Arrested for Quoting Winston Churchill…

MAIL ONLINE: Paul Weston was arrested on the steps of Winchester's Guildhall / Chairman of Liberty GB was detained on suspicion of racial harassment / He quoted a passage from Winston Churchill's 1899 book The River War

A candidate in the European elections was arrested on suspicion of racial harrassment after quoting a passage about Islam, written by Winston Churchill, during a campaign speech.

Paul Weston, chairman of the party Liberty GB, made the address on the steps of Winchester Guildhall, in Hampshire on Saturday.

A member of the public took offence at the quote, taken from Churchill's The River War and called police.

The passage from the book, written by the wartime Prime Minister and first published in 1899, focuses on Churchill's observations about Islam while serving during the Anglo-Egyptian reconquest of the Sudan.

Mr Weston told his audience: 'Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

'Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.

'No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.'

Police officers arrested Mr Weston, mid-speech, for failing to comply with their request to move on under the powers of a dispersal order made against him. He was further arrested on suspicion of religious or racial harrassment. » | Lizzie Parry | Monday, April 28, 2014

LIBERTY GB: Paul Weston Could Face Two Years in Jail for Quoting Churchill » | Liberty GB | Monday, April 28, 2014

Debbie Schlussel: Amal Alamuddin: George Clooney’s Anti-Israel Druze Arab Chick

DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL: Over the past few months, actor George Clooney’s been photographed all over the place with Amal Alamuddin, a very anti-Israel Lebanese Arab who worked for the United Nations and represented Wikileaks’ anti-American former chief, Julian Assange. The Lebanese legal book she authored is extremely anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Alamuddin, who was Clooney’s date to the Obama White House last month, is not Muslim. She’s Druze, which is an offshoot of Islam. I’m familiar with Ms. Alamuddin (pronounced “Ah-lah-muh-DEEN”) and her family because I met her and them at the wedding of her cousin in the mid-1990s. They are extremely anti-Israel, and I was subjected to their absurd, non-stop anti-Israel questions and comments as the only non-Arab (other than the bride and her family) at a dinner the night before the wedding. » | Debbie Schlussel | Thursday, March 20, 2014

WIKI: Druze »

Saudi Arabia: Eight More Deaths Due to MERS

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The latest cases bring to 102 the number of people who have died after contracting the disease

Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said on Sunday that eight more people have died after contracting a lethal Middle East virus related to SARS as the kingdom grapples with a rising number of infections.

The ministry reported the deaths in a statement on its website late in the evening. It said it had detected a total of 16 cases of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

The latest cases bring to 102 the number of people who have died after contracting the disease in Saudi Arabia since September 2012. A total of 339 cases have been recorded to date in the kingdom, which has been the site of the bulk of confirmed infections. » | AP | Edited by Bonnie Malkin | Monday, April 28, 2014

John Kerry Warns Israel Could Become 'Apartheid State'

John Kerry was speaking after Benjamin Netanyahu's
government suspended negotiations with the Palestinians

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: US secretary of state risks Israeli anger with warning that absence of peace deal with Palestinians could lead towards apartheid-style situation

Israel risks evolving into an apartheid state if it fails to negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians to end the historic Jewish-Arab conflict, John Kerry, the US secretary of state has warned.

The highly inflammatory remarks, which seemed certain to provoke an angry reaction from Israeli leaders, followed last week's near collapse of American-brokered peace talks, which Mr Kerry has energetically promoted.

Speaking at a meeting of senior international figures last Friday, America's top diplomat said it was essential to pursue the two-state solution - commonly defined as Israel existing alongside a sovereign, independent Palestine - to avoid dire consequences. » |Robert Tait, Jerusalem | Monday, April 28, 2014

Israel Says No to Peace Talks until Hamas Recognises Israel

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Israeli prime minister Netanyahu says there will be no negotiations with a Palestinian unity government unless the Hamas movement gives up its vision of destroying Israel and embraces peace

Speaking on CNN, the Israeli leader said the preferable course of action to get peace negotiations back on track would be for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to renounce Hamas, the Islamist movement whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel.

"Either Hamas disavows the destruction of Israel and embraces peace and denounces terror, or president Abbas renounces Hamas," Netanyahu said.

"If one of those things happened, we could get back to the peace negotiations. I hope he renounces Hamas and gets back to the peace table, as I've just said. The ball is in his court."

Netanyahu suspended peace talks with the Palestinians last week after the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas agreed to work together to form a unity government, in a move to end years of bitter political rivalry. » | AFP | Sunday, April 27, 2014

Egypt Sentences 683 Islamists to Death in Mass Trial

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mohamed Badie, Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, handed death penalty as same court reverses 492 death sentences passed last month

The supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood has been sentenced to death with 682 other people after a five-minute hearing which will renew international concern over Egypt's so-called "road-map to democracy".

Mohammed Badie was found guilty of inciting riots in the town of Edwa last summer which led to mass arrests of what the authorities said were Brotherhood supporters furious at the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.

No attempt was made at least in the public hearing to distinguish the parts played by any of the other hundreds of defendants in the riots, in which churches, businesses and government offices were burned down and some policemen killed.

In the same hearing, the judge, Said Yussef, commuted to life imprisonment all but 37 of the 529 death penalties he handed down in a separate case last month, linked to a similar riot in the nearby town of Mattay. He gave no explanation for the decision, though the verdicts had been automatically referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti for a clerical opinion.

Life terms in Egypt usually mean 25 years in jail. » | Richard Spencer, Minya | Monday, April 28, 2014

Denying Hillary Clinton the Presidency

Apr. 22, 2014 - 6:20 - Charles Krauthammer weighs in on the Democrats' expected presidential pick for the 2016

UK Non-Christian Claims 'Absurd', Senior Tories Say

BBC: The UK is a Christian country and those who deny it are "deluding themselves", two senior Conservative MPs have said.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Telegraph modern Britain had "Christian heritage".

Deputy PM Nick Clegg has also said it is "obvious" that Christianity is integral to the UK's identity.

