November 2011 Archives

Accident? Or canny Israeli self-defense? Either way, it's good news. "A second Iranian nuclear facility has exploded, as diplomatic tensions rise between the West and Tehran," by Sheera Frenkel for The Times, November 30 (thanks to Mackie):

AN IRANIAN nuclear facility has been hit by a huge explosion, the second such blast in a month, prompting speculation that Tehran's military and atomic sites are under attack.

Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.

The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident".

The explosion at Iran's third-largest city came as satellite images emerged of the damage caused by one at a military base outside Tehran two weeks ago that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defence program.

Iran claimed that the Tehran explosion occurred during testing on a new weapons system designed to strike at Israel. But several Israeli officials have confirmed that the blast was intentional and part of an effort to target Iran's nuclear weapons program.

On Monday, Isfahan residents reported a blast that shook tower blocks in the city at about 2.40pm and seeing a cloud of smoke rising over the nuclear facility on the edge of the city.

"This caused damage to the facilities in Isfahan, particularly to the elements we believe were involved in storage of raw materials," said one military intelligence source.

He would not confirm or deny Israel's involvement in the blast, instead saying that there were "many different parties looking to sabotage, stop or coerce Iran into stopping its nuclear weapons program".

Iran went into frantic denial yesterday as news of the explosion at Isfahan emerged. Alireza Zaker-Isfahani, the city's governor, claimed that the blast had been caused by a military exercise in the area but state-owned agencies in Tehran soon removed this story and issued a government denial that any explosion had taken place at all.

On Monday, Dan Meridor. the Israeli Intelligence Minister, said: "There are countries who impose economic sanctions and there are countries who act in other ways in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat."

Major-General Giora Eiland, Israel's former director of national security, told Israel's army radio that the Isfahan blast was no accident. "There aren't many coincidences, and when there are so many events there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it's the hand of God," he said....

I am still in Australia, and have thus far spoken publicly in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney, and have had several illuminating meetings with local activists. It was a magnificent evening and a packed house in Sydney -- alas, not videoed -- and it was encouraging to see so many knowledgeable, informed people determined to defend freedom. Here, courtesy the Right Wing Death Bogan blog, is another report on my talk in Melbourne, reproduced here with gratitude: "JihadWatch Comes To Town," by Nilk at rightwingdeathbogan, November 28:

PJG has written a guest post over at JihadWatch about Robert Spencer's vist to Melbournistan.

I've known PJG for quite some time now, and we've attended the occasional demo together, so I'm happy to agree with what s/he has to say. Rather than rehash that, I'll add my observations of the evening. (This is your opportunity to rush over to JW and read the report!)

I found the evening to be wonderfully refreshing. Yes, of course Vickie did have to read out a long-winded legal disclaimer, and there was some amusement at her suggesting basically that in the interest of the public interest, we're going to discuss things that are not supposed to be discussed. If you think you might be offended, or if you've come here with the intention of accusing Robert and the Q Society of inciting hatred and hurt feelings then you know where the door is.

That is, of course, my paraphrasing. Vickie is much more diplomatic in that situation than I would be, and it is shocking that in this day and age, in Australia, we are forced into this defensive posture.

Unfortunately, with our draconian laws having claimed several scalps, with Andrew Bolt's being most visible.

The less visible are the likes of QC Peter Faris who has removed himself from public commenting and so many others I know who have been looking over their shoulders before speaking for too long now.

Robert spoke freely and with gusto about the encroachment of sharia norms on our own culture. The extent to which this has occurred is always shocking when you stop to consider the small, incremental steps that have been taken, and what they actually signify.

From the separate toilets for muslims at LaTrobe University - which a friend tells me have been there for years and years and are kept clean by the muslim students in poor comparison to the toilets used by non-muslims - to the City of Monash spending money to put a privacy screen around a public swimming pool so that muslim women can swim without any prying eyes on them.

Needless to say, that last one is going to cost more than anticipated.

These are the most visible symptoms of sharia regulations entering the mainstream, but they are by no means the only ones. Our wonderful 'blasphemy law', also officially known as the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act of 2001 (go read that one, too), has been used primarily against christians, and while it may be worded in a neutral manner, people really aren't that stupid.

Everyone knows who it's there to shackle.

And it's not those who agree with the current, Leftist paradigm.

One recurring theme from Robert Spencer's talk was that we are the inheritors of the greatest, most amazing civilisation the world has ever seen, and he is correct. [...]

God bless Robert Spencer for his work, his passion and his knowledge. His enthusiasm definitely fired me up - it's very easy to get disheartened in this game, and it can become easy to find excuses for not blogging as often as I should.

So what will you be doing for the rest of the war?

Read it all.

Today on Hudson NY (via RaymondIbrahim.com) I discuss the administration's ongoing campaign to eradicate words, and thus knowledge, concerning Islam, including the argument that, by using words like mujahid, we "legitimize" the jihadists in the eyes of the Muslim world:

[...] the notion that the words we use can ever have an impact on what is and is not legitimate for Muslims is ludicrous: Muslims are not waiting around for Americans or their government—that is, the misguided, the deluded, in a word, the infidel—to define Islam for them. For Muslims, only Sharia determines right and wrong.

The U.S. government needs to worry less about which words appease Muslims and worry more about providing its intelligence community—not to mention its own citizenry—with accurate knowledge concerning the nature of the threat.

Without words related to Islam, how are analysts to make sense of the current conflict? What are the goals and motivations of the "jihadists"? What are their methods? Who might be "radicalizing" them? Whom are they affiliated to? Who supports them? These and a host of other questions are unintelligible without free use of words related to Islam.

Knowledge is inextricably linked to language. The more generic the language, the less precise the knowledge; conversely, the more precise the language, the more precise the knowledge. In the current conflict, to acquire accurate knowledge, which is essential to victory, we need to begin with accurate language...

"It's called the double standard ... Don't knock it — we got the long end of the stick on that one." - Ayatollah Hank Hill, King of the Hill

Oh, yes. This will lead to much happier, more stable families. What could possibly go wrong? Among the many measures imposed by the Islamic Republic, this one should prove to be particularly popular, however, as it amounts to a blank check for religiously sanctioned, utter lack of restraint -- for men only, of course.

"Agencies Question Need for Iran's Family Protection Bill," by Amy Kellogg for Fox News, November 30 (thanks to EZ Rider):

The Iranian government calls it the Family Protection Bill, but activists call it the “Anti-Family Protection Bill.”

It would give men the right to take a second wife without the permission of the first, and it would enshrine a man’s right to have an unlimited number of temporary marriages, which can last from 10 minutes to 99 years. Those arrangements come from Shariah law and have always existed in Iran, but the Family Protection Bill would make them official.

Two groups -- the International Coalition Against Violence in Iran, and the Association of Iranian Researchers -- arranged a press conference in London last week to raise awareness of the issue. Amid the upheaval in Iran right now -- the hardship associated with sanctions, and the political strife -- they question why such a law, which has been winding its way through Iran’s government for several years, even needs to be on the table.

Women opposed to the articles in the bill that pertain to polygamy went on a brave and creative odyssey more than a year ago to confront it, traveling around Iran to talk to women whose lives have been adversely affected by their husbands taking second wives.

The women wrote their stories on pieces of cloth; if they were illiterate, they had someone else write them down. Then they sewed the pieces together into a quilt. The quilt is still in Iran, but a digital image was smuggled out.

“Most of the stories are from around Iran, not from Tehran. They are sad stories,” said Rouhi Shafii of the International Coalition Against Violence in Iran. Here is a translation of one of the stories:

“A few years after my marriage, my husband started telling me, jokingly, that I looked like an old woman. I was five years younger than he. He began beating me and broke my hands several times. When he talked of taking up another wife, I took it as a joke. He wouldn’t do that, I thought. We have two children. But one day he married a young girl and wanted to get a two story building to bring his bride to live with us. I made him swear on the Koran not to do that, and he took his child bride elsewhere. He forgot about us and spent all his earning enjoying his bride. I was providing for the children by working at people’s homes or hairdressing salons. My younger son says: ‘when I grow up, I will kill my dad.’”

A group of women activists also gathered 15,000 signatures from women opposed to the law — signatures complete with their addresses. The activists brought the signatures and the quilt to Parliament last year, to try to stop the legalization of the polygamy articles as part of the new law. Parliament accepted the signatures, but would not take the quilt.

“It was a very brave act they did last year, in the middle of demonstrations and detentions,” Shafii told Fox News.

Many of the women involved in creating the quilt are out of Iran right now, but they were afraid to appear at the press conference, fearing the regime would make life hard for their families back home.

To many Iranian women, temporary marriage is tantamount to legalized prostitution. But the women’s opposition to the bill is not unanimous. Many female Members of Parliament are as conservative as the men, and they support the legislation.

At this point, the two articles of the bill that deal with polygamy are on hold, but they have not been canceled out of the bill. Shafii believes activism has kept those bills from being passed so far.

People will die, and al-Shabaab does not care. Controlling the flow of aid allows them to starve out resistance.

The charge of "misappropriating funds" is particularly curious. It's certainly not al-Shabaab's money that groups like UNICEF and the World Health Organization were spending, but clearly, al-Shabaab has made it their business to mind the business of everyone in the territory under their control. The other charges are certainly par for the course under the group's paranoid, supremacist rule. More on this story. "Banned aid agencies warn disaster in Somalia," by Malkhadir M. Muhumed for the Associated Press, November 29:

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Aid workers and Somali residents expressed outrage Tuesday, a day after the militant group al-Shabab banned 16 aid groups from its territory, a decision officials said puts tens of thousands of sick mothers and malnourished children at risk.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have already died from drought and famine-related causes this year, and the U.N. estimates that 250,000 people still face starvation in a country plagued by violence.

Somalis expressed sadness and anger at al-Shabab's decision, one that could further damage a group highly unpopular in many Somali circles because of its strict social rules and harsh punishments like amputations [Qur'an 5:33, 5:38 - ed.] and stonings.

In other words, enforcing Sharia.

Al-Shabab on Monday ordered UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the Danish Refugee Council, among others, to leave.

"Without their help, our children will return to starvation and malnutrition," said Ahmed Awnor, a community leader in Hiraan in west-central Somalia.

Aid groups warned of disaster if the ban stays in place. UNICEF said thousands of children could die if its operations are stopped. UNICEF supports health centers treating tens of thousands of malnourished children, provides access to clean water and carries out vaccinations against measles.

"We are extremely concerned as any disruption to our assistance is like unplugging life support for many children, especially for the 160,000 severely malnourished children in south-central Somalia," said Jaya Murthy of UNICEF Somalia.

Al-Shabab began banning aid groups like the World Food Program in 2009, though it allowed some to operate. The militant force has long accused outside groups of spying and on Monday accused the 16 groups of misappropriating funds, collecting data, and promoting secularism, immorality and the "degrading values of democracy in an Islamic country."

"It's a disgusting decision. It will force us back to famine and misery again," said Ahmed Khalif, a Somali elder in Baidoa town. "The difficult tasks the aid agencies have done to fight the famine are only half-done."

Al-Shabab said it carried out a "meticulous yearlong review and investigation" that documented "the illicit activities and misconducts [sic] of some of the organizations."

Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst with the International Crisis Group, said al-Shabab's action could be motivated by "anger at the West's acquiescence to Kenya's intervention" in Somalia. Hundreds of Kenyan forces moved into Somalia last month to fight al-Shabab.

Abdi also said al-Shabab may have failed to extract the benefits and concessions it wanted from the agencies operating in areas under its control. The militants have been known to force aid groups to pay "taxes" or other fees.

The Danish Refugee Council said militants took over its offices in Belet Weyne and Bulo Burte in Hiraan region. The group called al-Shabab's decision "a sad development" as Somalis are "in dire need of humanitarian aid due to drought and years of armed conflict." The group provides shelter, aid packages and daily meals for tens of thousands of internally displaced people in the capital, Mogadishu.

"The struggling people of Somalia need all the help they can get, therefore we hope and trust that we and the other organizations involved are soon again able to resume our humanitarian operations," said Ann Mary Olsen, the head of the council's international department.

Al-Shabab boasts several hundred foreign militants among its ranks, including veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and U.S. citizens. The foreign fighters are known to take hardline stances inside the group.

Murthy of UNICEF said his agency's office in Baidoa was occupied after the staff was ordered to leave. Although UNICEF has in the past few years weathered brief disruptions in Somalia, this is the first time it has to stop operations since its arrival in the early 1970s, he said.

The U.N. refugee agency says more than two-thirds of Somalia's estimated 1.46 million internally displaced people live in southern and central parts of the country — al-Shabab land — and humanitarian needs there are immense.

The World Health Organization supports eight hospitals and 16 mobile clinics that cater to tens of thousands of people in the affected regions. The ban "can undermine the fragile progress made this year, and could bring back famine conditions in several areas," said the WHO's Pieter Desloovere.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned al-Shabab for seizing property and equipment belonging to the aid groups. He said the disruption in aid threatens to undermine progress made this year against the famine.

Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for international aid, said the aid ban could force thousands of Somalis to flee....

That is, if al-Shabaab lets them.

Buying votes and setting up their own stations at polling places to "show people how to vote" has probably helped. "Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood in the lead, press," from ANSAMed, November 30:

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood are the top party in Egypt according to the first reports by local press outlets. While vote counting continues for the uninominal part of the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections, indications show that the Freedom and Justice party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Salafi party coalition Al Nour are in the lead in six governorates, according to the daily paper Al Ahram. According to the daily Al Shouruk, Freedom and Justice raked in 47% of the votes while the secular and moderate Egyptian Bloc coalition received 22%. In the first round of voting, which ended yesterday, the residents of nine governorates cast their votes, including those in Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, Asyut and Port Said.(ANSAmed).

A democracy is only as good as the values that inform its participants.

The court allowed Rev. Khanna to be released on bail, but not before lawyers twice stormed the courtroom, and the bar association warned its members not to defend him. An update on this story. "Kashmir: Anglican pastor who baptised seven Muslims to be released," by Nirmala Carvalho for Asia News, November 30:

Srinagar (AsiaNews) – Chander Mani Khanna, the Anglican clergyman from All Saints Church arrested for baptised seven Muslims, will be released on bail, a court in Sranigar, Kashmir, ruled this morning. The pastor’s son, Nathan, said, “We are waiting for his arrival in Jammu. He is in custody but safe.” Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), pleaded with the Kashmir government to guarantee the pastor’s safety after his release. Rev Khanna has been in prison since 19 November.

Twice (on 27 and 28 November), a gaggle of lawyers stormed the courtroom where the pastor’s case was being heard. The presiding judge was forced to postpone the bail hearing. The Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association has called on its members not to provide Rev Khanna with legal counsel.

A threatening poster was hanged in the courtroom promising any transgressor of possible consequence, such as expulsion from the association and ban from practicing law in the State of Kashmir.

Whose law is in effect in Indian Kashmir?

Sajan George warns that Anglican clergyman’s life “is in serious danger. Six years ago, Bashir Tantray, GCIC coordinator in the Kashmir, was gunned down in broad daylight, in front of his father’s home. The government has to guarantee Rev Khanna’s safety when he is released.”....

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland recently responded to questions about Sharia forming the basis of legislation by saying it "has a broad application and is understood differently in different places and by different commentators."

That line is intended to be a discussion-stopper. Indeed, almost any time a concerned non-Muslim notices an unpleasant tenet of Sharia or witnesses it in practice, Sharia becomes an elusive ideological jellyfish that no one can grasp, where no one can really say what will happen. Even before we take into account its contents, if we can't say what it is, why should we trust it, let alone support its advance?

But we can say what it is, and in reality, wherever Sharia takes hold or experiences a resurgence, the observable results are an increase in harassment and threats, and a decrease in tolerance. Egypt's Christians know from centuries of experience what is unfortunately taking shape in their country.

"Egypt's Coptic Christians Fear Fewer Rights After Elections," by Elizabeth Arrott for Voice of America, November 29:

Cairo (VOA) -- With Islamist groups expected to do well in Egypt's parliamentary elections, many Coptic Christians are concerned that their limited rights will come under greater threat.

The trash of millions of people collects in Cairo's Garbage City, the narrow lanes filled with plastic, metal, wood - anything the district residents can resell to eke out a living.

The slum, on the outskirts of the capital, is home to a large Coptic Christian community. Many are trash collectors, or zabaleen. And above the squalor is a testament to their faith - the largest Christian church in the Middle East, cut into the hillside that begins the plateau east of Cairo.

For Christians, Egypt is the land revered for sheltering a young Jesus and his family. But it has long been the province of an Islamic majority, a fact that some Coptic Christians say Muslims are quick to point out.

Said, who gives only his first name, says Christians are discriminated against.

He says Coptic Christians do not have the same rights as other people in the country, and that others look down on them as if they are not human. Said says discrimination was institutionalized under the old government, with restrictions on church construction and the ability to change one's faith. The current military government has proved no better, he says, cracking down on a Coptic protest march last month, in a violent night that left 25 people dead.

Now, some Christians say, it can only get worse. The elections that started this week are expected to favor Islamist parties, including the conservative Salafis.

Medhat Sa'ad, a resident of Garbage City, fears that if Salafis are in charge, a woman walking on the streets without a veil "could be slaughtered."

Although Salafi-inspired violence has dominated newspaper headlines in recent months, some experts say widespread fear is not justified.

"I know a lot of people, even very practicing Muslims, who take their faith very seriously, who do not want to see this kind of interpretation of Islam being overrepresented in parliament. I would say, in general, most Egyptians are more leaning to the more moderate interpretation of Islam or moderate involvement of Islam in political life," political analyst Rania el-Malki says.

Even if extremist views prevail, some Coptic Christians in Garbage City say they will never leave.

Adel Gad el-Rab is a former garbage collector who says God protects everyone in Egypt. When reminded that the country's once thriving Jewish community is all but gone, he declares he will never leave until, as he puts it, he goes to "his homeland in heaven."

El-Rab says the people here are the poorest in Cairo. "We are the garbage collectors," he says, "but we live on a mountain of faith."

More fallout and general conspiracy paranoia in connection with this story. "Islamic Minister, MPs, PPM and religious groups condemn UN Human Rights Commissioner," by Ahmad Naish for Minivan News, November 27 (thanks to Ron):

Statements by visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay calling for a moratorium on flogging as a punishment for fornication and criticising the Muslim-only clause for citizenship in the Maldivian constitution have been widely condemned by religious NGOs, public officials and political parties.

In an address delivered in parliament last Thursday, Pillay said the practice of flogging women found guilty of extra-marital sex “constitutes one of the most inhumane and degrading forms of violence against women, and should have no place in the legal framework of a democratic country.”

The UN human rights chief called for a public debate “on this issue of major concern.” In a press conference later in the day, Pillay called on the judiciary and the executive to issue a moratorium on flogging.

On article 9(d) of the constitution, which states “a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives,” Pillay said the provision was “discriminatory and does not comply with international standards.”

Local media widely misreported Pillay as stating during Thursday evening’s press conference that she did not believe the Maldives had a Constitution, which prompted a great deal of public outrage. Her comment, however, was in response to a challenge from Miadhu Editor Gabbe Latheef, who asked “if you believe we have a Constitution, why are you speaking against our Constitution?”

“I don’t believe you have a Constitution, you have a constitution. The constitution conforms in many respects to universally respected human rights. Let me assure you that these human rights conform with Islam,” Pillay said on Minivan News’s recording of the press conference, however her phrasing was widely misinterpreted by the media.

Pleading for hypothetical, coulda-woulda-shoulda, academic-exercise Sharia does not change what Sharia actually is, as this story makes clear.

Shortly after Pillay’s speech in parliament, Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari told local media that “a tenet of Islam cannot be changed” and flogging was a hudud punishment prescribed in the Quran (24:2) and “revealed down to us from seven heavens.”

They said it, they cited the same chapter and verse that we have noted many times. Are they Islamophobes?

Bari noted that article 10 of the constitution established Islam as “the basis of all the laws of the Maldives” and prohibited the enactment of any law “contrary to any tenet of Islam,” adding that the Maldives has acceded to international conventions with reservations on religious matters such as marriage equality.

In his Friday prayer sermon the following day, Bari asserted that “no international institution or foreign nation” had the right to challenge the practice of Islam and adherence to its tenets in the Maldives.

Meanwhile, the religious conservative Adhaalath Party issued a statement on Thursday contending that tenets of Islam and the principles of Shariah were not subject to modification or change through public debate or democratic processes.

Adhaalath Party suggested that senior government officials invited a foreign dignitary to make statements that they supported but were “hesitant to say in public.”

The party called on President Mohamed Nasheed to condemn Pillay’s statements “at least to show to the people that there is no irreligious agenda of President Nasheed and senior government officials behind this.”

The Adhaalath statement also criticised Speaker Abdulla Shahid and MPs in attendance on Thursday for neither informing Pillay that she “could not make such statements” nor making any attempt to stop her or object to the remarks.

The party insisted that Pillay’s statements and the SAARC monuments in Addu City were “not isolated incidents” but part of a “broad scheme” by the government to “pulverize Islam in the Maldives and introduce false religions”.

Later that night, the Civil Society Coalition – a network of NGOs that campaigned successfully against regulations to allow sale of alcohol in city hotels to non-Muslims last year – announced a nation-wide mass protest on December 23 against the government’s alleged efforts to securalise the country.

Spokesperson Mohamed Didi claimed the current administration was pursuing an agenda to “wipe out the Islamic faith of the Maldivian people” through indoctrination and “plots” to legalize apostasy and allow freedom of religion.

Freedom of religion? Oh, the humanity!

He suggested that “the few people who cannot digest the religion of the people should immediately leave the country.”

The NGO coalition said it expected “over a 100,000 people” to participate in the planned protest.

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) announced today that it would join the protest. PPM interim council member and religious scholar MP Dr Afrashim Ali told newspaper Haveeru that Pillay “can’t say that to us” and condemned the statements on behalf of the party.

Afrashim called on the executive, parliament and judiciary to enact a law prohibiting any statements that “opposes the principles of Islam.”

In a statement today, religious NGO Islamic Foundation of Maldives (IFM) strongly condemned Pillay’s remarks and criticised MPs for not objecting at Thursday’s event.

Pillay’s statements in parliament amounted to calling on MPs “to legalize fornication and gay marriage,” IFM contended.

“Therefore, anyone who agrees to this surely becomes an apostate,” the statement reads. “And if this [fornication and homosexuality] is spread anywhere, Almighty God has warned that fire will be rained upon them from the seven heavens.”

Meanwhile, a Facebook group was formed yesterday with members calling for her to be “slain and driven out of the country.” The group currently has 207 members.

One member posted a banner to open a public debate on whether citizens should rise up and either “kill or lynch” those who “deny the Quran, not tolerate Islam and undermine the constitution.”....

This is nothing new. In the constitutional referendum held in March, the Muslim Brotherhood handed out food (including meat by the kilogram) and money to those who voted "yes" in accordance with their wishes. "Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood 'trying to rig poll with gifts'," from the Evening Standard, November 29 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The Muslim Brotherhood was today accused of attempting to rig Egypt's election by handing out gifts and food at polling stations in a desperate attempt to win power.

Witnesses told the Evening Standard that the Islamist party, which is expected to secure a large share of the votes, had a strong presence both inside and outside polling stations.

Onlookers claimed some Brotherhood groups were allowed to set up tables with laptop computers in order to show "people how to vote".

Voting laws passed after the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime in February outlaw bribes or campaigning inside or near polling stations.

Bel Trew, a film-maker working in Tahrir Square, said: "We have seen people offering gifts to people outside polling stations. This is against the law and would certainly not be allowed in other democratic countries."

Today voting continued with turnout again reported to be high. Student Mariam, who would not give her full name for fear of reprisals said: "I wanted to boycott the elections, as the parliament will have no power and because of what happened in Tahrir, but if we don't vote the Muslim Brotherhood will win the majority."

But there is growing support for the Muslim Brotherhood with many claiming the party is the best option to bring order to Egypt.

"The Freedom and Justice Party (Muslim Brotherhood) are the most organised party right now," said Hossam, 39, an insurance broker who went to a Catholic school in Cairo.

"They have a religious view but they are the only ones who have a good plan for the country." The outcome of the election will indicate whether Egypt will remain secular or move down an Islamic path as have other countries swept up in the Arab Spring.

Egypt's existing constitution already enshrines Sharia as the basis of legislation (Article 2). That is certain not to budge from the next one.

Zeinab Saad, 50, said: "I am voting for this country's sake. We want a new beginning. Its a great thing to feel like your vote matters."

The complicated voting process is staggered over the next six weeks across 27 provinces, divided into thirds with run-offs held a week after the first round in each location.

Voters have to pick two individuals and one alliance or party slate - a system that has left many of the 50 million eligible voters puzzled and apparently undecided....

That gives the Muslim Brotherhood an opening as well, even without their "showing people how to vote."

The hypocritical Islamic supremacist thugs at the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations are continuing their attempts to shut down truthful and accurate speech about Islam and jihad, so that we will be mute and defenseless before its advance. A few days ago they targeted the anti-jihad website Bare Naked Islam, and even briefly got it shut down over a few unhinged comments.

I don't agree with everything over at Bare Naked Islam, and I don't condone threats to anyone, but the point of this Hamas-linked CAIR initiative was not to protect anyone from death threats. If Hamas-linked CAIR really cared to do that, they would have asked the FBI to investigate the Islamic supremacist hate site where the above threats to me were posted. But about those, and about the many death threats I have received, and Pamela Geller has received, and other anti-jihadists have received, Hamas-linked CAIR is silent. When blog comments incite to murder on Islamic supremacist hate sites, Hamas-linked CAIR doesn't CAIR.

Honest Ibe Hooper and his henchmen over at Hamas-linked CAIR know full well that anyone can comment on most anti-jihad sites, because we believe in the principle of the freedom of speech. They know how easy it would be to plant a threatening comment and then try to make something out of it. They know such comments don't reflect my views or the views of other anti-jihadists. They know that far worse is posted on Islamic forums about us. I used to frequent an Islamic bulletin board where I saw people noting blandly that I was on an al-Qaeda hit list and applauding that fact.

This operation against BNI was part of Hamas-linked CAIR's attempt to marginalize and demonize anti-jihadists, and to make it impossible for anyone to speak out against the advancing jihad. And that's all it was.

"Islamic civil rights group asks FBI to investigate threats posted on anti-Muslim website," from the Associated Press, November 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A Muslim civil rights group on Friday asked the FBI to investigate a series of threatening posts on an anti-Islam website.

The threats posted by visitors to the Bare Naked Islam website include a post from one person who urges Christians to “kill every Muslim twice” and mentions that he routinely drives by a specific northern Virginia mosque. Another recommends blowing up mosques.

In making the request, [Hamas-linked] Council for American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the Internet is replete with hateful commentary about Muslims. But he said these comments differ because they routinely contain explicit calls for violence.

Will the Leftists and Islamic supremacists who have been avid to blame me for the Breivik murders now retract and apologize? I won't be holding my breath. But now what I have been saying all along is abundantly established: the fact that the Norwegian mass murderer mentioned me (along with many others such as John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Darwin) in his ideologically incoherent "manifesto" no more meant that I was his "inspiration" or "mentor" than the fact that Charles Manson invoked the Beatles as the inspiration for his murders meant that they were complicit or responsible.

In reality, although the Left loves to invoke the number times Breivik cited me (although their number is always different), in reality, virtually every time he was supposedly citing me, he was actually citing a news article from Jihad Watch. Another large portion of the total number of citations comes from his incorporating whole into his "manifesto" the transcript of a documentary in which I appear, Islam: What the West Needs to Know.

He in fact never cited me as an inspiration for his actions or recommendations, and couldn't have done so, because I do not call for violence or anything that violates the human rights we are trying to protect from Islamic supremacism. At one point he even says that I am wrong because I do not call for violence. The Islamic supremacists and their Leftist tools never mention the fact that Pamela Geller notes today: "Breivik specifically quoted John F. Kennedy, a hero of the American Left, as inspiration: 'Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.'"

"Anders Breivik declared insane over Norway terror attacks," by Adam Parris-Long for Yahoo! News, November 29 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Anders Breivik has been found to have been insane at the time of the Norway terror attacks and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Psychiatrists Torgeir Husby and Synne Sorheim compiled the report on Breivik after conducting 13 conversations with the self admitted attacker, also reviewing more than 130 hours of police questioning.

Breivik lived in his "own delusional universe where all his thoughts and acts are guided by his delusions," the 240-page report found.

Public prosecutor Svein Holden said: "They (Husby and Sorheim) conclude that Anders Behring Breivik during a long period of time has developed the mental disorder of paranoid schizophrenia, which has changed him and made him into the person he is today."

"He believes he is chosen to decide who is to live and who is to die," he added. "Breivik stated that he committed these 'executions' out of love for his people. He describes himself as the most perfect knight since the Second World War."

Soon after publishing “Muslim Prayers of Hate”—which linked to an Arabic video containing various Muslim clerics invoking Allah to strike their enemies with pain and disease, including cancer—YouTube removed the video. Researching the web in connection to another article (dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood’s assertion that all who reject Sharia law are “drunks, druggies, and adulterers”), I came upon a “related video” of none other than Sheikh Abdullah Nihari—the most animated of all the clerics in the original video removed by YouTube.

This version (above) also provides more context: apparently Nihari’s rage is directed at those “Westernizing” Muslim authorities who, while limiting Quran/Islamic studies, do little to prevent the spread of “alcohol, drugs, and adultery.” At the 00:36 mark, he issues his “prayer,” as follows:

Lord, Lord, we condemn them before you!! Freeze the blood in their veins!! Strike them with evil, or at the very least freeze the blood in their veins—until they pray for death, but do not receive it!! O lord! O lord! O lord!...

(Read the article and see how other high profile Muslim leaders “pray”—including formal Mecca prayers supplicating Allah to make the lives of Christians and Jews “hostage to misery; drape them with endless despair, unrelenting pain and unremitting ailment; fill their lives with sorrow and pain and end their lives in humiliation and oppression.”)

At any rate, one need not understand Arabic to appreciate the intensity of the hate: watch the video from 00:36 on (before it, too, is taken down) and see the gesticulating Sheikh Nihari issue his curse—all while striking the floor with a stick, hurling a picture, and pounding on the wall.

Spencer with ace anti-jihad artist Bosch Fawstin

Bearded presidents' forum Frank Gaffney, Robert Spencer, Daniel Greenfield, Raymond Ibrahim, Jamie Glazov

Cain, Steyn, Beck, Coulter -- check out the photos from this year's Restoration Weekend here.

The elephant in the room here is the role of Islamic jurisprudence in perpetuating the practice:

"Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna [commendable according to the word or example of Muhammad, but not obligatory], while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband." - Umdat al-Salik e4.3.

The Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, which is present or dominant in many of the countries mentioned below, holds it to be obligatory.

As this report notes, the girls' risk is heightened by the fear of addressing the subject over the possibility of being branded a "racist," but the cruelly ironic result is a racist double standard: if there were not cultural "sensitivities" clouding the issue, the practice would be eradicated "yesterday," as it ought to be.

"3,500 girls are at risk of mutilation in the capital," by Anna Davis for the Evening Standard, November 28 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

More than three thousand London girls are at risk of genital mutilation every year, experts warned today.

The report by black and ethnic minority women's organisation Imkaan found that in the city 3,500 baby girls are born every year to mothers who have suffered female genital mutilation, and therefore are at risk themselves. This is an increase of 65 per cent in 10 years.

Imkaan is calling for all school teachers to be trained to help girls who are facing violence and is calling on David Cameron to tackle the issue.

Marai Larasi, director of Imkaan, said: "It is not acceptable that in 2011 many girls and women living in Britain face extreme, violent threats to their safety and even to their lives. These issues are neglected because of fears of being labelled at best culturally insensitive and at worst racist.

Tragically true:

"There would be outrage and a national scandal if this were happening to little white girls. Every girl should be protected, no matter her background."

The report's authors said girls from African families, as well as Afghan, Turkish, South Asian, Kurdish, Arab and Irish traveller families are among those who could be at risk, and stressed that education for health professionals is needed to tackle "a dangerous postcode lottery of support services for girls and women should they try to find help".

The report also noted that hundreds of women could fall victim to forced marriage every year. The Forced Marriage Unit dealt with 330 cases of women and girls at risk of forced marriage in London last year.

They so badly want a repeat of the U.S. embassy takeover. A member of Iran's assembly suggested it while commenting on Sunday's resolution that called Britain "worse than the devil" and called for the expulsion of its ambassador. He said "The British government should know that if they insist on their evil stances, the Iranian people will punch them in the month, exactly as happened against America's den of spies." Another legislator called for the embassy to be padlocked.

Two days later, willing minions have tried to oblige and take over the embassy. "Iranian protest leads to embassy incursion," from CNN, November 29:

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran Tuesday, breaking down the door, throwing around papers and replacing the British flag with an Iranian one.

Iran's state-run Press TV reported that police had the incident under control, but Britain's Foreign Office called the situation "fluid" and said "details are still emerging."

"There has been an incursion by a significant number of demonstrators into our Embassy premises, including vandalism to our property," the Foreign Office said. "We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it."

The Foreign Office added that "under international law, including the Vienna Convention," the Iranian government has "a clear duty to protect diplomats and Embassies in their country and we expect them to act urgently to bring the situation under control and ensure the safety of our staff and security of our property."

They may notice that adherence to international conventions signed by past generations seem to mean less and less in certain Muslim countries. Another such example is the invasion of the Israeli embassy in Egypt, in a 13-hour rampage during which the head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces curiously "could not be reached," and which required the intervention of the highest levels of the U.S. government in addition to Israel's.

The incursion happened during a protest demanding that the British ambassador be sent home immediately.

A crowd of about 1,000 people gathered near the embassy for the anti-British demonstration, and had been peaceful before some participants stormed the building. A CNN producer saw students throwing stones at the embassy's windows.

The Iranian Parliament voted Sunday to expel the ambassador and reduce diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in retaliation for newly-imposed Western sanctions, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency. The vote must still be approved by the Guardian Council, the body that determines if laws passed by parliament are compatible with Sharia law, or Islamic law.

The Foreign Office called the Iranian Parliament's vote Sunday "regrettable."

"This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation or international concerns about their nuclear program and human rights record," the office said in a statement. "If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners."....

And everyone wants to pretend the imposition of Sharia that is following each revolution won't be a problem, and could even be an improvement. After all, there's promise after promise of "moderate" Islamic governance. One consistent trait that betrays the outwardly friendly face of the revolutions is the antisemitic rhetoric that has accompanied them. "Praise Arab Spring, Except for Anti-Semitism," by Jeffrey Goldberg for Bloomberg, November 29:

The bravery of the youth of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya can’t be denied. It isn’t pepper spray that they’ve been facing. Nor can the idealism of the Arab Spring be denied. The people of the Middle East are finally awakening to the promise of liberty.

A democracy is only as good as the values that inform its participants. That determines what they will use their new-found "liberty" for, including the possibility of trading one form of tyranny for another.

There is another truth, however, that shouldn’t be denied. The desire of Arabs to be free of their spiteful and pitiless dictators is sometimes expressed in grotesquely anti-Jewish terms.

On the surface this makes no sense: Arabs are rising up against Arabs, so what does this have to do with the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”? There has been a tendency in the Middle East to blame the general wretchedness of life on the hidden and malevolent hand of Israel, or more generally -- and more prejudicially -- on “the Jews,” but the Arab Spring’s approach at first seemed radically different. Tunisians, Egyptians, Syrians and Libyans were engaged in demonstrations against the actual causes of their day-to-day misery, rather than against Israel. In Tahrir Square, in the early days of the revolution, Israel seemed an afterthought.

It was always there.

But now in Cairo, and across the Arab Middle East, Israel and the Jews are serving once again as universal boogeymen. Once dictators used anti-Semitism to divert their citizens’ attention away from their own problems. Now expressions of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories seem to rise up organically.

This truth doesn’t conform to the generally accepted narrative of the Arab Spring, but ignoring it won’t make it disappear.

‘No Place’

Libya provides an interesting example. Its late, unlamented dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, was a terrible anti-Semite, and often argued for the elimination of Israel. At the beginning of his reign, he expelled several thousand Jews (members of a community that predated the Muslim conquest of Libya by hundreds of years). His regime confiscated Jewish property, converted synagogues into mosques and razed Jewish cemeteries. And yet some of the revolutionaries who overthrew him fomented the charge that he was at least part-Jewish, and that his regime operated on behalf of Zionism.

When a Libyan Jew in exile returned to Tripoli earlier this year, he was nearly lynched by a mob that surrounded the shuttered synagogue he was hoping to restore. “There is no place for Jews in Libya,” read demonstrators’ signs. In the Forward, Andrew Engel, who recently visited Libya and discovered endemic anti-Semitism there, described one popular rap song that went, “The anger won’t die, the one who will die is Qaddafi, his supporters and the Jews.”

The Syrian ruler, Bashar al-Assad, is also utterly hostile to Israel and to Jews. He supports Hezbollah and Hamas, each of which seeks the physical elimination of the Jewish people. And yet the Syrian opposition finds it beneficial to spread the lie that Assad is a Jewish agent.

According to a translation posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute, the Syrian writer Osama Al-Malouhi wrote recently on an opposition website that Jews “want that sucker of Syrian blood to remain and continue to prey and suck blood. They not only want their security, but also to enjoy the sight of Syrian blood being spilled.” He went on, “Asking myself why Jewish support of Bashar increased after they saw rivers of Syrian blood this mass-murderer spilled in Syrian towns, an old image leapt to my mind, of Jews bleeding people and using their blood to prepare matzas. Logic does not accept this, but the facts prove it.”

Even in Tunisia, which is commonly thought of as the most moderate of Arab states, the leader of the powerful and putatively reasonable Islamist party, Ennahdha, recently stated that he brings “glad tidings that the Arab region will get rid of the germ of Israel,” according to the Middle East scholar Martin Kramer.

‘Betray, Conspire, Extort’

Cairo is rife with anti-Semitism. On my last visit, I met with leaders of ostensibly liberal parties who were convinced Jews were conspiring to bring about the collapse of the Egyptian economy (something that Egypt’s military rulers are accomplishing all by themselves). One suggested to me that George Soros, Benjamin Netanyahu and a certain “Dr. Rothschild” were working jointly to buy the Suez Canal from Egypt.

A BBC journalist named Thomas Dinham recently wrote of his own encounter with anti-Semitism in Cairo. Dinham, who is neither Israeli nor Jewish, told of one potentially dangerous confrontation: “Someone pushed me from behind with such force that I nearly fell over. Turning around, I found myself surrounded by five men, one of whom tried to punch me in the face. I stopped the attack by pointing out how shameful it was for a Muslim to assault a guest in his country, especially during Ramadan.” He went on, “I was appalled by the apology offered by one of my assailants. ‘Sorry,’ he said contritely, offering his hand, ‘we thought you were a Jew.’”

Expressions of anti-Semitism are common even at the higher reaches of Egyptian politics. Presidential candidate Tawfiq Okasha, speaking on the television station he owns, recently said, “Not all the Jews in the world are evil. You may ask: Tawfiq, what is the ratio? The ratio is 60-40. Sixty percent are evil to varying degrees, all the way to a level that words cannot describe, while 40 percent are not evil.” He noted that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is “one of those Jews who adhere to the Zionist ideology, which is one of the worst ideologies.”

Okasha did concede that, while even among the 40 percent of non-evil Jews there is only one in a million who is blameless, it is possible to “coexist” with this sort of Jew because they “do not betray, conspire, extort or view others as Gentiles.”

In Cairo today, this might count as a progressive idea....

First, the congregation of Indonesian Christians continues to exist. The next thing you know, they'll want to continue to exist with dignity in peace and security. The unmitigated gall!

More on the unending saga of the Yasmin Church in Bogor, which has involuntarily found itself at the heart of Indonesia's permit system charade, which is nothing but a backdoor implementation of Sharia to prevent the construction and repair of non-Muslim houses of worship.

"Hundreds Turn Out for Bogor Rally to Denounce Besieged Yasmin Church," by
Vento Saudale for the Jakarta Globe, November 28 (thanks to Kenneth):

Bogor. Hundreds of hard-line Muslims rallied outside the Bogor City Hall on Sunday to decry the “arrogance” of a beleaguered church in the city that remains shuttered by authorities despite a Supreme Court order to open it.

The protesters, from Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami), said they wanted to show that all Muslims were united in opposition to the presence of the GKI Yasmin Church in the city.

“We’re here to refute the arrogance of the church, which continues to insist on setting up in the Taman Yasmin [housing complex],” said Achmad Imam, the Forkami head in Bogor.

The Bogor administration issued a building permit for the church in 2006, but it revoked it two years later, alleging the church had falsified the signatures required to obtain it.

The Supreme Court ruled in December 2010 that the closure was unlawful and ordered its reopening, but the city administration continues to ignore the ruling. Mayor Diani Budiarto has used several excuses to keep the church closed, most recently saying there should not be a Christian church on a street with an Islamic name.

Church members have been forced to hold services on the sidewalk.

Imam said the mayor had the full support of the local Muslim community in facing down the “lies and tricks of the church members and their supporters, who are trying to pit Muslims against one another through this issue.”

The local branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) also got into the act on Sunday, with branch chairman Muhyiddin Junaidi saying it would be “wise and sensible” for the church to yield to “the feelings of the local believers, specifically Muslims.”

At the sealed-off church, meanwhile, the congregation was prevented from holding services for another week when a group of motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers blocked off the sidewalk.

The ojek drivers claimed that because the Yasmin congregation had been praying on the sidewalk, they were left with nowhere to park and were thus losing business.

A possible fundraising drive for Jihadists Without Borders. "Terror: Al-Qaeda 'planning N. Africa kidnapping wave of Westerners'," from AdnKronos International, November 29 (thanks to Kenneth):

Algiers, 29 Nov. (AKI) - Algeria's secret service agency believes a branch of Al-Qaeda is planning a wave of abductions of Westerners in North Africa, according to a local news report.

The Department of Investigation and Security, or DRS, has informed its neighbours in the Sahel region that Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb has a plan to kidnap Westerners in the Sahel, according to a report in Algerian daily el-Khabar.

Sahel the countries bordering Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa: parts of the territory of Senegal, southern Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria, Niger, northern Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The next kidnappings were slated to be carried out by Mauritanian terrorists.

The DRS believes recent abductions were carried out by a group headed by Algerian Wahi Abdel Baqi, the report said.

European humanitarian aid workers - Italian woman Rossella Urru, Spanish woman Ainhoa Fernandez Rincon and Spanish man Enrico Gonyans - were abducted on 23 October from the Rabuni camp, primarily inhabited by refugees from Western Sahara, in western Algeria.

Baqi, 44, speaks English and French as [sic] was allegedly in competition with other North African Al-Qaeda cells, said el-Khabar.

This story popped up briefly in the mainstream media around the time of the incidents in rather vague reporting: a bunch of people died in another round of violence for which the alliterative "sectarian strife" has become a stock media phrase. Here, finally, is more of the story.

"At Least 45 Christians Killed in Plateau State, Nigeria," from Compass Direct News, November 28 (thanks to O):

BARKIN LADI, Nigeria, November 28 (CDN) — Fulani Muslim herdsmen along with Muslim soldiers have killed at least 45 ethnic Berom Christians in Plateau state in the past week, Christians in this northern-central Nigerian town said.

Smaller attacks beginning on Nov. 20, reportedly over allegations by Fulani Muslims of cattle theft, preceded an attack on a Barkin Ladi church on Nov. 23 that killed four Christians, and an assault the next day left 35 Christians dead in Barkin Ladi and nearby Kwok village, according to area Christian leaders.

Church attendance was decimated yesterday as thousands of Christians have left the area.

“Christians are fleeing the town because we have no guns to fight back,” said one woman in a group of six Christians trying to leave Barkin Ladi. “Muslims have guns, and they have their soldiers fighting for them, so we have no choice but to leave town.”

Almost all churches in the town cancelled or held reduced worship services on the first Sunday (Nov. 27) after the crisis was contained, as nearly all area Christians have fled to Jos or have left Plateau state, long hit by ethnic property conflicts fueled by anti-Christian sentiment. In March 2010 ethnic Berom Christians, who live as farmers, suffered attacks from Fulani nomads who graze their cattle on the Beroms’ land, resulting in hundreds of deaths in three villages near Jos.

In the attack on Thursday (Nov. 24), the Fulani Muslims were shouting “Allahu Akbar [God is greater],” said farmer Choji Pamjamo, 51.

“On Thursday at about 9 a.m., the Muslims’ call to prayer was made at the Izala [Islamic sect] mosque,” Pamjamo said. “And shortly after that, we saw hundreds of armed Muslims invading the town from all directions, attacking and killing Christians. They were shouting ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar,’ as they were burning properties belonging to Christians.”

Pamjamo confirmed Christian leaders’ account of an attack on a Church of Christ of Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in the Sabon Layi (Rantya) area of Barkin Ladi the previous night (Nov. 23), saying that among the four Christians killed was Bible teacher Yakubu Pam.

