’Moroccan Secret Service Recruits Dutch MPs’
NIS NEWS BULLETIN: AMSTERDAM - MPs and local council members of Moroccan origin are routinely approached by the Moroccan secret service to defend the interests of Morocco. So says Fouad el Haji, a Labour (PvdA) council member in Rotterdam. The Lower House is shocked and has demanded an explanation from the cabinet.

El Haji said on n [sic] TV programme Pauw&Witteman that Moroccan-Dutch MPs, local politicians, entrepreneurs and police officers are enticed by the Moroccan secret service to serve the interests of Morocco. Rabat wants to bind them to it financially, culturally and politically, he stated.

El Haji suggested that within the PvdA, Socialist Party (SP) and leftwing Greens (GroenLinks), there are polticians who have taken up the offer and thus work for the secret service. He suggested one or several MPs or ex-MPs are among them. But he declined to name any names.

El Haji said he himself was also approached. "It is a pattern," he explained. "You are invited to gala parties and treated with all attentions. Before you know it, you are on a plane to Morocco. When you visit Morocco, you are even more cosseted."

'Ordinary' Moroccans are also targeted, El Haji continued. For example, they are urged to use their savings to buy a second house in Morocco. The integration process is thereby deliberately frustrated, according to El Haji.

This week, TV programme NOVA revealed that a Rotterdam policeman, Re Lemhaouli, was a spy for the Moroccan secret service. This was discovered last spring, but hushed up by the Dutch authorities, according to NOVA. Now that the case has come out in the open, the criminal investigation service has launched an investigation after all.

At the request of the Christian democrats (CDA), the House will hold an emergency debate on the question next week. The cabinet will send a letter ahead of this. If El Haji's allegations are true, this is "extremely serious," said CDA MP Sybrand van Haersma Buma yesterday.

Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders wants the cabinet to go into El Haij's suggestion that one or more MPs have or have had contacts with the secret service. GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema said any pressure on Moroccan Dutch is "unacceptable."

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said he had spoken with the Moroccan authorities about the Lemhaouli question. As a result of that conversation, the Moroccan embassy recalled two diplomats to Rabat, he revealed yesterday. ’Moroccan Secret Service Recruits Dutch MPs’ >>> | September 19, 2008

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Moroccan Espionage Affair Escalates
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Rabat recalled two of its diplomats after the Dutch Foreign Ministry protested against reported attempts by the Moroccan secret service to recruit spies in the Netherlands. The ministry described the alleged espionage as "a dirty business". The diplomats were recalled several months ago, but the incident was not made known until this week when reports of the incident surfaced in the media.

Earlier this week, the Dutch current affairs programme NOVA reported that former police sergeant Ré Lemhaouli passed on confidential police information to the Moroccan secret service. A number of Dutch citizens of Moroccan origin later told the media that the Moroccan secret service had attempted to recruit them. The Dutch parliament will hold an emergency debate on the issue next week.



The sergeant was dismissed from the police force this summer for serious dereliction of duty following an internal investigation. After the news of the alleged spying appeared in the media, the Justice Ministry announced that it would not prosecute the police officer because there was insufficient evidence. 



Political pressure

Two days later the Justice Ministry said it had changed its mind because of the publicity in the media and political pressure from The Hague. The Dutch National Department of Criminal Investigation will investigate reports that Mr Lemhaouli passed on confidential police information. And today the cabinet said Mr Lemhaouli could lose his Dutch citizenship. Moroccan Espionage Affair Escalates >>> By Frank Scimone | September 18, 2008

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Extra-marital Sex and Homosexuality: The Archbishop of Wales Questions Sex Rules
“One of the glories of Anglicanism has been about being held together by our beliefs as contained in historic creeds and formulas but not by agreement to particular statements about that faith in each generation. That is the difference between belonging to a Communion rather than a confession.” - Dr Morgan
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE: The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, has warned that Anglicans had clamped down on homosexuality but not on heterosexual sex outside marriage.

Dr Barry Morgan said in his report on the global gathering of bishops for the summer’s Lambeth Conference that “most people who come to be married in Anglican churches in Britain live together beforehand,” and added: “The fundamental question in all of this is whether homosexuality is a matter of choice or not because that should make a difference to the way it is regarded.” Archbishop of Wales Questions Sex Rules >>> By Roberto Sanchez Guevara | September 21, 2008

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UK Government Says No Change on Sharia Law
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE: Five Islamic courts have taken advantage of a clause in British legislation to officially apply Sharia law to British citizens, but despite sensationalist reports last week, they have been doing so since August 2007.

Under the headline “Revealed: UK’s first official Sharia courts” the Sunday Times published an article sparking a storm of controversy similar to that for which the newspaper carried condemnation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in February.



The article by Abul Taher read: “Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with Sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for Sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.”



In a joint statement the Ministry of Justice and Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform said: “Sharia law is not part of the law of England and Wales and the Government has no intention of making any change that would conflict with British laws and values.”



The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal is one of many organizations running Islamic courts, and operate under a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996 which allows the rulings of the courts to be legally binding for people who have agreed to submit to its power. This is true for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.



A Government spokesperson said the situation had been misrepresented in the press. “The arbitration law goes back to the 1850s. This is nothing new. Anyone can use it.”



Raried Chedei, a clerk with the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, also expressed surprise at the furore: “Nothing’s changed. I don’t understand why people think we are using the law any differently.” UK Government Says No Change on Sharia Law >>> By Toby Cohen | September 21, 2008

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Religious Freedom Worsens in Jordan, Algeria: US
AFP: WASHINGTON — Religious freedom took a turn for the worse in the last year in China, Egypt and Iran, but also in normally more tolerant countries like Jordan and Algeria, the State Department said Friday.

The State Department's annual report on religious freedoms around the world for the period between July 2007 and July 2008 also singled out North Korea again as among the worst violators of religious freedom.

But there were new concerns about Jordan and Algeria, "which traditionally have been more respectful of minority faiths," according to John Hanford III, the ambassador at large for religious freedom.

"The government's de factor and de jure policies have precipitated a decline in the status of religious freedom during this reporting period," the report said.

In February, the government began enforcing an ordinance which "makes proselytizing a criminal offense," it said.

It said that the ordinance mandates "that anyone who makes, stores or distributes printed documents, or audiovisual materials with the intent of 'shaking the faith' of a Muslim may also face a maximum of five years' imprisonment" and a fine equivalent to 7,100 dollars.

"In Jordan, a Sharia Court found a convert from Islam to Christianity guilty of apostasy, annulled his marriage, and declared him to be without any religious identity," said Hanford, who oversaw the report.

"The Jordanian government also harassed individuals and organizations based on religious affiliation," he said. Religious Freedom Worsens in Jordan, Algeria: US >>> | September 20, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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Sharia Law Challenges British Justice
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Earlier this year I had to warn people about the various siren voices advocating the recognition of Islamic Sharia in the public law of this country.

It seems now that this was no theoretical advocacy, and that Sharia courts are not only operating here but claim to have the sanction of the County and High Courts in the enforcement of their decisions.

