Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Danny Ayalon, writing in the Wall Street Journal, touches on many of my blog themes - the hypocrisy of the flotilla activists, the plight of Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon, and how Gaza's poverty is hugely exaggerated.
A couple of years ago, a Palestinian refugee camp was encircled and laid siege to by an army of tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers. Attacks initiated by Palestinian militants triggered an overwhelming response from the army that took the life of almost 500 people, including many civilians. International organizations struggled to send aid to the refugee camps, where the inhabitants were left without basic amenities like electricity and running water. During the conflict, six U.N. personnel were killed when their car was bombed.
While most will assume that the events described above took place in the West Bank or Gaza, they actually took place in Lebanon in the summer of 2007...At the time, there was little international outcry. No world leader decried the "prison camps" in Lebanon. No demonstrations took place around the world; no U.N. investigation panels were created and little media attention was attracted. In fact, the plight of the Palestinians in Lebanon garners very little attention internationally.
Today, there are more than 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who are deprived of their most basic rights. ...Unlike all other foreign nationals in Lebanon, they are denied access to the health-care system. According to Amnesty international, the Palestinians in Lebanon suffer from "discrimination and marginalization" and are treated like "second class citizens" and "denied their full range of human rights."
In view of the worsening plight of the Palestinians in Lebanon, it is the height of irony that a Lebanese flotilla is organizing to leave the port of Tripoli in the next few days to bring aid to Palestinians in Gaza. According to one of the organizers, the participants are "united by a feeling of stark injustice."
This attitude exposes the dishonesty of the whole flotilla exercise. Whether it is from Turkey, Ireland or Cyprus, those that participate in these flotillas reek of hypocrisy. There are currently 100 armed conflicts and dozens of territorial disputes around the world. There have been millions of people killed and hundreds of millions live in abject poverty without access to basic staples. And yet hundreds of high-minded "humanitarian activists" are spending millions of dollars to reach Gaza and hand money to Hamas that will never reach the innocent civilians of Gaza.
This is the same Gaza that just opened a sparkling new shopping mall that would not look out of place in any capital in Europe. Gaza, where a new Olympic-sized swimming pool was recently inaugurated and five-star hotels and restaurants offer luxurious fare.
Markets brimming with all manner of foods dot the landscape of Gaza, where Lauren Booth, journalist and "human rights activist," was pictured buying chocolate and luxurious items from a well-stocked supermarket before stating with a straight face that the "situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis on the scale of Darfur."
...The latest flotilla preparing to leave from Lebanon fully exposes not only the hypocrisy but the danger of these provocative vigilante flotillas. The Lebanese flotilla, whose organizers claim injustice while ignoring the dire human rights situation of the Palestinians in Lebanon, amply demonstrate that these flotillas have nothing to do with humanitarian concerns and everything to do with delegitimizing Israel. Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon
Pakistan: 5 Christians shot to death coming out of church following threats from "banned" jihadist groups
"Suspected Islamists Shoot Five Christians to Death in Pakistan," from Compass Direct News, July 29 2010.
SUKKUR, Pakistan, July 29 (CDN) -- A dozen masked men shot five Christians to death as they came out of their church building here on July 15, two months after a banned Islamic extremist group sent church leaders a threatening letter, relatives said. Pastor Aaron John and church members Rohail Bhatti, Salman John, Abid Gill and Shamin Mall of Full Gospel Church were leaving the church building after meeting to discuss security in light of the threats they had received, said the pastor's son, Shahid John.
"As we came out of the church, a group of a dozen armed gunmen came and opened fire at us," said Shahid John, who survived a bullet in his arm. "Fear struck the area. The police arrived 45 minutes after the incident, and we waited for over 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive." Besides Shahid John, five others were wounded in the attack. In May church leaders received a letter from Islamic extremist group Sip-e-Sahaba (formerly Sipah-e-Sahaba until it was banned) warning the Christians to leave the area, said Kiran Rohail, wife of the slain Rohail Bhatti.
"It said to vacate the land, Christians are not welcomed here, they are polluting our land," Kiran Rohail said. The Sip-e-Sahaba and Sunni Tehrik extremist groups are both linked with an area madrassa (Islamic school) whose students had been threatening the church since 2008, Christian sources said. "In 2008 a group of Muslim students started making threats for the church to vacate the land, as there are only 55 Christian families living in the area," said the pastor's widow, Naila John, who also lost her son Salman John in the attack.
The masked gunmen of July 15 had young physiques like those of students, Christian sources said, and their manner of attack indicated they were trained extremists.... Hat tip: Jihad Watch
This position of denying Jewish sovereignty has always brought even greater defeat and humiliation to its proponents. Arabs who accept the existence of Israel are free to enjoy life there too. Those who wish to deny Jewish life are merely denying Israel to themselves. Proof of the law of "measure for measure"!
Hymen restoration covered for Muslim women by UK healthcare
From the Daily Mail. Increasing numbers of Muslim brides are having taxpayer-funded ‘virginity repair’ operations before marriage. There were 116 hymen replacement operations carried out on the NHS between 2005 and 2009. The total for 2009 was 30, up 25 per cent from 24 in 2005. The health service figures echo a trend reported by private clinics, which are seeing a huge surge in demand for the procedure from Muslim women paying up to £4,000.
One Harley Street clinic said that demand for its half-hour procedure had tripled in recent months.Doctors say patients are under pressure from future husbands or relatives who insist that they should be virgins on their wedding night. During the hymenoplasty procedure – viewed by some as invasive and degrading – the hymen is stitched or reconstructed so that it will tear again and bleed on the woman’s wedding night. In some cases, the vaginal lining can be used to create a false hymen. A blood capsule can then be inserted into the lining to ensure realistic blood flow when the membrane is broken. Consultant gynaecologist Dr Magdy Hend performs hymenoplasty under local anaesthetic at his Regency Clinic on Harley Street. He charges £1,850 for the half-hour procedure and says that most of his clients are Muslim women.
He said: ‘In the past, we would do one or two hymen reconstruction operations a week. Sometimes now, we get two or three women a day. Demand has tripled.‘Our Muslim clients worry about having had sex, and their fiance and family knowing that they have been touched before. ‘It is more cultural rather than religious. If the bride is not a virgin and does not bleed on the wedding night, it is a big shame on the family. There have been honour killings in extreme cases.
‘It is simple surgery that takes only half an hour. They can have it done at lunchtime and do not have to give their real names and addresses.’ There have been calls for a ban on NHS surgeons carrying out the operations for women wanting to marry as virgins. But a Department of Health spokesman insisted that hymen repair operations take place on the NHS only to ensure a patient’s physical or psychological health.
She said: ‘The NHS does not fund hymen repair operations for cultural reasons. All operations on the NHS are on the basis of clinical need. ‘Operations to repair the hymen are only carried out exceptionally to secure physical or psychological health.’ And by sheer coincidence all of these "non-cultural" hymenoplasties are being done for women who share the same culture.