A group of public figures recently objected to David Cameron's description of the UK as a "Christian country". Mr Cameron had also said Britons should be "more confident" in defending "Christian values".

Mr Grieve, a patron of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, said atheism had not made "much progress" in the UK.

"Many of the underlying ethics of society are Christian-based and the result of 1,500 years of Christian input into our national life," he said.

"It is not going to disappear overnight. They [theists] are deluding themselves." » | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Mahmoud Abbas condamne le "crime odieux" de la Shoah

Le président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas.

LE POINT: Cette condamnation du "crime le plus odieux qui soit survenu contre l'humanité pendant l'ère moderne" est la plus forte du président palestinien à ce jour.

Le président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas a condamné dimanche le génocide juif, dans une déclaration sans précédent, peu avant le début des commémorations de la Shoah en Israël, et appelé le gouvernement israélien à conclure une paix "juste" avec les Palestiniens. "Ce qui est arrivé aux juifs durant l'Holocauste est le crime le plus odieux qui soit survenu contre l'humanité pendant l'ère moderne", a estimé Mahmoud Abbas, selon un communiqué de l'Organisation de libération de la Palestine (OLP), qu'il dirige, publié le jour où Israël va commencer à commémorer la Shoah. » | Source AFP | dimanche 27 avril 2014

North Korea Labels South's President as 'Crafty Prostitute' after Obama Visit

Barack Obama with the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye,
in Seoul on Saturday

THE GUARDIAN: Tirade against Park Geun-hye hits new low in unusually personal abuse, which analysts say may indicate Kim Jong-un echoing his grandfather

North Korea has launched a vitriolic attack on the South Korean president, comparing her to "crafty prostitute" in thrall to her "pimp" Barack Obama.

It also described Park Geun-hye as America's "comfort woman", a reference likely to enrage many in South Korea, where anger still runs high over the plight of thousands of women who were enslaved in Japanese military brothels during the second world war.

The comments were issued on Sunday by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), which handles cross-border affairs, following the US president's two-day visit to Seoul. He arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for the penultimate stop on his four-nation tour of Asia.

While Pyongyang is known for its aggressive rhetoric, recent remarks have been unusually personal.

Earlier this month state media ran misogynist articles, including one headlined "We accuse Park the bitch", labelling her as a lunatic, idiot and "cold-blooded animal" and emphasising the fact that she has never married or had children.

Those remarks were presented in the form of quotes from ordinary North Koreans, while the latest tirade, carried by state news agency KCNA, is presented as a statement from an official body. » | Tania Branigan in Seoul | Sunday, April 27, 2014

AP: N Korea criticizes S Korea Prez’s ‘Swish of Skirt’ »

New Dark Age Alert! My Brother the Islamist

Eye-opening documentary in which a man discovers that his brother has unexpectedly converted to Islam.

MAIL ON SUNDAY: My brother the terrorist: Filmmaker attempts to understand why stepbrother went from middle-class white boy to Muslim convert and convicted terrorist: In 2010 Robb Leech spent a year filming his stepbrother Richard Dart / Dart converted to Islam and changed his name to Salahuddin al-Britani / Last year he was sentenced to six years in prison for terrorist charges / He was converted to Islam by hate preacher Anjem Choudary / My Brother The Terrorist will be aired on BBC Three at 9pm tomorrow » | Tara Brady | Sunday, April 27, 2014

East Ukraine Detainees: 'We Have Not Been Touched'

A group of kidnapped military observers give a press conference in Slavyansk, east Ukraine, where they are being held by pro-Russian separatists. Colonel Alex Schneider from Germany confirms the eight men have not been physically harmed but they have no indication of when, and under what conditions, they will be released

THE GUARDIAN: Ukraine: kidnapped observers paraded by pro-Russian gunmen in Slavyansk: European military observers deny they are Nato spies while captors insist they are 'not our hostages – they are our guests' » | Luke Harding in Donetsk and agencies | Sunday, April 27, 2014

Crowds Gather for Popes' Double Canonisation

Thousands of people gather at the Vatican for the canonisation of two Popes Emeritus, John Paul II and John XXIII. Pope Benedict leads the unprecedented mass in which his two predecessors are declared saints of the Roman Catholic church. Foreign leaders including Robert Mugabe and Enda Kenny were present for the service

THE GUARDIAN: Popes John Paul II and John XXIII declared saints in double canonization: Hundreds of thousands gather at Rome to witness canonisation of two great figures of 20th-century Roman Catholicism » | Lizzy Davies in Vatican Vity | Sunday, April 27, 2014

Guide to School Islamisation, by 'Ringleader’ of Trojan Horse Plot

Tahir Alam, chairman of governors at Park View

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: School governor who is alleged ringleader of the Trojan Horse plot in Birmingham wrote 72-page document on manipulating teachers and curriculum

The alleged ringleader of the Trojan Horse plot wrote a detailed blueprint for the radical “Islamisation” of secular state schools which closely resembles what appears to be happening in Birmingham.

Tahir Alam, chairman of governors at Park View school in the city, called for “girls [to] be covered except for their hands and faces”, advocated gender segregation in some school activities, and attacked a “multicultural approach” to collective worship.

He described how state schools must be changed to “take account of Muslim sensitivities and sensibilities with respect to sexual morality” with “girlfriend/boyfriend as well as homosexual relationships” treated as “not acceptable practices according to Islamic teachings”.

The disclosure comes as teachers at Park View said a boy and a girl in their GCSE year have been suspended after being spotted holding hands, only weeks before they were due to take their exams. “They have done this to quite a few students in Year 11,” said one member of staff. “That they should continue with it, even with all the scrutiny we are under, just beggars belief.” Read on and comment » | Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, April 26, 2014

My comment:

Shouldn't this man be jailed, and the keys to his cell be thrown away? – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: We Are a Post-Christian Nation

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Exclusive: Former archbishop of Canterbury says Britain is no longer a nation of believers, as Telegraph poll reveals Christians are reluctant to express their faith

Britain is now a “post-Christian” country, the former archbishop of Canterbury has declared, as research suggests that the majority of Anglicans and Roman Catholics now feel afraid to express their beliefs.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Lord Williams of Oystermouth says Britain is no longer “a nation of believers” and that a further decline in the sway of the Church is likely in the years ahead.

