons in peaceful, tolerant, post-revolutionary Egypt? Note that the church was approved, until it was suddenly unapproved, and note the appalling hoops Christians have to jump through to get permission for a building project involving a church. Those only reflect Islamic law. As Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveler), a manual certified as reliable by Egypt's own al-Azhar University states, non-Muslims are:

... "forbidden to ring church bells or display crosses, recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feastdays, and are forbidden to build new churches" - o.11.5 (6,7)

"Egypt sentences Copts over church scuffle," from Agence France-Presse, May 29:

AFP - An Egyptian military court on Sunday sentenced two Coptic Christians to five years in jail for violence and trying to turn a factory into an unlicensed church, judicial sources said.

The two men, also convicted of possessing weapons, were arrested on May 18 after clashes between Christians and Muslims in Cairo's Ain Shams district as the Copts planned to hold prayers in the building.

A Coptic-led group that took part in a reconciliation meeting between the two sides says the two men are innocent and their lawyers will try to appeal the ruling.

Sameh Abdel Satar, a member of the Egypt Lovers and Peace Society, said the Coptic Church had obtained permission in January to convert the building, which it had purchased in 2006, into a church.

"The first prayer was meant to be held on January 30, but the revolution happened," he said of mass protests that began on January 25 to overthrow president Hosni Mubarak.

The military prosecution said the building was registered as a garment factory and that the two men assaulted workers inside.

Copts, who held a sit-in earlier this month after Muslim mobs attacked to churches elsewhere in Cairo, said the government had promised to reopen closed churches, including the one in Ain Shams.

Since Mubarak's ouster on February 11, the country has seen a spike in religious violence that killed at least two dozen people in March and May.

Copts, who make up about 10 percent of the country's 80-million people, complain of state sanctioned discrimination in the form of a law that requires them to obtain presidential permission before building churches.

The decision is delegated to governors, who consult security services on whether a proposed church would anger Muslim neighbours.

The caretaker government has said it will draft a law to ease restrictions on building churches.

"Ease," not abolish.

But in Pakistan, conspiracy theories about CIA, Mossad, or Indian intelligence (RAW) roles in, well, everything, abound nonetheless. The two most attractive things about conspiracy theories for Pakistan are that they don't have to make sense (hey, the enemy is crafty), and they help maintain the state of denial that anything wrong in Pakistan might have something to do with Pakistan. And one can't fix a problem one can't acknowledge. "Amid bombings, Pakistan turns to conspiracies," by Chris Brummitt for the Associated Press, May 29 (thanks to JCB):

ISLAMABAD – Facing a surge in violence after the killing of Osama bin Laden, Pakistanis are taking comfort in conspiracy theories that allege Indian or American agents — not fellow Muslim countrymen — are behind the attacks, especially last week's brazen assault on a naval base.

Lawmakers, media pundits, retired generals and even government officials often hint at suspicions of a "foreign hand" in the violence, despite there being no evidence and often explicit claims of responsibility by militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban.

Aired on television talk shows and in newspapers, conspiracy theories are everywhere — underscoring the challenges facing the United States as it seeks to convince Pakistan's overwhelmingly anti-American population that it faces a shared enemy in the Taliban.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fought back Friday against the stories flying around.

"America cannot and should not solve Pakistan's problems, that is up to Pakistan," she told reporters. "But in solving its problems, Pakistan should understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not make problems disappear."

While tales of malign intervention by foreign powers exist in other developing countries, in Pakistan they come with a heavy price. They confuse the country as to who it is fighting and complicate efforts to defeat militants and counter their extremist ideology.

Shifting the blame away from Islamist militants and onto foreigners helps protect the powerful Pakistani army from an uncomfortable truth: its long association with militants that are now turning against the state.

Right-wing Islamists who support the Afghan Taliban and share the Pakistan Taliban's hatred of America and calls for strict Islamic law are also put in a difficult position by the terror being unleashed on the country. For them, it is easier to blame foreigners out to destabilize the country than acknowledge the slaughter carried out in the name of Islam.

No evidence is ever reported to back up the claims, but unsubstantiated rumors make it into media coverage: the bodies of suicide attackers were uncircumcised, for example, implying they were not Muslims, or Indian-made ammunition was found at the scene.

Ironically, the Pakistani Taliban share Clinton's dislike of the conspiracy theories — but for different reasons.

"Those who are accusing us of working for anyone else's agenda should ask themselves what they are doing," Waliur Rehman, the Taliban's No. 2 commander, told The Associated Press.

"We are neither working for CIA, Mossad, RAW nor any other organization," he said, referring to the Indian spy agency. "We work to get the blessing of God."

The attack on the naval base in Karachi was one of the most brazen in more than four years of militant violence. A team of gunmen infiltrated the base, destroying two U.S-made surveillance planes and killing at least 10 people during a 16-hour standoff.

The fact that the attackers destroyed planes that are believed to be used mostly to guard against India and do not appear directly related to the war against militants has given grist to the conspiracy theorists, as has the supposed sophistication of the assailants and their weapons. [...]

Militants are normally referred to as "miscreants" and there is no serious effort to discredit their extremist ideology. [...]

Hamid Gul, a former head of the country's main intelligence agency and a supporter of the Afghan Taliban, is a prime conspiracy theorist. Since the bin Laden killing, he has appeared on television repeating a popular rumor: The al-Qaida leader was really killed in Afghanistan and brought to Pakistan to humiliate the country.

"My feeling is that it was all a hoax, a drama which has been crafted, and badly scripted I would say," he told an Indian TV station recently. "But they shouldn't make a scapegoat of Pakistan in this way. This is very wrong."

Once again: the handy thing about conspiracy theories is that they don't have to make sense.

Internet groups like that which arranged the so-called "Nakba Day" attempts to invade Israel on four borders are already planning even more violations of Israel's sovereignty. The unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state will only encourage and intensify their actions and those of the entire spectrum of groups threatening Israel.

And Jews in any territory claimed in such a declaration for a "Palestine" would instantly be in grave danger. "Police: Recognition of Palestinian state could ignite violent protests," from Haaretz, May 29 (thanks to JCB):

Israel is preparing itself for large-scale violent unrest, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said on Sunday, adding that social networks such as Facebook have changed the type of threats to Israel's sovereignty.

Israeli officials have voiced their concern that a plan by the Palestinian Authority to seek United Nations recognition of Palestinian independence would ignite West Bank violence, as well as bring about unrest in Israeli Arab communities.

Earlier this month, during the annual Nakba Day, which commemorates what Palestinians see as the "disaster" of Israel's establishment, more than 100 infiltrators crossed the Syria-Israel cease-fire line at Majdal Shams, and a total of 14 infiltrators were killed on the Syrian and Lebanese borders

Speaking at a conference at the southern city of Eilat, Danino predicted that the various proclamations of a non-violent struggle would soon give way to violent protests as soon as an independent Palestinian state would be announced.

"The areas of friction between the [Israeli Jewish and Arab] populations, the attempts to infiltrate borders, calls published on the internet and on Facebook pages to defy Israel's sovereignty, all put forth a new reality," the incoming police chief said.

Danino said that Israel Police, as "a security establishment, must anticipate [that reality's] probabilities, its various scenarios, and prepare accordingly."

"This is a national task, a national challenge. Israel Police cannot rely on defensive measures alone, it will have to act as an offensive initiator," the police chief said, adding that the police would have, "consequently, to work according to a different template."

Why the apparent change of heart? "Syria's sudden readiness to cooperate seems to be an attempt at derailing U.S.-led attempts to have Damascus referred to the U.N. Security Council." They will do what they have to in order to take the pressure off in the short term, but will otherwise most likely follow the playbook of big-brother Iran's years of shell games and stonewalling, which has been met with little more than the threat of another U.N. resolution, and therefore rewarded.

An update on this story. "AP Exclusive: Syria to end nuclear secrecy," by George Jahn for the Associated Press, May 29 (thanks to JCB):

NEW YORK – In a major turnaround, Syria is pledging full cooperation with U.N. attempts to probe strong evidence that it secretly built a reactor that could have been used to make nuclear arms, according to a confidential document shared with The Associated Press on Sunday.

If Syria fulfills its promise, the move would end three years of stonewalling by Damascus of the International Atomic Energy. Since 2008, the agency has tried in vain to follow up on strong evidence that a target bombed in 2007 by Israeli warplanes was a nearly built nuclear reactor that would have produced plutonium once active.

Syria's sudden readiness to cooperate seems to be an attempt at derailing U.S.-led attempts to have Damascus referred to the U.N. Security Council amid already strong international pressure on the Syrian leadership to end its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

An IAEA report last week said the Vienna-based agency "assesses that the building destroyed ... was a nuclear reactor" — the finding sought by Washington and its allies to push to have Syria reported to the council by a 35-nation IAEA board meeting next month.

That, in turn, apparently triggered Syria's decision to compromise.

In confidential note sent Friday to board members, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano cites top Syrian nuclear agency officials as saying "we are ready to fully cooperate with the agency" on its probe of the suspect site. Amano said the pledge was contained in a letter dated Thursday — two days after his agency delivered its assessment.

But Washington is continuing its push. It has put forward a restricted draft of a resolution to be voted on at the 35-nation IAEA board meeting beginning June 6 that — if passed — would report Syria to the U.N. Security Council for violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The draft, which also was made available to the AP on Sunday, notes "with serious concern" Syria's refusal to allow IAEA inspectors follow-up visits to the bombed site after the one they made in 2008. As a consequence, the board "decides to report ... Syria's noncompliance" with its NPT commitments," says the document.

Syria's maneuvering will complicate Western attempts to bring its nuclear secrecy to the attention of the Security Council. Still, Washington said it remained committed to trying.

"We are aware that the Syrian government has sent a letter to the IAEA regarding the agency's long-standing requests for full Syrian cooperation," says a letter dated Friday from the U.S. mission that was sent to board members with a copy of the draft resolution.

"Such cooperation would indeed be welcome but would not have any bearing on the finding of noncompliance" by Syria of its NPT obligations, says the letter, which urges "board action" on the draft. [...]

Syria has denied hiding a nuclear program. But it has refused to allow IAEA inspectors to revisit the bombed site after an initial mission found traces of uranium and other materials that strengthened suspicion that the site was nuclear.

The Syrian pledge of cooperation will allow it to lobby uncommitted nations to vote against any IAEA resolution on U.N. Security Council involvement. Western nations fear that it is a tactic meant to allow Damascus to draw out the issue even further and destroy any remaining evidence of nuclear activity at the site.

If Syria is reported, the council has options ranging from doing nothing to passing its own resolutions demanding compliance with the IAEA, followed by sanctions to enforce such demands — as has been the scenario for Iran.[...]

But diplomats say that beyond sending a signal to Syria that defying the IAEA carries a price tag, reporting it to the U.N. Security Council also would be a rehearsal for more action against Iran. They said that after more than four years of gridlock in IAEA attempts to investigate Iran's alleged nuclear weapons-related experiments, Amano, the IAEA chief, also is planning to draw up an assessment — perhaps by the end of the year — saying that such experiments were likely conducted.

That, in turn, would open the path for renewed IAEA referral of Iran to the Security Council and lead to potential tightening of existing sanctions or a new set of U.N. penalties, the diplomats said.

Along with Iran, Syria denies allegations that it is — or was — interested in developing nuclear arms. But its refusal to allow IAEA inspectors new access to the bombed desert site has heightened suspicions that it had something to hide, along with its decision to level the structure that was destroyed by Israel and later to build over it.

Drawing on the 2008 visit to Syria by its inspectors, the IAEA determined that the destroyed building's size and structure fit specifications that a reactor would have had. It also found graphite and natural uranium particles that could be linked to nuclear use of the structure....

There is an element of displacement of blame here, to be sure. It has become quite common for Kabul to downplay the extent of the problem as a phenomenon native to Afghanistan: everything's fine, no terrorists here!

But the fact remains that Pakistan's double game has made efforts to root out the Taliban a decade-long game of Whack-a-Mole with billion-dollar weapons. Where the mallet comes down one place, they can disappear to the safety of Pakistan's tribal areas and pop up again in another. And the Taliban could not have regained this level of strength in Afghanistan without a sanctuary over the border. "Afghan police chief attack planned abroad: government," by Amie Ferris-Rotman for Reuters, May 29:

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan leaders on Sunday appeared to accuse Pakistan of harbouring insurgents behind a suicide bombing that killed one of the most powerful men in northern Afghanistan.

The government also said it was investigating whether security forces had been infiltrated.

Seems like a safe bet.

Dawood Dawood, the north Afghanistan police chief, was killed in Saturday's attack in Takhar province.

Two Afghan police and two German soldiers were also killed, underlining the spread of insurgent violence into once peaceful areas of the country.

"No one in Afghanistan would carry out these attacks. All evidence shows that these operations are planned outside of Afghanistan," Waheed Omer, chief spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, told reporters.

Kabul regularly accuses elements of the Pakistani government of sheltering insurgents and providing safe havens.

Omer said Afghanistan was suffering because of "the hideouts that these terrorists have and the places where they get mobilised, equipped and plan these terrorist attacks."

Despite the presence of up to 150,000 foreign troops, violence in Afghanistan was at its worst last year since U.S.-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban almost a decade ago. This year is following a similar trend....

The Egyptian military is seeking to maintain stability through the path of least resistance, hoping to maintain the status-quo, more or less, by pursuing a policy of steam-control. In practice, the military's actions amount to a process of establishing conditions for an arrangement with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is in the best position to take power after jumping through a few procedural hoops for outside consumption, like the "constitutional reforms" that were ramrodded through a hasty referendum a few weeks ago.

The military had an incentive to rebuild the church in Imbaba in order to place a sort of "speed bump" in the path of the Salafist juggernaut. And where there is one step forward in Imbaba, there are other steps back, like those detailed below, and the cancellation of an expatriate Egyptian Christian's citizenship on the grounds that he "insulted Islam" and "showed allegiance to Judaism."

"In Imbaba, army restores Coptic church torched by Salafis," from AsiaNews, May 27:

Cairo (AsiaNews) – Egypt’s ruling military council is paying for the reconstruction of St Mary’s Coptic Church in Imbaba (Cairo), which was destroyed during clashes between Salafis and Christians on 8 May. Eight people died and 116 were wounded during the incident. However, sources told AsiaNews that the army was itself involved in the original violence. In fact, soldiers tend to do nothing to prevent clashes and allow the culprits to go free.

In the past few days, artisans have been working on the Church roof. The original structure was destroyed by fire. They are also trying to repair damaged frescoes and paintings. Everything should be completed within three months.

Church sources told AsiaNews that what the military is doing is a positive sign that can help avoid more sectarian clashes. However, there are still lingering doubts about the army’s good faith.

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is acting like Pontius Pilate,” other Christian sources said. “On the one hand, they are giving a free rein to Muslim extremists; on the other, they are promoting reconciliation by rebuilding destroyed buildings.”

A call for another ‘day of rage’ today in Tahrir Square is raising more suspicions. Small secular groups issue the announcement in order to demand a new constitution and more security in the streets.

For their part, many Christians are afraid that they might suffer more discrimination and restrictions at the hands of Muslims.

Also known as dhimmitude, under Sharia law.

“Inside the government, no one is strong enough to oppose the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups,” one said.

For instance, in Ain Sheim, a neighbourhood in southern Cairo, Muslims reiterated their opposition to the reopening of the St Abraham Coptic Church, scene of sectarian violence on 19 May.

Muslim leaders took the decision during a meeting with the local Christian community that was deserted by the military.

On their own initiative, local Muslim authorities signed a decree that imposes the indefinite closure of the church and bans Copts from conducting any religious celebration.

Their supporters surrounded the church and hurled stones at the Copts, and at the church.

Didn't he get the memo that the Ikhwan is "moderate" and "largely secular?" "Brotherhood sheikh to run for president," by Hany ElWaziry for Al Masry Al Youm, May 29 (thanks to Zulu):

Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail announced his intention to run in Egypt’s upcoming presidential elections.

He said that if elected he would implement Islamic sharia law and cancel the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

Ismail was the Brotherhood’s candidate in 2005 parliamentary elections for Dokki in Giza.

The group announced earlier that it would not take part in the presidential elections and confirmed that it would compete for only half the seats in Parliament. But Ismail is the second Brotherhood member to have announced his intention to run for president in defiance of the group's leadership. The other Brotherhood candidate is Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, a liberal-minded Islamist.

The devil is in the details, and the first question regarding Fotouh's "liberal-minded" credentials is: compared to what? Will non-Muslims have equal rights with Muslims? Will Muslims be able to change their religion publicly and officially, as well as privately?

Abu Ismail said Saturday during a speech in a Dokki mosque that he will sweep the elections. Since he is an ordinary man, he said, the masses will support him.

Abu Ismail said that his platform revolves around Islam, while "Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, the liberal candidates, will be unable to present a clear vision” for the country.

“If I could apply sharia in Egypt, all people, including non-Muslims, would applaud me four years later,” said Abu Ismail.

Only if you succeeded in obliterating free speech. Otherwise, don't bet the farm on it.

The sheikh said that no current presidential candidate represents the Egyptian people.

“We seek to apply Islamic law, but those who don’t want it prefer cabarets, alcohol, dancers and prostitution, as the implementation of Islamic law will prohibit women to appear naked in movies and on beaches,” Abu Ismail added.

Translation: All who oppose me are depraved perverts.

For his opinion on Brotherhood, he said, “They are chaste people and my opinion would not change even if they don’t support me.”

Concerning the peace treaty with Israel, he said, “The Camp David peace treaty is insulting to the Egyptian people, so it must be canceled, and I will do my best to convince people to cancel it.”

Party's over in Zinjibar. "Al Qaeda group tightens grip on Yemen coastal town," by Samia Nakhoul and Mohamed Sudam for Reuters, May 29 (thanks to JCB):

SANAA (Reuters) – An al Qaeda group tightened its grip on a Yemeni coastal town while in the capital Sanaa a truce was holding on Sunday between President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces and armed rebels, hours after it was agreed.

Armed men believed to be from al Qaeda appeared to have full control of the coastal city of Zinjibar in the flashpoint province of Abyan.

"About 300 Islamic militants and al Qaeda men came into Zinjibar and took over everything on Friday," a resident said. The army had withdrawn from Zinjibar after a battle with militants in March, but later regained control.

Opposition groups have accused Saleh of using the al Qaeda threat to win aid from regional powers seeking his government's help in battling the militants. The groups have said they could do a better job of containing al Qaeda than the president....

But would they really close the "bus station?"

This story helps to demonstrate why "blasphemy" laws and other legislation curtailing free speech to shield Islam from insults and "provocations" (real or imagined) must be resisted: "While Algeria professes that it upholds religious freedom, it also embraces a blasphemy law that, by its very nature, can be used to prosecute anyone who does not adhere to the religion of Islam."

At the end of the day, merely expressing a belief at variance with Islam is "blasphemy," and the fact that one could have the gall to think such thoughts and admit to them out loud could be construed as "insulting." That is what has happened to Siagh Krimo. "Algerian Christian Given Five Year Prison Sentence for Blasphemy," from International Christian Concern, May 27:

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an Algerian Christian was sentenced to five years imprisonment for blasphemy in Oran on Wednesday after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. The verdict came days after authorities forced the permanent closure of seven Protestant churches in Algeria's Béjaia province.

Siagh Krimo was charged by the Criminal Court of the Djamel District in Oran, who based their decision on Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code which criminalizes acts that "insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam, whether by writing, drawing, declaration, or any other means." Krimo has ten days to appeal the sentence.

Krimo, who is married with a nine month old child, was arrested on April 14, along with another Christian, Sofiane, after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. Sofiane was released soon after the arrest, while Krimo was detained for three days. Krimo was known to hold weekly prayer services at his home, which Algerian Christians suspect were being closely monitored by the police.

The prosecutor at Krimo's trial, held on May 4, failed to present as a witness the neighbor who accused Krimo of proselytizing and making defamatory statements against the Muslim prophet Mohammad. Algerian Christians were hopeful that Krimo would be acquitted of all charges. "Good news, the judge, after having invited Krimo to use wisdom and return to Islam, has ended the affair," an Algerian church leader in Tizi Ouzou told ICC on May 4. "We hope this will end well."

The previous paragraph suggests Krimo left Islam for Christianity, though it is not stated elsewhere. In that case, he would also run the risk of being killed for apostasy from Islam, according to Muhammad's own orders.

The prosecutor, doubtful he would win the case on so little evidence, reportedly asked the judge to have Krimo's sentence reduced to a two year imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinar. However, some believe that higher authorities in the Algerian government were involved in reaching the final decision. "The judge would have normally acquitted Krimo of all charges, but I think he received an order from his superiors to strike hard," said an Algerian representative of the Association of Protestant Churches (EPA).

Krimo's sentence follows an order received by the EPA on May 22 to close seven Protestant churches in the province of Béjaia. The notice stated the churches are to be closed in accordance with Ordinance 06-03, which requires churches to obtain government permission to hold services. Though the EPA has made efforts to comply with the ordinance, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Religious Affairs have refused to register churches or to approve permits quickly.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "Algerian Christians have been under attack in recent weeks as laws have been increasingly enforced to discriminate against them. Earlier this week, seven churches in Béjaia were ordered to close. Now, an Algerian Christian is on the verge of being unjustly imprisoned for accusations of criticizing Islam. While Algeria professes that it upholds religious freedom, it also embraces a blasphemy law that, by its very nature, can be used to prosecute anyone who does not adhere to the religion of Islam. We urge Algeria to acquit Siagh of all charges and repeal Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code."

"War is deceit," and a top representative of law enforcement in a regime deemed to be insufficiently faithful to Sharia had to go. Therein lies a perpetual source of tension and potential violence in an Islamic state, once a government's character and right to rule are defined by having Sharia as the highest law in the land. Since Islamic law encompasses all areas of life, public and private, the possibilities for implementing more enforcement are only limited by resources, local demands, and firepower. "Afghanistan: Suicide blast kills top police commander," from BBC News, May 28:

The police commander for northern Afghanistan has been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the provincial governor's compound in Takhar.

Gen Mohammad Daud Daud is one of at least six people killed in the attack, claimed by the Taliban.

Two German soldiers were killed and Gen Markus Kneip, commander of foreign troops in north Afghanistan, wounded.

Afghanistan has seen a series of attacks in recent months by militants on police and military targets.

Takhar provincial Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa is among those wounded, officials said.

Gen Daud was former military commander of the Northern Alliance, the Afghan forces who fought the Taliban.

High-level meeting

The latest attack will be seen as significant because it has struck an area of the country's north which has been seen as relatively secure. [...]

The attack occurred at the compound of Gov Taqwa in the provincial capital Taloqan, where officials were having a meeting.

The bomber, wearing a police uniform, was waiting in the corridor when officials came out, our correspondent says.

At least six people were killed in the explosion, including Gen Daud and the provincial police chief Shah Jahan Nuri.

At least 10 Afghans were injured, including the governor, he added.

Early reports said three German soldiers had been killed, but this was later corrected to two, with three wounded....

Perhaps more so. They are sheltered and sponsored in Pakistan even more than al-Qaeda, which is a foreign group, while LeT is homegrown, and owned and operated by the ISI. And they have already "plotted mayhem and murder from nondescript locations in the United States."

LeT is much more central to Pakistan's double game. "LeT as dangerous as al-Qaeda: US," from the Hindustan Times, May 27:

The US joined India on Friday to call for “effective steps by all countries” to eliminate safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism, ranking the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the same league as the al Qaeda. “I think in my judgment, the LeT ranks right up there with the al Qaeda and related groups as terrorist organisations, one that seeks to harm people and take innocent lives,” US secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano said on Friday at the end of the first Indo-US Homeland Security dialogue.

Napolitano’s assertion comes in the backdrop of Chicago trial of Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Rana, a co-accused in the 26/11 case, in which Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley is the star witness. He has exposed the close links between the Pakistan spy agency ISI and the Lashkar.

Home minister P Chidambaram opened the dialogue earlier in the day, saying Pakistan, the global epicenter of terrorism, had become a “fragile” state, with terror groups nurtured for long as an instrument of state policy joining hands against the state.

With the dialogue coinciding with US secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Islamabad visit, Napolitano avoided any reference to the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan at a presser later in the evening.

In a joint statement, India and the US pledged to defeat the forces of terrorism. Without naming Pakistan, the statement also “called for effective steps by all countries to eliminate safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism”.

To a question on the US approach towards the Lashkar, Napolitano, ranked the outfit in the same bracket as the al Qaeda.

“Our perspective, the US perspective, is LeT is very very, I do not want to say important as that gives it too much credibility, but an organisation that is of the same ranking as the al Qaeda-related groups,” she said, with Chidambaram by her side at the press conference....

"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews..." -- Qur'an 5:82

"Witness: Pakistani Intel Officer Ordered Hit on Mumbai Jews," by Sebastian Rotella for ProPublica, May 24 (thanks to Cy):

In his second day of testimony, David Coleman Headley, a confessed Pakistani-American terrorist, revealed more details about close ties between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) and the Lashkar-i-Taiba terror group, which allegedly carried out the attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

Headley said his ISI handler, a man known only as Major Iqbal, made key decisions and was a mastermind of the plot along with Lashkar chiefs. Major Iqbal deployed him on the last of five reconnaissance missions in India to scout targets that Iqbal said would definitely include the Chabad House, a Jewish community center where gunmen later killed three American rabbis, Headley testified. The pregnant wife of one of the rabbis was also killed.

“Major Iqbal told me the Chabad House would be added on whatever list [of targets] there was because it was a front office for the Mossad,” Israel’s intelligence agency, Headley said. He added that Major Iqbal “seemed upset the [Mumbai] airport was not included” as a target.

Nothing suggests that the claim about the Mossad was true.

Headley described in understated tones how terrorist leaders congratulated him for his work casing luxury hotels and other targets chosen to ensure Americans and Jews would die. Asked his reaction to the three-day televised slaughter, he responded: “I was pleased.”...

Of course. He had appeased his bloodthirsty god.

And the nukes would be theirs. They certainly don't have the wherewithal themselves to reinvent the "Islamic bomb." On the other hand, they may change their minds if they decide it suits them -- "replace it with something better," as it were.

"Taliban aims to take over Pakistan, its nukes," from the Press Trust of India, May 28:

Washington: The Taliban has said they have no plans to attack Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, asserting that it is the only Muslim state possessing such weapons and the terror group aims to take over the country as well as its nukes.

Taliban has stepped-up violent campaign to avenge Osama bin Laden's death has renewed fears that the country's warheads could be vulnerable.

And it has made a point of targeting military and police installations since then.

Declaring that "Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power state," Taliban Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that his group had no intention of changing the fact, Wall Street Journal reported. The Taliban, after all, aim to take over Pakistan and its weapons, he said.

A well coordinated Taliban attack on Pakistan key naval airbase at Karachi had triggered fresh global alarm that radical militant groups operating from the country's restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan might be out to snatch nuclear weapons.

"Restive": Mainstream media-speak for "afflicted with jihad."

Seeking to dismiss these concerns, Ehsan claimed that US was using this as an excuse to pressurise Pakistan government and military into fighting Taliban, whom he portrayed as country's true protectors.

"Isn't it a shame for us to have the Islamic bomb, and even then we are bowing down to the pressures of America?" the Taliban spokesman mocked.

WSJ said Ehsan's remarks appeared tailored to appeal to that increasingly nationalist mainstream, where conspiracy theories flourish about American, Indian and Israeli plots to deprive Pakistan of its atomic arsenal.

Pakistan's nuclear capability is cherished here as the guarantor of safety from India's far larger conventional military.

What Pakistan needs is to produce its own "guarantor of safety" from... Pakistan.

Marching toward democracy. "Egyptian Military Court Prosecutes Only Christians in Muslim Church Attacks," by Mary Abdelmassih for AINA, May 27:

(AINA) -- A Military court in Egypt has sentenced three Christian Copts to 5-years imprisonment on charges of possession of firearms and pocket knives. The Court released all other Muslims and Copts arrested following clashes on May 19 over the re-opening of St. Mary and St. Abraham churches in Ain Shams West (AINA 5-24-2011). Copts Emad Ayyad and Ayman Youssef Halim were convicted of carrying firearms. Emad Ayyam's son, Ayad Emad Ayad, was convicted of carrying a pocket knife.

Eight Copts, mostly students, were arrested in Ain Shams West and charged with rioting, violence and causing injury to citizens. Three of the Copts were also charged with possession of firearms and knives. Police arrested three under-age Muslims on charges of throwing stones at the army.

Defense lawyer Abraham Edward said "This is a very unjust, severe and cruel verdict." He said that as lawyers they are unable to fathom what is going on. "Today's case is very strange, a case where there is not one shred of evidence to indict them. If this case went in front of the International Court of Justice they would all be set free." He criticized the five-year prison sentence handed down to Ayad Emad Ayad for carrying a pocket knife. According to the law this is punishable by a six months suspended sentence....

The three Muslims who were released all minors were represented by the Coptic defense team which asked for their release, especially a 14-year-old boy who was released on the same day.

Mr. Hitham Refaat Shaker, one of the defense attorneys, said in an interview on May 23 that he is sure the charges were fabricated against the Copts. "It is impossible to imagine the incident as described by the officer who wrote the report, that the Christians threw stones at other Christians in order to accuse Muslims of doing it" (video).,,,

More dreamy unreality from a Western leader who should know better. "Berlusconi: 'Arab Spring shows democracy compatible with Islam,'" from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, May 28:

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The unrest that has shaken the Arab world over the past six months and ousted two of the region's autocratic leaders shows that Islam is compatible with democracy, Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi told said on Friday.

"The principle has been established that democracy is not only compatible with western countries and their civilisations, and I believe this is very important," Berlusconi told journalists at the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France.

The stirrings of democracy seen in the popular revolts that have taken place in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and other Arab countries are the latest in an "extraordinary period of history" that has unfolded over the past 25 years, he said.

"Who could have predicted the fall of Soviet Communism and the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the Arab people's decision to march towards democracy?" Berlusconi stated....

In fact, as we have abundantly documented here, they're marching toward Sharia and Islamic supremacism. But no one cares. What could go wrong?

He said it. "Pakistani Muslim rapist admits women have no rights or opinions in Islam," by Acharya S at Freethought Nation, May 27 (thanks to Jack):

A practicing Muslim man raped and threatened a young Norwegian girl for several hours. Numerous rapes in Sweden over the past several years have been committed by "non-Western men," e.g., Muslims. In fact, in the past year, all rapes in Oslo have been committed by non-Western men.

"He said that he had the right to do exactly as he wanted to a woman. Why? Because that is how it was in his religion. Women did not have rights or opinions. He was in charge."...

Meanwhile, all rapes in Norway in the last five years have been committed by...uh..."non-Western immigrants," the latest euphemism for Muslims. Pamela Geller skewers the code words here.

No, of course not. Nor could one post anything about Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, atheism, or agnosticism. Why? Because Saudi Arabia is not a free society. Why? Because they enforce Sharia. And Sharia forbids the propagation of non-Islamic faiths or the display of their symbols.

Muslims here are taking advantage of rights to freedom of speech, religion, and conscience that they will destroy where they are able to impose Sharia. Put that on a billboard. "He's not the son of God, just the support act," by Aaron Cook for the Sydney Morning Herald, May 28 (thanks to Jack):

Christians in Sydney will have their core beliefs challenged by provocative advertisements due to appear on billboards and buses in the next month.

The ads, paid for by an Islamic group called MyPeace, will carry slogans such as ''Jesus: a prophet of Islam'', ''Holy Quran: the final testament'' and ''Muhammad: mercy to mankind''.

A phone number urges people to call to receive a free Koran and other Islamic literature.

The organiser of MyPeace, Diaa Mohamed, said the campaign was intended to educate non-Muslims about Islam. He said Jesus was a prophet of Islam, who was to come before Muhammad. ''The only difference is we say he was a prophet of God, and they say he is God,'' Mr Mohamed said. ''Is it thought-provoking? Yes, it is. We want to raise awareness that Islam believes in Jesus Christ,'' he said.

Mr Mohamed said he hoped the billboards would encourage Christians and Muslims to find common ground. They were not intended to downgrade the significance of Jesus. ''We embrace him and say that he was one of the mightiest prophets of God.''

No, it just downgrades Christians brutally and severely, so that they and other unbelievers "feel themselves subdued" as dhimmis.

And by the way, Islamic eschatology does teach that Jesus will come back. But before we "celebrate" that "common ground" in "interfaith dialogue," it says he will come back to break all the crosses (Sahih Bukhari 3.43.656, among others), abolish the jizya arrangement that allowed non-believers to continue to exist, and "fight the people in the cause of Islam" (Sunan Abu Dawud 37.4310). And after Jesus kills, Jesus will die, and the Muslims will pray over his body (also 37.4310).

MyPeace plans to extend the campaign, funded by private donations, to television.

This is delightfully blunt, though of course, such sweeping historical revisionism is fundamental to Islam's teachings:

The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Rob Forsyth, said it was ''complete nonsense'' to say Jesus was a prophet of Islam. ''Jesus was not the prophet of a religion that came into being 600 years later.''

But the billboard was not offensive, he said. ''They've got a perfect right to say it, and I would defend their right to say it [but] … you couldn't run a Christian billboard in Saudi Arabia.''

The bishop said he would pay for billboards to counter those of MyPeace if he could afford it, and ''maybe the atheists should run their billboards as well''.

A spokesman for the Australian Islamic Mission, Siddiq Buckley, said the campaign would increase awareness of the positive facts of Islam. ''I would be looking at this as a good opportunity to explain what we mean.''

Act of war. "David Headley carried out surveillance at Indian nuclear plant," from the Press Trust of India, May 26 (thanks to Block Ness):

Chicago: David Coleman Headley, the Mumbai attacks co-accused, visited a nuclear power plant in India at the direction of his handler in Pakistan, Major Iqbal in April 2008, according to unsealed court documents released on Wednesday.

According to these documents, unsealed after Chicago Tribune petitioned before the court, Major Iqbal, said to be an ISI officer, also gave him Indian currency notes for his operation in India.

"Additionally, based on instructions from Major Iqbal, Headley visited a nuclear power plant in India to conduct surveillance," federal prosecutors said in its 57-page documents giving details of the case and the modus operandi of Headley and other Lashkar operatives with regard to the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

In April 2008, Headley returned to Mumbai. As instructed, he conducted surveillance of potential landing sites, and took boat rides around the Mumbai harbor, using the GPS and making videos.

"Headley also performed surveillance of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) train station. Additionally, based on instructions from Major Iqbal, Headley visited a nuclear power plant in India to conduct surveillance. After completing these surveillance activities, Headley returned to Pakistan and met with Zaki, Sajid, Abu Qahafa, and another Lashkar member," it said.

Abu Qahafa downloaded the contents of the device and used Google Earth to view images of the locations, it said adding that Headley recommended a landing point for the attackers near a small fisherman's bay on the coast of Mumbai.

Headley further recommended that, after landing, the attackers could use taxis to reach their attack locations....

A Malaysian journey from darkness
by the Anti Jihadist

For most Americans and those reading this, the nation of Malaysia--the country I call home--is likely nothing more but a mysterious, distant, small and relatively unimportant land. Some of you might be familiar with Malaysia's carefully cultivated public image of being some sort of harmonious multicultural tropical paradise, which is recycled endlessly in 30-second-long television spots both here and overseas.

