PM Netanyahu's Greetings for Rosh Hashana

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Greetings for Rosh Hashana.

Topless Protesters Disrupt Muslim Conference on Women

The protesters, aged 25 and 31, grabbed microphones
and shouted feminist slogans in French and Arabic

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Femen activists bare breasts and shout feminist slogans before being manhandled out of a conference near Paris on the role of Muslim women

Two Femen protesters were arrested after baring their breasts at a controversial conference near Paris on the role of Muslim women.

According to Inna Shevchenko, a spokeswoman for the feminist protest group, two fundamentalist preachers were discussing the question of “whether wives should be beaten or not” when the activists, aged 25 and 31, ripped off their Arab-style cloaks and jumped on to the stage on Saturday evening. One had the slogan “No one subjugates me” inked across her torso. The other bore the words “I am my own prophet.”

The protesters, aged 25 and 31, grabbed microphones and shouted feminist slogans in French and Arabic before being roughly bundled off the stage by about 15 men and handed over to police. Video footage of the incident shows a man apparently kicking one of the women. » | David Chazan | Sunday, September 13, 2015

Watch the spectacle here

Viktor Orbán: Muslim Majority in Europe Coming Soon

HUNGARIAN FREE PRESS: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave an interview to the German tabloid daily Bild, in which he predicted that Muslims will form the majority population within Europe “in the foreseeable future,” thanks to immigration. Bild once again has the situation in Hungary as its cover page story.

“If Europe allows for competition between cultures, Christians will lose,” added Hungary’s prime minister. According to Mr. Orbán, “the only way out” of what he perceives to be Europe’s predicament is to “preserve” Europe for those who wish to live within a Christian cultural environment, by stopping the immigration of a growing number of Muslims.

“None of them want to return to their homes. I fear that they will all stay here,” added Mr. Orbán, when asked specifically about the Syrian refugees. » | Author: Christopher Adam | Saturday, September 12, 2015

Bill Maher and Salman Rushdie Debate the Future of Muslims in Europe

'There's a lot of young Muslim men in European cities ... Free speech we see is not something they always agree with. And often their attitude is, 'We're biding our time until you will do things our way,' said Maher. read more: http://www.haaretz.com/video/1.675841

Read the Haaretz article here Haaretz | Sunday, September 13, 2015

German Border Controls Mark Sudden Shift in Refugee Policy

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Germany announces emergency border protections after weeks of leading Europe's response to the migrant crisis

Germany’s announcement on Sunday that it was instituting emergency border protections marks a sudden shift in its response to the refugee crisis.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was hailed as a saviour after her government said last month it expected to take in 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers this year alone.

Germany also became the EU first country to suspend the so-called Dublin protocol, which mandates that refugees seek asylum in the first European country they enter, by declaring last month that all Syrian refugees could remain in Germany regardless of the country through which they entered.

That decision was taken in light of the harsh treatment of asylum seekers in Hungary, which plans to complete a four-metre-high fence along its border with Serbia this week. » | David Lawler | Sunday, September 13, 2015

Refugee Crisis: Germany Reinstates Controls at Austrian Border

THE GUARDIAN: Train traffic from Austria halted as EU prepares for refugee showdown in Brussels on Monday

Germany introduced border controls on Sunday, and dramatically halted all train traffic with Austria, after the country’s regions said they could no longer cope with the overwhelming number of refugees entering the country.

Interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, announced the measures after German officials said record numbers of refugees, most of them from Syria, had stretched the system to breaking point. “This step has become necessary,” he told a press conference in Berlin, adding it would cause disruption.

Asylum seekers must understand “they cannot chose the states where they are seeking protection,” he told reporters.

All trains between Austria and Bavaria, the principal conduit through which 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany this year, ceased at 5pm Berlin time. Only EU citizens and others with valid documents would be allowed to pass through Germany’s borders, de Maizière said.