While the country is not populated exclusively by atheists, the former archbishop warns that the era of regular and widespread worship is over.

His stark assessment comes after David Cameron ignited a national debate over the place of religion in British public life. The Prime Minister urged Christians to be “more evangelical” about their faith and claimed that Britain should be a more confidently Christian country.

His remarks, in the run-up to Easter, provoked a furious response from atheist and secular groups, and prompted a succession of senior politicians to give their views, culminating in Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, calling for the disestablishment of the Church of England. » | Tim Ross, Cole Moreton and James Kirkup | Saturday, April 26, 2014

Al Qaeda Chief Urges Westerner Kidnappings

Ayman al-Zawahiri

REUTERS.COM: (Reuters) - Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has called on Muslims to kidnap Westerners, particularly Americans, who could then be exchanged for jailed jihadists including a blind Egyptian cleric convicted in 1995 of conspiring to attack the United Nations and other New York landmarks.

In a wide[-]ranging audio interview, the al Qaeda leader expressed solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood which is facing a violent crackdown by the army-backed government in Egypt and urged unity among rebels in their fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the Zawahiri tape, but the voice resembled that of the al Qaeda leader.

"I ask Allah the Glorious to help us set free Dr. Omar Abdel-Rahman and the rest of the captive Muslims, and I ask Allah to help us capture from among the Americans and the Westerners to enable us to exchange them for our captives," said Zawahiri, according to the SITE website monitoring service. Read on and comment » | Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Mark Potter | Dubai | Saturday, April 26, 2014

US Doesn’t Object, So Iran Gets Seat On UN Women’s Rights Body

Read the Jihad Watch article here | Robert Spencer | Jihad Watch | Friday, April 25, 2014

Greta: Pres. Obama Outfoxed by Putin and His Boys

Apr. 25, 2014 - 1:42 - 'Off the Record', 4/25/14: Why Putin and his Russian officials are busting a gut - and raking in the cash - tonight

Interfaith Panel Upset: 9/11 Film Calls Hijackers 'Islamists'

Apr. 26, 2014 - 3:40 - Relative of 9/11 victim weighs in

Was bringt uns der Islam?

Der Islam drängt in die Mitte der Gesellschaft. War der Islam bisher die Religion der Migranten, treten die Muslime hierzulande inzwischen mit einem neuen Selbstbewusstsein auf.

Yousef al-Khattab

US-Based Revolution Muslim Website Spreading Messages of Hate »

PRAIRIE PUBLIC NEWS: The Jewish Kid From New Jersey Who Became A Radical Islamist » | Dina Temple-Raston | Friday, April 25, 2014


THE WASHINGTON POST: New Jersey man sentenced to prison for extremist Islamic Web posts: A New Jersey man who used his Islamic organization’s Web site to advocate violence against those whose ideals he found offensive to his religion was sentenced Friday to 21 / 2 years in prison — a term that a federal judge said he imposed so people would “understand the line” between free speech and criminal calls for violence. » | Matt Zapotosky | Friday, April 25, 2014

London's Holy Turf War

Over the last year a quasi-religious turf war has sprung up on the streets of London. Young radicalised Muslim patrols are enforcing Shariah law in the capital. In reaction, far right Christian Patrols are also taking the law into their own hands.

Since the Woolwich killing, anti-Muslim rhetoric as been at an all time high, and the right-wing Christian Patrols are only exacerbating the rising tensions.

These two marginalised but potentially dangerous London subcultures believe that society has failed their communities enough that they are now taking to the streets to implement or defend their ways of life, according to their opposing politicised and religious ideologies.

The irony being that while their shared aggressive approach has resulted in media coverage and media panic, they ultimately are responsible for and justify each other's existence.

Alex Miller meets the leaders and footsoldiers in Britain's holy street patrols, the Anjem Choudary's followers Muslim Patrol and Paul Golding of Britain First's Christian Patrol, in the same area he lives and works, to find out just how effective their operations are, and how genuine their belief is in the battle for East London's streets.


MAIL ONLINE: Holy Turf War: Muslims and Christians clash on Britain's streets as religious 'vigilantes' from both sides threaten late-night drinkers and women in short skirts to 'cleanse' country: Muslims and Christians 'tribes' patrol capital determined to push views / Muslim patrol supported by hate preacher Anjem Choudary / Christian patrol an offshoot of far right group the English Defence League / Three members of Muslim patrol jailed in December last year » | Paul Donnelley | Saturday, April 26, 2014

BBC Documentary: The Crusades: Holy War

Dutch Lap Up Wilders' Hardline Message

BBC: In the Netherlands many polls are predicting the maverick anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) will win the European elections being held on 22 May.

And a recent race row - he told supporters a vote for the PVV would mean fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands - may have done him more good than harm.

This talk is too extreme for many - so what explains his appeal to Dutch voters? I took a spin around The Hague on my bike to find out.

Geert Wilders' Moroccan comments provoked an avalanche of criticism. High-profile PVV members quit, accusing their leader of going too far. More than 5,000 people filed complaints to the public prosecutor, calling for Mr Wilders to be charged with inciting racial hatred. (+ BBC video) » | Anna Holligan | BBC News | The Hague | Saturday, April 26, 2014

Lloyds Drops Overdraft Fee On Islamic Accounts

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bank accused of discrimination after telling Muslims they would escape overdraft charge of up to £80 a month

Lloyds Bank has been accused of religious discrimination after offering free overdraft accounts to Muslims.

The bank sent customers a booklet this month explaining new charges.

While many will have to pay up to £80 a month if they go into the red, Muslims were told they would escape the charges. The document said: “We are removing the monthly overdraft management fee of £6 from our Islamic Account, Islamic Student Account and Islamic Graduate Account. So, if you use an unplanned overdraft on these accounts, there won’t be any charges.”