But for anyone who may be trying to come to grips with the grim reality that is Islam, Malaysia may be one of the most important places on the planet. That's because anyone who still, despite all the evidence, feels that there really is a moderate, progressive, tolerant and peaceful Islam, need look no further than Malaysia. Once you do, you'll be thoroughly disabused of this notion.

My own awakening to Islam is mostly a tale of ignorance and more than whiff of denial, punctuated by sudden, shattering and irreversible epiphanies. I say 'shattering' because the ideas that I embraced as I grew up--that Islam is just one religion of many, and doesn't particularly pose a threat to anyone--does not withstand anything more than a cursory examination of the facts. And as the evidence piled up and my doubts grew, those old notions I had held previously, like a sheet of plate glass, came apart under the hammer blows of truth.

The first blow to my complacency was that dark day in Lower Manhattan nearly ten years ago. Like so many others reading this, I was horrified at the televised scenes of destruction and carnage in New York and Washington. How could any rational human feel otherwise? But as the days and months passed after September 11th, I starting hearing Malaysians say, over and over, that the US Government was lying about 9-11, that it was a 'set up' and a plot against Islam. And that the Jews were really behind it, of course. As I realised how sincere these Malaysians were in these outlandish ideas, I thought, "What makes so many people in this country prone to this nonsense?" At the time, the exact answers eluded me, but my budding doubts about Islam festered.

Another devastating blow came when Doctor Azahari Husin, a well educated Malaysian who had willingly and savagely butchered hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents, both Muslim and 'infidel' alike, became the most notorious terrorist in Southeast Asia, When he was buried in his hometown here in Malaysia in 2005. I read about it in the Malaysian newspapers. The local media did their best to humanise the man, and his funeral was like a hero's sendoff, well attended by hundreds of Malays who screamed 'Allahu akbar' as his coffin was lowered into the ground. The Malaysian government said nothing about Azahari's passing, not even a perfunctory condemnation of his wanton deeds. In addition, Azahari's own family has, to this day, steadfastly refused to apologise for any of Azahari's long list of crimes. I remembered thinking at the time, "What kind of government and what kind of family could refuse to condemn a mass murderer?' My doubts grew apace.

It was about this time when I began my own private investigation into Islam, to go beyond apologetic Malaysian government textbooks and misleading press accounts. Finding nothing credible in the local, heavily censored bookshops, I searched online. Soon I discovered the carefully-researched work of Robert Spencer. His words online, and in his book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam reeked and shouted of the truth, a truth I had sensed for some time but which I had long failed to see its full dimensions.

The last and final blow that destroyed my impressions once and for all about Islam actually began for me before the late Dr. Azahari's demise. That final nail in the coffin, the most damning evidence, came to my attention because I had had the audacity to fall in love with a Muslima, a Malay 'born' into Islam solely by accident of birth. And as our relationship blossomed, I discovered to my chagrin many more Malaysian lies, ones that are never to be heard in those 30-second 'Tourism Malaysia' TV spots. This wonderful woman that I have now in my life, I learned, must apply in a Muslim court if she wants permission to leave Islam. Of course such permission has never been granted to any Malay. And anyone that is foolhardy enough to ask for that permission is promptly shunted away for a lengthy sentence inside a government-operated religious prison, which the government here disingenuously calls 'religious rehabilitation centres'. And of course, the punishment does not stop there--there's the loss of one's livelihood, fines, loss of social standing, and more. Does this sound 'moderate' or 'tolerant' to you? This fascistic system is real and is not condemned let alone questioned by any Malaysian.

Consequently, Malaysia is only 'moderate' in the sense that its apostates 'only' face detention, not death as is the law in many other Muslim countries. And such a draconian system is completely in line with Islamic ideology and teachings. Why else would no Muslim dare oppose, or not be able to oppose such a totalitarian system on Islamic grounds? They can't, lest they be deemed apostates themselves.

Faced with a system such as this, I've turned to blogging at Infidel Bloggers Alliance and at my own site Pedestrian Infidel as an outlet for my thoughts and frustrations. Of course, if I ever dare utter the truth a bit too openly, or anything else that does not fit the Official Line, I am quickly warned by my friends. "Quiet! Do you want to get in trouble?" Fear is never too far away in this country.

In fact, being a counterjihad blogger in Malaysia is, to be honest, like being the only sane person in an insane asylum. Everyone around you is either unwilling or unable to see reality in its true form--they can only perceive a distorted misshapen sort of reality. But this 'alternate' reality is the one that everyone accepts as natural and true. Any thoughts otherwise are not only unthinkable, they are inconceivable. Such is life with the inmates of Islam.

To risk using a borderline hoary cliche, my circumstances here are a bit like the plot from the first Matrix movie (the one good Matrix movie, I mean). In that movie, the main character stumbles onto the truth, but it's such a dangerous truth that it totally undercuts not only the authority, but the very reality of society itself--its assumptions, its norms, its very foundations. It is exactly the same here in this corner of Planet Islam, knowing as I know, that there can never be peace and freedom as long as there is Islam in the world.

I go about my life everyday in Malaysia with this incredibly dangerous knowledge in my mind. No amount of propaganda from the brain-dead media or government spin can erase what I know. So, it's best to keep it sealed carefully away, and this is what I do, although it has grown increasingly difficult over the years. Were it not for the net, I would have no outlet at all. So for that, I am grateful, especially to Mr. Spencer for granting me this opportunity to write for his site.

Let those in the world who value their freedom remember this. As I have learned in my own life, once a totalitarian entity like Islam takes your freedom from you, you'll have a massive fight on your hands to get it back. If freedom-loving people can take heed of this warning, then that makes all the risks I face worthwhile.

So, how 'bout them nukes? "Pakistan’s top military officials are worried about militant collaborators in their ranks," by Karin Brulliard for the Washington Post, May 27:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Embarrassed by the Osama bin Laden raid and by a series of insurgent attacks on high-security sites, top Pakistani military officials are increasingly concerned that their ranks are penetrated by Islamists who are aiding militants in a campaign against the state.

Those worries have grown especially acute since the killing of bin Laden less than a mile from a prestigious military academy. This week’s naval base infiltration by heavily armed insurgents in Karachi — an attack widely believed to have required inside help — has only deepened fears, military officials said.

Indeed. The attackers knew exactly where to go, and where things were. Not to mention the fact that it only took six of them to wreak such havoc.

Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who like the civilian government has publicly expressed anger over the secret U.S. raid, was so shaken by the discovery of bin Laden that he told U.S. officials in a recent meeting that his first priority was “bringing our house in order,” according to a senior Pakistani intelligence official, citing personal conversations with Kayani.

He may have had other reasons for being "shaken."

“We are under attack, and the attackers are getting highly confidential information about their targets,” said the official, who, like others, would speak only on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

Pakistan’s top military brass claimed to have purged the ranks of Islamists shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Since then, the nation’s top officials have made repeated public assurances that the armed forces are committed to the fight against extremists and that Pakistan’s extensive nuclear arsenal is in safe hands.

But U.S. officials have remained unconvinced, and they have repeatedly pressed for a more rigorous campaign by Pakistan to remove elements of the military and intelligence services that are believed to cooperate with militant groups.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a previously unannounced visit to Islamabad on Friday, emphasized U.S. demands for greater cooperation in the war against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other violent Islamist organizations that have taken root in Pakistan. Standing beside Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Clinton said the United States would be looking “to the government of Pakistan to take decisive steps in the days ahead.”

It is unclear how authentically committed Kayani and other top military leaders are to cleansing their ranks. U.S. officials and Pakistani analysts say support by the nation’s top military spy agency for insurgent groups, particularly those that attack in India and Afghanistan, is de facto security policy in Pakistan, not a matter of a few rogue elements.

But Kayani is under profound pressure, both from a domestic population fed up with the constant insurgent attacks and from critics in the U.S. government, who view the bin Laden hideout as the strongest evidence yet that Pakistan is playing a double game.

U.S. officials say they have no evidence that top Pakistani military or civilian leaders knew about bin Laden’s redoubt, though they are still examining intelligence gathered during the raid. Some say they doubt Kayani or Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, head of the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, had direct knowledge; others find it hard to believe they did not, particularly because Kayani was head of the ISI in 2005, when bin Laden is believed to have taken refuge in Abbottabad....

The cocky murderer and war criminal, Omar Khadr, got off with a shockingly light sentence as it was. And the denial of clemency keeps him from going back to the rest of his family of jihad sympathizers and supporters -- in Toronto -- any sooner. "U.S. military tribunal rebuffs Khadr's bid for clemency," by Steven Edwards for PostMedia News, May 26 (thanks to Ima Freeman):

NEW YORK — The U.S. military tribunal that oversaw Omar Khadr's war crimes case has refused the Canadian's bid for clemency with a statement Thursday that simply confirms the eight-year sentence he received in a plea deal.

The Toronto native had, through his military lawyer, sought to have the sentence reduced, arguing in part that the prosecution had been guilty of "misconduct" in its calling of a key prosecution witness.

The confirmation of the eight-year sentence — in exchange for which Khadr admitted to five war crimes, including the murder of a U.S. serviceman — was issued by retired Vice-Admiral Bruce MacDonald, who serves as the tribunal "convening authority," or overseer.

Khadr killed a Special Forces medic with a grenade.

By not addressing the defence allegations of prosecutorial misconduct — which the prosecution had vigorously denied — MacDonald effectively ruled for neither side.

"While we are disappointed that Omar did not receive clemency, we are confident that the convening authority carefully considered all the defence submissions prior to final action," said army Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson, Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyer for the military commission at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The plea deal called for Khadr to serve one more year in Guantanamo, then seven in a Canadian prison.

Jackson said applications had already been made before U.S. and Canadian authorities for Khadr's transfer to Canada "on or before Nov. 1" — the date marking a year following the end of his sentencing hearing.

"Omar continues to be focused on the future, his education and repatriation to Canada," Jackson said.

The defence had claimed prosecutors had "strong-armed" them into dropping a bid to challenge the credibility of Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist appearing for the government. But insiders said the convening authority would have had difficulty ruling one way or the other since the issue appeared to be very much one of "he said, he said."

MacDonald's confirmation of the sentence means that Khadr, 15 when captured in a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan, has met all his obligations set out in the pre-trial agreement, Jackson said.

The wording of MacDonald's statement implicitly refers to the symbolic 40-year sentence military officers serving as the jury handed down after hearing sentencing witnesses. But MacDonald's confirmation of the plea agreement overrules the longer sentence....

Other things Boko Haram doesn't like, along with books, include riba, or charging interest, and the law enforcement of a government it finds to be enforcing Sharia insufficiently. And, of course, any and all symbols and institutions that remind them they are not in charge. "Suspected Islamists kill eight in northern Nigeria," from Agence France-Presse, May 26 (thanks to Twostellas):

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – Gunmen believed to be members of a radical Islamist sect attacked a police station, police barracks and a bank in northern Nigeria Friday, killing eight people, police said.

"Around 70 gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram launched three separate attacks on a police barracks, a police station and a bank," Borno State police commissioner Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar told AFP.

The attacks happened in Damboa, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Maiduguri, the state capital.

"Eight people were killed in the attacks, including four policemen. The other four were residents," he said.

Five other people were seriously injured, he added.

"They stormed the town in four buses and some motorcycles and used guns and explosives in the attacks before a joint military and police team engaged them in a shootout that lasted for over one hour," he said.

Police had launched a man-hunt for the attackers after they escaped the scene, the police chief added.

Police have blamed the sect for a series of bomb attacks and shootings in Maiduguri in recent months.

Most of the attacks have targeted military and police personnel, community and religious leaders, and politicians.

Boko Haram, which means 'western education is sin' in a local dialect, launched a short-lived uprising in parts of the north in 2OO9 in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state.

The attempt was crushed in a brutal military crackdown that saw hundreds of people, including many sect members, killed and its headquarters and mosque destroyed in Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred.

The sect has since staged a low-level insurgency and has been blamed for recent raids on churches and a prison....

Will the world community condemn this genocidal threat? Will Barack Obama? What do you think?

"Iran warns of US plots to save Israel," from PressTV, May 26:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned against plots hatched by the United States to save Israel, urging world nations to remain vigilant.

"The US seeks to save the Zionist regime (Israel) with deceit. Everybody should know that the survival of the Zionist regime and its existence even in one span of the Palestinian soil is like preserving a cancerous tumor in the body of regional nations, and [is] a permanent threat against them,” said President Ahmadinejad in the Iranian city of Qom on Thursday.

He added that the Iranian people and world nations are awakened and demand justice, freedom and the complete elimination of Israel, IRNA reported.

The Iranian chief executive pointed to new plots of the US against the Palestinian people and its support for Israel and said, “Nations should choose officials who explicitly express their opposition to the presence of the US and Zionists in the region.”

President Ahmadinejad warned regional countries against an escalation of the situation in the region, stressing, “They should be cautious not to jump out of the frying-pan into the fire.”

He said the US foreign policy after Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979 has been aimed at stopping the progress of the Iranian nation and stressed that US President Barack Obama will “fail and become history with humiliation.”

“The enemy has worn the mask of deceit and is chanting the slogan of peaceful coexistence… but in fact intends to impose American ideas on nations,” Ahmadinejad added....

Why is the U.S. showering billions on these two-faced Islamic supremacists? "Anti-Americanism rife in Pakistan army institution: Wikileaks," by Zeeshan Haider for Reuters, May 25 (thanks to JCB):

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Officers received training biased against the United States at a prestigious Pakistan army institution, according to Wikileaks, underscoring concern that anti-Americanism in the country's powerful military is growing amid strains with Washington.

A U.S. diplomatic cable said the former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, found officers at the National Defense University (NDU) were "naive and biased" against the United States, a key ally which gives Pakistan billions of dollars of aid to help fight Islamist militants.

Fears the military could be harboring militant sympathizers have grown since U.S. forces found and killed Osama bin Laden this month in a Pakistani garrison town, where the al Qaeda leader had probably lived for several years.

Pakistan's military also controls the country's nuclear arms, and a series of attacks against military installations has heightened fears about the safety of those weapons.

"The elite of this crop of colonels and brigadiers are receiving biased NDU training with no chance to hear alternative views of the U.S.," the Wikileaks cable, which was published in the Dawn newspaper, quoted Patterson as saying. [...]

Anti-Americanism runs high among many of Pakistan's mainly Muslim people but it has deepened after bin Laden's killing in a secret U.S. raid which many Pakistanis see as breach of sovereignty. [...]

Dawn said dozens of cables from U.S. embassies around the world also showed that the United States continued to intensely monitor Pakistan's nuclear and missiles programs. [...]

"We will protect these weapons from dangers from foreigners," Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Many Pakistanis believe the United States and India would like to confiscate their nuclear weapons.

Sounds like a good idea.

Still more evidence that Islamic supremacists, not supporters of democracy and Western notions of human rights, have the upper hand in the countries that went through the vaunted "Arab Spring."

"Will gays be 'sacrificial lambs' in Arab Spring?," by Catriona Davies for CNN, May 27:

(CNN) -- The uprisings bringing political change and demonstrations across much of the Arab world have given millions of people hope of greater freedom. But some gay people in the Middle East fear exactly the opposite.

Homosexuality is illegal -- enforced to varying degrees -- in most Arab countries.

A 2011 report by the International Lesbian and Gay Association reported that homosexuality is illegal in 76 countries worldwide and punishable by death in five, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Despite the risks, there are those willing to speak out and campaign for gay rights across the Middle East.

Sami Hamwi, a 35-year-old journalist from Damascus, is the Syrian editor for the website Gay Middle East, but few friends or family know his true sexual orientation.

Hamwi said: "We have been trying in Gay Middle East to start a group to be able to help LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] people in Syria. It is a work in progress."

However, he added: "I am very scared now. I can think of a million things they can do to me if I was ever arrested or investigated."

Hamwi wants to see reform in Syria, but doubts that any political change could significantly improve gay rights.

"Sheikhs still emphasize that death penalty is the Islamic punishment for gay men," he said.

"A more open society regarding sexuality needs years, if not decades, of work after Syrians get the freedom they aspire to have." [...]

Dan Littauer, the London-based editor of Gay Middle East, said: "Many gay activists are very scared that the reality of their oppression could get worse.

"For example, in Egypt and Tunisia there was a lot of hope initially that there would be a more tolerant civil society. Now it seems that the impetus for change will be hijacked by conservative forces who will make the situation worse for gay people and other minorities.

"In Syria and other countries, there's a fear that gay people could be used as sacrificial lambs." [...]

Bertho Makso, owner of a gay-friendly travel company in Beirut, said homosexuals in Lebanon had more freedom than those elsewhere in the Middle East.

He said: "As long as religion has a big impact on governments around the Arab world, it will always be this way."...

And that impact is growing now.

Yet it looks as if that is what is happening. I tried to tell you. "Christians worry Egypt being hijacked by Islamists," by Sami Aboudi for Reuters, May 26 (thanks to Kamala):

CAIRO (Reuters) - Last January, Nazih Moussa Gerges locked up his downtown Cairo law office and joined hundreds of thousands of fellow Egyptians to demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down.

The 33-year-old Christian lawyer was back on the streets this month to press military rulers who took over after Mubarak stepped down to end a spate of sectarian attacks that have killed at least 28 people and left many afraid.

Those who camped out in Tahrir Square side by side with Muslims to call for national renewal now fear their struggle is being hijacked by ultra-conservative Salafist Islamists with no one to stop them.

For Reuters, an "ultra-conservative" is someone who wants to impose Sharia on a society, and simultaneously an "ultra-conservative" is someone who opposes the imposition of Sharia on a society. Hence a politician like Geert Wilders is routinely described as "far right," even though he opposes these "ultra-conservatives."

"We did not risk our lives to bring Mubarak down in order to have him replaced by Salafists," Gerges said. "We want an Egypt that will be an example of democracy and freedom for the whole world." [...]

Egypt's military rulers have vowed to punish those behind sectarian clashes, banned demonstrations outside places of worship and promised to give Christians equal rights.

But Christians say no one has been tried yet for the burning of a church in Helwan, south of Cairo, in March or for violence in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba on May 7 that left 15 people dead. At least 13 died in clashes after the Helwan incident.

The army has said 190 people will face trial over the Imbaba clashes, which began when a group of Salafists demanded to look inside a church where they suspected a female convert to Islam was being held against her will.

IRON FIST?

When Christians gathered to worship in the eastern Cairo district of Ain Shams last week, they said Salafists and other local Muslims blocked access to the church and pelted them with cinder blocks.

The Christians said they had to abandon their attempt after security forces arrested eight of them.

"The General has said he will strike with an iron fist. Where is the iron fist?" said Marcelino Youssef, a spokesman for a Christian youth group that has been leading protests against sectarian attacks. He was referring to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads Egypt's ruling military council. [...]

Some blame leaders of Egypt's Coptic church for cultivating fear of Muslims, in turn stoking sectarian tension by making the Christian community more defensive.

"The Church has promoted a fear of Muslims, arguing that the Egyptian people lack awareness and that democracy will not work in our context," Muslim political scientist Amr Shobaki wrote in a column in newspaper al-Masry al-Youm on May 14. [...]

Gerges recalls bitterly the time when he applied to join the prosecutor's office in southern Cairo soon after graduating from Ain Shams University with distinction.

He said he was told by the recruiting official that his qualifications made him the ideal candidate.

"Then he looked at my family name and shook his head."

For Gerges, the message was clear: a Muslim gets priority over a Christian when it comes to government jobs.

Egyptian Christians say discrimination against them starts in school.

"Coptic history has been removed" from textbooks, said Imbaba priest Sarabamon Abdo Rizeq. "How is a Muslim going to love me if he doesn't know anything about my Christianity?"

At a sit-in outside state TV headquarters by the Nile in central Cairo, protesters posted a list of what they called "The Copts' Demands."

They included giving Christians equal access to government jobs, recognizing Egypt's Coptic history by making it part of the school curriculum, and easing restrictions on the construction of churches.

Christians complain that under laws inherited from Ottoman rule, Copts are required to obtain special permits from the head of state to build or repair a church.

"Our demands are actually basic rights," said Malak Maher, 33, one of the protesters. "We want equality."

Yet Sharia mandates inequality for dhimmis, making it unlikely that Malak Maher will get what he wants.

Where is that "moderate Taliban" that Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton were so enthusiastic about?

"Eight US soldiers killed in Afghan blasts," from AFP, May 27 (thanks to Jaladhi):

KABUL: Eight soldiers killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan were Americans, the Pentagon confirmed, in one of the worst single incidents in recent months.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said the soldiers were killed by two successive blasts on Thursday in the same location in Shorabak district in Kandahar province.

Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, and fighting there in the coming months is likely to prove a key test of foreign forces' ability to hold ground in the south taken from insurgents last year after a troop surge....

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast, which was initially announced by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The bombing brings to 199 the number of foreign troops who have been killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent website iCasualties.org.

Of those, 148 were from the United States. The total international force death toll for last year was 711.

The blast caused ISAF's highest death toll in a single incident since April 27, when nine Americans -- eight troops and a contractor -- were killed by an Afghan officer who opened fire at a Kabul military training centre....

Somehow "David Headley," nee Dawood Gilani, got the idea that massacring people would get him rewards from Allah. It is a pity that all the Islamic spokesmen in the West who assure us that this is a Misunderstanding of Islam spend all their time trying to silence the non-Muslims who dare to point out that some Muslims believe that, instead of trying to explain the true understanding of the Religion of Peace™ to these misguided Muslims.

"Mumbai massacre terrorist tells court of second scheme to hit Danish newspaper," by Colin Freeze for the Globe and Mail, May 27 (thanks to Karl):

Not long after his schemes led to the deaths of more than 160 people in Mumbai in 2008, David Headley had a dream.

It was early 2009 and he envisioned the Prophet Mohammed’s tomb, with his own final resting place “not next to the prophet’s grave itself, but a little distance away.”

Mr. Headley, now 50, concluded that his vision meant great heavenly rewards awaited him – if he were successful in a new attack. The plan?

Get gunmen to shoot up the Denmark offices of Jyllands Posten, so that he could avenge Islam against the newspaper that affronted God’s messenger with a cartoon.

So testified Mr. Headley in a Chicago court Thursday, where the 50-year-old convicted terrorist is giving evidence against a peripheral player, Tahawwur Rana, to save himself from the death penalty....

Triumphalist chest-thumping from a man who certainly sees which side has been racking up most of the victories lately. But the game isn't over. "World's future belongs to Islam," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, May 27 (thanks to Twostellas):

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - “The recent events … show that the future of the world, including [that of] the US and Europe, belongs to Islam,” Moslehi said at a conference in the central Iranian city of Karaj on Thursday.

The intelligence minister pointed to the recent popular revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen and other anti-government uprisings across the Arab world and argued that all of these movements are of Islamic nature, inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Moslehi referred to the West's “confusion” over the wave of the Islamic awakening, saying Western countries try to attribute the movements to “non-Islamic” roots.

The recent visits by US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to different parts of the world, particularly to the Middle Eastern countries, are aimed at “preventing further losses to the US interests in the region,” he added.

Moslehi called on regional heads of states, especially Saudi officials, not to follow the US path, because they themselves will eventually “get entangled with the Islamic awakening.”

In recent months, a wave of revolutions and anti-government uprisings has swept the Arab world.

In January, a revolution in Tunisia ended the 23-year ruling of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

In February, another revolution led to the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after three decades of authoritarian rule.

Other revolutions have erupted in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, while more anti-government upheavals have swept Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman and Algeria.

Meanwhile, more Arab countries are expected to witness similar revolts.

Note how this Iranian news agency omits any mention of Syria.

"And the government, said Father John, 'is complicit.'" He says that "the kidnapping of young women has become 'common practice', because the authorities and police are 'puppets in the hands of extremists.'"

"Faisalabad: Christian sisters kidnapped, forced to marry a wealthy Muslim," by Jibran Khan in Asia News, May 27 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) - A powerful Muslim businessman, with the help of a group of accomplices, kidnapped two Christian sisters, forced them to convert to Islam and marry him. The girl's father reported the kidnapping to the police but the police blocked investigations by reversing the facts: the daughters fled because of their father’s violence. A priest from the diocese of Faisalabad points out that the kidnapping of young women has become "common practice", because the authorities and police are "puppets in the hands of extremists."

The father of two girls, Rehmat Masih is a Christian carpenter from Jhung District, in Faisalabad, Punjab province, an arena of repeated violence against religious minority. Muhammad Waseem - the parent explains to AsiaNews, - is a Muslim businessman in the area, long time leader of a banned extremist group. A few weeks ago he came to my house, along with gunmen, saying he was concerned about my daughters and wanted to marry them. " In case of refusal, the man continues, the Muslim businessman threatened to abduct the two girls.

Masih filed a complaint with the police, but authorities did not want to open an investigation. On May 24 the dramatic epilogue, "My daughters were returning from the market - he says - and a vehicle owned by Muhammad Waseem intercepted them and threw them inside, taking them away." The parent returned to the police to report the kidnapping. In response, officials said that "Waseem is a respected and admired businessman, the accusations against him are" false. "The authorities say the girls would fled because their father is an alcoholic who had "abused" them with "immoral actions."

A neighbour argues the defence of the Christian father, emphasizing his goodness and integrity. "I've known Rehmat for 20 years - Shahid Malik told AsiaNews – he is a decent man. I have never heard words out of place out of his mouth. " On the contrary, Muhammad Waseem is an influential man and we have seen him repeatedly threaten the Masih family. The police, he adds, are reversing the facts because "he can not do anything against Waseem, which is collusion."

The next day, May 25, Muhammad Waseem married by force Saima Masih, in the presence of Mullah Muhammad Qasim Zubair. With the ceremony, according to Islamic laws, the Christian woman was "converted" and has embraced the Muslim faith. Local sources also make clear that the religious leader who officiated the ceremony is linked to outlawed Islamist groups (-e-Sahaba Sipe), protagonists of numerous kidnappings of Hindu or Christian women.

Rehmat Masih is desperate: the police asked him to forget his daughters, leaving him indefenseless. "Instead of serving the Punjab government - says the father - [the police] are the servants of extremist groups."

Fr. John William, a priest of the diocese of Faisalabad, confirms that the kidnapping of young women has become "common practice", because the authorities and police are "puppets in the hands of extremists." In recent days, AsiaNews reported the tragedy of another young girl, again from Punjab, seized by force and forced to marry a Muslim (see AsiaNews, 12/05/2011 Punjab: Christian student nurse forced to convert to marry Muslim man).

Christian and Hindu girls, the priest continues, are forced to marry Muslims and convert to Islam, while police and local authorities "are paid" to settle the bureaucracy to avoid reports. The officials are in the hands of extremists and religious leaders in Friday sermons "speak openly of killing and kidnapping Christian girls." And the government, said Father John, "is complicit."

The concept is promising, and intended to be reassuring, but two factors make it less so: One is the collection of human rights train wrecks that continue to benefit from international aid, like Pakistan, and the Palestinian Authority. The pledge that "no, really, we're working on it" seems sufficient to mollify the West and keep the money spigot on. The other is the lack of specificity and benchmarks, which helps enable the preceding problem.

What would make this pledge meaningful would be specific assurances of security, opportunity, and equal citizenship and rights under the law. For non-Muslims, those assurances must verbally and explicitly negate the terms of dhimmitude item by item and protect freedom of conscience for all citizens. They must ensure the right of non-Muslims to build places of worship, display their religion's symbols and propagate their faith as freely as Muslims do, and to never pay jizya. And on the other side of the coin, they must ensure the right of Muslims to change their religion, and leave Islam if they choose to do so.

Most importantly, the verification of conditions for non-Muslims must be done through non-Muslim channels, bypassing the government's ability to "cook the books."

The same goes for women's rights, most specifically the abolition of female genital mutilation in Egypt, and putting an end to child marriage and combating domestic violence. This is a golden opportunity to make meaningful headway on the protection of women, and it would be a tragedy to squander it.

Only specific benchmarks will lead to substantive reforms. Otherwise, we'll be left with lofty platitudes and empty promises, while the money flows unhindered. "G8 leaders to tie Arab Spring aid to reforms," by Nick Vinocur and Marie Maitre for Reuters, May 26:

DEAUVILLE, France (Reuters) – Group of Eight leaders were to approve billions of dollars in aid on Friday to new Arab democracies with a program designed to foster change sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.

Leaders were to wrap up their two-day summit in northern France by launching a partnership with the region that ties aid and development cash to progress on democracy and economic reforms by states that have thrown off autocratic rulers.

Tunisia and Egypt, whose prime ministers will meet the leaders of the G8's seven Western powers plus Russia on Friday, face facing huge economic pressures following popular uprisings that toppled their long-serving authoritarian leaders.

In a report to G8 leaders the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday the external financing needs of oil-importing countries in the Middle East and North Africa would top $160 billion over the next three years.

"The region needs to prepare for a fundamental transformation of its economic model," Masood Ahmed, in charge of Middle East and Africa at the IMF, told journalists on the sidelines of the G8 meeting in Deauville.

"This will be greatly facilitated if international players including the G8 can enter into strategic partnership with these countries ... where incentives are linked to a social agenda."

The IMF says it can provide around $35 billion to help stabilize countries' economies but the bulk of financing will need to come from the international community.

The World Bank on Tuesday unveiled $6 billion in new funding for Tunisia and Egypt, whose revolts have inspired popular uprisings in Yemen, Jordan, Morocco and Syria, and left Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fighting to stay in power.

The funds include budget support as well as lending to shore up the private sector and encourage new investment.

A World Bank report issued the same day said the region needs about 50 million to 75 million jobs over the next decade to absorb new labor market entrants and cut unemployment.

Diplomatic sources said the summit would also back the extension of the mandate of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development into North Africa and the Middle East. The bank, created after the Cold War to help former Communist states become market economies, lends about 9 billion euros a year to projects anywhere from Croatia in central Europe to China.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday the G8 summit would show Arabs on the street that the world stood behind the demands for greater economic and political freedoms.

"We will help you build your democracy, we will help your economies ... we will help you in all the ways we can, because the alternative to a successful democracy is more of the poisonous extremism that has done so much damage in our world."

The underlying idea: you can buy off "extremism," and replace it with the right combination of democratization and aid. Unfortunately, a democracy is only as good as the values that inform its participants.

However, the state of the world economy means the extent of the aid on offer is likely to be modest.

The European Union executive said it had added 1.24 billion euros of fresh grant funding to an existing program that aims to help its neighbors across the Mediterranean.

Not Israel -- as the semantic shell game of claiming to oppose "Zionism" versus "Judaism" often proceeds -- but Judaism itself. One step forward in Imbaba, two steps back in Cairo. "Coptic Christian in US has Egyptian nationality withdrawn," by Shaimaa el-Karanshawi and Emad Khalil for Al Masry Al Youm, May 22 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

The Administrative Judicial Court on Sunday ordered the withdrawal of Egyptian nationality from Morris Sadek, a Coptic Christian lawyer living in the United States, and banned him from entering the country.

The action was taken against Sadek for a number of alleged crimes, including calls for war against Egypt.

A lawyer leading the case against Sadek said he had insulted Islam, showed allegiance to Judaism, called for the killing of Arabs and requested the United States and Israel to interfere in Egypt’s domestic affairs.

It would be interesting to see if Sadek is quoted anywhere, and to see what constitutes his alleged affronts against Islam, Egypt, and Arab nationality.

“I will not appeal the verdict,” Sadek said. “I will use it to show the world how the Islamists control the Egyptian judiciary.”

Islamic law forbids the construction of new churches or the repair of existing ones. The Muslims who attacked the church undoubtedly had that in mind: once it was destroyed, it would stay that way. But if nothing else, the army seems to have calculated that leaving matters there would reward and embolden the Tiny Minority of Extremists who are already galloping to power and influence in post-Mubarak Egypt and could potentially threaten the military's hold on power.

An update on this story. "Egypt Orders Restoration of Church Destroyed in Islamic Attack," by Daniel Blake for the Christian Post, May 26:

The military regime in Egypt has attempted to ease interfaith relations by ordering the restorations of an Egyptian church destroyed by Islamist extremists earlier this month.

A group of craftsmen have been dispatched and are working to restore St. Mary's Church in Imbaba, a suburb of Egyptian capital Cairo.

Rising tensions between Christians and Muslims in Egypt have seen an escalation in violence over recent months. However, the country's military rulers are looking to calm both sides and have ordered that the gutted church be restored immediately.

Workers have quickly moved in and are hoping to complete work in just three weeks, even though such work would normally be completed in closer to three months.

Despite the urgent way the ruling military have gone about trying to correct the wrong that was done, critics fear that the rulers will struggle to ease interfaith relations. In particular, they are skeptical of the new regime being able to keep peace without resorting to the violent tactics that ex-President Hosni Mubarak used.

The church in question suffered heavy damage through the fire started by Islamic militants, with the entire ground floor of the church left in ruin.

One of Egypt's largest construction firms has now moved in and will use special chemicals and paint to rescue as many of the church artifacts and paintings as possible.

Malak Gerges was inside the church at the time of the attack, and he reported to Reuters how the Islamist aggressors "dragged me out and threatened and abused me."

Although Gerges survived the attack, one other attendant at the church was not so fortunate. Rescue workers found his burned corpse as they plied their way through the remains of the church.

Many of Egypt's Christians, who make up only 10 percent of the country's population, currently fear further attacks. However, Egypt's ruling military council has vowed to protect Christians by increasing security around churches.

And they did wage their jihad, as a pack of cowards outnumbering one unarmed man. An update on this story. "Men who beat up RE teacher were terrorist suspects," by Duncan Gardham for the Telegraph, May 25:

The Security Service had placed a listening device in a car driven by one of the men as part of an investigation into a suspected terrorist network in East London, sources told the Daily Telegraph.

When transcribers went back over a conversation the men had held in the car, they were picked up discussing killing Gary Smith and praising Allah as they drove from the scene after attacking him.

Akmol Hussein, 27, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussain, 26, and Simon Alam, 19, all admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent after ambushing Mr Smith outside his school.

Akmol Hussein was heard setting out the plan to attack Mr Smith, head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls' School in Bow, east London, saying in a Bangladeshi dialect: 'This is the dog we want to hit, to strike, to kill.’

'He's mocking Islam and he’s putting doubts in people's minds...How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim themselves?' he added.

What, did he fail to mention it's a "Religion of Peace?" Or to state Islam's teachings as fact and not just as one religion's teachings?

Mr Smith, 37, had been head of religious studies at the school for eight years and was described as an able, enthusiastic and popular teacher.

He followed the national curriculum by teaching his pupils all six of the main religions along with ethical issues such as abortion and euthanasia and the role of women.

Many religious denominations in the U.K., including members of the Church of England itself, likely have reservations or concerns about the curriculum and its presentation. But members of only one of those various religions opted to express their distaste by maiming a teacher:

After the attack, the teacher was left with a four inch slash across his face from the corner of his mouth to his right ear and suffered a fractured skull and shattered jaw.

He underwent an operation to repair leg and facial wounds and nerve damage and did not regain consciousness until two days later.

Jailing the gang at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Judge Hand said they had “literally smashed Mr Smith’s face in.”

He said the motivation for the attack was solely down to the victim’s religious beliefs. He told them: “You believed there was a higher authority to which you were responsible and that authority dictated you must attack Mr Smith.

The judge added: 'Only time will tell whether you will ever have a different belief but, at present, I believe that if you think that the people around you are guilty of posing a threat or insult to the way in which God intends the world to be and in which God intends people to live you would not hesitate in acting again in the way you have acted in this case.'