As no one, to my knowledge, has denied this claim, we must assume it is true.

The basis on which these courts operate seems to be a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996 which makes binding the decision of an arbitration tribunal if both parties agree to submit their dispute to it.

It is worth asking immediately whether there is any supervision of any such tribunals, any training for those who sit on them, and any limits to their powers. If not, why is there not and will there be?

In the case of Sharia courts, we must ask whether each party is, indeed, submitting the dispute for resolution voluntarily.
This is particularly the case where women are concerned.

Both in terms of submission to a tribunal and in accepting its decisions, are women genuinely free, or is it possible that there are elements of coercion?

As to the relationship of these tribunals to public law, it should be clear, surely, that no matter what we may have agreed to do in the past, every citizen has the right to have recourse to the courts to secure their fundamental freedoms and rights. It is then for these courts to decide how such freedoms and rights are to be upheld.

It is most important for personal liberty and social order that this duty is not negotiated away in the cause of misplaced concern for community relations or communal harmony.

We must also be clear that the courts, in this country, cannot uphold what is contrary to public law. That is to say, decisions of any quasi-legal bodies must accord with the law of the land and remedy for any decisions not in such accordance must lie in the courts.

It is of some concern, therefore, that decisions are being made in the so-called Sharia courts which appear to be contrary to public law. Sharia Law Challenges British Justice >>> By Michael Nazir-Ali | September 21, 2008

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Blair at His Banal Best!
Excuse me, Herr Professor! How many millions are you being paid for these banalities? If you didn’t already know it, you are teaching us nothing we didn’t already know! - ©Mark

Photo of Tony Blair courtesy of The Sunday Express
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS: Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said religious faith could be a double-edged sword, inspiring some people to do harm, but also having the potential to ease conflicts.

Mr Blair, speaking to students and staff at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, also said the US financial crisis affecting worldwide markets showed "the interconnectedness of the world" which underscored the need to work together on other economic problems. 



Mr Blair visited New Haven to address Yale students in a lecture that kicked off the three-year Faith and Globalisation Initiative, a collaboration of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and Yale's Divinity School and School of Management. Religion Can Harm or heal – Blair >>> | September 21, 2008

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Freedom, Rights, and Liberation Found!
Image courtesy of Google Images
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Muslimah Experimenting with Freedom & Seeking Her Rights and Liberation
Photo courtesy of Google Images
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Islam & Women’s Rights
It’s the equality Islam gives women, didn’t you know?
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Pakistani President: The “Cancer” of Terrorism
Watch BBC video: Eyewitness Dirome Antony describes the moment the bomb struck >>>
BBC: Pakistan's president has pledged to fight the "cancer" of terrorism after a suicide bomb killed at least 40 people in the capital, Islamabad.

In a televised speech, Asif Ali Zardari appealed to "all democratic forces" to help to save Pakistan.

The bomb, at the Marriott Hotel, left a 20ft (6m) crater. The hotel owner said a lorry blew up as it was being checked by security at the entrance.

US President George W Bush condemned the attack and pledged assistance.

He said it was a "reminder of the ongoing threat faced by Pakistan, the United States, and all those who stand against violent extremism".

He said the US would "assist Pakistan in confronting this threat and bringing the perpetrators to justice".

'Tonne of explosives'

The blast destroyed the entire front section of the hotel and brought down the ceiling of the banqueting hall.

Witnesses described a scene of horror as blood-covered bodies were pulled from the wreckage and guests and staff ran for cover from shattered glass. Terror Pledge after Pakistan Bomb >>> | September 20, 2008

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German Citizens Protest against Anti-Islam Congress in Cologne
AFP: COLOGNE, Germany — German police said tens of thousands of Cologne residents took to the streets Saturday in protest at an "anti-Islamisation" conference of European far-right leaders.

Carrying banners saying: "We are Cologne -- Get rid of the Nazis!," protesters gathered outside the city's cathedral to demonstrate against the congress organised by the local far-right group Pro-Koeln (For Cologne).

Pro-Koeln began two days of seminars Friday during which speakers denounced an influx of Muslims to Germany and the construction of one of Europe's largest mosques in the city.

Earlier Saturday, police banned a rally organised by far-right adherents in Cologne just as it was about to begin, following clashes with thousands of opponents.

Some 3,000 police, drafted in to control the protests and seal off part of the old city, used truncheons and water hoses to fend off violent "anti-fascist" leftist activists.

"It is a dictatorship!" said a Pro-Koeln member of the decision to ban the far-right rally.

Andreas Molzer, a member of the European Parliament and an Austrian far-right group who attended the congress, called the ban an "anti-democratic scandal." German Citizens Protest against Anti-Islam Congress in Cologne >>> | September 20, 2008

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Nicht die Moschee, der Islam ist das Problem!
Foto von Ralph Giordano dank der Welt
WELT ONLINE: Mit aller Kraft gegen Rassismus – fordert Ralph Giordano. Denn Organisationen wie Pro Köln wollen die islamkritische Haltungen der Bevölkerung für einen rassistisch-völkischen Rechtspopulismus ausbeuten. Trotzdem müsse der Kampf gegen islamische Demokratiefeindlichkeit weitergehen.

Das hat es in Köln seit 1992 nicht mehr gegeben, als sich Zehn-, ja Hunderttausende unter dem Motto „Arsch hu“ (Arsch hoch) und „Zäng useinand“ (Zähne auseinander) in endlosen Kolonnen und langen Märschen auf den Clodwigplatz zubewegten, um dort in eine furiose Kundgebung gegen Ausländer- und Fremdenfeindlichkeit zu münden. Eine dröhnende Antwort auf den rassistischen Flächenbrand, der damals über das gerade vereinigte Deutschland hinwegraste.

An diesem Wochenende nun war es wieder so weit, kam es zu einer Manifestation, die an jede Sternstunde vor sechzehn Jahren erinnert und einen Menschen mit meiner Biografie das Herz höher schlagen lassen könnte. Könnte?

Wieder der Aufmarsch vieler Tausender, wieder eine weit überlokale Bürgerbewegung, die dem Aufruf von Gewerkschaften, Parteien, Kirchen und anderen Organisationen gefolgt ist: „Wie stellen uns quer!“ Gegen wen? Gegen einen „Anti-Islamisierungskongress“, unter dessen Dach sich so etwas wie die Creme des Euro-Faschismus mit dem Schlagwort „Islamisierung und Türkisierung in Deutschland stoppen“ ein Stelldichein in der Domstadt geben wollte. Schirmherr und Organisator war die vom Verfassungsschutz beobachtete, tief angebräunte Geschichtsnachhut „Pro Köln“ (mit der ich, siehe Postskriptum, eine persönliche Fehde habe).

