ACCURACY IN MEDIA: WASHINGTON -- Accuracy in Media (AIM) is urging a full inquiry into a report that a Saudi billionaire caused the Fox News Channel (FNC) to dramatically alter its coverage of the Muslim riots in France after he called the network to complain. The Saudi billionaire, Al-waleed bin Talal, is a friend of News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and controls an influential number of voting shares in the company.Mark Alexander
"This report underscores the danger of giving foreign interests a significant financial stake in U.S. media companies," declared Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media.
The controversial comments came at an Arab media conference featuring representatives of Time magazine, USA Today, PBS, The Wall Street Journal, and other news organizations. The conference and the Saudi Prince's growing influence in News Corporation are among the subjects of a new December-A AIM Report that has just been posted at the AIM website (www.aim.org). The report raises the specter of Arab money influencing News Corporation and other U.S. media companies. Saudi Billionaire Boasts of Manipulating Fox News Coverage
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Although this video is not brand new, it is well worth watching. You decide.
Mark AlexanderVideo courtesy of YOU TUBE
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH, 14 September 2006 — Muslim businessmen should buy into global media outlets to help change anti-Muslim attitudes around the world, said information ministers from Muslim countries at a conference that began at Jeddah Conference Palace yesterday.Mark Alexander
Information ministers and officials meeting under the umbrella of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said Islam faced vilification after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. 'Muslims Need to Be Media Savvy'
Monday, September 11, 2006
Six years after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the free world was celebrating victory! Five years after the heinous crime of 9/11, the debate goes on and on and on: We haven't even come to a definitive decision as to what we are fighting yet!
Of course, there are differences in the nature of the war we are fighting now from the one we fought between 1939 and 1945. But there are also similarities. Then, as we are doing now, we were fighting against dark forces, fighting against tyranny, fighting against a people who had no respect for freedom, fighting against an implacable enemy, an enemy hell-bent on dominating the world.
After a period of appeasement, it became increasingly clear to all right-thinking people that the enemy would have to be confronted if the free world was to remain in tact. People then, though, were not in the grip of the disease of political correctness. As a result, they could see clearly who their enemy was, and there grew a determination to defeat that enemy: National Socialism.
At the present time, we are still in a period of appeasement similar to the lead up to 1939 when war broke out. There prevails a feeling that if we make concessions to the enemies, then they will come around, and let us live in peace. They won’t! Appeasement, by its very nature, is weakness. If there is one thing that Muslims despise, it’s weakness. The Islamic world is patriarchal. They have no time for weakness. Concessions, to them, equate with weakness. They only embolden them in their struggle to dominate the world.
There is another important similarity between then and now. At that time, we were fighting a political dogma: Nazism. At this time, we are also fighting a political dogma: Islam. Unfortunately, this political dogma is clothed in a deity. It comes complete with ‘Allah’s words’ and ‘Allah’s messenger’! But do not be fooled! Islam is a ‘religion’ like no other! It is nothing short of a total political system, with its very own laws and legal structures, the Shari’ah.
To complicate matters further, all Muslims are taught that the world is divided into two: Dar ul Islam, or the ‘House of Islam’, and Dar ul Harb, or the ‘House of War’. Muslims believe it is their God-given duty to fight in the way of their Lord, Allah, Rub al‘ameen, ‘Lord of the Worlds’, until the ‘House of War’, the home of the infidels, has been incorporated into the ‘House of Islam’. The fight will not be given up. At best there can be respites.
What is actually happening is clear to see; yet there is a great reluctance on the part of our leaders to admit to what is truly happening. The fact of the matter should be obvious to all: the Muslim world is fighting the jihad, or holy war, in order to conquer the world for Allah. America, seen as it is as the archenemy of Islamic values, has become the main enemy of Muslims worldwide. Hence, the United States is known as the ‘Great Satan’, and they call for its death. ‘Death to America’ is the cry from many a mosque throughout the world, and from many a street corner, too.
The problem for us is made more complicated because the Islamic world, dominated as it is by the Middle East in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, is the home of Islam. It is also home to the one commodity the West needs in great abundance: oil.
Westerners show little desire to do without this commodity. It is, after all, one of the engines of our economies. Out of a lack of vision and short-sightedness, the West has wasted nearly forty years of research time to find a viable alternative source of energy. Where alternatives are available, Western leaders are reluctant to further their use.