David Gyang, 51, an elder at the COCIN Barkin Ladi church, said Muslims set off a religious crisis by attacking Christians at the church site on Wednesday night (Nov. 23) and then launching a major offensive the next morning....

"The list of groups banned outright included the United Nations children's agency, Unicef, and other UN bodies, the British charity Concern and groups from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden."

Surely the Saudis and other wealthy Islamic states will be there any minute to fill that gap and help their brethren with their vast oil wealth.

(Sound of crickets)

"Somalia's al-Shabab militants close UN aid offices," from BBC News, November 28:

Al-Shabab fighters have closed down several aid agencies working in famine-hit Somalia, including some from the UN, accusing them of political bias.

Militants stormed aid offices in the towns of Baidoa and Beledweyne, which like many southern areas are controlled by al-Shabab, witnesses say.

By controlling the flow of aid, al-Shabaab controls who lives and who dies.

Al-Shabab has long restricted the work of international aid groups but on Monday banned 16 groups outright.

Years of conflict mean Somalia is worst hit by the East African drought.

The lack of rain is said to be the worst in 60 years.

The list of groups banned outright included the United Nations children's agency, Unicef, and other UN bodies, the British charity Concern and groups from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden.

Unicef spokesman Jaya Murthy told the BBC a group of men, suspected to belong to al-Shabab, occupied their offices in Baidoa and ordered staff to leave.

"They just said they [Unicef staff] should go home immediately and our office is now their office," Mr Murthy told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

The al-Shabab statement accused the groups of exaggerating the scale of the problems in Somalia for political reasons and to raise money.

'Risk of death'

It also alleges that the agencies are working with church groups trying to convert vulnerable Muslim children and opposing al-Shabab's attempts to impose Sharia law....

More fallout from Libya, along with the now-standard concerns about al-Qaeda's potential cooperation with al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. "U.K. warns of growing al-Qaeda risk in North Africa," from the Associated Press, November 28 (thanks to Kenneth):

LONDON (AP) – Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague says there is a risk mercenary fighters driven out of Libya could switch allegiance to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Hague told the House of Commons on Monday that Britain is also concerned that weapons from unguarded stockpiles in Libya may have fallen into AQIM hands following dictator Moammar Gadhafi's fall.

He warned that the al-Qaeda affiliate had established ties to Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based extremist group waging a bloody sectarian fight against the African nation's weak central government.

Hague said there was an escalating threat across the entire Sahel region, which stretches from Mauritania to Chad.

Britain is "stepping up our efforts to counter terrorism in the Sahel," Hague said.

They're not in it for just a little Sharia. They're in it for the package deal. Even Imam Rauf knows that Sharia does not lend itself to selective compartmentalization. "Islamists want new Libya based on Shariah law," from the Associated Press, November 28:

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Dozens of Libyan imams and other religious leaders have demanded the country's constitution be based on Islamic Shariah law and have also urged the transitional government to get weapons out of the hands of former rebels. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, said last month that Shariah law would be the main source of legislation in the new Libya.

But he stressed it would reflect a moderate Islam. Other leaders said the matter is still to be decided.

"Moderate" is relative. "Moderate" is less extreme than the next guy, and therefore depends on the point of reference. This highly successful pattern of deceit depends on generalities and half-truths.

The 250 Muslim leaders met in Tripoli on Monday for a conference organized by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. They were seeking a common voice on pressing issues for Libya.

They urged leaders to deal with tribal tensions and disarm the ex-rebels who toppled Moammar Gadhafi, calling them "mujahedeen."

Q and A:

This was originally supposed to be a continuation of my print debate at National Review (here and here) with Andrew McCarthy on Islam vs. Islamism. It was changed at the last minute into this panel with the peerless artist Bosch Fawstin and the Baroness Caroline Cox.

Britain is now also officially "worse than the devil," according to the resolution that legislators passed, with some lawmakers threatening a reprise of the 1979 hostage crisis. "Tehran votes to expel Britain's ambassador," by Adrian Blomfield for the Telegraph, November 27 (thanks to Alan):

Iran erupted in a fresh frenzy of animosity towards its old imperial foe on Sunday as MPs chanting "death to England" voted to expel Britain's ambassador to Tehran and threatened his mission with a reprise of the 1979 hostage crisis.

No word on whether Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are also marked for death. Probably, but it would complicate the chanting.

Dominic Chilcott, who took up the position of ambassador just a month ago, could be forced to leave the country within weeks after a motion to downgrade Iran's diplomatic ties with Britain was passed overwhelmingly by the Islamist republic's parliament.

The step was taken after Britain, Canada and the United States announced fresh sanctions against Iran last week in the wake of a report by UN weapons inspectors which provided the most compelling case yet that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.

Britain was singled out, however, after it became the first state to impose direct sanctions on Iran's central bank. Financial institutions in the City were also banned from doing business with their Iranian counterparts.

Despite pressure from Israel, Washington has baulked at following suit, arguing that such a step would cause deep financial pain for ordinary Iranians and could cause the price of oil to soar. If its central bank faced widespread international sanctions, Iran would find it virtually impossible to import and export oil, food and other commodities except on the black market.

Iran will sell its people down the river to keep the nuclear program going.

It is the first time in the UK's postwar history that Britain has imposed a total boycott on the entire banking industry of a foreign state.

Iranian MPs were incandescent in their fury towards Britain, known by many in Iran as "the Old Fox". After announcing that the motion had been carried by 171 votes to three, Ali Larijani, the hawkish speaker, warned that even tougher penalties would be imposed on Britain, saying: "this is just the beginning of the road."

The resolution, which declared the British government to be "worse than the devil", must now be approved by Iran's Guardian Council. It is unlikely that the body's spiritual elders, whose main role is to ensure that legislation cannot be deemed un-Islamic, would block the move.

Once the council has bestowed its blessing, Mr Chilcott would be ejected from the country and Iran's ambassador to London recalled. The respective missions would be run at charge d'affaires level, as they were just a few months ago.

For many MPs, the censure was not strong enough.

"This plan should be firmer and stronger against Britain," Mahmoud Bighash, one legislator, told the house. "Having relations with Britain, even with one representative, is a total betrayal and we should padlock the British embassy."

Another of his colleagues went even further, invoking the hostage crisis of 1979 when, at the height of Iran's Islamist revolution, student gunmen raided the US embassy in Tehran and took its diplomatic staff hostage for 444 days.

"The British government should know that if they insist on their evil stances, the Iranian people will punch them in the month, exactly as happened against America's den of spies," said Mehdi Kuchakzadeh. [...]

The collective action is an attempt to bully universities into modifying their curricula, or at least to secure an exemption on Islamic grounds from knowing and being tested on what every other biology student has to study. That is a slippery slope, with lives at stake where prospective future doctors would selectively reject basic coursework. "Muslim medical students boycotting lectures on evolution... because it 'clashes with the Koran'," from the Daily Mail, November 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Muslim students, including trainee doctors on one of Britain's leading medical courses, are walking out of lectures on evolution claiming it conflicts with creationist ideas established in the Koran.

Professors at University College London have expressed concern over the increasing number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory, which form an important part of the syllabus, citing their religion.

Similar to the beliefs expressed by fundamentalist Christians, Muslim opponents to Darwinism maintain that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species in a single act.

Steve Jones emeritus professor of human genetics at university college London has questioned why such students would want to study biology at all when it obviously conflicts with their beliefs.

To force a change on the rest of the system. This is a form of dawah, or proselytizing.

He told the Sunday Times: 'I had one or two slightly frisky discussions years ago with kids who belonged to fundamentalist Christian churches, now it is Islamic overwhelmingly.

'They don't come [to lectures] or they complain about it or they send notes or emails saying they shouldn't have to learn this stuff. [...]

Evolutionary Biologist and former Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins has expressed his concern at the number of students, consisting almost entirely of Muslims, who do not attend or walk out of lectures.

Sharia meets the wide world of sports, just to drive home the point that "there are no homosexuals in Iran." None. Ahmadinejad said so.

"Long suspensions, heavy fines for Iran soccer players' fanny pat," from the Los Angeles Times, November 29:

REPORTING FROM TEHRAN AND BEIRUT -- Long suspensions and $30,000 fines. That's what Iran's football association imposed on two Iranian soccer players accused of celebrating a goal in an "immoral" manner, Iranian media reported Sunday.

The two players landed in hot water last month when Persepolis defender Mohammed Nosrati swatted the backside of his teammate, Sheys Rezaei, while celebrating a goal in a nationally televised match.

The players insisted the fanny pat was only for fun. But it didn't go down well with the Iranian football federation's disciplinary committee, which immediately suspended both players on charges of immoral offense and reportedly dismissed Persepolis manager Mahmoud Khordbin for failing to report the incident.

Nosrati's suspension will last 10 months, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency. Rezaei will be suspended for 20 months.

The team's current manager, Mohammed Royanian, protested the decision, telling ISNA that it will have a "bad impact on the spirit of the team."

Still, Persepolis beat Zoob e-Ahan 3-2 in Esfahan on Sunday, according to the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency.

Persepolis is Iran’s most popular club team and receives government financing.

The intrepid mujadehin, keeping the world safe from joy: the hotel was packed with wedding guests. "Wedding tragedy: Hotel bomb kills 3, wounds dozens in Philippines," from MSNBC, November 29 (thanks to Kenneth):

MANILA, Philippines — Suspected Islamic militants detonated a powerful bomb that killed at least three people and wounded 27 others in a budget hotel packed with wedding guests in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday.

Investigators believe the blast and ensuing fire that gutted the two-story Atilano Pension House in downtown Zamboanga City late Sunday was a terrorist strike and that it was not linked to the wedding, city police director Edwin de Ocampo said.

Nothing personal, just blowing up your hotel.

Still, many of the victims were from a group of more than 20 people who occupied six of the hotel's 35 rooms for a planned ceremony Monday.

Citing witnesses, the BBC reported that the explosion destroyed the upper levels of the hotel.

"We should not show that we're panicking because that is what these troublemakers relish to see," Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat told The Associated Press by telephone. "We have good leads. We will get all of them."

TNT powder

The blast was believed to be one of two simultaneous bombings planned by al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaff militants. The other would have been on nearby Basilan island, where two explosives were separately found and safely defused by authorities in Isabela city on Sunday, de Ocampo said.

The hotel blast, caused by about 22 pounds of TNT powder, was one of the most high-profile bombings this year blamed on the Abu Sayyaf.

The blast was so powerful it caused much of the second floor to collapse, blew off the hotel's roof and shattered glass panes and windows from nearby buildings, Lobregat added.

Two of the wounded were in serious condition and more than a dozen others remained confined in a hospital, he said.

Volatile region

Zamboanga City, a predominantly Christian trading hub 540 miles south of Manila, is located in a volatile region long troubled by a decades-long Muslim insurgency, extortion gangs and kidnap for ransom syndicates.

Was this the target, or a possible "work accident?"

The blast occurred in room 226 on the second floor of the hotel, instantly killing two people staying in two adjacent rooms, which were devastated by the blast. A third body was found Monday on the ground floor, pinned by the cement slabs that collapsed from above, Lobregat said....

"This will come back at us, and at a time and a place of their [the ISI's] choosing."

"Nato braces for reprisals after deadly air strike on Pakistan border post," by Julian Borger and Saeed Shah for the Guardian, November 27:

Nato forces in Afghanistan were braced on Sunday for possible reprisals from Pakistani-backed insurgents following the coalition air strike along the border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Senior officers from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), were scrambling to resume contacts with their Pakistani counterparts in the hopes of setting up a joint investigation into the incident.

But Pakistani officers severed communications and Islamabad cut Isaf's two supply routes running through Pakistan.

It also gave the US two weeks to vacate the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan, which has been used to launch American drone aircraft.

One Isaf source voiced concern that the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, could go much further and use its suspected influence over insurgent groups in the tribal areas along the Afghan border to launch reprisal attacks on Nato. "This will come back at us, and at a time and a place of their [the ISI's] choosing," the source predicted. In September the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the ISI was using insurgent groups such as the Haqqani network to wage a "proxy war" in Afghanistan....

This account supports a senior Western official's statement that the airstrikes were a defensive measure, and suggests another case of curiously close proximity between jihadists and Pakistani military posts. U.S. officers reportedly also believed the Pakistani military was providing cover for jihadists in a firefight in late October, along with other recent allegations of jihadists' operating in the sight of the Pakistani military.

Once again, this may have been a tragic accident. Or jihadists may have tried to draw fire in the direction of Pakistani bases to create an incident. Or, it may have been the inevitable outcome of collaboration between Pakistan and its jihadist clients, and recent reports such as the ones linked above make the last scenario all too plausible. "Afghan officials: Fire from Pakistan led to attack," by Rahim Faiez and Sebastian Abbott for the Associated Press, November 27:

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan officials claimed Sunday that Afghan and NATO forces were retaliating for gunfire from two Pakistani army bases when they called in airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, adding a layer of complexity to an episode that has further strained Pakistan's ties with the United States.

The account challenged Pakistan's claim that the strikes were unprovoked.

The attack Saturday near the Afghan-Pakistani border aroused popular anger in Pakistan and added tension to the U.S.-Pakistani relationship, which has been under pressure since the secret U.S. raid inside Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

Pakistan has closed its western border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, demanded that the U.S. abandon an air base inside Pakistan and said it will review its cooperation with the U.S. and NATO.

A complete breakdown in the relationship between the United States and Pakistan is considered unlikely. Pakistan relies on billions of dollars in American aid, and the U.S. needs Pakistan to push Afghan insurgents to participate in peace talks.

Afghanistan's assertions about the attack muddy the efforts to determine what happened. The Afghan officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it was unclear who fired on Afghan and NATO forces, which were conducting a joint operation before dawn Saturday.

They said the fire came from the direction of the two Pakistani army posts along the border that were later hit in the airstrikes.

NATO has said it is investigating, but it has not questioned the Pakistani claim that 24 soldiers were killed. All airstrikes are approved at a higher command level than the troops on the ground....

These attacks appear to be a continuation of an earlier rampage by Boko Haram in Nigeria's Yobe state. An update on this story. "4 dead, churches burned in north Nigeria attack," from the Associated Press, November 27:

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Witnesses and authorities say at least four people died in an apparent attack on a northeast Nigeria city that saw churches and businesses burned to the ground.

It's probably safe to assume it was an attack.

The attack happened Saturday night in the city of Geidam in Nigeria's Yobe state, which sits near the country's arid border with Niger.

Jihad causes poverty:

Witnesses say attackers blew up a local police station and attacked a bank, as well as set fire to businesses and at least eight churches.

The attacks come after a Nov. 4 attack in the state capital claimed by the radical Muslim sect known as Boko Haram that killed more than 100 people.

Meanwhile, police blamed the sect for two killings Sunday morning in neighboring Borno state.

Here is the problem: even at face value, the statement is vague and non-committal, but while those words would mean one thing in the American legal system, they mean quite another in Afghanistan. Officials surely believed they were properly applying the law and upholding Gulnaz' "rights." The question becomes: whose law is being applied? Sharia is enshrined as the highest law of the land in Afghanistan according to the current constitution.

Women like Gulnaz who make allegations of rape may be expected to produce four witnesses in accordance with the Qur'an's standards for proving a sexual crime (24:13), or they run the risk that all they have done is admitted to having sex.

The ridiculous burden of proof for establishing the crime of rape is a major reason why Gulnaz and so many others like her are in jail. Indeed, half of the women in Afghan jails are there for "moral crimes." Communities in Afghanistan are enforcing Sharia, and Kabul will not contradict them.

An update on this story. "Nearly 5,000 sign petition calling for release of Afghan rape victim," by Nick Paton Walsh for CNN, November 27:

Kabul (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai received a petition Sunday with nearly 5,000 names endorsing a plea for the immediate release of a rape victim who has been jailed because of her attack and is being forced to marry her rapist.

Kim Motley, a lawyer for 21-year-old Gulnaz, said the palace received the petition, which gathered 4,751 names in just over 48 hours, on Sunday afternoon. The petition comes with an official plea for clemency addressed to the president, who has the power to immediately pardon Gulnaz, currently in jail for adultery because her attacker was married at the time of the attack.

Gulnaz was sentenced to 12 years after the attack as her rapist was married though that term was recently reduced to three years.

Gulnaz's plight gained international attention when the European Union blocked the broadcast of a documentary made about her ordeal saying that it would further jeopardize her safety.

Gulnaz was raped two years ago by her cousin's husband but did not immediately report the attack, fearing reprisals from elements of Afghanistan's conservative society. Yet she conceived a child from the rape, and went to police after showing signs of pregnancy.

She is now raising the daughter in jail and has agreed to marry her attacker in order to be released and legitimize her daughter. She also fears attack from her rapist's relatives, something he denies is a risk.

A spokesman for the attorney general, Rahmatullah Naziri, told CNN last week that her sentence had been reduced to three years, leaving about a year to serve. He explained that while the original sentence for adultery was reduced, she had failed to report her rape quickly enough and would have to serve further time in jail for that offense.

No trial, apparently; just another alleged crime and more prison time tacked on.

The U.S. State Department, while not explicitly calling for Gulnaz's release, said in a statement Thursday: "Gulnaz's situation is one no woman should have to face. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Gulnaz and her young daughter. We expect Afghan prosecutors to properly apply the law while also upholding Gulnaz's rights."

Pakistani authorities turn a blind eye to the plight of religious minorities now, but the same people who torment minorities in the name of Islamic piety will knock on the door in Islamabad when they are strong enough. Then it will be a crisis. "Scarred and scared, these Pakistani Hindus seek refuge in India," from Indo-Asian News Service, November 27 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Sitting hunched with his face cupped in his hands, 42-year-old Shobhamal dreads going back to Pakistan's Sindh province where he has earned the status of a pariah and ''bore the brunt of being a non-Muslim''.

A group of 146 Pakistani Hindus took refuge at capital's Majnu ka Tilla Sep 8 after crossing the Attari border Sep 4.

"I don't fear for my life but for my family. I decided to come here as there is no place for Hindus in Pakistan. Sexual assault, forced conversion, abduction and humiliation is all this country (Pakistan) has given us," Shobhamal told IANS.

Shobhamal's 18-year-old son died of cancer here earlier this month.

With their tourist visas expired some two months ago, these people from Bagidi community are reluctant to go back to Sindh where, they say, there is no security of their life and property.

Hindus form around seven percent of the total population of Sindh province.

"We don't want to go back. We are outcast there. We appeal to the government that please just give us refuge and we don't want any citizenship," rues 45-year-old Ganga Ram.

Gang Ram has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting extension of their visas and shelter.

They are currently living in 12 tents and share one dilapidated toilet -- but say they don't have much complaints.

"We are happy here. Though life is tough here, it's not an ordeal what it used be in Pakistan. There, you bear the brunt of being non-Muslims," said Sagar, a mechanic, who was robbed of all his tools with which he used to make his ends meet.

"They force us to convert to Islam and threaten of dire consequences. They abduct our children and loot our property. If we complain, nobody listens. There, even the prime minister is not safe, let alone Hindus," says Mithalal, who is in his 50s.

When this IANS correspondent tried to speak to the women in the community, a sense of reluctance took over. However, a few narrated their ordeal, after much convincing.

"When our husbands are away for work, we keep our doors locked and live in constant fear. We are not allowed to wear vermillion on our foreheads," said Rukmini.

"We don't eat our food until our children come back as you never know they might be kidnapped or circumcised," said a woman, refusing to reveal her identity.

SHAH ALAM: The Human Rights Party (HRP) has denounced yesterday’s demolishment of a Hindu temple in Glenmarie and demanded from the Selangor government an acre of land for a new temple.

S Thiagarajan, a pro-tem central executive committee member of the party, said Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim must take “full responsibility” for the violation of the Sri Muneswarar Temple by the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and make amends by granting the acre of land.

He said he learned of the destruction when a local resident telephoned him while it was going on. The caller told him 30 police and MBSA officers were using sledgehammers to carry out the demolition.

“A Malay haji sprinkled something around the shrine and then some 10 uniformed enforcement officers started the ruthless act,” he told FMT.

He added that six Hindu deities were smashed into pieces.

“The Hindu devotees there could not stop the bloodletting; they were blocked by policemen,” he said.

“This is a clear cut case of the city council violating Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, and Article 8, which provides of equality before the law and equal protection before the law.

“We demand that the state government allocate one acre of land to the temple committee to build a new temple.”

He also said the state should grant permanent land titles for all Hindu temples in Selangor so that “such flagrant acts of transgression” would not recur.

To land a gig like that, are they sure he has been miraculously cured of his "misunderstanding" of Islam? He does not sound terribly remorseful below in spite of hitting a few talking points. In fact, it sounds like he is bragging. More on this story. "Insurgent commander who planned bomb attacks that 'blew soliders to bits' is granted amnesty," by Ben Farmer for the Telegraph, November 27 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Maulawi Noor ul Aziz estimates he ordered or took part in hundreds of attacks on Afghan and Nato forces during his decade as an insurgent commander. As a senior rebel leader in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand during some of that time, many of his targets were likely to have been British troops.

Yet the commander has been welcomed and granted amnesty by the Afghan government under a British-funded scheme to undermine the Taliban by coaxing fighters away from the battlefield and reintegrating them into society.

Maulawi Noor ul Aziz became the scheme's greatest success yet when he and 80 of his men defected to the government in April 2011, when he was then "shadow" governor of the northern province of Kunduz - in charge of the Taliban's own clandestine administration.

Rather than face trial for his role in the insurgency, he has been given a government job as acting head of Kandahar's department for Hajj and Islamic Affairs.

He told The Sunday Telegraph he had decided to leave the war against Hamid Karzai's government and its foreign backers because his country had seen enough fighting.

He said: "Fighting does not lead to peace or prosperity anywhere in the world. We have to use this chance for peace." The Afghan Taliban had also come too heavily under the influence of Pakistan he believed.

"There are people in the Taliban who do not want to kill their own people on the orders of strangers. They wish to join this government, to join their own people, to live together, but those Taliban are under the control of strangers. If they have the opportunity, I am sure they will switch sides like me."

Maulawi Noor ul Aziz, who is originally from the Panjwayi district of Kandahar, said he had joined the Taliban movement as soon as it formed in 1994. "I have been in many battles in the past 10 years since our government was overthrown by the foreigners."

As he rose through the ranks he directed ambushes and improvised bomb attacks against the Afghan and Nato forces in Kandahar, Zabul and Helmand provinces.

"I was a commander of fighting and I cannot tell you how many were killed, or injured. The fighting was often at a distance. Maybe in our struggle our mines and bullets killed some government forces and foreigners.

"Also, I was very busy with battle planning and making mines and ambushes. I did not myself participate a lot in the face-to-face fighting as much as I would have liked to."

He said his most successful attack came when he and his men had sown a field in Nad-e Ali with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) rigged up to a command wire, to target regular foreign patrols which passed through.

As they waited, they were surprised to see a Nato Chinook helicopter land in the field instead. He and his band detonated their bombs from 400 yards away as foreign soldiers disembarked from the aircraft.

"All the bombs went off. Some of the foreigners were blown to bits and some were wounded. We were very happy with the result. I have done hundreds of these missions," he said. [...]

Critics of the scheme have warned that too few of those defecting are actual insurgents, and that it is failing to undermine the rebels in their southern heartlands.

"Of around 30,000 insurgents, only eight per cent have reconciled so far - and 99 per cent of them are not from the south," said Hanif Atmar, former interior minister.

"Frankly speaking, it does not work. The eight per cent that are reconciled, most of them are not genuine insurgents, particularly not from the regions that matter."

"It comes amid growing concern among some Christians that their faith is being marginalised."

"She said that she was the subject of a complaint by an Islamic colleague which was specious and that when she raised her own concerns as a Christian, she was the one who was dismissed."

"The law seems to be on the side of the Muslims."

Those who are actively chasing Christianity out of British society on the pretense of promoting "tolerance" will not like what they get to tolerate when the vacuum they are creating is filled: The high priests of "tolerance" have exempted Christianity from toleration, and selective, approved "tolerance" will rule the future, whether in Sharia zones, or under the multiculturalist dogma to which Britain's political establishment has submitted.

In this case, it appears Muslim workers were allowed to engage in highly aggressive dawah, or proselytizing, in the workplace without restraint, and others were expected not to react or object. "Christian worker loses her job after being 'targeted' by Islamic extremists," by Jonathan Wynne-Jones for the Telegraph, November 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Nohad Halawi, who worked at Heathrow Airport, is suing her former employers for unfair dismissal, claiming that she and other Christian staff at the airport were victims of systematic harassment because of their religion.

She claims that she was told that she would go to Hell for her religion, that Jews were responsible for the September 11th terror attacks, and that a friend was reduced to tears having been bullied for wearing a cross.

Mrs Halawi, who came to Britain from Lebanon in 1977, worked in the duty-free section as a perfume saleswoman of the airport for 13 years but was dismissed in July.

Her case is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, who say it raises important legal issues and also questions over whether Muslims and Christians are treated differently by employers.

It comes amid growing concern among some Christians that their faith is being marginalised and follows calls from Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, for Christians to be given greater legal protection in the wake of a series of cases where they have been disciplined or dismissed for practising their faith.

It also raises further questions over race relations at Heathrow Airport.

Last week, Arieh Zucker, a Jewish businessman, complained that he has been repeatedly singled out for full-body scans by Muslim security staff at the airport.

The 41-year-old mortgage broker from London has accused them of "race hate" and is threatening to sue for racial discrimination after being made to "feel like a criminal" while being scanned.

Mrs Halawi's case centres on whether she was treated unfairly when she lost her job in World Duty Free in Terminal 3 after she spoke out over what she described as bullying and intimidation by her Muslim colleagues of her and other Christians.

She said that she was the subject of a complaint by an Islamic colleague which was specious and that when she raised her own concerns as a Christian, she was the one who was dismissed.

Now she is distraught at losing her job on allegations made by what she describes as a small group of "extremist" Muslims.

Mrs Halawi, 47, said: "I have been sacked on the basis of unsubstantiated complaints so there is now great fear amongst my former colleagues that the same could happen to them if one of the Muslims turns on them.

"This is supposed to be a Christian country, but the law seems to be on the side of the Muslims."

A mother of two, she says that she had always got on well with her Muslim colleagues and relations between staff of different faiths had been good in the past, but that the atmosphere became increasingly uncomfortable with a growing number of employees espousing "fundamentalist Islam".

She says they harassed Christians at work by making fun of them for wearing crosses, ridiculing Jesus and telling them they would go to Hell if they did not convert to Islam.

"One man brought in the Koran to work and insisted I read it and another brought in Islamic leaflets and handed them out to other employees," she said.

"They said that 9/11 served the Americans right and that they hated the West, but that they had come here because they want to convert people to Islam.

"They say that Jesus is s***** [shitty] and bullied a Christian friend of mine so much for wearing her crosses that she came to me crying."

Mrs Halawi says she was targeted by the fundamentalists after she stood up for her friend, who is 62 and who she is keeping anonymous because she still works at the terminal.

In May, five of her Muslim colleagues complained to David Tunnicliffe, the trading manager at World Duty Free, accusing her of being anti-Islamic following a heated conversation in the store.

The row had stemmed from her description of a Muslim colleague as an allawhi, which means 'man of God' in Arabic. Another Muslim overheard this and thought she said Alawi, which was his branch of Islam.

Following the complaints she was suspended immediately, but was not told the grounds for her suspension until she met Mr Tunnicliffe in July.

Two days after the meeting she received a letter, which said the "store approval" - the Heathrow security pass - needed to work at World Duty Free was being removed because her behaviour was deemed to be unacceptable.

"I believe that the breakdown in relationship between yourself and some of your colleagues has contributed to this situation and has led to a number of inappropriate conversations taking place," the letter said.

"Whilst I do not believe that you may have meant to be offensive, I believe that it was not unreasonable for the individuals who either heard these comments, or who they were directed at to find them offensive, and they are extremely inappropriate."...

It's easier to sack the Christian than to deal with the broader hostile work environment.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Already accounting for more than 60 per cent of undergraduates and over half of civil servants, Malay-Muslim women are now breaking into the male bastion of Islamic preaching.

In a New York Times (NYT) article published yesterday, it was reported that two local new reality TV programmes are shining a spotlight on the rise of women in the male-dominated arena of religion.

The reason for this phenomena, the paper appeared to suggest, was because there was a significant gender role in Islam that could only be filled by women.

“We need women preachers, rather than men,” 21-year-old Siti Adibah Zulkepli, 21 a contestant on the reality TV show “Solehah” (translated as “pious” in Arabic) was cited as saying by the NYT.

 “Because they don’t face what we are facing — health problems, how to manage the house, how to manage the children. The woman knows better,” she added.

It also cited Greg Barton, acting director of the Center for Islam and the Modern World at Monash University in Melbourne, as saying it would be a mistake to dismiss the significance of Malaysian women’s expanding engagement in Islamic education.

Both “Solehah” and “Ustazah Pilihan”, which the newspaper translated as “‘ideal female preacher’ in Malay” are burnishing the image of female preachers here and show how women “can shape and nurture potential leaders of the future”, the paper said.

Citing Zaleha Kamaruddin, the first female rector appointed to head the International Islamic University here, the NYT said Malaysia was carving a new path for women in Islam.

“I think Malaysia has started to break the glass ceiling and is trying to be one of the modern Muslim countries,” she was reported saying.

Despite the massive headway, the NYT observed that Malaysian Muslim women were still barred from leading prayers.

• In Sharia court, a man’s testimony is equal to that of two women.
• A man’s inheritance is equal to twice the amount of a woman’s inheritance

The Great Libyan Jihadist Garage Sale ships long-distance. "Libya’s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels," by Ruth Shurlock for the Telegraph, November 25:

Syrian rebels held secret talks with Libya's new authorities on Friday, aiming to secure weapons and money for their insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

At the meeting, which was held in Istanbul and included Turkish officials, the Syrians requested "assistance" from the Libyan representatives and were offered arms, and potentially volunteers.

"There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria," said a Libyan source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see."

The Telegraph has also learned that preliminary discussions about arms supplies took place when members of the Syrian National Council [SNC] – the country's main opposition movement – visited Libya earlier this month.

"The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council," added Wisam Taris, a human rights campaigner with links to the SNC.

The disclosure came as rebels raided an air force base outside the city of Homs and killed six pilots, according to a statement by the country's military.

Last month, Libya's interim government became the first in the world to recognise Syria's opposition movement as the country's "legitimate authority".

Large shipments of weapons have not yet been sent, said activists, mainly because of logistical difficulties. But proposals for a "buffer zone" inside Syria, monitored by the Arab League, or the likely emergence of an area inside the country controlled entirely by rebels could solve this problem.

"The [Libyan] council's offer is serious," said Mr Taris. Turkey, which has denounced President Assad's regime, is already sheltering about 7,000 Syrian opposition activists, including the leader of the Free Syrian Army, the nascent rebel movement, in a "safe zone" along Turkey's border with Syria.

Sources in the Libyan town of Misurata suggested that some weapons may already have been sent. Some smugglers were caught selling small arms to Syrian buyers in Misurata, said a man who trafficked guns to Libya's rebels during the country's civil war.

Post-conflict Libya is awash with arms, many of them taken from the vast military stores maintained by Col Mummar Gaddafi's regime. Kalashnikov assault rifles, modern missiles and even tanks found their way into Libya.

Libyans feel closely aligned to the Syrian cause, said Hameda al-Mageri, from the Tripoli Military Council. "Bashar sent Gaddafi weapons when he was fighting us. There are hundreds of people who want to go to fight in Syria, or help in other ways if they can."

But Libyan officials deny the claims. "This is what you hear in the street," said Ramadan Zarmoh, the leader of the Misurata military council. "Officially there is none of this. I would never send any fighters to fight outside the country."....

"A more troubling explanation would be that insurgents in the area were operating under the nose of Pakistani security forces." It could be a tragic accident, but unfortunately, there is also ample precedent for such allegations.

An update on this story. "Nato air attack on Pakistani troops was self-defence, says senior western official," by Jon Boone for the Guardian, November 26:

An attack by Nato aircraft on Pakistani troops that allegedly killed as many as 28 soldiers and looks set to further poison relations between the US and Pakistan was an act of self-defence, a senior western official has claimed.

According to the Kabul-based official, a joint US-Afghan force operating in the mountainous Afghan frontier province of Kunar was the first to come under attack in the early hours of Saturday morning, forcing them to return fire.

The high death toll from an incident between two supposed allies suggests Nato helicopters and jets strafed Pakistani positions with heavy weapons.

The deadliest friendly fire incident since the start of the decade-long war also prompted Pakistan to ban Nato supply trucks from crossing into Afghanistan and to issue an order demanding the US quit the remote Shamsi airbase, from which the US has operated some unmanned drone aircraft.

A spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was "highly likely" that aircraft which had been called into the area to provide "close air support" to troops on the ground was responsible for causing casualties among the Pakistani soldiers.

For their part, a statement by the Pakistani military claimed that it was they who were attacked first, forcing them to respond to Nato's "aggression with all available weapons".

According to Pakistani officials the 40 or so soldiers stationed at the outposts were asleep at the time of the attack. Government officials said the two border posts that were attacked had recently been established to try to stop insurgents who use bases in Afghanistan to attack Pakistan from crossing the border and launching attacks.

Afghan intelligence say the US-Afghan force was conducting operations against suspected Taliban training camps in the area.

The vagueness of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is one potential, and relatively innocent, explanation for the incident. Drawn up by the British Raj in 1893, there is little agreement on where the so-called Durand Line actually falls, meaning troops from either side of the border can wander into the neighbouring country without realising it. One senior military official said that, in places, rival maps have discrepancies of "multiples of kilometres – sometimes as much as five kilometres".

Much of the fighting in Afghanistan is conducted by guerrillas based a short distance inside Pakistan. Nato forces are not allowed to cross the border and militants sometimes fire artillery and rockets across the line from locations close to Pakistani army posts.

And yet both sides have worked hard to try and minimise any confusion. The attack happened just a day after John Allen, the US commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, met with Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the Pakistani army chief, to discuss enhanced co-operation on the border.

But a more troubling explanation would be that insurgents in the area were operating under the nose of Pakistani security forces. Many Afghan officials believe Pakistan helps the Taliban with cross-border operations.

Edrees Momand of the Afghan Border Police said that a US-Afghan force in the area near the Pakistani outposts detained several militants on Saturday morning.

"I am not aware of the casualties on the other side of the border but those we have detained aren't Afghan Taliban," he said, implying they may have been Pakistani or other foreign national Taliban operating in Afghanistan....

We tried to tell you. Parliamentary elections start tomorrow; fasten your seatbelts. There are also more details below on the Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo, where participants vowed to "kill all the Jews."

"Muslim Brotherhood sure of election victory as Tahrir unrest lingers," by Anshel Pfeffer for Haaretz, November 26:

CAIRO - A protester was killed yesterday when he was run over by a police vehicle during mass demonstrations in Tahrir Square that called for Egypt's military leaders to step down from power.

But, in general, order was maintained in the Egyptian capital over the weekend, despite the gathering of tens of thousands of demonstrators.

Meanwhile, the army and the interim government continued to prepare for Monday's first round of parliamentary elections. The elections threaten to split the opposition: While some members of the protest movement are calling for this week's elections to be deferred until power is transferred to civilian hands, and several parties have announced that they would boycott the balloting, the Muslim Brotherhood is determined to win a large number of seats in parliament. In an effort to ensure orderly elections, the Islamic group has said it does not support the current wave of protests.

But a large number of Muslim Brotherhood members turned up in a show of support for the demonstrators nonetheless, and some of the movement's members announced they were breaking with the organization. One female university student declared that, although she was an Islamist, the Muslim Brotherhood had shown it was only out for its own interests and she would not vote for the group.

Convinced of their upcoming success in the vote, some Muslim Brotherhood supporters had concerns beyond Egypt's borders - over Israel's intentions to dismantle the temporary Mughrabi bridge leading to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. At Al-Azhar University, a stronghold of the movement, giant posters called for the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the mount, and Palestinian flags mingled with Egyptian ones. Guests of honor at prayers at the university were members of a Hamas delegation that was in Cairo for talks with Palestinian Authority officials.

One Muslim Brotherhood activist, Bayuma Tayara, said his group did not need to campaign at this point. The movement has been doing grassroots work for years, he said, and every Egyptian knows who the Muslim Brotherhood is. He denied that the group was busying itself with the Palestinian issue to distract attention from ongoing demonstrations in Cairo and said the group was sure of victory.

Conspiracy paranoia:

Sermon after sermon before and after the prayers at the university accused Israel of harming Muslim holy places and claimed that the Jews were defiling Palestine. One speaker said that all of Palestine would be liberated via Cairo's Tahrir Square - where demonstrations earlier this year brought down President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Among the crowd was Abed Khaled, an accountant, who said the Jews would be fought until the fighters' last drop of blood. Acknowledging that such a step was not currently feasible, he said that after an election victory the army would be prepared for war against Israel.

For his part, however, another Muslim Brotherhood activist said that if Israel respects Palestinian rights, the peace treaty with Israel could be maintained, saying that he and his colleagues wanted to live in peace with Israel.

After they dictate the terms of its surrender.

Robert Spencer in Melbourne 26/11/11
by PJG (longtime Jihad Watch commenter)

On a day of relentless spring rain, Melbourne – or a select contingent thereof - welcomed Robert Spencer for his first talk in his first ever visit to Australia, courtesy of the Q Society of Australia. The 250-seat room was full to capacity, booked out well in advance of the day.

For a change I decided to put aside my old habit of taking notes. After all, the event was being filmed, and I would have access to the film. But afterwards, Robert asked me to write about the event for Jihad Watch, so what follows is a brief snatch of snippets.

Vickie Janson, Vice-President of the Q Society and candidate for the Christian Democratic Party, led off with a sobering disclaimer, mindful as we all are now of local laws restricting free speech, and – with a winning smile – invited anyone with ultra-sensitive feelings or a plot to use those laws against us to kindly leave. She then gave us a run-down on what is happening vis a vis the encroachment of Islamic laws and norms, that is, the steady road to control of us by them, here in Australia in schools, universities, workplaces and elsewhere. As keeping up with Islamic advancement and its enabling and funding by our government is now virtually a full-time job, much of what she informed us in her inimitably cheerful style shocked the audience.

Vickie quoted a Muslim cleric who said that there was no “clash of civilizations, but instead a rise and fall of civilizations.” It is clear that to many Muslims here and abroad their religion constitutes the “rising civilization” and ours the falling (not that they would prefer to stop at ours; Hindu and Buddhist civilizations are in their sights for being given a helping hand to disappear…)

Another member of Q called Warren then gave a talk about what he has seen in recent years in Europe, including the car-burning in France and a memorial (!) devoted to the young Muslim car thieves who were accidentally killed when they hid from pursuing police in an electricity compound and whose deaths were “avenged” by Muslim anti-police rioting. These were stories of immigration-related events our government smugly believes cannot happen in sunny Australia, where it is constantly proclaimed that multiculturalism is an outstanding success story and caution is brushed aside.

When Robert Spencer took the floor, it was clear from the enthusiastic atmosphere that few in the room were new to his views and that his message was seen as acutely urgent. He talked of the responsibility of Western people to learn and respond to the Islamic perspectives which are giving rise to Muslims’ so-frequently misinterpreted words and actions, and expanded on the theme that terrorism and da’wa (the call to Islam) are but two sides of the same coin and directed at the same result, the imposition of Shari’a law. Quoting from Maududi’s commentary in a Koran given to him by the Finsbury Park mosque and using Koran 9:5 as an example, Spencer demonstrated that what Muslim apologists claim to be a misleading absence of “context” proves to be from their own side a misleadingly invalid argument, “context” being at least as alarming as verse and backed up by respected Muslim commentary.

He spoke of many topics which will be familiar to JW readers: the Mafia-like dhimma pact, the absence of the “clash” factor as we in the West politely accede to Muslim demands, the campaign of erosion of our free speech which is central to the Islamic agenda, the existence of self-protective Western laws which are being ignored or under-utilized in the interests of political correctness, and the highly successful phenomenon of contrived Muslim victimhood which has the effect of causing us to rush to make further accommodation for them after every terrorist attack and every expression of grievance.

This last aspect was in reply to one of the many spirited questions asked of him in the latter half of the evening. Many questions reflected the helpless frustration people felt in the face of the plethora of tactics employed by Islamic organizations and individuals and shameful capitulation by our own political parties. Spencer advised not only being persistent in our efforts to inform governments and fellow citizens, but to emulate his colleague Pamela Geller’s creativity, for example her “copycat” bus and taxi advertisements which forced public enquiry into Islamic human rights abuses such as death for apostasy and honour killings.

When pressed as to the vexing question of whether President Obama is a Muslim, Spencer could only surmise that if he were, he would not be doing anything differently; the outcomes of Obama’s policies have been extraordinarily helpful to zealots in the Muslim world – both outside and inside America.

As for Iran, it is important that we understand the Iranian Shi’ite view about the Twelfth Imam and about how Muslim “victimhood” can exist in a most threatening and sinister form on a national level as a tactic of war.

And lastly, about “moderate’ or “secular” Muslims about whom so many nurture great hope, Spencer wasted little time. Of course there are many, many Muslims who pose no threat and are not determined to impose the supremacist aspect over us their religion demands they do, but he did caution, in view of fatally naïve exercises of US soldiers teaching Afghani soldiers, against playing with guns with Muslims.

We may not all be able to dazzle people with erudition and quickness of wit the way Spencer can, but at events such as this one we can develop arguments and tactics based on stated intentions of Muslims which are derived from their texts and their own tactics based on principles within those same texts. Robert Spencer and the Q Society on this night helped and encouraged us to work harder, and to devise means in the vital job of defending the uniquely free and prosperous civilization we have inherited through the blood, sweat and inspiration of others before us and which it is our sacred duty to deliver untarnished to our descendants. They will have their own battles, as we have had ours; let us at least spare them the vice-like grip of Islam.

Oh, and a good time was had by all before and after the talks. So many conversations with so many people; the freedom to speak one’s mind; not once being glared at or called a racist/bigot/Islamophobe…! Thankyou, Q and Mr Spencer!

You can't buy love, but British authorities, with the full support of NATO, are trying to rent it for a monthly payment. You'll want to read this one sitting down. "Taliban paid £100 a month to stop fighting," by Sean Rayment for the Telegraph, November 26:

Members of the Taliban who give up their fight are being paid £100 a month and will be allowed to keep their guns in a new initiative to end the insurgency.

The “reintegration” programme, which has the full support of Nato, is intended to keep them from attacking troops from the International Stabilisation and Assistance Force (ISAF).

Those who have attacked and killed British forces are also effectively given an amnesty, which means they will never be put on trial.

The amnesty extends to all Taliban fighters, including those who have taken part in atrocities, such as murdering children, beheadings and hanging women.

The agreement is part of a policy signed by the British Government in which insurgents are being allowed to “walk off the battlefield” and enter a “reintegration” scheme.

Are you still sitting down? Good:

Taliban joining the programme are not interrogated but instead are asked to complete a questionnaire explaining their reasons for joining the insurgency.

The truth is stranger than Monty Python. It would only befit the general surrealism of the situation that the Ministry of Silly Walks and the Kilimanjaro expedition jointly administer the questionnaires. ("Will both of you be surrendering?")

The strategy has been designed to encourage rank and file Taliban to stop fighting and instead return to their communities with “dignity and honour”.

More than 2,700 insurgents have been reintegrated into mainstream Afghan society since October 2010, with 800 now described as “showing interest in leaving the Taliban”.

Of those, about 90 are from Helmand, where nearly 400 British troops have been killed and more than 5,000 injured.

The reintegration policy has already produced some startling results. In northern Afghanistan, about 900 former Taliban have left the insurgency and violence has decreased by 30 per cent.

What happens when the dough dries up, or someone gets a better offer?

But it is not without risk. Maj Gen David Hook, the director of the Joint Force Integration Cell in Kabul, admitted in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that the programme would be difficult for many British families to accept but insisted that reintegration was vital if peace was to be achieved.

The British general, who previously served as a commander in southern Afghanistan, said he saw some horrendous examples of Taliban brutality, which he said he would have “personally found difficult to forgive”.

The general confirmed that even if the insurgent who murdered five members of the Grenadier Guards battlegroup at a check point in Nad e’Ali in November 2009 entered the scheme, he would not be prosecuted. “This is an Afghan process which the international community signed up to,” said Maj Gen Hook.

It's an Afghan process, but it's not Afghan money.

“My role is to support the Afghans in that process. This idea of forgiveness has been agreed by the international donors and the UK has given £6.5  million and helped design the programme to deliver peace at the local level.

“We accepted large numbers of IRA back into our own society because we wanted peace in Northern Ireland and I don’t see it any different in Afghanistan.”

Really?

As always, the elephant in the room which this story avoids is the role of Islamic teachings and traditions, in the Qur'an, and in the example of Muhammad. Qur'an 4:34 allows a man to hit (yes, hit) women in his household from whom he fears disobedience. Child marriage persists due to the example of Muhammad (see also: Sahih Bukhari 7.62.88), who consummated his marriage to a nine-year-old at the age of fifty-four.

