France: Muslim Graves Desecrated
REUTERS: LILLE, France (Reuters) - Vandals desecrated 148 graves in the Muslim section of a military cemetery in northern France, hanging a pig's head on one of the headstones, police said on Sunday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the attack "a hateful act" and around 100 police were sent to the Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery near Arras to hunt for clues.

State prosecutor Jean-Pierre Valensi said the vandals struck overnight, daubing insults on the graves.

"They directly referred to Islam and there were also insults directed at the justice minister," Valensi said, referring to Rachida Dati, whose parents came from North Africa.

The desecration came almost exactly a year after youths daubed Nazi inscriptions and swastikas on Muslim tombs in the same cemetery in Ablain Saint-Nazaire.

France's political class united in denouncing the vandalism. Muslim Graves Desecrated in World War I Cemetery >>> | April 6, 2008

LE MONDE:
Nouvelle profanation de tombes musulmanes au cimetière militaire Notre-Dame de Lorette

WELTONLINE:
Gräber muslimischer Soldaten gesschändet: Auf einem Friedhof in Nordfrankreich sollen gefallene Soldaten in Ehre ruhen. Doch fast 150 Grabstätten muslimischer Soldaten wurden jetzt geschändet. Sogar einen Schweinekopf hängten die Täter an eines der Gräber. Der Hass richtete sich auch gegen ein Mitglied des Kabinetts [Rachida Dati].


Mark Alexander

Hetze im Netz
SPIEGELONLINE: Zwei Deutschtürken betreiben eines der größten deutschsprachigen Internet-Portale für Muslime. Sie sind bekennende Fundamentalisten, werden vom Verfassungsschutz beobachtet und werben für einen Islam nach Art des iranischen Mullah-Regimes.

Yavuz und Gürhan Özoguz wollen - so sagen sie - Brücken bauen zwischen Orient und Okzident, zwischen Muslimen und Christen. Die Möglichkeit, dies massenwirksam zu tun, haben sie. Schließlich sind sie die Betreiber von "Muslim-Markt", einem der größten deutschsprachigen Internet-Portale islamischer Prägung.

Rund 100.000 Besuche, nach Auskunft der Brüder, haben sie monatlich auf ihrer Web-Seite, auf der der "Dialog der Kulturen" als "Dialog für Frieden" gepriesen wird. Doch die Art und Weise, wie die Delmenhorster den Dialog - oder das, was sie dafür halten - führen, hat mitunter realsatirische Züge.

Etwa wenn der katholische Fürst Hans-Adam II. von und zu Liechtenstein im Interview bekennt, dass muslimischen Lehrerinnen, die in seinem Zwergstaat mit Kopftuch unterrichten wollten, keine Steine in den Weg gelegt würden: "In meiner Kindheit haben noch viele Frauen Kopftuch getragen, und niemand hat sich darüber aufgeregt." Ihm persönlich gefielen Frauen mit Kopftuch ohnehin "sehr viel besser als solche mit Nasenringen und violetten Haaren". Hetze im Netz >>> Von Gunther Latsch

Muslim-Markt

Mark Alexander

Beyond Fitna
FOX NEWS: Stung by a Dutch lawmaker's graphic documentary depicting barbaric acts carried out in the name of Islam and the Koran, an Iranian film organization says it is producing a counter-documentary, "Beyond Fitna."

Iran's FARS news agency reports the film focuses on "orders given to worldwide Christians in the (distorted) version of the Bible for stoking violence, committing genocide, attacking others, beheading and burning women and children who have been taken into captivity."

The Iranian film announcement comes a week after far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders released his 17-minute film, "Fitna" in the Web.

The release of "Fitna" on March 27 sparked noisy protests from Islamic groups and leaders — some threatening Wilders with death — and the United Nations and several nations called for the removal of the film from video Web sites such as Google and YouTube.

FARS reports the film makers also will include segments on FOX News' Bill O'Reilly. Beyond Fitna >>>

Mark Alexander

"Death to Wilders!", Say Malaysian Protestors
JIT: Malaysian protesters yesterday called for Dutch filmmaker Geert Wilders to be sentenced to death for insulting the Koran, at a rally organised by the Islamic party PAS.

About 150 demonstrators marched several kilometres (miles) in the rain to the Dutch embassy from a mosque near the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, under the watchful eyes of police.

"Muslims should put out a death sentence on Wilders for slandering Islam. Wilders has insulted the Koran," said Reduan Mohamad Nor, a senior member of PAS, which is part of Malaysia's opposition alliance.

"We are here to condemn Wilders. He has insulted our Prophet Mohammed. Are we ready to die to defend the Koran? Reduan yelled as the crowd cheered "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great." Malaysian Protesters Call for Death for Dutch Filmmaker >>> | April 5, 2008

IRNA:
Anti-Islamic Campaign Has Opposite Effect: Spokesman

Mark Alexander

Jihad Comes to Wall Street
"Sharia finance" does exactly what it promises, financing the spread of sharia — and terror. - Alex Alexiev
NATIONALREVIEW ONLINE: If you’ve seen Geert Wilders’s film Fitna, you may not have noticed a single headline amongst all the bombings, beheadings, and earnest expressions of Islam’s eventual world domination: Halal-fund: investments for Muslims. But the investment vehicles referenced are an essential part of radical Islam’s efforts to insinuate itself into Western societies in order to destroy them from within. And Wall Street, barely out of the woods from its disastrous run-in with sub-prime mortgages — and having lost one of its historic investment houses, Bear Stearns, in the process — is now chasing the very kind of "sharia finance" against which Wilders's movie warns, a business line that may eventually wind up being even more calamitous than the subprime-mortgage fiasco.

For the growing army of its acolytes, who salivate at the prospect of tens of billions of dollars in transaction fees from the burgeoning industry, sharia-compliant finance is seen as little more than a cuddly Islamic version of socially conscious investment — with ethical strictures forbidding usury and sin industries, and emphasizing charity. Indeed, a conference on the subject last Fall co-sponsored by the Wall Street Journal was titled just that: "Islamic Ethical Investment." According to this rosy interpretation, sharia finance is a windfall for capital markets — allowing Wall Street to skim some foam off the ocean of petrodollar liquidity in the Middle East, and put it to good use.

Other interpretations are possible, of course. Critics see sharia finance as a massive subversion campaign by radical Islam designed to legitimize sharia in the West, to undermine our markets, and ultimately to imperil our free-enterprise system and national security — all the while exposing banks to financial risks that make the sub-prime fiasco look like a walk in the park. For its proponents and ideological enablers — such as the well known suicide-bombing advocate, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi — sharia finance is nothing less than "Jihad with money." As al-Qaradawi explains, "God has ordered us to fight enemies with our lives and with our money." Unfortunately for Wall Street, it’s hard to argue with the good sheikh on that score. Far from being a guide to ethical investment, sharia finance is indistinguishable from sharia itself.

