Islam is now busy establishing itself here in the West; indeed, it is the fastest-growing religion in the West today. Therefore, the West is in great danger of being taken back 1400 years to a bygone age, an altogether less enlightened age, a dark age. Mark Alexander, Author: The Dawning of a New Dark Age: A Collection of Essays on Islam
Monday, June 30, 2008
Battling ‘Liberal’ Church Policies
BBC: Traditionalist Anglicans claiming to represent at least half of the membership of the worldwide communion, and more than a third of its bishops, have declared war on what they call the "false teaching" used to justify active homosexuality.
They have set up what amounts to a church within a church in order to organise for a long struggle against the ordination of gay clergy, the blessing of gay relationships, and what they claim is a drift towards accepting other religions as offering "equal access to God".
The Rev Rod Thomas, of the conservative Church of England group Reform, helped to formulate the organisation's strategy.
He claimed that traditionalists had been forced to create a new alliance to prevent the Bible being rewritten by liberal Anglicans to suit their current lifestyles.
"The Anglican Church is being destroyed by false teaching of the Bible on issues such as homosexuality", he said.
"We are gong to stand against this trend, and spread the true message of the Bible with confidence."
Traditionalists believe the Bible rules out active homosexuality, for example.
Road to schism?
They met in Jerusalem to bolster their claim that they were in touch with the authentic teaching of the early Church.
The group emphasises its intention of staying inside the Anglican Communion, but the alliance's mission statement appears to be a significant step towards eventual schism.
It is ready to send bishops anywhere in the world if traditionalist Anglicans call for help in countering liberal policies which in the view of the "Primates' Council" undermine strict biblical teaching.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, said the "revisionist agenda which we've seen in the same-sex agenda is a missionary one and will spread its views as much as it can.
So the rest of us have to do missionary work to defend the gospel and to promulgate it." Battling ‘Liberal’ Church Policies >>> By Robert Pigott, Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News, Jerusalem | June 30, 2008
Why is it that nobody in our own elite actually likes or understands this country or its people or its traditions?
Why did we have to wait for Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, born and raised in Muslim Pakistan, to remind us that, as he put it, ‘the beliefs, values and virtues of Great Britain have been formed by the Christian faith’?
Just as important, why did we have to wait for him to urge us to do something about restoring that faith before we either sink into a yelling chaos of knives, fists and boots, or swoon into the strong, implacable arms of Islam?
STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG ONLINE: Berlin - Deutsche Politiker haben das Eintreten des demokratischen US-Präsidentschaftsbewerbers Barack Obama für die Todesstrafe für Kinderschänder kritisiert. "Barack Obama sollte sich für die Abschaffung der Todesstrafe einsetzen, nicht für ihre Ausweitung", sagte Grünen-Chefin Claudia Roth der "Bild"-Zeitung. Die Todesstrafe sei nicht zu rechtfertigen, auch nicht zur Bestrafung schlimmster Verbrechen. CSU-Chef Erwin Huber sagte der Zeitung: "Kinderschändung ist mit das abscheulichste Verbrechen. Aber das Verbot der Todesstrafe muss absolute Gültigkeit haben." Das Ende der "Obamania"? >>> | 27. Juni 2008
BBC: Hillary Clinton has joined Barack Obama at a rally - their first public event since she pulled out of the race to be the Democratic presidential candidate.
The rally in Unity, New Hampshire, was an opportunity for supporters of the party to come together after the divisive primary battle.
The event follows a joint dinner in Washington where Mr Obama offered help to clear Mrs Clinton's campaign debts.
Mrs Clinton urged supporters at the Democrat rally to vote for Mr Obama.
"If you think we need a new course, a new agenda, then vote for Barack Obama and you will get the change you need," she told the cheering crowd.
"He will work for you, he will fight for you and he will stand up for you every day in the White House."
After her speech, Mr Obama joined the crowd in chanting "thank you Hillary".
He said the Democrats needed Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, if they were to win the presidency. Clinton and Obama Rally Together >>> | June 27, 2008
Because many people have been reading this essay lately, I have decided to reprint it. I have linked it to a YouTube video, as I did originally.
The Connection Between Nazism, Arab Anti-Semitism and Islam
DEFINITION – Fascism: …As a rule, fascist governments are dominated by a dictator, who usually possesses a magnetic personality, … and rallies his followers by mass parades; appeals to strident nationalism; and promotes suspicion or hatred of both foreigners and “impure” people within his own nation, such as the Jews in Germany. Although both communism and fascism are forms of totalitarianism, fascism does not demand state ownership of the means of production, nor is fascism committed to the achievement of economic equality. In theory, communism opposes the identification of government with a single charismatic leader (the “cult of personality”), which is the cornerstone of fascism. … [Source: Dictionary.com]
With the death of Hitler and the defeat of Nazi Germany, most people thought that the world had been rid of fascism. Today, however, we cannot be so sure, because there is evidence aplenty of its revival. These days, many people talk of another form of fascism in particular: Islamofascism. Some people believe this term to be apt for the radical religio-political movement based on Islam, which is currently spreading through the world like wildfire; others, especially Muslims, find the term insulting and demeaning. Who is right? Are the infidels right to be shocked, disgraced and indignant, or are infidels right to use the term to point out to the unsuspecting the dangers we face. Why? Even the President of the United States of America himself, George W Bush, has used the term in public when referring to the antics of Al-Qa’eda and its determination to cultivate mayhem throughout the free world.
When we refer to Islam and radical Islam, we have to be careful not to confuse people. In this politically correct world, a world in which nobody seems willing to upset ethnic groups and people of other religions, it has become customary to dance around the truth so as not to offend. Therefore, our politicians have become accustomed to speaking in riddles, when clearer, more appropriate language would serve the needs of the electorate far better.
In times of danger, clarity of thought is essential. Prevarication serves no-one’s best interest in the long-run. Prevarication might well buy us some time; but it certainly doesn’t solve issues for the long-term good of the nation, for the long-term good of our civilization.
Let’s take a look at the real Islam…
The real Islam is exclusive in the extreme, just as Nazism was. It tells the believers – the Muslims throughout the world – to kill the unbelievers, to kill the infidels. This cannot be disputed, since it is there in black and white in all versions of the holy book of Muslims, the Qur’an.
They [the infidels] but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of God [Allah] (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks. – Al-Qur’an, Al-Nisa’ (Women), Surah IV, 89 (Translation by A Yusuf Ali)
And then we have the following:
… When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. … – Al-Qur’an, At-Tawba (Repentance), Surah 9, 4 (Translation by N J Dawood)
These exhortations are also redolent of Nazism. They are certainly as violent and brutal and cruel.
These are the words of the founder of Islam or the words of Allah, according to your viewpoint and according to where you stand on the matter of Islam being a great and authentic religion. Muhammad certainly managed to make those who submit to Allah feel superior and exclusive, since Muslims are considered (by Muslims) to be superior to all other human beings. They are, after all, Allah’s ‘chosen people’, just as the Aryan race was the superior race in Hitler’s Germany. This is surely another similarity between these two ideologies.
There is no doubt about the fact that Muhammad was a 'great' and magnetic personality. This is quite indisputable, since were he not to have been so, then Islam would surely have died out long ago. But don’t all fascist movements rely on a magnetic personality to lead the followers, to lead the masses, to lead the people who cannot think for themselves? Think of three great examples of the twentieth century: Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. All had quite magnetic personalities: people just had to watch them and listen to them and their rants.
The fact that Muhammad died more than fourteen hundred years ago makes no real difference, since his personality is no less magnetic today than it was when he roamed the sands of the desert. His words are still harkened unto by 1.4 billion people worldwide, and we are still counting.
Muhammad must surely rank as the dictator par excellence, since his words were clothed in a deity. Hitler, when he was sitting in his Bunker with Eva that day in 1945, when he was contemplating biting that cyanide capsule and plucking up the courage to shoot himself through the temples, must surely have regretted with every fibre of his being that he hadn’t been smart enough to clothe Nazism in a deity, just as Islam had been about fourteen hundred years before. How much more successful Hitler might have been!
Does Islam qualify so far, according to our dictionary definition, to be classified as a form of fascism? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
We are then informed that fascist dictators rally their followers by means of mass parades. Well, we cannot say with any certainty whether Muhammad did this. In all probability, he did not, since Islam, in the days of the Prophet, was in its infancy, and there would have been too few followers to rally. What we can say, however, is this: In the modern world, the dictators of the Islamic world have no difficulty whatsoever in getting rallies together on the streets of their cities. Often times, they are genuine; yet at other times, the numbers in the rallies are made by ‘rent-a-mob’. Either way, we must decide whether Islam passes this next test of a true strand of fascism. You decide!
Then we are informed in the definition that fascism appeals to strident nationalism. Well, there is no doubt that Islam is an Arabo-centric movement, worldwide. When praying, all Muslims must face Makkah (Mecca), and this takes place five times a day for the pious and faithful. One is certainly not allowed to ignore the Arab world if one is an adherent of the ‘religion’ of submission that is Islam. Added to this, of course, we have the Ummah, which is the community of Muslims throughout the world. When one enters the fold of Islam, when one becomes a follower, when one submits to the ‘will of Allah’ – some would say the arbitrary ‘will of Allah’ – then one joins the ‘nation’ of Islam worldwide. In this sense, can we not conclude that Islam is a form of extreme ‘nationalism’, a form of Islamic nationalism, a 'nationalism' that transcends geographical borders and frontiers?
Then we are told that fascism promotes suspicion and/or hatred of foreigners and impure people. Well, can we not conclude with the copious and available evidence that we have that Islam is certainly exclusive, since anyone who is not a Muslim is treated as inferior, and actually unclean, as in Kafir (pl. Kufar). The term used in Islam is Naji for such an unclean and unsavoury person. Does this remind you of the way that the Nazis thought of Jews and gypsies and homosexuals and Slavs and Russians? Nazis called them Untermenschen (unclean sub-humans); Muslims call them Najis (unclean disbelievers living in a state of Jahiliyyah, a state of pre-Islamic chaos), people who are unworthy of the human condition.
One other thing that Nazis, in particular, had in common with Muslims was this: They both hate(d) the Jews; both groups are deeply anti-Semitic. This, of course, is true to this very day. Mein Kampf, Hitler’s infamous book written whilst he was incarcerated, the title of which means ‘My fight, or my struggle’ (a title which bears a striking resemblance to the term Jihad, if you hadn’t noticed) was replete with anti-Semitism. One can but wonder why this very book is such a bestseller even to this day in countries in the Middle East, and even in Turkey. The book is an endless source of fascination to Muslims.
Fascism is a form of totalitarianism, but then isn’t Islam a form of totalitarianism, too? Fascism doesn’t demand state control of the means of production; but then Islam doesn’t either. Though it does have its own economic principles, economic principles which are neither capitalist nor socialist, economic principles and theory which are simply Islamic. This theory of economics demands neither state-ownership of the means of production nor does it demand equality among the faithful. But Islamic thinking certainly does call for infidels to be treated in an inferior manner, to be treated as dhimmies, or protected people who are not afforded the same rights as those who have submitted to Allah’s will.
