Strache Trivialises Hitler Again
Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of the Austrian Times
AUSTRIAN TIMES: FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache is courting controversy again after trivialising the Nazi crimes of Hitler's Third Reich.



Asked in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph what he thought about Hitler and his evil deeds and the accusations that he (Strache) still had Nazi ties, Strache said: "I am just not interested in that guy."



Politics' rising star Strache, described as kind of a "political pop star" by pundits and analysts, has often been forced to dissociate himself from the Nazi mindset due to his xenophobic views. Strache Trivialises Hitler Again >>> | October 3, 2008

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Strache Fears Cold Shoulder Coalition >>> | October 3, 2008

WIENER ZEITUNG:
Austrian Election: Far-right Surge or Breath of Fresh Air >>> | October 3, 2008

THE NEW REPUBLIC:
The Dismaying Close-Mindedness of a Country I Love >>> By Clay Risen | October 2, 2008

SPECTATOR:
The Distant Sound Of Breaking Glass >>> By Melanie Phillips | Septemebr 29, 2008

THE EARTH TIMES:
Austria Opens First Muslim Cemetery after Delays: Vienna - Austria's first Islamic cemetery opened Friday in Vienna, ending years of delay due partly to financing gaps and an arson attack while the complex was under construction. Funding by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was crucial to completing the site, which has space for 4,000 graves and was originally slated to open in 2003, Austrian media reported.

City authorities donated the land and part of the construction costs to the Islamic Community of Austria, which built the 3-million- euro (4.2-million-dollar) complex on a former industrial site on the capital's outskirts. It includes a mausoleum and offices. >>> DPA | October 3, 3008

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Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism
LA TIMES: Much of the support for the right-wing parties springs from a resentment of long-ruling political elites.

Two far-right parties, the Austrian Freedom Party and the Movement for Austria's Future, managed to win 29% of the vote in Sunday's general elections in Austria. This is double what they got in the elections of 2006.

Both parties share the same attitudes toward immigrants, especially Muslims, and the European Union: a mixture of fear and loathing. Because the leaders of the two parties, Heinz-Christian Strache and Jorg Haider, can't stand each other, there is little chance of a far-right coalition actually taking power. Nonetheless, this is Adolf Hitler's native land, where Jews were once forced to scrub the streets of Vienna with toothbrushes before being deported and killed, so the result is disturbing. The question is: How disturbing?

Twenty-nine percent is about 15% more than populist right-wing parties usually get even in very good (for them) years in other European countries. Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, wants the government to create a new ministry to manage the deportation of immigrants. Muslims are openly disparaged by leaders of both parties. Haider once praised the employment practices of Hitler's Third Reich. Inevitably, the new rightists bring back memories of storm troopers and race laws.

Yet to see the rise of the Austrian right as a revival of Nazism would be a mistake. For one thing, neither party is advocating violence, even if some of their rhetoric might inspire it. For another, it seems to me that voters backing these far-right parties may be motivated less by ideology than by anxieties and resentments that are felt in many European countries, including ones with no Nazi tradition, such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

In Denmark, the hard-right Danish People's Party is the third-largest party in the country, with 25 parliamentary seats. Dutch populists such as Rita Verdonk, or Geert Wilders, who is driven by a paranoid fear of "Islamization," are putting the traditional political elites -- a combination of liberals, social democrats and Christian democrats -- under severe pressure.

And this is precisely the point. The biggest resentment among supporters of the right-wing parties in Europe these days is reserved not so much for immigrants as for political elites that, in the opinion of many, have been governing for too long in cozy coalitions, which appear to exist chiefly to protect vested interests. In Austria, even liberals admit that an endless succession of social democrat and Christian democrat governments has clogged the arteries of the political system. It has been difficult for smaller parties to penetrate what is seen as a bastion of political privilege. The same is true in the Netherlands, which has been governed for decades by the same middle-of-the-road parties, led by benevolent but rather paternalistic figures whose views about multiculturalism, tolerance and Europe were, until recently, rarely challenged. Europe’s Far-Right Revival Isn’t Nazism >>> By Ian Buruma | October 3, 2008

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If the Light Goes Out Stateside, the Light Goes Out for Us All!
There is no doubt that the USA is going through tough times; indeed, its very foundations are being rocked – financial and economic. Indeed, it could be argued that capitalism, the US’s raison d’être is being challenged profoundly. The current president, George W Bush, has only added to America’s problems. He has been a disaster for America. It is time for him to retire. And retire he will – shortly.

The recent débâcle with the USA’s most prestigious financial institutions either going to the wall, or having to be all but nationalized has only added to America’s woes.

It is a national disgrace that this profligate president has brought the once proud nation almost to its knees. America’s national debt is at an all time high: more than three trillion dollars, and still counting. Since 2001, a spurious war on terrorism has been fought, mostly in vain, since terrorism is not the ailment; rather it is a symptom of a far greater malady, namely Islam itself. It is rather like a medical consultant trying to treat the symptoms of cancer without excising the underlying cause: the tumour itself!

The US economy, totally deregulated as it has been since the era of Reagan, has succumbed to the worst of man’s faults and weaknesses: Greed. The people working on Wall Street, as in the City of London, have been paying themselves bonuses in Monopoly figures: Millions here, and tens of millions there. The result is there for all to see: The economic system has all but collapsed; and the American taxpayer is now being asked to pick up the tab.

It’s a disgrace. Nothing short of a national disgrace. There is simply no reason why the American taxpayer should bail out the bankers and financiers of Wall Street, with all their greediness and excesses. They certainly should not be expected to pay for the bonuses of these greedy and unprincipled people. They should be allowed to perish, as should the institutions they worked for.

The bail-out is flawed to its very core. When people in America are going hungry, and when more than forty million people there cannot afford healthcare, there is something very flawed in a bail-out plan which cossets the very people who have caused the near collapse of the capitalist system.

Yet, for all the flaws of the capitalist system, we have nothing better with which to replace it. It is an imperfect system to be sure; but it’s the very best system man has ever been able to come up with. We must nurture it; and we must certainly be careful that we do not lose it.

America is no paradise on earth; America’s sidewalks are not paved with gold. America is as flawed as anywhere else on earth. Yet America has given the world something which the rest of the world has been unable to give people. It has given them hope and freedom – the hope to aspire to a better life; and the freedom to live without fear. How many other countries can say the same?

America has been a beacon of freedom for a couple of centuries. People have for centuries flocked there in their droves, in search of a better life. As a result, America has become a hub of creativity, for nothing fosters creativity more than freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

Yet, we are living through very difficult times. So many, worldwide, are gloating in the difficulties that America is now experiencing. When the US was attacked on September 11, 2001, few could have imagined the success that OBL would have had by flying planes into the Twin Towers in New York. Indeed, OBL couldn’t have dreamed of a better outcome from this attack. He wanted to bring the USA to its knees; and to its knees it has just about brought it.

