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May 31, 2006

Malaysia: Islamists Helped Terrorists Escape Justice

We reported yesterday that 12 Islamists of the outlawed group Darul Islam had been captured off the coast of Sabah State, Malaysia. We said that the group comprised 10 Malaysians and 2 Indonesians. Now it appears that the group was made up of three Indonesians, three Filipinos and six Malaysians.

The Malaysia Star and the Jakarta Post report that the group had assisted the terrorists Umar Patek and Dulmatin to travel between the southern Philippines and Indonesia between 2003 and March 2006.

Umar Patek and Dulmatin were members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. The pair are believed to have been involved in the Bali bombings of October 2002, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australian tourists.

We reported that on October 6, the US State Department's Rewards for Justice scheme had placed a bounty of $10 million on the head of Dulmatin (pictured) and $1 million on the head of Umar Patek.

Dulmatin was an electronics expert who had trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, and was a senior commander for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Umar Patek was thought to have been a logistics specialist and field coordinator of the Bali attacks.

The Sabah cell of Darul Islam were also engaged in smuggling three M16 rifles and eight automatic pistols from the southern Philippines for the use of Islamists in Indonesia. There were two divisions of the cell, based in Sandakan and Tawau.

Bakri Omar, Malaysian inspector general of police, said: "The role of Darul Islam Sabah was to help Indonesian militants transit to the southern Philippines, smuggle weapons from the southern Philippines to Indonesia and obtain military training in the southern Philippines."

According to Bakri, when the 12 had been arrested, two automatic pistols were found, which he claimed were being smuggled to Ambon in the Moluccas. Ambon had been at the epicenter of the Moluccan Wars, where Muslims under Lashkar Jihad attacked Christians. Between 1999 and 2002, 9,000 people had died.

Bakri said: "Darul Islam Sabah claims its objective is to establish a regional Islamic state comprising Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Philippines through militant activities."

This objective is also shared by Jemaah Islamiyah, which itself grew out of the activities of Darul Islam. Darul Islam was founded in the 1940s, in the struggle which led to the creation of the Indonesian nation. The "spiritual leader" of Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Bashir, was formerly a member of Darul Islam.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

Malaysia: Mahathir Advises Muslim Nations To Construct Weaponry

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia who has previously made inflammatory anti-semitic remarks, earlier today announced that Muslims should create their own weaponry, states the Malaysia Star. He sugested that Muslims should not rely upon others to manufacture armoury.

He said that reliance upon others' defence systems was a poor idea, as the "enemy" could easily penetrate these if they already knew their inherent weak points. He said: "To enhance our own defence capabilities, we must build our own brand of sophisticated weapons."

Speaking at Mara Junior Science College in Pendang, he told students that it was a religious obligation to create wepons of "defense". He said: "Not that we (Muslims) want to attack others, but we need to protect our ummah."

He continued: "Muslims are weak because we have not made the necessary preparation to defend and protect ourselves and the masses. We could not do it because we have not mastered the knowledge of science."

He admitted that he had been "not so clever" in his youth (and now?). Mahathir said: "But I pulled through because I studied repeatedly until I could visualise the pages in the textbooks."

He said he had had to work harder and advised students to follow suit. He also added that boy students should improve their application to studies, because 60% of the student population in Malaysia now comprises girls.

Well I have been told repeatedly by Muslims (and appeasers) that the Koran is full of scientific facts and it appears that all too often Muslims assume that the Koran contains all the science they need to know. Claims that Islam made many scientific inventions ignore the fact that many Islamic "inventions" were developments of preceding Chinese, Greek and Indian knowledge.

And when the Koran states things such as "We have beautified the world's heaven with lamps, and We have made them missiles for the devils, and for them We have prepared the doom of flame" (Surah 67:5), referring to shooting stars, then it is perhaps no wonder that Islam is losing the battle for scientific knowledge.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

Germany: Another State Bans Islamic Headscarf In Schools

According to Khaleej Times, the state of North-Rhine Westphalia earlier today banned teachers from wearing the hijab or Muslim headscarf in state schools.

The Christian Democrats hold the balance of power in this state and though the move was opposed by the Social Democrats and Greens. This is the eighth state (out of 16 in Germany) to adopt a ban on headscarves.

We reported on October 20 that a Supreme Court ruling, made in September 2003, had stated that federal states were allowed to bar Muslim public employees who wore headscarves, provided they had the necessary legislation on the books.

The other states which have adopted the measure are Bayern, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower-Saxony, Saarland and Hesse, as well as Berlin and Bremen.

The BBC reported on 1 April 2004 that Baden-Wuerttemburg had become the first state to enforce a hijab ban, after a vote was passed almost unanimously by the state parliament, made up of a coalition of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) members and Free Democrats (FDP).