One customer, Anita Milton, a nurse of New Eltham, south London, said: “I can’t believe that they’re thinking of offering one account for Muslims and making everyone else pay for the same service. Do I have to change my religion to get the best deal?"

Barclays, Co-op Bank and RBS said they do not offer alternative bank accounts to Muslim customers. » | Keith Perry | Friday, April 25, 2014

My comment:

What the hell is the matter with the powers-that-be in my country? Have they all lost their cojones, or what?

This is supposed to be Great Britain. What a bloody laugh that is! Little Britain would be a more apt name for it. Anything "great" about this country was lost many years ago. The country is turning into a Third World sh**hole! All because our leaders haven't got the courage to say "NO". Whatever happened to the concept of ONE LAW FOR ALL?

There is no such thing as Shari'ah lite. Ultimately, the monster will grow so strong that it will consume us. Are the powers-that-be so bloody stupid that they can't comprehend that? Kick the idiots that make these ludicrous decisions out! We, the people, want our country back. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Death Threats Issued as Sharia Watch Launches in London

VOICE OF RUSSIA: A new group has been launched at the House of Lords to campaign for greater recognition of the threat posed by Islamic Sharia law. Sharia Watch UK says it wants to highlight the impact of Islamism in Britain and campaign against the prevalence of Sharia tribunals, particularly where it relates to women's rights. VoR's Tim Ecott spoke to Anne Marie Waters, spokesperson for Sharia Watch, and to Aina Khan, a solicitor in London who specialises in applying Sharia law within the English legal system. (+ video) » | VoR | Thursday, April 24, 2014

HT: regkeane »

Princess Diana in Tears at Princess Grace’s Funeral

The Last Interview with Grace Kelly

Ein Blick zurück in die dunkelste Zeiten des letzten Jahrhunderts: Der gelbe Stern: Jugendverfolgung im Dritten Reich

Christopher Hitchens on Sharia

Christopher Hitchens Explains Islam and Why It Is So Stupid

New Dark Age Alert! The Best Answer to Homosexuals (Lut People) – Mufti Menk

'Gays Are a Lost Cause' Says Moderate Muslim

"Gallup conducted telephone and face-to-face interviews with 500 Muslims in the UK, France and Germany.
"The most dramatic contrast was found in attitudes towards homosexuality," the study said. "None of the 500 British Muslims interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable."
Remarkable. They couldn't find a single British Muslim who would come out publicly in support of homosexuals. Not one."

Giuliani: Iran Leader Has 'No Respect' for US Administration

Apr. 25, 2014 - 6:22 - Former NYC mayor sounds off

France Unveils Plan to Prevent Radicalisation

GULF TIMES: Hoping to thwart would-be jihadists from following the hundreds of French nationals who have travelled to Syria to fight alongside fundamentalist groups, the French government unveiled yesterday a raft of measures to create an "anti-jihadist" plan.

The plan of action presented by Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve aims to "dissuade, prevent and punish" the radicalisation of troubled French youths.

The government estimates that around 300 French nationals or residents are currently enlisted with jihadist groups in Syria, with a further 130 en route to the country and another 130 having already returned.

Twenty-five French people have died in the conflict.

The movement, which has swept along teens as young as 14 – some of whom are recent converts to Islam – has accelerated in recent months, according to the interior ministry.

Didier Francois, one of the four French journalists who were released from captivity in Syria at the weekend after being held for 10 months by a jihadist group, said some of his captors spoke French.

France is particularly fearful of the threat such people pose to national security upon their return. » | DPA/Paris | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Hijab Couture

THE ECONOMIST: Designers are profiting from Muslim women’s desire to look good

FEW sartorial choices are scrutinised as closely as those of Muslim women. Their clothing is regulated both in countries where Islam is a minority religion, and in those where it is professed by the majority. France bans face coverings, thus outlawing the niqab, which leaves just a slit for the eyes. In Iran, a theocracy, and Saudi Arabia, a monarchy reliant on clerical support, women must wear a hijab (head covering) and abaya (long cloak) respectively. Only last year did Turkey partially ease a ban, dating from Ataturk’s founding of the modern secular state, on female civil servants wearing headscarves.

Most Muslim women want to dress modestly in public, as Islam prescribes. But increasing numbers want to be fashionable, too. That is partly because of the relative youth and rising prosperity of the Islamic world. A growing sense of religious identity also boosts Islamic style. The Islamic revival of the 1970s, and then a shared sense of persecution in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, led many Muslim women to wear their hearts on their sleeves, says Reina Lewis, an academic at the London College of Fashion and editor of “Modest Fashion: Styling Bodies, Mediating Faith”. Many say that Islamic dress is better suited than their country’s traditional garb to modern life. “The hijab helps women be treated for their minds, not their looks,” says Aziza Al-Yousef, a Saudi professor. » | Saturday, April 26, 2014 | Cairo, Jeddah and Riyadh | From the print edition

Close Adviser to Geert Wilders Resigns from Freedom Party

Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders speaks during an
interview in The Hague on April 17th.

IRISH TIMES: Series of resignations follows row over anti-Moroccan chanting at rally

One month from the European elections, Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders suffered another major setback yesterday when one of his closest advisers resigned – suggesting as he left that a row over anti-Moroccan chanting had left his party marginalised.

The Freedom Party has lost its dominant position in the polls and there have been a series of resignations, including the loss of two MPs, since Mr Wilders led the chanting at a rally last month – the first time he’d focused on a particular nationality rather than on “Muslims”.

