Malaysian Muslims protest Court ruling allowing woman to leave Islam for Buddhism

Islamic Tolerance Alert and Siti Fatimah Update: "M'sian muslims protest ruling on renunciation of Islam," from AFP, May 16 (thanks to Twostellas):

PENANG (Malaysia) - A GROUP of Muslims in Malaysia's northern Penang state staged a protest on Friday to denounce an Islamic sharia court's rare ruling allowing a Chinese convert to renounce her faith.

Last week the Penang Sharia Court allowed 38-year-old Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, or Tan Ean Huang, to renounce Islam and return to Buddhism.

Siti, a cook, told the court she had never practised Islamic teachings since converting in 1998 to marry Iranian Ferdoun Ashanian.

The couple married in 1999 but her husband left her months later and she filed for renunciation two years ago.

Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia, an Islamic hardline group, gathered outside the court and submitted a memorandum urging a judicial review of the decision.

'We outrightly disagree with the court decision as it is against Islamic laws. In Islam, a person who insists on leaving the religion must be punished with death,' the group's president Abdul Hakim Othman told reporters....

I trust Ali Eteraz will soon be winging his way to Malaysia to explain the True, Tolerant Islam to Abdul Hakim Othman.

Iranian intelligence agents arrest six Baha'i leaders

"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were well-coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i community at large."

Islamic Tolerance Alert. "Iran's arrest of Baha'is condemned," from CNN, May 16:

(CNN) -- Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were seized and imprisoned this week, the religious group said. The act prompted condemnation and concern from the movement and a top American religious freedom panel.

Iranian intelligence agents searched the homes of the six on Wednesday and then whisked them away, according to the Baha'i's World News Service. The report said the six are in Evin prison and that the arrests follow the detention in March of another Baha'i leader.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, and the incident has not been mentioned in Iran's state-run media.

"Their only crime is their practice of the Baha'i faith," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i international community to the United Nations.

The group -- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- says the arrests are reminiscent of roundups and killings of Baha'is that took place in Iran two decades ago.

"Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Baha'i governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or execution of 17 individuals," Dugal said.

"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were well-coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i community at large," she added.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom -- a government panel that advises the president and Congress -- condemned the Wednesday arrests, as well as another in March. The commission chairman called the acts the "latest sign of the rapidly deteriorating status of religious freedom and other human rights in Iran."

The commission said the seven were members of an informal Baha'i group that tended to the needs of the community after the Iranian government banned all formal Baha'i activity in 1983.

The commission chairman, Michael Cromartie, echoed the fears that the "development signals a return to the darkest days of repression in Iran in the 1980s when Baha'is were routinely arrested, imprisoned, and executed."

The Baha'is are regarded as "apostates" in Iran and have been persecuted there for years.

"Since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed more than 200 Baha'i leaders, thousands have been arrested and imprisoned, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government and university jobs," the commission said.

The commission said that since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power a few years ago, Baha'is "have been harassed, physically attacked, arrested, and imprisoned."

"We suspect him of insulting people": Dutch cartoonist could face years in prison

He could end up serving more time than some jihadists in European criminal justice systems do on terrorism charges.

More on the circumstances of Gregorius Nekschot's arrest, including the charges and possible penalties he faces. "Dutch cartoonist arrested," by Toby Sterling for the Associated Press, May 16 (thanks to GS):

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch political cartoonist is facing possible hate crimes charges.

The cartoonist, who works under the pseudonym Gregorius Nekschot, was arrested Tuesday and held overnight before being released.

Officials say a criminal investigation is continuing into whether Nekschot's work targets people because of their race or religion.

Nekschot is known primarily for cartoons mocking Muslims and leftists.

However, spokeswoman for his publisher describes him as a satirist who targets "any strong ideology." [...]

A spokeswoman for the Amsterdam public prosecutor, Sanne van Meteren, said Nekschot remains a suspect in a criminal investigation.

"We suspect him of insulting people on the basis of their race or belief, and possibly also of inciting hate," she said.

Each is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison under Dutch hate laws - or two years for multiple offences.

Van Meteren said prosecutors were investigating a complaint that dates to 2005. They are now focusing on eight or nine published cartoons, she said, but prosecutors are not disclosing which ones.

Nekschot did not answer police questions during his arrest, she said, citing his right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.

The spokeswoman for Xtra said police had seized Nekschot's computer, sketches, CDs, DVDs and telephone at the time of his arrest.

CSI meets Orwell, in a story that has all of the trappings of a counter-terror operation -- except it's about cartoons.

This is not a joke: Afghan hijacker now working at Heathrow airport

Well, he has experience.

