Wednesday, March 04, 2015

New York City Adds 2 Muslim Holy Days to Public School Calendar


THE NEW YORK TIMES: Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that New York public schools will observe two of the most sacred Muslim holy days — Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

The changes to the school calendar, which already recognizes several Jewish and Christian holidays, fulfills a pledge Mr. de Blasio made during his campaign and represents the increasing influence of the city’s diverse Muslim community. The change will take effect in the 2015-16 academic year. » | Marc Santora and Sharon Otterman | Wednesday, March 04, 2015

"Britain Is the Enemy of Islam"


One Month of Islam in Britain: January 2015

GATESTONE INTITUTE: "Contrary to popular misconception, Islam does not mean peace, but rather submission to the commands of Allah alone. Therefore Muslims do not believe in the concept of freedom of expression, as their speech and actions are determined by divine revelation and not based on people's desires." — Anjem Choudary, British Islamist.

"Britain is the enemy of Islam." — Mizanur Rahman, Muslim cleric at Palmers Green, north London.

"Brothers and sisters, we would not be here had it not been for the fact that the kafir [non-Muslims] had gone to our lands and killed our people and raped and pillaged our resources... Stop putting freedom on this pedestal." — Aysh Chaudhry, Muslim trainee lawyer at London-based law firm, Clifford Chance.

"The firm is committed to establishing an inclusive culture where people with diverse backgrounds and views work effectively together and feel confident to develop their potential." — Spokesperson for Clifford Chance law firm.

Oxford University Press warned its authors not to mention pigs or sausages in their books, to avoid causing offense to Muslims.

Tarek Kafala, the head of BBC Arabic, said that the term "terrorist" was too "loaded" to describe the actions of the men who killed 12 people in the attack on the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.

"We know that acts of extremism are not representative of Islam; but we need to show what is." — Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, in a letter to 1,000 imams across Britain, asking for their help in fighting extremism.


Following is a brief summary of some of the main stories involving Islam and Islam-related issues in Britain during January 2015, categorized into three broad themes: 1) Islamic extremism; 2) British multiculturalism; and 3) Muslim integration into British society. Read on and comment » | Soeren Kern | Wednesday, March 04, 2015

The Republican Who Wants to Be President: Ben Carson: Prison Proves Being Gay Is A Choice


Franklin Graham Says Obama's 'Sympathy to Islam' Will Lead to Christian and Jewish Persecution in America


THE CHRISTIAN POST: The Rev. Franklin Graham has warned in an interview that President Barack Obama is "very sympathetic to Islam" and that America's foreign policy is influenced by Muslims. He added that this influence could lead to Christians and Jewish people being persecuted in the United States.

"There are Muslims that have access to him in the White House. Our foreign policy has a lot of influence now, from Muslims. We see the prime minister of Israel being snubbed by the president and by the White House and by the Democrats and it's because of the influence of Islam. They hate Israel and they hate Christians, and so the storm is coming, I believe," Graham told Gordon Robertson, host of CBN's "The 700 Club" interactive program.

Graham further pointed out that Obama had a Muslim father, and that as a child the president went to school in Indonesia, which has the largest Islamic population in the world.

"So, growing up his frame of reference and his influence as a young man was Islam. It wasn't Christianity, it was Islam," the evangelist said.

Graham has criticized Obama's foreign policy on a number of occasions, including the president's refusal to call terror group ISIS "Islamic."

"The truth is — their barbaric murderers openly said they killed them because they were 'people of the cross.' Why is the president seemingly continuing to protect Islam and refusing to open his eyes to the truth?" Graham asked when an initial statement by the White House in February failed to identify the 21 Copts beheaded by ISIS as Christians. » | Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post | Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Islamic State Is About Revenge Says Former Al-Qaeda Member Turned Spy


A former member of al-Qaeda who began working as a spy for Britain's security and intelligence services has told BBC HARDtalk the antidote to extremism can only come from the Islamic world itself.