National outrage, even among his own more conservative supporters, has prompted suggestions that the chanting was a huge political gaffe – which could effectively put paid to plans for a pan-European right-wing Euro-election alliance with Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France. » | Peter Cluskey | Thursday, April 24, 2014

Benjamin Netanyahu Interview: In Full

BBC: The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen's interview with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in full. (+ BBC video) » | Jeremy Bowen | Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Persecution of Tony Blair

THE ECONOMIST: Hating the warmongering former prime minister has become a dismal national sport

ONE of the most hated men in Britain gave a speech on April 23rd that was fated to remind Britons why they so hate him. Listening to Tony Blair talk on “Engaging the Middle East”, at a plush City venue, your columnist could almost sense the gathering invective. The former prime minister’s familiar yet still odd mannerisms— the glottalised accent, designed to erase any trace of his privileged roots, the paddle-wheeling hand movements—seemed almost to invite it, so thoroughly is he reviled. But the main problem was the speech itself, in which Mr Blair showed amazingly little appreciation of this.

The big problem in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and elsewhere is militant Islam, he suggested, as if this was previously unremarked upon; and the world needs to do something about that, he said, as if it had not tried. Yet Mr Blair, in this self-promoted “keynote speech”, delivered to a small audience of investors and journalists, suggested no new cure for the blight other than “an international programme to eradicate religious intolerance”. That at least sounded better than reinvading those troubled countries; but surely the United Nations is doing something of the sort already?

If Mr Blair appears obsessed with the great scab on his record, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is no wonder. But he will do himself no good by scratching it. He has little credibility, and will probably never have more, on intervention, the Middle East or Islam. He is busted on such issues—and not only with the pacifists who periodically “arrest” him in return for a crowd-funded bounty from ArrestBlair.org, which now stands at £7,414 ($12,438).

The armed forces, stricken by the overstretch and consequent cuts wrought by Mr Blair’s adventurism, also resent him; the Foreign Office distrusts him. Even his own Labour Party, filled with self-loathing over the wars it was persuaded to agree to, considers its former leader an embarrassment. “What he needs to understand,” says a senior Labour figure, “is that people do not want to hear from him.” » | From the print edition | Bagehot | Saturday, April 26, 2014

Up to 700 Britons Feared Fighting in Syria

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Police warn they cannot stop would-be jihadists from leaving the country but will arrest any returning fighters

Up to 700 Britons could now be fighting in Syria and police are powerless to stop would-be jihadists heading there, the UK’s counter-terrorism chief has admitted.

But Helen Ball, the police senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism, warned anyone who takes part in any form of fighting, even for the Free Syrian Army, will face arrest on their return.

Metropolitan Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ball said it was likely the number of Brits in Syria is now in the “mid” rather than “low” hundreds as previously thought, including some as young as 16.

The warning came as police launched a national campaign to urge mothers, wives and sisters to report on their loved ones and stop them travelling to the war[-]torn country. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Thursday, April 24, 2014

Blair Warns of 'Growing' Radical Islam Threat

Tony Blair on Radical Islam "People Who Don’t Share Their Religion Are Enemies" (2012)

Tony Blair: Radical Islam Threat 'Spreading'

Tony Blair warns in a keynote speech that the West must 'take sides' against radical Islam. The ex-British prime minister claims the spread of extremism is hampering efforts at 'peaceful co-existence' while warping the true message of Muslims' faith. Blair was speaking to Bloomberg in London on Wednesday

Related material here and here

Nick Clegg Backs Met’s Call for Muslims to Stop Sons Joining Syria Conflict

Speaking on his regular phone-in radio show on LBC, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg backs the Metropolitan police initiative to stop young British men from joining the Syria conflict. The Lib Dem leader warns that the return of radicalised fighters from Syria presents a serious security threat to the UK

Arnoud van Doorn’s Son Converting to Islam in Dubai

Related »

Former FBI Agent: CIA Director John Brennan Is a Muslim

John Guandolo, former FBI agent and author of Raising A Jihadi Generation -- A Handbook for Law Enforcement, Military and Intelligence Professionals, joins David to discuss his claim that CIA director John Brennan is a Muslim

Does the President Have an 'Image Problem'?

Apr. 21, 2014 - 3:10 - Amb. Bolton: Obama is a weak leader

Duchess of Cornwall's Brother Mark Shand Dies after Fall in New York

Mark Shand, the brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, died after
a fall outside a New York nightclub

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mark Shand, the brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, died after suffering serious head injuries in fall during a night out in New York

Mark Shand, the brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, has died after suffering a serious injury to his head in a fall.

The 63-year-old is understood to have slipped in the street outside a bar following a charity event also attended by Princess Eugenie.

Police said he had stepped outside to have a cigarette when the accident happened. Other sources said he had been drinking and suffered from dizzy spells due to blood pressure medication.

He was taken to hospital in New York where he was being treated for serious head injuries. Clarence House later confirmed he died from his injuries. Mr Shand is survived by his daughter, Ayesha, 19, and his French wife, Clio.

In a statement, Clarence House said: "It is with deep sadness that we have to confirm that The Duchess of Cornwall's brother, Mark Shand, has today passed away in New York. » | Rosa Prince | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Miriam Clegg: Men Who Look After Children Have 'More Cojones'

The Deputy Prime Minister's wife hijacks her husband's question and answer session to argue that 'taking responsibility' for your own children does not mean that you have less testosterone

Read and comment on the Telegraph article here | Georgia Graham, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, April 23, 2014
My comments:

Comment 1: A man changing nappies whilst wearing his pinnie is good experience for him, and will stand him in good stead when he has to go to war.

Warning: We emasculate our men at our peril! – © Mark

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Comment 2: Our civilisation was doing far better when women did what they were good at: looking after the family and children, and home-making. What is there about civilisation as it is today that makes you think that these feminists have improved anything? Take a look around you! People are badly-dressed, people behave badly, people have no manners, houses are no longer homes for the most part. People don't entertain. The divorce rate has gone throughout the roof, etc. Please show me evidence to the contrary. I'll be only too pleased to concede defeat if you are right. – G Mark

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Tony Blair: We Don’t Need Backward-thinking Religions

Christopher Hitchens on Islam in Britain

Tony Blair: West Must Take Sides against Growing Threat of Radical Islam

"It is absurd to spend billions of dollars on security arrangements and on defence to protect ourselves against the consequences of an ideology that is being advocated in the formal and informal school systems and in civic institutions of the very countries with whom we have intimate security and defence relationships." – Tony Blair
THE GUARDIAN: In keynote speech on Middle East, former PM blames Islamic extremism for failures of western intervention in region

Western military intervention in the Middle East has so far failed due to the distorting impact of an Islamic extremism so opposed to modernity that it could yet engender global catastrophe, Tony Blair warned on Wednesday in a keynote speech on the state of politics in the Middle East.