Not that I am against this being paid by public funds. The potential cost to the British taxpayer for an honor killing - investigation, prosecution, incarceration -would be much higher. Hymen removal is a prophylactic medical procedure to avoid being slaughtered. Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon
The light, lenient, ludicrous and laughable court sentences on the cow-head protestors lends credence to the growing belief that Umno lives and lasts on bigotry On 28 August last year, more than 50 people, shortly after their Friday prayers, marched from the Selangor state mosque in Shah Alam to the Selangor State Secretariat to protest the relocation of a 150-year old Hindu temple to their neighbourhood. Amidst strong chants of “Allahuakbar!” they dragged and paraded the severed and bloodied head of a cow. One of their leaders shouted “I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension (if the temple relocation takes place)”. Some of them made fiery speeches, spat on the severed cow’s head, kicked it, stomped on it, dumped it in front of the gates of the State Secretariat and proudly posed for photos, as police stood stoically, silently and submissively by. Malaysian Hindus (who consider the cow a sacred animal) protested vehemently and called it a “sacrilegious act”. Other non-Muslims described it as “sickening” and “scandalous”. Many Muslims in the country considered it “shameless” and “so un-Islamic”. A Muslim wrote: “These hooligans don't represent all of us”. Another added: “As a Muslim, I am ashamed at the behaviour of these hoodlums especially during the holy month of Ramadhan. I really wonder who the head honchos are behind this unscrupulous act.” The world watched in shock at how such a provocative act, or as some would later call it “barbaric behaviour” could have taken place in Malaysia – a country which its government boasts of as being a supposed showcase of a multi-racial-religious society today! Hishammuddin’s Hypocrisy In spite of a nationwide outcry and the lodging of 98 police reports against the cow-head protestors, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who often hypes about racial and religious harmony decided to hijack the role of the police, Attorney-General (AG) and even the judiciary. He went out of the way to meet in his office with the protestors – the very people who had committed what was clearly a seditious and sacrilegious act. He even daftly declared them innocent, defended their actions and deemed legal action against them as unnecessary. According to him, the protestors were the ones who were “victimised”. They had no intention to stir racial emotion! It was not the first time an animal head had been used in a protest! The police allowed them to proceed because the numbers of protestors were small. Hishammuddin humoured the whole nation! So desperate was he to justify the heinous act that he would even declare: “In this day and age, protests should be accepted in this world, as people want their voices to be heard. If we don’t give them room to voice their opinions, they have no choice but to protest.” Hishammuddin’s hypocrisy could not hold when, about a week after the cow-head protest, police arrested 16 Hindraf leaders who were in the midst of holding a peaceful candlelight vigil to voice their strong protest against the sacrilegious act in Shah Alam. (According to Lim Kit Siang, Hishammuddin’s “obsession to defend the Umno role in the cow-head demonstration” was “to further the Umno/BN agenda to weaken and topple the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor State Government”.) In comparison, the PM very dramatically said he was deeply disturbed by the despicable act, demanded that the issue be nipped in the bud and directed the IGP to act swiftly and sternly. It is 11 months since the incident and the Shah Alam Sessions Court delivered its judgment on the matter on 28 July 2010. Pathetic Patail The Court fined 12 cow-head protestors RM1,000 each after they pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of taking part in an illegal assembly. Two of the protestors were fined RM3,000 for sedition while one of the two was also ordered to serve a week in jail. The actions of the cow-head protestors as so accurately described by Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, were “extreme and provocative”. Very naturally the public had expected stiff, stern and severe court sentences that would stop the country from sliding further down the slippery slope of religious extremism. Sadly the sentences defied all logic. They were glaringly light, lenient and ludicrous. They made the AG’s Chambers, the judiciary and the government laughable. Once again the loud and oft-dramatic resolve by the powers-that-be to check extremism by Muslim groups have proven to be only lip service. A fine of a paltry sum of RM1,000 to RM3,000, a preposterous jail sentence of only a week for one of the protestors – such pathetic punishment for outright religious bigotry can only come from a predictable judiciary ready to please and pander to the wishes of its political masters. "I hope in future the accused will all be more sensitive in their actions. It is also hoped that this sentence will serve as a deterrent to others in future," the words of judge Hasbi Hasan rang hollow in the court as the guilty heaved a sigh of relief – devoid of any sense of remorse. For taking part in such a diabolical act of desecration which could have triggered off serious racial and religious disturbances, four of the protestors who had maintained their innocence and were supposed to go through separate trials, were discharged – after AG Gani Patail decided not to press further charges! The gravity of the offence warranted a stringent and not a farcical deterrent sentence. The implications of the offence to worsening race and religious relations were very grave. But the AG was not at all serious in sending out a clear message that such offences will not be tolerated. Neither was the Court! It did not seem to matter to the AG that the public could see through the “big show” of toughness put up by his Chambers and the Court. Such a charade reduced the PM’s initial proclamations of swift and severe action to mere pious pronouncements and pretentious promises meant to placate public anger. Further, one is prompted to ask would the Court sentences be the same if a group of Hindus were to spit and stomp on the Holy Quran and left it outside the gates of the Selangor State Secretariat? Would they be discharged due to their insistence of being innocent? Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies puts this succinctly: “I would say this warrants the maximum sentence, if not, much higher than that...Frankly, the public would be asking would the sentence commensurate with the crime if it was other ethnic groups involved.” P. Uthayakumar, Human Rights party secretary-general was more blunt: “I urge the attorney-general to appeal against the Sessions Court's sentence and further prosecute them (the four perpetrators) under Section 298(A) as I believe this clause would have been used if it were the Muslims who were offended instead.” (Commenting on the ongoing hearing of three Muslim youth charged for fire-bombing a church, lawyer Annou Xavier wrote in an e-mail that little is to be expected of the outcome of the trail as the (ill-prepared and inexperienced) prosecution team has demonstrated little regard to the seriousness of the case). Breeding bigotry The cow-head protest should come as no surprise. It is the logical consequence and culmination of years of the authorities closing an eye and sometimes both, to the provocative and extreme acts of Muslim groups, whilst putting up a facade of a thorough investigation and taking fair and firm action. Five months later, in the aftermath of a landmark ruling by the Kuala Lumpur High Court which ordered the lifting of the Home Minister’s ban on the Catholic church publishing the word “Allah” in its weekly paper, Herald, arson attacks, vandalism and other incidents took place in 11 churches and a Sikh temple. What gives extremist Muslim groups the audacity to insult other faiths, incite religious hatred, and be so intolerant and insensitive to non-Muslims? Perhaps it has to do with them being very confident that they can display their insolence with impunity. They are well-provided and protected and their fines may even be paid – by Umno. Umno is in a desperate state. In spite of its many claims of having changed, it continues with its political culture of divide and rule and of a siege mentality by politicising religion and creating unfounded insecurities amongst Muslims and a distrust of other religions. Very ironically and tragically it appears that Umno can only unite the Malays and Muslims by dividing the country! The party that harps on supremacy and superiority whether it is with regard to race or religion, at the same time claims that Muslims can be very easily confused, convinced and converted! Umno thrives on bigotry. It survives on religious extremism, fanaticism and fanning fears and fantasising enemies! Its members and all Muslims in the country are made to believe that they must stamp their superiority over the rest, and this is made all the more easier by Executive Supremacy! According to Umno’s brand of Islam, the Malay/Muslim majority in this country must dominate, dictate, decide and even define what the minority (non-Muslims) can and cannot do; discuss, deliberate and debate on in public; and display in print. The saddest outcome of the cow-head protest is that we have accepted the distinction between “Muslim and non-Muslim dominated areas”. Yet, there was a time when Bolehland’s citisens of diverse races and religions so successfully and confidently co-existed and lived together side by side in mutual respect and admiration! After being PM for 15 months, Najib has failed to fight the fires of religious fanaticism, aggressively fanned by his own party. He takes flight and hides behind his 1Malaysia slogan – a faltering façade and flop which makes him look so utterly foolish! 1 Malaysia has become one big joke! The inadequate sentences of the cow-head protestors make it very clear that burgeoning bigotry will continue to rear its ugly head in Bolehland as long as the Umnoputras rule Putrajaya. May Allah (oops, did I convert anyone) help us! By Martin Jalleh 29th July 2010
The Islamic center near Ground Zero should not be approved
Dear Mayor Bloomberg A few questions you might want to ask before approving a mosque for Ground Zero.
