Schism: A Saudi’s Riposte to Fitna
THE TELEGRAPH: A Saudi man has created a riposte to films criticising Islam in a video which portrays Christianity as a religion of violence.

The film, entitled Schism, was made by Raed al-Saeed. It splices together Bible verses and Iraq war images - including British soldiers beating civilians.

Other images show Christian extremists in America apparently encouraging children to fight a "war" for Jesus.

The film, which was posted on the internet last month, was initially removed by YouTube, the video sharing site. Mr Saeed complained to the site and it has been restored.

Mr Saeed said his film was not intended to outrage or provoke, but rather to illustrate how all religions could be depicted as preaching violence.

"It is easy to take parts of any holy book and make it sound like the most inhuman book ever written," reads the closing image in the six-minute film. Schism is a response to the recently released film Fitna by Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician, in which acts of violence by Islamic extremists are inter-cut with Koran verses.

It had been feared that Fitna would prompt violent global outrage amongst Muslims. So far, however, reaction has been muted.
Instead it has spawned a host of parodies as well as more serious responses such as Mr Saeed's film.

"In Schism I have used the same methodology that Wilders has used and that involves taking texts out of context," he said. [Source: Muslim Depicts 'Violent' Christianity] By Harry de Quetteville

Schism:

EUROPE NEWS:
The Message of Schism

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Farewell Israel: Bush, Iran and the Revolt of Islam
A political documentary written and directed by Joel Gilbert. View the trailer HERE
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Key to the Ka’aba Breaks All Records in Sotheby's Sale
Key to the Ka’aba fetches record price at auction. Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A 12th Century key to Islam's holiest shrine has sold at auction in London for £9.2m ($18.1m).

The key to the Kaaba - the ancient cube-shaped shrine in Mecca - went to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby's.

The auction house said the price set a record for the sale of an Islamic work of art.

Made of iron and measuring 37cm (15in) in length, the key is engraved with the words "This was made for the Holy House of God".

The key was the centrepiece of Sotheby's Islamic art sale, which realised more than £21.5m ($40m) in total.

'Important symbol'

Head of Sotheby's Islamic art department Edward Gibbs said: "Remarkably, the sale realised more than the Islamic department's annual total for 2007, demonstrating beyond doubt the burgeoning and international demand for Islamic art."

The key is the only known example to be in private hands. All of the other 58 Kaaba keys are in museums.

Sotheby's said the key was "arguably one of the most important symbols of Islam".

The auction house said the keys were dedicated to caliphs, starting with the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.

"As a physical object, the key to the holiest building of an entire religion, it demonstrates the authority of the caliph and is the ultimate emblem of power," said Sotheby's. [Source: BBC: Holy Islamic Key Sets Sale Record]

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Go Easy Now Qaradawi! Tiny Amounts of Alcohol for Muslims Are Permissible
BBC: A prominent Egyptian cleric has created controversy by issuing a fatwa that says tiny amounts of alcohol are permissible in Islam.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi's fatwa says a level of 0.5% is allowed, whereas most Muslims would say alcohol of any quantity is banned.

Sheikh Qaradawi was recently refused entry to Britain as the UK government said his views could spark violence.

He issued his fatwa in response to a question about high energy drinks. Alcohol Fatwa Sparks Controversy >>> By Frances Harrison, Religious affairs reporter, BBC News | April 11, 2008

BBC: Qaradawi Not Allowed into UK | February 7, 2008

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J K Rowling Calls for Darfur Action
Watch BBC video HERE
BBC:
READ: Rowling Demands Action in Darfur >>>

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A Word of Advice to All Married Men: If You’re Having a Bit on the Side, Look After Your Kit!
BRISBANE TIMES: MANILA - A housewife in the Philippines today cut off her husband's penis while he was sleeping in their house because she suspected he was having extra marital affairs, a police officer said.

Police officer Rolly Lipata said 37-year-old Lenly Bayabado had long suspected her younger husband's infidelity, prompting her to cut off his organ.

Lipata said neighbours rushed the screaming victim, 32-year-old Joelito, to a nearby hospital in the Manila suburban city of Pasig after the attack.

Bayabado underwent several hours of operation so his organ could be re-attached, but hospital sources said there was no guarantee he would still be able to perform sexually.