"Afghan hijacker 'working at Heathrow,'" by Graham Tibbetts in the Telegraph, May 16 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

An Afghan hijacker who forced an airliner to fly to Britain is now working at Heathrow, it has been disclosed.

Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was one of a gang of nine that threatened to blow up an internal flight in Afghanistan, along with 173 passengers and crew, unless they were granted political asylum.

The Afghan hijackers forced the Boeing 727 to divert to Britain where they surrendered to police and the SAS after a 70-hour stand-off at Stansted Airport, Essex in February 2000.

Mohammidy, of Hounslow, Middlesex, is now working as an office cleaner for British Airways....

Egyptian Parliament: Female Genital Mutilation is A-OK [UPDATE: Or is it?]

UPDATE: Jihad Watch reader Anonymous has kindly alerted me to this MEMRI blog post, "Egyptian People's Council Nixes Sections Of New Children's Law," May 16. It says, "However, the People's Council did decide to ratify the section banning female circumcision."

This flatly contradicts the Ynet story below. So what did the People's Council actually do? If anyone knows, please email me at director[at]jihadwatch.org.

--------

The lukewarm condemnation of this practice by a group of Islamic scholars in Cairo in 2006 got enormous international publicity. Will this? What do you think?

"Egyptian Parliament Okays Female Genital Mutilation," from Israel National News, May 16 (thanks to Pamela):

(IsraelNN.com) Conservatives in the Egyptian parliament have made female genital mutilation (circumcision) legal again in Egypt. The conservatives succeeded in striking several laws that had been passed by the parliament's religious Shura Council in the past. The laws canceled also include a law limiting marriage age to 18 and up, a law permitting a mother to register a child on her name and a law allowing neighbors of a family that beats its children to report the beatings to the police....

Dutch police arrest cartoonist for "publishing cartoons which are discriminating for Muslims and people with dark skin"

Gregorius Nekschot is quite the equal opportunity offender, having penned cartoons offensive to Catholics and Jews (e.g., Muhammad molesting Anne Frank) alongside his emphasis on lampooning Islam and Muhammad.

What did he get arrested for? Lampooning Islam and Muhammad. Thomas Landen at the Brussels Journal has the story:

The Dutch authorities have arrested the cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot (a pseudonym. Nekschot means deathblow, litt: “shot in the back of the neck” [An interview with Nekschot here]). The judicial authorities in Amsterdam said yesterday that the cartoonist was arrested as a suspect for the criminal offense of “publishing cartoons which are discriminating for Muslims and people with dark skin.”

Prior to the Islam-related complaint, the "dark skin" aspect doesn't seem to have mattered as much. And by the way, how does a cartoon discriminate?

The cartoonist was arrested on Tuesday, while the police searched his house for “discriminating evidence.” His computer, backups, usb sticks, mobile phone and a number of drawings were confiscated. Nekschot was released two days later but it is possible that he will be charged following a complaint in 2005 by the Dutch imam Abdul Jabbar van de Ven, an indigenous Dutchman who converted to Islam.

And the poor, offended imam is on record approving of Theo Van Gogh's murder.

According to the Dutch public prosecutor Nekschot “makes his profession” of drawing cartoons of “an insulting and/or discriminating nature.” Ernst Hirsch Ballin, the Dutch minister of Justice, a Christian-Democrat, said that it took the police three years to discover the real identity of the cartoonist.

Nekschot, a friend of the late Theo van Gogh, the Dutch film maker who was ritually slaughtered by a Muslim fanatic in 2004, hides his real identity in order to avoid unnecessary risks. Hans Teeuwen, a Dutch stand-up comedian and friend of Nekschot’s, told the Dutch media yesterday that the police had told Nekschot as they released him earlier that day that “he has now lost his anonymity.” Teeuwen said this was “a rather intimidating remark.”

As spokeswoman of Xtra, Nekschot’s publisher, said today: “He was arrested with a great show of force, by around 10 policemen.” The spokeswoman asked that her name not be used because the cartoonist and publisher have received death threats. Nekschot told the Dutch newspaper Het Parool today that police officers had told him: “What you draw is worse than what they did in Denmark. Do you realize what can happen to you if your identity gets known?” The cartoonist fears for his live if he is being sent to jail. “As the maker of those cartoons my life is in danger in prison,” he said.

Nekschot’s work is rude and often sexually explicit. As such it is characteristic for the Dutch liberal mentality and not beyond the limit in the Netherlands. In his cartoons, however, he mocks the multicultural society, and that does seem to be beyond all bounds.

Queen Elizabeth II dons headscarf to visit Turkish mosque

When you're in a Muslim country, you should adapt your behavior to accommodate Muslim sensibilities. And when Muslims are in a non-Muslim country, non-Muslims should adapt their behavior to accommodate Muslim sensibilities.