Your Honor:
In regard to the proposal to build an Islamic center at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack in Manhattan, I commend you for saying: “Everything the United States stands for and New York stands for is tolerance and openness, and I think it’s a great message for the world. . . . ” But I would urge you to question whether this project truly represents that idea — or whether it undermines it. Start with this: Before this project is approved, surely New Yorkers and other Americans should know who will be picking up the more than $100 million tab. Would you not be distressed were it later to be revealed that funds had been contributed by people who also finance terrorism?
You’ll recall that, after the 9/11 attacks, your predecessor Rudy Giuliani turned down a $10 million check from a Saudi prince who had said that America shares blame for the atrocity. Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the Islamic center project, has said that U.S. policies “were an accessory to the crime that happened.” How is that different? By the way, the Saudi royal family embraces Wahhabism, an interpretation of Islam that cannot be said to value “tolerance and openness.” Among other things, in Saudi Arabia non-Muslim houses of worship are prohibited and “infidels” — people like you and me — may not set foot in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina upon pain of death. Newt Gingrich has called on Abdul Rauf to state clearly that he disagrees with such policies. Is that not a reasonable request?
I have an additional suggestion: If this project — also called the “Cordoba Initiative”— is really to “symbolize interfaith cooperation,” if it’s really to be an “inter-religious center,” a 13-story home for “multi-faith collaboration,” should it not contain a synagogue and a church as well as a mosque? I would recommend putting each on a different floor. On the highest floor, let’s put the church — since Christians founded this great nation of ours. One floor down, let’s put a synagogue, since Jews were among the earliest immigrants to find religious freedom in America. And one floor farther down, we’d have the mosque, a place for a newer generation of immigrants to gather and worship freely.
Here’s my guess: If you propose this to Abdul Rauf, emphasizing, as you have in the past, the First Amendment rule that the government “shouldn’t be in the business of picking” one religion over another, he will nonetheless refuse. He will offer all sorts of explanations, but the truth, I suspect, is that he believes that Islam is not “one of the world’s great religions” but rather the only true religion, that others are false and wicked. He will find it blasphemous that you want this center to give equal status to Christianity and Judaism. And he will see putting a church and synagogue on higher floors as symbolizing more than equality.
A bit of relevant history: Islam began, proudly, as a warriors’ religion. Beginning in the seventh century, Islamic armies burst out of Arabia and conquered much of the known world. Among their practices: They razed the houses of worship of those they defeated and built mosques upon the ruins. This was a way of sending a message. These early Muslims were not just adept fighters — they also were skilled communicators.
The al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is built on the site where the First and Second Temples of the Jewish people once stood. However, some Muslims deny that there ever were Jewish houses of worship on that site. Why not ask Abdul Rauf his opinion? Might it influence your opinion of the imam, should he claim that there were no temples in Jerusalem prior to the Arab/Muslim conquest of that city? Similarly, when Muslim armies conquered the ancient Christian capital of Constantinople, later to be renamed Istanbul, they turned the St. Sophia Basilica into a mosque. Continue to page 2 of Clifford D. May's letter in the National Review............
How Pakistani Muslims abuse the laws on blasphemy in which to oppress non-Muslims
Thursday, July 29, 2010
(Pakistan) Last week, two brothers who were accused of blasphemy by a Muslim were murdered as they left court after the judge let them free when he declared there was no case against them. What isn't been widely reported is that knowing the two brothers were going to be released, Islamists called on all righteous Muslims to be outside the mosque in which to protest about how Christians who abuse their god are allowed to go free. Which is where and when the two innocent brothers were murdered for the sin of being Christians.
In Pakistan, blasphemy laws are used time and again by Muslims in which to get one over Christians. This was brought to the world's attention in 1998 when Bishop John Joseph of Faisalabad listening to yet another case of blasphemy against a Christian (The boy's crime was that he allegedly kicked a stone which bounced and hit a sign which had the word Allah written on it; only one person witnessed the supposed crime, and for that the boy was sentenced to death) protested the only way he could in which to shout out to the world just how Muslims treat others when they are in the majority. So, walking out of the court, he pulled out a gun and shot himself dead.
That was in 1998, and 12 years later things haven't gotten any better for Christians in Pakistan. Which probably explains why Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities, has also been accused of blasphemy by branding the recently murdered Christian brothers as victims of Pakistan blasphemy laws. Wow, what a way to silence your critics -- accuse them of the slightest provocation against Islam and rest assured that somebody will remove them from this plane of existence, be it the law or some angry Muslim who feels he has to regain his honour. Hat tip: Eye On The World
Chubby Malaysian playboy Taek Jho Low and Paris Hilton
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
PERKY Paris Hilton sunbathes topless on a luxury yacht - and for a change there's plenty to sea.The 29-year-old heiress played coy but was obviously not hiding from the cameras as she cheered up the buoys by peeling off on the Italian coast. But her curvier-than-usual figure sparked rumours she'd given herself a boost too. Paris, who's never admitted to a boob job, has certainly been making the breast of her ocean break around Europe with pals.
Last week she helped run up the most expensive celebrity bar bill EVER, in France's St Tropez.
Her new fella, chubby Malaysian playboy Taek Jho Low, shelled out a staggering £1.8 MILLION on bubbly at the exclusive Byblos nightclub. He was competing with her ex-boyfriend Doug Reinhardt on who could splash the most cash on booze. But we can't help wondering if bills are the only things Paris has been racking up... News of the World
The PalArabs have been the recipients of international largesse unprecedented in history and somehow have not been able to translate it into real state building. There is nothing happening on the ground.
Its called "Protection Money" a concept familiar to anyone who has watched movies about the Mafia. Hat tip : Elder of Ziyon
Penang State Government Newsletter - SUARA CAT - Siri 1/2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Dear all, SUARA CAT- Penang State Newspaper, soft copy for your reference. News that will not be covered by Utusan and other mainstream media. You will be surprised how much Pakatan Rakyat has done to improve Penang! Appreciate if you can send to all your family, friends and contacts list. Please view this in full screen mode for your viewing pleasure. Click on the word "Fullscreen" for your viewing pleasure. It has 32 pages. Thank you.
The Islamification of America starts at Ground Zero
Feisal Abdul Rauf is the imam behind the “Cordoba Initiative” that is spearheading plans to build a $100 million Islamic center at Ground Zero, the site where nearly 3,000 Americans were killed by jihadists on 9/11. He is also the author of a book called What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America. But the book hasn’t always been called that. It was called quite something else for non-English-speaking audiences. In Malaysia, it was published as A Call to Prayer from the World Trade Center Rubble: Islamic Dawa in the Heart of America Post-9/11.
Now it emerges that a “special, non-commercial edition” of this book was later produced, with Feisal’s cooperation, by two American tentacles of the Muslim Brotherhood: the Islamic Society of North America and the International Institute of Islamic Thought. The book’s copyright page tells the tale:
Both ISNA and IIIT have been up to their necks in the promotion of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s ruthless Palestinian branch, which is pledged by charter to the destruction of Israel. In fact, both ISNA and IIIT were cited by the Justice Department as unindicted co-conspirators in a crucial terrorism-financing case involving the channeling of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas through an outfit called the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. For the last 15 years, Hamas has been a designated terrorist organization under U.S. law.