Sharia is a reactionary-to-the-core medieval Islamic doctrine that claims control over every aspect of every Muslim’s life. It imposes such "ethical" mandates on Muslims as the obligation to discriminate against women and non-Muslims; to kill homosexuals, adulterers, and apostates; to establish and maintain Muslim rule around the world; and to carry out violent offensive jihad against infidels. Notably, for those Muslims who cannot engage in physical jihad using force of arms, sharia requires that they support jihad financially. This is what sharia finance is all about. Jihad Comes to Wall Street >>> By Alex Alexiev

Hat tip: Revereridesagain

Cross-posted at The Shrewd Economist

Mark Alexander

The Clintons: Down But Definitely Not Out!
THE TELERAPH: Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have revealed they have earned nearly $109 million (£55m) since leaving the White House.

In 2007 alone, the couple took in more than $20m in income.

Almost half of the Clinton's money came from the former president's speeches.

"I have absolutely nothing against rich people," Hillary Clinton told Democrats at a party convention in North Dakota, after the former first couple gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years.

"As a matter of fact, my husband - much to my surprise and his - has made a lot of money since he left the White House doing what he loves doing most, talking to people." Clintons Reveal More Than $100m in Earnings >>> By Katie Franklin and agencies | April 5, 2008

Mark Alexander

Somebody, at Last, Speaks Some Sense on the (British) Family!
DAILY MAIL: Family breakdown is a "cancer" behind almost every evil affecting the country, a senior judge will declare today.

Mr Justice Coleridge blames youth crime, child abuse, drug addiction and binge-drinking on the "meltdown" of relations between parents and children.

He warns that the collapse of the family unit is a threat to the nation as bad as terrorism, crime, drugs or global warming.

The speech to family lawyers contains a fierce attack on the "neglect" of successive governments.

The 58-year-old judge, who is married with three grown-up children, will say family breakdown is an epidemic affecting all levels of society from the Royal Family down.

It is "on a scale, depth and breadth which few of us could have imagined even "a decade ago. It is a never-ending carnival of human misery. A ceaseless river of human distress.

"I am not saying every broken family produces dysfunctional children but I am saying that almost every dysfunctional child is the product of a broken family."

The judge, who is in charge of family courts across South-West England, will say he has a duty to speak out.

He will call on the Government to put the family at the top of its agenda, alongside the economy and the war on terror - and make it "rather more important than taking oaths of allegianc" [sic].

His speech will say: "Families are the cells which make up the body of society. If the cells are unhealthy and undernourished, or at worse cancerous and growing haphazard and out of control, in the end the body succumbs.

"In some of the more heavily populated urban areas, family life is quite frankly in meltdown or completely unrecognisable . . . it is on an epidemic scale. In some areas of the country family life in the old sense no longer exists." Family Life Is in 'Meltdown': Judge Launches Devastating Attack on Our Fractured Society >>> By Steve Doughty

Mark Alexander

Silencing the People
IT IS axiomatic that freedom of expression is the foundation of human freedom and progress. When people are not allowed to express themselves freely, there can be no debate or inquiry. It is only due to free debate and inquiry that humanity has progressed from the Dark Age to the Digital Age. This is why the first act of every would-be tyrant is to take control of the marketplace of ideas. - Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post

It has recently been reported that Susan Winter, a politician (Stadträtin) in Graz, Austria has been indicted for "Incitement and Degradation of Religious Symbols". If found guilty, she faces up to two years in an Austrian jail! Why? Because she had the temerity to speak her mind, she had the chutzpah to speak the truth as she saw the truth to be. After all, she believed, rightly in my opinion, that she lived in a European country which upheld the right of free speech. Not so, it seems.

She stated that the prophet Muhammad was a Kinderschänder, child molester, or paedophile. She also stated that Muhammad was a warlord. There were videos of her speech on YouTube, and even on my own website, but they all appear to have been removed! (God knows who removed them!)

That a person in Europe is now no longer able to express himself/herself freely, and with impunity, augers badly for our future here in Europe, for however repugnant a person’s ideas are, that person should be allowed to express them freely. As Caroline Glick stated (above): "It is axiomatic that freedom of expression is the foundation of human freedom and progress."

One thing that differentiates the world of the West with the Muslim world is this: Until now, we Westerners were allowed to express ourselves freely, without fear of reprisals from the law. The same cannot be said about people’s rights in Muslim nations. Is it, then, any wonder that the West has moved from the Dark Ages to the Digital Age, whereas the Muslim world has not? Whatever vestiges of the Digital Age the Muslim world enjoys can be attributed directly to the progress made by Westerners. For without Western civilization, Muslims would still be riding around on their camels, and would be living in tents.

One must therefore ask oneself one simple, but one very important, question: Is it the intention of European politicians to take western Europe back to the Dark Ages? Or are they just too yellow to speak up for Judeo-Christian civilization, the civilization which has brought the West so much in terms of human progress and development?

Do these weak, wimpish, excuses for politicians not realize that this wonderful civilization is not theirs to give away? Don’t they realize that we are merely custodians of this civilization?

Another recent example of the cowardliness of Western politicians is in their recent reaction to Geert Wilders’ wonderful, short film, Fitna. In that short little video, he managed to encapsulate all the dangers that Islam – yes Islam, not Islamism – poses to the till yet free, Western world.

Yet what has he got for his labours in return? Nothing but a blasting! European politicians, almost to a man, have denigrated this courageous Dutch politician for telling the people what they don’t want to know, but need to know if they are to be able to continue living in liberty.

Balkenende, the prime minister of the Netherlands, is probably the example par excellence of a politician without gonads. Before the film’s release, he had been running around like a headless chicken, trying to minimize the expected fall-out from the release of the excellent film.

If the Dutch government had been able, legally, to silence the brave and courageous Geert Wilders, then there is absolutely no doubt that it would have done so.

So where is all this leading to? Well, the answer to this simple question is quite simple: To no good place!

First of all, it should be stated that it is no good talking the talk without walking the walk. Western politicians are very adept at talking up the benefits of democracy and freedom. But to all but the blindest among us, it should be obvious that they are also adept at taking people’s liberty and democracy away from them! They are running scared; and they are hell-bent on avoiding conflict with an enemy – Islam – which is implacable. But there is a word in most languages for this. In English, it is called appeasement. In French, it is called apaisement, in German, Beschwichtigung. Whichever word you use in your language, it amounts to the same thing: Weakness!

It should be obvious to all that the West has not come to this wonderful place without struggle and strife. In each and every age, we will find our enemies and detractors. In the twentieth century, people had to live with the dangers of Nazism, for Hitler was the enemy of the day. But people back then had a backbone, and they had principle, too. And they were willing to fight for those principles; indeed, they were willing to die for them. They were most unlike the current bunch of excuses for statesmen we have leading us today! Think of them: Brown, Verhagen, Balkenende, Bush, ex-prime minister Blair. The list is endless. They are all wimps; they are all cowards, they are all unworthy of leading the free world.

We should all get one thing straight: Islam is not in the West to be equal to any other faith; rather, it is here to become dominant. Muslims will not rest until the laws of the land are supplanted by the laws of the Qur’an, by the so-called Sahri’ah laws that their god – Allah – is supposed to have sent down to them.

Shari’ah law is anathema to all the West stands for. It tolerates no equality between the sexes. It tolerates no rights for homosexuals. It tolerates no diversity of belief; and it certainly doesn’t tolerate disbelief. If Shari’ah gets the upper hands, we shall all be praying in the direction of Makkah, we shall all be Muslims then.