Das Großspektakel ist eine Mogelpackung. Gibt es doch in Wahrheit zwischen der Rechts-außen-Camorra des alten Kontinents und islamischer Orthodoxie zahlreiche Parallelen und Wesensverwandtschaften – in der reaktionär-patriarchalischen Familienmoral, der Verachtung von Frauen, der Ablehnung des aufgeklärten und emanzipierten Individuums, dem spezifischen Hass auf Juden und dem gemeinsamen Ziel – der Zerstörung des demokratischen Verfassungsstaates. „Pro Köln“ und ihr Euro-Import von bekennenden Antidemokraten wollen keine andere, sie wollen gar keine Republik.

Die Anprangerung menschenrechtswidriger und antidemokratischer Lehren und Praktiken des Islam ist denn auch das Letzte, worum es den Veranstaltern des „Anti-Islamisierungskongresses“ geht. Was sie wirklich wollen, ist der groß angelegte Versuch, begründete islamkritische Haltungen der Bevölkerung im Sinne eines rassistisch-völkischen Rechtspopulismus auszubeuten.

Deshalb klar und unmissverständlich: Im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus unter der Fahne des Propheten wie auch gegen eine schleichende Islamisierung, wie ich ihn an der Seite kritischer Muslime führe, ist der Euro-Faschismus kein Bundesgenosse, sondern der eingeborene Feind der historisch und politisch berechtigten Islamkritik. Eine Kritik, die Muslime nicht unter Generalverdacht stellt, aber auch schmerzende Wahrheiten nicht scheut. Mit aller Kraft gegen Rassismus und Fremdenfeindlichkeit – ja! Aber ebenso gegen Ausgrenzung und Abschottung von Frauen in den Parallelgesellschaften, gegen die Inflation von Zwangsehen, die unsägliche Perversität der „Ehrenmorde“ und manch andere Praktiken, die mit unserer Rechtsordnung unvereinbar sind. Nicht die Moschee, der Islam ist das Problem! >>> Von Ralph Giordano | 20. September 2008

My Essay:
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom >>>

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Teacher Faces Ban for Rapping Islam
THE PRESS ASSOCIATION: A secondary school teacher who contributed on an extreme right-wing website during a lesson could be struck off, it has emerged.

Adam Walker, 39, a British National Party member, may become the first person to be banned by the General Teaching Council (GTC) for religious intolerance.

While children worked on a project during a lesson at Houghton Kepier Sports College in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, Mr Walker posted critical comments about asylum seekers, Islam, immigrants and "the promotion of homosexuality" on a chat forum.

His brother Mark Walker, a fellow BNP member and also a technology teacher, was suspended by Sunnydale Community College, Shildon, Co Durham, for accessing the BNP website during school hours. Teacher Faces Ban for Rapping Islam >>> | September 20, 2008

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Teacher, ban, |"rapping Islam

From Benightedness into Benightedness?
ASSOCIATED PRESS OF PAKISTAN: KHANEWAL: A Hindu couple, belonging to Umar Kot, Sindh, embraced Islam at the hands of a local religious scholar here Saturday. Mahu Jee son of Surwa Jogi and his would-be wife Seeta daughter of Mithu Jogi embraced Islam at the hands of Maulana Azizur Rahman.

They were renamed Muhammad Ramzan and Aisha Bibi, after which their nikah was solemnised in the chamber of Ghulam Jilani and Anjum Joya advocates at the district courts.

The couple told newsmen that they had been desiring to embrace Islam since long but their respective families were resisting this move.

“Islam is the religion of truth and brotherhood, in which there is no class difference, while in Hinduism there is a caste and class system, which looks down upon the lower castes, the untouchables and the poor,” explained the convert Muhammad Ramazan. Hindu Couple Embraces Islam >>> | September 20, 2008

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Tancredo’s “Jihad Prevention Act”
BORDERFIRE REPORT: “Jihad Prevention Act” would deny U.S. visas to advocates of ‘Sharia’ law, expel Islamists already here

WASHINGTON, DC – Amid disturbing revelations that the verdicts of Islamic Sharia courts are now legally binding in civil cases in the United Kingdom, U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) moved quickly today to introduce legislation designed to protect the United States from a similar fate.

According to recent news reports, a new network of Sharia courts in a half-dozen major cities in the U.K. have been empowered under British law to adjudicate a wide variety of legal cases ranging from divorces and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

“This is a case where truth is truly stranger than fiction,” said Tancredo. “Today the British people are learning a hard lesson about the consequences of massive, unrestricted immigration."

Sharia law, favored by Muslim extremists around the world, often calls for brutal punishment – such as the stoning of women who are accused of adultery or have children out of wedlock, cutting off the hands of petty thieves and lashings for the casual consumption of alcohol. Under Sharia law, a woman is often required to provide numerous witnesses to prove rape allegations against an assailant – a near impossible task. 



“When you have an immigration policy that allows for the importation of millions of radical Muslims, you are also importing their radical ideology – an ideology that is fundamentally hostile to the foundations of western democracy – such as gender equality, pluralism, and individual liberty,” said Tancredo. “The best way to safeguard America against the importation of the destructive effects of this poisonous ideology is to prevent its purveyors from coming here in the first place.” Tancredo Proposes Anti-Sharia Measure in Wake of U.K. Certification of Islamic Courts >>> | September 19, 2008

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Hot News from Down Under!
PERTH NOW: ORAL sex is the “new black'' in Aussie bedrooms, according to sexual health experts who believe improved hygiene and feminism are pushing its popularity.

The Australasian sexual health congress in Perth has been told oral sex, once the exclusive domain of sex workers, has now become a leading part in the sexual repertoire for straight and gay Australians.

"For young people it's an almost universal practice now, with 90 per cent trying it before the age of 30,'' said Basil Donovan, a professor of sexual health at the University of NSW. Oral Sex the New Abstinence: Experts >>> Tamara McLean, Medical Writer | September 16, 2008

Police Ban Anti-Islam Demonstration in Cologne
THE EARTH TIMES: Cologne, Germany - German police prohibited an anti-Islam demonstration by far rightists on public safety grounds in Cologne on Saturday after the venue was completely blockaded by opponents. "The safety of our Cologne people has priority," said a police spokesman after ugly clashes between far-leftists and riot police.

The leftists, who were bent on occupying a city square set aside for the rightists to use, assaulted police and tried to snatch their pistols. Riot police advanced against them, swinging batons.

A police spokesman said the leftists were no longer attacking in small groups but in large formations.

Television images showed that only about 50 rightists managed to pass the blockade and enter the city square, where "no mosque" banners were hanging. The "anti-Islamification" rally failed to start at the announced time, noon, and was banned a few moments later.

About a kilometre away, several thousand peaceful demonstrators listened as Cologne's mayor Fritz Schamma stood up outside the city's great cathedral to denounce the far-right rally.

City and national German authorities detest the rightists, but say they must allow them the right of free speech.

Schramma described those who bent on holding the far-right rally as "racists in bourgeois dress" and "the mouldy clique of Euro-Fascism," adding: "I say, there is the door. Go home!"