This leaves us dependent in no small measure on Middle Easterners. The trillions of dollars that have made the Middle East rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams enable our Saudi ‘friends’ to spend billions of dollars worldwide to buy influence in the West. They buy up our businesses, build mosques, build schools, build Islamic propagation centres, and fund university chairs. Of course, Saudi Arabia, being the home of the pernicious brand of Islam known as Wahhabism promotes that extreme brand of Islam in the West.
Fact is, in short, we are funding the jihad against ourselves!
Muslims despise America and are intent on destroying its influence in the world. Why do Muslims hate America so much? Well, there are many reasons too numerous to mention. But here are some: America is seen as the home of capitalism, with all its evil, debauched, hedonistic, godless, fun-seeking, entertainment-obsessed ways. Muslims see Americans as choosing the enjoyment of life over piety.
Moreover, America is successful economically in a way that Muslims in most parts of the world could only dream of. Muslims in the Middle East are rich by happenstance: oil has made them rich. They happen to have it in abundance. They have not become rich by working for their wealth; rather, they have become rich simply because they have this natural resource aplenty. Americans, by contrast, have become rich through intelligence, progress, resourcefulness, creativity, and sheer business acumen. This is an enviable state of affairs.
Then there’s the concept of freedom. America espouses freedom for all. Freedom is anathema to Muslims. To Muslims, the only part of freedom they understand is the freedom to worship Allah and his messenger! That’s the only freedom they are interested in!
In addition, there are two very important matters. America supports and stands up for Israel, and Muslims hate Israel with a vengeance. Muslims, as we all know, are anti-Semitic in the extreme. They despise the fact that the US, with all its power, could have the temerity to stand up for the Jews.
To complicate matters still further, the jihadis hate the fact that America keeps the Saudi royal family in power. Many devout Muslims see the Saudi royal family as apostates, people who have left Islam, for they view them as debauched, and see that their home country is run as a private business, very much as Nicolae Ceausescu ran Romania up until 1989. They despise the Americans for its support of a rotten régime. The Islamists are even more determined to Islamize America to be able to change its political course.
In order for America to be victorious in this battle of cultures, it needs a volte-face in its foreign policy. Not one to appease the Muslims, but one to ensure the West’s ultimate victory over its enemy: Islam.
To do this, we need strong leadership: strong leadership in the US, in Europe, and in the rest of the free world. We also need leaders with vision, determination, courage, and conviction. Leaders with the will to win, and leaders prepared to take the uncomfortable decisions necessary to drive these dark forces back into the desert sands, where they truly belong.
President Bush may have done his best. But his best is not yet good enough. I would suggest that in his remaining years in office that he come to recognize the forces working against his country. The enemy needs to be called by its proper name. This war of the twenty-first century is a war between Western and Islamic culture. Furthermore, he needs to get tougher on the enemy, for it is only strength our enemy understands.
To allow unfettered access to the West for Islam is something that will only complicate matters still further. After all, could Nazism be propagated in the United Kingdom during World War II? Could communism be propagated in the US in the post-War years? Certainly not! It would have been unthinkable to allow these ideologies to be propagated! Yet Islam has been allowed to grow apace in the West post-9/11!
It helps us not one jot to say that Islam is a religion, and we have freedom of religion in the West. Let’s have freedom of religion, by all means. But in Islam, we have a religion like no other: Islam is, first and foremost, a political ideology. The kind of religion that the founders of the US had in mind when the Constitution was drawn up was something quite different. They were referring to religions that are personal and spiritual in natural. Islam is not. Islam is communal and political and trans-national. Are we really being sensible in allowing a 'religion' to grow and grow in the West which has as its main goal the supplanting of our political system with a totally different set of laws based on a totally different ideology?
To add insult to injury, Christianity, and all other religions, are disallowed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and their practice is severely restricted in most other Islamic countries, too. Moreover, Muslims have no shame in disallowing other religions to be propagated, either. This is asymmetry if ever I recognized it!
The debate needs to stop. The time has come to take off our kid gloves. The time to fight the good fight is HERE and it is NOW. We have no time to waste. We really do not have the luxury of time.
In addition, people need to start preparing for the enormous struggle that lies ahead of them. They must be prepared to relinquish many comforts, and many liberties hitherto taken for granted; and they need to be prepared to sacrifice. For truly, no war was ever won without sacrifice!