Got it?

"Queen dons Muslim headscarf to visit Turkish mosque," by Gordon Rayner in the Telegraph, May 15:

Wearing a Muslim-style headscarf and walking in stockinged feet, the Queen toured one of Turkey's most important mosques during her first state visit to the country in 37 years.

Her Majesty, who had been wearing a wide-brimmed hat and white shoes, adhered to the Islamic dress code, which requires women to cover their heads and all visitors to remove their footwear, during the visit to the 15th century Green Mosque in the eastern city of Bursa.

The monarch is making a four-day state visit to highlight and strengthen Britain's ties with Turkey, which the UK is supporting in its campaign to become a member of the EU.

The Queen was accompanied on the trip to the former capital of the Ottoman empire by the Duke of Edinburgh and President Abdullah Gul's wife Hayrunnisa.

The party listened to an Imam reciting a passage from the Koran and visited the tomb of Sultan Mehmet I, who built the holy complex....

Fitzgerald: Where Muslims prefer to live

There are, within Robert Spencer’s General Evisceration of CAIR’s Omer Subhani, some details that deserve to be held up for special inspection.

This is the part that struck me the most. Spencer says:

What's more, the Spanish Muslim Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), who traversed the Mediterranean on his way to Mecca in the early 1180s, found that even Muslims preferred living in Crusader lands. He lamented that near Tyre he passed a series of farms where "the inhabitants were all Muslims, but they live in comfort with the Franj [Franks, or Crusaders] -- may Allah preserve them from temptation! Their dwellings belong to them and all their property is unmolested....Now, doubt invests the heart of a great number of these men when they compare their lot to that of their brothers living in Muslim territory. Indeed, the latter suffer from the injustice of their coreligionists, while the Franj act with equity."

Does anyone doubt that Muslims today flock to non-Muslim lands because they are better run? They are safer, the lives of the citizens are more secure, and the possibility of redress against authority is greater. There is access to the wonders of the modern world that are the product of a mental freedom, and an absence of the inshallah-fatalism that is the hallmark of mind-forged-manacled Muslims.

UK dhimmi cops fail in attempt to whitewash jihadism in mosques

A major victory for truth and common sense. "Police apologise over mosque show," from the BBC, May 15 (thanks to all who sent this in):

West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have apologised for accusing the makers of a Channel 4 documentary of distortion.

The apology and the promise of £100,000 were made at the High Court on Thursday.

It follows comments made about a Dispatches programme, Undercover Mosque, which tackled claims of Islamic extremism in the West Midlands.

The police statement said the force was wrong to make the allegations.

A press release issued by the police and the CPS in August 2007 claimed the Dispatches programme, broadcast in January of that year, misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics with misleading editing.

One preacher was shown saying a homosexual should be thrown off a mountain, another that women were born deficient.

Police also reported Channel 4 to television watchdog Ofcom for "heavily editing" the words of Islamic imams.

But in November, Ofcom rejected the police and CPS claims, and Channel 4 said it was going to sue the CPS and police for libel.

'Damage and distress'

The statement, released to the media after the High Court hearing by West Midlands Police, said they accepted there had been no evidence that Channel 4 or the documentary makers had "misled the audience or that the programme was likely to encourage or incite criminal activity".

It added that the Ofcom report showed the documentary had "accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context".

The police statement concluded: "We accept, without reservation, the conclusions of Ofcom and apologise to the programme makers for the damage and distress caused by our original press release."...

Belgium: Police protect "Muhammad Pulpit" after threats

A "hideous insult" -- like the jihad against Europe

This pulpit is part of European history and heritage. The figure in the photo above is not even certainly Muhammad, but in any case if Muslims want to regard this as a "hideous insult," they should likewise regard the Ottoman invasions of Europe, and the broken siege of Vienna in 1683 that this pulpit may be commemorating, as insults as hideous or more hideous -- or doesn't regard for other faiths go both ways?

Of course it doesn't, for the Islamic supremacists.

Thomas Landen reports at Brussels Journal, May 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Belgian police is protecting a 17th century pulpit in the Flemish town of Dendermonde. The pulpit in the Catholic church of Our Lady dates from 1685, two years after the battle of Vienna when the Christian armies of the Polish King John III Sobieski defeated the Turks poised to overrun Europe. The sculpted wooden pulpit, made by Mattheus van Beveren, depicts a man subdued by angels and represents the triumph of Christianity over Islam. The man is generally thought to be Mohammed. He is holding a book which is generally assumed to be the Koran.