The decision means that Germany has effectively exited temporarily from the Schengen system. It is likely to lead to chaotic scenes on the Austrian-German border, as tens of thousands of refugees try to enter Germany by any means possible and set up camp next to it. (+ video) » | Luke Harding in Berlin | Sunday, September 13, 2015

The Abrahamic Fallacy: Why Abraham Is Not a Point of Unity for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity

Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors hosted Dr. Mark Durie on January 21, 2014, in Los Angeles, California, at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel.

Over the past fifty years the expression 'Abrahamic' has become widely used to refer collectively to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The key idea is that the three religions 'share' Abraham and find in him a point of unity.

The phrase 'Abrahamic religion' or 'faith of Abraham' was first promoted in ecumenical circles during the 1950's and 1960's by Lebanese Maronite priest, Youakim Moubarak, whose theological vision was political, of an 'egalitarian Palestine in which Jews, Christians and Muslims demonstrate together its abrahamic and ecumenical vocation'.

In reality, however, Abraham is a divisive figure: in Judaism he is the Torah-observant father of the Jewish nation; for Christians he is the apostle of salvation by faith alone; for Muslims he is the proto-typical Muslim, a forerunner and validator of Muhammad.

Moubarak took the phrase 'religion of Abraham' from the Koran and his promotion of it is a manifestation of dhimmi theology, a worldview constrained by existential fear, psychological accommodation and denial. In fact the 'Abrahamic vocation' inspired by the Koran leads to Islamization and sharia implementation. The current state of the Middle East offers eloquent testimony to the hollowness of this vision.

Dr. Mark Durie is a theologian, human rights activist, Anglican pastor, a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at Melbourne School of Theology. He has published many articles and books on the language and culture of the Acehnese, Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom. A graduate of the Australian National University and the Australian College of Theology, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Leiden, MIT, UCLA and Stanford, and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1992.


Related »

Is Islam an “Abrahamic” Faith along with Judaism and Christianity?

VIRTUE ONLINE: My friend Mark Durie, an Anglican priest and theologian, has written a book refuting the thinking common today that Islam shares a theological lineage from Father Abraham with Judaism and Christianity.

"Islam has no family resemblance with Christianity and Judaism. The similarities are appropriated, not inherited," the Anglican priest and theologian Mark Durie starkly stated in his book "Which God? Jesus, Holy Spirit, God in Christianity & Islam." This volume is essential reading for Christians who wish to counter the "Abrahamic fallacy" of Islamic kinship with Judeo-Christian faith.

In his book, Durie noted the oft-touted idea of Western Abrahamic civilization in a world that once esteemed its Judeo-Christian civilization. Many assume that Islam joins Judaism and Christianity in possessing a theological lineage from the Old Testament's Father Abraham. "This is new thinking which reflects the growing influence of Islam," Durie said, adding that "one expression of the Islamicization of Christian thought serves the supersessionist program of Islam."

Durie stressed that wording in the Quran recognizes Islam not as a faith that is subservient to Judaism and Christianity, but "as the primordial religion." Those of the Islamic faith believe that other religions can be called "Abrahamic" only as concessions, because those faiths "derive their history in a confused and corrupted way from Islamic roots." As noted in Quran 3:67, Islam proclaims that Abraham and other biblical figures were actually Muslims whose revelations Jews and Christians through the ages perverted into a "debased derivative of Islam." » | Andrew Harrod | Thursday, September 10, 2015

PHILOS PROJECT: Children of Abraham’s Islamic Pretender » | Andrew Harros | Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Mark Durie »

Which God? »

Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahri Urges Young Muslim Men to Launch Lone-wolf Attacks on American Homes

THE INDEPENDENT: Once acting as the Iraqi sub section of al-Qaeda, Isis now threatens to eclipse them completely

The Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on young Muslim men in Western countries to carry out lone-wolf attacks – and urged greater unity between militants.

"I call on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the crusader coalition not to hesitate. We must now focus on moving the war to the heart of the homes and cities of the crusader West and specifically America," he said in an audio recording posted online on Sunday, referring to nations making up the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria.

