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Showing posts with label burning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burning. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
DETROIT FREE PRESS: The Rev. Terry Jones is to file an appeal today in Wayne County Circuit Court over a Dearborn court's decision against him last week that thwarted his plans to protest outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, an attorney said Monday.
"It was a clear violation of the First Amendment's right to free speech," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, which is representing Jones.
Jones, the Florida pastor who ordered the burning of a Quran last month, was to protest Friday outside the mosque in Dearborn, but Wayne County prosecutors filed an unusual complaint against him, saying he would breach the peace if he rallied. » | Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer | Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
SOUTH WALES EVENING POST: MUSLIMS clashed outside a Swansea mosque over a demonstration against Koran burning.
Worshippers at the mosque accused the demonstrators, who came from outside the city, of being hot-headed publicity seekers who came to Swansea to cause trouble.
But the 20 or so demonstrators — a group called the Ummah of Muhammad — said it was wrong for Muslims to keep silent about any violation of their holy book, and unfurled banners urging Muslims to rise up against "the crusaders".
There were heated arguments outside the St Helen's Road mosque before police boxed the marchers in front of the nearby Rowlands Exchange and Mart store.
One of the protesters, Abu Abdul-Malik, of Cardiff, said the demonstration was about the burning of the Koran in America last month, and a similar alleged incident in Swansea.
BNP Assembly candidate Sion Owens, of Caerphilly Avenue, Bonymaen, Swansea, was charged with a public order offence earlier this month in connection with the incident. The case was subsequently dropped in Swansea Magistrates Court, but the prosecution said inquiries would continue.
Mr Abdul-Malik, 27, said: "We should not remain silent when the Koran is being desecrated. » | Richard Youle | Saturday, April 23, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US pastor whose burning of a Koran sparked deadly violence in Afghanistan was briefly jailed in a heavily Islamic suburb on Friday after a court banned his protest outside a mosque.A local judge jailed Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida and his associate Wayne Sapp after a court found their planned protest outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, could lead to violence.
During his court appearance, Pastor Jones argued that the Koran "promotes terrorist activities around the world."
He also insisted that his right to protest against Islam was protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
"The First Amendment does us no good if it confines us to saying what is popular," he pointed out.
But Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad testified that his department had received information about serious threats made against Pastor Jones from local residents, and argued that his protest could lead to violence if allowed.
Prosecutor Robert Moran argued that the protest had nothing to do with the First Amendment and at stake were security and peace in the community. » | Saturday, April 23, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
UPI.COM: SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Charred remains of burned Korans and a threatening letter were found at the Islamic Center of Springfield in Missouri, its leaders say.
The leaders said the pages of the Koran were discovered Sunday. The letter turned up the same day.
The FBI told The News-Leader of Springfield it is investigating an alleged civil rights violation, and police records show the incidents were reported. No details were released.
The Rev. Mark Struckhoff, executive director for the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, released a copy of the five-line typed letter. It also had a drawing of a ram's head captioned "Death to Islam."
The writer said "Islam will not survive" and its adherents "stain the earth.” Read on and comment » | UPI | Friday, April 15, 2011
THE NEWS-LEADER: Editorial: Bigotry at Islamic Center is an affront to all »
Monday, April 11, 2011
PRESS ASSOCIATION: A British National Party election candidate accused of publicly burning a copy of the Koran has been freed after the charge against him was unexpectedly dropped.
Sion Owens, 41, of Bonymaen, Swansea, South Wales, was arrested and charged at the weekend under Section 29 of the Public Order Act.
The BNP candidate in next month's Welsh Assembly elections spent the weekend in custody before appearing at Swansea Magistrates' Court.
He has been warned that police are continuing to investigate the alleged incident and to expect further action.
It is understood that his release was due to a technicality regarding the Act under which he was arrested and charged. » | UKPA | Monday, April 11, 2011
Related »
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – DANIEL HANNAN: Book-burning neatly symbolizes the know-nothing bellicosity that lies behind so many authoritarian movements. As the fascist general, José Millán-Astray, screamed when confronted with an idea he disliked: ¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte!