But if anyone out there is happy about this, then his happiness is totally misplaced; and for one simple reason: If America is no longer to be the world’s superpower, then the world will fall into darkness.

Why? Because the US has guaranteed freedom not only for itself, but also for much of the rest of the world. Which other country in the world could do this? Russia certainly couldn’t. In Russia, one goes against the political system at one’s own peril. Ask the once richest man of Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky! He’ll tell you the price he has had to pay for perceived criticism of the system, and for political activity in a country which understands neither democracy nor freedom.

In a silly article asking who else would be up to replacing America’s hegemony, SpiegelOnline International posed the question who could take over from America’s pole position. The answer is no-one! Which other country could guarantee us all such freedoms? Which other country would be so generous with its resources? Which other country would come to aid all in time of need?

Where would Germany be today without the aid of America after the Second World War? And where would Britain be today without America’s help in that very same war? Indeed, how free would Europe be today without the the help of the generous, oh so generous Americans?

America, and the rest of the West, is under threat from the Islamic world; indeed, our great Judeo-Christian civilization could go under because of the threat of Islam. Islam is not only knocking at our door, it is already within, and is out to destroy everything we in the West stand for: Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, or the freedom to choose none, freedom of sexual expression, and freedom in so may other ways, too. Yet only the few are listening! Only the few are taking these threats to our liberties seriously.

For most people, these threats are but abstract, distant possibilities; yet they are not. They are anything but. They are very real. Muslims are here in the West; and many of them – though certainly not all – are out to destroy everything Western. They must NEVER be allowed to achieve their goals. We must this resist attack with every fibre of our beings. We must OVERCOME!

If we do not, the West will be taken into a New Dark Age. The way of life that will ensue will be one which will be quite unlike the way of life we have come to know, understand, appreciate, and love. It will be a repressive way of life – repressive for women, repressive for infidels, repressive for Christians, repressive for Jews, repressive for homosexuals, repressive, indeed, for all except Muslims.

If we are to fight this darkness, it is imperative that the United States be kept strong, and buoyed up. The United States needs to be strong militarily, financially, and economically, for without a strong United States, there is little hope for a free world. Little hope for liberty. If the light goes out Stateside, the light goes out for us all!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights reserved

Intervista a Magdi Cristiano Allam

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Saudi Arabia: Under the Veil*: المملكة العربية السعودية : تحت الحجاب

List of the Kings of Saudi Arabia: Wikipedia >>>

*This video is slightly dated; however, it is still well worth watching.

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Pat Condell: Why Are We Friends with Saudi Arabia?

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Pink Planet: Gay Islam
Watch YouTube video: Special Report >>>
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Muslim Anger Alert! BBC Inundated with Complaints after EastEnders Shows Muslim Snacking During Ramadan
MAIL Online: The BBC has received more than 100 complaints after EastEnders showed a Muslim breaking their Ramadan fast by eating a snack on the soap opera.

It is believed that a large number of Muslims were angered by the recent storyline involving character Masood Ahmed claiming it insulted their religion.

The married Asian postman, played by Nitin Ganatra, was spotted by wheel-chair bound character Ian Beale having a bite to eat during the holy month.

During Ramadan, which ended earlier this week, Muslims are not meant to eat or drink between the hours of dawn and sunset.

The plot was meant to show the character's 'fallibility' according to bosses, but it seems to have backfired with a number of the soap's loyal viewers.

As a result of the short scene, aired earlier this month, the corporation received about 110 complaints amid claims it had been wrong and offensive.

Some complained that it had trivialised a very serious religious experience while others are understood to have said it was not realistic.

Now the BBC has been forced to issue a statement saying it did not mean to cause any offence by the storyline.

A BBC spokesman said: 'Although Masood is a practising Muslim he is not intended to be representative of the British Muslim experience.

'He's a fictional character with flaws who realises he has let himself down in a moment of weakness.'

The soap showed the character being repentant for what he had done. … [Source: Mail Online] By Paul Revoir | October 2, 2008

Comment and read the rest of the story (which is not related to Islam) here.

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Lifestyle & Culture: Beyond the Bagel: Modern Jewish Dishes Are an Amazing Mix of Flavours and Cultures
Photo courtesy of Google Images
THE INDEPENDENT: Britons have a reputation for their cosmopolitan culinary tastes, and rightly so. Many Indian dishes, albeit anglicised versions, have been assimilated into the national cuisine. Going for a Chinese or an Italian has long since passed from the exotic into the quotidian. Even supermarkets sell sushi. Yet Jewish cuisine, possibly the most varied in the world, has taken its time to catch on here in the UK with non-Jews. Chicken soup is seen as too simple for gastronomes, and dumplings and chopped liver are too stodgy or rich for the health-conscious. Now, though, its moment may have come.

As Jewish and Middle Eastern food writer Claudia Roden points out, Jewish cuisine has been influenced by every nook and cranny in which the Jewish diaspora has found itself. Her guide, The Book of Jewish Food, contains more than 1,000 recipes. "So many people who aren't Jewish tell me they cook all the time out of my book," she says this week, while preparing a New Year's dinner for 30. "It has everything from Italian to Indian and a huge variety of vegetable dishes."

Denise Phillips runs a Jewish cookery school in north London, and specialises in combining the kosher traditions of her 5,000-year-old religion with modern cooking techniques and trends. "Jewish cooking is the ultimate in fusion cooking," she says. "Jews have travelled all over the world fleeing persecution. What they've taken with them are their classic dishes, and they have merged them with whatever is indigenous to produce a cuisine that adheres to kosher."

The standard dishes often thought of as Jewish food, though narrow in their interpretation, are the favourites of the Ashkenazi communities who originated in the German Rhineland and have been migrating eastwards over the past thousand years, to settle in Hungary, Poland and Russia, and spreading as far afield as the United States, South Africa and Australia. Eighty per cent of the international Jewish community is Ashkenazi. New York, more than anywhere else, is thought of as home to the salt beef sandwich. Beyond the Bagel: Modern Jewish Dishes Are an Amazing Mix of Flavours and Cultures >>> By Sophie Morris | October 2, 2008

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Kuwait Human Rights Society: YouTube Must Erase Anti-Islam Material
“Uttering profanities against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the worst form of human rights violation in the world” – Dr Adel Al-Damkhi, Chairman of KHRS
ARAB TIMES | KUWAIT CITY : Kuwait Human Rights Society (KHRS) Chairman Dr Adel Al-Damkhi has asked the government to put pressure on the officials of ‘YouTube’ — a video sharing website — to delete all derogatory statements about Islam and Muslims from the site, reports Al-Seyassah.
Urging the authorities to take the necessary legal action in case the website fails to erase the statements, Al-Damkhi stressed “uttering profanities against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the worst form of human rights violation in the world. Attacks on the values and tenets of Islam are extremely dangerous and unacceptable.”