Judge Hand handed Akmol Hussein, a self-employed builder, and Azad Hussain, a finance worker, indeterminate sentences for public protection and ordered they serve at least five years before they can be released.

Simon Alam, an engineering student, was ordered to serve at least five years in a Young Offenders' Institute and Sheikh Rashid, a bus driver, was jailed for at least four years.

A fifth man, Bangladesh-born Badruzzuha Uddin, 24, who helped the men by hiding blood-stained clothing, was jailed for two years.

Uddin and Alam, born in Germany, may now face deportation....

The U.S. Attorney scolded Imam Kareem Ibrahim for being a Misunderstander of Islam. It is unlikely that she ever stopped to wonder how and why an imam, a man who had dedicated his life to understanding Islam and obeying its tenets, would get it all so drastically wrong. "Jury convicts JFK airport bomb plot suspect," by Jessica Dye for Reuters, May 26:

(Reuters) - A former leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Trinidad and Tobago was found guilty on Thursday of taking part in a conspiracy to bomb New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Imam Kareem Ibrahim, 65, was charged in June 2007 for his involvement in what prosecutors say was a failed plot to destroy buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at the airport that handles more than 1,000 flights daily.

Following a four-week trial in Brooklyn federal court, a jury convicted Ibrahim on all five counts, including conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, conspiracy to destroy a building by fire or explosive, conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities and conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for October 21.

"In pursuit of a radical terrorist agenda, bent on the destruction of John F. Kennedy Airport and the murder of innocent civilians, Imam Kareem Ibrahim abandoned the true tenets of his religion," said U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.

How does Loretta Lynch know that Imam Kareem Ibrahim abandoned the true tenets of his religion? Did she lay out a case from the Qur'an and Sunnah, right there in the courtroom? Or did she just take some smiling imam's quotation of Qur'an 5:32, the prohibition on killing innocent people, at face value, without ever stopping to wonder why the Imam Kareem Ibrahim and so many other Muslims around the world don't seem to think that that verse keeps them from killing Infidels?

Two others, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir, were found guilty in August for involvement in the plot and sentenced to life in prison. Defreitas has appealed his verdict.

A fourth man charged in the plot, Abdul Nur, pleaded guilty in June to one count of providing material support to a terrorist plot and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, Defreitas, a U.S. citizen from Guyana, formulated a plot based on his experience as a cargo handler at JFK Airport to target its fuel tanks and pipeline in an attack that would mimic the September 11, 2001 attacks.

He began recruiting others to help him, including Ibrahim, starting in 2006, prosecutors said....

The case is USA v. Defreitas et al, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, no. 07-00543.

Something tells us this is not about the Autobahn. Or Volkswagens. They promise rapid development, but there would be other forms of command economies to propose if they wanted them: something else has made them choose the Nazi brand identity. And it wouldn't be the first time two virulent strains of antisemitism found each other, as the image above shows a meeting between Hitler and his ally, the Mufti of Jerusalem. "After fall of Mubarak, group announces intent to form Nazi party," from Al Masry Al Youm, May 25 (thanks to Gravenimage):

A group of Egyptians have announced their intent to establish a Nazi party with "a contemporary frame of reference," an independent Egyptian news website said on Wednesday.

Al-Badeel, a leftist news portal, quoted founding member Emad Abdel Sattar as saying the party would bring together prominent figures from the Egyptian society. The party’s founding deputy is a former military official.

The party believes in vesting all powers in the president after selecting him or her carefully, Abdel Sattar said, adding that preparations are underway to choose the most competent person to represent the party.

The Nazi party operated secretly under former President Hosni Mubarak, whose regime prevented party leaders from carrying out their activities freely.

Although Al-Masry Al-Youm could not verify the news reported by Al-Badeel, two Facebook pages have appeared recently under the title of "the Egyptian Nazi Party".

The two pages attracted around 70 followers, who mostly posted questions about the party's ideas and policies and requested details on how to join.

Abdel Sattar told Al-Badeel that members are increasing at an unexpected rate, and several people came to ask about the nature of the party and its plans.

The party has a one-year plan to develop Egypt, unlike the "marginalized liberal parties, which are like dead bodies,” he said.

A source from the proposed party told Al-Badeel the idea to start it came after some fundamentalist religious waves emerged, which, according to the source, created a state of chaos and led to the burning of churches, the destruction of shrines and assaults on unarmed civilians.

The founders want to avoid media attention until they are fully ready, the source said.

Caption taken from this Monty Python sketch.

The killing of Osama bin Laden has "angered Pakistan." Which side are they on, again?

"Bomber kills 24 in Pakistan; U.S. military mission trimmed," by Kamran Haider for Reuters, May 26 (thanks to Ima):

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 24 people in Pakistan on Thursday in the latest militant attack since the death of Osama bin Laden which has angered Pakistan and led to a call for the United States to withdraw some of its military trainers.

The killing of bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani town on May 2 has sparked a wave of militant attacks and has also led to a sharp erosion of trust between Pakistan and its ally, the United States.

A suicide car-bomber set off explosives outside a police station in the northwestern town of Hangu a day after a similar attack destroyed a police station in the city of Peshawar....

Pakistani Taliban militants, allied with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility. They have vowed revenge for bin Laden's death.

The raid that killed bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, 50 km (30 miles) northwest of Islamabad, intensified U.S. questions about Pakistan's possible role in sheltering militants, straining an already fragile relationship.

But many Pakistanis saw the top-secret U.S. raid as a violation of sovereignty and some members of parliament have asked for a review of ties with Washington, which gives Pakistan billions of dollars in aid to help in the war against Islamist militants.

Pakistan had informed the United States in the last week or two that it would not need some U.S. special forces trainers advising the Pakistani military, the Pentagon said.

Great. Bring them home.

Pakistani security officials said the decision came three days after the al Qaeda leader's death....

Another Pakistani security official said the decision was made because of concerns over the Americans' security and because "resentment all around was very high."...

While hinting that Pakistan could do more in its counter-terrorism efforts, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised it as a "good partner."...

Sheesh.

Pakistan has received $20.7 billion worth of U.S. assistance over the past decade, about two-thirds of it military aid intended to improve the army's capabilities against militants.

$20.7 billion. Funding our own destruction.

But remember: Clueless Clapper, the director of National "Intelligence," said they were a "largely secular" group.

More from the man featured in this story, including his retraction of a statement he made in that one. "Brotherhood leader: We shall apply Islamic sharia," by Khalaf Ali Hassan for AlMasry AlYoum, May 25:

The Muslim Brotherhood would apply Islamic sharia if it came to power, said leading Brotherhood figure Sobhi Saleh, adding that sharia protects non-Muslim citizens.

“Terms like civil or secular state are misleading,” he said. “Islamic sharia is the best system for Muslims and non-Muslims."

Saleh apologized for his earlier statements that the Muslim Brotherhood could not recognize liberals or communists as Muslims, and that he disapproved of Muslims marrying outside the group.

“The media incorrectly paraphrased my statements,” he said.

While the authorities look the other way. And why do they look the other way? Because they agree with the attackers that Christians may be brutalized, in view of their rebellion against Muhammad and Allah. "Anti-Christian violence in Faisalabad: tombs desecrated, young woman gang-raped," from Asia News, May 26 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – Christian tombs were recently desecrated and a young Christian woman was gang-raped for an entire night. In both cases, police refused to file a First Information Report, allowing the culprits to escape justice. These are examples of the ordinary violence visited upon Pakistan’s Christian minority. Whether it involves Christian-owned land and property or individuals who are targeted because they are defenceless, victims will not find justice with the country’s legal system. Gradually, Pakistan’s ‘Islamisation’ slowly progresses, especially in the densely populated province of Punjab.

The Pakistan Christian Post reports that, in Chak Jhumra (Faisalabad), Muslim landowners destroyed and desecrated a Christian graveyard, using a tractor to plough over a number of tombs. Buried coffins were broken and the bones of the dead were brought to the surface. The local police refused to open an inquiry, whilst the landowners utter threats against local Christians to get them to stop legal proceedings....

However, a local Muslim has filed a claim, saying he owned the land on which the cemetery is located. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for 13 June 2011....

As additional evidence of the prevailing atmosphere of violence, a story came to light involving a 29-year-old Christian woman who was abducted by a Muslim co-worker, roughed up, drugged and gang-raped.

Afshan Sabir is a factory worker and a mother of three. She was assaulted over night on 27 March in an unspecified area near Gojra. When she woke up, she sought help in a state of disorientation. She later tried to file a complaint with the local police station. However, instead of helping the woman, police officers helped the rapists cover their tracks....

"Prosecutors say Wilders' remarks are critical of Islam which is not the same as inciting hatred against muslims themselves." At last, some common sense. But there is no certainty that it will prevail; if it had entered into these proceedings at any point before this, Wilders wouldn't be on trial now.

"Find Wilders not guilty of inciting hatred, says prosecution," from Dutch News, May 25 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

The public prosecution department on Wednesday called for PVV leader Gert Wilders to be found not guilty of inciting hatred, as it tied up its case against the MP.

Prosecutors say Wilders' remarks are critical of Islam which is not the same as inciting hatred against muslims themselves.

Earlier in the day the prosecutors said Wilders' should be found not guilty of insulting a group because he has not stated any conclusions about muslims. Instead he has merely criticised their religion, the prosecutors said.

Reluctance

The decision to call on judges to find Wilders not guilty follows on from fact the department did not want to take the PVV leader to court in the first place.

However, it was forced to do so by the appeal court following protests from a number of ethnic minority groups....

Gee, I wonder which ones.

Islamic supremacist persecution of Christians in Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Indonesia? No problem. A statue of Mother Theresa? Now that's going too far!

"Kosovo Muslims Resent New Mother Teresa Statue," by Petrit Collaku for Balkan Insight, May 26 (thanks to Twostellas):

Muslims in the western town of Peja are far from happy with the town council's decision to let a US-based Albanian society put up a statue to Mother Teresa.

A Muslim youth group in Peja, the Muslim Youth Forum, has asked the mayor to withdraw the decision, saying it does not represent the interests of the Muslim community and is an insult to a town that is 98 per cent Muslim.

The group said it had collected 2,000 signatures already on a petition opposing the statue, and if statues were to go up at all, they should be of heroes from the independence war with Serbia.

"This decision by the authorities has been lobbied for and financed by the Catholic Church's service service, Opus Dei," Noli Zhita told Balkan Insight.

He said that many Muslims of Peja felt insulted by the decision, which formed part of an ongoing plan to Christianise the public space in Kosovo.

The youth group said a further point was that Mother Teresa was neither a true Albanian, nor from Kosovo.

"She was of Vlach origin, born in Macedonia. She is not an Albanian," Zhita said.

The celebrated and now beatified Catholic missionary, famed for her work in the slums of India, had done nothing for Kosovo or Peja but had spent her life serving a foreign religious organisation, they said.

So far, the mayor of Peja is no mood to back down.

The municipality responded positively on March 11 to the request from a group known as the Council for Mother Teresa Statues, run by Catholic Albanians in New York, asking for space in town to put up the statue.

Mayor Ali Berisha said he had received the letter of protest from the Muslim youth group on Wednesday.

But, downplaying the relevance of Mother Teresa's religious identity, he said her work for the poor and dying transcended the whole issue.

“I think that there should not be a religious connotation to this question, but a humanitarian one alone,” Berisha told Balkan Insight.

One might have thought so, yes.

He said the request for the statue had been discussed several times in the local assembly and a majority of councillors had decided in favour.

He also said he had discussed the matter with head of Islamic Community in Peja who showed no sign of disagreement.

“We will go ahead with our plan,” Berisha said.

The Muslim community in Kosovo has felt on the backfoot lately. Although comprising the vast majority of the 2 million or so population, the small Catholic community has often been better at headline-grabbing initiatives in recent years.

A new Catholic cathedral, also named after Mother Teresa, was inaugurated in the centre of the capital, Pristina, last September, and is still under construction.

The Muslim community claimed the cathedral was far too large for the needs of such a small religious community, while adding that Muslim believers often could not get into mosques for prayers because they were too few and too small....

"The Muslim community claimed the cathedral was far too large for the needs of such a small religious community." That's interesting. The same thing could be said of the Ground Zero Mosque. Indeed, the leaders of the Ground Zero Mosque initiative have done their best to obscure the small size of their community, even going so far as to close some neighboring mosques in order to swell the numbers at the Ground Zero Mosque site.

Attempts to railroad Israel into a "land-for-peace" scam hit a snag. "On Israel, Harper stands alone at G8 summit," by Doug Saunders for the Globe and Mail, May 26 (thanks to Dumbledoresarmy):

It was meant to be, as Barack Obama described it in London with his British counterpart beside him, another unified mission to storm the beaches of Normandy in the name of peace and democracy.

That's just awful.

And the Western world’s leaders do plan to use the Deauville, France, G8 summit to present a united front on the conflicts and revolutions of the Middle East. But one of the rare sources of friction has turned out to be the renegade Middle East views of Stephen Harper.

Alone among G8 leaders, the Canadian Prime Minister refuses to embrace the U.S. President’s plan to begin peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of a return to Israel’s de facto borders as they existed before its 1967 war with neighbouring Arab countries – a precondition, accepted by Arabs and by many previous Israeli leaders and Canadian governments, that would be necessary to get Palestinians back to the table.

Returning to the 1967 borders would be a land grab on behalf of Israel's neighbors in consolation for a war they couldn't win, and it would give them a head start in their designs on what would remain of the world's only Jewish state.

Mr. Harper made his opposition to that position clear through a spokesperson shortly after Mr. Obama’s Middle East speech last week in a pre-G8 briefing, making him the lone leader in the G8 not to back the U.S. preconditions.

A unified statement on a negotiated path to a Palestinian state had been a key goal of the Deauville summit, in large part because such a statement might have pre-empted an attempt to pass a United Nations resolution that would declare a Palestinian state against Israel’s will.

There was some sense that Canada is putting an obstacle in the way of this goal. “Mr. Harper clearly is the odd man out on this one, and it won’t do him any favours,” a British official involved with the G8 conference said.

Indeed, the summit opened Wednesday after a day of meetings between Mr. Obama and Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in which the two leaders made a bold show of having brought together their positions on Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab revolutions.

Mr. Cameron has generally been much tougher in his criticisms of Israel and more hawkish in his support of Arab revolutions than his U.S. counterpart, but Mr. Obama said they had “turned a corner” and built a common front. Mr. Cameron, standing beside the U.S. President, called his speech “bold” and “visionary.”

Canada has not been included in such initiatives because of Mr. Harper’s positions.

But others felt that Mr. Harper’s recalcitrance would be less of an obstacle: After all, he has taken positions that side unilaterally with Israel since his first G8 summit in St. Petersburg shortly after he became Prime Minister in 2006, when he shocked delegates by rejecting a resolution calling for restraint in Israel’s attack on Lebanon, instead drafting his own “Canadian resolution” supporting the Israeli cause.

There's some sloppy reporting. It was an attack on Hizballah, following the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Hizballah, heavily entrenched in a Lebanon unwilling to confront or disarm it, responded by firing rockets indiscriminately, and deep into Israeli territory. From the preceding paragraph, one would think Israel just decided to beat on the recognized government in Beirut.

Arabic-speaking racist Islamophobic bigoted redneck yahoo

Grain of salt alert: what ignorant racist Islamophobic yahoo helpfully pens his hate note in both English and Arabic? The fact that he left a word out of his English version opens the possibility that the note was penned by an angry Coptic Christian or some other native Arabic-speaking victim of Islamic jihad, but it also opens the possibility that the whole thing is just another clumsy fake by Islamic supremacists trying yet again to portray Muslims as victims and thereby deflect attention away from jihad activity.

After all, it has happened before. Hamas-linked CAIR, which is (of course) involved in this case, and other Muslims have not hesitated to fabricate "hate crimes." CAIR and other groups like it want and need hate crimes against Muslims, because they can use them for political points and as weapons to intimidate people into remaining silent about the jihad threat.

Maybe the Redmond cops who are busy investigating this "hate crime" will find some angry Christian Arab who left this note. But they should not omit to investigate the possibility that the author of the note was from the same poor victimized group that the note targeted.

"Anti-Muslim note left on woman's car in Redmond," by Tracy Vedder for KOMONews.com, May 24 (thanks to Phil):

REDMOND, Wash. -- "Muslims leave."

Those words were on a note someone left on a woman's car in Redmond.

It happened just outside a Starbucks location. The woman, who did not wish to be identified, said she and her third-grade daughter had just gone into the coffee shop for a few minutes.

And when they came out, they found a note on her car window saying, "We don't Muslims in America." And another message, strangely in Arabic, told the pair to leave.

"I was surprised, because we live in diverse neighborhood. Surprised to see it here," said the woman.

What's worse, her 9-year-old daughter has a knee injury and is in a wheelchair. The mother feared the author of the note could be following them.

"But I can't believe that someone could hate me because of my religious beliefs," the woman said.

Neither can other residents of the area who are shocked by the incident.

"It's so sad, so sad to have that happen to anyone for any reason," said resident Karen Mackie.

"I don't know if we can ever educate those people," said Hiromi Roe, another resident.

Oh, I don't know, Hiromi Roe. After all, this particular racist bigoted yahoo speaks both English and Arabic. Maybe he is remotely educable, although I acknowledge that blinkered PC multiculturalist victim status for Muslims might be a harder sell.

In fact, the Washington state chapter of the [Hamas-linked] Council on American-Islamic Relations says it is seeing a growing pattern of hate crimes in the Northwest, with 10 cases investigated since last October.

"So we have seen a spike of hate crimes in the Northwest, and this area certainly didn't use to be this way," said Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of [Hamas-linked] CAIR Washington.

Redmond police say they have zero tolerance for hate crimes, and are investigating this case....

A hate crime? A nasty note on a windshield is a hate crime? What exactly is the crime involved? Bad manners? Assault on a car with a deadly piece of paper? There wasn't a threat in the note to kill or harm any Muslims who didn't leave. No threat of any kind, in fact. But consider this: I got three hate emails this morning from the stalker who has repeatedly threatened to kill me. No one is investigating. No one calls these emails "hate crimes." Note the contrast. Ponder the politics.

"Good women are obedient....As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them." -- Qur'an 4:34

Facebook is shutting down groups that aren't Leftist and/or Islamic supremacist, including our own SIOA group. What do you bet they don't shut down this one?

An update on this story. "Beat women drivers' call," from Gulf Daily News, May 26 (thanks to Simon):

RIYADH: A campaign has been launched on Facebook calling for men to beat Saudi women who drive their cars in a planned protest on June 17 against the ban on women taking the wheel. The call comes as activists are demanding the release of Manal Al Sharif, a Saudi woman who was jailed for defying the ban.

The page, titled "The Iqal Campaign: June 17 for preventing women from driving," refers to the Arabic name for the cord used to hold on the traditional headdress worn by many men in the Gulf, advocating the cord be used to hit women who dare to drive.

Sobhi Saleh has somehow missed the memo about how the "Arab Spring" heralds a new flowering of the freedom of speech, equality of rights for women, and other notions of human rights that have no place in Islamic law. "Brotherhood leader: Next govt to be Islamist," by Hany ElWaziry for AlMasry AlYoum, May 25:

A new video posted on the internet shows a prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader saying Egypt's next government will be Islamist.

The clip shows Sobhi Saleh, a senior Brotherhood figure who was a member of a judicial panel that laid down Egypt's current interim constitution, making statements to the group's younger members that became controversial.

In the clip, Saleh said younger Brotherhood members should marry wives from within the group, saying those marriages will produce children and families that will form a "Brotherhood community able to impose its presence on life in Egypt."

He further said that getting married to non-Brotherhood members hinders the group's bid to achieve its "fourth victory" - namely, to enter Parliament and form an Islamist government....

In the lead article at Front Page this morning I discuss the significance of this story:

In one of the clearest signs yet that the “Arab Spring” in post-Mubarak Egypt heralds a resurgent Islamic supremacism rather than a flowering of Western-style pluralism and democracy, Egyptian officials announced Wednesday that they were reopening the Rafah crossing this Saturday.

The Rafah crossing is the only official point of entry into Gaza other than from inside Israel. Egypt closed it for good in 2007 after Hamas took power in Gaza, as part of its uneasy observance of the Camp David Accords maintaining peace with Israel. The Rafah crossing had been an easy route into Israel for jihadis and their weapons suppliers who, for obvious reasons, wanted to avoid Israeli scrutiny.

But now it appears that peace with Israel is no longer such a high priority; instead, the new government in Egypt appears to be more concerned with accommodating Israel’s jihadist enemies. Egyptian officials announced that the Rafah crossing was being reopened in order to “end the status of the Palestinian division and achieve national reconciliation.”

The reopening of the Rafah crossing is just the latest indication that Egypt is heading toward becoming a Sharia state that is pursuing war with Israel. Man-on-the-street interviews conducted during the uprising against Mubarak more than once found ordinary Egyptians explaining to clueless and incredulous reporters from the likes of CNN that one of their principal beefs with Mubarak was that he maintained peace with Israel. “He is supporting Israel. Israel is our enemy,” protesters explained to the journalists who had come out looking for ringing declarations of love for democracy and pluralism. Instead, they heard that “if people are free in Egypt…they gonna destroy Israel.” Many of the demonstrators carried posters of Mubarak defaced with a Star of David drawn on his forehead.

In January, Mohamed Ghanem, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, said in an interview on Iran’s Al-Alam television station that Egypt should prepare to go to war with Israel. That same month, Iran’s Press TV interviewed an Egyptian international lawyer Marwan al-Ashaal. Al-Ashaal explained the popular discontent with Mubarak as a direct consequence of his keeping the peace with Israel: “Currently the Egyptians demand a new rule for the country, a new government, a new leader. The American-Egyptian relationships were based on Israeli security and I think Mubarak has been very dedicated to Israeli security more even than to his own people’s security or the national interests.” Al-Ashaal asserted that “we see the deals with Israel that provoked people and took them to the edge.” And he declared that Egypt is “never going to be a friend of Israel.”

There is more.

This move helps Hamas have it both ways: They are a jihad-terrorist pseudo-state that demands "Palestinian" autonomy while waging war against Israel, but are open on the other hand to existing as what looks like it will amount to a dependent extension of Egypt as much as Egypt permits it (and as long as Hamas can impose Sharia as it wishes). The object, of course, is the destruction of Israel. In the words of PLO executive Zahir Muhsein in 1977:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism."

He said it. Was Muhsein an Islamophobe? "Egypt to open Gaza border crossing," from Agence France-Presse, May 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):

AFP - Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing on a daily basis starting this weekend in a bid to ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Palestinians will now be able to travel through Rafah -- Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel-- under entry rules in place before the blockade was tightened in 2007.

Egyptian authorities will now open the border from "9:00 am to 5:00 pm on a daily basis, except for Fridays and public holidays" starting on Saturday, MENA said.

"Palestinian women of all ages will be exempted from visas as will men under 18 or over 40," it said.

That raises the distinct possibility of an increase in baritone voices behind niqabs.

The exemption also applies to Palestinians entering Egypt for study as long as they have proof of affiliation to an Egyptian university.

And that raises the possibility of a proliferation of sham "colleges."

"The opening of the crossing comes as part of Egyptian efforts to end the state of Palestinian division and achieve national reconciliation," the news agency reported.

Although Egypt had been gradually easing restrictions on the Gaza border -- it had been operating five days a week -- Palestinians needed to coordinate with security authorities before entering Egypt or had to show humanitarian need.

That's eminently reasonable from one country to another -- all the more so when your neighbor is Hamas. "Good fences make good neighbors," or so they say.

The move is likely to rattle Israel which said earlier this month it was "worried" by Egypt's plans to reopen the crossing.

Israeli deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom claimed the opening of the border "could allow the passage of arms and terrorists."

Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi had announced that Cairo planned to open the crossing, ending what he called his country's "shameful" cooperation in keeping it closed.

The decision was made as Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas met to agree a reconciliation deal in Cairo.

Palestinian officials had welcomed Arabi's announcement, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat saying it was one step towards loosening the siege on the Gaza Strip.

The border has remained largely shut since June 2006 when Israel imposed a tight blockade on Gaza after militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still being held.

The blockade was tightened a year later when Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed PA.

The United Nations has called the blockade illegal and repeatedly demanded it be lifted.

Egypt has actively supported Israel's blockade, frequently coming in for harsh regional criticism for keeping the border closed and for building an underground wall in a bid to curb smuggling, which it views as a security risk.

But earlier this year, mass street protests led to the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, with the new military regime keen to review its policy on Gaza.

Propagating non-Islamic religions is forbidden under Sharia. That is bad enough, but of course, the "crime" of bearing witness to one's faith in public lies somewhat in the eye of the beholder. Ultimately, to continue to exist in daily life while self-identifying as a non-Muslim -- perhaps even having the unmitigated gall to do so joyfully -- is to make a non-Islamic faith visible, and to risk becoming a target. "Algeria: Clampdown on Protestants, 7 churches closed," from ANSAMed, May 24 (thanks to Nigel):

(ANSAmed) - ALGIERS, MAY 24 - A new clampdown on Christian protestants in Algeria. The Algerian 'wilaya' (province) of Bejaia has ordered 7 places of worship of this religious group to be closed. The measure, el Watan reports on its website, was issued on May 8. It was made executive on the 22nd and announced yesterday. Sources in the Vatican nunciature in Algiers have told ANSAmed that Catholic churches are not affected by the measure, and that the measure does not regard national territory.

The Algerians may also see an easier target in local, unaffiliated churches, who have no diplomatic recourse as Catholic communities would through the church hierarchy.

Mustapha Krim, president of the Protestant Church in Algeria, has appealed against the measure, which speaks in general terms of the closing of places of worship ''for religious worship other than the Islam''. Krim has said that he has visited the Ministry of Religious Affairs in an attempt to postpone the implementation of the measure. He underlined that he has not been informed about it in time. Protestants, a rapidly growing movement in Algeria, has been targeted for several years by the Islamic religious authorities and civilians.

The government accuses the Protestants of proselytism, a serious crime in a country where Islam is the State religion and Muslims are not allowed to convert to other religions. In Algeria, other religions than the Islam can register and obtain an official status, provided they will not try to recruit new followers among the local population. The small Catholic community in fact counts nearly only foreign members, with a few Algerians from the time of French colonialism. The attitude of the Protestants is different: in 2001 some North American Protestant ministers started preaching in the Berber region Kabylie. According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, today there are around 50 thousand Protestants in the country, with 10 thousand observant Protestants divided in 33 communities.

In 2006, the Algerian government passed a law that punishes anyone who tries to convert a Muslim to Christianity, punishable with two to five years in prison and fines ranging from five to ten thousand euros. Several Protestant churches have been closed in the past. Early in 2010 a Protestant place of worship in Tizi-Ouzou, around 60 km east of Algiers, was attacked and set on fire by groups of Muslim extremists; the police did not intervene. (ANSAmed).

Speaking of foreign jihadists, "NATO-Afghan force also detained an al Qaeda fighter of Moroccan origin who lived in Germany," and who had entered Afghanistan through Iran.

What should be striking in all of this is the uniformity with which jihadists from places far removed from one another "misunderstand" Islam, and their ability to find common cause even in what are described as "local" or "regional" conflicts. "NATO on alert for influx of foreign fighters in southern Afghanistan," by Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister for CNN, May 24:

Coalition forces in Afghanistan say that a recent security operation in the southeast part of the country suggests an influx of foreign fighters may be underway, just as the Taliban begins its "fighting season" against NATO troops.

And intelligence analysts say it seems a growing number of Europeans are among them.

On the night of May 8, a joint NATO-Afghan force encountered a group of militants in a place called Qalat, a district in Zabul province in southeastern Afghanistan. Ten militants were killed, according to a statement Tuesday from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The combined force "found passports and identification cards from France, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia amongst ten insurgents killed during the operation," the statement said.

The NATO-Afghan force also detained an al Qaeda fighter of Moroccan origin who lived in Germany -- and who provided details about other foreign fighters. The detainee said he had "observed foreigners from many countries converging in Pakistan to conduct attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan," according to ISAF.

ISAF says the captured man had provided "information on the mechanics of getting foreign fighters to Afghanistan." He said he had come through Iran -- a route frequently used by al Qaeda and other jihadist groups - where he had been approached to become a suicide bomber.

The Moroccan was not identified, but news of his presence among militants will heighten worries in Germany about the number of its residents setting off to wage jihad. German authorities believe at least 220 German residents received training in Pakistan in the years after 9/11; around 40 are still suspected of being in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Others have returned to Germany and are under surveillance, according to German counterterrorism officials.

Many jihadists from Germany have joined an al Qaeda affiliate called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The IMU has been active in Zabul, the province where the German-Moroccan was recently captured.

Among them were two brothers of Moroccan origin living in Bonn, who left Germany several years ago.

Yassin and Mounir Chouka first went to Yemen. In a February 2011 internet statement, Yassin Chouka said they had met fugitive preacher Anwar al-Awlaki.

"We benefited a lot from (Awlaki) and spent priceless hours with him," he wrote. The Chouka brothers apparently spent about a year in Yemen before moving on to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

"Nuristan borders Pakistan's tribal areas and there seem to be growing alliances between local leaders and Pakistani Taliban groups. That makes Nuristan strategically important in the wider conflict as an entry point into Afghanistan - and a potential haven for Pakistani militants."

Note also the number of foreign jihadists reported below. They certainly didn't fly into Nuristan International Airport to get there. "Taliban seize district in eastern Afghan province," by Jill McGivering for BBC News, May 25:

Officials in Afghanistan say insurgents allied to the Taliban have taken another district in a strategically important province in the north-east.

Nuristan Governor Jamaludin Badar told the BBC that 10 insurgents and three policemen had been killed.

Nato-led forces now say they and Afghan troops provided air support on Wednesday.

Local officials say they are trying to re-take the western district of Doab which Nato denies is in Taliban hands.

At least three districts in Nuristan are now under Taliban control. In others, the government presence is either weak or limited.

"We had intelligence reports that close to 500 Arabs, Chechen, Pakistani and Afghan fighters wanted to attack and take the districts," Mr Badar told the BBC.

"The fighting is still going on. Our weapons are no match to those of the insurgents. We have no hand grenades, mortars or heavy machine guns.

"We have asked for help from the defence ministry but they have not responded to us."

The insurgents control key routes into the provincial capital, Parun, allowing them to impose a blockade on the city.

Pamela Geller has the extremely strange story of Fatima Abdallah, a Muslim woman in Florida who -- according to the official story -- committed suicide by repeatedly hitting her head against a coffee table. Oh, and coincidentally, she had just come through a divorce that "dishonored" her family:

AFDI/SIOA is working with an extraordinary patriot, David Caton, who has exposed the possible honor killing covered up by law enforcement in Florida. I reported on it here. The cover-up is criminal, and we must protest the silence and complicity of Florida law enforcement. Atlas readers, start contacting the emails listed below. Now.

A Muslim woman shunned by her devout Muslim family for her "shameful" divorce dies a sudden death after "throwing herself on the floor" in front of her family. Florida Law enforcement classified it an accidental suicide. No one was charged in the death of 48-year-old Fatima Abdallah in Florida.

This is the sharia in America. The idea that a woman would die after she "threw herself to the floor" or hit her head repeatedly on the coffee table is institutionalized gender apartheid, the sharia. The idea defies logic, belies reality.

Deputy Police Chief Marc Hamlin said, "the bottom line is, no matter how long you investigate and no matter how much you investigate, it's not going to overrule the competent medical evidence that it was an accident." How do they know that? How is it more likely that she threw herself to the floor than she was fatally thrown to the floor? A Tampa Police report states that Fatima Abdallah repeatedly beat her head against a coffee table until she died. Tampa Rescue calls the TPD explanation illogical, says she looked like someone beat her up.

My hat's off to conservative activist David Caton, who pursued the truth, the evidence, and assembled it in an extraordinary file here. Fatima's death cannot be swept under the rug. This reminds me of the lawsuit that was filed in Dearborn charging that the city was covering up "honor killings." He has put together an extraordinary file, a criminal file on the case.

I urge all Atlas readers with experience in forensics to review the photos and the evidence. Click here to send your email urging State Attorney Mark Ober and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn to conduct a thorough and proper investigation.

[...]

Florida Family Association has prepared an email for you to send to Tampa City Mayor Bob Buckhorn and State Attorney Mark Ober calling for a full investigation into the death of Fatima Abdallah.

To send your email, please click the following link, enter your name and email address then click the "Send Your Message" button.  You may change the wording in the message.

Please click here to send your email to State Attorney Mark Ober and Tampa City Mayor Bob Buckhorn calling for a full investigation into the death of Fatima Abdallah.

Contact Information:  

Mark Ober, State Attorney
Office of the State Attorney 13th Judicial Circuit
419 N. Pierce Street
Tampa, Florida 33602

Mark Ober, State Attorney
ober_m@sao13th.com

Karen Stanley, Chief Assistant State Attorney
stanley_k@sao13th.com

Home Page Email
!homepage@sao13th.com

Bob Buckhorn
Mayor of Tampa
306 Jackson Street
Tampa, FL 33602

Bob Buckhorn, Mayor
Bob.Buckhorn@ci.tampa.fl.us
bob.buckhorn@tampagov.net

Santiago.Corrada@ci.tampa.fl.us
Santiago Corrada
Tampa Mayor Chief of Staff

There is much, much more. Read it all.

Motives absolutely opaque! Jihad? Naaah. Islam is a Religion of Peace™!

"Breaking News: Indonesian Police Targeted in ‘Terror Attack,’" by Farouk Arnaz for the Jakarta Globe, May 25 (thanks to Twostellas):

Indonesian antiterror police have been dispatched to Palu, Central Sulawesi, following an apparent terrorist attack that left two police officers dead and a third injured on Wednesday.

A source within the National Police’s elite antiterrorism unit Detachment 88 told the Jakarta Globe that they were “pretty sure what happened today was a terrorist attack.”

“They want revenge and attacked our officer,” the source said. “We have dispatched our officers to investigate this incident.”

The attack comes on the same day firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, read his defense statement in the South Jakarta District Court.

Palu, an area where JI has been known to operate, is a restive district that has seen repeated incidents of religious violence. Between 1999 and 2001, more than a 1,000 people were killed in violence that spread through Central Sulawesi. Sporadic attacks has continued since....

National Police spokesman Chief Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said it was too early to speculate on motives for the attack.

In FrontPage this morning I discuss Netanyahu's excellent speech to Congress yesterday:

The most riveting moment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s much-applauded address to Congress on Tuesday was his declaration that “the hinge of history may soon turn, for the greatest danger of all could soon be upon us: a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons.” He was speaking of Iran, but then he broadened his scope, adding: “Militant Islam threatens the world. It threatens Islam.”

“It threatens Islam” — i.e., the real Islam is a Religion of Peace that has been hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists. This unreality is disappointing to see, and will not bode well for Israel insofar as it continues to translate into policy. Nonetheless, even to acknowledge that the threat has any Islamic character at all is a huge advance over Obama, George W. Bush, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, et al.

For it was not until four years after 9/11, in October 2005, that Bush pointed out that the terrorists’ attacks “serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane. Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism.” He had never used such terminology before that, generally limiting himself to calling the enemy “terrorists” and “evildoers” — names so general that they can apply to multitudes besides those who are actually warring against the United States today — and hardly ever used it after that.

