Pourquoi Benoît XVI veut aller à Jérusalem
Le Pape veut clore trois semaines d'une crise sans précédent. Il compte sur son prochain voyage en Israël pour effacer les séquelles de l'affaire Williamson.

Rome est assiégée, il faut aller à Jérusalem ! De mémoire romaine, la crise affrontée par le Pape, ces trois dernières semaines, est sans précédent. Il y avait eu, en 2006, le malentendu de Ratisbonne avec l'islam. Il est aujourd'hui pardonné. Après tout, Benoît XVI «débutait» dans sa fonction, et ce faux pas a été minutieusement rattrapé depuis. Il laisse des traces qui ne sont rien face à l'ampleur du trouble, hors et dans l'Église catholique, lié à la levée des excommunications de quatre évêques lefebvristes, dont un négationniste, Mgr Richard Williamson.

Cet acte a ouvert une crise interne inédite : règlements de comptes publics - du jamais-vu - au sein de la curie romaine. Contestations épiscopales, en Allemagne, en France et en Autriche. Le cardinal Christophe Schönborn, archevêque de Vienne, a même dû convoquer pour ce lundi une réunion extraordinaire de la conférence des évêques pour «limiter les dégâts» de cette affaire et ceux de la nomination d'un nouvel évêque controversé à Linz. Cet acte romain a aussi créé une crise externe ouvrant un nouveau contentieux avec le monde juif, dossier déjà très lourd, et une confusion générale dans l'opinion mondiale.

Passé la stupeur de l'onde de choc ecclésiale et internationale, le Saint-Siège a cherché par tous les moyens à calmer la tempête. À trois reprises, le 28 janvier, le 4 février et le 19 février, le Pape a redit, avec des mots différents, une même conviction : le négationnisme est «intolérable et inacceptable» tout comme sa racine, l'antisémitisme. Il est allé jusqu'à reprendre à son compte, pour ses «amis juifs», la prière de Jean-Paul II devant le mur de Jérusalem, exprimée lors du jubilé de l'an 2000. Le Pape avait demandé «pardon à Dieu» pour «toutes les injustices» dont «le peuple juif a eu à souffrir».

Jérusalem, lieu source, dont Benoît XVI attend, en fait, la sortie définitive de cette crise, puisqu'il vient de confirmer qu'il «prépare une visite en Israël». En mai prochain probablement. Annoncé une première fois en novembre 2008, ce voyage en Jordanie et en Israël - presque annulé en janvier avec la guerre à Gaza - pourrait avoir la magie que sa visite en Turquie opéra après l'affaire de Ratisbonne. Le recueillement de Benoît XVI dans la grande mosquée Bleue d'Istanbul apaisa les esprits inquiets. Dans un autre registre, les échanges avec les responsables juifs en Israël pourraient sceller une réconciliation déjà en route. Et en finir avec le point qui fit vraiment scandale : la levée de l'excommunication d'un évêque qui a confirmé son négationnisme. Une réconciliation déjà en route >>> Par Jean-Marie Guénois | Dimanche 15 Février 2009

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Obama Warned over ‘Welfare Spendathon’
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The new administration's economic stimulus plan may undo reforms that cut the dole queues, critics say

RONALD REAGAN started it, Bill Clinton finished it and last week Barack Obama was accused of engineering its destruction. One of the few undisputed triumphs of American government of the past 20 years – the sweeping welfare reform programme that sent millions of dole claimants back to work – has been plunged into jeopardy by billions of dollars in state handouts included in the president’s controversial economic stimulus package.

As Obama celebrated Valentine’s Day yesterday with a return to his Chicago home for a private weekend with family and friends, his success in piloting a $785 billion (£546 billion) stimulus package through Congress was being overshadowed by warnings that an unprecedented increase in welfare spending would undermine two decades of bipartisan attempts to reduce dependency on government handouts.

Robert Rector, a prominent welfare researcher who was one of the architects of Clinton's 1996 reform bill, warned last week that Obama’s stimulus plan was a “welfare spendathon” that would amount to the largest one-year increase in government handouts in American history. >>> The Sunday Times | Sunday, February 15, 2009

THE SUNDAY TIMES: No Excuses if Obama Can't Fix 'His' Recession

If, like John Maynard Keynes, you believe that spending, any spending, will revive a flagging economy, the freshly minted, 1,000-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, calling for $504 billion in deficit-financed spending, is for you. Well, not quite. It seems that most of the money will not be spent very soon. About 30% won't hit the economy until 2011, and the balance is likely to be tied up in the procurement processes of the federal and state governments until well into 2010, and beyond. Besides, much of the spending will end up boosting other economies — subsidies for wind machines will benefit workers in the other countries in which such machines are manufactured, not our very own horny-handed toilers. And much of the spending will not create jobs for the unemployed: laid-off car workers do not have the skills to design the software to manage the "smart grid" that is the apple of the greens' eye.

If you have not jumped onto the new Keynesian spending bandwagon, but believe with Christina Romer, chairman of Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, that tax cuts are more certain than spending to turn the economy round, you should love this bill, with its $286 billion in tax cuts and credits. Well, not quite. True, individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and families earning less than $150,000 will receive credits of $400 and $800, the earned income-tax credit for working families with three or more children is increased, and there is something for pensioners, disabled veterans, families of college students and a host of others.

Reflection suggests, however, the tax-cut contingent is doomed to disappointment. Much of the money will be saved or used to pay down credit-card balances, not bad things, but not very stimulative. Much will be spent in Wal-Mart, earning Congress the applause of Chinese trainer and t-shirt manufacturers. And much will never be claimed: the specific subsidies for college education are simply too small to have much effect on college enrolments. If you are a supply-side enthusiast… >>> Irwin Stelzer*

*Irwin Stelzer is a business adviser and director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute

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Zahl der Geburten in Deutschland nimmt zu
Foto dank der Welt
Wenn die Wirtschaft in der Krise steckt, hat die Familie Konjunktur. So sieht das Familienministerin Ursula von der Leyen und die Zahlen geben ihr Recht. Seit 2007 werden in Deutschland wieder mehr Kinder geboren. Und der Trend hält auch in der Krise an. Besonders in einer Altersgruppe nimmt der Wunsch nach Kindern zu.

In Deutschland kommen wieder mehr Kinder zur Welt. 2007 seien 12.000 Kinder mehr als 2006 geboren worden, sagte Bundesfamilienministerin Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) der Zeitung „Bild am Sonntag“. Im vergangenen Jahr habe der Trend angehalten. Bis September seien 3400 Kinder mehr zur Welt gekommen als 2007.

„Besonders bei Frauen zwischen 30 und 40 Jahren hat die Zahl der Kinder zugenommen“, sagte von der Leyen. Gerade in diesem Alter überlegten Paare, ob sie ein Leben mit Beruf und Familie meistern können. Vor allem bei Männern nehme der Kinderwunsch zu. 



Die Vaterrolle ändere sich. „Die Männer wollen heute mehr Zeit mit der Familie verbringen“, sagte die Ministerin. Zudem hätten junge Menschen das Gefühl, die Gesellschaft lasse sie als Eltern nicht alleine.

Die Wirtschaftskrise werde auch nicht zu mehr Schwangerschaftsabbrüchen führen, sagte die Ministerin voraus. In rauen Zeiten sei die Familie für viele Menschen der wichtigste Halt. „Wenn die Wirtschaft wankt, hat die Familie Konjunktur“, sagte von der Leyen. >>> WeltOnline | Sonntag, 15. Februar 2009

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Tausende demonstrieren gegen Neonazis
"Dresden macht vor, wie man gegen Neonazis kämpft": Am Jahresstag der Zerstörung im Zweiten Weltkrieg demonstrieren die Dresdner gegen den Neonazi-Aufmarsch.