Jews in Nazi Germany were made to wear a yellow star to mark them out from the crowd. Non-believers in an Islamic country, according to the ‘Pact of Umar’, are also subjected to similar indignities. Here we have another similarity.
The cult of personality, we are told, is the cornerstone of fascism. Do you think that Islam measures up on this score? Does Muhammad qualify? Was Muhammad charismatic enough? Has Muhammad passed the test of time? Can we conclude that Muhammad is the Gestalt which can truly be described as the non plus ultra of Gestalten, the non plus ultra of personality cults.
Whether ‘Islamofascism’ is a justified and apt term or indeed a calumnious one to describe what we are witnessing around the world today as Islam becomes ever more resurgent is for you, the reader, to decide. Do, by all means, think long and hard about this matter, for the future of the free world depends on our getting this right. It depends on our careful handling of this most thorny of contemporary issues.
DAILY EXPRESS: POLICE sniffer dogs trained to spot terrorists at railway stations may no longer come into contact with Muslim passengers – after complaints that it is against the suspects’ religion.
A report for the Transport Department has raised the prospect that the animals should only touch passengers’ luggage because it is considered “more acceptable”.
In the Muslim faith, dogs are deemed to be spiritually “unclean”. But banning them from touching passengers would severely restrict their ability to do their job.
The report follows trials of station security measures in the wake of the 2005 London suicide bomb attacks. In one trial, some female Muslims said the use of a body scanner was also unacceptable because it was tantamount to being forced to strip.
British Transport Police last night insisted it would still use sniffer dogs – which are trained to detect explosives – with any passengers regardless of faith, but handlers would remain aware of “cultural sensitivities”.
Critics said the complaints were just the latest example of minority religions trying to force their rules and morals on British society.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: “As far as I am concerned, everyone should be treated equally in the face of the law and we cannot have people of different religious groups laying the law down. I hope the police will go about their business as they would do normally.” Sniffer Dogs Offend Muslims >>> By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Correspondent | June 27, 2008
Canadian Human Rights Commission Rejects Action against Maclean’s
GLOBE AND MAIL: The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint against Maclean's magazine over a controversial article on the future of Islam, magazine officials said yesterday.
Meanwhile, a decision from the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal over the same issue isn't expected for several months. Rights Panel Rejects Action against Maclean’s >>> By Jamie Komarnicki | June 27, 2008
British Police to Stage High-Profile Checks on Flights to African States in an Attempt to Stamp Out Female Genital Mutilation; 74,000 Women in the UK Have Been Mutilated
THE INDEPENDENT: Brian Brady reports on a police operation to protect more than 20,000 girls, some aged nine or younger, thought to be in danger of forced genital mutilation
Police are to stage high-profile checks on flights to a number of African states in an attempt to stop young girls being taken abroad to be forcibly mutilated with the consent of their parents.
Research commissioned by the Department of Health suggests that more than 20,000 British girls are at risk of being forced into the agonising procedure, where all or part of their external genitals are cut off and stitched up. Officers will question all adults taking girls on certain flights, believing it is their best chance of saving thousands of children from female genital mutilation at the hands of tribal "elders" called in by their own families.
Moves to tackle the culturally sensitive issue will come as ministers from several government departments struggle to stamp out the ancient tribal tradition amid evidence that thousands of British girls are at risk from a ritual that is supposed to mark their transition into womanhood. Female Circumcision: a Tradition Steeped in Blood >>> | June 22, 2008
BBC: Equality minister Harriet Harman has set out plans to allow firms to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job candidates.
She said firms should be able to choose a woman over a man of equal ability if they wanted to - or vice versa.
The new Equalities Bill will also force public sector employers to disclose the gender pay gap in their organisation.
The plans, which will be adopted in England, Wales and Scotland, will also ban all age discrimination.
Setting out the plans in a Commons statement, Ms Harman said the proposed bill - due later this year - would "address the serious inequalities that still exist" in the UK. Harman Pushes Discrimination Plan >>> | June 16, 2008
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: When the Nazis marched into Austrian on March 12, 1938, hundreds of thousands of Austrians turned out to welcome them. But after the war, the country preferred to see itself as just another of Hitler's victims.
Suddenly, events began moving in fast-forward: It was 10 minutes to eight in the evening, March 11, 1938, when Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg took to the radio to address his people. He bade them farewell with portentous words: “God protect Austria.” Annexation Austrian-Style >>> By Marion Kraske | March 12, 2008
Don’t forget to watch the fascinating video, which can also be enlarged.
SHZ.DE: Salafiten missionieren Deutschland "lautstark und aggressiv", sagt Landes-Innenminister Lothar Hay (SPD). Er befürchtet eine neue Radikalisierung im Islam.
Sie sehen sich als "Prediger des wahren Islam", und ihre Ideologie treibt zuweilen seltsame Blüten. Vor allem dann, wenn es um Gesetze geht, die ihnen - weil von Menschen gemacht - als "Götzendienst" gelten. "Wenn wir uns an Verkehrsregeln halten, dann nicht, weil es hier Gesetz ist", sinniert der Teilnehmer eines radikal-salafitischen Internet-Forums, "sondern weil es besser für uns ist, sich nicht einer unnötigen Gefahr auszusetzen". Und bei einem Unfall die Polizei zu rufen, schreibt ein anderer, hieße, sich der "Exekutive der Ungläubigen" zu unterwerfen.
Was da so weltfremd-salafitisch klingt, macht Sicherheitsbehörden in Deutschland zunehmend Sorgen. Von einer neuen Radikalisierung des Islam spricht Schleswig-Holsteins Innenminister Lothar Hay (SPD). "Salafiten bilden in Deutschland inzwischen eine lautstarke Minderheit, die aggressiv missionarisch den aus ihrer Sicht wahren Islam predigt." Gesetze halten sie für "Götzendienerei" >>> Von Peter Höver | 25. Juni 2008
Christians on Trial in Algeria for Spreading Faith
ASSOCIATED PRESS: ALGIERS, Algeria — Two men who converted from Islam to Christianity went on trial Wednesday on charges that they illegally promoted the Christian faith in Algeria.
Rachid Mohammed Seghir, 40, and Jammal Dahmani, 36, were already convicted in absentia for illegal practice of a non-Muslim religion in 2007 but asked for a new trial, as Algerian law allows, their lawyer said.
They are charged with praying in a building that had not been granted a religious permit by authorities and are also accused of trying to spread the Christian faith among Muslims, the court said. Christians on Trial in Algeria for Spreading Faith >>> By Aomar Quali | June 25, 2008
JIHAD WATCH: The war against free speech is advancing rapidly: Associated Press reported Thursday that “Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticised during debates by the UN Human Rights Council.” Council President Doru-Romulus Costea explained that religious issues can be “very complex, very sensitive and very intense…This council is not prepared to discuss religious matters in depth, consequently we should not do it.” Henceforth only religious scholars would be permitted to broach them.
“While Costea’s ban applies to all religions,” AP explained, “it was prompted by Muslim countries complaining about references to Islam.” The ban came after a heated session on Monday, when the representative of the Association for World Education (AWE), in a joint statement with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, denounced female genital mutilation, the penalty of stoning for adultery and child marriage as sanctioned by Islamic law. Egypt, Pakistan and Iran angrily protested, interrupting the AWE speaker, David Littman, with no less than 16 points of order, and succeeding in getting the Council’s proceedings suspended for over half an hour. In the course of this contentious discussion, the representatives from the Islamic countries made numerous revealing statements – statements that are well worth examining as Islamic nations and organizations call with increasing insistence for restrictions on free speech in the West. Free Speech Dies at the UN >>> By Robert Spencer | | June 25, 2008
DIE PRESSE: Einer aktuellen Umfrage zufolge sehen nur noch 52 Prozent der Unions-Bürger die Mitgliedschaft ihres Landes in der EU als "gute Sache". Österreich ist bei der EU-Zustimmung Schlusslicht, Irland Spitzenreiter.
Die EU wird bei ihren Bürgern immer unbeliebter. Das ergibt eine aktuelle Eurobarometer-Umfrage der EU-Kommission. Demnach gaben 52 Prozent der Befragten an, die Mitgliedschaft ihres Landes in der Europäischen Union sei "eine gute Sache".
Das sind um sechs Prozentpunkte weniger als bei der vorangegangenen Umfrage im Herbst, wie die EU-Kommission am Dienstag mitteilte. Europa: Zahl der EU-Gegner wächst >>> | 24. Juni 2008
Norwegen: Homo-Ehe mit allen Rechten und Pflichten
DIE PRESSE: Homosexuelle erlangen in Norwegen volle Gleichberechtigung im Familienleben. Sie dürfen Kinder adoptieren oder sich künstlich befruchten lassen.
OSLO/KOPENHAGEN. Von heftigen Protesten und Beifallskundgebungen begleitet, hat das Parlament in Oslo ein „geschlechtsneutrales Ehegesetz“ verabschiedet, das mit der Diskriminierung von Homosexuellen endgültig Schluss macht.
Auch bei der Adoption und künstlicher Befruchtung gelten künftig für gleichgeschlechtliche Paare dieselben Regeln wie für Heterosexuelle. Norwegen ist damit weltweit das sechste Land, das Schwulen und Lesben nicht nur eine Partnerschaft ermöglicht, sondern die Ehe mit all ihren gesetzlichen Rechten und Pflichten. Norwegen: Homo-Ehe mit allen Rechten und Pflichten >>> Von Hannes Gamillscheg | 24. Juni 2008
“Zwanenberg announces its solidarity with the ‘Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign’ in its endeavours to pass an international legislation to stop any insult of any religion including Islam and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)” – Zwanenberg announcement
THE JORDAN TIMES: AMMAN - The multilateral Danish-Dutch boycott campaign is moving ahead with the addition of a major brand, the removal of others and an ongoing lawsuit, while Jordanian importers still suffer losses.
Launched in late February to protest against the republication of disturbing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, “The Messenger of Allah Unites Us” campaign was relaunched in mid-June to add products from the Netherlands after Dutch MP Geert Wilders posted an anti-Islam film on the Internet.
The ultimate goal, according to campaign spokesperson Zakaria Sheikh, is to enact a universal law that prohibits the defamation of any prophet or religion, similar to the international legislation banning anti-Semitism.
Sheikh told The Jordan Times that the boycott will assist them in providing proof of the harm of “hateful messages” when advocating for the law. Boycott Campaign Moves Ahead >>> By Linda Hindi | June 25, 2008
TOWNHALL.COM: One of the most dramatic changes in American life in the years since World War II involves the way we raise our children.
We used to do it ourselves. Now, convinced we have better things to do, many of us leave the job to others.
Encouraging this flight from parenthood, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed what he calls his "Zero to Five" plan. It is a collection of programs aimed at getting the government involved in the raising of your children from the moment they are born. Obama’s Vision for Government-Run Childhood >>> By Terence Jeffrey | June 25, 2008
Heinz’ Customers Have Hearty Appetites, But Not for Jollity!