Two years ago, on April 16, 2006, during the height of the Danish cartoon affair, this website published a photo of the pulpit to show that there is a long tradition of depicting Mohammed in European iconography. Last Friday the Turkish newspaper Yeniçag reprinted our picture on its front page with the caption “Stop this hideous insult.” Yeniçag demands that Belgium remove the pulpit. The paper writes that “We have had the crusades and now they are still trying to humiliate us. This is as bad as the Danish cartoons and Geert Wilders’s Fitna movie in the Netherlands. Even Pope Benedict does nothing to stop these humiliations.”

Since Friday, we have received threats while the authorities in Belgium, which has a large population of Turkish immigrants, fear that the pulpit and the church may be attacked. The Belgian press reported today that the police is guarding Dendermonde’s Our Lady church to prevent vandalism to church and pulpit.

Brian C. Ledbetter at Snapped Shot has some trenchant observations on this.

OPEC looks the other way as inflation driven by oil prices causes food riots in Egypt

On the other hand, "The United States leads all donors at more than a $1 billion" given to the World Food Program.

Death to America! Wait-- save us, America! And then, you know, die. More on this story. "OPEC Stands Silent While Oil Prices Spark Food Riots In Neighboring Egypt," by Steve Harrigan for Fox News, May 14:

Despite being surrounded by petroleum-rich neighbors, Egypt is suffering the effects of record-high oil prices that have touched off deadly riots over the simplest of commodities: bread.

Somalia has also seen its share of food riots recently.

Since the beginning of April, at least 10 people have been stabbed to death while waiting in Cairo bread lines — others have died from exhaustion.

The crisis comes as the U.N.’s World Food Program appeals to member nations to contribute $750 million for aid to affected countries.

But as FOX News reported last week, internal documents from the WFP show a failure by OPEC nations to help out their Arab neighbor. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has committed to give zero dollars for 2008, while the United Arab Emirates has pledged just $50,000 — an amount several times less than impoverished nations like Bangladesh.

The United States leads all donors at more than a $1 billion.

Egypt, the world's largest importer of wheat, heavily subsidizes the sale of flour. Government flour sells for about $3 per 100 pounds. On the black market, however, that same bag can fetch $45.

Unlike other Arab nations awash in petrodollars, almost half of Egypt’s population gets by on less than $2 a day — and for an estimated 30 million people, bread means everything.

For now, the Army has been called out — to bake and distribute the bread.

UK: Second attack on Anglican priest by teenage Muslim thugs

The first time it happened was in March. This time, the good dhimmi who was attacked wants to make sure that no one plays up the religious aspect of the attack -- thereby ensuring that nothing will be done by anyone to try to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.

"Second attack on East End clergy by teenage thugs," by Michael Parker for the East London Advertiser, May 9 (thanks to Sparta):

A SECOND priest has been beaten up in his own churchyard in the space of just eight weeks in London’s East End — this time over an argument about a football.

The Rector of St Matthew’s in Bethnal Green, The Rev Kevin Scully, was attacked on Tuesday afternoon by three drunken youths who had returned to take their revenge for a row three days before.

He had taken their ball last Saturday after he saw them using a cross on the church as a basketball hoop.

He has been taunted with religious and racist abuse in the past, but believes the beating was more alcohol-fuelled than anything more sinister.

The attack follows the vicious assault on Canon Michael Ainsworth at St George-in-the-East church in Shadwell in March.

But although that attack was treated as a ‘faith hate’ crime, police consider the latest incident as simple assault.

Fr Scully, 45, who was left with two black eyes, cuts and bruises, told the Advertiser: “I’m still a bit shaken up.

“It came out of an incident where some teenagers were using the front of the church as a basketball hoop.

“I took their ball and told them to leave—but they came back on Tuesday, drunk, to demand their ball back and attacked me.”

He recalled: “One of them was instigating the violence.

“I thought the other two were going to stop it, but in the end they joined in.

“Even a passer-by who saw what was going on and tried to intervene got a kicking too.

“I was punched twice in the face, hard, hit again, and kicked from behind.

“I crouched down to ward off the blows before running to the Rectory and calling police.”

Fr Scully added: “My biggest concern was getting the door locked as I thought they might follow me inside.

“But they ran off and I’ve not seen them round here since.”

He branded them “drunken yobs” and said the area suffered anti-social and criminal behaviour.

Mr Scully, however, insists it was not a ‘policing’ problem, but a ‘community’ problem.

“These are someone’s sons, someone’s brothers,” he said. “These people are known in the community.”

“There is a certain racial and religious element to this,” adds.

“I have been and was taunted religiously — and that is a worrying aspect of it.

“But I would not make that a ‘flag of convenience.’

“These are drunken yobs and that is the shame of it.

“They could probably have a very bright future ahead of them if they only did something about it.”...

Yes, of course. If only they did something about it.