Dawa, whether done from the rubble of the World Trade Center or elsewhere, is the missionary work by which Islam is spread. As explained in my recent book, The Grand Jihad, dawa is proselytism, but not involving only spiritual elements — for Islam is not merely a religion, and spiritual elements are just a small part of its doctrine. In truth, Islam is a comprehensive political, social, and economic system with its own authoritarian legal framework, sharia, which aspires to govern all aspects of life.
This framework rejects core tenets of American constitutional republicanism: for example, individual liberty, freedom of conscience, freedom to govern ourselves irrespective of any theocratic code, equality of men and women, equality of Muslims and non-Muslims, and economic liberty, including the uses of private property (in Islam, owners hold property only as a custodians for the umma, the universal Muslim nation, and are beholden to the Islamic state regarding its use). Sharia prohibits the preaching of creeds other than Islam, the renunciation of Islam, any actions that divide the umma, and homosexuality. Its penalties are draconian, including savagely executed death sentences for apostates, homosexuals, and adulterers. Continue to Page 2 & 3 of Andrew C. McCarthy's article in the National Review
In late June in Tel Aviv, senior Israeli Defense Forces officials briefed JINSA members on the security situation confronting Israel. They provided the group with the following video about the "Flotilla" incident that took place on the morning of May 31, 2010. The most disturbing part of this video comes at around the 2:32 mark when the Israeli Navy attempts to contact the ships in the flotilla by radio. It is not clear from which flotilla vessel the disturbing responses emanated. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that that videos like this one that reveal the true nature of the flotilla incident are buried and overlooked by the media and public alike.
In late June in Tel Aviv, senior Israeli Defense Forces officials briefed JINSA members on the security situation confronting Israel. They provided the group with the following video about the "Flotilla" incident that took place on the morning of May 31, 2010. The most disturbing part of this video comes at around the 2:32 mark when the Israeli Navy attempts to contact the ships in the flotilla by radio. It is not clear from which flotilla vessel the disturbing responses emanated. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that that videos like this one that reveal the true nature of the flotilla incident are buried and overlooked by the media and public alike.
News from the wonderful land where sharia rules supreme.
TEHRAN - Iran amputated the hands of five convicted thieves inside a prison in the western city of Hamedan on Thursday, the semi-official ILNA news agency said. [...]
Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, theft can be punished by amputation. Eye On The World
Should France Ban the Burqa? The threat of Islamic extremism has prompted a controversial proposal
Friday, July 23, 2010
RAYMOND IBRAHIM That France is moving toward banning the burqa is a positive development on several fronts. Arguments against the burqa are many — it is anachronistic, misogynistic, etc. — but not least important is the fact that there have been many instances worldwide of criminals and Islamic terrorists facilitating their activities by concealing their identities via the burqa (which, of course, was originally designed for female “modesty”). Incidentally, what if the shoe were on the other foot? Would the Muslim world, which has problems with something as inoffensive as churches being built, permit a distinctly Western custom on its soil, especially one that poses a security threat?
Moreover, according to former Islamists, a direct correlation exists between radical Islam and burqas — that is, wherever there is an increase in the former, there follows an increase in the latter, which is seen as a physical manifestation of radicalism. However, where the Western infidel bans the burqa, the Islamists’ options become limited: stay in places like France and be forced to conform; insist on the burqa and, as a matter of priorities, return to accommodating Muslim countries; or forego the burqa, in compliance with secular laws, but continue to harbor Islamist beliefs in a state of taqiyya.
Ultimately, the burqa ban is a reminder that those religions that do not “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s” will always be at odds with secular societies. The burqa is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sharia mandates that conflict directly with secularism.— Raymond Ibrahim is editor of The Al Qaeda Reader.
JUDITH APTER KLINGHOFFER France is not banning the burqa; it is in the midst of a process to ban “face covering” in public. Of course, everybody knows that the real target is the growing tendency of Muslim women to wear a face covering, also known as the niqab. Still, the reference to “face covering” not only demonstrates a wish to avoid singling out Muslims but also points to the essential objection the state has to the niqab. France has always been an open communal society; to become French, one has to share basic French values. That was Napoleon’s message to Jewish leaders in 1806. It is Nicolas Sarkozy’s message to Muslims in 2010.
Prejudice, you’d say. A fear of a significant erosion of French social cohesion, I would answer. It is difficult, if not impossible, to trust someone whose face is covered, and, as Francis Fukuyama so well argues, a high level of trust is a necessary component of the social cohesiveness modern states need to function well in the global market economy. Of course, there is nothing Islamists would like better than to undermine modern states and replace them with a Muslim ummah, and they know that such a transformation will take time. The niqab is one way Islamists seek to prevent the Muslim diaspora from becoming part of a non-Islamist circle of trust. Banning the face veil is one way the French state seeks to defend itself.
As a Gurkha is disciplined for beheading a Taliban: Thank God they are on our side!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Brits are sliding down the drain by being politically too correct. They fall all over their faces to please those left wing nut jobs. What has happened to the British Army? Give that poor young Gurkha a medal and say, "Well done old Chap! for his initiative and guts. They are actually killing the warrior spirit of the Gurkha regiments. Yes, the enemies of Britain will be full of glee and joy because of British stupidity. Once again the British Lion "squeals!"-edit
Just picture the scene as a soldier returns from hunting an arch-enemy. Commanding officer: 'Did you get him?' Soldier: 'Yes, sir.' Commanding officer: 'Are you sure?' Soldier: 'Yes, sir.' Soldier reaches into rucksack and places severed head on table. Commanding officer: ' ****!' If it happened in a Hollywood movie, the audience would either laugh or applaud. But there was no laughter the other day when this happened for real in Babaji, Afghanistan, current posting for the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles. The precise circumstances will not be determined until an official report has been completed, but reliable military sources have confirmed that a Gurkha patrol was sent out with orders to track down a Taliban warlord described as a 'high-value target'.
Having identified their target, a fierce battle ensued during which the warlord was killed. To prove that they had got their man, the Gurkhas attempted to remove the body for identification. Further enemy fire necessitated a fast exit minus corpse. So, an unnamed soldier drew his kukri - the standard-issue Gurkha knife - removed the man's head and legged it.
Ten out of ten for initiative. Nought out of ten for diplomacy. Nato forces are supposed to bewinning 'hearts and minds' and bolstering the fledgling Afghan National Army. This incident, however, has apparently appalled Afghans on all sides, not least because it offends the Muslim tradition of burying the dead with all body parts, attached or unattached.
It transpires that the Gurkha soldier has been removed from operations and sent back to his barracks in Kent pending further investigations. Ministry of Defence sources have been quick to emphasise that the British Army is appalled by what has happened. According to one: 'There is no sense of glory involved, more a sense of shame. He should not have done what he did.'
I can already hear Ministers, diplomats and top brass echoing similar pieties. It is, of course, a gruesome business. All societies have taboos about desecrating the dead. It's even in the Geneva Convention. But the Army had better be careful before attempting to demonise this unnamed Gurkha in order to polish its own halo. If the man was trophy-hunting or disobeying orders, then that is one thing. If, however, he was simply following them too assiduously for liberal tastes, that is a different matter.
And away from Whitehall, among the broader Gurkha family, the general response which I encountered yesterday could be summed up as follows: 'What's all the fuss about?' As one put it to me: 'This man was only doing what his grandfather and father would have done before him.'