Al-Damkhi pointed out the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) strongly condemns attacks on the holy prophets and religions. He confirmed KHRS recognizes the importance of freedom of conducting scientific research, exchange of information, and significance of the latest technologies and media on human lives, but it is against how ‘YouTube’ depicts Islam. He said this is an outright violation of the human rights of millions of Muslims all over the world. [Source: Kuwait Crime News: Arab Times]

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Kuwait City: Gays Caught in the Act in Salmiya Mall
ARAB TIMES: Kuwait : Securitymen have arrested two homosexuals, who were engaged in immoral acts inside a commercial complex in Salmiya.
 According to sources, a team of securitymen on routine duty in the area arrested the suspects after noticing their ‘unusual’ behavior in the complex. A case was registered and the homosexuals were referred to the authorities for the necessary legal action. [Source: Kuwait Crime News: Arab News] |No Date or Journalist’s Name Available (NDJNA)

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Manual Outlines Muslim Radicalization in Prisons
ASSOCIATED PRESS: PARIS (AP) — Security officials from several European countries have developed a manual to help prison authorities prevent their jailhouses from becoming incubators for Muslim extremists.

The manual, developed by France, Germany and Austria, includes signs that may indicate that a prisoner was becoming radicalized, including the presence of a growing beard. A prison group feared the manual could stigmatize Muslim inmates.

The document was distributed at a two-day closed-door conference of European security experts that ended Wednesday. It will be given to prison personnel.

Prisons "can be a facilitator and an accelerator" of radicalization and inmates are often "strongly destabilized" and therefore malleable, said Christophe Chaboud, head of France's Anti-Terrorist Coordination Unit.

"It is not a question of religion but of confrontation with the West," Chaboud said in a telephone interview.

Islam is the second-largest religion in France and, while there are no official figures available, Muslims make up a large part of the inmate population — the majority in some prisons.

A disproportionate number of Muslims can be found in prisons in other European Union countries.

France, working with EU partners, found they shared problems of Muslim radicalization in prisons, Chaboud said. U.S. officials are also concerned about the potential for radicalization in their prisons.

The manual contains sensitive information drawn from experiences from European and other security officials, including New York City police, Chaboud said. For security reasons, there are no plans to make its contents public.

Experts say radicalization can range from an interest in religious books to hostility toward non-Muslims seen in a refusal to shower with them. Several top officials said new beards were one warning sign. Manual Outlines Muslim Radicalization in Prisons >>> By Elaine Ganley | October 1, 2008

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Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home
THE GUARDIAN: Serious Fraud Office investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering

British investigations into BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, appear to have revived today after it was disclosed that a key BAE agent has been raided.

Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office arranged for the agent, Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, to be raided in Austria.

Austrian prosecutors said the raids were carried out at the request of the SFO investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering.

The Austrian police seized a quantity of documents from the home and office of Mensdorff-Pouilly, who has been accused of receiving millions of pounds from BAE for promoting deals. He is the Viennese laird of a Scottish castle.

The SFO's investigations into BAE have been controversial as the government stopped its inquiry into Saudi arms deals. Critics have alleged that the government is soft on BAE and has placed the company above the law and effectively made it immune from prosecution - an accusation denied by ministers. Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home >>> Rob Evans | September 30, 2008

REUTERS:
RPT-Austria Raids Lobbyists in Jetfighter Bribery Probe >>> | September 30, 2008

WALL STREET JOURNAL:
Police Look for Bribery Evidence in Case Against BAE >>> By David Crawford and Daniel Michaels | October 1, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Austrian Addresses Visited in BAE Serious Fraud Office Probe: Police in Austria have visited a number of addresses as part of a UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into claims that defence company BAE Systems was involved in bribery to secure aircraft contracts in the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The police visited the Austrian home and office of Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, a lobbyist who owns a castle in Perthshire.

The SFO is thought to have asked the Austrian authorities for help with its continuing probe into the defence company. The lobbyist's lawyer, Harald Schuster, said any allegations of wrongdoing were groundless.

Despite abandoning its investigation into BAE's dealing with Saudi Arabia, the SFO has continued to look at the company's defence contracts in other countries, including South Africa and Tanzania. >>> By Russell Hotten | October 1, 2008

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The Jewel of Medina: Publication Postponed Indefinitely in the UK
Images courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The controversial novel The Jewel of Medina may not be published in Britain after the firebombing of her publisher’s London home.

Author Sherry Jones had called on the British public to ensure that her book is published here, but Mandrake learns that the publication of The Jewel of Medina in this country has been postponed indefinitely.
The book concerns one of the prophet Mohammed’s wives.

Alan Jessop, the managing director of Compass, the external sales team of Jones’s publisher Gibson Square, says the publication is now in “suspended animation” after the attack on Martin Rynja’s house in London.

“He is in good spirits, but he is reflecting and taking advice on what the best way forward is,” says Jessop. “Everyone is going to have to be patient. This requires some careful thinking.”

The historical novel, in which Jones tells a fictionalised version of the life of Aisha, one of Mohammed’s wives, was due out in Britain on Oct 15. Its American publisher, Beaufort Books, said it intends to publish on that day.

Gibson Square’s London office remains closed. Jessop says Rynja will be talking to security forces, whose intelligence alerted them to the attack before it took place, and “people who might have an interest in the content of the book”. [Source: The Telegraph] By Tim Walker, Mandrake Editor | October 1, 2008

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Financial Crisis: Call for All Savers' Deposits to Be Guaranteed to End 'Panic'
THE TELEGRAPH: Panicked savers are moving billions of pounds from high street banks into accounts that guarantee their deposits amid fears that another financial institution could collapse.

The few banks that guarantee 100 per cent of their customers' savings have seen a significant surge in the number of people opening accounts in recent days.

In the wake of the enforced nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, the emergency takeover of HBOS and a series of banking failures in Europe and America, consumers are seeking security for their money.

Currently, only the first £35,000 of a saver's deposits are protected. Gordon Brown has promised to increase this to £50,000, but this new limit is unlikely to come in for several weeks.

The Irish government meanwhile, has moved to guarantee, for the next two years, all customers' money deposited into one of the six big Irish banks – including those with branches in Britain.

Currently, only the Post Office - whose savings accounts are run by the Bank of Ireland, the taxpayer-backed Northern Rock and National Savings & Investments - the Government's savings scheme - offer a similar guarantee.

As a result, they have seen a surge in interest from consumers, while the high street banking industry warns it is suffering as a result.

The volume of interest was so great yesterday that Northern Rock was forced to pull its most popular account, and Anglo Irish Bank was not able to answer any more customer calls.