Bayabado denied he was cheating on his wife and said he will not file charges against her because he wants to keep the family intact for the sake of their four children. [Source: Man Sticks by Wife Who Cut Off Penis]

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”Blair Force One”? Palace? Flunkies? Lotsa Euros? All Are ‘On the Cards’ for the President of Europe
THE TELEGRAPH: The proposed full-time president of the European Union is to be given a personal jet, a palatial official residence and a personal staff of up to 22, under plans being considered in Brussels.

The prospect of a private aircraft raises the possibility that Tony Blair, the current frontrunner for the new post, which comes into effect next year, could get the "Blair Force One" he was denied as prime minister.

The terms of the new president were discussed at a secret "working dinner" held on Tuesday between José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, and EU ambassadors.

One attraction of the job will be its clout in terms of the "cabinet" of advisers the new president will be able to assemble. Current proposals suggest an EU presidential team of between 16 and 22 people. Such a number would be an important measure of the power of the position. In comparison, Mr Barroso presides over a cabinet of 13 people.

Other EU member states, including federalist countries keen to give the post an aura of gravitas - and even statehood - have urged that the new president be granted an official "White House" style residence worthy of his status.

Because the new "President of the Council" will have a globetrotting role, some diplomats have argued that he, or she, should have the use of a personal aircraft, leading to inevitable comparisons with the American presidential jet, Air Force One. 'Palace, Jet and Personal Staff of 22' for the New EU President >>> By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | April 11, 2008

TELEGRAPH LEADER:
The EU's Grand Designs for New President | April 11, 2008

Hat tip: Brussels Journal

PETITION:
Stop Blair!

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Herzschrittmacher für Chirac
NZZ Online: (sda/afp) Frankreichs früherer Präsident Jacques Chirac ist am Freitag am Herzen operiert worden, wie sein Büro in Paris mitteilte. Die seit mehreren Tagen geplante Operation sei «perfekt» verlaufen. Der 75-jährige Chirac werde das Pariser Spital Pitié Salpêtrière in wenigen Tagen verlassen können. Der ehemalige Staatschef war im September 2005 wegen einer leichten Gehirnblutung im Spital behandelt worden. Chirac war französischer Präsident von 1995 bis 2007. [Quelle: NZZ: Herzschrittmacher für Chirac]

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Carla? She's Worth Her Weight in Gold!

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
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’Martyrdom’ Islamic Style

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More Proof of Turkey’s Unsuitability for Accession to the EU
BLOOMBERG: Lazari Kozmaoglu, Istanbul's last pork butcher, takes a break from a two-hour backgammon session to recall the days he spent slicing bacon instead of rolling dice.

Eight workers used to rush in and out of the cutting room, placing wrapped meat in refrigerators, Kozmaoglu, 63, recalls in his store in central Istanbul. Today the shop is down to its last two months of stock and attracts only a handful of customers.

Turkey's Islamist-rooted government has clamped down on the pork industry since 2004, closing all but two of the country's 25 pig farms and revoking slaughterhouse licenses. Kozmaoglu, unable to add to his meat supplies, spends most of his time shuffling paperwork as he seeks permission to reopen his abattoir.

"I don't know what I can do if they don't give it to me; this business is my life,'' Kozmaoglu says as he watches a news bulletin on Greek television.

He's one of about 2,000 ethnic Greeks remaining in Istanbul. Most Greeks left the city after Turkish mobs attacked their homes and workplaces in 1955. Others were expelled in 1964 after fighting between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus.

Before the 2004 crackdown, Kozmaoglu was one of four pork butchers in Istanbul. All of his competitors quit handling pigs after losing their slaughterhouse permits. The state granted Kozmaoglu temporary licenses to let him kill the swine on outlawed farms, but those have now been cut off, he says. Istanbul's Last Pork Butcher Fights Islamist Crackdown on Swine >>> By Firat Kayakiran | April 10, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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Freedom of Speech Might Lead to Freedom of Belief
MEMRI: Following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid, which aired on Al-Majd TV on March 30, 2008.

Muhammad Al-Munajid: Some of these heretics say: "Islam is not the private property of anyone." So what do they want? They say: "No sect has a monopoly on Islam." So what do they want? They say: "We want to issue rulings." Someone who is ignorant, who does not know any Arabic, or who has no knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence wants to issue rulings?! They say: "We reinterpret the texts." There is a very dangerous conspiracy against the religion of Islam in newspapers and in what these people say. A journalist, or one of those lowlifes, wants to... These people are a mixture of Western, local, and imported ideologies, but they want to express their views with regard to religious rulings. This is the prerogative of religious scholars, not of ignorant people, the prerogative of knowledgeable people, not of fools or heretics.