The general response which I encountered yesterday could be summed up as follows: 'What's all the fuss about?' 'The Gurkhas are the ultimate professional soldiers,' says Major Gordon Corrigan, military historian and a Gurkha officer for 29 years. 'They are not brutal or bloodthirsty. They treat prisoners honourably. But if their CO says, "That is the enemy. Go and attack him", they will not flinch. And do not be surprised if their weapon of choice is the kukri. It is their sidearm. But they kill in hot blood - not cold.'Having seen his former comrades decapitating cattle, goats and buffalos at a single stroke, he has no doubt that the Babaji episode would have been a swift and clinical affair.
At Winchester's Gurkha Museum, curator Major Gerald Davies points out that Gurkhas were positively encouraged to bring back evidence of enemy kills during World War II. 'The intelligence officers would want to see proof,' says the veteran of 33 years with the Gurkhas. 'The men started coming back with Japanese heads, but when that became unwieldy, they took to cutting off ears. It might sound appalling to society today, but that's what war was like in the jungle.'
Major Corrigan says the Gurkhas followed a similar policy during the Malayan Emergency. 'They were told to bring back terrorists' bodies for identification, but you could hardly carry one of those through heavy jungle so they would come back with heads,' he explains. 'Finally, someone had the bright idea of issuing them with cameras, although I'm not sure the results were up to much.' The Gurkhas have had a formidable reputation in the West ever since the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814-16. Having failed to conquer them - which is why Nepal has never been part of either the British Empire or the Commonwealth - the British did the next best thing, which was to sign them up. Since then, they have proved exemplary comrades for two centuries.
Their conduct is, perhaps, best summed up by Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung, who found himself under repeated Japanese attack in Burma in 1945. With his comrades badly injured, he fought off 200 enemy troops single-handed - literally - having lost an arm and eye. When a relief force found him the next morning, his position was littered with 31 Japanese corpses. The 169 survivors had run away. Rifleman Gurung -who now lives in Middlesex - became one of the 26 members of the Brigade of Gurkhas to win the Victoria Cross (there would, undoubtedly, have been more but the VC was not extended to Gurkhas until 1911).
Their success is, in part, down to sheer guts. But it also derives from their reputation. As they found - to their disappointment - in the Falklands War, their fame precedes them. When British forces embarked for the Falklands in the QE2, the other regiments pointedly lined the upper decks to cheer them aboard'By the time they arrived on Mount Tumbledown, the Argentinians had seen pictures of Gurkhas sharpening their kukris and read all these stories about them eating their prisoners,' says Major Corrigan. 'So when the Gurkhas actually appeared, all they found were empty trenches.'
Our national respect and affection for them runs deep - as amply demonstrated by Joanna Lumley's campaign to secure a better pension and passport deal for retired Gurkhas. Whenever I have been at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, I have noticed that the applause always rises noticeably for two contingents - the Chelsea Pensioners and the Gurkhas. It's a view shared within the Army itself. When British forces embarked for the Falklands in the QE2, the other regiments pointedly lined the upper decks to cheer them aboard.
Stories of the Gurkhas are legion. My favourite is the tale of the Gurkha sergeant being told his men would be jumping into enemy territory. He returned next day to say the men would rather jump from below 500ft on to marshy ground. 'But your parachutes won't open,' said the Colonel. 'Ah,' said the sergeant. 'No one mentioned parachutes.'
Apocryphal? Probably. But among the documented accounts is that of the U.S. Air Force's Colonel John Alison on meeting uncharacteristically anxious Gurkha troops preparing for a glider assault on Japanese positions. 'We aren't afraid to go,' a Gurkha sergeant told him solemnly. 'We aren't afraid to fight. But we thought we should tell you that those "planes" don't have any motors.' So, ask yourself this. Now that the story of the head-hunting Gurkha of Babaji has gone global, do you think that the insurgents of the world will be more inclined or less inclined to pick a fight with the British Army? By Robert Hardman in Mail Online
India ends 'goose-stepping' ceremony after soldiers' knee injuries
India and Pakistan's aggressive border closing ceremony has been stopped after soldiers complained the high goose-stepping was wrecking their knee joints and causing foot injuries.
The move has been agreed by Pakistani and Indian officers at either side of their Wagah border crossing between Amritsar and Lahore and the ceremony will now be toned down.
The decision brings to an end an institutionalised display of India-Pakistan hostility which drew thousands of rowdy nationalists and tourists every day. The ceremony, which featured Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force troops in full dress uniform marching up to their rivals on the border line in exaggerated goose-steps while shouting loudly. These scenes, cheered on by jingoistic crowds on either side chanting pro-Pakistan and India slogans, were shown on Michael Palin's celebrated BBC documentary series Himalaya.
However, despite drawing vast crowds, encouraged by officials of both sides who built amphitheatres for viewing, a senior officer in India's Border Security Force told The Daily Telegraph it was an "undignified" ceremony which caused mental strain and physical injury to the troops. "Both sides had indulged in aggressive postures of late. It didn't give a very good look, so we talked to the Pakistan Rangers and after a mutual agreement, some of the aggressive postures have been toned down during the drill," said Inspector General Himmat Singh.
"In many cases the soldiers hurt their feet during the Beating the Retreat ceremony. The soldiers are happy now, it was an unnecessary mental tension," he added. The move was welcomed by leading Pakistani commentator Najam Sethi who described the soldiers' injuries as a "good excuse" to end "this jingoist symbol of confrontation between India and Pakistan."
"It often leads to alarming shouting matches across the lines by spectators which suited nationalists on both sides. They set up stadiums for it. If this comes to an end the public will be deprived of a show, but it will all be for the better," he said. Telegraph
The story goes that by cutting off a commander’s head, a Gurkha has offended Muslims
The Gurkhas are soldiers from Nepal who volunteer for the British army. Presently they are serving in Afghanistan. They are the bravest of the brave, and over the years have done wonderful service. The roll-call of Gurkhas who have won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery, is awe-inspiring. A traditional weapon of theirs is the kukri, a curved short sword. It is said that the sound of Gurkhas sharpening their kukris was enough to frighten the Japanese in the Second World War.
It so happened recently that some Gurkhas were discriminated against by foolish paper-shufflers in Whitehall, and told they were not eligible to live in England. Uproar followed. There was a mass campaign. The Gurkhas were then treated properly, and Gordon Brown was forced to apologize for the unfairness. It was a big step in the disintegration of his government.
Gurkha battalions have British officers, and they are among the best in the army, too. One of them was Major James Bowman. A renegade Afghan policeman entered the Gurkha barracks and shot Major Bowman dead in his sleep. Now we learn that, at the same time, the Gurkhas were in action in Helmand, in pursuit of a top Taliban commander. Under heavy fire, they killed him. Orders were to establish the commander’s identity. It was too dangerous to drag him out while still engaged with the Taliban, so a Gurkha cut his head off with his kukri. Quick thinking, you may say.
This man ought to be promoted. Instead, he has been recalled to Britain and may face court-martial and jail. The foolish paper-shufflers are at it again. The story goes that by cutting off the commander’s head, the Gurkha has offended Muslims, on the grounds that their custom is to bury bodies whole. What nonsense this is, what an example of the self-abasement now habitual whenever we come up against Islam in any shape or form. And the renegade Afghan policeman who shot Major Bowman in his sleep wasn’t giving offense? If this Gurkha is indeed prosecuted, another mass campaign will start, and it may be a step in the disintegration of the Cameron government. David Pryce Jones in in the National Review
Turkey in Cyprus vs. Israel in Gaza - Is Israel in Gaza really worse than Turkey in Cyprus?