It is time for Westerners to re-assert their commitment to Judeo-Christian culture, to Judeo-Christian civilization, to liberty, democracy and all that our wonderful, superior civilization has given us. It is also high time for the people to stand up and tell their leaders that we will not be silenced.

As Geert Wilders said, the hour is late. There is little time to lose. If we lose this battle, we shall surely be taken back to a ‘New Dark Age’. No kidding!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

"Fear of Democracy"
IT IS axiomatic that freedom of expression is the foundation of human freedom and progress. When people are not allowed to express themselves freely, there can be no debate or inquiry. It is only due to free debate and inquiry that humanity has progressed from the Dark Age to the Digital Age. This is why the first act of every would-be tyrant is to take control of the marketplace of ideas. - Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post

THE JERUSALEM POST: The West stands by idly as its foundations are rent asunder.Last Friday the UN's Human Rights Council took a direct swipe at freedom of expression. In a 32-0 vote, the council instructed its "expert on freedom of expression" to report to the council on all instances in which individuals "abuse" their freedom of speech by giving expression to racial or religious bias.

The measure was proposed by paragons of freedom Egypt and Pakistan. It was supported by all Arab, Muslim and African countries - founts of liberty one and all. European states abstained.

The US, which is not a member of the Human Rights Council, tried to oppose the measure. In a speech before the council, US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Warren Tichenor warned that the resolution's purpose is to undermine freedom of expression because it imposes "restrictions on individuals rather than emphasiz[ing] the duty and responsibility of governments to guarantee, uphold, promote and protect human rights."

By seeking to criminalize free speech, the resolution stands in breach of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of that document states explicitly: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

The Europeans' decision to abstain rather than oppose the measure seems, at first glance, rather surprising. Given that the EU member states are among the UN's most emphatic champions, it would have seemed normal for them to have opposed a resolution that undermines one of the UN's foundational documents, and indeed, one of the most basic tenets of Western civilization.

But then again, given the EU's stands in recent years against freedom of expression, there really is nothing to be surprised about. The EU's current bow to intellectual thuggery is of course found in its response to the Internet release of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders' film Fitna.

The EU has gone out of its way to attack Wilders for daring to exercise his freedom of expression. The EU's presidency released a statement condemning the film for "inflaming hatred." Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende issued statements claiming that the film "serves no other purpose than to cause offense."

Then, too, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon blasted the film as "offensively anti-Islamic."

These statements follow the EU's quest to restrict freedom of speech following the 2005 publication of cartoons of Muhammed in Denmark's Jyllands Posten newspaper. They also come against the backdrop of the systematic silencing of anti-jihadist intellectuals throughout the continent. These intellectuals, such as Peter Redeker in France and Paul Cliteur in the Netherlands, are threatened into silence by European jihadists. And the governments of Europe either do nothing to defend the threatened thinkers or justify the intellectual blackmailers by sympathizing with their anger.

IT IS axiomatic that freedom of expression is the foundation of human freedom and progress. When people are not allowed to express themselves freely, there can be no debate or inquiry. It is only due to free debate and inquiry that humanity has progressed from the Dark Age to the Digital Age. This is why the first act of every would-be tyrant is to take control of the marketplace of ideas.

Yet today, the nations of Europe and indeed much of the Western world, either sit idly by and do nothing to defend that freedom or collaborate with unfree and often tyrannical Islamic states and terrorists in silencing debate and stifling dissent. Column One: Fear of Democracy >>> By Caroline Glick | April 3, 2008

Mark Alexander

"Long Live Islam", "Crush the Netherlands", Say Malaysian Muslim Protestors
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysian Islamists protested Friday against a 15-minute film made by a Dutch lawmaker that has caused outrage across the Muslim world, saying the short was insulting and blasphemous.

About 50 members of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party gathered outside the Dutch Embassy in Kuala Lumpur for about 30 minutes in torrential rain shouting "Long live Islam" and "Crush the Netherlands." Riot policemen watched nearby but did not take any action against the protesters.

Talking to reporters after the rally, party youth leader Riduan Mohamad Nor said Geert Wilders' film "Fitna," meaning "ordeal" in Arabic, showed his contempt for Muslims.

"He wants to insult Islam, insult our prophet, insult our Quran," Riduan said.

"Fitna" intersperses verses of the Quran with scenes of terrorist attacks. It was released on the Internet last month, sparking demonstrations by Muslims worldwide. Muslim Protestors Protest against Dutch Lawmaker for Insulting Quran >>> Associated Press | April 4, 2008

Mark Alexander

Ben Elton: BBC ‘Scared of Islam Jokes’
THE GUARDIAN: Comedian and writer Ben Elton has accused the BBC of being too "scared" to allow jokes about Islam.

Elton, who co-wrote critically acclaimed sitcoms such as The Young Ones and Blackadder, said the BBC's reluctance to run material that might offend Muslims was based on fear rather than morality.

Speaking in an interview with Christian magazine Third Way, Elton was asked if too much deference was shown to religious people.

"I think it all starts with people nodding whenever anybody says, 'As a person of faith ...'," Elton replied.

"And I believe that part of it is due to the genuine fear that the authorities and the community have about provoking the radical elements of Islam," he said.

"There's no doubt about it, the BBC will let vicar gags pass but they would not let imam gags pass.

"They might pretend that it's, you know, something to do with their moral sensibilities, but it isn't. It's because they're scared. I know these people."

Elton said it was difficult to use even common sayings: "I wanted to use the phrase 'Muhammad came to the mountain' and everybody said, 'Oh, don't! Just don't! Don't go there!'.

"It was nothing to do with Islam, I was merely referring to the old proverb, 'If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.' And people said, 'Let's just not!' It's incredible." Ben Elton: BBC ‘Scared of Islam Jokes’ >>> By Chris Tryhorn

Mark Alexander

More Proof that Islam Is a "Religion of Peace": ‘Airline Terror Plotters Planned Bigger 9/11’
THE TELEGRAPH: A gang of British Muslims plotted to cause carnage "on an almost unprecedented scale" by detonating up to 18 suicide bombs on transatlantic passenger flights, a court has heard.

In what would have been the worst terrorist atrocity since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, the eight defendants planned to kill hundreds and possibly thousands of passengers "all in the name of Islam", it is alleged.

The plotters were allegedly "almost ready" to carry out their plans to detonate liquid explosives on board at least seven flights from Heathrow to the US and Canada.

Their plans were allegedly so advanced that they had drawn up details of specific flights to be targeted and bought the components needed to make hydrogen peroxide bombs disguised as soft drinks such as Lucozade and Oasis.

But they were arrested before they were able to make "a violent and deadly statement of intent that would have truly global impact", a jury was told. ’Airline Terror Plotters Planned Bigger 9/11’ >>> By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, and Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | April 4, 2008

Mark Alexander

Australians Furious about Their Rudderless Leader
TIMESONLINE: Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, won office by promising to be less slavish to American interests than his predecessor, John Howard. So it was hardly surprising that his decision to salute President Bush at a Nato get-together last night did not go down too well at home.