[...]

The problem is that they want to open a debate on whether Islam is true or not, and on whether Judaism and Christianity are false or not. In other words, they want to open up everything for debate. Now they want to open up all issues for debate. That's it. It begins with freedom of thought, it continues with freedom of speech, and it ends up with freedom of belief. So where's the conspiracy? They say: Let's have freedom of thought in Islam. Well, what do they want? They say: I think, therefore I want to express my thoughts. I want to express myself, I want to talk and say, for example, that there are loopholes in Islam, or that Christianity is the truth. Then they will talk about freedom of belief, and say that anyone is entitled to believe in whatever he wants... If you want to become an apostate – go ahead. Fancy Buddhism? Leave Islam, and join Buddhism. No problem. That's what freedom of belief is all about. They want freedom of everything. What they want is very dangerous.

[...]

Freedom of thought, within some constraints, is blessed. Islam calls for thinking, for interpretation, and for the use of the mind. But as for freedom of heresy, which allows anyone to criticize whatever he wants in Islam, saying, for example, that he does not like the punishment for apostasy, that he doesn't like the punishment for drinking alcohol, or that he does not like the punishment of stoning adulterers – this is barbarism. They ask: Why should a thief have his hand chopped off? Some of them say that this is "too much." Two-three much on you and your rotten mind. If you abolish this punishment, you will see the rise in thefts. On the other hand, people feel their property is secure because of this punishment. [Source: MEMRI: Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid Warns: Freedom of Speech Might Lead to Freedom of Belief]

Hat tip: Jihad Watch

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Iranian Bloggers Write Letters to Christ!
GLOBAL VOICES: It may seem surreal, but several Muslim bloggers have written letters to Jesus Christ in their blogs complaining about Western insults against Muslims, and particularly Dutch MP Geert Wilders‘ anti-Islamic film, Fitna. Meanwhile, young Islamist Basij paramilitaries demonstrated in front of the Netherlands embassy in Tehran condemning Wilders' film.

Kosoof, a leading Iranian photoblogger, has published several photos from this demonstration. One of the slogans in the photo above means “If carrying no veil means civilization, then animals are the most civilized.” Iranian Bloggers Write Letters to Christ >>> By Hamid Tehrani | April 10, 2008

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Indonesia Ends Ban on YouTube over Geert Wilders’ Film, Fitna
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesian Internet providers have stopped blocking YouTube and other file-sharing Web sites showing an anti-Islam film made by a Dutch politician after complaints from Web users.

The online service providers said Friday they will instead try to block access to individual pages on the sites carrying Geert Wilders' short film.

"It is like removing cancer from the body without making the patient die," Information and Communication Minister Mohammad Nuh told reporters.

On Tuesday, the government in the world's most populous Muslim nation ordered Internet service providers to block YouTube, MySpace and other sites, but savvy surfers had little trouble circumventing the ban.

In an editorial, The Jakarta Post newspaper said the ban "sent a disturbing sign that the president and his advisers are not only dumb, but also dangerous. It shows a mind-set that takes us back a decade to the era of censorship." Indonesia Ends Ban on YouTube over Anti-Islam Film >>> Associated Press | April 11, 2008

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Iran: Top Shia Cleric Says Unveiled Women Turn Men into Beasts
AKI: Mashad - A top Shia cleric in Iran has said that unveiled women are a serious danger to Iranian society as they cause men to be "transformed into beasts".

"Women without the veil are a danger that the authorities underestimate," said Hojatolislam Seyyed Ahmad Elmalhoda, a powerful cleric who leads the Friday prayers in Mashad, a site considered sacred for Shia Muslims as it houses the shrine of Imam Reza.

"This situation is very serious in that if men see these bad women, they will turn into beasts, and then the whole of society will have to pay the consequences."

According to the Shia cleric, women who do not respect conservative Islamic dress rules are "sources of all that is bad in society."