The planned anti-mosque demonstration had not only inflamed passions in Germany, but in Muslim nations. Iran demanded that Germany prohibit it. Police Ban Anti-Islam Demonstration in Cologne >>> DPA | September 20, 2008

LE FIGARO:
Cologne se mobilise 
face à l'extrême droite : Quelques heurts se sont produits dès hier, avant même que ne s'ouvre le «congrès» organisé pour dénoncer « l'islamisation » du pays.

AU PREMIER jour du « congrès anti-islamisation » organisé ce week-end à Cologne, une foule bigarrée a formé une chaîne humaine, hier, devant le siège du Ditib, le syndicat de la communauté turque en Allemagne. De jeunes étudiantes blondes tiennent la main à des femmes voilées d'origine turque. Des sympathisants communistes fraternisent avec des élus du parti libéral (FDP-centre droit). Quelque 500 personnes se sont ainsi rassemblées, pour protester contre la venue dans leur ville de militants d'extrême droite. >>> De Patrick Saint-Paul, envoyé spécial du Figaro à Cologne | 20.09.2008

WELT ONLINE:
Anti-Islamisierungskongreß: Köln wehrt sich gegen Rechtsradikale - Die rechte Großkundgebung ist abgesagt, die Demonstranten jubeln. Das Kölner Herzblut hat gegen den "rassistischen Schwachsinn" gesiegt, sagt Oberbürgermeister Schramma. Doch was die einen als Zivilcourage der Kölner feiern, kritisieren andere als Einschränkung der Meinungsfreiheit. >>> Von Freia Peters und Kristian Frigelj | 20. September 2008

DIE PRESSE:
"Sicherheit der Kölner geht vor": Anti-Islam-Kundgebung verboten: Die Kundgebung der rechtspopulistischen Bürgerbewegung "Pro Köln" wurde kurzfristig verboten. Der freiheitliche EU-Abgeordnete Mölzer spricht von einem "demokratiepolitischen Skandal".

Die in der Kölner Innenstadt geplante Kundgebung der rechtspopulistischen Bürgerbewegung "Pro Köln" wird verboten. Das sagte ein Polizeisprecher am Samstag vor Ort. "Die Sicherheit unserer Kölner geht vor", sagte er. Pro Köln wollte zu Mittag unter dem Motto "Stopp Islam" eine Großkundgebung veranstalten. Die Veranstaltung gefährde die Sicherheit der Bürger, lautete die Begründung. >>> | 20. September 2008

The AIM of the conference : To forge a European alliance against Islamisation. Highlight of the conference: A rally in the centre of Cologne.

Pro-Köln

Diana West on Pro=Köln’s ‘Cities Against Islamisation’ >>> | September 14, 2008

Hat tip: Gates of Vienna

PRESSTV (IR):
Cologne Gives Islamophobes Cold Shoulder: Cologne mayor calls on the city's inhabitants to show 'cold shoulder' to an anti-Islam meeting organized by the far-right Pro-Koeln group. >>> | September 18, 2008

leJDD.fr:
Cologne stoppe l'extrême droite: Le meeting anti-islamisation organisé par Pro Köln, parti d'extrême droite qui s'oppose à la construction d'une mosquée à Cologne, a finalement été annulé samedi. Les autorités ont pris cette décision de peur que les manifestations qui opposent depuis vendredi les militants d'extrême droite à ceux de gauche ne dégénèrent. Ces derniers craignent que ce meeting sonne le retour du nazisme. >>> Par Marie Desnos | Samedi 20 Septembre 2008

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Peter Oborne: Apocalypse Now? New World Order Could Have Devastating Implications for Western Nations
DAILY MAIL: Almost exactly seven years ago Al Qaeda terrorists targeted their hijacked planes into the Twin Towers at the heart of New York’s financial centre — and the world was transformed.

There were no deaths this week, but the effects of the carnage on the financial
markets will be far more profound and destabilising than the 9/11 atrocity.

For almost all of us, it will, I predict, be a change for the worse, and for a large
minority the consequences will be extremely distressing.

The Western world — Britain, Europe and the U.S. — has moved from excess to
austerity overnight. This week’s financial typhoon will savagely impact living
standards.

In due course, it will topple governments and lead to a permanent transfer of
economic and political power from Europe and America to the emergent and, in some
cases, such as China, semi-barbarous economies in the East.

I know I will be accused of being unnecessarily apocalyptic and irresponsibly
negative, but I believe that the greatest mistake we can now make is to
downplay the seriousness of the situation and bury our heads in the sand.

The seismic events which have seen the near-destruction of the investment banking sector and the collapse of insurance giant AIG are on the scale of the Great Crash of 1929.

That was such a disaster because it created conditions for the emergence of fascism in continental Europe and then World War II.

Although it is hard to predict the consequences, we should expect ramifications of equal significance — including the re-emergence of violent Far Right parties across the globe.

Some experts were talking this week as if the financial crisis was nearly over. They
 could not be more wrong. The downturn has only just begun — and for most citizens
uninvolved with finance the consequences have not been felt at all.

But they will be felt very soon and very brutally. The British economy is in the same position as the Texan coast earlier this month as Hurricane Ike approached — apparently calm, with life going on as normal, but an almighty storm is raging just
over the horizon and heading our way with terrifying speed. Peter Oborne: Apocalypse Now? New World Order Could Have Devastating Implications for Western Nations >>> | September 20, 2008

Cross-posted at The Shrewd Economist >>>

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The End of an Economic Era
Watch Guardian video: Banking Crisis: The Week the Earth Shook: The Guardian's economics editor, Larry Elliott, on an extraordinary week and how it marks the end of an economic era >>> | September 19, 2008
Cross-posted at The Shrewd Economist >>>

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The Secret Life of Tzipi Livni
Photo of Tzipi Livni courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: How the woman set to be Israel’s new leader earned her spurs as an agent working for a covert cell in an elite spy unit

It is an eye-catching episode on the CV of any would-be prime minister: a dangerous, youthful stint as a spy in one of the world’s most respected and feared secret services.

True to her training, Tzipi Livni, the Israeli leader-in-waiting, has maintained a Sphinx-like silence about her Mossad career in Paris in the early 1980s. Consequently, reports on her service have pegged her as anything from a frontline agent hunting down Arab terrorists across Europe to a mere house-sitter deployed to provide a respectable front for Mossad safe houses in the French capital.

Mossad does not divulge details but The Times can reveal that Ms Livni ran substantial risks as an Israeli agent operating in a covert cell in Europe.

“She was in an elite unit,” said Ephraim Halevy, the former director of Mossad, who for security reasons declined to specify which outfit Ms Livni had served in between 1980 and 1984.

“She was a very promising agent who showed all the attributes of a very promising career. She was very well thought of.”

Ms Livni, a fluent French speaker and daughter of renowned Zionist guerrillas, served her time in Paris when the city was a deadly battle-ground in Mossad’s covert war with Palestinian militant groups and Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions. The Secret Life of Tzipi Livni >>> By James Hider in Jerusalem, Charles Bremner in Paris and Fran Yeoman | September 20, 2008

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Livni's Disappointed Rival to Quit Politics >>> | September 20, 2008

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Tzipi Livn

Pick-up in the Park
TIMESONLINE: The Gota restaurant was packed. Cars lined the streets, you had to wait for a table and laughter filled the air as families gathered to break their Ramadan fasts in the upmarket Baghdad neighbourhood.