"No law can be passed that contradicts the fixed principles of Islam" in the post-Saddam Iraqi constitution (Chapter 1, Article 2), and resistance to reforms in favor of the protection of women will invoke the supremacy of Sharia. "A fifth of Iraqi women 'subjected to abuse'," from Agence France-Presse, November 26:

One in five Iraqi women is subjected to either physical or psychological abuse, often inflicted by family members, Minister of State for Women’s Rights Ibtihal al-Zaidi said on Saturday.

"One-fifth of Iraqi women are subjected to two types of violence, physical and psychological, constituting a very serious danger to the family and society," Zaidi said at a conference dedicated to fighting violence against women.

"The most dangerous violence against woman is family violence, from the father, the brother, the husband or even the son," she said.

"Fighting violence against women is a cultural issue, it is the responsibility of the media, politicians and the religious men," said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who also attended the conference.

The overall level of violence in Iraq has declined since its peak in 2006-2007, but women still remain victims of violence, trafficking, forced marriage at a young age, and kidnapping for confessional or criminal reasons, according to non-governmental organisations.

Iraqi women are also affected by a lack of social services, and some must head their households alone because of the death of a husband or son.

"To be baptized the Justice and Development Front." There's an ironic choice of words. If they have their way where freedom of conscience is concerned, that might be just about the only baptism in Algeria. "Algeria radical Islamist to create new party," from Agence France-Presse, November 26:

Former presidential candidate in Algeria and radical Islamist Abdallah Djaballah is set to create a new political party, Algeria's national radio said on Saturday. Djaballah announced on Friday the imminent creation of "national body" which would later form a party, to be baptised the Justice and Development Front.

The new party would base itself on "the culture of mutual aid and social justice" said Djaballah, who was beaten in presidential elections in 1999 and 2004 by current President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

He has already been at the helm of the Ennahda (Renaissance) Movement, which he formed in the early 1990s, and the National Reform Movement (MRN), both Islamist parties that he left after internal disagreements.

There was "no official response so far" to his application but the latest declarations from Algeria's Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila were "encouraging", he said.

At the end of this month, Algeria's parliament is set to vote in a new law that would facilitate the creation of parties, one of a number of political and constitutional reforms President Abelaziz Bouteflika has promised before the end of January to strengthen democracy in Algeria.

Controversially though the law would ban ex-Islamic Salvation Front members -- whose electoral success in 1991 led to civil war -- from forming a party.

Dozens of potential new parties are awaiting authorisation to form once the law is approved.

Islamist parties, such as Tunisia's Ennahda which won a majority of seats in an October 23 election to form a new constituent assembly, have been winning more influence across North Africa since the "Arab Spring" revolutions.

In heaven there is no beer, and Boko Haram wants to kill you for drinking it here. Once again, the group consistently attacks institutions and practices that stand in the way of their imposition of Sharia law. "Suspected Islamists bomb police station, bank in Nigeria," from Agence France-Presse, November 26:

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram on Saturday bombed a police station, a bank and a beer parlour in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state, residents said.

The gunmen threw explosives into a police station and a beer parlour in Geidam town, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the state capital Damaturu, they said.

The attackers, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, also bombed a bank near the police station and carted away money from its vault.

Gaidam is the home town of the Yobe state governo Ibrahim Gaidam.

"The attackers who are from all indications members of Boko Haram came in a large number and attacked the police station with explosives and gunshots and burnt it down", resident Abba Kashim said.

"They also bombed and robbed a bank nearby," Kashim said on the phone from Geidam.

Idrissa Galda, member of a local vigilante group, said the attackers also bombed a beer parlour and burnt down adjoining shops.

The attackers kept firing indiscriminately and residents remained indoors Galda said.

Details of casualties were still unclear.

"Many people have been trapped in the attacks but it is difficult to say how many have been affected," Galda said.

Another resident, Umar Maina, said the attackers engaged the police in a shootout.

"There were three explosions in all followed by incessant gunshots and I learnt from phone calls I made that the police station, a bank and a beer parlour were the targets of the explosions", Maina said.

Maina said the attackers were heading for the prison.

The target would be the NATO missile defense shield located in Turkey, but such an attack would still be a strike on the territory of an un-involved third country. That could carry unintended consequences for Iran, which is not taking into account in this round of saber-rattling that Turkey just might also take umbrage at that sort of thing.

"Iran threatens to hit Turkey if US, Israel attack," from the Associated Press, November 26:

TEHRAN, Iran -- A senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard says the country will target NATO's missile defense shield in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace division, is quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what it sees as an increase in threats from the U.S. and Israel.

He says Iran will now respond to threats with threats rather than a defensive position.

Tehran says NATO's early warning radar station in Turkey is meant to protect Israel against Iranian missile attacks if a war breaks out with Israel.

Turkey agreed to host the radar in September as part of NATO's missile defense system.

Destroying someone's eyes with acid under Sharia's provisions for retribution? They were all about that. Prison officials were preparing to drop acid in his eyes when word of the pardon reached them. Compensating the lady who pardoned him according to an agreement reached at the time? Not so much. And it gets worse: where compensation is concerned, "under Iran's Islamic penal code, women are entitled to only half that of men."

"Blinded by acid, now denied compensation for showing her attacker mercy," by Noushin Hoseiny for The Independent, November 26 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A woman blinded and horrifically disfigured in an acid attack by a spurned admirer is suing Iran's judiciary after accusing senior officials of cheating her out of compensation when she agreed to spare her attacker from a similar fate.

Ameneh Bahrami, 34, suffered severe injuries to her eyes, face and hands when a former university classmate, Majid Movahedi, threw acid in her face after she rejected his advances. In November 2008, a criminal court in Tehran ordered Movahedi to be blinded in both eyes under Iran's application of the sharia code of qisas, which allows retribution for violent crimes.

But he was given an eleventh hour reprieve in July when Ms Bahrami exercised her right to pardon him. Prison officials had been preparing to drop acid into his eyes when the pardon was delivered.

Ms Bahrami says she is paying the price for her leniency after being told by judiciary officials that she no longer had the right to compensation, which Movahedi was ordered to pay when he was sentenced.

After being pardoned, Movahedi's sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison and five years exiled in a remote area. The sentence no longer requires him to pay compensation, something Ms Bahrami is now disputing.

"Even though I agreed to pardon Mr Movahedi, I didn't think I was surrendering my right to compensation," Ms Bahrami said. "My request for compensation was recognised as legal by the judiciary officials at the time. But then the deputy prosecutor said he had made a mistake and that my request for compensation had no legal grounds."

Ms Bahrami says she needs the money to pay for extensive plastic surgery to repair her injuries. She has already spent more than £150,000 – partly funded by the Iranian state – on treatment in Barcelona. But further treatment is needed.

After being told that pardoning Movahedi meant she was no longer entitled to compensation, Ms Bahrami says she was persuaded by Tehran's deputy prosecutor, Feridoun Amirabadi, to sign a document limiting her claim to injuries to her hands and face.

Now she has been told by a lawyer that the prosecutor's ruling unlawful. She has responded by opening legal proceedings against Mr Amirabadi for abuse of trust and depriving her of her legal rights. "I didn't know the regulations and didn't think the prosecutor would lie to me. I signed the paper based on the given false information," Ms Bahrami said. "If Majid Movahedi walks out of prison without paying the compensation money for my eyes, it means I have been subjected to injustice."

Ms Bahrami is also demanding meetings with Iranian parliamentarians to discuss women's compensation rights. Under Iran's Islamic penal code, women are entitled to only half that of men....

Nothing to see here. Repeat after me: the Muslim Brotherhood is "moderate." The Muslim Brotherhood is "largely secular," because the Obama administration's director of national intelligence said so. This is all a misunderstanding and has been taken out of context, because you don't speak Arabic, and surely there are nuances on the word "kill" to consider.

Nothing to see here. "Cairo rally: One day we'll kill all Jews," by Eldad Beck for YNet News, November 25:

A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo's most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to "one day kill all Jews."

Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the "battle against Jerusalem's Judaization." The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations' partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state.

"Against Jerusalem's Judaization": hysterical historical revisionism.

However, most worshippers who prayed at the mosque Friday quickly left it before the Muslim Brotherhood's rally got underway. A group spokesman urged attendants to remain for the protest, asking them not to create a bad impression for the media by leaving.

'Treacherous Jews'

Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the "Zionist occupiers" and the "treacherous Jews." Upon leaving the rally, worshippers were given small flags, with Egypt's flag on one side and the Palestinian flag on the other, as well as maps of Jerusalem's Old City detailing where "Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem's Muslim character."

Propaganda material ahead of Egypt's parliamentary elections was also handed out at the site.

Spiritual leader Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb charged in his speech that to this day Jews everywhere in the world are seeking to prevent Islamic and Egyptian unity.

"In order to build Egypt, we must be one. Politics is insufficient. Faith in Allah is the basis for everything," he said. "The al-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews…we shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds (Jerusalem.) We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall not allow even one stone to be moved there." [...]

Throughout the event, Muslim Brotherhood activists chanted: "Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come."

Speaking to Ynet outside the mosque following the prayer, elementary school teacher Ala al-Din said that "all Egyptian Muslims are willing to embark on Jihad for the sake of Palestine."

"Why is the US losing in Afghanistan? Because the other side is willing and wants to die. We have a different mentality than that of the Americans and Jews," he said.

Needless to say, this development bodes ill for the so-called alliance between the U.S. and Pakistan. It could be a tragic accident; however, several recent allegations of collaboration between Pakistani and Taliban forces on the border with Afghanistan raise questions about the circumstances of this incident, and about what NATO personnel thought they were dealing with at the time.

"Pakistan stops NATO supplies after raid kills up to 28," by Shams Mohmand for Reuters, November 26:

(Reuters) - NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging U.S.-Pakistan relations, already deeply frayed, further into crisis.

Pakistan retaliated by shutting down vital NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in just under a third of the alliance's supplies.

The attack is the worst single incident of its kind since Pakistan uneasily allied itself with Washington in the days immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. targets.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on militancy, have been strained following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May, which Pakistan called a flagrant violation of sovereignty.

A spokesman for NATO-led troops in Afghanistan confirmed that NATO aircraft had been called in to support troops in the area and had probably killed some Pakistani soldiers.

"Close air support was called in, in the development of the tactical situation, and it is what highly likely caused the Pakistan casualties," said General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

He added that he could not confirm the number of casualties, but ISAF is investigating the "tragic development."

"We are aware that Pakistani soldiers perished. We don't know the size, the magnitude," he said.

The Pakistani government and military brimmed with fury.

"This is an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty," said Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. "We will not let any harm come to Pakistan's sovereignty and solidarity."

The Foreign Office said it would take up the matter "in the strongest terms" with NATO and the United States.

The powerful Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, said in a statement issued by the Pakistani military that "all necessary steps be under taken for an effective response to this irresponsible act.

"A strong protest has been launched with NATO/ISAF in which it has been demanded that strong and urgent action be taken against those responsible for this aggression."

Two military officials said that up to 28 troops had been killed and 11 wounded in the attack on the outposts, about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the Afghan border. The Pakistani military said 24 troops were killed and 13 wounded.

It remains unclear what exactly happened, but the attack took place around 2 a.m. (2100 GMT) in the Baizai area of Mohmand, where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban militants.

"Pakistani troops effectively responded immediately in self-defense to NATO/ISAF's aggression with all available weapons," the Pakistani military statement said.

The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen, said he had offered his condolences to the family of any Pakistani soldiers who "may have been killed or injured."

The U.S. embassy in Islamabad also offered condolences.

About 40 Pakistani army troops were stationed at the outposts, military sources said. Two officers were reported among the dead.

"The latest attack by NATO forces on our post will have serious repercussions as they without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep," said a senior Pakistani military officer, requesting anonymity.

Reflecting the confusion of war in an ill-defined border area, an Afghan border police official, Edrees Momand, said joint Afghan-NATO troops near the outpost on Saturday morning had detained several militants.

"I am not aware of the casualties on the other side of the border but those we have detained aren't Afghan Taliban," he said, implying they may have been Pakistani or other foreign national Taliban operating in Afghanistan....

Just like America. Why the subterfuge? Why the utter disregard for consumers' right to know what has happened to their food between the farm and the table?

It certainly appears to be a move to wear down resistance, and to trick consumers into eating something many would not knowingly buy. That would make it easier for food companies to be lazy about labeling and indifferent to customers' concerns, while profiting from foreign and minority markets without consideration for the majority in their home country. In the meantime, they have advanced an ideological agenda -- the foisting of Islamic law on consumers -- for the sake of profit.

Another Australian official raised this issue in February. It seems to have fallen on willfully deaf ears.

"Halal meat converting Aussies: MP," by Nick Butterfly for the West Australian, November 25 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A WA Liberal MP has claimed Australians are unknowingly being converted to Islam by eating Halal meat.

Conversion requires the free assent of the will, but it is true that Sharia is being imposed on consumers. In that regard, society is being converted. The halal meat issue is also a vehicle for dawah, or Islamic proselytizing, where it is spun as a mark of pious devotion, and even claimed to be a "humane" form of slaughter.

In a speech to Parliament yesterday, backbencher Luke Simpkins said most Australians did not know that most of the meat they ate came from animals killed in accordance with Muslim law.

“By having Australians unwittingly eating Halal food we are all one step down the path towards the conversion, and that is a step we should only make with full knowledge and one that should not be imposed upon us without us knowing,” Mr Simpkins told Parliament.

“What is happening is wrong. Too often the minorities in this country are looked after without regard to the majority.”

Mr Simpkins said he had carried out an unofficial survey in his northern-suburbs electorate of Cowan and had discovered that most meat at major chains such as Coles or Woolworths had been killed under Halal conditions, but had not been labelled as such.

Protesters called for the arrest of the UN human rights chief for criticizing and calling for debate on flogging for extra-marital sex, as is called for in Qur'an 24:2: "The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment."

Such debates have been branded "anti-Islamic issues," and the implication is clear that to challenge Sharia is to challenge Allah, which could conceivably bring its own set of charges (Qur'an 5:33) at some point in the Maldives' gallop toward full Sharia.

The phenomenon on display here is also the major obstacle to reforms in Islamic countries where human rights in general, and the rights of non-believers and women are concerned. "Maldives won't allow debates on anti-Islamic issues: Foreign Minister," by Ahmed Hamdhoon for Haveeru News Service, November 26 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The government will not allow debates to be held in the Maldives on issues that are against the fundamentals of Islam, Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem said today.

The minister's comments come two days after the UN human rights chief called for a public debate in the Maldives on the practice of flogging women found guilty of extra-marital sex.

Minister Naseem told Haveeru that the government would not open a basic Islamic principle such as flogging for public debate in the Maldives despite requests to do so.

"What's there to discuss about flogging? There is nothing to debate about in a matter clearly stated in the religion of Islam. No one can argue with God," he said.

"Our foreign ministry will not allow that to happen."

Naseem stressed that the government will not act against the views expressed by Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari on Navi Pillay's comments.

"The government will follow the recommendations given by the Islamic Ministry on religious issues. The government will not stand up against the views expressed by Bari, which is the view of the government [regarding Pillay's remarks]," he said.

"Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim country."

During her four-day visit to the country, Pillay told parliamentarians on Thursday that flogging women convicted of extra-marital sex is one of the most inhumane and degrading forms of violence against women.

"I strongly believe that a public debate is needed in Maldives on this issue of major concern," she said.

Pillay later told reporters that she held discussions with President Mohamed Nasheed, ministers and the judiciary on how to end the practice of flogging in the Maldives.

"At the very least, pending more permanent changes in the law, it should be possible for the government and the judiciary to engineer a practical moratorium on flogging," she proposed.

She also called on Maldivian authorities to remove the "discriminatory" constitutional provision that requires every citizen to be a Muslim.

"I would again urge a debate on that to open up the benefits of the constitution to all and to remove that discriminatory provision," she said.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights chief's comments sparked protests in capital Male with some calling for her arrest.

Protestors surrounded the UN Building yesterday, condemning Pillay's remarks and demanding an apology from the UN and parliamentarians.

Pillay's visit was the first such visit to the Maldives by a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Is deputy hotel manager Hossam al-Bana an Islamophobe?

The Salafist leader, whom the BBC compliments as "thoughtful and personable," acts as if the entire issue is about alcohol. What is at issue is not being harassed on vacation, and being able to relax without the fear of a dream vacation turning into a nightmare at the hands of a regime of thugs, in an atmosphere where conspiracy paranoia easily becomes hysteria. The atmosphere of hostility toward non-Muslims within the country may make non-Muslim tourists think twice as well. For women, there is also the issue of whether their bodily integrity would be respected in a place where sexual harassment and assaults go un-prosecuted, with victims blamed for not meeting standards of Islamic dress and conduct.

Really, who in the world would want to vacation in a country where churches are attacked and protesters are rammed by military vehicles, journalists are sexually assaulted, Jews are arrested as "spies," sexual harassment is accepted and encouraged, and the rate of female genital mutilation (see table below the map) is above 90 percent?

Egypt has a bit of a public relations problem there. "Egypt's tourism hit hard by ongoing unrest," by Kevin Connolly for BBC News, November 24 (thanks to Kenneth):

[...] Tourism matters hugely to the Egyptian economy: this is a vital source of jobs and of hard currency.

And the country has been blessed by providence with beautiful coastlines to north and south and the extraordinary treasures of the ancient civilisation of the Pharaohs in between.

But none of that matters if tourists in Germany, Italy and the UK see pictures of rioting on TV and decide to go to Turkey instead.

And there's evidence that's what they did after the revolutionary upheaval in February.

Tourist numbers in March were down 60% on the same month in the previous year and tourist spending was down 66%.

They are catastrophic figures when the holiday industry accounts for more than 10% of Egypt's national income.

Salafist hopes

But, of course, if the tourist industry in Egypt is to recover, it will be in a new and democratic Egypt - and that may yet bring problems of its own.

A short distance along the coast from our hotel, we found the town of Marsa Matrouh - a conservative and religious place where black-robed women wear the veil.

A local hi-fi dealer advertises the power of a set of speakers by blasting verses of the Koran out into the high street at full volume.

In Matrouh, the centre of a governorate which relies heavily on tourism, religious candidates are expected to do well when the region finally gets to vote next week.

The leader of the local party of Salafists, Islam's puritan fundamentalists, told me he expects to top the polls.

If Jabr Awad Allah is right, that might spell bad news for the local holiday trade: he wants to ban booze and bikinis, and he believes in segregated beaches for men and women too.

Mr Awad Allah, a lawyer, is a thoughtful and personable man, who says Egyptians have a right to rule their own country as they please - exactly the same rights as the British, the French and the Americans enjoy in their countries.

"Of course we have to prohibit selling alcohol," he said.

"It's prohibited in the Koran, and it's my right as a Muslim to practise sharia in my country, in my home and in my community.

"The lack of alcohol and bikinis won't stop open-minded progressive people visiting. Alcohol is not essential to life - you don't die if you don't drink alcohol," Mr Awad Allah adds.

Manager's fears

I didn't have to travel far to find the other side of the argument.

Around the corner from the headquarters of the Salafist part in Matrouh is the Riviera Beach Hotel.

Potential customers shouldn't be deterred by the sight of the four tanks parked within 100 metres (yards) of the front door.

They are there to protect the nearby headquarters of the local council, although they do make for a disconcerting view from the hotel terrace.

Deputy manager Hossam al-Bana says the violent upheavals of 2011 have taken a toll on business. He's worried that any perception that Egypt was following its revolution with a sudden surge of legislation inspired by religious fervour would be a disaster.

"We're deeply afraid of the Islamic groups at the moment," he says.

"It's probable that they will come to power. They will ban alcohol, bikinis and the beach because on Islamic TV they say that's part of their plan.

"I've got no real problem with that - just not now, not in this political phase while we're building the country."

So the managers of Egypt's tourist trade have plenty to worry about as 2011 ends - but at least in deserted hotels like the al-Masr, they have time on their hands to do the worrying....

Islamic groups are already busy deflecting attention by preemptively claiming victim status. "PM murder plot prompts tight security in Trinidad and Tobago," from CNN, November 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

(CNN) -- Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago are beefing up security after uncovering an assassination plot against the prime minister and three Cabinet members, state media reported.

A senior government official told the Caribbean New Media Group, or C News, that suspects linked to the plot have been arrested and that more arrests are expected.

The threat against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the three Cabinet members came from a group that includes international drug and gun traffickers, the same official said. A "radical Islamic group is also involved," C News reported, without specifying which....

More: "Assassination plot against Trinidad's Prime Minister, Ministers uncovered," from The Guardian (Trinidad), November 26:

Muslims in central Trinidad say they are being branded as terrorists after reports surfaced that an Islamic organisation in the area is linked to an alleged assassination plot involving Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other Cabinet Ministers. At the Masjid-ul-Muttaqeen mosque, Munroe Road, Cunupia, Maulana Sheraz Ali said more than 15 Muslim organisations were directly affected by the report.

“Since 9/11 the Muslim community has faced a lot of pressure and now we have become immune to the stigma,” Ali said. Saying he was not disputing the validity of the assassination plot, Ali explained: “I really feel the authorities could have narrowed it down a little more. “They leave everybody, who is Muslim, open for all kinds of suspicion. They should have been more precise instead of labelling everybody. There are so much Muslim groups in Central who are affected by this.”...

A student group has threatened to kill Ahmadis who return to the campus. According to the report below, "the university and the education ministry reacted to the threat with total silence."

Authorities will not regard the situation as a crisis as long as only religious minorities are being abused. "Lahore: Ahmadi student expelled on false blasphemy charges," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, November 25:

Lahore (AsiaNews) – An Ahmadi student from Lahore (Punjab) was expelled from her university in her senior after she was accused of blasphemy. Students affiliated with Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (TKN) accused Rabia Saleem of ripping up a poster with anti-Ahmadi content. Ahmadi Muslims are considered heretical by mainstream Islam because they do not view Muhammad as the last prophet. The poster was on the door of the hostel where the young woman lived, and, according to sources, it did not contain any verses from the Qur‘an. A student, who asked for anonymity, said that the university “discriminates against religious minorities” and allows fundamentalist groups to “do as they as they please.”

Rashid Ahmad Khan, additional registrar at the Comsats Institute of Information Technology in Lahore, had denied any link between the student’s expulsion and her religion. Instead, he said she was expelled for “breaking university rules” since she “did not provide a document” required in order to register. Student sources say instead that the expulsion of the Ahmadi student was racist [sic] in nature, the result of an attitude of discrimination towards religious minorities that permeates the university.

In the meantime, TKN-affiliated students announced that “Ahmadi students would not be allowed” on campus, and that anybody who tried to resist them would be killed. The university and the education ministry reacted to the threat with total silence.

By contrast, it has send [sic] shockwaves through the Ahmadi community, which now fears fresh attacks, like the dual attack of May 2010 against two mosques in Lahore that left hundreds dead.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Amir John said that “many students are victims of discrimination in school and that no one has seriously tackled the problem.” In his view, the state “tolerates religious hatred” and “does nothing when episodes of persecution occur.”

The textbooks certainly don't help. By the time students reach the universities, they have heard years of propaganda against religious minorities.

For the Catholic priest, the extremist mindset continues to spread and because of it Pakistan could lose important and prominent people from religious minorities.

The Masihi Foundation and Life for All, two NGOs involved in helping victims of discrimination and violence, also condemned Rabia Saleem’ expulsion. In a joint statement, they called for “tolerance and harmony” and urged religious leaders to “play a positive role” in building a multi-confessional society.

They also noted that the only Pakistani to win a Nobel Prize (for Physics) is Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi, who was not appropriately honoured at home for his international award.

On Michael Coren's show on Sun TV, Pamela Geller discusses a recent Afghan rape victim forced to marry her rapist, and the general plight of women in Islam.

It is no accident or coincidence that Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.

Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'" And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

Nonetheless, the media drumbeat is constant: honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. And as long as that continues, we will see more and more murders like this one.

"New Jersey Father Suspected of Murdering Daughter, Son-in-Law in Pakistan 'Honor Killing,'" from NewsCore, November 25 (thanks to Wkujoy):

GUJRAT, Pakistan -- A New Jersey resident whose daughter and son-in-law were gunned down while on a trip to Pakistan was named as the chief suspect in their deaths.

Muzaffar Hussain is suspected of murdering his New York native daughter Uzma Naurin, 30, and her husband, Saif Rehman, 31, in an "honor killing," the Daily Mail reported.

Naurin and Rehman were shot dead Nov. 1 when their car was ambushed near the northeastern Pakistan city of Gujrat. The car's driver and several other passengers were uninjured.

The couple -- who were living in Scotland but planning to relocate to the US -- were in Pakistan to attend a family wedding which Hussain was also attending. Hussain has since returned to his home in Jersey City, N.J.

Pakistani police spokesman Nasir Butt said that the 58-year-old cab driver is being treated as the chief suspect in the case.

Members of Naurin's family were unhappy about her marriage to Rehman, a friend of the couple told the newspaper. Naurin was married previously, but her first husband committed suicide. Naurin subsequently refused to enter an arranged second marriage with her dead husband's brother.

Muslim students are more equal than other students at Australia's Monash University. And what's the big deal about a listing of "radical" mosques? What could possibly go wrong in our brave, new multicultural world?

"Muslim handbook is divisive," by Miranda Devine for the Herald Sun, November 24 (thanks to Kenneth):

MONASH University prides itself on its "multicultural learning environment" and yet it produces a handbook for one certain class of students, and not for others.

Salaam Monash is the title of the glossy 50-page "handbook for Muslim students".

"At Monash we understand that Muslim students have specific social, religious and cultural needs," writes Professor Stephanie Fahey, deputy vice-chancellor, in a foreword to the handbook.

The booklet lists Islamic banking and financial institutions, Muslim publications, women's groups and schools. It also lists Muslim medical and dental practitioners, which splits up doctors into male and female groups.

There is also a halal food guide and a list of halal grocers and butchers.

Much of the information seems useful and, having had a young Muslim house guest recently, I know just how tricky it can be to find halal food.

Really? I'm in Australia now and in walking around Melbourne, I saw an abundance of shops offering it.

But there is no similar handbook for other religious or ethnic groups, not for Buddhists, Taoists, Germans, Greeks, Sikhs, Mormons or vegans.

Why encourage one group of people to maintain an identity separate from other Australians?

Most unwise, however, is that the handbook lists without comment some of Australia's most radical prayer halls.

Among them is cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran's Islamic Call Society in Brunswick, where young Muslim men have been radicalised. A number of men arrested in Operation Pendennis, over a foiled 2005 Melbourne terror plot, had frequented the mosque, according to a New York Police Department study, which identified it as an "extremist incubator".

Similarly, the handbook points students in the direction of Coburg's ISNA mosque, associated with preacher Abu Hamza, who was videotaped telling men they could "beat their wives to shape them up" but only as a last resort. In the lecture entitled "The Keys to a Successful Marriage", he said: "You smack them, you beat them. You are not allowed to bruise them."...

"Monash University should not be endorsing (an) ideology which prescribes that Muslims must not eat our food, wear our clothes, share our services or even use our 'infidel' money," said four insiders who wrote to me. "International students would be better served with a handbook explaining Australian culture and values."

Monash is not alone. La Trobe has its own Muslim student guide and last year opened a $927,000 prayer room.

In 2006 RMIT produced a Muslim handbook "In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful". Two years later 1000 Muslim students protested against sharing new prayer rooms with Christians and Jews....

Yet more evasion of responsibility and finger-pointing from Muslim leaders. When have we seen anything else from them? The unmentioned fact here, of course, is Islamic jihad terrorism. If jihadists would stop justifying violence, hatred and supremacism in the name of Islam, this "negative perception of Islam" would melt away.

More on this story. "Nigeria: Muslim Leaders Berate Media on 'Negative Representation of Islam,'" by Hamza Idris for the Daily Trust via AllAfrica.com, November 24 (thanks to Maxwell):

Istanbul — LEADERS of Muslim communities in Africa yesterday in Istanbul, Turkey frowned at the international media for portraying Islam as a religion of violence and intolerance. Muslim representatives, who spoke at the ongoing Summit of Religious Leaders of Muslim Countries and Communities in Africa (SRLMCC) which was organized by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, observed that poor understanding of the teachings of Islam as well as negative campaigns were responsible for the violence, poverty and ignorance in many African countries.

Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke at the opening session of the five -day conference noted that though his country is not part of Africa, his people are deeply pained by the happenings in the continent.

"There is a systematic campaign across the world against Islam. The negative perception of Islam as a religion of conflict as being portrayed by the media is very wrong. The media is using some marginal examples to define Islam as a religion of conflict and terrorism and as Muslims, we have to come together to overcome these challenges. Turkey will continue to assist Muslim communities in Africa in the areas of education, science and technology," he said.

Dr Abdul Lateef Adegbite, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, who was represented by Professor Yahya Oyewole Imam, said the council was responsible for inter-faith dialogue and collaboration with other agencies towards the propagation of good virtues of Islam.

The Shehu of Borno Alhaji Dr. Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi on his part described the coming together of Muslims in Africa as a positive development.

"The time for such initiative and effort is more appropriate now than ever before. This is because in these days of globalization and science and information technology, Islam has continued to face greater challenge of unity, peace and harmony. These are no doubt easy to achieve if we all adhere strictly to the great tenets of Islam which guide Muslims of all ages on what to do and what not to do," he said.

Muslim leaders from all African countries are attending the event.

This could lead to a direct confrontation between Muslims upholding Islamic law and practice and Australian authorities. In such instances, Muslims are used to non-Muslim authorities giving way to their demands. We'll see if that happens here. "Parents may be jailed over forced marriages," from AAP, November 23 (thanks to Kenneth):

Parents who force their adult children into marriage could be jailed under draft laws the federal government plans to bring before parliament next year.

The government today released an exposure draft of a new bill aimed at toughening Australia's laws against forced marriage, forced labour and other slavery-like practices.

The bill will explicitly outlaw coercing, threatening or deceiving anyone - underage or adult - into a marriage they don't want.

Until now, prosecutions have been mounted only against people for forcing minors into marriage.

Offenders - including the other party to the marriage or the victim's parents - could face up to seven years' jail in aggravated cases and four years' jail in other cases.

Status of Women Minister Kate Ellis says everyone has a right to choose whether to marry and whom to marry.

"These offences will reinforce that a marriage must be entered into with the full and free consent of both parties and that forcing someone into marriage is an abuse of human rights," Ms Ellis said.

The laws will apply both to marriages occurring within Australia and those involving Australians in other countries.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said it was hard to put a figure on how many people were currently being forced into marriage because it was difficult to detect the crime.

"But even if it's one or two, it's a serious enough issue considering the impact on that person's life for the government to pay it the necessary attention," Mr Bowen said.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery like Conditions and People Trafficking) Bill 2012 will also introduce a new offence of forced labour.

It will also outlaw harbouring or receiving a victim of trafficking or slavery and improve the availability of reparations to victims....

The opposition welcomed the announcement but warned the laws would only be as good as the enforcement behind them.

Aye, there's the rub.

This is especially rich, as Muhammad Malik (here, Mohammad) has in the past been involved in attempts to put a more "moderate" face on Islamic teachings, particularly where apostasy is concerned. When the audience is different, the message is different. "Occupy Miami boss led 'Nuke Israel' rally," by Aaron Klein for World Net Daily, November 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The recent executive director of the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations' South Florida chapter is a founder and spokesman of Occupy Miami, WND has learned.

Mohammad Malik currently is as an activist with several other Islamic groups.

He has led hate-filled anti-Israel protests in which participants were filmed wearing Hamas paraphernalia while chanting "Nuke Israel" and "Go back to the oven" – a reference to Jews being killed in the Holocaust.

Malik has been widely quoted in the Florida news media in recent weeks speaking for Occupy Miami.

The Miami Herald identified Malik as one of the organizers of Occupy's Miami's downtown campsite headquarters.

"We've established that we can be here," Malik told the Herald, speaking as one of the first Occupy Miami organizers. "People said we were stupid amateurs who don't know what we're doing. ... But we did it. We've survived and we're growing."

Last week, the Florida Independent reported Miami police had asked Occupy activists to temporarily leave their camp digs.

The Independent quoted Malik, identified as protesting with the group since the beginning, as stating there were "a lot of cops" in the area, but protesters were "trying to figure out the situation so that it doesn't escalate."

The Independent previously quoted Malik as an "unemployed Miami native who has worked with the ACLU and is the current spokesperson for Occupy Miami."

In September 2010, Malik was appointed as the director of CAIR's South Florida chapter, covering the region of Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

In March 2010, Malik organized a CAIR dinner in Miami. The keynote speaker was Siraj Wahhaj, who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Wahhaj has also defended the convicted WTC bomb plotters and has urged the Islamic takeover of America.

Malik departed CAIR several months ago. He previously worked for ACLU Florida, coordinating its Racial Justice and Voting Rights Projects.

He did not return email and phone requests for comment.

Nezar Hamze, the current director of CAIR-South Florida, told WND yesterday that Malik departed his Islamic group under friendly terms.

"He left several months ago, maybe almost a year ago," said Hamze. "He got a better position, I think, at the ACLU," he said.

Malik has served as coordinator of several other Islamic groups, such as the South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network, through which he has organized hate-filled protests; the American Muslims for Emergency Relief; and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Malik himself was the principal organizer of numerous anti-Israel rallies.

A rally in March was titled "Miami's Third Intifada Rally for Palestine."

During the demonstration, protesters reportedly chanted a slogan often used by Hamas and other Palestinian radicals calling for the destruction of Israel: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

A Malik-led rally in December 2008 reportedly drew 200 to 300 rowdy supporters, with some screaming for Jews to "go back to the ovens."

The Florida Sun-Sentinel featured a picture with the caption "Malik incites the crowd."

YouTube video and Internet pictures from the protest depict rally-goers wearing Hamas logos on hats and scarves.

The Florida Jewish Voice newspaper reported Malik's rally began as the Islamic crowd squared off against Israel supporters outside the First Baptist Church in downtown Ft. Lauderdale.

One protester reportedly shouted, "Your mother is a wh*re," then broke into, "Nuke, nuke Israel. Nuke, nuke Israel," followed by, "Go to hell; go to hell; go to hell!"

Another woman, wearing a headscarf, shouted: "Go steal other lands. Go! Murderers! Go back to the oven! You need a big oven."

Malik himself was quoted calling Israel's actions ''collective punishment," accusing the Jewish state of "fuel[ing] terrorism."

Wahhaj, brought in to keynote Malik's CAIR dinner last year, repeatedly has urged the U.S. to accept Islamic law. Discover the Networks notes Wahhaj in 1991 predicted America will fall unless it "accepts the Islamic agenda."

The next year, he stated, "Hear what I'm telling you well. The Americans are not your friends. ... The Canadians are not your friends. ... The Europeans are not your friends. Your friend is Allah, the Messenger and those who believe."...

There is much more.

We have pointed out on many occasions (see, for example, here, here, and here) that the poor and marginalized bear the brunt of Sharia's brutality and institutionalized discrimination. For example, there are those who cannot buy their way out of trouble with devices like diyya, or blood money, and there are also those who suffer disproportionately because they are marked for marginalization by Sharia itself: women and non-Muslims.

There are but two ways in which Sharia is a defective system and simply bad government. "Sharia favours the rich, claim Nigerian rights activists," by Rose Collyer for RFI, November 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency is fuelled by their desire to see stricter Islamic law, or Sharia, in northern Nigeria. Civil rights activists have voiced their concerns that poor people would bear the brunt of a more severe form of Sharia.

Sharia has been practised to varying degrees for as long as Islam has been in Nigeria. But in 1999, the then-governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani, called for criminal cases to be tried in Sharia courts.

Civil rights activists in Nigeria complain that Sharia hands down harsh sentences to poor Muslims, while the rich use it to their advantage.

Islamophobes!

Ahmed Sani, the architect of Sharia in modern Nigeria, is a case in point. He married a child bride from Egypt last year and condoned his actions citing Sharia, which permits men to marry wives as young as 13.

Child marriage persists in the Muslim world because of the example of Muhammad, who consummated his marriage with a nine-year-old at the age of fifty-four (Sahih Bukhari 7.62.88).

Civil rights activist, Shehu Sani stood up to Ahmed Sani, who is no relation, “for those of us who were human rights activists and Muslims we had a duty to our conscience and to our people to stand up to Ahmed Sani. Because we were concerned that Sharia would be used against the poor and to hunt down political enemies.”

Several Sharia cases have brought condemnation from the international community. Most of them have involved poor women accused of adultery who face being stoned to death.

But some argue that it is Nigerian legal system that is at fault.

“Sharia has afforded women so many rights," says Remi Atunwa, a barrister and practising Muslim. "For example it stipulates that if a woman doesn’t want to cook, then her husband is obligated to get her a maid.”

That's a new one. Curiously, Atunwa did not touch lashes and stonings, women's testimony being worth half that of a man (Qur'an 2:282), polygamy (Qur'an 4:3), domestic violence (Qur'an 4:34), rules for inheritance and divorce, and child marriage.

But “people manipulate the system for political and religious reasons," she adds. "And the average person either doesn’t understand the system or doesn’t have the means [financial], required to navigate it.”

She just confirmed the very problem at the heart of this story: the rich can play the system (though it's all a "misunderstanding"), while the average citizen must accept the hand (or hand amputation) that is dealt them by the courts.

Nigeria’s 70 million Muslims already have the choice of having civil cases heard in a Sharia law court. Twelve northern states also allow the resort to Sharia in criminal cases. What Boko Haram is demanding is for Sharia to replace common and customary law in the 19 states that make up northern Nigeria.

The group also wants to see a stricter form of Sharia implemented, as in Saudi Arabia or Iran where stoning and amputations are not uncommon. The problem is that there are several million non-Muslims living in these states. And that wealthy Nigerians tend to be able to escape justice more than the rest of the population.

And Barack Obama couldn't be more pleased: "Barack Obama called on Yemenis to immediately implement the 'historic transition' that had been agreed."

This CNN article, by the way, continues the stupid mainstream media practice of referring to pro-Sharia Islamic supremacists as "conservatives," so that conservatives are those who favor Sharia and simultaneously also those who oppose it. "Yemen after Saleh: Still a treacherous road," by Tim Lister for CNN, November 24:

(CNN) -- After months of bloodshed, intrigue and revenge that made Yemen seem like an Arabian version of Hamlet, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has finally transferred his powers to his vice president, and elections are to be held in three months....

April Longley Alley, Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, says the Riyadh deal offers an "opportunity to move past the current political impasse and to deal with critical issues like deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions as well as the very difficult task of institutional reform."

Even so, Longley Alley and other analysts expect the epilogue to be anything but predictable. There are plenty of competing elements left behind: the thousands of mainly young demonstrators who took to the streets of Sanaa and other cities in January to demand democratic change, the tribal alliance that took up arms against Saleh, secessionists in the south and a Shiite rebellion in the north, well-organized Islamist groups and a budding al Qaeda franchise.

Perhaps the most powerful figure in Yemen now is Brig. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the 1st Armored Division. He defected in March and took a chunk of the army with him. His units now control northern districts of the capital and are facing off against powerful remnants of the Saleh clan. The president's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, long groomed to be his successor, and his nephew, Yahya Muhammad Saleh, command the most effective units....

Al-Ahmar makes some Western officials nervous because of his links with radical Sunni Islamists. Yemeni observers say the Muslim Brotherhood has long been influential within al-Ahmar's military command, and he is known for his antipathy toward Yemen's Shiites. A U.S. diplomatic cable from 2005 said that "Ali Mohsen's questionable dealings with terrorists and extremists would make his accession unwelcome to the U.S. and others in the international community."

Others in this powerful clan include Hamid al-Ahmar, a leader of the Islamist party Islah and a prominent businessman who has long been an opponent of the president. His brother Sadiq also has armed supporters in and around Sanaa....

Others who may play a significant role include the cleric Abdul Majid al-Zindani, who heads the Salafist (very conservative) wing of the Islah party. He is feared by liberal Yemenis....

Whatever power structure emerges, Yemen's next leaders will face daunting tasks as they inherit a state where oil revenues have declined and the economy is in ruins, where poverty is endemic and a young and rapidly growing population faces a chronic shortage of water. Not to mention the percolating rebellions in the south and north, and a well-entrenched affiliate of al Qaeda....

If a non-Muslim teacher in a non-Muslim school committed these assaults, do you think he would have gotten only ten weeks? More British dhimmitude: "Muslim teacher who was secretly filmed kicking and slapping children at mosque is jailed," by Chris Brooke for the Daily Mail, November 24 (thanks to Anthony):

An islamic teacher was jailed yesterday after being caught on a hidden camera kicking and hitting children during religious lessons in a mosque.

Sabir Hussain, 60, stood over the young boys as they sat on the floor and was secretly filmed kicking three in the back and repeatedly hitting one youngster forcefully with the back of his hand.

The ‘fearful’ boys, aged between ten and 13, could be seen flinching from the teacher, who was giving classes for Muslim pupils in reading the Koran at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

He was exposed by the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches, in its programme Lessons In Hatred And Violence, which was broadcast in February and included footage of him assaulting some of the 19 boys.

Wearing traditional Islamic clothing, Hussain, at the time a voluntary teacher, can be seen walking around the class as the boys sat on the floor.

He is seen using considerable force to hit a child four times with the back of his hand as the boy cowers in fear.

Another sequence shows him kicking a boy in the back and then slapping him on the head. Two other sections of video catch Hussain kicking boys in the back.

Hussain admitted four charges of assaulting boys in December last year and was yesterday jailed for ten weeks.

He was originally charged with ten counts of assault, but the prosecution accepted his four guilty pleas.

Bradford magistrates were told the camera was recording in the mosque over a five-month period. District Judge Susan Bouch rejected pleas by his barrister to spare him a custodial sentence.

Shufqat Khan, defending, described him as a ‘pillar of the community’ known for being ‘firm but fair’.

But the judge, commenting on the victims, said: ‘They are small, vulnerable and they are young.’

She told Hussain: ‘It can clearly be seen on the footage that the children are flinching away from you.

‘That suggests clearly to me that the children were fearful. You are in a position of responsibility. This is a gross breach of trust. All of these factors make the offences so serious I can only pass a term of imprisonment.’

Hussain, of Keighley, came to Britain in 1967 and spent nearly 40 years as a textile worker. He required an interpreter in court....

He has been in Britain for 44 years and required an interpreter in court.

After the case a statement from West Yorkshire Police and Children’s Services at Bradford Council welcomed the sentence but criticised the TV team for not reporting the offences earlier, saying: ‘Some of these assaults would have been avoidable.’

However Ann Cryer, the former MP for Keighley, praised the documentary team.
She said: ‘This violence against children was going on under the nose of the mosque authorities.’

Shocker!

The assault on Lara Logan was a high-profile instance of a pervasive problem in Egyptian society, and here are two more such incidents. For journalists, as was the case with Logan, there may be the added element of being identified as "Jewish" and therefore becoming all the more of a target for violence.

"Media watchdog: Egypt unsafe for female reporters," from the Associated Press, November 25:

PARIS -- The media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders is advising news outlets to momentarily suspend sending women to Egypt, after two reports of sexual assaults on female journalists.

A statement by Reporters Without Borders says a French journalist was the latest victim, attacked Thursday by men in street clothes while she worked in Cairo.

That followed the sexual assault on a prominent Egyptian-born U.S. columnist Mona Eltahawy.

According to other media reports, her arms were also broken.

Reporters Without Borders said "there is no other solution" but to hold off on sending female journalists to Egypt.

In February, CBS television correspondent Lara Logan was sexually assaulted by a frenzied mob.

It is not at all surprising to see the Palestinian Authority using the Palestinian Investment Fund for pet projects, except for how brazenly it has tapped the fund for this, of all purposes. The PA should be held accountable by all contributors, and a broader investigation of its use of aid is certainly warranted.

"Congressmen ask for probe into PA use of US funds," by Lahav Harkov for the Jerusalem Post, November 24:

Florida Democratic Congressman Ted Deutsch and New York Democratic Congressman Steve Israel have asked US Comptroller-General Gene Dodaro to investigate the Palestinian Authority’s use of American funding.

The request this week came three weeks after MK Moshe Matalon (Israel Beiteinu) had sent a letter to the budget committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives, informing them of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s policy of paying freed Palestinian prisoners who had been convicted of murder $5,000 and building them new homes.

Matalon received a copy of the congressmen’s letter on Thursday.

“Many of the released prisoners were convicted of orchestrating and carrying out Hamas-sponsored terrorist attacks in Israel, including the bombing of a Tel Aviv nightclub that killed 21 people, the attack on a Netanya hotel that killed 29 people, and the bombing of a Sbarro Pizzeria that killed 15 people,” Deutsch and Israel wrote.

The two congressmen explained to Dodaro that they “are troubled by reports of President Abbas’ use of Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF) funds to provide housing for these convicted terrorists.”