Mehrere Tausend Menschen haben in Dresden gegen einen Aufmarsch von Neonazis zum 64. Jahrestag der Zerstörung der Stadt im Zweiten Weltkrieg demonstriert.

Rund 12.500 Teilnehmer kamen am Samstag nach Veranstalterangaben zu mehreren Auftaktkundgebungen des überparteilichen Bündnisses "Geh Denken", das sich gegen die Vereinnahmung des Tages durch Rechtsextremisten stellt. Zeitgleich zogen laut Polizei etwa 5.000 Neonazis und mehr als 2.500 Autonome durch die Innenstadt.

Bundesverkehrsminister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) sagte mit Blick auf die Kundgebungen der Rechtsextremisten, man dürfe nicht nur still gedenken. "Es gibt in vielen Städten Versuche von Rechts, Präsenz zu zeigen", sagt er. "Sie versuchen, ihre geringen Kräfte zu zentralen Veranstaltungen zu konzentrieren." Dagegen gelte es, selbst auf die Straße zu gehen. "Dresden macht vor, wie man gegen Neonazis kämpfen kann."

Seit Jahren versuchen Rechtsextremisten, die Gedenktage an die Zerstörung Dresdens kurz vor dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges in einen "Bomben-Holocaust" umzudeuten. Bei der Bombardierung der Stadt am 13. und 14. Februar 1945 waren schätzungsweise mehr als 25.000 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. >>> AP/dpa/sonn | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

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DIE PRESSE: Österreich – Bundesheer: Unteroffizier zeigt Hitlergruß

Ein Soldat soll im Kosovo bei einer Feier mehrmals die Hand zum Hitlergruß gehoben haben. Außerdem soll er ein T-Shirt mit rechtsradikalem Aufdruck besitzen. Er wurde wegen des Verdachts auf Wiederbetätigung angezeigt.

Beim österreichischen Bundesheer-Kontingent im Kosovo herrscht schon wieder Aufregung. Nachdem kürzlich ein junger Soldat versehentlich angeschossen wurde, wird jetzt ein Unteroffizier der Wiederbetätigung verdächtigt. >>> APA | Freitag, 13. Februar 2009

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Der Fluch der «Satanischen Verse»
NZZ Online: Vor zwanzig Jahren erging gegen Salman Rushdie die Fatwa und radikalisierte die britischen Muslime

Die Aufgabe seines Berufsstandes, sagt der Dichter Baal in Salman Rushdies «Satanischen Versen», sei das Anzetteln von Auseinandersetzungen – «und wenn aus den Wunden, die seine Verse reissen, Ströme von Blut fliessen, so werden sie ihn nähren». Zweifellos hat Salman Rushdie seit dem Valentinstag 1989 oft über diese Äusserung nachgedacht. Angefangen hatte die Kampagne gegen ihn, als sein neuer Roman im Oktober 1988 in Indien offiziell gebannt wurde. Auf Verbote in Pakistan, Saudiarabien und Ägypten folgte im Januar 1989 die Kunde aus der englischen Stadt Bradford: Dort, auf einem öffentlichen Platz an einen Pfahl genagelt, wurde das Buch vor einer schaulustigen Menge verbrannt. Richter und Zuschauer waren extremistische Muslime.

Ein literarisches Werk verboten und verbrannt – weil es religiöse Gefühle verletzte? Westliche Verstandesmenschen, die so fragten, bekamen bald noch mehr zu hören. Am 14. Februar 1989 wurden Rushdie und seine Verleger vom schiitischen Ajatollah Khomeiny, dem Führer der Islamischen Revolution in Iran, zu madhur ad-dam (jene, deren Blut vergossen werden muss) erklärt. Die Fatwa und ihre Motive >>> Georges Waser | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

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Lauter Wahnsinn!
EU-Abgeordnete drängen die Kommission, die Beitritts-Verhandlungen mit Ankara zügig fortzusetzen.

BRÜSSEL. „Wir brauchen die türkische Mitgliedschaft für die Energiesicherheit in der EU.“ Mit diesen klaren Worten ließ am Mittwoch der EU-Parlamentarier Hannes Swoboda (SPÖ) aufhorchen. Die EU-Kommission solle in den Beitrittsverhandlungen mit der Türkei dringend beginnen, über das Kapitel Energie zu verhandeln, erklärte er gemeinsam mit Fraktionskollegen anlässlich der Bewertung der Beitrittsbemühungen der Türkei durch den außenpolitischen Ausschuss des EU-Parlaments. Die Verhandlungen sollten beschleunigt werden, so die Sozialdemokraten. Erweiterung: „Brauchen türkischen Beitritt wegen Energie“ >>> Regina Pöll | Mittwoch, 11. Februar 2009

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Christians Face Discrimination in Workplace, Say Church Leaders
Almost two thirds of the Church of England General Synod believe Christians are the victims of discrimination in the workplace.

A survey of members of the Church's parliament found that 63 per cent of them felt that Christians faced discrimination at work.

The majority also consider that freedom of belief has been eroded under the Labour government.

While 59 per cent agreed that they have seen a decline in religious liberty over the last decade; 38 per cent of members disagreed.

The findings follow a series of high profile legal battles fought by Christians who claim to have suffered as a result of their beliefs. >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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A Sorry Parade of Bankers Can't Put Things Right
The Government wrecked both our private and our public finances and if Gordon Brown doesn't get a better grip of the banking industry, the IMF will have to do it for him, says Michael Fallon.

‘We are profoundly and, I think I can say, unreservedly, sorry at the turn of events” was how the former chairman of HBOS put it. “I think I can say, unreservedly”? “The turn of events”? Only somebody as deeply immersed in the British establishment as Lord Stevenson of Coddenham could get away with destroying a great British bank, taking £17 billion of taxpayers’ money, and then offering up the kind of shaded apology more appropriate for somebody caught out by a sudden cold snap.

This won’t do, and the parade of hapless bankers in front of the Treasury Committee last week did not give us the answers we need to the crisis in British banking. Instead, we were shown a sorry picture of a sales-driven, deals-driven, bonus-driven culture wholly alien from the banks our fathers knew. >>> By Michael Fallon | Saturday, February 14, 2009

THE (SUNDAY) TELEGRAPH: Lloyds Plan to Pay £120 Million in Bonuses to Staff Threatens New 'Fat Cat' Row

Lloyds banking group has drawn up plans to pay about £120 million in bonuses to staff even as it teeters on the brink of majority state ownership, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Sources close to Lloyds said the bank had drafted the bonus proposals and was "in consultation" about them with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury body that owns a 43 per cent stake in the bank.

The proposed payouts would be distributed among thousands of workers in Lloyds' retail and commercial banking businesses, who received about £150 million in bonus payments last year.

They are likely to inflame the growing row over City bonuses which was stoked last week by The Sunday Telegraph's disclosure that Royal Bank of Scotland, almost 70 per cent of which is owned by the taxpayer, was looking to pay staff as much as £1 billion in bonuses this year.