This is despite Anglo Irish Bank, for instance, offering some of the highest rates in the UK, with some fixed-term savings accounts offering more than 7 per cent.

According to analysts, billions of pounds has left British banks and entered either one of the Irish banks directly or the Post Office. Financial Crisis: Call for All Savers' Deposits to Be Guaranteed to End 'Panic' >>> By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | October 2, 2008

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Pat Condell: Welcome to Saudi Britain!

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Pat Condell: Islam’s War on Freedom

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UK Judge Recognizes Grave Threat Posed to Converts from Islam to Christianity
BELIEFNET: We recently received word of a landmark victory for religious freedom in a case we're handling in the United Kingdom. We represent a Syrian married couple who are both former Muslims who became evangelical Christians. The husband was training to be a radical Muslim imam, but in 2003, he became a Christian and informed his family of his conversion. His family members told him that, if he did not return to Islam, they would "wash their shame," meaning that he would be put to death. He left Syria for the United Arab Emirates and hid from his family out of fear that he might be found and harmed.

The couple received threats after beginning to share their Christian faith with Muslims on the Internet, including receiving a video of a beheading. The husband learned that his father and other people upset over his conversion to Christianity were looking for him and that his father had obtained a Syrian court order to the police to locate him. Due to the risk of death they both faced, the couple traveled to the United Kingdom, with the support of their local church, and sought asylum. They have continued to share their Christian faith during their time in the U.K.

If they were to be deported to Syria, they would face a clear risk of death under Sharia law due to their conversion to Christianity. Many converts from Islam to Christianity face great risk to their well being, including death, for accepting Christ and sharing their faith because apostasy--changing one's religion from Islam to another faith--is a crime punishable by death under Sharia law. In addition, the United States Department of State has documented the Syrian government's long and uninterrupted history of engaging in gross human rights violations including arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance, incommunicado detention, torture, and death. UK Judge Recognizes Grave Threat Posed to Converts from Islam to Christianity >>> By Jay Sekulow | October 1, 2008

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Dhimmitude Alert! Presidential Message: Eid al-Fitr
THE WHITE HOUSE: I send greetings to Muslims everywhere celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking the Fast.
During the three-day festival of Eid al-Fitr, Muslims celebrate the completion of their fast and the blessings of a renewed faith.

On this special occasion, families and friends around the globe gather to share traditional foods and congratulate each other on meeting the test of Ramadan.

Our Nation has millions of citizens who practice Islam, and our country benefits from their many contributions. This holiday is also an opportunity for Muslims to reflect on Islam's vibrant culture, which has enriched civilization for centuries.
Laura and I send our best wishes. Eid Mubarak.

GEORGE W. BUSH [Source: The White House] | September 30, 2008

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Dhimmitude Alert! Archbishop of Canterbury Eid message for 2008
THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION OFFICIAL WEBSITE: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has sent his greetings to Muslim communities for the festival of Eid ul Fitr, marking the end of Ramadhan. The Archbishop’s greeting celebrates the many positive examples of Christian Muslim encounter and engagement with the wider common good in the past year. He looks forward in the year ahead to further opportunities for ”opening doors into a renewed future which is the constant task for all people of faith".

The full text of the greeting is below:

To Muslim friends and co workers [sic] in the Common Good

It is a great pleasure once again to be able to send my warm greetings to friends and colleagues of the Muslim communities on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr and to wish you the joy of celebrating the breaking of the fast.

The celebration of Eid provides opportunities for putting the past behind and for opening doors into a renewed future which is a constant task for all people of faith. There are aspects of our society’s attitude to religious faith and practice which need to be addressed; and there are matters relating to religious freedom in some countries of Islamic governance that need to be challenged. Christianity and Islam can do much, together with other religions, to encourage an openness to a better future for all in these and many other respects.

A strong sign of such future possibilities was the prominent public witness in London this July of the Muslim and other communities of faith in support of the Millennium Development Goals; the growing collaboration of Muslim Aid, Muslim Relief and Christian Aid is another.

Furthermore, the co-operative working of our faithful, and of our scholars and religious leaders in the past year has also been notable in the work of the Christian Muslim Forum in this country; in the international discussions prompted by the Common Word initiative; in the dialogue meetings sponsored by the King of Saudi Arabia; in the continuing study and friendship within the Building Bridges Seminars; and in our ongoing encounters with the leadership of Al Azhar al Sharif. I rejoice in these signs of hope.

I look forward in the year ahead to pursuing together the many opportunities that are open to us to change for the better some of the perceptions that have clouded the understanding of religion in general and of Christianity and Islam in particular.
In the meantime I send you my congratulations on a faithful completion of Ramadhan, my wishes for a joyful celebration of Eid and my hopes for a just and peaceful year ahead. [Source: ACOW] Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, Posted By : Admin ACO | October 1, 2008

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La ministre de la Justice se rhabille...
Adieu glamour !
GALA.fr: Son statut de fashion victime, la garde des Sceaux a mis un trait (de rouge à lèvre) dessus. Séduire, faire tourner les têtes ou tomber les chemises, voilà bien le cadet de ses soucis. Rayonnante, resplendissante même, depuis qu’elle attend cet enfant qu’elle désirait tant, la future maman n’a plus besoin des artifices de la mode. Non, son bonheur suffit à Rachida Dati…

Certaines ont des envies de fraises, d’autres de bâtons de craie… La grossesse de notre ministre de la Justice lui donne des ailes et la conduit derrière les barreaux. Son planning des deux dernières semaines donnerait le tournis à n’importe qui: voyages en Bulgarie, en Israël et en Cisjordanie, permanences à Bruxelles et à La Haye, dîners officiels à Lille puis à Cannes, participation sportive au Famillathlon dimanche... Puis, dans la nuit de lundi, la célibattante doit quitter son lit pour se rendre à la Prison de Grenoble où l'on vient de commettre un meurtre sanglant. Mais pensez-vous que cet excès de zèle donne la nausée à notre future maman? (Bon)point du tout. Rachida Dati, 42 ans, a gagné en tonus, en maturité et en rusticité! Fini les essayages à rallonges dans les salons privés des grands couturiers. Les heures perdues pour dégoter une tenue en exclusivité. Seul compte aujourd’hui l’épanouissement de son ventre rebondi. Loin des diktats de la mode, la belle métamorphosée prend à cœur ses deux priorités: sa mission gouvernementale et plus encore, son bébé à venir, son trésor. La ministre de la Justice se rhabille... >>> Justine Boivin | Mercredi 1er octobre 2008

Bonjour maman ! Je suis un petit cadeau pour le ramadan ! Qui est mon père ?
GALA.fr:
C’est officel: Bernard Laporte dément être le père de l’enfant de Rachida Dati: Après José Maria Aznar, c’est au tour du secrétaire d'Etat aux Sports de nier tout rapport avec la grossesse de la Ministre… >>> | Lundi 6 octobre 2008

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Nach Georgien-Krise: Medwedjew will neue Weltordnung
DIE PRESSE: Die EU hat in Georgien mit der Überwachung der Waffenruhe begonnen. Russlands Präsident erwartet unterdessen eine "neue Weltordnung". Die bisherige sei zusammengebrochen und eine neue Gerechtere müsse entstehen.