Asked what the differences are in the attraction by al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS), Aimen Dean explained that al-Qaeda was about defending the honour of Islam and expelling the US from the Middle East, but with IS it was about revenge.

"It is no longer about going to fight for a noble cause, it is about going to fight for revenge," he said.

Eight years ago Aimen Dean’s life as a spy ended when his cover was blown.



Iran Blasts Obama for Trying to 'Manage' Islamic State


Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs said Monday that the Obama administration is trying to "manage" the Islamic State group instead of seeking its destruction. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Iran's Tasnim News Agency that "what we are seeing and what regional intelligence services are saying indicate that America has formed a coalition to fight…

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's Full Speech To Congress (March 3, 2015)


Nach Löschung von Accounts: Islamischer Staat bedroht Twitter-Gründer

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Terrorgruppe Islamischer Staat bedroht Twitter-Gründer Jack Dorsey. Der Kurznachrichtendienst will den Fall nun selbst untersuchen.

Der Onlinedienst Twitter hat nach eigenen Angaben Drohungen erhalten, weil er Nutzerkonten mit Verbindungen zur Dschihadistenmiliz Islamischer Staat (IS) blockiert hat. "Unser Sicherheitsteam untersucht gemeinsam mit den Strafverfolgungsbehörden den Wahrheitsgehalt dieser Drohungen", teilte ein Sprecher des Unternehmens mit, ohne weitere Einzelheiten zu nennen. Im Internet war zuvor ein Bild aufgetaucht, das Twitter-Gründer Jack Dorsey im Visier eines Fadenkreuzes zeigt. In einer Botschaft auf Arabisch wird Dorsey mit Rache für die Sperrung von Nutzerkonten gedroht. » | kbl/AFP | Montag, 02. März 2015

Franklin Graham: New Obama Danger for Christians

WND: 'The storm is coming, I believe'

Globally known evangelist Franklin Graham says President Obama is so sympathetic to those of the Muslim faith, he’s actually endangering Jews and Christians, opening the doors for them to be persecuted in the United States.

“We’re going to see persecution in this country because our president is very sympathetic to Islam, and the reason I say that … is because his father was a Muslim, gave him a Muslim name, Barack Hussein Obama,” Graham said in an interview on “The 700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

“His mother married another Muslim man. They moved to Indonesia. He went to Indonesian schools. So, growing up, his frame of reference and his influence as a young man was Islam. It wasn’t Christianity; it was Islam.”

Graham’s remarks aren’t much of a surprise to those who listen to him frequently. He’s been an outspoken critic of Obama’s presidential policies and has decried what he’s characterized as a curious White House reach-out to Muslim groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. » | Cheryl Chumley | Monday, March 02, 2015

Monday, March 02, 2015

Saudi Arabia Awards Preacher Who Says Muslims Can Have Sex with Slaves Top Prize and £130,000 for Services to Islam

DAILY MAIL: Dr Zakir Naik has also said George Bush was behind the 9/11 terror attacks / In 2010 he was banned from entering the UK for his inflammatory remarks / His edict on slaves echoes the doctrines of Iraq's Islamic State insurgency

The king of Saudi Arabia has handed his country's most-prestigious prize to a preacher who has previously said the Koran allows Muslims to have sex with female slaves.

Indian cleric Zakir Naik, who has also said 9/11 was an inside job, was handed the King Faisal International Prize for Services to Islam at a glittering ceremony in Riyadh.

A physician by training, the Mumbai-based 49-year-old has carved out a career as a charismatic television preacher, but his controversial views have led to him being banned from entering the UK.

Dr Naik was one of five winners presented a gold medal, a certificate hand written in Arabic calligraphy and an endowment of more than £130,000 by Saudi King Salman during a ceremony at a luxury hotel yesterday.

The president of the Islamic Research Foundation in India, Dr Naik was honoured for being one of the most renowned non-Arabic speaking promoters of Islam.

He founded the Peace TV channel, billed as the world's only channel specialising in comparative religion, which now reaches an estimated English-language audience exceeding 100million, according to his award citation.