According to the letter, the US contributed to the PIF after PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad founded it in 2002 “under a framework of transparency and accountability.” However, recently there has been “ambiguity surrounding the amount of US taxpayer dollars contributed to the PIF,” Deutsch and Israel wrote.

Aside from the issue of Abbas building houses for convicted terrorists, Deutsch and Israel “are concerned about the increasing lack of transparency for the PIF as well as reports that Prime Minister Fayyad is no longer overseeing the fund and that Hamas has taken control of PIF assets in Gaza.”

The letter also requested that the US Government Accountability Office, which Dodaro heads, investigate whether US Economic Support Funds (ESF) given to the PA were used to fund Abbas’s trips around the world “on his misguided attempt to unilaterally declare statehood at the United Nations... efforts that are in direct contravention of US policy.”

The congressmen said US ESF should not be used “to fund Mr. Abbas’ extensive lobbying to achieve a Palestinian state by any means other than direct negotiations with Israel.”

They added that “the US must be unequivocally committed to ensuring that American taxpayer dollars are used to serve the interests of the US and our allies around the world.”

In his letter three weeks ago, Matalon had written that Abbas was rewarding “unrepentant terrorists.”

“At the ceremony Abbas held [in honor of released prisoners] in Ramallah, he is reported as having praised these individuals for their ‘courage and sacrifice,’” the Israel Beiteinu MK wrote. “The atrocities referred to by Abbas as acts of ‘courage’... include the murders of scores of innocents, including women and children.”

He continued: “I feel it incumbent upon myself to present these facts to you, as a fellow parliamentarian, not as interference in your parliamentary activities, but rather in order to ensure that the full facts are before you, as you deliberate on whether to continue extending financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.”

An update on this story. "Iran CIA agent arrests linked to missile testing," by Yaakov Lappin for the Jerusalem Post, November 24:

Iran’s claim to arresting 12 CIA agents in its territory is linked to clandestine efforts by Tehran to disperse missiles around the country, a senior Iran analyst in the US told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Professor Raymond Tanter, adjunct scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and founder of the Washingtonbased [sic] Iran Policy Committee, said the Iranians were moving and testing missiles “that would form the first response” to an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.

“The rollup of alleged western spies in Iran involves the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Tanter said, adding that this organization “operates all of Iran’s Scud missiles and provides the military leadership for Iranian missile production.

“Events in Iran concern surreptitious testing and movement of missiles at an IRGC facility during mid- November to harden and hide them from surprise attack,” he added.

Referring to a mysterious and powerful blast that rocked a missile base on the outskirts of Tehran earlier this month, killing Gen. Hassan Moghaddam, the architect of Iran’s missile program, and at least 16 other Iranian officials, Tanter said, “The accident in Iran is consistent with statements by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that Tehran seeks to create a ‘zone of immunity,’ which spreads missile sites around the country. The goals are to increase the costs of an Israeli first strike, lower the likelihood of success, and decrease the time window of opportunity for Israel to attack Iran.”

Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s IRNA official media outlet said the supposed agents were planning to attack Iranian targets. The report quoted a senior Iranian security official as saying that the alleged spies were planning to carry out espionage attacks to “damage Iran both from inside and outside with a heavy blow, using regional intelligence services.

“Fortunately, with swift reaction by the Iranian intelligence department, the actions failed to bear fruit,” said the official, named as Parviz Sorouri, a member of Iran’s foreign policy and national security committee. Sourouri also said the alleged agents were working with “the Zionist regime.”

Tanter said that “there is a humongous need for human intelligence from inside Iran,” adding, “The best source to complement Western intelligence on the IRGC is the main Iranian opposition organization, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MeK), which is under siege in Iraq but still maintains an effective intelligence network in the Iranian national security establishment.”

On Tuesday, unnamed US officials were quoted by Reuters as saying that Hezbollah too “succeeded in identifying and arresting informants within its ranks who were working for the CIA,” and described the development as an apparent “serious setback for US intelligence.”

“Some former US officials said that the CIA informants, believed to be local recruits rather than US citizens, were uncovered, at least in part, due to sloppy procedures – known in the espionage world as ’tradecraft’ – used by the agency,” Reuters said.

Islamic law forbids Muslims to leave Islam. These murders were revenge upon one Muslim who dared to exercise his freedom of conscience. "NEWS ALERT: Nigeria Militants Kill Children Of Christian Convert, Missionaries Say," by Stefan J. Bos for BosNewsLife, November 23 (thanks to Mackie):

ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- A militant group seeking to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, throughout Nigeria, has shot and killed two children of an ex-terrorist and "murderer" because he converted to Christianity, well-informed missionaries told BosNewsLife Wednesday, November 23.

Boko Haram, meaning “Western education is a sin”, carried out the killings this month after discovering that a former fellow fighter refused to kill a Christian and instead accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, explained Rae Burnett, Africa Director of the U.S. based Christian Aid Mission (CAM) group.

Burnett told BosNewsLife that the father and Boko Haram militant "was poised to slit the throat of his Christian victim" during November attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least over 130 Christians, including missionaries, when "he was suddenly struck with the weight of the evil he was about to commit."

Dropping his machete, the man ran to the nearest church, asking a pastor for help, Burnett said....

"When the call came, the ministry leader was grieving the loss of several close missionary friends who were murdered in the Yobe State slaughter. He immediately met with the confessed killer and joyfully led him to Christ. He is discipling him in a secret location because of the extreme danger."

Burnett declined to identify the former Muslim militant and missionaries, citing security concerns.

"After meeting the Lord, the converted terrorist [and] murderer called his former colleagues to testify what had happened to him without disclosing where he was," she said.

CHILDREN KIDNAPPED

However, "Upon discovering the man's conversion to Christianity, Boko Haram members invaded his home, kidnapped his two children and informed him that they were going to execute them in retribution for his disloyalty to Islam. Clutching his phone, the man heard the sound of the guns that murdered his children," the CAM official added.

There was no known published comment about the specific attack by Boko Haram, but the reported murders were part of what President leader Goodluck Jonathan called "heinous violence" which began November 4 mainly in and around Damaturu, the capital of Nigeria's northern Yobe state.

Christian missionaries said that during the attacks Muslim "extremists" of Boko Haram also demanded that Christians recite the Islamic creed. Those who refused, were reportedly butchered on the spot.

Additionally, "among the "devastation and destruction left in the wake of Boko Haram's violence were 10 church buildings set aflame while Christians remained trapped inside," added Burnett, who has close knowledge about the situation.

Though "severely traumatized," the former Boko Haram fighter who lost his children "is growing in the knowledge of Christ through the loving care he is receiving from his brothers and sisters in the ministry that is sheltering and training him," she said. "He knows he is called to become a missionary to Nigerian Muslims."...

Burnett said several ex-Muslims facing "the danger of persecution or death from the Islamic community and even family members," are brought to "a safe location while they are discipled and trained in the Word of God."...

The Boko Haram's "goal is to force Sharia law throughout Nigeria" targeting "secular education by bombing schools and universities, " the CAM director said. She added that while attacks are often prompted by local issues, they also aim at "anything that is perceived to be foreign influence."...

In a precursor to Thanksgiving Day, on March 23, 1798, President John Adams proclaimed a national Day of Fasting and Humiliation, set for the following May 9. It was a dark time. His proclamation read:

As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness can not exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed; and as this duty, at all times incumbent, is so especially in seasons of difficulty or of danger, when existing or threatening calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity, are a loud call to repentance and reformation; and as the United States of America are at present placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power, evinced by repeated refusals to receive our messengers of reconciliation and peace, by depredations on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas – under these considerations it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of Heaven on our country demands at this time a special attention from its inhabitants.

I have therefore thought fit to recommend, and I do hereby recommend, that Wednesday, the 9th day of May next, be observed throughout the United States as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens of these States, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming; that all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before God the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation, beseeching Him at the same time, of His infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the World, freely to remit all our offenses, and to incline us by His Holy Spirit to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction; that it be made the subject of particular and earnest supplication that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it; that our civil and religious privileges may be preserved inviolate and perpetuated to the latest generations; that our public councils and magistrates may be especially enlightened and directed at this critical period; that the American people may be united in those bonds of amity and mutual confidence and inspired with that vigor and fortitude by which they have in times past been so highly distinguished and by which they have obtained such invaluable advantages; that the health of the inhabitants of our land may be preserved, and their agriculture, commerce, fisheries, arts, and manufactures be blessed and prospered; that the principles of genuine piety and sound morality may influence the minds and govern the lives of every description of our citizens and that the blessings of peace, freedom, and pure religion may be speedily extended to all the nations of the earth.

And finally, I recommend that on the said day the duties of humiliation and prayer be accompanied by fervent thanksgiving to the Bestower of Every Good Gift, not only for His having hitherto protected and preserved the people of these United States in the independent enjoyment of their religious and civil freedom, but also for having prospered them in a wonderful progress of population, and for conferring on them many and great favors conducive to the happiness and prosperity of a nation.

Given under my hand the seal of the United States of America, at Philadelphia, this 23d day of March, A.D. 1798, and of the Independence of the said States the twenty-second.
By the President : JOHN ADAMS.

There are many obvious parallels between the situation he outlines and the one that prevails today. We are "placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power," although that foreign power is not a nation-state. We have experienced "depredations on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas." Adams was referring to an undeclared naval war with France that was going on at the time, but he could just as well have meant the undeclared war that we face today: the jihad that could strike anywhere, anytime, while you're shopping, or going for a walk, or flying in an airplane.

Adams asks that on the "said day the duties of humiliation and prayer be accompanied by fervent thanksgiving to the Bestower of Every Good Gift," and that seems like a good idea today, particularly since his call for fasting and prayer has given way to a regular day of thanks. Today we should, in his words, "give thanks to the Bestower of Every Good Gift," for all those individuals who never would have flourished in a strict Sharia state such as the Islamic supremacists are laboring to impose upon the world, and for their achievements that are likewise not consonant with Islamic law.

These include: Adams himself and his son, truculent as they were. George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. James Madison. The Declaration of Independence. The U.S. Constitution. Sam Houston. Davy Crockett. William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Frederick Douglass. The Gettysburg Address. The Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau. Longfellow and Poe and Emily Dickinson. Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Stephen Foster, Scott Joplin and Mr. Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe. Theodore Roethke, author of "In a Dark Time," which inspired the title of this post. Louis Armstrong, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington and Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Bob Dylan. Mr. A. Braxton. Georgia O'Keeffe, Walker Evans.

This is a list made in haste. It is drastically incomplete. It also consists only of Americans, since this is, after all, an American day, but the list of the great people whose lives and works could never have taken the course they did under Sharia, and great achievements that could never have been made under Sharia, is international.

Make your own list. The only condition is that they all must conflict with Sharia: people who paved the way for free and representative government, or for freedom of inquiry. People who celebrated the human spirit in whatever way, leaving monuments to its strength and vitality. Artists, musicians, and others whose life's work would be forbidden and destroyed by the likes of the Taliban, enabled by their Useful Idiots in the West. This is a dark time like the one Adams spoke of. Let us give thanks, because in doing so we remember what we have that is worth defending.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I knew it wouldn't be long for this world, and the website operated by New York City jihad bomb plotter Muhammad Yusuf (Jose Pimentel), "True Islam," has finally been taken offline. I am surprised it took authorities so long to get around to doing this, but they didn't do it before I was able to get several large collections of jihad hadiths that Yusuf published -- you can find them here, here, and here.

I also caught the mission of his website:

"This is a blog setup to educate people about the True Religion of Islam as revealed to the Last Prophet Muhammad(PBUH)."

What is this Blog about?
Peace be upon all those who seek and follow the Truth. I created this Blog in order to help people learn about the Religion of Islam, and to help clarify many issues within the Religion of Islam that many people might have a hard time understanding. My goal is to explain Islam and many topics dealing with Islam as clearly and easy to understand as possible for non muslims who want to learn about the religion. I will also provide as much evidence as possible, from muslim sources and non muslim sources in order so that the readers can feel more secure about the information provided in this Blog. I will touch on topics such as Islam, The Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), Jihad and Terrorism, Muslim Men and Women, Islamic Countries, Politics in Islam, The Life of this World, and The Afterlife. As far as Muslims who will visit my blog God Willing this blog will help you learn the Religion better and will acquaint you with the trustworthy sources where one should seek knowledge from. All negative or hater comments will be deleted, so dont waste ur time. Time is too precious to be wasted on negative energy. May The God guide us all to the Truth and to the Straight path Ameen.

So why was it taken down? Did it make it too obvious that Islam's texts and teachings motivated his jihad attack -- something authorities have been doing their best to obfuscate?

Over at Atlas Shrugs, Pamela Geller provides inside information on an all-too predictable and patently unjust Obama Administration practice:

US policy regarding the refugee resettlement program would shock most Americans if they only knew. The UN picks who becomes US refugees. Christians are being refused refugee status and face persecution and many times certain death for their religious beliefs under the sharia, while whole Muslim communities are entering the US by the tens of thousands per month despite the fact that they face no religious persecution.

It is horrifying that Afghan Christians are being refused refugee status by the UN and many Western nations, including Britain. The UN claims that Afghan Christians do not meet the criteria for refugees under Statute 6B of the UN High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), which requires refugees to have "a well founded fear of persecution by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinion."

Since 1976, millions of new citizens have entered America as legal humanitarian refugees, according to reports of the US State Department. The Somalis are certified as "humanitarian refugees" under our State Department rules. Whole Muslim communities are imported into the United States, and they are supported by social services provided by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The cities who receive these huge numbers are determined by Refugee Councils. And yet back in October 2008, Muslim UN employees were "discouraging" applications for resettlement from the desperate Christian Iraqis. The Christian Iraqi population has since been decimated. By buying into the argument that Islam is a religion of peace and ignoring the penalties for apostasy, we are sentencing thousands of Christians to martyrdom and forcing others to live in the shadows in dire poverty. We need to demand that our government provide protection and asylum for Christian apostates.

Indeed. Read it all.

The contrast is noteworthy. This is what the army said this time:

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) presents its regrets and deep apologies for the deaths of martyrs from among Egypt's loyal sons during the recent events in Tahrir Square,"

Compare that to the Orwellian-grade cover-up of the Maspero massacre of October 9, which has seen the military take over the investigation -- appointing itself to "investigate" its own massacre -- from a civilian prosecutor. Apology? Not a chance. They blamed infiltrators and saboteurs for the incident, and they have threatened at least 34 Copts with prosecution, even hauling in priests in for interrogation.

The difference shows all the more that the army could care less about the Christian minority, and knows it can beat on the Christians with impunity, without consequences from inside Egypt, and apparently without much outside accountability from other powers that send Egypt aid.

But there is another reason for the difference: the army has nothing to be afraid of from the Copts (despite broadcasters' pleas to Egyptians to "protect" the army from them on the night of the massacre). This round of protests, on the other hand, threatens to be the "revolution after the revolution," and this time, the military is in the crosshairs, rather than Mubarak.

Diminishing the power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, deplorable as the group is, will only make room for the remaining organized bloc of power, the Muslim Brotherhood. The military is busily trying to carve out a secure future for itself with a comfortable level of immunity, with one eye on its overlords-in-waiting, who will have some scores to settle.

"Egypt vote to go on as military apologises," by Simon Martelli for Agence France-Presse, November 24:

Egypt's military rulers apologised on Thursday for the deaths of demonstrators at the hands of police, while insisting elections will go ahead next week as planned.

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) presents its regrets and deep apologies for the deaths of martyrs from among Egypt's loyal sons during the recent events in Tahrir Square," it said in a statement on its Facebook page.

There were still large crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Thursday, scene of days of deadly clashes between security forces and protesters demanding an immediate end of military rule, but the mood was calm after a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics.

"An agreement has been reached between security forces and protesters to halt confrontations between the two sides," Egypt's cabinet said in a statement on Facebook.

At least 38 protesters have been killed since Saturday -- when the clashes first erupted -- and more than 2,000 injured, prompting expressions of concern from Western governments and a UN call for an independent inquiry into the "excessive use of force."

The demonstrators have been demanding the military leadership step down immediately and allow a return to civilian rule.

But the military council said on Thursday that doing so would amount to a "betrayal" of the people.

"The people have entrusted us with a mission and if we abandon it now, it would be a betrayal of the people," senior SCAF member General Mukthar al-Mulla told a news conference.

"The armed forces do not want to stay in power. We want to put the wishes of the people above all else," he said, adding that since the start of the transitional period it had been the army's "first objective" to restore security on the Egyptian streets.

"We will not delay the elections," said another senior SCAF member, Major General Mamduh Shahine. "This is the final word. They will be conducted according to the original dates."

Egyptians are set to vote on Monday in the first legislative elections since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, but the violence has cast a dark shadow over the country's first step to democratic rule.

Even in the present climate in Pakistan, this was too absurd, and too obvious a swipe at the Christian minority to stand. An update on this story. "Islamabad, victory for Paul Bhatti and APMA: Jesus Christ is no longer banned in texting," from AsiaNews, November 24:

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - The commitment of the Special Advisor for religious minorities Paul Bhatti coupled with the demonstrations of parliamentarians and activists of the All Pakistan Minority Alliance (APMA) has been successful: the government of Pakistan has decided to withdraw the name of Jesus Christ from the list of censored words - a "black list" of 1600 words of an obscene, pornographic or religious reference – that cannot be used in phone text messages. Among gestures judges "extreme", but always peaceful and in compliance with the law, was that of an elected official from the province of Sindh Ampa: Saleem Khokhar, who sat on the floor during the Assembly meeting, the empty chair, he said, would be occupied again only after deletion of Christ's name from the list of banned words. Paul Bhatti also denies reports that circulated yesterday on some news sites, that the cancellation was linked to the intervention of Akram Gill, Minister of State for Harmony (a sort of department secretary).

Interviewed by AsiaNews, Paul Bhatti, brother of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Catholic minister for religious minorities assassinated on 2 March, confirms the commitment for the "rehabilitation" of the name "Jesus Christ", banned last week along with a thousand words considered "pornographic in nature" or of a confessional nature. In the letter sent Nov. 14 to telephone operators, Garan ordered the installation of communications software to block forbidden words - in Urdu and English - including "naked, gay and ... Jesus Christ."

The special adviser for religious minorities to the prime minister, with the status of Federal Minister for National Harmony, has repeatedly raised the question in Pakistani media, "with the full support" of all parliamentarians and APMA activists who have launched a protest campaign. In a later Paul Bhatti spoke directly to Prime Minister Gilani and President of the antitrust for Telecommunications Mohammed Yaseen. "We had just finished the talks – he said – when the news of the cancellation of Jesus Christ from the list arrived."

Paul Bhatti does not hide the satisfaction with the work done by his ministry and APMA, which was co-founded and presided over by Shahbaz Bhatti for a long time and he thanked "the Pakistani government for the good news", while confirming "the mutual commitment to minorities and the executive’s "program to promote interfaith dialogue and peaceful coexistence of the different souls that make up the country.

In recent days the story had captured the attention of international media. The Pakistani government finally ended the controversy, restoring legitimacy to the rights of Christians. However, there are those - in Pakistan - who have been wrongly credited with having obtained the cancellation of the name "Jesus" from the list. Some Catholic websites have emphasized the role of Akram Gill, under-secretary of the Ministry for Harmony, for having "raised the issue in the Cabinet of Ministers". In fact, says Paul Bhatti, Akram Gill (a Catholic) has never participated in any meeting of the executive and has never given "personal interviews". Our collaborative work with the government, says Bhatti, “was crucial”, the work of APMA and the Parliamentary Assembly of Sindh, with its "sensational" protest combined with the "sensitivity" shown by the executive and the Pakistani leadership.

"There are too many inaccuracies and false information in Pakistan - The Special Adviser to the Prime Minister concluded - especially when it comes to Christians, minorities and sectarian issues. And it is right and proper to promote correct information. "(DS)

Fighting on behalf of Islamic supremacists who will end up being far more oppressive in power than anything they've imagined in their wildest nightmares. Leftist/Islamic Supremacist Alliance Update: "3 students from US arrested during Cairo protests," by Charles Wilson for the Associated Press, November 22:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Relatives and school officials said Tuesday they were working with U.S. officials to free three American college students arrested during protests in Cairo, where an Egyptian official said they were throwing firebombs at security forces.

An Egyptian official said the students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to speak to the media.

The U.S. Department of State said it was aware of the detentions of three U.S. citizens in connection with Tahrir Square protests and was seeking access.

The wave of protests and violence across Egypt that began Saturday has left 29 dead and thrown the country's politics into chaos less than a week before landmark parliamentary elections were to begin. Tens of thousands of people filled Tahrir Square on Tuesday to intensify pressure on Egypt's military leaders to hand over power to a civilian government.

A spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo identified the students as Luke Gates, 21, Derrik Sweeney, 19, and Gregory Porter, 19.

Morgan Roth said the three students had been held by Egyptian authorities since their arrest Monday night but she did not know whether they had been formally charged or what the charges might be. She said it wasn't unusual for American students to get "caught up" in Egyptian politics.

"There's a lot of very contagious passion right now," she said. Students from the U.S. don't always realize what it's like to live in a country without free speech or other civil liberties, and sometimes are motivated to work to change those conditions, she said....

And they're fighting to change them by making them even worse.

Here's something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day. The American people are seeing through the propaganda piece that is TLC's All-American Muslim reality/dawah show, and responsible advertisers are fleeing in droves. The show aims to combat a trumped-up problem, "Islamophobia," by presenting Muslims who are just ordinary folk, and mostly non-religious -- while of course the only reason why anyone is concerned about Muslims in the first place is not because of those who are opening up clubs and going about ordinary lives, but because of those who take serious and act upon the doctrines that mandate warfare against and the subjugation of unbelievers.

"Advertisers fleeing 'All-American Muslim' 'propaganda': Sears, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, others drop support for program," by Bob Unruh for World Net Daily, November 22:

"All-American Muslim," a new program on The Learning Channel that is being touted as a "powerful series" that carries viewers "inside the rarely seen world of American Muslims," is being dropped by advertisers.

Critics say the program is nothing more than video jihad propaganda, and the Florida Family Association says it is contacting companies whose advertising appears on the show to ask them to quit. So far, 18 of 20 companies contacted have done so, the group said.

The organization said that among the companies that initially supported the program, but later did not have any advertising aired, were Airborne Vitamin, Amway, Diamond Foods, Dyson Vacuum, Estee Lauder, HTC Phones, Home Depot, McDonald's, Petsmart, Pfizer, Sears, Sonic, T-Mobil and Wal-Mart.

The Florida group said it sent out an email alert to constituents only a week ago, who then contacted the sponsors.

"The Learning Channel's new show 'All-American Muslim' is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Shariah law," the organization's report on its work said. "The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish."

The association cited a "troubling scene" in which a Muslim police officer stated, "I really am American. No ifs, ands or buts about it."

"This scene would appear to be damage control for the Dearborn [Mich.] police who have arrested numerous Christians including several former Muslims for peacefully preaching Christianity," the association report said.

"Dearborn police falsely arrested Nabeel Qureshi and Paul Rezkalla in 2010 and Sudanese Christian Pastor George Saieg in 2009 for preaching Christianity at the annual Arab International Festival," the report said.

The association's suggested message from consumers to sponsors said the show is trying to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and Shariah, which is Islamic religious law.

The report said Dearborn, the site of the biggest mosque in North America, is one of the most densely populated Muslim communities in the United States. In recent years, it has gained national attention for taking a pro-Muslim stance and for the arrest and intimidation of Christian evangelists for engaging in protected speech activity, the report said.

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, has handled several legal disputes over the arrests of those individuals.

"But Americans aren't suspicious of Muslims who are trying to get married, open clubs, and play football. Americans are suspicious of Muslims who are trying to blow up American buildings, subvert American freedoms, and assert the primacy of Islamic law over American law. The problem people have with Islam is not with every Muslim person. It is with Islam's teachings of violence against and the subjugation of unbelievers. It is with the supremacist ideology and the fervent believers in those noxious doctrines of warfare and subjugation," the report said....

Actually I wrote that, here.

"He was told the clinic's male Muslim clientele did not want a male treating female patients."

For a taxpayer-funded entity to comply with such a demand opens more than one nasty can of worms. First, there is the disturbing prospect of a state institution taking it upon itself to enforce and observe an Islamic separation of men and women. The practice also left the facility open to tremendous liability over the prospect of delayed or denied care on the basis of gender, recalling conditions under the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan.

If your medical care reminds someone of Afghanistan under the Taliban, it's probably safe to assume you're doing something wrong. "Male nurse sues after firing for treating Muslim women," by Robert Snell for Detroit News, November 23:

Detroit— A male nurse filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the city of Dearborn on Wednesday, claiming he was fired for treating conservative Muslim women wearing head scarves.

John Benitez Jr. is suing for unspecified damages and to reclaim his job, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

Discrimination:

Benitez, 63, of Madison Heights, worked at the city's taxpayer-funded health clinic. He alleges he was ordered by a female supervisor not to treat conservative Muslim women, specifically those wearing head scarves, according to the lawsuit. He was told the clinic's male Muslim clientele did not want a male treating female patients.

He complied until November 2010, when a doctor ordered him to treat Muslim women as he would any other patient. Benitez followed the doctor's order and was fired less than one month later, according to the lawsuit.

"When you get to the point that taxpayer-funded entities are having to comply with personal religious beliefs rather than letting people do their job you're going down a road that does not end in a good place," the nurse's lawyer Deborah Gordon said in an interview Wednesday. "If people don't want to be treated, they can go find their own practitioner."

The city closed the clinic June 30 amid budget cuts.

A Dearborn spokeswoman declined comment.

Hospitals and health clinics routinely make accommodations based on religion, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations.

In this case, the practices were enforced on women by outsiders (Muslim clinic clients and clinic supervisors), and done on the taxpayer dime.

"In general, unless it is for emergency situations, many Muslims would prefer being screened and touched by someone of the same gender," Walid said. "If he was fired based upon an order from a supervisor, that obviously would be unjust."

The club's creepy sexual fantasy "guide" with a touch of Islamic supremacism was banned in Malaysia, but the group's supporters are taking their message to London.

Never mind that polygamy is still technically illegal in Britain. Then again, more than a few Muslims there are already ignoring that. "Obedient Wives Club urges women: Be like prostitutes," by Rob Parsons for ThisIsLondon, November 23 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A group that supports polygamy and urges Muslim women to act like "prostitutes" in the bedroom has opened a branch in London.

The Obedient Wives Club, launched in Malaysia, is part of the Global Ikhwan group which claims polygamy will lead to a harmonious society. It urges women to "be submissive and keep their spouses happy in the bedroom".

Ikhwan vice-president Rohaya Mohamad has claimed women could "curb social ills" by serving their husbands "better than a first-class prostitute".

Members of the group, which is run from a Greenwich restaurant, will appear at a debate about polygamy in London tonight. They say they want to show Muslims in Britain that the practice can work. But Sara Khan, director of Muslim women's charity Inspire, said: "Polygamy is illegal under British law and such a club would reduce a woman to a mere prop in a man's life. Not only does it demean women, it is demeaning to men too and the institution of marriage."

The Wives Club already has branches in Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. Founder Mohd Ali said there were "misconceptions" about polygamy: "We want to share our experience to show it can work. One of the problems in Malaysia [was] there are men who might keep a mistress or go with someone else because they don't have a satisfactory married life."....

And of course that's only the wife's (or wives') fault.

The fundamental question in this case is one of Indian sovereignty: is Indian law the supreme law of the land in Indian Kashmir, or is Sharia? Local authorities and Muslim clergy are acting as though the latter were.

They have sought to prosecute Rev. Khanna for promoting "disharmony, enmity or hatred" due to religion, and for offending "religious feelings" by welcoming Muslim converts to Christianity. Someone ought to ask them how that logic would apply when some other Kashmiri converted to Islam. Of course, under Sharia's supremacist rule, that concept of reciprocity would not apply at all, and that is exactly the idea.

An update on this story. "Christian leaders for the release of Kashmiri pastor arrested for forced conversions," by Nirmala Carvalho for AsiaNews, November 22:

Srinagal (AsiaNews) - "The Rev. CM Khanna and seven Muslim converts to Christianity were exercising their constitutional rights to religious freedom and freedom of choice, they have done nothing illegal. " So says Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), commenting on the arrest of Channa Mani Khanna, Anglican pastor of All Saints Church in Kashmir, accused by the Grand Mufti of the region of having forced the conversion of young Muslims in exchange for money. For the Anglican bishop P.K. Samantha Roy, of the Diocese of Amritsar, "the way the police have arrested the pastor is humiliating. Rev. Khanna has never acted in secret. We ask the government of Kashmir for justice. The Anglican Church will seek a legal redress for our innocent pastor. "

A few days before his arrest, on 19 November, the Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-Din had called the Rev. Khanna before a sharia court, to answer charges of forced conversion. On 17 November, the Grand Mufti had then written a letter to the pastor, in which he stated: "Having failed in what I had asked, we will be forced to take action under Shari'a." In addition to Rev. Khanna, the police also arrested the seven Muslim that he baptized, beating them to obtain a confession against the pastor.

The Anglican bishop who oversees Rev. Khanna's diocese has upheld the baptisms as valid:

Msgr. Roy said he had discussed what happened in the Islamic court with the pastor: "The interrogation went on for four hours. When we spoke, the Reverend was serene and calm, not afraid because he was sure of his innocence and that he had not committed any violation of canon law or civil law. The baptisms he officiated are valid. "

"The request to appear before a Shariah court - said Sajan George - is alarming. We must stop the Talibanisation of the only Indian state with a Muslim majority. India is a secular country with a secular constitution, which states without exception, and demands respect for the principles of equality among citizens of the republic."

The state of Kashmir has no anti-conversion laws: the police arrested the pastor according to art. 153A (people who promote disharmony, enmity or hatred based on religion, race, residence, language or caste) and 295A (people who offend the religious feelings of any class, with deliberate and malicious acts).

According to Donia Alwatan, a female, Salafi candidate running for Egypt’s parliament, Mona Salah (pictured above), asserts that “women are deficient in intelligence and religion,” and that it is impermissible for them to take over the presidency.

She is, of course, only quoting the words of her prophet Muhammad. After being asked why he said most of the inhabitants of hell are women, he replied: “You [women] curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.”

Despite this unflattering depiction of her gender, Mona Salah defended her candidacy by pointing out that a position in the people’s council invests her only with “partial” authority, not “absolute” authority, as in the case of the presidency, which requires a male.

Yet, even a position with “partial” authority would not seem to get around Muhammad’s point that even “a cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you [women].” Perhaps that is why Salah was quick to assure that “she would strive to apply the Islamic Sharia, cutting the hands of thieves, preventing the intermingling of sexes, and having women dress in black garments, men in white.”

Look where she landed when the attack came to light in the first place. Would the outcome have been any different if she went straight to the police? No, she would be like the many other Afghan women in jail under similar circumstances: half of the women in Afghan jails are there for alleged "moral crimes."

Even if Gulnaz is pardoned because of the embarrassment her case is now bringing to Afghanistan, there remain all of the other women languishing in Afghan jails, and in the future, there will unfortunately be more cases like hers.

Meaningful reform does not occur without a sense of crisis or some sort of problem, and even in that case, the fact that Sharia is enshrined in the Afghan constitution as the highest law of the land is a major obstacle: proposed reforms to Sharia's provisions will go against Sharia as it has been practiced over the centuries, and will thus be unconstitutional. And as far as Afghanistan is concerned right now, there is no problem, no crisis -- at least not for anyone who counts.

An update on this story. "Jailed Afghan rape victim has sentence reduced, remains in jail," by Nick Paton Walsh for CNN, November 23:

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan prosecutors announced Wednesday that a young rape victim, jailed for adultery after reporting the crime and pushed into marrying her attacker, would have her sentence reduced from twelve to three years. The prosecutor said she would, for now, remain in jail -- with her child -- for not reporting her attack fast enough.

In a remarkable case that is all too common in Afghanistan but has drawn international attention, 21-year-old Gulnaz was attacked by a relative two years ago, but sentenced to 12 years in jail for adultery.

She has since given birth to a girl from the attack. Because of the dishonor of sex outside of wedlock, she had been given the choice of marrying her attacker to get out of jail and legitimize her infant daughter in the eyes of Afghanistan's conservative society.

The child is imprisoned with her at Badambagh Prison on the outskirts of Kabul.

Gulnaz says she at first tried to hide the attack against her because she could be killed for bringing shame on her community. Only her pregnancy exposed the attack and began criminal investigations that led to her conviction for adultery.

The story is changing quickly:

On Wednesday a spokesman for the Afghan attorney general said her sentence had been reduced by another court hearing to three years and that the main remaining charge against her was not reporting her attack early enough. A lawyer for Gulnaz, Kim Motley, said her client was only on Tuesday made aware of the reduced sentence and there had been no official notification of it.

The attorney general spokesman, Rahmatullah Nazari, said their investigation had concluded there was no rape, but instead sex outside of wedlock, resulting in both the male attacker and Gulnaz being convicted of adultery.

"Gulnaz claims that she has been raped. But because she reported the crime four months later, we couldn't find any evidence [of an attack]," Nazari said. "She was convicted for not reporting a crime on time."

Gulnaz's attacker denied having sex with her. He told CNN he was serving jail time because he had been accused of rape. His conviction records show he is in jail for "zina", a Dari word that directly translates as "adultery." Human rights workers note that rape cases are often handled as adultery in Afghanistan's court system.

The spokesman for the prosecutor added, however, that Gulnaz might soon receive a presidential pardon.

"There is a strong possibility that she would be pardoned under a presidential decree in the upcoming important dates like Prophet's birthday or Afghan new year," said Nazari.

Nazari said the Afghan prosecutor's investigation had concluded that Gulnaz and her attacker had had consensual sex several times. Months later, when it emerged she was pregnant he said, their families met to try and settle the issue through a financial payment. When those discussions broke down, Nazari said, the accusation of rape was made.

This explanation does not add up, when the parties would surely know the accusation of rape would be prosecuted as adultery, as is a common practice in Afghanistan, for not meeting Sharia's standards on witnesses (Qur'an 24:13) to the attack.

The courts ultimately found both parties guilty of adultery, Gulnaz receiving two years, and her attacker seven. A later court ruling then increased her sentence to twelve years. A third court hearing, which happened in the past month but about which Gulnaz heard little until Tuesday, decided that she should serve a total of three years -- not for adultery but instead for failing to report a crime quickly enough....

''Freedom of worship and of thought is the foundation of all freedoms and it is a value that has to be recognised if we are not to run the risk that the Arab Spring leads to a winter in which dictatorships are replaced by religious despotism." And of course that is already happening. I tried to tell you: "Arab Spring - Europe calls for safeguard of Christians," from ANSAmed, November 22 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, NOVEMBER 22 - Eight hundred thousand refugees from Iraq in the wake of the violence following the downfall of Saddam Hussein, dozens of victims among the Copt demonstrators in Egypt following the ousting of president Mubarak. Christians are paying a heavy price under the turbulence that is shaking the Arab world, where there is a risk of nurturing a climate in which Islamic fundamentalism will thrive. This risk has been the subject of a discussion during a conference held in Beirut between Euro-MPs and representatives of the Eastern Churches, which has been promoted by the Euro-Parliament and the Episcopal Conference of European Bishops.

From Italy's Democratic Party, and Deputy Speaker of the Euro-Parliament, Gianni Pittella warned how ''Freedom of worship and of thought is the foundation of all freedoms and it is a value that has to be recognised if we are not to run the risk that the Arab Spring leads to a winter in which dictatorships are replaced by religious despotism''....

Sunnis generally don't accept it, but Shi'ites regard temporary marriage (zawaj al-mut'a) as sanctioned by Muhammad himself, as you can see from this clip, and hence part of Islamic law. So as Islamic groups fight against laws banning Sharia in the U.S. and pave the way for it to come to this country, will we eventually see calls from Shi'ites to legalize this thinly disguised form of prostitution? Why not?

"Kuwaiti Shaykh: 'A handful of dates is given to any woman to enjoy her sexually,'" from Translating Jihad, November 22:

In the above video, Kuwaiti Shaykh Yasir al-Habib, a Shi'a, explains and justifies the Islamic practice of zawaj al-mut'a, or temporary marriage (lit. 'pleasure marriage'), which is in a sense Islamically-sanctioned prostitution. [...]

He also brings up a hadith or saying from one of the companions of Muhammad, who said that, "We contracted temporary marriage giving a handful of the dates or flour as a dower during the life time of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and during the time of Abu Bakr until Umar forbade it because of Amr Ibn Huraith" (from al-islam.org). The last point about Umar forbidding it is where most Shi'a and Sunnis disagree--the Shi'a don't accept Umar as a legitimate caliph or successor to Muhammad, while the Sunnis do.

Subtitled video is above, transcript below (h/t Nonie Darwish):

I tell him, “Come on, if you’re a man, then give me your sister in marriage, a marriage with the intent of divorcing after one night.” I could imagine something like that, now that you mention it. You know? Now, even if you find this repulsive, the Messenger of Allah didn’t find it repulsive. The Messenger of Allah approved this marriage by recognizing it. The Messenger of Allah permitted and authorized (temporary) pleasure marriages. Now even if they later put it in a written hadith that he later forbade pleasure marriages, the important thing is that it was present (during the time of the Prophet).

If the marriage was by nature considered repulsive by the Shari’ah, meaning it was not pleasing to Almighty Allah and His Messenger (PBUH), then the Prophet from the beginning would not have permitted it. Why did he permit it? I mean, it wasn’t considered contrary to the honor of Muslim women. Why did he authorize his companions to marry Muslim women for a short time, and to “enjoy them (sexually),” [Qur’an 4:24] even with a handful of dates? A handful of dates is given to any woman to enjoy her sexually, that’s it. If you say that this is adultery, then you’re accusing the Messenger (PBUH) of adultery, or that he legitimized adultery. If you say this is repulsive, you’re accusing the Messenger (PBUH) of being repulsive, or that the Messenger of Allah legitimized that which is repulsive, Allah forbid. Is it not so?

Pleasure marriage came to solve a societal problem. It doesn’t mean that it always has to be applied. However, if my sister did that, according to its rules and laws, whether she were a widow and her husband had passed away, or she were divorced, and so forth; if she needed it (for whatever reason), then this marriage would be according to the tradition (sunnah) of Allah and His Messenger (PBUH). There is no shame in this. No shame at all.

Heh. Just as Islamic supremacists and their useful idiots in the mainstream media such as Spencer Ackerman, Matt Duss and Adam Serwer are crowing over their apparent victory in intimidating the FBI into dropping all materials that tell the truth about Islam and jihad from agent training, Obama signs a law prohibiting FBI cooperation with Hamas-linked unindicted co-conspirators such as CAIR and ISNA -- which shows the hazards of not reading the bill.

"PJM Exclusive: New Law Cuts Ties Between FBI and Terror-Tied Groups," by Patrick Poole at PJ Media, November 22 (thanks to Wimpy):

When Barack Obama signed the continuing resolution this past weekend averting another potential government shutdown, it’s doubtful that he was aware that tucked into the bill, which funds several federal agencies through the fiscal year and extends the continuing resolution for the rest of the government until December 16, is a provision that may dramatically impact what Islamic groups and leaders the FBI and other law enforcement agencies can continue to work with.

Under Division B, Title II of the bill, under the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Salaries and Expenses section, is the following provision:

Liaison partnerships- The conferees support the FBI’s policy prohibiting any formal non-investigative cooperation with unindicted co-conspirators in terrorism cases. The conferees expect the FBI to insist on full compliance with this policy by FBI field offices and to report to the Committees on Appropriations regarding any violation of the policy.

The most obvious group that this will impact is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was named unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case — the largest terrorism-finance trial in American history. During the trial, FBI Dallas Agent Lara Burns testified that CAIR was a front for the terrorist group Hamas.

Following the trial, which resulted in guilty verdicts on all counts and lengthy prison terms for all five Holy Land executives, the FBI was forced to cut ties with CAIR – a decision that CAIR claimed would hurt local communities and that prompted other Muslim groups, like the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), to threaten to stop cooperation with the FBI unless CAIR was reinstated. In a February 2010 letter to members of Congress, Assistant Attorney General Robert Weich forwarded evidence submitted by federal prosecutors in the trial and court testimony concerning CAIR’s ties to the Hamas-controlled Palestine Committee and that committee’s role in supporting Hamas.

Stung by their loss of access to federal law enforcement agencies, some of the Islamic organizations named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case unsuccessfully sued to have their names removed from the list. In a 2009 unsealed decision by federal Judge Jorge Solis, the court found that the government should have submitted the unindicted co-conspirators list under seal, and ordered the list resealed (a hollow victory since the list is readily available), but declined to remove the groups and individuals named.

In fact, in his decision Judge Solis recounted the evidence submitted by the government that justified CAIR’s being named unindicted co-conspirator in the case:

The Government identifies four portions of the record from the first trail that purportedly established that CAIR was a “joint venturer and co-conspirator”: (1) a Government exhibit showing the objective of the Palestine Committee is to support Hamas; (2) a Government exhibit showing CAIR founder Omar Ahmad is part of the Palestine Committee and Mousa Abu Marzook is its head; (3) a Government exhibit listing CAIR as part of the Palestine Committee; and (4) the testimony of Special Agent Lara Burns and accompanying exhibits placing the CAIR founder at the 1993 Philadelphia conference and describing the CAIR founder’s mediation of a dispute between HLF and Ashqar over Hamas fundraising . (Resp. at 12-13.) The Government does not mention any occasion where it used the 801(d)(2)(E) hearsay exception to introduce a statement of CAIR. The four pieces of evidence the government relies on, as discussed below, do create at least a prima facie case as to CAIR‘s involvement in a conspiracy to support Hamas. (p. 6-7) (emphasis added)

But it wasn’t just CAIR among the unindicted co-conspirators that Solis focused on, but also the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which bills itself as the largest Muslim umbrella group in the country, and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), which owns the property to more than one-quarter of all mosques in North America. Solis wrote that the government had “produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine (‘IAP’), and with Hamas.” He also wrote: “The Muslim Brotherhood supervised the creation of the ‘Palestine Committee,’ which was put in charge of other organizations, such as HLF, IAP, UASR, and ISNA.” And also: “During the [1993 Philadelphia] conference, Palestine Committee members discussed using ISNA as official cover for their activities.”

What impact this new legislation will have remains to be seen, but it is clearly intended to roll back the Obama administration’s penchant for relying on groups identified by government prosecutors as fronts for designated terrorist organizations as partners for “outreach.”

Read it all.

As noted before, there is a wealth of information at New York jihad bomb plotter Muhammad Yusuf's website, including several collections of ahadith about jihad. Here is one segment of that collection. Muhammad Yusuf says at his website that he collected these together himself, but actually they are just long passages from the canonical hadith collection of Bukhari, the collection Muslims consider most reliable.

It is noteworthy that none of the Islamic spokesmen in the U.S. will make any effort to show that these hadiths are false, or that Muhammad Yusuf is misunderstanding them. Yet it is on the assumption that Islam is a Religion of Peace™ that the legitimacy of such spokesmen lies: the average non-Muslim takes for granted that Muhammad Yusuf is indeed a "lone wolf" who is twisting and hijacking the true, peaceful teachings of Islam. Yet the mainstream media never presses them to demonstrate this, and so they never bother.

If they did, and if they were sincere about what they claim to be (I am speaking of the likes of Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad Awad, etc.), they would already have formulated a response to the understanding of Islam that people like Muhammad Yusuf hold, and would be making sure it was being taught in mosques in the U.S. The fact that they do not indicates that they are not sincere.

Hadiths About Jihad From Saheeh Bukhari -3

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadiths 182-253

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 182
Narrated 'Ali:
When it was the day of the battle of Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans), Allah's Apostle said, "O Allah! Fill their (i.e. the infidels') houses and graves with fire as they busied us so much that we did not perform the prayer (i.e. 'Asr) till the sun set."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 183
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet used to recite the following invocations during Qunut: "O Allah! Save Salama bin Hisham. O Allah! Save Al-Walid bin Al-Walid. O Allah! Save 'Aiyash bin Rabi'a O Allah! Save the weak Muslims. O Allah! Be very hard on Mudar tribe. O Allah! Afflict them with years (of famine) similar to the (famine) years of the time of Prophet Joseph."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 184
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Abi Aufa:
Allah's Apostle invoked evil upon the pagans on the ay (of the battle) of Al-Ahzab, saying, "O Allah! The Revealer of the Holy Book, the Swift-Taker of Accounts, O Allah, defeat Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans), O Allah, defeat them and shake them."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 185
Narrated Abdullah:
Once, the Prophet was offering the prayer in the shade of the Ka'ba. Abu Jahl and some Quraishi men sent somebody to bring the abdominal contents of a shecamel which had been slaughtered somewhere in Mecca, and when he brought them, they put them over the Prophet Then Fatima (i.e. the Prophet's daughter) came and threw them away from him, and he said, "O Allah! Destroy (the pagans of) Quraish; O Allah! Destroy Quraish; O Allah Destroy Quraish," naming especially Abu Jahl bin Hisham, 'Utba bin Rabi'a, Shaiba bin Rabi'a, Al Walid bin 'Utba, Ubai bin Khalaf and 'Uqba bin Abi Mitt. (The narrator, 'Abdullah added, "I saw them all killed and thrown in the Badr well).