Even the crackle of gunfire in the background could not spoil the mood - for once, it was not caused by insurgents but a wedding party, firing off some rounds in celebration. “It’s like a dream, but it’s become truth,” said Sarmad, 29, a trendy, confident young professional. This is the first Ramadan since violence spiralled out of control in 2005 that Iraqis have felt safe enough to break their fasts in restaurants. In recent months people have even had the confidence to visit parks and spend the afternoons shopping; an unimaginable scenario as recently as six months ago.

For young, single men such as Sarmad it is a godsend. “We can meet girls now,” he said.

Love is in the Baghdad air, but the young men, eager for a date, still face the very real threat of an overprotective father or elder brother. It would be impossible to approach a girl directly and strike up a conversation.

This has simply made them more resourceful. A note, with your phone number, could be dropped beside a girl you like, but by far the most common method used is to send her a mobile phone message using Bluetooth technology.

Ice-cream shops and parks are popular places to pick up girls and to meet for dates. On a typical weekday hundreds of young people, many of them university students, gather in parks to mingle, chat and find prospective partners. “It usually happens by sending your phone number by Bluetooth and then you wait for her to give you a call,” Ahmmed Jaseb, 28, who goes to restaurants three or four times a week to look for girls, said. “We talk, go on a date, go to another restaurant. You have to go a couple of times to prove that you start to love her and not that you just want sex.” Toung Love Blooms Again in Baghdad with the Aid of Technology >>> By Tim Albone in Baghdad | September 20, 2008

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Gerald Warner: Joe Biden Loses Obama the Catholic Vote
TELEGRAPH BLOG: More, as promised, on Senator Joe Biden (why should Sarah Palin get all the coverage?). Remember, you read it here first: on September 11 this blog reported a mounting backlash from Catholic bishops against Biden, Barack Obama's "Catholic" pro-abortion running mate. At that time I estimated eight bishops had come out to denounce Biden; the total is now 55. Beyond that, Biden is being trashed across every state of the Union by Catholic newspapers, TV and radio stations, and blogs. It is a tsunami of rejection.

The story has now hit the secular media. Last Saturday Time magazine asked: "Does Biden Have a Catholic Problem?" By Wednesday the issue had moved onto the front page of the New York Times. Joe the Jinx has blown it, big time. Biden has only himself to blame: he started this war, with his notoriously undisciplined mouth. He knew the dangers. Last August, Archbishop Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St Louis and now Prefect of the Apostolic Segnatura in Rome, said communion should be denied to pro-abortion politicians "until they have reformed their lives". Gerald Warner: Joe Biden Loses Obama the Catholic Vote >>> | September 19, 2008

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Russia in Ambitious Re-armament Push
THE TELEGRAPH: Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, yesterday vowed to defy Western attempts to isolate Moscow as he gave his backing to an ambitious re-armament programme.

Both Mr Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, resorted to the language of the Cold War as they pledged to increase defence spending by 50 per cent over the next three years.

But they also sought to portray Russia as the victim of Nato aggression.

As his parliament gave its support to the higher defence budget, Mr Medvedev accused the United States and its allies of seeking to isolate Russia behind "thick walls and an iron curtain."

The West's attempts to punish and pressure Russia for its invasion of Georgia last month would not deter the Kremlin from seeking to reassert the country's military might on the global stage, he warned.

Although his deputy foreign minister said that the possibility of war with the United States had been "ruled out", the president hinted that an aggressive Western response over the crisis in the Caucasus could prompt Russia to accelerate the re-armament process.

"We will continuously strengthen our national security, modernize the military and increase our defence capability to a sufficient level," Mr Medvedev said. "And we will determine what level is sufficient proceeding from the current situation." Russia Defies West with New Arms Spending >>> By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow | September 20, 2008

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In Video, Al Qaeda Vows More US Attacks
CNN INTERNATIONAL: In a video marking the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, al Qaeda's top leader in Afghanistan vows more "large-scale" attacks against the United States and its allies.

In another segment, the personal adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Omar says al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is alive and well. Al Qaeda leaders featured on the video promise more violence against their enemies.

"We inform the forces of the Cross and their apostate agents that the Mujahedeen's policy in the coming stage, God permitting, is going to be more major, large-scale attacks like the Kandahar prison operation, the Nuristan raid, the Sarobi ambush and Khost airport operation in which approximately 50 Americans and 100 apostates were killed and four helicopters were hit and destroyed," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid says.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the video posted on jihadi Web sites, purportedly by al Qaeda's video production arm, As Sahab.

The well-being of bin Laden, and the possibility of his demise, are frequently in question. But in the video, Mullah Mohammed Hassan Rahmani, adviser to Mullah Omar, says, "Sheikh Osama is healthy and well, and we ask God to protect him, and we pray to God to preserve him and foil the attempts if the enemies of the Nation to reach him." In Video, Al Qaeda Vows More U.S. Attacks >>> | September 19, 2008

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Al-Qaeda Issues 9/11 Anniversary Video >>> | September 20, 2008

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Bush, Despite Being Part of the Problem, Hails Financial Rescue Plan
President Bush on ''a pivotal moment'' in the US economy >>>
BBC: The US is set to take "unprecedented measures" to tackle the crisis gripping US financial markets, President George W Bush has said.

But he warned the moves, which include spending of billions of dollars to buy up bad debts, would risk "a significant amount" of taxpayers' money.

Legislation for the plan will be pushed through as soon as possible, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said.

The US took action after a week of turmoil on global money markets. Bush Hails Financial rescue Plan >>> | September 19, 2008

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Sharia-compliant Banking in Britain
The steady rise of Sharia-compliant banking across Britain >>>
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German Government Condemns Islamophobic Confab in Cologne
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC NEWS AGENCY (IRNA): The German government here Friday condemned an international Islamophobic conference due to open later in the day in the western city of Cologne.


Addressing a regular weekly press briefing, a spokeswoman for the German Interior Ministry "condemned all extremist actions" related to the so-called 'Anti-Islamization Congress', hosted by the far-right group 'Pro Koeln'.

Gabriele Hermani stressed the far-right confab would negatively impact on efforts to promote peaceful co-existence between the German state and its Muslims citizens.

Tens of thousands of people were expected to take to the streets of Cologne to protest against the three-day Islamophobic meeting.

A wide spectrum of nationwide civic groups, among them labor, student, church and anti-racism groups, were due to join the protests and mass blockades.

Initial media reports pointed to a tense situation near the conference site, as counter-demonstrators were hoping to disrupt the anti-Islam meeting.

Efforts to ban the event failed because of legal reasons, according to Cologne Police President Klaus Steffenhagen.