This light-hearted advert for Heinz mayonnaise, a spoof on family life, showed that there’s little gaiety in Heinz’ straight customers
THE INDEPENDENT: Gay rights supporters have been urged to boycott Heinz products, after the company dropped a mayonnaise advertisement that showed two men kissing.
Campaigners insisted that Heinz had capitulated to a concerted homophobic campaign and that they would be urging supporters to boycott the company's products.
Hallelujah! From the Man Who Should Be the Archbishop of Canterbury: Convert Those of Other Faiths to Christianity!
It is heartening indeed to hear this message coming from Dr Nazir-Ali. It is what I have been saying for so many years. This website is testimony to that; and so is my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age. And people who know me know very well that my message has been the same for about twenty-five years now. But people have been slow to wake up. Now it looks as if there’s at least some hope, though, that the West will wake up before it is too late. It is already five to midnight. But then, it has to grow a backbone too. And that’s going to be difficult with the politicians we have leading us today.
"Let us pray that we are able to recover our Christian nerve in the west and make sure the Gospel is not lost, and that all that is valuable in western culture – much of which comes from its Judeo-Christian background – will survive as a way to enhance cultures in the west and renew them once again." - Dr Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester
Photo of Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The western world is losing its Christian values at a time when it needs them most, a leading bishop in the Church of England has warned.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed the declining importance of the church was creating a "double jeopardy" situation where faith was being challenged at a time when society would most benefit.
He said believers needed to "recover their nerve" and spread the Gospel again.
The outspoken bishop, who earlier this week told those who tolerate homosexuality in the clergy to repent, also said he was "frustrated" that decisions which had been made in the church had not been stuck to.
Dr Nazir-Ali was greeted with a standing ovation as he gave a speech to a breakaway summit in Jerusalem of more than 1,000 traditionalists from across the Anglican Communion who oppose gay priests and the blessing of same-sex unions.
He did not say that divisions over sexuality would lead to a schism in Anglicanism, and referred to unity being a "very precious thing".
Instead he called on those in the church to concentrate on mission – trying to convert those of other faiths and with no faith to Christianity. Western World Is Losing Christian Values, Says Leading Bishop >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent in Jerusalem | June 25, 2008
THE GUARDIAN: Barack Obama today came under fire from James Dobson, founder of the conservative Focus on the Family organisation, who accused the likely Democratic nominee of twisting the Bible to confuse people.
The attack from Dobson, a leading figure of the Christian Right, was framed as a wholesale rejection of Obama's views on faith, and appeared intended to thwart his efforts to reach out to evangelical Christians.
It was delivered in Dobson's regular radio programme as a line-by-line dissection of a speech that Obama gave to a liberal Christian organisation two years ago on the role of religion in public life.
Dobson's organisation also emailed links to the programme out to news organisations.
"I think he is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter," said Dobson. "I just don't know whether he is doing it deliberately or accidentally." US Elections: US Evangelical Leader Attacks Obama >>> By Suzanne Goldenberg | June 24, 2008
BBC: Confusion has marred French President Nicolas Sarkozy's farewell to Israel, after a soldier shot himself dead during an airport departure ceremony
Mr Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, were rushed into their plane after the shot. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was also hurried to safety.
The incident at Ben-Gurion airport came at the end of Mr Sarkozy's three-day visit to Israel and the West Bank.
A police spokesman said the security officer had committed suicide.
Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident, which happened just as Mr Sarkozy and Ms Bruni were about to board their plane, had posed no threat to the visitors.
He denied reports that it might have been an assassination attempt on the French president. Other reports suggested the soldier may have shot himself accidentally.
Witnesses said the incident was over within minutes and that Mr Olmert had then boarded the Sarkozys' plane to say farewell and explain what had happened. Scare as Sarkozy Departs Israel >>> | June 24, 2008
EDMONTON SUN: The tragedy of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal's case against Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine over alleged "hate" mongering because of Steyn's views on Islam is that most people don't give a damn.
Oh, many sympathize with Steyn because the issue seems so silly, but most don't see the destructive effect of hate legislation, or how it threatens our freedom.
Of all the benefits embodied in our county, free speech is -- or should be -- among the most precious. Without the freedom to express opinions on any matter, we cease being a free society. The implications are as simple as that. Anyone Care about Free Speech? >>> By Peter Worthington | June 23, 2008
Thousands of Dutch Believe in an "Impending Apocalypse"!
EXPATICA: Thousands of people in the Netherlands believe in an impending apocalypse in 2012 and are buying survival rations and boats.
THE NETHERLANDS - Some people believe that a major worldwide catastrophe will destroy civilisation in 2012. This weekend’s de Volkskrant wrote about the thousands of people in the Netherlands who believe in an impending apocalypse in 2012. The number of believers is many times larger in the United States and Poland. Many are buying survival rations and even boats - which will come in handy during flooding - or are preparing bunkers in foreign countries. De Volkskrant writes that while those who believe in the coming disaster have different theories as to what will happen, most are based on the Mayan calendar, which ends in 2012. The World Will Come to an End in 2012 >>> | June 23, 2008
Les Coptes égyptiens victimes de nouvelles agressions
LE FIGARO: L'attaque d'un monastère copte en Moyenne-Égypte illustre les tensions intercommunautaires dans cette région pauvre durement frappée par le terrorisme islamiste dans les années 1990.
Le calme est revenu à Abou Fana. Le 31 mai, ce monastère copte isolé a été attaqué par des Bédouins musulmans qui revendiquent la propriété de ces terres désertiques, situées à 300 km au sud du Caire. Pendant plusieurs heures, le staccato des armes automatiques a déchiré le silence. Une église a été brûlée, une ferme détruite et plusieurs moines blessés par balles. Trois autres disent avoir été enlevés et torturés pendant toute une nuit. «Les Arabes (nom donné aux Bédouins par les habitants de la vallée du Nil, NDLR) nous ont dit qu'ils allaient détruire le monastère, qu'ils ne veulent pas de chrétiens sur leurs terres», raconte d'une voix faible le frère Yoanas, toujours alité dans un hôpital copte d'Heliopolis, au Caire. Le calme est revenu à Abou Fana. Mais pas la paix. Les Coptes égyptiens victimes de nouvelles agressions >>> Par Tangi Salaün, au Caire | 23. 06. 2008
Muslim women in Kota Baru, Malaysia, are forbidden to wear bright lipstick
CNN/Asia: Authorities in a northern Malaysian city have forbidden Muslim women from wearing bright lipstick and noisy high-heeled shoes, saying the directive is intended to prevent sexual assaults and "illicit sex."
The national news agency, Bernama, said the directive was issued by the municipal council of Kota Baru and is aimed toward Muslim women working in restaurants and other businesses in the city. It said the ban will safeguard the morals and dignity of the women as well as thwart rape.
"It states that Muslim women are forbidden to wear thick make-up, like bright colored lipstick and high-heeled shoes that gave a tapping sound," the news agency said.
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT WATCH: Wow! I would never have guessed this: The Russian government is allowing Christian education in public schools as a way to assimilate immigrants, especially Muslims, to Russian society.
KOSTROVO, RUSSIA — Today they would learn about drawing, Russian Orthodox saints and God. The 7-year-olds sat straight at their desks, sun pouring through lace curtains and cherry trees blooming in the fields beyond. The teacher set a birch branch before the children and told them it was fragile and unique, just like their souls.
“If you think you can’t draw properly, who will help you?” she asked.
“God will help us,” a boy called out.
“Yes, God will guide your hand, so be confident, have faith.”
This is Tuesday, one of the two days a week dedicated to Orthodox education at this sleepy public school in the lush forests outside Moscow. All the girls and women have forgone pants in favor of skirts, and every student is learning Christian catechism along with reading, writing and arithmetic.
THE TELEGRAPH: The award-winning novelist Ian McEwan has launched an outspoken attack on militant Islam, accusing it of "wanting to create a society that I detest".
The author said he "despises Islamism" because of its views on women and homosexuality.
But predicting a backlash against his comments, which were made in an Italian newspaper, he insisted he was not a racist.
The writer of Atonement and Enduring Love condemned religious hardliners as he defended his friend, the writer Martin Amis, against charges of racism.
Amis was accused last year of being Islamaphobic after he said that "the Muslim community will have to suffer until it gets its house in order".
In an essay written the day before the fifth anniversary of the bombing of New York's Twin Towers, the novelist suggested "strip-searching people who look like they're from the Middle East or from Pakistan", preventing Muslims from travelling, and further down the road, deportation.
In The Age of Horrorism, Amis argued that fundamentalists had won the battle between Islam and Islamism.
McEwan, 60, said it was "logically absurd and morally unacceptable" that writers who speak out against militant Islam are immediately branded racist.
"As soon as a writer expresses an opinion against Islamism, immediately someone on the left leaps to his feet and claims that because the majority of Muslims are dark-skinned, he who criticises it is racist," he said in an interview in Corriere della Sera.
"This is logically absurd and morally unacceptable. Martin is not a racist. And I myself despise Islamism, because it wants to create a society that I detest, based on religious belief, on a text, on lack of freedom for women, intolerance towards homosexuality and so on - we know it well." Ian McEwan: I Despise Militant Islam >>> By Nicole Martin, Digital and Media Correspondent | June 22, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, has predicted that Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in.
The Arab world would be "pleased" by Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
"It [the reaction] will be positive privately. I think there'll be public denunciations but no action," he said.
Mr Bolton, an unflinching hawk who proposes military action to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons, bemoaned what he sees as a lack of will by the Bush administration to itself contemplate military strikes. Israel 'Will Attack Iran' Before New US President Sworn In, John Bolton Predicts >>> By Toby Harnden in Washington | June 23, 2008
THE NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE: Today, the true believers in Islam and the true believers in diversity uber alles are making common cause against those who believe in freedom of speech and the press
Freedom of the press is on trial in Canada.
The trial is before a court with the Orwellian title of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. The accused are Maclean’s magazine and author Mark Steyn. The crime: In mocking and biting tones, they wrote that Islam threatens Western values.
Had Steyn written that, given the Crusades, colonial atrocities in Africa and the slave trade, Christianity had been on balance a curse, he would not be in the dock. In the United States, these charges would have been tossed out by any federal judge, who would have admonished the plaintiffs that, here in America, we have a First Amendment.
The United States, however, is an isolated exception, as western nations seek to impose wider restrictions on what has come to be called “hate speech.” Political Correctness and Censorship >>> By Patrick J Buchanan | June 23, 2008
INTERNATIONAL ANALYST NETWORK: The primary goal of Islamic terrorists is to instill fear in people. People can be defined as a single individual, groups of people, or entire nations. On 11 Sept. 2001, Islamic terrorists attacked America. The terrorists achieved their number one and two goals. First they instilled fear in the lives of innocent people. Second they caused major economic losses and continue to do so to our country.
Until 11 Sept. 2001, most non-Muslims had little opinion as to what religion people chose to be, nor did it concern most Americans that Islam in America and throughout the world is spreading. The murder of almost 3000 innocent lives by Al Qaeda and their supporters changed everything. The cheering by thousands of Muslims throughout the world after the attack left most Americans bewildered.
