Europe's Muslim Radicals: The Next Generation
WORLD DEFENSE REVIEW: "American kill," said the five-year-old boy. "Bush I kill." And as his proud father watched, beaming, he demonstrated how to cut the evil American's bare throat.

So it was in a Birmingham, England, home – as recorded secretly by British security services a few months ago while investigating the child's British-Pakistani father, Parvis Khan, then a suspect in a plot to kill a Muslim British soldier. This week, after his plan had been thwarted by MI5, Khan was sentenced to life in prison.

And what will become of the boy?

If he is lucky, he will learn from the example made of Dear Old Dad, and steer away from Islamic extremism completely. More likely, angered by the British infidels who took his father away from him, he will follow in Parvis' footsteps and endeavor to continue the work his father started.

And he will be, indeed, a formidable soldier for jihad: if he can slit a person's throat at five years old, just imagine what he can do at 20. (After all, Mozart, whose father Leopold was neither Muslim nor Pakistani but did serve as his teacher, began composing at the age of five. I leave it to readers to do with that parallel what they will.)

He may, for starters, do the way they do in Denmark, where last week, Muslim youths committed over 80 arson attacks in major cities, setting not just cars, but even schools in flames. This unrest followed a decision by Denmark's Jyllands-Posten to republish the 2006 cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed; it is blasphemy, in Islam, to depict Mohammad's image, and those cartoons were met, when they were first published, with anti-Denmark demonstrations and riots throughout the Muslim world.

This time, the cartoons were re-issued as a gesture of solidarity in response to new threats made on the cartoonist's life. Unsurprisingly, Muslim leaders – in Denmark and elsewhere – have had little to say about the actual plan to murder a newspaper cartoonist over a drawing; to the contrary, Iran's Press TV remarked: "This repeated insult towards a religion shared by 2.5 percent of the Danish population and more than 20 percent of the world's people may also have opened old wounds and fueled the violence in the country."

That European Muslim youth are radicalizing at a rapid rate is, of course, nothing new. What is notable is their age, which grows increasingly younger. And we are woefully unprepared, even as we should have seen this coming, to deal with it.

And we should have seen it coming. As radical youth, usually second- and third-generation immigrants, reach their early and mid-twenties, they are having children of their own, and raising those children according to the principles of fundamentalist Islam. Add to this the increasing number of women also flocking towards salafism, and you have an instant two-parent jihadi family, creating a home environment that can't but engender similar world views in the children. Before his arrest, Parviz Khan was already preparing his three-year-old daughter to marry a terrorist. I doubt he was the only such father on the block. Europe's Muslim Radicals: The Next Generation >>> By Abigail R. Esman

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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Socialist Leader Attacks Wilders, Verdonk
DUTCH NEWS: Former Liberal MPs Geert Wilders and Rita Verdonk both now fall into the ‘extreme right-wing’ camp, Socialist Party leader Jan Marijnissen said at a party meeting on Saturday, reports Monday’s Volkskrant.

Marijnissen said Wilders, who now leads his own anti-immigration PVV party, was dangerous because he differentiated between people on religious grounds. Socialist leader attacks Wilders, Verdonk >>>

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Words, Words, Words: The Decline of American Eloquence
TOWNHALL.COM: It was sad, watching the two remaining contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination engage in a civil little sparring match Thursday night. Because it was hard not to note, once again, the long slow decline of political debate in this country since Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas thought out and fought out the great issues of their day. Those were real debates rather than a joint press conference.

I would rather have heard less from my colleagues in the ever-intrusive media and more from the candidates themselves. It would be a step up if the press weren't involved in these productions at all except to report and comment on them. Matters were better arranged in the series of seven great debates between Mr. Lincoln and Judge Douglas in 1858.