He suggested Muslim youth in the West take the Tsarnaev and Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Boston marathon bombings and Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris respectively, and others as examples to follow.

In a recording released on Wednesday, Zawahiri denounced Isis as "illegitimate", indicating the extent of the schism between the twogroups. » | Alice Harrold, Agency | Sunday, September 13, 2015

Syria Conflict Will Displace Another Million People, Says UN Official

THE GUARDIAN: Humanitarian chief in country says unless political action is taken to stop fighting, ‘human train’ will continue through winter

Another million Syrians will flee their homes before the end of the year if the war continues unabated, a senior UN official has said.

Yacoub el-Hillo, the humanitarian coordinator in Syria, said that unless urgent action was taken to resolve the escalating conflict, refugees would also continue to flow out of the region.

He said that more than a million people had already been displaced from their homes already in 2015, and called for greater international aid efforts to help Syrians survive the winter in their own country.

“Unless something big is done to resolve this conflict through political means, the human train that has started moving out of Syria and the neighbourhood will continue to be running for many months to come,” he said. » | Ruth McKee | Saturday, September 12, 2015

Munich at Limit of Capacity amid Refugee Surge, Say Police

THE GUARDIAN: President of Upper Bavaria reportedly unsure how city ‘can cope’ day after 12,200 refugees arrive in German city

Munich is at the limit of its capacity to welcome refugees arriving in Germany, police have said, a day after 12,200 asylum-seekers reached the city.

“We had a total of 12,200 refugees on Saturday ... today we’re expecting several hundreds. Given the numbers from yesterday, it is very clear that we have reached the upper limit of our capacity,” said a police spokesman.

“Our aim today would be to transport as many as possible out of here, to make place for new arrivals,” he added. » | Agence France-Presse | Sunday, September 13, 2015

BILD AM SONNTAG: „München ist voll“: Die Stadt München kann nicht mehr. Alle zwei Stunden steigen am Hauptbahnhof bis zu 500 Flüchtlinge aus einem Zug. Die meist jungen Männer werden im Gänsemarsch durch einen abgesperrten Korridor bis zur ersten Sammelstelle geführt. Helfer mit Mundschutz und Handschuhen drücken ihnen Wasser und Kekse in die Hand. » | Von T. Gautier, A. Hellemann, N. Mertens und B. Uhlenbroich | Sonntag, 13. September 2015

In Tourist Idyll of Maldives, Radical Islam Lures Some towards Very Different Paradise

Mohamed Nasheed, former President of the Maldives

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: This island chain in the Indian Ocean has, per capita, supplied more jihadists to Iraq and Syria than any country outside the Middle East

For the million tourists who fly in each year to the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives, the holiday “paradise” of idyllic white sand beaches quickly embraces them.

Speedboats or seaplanes ferry them to luxury resorts on otherwise uninhabited coral atolls, by-passing the rest of the country where local people live in an increasingly conservative Islamic society.

In this tourist-free Maldives, amid the narrow teeming streets of the capital Male and on islands dotted with fishing villages, the siren call of radical Islamist clerics is luring some locals towards a very different paradise.

More than 200 island jihadists are now believed to fighting in Iraq and Syria, and at least seven have died for the cause, their “martyrdoms” hailed on social media aimed specifically at Maldivians.

For a nation that only has a population of about 350,000, the numbers are strikingly high.They also reflect a reality at jarring odds with the country's picture postcard reputation as a honeymoon and holiday idyll.

“It’s quite probable that in per capita terms, the Maldives has more jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq than any other country outside the region,” said a Western security analyst. » | Philip Sherwell, Male, the Maldives | Sunday, September 13, 2015

Merkel 'Expects Cameron to Back EU Army' in Exchange for Renegotiation

THE TELEGRAPH: German chancellor will ask UK to stand aside as she promotes ambitious plan to integrate continental Europe’s armed forces, The Telegraph has been told

Angela Merkel will expect David Cameron to drop his opposition to an EU army in exchange for supporting Britain’s renegotiation, the Telegraph has been told.