The disclosure comes as the Government and Lloyds attempt to find a way to pump billions more of taxpayers' money into the troubled bank without the Government being forced to take a majority stake. >>> By Mark Kleinman, Patrick Hennessy and Edmund Conway in Rome | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Führen die anderen Religionen nicht zu Gott?
TAGES ANZEIGER: Der Absolutheitsanspruch kommt von Christus selber. Er hat gesagt: Ich bin der Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben. Niemand kommt zum Vater ausser durch mich. Er hat die Apostel ausgesandt, alle zu taufen. Folglich ist es ausgeschlossen, dass ein Muslim durch den Islam gerettet wird. Zwar kann der Muslim im Islam gerettet werden, wenn er den Schöpfer anerkennt, seine Sünden bereut und sich nach Erlösung sehnt. Niemand wird verurteilt, wenn er die Wahrheit nicht kennt. Schlägt er aber bewusst die christliche Wahrheit aus, macht er sich schuldig. Pius-Bruder: «Wir verkünden ewige Wahrheiten» >>> Von Michael Meier | Samstag, 14. Febraur 2009

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Polish Church under Growing Pressure
Twenty years have passed since the end of communism in Poland and there are signs that the institution that led the struggle against the regime, the Catholic Church, is under threat in the modern democratic consumerist society.

Under communism, becoming a priest was a step up the social ladder.

But now the number of young men entering seminaries is falling, and a survey suggests that more than half of the country's serving priests would like to do away with celibacy to have a wife and family.

According to the findings of Professor Jozef Baniak, a sociologist who specialises in religion at the department of theology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, more than 12% even admitted they were presently living in stable relationships with women.

In the land that produced the late Pope John Paul II, most churches are still full on Sundays.

But Polish society has been changing rapidly, and according to Father Wieslaw Dawidowski, an Augustinian friar in Warsaw, that is reflected in the behaviour of its priests.

"What worries me is the number of priests who are living a second life that is working as a Catholic priest which presumes to be a celibate, and at the same time having an affair with a woman," he said. >>> By Adam Easton, BBC News, Warsaw | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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Iran: La coiffeuse qui aimait les livres
L'EXPRESS: De son salon, à Téhéran, elle a fait une bibliothèque. Et un espace de liberté où, trente ans après la révolution islamique, les femmes se retrouvent et débattent.

Chez Farkhondeh Gohari, on entre sans rendez-vous. Femmes au foyer en tchador noir, adolescentes aux mèches rebelles dépassant du foulard, étudiantes sans le sou, elles sont des dizaines à se presser, chaque jour, devant sa porte. Avec une seule requête: quel livre emprunter cette semaine?

"Pour moi, ce sont toutes des soeurs. Je suis ici pour les aider, à ma façon", murmure l'hôtesse entre quelques gorgées de thé fumant - la seule récréation qu'elle s'accorde, avant d'aller classer les livres de sa bibliothèque de Shahr-e Rey, une ville populaire au sud de Téhéran.

Ce n'est pas une rebelle, Farkhondeh Gohari, dans son voile clair et son manteau informe. Rien à voir avec les pin-up du nord de la capitale, qui narguent les gardiens de la morale islamique en arborant des foulards ultracolorés. Ni avec certaines féministes qui finissent régulièrement au cachot pour avoir eu le courage de dénoncer ouvertement le régime clérical et la discrimination envers les femmes.

Pourtant, alors que la République islamique souffle ses 30 bougies, ce petit bout de femme tout en rondeurs bataille, sans bruit, pour une plus grande émancipation de ses consoeurs. Avec pour seules armes quelques livres empilés sur de modestes étagères en bois. "Il y en a pour tous les goûts: des livres de cuisine, des romans de Dostoïevski, des essais de Jean-Paul Sartre, des méthodes d'anglais, des poèmes persans. Quoi qu'on lise, la lecture libère l'esprit", dit-elle.

Voilà quinze ans déjà que, par un beau matin de mars, cette quinquagénaire au caractère bien trempé, mère de quatre enfants, a décidé, sur un coup de tête, de transformer son salon de beauté en un salon de lecture. Un pari fou couronné de succès. "Ca a commencé avec 50 livres achetés d'occasion. Aujourd'hui, j'ai une sélection de plus de 7000 ouvrages. La demande ne cesse d'augmenter", se félicite-t-elle.

Au début, c'est un peu par hasard qu'elle endosse sa mission, à cheval entre le social et l'humanitaire. "J'étais en train de coiffer une jeune mariée, se souvient-elle, lorsqu'une voisine a frappé à la porte. Elle voulait à tout prix me convaincre d'assister à un atelier sur la prévention sanitaire organisé par la municipalité." >>> Par Delphine Minoui | Samedi 14 Février 2009

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Kidnappers Threaten to Kill American Abducted in Pakistan within 72 Hours
Kidnappers threatened on Friday to kill an American employee of the United Nations within 72 hours and issued a grainy video of the blindfolded captive saying he was "sick and in trouble."

John Solecki would be killed unless authorities released 141 women the kidnappers claimed were being held in Pakistan, according to a letter accompanying the video, which was delivered to a Pakistani news agency.

The video and the demands indicated that Mr Solecki, the head of the UN refugee agency in Quetta, a city near the Afghan border, was alive and that his captors wanted to negotiate.

Mr Solecki, who appeared blindfolded and with a shawl draped over his shoulders in the 20-second clip, said his message was addressed to the United Nations.

"I am not feeling well. I am sick and in trouble. Please help solve the problem soon so that I can gain my release," he said.

The kidnappers have identified themselves as the Baluchistan Liberation United Front, suggesting a link to local separatists who have waged a long insurgency against Pakistan's government, rather than to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. >>> | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Muslim Girl in Baptism Row Was Fleeing an Arranged Marriage
MAIL Online: The foster mother struck off for allowing a Muslim girl to convert to Christianity took the child in after she was threatened with an arranged marriage.

The woman, a devout Christian, was asked to care for the teenager after the authorities learned of her abusive family background.

Her father beat her just for chatting to boys and warned he would haul her off to Pakistan to marry against her will, a friend claimed.

But council officials were angered when the girl chose to be baptised. They insist the foster mother failed in her duty to preserve the girl's original religion.

As a result, the girl was removed and the foster mother struck off the register last November, despite having worked with children for ten years with a perfect record. >>> By Tom Kelly | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Saudi-Arabien: Erstmals Frau in Regierung
DIE PRESSE: Nura al-Fajes wird stellvertretende Bildungsministerin. Per Dekret wurden außerdem die Spitzen der Ressorts Bildung, Justiz, Information und Gesundheit neu besetzt. >>> DiePresse.com | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Arabia Saudita, la prima donna al governo

Nominata dal re Abdullah, ha l'incarico di vice-ministro per l'Educazione femminile, figura inedita nel regno

RIAD - A Riad qualcosa di nuovo. Il re saudita Abdullah ha nominato una donna alla carica di vice ministro dell'Educazione, secondo quanto ha riportato la tv di Stato. È la prima volta: mai in passato una donna aveva fatto parte di un governo in Arabia Saudita, Paese retto da una monarchia ultraconservatrice ispirata al wahabismo. >>> | 14 febbraio 2009

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Religious Police Break Hearts in Saudi Arabia
Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all, including the religious police in Saudi Arabia, the so-called Muttawa or Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice!
ASSOCIATED PRESS: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Just days before Valentine's Day, a young Saudi woman desperately searched for a red teddy bear to buy for her boyfriend. But all Nof Faisal could find were blue and white ones, minus the "I love you" she wanted hers to declare.

It's not because the store couldn't keep up with demand. It is because fear of the religious police forced the store's owner to strip the shelves of all red items, including the hottest-selling item: heart-festooned red plastic handcuffs inscribed, "Take me, I'm yours."

As Feb. 14 approaches, the police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or are intended as gifts to mark the holiday — a celebration of St. Valentine, a 3rd century Christian martyr — which is banned in Saudi Arabia. Such items are legal at other times of the year, but as Valentine's Day nears they become contraband.

