Note the dishonesty. “Islam subsequently clarified that he was not condoning the killing of Rushdie but simply stating that, in the Koran, blasphemy is punishable by death.”
That was then. Now his lawyers have issued a statement that says: “Regardless of the interpretation that was put on his statements in 1989, he does not support the fatwa, which he believes goes against the principles and system of law in Islam.”
All right. So is blasphemy punishable by death in Islamic law or is it not? Is Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens actually saying that he misunderstood Islamic law back in 1989 and now he understands it properly? Will he elaborate? (Of course not.) Where did he pick up this faulty understanding of Islam, and how did he come to see it was wrong?
There are other unanswered questions as well. As recently as 2010, there was published on YouTube a nasheed in which the author of “Peace Train” sang: “I’m praying to Allah to give us victory over the kuffar” (unbelievers). Does Yusuf/Cat still pray for victory over the kuffar? What kind of victory?
In 2004, Yusuf Islam was barred from entering the United States because of suspicions that he had been financing jihad terrorism. He acknowledged that some of his money may have gone to jihadis, but he claimed to have given money to them unwittingly.
Meanwhile, watch this video, in which he enthusiastically endorses the Ayatollah Khomeini’s death fatwa against Rushdie. Does he look as if he is being “framed” by a “sharp-toothed journalist”?
But will he ever come clean and apologize? Almost certainly not. Islamic supremacists never do. Whatever wrongdoing they commit is always someone else’s fault.
“Not such a cool Cat after all! Yusuf Islam (aka pop legend Cat Stevens) claimed he’d been misunderstood over his support for the deadly fatwa on Salman Rushdie. Here the furious author demands: ‘I want an apology!,'” by Mark Edmonds, Daily Mail, October 3, 2020 (thanks to Henry):
The man who now calls himself Yusuf Islam has for decades preached a heartfelt and all-inclusive message of peace and love.
As the singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, his mellifluous, uplifting songs, including Peace Train and Morning Has Broken, have sold in their millions.
By rock star standards he has lived a largely quiet life: no drugs, no sex scandals, no booze binges, no backstage debauchery with groupies (though there was, a long time ago, a brief liaison with a stripper known as Princess Cheyenne).
Instead, after converting to Islam in the 1970s, he has become a devoted man of God, establishing an Islamic charity and being awarded international peace prizes for his humanitarian work.
And it is this image of a kindly, peace-loving sage that makes the support he has repeatedly appeared to express for a barbaric death sentence all the more shocking.
In 1989, on a late-night Granada TV programme, Islam said clearly, and without hesitation, that the celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie — accused of ‘blasphemy’ — deserved to die.
Yet recently he has been repeating his claim that he was misunderstood.
Last Sunday, Islam appeared on the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs, in which celebrities choose their eight favourite records and the luxury object they would take to an imaginary desert island.
Asked by presenter Lauren Laverne if he supported the death sentence or ‘fatwa’ on Rushdie, handed out by Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1988 after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses, Islam insisted he did not.
‘I was certainly not prepared or equipped to deal with sharp-toothed journalists,’ he told her.
‘And the whole way in which the media spins stories, and so I was cleverly framed, I would say, by certain questions. I never actually ever supported the fatwa.’
But that’s not quite how others see it, to put it mildly.
This week I asked Sir Salman Rushdie himself what he made of Islam’s latest remarks.
He told me: ‘Cat Stevens most certainly was not “framed”. He made his comments on television. That’s a matter of record. A genuine apology would be a lot better than this wriggling.’…
Islam subsequently clarified that he was not condoning the killing of Rushdie but simply stating that, in the Koran, blasphemy is punishable by death.
Later, he said: ‘My only crime was, I suppose, in being honest. I stood up and expressed my belief and I am in no way apologising for it.’
He went on to outline these ‘beliefs’ in richer detail elsewhere.
A few months after the fatwa was declared, Islam appeared on a late-night Granada TV talk show, The Hypotheticals, presented by the respected human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC, who later represented Rushdie in a blasphemy case brought in London by a group of Muslim barristers.
