Sarkozy relents on deportation order of children

Photo courtesy of the BBC

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has softened his stance on the expulsion of illegal immigrants' children from French schools.

Mr Sarkozy plans to spare about 1,200 children who faced expulsion and deportation with their families.

Since April, more than 40,000 people have signed a petition pledging to protect and house the children of immigrants to save them from expulsion.

An immigration bill adopted by the lower house envisaged such expulsions.

The bill is still being debated by the upper house of parliament, the Senate.

Anti-deportation campaign

A French pressure group called "Education Without Borders" has run an extremely successful grass-roots campaign against the deportation of illegal immigrants and their children - calling the government's plans a "childhunt", the BBC's Caroline Wyatt reports from Paris. French relent on migrant children

Mark Alexander

On Churchill

I came across these interesting links on Churchill today at the BBC website. I'd like to share them with you.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

The Gathering Storm

Defender of Democracy

Churchill and the Holocaust

The Allies at War

Secrets of Leadership: Hitler and Churchill

Mark Alexander

Turning London into Londonistan

With thanks to my friend, Anton, for drawing this excellent article in The Times to my attention:

ACCORDING TO REMARKS attributed in the past few days to security sources, no fewer than 1,200 Islamist terrorists are biding their time within British suburbs. Yet does Britain even now fully understand the nature of the threat it is facing, let alone have the will to deal with it?

The recent report by the Commons Intelligence Committee on last July’s London bombings barely scratched the surface of the failure by the security establishment. It failed to note, for example, Britain’s dirty little secret: that from the 1990s, Islamist radicals had been given free rein in Britain in a “gentlemen’s agreement” that if they were left alone, they would not turn on the country that was so generously nurturing them. The result was “Londonistan”, as Britain became the hub of al-Qaeda in Europe.

This intelligence debacle, however, was only the tip of the iceberg. Among Britain’s governing class — its intelligentsia, its media, its politicians, its judiciary, its Church and even its police — a broader and deeper cultural pathology persists to this day. Londonistan is more than the physical presence of Islamist extremists. It is also a state of mind. To a dismaying extent, the British have signed up to the false narrative of those who are laying siege to their society.

The problem lies in a refusal to acknowledge that Islamist extremism is rooted in religion. Instead, ministers and security officials prefer to think of it as a protest movement against grievances such as Iraq or Palestine, or “Islamophobia”. They simply ignore the statements and signs that show unequivocally that the aim is to Islamicise the West. Come to Londonistan, our refuge for poor misunderstood Islamist victims by Melanie Philips

Mark Alexander

Carey gets scary when it comes to Charles' coronation!

Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

With thanks to Always On Watch for drawing the dhimmitude of Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and his ridiculous notions to my attention:

The coronation of the Prince of Wales must be an "interfaith" event, the former Archbishop of Canterbury has controversially claimed.

Lord Carey believes that the next coronation needs "very significant changes" so that it is "inclusive" of other religions that have spread across Britain.

His comments, which are likely to cause a rift within the Church of England, suggest that Lord Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury for 11 years until 2002, has been won over by arguments from Prince Charles.

The prince, who will become Supreme Governor of the Church of England when he becomes king, has already said that he wants to be Defender of Faith - not Defender of the Faith - when he accedes to the throne.

Lord Carey's comments will set him and the prince against Dr Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, and other senior figures in the Church of England. Dr Williams has emphasised the need for Prince Charles to defend the Church of England when he becomes king. Charles should have interfaith coronation, ex-archbishop insists by Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter for The Telegraph

Mark Alexander

Rita Verdonk to strip Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Dutch citizenship in classic case of 'shooting the messenger'

Photo courtesy of the BBC

The removal of an immigrant raising awkward political questions is a warning sign over the future of the tradition of free speech and tolerance in Holland.

There are times when a small event raises an issue of enormous importance. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born politician and women's rights activist, is leaving Holland for good.

You may never have heard of her, I'll tell you more about her in a moment. It's a strange irony that a country which has for centuries welcomed all those fleeing persecution should find it impossible to continue to provide Hirsi Ali with a refuge.

The Dutch have had a reputation for tolerance for almost five hundred years. By the 1500s the Dutch writer and educationalist Erasmus of Rotterdam was already disseminating broadmindedness and inclusion to the whole of the western world through his Latin treatises and textbooks.

