Is Saudi Arabia coming to its senses? According to IMRA, “on November 30, 2003, Dr. Muhammad Talal Al-Rasheed, columnist for the English language daily The Saudi Gazette, wrote an article titled ‘Senseless Violence, Senseless Death.’ The article is in reaction to the murder of Saudi Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rasheed of Hail by ‘Islamists’ […]
Archives for November 2003
Culture clash in France
The conflict in France between Islam and secularism has so far centered around the hijab, the headscarf that Muslim women and girls wear. It has become symbolic of a larger challenge to France’s secular society: “A French school yesterday expelled a 12-year-old girl who refused to remove her headscarf in class, a family acquaintance said. […]
British Muslim held in north Iraq
“A student from Manchester University who has been on Stop the War marches in London and Tony Blair’s Sedgefield constituency has been arrested in northern Iraq amid concerns that he may have been fighting coalition forces in Iraq.” This from The Observer via The Guardian. “Urslaan Khan, 21, originally from the prosperous Teesside town of […]
Media dhimmitude re AMECA protest
The Chicago Tribune carries a story today on the demonstration by the American Middle East Christian Association (AMECA) against the Ramadan assignment given in a California public school. You may have read about it here last Tuesday. The Trib story is a classic media treatment. Although it says that “a 7th-grade world history teacher in […]
Pakistan responsible for resurgence of Taliban
Just as India’s BSF charges that Pakistani intelligence is working with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Abdullah Al Madani of Gulf News writes that in fact, “Pakistan, through its madrassah, fundamentalist parties, and Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, is helping the Taliban remnants return to power, repeating exactly what was done in the mid-1990s.” And all this despite […]
Pakistan working with Al-Qaeda, Taliban?
India’s Border Security Force is charging that “the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan is backing Northeast-based militant groups having camps in Bangladesh with the help of al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorist organisation.” This comes from India’s Manorama Online. “‘The Northeast-based terrorist outfits, including the ULFA, NDFB and other groups, are aided by the ISI in their […]
The Qur’an requires fighting infidels (and U.S.)
What would make a “middle-class university student from Jordan” decide to go to Iraq and become a soldier, even though he was never in the military before? He says it was the Qur’an. This comes from a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, with thanks to LGF. “In a rare interview with a foreign fighter […]
Mullah Omar spotted; Pakistan turns “a blind eye”
Mullah Omar?* “Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammed Omar was spotted last week in Pakistani city of Quetta and charged Islamabad with ‘turning a blind eye’ to terrorism in its border areas.” (Thanks to Fanabba.) “‘We have received information that Mullah Omar was seen praying in a mosque ten days ago,’ […]
The supply of suicide bombers exceeds demand
This Economist article would like us to think that enthusiasm for jihad among British Muslims is waning: “These days, though, long-faced Islamists are surprisingly subdued. ‘Even the collections and the preaching feel more restrained,’ moans an Afghan war veteran.” Nonetheless, buried at the end of the piece is this detail: “the supply of bombers exceeds […]
Dhimmitude in Pakistan: Police arrests Christian for “blasphemy,” lets attackers go
Pakistan’s Daily Times reports: “Shadhra Town police arrested a Christian labourer Anwar Masih for blasphemy on Friday, after a case was registered by his acquaintance Naseer Ahmad, who converted to Islam about three months ago. While registering the case against Mr Masih, the police ignored the fact that his accuser gathered other people and attacked […]
Indonesia: The politics of religious pluralism
Muhamad Ali, a lecturer at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta, writes on religious freedom in Indonesia in the Jakarta Post: “Religion has become part of not only private but also public life in Indonesia as elsewhere. The question about how the state should deal with religious pluralism remains unresolved and therefore needs […]
Dhimmitude at the University of Toronto
“The University of Toronto is allowing a pro-Palestinian conference to proceed this weekend after student organizers agreed participants do not have to agree with a mandatory list of beliefs such as the rejection of the right of Israel to exist and a refusal to condemn Palestinian suicide attacks.” So much for hopes of a negotiated […]
“Most” Turks: the U.S. bombed Istanbul
“A majority of the Turkish people and its media believe that the [Istanbul] bombings were carried out by some Western intelligence agencies to push Turkey into the crisis created by them in the region. Many Turkish newspapers have also made comments that the real culprits behind the bombing were some other people and not the […]
Christian fish, Muslim sharks
Islamic law views Christians and Jews as renegades, guilty people (dhimmis) by virtue of their rejection of the Prophet Muhammad, and subject to numerous statutes that enforce their humiliation and subjugation. Muslims therefore traditionally have not regarded Christians as equals, but as inferiors. If there were ever evidence of this, it is in the new […]
Hizbul advertises jihad recruitment plan
“Opposing the Indo-Pak ceasefire, Pakistan-based militant outfit Hizbul Mujahedin has announced a new recruitment and training schedule of militants in spite of the governments recent crackdown against extremist groups. “Hizbul, which announced its opposition to the ceasefire on Friday issued a schedule for ‘jihad’ training in Pakistan’s North West Frontier town of Peshawar.” The quotation […]
Jihad in Venezuela?
“Already facing allegations that Muslim extremists have obtained Venezuelan identity documents, President Hugo Chávez has put the country’s passport agency in the hands of two radicals — one a supporter of Saddam Hussein.” So says the Miami Herald. (Thanks to rru.) “Hugo Cabezas and Tareck el Aissami were appointed last month as director and deputy […]
Al Qaeda recruits Europeans for Iraq
Middle East Newsline says that “European intelligence and security agencies are concerned that Al Qaida has been recruiting youngsters to fight against the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. “European officials said security agencies in countries such as Britain, France and Germany have detected signals of Al Qaida recruitment of volunteers to fight the U.S. military in […]
Anti-Terror Raids Target Islamists Across Europe
I’m continually impressed by how news item after news item can illustrate the global extent of Islamic terrorism, and yet most in the public sphere still claim that terrorists are a tiny, marginalized minority in the Islamic world. Why, just yesterday I heard about an address on terrorism by an FBI agent in which he […]
“Saudi Arabia is bogged down by deep-rooted Islamic extremism”
In the New York Times, of all places, Mansour al-Nogaidan of the Saudi newspaper Al- Riyadh acnowledges what the rest of the world has known for quite some time: that the House of Saud is now reaping what it has sown for many years. It has played a large role in the present worldwide proliferation […]
Nigeria: convert attacked for refusing to renounce Christianity
“A Muslim convert to Christianity narrowly escaped death when he was attacked by a Muslim fanatic on September 15 in the city of Jos, central Nigeria.” The “fanatic” no doubt believed in this statement of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him” (Sahih Bukhari, volume 9, book 84, no. 57). […]