BBC: America's top military officer has said opening up a third front in the Middle East through a strike on Iran would be "extremely stressful" for US forces.
Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was commenting on the likelihood of US or Israeli military action over Iran's nuclear programme.
Tensions have risen amid reports Israel may be planning a possible strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
Iran denies its nuclear programme is anything other than peaceful.
It has been clear for some time that Adm Mullen does not want to attack Iran, but his latest remarks suggest that he is fighting hard behind the scenes for both the US and Israel to think carefully about the consequences of an attack before considering mounting it.
He said opening up a third front, after Iraq and Afghanistan, would be "extremely stressful, very challenging, with consequences that would be difficult to predict". US Admiral Urges Caution on Iran >>> By Justin Webb | July 2, 2008
BBC: US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has said he would expand George W Bush's programme of involving religious groups in government initiatives.
The Democratic Party candidate unveiled plans for a council of faith-based and neighbourhood partnerships in Ohio.
He said challenges from saving the planet to ending poverty were too big for the government to solve on its own.
A council involving religious groups would help to set the national agenda, Senator Obama said in his speech.
"We know that faith and values can be a source of strength in our own lives," said Mr Obama.
"That's what it has been to me and that's what it has been to so many Americans. It can also be something more.
"It can be the foundation of a new project of American renewal and that's the kind of effort I intend to lead as president of the United States." Obama Backs Faith in Public Life >>> By James Coomarasamy | July 2, 2008
The innocent Tayside police advert featuring a sweet little puppy that’s got Muslims all bent out of shape. Photo courtesy of the Mail Online
DAILY MAIL: A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.
Tayside Police's new non-emergency phone number has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community.
The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine.
The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert.
THE AUSTRALIAN: POLYGAMY has split the Australian Islamic community, pitting senior Muslim leaders against each other over the religious teachings on the issue.
A statement from the National Imams Council saying polygamy was banned in Australia and that calls for its legalisation were unwarranted was criticised by other senior community leaders as well as its own members.
Outspoken Muslim cleric and Sydney imam Taj Din al-Hilali attacked the imams council for putting out a statement that "contradicts the wisdom and teachings of God".
Sheik Hilali "reminded those imams" that compromise through watering down religious teaching was wrong.
The chairman of the Jemiat Ulama of Australia (Muslim Council of Theologians), Adbul Quddoos, said the imams council was not telling people the correct thing.
Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad, who sparked the debate on polygamy last week, wrote to the council saying it had "no right to conceal the solutions that our faith offers to social problems". Muslim Leaders Split on Polygamy >>> By Natalie O’Brien | July 1, 2008
BBC: The president of Mongolia has declared a four-day state of emergency in the capital amid violent protests over claims the general election was rigged.
Crowds torched the HQ of Mongolia's governing party - the former Communists - and attacked a police station.
Over 60 people were hurt - around half of them police - as officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon against stone-throwing protestors.
The unrest went on into the night, with reports of bank robberies and looting.
Rioters set fire to the Cultural Palace, home to a theatre, museum and national art gallery in the capital, Ulan Bator. Mongolia Calls State of Emergency >>> | July 1, 2008
BBC: Turkey's chief prosecutor has appeared before the country's Constitutional Court calling for the governing party to be closed down.
Founded by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Justice and Development Party, the AKP, won a landslide victory in the last election.
But its critics say it is trying to impose Sharia law on the secular state.
The party's attempt to ease a ban on the wearing of the Islamic headscarf is expected to be central to the evidence.
Prosecutor Abdurraham Yalcinkaya, who has argued that the party has become the focal point of anti-secular activities in Turkey, is appearing before judges in a closed-door session.
"This risk has been increasing every day" reads the 162-page petition submitted to the Constitutional Court by Mr Yalcinkaya.
"The danger is clear and concrete. There is no other way to protect society than to close the party down," it reads.
He is calling for the prime minister, president and 69 other party members to be banned from politics.
The AKP has condemned the case as an assault on democracy. A team representing the party are expected to present their defence on Thursday.
The EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has warned the case could jeopardise Turkey's bid to join the bloc - arguing such disputes should be resolved through the ballot box, not the courts. Turkish Ruling Party Put on Trial >>> | July 1, 2008
Texan Sheriff Gives His Staff a Lesson on How to Be a Good Dhimmi
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Reacting to the latest controversy about his office in recent months, Sheriff Tommy Thomas on Monday apologized in person to a local Muslim group for insensitive e-mails sent by members of his staff.
Monday's appearance before the Islamic Society of Greater Houston was Thomas' second apology in recent days over staff e-mails that surfaced in media reports last week, including one message from a top commander that mocks Islam's core tenets.
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The Jordanian justice authorities are preparing a criminal case against right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders because of his anti-Islam film, Fitna. A Jordanian judge has ruled that there is a case to answer. A number of procedures will have to be followed before any indictment is issued and this is likely to take a considerable time.