Under surveillance by Germany's domestic Verfassungsschutz intelligence agency,`Pro Koeln` has invited around 1,000 right-wing extremists to the disputed meeting in Cologne, among them leading far-right politicians from the US, France, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Spain and Italy.

A major focus of 'Pro Koeln' has been its controversial opposition to the planned construction of a central mosque for Cologne's nearly 150,000-strong Muslim community.

‘Pro Cologne' has five seats in Cologne's 90-member city council.
There are 3.5 million Muslims living in Germany of which 2.5 million are Turks. [Source: IRNA] | September 19, 2008

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Vatican Message to Islam: Work Together to Strengthen Family Life
CATHOLIC CULTURE: Each year the Vatican releases a message to Muslims at the beginning of Ramadan. This year's message -- signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, the president and secretary, respectively, of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue -- notes that "Christians and Muslims can and must work together to safeguard the dignity of the family."

"Given the high esteem in which both Muslims and Christians hold the family, we have already had many occasions, from the local to the international level, to work together in this field," the statement notes. The Holy See has frequently joined with Islamic countries to promote pro-family policies in international organizations. [Source: Catholic Culture] | September 19, 2008

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Unos 3.000 catalanes se han convertido al Islam el último año
MINUTODIGITAL: El islam crece con ímpetu en Cataluña. El grueso de los islamistas -se calcula que hay alrededor de

300.000- son inmigrantes que proceden de países musulmanes. Pero a ellos se han sumado, en los últimos años, cientos de catalanes. Los conversos son ahora más de 3.000, según los datos que ha facilitado el portavoz del Consejo Islámico Cultural de Cataluña, Mohamed Halhoul.

Coincidiendo con la primera jornada de la celebración del Ramadán, Halhoul atribuyó el alto número de conversiones al influjo ejercido por los musulmanes que han llegado procedentes de países como Marruecos y Pakistán. Halhoul remarcó el “vigor” de los musulmanes en territorio catalán, donde cuentan con 144 oratorios. Los datos de la Dirección General de Asuntos Religiosos de la Generalitat, sin embargo, cifran en 169 los oratorios en funcionamiento.

La Junta Islámica Catalana (JIC) es una de las asociaciones que agrupan a los ciudadanos conversos. Su presidente, Abdennur Prado, ha asegurado que la cifra de 3.000 conversos “es seguramente inferior a la real”, aunque admitió la dificultad de cuantificar “un fenómeno social que cada vez crece más en todas las poblaciones”. Unos 3.000 catalanes se han convertido al Islam el último año >>> Redacción MD | Bilbao | 4 Septiembre, 2008

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Fear over Anti-Islam Rally in Germany
HERALD SUN (AU): COLOGNE is bracing for violence as far Right supporters from all over Europe gather for an "anti-Islamification congress".

Those attending the event starting today in the west German city include Filip Dewinter, head of Belgium's far Right Vlaams Belang party, and Andreas Moelzer, the Euro MP once ejected from Austria's Freedom Party for being too extreme.

Also adding his support to what organisers call Europe's "shared, 1000-year history", identity and "Western values and Christian traditions" will be Mario Borghezio, from Italy's anti-immigration Northern League.

The rally is being organised by the far Right Pro-Koeln (For Cologne), which says that "half a dozen" coaches have been hired to bring supporters from Belgium.

A "high-ranking delegation" is also expected from Austria, as are supporters from Italy, Spain and Britain.

Pro-Koeln hopes 1500 people will attend the climax of the two-day congress, a rally in the city centre tomorrow, and police expect several hundred. Fear over Anti-Islam Rally in Germany >>> Staff Writer, Herald Sun | September 19, 2008

TIMESONLINE: A German far right group has stirred Muslim anger worldwide by holding a three-day "Anti-Islamisation Conference" to protest against the construction of mosques and Muslim immigration.

Prominent members of Europe's far right, including French "Front National" leader Jean-Marie le Pen and Belgian far-right politician Filip Dewinter, have said they will attend the meeting in Cologne which is aimed at forging a European alliance against "Islamisation."

The conference will include a rally in the centre of Cologne tomorrow which police say could lead to clashes with left-wing groups that plan a counter-demonstration. Trade unions, churches and other groups have also announced plans to protest against the conference.

The conference organiser is a local protest group called "Pro-Cologne" which campaigned against the city's recent decision to allow the construction of a large new mosque with two 55-metre tall minarets. Around 330,000 immigrants live in Cologne, about a third of the city's population.

"Mosques are shooting out of the ground like mushrooms, the muezzin call and headscarves are flooding our streets," Pro-Cologne said on its website. It said 150 "politicians and publicists" from all over Europe and 1,500 other participants will attend the conference at which it plans to launch a petition "against the Islamisation of our cities". Anger at Europe’s Far Right ‘Anti-Islam’ Conference >>> By David Crossland in Berlin | September 18, 2008

THE EARTH TIMES:
Rightists Chase Man at Start of Anti-Islam Rally in Cologne >>> DPA | September 19, 2008

This is the Islamic call to prayer we can all look forward to! : أَذَان >>>

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Forderung des Anti-Islamisierungs-Kongresses: Keine Moscheen im christlichen Abendland
Bild dank Google Bildsuche
WELT ONLINE: Keine Moscheen im christlichen Abendland: Dieser Forderung will die rechtspopulistische Organisation Pro Köln mit einem Anti-Islamisierungs-Kongress Nachruck verleihen. Doch die Kölner wehren sich, friedlich und mit Steinwürfen. Die selbst ernannte Bürgerbewegung musste aufs Wasser flüchten.

Kontrolle sieht anders aus. Bernd Schöppe, Funktionär von Pro Köln, steht mit Schweißperlen auf der Stirn an einer Kölner Häuserwand, abgeschirmt von etwa 30 Polizisten. Vor „Nazi“-Rufen war er durch die Menge geeilt, jetzt versucht er die Journalisten an das Rheinufer zu lotsen. Die Stimmung ist aufgeheizt, aber gemäßigt – noch. „Machst Du da Deine internationale Pressekonferenz?“ brüllen linke Demonstranten, „Haha, Du siehst aber angespannt aus!“ Über Handy teilt der Pro Köln Vorstand den neuen Ort der Pressekonferenz mit, die den Anti-Islamisierungskongress einleiten soll.

Die Stadt Köln hatte am Abend zuvor eine Versammlung im Bezirksrathaus verboten. Nun will die Bürgerbewegung „Pro Köln“, vom Verfassungsschutz als rechtsextrem eingestuft, auf einem Schiff seine Strategie präsentieren, mit denen sie Deutschland vor einer Islamisierung bewahren will. Keine Moscheen im christlichen Abendland, nicht in Köln und nirgends sonst in Deutschland, ist eine zentrale Forderung. Der Kongress hatte international großen Protest erregt, der Kölner Oberbürgermeister hatte dazu aufgerufen, den Rechten die „kalte Schulter“ zu zeigen. Die Polizei hatte von einem der „schwersten Einsätze“ aller Zeiten gesprochen, 50.000 Gegendemonstranten waren erwartet worden. Etwa hundert von ihnen stehen schon an der Schiffsanlegestelle, wo Bodyguards mit schwarzen Anzügen und Sonnenbrillen den Steg säumen. Anti-Islamierungs-Kongress: Mit dem Ausflugsdampfer gegen den Islam >>> Von Freia Peters und Kristian Frigelj | 19. September 2008

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Pope Benedict XVI Defends Pope Pius XII, the Wartime Pope
Photo of Pope Pius XII courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The Pope has for the first time publicly defended the wartime record of Pope Pius XII, who for decades has been accused of failing to speak out against the Holocaust.