But Mr Rudd might not have been prepared for the barrage of criticism unleashed by a gesture which he insisted today was nothing but an impromptu joke.

Footage of the newly-elected Labour prime minister raising his hand to salute Mr Bush during a social gathering on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Bucharest has been broadcast repeatedly on Australian television, drawing accusations of subservience to the world superpower.

Brendan Nelson, the Opposition leader, described Mr Rudd’s behaviour as "conduct unbecoming of an Australian prime minister." Anger Down Under over Kevin Rudd’s Salute to Bush >>> By Hannah Strange | April 4, 2008

Mark Alexander

Exodus of Iraqi Christians Seeking Refuge in Germany from the Hatred of Islam
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Christians are being severely persecuted in Iraq. German churches are now urging the government to be generous in granting them asylum -- and have encountered broad support.

The peaceful, idyllic scenery outside their window is completely foreign to them. The house in the western German city of Essen, where they had arrived the previous Wednesday, faces a landscape of small gardens in full bloom. Fascinated, the seven children in the Jalal family are constantly looking out the window. They have come from Mosul in Iraq to Germany's Ruhr region, where their grandparents, who have already been living here for four years, have taken them in.

Armed Sunnis forced their way into the Jalal family's house last August. Screaming "damned Christians," they beat the children, the eldest of them only 14. The attackers spat at pictures of the Virgin Mary on the wall and then shot the mother to death in front of her children. Her husband had been kidnapped a few days earlier on the way to work and disappeared without a trace. Exodus from Hatred >>> By Peter Wensierski

Mark Alexander

Fitna the Movie: Let’s Take Another Look

Mark Alexander

Of Fatwas and Infidels
ARAB VIEW: The Shoura Council last week defeated a proposal to adopt a law promoting respect for other religions and religious symbols. The proposal that would have had the blessings of the Arab League was opposed by 77 members and supported by 33.

In his reason for voting against the proposal, one member told Al-Watan newspaper that the negative effects might outweigh the positive ones as it would give legality to nonmonotheistic religions and consequently it would allow the building of houses of worship for those religions in Muslim countries.

The proposal was surely influenced by the Danish cartoon crisis that recently resurfaced. If we look at the consequences of approving such a proposal, we will see that it would have been an important step forward. It simply proposes respect for other religions and tolerance for those who practice them. The proposal suggests simply that people in the world need to learn to live together and to accept each other for what they are and that people must also remember that respect and tolerance work both ways. Of Fatwas and Infidels >>> By Abeer Mishkhas

Also by Abeer Mishkhas:
How Could Such Things Happen in Saudi Arabia?

And:
Commission [The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice] Waging a Battle for Territory

Mark Alexander

A Word from Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan
There is no doubt that this is a noble exercise in cross-cultural awareness by Queen Rania. But one cannot help thinking that Her Majesty should be aiming her message at the haters of "infidels" instead, the fundamentalist Muslims who are hell-bent on destroying Judeo-Christian civilization, and supplanting it with the backwardness that is Islam.


Queen Rania’s Website

Her Majesty Queen Rania’s official YouTube page, with an exclusive message on the importance of cross-cultural dialogue in breaking down stereotypes. Her Majesty Queen Rania

Mark Alexander

Turkey’s AK Party Accused of Undermining the Secular State
VOICE OF AMERICA: Turkey's ruling AK party is facing the prospect of closure, after the country's Constitutional Court agreed to hear a case accusing it of undermining secularism. The prime minister and president also face a five-year political ban. The case, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, has plunged the country into a political crisis.

Constitutional Court Deputy Chairman Court Osman Paksut announced the high court would hear the case against the ruling Justice and Development Party.

The AK party, as it is known in Turkey, is accused of undermining the secular state. If the prosecutor wins the case, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul along with 69 other members of the ruling party face a five-year political ban.

In last year's general election, the party with Islamic roots won nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament with 47 percent of the vote.

Some political observers say that following his recent victory, Prime Minister Erdogan abandoned the conciliatory approach to the divisive issue of religion, which characterized his previous administration.

"With that 47 percent, he thinks he can rule the world," said Ppolitical [sic] columnist Murat Yetkin. Court Case Against Ruling Party Divides Turks >>> By Dorian Jones, Istanbul | April 2, 2008

Mark Alexander

Archdhimmi Desmond Tutu Displays His Woeful Ignorance about Islam
"Dutch MP Geert Wilders’ comparison of the Quran to Mein Kampf is deeply offensive and betrays a profound ignorance of Islam." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
ASHARQ ALAWSAT: A bigger load of poppycock you wouldn’t wish to read! Geert Wilders’ Views Offend all those Who Believe in Humanity, Charity and Respect for Others >>> By Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Mark Alexander

Geert Wilders Is No Right-Wing Populist
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Dutch politician Geert Wilders may be many things, but he is not the right-wing populist he is accused of being. What the debate over his film "Fitna" reveals most clearly is the West's cowardice toward Islam.

There's a key for every lock, just as there's a perfectly fitting label for everyone who refuses to fit in. At the moment, the term "right-wing populist" is hot. Everyone and his brother is calling Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders by that name at the moment, but hardly any commentators or reporters have taken the time to explain what a "right-wing populist" actually is. And what distinguishes it from other political standpoints like, for instance, "left-wing populists."

Geert Wilders may be many things -- he is self-confident to the point of vanity and stubborn to the point of sacrificing himself. But he's not a right-wing populist.

For one thing, he's a radical liberal. For another, what he's doing at the moment is extremely unpopular. Six years ago, Pim Fortuyn, who was murdered by an animal rights fanatic, was also called a "right-wing populist." He was indeed very popular -- not because he was "right-wing" but because he insisted on drawing attention to things that the traditional elites of Dutch society had steadfastly ignored.

The label "right-wing populist" resonates negatively today the same way that "communist" did in the '50s and '60s, "fascist" did in the '70s and '80s and "climate change denier" does today. It saves the speaker from having to engage with the actual content of the argument and makes the bearer of the term solely responsible for the consequences of his or her actions.

If fanatical Muslims do, in fact, go ballistic over Wilder's film "Fitna," it's not because they have a flawed relationship to freedom of speech and religion, but because they've been insulted and provoked by Wilders -- or so the reasoning goes. Geert Wilders Is No Right-Wing Populist >>> By Henryk M. Broder

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
’Osama bin Laden Is Planning Something for the US Election'

Mark Alexander

Wafa Sultan Threatened by Top Sheikh
WORLD NET DAILY: Wafa Sultan – the Syria-born psychiatrist whose Al Jazeera interview two years ago sent shockwaves throughout the Islamic world – reportedly is the target of a serious tacit death threat from an influential Muslim scholar in the wake of a second interview with the Arab satellite television network.

Al Jazeera issued an apology after Sultan's interview earlier this month, pointing to "offensive remarks" but never specifying anything she said. Since then, however, the prominent Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi of Egypt "has directed his rage against Sultan," writes author and Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer in FrontPage Magazine

Qaradawi said Sultan, a former Muslim, uttered "unbearable, ghastly things that made my hair stand on end." Specifically, "she had the audacity to publicly curse Allah, his prophet, the Quran, the history of Islam and the Islamic nation."