In July 1572, the Protestant leader of the northern Netherlands, William I of Orange - still celebrated today as the father of the Dutch nation - publicly proclaimed the right of all individuals to freedom of thought and worship at a political assembly at Dordrecht. Liberalism under pressure A point of view by Lisa Jardine

Mark Alexander

The Ayatollah's scathing attack on the US

Photo courtesy of the BBC

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that fuel shipments from the Gulf region could be disrupted if the US makes a "wrong move".

In a speech on state TV, Ayatollah Khamenei also said accusations that Iran intended to make a nuclear bomb amounted to a "sheer lie".

He insisted Iran would not give up its right to produce nuclear fuel.

Tehran has agreed to study proposals drawn up by six world powers to defuse the row over Iran's nuclear programme.

The proposals are due to be delivered by the EU's foreign policy head, Javier Solana, within days.

The precise details of the proposals are not known, but they aim to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear work - a step which Iran has repeatedly said it will not take.

'No bomb'

In his speech on Sunday, marking the 17th anniversary of the death of his predecessor Ayatollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei said suggestions Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons programme were a lie.

"We do not need a nuclear bomb. We do not have any objectives or aspirations for which we will need to use a nuclear bomb. We consider using nuclear weapons to be against Islamic rules," he said. Tehran warns of fuel disruptions

Iran hints it may use oil weapon in nuclear row - REUTERS

Last diplomatic throw of dice?

Tehran airports to shut down today

TEHRAN — Tehran’s two international airports, Imam Khomeini International and Mehrabad, will be closed to all flights between 0430 GMT and 1030 GMT today, aviation officials said yesterday. Today is the anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual father of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“On the anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s death there will be no domestic or foreign flights between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm at Tehran airports,” Rajab Mehrjouee, director of Tehran airports, told the official Irna news agency. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will address pilgrims at Khomeini’s gold-domed mausoleum just south of Tehran today. It lies on the flightpath of both airports. Some 8,000 police will be on duty at the shrine. — Reuters (Sub-source: Oman Observer

Mark Alexander

The Iranian 'sport' of Baha'i-bashing

Photo courtesy of Google Images

While Iran has been in the news in recent months, there has been little coverage of its deteriorating human-rights situation, especially the resurgence in mistreatment of the country's Baha'i community.

That situation came to a head on May 19 with the arrest in the city of Shiraz of 54 Baha'is, mostly young people and, according to reports, all engaged in community service. They were said to have been teaching underprivileged children as part of a local NGO project.

This brings the total number of Baha'is detained since the beginning of 2005 to 125. These people have been held for a period of a few days to several months in what has been described as revolving-door detentions.

There are an estimated 300,000 Baha'is in Iran. Under the Iranian constitution, a number of religions are given a degree of status - but not the Baha'is.

The recent harassment of Baha'is also took the form of 30 mostly negative, and often defamatory, articles that appeared in one of the official Tehran dailies last fall. Asma Jahangir, the United Nations' special rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, published a statement in March reporting the existence of a confidential letter of Oct. 20, 2005, distributed within the government calling on officials - reportedly on the instructions of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - “to identify persons who adhere to the Baha'i faith and monitor their activities.” The plight of Iran's Baha'i community by Maurice Copithorne

Mark Alexander

On the plight of women in Iraq

Today, a sad tale in The Sunday Timas on the fate of women in 'democratized' Iraq.

... “Women cannot drive; women cannot go out after midday; women and men are not allowed to go out and walk together, they must walk separately.” The rules are enforced by Al-Qaeda thugs who drive around in cars in Amariya, Yarmouk and other Sunni areas that Zarqawi has declared are his. Noor said: “If they see someone breaking the rules, they shoot them.”

The “men in black” have turned women into virtual prisoners in their homes. “At first we were more afraid of bombs but now we are more afraid of being killed for what we are wearing,” Noor said.

“I used to wear jeans or short skirts. We didn’t have to worry,” she recalled, for a moment gushing like any of her fashion-conscious contemporaries in the West.

“My favourites were in the Qasar al Nisaa shop. Before, they sold all kinds of clothes, but now it’s so conservative. They’re not even allowed to display underwear in shops: you have to ask from under the counter and then only a woman can serve you.”

She dare not step outside without a hijab, or headscarf. Last month two teenage girls were dragged off the al-Amal al-Shahbi street in the Amariya district. When they emerged several hours later their heads had been shaved.