Sion Owens, a BNP candidate in Wales who was arrested when police discovered that he had burned a Koran in his garage, was behaving with extraordinary narcissism. Even the BNP dunderheads who troll this blog can’t have failed to notice that a similar stunt has led to a spate of murders in Afghanistan. What Owens was effectively saying was: “My right to indulge in this little jape matters more to me than any increased threat to my country’s interests or citizens”. He would no doubt argue that he is not to blame for any bloody consequences and, in a sense, this is true: any retaliation will be entirely the responsibility of its perpetrators. But so what? At best, Owens is causing needless offence; at worst, he is seeking to provoke a violent response. The man is evidently – there is no way of putting this gently – a total dick. Continue reading and comment » | Daniel Hannan | Monday, April 11, 2011
My comment:
One of the things I hate about my country is that there is nothing written on paper that explains our rights. In other words, there is no written constitution. Our rights are merely those that Her Majesty and Her government think our rights ought to be – they are fluid, to say the least.
This is anachronistic; and if something isn't done about it soon, I fear that I shall turn from being a pro-monarchist into a full-blown republican! I am sick to death of politicians – most of whom I would not rate as being very intelligent – telling me what I can, or can't, do – and it's usually the latter! 'Ban' seems to be the middle name of so many of the Dummköpfe (thickos, dimwits, fools)! One immediately springs to mind: Tony Ban Blair! And when so many politicians have a love affair with banning, having a written constitution becomes more important than ever.
Regarding burning the Koran, especially on one's own property, is, or should be, no concern of the police at all. How dare the police interfere in one's private affairs! He was not creating any public disorder. So what's the big deal? As Archbishop Cranmer said: The police wouldn't react in this way if one were burning the Bible. They wouldn't give a damn! So why is the Koran given special treatment?
Personally, I would not burn the Koran, because I don't think it serves any purpose. I would prefer to show better. But it is rather irksome to think that my country has travelled so far down the road of dhimmitude. And that it has done so does not auger well for the future; on the contrary, it bodes ill.
One cannot help but ask oneself the question: Has the fact that Sion Owens – It appears that he can't spell his own name! It should be spellt 'Siôn', being as it is Welsh (of Hebrew origin) for John – is a BNP candidate in Wales got anything to do with this arrest, I wonder? Were they trying to discredit him?
Be all that as it may, I am sick to death with spineless politicians (of all hues) using political correctness as a reason to do nothing about the growth of Islam in Europe in particular, and the West in general. Perhaps if they were to take a stand for Judeo-Christian culture, there would be no need for extremists to take matters into their own hands and burn Korans. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
Sunday, April 10, 2011
THE OBSERVER: Footage leaked to the Observer shows Welsh Assembly candidate setting fire to Islamic holy book in his gardenA senior member of the BNP who burned a copy of the Qur'an in his garden has been arrested following an investigation by the Observer.
Footage of the burning shows Sion Owens, 40, from south Wales and a candidate for the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, soaking the Qur'an in kerosene and setting fire to it.
A video clip of the act, leaked to the Observer and passed immediately to South Wales police, provoked fierce criticism from the government.
A statement from the Home Office said: "The government absolutely condemns the burning of the Qur'an. It is fundamentally offensive to the values of our pluralist and tolerant society.
"We equally condemn any attempts to create divisions between communities and are committed to ensuring that everyone has the freedom to live their lives free from fear of targeted hostility or harassment on the grounds of a particular characteristic, such as religion." » | Mark Townsend | The Guardian | Saturday, April 09, 2011
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
NPR: The pastor of a Florida church says he does not plan to burn any more Qurans — but Terry Jones has said that before.
Jones first made headlines around the world last September, when he announced — and then called off — plans to publicly burn a copy of the Quran at his church in Gainesville, Fla. But on March 20, he actually did it — and though it drew little media attention at the time, it has since sparked protests in Afghanistan that have claimed 20 lives.