The German chancellor will ask Britain to stand aside as she promotes an ambitious blueprint to integrate continental Europe’s armed forces.

It comes as Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said Britain will get a deal if it gives the green light to a raft of powerful new EU institutions.

A Berlin source said agreeing not to “block” Mrs Merkel's defence plans is a “favour” that she would seek from Mr Cameron as he looks for her support in the renegotiation.

“If you want favours, you have to give favours,” the source said.

"If Cameron wants a 'flexible Europe', he must let other members integrate further. Yes - opt out, opt out, opt out - and then shut up.” » | Peter Foster and Matthew Holehouse | Saturday, September 12, 2015

‘EU Is Very Far from United Policy against ISIS in Syria’

European nations have recognized they must bring peace to Syria, but there has been little agreement so far on how to achieve it. The UK is wavering on the idea of using force, while Germany favors a diplomatic solution. For more RT is joined by political analyst and commentator, John Wight.

Imams Will Have to Register and Face Security Vetting under Home Office Plans

THE TELEGRAPH: Imams, priests, rabbis and other religious figures will have to enrol in a 'national register of faith leaders' and undergo vetting

Imams, priests, rabbis and other religious figures will have to enrol in a “national register of faith leaders” and be subject to government-specified training and security checks in the Home Office’s latest action on extremism.

The highly controversial proposal appears in a leaked draft of the Government’s new counter-extremism strategy, seen by The Telegraph, which goes substantially further than previous versions of the document.

The strategy, due to be published this autumn, says that Whitehall will “require all faiths to maintain a national register of faith leaders” and the Government will “set out the minimum level of training and checks” faith leaders must have to join the new register.

Registration will be compulsory for all faith leaders who wish to work with the public sector, including universities, the document says. In practice, most faith leaders have some dealings with the public sector and the requirement will cover the great majority. » | Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, September 12, 2015

ISIS at the Gates? Refugee Crisis Raises Fears of Jihadists Entering EU

Infiltrated refugee influx has lead to over 40-thousand unregistered migrants on the continent. The security breaches have raised concern about who is coming in among asylum seekers. Some EU countries are worried that Islamic State fighters could appear among the new arrivals.

'Refugees Welcome Here': Thousands Join Support March in London

Tens of thousands of people have poured onto London’s streets, taking part in a rally to support those striving to get to the UK amidst an unprecedented refugee crisis

Deutschland: Ex-Innenminister: "Wir haben die Kontrolle verloren"

PASSAUER NEUE PRESSE: Der frühere Bundesinnenminister Hans- Peter Friedrich (CSU) schlägt Alarm: Die Entscheidung, die Flüchtlinge aus Ungarn unkontrolliert und unregistriert ins Land zu lassen, sei "eine beispiellose politische Fehlleistung" der Bundesregierung und werde "verheerende Spätfolgen" haben, sagte Friedrich im Gespräch mit der Passauer Neuen Presse. Trotz aller menschlich anrührenden Gesten, die die Gesellschaft vielerorts bei der Ankunft der Flüchtlinge zeige, sei es "die Aufgabe der Politik, über den Tag hinaus zu denken und Entscheidungen für die Zukunft zu treffen". Angesichts der Flüchtlingsströme, die sich ohne polizeiliche Prüfung durch Deutschland bewegten, müsse man feststellen: "Wir haben die Kontrolle verloren."