Obama has been even less realistic. He has again and again reached out to the Islamic world, assuring Muslim countries of his respect for Islam. Again and again he has been rudely rebuffed, but that has not stopped him from making the attempt again and again. After the death of Osama bin Laden, he claimed that Osama was “not a Muslim leader, but a mass murderer of Muslims.” Then he made sure to give this mass murderer of Muslims a solemn Islamic funeral.

John O. Brennan, Obama’s top counterterrorism advisor, summed up the Obama administration’s warmly positive stance toward Islam in an August 2009 address: “Nor does President Obama see this challenge as a fight against `jihadists.’ Describing terrorists in this way–using a legitimate term, `jihad,’ meaning to purify oneself or to wage a holy struggle for a moral goal–risks giving these murderers the religious legitimacy they desperately seek but in no way deserve. Worse, it risks reinforcing the idea that the United States is somehow at war with Islam itself. And this is why President Obama has confronted this perception directly and forcefully in his speeches to Muslim audiences, declaring that America is not and never will be at war with Islam.”

That may be so, but Netanyahu’s statement is true as well – at least the first part of it: “Militant Islam threatens the world.” America is not and never will be at war with Islam, but a significant element of Islam is at war with America, Israel, and the rest of the free world – and Netanyahu is much more realistic about that fact than any other Western leader....

There is more.

Apparently Abu Bakar Bashir believes that Allah made a mistake: he "showered the infidels, the zionists, the Americans, the Europeans and their allies with wealth, technology and strong-arm equipment." Now he prays that Allah rectify that mistake by "lock[ing] dead their heart, because they are faithless and therefore deserve bitter torture from you." Bashir already visited some bitter torture upon the Infidels himself by means of the Bali bombing, but that doesn't seem to have been enough for him.

"UPDATE 1-Indonesia Islamist uses trial to blast U.S. 'infidels,'" by Olivia Rondonuwu for Reuters, May 25 (thanks to Twostellas):

JAKARTA, May 25 (Reuters) - Indonesian Islamist cleric Abu Bakar Bashir used his final defence against charges of funding a militant group on Wednesday to denounce the United States for trying to stop Islamic preaching in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for the frail Bashir, 72, who delivered a piercing speech accusing the government of being under U.S. influence.

Bashir does not command widespread support in Indonesia, but the speech could inflame hardcore Islamists who have already vowed reprisal attacks following the U.S. killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Prosecutors said Bashir raised at least 350 million rupiah ($41,000) from supporters and funnelled some to a militant training camp discovered last year in a remote mountainous part of Aceh, a province on the northern tip of Sumatra island that observes sharia law.

"Prosecutors accused me of being behind Aceh and being its biggest financier -- it is an accusation and slander, with the interests of the pharaoh U.S. for me to be diminished from Indonesian society," Bashir told the South Jakarta court.

"Because my preaching is considered dangerous, and with this lifetime of jail, the dream of the pharaoh U.S. and its allies will come true."

Copies of the 55-minute speech were being sold at the court for 20,000 rupiah (2.30), with a form attached to join Bashir's group, Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid, which has formally renounced violence but whose members have been involved in recent attacks including a suicide bombing at a police mosque on Java island.

Days prior to the trial, his followers invited people with text messages to attend "Bashir's Islamic lecture" in court. Hundreds of men in skull caps and women in burqas arrived,
filling the public gallery and spilling into the court car park to watch it on television.

With fists in the air, they shouted "Allahu akbar," or "God is greatest". [...]

Police say militants at the Aceh camp in Sumatra were hatching several plots including an attack on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and hoped to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state.

As well as being the spiritual leader of JAT, Bashir was considered the spiritual leader of the outlawed and now-defunct Jemaah Islamiah, which police have blamed for several bombings including the country's worst ever militant attack, the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Bashir ended his speech with a prayer to crush those he considered enemies of Indonesian Muslims.

"Lord, you have showered the infidels, the zionists, the Americans, the Europeans and their allies with wealth, technology and strong-arm equipment but it was used instead to
attack your religion and slaughter your fighters.

"Lord, exterminate wealth, technology, and lock dead their heart, because they are faithless and therefore deserve bitter torture from you."...

Syria claims the site was an "unused military facility under construction." After all, "War is deceit." And Israel did the world a favor by halting the project in its tracks in 2007: where would that "construction" (wink-wink) be now? "IAEA: Syria site bombed by Israel 'was likely nuclear'," from BBC News, May 25:

A Syrian site bombed by Israeli jets in 2007 was "very likely" a nuclear reactor, the UN's atomic watchdog says.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been investigating US claims that Syria was building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korean help.

The strongest IAEA report yet on Syria came after several years of blocked investigations, and is likely to increase the pressure on Damascus.

Israel bombed the remote desert site of the alleged reactor in September 2007.

Syria says the site - near Deir Alzour in the country's remote north-east - was an unused military facility under construction. It also denied having any nuclear links to North Korea, which has itself denied transferring nuclear technology to Syria.

But the confidential IAEA report, obtained by the BBC, says the bombed building was similar in type and size to a reactor and that samples taken from the site indicated a connection with nuclear activities.

The report's conclusions are likely to raise international pressure on Damascus, says the BBC's Bethany Bell in Vienna.

It opens the door for Western powers to push for Syria to be referred to the UN Security council, an action last taken against Iran in 2006. That step could come at the next meeting of the IAEA's board of governors in June.

Not that said action has slowed Iran down much, which is all the more reason Israel could not abide this project on its doorstep while waiting for the UN to act.

Syria is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which gives it the right to enrich its own fuel for civil nuclear power, under inspection from the IAEA.

But it has also signed a safeguards agreement with the IAEA under which it is obliged to notify the UN's nuclear watchdog of any plans to construct a new nuclear facility.

"War is deceit."

AsiaNews observes that this is the fourth attack on Pakistani police or military installations since the death of Osama bin Laden. For the magnitude and frequency of security breaches -- and the attackers have known in detail where to go and how to bypass security -- we're brought once again to CIA director Leon Panetta's assessment: Pakistani authorities are either incompetent or complicit.

Most likely a varying mixture of both. "Pakistan: 'Only finger' of bomber found after suicide blast flattens police station," by Syed Saleem Shahzad for AdnKronos International, May 25:

Peshawar, 25 May (AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - At least 4 people were killed and 20 others severely wounded early Wednesday in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan when a truck carrying explosives rammed into a police station destroying the building.

The Pakistani Talibani claimed responsibility of the attack.

Bashir Bilour, the senior member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly, confirmed that the attack was carried out by a suicide car bomber.

“About 300 kilograms of explosives was used in the attack. The engine of the bomber’s car landed 350 feet away and his body was blown to bits. Only one finger of the bomber has been found,” Bilour told reporters after visiting the site of the attack.

Only two days after militants brazenly attacked Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi’s naval base, the truck crossed through at least 50 checkpoints including red zone areas and targeted the high profile police intelligence office known as the CID centre.

The Guardian reports that this facility was the criminal investigation department.

“After Karachi’s incident we relocated all our strength to airports, key strategic installations and military offices. Militants took advantage of the situation and targeted the CID’s office,” the inspector general of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province told the reporters after blast.

In his speech to Congress today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said quite rightly that “our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state; it's always been about the existence of the Jewish state. This is what this conflict is about….In recent years, the Palestinians twice refused generous offers by Israeli prime ministers to establish a Palestinian state on virtually all the territory won by Israel in the Six Day War. They were simply unwilling to end the conflict. And I regret to say this: They continue to educate their children to hate. They continue to name public squares after terrorists. And worst of all, they continue to perpetuate the fantasy that Israel will one day be flooded by the descendants of Palestinian refugees. My friends, this must come to an end.”

Confronting directly the common mainstream media spin, emanating from Palestinian propaganda, that Israel is the aggressor and the Palestinians are the victims, he challenged Mahmoud Abbas to reverse his recent accord with Hamas and pursue a genuine path to peace. Echoing Reagan, Netanyahu declared: “So I say to President Abbas: Tear up your pact with Hamas! Sit down and negotiate. Make peace with the Jewish state. And if you do, I promise you this: Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations; it will be the first to do so.”

Obviously truth-telling and appeals to human decency were never going to be acceptable to the Palestinian jihadis. And so: "Palestinians: Netanyahu peace outline unacceptable," by Mohammed Daraghmeh for the Associated Press, May 24:

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parameters for a peace deal, outlined in a speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, fell far short of what is needed to resume negotiations, Palestinian officials said.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a "declaration of war against the Palestinians." [...] "We have nothing but to continue our struggle in the international arena and to continue building our state and to continue our popular struggle," he said, referring to demonstrations and protests against Israel. "We don't have a partner for peace," he said.

In two policy speeches in recent days, President Barack Obama said that the pre-1967 war line must serve as the basis for negotiations, while allowing for mutually agreed land swaps. The Palestinians have said negotiations can resume only if Netanyahu commits to that principle and halts settlement construction.

"What Netanyahu said in his speech tonight is a clear rejection of the suggestions of President Obama concerning the borders of 1967," said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh. "Actually, what he did is that he put more obstacles in the path of peace."

In Gaza, the Islamic militant Hamas was equally critical. "Netanyahu denied us all our rights," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman. "We must work to adopt an Arab and Palestinian strategy based on the right of resistance."...

If only he could be president of the United States. "Netanyahu: Militant Islam threatening the world," from AP, May 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is telling Congress that militant Islam is threatening the world.

Netanyahu urged the U.S. on Tuesday never to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. He said Iran would be able to put a bomb anywhere, from an Israeli subway to a missile that could one day reach Washington.

He called the threat posed by militant Islam the "greatest danger of all."

UPDATE: Here is what Netanyahu actually said:

When I last stood here, I spoke of the consequences of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Now time is running out. The hinge of history may soon turn, for the greatest danger of all could soon be upon us: a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons.

Militant Islam threatens the world. It threatens Islam.

"It threatens Islam" -- i.e., the real Islam is a Religion of Peace that has been Hijacked by a Tiny Minority of Extremists. This unreality is disappointing to see, and will not bode well for Israel insofar as it continues to translate into policy. Nonetheless, even to acknowledge that the threat has any Islamic character at all is a huge advance over Obama, George W. Bush, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, et al.

"I love pulling the kuffar's leg"

Sure! Everyone knows that Iran, as a Sharia state, is a bastion of human rights in general and women's rights in particular! Women even serve in the cabinet! And if they vote the wrong way or make a wrong decision, one can always "beat them" (Qur'an 4:34)!

"No limitation for women’s progress in Islamic society: president," from the Tehran Times, May 24:

TEHRAN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that there is no limitation for the progress of women in the Islamic society.

The president made the remarks during his speech at the Insightful Woman Conference on Monday on the occasion of the auspicious birth anniversary of Hazrat Fatima (SA), the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (S), which is Women’s Day in Iran.

Ahmadinejad said that the high status and dignity of women and mothers in the society should be safeguarded.

He highlighted the role of brave and learned women in paving the way for the progress of the country.

President also criticized the way women are regarded in the Western societies, saying in the capitalist system women are used a tool for making money.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the president praised female cabinet members for their great services to the government....

Here is yet more evidence that Islamic supremacists sympathize with totalitarian antisemitic fascists. The reverse is also true. Islamo/Nazi Alliance Update: "Iran criticizes Cannes's expulsion of Danish director," from the Iranian Students' News Agency, May 24 (thanks to David):

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iranian Deputy Culture Minister for Cinematic Affairs Javad Shamaqdari wrote a letter to Cannes International Film Festival President Gilles Jacob criticizing expulsion of Danish director from the event.

"First of all, I am willing to congratulate French cinematographers and people on 64th edition of the film festival. You well remember that the event was founded to confront fascism. Fascists are those who believed they are the only people who have the right to use welfare and life and could not bear presence of opposition," he said in the letter.

He then expressed disappointment on decisions of Cannes film festival organizers to expel the Danish director due to prejudice rooted in middle ages era.

"Mr. Gilles Jacob, believe that, regardless of my viewpoint about Lars Von Trier, Cannes Film Festival recorded a black point in its history," the letter read.

Cannes Film Festival expelled the Danish director Lars Von Trier for sympathy with Adolf Hitler.

The director was ejected from the festival and scrubbed out of the running for the Palme D’Or competition when he told journalists at a press event:

“I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely, but I can see him sitting in his bunker in the end. He’s not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him and I sympathize with him.”...

"How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim themselves?" And so the obvious response, as always, is not to refute anything he said, but to resort to thuggery.

An update on this story. "Muslim gang launched horrific attack on religious studies teacher they did not want teaching girls," from the Daily Mail, May 24 (thanks to Darcy):

A gang of four Muslim men launched a horrific attack on an RE teacher because they did not approve of him teaching religious studies to Muslim girls, a court heard yesterday.

Gary Smith, 28, was left with facial scarring, both long and short-term memory loss, and now has no sense of smell.

He became depressed after his face was slashed and he suffered a brain haemorrhage, fractured skull and broken jaw following the attack.

The men were said to have attempted the assault several times, ‘lying in wait’ for Mr Smith before successfully ambushing him on his way to work on July 12 last year.

The gang was recorded planning the attack by detectives who had bugged defendant Akmol Hussain’s car over an unrelated matter.

So they were already tracking these guys for jihad activity.

They were taped saying they wanted to hit or kill the teacher just because he was the head of religious studies at the Central Foundation School for Girls in Bow, East London.

In one recording Hussain said: ‘He’s mocking Islam and he’s putting doubts in people’s minds . . . How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim themselves?’

Armed with an iron rod and brick, they punched, kicked and attacked Mr Smith, leaving him unconscious covered in blood on the pavement in Burdett Road, Tower Hamlets, East London.

Mr Smith was taken to hospital after he was found by two passers-by, and only regained consciousness two days later.

The gang, made up of Simon Alam, 19, Azad Hussein, 27, of Bethnal Green, Sheikh Rashid, 27, of Shadwell and Akmol Hussain, 26, of Wapping, fled the scene in a car and went on to boast about their role in the assault.

Alam said he hit Mr Smith over the head with a metal bar saying: 'I turned and hit him on his face with the rod and he went flying and fell on his stomach.' [...]

The teacher had been at the school for eight years teaching faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and Hinduism. [...]

Hussain's car had been bugged on an 'unrelated matter' and it was during that surveillance operation that some of the gang members were recorded discussing the attack.

He spoke about a pupil at the school, calling her teacher a dog - an offensive name in Islam. He is then heard saying 'this is the dog we want to' and then a word is said in Sylheti - a language from Bangladesh - that means to hit, strike or kill.

Two other attempts, on on July 8 and one on July 9 last year failed when Mr Smith did not take his usual route to work....

Presented by the Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa e.V., für europäische Werte und Freiheiten. I will, however, be speaking in English.

Events will feature a Salute Israel Day.

As you can see, the event is being heavily publicized. I hope to see you there.

Photos courtesy our own Jihad Watch commenter, Epistemology.

Move America Forward has compiled care packages that contain goods our troops need and cannot get -- as a way of saying "thank you" for their sacrifices and courage.

You can show your gratitude by sending one to the troops. Each care package will include a personal message written by you where you can express your gratitude to our military.

Move America Forward is a 501(C)3 so all care package donations are tax deductible.

Contribute here

Once again I am captaining a team of contributors: "The Anti-Jihadists"! If you're a blogger, please join our team! Let's take the big prize for largest contribution amount this year! Joining the competition is easy. Simply e-mail MAF Blogger Danny (danny@moveamericaforward.org) to get placed on a team and obtain the correct link to the care packages.

Right now the team consists of:

Jihad Watch
Atlas Shrugs
Creeping Sharia
Cao's Blog
D. C. Watson
Facing Islam
Islam Today Oregon
Newstime.NZ
Patriot's Corner

This is an outrage! Who ever heard of a "man who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent" engaging in an act of terror in an airport?

"Muslim rights group cries foul over MSP security drill," by Paul Walsh for the Star Tribune, May 23 (thanks to J.):

A national Muslim civil rights group is asking the head of Homeland Security to investigate the use of stereotypes after a man who appeared to be of Middle East descent was used in a recent security drill at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Monday renewed a request that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano review "the use of outside trainers who offer hostile, stereotypical and grossly inaccurate information about Muslims and Islam."

Hamas-linked CAIR includes me in this group -- I'm mentioned in their press release about it. My observations regarding that are twofold:

1. Hamas-linked CAIR cannot accurately or honestly show that anything I say about Muslims and Islam is "hostile, stereotypical and grossly inaccurate." They can and do lie, sure, but they can't actually demonstrate a single instance of anything genuinely hostile, stereotypical or grossly inaccurate about Muslims and Islam in anything I have written in ten books, hundreds of articles, and over 25,000 Jihad Watch posts.

2. Napolitano and the DHS should realize that a Hamas-linked group that has opposed every anti-terror measure that has ever come down the pike is likely to recommend just the opposite of what they should do if they really want to protect America.

The organization has previously asked the Obama administration, the Department of Defense and Congress to provide oversight for apparent "widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement and security and military personnel nationwide."

Hamas-linked CAIR would do better to address the widespread anti-Infidel bias in Muslim communities in the U.S. and worldwide. But they never do that. Now, why is that?

According to information released Monday by MSP airport police, the May 12 security test included a device in a shaving kit made to look like a bomb. It was a cylinder with wires connected to a wrist watch. The device was brought to a passenger security checkpoint, according to airport Police Sgt. Mark Ledbetter, one of the responding officers.

"Upon arriving [at the checkpoint]," Ledbetter wrote in his report, "TSA [Transportation Security Administration] screeners were out with a male who appeared to be Middle Eastern in descent or Indian/Pakistani."

He was wearing casual business attire and was calm.

"Well, let's cover all the stereotypical bases," Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Monday. "It's not surprising in the least that [federal authorities] would resort to anti-Muslim stereotypes."

Hooper, whose group acts as a rights watchdog on behalf of Muslims in the United States, said he has no problem with such security tests, but "when you resort to ethnic and religious stereotypes in these types of drills, it sends the message to watch out for these people, and that leads to profiling."

TSA spokesman Greg Soule countered that his agency conducts "thousands of training tests each year, and the individuals carrying out the testing are [of] various ethnicities, ages and appearances, just like the traveling public."...

Next time, Soule, make the guy look like Honest Ibe Hooper. Or, if that would cause another bogus victimhood uproar from these Hamas-linked thugs, make him look like me. I don't mind in the least. Funny how a genuine interest in protecting America changes one's perspective on issues like this.

Here we go yet again: the entrapment defense is becoming increasingly popular among jihadists in the United States. It is especially preposterous here. These Fort Dix jihad plotters shouted "Allahu akbar" when their convictions were upheld on an earlier appeal. One rejected the American legal system and tried to get the judge to convert to Islam. While they were plotting to murder Infidels at Fort Dix, one of them said, “I’m gonna do it….It doesn’t matter to me, whether I get locked up, arrested, or get taken away, it doesn’t matter. Or I die, doesn’t matter, I’m doing it in the name of Allah.” Another said, “They are the ones, we are going to put bullets in their heads, Allah willing.”

If they were entrapped, I'm a mujahid.

And so I will ask one more time: what would it take for you to commit mass murder in the name of Allah?

Would you do it for money? For love? Out of a sense of justice? Out of a sense of religious duty? Would you do it because an agent provocateur encouraged you?

Absurd as they may seem, these remain serious questions, for as jihad mass-murder plots are being uncovered in the United States more frequently than ever, those accused of perpetrating them, and several Islamic groups, increasingly are charging entrapment: that overzealous FBI agents pushed poor innocent Muslims into taking part in a jihad plot that otherwise would never have existed.

The problem with this line of thinking is that no amount of encouragement could get the average American non-Muslim to participate in a plot to commit mass murder. The Fort Dix jihadists must have already been predisposed to this sort of thing.

"5 Muslim immigrants appeal NJ terror convictions," from AP, May 23:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Attorneys for five Muslim immigrants convicted of plotting a deadly strike at a New Jersey military base will challenge the Patriot Act as they appeal the convictions.

The lawyers argue that FBI informants entrapped their clients. They say the discussions amounted to little more than a religious debate about jihad.

They will also challenge the constitutionality of a Patriot Act provision used to seize video the defendants left at a store for reformatting.

The footage shows the defendants firing assault weapons and screaming about jihad.

Federal prosecutors acknowledge the men did not necessarily have a specific plan to attack Fort Dix.

Four of the young men are serving life terms. They lived in Philadelphia and suburban New Jersey....

"The Muslims demanded that should the church be reopened, it should be without cross and dome." In accord with classic dhimmi laws.

Will Obama speak about this, or continue to pretend that Muslims are behaving justly toward Christians in the brave new democratic Egypt?

"Muslims Surround Church in Egypt, Prevent Its Reopening," by Mary Abdelmassih for AINA, May 24 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

(AINA) -- On the morning of May 19 two Coptic priests went to St. Mary and St. Abraham Church in Ain Shams and opened it together with some of the Coptic residents, but later in the day thousands of Muslims surrounded the church to protest its opening, hurled stones at the church building and the Copts, who responded by throwing stones. The army and the police stood there watching and did not intervene (video).

Unable to secure the church, the army and police closed it and arranged for a "reconciliation" meeting between the Coptic priest and the Salafi sheikhs. They also arrested eight Copts, one of them 13-years old, and three Muslims. They were all charged with rioting, violence and causing injury to citizens. Three Copts were also charged with having cartridges but no guns and one 15-year-old boy with possessing two knives. The 3 Muslims were charged with throwing stones at the army.

Father Filopateer Gameel, one of the organizers of the Maspero sit-in, said that during a meeting with the Minister of Interior he was told he cannot choose the churches to be reopened because it was all "planned with the Salafis and the security authorities so that when we go, there will be no problems." He confirmed the minister had himself suggested the names of the three churches to be reopened.

The "reconciliation" session was held in a tent by the Islamist imam Kerdassi, the main opponent of the reopening of the church, who also recently built a mosque facing the church. Next to the tent was another one hosting Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi sheikhs, among them the renowned Salafi sheikh Hassan and over 3000 guests all chanting "Islamic, Islamic."

The session lasted for 5-hour, and was attended by sheikhs, imams, priests, lawyers and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in which the Muslims insisted the church was a factory and the Christians explained that it was a church, although it has no dome or bell, and has been used as a place for worship and has a consecrated alter [sic].

The Coptic diocese bought the building, which used to be a clothes factory, in 2004 and used it for worship until November 22, 2008, when it was closed by State Security after nearly 3000 Muslims surrounded the church, pelting it with stones and terrorizing thousands of parishioners inside.

"The atmosphere of the meeting was belligerent," said attorney Ashraf Edward, "and one of the sheikhs threatened us by saying that should the church be opened without their permission it would end up like the church in Soul which was demolished by Muslims." He said the church was offered a larger place to relocate to away from the Muslim families as the imams said. "They presented us with a petition from the Muslim families against the opening of the church."

The representative of the Ministry of Endowment suggested the church be closed until permission is granted for its opening from the relevant authorities, to which all sides agreed.

At the end of the session a joint statement was read by the Imam Kerdassi, which said "It was decided to close the place and no Christian prayers is to take place there until permission is granted. If there is permission then we should respect it and since there is no permit at present then all parties agreed to close the place permanently, no one to approach it and no one of us to harm it until the authorities have issued a ruling. We all have to love each other, so that Egypt would remain strong and secure as Allah wanted it to be."

The Muslims demanded that should the church be reopened, it should be without cross and dome.

Coptic attorney Dr. Ihab Ramzy said the army and the police did not participate in the "reconciliation" meeting. "This shows the government is ignoring the problem. Am I there to get the Salafis' permission to open the church? If they say no, does this mean I should not open the church?"...

My column in Human Events this morning:

When he spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Sunday, Barack Hussein Obama struck a conciliatory tone: “Even while we may at times disagree, as friends sometimes will, the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable, and the commitment of the United States to the security of Israel is ironclad.” Yet he rendered these words hollow by reiterating the recommendations he made in his speech last Thursday, which, if carried out, would render Israel defenseless before the advancing jihad.

Chief among these recommendations was Obama’s call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. “The borders of Israel and Palestine,” he said Thursday, “should be based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”

On Sunday, he did his best to make this statement, which had become the focus of a justified uproar, appear benign: “By definition, it means that the parties themselves—Israelis and Palestinians—will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967. That’s what mutually agreed-upon swaps means. It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last 44 years. It allows the parties themselves to take account of those changes, including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides.”...

There is more.

Neighborhood Bully
by Bob Dylan
From the album Infidels

Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man
His enemies say he’s on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
He’s wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He’s always on trial for just being born
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him
’Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac
He’s the neighborhood bully

He got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully

Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health
He’s the neighborhood bully

What’s anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin’, they say. He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed
He’s the neighborhood bully

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill
Running out the clock, time standing still
Neighborhood bully

Copyright © 1983 by Special Rider Music

That's the heart of the matter. Islamic supremacism and antisemitism cannot bear the notion of a Jewish state -- not even a tiny one, in a sea of Islamic countries. And that is why attempting to coerce Israel to return to the 1967 borders amounts only to a land grab on the Arab countries' behalf, granting them a do-over for a war they lost, and giving them a head start on their intentions to take the rest, by war, or the instant demographic conquest of the "right of return."

"Obama's 'Jewish state' reference jars Palestinians," by Josef Federman for the Associated Press, May 23:

JERUSALEM – U.S.-Israel tension over Barack Obama's endorsement of Israel's pre-1967 borders is obscuring a flip side of the Middle East coin: The past days' speeches by the U.S. president contained difficult challenges for the Palestinians as well.

Addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Sunday, Obama reiterated his request that the Palestinians drop their plans to appeal for recognition at the United Nations this fall, and — as he did in another Mideast speech Thursday — raised tough questions about an emerging Palestinian unity government that is to include the Hamas militant group.

Most difficult for Palestinians is Obama's call to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland, essentially requiring the Palestinians to accept that most refugees will be denied the "right of return" to what is now Israel.

Perhaps for this reason, the Palestinians have remained largely quiet about the substance of Obama's speeches, seemingly content to watch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clash with the U.S. administration over Israel's future borders.

"It's really premature to jump into any of these details," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, when asked by The Associated Press about the demands Obama made of the Palestinians.

The fate of Palestinian refugees is one of the most emotional and explosive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Rim shot.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians either fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. Today, the surviving refugees, with their descendants, number several million people.

The Palestinians claim they have the right to return to their family's lost properties. Israel rejects the principle, saying it would mean the end of the country as a Jewish democracy. Israeli leaders say the refugees should be entitled to compensation and resettled in a future Palestine to be established next to Israel, or absorbed where they now live.

The "right of return" would be a legalized invasion, would create a humanitarian crisis within Israel, and inevitably, violence among Palestinians disputing one another's claims. But the whole idea is to end Israel's identity as a Jewish state, hence the refusal to recognize it as such.

In his speech last Thursday, Obama did not explicitly mention the refugees. But by saying a final peace deal must recognize "Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people," he appeared to back the Israeli position.

The issue is so central to Palestinian policy and society that no Palestinian leader can be seen as abandoning the rights of the refugees, particularly at a time when peace efforts are at a standstill and so many other difficult issues, such as borders and the final status of Jerusalem, remain unresolved.

Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, said recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would sell out not only the refugees, but potentially open the door to Israel expelling its roughly 1.5 million Arab citizens as well. This idea has never been seriously raised in Israel.

He said the Palestinian recognition of Israel's right to exist, without any reference to national character, should be sufficient....

He has his own ideas for Israel's "national character," and there's nothing Jewish about it. All he would be recognizing is the existence of a geographical area.

A seductive left-turn signal could just topple the whole society like a house of cards.

The Saudi woman detained earlier by the religious police for driving has been re-arrested, as authorities fear more women will follow her lead. And the idea of women driving is so hotly contested in the country because it is a matter of Sharia, particularly of upholding the segregation of women from men: "Saudi clerics, from the hard-line Wahhabi school of Islam that is the official doctrine of the kingdom, insist the ban protects against the spread of vice and temptation because women drivers would be free to leave home alone and interact with male strangers."

"Wary of wider defiance, Saudis arrest woman driver," by Maggie Michael for the Associated Press, May 23 (thanks to JCB):

CAIRO – A Saudi woman was arrested for a second time for driving her car in what women's activists said Monday was a move by the rulers of the ultraconservative kingdom to suppress an Internet campaign encouraging women to defy a ban on female driving.

Manal al-Sherif and a group of other women started a Facebook page called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself," urging authorities to lift the ban and posted a video clip last week of al-Sherif behind the wheel in the eastern city of Khobar.

Piety trumps safety in the land where religious police beat schoolgirls back into a burning building in 2002 to keep them from escaping the fire by going out unveiled. Fifteen girls died.

The page was removed after more than 12,000 people indicated their support for its call for women drivers to take to the streets in a mass drive on June 17. The campaign's Twitter account also was deactivated.

Al-Sherif, a 32-year-old IT expert, was arrested at dawn on Sunday and accused of "violating public order," according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. She was ordered held for five days while the case was investigated; her brother, Mohammed al-Sherif, who was in the car while she was driving, also was taken into custody.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women — both Saudi and foreign — from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor.

Saudi clerics, from the hard-line Wahhabi school of Islam that is the official doctrine of the kingdom, insist the ban protects against the spread of vice and temptation because women drivers would be free to leave home alone and interact with male strangers. King Abdullah has promised reforms in the past and has taken some tentative steps to ease restrictions on women. But the Saudi monarchy relies on Wahhabi clerics to give religious legitimacy to its rule and is deeply reluctant to defy their entrenched power.

Al-Sherif's arrest prompted hundreds of activists to set up Facebook groups and campaigns calling for her release and an end to the driving ban.

"Let Manal al-Sherif and all other women drive their own cars, take their kids to the hospital, buy stuff from the supermarket, go to work without a driver," columnist Khalf al-Harbi wrote in the Al-Watan daily.

Activist Walid Abou el-Kheir posted on his Twitter account a petition signed by 300 Saudi activists appealing to the Saudi king to set al-Sherif free and make a clear commitment to ending the driving ban.

Some female activists said the arrest and swift suppression of the campaign were signs of the kingdom's growing unease over the popular uprisings sweeping the region, toppling authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. Earlier this year, Saudi authorities moved quickly to put down small pro-reform protests, mainly by the country's Shiite minority, that were organized on Facebook.

"The authorities are worried ... because it could encourage other forms of rebellion especially at a time the whole region is shaking up," said Wajeha al-Huwaide, who was involved in a 2007 campaign that collected more than 3,000 signatures in a bid to try to overturn the ban.

"Whenever the Arab region is shaken with changes, the state feels threatened and surrenders more to the religious establishment to keep its political system intact," said al-Huwaide, who filmed the video of al-Sherif driving.

Petro-blackmail keeps us from demanding human rights in Saudi Arabia. Instead, we get carefully worded comments like this:

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner, said the U.S. administration was seeking more information about al-Sherif's status. "We understand there's an active debate on a lot of these social issues in Saudi Arabia, and we trust the government of Saudi Arabia to give careful consideration to these voices of its citizens as they speak about issues of concern," Toner said.

In the video of her driving, al-Sherif — dressed in a headscarf and the all-encompassing black abaya all women must wear in public — argues that not all Saudi women are "queens" who can afford to hire a driver and says driving for women can save lives, time, and a woman's dignity. Al-Sherif said she learned how to drive at the age of 30 in New Hampshire.

"We are humiliated sometimes because we can't find a taxi to take us to work," she said.

Al-Sherif faces accusations of "violating the rules and the system by driving her car and roaming the streets of the province," the prison chief in Khobar, Ayoub ben Nahit, was quoted as saying in the daily Al-Watan. He also accused her of "inciting public opinion" by posting the video clip.

She had been detained for several hours on Saturday but was released after she signed a pledge agreeing not to drive.

There is no written Saudi law banning women from driving, only fatwas, or religious edicts, by senior clerics that are enforced by police. No major Islamic clerics outside the country call for such a ban.

One prominent Saudi cleric, Abdel-Rahman al-Barak, said in a fatwa posted on his website that women who violate the driving ban are "sinful and are opening (the doors) of evil."

Previous moves by women to overturn the driving ban have been met with swift reprisals by the authorities.

More than two decades ago, a group of women got into cars and drove the streets of Riyadh. The protest cost the 47 female drivers and passengers dearly. They were arrested, lost their jobs for 2 1/2 years, were banned from travel for a year and were condemned by the powerful clergy as harlots. ...

It's certainly not the first time we've seen allegations of ISI complicity here. "David Headley alleges Pakistan role in Mumbai attacks," BBC News, May 23:

A man who Tahawwur Rana, a Chicago businessman accused of helping plan the attacks.

Mr Rana is accused of providing Headley with a cover to scout attack locations.

Mr Rana has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say he was tricked by Headley, a former friend.

More than 160 people were killed in November 2008 when a group of 10 men stormed a train station, hotels and cafes and a Jewish centre, shooting and throwing bombs.

At the opening on Monday of Mr Rana's trial, Headley testified that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) coordinated with each other.

The ISI provided military and moral support to the group, he said.

He said a Pakistani agent paid him $25,000 (£15,500) for the operation. Headley has separately said he was trained by LeT.

Pakistan believes Headley is an unreliable witness and analysts expect Islamabad to flatly deny alleged links between militant groups and the Pakistani secret intelligence service.

'Friends with a terrorist'

Mr Rana denies the 12 charges that have been levelled against him.

His lawyers say he was tricked by Headley, a longtime friend from their days at a Pakistani military school. Mr Rana was arrested in 2009, and if convicted, he faces a life sentence....

Omar al-Bashir's Islamic supremacist regime may yet be persuaded to leave Abyei, but it appears they will take all the spoils of war they can carry, and leave nothing left that can be burned. An update on this story: again, what is at stake for Abyei is the potential for the north to impose Sharia. "Sudan Abyei dispute: Gunmen burning and looting - UN," from BBC News, May 23:

The Sudanese town of Abyei has been set on fire, with gunmen looting property, the United Nations says.

The town and surrounding area are claimed by both Khartoum and by South Sudan, set to become independent in July. The town was captured at the weekend by northern troops.

The UN has urged Sudan's government in Khartoum to withdraw its forces.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir later said that Khartoum wanted to resolve the issue peacefully.

South Sudan's secession follows decades of north-south conflict and some fear this dispute could reignite the war.

'Act of war'

In a statement, the UN Mission in Sudan (Unmis) said it "strongly condemns the burning and looting currently being perpetrated by armed elements in Abyei town".

It stressed that the northern troops were "responsible for maintaining law and order in the areas they control", urging Khartoum to "intervene to stop these criminal acts".

South Sudan earlier denounced the Abyei takeover on Saturday as an act of war.

A southern military spokesman told the BBC the north had attacked the area with 5,000 troops, killing civilians and southern soldiers.

Some 20,000 people, almost the whole population of the town, had fled, aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC.

Khartoum has said it acted after 22 of its men were killed in a southern ambush last Thursday. The northern troops were travelling in a UN convoy.

UN officials have described the incident as "a criminal attack" and the US called on South Sudan to "account" for the assault.

South Sudanese forces have denied responsibility for the incident.

Since then, both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton have condemned the violence in the region.

On Sunday, UN Security Council envoys said during a visit to Khartoum that the north should "withdraw immediately" its troops from the Abyei region. The diplomats have now arrived in South Sudan.

