Islam in Switzerland
SWITZERLAND.ISYOURS.COM: Switzerland, and Geneva in particular, is often associated with emirs and other sheiks who enjoy sumptuous palaces, stroll along the harbor in the shade of the fountain and buy out the luxury shops. True, these visitors from the Gulf do exist, and they are well-known and highly appreciated by our businesses, however the bulk of the Muslim population has little to do with them.

The second largest religion in Switzerland


In 1990, the Muslim population was 152,200, or 2.2% of the Switzerland’s resident population. A surprising development for those who know that in the early seventies, there were less than 20,000 Muslims living in Switzerland. Islam is now the second largest religion in Switzerland, after Christianity.

The Muslim community of Switzerland is comprised of several nationalities, within which there are different cultures, languages and ethno-cultural particularities. In 1990, the vast majority (4/5) of the Muslim community was represented by Turk nationals (65,000 people or 42.8%) and nationals of the former Yugoslavia (55,000 people or 30.4%). The Muslim community from North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) represented 4% of the overall community, while the Lebanese community represented 3.3%.

The Muslim population is spread out evenly across Switzerland, and mainly in big urban centers (73% of all Muslims). The largest number is found in the cantons of Zurich, Aargau, St Gallen and Bern. It is interesting to note that 76% of the Muslims are settled in German-speaking Switzerland, and 14% in French-speaking Switzerland, which corresponds closely to the resident population distribution. The Turk community is more concentrated in German-speaking Switzerland, while the bulk of the North African community lives in French-speaking Switzerland. Nationals of the former Yugoslavia are spread here and there throughout the country.

It can be affirmed that the number of Muslims is surely underestimated, since, during the 1990 census, 3.1% of foreigners (an exceptionally high proportion) did not answer the question on religious affiliation. As for more recent figures, we have to resort to estimates of the non-governmental agencies, such as, for example, the Islamic associations or organizations in Switzerland. According to these sources, the number of Muslims in Switzerland is currently estimated between 200,000 and 250,000 people (from 2.8 to 3.5% of the resident population). Islam in Switzerland >>>

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The Prickly Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez at his prickly best! Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A series of tit-for-tat expulsions has left the US without ambassadors in three Latin American countries.

Bolivia and Venezuela have expelled their US envoys, accusing Washington of trying to oust Bolivia's government.

Washington has responded by throwing out envoys from Bolivia and Venezuela and freezing the assets of three aides to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Meanwhile, Honduras has refused the credentials of a new US ambassador, postponing his appointment.

US officials said the actions of Venezuela and Bolivia showed their leaders' "weakness and desperation".

The BBC's Emilio San Pedro said relations between the US and Latin American opponents such as Mr Chavez had seemed to be on a holding pattern.

But the situation has changed in a matter of days, he says.

This week's arrival in Venezuela of two Russian bomber planes taking part in a military exercise is not thought to have helped the situation.

And with more joint military exercises in the pipeline, our correspondent says it could take a while for tensions to subside. Expulsions Stoke US-LatAm Dispute >>> | September 12, 2008

NZZ Online:
Auch Venezuela weist US-Botschafter aus: Chávez spricht von Solidarität mit Bolivien

Der venezolanische Präsident Chávez hat die Ausweisungen der Botschafter in Bolivien und den USA für einen eigenen Vorstoss genutzt. Venezuela hat ebenfalls den amerikanischen Botschafter ausgewiesen und beordert seinen Botschafter in den USA zurück. >>> | 12. September 2008

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Excellent Review of The Dawning of a New Dark Age
With many, many thanks to Judah of Judah’s Journal for this excellent review of my book.

This review is also to be found on the Barnes & Noble website and on Judah’s blog. (The links are given below.)

If anyone else who has read the book would like to send me a review to be placed up on this website, please send it to me at the following address: markalexander1 @ btinternet.com . - Mark