In Georgien hat die Europäische Union eineinhalb Monate nach dem Südkaukasus-Krieg mit der Überwachung der Waffenruhe begonnen. Nach Verhandlungen mit den im Land stationierten russischen Truppen durften die EU-Beobachter am Mittwoch in die sogenannte Pufferzone um das abtrünnige Gebiet Südossetien fahren. Der russische Präsident Dmitrij Medwedjew erklärte unterdessen, dass er nach den jüngsten Ereignissen im Kaukasus eine neue Weltordnung erwarte. Nach Georgien-Krise: Medwedjew will neue Weltordnung >>> | 1. Oktober 2008

My Essay:
A New World Order >>> Mark Alexander | June 27, 2007

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USA wollen bis zu 80.000 Flüchtlinge aufnehmen
DIE PRESSE: Im Budgetjahr 2008/2009 sollen 80.000 Flüchtlinge aus aller Welt in den USA aufgenommen werden. Präsident Bush kündigte an, woher wie viele Flüchtlinge kommen werden. USA wollen bis zu 80.000 Flüchtlinge aufnehmen >>> | 1. Oktober 2008

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Gorbatschow und Milliardär gründen Partei
TAGES ANZEIGER: Der letzte sowjetische Staatschef Michail Gorbatschow und der russische Milliardär Alexander Lebedew steigen in Russland zusammen in die Politik ein.

Die Unabhängige Demokratische Partei welche die Beiden zu gründen planen, werde für «weniger Staatskapitalismus» und die Entstehung von unabhängigen Medien eintreten, teilte Lebedew mit. Die Initiative sei von Gorbatschow ausgegangen. «Er hat unserem Volk die Freiheit gegeben, aber wir lernen einfach nicht, wie man damit umgeht.»

Der 77-jährige Gorbatschow lehnte auf Anfrage einen Kommentar ab. Der Nobelpreisträger ist in Russland äusserst unbeliebt, weil ihm die Auflösung der Sowjetunion 1991 angelastet wird. Bei der Präsidentenwahl 1996 erhielt er nur ein halbes Prozent der Stimmen.

Aeroflot- und Zeitungsanteile

Lebedew kontrolliert mehr als 30 Prozent der Fluggesellschaft Aeroflot. Er und Gorbatschow halten Anteile an der Zeitung «Nowaja Gaseta», bei der die ermordete regierungskritische Journalistin Anna Politkowskaja arbeitete. [Quelle: Tages Anzeiger] (cpm/sda) | 30. September 2008

THE GUARDIAN:
Gorbachev Launches Political Party with Russian Billionaire: Former Soviet leader joins forces with businessman to campaign for legal and economic reform >>> Sadie Gray and agencies | September 30, 2008

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Saudi Blogging Round-up
BBC: Blogging in Saudia Arabia can carry risks. The Saudi authorities detained one blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, for four months this year after he called for political reform.

But people are still speaking their minds online. Topics in this selection of posts include a fatwa, repressive Arab regimes, religion as empowerment, and menswear with a twist. Saudi Blogging Round-up >>> | October 1, 2008

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Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve
THE GUARDIAN: Shadow home secretary says government has been 'lax on fanatical preachers, silent on sharia courts'

The government was accused today by the Conservatives of being "silent" on sharia courts, which must be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, made the criticism as he warned that the government has neglected the threat of radicalisation.

"For all its tough talk on terrorism, the government is dropping the ball on security and radicalisation," Grieve said.

"Lax on fanatical preachers. Silent on sharia courts. Let me make our position clear. Sharia courts can be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain. Our law must reign supreme. The next Conservative government will make sure it does."

Grieve, who told the Guardian last week that multiculturalism has downplayed the identity of "long-term inhabitants" and failed to provide a coherent identity for second and third generation immigrants, believes that sharia courts can have a role. He likens them to the Jewish Beth Din, which are acceptable because their rulings do not conflict with English law.

The shadow home secretary said that Jewish people are entitled to have "arbitration under Jewish customary law".

He added: "The same can perfectly properly comply to sharia law as long as the consequences are also not repugnant to English justice. That's very different from saying that you should allow sharia law to be applied to Muslims in Britain on say crime or domestic violence or anything else ... Somebody has been trying to suggest that they have that sort of imprimatur of respectability. And we have to be quite clear that we all live under one legal system." Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | September 30, 2008

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HC Strache: 'Turkey Should Not Be a Member of EU'
Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of Google Images
PRESS TV (IR): Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, says Turkey should not be allowed to join the European Union.

“Not now, not in 100 and not in 200 years” can Turkey become a member of the EU, said Strache Tuesday in his first news conference since his Freedom Party finished third in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Freedom Party got 18.2 percent of votes - a higher showing than the previous elections when it acquired 11 percent, AP reported.

No party received a majority in elections. The Social Democrats and the Conservative People's Party finished first and second but scored their lowest results in history in the general elections.

He added that non-EU members should not be allowed access to Austria's social service system. 'Turkey Should Not Be a Member of EU' >>> | October 1, 2008

My Essays & Writing on Turkey in the EU:
Turkey in the EU >>> Mark Alexander | September 30, 2005

More Reasons Why Turkey and the EU Should Not Join in Union! >>> Mark Alexander | October 1, 2005

Keep Turkey Out of Europe! >>> Mark Alexander | December 3, 2005

LE MONDE:
"Les extrême droites en Europe se sont diversifiées" : Le succès de l'extrême droite en Autriche, où les deux partis qui s'en réclament ont totalisé 28 % des voix, a-t-il valeur d'exemple en Europe ?

C'est difficile de déterminer une tendance visible dans toute l'Europe. Au début des années 1980, la vague des partis d'extrême droite formait un ensemble assez cohérent autour des partis populistes xénophobes scandinaves, du FN français, de la Ligue du Nord italienne, du FPÖ autrichien, du Vlams Beelang en Flandres. On a davantage aujourd'hui des situations nationales éclatées. Il s'agit de partis de nature différentes et si certains d'entre eux ont le vent en poupe, ils butent sur l'obstacle du pouvoir.

L'extrême droite autrichienne a toujours existé. Après la guerre, elle s'est reconstituée à la fois en prenant des électeurs chez ceux qui ont toujours formé la famille "deutschenationale", mais aussi à travers les transferts d'électeurs, voire de militants venus de la gauche.