Tension over Abyei - a small town claimed by a southern group, the Dinka Ngok, and northern nomads, the Misseriya - has been rising since a referendum on its future scheduled for January was postponed....

More reason for embarrassment in Islamabad, and more on this story. "Pakistan retakes naval base after attack," by Faisal Aziz and Michael Georgy for the Associated Press, May 23:

KARACHI (Reuters) – Troops recaptured a Pakistani naval air force base on Monday after a 16-hour battle with as few as six Taliban gunmen who had launched their attack to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.

It is just as likely they had something like this in the works anyway.

The assault casts fresh doubt on the military's ability to protect its bases after a raid on the army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009 and is a further embarrassment following the surprise raid by U.S. special forces on the al Qaeda leader's hideout north of Islamabad on May 2.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said just six militants were believed involved in the attack on the PNS Mehran base in Karachi late on Sunday, destroying two aircraft and laying siege to a main building in one of the most heavily guarded bases in the unstable, nuclear-armed country.

"When they fired the first rockets, they were intercepted," said Pakistan's navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir. "Then they could not launch another attack on other aircraft and they tried to hide." He said it took three to four hours to sketch out a plan to contain the militants.

At least 10 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the assault that started at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday (1730 GMT), a navy spokesman said.

Malik said three militants were killed in the gunbattle while the body of a fourth was believed to be buried under the rubble of a collapsed wall. Two suspects were believed to have fled the scene, he added.

One of two attackers hiding in the building blew himself up while two others were gunned down elsewhere, Bashir said.

The Pakistan Taliban, who are allied with al Qaeda, said they had staged the attack to avenge bin Laden's death.

"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Security failure:

Malik said the militants, aged between 20 and 25, used two ladders to scale the walls of the base and jumped in by cutting barbed wire.

He said the militants had used guns and grenades in their attack on the base, 15 miles from the Masroor Air Base, Pakistan's largest and a possible depot for nuclear weapons....

"Irving firefighters found the unspecified items after extinguishing a small fire at Nour's home in the 3600 block of Brock Drive." Those greasy Islamophobes. He was probably just cooking dinner. After all, who ever heard of a Muslim possessing bomb-making materials or prohibited weapons?

"Crime blog: Irving cab driver arrested after bomb squad removes suspicious materials from home," by Matt Peterson for the Dallas News, May 23 (thanks to Amil Imani):

A cab driver from Irving was arrested Sunday after a bomb squad removed suspicious materials from his apartment.

Sharif Ahmed Nour, 41, was initially going to be charged with possessing bomb-making components, but that was amended to possession of prohibited weapons, according to WFAA-TV (Channel 8).

Irving firefighters found the unspecified items after extinguishing a small fire at Nour's home in the 3600 block of Brock Drive. The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force have since joined the investigation....

Nour is originally from Somalia and has been driving cabs at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for years, a friend told Channel 8.

Near "the kind of oil refineries that Osama bin Laden talked about blowing up as part of a global-chaos plot in papers found in his Pakistan hideout."

"Stowaway at Port Newark sparks terror probe," by Philip Messing in the New York Post, May 23:

A shadowy man suspected of fighting against US soldiers in Iraq has sparked a far-flung terror probe after entering New York Harbor as a stowaway aboard a freighter and taking up residence in a fenced-off Port Authority warehouse, The Post has learned.

Asem Ellbahnsany Haroon, 26, managed to easily infiltrate Port Newark -- where there are just the kind of oil refineries that Osama bin Laden talked about blowing up as part of a global-chaos plot in papers found in his Pakistan hideout.

"There have been reports . . . that indicate al Qaeda is trying to use explosive to blow up oil tankers to disrupt the world's economy. What's right next door to Port Newark? All of these oil refineries that line the highway there," said one law-enforcement source.

Authorities are now scrambling to figure out how Haroon managed to elude border checkpoints at the port -- and they are also nervously wondering whether he came here with others who have yet to be caught....

"When I first saw him, he was so weak," a law-enforcement source said.

"But he might be a terrorist and possibly be a threat because none of the answers he gave ever made any sense."

Haroon told investigators that he was an Iraqi citizen who had arrived at Port Newark two weeks earlier on an unspecified Italian freighter.

It turns out he's an Egyptian who was once denied a visa to enter the United States. Federal authorities told a judge that Haroon "had fought as an insurgent against the American forces in Fallujah."...

The great Islamic scholar Hans Jansen, who is an expert witness in the Geert Wilders show trial and charged judge Tom Schalken with witness tampering, has sent this statement on the trial to Jihad Watch:

The Dutch will, from now on, have to live with unpredictable limitations of the freedom of speech and, even worse, with the legality of attempts to sabotage the foundation of all Western politics: the separation of the three traditional powers of the Western state: the executive, legislative and judicial power.

The Amsterdam court charged with condemning the elected member-of-parliament Geert Wilders decided today that the trial must go on where it derailed last fall. In October and November 2010 it became known that Justice Tom Schalken (Amsterdam) had dinner with one of the few expert witnesses the court had allowed to the defense of Mr Wilders. This dinner took place a few days before the witness had to appear in court. These contacts could easily be understood as attempts to influence the witness. It is actually rather difficult to understand them in any other way.

Justice Tom Schalken, we now know, also had also played a role in the executive when as a functionary of the Ministry of Justice he formulated the laws that make it possible for Geert Wilders to be summoned to court by private citizens even when the state prosecutor does not see a winnable case. He, moreover, had been active behind closed doors, influencing Dutch opinion makers; and published ‘scholarly’ articles arguing the case against political dissidents like Mr. Wilders. Finally, as the crown on all this work, he had signed (and probably personally written) the order that imposed on the prosecutor the duty to go to trial to get Mr. Wilders condemned.

Nevertheless, the Amsterdam Court did not see a problem here, and Dutch justice will run its course. Or, actually, the Court did see the problems, but did not think they were relevant to what they were doing to Mr. Wilders. Only decades of studying and practicing law in the Netherlands will help outsiders to understand this decision, but it is seriously to be doubted whether sane young men and women will take the trouble to do so.

The trial, hence, goes on where it got derailed in the fall of 2010. From now on, someone who speaks in the Netherlands about Islamic theology, law or religious practice will have to be extremely careful. Librarians will have to clean their shelves: books from whatever period may have to be removed. Tourists who bring books or newspapers with them from the outside world must hope for the best. Publishers and bookshops will surely spontaneously understand their patriotic duties. The multicultural state shall have its way.

It goes without saying that Christianity, Judaism and Atheism cannot receive similar protection from the multicultural state – because if that were the case, the Koran and all handbooks of Mohammedan law would have to be forbidden because of the offensive and abusive language these religious texts employ when discussing non-Muslim religious viewpoints. And, as we all know, to forbid Islamic books would be a very unmulticultural thing to do indeed.

Fast jihadists still bickering with slow jihadists, exhorting them to hurry up. Whether or not the PA takes this advice, Israel and its friends should realize that the goal is always to destroy Israel, whether via negotiated accords or armed attacks, or both.

"Hamas calls on PA to 'reconsider' peace process with Israel," from Deutsche Presse-Agentur, May 22:

Gaza City - The de-facto Hamas government in Gaza on Sunday called on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to reevaluate its stance in favour of peace negotiations with Israel.

'The Palestinian Authority (PA) is asked to seriously reconsider and reevaluate its positions,' Gaza's Foreign Ministry, led by the Islamist movement, said in a statement.

It should do so following remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

On Friday, Netanyahu said after meeting US President Barack Obama that Israel would not withdraw to the borders of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

'This clearly shows that Israel continues with its hostile policies, which reject any peaceful solution whatever its shape and content,' said the Hamas Foreign Ministry statement.

'For Netanyahu, the priority is to build more settlements, annex more lands and change the demographic features of the Palestinian territories to impose facts on the ground,' it said.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has demanded a Palestinian Islamist state stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Its leaders have said in recent years that it would be willing to temporarily accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza only, not in exchange for an end to the conflict, but in return for a long-term truce lasting several generations....

...and then the jihad to destroy Israel would resume.

Video thanks to Benedict.

Travesty of justice. Sharia comes to the Netherlands, via dhimmi Dutch judges who have no idea -- yet -- of whom they're serving. Free Speech Death Watch Update: "Dutch court rejects anti-Islam MP's bias claim," from AFP, May 23:

THE HAGUE — An Amsterdam court rejected a claim by far right leader Geert Wilders that an earlier court decision was biased and that hate speech charges against him should be dropped.

"The request is denied," said Judge Marcel van Oosten, during a hearing broadcast on the Internet by Dutch public television. "The trial must go on."

Wilders, 47, faces five counts of giving offence to Muslims and of inciting hatred against Muslims and people of non-Western immigrant origin, particularly Moroccans.

On May 2, Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz argued his client no longer had recourse to a fair trial and that charges against him should be dropped.

In 2008, prosecutors had initially dismissed dozens of complaints against Wilders but an appeals court reversed that decision.

Wilders' defence team claims that one of the judges involved in that decision, Tom Schalken, tried to persuade Arab world expert and defence witness Hans Jansen of supporting the trial at a 2010 dinner party.

"It isn't plausible that Schalken tried to influence Jansen," said Judge van Ousten. "We cannot conclude that the defendant's rights were violated."

The allegations against Wilders arise partly from the 2008 short film "Fitna", in which he mixes Koranic verses with footage of extremist attacks.

The fact that those "extremist attacks" were inspired and motivated by those Qur'an verses doesn't seem to matter to the Dutch Sharia court.

Wilders likens the Koran to Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf".

The MP, whose Party for Freedom came third in elections last year and gives parliamentary support to a right-leaning coalition, faces up to a year in jail or a 7,600 euro (10,300 dollar) fine for comments made in his campaign to "stop the Islamisation of The Netherlands."

An attack of this magnitude on a major base in a major city is the Pakistani Taliban's way of sending a message to Islamabad: "Knock, knock."

Never mind bin Laden; Pakistan has something altogether new to be embarrassed about. Meanwhile, the attack may "revive" concerns about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal for some (as the country works furiously to expand a stockpile already larger than Britain's), but for many of us, they never went away in the first place. An update on this story. "Pakistan: Troops 'end attack' on Karachi naval air base," from BBC News, May 23:

Pakistani troops have ended a siege by militants who attacked a naval base in the city of Karachi, navy sources say.

The troops are now said to be "mopping up" after the raid, which has left 10 soldiers and at least three attackers dead.

Reports that hostages including some foreigners were taken were denied. Some militants may still be in the compound.

The Pakistan Taliban says the raid was to avenge Osama Bin Laden's killing by US special forces on 2 May.

"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama Bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful," Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters news agency.

They have carried out several attacks since then.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said 10 soldiers had died and 15 were wounded in the attack.

Two attackers were also killed and a third blew himself up. An unexploded suicide jacket and live grenades were found, the minister added.

There were 17 foreigners at the site, including 11 Chinese aviation trainers, but all are safe, Mr Malik said.

The attack is similiar to a raid in October 2009 in which Taliban militants laid siege to the army headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, killing dozens.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says the Karachi incident will revive fears about the security of Pakistan's nuclear installations.

Aircraft burned

On Sunday evening at 2230 (1730 GMT), militants stormed three hangars housing aircraft at the Mehran naval aviation base, according to officials.

Their first targets were aircraft parked on the tarmac and equipment in nearby hangers, says the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan at the scene.

Eyewitnesses say the militants used rocket-propelled grenades to damage and destroy several warplanes. These included the Pakistan navy's premier anti-submarine and marine surveillance aircraft - the US-made P-3C Orion.

At least two of these multi-million dollar planes were set ablaze.

The Taliban can't shoot these aircraft down, so they have to set them on fire on the ground.

The gunmen then opened indiscriminate fire, killing several naval personnel as they carried their raid into the heart of the base....

Democracy On The March Update: "Palestinian Figure Calls Iran 'Source of Islamic Awakening' in Region," from the Fars News Agency, May 23:

TEHRAN (FNA)- A prominent Palestinian figure in Lebanon said that popular uprisings and the growing awakening among the regional nations are inspired by Islam and the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

"We are witnessing an Islamic spirit in the Arab revolutions, and I prefer to call them Islamic Revolutions," Head of the Palestinian Islamic Council in Lebanon Sheikh Mohammad Nimr Zaghmout told FNA on Monday.

"This has been the divine power and the power of Islam which has led the revolutionary people in the regional countries to victory," Zaghmout stated, underlining the Islamic nature of the regional uprisings.

He also stressed the spiritual influence of Iran's Islamic Revolution on the recent and current uprisings in the region, and added, "I would like to emphasize the point that we wouldn't have witnessed such revolutions and Islamic awakenings today, if an Islamic awakening had not taken place in Iran 32 year ago and if the Islamic Revolution (of Iran) had not achieved victory."

Late in April, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underscored the profound and vast influence of Iran's Islamic Revolution on the growing wave of Islamic awakening in the region, and voiced confidence about the desirable outcomes of the current popular uprisings.

"Thanks to Islam and Islamic Revolution, a public Islamic awakening has happened in the region today, which will definitely yield its results as it has already yielded its results in certain points," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a group of Iranian people here in Tehran.

"The more the people's determination, faith and readiness for sacrifice grow, the higher the chances of victory will be," the Leader continued.

Ayatollah Khamenei also stressed that recent developments in the region have surprised the US, European and Zionists, and warned that the arrogant powers have conspired plots to gain control over these developments.

As regards the outcomes of the recent Islamic awakening in the region, Ayatollah Khamenei assured that "this movement will eventually serve the interests of the people of the region in future"....

Amnesty International criticized Sharia caning in Aceh; in response, Islamic clerics claim they're motivated by "ignorance" and "dislike of Islam" -- demonstrating that Islamic clerics the world over react in exactly the same way to any criticism. "Aceh Clerics Hit Back at Amnesty International’s Statement," by Nurdin Hasan in the Jakarta Globe, May 23:

Banda Aceh. Acehnese clerics have criticized Amnesty International's call for the Indonesian government to repeal a bylaw that allowed caning, arguing that the practice did not violate any regulation in the world.

In a statement released on Sunday, Amnesty said that caning violated the UN Convention Against Torture, which Indonesia ratified in 1998, and urged central government to review the bylaw to conform with international and national human rights laws and standards.

Clerics in Banda Aceh, however, dismissed the criticism, saying it originated from an ignorance of Shariah law, Islam and Indonesia.

“It is their right to criticize,” said Teungku Muslim Ibrahim, head of the province’s Consultative Assembly of Ulema (MPU) and a professor at Aceh's State Islamic Institute (IAIN). “But as long as they do not seek to understand Shariah, they will continue to criticize something they know little about.”

He said the regulation governing caning as judicial punishment was in line with the country’s laws and did “not violate any regulation in the world.”

Caning adopted partial Shariah Law in 2001 as part of an autonomy package aimed at quelling separatist sentiment. Caning carried out there is mainly aimed at causing shame rather than injury. It is also used as a mandatory punishment for certain crimes in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

“People criticize because they don't understand. The rules in Aceh are clear,” Muslim said. “The Koran says that those who believe in Allah and Rasulullah Muhammad Sallalaahu Alaihi Wassalam must not abide by laws other than the ones determined by their God."

He added that caning did not violate the UN Convention on Human Rights because the convention respected compromises made by a community, big or small.

“Moreover, the Islamic community in Aceh is a majority. Caning is only applied to Islamic followers,” Muslim said, adding that regulations applied to the size and length of the cane as well as the distance between the Shariah violator and punishment executor.

When under pressure, claim "Islamophobia" and blame the Jews:

Teungku Faisal Ali, the head of the Aceh chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said those who criticized caning in Aceh tended to "dislike" Islam.

“Why didn't they criticize caning in Singapore? Why didn't they protest the banning of the head scarf in France? Why didn't they protest Israel, which keeps on violating the UN resolutions?” said Faisal, who is also the secretary of Aceh's Dayah Ulama Association (Huda), an organization comprised of the province's traditional ulema.

“I think Amnesty International doesn't have to intervene [sic] the application of Islamic Shariah in Aceh,” he added.

“Tell me, what law is violated in Aceh's application of Shariah? What we apply in Aceh is a national law, which has been acknowledged as part of Aceh's special autonomy. Everyone must respect Islamic Shariah in Aceh,” he said.

"My Journey Toward Islamoawareness" was posted by Lawrence Meyers at Big Peace on May 21 (thanks to all who sent this in), but Meyers explains that "a friend who works in Hollywood penned this essay which I thought would be of interest to BigPeace readers. He would gladly have contributed it directly, but as he works in Hollywood, he is concerned about the “non-existent” blacklist, and asked that I post it for him." What this Hollywood guy calls "Islamoawareness" is exactly the same thing that I was trying to sum up in a word I coined some time ago, "Islamorealism": a clear-sighted antidote to "Islamophobia" and Islamophobophobia.

I use the term “Islamoawareness” because people who are critical of Islamic doctrine are often smeared as “Islamophobes”. I reject this label because a “phobia” is an irrational fear of something, but to fear something that is, indeed, out to kill you is the height of rationality.

I started this journey after 9/11, but not immediately after. As shocked as I was that nearly 3,000 lives were brutally snuffed out by Islamic terrorists, I bought the line that George Bush and Tony Blair parroted; namely, that Islam is a “religion of peace” that had been “hijacked” by extremists. So, I dismissed Osama bin Laden as nothing more than a homicidal extremist, and I really didn’t examine it any deeper.

But then I happened to see a billboard on Sunset Blvd. around May 2005. The billboard had some words on it I had never seen before, including “dhimmitude”, “Eurabia” and “Bat Y’eor”, and the address of a website, jihadwatch.org. (You can see the billboard here.)

That was our Jihad Watch billboard from six years ago!

Naturally curious, I wanted to know what these new words meant, so that night I Googled “dhimmitude”, and my journey to Islamoawareness officially began. I visited the Jihadwatch website, found out about Robert Spencer, started to read his books, got a copy of the Qu’ran to verify the verses he was quoting, and read many other books besides. [...]

I learned about Muhammad; how he is held as an “excellent example of conduct” (33:21) for Muslims to follow even today, but then I learned the historical record (in the hadith; the collections of his doings and sayings, and in biographies written by pious Muslims) shows that he owned slaves, raped the female ones (in a couple of cases shortly after having their husbands killed), robbed caravans, tortured a man to find out where he hid his treasure–by building a fire on his chest, married a 6 year-old, and had sex with her when she was 9–and he struck her, too. He had all the men of an entire tribe slaughtered, and had his critics assassinated. And these are excellent examples of conduct?

And I learned a whole new vocabulary: “jihad”, “kaffir”, “dhimmi”, “dhimmitude”, “jizya, “taquiya”, “ijtihad”, “abrogation”, “nakbha”, “hijira”, and “lan astaslem”....

Read it all. And check out his reading list:

Here’s the bibliography that has led me to my conclusions about Islam:

-The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades by Robert Spencer (2005)

-Islam Unveiled by Robert Spencer (2003)

-The Truth About Muhammad by Robert Spencer (2007)

-Stealth Jihad by Robert Spencer (2008)

-Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2008)

-Because They Hate by Bridget Gabriel (2008)

-My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (2008)

-Why I Am Not A Muslim by Ibn Warraq (2003)...

There is much more.

Why is it unlikely in the extreme that Barack Obama is a tool of the "Zionist lobby"? Well, for one thing, he has consistently allied with enemies of Israel throughout his political career. For another, his "1967 lines" recommendation, whatever he ultimately means, would weaken Israel to the point that its future survival would be in doubt. For a brief explanation of Obama's latest statements see Pamela Geller's latest, "Obama gaslights the Jews."

"Islamic Jihad: Unsurprised at 'weak' Obama's speech," by Elior Levy for Ynet News, May 23:

Senior Islamic Jihad member Azzam Nafez says his organization was unsurprised at a speech by US President Barack Obama. [...] "Obama is a weak and helpless man in the face of the Zionist lobby and everyone needs to realize this," he said.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide but protected by the African Union and Arab League with the support of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, made clear his intentions to impose Sharia even more intensively on his territory once the south seceded. And al-Bashir has not even attempted to hoodwink the West with empty promises of "Sharia Lite," saying "Sharia law has always stipulated that one must whip, cut, or kill."

That is what is at stake for Abyei, and anything else al-Bashir sets his sights upon. "Sudan: UN urges Khartoum to pullout from Abyei region," from BBC News, May 22:

South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but Abyei is still claimed by both sides

UN Security Council envoys have urged North Sudan to "withdraw immediately" its troops from the contested Abyei region on the border with South Sudan.

The call was made by the French, Russian and US ambassadors to the UN.

South Sudan said the Abyei takeover was an act of war, saying civilians and southern soldiers were killed.

South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but Abyei's status remains to be determined after a referendum on its future was shelved.

People in the Southern capital of Juba are worried and there is a grim mood on the streets of the capital, the BBC's Peter Martell in South Sudan reports.

The North said it acted after 22 of its men were killed in a southern ambush earlier this week.

Residents flee

"The members of the Security Council call upon the government of Sudan to halt its military operation and withdraw immediately from Abyei town and its environs," the French ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, said in Khartoum.

"They condemn the escalatory military operation being undertaken by the Sudanese armed forces. This constitutes a serious violation of the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005)," Mr Araud said.

He was speaking during a joint news conference with his Russian and US counterparts.

Separately, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton condemned the violence in Abyei.

A southern military spokesman earlier told the BBC the North had attacked the area with 5,000 troops, killing civilians and southern soldiers.

Some 20,000 people, almost the whole population of the town, had fled, aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC....

In accord with the traditional canons of dhimmi status. "Islamic leaders question non-Muslim rights," by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani for the Malaysian Insider, May 22 (thanks to Bren):

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 – Several Islamic leaders have questioned the loyalty of non-Muslims in the country, declaring today the community’s rights must be re-evaluated if Malaysia is to call itself an Islamic state.

Former president of Islamic Da’wah Foundation Malaysia (Yadim), Datuk Nakhaie Ahmad, said treatment of non-Muslims must be based on the social contract agreed and pointed out that the government has been too gracious to the community.

“In attempts to get vote and support of non-Muslims, we have been very gracious in giving them their civil rights. Civil rights given to them includes the rights to vote, participation in politics, hold office, involvement in the military and so forth but we cannot just willingly give them everything.

“Our offer must be based on religious practices. If we look at the prophet’s agreement in the Madinah constitution, civil rights were given to the Jews but the rights must be paid back with responsibility. They must have the responsibility and agree to defend our country and not insult the agreement,” he said during a forum here.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared Malaysia an Islamic state a decade ago in a move to counter PAS’ growing influence among the country’s key Malay Muslim population.

The issue cropped up this month when several groups asked for amendments to the Federal Constitution to stipulate only Muslims can be the prime minister after Utusan Malaysia carried an unsubstantiated report of a Christian plot to usurp Islam’s position as religion of the federation.

Nakhaie stressed that non-Muslims that have broken the social contract must be expelled from the country and asked the government to adopt a tough approach in safeguarding Muslim interest.

“If the agreement is broken then actions must be taken against them. If they break our agreement then they are our enemy and must be expelled from the country. We must not compromise with them. We must be stern with them when it comes to the social contract agreed,” he said.

Nakhaie added it is important that high level government positions not be awarded to non-Muslims for national security.

“We cannot give them important government position as it is not allowed for non-Muslims to become ministers in a Islamic state. Head of military must also not be given to non-Muslims.

“Without thinking about the future of our country, we are so willing to give them everything. Granting them their civil rights must be balanced with Islamic preaching so they will understand justice in Islam and the Islamic system,” said the former PAS member who defected to Umno years ago.

He also warned Muslims to unite as non-Muslims will become stronger if the community continues to quarrel among themselves.

“They are brave now and are willing to say anything because they are becoming dominant. They (non-muslim political parties) are only working with us to only achieve their goals. It is a marriage of convenience. We know what is their programme. We are already losing economically and now we want to give political rights?” he asked....

Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) deputy president, Dr Mohd Rumaizuddin Ghazali, also stressed that Malaysia must never become a secular state.

“This is why many non-Muslim politicians want to declare the country as a secular state because then the government will not have fund religious programmes.

“They are scared that if we accept Malaysia as an Islamic state then there are many implications which means that only Muslims have the right to lead the country,” he said.

Mohd Rumaizuddin added that the Malays are beginning to be trampled on and non-Muslims are starting to take advantage of the community.

“Because of politics, we are still not free after more than 50 years of independence,” he said.

Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia president Abdul Hakim Othman added the country’s constitution must be replaced as it has been stained by the colonial British.

“A Caliphate state is based on divine revelation. It is not a democratic or a theocratic state. It is only an Islamic state when the constitution is based on the Quran and prophetic traditions,” he said.

After his disastrous speech Thursday, Obama went to AIPAC to try to reassure Jews and all supporters of Israel. However, Pamela Geller was not reassured:

Obama's declaration that the U.S./Israel relationship was ironclad does not reassure me. I am dubious about Obama's promise. Obama's idea of ironclad is sketchy at best. After all, in 2008 Obama vowed at the AIPAC conference that Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of the state of Israel if he was elected. He walked back on that promise the next day. In 2009 at Cairo University (with the Muslim Brotherhood in attendance at his invitation), he called on Israel to stop all the settlement activity, and created a crisis in US/Israel relations when Israel approved 1600 houses in Jerusalem. And of course last week, Obama caused fright and worry amongst freedom-loving peoples when he endorsed the Auschwitz borders. I am glad that he said that the UN won't create "Palestine," and while this is elemental, with Obama, you gotta be happy with any crumb. When he said that Israel's isolation in the international arena won't be sanctioned or tolerated, he did not expand upon that. So while his propaganda ministers will spin this for the Jewish campaign dollar, when you really look at it, it's a lot of empty rhetoric. He used AIPAC today to reassure the Jews ....... and many bought the ruse.

Read it all.

More revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden, which of course all Muslims except for a Tiny Minority of Extremists heartily applauded. "Pakistan Taliban Claims Attack on US Diplomatic Convoy," by Phil Ittner for VOA News, May 20 (thanks to Tom):

The Pakistani Taliban say they are responsible for a deadly bomb attack on two U.S. consulate vehicles in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The militant group said Friday's violence was in revenge for the U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this month.

The blast in Peshawar occurred in the morning hours as U.S. personnel were traveling to work at the American consulate in a two-vehicle, armored convoy.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Alberto Gonzalez said Pakistani authorities are investigating the incident.

"On the road they were attacked by an improvised explosive device which exploded and damaged one of the vehicles, the two personnel inside were slightly injured," said Gonzales.

Pakistani officials say the blast killed one local bystander and wounded at least 11 other people.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and warned of further violence.

The attack is the first targeting Westerners in Pakistan, since U.S. special forces killed bin Laden during a May 2 raid in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

There have been other deadly attacks claimed by the Taliban in the meantime, including twin suicide bombings last week that killed more than 80 recruits at a police academy in the country's northwest....

It's come to this. For jihadists to stage an open attack a military installation in a major city is a serious escalation and a direct consequence of Pakistan's double game, selectively tolerating and attempting to leverage jihadist movements against its enemies and rivals. "Militants attack Pakistan navy base, four dead," from Reuters, May 22:

(Reuters) - Militants attacked a naval aviation base in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Sunday, killing at least four people, security officials said.

Intelligence officials said between 15 and 20 attackers were inside the Mehran base, and had attacked three hangars housing aircraft.

Witnesses said they heard sounds of gunshots and could see smoke rising from the buildings.

"We have four dead and five wounded but the number could rise," a security official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

Senior police official Tahir Naveed said attackers were fighting with base personnel.

TV footage showed fire and a cloud of smoke.

Dunya TV said a four-engine naval aircraft was on fire.

Al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants, who have vowed to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces, have carried out several attacks since his death on May 2.

On April 28, suspected militants detonated a roadside bomb in the Pakistani city of Karachi, killing four members of the navy, the third attack on the navy in a week.

The attack came two days after two bombs hit buses carrying navy personnel, killing four people and wounding 56. Taliban insurgents took responsibility for the twin attacks.

The Taliban are continuing their trend of going after softer targets like banks, malls, and hospitals for maximum disruption and terror. "Taliban hit Khost police station," from UPI, May 22:

KHOST, Afghanistan, May 22 (UPI) -- Taliban militants seized control of a traffic police building in Khost, Afghanistan, Sunday, killing three officers, a police official said.

"Apparently three to four suicide bombers armed with rifles entered the traffic police department in provincial capital Khost city, so far I can confirm three traffic police officers have been killed," provincial police Chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai told the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

At least four other people were injured in the 4:30 a.m. attack, which included the detonation of a bomb in front of the building before the militants wearing border police uniforms rushed inside, Xinhua said.

Deputy Provincial Police Chief Mohammed Yaqoob Noorzia told the New York Times the insurgents were wearing bomb-laden vests and were armed with rocket propelled grenades and AK-47 weapons.

It took nearly four hours for Afghan and NATO troops to secure the building, The Times said, although what happened to the attackers wasn't immediately clear.

"We don't know how many of the suicide bombers blew themselves up and how many were killed in the firefight with police," Noorzia said.

But not too much. Turkey's foreign minister stops short of threatening military action to protect the upcoming Jihad Flotilla 2.0, but the threat is clearly there, deliberately and menacingly vague. "Turkey warns Israel over new Gaza flotilla," from Agence France-Presse, May 22:

Turkey on Saturday warned Israel against another act of bloodshed in international waters after activists announced plans to send a new aid flotilla to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

"It should be known that Turkey will give the necessary response to any repeated act of provocation by Israel on the high seas," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview on NTV television.

"Those who believe Turkey should take certain steps to stop (the new flotilla) must first warn Israel not to repeat the human tragedy it caused last year," he said.

On May 31 last year, Israeli commandoes swarmed aboard the Turkish flagship of an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza, killing nine Turks in international waters and plunging ties with Ankara into deep crisis.

The Istanbul-based Islamist movement which had spearheaded the mission said Friday that a new convoy of ships would sail to Gaza in the last week of June.

Will they be singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in a round this year, instead of "Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return"?

Around 1,500 activists from more than 100 countries will take part in the convoy, organized by 22 civic groups, it said.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...

'We've never encouraged convoy'

Asked whether Ankara had made any attempt to dissuade the group from the campaign, Davutoglu said: "We have never encouraged any convoy. We have shared our views about the safety of our citizens with all related parties. That was the case last year and it is not any different this time."

The minister insisted however that his Islamist-rooted government "cannot give instructions to civil society" and that Israel's "unlawful" blockade of Gaza lay at the core of the tensions.

He urged the United States and the international community to back a recent reconciliation deal between the radical Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the secular Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas....

Turkey, welcome to your future. Where threats from Islamic groups are allowed to shut down one event and their behavior is tolerated, they will try it again, with ever flimsier excuses. And civil society will spiral down the drain as it becomes accepted that the threat of piously thuggish behavior cancels the rights to free speech, expression, and association.

What is tolerated today to stick it to the Israelis will come back to haunt Turkish society. "Cameri theater cancels Turkey show after Islamic threats," from the Jerusalem Post, May 22:

Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy on Sunday said that the Cameri theater company was forced to cancel the play "You Shook My Heart" in Antalya after radical Islamic protesters threatened to disrupt the performance.

Levy called on the troupe to cancel the play following warnings from Turkish authorities that protests could break out in the theater.

Company director Noam Semel told Army Radio that he canceled the play because he could not endanger the 21 person crew. Shemel explained that he had held performances abroad at least 100 times and could not remember an incident like this.

"We received a significant concern about a group of people who bought tickets in a bulk manner," Actor Rami Baruch, who plays a referee in the play told Army Radio. "These are people whose intentions are not innocent. There were calls on many internet web sites to gather and oppose this specific play."

On the dates of the performance a number of radical Islamic and anti-Israel demonstrations are expected to be held, Baruch explained. "In the coming days, the anniversary rally for the [Turkish Mavi] Marmara flotilla will be held, and apparently some relatives of those injured on the flotilla live in the city," he said. "In addition to this, Nakba Day and [assassinated Hezbollah terrorist Imad] Mughniyeh also interfered in the incident."

Along with Nakba and Marmara day, it is also voting day for the Turkish government.

"A demonstration in support of a radical Muslim party is expected to be held right in front of the theater," Baruch added. "According to estimates, about 5,000 people are expected to attend the rally, and there is a risk that people will come from the rally to the theater."

"Several days ago me and the rest of the actors joked about a targeted assassination attempt against us," Baruch said. "Of course we said it humorously, since we relied on the embassy's management. We trusted that they were doing their jobs properly. Apparently when we arrived here, the threats became worse. It's too bad, because we simply wanted to bring love."

A tough sell for people who consider you the "vilest of creatures" (Qur'an 98:6).

The theater crew is scheduled to return to Israel later Sunday.

Not civil police, but religious police. This is a matter for Sharia, and of upholding the segregation of men and women. That is why this issue is so resistant to reform.

And while Manal al-Sherif argues that women's ability to drive is a matter of safety for the women and those they could help in an emergency, one must remember that this is the same country where in 2002, the Saudi religious police beat young girls back into a burning school in Mecca rather than allowing them to go outdoors unveiled. Fifteen girls died.

Clearly, piety trumps safety. "Saudi woman detained for defying driving ban," from the Associated Press, May 22:

Authorities detained a Saudi woman on Saturday after she launched a campaign against the driving ban for women in the ultraconservative kingdom and posted a video of herself behind the wheel on Facebook and YouTube to encourage others to copy her.

Manal al-Sherif and a group of other women started a Facebook page called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself," which urges authorities to lift the driving ban. She went on a test drive in the eastern city of Khobar and later posted a video of the experience.

"This is a volunteer campaign to help the girls of this country" learn to drive, al-Sherif says in the video. "At least for times of emergency, God forbid. What if whoever is driving them gets a heart attack?"

Human rights activist Walid Abou el-Kheir said al-Sherif was detained by the country's religious police, who are charged with ensuring the kingdom's rigid interpretation of Islamic teachings are observed.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban women - both Saudi and foreign - from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor....

You know a seductive left-turn signal could just topple the whole society like a house of cards.

OBL is simultaneously a hero for attacking the United States, and a stooge of the Great Satan. "Iranian Children's TV Show Depicts U.S. Using Bin Laden to Carry Out 9/11," from MEMRI, May 13 (thanks to Block Ness):

Following are excerpts from an Iranian children's show on Osama bin Laden and 9/11. The show aired on Iranian Channel 2 on May 13, 2011:

Presenter (Saeed): "Children, these days you've been hearing, time and again, about the killing of Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Al-Qaeda group. How was Osama bin Laden created? From where did Al-Qaeda emerge?

"To explain it to you, let me say that Mr. bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1957. About 30 years ago, the USSR invaded Afghanistan and waged a war against it. As you know, the USSR was an adversary of America. America wanted to fight them, but not directly. Therefore, they brought Mr. bin Laden from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan, and helped him to establish a group called Al-Qaeda. He received financial aid and military equipment and training from the U.S. All the documents are available."

Child portraying the Americans: "Okay, Mr. bin Laden? No problem?"

Bin Laden: "It's okay, but I have very little money."

Child portraying the Americans: "Don't worry. Money is no object."

Bin Laden: "Well done. In your honor, I will shoot a partridge now."

Bin Laden shoots down two birds.

Child portraying the Americans: "All these birds?!"

Bin Laden: "They are very tasty."