But it is useless to dream of returning to that style of political engagement. Man, homo faber, doesn't just shape his tools, they in turn shape his mind. And our technology, in this case, television, long ago turned presidential debates into a contest between competing applause lines. Result: Instead of thought, we get sound bites. Words, Words, Words: The Decline of American Eloquence >>> By Paul Greenberg

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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A Fundamental Choice
TOWNHALL.COM: When you cast a vote for the President of the United States of America on November 4, 2008, you will be doing something far greater than just electing someone to the occupy greatest office in the land. You will be making a fundamental choice about the direction of our country for the next generation or more. For most voters, it will be the biggest political decision they have never made, a decision that runs deeper than politics to the fundamental character of our nation for the foreseeable future.

It comes down to two perspectives. Do you vote for a far less experienced candidate whose election will not only make history here in America, but send a message to the world about our social progress? Or, do you vote for the more experienced, status quo, candidate capable of maintaining America’s dominance as a world power?

The decision for some of you will be easy. You lean either so far left or to the right that the idea of jumping party lines is not even a question. You will walk into a church, or school or community center later this year and cast your vote without batting an eye. However, many of us – millions of us actually –are somewhere in the middle, and could provide the deciding difference in the outcome in the election. It is upon your shoulders that this choice weighs most heavily.

Is it more important to you that we demonstrate to the world that Martin Luther King’s dream has become a reality? Is the message that we have finally arrived at a colorblind society, in which those of humble origins and various ethnicities can break through barriers and rise to the top of your foremost priority? Is the equitable division of the American pie what you are aiming for? Or could it be that we are in a time in which expanding the pie, consolidating our gains and shoring up our nation’s security is more important at this juncture in our nation’s history. A Fundamental Choice >>> By Armstrong Williams

TOWNHALL.COM:
What Canada Tells Us About Government Health Care By Doug Wilson

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Wilders Promo/ Teaser on Anti-Koran Movie

Promo Movie 2:


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Australia: Muslims Want Universities to Accommodate Prayer Times
THE AUSTRALIAN: MUSLIM university students want lectures to be rescheduled to fit in with prayer timetables and separate male and female eating and recreational areas established on Australian campuses.

International Muslim students, predominantly from Saudi Arabia, have asked universities in Melbourne to change class times so they can attend congregational prayers. They also want a female-only area for Muslim students to eat and relax.

But at least one institution has rejected their demands, arguing that the university is secular and it does not want to set a precedent for requests granted in the name of religious beliefs.

La Trobe University International chief officer John Molony said several students had approached the Bundoora institution about rearranging class times to fit in with daily prayers.

Mr Molony said the university was attempting to "meet the needs" of an increasing number of Muslim international students, including doubling the size of the prayer room on campus.

La Trobe University International College director Martin Van Run said that although it was involved in discussions with the Muslim students who had made the requests, the university was not planning to change any timetables.

"That would seriously inconvenience other people at the college and it is not institutionally viable," he told The Australian. "We are a secular institution ... and we need to have a structured timetable." Muslims want unis to fit prayer time >>> By Richard Kerbaj and Milanda Rout | February 25, 2008

Hat tip: Robert Spencer

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Halal Alert! Horror of Horrors! Potato Chips Contain Traces of Alcohol!
THE TIMES: Senior Muslim figures have said that they are shocked that a number of Walkers snacks contain traces of alcohol and eating them is therefore against their religion.



A tiny amount of alcohol is used in some products as a chemical agent to extract flavour.



The use of alcohol was discovered by Besharat Rehman, who owns a halal supermarket in Bradford, and reported in the Eastern Eye. Mr Rehman said: “Our suppliers were unaware of the alcohol. Walkers must make it clear on the packaging so customers can make an informed choice.”



Shuja Shafi, who chairs the food standards committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that he intended to investigate. “Certainly we would find it very offensive to have eaten food with alcohol.” Muslims shocked to learn that crisps contain alcohol >>> By Valerie Elliott, Consumer Editor

Hat tip: Robert Spencer

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Afghanistan: Sayed Pervez Kambaksh
THE INDEPENDENT: The idea that any individual in any country should face execution for downloading information from the internet is as abhorrent as it is incomprehensible. That this should be happening in a nation whose government benefits from the military and financial support of Western countries, Britain included, should give us great pause for thought. Pervez Kabaksh [sic], 23, is a student at an Afghan university and a journalist. He was arrested last year after downloading material about the role of women in Islamic societies. We can well imagine that the material was not flattering to, or particularly consonant with, some of the precepts of Islam. Mr Kambaksh was charged, and last week convicted, of blasphemy. He had pleaded not guilty.