Robertson asked Islam to imagine he was in a restaurant and recognised Salman Rushdie at the next table. What might he do?
Robertson asked: ‘You don’t think that this man deserves to die?’
Islam: ‘Yes, yes.’
Robertson: ‘You have a duty to be his executioner?’
Islam: ‘No, not necessarily, unless we were in an Islamic state and I was ordered by a judge or by the authority to carry out such an act — perhaps, yes.’
Robertson was visibly taken aback. He later questioned Islam about an imaginary protest at which an effigy of Rushdie was to be burned.
He asked: ‘Would you be part of that protest, Yusuf Islam? Would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?’
Without a pause, Islam replied: ‘I would have hoped that it’d be the real thing.’
He went on to say that if Mr Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help: ‘I might ring someone who might do more damage to him than he would like. I’d try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is.’
Far from apologising for these comments, Islam later said that it was an example of ‘British dry humour’. He claimed that the recording had been edited to make it look very serious, with laughs and ‘balanced arguments’ removed, while ‘the most sensational quotes’ were included….
Islam abhors terrorism. He spoke out forcefully against the 9/11 attacks and has engaged in charity initiatives in areas blighted by Islamist fundamentalism. His philanthropic work is, he says, an echo of his faith. When he became a Muslim in the 1970s, he turned his back on secular music, saying it might ‘divert me from the true path’….
He did, however, instruct his lawyers, to issue a statement: ‘Mr Islam stands by what he said on Desert Island Discs. Mr Islam . . . [believes that] people should abide by the law of the land, and not become involved in vigilantism of any kind. Mr Islam fully accepts that certain of the statements he made on Mr Robertson’s programme were naive. He sought to make light of certain questions by giving flippant answers which he has long since publicly made clear he regrets.
‘Regardless of the interpretation that was put on his statements in 1989, he does not support the fatwa, which he believes goes against the principles and system of law in Islam.’
Meanwhile, after all these years, Sir Salman Rushdie is still waiting for his apology.
In a TV interview in 2010, the writer said of Islam: ‘He’s not a good guy.
‘It may be that he once sang Peace Train. There was a point when I was a college student when I had a copy of [the album] Tea For The Tillerman. But he hasn’t been Cat Stevens for a long time.’
Guy Macher says
Who cares what a washed up former celeb thinks? He’s a Muslim barrow and so we know he will lie. End. Of. Story.
FYI says
cat stevens converted to a religion whose god allah hates music,musical instruments and women singing.
It takes a particular type of idiot to do that:but if islam was a benign religion that wouldn’t matter.
Nobody would care if say ,he became a Buddhist or Hare Krishna.
But he converted to an evil cult with a pervert of a ‘prophet,a murderously violent totalitarian religion with a Doctrine of Hatred[al walaa wal baraa}an apartheid system{koran 98:6}and a ‘holy’ book that is an instruction manual to wage an eternal war of Terror against all non-muslims.
That makes him evil.And he actually is so naive he thinks he can wriggle out of his disgraceful but typically islamic threats against Rushdie when he is caught on camera?
Of course he will lie about it:bearing false witness is a speciality of islam {and certain members of the legal profession}
allah fashioned the tongues of his muslims to lie.
Rob says
He also said his marriage was ‘arranged’. As I understand it 3 girls were brought to him and he chose one. ‘Arranged’ kinda means some kind of mutuality in my book.
Any of the girls free to back out if they didn’t like the look of the guy?
gravenimage says
Just grotesque.
FYI says
Appaling.
That nasheed of his ‘turn to allah’,that tuneless islamic muzak?
It is hard not to laugh at the lyrics..
“It doesn’t matter where you are born,islam is the best.
and he knows who the good muslims are”
But what about the BAD muslims?The ex-muslim ‘apostates’ the’murtads’?
