Our own Jihad Watch writer Joseph Zaalishvili played a major role in this victory for freedom in the Caucasus. Pamela Geller has the story:
Stop Islamization of Georgia and a coalition of human rights groups have succeeded in stopping a monster-mosque in Batumi, Georgia.
Stop Islamization of Georgia’s national director, Joseph Zaalishvili, has been reporting on the ground from Batumi (go here and here). Thousands of freedom lovers gathered a number of times to protest the mega mosque in Batumi. Each demo grew in size. Despite the heavy snowfall, cold, and rain, several thousand people gathered to protest a mosque dedicated to Aziz Sultan Abdl Adjara, who enslaved people, forcibly compelled people to accept Islam, and killed and terribly tortured those who refused. The Turkish government was funding the construction of this mosque.
Today, construction of the Islamic supremacist mosque was suspended. Well done, SIOG. Want to get involved? Start a SIO group in your state or country. Contact me — pamelageller@gmail.com.
Joseph Zaalishvili sends this missive (BTW, Joseph Zaalishvili will be speaking at SION: September 11, 2012 Freedom Congress, UN Plaza – register early.)
They stopped!
A small victory in a major war. That is what our ancestors would call what happened a few days ago in Georgia.
Construction of a grand mosque in Batumi, Georgia, named for the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Aziz, has been suspended. So said the Minister of Culture of Georgia in a parliamentary speech.
A few months ago, the government argued that the decision to build a mosque named after the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Aziz, who killed and tortured for the sake of Allah and Mohammed a few thousand Georgians, should not be discussed, but now the position has softened.
“If, after discussion and agreement with the Georgian Orthodox Church, people find a consensus, it is possible to construct a small mosque, but not in the center of the city,” said the Minister of Culture of Georgia.
“Meanwhile, we have not signed any agreement with Turkey for the construction of mosques,” he said.
They stopped?!
The debates, rallies, protests and battles of supporters and opponents of the mosque continued for several months. The government argued that the construction of the mosque was needed to attract tourists and to meet the needs of the thousands of Turks who took the Georgian green card.
Opponents said that it was immoral to construct a mosque named after Abd al-Aziz at Batumi. Will the monuments to Lenin and communism be restored next?, they asked.
I spoke many times to local media in the debate. The arguments that were heard were laughable. A multi-cultural society has to become accustomed to Islam, some say. Islam is a religion of peace, said others.
But none of them could answer the question, why should a mosque in Batumi be named for a conqueror?
At the meetings, I said that it was not just a problem in Georgia. This problem exists all over the world. Islam has been and continues to be a political force. Turkey and Iran have ambitions not only in the Caucasus and the Middle East, but elsewhere, and use the cover of religion to promote political goals.
The existence of such organizations as SIOA, SIOE and SION play an important role for people in my country. We understand that we are not alone. And not just George Soros is west of the Caucasus.
As for Soros and his foundation, the majority of the organizations and the political forces supporting the process of disintegration and the Islamization of the society are funded by his foundation. After this the question arises of how he will continue the process of Islamization of Georgia, and why would he do it at all?
One of the protesters told me that his great-grandfather and great-grandmother had been executed on the orders of Abdul-Aziz, but they refused to accept Islam. “They were tied to horses and dragged on broken glass, and they want to build a mosque praising this murderer in my city? I’ll go a thousand times to protest.”
This is very important for Georgia. The West and especially the U.S. and the fact of the debate on the construction of a mosque in New York had a very positive impact on the situation in Batumi. And that’s what I said many times on my radio interviews.
We need support. We need each other. We need to know we are not alone.