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

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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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$700 Billion Bailout Plan
’Toxic’ Bailout Plan Rejected >>>
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Barbara Kay, Quebec Shock Jock Is Accused by the Usual Suspects of a Hit Job on a Hijab
NATIONAL POST: There's a witch hunt going on in Quebec, and as all too often in this country's linguistically fractured country, what is happening in Quebec seems to be staying in Quebec. This is annoying, because it's a free-speech issue that concerns us all.

Here is the story, with details provided from Richard Martineau's post in Canoe, the Journal de Montreal's comment blog. On September 10, outspoken 98.5 FM radio host Benoît Dutrizac interviewed NDP candidate for Bourassa riding, Samira Laouni. Ms Laouni is an observant Muslim (she wears the hijab) and has worked as project manager for the Canadian Islamic Congress, a militant lobby for Islamic interests, including, most troublingly, the introduction of Sharia law. Dutrizac has a reputation for impertinence - in fact, many Quebec radio show hosts permit themselves the kind of shock-jock licence you would never find in the rest of Canada - so nobody is suggesting the interview wasn't meant to provoke discomfort in Ms Laouni.

Dutrizac pressed hard on such issues as the CIC's reputation for extremist views, where Ms Laouni stands on Sharia, whether she is prepared to defend the rights of homosexuals, and does she find it unacceptable that ten-year old girls have to wear the hijab. He also asked her if she had to ask her husband's permission to launch her political campaign (she said no). Ms Laouni stood up well to the challenge, the mood was playful, relaxed and warm, and both laughed frequently. Listen for yourself. Even if you don't speak French, you can sense that both are very much at ease, that Dutrizac holds no personal animosity, and that Ms Lauoni is totally on top of the situation. At the end of the interview, Dutrizac asked NDP big wig Thomas Mulcair, who had accompanied Ms Laouni to the station, if he was happy with how it had gone. Mulcair flashed him a smile and a two-thumbs-up.

Against the backdrop of Dutrizac's career-long history of aggressive and even what many would call at times offensive tactics, this was completely normal. But reaction from the hard left was swift and heated. The left wing "The Dominion" wrote that "Madame Laouni has been viciously attacked by a racist, misogynist and Islamophobic host." The Ontario branch of CUPE said "Dutrizac must resign and the CRTC should lead an inquiry into the hate-filled and sexist words directed to a Muslim candidate." The Canada-Arab Federation demanded that "The Corus network should review its policies in the area of hate speech and enforce harassment training on all its personnel." Barbara Kay, Quebec Shock Jock Is Accused by the Usual Suspects of a Hit Job on a Hijab >>> By Jonathan Kay | September 29, 2008

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Al-Qaradawi Speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat
ASHARQ AL-AWSAT: Mecca - A few yards from the Grant [sic] Mosque in Mecca, Asharq Al-Awsat sat down for an exclusive interview with Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi in which he attacked the Shiite expansion and Iranian ambitions and dreams. He stressed that "Iran is a country of dreams and ambition, a country of the old Persian Empire and emperors, and the issue is a mixture of Persian, sectarian Shiite tendencies and fanaticism." Sheikh al-Qaradawi insisted that his views regarding Shiite expansion remain unchanged and that many states that were purely Sunni now have some Shia. He stated that "Egypt, that I know very well and I know that 20 years ago did not have one single Shiite since the days of Salah al-Din, has now been infiltrated. They now have in Egypt, people who write in the press and write books and people listen to them. It is the same also in Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and other non-Arab countries such Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Senegal."

The following is the full text of the interview: Al-Qaradawi Speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat >>> By Majid al Kinani | September 29, 2008

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Islamismus: Saudischer Mufti ruft zur Bekämpfung al-Qaidas auf
WELT ONLINE: Bei seinen Anschlägen beruft sich das Terror-Netzwerk al-Qaida auf die Lehren des Islam – und gewinnt so Anhänger. Der ranghöchste sunnitische Geistliche Saudi-Arabiens hat jetzt in einem Interview zum Gegenangriff ausgeholt. Er ruft die Muslime dazu auf, die von al-Qaida verbreitete Ideologie zu bekämpfen.

Wenn Abdulaziz Scheich al-Scheich seine Stimme erhebt, hören jene 90 Prozent der 1,3 Milliarden Muslime genau hin, die der sunnitischen Glaubensrichtung angehören. Denn der 1961 erblindete Scheich ist Großmufti und oberste Rechtsinstanz in Saudi-Arabien, dem sunnitischen Kern- und Gastland der heiligen Stätten Mekka und Medina. Seine religiösen Rechtsgutachten (Fatwas) sind nicht bindend, aber wichtig.

Nun hat der Großmufti in der respektierten arabischen Zeitung Schark al-Ausat alle Muslime zum Kampf gegen die „Ideologie des Bösen“ aufgerufen. Er meinte damit nicht die USA, wie es bei islamischen Hasspredigern zum guten Ton gehört, sondern das Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida.

Der wahre Kampf gegen Terror richte sich gegen diese Ideologie, die "Chaos und Korruption“ in die islamische Welt getragen habe. Die Muslime selbst – „die Medien, die Universitäten, die Prediger in den Moscheen, die Väter und Mütter“ – seien dafür verantwortlich, dass dieser Kampf siegreich ende. Erst dann „werden wir mit Gottes Unterstützung in der Lage sein, die Tore zum Reich des Bösen zu schließen.“ Islamismus: Saudischer Mufti ruft zur Bekämpfung al-Qaidas auf >>> Von Dietrich Alexander | 29. September 2008

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