The word 'Islamophobia' came into being after 11 Sept. 2001. CAIR and other puppet organizations of Saudi Arabia want non-Muslims to believe the actions by a few 'radical' Muslims does not represent Islam. Most non-Muslims understand there are peaceful Muslims, but slowly non-Muslims are beginning to understand the vast majority of Islamic scholars and organizations such as CAIR are not the peaceful Muslims they try to make people believe they are. Islamophobia and CAIR >>> By Dave Gaubatz | June 22, 2008
INTERNATIONAL ANALYST NETWORK: If you cannot name your enemy, how can you defeat it? Just as a physician must identify a disease before curing a patient, so a strategist must identify the foe before winning a war. Yet Westerners have proven reluctant to identify the opponent in the conflict the U.S. government variously (and euphemistically) calls the "global war on terror," the "long war," the "global struggle against violent extremism," or even the "global struggle for security and progress."
This timidity translates into an inability to define war goals. Two high-level U.S. statements from late 2001 typify the vague and ineffective declarations issued by Western governments. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld defined victory as establishing "an environment where we can in fact fulfill and live [our] freedoms." In contrast, George W. Bush announced a narrower goal, "the defeat of the global terror network" – whatever that undefined network might be.
"Defeating terrorism" has, indeed, remained the basic war goal. By implication, terrorists are the enemy and counterterrorism is the main response. The Enemy Has a Name >>> By Daniel Pipes | June 19, 2008
Danish Cartoon Ruling May Prompt "Islamophobia"-OIC
REUTERS: RIYADH - The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a league of 57 Muslim nations, said on Monday a Danish court's rejection of a suit against a paper for printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad could provoke "Islamophobia."
The High Court for western Denmark on Thursday rejected a suit against Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published cartoons of Islam's prophet, leading to deadly protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The court said the editors had not meant to depict Muslims as criminals or terrorists, the cartoons had not broken the law, and there was a relationship between acts of violence and Islam -- comments that provoked outcry among Muslim groups in Denmark.
"It is a known fact that acts of terror have been carried out in the name of Islam and it is not illegal to make satire out of this relationship," the court said.
The Saudi-based OIC, the largest grouping of Muslim countries, said the ruling could encourage "Islamophobia", a fear or dislike of Islam, which the group has identified as existing in the West. Danish Cartoon Ruling May Prompt "Islamophobia"-OIC >>> | June 23, 2008
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Fearful of a Jordanian boycott of their products, two Dutch companies have distanced themselves from the film Fitna, produced and released earlier this year by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. On Sunday, Friesland Foods and the Zwanenberg Food Group placed adverts in Jordanian newspapers to announce that they have nothing to do with the film. They're hoping to prevent their products ending up on a Middle East blacklist.
They took this step after 'The Messenger of Allah Unites Us', a broad coalition of Jordanian political parties, professional organisations and media, printed one million posters showing Dutch and Danish products that - they argue - consumers in Jordan and other Middle East countries ought to boycott. In addition to a number of Danish brand names, the list includes such Dutch companies as KLM, Philips and baby food manufacturer Friso.
There's considerable anger in Jordan regarding Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The chairman of the coalition, Zakaria Sheik, says that both men have offended Muslims throughout the world and shouldn't escape their punishment. Dutch Companies Fear Jordanian Boycott >>> By Sebastiaan Gottlieb | June 23, 2008
Imprudent Brown Goes to King to Ask Him to Buy Up Britain
Photo of Gordon Brown with King Abdullah courtesy of Arab News
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday offered to open his country’s energy markets to oil-producing states and urged them to reinvest some of the $3 trillion additional revenue realized from the current oil boom. “They can invest in UK energy production, including wind, solar and a new wave of nuclear power stations,” the prime minister said in an address to the Jeddah Energy Meeting.
Brown, who followed the inaugural address by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdulah, said his government plans, to be published in the coming week, would put a price tag of 100 billion pounds for the UK to meet its share of an EU target to generate 20 percent of energy from renewables by 2020. “Much of this could come from the sovereign wealth funds of Gulf states,” he said. Brown Wants Oil Profits Plowed Back into Energy Investments >>> By Samir Al-Saadi | June 23, 2008
CHRONICLES MAGAZINE: Various multiethnic states (imperial Russia, the Habsburg Monarchy, pre-World War II Kingdom of Yugoslavia) have been labeled—often unfairly—as “prisons of nations.” That designation will apply more aptly to the European Union when the Lisbon Treaty, signed by all 27 EU heads of states or governments last December, takes effect next year. Under the “European Arrest Warrant,” which is to be implemented under the terms of the Treaty, every citizen or visitor of a member country the European Union will be liable to arrest and extradition at the behest of a judge in any other EU member-country, under one of 32 vaguely defined categories of “crime.”
This is a momentous development, and not one in a hundred EU citizens, let alone non-EU visitors to Europe, are fully aware of its implications. The European Union, A Prison of Nations >>> By Srdja Trifkovic
BBC: The zebiba used to be the mark of an elderly Muslim man, the fruit of a lifetime's devotion, but it is increasingly seen on the faces of young Egyptians.
Literally meaning "a raisin", the zebiba is a patch of hardened skin where the forehead touches the ground during Muslim prayers.
Some welcome the trend as a sign of devotion, others say it is ostentatious piety.
Worse still there are fears public displays of faith like the zebiba and the hijab, or headscarf, are spilling over into vigilantism.
Liberals or Christians who don't conform in the workplace or on the street say they are being harassed. Signs of Division on Egypt’s Brow >>> By Magdi Abdelhadi, Cairo | June 23, 2008
Insulting King and Country Serious Matter in Spain
TIMESONLINE: One cartoonist depicts a drunken King; another shows the Crown Prince having sex – and a comedian dares to embark on an invective-strewn rant against Spain.
Now the humorists face separate trials for insulting King or country in a nation where humour is still a distinctly risky business. “We have noticed a worrying trend in Spain, because these laws [against insulting the Crown] have been put into practice,” Giulia Tamayo, of Amnesty International, said. “We are concerned that it is setting a precedent.” Spanish law seeks the last laugh over cartoonists' royal fun: Cartoonists on trial for mocking the crown>>> By Thomas Catán in Madrid | June 23, 2008
BBC: Christine Lagarde, the country's first female minister for finance and the economy, says it is time for French people to "roll up their sleeves" and stop thinking about holidays.
The former international lawyer, impressed by the work ethic during her time in the US, is intent on instilling the same spirit in her countrymen and women.
Her approach is calm and conciliatory, bearing little resemblance to the fire and brimstone of her boss, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Yet Christine Lagarde shares the president's convictions when it comes to the French and the world of work.
Until three years ago she was chairman of the law firm Baker and McKenzie, whose main offices are in Chicago.
Her entry into French politics was sudden.
Called up by the former government of Dominique de Villepin, she left the US on a Tuesday afternoon and was at her desk as trade minister the following morning. Getting the French to Work >>> By Alasdair Sandford, Paris | June 22, 2008
BBC: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said the creation of a Palestinian state is in the best interests of Israel and its citizens.
On the first French state visit to Israel in 12 years, he said a peace agreement would allow the two peoples to live in peace and security. Sarkozy Urges Palestinian State >>> | June 22, 2008
Foto von Südanatolien in der Türkei von heute. “Türken werden in den Islam gezwungen.” Foto dank der Welt Online
WELTONLINE: Die ländliche Türkei ist fest in der Hand frommer Muslime. Unterstützt von der Regierungspartei AKP dominieren sie die Wirtschaft und besetzen Schlüsselposten in der Verwaltung. Das Kopftuch der Frauen ist Eintrittskarte in Beruf und Gesellschaft, pro-westliche Türken fürchten um ihre Freiheiten. Ein Besuch in Südanatolien.
Wenn nur die ganze Türkei so wäre wie die südanatolische Stadt Denizli, dann wäre das Gesellschaftsprojekt der islamisch geprägten Regierungspartei ein Stück weiter. Nirgends außer im noch etwas frommeren Konya gibt es mehr Moscheen im Verhältnis zur Bevölkerung. Ein Großteil der Wirtschaft besteht aus sogenannten islamischen Holdings, Unternehmen, die sich nach dem Zinsverbot des Koran richten wollen. Es gibt immer mehr Koranschulen, und der Anteil der Frauen, die Kopftuch tragen, hat sich nach Meinung eines örtlichen Journalisten in den letzten Jahren "mindestens verdreifacht". Wie die AKP die Türken in den Islam zwingt >>> Von Boris Kalnoky | 20. Juni 2008
ISRAELeNEWS: Muammar Qaddafi has scored so many loony tunes as Libyan despot that his recent musings about love and expectations from “our American Kenyan brother Obama” could be tossed into that same loony bin — except that it is widely shared out there in the world beyond Libya.
The happenstance of Senator Obama’s skin color, his Muslim father, and his middle name of Hussein have led millions, most especially in the Arab world, to think of him as a “brother,” from whom much is expected as leader of the U.S.
True, Mr. Obama’s cultural diversity is hugely beneficial to the U.S. image as a melting pot and much more. That an African-American, Harvard-educated man of opulent origins emerges as potential leader of the U.S. speaks volumes. Where else can millions of voters make such a resoundingly liberating choice free of the tribalism, xenophobia, and bias tearing at much of the world?
But frothing phantasms over how Mr. Obama’s “imagined persona” — as a Muslim or a third world person — are already crowding this view, fanning out of the airwaves of Al-Jazeera TV into effervescent Arab websites and public opinion polls, all murmuring about miraculous turnabouts and new alliances. Obama’s Muslim Fans Need Some Straight Talk >>> By Youssef M Ibrahim | June 22, 2008
ARAB NEWS: RIYADH: Prince Sultan bin Salman, secretary-general of the General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (GCTA), said yesterday that the commission aims to make Saudi Arabia one of the most-favored tourism destinations in the region.
Prince Sultan was speaking at a luncheon meeting organized to launch GCTA’s summer tourism program. The tourism plan, Prince Sultan said, has details of the events, fun and frolics, traditional arts, folklore skits and sporting events that will be organized by local companies and tourism organizations in cooperation with the GCTA in different parts of the Kingdom this year.
“Our aim is to ensure sustainable growth of tourism sector and to offer the best tourism products and services with an aim to promote domestic tourism,” Prince Sultan said. “We are striving hard to make this country one of the three most favored tourism destinations of this region,” said the GCTA chief while giving an overview of the GCTA’s operations.
“There is a lot for tourists to do in Saudi Arabia and we have a lot to offer,” Prince Sultan said. Sultan outlines Kingdom’s tourism goals >>> By Ghazanfar Ali Khan | June 22, 2008
MAKKAH: The Muslim World League (MWL) will organize a global interfaith dialogue in Madrid on July 16, it was announced here yesterday.
Leading personalities representing various monotheistic religions would participate in the three-day conference, which would discuss various topics, including social amity, international cooperation, human rights and peaceful co-existence, said Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the MWL.
"The call for dialogue between various religions, cultures, civilizations and ideologies by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at a conference organized by the MWL early this month was, in fact, a call from Makkah, which is the venue of divine inspiration, the source of the Islamic message and the qibla (the direction of prayer) of Muslims," Al-Turki said.