Accurate, authoritative and readable essays on the threat to western civilization of Islam
Mark's format, a collection of essays, makes this an extremely readable text that can be picked up and put down as opportunity allows, giving 'thinking time' between reads in order to fully process the knowledge and insights imparted here. Still too much is misunderstood about this aggressively invasive ideology which threatens to overwhelm and subvert our Western civilization. Since Islam seeks to progress an agenda of world-wide domination and universal submission of all to Allah, by the sword if necessary, we most certainly need to understand far more about it. Mark knows Islam intimately, and his writing is both perceptive and authoritative. He clearly outlines the dangers posed by Islam, describing the process of 'Islamicization' that is already happening, supporting his concerns with references (in context) to the Qur'an and to history, identifying the factors in our own civilzation that fosters erosion of our Judeo-Christian heritage and invites the incursion of Islam, and suggesting means by which this could be stopped and reversed. There is a great deal of information packed between the covers of this book and much food for serious thought. To some it will be a horror story, but as frightening as the subject may be, we are wise to have our eyes opened in order to recognize what is happening hopefully in time to help stop the situation from worsening. It may already be too late unless radical measures are put in place, but we all need to know and properly understand the real threat in order that something effective can be done about it. This is an absolute 'must read' for anyone who wishes to know the truth rather than be lulled into complacency by the 'taqiyya' (holy hypocrisy) of the Islamic clerics and apologists. If you have never read anything on this subject before, this is a good place to start. Likewise, it is also an essential read for those who do know the subject, the author becoming increasingly well known for his contributions to major websites devoted to the education of the web-savvy general population interested in knowing more about Islam. I have become well-read on this subject myself, and can testify that the author writes in accord with all else that I have read by other authors with impeccable and relevant credentials. I can recommend Mark's book to all who wish to be properly informed on this subject and, as the author puts it so well, the 'dawning of a new dark age' under Islam. - Judah, well read on this subject

This book review is also to be found here and here.

It Isn’t Racist to Want a Cap on Immigration
TIMES ONLINE: Our balanced migration policy is not ‘chuck 'em out'. It is essential for British society

The Church's response to immigration in recent years has drawn heavily upon the call to welcome and treat the stranger as if you have Christ in your midst. This is absolutely right, yet we also have to question whether the unprecedented levels of immigration that we are now seeing can truly contribute to the “common good” - another theme the churches have emphasised in their teaching on social justice.

The facts are simple. Immigration has tripled in the past ten years. The Government predicts that, over the next 25 years, immigration will add seven million to the population of England - seven times the present population of Birmingham.

For years it has been impossible to question the wisdom of large-scale immigration without being branded a “racist”. This lack of respect for others' views has suffocated healthy debate while providing grist for extremists. Many people ask: “Who is listening to our concerns?”

And it is easy to see why they are concerned. The British people are not racist. They know the benefits that migration has brought to our country down the centuries. But they see society changing before their eyes, like a film that has been speeded up. For example, 25 per cent of UK births are to women born abroad. There are at present 1,338 schools where at least 51 per cent of pupils do not have English as their first language. At a third of schools in Leicester and Blackburn, the majority of pupils do not have English as their first language.

Behind these facts is an unprecedented turnover of population. Last year alone about 600,000 people arrived in the UK while 400,000 left. With a turnover of a million people in one year, no wonder many people sense that the glue that binds our society together is weakening. It takes time for people of different cultures to get accustomed to each others' ways and, regrettably, not all newcomers are committed to integration. Some are not even sure about the democratic values that are the very foundation of our society. It Isn’t Racist to Want a Cap on Immigration >>> By Lord Carey of Clifton | September 10, 2008

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Next 9/11 Will Be in Britain, Warn Banned Muslim Extremists at Meeting with Exiled Cleric Bakri
Delicious Quote of the Day: ”These people put the mental into fundamental.” - Louise, London (Comment on the Mail Online)
MAIL Online: The next 9/11 will take place in Britain, members of a banned Muslim extremist group warned on the anniversary of the terror attacks.

The claim was made at a hate-filled meeting addressed via video link by exiled cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Leaders of the Al Muhajiroun sect said Osama bin Laden had taught the Americans a ‘lesson’ seven years ago, but the ‘crusaders’ had not learned and the next ‘9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 [London bombings] could take place locally’.

Radical preacher Bakri told a 100-strong audience of supporters in Walthamstow, east London, last night that he believed the British government was trying to assassinate him and claimed to have foiled a bomb plot.

Technical difficulties meant much of his speech was inaudible, but his appearance was greeted by cheers of ‘faith’ and ‘god is great’ at the community centre.

Bakri’s right- hand man, Anjem Choudary, led the proceedings in person, under the auspices of a group called Association for Islamic Research.

The most incendiary speech was delivered by Saiful Islam, who lauded Bin Laden and al Qaeda for their ‘courage’ in retaliating against the ‘dictatorship and oppression’ of the West.

He said: ‘The blame of 9/11 belongs to no one but the American government. They are the terrorists.