University student leaves school after Muslim threatens his service dog

Unconscionable. The student who made the threat should be expelled. But because this is an issue involving Islam, instead the multiculturalists start speaking soothingly about "misunderstanding," which means surrender.

"SCSU student leaves training at Technical High School," by Dave Aeikens for the St. Cloud Times, May 12 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A St. Cloud State University student in a teacher-training program at Technical High School left the school in late April because he says he feared for the safety of his service dog.

The school district calls it a misunderstanding, and officials there say they hoped Tyler Hurd, a 23-year-old junior from Mahtomedi who aspires to teach special education, would continue his training in the district.

Hurd said a student threatened to kill his service dog named Emmitt. The black lab is trained to protect Hurd when he has seizures.

The seizures, which can occur weekly, are from a childhood injury.

The dog has a pouch on his side that assists those who stop to help Hurd.

Hurd said he was unable to finish his 50 hours of field training at Tech. The university waived the remaining 10 hours, he said. He plans to do his student teaching outside a high school setting.

“We came up with a solution because I felt threatened by it," Hurd said.

The school district and university are working to make sure a similar situation doesn't happen.

Kate Steffens, dean of the college of education at St. Cloud State, and Tech assistant principal Lori Lockhart met Thursday.

The threat came from a Somali student who is Muslim, according to Hurd, St. Cloud State and school district officials.

The Muslim faith, which is the dominant faith of Somali immigrants, forbids the touching of dogs.

Hurd trained at Talahi Community School and Tech. He said his experience at Talahi was good. The Somali students there warmed to the dog and eventually petted him using paper to keep their hands off his fur, Hurd said.

Things didn't go as well at Tech, Hurd said. Students there taunted his dog, and he finally felt he had to leave after he was told a student made a threat. Hurd met with Lockhart but said he did not feel comfortable continuing.

Julia Espe, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for St. Cloud school district, said the school needed to do a better job communicating.

“I think it was a misunderstanding where we didn't really prepare either side for possible implications," Espe said.

Really? So the Muslim student's threats are just a misunderstanding? They ought to be grounds for expulsion.

Turkey: New law restricting sale of alcohol comes into effect

Sharia is creeping forward everywhere, but in modern, moderate, secular Turkey it is creeping even faster than it is elsewhere. "Turkey: Law Banning Alcohol, Sigarettes [sic] Comes Into Effect," from ANSAmed, May 13 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, MAY 13 - A new law to overhaul tobacco and alcoholic beverages usage drew fierce criticism from sector representatives, and is seen as another negative factor in Islamist-rooted AKP's record of conservative arrangements. Law No. 5752, which will take effect tomorrow, bans the sale of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes "by breaking its packaging or dividing them."

Sector representatives say if implemented, it would mean that the sale of alcoholic beverages by the glass at establishments like restaurants and bars would not be allowed. Sector representatives say the government should make new regulations detailing the implementation of this article of the law.

The government passed the law to ban smoking in public areas and the sale of single cigarettes in small markets, a practice commonly used. The representatives of sector organizations say this law makes it virtually impossible to consume alcohol anywhere but in the home. The marketing director of Doluca Wines told Hurriyet the confusion about alcoholic beverages arises because the law described the new arrangements together with those relating to tobacco usage. "The recent shape of the law would kill the sector. Clear definitions should be made," Sibel Kutman said. She added that 35% of annual wine sales are sold by the glass.

Turkish alcohol producers have already been under pressure since the AKP government took the helm. Winemakers had complained of a heavy tax burden and a government which they feel is unsympathetic to the wine industry due to its Islamist roots, however many Turks drink alcohol. Turkey's Islamist-rooted AKP, who faces a closure case on the charge of becoming the focal point of anti-secular activities, denies the charges but has so far not taken any steps to soothe concerns caused mostly by the implementations of local administrations.

Under the law no cocktails will be made by mixing different kinds of alcohol, and giving alcoholic beverages as a gift is also banned. The chairman of the Tourism, Restaurants, Clubs Investors and Operators said he does "not want to believe" such ban will take effect. "I don't think this will be a problem as long as you have a license to sell open bottle alcohol," Baris Tansever added. (ANSAmed).

U.S. drops charges against accused "20th hijacker"

Why?

By Kristin Roberts for Reuters (thanks to all who sent this in):

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday it dropped charges against a Saudi who U.S. officials say intended to be the "20th hijacker" on September 11 but sent five others to trial for allegedly planning the 2001 attacks.

A Pentagon appointee who oversees the U.S. war court at its Guantanamo Bay military prison did not say why she rejected the charges that prosecutors sought earlier this year against Mohammed al-Qahtani.

She dismissed the charges "without prejudice," a distinction that allows the U.S. government to try to bring charges against Qahtani again.