Le phénomène politique n'est pas le même ailleurs. On a vu apparaître des partis politiques issus de la droite classique qui se radicalisent pour devenir des formations d'extrême droite sans avoir de racines à l'extrême droite. En Suisse, l'UDC est un parti de gouvernement qui, à un moment donné, prend un autre positionnement politique sous la direction de Blocher. Le Parti du peuple danois et le Parti du progrès norvégien sont des droites populistes xénophobes radicalisées, mais qui sont partie intégrante de la scène politique traditionnelle. Les pays scandinaves ne les considèrent pas comme étant d'extrême droite. Ils les appellent des nouvelles droites. >>> Jean-Yves Camus, chercheur à l'Institut des relations internationales et stratégiques (IRIS) | 30.09.2008

THE SCOTSMAN:
A Scathing (and Unfair?) Attack on the Austrians from Scotland! >>> By Alan Hall in Austria | October 1, 2008

ZEIT ONLINE:
Wunsch nach Führung >>> Von Martin Gantner | 1. Oktober 2008

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TV Ad Banned for Mocking Islam
FILMMAKER SOUTH AFRICA: A television commercial for an "Ahmed the dead terrorist" ringtone mocks Islam and must be withdrawn, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. Its ruling followed a complaint by a Moegamat Khan against the GloMobile commercial, flighted on SABC and DStv.

The commercial shows American stand-up comedian Jeff Durham holding a skeleton puppet with a white cloth around its head, which demands that the audience keeps quiet and says: "Silence! I kill you!"

The ASA said it appeared to be common cause that the puppet was meant to represent a terrorist who was a suicide bomber.

While it was debatable whether the puppet was wearing any particular headgear, or a bandage as GloMobile claimed, the name Ahmed appeared to be of Arab origin and was one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. [Source: FSA]

Comment on the story here

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All to Be Found on Capitol Hill: Lame Ducks, Dead Ducks, Crap Sandwiches, and Bums!
THE GUARDIAN: The controversy over the failure of the Bush administration's unpopular financial bail-out is infecting every aspect of government and the presidential election campaign.

Eminent reputations lie in ruins; the august institutions of Congress, the treasury, the Federal Reserve tremble; the presidency itself is shaken. In America's year of living dangerously, few will emerge unscathed.

The consensus view, if there is one in so divided a nation, is that the US has suffered a calamitous, across-the-board failure of leadership. The bankruptcy is political as well as economic. This conclusion is widely held among both supporters and opponents of the bail-out.

"Monday's crash and burn of the Paulson plan on Capitol Hill reveals a Washington elite that has earned every bit of the disdain that Americans have for it. This crowd can't even make sausage," snarled a Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday. Black Monday's shambles marked a "historic abdication".

Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives were excoriated for political cowardice, childish disputatiousness, and a selfish desire to get re-elected next month at any cost. It's clear, whatever they do next, the public simply does not trust them to do it right.

"A political establishment held in higher regard may have been able to hold together some kind of coalition of the willing," wrote Joel Achenbach in the Washington Post. "But distrust of the nation's leaders, from the leaders of Congress to the president, foreclosed that possibility." Congress Approval Rating Just 10% as Bush Goes from 'Lame to Dead Duck' >>> Simon Tisdall in Washington | October 1, 2008

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Canada: Campaigner Causes Embarrassment for PM Stephen Harper by Plagiarizing John Howard’s Speech

TIMESONLINE:
Five Years Late, Canadian PM Stephen Harper Caught Copying: On March 20, 2003, the then Canadian Opposition leader Stephen Harper got up in Parliament and put the case for supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq. It was considered a good speech, good enough, indeed, to be printed up as a pamphlet and mailed out to supporters.

Five years later, and with Mr Harper now battling for re-election as Prime Minister, it has emerged that it was not really his speech at all: nearly half of it was lifted word for word from a speech given by John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, two days earlier. >>> Philippe Naughton | October 1, 2008

THE INEPENDENT:
Canada Opposition Party Accuses PM of Plagiarism: A senior campaign worker for Canada's governing Conservative Party has resigned after admitting writing a pro-Iraq war speech for prime minister Stephen Harper that plagiarised another world leader's address.

The opposition Liberals released transcripts and video of speeches delivered by then-Australian prime minister John Howard on 18 March, 2003, and one by Mr Harper two days later in the Canadian parliament when Mr Harper was the opposition leader.

Liberal foreign affairs spokesman Bob Rae said nearly half of Mr Harper's speech was a word-for-word recitation of Mr Howard's comments. >>> AP | October 1, 2008

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Austria on Path to Broad Coalition
WIENER ZEITUNG (ENGLISH): Austria's Social Democrats are looking forward to working with the newly appointed conservative leader, Josef Pröll, making a reprise of the country's broad left-right coalition more likely.

The People's Party named 40-year-old Josef Pröll as leader late on Monday after the far-right made big gains in Sunday's parliamentary election at the expense of the centrists.

Unlike outgoing chief Wilhelm Molterer, Proell has a good rapport with Social Democrat head Werner Faymann, who is expected to be asked to form a government.

"I've always said that I can work well with him and now we can try and prove that," Faymann, whose party won the most votes on Sunday, told Austrian radio on Tuesday.

The Social Democrats and conservatives had ruled in a quarrelsome coalition that lasted less than two years before collapsing in July, triggering the election.

Both parties plunged to their worst results since World War Two, while the far-right Freedom Party and splinter Alliance for Austria's Future, led by former Freedom leader Jörg Haider, garnered nearly a third of votes between them.

A grand coalition has only recently become such an unpopular governing style. The vast majority of Austria's previous governments were broad-based, favoured by voters because they were seen bringing consensus and stability.

The outgoing government was particularly damaged by personality clashes rather than fundamental policy disputes. Austria on Path to Broad Coalition >>> By Sylvia Westall and Boris Groendahl / WZ Online / Reuters | September 30, 2008

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Neville Chamberlain's Appeasement: World War II

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”Expel Islam from Europe”
PAKISTAN DAILY: The controversial Danish People's Party member of the European Parliament Mogens Camre spoke at the DPP's annual meeting Sunday, calling to expel Islam from Europe.

"Islam cannot be integrated. Islam will dominate Europe. And Islam is incompatible with our values. Therefore Islam will be thrown out of Europe. This little land is ours, we forged it ourselves. And we will govern it ourselves and decide ourselves who will live in it and how they will behave. And we will fight until Denmark is again free," said Camre, to loud applause.

Last year a similar statement by DPP member Merethe Egeberg Holm caused a commotion, when she said "Out with all Muslims in Europe and in with Jews instead!" That was her last speech as after last year's meeting, she was expelled from the party.