The complaint has been brought by organisations which believe the film constitutes an incitement to hatred of Muslims. They have already launched a campaign to boycott Dutch products, blaming the government in The Hague for not prosecuting Mr Wilders. Jordan to Prosecute Dutch MP over Anti-Islam Film >>> By Mike Wilcox | July 1, 2008
Archbishop of Canterbury Warns Rebels over Church of England Split
THE TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury has rounded on rebel Anglicans seeking to bypass his authority over issues such as homosexuality and women priests.
Dr Rowan Williams adopted unusually forthright language to accuse the hardline traditionalists of lacking legitimacy One of his staff even suggested the rebels were becoming a "Protestant sect".
The Archbishop's comments follow the creation at the weekend of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), a global network for millions of Anglicans unhappy at the ordination of the openly homosexual Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson.
Dr Williams called for patience from those who want to create an alternative worldwide Anglican Communion.
"It is not enough to dismiss the existing structures of the Communion," he said. "If they are not working effectively, the challenge is to renew them rather than to improvise solutions that may seem to be effective for some in the short term but will continue to create more problems than they solve." Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams Warns Rebels over Church of England Split >>> By George Pitcher, Religion Editor, and Graham Tibbetts | July 1, 2008
NEWS.COM.AU: IRAN is to dig 320,000 graves in border districts to allow for the burial of enemy soldiers in the event of any attack on its territory, a top commander said today.
"In implementation of the Geneva Conventions ... the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers,'' the Mehr news agency quoted General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh as saying.
"We have plans to dig 15,000 to 20,000 graves in each of the border provinces or a total of 320,000,'' the general said, adding that some of them would be mass graves if necessary.
Mr Bagherzadeh said Iran was keen to "reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against our country ... and prevent any repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War''.
His comments came as the United States continued to refuse to rule out an eventual resort to force against Iran over its contested nuclear program, which the West fears is cover for a drive to build an atomic weapon. Iran Digs Thousands of Graves Ready for Enemies >>> | June 30, 2008
BBC: Traditionalist Anglicans claiming to represent at least half of the membership of the worldwide communion, and more than a third of its bishops, have declared war on what they call the "false teaching" used to justify active homosexuality.
They have set up what amounts to a church within a church in order to organise for a long struggle against the ordination of gay clergy, the blessing of gay relationships, and what they claim is a drift towards accepting other religions as offering "equal access to God".
The Rev Rod Thomas, of the conservative Church of England group Reform, helped to formulate the organisation's strategy.
He claimed that traditionalists had been forced to create a new alliance to prevent the Bible being rewritten by liberal Anglicans to suit their current lifestyles.
"The Anglican Church is being destroyed by false teaching of the Bible on issues such as homosexuality", he said.
"We are gong to stand against this trend, and spread the true message of the Bible with confidence."
Traditionalists believe the Bible rules out active homosexuality, for example.
Road to schism?
They met in Jerusalem to bolster their claim that they were in touch with the authentic teaching of the early Church.
The group emphasises its intention of staying inside the Anglican Communion, but the alliance's mission statement appears to be a significant step towards eventual schism.
It is ready to send bishops anywhere in the world if traditionalist Anglicans call for help in countering liberal policies which in the view of the "Primates' Council" undermine strict biblical teaching.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, said the "revisionist agenda which we've seen in the same-sex agenda is a missionary one and will spread its views as much as it can.
So the rest of us have to do missionary work to defend the gospel and to promulgate it." Battling ‘Liberal’ Church Policies >>> By Robert Pigott, Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News, Jerusalem | June 30, 2008
Why is it that nobody in our own elite actually likes or understands this country or its people or its traditions?
Why did we have to wait for Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, born and raised in Muslim Pakistan, to remind us that, as he put it, ‘the beliefs, values and virtues of Great Britain have been formed by the Christian faith’?
Just as important, why did we have to wait for him to urge us to do something about restoring that faith before we either sink into a yelling chaos of knives, fists and boots, or swoon into the strong, implacable arms of Islam?
STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG ONLINE: Berlin - Deutsche Politiker haben das Eintreten des demokratischen US-Präsidentschaftsbewerbers Barack Obama für die Todesstrafe für Kinderschänder kritisiert. "Barack Obama sollte sich für die Abschaffung der Todesstrafe einsetzen, nicht für ihre Ausweitung", sagte Grünen-Chefin Claudia Roth der "Bild"-Zeitung. Die Todesstrafe sei nicht zu rechtfertigen, auch nicht zur Bestrafung schlimmster Verbrechen. CSU-Chef Erwin Huber sagte der Zeitung: "Kinderschändung ist mit das abscheulichste Verbrechen. Aber das Verbot der Todesstrafe muss absolute Gültigkeit haben." Das Ende der "Obamania"? >>> | 27. Juni 2008
BBC: Hillary Clinton has joined Barack Obama at a rally - their first public event since she pulled out of the race to be the Democratic presidential candidate.
The rally in Unity, New Hampshire, was an opportunity for supporters of the party to come together after the divisive primary battle.