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 186
Narrated 'Aisha:
Once the Jews came to the Prophet and said, "Death be upon you." So I cursed them. The Prophet said, "What is the matter?" I said, "Have you not heard what they said?" The Prophet said, "Have you not heard what I replied (to them)? (I said), (‘the same is upon you.')"

Who you gonna believe, the mufti or your lyin' eyes? "Egypt mufti denies discrimination, plays down Islamists," by Tom Heneghan for Reuters, November 22:

BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN, Jordan (Reuters) - Egypt's highest Islamic legal official denied on Tuesday that minority Christians faced sectarian discrimination and said Islamists would win no more than 20 percent of votes in next week's election.

You will want to read this one sitting down.

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said Egypt had done its best to abolish discrimination against Copts, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's roughly 80 million population, but a small minority of radical salafist Islamists were causing trouble.

Coptic leaders accuse the army of not protecting them against salafist attacks and cracking down more harshly on their protests than others. About 25 died last month when army trucks charged a mostly Coptic protest in Cairo.

"There is no real problem," said Gomaa, Egypt's second-highest Islamic official, whose office oversees the issuing of fatwas, or religious decrees, on application of Muslim law.

The clash last month "was not sectarian violence," he told Reuters at a Catholic-Muslim dialogue conference at the Jordan River in Jordan. "This just echoes the chaotic transition period we have been going through in Egypt." he said.

Sure, it was totally non-sectarian: Muslims took to the streets against Christians after state television broadcast false reports of casualties among soldiers, and called on Egyptians to "protect" the army, though the army seemed to be doing just fine ramming the protesters with armored vehicles.

Gomaa said no more than 250,000 Egyptians were salafists, or radical Islamists, and they and the non-violent Islamist Muslim Brotherhood would win less than one-fifth of the vote.

"In the elections, the Islamists will not get more than 20 percent," Gomaa said through an interpreter. "I'm sure the majority of Egyptians are with the moderate voice of Islam." [...]

The grand mufti said he thought Egypt should retain references in its constitution to Islam as the official religion and the principles of sharia, the Islamic moral and legal code, as the "major source of legislation."

"It will be the same as in the previous constitution," he said.

It's inevitable: every time there is a jihad plot, the mainstream media trots out its template for stories like this one: shocked (shocked!) neighbors explain that the accused was a decent fellow, the local mosque says that they hardly knew the guy, others explain that he wasn't really all that much of a Muslim (despite abundant evidence to the contrary in this case), and Muslims wring their hands about "Islamophobia" and an impending backlash against innocent Muslims that never ever actually materializes.

And so here we go again.

"Shock, Anguish Uptown as Neighborhood Reacts to Terrorism Arrest," by Lucy Pawle for The Uptowner, November 21:

[...] Harlem and Washington Heights neighbors who knew Pimentel, reportedly under police surveillance since 2009, said he spent his days sitting alone outside the apartment building, smoking cigarettes.

“He seemed nice,” said Simon Islam, 36, who moved into the building five months ago with his wife and daughters. “He used to talk to everyone when they came in and out the building, but he was very quiet. He just used to smoke,” Islam said.

Juan Rey, whose mother lives in the building, described Pimentel as “a nice guy who used to open the door for people when they were carrying their groceries.”

David Rodriguez, who’d known Pimentel for a year, said he “never saw the look of terrorism in him.” Expressing astonishment at the arrest, he said Pimentel “could have blown the whole building up and no one would have known“ that he was the bomber. “His own grandmother wouldn’t know.” He described Pimentel as a regular guy in sweatpants and sweaters. “I never saw him praying; he wore regular clothes,” Rodriguez said. “I just can’t believe it.”

Pimentel sometimes welcomed Islam with “As-Salamu Alaykum” – a traditional Muslim greeting – and had explained to him how he’d converted to Islam from Catholicism. “He said he converted six or seven years ago,” Islam said. “Once I was drinking here with friends and cousins, and he pointed and said, ‘No, no. It’s not good.’”

But around the corner at Nadal1Deli, employee Mohammed “Alex” Alohdd pointed out that Pimentel didn’t fast during Ramadan. “He called himself a Muslim, but he wasn’t a proper Muslim,” Alohddi said. “I’ve known him for three years but I didn’t like him that much. I just didn’t feel good with him. He used to ask people outside for cigarettes.”

At the Islamic Cultural Center of New York on East 96th Street, where Pimentel visited, according to his mother, Imam Omar Abu Namous echoed Aloddi’s sentiments. “These circumstances, that he used to come to this mosque, are only coincidences, and have no relationship whatsoever with his activities,” the imam said. He hadn’t heard of the arrest and didn’t recognize Pimentel’s name, but said that if Pimentel had confided in a fellow parishioner, “they would have informed me and I would have informed the government.”

Emphasizing his opposition to fundamentalist ideology, the imam described the Islamic Cultural Center as fostering peace. He worried that Pimentel’s arrest would spark Islamophobia. “People have a deep misunderstanding about Islam,” Abu Namous....

Indeed. Including, apparently, Pimentel (Muhammad Yusuf) himself. But Lucy Pawle did not think to ask Abu Namous what he was doing to make sure others in his mosque didn't misunderstand Islam in the same way that Muhammad Yusuf did. Such a question would have been "Islamophobic."

Here is still more Islamic supremacist evasion of responsibility and finger-pointing. Erdogan, like every other Muslim spokesman in the West and elsewhere, refuses to acknowledge that "Islamophobia," insofar as any suspicion of Muslims actually exists, is due to Islamic jihad terror. If Islamic jihad terror and supremacist attempts to impose Sharia on the West were to end definitively, "Islamophobia" would disappear. The fact that Muslim spokesmen like Erdogan never admit this is indicative of their true agenda: to deflect attention away from the global jihad and Islamic supremacism and to claim protected victim status for Muslims, so that the jihad can advance uncriticized and unimpeded.

"Erdogan blasts anti-Islam propaganda," from Iran's PressTV, November 21 (thanks to Benedict):

Turk [sic! -- unless they mean "the Turk," i.e., Erdogan] has censured anti-Islam propaganda and called on the Muslim world to show solidarity against rising Islamophobia across the Western world, Press TV reports.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that there is a vicious propaganda campaign against Islam by some Western circles, Press TV's Ankara correspondent reported.

Erdogan was addressing the Second Meeting of Leaders of African Continent Muslim Countries and Societies which opened in Istanbul on Monday.

“There are those who use some marginal cases, to equate Islam and Muslims with terrorism, clashes, intolerance and poverty,” Erdogan stated.

“A mistake by a member of a religion or society should not be attributed to the religion or society,” he added.

“This means that Islamophobia should be condemned as much as racism and anti-Semitism is [condemned],” the Turkish premier stressed....

The plight of the woman in this report, Gulnaz, first came up in this story, in connection with an EU documentary that was at the time deemed too dangerous to the women featured in it (or perhaps too politically damaging) to be shown. That story also revealed the fact that half of the women in Afghan jails are there for "moral crimes."

Gulnaz herself is a victim of Sharia, and particularly of the demand for four witnesses to support the allegation of a sexual crime, as stipulated in Qur'an 24:13. A woman alleging rape must produce four witnesses, or invite charges of adultery.

Sharia is enshrined in the Afghan constitution as the highest law of the land, thereby hard-wiring the entire society against reform: any proposed legal reforms will go against Sharia as it has been practiced for centuries. And so, here we are. And there is Gulnaz.

"Afghan woman's choice: 12 years in jail or marry her rapist and risk death," by Nick Paton Walsh and Masoud Popalza for CNN, November 22:

Kabul (CNN) -- The ordeal of Gulnaz did not simply begin and end with the physical attack of her rape. The rape began a years-long nightmare of further pain, culminating in an awful choice she must now make.

Even two years later, Gulnaz remembers the smell and state of her rapist's clothes when he came into the house when her mother left for a brief visit to the hospital.

"He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work. When my mother went out, he came into my house and he closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth," she said.

The rapist was her cousin's husband.

After the attack, she hid what happened as long as she could. But soon she began vomiting in the mornings and showing signs of pregnancy. It was her attacker's child.

In Afghanistan, this brought her not sympathy, but prosecution. Aged just 19, she was found guilty by the courts of sex outside of marriage -- adultery -- and sentenced to twelve years in jail.

Now inside Kabul's Badam Bagh jail, she and her child are serving her sentence together.

Sitting with the baby in her lap, her face carefully covered, she explains the only choice she has that would end her incarceration.

The only way around the dishonor of rape, or adultery in the eyes of Afghans, is to marry her attacker. This will, in the eyes of some, give her child a family and restore her honor.

Incredibly, this is something that Gulnaz is willing to do.

"I was asked if I wanted to start a new life by getting released, by marrying this man", she told CNN in an exclusive interview. "My answer was that one man dishonored me, and I want to stay with that man."

Tending to her daughter in the jail's cold, she added: "My daughter is a little innocent child. Who knew I would have a child in this way. A lot of people told me that after your daughter's born give it to someone else, but my aunt told me to keep her as proof of my innocence."

Gulnaz's choice is stark. Women in her situation are often killed for the shame their ordeal has brought the community. She is at risk, some say, from her attacker's family.

We found Gulnaz's convicted rapist in a jail across town. While he denied raping her, he agreed that she would likely be killed if she gets out of jail. But he insists that it will be her family, not his, that will kill her, "out of shame."

Whether threatened by his family or hers, for now, jail may be the safest place for her.

Shockingly, Gulnaz's case is common in Afghanistan.

CNN asked a spokesman for the prosecutor to comment on the case. The reply was that there were hundreds such cases and the office would need time to look into it.

But Gulnaz's plight has found international attention because of a dispute between the European Union and a team of documentary makers hired to report on women's rights in Afghanistan.

The documentary makers filmed a lengthy report on Gulnaz and other women, showing her talking openly about her fate. They showed the film to the EU, who were paying for it as part of a project on female rights here. After viewing it, the EU decided to spike the project.

The EU said it was concerned about the safety of the women in the film: they could be identified and might face reprisals. The filmmakers however suspect -- citing an email leaked from the EU delegation -- that the EU might also be motivated by its sensitive relationship with Afghan justice institutions, since he film shows the Afghan justice system in a very unflattering light.

The leaked email says: "The delegation also has to consider its relations with [Afghan] Justice institutions in connection with the other work that it is doing in the sector."...

Hizballah has for some time been a parasitic pseudo-state within Lebanon, complete with its own armed forces, and has slowly been working to devour its host. An attempt to take Beirut would be a rather logical progression of events, unfortunately. Would Hizballah face any resistance from the Lebanese armed forces?

"If Assad falls, Hezbollah will take Beirut," from the Jerusalem Post, November 22:

Hezbollah may launch a military offensive to take over the Lebanese capital of Beirut if Syrian President Bashar Assad is forced out of power, Dubai-based Arabic-language news website Al Arabiya reported Tuesday according to a "source close to Hezbollah."

According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, despite an air of confidence in broadcasts from Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, officials behind closed doors have begun to worry about the potential fallout that may result following the collapse of the Syrian regime, especially given the alliance between Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.

"The moment that Hezbollah feels that the fall of the Assad regime is imminent - either as a result of the popular movement or of foreign military intervention - it will move quickly to take control of East and West Beirut," the sources told Al Arabiya.

The source added that Hezbollah would receive support from the Free Patriotic Movement - a faction with eleven ministers in the Lebanese government - led by former Lebanese army commander Michel Aoun.

The source said that Hezbollah would seek to fortify itself in the nation's capital in order to defend itself against the threat posed by Israel, which may feel emboldened enough following the fall of Assad to launch an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, a close ally of both Syria and Iran, has denounced any potential foreign intervention inside Syria. Nasrallah warned earlier this month in a televised speech to commemorate "Martyr's Day" that any attack on Syria or Iran would lead to an all-out regional war.

Israel has said that Iran has heavily armed Hezbollah by smuggling weapons through Syria. In August, as protests raged across Syria, Turkish officials seized Iranian arms that were transferred through Syria and reportedly en route to the militant Islamist group in Lebanon.

An update on this story, where we observed that "the claim might be made that 'Jesus Christ' was banned to ensure 'respect.' But the ban would have a unique and disproportionate potential impact on Christian users."

That is all the more the case with Christmas coming up. "Angry MPA: If you block ‘Jesus Christ’ how will we text over Christmas?" from the Express Tribune, November 22 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

KARACHI: If we are barred from using the words ‘Jesus Christ’ in text messages, how will we celebrate Christmas and other religious events, protested a Christian MPA on Monday.

It is insulting in itself that the name was included in league with "monkey crotch" and "athlete's foot" on the list of forbidden words.

The ruling party’s Salim Khursheed Khokhar tried to lodge his point with a sit-in protest once he was denied permission to move a resolution. “When the American priest [sic] desecrated the Holy Quran, we [the Christian community] condemned it and criticised those who used derogatory language against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” he said. “What about the fact that we are deprived of our religious rights and face discrimination in Pakistan.” The MPA requested the speaker to take up the resolution because if he didn’t how would Christians celebrate Christmas and other religious events. On Monday, Pakistan’s mobile operators deferred implementing a ban on nearly 1,700 “obscene” words from text messages, saying they were seeking further clarification from the telecom authority.

Given the setting, MPA Khokar has little choice but to pile on the honorifics that the Western press is busily foisting on us.

In a harsh voice, Speaker Nisar Khuhro asked the MPA to settle down and gave him permission to move the resolution later. Khokhar responded by saying that the issue was an important one, so if the speaker could bend the rules for other resolutions, then why not this one. Khokhar then started to shout and threw the assembly agenda aside as he went to sit in front of the speaker’s chair in protest. “I am being deprived of my religious rights and will not move till the resolution is taken seriously,” he said. “I do not care if anyone votes for it or not.”

Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro and Sindh Local Bodies Minister Agha Siraj Durrani rushed to reassure Khokhar and took him back to his seat. They said that the matter would be resolved. The speaker said that he was not opposing the resolution, but the MPA should have informed him earlier. Khokhar responded and said that he had submitted a copy of the resolution to the speaker and the law minister. Soomro said that he would contact the chairman of the PTA and discuss the issue with him.

Salim Khursheed Khokar is one brave man:

The MPA also said that people who faced blasphemy charges were awarded capital punishment but no action was taken against those who used derogatory words for Jesus Christ and attacked the minorities. Sindh Archives Minister Rafique Engineer, Sindh Power Minister Shazia Marri, Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza and Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Faisal Sabzwari condemned the PTA decision.

"Javanfekr wrote in an official publication that the practice of women wearing a head-to-toe black covering known as a chador was not originally an Iranian practice but was imported. This was considered offensive by hard-line Iranian clerics."

That's all it took to fall from grace. Here again, as is the case with Pakistan's blasphemy laws, laws which are inherently abusive often lend themselves to further abuse by being used to settle scores and neutralize rivals. The restrictions on free speech here for the sake of "Islamic norms" give the Islamic Republic's establishment undue power to use in its own interest with little recourse to challenge it. And power, after all, corrupts.

"Iran: President's press adviser sentenced," by Ali Akbar Dareini for the Associated Press, November 22 (thanks to JCB):

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Iranian president's press adviser has been sentenced to a year in prison on charges of "publishing materials contrary to Islamic norms," the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.

Ali Akbar Javanfekr has also been banned from journalism activities for three years, IRNA said.

Javanfekr is just the latest of dozens of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's political backers to be targeted by hard-line opponents. This appears to be part of an internal power struggle over influencing upcoming elections for parliament, slated for March, and for president in 2013.

Javanfekr wrote in an official publication that the practice of women wearing a head-to-toe black covering known as a chador was not originally an Iranian practice but was imported. This was considered offensive by hard-line Iranian clerics.

The court sentenced him to six months for publication of materials and pictures "contrary to Islamic norms" and another six months for writings against Islamic norms, IRNA said.

Javanfekr has 20 days to appeal the sentence. His lawyer, Abdollah Nakhaei, said the verdict is unfair and that he will definitely appeal it.

The verdict came hours after authorities banned the pro-reform Etemaad daily for two months for publishing the text of an interview Saturday with Javanfekr, in which he criticized conservative opponents of Ahmadinejad for the arrest of dozens of the president's allies over the past months.

Authorities made no mention of the interview. Instead, they said the paper was ordered closed on charges of insulting officials and "spreading lies."

Though Ahmadinejad himself is a hard-liner, he and some of his allies have come under attack over political disputes in recent months from the same conservatives who brought him to power.

Iran experienced a wave of newspaper closures during a confrontation between reformers and hard-liners during the 1997-2005 tenure of former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

The judiciary has shut down more than 120 pro-reform newspapers and jailed dozens of editors and writers on vague charges of insulting authorities since 2000.

The intrepid mujahedin, keeping the world safe from literate girls and women. "Bomb attack on Pakistan school kills policeman," from Agence France-Presse, November 22:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A bomb attack on a girls' school in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday killed a policeman, wounded eight others and destroyed a wall, police said.

The remote-controlled bomb was planted at the outer wall of the government-run middle school in the outskirts of Mardan town in troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

The bomb exploded after police arrived to investigate complaints about a suspicious plastic bag outside the school, which was closed at the time.

"One policeman was killed and eight other people including five civilians were wounded," Zeshan Haider, Mardan police chief, told AFP by telephone.

Three policemen were also wounded but no pupils were hurt.

Haider said the target was the school.

"The outer wall of the school was also destroyed," he added.

Islamist militants oppose co-education and have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly for girls, in northwest Pakistan in recent years.

Early Tuesday, Taliban militants killed two anti-Taliban militia men on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said.

Dilawar Khan, head of the anti-Taliban militia, said that Taliban killed his men and dumped their bodies in Matni, one of the northwestern areas where villagers have raised militias to fight the Islamist militants.

Egypt's Grand Mufti objects to an earlier article I wrote regarding his characterization of all Christians as infidels. From PJ Media (via RaymondIbrahim.com), here are his objections and my responses (links in original):

Soon after reporting that Egypt's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, had pronounced all Christians "infidels," I received several emails forwarding what looked like a response from Gomaa. Some websites—such as the ever-hysterical "American Muslim"—published it, providing the following additional information:

Prof. Faroque Ahmad Khan took it on himself to investigate [the claims of my article]. Dr. Khan requested Dr Ibrahim Negm—a senior advisor to the Grand Mufti [and an Al Azhar professor] to provide a clarification of the remarks attributed to Sheikh Ali Gomaa. Here is the response that was received [followed by the same text others had emailed me].

Though he makes several points, including the need for "dialogue" and "mutual respect," Gomaa's grand point, the crux of the issue—what kafir which I routinely translate as "infidel" means—unfortunately exposes dishonesty on his part (the other option, ignorance, being inapplicable). He writes:

Mr. Ibrahim's choice of wording is regrettable. The English word "infidel" carries with it strong connotations of exclusion and violence, inherited from the European experience of Christianity during the wars of religion which devastated that continent for decades.

In fact, from its inception, Islam has been the quintessential religion—historically and doctrinally—to enforce and institutionalize "exclusion and violence" for the "other," to the point of influencing medieval Christianity. Gomaa therefore takes the standard way out—blame Christianity and its "wars of religion" (code for "Crusades")—without alluding to what prompted these wars in the first place: five centuries of unprovoked Islamic aggression, land-grabbing, subjugation and persecution of Christians, which continues to this very day.

Gomaa's sophistry continues:

The Arabic "kafir" is a legal term which denotes very precisely and simply those outside the Muslim community, those who do not believe in the particular message and worldview of Islam. The much less charged translation "non-believer" is appropriate here.

Yes, the word kafir is a "legal term" denoting non-Muslims; and yes, most modern English Qurans translate it as "non-believer." However, and as Gomaa knows full well, the word kafir (plural, kafirin) is heavy laden with negative associations, or, as I originally wrote, it "connotes 'enemies,' 'evil-doers,' and every bad thing to Muslim ears."

Accordingly, Sharia mandates hostility for kafirin—war and subjugation when they are weak, deception and smooth-talk when they are strong. Quran 2: 98 simply declares that "Allah is the enemy of kafirin"—regardless of whether we translate that word as "infidels" or "non-believers."

In fact, doctrine aside, consider how the Quran alone portrays "non-believers": they are "guilty" and "unjust" (10:17, 45:31, 68:35); terror is to be cast in their hearts for their injustice (3:151); they are "disliked" and "accursed" by Allah (2:89, 3:32, 33:64); they are the "vilest of beasts" (8:55, 98:6), like "cattle" and "devoid of understanding" (47:12, 8:65); and "enemies" to Muslims (4:101).

And why are "non-believers" described thus? Simply because they are non-believers—because they are infidels.

So much for the Grand Mufti's assertion that the "much less charged translation 'non-believer' is appropriate" for the word kafir. Perhaps he is operating under Quran 3:28: "Let believers not take kafirin [infidels, non-believers, whatever] for friends and allies … unless you but guard yourselves against them, taking precautions." Not only is this yet another verse depicting non-Muslims as enemies, but, according to Muslim jurisprudence, it justifies deceiving them...

After all, the truce with the Taliban in North Waziristan in October of 2006 was such a smashing success -- for the Taliban.

The risks are clear: Pakistan would have an excuse not to take action against the Taliban as long as "talks" are pending, or may enter into another disastrous agreement. The Taliban would have a means of buying time while playing both sides of the issue, continuing to fight, plot, and acquire more firepower while attempting to blackmail Islamabad with the threat of abandoning negotiations and unleashing a wave of attacks.

"Exclusive: Taliban, Pakistan said to have started peace talks," from Reuters, November 21:

(Reuters) - Pakistan's Taliban movement, a major security threat to the country, is holding exploratory peace talks with the government, a senior Taliban commander and mediators told Reuters on Monday.

The United States, the source of billions of dollars of aid vital for Pakistan's military and feeble economy, is unlikely to look kindly on peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it has labeled a terrorist group.

Past peace pacts with the TTP have failed to bring stability, and merely gave the umbrella group time and space to consolidate, launch fresh attacks and impose their austere version of Islam on segments of the population.

The discussions are focused on the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border and could be expanded to try to reach a comprehensive deal if progress is made.

The Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, made several demands, including the release of prisoners and the withdrawal of Pakistani forces from South Waziristan, said the commander.

In other words, an end to Pakistani sovereignty in Pakistani territory. That should be a non-starter.

An ethnic Pashtun tribal mediator described the talks as "very difficult." Pakistani military and government officials were not immediately available for comment.

"Yes, we have been holding talks, but this is just an initial phase. We will see if there is a breakthrough," said the senior Taliban commander, who asked not to be identified.

"Right now, this is at the South Waziristan level. If successful, we can talk about a deal for all the tribal areas," he said, referring to Pashtun lands along the Afghan border.

The Taliban will break the deal, and accuse Pakistan of doing so if challenged. It will keep the concessions it has won, and resume fighting for more.

The TTP, allied with the Afghan Taliban movement fighting U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, is entrenched in the unruly areas along the porous frontier....

As the Maldives adopts more and more of Sharia, it becomes more and more intolerant. Here again we see that for some strange reason, those who -- according to Western Islamic apologists -- misunderstand their own religion of tolerance and peace seem to have the upper hand in a Muslim country. The Vast Majority of Moderates yet again fails to do anything to stop their supremacist coreligionists. Now, why is that?

"Intolerance grows in the Maldives," by Sudha Ramachandran in Asia Times, November 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BANGALORE - The rising tide of religious intolerance in the Maldives is threatening the country's young democracy.

Monuments donated by Pakistan and Sri Lanka were vandalized last week as they were seen to be "idolatrous" and "irreligious".

Member-countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) donated monuments to mark the just-concluded 17th summit of the regional grouping that the Maldives hosted.

The monument gifted by Pakistan consisted of an image of its founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and also featured figures, some of them drawn from seals belonging to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. Historians have argued that these figures of animals and human beings point to early religion. The Sri Lankan monument was of a lion, the country's national symbol.

On the eve of the unveiling of the Pakistan monument, a mob reportedly led by the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the party of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, toppled the bust of Jinnah. A day later, the monument was set ablaze and the bust stolen. The Sri Lankan monument was found doused in oil with the face of the lion cut off.

Sources in the Maldivian government told Asia Times Online that the vandalization was driven by political motivations rather than religious beliefs. "This is the opposition's way of damping the success of the SAARC summit," a member of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said.

The PPM has hailed the vandals as "national heroes" and promised to "do everything" it can to secure the release of the two men arrested over the incidents.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has ordered the government to remove the monuments as they "breach the nation's law and religion". Islamic Affairs Minister Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari told the local media that the Pakistan monument was "illegal" as it "represented objects of worship of other religions".

Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla told Minivan News that the monument "should not be kept on Maldivian soil for a single day" as "it conflicts with the constitution of the Maldives, the Religious Unity Act of 1994 and the regulations under the Act" as it depicted "objects of worship" that "denied the oneness of God".

Sunni Islam was declared the official state religion of the Maldives under the 1997 constitution. This was retained in the 2008 constitution. Article 9-d says that "a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives". While the constitution allows non-Muslim foreigners to practice their religion privately, they are forbidden from propagating or encouraging Maldivians to practice any religion other than Islam....

In "Why Obama Betrayed the Iranian People" in the American Thinker, November 9, Pamela Geller exposes the agenda behind the Obama Administration's advisers on Iran:

Why did President Obama refuse to support the demonstrators in Iran in 2009, but supported the "Arab Spring" in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere more recently?

In 2009, demonstrators filled the streets of Iran, denouncing the regime and crying out for freedom. It was a glorious opportunity for the leader of the free world to demonstrate his support for free people everywhere and strike a decisive blow against the bloody regime that had considered itself at war with the United States for three decades.

But Barack Obama didn't help them. Quite the contrary. The leader of the free world was too busy extending his hand to those same mullahs.

It was monstrous when Obama stood by and did nothing during the abortive Iranian revolution; instead, he bought ice cream and posed for photo ops on the golf course while the only revolution against Islamic rule in a Muslim country was taking flight in Iran.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed one reason why last week: the Obama administration's Iranian advisers told them not to express support for the protesters.

"At the time," Hillary said, "the most insistent voices within the Green Movement and the supporters from outside of Iran were that we, the United States, had to be very careful not to look like what was happening inside Iran was directed by... the United States. So we were torn. ... [W]e kept being cautioned that we would put people's lives in danger, we would discredit the movement, we would undermine their aspirations."

Now the Foundation for Democracy in Iran has revealed that Hillary's advisors on Iran included Trita Parsi.

Trita Parsi is the president of the George Soros-funded National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a powerful Iranian lobbying group in Washington. Arash Irandoost of the Pro-Democracy Movement of Iran calls Parsi "an intellectually dishonest regime apologist and an unofficial and unregistered lobbyist for the Iranian regime." According to Irandoost, "Trita Parsi contributes to the regime's agenda and serves the interests of those in power in the Islamic Republic of Iran, not the Iranians, nor the Iranian-Americans."

And the Progressive American-Iranian Committee says that when NIAC and Parsi received funding for various projects from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), "NIAC's projects were approved and welcomed by the Iranian regime." NIAC coordinated its work inside Iran with Hamyaran, a "government initiated agency incepted [sic], initiated, founded and managed by the Iranian regime." NIAC and Parsi even lobbied the U.S. Congress to "stop appropriating funds for independent democratic movements and NGOs that were not under Hamyaran or regime's control."

Not surprisingly, Parsi opposes sanctions against the Islamic Republic, claiming that "imposing new sanctions prior to diplomacy having begun will only decrease the chances of successful diplomacy." The NIAC has opposed sanctions for quite some time. Iranian dissident Hassan Daioleslam notes that "in 2008, when [the] U.S. Congress was showing some teeth to the Iranian regime," a coalition of Islamic groups, antiwar groups, and others founded the Campaign for New American Policy on Iran to fight against new sanctions against Iran called for by the advisory resolution H.R. 362. This resolution was not passed, and "NIAC and Parsi," says Daioleslam, "were on top of this event."

No strike on Iran. No sanctions. Just diplomacy -- with a genocidally inclined and fanatically intransigent regime whose contempt for Obama's overtures made the president look increasingly beggarly as his presidency wore on.

It is no mystery why many wonder which side NIAC is really on. And as long as it continued to wield such influence in Washington and held the ear of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the freedom-fighters in Tehran didn't stand a chance....

Read it all. It is noteworthy also that in another revelation of his true agenda, the adolescent and intellectually dishonest pseudo-moderate Reza Aslan is a NIAC board member.

As noted yesterday, there is a wealth of information at New York jihad bomb plotter Muhammad Yusuf's website, including several collections of ahadith about jihad. Here is one segment of that collection. Muhammad Yusuf says at his website that he collected these together himself, but actually they are just long passages from the canonical hadith collection of Bukhari, the collection Muslims consider most reliable.

It is noteworthy that none of the Islamic spokesmen in the U.S. will make any effort to show that these hadiths are false, or that Muhammad Yusuf is misunderstanding them. Yet it is on the assumption that Islam is a Religion of Peace™ that the legitimacy of such spokesmen lies: the average non-Muslim takes for granted that Muhammad Yusuf is indeed a "lone wolf" who is twisting and hijacking the true, peaceful teachings of Islam. Yet the mainstream media never presses them to demonstrate this, and so they never bother.

If they did, and if they were sincere about what they claim to be (I am speaking of the likes of Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad Awad, etc.), they would already have formulated a response to the understanding of Islam that people like Muhammad Yusuf hold, and would be making sure it was being taught in mosques in the U.S. The fact that they do not indicates that they are not sincere.

Hadiths About Jihad From Saheeh Bukhari -2

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadiths 112-181

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 112
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, " Horses are kept for one of three purposes; for some people they are a source of reward, for some others they are a means of shelter and for some others they are a source of sins. The one for whom they are a source of reward, is he who keeps a horse for Allah's Cause (i.e. Jihad) tying it with a long tether on a meadow or in a garden with the result that whatever it eats from the area of the meadow or the garden where it is tied will be counted as good deeds for his benefit, and if it should break its rope and jump over one or two hillocks then all its dung and its foot marks will be written as good deeds for him; and if it passes by a river and drinks water from it even though he had no intention of watering it, even then he will get the reward for its drinking. As for the man for whom horses are a source of sins, he is the one who keeps a horse for the sake of pride and pretense and showing enmity for Muslims: such a horse will be a source of sins for him. When Allah's Apostle was asked about donkeys, he replied, "Nothing has been revealed to me about them except this unique, comprehensive Verse: "Then anyone who does an atom's (or a small ant's) weight of good shall see it; and anyone who does an atom's (or a small ant's) weight of evil, shall see it.' (101.7-8)

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 113
Narrated Muslim from Abu Aqil from Abu Al-Mutawakkil An-Naji:
I called on Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari and said to him, "Relate to me what you have heard from Allah's Apostle." He said, "I accompanied him on one of the journeys." (Abu Aqil said, "I do not know whether that journey was for the purpose of Jihad or 'Umra.") "When we were returning," Jabir continued, "the Prophet said, 'Whoever wants to return earlier to his family, should hurry up.' We set off and I was on a black red tainted camel having no defect, and the people were behind me. While I was in that state, the camel stopped suddenly because of exhaustion. On that the Prophet said to me, 'O Jabir, wait!' Then he hit it once with his lash and it started moving on a fast pace. He then said, 'Will you sell the camel?' I replied in the affirmative when we reached Medina, and the Prophet went to the Mosque along with his companions. I, too, went to him after tying the camel on the pavement at the Mosque gate. Then I said to him, 'This is your camel.' He came out and started examining the camel and saying, 'The camel is ours.' Then the Prophet sent some Awaq (i.e. an amount) of gold saying, 'Give it to Jabir.' Then he asked, 'Have you taken the full price (of the camel)?' I replied in the affirmative. He said, 'both the price and the camel are for you.' ''

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 114
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
There was a feeling of fright in Medina, so the Prophet borrowed a horse called Mandub belonging 'to Abu Talha and mounted it. (On his return), he said, "I did not see anything of fright and I found this horse very fast."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 115
Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
Allah's Apostle fixed two shares for the horse and one share for its rider (from the war booty).

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 116
Narrated Abu Ishaq:
Somebody asked Al-Bar-a bin 'Azib, "Did you flee deserting Allah's Apostle during the battle of Hunain?" Al-Bara replied, "But Allah's Apostle did not flee. The people of the Tribe of Hawazin were good archers. When we met them, we attacked them, and they fled. When the Muslims started collecting the war booty, the pagans faced us with arrows, but Allah's Apostle did not flee. No doubt, I saw him on his white mule and Abu Sufyan was holding its reins and the Prophet was saying, 'I am the Prophet in truth: I am the son of 'Abdul Muttalib.' "

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 117
Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:
When the Prophet put his feet in the stirrup and the she-camel got up carrying him he would start reciting Talbiya at the mosque of Dhul-Hulaifa.

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 118
Narrated Anas:
The Prophet met them (i.e. the people) while he was riding an unsaddled horse with his sword slung over his shoulder.

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 119
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Once the people of Medina were frightened, so the Prophet rode a horse belonging to Abu Talha and it ran slowly, or was of narrow paces. When he returned, he said, "I found your (i.e. Abu Talha's) horse very fast. After that the horse could not be surpassed in running....’

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 120
Narrated ('Abdullah) bin 'Umar:
The Prophet arranged for a horse race amongst the horses that had been made lean to take place between Al-Hafya' and Thaniyat Al-Wada' (i.e. names of two places) and the horses which had not been Mad.? Lean from Ath-Thaniyat to the mosque of Bani Zuraiq. I was also amongst those who took part in that horse race. Sufyan, a sub-narrator, said, "The distance between Al-Hafya and Thaniya Al-Wada' is five or six miles; and between Thaniya and the mosque of Bani Zuraiq is one mile."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 121
Narrated Abdullah:
The Prophet arranged for a horse race of the horses which had not been made lean; the area of the race was from Ath-Thaniya to the mosque of Bani Zuraiq. The sub-narrator said, "'Abdullah bin ‘Umar, was amongst those who participated in that horse race.”

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 122
Narrated Abu Ishaq from Musa bin 'Uqba from Mafia from Ibn 'Umar who said:
"Allah's Apostle arranged a horse race amongst the horses that had been made lean, letting them start from Al-Hafya' and their limit (distance of running) was up to Thaniyat-al-Wada'. I asked Musa, 'What was the distance between the two places?' Musa replied, 'Six or seven miles. He arranged a race of the horses which had not been made lean sending them from Thaniyat-al-Wada', and their limit was up to the mosque of Bani Zuraiq.' I asked, 'What was the distance between those two places?' He replied 'One mile or so.' Ibn 'Umar was amongst those who participated in that horse race."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 123
Narrated Anas:
The she camel of the Prophet was called Al-Adba.

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 124
Narrated Anas:
The Prophet had a she camel called Al ‘Adba which could not be excelled in a race. (Humaid, a sub-narrator said, "Or could hardly be excelled.") Once, a Bedouin came riding a camel below six years of age which surpasses it (i.e. Al'Adba) in the race. The Muslims felt it so much that the Prophet noticed their distress. He then said, "It is Allah's Law that He brings down whatever rises high in the world."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 125
Narrated 'Amr bin Al-Harith:
The Prophet did not leave anything behind him after his death except a white mule, his arms and a piece of land which he left to be given in charity.

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 126
Narrated Al-Bara:
That a man asked him. "O Abu 'Umara! Did you flee on the day (of the battle) of Hunain?" He replied, "No, by Allah, the Prophet did not flee but the hasty people fled and the people of the Tribe of Hawazin attacked them with arrows, while the Prophet was riding his white mule and Abu Sufyan bin Al-Harith was holding its reins, and the Prophet was saying, 'I am the Prophet in truth, I am the son of 'Abdul Muttalib.' "

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 127
Narrated 'Aisha:
The mother of the faithful believers, I requested the Prophet permit me to participate in Jihad, but he said, "Your Jihad is the performance of Hajj."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 128
Narrated 'Aisha:
The mother of the faithful believers: The Prophet was asked by his wives about the Jihad and he replied, "The best Jihad (for you) is (the performance of) Hajj."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 129
Narrated Anas:
Allah's Apostle went to the daughter of Milhan and reclined there (and slept) and then (woke up) smiling. She asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What makes you smile?" He replied, (I dreamt that) some people amongst my followers were sailing on the green sea in Allah's Cause, resembling kings on thrones." She said, "O Allah's Apostle! Invoke Allah to make me one of them." He said, "O Allah! Let her be one of them." Then he (slept again and woke up and) smiled. She asked him the same question and he gave the same reply. She said, "Invoke Allah to make me one of them." He replied, ''You will be amongst the first group of them; you will not be amongst the last." Later on she married 'Ubada bin As-Samit and then she sailed on the sea with bint Qaraza, Mu'awiya's wife (for Jihad). On her return, she mounted her riding animal, which threw her down breaking her neck, and she died on falling down.

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 130
Narrated 'Aisha:
Whenever the Prophet intended to proceed on a journey, he used to draw lots amongst his wives and would take the one upon whom the lot fell. Once, before setting out for Jihad, he drew lots amongst us and the lot came to me; so I went with the Prophet; and that happened after the revelation of the Verse Hijab (i.e. veiling).

In the American Thinker this morning I summarize Rick Perry's unsavory connections to the Muslim Brotherhood enabler Grover Norquist, his pro-Islam curriculum for Texas schools, and the extremely strange and still-unexplained behavior of his fanatical supporters on the Internet:

[...] While it is hard for any Republican candidate to avoid Norquist altogether, so all-pervasive is his influence and power, Norquist is clearly much closer to Perry than to other candidates.[...]

Which other candidates have fundraised for Norquist? Which have vacationed with him? [...]

The Perry onslaught became particularly virulent when individuals and websites with a reputation for intellectual and journalistic rigor uncritically repeated to large audiences the falsehoods that were being spread about the curriculum. These falsehoods originated with an obscure blogger named David Stein, who falsely claimed that one teacher's lesson plan, completed for an assignment in the teacher training program for the Perry/Aga Khan curriculum, was the official curriculum itself. Since this teacher, Ronald Wiltse, had completed a reasonably good lesson plan, this led many to claim -- again, falsely -- that there wasn't anything wrong with the curriculum at all.

Yet what was most striking about the rapid spread of these false claims was their origin. David Stein's blog, CounterContempt.com, in June 2011, just before the Perry firestorm, had all of 179 visitors all month. Yet somehow blogs with tens of thousands more visitors daily found Stein's false claims about the curriculum and spread them far and wide in defense of Perry. The Iranian-American writer Amil Imani published a piece, "Governor Perry's Islam Connection," which retailed the false information about the Perry/Aga Khan curriculum on Islam for Texas schools that Stein originated. Imani relied for his information on the curriculum on a piece by Alana Goodman at Commentary. Goodman in turn relied on David Stein.

Others relied on Stein as well. Some conservative bloggers, including erstwhile friends and allies, responded to Perry's candidacy with cult-like devotion, invoked Stein's false claims, and asked me to delink them and denounced me because I dared question their god. One anti-jihad writer of some reputation for clear thinking about the reality of jihadist teachings and tendencies across the various Islamic sects suddenly discovered, in support of Imani and Stein, an obscure historian from the 1930s whose statements supposedly proved that the misleading and politically correct Perry Islamic curriculum for Texas schools was perfectly fine.

It was remarkable testimony to the power, as well as the anxiety, of the Perry faithful that David Stein's obscure blog, with no readership, no history, and no reputation for credibility, could publish a false claim about the curriculum that so many big blogs would be ready immediately to publicize, while publishing the most outlandish charges against those of us who published the real curriculum.

How the big conservative blogs and even Commentary all found David Stein's tiny blog has never been explained.[...]

There is more.

In Human Events this morning I discuss the latest Muslim claim of victim status and attempt to deflect attention away from jihad terrorism: the protest in New York Friday against NYPD counter-terror measures. Unfortunately for these protesters, shortly after they protested and just after I wrote this, yet another jihad plot in New York was discovered.

Last Friday around 500 Muslims in New York marched to NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan to protest police infiltration of mosques and surveillance in Muslim areas. It is noteworthy that we have never, in 10 years since 9/11, seen Muslims anywhere in the U.S. mount a demonstration of comparable size against Islamic jihad terrorism and the supposed “hijacking” of Islam by terrorists. Even worse, the protesters failed to explain how they would propose to stop Islamic jihad terrorism in the U.S. without this kind of vigilance.

One protester asserted: “Had this been happening to any other religious group, all of America would be outraged.” That is probably true, because no other religious group has provided any cause for such surveillance. If any group did so, then it would be incumbent upon the NYPD and all other law enforcement bodies to do the same things they have done in reaction to Islamic jihad terrorism, while of course ending immediately any surveillance or other procedure that violates constitutional protections.

For these protesters to have behaved as if the surveillance of their mosques and communities was motivated by simple “racism” and “Islamophobia” required them to ignore a particularly significant elephant in the room: the ongoing and increasingly common reality of jihad terror plots in the United States. And ignore it they did: “We’re peaceful people. We don't deserve to be under surveillance,” said one protester. Another complained: “They think that all Muslims are criminals, and it’s not right.”

Those words recalled a prominent Muslim saying in 2010 that he wanted to combat “Islamophobia” and “to try and put a good positive spin out there that Islam is a good, peaceful religion. We’re not all terrorists, you know?”

Those were the words of Naser Abdo, a Muslim soldier in the U.S. Army who was granted conscientious objector status because he did not want to fight against his fellow Muslims in Afghanistan. After gaining this status, Abdo found a novel way to put a "positive spin out there,” and show that “we’re not all terrorists.” He began plotting to construct bombs and detonate them in a crowded restaurant full of soldiers from Fort Hood, where another Muslim, U.S. Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, murdered 13 Americans in a jihad attack in November 2009. Abdo defiantly admitted his guilt in court, and even cried out, “Nidal Hasan Fort Hood 2009.”

Abdo’s case doesn’t mean that every self-described believer in Islam as a “good, peaceful religion” is a murderous liar as he was, but it does illustrate the fact that assurances are not enough from peaceful Muslims—and protests against law enforcement certainly aren’t any help, either.

There is more.

The Danish Peoples' Party has released the video "I am Denmark" (in English). The DPP is the third largest party in Denmark and is known for its work against Muslim immigration and Islamization. I hope that more parties in more countries will show the voters that it is not embarrassing to be proud of one's country and values.

Transcript from the video:

I am Denmark. My core values are freedom of speech, democracy and tolerance. ... I am Denmark. But. I am a country that will challenge cultures that want to change what I have been fighting for. I will not back down in the face of violence and terror. I will not be forced to accept medieval traditions. I am a country that has the courage to say STOP. I am a country that will stand guard to protect my own culture. Because I am Denmark.

Cousin marriages has negative impact on intelligence, sanity, health and society. In Pakistan, 70 percent of all marriages are between first cousins (so-called "consanguinity") and in Turkey the amount is between 25-30 percent. Across the Arab world today an average of 45 percent (in some parts up to 70 percent) of married couples are related.

This phenomenon is allowed for by Islam's marriage law, which is delineated in Qur'an 4:23-34, making this something for which Sharia opens the door.

The lowered intelligence, psychiatric diseases and low status that result from handicaps that afflict many Muslim children as a result of inbreeding may increase the chances of luring people into becoming suicide bombers.

Latest news from Denmark: "Cousin-cousin marriages fill special schools":

Immigrant children constitute a majority in schools for mentally handicapped and retarded children. The risk of mental and physical disabilities increases significantly when cousins ​​marry each other. Cousin-marriages are highly prevalent in immigrant communities and this is reflected in the number of immigrant children in schools for the mentally retarded. New figures from Copenhagen shows that special schools for children who are born with disabilities or mental retardation, in several cases have a clear majority of immigrant children. At Engskolen, Fensmark School and Frederiksgårs School, which are schools for mentally handicapped and mentally retarded children easier, six out of ten children are bilingual.

It has nothing to do with Islam and jihad, but I have a piece in Crisis Magazine this morning about the Eastern Catholic Churches, entitled "We Are Non-Roman Catholics." If you're interested in the strange and rare creatures that are non-Roman but Catholic Churches, take a look.

War is deceit: "The stockpile’s existence violates Gaddafi’s promises in 2004 to the United States, Britain and the United Nations to declare and begin destruction of all of Libya’s chemical arms."

That raises two questions: what else haven't we found in Libya, and what might Iran pass to its proxy jihad groups? "Iran may have sent Libya shells for chemical weapons," by R. Jeffrey Smith, and Joby Warrick and Colum Lynch for the Washington Post, November 20:

The Obama administration is investigating whether Iran supplied the Libyan government of Moammar Gaddafi with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons that Libya kept secret for decades, U.S. officials said.

The shells, which Libya filled with highly toxic mustard agent, were uncovered in recent weeks by revolutionary fighters at two sites in central Libya. Both are under heavy guard and round-the-clock surveillance by drones, U.S. and Libyan officials said.