Camre met with harsh criticism for his statement. Kamal Qureshi (Socialist People's Party) compared the DPP politicians to Danish Nazi head Jonni Hansen. He also hit out at his colleagues in parliament, whom he thinks are keeping too quiet. Both the reigning party and the opposition should distance themselves from the statements. [Source: Pakistan Daily] | September 29, 2008

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Greeks Protest Government Crackdown on Gay Marriage
REUTERS AFRICA: ATHENS (Reuters Life!) - Dozens of gays and lesbians protested outside parliament on Monday against the conservative government's attempt to overturn Greece's first same-sex marriages. Waving banners reading "These Weddings Are Valid", dozens of homosexual couples gathered in central Athens ahead of a court ruling due this week on the two marriages celebrated on the tiny Aegean island of Tilos in June.

The Justice Ministry has filed a legal suit to overturn the union of one gay and one lesbian couple after they took advantage of a loophole in Greek civil law that fails to specify gender in matrimony. Greeks Protest Government Crackdown on Gay Marriage >>> ©Reuters | September 29, 2008-09-30

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An Unlikely Alliance
THE GUARDIAN: Islamists and the radical left have little in common apart from a hatred of the west and western capitalism

What do the far left and Islamists have in common? Not a lot, you may say, but you would be wrong. Despite being ideologically at the extremes of the political spectrum, they in fact share one worrying trait.

The old rule that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" seems to be shaping the relationship between the hard left and Islamists in Britain today. By having a common foe in western capitalism, which they conveniently blame for all of the world's ills, they have developed a marriage of convenience against the odds.

This alliance can also be seen on the international stage as Hugo Chávez holds hands with Iran's Ahmedinejad while our own Ken Livingstone hugs Yusuf al-Qaradawi. It was also evident at anti-Iraq war rallies where CND, the Socialist Workers Party and Respect shared platforms with the likes of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the British Muslim Initiative which are schismatic offshoots of radical Islamism.

Azzam Tamimi (spokesman for MAB) when asked by BBC Hardtalk's Tim Sebastian if he was prepared to blow himself up in Palestine, replied: "If I can go to Palestine and sacrifice myself I would do it. Why not?"

Now don't get me wrong – I'm all for people of different backgrounds coming together and working in harmony. But it worries me slightly when the only thing that's really binding these divergent factions is not their love for all humanity or their desire to see a totalitarian state, but their common hatred of the west which can be called "westophobia". There, I've used it, the one word that can actually sum up all the various groupings that are ideologically driven to view the west and western capitalism as "the enemy". An Unlikely Alliance: Islamists and the radical left have little in common apart from a hatred of the west and western capitalism >>> Ghaffar Hussain | September 30, 2008

Cross-posted at The Shrewd Economist >>>

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Jo Glanville: Respect for Religion Now Makes Censorship the Norm
THE GUARDIAN: When publishers are too intimidated to print even novels that may offend, it shows how far we've lost our way on free speech

The firebomb attack this weekend on the publishing house Gibson Square in London was an assault on one of the bravest publishers in the business. Three men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Saturday morning, suspected of attempting to set fire to the premises. Martin Rynja, who runs Gibson Square, is due to publish Sherry Jones's novel about Mohammed's wife Aisha, The Jewel of Medina, next month. Random House had pulled out of publishing the novel in August, stating that it had been advised that "the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community" and that "it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment".

This is not the first time that Rynja, owner of a small, independent publishing house, has shown himself to have more gumption and appetite for controversy than the big boys. Four years ago, he published Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud after Random House, once again, pulled out - this time for fear of libel action. He is also the publisher of OJ Simpson's If I Did It and Alexander Litvinenko's Blowing Up Russia.

Rynja's support for free speech is proving to be exceptional, as is his courage in standing up to bullies, at a time when other publishers will surrender at any intimation of legal action - particularly from litigious Saudis. Rynja, who trained as a lawyer, has shown that capitulation need not be inevitable. I can only hope that the shocking attack on his office will not dim his determination - but he will need support.

Random House dropped The Jewel of Medina in anticipation that offence might be caused in an extraordinary instance of pre-emptive censorship. Let's remember the similarly dire predictions that were made when Geert Wilders released his provocative film Fitna, which links Islam to terrorism - it was in fact a non-event.

Yet, in this instance, the row that ensued once the story broke about Sherry Jones's novel has, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, served to escalate the very scenario that Random House was apparently seeking to avert. It is most telling that they sent a work of fiction out to academics for approval in the first place - since when was a historian, however smart and literate, a suitable judge of whether a novel should or should not be published? Surely the only grounds for publishing a novel are whether it is of literary merit? One of the academics they consulted, Denise Spellberg, was reported as saying: "You can't play with a sacred history and turn it into soft-core pornography." Why not? This is one person's subjective view of a novel - it should not be grounds for censorship. Respect for Religion Now Makes Censorship the Norm >>> Jo Glanville | September 30, 2008

Jo Glanville is editor of Index on Censorship

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The Understatement of the Century: 'Islam Sometimes Has Problems in Understanding Free Speech'
The cartoon of the prophet Muhammad that caused all the hullabaloo. Image courtesy of Google Images
MIDDLE EAST TIMES: Two years ago Denmark's daily newspaper Jylland-Posten published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, depicting the most holy figure in Islam with a ticking bomb in his turban. The newspaper's decision to run the caricatures caused millions of offended Muslims to protest against Western values in front of Danish embassies around the world. The outrage mainly stemmed from a growing sentiment that the West opted for indifference when it came to empathizing with the Muslim plight in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

In late February, encore appearances of the cartoons in four other Danish papers to show solidarity to cartoonist Kurt Westergaard who received death threats, deepened the crisis further. While most Muslim leaders called to" forgive, but not forget" despite the continuing anger, the West questioned its own values of liberal democracy and how to accommodate others.

On the eve of the Eid, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasting of Ramadan, Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen defended the publication of the cartoons and repeated that Islam had difficulty accepting core values of freedom and democracy.

Nevertheless, Rasmussen also sent a message of peace and positive dialogue to the Muslim world.

Photo of Anders Fogh Rasmussen courtesy of Google Images
The following interview was conducted last week at Columbia University in New York City, after the Danish prime minister addressed the university community in the World Leaders Forum. 'Islam Sometimes Has Problems in Understanding Free Speech' >>> By Afsin Yardakul | September 30, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Denmark) >>>

Tosh from the Telegraph; Truth about the Nature of Islam from the Bully, Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary keeps on giving us trouble; we keep on putting up with it. Now he describes The Jewel of Medina as “an attack on the honour of Mohammed…” “It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty.” Photo courtesy of Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: The American author Sherry Jones is either very brave or very foolhardy. She has written a novel about Mohammed, focusing on his relationship with his favourite wife, A'isha.

A professor of Muslim history, Denise Spellberg of the University of Texas, has described the book as "very ugly, stupid … soft-core pornography". Miss Jones can turn the other cheek.

The words of Anjem Choudhary, a one-time member of the extremist Islamist group al-Mujaharoun, are not so easy to brush aside.