What about the good Jews,Christians,Hindus,Buddhists?
allah doesn’t care for non-muslims since they are the ‘worst of created beings”
{koran 98:6}
Yusuf islam is ‘praying’ to his ‘lord’ allah ‘to give us victory over the kufaar”
But then yusuf islam is a member of ‘the BEST community that hath been raised up for mankind”koran 3:110 in islam’s Religious APARTHEID system.
Turn AWAY from allah.
Yusuf islam’s nasheed is about as musically exciting and melodic as the sound of a lawnmower.
mortimer says
Reply to GI: What is ‘GROTESQUE’ is that Cat Stevens presents himself as a VICTIM !!
FYI says
I have added my own lyrics which I think improve Yusuf islam’s dire nasheed.
‘For allah knows where the good muslims are.
out saying their ‘prayers’ in public which is somewhat quite bizarre*:
death to the murtads
And to hell with the kufaar
{..what a shame i’ve no guitar…}
for allah hates when music is played
{but he’s happy when the kufaar are the people to be slayed}
And islam is the best ..
..and is full of peace and love..and if you leave islam we’ll kill you..”
So turn AWAY from Lah
*koran 4:142
muslims praying in public to be ‘seen of men’?HYPOCRITES says allah
David says
Rob: You mean he didn’t pick all three?
Do muslims ever wonder why people hate them?
gravenimage says
True, Miortimer.
Alfredo Montealegre says
You’re absolutely right. Taqiyah is being used against clueless Westerners to deceive them with such assertions like “Islam is the religion of peace.” If Islam were the religion peace, why are the followers of the religion of peace murdering those who don’t believe in their prophet?
gravenimage says
Very true, Alfredo. And are you new here? If so, welcome to Jihad Watch.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
Guy Macher writes, “Who cares what a washed up former celeb thinks? He’s a Muslim barrow and so we know he will lie. End. Of. Story.”
Thanks, Guy, for your vocabulary-expanding prose. I have never seen “barrow” except in a garden-tool sense. Which of these meanings do you intend?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrow
Reziac says
Seems to me “barrow” (castrated male piglet) is the finest epithet one could apply to a Muslim.
Alfredo Montealegre says
I grew up listening to Cat Stevens music. Yusuf Islam I don’t know. To me he’s a Muhammadan.
mortimer says
Lying about jihad, blasphemy punishments? What of it? It is VERBAL JIHAD.
Cat Stevens/Islam is conducting VERBAL JIHAD by pretending that he would NOT help vigilantes to find a blasphemer/apostate and then execute him. Salman Rushdie is right to be skeptical of Cat Stevens’ back-tracking!
He is WITH THE PROGRAM of Islam and his lying about it makes his credibility even less.
Sharia law says:
“There is no indemnity obligatory for killing a non-Muslim (harbi) at war with Muslims.” -Reliance of the Traveller, o4.17, p.593
“We have already discussed killing the person who, with intent, curses the Prophet, belittles him or slights him in any way. The judgement in this case is clear.” (i.e. death) – Qadhi Iyaadh in ash-Shifa, Volume No.2, Page No. 27
Bikinis not Burkas says
He definitely didn’t Jump on the Peace Train!
https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
DavidR says
Yusuf is just abrogating his earlier remarks. Just like in the Quran, nothing has been really changed, it’s just been improved through alteration. And just like with the Quran, it’s a cop out that disproves Islam.
Peter Buckley says
gravenimage says
Thanks for that link, Peter.
Naildriver says
He should be arrested for espousing terroristic beliefs; and furthering implementation of Islamic terrorism through incitement — and Yusuf (aka, Stevens) should be imprisoned for the rest if his life — his music should be barred from broadcast.
Western countries should penalize those who pratice Islam, as they might penalize a mobster or any other criminal. The Western countries should protect its citizens from this scourge, Islam; and, at present, none do.
Kalim Alaka says
The Communist Chinamen keep them under control, maybe the West should take a clue……???
gravenimage says
Actually, China has done a lot of pandering to Islam, and has suffered Jihad terror attacks as a result.
Phil Copson says
“…..after converting to Islam in the 1970s, he has become a devoted man of God.”