In light of Ankara’s recent criticism of what it calls Israel’s “open-air jail” in Gaza, this week, which marks the 36th anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus, has special relevance.Turkish policy toward Israel, historically warm and only a decade ago approaching full alliance, has cooled since Islamists took power in Ankara in 2002. Their hostility became explicit in January 2009, during the Israel–Hamas War. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan grandly condemned Israeli policies as “perpetrating inhuman actions which would bring it to self-destruction” and even invoked God (“Allah will . . . punish those who transgress the rights of innocents”). His wife Emine Erdoganhyperbolically condemned Israeli actions as so awful they “cannot be expressed in words."
Their verbal assaults augured a further hostility that included insulting the Israeli president, helping sponsor the “Freedom Flotilla,” and recalling the Turkish ambassador.This Turkish rage prompts a question: Is Israel in Gaza really worse than Turkey in Cyprus? A comparison finds this hardly to be so. Consider some contrasts:
Turkey’s invasion of July–August 1974 involved the use of napalm and “spread terror” among Cypriot Greek villagers, according to Minority Rights Group International. In contrast, Israel’s “fierce battle” to take Gaza relied only on conventional weapons and entailed virtually no civilian casualties.
The subsequent occupation of 37 percent of the island amounted to a “forced ethnic cleansing” according to William Mallinson in a just-published monograph from the University of Minnesota. In contrast, if one wishes to accuse the Israeli authorities of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, it was against their own people, with the forcible removal of Israeli settlements in Gaza in 2005.
*The Turkish government has sponsored what Mallinson calls “a systematic policy of colonization” on formerly Greek lands in northern Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots in 1973 totaled about 120,000 persons; since then, more than 160,000 citizens of the Republic of Turkey have been settled in their lands. Not a single Israeli community remains in Gaza.
*Ankara runs its occupied zone so tightly that, in the words of Bülent Akarcalı, a senior Turkey politician, “Northern Cyprus is governed like a province of Turkey.” An enemy of Israel, Hamas, rules in Gaza.
*The Turks set up a pretend-autonomous structure called the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” Gazans enjoy real autonomy.
*A wall through the island keeps peaceable Greeks out of northern Cyprus. Israel’s wall excludes Palestinian terrorists.
And then there is the ghost town of Famagusta, where Turkish actions parallel those of Syria under the thuggish Assads. After the Turkish air force bombed the Cypriot port city, Turkish forces moved in to seize it, thereby prompting the entire Greek population (fearing a massacre) to flee. Turkish troops immediately fenced off the central part of the town, called Varosha, and prohibited anyone from living there.
As this crumbling Greek town is reclaimed by nature, it has become a bizarre time capsule from 1974. Steven Plaut of Haifa University visited and reports: “Nothing has changed. . . . It is said that the car distributorships in the ghost town even today are stocked with vintage 1974 models. For years after the rape of Famagusta, people told of seeing light bulbs still burning in the windows of the abandoned buildings.”
Curiously, another Levantine ghost town also dates from the summer of 1974. Just 24 days before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Israeli troops evacuated the border town of Quneitra, handing it over to the Syrian authorities. Hafez al-Assad chose, also for political reasons, not to let anyone live in it. Decades later, it too remains empty, a hostage to bellicosity.
Erdogan claims that Turkish troops are not occupying northern Cyprus but are there in “Turkey’s capacity as a guarantor power,” whatever that means. The outside world, however, is not fooled. If Elvis Costello recently pulled out of a concert in Tel Aviv to protest the “suffering of the innocent [Palestinians],” Jennifer Lopez canceled a concert in northern Cyprus to protest “human rights abuse” there.In brief, Northern Cyprus shares features with Syria and resembles an “open-air jail” more than Gaza does. How rich that a hypocritical Ankara preens its moral plumage about Gaza even as it runs a zone significantly more offensive. Instead of meddling in Gaza, Turkish leaders should close the illegal and disruptive occupation that for decades has tragically divided Cyprus. Daniel Pipes in the National Review
Gurkha soldier removed from duty for beheading dead Taliban commander during battle. Like the Taliban do not saw off heads of living beings.
A Gurkha soldier in the British Army has been removed from duty in Afghanistan after he beheaded a dead Taliban commander with his ceremonial kukri knife. The Nepalese private decapitated the dead man with the intention of returning to base with the head so the Taliban fighter could be identified by senior officers as a 'high value target'. The soldier's 1st Battalion, Royal Guards unit had intended to removed the target's entire body from the battle-ground, near Babaji in central Helmand. But the soldiers came under heavy machine gunfire while trying to so - prompting the soldier to take his extreme action.
It was announced today that the Gurkha private, who is believed to be in his twenties, has been suspended from duty and flown back to the UK. He is understood to be confined to barracks in Shorncliffe Garrison near Folkestone in Kent. He could face a court martial and could even be jailed if he is found guilty of beheading the fighter. In full..... Personally he deserves a medal and whoever complains deserves beheading for not using their brains.
A serving British soldier says, "This Gurkha soldier should be praised for his actions. The patrol appear to have been tasked with capturing or obtaining proof that the Taliban Commander was dead, he has carried out his mission and in cutting off the head of the Taliban Commander he has:
1. Carried out his orders and obtained proof that the commander is dead for the command.
2. In cutting his head off he has probably saved the lives of the other patrol members, allowing them to extract from a dangerous situation alive.
The young gurkha soldier should be given a medal and his actions taught in the military staff college as an example of how to carry out your orders and save lives of your colleagues.
As for the comments of Colonel Kemp, he is so obviously out of touch with the men in the army, to say that the Gurkha soldiers behaviour would be strongly condemned by other members of his regiment is wrong". Hat tip: Eye On The World
Clubs and bars that serve liquor has become the latest bone of contention between Hamas and Fatah. Palestine Today quotes Hamas West Bank leader Hamad el-Batawi as saying that new bars and nightclubs that allow mixed dancing and liquor is a "heinous and reprehensible innovation", especially in the towns of Ramallah and Bethlehem.He notes that the PA has licensed them, and the PA is dominated by Fatah, so Fatah is responsible for this shameful behavior.
Betawi said: "I condemn these shameful moves which are bad innovations, and are inconsistent with the teachings of our Islamic religion with its good morals and values, and they are contrary to our national interest."
He added: "The Palestinian people are the finest examples of resistance, steadfastness, Jihad and patience, with many martyrs and prisoners; a faithful people proud of our religion and morals and values, but for the PA to open such acts cause this great people to relapse in the mud of vice and corruption, killing the spirit of steadfastness and resistance in their sons."
I seem to remember that once upon a time there were a lot of Palestinian Christians as well, whose religion allows them to drink alcohol. I guess that their rights are nonexistent according to Hamas. Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon
Jordanian activists and trade unionists slammed Egypt on Thursday for denying them entry to the Gaza Strip for the second time in less than a month to deliver aid to the blockaded Palestinians."We are shocked that Egypt prevents us from delivering aid and medical supplies to Gaza," Ahmad Armuti, president of the Islamist-dominated unions' council, said in a statement emailed to AFP. "We regret, reject and condemn Egypt's unacceptable position, not only towards our brave people of Gaza, but also towards all Jordanians."
Armuti called on the Jordanian government to demand clarification from Egypt, which "should be pressed to change its position.This will not stop the Jordanian trade unions from working hard to break the unjust blockade and resisting any form of normalisation with the Zionist entity," he said. The group of 150 people, including unionists, journalists and academics, left for Gaza on Tuesday, with 25 vehicles carrying supplies and medical aid as well as equipment to establish a hospital for children, the unions said.