At best, shops caught selling Valentine's gifts are ordered to get rid of them. Some salesmen have been detained for days.

The Valentine's Day prohibition is in line with the ascetic Wahhabi school of Islam that the kingdom follows. Marking Christian holidays is banned in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and a country where non-Muslims are banned from openly practicing their religion.

Celebrating any holidays but the two most important for Muslims — Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr_ is taboo because they are considered "religious innovations" that Islam does not sanction. Even birthdays and Mother's Day are frowned on by the religious establishment.

As Feb. 14 approaches, newspapers reprint a fatwa or religious edict issued by scholars a few years ago, declaring "eid al-hob," Arabic for the feast of love, a "Christian, pagan feast" that Muslims should not celebrate. Teachers remind students they must not mark the festival, and girls are warned against wearing anything red. >>> AP | Friday, February 13, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Saint Valentin: distribution gratuite de "sex toys" à Paris

INSOLITE | Célibataires, jeunes couples, groupes de promeneurs: une distribution gratuite de "sex toys" organisée samedi dans le centre de Paris pour la Saint Valentin, a suscité une vive curiosité, quelques sourires gênés et beaucoup de rires.

"J'ai eu un vibromasseur et des boules de geisha" raconte, ravie, Leila, étudiante de 21 ans. "Je suis super contente. Je suis célibataire, ça me console... Et puis ça coûte super cher ces petits trucs en plastique !" >>> AFP | Samedi 14 Février 2009

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Pat Condell: Freedom Go to Hell!

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Geert Wilders Banned from the UK - Shameless Censorship

For God’s sake, the British government is so YELLOW! Appeasement of Islam is the name of the game! Gordon Brown, Jacqui Smith (Jackboot Jacqui), and David Miliband are all part of the ‘axis of cowardice’!

By disallowing Geert Wilders into the United Kingdom to show his film, Fitna, to the House of Lords, the UK has shown that it is well on the road to dhimmitude, well on the path which will lead to Eurabia.

Not since Neville Chamberlain has any British government shown such readiness to appease its enemies. And let’s make no mistake about it, Islam is the enemy, for it is the enemy of democracy and freedom, but nobody in the MSM or in politics wants to admit that this is so. But it is so. What else can an ideology be when it doesn’t recognize the separation of religion and politics? Whichever way anyone slices it, any ideology that does not regognize this separation, the sine qua non of democracy, can only be one thing: the enemy of democracy.

If you are aware of what is going on, then you must be, as am I, absolutely fed up with reading articles in the press which make excuses for the excesses of Islam and its adherents. You must also be sick to death of listening to, or reading about, politicians stating that Islam is not the problem. These people insist that some radical Muslims who espouse an extremist version of Islam are the problem. This is HS! Islam is the problem; and Islam pure and simple. There is, anyway, but one Islam. Any Muslim will tell you that. The moderate Muslims that politicians tell you about are non-existent, for moderate Islam doesn’t exist. There is but one Islam, and that’s Islam! The real deal!

A so-called ‘moderate Muslim’ is a Muslim who doesn’t follow his religion; and that’s no real Muslim at all!

What are we to do? Are we to wait until the crocodile devours us? Or are we to find our spunk and backbone, and confront this problem NOW, head on?

Our politicians and the people you watch on TV and listen to on your radio are spinning yarns, they’re peddling lies. They will go on doing so until YOU stop them! Tell them you’ll have no more of this crap, no more of this nonsense, no more of this poppycock! Tell them you want the truth. Insist on the truth; it’s your right.

That’s why banning Geert Wilders from the shores of the United Kingdom is such a nonsense. If what he has to say is false, then it will soon be seen as such. Nothing exposes the truth like the light of day. And if it is true, then we will have to confront the reality that faces us. But isn’t that the problem? Isn’t that what people like Jacqui Smith, David Miliband, and Gordon Brown do not want: the truth?

The following brilliant film, Fitna, is hurtful to our leaders, the mainstream media and the establishment simply because it is truthful. Were it not to be, then these stupid people that lead us would simply refute it. But they cannot because the film is masterful. Why? Because it encapsulates the problems we face with Islam in a short, sixteeen or so minute film. How brilliant is that? – ©Mark Alexander

Here is the film the establishment – our craven establishment – do not want you to see. It is to be hoped the Lords are watching:

Fitna: Original Version


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Our Thoughts and Prayers for Beverly Eckert, 9/11 Widow
Her husband died in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre after phoning to say that he loved her. As she flew to commemorate his 58th birthday and to establish a scholarship in his name at the high school where they met, Beverly Eckert also met her death in a fiery plane crash.

Ms Eckert was among 50 people who died when a Continental Connection commuter plane nosedived into a house in New York State, killing everyone on board and one person on the ground.

Last week Ms Eckert had met President Obama at the White House when he briefed the families of terrorism victims on the new Administration’s approach to terror suspects. 9/11 Widow Beverly Eckert among 50 Dead as Plane Lands on House >>> James Bone in New York | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Charles Moore Is Way Off the Mark in His Assesment of Islam! But Right about Jacqui Smith’s Decision
The Home Secretary should instead stop the advocates of violence from entering Britain, argues Charles Moore

'The Secretary of State is satisfied" would be a good title for a satirical television drama. It is the favourite bureaucratic phrase used to convey a ministerial decision.

This week, the office of the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith wrote to Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP who had been invited to the House of Lords to present his anti-Muslim film Fitna to MPs and peers there.

Miss Smith, said the letter, was "satisfied" that what Mr Wilders said "about Muslims and their beliefs… would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK".

So the Flying Dutchman reached Heathrow on Thursday, but was put on a plane back to Holland straightaway.

It is extremely unusual that an elected member of a European legislature is banned from this country when invited by members of our own Parliament. It contravenes a key democratic principle about the power of legislators to talk to one another, whether governments like it or not.

The Dutch authorities – though they greatly dislike Mr Wilders – saw this point at once, and protested to the British Government. Out of his respect for the rights of the elected, the Dutch ambassador went to Heathrow to meet Mr Wilders. It is typical of the collapse of our Parliament's self-belief that this aspect of the case has been ignored.

Anyway, the Secretary of State was satisfied. What satisfied her? I do not believe that it was the intrinsic nature of Mr Wilders's film or words. I have watched Fitna on YouTube. It takes the view that Islam is irredeemably evil. Mr Wilders has said elsewhere that "Islam is not another leaf on the tree of religion", but a totalitarian political ideology. Banning Wilders Plays into the Hands of Our Islamist Enemies >>> By Charles Moore | Friday, February 13, 2009

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Founder of Network Promoting Positive Muslim Image Arrested -- For Beheading Wife
NEWS BUSTERS: The Muslim founder of BridgesTV, a cable network whose slogan is “connecting people through understanding” and which tried to “improve the image of Muslims in the United States,” was arrested on Thursday, for allegedly killing his estranged wife in a manner normally associated with Islamist terrorists -- chopping off her head.

Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher, reported on Friday that Muzzammil Hassan, “a prominent Buffalo area businessman who founded the BridgesTV network to improve the image of Muslims in the U.S.,” had been charged with second-degree murder in the beheading death of his wife Aasiya Z. Hassan. Mitchell quoted from the network’s website, which described Mrs. Hassan’s “instrumental role in the creation of BridgesTV since she came up with the idea for the network.” The picture of the couple is still up on the website. [Source: News Busters] By Matthew Balan | Friday, February 13, 2009

Hat tip: Always On Watch >>>

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The Gathering Storm Radio Show*

Listen here >>>
*This week on the nearly famous Gathering Storm Radio Show the guests are Ilana Freedman from the Gerard Group and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (author of 'Infidel' and 'The Caged Virgin')

Time: US: 3pm (EST); UK: 8pm

Women's Rights under Iran's Revolution
Women were active in the events surrounding the Islamic revolution in Iran 30 years ago, but the Islamic Republic has been criticised for reversing many of the rights women won under the Shah's regime that was overthrown by the revolution.

Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2003 for her work on human rights in Iran.

She tells the BBC World Service how women have responded to changes in their legal status over the past 30 years and how her hopes for Iran's future lie with women and the young.

The slogan of the revolution was 'Independence and Freedom' and they said that the Islamic Revolution would bring this.
Back then people were really hopeful because they really wanted independence and freedom.

Unfortunately after the revolution, while the country was more independent than before, the freedom that people were expecting did not come about.

Only five months had passed since the revolution when the Revolutionary Council took away all the rights that women had won over the previous years even though the new constitution had yet to be passed and the new president had not been elected.

It was in 1979 that a law was passed allowing men to take up to four wives, another law was passed stating that after a divorce the father would have custody of the children and women lost the rights they had gained. >>> | Thursday, February 12, 2009

Listen to BBC audio: Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi discusses the impact of the Iranian Revolution on the country’s women >>>

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The Left-wing Operatives in Ecclesiastical Drag Are Meddling Again!
More than 300,000 asylum seekers should be allowed to stay in Britain indefinitely, the Church of England General Synod has said.

The Synod, the governing body of the state religion, voted overwhelmingly in favour of an amnesty for those whose cases are still being decided on, and said all those who want to live here should be allowed to work.

It also said that a solution must be found to the "intolerable" situation of people who are refused leave to remain but cannot return to their home countries, and that children and families must no longer be detained in Immigration Removal Centres.

The Rev Ruth Worsley, a priest in the diocese of Southwell & Nottingham who tabled the motion on the subject, said: "The financial cost to our country, as well as the human cost which leaves people in limbo for years, not knowing what their future might hold, seems unconscionable.

"With the arrival of the credit crunch, the subsequent loss of jobs, the recent call for British jobs for British people, there is a danger that we become inward-looking and even xenophobic.

"But the Gospel tells us that we are not a tribal nation but a global family." Church of England General Synod Calls Asylum Seeker Amnesty >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Friday, February 2009

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Rachida Dati 'to Run for Paris Mayor' Against Nicolas Sarkozy's Wishes
Photo of the glamorous Rachida Dati courtesy of Gala.fr
Rachida Dati, the embattled French justice minister, has sparked consternation in her own camp by letting it be known she intends to run for mayor of Paris, against President Nicolas Sarkozy's wishes.

The move suggests that Miss Dati, 43, whom Mr Sarkozy demoted by squeezing her out of the cabinet in exchange for a near-certain seat in the European parliament, intends to rebuild her flagging career with or without the president's support.

The glamorous single mother plans to use her hands-off post as mayor of the chic seventh arrondissement, as well as her seat on the Paris city council, as a springboard to run for mayor of the capital in 2014 – when the second mandate of Socialist Bertrand Delanoë expires.

Last month, the president gave his estranged protégée no choice but to leave her prestigious post as justice minister to take the low-profile position of No 2 on his centre-right UMP party's list for the greater Paris area in the European elections. Although she put a brave face on it, the move was widely seen as an elegant dismissal for the first person of North African descent to hold a top government post. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, February 13, 2009

LE PARISIEN: Rachida Dati rêve d’être maire de Paris

Pour ses collaborateurs, ce n’est plus un secret : Rachida Dati veut être maire de Paris. « La capitale en 2014, c’est un vrai objectif pour elle, confie un de ses proches. Elle a l’idée de conquérir l’Hôtel de Ville. » L’une des plus fidèles de la ministre de la Justice, sa conseillère Emmanuelle Dauvergne, confirme ce projet : « Elle veut s’investir à Paris, c’est ce qu’elle fait déjà dans le VII e arrondissement. En effet, elle m’a confié que la mairie de Paris en 2014 l’intéresse vraiment. » >>> Azzeddine Ahmed-Chaouch avec Martine Chevalet | Jeude 12 Février 2009

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Sarkozy recompose la Famille
Représentant lui-même la famille moderne et recomposée, Nicolas Sarkozy a livré vendredi aux associations sa vision de la politique familiale. Un "statut du beau-parent ou du tiers", intiment lié à l'homoparentalité, une augmentation massive des places en crèches, un projet de loi sur l'adoption en mars... Le président a tenté d'apporter ses réponses aux "évolutions de la société française".

Lors de sa tournée des voeux, début janvier, Nicolas Sarkozy avait annoncé des mesures dans quasiment tous les domaines, à l'exception, notable, de sa politique familiale. Très attendu sur des sujets sensibles comme l'adoption ou l'homoparentalité, le président a présenté vendredi sa vision du foyer à l'occasion de la remise annuelle de la Médaille de la Famille. Objectif affiché: aider la sphère privée à "s'adapter aux évolutions de la société française". Au programme, une hausse des prestations pour les familles et des mesures fiscales avantageuses font partie des pistes abordées par le gouvernement lors d'une grande réunion sur la crise, prévue mercredi prochain à l'Elysée.

Une annonce qui pose des problèmes de financement. Aujourd'hui, les pouvoirs publics consacrent chaque année 80 milliards d'euros pour les familles, dont 30 milliards sont financés par les cotisations patronales des entreprises. Nicolas Sarkozy, qui veut diminuer ces prélèvements - "pénalisantes pour la croissance économique"selon lui -, veut mener "une réflexion sans tabou sur l'évolution de ce financement de la politique familiale". Le député UMP Yves Bur sera en charge de cette mission... "impossible" selon plusieurs associations. >>> Par G.V.(avec Reuters), leJDD.fr | Vendredi 13 Février 2009

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Republikaner torpedieren Obamas Konsens-Vision
Barack Obamas Streben nach Überparteilichkeit erhält einen Dämpfer nach dem anderen: Beim Konjunkturpaket wollten die Republikaner nicht mitspielen, der designierte – republikanische – Handelsminister sprang ab. Es sind Manöver der politischen Konkurrenz. Doch auch Obama hat Fehler gemacht.

Barack Obamas Werben um überparteilichen Konsens für das kolossale Konjunkturpaket wie für sein „Kabinett der Rivalen“ erweist sich zunehmend als vergebliche Liebesmüh. Die jüngste Zurückweisung erlebte der US-Präsident, als Judd Gregg, republikanischer Senator für New Hampshire und designierter Handelsminister, wegen „unlösbarer Konflikte“ auf das Amt verzichtete. Gregg wäre der dritte Republikaner in Obamas Ministerrunde gewesen; er hatte die Nominierung vor Tagen akzeptiert, nachdem Obamas erste Wahl, der Gouverneur von New Mexico Bill Richardson, wegen einer laufenden Untersuchung wegen seiner Wahlkampfspenden aufgegeben hatte. >>> Von Uwe Schmitt | Freitag, 13. Februar 2009

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Afghanistan: Taliban haben 2008 enorm an Stärke gewonnen
Die Taliban haben in Afghanistan ihre Einflusssphäre vergrößert. Das geht aus Erkenntnissen der US-Geheimdienste hervor. Viele Gebiete, die einst friedlich waren, wurden inzwischen zum Schauplatz des Aufstandes. Peinlich für die USA: Sie verloren in Afghanistan zahlreiche Waffen – möglicherweise auch an die Taliban.