Ladies and gentlemen, previous generations have sacrificed so much for the freedoms you and I enjoy today. They sacrificed for the sake of their children, and for the sake of their children’s children. The time has come for you and me to do the same for our children! Start preparing to sacrifice now. The debating needs to stop.
©Mark Alexander
Five years have passed since September 11, 2001, a day that will go down in history as a day of infamy. Thousands of innocent people perished that day in New York, and needlessly. The world has never been the same since. 9/11 has cast a long shadow over the free world.
Today, I should like to express my heartfelt sympathy to all those people, parents, spouses, children, and extended family members, of the victims of that heinous crime against the American nation, and against the rest of the free world. May those who perished rest in peace.
9/11 should be a stark reminder to all people that the world truly is divided into two: the enlightened free world and the benighted world of fundamentalist Islam. The latter is characterized by forces of barbarity and cruelty. America and the rest of the West must at last stand united in its battle against these forces of darkness, for not to do so will have dire consequences for the free world in its entirety.
THE WHITE HOUSE: THE PRESIDENT: Laura and I approach tomorrow with a heavy heart. It's hard not to think about the people who lost their lives on September the 11th, 2001. You know, you see the relatives of those who still grieve -- I just wish there were some way we could make them whole. So tomorrow is going to be a day of sadness for a lot of people. President Bush Visits with Firefighters, Tours Tribute WTC Visitor Center in New YorkMark Alexander
THE TIMES: PRESIDENT BUSH will cap two days of ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks with a primetime television address today from the Oval Office, amid an increasingly bitter election year debate over the Iraq war. Five years on, the Twin Towers cast long shadows over the war debate
THE INDEPENDENT: The bitter legacy of 9/11
ALWAYS ON WATCH: With thanks to Always On Watch for this touching tribute:
Take a good look at this face. It is the face of Steven Lawrence Glick, who perished on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. Steve was forty-two years old.
Look into his eyes, look at his smile. Really. A good, long look.
He's gone now. He left behind friends and family, including two young children. 9/11 Tribute: Steven L. Glick
And lest we forget the importance of fighting this war, a chilling message from Al-Qaeda:
CNN: A lengthy statement from al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks calls on Muslims to step up their resistance against the United States. Al Qaeda releases 9/11 anniversary message
LE FIGARO: Des guerres, des lois d'exception, des prisons spéciales, un «axe du Mal» et une «campagne pour la liberté» : ce qui a changé depuis les attentats.
CINQ ANS après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, l'Amérique a plus d'ennemis dans le monde qu'elle n'en avait avant. Qui l'aurait prédit, dans l'élan de solidarité qui a suivi le cauchemar du carnage en direct ? Des avions-missiles dans le ciel bleu de New York et de Washington, des victimes qui se jettent des fenêtres, des appels téléphoniques désespérés, des tours qui se fracassent dans un «tsunami de poussière». C'est d'abord le choc : 2 992 morts, un pays en état de siège. Puis c'est l'onde de choc, qui secoue les États-Unis et le reste de la planète jusqu'à ce jour. État des lieux. 11 Septembre : Le Nouveau Monde cinq ans après par Philippe Gélie
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: In New York haben am Sonntag die Gedenkfeiern zu «9/11» begonnen
Vor fünf Jahren wurden die USA Schauplatz der bis anhin grössten Terroranschläge. Aus diesem Anlass haben am Sonntag in New York die Gedenkfeiern zu «9/11» begonnen. Der amerikanische Präsident Bush trat in New York an der Stelle auf, wo zwei Flugzeuge in die beiden Türme des World Trade Center flogen. Am Montag hat der afghanische Präsident Karzai die Opfer des 9. Septembers 2001 gewürdigt. Erinnerungen an das Unfassbare
EL MUNDO: NUEVA YORK.- El presidente de EEUU, George W.Bush, inició en Nueva York las conmemoraciones del quinto aniversario del 11-S con una ofrenda floral en la 'Zona Cero', donde se alzaban las Torres Gemelas.