With support for intervention ebbing fast, especially in Britain, Blair urges a wilfully blind west to realise it must take sides and if necessary make common cause with Russia and China in the G20 to counter the Islamic extremism that lies at the root of all failures of western intervention.

He admits there is now a desire across the west to steer clear at all costs following the bloody outcomes in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan, but says the extremism still represents the biggest threat to global security in the 21st century, saying it is holding back development across Africa and the Far East.

In a speech to Bloomberg in London on Wednesday, the former Labour prime minister claimed the west was reluctant to look unflinchingly at Islamic extremism because the world of politics is uncomfortable talking about religion.

He claims: "For the last 40 to 50 years, there has been a steady stream of funding, proselytising, organising and promulgating coming out of the Middle East, pushing views of religion that are narrow minded and dangerous. Unfortunately we seem blind to the enormous global impact such teaching has had and is having. Read on and comment » | Patrick Wintour, political editor | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Lavrov: If We're Attacked, We'll Certainly Respond

Russia will retaliate if it is attacked and the interests of the Russian people are threatened, Sergey Lavrov told in an interview with RT's Sophie Shevardnadze. Watch the full interview later today.

Teenage Europeans Joining Jihad in War-torn Syria

Thousands of foreign fighters are joining jihadist rebels in Syria. The lion's share still comes from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia; however more hot-headed youngsters are coming from Europe. They are ready to take up arms against President Assad. RT's Peter Oliver has more. After we talked to one Belgian father whose son joined the Islamist rebels, Dimitry Bontinck.

Attorney General: Rise of Fundamentalism Is 'Damaging' Christianity

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The rise of religious fundamentalists with a 'deep intolerance' to other people's views has made Christians reluctant to express their beliefs, Dominic Grieve warns

Christians are increasingly reluctant to express their religious views because they are being “turned off” by the “disturbing” and “very damaging” rise of religious fundamentalism, the Attorney General has said.

Dominic Grieve said that atheists who claim that Britain is no longer a Christian nation are “deluding themselves” and must accept that faith has shaped this country’s laws and ethics.

He said that 1,500 years of Christian values are “not going to disappear overnight” and said that many people remain believers even if they choose not to go to Church.

However, he warned people are being discouraged from openly declaring their beliefs because of the “deep intolerance” of religious extremists of all faiths, including Islam and Christianity.

He told The Telegraph: “I do think that there has been a rise of an assertiveness of religious groups across the spectrum. That is why those with softer religious views find it disturbing and say they don’t want anything to do with it.” » | Steven Swinford, and John Bingham | Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Iranian Prison Guards Ordered to Beat Up Inmates, Letter Says

THE GUARDIAN: Political prisoner Emad Bahavar describes being forced to run gauntlet of guards armed with batons at notorious Evin jail

Political prisoners in Tehran's Evin prison have allegedly been subjected to humiliating physical abuse, including being forced to run a gauntlet of guards armed with batons, it has emerged.

Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, has been silent despite chilling details being revealed by prisoners and their families about how Thursday's disturbances marked a dark episode in one of the country's most notorious prisons.

Dozens of inmates held in Evin's ward 350, including journalists, lawyers and opposition members, were injured, with some suffering skull fractures, broken ribs, wounds and swelling on their bodies after guards and intelligence officials created a tunnel and made prisoners run through it as they beat them with batons, according to opposition sources.

Emad Bahavar, who is serving a 10-year sentence because of his political activities, recounted some of the horrific moments in a letter sent out of jail and published on an opposition website, Kaleme, on Tuesday. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Salman Rushdie and The Satanic Verses Affair

An excellent historical documentary that highlights the trials and tribulations of Salman Rushdie as he struggled to lead a normal life under the constant threat of the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa. The part of the story that most people don't seem to hear about is Rushdie's attempt to convince the Iranian religious leaders to withdraw the fatwa on the basis that he was becoming a more devout muslim. Obviously, it didn't work, but it does show how much pressure Rushdie must have been under at the time.

Where Would You Rather Live – Great Britain or Little England?

THE GUARDIAN: If you agree that Britain is better off in the EU, make yourself heard now. The Lib Dems can't win this argument alone

This Easter we find ourselves in the middle of a European election campaign in which the question at the heart of the European debate is finally being addressed: should Britain remain a member of the EU, or is it time to leave?

The isolationists have been allowed to peddle their myths unchallenged for decades. Of all Nigel Farage's far-fetched claims – and there are many – the most outlandish is the idea that Ukip's call for an exit is the insurgents' battle cry. European withdrawal is presented as a great revolutionary promise, held in stark contrast to the status quo upheld by a homogeneous political elite.

What poppycock. For a start, Farage is every bit the professional politician he enthusiastically reviles. He and I were elected to the European parliament on the same day in 1999. I left after five years. The Ukip leader is still there. More important, there is nothing remotely new about his party's ambitions. Ukip is simply the fresh face of a long-standing Eurosceptic establishment, supported by many in the Tory party and significant parts of the press.

The sceptics' free run over this debate must now be challenged. On 22 May every gain they make will propel Britain closer to the door. We risk finding ourselves drifting further and further away from our biggest export market, jeopardising our still fragile economic recovery and threatening millions of jobs. At a time when the world's economic powerhouses are reaching beyond their own borders and working more closely with their neighbours, we will be turning away from ours.