Murder and conspiracy charges against the five other men accused of planning the attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were approved, the Pentagon said. That means the men, all held at Guantanamo, must be arraigned within 30 days.

They will be tried together in proceedings that should start within 120 days. If convicted, they may face the death penalty....

UK firm to supply communications and data systems to Libya's armed forces

John VI Cantacuzenes Alert: "General Dynamics UK Secures New Export Opportunity: Program builds on aims of UK Government and International Community," a press release, May 9 (thanks to Davsmi):

LONDON, May 9, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited has confirmed that it has signed an 85m pounds Sterling GBP ($165m USD) contract to supply a tactical communications and data system as part of the United Kingdom's initiatives to improve economic, educational and defense links with Libya. It will provide communications and data handling capabilities, together with technical and training support, to the Elite Brigade of Libya's armed forces.

Taliban: "If you do not give up watching televisions, you will face violence"

So would Little Mosque on the Prairie be ok?

Sharia Alert: "Taliban Ban TV In Afghan Province," from Reuters, May 13 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents have ordered residents of a province near the capital Kabul to stop watching television, saying the networks were showing un-Islamic programs, officials and local media said on Tuesday.

The order is the last in a wave of curbs that the resurgent militants have announced in areas they are active.

A senior Afghan information ministry official, Najib Manelai, said that dozens of masked men with weapons entered mosques in Logar province at the weekend and threatened residents against watching television

"They threatened the people that 'if you do not give up watching televisions, you will face violence'," Manelai told Reuters.

Media reports quoted residents as saying that the Taliban imposed the ban because TV networks were showing programs that were "un-Islamic and anti-Afghan culture."...

Another honor killing in Jordan: Man drowns sister in Dead Sea

The second reported honor killing in Jordan in less than a week. "Jordan charges man with killing sister suspected of having extramarital affair," from the Associated Press, May 12:

A Jordanian judicial official says the country's state prosecutor has charged a man with premeditated murder who is suspected of drowning his 22-year-old sister for having an extramarital affair.

The official says the unidentified woman's brother beat her with the help of his family Saturday and then took her to the Dead Sea, where he drowned her.

The official says the state prosecutor also charged the woman's parents and another brother Monday with assisting in the murder by knowing about it and for beating the woman before she died. He says they carried out their suspected actions after seeing an unidentified man leaving the slain woman's house.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Fitzgerald: When The Fool of Chelm Is At The Helm, Or, What Peres Did, He Undid

"Although in '98 everything seemed dark because of Rabin's murder, I believed we could still move the peace process ahead more quickly. I did not think we'd have so many problems. I believed the separation between the West Bank and Gaza would make things easier, not harder. I did not imagine that we would leave Gaza and they would fire Qassams from there; I did not imagine that Hamas would show so strongly in the elections." -- from this inteview with Shimon Peres in Ha'aretz by Lily Galili

Since Ehud Olmert was a bit indisposed, the honors fell to Shimon Peres. It was he who as President of Israel met with foreign journalists to remind them -- and they did need reminding -- of what Israel has achieved in the sixty years of its existence. Seven hot wars and two intifadas, along with unceasing economic and diplomatic warfare, did not prevent Israel from becoming the refuge and hope for Jews. And despite having no natural resources -- no oil, for example, to match the trillions that its mortal enemies pile up thanks not to any industriousness or entrepreneurial flair or inventive genius, but purely to an accident of geology -- Israel has become an example to the rest of the world of how to build a nation-state. And this building has been achieved not because of, but despite, having a political class unworthy of its citizens -- a problem not confined to Israel.

One member of that permanent class is Shimon Peres. For the past three decades Shimon Peres has not only played the fool, but has been the fool. Perhaps now, at long last, after the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza, reality has begun to sink in. At least he has publicly admitted his surprise -- he, Peres, is always being surprised -- at what happened in Gaza once the Israelis left, abandoning Jewish towns (not “settlements” but towns), which was, of course, what anyone of sense could, and did, predict. And it is exactly the lesson of Gaza that applies to the “West Bank,” though perhaps Shimon Peres is incapable of drawing that conclusion. He certainly cannot, at this point, begin to ponder the Islamic basis for Arab and Muslim opposition -- murderous opposition -- to the permanent existence of Israel. It would be too painful. He can’t do it.

Shall we let bygones be bygones? Shall those who care about the survival of Israel pay attention, on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, in a spirit of untruth and reconciliation, to what Peres did that was right, long ago, when he helped create Israel’s essential, never-to-be-surrendered nuclear deterrent, and ignore the way he has been, the damage he has done, for the past thirty years, ever since Sadat came to Israel to be hailed as Saint Sadat, Prince of Peace?