Late last month, Egypt banned several Jordanian trade unionists from Gaza through Rafah, Gaza's only crossing to bypass Israel, saying they had failed to give prior notice of their arrival. It was covered in the Jordan Times and another Jordanian newspaper. It was mentioned in passing by Al Jazeera within a story about the Amalthea. And that's about it. Even though AFP is a major wire service, I couldn't find a single newspaper that bothered to mention Egypt's ban on aid from this group. Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon
In the 1930s, the mufti of Jerusalem was Haj Amin el-Husseini. He, too, despised Jews - there was not yet a state of Israel to despise
Last month, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the mufti of Jerusalem, called on Palestinians to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he said was “threatened by the plans of the enemies of God,” by which he meant Israelis. It should go without saying that this is a lie. Israel poses no threat to Al-Aqsa, now or ever. On the contrary, Israelis have always recognized and respected Islamic sovereignty over Islamic religious sites within Israel — despite the fact that Jewish holy places have been desecrated by Palestinians, Jordanians, and others. The notion that the Israelis would raze Al-Aqsa to build a temple on its ruins — as the mufti has also claimed — is a ludicrous slander.
What should not go without saying is how serious it is that such an allegation has been leveled by Jerusalem’s senior Islamic religious authority. Under sharia, Islamic law, to be an “enemy of God” is to be the worst sort of criminal. Just a few weeks ago in Iran, five people were declared mohareb (enemies of God) — and then hanged. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, must know all this. Yet he says nothing about it. Nor do most Western diplomats, politicians, and journalists.
Also overlooked is the historical context. In the 1930s, the mufti of Jerusalem was Haj Amin el-Husseini. He, too, despised Jews — there was not yet a state of Israel to despise. After participating in a pro-Nazi coup in Iraq in 1941, Husseini moved to Berlin. There he became Hitler’s ally, the “most important public face and voice of Nazi Germany’s Arabic-language propaganda,” in the words of historian Jeffrey Herf, who adds: “Husseini was a key figure in finding common ideological ground between National Socialism, on the one hand, and the doctrines of Arab nationalism and militant Islam, on the other.”
Herf’s groundbreaking study, Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World, draws on archival resources not previously mined to explore the extent and significance of this collaboration. His nuanced conclusion: “Nazi Germany’s Arabic-language propaganda was neither an imposition of a set of hatreds previously unknown to the traditions of Islam nor a matter of simply lighting the match to long-standing but suppressed anti-Jewish hatreds.” Rather, the Nazis and their Arab partners drew on and emphasized “the most despicable and hate-filled aspects of the cultures of Europe and of Islam.”
They also added this audacious twist: They claimed they were the ones under attack. Their purpose, they insisted, was merely to protect themselves from a malevolent conspiracy. Over and over again, Nazi diplomats and their allies drove the message that Churchill had started the war against Germany “to expand British power,” and that Roosevelt was behind Churchill “as the exponent of world Jewry.”
Herf elaborates: “In Europe, the Nazis presented their policy of ‘extermination’ and ‘annihilating’ the Jews as a desperate and justified act of self-defense. In their propaganda directed at the Middle East, they urged Arabs and Muslims to take matters into their own hands and ‘kill the Jews’ before the Jews were able to kill them. In both its European and Middle Eastern dimensions, the propaganda rested on the identical logic of paranoia and projection.”
And here we are, more than a half century later, with the current mufti of Jerusalem fabricating crimes against Muslims for which Jews deserve to be put to death. Meanwhile, Hamas leaders openly declare their intention to annihilate Israel and exterminate Jews — claiming they, too, are acting in self-defense, and calling themselves a “resistance” movement. The number of people who appear to be buying these fictions is not insignificant. Few scholars have examined the links between Nazi and Islamist ideas in the 20th century. Few journalists are examining their venomous legacy in the present era.
Herf, obviously, is an exception — as is author and social critic Paul Berman, who recently observed that a taboo has developed: Most intellectuals determinedly ignore the fact that “Nazi inspirations have visibly taken root among present-day Islamists, notably in regard to the demonic nature of Jewish conspiracies and the virtues of genocide.”This means, Berman added, that “the Islamist preachers and ideologues have succeeded in imposing on the rest of us their own categories of analysis.” That amounts to a victory for them and, of course, a defeat for us. Clifford May in the National Review
Occasionally you get glimpses of how things really are, and Frances Guy has given us just such a glimpse. She has been the British Ambassador in Lebanon since 2006, and is said to have a lot of Middle East experience. Her employers, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had up on their website this week her extraordinary obituary of Sheikh Muhammad Fadlallah, a Shia cleric and former guiding spirit of Hezbollah, Iran’s armed militia and proxy in Lebanon. The title of her obituary tells all: “The Passing of a Decent Man.” She writes, “The world needs more men like him willing to reach out across faiths.” He was a man she most respected, she burbles.
This decent man, this man to be respected, was a mass-murderer. In 1983, Fadlallah was responsible for sending Hezbollah members in trucks loaded with explosives into the barracks in Beirut of American and French troops come to keep the peace there. Almost 300 of these soldiers were killed. Fadlallah has always praised suicide bombing and hostage-taking. As for his willingness to reach out across faiths, this decent man worthy of Mrs. Guy’s respect consistently preached the extermination of Jews, praised suicide bombing, and denied the Holocaust. How a British diplomat comes to toady to prejudice and blood-lust ought to be a major scandal. Instead of firing this Ambassador, the Foreign Office is merely tut-tutting.
By coincidence, a judicial travesty unfolding at the same moment involves two convicted Islamist terrorists currently serving sentences in British jails. One of them is Abu Hamza, the cleric whose arms were blown off and fitted instead with hooks. He is wanted in the United States on charges of terrorism in Yemen. He and the other prisoner have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights against extradition orders on the grounds that they might face a life sentence without parole, and this would be a breach of their rights. They are playing one jurisdiction off against another in a lawyers’ paradise that amounts to making a mockery of justice. Instead of throwing out this flagrant abuse, the Court wants more time to examine the implications. The terrorists may well be released at the end of their present sentences before they can be extradited to face other grave charges.
I think it may have been Sadiq el-Azm, a Syrian and a philosopher, who first formulated the choice that is currently working itself out: either Islam Europeanises or Europe Islamises. Ambassador Guy and the European Court are helping to bring on a future in which neither of them will have any role at all. National Review
Dear Helen: From One American Lebanese Journalist To another…
With a great deal of disappointment I watched your interview, replayed over and over on television, in which you said that Jews should “go back home to Poland and Germany.” I find it both appalling and unsettling that someone with your level of journalistic accomplishment would lack a basic knowledge of Middle Eastern history. So please allow me to make the case as to why Israel has a
According to the Arab-Palestinian-Muslim narrative, Israel is an alien colony recently planted in the Arab world by American and European imperialism. This narrative recognizes no history prior to the arrival of the first Zionist pioneers in the 1880’s, and emphatically denies any ancient historical connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. This is the central lie, offered to justify uncompromising opposition to Jewish national rights. It’s almost as if they actually expect people to think the word “Israel” was invented in modern times. What is alarming is that their increasingly successful rewrite of history has taken hold in minds supposedly as informed as yours.
The historical truth is carved in Egyptian stone. According to a well-known hieroglyphic inscription, the tribes of Israel were a significant, established presence in Canaan no later than 1212 BCE. There is a vast body of archaeological evidence that demonstrates the ancient Israelite/Jewish presence in Israel/Judea as far back as 925 BCE. This historical presence is verified in the ancient records of the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Moslem Empires. The Arab conquest did not occur until 638 CE (AD). An exercise in elementary arithmetic reveals that the Jewish people were there eighteen and one-half centuries before the arrival of the Muslim Arabs.