The MWL cheif said King Abdullah's initiative has been hailed unanimously by the Muslim world, which was represented at the conference by prominent scholars and thinkers. Global Interfaith Dialogue Set for July 16 in Madrid >>> By Badea Abu Al-Naja | June 22, 2008
leJDD.fr: Un jeune homme de 17 ans, de confession juive, a été victime d'une violente agression samedi soir dans le 19e arrondissement à Paris. Selon le Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France (CRIF), il s'agit sans aucun doute d'un"acte antisémite". Cinq mineurs ont été placés en garde à vue tandis qu'une enquête a été ouverte. Dimanche, la victime est toujours dans le coma.
L'agression s'est déroulée samedi soir, dans une rue du 19e arrondissement, non loin du parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Un jeune homme de 17 ans a croisé la route d'une trentaine de jeunes. Certains le prennent à partie et le frappent violemment. Les associations confessionnelles juives parlent même de l'usage de barres de fer. Pour le Crif (Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France) et l'Union des étudiants juifs de France(UEJF), "le caractère antisémite de cette agression ne fait aucun doute". Le jeune homme arborait une kipa, calotte portée par les juifs. Ses agresseurs étaient, selon un témoin cité par la police, des jeunes hommes d'origine africaine. Selon une source policière, le mobile antisémite ressortirait des premiers témoignages et cela a éé confirmé par le porte-parole du ministère de l'Intérieur. L'agression à caractère antisémite est "certaine", a dit Gérard Gachet sur France 2, parce qu'aucun autre mobile n'a pu être identifié et que la victime semble avoir été prise à partie en raison de signes distinctifs religieux qu'elle portait. Agression antisémite à Paris >>> Par Maud Pierron | Dimanche 22 Juin 2008
"Increasing numbers of young Muslim people are becoming sufficiently disaffected with their lives in liberal-democratic-capitalist societies that they might be willing to support violent terrorism to articulate their disillusionment and disengagement." – policy conclusion
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Extremists are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Britain's young Muslims, a disturbing police report warns.
Increasing numbers have become so alienated from mainstream society that they could even lend their support to jihadi terrorism, the study claims.
While most reject violence, many distrust police and are reluctant to inform on extremists.
The report was commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) after last year's failed bomb attacks in London's West End and at Glasgow Airport. It is to be discussed at Acpo's annual conference this week. Young Muslims ‘Are Turning to Extremism’ >>> By Patrick Sawer | June 22, 2008
Leading Anglican Bishops to Boycott Lambeth Conference over Gay Clergy
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England will be thrown into turmoil this summer following the decision of leading bishops to boycott a landmark Anglican summit in protest at the presence of pro-gay bishops.
In a move that marks a significant split in the established Church, at least three bishops, including the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, will decline an invitation from Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to attend the Lambeth Conference.
Up to six more bishops are understood to be considering similar action because of Dr Williams's decision to allow controversial figures to be at the gathering of worldwide Anglican bishops, which meets only once in 10 years. Leading Anglican Bishops to Boycott Lambeth Conference over Gay Clergy >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | June 22, 2008
DAILYNEWSRECORDOnline: A frightening “hate crimes” trial in Canada offers Americans a look at the future of the First Amendment if Muslim immigration to this country continues unabated. Conservative writer Mark Steyn, it seems, “offended” the Muslims in British Columbia, and now not only the Muslims but also the Canadian diversity police want their pound of flesh.
Steyn’s ongoing legal battle began in 2006, when Macleans magazine published an excerpt of his book, “America Alone.” The excerpt, “The Future Belongs To Islam” said nothing that anyone who reads the newspapers doesn’t know: Islam is conquering Europe. But it was “offensive” because it stated exactly that.
Europe, Mr. Steyn wrote, is dying. The Christian faith is waning. Birth rates have collapsed. His reasonable conclusion is that the growing and angry Islamic horde in Europe is preparing the ground for violence, and, indeed, jihad: Aging Europeans, he wrote, are “being supplanted remorselessly by a young Muslim demographic. … [A]t the very minimum, this fast-moving demographic transformation provides a huge comfort zone for the jihad to move around in.” The End of Free Speech: Canadian Case an Omen for America>>> Editorial | June 21, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has invited oil-rich states like Saudi Arabia to invest in the next generation of British nuclear power stations.
The Prime Minister extended the invitation to OPEC members as part of a deal he will propose at a summit in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Mr Brown said he wants oil producers to allow Western energy firms to invest in their fields, increasing OPEC's extraction and refining capacity.
In exchange, he said, Western oil-consumers led by Britain should open their economies to investment from oil-states' sovereign wealth funds. In particular, he said, sovereign funds should be encouraged to invest in alternative energy sources, including nuclear power.
The government has signalled its willingness to license a new wave of nuclear power reactors in Britain, but there are doubts about the energy industry's appetite for funding new stations. Gordon Brown Invites Saudi Arabia to Invest in Britain's Nuclear Industry >>> By James Kirkup in Brussels | June 21, 2008
BBC: US lawmakers have passed a bill to shield telephone companies who helped in the White House's controversial warrantless wiretaps programme.
The bill also grants the US government the power to continue with its warrantless surveillance scheme.
The Bush administration faced criticism when details emerged of its programme to monitor the phone calls of foreign targets in the US without warrants.
President Bush said the scheme was needed to prevent attacks on the US.
Telephone companies were facing as many as 40 lawsuits for their involvement in the scheme. US Lawmakers Pass Wiretaps Bill >>> | June 20, 2008
ISLAMONLINE.NET: COPENHAGEN — Danish Muslims are planning to take Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily to Europe's highest human rights court over the publication of satirical drawings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).
"[Danish] Muslim organizations intend to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights," Muslim leader Mohammed Khalid Samha told IslamOnline.net on Friday, June 20.
The move comes a day after a Danish court rejected a suit by seven Muslim groups against newspaper editors for publishing the offensive cartoons.
Hook-Handed Muslim Fanatic Loses US Extradition Appeal
THE TELEGRAPH: Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza lost his High Court battle today against extradition to the United States where he faces a potential jail sentence of 100 years.
The decision means the hook-handed fanatic can be sent across the Atlantic to face terror charges and is likely to spend the rest of his natural life locked up for 23 hours a day in a "super-maximum" security jail in Colorado.
Two High Court judges sitting in London ruled that the decision to extradite Hamza was "unassailable" but they also gave his lawyers 14 days to apply for leave to make a last ditch appeal to the House of Lords, the highest court in the land.
Muslim Headscarves Test the Limits of German Tolerance
… [the headscarf debate is a] "religiously motivated political offensive being waged under the veil of religious freedom. Islam is conducting a cultural war in pursuit of ‘a different set of political and social ideals.’ Islam is ‘not tolerant itself, but takes advantage of the tolerance available to it through our legal system in order to grow.’’ – Nekla Kelek, a sociologist of Turkish descent
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: For years, Germany's legal experts have been arguing about whether Muslim public officials have the right to wear headscarves. The issue raises difficult questions about religious tolerance and constitutional rights in Germany.
"When you do something," Brigitte Weiss says, "you need to do it right."
It's a motto she knows from home. She remembers people saying it where she comes from, a coal-mining area in Germany's western Ruhr region. Later, as a grade school teacher in Mettmann, a small town near Düsseldorf, she tried to pass the homespun wisdom on to her students. Whether it was their homework in German, Geography, Home Economics, or whatever else they were doing -- the main thing was to do it right.
"All of my students," Weiss says, "were happy to have me as their teacher."
Now this is no longer entirely the case. The reason is Brigitte Weiss's conversion to Islam. Now she has a new name, Maryam, and she dresses differently: She wears a headscarf. Muslim Headscarves Test the Limits of German Tolerance >>> By Thomas Darnstädt | June 20, 2008
BBC: Israel has carried out an exercise that appears to have been a rehearsal for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, US officials have told the New York Times.
More than 100 Israeli fighter jets took part in manoeuvres over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece in the first week of June, US officials said.
Iran insists its programme is peaceful, but Israel sees Iran's development of the technology as a serious threat. Israelis ‘Rehearse Iran Attack’ >>> | June 20, 2008
BBC: The brother of the UAE president has been accused in a Swiss court of beating a US citizen with a belt at a hotel bar in Geneva.
Silvano Orsi alleges Sheikh Falah al-Nahyan made homosexual advances and severely beat him when rejected. UAE Sheikh in Belt Beating Case >>> | June 20, 2008
DUTCHNEWS.NL: The maker of the controversial film Fitna, anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, is afraid that he might be arrested while travelling abroad following a ruling by a court in Jordan earlier this week, reports Friday’s Volkskrant.
A group calling itself The Messenger of Allah Unites Us has called for an international arrest warrant against Wilders accusing him of racism, inciting hatred and insulting Islam and Muslims, reports the paper. The group was also behind a call for a boycott of Dutch products in Jordan earlier this year. Jordan Court Wants Wilders Arrested >>> | June 20, 2008
Only Religious Scholars Allowed to Discuss Matters of Faith, Says UN Body
DAILY TIMES: * UN body says only religious scholars should be allowed to discuss matters of faith
GENEVA: Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticised during debates by the UN Human Rights Council. Religions deserve special protection because any debate about faith is bound to be “very complex, very sensitive and very intense”, council President Doru-Romulus Costea said Wednesday.
Scholars: Only religious scholars should be allowed to discuss matters of faith, he told journalists in Geneva.
THE TELEGRAPH: Martha Stewart has been refused a visa to Britain because of her criminal convictions for obstructing justice, the Daily Telegraph has learned.
The lifestyle guru, convicted four years ago in the US for obstructing justice, was planning to speak at the Royal Academy and to hold meetings with several figures in the fashion and leisure industry, including Jasper Conran, and was due to travel within the next few days.
The refusal by the UK Border Agency was sent to Ms Stewart, aged 66. A spokesperson for the business magnate said: "Martha loves England and hopes this can be resolved and that she will be able to visit soon."
She added that Ms Stewart has many friends in Britain, which she has visited numerous times. Martha Stewart Refused Entry to the UK >>> By Christopher Hope Home Affairs Editor and Alex Spillius in Washington | June 19, 2008
EU losing World Rôle, Has Weaker Leaders - Italian PM
THE GUARDIAN: ROME - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attacked the European Union on Thursday, saying it had lost influence on the world stage and its leaders were weaker than when he was last in office two years ago.
Speaking before an EU summit in Brussels, Berlusconi also criticised European Commissioners for speaking out publicly and creating problems for national governments, and said he would demand a more reserved approach from now on.
"I see a Europe which has gone backwards compared with two years ago," Berlusconi, who became prime minister for the third time following an April election victory, told a business conference in Rome.
He said Europe's current leaders had "less personality" than those attending summits when he was last in office, citing Tony Blair, Jose Maria Aznar, Gerhard Schroeder and Jacques Chirac, the former leaders of Britain, Spain, Germany and France.
"The EU appears as an institution that intervenes with obligations and restrictions," Berlusconi said in his latest broadside against the institutions of the 27-nation bloc. "It is not a protagonist on the world stage."