The discovery of the shells has prompted a probe, led by U.S. intelligence, into how the Libyans obtained them; several sources said early suspicion had fallen on Iran. “We are pretty sure we know” the shells were custom-designed and produced in Iran for Libya, said a senior U.S. official, one of several who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the accusation.

A U.S. official with access to classified information confirmed that there were “serious concerns” that Iran had provided the shells, albeit some years ago. In recent weeks, U.N. inspectors have released new information indicating that Iran has the capability to develop a nuclear bomb, a charge Iranian officials have long rejected. Confirmed evidence of Iran’s provision of the specialized shells may exacerbate international tensions over the country’s alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

Mohammed Javad Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader and the brother of Iran’s former negotiator on nuclear issues, denied the allegation. “I believe such comments are being fabricated by the U.S. to complete their project of Iranophobia in the region and all through the world. Surely this is another baseless story for demonizing [the] Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said in an e-mail.

The stockpile’s existence violates Gaddafi’s promises in 2004 to the United States, Britain and the United Nations to declare and begin destruction of all of Libya’s chemical arms, and it raises new questions about the ability of the world’s most powerful nations to police such pledges in tightly closed societies.

Gaddafi’s government was “sitting on stuff that was not secure, and the world did not know about it,” a third U.S. official said. “There were no seals and no inventories” by international inspectors, the official added.

During the recent civil conflict, some foreign powers and Libyan rebels worried that Gaddafi might use chemical weapons, but they were aware only of a previously declared stockpile of mustard agent in bulk storage at a remote desert site. They were unaware of the filled artillery shells, which posed a much greater threat....

"Polio was affecting eight northern Nigerian states - two more than a few months ago."

This is the human cost of conspiracy paranoia about elaborate plots against Muslims. Even though the main event was eight years ago, suspicion still surely lingers, and untold numbers of Nigerians did not receive the vaccine, and did not have their children vaccinated. They are now surely among the victims.

If groups like Boko Haram have their way and manage to stamp out citizens' ability to become educated and think critically in sufficient numbers, such paranoia will spread all the more freely, and there will be even more of a cost in years to come.

"Polio in Nigeria 'shows big increase'," from BBC News, November 21:

A four-fold increase in polio has been reported in Nigeria, with the disease spreading to other countries, a World Health Organisation official says.

Forty-three cases were reported in Nigeria this year, compared to 11 last year, the official, Thomas Moran, said.

Curbing the polio virus in Nigeria is key to eradicating the crippling disease in Africa, he said.

In 2003, northern Nigeria's Muslim leaders leaders opposed vaccinations, claiming they could cause infertility.

Nigeria is one of four countries in the world - along with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan - where polio is still a major health risk.

'Strong leadership'

Mr Moran told the BBC the disease had also spread to neighbouring Niger, Mali and Ivory Coast.

"The success of polio eradication in Africa rests on Nigeria interrupting the virus," he said.

Polio was affecting eight northern Nigerian states - two more than a few months ago, the head of Nigeria's National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), Dr Ado Muhammad, told the BBC.

Mr Moran said the Nigerian government had shown "strong leadership" in the campaign to eradicate polio and the WHO had been carrying out large scale vaccination programmes to prevent the disease from spreading.

"The immunity profile of Nigerian children is far better [now], which limits the risk of international spread of the virus," Mr Moran said.

He also stressed that the number of children affected remained low.

"You can call it a four-fold increase but it is still very low transmission in a country as large as Nigeria with almost 50m children under five," he said.

At the Commonwealth summit last month, the leaders of Nigeria, Canada, the UK and Australia pledged millions of dollars towards the global effort to eradicate polio.

In 2003, the northern Nigerian state of Kano backed Muslim religious leaders in opposing an immunisation programme, claiming it was a Western plot to make people infertile.

Health experts say this led to many people becoming infected by polio.

The clerics and the state government later dropped their opposition to the immunisation programme....

While the release of Agnes Bibi (not Asia Bibi, who is still in prison) is very welcome news, her case must not be upheld by any government authority as an example of the Pakistani system "working," when the very law under which she was imprisoned should not exist. It can never be "correctly" applied, because it is unjust: the blasphemy law is a denial of freedom of conscience, and is designed to keep Pakistani non-Muslims and dissenting Muslims quiet, compliant, and living in fear.

"Faisalabad: accused of blasphemy, woman freed thanks to help from Christians and Muslims," by Shafique S. Khokar for Asia News, November 21:

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – Christians are grateful to the Muslim community for conducting an “in-depth investigation” before they would condemn someone for blasphemy, a crime punishable with death or life in prison in Pakistan. Thus, they have prevented an “untoward incident over a sensitive issue,” said Fr Naveed Arif, a priest at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Faisalabad. Speaking to AsiaNews, he could not hide his satisfaction over the outcome of the case, which he describes as “an example in inter-confessional harmony” with Islam.

The case involved a Christian woman, Agnes Bibi, who was accused of defaming the name of the prophet Muhammad. Arrested for blasphemy, she had the original accusation dismissed and the case against her reduced to a lower charge. This allowed her to apply and get bail. “I hope a culture of peace and religious harmony prevails whenever controversies arise in Pakistan,” the priest said, “because Christianity teaches us peace and harmony and is against intolerance and violence.”

Agnes Bibi (pictured), 50, is from Abin-e-Mariam Colony, Faisalabad. In order to undermine the position of Christians in a property dispute with Muslims, she was accused of blasphemy. On 16 February 2011, a complaint was failed against her and she was taken into custody three days later following an interrogation by a magistrate.

An in-depth investigation began on 5 March. After months of work and a number of depositions, the original charge was changed from blasphemy to that of “Promoting enmity between different groups” under Article 153-A of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Agnes Bibi told AsiaNews that in prison she prayed for her release, and that she was happy the judge granted her bail.

Her husband, Bashir Masih, 52, said that he had to take out a loan to pay for the bail imposed by the judge. “My wife is very sick and I have to raise money for her medical treatment,” he added.

Feeding the crocodile, in hopes that it will eat them last? "Nigeria security says politicians sponsor Islamists," from Reuters, November 21:

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian politicians are funding members of a radical Islamist sect responsible for dozens of shootings and bombings this year in the north and capital of Africa's most populous nation, the state security service (SSS) said on Monday. Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is forbidden", has carried out near daily attacks in the remote northeast in Borno state, where Nigeria borders Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Although parts of the sect say they want sharia law more widely applied across Nigeria and threaten international targets, most factions are focused on local issues and carry out politically motivated attacks.

Even the "politically motivated" attacks that appear in press reports show a connection to the desire for Islamic rule.

The SSS, Nigeria's intelligence agency, said in a press briefing that on November 3 they arrested Ali Sanda Umar Konduga who admitted to being one of the spokesmen for Boko Haram, using the name Usman al-Zawahiri.

"He was a former political thug operating under a group widely known as ECOMOG," said Marilyn Oga, an SSS spokeswoman.

ECOMOG was a militia group funded by politicians several years ago in Borno and some former members have now joined Boko Haram, diplomats and security experts have said.

"His arrest further confirms the Service position that some of the Boko Haram extremists have political patronage and sponsorship. This is more so as al-Zawahiri has so far made valuable confessions in this regard," Oga added.

The SSS said a politician in Borno recruited al-Zawahiri, who attended the press briefing, gave him a new name to portray him as an extremist and paid him to send threatening text messages to judges and rival politicians.

Al-Zawahiri is also the name of the leader of al Qaeda.

Borno state is one of the 13 out of 36 Nigerian states not governed by the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). Al-Zawahiri, speaking in the northern Hausa language and translated by SSS officials, named members of the PDP who he said paid him to disrupt the leadership of the state.

The same could be said in many places, and especially with regard to U.S. foreign policy in Muslim countries. In Kashmir, the Grand Mufti and the courts are being allowed to act with impunity against other Kashmiris' freedom of conscience, now stretching laws that are either abusive or prone to abuse to accuse the pastor in this case of "insulting" Muslims and upsetting religious "harmony." An update on this story. "Kashmir pastor arrested for baptising seven Muslims," from Asia News, November 21:

Srinagar (AsiaNews) – Police in Kashmir arrested Rev Chander Mani Khanna of the All Saints Church after the head of the Kashmir Shariat Court accused the Christian clergyman of converting Muslims in exchange of money. The case began on 8 November when Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-Din summoned him to appear before the court to explain the alleged conversions.

To back his accusation, the Grand Mufti used a video that appeared on YouTube that shows Rev Khanna baptising seven young Muslim men and women. The same video was then linked by other online platforms provoking an avalanche of verbal attacks against the clergyman.

“Rev Khanna’s arrest is an attack against religious freedom,” said Predhuman K Joseph Dhar, a scholar who translated the Bible in Kashmiri. “The situation is tense and there is great concern that someone might threaten his life.”

“Having failed to do what we asked you to do, we are forced to take measures based on the Sharia,” the Grand Mufti said in a letter to the clergyman.

Afterwards, “police arrested seven people, the seven men and women who are baptised by rev Khanna in the video. According to witnesses, police beat the seven in order to testify against the pastor.”

The Jammu Christian Federation called on the government “to release the pastor since administering the baptism on consenting adults is his prerogative.”

“The rights of Christians are being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and convenience,” said Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). “Christians too are entitled to minority rights. Allowing a Sharia Court to enforce its laws on Christians represents an end to the rule of law and equality of Indian citizens.”

Kashmir does not have any anti-conversion law. In fact, police arrested the clergyman under Articles 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (1860). (NC)

I'll be boarding the plane tomorrow for my first-ever speaking tour of Australia. I'll be speaking in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Cairns. Details in the video, filmed in my office in Jihad Watch headquarters, and more specifically here. Put another shrimp on the barbie for me, and save me a Foster's!

Why did they conclude he wasn't a serious threat? Perhaps because he had no ties to al-Qaeda or some other jihad terror groups. He was just a guy with lengthy collections of jihad hadiths on his website. And that's just religious verbiage, right, FBI? No one pays attention to that stuff, eh?

"New York bomb suspect Jose Pimentel not a serious terror threat: FBI sources," by Karen McVeigh for the Guardian, November 21 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

The FBI did not pursue a case against an alleged al-Qaida sympathiser accused of plotting to blow up police and military personnel because it believed he was mentally unstable and incapable of pulling it off, officials said on Monday.

Investigators from the New York Police Department, which announced the arrest of Dominican-born US citizen Jose Pimentel, 27, at a press conference late on Sunday night, sought to involve the FBI at least twice.

But both times the FBI concluded he wasn't a serious threat, according to officials who spoke to the Associated Press.

Pimentel "didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own," said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity....

On a YouTube channel linked to him, Pimentel – who also goes by the name Muhammad Yusaf – he describes himself as a "Sunni Muslim brother" from the Dominican Republic living in Harlem, whose interests include "watching videos of YouTube, working out, reading and learning all aspects of the only true religion of all the prophets: Islam."

How did he end up misunderstanding his peaceful religion so spectacularly? Imam Rauf? Mr. Hooper? Mr. Aslan? Mr. Schwartz? Anyone? Anyone?

The Breivik thing just keeps on going, and probably will forever: Leftists and Islamic supremacists note the fact that the Norwegian mass murderer mentioned me (along with many others such as John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Darwin) in his ideologically incoherent "manifesto" to try to portray me as his "inspiration" or "mentor." In reality, virtually every time he supposedly is citing me, he is actually citing a news article from Jihad Watch; another large number of citations comes from his incorporating whole into his "manifesto" the transcript of a documentary in which I appear, Islam: What the West Needs to Know. He never cites me as an inspiration for his actions or recommendations, and couldn't have done so, because I do not call for violence or anything that violates the human rights we are trying to protect from Islamic supremacism. At one point he even says that I am wrong because I do not call for violence.

Yet still I am supposedly his inspiration -- but the imams who openly call for violence based on the Qur'an and Sunnah are never, ever the inspiration for jihad terrorists like Muhammad Yusuf, even when their calls for violence are crystal clear and the jihadists cite those teachings of violence and name them as their inspiration.

Nor are the likes of Stephen Walt troubled by their self-incriminating hypocrisy, as detailed here by Omni Ceren.

Meanwhile, what's up with two reasonably good pieces in Commentary in one day? Sunspots?

"Is Stephen Walt Responsible for Inspiring Terror Suspect Jose Pimentel?," by Omri Ceren in Commentary, November 21:

ABC News disclosed last night that arrested New York City terror suspect Jose Pimentel “spent much of his time on the Internet… and maintained a radical website called TrueIslam1.” TrueIslam1 has a number of sections, most of them handed over to Islam and jihad. There are two only sections that deal straightforwardly with politics: one labeled “Politics” and one labeled “The U.S.A.”

Both sections have different articles and both of course still contain plenty of Islamic theology – ergo the concept of political Islam – but they have one thing in common. They both have links to free downloads of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s book The Israel Lobby. Other than those links there doesn’t appear to be any overlapping content between the two sections. Apparently, Pimentel thought Walt and Mearsheimer’s feverish opus was something that needed to be read and distributed.

Now here is Walt’s standard for when scholarship that resonates with terrorists calls for chagrin. It was written in the aftermath of Anders Breivik’s horrific killing spree in Norway and was directed at critics of political Islam:

Finally, to what extent can Islamophobes like Pamela Geller or Robert Spencer be held responsible for Breivik’s act? As someone who has some personal experience with “guilt by association,” I do think we should be careful about assessing blame. None of these hawkish pundits openly advocated violence, and all have (for the most part) distanced themselves from Breivik’s act. But it is also clear that their writings consistently portrayed Islam in a crude and monolithic way and tended to depict all Muslims as part of some looming threat to core Western values. And it seems clear from Breivik’s manifesto that these writers did have a considerable impact on his worldview, even if they did not advocate the horrific response that he chose.

Walt’s writings characterize supporters of the U.S.-Israeli relationship as a small cabal of Jews plus the evangelical Christians they’ve managed to corrupt into joining their cause. In that context, his complaint about Gellar [sic] and Spencer’s writings – that they’ve “consistently portrayed Islam in a crude and monolithic way and tended to depict all Muslims as part of some looming threat to core Western values” – could only be more bitingly ironic if it was immediately followed by a call for “self-reflection” and a sneer about being a “committed ideologue.” So naturally:

Yet this seems to have sparked little or no self-reflection on their part, as befitting the committed ideologue.

Walt’s paranoid worldview and its concomitant conspiratorial images are the stuff of ancient anti-Jewish bigotry. They seem to resonate deeply with online and offline jihadists, who give them priority of place next to tracts calling for genocidal warfare. And unlike Geller and Spencer, Walt has an entire media industry helping him make anti-Semitism respectable. On that last point, see Lee Smith’s Tablet Magazine expose from last year.

No one denies Walt has been and can be incisive on a range of issues. That, as much as anything else, is exactly what makes his seemingly genuine belief in the results of “piss-poor, monocausal social science” so obviously the result of some deep pathology: when smart people are outwardly persuaded by bad arguments, it’s not the arguments but something else that’s doing the work. Maybe he’ll notice the incongruity of him criticizing others for influencing Breivik, while at the same time insisting there’s no significance to be gleaned from the affection terrorists have for his work.

Ceren's piece could be better: neither Geller nor I ever have condoned or called for actions such as Breivik's. In his "manifesto" he calls for making war to maintain Christian Europe while saying that he is not a Christian, and includes anti-jihad material while saying that Europeans should make common cause with jihadists. In other words, he is just a psychopath. No one but hard-Left and Islamic supremacist ideologues would reasonably think we had anything to do with the development of his twisted thinking.

Why was the CIA lazy? Perhaps because no premium is put on gather information on Hizballah and Iran in this administration -- the name of the game is outreach. "Exclusive: CIA Spies Caught, Fear Execution in Middle East," by Matthew Cole and Brian Ross for ABC, November 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):

In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.

The spies were paid informants recruited by the CIA for two distinct espionage rings targeting Iran and the Beirut-based Hezbollah organization, considered by the U.S. to be a terror group backed by Iran....

In Beirut, two Hezbollah double agents pretended to go to work for the CIA. Hezbollah then learned of the restaurant where multiple CIA officers were meeting with several agents, according to the four current and former officials briefed on the case. The CIA used the codeword "PIZZA" when discussing where to meet with the agents, according to U.S. officials. Two former officials describe the location as a Beirut Pizza Hut. A current US official denied that CIA officers met their agents at Pizza Hut.

From there, Hezbollah's internal security arm identified at least a dozen informants, and the identities of several CIA case officers.

Hezbollah then began to "roll up" much of the CIA's network against the terror group, the officials said.

One former senior intelligence official told ABC News that CIA officers ignored warnings that the operation could be compromised by using the same location for meetings with multiple assets.

"We were lazy and the CIA is now flying blind against Hezbollah," the former official said....

At about the same time that Hezbollah was identifying the CIA network in Lebanon, Iranian intelligence agents discovered a secret internet communication method used by CIA-paid assets in Iran.

The CIA has yet to determine precisely how many of its assets were compromised in Iran, but the number could be in the dozens, according to one current and one former U.S. intelligence official.

The exposure of the two spy networks was first announced in widely ignored televised statements by Iranian and Hezbollah leaders. U.S. officials tell ABC News that much of what was broadcast was, in fact, true....

Muhammad Yusuf's mother, Carmen Sosa, says he began changing when he converted to Islam and started reading the Qur'an. Her account here contradicts that of the unnamed New York authorities who said that he wasn't very religious, and was a drinker and marijuana user. I wonder who knows him better: his mother, or some politically correct, compromised cop inside a willfully blind NYPD?

"Terror suspect Jose Pimentel’s mom says sorry to city: ‘I feel very bad ... I thank the police,’" by Henrick Karoliszyn, Glenn Blain and Tracy Connor for the New York Daily News, November 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):

The mother of homegrown terror suspect Jose Pimentel says she loves the city — and her son.

“I want to apologize to the City of New York,” Carmen Sosa, 56, said Monday in the lobby of a Harlem apartment building.

“I love the city. I’ve been here since 1987 and I’m very disappointed with what my son was doing. I didn’t raise him that way.

“I feel very bad about the situation. I thank the police. They did what they’re supposed to do.”

Sosa said her son’s personality began to change after the then-teenager swapped salsa for Islam about five years ago.

“My son was a normal American guy,” she said. “He did what young people do. Then he became a Muslim and he changed.”...

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said there was nothing in
Pimentel’s court file “speaking to anything about terrorism” — but the suspect’s mother was getting worried about his fascination with Islam.

When he started reading the Koran in 2001, Sosa wasn’t happy because she’s a Catholic, but she noted that “in beginning, he wasn’t a fanatic.”

“He prayed and went to the mosque,” she said.

Over time, he stopped writing and listening to salsa music and spent his days praying, reading and sleeping.

Akbar Ahmed is a world-renowned Islamic moderate, but in this piece he plays the same games of victimhood, shifting of attention from jihad to "Islamophobia" and evasion of responsibility that his colleagues in Hamas-linked CAIR and other Islamic supremacists and jihadists have perfected over the last decade.

My own experiences with Akbar Ahmed have not been positive. He has ignored my invitations to debate or dialogue (with the exception of one noncommittal email saying he was looking forward to "talking soon" -- he never did), and has responded to my views on C-Span with deceptive evasions and irrelevancies.

"N.Y. bomb plot: What radicalizes some converts to Islam?," by Akbar Ahmed in the Washington Post, November 21:

The case of Jose Pimentel, an “al-Qaida sympathizer” accused of plotting a bomb attack in New York, has once again focused our attention on why converts to Islam appear to be so fascinated by violent jihad. Is there something in the act of conversion that transforms normal citizens into messengers of death?

For the answer, let us look at the pattern of converts to Islam in the West. In the last generation we have had many high profile converts such as Yusuf Islam, a.k.a Cat Stevens, Sheik Hamza Yusef, Ingrid Mattson, and of course, one of the most famous of them all, Muhammad Ali, the great boxer. Each one of them brought their extraordinary talents to Islam and promoted better understanding between Muslims and non Muslims....

It's interesting to note that even when listing converts to Islam who are not jihadists, Ahmed includes Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, who in 1989 called for the murder of Salman Rushdie in accord with Islam's blasphemy law; Hamza Yusuf, who has spoken at events sponsored by the Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood group Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); and Ingrid Mattson, former president of that same Hamas-linked ISNA.

So what has changed today? Why are we seeing a number of American converts to Islam plotting against this country? In order to answer this question, I travelled recently for almost a year through the United States with a team of young researchers. We published the findings in Journey into America (2010). What we found was a Muslim community that very much appreciative of being in the United States as proud citizens, but was also sharing a sense of being under siege after 9/11. They saw their religion, culture, and traditions mocked mercilessly. They were conscious of the attacks on mosques and women wearing Islamic dress.

Note that he says nothing about Islam's doctrines of jihad warfare. Converts to Islam plot jihad because Islam is "mocked mercilessly." So once again, it is a matter of that "respect" that Muslims find ever-elusive. If non-Muslims would only respect them, everything would be all right. Remember as you read this that "Islamophobia" is a myth, trumped up for patently manipulative, propagandistic purposes. And remember also that I am "mocked mercilessly" in my work, and yet somehow I find it rather easy to avoid constructing bombs and plotting to murder vast numbers of people. Why converts to Islam, on the other hand, find this so difficult, Akbar Ahmed does not deign to explain.

The problem we found was not only the widespread Islamophobia. We also, to our dismay, saw a Muslim leadership that was unsure of its strategy and directions. Muslim leadership was often divided along ethnic and sectarian lines and not able to create an overarching vision for the community in the United States. In particular, religious leaders seemed largely disconnected from the cultural environment in which many young Muslims grow up. In the absence of a clear message emphasizing the peace and compassion which lie at the heart of Islam, the strong messages of confrontation and violence coming from religious leaders like Anwar al-Awalaki filled the void. To compound matters, some senior American political figures are either hostile to Islam or indifferent to it....

Akbar Ahmed should explain: do the extensive teachings on Islamic jihad that Muhammad Yusuf has at his website originate with Anwar al-Awlaki? Did he invent them?

Ahmed, for all his "moderation," concludes with a veiled threat:

Concerned about the possibility of someone slipping through the administrative net and actually exploding a bomb which could kill a large number of Americans, we had recommended several steps which need to be taken urgently. While there have been vigorous interfaith activity and attempts to create a greater understanding among religions, too many preventive measures not been taken, we note with regret. In order to avoid possible future men of violence from succeeding, a vigorous exercise that combines political and Muslim leadership, along with the media, needs to be planned and implemented. It is well to keep in mind that about 50 percent of Americans in poll after poll confirm what we found in the field: they believe Islam is incompatible with being American. The matter is both urgent and serious. Unless immediate steps are taken, we may well see more Jose Pimentels in the future.

So we must regard Islam as compatible with being American, or more Muslims will try to murder Americans. Yet the reason why so many Americans view Islam as incompatible with being American is because Muslims so easily turn to violence and murder when their wishes are denied, and because of veiled threats like this one.

He had a website called "True Islam" containing extensive information about Islamic teachings on jihad warfare and related matters. He wrote there:

I created this Blog in order to help people learn about the Religion of Islam, and to help clarify many issues within the Religion of Islam that many people might have a hard time understanding. My goal is to explain Islam and many topics dealing with Islam as clearly and easy to understand as possible for non muslims who want to learn about the religion. I will also provide as much evidence as possible, from muslim sources and non muslim sources in order so that the readers can feel more secure about the information provided in this Blog. I will touch on topics such as Islam, The Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), Jihad and Terrorism, Muslim Men and Women, Islamic Countries, Politics in Islam, The Life of this World, and The Afterlife. As far as Muslims who will visit my blog God Willing this blog will help you learn the Religion better and will acquaint you with the trustworthy sources where one should seek knowledge from.

So why are New York officials trying to portray him as a partyboy with only a glancing interest in Islam? Why do authorities always do something like this, whenever there is a jihad plot or attack? Why did the official U.S. government report on Nidal Hasan, a mass murderer who shouted "Allahu akbar" as he murdered, and who passed out Qur'ans on the morning of his murders, and who had raised alarm bells among his coworkers for years because of his jihadist sentiments, never mention Islam or jihad?

"Alleged 'Lone Wolf' Arrested in New York on Terror Charges," by Richard Esposito and Mark Schone for ABC News, November 21 (thanks to Nelson):

A Muslim convert arrested for allegedly making bombs in New York City was inspired by radical cleric Anwar Awlaki and was allegedly plotting to attack U.S. servicemen and police officers, according to officials.

A five-count criminal complaint against Jose Pimentel of Washington Heights says that Pimentel planned "to build a bomb and use a bomb to assassinate U.S. servicemen and women returning from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan."

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said during a press conference this evening that Pimentel, an unemployed loner who lives with his mother, also wanted to kill police officers, and called him a "27-year-old al Qaeda sympathizer."

"We had to act quickly," New York police commissioner Ray Kelly said, "because he was in fact putting this bomb together." [...]

An American citizen, Pimentel was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the United States at age eight. After converting to Islam, he went by the name Muhammed Yusef.

Pimentel spent much of his time on the Internet, according to sources, and maintained a radical website called TrueIslam1. The website contains a link to the bomb-making article in "Inspire."

Pimentel first came to the attention of authorities in May 2009, when he was living in Schenectady, N.Y. He returned to New York City in January 2010. Authorities say they have been tailing him for more than a year.

He has a prior arrest for criminal possession of stolen property.

Pimentel rarely left his home, authorities said, except to buy coffee and cigarettes -- one cigarette at a time, when he couldn't afford a pack -- and to smoke. His mother did not let him smoke in the apartment.

He also smoked marijuana and drank, according to authorities, and only attended Muslim religious services infrequently.

In "Happy Halal Thanksgiving" in the American Thinker today, Pamela Geller reveals the shocking truth: if you've gotten a Butterball turkey for Thanksgiving, it's halal:

Did you know that the turkey you're going to enjoy on Thanksgiving Day this Thursday is probably halal? If it's a Butterball turkey, then it certainly is -- whether you like it or not.

In my book Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance, I report at length on the meat industry's halal scandal: its established practice of not separating halal meat from non-halal meat, and not labeling halal meat as such. And back in October 2010, I reported more little-noted but explosive new revelations: that much of the meat in Europe and the United States is being processed as halal without the knowledge of the non-Muslim consumers who buy it.

I discovered that only two plants in the U.S. that perform halal slaughter keep the halal meat separated from the non-halal meat, and they only do so because plant managers thought it was right to do so. At other meat-packing plants, animals are slaughtered following halal requirements, but then only a small bit of the meat is actually labeled halal.

Now here is yet more poisonous fruit of that scandal.

A citizen activist and reader of my website AtlasShrugs.com wrote to Butterball, one of the most popular producers of Thanksgiving turkeys in the United States, asking them if their turkeys were halal. Wendy Howze, a Butterball Consumer Response Representative, responded: "Our whole turkeys are certified halal."

In a little-known strike against freedom, yet again, we are being forced into consuming meat slaughtered by means of a torturous method: Islamic slaughter.

Halal slaughter involves cutting the trachea, the esophagus, and the jugular vein, and letting the blood drain out while saying "Bismillah allahu akbar" -- in the name of Allah the greatest. Many people refuse to eat it on religious grounds. Many Christians, Hindus or Sikhs and Jews find it offensive to eat meat slaughtered according to Islamic ritual (although observant Jews are less likely to be exposed to such meat, because they eat kosher). [...]

Non-Muslims in America and Europe don't deserve to have halal turkey forced upon them in this way, without their knowledge or consent. So this Thanksgiving, fight for your freedom. Find a non-halal, non-Butterball turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday. And write to Butterball and request, politely but firmly, that they stop selling only halal turkeys, and make non-halal turkeys available to Americans who still value our freedoms.

Stephanie Styons at Butterball Corporate sstyons@merrellgroup.com is the contact for those who want to let the company know their feelings about stealth halal turkeys. Also here is the Butterball website for plant locations, which lists whole turkeys as being produced at their North Carolina and Arkansas plants....

Pamela Geller has more here. This is a SIOA Action Alert:

Join our Facebook page, Boycott Butterball Turkey.

Please write courteously and politely to Butterball, LLC in North Carolina: 1628 Garners Chapel Road, Mt. Olive, NC 28365. Call 919-658-6743. And in Arkansas: Butterball, 1200 N. College Avenue, Huntsville, AR 72740. Call 479-738-2151.

How very, very disrespectful. What will probably follow in the coming days are stories of how Pimentel was "radicalized," claims that he was a "decent fellow," and possible claims of mental illness. Those are popular in jihadist cases. "New York bomb suspect monitored for two years, officials say," by Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister for CNN, November 21:

(CNN) -- New York Police Department counterterrorism officials say they were first alerted to the activities of Jose Pimentel, accused of plotting to detonate pipe bombs in the city, about two-and-a-half years ago.

One official told CNN they were notified about Pimentel's activities by law enforcement sources in upstate New York in May 2009. By then, the official says, he was already "radicalized."

The NYPD used an informant to make contact with Pimentel, to befriend him and monitor his activities.

They wanted to get a sense of his intentions, to "wash him out," as the official put it.

Pimentel - a native of the Dominican Republic and a convert to Islam - was arraigned in New York Sunday. He faces five charges, including criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree as a crime of terrorism, and soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism.

According to a senior counterterrorism source, Pimentel had expressed a desire to go to Yemen at some point in 2010, and sent an email to the al Qaeda cleric and propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in September of this year. He did not receive a reply, the source said.

The official told CNN that Pimentel was prolific online - maintaining a website called True Islam.

A website called trueislam1.com which is mentioned in the criminal complaint against Pimintel includes tributes to well-known al Qaeda figures and other jihadist leaders.

Its introduction ends: "May Allah bless all the Muslims, may he give us victory over the disbelieving people, and may he guide all those non Muslims, who visit this site to Islam."

A YouTube channel (mujahidfisabillilah1's channel) that links to the website describes its owner as "a Sunni Muslim BROTHER [sic] from the Dominican Republic currently living in Harlem, New York. Allah has guided me out of darkness and into the light."

Pimentel was in touch and interacting with other Islamist radicals online and was aware of Revolution Muslim, a New York-based group sympathetic to the aims of al Qaeda, but was "not directly connected" to them, the official said.

Many apparantly like-minded individuals posted messages on his YouTube site in the last several months. A message posted on the site one day ago stated: "May Allah Reward you for all your efforts and hard work. Ameen."

Counterterrorism officials became alarmed about Pimentel's activities in September, when they "received indications that the suspect was going operational."

That was before al-Awlaki was killed.

In October, officials say, Pimentel's activities began to accelerate, when he began to acquire simple bomb-making materials. They say he began building his bomb in the apartment of the informant, rather than at his home, where he lived with his mother and grandmother....

Bloomberg and others keep placing major emphasis on the apparent fact that Muhammad Yusuf was working alone, and was not connected to a foreign jihad terror group. That's dandy, but no one at all seems concerned about the implications of the obvious fact that he was inspired by Islam's doctrines of jihad, which remain capable of inspiring any Muslim to jihad terror at any time. See, for example, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar.

"'Al-Qaida sympathizer' accused of NYC bomb plots; defence says he's no conspirator," by Tom McElroy for The Associated Press, November 21:

NEW YORK, N.Y. - An "al-Qaida sympathizer" accused of plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home remained in police custody after an arraignment on numerous terrorism-related charges.

Jose Pimentel of Manhattan was described by Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a Sunday news conference announcing Pimentel's arrest as "a 27-year-old al-Qaida sympathizer" who was motivated by terrorist propaganda and resentment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said police had to move quickly to arrest Pimentel on Saturday because he was ready to carry out his plan.

"He was in fact putting this bomb together," Kelly said. "He was drilling holes and it would have been not appropriate for us to let him walk out the door with that bomb."

Manhattan assistant district attorney Brian Fields said Pimentel, a convert to Islam, "was approximately one hour from completing these explosive devices."...

Kelly said Sunday that Pimentel was energized and motivated to carry out his plan by the Sept. 30 killing of al-Qaida's U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

"He decided to build the bomb August of this year, but clearly he jacked up his speed after the elimination of al-Awlaki," Kelly said.

An unemployed U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, Pimentel was "plotting to bomb police patrol cars and also postal facilities as well as targeted members of our armed services returning from abroad," Bloomberg said.

He also talked of bombing a police station in Bayonne, New Jersey, Kelly said.

New York police had him under surveillance for at least a year and were working with a confidential informant; no injury to anyone or damage to property is alleged, Kelly said. In addition, authorities have no evidence that Pimentel was working with anyone else, the mayor said.

"He appears to be a total lone wolf," the mayor said. "He was not part of a larger conspiracy emanating from abroad."

At Pimentel's arraignment, his lawyer Joseph Zablocki said his client's behaviour leading up to the arrest was not that of a conspirator trying to conceal some violent scheme. Zablocki said Pimentel was public about his activities and was not trying to hide anything.

"I don't believe that this case is nearly as strong as the people believe," Zablocki said. "He (Pimentel) has this very public online profile. ... This is not the way you go about committing a terrorist attack."

Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, was denied bail and remained in custody. The bearded, bespectacled man wore a black T-shirt and black drawstring pants and smiled at times during the proceeding. His mother and brother attended the arraignment, Zablocki said. [...]

Alexis Smith, 22, who lives in an apartment in the same building as Pimentel, said she was shocked that he was a suspect in a terrorist plot. "He was always very courteous to us," she said, adding that Pimentel helped her carry groceries and luggage into the building.

"It's nice to know he was only working alone," she said.

Yeah, that's just terrific.

The never-ending cycle of incrementally more restrictive sanctions against Iran will not end in Iranian cooperation, transparency, or the halting of its nuclear program. It will end in an Iranian nuclear test, followed by a war of endless finger-pointing in the West over how it could ever have happened and why firmer action was not taken sooner. 20/20 hindsight will not make Iran un-nuclear.

Iran will not change its ways without a sense of necessity. Truly, the sanctions do less for Iran, and more for other world powers and the Security Council, who can reassure themselves they have taken action, while kicking the can down the road on any more uncomfortable engagement with Iran. If there is a strike on Iran, or when there is an Iranian nuclear test, it will be due to the failure of diplomacy to break this cycle of complacency that has gone on for years.

"US, UK, Canada to Announce Coordinated Sanctions on Iran," by Kirit Radia for ABC News, November 20:

The United States and its British and Canadian allies are preparing to roll out a coordinated set of sanctions against Iran on Monday amid growing concern that Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, sources tell ABC News.

U.S. officials familiar with the plans say they target Iran’s nuclear sector as well as plugging key gaps that have allowed Iran to work around existing sanctions on its energy and financial sectors. The United Kingdom and Canada are both expected to announce unilateral measures to limit Iran’s access to their economies, with the UK essentially cutting off Iran’s access to its financial sector.

European Union ministers are expected to meet on December 1 to consider their own sanctions.

Two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the diplomatic sensitivities involved, say the State Department will sanction Iran’s petrochemical industry, which is normally used to produce products like plastic and styrofoam but is increasingly used to refine petroleum, as international sanctions have constrained the capacity of Iran’s energy sector. The new measure aims to discourage foreign companies from investing in that industry because it could inadvertently aid Iran’s energy sector and undermine previous sanctions.

The State Department is also expected to target both foreign and Iranian entities, many controlled by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, that have begun to help out with critical tasks in Iran’s oil and gas sector, picking up the slack as foreign companies pull out for fear of running afoul of sanctions.

A State Department spokesman declined to comment for this story.

The Treasury Department, meanwhile, is expected to issue a finding that the Iranian financial system is a “jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern.”

The finding, made under section 311 of the USA Patriot Act, enables the Secretary of the Treasury to require American banks to conduct additional reporting to ensure their corresponding foreign accounts are not indirectly dealing with Iran. That extra vigilance, officials say, will have a cascade effect where foreign financial institutions are more reluctant to do business with Iran.

The State Department and Treasury Department are also expected to designate additional Iranian entities for their role in Iran’s nuclear program.

A Treasury Department spokeswoman also declined to comment for this story.

The United States and its allies have long feared that Iran has been pursuing a nuclear weapon under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program. Those fears were reinforced by a new report by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Association earlier this month, which for the first time sounded the alarm about “possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.”

The report detailed “credible” evidence that Iran has been covertly developing a nuclear weapon design and testing components. It said Iran has built computer models to study the explosion of a nuclear bomb and is working to develop detonation devices. The report said Tehran has also built a containment vessel in which it can conduct explosive experiments and is studying how to mount a nuclear warhead on its Shahab-3 long-range missiles.

Iranian officials have dismissed the report. On Tuesday, one senior Iranian official called it “laughable.”

The IAEA report reignited calls on Capitol Hill and from prominent Republicans like presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the Obama administration to sanction the Iranian Central Bank, a move they say would cripple Iran’s economy and its ability to pursue a nuclear weapon. Last Thursday, House leaders including Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to President Obama urging him to sanction the Central Bank.

Despite the renewed pressure, sanctions on the Iranian Central Bank and bans on Iran’s oil and gas sector will not be included in this latest round, according to one U.S. official, citing fears that such measures could lead to a spike in oil prices that would harm America’s own economic recovery.

The United States and its allies have resorted to unilateral sanctions as other multilateral routes to pressure Tehran have been blocked. U.S. and European officials say they would like to pursue additional sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security Council, something they have successfully done four times in recent years, however they have been met with resistance by veto-wielding Russia and China.

European countries are reportedly pursuing their own additional sanctions, though officials say none are expected to be part of Monday’s coordinated announcement....

Nothing -- nothing -- shows the gallantry and fortitude of the intrepid mujahedin and the nobility of their cause like... beating up on a bunch of Buddhist monks. "Nine injured in Pattani violence, another killed in Yala," from The Nation, November 21 (thanks to Kenneth):

Three monks, three policemen and three local residents were slightly wounded after a homemade bomb went off in front of a laundry on Charoen Pradit Road in Pattani's Muang district on Monday morning.

The monks from Wat Khajorn Pracharam, guarded by three policemen, were collecting alms when the three-kilogram bomb, hidden under a flowerpot near Nuch Laundry Shop was detonated by remote control and exploded when the group was about five metres away, said Muang Pattani Police Station Superintendent Pol Col Somporn Meesuk.

The wounded - Phra Jin Panichkul, 52, Phra Yongyuth Khaoborisut, 35, Phra Worapong Sutthipong, 54, Pol Cpl Thanom Khonwai, 29, Pol Cpl Kampanart Malawan, 28, Pol Cpl Prakarn Chedipeng, 26, as well as civilians Chat Suk-ubol, 72, Chid Suk-ubol, 70 and Yeun Sukhonkhet, 72 - were rushed to Pattani hospital. Police suspected the bomb was laid by insurgents with the aim of creating chaos in the region.

Pattani Deputy Governor Lertkiat Wongphopan later commented that the attack on monks and monk-protection officers reflected the insurgents' intention to attack symbolic targets and to discredit the Thai security force, as the incident took place on the route included in the security plan. They also wished to create disunity in this multi-culture society and attract public attention.

In neighbouring Yala province, an explosion took place in a shack inside a banana plantation in Tambon Wang Phraya, Raman district, at 10.45am on Monday morning. Police found the body of Yako Ya-ngo, 55, in front of the shack. Nearby was a 70cm-deep 80cm-wide hole from the five-kilogram bomb impact and pieces of the metal box, electric wiring and the battery. The investigation revealed that Yako, a security volunteer for Raman district, was inspecting his banana plantation when he stepped on the bomb and detonated it. As Yako had been shot at twice before, police suspect southern insurgents were behind the attack, possibly the group led by suspected insurgent Kama Chaichana, which operates in the district and is wanted in connection with several national security cases.

An update on this evolving story. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat. Here again, one finds "regional" jihadist conflicts finding common cause with one another and cooperating. All share the aim of imposing Sharia law, the purpose of jihad in all its forms.

The conflict is local, but the agenda is global. "Al Qaeda-linked group finds fertile territory in Nigeria as killings escalate," by Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister for CNN, November 18:

(CNN) -- Two weeks ago, dozens of armed men descended on a town in northern Nigeria and killed more than 100 people in a coordinated series of bombings and gun attacks.

Many of those targeted were Christians, but police stations and mosques deemed "insufficiently Islamic" were also attacked.

The town was Damataru, capital of the Nigerian state of Yobe, and the assailants belonged to the group Boko Haram, which translates from the local Hausa as "Western education is outlawed."

In two years, Boko Haram has morphed from a radical Muslim sect into an insurgency responsible for dozens of attacks in Nigeria and beyond. Western intelligence analysts believe it is also developing links with al Qaeda affiliates in Africa.

Boko Haram's targets include police outposts and churches, as well as places associated with 'western influence.' Its signature attack is a Karachi-style drive-by shooting from a motorbike, but this year it has begun a campaign of suicide vehicle attacks. [...]

Think jihad globally, wage jihad locally:

According to U.S. officials, the groups have since forged a partnership -- with AQIM sharing its evolving expertise in suicide bombing.

"We know that there are increasingly frequent contacts, and indeed, training of members of Boko Haram by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and that's of great concern," Ambassador Anthony Holmes, U.S. Africa Command's civilian deputy said earlier this month. Algerian officials, long concerned at the growth of AQIM, have voiced the same concerns. And last week a senior Nigerian military officer told Reuters: "Boko Haram is al Qaeda."

In a global poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2009, a higher percentage of Nigerian Muslims (54%) stated they had confidence in Osama bin Laden than in any other Muslim-majority country. [...]

How about now?

There is a wealth of information at New York jihad bomb plotter Muhammad Yusuf's website, including several collections of ahadith about jihad. Here is one segment of that collection. It is noteworthy that none of the Islamic spokesmen in the U.S. will make any effort to show that these hadiths are false, or that Muhammad Yusuf is misunderstanding them. Yet it is on the assumption that Islam is a Religion of Peace™ that the legitimacy of such spokesmen lies: the average non-Muslim takes for granted that Muhammad Yusuf is indeed a "lone wolf" who is twisting and hijacking the true, peaceful teachings of Islam. Yet the mainstream media never presses them to demonstrate this, and so they never bother.

If they did, and if they were sincere about what they claim to be (I am speaking of the likes of Rauf, al-Marayati, Aslan, Hooper, etc.), they would already have formulated a response to the understanding of Islam that people like Muhammad Yusuf hold, and would be making sure it was being taught in mosques in the U.S. The fact that they do not indicates that they are not sincere.

"Hadiths About Jihad From Saheeh Bukhari 1," from Muhammad Yusuf's True Islam website:

Hadiths About Jihad From Saheeh Bukhari -1 Book 4, Volume 52: Hadiths 41-100

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 41
Narrated Abdullah bin Mas’ud:
I asked Allah's Apostle, "O Allah's Apostle! What is the best deed?" He replied, "To offer the prayers at their early stated fixed times." I asked, "What is next in goodness?" He replied, "To be good and dutiful to your parents." I further asked, what is next in goodness?" He replied, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's Cause." I did not ask Allah's Apostle anymore and if I had asked him more, he would have told me more.

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 42
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
Allah's Apostle said, "There is no Hijra (i.e. migration) (from Mecca to Medina) after the Conquest (of Mecca), but Jihad and good intention remain; and if you are called (by the Muslim ruler) for fighting, go forth immediately

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 43
Narrated 'Aisha:
(That she said), "O Allah's Apostle! We consider Jihad as the best deed. Should we not fight in Allah's Cause?" He said, "The best Jihad (for women) is Hajj-Mabrur (i.e. Hajj which is done according to the Prophet's tradition and is accepted by Allah)."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 44
Narrated Abu Huraira:
A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." He replied, "I do not find such a deed." Then he added, "Can you, while the Muslim fighter is in the battle-field, enter your mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast?" The man said, "But who can do that?" Abu- Huraira added, "The Mujahid (i.e. Muslim fighter) is rewarded even for the footsteps of his horse while it wanders bout (for grazing) tied in a long rope."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 45
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Somebody asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is the best among the people?" Allah's Apostle replied "A believer who strives his utmost in Allah's Cause with his life and property." They asked, "Who is next?" He replied, "A believer who stays in one of the mountain paths worshipping Allah and leaving the people secure from his mischief."

Book 4, Volume 52: Hadith 46
Narrated Abu Huraira:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The example of a Mujahid in Allah's Cause-- and Allah knows better who really strives in His Cause----is like a person who fasts and prays continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty."

Commentary generally marches in dhimmi lockstep with dreary predictability, but here it breaks ranks. And these 2010 statistics are no different from those of the previous year. "FBI Statistics Belie Islamophobia Hysteria," by Jonathan S. Tobin in Commentary, November 20:

It has become an accepted trope of contemporary journalism that American Muslims are under siege and beset by hatred and prejudice. But the evidence for this conventional wisdom is lacking. The story line of Muslim persecution in the United States has always been a matter of anecdotes and perception, not facts. That truth was confirmed this week when the FBI released their annual crime statistics report which showed once again that hate crimes against Muslims remain rare and are far outnumbered by attacks on Jews....