Presenter (Saeed): "Did you see? That's how it was. After the war between the USSR and Afghanistan ended, nobody heard of bin Laden or his group for a long time. There was silence about them, but [Al-Qaeda] maintained its ties with America behind the scenes, so that when conditions were ripe for America, it would use this group again. This is how it was until September 11, 2001, with regard to which documents are available as well."...

Read it all.

And where is that money coming from? From our gas pumps. And note here again the connection to Islamic charities. This should not surprise anyone: in Islam, funding jihad is a meritorious, charitable act.

"'Pakistani jihad networks funded by Saudi, UAE charities,'" from Reuters, May 22 (thanks to Tziona):

Islamic charities from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates financed a network in US ally Pakistan that recruited children as young as eight to wage holy war, a Pakistani newspaper reported on Sunday, citing Wikileaks.

A US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks said financial support estimated at $100 million a year was making its way from those Gulf Arab states to a jihadist recruitment network in Pakistan's Punjab province, Dawn newspaper reported.

The November 2008 dispatch by Bryan Hunt, the then principal officer at the US consulate in Lahore, was based on discussions with local government and non-governmental sources during trips to Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province.

It said those sources claimed that financial aid from Saudi and United Arab Emirates was coming from "missionary" and "Islamic charitable" organizations ostensibly with the direct support of those countries' governments....

But militancy is deeply rooted in Pakistan. In order to eradicate it, analysts say, the government must improve economic conditions to prevent militants from recruiting young men disillusioned with the state.

The network in Punjab reportedly exploited worsening poverty to indoctrinate children and ultimately send them to training camps, said the cable.

The idea that poverty causes terrorism has been refuted again and again, but unfortunately the fact that the connection is made in a cable like this only means that the solution will be to pour more money into Pakistan. Ironically, that money will also be used to fund jihad, not to fight against it.

Saudi Arabia, home to the fundamentalist Wahhabi brand of Islam, is seen as funding some of Pakistan's hardline religious seminaries, or madrassas, which churn out young men eager for holy war, posing a threat to the stability of the region.

"At these madrassas, children are denied contact with the outside world and taught sectarian extremism, hatred for non-Muslims, and anti-Western/anti-Pakistan government philosophy," said the cable.

It described how "families with multiple children" and "severe financial difficulties" were being exploited and recruited, Dawn reported.

"The path following recruitment depends upon the age of the child involved. Younger children (between 8 and 12) seem to be favored," said the cable.

Teachers in seminaries would assess the inclination of children "to engage in violence and acceptance of jihadi culture".

"The initial success of establishing madrassas and mosques in these areas led to subsequent annual "donations" to these same clerics, originating in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates," the cable stated.

This is the same Ahmad Shuja Pasha who is accused of complicity in the Mumbai jihad mass-murders. "Pakistan spy chief asks U.S. to end drone strikes: report," by Kamran Haider and Rebecca Conway for Reuters, May 22 (thanks to Ima):

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's intelligence chief has reportedly asked the United States to stop its drone strikes in the country, a newspaper reported on Sunday, touching on an issue that has become more sensitive since the killing of Osama bin Laden strained ties.

The local Express Tribune said Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director Ahmad Shuja Pasha made the request in a meeting on Saturday with CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell.

"We will be forced to respond if you do not come up with a strategy that stops the drone strikes," Pasha is reported to have told Morell, the newspaper said on its website.

Pakistan is under intense U.S. pressure to explain how bin Laden lived in a town not far from the capital, by some accounts for more than five years, undetected.

Islamabad condemned the killing of bin Laden as a violation of its sovereignty. The bin Laden case has severely strained already uneasy ties between allies Washington and Islamabad....

"With the drone strikes our stance is very clear - they are much more harmful than they help," said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas.

"With the CIA and the ISI it is also very clear - it (the CIA) should be sharing with them (the ISI) what the number of operatives here is, and where they are working, what they are doing, that sort of thing."

Morell also met operational leaders of the ISI and members of its counter-terrorism division.

"Both sides are reported to have discussed a way forward that would involve the U.S. stopping its drone strikes and expanding joint U.S.-Pakistan operations against militants," said the newspaper....

ISI officials, meanwhile, demanded access to information U.S. commandos obtained from bin Laden's compound.

So they can know which other al-Qaeda guys to move to new safe houses.

They missed Zardari's "peace and tranquility" memo in Punjab. This story describes three recent incidents; for the frequency with which such stories come out of Pakistan, one can only wonder what else goes on unreported. "Punjab, anti-Christian violence: nurses sequestered, families evicted from home," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, May 21:

Lahore (AsiaNews) - In the province of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous area, new cases of anti-Christian violence are emerging. Two nurses at the Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, were attacked and abducted for several hours by a fellow Muslim. The man also charged them with theft after stealing their mobile phone and a sum of money. In a second incident, a group of Muslims - at the behest of a former MP of the area - attacked the houses of two Christians, to force the owners to abandon them and transfer the land ownership over to him.

Nusrat Bibi and Muneeran Bibi are two Christian nurses at Fatima Memorial Hospital in Lahore. A hospital source reports that in recent days the two women were attacked and abducted by a Muslim doctor, who works in the same building. He allegedly stole Nusrat ‘s mobile phone, a sum of money from Muneeran and when the girl put up resistance he attacked her. Then it was Nusrat’s turn to suffer, as the doctor beat her repeatedly with a wooden stick reducing her clothing to tatters.

The source speaking on condition of anonymity, added that the nurses "were segregated for more than nine hours." The hospital administration contends that the two Christian women are guilty of theft, although they were not found in possession of any object. Fr. Joseph Xavier, priest and local activist, speaks of a "brutal act" against two workers who "did not steal anything" and whose only crime is "being Christian" and "victims of brutality."

The second incident occurred on May 18 in Jattan Jalal, a town in the Gujrat district. A group of Muslims, hired by a former local lawmaker, invaded the homes of two Christian families to seize the buildings and surrounding farmland. Local priest Fr. Naveed Dominic confirms that the politician “'has set his sights on the land" belonging to Christians, who in the past "have received threats from various groups " but have never wanted to "leave their property. "

The group of Muslims threw furniture out of the house and property of the Christian families, attacking the women present at the time of the raid. Some local residents tried to contact the police, but officers refused to intervene. Fr. Dominic adds: "The church has received threats not to meddle in the affair." The priest confirms that "the authorities are turning a deaf ear, because cases of persecution and anti-Christian violence reported" do not seem to interest them. "

The climate of indifference, marginalization and violence against the religious minority is confirmed by a third episode. On 18 May the health care workers of the General Hospital in Lahore refused to treat a policeman wounded in a shooting earlier, because of his Christian faith. The ER chief doctor delayed his admittance on discovering that police agent Mushtaq Shaukat Masih was of Christian faith. Even a doctor who intervened later supported his colleague’s decision.

Wounded and exasperated by the situation, the policeman pulled the service weapon striking the doctor with the butt of his gun. He did not, however, noticed that it was loaded and, in the collision, a shot was fired wounding a person present at the time. The Christian policemand [sic] was taken to another facility where he received appropriate medical care. Doctors at the first hospital have filed a complaint against him, but from the earliest records, judges seem to be willing to drop the charges because the victim was provoked.

Yesterday I posted here at Jihad Watch about an Episcopal church in New Jersey that plans tomorrow to feature the Islamic call to prayer and readings from the Qur'an.

The original article was entitled "Interfaith Service at St. John’s Parish in Montclair." I entitled my post "New Jersey Episcopal church to feature Muslim call to prayer, Qur'an readings this Sunday."

Today, Iran's Ahlul Bayt News Agency (which is actually hosted out of Qom, not Tehran) carried the original article, but with this headline: "New Jersey Episcopal Church to Feature Islamic Call to Prayer, Koran Readings This Sunday." Not only did they lift my headline, but they omitted exactly the paragraphs that I omitted and included only those that I included in my post. They cut out, unsurprisingly, my commentary.

Nice to know they're reading Jihad Watch in Iran. I invite the editors of the Ahlul Bayt News Agency to study the commentary they read here, and to reevaluate and discard their Islamic supremacism. Stick around, stay awhile, study the archives. Make yourselves at home!

His prediction also matches that of another "Islamist" politician in Egypt, just reported yesterday. Did these guys call each other?

No, what we have is another case of striking uniformity in alleged "misunderstanders" of Islam that are geographically well removed from one another. Funny how that keeps happening. "Muslim Brotherhood leader of Tunisia calls for an end to Israel," from Spero News, May 21 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Arab media has reported an interview with Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi in which he calls for and predicts the end of Israel. According a Muslim World News translation of the interview in the London-based Elaph:

Ghannouchi is developing / has developed a new strategy for post-revolutionary Tunis, and calls it “The jurisprudence of building, economic growth and construction”, and a new political perception of joint work and tolerance between the different political forces Nahda supports the foundation of a democracy, and preserving Tunis. * Ghannouchi praises the role that Qatar played in the Tunisian and Arab revolutions by adopting them in the media; Qatar provided a platform to their spokesmen * Ghannouchi says that the Tunisian revolution is a true popular revolution. He has confidence in it in spite of the attempts to arrouse a counter revolution * In the next four years, the IUMS plans to establish four universities, one Arab speaking in Turkey, and another is the Tunisian defunct Zaytuna. Ghannouchi supports the Libyan revolution, and hopes it succeeds and joins the other successful revolutions *

Ghannouchi maintains that altogether the Arab revolutions are positive for the Palestinians, and threaten to bring Israel to an end. He says that the Palestinian problem lies at the heart of the Nation [umma], and that all the land between the mosque in Mecca and Jerusalem represents the heart of the Islamic Nation, and any [foreign] control over part of this heart is a stamp on the umma’s illness. There is no doubt, he continues, that the revolutions open a new age, in which the regimes which support the West and Israel fall – Egypt, Tunis and soon Libya, Yemen and Syria. The foundations of Western interests in the Arab countries are shaking. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, he concludes, said that Israel will come to an end prior to 2027; this date looks far, and may be Israel will come to an end sooner.

Earlier posts reported on the return of Mr. Ghannouchi to Tunisia following his long exile in the UK.

An Egyptian news report has identified Rashid Ghannouchi (many spelling variations) as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood “abroad.” Ghannouchi is the leader of the Tunisian Islamist movement known as Nahada (aka Ennahda, Al Nahda) and can best be described as an independent Islamist power center who is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood though his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and his important position in the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), both organizations led by Global Muslim Brotherhood Youssef Qaradawi. Al-Ghannouchi is also one of the founding members of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi organization closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and dedicated to the propagation of “Wahabist” Islam throughout the world. Ghannouchi is known for his thinking on the issue of Islam and citizenship rights.

In 1994, scholar Martin Kramer reported on the extremist background of Mr. Ghannouchi. According to that report:

Assuming a valid distinction can be made between Islamists who are “extremist” and “reformist,” Ghannouchi clearly belongs to the first category. Since his last visit to the United States, he has openly threatened U.S. interests, supported Iraq against the United States and campaigned against the Arab-Israeli peace process. Indeed, Ghannouchi in exile has personified the rejection of U.S. policies, even as he dispatches missives to the State Department.

Kramer notes the following statement by Mr. Ghannouchi in which he alleges that Jews are behind a “worldwide campaign against Islam”:....

The first incident was for "Nakba Day," and the next is to commemorate the start of the Six-Day-War. You may be noticing a pattern: these spectacles are designed to demand a do-over for wars in which Arab Muslim states were handed embarrassing losses when they thought they could polish off the Jewish state fairly easily, once and for all. They want to take another shot at it, or at least create enough trouble to goad a credulous international community into making land grabs on their behalf in consolation for military conflicts they could not win.

An update on this story. "Palestinian group calls for more 'Nakba Day' style riots," from the Jerusalem Post, May 21:

The Pro-Palestinian group that organized "Nakba Day" marches announced on Saturday that they were planning further protests on June 5, the day that the Six Day War broke out. The announcement, which was published on the Internet, called on Palestinians in foreign countries to fly to Israel and land at airports within the state.

The group called on Palestinian refugees to hold demonstrations at the borders between Israel and Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Gaza Strip....

They don't make the rules, they just go on rampages to enforce them: Islamic law forbids the construction of new churches or the repair of existing ones. And closed churches are expected to stay that way. As usual, the headline does its utmost to make the hatred and violence appear to be a reciprocal affair.

This latest mob intended to send the message: What we decide to break, you must not dare to fix. What we close, you will not re-open. "Muslim-Christian clashes erupt over reopening of church in Egyptian capital," from the Associated Press, May 19 (thanks to Twostellas):

CAIRO — Muslims and Christians pelted each with stones in a Cairo suburb Thursday over the reopening of a church the former regime closed years ago.

The church is one of three to be reopened as part of the Egyptian authorities’ plan to try to defuse recent religious tensions. They have promised to reopen nearly 50 churches across Egypt in an attempt to appease Christian protesters who have been holding a sit-in for more than a week along the Nile.

And how, pray tell, did 50 churches get closed? Rowdy Presbyterian tourists?

The protesters are also demanding the prosecution of those behind recent attacks on at least three churches in Cairo following the popular uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11.

Thursday’s clashes began when police accompanied a group of Christians to reopen the Church of the Virgin in the suburb of Ain Shams. More than 1,000 Muslims, including dozens of ultraconservative Salafi Muslims, tried to block the way, and the sides pelted each other with stones, a security official said.

Police detained a number of those involved and the scuffle was quickly contained, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. No injuries were reported.

The Christians then entered the church while a smaller protest continued outside, the official said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Christians who have been camping out along the Nile river outside the TV building decided not to break up their protest camp in anger at the harassment.

“It was a farce,” said Girgis Atef, a protest organizer.

About 10 percent of Egyptians are Christians. Earlier this month, mobs of Muslims, apparently urged on by the ultraconservative Salafi sect of Islam, stormed the Virgin Mary Church in the Cairo neighborhood of Imbaba and set it ablaze.

The attack was sparked by a rumor that a Christian woman planned to marry a Muslim, which some religious purists consider to be forbidden.

That description is a severe oversimplification and misrepresentation. Whether it is a lazy oversight or a deliberate revision, one cannot know, but it implies a "misunderstanding" of Islam, because Islam does permit Muslim men to marry Christian women (but, of course, forbids Christian men from marrying Muslim women).

This is what happened, according to another AP report after the incident: "A Christian woman had an affair with a Muslim man. And when she disappeared, the man spread rumors that Christian clergy had snatched her and were holding her prisoner in a local church because she converted to Islam, security officials said Monday. That brought out a mob of Muslims, led by members of the hardline movement known as Salafis, who attacked the church.... "

Echoing this report, which shows how spurious allegations of Christian abductions of Muslims (and alleged converts to Islam) in Egypt and the ensuing rampages against churches have provided a handy distraction from an increase in disappearances of Coptic girls. "Copts speak out about Egypt violence," from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, May 21 (thanks to Dumbledoresarmy):

A rally in Sydney has been told Coptic Christian women in Egypt are being abducted, raped and forced to convert to Islam.

Hundreds of Copts shouting "enough is enough" gathered in Martin Place to highlight what they say is a history of worsening violence against them in Egypt by hardline extremists.

Sam Girgis, from the People's Voice Association, says the violence has escalated since Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down in January.

He says more and more Christian women in Egypt are being abducted and forced to covert to Islam through blackmail.

"The girls are raped ... and filmed or photographed, and then this is used as a blackmail tool against them," he said.

The rally has called on the Federal Government to consider accepting Coptic Christians from Egypt as refugees.

Note how he quotes the Qur'an to explain events of the day, and says that the jihad against Israel is a religious duty. No two-state solution or any kind of negotiated settlement will pacify those who think this way. "Islamist Candidate for Egyptian Presidency: Israel's End Is Near," from MEMRI, May 20:

In an article titled "Israel's End Is Near," Dr. Muhammad Moro, an Islamist candidate for the Egyptian presidency, claimed that the path to world freedom was the destruction of Israel, as it was the spearhead of global imperialism. [...]

"I was the first to call for the liberation of Palestine through peaceful marches of millions to the borders of occupied Palestine – from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon – bringing together millions of Palestinian refugees, tens of millions of Arabs, and hundreds of millions of Muslims, in addition to those freedom seekers the world over who believe that the path to world freedom is the destruction of Israel, as it is the spearhead of the international imperialism headed by the U.S.

"It is the duty of the Palestinian refugees [to participate in these marches] and their right to fight for them. Vis-à-vis the Arabs, too, this is a national and religious duty, and it is a religious duty vis-à-vis [all] Muslims. I have already called [for such marches] in a number of articles titled 'Formula for the Liberation of Palestine,' which were published on a [particular] website at least two years ago and broadly cited on dozens of [other] websites...

"[These marches] are in line with the implication of the honorable verses: 'And We had made known to the children of Israel in the Book: Most certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and most certainly you will behave with great insolence. So when the promise for the first of the two came, We sent over you Our servants, of mighty prowess, so they ravaged the houses, and it was a promise to be accomplished... [Koran 17:4-5]' [...]

"Now that the popular Arab revolutions have succeeded through peaceful protests by millions, [such marches] are very possible. If millions proceed peacefully toward Palestine, it will send a message to the children of Israel in Palestine that they have no future. This will result in [the Jews'] emigration from Palestine, and the more marches of millions there are, the closer [we will be] to entering Palestine peacefully, liberating it, and realizing the honorable Koranic prophecy.

"I am absolutely sure that Allah's promise is real; that the honorable Koran will remain an eternal example until Judgment Day; and that Palestine will soon be liberated, Allah willing. On this occasion, I call upon all the Islamic movements fighting against the corrupt governments or the governments that serve as [foreign] agents to relinquish violence, except against foreign invaders, and to take up the path that has proven just, the path of peaceful struggle by means of marches of millions. Moreover, I call on the leaders of Al-Qaeda as well as its members not to carry out any violent actions against the Arab or Muslim peoples, or even against the European or American peoples, but to bear what the Americans did to the hero and martyr Osama bin Laden – as the path of peaceful struggle has gained international and popular legitimacy, and we must not harm it but follow this same path which has proven just..."

Now this is the kind of protest that all free people can wholeheartedly endorse. More, more! Cancel all the aid deals!

Here also is yet more evidence that most Pakistanis are not happy about the bin Laden killing, and are not on our side at all. "Pak province cancels 6 US aid deals," from Reuters, May 21 (thanks to Ashish):

LAHORE: Pakistan's most populous province has cancelled six aid agreements with the United States in protest over the US. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, its law minister said....

"We have cancelled six MOUs (memorandums of understanding) with the United States in the fields of health, education and solid waste management," said Rana Sanaullah, law minister of Punjab, the country's political nerve centre. "We have told their concerned departments about our decision. This is our protest against the Abbottabad incident."

Great, Sanaullah. Manage your own solid waste.

When is the FBI's Jewish Youth Conference? Christian Youth Conference? Hindu Youth Conference?

Of course, there will be no such, because Jews, Christians and Hindus are not committing acts of terror and justifying them by reference to the texts and teachings of their religion. It is because Muslims are doing just that that they get this outreach from the FBI -- because they have so successfully flipped the narrative. Instead of feeling any need to demonstrate their loyalty and rejection of jihad terror and Islamic supremacism, the Muslim community in the U.S. has convinced the FBI that it has to reach out to Muslims and reassure them of their good intentions. A visitor from another planet might get the idea from this outreach that the FBI had been attacking Muslims, rather than that Muslims had plotted numerous jihad attacks in the United States.

"Usama, get your gun! FBI reaches out to Muslim youth — with firepower," by Thomas Tracy for The Brooklyn Paper, May 19 (thanks to Barbara):

The FBI built bridges with Brooklyn’s Muslim community last weekend with the help of some really serious firepower.

The G-Men, as well as other federal agencies, flocked to Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach last Saturday for the first-ever FBI Muslim Youth Conference — and met 300 youngsters with one open hand and another holding bombs and rocket launchers.

Organizers say that the equipment — which included a helicopter — were just show-and-tell pieces as each agency explained what the items did and what they stood for.

“This is an important community outreach initiative,” said FBI Public Affairs Officer Tim Flannelly. “We genuinely want to foster good relationships in this community by showcasing what our capabilities are and let them know that they, too, can have opportunities in these fields if they choose.”

Mohammad Razvi, whose group, the Council of People’s Organization, organized the event, agreed that the conference would build bridges with young Muslim-Americans.

“It’s imperative that we take these steps,” Razvi said. “We have to take down this wall of ignorance, if we don’t do it now, the wall will only get bigger.”

But some local Muslim groups say the event bombed — because of the bombs.

“[The weapons] send mixed messages,” said Asghar Choudhri, president of the Pakistani American Federation of New York. “On one side, the FBI is saying that they should be trusted, and on the other side, they’re saying. ‘We have this weapon we can use against you.’ You should be friends with the federal government, not scared of it.”

But the weapons didn’t appear to intimidate the children at the conference. In fact, they couldn’t get enough of them.

“I put on a bulletproof vest and got to hold a battering ram, it was really interesting,” said 13-year-old Waleed Ahmed. “I can see myself becoming an FBI agent.”

Quaratulain Muzaffar, age 11, agreed.

“It’s a good event,” she said. “They taught us about guns and stuff.”

Neither child said he felt intimidated by the agency or worried about the FBI coming into their neighborhoods to fight terrorism.

“That’s never happened in my neighborhood,” Ahmed said. “Cops have come in, but it was nothing big. They were searching for some punk kids.”...

Why should they be "worried about the FBI coming into their neighborhoods to fight terrorism"? Shouldn't they be worried that there might be terrorists in their neighborhoods instead? Note how thoroughly and reflexively has Thomas Tracy imbibed the Muslim victimhood mindset.

Hospital jihad by a representative of the "best of people" (Qur'an 3:110). "Suicide bomber kills at least 6 in Kabul hospital," by Hamid Shalizi for Reuters, May 21 (thanks to Ima):

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least six people and wounded 23 more at a military hospital in a heavily-guarded area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The bomber struck at 12:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EDT) in the cafeteria of the hospital where medical students were eating lunch, said Mohammad Zahir, head of the police crime investigation unit. He added the dead were students.

The hospital is located in a high-security area near the U.S. embassy and where several other foreign embassies and international organizations operate.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement that the group had sent two suicide bombers into the hospital and killed many. The Taliban launched a long-awaited "spring offensive" last month....

Glad he cleared that up. Now if he could just convince the Pakistanis who are mourning Osama bin Laden in droves. "Islam is a religion of peace not terrorism: Zardari," from APP, May 21:

LONDON, May 21 (APP)- President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Islam is a religion of peace and tranquillity and totally opposed to friction and terrorism. President Zardari, in his message to the International Imam Council, organisers of Syeda Fatima (S.A.) Interfaith Conference at the House of Lords here last evening, noted that such conferences highlight the real image of Islam being a peaceful religion and clear the confusion that Islam, in any way, favours terrorism. The President said: ”It gives me immense pleasure that Imam Hussain Council arranged an Interfaith Conference in recognition of Hazrat Fatima Tu-Zahra ( S.A.) , the daughter of our Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is a distinguished personality of the Muslim world.

“She is a shining moral example for all the women across the globe. Her life, her teachings, her mannerisms and even her authority over her father, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is a precedent for us to follow even today.” [...]

Some useful idiots followed:

Bishop Nick Holtam of Salisbury shared a story of two extraordinary women who visited St Martin’s from Israel Palestine. He said both these women had lost their sons but following the footsteps of Lady Mary, Miriam and Syeda Fatima (peace be upon them) embarked on a joint reconciliation women while the conflict is still alive. He says these are mothers such as these who can promote the cessation of acts of hostility and the achievement of a political agreement Senior Rabbi Mark Winer said, “Although I am not a Muslim, I am a dedicated student of the Quran, the Hadith, and the entirety of Islam. Although I am a Rabbi and dedicated to teaching Torah, I am also an Islamophile, a lover of Islam and Muslims.”

Julian Bond of the Christian Muslim Forum said : “Reflecting on Fatima and Mary, they both had important messages, they challenged men’s words, actions and outlooks and had close family relationships with our founders - the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Jesus Christ”....

"Sixteen killed in NATO fuel truck blast in Pakistan," by Ibrahim Shinwari for Reuters, May 21 (thanks to Ima):

LANDIKOTAL, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least 16 people were killed in northwest Pakistan on Saturday after a bomb attack claimed by a militant group hit a truck carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the latest attack in an upsurge in violence since Osama bin Laden was killed.

It took place near the Torkham border crossing in the Khyber region, the main route for moving supplies to NATO and American forces in Afghanistan....

In another attack in the same region, a bomb struck 16 NATO fuel trucks late on Friday, setting them on fire. No one was hurt.

Militants have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, an unstable U.S. ally, since U.S. special forces killed al Qaeda leader bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad this month.

Abdullah Azzam Brigade, a militant group affiliated with Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for both attacks on the NATO trucks.

"It is our jihad against Americans. We want to stop supplies for NATO from our territory," Abu Musa'ab, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location....

Hamza Piccardo hails his firm as a "triumph of integration." But in reality it is just another example of what we have seen time and time again: Western adaption to and accommodation of Islamic principles, without Muslims giving an inch in the service of this "integration." He offers Italian food adapted to halal restrictions, not halal restrictions adapted to Italian culinary custom. "Italy: First 'halal' firm to supply restaurants and canteens," from AKI, May 20 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Bologna, 20 May (AKI) - Italy's first-ever 'halal' supplier has opened for business in Italy's northern city of Bologna, selling meals prepared according to Islamic principles to restaurants and canteens in Italy and abroad.

"Integration is also being able to eat as one should and to be at peace with God," Hamza Piccardo, told Adnkronos International (AKI).

Piccardo, an Italian convert to Islam, is the director of the 'Tre Alfieri Halal', which is based in Bologna, a renowned gastronomic centre.

"Our new company wants to be a triumph of integration: to combine Italy's great cuisine and Islam's rules without losing the flavours of the former and the spiritual rigour of the latter," he said....

Useful idiocy and self-delusion. Leftist/Islamic Supremacist Alliance Update: "UK author James Fergusson advocates sharia law in West," by Chris Merritt for The Australian, May 21:

AFTER championing the cause of the Taliban, British author James Fergusson has found another cause: the need for Western legal systems to incorporate at least some of the principles of sharia.

"Properly and correctly applied, sharia has the potential to be extremely humane and flexible in a way that the common law does not," he said.

That's why Sharia states like Saudi Arabia and Iran are so notoriously humane and flexible.

Fergusson was speaking in Sydney, where he was promoting his most recent book, Taliban, at the Sydney Writers Festival.

He believes sharia, like the Taliban, is misunderstood.

Yes, of course. The Taliban didn't mean to burn down all those girls' schools. They were just trying to fix the central heating.

His arrival in Sydney coincided with a push for sharia in Australia, a move that was rejected by federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland.

Fergusson said the way forward was not to apply sharia only to Muslims but to incorporate its principles into the general law.

"It's about developing something better -- and you start by acknowledging that our precious secular law is far from perfect."

After observing how the Taliban ran Afghanistan, he believes their version of sharia was effective at ending lawlessness, but it would be unsuitable here.

"They were a law and order party and they were pretty effective," he said. "A few months of hand-chopping and there was no more theft, no more murder. Suddenly it was safe to leave your house without locking it."

Is that cure really preferable to the disease?

Fergusson, who describes himself as a liberal,

Of course. Because remember: for the mainstream media and useful idiots like Fergusson, Islamic supremacists are "conservatives," and those who oppose Islamic supremacism are also "conservatives." But those who enable Islamic supremacism in the West, as "conservative" as it is, are "liberals."

said rapid population growth in the Islamic world coupled with globalisation, meant it was important for Western countries to abandon their attachment to secular law.

In a word: surrender.

The push for sharia in Australia was "only about certain aspects, mainly family affairs. In a way, it's not that outrageous," he said.

He recognised, however, it would be difficult for Western countries to incorporate aspects of sharia because under Islam there was no separation between religion and law.

No kidding, really? I thought only greasy Islamophobes dared to point that out.

In FrontPage tonight I discuss Abraham Foxman's odd and self-serving spin on Obama's appeasement speech yesterday:

Seventy-eight percent of American Jews voted for Barack Obama, and in the wake of Obama’s betrayal of Israel, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League is trying to keep them on the reservation.

One wonders why Foxman even bothers with this dangerous fool’s errand. Obama has associated with antisemites and Palestinian jihad sympathizers throughout his political career, such that the Jews and supporters of Israel who voted for him in 2008 should be in full backpedal mode by now, apologizing for their earlier support for this clear enemy of Israel and dedicating themselves to defeating him in 2012.

But apparently Foxman’s pride is more important to him than the survival of Israel as the Jewish homeland and the sole bulwark of freedom and human rights in the Middle East. And so instead of renouncing his earlier support for Obama and taking a stand for Israel when that embattled country needs it the most, he has opted to pretend that Obama’s statement really wasn’t all that bad, and that Jews and all supporters of Israel should relax and keep on loving Barack Hussein Obama.

“I don’t see this as the president throwing Israel under the bus,” Foxman told Greg Sargent of the Washington Post. “He’s saying with `swaps.’ It’s not 1967 borders in the abstract. It’s not an edict. It’s a recommendation of a structure for negotiations.”

Foxman was referring to Obama’s statement that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”

Foxman apparently believes that Obama’s statement about “the 1967 lines” is the core of the problem that those who are appalled by Obama’s speech have with it – thus his emphasis that “it’s not an edict,” but simply a “recommendation.” He added that “there is a danger that the 1967 marker, which was always there but has never been stated so directly, may become this year’s settlements issue.” But, he repeated, “it’s not an edict — it’s not what he did with settlements.”

In this Foxman overlooked what most mainstream media reports about Obama’s speech also overlooked: that he wasn’t calling for a return to the pre-Six Day War borders at all, but to new borders “based on the 1967 lines,” and creating “two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine.”

This would be even worse for Israel than a return to the 1967 lines. A Palestinian state that bordered on Israel, Jordan and Egypt while Israel bordered only on Palestine would mean a substantially reduced Israel, having been forced to cede much of its core territory to the Palestinian Arabs in exchange for the chimera of peace with what are in fact implacable and unappeasable jihadis. Abraham Foxman should have learned from the disastrous aftermath of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza that territorial concessions to the Palestinian jihadis do not bring peace and never will bring peace. Instead, Foxman declared Friday that Obama’s speech “indicated to me that this administration has come a long way in better understanding and appreciating the difficulties facing both parties, but especially Israel in trying to make peace with the Palestinians.”

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu disagreed. Meeting with Obama at the White House on Friday, he emphasized that “while Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace … it cannot go back to 1967 lines, because these lines are indefensible.” Netanyahu didn’t say it, but clearly he was not going to accept anything worse than the 1967 lines, either....

There is more.

Again, what better subterfuge is there than to accuse your enemy of what you yourself have engaged in for years? And the fabricated stories of Muslim women (or alleged converts to Islam) being abducted by Christians in Egypt have indeed provided a handy cover for a new string of disappearances.

Abductions of Christian girls are nothing new, as Coptic Pope Shenouda III observed even in 1976 that "there is a practice to convert Coptic girls to embrace Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands." And our own archives are full of over seven years of such reports. Meanwhile, the world looks the other way, or now pleads, "but, but... Tahrir Square!"

Wishful thinking in Western think tanks and governments won't un-abduct these girls and women. As Islamic groups -- "Salafis" and others -- are emboldened by the lack of challenges they have encountered in the wake of the revolution, there will only be more stories like this. "No Going Back for Egypt's Converted Copts," by Angela Shanahan for The Australian, May 20:

Amid the upheavals in Egypt since January, reports have begun to emerge of a surge in disappearances of Coptic girls.

One priest in Cairo estimates that at least 21 young girls, many as young as 14, have disappeared from his parish alone.

In most cases, when a Christian girl who disappears is found by her family, she has been converted to Islam and married. The Coptic authorities, have even set up a series of refuges in monasteries to handle the growing numbers of girls who wish to return to their families, many of whom are not accepted by their family of origin.

But a worse problem for these women is that their conversion to Islam is irreversible.

It is worth noting that this is a refreshingly frank report.

Religion is stated on Egyptian ID documents and even though secular law provides for reversions, under the growth of sharia they are very difficult, except for those affording legal advocacy.

This situation is not unique to Egypt. There have been consistent reports of girls being coerced into Islamic conversion and marriage in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

That many of these girls are initially runaways is not in doubt. However, there is also evidence that a huge number are converted and married against their will.

The situation was documented in a controversial report published in 2009 on conversion and forced marriage of Coptic women by Washington DC-based Christian Solidarity International. The authors are Washington academic Michele Clark and Egyptian Coptic broadcast journalist Nadia Ghaly, based in Melbourne.

Between 2005 and 2008 they interviewed and documented 50 Egyptian women, mostly aged between 14 and 25, who had decided to return to their families. All claim to have been tricked, coerced or raped, converted to Islam and married. Most of the interviewees were trying to reconvert to their Christian identity, with limited or no success. The report's conclusions were printed in several major publications, including Forbes magazine.

Since the so-called Arab Spring, and the ensuing riots at Christian churches, the authors are trying to bring the subject of forced conversion and marriage to greater prominence.

Riots by Muslims. Christians aren't being sent out into the street enraged by Sunday's homily.

Both groups live extremely closed, highly traditional separate lives and the norms surrounding marriage and sex are almost medieval, says Ghaly.

So, for example, it is not unheard of for a young Christian girl from a poor family to run away from an arranged marriage. Yet a high proportion of these women claim coercion, even rape, despite the shame that such a claim will cause if the girl wishes to return.

Many claim they were kept as virtual slaves. Others who were able to leave could not bring their children. Ghaly claims this is more than overt religious oppression, and amounts to "a form of cultural genocide".

She cites a document published by Human Rights Watch in November 2007, which says that even if Coptic women can obtain a divorce from their Muslim husband, those who wish to return to Christianity "meet with refusal and harassment from the Civil Status Department of the Ministry of Interior".

Under sharia law, reconversion is considered apostasy punishable by death.

Cultural baggage? The innovation of modern "extremists?" No. That comes from Muhammad's own orders.

Watch the post-American president's face as Netanyahu politely and coolly dismantles him.

(Video thanks to Brian.)

But Obama, unsurprisingly, doesn't seem to have gotten the message. "Israel's Netanyahu rejects Obama proposal on borders," by Jeffrey Heller and Matt Spetalnick for Reuters, May 20:

(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told President Barack Obama on Friday his vision for the borders of a future Palestinian state would leave the Jewish state with an "indefensible" frontier.

Netanyahu's remarks after the White House talks underscored how a new U.S. push for Middle East peace had opened one of the deepest divides in years in relations between the United States and close ally Israel.

"Peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle East reality," an unsmiling Netanyahu told Obama in the Oval Office.

Netanyahu told Obama that Israel was willing to make compromises for peace but flatly rejected the idea of going back to 1967 borders, which he described as "indefensible."

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said he reiterated the peace "principles" he laid out on Thursday in policy speech on Middle East political upheaval....

Motoon Rage from a U.S.-based Misunderstander of Islam. "Muslim convert charged with threats to 'South Park' creators," from CNN, May 20 (thanks to Charles):

(CNN) -- Federal authorities are using words uttered by the co-founder of a radical Islamic group to charge him with threats against the creators of "South Park."

A criminal complaint alleging the communication of threats was filed in Virginia late last week against Jesse Curtis Morton, also known as Younus Abdullah Mohammad.