'Sheikh Osama warned America numerous times, it was because of their own arrogance, because they thought they are a superpower and nobody could match them, that Sheikh Osama taught them a lesson - a lesson they still haven’t learned.’

Mr Islam, who is linked to an organisation called Salafi Youth for Islamic Propagation, warned that unless British and American troops were withdrawn from ‘Muslim lands’ they would be to blame for the consequences, saying the West would ‘never achieve security until our own [Muslim] lands achieve security’. Next 9/11 Will Be in Britain, Warn Banned Muslim Extremists at Meeting with Exiled Cleric Bakri >>> | September 12, 2008

MAIL Online:
'Have More Babies and Muslims Can Take Over the UK' Hate Fanatic Says, as Warning Comes that 'Next 9/11 Will Be in UK' >>> | September 13, 2008

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Bahrain: Teacher ‘Insulted Islam’
GULF DAILY NEWS: MANAMA: An American woman was referred to the court yesterday by the Public Prosecution after being charged with insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

The woman, who works as a teacher at a private university in Bahrain, was said to have been reported to the university management by a student, who claimed that she had shown them pictures depicting the Prophet Mohammed improperly dressed.

"The teacher was made to apologise to the students but was told to have insulted the girl who had reported her to the management instead," said a Public Prosecution spokesman. [Source: GULF DAILY NEWS] | September 12, 2008

ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Bahrain Charges US Teacher with Insulting Prophet >>> | September 12, 2008

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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Warns Poland over US Anti-missile Shield
THE TELEGRAPH: Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has told his Polish counterpart that Moscow regards a US anti-missile shield, which Poland has agreed to host, as a direct threat to Russian forces.

Speaking after meeting with Poland's foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, in Warsaw, Mr Lavrov, on his first visit to a Western capital since August's Georgian-Russian conflict, said: "Russia cannot fail to see the risks emerging as a result of US strategic forces coming closer to our borders."

Both Poland and the United States insist that the shield poses no threat to Russia, and is intended to protect the West from rouge [sic] states in the Middle East.

But although Mr Lavrov dismissed these claims, arguing the American system targeted Russia, he added that he was open to further discussion on the subject, and tried to ease his country's strained relations with Warsaw by saying that Poland itself posed no threat to his country.

His conciliatory words, which were matched by those of Mr Sikorski, came as marked change of tack from Russia, who has previously threatened to target nuclear weapons at its former Central-European vassal state as a response to Poland agreeing to host American interceptor missiles.

Mr Lavrov's stance and visit to Warsaw, which was in doubt following harsh Polish criticism of Russia's intervention in Georgia, have been interpreted as Moscow attempting to rebuild its war-damaged relations with Europe. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Warns Poland over US Anti-missile Shield >>> By Matthew Day in Warsaw | September 11, 2008

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Joseph Stiglitz*: America Counts Cost of Wars It Can’t Win
… most analysts agree that at least part of the rationale behind Russia's invasion of Georgia, reigniting fears of a new Cold War, was its confidence that, with America's armed forces preoccupied with two failing wars (and badly depleted because of a policy of not replacing military resources as fast as they are used up), there was little America could do in response. Russia's calculations proved correct. - Joseph Stiglitz

THE AGE / /Business Day: The war in Iraq has been an expensive lesson for the US Government.

THE Iraq war has been replaced by the declining economy as the most important issue in America's presidential election campaign, in part because Americans have come to believe that the tide has turned in Iraq: the troop "surge" has supposedly cowed the insurgents, bringing a decline in violence. The implications are clear: a show of power wins the day.

It is precisely this kind of macho reasoning that led America to war in Iraq in the first place. The war was meant to demonstrate the strategic power of military might. Instead, the war showed its limitations. Moreover, the war undermined America's real source of power — its moral authority. America Counts Cost of Wars It Can’t Win >>> By Joseph Stiglitz | September 10, 2008

* Joseph Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University, and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, is co-author, with Linda Bilmes, of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Costs of the Iraq Conflict.

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'Muslim Massacre' Computer Game Condemned
THE INDEPENDENT: A computer game in which players control an American soldier sent to "wipe out the Muslim race" has been condemned as offensive and tasteless by a British Muslim group.

The goal of Muslim Massacre, which can be downloaded for free on the internet, is to "ensure that no Muslim man or woman is left alive", according to the game's creator.

Players control an "American Hero" armed with a machine gun and rocket launcher who is parachuted into the Middle East.

Users progress through levels, first killing Arabs that appear on screen and later taking on Osama bin Laden, Mohammed and finally Allah.