Fitzgerald: Deceiving ourselves by our own propaganda

Ordinarily in a war, when one conducts propaganda both black and white, there is always the danger that one will end up deceiving oneself.

This is particularly true where the "war" does not look like a war as we have come to know it, for it does not involve, in the main, a battlefield threat, but rather other instruments of warfare, and where there is no beginning -- no "declaration of war" -- and also no end. In the Jihad that Muslims are taught to regard as a central duty, and which they must participate in either collectively (so that the efforts of some in the collective may relieve others from immediate and direct participation) or individually (so that everyone must participate directly). The goal has no fixed end, until the entire world has had all obstacles to the spread and dominance of Islam removed.

And the instruments of this war are not, pace Bush and others, "terrorism," or even conventional qitaal, or combat. The main instruments are the deployment of the Money Weapon, carefully-targeted campaigns of Da'wa, and demographic conquest. These are all part of what Robert Spencer has called "the stealth jihad," to focus attention on how it proceeds without being seen, or is deliberately overlooked, or willfully -- and woefully -- misunderstood.

Islamic supremacists killing singers, actors, and artists in Iraq

Their work is un-Islamic, you see. Imagine what fun Muslims who share this perspective could have once they gain control in Europe! "Iraqi artists and singers flee amid crackdown on forbidden culture," by Afif Sarhan and Caroline Davies in The Observer, May 11 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Iraqi singers, actors and artists are fleeing the country after dozens have been killed by Islamic radicals determined to eradicate all culture associated with the West.

Cinemas, art galleries, theatres, and concert halls are being destroyed in grenade and mortar attacks in Basra and Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi Artists' Association, at least 115 singers and 65 actors have been killed since the US-led invasion, as well as 60 painters. But the terror campaign has escalated in recent months as both Shia and Sunni extremists grow ever bolder in enforcing religious restrictions on the citizens of Iraq....

In November Seif Yehia, 23, was beheaded for singing western songs at weddings, and painter Ibraheem Sadoon was shot dead as he drove through Baghdad. In February Sunni fighters killed Waleed Dahi, 27, a young actor, while he rehearsed for a play due to open at the Jordanian National Theatre this month.

Culture was encouraged during Saddam Hussein's regime, but no longer. Abu Nur, an Islamic Army spokesman, said: 'Acting, theatre and television encourage bad behaviour and irreligious attitudes. They promote customs that affect the morality of our traditional society.'

Saudis hold "women in the workplace" forum -- with no women present

And meanwhile, at the forum a scholar calls into question the commonly articulated view that Islam improved the lot of women in the seventh century. Of course, the blame is rather characteristically placed on the Greco-Roman tradition, but the subtext here is that women essentially had it better in pre-Islamic Nabatea than they did, and do, under Islam. "Scholar lifts veil on sharia," from Reuters (thanks to all who sent this in):

When clerics, ministers and businessmen gathered at a forum in Riyadh in April to discuss women in the workplace, there were no women in sight.

Typically for Saudi Arabia, the women who took part were seated in a separate room so the men could only hear them.

Such things are part and parcel of the complex system of social control maintained by clerics of Saudi Arabia's austere version of Sunni Islamic law, often termed Wahhabism. It is a system called into question by scholar Hatoon al-Fassi.

In her study, Women In Pre-Islamic Arabia, the outspoken rights advocate argues women in the pre-Islamic period enjoyed considerable rights in the Nabataean state, an urban Arabian kingdom centred in modern Jordan, south Syria and north-west Saudi Arabia during the Roman empire.

Most controversially, Fassi says women in Nabataea - whose capital was the famous rose-red city of Petra in south Jordan, and which was at its height during the lifetime of Jesus Christ - enjoyed more freedom than in Saudi Arabia today because clerics have misunderstood the origins of Islamic law. She also suggests some Saudi restrictions on women may have their origins in Greco-Roman traditions.

"One of the objectives of this book is to question the assumption of subordination of women in pre-Islamic Arabia," Fassi writes. "Most of the practices related to women's status are based on some local traditional practices that are not necessarily Islamic. Nor are they essentially Arabian."

She argues that women in Nabataea were free to conduct legal contracts in their own name with no male guardian, unlike in Greek and Roman law, and in Saudi Arabia where the guardian is central to the clerics' idea of a moral public sphere....

Scotland: Police bid to tackle Islamophobia

Hmmm. How are they going to tackle Islamophobia? Will they go right to its root cause -- will they get Muslims to stop blowing stuff up in the name of Islam and announcing that they will soon dominate the land and rule by Sharia? Fantastic!

"Police bid to tackle Islamophobia," by Imtiaz Tyab for BBC News, May 9 (thanks to DB):

Scotland's first Muslim Police Association is being created in an attempt to encourage more Muslims to join and stay in the force.