Speaking after a firebomb attack on the home of the book's London publisher, he describes the novel as "an attack on the honour of Mohammed" and adds: "It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty." Anjem Choudary Speaks the Truth about the Brutality of Islam; We Refuse to Accept It >>> | September 30. 2008

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Islam: ”The Fascism of the Twenty-first Century” – HC Strache
Photo courtesy of Google Images
THE GUARDIAN: • Strache seen as further to right than mentor Haider 
• Weakened main party faces coalition dilemma

He has been filmed in forests, carrying arms and wearing paramilitary fatigues in the company of banned German neo-Nazis. Islam, he says, is "the fascism of the 21st century". He was photographed apparently giving a three-fingered neo-Nazi salute - though he says he was ordering three beers.

He mocks gay people; wants a ministry for the deportation of immigrants; says "Vienna must not become Istanbul"; hopes to repeal laws banning Nazi revivalism, and is pushing for a constitutional ban on the building of minarets. Heinz-Christian Strache, a former dental technician, is the new star of Austrian politics and the new poster boy of Europe's extreme right.

"I was never a neo-Nazi, and never will be," Strache has insisted. But when he sued the Vienna news weekly Profil for defamation, the court ruled that Strache could fairly be said to display "an affinity to national-socialist thinking".

Strache, 39, led his Freedom party to 18% of the vote in an early general election on Sunday. His former boss and mentor-turned-rival, Jörg Haider, single-handedly steered his breakaway far-right Movement for Austria's Future to 11% - meaning that almost one in three Austrians who voted opted for the extreme right.

"A unique case among the western democracies," said Profil yesterday as Viennese liberals reeled from the results of an election that put the far right comfortably ahead of the mainstream conservatives of the Austrian People's party and neck-and-neck with the Social Democrats, who narrowly won the election.

It will be very difficult for any party to muster a parliamentary majority. The only options are for the Social Democrats to invite Strache into government, or to form another "grand coalition" with the Christian Democrats. Such a coalition collapsed in June after 18 months in office, and another attempt could fire a bigger protest vote for Strache next time. Austria in Crisis as Far Right Win 29% of Vote >>> By Ian Traynor, Europe editor | September 30, 2008

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Target: Muslims; Forced Integration!
THE NATIONAL (UAE): LONDON - Muslim communities in Britain would be forced to integrate into UK society as a whole under a future Conservative government, the party has been told.

Plans to force all immigrants to speak English and to ban any place for sharia in the British legal system have been outlined at the annual conference of the Conservative Party, the country’s main opposition party.

The party, which has seen its lead over the Labour government in opinion polls cut to 12 points from 21 points in the past month, signalled an end to the policy of multiculturalism, which has encouraged different groups to retain their own religious and ethnic identities.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative shadow minister for community cohesion and social action, attacked what she called a “decade of state-driven multiculturalism” under Labour.

Mrs Warsi, a Muslim, said at the conference, which opened in Birmingham on Sunday, the policy had played on people’s differences and had created cultural divisions at the expense of shared British values.

“It has sent out the message that we’re not sharing a society, we’re just cohabiting a space,” she said. “It has led people to retreat into separate cultures rather than reach for a shared community.”

Additionally, she said it had created an “obsession with self-appointed community leaders, and a crude use of patronage politics has led to communities divided against each other, with people losing that inner instinct of what it is to be British”.

A future Conservative government would make integration and neighbourliness central to the party’s policy-making with everyone in Britain being obliged to speak English and with British history being taught “so young people know who we are as a nation”. She added: “Good neighbours look out for each other. That’s why we will tackle unacceptable cultural practices, not turn our backs and say it’s sensitive and none of our business.”

In a separate speech, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, a shadow minister for security, said a future Tory government would “force Muslims to integrate into British society”. Forced Social Integration Plan Targets Muslims >>> David Sapsted, Foreign Correspondent | September 29, 2008

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Anger over Islamic ‘Porn’ Comment
SKY: An academic who called a novel about the Prophet Mohammed pornographic has been criticised after a publisher was targeted in a suspected bomb attack.

Martin Rynja, whose publishing house will release controversial historical novel The Jewel of the Medina in the UK next month, escaped unharmed when accelerant was lit in the doorway of his home.

The 44-year-old remains under police protection following the incident in north London on Saturday.

Neighbours described seeing smoke and flames in the doorway of the house.

The Jewel of the Medina, written by American author Sherry Jones, focuses on Mohammed's relationship with his young bride Aisha. Anger over Islamic ‘Porn’ Comment >>> | September 29, 2008

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The Jolt that Europe Needed?: Heinz Christian Strache Claims Victory in Austria
Photo of Heinz Christian Strache courtesy of Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Google Images (Austria)
THE INDEPENDENT: He has been linked to neo-Nazi groups, says that women in Islamic dress are "female ninjas" and wants to take Austria out of the EU. But after his huge gains in yesterday's general election, the far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache was today bidding to become his country's next Chancellor.

The extreme-right romped home with a record 29 per cent of the vote in Sunday's Austrian poll, inflicting disaster on the country's two main established parties, the Social Democrats and centre-right People's Party, whose grand coalition government collapsed earlier this year due to infighting.

In their worst performance since 1945, the Social Democrats secured 30 percent of the vote and their conservative rivals a mere 25 percent. With Austria now in political turmoil, the two parties were yesterday facing the unwelcome choices of forming another highly unpopular grand coalition or joining forces with the far right.

The xenophobic Freedom Party, presided over by 39-year-old Strache, won 18 percent of the far right vote with the remainder going to veteran right winger Jörg Haider's Alliance for the Future of Austria. It was the Austrian far right's best performance since the Second World War.

Yesterday Strache, a dental technician who sports a permanent tan, claimed to be the true victor in the election. "We are the winners of election night," he told Austrian television. Demanding a role in any future Austrian government, he also announced that he was interested in becoming the country's next Chancellor. Far-Right's Strache Claims Austria Victory >>> By Tony Paterson in Berlin | September 29, 2008

FINANCIAL TIMES:
Austria Sees Return of Extreme Right >>> By Eric Frey in Vienna and Haig Simonian in Zurich | September 29, 2008

TIMESONLINE:
Muslim Graves Desecrated as Austria Swings to the Right: Police are blaming far-Right extremists for desecrating a Muslim cemetery in Austria, in the same weekend that the political parties of the far-Right made huge gains in the country's general election.
More than 90 graves were severely damaged at the cemetery in Traun, near Linz, some time between Friday night and this morning, in what police believe was an organised action.

The offenders sprayed Jewish symbols such as the Star of David over some of the graves, but detectives believe that this may have been a bid to disguise the motives of extremists driven by a hatred of Muslim immigrants. >>> Bojan Pancevski | September 29, 2008

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