Active jihad plots in L.A. say police

"...Iranian or Hezbollah agents may initiate attacks locally if war erupts between the U.S. and Iran."

My concern is that this will work both ways.  If Israel attacks Iran, L.A. will be attacked.  If Iran attacks Israel, L.A. will be attacked.  If true, isn't it prudent to round up the ones speaking this sedition and make sure they cannot act on their beliefs?

Oh wait, that would be "racial profiling" and that would be wrong.  Besides, LAPD says they won't do that...anymore.  What race is Islam again?

From CBS August 29

LAPD: ‘Active’ Terror Plots Linked To Iran, Hezbollah, ‘Sovereign Citizens’

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Senior police officials on Wednesday warned of potential terrorist attacks in Southern California amid a growing risk of war breaking out overseas.

KNX 1070′s Ed Mertz reports the LAPD is concerned with what it calls a number of “active” plots in the Southland.

“In this region we have active terrorist plots, in this region, right now,” said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, commanding officer of the LAPD’s counter-terrorism unit.

The Department is currently tracking “government of Iran operatives, Hezbollah, sovereign citizen, homegrown violent extremists, animal rights groups” and others, Downing said.

He added that Iranian or Hezbollah agents may initiate attacks locally if war erupts between the U.S. and Iran.

Read it all

Syria: jihadists attack Christian funeral, beheadings commence

More Christian persecution from...well, you know.

From fides August 29

ASIA/SYRIA - Bomb at a funeral, a family beheaded: Christians and Druzes targeted in Damascus

Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - A terrorist attack hit innocent Christian faithful and innocent Druzes in the area of Jaramana, a suburb of Damascus: yesterday, August 28, at 2 pm, a bomb in a car was detonated while a crowd of faithful, families, elderly people, women and children, were heading to the cemetery to bury two young people. The two had died the day before, on August 27, also victims of an IED. As the crowd, after the funeral, was accompanying the deceased to the burial, a taxi exploded causing 12 deaths (according to other sources 27), including 5 children, and injuring more than 50 people. In Jarmana about 600 thousand people live, mostly religious minorities: there are 250 thousand Christians (Assyrians, Armenians, Chaldeans, Melkites, Orthodox and other denominations), as well as Druzes and about 120 thousand Iraqi refugees, who fled to Syria in past years.

As reported by Fides sources in Damascus, the Christians in the suburbs of Jaramana (south-west of Damascus) and Zamalka (South-East of the city) are under pressure from armed groups jiahdisti and are terrified. Today in Zamalka a family of Armenian Christians was found murdered, and all members of the family horribly decapitated. The execution brings to mind the work of radical Islamist Salafis.

Read it all

3 more die in green on blue attack in Afghanistan

When will this madness end?

From FOXNews August 29

3 NATO troops killed in attack by man in Afghan uniform

KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan says three of its troops have been killed by a man in an Afghan army uniform.

The attack is the latest in a rising number of disturbing shootings this year by Afghans soldiers -- or insurgents dressed as government troops -- on the international forces training them to fight the Taliban as the international coalition withdraws.

NATO said Wednesday the latest attack came a day earlier in southern Afghanistan. It gave no other details.

Similar "insider attacks" have been rising sharply, with 34 of them so far this year. Forty-five coalition members have been killed, mostly Americans.

At least a dozen of this year's attacks have been in the past month, raising questions of a new Taliban strategy.

There is no understanding of a Taliban strategy as there is no concept of the ideology that drives the Taliban.  

Saudi Arabia to monitor mosques for misuse

We cannot even think about watching mosques in the US for jihad activity, to do so would brand one an Islamophobe.  So I guess Saudi Arabia is full of government Islamophobes, yes?

From Arab News August 28

Misuse of mosque for manufacturing explosives condemned
JEDDAH: A number of religious scholars and academics have stressed the need for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance to beef up monitoring of places of worship. It followed the recent report of a Riyadh mosque serving as a facade for manufacturing explosives.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it discovered explosive substances and devices at a lean-to of a quiet mosque in Riyadh. Mosques normally use attached rooms to accommodate workers or for library service.

The scholars also demanded deterrent punishments to those who exploit the spiritual atmosphere in mosques to promote chaos in the country, Al-Madinah daily reported on Monday.

“Those who seek to destabilize the country and fight against security forces come under the category of ‘those who rebel against Allah and His Messenger’ and a country’s legitimate government and hence should be punished severely,” said Sheikh Abdullah Al-Manie, who is a member of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars and adviser at the Royal Court.

The scholar also congratulated the Interior Ministry for its successful preemptive strike against the Riyadh cell and protecting the people from such heinous deeds.

“The Islamic Affairs Ministry should ensure that imams and muezzins inspect the mosque premises regularly and thoroughly, so that the facilities are not misused for subversive activities. 

The sacred houses of worship should not be converted into dens of destructive acts,” he said.

Member of the Fiqh Academy Muhammad Al-Nojaimi stressed the duty of the worshipers and residents in nearby buildings apart from imams and muezzins to see that mosques are not exploited for subversive activities. “Officials concerned should also investigate why some expatriates are unofficially undertaking duties at mosques. They should also launch campaigns and raids at such mosques,” he said.

Head of Islamic studies at the Umm Al-Qura University Muhammad Al-Sahli said it was a matter of deep pain for all Muslims, especially students and teachers of religious knowledge and preachers, that a mosque had been used as a cover for destructive activities.

Director of the Makkah branch of the International Islamic Relief Organization Ahmed Al-Muwarraie urged parents and teachers to protect their children or students from vicious ideologies they might be exposed to in the present circumstances.

No mention of the officially supported Wahabbism or the virulence that it spews, however.

Read it all

Free speech on campus; UC opposes anti-semitism resolution

Depending on who you talk to, this is both good and bad.  I see it as a win for the first amendment and a blow for freedom.  As much as I despise anti-Semites (along with the KKK, NS, Aryans, Neo-Nazis and the like,) I have stated publicly, and will continue to do so, that their right to speak is as valid as that of anyone else.  As long as the line is not crossed into actual calls for violence or an actual physical act, I will defend their right to say what they want.  Debate must always be ongoing, and we cannot have a conversation unless we have the freedom to speak our mind without interference or censorship.  Our guaranteed right to speak freely is especially made to cover speech we do not agree with; after all there is no need for the first amendment if we all agree on everything, is there?

From SFGate August 30 by Nanette Asimov

UC rejects anti-Semitism resolution

The University of California says it won't support a resolution condemning anti-Semitism on campus - approved unanimously by the state Assembly on Tuesday - because the resolution says "no public resources will be allowed to be used for any anti-Semitic or any intolerant agitation."

"We think it's problematic because of First Amendment concerns," said Steve Montiel, a UC spokesman.

The nonbinding resolution, says, in effect, that UC and other public universities should ban activity that could be interpreted as intolerant or anti-Semitic, including certain demonstrations, from taking place anywhere on its property.

The move is the latest chapter in a debate that arose this summer over whether students create an intolerable, anti-Semitic environment by staging annual, anti-Israel protests mimicking Israeli guards questioning Palestinians.

The Assembly resolution pitches lawmakers into that prickly First Amendment debate.

"California schools need to recognize that anti-Semitism is still a very real issue on college campuses," said Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, R-Fresno, who wrote the resolution with Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach.