The event follows a joint dinner in Washington where Mr Obama offered help to clear Mrs Clinton's campaign debts.
Mrs Clinton urged supporters at the Democrat rally to vote for Mr Obama.
"If you think we need a new course, a new agenda, then vote for Barack Obama and you will get the change you need," she told the cheering crowd.
"He will work for you, he will fight for you and he will stand up for you every day in the White House."
After her speech, Mr Obama joined the crowd in chanting "thank you Hillary".
He said the Democrats needed Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, if they were to win the presidency. Clinton and Obama Rally Together >>> | June 27, 2008
Because many people have been reading this essay lately, I have decided to reprint it. I have linked it to a YouTube video, as I did originally.
The Connection Between Nazism, Arab Anti-Semitism and Islam
DEFINITION – Fascism: …As a rule, fascist governments are dominated by a dictator, who usually possesses a magnetic personality, … and rallies his followers by mass parades; appeals to strident nationalism; and promotes suspicion or hatred of both foreigners and “impure” people within his own nation, such as the Jews in Germany. Although both communism and fascism are forms of totalitarianism, fascism does not demand state ownership of the means of production, nor is fascism committed to the achievement of economic equality. In theory, communism opposes the identification of government with a single charismatic leader (the “cult of personality”), which is the cornerstone of fascism. … [Source: Dictionary.com]
With the death of Hitler and the defeat of Nazi Germany, most people thought that the world had been rid of fascism. Today, however, we cannot be so sure, because there is evidence aplenty of its revival. These days, many people talk of another form of fascism in particular: Islamofascism. Some people believe this term to be apt for the radical religio-political movement based on Islam, which is currently spreading through the world like wildfire; others, especially Muslims, find the term insulting and demeaning. Who is right? Are the infidels right to be shocked, disgraced and indignant, or are infidels right to use the term to point out to the unsuspecting the dangers we face. Why? Even the President of the United States of America himself, George W Bush, has used the term in public when referring to the antics of Al-Qa’eda and its determination to cultivate mayhem throughout the free world.
When we refer to Islam and radical Islam, we have to be careful not to confuse people. In this politically correct world, a world in which nobody seems willing to upset ethnic groups and people of other religions, it has become customary to dance around the truth so as not to offend. Therefore, our politicians have become accustomed to speaking in riddles, when clearer, more appropriate language would serve the needs of the electorate far better.
In times of danger, clarity of thought is essential. Prevarication serves no-one’s best interest in the long-run. Prevarication might well buy us some time; but it certainly doesn’t solve issues for the long-term good of the nation, for the long-term good of our civilization.
Let’s take a look at the real Islam…
The real Islam is exclusive in the extreme, just as Nazism was. It tells the believers – the Muslims throughout the world – to kill the unbelievers, to kill the infidels. This cannot be disputed, since it is there in black and white in all versions of the holy book of Muslims, the Qur’an.
They [the infidels] but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of God [Allah] (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks. – Al-Qur’an, Al-Nisa’ (Women), Surah IV, 89 (Translation by A Yusuf Ali)
And then we have the following:
… When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. … – Al-Qur’an, At-Tawba (Repentance), Surah 9, 4 (Translation by N J Dawood)
These exhortations are also redolent of Nazism. They are certainly as violent and brutal and cruel.
These are the words of the founder of Islam or the words of Allah, according to your viewpoint and according to where you stand on the matter of Islam being a great and authentic religion. Muhammad certainly managed to make those who submit to Allah feel superior and exclusive, since Muslims are considered (by Muslims) to be superior to all other human beings. They are, after all, Allah’s ‘chosen people’, just as the Aryan race was the superior race in Hitler’s Germany. This is surely another similarity between these two ideologies.
There is no doubt about the fact that Muhammad was a 'great' and magnetic personality. This is quite indisputable, since were he not to have been so, then Islam would surely have died out long ago. But don’t all fascist movements rely on a magnetic personality to lead the followers, to lead the masses, to lead the people who cannot think for themselves? Think of three great examples of the twentieth century: Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. All had quite magnetic personalities: people just had to watch them and listen to them and their rants.
The fact that Muhammad died more than fourteen hundred years ago makes no real difference, since his personality is no less magnetic today than it was when he roamed the sands of the desert. His words are still harkened unto by 1.4 billion people worldwide, and we are still counting.
Muhammad must surely rank as the dictator par excellence, since his words were clothed in a deity. Hitler, when he was sitting in his Bunker with Eva that day in 1945, when he was contemplating biting that cyanide capsule and plucking up the courage to shoot himself through the temples, must surely have regretted with every fibre of his being that he hadn’t been smart enough to clothe Nazism in a deity, just as Islam had been about fourteen hundred years before. How much more successful Hitler might have been!