Jones' event was markedly different from the scene outside his church last year, when reporters, cameras and satellite trucks made him a dubious worldwide celebrity — at least for a while.
To make sure the word got out, Jones' church, the Dove World Outreach Center, videotaped the event and put it up on its website. It was a mock trial, complete with a prosecutor, a jury of church members and a judge played by Jones himself. The charges: "The Quran is charged with death, rape, torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith."
At the conclusion of the trial, Jones and his jurors pronounce the Quran guilty, and a kerosene-soaked copy of the Muslim holy book is placed on a barbecue grill and set aflame.
Jones says he did it to raise awareness about the nature of radical Islam and was surprised when it attracted little notice at first. A few days later, however, the small flame Jones lit in Gainesville was kindled into something much larger half a world away.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the act, leading to a series of protests in Afghanistan that have claimed more than 20 lives, including those of seven U.N. employees.
Jones says he feels no responsibility for those deaths. » | Greg Allen | Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Monday, April 04, 2011
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – BRENDAN O’NIELL: The American pastor Terry Jones might be a bit of a weirdo with an unhealthy obsession with the Koran, but he’s right about one thing: he is not responsible for the fatal rioting in Afghanistan. His burning of the Koran can no more be blamed for those acts of violence than Martin Scorsese can be blamed for the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981. (Reagan’s wannabe assassin, John Hinckley Jnr, claimed to have been inspired by Taxi Driver.) The feverish attempts to pin the blame for the Afghan instability on Pastor Jones demonises freedom of speech as something terrifying, even murderous, and it treats Muslims as brainless, wide-eyed automatons who can’t be held responsible for their actions.
Jones’s burning of the Koran was daft. But it did not directly cause “the tragic, deadly violence” in Afghanistan, as one Pentagon spokesman claimed. To suggest that it did, to argue that Jones has “blood on his hands”, as the New York Daily News put it, is to overlook the fact that there is an important bridge between words and actions. That bridge is us, people, the audience, the public, who are possessed of free will and thought and who must make a decision about whether, and how, to act on the words we hear. The idea that words lead directly to action, that the image of a burning Koran in the US leads inevitably to violence in Afghanistan, is to cut out these middle men and present speech as an all-powerful force that dictates world events.
Such an outlook is dangerous for two reasons. First because there would be no limits to the curbing and policing of speech if we all bought into the mad notion that it can directly cause other people’s deaths. If words really are so dangerous, then surely they should be treated as just another weapon, like gun and knives, whose usage must be tightly controlled by the cops and powers-that-be? Already, post-Koran controversy, some Democratic politicians in the US are hinting that the First Amendment, which guarantees free expression, might need to be rethought, since certain forms of speech “endanger the lives of a lot of innocent people”. The consequence of calling into question the free will of people who hear or read certain words is to generate an Orwellian rush to clamp down on anything judged to be “problematic speech”. Continue reading and comment » | Brendan O'Neill | Monday, April 04, 2011
Sunday, April 03, 2011
BBC: President Barack Obama has described as "outrageous" the killings in Afghanistan triggered by the burning of a Koran in the US last month.
Mr Obama said the desecration of any holy text was "an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry", but it did not justify killing innocent people.
An attack on a UN base on Friday in the city of Mazar-e Sharif killed 14 people, seven of them UN staff.
A top UN official has blamed the pastor who burnt the Koran for the violence.
At least 10 people were killed and many more were injured in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday in a second day of protests.
'No justification'
During a service at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida on 20 March, Pastor Wayne Sapp soaked a Koran in kerosene, staged a "trial" during which the Islamic holy book was found guilty of "crimes against humanity", and then set it alight.
The incident took place under the supervision of Pastor Terry Jones, who last year drew condemnation over his aborted plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.
In a statement published on Saturday evening, Mr Obama extended his condolences to the families of those killed by the protesters in Afghanistan.
"The desecration of any holy text, including the Koran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry," he said. "However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity.