——————————————————————————————————–
claims dhimmi-journalist Mark Edmonds of the Daily Mail in a ludicrous oxymoron……
No, Mark – he hasn’t: He has instead become “a devoted man of Allah” – huge difference.
(It was also the Daily Mail’s Richard Oborne who got himself interviewed on BBC Radio 2 and claimed in heart-broken tones that “muslim minorities are being persecuted all over the world…..” No, Richard – muslims persecute other religions all over the world, but don’t let a little thing like the facts get in the way of your dawah.)
gravenimage says
Spot on, Phil.
Carl says
+1
Westman says
“Islam abhors terrorism” – Now there is a double entendre in which both meanings are obviously false.
Robertson asked: ‘You don’t think that this man deserves to die?’
Islam: ‘Yes, yes.’
.
.
Islam: “I’d try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is….”
Any rational person would say, (Cat) Israel “framed” himself. May Karma keep him in Islam Lands, forever.
Dennis Miller has said what we all think:(” Listen Up Islam, ‘We Don’t Like How You F—– Up Cat Stevens”):
gravenimage says
Good for Dennis Miller–one of the few comics who actually openly opposes Jihad terror!
GreekEmpress says
Westman!
Thanks for posting the video.
Haven’t seen Dennis Miller in a long time—
FYI says
“muslims will want to go to the moon when the Jews set up Israel there”
muslims have higher ambitions:they want to go to Mars and build a city.
Believe it or not,the UAE has a plan to build a city on mars{UAE Mars 2117 project}
You can Google it:it is a real project.
Of course they’ll want to build a mosque or two…
gravenimage says
FYI, Muslims would only get to space with plenty of help from the “filthy Infidels”.
The UAE launched a Mars probe–except they really had nothing to do with it. The probe was designed by NASA and launched by Japan:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/19/middleeast/uae-mars-hope-launch-intl-hnk-scn-scli/index.html
More Muslim fakery, enabled by clueless dhimmis.
gravenimage says
Rushdie rejects Cat Stevens’ claim that he was ‘framed’ when he endorsed Rushdie’s death fatwa for blasphemy
…………………..
Good for Rushdie. This is dishonest claptrap from Yusuf Islam.
And as noted, this was *not* the only time Islam confirmed that peaceful novelist Rushdie should be murdered. At one time he also said that if he saw Rushdie, he would call other Muslims to come and murder him.
More:
‘I was certainly not prepared or equipped to deal with sharp-toothed journalists,’ he told her.
…………………..
In other words, he didn’t expect anyone to say anything critical about his wanting to see people murdered in the name of his vicious creed. Journalists telling the truth = “sharp-toothed”; his calling for murder, not so much.
God, I hate Islam.
Reziac says
A radical Muslim wants to cut your head off.
A moderate Muslim holds you down so a radical Muslim can cut your head off.
The grass hides the snake.
spiro says
Cat Stevens give me a break nothing more than a self absorbed self appointed intellectual who made music for a living then bit then hand that feeds him
Knows nothing about Christianity and most like only knows what some iman
wants him to know no more
If he’s so devout go live in a Muslim country
mortimer says
He lives in Dubai most of the year and has a home in London. He’s a ‘victim’ now so he can’t be criticized. (sarc/off)
spiro says
Thanks for the update about his residence
Oh dear your right as a victim he’s above us all 😂
gravenimage says
Here’s Islam, about his ugly creed and his relocating to a Shari’ah state:
https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/yusuf-islam-talks-about-his-spiritual-memoir-living-in-dubai-and-new-album-1.239895
Brando says
RUSHDIE, for us redpillers/blackpillers, is for FREEDOM of SPEECH,he recently signed the MANIFESTO of 150 leftist intellectuals ( in JULY 2020 ).