Does Islam qualify so far, according to our dictionary definition, to be classified as a form of fascism? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
We are then informed that fascist dictators rally their followers by means of mass parades. Well, we cannot say with any certainty whether Muhammad did this. In all probability, he did not, since Islam, in the days of the Prophet, was in its infancy, and there would have been too few followers to rally. What we can say, however, is this: In the modern world, the dictators of the Islamic world have no difficulty whatsoever in getting rallies together on the streets of their cities. Often times, they are genuine; yet at other times, the numbers in the rallies are made by ‘rent-a-mob’. Either way, we must decide whether Islam passes this next test of a true strand of fascism. You decide!
Then we are informed in the definition that fascism appeals to strident nationalism. Well, there is no doubt that Islam is an Arabo-centric movement, worldwide. When praying, all Muslims must face Makkah (Mecca), and this takes place five times a day for the pious and faithful. One is certainly not allowed to ignore the Arab world if one is an adherent of the ‘religion’ of submission that is Islam. Added to this, of course, we have the Ummah, which is the community of Muslims throughout the world. When one enters the fold of Islam, when one becomes a follower, when one submits to the ‘will of Allah’ – some would say the arbitrary ‘will of Allah’ – then one joins the ‘nation’ of Islam worldwide. In this sense, can we not conclude that Islam is a form of extreme ‘nationalism’, a form of Islamic nationalism, a 'nationalism' that transcends geographical borders and frontiers?
Then we are told that fascism promotes suspicion and/or hatred of foreigners and impure people. Well, can we not conclude with the copious and available evidence that we have that Islam is certainly exclusive, since anyone who is not a Muslim is treated as inferior, and actually unclean, as in Kafir (pl. Kufar). The term used in Islam is Naji for such an unclean and unsavoury person. Does this remind you of the way that the Nazis thought of Jews and gypsies and homosexuals and Slavs and Russians? Nazis called them Untermenschen (unclean sub-humans); Muslims call them Najis (unclean disbelievers living in a state of Jahiliyyah, a state of pre-Islamic chaos), people who are unworthy of the human condition.
One other thing that Nazis, in particular, had in common with Muslims was this: They both hate(d) the Jews; both groups are deeply anti-Semitic. This, of course, is true to this very day. Mein Kampf, Hitler’s infamous book written whilst he was incarcerated, the title of which means ‘My fight, or my struggle’ (a title which bears a striking resemblance to the term Jihad, if you hadn’t noticed) was replete with anti-Semitism. One can but wonder why this very book is such a bestseller even to this day in countries in the Middle East, and even in Turkey. The book is an endless source of fascination to Muslims.
Fascism is a form of totalitarianism, but then isn’t Islam a form of totalitarianism, too? Fascism doesn’t demand state control of the means of production; but then Islam doesn’t either. Though it does have its own economic principles, economic principles which are neither capitalist nor socialist, economic principles and theory which are simply Islamic. This theory of economics demands neither state-ownership of the means of production nor does it demand equality among the faithful. But Islamic thinking certainly does call for infidels to be treated in an inferior manner, to be treated as dhimmies, or protected people who are not afforded the same rights as those who have submitted to Allah’s will.
Jews in Nazi Germany were made to wear a yellow star to mark them out from the crowd. Non-believers in an Islamic country, according to the ‘Pact of Umar’, are also subjected to similar indignities. Here we have another similarity.
The cult of personality, we are told, is the cornerstone of fascism. Do you think that Islam measures up on this score? Does Muhammad qualify? Was Muhammad charismatic enough? Has Muhammad passed the test of time? Can we conclude that Muhammad is the Gestalt which can truly be described as the non plus ultra of Gestalten, the non plus ultra of personality cults.
Whether ‘Islamofascism’ is a justified and apt term or indeed a calumnious one to describe what we are witnessing around the world today as Islam becomes ever more resurgent is for you, the reader, to decide. Do, by all means, think long and hard about this matter, for the future of the free world depends on our getting this right. It depends on our careful handling of this most thorny of contemporary issues.
DAILY EXPRESS: POLICE sniffer dogs trained to spot terrorists at railway stations may no longer come into contact with Muslim passengers – after complaints that it is against the suspects’ religion.
A report for the Transport Department has raised the prospect that the animals should only touch passengers’ luggage because it is considered “more acceptable”.
In the Muslim faith, dogs are deemed to be spiritually “unclean”. But banning them from touching passengers would severely restrict their ability to do their job.
The report follows trials of station security measures in the wake of the 2005 London suicide bomb attacks. In one trial, some female Muslims said the use of a body scanner was also unacceptable because it was tantamount to being forced to strip.
British Transport Police last night insisted it would still use sniffer dogs – which are trained to detect explosives – with any passengers regardless of faith, but handlers would remain aware of “cultural sensitivities”.
Critics said the complaints were just the latest example of minority religions trying to force their rules and morals on British society.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: “As far as I am concerned, everyone should be treated equally in the face of the law and we cannot have people of different religious groups laying the law down. I hope the police will go about their business as they would do normally.” Sniffer Dogs Offend Muslims >>> By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Correspondent | June 27, 2008
Canadian Human Rights Commission Rejects Action Against Maclean’s
GLOBE AND MAIL: The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint against Maclean's magazine over a controversial article on the future of Islam, magazine officials said yesterday.