On Wednesday he blasted the EU for having done "absolutely nothing to stop the hypervaluation of the euro", and promised that he would use the EU summit to make the area "less bureaucratic and less distant from citizens". EU losing World Role, Has Weaker Leaders-Italy PM >>> Reuters | June 19, 2008
BBC: Sweden's parliament has approved controversial new laws allowing authorities to spy on cross-border e-mail and telephone traffic.
The country's intelligence bureau will be able to scan international calls, faxes and e-mails.
The measure was passed by a narrow majority after a heated debate in the Stockholm parliament.
Critics say it threatens civil liberties and represents Europe's most far-reaching eavesdropping plan.
"By introducing these new measures, the Swedish government is following the examples set by governments ranging from China and Saudi Arabia to the US government's highly criticised eavesdropping programme," said Peter Fleischer, of Google. Sweden Approves Wiretapping Law >>> | June 19, 2008
Danish Court Rules Satirical Representation Not Illegal
NEWS.COM.AU: A DANISH appeals court has rejected a suit filed by seven Muslim organisations against newspaper editors who in 2005 first published a dozen controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The appeals court judges ruled that the caricatures, which have since sparked angry and in some cases deadly protests across the Muslim world, did not aim to insult followers of Islam, as the plaintiffs had charged.
One of the cartoonists is still in hiding under police protection following death threats.
The seven Muslim organisations, all based in Denmark, had accused the Jyllands-Posten daily's chief editor and culture editor of wilfully offending believers by printing the "offensive and degrading" drawings that "depict the prophet as bellicose and criminal, establishing a clear link between Mohammed and war and terror". Prophet Cartoons ‘Did Not Aim to Insult’ >>> | June 19, 2008
AKI – Rome: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and journalist Magdi Allam have received death threats posted in an Islamist website said to be close to al-Qaeda.
Magdi Allam, the Christian convert targeted by Islamist death threats, has expressed concern about the danger he faces and fears that the perpetrators may be Italian.
"I find it extremely worrying that today we can find internet sites, full of al-Qaeda-inspired thought in Italian language, giving support to Bin Laden's terrorism," said Allam in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) on Wednesday.
Allam is an Egyptian-born writer and deputy editor of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, who converted from Islam to Roman Catholicism in a highly publicised Easter service conducted by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in April.
THE TELEGRAPH: Hardline Church leaders have formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican Communion, saying they can no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexual clergy.
The traditionalists dealt a serious blow to Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, by claiming that he can no longer hold the Church together.
They warned that the Church was gripped by its most serious crisis since the Reformation.
It could only be saved by the repentance of the Americans who triggered the row by ordaining a homosexual bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, five years ago. Hardline Archbishops Declare Anglican Split >>> By Tim Butcher in Jordan and Martin Beckford | June 19, 2008
Muslim Barack Obama Fans Told to Hide from Television Cameras
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's campaign has been forced to apologise to two Muslim women barred from sitting behind him at a public event.
The two women in headscarves were asked not to sit in view of cameras at a rally in Detroit on Monday, where Al Gore endorsed Mr Obama.
Hebba Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer, told Politico magazine: "I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against.
"The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters."
Miss Aref's friend Ali Koussan, a law student, said that a volunteer "explained to me that because of the political climate and what's going on in the world ... it's not good for her to be seen on TV or associated with Obama."
Terrorism: Italian PM and Christian Convert Targets of Islamist Death Threats
AKI: Dubai, 17 June - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a prominent Italian journalist who recently converted to Christianity, are the targets of new death threats posted on one of the most popular Islamist websites said to be close to al-Qaeda, on Tuesday.
The threats are aimed at Berlusconi and Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born newspaper editor who converted from Islam to Roman Catholicism during the Vatican's Easter vigil in April 2008.
A writer and deputy editor of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Allam was named the winner of the prestigious Oriana Fallaci journalism award on Monday night for writing about immigration, Muslim integration and terrorism.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: The French state and internet service providers have struck a deal to block sites carrying child pornography or content linked to terrorism or racial hatred, Interior Minister Michel Alliot-Marie announced on Tuesday.
The plan, part of a larger effort to fight cybercriminality, is to go into effect in September when a "black list" will be built up based on input from internet users who signal sites dealing with the offensive material, the minister said.
The announcement comes on the heels of a similar deal in the United States, also announced Tuesday. There, three service providers - Verizon, Sprint and TimeWarner Cable - have agreed with New York state officials to block child pornography sites nationwide. France to Block Porn, Terror, Hate Websites >>> | June 11, 2008
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: On June 9, a 53-year-old man named Mahmoud Alkhazaleh stood in the middle of a street in Chicago, and refused to get out of the way of traffic. Soon enough a car approached, but when the driver honked at him, Alkhazaleh didn’t move. The driver tried to go around him, but at that point Alkhazaleh allegedly started to hit him and throw rocks at him. And shortly thereafter, three of Alkhazaleh’s sons ran up, started to beat the driver, spit on him, and throw rocks at him.
Alkhazaleh’s sons have been charged with felony aggravated battery. And that is all to the good. But Mahmoud Alkhazaleh himself has been charged with a “hate crime.” A “hate crime”? That charge comes because apparently Alkhazaleh called the driver who tried to get him to move out of the middle of the road a “blue-eyed devil.”
Now, I have no idea why Mahmoud Alkhazaleh wouldn’t get out of the middle of the street. Maybe it really did have to do with some deep hatred of American blue-eyed devils, but I couldn’t care less if it did. The only thing the law should really be concerned about here is that he and his sons apparently gratuitously beat up this driver. He should be prosecuted fully for that, and deported if he is not a citizen. If he called the driver a “blue-eyed devil” and the driver called him a “Pakistani [expletive],” their mothers should remind them that “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” and that should be the end of that. Repeal Hate Speech Laws >>> By Robert Spencer | June 18, 2008
Boys on Trial in Turkey for Singing Kurdish 'Anthem'
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A choir from eastern Turkey sang a provocative song in Kurdish during a music festival in the United States. Now nine of the boys are on trial for supporting the illegal Kurdish rebel group, the PKK.
Three teenaged members of a boys' choir will go on trial today in Turkey for "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" -- namely the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK -- after singing a Kurdish song at a music festival in San Francisco late last year.
In October 2007 the boys sang a Kurdish-language march called "Ey Raqip" ("Hey Enemy") at the San Francisco World Music Festival. They performed a number of other songs, too, but the prosecutor in Turkey argues that "Ey Raqip" is a PKK anthem. Boys on Trial in Turkey for Singing Kurdish 'Anthem' >>> June 19, 2008
How Germany Is Dismantling Civil Rights amid Terror Fears
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany has so far been spared a bloody Islamist terror attack. But it only took two planned attacks in Germany to persuade a majority of the population to support a massive dismantling of civil rights. How Germany Is Dismantling Civil Rights amid Terror Fears >>> By Jochen Bölsche | June 12, 2008
STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG ONLINE: Kabul - Die kleine Afghanin war gerade elf Jahre alt, als ein beinamputierter Mann sie sexuell belästigte. Er gab ihr hinterher fünf Dollar, woraufhin sie sich zu weiteren sexuellen Handlungen bereiterklärte. Mit 13 Jahren war sie bereits die Haupternährerin ihrer Familie. Als sie sich Sozialarbeitern anvertraute, schickten ihre Eltern den zehnjährigen Bruder zum Zuhälter des Mädchens. Afghanistan: Prostitution floriert trotz Tabus >>> Von Alisa Tang, AP | 19. 06. 2008
Pakistan: Man Sentenced to Death for Insulting Islam
AKI: Sialkot - A Pakistani judge has sentenced a man to death and life imprisonment on charges of blasphemy and desecration of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Shafiq Latif of Kulluwal in northeastern Pakistan is alleged to have made derogatory remarks against the Prophet Mohammed and desecrated pages of the Koran on 17 March 2006. Pakistan: Man Sentenced to Death for Insulting Islam >>> | June 19, 2008
BBC: President George W Bush has called on Congress to end a 27-year ban on drilling for oil in US coastal waters, to reduce dependence on imports.
Mr Bush said existing restrictions on offshore drilling were "outdated and counter-productive".
His move comes as US consumers are calling for action to tackle high oil prices that have pushed prices at the pump to more than $4 (£2) a gallon.
US energy needs are set to be a key issue in November's presidential poll.
Republican John McCain favours offshore oil drilling, whereas his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, opposes it. Bush Calls for Offshore Drilling >>> | June 18, 2008
TAMMY SWOFFORD: He burst onto the world stage to dominate America's television audience in November of 1979. He was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. We did not know who he was, but for Shi'a he was "the sign of god". "Ayat" means sign, and it is the smaller thought expressed within each Surah of the Qur'an.
Pegged a revolutionary by Western media this man moved forward from the shadows of history onto the stage of the present in Tehran after our embassy staff were taken as prisoners. This event was not merely a revolt against the Shah of Iran, but it was a resurgence of Shi'a political thought regarding what was considered the natural order of things. As a Shi'a jurist of high standing whose life must be imitated and orders obeyed in the absence of the 12th hidden infallible imam, Ayatollah Khomeini retained a position of guardianship over the Shi'a community (wali) and was indeed considered the proof of God. The heady feelings of putting a thumb in the eye of the "Great Satan" were nothing compared to the national re-identification process underway with Ayatollah Khomeini leading the parade. The Ayatollah: Proof of God >>> By Tammy Swofford | June 18, 2008
Some Muslims In a Tiz-Woz Over Denmark’s Hijab Competition
Photo of Hudah Falah, the winner of Denmark’s hijab competition, courtesy of The National
THE NATIONAL - UAE: Beauty contests for women who wear the hijab are against the “spirit” of the Islamic message, says Shadia Abdullah, a board member of Jumeirah Islamic Learning Centre in Dubai.
Miss Headscarf 2008 took place in Denmark this month, giving a platform to “cool Muslim women who often make up a very fashion-conscious and style-confident part of the Danish street scene”.
The competition’s website has had more than 100,000 hits and the contest’s popularity means it is likely to be repeated.
A total of 46 women entered the competition and submitted photographs of themselves in hijab to the organiser, Danmarks Radio. The state broadcaster offered an iPod to the winner and magazine subscriptions to five finalists.
“The whole idea of the hijab is for a woman to cover herself and conceal her beauty,” Miss Abdullah said. “It is not about being ostentatious and showing off, but about being modest. This contest contradicts all those things.”
There were, she said, “a lot of criteria attached to wearing the hijab. For example, it should not be too flashy, expensive, show class or race differences, or draw too much attention to the wearer.
“It is as much about your behaviour when you are wearing it and covering what is inside while asking not to be judged on your looks,” Miss Abdullah said. “Islam does not say we should not be interested in fashion, but that industry is all about consumerism and our faith says you should not let fashion dictate to you.”