Der Aufstand der radikalislamischen Taliban in Afghanistan hat sich nach Erkenntnissen der US-Geheimdienste im vergangenen Jahr deutlich ausgeweitet. Inzwischen seien auch ehemals friedliche Gebiete rund um die Hauptstadt Kabul und andernorts betroffen, heißt es in dem Jahresbericht, den US-Geheimdienstkoordinator Dennis Blair dem Kongress vorgelegt hat. Trotz eines verstärkten Einsatzes der US- und Nato-geführten Streitkräfte im Land am Hindukusch gingen die Aufständischen aggressiver vor als früher. Auch die Zahl der Anschläge mit Todesopfern sei gestiegen. >>> AFP/dpa/cn | Freitag, 13. Februar 2009

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Gb-Olanda/ Borghezio: Londra si è inginocchiata all'Islam: Eurodeputato leghista critica fermo del regista Wilders
VIRGILIO NOTIZIE: Bruxelles - Il fermo all'aeroporto di Heathrow del deputato olandese del Partito per la Libertà (PVV) Geert Wilders, regista di 'Fitna', film fortemente critico del Corano, dimostra che "la Gran Bretagna è inginocchiata all'Islam". Ad affermarlo, in una nota, è il capodelegazione della Lega Nord al Parlamento europeo, Mario Borghezio.

"E' ormai vietata ogni critica all'Islam, con tanti saluti ai roboanti principi di libertà sancita dalla Carta delle Nazioni Unite e dai Trattati dell'Unione Europea" accusa Borghezio, secondo cui l'Occidente è ormai "sotto ricatto islamista". Oggi la Commissione europea ha sottolineato che in base alla direttiva sulla libera circolazione delle persone nell'Ue "gli Stati membri possono rifiutare l'ingresso ai cittadini europei per ragioni di pubblica sicurezza, di ordine pubblico o di salute pubblica", ma le vittime di questa decisione possono appellarsi e devono essere informate dei motivi.

"Il silenzio omertoso delle istituzioni europee, di fronte a un caso come questo, ci fa ben capire quanto ragione avesse Oriana Fallaci a profetizzare un'Europa tremebonda e vile, inginocchiata di fronte alle minacce dei musulmani estremisti e intolleranti", commenta Borghezio. "Come una Super-Mafia, l'Islam impone con il terrore la sua volontà persino a Paesi di grande tradizione democratica", conclude l'esponente del Carroccio.

Wilders - che la prossima settimana dovrebbe recarsi a Roma - era stato invitato a Londra dal partito euroscettico Ukip. Al suo arrivo a Heathrow è stato fermato dalla polizia e imbarcato su un volo per Amsterdam. [Fonte: Virgilio Notizie] APCOM | 12 febbraio 2009

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Shame on the Netherlands!

Appeasing Islam
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Terrible Week for Jacqui Smith
THE TELEGRAPH: Controvery [sic] and wrong decisions have plagued the Home Secretary.

It is a measure of the tribulation attached to the job of home secretary that so few of its holders have subsequently gone on to become prime minister. Jim Callaghan managed it, by appointment rather than election, and it took Winston Churchill the best part of 30 years and the threat of Nazi invasion to complete his ascent of the greasy pole. Prediction is an ugly business, but it can probably be safely said that the present incumbent of the post, Jacqui Smith, will not be troubling the scorers either.

Miss Smith has had a terrible week. First, she is widely and rightly condemned for engaging in an expenses-garnering operation that breaks no law, but certainly breaks its spirit. Then she manages to make quite the wrong decision about the admittance to Britain of the Dutch anti-Islamist Geert Wilders. It has rightly been pointed out that many other people with unsavoury points of view have been allowed into this country to peddle their ideas; not least Islamists who are profoundly anti-Christian. We are, or should be, a land that believes in freedom of speech. No one was expecting Miss Smith to ask Mr Wilders to have cocktails with her; but she should have allowed him in to say his piece, and to have the rest of us judge him on his own merits. Her action is a self-inflicted and entirely unnecessary blow to our tradition of liberty. Read on and comment >>> Telegraph View | Friday, February 13, 2009

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Regrettably, It All Boils Down to Money, Geert!
Dutch politicians are indignant about the treatment of member of parliament Geert Wilders but want to avoid a diplomatic conflict. Relations between Britain and the Netherlands are too important.

The Wilders affair was not worth a new war with Britain, said parliamentary chairman Gerdi Verbeet mockingly earlier this week. But she completely disagreed with the British government's decision to refuse entry to Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.

Indignation and resignation characterise most political reactions to the British ban on Wilders, which can be traced back to a tightening of laws since the suicide attacks in London in 2005. Since then entry to Britain can be refused for people with such extreme ideas that they threaten national security. This has already happened 270 times since July 2005.

But whether or not it is legal, just about every Dutch politician is at odds with the British decision. "Churchill would turn in his grave," according to right-wing liberal (VVD) member of parliament Hans van Baalen. Muted Protest from the Dutch in Latest Wilders Affair >>> By Mark Kranenburg | Friday, February 13, 2009

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Lord Ahmed Forced Britain into Submission - Welcome to Eurabia

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Andrew C. McCarthy: Preserving ‘Harmony’ for Islamic Radicals: Geert Wilders is barred from entering the United Kingdom
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: It has come to this: If you are an Islamic radical, trained to carry out terrorist atrocities in al-Qaeda’s jihad against the United Kingdom, the British will welcome you with open arms. Not content with that, Great Britain will lobby insistently for your release from custody so that you may freely roam British streets—and the halls of Westminster.

If, by contrast, you are a duly elected representative in the democratic government of a country to which England is bound in the European Union, and you speak about the undeniable—though mulishly denied—nexus between Islamic doctrine and jihadist terror, Great Britain will slam her door in your face.

That is the lesson in the appalling saga of Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament and Exhibit Umpty-Umpth illustrating the depths of capitulation to which the West has sunk in its half-hearted bid for cultural survival.

On Tuesday, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith took time out of her busy schedule of protecting from extradition Britain’s expanding roster of resident terrorists to warn Wilders that he was not welcome in the country—notwithstanding that the vision of Europe as a “union” is supposed to mean that Europeans may travel freely within it. Quite apart from the fact that Wilders is a government official of the Netherlands, he was not visiting the U.K. on a lark. He was the invited guest of Malcolm Pearson, a member of the House of Lords. Lord Pearson and Baroness Caroline Cox (a human-rights activist who has worked tirelessly on behalf of enslaved and oppressed Christians and Muslims in Sudan) had asked Wilders to screen his short, controversial film, Fitna.

Wilders is a lightning rod. In the great tradition of the Enlightenment, and to the consternation of post-sovereign Europe, he faithfully reports what his senses perceive. When he studies the Koran, he finds exhortations to violence. When he reads Allah’s command in Sura 9:5 that “when the sacred months have passed,” Muslims must “slay the idolaters wherever ye find them,” he entertains the outlandish idea that this means what it plainly says, and is understood by many Muslims as doing so. He has noticed, after all, that this passage is not singular, that its injunction is a recurrent theme in the Koran, and that the sentiment is even more pronounced in the Hadith and other Islamic scriptures, which elevate jihad—in its original, accurate, military sense: waging war against unbelievers—to the highest form of worship. He has noticed, moreover, that Muslim militants seem to slay the idolaters and other unbelievers with some regularity.