Acompañado del gobernador de Nueva York, George Pataki, el alcalde de la ciudad, Michael Bloomberg, y de su mujer Laura, el jefe de la Casa Blanca depositó sendas coronas en los lechos de la Torre Norte y la Torre Sur, que componían el complejo del World Trade Center. Bush inicia en la 'Zona Cero' de Nueva York la conmemoración del quinto aniversario del 11-S
CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Il presidente ha deposto una corona di fiori nel luogo attentati. Con lui il sindaco di allora Rudolph Giuliani, e l'attuale Bloomberg Usa:Bush a Ground Zero per 11 settembre
DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS: O quinto aniversário dos atentados de 11 de Setembro está a ser marcado nos Estados Unidos por um ambiente de controvérsia. No âmbito da guerra contra o terrorismo, uma evidência aprofunda as divisões: Ussama ben Laden continua a monte e, a menos que a sorte intervenha, não será tão cedo capturado ou eliminado. Destino de Ben Laden gera polémica nos EUA
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Iran celebrates the Mahdi: BBC In pictures: Iran celebrates Imam's birthdayMark Alexander
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: Saudi Arabia on Sunday beheaded a Yemeni man for rape, the Interior Ministry said. Mohammed bin Abdul-Raheem bin Ahmed was convicted of attacking the wife of a resident of the capital Riyadh in her home and raping her, the ministry said in a statement.Mark Alexander
He was beheaded in Riyadh. Yemeni beheaded in Saudi Arabia for rape
David Selbourne, author of The Losing Battle with Islam writes a chilling prognosis of why the West will be defeated in this war with Islam.
THE SUNDAY TIMES: LET US SUPPOSE, for the sake of argument, that the war declared by al-Qaeda and other Islamists is under way. Let us further suppose that thousands of “terrorist” attacks carried out in Islam’s name during the past decades form part of this war; and that conflicts that have spread to 50 countries and more, taking the lives of millions — including in inter-Muslim blood-shedding — are the outcome of what Osama bin Laden has called “conducting jihad for the sake of Allah”.Mark Alexander
If such war is under way, there are ten good reasons why, as things stand, Islam will not be defeated in it. Can the West defeat the Islamist threat? Here are ten reasons why not by David Selbourne
Spare me the maudlin observances of the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, the ringing bells and the weeping widows.Mark Alexander
The most meaningful way to mark the date is with a national renewal of our commitment to confront and wipe out the evil ideology that spawned the attacks.
Gathering on the spot of the missing towers to sob and read aloud names will only cheer those who remember Sept. 11 as a victory for their insane cause.
I'd rather see us honor the anniversary by watching the powerful documentary "Obsession," an expose of the jihadist culture's true aims.
This movie ought to be shown Monday in every community center, every school, every church, synagogue and mosque, every living room in America. Mark 9/11 by declaring jihad on jihadists by Nolan Finley
One cannot help but wonder whether the Muslims in this new upsurge in immigrants from Muslim countries will help swell the call for Shari'ah law in America! Are the authorities really paying attention? Their apparent insouciance is rather unsettling! Shouldn't Americans be worried? The New York Times seems to be proud of the development! In view of the fact that Muslims worldwide are waging the jihad against the US and the rest of the West, isn't it rather reckless for the authorities to go ahead with such a policy on immigration? What is even more puzzling is this: Try and immigrate to the US as a Brit, or a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and you'll likely be given the cold shoulder! So why this discrimination in favour of Muslims at a time when the West cannot trust them to be loyal to the Western values and ideals of tolerance and democracy and freedom?
America’s newest Muslims arrive in the afternoon crunch at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Their planes land from Dubai, Casablanca and Karachi. They stand in line, clasping documents. They emerge, sometimes hours later, steering their carts toward a flock of relatives, a stream of cabs, a new life.Mark Alexander
This was the path for Nur Fatima, a Pakistani woman who moved to Brooklyn six months ago and promptly shed her hijab. Through the same doors walked Nora Elhainy, a Moroccan who sells electronics in Queens, and Ahmed Youssef, an Egyptian who settled in Jersey City, where he gives the call to prayer at a palatial mosque.
“I got freedom in this country,” said Ms. Fatima, 25. “Freedom of everything. Freedom of thought.”
The events of Sept. 11 transformed life for Muslims in the United States, and the flow of immigrants from countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco thinned sharply.
But five years later, as the United States wrestles with questions of terrorism, civil liberties and immigration control, Muslims appear to be moving here again in surprising numbers, according to statistics collected by the Department of Homeland Security and the Census Bureau.
Immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia are planting new roots in states from Virginia to Texas to California. More Muslims Arrive in U.S., After 9/11 Dip
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Danish exports to Muslim countries have been hit hard by a row over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, officials in Denmark say.Mark Alexander
A Muslim boycott of Danish goods led to a 15.5% drop in total exports between February and June. Trade to the Middle East fell by half, statistics show.
An industry chief said there was little doubt the cartoons row was to blame. Cartoon row hits Danish exports
TOWNHALL: Seventy years ago this month, Adolf Hitler began seizing the assets of German Jews. He had waited until the summer Olympics in Berlin were finished and the world had seen the might of the Third Reich. Already, Hilter had established concentration camps for "undesirables" and forced many Jewish professionals out of their jobs. He had also harassed Catholics and Protestants who dared speak against his racist policies. The return of lethal fascismMark Alexander
Photo courtesy of EUObserver
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed radical EU reforms such as getting the European Commission president to pick his own commissioners and cross-border European Parliament elections - but first he wants a new EU "mini treaty." Sarkozy keen on radical shake up of EU institutionsMark Alexander
Friday, September 08, 2006
ISLAM REVIEW: Muslims often claim that Islam is the world's fastest growing religion. This boast empowers them with increased fervor as they race down the road for conquest of the New World. They argue that the number of new adherents embracing Islam is an indication of Allah's vindication and Islam's appeal as the only true religion. They ask, "How could so many people be wrong?" Hand in hand with this, Muslims cite another equally important claim, that Islam has a lower attrition rate than other faiths. ON THE ROAD TO THE NEW WORLD: Examining Islam's Expansionist History by Abdullah al-ArabyMark Alexander
These people want to kill us. The 'War on Terror' is a war for America's (and the rest of the free world's) FREEDOM, SECURITY, and SURVIVAL. NEVER forget! THE VIDEO: PROGRESS FOR AMERICAMark Alexander
THE JERUSALEM POST: Saudi Arabia's religious police, normally tasked with chiding women to cover themselves and ensuring men attend mosque prayers, are turning to a new target: cats and dogs.Mark Alexander
The police have issued a decree banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence. Saudi Arabia: Sale of pet cats and dogs banned
RADIO NETHERLANDS: On Saturday, the radical Pakistani Muslim Mohammed Anas Noorani Siddiqui is fronting an international conference in Amsterdam. In the Dutch parliament, though, eyebrows have been raised about why the man - who is considered a radical - has even been given a visa. Row as radical cleric arrives in the NetherlandsMark Alexander
... but ever since, he, and all the rest of the Church leaders, have been remarkably silent. One can therefore but ask oneself one simple question: If the former Archbishop of Canterbury could speak with such clarity and precision in 2004, why is he so silent today? And why are no Church leaders speaking any sense about Islam anymore? Clearly, the voice of sanity in the Church has been silenced. The sad reality is this: Political correctness dominates even in the Church of England today.
Address given by Lord Carey of Clifton at the Gregorian University, Rome, on Thursday, March 25 in which he criticised Islamic culture and regimes: 'Christianity and Islam: Collison [sic] or convergence?'Mark Alexander
"However, wherever we look, Islam seems to be embroiled in conflict with other faiths and other cultures. It is in opposition to practically every other world religion- to Judaism in the Middle East; to Christianity in the West, in Nigeria, and in the Middle East; to Hinduism in India; to Buddhism, especially since the destruction of the Temples in Afghanistan.
We are presented therefore with a huge puzzle concerning Islam. Why is it associated with violence throughout the world? Is extremism so ineluctably bound up with its faith that we are at last seeing its true character? Or could it be that a fight for the soul of Islam is going on that requires another great faith, Christianity, to support and encourage the vast majority of Muslims who resist this identification of their faith with terrorism?"
...
"Thus, believers are told, because they have come direct from Allah they are not to be questioned or revised. As it happens, in the first few centuries of the Islamic era, Islamic theologians sought to meet the challenge this implied, but during the past five hundred years critical scholarship has declined leading to strong resistance to modernity." ... "Saudi Arabia will not allow Christian worship and Christian priests and ministers are not allowed to function as such in that land. Muslim leaders often tell Christians and Jews that 'there is no compulsion in religion'. This sadly is only half true. If non-Muslims are not compelled to become Muslim, Muslims are not free to choose another faith. There is, we find, some compulsion, after all." Carey speech on Islam in full
Carey's Islam comments condemned
Muslim culture has contributed little for centuries, says Carey by Jonathan Petre
Carey defends 'anti-Islam' speech
WARNING: This video is NOT for the faint-hearted!