Some of the entrants sent in head-and-shoulders photographs, while others stood with hands on hips or struck provocative poses. The winner was Iraqi-born Huda Falah, 18, chosen for her “hidden beauty”. Danish Hijab Contest ‘Contradicts’ Modesty >>> By Tahira Yaqoob | June 16, 2008
REAL CLEAR POLITICS: The broad, sneering European-elite response to the plucky Irish vote to oppose the further centralization of governmental power in the European Union and the emerging opinion in China suggest that from Brussels to Shanghai, democracy may be losing its appeal. Democracy in Decline >>> By Tony Blankley | June 18, 2008
Iraqi Christians Are Targets of Cleansing, Committee Told
OTTAWA CITIZEN: One in three a refugee, but Chaldo-Assyrians want to remain in country
Muslim militants are crucifying children to terrorize their Christian parents into fleeing Iraq, a parliamentary committee studying the persecution of religious minorities heard yesterday.
Since the war began in 2003, about 12 children, many as young as 10, have been kidnapped and killed, then nailed to makeshift crosses near their homes to terrify and torment their parents.
One infant was snatched, decapitated, burned and left on his mother's doorstep, the committee was told.
Filham Isaac, speaking for the Nineveh Advocacy Committee, told the human rights committee that Iraqi Christian churches were bombed, clergy murdered and unveiled Iraqi women raped or scarred with acid.
It's part of a systemic -- and very effective -- campaign to ethnically cleanse the area of any non-Muslims, he said. Chaldean and Assyrian Christians, known as Chaldo-Assyrians, were once the largest Christian minority in Iraq. They are also the oldest, descendants of ancient Mesopotamians who adopted Christianity in the first century. Iraqi Christians Are Targets of Cleansing, Committee Told >>> By Jennifer Green | June 18, 2008
Hat tip: Pierre of Québec for drawing my attention to this article.
” She was already one of the country's most popular male singers, when in 1981 she underwent a sex-change operation.”
BBC: One of Turkey's best known singers, Bulent Ersoy, has gone on trial charged with attempting to turn the public against military service.
The charges were brought after she suggested it was not worth sacrificing soldiers' lives in Turkey's conflict with the Kurdish separatist PKK group.
The transsexual singer made her comments on television last February.
The army was conducting a major operation against the PKK in northern Iraq at the time.
Some 40,000 people have died since the conflict with the PKK began in 1984.
Ms Ersoy did not show up in court, saying she had to attend a concert, so the trial has been postponed until September, when she will be obliged to attend.
Ms Ersoy has already said she will stand by her comments.
THE GUARDIAN: A school in north-east Thailand has introduced toilets for transvestites after a survey showed that more than 200 students saw themselves as transgender, a director said today.
Sitisak Sumontha said he believed the 2,600-student Kampang school, in north-eatern [sic] Thailand, was the first secondary to introduce unisex toilets.
"These students want to be able to go to the restroom in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped," he added.
THE TELEGRAPH: If this country's voters could vote in America, John McCain could take the summer off. So thorough would be his drubbing that no campaigning on his part could save him from an enforced return to the Senate.
As British and most other foreign observers see it, Barack Obama is the second coming. Perhaps not of you-know-who, although in his victory speech Obama did describe his triumph in the primaries as "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal".
Moses made the waters recede, but he had help. So Obama must be the second coming of JFK. Never mind that Kennedy sent troops to Vietnam, backed an abortive invasion of Cuba, and conveyed such a sense of inexperience and weakness at his summit with Kruschev that we almost stumbled into a nuclear war when the Russian leader decided he could get away with putting some missiles in Cuba. President Barack Obama Would Be Bad for Britain >>> By Irwin Stelzer | june 18, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Abu Qatada, the radical Islamic cleric described as Osama bin Laden’s “right-hand man in Europe”, has been released from jail after a judge ruled that there were no grounds to keep him in prison.
The decision to allow him to return to his home in London – where he will receive around £1,000 per month in state benefits – made a mockery of the government’s promise to crack down on terror suspects, and embarrassed the Home Office, which had pledged to deport Qatada to Jordan to face terror charges.
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said she was “extremely disappointed” at the court’s decision to bail Qatada, while the Conservatives branded the decision “offensive”.
Mr Justice Mitting signed an order to release Qatada on bail, with strict conditions, following an earlier Court of Appeal decision to refuse his deportation on the grounds that it would breach human rights law. Abu Qatada: Islamic Cleric Is Released from Jail >>> By Duncan Gardham and Gordon Rayner | June 18, 2008
Tehran Police Intensifies Crackdown on Women, Men over Dress Code
MONSTERS AND CRITICS: Tehran - Tehran's police has intensified [the] crackdown on women and men over the Islamic dress code, Fars news agency reported Monday.
A police spokesman told Fars news agency that more than twenty cars whose passengers were not observing dress codes were confiscated until further notice.
The police has also interrogated young men with 'Western style hair-styles' about their barber shops. At least one of the barber shops in the high-society shopping centre Tandis in northern Tehran was closed down, the spokesman said.
Also more than 30 textile shops selling Western-style clothing were closed down by the police for contributing to social immorality, the spokesman added.
The Iranian police and vice units usually start their crackdowns in the summer season when, due to temperatures reaching almost 40 degrees, women wear lighter clothing. Also absolutely taboo for women are Bermuda-style pants, tight coats, loose scarves and no socks.
THE INDEPENDENT: Degree standards in many British universities are in danger of collapsing because lecturers are under pressure to "mark positively" and turn a blind eye to plagiarism, the man who was in charge of safeguarding standards at Britain's largest university will say today. Professor Geoffrey Alderman, former chairman of the academic council at the University of London, warns that "league table culture" has led to an explosion in the number of firsts awarded.
Latest figures show they have gone up by more than 100 per cent over the past decade from 16,708 to 36,645 – at a time when the undergraduate population has risen by just over 40 per cent. In a lecture at the University of Buckingham, Professor Alderman will also argue that universities have been particularly lenient with overseas students because they rely on them so heavily for fee income – so much so that they turn a blind eye to plagiarism and cheating. Lecturers 'Pressed to Boost Degree Results' >>> By Richard Garner, Education Editor | June 17, 2008
Schweden: Regierung will E-Mail und Telefone überwachen
DIE PRESSE: Die Mitte-Rechts-Regierung von Premier Reinfeldt will Kontakte zum Ausland überwachen lassen. Damit will man sich vor "Bedrohung von außen" schützen.
Am Mittwoch stimmt das schwedische Parlament über einen Gesetzesvorschlag der Mitte-Rechts-Regierung von Ministerpräsident Fredrik Reinfeldt, der dem militärischen Abhördienst (FRA) die Überwachung des E-Mail-, Telefon- und SMS-Verkehrs mit dem Ausland erlaubt. Die Gegner des Gesetzes sehen Schweden bereits auf dem Weg in den Überwachungsstaat Orwellscher Prägung. Schweden: Regierung will E-Mail und Telefone überwachen >>> | 17. 06. 2008
BBC: The main threat facing France is that of terrorism and the country's defence system needs to reflect that, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said.
He was presenting a major overhaul of the military which includes cutting more than 50,000 defence jobs and boosting intelligence resources.
Mr Sarkozy confirmed France would soon rejoin the military command of Nato that it left in 1966.
He was outlining his new strategy to some 3,000 senior officers in Paris.
There is no doubt that France's new defence policy bears the stamp of President Nicolas Sarkozy himself, says BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
He is the most Atlanticist president to occupy the Elysee Palace since the late 1950s, our correspondent adds.
In 1966, Gen Charles de Gaulle pulled French troops out of Nato's integrated command structure as a gesture of independence from Washington. French Defence to Counter Terror >>> | June 17, 2008
THE GUARDIAN: The Church of England faces a tense summer as it wrestles with the divisive issues of women bishops and gay clergy, a senior official said yesterday.
William Fittall, the secretary general of the general synod, the church's legislative body and national assembly, said a combination of public debates, a breakaway Anglican conference and the clash between conservatives and liberals was giving Christians cause for concern.
"There is no doubt that we are at an unsettled moment in the Church of England," said Fittall. "This was always going to be a big summer. [The] Lambeth [conference of bishops] is a big event in the wider communion and the fact that it is considering women bishops goes to the heart of what kind of church we want to be. The weekend's story has caused further anxiety on the part of many."
He was responding to the Bishop of London's decision to order an investigation into the "marriage" last month between two gay priests, the Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev David Lord, who exchanged rings and vows at St Bartholomew the Great church in the City of London.
UK Midsummer Madness Alert! Muslimah Wins £4,000 Compensation for Hurt Feelings
MAILONLINE: A Muslim woman has been awarded £4,000 for "injury to feelings" after a hair salon owner refused to employ her because she wears a headscarf.
Bushra Noah accused Sarah Desrosiers, owner of a trendy central London hair salon, of religious discrimination after she failed to offer her a job in May last year.
A panel sitting at the central London employment tribunal dismissed her claim of direct discrimination but upheld her complaint of indirect discrimination.
Mrs Noah, of Acton, west London, applied for a job as a junior assistant at the Wedge salon in King's Cross.
Giving its judgment, the tribunal said it accepted that Ms Desrosiers said that Mrs Noah lived too far away but was persuaded to give her an interview.
But when the 19-year-old applicant arrived at the salon she claimed that the Canadian salon owner was clearly shocked by the fact she wore a headscarf.
Ms Desrosiers told the tribunal she was surprised that the younger woman had not mentioned it earlier.
DENVER POST: Canada has a lot to answer for: Rush, Celine Dion, Barenaked Ladies, Tom Green and Howie Mandel, to name a few. But its latest transgression is serious.
In certain parts of Europe, "hate speech" already is a criminal act. When the late journalist and author Oriana Fallaci wrote books critical of Islam in 2002, she was sued in France. Later, Swiss and Italian judges ordered her to stand trial for "defaming Islam."
In France, Brigitte Bardot — the former film starlet turned animal rights activist — has been convicted five times of "inciting racial hatred." In one instance, her crime was writing a letter to French officials, objecting to the ritual slaughter of sheep by Muslims.
Sheep to the slaughter, sadly, is a perfect analogy for European states that allow Muslim activist groups — which rarely object to the near-complete lack of freedom of expression in the Islamic world — to dictate what is and isn't tolerable speech.
TIMESONLINE: Islam's problems with the modern world are because it has never undergone "a serious religious reformation" claims German theologian
Islam is stuck in its own version of the “Middle Ages” which is contributing to a global crisis, one of the leading experts on Islam, Judaism and Christianity argues today.
Professor Hans Kung [sic], a leading Roman Catholic and theologian from Germany, warns in a lecture of a “deadly threat” to all humankind unless new efforts are made to build bridges with Islam. He says in London that Islam has “special problems” with modernity because, unike [sic] Christianity and Judaism, it has never undergone a “serious religious reformation”. He questions whether Islam is even capable of adapting to a post-modern world in the way that Christianity and Judaism have done. But he also outlines why he is hopeful that the present problems around radicalisation within Islam can be resolved, and how the other two Abrahamic faiths are subject to some of the same problems on their extremist edges. Violence has been practicised in the sign of the crescent, but also in the sign of the cross, he warns. In his lecture, seen by The Times, Professor Kung [sic] says: “The options have become clear: either rivalry of the religions, clash of civilizations, war of the nations - or dialogue of civilizations and peace between the nations as a presupposition for peace between the nations. Islam Is Stuck in the Middle Ages, Says Leading Interfaith Expert >>> By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | June 16, 2008
Vatican Bans Dan Brown Film Angels & Demons from Rome Churches
TIMESONLINE: The Vatican has banned the makers of a prequel to The Da Vinci Code from filming in its grounds or any church in Rome, describing the work as “an offence against God”.