Spencer concludes, "These are serious charges, and Qaradawi states them in terms that his jihadist minions will understand as meaning that she must be killed. Bold ex-Muslim Threatened by Top Sheik >>>

Mark Alexander

Arab Rights Groups Condemn Saudi Death Fatwa on Writers
THE GUARDIAN: Arab human rights activists have condemned a Saudi religious edict calling for the execution of two writers for apostasy - giving a rare glimpse of tensions over Islam inside the conservative kingdom.

The ruling by Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Barrak was described as "intellectual terrorism" carried out by "clerics of darkness" in a statement signed by 100 rights groups and intellectuals from across the region and obtained by Reuters news agency.

Last month Sheikh al-Barrak issued a fatwa against two Saudi writers he denounced as "infidels". Writing in al-Riyadh newspaper, Yousef Aba Al-Khail and Abdullah bin Bejad had questioned the Sunni Muslim view - standard in Saudi Arabia - that adherents of other faiths should be considered unbelievers.

"Anyone who claims this has refuted Islam and should be tried so that he can take it back. If not, he should be killed as an apostate from the religion of Islam," Sheikh al-Barrak said. "It is disgraceful that articles containing this kind of apostasy should be published in ... the land of the two holy shrines [in Mecca and Medina]."

Sheikh al-Barrak is seen by Islamists as Saudi Arabia's leading religious authority independent of the establishment Wahhabi school. His call won support from like-minded clerics who asked God to support him in the face of a "wicked attack" by liberals with "polluted beliefs".

Fatwas by radical Muslim clerics led to the assassination in 1992 of the Egyptian writer Farag Foda and to an attempt in 1994 in Cairo to murder the Egyptian Nobel prizewinner Naguib Mahfouz.

Last month Saudi Arabia's Shura council threw out a proposal for a law promoting respect for other religions and religious symbols, apparently for fear it might lead to the building of churches. That was seen as a defeat for liberals and reformists in the struggle against religious hardliners. Arab Rights Groups Condemn Saudi Death Fatwa on Writers >>> By Ian Black, Middle East editor | April 2, 2008

Mark Alexander

A Contested Conversion: Magdi Allam
ASIA NEWS: The Catholic baptism of the well known journalist, Magdi Allam, Egyptian and non practising Muslim, has been criticised and despised by the Islamic world. Added to this, is the embarrassment in Christian quarters, of those fearful of seeing a new crusade being launched by Benedict XVI and the Church. Instead, just as with the Regensburg address, this baptism is a message in defence of religious freedom, of evangelisation and of co-existence between religions.

Beirut (AsiaNews) – Every year, during the Easter Vigil in St Peter’s basilica, the pope baptises a group of adults drawn from the various continents. On the feast of the baptism of Jesus, meanwhile, the pope traditionally baptises small children.

This year’s vigil saw 7 people baptised. One of them was a Muslim, well known in Italy and abroad: Magdi Allam, deputy editor ad personam of the leading Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. Magdi Christian [sic] Allam, a Contested Conversion >>> By Samir Khalil Samir

Mark Alexander

Susan Winter Indicted in Austria on Charges of Incitement and Degradation of Religious Symbols
BRUSSELS JOURNAL: The Austrian authorities have indicted politician Susanne Winter on charges of incitement and degradation of religious symbols and religious agitation. This offence carries a maximum sentence of two years. Last January, Ms Winter said that the prophet Muhammad was "a child molester" because he had married a six-year-old girl. She also said he was "a warlord" who had written the Koran during "epileptic fits."

The politician, a member of the Austrian Freedom Party FPÖ, an anti-immigration party which is in opposition, added that Islam is "a totalitarian system of domination that should be cast back to its birthplace on the other side of the Mediterranean." She also warned for "a Muslim immigration tsunami," saying that "in 20 or 30 years, half the population of Austria will be Muslim" if the present immigration policies continue.

Following her remarks, Muslim extremists threatened to kill Susanne Winter and she was placed under police protection. Today, the Justice Department in Vienna announced that Ms Winter will be charged with "incitement and degradation of religious symbols" (Verhetzung und Herabwürdigung religiöser Symbole). If convicted she may have to serve up to two years in jail for her opinions. Dispatch from the Eurabian Front: Austria, European Parliament, the Netherlands, Belgium >>> By Thomas Landen

Mark Alexander

Pat Condell on Fitna

Mark Alexander

The West Should Applaud the Brave Geert Wilders for His Courage to Air the Film, Fitna, Against Great Odds, Pressure and Criticism
Ever since Geert Wilders released Fitna last week, all we have heard from the mainstream media and from politicians is criticism of the Netherlands’ best-known, most courageous, and clearest-thinking public figure.

So many people, spineless ones mainly, have said that Mr Wilders set out to insult the Qur’an and Muslims. What a ridiculous thing to say! Surely, what he set out to do is plain to see: He set out to inform the Dutch (and by extension , other Westerners) that they were in danger of losing their country to a backward, regressive ‘culture’: Islam. He stated categorically that this was the last chance for the Dutch to do something about the explosive growth of Islam in their country.

Now what is extreme about that? And what is "far-right" about it, as far as that goes? Yet Geert Wilders is almost always portrayed as a "far-right", "extreme" politician by just about all the media. Why? Just because he wants to warn his fellow countrymen of the dangers that lie ahead? Seems like good old-fashioned common sense to me. Patriotism, even!

I have been warning for years of the danger of the explosive growth of Islam in the West. And just in case anyone out there thinks that I entitled my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age , for reasons of sensationalism, think again! That title was carefully chosen, for I truly believe that we are heading for a "New Dark Age" if our politicians do not stop passing ridiculous laws to mollycoddle Muslims. They need to change course, and quickly.

I have just finished reading Mark Steyn’s book, America Alone. Clearly, he has taken up the theme in my book; since he refers to the coming "New Dark Age" often enough in it. So I am obviously not alone in my judgement that a "New Dark Age" is dawning here in the West.

In the past days, it has come to light that many Muslim countries, that oh-so-Western country Turkey included, are calling for the film Fitna to be banned. Clearly, Muslims don’t want to be confronted by the truth, for obviously they are hurt by it. The truth, as they say, so often does hurt.

So what Muslims now want the West to do is close down freedom of speech and freedom of expression. If we do that, it will be a fast track to a "New Dark Age". It is freedom of expression which so clearly delineates our two worlds: the world of the West and the world of the East. Were our politicians to be so stupid as to contemplate such a move, then they will surely deserve to incur the wrath of the electorates around the Western world!

Like so may others, I waited patiently for the film, Fitna, to be released. We had to wait a long time for it, but it was well-worth the long wait. I had expected the movie to be controversial, and it was. But in actual fact, it wasn’t that controversial at all; on the contrary, I found the film to be rather mild and measured. There was very little in it which most of us haven’t seen before. But it was very cleverly put together, and the choice of music was superb. All in all, Fitna impressed; and it had a message which all Westerners should take the time to ponder, since so many Westerners go about their daily lives, oblivious of the dangers which lie ahead of them.

I take my hat off to Geert Wilders for a number of reasons: First and foremost among them is for his courage in stating the things which almost all other politicians are far too cowardly to state. I also applaud him for his clear thinking, and for his refusal to obfuscate the truth.