It was against: ““intolerance towards the opposite perspectives, the fashion of public humiliation and ostracism”
THE MOST FAMOUS SIGNATORIES
1.SALMAN RUSHDIE
2.GLORIA STEINEM ( major feminist leader in the US )
3. J K ROWLING (of Harry Potter )
4.NOAM CHOMSKY: always justifies Hamas and the Hizbullah
5.MARGARET ATWOOD ( Canadian novelist )(wrote “Handmaid’s Tale”)
6.FRANCIS FUKUYAMA: wrote “The End of History”
7.MARTIN AMIS ( English novelist,wrote “Money” )
8. IAN BURUMA:Dutch,wrote “Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies” (2004 ).It is
an investigation of the demonizing fantasies and stereotypes about the Western world in non-Western countries.
9. KAMEL DAOUD (Algerian novelist ): in 2016 he critiqued the attacks on German women in Germany by Muslim migrants in “”The Sexual Misery of the Arab World” .
10. SARA HAIDER ( ex-Muslim activist ,atheist,who critiques Islam constantly)
11. GARRY KASPAROV ( greatest chess player in history )
12. ANNE APPLEBAUM: has written several books AGAINST COMMUNISM in Eastern Europe, yet in her latest book “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism”(2020)
she actually accuses Trump of wanting to destroy democracy,being a fascist.
However they showed real stupidity in the manifesto saying:
“forces of intolerance are gaining strength around the world and
have a powerful ally in (the US president) Donald Trump, which represents a threat to the democracy“
I was shocked,how in their BLUEPILL mind, they actually believe Trump is an ENEMY of democracy.
Rod says
The names not on the list are much more significant.
They include Robert Spencer, who is fanatically devoted to intolerance, as you may have noticed, and who inspires his devotees to think similarly.
gravenimage says
The implication that Robert Spencer, a famous free speech advocate, refused to sign this manifesto is of course completely false. Citations, please–not that I will be holding my breath, of course.
Rod says
Refused to sign? Do you really think somebody like Spencer would in a million years be invited to sign a manifesto against “intolerance towards the opposite perspectives”? Let alone “public humiliation”?
His name on the list would render the document meaningless.
gravenimage says
“Rod” wants us to be enraged over Robert Spencer not signing a manifesto he admits he was never asked to sign in the first place.
The idea that Robert Spencer is “intolerant” for opposing calls for murdering a novelist is just bizarre. How is Yusuf Islam pro-freedom of speech? This makes no sense at all–but “Rod” hopes no one notices that. Try again…
Rod says
gravy, I’m not enraged that Spencer didn’t sign a manifesto against intolerance. If he had signed it, due to some unimaginable misunderstanding, I and millions of others would have been rendered helpless with hilarity.
(Your English incomprehension seems to be getting progressively worse, but even more amusing.)
gravenimage says
Note that “Rod” is incapable of citing an instance of Robert Spencer failing to support freedom of speech.
And note that he repeatedly refuses to condemn calls for murder of Salman Rushdie–all while pretending he supports freedom of speech. Grotesque–but scarcely surprising.
James Lincoln says
Rod says,
“…Robert Spencer, who is fanatically devoted to intolerance…”
He is rightfully intolerant of intolerant islam, a religious/political ideology whose devout followers want to impose intolerant sharia law throughout the world.
Consider “The Paradox of Tolerance”. This was a concept advanced by the philosopher Karl Popper which claims that “unlimited tolerance necessarily results in the destruction of the tolerant by the intolerant, resulting in a society in which tolerance is no longer possible.”
Robert Spencer simply does not want the destruction of Western society by intolerant islam. He is factual in his writings and uses evidence-based logic.
Try to do the same, Rod.
Actually read what I posted above and tell me where I am wrong – if you can.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
gravenimage says
Spot on, James.
Rod says
“Robert Spencer……. is factual in his writings ”
James, I’ve just shown you, not for the first time, that Spencer lies to you. God knows what sort of garbage he puts in his famous books.
gravenimage says
Where has “Rod” shown that anything Robert Spencer has written is untrue? Citations, please.