The militants issued a warning that in future women walking down the street without a hijab faced death. Men in black terrorise Iraq's women by Marie Colvin and Widiane Moussa

Mark Alexander

Zarqawi: Fanning the flames of civil strife

Photo courtesy of The Washington Times

CAIRO -- The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq railed against Shi'ite Muslims in a four-hour audiotape posted on the Internet yesterday, saying their militias are raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

The tape by Abu Musab Zarqawi appeared aimed at sabotaging the Iraqi government's efforts to name a unity government -- but was also intended to further enflame Shi'ite-Sunni tension across the Arab world.

"There's a civil war going on in Iraq, but it will not become truly fierce until it's exported outside Iraq. This tape is trying to do just that," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi political commentator. Zarqawi prods Sunnis to fight Shi'ite 'snakes'

Mark Alexander

24-hours a day news broadcasts planned for the US by the BBC

Photo courtesy of the BBC

The BBC's global news channel, BBC World, has launched in the US, aiming to capture audiences hungry for international news.

The channel, which already broadcasts to 270 million homes worldwide, can now be seen by cable viewers in New York.

The BBC says it hopes to strike deals with cable and satellite providers elsewhere in the US soon.

A new breakfast programme aimed at American audiences will be launched in July, presented by George Alagiah.

"What we're not setting out to do is carve a niche that reflects America back to the Americans," said Alagiah.

"What we're trying to do is reflect the world back to Americans."

Now, not even the Americans will be spared! America! Wait for the whitewash of Islam!

The only difference is YOU won't have to pay a licence fee for the privilege of having Islam WHITEWASHED! It will be WHITEWASHED for FREE!

Mark Alexander

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

Video courtesy of You Tube & Eye On The World

Mark

Grünes Licht für den Bau einer Moschee in Athen

Foto dank der NZZ

Regierung und Orthodoxe Kirche geben Grünes Licht

Das seit Jahrzehnten andauernde Tauziehen um den Bau einer Moschee in Athen ist beendet. Die Regierung in Athen beschloss am Donnerstag die Genehmigung für den Bau des muslimischen Gotteshauses. Erste Moschee in Athen bewilligt

Mark Alexander

Reciprocity is key: Without reciprocity, there is no place for interfaith dialogue

Nearly four years ago, Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed and author Stephen Schwartz conducted a study for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. They examined textbooks and other publications distributed by the Saudi government and by Saudi-funded organizations. They found such messages as these: “Judaism and Christianity are deviant religions.”

“The unbelievers, idolaters and others like them must be hated and despised.”

“We say to every Christian and every Jew and all those outside Islam, ‘your children are born into Islam, but you and their mother take them away from Islam with your corrupt rearing.'” What Saudis Preach by Clifford D. May

Mark Alexander

With black gold king, how can we hope to deal with the growth of Islam in the free world?

Lee Raymond, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has bowed out from the oil giant with a $400m pay and retirement deal that has caused outrage among environmentalists. In his 12 years at the top of the company, Exxon has pumped an estimated six billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere and has led the opposition to action on climate change

Investors and environmental campaigners condemned a $400m (£214m) retirement package for the boss of Exxon Mobil, the man known as the "Darth Vader of global warming" for his denial that carbon emissions cause climate change.

Protesters descended on the annual shareholder meeting of the world's largest oil company's in Dallas, Texas, amid fury over the lavish lifestyle that it plans to fund for Lee Raymond, who retired after 12 years as chairman and chief executive.

Exxon has been condemned by green groups for fuelling the world's addiction to oil by opposing the Kyoto treaty on reducing emissions and refusing to invest a penny in alternative energy sources. The total amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by the production and use of Exxon's oil and gas output is calculated at 500 million tons a year, or six billion tons during Mr Raymond's tenure.

Since becoming chief executive in 1993, Mr Raymond had become infamous for his dismissive response to environmental lobbyists at previous annual meetings. He has funnelled $19m of Exxon's money to groups that question the science of global warming. His package of pension and perks includes a bodyguard, a car and driver, and use of a company jet, plus a $1m-a-year deal to stay on as a consultant. Anger at oil chief's $400m retirement package by Stephen Foley

Mark Alexander

Are Allah and God One and the Same?

Photo of church in Holte courtesy of Wikipedia

I'd like to share this important essay from a very good colleague of mine, Pastorius. It is a most informative essay; and it shows that there are some changes ahead in Europe, coming from the Danes. One cannot help but be impressed with the courage the Danes are showing in the face of the pressure of Islam on Denmark. Many other Western European countries could take a few lessons from the Danes!