The images in the film were, in some ways, shocking; but only to the uninitiated. For people who are familiar with the blogosphere, they were mild indeed. But powerful for all that.

The Dutch government has egg on its face! Those politicians made such a fuss over the impending release of that short film that they showed themselves up to be the wimps they truly are.

Oh, and a point on Islamophobia, something which so many Muslim countries seem to view with increasing alarm…

As I have said before, the term ‘Islamophobia’ is a misnomer, since a phobia is an irrational fear of something. Many people fear Islam; but that fear, alas, is not ‘irrational’. People’s fears are based on solid experience and history. It is an undeniable fact that the intention of Islam is to take over the Western world, and replace our way of governance with the Islamic way. Given the track record of most Muslim countries, it is surely not phobic to fear the exceedingly fast growth of Islam here in the West. On the contrary, actually, it would be irrational not to fear that explosive growth!

Moreover, I should like to say this: If Muslims don’t want their religion to be feared, if they want to be liked and welcomed around the world, they have to change their behaviour. Governments cannot legislate for its people to ‘love’ Islam. Only Muslims can make themselves loved and welcomed; and to bring these changes about, then they need to change their own behaviour. They need to stop their inexorable programme of expansion around the world, they need to free up their peoples, and they need to stop the cruel punishments: the beheadings, the stonings to death, the amputations for theft - the general cruelty which is so obviously part and parcel of their way of life. And they certainly need to put a stop to putting people to death for apostasy.

The expression, "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful", is found in almost every chapter (Surah) of Al-Qur’an al Kareem. Isn’t it high time that Muslims started to follow the example that Allah has supposedly given them? Isn’t it high time that Muslims started to show the same compassion and mercy that Allah supposedly shows His followers?

In summary, I would say this about Fitna. It was an excellent film, well worth waiting for. It was in no way insulting to Muslims; though I appreciate that many might have been hurt by it. But then, as I have already stated, the truth is usually hard to swallow. Nobody, Muslim or non-Muslim, likes to be confronted by the harsh realities of life. I applaud Geert Wilders for having the courage and bravery to raise issues in the Netherlands (and in the West) which should have been raised long ago. Bravo, Mr Wilders! Bravo!

©Mark Alexander

"Faith in Moderate Islam May Be the Biggest Counterfeit Faith of All"
[Magdi Cristiano Allam] says his conversion has "liberated" him from "darkness" and allowed him to see Islam more clearly. He said: "I realized that Islam is not compatible with core values such as respect for life and freedom of choice."

TOWNHALL.COM: Pope Benedict XVI last week baptized a man into the Catholic Church. The man, Magdi Allam, had converted from another faith. There is nothing unusual about that. People convert from non-faith to faith, or from one religion to another, or within faiths to different denominations all the time. However, this conversion was different. Mr. Allam, who has taken a new name, Magdi Cristiano Allam, was a Muslim, and not just your average, everyday Muslim. Mr. Allam was a prized "moderate" Muslim, upon whom many in Italy and the West have pinned their hopes for a new generation of similarly moderate Muslims who would renounce terrorism and violence and lead Islam into a bright new promised land of tolerance, inclusion and religious pluralism. From the reaction in the Muslim world to Mr. Allam’s conversion, there apparently remains a very long way to go before moderation is achieved. The Children of Israel wandered 40 years in the wilderness before they arrived in the Promised Land. The journey to the promised land of Islamic moderation may take a lot longer — if the wanderers get there at all. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Allam’s conversion had produced "fury in Muslim lands," which is becoming increasingly easy to do. Conversion: A One-Way Street? >>> By Cal Thomas

Mark Alexander

Immigration Brings No Economic Benefit to the UK
THE TELEGRAPH: The number of immigrants entering Britain should be capped, an influential House of Lords committee has warned.

Its analysis concludes that record levels of immigration are bringing no economic benefit to the country.

The report says that ministers should urgently review immigration policies as plans to increase the population by 190,000 a year threaten to have "major impacts" on public services and housing.

The economic affairs committee - whose members include eminent economists, businessmen and politicians - rebukes the Government for using "irrelevant and misleading" economic statistics to justify the boom in immigration in the past decade.

Lord Wakeham, the former energy minister who led the eight-month inquiry, said ministers risked stoking social tensions if they pursued policies that "didn't make economic sense". Limit Immigration, Warns House of Lords >>>

THE TELEGRAPH:
Christians Must Rethink Immigration By Damian Thompson

Mark Alexander

Muslim Countries Interfere with West's Freedom of Expression: They Want Fitna Banned!
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The ambassadors of 26 Islamic countries want the Netherlands to investigate whether the film Fitna made by Dutch right-wing populist MP Geert Wilders can be banned. They asked Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen whether it is possible to start legal proceedings against the anti-Islam film. The meeting at the ministry in The Hague was attended by ambassadors of countries including Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Mr Verhagen told the 26 ambassadors he was pleased that responses from the Muslim world up to now had been moderate. He said the public prosecutor was investigating whether any offence had been committed, and the Dutch government clearly distanced itself from the film.

At the same time he called on the ambassadors to ensure Dutch citizens and organisations abroad were protected. "Let's keep heads cool and relations warm," he added. "We know about the concerns and feelings about this film among the international Muslim community, but hurt feelings must never be an excuse for aggression and threats."

"Christian terrorist"

In Indonesia, a few dozen demonstrators protested against Geert Wilders' film outside the Dutch embassy. They waved banners reading "Holland go to Hell" and "Kill Geert Wilders", threw eggs and bottles of water at the building and chanted anti-Dutch slogans. One protestor called on Muslims around the world to kill Mr Wilders, calling him a "Christian terrorist". IslamicCountries Want Dutch to Ban Wilders’ Movie >>> By Sebastiaan Gottlieb | 31-03-2008-03-31

Mark Alexander

Maxime Maximizes His Dhimmitude!
ASHARQ ALAWSAT: A Member of Parliament for an opposition party that represents a small proportion of Dutch voters has made a critical film about the Koran, a book that is sacred to roughly 1.2 billion Muslims. The announcement of this film was for months the cause of considerable disquiet and discussion in the Netherlands and the rest of the world. On Thursday 27 March the film was released on the internet. It shows images of atrocities and blames them on Islam and the Koran.

Let me begin by emphasising that these views do not in any way reflect the perspective or policy of the Dutch government. The Dutch government condemns terrorist attacks, whether they are committed in the name of Islam or other religions or for any other motive. Terror must never be a means to pursue any goal. But Islam must not be equated with the commission of atrocities. The vast majority of Muslims condemn extremism and violence, of which many Muslims are also the victims. The Dutch government emphatically dissociates itself from this film because of its invidious generalisations and its polarising effect.