Among the examples Halderman cited was the annual Israel Apartheid Week held on many campuses, in which "students pretending to be Palestinians collapse as if they had been murdered en masse by Israeli Jews." She referred to a study commissioned by UC to evaluate Jewish students' experiences after swastikas were found on several campuses.

Released in July, the report said students have a right to protest against Israel, but that such demonstrations often cross the line into discrimination. While not illegal, they violate "principles of community" that mandate a safe, humane environment for all students, according to its authors from the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP. The report urged UC to ban hate speech on campus and to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism.

Thousands of students and faculty members, many of them Jewish, responded with a petition condemning the report and urging UC President Mark Yudof to reject its recommendations.

Yudof, a First Amendment scholar, said he wouldn't violate the Constitution.

Bravo, Yudof.  Just keep reminding everyone, "It's the 1st amendment, stupid!"

Read it all

Christian genocide continues in Mali; 200K flee for their lives

Really, we can all live together in peace...like in Muslim Spain...or tolerant Tunisia...Egypt...Malaysia...Pakistan...

Uh huh.

From Catholic Culture August 29

Islamic terror driving Christians out of Mali

The Vatican newspaper has called attention to the flight of Christians escaping Islamic persecution in Mali.

As many as 200,000 Christians from Mali have found their way to refugee camps in Algeria and Mauritania, L’Osservatore Romanoreports. Christian families are seeking a safe haven as Islamic terrorists, with links to Al Qaida, become increasingly active in the northern regions of Mali.

"Men are the maintainers of women...good women are therefore obedient...and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them.."

That would be sura 4 verse 34.  Don't blame me. blame the Qur'an and those who use it to support their actions and behavior.  They do not misunderstand the Qur'an, they are interpreting it exactly as it was written, and in accordance with the behavior of Muhammad.  No, they have it right, alright.

From Islam versus Europe August 29 by Cheradenine Zakalwe

Berlin: Somali Breaks Wife's Fingers Because She Wanted to Feed Children During Ramadan

A 24-year-old man broke two of his wife's fingers after a dispute on Saturday. [The story is dated 20th August]. As the Northern Police Directorate in Neuruppin communicated, the woman wanted to give her two small children something to eat during the fasting month of Ramadan. 

That did not suit the husband, who is of the Islamic faith, and he forbade it using violence. The police referred the 24-year-old to the community accommodation in Stolpe-Süd in the Hennigsdorf district. The woman was given medical treatment as an out-patient.

British sitcom angers Muslims because it parodies Muslims

There you go.  Do not make fun of Muslims else you suffer the wrath of Islam.

The show sounds very funny, and the character looks like Borats dad so I think many would enjoy it.  Less than 200 complaints against over 3 million viewers should be a slam dunk as far as keeping it on the air, but continuing to show the program would be "Islamophobic."

From the Guardian August 30 by Mark Sweney

Citizen Khan may face Ofcom investigation

Citizen Khan.  Orson Wells, call your office!

Ofcom is considering launching an investigation into BBC1's Citizen Khan, a comedy about a modern Asian family, after receiving complaints that it stereotypes Muslims and insults Islam.

The TV regulator has received about 20 complaints about the sitcom, which debuted on BBC1 in Monday night, and is now assessing them.

Ofcom will then make a decision as to whether the complaints warrant a formal investigation to see whether the BBC has broken any UK broadcasting rules relating to viewer harm and offence.

The BBC had received 187 complaints by Tuesday about the show, which follows the life of a self-appointed "Muslim community leader" and his British-Pakistani family in Birmingham, following its broadcast.

The number of complaints has almost certainly increased since then, propelled by media coverage of the show, prompting the BBC to decide not to release any updated figures.

Viewers complained that the show was offensive...

So many TV shows have been groundbreaking enough to garner complaints, but in no instance did the one doing the complaining present the very real chance of violent actions.  Until now.

Read it all

Iranian head-scratcher; do they or don't they?

I am not quite sure what to make of this, so I will let it stand as is and let you decide.  It could be a good thing, it could be very bad but my gut tells me it's the latter.

From Reuters August 30

Iran leader rules out nuclear bomb, will pursue energy

(Reuters) - Iran has no interest in nuclear weapons but will keep pursuing peaceful nuclear energy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told heads of state from developing countries in Tehran.

Iran, hosting a summit of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), is hoping the high-profile event will prove that Western efforts to isolate it and punish it economically for its disputed nuclear programme have failed.

"Our motto is nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none," Khamenei told the assembled heads of state.

Read it all

Pakistan: 11 year old mentally challenged girl accused of blasphemy must be killed or Muslims will do it themselves

Ah the tolerance and humanity of Islam shines through once again.  Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy about this?  I know Islamists do.

From the Guardian August 30 by Saeed Shah

Pakistan blasphemy case: 'Muslims could take law into their own hands'

A lawyer representing the man who accused a Pakistani Christian girl of blasphemy has claimed that if she is not convicted, Muslims could "take the law into their own hands".

Rao Abdur Raheem, who appeared in court for the first time at a bail hearing on Tuesday, cited the example of Mumtaz Qadri, the man who last year gunned down a senior politician who had called for the reformof the much-abused blasphemy law.

The lawyer's comments are likely to further complicate a bitterly contentious case which has caused international outcry and embarrassed the Pakistani government.

The girl, Rimsha Masih, whose family says she is 11, was arrested earlier this month and charged with desecrating the Qur'an after a neighbour, Malik Hammad, claimed that he saw her with burnt pages of the holy text in a bag she was carrying.

Her family had hoped that she would be granted bail on Thursday after a medical report this week found that she was a minor – thus eligible for bail – and has learning difficulties. But those hopes were dashed whenRaheem challenged the report in court and the hearing was postponed.

According to Raheem, the medical report on Masih was illegal, as it followed the orders of a civil servant and not the court, and went beyond its remit of determining her age. He accused the government of supporting her and manipulating court proceedings.

Speaking outside the Islamabad court after the hearing, Raheem said: "There are many Mumtaz Qadris in this country … This (medical) report has been managed by the state, state agencies and the accused."

Later, sitting in his office beneath a large poster of Qadri, Raheem told the Guardian: "If the court is not allowed to do its work, because the state is helping the accused, then the public has no other option except to take the law into their own hands."

Read it all

Tales from the TSA; another reason not to fly

A story of ineptness, secret psychological chatting and profiling the wrong person.

From Michigan Live August 22 by Steve Gunn

Steve Gunn: Just say no when the TSA asks you to 'chat'
I came face-to-face with Big Brother the other day, and it was a frightening experience.

He actually presented himself in the deceptive form of a young, attractive female officer, working for the Transportation Security Administration at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

At first she simply seemed chatty and friendly. She looked at my airline boarding pass and noted that I was coming from Denver. Then she mentioned that I was headed from Detroit to Grand Rapids.

"That's a pretty short flight," she said.

"Talk to my travel agent," I grumbled.

At that point she asked me what my business would be in Grand Rapids.

"I'm headed home," I replied.

Then she wanted to know where home was. That's when the mental alarms went off and I realized I was being interrogated by Big Brother in drag.

I asked her why the federal government needed to know where I was going and what I would be doing. She explained that the questions were part of a new security "pilot program."

I then told her I am an American citizen, traveling within my own country, and I wasn't breaking any laws. That's all the federal government needed to know, and I wasn't going to share any more.