Video courtesy of YOU TUBE
Mark Alexander
BBC: Arabic TV channel Al-Jazeera has broadcast what it says is unseen footage of Osama Bin Laden meeting some of the 9/11 hijackers.Mark Alexander
The channel said it showed al-Qaeda leaders "preparing for the attacks and practising their execution". Bin Laden '9/11 video' broadcast
You can watch some of the video courtesy of the BBC HERE
AL-JAZEERA: A new videotape aired on Aljazeera television has shown Osama bin Laden and senior Al-Qaeda members meeting with some of the men who carried out the September 11 attacks against the US in 2001.
The 90-minute video apparently shows Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, taking part in the planning and preparation of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Al-Qaeda video takes credit for 9/11
Thursday, September 07, 2006
BBC: As part of his series on the fifth anniversary of the 11 September attacks, the BBC's Stephen Evans talks to Muslims in New York to see how they have been affected by the tragedy.Mark Alexander
Many Muslims in New York have been through a period of reflection since 11 September 2001, looking out at the wider US and wondering where they fit into it. NY Muslims keep the faith post 9/11
DAILY MAIL: How long will it be before Christianity becomes illegal in Britain? This is no longer the utterly absurd and offensive question that on first blush it would appear to be.Mark Alexander
An evangelical Christian campaigner, Stephen Green was arrested and charged last weekend with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.
So what was this behaviour? Merely trying peacefully to hand out leaflets at a gay rally in Cardiff. How Britain is turning Christianity into a crime by Melanie Phillips
Antony Thomas is the reporter and director of "Death of a Princess." In this interview, he talks about the reasons he turned his reporting into a docu-drama, the multiple sourcing that he had for it, the film's most controversial scenes and some of the pressures put on him and on others to prevent its broadcast. And, he discusses what he came to learn about the young princess herself and the basic facts behind her execution. This interview was conducted on March 21, 2005.Mark Alexander
Please note: "This film cannot be video streamed because Internet rights are not available."
Interview: Antony Thomas
Reflecting on "Princess" 25 Years Later
Interviews
Press Reaction
ISLAM REVIEW: Islam, in the West, is fighting its battle of acceptance and legitimacy. Muslim activists are working fervently trying to improve Islam's image. Their goal is to create an environment in which Islam can be easily propagated. Their tool is as old as Islam itself, but they have just rediscovered it. This tool is telling Christians that Islam and Christianity have a lot in common. They cite Islam's belief in the Bible, God, Jesus, Mary, the prophets, the day of judgment and Paradise. Nothing In Common by Abdullah Al ArabyMark Alexander
ASIA TIMES: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the definitive presence of traditional Shi'ite Islam, has warned that he "no longer has power to save Iraq from civil war", and has withdrawn from politics (see Iraq loses its voice of reason, Asia Times Online, September 6). Ayatollah al-Sistani and the end of Islam by SpenglerMark Alexander
ASIA TIMES: DAMASCUS - The saddest news coming from Iraq is the decision of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to cease all political activity and restrict himself to his religious duties in Shi'ite Islam. He said this weekend: "I will not be a political leader anymore. I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters." Iraq loses its voice of reason by Sami Moubayed
CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWSPAPER: THE BRITISH media needs to be more balanced in its coverage of Islam, according to members of Christian-Muslim dialogue groups. On the fifth anniversary of the atrocities of 9/11 in New York, suspicion of Islam in the UK is higher than ever, as shown in a recent YouGov poll in which 53 per cent of respondents felt they thought Islam was a threat to Western liberal democracy. Media is warned over its coverage of Islam by Ed BeavanMark Alexander
FORBES: Iran's hard-line president urged students Tuesday to push for a purge of liberal and secular university teachers, another sign of his determination to strengthen Islamic fundamentalism in the country.Mark Alexander
With his call echoing the rhetoric of the nation's 1979 Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad appears determined to remake Iran by reviving the fundamentalist goals pursued under the republic's late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Iran Head Wants Liberal Teachers Ousted
TOWNHALL.COM: The month of September brings not only the fifth anniversary of the horrific terror attacks of 2001, but also marks the passage of 67 years since the beginning of World War II. An accurate, unflinching recollection of that incomparably destructive conflagration remains indispensable in understanding some of the key issues of the bloody conflicts of our own time. In particular, the course of World War II demonstrates the complete folly of the currently trendy notion that a just war somehow must qualify as “proportional.” Why seek "proportional" warfare? by Michael MedvedMark Alexander
GULF NEWS: Washington: US President George W. Bush vowed on Tuesday to prevent Al Qaida from setting up a violent, radical Islamic empire based in Iraq, which he said was Osama Bin Laden's ultimate goal.Mark Alexander
Bush said Al Qaida's vision was to create a "unified totalitarian Islamic state that can confront and eventually destroy the free world."