The report is not perfect, since not all parts of the country do a good job compiling the data, but it provides an important snapshot of the state of the nation regarding bias crimes. But the numbers speak for themselves. In 2010, only 13.2 percent of religion-based attacks were directed at Muslims. By comparison, 65.4 percent of such crimes were directed at Jews. This shows a slight increase over the last two years (the raw numbers show 887 anti-Jewish attacks with only 160 anti-Muslim attacks), but is not a statistical fluke. In 2009, the FBI reported that 70.1 percent of religious-based hate crimes were anti-Jewish while only 9.3 percent were anti-Islamic. In 2008, the FBI said 66.1 percent were anti-Jewish while 7.5 percent were anti-Muslim. This has been true of every year in the past decade, even in 2001 when anti-Muslim crime spiked in the wake of 9/11. For all of the breast-beating about Islamophobia in this country, anti-Semitism remains a far greater problem....

Jihad Watch reader Kamala kindly alerted me to jihad bomb plotter Muhammad Yusuf's blog, True Islam. Now that he has been arrested for a jihad bomb plot, Islamic apologists in the U.S. will say that he was a Misunderstander of the Religion of Peace™; ironically, however, he dedicates his blog to clearing up those ever-present misconceptions about Islam:

"This is a blog setup to educate people about the True Religion of Islam as revealed to the Last Prophet Muhammad(PBUH)."

What is this Blog about?
Peace be upon all those who seek and follow the Truth. I created this Blog in order to help people learn about the Religion of Islam, and to help clarify many issues within the Religion of Islam that many people might have a hard time understanding. My goal is to explain Islam and many topics dealing with Islam as clearly and easy to understand as possible for non muslims who want to learn about the religion. I will also provide as much evidence as possible, from muslim sources and non muslim sources in order so that the readers can feel more secure about the information provided in this Blog. I will touch on topics such as Islam, The Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), Jihad and Terrorism, Muslim Men and Women, Islamic Countries, Politics in Islam, The Life of this World, and The Afterlife. As far as Muslims who will visit my blog God Willing this blog will help you learn the Religion better and will acquaint you with the trustworthy sources where one should seek knowledge from. All negative or hater comments will be deleted, so dont waste ur time. Time is too precious to be wasted on negative energy. May The God guide us all to the Truth and to the Straight path Ameen.

And obviously he believed that that straight path involved killing kuffar. Yet I doubt that any of the usual suspects among the Islamic spokesmen in the U.S. (Honest Ibe Hooper, Boy Reza Aslan, etc. etc. etc.) will bother to explain to those kuffar just how Muhammad Yusuf came to misunderstand Islam even in the process of clearing up misunderstandings of it, and what they're doing to prevent that from happening in the future.

Pamela Geller has more on the website here.

Ethiopian and Kenyan self-defense are colonialism, but al-Shabaab's religious and cultural imperialism are A-OK, of course. In addition to its intention of imposing Sharia, the group has shown impulses like those of Sudan's Bashir toward the Arabization of Somalia. Those measures have included banning the teaching of English in schools in favor of Arabic, and tearing down posters in Somali language to replace them with Arabic ones.

An update on this story. "Somalia's Shebab vow to defeat Ethiopian forces," by Ali Musa Abdi for Agence France-Presse, November 20:

Somalia's Shebab rebels warned Ethiopia on Sunday they would "break the necks" of its troops, a day after reports that Addis Ababa sent hundreds of soldiers into the war-torn country.

"Soldiers of our enemy, the black colonialists of Ethiopia, made some movements into our region on Saturday, but they do not scare us," said Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas, the insurgent group's commander for the Hiran region.

"We will break the necks of the invaders ... Our troops are ready for anything, if the Ethiopian enemy tries to attack us," Ugas added, speaking on the Al-Qaeda-linked group's radio Al Andalus.

Think jihad globally, wage jihad locally.

Convoys of Ethiopian troops in lorries and armoured vehicles entered southern and central Somali regions, local elders said Saturday, although Addis Ababa has denied all reports.

Hardline Shebab insurgents control much of southern Somalia, but are also battling both the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and Kenyan troops in the far south, who crossed the border last month to attack rebel strongholds.

Kenya said Sunday that its "jets supported by naval fire" had destroyed two Shebab bases in the southern Lower Juba region, army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said in a statement.

Shebab fighters said they had destroyed a Kenyan navy boat at Madhawa island, south of the rebel-held port of Kismayo early Sunday morning, but Chirchir dismissed the reports, claiming no "warship was sunk or engaged".

The extremist insurgents also claimed Sunday they had ambushed Kenyan forces between the villages of Taabto and Dobley.

"We have ambushed the Kenyan Christian invaders...the mujahideen fighters destroyed one armoured vehicle and killed dozens of the enemy," Sheikh Ibrahim Mohamed, Shebab commander for Kismayo, said.

Kenya's army statement made no mention of the alleged attack, but local elders confirmed there had been heavy fighting.

"We have seen Kenyan military ambulances heading towards the area but I cannot say how many have died in the fighting," said Abdulahi Qorane, an elder.

"We have seen smoke and heard loud explosions but we are not sure if the smoke was a destroyed vehicle -- both sides have exchange heavy fire," said Ahmed Moalim, another elder.

Ethiopian troop convoys were also reported to have entered the south of Somalia after crossing through Kenya, which shares borders with both nations. [...]

"We shall defeat them and fight them any way we can," Shebab commander Ugas said. "The Ethiopian attack is a plan to oppose the implementation of Sharia law in Somalia by the enemies of our Muslim nation."

Muhammad Yusuf busy misunderstanding Islam

He was within an hour of finishing a pipe bomb, just a couple of days after Muslims protested in front of the NYPD against surveillance of their communities. More on this story. "Terror suspect Jose Pimentel plotted to kill cops and soldiers with bombs he was building in Manhattan apartment, authorities say," by Alison Gendar and Bill Hutchinson for the New York Daily News, November 20:

A lone wolf with an anti-American grudge has been charged with plotting to kill cops and soldiers with bombs he was building in his Manhattan apartment from an Al Qaeda recipe, officials said Sunday.

Jose Pimentel, 27, told cops he was within an hour of finishing a powerful pipe bomb when the NYPD raided his Washington Heights apartment at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Pimentel planned to test three bombs on mailboxes and was plotting to eventually use the explosives on soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kelly said Pimentel, an American citizen who was born in the Dominican Republic, also targeted a police station in Bayonne, N.J., and postal facilities.

Pimentel, who also went by the name Muhammad Yusuf, told a police informant that he hoped his attacks would grab the public’s attention to show “there was mujahideen in the city ready to wage Jihad.”

“The suspect was a so-called lone wolf, motivated by his own resentment of the presence of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as inspired by Al Qaeda propaganda,” Mayor Bloomberg said at a press conference Sunday night, adding there was no evidence Pimentel was linked to an organized Al Qaeda cell....

To whom did he speak about this? Didn't anyone take him aside and explain to him that all true Muslims abhorred Osama bin Laden and everything he stood for -- all, that is, except for a Tiny Minority of Extremists™? More on this story: "'Lone wolf U.S. citizen who wanted to change name to Osama Hussein' foiled in pipe bomb terror plot to kill police officers and returning soldiers in New York City," by Thomas Durante for the Daily Mail, November 21:

The New York Police Department has foiled an alleged terror plot targeting law enforcement and soldiers returning from the battlefield.

Jose Pimentel, 27, an Al-Qaeda sympathizer from Washington Heights, New York, was arrested yesterday at his apartment.

The charges against him include conspiracy, first-degree criminal possession of a weapon as a crime of terrorism, and soliciting support for a terrorist act.

He was believed to be acting as a 'lone wolf', New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a press conference tonight.

Jose Pimentel, 27, is an American citizen and Islam convert originally from the Dominican Republic.

He is believed to have been inspired by radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and further influenced by his online terror magazine, Inspire.

Pimentel spoke of changing his name to Osama Hussein in support of his two heroes, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

The NYPD counter-terrorism unit had been following him since May 2009, when he began speaking about violent jihad.

Pimentel turned his talk into action after the death of Awlaki on September 30 and began building a bomb, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

He faces several terrorism-related charges, including first-degree criminal possession of a weapon as a crime of terrorism.

Mayor Bloomberg said Pimentel was 'plotting to bomb police patrol cars and postal facilities as well as targeted members of our armed services returning from abroad.'

The NYPD's counter-terrorism unit has been tracking Pimentel since May 2009, when he began discussing his terror plans.

Pimentel, an unemployed American citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, had converted to Islam and was allegedly inspired by Al-Qaida - namely radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki....

But Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Pimentel was close to putting his deadly plan into action.

He said: 'We had to act quickly yesterday because he was in fact putting this bomb together. He was drilling holes and it would have been not appropriate for us to let him walk out the door with that bomb.'

Pimentel was reportedly able to build three pipe bombs using instructions found in an article in the online terror magazine Inspire.

The magazine featured an article entitled, 'How to build a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.'

He also intended to test the effectiveness of the bombs by placing them in mailboxes and detonating them.

His terror plot intensified from talk to action with the dealth of Awlaki, Inspire's publisher, in September....

I just got back from the David Horowitz Freedom Center's Restoration Weekend 2011 at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Florida, where I was on two panels: one on "Islam vs. Islamism" with Andy McCarthy, along with the artist Bosch Fawstin and Baroness Caroline Cox, and one on "Islamists in America" with Raymond Ibrahim, Daniel Greenfield, and Frank Gaffney, moderated by Jamie Glazov.

It was a stimulating weekend as always, perhaps more serious and grimly determined than other years. And that's understandable.

Spencer with Congressman Alan West (R-FL), the representative who knows more about the Islamic jihad threat than anyone else in Congress

With Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA), another courageous warrior for freedom, at a blurry moment

With Adam Hasner, candidate for U.S. Senate from Florida, and fearless truth-teller

Jihad Watch writers Robert Spencer and Raymond Ibrahim

Amy Peikoff (DontLetItGo.com), Spencer, Bosch Fawstin (The Infidel)

The David Horowitz bobblehead meets The Gorn from Star Trek

Every other story I have seen about this arrest identifies the man who was arrested only as Jose Pimentel, an "Al-Qaeda sympathizer," as if he were a non-Muslim who somehow had gotten the idea that Al-Qaeda was great, and thought he might detonate a bomb. But actually he was Muhammad Yusuf, yet another convert to Islam who somehow misunderstood his new, peaceful religion. Yet one thing is certain in the wake of this arrest: no one will be calling for an investigation into what mosques are teaching to converts. Anderson Cooper will not be on it. Bill Maher will pass. Chris Matthews will take no notice. And no other media outlet mentions his Muslim name because they don't think it is important. He is a terrorist, but his Islamic faith is unconnected to that. Coincidental. That it likely forms his motivations and goals in this plot is not a possibility they are willing to consider.

"Man Arrested and Charged in Bomb Plot," by Joseph Goldstein and William K. Rashbaum for the New York Times, November 20 (thanks to Axel):

Updated 7:47 p.m. | The authorities have arrested a man who law enforcement officials believe was planning to build and detonate a bomb in New York with government workers, returning military personnel and elected officials as the target, two people briefed on the case said on Sunday....

The defendant in the case, identified as Jose Pimentel, 27, had bought bomb-making materials and “began to build them,” said one person briefed on the case, who added that the Police Department had had the man under surveillance for about a year.

“The Police Department basically had an informant with this guy,” said a second law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. “The guy is sort of giving to the informant all of these material on bomb building and talking about building a bomb and supporting the mujahedeen by targeting — he’s kind of all over the place; sometimes it’s targeting servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan, sometimes it’s the police, sometimes its build it and test it, but it’s all over the place.”

“He was in the process of building three pipe bombs,” the law enforcement official said. “We weren’t going to wait around to figure out what he wanted do with his bombs. He was in Harlem about an hour from actually assembling the bombs,” but had all the “unassembled components ready to go.”...

The person briefed on the case described it as a “lone-wolf scenario” and said that Mr. Pimentel had been considering a possible array of targets that included government employees, lawmakers and military personnel returning from overseas service.

Mr. Pimentel, who is also known as Muhammad Yusuf, will face charges that include criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree as a crime of terrorism, which is considered an A-1 violent felony.

Mr. Pimentel made incriminating statements to an informant who was working with the Police Department, investigators said, and those conversations were recorded.

Investigators also said he bought materials to make a bomb at a 99 cent store and at a Home Depot on Exterior Street in the Bronx. At the Home Depot, he bought elbow joints, gloves and Christmas lights. He was under surveillance by the Police Department when he made those purchases.

Under surveillance? Will the Islamophobia never end?

After Youssef Qaradawi -- whom Western academics portray as a "moderate" -- commands Egyptian Muslims to vote only for Islamic parties and avoid non-Muslims, he hypocritically asserts his support for "every person of the Syrian people, including the Alawites, the Druze, and the Christians."

“Don’t Vote for Those Who Don't Accept Allah as their God, Islam as Their Religion and Mohamed as Their Prophet”- Qaradawi, by Coptic Solidarity, November 20:

Prominent Islamic advocate Youssef El Qaradawi averred that voting is a "religious obligation" and urged Egyptians not to vote for secularists or non-Muslims. Qaradawi stated that the Egyptian Military Council has no right to impose its constitutional document, and acclaimed the Islamic forces in Friday’s demonstration in Cairo. Qaradawi also resumed his denunciation of both the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Syria's Bashar El Assad, dubbing his family "the monster's family."

In his Friday address from Qatar, his country of residence, Qaradawi said: "Egypt's revolution is at the threshold of the elections which is the most essential stage and the purpose of the revolution". Qaradawi said that people are confident that, unlike its precedents, these elections won't be rigged; accordingly, he believes that there will be a massive turnout.

Qaradawi considered voting "a religious obligation" and "a mundane prerequisite." He urged Egyptians to look for the parties that adhere to piety and "eschew infidelity and the forbidden.”

Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood around the world, drawing an analogy between casting votes in elections and the provisions of giving testimony in Islam, said: "vouch for those who acclaim piety, truth, and Islam; don't vouch for a secularist, an agnostic, or those who don't accept Allah as their God, Islam as their religion and Mohamed as their prophet."

Qaradawi also commented on the Friday demonstrations entitled "The Millionary of the One Demand" and organized by the Islamic forces in Egypt to denounce the Military Council's proposed document of constitutional principles. He said: "In Egypt today, they gathered millions in Tahrir Square to stress their objection to the imposition of any documents intended to counteract the constitution".

He added: "drafting supra-constitutional principles is not acceptable; neither the Military Council nor anybody else is above the nation." He demanded the ruling Military Council to hasten the presidential elections to appease the people.

Regionally, Qaradawi claimed that Israel is taking advantage of the Arab and Islamic states' preoccupation with internal affairs to effect changes in Jerusalem. He said: "Israel wants to take advantage of our distraction, but we will never forget al-Quds and al-Aqsa mosque, which is in danger."

With regards to Yemen, Qaradawi reiterated his call for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, saying: "Millions of Yemenis spend their nights on the streets, what more does Saleh want? Does he want them to pray for his death? They are praying for his death and we are praying with them… they don't want you man… you should go!"

With regards to Syria, Qaradawi said that when Syria conceded the Arab initiative he expected that it would withdraw its army and thugs, free prisoners, and allow inspectors into the country, but it didn't. He added: "The Syrian regime does not care about the Arab League or the United Nations. They continue to kill the people while the Arab League is giving them more and more time."

He added: "We support the people, how can I take sides with the family of this Assad (lion) or monster. I stand with every person of the Syrian people, including the Alawites, the Druze, and the Christians." He greeted the Syrian Opposition National Council and its leader Borhan Ghalioun, telling Saleh and Assad to "await their destiny."

Here he goes again. Ron Paul and Barack Obama agree that jihad terrorism is our fault, caused by our actions, and capable of being ended by something that we do. It never occurs to either of them how ethnocentric and condescending this is: they both assume that Muslims are just passive reactors to American enormities, not people who might be able to think for themselves and hate us for reasons of their own that are independent of what we do or don't do -- such as the doctrine of jihad. "Ron Paul: ‘Flawed’ US policies led to 9/11," by Justin Sink for The Hill, November 20 (thanks to Wimpy):

Ron Paul said that American policymakers were at least partially at fault for the country being attacked on 9/11 during a discussion of foreign policy on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday.

Paul argued that the American military presence in Saudi Arabia - rather than ideological differences or anger over American prosperity - were motivation for the September 11 hijackers.

"Just remember that immediately after 9/11, we removed the base in Saudi Arabia, our policies definitely had an influence," Paul said. "To argue the case they want to do us harm because we're free and prosperous I think is a very dangerous notion, because it's not true."

Host Bob Schieffer then pressed Paul on whether that wasn't the equivalent of blaming America for the attacks.

"If you have a flawed policy, that may have influenced it… that's a far cry from blaming America," Paul responded.

"So what you're saying is that it was the government's fault," Schieffer then said.

"I'm saying the policymaker's fault," Paul responded. "[They] contributed to it, contributed to it."

Paul went on to say that if he became president, he would pull troops out of overseas bases, arguing that submarines and long-range missiles would work just as well as deterrents.

"Absolutely, and the people are with me on that, those troops oversees aggravate our enemies," Paul said....

Yes, indeed, just as American troops aggravated the Nazis in Europe in 1944 and 1945.

"I think the greatest danger for us now is to overreact… Iran doesn't have a bomb, there's no proof, and for us to overreact and talk about bombing Iran is much more dangerous," Paul said....

"You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward." - James Thurber

The city of Bradford has designed an anti-littering campaign aimed at the Muslim community that invoked Allah, saying "the whole of the Earth has been declared by Allah as a place of prayer for the Muslim."

It is highly disturbing to see a city government preach in this manner, let alone to use a line with supremacist undertones. The leaflets were withdrawn, but not before 16,000 were printed up in full color. Just what everyone needed to hear in a global fiscal crisis.

Maybe they should have just borrowed "Give a Hoot": "In the city or in the woods, help keep Dar al-Islam (er, Bradford) looking good."

"Binned: Anti-litter poster that was an 'insult to Muslims'," by Glen Owen for the Daily Mail, November 20 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A Labour council was at the centre of a race row last night after printing a leaflet targeted at Muslims that invoked the name of Allah in urging them to stop littering the streets.

Bradford City Council was accused of inciting racial hatred by publishing leaflets that showed rubbish-strewn pavements – and appeared to place the blame on Muslims.

The pamphlet, titled ‘Be proud of your environment’, used the Koran to lecture them about breaking the law and making a ‘horrible’ mess of the city.

It said: ‘We should respect Allah’s creations and the environments they live in. We should not act with ungratefulness by treating our surroundings with disrespect and throwing litter.’

It was aimed at an area of the city boasting a high concentration of Muslims and which the council says has a problem with messy streets.

'The pamphlet said: ‘Muslims are able to pray anywhere in the world . . . we always have to keep our place of prayer clean – so why not start with the streets and neighbourhoods that we live in?’

Conservative councillor John Robertshaw said he was ‘mortified’ to discover 16,000 of the ‘full-colour, glossy’ leaflets.

‘If these had gone out, the council could have been charged with inciting racial hatred, suggesting that litter dropping is exclusive to, or more prevalent among, Muslims,’ he said.

‘A leaflet encouraging people not to drop litter, specifically targeting believers in Islam, is so outrageous that I still find it hard to believe that this has happened.

'What next? Leaflets to individually alienate our Christian, Hindu and Buddhist residents?’

Last night, Ian Greenwood, the Labour leader of the council, admitted the idea had been insensitive and said that the leaflets had been withdrawn.

He told The Mail on Sunday a ‘well-intentioned’ junior official came up with the idea.

‘It was stopped by senior officials who realised it would cause offence.'

In this case, the violation does not concern the usual permit system that stacks the deck against non-Muslim houses of worship. This incident seems to involve a convenient technicality, as Indonesia tightens the screws against the Ahmadi sect across the country: in several provinces, they are banned outright.

Also noteworthy is the matter-of-fact statement that the thugs from the Islamic Defenders Front will be "monitoring" the mosque and reporting to the city administration. Allowing the Front to operate as an independent militia, let alone accepting its "services," will come back to haunt the Indonesian government, should the group become too strong and entrenched in society to control.

"City closes Ahmadi mosque, denies religious prejudice," by Andreas D. Arditya for the Jakarta Post, November 19 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The Jakarta administration denies any religious predilection in sealing off an Ahmadiyah mosque in East Jakarta this week.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Prijanto said that mosque was shut down because it violated a building permit.

Prijanto did not consider that the Ahmadis had unsuccessfully proposed to the local administration to convert the building permit from a private residence to a public building.

The Ahmadis had held religious services there for 21 years.

“Our local official sealed the building off after sending warning letters,” Prijanto told reporters at City Hall on Friday.

On Thursday, officials from the East Jakarta Building Supervisory Agency (P2B) and the City Public Order closed down At-Taqwa mosque after claiming that the owners of the premises had misused the building permit issued for the premises.

Prijanto said that issues regarding the Islamic sect had been decided by the central government through a ministerial decree.

The head of the East Jakarta branch of the Ahmadiyah, Aryudi Muhammad Shadiq, said the management of the mosque was fully aware of the building violation.

Aryudi said that they had been proposing to the local administration to convert the building permit from that for a private residence to one for a public building, but to no avail.

He questioned the city administration’s decision to seal off the mosque after allowing it to remain open for the past 21 years.

Following the closing of the mosque, a local Islam Defenders Front (FPI) branch said that they would monitor the sect’s activity and report to the city administration should the sect continue performing their religious services there.

It is unclear if this next section is intended to allude to the FPI:

Separately on Friday, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Untung Suharsono Radjab held a meeting with a number of mass organizations, including those notorious for their violent behavior, in Central Jakarta.

Untung said that the meeting was to seek input from the organizations regarding security issues in the capital. The police chief warned that members of any organization who resorted to violence and violated the law would be penalized. “We will process them according to the law.”

Three years ago, the central government issued a joint ministerial decree banning members of the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation (JAI) from propagating their religious beliefs, but allowed them to maintain their faith and perform their daily religious duties.

The decree was followed by a number of regional administrations issuing bans to prevent members of the Ahmadiyah sect from practicing their faith in public.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo also planned to issue a similar ban, but backtracked after realizing that such bylaws were illegal.

This editorial was published some time ago, and recently highlighted by CBN (thanks to Kenneth).

When we say the sorts of things said below, we're accused of all manner of ill intentions. So, is Mshari al-Zaydi a racist, or an Islamophobe? "The Muslim Brotherhood Spring," by Mshari al-Zaydi for Al-Arabiya, November 6:

Shock is acceptable if one is surprised by something completely unexpected.

This is something that does not apply in any way, shape, or form to some Arab and non-Arab writers, media figures, and [political] analysts, who are today expressing their shock and disappointment with regards to the course that the so-called Arab Spring has taken. Today, those who supported the Egyptian revolution are in a state of shock with regards to the domination of the political arena by religious parties and currents.

This is something that has expanded beyond the Egyptian scene. Indeed what we are seeing is a political Islamist tsunami occupying the scene and displacing the “civil” youth. In Libya, we find [religious] fundamentalists of all backgrounds, from those who have taken up arms, to those who are making speeches and giving sermons, inside the country and abroad, not to mention figures like Ali al-Salabi.

Whilst in Tunisia, the [Islamist] al-Nahda party, and supporters of its leader Rashid Ghannouchi, are in the political ascendency. As for Yemen, we have the Islah [Reform] party, not to mention the Muslim Brotherhood and the Huthi rebels.

I recall how many Arab writers at the beginning of this year - the year of the Arab Spring - prophesied that what we were witnessing were uprisings staged by non-political civilians and youth, and claimed that not a single radical or ideological slogan was chanted in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, or any other Arab public square.

They said that this proves that the Arab regimes were lying to the world – and to the political elites who champion the idea of the civil state – when they said that should their regimes be toppled, this would result in Islamists and religious fundamentalists coming to power. Those who supported the Arab Spring always countered that this was nothing more than a lie fabricated by these regimes to remain in power, and that the Arab Spring youth had proved their mettle and their belief in civil values.

Now, these same well-intentioned writers – or at least many of them – have returned to warn against the Arab Spring being hijacked and despoiled. They have expressed their confusion about the presence and popularity of these radical Islamists who are overwhelming the political scene, and are asking: where did the Facebook youth go?

These writes are perplexed. Some have claimed: this situation [hegemony of the Islamists] is the work of the remnants of the former regime that have reformed their ranks and are working to abort the revolution. Whilst others have claimed that there are foreign hands tampering with the revolution and attempting to alter its course, however they then go on to disagree as to just which foreign party is responsible for this. Is it Iran or Israel? The US or Saudi Arabia? Perhaps it is China, or maybe even the Comoro Islands? Who knows? It’s all just a shot in the dark!

Whilst there are also those who say that it is only natural for there to be confusion and a lack of vision during a post-revolutionary period, and that this is something that is often exploited by political figures. Of course those same writers and media figures were not voicing such opinions at the beginning of the year. In fact, they were attacking anybody who expressed any suspicion or scepticism regarding the outcome of these chaotic uprisings!

The realists amongst those who are now “shocked” by the outcome of these uprisings and revolutions, are now saying: fine, let the Islamists try their luck. Either they will develop in the same manner as Turkey’s Islamist political parties – which is what we want – or they will fail and we will be spared their evil in the future!

In my view, this last argument is misleading because it is based on a faulty assumption that Islamists in the Arab World have never been in power, and that this is their first opportunity to do so. However the facts show that Islamists have ruled Sudan and Iran and that they are now ruling Iraq (the al-Sadr and Maliki version of Islamism, at least).

This is not to mention the fact that Islamists have been strongly present in successive Jordanian and Yemeni governments, indeed the Islah party were partners in government with the ruling party in Yemen for a number of years.

Therefore this is a wrong assumption. The other issue is, what guarantee do we have that these religious fundamentalists will relinquish power once their failure is revealed, particularly as all the elements of power will be in their hands? Did this work out in Iran which has been ruled by Khomeneist disciples for over 3 decades?

Rather than expressing shock and surprise, the question that should be asked is: how should we deal with this critical period which should be called the Muslim Brotherhood Spring, not the Arab Spring?

The recent flurry of diplomatic activity, press reports that give an awful lot of detail about weapons and tactics, and the curiously timed announcement of a new "bunker buster" bomb suggest a new sense of urgency across the board regarding Iran's nuclear program, well beyond just Israel.

Whether it is a year that makes the difference, or less, or more, this much is true: the endless cycle of sanctions, waiting, and reports at the UN is not going to end with Iran, having gotten this far, saying, "Alright, fine. We give up. This latest round of sanctions is just a little too uncomfortable." There must be more action on all fronts than kicking the can down the road to the next report, or the end of that road will be an Iranian nuclear test.

"Israel: time running out to stop a nuclear Iran," from Reuters, November 19:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran is less than a year away from being unstoppable in its goal of producing a nuclear weapon, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with CNN released on Saturday.

In an advance transcript of an interview to air on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" program on Sunday, Barak said Israel was focused on the prospect of a nuclear Iran and what "should and could be done about it on time."

"It's true that it won't take three years, probably three quarters before no one can do anything practically about it because the Iranians are gradually, deliberately entering into what I call a zone of immunity, by widening the redundancy of their plan, making it spread over many more sites with many more hidden elements," he said.

Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, said a report earlier this month by the U.N. nuclear watchdog that Tehran appeared to have worked on designing an atomic bomb and may still be conducting secret research had had a sobering effect on world leaders and was driving urgent, intensive diplomacy.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report confirmed long-standing concerns that Iran aims to build a nuclear weapon, which Israel sees as a threat to its existence. Tehran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out possible air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

"I don't think that that is a subject for public discussion," Barak said when asked whether Israel was prepared to attack Iran to stop its nuclear ambitions.

He said a nuclear Iran would have deep repercussions for the Middle East, prompting countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt to "turn nuclear" and starting a countdown to putting nuclear materials in the hands of terrorists.

I just came back from my last panel at the Freedom Center's Restoration Weekend and found this lovely example of Peace and Tolerance in my inbox, sent from a "Mohammad Mohammad."

We are anti-Zionism . We want this regime sinister name to delete from the world map. We certainly have certainly Palestine will be freed and the people and there will be the Palestinian state will be formed and the future will be the Islamic Middle East. No doubt the victory 22-day war in Palestine before Israel and Hezbollah fighters in the war victory 33 days showed that eliminating Hamas is not a dream

And countdown eliminate Israel has started

DOWN WITH ISRAEL

It is noteworthy that we have never, in ten years since 9/11, seen Muslims anywhere in the U.S. mount a demonstration of comparable size against Islamic jihad terrorism and the supposed “hijacking” of Islam by terrorists. Even worse, the protesters failed to explain how they would propose to stop Islamic jihad terrorism in the U.S. without this kind of vigilance.

"Muslims to NYPD: ‘Respect us, we will respect you,’" from the Associated Press, November 18 (thanks to all who sent this in):

NEW YORK — Hundreds of Muslims prayed in a lower Manhattan park and marched to New York Police headquarters Friday to protest a decade of police infiltrating mosques and spying on Muslim neighborhoods.

Bundled in winter clothes, men and women knelt as the call to prayer echoed off the cold stone of government buildings.

"Being Muslim does not negate our nationality," Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid told the crowd of about 500 gathered in Foley Square, not far from City Hall and local courthouses. "We are unapologetically Muslim and uncompromisingly American."

The demonstration was smaller and more subdued than the Occupy Wall Street protests that led to clashes with police and made headlines worldwide. Police wore windbreakers, not riot gear, and protesters called for improved relations with police.

"We want for you to respect us," Abdur-Rashid said, "and we will respect you."

It was the first organized opposition to the NYPD’s intelligence tactics since an Associated Press investigation revealed widespread spying programs that documented every aspect of Muslim life in New York. Police infiltrated mosques and student groups. Plainclothes officers catalogued Middle Eastern restaurants and their clientele. Analysts built databases on Arab cab drivers and monitored Muslims who changed their names.

"Had this been happening to any other religious group, all of America would be outraged," said Daoud Ibraheem, 73, a retired graphic artist from Brooklyn.

That is probably true, since no other religious group has provided any cause for such surveillance. If any group did so, then it would be incumbent upon the NYPD and all other law enforcement bodies to do the same things they have done in reaction to Islamic jihad terrorism, while of course ending immediately any surveillance or other procedure that violates Constitutional protections.

For these protesters to have behaved as if the surveillance of their mosques and communities was motivated by simple “racism” and “Islamophobia” required them to ignore a particularly significant elephant in the room: the ongoing and increasingly common reality of jihad terror plots in the United States.

Following the prayer service, the Muslims — joined by about 50 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators — crowded the sidewalk for the short walk to the large police headquarters building known as One Police Plaza. They stayed only briefly, chanting for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s ouster, before returning to Foley Square.

Protesters carried signs that said "NYPD Watches Us. Who Watches NYPD?" A dozen or so uniformed police officers monitored the demonstration and followed the march, but there were no clashes between protesters and police...

"We’re peaceful people," said Dalia Nazzal, 18, a freshman at the City University of New York, a target of police infiltration. "We don’t deserve to be under surveillance."

I'm sure she doesn't, but she could make a stronger case for that by working sincerely against Islamic supremacism and jihad in her own community rather than complaining about counterterror efforts.

Mohamed Mahmoud, 40, the owner of a Brooklyn printing shop, said he knew several people who had been approached by NYPD officers trying to recruit them as informants. Documents obtained by the AP also show that police monitored even those Muslims who decried terrorism and partnered with the government to prevent violence.

"They think that all Muslims are criminals, and it’s not right," Mahmoud said.

No, they just want to find the ones who are.

More bad news for al-Shabaab: more resistance it can't starve into submission. "Ethiopian troops move into Somalia: witnesses," by Abdi Sheikh for the Associated Press, November 19:

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Scores of Ethiopian military vehicles pushed at least 80 km (50 miles) into neighbouring Somalia on Saturday, residents said, five weeks after Kenya entered Somalia to fight Islamist militants it blames for a wave of kidnappings on its soil.

"The Ethiopian troops, which are in convoys of armoured vehicles, come to us today, crossing from Balanbale district on the border," Gabobe Adan, an elder in the central town of Guriel told Reuters.

"They were in about 28 trucks and armed battle wagons - the armed vehicles are very big."

Other residents told Reuters that the Ethiopians had set up a base in Guriel and moved troops to other towns nearby.

Residents and officials in northeast Kenya later told Reuters that Ethiopian troops had also crossed through their towns and taken up positions near bases from where the Kenyan military is launching its offensive.

"We have seen Ethiopian troops. They are clearly known to us," a local named Lesamow Said told Reuters. "They arrived this evening at Damasa. Some of the soldiers crossed over to the Somalia side and started patrolling immediately."

People in the Kenyan town of Mandera, which is near both Somalia and Ethiopia, said the Ethiopians had passed through there in a convoy of 10 trucks and several armoured vehicles.

A spokesman for the Ethiopian government, Shimeles Kemal, would neither confirm nor deny the reports.

Another Ethiopian official told Reuters that an Ethiopian move to support the Kenyan assault on the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group was likely.

"There is a strong possibility that we will be sending troops to Somalia soon to support Kenya's operation against the al Shabaab extremists," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Our deployment could either be implemented under the umbrella of AMISOM or under another form, such as a separate operation alongside Kenya," he said. [...]

Senior Kenyan government ministers have shuttled around the east Africa region this week and travelled to the Gulf to drum up political and financial support for a coordinated campaign to rout the rebels.

Some analysts say Ethiopia may want to take advantage of al Shabaab's withdrawal from the capital Mogadishu in August to wipe out a group it sees as a threat to its stability.

Since that pullout, the militants, who want to introduce a strict version of sharia law, have resorted to suicide attacks and guerrilla-style tactics against African Union troops.

Although Ethiopian troops regularly cross the border with Somalia, and it has admitted opening "humanitarian corridors" into the country that it says are for food relief, residents said the numbers and locations of the troops were unusual.

"I have seen about 30 Ethiopian military vehicles myself. They have entered," another Guriel resident, Farah Hussein, told Reuters. "We are very happy to see them -- it is a sign of putting an end to al Shabaab."...

Why not? No screening -- absolutely none -- is done of Muslims who immigrate to the U.S. to try to determine whether or not they hold jihadist sentiments. As imperfect as such screening would inevitably be, the fact that there is none is an indication of how willfully blind official Washington is. They assume that only a tiny minority of Muslims are "Islamists," and know that it would be the height of "Islamophobia" to question prospective entrants into the country about these matters in any way. "Man with US passport blows himself up in Pakistan," from AP, November 19 (thanks to D. C. Watson):

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A suspected militant who blew himself up in southern Pakistan during a raid by security forces was carrying a U.S. and a Pakistani passport, authorities said Saturday.

According to a statement by Pakistan's paramilitary Rangers, the dead man has been identified as Saeed Abdul Salam. He detonated an explosive device Thursday when troops raided his apartment in the port city of Karachi.

Post-mortem tests on Salam's body confirmed the man died due to the explosion of a hand grenade, it said, adding "documents used for acts of terrorism were also recovered" from his possession....

This is the "Arab Spring" uprising that Barack Obama so enthusiastically endorsed. There will be no flowering of freedom and democracy; there will be an Islamic state.

I tried to tell you. More on this story. "Muslim Brotherhood, Islamist groups rally in Egypt's Tahrir Square," by Kristen Chick for The Christian Science Monitor, November 18:

Tens of thousands of Egyptians returned to Tahrir Square today to demand a quick transition to civilian rule. In a show of strength against the military junta's attempt to hold on to power, they challenged the military's ground rules for the new constitution and called for presidential elections by April 2012 – nearly a year earlier than the military's timeline.

The protest was called by the Muslim Brotherhood and other conservative Islamist groups, and the majority of the protesters appeared to be from Islamist groups. But enough Egyptians of all persuasions showed up that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) will find it hard to ignore or dismiss their demands....

Many protesters held signs that read “One demand: the transfer of power.” But in a reminder of the deep divisions that could complicate the transition, followers of a conservative strain of Islam, known as salafis, also waved religious banners and shouted, “the Quran is our constitution.” Some protesters complained that salafis had jeopardized the united front against military rule by introducing a religious agenda off-putting to liberals and secularists....

The Muslim Brotherhood, confident that it will gain a strong position in parliament through elections scheduled to start Nov. 28, and eager to play a large role in writing the next constitution, rejected the document and called for the protest in a showdown with the military council.

Liberals, secularists face choice: Military or Islamists?

Many liberal and secular parties also rejected the military’s grasp at power. But they are also wary of Islamist groups, and worry that those groups will restrict freedoms if they have a large role in writing the constitution....

No kidding, really?

Some liberal and leftist party leaders and candidates say they are willing to put up with a larger-than-desirable role for the military in politics rather than rule by Islamists. Others refuse.

“I, as a Muslim, am afraid of the salafis. But I can’t say that the alternative is to approve of military rule,” said Hadeel Khater as she held signs against the military rule in Tahrir. “If a salafi comes to power through democracy, we can vote him out in the next election. But if a military dictator comes, there is no way to get him out."

Good luck getting the salafis out, Hadeel.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Evangelical Christians are using high-tech devices such as solar-powered talking bibles to proselytize to Malay Muslims in Selangor, state lawmaker Datuk Hasan Ali said today.

Hasan, who is in charge of the state’s Islamic affairs portfolio, said the state’s religious authority (Jais) had discovered that Christian missionaries were now spreading their gospel through technologically-advanced means apart from setting up welfare groups providing cash and other financial aid to single mothers and the destitute.

He added that Jais’s research showed Christian evangelists were spreading their faith to young Muslim students in free tuition classes and counselling sessions, besides distributing Christian pamphlets in public places, homes, universities and places that were ostensibly called “community centres” to carry out their evangelical work.

The ex-PAS state commissioner disclosed this in a written reply to a question from Umno-Sungai Burong assemblyman Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias.

According to a website called Book of Joe, the palm-sized radio-like device contains all the books in the New and Old Testaments and is fitted with batteries that will run for almost 10 hours before needing to be recharged, whether by the sun, a light bulb or a nine-volt AC adapter. It costs only US$99.95 (RM310).

This latest disclosure, after a controversial August 3 raid by Selangor Islamic authorities on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya, could trigger another Christian-Muslim conflict.

Christian leaders have consistently denied claims that they are attempting to convert Muslims, but relations between the two creeds with roots in the Middle East continue to smoulder in multi-religious, multi-cultural Malaysia where the religion of the federation is Islam as stated in the Federal Constitution.

Hasan said Jais is working to counter Christian proselytism of Muslims by holding sessions to clarify Islamic doctrine and its laws.

The lawmaker said Jais [religious police] is also seeking to strengthen the enforcement of the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment 1988 as well as the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995.

Despite the total Malay-Muslim political control of the Malaysian government, police, courts, military, the media and what-have-you, and a vast gamut of totalitarian laws at their disposal, we find that Muslims can go from all powerful 'sons of the soil' to hapless victims in mere seconds. With no evidence of said 'conspiracies' required (or existing in the first place), any amount of Islamic-sponsored oppression and repression is justified indefinitely.

Around three quarters of Arab youth want to migrate to countries out of their region due to rising unemployment in Arab states, an Arab League official said.

Manama: Around three quarters of Arab youth want to migrate to countries out of their region due to rising unemployment in Arab states, an Arab League official said.

"Due to their poor participation in society and politics and to rising joblessness, 70 per cent of the Arab youth want to migrate out of the region," Khalid Al Wahishi, director of Population Policy and Immigration at Arab League, said.

Empower the youth

"We at Arab League have been warning member states at all our meetings to empower the youth. Unemployment, alarmingly high at 26 per cent, poor participation of youth and illiteracy are major hindrances to population policy development and implementation," Al Wahishi told delegates at a gathering of population experts from member-countries in Qatar.

The ratio of youth in the population of Arab countries is very high and requires efforts to empower them and raise their participation in politics, he said.

"The changes taking place in some Arab countries clearly show that it is the youth of these states who have played a leading role in the reforms movement," he said, quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula on Tuesday.

Unemployment

According to the official, the Arab League has been arguing for several years that there was an urgent need to tackle the problems of unemployment in member-states and to empower the youth and raise their participation in society and politics.

The 13th meeting of the heads of national councils and committees of the population in Arab countries in Doha, opened on Monday, is bringing together delegates from Arab League and global agencies concerned with population to review the outcome of political and social developments, population and youth issues in Arab states.

The delegates will also discuss the demographic situation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and review the activities of national population councils and committees in 2010.

This is what Barack Obama sent American forces to establish in Libya.

I tried to tell you. "Muslim Brotherhood goes public with first conference in Libya," from Reuters, November 18:

The Muslim Brotherhood has held its first public conference on Libyan soil after being banned for decades, and used the platform to set a moderate tone, calling for a broad national reconstruction effort.

As Libya emerges from a bloody civil war, many observers believe the next elections could pit religious political groups against secular parties, with better-organized Islamists such as the Brotherhood having a tactical advantage.

Speaking nine months to the day after the start of the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi that eventually ended his 42-year rule, Libyan Muslim Brotherhood leader Suleiman Abdelkader praised the rebellion on Thursday and called on Libya’s factions to unite....

The slickly organized event was heavy in revolutionary references, with the stage draped in the new national colors and speeches given by guest speakers from Tunisian moderate [sic] Islamist party Ennahda and Syria’s banned Muslim Brotherhood.

"Muammar Gaddafi's beating, abuse and ultimate death in the custody of former rebel fighters was an embarrassment to the previous transitional government. Officials in Tripoli said they were determined to handle his son's case with more order."

"Gaddafi's son captured, scared and without fight," by Marie-Louise Gumuchian for Reuters, November 19:

ZINTAN, Libya (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam has been captured, scared and with just a few thousand dollars, in the Libyan desert by fighters who vowed to hold him in the mountain town of Zintan until there was a government to hand him over to.

The fighters claimed his capture as gunfire and car horns expressed jubilation across Libya at the seizure of the British-educated 39-year-old who a year ago was set for a dynastic succession to rule the oil-producing desert state.

Saif al-Islam, who vowed to die fighting but was taken without firing a shot, was arrested overnight, officials said, and he was not injured during his seizure -- unlike his father, who was killed a month ago on Sunday after being captured in his home town.

"At the beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him," Ahmed Ammar, one of his captors, told Reuters.

Among other things, probably.

Saif al-Islam told Reuters that he was okay and that his hand was bandaged due to wounds sustained in a NATO air strike a month ago. Asked by Reuters on the Soviet-made cargo plane which flew him to the town of Zintan if he was feeling all right, Gaddafi said simply: "Yes."

The Zintan fighters, who make up one of the powerful militia factions holding ultimate power in a country still without a government, said they planned to keep him in Zintan, until they could hand him over to the authorities.

Prime minister-designate Abdurrahim El-Keib is scheduled to form a government by Tuesday, and the fate of Saif al-Islam will be an early test of its authority. Libyans want to try him at home before, possibly, handing him over to the International Criminal Court which accuses him of crimes against humanity.

The European Union urged Libyan authorities to ensure Saif al-Islam was brought to justice in cooperation with the ICC whose prosecutor is heading for Libya soon to discuss where and how the legal process will take place....

All of the self-righteous bullying over the mosque, and on the other hand, all of the fawning in much of the press, has come to this.

An update on this story. "Con Ed bids to zap Ground Zero mosque," by Dareh Gregorian and Melissa Klein for the New York Post, November 18 (thanks to Awake):

Con Edison wants a judge to green-light the eviction of the would-be developer of the controversial mosque near Ground Zero — because, the utility claims, he doesn’t have a prayer of paying the $1.7 million that he owes in back rent.

At a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, Con Ed lawyer Scott Mollen yesterday portrayed Sharif el-Gamal as a deadbeat slumlord and far too cash-strapped to pay back what he owes.

“They’re $1.7 million in arrears, and they have not come close to demonstrating they have the ability” to pay up on the rent at 51 Park Place, Mollen told Justice Richard Braun.

Mollen asked the judge to lift a restraining order barring Con Ed from booting Gamal from the site.

Gamal’s lawyer, Matthew Hearle, insisted that his client “has the means” to pay but hasn’t done so because he is challenging Con Ed’s “inflated” figures.

Con Ed owns a former substation on the western half of the property, and the mosque developers own a five-story building on the eastern half. The buildings, which used to be connected years ago, at one time housed a Burlington Coat Factory store.

Gamal’s Park51 leased the substation with an eye toward buying it. It would then knock down both buildings to build a mosque and community center.

More: "Con Ed Wants Ground Zero Mosque Out," from My FoxNY, November 18 (thanks to Infidel Task Force):

NEW YORK -- Con Edison wants a judge to give it the green light to evict the would-be developer of a controversial community center and mosque near Ground Zero, arguing he does not have a prayer of paying the $1.7 million he owes in back rent.

At a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, Con Ed lawyer Scott Mollen portrayed Sharif el-Gamal as a deadbeat slumlord who is far too cash-strapped to pay back all the money he owes the utility.

"They're $1.7 million in arrears, and they have not come close to demonstrating they have the ability" to pay up on the rent at 51 Park Place, Mollen told Justice Richard Braun.