Not because I had anything to hide. It was because we live in a free country where innocent people are supposedly protected from unwarranted government intrusion and harassment.

At that point the agent yelled out, "We have another refusal." One of my bags was seized and I was momentarily detained and given a hand-swab, which I believe was to test for residue from bomb-making materials.

I passed the bomb test and was told I could move on, but I hung around a moment and told everyone within listening range what I thought about this terrifying experience.

So, this is what we've come to. The federal government now has a need to know where citizens are going and what they are doing before they are allowed to peacefully pass. I'm starting to wonder what separates us from Russia or Cuba.

Of course, I went home, got on the computer and learned more about this "pilot program." I discovered that it's been going on for a few years now at selected airports around the nation.

Read it all

"I feel very strongly whenever you see this kind of bigoted and hate-filled rhetoric. It’s very important for me as a human being and particularly as a Jew to stand up against it"

Defending those committed to your death seems crazy to me.  Islamic doctrine calls for the conversion, subjugation or death for unbelievers (9-29) yet these people refuse to accept that this is true, believing instead in the doctrine of "we are all equal and deserving of the same respect as any other group."  You know, multiculturalism.

The signs posted point out a fact, that attacks by Islamic jihadists occur regularly, and that it is not Islamophobia to point that out.  Some don't seem to care about the truth and want to complain because on an emotional level they think cultures, religions, societies and civilizations are all the same.

They are not, and Islam today is the only organized group calling for the death of those who don't follow the "religion of peace."  These signs are needed, as the public must be educated as to the real danger Islamic texts and tenets pose to the "civilized man."

From The Greenwich Post August 23 by Ken Borsuk

Train ads cause furor, charges of anti-Islam bigotry

New billboard ads that have been posted at Metro-North stations along the New Haven line, including in Greenwich stations, are raising eyebrows from residents and condemnation from local officials.

The ads, which are being paid for by a group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which was created by right-wing blogs and think tanks, have been criticized as racist and anti-Islamic because of their claims that 19,250 “terrorist attacks” have been carried out by Muslims since Sept. 11, 2001. The ads post that number while saying “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism” and they have brought about quick condemnation from local residents and officials.

As of Monday, the ads were up at both the Cos Cob and Riverside stations. At the downtown Greenwich station, which is the most heavily used of the town’s stations, the ad had been up but had been ripped down by someone, leaving only a tatter of the ad remaining. At the Old Greenwich station, the ad is not displayed but there is a blank spot where no ad is currently displayed, leaving open the possibility that it was vandalized there too.

Town resident Sarah Littman said she saw the ad at the Cos Cob Station last week and quickly filed a letter of complaint with both the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council and wrote to all three selectmen as well as the District 8 members of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) as well as her State Rep. Fred Camillo (R-151).

“I was shocked and incredibly offended when I saw the ad,” Ms. Littman told the Post, adding that she has received a lot of support from those she has written to. “One of the reasons I love living in Cos Cob is that it has such a small town, bucolic feel to it with a strong sense of community. To have this kind of dreadful hate speech blasting you in the face as soon as you drive into the parking lot was shocking to me.”

The ads are being paid for by blogger Pamela Geller, who lists her own blog atlasshrugs.com on the signs along with two other web addresses jihadwatch.org and sioa.us. Ms. Geller has come under heavy criticism for past statements made on her blog attacking Islam, President Barack Obama and Democrats in general, but in an interview with the Post this week she said she is only trying to make people aware “of the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat” and claims the number of attacks cited in the ad is a “fact” taken from the website thereligionofpeace.com, which has also been accused of inflating its numbers and making racist and unfair criticisms of Islam.

Ms. Geller has brought this campaign nationally, recently taking out ads in San Francisco, Calif. with even stronger language, saying supporting Israel and “defeating jihad” is supporting the “civilized man” over the “savage.” Those ads have not been displayed in the area. Last month, a New York judge upheld her ability to run the ads under First Amendment grounds of freedom of speech when the MTA tried to block them.

“It is not creating paranoia or calling for discrimination to declare opposition to an ideology that denies the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law,” Ms. Geller said.

She later added, “The core texts and teachings of Islam teach warfare against and subjugation of non-Muslims. Those who commit violence in the name of Islam can and do point to those teachings to justify their actions, and armed group of Muslims are committing violence in the name of Islam on a virtually daily basis around the world. There are, by contrast, no armed groups committing violence in the name of Judaism and Christianity and justifying them by reference to the Torah or the New Testament, and those religions do not teach the necessity to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers.”

Statements like that from Ms. Geller have earned her sharp criticism in the past as have her associations with far-right European anti-Islamic organizations that have been classified as hate groups internationally. The Southern Poverty Law Center has her listed as one of “30 new activists heading up the radical right.”

Ms. Littman said that what the sign represents and the statements of the people behind the ads are destructive and bigoted.

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Turkey: no more secular schools

AKP Justice and Development Party Deputy Ali Boğa says their party now has the chance to change all secular schools to Islamic ones.  Kamal Ataturk must be dizzy from all that grave-spinning.

From Hurriyet August 24

We now have the chance to turn all schools into religious schools, says AKP deputy
The ruling party now has the chance to transform all schools in Turkeyinto imam hatip religious schools thanks to recent educational reforms, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Ali Boğa said, private broadcaster NTV reported.

Boğa was attending the homecoming celebrations of Muğla İmam Highschool when he stated that Turkey was "now past the times when it was forbidden to read the Quran."

"We are here as imam hatip graduates, or as allies," Boğa said. "We will increase the number of these schools in records. We have the chance to turn all schools into imam hatip [schools]."

"We have that chance now that the Quran and religious classes were added to schools’ curriculum," Boğa said.

Muslim Brotherhood now in "total control' of Egypt

The chimerical belief in a secular and democratic Egypt is dead, or should be.  Unfortunately, even something as obvious as this announcement will not change the Obama administrations belief that Islam is to be integrated in American society with all due dispatch, and that sharia is compatible with, and not in conflict with the constitution.  His blind support of the MB and Morsi will, in the end get us killed, and threaten the very existence of Israel.  We cannot afford another 4 years of Obama.

From The Jerusalem Post August 23 by Zvi Mazel

Analysis: Brotherhood taking total control of Egypt

 

Muslim Brotherhood banner; swords and the Qur'an
While the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism in the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsy is quietly taking over all the power bases in the country.

Having gotten rid of the army old guard, he replaced them with his own men – officers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood or known sympathizers. Then he turned his attention to the media, replacing 50 editors working for the government’s extensive and influential press empire – including Al- Ahram, Al-Akhbar, Al-Gomhuria. He is now busy appointing new governors to the 27 regions of the country.

All actions we have seen before, yet no one gets the connection with the NSDAP (Nazis) in Germany in the early 30s. 

Hosni Mubarak used to choose retired generals he could depend on for these sensitive posts; Morsy is hand picking party faithful. At the same time upper echelons in government ministries and economic and cultural organizations are methodically being replaced. The Muslim Brotherhood is fast assuming total control. For many observers, the deployment of army units in Sinai is more about proclaiming Egyptian sovereignty in the face of Israel than actually fighting Islamic terrorism.

Drafting the new constitution is their next objective. Brothers and Salafis make up an absolute majority in the Constituent Assembly. Liberal and secular forces are boycotting its sessions, and the Supreme Constitutional Court is examining a request to have it dissolved since it does not conform to the constitution because of its overly Islamic composition; a decision is expected in September.