Pope Benedict XVI said new research showed that the former Pontiff “spared no effort” in trying to save Jews from extermination by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

Pope Pius XII has been condemned by some scholars and many Jewish groups for not speaking out more stridently against Nazism and the Final Solution.

His alleged ambivalence to the deportation and murder of Jews has been the subject of several books, including the 1999 Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pope Pius XII, by John Cornwell.

He is edging towards sainthood — a move strongly supported by the last Pope, John Paul II - despite accusations that he kept silent about the Holocaust, was anti-Semitic and was sympathetic to Nazi Germany because of his horror of communism.

“(Pius XII) spared no effort, wherever it was possible, to intervene (for Jews) directly or through instructions given to individuals or institutions in the Catholic Church,” Benedict XVI told a conference which presented new work on Pius ahead of the 50th anniversary of his death on October 9.

Pius XII, who was Pontiff from 1939 to 1958, had to work ”secretly and silently” to ”avert the worst and save the highest number of Jews possible,” Benedict XVI said, repeating assertions made by Vatican experts in the past. The Pope also said Pius XII was thanked by Jewish groups during and after the war for saving the lives of thousands of Jews. He cited a meeting the leader of the Roman Catholic Church had in the Vatican in November 1945 with 80 death camp survivors who ”thanked him personally for his generosity”. Pope Defends Wartime Predecessor >>> By Nick Squires in Rome | September 19, 2008

NZZ Online:
Papst Benedikt XII. verteidigt seinen Vorgänger Pius XII.: Gebet für baldige Seligsprechung >>> | 9. Oktober 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Pius XII Controversy Intensifies: Sainthood for the Holocaust Pope?: Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday fueled speculation that beatification may be on the horizon for Pope Pius XII, often criticized for not doing enough to combat the Holocaust. The Vatican has been working hard to improve Pius's popular image.

The process of beatification is usually a backroom deal, taking place inside the Vatican and well outside the public eye. But not this time. For months the Catholic Church has been sending signals that the beatification of Pope Pius XII, who headed the Catholic Church during World War II, may be imminent. Some historians and Jewish leaders, though, have been vociferous in their opposition to the move, arguing Pius XII did less than he should have to save the Jews from the Holocaust. >>> cgh -- with wire reports | October 10, 2008

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Russia Warns of New Iron Curtain
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: President Dmitri Medvedev has accused the West of trying to push Russia behind a new "Iron Curtain".

"This is not our path. For us there is no sense going back to the past," the Russian leader said in Moscow.

He also blamed Nato for provoking last month's fighting between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

His comments come a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia was becoming increasingly aggressive abroad.

In a strongly-worded speech, Ms Rice said Moscow was on a "one-way path to isolation and irrelevance".

Diplomatic relations between the US and its European allies, on one side, and Russia on the other, have been strained by the Georgian conflict.

Lambasting Nato

"We are in effect being pushed down a path that is founded not on fully-fledged, civilised partnership with other countries, but on autonomous development, behind thick walls, behind an Iron Curtain," President Medvedev said. Russia Warns of New Iron Curtain >>> | September 19, 2008

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The Wilders Speech the Dutch Were Prevented from Hearing
WINDS OF JIHAD: Moroccans are colonizing the Netherlands, Geert Wilders argued Wednesday during a session of parliament. According to Wilders the Moroccans did not come to integrate, “but in order to subjugate and dominate the Dutch.”

“We are losing our land to the Moroccan scum who go through life cursing, spitting and hitting innocent people,” according to Wilders. “They accept all too happily our benefits, houses and doctors, but not our standards and values.” Dutch TV pulls the plug on Wilders speech: “Moroccans are colonizing the Netherlands” >>>

KLEINVERZET:
Again Censorship in the Netherlands >>> By Ferdy | September 18, 2008

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Amnesty Urges Bosnia to Protect Gay Festival
REUTERS: SARAJEVO - Amnesty International on Thursday urged authorities to safeguard Bosnia's first gay festival from possible violence from Muslims who see it as an affront to their religious feelings.

The festival, due to take place in Sarajevo next week during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, has been branded by some Islamic media and officials as a "festival of homosexuality", which is regarded as a sin and disease in Islam.

The human rights watchdog said in a statement some media had mounted a homophobic campaign which had encouraged prejudice and could lead to violence. Amnesty Urges Bosnia to Protect Gay Festival >>> | September 18, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
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MPs Take a Tougher Tone against Geert Wilders
DUTCHNEWS.NL: The government’s 2009 spending plans were approved by MPs on Thursday night after two days of debate. A motion of no confidence in the government from anti-immigration MP Geert Wilders failed to win any support outside his own PVV party.

Analysts said the debate was notable for the tougher tone adopted against Wilders by other MPs.

Alexander Pechtold, leader of the liberal democrats D66, described Wilders as an extremist and accused him of racism, reports the Trouw. MPs Take a Tougher Tone against Wilders >>> | September 19, 2008

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Dispute Among Islam Scholars: Did Muhammad Ever Really Live?
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A number of Islamic associations have put a quick end to their collaboration with a professor -- and trainer of people who are supposed to teach Islam in German high schools -- who has expressed his doubt that Muhammad ever lived. Islam scholar Michael Marx spoke with SPIEGEL ONLINE about what lies behind the debate and the historical person of the Prophet.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Marx, someone studying Islam learns that the Prophet Muhammad was born on the Arabian Peninsula in A.D. 570 and died in Medina in A.D. 632. Is there any reason for doubting that this is true?

Michael Marx: Those are provisional dates that we should hold on to until there are better figures. The Islamic sources are rich with material about the person of the Prophet and his life story. Some of it is has elements that are somewhat mystical. But we can generally rely on the solid core of Islamic tradition. Dispute Among Islam Scholars: Did Muhammad Ever Really Live? >>> Interview conducted by Yassin Musharbash | September 18, 2008

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Iran Says Satanist Cults Challenging Islam
KHALEEJ TIMES ONLINE: TEHRAN - Iranian police said dozens of Satan-worshiping cults have found their way into the country and that many of them are seeking to turn people against Islam, press reports said on Wednesday.

"There are more than 3,000 Satan-worshipping cults in the world and about 50 of them have entered Iran," deputy police chief Hossein Zolfaghari was quoted as saying by Etemad newspaper.

He said about half of those groups were active and that about 200 books on the subject had been translated, printed and distributed.