Islam has a clearly visible place in Dutch society. There are more than 800,000 people in the Netherlands with roots in the Islamic world, about 5.3% of our population. In recent decades, Islam in all its diversity has had many opportunities to flourish as a religion within the limits of the law. Islamic institutions, associations, media and schools have become familiar features of our country. Over 450 mosques have been built on Dutch soil. This development reflects the well-established Dutch tradition of religious tolerance. Muslims make a major contribution to dialogue within Dutch society, notably through their participation in consultative bodies. Two members of the Dutch government have roots in the Islamic world: Ahmed Aboutaleb, State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment, and Nebahat Albayrak, State Secretary for Justice. I mention these facts to show that in general, Muslims in the Netherlands work together well and live in harmony with non-Muslims. The Dutch government is heartened by the balanced initial responses to the film’s release from Muslim organisations in the Netherlands.

There is no point in trying to disguise the fact that contact with other cultures, customs and faiths is exacerbating tensions. On the contrary, it is good to discuss these tensions openly and frankly. The question is, however: how should we deal with these tensions? How can we bridge the differences? The Alliance of Civilisations, an initiative of the Turkish and Spanish governments, provides governments and civil society organisations with a forum to search together for constructive responses. I warmly welcome this initiative. That is why the Netherlands has since the outset been one of the countries that support the Alliance in principle and practice. This film has the opposite aim: instead of offering a constructive response to the challenges we face today, it is spreading fear and turning different groups against each other.

We should condemn not religions, but rather people and groups who abuse religion to achieve their ends through violence. Islam is not the problem. Muslims, Christians and people with other convictions can coexist in complete harmony. The problem is not religion, but the abuse of religion to spread hatred and intolerance. No Room for "Fitna" >>> By Maxime Verhagen | 30. 3. 08

Mark Alexander

Geert Wilders’ Film Has Been Released: Fitna the Movie - Its Message: Islam Must Be Defeated!

Original Dutch Version

As the movie has been removed from Live Leak, you can view the movie HERE.

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Islam in Fast Demise
In Africa Alone Everyday, 16,000 Muslims Leave Islam
FAITHFREEDOM.ORG: Hitler said if a lie is repeated often enough and long enough, it would come to be perceived as truth. One such lie often repeated is “Islam is the fastest growing religion”.

Despite the fact that Muslims by virtue of being poor and uneducated are much more reproductive than others, Islam as a religion is not growing but dying fast.

More and more Muslims are discovering that the violence evinced by some of their coreligionists is not an aberration but is inspired by the teachings of the Quran and the examples set by its author. Muslims are becoming disillusioned with Islam. They find out that the mechanistic ritual of praying five times per day, reciting verses that they do not understand and indeed mean nothing, getting up at taxing hours of the morning and abstaining from food and water until the sunset are not means to becoming more spiritual but are instruments to control their mind. These enlightened Muslims no more heed to the fear mongering verses of the Quran that threaten to burn them and roast them in the fires of hell if they dare to think and question the validity of that book.

Every day thousands of Muslim intellectuals are leaving Islam. They find Islam inconsistent with science, logics, human rights and ethics. Millions of Iranians already have left Islam. The enlightened Muslims of other nationalities are not far behind. This is the beginning of a mass exodus from Islam. It is a movement that is already in motion and nothing can stop it.

However the exodus from Islam is not reserved to the intellectuals but also the average Muslims are finding that Islam is not the way to God but to ignorance, poverty and wars. They are leaving Islam to embrace other religions especially the Christianity. Islam in Fast Demise >>> By Ali Sina

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

CNN Offers to Air Fitna

Down with Network Solutions! Don’t use them! Avoid them! Boycott them! Let the company go down the tubes! It doesn’t stand up for free speech. Enough said!

Hat tip: Klein Verzet

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Islam Not Mentioned in Wilders’ English Cash Appeal
DUTCHNEWS NL: The anti-immigration MP Geert Wilders has published a request for political donations from international supporters but does not mention his controversial stance on immigration or Islam in the English-language version.

Wilders, who plans to release his short anti-Islam film Fitna before April 1, placed the appeal for cash on his private website www.geertwilders.nl, rather than on the website of his party, the PVV (Partij voor de Vrijheid/Freedom Party).



In the Dutch version, Wilders says that he is involved in 'a battle against the Islamisation of the Netherlands and mass immigration' and points out that six out of 10 Dutch people think large-scale immigration is 'the biggest mistake in our history'.



In his English-language appeal, however, Wilders asks his 'international friends' for support in 'a battle for the survival of freedom'. The words Islam and immigration do not appear, nor does he mention his film. Islam Not Mentioned in Wilders' English Cash Appeal >>> | Thursday 27 March 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Vatican Baptism No Good, Says Muslim Scholar
Photo of Arif Ali Nayed courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A Muslim scholar involved in high-level dialogue with the Vatican has denounced the Pope's baptism on Saturday of a prominent Italian Muslim convert.

Aref Ali Nayed, the head of Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, called the baptism of journalist Magdi Allam a deliberate and provocative act.

The Vatican has not yet commented, but its official newspaper said the gesture aimed to promote religious freedom.

The Pope traditionally baptises adult converts to Catholicism on Easter eve.

Mr Allam's invitation to the ceremony, which took place in St Peter's Basilica, was however kept secret by the Vatican, until just before the Easter vigil mass.

The Egyptian-born Italian TV and newspaper commentator has been an outspoken critic of Islamist militancy and a strong supporter of Israel.

He says such controversial views and his conversion to Christianity have provoked threats on his life, and he is now protected by a police escort. Muslim Scholar Denounces Muslim Baptism >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Sarkozy: We Are Stronger Together
BBC: President Nicolas Sarkozy has said France and Britain have "never been so close", during an historic address to both houses of the UK Parliament.

He said he wanted a new Franco-British "brotherhood", saying that what brought Britain and France together was "stronger than what separates us".

His country would "never forget" what British people did to "free France" during the world wars, he said.

Peers and MPs gave him a standing ovation following the speech in French.

Mr Sarkozy said France and Britain were stronger side by side, and the world admired the UK's "courage". Sarkozy: We Are Stronger Together >>>

WACH BBC VIDEO:
Excerpts of Sarkozy’s Speech to UK Parliament

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Sarkozy’s Visit to Britain

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

What the French Are Saying About “President Bling-Bling” and Carla
Watch HERE
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

No Legal Grounds to Ban Wilders' Film
DUTCHNEWS.NL: Dutch foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen says the cabinet has no plans to ask the courts to ban the controversial film due to be released this month by anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, reports ANP news service on Wednesday.

‘We looked at the possibilities and there are none,’ Verhagen is quoted as saying. His comments follow a call by former Dutch foreign affairs minister Hans van den Broek, now a leading government advisor, who has called on the cabinet to take the issue to court. No Legal Grounds to Ban Wilders' Film >>> | Wednesday 26 March 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Nicolas Sarkozy Calls for 'Franco-British Brotherhood' as State Visit Begins
Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the start of a new "Franco-British brotherhood" today, as he arrived on the first state visit to Britain by a French President for 12 years.

In an interview, Mr Sarkozy said that it was time to reinvent the cross-Channel relationship from the strategic co-operation enshrined in the entente cordiale to become one of genuine closeness and "hand-in-glove" warmth.

The French President touched down at Heathrow Airport with his wife, Carla Bruni, where the couple were greeted on the tarmac by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at 11.25am. They then travelled in convoy to Windsor, where they were met by the Queen and travelled together in a state carriage procession to Windsor Castle.