Bin Laden has declared Iraq "the capital of the caliphate," said Bush, who has often faced criticism for trying to tie Iraq into the broader "war on terrorism. Bush warns of Al Qaida plan for 'Caliphate' based in Iraq
BARNABUS FUND: Once there were tens. Then there were hundreds. Now Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, speaks of thousands of militant British Muslims, indoctrinated and radicalised in British mosques and madrassas.Mark Alexander
This is not, primarily, because of the influence of a handful of a few “preachers of hate”. Islamic extremism has spread in Britain thanks to a particular brand of multiculturalism encouraged by this Government. And until ministers tackle it - especially the influence of Muslim faith schools - all their new efforts to build cohesion will come to very little.
The context goes far beyond Britain. Contemporary Islam has burst out of its colonial restraints. Once colonialism removed power, jihad and territorial control from Islam, it was left a benign force focusing on prayer and good deeds. But contemporary Islam has reverted back to early Islam, with all its theological rage against the non-Muslim world. Issues like Iraq and Afghanistan have become valves for expressing this anger and hatred against Britain and the West. THE SCHOOLS THAT DIVIDE THE NATION by DR PATRICK SOOKHDEO
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
NIS NEWS BULLETIN: THE HAGUE, 07/09/06 - The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) will present a controversial report on Islam to European Commission vice president Franco Frattini next week. Released in the Netherlands in April, it was criticised by both the Lower House and Foreign Minister Bot. EU Discusses Controversial Dutch Report On islamMark Alexander
The beheaded body of a Sudanese newspaper editor has been found on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum. Kidnapped Sudan editor beheadedMark Alexander
REUTERS FOUNDATION - ALERTNET: (New York, September 6, 2006) Saudi Arabia should immediately end its discrimination against its 100,000 Chadian residents, most of whom were born in the kingdom but are increasingly denied the rights to basic education and emergency healthcare, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi Arabia's decision to target Chadian children for expulsion from school is arbitrary and discriminatory.Mark Alexander
For the past two years, the Saudi government has stopped renewing one- to two-year residency permits for all Chadians in Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch learned through telephone interviews with six Chadian nationals in and around Jeddah. Thus by the end of August, nearly all of the estimated 100,000 Chadian residents of Saudi Arabia will lack valid permits. The overwhelming majority of them were born in Saudi Arabia and have never lived in Chad; many have never even visited the African country. Under Saudi naturalization laws, it is nearly impossible for Chadians to acquire Saudi citizenship because they generally do not fulfill the educational and financial requirements. Saudi Arabia: Chadians Barred From Schools, Hospitals [Source: Human Rights Watch]
BBC: Israel says it will lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon on Thursday, at 1800 local time (1500 GMT). Israel to lift Lebanon blockadeMark Alexander
LE FIGARO: Le blocus aérien et maritime, imposé au Liban depuis le 13 juillet, sera levé à 17 heures, heure de Paris. Après le départ de l’armée israélienne, des navires français, grecs et italiens surveilleront les côtes libanaises. Israël lèvera son blocus sur le Liban jeudi
NZZ: Israel will seine See- und Luftblockade gegen den Libanon am Donnerstagabend aufheben. Wie das Büro von Ministerpräsident Olmert am Mittwoch mitteilte, soll die Uno-Friedenstruppe die bisher von israelischen Soldaten besetzten Kommandopositionen am Flughafen Beirut sowie vor den Seehäfen übernehmen. Israel kündigt Aufhebung der Blockade an
EL MUNDO: EL CAIRO.- Un comunicado difundido por la oficina del primer ministro israelí, Ehud Olmert, confirma que Israel levantará el bloqueo impuesto en el Líbano y cederá el control de los puertos, aeropuertos y otros puntos de entrada a las fuerzas internacionales el jueves a las 17.00 (hora española). Israel asegura que levantará el bloqueo al Líbano el jueves por la tarde
CORRIERE DELLA SERA: GERUSALEMME - Israele ha comunicato la revoca per giovedì alle 18 (ora locale, le 17 in Italia) del blocco aereo e navale imposto da settimane sul Libano. L'annuncio è stato dato dall'ufficio del primo ministro israeliano. La notizia giunge dopo l'ultimatum lanciato dal ministro degli esteri libanese, Fawzi Salloukh, che aveva annunciato l'intenzione di Beirut di forzare il blocco aereo e navale imposto da Israele alla scadenza delle 48 ore annunciate dal Segretario dell'Onu Kofi Annan. Israele annuncia la fine del blocco