Such groups commonly "deviate from conventional religions, make false promises, sexually exploit" and "are tasked with (promoting) Islamophobia," Zolfaghari said. Iran Says Satanist Cults Challenging Islam: Report >>> AFP | September 17, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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We Are Losing Europe to Islam
TOWNHALL.COM: With Wall Street convulsing, and the White House race intensifying, the question "Who lost Europe" is on no one's lips, let alone minds. Indeed, the question begs another: "Is Europe lost?"

The answer to the second question is, "No, not yet." And losing Europe, I would add, is by no means inevitable. But that doesn't mean the continent isn't currently hell-bent to accommodate the dictates of Islamic law, bit by increasingly larger bit. Such a course of accommodation, barring reversal, will only hasten Bernard Lewis' famous prediction that Europe will be Islamic by century's end.

And what do I mean by "accommodation"? Well, to take one tiny example, one snowflake in a blizzard of such examples, there are schools in Belgium that not only serve halal food to Muslim and non-Muslim alike (old news), but, according to a recent French magazine report, no longer teach authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. (Don't even ask about the Holocaust.)

For a more substantial, indeed, keystone example of accommodation, we can look to England, where, it pains me to write, Sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. According to press reports this week, the British government has quietly, cravenly elevated five Sharia courts to the level of tribunal hearings, thus making their rulings legally binding.

It may be difficult to quantify the impact of a Voltaire vacuum on the continent, but we can instantly see the inequities of British Sharia (I can't believe I'm writing that phrase). Among the first official verdicts were those upholding the Islamic belief in male supremacy. These included an inheritance decision in which male heirs received twice as much as female; and several cases of domestic violence in which husbands were acquitted and wives' charges were dropped.

In a decidedly minuscule minority, I say we ignore the spread of Islamic law across Europe, from the schoolroom to the courtroom, at our peril, particularly given that in so doing, we also ignore the vital political parties that have arisen in reaction to this threat to Western civilization. Why at our peril? Because the same type of liberty-shrinking, Sharia-driven accommodation is happening here.

Of the parties dedicated to resisting Islamization that I examined in Europe last summer, the most promising range from the sizeable Vlaams Belang in Belgium to the tiny Sweden Democrats, and include the Lega Nord in Italy, the Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders in Holland, the Danish People's Party, the Swiss People's Party and the Austrian Freedom Party. Such parties are unknown here, or ignored. Worse, they are shunned. Why? I believe it's because their respective political opponents -- the leftist media and governing establishments that are increasingly dependent on Islamic support, by the way -- have successfully slandered these parties as "extremists," "racists," "fascists" and "Nazis." We Are Losing Europe to Islam >>> By Diana West | September 18, 2008

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Die Schweiz: Hauchdünnes Ja zu Raucherbeizen im Nationalrat
Hat man in der Schweiz nichts Wichtigeres zu bedenken? Kann man sich mit nichts Anderem, mit nichts Wichtigerem befassen? Russland ist am Aufrüsten, und Islam breitet sich in Europa, und auch in der Schweiz, aus. Die Politiker in der Schweiz und in anderen Ländern Europas, und in Amerika, können sich mit nichts Anderem befassen als mit dem sogennanten Passivrauchen! Wie blödsinnig! Wie jämmerlich! - ©Mark


NZZ Online: Die Frage, ob es in der Schweiz Raucherbeizen geben darf, spaltet die Räte nach wie vor. Der Nationalrat beharrt auf seiner Position, Raucherrestaurants und -bars zuzulassen. Der Entscheid dafür fiel in der dritten Runde mit 89 zu 88 Stimmen allerdings äusserst knapp aus. Hauchdünnes Ja zu Raucherbeizen im Nationalrat: Aber keine Einigung mit dem Ständerat >>> | 18. September 2008

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EU Sets New Slaughterhouse Rules; But Only for the Kafir!
Image courtesy of Google Images. Halal slaughtering seems to have been overlooked by the EU!
BBC: The European Commission says new legislation is needed to improve animal welfare at European slaughterhouses.

Current EU rules on animal slaughter are "outdated in many respects," the commission said on Thursday.

Under a new proposal, abattoirs would have to ensure proper training for staff and monitor the efficiency of their stunning equipment.

But current stunning methods would not be banned. The proposal still requires approval by all 27 EU governments. EU Sets New Slaughterhouse Rules >>> | September 18, 2008

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Tough US Talk: Is the World Taking a Turn for the Worse?
Watch BBC video: Condoleezza Rice on Russia's ''aggression'' >>>
BBC: Russia is becoming increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said.

In a strongly-worded speech, Ms Rice said Moscow was on a "one-way path to isolation and irrelevance".

Diplomatic relations between the US and Russia have been strained by the recent conflict in Georgia.

Earlier, Russia's president said the two nations should not risk established ties over "trivial matters."

Dmitry Medvedev said it would be "politically short-sighted" if Washington and Moscow were to endanger their political and economic ties.

However, Ms Rice suggested in her speech that following the conflict in Georgia, Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation had been put in doubt.

The US has already shelved a civilian nuclear deal with Russia, but despite tensions the two countries are maintaining diplomatic links.

Ms Rice held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov just hours before delivering her speech, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington, and Russia is also due to join an international meeting on Iran's nuclear programme on Friday.

Our correspondent says Moscow is also telling the US that its co-operation is needed over issues like Iran and North Korea, with many in Washington feeling the Russians have a point.
Several hours after Ms Rice spoke, it emerged that a Russian submarine test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

An official from Russia's defence ministry is quoted as saying that the test - carried out in Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula - went according to plan. Rice Criticises ‘Isolated’ Russia >>> | September 18, 2008

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Germany’s ‘Anti-Islam’ Conference Stirs Things Up; People Doing What the Spunkless, Spineless Politicians Won’t Do
TIMESONLINE: A German far right group has stirred Muslim anger worldwide by holding a three-day "Anti-Islamisation Conference" to protest against the construction of mosques and Muslim immigration.

Prominent members of Europe's far right, including French "Front National" leader Jean-Marie le Pen and Belgian far-right politician Filip Dewinter, have said they will attend the meeting in Cologne which is aimed at forging a European alliance against "Islamisation."

The conference will include a rally in the centre of Cologne tomorrow which police say could lead to clashes with left-wing groups that plan a counter-demonstration. Trade unions, churches and other groups have also announced plans to protest against the conference.

The conference organiser is a local protest group called "Pro-Cologne" which campaigned against the city's recent decision to allow the construction of a large new mosque with two 55-metre tall minarets. Around 330,000 immigrants live in Cologne, about a third of the city's population.

"Mosques are shooting out of the ground like mushrooms, the muezzin call and headscarves are flooding our streets," Pro-Cologne said on its website. It said 150 "politicians and publicists" from all over Europe and 1,500 other participants will attend the conference at which it plans to launch a petition "against the Islamisation of our cities". Anger at Europe's Far Right 'Anti-Islam' Conference >>> By David Crossland in Berlin | September 18, 2008

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