Despite being conquered many times, the Jewish people have had a constant, uninterrupted presence in the Land of Israel for over thirty centuries. The Arabs and Islam have been there less than fourteen centuries. It has conveniently been forgotten that the Jews and Christians were there first.Furthermore, in the thirty centuries preceding the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there have been only two periods when there was an independent, internationally recognized state in the area that now comprises Israel. Both of them were Jewish states. Even when this land was part of the Arab empire (638 CE/AD through 1099 CE/AD), there was never an independent Arab state in “Palestine,” by that name or any other.
No wonder Arabs are donating millions of dollars to U.S. colleges for Middle Eastern schools of study. They have a lot of hard historical evidence to rewrite in the young minds of students, most of whom enter college with little or no knowledge of ancient Middle Eastern history. The Jewish people have a distinct national identity. Religion is only one of the unique characteristics that defines this national identity. In addition, the Jewish people have a separate and distinct language, culture and customs, with a documented history of development over the past three thousand years. The Jewish people have created a vast body of art and literature, both secular and religious, which reflects the connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, written when the descendents of the Maccabees ruled an independent Judea, demonstrate that the Jewish people, both in the Holy Land and in exile all over the world, have been reading and writing secular and sectarian literature in the same distinct language for over two thousand years. In contrast, the Arabic language and culture and the Muslim religion of the Palestinians are essentially indistinguishable from the wider Arab world. Prior to the mid 1800’s there is no trace whatsoever of uniquely “Palestinian” art, literature, music, or any other manifestation of a distinct culture. If you find this hard to believe, try to think of one “Palestinian” book, or author, or artist, from the year 1300 through the year 1800. That’s a period of 500 years.
There must be one book written by a “Palestinian” Arab author. There must be one painting by a “Palestinian” Arab artist. Guess what? There are none.
If you still don’t believe it, ask a Palestinian nationalist or a Columbia University professor of Middle Eastern history to name one. The most honest response you will get is silence. The most likely response you will get is a lie. People can propagate lies but they cannot erase historical facts. For more historical facts about the Palestinians and how they destroyed your own country of heritage, Lebanon, and how the Israelis helped and protected the Christians during the war, I invite you to pick up a copy of my New York Times bestseller Because They Hate. It’s never too late to learn and catch up on history, even at 90. Source Hat tip: Eye On The World
Peace partner Abbas would love to see Arab war on Israel
Was, not there someone who said," Does Israel really want peace?". Then that person extracted some article from an ant semitic idiot-edit. From Palestinian Media Watch:
The PA daily reports that Abbas said this at a meeting with writers and journalists in the home of the Palestinian Ambassador to Jordan. The following is the transcript from the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida:
"'We don't accept the statement [of Hamas]: a [Palestinian] state of resistance and refusal. What we hear from everyone is that the basis is negotiations, at a time that the entire world agrees about this, despite the absence of other options, we either have negotiations or no negotiations, what has put Israel in the corner. We are unable to confront Israel militarily, and this point was discussed at the Arab League Summit in March in Sirt (Libya). There I turned to the Arab States and I said: 'If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it.' He [Abbas] said: 'The West Bank was completely destroyed and we will not agree that it will be destroyed again,' in addition to 'the inability to confront Israel militarily.'" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), July 6, 2010
Al Hayat al Jadida online, with the quote highlighted in yellow. Hat tip: Elder Of Ziyon
According to media reports, Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas offered Israel the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem as part of a peace deal.
But, as I ask in the column below: how can Abbas offer Israel something that we already have?
The Palestinian acceptance of Israel's right to Jerusalem, just like their recognition of Israel's existence, must be viewed as a prerequisite, rather than a part of, any diplomatic process. We do not need Mr. Abbas, or anyone else for that matter, to give us something we possess already.
And we most certainly don't need to view his reported acknowledgment of reality as constituting a "concession" or a "gesture" which merits a reciprocal response.Placing ourselves at the mercy of Abbas' fickle approval is not a recipe for peace, but a formula for failure. More... Hat tip : Eye On The World
Video: 1929 Hebron Massacre — the first documented massacre in the holy land
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Arabs try to convince the world that the Israelis and Jews are the aggressors and killers, while at the same time want the world to forget the first massacre, the massacre they committed against Jews...
Muslim Mob Kills Wife, Children of a Christian Man in Pakistan
Area police, fearing the influential local religious leader behind the killings, refuse to file murder complaint. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 8 (CDN) — A Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources.
Jamshed Masih, a police officer who was transferred 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Gujrat to Jhelum, Punjab Province, said a mob led by Muslim religious leader Maulana Mahfooz Khan killed his family on June 21 after Khan called him to the local mosque and told him to leave the predominantly Muslim colony. Jhelum is 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Islamabad.
“You must leave with your family, no non-Muslim has ever been allowed to live in this colony – we want to keep our colony safe from scum,” Khan told Masih, the bereaved Christian told Compass.
Enter Barack Obama with his famous "throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality."
Poor Masih went to the pastor of a local Presbyterian church who advised him "to vacate the house, as it can be dangerous living there – these people can harm your family.” Speaking of the Presbyterian church. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the US, meanwhile, voted in favor of the recommendation that the US cut off aid to Israel unless that country stops settlement expansions. You'd think these idiots sort out their priorities, right? Wrong.
Back to the story:
[Masih's wife] “Razia sent their eldest son to buy a packet of Surf [detergent], and he was singing a hymn on his way to buy the Surf,” Murtaza said. Neighbors saw Masih’s s 11-year-old son come into the store, he said. The shopkeeper asked him if he was a Christian; the child responded that he was. “The shopkeeper refused to give him the packet of Surf and spoke very harshly to him, ‘I don’t sell to any non-Muslim, you are not welcome here, don’t you dare ever come to my shop again,’” Murtaza said.
The boy went home, upset, and told his mother about the encounter; she grew worried and called her husband, saying, “Jamshed, please come home quickly, the kids and I are very worried, we must leave this house today,” Masih said. His neighbor, Murtaza, said that shortly afterward some area residents came to the door with the Muslim religious leader, Khan. “Your son has committed blasphemy against Muhammad, our beloved prophet – we can’t allow him to live, he should be punished,” Khan told Razia Masih, Murtaza said. “Razia got scared and said, ‘My son couldn’t do such a thing, he is only 11 years old.’”
Khan became furious and said, “Are we lying to you? You call us liars, how dare you insult us,” Murtaza said. “Someone from the crowd hit something hard on her head, and she started bleeding. The children started crying and shouted for help. Razia kept shouting for help, ‘Please have mercy on us, please let my husband come, then we can talk.’” Jamshed Masih said his daughter telephoned police as the mob attacked his wife and children. He said he later learned that “the people kept shouting, ‘This family has committed blasphemy, they should be killed.”
Before police arrived, his family was murdered, he said. Murtaza said Masih rushed home and was devastated to find the dead bodies of his wife and four children. When Masih tried to file a complaint against Khan for the murder, Station House Officer (SHO) Ramzan Mumtaz refused to do so, according to Murtaza and Mall, the Presbyterian clergyman.
“He said, ‘Khan is an influential man, and he said your son has committed blasphemy – we cannot do anything against him,’” Mall said. Once again, Barack Obama: "throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality." More... Hat tip : Eye On The WorldComment: I think that village needs to be paid a visit by a fully loaded B-52.