The assembly, however, is not waiting. According to various leaks it is putting the final touch to a constitution where all laws have to conform to the Shari’a and special committees will supervise the media and forbid any criticism of Islam and of the Prophet. In the wings is the creation of a Committee of Islamic Sages supervising the law-making process and in effect voiding of substance the parliament elected by the people, though it is not clear yet if, when and how it will work. What is clear is that a parliament made of flesh and blood individuals is against the very nature of the Shari’a, where all laws are based on the Koran and the hadiths. This is a far cry from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Morsy has been careful to speak about creating “a civil society”; it is now obvious that what he meant was a society not ruled by the army, and not a secular society. Indeed he had promised to appoint a woman and a Copt as vice presidents, but chose Mohamed Maki, a Sunni known for his sympathy for the Brotherhood and incidentally or not the brother of the new minister of justice, Prof. Ahmed Maki, known for his independent stands and opposition to Mubarak, but who had carefully concealed his support for the Brothers.

It is worth stressing that the Brotherhood is still operating under conditions of utmost secrecy, as it had been doing during the decades of persecution. How it is getting its funds, who are its members and how they are recruited is not known, nor is its decision-taking process. The movement has no legal existence since Gamal Abdel Nasser officially disbanded it in 1954.

That state of affairs was not changed while the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ruled the country, since apparently the movement did not apply for recognition, fearing perhaps it would have to reveal some of its secrets. Now that it has created its own political party, that the members of that party make up nearly 50 percent of the parliament and that one of their own has been elected president, can the movement remain in the shadows?

Morsy did announce that he was resigning from the Brotherhood, but there is no doubt that he will remain true to the tenets and the commands of its leaders. This is making people increasingly uneasy. They had other expectations of the revolution.

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Pakistan: mentally challenged 11 year old girl to be tried for blasphemy; 100s of Christians flee due to "insecurity"

Our friend, Pakistan is again showing their duplicity.  As Pakistan waffles, innocents are abused and deprived of basic human rights. 

From ASIANews August 24 by Jibran Khan

Pakistani Muslims: Disabled 11 yr-old Christian should be punished

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - If guilty of blasphemy, the child should be punished according to the laws of the country. This is a widespread view among Muslims in Pakistan, whether laymen or religious leaders, regarding the tragedy of an 11 year old Christian girl who is disabled and was recently charged under the "black law". To date the child is being detained under lock and key in a reform school - pending a full hearing for release on bail - for desecrating a few pages of a book that conatined verses from the Koran (see AsiaNews 19/08/2012 An 11-year-old disabled Christian girl arrested for blasphemy, 300 families flee). Interviewed by AsiaNews on the issue scholar Mehmood Ahmed Khan, a member of the Islamic Ideology Council (IIc), said that "Rimsha is a minor, but if she is mentally stable and committed the crime, child or not she should be punished." He adds, "no one can be allowed to desecrate the Koran."

Several human rights organizations, including the Masihi Foundation and Life for All, along with the Catholic Church of Pakistan have announced a demonstration tomorrow in Lahore on August 25, demanding the release of Rimsha Masih - this is the name of the girl, arrested on blasphemy charges - and who faces up to life in prison. The incident occurred on August 17 in Umara Jaffar, G-12 Islamabad, where the family of the minor live. In response, a mob of local Muslims - egged on by the imams - attacked the Christian community, forcing hundreds of families to flee.

Bishop Rufin Anthony of Islamabad-Rawalpindi has launched a call: "it is time for the entire Christian community to unite and string around the child. Sunday - adds the prelate - our voices will be heard in support thereof." Meanwhile, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has appointed parliamentarian Tahir Naveed Chaudhry lawyer to Rimsha. He assures us that "we will defend the rights of the oppressed" and has prepared "a panel of experts to plead the case." It is a "delicate matter," says the lawyer, but he is optimistic and promises "good news soon."

However, sources say that the APMA lawyer was not allowed meet the child in prison. Now the goal is to get her out of jail and put it in a safe place, since the vast majority of blasphemy deaths are the result of extra-judicial killings, even in prison under the gaze of guards (see AsiaNews 17/09 / 2009 Punjab: young Christian man accused of blasphemy killed in prison). The Christian NGO World Vision in Progress has filed an appeal for bail, which will be discussed on 28 August.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Christian families forced to flee in fear of extremist attacks, accuse the government of neglect and disinterest, despite government proclamations in recent days that ensured comfort and help....

Read it all

"...there is still a radical strain of Islam within our country, Attorney General Eric Holder has said it, [Homeland Security Director] Janet Napolitano has said it, and I will not back down, and will continue to say that it is a major threat to our safety and security"

Yet as true as that statement is, US Rep. Joe Walsh still is getting heat for telling the truth.  He made this statement "...I stand by my original statement that while the overwhelming majority of Muslim Americans are as peace-loving as everyone else, there are radical Islamists right here in the United States trying to kill Americans and destroy this country."  This is a fact, and Islamic apologists and their lapdogs refuse to accept this, thus the continuation of jihad in the US.  Walsh needs to keep telling the truth and not let political correctness deter his voice.

From the Chicago Sun-Times August 24 by Bill Bird

Walsh won’t apologize for saying ‘radical Islamists’ in U.S. want to kill Americans

U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh remains steadfast in his conviction that “radical Islam” threatens the American way of life — a view the controversial congressman again expressed to an unhappy group of Muslim constituents Friday night.

Moon Khan, a Republican Party precinct committeeman in DuPage County and member of the York Township board of trustees, was one of about 80 people who attended an “intense” meeting with Walsh Friday night in the back yard of Khan’s home in Lombard.

“It was a very, very intense meeting, and he did not change his mind,” Khan later said of Walsh.

The meeting was called after Walsh alleged there is “a radical stream of Islam” in the U.S. that threatens the lives of Americans — including residents of Addison, Elgin and Elk Grove — at a townhall meeting in Elk Grove.

At the meeting Friday night, Khan said members of the local Muslim community “are young, American-born-and-raised individuals who share the American dream of a life of liberty, peace and the pursuit of happiness. They are your teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, policemen and hard-working Americans that [are] productive members of society ...”

“Your recent speeches have created catalogues of issues for the Muslim community,” Khan told Walsh, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Of course they did.  The last thing Islam wants is to be exposed to the masses, and they don't need or want a catalogue of issues to blur their desire to instill sharia and the next caliphate.

“We want to ask the congressman why he is the only person who sees the ghost of radical Muslims everywhere. Why did not his colleague, Congressman Peter Roskam ... raise such alarm? We did not hear such warnings from U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, not to mention the Democratic members of Congress. You are running the idea up the flag, and nobody is saluting it.”

“We would also like to know if you found any radical Muslim in this gathering. If yes, please tell us, how did you detect that? Do you have a device like a metal detector that you rotate around and find Muslim radicals?”

Khan said he and others “are here to pick up the stones that have been thrown at us by the congressman, and turn them into the milestones of tolerance.”

How many "milestones of tolerance" does it take to kill a female adulterer?

Khan later said it appeared Walsh during the meeting “was kind of trying to defend himself about what he has been saying in the media. He was trying to clarify that he is just talking about a tiny, tiny percentage” of people with the “radical Muslim” agenda, Khan said.

“But [Walsh] said that he did not want to apologize ... and just defended himself,” Khan said. “He said he did not want to hurt people and he does not hate the Muslim community, and he was just raising the question.”

Walsh spokeswoman Erin Rapp said Friday night she was sorry Khan felt the way he did.

“The congressman is glad he brought everyone together, but he has nothing to apologize for,” Rapp said. “He implores all Muslim Americans to condemn radical Islam.”

Do it in a meaningful way, like put in place programs to root out jihadists in the mosque and teach the importance of tolerance to Muslims living in a non-Muslim country.  That would be a great start.

Read it all  

Flights of fancy at travelling Islamic museum exhibit

Who was the first to fly like a bird?  Who invented the camera?  Where did the numeral "zero" originate?  Who founded the worlds first hospital?  These and many other questions are answered at the 1001 Muslim Inventions, a travelling museum exhibit" which is, as the name implies travelling around to different museums.  There is but one little hitch in the git-a-long; a good number of the exhibits are either outright lies, fabrications or grossly misleading to the viewer.  If you thought you knew your history, think again.

From PJMedia August 25 by Pamela Geller


1001 Pieces of Islamist Propaganda: Fabricated Exhibit Comes to D.C.

J. Christian Adams’ article “Fact or Fiction?: 1001 Muslim Inventions Comes to Washington D.C.” sheds light on an important but little-noted weapon of the Islamic propaganda machine in the U.S.: the whitewashing of the ghastly Islamic present by creating a fictional glorious Islamic past.

1001 Muslim Inventions, a traveling museum exhibit, has appeared all over the West to huge acclaim (Adams points out that Prince Charles and other luminaries have praised it; 500,000 visitors attended it in Los Angeles alone). It has indoctrinated hundreds of thousands of children into a rosy and romanticized view of Islam that makes them less appreciative of their own culture’s achievements and more complacent about Islamization in the West.

Sharia enforcement extends far beyond the obvious attempts to silence critics of jihad and sharia. The scrubbing of the 270 million victims of jihadi wars, land appropriations, cultural annihilations, and enslavements from academic texts has been going on for well over a decade. The demonization and smearing of politicians who dare speak against the most extreme and radical ideology on the face of the earth is virtually automatic at this point, as is the self-enforcing sharia compliance of the mainstream media.

And now we see historical revisionism take on a new life, as history is scrubbed and manufactured Muslim myths are presented as fact. Adams shows how effective it is, recounting in his piece that the exhibit presents a Muslim inventor, Abbas Ibn Firnas, as one who “dared to dream man could fly 1000 years before the Wright Brothers.” Firnas didn’t actually succeed in flying, of course, or come close to inventing the airplane. Adams writes:

Notice all of the tricks of language. He was the first “whotried to fly,” and “passed into legend,” “more or lessunharmed,” the “flying machine,” (implying moving parts), and “apparently gliding for some distance.”

But Adams’ eight-year-old daughter seeing the exhibit, did not notice all the weasel words:

She was convinced that the Wright Brothers were not the first to fly, and instead it was Firnas launched from the mosque at Cordoba a millennium ago. This would not be the only instance when thought corrupted the language of the exhibit, which in turn corrupted thought, at least among the more impressionable.

By creating a children’s attraction, the exhibit is fostering a subliminal brainwashing that will move into the public schools as well.

The exhibit is almost unfailingly dishonest. As Adams explains, even if everything it says about Muslim inventions were true, it does not and cannot explain why Muslims never followed up on these inventions. If Firnas was really the first to fly, why did it fall to the Wright Brothers 1000 years later to follow up on what he supposedly discovered about how to do it? Why weren’t Muslims flying around in airplanes centuries before the Wright Brothers were born?

If, as Adams also recounts, Muslims really invented the camera as the exhibit claims, why don’t we have snapshots of Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent? Why did we have to wait for Daguerre and Niepce?

1001 Muslim Inventions raises more questions about the decline of Muslim civilization than it answers, yet projects like 1001 Muslim Inventions have support at very high levels. Remember in June 2010 when Charlie Bolden, the NASA chief appointed by President Obama, revealed that Obama had asked him to “find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering”?

The truth: what contributions?

Islamic scholar Robert Spencer points out that much of what are considered Muslim inventions today, including many that 1001 Muslim Inventions celebrates, have been wildly exaggerated if not outright fabricated, “often for quite transparent apologetic motives.” You’ve heard Muslims invented the zero, right? Actually, as Spencer writes:

The zero, which is often attributed to Muslims, and what we know today as “Arabic numerals” did not originate in Arabia, but in pre-Islamic India.

They preserved Greek philosophy when Christian Europe had thrown it away, correct? No. Spencer:

Aristotle’s work was preserved in Arabic not initially by Muslims at all, but by Christians such as the fifth century priest Probus of Antioch, who introduced Aristotle to the Arabic-speaking world. Another Christian, Huneyn ibn-Ishaq (809-873), translated many works by Aristotle, Galen, Plato and Hippocrates into Syriac. His son then translated them into Arabic. The Syrian Christian Yahya ibn ‘Adi (893-974) also translated works of philosophy into Arabic, and wrote one of his own, The Reformation of Morals. His student, another Christian named Abu ‘Ali ‘Isa ibn Zur’a (943-1008), also translated Aristotle and others from Syriac into Arabic.

Aristotle’s philosophies would be prohibited under Islam; Muhammad most likely would have beheaded him. He stands for everything Islam is against. Ayn Rand wrote this of Aristotle: “Aristotle’s universe is the universe of science. The physical world, in his view, is not a shadowy projection controlled by a divine dimension, but an autonomous, self-sufficient realm. It is an orderly, intelligible, natural realm, open to the mind of man.” These very ideas are anathema to Islam; they are blasphemy.

Read it all

11 year old Christian boy in Pakistan tortured and murdered

You'll hear nothing of this on the MSM.  I wonder why?

From The Telegraph August 23 by Dean Nelson

Detectives in Faisalabad, around 60 miles from Lahore, said they were investigating whether accusations of blasphemy had also been made against the boy.

Human rights campaigners condemned the killing of Samuel Yaqoob whose burned and tortured body body was discovered on Eid, the celebration which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

His lips and nose had been sliced off, his stomach removed and there was evidence that his legs had been mutilated too.

The boy had been missing since Monday when he left his home in the town's Christian Colony to visit a local market. His relatives identified his body from a distinctive mark on his forehead.

Yaquub was reported to be an orphan but in local newspaper reports his mother Asia Bibi was quoted denying he had been accused of blasphemy. "We neither received any phone call for ransom nor were we told that Samuel had committed blasphemy," she said.

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Possible porcine "hate crime" has Muslims fuming

Packages of bacon were found in a city park that was going to be used by local Muslims for an end of Ramadan celebration.  Could be a nasty and stupid attempt at insulting Muslims, or it could be something else entirely.  What is most interesting is that immediately everyone is jumping on the hate crime bandwagon, trying to find a thread they can use to tie this to Muslim victimhood claims.  We shall see.

Maybe someone left it there as food for wild animals, who knows.

Update; August 24- Here is the latest report that clears up the alleged Muslim hate crime that was eagerly spread by Islamic apologists and the media lapdogs for Muslim supremacy.  I am sure apologies from local Muslim leaders and the press are being written as you read this, explaining how they got it all wrong.

From AP August 22
NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City newspaper says it received an anonymous call from a person claiming to have discarded spoiled bacon in a park where Muslims had scheduled Ramadan prayers.

The caller said he was putting it out for seagulls and raccoons to eat, not as an anti-Muslim statement....

From CBS August 20 

NYPD Probing Hate Crime After Bacon Found At Staten Island Ramadan Site

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police are investigating an unusual bias crime on Staten Island.

Muslims who gathered for prayer to celebrate the end of Ramadan in a city park found bacon scattered on the ground, CBS 2’s John Slattery reported Monday.

With Ramadan ending this past weekend, Muslims celebrated the end of fasting with prayer. On Staten Island an outdoor service was held Sunday on a New Dorp football field, attracting some 1,500 Muslims.

But before most of the faithful arrived for Morning Prayer, it was discovered that someone had scattered a quantity of raw bacon on the field.

“This has been determined to be a bias event on the part of our Hate Crimes Task Force,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters, including WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb.

“On a website associated with this celebration was some derogatory comments and at the site itself, three packages of raw bacon were found,” Kelly added.

Followers of Islam are forbidden to eat pork. Even before the bacon was located, someone left offensive messages on the organization’s website.

“…That he or she was going to do something with a fat pig right at the time of morning prayer,” said Hesham El-Meligy of the Islamic Civic Association of Staten Island.

“The statement came from someone who identified himself as ’007Midland,’” Kelly said on Monday afternoon. “Obviously, we’re conducting an investigation to determine who put the message on the website.”

Police computer experts are trying to locate the identity of that person, whom Muslim organizers of the prayer service said was clearly trying to taunt Muslims through intimidation, like other symbols disturbing to African-Americans or Jews.

“Whether burning crosses or swastikas, a small minority are trying to threaten other people,” said Muneer Awad, executive director of the (Hamas-linked)New York chapter of the Council on Islamic Relations.

“This isn’t what America’s about. This isn’t about intolerance, our diversity is our strength and we’re encouraging people to embrace that diversity..."

Read it  all

" I call upon all our [security] services in the PA to strike with an iron fist anyone who gives in to temptation and eats in public during Ramadan, by applying the heaviest punishments, until our society is pure, clean and close to Allah"

He said it.

From PMW August 22 by Itamar Marcus

PA Sheikh to PA police:
"Strike with an iron fist" those who eat
in public during Ramadan

A Palestinian Authority cleric has ruled that the PA must prohibit eating in public during Ramadan and should severely punish anyone who violates this law. To back up his ruling, he cited a Hadith (Islamic tradition attributed to Muhammad) that for anyone who fails to fast, "his blood becomes permitted [to be shed]." He called on PA police to "strike with an iron fist" and give "the heaviest punishments" to those who eat in public.

Palestinian Media Watch reported earlier this month that the PA has prohibited even non-Muslims from eating in public during the month of fasting, and that 6 people had been arrested by the PA for public eating.

The following is the text of the ruling, which was published by Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Jaber, Mufti of the Rafiah district and a member of the Supreme Council for Religious Rulings in Palestine, in his daily Ramadan column:

"The Prophet [Muhammad] said: 'The pillars of religion and foundations of Islam are three, and whoever neglects any one of them - his blood is permitted [to be shed]: the testimony that there is no God but Allah; fasting [during Ramadan]; and prayer.' [Hadith] Anyone who eats in public during Ramadan, denying the commandment of the fast and renouncing it, is violating Allah's laws and rebelling against Allah, Who said: 'O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you...' [Sura 2, verse 183]. [By eating] he leaves the circle of Islam, and his blood becomes permitted [to be shed]. Also, eating in public during Ramadan hurts the sensitivities of all Muslims around the entire world...
Therefore, I call upon all our [security] services in the PA to strike with an iron fist anyone who gives in to temptation and eats in public during Ramadan, by applying the heaviest punishments, until our society is pure, clean and close to Allah."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 13, 2012]

Pakistan: Baubles blamed on blast

No injuries, just property damage this time.  The owner of the store had received threatening letters telling her to stop selling decadent styles and jewelry, otherwise there would be problems.  Interestingly, the store not only sells women's clothing and accessories but it is also run and staffed by women.  So it is OK to blow up a women's business selling clothes but not OK to sell women's clothes.

Got it.

From the Daily Times August 23

Women’s shopping store blown up in Landikotal

LANDIKOTAL: A bomb went off in a women’s shopping store in KhugaKhel area of Landikotal on Monday. However, no casualty was reported in the blast, local sources said. Some unidentified militants had already warned the owners of the general store not to sell women items like clothes, shoes, bangles and other products. They warned them to close their business. Majority of the locals were of the view that the women general store has facilitated the local women to purchase items of their choice. It would be worth mentioning that the stores for women in Landikotal are also run by women. After an explosion in a mobile shop, people said that it was an alarming situation and the area might once again become a hub of militants to sabotage the peaceful environment.

Nigerian Update; August 23

Boko Haram (books, him bad) has rejected any peace talks with the government, and have also warned in a message that says "We are telling the government to understand that if it is not ready to embrace sharia (Islamic law) and the Koran as the guiding book from which the laws of the land derive, there shall be no peace."  Who knew there were so many Islamophobes in Nigeria?

From Reuters August 23 by Ibrahim Mshezilla

Nigeria Islamists rule out peace talks, threaten media

(Reuters) - Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram ruled out on Thursday holding peace talks with the government and threatened to strike media houses it said fight the group "with the pen".

The local press and at least two foreign news organizations have reported that talks are going on between the government and the militants who have been staging an insurgency against it, citing unnamed sources.

Information minister Labaran Maku declined comment on Wednesday on the talks, citing government instructions not to discuss the issue.

Since launching an insurgency against the government in 2009 with the avowed aim of turning all or part of religiously-mixed Nigeria into an Islamic state, Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in near daily gun and bomb attacks.

"We are telling the government to understand that if it is not ready to embrace sharia (Islamic law) and the Koran as the guiding book from which the laws of the land derive, there shall be no peace," the sect's spokesman Abu Qaqa said in a written statement in the northeast city of Maiduguri, the heart of the rebellion.

Snickers of derision allowed when speaking his name.

Boko Haram has replaced militancy in the creeks of the oil-producing Niger Delta as the biggest security threat to Nigeria, Africa's top energy producer. A flurry of efforts to start talks followed accusations early this year that President Goodluck Jonathan was treating the crisis too narrowly as a security issue.

But attempts at dialogue are complicated by Boko Haram's shadowy nature and the fact there sometimes appears to be more than one faction. The main one, led by Abubakar Shekau, has never shown any overt interest in dialogue.

Qaqa also threatened media houses, recalling the sect's dual bomb attack on local newspaper ThisDay in the capital Abuja and northern city of Kaduna in April that killed five people.

"They should understand that for us there is no difference between those fighting with arms and with the pen," he said.

Read it all

Hezbollah: “There are targets in the occupied territories which we can target by small number of accurate missiles, and these missiles can turn the Zionists’ lives into hell and can claim the lives of tens of thousands”

Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Nasrallah said that.  Be mad at him, not me for reporting it.

From ABNA August 21

Sayyed Nasrallah: We Can Turn Millions of Zionists’ Lives into Real Hell

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - His eminence, Sayyed Nasrallah, stresses that the Palestinian cause is a central one, Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, says that the resistance can turn lives of millions of Zionists into real hell.

Commemorating the International al-Quds day, Hezbollah held a ceremony in Beirut’s southern suburb, in which Sayyed Nasrallah addressed crowds, stressing that the resistance would defend the country against any Israeli attack, and would not wait for any permission to do so.

His eminence noted that the price of this attack would be very expensive to the extent that “we can talk about tens of thousands of killed.”

Hezbollah S.G. affirmed that the issue of al-Quds “is over all disagreements”, adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been committed to the Palestinian cause.

Concerning the events in Lebanon in the last two days, Sayyed Nasralla said that Hezbollah following the abduction of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria had asked people to go out of streets. However his eminence stressed that now after three months of the abduction, the condition in the country was over control of Hezbollah and Amal Movement.

Sayyed Nasrallah also slammed media channels for their performance, saying it was “catastrophic” especially regarding the responsibility towards the kin of the abductees.

ABOUT THE OCCASION: AL-QUDS
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed on the importance of making al-Quds the central cause, saying that it is over all disagreements within the Arabs and Muslims.

"We meet today in al-Quds day which Imam Khomeini had chosen as an international day in the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan," his eminence addressed crowds.
"Imam Khomeini chose this day for al-Quds in an indication that this spiritual condition that we live in Ramadan should be concentrated in the favor of al-Quds."

"In every year, and especially in Ramadan, we need to return to al-Quds and Palestine in order to recognize our religious, moral and humanitarian responsibilities toward them.”

Concerning Hezbollah’s stance towards al-Quds, Sayyed Nasrallah wanted to “reassure the enemy and the friend that the issue of al-Quds and Palestine is over all disagreements, and our faith in it would not be shaken.”
His eminence said that the Israeli enemy has been working on judaizing al-Quds, as he noted that the issue of al-Quds is an issue of consensus within the Israelis.

“We can’t talk about the future of al-Quds without talking about the fate of the enemy’s entity because the Zionists agree upon this issue whatever they disagree on other issues.”

“Zionists agree upon al-Quds and they are working on judaization of it, while the Arabs are not agreeing upon this cause,” his eminence noted.

He said that the occupation has been building settlements and trying to force the Palestinians out of their land.
“One of the causes of the poverty among the Palestinians is the racial wall which the Zionist have built, while the Arabs are sinking in the quagmire of their divisions and disagreements,” his eminence added.

ZIONIST ENTITY AND IRAN THREAT
Talking about the changes within the region, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Israeli enemy was first concerned over the revolutions across the Arab world, but then, when the crisis started in Syria, the Zionist entity was more comfortable, his eminence said further.

“During the last two years, when the Arab world witnessed several changes, the Israeli enemy was concerned and they considered that the strategic danger on them was high.”

“Following these events, the Israeli enemy is standing aside, looking forward to developments with delight,” Sayyed Nasrallah added, noting that there are some sides who are exploiting Iran’s stance over the Syrian crisis in order “to create enmity between the Arab countries and the Islamic Republic.”

Hezbollah S.G. also tackled the recent threats by the Zionist entity over a strike against the Islamic Republic.
“In the last months the Israeli staged unprecedented escalation towards Iran, Syria or even Lebanon. This escalation is built on the last developments taking place in the region.”

Sayyed Nasrallah said that Israel’s problem with Iran is that the Islamic republic is committed to the Palestinian cause and al-Quds.

Read it all

It's the Islamophobia, stupid!

Bradley Burston explains it all for us in this current article in Haaretz.  In it, Burston denounces Pamela Geller (because of her transit ads in NY) and by extension anyone who dares to conflate Islam with anything other than peace, tolerance and a few extra verses of Kumbayya.  Hey Brad, over here...look, another Islamophobe!

From Haaretz August 21 by Bradley Burston


Islamophobia, not Islam, will be the end of Israel

SAN FRANCISCO – Everyone knows how it works. Everyone knows what it sounds like. Everyone knows how easy it is to get away with it.

Everyone knows, deep down, that hatred feeds on tolerance. That however well-intentioned, a society's forbearance for the toxic slur, for the poison of ethnic or religious or racial prejudice, does hatred invaluable service.

No one knows this better than professional bigots. People like Pamela Geller, who pass themselves off as supporters of a worthy cause even as their hatred and prejudice stain and undermine anything and everything worthy about that cause.

As opposed to amateur bigots, who work for free?

For years, in the guise of supporting Israel, Geller has engaged in promoting hatred of Islam. In recent weeks, in a campaign timed to coincide with Muslims' observance of the sacred month of Ramadan, her American Freedom Defense Initiative has run caustic, self-styled "pro-Israel" advertisements on the sides of public transit buses in San Francisco.

"In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man," the ads begin, white letters on black. Below it, in blue letters flanked by Stars of David, it read "Support Israel" and below that, in red, "Defeat Jihad."

Last year, when Geller's group tried to place the ads on public buses in New York, the city's Metropolitan Transit Authority rejected them as violating its prohibition on messages that demean individuals or groups. But in July, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled that the Geller group had been denied First Amendment guarantees of free speech. That same day, the ads went up in San Francisco.

Geller told ABC News that the purpose of the ads was to counter "fallacious and dangerous" ads on San Francisco area transit trains a year ago, urging cuts in U.S. aid to Israel. "If I had my way, the ("support Israel" ads) would be in every city in the United States of America, and if I can get the funding, that's exactly what's going to happen."

To its credit, Muni, the San Francisco transit agency, did more than simply mount Geller's message. It condemned the ads. Alongside them. In bus ads of its own.

Burston, your leftist ideology is showing.

In a move without precedent, Muni said in the new ads that its policy "prohibits discrimination based on national origin, religion, and other characteristics, and condemns statements that describe any group as 'savages.'"

So can we assume you will not run the anti-Israeli ads either because of this new "policy?"

Muni spokesman Paul Rose said that while Muni is bound by the First Amendment, "Obviously we think the [Geller-sponsored] ads in place right now are repulsive and they definitely cross the line."

Of late, in tandem with anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab attacks by radical settlers and Arab-hating Jewish youths in Israel and the territories ("He's an Arab. He deserves to die," a 14-year-old assault suspect told a court on Monday), there are troubling signs in America of a tendency to conflate hatred of Muslims with support for a Jewish state.

"The Arabs are one of the least developed cultures," a "pro-Israel" NGO called the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights quotes Geller's ideological inspiration as having said in a 1974 speech. "Their culture is primitive, and they resent Israel because it's the sole beachhead of modern science and civilization on their continent. When you have civilized men fighting savages, you support the civilized men, no matter who they are."

In this light, Bay Area Jews are to be especially commended for denouncing Geller and her works. J., the community newspaper, said that "any right-thinking person, Jewish or not, must oppose these ads." The Anti-Defamation League called the ads “highly offensive and inflammatory,” and the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Jewish Committee issued a similar denunciation.

At root, this is what Geller denies: Israel can only exist as a democracy if it continually acts to foster and equalize the rights of its Arab citizens, not abrogate and dismiss them. It can only exist as a democracy if it actively works to end the unperson status of the Palestinians of the West Bank and East Jerusalem....

This statement is so easy to deconstruct it is almost a sin to waste the time.  Israel is the ONLY democracy in the Middle East; Arabs are on the Israeli Supreme Court, have equal rights under the law as Jews do (except they cannot serve in the military) and there is no official discrimination against any Israeli citizen.  "Palestinians" cannot be citizens, and that is as it should be.  There is no such thing as a "Palestinian" nor is there a land of "Palestine" and I challenge anyone to show any archaeological evidence of a Palestine government, city or even ancient money that shows a connection with the refugees.  If you can produce evidence accepted by the scientific community, I will pubically retract what I have said about "Palestinians."

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Kentucky jihadist gets 25 to life for conspiring to ship weapons to Iraq

His lawyer, JIm Earhart argues that Mohanad Shareef Hammadi "grew up in a different world" and that he was not very smart.  He also said Hammadi never intended to ship anything to Iraq, let alone weapons and cash.  I like what Robert Spencer said about Hammadi's intentions, "...you know how these things can just happen to someone. You can be just going about your business, walking the dog, buying groceries, and whammo! Suddenly you find yourself shipping weapons to al-Qaeda! I hate when that happens."

From WLNS August 21 by Brett Barrouquere 

Iraqi man pleads guilty in Ky. terrorism case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - An Iraqi man pleaded guilty Tuesday to 10 charges of conspiring to send weapons, cash and explosives to al-Qaida in Iraq and two counts of lying to federal immigration agents to get into the United States and stay in the country.

Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 24, gave simple "yes" and "I plead guilty" answers to questions from U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell in federal court in Louisville. The surprise plea came a week before Hammadi was set to stand trial on the charges in Bowling Green, Ky., where he and a co-defendant were arrested in May 2011 after a federal sting operation.

Hammadi, who did not have a plea agreement with prosecutors, faces 25 years to life in federal prison plus millions of dollars in fines when he's sentenced Dec. 5. He had been scheduled for trial Aug. 28 in Bowling Green. The co-defendant, 30-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan, previously pleaded guilty and is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 3 in Bowling Green.

The plea came as good news to soldiers who fought near the city of Bayji, Iraq, in the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad in 2005, where Hammadi and Alwan told the FBI they worked as insurgents. Six Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers died in that area in August 2005 and Hammadi and Alwan told the FBI and an informant that they were active insurgents there.

Justin Hunt of Alexandria, Va., served with the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard near Bayji. His unit responded to assist on Aug. 9, 2005, when a roadside bomb killed four of the soldiers from Pennsylvania. Hunt sees Hammadi's plea as justice.

"This guy was not smart," Hunt told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "He was just lucky. His luck has run out."

Brandon Miller of Chadds Ford, Pa., received a Purple Heart for burn injuries he sustained after his Humvee blew up after hitting a roadside bomb near Bayji. He described the plea as "outstanding."

"It spares everybody a lot of trouble," said Miller, a former Pennsylvania National Guard sergeant.

Hammadi's defense attorney, Jim Earhart of Louisville, said his client "grew up in a different world" and never intended to get caught up in shipping weapons and explosives to al-Qaida in Iraq. Earhart described Hammadi as willing to plead guilty rather than go through the rigors of a trial to achieve the same result.

"He's hesitant. He's 24 years-old," Earhart said. "He's looking at 25 years to life. Who wouldn't be?"

Read it all

"the fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape of geography”

But...but how can this be? We are told time and time again that Iran has never said they want Israrel destroyed or Jews dead so Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must be one of those Islamophobes we keep hearing about.  We need to have Esposito, or Aslan, or Hooper or Mogahed to travel as quick as possible to Iran and explain to the Ayatollah that he is really misunderstanding Islam.

From The Jerusalem Post August 15 by Herb Keinon and Joanna Paraszczuk 

Khamenei: Zionist regime will disappear from map

Pious and deadly, Ayatollah Khameini prays for genocide

With the US sending clear public signals to Israel that it is opposed to military action now against Iran, and a cacophonous debate on the matter in Israel, senior Iranian officials continue to threaten Israel with destruction.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that he was confidant "the fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape of geography,” Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

Khamenei made the comments during a meeting with veterans of the Iran-Iraq War.

"The light of hope will shine on the Palestinian issue, and this Islamic land will certainly be returned to the Palestinian nation," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Earlier on Wednesday Brig.- Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran's Passive (civil) Defense Organization and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, during a speech ahead of Al-Quds Day, an anti-Israel event initiated by Iran, said that in order to liberate Palestine there was no other option but to destroy Israel.

"[Al-Quds Day] is a reflection of the fact that no other way exists apart from resolve and strength to completely eliminate the aggressive nature and to destroy Israel," Jalali said, according to a report by Iran's ISNA news agency.

The report was also picked up by other news outlets including Mashregh News, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards.

Al-Quds Day is an annual Iranian anti-Zionist event established in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and which falls this year on August 17. Iran also seeks to export the event to other Muslim countries.

Jalali said that the message of Khomeini's Al-Quds Day initiative was that the Muslim world must support the "oppressed people of Palestine" in a show of resistance against "the Zionist usurpers."

Read it all

Santa Monica hotel found guilty of civil rights violations against Jews

First, I never thought I would hear of anti-semitic behavior at a luxury hotel in Santa Monica, California, and second the fact that the hotel is owned by a Pakistani should have been an alert for the Jewish group having their gathering at the Shangri-La Hotel.  Alas, political correctness precludes any questioning or a persons beliefs or religious bent, especially when it comes to Muslim.  Asking questions would be Islamophobic, doncha know.

From The New York Times August 15 by Michael Cieply

California Hotel Found Liable in Civil Rights Case

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A jury in a state court here found the Hotel Shangri-La, an ocean-view stop for the Hollywood set, and Tehmina Adaya, its proprietor, liable in a case that accused Ms. Adaya of violating a California civil rights law by attempting to evict a Jewish group in 2010, people on both sides of the dispute said on Wednesday.

The case, which has been on trial in the Santa Monica division of the Los Angeles County Superior Court since late July, raised rare claims of anti-Semitism here.

In 2010, Ms. Adaya, who is a Pakistani-born Muslim, ordered the shutdown of a poolside event sponsored by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, but eventually allowed the group to stay after insisting that signs and literature identifying its purpose be removed. In testimony by a former employee and others, she was said to have couched the order with an obscenity aimed at the Jews who had assembled for the event, and to have said her family members would cut off financing if they learned of the gathering.

In her testimony, Ms. Adaya denied those claims.

After deliberating for a week, jurors on late Wednesday found Ms. Adaya and a company that owns the hotel liable for the civil rights violation and for inflicting emotional distress and other violations. They awarded over $1.2 million to a group of plaintiffs that included 18 individuals and Platinum Events, a company that had worked with the hotel in setting up the event, said James Turken, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

He said the awards required the assent of at least nine members of the 12-member jury. The exact breakdown of the jury’s vote will not be publicly known until jurors are polled individually on Thursday. They will also consider the possibility of awarding punitive damages.

Susan Neisloss, a spokeswoman for Ms. Adaya, said she had been advised by Ms. Adaya’s lawyers of the decision, but was not advised of details and had no immediate comment.

“I’m incredibly proud of my clients,” Mr. Turken said by telephone on Wednesday after the verdicts were read in a session that ended well after the court’s normal closing time of 4:30 p.m.

Mr. Turken described the group as “twenty- and thirty-somethings” who are involved in a number of charities, not all of which are aligned with Jewish causes. The event in dispute was meant to help send the children of Israeli soldiers to summer camps in the United States, he said.

“They stood up,” Mr. Turken said. “They couldn’t afford to take this on.”