Boycott Turkey says
So let me get this right It’s intolerance that Robert Spencer post articles about a 6 year old Pakistani Christian kid who was raped and other Christian and Hindu girls who where kidnapped in the street at gunpoint and forced to convert to Islam and police did nothing to stop it? All because they where not Muslim if it weren’t for jihad watch we wouldn’t know about this so we could make others aware to stop this injustice happening to children I think your a hypocrite and you have no morals you would rather people didn’t know about this and let the Christians and Hindus in Pakistan suffer. I think deep down your a racist who hates Christians and Hindus and don’t want people to know what is happening
Rod says
So let me get this right Boycott – Spencer doesn’t approve of child abuse, so therefore the abuse and hatred and intolerance he directs at the world’s millions of Muslims is not intolerance.
Further, if I disagree with you, I am a racist with no morals, and you aren’t intolerant.
If that makes sense to you, you’re now fully qualified to enjoy all the hatred, bigotry and intolerance spewing off these pages daily.
gravenimage says
“Rod’s” pretending that opposing the horrors of child rape is “intolerance” could not be more appalling.
And–again–Islam is *not* a race. Opposing child rape is not racist as he posits.
Boycott Turkey says
Gravenimage yes I find it sickening Rod saying it’s intolerence for Robert Spencer to report on the rape and forced conversion to Islam on Christian and Hindu children in Pakistan because he is Christophobic and Hinduphobic but I am intolerant to Islam as a ideology where a fake Prophet married a 6 year old girl Rod doesn’t realise that if articles about this didn’t get posted then nobody would know to complain to the Pakistani embassy also the reason I called him a racist is because I feel deep down he is so he doesn’t care about the Pakistani Hindu children because they are brown so it doesn’t matter what happened to them. Being Anti Islam is also being Anti racist and anti bigot.
Rod says
Doesn’t everybody detest child abuse? Whether the perpetrators are priests, school teachers, youth workers, or perhaps worst of all, men who abuse their own children? Sadly, such people can possibly be found near at hand, secretly offending in our own suburbs or communities.
But Spencer obsessively searches the world’s yellow press to find Muslim offenders. Does he want his admirers to believe this is a uniquely Muslim crime?
Is this a bit weird? Might it indicate something odd about Mr Spencer’s mindset?
gravenimage says
“Rod” wrote:
Doesn’t everybody detest child abuse? Whether the perpetrators are priests, school teachers, youth workers, or perhaps worst of all, men who abuse their own children? Sadly, such people can possibly be found near at hand, secretly offending in our own suburbs or communities.
………………………………..
“Rod” pretending that everyone detests child abuse is *obviously* utterly false. That he can post this here is just grotesque:
“Somalia: Bill introduced in parliament that would allow a girl to be married as young as 10 years old”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/09/somalia-bill-introduced-in-parliament-that-would-allow-a-girl-to-be-married-as-young-as-10-years-old
“Turkey: Religious Affairs Ministry says it’s permissible for girls to be married at age nine”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/08/turkey-religious-affairs-ministry-says-its-permissible-for-girls-to-be-married-at-age-nine
“Turkey: ‘Banning Early Marriages is Fighting Against Allah’”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/07/turkey-banning-early-marriages-is-fighting-against-allah
There are, grimly, many more such stories. How can “Rod” claim that any of this savagery condemns pedophilia? Clearly, it does not.
More:
But Spencer obsessively searches the world’s yellow press to find Muslim offenders. Does he want his admirers to believe this is a uniquely Muslim crime?
………………………………..
Islam is the only that sacralizes child rape, as “Rod” well knows–and little girls suffer from this horror all over the world as a result. The implication that these stories are false–“Yellow Press”–is *quite* false.
For instance, the stories above are sourced from the Guardian, from the minutes of the Turkish Diyanet, and from Turkey’s Statistics Institute (TUIK). How is any of this the “Yellow Press”?
More:
Is this a bit weird? Might it indicate something odd about Mr Spencer’s mindset?
………………………………..
No, opposing the horrors of child rape is *not* odd. Only an apologist for Islamic savagery would think so. *Ugh*.
gravenimage says
Agreed, Boycott Turkey.
E T says
“who inspires his devotees to think similarly” Hell yeah, he’s got that magic touch, that makes us glow so much, we women on here especially are lost souls, like the followers of Charlie Manson, our Robert has a hold on us. He be sayin frog, Wes all jump.
Careful Rod, envy is a deadly sin.
gravenimage says
Good post, Brando. Thanks for that information.
Brando says
Thank you,and when I heard of the manifesto by the 150 I was happy then disgusted by the accusation that Trump is an enemy of democracy. Libertarians are pro-Trump, not just in the US but abroad.
Examples: the most famous ones in SOUTH AMERICA, Agustin Laje and Javier Milei ( both Argentine), Mamela Fiallo ( Ecuador).
We don’t agree with everything the Conservatives do
ANOTHER EXAMPLE
1.We are pro-legalization of COCAINE, study after study shows the war against cocaine trafficking is a failure.
2.They have already legalized ALL drugs (heroin,cocaine,crack,etc) in PORTUGAL since 2000,and we see that the percentage of addicts has NOT gone up.
3.At best 25% of cocaine is seized and destroyed, but in order for the war against cocaine trafficking to has an economic effect on them we would have to seize and destroy 75% of the cocaine that flows.
4.Legalizing cocaine in Mexico,Central America and South America would ELIMINATE the financial corruption of government employees and politicians there.
5.There are 20 MILLION cocaine addicts in the world,of which: 12 MILLION ( 60%) in the US and 4 MILLION in EUROPE.
Not all libertarians think the same: for example GLORIA ALVAREZ ( Guatemala|) is pro-abortion and AGUSTIN LAJE and MAMELA FIALLO are anti-abortion.
gravenimage says
Unfortunately, Brando, the situation in Portugal is equivocal at best, and there are indications that rates of HIV/AIDS have gone up (which this law was intended to stop), and that rates of drug use and crime have gone up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal#Observations
James Lincoln says
According to the feature article,
“Islam subsequently clarified that he was not condoning the killing of Rushdie but simply stating that, in the Koran, blasphemy is punishable by death.”
So is Yusuf Islam publicly stating that he does not believe in the Koran – because he does not condone what the Koran states?
Isn’t that blasphemy?
How can he have it both ways?
gravenimage says
Muslim apologists love to have it both ways–and it is not often enough that they are called on it. Glad that at least a couple of journalists over the years *have* called Islam on this.
James says
Or does “barrow” mean one of these:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Barrow
Rod says
Read Spencer’s words carefully and you’ll see that Rushdie did not say “I want an apology”, even though Mr S puts it in quotation marks, to persuade you that he did.
Any self respecting commentator would be ashamed of such blatant misrepresentation of simple truth.
Loose with the truth, Mr Spencer? Yet again? Never mind, your adoring fans are ever undiscriminating. In fact for dedicated bigots, it’s essential.
gravenimage says
Actually, this is from the Daily Mail article itself, not some editorial comment from Robert Spencer:
“Not such a cool Cat after all! Yusuf Islam (aka pop legend Cat Stevens) claimed he’d been misunderstood over his support for the deadly fatwa on Salman Rushdie. Here the furious author demands: ‘I want an apology!'”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8800201/Salman-Rushdie-demands-apology-Yusuf-Islam-supported-fatwa-against-author.html
“Rod” here has to continue to lie about Robert Spencer, because he has got nothing else.
And does he condemn Yusuf Islam for seeking the murder of a peaceful novelist? Not so he says.
Rod says
Thanks gravy. It appears that Spencer hasn’t told you a lie. He’s repeated what was obviously a lie, and assumed you would believe it.
Isn’t that even more disgraceful? More incompetent?
But you’re happy to be lied to. So, no problem.
gravenimage says
What crap from “Rod”. Either he has not read the article, or else he hopes that we have not. From the Daily Mail:
This week I asked Sir Salman Rushdie himself what he made of Islam’s latest remarks.
He told me: ‘Cat Stevens most certainly was not “framed”. He made his comments on television. That’s a matter of record. A genuine apology would be a lot better than this wriggling.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8800201/Salman-Rushdie-demands-apology-Yusuf-Islam-supported-fatwa-against-author.html
Pretending that Salman Rushdie did not suggest that an apology from Yusuf Islam would be a good thing is quite false.
And note that “Rod” *still* will not condemn calls to murder a peaceful novelist. Just sickening–but scarcely surprising.
infidel says
A Muslim is a Muslim after all.. even if clothed in the softest of external demeanor or the sweetest of voice. The vile hatred of infidels does not take much to scum up…
Jayell says
“As the singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, his mellifluous, uplifting songs, including …….Morning Has Broken, have sold in their millions.
He didn’t write ‘Morning Has Broken’. That’s an old Christian hymn written years ago by Eleanor Farjeon, and I used to sing it in school assemblies longer ago than I care to remember. No doubt Cat Stevens recorded it when was still ‘Cat Stevens’ before he became a disciple of the devil. And if he ever tried to claim that the sentiments of the words had anything to do with islam, that would be yet another example of outrageous opportunistic islamic plagiarism and a gross slur Mrs Farjeon who was, I believe, a devout Christian all her life.
Why doesn’t ‘Ysuf Islam’ just accept that he doesn’t belong in UK or Western culture anymore since he decided to defect to the enemy of civilisation and burn his boat?
gravenimage says
+1
Ron Hongsermeier says
In the above comments there is a considerable confusion on the meaning of tolerance/intolerance repression/free speech. Be that as it may, the barristers for Mr. Islam make an astonishing admission in claiming that Mr. Islam made a “naive” statement or series of statements at an earlier time. Since Mr. Islam’s statements at that time were completely in line with the Quran and the Sharia, it seems they’ve admitted that both Mr. Islam and his name-giver are naive in light of historical statements by both…
gravenimage says
Ron, who here is confused about freedom of speech? Anti-Jihadists support freedom of speech; the apologist for Jihad does not.
And yes–there is nothing “naive” about calling for a man’s murder, and this is perfectly in line with the savagery of orthodox Islam.
SamB says
“Islam subsequently clarified that he was not condoning the killing of Rushdie but simply stating that, in the Koran, blasphemy is punishable by death” this is itself is a contradiction of the Qur’an. How Yusuf abrogate the Qur’an? The Qur’an is only abrogated by Allah ( and Muhammad). A good Muslim is not necessarily a “moderate” Muslim but one who does the will of Allah. The issue at stake is whether a fatwa [A fatwā is a nonbinding legal opinion on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified jurist in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a mufti, and the act of issuing fatwas is called iftāʾ.] Thus, Cat\Yusuf the question posed you if the Ayatollahs are spokesman for God do you ignore them, after all they simply react to our(Rushdie’s) blasphemy and in return make a declaration(Qur’anic). Furthermore, you cannot dichotomize Islam into moderates and hardliners\fundamentalist. The Qur’an cannot have a postmodernist interpretation it is the truth in verity(sic).
Michael Copeland says
No, no, no. You are all wrong. It is a matter of INTERPRETATION.
Robertson asked: ‘You don’t think that this man deserves to die?’
Islam: ‘Yes, yes.’
.
You see, “Yes, yes” actually means “No”. It requires a good deal of learned study and application, and a knowledge of Arabic. These things should not be left to ordinary people.
TKF says
I loved Cat Stevens, but I can’t stick Yusuf Islam at any price. What a spineless jerk Muslim fanatic.
Valkyrie Ziege says
; Here is a lesson in basic Muhammadanism – Cat Stevens is getting pressure from his Imam to produce money, or to offer up one of his children as a martyr, as is the custom with bronze-age superstitions.
The money Cat Stevens thought would be endless from recordings/concert sales is gone, therefore, he’ll say anything to sell his old, plodding, songs, which were past-their-prime the first time around. This the usual Taqiyya from Muhammadans whom will say anything to make money.