Meanwhile, a decision from the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal over the same issue isn't expected for several months. Rights Panel Rejects Action against Maclean’s >>> By Jamie Komarnicki | June 27, 2008
British Police to Stage High-Profile Checks on Flights to African States in an Attempt to Stamp Out Female Genital Mutilation; 74,000 Women in the UK Have Been Mutilated
THE INDEPENDENT: Brian Brady reports on a police operation to protect more than 20,000 girls, some aged nine or younger, thought to be in danger of forced genital mutilation
Police are to stage high-profile checks on flights to a number of African states in an attempt to stop young girls being taken abroad to be forcibly mutilated with the consent of their parents.
Research commissioned by the Department of Health suggests that more than 20,000 British girls are at risk of being forced into the agonising procedure, where all or part of their external genitals are cut off and stitched up. Officers will question all adults taking girls on certain flights, believing it is their best chance of saving thousands of children from female genital mutilation at the hands of tribal "elders" called in by their own families.
Moves to tackle the culturally sensitive issue will come as ministers from several government departments struggle to stamp out the ancient tribal tradition amid evidence that thousands of British girls are at risk from a ritual that is supposed to mark their transition into womanhood. Female Circumcision: a Tradition Steeped in Blood >>> | June 22, 2008
BBC: Equality minister Harriet Harman has set out plans to allow firms to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job candidates.
She said firms should be able to choose a woman over a man of equal ability if they wanted to - or vice versa.
The new Equalities Bill will also force public sector employers to disclose the gender pay gap in their organisation.
The plans, which will be adopted in England, Wales and Scotland, will also ban all age discrimination.
Setting out the plans in a Commons statement, Ms Harman said the proposed bill - due later this year - would "address the serious inequalities that still exist" in the UK. Harman Pushes Discrimination Plan >>> | June 16, 2008
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: When the Nazis marched into Austrian on March 12, 1938, hundreds of thousands of Austrians turned out to welcome them. But after the war, the country preferred to see itself as just another of Hitler's victims.
Suddenly, events began moving in fast-forward: It was 10 minutes to eight in the evening, March 11, 1938, when Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg took to the radio to address his people. He bade them farewell with portentous words: “God protect Austria.” Annexation Austrian-Style >>> By Marion Kraske | March 12, 2008
Don’t forget to watch the fascinating video, which can also be enlarged.
SHZ.DE: Salafiten missionieren Deutschland "lautstark und aggressiv", sagt Landes-Innenminister Lothar Hay (SPD). Er befürchtet eine neue Radikalisierung im Islam.
Sie sehen sich als "Prediger des wahren Islam", und ihre Ideologie treibt zuweilen seltsame Blüten. Vor allem dann, wenn es um Gesetze geht, die ihnen - weil von Menschen gemacht - als "Götzendienst" gelten. "Wenn wir uns an Verkehrsregeln halten, dann nicht, weil es hier Gesetz ist", sinniert der Teilnehmer eines radikal-salafitischen Internet-Forums, "sondern weil es besser für uns ist, sich nicht einer unnötigen Gefahr auszusetzen". Und bei einem Unfall die Polizei zu rufen, schreibt ein anderer, hieße, sich der "Exekutive der Ungläubigen" zu unterwerfen.
Was da so weltfremd-salafitisch klingt, macht Sicherheitsbehörden in Deutschland zunehmend Sorgen. Von einer neuen Radikalisierung des Islam spricht Schleswig-Holsteins Innenminister Lothar Hay (SPD). "Salafiten bilden in Deutschland inzwischen eine lautstarke Minderheit, die aggressiv missionarisch den aus ihrer Sicht wahren Islam predigt." Gesetze halten sie für "Götzendienerei" >>> Von Peter Höver | 25. Juni 2008
Christians on Trial in Algeria for Spreading Faith
ASSOCIATED PRESS: ALGIERS, Algeria — Two men who converted from Islam to Christianity went on trial Wednesday on charges that they illegally promoted the Christian faith in Algeria.
Rachid Mohammed Seghir, 40, and Jammal Dahmani, 36, were already convicted in absentia for illegal practice of a non-Muslim religion in 2007 but asked for a new trial, as Algerian law allows, their lawyer said.
They are charged with praying in a building that had not been granted a religious permit by authorities and are also accused of trying to spread the Christian faith among Muslims, the court said. Christians on Trial in Algeria for Spreading Faith >>> By Aomar Quali | June 25, 2008
JIHAD WATCH: The war against free speech is advancing rapidly: Associated Press reported Thursday that “Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticised during debates by the UN Human Rights Council.” Council President Doru-Romulus Costea explained that religious issues can be “very complex, very sensitive and very intense…This council is not prepared to discuss religious matters in depth, consequently we should not do it.” Henceforth only religious scholars would be permitted to broach them.