'Islam is the only religion that can bring peace to the whole of humanity,' he said in a video biography aired at the ceremony. It was on a broadcast on Peace TV that Dr Naik suggested that Muslims men may rape their slaves. » | AFP and Damien Gayle for MailOnline | Monday, March 02, 2015

Netanyahu Arrives in US for Contested Congress Iran Speech


BBC AMERICA: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in the US to argue against a possible nuclear deal with Iran.

Mr Netanyahu says the deal would be inadequate to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.

He is due to give a speech in Congress on Tuesday which was not agreed in advance with the Obama administration, angering the White House.

The speech comes two weeks before Israeli elections, with his Likud party under pressure in domestic polls.

The US and other powers - the so-called P5+1 - are negotiating with Iran on its nuclear programme.

They want a framework agreement by the end of the month which addresses concerns that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons technology, something Tehran denies. (+ BBC video) » | Sunday, March 01, 2015

La femme sans voile qui dérange les hommes de pouvoir en Iran

La journaliste iranienne Masih Alinejad.
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Libertés individuelles – Masih Alinejad a été primée à Genève pour son combat pour les libertés féminines. A Téhéran, les autorités fulminent.

Le sommet de Genève pour les droits de l’homme et la démocratie a décerné, mardi dernier, le Prix des droits des femmes à la journaliste iranienne Masih Alinejad. Son combat? Elle a créé une page Facebook invitant les femmes qui vivent en Iran à poster des photos d’elles sans leur hijab, le voile islamique obligatoire.

Composée de vingt organisations non gouvernementales, l’assemblée a récompensé la journaliste indépendante de 38 ans pour «avoir donné une voix à celles qui n’en avaient pas et éveillé la conscience de l’humanité pour soutenir la lutte des femmes iraniennes, les droits fondamentaux, la liberté et l’égalité». » De Lina Ziadi | De Tehran | dimanche 01 mars 2015

Family Fear Saudi Blogger Could Face Execution By Beheading

Raif Badawi received the first 50 of his lashes in January
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: They say Raif Badawi, already sentenced to public flogging and ten years in prison, could also be tried for apostasy, which carries the death penalty

Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes after being convicted of insulting Islam, could face death by beheading, according to his family.

The case attracted worldwide condemnation when he was publicly flogged in January.

Now his family say they have been told he is to be tried for apostasy.

"Apostasy charge is punishable under Saudi law with the death penalty by beheading," they said in a message posted on Facebook.

"We also received confirmed information that the Supreme Court has referred Raif case to the same judge, who sentenced Raif with flogging and 10 years imprisonment. » | Rob Crilly, New York | Sunday, March 01, 2015

Britain Is Becoming A Friend Who Can't Be Trusted, Says Top US General

Gen Odierno said that British defence cuts are already
jeopardising US-UK joint operations
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH In an exclusive interview, Gen Raymond Odierno, US army Chief of Staff, says UK defence cuts are eroding his country's confidence in our commitment to global security

Ever since the Cold War ended more than two decades ago, America has never entertained any serious doubts about Britain’s ability to fulfil its commitment as a vital military ally when tackling threats to the Western alliance.

Until now. For the dramatic cuts to Britain’s defence budget implemented since the Coalition took power in 2010 have led to a number of senior US military officers and politicians openly questioning whether, when it comes to fighting the wars of the future, Britain has the capability to be an effective ally on the battlefield.

The Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy have all suffered cutbacks to the extent that they are no longer able to undertake the kind of missions that Britain has historically supported.

Now, General Raymond Odierno, the Chief of Staff of the US army, who has fought alongside British forces in several conflicts, including the recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has become the latest senior officer to express his concerns in public, telling The Daily Telegraph when I met him in Washington last week that he is “very concerned” about the impact the cuts are having. Read on and comment » | Con Coughlin | Sunday, March 01, 2015

Sunday, March 01, 2015

UK’s First Anti-Islamization Rally Dwarfed by Counter-demo

JIHAD WATCH: Britain is finished. When defenders of free society against Islamization are dismissed as “right-wing nutters” and “fascists,” and the counter-demo is over five times larger, and when the government routinely allows foreign jihadis to enter the country but bans counter-jihadis solely for the crime of speaking the truth about Islam and jihad, Britain as a free nation is in its last days. Will there be a mass exodus of non-Muslim refugees from Britain when Sharia supremacists really start to flex their muscles? And where will they go? » | Robert Spencer | Saturday, February 28, 2015

Italy Anti-immigration Rally Draws Thousands in Rome

Mr Salvini described the government's immigration
policies as "a disaster"
BBC AMERICA: Thousands of supporters of Italy's Northern League have poured into one of Rome's biggest squares for a rally against immigration, the EU and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government.

League leader Matteo Salvini accused Mr Renzi of substituting the country's interests to those of the EU.

He also criticised the government's record in dealing with Romanian truck drivers, tax, banks and big business. » | Saturday, February 28, 2015

Friday, February 27, 2015

ISIS Preparing to Declare Islamic Emirate in Lebanon: Sources


THE DAILY STAR: ISIS is preparing military plans to declare an Islamic emirate in Lebanon very soon to serve as a geographical extension of the so-called “Islamic State” announced by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Iraq last year, security sources said.

ISIS fighters have demanded support from the militant group in northern Syria to achieve this goal, the sources said.

They added that the ISIS command has begun preparations to set up a military organizational committee tasked with running Lebanese affairs and considering Lebanon as part of its state. » | Antoine Ghattas Saab | The Daily Star | Monday, February 23, 2015

HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »

New Dark Age Alert! The Hon Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia: National Security Statement 2015



Please note the Prime Minister of Australia’s reference to a “New Dark Age”! People are slowly coming round to the reality that the “New Dark Age” of which I wrote many years ago has indeed already DAWNED.

Eat your heart out, Mr. Obama! In your refusal to refer to ‘radical Islam’, you are fast becoming an IRRELEVANCE! – Mark

I refer you to my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age, which was first published in 2003!

JIHAD WATCH: Australia: Muslims outraged at PM’s “aggressive rhetoric against Muslims” » | Robert Spencer | Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hollande dénonce "la barbarie" des destructions d'oeuvres au musée de Mossoul


LE POINT: Le chef de l'État a estimé, en marge d'un déplacement aux Philippines, que "ce que veulent les terroristes, c'est détruire tout ce qui est humanité".

Le président français François Hollande a dénoncé vendredi la "barbarie" des destructions d'oeuvres pré-islamiques par les djihadistes du groupe État islamique (EI) à Mossoul, dans le nord de l'Irak, en marge d'un déplacement aux Philippines. "La barbarie touche les personnes, l'histoire, les mémoires, la culture", a déclaré le chef de l'État français devant des journalistes, estimant que "ce que veulent faire les terroristes, c'est détruire tout ce qui est humanité". "Quand on veut anéantir le patrimoine, on veut anéantir tous ceux et toutes celles qui portent un message de culture", a encore observé François Hollande. » | Source AFP | vendredi 27 février 2015

"Gestion de la barbarie", le "Mein Kampf" des djihadistes


LE POINT: Publié sur Internet en 2004, l'ouvrage explique en 248 pages comment soumettre l'Occident et faire du monde arabe un immense califat islamique.

Gestion de la barbarie se veut être le parfait manuel du djihadiste. Ce livre, passé inaperçu ou presque en France, a déjà gagné le surnom de "Mein Kampf des islamistes". Écrit en arabe et publié sur Internet en 2004, il est aujourd'hui traduit en plusieurs langues. Son auteur, Abu Bakr Naji, est l'un des théoriciens les plus lus parmi les chefs djihadistes, aussi bien au sein de l'organisation État islamique que d'Al-Qaïda. Selon Valeurs actuelles, Abubakar Shekau, le chef de Boko Haram au Nigeria, en aurait fait son livre de chevet. » | Par Nicolas Guégan | vendredi 27 février 2015