If we end up stumbling out of the EU our police will be denied the cross-border co-operation they enjoy at present – in effect asking them to keep us safe with one hand tied behind their back. At every international summit and on each of the great dilemmas thrown up by globalisation, climate change, trade, global finance, terrorism and organised crime, Britain will be increasingly isolated, its influence diminished in the world. » | Nick Clegg | Monday, April 21, 2014

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: European elections: some things are bigger than Ukip: Europe is not going away so our European election campaigns should contain a debate about policy » | Monday, April 21, 2014

Muslims Must Accept Britain's Christian Values, Says Former Home Secretary

Former Labour home secretary Jack Straw

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Jack Straw says Islamist 'plot' to take over Birmingham schools is product of power struggle within Muslim community as he tells parents to accept Christianity 'permeates our sense of citizenship'

Muslims must accept that Britain is built on Christian values, a former Home Secretary has said, in the wake of mounting evidence that a group of schools have been taken over in a ‘Trojan Horse’ plot by radical Islamists.

It is “inevitable” that many Muslim communities will not integrate with the rest of British society but it must be made clear that attempts to isolate Muslim pupils from the rest of society are unacceptable, Jack Straw said.

The alleged plot by Islamic radicals to take control of a series of schools in Birmingham is the product of a little-understood power struggle between Muslim denominations, Mr Straw, the MP for Blackburn said.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, is to take personal charge of the schools watchdog’s probe into allegations that radical Islamists had sought to infiltrate the governing bodies of secular schools.

It is claimed head teachers were pressurised into segregating pupils, abandoning “un-Islamic” sections of the GCSE biology syllabus and neglecting non-Muslim pupils. » | Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent | Monday, April 21, 2014

David Cameron Christianity Claim Backed by Religious Groups

Mr Cameron has spoken of the "peace" he has found in Christianity

BBC: Religious groups have backed Prime Minister David Cameron's assertion Britain is "a Christian country".

Hindu Council UK said it was "very comfortable" with the description. The Muslim Council of Britain said the UK was a largely Christian country.

He said the UK must be "more confident" about its Christianity, a view Downing Street says he has stated before.

It comes after a group of public figures warned the PM risked causing "alienation" with his comments. » | Monday, April 21, 2014

India's Elders Lift Ban on Inter-caste Marriages

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The decision to lift a ban on marriage between people from different castes has been hailed as a victory for love over tradition

One of India’s most influential tribal councils has lifted a ban on inter-caste marriages in a move hailed by campaigners as the start of a social revolution.

India’s more than 800 million Hindus are born into rigid castes which determine their opportunities in life and their social status.

Those who defy traditional barriers to marry someone from below their own caste are often shunned and occasionally murdered – there are more than 1,000 honour killings in India every year of those who cross caste and religious divides to marry for love.

Most of the killings have been in northern India where Hindus from the Jat tribe – traditionally regarded as peasant warrior – also forbid marriages between those from the same sub-caste or gotra, which they regard as incest. » | Dean Nelson, New Delhi | Monday, April 21, 2014

Iran : Rohani admet qu'il y a encore beaucoup à faire pour les droits des femmes

LE POINT: On ne peut pas "marginaliser la moitié de la société", a assuré le président iranien, qui prône une plus grande ouverture en Iran.

"Aujourd'hui, les femmes bénéficient de nombreux droits, mais il existe toujours des insuffisances dans les droits des femmes et l'égalité entre les sexes." Pour la journée nationale de la femme en Iran, le président Hassan Rohani a estimé que les femmes ne pouvaient être considérées comme des citoyens de seconde zone. Il s'exprimait devant des représentantes de "l'élite féminine" du pays selon les médias, qui ont chaudement applaudi son discours.

M. Rohani, élu en juin 2013 avec le soutien des réformateurs et des modérés, prône une plus grande ouverture politique, culturelle et sociale en Iran, régulièrement critiquée par les organisations internationales de défense des droits de l'homme pour les discriminations dont sont victimes les femmes. La Journée de la femme est célébrée en Iran le jour anniversaire de Fatima, la fille du prophète.

"L'injustice et la violence contre les femmes doivent cesser", a-t-il plaidé. "Selon les règles islamiques, l'homme n'est pas le premier sexe ni la femme le second sexe, [...] les femmes sont aux côtés des hommes et les deux sont égaux." (+ vidéo) » | Source AFP | dimanche 20 avril 2014

Assad besucht zurückeroberte Stadt Maalula

DIE WELT: Der syrische Präsident Assad hat die alte christliche Stadt Maalula besucht, die von den Regierungstruppen zurückerobert worden war. Der Besuch dürfte nicht zuletzt der Staatspropaganda dienen.

Der syrische Präsident Baschar al-Assad hat am Ostersonntag ein kürzlich von seinen Truppen zurückerobertes christliches Dorf besucht. Wie die amtliche Nachrichtenagentur Sana berichtete, besichtigte Assad in Maalula 60 Kilometer nordöstlich von Damaskus Schäden an Kirchen und Klöstern.

Rebellen, darunter Kämpfer der dem Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida nahestehenden Nusra-Front, hatten das Dorf im vergangenen Jahr mehrmals besetzt. Am Montag wurde es von Regierungstruppen eingenommen, die die Rebellen in die umliegenden Dörfer zurückdrängten.

Für die Regierung hatte die Rückeroberung auch einen wichtigen symbolischen Wert: Sie bemüht sich, als Beschützer religiöser Minderheiten, inklusive der Christen, wahrgenommen zu werden. Assad verfolgt mit seinem Besuch also durchaus propagandistische Ziele. In einem Konflikt, der bereits neun Millionen Menschen zur Flucht gezwungen und mittlerweile unzählige Opfer gefordert hat, versucht er sich gegenüber der Öffentlichkeit als Garant für den Schutz von Minderheiten zu inszenieren. » | AP/ds | Montag, 21. April 2014

Muslims in New York City Unite on Push to Add Holidays to School Calendar

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The meeting opened with a pledge from the podium to try to end, God willing, by the hour of the evening prayer. Clusters of colorfully veiled women kept watch over jittery young children. Rows of men conversed in a jangle of languages.