The United Nations criticised the conduct of the trial, in which Mr Kambaksh had no legal representation. There were hopes that the upper house of the Afghan legislature would at least commute the death sentence. In the event, however, the Senate leader signed his approval without calling a vote.

The Afghan government says the judgment is not final. This is why it is vital that anyone who values free speech should join the campaign to reverse this quite unwarranted sentence. When Hamid Karzai became President of Afghanistan, it was on a platform that included religious tolerance, in stark contrast to the rule of the routed Taliban.

It is surely worth asking what sort of a country Afghanistan is now becoming, if girls who go want to go to school risk being killed and young men are threatened with death for downloading information from the internet. [Source: Leading article: The price of free speech]

THE INDEPENDENT:
How he was sentenced to die

THE INDEPENDENT:
Save Pervez! Global protests to save Afghan student from death sentence: Worldwide outrage over Afghan sentenced to death for reading article on women's rights. Join the Independent campaign now

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Un communiste 
à la tête de Chypre
LE FIGARO: Le communiste Demetris Christofias, partisan d'une reprise des pourparlers sur la division de Chypre, a remporté dimanche, avec 53,36% des voix, le second tour de l'élection présidentielle devant son rival conservateur.

Avec sa large victoire lors du second tour de la présidentielle de dimanche, Demetris Christofias est devenu le premier et seul chef d'Etat communiste de l'Union européenne, en prenant les rênes de Chypre. Le chef du parti communiste Akel, 61 ans, a recueilli 53,36% des voix contre 46,64% à l'ancien ministre conservateur des Affaires étrangères Ioannis Kasoulides, partisan comme lui d'une reprise des négociations sur la réunification de l'île, dont la partie nord est occupée par la Turquie depuis 1974.

«Nous aurons devant nous de nombreuses difficultés », a lancé le nouveau président. «Nous devons rassembler nos forces pour parvenir à la réunification de notre patrie. Je veux adresser un message d'amitié aux Chypriotes-turcs, le message d'un combat commun pour que nous gérions nos affaires sans intervention étrangère», a ajouté le vainqueur. D'ores et déjà le nouveau président pourra compter sur le soutien de son rival. «J'ai félicité M. Christofias et l'ai assuré que je serai à ses côtés dans les efforts pour résoudre le problème chypriote», a indiqué Ioannis Kasoulides. Un communiste 
à la tête de Chypre >>>

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Kämpfend nach Europa
DIE ZEIT: Türkische Truppen jagen im Nordirak kurdische Kämpfer der PKK. Beweist sich in der Militäroperation die Zugehörigkeit des Landes zu Europa? Ein Kommentar

Türkische Truppen sind in den Nordirak eingerückt, um dort Lager der kurdischen Rebellenorganisation PKK zu bekämpfen. Was sich genau zwischen den Parteien abspielt, ist unklar. Mal ist von tausenden, mal nur von hunderten türkischen Soldaten die Rede. Dann wieder melden kurdische Quellen, die PKK-Kämpfer hätten einen Armeehubschrauber abgeschossen.

Doch was bedeutet dieser Einmarsch überhaupt? Bestätigt er, dass die Türkei ganz 'ohne wenn und aber' zum Westen und damit zu Europa gehört? Beweist sich die Zugehörigkeit der Türken zum Westen gerade durch ihre militärische Operation im Nachbarland zur Ausmerzung der PKK?

Diese provozierende These stellte schon im Oktober der slowenische Philosoph Slavo Zizek auf, der heute in den USA lehrt. Damals hatte das türkische Parlament den Generälen die Ermächtigung zur Kriegsführung im Nordirak erteilt. Nach lang andauernden Angriffen aus der Luft wird dieser Krieg in diesen Tagen als Bodenoffensive fortgeführt.