A senior law enforcement source Thursday told CNN, which interviewed Morton in 2009, that the suspect is believed to be in Morocco, where he maintains Islampolicy.com, an English-language website propagating pro al Qaeda views.

That website is a successor to Revolutionmuslim.com.

Morton, a former resident of Brooklyn, New York, is the second person charged in the "South Park" case....

In an affidavit accompanying the recent complaint against Morton, FBI special agent Paula R. Menges said Morton, co-founder of the group called Revolution Muslim, worked with Chesser on a "clarification statement" after Chesser's postings. The pair made website postings that were -- despite their claims -- threats, Menges said.

The agent also contends the statement contained pages of justification under Islamic law for the death of those who insult Islam or defame its prophet.

Revolution Muslim's 2008 co-founders, Yousef al-Khattab and Morton, were both interviewed by CNN's Drew Griffin in October 2009. In the interview Morton, a convert to Islam and one-time follower of the Grateful Dead, defended the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and argued that further attacks on Americans were justified....

"We're commanded to terrorize the disbelievers," Morton told Griffin. "The Quran says very clearly in the Arabic language ... this means 'terrorize them.' It's a command from Allah."

Indeed. "Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies..." -- Qur'an 8:60

Morton said he did not define terrorism as killing innocent civilians. "I define terrorism as making them fearful, so that they think twice before they go rape your mother or kill your brother or go into your land and try to steal your resources."...

Morton in 2009 told CNN that "Americans will always be a target -- and a legitimate target -- until America changes its nature in the international arena."

Note that Morton ceased to consider himself an American when he converted to Islam. Because Islam considers itself to be a political entity, not solely a religious one.

Oh, this is rich. Apparently my recent debates with Muslim leaders have left the Islamic establishment in the U.S. so embarrassed that Sheila Musaji, whose lies I have exposed in the past, is now throwing under the bus some of the Muslim spokesmen whom I have debated recently, and pleading with Muslims to stop debating me.

The truth stings, eh, Sheila? "The American Muslim Communities’ “Useful Idiots,”" by Sheila Musaji in The American Muslim, May 19 (thanks to James):

A Muslim “useful idiot” is an individual who may believe that they are being a force for good, but who are either naive or a publicity seeker whose actions and words actually give support to the cause of the Islamophobes.  [...]

Some of these “useful idiots” are people who think that it makes sense to appear on the television or radio programs of individuals like Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, or Michael Savage, and “defend” Islam against professional Islamophobes like Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Brigitte Gabriel, etc.  The problem is that they are usually not qualified to speak on behalf of anyone but themselves.  When they come out looking foolish, the audience takes their inability to convincingly defend whatever claim is being made as “proof” that there is no defense.  They do a great deal of harm to the entire community. 

The reality here, of course, is that the truth is not on their side, and Geller, Gabriel and I pierce through their taqiyya fog. How dreadfully inconvenient for them!

Engaging with such known Islamophobes only gives them credibility.  Engaging with them on their “turf” and under their rules, cannot do anything other than provide them more fuel for their prejudiced attacks on Islam and Muslims.  Examples of useful debates might be those on the Young Turks site hosted by Cenk Uygur Here is one of these TYT debates.  Another example of the possibility of an honest debate would be a case like that of Reza Aslan debating Robert Spencer on the relatively neutral CNN with Christiane Amanpour as the moderator. 

It was ABC, not CNN, and it wasn't a "debate" at all. It was Aslan retailing lies and defamation while my mic was cut off so that my responses were not recorded. Small wonder that that would be the sort of one-sided, rigged exchange that The American Muslim would favor. As this article shows, they certainly can't handle a level playing field.

It is a very different situation when the Islamophobes are not allowed to control the debate.  When both the host of the program and the individual being debated are both Islamophobes, there is not much chance that a Muslim participant will be given an honest hearing.  They are not “fair and balanced” and the outcome is pretty much rigged.

This is silly, of course. I rarely deal with neutral moderators, and most are on the other side. I debated the dhimmi tool Dinesh D'Souza with the stealth Islamic supremacist Suhail Khan moderating, and it went very well. If Sheila Musaji wants to set up a debate with me with an opponent, moderator and venue of her own choosing, I am ready. But she doesn't dare. She wants all the debates rigged like the exchange with Aslan on ABC, and then -- in yet another example of Islamic supremacist projection -- accuses the other side of rigging debates, and throws a Muslim leader to the wolves:

An individual named Mohamed El-Hassan or Elhassan is an informative case in point.  [...]

It is no surprise to see that Robert Spencer has just posted a video of a “debate” between himself and this fake Sheikh on the subject of Islam and human rights.  His only lead in to the video is Here is my debate last night on ABN with Sheikh Mohamed El-Hassan of the Texas Islamic Center on the question, “Does Islam respect human rights?”    The first half hour of the show is an interview with Walid Phares; the debate starts after that.

Like Terry Jones, Spencer has come up against the difficulty of finding any legitimate Muslim scholars to involve themselves with his publicity stunts, as the scholars and leadership in the American Muslim community are now only too aware of his modus operandi.  And so he needs to attempt to get some mileage from pointless “debates” with uninformed Muslims who seem to also be only interested in publicity....

Definition of a "fake Sheikh" and an "uninformed Muslim who is only interested in publicity": one who loses to me in a debate.

There are other individuals like Mike Ghouse, also from Texas, who fall into this category, but seem to genuinely believe that engagement with these individuals might have some positive outcome. 

He has been on the Sean Hannity program at least a dozen times.  You can view a list of these programs here, however in order to view them you need to sign up and pay a monthly fee to the Sean Hannity Insider.  Hannity is making money every way he can off of his bigotry.  Some of these debates are available on You Tube - e.g. debating Robert Spencer on radicalism here - debating Spencer on Imam Rauf and the Cordoba House project here - debating Pamela Geller on Cordoba House project here. 

On these programs he has debated Andrew McCarthy (on media coverage of Muslims, and on the Libyan revolution),  David Horowitz (on the French Burqa ban),  Leland Vittert and Doug Schoen (on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt), Brigitte Gabriel (on the American response to the Egyptian revolution and on U.S. border security and on the firing of Juan Williams),  Jay Sekulow (on TSA security tactics), Pamela Geller (on the Cordoba House project in NYC), Robert Spencer (on the Qur’an and “Islamic Supremacism” and on radicalism in the Middle East).  Ghouse may mean well, and be a good person, however, it should be obvious that no one has expertise in all of these subjects that he is ready to “debate” if no one else steps forward.  Mike Ghouse has a bio on one of his 4 websites and 27 blogs that shows that he has a lot of experience in interfaith dialogue, but that is a far cry from engaging professional Islamophobes.  Dialogue is useful and positive, such debates are non-productive and negative.

I really hope that individuals who are tempted to take the bait and engage with professional Islamophobes, stop to consider that there is a reason that most scholars, activists, and leaders in the American Muslim community ignore their provocations and requests to debate.

Cowards. Obviously, if I were really the egregious liar Musaji and others claim that I am, it ought to be easy for a Muslim spokesman to show me up in a public forum and end my baneful influence forever. Instead, they circle the wagons and claim that it is "non-productive" to discuss matters with me.

Notice to Sheila Musaji and the Islamic establishment in the U.S.: if any of you poor dears, nervous nellies and shrinking violets ever grow some spine and become willing to defend your positions, I am ready to debate you. I am willing to stand and defend my views -- why aren't you? Contact me at director[at]jihadwatch.org.

Oh, and by the way, Sheila, as you throw El-Hassan and Ghouse under the bus, don't forget the illustrious Moustafa Zayed!

Why Sunday? Why not Friday? How Islamophobic!

“I’ve grown concerned about the demonization of Muslims. I want Montclair to develop an understanding of the religion,” said the Reverend Andrew Butler.

Here we go again. Do the Qur'an readings below constitute demonization of Christianity? Would the Reverend Andrew Butler care to explain why not? Will Montclair's new understanding of Islam include explanations of these Qur'an verses?

Christians have forgotten part of the divine revelations they received: "From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done." -- Qur'an 5:14

Jesus is not the Son of God: "O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" - Cease! (it is) better for you! - Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender." -- Qur'an 4:171

"It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, 'Be,' and it is." -- Qur'an 19:35

Those who believe that Jesus is God's Son are accursed: "The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! " -- Qur'an 9:30

Jesus was not crucified: "And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain." -- Qur'an 4:157

And when will the mosque in Montclair feature Bible readings?

"Interfaith Service at St. John’s Parish in Montclair," by Megan Schaefer for Baristanet, May 19:

This Sunday morning, May 22, at 10 a.m., the sounds of the adhan — the Muslim call to prayer — will ring out in St. John’s Episcopal Church Montclair.

While there’s no minaret at the church, the words of “Allahu akbar,” (God is greater) will none-the-less invite both Christians and Muslims to worship side by side.

Which god is greater? Than which other god? These tools don't even know that the Islamic prayers that they will be hearing are direct repudiations of Christianity.

During the interfaith service, verses from the Holy Qur’an will complement readings from the Holy Bible, including during Communion, embracing the traditions of both religions.

Reverend Andrew Butler, Rector of St. John’s parish since September 1, 2010, decided to have this service in order to demonstrate that both Islam and Christianity stem from Abrahamic roots, as well as to dispell negative stereotypes about the Muslim faith.

“I’ve grown concerned about the demonization of Muslims. I want Montclair to develop an understanding of the religion.” Reverend Butler stated.

In addition to Butler, speakers will include Anisa Mehdi, a scholar and journalist who will describe what it means to be a Muslim in America and Abdul-Alim Mubarak-Rowe, an assistant Imam at Masjid Waarith ud Deen in Irvington, a media consultant to the American Muslim Alliance and a journalist.

The Reverend went on to say, “We are trying to find ways to blend our community through religion. It’s hard, but we can accomplish it through this organic event and working together through outreach and other ministries of compassion."...

What's ironic about this is that the U.S. officials responsible for this designation are certain that the group has nothing to do with authentic Islam, and that it holds to the twisted theology of the violent fringe. They would assert this as confidently and complacently as Abu Al-Abbas asserts that to label his group a terror group is an attempt to harm Islam. Yet no actual evidence demonstrating that groups like this really do twist the true, peaceful teachings of Islam has ever actually been produced. "Gaza group rejects U.S. terror classification decision," from Xinhua, May 20:

GAZA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A Gaza-based extremist group on Friday rejected a recent U.S. decision that labeled it a foreign terrorist group.

"We completely reject this decision and consider it unfair," said a spokesman for the Army of Islam, calling himself Abu Al- Abbas. "This American decision only aims at harming Islam," he said.

The U.S. State Department said the group was responsible for kidnapping Americans, Britons, New Zealanders over the past few years in the Gaza Strip. It noted the group, comprising former members of various Palestinian groups, threatened the security of Israel and Egypt.

The al-Qaida-inspired group appeared in 2006, when it joined the Islamic Hamas movement in capturing an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid near Gaza. A year later, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip by force. The State Department did not mention anything about the kidnapping of soldier Gilad Shalit....

If you are going to be in New York today, don't miss this. Stand for freedom:

The Free World urgently needs your help!

An emergency rally to protest the outrageous speech of President Barack Obama!

Friday May 20th at 12:00 PM @ The Israeli Consulate 800 2nd Ave & 42nd Street

Please join us in telling the president that: WE AIN'T GOING BACK TO AUSCHWITZ!

Please invite everyone of your facebook friends to this event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=213026862064270

Forward this message, and most importantly: SHOW UP TO THE RALLY AT 12:00 PM

We are assured of media coverage and many important political leaders are being invited!

PRESIDENT OBAMA: WE AIN'T GOING BACK TO AUSCHWITZ

Thursday’s speech by US President Barack Obama is nothing short of an outrage, and one which openly declares Obama an enemy of the State of Israel. The world should be clear – In Israel there will be little to no political debate on this issue – It will be nearly unanimous that the calls of Israel to return to the 1967 borders would mark a grave danger to the state of Israel. As Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, these borders are “militarily indefensible.”

It's necessary in these times to remember what Abba Eban, when he served as Israel’s Foreign Minister said when he appeared at the United Nations following the Six Day war, in describing the fragility of Israel's 1949-1967 map as Israel's "Auschwitz" lines.

“We have openly said that the map will never again be the same as on June 4, 1967. For us, this is a matter of security and of principles. The June map is for us equivalent to insecurity and danger. I do not exaggerate when I say that it has for us something of a memory of Auschwitz. We shudder when we think of what would have awaited us in the circumstances of June, 1967, if we had been defeated; with Syrians on the mountain and we in the valley, with the Jordanian army in sight of the sea, with the Egyptians who hold our throat in their hands in Gaza. This is a situation which will never be repeated in history."

This proposal is a grave danger to the State of Israel. This President is more concerned with Jews who build homes in the ancient Jewish homeland than he is about Arab Muslims building bombs in Iran.

In FrontPage this morning I discuss some implications of Obama's speech yesterday that everyone seems to be missing:

[...] It was widely reported Thursday evening that Obama was calling for a return to the 1967 borders, but this is not the case. He actually called for the creation of a “sovereign and contiguous state” for the Palestinian Arabs, and said that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines.” Thus he wasn’t calling for a return to the 1967 lines, but new borders “based on the 1967 lines.”

There were, however, no 1967 lines in which Palestinian Arab territory was contiguous. For the territory of Palestine to be contiguous, that of Israel will have to be substantially reduced. Israel’s 1967 borders were indefensible, and Obama is calling for Israel to be reduced even further so that a contiguous Palestinian state can be established.

What’s more, Obama specified that the new Palestinian state should have “borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt,” while Israel should have “borders with Palestine.” The implication was that Israel, in Obama’s vision, will border on neither Jordan nor Egypt — only on “Palestine.” Yet currently Israel has substantial borders with both Jordan and Egypt. Obama was implying that his contiguous Palestine would comprise not just Gaza and Judea and Samaria, but large expanses of Israeli territory bordering on those two states.

That would leave a truncated, reduced Israeli rump state, reminiscent of the reduced and defenseless Czechoslovakia that remained after Neville Chamberlain fed the Nazi beast at Munich. And if Obama did not mean that the diminished Israel he envisioned would have no territory bordering on Jordan or Egypt, the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state including Gaza and the West Bank would cut Israel in two: Palestine’s contiguous territory would come at the expense of Israel’s.

Whatever Obama meant about Israel’s borders, the establishment of a Palestinian state will come at the expense of Israel’s security. It will not make for peace any more than the withdrawal from Gaza did. In those days the learned analysts were predicting that a withdrawal from Gaza would pacify the Palestinians and normalize their sick society. I said, in contrast, that it would just be another jihad base for more attacks on Israel. That’s what it became. And that’s what a Palestinian state would be also....

There is more.

From the people that brought you spy squirrels and Zionist pigeon surveillance. "'West plots to cause drought in Iran'," from Iran's own PressTV, May 19 (thanks to Tziona):

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that Western countries are plotting to generate drought in some areas of the world, including Iran.

A good chunk of Texas has apparently fallen out of favor with the Global Zionist-Crusader Conspiracy in a big way.

“According to reports about climate, whose authenticity has been verified, the European countries have used certain equipment to discharge clouds and prevent rain-bearing clouds from reaching regional countries such as Iran,” President Ahmadinejad said on Thursday.

Allah has dammed you. Er, wait:

He made the remarks in the inauguration ceremony of a domestically-built dam in the central Iranian province of Arak.

Ahmadinejad said the matter would be pursued by Iran's legal authorities, IRNA reported.

The Iranian president said such measures by European countries are aimed at creating tension and hostility in the maritime borders of regional countries....

Again, it's not that Pakistan's nuke program, which already boasts more of a nuclear arms stockpile than Britain, could become America's problem. It already is, as the U.S. has poured over $100 million into Pakistan to help secure the Pakistani nuclear arsenal from, well, Pakistan. The Pakistanis are not self-sufficient in their ability to protect what they have, and they are still rushing to make even more.

Here, Washington is an enabler to Pakistan's nuke habit. "Satellite images reveal alarming speed Pakistan is rushing to finish weapons-grade nuclear reactor," from the Daily Mail, May 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

New satellite images have shown the alarming speed at which Pakistan is constructing a weapons-grade nuclear reactor.

The aerial images, taken on April 20, show the rapid building progress of the fourth reactor to produce plutonium in Pakistan's Khushab facility.

The site was barren in 2009 and the facility 'costing billions' was undetectable by satellite just 17 months ago, but has since grown at an alarming rate.

The facility in Khushab is the fastest growing nuclear program in the world, with the speed of the latest reactor's construction prompting concern from U.S. officials.

Pakistan first revealed the Khushab site and its plutonium production facility in 1998 after the country’s first nuclear test.

Although the U.S. has provided Pakistan with $20 billion in military and economic aid since September 11, 2001, it has been said that there is 'no explanation' as to how Pakistan are paying for the latest reactor.

Paul Brannon, a nuclear analyst with the Institute for Science and International Security, said: 'The buildup is remarkable.

'You can see the square of the reactor building, you can see the inner square of the reactor hall where the actual reactor goes, and if you measure the dimensions of the building it matches up exactly to the second and the third reactors.

'And that nobody in the U.S. or in the Pakistani government says anything about this — especially in this day and age—is perplexing.'

Describing the potential cost of the latest development, Mr Brannon added: 'It would be in the billions.

'This is a military reactor. It's outside of the civilian program.'

U.S. officials have been watching the Khushab facility for some time, but say there is no good explanation how Pakistan is paying for this....

Uh, lemonade stand?

Absent from this story is any analysis of why bin Laden would lend his support to these uprisings, something a government official earlier found "puzzling." It is perplexing if one follows the more or less conventional expectation that the "Arab Spring" will lead forthwith to tolerant democracies and open societies that respect human rights according to Western expectations.

This expectation is rooted in the assumption -- indeed, the politically correct article of faith -- that there is nothing inherently intolerant or problematic in Islamic law that is not the disposable baggage of tribalism, local "culture," or even the prior regime.

In reality, Islamic regimes openly enforcing Sharia would be more likely to be friendly to al-Qaeda's message and agenda, and more openly hostile to the United States and Israel. Whatever rivalries may exist between al-Qaeda and movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, the fact remains that they have a common cause in the desire to impose Islamic law, which is the fundamental aim of jihad in all its forms. "Bin Laden Praises Middle East Uprisings in Posthumous Message," from VOA News, May 19:

Al-Qaida has released an audio recording in which its slain leader, Osama bin Laden, praises the protest movements that have swept across the Middle East.

In the 12-minute message posted on Islamist websites, bin Laden purportedly singles out the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, predicting the "winds of change" will spread across the entire Muslim world.

He makes no specific reference to Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, where pro-democracy supporters have had less success in toppling the government.

In the audio recording Wednesday, bin Laden urges protesters to seize the opportunity to bring down "tyrants." He accuses Arab rulers of making themselves into idols and using the media to maintain power.

The al-Qaida offers advice in spreading the revolutions, urging Muslim youth to consult the more experienced to achieve their goal....

They must still be waiting for that memo from the U.N. that Muslims are persecuting non-Muslims in Indonesia. Any old excuse for inaction will do. "Cirebon: Muslim extremists disrupt Christian services as police looks [sic] on," by Mathias Hariyadi for Asia News, May 19:

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Islamic extremist groups disrupted two post-Easter services in Cirebon, a city on the border of West and Central Java, as police failed to stop the violence, this according to Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute, an NGO fighting for human rights and religious freedom in Indonesia. The activist slammed police for its “powerlessness” vis-à-vis “hostile” acts perpetrated by radical movements, which interrupted religious services.

In Indonesia, Catholics and Protestants traditionally organise celebrations in connection with Easter, including activities weeks after the main feast day. The goal is to boost the faith and strengthen friendship within the community. This is done by reciting the rosary, organising games for children (including the Easter egg), and performing other social activities.

A group of 20 extremists, led by Andy Mulya, stormed on Tuesday the Gratia Palace and Apita Hotel, in Cirebon, where two groups, one Catholic and another Protestant, were holding services, the Setara chairman said.

Participants resisted the invasion, saying they had the right permits from the authorities. However, police inaction allowed members of the Anti-Proselytising and Unlawful Teachings group (GAPAS) to stop the services. Under Indonesian law, police must authorise and be present at such “public” events.

Setara archives show that GAPAS has been a major threat to inter-confessional harmony. It has attacked Christians in the past as well as members of the Ahmadi sect.

Often, complaints filed with public officials and the police fall on deaf years. Claims by the central government and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that they are fighting extremism appear empty promises.

In Indonesia, police collusion and inaction by political leaders undermine religious freedom. For Hendardi, the authorities should “stop making good promises” and, in a direct reference to the president, “take action” instead.

One can't simultaneously downplay a problem and work meaningfully to solve it. When Yudhoyono discussed prior attacks by Muslims on Christians, you would have thought he were describing a homeowner's association dispute.

In addition to the latest episodes of abuse, extremists have also organised street demonstration in recent months against freedom of worship for Christians as well as the construction of Christian places of worship.

Cirebon, which lies along the border of West and Central Java, 350 km east of Jakarta, is known as the “city of Islamic students”. However, despite its largely Muslim population, it has a reputation as a “peaceful” city because it is home to many members of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest moderate Muslim organisation.

City of "Misunderstanders" of Islam:

Sadly, it has recently become a centre for attacks and violence, including an attack against police headquarters in April, which have undermined its positive image.

Its image is the least of the tragedies.

Bravo. "Israel Expects Obama to Take Back ‘1967 Lines’ Demand," by Gil Ronen for Israel National News, May 19:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was quick on the draw Thursday in voicing clear displeasure with President Barack Obama’s mideast policy speech.

“Israel appreciates President Obama’s commitment to peace,” the response began, curtly. “Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state.”

“That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress.”

“Among other things,” Netanyahu reminded Obama, “those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.”...

The statement also notes that "Abbas seeks a Palestinian state in order to continue the conflict with Israel rather than end it.” Indeed.

Appeasement only makes the crocodile hungrier. "Hamas: Obama speech total failure," by Elior Levy for Israel National News, May 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Terrorists unimpressed with Obama's words: President Barack Obama's Mideast policy speech Thursday was a "total failure," Hamas said Thursday evening.

"The (Arab) nation does not need a lesson on democracy from Obama," said Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Sami Abu-Zuhri. "Rather, Obama is the one who needs the lesson given his absolute endorsement of Israel's crimes and his refusal to condemn Israel's occupation."

"We will not recognize the Israeli occupation under any circumstances," the Hamas spokesman said, while adding: "We object to intervention in our internal affairs."

Abu-Zuhri also urged the Palestinian Authority not to endorse the American president's speech. He stressed the need to coordinate Palestinian positions in the face of what he referred to as "American-Israeli arrogance."

Other Hamas sources said the president's speech was "deceptive."...

Americans should have seen this coming. "Obama 'disrespected' Israel, threw it 'under the bus,' says Romney," by Michael O'Brien for The Hill, May 19:

President Obama "disrespected" Israel and threw it "under the bus" in a wide-ranging speech on the Middle East on Thursday, GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney charged.

Romney strongly criticized Obama, who, in a speech at the State Department, called for Israel to return to its border lines as drawn before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

"President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus. He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace," Romney said in a statement.

"He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends," added the former Massachusetts governor.

Romney led Republicans in criticizing the Obama speech, which touched on broader themes throughout the Middle East, including the popular movements for democratization, from Egypt to Yemen, during the first half of the year.

"President Obama has betrayed Israel and made a grievous mistake by suggesting borders of Israel go back to pre-1967 borders. This is an outrage to peace, sovereignty of Israel, and a stable Middle East," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), a 2008 Republican presidential candidate who's been a staunch supporter of Israel, said in a statement.

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), meanwhile, suggested Obama's stance could represent "the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, another Republican presidential candidate, declined to comment on the Obama speech during an appearance on the Rush Limbaugh radio show this afternoon, explaining that he hadn't yet been able to listen to the speech or digest its contents....

Par for the course for the waffling trimmer Gingrich.

An apt analogy. "Right wing MKs: Obama is the new Arafat," by Gil Hoffman and Rebecca Anna Stoil for the Jerusalem Post, May 19:

Knesset members on the Right expressed outrage on Thursday night at US President Barack Obama's call for the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps in an exchange of territory for security.

They called upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reject Obama's plan when he meets with him on Friday in Washington.

"Barack Hussein Obama adopted the staged plan for Israel's destruction of Yasser Arafat, and he is trying to force it on our prime minister," said Likud MK Danny Danon. "All that was new in the speech was that he called for Israel to return to 1967 borders without solving the crisis. Netanyahu has only one option: To tell Obama forget about it."

Indeed.

National Union MK Michael Ben-Ari also slammed Obama's speech, calling it "a landmine with pretty wrapping."

Indeed.

Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, who as a minister close to Netanyahu must be more diplomatic, complained on Channel 2 that according to Obama's approach, the Palestinians would receive their demands on borders before negotiations begin.

"Once they have everything from the start, they have no reason to make any concessions,"Erdan said.

Indeed.

But opposition leader Tzipi Livni said Obama's plan was clearly in Israel's interests, while the diplomatic stalemate that she believes was brought on by Netanyahu is not.

"On his visit, Netanyahu must display the leadership necessary now to create the conditions necessary to restart negotiations with those who are ready to end the conflict," Livni said. "Only a real Israeli initiative with content that can receive American and international support can be an answer to the current dangers and opportunities."

Her Kadima colleague, MK Yoel Hasson, warned that if Netanyahu did not take immediate action, he would bring Israel into deeper international isolation and borders forced on Israel unilaterally....

These are the people for whom Obama wants to truncate Israel and establish a state. "Hamas TV Extols Female Palestinian Suicide Bombers and Jihad Fighters: Jihad-Fighting Mothers Urge Their Sons to Seek Martyrdom," from MEMRI TV, April 28:

Following are excerpts from a Hamas TV program about Palestinian female suicide bombers, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on April 28, 2011.

To view this clip on the MEMRI TV website, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2908.htm.

Hamas Minister of Women's Affairs: "We Have a Long List of Female Martyrdom-Seekers… [Women] Serve as Shields for These [Male] Fighters"

Hamas Minister of Women's Affairs Jamila Al-Shanti: "Palestinian society is, by nature, a society of resistance. Resistance does not mean only the bearing of arms. The people who aid those who bear arms are sometimes even stronger than them. The [Palestinian] woman is the wife of a resistance fighter, or the mother of resistance fighters, or else she herself is on the frontline, or she opens her home to resistance fighters. She is capable of doing everything. During the incursions [into Gaza], the women fought in every way possible. They confronted the tanks, they confronted the Zionist enemy.

"All means of resistance are available to women. In addition, we have a long list of female martyrdom-seekers. Need I say more? If you do the math, the number of male martyrdom-seekers is twice the number of female martyrdom-seekers. So the number of female martyrdom seekers is hardly insignificant. [...]

Reporter: "The Palestinian woman has not been absent from the fronts of Jihad, from the battle for regaining the homeland. This is the Palestinian fighter Afaf Ubeid, who has brought great courage to the struggle. She has her eyes set on a single target – the liberation of her homeland from the fifth of the occupation. The fighter Afaf, who has not been blessed by Allah with sons, whom she could sacrifice for the homeland, has decided to take their place."

Afaf Ubeid: "I waged Jihad myself because there was no one to do so on my behalf. Every Palestinian woman wants to wage Jihad." [...]

Reporter: "The phenomenon of female Palestinian martyrdom-seekers characterized the jihad activity of women in the Al-Aqsa Intifada. They believed in the justice of the cause for which they were fighting, and they have written a new chapter in the book of the conflict.

"Among them were: Wafa Idris, Dareen Abu Aisha, Hanadi Jaradat, Ayat Al-Akjras, Andaleeb Taqatqa, Hiba Sa'id Daraghmeh, Nora Shalhoub, Ilham Al-Dasouqi, Reem Al-Riyashi, who was the first female martyrdom-seeker from the 'Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, and finally, Hajja Fatima Al-Najjar, who joined the female martyrdom-seekers.

"Even though women were conspicuous in their absence in the early days of martyrdom operations, the mothers of martyrdom-seekers demonstrated unparalleled stances. The mother of the martyrdom –seeker would know her son's whereabouts, and he would call her to get her approval. She would know that he was going to commit martyrdom, and she would wish him success. He would talk to her, perhaps saying: 'Mother, the time has come for me to meet Allah,' and she would say to him: 'Away you go to Paradise, my son.'" [….]

Which may be the point.

In any case, it is good to see Netanyahu standing firm. "Israeli leader reacting to Obama speech: West Bank pullout would leave Israel indefensible," by Josef Federman for Associated Press, May 19:

JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister on Thursday gave a cool reception to President Barack Obama's Mideast policy speech, warning a withdrawal from the West Bank wold [sic] leave Israel vulnerable to attack and setting up what could be a tense meeting at the White House.

In his speech, Obama endorsed the Palestinian position on the borders of their future state, saying it should be based on Israel's lines before the 1967 Mideast war. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the fighting, and the Palestinians claim those areas for their state.

The U.S., the international community and even past Israeli governments have endorsed a settlement based on the 1967 lines, but Obama was far more explicit than in the past. His position appeared to put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has not accepted the concept.

Reacting to Obama's speech, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a full withdrawal from the West Bank, saying the 1967 lines were "indefensible" and would leave major Jewish settlements outside Israel. Netanyahu rejects any pullout from east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu heads to the White House on Friday and said he would seek clarifications....

One more extract from his Mideast speech today:

For the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure. Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won't create an independent state. Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection. And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.

As for Israel, our friendship is rooted deeply in a shared history and shared values. Our commitment to Israel's security is unshakeable. And we will stand against attempts to single it out for criticism in international forums. But precisely because of our friendship, it is important that we tell the truth: the status quo is unsustainable, and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace.

The fact is, a growing number of Palestinians live west of the Jordan River. Technology will make it harder for Israel to defend itself. A region undergoing profound change will lead to populism in which millions of people – not just a few leaders – must believe peace is possible. The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome. The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.

Ultimately, it is up to Israelis and Palestinians to take action. No peace can be imposed upon them, nor can endless delay make the problem go away. But what America and the international community can do is state frankly what everyone knows: a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples. Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people; each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace.

So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.

First, note the contradiction. He says that "And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist." But then he calls for a Palestinian state. Yet neither Hamas nor Fatah have acknowledged Israel's right to exist, and Obama did not make that acknowledgment a condition of the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Note also that he says that "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines" -- based on those borders, but not those borders themselves. Israel's 1967 borders were indefensible, and he is calling for Israel to be reduced even further so that a contiguous Palestinian state can be established that borders on both Jordan and Egypt. Apparently Israel in Obama's vision will border on neither -- only on "Palestine."

This would involve a truncated, reduced, bisected, non-contiguous Israel that would be substantially weakened in the face of new jihad attacks. And those attacks would come -- from "Palestine." A Palestinian state will not make for peace any more than the withdrawal from Gaza did. In those days the learned analysts were predicting that a withdrawal from Gaza would pacify the Palestinians and normalize their sick society. I said, in contrast, that it would just be another jihad base for more attacks on Israel. That's what it became. And that's what a Palestinian state would be also.

Another segment from Obama's Mideast speech today:

Such tolerance is particularly important when it comes to religion. In Tahrir Square, we heard Egyptians from all walks of life chant, "Muslims, Christians, we are one." America will work to see that this spirit prevails – that all faiths are respected, and that bridges are built among them. In a region that was the birthplace of three world religions, intolerance can lead only to suffering and stagnation. And for this season of change to succeed, Coptic Christians must have the right to worship freely in Cairo, just as Shia must never have their mosques destroyed in Bahrain.

What he chooses to say and not say is noteworthy.

He claimed that "In Tahrir Square, we heard Egyptians from all walks of life chant, 'Muslims, Christians, we are one.'" And yet "Coptic Christians must have the right to worship freely in Cairo."

Why don't they have that right at this time? What happened to all those Egyptians in Tahrir Square chanting "Muslims, Christians, we are one"? What about the inconvenient fact that the main reason Christians cannot worship freely in Cairo is because of Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi elements whose rise to power Obama is warmly applauding and pledging to support? Does he intend to confront the Muslim Brotherhood about the treatment of Christians in Egypt?

Somehow I doubt it.

In the course of Obama's speech today, he said this:

We support a set of universal rights. Those rights include free speech; the freedom of peaceful assembly; freedom of religion; equality for men and women under the rule of law; and the right to choose your own leaders – whether you live in Baghdad or Damascus; Sanaa or Tehran.

And finally, we support political and economic reform in the Middle East and North Africa that can meet the legitimate aspirations of ordinary people throughout the region.

There is, however, no indication that the revolutions in the Middle East, which Obama spent quite some time hailing, will lead to regimes that will have any interest in protecting free speech; the freedom of peaceful assembly; freedom of religion; or equality for men and women under the rule of law.

Instead, in country after country pro-Sharia Islamic supremacists seem to be gaining the upper hand, just as I predicted.

Obama did not speak about that at all.

More on this speech asap.

Glorifying blood and murder, and then turning around and being rewarded by the West as victims. "PA unveils 'Tree of Freedom' decorated with pictures of terrorists serving life sentences," by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik for Palestinian Media Watch, May 19:

At two separate events in Bethlehem last month the Palestinian Authority continued its ongoing policy of honoring terrorists. First, with a delegation of PA officials, the district governor visited the homes of 7 prisoners serving life sentences in Israel for terror offences.

One of the prisoners murdered 9 Israelis and 3 Palestinians he suspected of collaborating with Israel, while another is serving life for stabbing two children. During the visits the governor gave the families "gift packages of sweets with pictures of the prisoners printed on them."

The official PA daily reported that:

"The district governor emphasized that the Palestinian people supports the sacrifice of the prisoners... they represent the purest and most noble cause in Palestinian society..."

Later in the week, at a ceremony honoring all 73 Palestinians from Bethlehem serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, the PA unveiled a "Tree of Freedom for Prisoners." Its branches are decorated with "photographs of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment." PA Minister of Prisoners Issa Karake and other PA officials participated in the ceremony....

Read it all.

It's difficult to pin down the reasoning here, unless perhaps the workers were foreign nationals. In any event, there is likely an element of turf control: you'll build when, where, and if the Taliban tell you. "Afghan road workers killed in Taliban ambush," from BBC News, May 19:

At least 35 construction workers have been shot dead and 20 injured by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, an official says.

Eight insurgents were also killed as guards returned fire during Wednesday night's ambush, a Paktika provincial spokesman told the BBC.

The attack took place in a mountainous district on the highway linking Paktika and Khost provinces.

The Taliban recently declared the start of a "spring offensive" of attacks.

Projection, from someone who wants to see Islamic law imposed upon Malaysia in full force. This, by the way, is the same legislator who threatened Christians that they were trying the patience of Muslims by making "excessive demands" for things like Malay-language Bibles (which would then use the Malay-language word for "God," which is the Arabic loan-word "Allah"). He's also the hopeless romantic who blamed bad Muslim wives for husbands that cheat, explaining "Husbands driving home after work see things that are sexually arousing and go to their wives to ease their urges."

Now, he says Christians are "ungrateful" for all the "tolerance" Islamic law would supposedly afford them, and equates demanding a higher standard of human rights with an alleged Christian supremacism that appears analogous to what he himself envisions for Islam in Malaysia.