Laut Friedrich ist es "völlig unverantwortlich, dass jetzt Zig-tausende unkontrolliert und unregistriert ins Land strömen, und man nur unzuverlässig genau abschätzen kann, wie viele davon IS-Kämpfer oder islamistische Schläfer sind". Er hoffe, so der CSU-Politiker weiter, "dass dieses nicht noch zu einem bösen Erwachen führen wird. Ich bin jedenfalls überzeugt, dass kein anderes Land der Welt sich so naiv und blauäugig einer solchen Gefahr aussetzen würde." » | Von Alexander Kain | Freitag, 11. September 2015

HT: Catfish »

Nothing Has Changed in 25 years to Ease My Concerns about Islam

A police officer guards the entrance of Paris Great Mosque

THE TELEGRAPH: Significant numbers of Muslims see a faith-run, faith-defined state as the ultimate goal in this life

Viktor Orbán is the prime minister of Hungary. It is through his country that very large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and the Balkans now pass. At the beginning of this month, Mr Orbán said: “I think we have a right to decide that we don’t want to have a large number of Muslim people in our country.”

Mr Orbán was fiercely attacked for the motives behind his remark. I do not know enough about Hungarian politics to say whether such attacks are justified. But, regardless of the precise facts about Mr Orbán, I would guess most people in western – let alone eastern – Europe would quietly agree with his general proposition. One of the biggest anxieties about the current immigration is its high Muslim element. Is it wrong to have such an anxiety, let alone to express it publicly, let alone to want to have a system of immigration based on it?

I don’t find these easy questions to answer. Nearly 25 years ago, I wrote an article for which many people, including some I respected, criticised me. In it, I argued that difference of religion often made immigration more difficult, and that this was particularly so in the case of Islam. The piece was written not long after the first Gulf war. I mentioned our Muslim next-door neighbours (we then lived in London). I wrote that they seemed nice people, but that when, during the war, I could hear them praying through the wall, I felt uneasy. Read on and comment » | Charles Moore | Saturday, September 12, 2015


My comment:

This article is rather refreshing to read. Mr. Moore has been willing to say what probably the majority of us have been thinking for a long time. However, there are a few flaws in his line of thinking. One such flaw is this: Mr. Moore asserts that Muslims worship the same god as Christians and Jews. No they don't. This canard keeps rearing its ugly head here in the West. It is true that Muslims have the same name for God as Christian Arabs do, namely Allah. But if you look a little deeper, you will find that a Muslim's understanding of Allah is quite, quite different from an Arab Christian's.

If Allah were to be the same god as God, God would have to be schizophrenic! Nobody in his right mind could truly believe that Allah and God are one and the same. I suspect that Mr. Moore doesn't believe this either. It has been added to an otherwise excellent article in order to placate.

It should be all too clear to our political élite by now that ordinary folk feel very unsettled by the ever-increasing numbers of Muslims here in the UK and Europe. I believe it would be true to say that most people do not want them here. And for one simple reason: Not only do they not want to integrate, they wish––ultimately––to impose their way of life on us, including Sharia law.

There is but one European leader who speaks any sense, and that is Viktor Orbán. I am sure that he is many people's hero now, for having the courage to make a stand against Merkel's insanity. He is certainly mine. In actual fact, Viktor Orbán is the true leader of the West. – ©Mark

This comment also appears here

With Jeremy Corbyn Elected as New Leader, Britain’s Labour Party Takes a Hard Left Turn

Jeremy Corbyn after being elected leader of Britain's
opposition Labour Party on Saturday.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON - Britain’s opposition Labour Party on Saturday took a remarkable leftward turn, electing as its leader Jeremy Corbyn, a longtime socialist committed to nationalizing key industries, scrapping Britain’s nuclear missile system and reversing the centrist policies of previous leaders such as Tony Blair.

The result of the contest, announced on Saturday morning in London, gave stewardship of the Labour party to the hard left for the first time in more than three decades, a development seen here as one of the most surprising upsets in modern British politics.

As Europe continues to feel the aftershocks of the financial crisis of 2008, voters have been increasingly attracted to the political extremes, with support growing both for socialist parties on the left and nationalist ones on the right. The Labour leadership result could now shift the main opposition party in Britain closer to the types of positions taken by other leftist parties that have become prominent across Europe, including Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain.

Mr. Corbyn, 66, has been a lawmaker for more than three decades but never served in government, preferring to campaign, often for unfashionable causes, and frequently rebelling against the party line. » | Saturday, September 12, 2015