Für Zizek war es das Kriterium der Zugehörigkeit eines Landes zum Westen, dass sein Einsatz von Gewalt als legitim betrachtet wird. Die internationalen Reaktionen auf das türkische Vorgehen geben dem Philosophen nun recht. Für US-Außenministerin Condolezza Rice ist die PKK der gemeinsame Feind der Türken und der Amerikaner. Die Europäische Union zeigt ebenfalls Verständnis. Die Sprecherin von Olli Rhen, der in der Kommission für die Erweiterung zuständig ist, sagte, der Einmarsch habe für das Verhältnis der Türkei zur EU keine Konsequenzen.

Dieser Erfolg der Türkei auf diplomatischem Parket hat viel damit zu tun, dass sich die Türken den internationalen Sprachgebrauch aneignet haben, in dem es um "Kampf gegen Terroristen", "gezielte Schläge ohne Schaden für die Zivilbevölkerung" und "pazifizierende Operationen aus humanitären Motiven" wie den Schutz der eigenen Bevölkerungen geht.

Doch die Türkei tut es dem Westen nicht nur rhetorisch gleich. Ihre Armee ist waffentechnisch auf dem neusten Stand.

Türkischen Soldaten stehen in Sachen Ausrüstung und Kriegsführung den westlichen in nichts nach. Sie nutzen die gleichen Mittel und führen die gleiche Art von Krieg wie andernorts westliche Staaten. TEIL 2 >>> Von Guenter Seufert

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YouTube Cut Off Over Offensive Cartoons

TIMESONLINE: Pakistan blocked access to YouTube yesterday because the website was carrying cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked protests by Muslims across the world.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority ordered the country's 70 internet service providers to block YouTube because it contained “blasphemous content, videos and documents”, government officials said.

The cartoons were published by Danish newspapers in 2005 and reprinted earlier this month. “They asked us to ban it [YouTube] immediately ... and the order says the ban will continue until further notice,” said Wahaj-us-Siraj, the convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers.

Publication of the cartoons led to protests in many Muslim countries, including Pakistan, in which at least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked. Five people died in Pakistan during the riots, while a cleric offered $1 million (£500,000) and a new car for anyone who killed any of the cartoonists. YouTubecut off over offensive cartoons >>> By Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

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Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Churchill: "This Was Their Finest Hour"

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Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Sarkozy Caught Swearing Whilst Glad-handing the Crowd at the Salon International de l’Agriculture

BBC: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been caught on camera swearing at a member of the crowd at the annual farming fair in Paris.

The video clip, which has been posted on the internet, shows a man at the Salon International de l'Agriculture refusing to shake the president's hand.

When offered Mr Sarkozy's hand, the man draws back and says: "Oh no, don't touch me, you'll dirty me."

Mr Sarkozy snaps: "Get lost then you bloody idiot, just get lost!"* Sarkozy outburst at farming fair >>> By Emma Jane Kirby, Paris

*“Casse-toi, pauvre con” — which can roughly be translated as “P*** off, stupid sod”, or “Get lost, silly b*****”. [Source: The Times]

TIMESONLINE:
Sarkozy loses his cool

TIMESONLINE:
Sarkozy loses cool and wants UN defence for French cooking

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Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Blame YouTube Outage on Pakistan
BBC: Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube has been blamed for an almost global blackout of the video website for more than an hour on Sunday.

BBC News has learned that the outage was almost certainly connected to Pakistan Telecom and Asian internet service provider PCCW.

A leading net professional said the global outage was "probably a mistake".

Pakistan ordered internet service providers to block the site because of content deemed offensive to Islam.

The BBC News website's technology editor, Darren Waters, says that to block Pakistan's citizens from accessing YouTube it is believed Pakistan Telecom "hijacked" the web server address of the popular video site.

Those details were then passed on to the country's internet service providers so that anyone in Pakistan attempting to go to YouTube was instead re-directed to a different address.