Angels and Demons, the latest Dan Brown thriller to be turned into a film, includes key episodes that take place in the Vatican and Rome’s churches. Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, the head of the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said that Brown had “turned the gospels upside down to poison the faith”.
“It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into films in the name of business,” he said, adding that Brown’s work “wounds common religious feelings”.
Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rome, said: “Normally we read the script but this time it was not necessary. The name Dan Brown was enough.” Vatican Bans Dan Brown Film Angels & Demons from Rome Churches >>> By Richard Owen in Rome | June 17, 2008
BBC: More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report.
Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.
In 2007 three times as many people were arrested for blogging about political issues than in 2006, it revealed.
More than half of all the arrests since 2003 have been made in China, Egypt and Iran, said the report.
Jail sentence
Citizens have faced arrest and jail for blogging about many different topics, said the World Information Access (WIA) report.
Arrested bloggers exposed corruption in government, abuse of human rights or suppression of protests. They criticised public policies and took political figures to task.
The report said the rising number of arrests was testament to the "growing" political importance of blogging. It noted that arrests tended to increase during times of "political uncertainty", such as around general elections or during large scale protests.
Jail time followed arrest for many bloggers, said the report, which found that the average prison sentence for blogging was 15 months. The longest sentence found by the WIA was eight years. Blogger Arrests Hit Record High >>> | June 16, 2008
WELTONLINE: Irland sollte dem restlichen Europa einen Gefallen tun und sich aus der Europäischen Union zurückziehen. Dies scheint die einzig vertretbare Lösung für die durch das irische Nein zum Vertrag von Lissabon hervorgerufene Lage zu sein. Das meint der frühere dänische Außenminister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen.
Die Iren haben sich selbst ein Problem bereitet. Sie sollten nicht zulassen, dass es für andere ein Problem wird.
Es wäre schade, wenn der EU-Familie die fröhlichen Bewohner der grünen Insel verloren gingen. Noch trauriger aber wäre es, wenn aufgrund des irischen Neins all jene, die denselben Nutzen aus der europäischen Integration ziehen möchte, der den Iren ein Leben in Wohlstand ermöglichte, nun außen vorgelassen werden.
Die EU-Erweiterung kann ohne die vielen im Vertrag von Lissabon enthaltenen praktischen und pragmatischen Elemente nicht weitergehen. Und der Erweiterungsprozess ist das bisher wichtigste Unterfangen, dass die EU bisher in Angriff genommen hat, einschließlich der Schaffung des Euro.
Die EU hat bereits Länder aufgenommen, die eine Menge Aufmerksamkeit benötigen – und andere klopfen an ihre Tür. Sie suchen Anschluss an all jene, die während des Kalten Krieges in Freiheit zu Wohlstand gelangten, und es ist eine Frage der Fairness, ihnen die Chance dazu zu geben. Mehr noch: Man muss die Erweiterung als einen wichtigen Bestandteil der europäischen Sicherheitspolitik betrachten, der gerade erst demokratisch gewordenen Ländern hilft, zu Hause für Stabilität zu sorgen, und ihnen die Stärke verleiht, mit externem Druck fertig zu werden.
Es ist schade, dass die Iren – und ihre Partner – die Lektion aus der irischen Ablehnung des Vertrags von Nizza vor sieben Jahren nicht gelernt haben. Damals wie heute machte sich nur eine Minderheit der Wähler die Mühe, zu wählen, und damals wie heute votierten bloße 54 Prozent davon mit Nein. Ein Jahr später wurde der Vertrag von Nizza durch ein neues Referendum angenommen, nachdem klar geworden war, dass Irlands EU-Mitgliedschaft auf dem Spiel stand. Warum Irland die EU verlassen sollte >>> | 16. Juni 2008
Israeli Ministers Mull Plans for Military Strike against Iran
"We no longer believe in the effectiveness of sanctions," says Yatom. "A military operation is needed if the world wants to stop Iran."
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Israeli government no longer believes that sanctions can prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. A broad consensus in favor of a military strike against Tehran's nuclear facilities -- without the Americans, if necessary -- is beginning to take shape.
Dani Yatom, a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, was invited to attend a NATO conference in Brussels last year. While reviewing the agenda, Yatom, a retired major general, was surprised to see that the meeting was titled "The Iranian Challenge" and not "The Iranian Threat."
When a speaker with a French accent mentioned that a US military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities would be the most dangerous scenario of all, Yatom said, politely but firmly: "Sir, you are wrong. The worst scenario would be if Iran acquired an atom bomb." Israeli Ministers Mull Plans for Military Strike against Iran >>> By Ralf Beste, Cordula Meyer and Christoph Schult | June 16, 2008
BBC: Gordon Brown and President George Bush have warned Iran to accept their "offers of partnership" or face tough sanctions and international isolation.
The UK prime minister said he wanted to maintain a dialogue with Tehran, but if Iran ignores UN resolutions then sanctions would be intensified.
Europe would freeze overseas assets of Iran's biggest bank and impose new oil and gas sanctions, he said.
But the EU foreign policy chief said no new sanctions had so far been agreed.
Le multiculturalisme et sa haine de toute identité nationale détruit la Grande-Bretagne, par Theodore Dalrymple
POINT DE BASCULE: Dans 20 ans, entre un quart et un tiers de la population britannique sera née à l’étranger, et au moins un cinquième de la population de souche aura émigré. La population est en cours de remplacement accéléré. L’anxiété liée à ces changements démographiques sans précédent ne peut être exprimée ouvertement (c’est du « lepénisme »). Les intellectuels multiculturalistes de l’école « haine de soi » se félicitent de la destruction de l’identité nationale. Les immigrants n’ont aucun sentiment d’allégeance à leur pays d’adoption. - Theodore Dalrymple
L’analyse de Theodore Dalrymple rejoint à maints égards celle du torontois Salim Mansur pour qui « le multiculturalisme est devenu une voie à sens unique où l’Occident fait des concessions et les non-Occidentaux, des demandes. C’est intenable. L’Occident est maintenant exposé au paradoxe de la perte d’identité culturelle autogénérée qui est un affaiblissement politique dans un village planétaire. La tâche qui nous attend est de guérir de l’illusion multiculturelle en réaffirmant une fois de plus les valeurs qui ont rendu l’Occident fort et attrayant pour le reste du monde ».
Malaysia Islamist Party Pushes for Sharia Penalties
REUTERS: KAMPUNG PULAU MELAKA, Malaysia - A leader of Malaysia's Islamist party, which made surprising gains in March elections, wants its secular allies to apply strict sharia law, which include amputations and stonings for Muslims.
The hardline Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) has enacted such laws in its Kelantan stronghold to punish rapists and adulterers with stoning to death, while thieves would lose their limbs. Malaysia Islamist Party Pushes for Sharia Penalties >>> | June 15, 2008
Foreign Office Raises United Arab Emirates Threat Level
THE TELEGRAPH: British expatriates and tourists in the United Arab Emirates have been warned to exercise caution after the Foreign Office raised the risk of terrorism to its highest level.
It said attacks on the UAE - which encompasses the popular shopping destination of Dubai and the wealthy capital of Abu Dhabi - could happen at any time and would be "indiscriminate" in their target.
The terror threat - of which there are four levels - has been increased to high, which means a "high level of known terrorist activity". The other categories are general, underlying and low.
A statement on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website said: "There is a high threat from terrorism. We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE.
"Attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers such as residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests.
Photo of the Saudi Oil Minister, Ali al-Naimi, courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Saudi Arabia will increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels a day next month, its oil minister has told the United Nations.
The news was announced after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon met Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in Jeddah during a one-day visit on Sunday.
Last month, the Kingdom increased its production by 300,000 barrels a day in an attempt to bring down high prices.
It argues soaring prices are caused by speculators rather than oil shortages.
Oil prices fell by almost $2 on Friday after reports that Saudi Arabia might boost oil production. US light, sweet crude was trading at $134.86 in New York.
Speculative factors
After an earlier meeting with the Kingdom's King Abdullah, Mr Ban said Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, viewed current prices as "abnormally high". Saudi Oil Output to Rise in July >>> | June 15, 2008
BBC: Two gay clergymen have had their partnership blessed in a church.
The Reverend Martin Dudley gave the rites at St Bartholomew the Great Church in the City of London for the Reverend Peter Cowell and the Reverend Dr David Lord.
He told the BBC that there is a 'very large number' of gay people and gay clergy in the Church of England. [Source: Vicar: 'No Regrets' on Gay Vows] | June 15, 2008
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: An Anglican church has held a homosexual "wedding" for the first time in a move that will deepen the rift between liberals and traditionalists, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
Two male priests exchanged vows and rings in a ceremony that was conducted using one of the church's most traditional wedding rites – a decision seen as blasphemous by conservatives.
The ceremony broke Church of England guidelines and was carried out last month in defiance of the Bishop of London, in whose diocese it took place. News of the "wedding" emerged days before a crucial summit of the Anglican Church's conservative bishops and archbishops, who are threatening to split the worldwide Church over the issue of homosexual clergy.
Although some liberal clergy have carried out "blessing ceremonies" for homosexual couples in the past, this is the first time a vicar has performed a "wedding ceremony", using a traditional marriage liturgy, with readings, hymns and a Eucharist.
BBC: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has threatened to send troops over the border into Pakistan to confront militants based there.
He said that when militants crossed over from Pakistan to kill Afghans and coalition troops, his nation had the right to retaliate in "self-defence".
Mr Karzai's remarks came two days after Taleban fighters attacked an Afghan jail, freeing hundreds of prisoners.
Pakistan warned it would not tolerate outside interference in its affairs.
Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, said the border between their two countries was too long to police.
Destabilise
"Neither do we interfere in anyone else's matters, nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our territorial limits and our affairs," he told the Associated Press news agency.
"We want a stable Afghanistan. It is in our interest. How can we go to destabilise our brotherly country?" Karzai Issues Warning to Pakistan >>> | June 15, 2008
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Ian Huntley, the killer of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, is considering converting to Islam, it has been claimed.
Huntley, 34, serving life at the maximum security Frankland Prison in County Durham, has started reading the Koran on a daily basis after befriending two Muslim inmates, according to The People.
The Soham killer is thought to have turned to the small group of Muslim inmates in Frankland after being threatened by other prisoners.
He has even asked them to take him to a prayer meeting after finding the passages of the Islamic holy book the Koran are helping his state of mind following three failed suicide attempts.
Only 20 of the 734 inmates in Frankland prison are Muslim. Hussain Osman, jailed for life for his part in the failed July 21 bombings, is one of Huntley’s more high-profile inmates.
A prison source said the former school caretaker lives in constant fear and feels he has something in common with the small Muslim