In yet another sign that Europe is waking up to its problem with Islamofascism, the official church of the state of Denmark has announced that Muslim Imams are not welcome in their churches, and that Muslims and Christians do not direct their worship at the same entity (report from Dymphna at Gates of Vienna):

The state church, Folkekirken, which is Denmark’s official evangelical Lutheran denomination. No one has to join, and you can opt out of paying any tax for its upkeep, though if you’re a lazy or indifferent type and don’t phone the local municipality, you will be billed for church maintenance. What’s interesting is that while eighty four per cent of Danes pay the tax and are official members, only about five per cent of these citizens are actually church-goers.

" ... Imams are not welcome in Danish state churches," says a new network of Islam-critical priests and theological experts.

The purpose is to state that Christians and Muslims do not believe in the same God, and that the church and the mosque are not religious equals says the new network of 60 priests and theological experts.

Well-known priests and opinion-makers such as Niels Højlund, Sørine Godtfredsen, Edith Thingstrup, Morten Kvist and Katrine Winkel Holm are among the prominent members.

According to the Newfounded Network admitting imams into Danish churches is problematic.
The Danish People’s Church cannot agree with the imams without betraying the Lord Christ — who according to Islam is nothing but an inferior “prophet”, subordinated to Mohammad.

When priests and imams are praying together, they are in essence ridiculing the Gospel, the network states. At the same time it distances itself from recent events such as religious councils with imams.

Bishops and imams are not religious colleagues separated only by different merchandise. It is of paramount importance that priests in the Danish Church make that fact very clear — as well as studying and criticizing Islam, says the network — which at the same time underscores that the intention is to criticize Islam, not the individual Muslim. Danish People's Church: "Muslims And Christians Do Not Believe In The Same God"

Mark Alexander

Is Poland becoming intolerant?

IN THE shadow of a giant, shimmering steel cross in central Warsaw, 17-year-old Alexander Pawlowski has a blunt message for Pope Benedict XVI: “He should tell the Government to stop ramming the Roman Catholic faith down our throats.”

The Pope, who embarks today [May 25, 2006] on his first pilgrimage to Poland, is unlikely to heed the schoolboy protester, who is drumming up support against a fervently Catholic Government led by a right-wing nationalist Prime Minister.

The teenager is, however, one of a growing army of critics who say that Poland is fast becoming the least tolerant member of the European Union. The Pope is treading in the footsteps of John Paul II and will use his trip to echo the words of his Polish mentor: stay true to the Catholic faith at a time of Islamic resurgence and shifting global values. Behind the scenes, though — and explicitly during a planned visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp on Sunday — he will be urging the Polish Church to stay out of politics and do more to encourage social tolerance and civic rights. Pilgrimage will let Pope pray for a country that is turning to intolerance by Roger Boyes

Mark

A Warning to Osama bin Laden: Heed the Lesson of History!
Wann Arbeit nicht so frei macht!
Europe has been established on Judeo-Christian principles. Islam has played almost no part in it. This is an undeniable fact. Further, today, Islam is the antithesis of all Europe stands for: Europe is synonymous with liberal democracy; Islam, by contrast, is synonymous with backwardness and totalitarianism.

In the Twenties and Thirties in Germany, the Jews became the scapegoats of the Germans. Hitler rose to power in the Thirties and demonized them. He managed to convince his fellow Germans that they, the Jews, were the root of all evil in Germany. When in power, he set about his plan to exterminate them. The so-called ‘Final Solution’, die Endlösung, was put in place.

Concentration camps (Konzentrationslager) were set up in Germany, and in occupied countries such as Poland. Such concentration camps as Chelmno (Kulmhof), Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzek, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek, Stutthof and Dachau were set up with one sole purpose: to exterminate the Jews.

This was racism in the raw!

Many today find it unbelievable that the Holocaust happened. Many Muslims, in particular, deny that these atrocities happened at all! But they did! That they did is well documented. This is historical fact. No sane person need spare a moment to deny any of it. If you are in any doubt, ask one of the survivors of those death camps! His testimony will be heart-rending indeed! It will show the depths to which man can sink.

This all happened in Europe little more than sixty years ago. Do you think this could not happen again? You would be mistaken if you do! History has a nasty habit of repeating itself. Human nature doesn’t change, as much as we would like to believe that it does. Circumstances change; human nature does not.

If it were to happen again, would the Jews be the ones to be persecuted? Probably not!