"Respecting the chador (a long, black cloak that covers the arms and legs and is usually worn with a hijab) is the law of the state and the authorities must severely punish anyone who does not respect this law, in the same way that they punish thieves and murderers," said Elmadhoda. Iran: Top Shia Cleric Says Unveiled Women Turn Men into Beasts >>> | April 10, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch >>>

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Egypt Jails Five Homosexuals
KHALEEJ TIMES: CAIRO - A Cairo court on Wednesday jailed five men, four of them HIV positive, for three years on charges of ”debauchery” linked to homosexuality, a court official told AFP.

The men were arrested three weeks ago in a central Cairo restaurant following an argument after which a client accused them of practising homosexuality.

A police doctor carried out anal inspections on the men “which confirmed their homosexuality,” the court official said. Human Rights Watch said such examinations constitute torture and are medically spurious.

While homosexuality is not included in a list of sexual offences explicitly outlawed by Egypt’s Islamic-inspired legislation, it can be punished under several different laws on morality.

Besides facing widespread public prejudice, Egyptian homosexuals have in the past been jailed on charges ranging from “scorning religion” to “sexual practices contrary to Islam.”

Hafez Abu Saada, of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, said the men were prosecuted under 1961 anti-prostitution laws which ”must be changed ... as it’s against the international convention of human rights which Egypt signed in 1986.

“This law is also against the Egyptian constitution which guarantees the right to privacy and individual freedom,” he said.
The men, who can appeal the verdict, were also ordered to pay a small fine. [Source: Egypt Jails Five “Homosexuals” for Three Years (AFP)]

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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”Abject Surrender to a Blatant Threat” from Saudi Arabia
"This investigation was blocked supposedly to protect our security, but it looks increasingly like it was done to protect BAE sales by appeasing the Saudi government. - Mr Clegg
THE TELEGRAPH: A bribery investigation into the biggest arms contract in British history could be reopened after the High Court condemned the Government's "abject surrender" to pressure from Saudi Arabia in blocking the inquiry.

Gordon Brown must decide whether he will uphold the decision of his predecessor, Tony Blair, and block a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry into BAE's £43 billion contract to sell warplanes and weapons systems to the Saudis.

Under pressure from Mr Blair and Lord Goldsmith, his attorney general, the SFO decided in December 2006 to end its investigation into allegations that BAE illegally paid as much as £1 billion in kickbacks to a senior Saudi prince during the 1980s and 1990s as part of the al-Yamamah deal.

The Government intervened after the Saudi government threatened to stop sharing intelligence on Islamic terrorist groups.
Mr Blair said that would have put British national security at risk. The Saudis are also said to have threatened to cancel a contract to buy 72 Eurofighter jets from BAE, but Mr Blair has always denied basing his decision on commercial grounds.

Britain is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, whose founding treaty forbids halting criminal investigations for commercial reasons.

Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan have ruled that the SFO was wrong to drop the inquiry.

They condemned the Government's "abject surrender" to a "blatant threat" from a foreign country and ruled that Robert Wardle, the SFO director, had failed to satisfy the court that "all that could reasonably be done had been done to resist the threat". Brown Under Pressure to Re-Open Saudi Arms Inquiry >>> By Christopher Hope and James Kirkup | April 11, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Extravagance Uncovered During Saudi Arms Probe: The Saudi princes and princesses were treated to every extravagance available when they were flown to the Hawaiian paradise island of Oahu in 1998 to enjoy the run of one of the world’s best hotels. The hotel had its own dolphins in a private blue lagoon, spas and “beach butlers” to provide face sprays, cooling drinks and sunshades By Christopher Hope and James Kirkup | April 11, 2008

THE GUARDIAN:
Listen to Guardian Audio - 'Brown Needs to Get the Locks Changed at Number 10': Simon Hill from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade wants the SFO to resume its investigation | April 11, 2008

THE GUARDIAN:
Cash, Contracts and Crown Princes By David Leigh | April 11, 2008

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”Kill the Bastards”, Says Susan Shabangu, South Africa’s Security Minister
Aiming her [Susan Shabangu’s] words at police chiefs, she said of criminals: "You must kill the bastards if they threaten you or the community. You must not worry about the regulations - that is my responsibility. Your responsibility is to serve and protect.

I want no warning shots. You have one shot and it must be a kill shot.

Criminals are hell-bent on undermining the law and they must now be dealt with. End of story. There are to be no negotiations with criminals."