They were Muslims from Bosnia and Montenegro, Egypt and Syria, Pakistan and Bangladesh — several hundred in all.

It was a gathering remarkable in its diversity from among New York City’s Muslims, a growing group whose members often find it difficult to work together politically because of differences in national origin, language, sect and class. But a single issue has managed to unify them: the push to close the city’s public schools for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, the most sacred Muslim holidays.

The issue might seem of modest importance alongside deeper concerns among many Muslims in the city, including the Police Department’s monitoring of their community since the Sept. 11 attacks. But the rally, held recently in a public school auditorium in Queens and organized in barely a week’s time, was a testament to how the city’s Muslim community is gaining a measure of political confidence. » | Sharon Otterman | Thursday, April 17, 2014

Penny Pinching Prince? Britain's Charles Won't Share Riches with Public

Prince Charles is a member of one of the richest monarchies in the world but he faces questions for being penny-pinching. His private income from a swathe of inherited land and laws rakes in a tidy sum. Polly Boiko reports on calls to share the money with the public who pay for it.

Islam Fastest-growing Religion in UK as Churches Decline

While Christian Churches in the UK are struggling to draw people to worship, the Islamic community there is burgeoning. Some Muslim groups are doing all they can to counter fears the rapid growth is a challenge to British traditions.

New Dark Age Alert! Jews, Christians, Atheists & the Khilafah

Ibrahim Hewitt: My Journey to Islam

Related »

Private School Chief Linked to Islam Trojan Horse Plot Says: Stone All Adulterers to Death

Ibrahim Hewitt, chairman of Al-Aqsa school,
said that all adulterers should be stoned to death
and fornication should be punished with 100 lashes

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Fees at the school where boys and girls are segregated are £1,800 / School chairman claims fornication should be punished with 100 lashes / Ibrahim Hewitt runs the controversial Leicester school with his wife Adeba

A Muslim hardliner who says adulterers should be stoned to death and that gay men and fornicators should be lashed 100 times has set up an Islamic school that has received almost £1million of taxpayers’ money.

Ibrahim Hewitt, one of Britain’s most prominent Islamic firebrands – who also heads a charity branded a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the US – is the founder and chairman of trustees of the Al-Aqsa school in Leicester, which teaches 250 boys and girls aged between three and 11.

He has vilified homosexuals as paedophiles and said a man can take on a second wife if his first fails to satisfy him sexually. Mr Hewitt has published his views in a book on Islam, which he claims has sold more than 50,000 copies in Britain.

The preacher is the founder of another controversial organisation called the Association of Muslim Schools (AMS), whose leader has been accused of orchestrating a plot in Birmingham called ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ in which Islamic extremists have allegedly taken over 25 state schools in the city. » | Tom Worden and Abul Taher | Sunday, April 20, 2014

Ibrahim Hewitt: What does Islam say? »

Son of Distributor of Anti-Islam Film Fitna Accepts Islam

Iskander with his father, Arnoud.

KHALEEJ TIMES: Arnoud van Doorn's son, Iskander Amien De Vrie, was one of the 37 people who converted to Islam during the Dubai International Peace Convention.

The son of Arnoud van Doorn, the famous Dutch policy maker and distributor of an anti-Islam film Fitna that caused unrest in 2008, surprised the audiences at the three-day Dubai International Peace Convention by 
embracing Islam.

Arnoud’s son, Iskander Amien De Vrie, was one of the 37 people who converted to Islam during the convention.

“I bear witness that there is no God to be worshipped but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is his worshipper and last messenger,” said Iskander in his Shahadah (testimony) to become a Muslim.

…

“I saw my father become more peaceful after converting to Islam. That’s when I realised there is something good in this religion and it made me change my perception of Muslims. I started studying the Holy Quran and going through lectures of important scholars,” said Iskander in an interview with Khaleej Times. » | Muaz Shabandri | Monday, April 21, 2014

David Cameron ‘Fuelling Sectarian Division by Bringing God into Politics'

David Cameron bringing God into politics.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Dozens of public figures accuse David Cameron of fostering alienation and division with call to view Britain as a Christian country

David Cameron is sowing sectarianism and division by insisting that Britain is still a “Christian country” an alliance of writers, scientists, philo[oso]phers and politicians has claimed.

In a letter to The Telegraph, 55 public figures from a range of political backgrounds accuse him of fostering “alienation” and actively harming society by repeatedly emphasising Christianity.

The group, which includes writers such as Philip Pullman and Sir Terry Pratchett, Nobel Prize winning scientists, prominent broadcasters and even some comedians argue that members of the elected Government have no right to “actively prioritise” religion or any particular faith.

It comes after a series of public statements in which Mr Cameron has been increasingly vocal about his own faith.

Last week, in an article for the Church Times, the Prime Minister said Britain should be unashamedly “evangelical” about its Christianity. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Sunday, April 20, 2014

NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’: Ukraine’s PM Yatsenyuk: ‘Putin Trying to Restore the Soviet Union’

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Worlds Apart: Oksana Interviews Saudi Expert, Dr. David Weinberg (March 2014)

US-Saudi relations have long been grounded in an oil-for-security exchange. But with U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil diminishing and Saudi power rising, is there a growing gulf in the Gulf? Has the US spat with Russia affected this relationship, and could it lead to a change in the Syrian deadlock? Oksana is joined by Dr David Weinberg, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, to drill into these issues.

Worlds Apart: Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch Director Interviewed by Oksana about Islamic Terror and the Jihad

A recent US report blamed Russia for the failure to prevent the Boston Marathon bombing, despite multiple warnings given to US authorities. And while the need for a foreign scapegoat is clear, perhaps the blame lies closer to home. What's fueling the global Jihad? Is it US foreign policy or Islam itself? Oksana is joined by Robert Spencer, an author and director of Jihad Watch, to untangle these issues.

Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques! Frohe Ostern! Buona Pasqua! ¡Felices Pascuas! Pasg Hapus!

Wishing all my visitors, followers, and Twitter followers a very Blessed and HAPPY EASTER. – Mark