TheAge.com in Australia reports that anti-Semitism is on the rise across university campuses in the country. Grahame Leonard, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, says July had the most anti-Semitic incidents - no fewer than 141 - since records began in 1945. Never before had there been more than some 90. The July attacks included phone calls, hate e-mails and graffiti, as well as violent incidents - with the big jump being on campuses in Victoria. Anti-Semitic Hate Wave Rolls Across Britain and Australia by Hillel FendelMark Alexander
BBC: President George W Bush has compared Osama Bin Laden to Lenin and Hitler in a speech to US military officers.Mark Alexander
"Underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake," he said as he quoted extensively from Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures.
He said the world had ignored the writings of Lenin and Hitler "and paid a terrible price" - adding the world must not to do the same with al-Qaeda. Bush compares Bin Laden to Hitler
This is a very interesting video clip. The discussion takes place in Arabic, but it has English subtitles. The discussion is on the problem of female circumcision in the Islamic world:
Mark AlexanderVideo courtesy of YOU TUBE
I should like to remind my visitors that where name-calling and other forms of hate speech are used in comments, they will be deleted forthwith. This form of writing is neither acceptable nor appropriate.
All people regardless of creed, or of no creed at all, are welcome to take part in the discussions. But please leave name-calling out of your comments. It is primitive and totally unacceptable.
I repeat: Where inappropriate language is found, the comments will be deleted.
Mark Alexander
Islam is deeply anti-woman. Islam is the fundamental cause of the repression of Muslim women and remains the major obstacle to the evolution of their position. Islam has always considered women as creatures inferior in every way: physically, intellectually, and morally. This negative vision is divinely sanctioned in the Koran, corroborated by the hadiths, and perpetuated by the commentaries of the theologians, the custodians of Muslim dogma and ignorance.Mark Alexander
Far better for these intellectuals to abandon the religious argument, to reject these sacred texts, and have recourse to reason alone. They should turn instead to human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted on December 10, 1948, by the General Assembly of the United Nations in Paris and ratified by most Muslim countries) at no point has recourse to a religious argument. These rights are based on natural rights, which any adult human being capable of choice has. They are rights that human beings have simply because they are human beings. Human reason or rationality is the ultimate arbiter of rights - human rights, the rights of women. Islam's Shame, Lifting the Veil of Tears by Ibn Warraq
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BERLIN Public elementary schools in a southern German state will begin offering classes on Islam, and an education official in Baden-Wuerttemberg described the program as part of an effort to better integrate Muslims, many of whom are immigrants. German state to teach Islam in public schoolsMark Alexander
In American al Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn’s convert to Islam-or-die message to America released last Saturday, he extends a special invitation to the President, as well as to Daniel Pipes, Michael Scheuer, Steve Emerson -- and me:
If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the crusader-in-chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam. And we send a special invitation to all of you fighting Bush’s crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever else W. has sent you to die. Al Qaeda Operative Invites Me to Islam by Robert SpencerMark Alexander
EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - Turkey should recognize the Armenian genocide as a condition for its EU accession, MEPs argue in a highly critical report adopted by a broad majority in Strasbourg on Monday (4 September).Mark Alexander
The parliamentarians in the foreign affairs committee strongly criticised Turkey's slow pace on reforms and urged clear progress in solving the Cyprus issue. MEPs back Armenia genocide clause in Turkey report by Lucia Kubosova
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