“While Costea’s ban applies to all religions,” AP explained, “it was prompted by Muslim countries complaining about references to Islam.” The ban came after a heated session on Monday, when the representative of the Association for World Education (AWE), in a joint statement with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, denounced female genital mutilation, the penalty of stoning for adultery and child marriage as sanctioned by Islamic law. Egypt, Pakistan and Iran angrily protested, interrupting the AWE speaker, David Littman, with no less than 16 points of order, and succeeding in getting the Council’s proceedings suspended for over half an hour. In the course of this contentious discussion, the representatives from the Islamic countries made numerous revealing statements – statements that are well worth examining as Islamic nations and organizations call with increasing insistence for restrictions on free speech in the West. Free Speech Dies at the UN >>> By Robert Spencer | | June 25, 2008
Hat tip to Pierre of Québec for drawing my attention to this dreadful, shameful, despicable crime.
Europa: Zahl der EU-Gegner wächst
DIE PRESSE: Einer aktuellen Umfrage zufolge sehen nur noch 52 Prozent der Unions-Bürger die Mitgliedschaft ihres Landes in der EU als "gute Sache". Österreich ist bei der EU-Zustimmung Schlusslicht, Irland Spitzenreiter.
Die EU wird bei ihren Bürgern immer unbeliebter. Das ergibt eine aktuelle Eurobarometer-Umfrage der EU-Kommission. Demnach gaben 52 Prozent der Befragten an, die Mitgliedschaft ihres Landes in der Europäischen Union sei "eine gute Sache".
Das sind um sechs Prozentpunkte weniger als bei der vorangegangenen Umfrage im Herbst, wie die EU-Kommission am Dienstag mitteilte. Europa: Zahl der EU-Gegner wächst >>> | 24. Juni 2008
Norwegen: Homo-Ehe mit allen Rechten und Pflichten
DIE PRESSE: Homosexuelle erlangen in Norwegen volle Gleichberechtigung im Familienleben. Sie dürfen Kinder adoptieren oder sich künstlich befruchten lassen.
OSLO/KOPENHAGEN. Von heftigen Protesten und Beifallskundgebungen begleitet, hat das Parlament in Oslo ein „geschlechtsneutrales Ehegesetz“ verabschiedet, das mit der Diskriminierung von Homosexuellen endgültig Schluss macht.
Auch bei der Adoption und künstlicher Befruchtung gelten künftig für gleichgeschlechtliche Paare dieselben Regeln wie für Heterosexuelle. Norwegen ist damit weltweit das sechste Land, das Schwulen und Lesben nicht nur eine Partnerschaft ermöglicht, sondern die Ehe mit all ihren gesetzlichen Rechten und Pflichten. Norwegen: Homo-Ehe mit allen Rechten und Pflichten >>> Von Hannes Gamillscheg | 24. Juni 2008
“Zwanenberg announces its solidarity with the ‘Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign’ in its endeavours to pass an international legislation to stop any insult of any religion including Islam and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)” – Zwanenberg announcement
THE JORDAN TIMES: AMMAN - The multilateral Danish-Dutch boycott campaign is moving ahead with the addition of a major brand, the removal of others and an ongoing lawsuit, while Jordanian importers still suffer losses.
Launched in late February to protest against the republication of disturbing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, “The Messenger of Allah Unites Us” campaign was relaunched in mid-June to add products from the Netherlands after Dutch MP Geert Wilders posted an anti-Islam film on the Internet.
The ultimate goal, according to campaign spokesperson Zakaria Sheikh, is to enact a universal law that prohibits the defamation of any prophet or religion, similar to the international legislation banning anti-Semitism.
Sheikh told The Jordan Times that the boycott will assist them in providing proof of the harm of “hateful messages” when advocating for the law. Boycott Campaign Moves Ahead >>> By Linda Hindi | June 25, 2008
TOWNHALL.COM: One of the most dramatic changes in American life in the years since World War II involves the way we raise our children.
We used to do it ourselves. Now, convinced we have better things to do, many of us leave the job to others.
Encouraging this flight from parenthood, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed what he calls his "Zero to Five" plan. It is a collection of programs aimed at getting the government involved in the raising of your children from the moment they are born. Obama’s Vision for Government-Run Childhood >>> By Terence Jeffrey | June 25, 2008
Heinz’ Customers Have Hearty Appetites, But Not for Jollity!
This light-hearted advert for Heinz mayonnaise, a spoof on family life, showed that there’s little gaiety in Heinz’ straight customers
THE INDEPENDENT: Gay rights supporters have been urged to boycott Heinz products, after the company dropped a mayonnaise advertisement that showed two men kissing.
Campaigners insisted that Heinz had capitulated to a concerted homophobic campaign and that they would be urging supporters to boycott the company's products.
Hallelujah! From the Man Who Should Be the Archbishop of Canterbury: Convert Those of Other Faiths to Christianity!