DAILY MAIL: Police in South Africa were ordered yesterday to deal with criminals by "killing the bastards".

Susan Shabangu, the country's security minister, told officers not to worry about regulations, negotiations or warning shots.

Instead, police should use the guns given to them and go for the kill.

South Africa has become the murder capital of the world with more than 22,000 deaths a year.

Rape, pistol-whipping and torture are commonplace. Shoot the Bastards... and Shoot to Kill: South African Minister Tells Police to Show Criminals No Mercy >>> By Ian Evans

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Prophecy: Islam & Satan
Part I:

Part 2

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Pat Condell: The Religion of Fear

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Let's View Fitna the Movie Again: فتنة
View Geert Wilders’ Movie HERE
Hat tip: RayBoyd

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Is Barack Hussein Obama Really a Risk America Can Take?

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Europas Rechte
Die Presse: Europas Rechte: "Patrioten aller Länder"
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The Internet of the Future: The Grid
YAHOO NEWS (UK & IRELAND): The internet, as we know it, could be obsolete within a decade.

Forget dial-up; forget broadband: The future, it seems, is The [sic] Grid.

It's the brainchild of CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research based in Geneva.

It's there that Sir Tim Berners-Lee first invented the internet, so it's appropriate that the next stage in its evolution should emerge there.

But what is the Grid?

In fact, it is a spin-off from another major research project. For several years, the particle physicists at CERN have been building a device called the Large Hadron Collider.

Knowing they would need massive processing capability to cope with the data from the new device, the scientists set about integrating thousands of computers all around the world.

Professor Tony Doyle, technical director of the project, says: "We need so much processing power, if all the computers were here at CERN there would be a problem getting enough electricity to run them.

"We had to have a new network powerful enough to send the data instantly to research partners in other countries."

That network of linked computers - connected by superfast fibre-optic cable and combining together to act as one giant super-computer - is the Grid and, one day, it won't just be for scientists. We'll all be connected to it. Unlocking the Internet of the Future >>>

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Saudi Arabia, Al-Yamamah Contract and Corruption: The Serious Fraud Office Acted Unlawfully
The judges had harsh words for the attitude of the SFO and the Blair government in never even considering the option of telling the Saudis their threats would be ignored.

"No one suggested to those uttering the threat that it was futile, that the United Kingdom's system of democracy forbad pressure being exerted on an independent prosecutor whether by the domestic executive or by anyone else; no-one even hinted that the courts would strive to protect the rule of law and protect the independence of the prosecutor by striking down any decision he might be tempted to make in submission to the threat."

THE GUARDIAN: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted unlawfully in dropping an investigation into alleged bribery in an arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia, the high court ruled today.

In a stunning victory for the activist groups that launched the legal challenge, the two judges said Tony Blair's government and the SFO caved in too readily to threats by Saudi Arabia over intelligence sharing and trade.

Lord Justice Moses and Justice Sullivan, using some scathing language, rejected the SFO's argument that it was powerless to resist the Saudi threats.

"So bleak a picture of the impotence of the law invites at least dismay, if not outrage," they said.

"Had such a threat been made by one who was subject to the criminal law of this country, he would risk being charged with an attempt to pervert the course of justice."

To give in so easily, the judges said, "merely encourages those with power, in a position of strategic and political importance, to repeat such threats, in the knowledge that the courts will not interfere with the decision of a prosecutor to surrender".

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and Corner House Research had sought a review of the decision by the SFO director, Robert Wardle, in December 2006 to drop the investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption over the £43bn Al-Yamamah arms deal, agreed by the Thatcher government in 1985.

"No one, whether in this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice," Moses and Sullivan ruled. SFO Wrong to Drop BAE Inquiry, Court Rules >>> By Peter Walker and agencies | April 10, 2008

THE GUARDIAN: The Complete High Court Judgement

Summary of High Court Judgement

Cartoon

FINANCIAL TIMES: UK ‘Unlawfully’ Scrapped BAE Probe: ”No-one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice,” Lord Justice Moses told the court. “We intervene in fulfilment of our responsibility to protect the independence of the director and of our criminal justice system from threat.“ By Megan Murphy, Law Courts Correspondent | April 10, 2008

BBC: SFO Unlawful in Ending BAE Probe

Cross-posted at The Shrewd Economist

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