The game's creator, a freelance programmer known as Sigvatr, described the game on the SomethingAwful.com website as "fun and funny".

In a "How you can help" section, he writes to visitors: "Don't whinge about how offensive and 'edgy' this is." 'Muslim Massacre' Computer Game Condemned >>> By Josie Clarke, PA Consumer Affairs Correspondent | Septemebr 11, 2008

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Pope Hopes to Use Visit to Loosen France's Secularism
CANADA.COM: LOURDES, France - Pope Benedict XVI, despite having little of his predecessor's charisma or popularity, arrives in France on Friday, hoping to inspire renewed interest in the Catholic Church in an adamantly secular and increasingly faithless country known as the church's oldest daughter.

His four-day visit begins with a meeting at the Elysee Palace with President Nicolas Sarkozy who, despite his status as a twice-divorced man, has spoken openly of loosening up France's strict rules that keep religion far from the public square.

That will be followed by several public events in Paris, capped by an outdoor celebration of mass Saturday afternoon, expected to draw more than 200,000.

He then flies to Lourdes to mark the 150th anniversary of apparitions of the Virgin Mary experienced by Bernadette Soubirous, a poor, sickly teen who experienced 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary that were eventually recognized by the Vatican.

"France is the oldest Christian nation in Europe, the most important country in Western Europe and, traditionally, a centre of Catholic thought and art," Pierre Bellemare, a professor and self-described "pope-watcher" at St. Paul's University in Ottawa, said in an interview Thursday.

"So, naturally, he would like to see Catholicism thrive and be more present there - free to express itself in public debates."

He said Benedict's ultimate hope would be that the French secular model, based in a 1905 law once so harshly enforced that priests were arrested for wearing their clerical clothing in public, move closer to the more "tolerant and open" American model. Pope Hopes to Use Visit to Loosen France's Secularism >>> Peter O'Neil, Europe Correspondent , Canwest News Service | September 11, 2008

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Vladimir Putin Warns UK, US over Relations
THE TELEGRAPH: Russia's relations with Britain will remain in deep freeze for as long as the UK harbours Russians violently opposed to the regime, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

In his first meeting with foreign journalists since military conflict erupted in Georgia, Mr Putin portrayed his country as embattled and encircled by an aggressive west, particularly the US and UK.

Mr Putin issued a plea to the US not to build a missile defence shield in Europe. "Our targeting will begin as soon as the missiles are deployed in these countries. Please do not do so. Please do not instigate again an arms race in Europe."

Mr Putin said the newly-installed president, Dmitry Medvedev, had taken all the decisions about sending in Russian forces into Georgia last month and then recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

"What did you expect us to do? To defend ourselves with catapults? If an aggressor comes into your territory you would punch him in the face and be right to do so. Should we have wiped the bloody snot away and bowed our heads?"

Displaying in turns defiance and defensiveness, Mr Putin said that Russia had been four hours away from invading the Georgian capital Tblisi and deposing its pro-American leader, Mikheil Saakashvili. It refrained from doing so but now, Mr Putin said, it was up to the Georgian people.

The premier, until earlier this year the president and head of state, said his relations with George W. Bush had always been "really good" and "based on real respect". He regarded the American president as a man of "honour and integrity" and he treated him "better than some Americans do". Vladimir Putin Warns UK, US over Relations >>> By John Kampfner in Sochi, Russia | September 11, 2008

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No Victory in Iraq, Says Petraeus
General Petraeus on the Iraq campaign >>>
BBC: The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said that he will never declare victory there.

In a BBC interview, Gen Petraeus said that recent security gains were "not irreversible" and that the US still faced a "long struggle".

When asked if US troops could withdraw from Iraqi cities by the middle of next year, he said that would be "doable".

In his next job leading the US Central Command, Gen Petraeus will also oversee operations in Afghanistan.

He said "the trends in Afghanistan have not gone in the right direction... and that has to be addressed".

Afghanistan remained a "hugely important endeavour", he said.

Earlier this week, President George W Bush announced a cut of 8,000 US troops in Iraq by February - with some 4,500 being sent to Afghanistan. No Victory in Iraq, Says Petraeus >>> | September 11, 2008

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Tensions Mount in Bosnia over Gay Festival
THE MOSCOW NEWS WEEKLY: SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Posters condemning homosexuals have appeared in Sarajevo ahead of this month's first-ever gay festival in Bosnia, prompting an international organization to condemn what it called "attempts to incite violence.''