It is heartening indeed to hear this message coming from Dr Nazir-Ali. It is what I have been saying for so many years. This website is testimony to that; and so is my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age. And people who know me know very well that my message has been the same for about twenty-five years now. But people have been slow to wake up. Now it looks as if there’s at least some hope, though, that the West will wake up before it is too late. It is already five to midnight. But then, it has to grow a backbone too. And that’s going to be difficult with the politicians we have leading us today.
"Let us pray that we are able to recover our Christian nerve in the west and make sure the Gospel is not lost, and that all that is valuable in western culture – much of which comes from its Judeo-Christian background – will survive as a way to enhance cultures in the west and renew them once again." - Dr Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester
Photo of Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The western world is losing its Christian values at a time when it needs them most, a leading bishop in the Church of England has warned.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed the declining importance of the church was creating a "double jeopardy" situation where faith was being challenged at a time when society would most benefit.
He said believers needed to "recover their nerve" and spread the Gospel again.
The outspoken bishop, who earlier this week told those who tolerate homosexuality in the clergy to repent, also said he was "frustrated" that decisions which had been made in the church had not been stuck to.
Dr Nazir-Ali was greeted with a standing ovation as he gave a speech to a breakaway summit in Jerusalem of more than 1,000 traditionalists from across the Anglican Communion who oppose gay priests and the blessing of same-sex unions.
He did not say that divisions over sexuality would lead to a schism in Anglicanism, and referred to unity being a "very precious thing".
Instead he called on those in the church to concentrate on mission – trying to convert those of other faiths and with no faith to Christianity. Western World Is Losing Christian Values, Says Leading Bishop >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent in Jerusalem | June 25, 2008
THE GUARDIAN: Barack Obama today came under fire from James Dobson, founder of the conservative Focus on the Family organisation, who accused the likely Democratic nominee of twisting the Bible to confuse people.
The attack from Dobson, a leading figure of the Christian Right, was framed as a wholesale rejection of Obama's views on faith, and appeared intended to thwart his efforts to reach out to evangelical Christians.
It was delivered in Dobson's regular radio programme as a line-by-line dissection of a speech that Obama gave to a liberal Christian organisation two years ago on the role of religion in public life.
Dobson's organisation also emailed links to the programme out to news organisations.
"I think he is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter," said Dobson. "I just don't know whether he is doing it deliberately or accidentally." US Elections: US Evangelical Leader Attacks Obama >>> By Suzanne Goldenberg | June 24, 2008
BBC: Confusion has marred French President Nicolas Sarkozy's farewell to Israel, after a soldier shot himself dead during an airport departure ceremony
Mr Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, were rushed into their plane after the shot. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was also hurried to safety.
The incident at Ben-Gurion airport came at the end of Mr Sarkozy's three-day visit to Israel and the West Bank.
A police spokesman said the security officer had committed suicide.
Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident, which happened just as Mr Sarkozy and Ms Bruni were about to board their plane, had posed no threat to the visitors.
He denied reports that it might have been an assassination attempt on the French president. Other reports suggested the soldier may have shot himself accidentally.
Witnesses said the incident was over within minutes and that Mr Olmert had then boarded the Sarkozys' plane to say farewell and explain what had happened. Scare as Sarkozy Departs Israel >>> | June 24, 2008
EDMONTON SUN: The tragedy of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal's case against Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine over alleged "hate" mongering because of Steyn's views on Islam is that most people don't give a damn.
Oh, many sympathize with Steyn because the issue seems so silly, but most don't see the destructive effect of hate legislation, or how it threatens our freedom.
Of all the benefits embodied in our county, free speech is -- or should be -- among the most precious. Without the freedom to express opinions on any matter, we cease being a free society. The implications are as simple as that. Anyone Care about Free Speech? >>> By Peter Worthington | June 23, 2008
Thousands of Dutch Believe in an "Impending Apocalypse"!
EXPATICA: Thousands of people in the Netherlands believe in an impending apocalypse in 2012 and are buying survival rations and boats.
THE NETHERLANDS - Some people believe that a major worldwide catastrophe will destroy civilisation in 2012. This weekend’s de Volkskrant wrote about the thousands of people in the Netherlands who believe in an impending apocalypse in 2012. The number of believers is many times larger in the United States and Poland. Many are buying survival rations and even boats - which will come in handy during flooding - or are preparing bunkers in foreign countries. De Volkskrant writes that while those who believe in the coming disaster have different theories as to what will happen, most are based on the Mayan calendar, which ends in 2012. The World Will Come to an End in 2012 >>> | June 23, 2008
Les Coptes égyptiens victimes de nouvelles agressions
LE FIGARO: L'attaque d'un monastère copte en Moyenne-Égypte illustre les tensions intercommunautaires dans cette région pauvre durement frappée par le terrorisme islamiste dans les années 1990.