Launching a charm offensive designed to realign French foreign policy, Mr Sarkozy told the BBC via a translator: "Whoever the British leader may be he will need others, other Europeans.

"And how can we do without your strong economy, your language which is the most spoken language throughout the world — do without your defence, which is the most significant in Europe? I want a new Franco-British brotherhood."

The moves to warm the relationship between Britain and France come after years of gradual decline in relations under the leadership of Jacques Chirac, who focused overwhelmingly on building a close relationship with Germany. Relations between France, Britain and the United States reached their lowest point for decades in 2003, when Mr Chirac openly opposed and derided the Iraq War.

Mr Sarkozy has made no secret of his pro-American leanings and has vowed to realign French foreign policy.

The French President added that he wanted Britain and France to work "hand in glove", and pointed to his role in closing down the controversial Sangatte immigrant camp while French Home Affairs Minister. Nicolas Sarkozy calls for 'Franco-British brotherhood' as state visit begins >>> By David Byers

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Wafa Sultan: Target of Jihad
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: Wafa Sultan appeared on Al-Jazeera again earlier this month, and the shock waves are still reverberating throughout the Islamic world. The day after her appearance Al-Jazeera issued a public apology for her “offensive” remarks, but did not specify what exactly she said that was so terrible. Last week, however, the influential Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was not so circumspect. Qaradawi, whom Saudi-funded academic John Esposito has praised as a “reformist,” in 2006 exhorted Muslims to fight against Israel by invoking the notorious genocidal hadith in which Muhammad says that on the Day of Judgment “even the stones and the trees will speak, with or without words, and say: ‘Oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim, there’s a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’” But now he has directed his rage against Sultan, a fifty-year-old Syrian-American psychologist: “She said unbearable, ghastly things that made my hair stand on end.” Specifically, “she had the audacity to publicly curse Allah, His Prophet, the Koran, the history of Islam, and the Islamic nation.” He repeated that she “leveled accusations against Islam and the Muslims, and cursed Allah, His Prophet, the Islamic nation, the shari’a, and the Islamic faith and culture.”

These are serious charges, and Qaradawi states them in terms that his jihadist minions will understand as meaning that she must be killed. Given that Qaradawi has justified suicide attacks against Israeli civilians and American soldiers in Iraq, it is clear that he has no distaste for violence, and thus law enforcement officials should take his latest fulminations against Wafa Sultan very seriously indeed. Target of Jihad >>> By Robert Spencer

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

”Defame” Islam, Get Sued

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Saudis Keep On Sh****** Their Nest
Isn’t it about time we told these sand-people where to get off? Isn’t it about time we told them to NAFF OFF?

THE GUARDIAN: British Muslims today accused Saudi Arabia of exporting extremist interpretations of the Qur'an, during a conference designed to improve understanding between Islam and the west.

The criticism came as the first international survey on the subject found that people in most countries believed relations between the two civilisations to be deteriorating.

The Symposium on Muslim Communities in Europe, organised by the World Economic Forum, brought together archbishops, imams, rabbis and other religious leaders in central London.

The exchange of views focused on how distrust between the two cultures could be overcome by examining religious and other differences.

Two prominent British Muslims, Ed Husain, the author of the memoir The Islamist, and Tim Winter, a divinity lecturer at Cambridge University, expressed alarm at the influence of Saudi-financed literature.

Such writings described Christians as "idol worshippers" and advocated an "extremist, Wahabi, puritanical" version of Islam, Winter said. European Islam, he maintained, was becoming a "vicarious playground" in a broader "war of ideas".

Husain also complained about "Saudi-sponsored" teaching at mosques encouraging Muslims to see themselves as a distinct political bloc with a "year-zero mindset".

Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, said the 9/11 attacks had done severe damage to Muslim communities in the west.

"The terrorists were able to hijack far more than the planes used in 9/11, they in fact hijacked these whole communities," he said.
"They were able, at a stroke, to make them - and even worse their religion - seem a potential source of fear to others. Saudis Stoking UK Extremism, Conference Told >>>

BBC:
Saudis to Retrain 40,000 Clerics By Magdi Abdlehadi

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

A Political Challenge to Political Islam: Maryam Namazie, Ex-Muslim, UK

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

NUT goes NUTs and Fails to Find Its NUTs Over the Koran!
Image courtesy of Google Images
DAILY EXPRESS: STATE schools should be forced to open their doors to Islamic preachers teaching the Koran, the largest classroom union demanded yesterday.

The National Union of Teachers’ conference also said existing religious schools – almost all of them Christian – should have to admit pupils from other faiths.



The union’s general secretary Steve Sinnott said that allowing Muslim imams to preach in schools would be a way to reunite divided communities.



But the proposals prompted immediate outrage. Conservative Party backbencher Mark Pritchard said: “This is just further appeasement for Muslim militants.



“We should just follow the existing laws on religious education, which state that it should be of a predominantly Christian character. All this will do is further divide many communities that are already split on religious lines.”


Speaking as delegates met at the hard-Left-dominated union’s annual conference, Mr Sinnott admitted that his plan would amount to religious indoctrination inside taxpayer-backed schools rather than simple teaching of what different religions believe.



He said: “This is more than simple religious education, it’s religious instruction.”



The proposals include providing private Muslim prayer facilities in schools. But Mr Sinnott stressed that no pupils would be forced to have any religious instruction.



The union, however, also called for all daily religious assemblies, which by law are supposed to have a Christian character, to be abandoned. Fury Over Plan to Teach Koran in Schools >>> By Gabriel Milland

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Radio Show: The Weekly Gathering Storm Report
For those who couldn’t listen in to yesterday’s Weekly Gathering Storm Report Radio Show with Always and WC because of time constraints or simply because it was broadcast in your country at an inconvenient time, here’s a direct link to the show:

Walid Shoebat and Yours Truly as Guests of Always and WC
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Joyous News for Christianity; Great Disappointment for the “Religion of Peace”: Mass Exodus Out of Islam?
Icon of Jesus Christ courtesy of Google Images
TOWNHALL.COM: In church yesterday, as you celebrated Easter, did you notice anything—or anyone—unusual?

In churches all over the world, there were millions of people celebrating the resurrection of Christ, who were not there just a few years ago—because they were worshipping in a mosque instead.

It is thrilling evidence that God is doing a mighty work among Muslims.

According to the website Islam Watch, in Russia, some two million ethnic Muslims converted to Christianity last year. Ten thousand French Muslims converted, as did 35,000 Turkish Muslims. In India, approximately 10,000 people abandoned Islam for Christianity.

In his book Epicenter, author Joel Rosenberg details amazing stories of Muslims converting to Christianity. In Algeria, the birthplace of St. Augustine, more than 80,000 Muslims have turned to Christ in recent years. This, despite the stiff opposition from Islamic clerics who have passed laws banning evangelism.

In Morocco, newspaper articles openly worry that 25,000 to 40,000 Muslims have become followers of Christ in recent years.

The stories are even more amazing in the heart of the Middle East. In 1996, the Egyptian Bible Society sold just 3,000 video copies of the JESUS film. In the year 2000, they sold an incredible 600,000 copies. "They Want Jesus Instead": Why Muslims Convert >>> By Chuck Colson

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)