Two Muslim imams have been quoted as criticizing the timing of the five-day festival, which opens Sept. 24 and will occur during the holy month of Ramadan.

Islam prohibits homosexuality, and Sarajevo is at least 85 percent Muslim.

Neither the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, nor his institution has officially reacted to the festival, which will include films and art exhibitions. But two local imams in Bosnia have condemned it.

"We will not grab them by the neck on the street, but we have to say: This is immoral ... a promotion of ideas that are in violation with religion,'' Seid Smajkic, an imam from the southern city of Mostar, was quoted as saying in Friday's Dnevni Avaz, a daily newspaper.

Another local imam, Sulejman Bulgari, said on television Thursday night that the Quran forbids homosexuality and that the holy book is clear about that.

Neither imam was available for an interview on Friday, the Muslim day of worship.

Several posters have appeared in the streets of Sarajevo this week, saying "Death to Gays.'' Police quickly removed them. Tensions Mount in Bosnia over Gay Festival >>> | September 9, 2008

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Muslim Leaves Islam to Become Christian Pastor

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Father Zakaria Boutros: Muslim Clerics Leave Islam and Embrace Christ

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Ex-Muslim Christian, Simon Altaf, Speaks about True Islam

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Lest We Forget
Photo courtesy of Google Images
In memory of all the innocent people who perished needlessly on 9/11. R.I.P.
BBC: Commemorations of the seventh anniversary of 9/11 >>>

BBC: US Marks Seventh 9/11 Anniversary: US President George W Bush has led commemorations of the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Moments of silence were held at the times four hijacked passenger planes hit the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

In Washington, Mr Bush dedicated a new memorial at the Department of Defense to 184 people killed there.

"The worst day in America's history saw some of the bravest acts," he said. >>> | September 11, 2008

Dispatches: Persecution of 3,000 Ex-Muslim Christians in UK – Part 1

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Dutch to Ban Burkas When Picking Children Up from School
THE TELEGRAPH: The Dutch government is to extend a ban on the burka to all schools, a measure that includes a prohibition on Muslim mothers from picking their children while wearing face-covering Islamic dress.

Ronald Plasterk, the Dutch education minister, announced that the ban would apply to all schools, including private Muslim religious establishments, and their immediate surroundings.

Not only teachers, but parents and all visitors to schools, including suppliers making deliveries, will be forbidden the burka, even though only 100 women in the Netherlands, out of a population of 16.5 million, are estimated to wear it.

Legislation is expected to be agreed by the Dutch parliament next year.

Mr Plasterk has cited security concerns and the need for teachers and schoolchildren to be able to communicate properly with each other.

"It is important for children to learn that proper communication requires being able to look the other person in the eye," he said to Dutch MPs. Dutch to Ban Burkas When Picking Children Up from School >>> By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | September 9, 2008

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Saudi Rewards Islamic Terrorists with Cushy ‘Cure’
GLOBE AND MAIL: Controversial Saudi rehab program aims to reform jihadists returning from U.S. prisons

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — He fought with Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, lived with Abu Zubaydah in Peshawar and trained with Sheikh al-Libi in Afghanistan.

So when Khalid Al Hubayshi returned home to Saudi Arabia in 2006 after three hard years at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, he thought his punishment would continue.

Instead, he was treated to a private audience with the Prince, given a brand new Toyota Corolla and thousands of dollars in cash. The government helped him land a job at a state electrical company, financed his wedding and sponsored psychological counselling sessions aimed at dissolving any lingering jihadist tendencies.

Mr. Al Hubayshi, now 33, is one of the first graduates of a controversial Saudi program designed to rehabilitate hard-core militants who have begun to trickle back home after serving time in U.S. detention.

The soft approach of the jihadist rehabilitation program is remarkable in a country ruled strictly by sharia law, where justice can involve public beheading and amputation.

Prisoners are treated at the Hayar Care Center, a sprawling compound on the outskirts of Riyadh where perks include PlayStations, table tennis and art therapy.

"Locking them up is not the answer," Awad Alyame, a program co-ordinator, says. "We have to address the underlying problems that drove him to jihad in a positive way to lower the risk of reoffending."

The treatment appears to have worked for Mr. Al Hubayshi. Prisoner number 155 at Guantanamo's Camp Delta now lives the middle-class dream in Jeddah. Terrorists ‘Cured’ with Cash, Cars, and Counselling >>> By Sonia Verma | September 11, 2008

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