But the details of the "hijack" were leaked out into the wider internet from PCCW and as a result YouTube was mistakenly blocked by internet service providers around the word [sic][.] Pakistan 'sparks YouTube outage' >>>

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"Terrorism Is Islam” – Abu Izzadeen

Hat tip: The Jawa Report

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Serben-Demonstration eskaliert in Wien
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Eine Demonstration von Tausenden Serben gegen die Unabhängigkeit des Kosovos ist am späten Sonntagnachmittag in Wien eskaliert. Eine Gruppe von etwa 500 Personen spaltete sich ab und fing an, Geschäfte zu demolieren. Die Polizei wurde mit Flaschen und Steinen beworfen.

(sda/dpa) Zwei Beamte wurden nach Angaben eines Polizeisprechers verletzt, mindestens vier Menschen wurden festgenommen. Am frühen Abend hatte die Polizei die Lage noch nicht unter Kontrolle. Serben-Demonstration eskaliert in Wien: Demolierte Geschäfte und Angriffe auf die Polizei >>>

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Bishop of Rochester Reasserts 'No-Go' Claim
The man who should be made Archbishop of Canterbury!
Photo of Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, courtesy of The Sunday Telegraph
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: In his first interview since his controversial comments, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali vows not to be forced into silence

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who received death threats for airing his views on Islamic issues, has vowed that he will continue to speak out.

His claim that Islamic extremism has turned some parts of Britain into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims led to fierce rows between political and religious leaders over the impact of multiculturalism on this country.

Those comments were followed soon after by the Archbishop of Canterbury's suggestion that the adoption of aspects of sharia law in Britain was "unavoidable".

The bishops' views in The Sunday Telegraph sparked a storm of criticism and raised questions over the role of the Church in society but, most seriously for Dr Nazir-Ali, led to threats that he and his family would be harmed.

Yet, in his first interview since the sinister calls were made to his home, the Bishop of Rochester remains steadfastly defiant. He will not be silenced. "I believe people should not be prevented from speaking out," he says. "The issue had to be raised. There are times when Christian leaders have to speak out."

He arrived in Britain in the 1980s and seems to have taken up the mantle for defending the country's values he fears are being threatened by a loss of its Christian heritage.

Dressed casually in a roll-neck jumper and sports jacket, he seems relaxed now as he walks around his study in Bishopscourt, but it has clearly been a stressful time.

Threats were made warning that he would not "live long" and would be "sorted out" if he continued to criticise Islam.

"If you disagree, that must be met by counter-arguments, not by trying to silence people. It was a threat not just to me, but to my family. I took it seriously, so did the police. It gave me sleepless nights."

However, it's not the first time that his life has been endangered.

Shortly after being made a bishop in Pakistan - at 35 he was the youngest in the Anglican Church - he was forced to flee to Britain to seek refuge from Muslims who wanted to kill him.

He says that he never expected to suffer the same treatment in Britain and expresses concerns over recent social developments.

"The real danger to Britain today is the spiritual and moral vacuum that has occurred for the last 40 or 50 years. When you have such a vacuum something will fill it.

"If people are not given a fresh way of understanding what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a Christian-based society then something else may well take the place of all that we're used to and that could be Islam." Bishop of Rochester reasserts 'no-go' claim >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH:
Have Your Say

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Obama Criticised Over ‘Cult-Like’ Rallies
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: For many it is simply a sign of his charisma. But for a growing number of Barack Obama sceptics, there is something disturbing about the adulation with which the senator and Democratic presidential frontrunner is greeted as he campaigns for the White House - unnervingly akin to the hysteria of a cult, or the fervour of a religious revival.

Thousands wait in line to see him wherever he stops. Members of the audience have taken to rushing the stage during campaign rallies, forcing the public-address announcer to plead with them to back off.

And when Mr Obama eventually takes the platform to rhythmic chants of his mantra-like slogan, “Yes we can, yes we can!” fans swoon with euphoria. 



Now critics are quietly voicing the fear that Mr Obama and his campaign have deliberately adopted the tone and tactics of an evangelical preacher, whipping up “Obamamania” at the expense of more serious discussion of policy and government. 