It's unclear whether the pun in the headline is intended: "Perkasa ready to crusade against ungrateful Christians," from Malaysia Today, May 15 (thanks to Scott):

“If they want a crusade, so be it. Before our followers fall in this battle, (Perkasa) leaders will first lay down their lives and die sprawling in blood.”

(Malaysiakini) - Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said that he is willing to wage a crusade against the Christians if the community allegedly continues to challenge Islam's position in the country.

“If they want a crusade, so be it. If they say that the peace that we enjoy is not good enough ... we shall take up the challenge. Don't take the silence of Muslims as a sign of fear,” he warned to cheers from about 150 people at a ceramah last night.

“Before our followers fall in this battle, (Perkasa) leaders will first lay down their lives and die sprawling in blood,” he thundered.

Speaking at a function organised by the Komuniti 1Malaysia group of Kampung Kerdas and Kampung Changkat in Gombak, Ibrahim accused the Christians of “challenging the sovereignty and dignity of Malays and Muslims.”

He was referring to the allegation that a group of pastors were plotting to make Christianity the official religion of the nation and appoint a Christian prime minister. This was reported last Saturday by Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia

“This is an affront to the sovereignty of Muslims who are the majority... It started with race, and now it has gone to issues of religion. But when it comes to religion, it means jihad,” he said to hoots from the crowd.

According to the Pasir Mas parliamentarian, minorities are emboldened to challenge Malay and Muslim supremacy because they are encouraged by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is pandering for their votes.

“Many of the Christians in Malaysia are Chinese and many of the Christians (in the world) are American. Anwar is acting as a US mole. It all fits,” he said in his trademark fiery style.

However Ibrahim in contriving to scaptegoat [sic] the Chinese community, has his facts wrong, as it is the bumiputera Christians who make up the bulk of the community in Malaysia....

Ali does not seem to want even to acknowledge Malay Christians; doing so would open a can of worms regarding their right to invoke God in their native language. Can't have that.

Here is my debate last night on ABN with Sheikh Mohamed El-Hassan of the Texas Islamic Center on the question, "Does Islam respect human rights?"

The first half hour of the show is an interview with Walid Phares; the debate starts after that.

“We want to send a message to the world,” said Tad Stahnke, director of policy and programs for Human Rights First, “that Americans do respect religious differences and reject religious bigotry and the demonization of Islam or any other religion.”

Do the Qur'an readings below constitute demonization of Christianity? Would Tad Stahnke care to explain why not?

Here are some readings that the congregants in the various churches might enjoy:

Christians have forgotten part of the divine revelations they received: "From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done." -- Qur'an 5:14

Jesus is not the Son of God: "O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" - Cease! (it is) better for you! - Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender." -- Qur'an 4:171

"It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, 'Be,' and it is." -- Qur'an 19:35

Those who believe that Jesus is God's Son are accursed: "The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! " -- Qur'an 9:30

Jesus was not crucified: "And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain." -- Qur'an 4:157

"Pulpit pals: Christians, Jews, Muslims plan shared worship," by Adelle M. Banks for Religion News Service, May 17 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Religious and human rights activists are asking U.S. churches to invite Jewish and Muslim clergy to their sanctuaries to read from sacred texts next month in an initiative designed to counter anti-Muslim bigotry.

The June 26 initiative, called “Faith Shared: Uniting in Prayer and Understanding,” is co-sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First. Leaders of the two Washington-based groups said the event hopes to demonstrate respect for Islam in the wake of Quran burnings in recent months.

“As a Christian minister who is a pastor in a local congregation, it is important to me for our nation and our world to know that not all Christians promote hate, attack religions different from their own and seek to desecrate the scripture of others,” the Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, said Tuesday.

More than 50 churches in 26 states already have committed to the initiative, including the Washington National Cathedral.

Tad Stahnke, director of policy and programs for Human Rights First, said he hopes the initiative will draw attention to religious freedom and counter negative stereotypes of Christian leaders making anti-Muslim statements.

“We want to send a message to the world,” he said, “that Americans do respect religious differences and reject religious bigotry and the demonization of Islam or any other religion.”

"In his reply to a questionnaire that was distributed among the potential 100 jurors May 16, this particular juror reportedly wrote 'Terrorists are mainly Muslims, or am I wrong?' He was promptly excused by the judge in the interest of a fair trial for Rana....Juror number 15, apparently of South East Asian origin, was also excused because she said she could not be fair given her strong views about Islam."

But on what basis does Judge James Leinenweber think that a rosy, fact-free belief in Islam as a Religion of Peace and a "respect" for Islam will help ensure that Tahawwur Hussain Rana will get a fair trial? Why should this make any difference one way or the other? If a juror who knows that jihadists use Islamic texts and teachings to justify violence and supremacism would be more likely to convict Rana, why wouldn't it also be true that a juror who thinks that Islam is a peaceful religion that has been hijacked by a Tiny Minority of Extremists be more likely to acquit Rana?

Courtroom dhimmitude: "Rana jury selection faces bias against Muslims," by Mayank Chhaya for IANS, May 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

Chicago, May 18 : From a tooth and shoulder pain to displaying a clear bias in favour of the government, there was a diversity of reasons why some 20 potential jurors were excused May 17 by a federal judge here from participating in the trial of Mumbai terror plot suspect Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

Judge James Leinenweber spent the entire day questioning possible jurors, keeping the main thrust of his inquiry on establishing whether they had demonstrably negative views about Islam as a religion and Muslims as a community. While by and large the jurors said they had no particular antipathy towards either, some, such as juror number 14, said he did not respect Islam.

In his reply to a questionnaire that was distributed among the potential 100 jurors May 16, this particular juror reportedly wrote "Terrorists are mainly Muslims, or am I wrong?" He was promptly excused by the judge in the interest of a fair trial for Rana.

Jurors are identified only by their numbers in order to guard their privacy as well ensure personal safety. Juror number 15, apparently of South East Asian origin, was also excused because she said she could not be fair given her strong views about Islam. [...]

Rana is a Chicago businessman charged with providing a cover to his Pakistani-American high school friend David Coleman Headley for scouting targets for the Mumbai terrorist attack that left 166 people dead. [...]

How is it that Dokka Abu Usman, who situates everything he says in the context of Islam and frequently quotes the Qur'an, have misunderstood Islam so thoroughly as to think that Muslims must fight in order to impose Sharia? Can some Muslim in the U.S. please explain how his vision of Islam differs from Dokka's, and what he would say to Dokka if he had the chance to try to convince him that his understanding of Islam was wrong?

"Emir Dokku Abu Usman about bin Laden, the Caucasus Emirate and casualties among the Mujahideen," from the Kavkaz Center, May 17 (thanks to Joseph):

KC: The beginning of this spring has been marked by casualties among the Mujahedeen of the Caucasus Emirate. The leading commanders of the Emirate - Emir Supyan, Emir Hassan, Emir Abdullah and others - martyred (Insha'Allah). These are tangible casualties. Can we say that the Mujahideen are weakened?

Dokka Abu Usman: The casualties we incurred have not weakened us and will not weaken us in the future, Insha'Allah. War is impossible without casualties. Since 1999, we have lost many of our emirs and leaders, but the Jihad did not stop, but vice versa, it expanded and strengthened. Generations of the Mujahedeen replace each other. New young men take place of the deceased. More and more young men want to join the Mujahedeen, but unfortunately we cannot accept all the newcomers. Another thing is that due to casualties, we have to correct our plans, to change tactics on the fields. However, that does not mean that a relative calm, for example, in Ingushetia, testifies about the weakening of the positions of the Mujahedeen.

At one place, the activity of the Mujahedeen could be reduced for tactical reasons, and in other place, they could be intensified. There could be calm in Nalchik, but a major sabotage attack could be carried out in Vladivostok. We consider the Caucasus Emirate and Russia as a single theater of war.

We are not in a hurry. The path has been chosen, we know our tasks, and we will not turn back, Insha'Allah, from this path. Today, the battlefield is not just Chechnya and the Caucasus Emirate, but also the whole Russia. The situation is visible to everybody who has eyes. The Jihad is spreading, steadily and inevitably, everywhere.

I've already mentioned that all those artificial borders, administrative divisions, which the Taghut drew, mean nothing to us. The days when we wanted to secede and dreamed of building a small Chechen Kuwait in the Caucasus are over. Now, when you tell the young Mujahedeen about these stories, they are surprised and want to understand how those plans related to the Koran and the Sunnah.

Alhamdulillah! I sometimes think that Allah has called these young people to the Jihad, so that we, the older generation, could not stray from the right path. Now we know that we should not be divided, and must unite with our brothers in faith. We must reconquering Astrakhan, Idel-Ural, Siberia ´- these are indigenous Muslim lands. And then, God's willing, we shall deal with Moscow ulus (district - KC).

KC: As you know, the US said that they had been able to kill bin Laden. There was a statement on behalf of al-Qaida posted on the Internet, which confirmed the martyrdom of their Emir. What is your assessment of what happened? The US says that the death of bin Laden will positively (for the West) affect the overall situation in the world.

Dokka Abu Usman: If the death of Sheikh Osama bin Laden is confirmed, then we will only say the words from the Holy Koran - "We all belong to Allah and to Him shall be our return".

We ask Allah that He accepts the martyrdom of Sheikh Bin Laden, because that man abandoned his wealth and peaceful worldly life for the sake of protecting Islam. And that is a great goal, and the reward for it is great.

With regard to the question of whether bin Laden's death will affect the situation in the world, I think that the infidels do not believe themselves that their life became easier. According to all signs, it is clear that the world is in such situation that the death of the leaders of the Jihad cannot stop the process of the revival of Islam.

That development will go forward, regardless of the fact if the United States, Russia or the UN want it or not.

We all see that the world has changed very much.

For the first time in decades, the awakening of the Islamic Ummah from hibernation has become so clear and widespread. The Mujahedeen and true scholars operate more than ever simultaneously in different regions of the globe, supporting each other and realizing the common goal. Ordinary Muslims take to the streets and express their support for the Mujahedeen, demanding to restore the Sharia.

And in response, the infidels are frightening the public with al-Qaeda that allegedly became more active in the Caucasus, the Philippines, Yemen and Somalia.

KC: In this regard, we would like to hear your opinion about so-called "Arab revolutions". Some experts say that these revolutions were initiated by Western countries.

Dokka Abu Usman: For the West, these developments were as much a surprise as for the Arab regimes. It is obvious. And it is all nonsense that America planned here, and the CIA acted there...

Allah, praise to Him, shook those regimes by His Will and Wisdom, humiliated those Taghuts who were in power for many years and humiliated the religion, and humiliated the Muslims.

And it is another problem that Western countries are trying to use the wave of "Arab revolutions". And they manage to do it, although not everywhere.

At present, it is not all clear, and it is not clear how the events will unfold further.

Everybody sees today how America and other Western countries betray their allies, puppets, who faithfully served them for many years. Subhan'Allah, these dictators sought greatness from the infidels, while all the glory belongs to Allah and his Messenger . Now the masters rejected them and left them to be devoured by the crowd.

The time has come for collapse of dictatorial regimes, which the Prophet Muhammad warned about, and it is obvious.

Even if the infidels manage put in power new puppets, I'm sure that there will be no longer former control over these countries now. A completely new situation emerges before our eyes, Allah opens up new opportunities for the Muslims.

Another problem is how this opportunity will be used by the Muslims. Because Allah does not change the condition of the people unless they change it themselves.

At present, there is a state of confusion in Libya. Although, according to incoming information, groups of Mujahedeen are operating there. There is a hope that they will be able to lead the Muslims.

There is no sufficient information about the situation in Egypt and Tunisia. We hope for the best, but at present, certain calm is felt there, and, unfortunately, news reaches us that some well-known Jamaats are again going to play the game of "Democratic Islam".

Events in Syria, as it seems, just start to unfold. There is unrest in Algeria, Morocco and Jordan.

Perhaps, the most interesting events, of all Arab countries, can be expected in Yemen, where the positions of the Mujahedeen are most promising and from where a serious military movement could start.

The only thing I can say for certain is that if there are no armed force of Muslims, no Jihad and no fighting, nobody would allow us to establish the Sharia of Allah. If it were possible, it would have been done already by our Prophet .

KC: May Allah reward you in goodness for the interview and your comments.

The nation's leading legal expert on Sharia and its relationship to American law, David Yerushalmi, here tears the cover off the common assertion that anti-Sharia legal initiatives are unnecessary, because Sharia isn't being used in American courts in the first place:

New Study Finds Shariah Law Involved in Court Cases in 23 States CSP

Washington, DC, May 17, 2011 - The Center for Security Policy today released an in-depth study-- Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases. The study evaluates 50 appellate court cases from 23 states that involve conflicts between Shariah (Islamic law) and American state law.  The analysis finds that Shariah has been applied or formally recognized in state court decisions, in conflict with the Constitution and state public policy.

Some commentators have tried to minimize this problem, claiming, as an editorial in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times put it that, “…There is scant evidence that American judges are resolving cases on the basis of shariah.” To the contrary, our study identified 50 significant cases just from the small sample of appellate court published cases.

Others have asserted with certainty that state court judges will always reject any foreign law, including Shariah law, when it conflicts with the Constitution or state public policy.  The Center’s analysis, however, found 15 trial court cases, and 12 appellate court cases, where Shariah was found to be applicable in these particular cases.

The facts are the facts: some judges are making decisions deferring to Shariah law even when those decisions conflict with constitutional protections.

On the releasing the study, the Center for Security Policy’s President, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., observed:

"These cases are the stories of Muslim American families, mostly Muslim women and children, who were asking American courts to preserve their rights to equal protection and due process.  These families came to America for freedom from the discriminatory and cruel laws of Shariah.  When our courts then apply Shariah law in the lives of these families, and deny them equal protection, they are betraying the principles on which America was founded."

Key Findings:

•   At the trial court level, 22 decisions were found that refused to apply Shariah; 15 were found to have utilized or recognized Shariah; 9 were indeterminate; and in 4 cases Shariah was not applicable to the decision at this level, but was applicable at the appellate level.

•   At the appellate Court level: 23 decisions were found that refused to apply Shariah; 12 were found to have utilized or recognized Shariah; 8 were indeterminate; and in 7 cases Shariah was not applicable to the decision, but had been applicable at the trial court level.

•   The 50 cases were classified into seven distinct “Categories” of dispute:  21 cases dealt with “Shariah Marriage Law”; 17 cases involved “Child Custody”; 5 dealt with “Shariah Contract Law”; 3 dealt with general “Shariah Doctrine”; 2 were concerned with “Shariah Property Law”; 1 dealt with “Due Process/Equal Protection” and 1 dealt with the combined “Shariah Marriage Law/Child Custody.”

•   The 50 cases were based in 23 different states: 6 cases were found in New Jersey; 5 in California; 4 each in Florida, Massachusetts and Washington; 3 each in Maryland, Texas and Virginia; 2 each in Louisiana and Nebraska; and 1 each in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio and South Carolina.

Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases includes summaries of a sample of twenty cases, as well as the full published texts for all fifty cases.

Mr. Gaffney added:

“This study represents a timely contribution to the debate developing around the country:  To what extent is the Islamic politico-military-legal doctrine of Shariah being insinuated into the United States?  The analysis complements and powerfully reinforces the warnings contained in the Center’s bestselling 2010 “Team B II” Report, Shariah: The Threat to America.  It confirms that Shariah’s adherents are making a concerted effort to bring their anti-constitutional code to this country. 

“Together with follow-on analyses now in preparation, we hope to equip those who share the Center’s commitment to the Constitution of the United States, to the liberties it guarantees and to the democratic government it mandates to thwart those like the Muslim Brotherhood who would supplant freedom with Shariah law.  Clearly, we must work to keep America Shariah-free, or risk inexorably losing the country we love.”

The full text of the study, including text from the court cases and tables displaying the findings, can be found at www.ShariahInAmericanCourts.com.

One of the effects of this case, whatever its outcome, will be to make agents at the border extra-careful when inspecting Muslims: they will be careful not to do anything that might land them in a lawsuit. And so the ultimate result of this suit will be that Muslims will receive lighter scrutiny than non-Muslims at the U.S.-Canada border. And there is no problem with that at all, because everyone knows that Muslims never commit violence in the name of their faith.

"U.S. probe to look at border concerns of Muslims," by Niraj Warikoo for the Detroit Free Press, May 7 (thanks to Mackie):

The U.S. government has launched an investigation into allegations that federal agents at several U.S.-Canada border crossings in Michigan repeatedly harassed, jailed and body searched Muslims because of their background or appearance.

In a letter sent this week to a local Muslim group, Margo Schlanger, the head of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Department of Homeland Security, said her office has received accounts of "repeated handcuffing, brandishing of weapons, prolonged detentions, invasive and humiliating body searches at the border, and inappropriate questioning that pertains to religion and religious practices."

The complaints include incidents at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit and the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

The investigation comes in response to complaints filed in March by the [Hamas-linked] Council on American-Islamic Relations with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.

The council said it was concerned that agents were even asking people about their prayer schedules.

Muslims, Arab Americans, south Asians and other minorities have complained for years about being harassed at border crossings. Now, some say it's getting worse.

"It really makes you feel humiliated," said Wissam Charafeddine, 34, of Dearborn, who says he gets repeatedly jailed at the border. "It doesn't make you feel like you're in America."...

An illuminating look at a little-noted impetus among Muslims for the persecution of Christians. "Muslim 'Inferiority Complex' Kills Christians," by Raymond Ibrahim for FrontPageMagazine.com (via RaymondIbrahim.com), May 14:

Days ago in Egypt, throngs of Muslims (henceforth, "Islamists"), estimated at 3,000, fired guns and rifles and hurled Molotov cocktails at Coptic churches, homes, and businesses in the Imbaba region near Cairo: twelve Christians were killed—some shot by snipers atop rooftops—232 injured; three churches were set aflame to cries of "Allahu Akbar," while Coptic homes were looted and torched.

As usual, Egyptian leadership did little to stop this latest rampage. According to eyewitnesses, though the mob opened fire around 5:30 p.m., the military did not arrive till 10 p.m., providing ample time to terrorize the Copts. One priest said "I called everyone, but no one bothered to come. I mourn all those young people who died," naively adding "We now must ask for international protection." Noting that this attack is unprecedented in scope, Muslim liberal writer Nabil Sharaf el Din said "The army is either incapable [of stopping anti-Christian violence] or is an accomplice to the Salafis [Islamists]."

So what triggered this latest bit of Salafi savagery—or, as the MSM calls it, "sectarian strife"? Islamists claim that a Christian girl converted to Islam and the Coptic Church responded by abducting her and torturing her into renouncing Islam. Hence, the wild rampage was part of a "rescue" effort.

This issue of Christian women supposedly converting to Islam only to be kidnapped by the Coptic Church is the Islamists' latest excuse to make Coptic life a living hell (especially ironic since the well-documented reality in Egypt is the opposite: Islamists regularly kidnap and force Christian women to convert to Islam). Indeed, days before this rampage, thousands of Islamists marched in front of St. Mark Cathedral, Coptic Pope Shenouda's residence, demanding the "release" of other Christian women—two wives of clergy, whom Muslims insist also converted to Islam only to be abducted and tormented by the Coptic Church to return to Christianity.

(The notion of torturing people into returning to their original religion obviously comports well with Muslim logic: aside from the other Sharia schools which recommend outright execution of apostates, the "liberal" Hanafi school, which is dominant in Egypt, maintains that apostate women should merely be imprisoned and beaten till they come to their senses and return to Islam.)

That these Coptic women have publicly insisted that they never converted to Islam does not seem to matter much; one of them, Camelia Shehata appeared on video months ago proclaiming that she will "live and die as a Christian"; she appeared again last week with her priest husband and young child, emphatically denying that she ever converted to Islam, imploring Muslims to leave them in peace.

This supposedly "chivalrous" behavior—"rescuing" damsel converts to Islam even when they insist on never converting—highlights the Islamic world's obsession with the issue of conversion: while it is known that those who convert out, the apostates, should be put to death, few people are aware that those who convert in—against their will or not, based on false rumors or not—are a great source of validation for Islam, and thus must be secured.

Even the West has been dragged into this obsession—such as the persistent rumor that the late Jacques Cousteau embraced Islam, prompting the Cousteau foundation to issue a letter verifying its founder never converted, and lived and died as a Catholic Christian....

Read it all.

And of course the mainstream media runs interference for the Islamic supremacists.

A video from Americans for Peace and Tolerance.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says "Muslims in Australia should accept the Australian values, and Australia should provide a 'public sphere' for Muslims to practise their belief. It takes two to tango."

Cute, but they are acting as though they are just looking for reciprocity when their demand for Sharia is one without comparison for any other group that has settled in Australia. In asking for "legal pluralism," they want a selective opt-out clause on being Australian.

They dance around the reasons for concern about Sharia. It is supremacist, totalitarian, and not designed for selective implementation: supposedly divine laws do not lend themselves to compartmentalization. Then, of course, there is the actual content of the law, and the observable impact of Sharia everywhere else it has gained strength: tolerance goes down, persecution goes up. Women's rights decrease, and abusive and invasive enforcement increase. Sharia has never resulted in a free society by Western standards of human rights, because it is not designed to do so.

One tactic we see here that we have also seen in arguments in defense of Sharia in Britain and against laws being passed in the United States regards Sharia's supposed adaptability and flexibility. That should not be reassuring. It should be equal cause for alarm. It shows that Sharia is wired for deceptive implementation: People are deliberately deceived from knowing what they are getting, unless they know where to look for information.

But that doesn't change the content of the law, as much as apologists wish it could shape-shift like the goo in a lava lamp the moment a non-Muslim notes an unpleasant provision.

In other words, Sharia is everything, except when it's nothing in particular. But ultimately, the promise of adaptability demands trust in a reform that has not taken place. It can be adapted. It might be adapted. Except apologists will turn right around and argue there's nothing wrong with it.

Caveat emptor. More on this story. "Muslims to push for sharia," by Patricia Karvelas for The Australian, May 17 (thanks to all who sent this in):

THE nation's peak Muslim group is using the Gillard government's re-embracing of multiculturalism to push for the introduction of sharia in Australia, but it says it would be a more moderate variety of Islamic law that fits with Australian values.

Even if they presented a binding constitution of "moderate" Australian Sharia, it would be immaterial. Where it was in agreement with Australian laws, it would be redundant. Where it disagreed, it would be illegal.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the government's new multiculturalism policy, argues that Muslims should enjoy "legal pluralism".

In an interview with The Australian, the organisation's president, Ikebal Adam Patel, who wrote the submission, nominated family law and specifically divorce as an area where moderate interpretations of sharia could co-exist within the Australian legal system.

In the submission, the AFIC acknowledges some Muslims believe Islamic law is immutable, regardless of history, time, culture and location.

"They claim that Muslims may change, but Islam will not," it says.

The AFIC argues this is not the case and sharia can be applied in a way that fits in to Australia and is not extreme.

"This means most of the regulations in Islamic law may be amended, changed, altered, and adapted to social change.

"Therefore, Muslims Australia-AFIC takes the position that Islamic law is changeable according to the requirements of different places and times, and therefore suits the values shared by Australian people," the submission says.

A hardline reading of sharia confers unilateral divorce rights on men, while women who initiate divorce are stripped of their property and financial entitlements.

A more moderate interpretation and common practice in Islamic countries is to recognise divorce by mutual consent.

In the interview, Mr Patel said: "I'm saying that instead of letting the extremists within Islam take over the agenda, we are saying there is a path whereby it will work for all the communities in a moderate way.

"It is important for someone who is Muslim or a practising Jew that aspects of our religion which can be incorporated within the greater legal system are introduced.

"This is about personal issues about family, and won't affect any other Australian," he said.

"It's about a system that does not impinge on the rights of any other Australian."

The fact that you want your private laws, and a foot in the door for a totalitarian system, are no less unacceptable.

In its submission to the inquiry, the AFIC says criticisms of sharia as being biased against women and treating them as second-class citizens are wrong.

"It is important for Muslims to seriously consider this criticism," the submission says.

"But it is also important for the Australian government to respect the rights of Muslim women who want to keep and maintain the way they dress, eat and interact with others, as long as such behaviour does not inflict harm to others.

"Muslims in Australia should accept the Australian values, and Australia should provide a 'public sphere' for Muslims to practise their belief. It takes two to tango....

Indonesia, for its part, says it hasn't gotten the memo yet. Another day, another stalling tactic. "UN ‘Disturbed’ by Indonesia’s Religious Violence," by Camelia Pasandaran & Cameron Bates for the Jakarta Globe, May 17 (thanks to Twostellas):

The United Nations has written to the Indonesian government expressing “concern” about the increasing number of reports about violence committed against religious minorities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, says it is yet to receive a copy of the letter, dated April 26, 2011, from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay. The letter was also copied to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and a number of other Indonesia institutions.

Pillay also reveals a proposed visit by the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to visit Indonesia this year to investigate the allegations.

In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Jakarta Globe on Sunday, Pillay says she is writing to the Indonesian government to “express my concern over the large number of letters and reports I have received in recent months concerning violence against members of religious minorities in Indonesia.”

“I have been particularly disturbed by the widespread violence and discrimination reported against the [Ahmadiyah] community, which has included the state-sanctioned closing of Ahmadi mosques, the burning of homes and places of worship, and even physical violence and murder.”

Pillay said that since the violent attack that left three Ahmadi dead in Cikeusik, West Java, on Feb. 6, several government authorities had responded by issuing new regulations and decrees that allowed “further acts of harassment and violence” to occur.

Pillay also noted a number of other reported incidences of religious intolerance, including the ongoing stand-off between the Bogor government and the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin.

“Christian groups have reportedly been attacked and Christian churches have reportedly been burned in Gebyog, Klaten and Tegal in Central Java. In North Sumatra, a Buddhist community was ordered to dismantle a Buddha statue at a temple that was considered by some to be a challenge to Islam in that area.”

The commissioner said the incidents put at risk the human rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a signatory.

“The General Assembly and Human Rights Council have repeatedly urges [sic] States to take all necessary and appropriate actions, in conformity with international human rights standards, to combat hatred, discrimination, intolerance and acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by intolerance based on religion or belief, as well as incitement to hostility and violence, with particular regard to members of religious minorities.”

Pillay said she understood that discussions were ongoing between the government, Komnas HAM, civil society and religious groups concerning the issue.

“I encourage the government of Indonesia to take this opportunity to support reflection and action at various levels to address the broader issues behind religious intolerance and discrimination.”

She said that laws that restricted religious expression and practise “must be reviewed to ensure they comply with these standards” and well as ensuring that justice was upheld against those found to have committed wrongdoing.

Pillay also “strongly encouraged” the government to accept a proposed visit by the United Nation’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to visit Indonesia this year.

Rev. Ujang Tanusaputra of GKI Yasmin said the letter was “a bad assessment of Indonesia in the context of religious freedom.”

“As a nation that is based on [the state ideology] Pancasila with its motto Unity in Diversity, the government should uphold and implement the pillars of Indonesia.”

But there are also Islamic supremacist Pancasila revisionists to contend with.

Nothing sells a country's tourism industry like hauling in a foreign national on trumped-up blasphemy charges. We see this most often in Pakistan, but here again in Dubai is a case of the laws being used as a labor saving device -- to do away with an obstacle or someone one finds unpleasant, or to settle a score. And the lines are deliberately flexible with regard to when one has insulted Islam or Muhammad. Anything you say about Islam and violence or terrorism can and will be used against you in a court of Sharia: So much the better to keep people in line through fear. That should be a cautionary tale for the West.

"Briton insulted Islam, Prophet in Dubai shop, court told," by Salam Amir for The National, May 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

DUBAI // A 40-year-old tourist appeared in court this morning accused of insulting Islam during a conversation about the Taliban, calling the Prophet Mohammed a terrorist.

It was an argument in a mall. That never happens.

AG, a Briton, appeared in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours wearing shorts. He was sent away to change into more suitable clothing before he returned to the court to deny charges of insulting Islam and a Pakistani shop employee.

“I told him he was crazy, but I didn't say any of the other things he claims,” AG, who is staying at a hotel in Abu Hail area, told the court.

“I spoke with him about the problems between the Pakistani government and Taliban, and when I understood from his responses that he was a supporter of the Taliban, I told him he was crazy because they were terrorists and they kill people and carry out bombings,” AG told Bur Dubai police. “I didn't say anything bad about Muslims and the Prophet."

According to records, AG visited the E-Max shop in Mall of the Emirates on the night of March 3, 2011. He met HH, 21, the salesman, greeted him and asked him where he was from.

When HH told him he was from Pakistan, AG responded that Muslims in Pakistan were not normal because they are killing each other and outsiders, records say. HH also told investigators that he told AG he was a Muslim and that the greeting he said to him was "namaste" – which is Hindi.

Would he rather he told them they were normal?

“I asked him how I can help him, to end the conversation,” HH said, adding that AG continued anyway and told him Pakistan would soon come to bad end.

HH testified he replied to AG that Muslims were peaceful brothers and helped each other. But AG retorted that he was crazy and that the Prophet Mohammed was not a peaceful man but a terrorist, records show.

“I walked towards him to hit him, but a customer who was present in the shop held me back,” HH told investigators.

HH informed mall guards but AG had already left, records show. An Egyptian customer in the shop witnessed the incident, as did HH’s Sri Lankan colleague.

On March 11, HH said he saw AG in the mall again and called security as well as police. AG was taken into custody. He denied to police that he had insulted the Prophet Mohammed. HH told The National that AG often spent time in the mall on weekends.

AG awaits a verdict on June 9.

Different figurehead, same jihad. "Egyptian Saif al-Adel now acting leader of al Qaeda, ex-militant [sic] say," by Peter Bergen for CNN, May 17:

(CNN) -- An Egyptian who was once a Special Forces officer has been chosen "caretaker" leader of al Qaeda in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, according to a source with detailed knowledge of the group's inner workings.

Al Qaeda's interim leader is Saif al-Adel, who has long played a prominent role in the group, according to Noman Benotman. Benotman has known the al Qaeda leadership for more than two decades. He was once a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a militant organization that used to be aligned with al Qaeda, but in recent years renounced al Qaeda's ideology.

Benotman told CNN that based on his personal communications with militants and discussions on jihadist forums, al-Adel, also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, had been chosen interim chief of al Qaeda because the global jihadist community had grown restive in recent days about the lack of a formal announcement of a successor to bin Laden.

According to Benotman, this was not a decision of the formal shura council of al Qaeda, because it is currently impossible to gather them in one place, but was rather the decision of six to eight leaders of al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Al-Adel was already one of the top leaders of the group.

However, Benotman said, the choice of an Egyptian may not sit well with some Saudi and Yemeni members of al Qaeda, who believe bin Laden's successor should come from the Arabian Peninsula, a region that is holy to all Muslims. Bin Laden was from a wealthy Saudi family.

The presumed successor to bin Laden is his long-time deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is also Egyptian. Benotman, who has long been a reliable source of information about al Qaeda, said the temporary appointment of al-Adel may be a way for the leadership to gauge reaction to the selection of someone from beyond the Arabian Peninsula as the group's leader....

Yet in America media report after media report showed Muslim spokesmen expressing joy and relief that Osama was dead. Can someone explain, please, how Islam in America differs from Islam in Pakistan, such that the reaction to Osama's death among Muslims in both places is so different? Do they have a different Qur'an? A different Muhammad? Or could it be that the two groups of Muslims actually agree on this question more than they might wish to admit to pollsters or journalists?

"Most Pakistanis grieve for Osama: Survey," from Rediff, May 17 (thanks to Ravi):

A majority of Pakistanis surveyed in a poll appeared to be aggrieved over the death of Osama bin Laden, with 51 per cent describing their emotions as "grief" though one-third said they were unconcerned by the incident.

The nationwide study was released by Gilani Foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International. The poll covered 2,530 men and women in the rural and urban areas.

The poll was conducted among 2,530 men and women representatives of the adult population of Pakistan. They were distributed in the rural and urban areas of various provinces and districts and comprised a cross-section of various education, income, age and linguistic backgrounds....

Loose lips sink ships, akhi! Next time stick to the "Islam is a Religion of Peace" theme when out among the kuffar!

"Street cleaners arrested in Pope 'plot' were overheard discussing attack," by Duncan Gardham in the Telegraph, May 16:

Street cleaners arrested over an alleged plot to kill the Pope were said to have been overheard threatening to kill a Christian for every page of the Koran, it has emerged.

A report on the incident has said that although all six men were later released without charge, police were justified in making the arrests after receiving a call at 4.30pm on September 16, the day before the Pope was due to arrive in London.

The caller reported that five men were looking at a picture in the Metro newspaper of the Pope’s motor vehicle and talking about a recent incident where the Koran was allegedly burned.

They were overheard saying that a “Christian should be killed for every page that was damaged” according to the report by David Anderson QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

“The view was expressed that whilst the Pope’s vehicle was protected, it could be stopped and that even if he survived, those around him would die,” Mr Anderson said.

“Comments were made to the effect that it would be wonderful if the Pope was killed and that there were virgins waiting for them.”...

One of the men was said to have returned from Paris on Monday or Tuesday of that week having shaven his hair off and become radicalised....

By 5.15 armed police were ready to make an arrest at the Veolia depot on Chiltern Street in London’s West End and the men were detained as they arrived for work and hour later.

A sixth man was arrested after arriving at work, hearing of the arrests and leaving in a agitated state, around the same time that the Pope’s convoy was making its way into central London.

The men were all of Algerian origin and living and working in Britain legally apart from one man who was Sudanese and admitted that his asylum application had been turned down and he had assumed a false identity in order to obtain work....

Last night I was briefly on Eric Bolling's "Follow the Money," discussing the strange circumstances of the death of Osama bin Laden.

"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews" (Qur'an 5:82), which in practice means that the Muslims will be strongest in enmity to the Jews. How is it that Yunis Al-Astal, who as a Muslim cleric has dedicated his life to understanding and obeying the dictates of Islam, misunderstands this peaceful, tolerant religion so spectacularly?

"Hamas MP and Cleric Yunis Al-Astal: The Jews Were Brought to Palestine for the 'Great Massacre' through which Allah Will 'Relieve Humanity of Their Evil,'" from MEMRI, May 11 (thanks to Linda):

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on May 11, 2011:

Yunis Al-Astal: […] In just a few years, all the Zionists and the settlers will realize that their arrival in Palestine was for the purpose of the great massacre, by means of which Allah wants to relieve humanity of their evil.

[…]

When Palestine is liberated and its people return to it, and the entire region, with the grace of Allah, will have turned into the United States of Islam, the land of Palestine will become the capital of the Islamic Caliphate, and all these countries will turn into states within the Caliphate. When this happens, any Palestinian will be able to live anywhere, because the land of Islam is the property of all Muslims.

Until this happens, we must reject all the resettlement plans, naturalization, or even reparations prior to the return of the refugees....

Read it all.

Send them more billions! That will fix things up! "Pakistan and NATO Forces Exchange Fire," by Salman Masood in the New York Times, May 17 (thanks to Mackie):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani ground troops opened fire on two NATO helicopters that crossed into Pakistan’s airspace from Afghanistan early Tuesday morning, the Pakistani Army said in a statement. A firefight then briefly erupted between NATO forces and the troops, the statement said, and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded.

The clash took place at Admi Kot Post in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan, an area that American officials have long regarded as a haven used by militants to attack coalition forces inside Afghanistan. NATO officials said they were looking into the incident, and could not immediately confirm whether the helicopters had indeed entered Pakistan’s airspace.