Le calme est revenu à Abou Fana. Le 31 mai, ce monastère copte isolé a été attaqué par des Bédouins musulmans qui revendiquent la propriété de ces terres désertiques, situées à 300 km au sud du Caire. Pendant plusieurs heures, le staccato des armes automatiques a déchiré le silence. Une église a été brûlée, une ferme détruite et plusieurs moines blessés par balles. Trois autres disent avoir été enlevés et torturés pendant toute une nuit. «Les Arabes (nom donné aux Bédouins par les habitants de la vallée du Nil, NDLR) nous ont dit qu'ils allaient détruire le monastère, qu'ils ne veulent pas de chrétiens sur leurs terres», raconte d'une voix faible le frère Yoanas, toujours alité dans un hôpital copte d'Heliopolis, au Caire. Le calme est revenu à Abou Fana. Mais pas la paix. Les Coptes égyptiens victimes de nouvelles agressions >>> Par Tangi Salaün, au Caire | 23. 06. 2008
Muslim women in Kota Baru, Malaysia, are forbidden to wear bright lipstick
CNN/Asia: Authorities in a northern Malaysian city have forbidden Muslim women from wearing bright lipstick and noisy high-heeled shoes, saying the directive is intended to prevent sexual assaults and "illicit sex."
The national news agency, Bernama, said the directive was issued by the municipal council of Kota Baru and is aimed toward Muslim women working in restaurants and other businesses in the city. It said the ban will safeguard the morals and dignity of the women as well as thwart rape.
"It states that Muslim women are forbidden to wear thick make-up, like bright colored lipstick and high-heeled shoes that gave a tapping sound," the news agency said.
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT WATCH: Wow! I would never have guessed this: The Russian government is allowing Christian education in public schools as a way to assimilate immigrants, especially Muslims, to Russian society.
KOSTROVO, RUSSIA — Today they would learn about drawing, Russian Orthodox saints and God. The 7-year-olds sat straight at their desks, sun pouring through lace curtains and cherry trees blooming in the fields beyond. The teacher set a birch branch before the children and told them it was fragile and unique, just like their souls.
“If you think you can’t draw properly, who will help you?” she asked.
“God will help us,” a boy called out.
“Yes, God will guide your hand, so be confident, have faith.”
This is Tuesday, one of the two days a week dedicated to Orthodox education at this sleepy public school in the lush forests outside Moscow. All the girls and women have forgone pants in favor of skirts, and every student is learning Christian catechism along with reading, writing and arithmetic.
THE TELEGRAPH: The award-winning novelist Ian McEwan has launched an outspoken attack on militant Islam, accusing it of "wanting to create a society that I detest".
The author said he "despises Islamism" because of its views on women and homosexuality.
But predicting a backlash against his comments, which were made in an Italian newspaper, he insisted he was not a racist.
The writer of Atonement and Enduring Love condemned religious hardliners as he defended his friend, the writer Martin Amis, against charges of racism.
Amis was accused last year of being Islamaphobic after he said that "the Muslim community will have to suffer until it gets its house in order".
In an essay written the day before the fifth anniversary of the bombing of New York's Twin Towers, the novelist suggested "strip-searching people who look like they're from the Middle East or from Pakistan", preventing Muslims from travelling, and further down the road, deportation.
In The Age of Horrorism, Amis argued that fundamentalists had won the battle between Islam and Islamism.
McEwan, 60, said it was "logically absurd and morally unacceptable" that writers who speak out against militant Islam are immediately branded racist.
"As soon as a writer expresses an opinion against Islamism, immediately someone on the left leaps to his feet and claims that because the majority of Muslims are dark-skinned, he who criticises it is racist," he said in an interview in Corriere della Sera.
"This is logically absurd and morally unacceptable. Martin is not a racist. And I myself despise Islamism, because it wants to create a society that I detest, based on religious belief, on a text, on lack of freedom for women, intolerance towards homosexuality and so on - we know it well." Ian McEwan: I Despise Militant Islam >>> By Nicole Martin, Digital and Media Correspondent | June 22, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, has predicted that Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in.
The Arab world would be "pleased" by Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
"It [the reaction] will be positive privately. I think there'll be public denunciations but no action," he said.
Mr Bolton, an unflinching hawk who proposes military action to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons, bemoaned what he sees as a lack of will by the Bush administration to itself contemplate military strikes. Israel 'Will Attack Iran' Before New US President Sworn In, John Bolton Predicts >>> By Toby Harnden in Washington | June 23, 2008
THE NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE: Today, the true believers in Islam and the true believers in diversity uber alles are making common cause against those who believe in freedom of speech and the press
Freedom of the press is on trial in Canada.
The trial is before a court with the Orwellian title of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. The accused are Maclean’s magazine and author Mark Steyn. The crime: In mocking and biting tones, they wrote that Islam threatens Western values.
Had Steyn written that, given the Crusades, colonial atrocities in Africa and the slave trade, Christianity had been on balance a curse, he would not be in the dock. In the United States, these charges would have been tossed out by any federal judge, who would have admonished the plaintiffs that, here in America, we have a First Amendment.
The United States, however, is an isolated exception, as western nations seek to impose wider restrictions on what has come to be called “hate speech.” Political Correctness and Censorship >>> By Patrick J Buchanan | June 23, 2008