There is “something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism” deployed by the black senator and his supporters, observed Joe Klein, the veteran political commentator the first to latch on to the political potency of Bill Clinton, then an obscure Arkansas governor, early in the 1992 White House campaign. 



“The message is becoming dangerously self-referential,” he wrote in Time magazine. “The Obama campaign all too often is about how wonderful the Obama campaign is.” Barack Obama criticised over 'cult-like' rallies >>> By William Lowther in Washington

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Saudi Men Arrested for ‘Flirting’
BBC: Prosecutors in Saudi Arabia have begun investigating 57 young men who were arrested on Thursday for flirting with girls at shopping centres in Mecca.

The men are accused of wearing indecent clothes, playing loud music and dancing in order to attract the attention of girls, the Saudi Gazette reported.

They were arrested following a request of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The mutaween enforce Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam, Wahhabism. Saudi men arrested for 'flirting' >>>

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Islam in Europe: When Muslims Ruled in Europe
There is no doubt that this is a series of fascinating videos. But do they convey the truth about Islam in Europe, or do they whitewash the period in Spanish history? You decide.

One has to ask oneself the simple question: If the Muslims’ civilization in Al-Andalus was so wonderful, and the achievements so great, why has so little in the way of inventions and discoveries come out of the Muslim world ever since?

Further, if their building ability in those days was so exceptional, why do Muslim countries today need so many Western companies to build their cities in places like the Gulf? And if their medicine was so advanced, why do their doctors have to come and train in the West?

Was this documentary produced, perchance, by the renowned, politically-correct BBC? - ©Mark


Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
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Nucléaire: l'Iran rejette d'avance toute nouvelle résolution de l'ONU
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: MONDE | 17H29 L'Iran a rejeté d'avance samedi toute nouvelle résolution du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU le sanctionnant pour ses activités nucléaires sensibles, au lendemain d'un rapport de l'AIEA déplorant le manque de coopération de Téhéran.

"Si le Conseil de sécurité veut adopter une nouvelle résolution (contre l'Iran), cette résolution sera sans fondement légal et juridique", a déclaré Javad Vaïdi, l'adjoint du responsable nucléaire, cité par l'agence Isna.

Le porte-parole du gouvernement, Gholamhossein Elham, a affirmé pour sa part qu'il n'y avait "aucune justification légale pour que le dossier nucléaire iranien reste au Conseil de sécurité". Nucléaire: l'Iran rejette d'avance toute nouvelle résolution de l'ONU >>>

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France 24 (EN): Archbishop Stirs Up Shari’ah Fury

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Shari’ah Law Row in the United Kingdom

Glenn Beck on Shari’ah Courts in England:


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Ignoring Sharia's Advance Extremely Stupid
TOWNHALL.COM: The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne Jr. thinks there's "something peculiar" about conservatives who turn "Islamic extremism into a mighty ideological force with the power to overrun the world."

In a way, he's right. There is indeed something peculiar about portraying "extremism," Islamic or otherwise, as an ideological movement of sufficient mass and might to capture the world. After all, "extremism" is something "extreme" practiced by, well, "extremists." You know -- a few far-out kooks on the margins. Why worry? There's always that disclaimer that we, as a post-9/11 society, invoke when we talk about "Islamic extremism" (or, plain "extremism," as President Bush now prefers): Namely, that such extremism has nothing doctrinally or traditionally to do with Islam as practiced by the rest of the world's billion-plus Muslims. So much more reassuring to see things this way, at least as long as no one notes that Sharia (Islamic law) is advanced by "extremism" and Islam alike.

Of course, if Western society understands "extremism" merely as a marginal phenomenon, little wonder Dionne thinks it's odd that so many conservatives take it seriously -- specifically, he writes, "Osama bin Laden's lunatic claims that he will build a new caliphate." Isn't Bin Laden just an extremist fruitcake on Islam's fringe, who, naturally, makes "lunatic claims"? It should take not a war to subdue him, but a warden. Ignoring Sharia's Advance Extremely Stupid >>> By Diana West

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