"No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonourable and deplorable act." » | Sunday, April 03, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Terry Jones, the radical pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran in his Florida church last month after a mock court hearing, may put the Islamic prophet Mohammed on trial in his next 'day of judgement', he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"It is definitely a consideration to stage a trial on the life of Mohammed in the future," he said in interview on Saturday.
Such an inflammatory move would almost certainly trigger further violent protests in the Muslim world. But Mr Jones struck an unapologetic stance, insisting that his actions bore no responsibility for the murders in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The pastor had first threatened to burn a pile of Korans on last year's ninth anniversary of the Sept 11 terror atrocities.
But he backed down under intense pressure, including interventions from President Barack Obama, defence secretary Robert Gates and Gen David Petraeus, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan who warned that such a stunt would endanger American lives.
Indeed, Mr Jones said then that a Koran would never be burned in his church.
But he claimed that last month's Koran-burning was different as the Islamic holy book had first been put on trial and was then set alight as punishment after it was found guilty of "crimes against humanity". » | Philip Sherwell | Saturday, April 02, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Violence mars demonstration in Afghan city the day after mob killed seven at UN compoundNine people have been killed and 81 injured in the Afghan city of Kandahar during a demonstration against the burning of a Qur'an by Christian extremists in the US.
Violence erupted as hundreds of demonstrators marched through Kandahar a day after seven foreigners were killed when an angry mob stormed a United Nations compound in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. Hundreds of people took part in the protest. Gunfire was heard and cars were set on fire.
In a statement, the Kandahar governor's office claims demonstrators were incited by the Taliban. Authorities say 17 people, including seven armed men, have been arrested.
But the Taliban have rejected the accusation. "The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims," spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Reuters.
The UN mission in Afghanistan has been plunged into jeopardy after the violent protest in Mazar-e Sharif. » | David Batty and agencies | Saturday, April 02, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before a Koran was burned at his modest church here on March 20, the pastor Terry Jones held a self-styled mock trial of the holy book in which he presided from the pulpit as judge. The prosecutor was a Christian who had converted from Islam. An imam from Dallas defended the Koran.Sitting in judgment was a jury of 12 members of Mr. Jones’s church, the Dove World Outreach Center. After listening to arguments from both sides, the jury pronounced the Koran guilty of five “crimes against humanity,” including the promotion of terrorist acts and “the death, rape and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith.”
Punishment was determined by the results of an online poll. Besides burning, the options included shredding, drowning and facing a firing squad. Mr. Jones, a nondenominational evangelical pastor, said voters had chosen to set fire to the book, according to a video of the proceedings.
Mr. Jones said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Friday that he was “devastated” by the killings of 12 people in a violent protest in Afghanistan when a mob, enraged by the burning of a Koran by Mr. Jones’s church, attacked the United Nations compound in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. “We don’t feel responsible for that,” he told the news service. » | Lizette Alvarez and Don Van Natta Jr. | Friday, April 01, 2011
ABC NEWS: Florida Pastor Says He's Not Responsible for Protest Against his Koran Burning That Left 11 Dead, Including U.N. Staffers, in Afghanistan
Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran last month, said he did not feel responsible for the violent protest at a United Nations compound in Afghanistan today that left at least 11 dead. Instead, he said the violence proved his point.
"We wanted to raise awareness of this dangerous religion and dangerous element," Jones said. "I think [today's attack] proves that there is a radical element of Islam."
As for the 11 dead, which included seven U.N. staffers and guards, Jones told "Nightline" anchor Bill Weir, "We do not feel responsible, no."
The deaths followed a protest march in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif today against the Koran burning. Jones supervised while another pastor, Wayne Sapp, soaked the Koran in kerosene and burned it.
"We decided to put the Koran on trail," he told Weir. "I was the judge but I did not determine the verdict. I was just a type of referee so that people got their time to defend or condemn the Koran."
Jones said that a "jury" of people from all over Florida debated the radicalism of Islam, and the "Koran was found guilty." (+ video) » | Nick Schifrin, Agha Aleem, Lee Ferran and Matt Gutman | Saturday, April 02, 2011
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