In those days, Jews were perceived as the bogeymen of Europe. These days, if any group of people is perceived as the bogeymen, if any group is perceived to threaten Europeans and their way of life, it is Muslims, not Jews. At the moment, there are far too few Jews in Europe to worry about their existence there. Muslims, on the other hand, live in Europe in millions; further, their numbers are growing apace. Today, these are the people Europeans worry about, not Jews.

Islam calls its adherents to live a very different way of life – a way of life quite alien to the way of life of Europeans. Many Europeans therefore feel quite naturally threatened by their growing existence in their midst, especially so because their politicians are too timid to stem Islam’s growth on European soil.

There is no doubt that Osama bin Laden has pushed the cause of Islam in the West. In fact, he has been hell-bent on making Europeans cower to the wishes of Muslims worldwide. European politicians, so far, have shown little will to resist his calls. Indeed, many would say that European politicians have been spineless and have shown little resolve to tackle the very urgent issues that face Europe today vis-à-vis Islam.

This spinelessness is very troubling. This lack of resolve is very troubling, too. Our politicians are appeasing Muslims. They are showing their weakness in the face of Muslims’ apparent strength. This weakness will not lead to any good place! When governments are perceived to be weak, politics is headed for a turn to extremism. We saw this recently in the United Kingdom, when the far right made substantial gains at the polls because of the perceived weakness of the Blair government.

With the present political climate, one might be forgiven for concluding that Europeans are weak, and are therefore ripe for take-over. This would be a wrong conclusion to make, even though it appears that way. What has happened in Europe once, can happen again. Might it, perhaps, merely be a matter of time?

No sane person, no kind person, no sensible person would wish to see a repeat of the Holocaust in Europe. Those were extremely sad times indeed; they should never be repeated. But, to avoid them, we need to learn the lessons of history. Learn why they happened in the first place. Learn why they happened at all. Osama bin Laden and his cronies need to learn these lessons, too.

The root of harmony is tolerance. Today it is believed – erroneously in my opinion - that tolerance can be legislated for. It cannot be. When a people perceives that its way of life is under threat, these people become capable of any act of evil. Our politicians would be wise to realize that people have not become more tolerant, have not become more understanding, and nor have they grown weaker. Deep down, people are the same today as they have always been. They can be pushed so far; but they will be pushed no further!

As abhorrent as the names Treblinka, Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau sound to the modern ear, the atrocities committed in those camps could happen again. Make no mistake about it! Circumstances might have changed; but man has not changed his nature. Nor has he lost his appetite for evil deeds!

If something isn’t done about the Muslim problem in Europe in the near future, the names Treblinka, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Dachau will not be far from the minds of many Europeans. What happened once can happen again. Osama bin Laden would be wise to take heed!

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Auschwitz-Birkenau: Lest we forget!

Photos courtesy of Google Images

German-born Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Nazi German death camp at Auschwitz on Sunday to honour victims of the Holocaust, most of whom were Jews.

Auschwitz survivor Roman Halter went back to the camp and told the BBC's Krzysztof Dzieciolowski about his painful memories.

Sixty-one years after the war ended, Roman Halter has returned to his home town Chodecz, in central Poland.

The memories are fresh and the history is still painful for a man who was born here in 1927 - the same year that Pope Benedict XVI was borin in Marktl in Germany. Survivor braves Auschwitz return

Mark

Bis Ende Jahr zieht Italien alle Kampftruppen aus dem Irak ab

Italien zieht bis Juni 1100 Soldaten aus dem Irak ab. Dies sagte Aussenminister Massimo D'Alema am Freitagabend im italienischen Fernsehen. Zurzeit sind im Irak 2700 Soldaten aus Italien stationiert. Italien zieht bis Juni 1100 Soldaten aus dem Irak ab

Mark Alexander

Le Pape dénoncé hier l'evangile selon Dan Brown!

Photo grâce à Figaro

En pleine polémique sur le « Da Vinci Code », le Pape a profité de sa visite en Pologne pour rappeler aux fidèles de qu’il leur faut résister « aux tentations du relativisme ».

Au second jour de son voyage en Pologne, le Souverain Pontife a célébré vendredi matin sa première messe sur les terres de son prédécesseur. Une foule de 300.000 fidèle s’est massée, malgré la pluie, sur la place Pilsudski, au centre de Varsovie. Certains attendaient la venue du Saint Père depuis la veille. Benoît XVI fustige ceux qui «falsifient la parole du Christ»

Mark Alexander