Mollen was trying to convince the judge to lift a restraining order barring Con Ed from giving Gamal the boot from the site.

The lawyer noted that Gamal is currently being sued by four banks for failing to pay loan guarantees, and also owes $230,000 in back real estate taxes -- and he also has not paid up on a $30,000 power bill.

He said another indication of Gamal's money woes is that three of the buildings he owns currently have 754 building code violations, 80 percent of which are for "extremely hazardous" or "hazardous" conditions. If Gamal had the money, Mollen suggested, he would simply pay to fix the problems.

"There's a mountain of evidence that shows a person in significant financial distress," Mollen said.

Gamal's lawyer, Mattthew Hearle, said his client "has the means" to pay the rent, but they believe the amount is tremendously overinflated and they plan on challenging the utility's figures. They maintain the actual back rent they owe is closer to $250,000.

Con Ed owns a former substation on the western half of the property, at 51 Park Place, and the mosque developers own a five-story building on the eastern half.

The buildings were connected years ago and used to house a Burlington Coat Factory store. Gamal's Park51, which had been leasing the substation from Con Ed with an eye toward buying it, wants the two buildings so it can knock both down and build a $100 million, 15-story community center.

After years of stalled lease negotiations, Con Ed raised the rent from $2,750 a month, a rate set in 1972, to $47,437 a month, retroactive to July 31, 2008. The judge said he would rule on Con Ed's request at a later date.

Iran is the Acme Company arming jihadist coyotes bent on devouring the Israeli roadrunner. This was thought to be a more fruitful path than Anvil and Umbrella Jihad.

In all seriousness, though, the sophistication of weapons present in the Gaza Strip continues to grow at an alarming rate, as described below. "Iran trains Gazans to operate anti-tank missiles," by Yaakov Katz for the Jerusalem Post, November 17:

A select group of Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip have undergone extensive military training recently in Iran, turning them into expert operators of sophisticated anti-tank missiles, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The IDF believes that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have obtained several hundred advanced Russian-made antitank missiles – such as the Kornet and the Fagot – which have a range of more than 4 kilometers and are capable of penetrating armored personnel carriers and some IDF tanks.

Terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip had a small number of these missiles ahead of Operation Cast Lead – Israel’s offensive against Hamas in 2009 – but only used them in a handful of known instances.

“They were not trained well then, and as a result, the missiles were not effective,” a senior IDF officer explained this week. “Since then, the groups have significantly increased the stockpile and have also sent specific terrorists to Iran for extensive training where they became anti-tank missile experts.”

The level of expertise was demonstrated earlier this year when Hamas fired a Kornet anti-tank missile at a school bus near Nahal Oz, which killed 16-year-old Daniel Viflic.

The missile was fired from a distance of close to 3 kilometers and the operator had to fire in between the Gaza security fence and electrical cables. “He also had to hit the bus, which was not easily seen on the road,” the officer said, explaining the complexities of the attack as a demonstration of the level of expertise in Gaza.

The anti-tank missiles are obtained by Hamas in several different ways. In some cases, they are purchased directly from Russia by Syria and are then transferred to Hamas or Hezbollah.

In other cases, Hamas operatives buy the weaponry on the black market and then smuggle it into the Gaza Strip via the tunnels it maintains under the Philadelphi Corridor.

“The Gaza Strip is completely different today than what it was almost three years ago,” a senior defense official said. “The amounts of weaponry are significantly higher as well as the type of weaponry and its sophistication.”....

No particular ideological affiliation is mentioned here. They're just four young men who must have gotten their hands on a sinister, cast-off version of Things to Do on a Rainy Day.

Tiny Minority of Extremists, plus four: an update on this story. "UK police charge four with terrorism offenses," from Reuters, November 18:

LONDON (Reuters) - British police charged four men from the central English city of Birmingham Friday with terrorism offences linked to Pakistan.

The men were arrested Tuesday as part of a police counter-terrorism investigation in which eight others have also been charged.

West Midlands Police said in a statement the four men would appear in court in London Saturday.

They face charges of fundraising for the purposes of terrorism, traveling to Pakistan for training and traveling abroad to commit acts of terrorism.

Police named the four as Khobaib Hussain, Ishaaq Hussain and Shahid Kasam Khan, all 19 years old, and Naweed Mahmood Ali, aged 24.

Their arrests were pre-planned and not made in response to any immediate threat to public safety, police said Tuesday.

"Last Sunday, [Hamadi] Jebali, the party's number two official, alarmed some by bringing up 'the caliphate'."

The Ennahda party did not sweep him under the rug in embarrassment for reportedly going on about his personal aspirations to be a modern-day successor to the first few rulers of the entire Islamic world after Muhammad's death, the "rightly guided" caliphs. They have not reacted with alarm at the implied aspirations for ruling beyond Tunisia's borders. No, he was a favorite for the office of prime minister, and it is now more or less official that he will assume the office. That speaks volumes.

We tried to tell you. "Islamist Jebali to be Tunisian PM," from Agence France-Presse, November 19:

Hamadi Jebali, of the Islamist Ennahda party, will be Tunisia's next prime minister, under a deal struck between the country's three main parties, a senior politician said.

Abdelwaheb Matar, a senior official in the Congress for the Republic party, said the parties had also agreed that his grouping's veteran rights activist and opposition politician Moncef Marzouki would become Tunisia's president.

Tunisians last month held historic democratic elections nine months after the January ouster of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. They were the first polls staged as a result of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Tunisians were voting for a 217-strong constituent assembly to draw up a new constitution and appoint the caretaker government until the country calls a general election.

Ennahda won the most seats, with 89.

It put forward Jebali for prime minister as it went into talks with the leftist Congress for the Republic, which won 29 seats, and Ettakatol, which won 20, over who should occupy the senior political posts.

The three parties also agreed that Mustapha Ben Jaafar of Ettakatol would occupy the third key post, president of the constituent assembly, Matar told AFP.

But the deal is subject to the approval of the assembly itself, which holds its first meeting on Tuesday, he added.

The deal was also confirmed by a leading figure inside Ettakatol, who cautioned that the discussions about the prerogatives of the future leaders had not ended.

He said an official announcement on the nominations would be made "by Monday" as talks would continue over the weekend about sharing out portfolios in the government.

The first task of the constituent assembly is to draw up a new constitution for the country after the ouster of Ben Ali by a popular uprising on January 14. The new executive will run Tunisia until general elections are called.

Jebali, 63, an Islamist, spent more than 15 years in Ben Ali's jails. His candidature for the post of prime minister was announced by Ennahda a few days after the October 23 elections.

The Ennahda party, which vowed to pursue moderate policies after it won the elections, has provoked concern about its radical roots by evoking the caliphate and criticising single mothers.

Last Sunday, Jebali, the party's number two official, alarmed some by bringing up "the caliphate", an Islamic system of government based on sharia law.

UPDATE: A few people have asked me how I could write this book after writing The Truth About Muhammad. It's simple: The Truth About Muhammad is a biography of Muhammad based on the earliest Muslim sources. That is important because whatever the historical value of that material, Muslims believe it and act upon it. Did Muhammad Exist? examines the historical value of that material -- and finds it quite weak as actual history.

---

Wednesday night when I debated Anjem Chaudary and Abu Bara on democracy vs. theocracy, I discussed some of the topics that I examine at length in my forthcoming book, Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry Into Islam's Obscure Origins, which will be published next Spring by ISI (the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, not the Pakistani spy service).

I just received the cover image and thought I'd share it with you. It features a 16th-century Persian image of Muhammad with face veiled, since he cannot lawfully be depicted according to Islamic law. The veiling of his face is of course perfect for my book's theme -- the opening chapter of Did Muhammad Exist? is entitled "The Man Who Wasn't There," and details how for the first 60 years after the Arab conquests of the Middle East, Persia and North Africa began, neither the conquerors nor those whom they conquered made any mention of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, or Islam.

That is extremely odd for a warrior army that was supposed to be energized and inspired by the words of the Qur'an and the example of Muhammad. To try to understand why this may have been, and how Islam actually originated, is the preoccupation of this book.

And if you missed Wednesday night's debate, here is the video:

We tried to tell you. "Islamist parties take to the street against the military, threaten violence," from Asia News, November 18:

Cairo (AsiaNews) – Thousands of supporters of Islamist parties rallied today in Tahrir Square to protest against excessive power wielded by the military. Led by the Muslim Brotherhood, the demonstration saw pro-democracy parties stay away. Although they too are against the military, they also oppose Islamist parties’ strong-arm tactics. The latter object to plans that would make the military the guardian of ‘constitutional legitimacy’, and thus give them a final say on the 28 November elections. Unless the proposed constitutional change is not shelved, Islamists say they would escalate their campaign.

“The Muslim Brotherhood are provocateurs,” said Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesman of the Egyptian catholic Church. “They are using these demonstrations to flex their muscle vis-à-vis the military and the nation. However, they are also showing their truer, most intransigent face, which they have cloaked so far under a veneer of moderate Islamic political activism. This could play in favour of pro-democracy parties who have Egypt’s interests at heart, and are not just vying for power.”

Public opinion polls indicate that the Muslim Brotherhood is leading among voters, especially in country’s poorest region, with about 30 per cent. Their camp includes some of the most intransigent and radical Islamic groups like Salafis who are the main instigators of anti-Christian violence.

For example, dozens of Salafis, hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails, yesterday disrupted the memorial service for the victims of the massacre of Christians of 9 October, traditionally held 40 days after death.

More on this story:

For four hours, the procession of 500 people was blocked on a road that leads from a Coptic neighbourhood to the square where Egyptian state TV is located. Eventually, mourners were able to leave but could not make it to site of the memorial service. The attack left 32 people injured, Copts but also police agents brought in to stop the violence.

“Unfortunately, it is too early to know what will happen over the next few months or if, as some analysts predict, the Muslim Brotherhood will win the elections,” Fr Greiche said.

Egypt, the clergyman added, is very different from Tunisia, Algeria or Libya where Muslim represent more than 90 per cent of the population, and Christians are few and usually foreign-born.

“In our country, the Christian community is ancient and represents more than 10 per cent of the population, which is more than 8,000,000 people. Despite their divisions, Liberal parties are winning people over, especially the better educated,” the clergyman explained.

Nevertheless, “The situation remains very critical. We must be ready for any scenario and support those who are willing to take a stand for their country.”

Qatar was part of the coalition to support the NTC in ousting Gaddafi, sending six fighter jets. They seem to have to missed the memo that this is all about "democracy." "Libya UN envoy says Qatar arming Islamists," from Reuters, November 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

TANGIER, Morocco Nov 18 (Reuters) - Libya's U.N. envoy Mohammed Abdel Rahman Shalgam on Friday urged Qatar to stop meddling in his country's domestic affairs, accusing the fellow Arab nation of providing funds and weapons to Libyan Islamists.

"There are facts on the ground, they (Qatar) give money to some parties, the Islamist parties. They give money and weapons and they try to meddle in issues that do not concern them and we reject that," Shalgam told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Moroccan city Tangier.

"The Qatari state is still providing assistance to some (Libyan) parties and they are giving them money and we reject this totally," he added.

Quite the Shoman

Noting that Islamic law forbids musical instruments and music itself except in some strictly defined circumstances will bring you swift charges of "ignorance" and "Islamophobia." I guess this "popular Islamic scholar" is actually an ignorant Islamophobe.

Hadith Qudsi 19:5: "The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance." (The Hadith Qudsi, or holy Hadith, are those in which Muhammad transmits the words of Allah, although those words are not in the Qur'an.)

Muhammad also said:

(1) "Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance."

(2) "On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress."

(3) "Song makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water does herbage."

(4) "This community will experience the swallowing up of some people by the earth, metamorphosis of some into animals, and being rained upon with stones." Someone asked, "When will this be, O Messenger of Allah?" and he said, "When songstresses and musical instruments appear and wine is held to be lawful."

(5) "There will be peoples of my Community who will hold fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments to be lawful ...." -- 'Umdat al-Salik r40.0

Sharia Alert from Egypt: "Islamic scholar Shoman crashes Hisham Abbas concert," by Sarah Raslan for Ahram Online, November 16 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Hundreds of students attending a Hisham Abbas concert on Tuesday night at the Nile Academy campus in Mansoura, capital of the Daqahliya governorate in Egypt's Delta region, were surprised when popular Islamic scholar Hazem Shoman entered the stage uninvited to condemn the event, which he described as 'monkar', or sinful.

Shoman occupied the stage and told the audience that singing is 'haram', or forbidden, to which the students responded with chants against the scholar.

In an effort to prevent clashes between the students and Shoman’s supporters, the academy's vice president Mohamed Abdel Ghaffar and security officials escorted the scholar from the venue after discussions.

Tuesday night's incident was not the first of its kind for the Islamic scholar who had previously crashed a fine arts party at Mansoura University's College of Pharmacy in the name of Islam.

Shoman had also claimed presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei's son-in-law is Christian in an attempt to tarnish the candidate's reputation among Muslims.

Islamic law forbids Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men, which is why that charge would hurt ElBaradei. Muslim men can marry non-Muslim women, but not the other way around, so that the Islamic community is always growing at the expense of the non-Muslim community.

On Hudson NY (via RaymondIbrahim.com) I compile last month's persecution, a snippet of which follows

[...] Meanwhile, not only are Western governments apathetic, but it was revealed that "Obama's top Muslim advisor blocks Middle Eastern Christians' access to White House." Newt Gingrich asserted that Obama's "strategy in the Middle East is such a total grotesque failure" and likened the "Arab spring" to an "anti-Christian spring." Ann Widdecombe accused the British government of "double standards in its threats to cut aid to countries which persecute gay people while turning a blind eye to persecution against Christians." Even Christian pastors in the West, apparently more concerned about appearing tolerant and in "dialogue" with Muslims, are reluctant to mention persecution to their flock.

Categorized by theme, the rest of October's batch of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is hardly limited to) the following accounts, listed according to theme and in alphabetical order by country, not necessarily severity...

Demand justice for a prior attack, get attacked again. Supporters of a "Islamist" political party reportedly joined in. Welcome to the "new" Egypt. "Dozens hurt as Christian march attacked in Cairo," from Agence France-Presse, November 17:

Hundreds of Coptic Christians marching in Cairo on Thursday came under attack by assailants throwing stones and bottles and 25 people were lightly injured in subsequent clashes, a security official said.

They were marching to demand justice for the Christian victims of a clash with soldiers in October that left at least 25 people dead, most of them Christians.

The official said the Copts were attacked in the northern Shoubra neighbourhood with stones and bottles, and that some among them responded in kind.

He said supporters of an Islamist candidate for upcoming parliamentary election joined in the attack on the Copts.

An AFP correspondent on the scene said hundreds of riot police were deployed to the area and that the clashes had eventually subsided.

Copts, who make up roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, complain of discrimination in the Muslim-majority country.

There has been a spike in sectarian clashes since a popular uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.

The deadliest took place on October 9, when thousands of Christians protesting an attack on a church clashed with soldiers.

Witnesses said the soldiers fired on the demonstrators and ran them over with military vehicles, which the military denies.

There is ample evidence to refute the military's claims.

The military said a number its soldiers were killed in the clash.

State television reversed its position, saying there were no casualties, after reports of casualties were used to incite violence against the Christians. If the existence of casualties among the soldiers is again to be the official line, it is a reversal of a reversal.

This measure is not the first of its kind. In January, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik "directed the authorities to block websites and [texts] 'propagating an anti-Islam agenda'." And now, part of the magic list, from a sidebar in the same link as this report:

Athlete's foot
Flatulence
Jesus Christ
Monkey crotch
Back door
Bewaquf (foolish)
Bakwaas (nonsense)
Wuutang (a presumed reference to American rap group the Wu-Tang Clan)

The claim might be made that "Jesus Christ" was banned to ensure "respect." But the ban would have a unique and disproportionate potential impact on Christian users.

You can't make this stuff up, but the war on free speech is never held up by reason or practicality. "Pakistan telecoms authority to block 'obscene' texts," from BBC News, November 17:

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has told mobile phone companies to begin blocking text messages containing "obscene" words.

Mobile phone companies Telenor Pakistan and Ufone confirmed to the BBC that the PTA has sent them a "dictionary" of banned words and expressions.

The PTA has reportedly ordered operators to begin screening text messages by 21 November.

Ufone say they are now working on how to block the offending words.

Ban first, figure out the particulars later. In the meantime, will there be prosecutions for violating the ban?

A letter dated 14 November, apparently written by Muhammad Talib Doger, an official at the PTA, has been leaked to Pakistani media.

It states that mobile phone operators should begin screening the words, provided on a list attached to the letter, within seven days.

"We have received both the dictionary and the memo and we're discussing a way forward," said Anjum Nida Rahman, corporate communications director for Telenor Pakistan.

The ban is a reaction to consumers' complaints of receiving offensive text messages, Mohammad Younis, a spokesman for the PTA, told The Guardian newspaper.

"Nobody would like this happening to their young boy or girl," he said. He added that the list was not finished and that the authority would continue to add to it.

'What am I missing?'

An unconfirmed version of the PTA's list is being circulated online, containing hundreds of words and expressions in both English and Urdu.

According to this version, the entries range from those too obscene to repeat to the bizarre.

Some of the choices on the list have baffled Pakistani mobile phone users, many of whom have taken to Twitter to ridicule the move.

Syed Adnan Yousuf, tweeting as @AdnanWhy, asked: "Why is 'head lights' banned? What am I missing here?"

People will find plenty of ways around the ban:

Some people have suggested bypassing the ban by replacing words with their number on the PTA's list.

Pakistan has seen a big increase in mobile phone use in recent years - 100m Pakistanis are now estimated to be mobile phone users.

Nobody wanted to be on the pimp committee. Everything else had to wait.

As observed here, there is a noteworthy obsession with prostitution in many Islamic communities, where it is often threatened as the consequence of this or that reform in favor of women's rights. Never mind those "temporary" Islamic marriages, of course. That's different.

"Loya jirga: Afghan elders reject 'pimp's number 39'," from BBC News, November 17:

Officials at a meeting of elders in Kabul changed a committee's number after delegates rejected 39 because of an Afghan belief that the number is associated with pimps.

Delegates at the gathering, or loya jirga, convened by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, divided into 40 groups to consider Afghan-US relations.

41 is the new 39:

Elders refused to take part in group 39 until its number was changed to 41.

The number is held as a mark of great shame across Afghanistan.

Correspondents say some believe the taboo started because a pimp had 39 on his vehicle number plate. But others say it dates from an old way of calculating numbers called "Abjad".

Many delegates at the loya jirga voiced their fervent opposition to being part of committee 39, one attendee told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul.

''One delegate said: 'I don't want to return to my area and be called a pimp. I don't care if it is true or not, but people out there believe in it. Look no one wants to have a vehicle with number plate 39. And yet, you want me to be in 39?''' the member said.

But there were some who saw the outcry as an unnecessary diversion from more important matters.

"It is sad to see delegates raise such issues at such an important meeting. We have more important things to deal with," one delegate from northern Afghanistan said.

"But when I raised it, everyone else told me to shut up. Everyone said, they didn't want to be called [a pimp] or their children and family members harassed in streets, schools and neighbourhoods. So than a committee 41 was established,'' the delegate continued.

Officials at the loya jirga said they never expected this to be a sticking point at the gathering, which is considering reconciliation with the Taliban as well as future Afghan-US relations.

''We needed 40 committees and we created 40. But a special solution was found for a 'special problem','' the official said.

In June, vehicle licensing officials in Afghanistan said that new registration plates with the number 39 were stacking up because of the Afghan aversion to the number.

"These are all troubling signs for all those who wanted a secular Libya." I tried to tell you. "Libya’s Islamists Ransack Mosque Graves in Power Struggle," by Christopher Stephen for Bloomberg, November 17 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Libyan gunmen broke into the Saif al-Nasr mosque in Tripoli early on Nov. 8, smashed open a wooden sarcophagus and removed the remains of Saif al-Nasr, a scholar who died 155 years ago, and a former imam, Hammad Zwai.

“These bodies have been moved to a Muslim cemetery,” announced graffiti on the walls, explaining the disapproval by some Islamists of the Sufi Muslim tradition of burying scholars and teachers in mosques to honor them.

Muslims pushing for a strict intepretation of Islamic law are jostling for power in the chaos that has gripped Libya since the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi, the third North African leader after those in Egypt and Tunisia to fall in the Arab Spring.

Last month protesters holding signs proclaiming “We Are Here to Purify the Honor of Tripoli” forced the early closure of the capital’s first fashion show since Qaddafi’s 42-year rule in Tripoli ended in August.

“I was scared; I wiped off my makeup and went home,” said Jasmin Abdul Aziz, a 22-year-old student who was one of five models at the event and once paraded a $5,000 dress studded with diamonds in a Qaddafi-era fashion show. “Before, we would wear shorts in the streets. Now, look around you, nobody does.”

The man responsible for maintaining security in the city is Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the head of the Tripoli Military Council and former Guantanamo Bay inmate. The council doesn’t regard the mosque break-ins as a crime and is awaiting the formation of a religious council to rule on the matter, according to his deputy, Mohammed Goaider.

‘Not A Crime’

“It is not a crime, but it is not the right time for the bodies to be removed,” Goaider said in an interview. If the religious council issues a fatwa, an Islamic religious edict, demanding the removal of the bodies, security units will do the work, he said.

Belhaj was the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which opposed Qaddafi in the 1990s and is listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. After joining the Taliban in Aghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks, he was captured and held by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 before being sent to Libya, where he spent seven years in a prison until his release last year.

“We are 99 percent Muslim,” said Emhemmed Ghula of the February 17th Coalition, a prominent political group that supports Belhaj. “Our country is a conservative country.”

‘Troubling Signs’

Tripoli is still controlled by a patchwork of militias, with the National Transitional Council unable to impose its authority over regional military bodies such as the Tripoli Military Council.

“These are all troubling signs for all those who wanted a secular Libya,” Shashank Joshi, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said in a phone interview. “Libya is a conservative country, so some amount of that is to be expected, but desecrating graves and closing down fashion shows encroaches on freedoms.”

The NTC says a new constitution, which will be drafted by a panel elected by June, must have Islamic law, or Sharia, as its “principal” source.

Acting Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib is due to present his Cabinet on Nov. 20 to the NTC. Among the groups vying for posts are the Freedom, Justice and Development party, which says it is modelled on the moderate Islamic AKP party that has governed Turkey since November 2002, and the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which says it is secular.

Women Fearful

“The civil state that we yearn for, there is no conflict with that and Sharia as the source of legislation,” NTC spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga told reporters on Nov. 15.

How Sharia will be interpreted remains uncertain until the constitution is drafted, and in the meantime tensions between secular and Islamist groups are surfacing in all spheres.

“We are still in the midst of Libya thrashing out its new institutions,” Joshi said. “There will be a long period of instability in which these things will continue. As long as it can remain peaceful, it’s OK.”

At a five-day conference being held in Tripoli’s Radisson Blu Al Mahary Hotel, women’s groups from across the country voiced fears about their rights.

“If they apply Sharia, everything will be good. It is a system to organize society,” Aya Blaou, a Tripoli medical student, said in an interview. “What I am afraid about is that Sharia rules are used against us.”

Civilian Administration

Belhaj’s supporters insist that Islam must be respected, and say that they support democracy.

“Those who break these stones, they are following al- Qaeda,” said Mohammed Abdulla, one of several armed uniformed fighters guarding the mosque. “We will not let them in.”

Women in Tripoli are feeling the heaviest burden to conform. They have been under pressure to dress conservatively since Qaddafi’s downfall, Abdul Aziz said.

She blamed Belhaj and his insistence on a strict interpretation of Islam, and warned that violence may break out if he continued the policy.

“The young people will not allow it,” she said. “We have to have a new revolution.”

We'll see.

"The memo sent to Adm. Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer at the time, reportedly offered to curb support to Islamist militants from Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI."

"Pakistani ambassador to US caught in controversy," by Chris Brummitt for the Associated Press, November 17:

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani government said Thursday that it has not decided whether to accept a resignation offer from its ambassador to the U.S. over a reported attempt to enlist Washington's help to rein in the country's military after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The government has summoned Ambassador Husain Haqqani to Islamabad to question him about any role he may have played in the growing controversy, which was first disclosed in an Oct. 10 column in the Financial Times, said Farhatullah Babar, a Pakistani presidential spokesman.

Mansoor Ijaz, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin, said in the column that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked him on May 9 — a week after U.S. commandos killed bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town — to pass a message from President Asif Ali Zardari to the U.S. asking for help. Ijaz did not name the diplomat.

Zardari was reportedly worried that the U.S. raid had so humiliated his government, which did not know about it beforehand, that the military may stage a coup — something that has happened repeatedly in Pakistan's history, said Ijaz.

The memo sent to Adm. Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer at the time, reportedly offered to curb support to Islamist militants from Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI, in exchange for American assistance, Ijaz said.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has called the Financial Times column "a total fabrication."

But Mullen's spokesman, Capt. John Kirby, confirmed to Foreign Policy's website Wednesday that Mullen did receive the memo from Ijaz, but he did not find it credible and ignored it.

Haqqani said Thursday that he did not write or deliver the memo, but offered his resignation to end the controversy.

"I do not want this non-issue of an insignificant memo written by a private individual and not considered credible by its lone recipient to undermine democracy," Haqqani told The Associated Press.

Haqqani is expected to travel to Islamabad in the next few days so that the government can determine who should be blamed for the incident, Babar said. He said the government has not received a formal letter of resignation from Haqqani, and talk of what would happen to him was "premature."

One again wonders how those in charge of discerning "sexy" eyes will be chosen. Perhaps there will just be a perfunctory "Sexy/Not Sexy" training PowerPoint.

More on this story. "Saudi moral committee threatens to cover “tempting” women’s eyes," by Manar Ammar for Bikya Masr, November 16:

Women with sexy eyes in Saudi Arabia may be forced to cover them up, according to the spokesperson of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) in the conservative Gulf kingdom.

Spokesman of the Ha’eal district, Sheikh Motlab al-Nabet said the committee has the right to stop a women whose eyes seem “tempting” and order her to cover them immediately.

Saudi women are already forced to wear a loose black dress and to cover their hair and in some areas, their face, while in public or face fines or sometimes worse, including public lashings.

The announcement came days after the Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported that a Saudi man was admitted to a hospital after a fight with a member of the committee when he ordered his wife to cover her eyes. The husband was then stabbed twice in the hand.

The CPVPV is Saudi’s Sharia, Islamic law, executive arm and was founded in 1940 to ensure Islamic laws are not broken in public, yet over the years, the committee has been largely criticized over its human rights violations.

In 2002, the committee refused to let female students out of their burning schools in Mecca for “not wearing the proper head cover,” which contributed to a large number of dead.

15 young girls died in the fire and dozens more were injured. The CPVPV men banned the firemen and policemen from accessing the girls as “it is not okay for girls to be seen without their full Islamic dress in front of strangers.”

The committee, which only accepts and trains volunteers, has questionable powers on the Saudi street, as they operate under the supervision of the King himself.

A Wikileaks document released last year mentioned that “wild Western-style parties” are regularly held at royal palaces in Jeddah, away from the reach of the committee, who stands helpless against any royal violations.

It was reported that the parties had alcohol, drugs, dancing and sex, according to American consulate wires published by the whistle-blower organization.

Not even your field trip to the Amalgamated Wingnut factory in fifth grade was this lame. These students were from "Isfahan universities," but how free they were to opt in or out of this trip is not clear (what would happen if someone said "no"?). In any case, the creepiness inherent in this exercise, with its implication of using human shields in a potential mass suicide, seems lost on the Iranians.

"Iranian students form human shield near nuclear site amid fears of Israeli attack," from Haaretz, November 15:

Hundreds of students on Tuesday formed a human chain around the uranium conversion plant in central Iran, in a demonstration staged by students to show that Iranians were ready to sacrifice their lives if the nuclear sites were attacked by Israel.

It followed a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that accused Iran of using its nuclear technology to seek atomic warheads. Israel also threatened to attack the Islamic state's nuclear sites.

After holding a noon prayer session in front of the plant's main gate, students from Isfahan universities shouted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." They vowed to resist in the event of an attack...

The South Carolina hospital, in its efforts not to offend, wound up offending far more people, and has thought better of it. An update on this story. "South Carolina Hospital To Allow Santa Back After Public Backlash," from Associated Press, November 16 (thanks to Kenneth):

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A Charleston Santa who was sent packing from a local hospital is one again unpacking his sack.

The Hollings Cancer Center of the Medical University of South Carolina said Wednesday volunteer Frank Cloyes may again dress up as Santa Claus to cheer patients.

Cloyes has been playing the role for two years, but on Tuesday was told his services weren’t needed because the hospital is affiliated with the state and there had been complaints from patients who were not Christian.

And the Santa of popular culture is so Christian to begin with...

The hospital released a statement saying there was a “passionate response” from the public and patients after The Post and Courier ran a story about Santa’s firing.

The hospital now says it will allow holiday traditions of all faiths because of the emotional benefits they provide for patients.

There are several celebrated incidents in which Muhammad lashed out violently against poets, ordering their murder for the crime of making fun of him -- including Abu ‘Afak, who was over one hundred years old, and the poetess ‘Asma bint Marwan. Abu ‘Afak was killed in his sleep, in response to Muhammad’s question, “Who will avenge me on this scoundrel?” Similarly, Muhammad on another occasion cried out, “Will no one rid me of this daughter of Marwan?” One of his followers, ‘Umayr ibn ‘Adi, went to her house that night, where he found her sleeping next to her children. The youngest, a nursing babe, was in her arms. But that didn’t stop ‘Umayr from murdering her and the baby as well. Muhammad commended him: “You have done a great service to Allah and His Messenger, ‘Umayr!” (Ibn Ishaq, 674-676).

"Famous Chechen poet shot dead in 'contract killing,'" from RIA Novosti, November 16 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Prominent Chechen poet Ruslan Akhtakhanov who had angered Muslim separatists in the North Caucasus was shot dead in Moscow.

Akhtakhanov was shot five times in the head and leg as he parked his car on Begovaya St. late on Wednesday, police said.

He was a fervent advocate of Chechnya remaining part of Russia and was also believed to have spent 47 days held hostage by Chechen separatists.

Akhtakhanov was also a member of Russia’s Writers Union.

Authorities are treating the incident as a contract killing.

“The way in which the murder was carried out suggests it had been ordered,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told reporters on Wednesday....

Shocker: Tunisia's Islamic supremacists, after being dubbed "moderate Islamists" in the mainstream media, are showing themselves to be anything but "moderate."

And so here we go yet again: I tried to tell you.

When I started warning last winter that Islamic supremacists were in the best position to take advantage of the uprisings in Tunisia (and Egypt), most people were drinking the mainstream media Kool-Aid about a new birth of democracy and freedom. One commenter here at Jihad Watch asserted that "these revolts are spontaneous outbursts against the ruling elite. There is not one shred of evidence of any Islamist involvement." Another's scorn was intense: "You are taking advantage of the ignorance of your readers to spoon feed them this nonsense about jihad in tunisia [sic] while the Tunisian people are clamoring for democracy and freedom."

These comments are indicative of a tendency: Islamic supremacists generally charge their opponents with "ignorance" and treat them with arrogance and contempt, even when those upon whom they are heaping contempt are correct, and even when the Islamic supremacists know that they are correct.

Another aspect of this scenario that never, ever changes is the childlike credulity of Western officials and the mainstream media in buying Islamic supremacist claims to be "moderate."

"Tunisia's Islamist party showing signs of radical shift," from Agence France Presse, November 17:

TUNIS: Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party, which vowed to pursue moderate policies after it won elections last month, has provoked concern about its radical roots by evoking the caliphate and criticising single mothers.

Many Tunisians loathed Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's dictatorship for its unchecked corruption and allergy to genuine democracy, but his toppled regime once stood out as an Arab state with a progressive approach to gender equality.

Souad Abdelrahim, the sole female member of Ennahda not to wear a headscarf, last week sparked concern that the party might seek to curb women's rights.

She said single mothers were "inconceivable in an Arab Muslim state" and added "they must marry" in order to attain full rights.

The 47-year-old pharmacist, who was touted during the election campaign as the moderate face of Ennahda, banned under Ben Ali, later said she was "misunderstood", and described single mothers as "victims".

Tunisia's social network activists, credited with propelling the uprising that ousted Ben Ali in January, promptly labelled Abdelrahim the "Tunisian Sarah Palin" after the conservative former Alaska governor.

Then, last Sunday, Hamadi Jebali the party's number two official who is tipped as a possible prime minister, alarmed some by evoking "the caliphate", an Islamic system of government based on sharia law.

Social network satirists pounced again, producing images of Jelabi wearing a regal turban.

Another Ennahda moderate, the lawyer Samir Dilou, tried to persuade the public that his colleagues' remarks were taken out of context, a move consistent with the party's efforts to ease anxiety about its Islamist bend.

He was bombarded on Facebook and branded the party's "chief executive in charge of denials".

Less humourous political analysts have warned that with these recent comments Ennahda has revealed its true nature, even as the party strives to form an interim coalition government.

"Up to the elections, Ennahda made no missteps, and avoided controversy. But since their victory, they have relaxed", said the writer and journalist Sofiene Ben Fahrat.

"We shouldn't forget that Ennahda has an ideological and strongly religious frame of reference," she added.

Party founder and leader, Rached Ghannouchi, had called in the 1970s for the strict application of Sharia Islamic law to restore order in a society he said had become depraved.

He has become more moderate in his statements over the years, and recently reaffirmed the party's "commitment to the women of Tunisia, to strengthen their role in political decision-making, in order to avoid any going back on their social gains."

The party won 89 out of 217 seats in Tunisia's new constitution-writing assembly, and needs to court allies from other camps if it hopes to govern.

But, said Ben Fahrat, Ennahda is itself partially divided, and it's not clear whether its conservative or liberal wings will drive policy moving forward.

Political analyst Kamel Ben Younes agreed a number of "dangerous blunders" since winning the elections, clashing with its pre-vote commitment to "republican politics", showed an internal rupture.

There was an ideological divide, he said, between a younger generation of supporters with a modernist approach and a leadership with a mindset closer to that of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egypt-born conservative Islamist party, he said.

Ben Younes, who runs a Tunisian foreign policy journal, recalled Ennahda's efforts to reassure moderates after the election, notably targeting potential investors and womens' rights groups.

"The more they reassure us, the more they worry us," he said.

Ben Younes is more aware and knowledgeable than the learned analysts in the West, who are not worried, but simply reassured.

Last night on ABN I debated the jihadists Anjem Chaudary and Abu Bara on the question of whether democracy or theocracy was a better model for society.

Spontaneous Sharia enforcement. These attacks are less likely to be the work of Hizballah, which is busily devouring the Lebanese state from within, and more likely to be some other jihadist group. "Blasts target nightclub, alcohol shop in south Lebanon," from Agence France-Presse, November 16:

Two bombs targeting a nightclub and a liquor store exploded early Wednesday in the Lebanese city of Tyre, one of the few areas of the conservative south where alcohol is available.

Some conservatives enjoy a bit of the sauce.

There were no casualties in the 5:00 am (0300 GMT) blasts but they caused severe damage to property, a security official told AFP.

The army cordoned off the area and launched an investigation.

One of the bombs targeted the Elissa Queen Hotel on the seafront of the scenic Mediterranean coastal town. The hotel and nearby buildings were immediately evacuated.

The hotel nightclub is a favourite with UN peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon, an AFP correspondent in the town said.

The second bomb struck a shop selling alcohol in the Christian quarters of Tyre, a multi-confessional city especially popular with tourists during the summer season.

A string of liquor stores in south Lebanon were forced to close this year in the face of a campaign to rid the south of alcohol.

Alcohol is widely available in multi-confessional Lebanon, which is considered the most liberal country in the Arab world.

It is banned, however, in areas under the control of Shiite militant group Hezbollah and radical Sunni movements.

It is no accident or coincidence that Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.

Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'" And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

Nonetheless, the media drumbeat is constant: honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. And as long as that continues, we will see more and more murders like this one.

"Jordan: Man cuts sister throat to cleanse family honour," from ANSAmed, November 16 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, NOVEMBER 16 - A man from the southern city of Tafilah killed his sister in public by slitting her throat for being involved in a romantic relation, police sources said on Wednesday.

The 18 year old man attacked his sister in the main bus station of the town, before being arrested, said the sources.

Eye witnesses said medics arrived when the girl was making her last breath as investigation continued to determine other culprits in the brutal attack.

The killer told police he wanted to kill his sister to cleanse the family honour after the victim admitted involvement with a man who wanted to marry her, said the police sources.

The death brings number of women killed in the name of honour to nearly 15 since the start of the year, say officials.

The government promised to adopt an iron fist policy with such cases following campaigns from human rights groups.

But activists say strict social habits make it difficult to eradicate such phenomena.

Killers are often handed a sentence between six months to one year for the murder, say activists.

Six months to a year. So you see.

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 bamboozled and wheedled and pleaded and 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.

But of course the hard-Left Guardian, long a tool of Islamic supremacists, doesn't consider that.

"Fake terror plots, paid informants: the tactics of FBI 'entrapment' questioned," by Paul Harris in the Guardian, November 16 (thanks to Paul):

David Williams did not have an easy life. He moved to Newburgh, a gritty, impoverished town on the banks of the Hudson an hour or so north of New York, at just 10 years old. For a young, black American boy with a father in jail, trouble was everywhere.

Williams also made bad choices. He ended up going to jail for dealing drugs. When he came out in 2007 he tried to go straight, but money was tight and his brother, Lord, needed cash for a liver transplant. Life is hard in Newburgh if you are poor, have a drug rap and need cash quickly.

His aunt, Alicia McWilliams, was honest about the tough streets her nephew was dealing with. "Newburgh is a hard place," she said. So it was perhaps no surprise that in May, 2009, David Williams was arrested again and hit with a 25-year jail sentence. But it was not for drugs offences. Or any other common crime. Instead Williams and three other struggling local men beset by drug, criminal and mental health issues were convicted of an Islamic terrorist plot to blow up Jewish synagogues and shoot down military jets with missiles.

Even more shocking was that the organisation, money, weapons and motivation for this plot did not come from real Islamic terrorists. It came from the FBI, and an informant paid to pose as a terrorist mastermind paying big bucks for help in carrying out an attack. For McWilliams, her own government had actually cajoled and paid her beloved nephew into being a terrorist, created a fake plot and then jailed him for it. "I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone," she told the Guardian.

Lawyers for the so-called Newburgh Four have now launched an appeal that will be held early next year. Advocates hope the case offers the best chance of exposing the issue of FBI "entrapment" in terror cases. "We have as close to a legal entrapment case as I have ever seen," said Susanne Brody, who represents another Newburgh defendant, Onta Williams....

But the issue is one that stretches far beyond Newburgh. Critics say the FBI is running a sting operation across America, targeting – to a large extent – the Muslim community by luring people into fake terror plots. FBI bureaux send informants to trawl through Muslim communities, hang out in mosques and community centres, and talk of radical Islam in order to identify possible targets sympathetic to such ideals. Or they will respond to the most bizarre of tip-offs, including, in one case, a man who claimed to have seen terror chief Ayman al-Zawahiri living in northern California in the late 1990s.

That tipster was quickly hired as a well-paid informant. If suitable suspects are identified, FBI agents then run a sting, often creating a fake terror plot in which it helps supply weapons and targets. Then, dramatic arrests are made, press conferences held and lengthy convictions secured.

But what is not clear is if many real, actual terrorists are involved.

Another "entrapment" case is on the radar too. The Fort Dix Five – accused of plotting to attack a New Jersey army base – have also appealed against their convictions. That case too involved dubious use of paid informants, an apparent over-reach of evidence and a plot that seemed suggested by the government.

Burim Duka, whose three brothers were jailed for life for their part in the scheme, insists they did not know they were part of a terror plot and were just buying guns for shooting holidays in a deal arranged by a friend. The "friend" was an informant who had persuaded another man of a desire to attack Fort Dix.

Duka is convinced his brothers' appeal has a good chance. "I am hopeful," he told the Guardian.

But things may not be that easy. At issue is the word "entrapment", which has two definitions. There is the common usage, where a citizen might see FBI operations as deliberate traps manipulating unwary people who otherwise were unlikely to become terrorists. Then there is the legal definition of entrapment, where the prosecution merely has to show a subject was predisposed to carry out the actions they later are accused of.

Theoretically, a simple expression, like support for jihad, might suffice, and in post-9/11 America neither judges nor juries tend to be nuanced in terror trials. "Legally, you have to use the word entrapment very carefully. It is a very strict legal term," said Greenberg....

Often they just seem to be "fishing expeditions". In the Newburgh case, the men involved met FBI informant Shahed Hussain simply because he happened to infiltrate their mosque. In southern California, FBI informant Craig Monteilh trawled mosques posing as a Muslim and tried to act as a magnet for potential radicals.

Monteilh, who bugged scores of people, is a convicted felon with serious drug charges to his name. His operation turned up nothing. But Monteilh's professed terrorist sympathy so unnerved his Muslim targets that they got a restraining order against him and alerted the FBI, not realising Monteilh was actually working on the bureau's behalf.

Muslim civil rights groups have warned of a feeling of being hounded and threatened by the FBI, triggering a natural fear of the authorities among people that should be a vital defence against real terror attacks. But FBI tactics could now be putting off many people from reporting tip-offs or suspicious individuals.

"They are making mosques suspicious of anybody. They are putting fear into these communities," said Greenberg. Civil liberties groups are also concerned, seeing some FBI tactics as using terrorism to justify more power. "We are still seeing an expansion of these tools. It is a terrible prospect," said Mike German, an expert at the American Civil Liberties Union and a former FBI agent who has worked in counter-terrorism.

German said suspects convicted of plotting terror attacks in some recent FBI cases bore little resemblance to the profile of most terrorist cells. "Most of these suspect terrorists had no access to weapons unless the government provided them. I would say that showed they were not the biggest threat to the US," German said.

"Most terrorists have links to foreign terrorist groups and have trained in terrorism training camps. Perhaps FBI resources should be spent finding those guys."

Also, some of the most serious terrorist attacks carried out in the US since 9/11 have revolved around "lone wolf" actions, not the sort of conspiracy plots the FBI have been striving to combat. The 2010 Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, only came to light after his car bomb failed to go off properly. The Fort Hood killer Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot dead 13 people on a Texas army base in 2009, was only discovered after he started firing. Both evaded the radar of an FBI expending resources setting up fictional crimes and then prosecuting those involved.

Yet, as advocates for those caught up in "entrapment" cases discover, there is little public or judicial sympathy for them. Even in cases where judges have admitted FBI tactics have raised serious questions, there has been no hesitation in returning guilty verdicts, handing down lengthy sentences and dismissing appeals....

Yes. Because most people would not blow up others for any amount of money.

Here is more info on the dhimmi whitewash that is the "reality" show All-American Muslim. "'All-American Muslim' hides the truth about Islam," by Pamela Geller at WorldNetDaily, November 15:

Sunday evening, The Learning Channel premiered its new "All-American Muslim" program, which it described as a "powerful series" taking viewers "inside the rarely seen world of American Muslims." And it uncovers a "unique community struggling to balance faith and nationality." Balancing faith and nationality? Why is that a struggle? Because they conflict.

The premise behind the creation of the show is the fictional construct "Islamophobia." "All-American Muslim" is designed to counter "Islamophobia" by showing Muslims who aren't terrorist monsters, but ordinary people living ordinary lives, balancing tradition and modern life, dealing with their families, their jobs, etc.

Yet based on the most recent FBI statistics, hate crimes against Muslims are at record lows – the lowest since 9/11. Contrast that to the record highs in anti-Semitic attacks against the Jewish people; so where's TLC's Jewish family series? [...]

The main danger of "All-American Muslim" is that it's misleading. The Muslims portrayed in the show are free to choose their path. That is the beauty of living in a free society. But so many aren't – not only in Muslim countries, but here in America. Who speaks for Jessica Mokdad, who lived not far from where this show is taping, in Dearborn, Mich.? Mokdad was honor murdered by her stepfather, Rahim Alfetlawi, for "not following Islam" in the same city that refuses to run my freedom bus ads that offer help for those who wish to leave Islam but are threatened by their families. The ads were designed to help girls like Jessica. Despite our free-speech victories in the Detroit court, which ordered the ads to run, Detroit's SMART Transit refused to run them – and Mokdad was honor murdered the week my ads were supposed to run.

The danger is in the deception and obfuscation of the truth, which results in the intellectual disarming of the American people. "All-American Muslim" is trying to show nominal Muslims as the norm, as if their existence takes away the threat from devout Muslims. It is mentioned once but never explained: The man has to convert to Islam because a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man. This is a supremacist measure designed to make the Muslim community always expand at the expense of the non-Muslim one. But there is no hint of that in this show.

Clearly this program is an attempt to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and to bully them into thinking that being concerned about the jihad threat would somehow victimize these nice people in this show.


The problem is not people, it's ideology. The show doesn't address that.

Read it all.

Hamas-linked CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicte