Islamic Tolerance alert. By Jamie Doward in The Observer: One of the Church of England’s most senior bishops is warning that people will die unless Muslim leaders in Britain speak out in defence of the right to change faith. Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, whose father converted from Islam to Christianity in Pakistan, says […]
Sunni Leaders in Iraq Threatened
Latest setback in the effort to turn Iraq into Massachusetts. By Robert H Reid for AP via The Guardian: BAGHDAD (AP) – An al-Qaida front group threatened to assassinate Sunni leaders who support American troops in Iraq as a Shiite bloc loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr defected Saturday from the Iraqi government’s parliament base. […]
Quebec debate over face-covering during voting sparks row
More from those adorable Canadians. From the Canadian Press: MONTREAL (CP) “” Federal and Quebec political leaders have unanimously blasted an Elections Canada decision to let Muslim women wear traditional face coverings when voting in three federal byelections in Quebec. Muslims groups say they are mystified about the uproar, saying they never asked for any […]
Osama is in Chitral, Pakistan: US experts
From the Dawn: WASHINGTON, Sept 8: Osama bin Laden is in Chitral, US experts have claimed while commenting on Al Qaeda leader’s latest video in which he has taunted America for losing the war against him. Several US television channels and newspapers quoted US counter-terrorism experts as saying that bin Laden is hiding in Chitral […]
Army kills fugitive Fatah al-Islam militant as hunt for escaped fighters continues
By Michael Bluhm in the Lebanon Daily Star: BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army killed one Fatah al-Islam militant in the village of Bhannine Friday and captured four more near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, as troops continued pursuing escaped militants, an army source told The Daily Star. A handful of fugitive Fatah al-Islam members remained […]
Germany considers increased spying on Muslims
By Matthew Schofield at McClatchy via Matt Drudge. BERLIN “” After thwarting what might have become a “massive” attack on American installations, German authorities will review ways to fight homegrown terrorists, including a proposal to allow Internet spying on all German converts to Islam. The search for seven other suspected members of a German cell […]
Thailand blast injures 10, kills 1
From Iranian Press TV: A bomb hidden under a bench in front of a food shop killed one person and wounded 10 others in Thailand’s restive Muslim south. The remote-controlled device exploded Saturday, while Buddhist Thais were waiting to give food to monks in the town of Pattani in one of three southernmost provinces where […]
“9/11 brought Americans closer to Islam”
That’s for sure — oh, wait, that’s not what he meant. From the Pakistan Daily Times: LAHORE: 9/11 has brought Americans closer to Islam, since the Americans started studying Islam after the bloody attacks and realised that Islam was a peaceful religion, said Walter Russell Mead on Saturday. Mr Mead, who has never learned the […]
Government Troops, Jihadists Killed in Southern Philippines
Latest from the inner spiritual struggle in the Philippines. From VOA News: Philippine military officials say 16 troops and about 30 Muslim extremists have been killed in clashes in the southern Philippines. […] The fighting was one of the bloodiest clashes on Basilan since 14 marines were killed in an ambush last month. The United […]
Idaho congressman apologizes for remarks about Muslim colleague
The latest nuttiness from DC. As reported by AP in the IHT: BOISE, Idaho: U.S. Representative Bill Sali has apologized to a Muslim colleague for remarks suggesting the United States’ founders never intended for Muslims to serve in the U.S. Congress. In the interview with the Christian-based American Family News Network, Sali referred to Representative […]
(Some of the) Risks in a Muslim Reformation
By Diana Muir in the Washington [bleep]: Salman Rushdie, Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof and Mansour al-Nogaidan are among the well-intentioned people who have called for an Islamic Reformation. They should be careful what they wish for. […] The Reformation was a time of intense focus on God and what He requires of people. As a […]
Introducing New Feature
Welcome to Stupidity Watch. As someone experienced in both the academic and entertainment industries, I (Greg) figured that I was the obvious choice to head up this new department. I haven’t cleared this feature with management just yet (so don’t tell Robert), but increasingly I come across items that don’t really fit into the current […]
South Korean Hostage Pleads for Help
From AFP via IOL: Kandahar — A woman said by the Taliban to be one of 21 South Korean hostages pleaded for help Saturday in an emotional telephone conversation with AFP, saying the captives are ill and frightened. “They threaten us, they tell us they’ll kill us,” the weeping woman said in the call set […]
No Dhimmi Here
After a week or so of running an isn’t-Islam-nice section at the top of their homepage, the Washington [bleep] includes a broadside by the formidable Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Here’s a taste: On the issues of holy war (jihad), apostasy and the treatment of women, the Koran and Sunna are clear. It is the obligation of […]
Videos You Might Have Missed
Greg here. For those of you following the wider release of our DVD, Islam: What the West Needs to Know, you may be interested in this pair of videos featuring yours truly and my unindicted co-conspirator, Bryan Daly. It’s tough to undo years of misinformation on Islam in ninety seconds, but, in the spirit of […]
Bosnian Muslims mark 600 years of Islam in Bosnia
From AP via The Star Online: SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnian Muslims celebrate 600 years of Islam in their nation Saturday with a concert of spiritual music, a prayer for peace, and a gentle reminder to Europe: not all of the continent’s Muslims are of immigrant origin. “Recently we have noticed that Europe is obsessed by […]
Turkey: Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted party coasts to re-election
From EON: Ankara – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to have easily won re-election with his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) winning almost 48 per cent of the vote, a result that will allow them to comfortably form a single-party government. With just over 70 per cent of the vote counted, the AKP […]
And this week’s winner of the Jihad Watch Wishful Thinking Award goes to …
… Sarah Barmak in the Toronto Star: Could it be that the end of Islamist violence will be brought about by Jihadists themselves? After collectively wringing our hands for years over how many hearts, minds and billions of dollars it will take to win the global war on terror, the secret weapon needed to fight […]
Want to (Mis)Understand Islam? Start Here.
Our old friend John Esposito chimes in once more, this time in the Washington [Bleep] (as Mr Liddy would say), about how swell Islam is. Like all good propagandists, Mr Esposito expertly combines vague truths with crucial omissions. Let’s take a look: Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam originated in the Middle East. As F.E. Peters […]
Upcoming SoCal conference on whether Islam is a religion of peace
More rumblings in southern California. A media advisory from Christian Newswire: We at Arabic Christian Perspective have heard many times the claim that Islam is a religion of peace. We believe that this is not true. By reading the Qur’an, one will see that the suicide bombers are not fringe fanatics on the outskirts of […]