Strathclyde Police hopes the group will also help tackle Islamophobia and improve understanding of Islam.

Pc Amar Shakoor, who was Scotland's first Muslim officer, said negativity had recently been directed towards the Muslim community.

He said the association hoped to put Islam in a more positive light.

"We want to highlight some of the positive things Islam can provide to the communities and not just the police services," he said.

Great, but really, that bit about stopping blowing stuff up will go a long way.

Attempts to stem trafficking of teenage girls in northern Nigeria hampered by... Sharia law

"The [Child Rights Act] has been endorsed by the Nigerian federal government but not as yet by the predominantly Muslim northern state legislatures because it contains clauses which many northerners see as going against their religious and cultural values."

But wait... Islamic law is supposed to elevate women, and bring law and order to the areas it is imposed on, right? Right?

"Trafficking of teenagers on the rise in N Nigeria," from Agence France-Presse, May 11:

KANO, Nigeria - The trafficking of teenage girls from poor villages to northern Nigerian cities to work as domestic help for meagre wages is on the rise, officials said at the weekend.

‘The business of recruiting teenagers as domestic help is booming despite our efforts to put a stop to it,’ said Bello Ahmed, head of the Kano office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), in charge of 18 northern and central states.

The girls, usually between the ages of 12 and 17, are paid around 1,500 naira (13 dollars, eight euros) a month, money that they send to their parents, Ahmed told AFP.

However meagre the wage, for the parents it means a little more cash and one mouth fewer to feed.

Ahmed said NAPTIP has succeeded in putting a stop to the practice of ferrying the house girls into the cities in trucks ‘like chickens’.

But if transport methods have improved somewhat, the trafficking continues.

‘In fact it's on the rise. The more the law enforcement agencies perfect strategies to stop it, the more the traffickers find sophisticated ways of running their trade,’ said Mairo Bello, head of Adolescent Health Information Project, a Kano-based NGO.

"Those whom their right hands possess" (Qur'an 33:50):

Some of the teenage workers are raped or beaten by their employers and NAPTIP keeps a dormitory for such girls.

‘We now have two girls in our custody who were raped by their masters, one of them four-month pregnant and another one that had ground chilli pepper poured into her private parts by her mistress for not washing a plate well,’ Ahmed said.

Lack of state-level legislation to prosecute traffickers makes NAPTIP unable to take legal action against them, meaning the best it can do is monitor their activities to keep them in check, according to Ahmed.

The UN-sponsored Child Rights Act provides for five years in jail and a 424-dollar fine on perpetrators of child labour.

The act has been endorsed by the Nigerian federal government but not as yet by the predominantly Muslim northern state legislatures because it contains clauses which many northerners see as going against their religious and cultural values.

‘We are disturbed by this trend of using teenagers as domestic helps which is a form of child labour and we are aware there is a provision in the Child Rights Act that deals with that issue,’ Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa, speaker for the Kano legislature, told AFP.

But he said the legislature would only be able to endorse the act if some clauses are expunged. Failing that, he said Kano plans to introduce measures at the state level to deal with the trafficking issue.

Amnesty International to Saudi Arabia: No lashes for coffee klatsch

Earlier coverage suggested Muhammad Ali Abu Raziza was "framed by the religious police after he angered some of their members at a training course." In any event, public pressure may again work to spare individuals the cruel and unusual punishments of Sharia law. Unfortunately, there will be others in the future, as such reprieves by the Saudi government are clearly acts of damage control rather than compassion or reform.

"Amnesty urges release of Saudi facing flogging," from Reuters, May 11:

RIYADH - Amnesty International has urged Saudi authorities to release a Saudi university professor who is facing flogging and imprisonment for meeting a woman to whom he is not related for coffee in the conservative Islamic kingdom.

Muhammad Ali Abu Raziza, a psychology lecturer at the university of Mecca, has been sentenced to 150 lashes and eight months in jail after the religious police caught him with a woman in a coffee shop, the rights group said in a statement.

Justice ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Saudi Arabia applies an austere form of Islam which bans women from mixing with men to whom they are not related, voting and driving, and punishes men and women found guilty of illegal encounters, known as khilwa offences.

The statement did not say what happened to the woman who was meeting Abu Raziza.

‘Saudi Arabia should stop needlessly persecuting people like this -- we want to see a complete end to people in the kingdom being punished for 'khilwa' offences,’ Amnesty said.

The religious police, known as the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have wide powers to search for alcohol, drugs and prostitution, ensure shops are closed during prayers in addition to maintaining a strict system of sexual segregation.

Criticism of the force has re-emerged after its members were involved in a series of incidents, which led to the deaths of six people in car chases.