So Wilders is not making this up. It is, in fact, a view of Muslim doctrine he shares with some of the world’s most renowned authorities on the subject. There is, for instance, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the inspiration for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and also, according to Osama bin Laden, for the 9/11 attacks. Rahman’s leadership position in the global jihad stems solely from his scholarship—he is a doctor of Islamic jurisprudence and a graduate of Egypt’s al-Azhar University, the seat of Sunni learning. Or, to cite another example (and I could cite many others), there is Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who fomented international rioting over cartoons of Mohammed and who urges jihadists to continue the fight “in Palestine, in Iraq, in Lebanon, and in every country that has been conquered by foreigners.” Our own State Department describes Qaradawi as an “intelligent and thoughtful voice” from the Middle East who “deserves our attention.” >>> By Andrew C. McCarthy* | Friday, February 13, 2009

*— National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy is the author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (Encounter Books, 2008).

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House of Lords Apathetic about the Islamization of the United Kingdom and Europe!
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The film Fitna was shown in the British upper house of parliament on Thursday despite the British authorities' refusal to allow its maker, Dutch rightwing populist MP Geert Wilders, into the United Kingdom.

Only around 30 people attended the screening, five of them members of the upper house.

All 743 members of the upper house were invited, as were the 646 members of the lower house, none of whom attended. Few Attend UK Screening of Wilders' Film >>> RNW | Friday, February 13, 2009

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Des islamistes en cure de «dé-radicalisation» au Canada
Une mosquée de Toronto a développé un programme en douze points pour remettre dans le droit chemin des jeunes tentés par l'islam radical.

C'est une «cure de désintoxication» d'un nouveau genre. Un programme «en douze étapes», pour se débarrasser, progressivement, de son addiction… à l'islam radical. Pour la première fois au Canada, une mosquée de Toronto propose un programme de «dé-radicalisation», destiné à «traiter et conseiller» de jeunes musulmans attirés par l'idéologie d'al-Qaida.

«En tant que Canadiens de religion musulmane, notre ardent désir est de devenir les champions des valeurs antiterroristes», indiquent les responsables de la «cure». Selon eux, l'extrémisme peut être combattu théologiquement, en proposant au «patient» emmuré dans ses idées noires une autre interprétation de l'islam. >>> Stéphane Kovacs, envoyée spéciale au Canada | Vendredi 13 Février 2009

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Saif al-Islam Kadhafi: une fondation à Genève?
SUISSE-LIBYE | Le fils du colonel Kadhafi qui a rencontré Micheline Calmy-Rey à Davos aurait demandé de créer une Fondation sur la démocratie à Genève, croit savoir ce matin Le Courrier/La Liberté.

"Qui est ce fils Kadhafi avec qui la Suisse tente de négocier une détente en marge du Forum de Davos? Un diplomate, oui. Toujours en cour? Pas sûr," écrivait Olivier Bot dans la Tribune du 30 janvier.

Saif al-Islam Kadhafi a-t-il demandé l'asile à la Suisse? C'est ainsi que le jounaliste Sid Ahmed Hammouche de La Liberté de Fribourg commence son long article paru ce matin. La question serait sur toutes les lèvres à Tripoli où le fils n'a pas remis les pieds depuis sa médiation au Forum de Davos. >>> JFM | Vendredi 13 Février 2009

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Einreise verweigert: Den Haag und London streiten über Wilders
Das Einreiseverbot für den niederländischen Rechtspopulisten sorgt für diplomatische Verstimmungen zwischen den Niederlanden und Großbritannien. Den Haag ortet eine Verletzung der Bewegungsfreiheit.

Nachdem dem niederländischen Rechtspopulisten und Islam-Kritiker Geert Wilders die Einreise nach Großbritannien verweigert worden ist, herrscht diplomatische Verstimmung zwischen beiden Ländern. Der Botschafter der Niederlande in London, Pim Waldeck, habe das "Missfallen" seiner Regierung zum Ausdruck gebracht, berichteten Zeitungen am Freitag. Der christdemokratische Außenminister Maxime Verhagen sah sich gezwungen, dem Rechtspopulisten Wilders Unterstützung bei einer möglichen gerichtlichen Beschwerde gegen die britischen Behörden anzubieten.

Zugleich machte Verhagen deutlich, dass Den Haag kein Interesse an einer Eskalation des Streits mit einem seiner engsten Verbündeten habe. Mit dem Versuch, Druck auszuüben, sei eine Einreise Wilders in Großbritannien nicht zu erreichen, sagte er.

Nach Angaben der niederländischen Zeitung "Trouw" reagierte London auf diplomatischem Wege "gereizt" auf die Kritik. In Kommentaren hieß es, das Vorgehen der Briten gegen ein gewähltes Mitglied des niederländischen Parlaments sei ungeachtet der Ansichten von Wilders eine klare Verletzung des Rechts auf Bewegungs- und Meinungsfreiheit in der EU. >>> Ag, DiePresee.com | Freitag, 13, Februar 2009

TAGES ANZEIGER: Holländischer Politiker am Flughafen London festgenommen

Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders darf wegen seiner islamkritischen Äusserungen nicht mehr nach England einreisen. Jetzt tat er es doch – und wurde in Heathrow abgefangen.

Die britische Regierung hatte Wilders mitgeteilt, er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für «die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit» darstelle. Seine Abschiebung zurück in die Niederlande stehe unmittelbar bevor, sagte Wilders heute.

Die britische Botschaft in den Niederlanden informierte Wilders in dieser Woche darüber, dass er nicht ins Vereinigte Königreich einreisen dürfe. Der Abgeordnete kritisierte das Verbot als Versuch, die Redefreiheit zu unterdrücken, und reiste dennoch nach Grossbritannien. Dem britischen Premierminister Gordon Brown warf er vor, eine servile Haltung gegenüber dem Islam einzunehmen. Der britische Aussenminister David Miliband sagte dem Sender BBC, Wilders habe sich eines «extremen anti-muslimischen Hasses» schuldig gemacht. >>> oku/ap | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Briten verbieten Wilders die Einreise

Der niederländische Islamkritiker Geert Wilders sorgte erneut für Furore: Wegen seiner radikalen Ansichten durfte er nicht nach Großbritannien reisen. In seiner Heimat spricht man von einem Affront - Wilders ist immerhin Parlamentarier.

Hamburg - Eigentlich wollte er Mitgliedern des britischen Oberhauses seinen islamkritischen Film "Fitna" zeigen und mit ihnen über Meinungsfreiheit diskutieren. Doch Geert Wilders kam lediglich bis zum Londoner Flughafen Heathrow. Dort nahmen ihn Zollbeamte in Gewahrsam und teilten ihm mit, dass er nicht willkommen sei und abgeschoben werde. Unverrichteter Dinge musste Wilders zurück in die Niederlande.

Das britische Innenministerium hatte ihm zuvor die Einreise verboten. Begründung: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist sei eine Gefahr für die öffentliche Sicherheit. Wilders war am Donnerstagnachmittag mit den Worten "wir werden ja sehen, was passiert" trotzdem losgeflogen.

Insgeheim hatte er wohl auf ein Einknicken der britischen Behörden gehofft. Großbritanniens Premierminister Gordon Brown bezeichnete er als "größten Feigling in Europa". >>> Von Christian Wiesel | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

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Misery Is It in This Dawn to Be Alive, and to Be Young Is Very Hell!
The decision of the British government – an excuse for a government in my opinion – to exclude this wonderful, enlightened, and very erudite Dutch politician from the shores of the United Kingdom marks a turning point – a sad turning point – in the history of these isles.

The United Kingdom has for centuries been known throughout the world as a refuge for people with all kinds of opinions which would have got them into trouble at home. We have welcomed all sorts of people to this country, knowing that their opinions were unsavoury to many. Now, after twelve years of Labour government (should that be NuLabour government?) we have reneged on our wonderful past and our traditions; and all in the name of political correctness in general, and in the name of Islam in particular. We have abandoned our principles.

Tens of thousands of people have gone to war to ensure that freedom of speech was enshrined in our way of life, enshrined in our ‘constitution'; yet this fact means nothing to the people that now rule us. Our politicians are as infantile as they are spineless, spunkless, and craven!

The prime minister – the overweight, pudgy specimen that he is – could have intervened; but he didn’t feel it was necessary to do so. Consequently, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, better known as Jackboot Jacqui (alas, not my name for her – wish it were!) has shown that she is unfit to hold the office she does. She should be jackbooted out of that office – forthwith! She is unfit for purpose!

As for Lord Ahmed, he has got far, far too much to say for himself. He should be silenced. He is, if I am not greatly mistaken, one of the ones who is, behind the scenes, pulling the strings.

That we, now, in Great Britain (that’s a minsnomer if ever I heard one!) are allowing Muslims to call the shots is not only a disgrace, it is a harbinger of the dark days that lie ahead of us. Islam is not famous for its forward, enlightened thinking; from now on, unless this ludicrous decision is reversed, and soon, neither will be the United Kingdom’s. The UK has just taken a turn down the road of darkness, down the road of dhimmitude, down the road of benightedness.

We are being led by the most craven of political animals. First of all, Gordon Brown ruins the economy; now he and his cronies have ruined the Britons' right to freedom of speech. Shame on him and on his government. Shame on the damn lot of them! – ©Mark

Is Obama’s Magic Unravelling? Running the Most Powerful Country on Earth Calls for More Than Sweet Words!
Photo of President Barack Hussein Obama courtesy of The Times
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama suffered a severe blow last night when his second nominee for Commerce Secretary abruptly withdrew from consideration, this time citing insurmountable conflict over the new Administration’s massive economic stimulus plan.

Judd Gregg, a Republican who was picked by Mr Obama after his first choice for Commerce Secretary withdrew because of an ethics investigation, further dashed hopes of a new era of bipartisanship when he declared that he no longer wanted to serve the new Aadministration.

“It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package . . . there are irresolvable conflicts for me,” Mr Gregg said. Later, at a press conference, he expressed what appeared to be sincere admiration for Mr Obama, but said that joining his Administration was “a bridge too far for me”. President Barack Obama Loses Commerce Secretary Judd Gregg >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Friday, February 13, 2009

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Bit by Bit, Gordon Brown's Fantasy Is Being Pulled Apart by the Facts
THE TELEGRAPH: The scale of our problems is at last being recognised by the Bank of England, says Jeff Randall.

In China, they have show trials. The Communist Party's disciplinary inspection group doesn't mess about. Those it suspects of involvement in bribery and corruption are ritually humiliated, forced to confess and shot.

The process is often put on video tape. Alleged culprits can be seen crying on cue, apologising to the people and reciting an ancient saying, the rough translation of which is: "One mistake and sorrow for a thousand years."

In Britain, we do things differently. Which is just as well for the nine bankers (seven Britons, one American and a Spaniard) who this week appeared before the Treasury Select Committee, accused of wrecking the economy. Had the inquiry occurred in Beijing, it is likely that firing-squad rifles would have been loaded even before the chairman's opening remarks.

For, in addition to destroying shareholder value and causing mayhem in the markets, bankers have embarrassed the Government. By their folly, they have helped expose, albeit unwittingly, the ignorance of ministers, flaws in the Financial Services Authority and impotence at the Bank of England. This will never do. What's more, they have established beyond dispute the Prime Minister's inability to pick a winner. Or, put another way, the Curse of Brown. >>> Jeff Randall | Thursday, February 12, 2009

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Six mille néonazis attendus dans l'est Allemagne samedi
LE MONDE: Quelque six mille manifestants néonazis et d'extrême droite sont attendus samedi 14 février par plus de trois mille trois cents policiers allemands pour leur rassemblement annuel traditionnel à Dresde, dans l'est du pays. La "Trauermarsch" ou "marche funèbre" qui a lieu tous les ans à Dresde est une manifestation traditionnelle des néonazis allemands, qui commémorent ainsi le bombardement de la ville en 1945 par les forces alliées.

La police affirme ne pas être en mesure de confirmer le chiffre de six mille manifestants avancé dans la presse allemande, mais déclare "que c'est un chiffre assez réaliste". Une contre-manifestation est également organisée samedi. Selon les organisateurs, elle doit réunir de nombreuses personnalités politiques de gauche, dont le chef du parti social-démocrate, Franz Müntefering. [Source: Le Monde] | LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Mercredi 11 Février 2009

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David Miliband! Shameful! Shameful! Shameful! Shame on You! You’re a Bloody Dhimmi!

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Papst nennt Holocaust-Leugnung untolerierbar
Foto vom Papst dank der Welt
Es waren seine deutlichsten Worte seit dem Fall des Holocaust-Leugners Richard Williamson: Papst Benedikt XVI. hat bei einem Treffen mit jüdischen Spitzenvertretern die Leugnung des Holocausts als untragbar und inakzeptabel bezeichnet. Er kündigte an, selber nach Israel zu reisen.

Bei einem Treffen mit jüdischen Spitzenvertretern hat Papst Benedikt XVI. jeder Leugnung des Holocaust eine klare Absage erteilt. Zugleich wiederholte er wörtlich die Vergebungsbitte, die sein Vorgänger Johannes Paul II. im Jahr 2000 an der Klagemauer in Jerusalem formuliert hatte.

Die Schoah sei ein "Verbrechen gegen Gott und die Menschheit“, sagte der Papst bei einer Begegnung mit den Leitern der „Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations“ im Vatikan. Das müsse „jedem klar sein, besonders denen, die in der Tradition der Heiligen Schriften stehen“. (Hier können Sie die Ansprache des Papstes im Wortlaut nachlesen.) >>> KNA/AP/dpa/ab | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

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La Turquie sera prête à entrer dans l'UE d'ici 2013
RIGA | La Turquie sera prête à adhérer à l'Union européenne d'ici 2013, a déclaré jeudi à Riga son ministre des Affaires étrangères Ali Babacan.

"Nous sommes pleinement déterminés à entrer dans l'Union européenne. D'ici 2013, la Turquie se déclarera prête mais nous ne savons pas si l'UE y sera de son côté préparée", a déclaré le chef de la diplomatie turque à la presse.

"Nous ne sommes pas extrêmement pressés", a-t-il ajouté au cours d'une visite officielle en Lettonie, pays balte membre de l'Union depuis 2004. "Dans deux ou trois ans, la Turquie sera différente de ce qu'elle est maintenant", a poursuivi le ministre. >>> AFP | Jeudi 12 Février 2009

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Österreich – Staat greift ein: Islamlehrer suspendiert
Foto von jungen Musliminnen in einem Klassenzimmer in Österreich dank der Presse
DIE PRESSE: Nach antisemitischen Äußerungen darf ein Religionslehrer nicht mehr unterrichten. Die Rechtsauslegung des Ministeriums ist ein Bruch mit Nicht-Einmischung in Religionsunterricht.

WIEN. Erstmals wurde ein islamischer Religionslehrer mit einem Unterrichtsverbot belegt, nachdem er Mitte Jänner [Januar] in einer Ottakringer Schule antisemitische Flugblätter verteilt haben soll („Die Presse“ berichtete). Dass er nicht weiter unterrichten darf, geht auf einen Paradigmenwechsel im Unterrichtsministerium zurück. Bisher hatte die Rechtsauslegung gegolten, dass der Staat keine Religionslehrer absetzen kann. >>> Erich Kocina, Die Presse | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

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