Baden-Wuerttemburg's state culture minister Annette Schavan said at the time that hijabs had no place in German schools because they were "open to interpretation" and could reflect "Islamic political views".

The issue was provoked by Fereshta Ludin (pictured), who had been banned from teaching in a Stuttgart (Baden-Wuerttemberg state) school in 1998. In September 2003, the federal Constitution Court (Supreme Court) had decided by five votes to three that she had the right to wear a hijab, but made the statement that states had the right to pass legislation within their jurisdiction to outlaw such items.

Ludin had been born in Afghanistan, but was granted German citizenship in 1995, states a leftist website. According to a US government report, published 0n March 8 this year, Ludin did not challenge a legal decision to uphold the state ban, made by Leipzig Federal Administrative Court. Another teacher, Doris Graber, who had been sacked in 2004 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemburg, returned to work last year after agreeing not to wear the headscarf.

Though Baden-Wurttemburg had been the first state to ban the hijab in state schools, it was debating in October whether or not to institute a ban of the scarf in kindergartens, which had not been included in the bill. The issue was provoked after Ebersbach council, near Stuttgart, fired a Muslim woman teacher, Nuray Arioez, aged 31, on August 22, because she refused to remove her hijab in the kindergarten where she worked. Apparently the kindergarten hijab ban has not yet been passed into law.

In Bonn in April, two 18-year old German girls from Turkish families were banned from attending school for two weeks for wearing the hijab. A spokesman from the school had said that the hijab had endangered peace in the school.

Bonn is within the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, and this incident may have triggered the state's decision to vote today on banning the hijab in schools. The principal of the school, Ulrich Stahnke, had consulted with the state government, which is based in Cologne.

Many of the population of 3.4 million Muslims who live in Germany are of Turkish descent. On Monday (29 May), the issue of the headscarf caused a row in Turkey, according to AKI. A Turkish woman living in Germany who wears a hijab had been told by the Turkish Consulate that some of her hair should be seen in her photo, when she applied for a passport renewal. This stems from a ruling passed in Ankara in 1984.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister and head of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) is known to support the hijab. His wife Ermine wears one, even though Turkey's secular laws insist that no hijab should be worn in public institutions. Erdogan questioned the Turkish ambassador to Germany, Irtemcelik, about the headscarf rule.

He said: "My citizens can enter the Turkish Embassy here like that (with a headscarf). I don't think such a regulation can exist. The ambassador will show it to me. No one has the right to tell my citizens how to dress to get help from the consulate. If that's a written order, we'll write a new one."

Erdogan's remarks were met with derision by opposition party members and the media. Ali Arslan, deputy of the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, tabled a question in parliament, asking if Erdogan should seek professional help in anger management.

The issue of headscarves in public institutions has been consistently opposed by Erdogan, but the shooting of five judges (killing one) at Turkey's senior administrative court, the Council of State on May 17 has brought the issue into sharp focus in Turkey. Arslan added: "At a time when we are facing the unfortunate results of the top administrative court attack two weeks ago, do you think it is wise to create even more tension over the headscarf issue?"

Though obviously biased in favour of people wearing headscarves, a report by Pluralism Project provides a factual overview of some of the rules which have been imposed in varying nations regarding the Islamic headscarf.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

Russia: Muftis Promote Myth of `Moderate' Islam

An international conference with the very fanciful name, ``Humanitarian Values and Muslim Youth,'' closed today in Moscow. The conference, which drew over 250 participants from Muslim countries, called for greater coordination and solidarity among Muslim youth in Russia, as well as with their co-believers abroad.

The Russian government is trying to regain influence in the Muslim world, and such conferences help it score public relations points through its support of the mythical `peaceful' version of Islam.

Russia has about 15 million cultural Muslims, or about 10 percent of the population. Most of these people would be happy to live without Islam, but small and determined groups of `devout' Muslims are trying to force a revival of this 7th century Arabian cult.

Russia's chief mufti, the government stooge Ravil Gainutdin, called upon young people to avoid extremism. "Islam is a humanistic religion, and we must first of all convey these humanistic values to our young people,'' Gainutdin told Muslim leaders and youth from Russia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other lands which have large numbers of people who follow the teachings of the 7th century warlord and pedophile, Mohammed.

While some people, especially the media, like to portray Mufti Gainutdin as the main Muslim authority in Russia, similar to the Russian Orthodox Patriach, nothing of the sort is true. Mufti Gainutdin, whose power base comes from Russian government support, is nothing more than a discredited puppet and figurehead. He has little authority among rank-in-file Russian Muslims, more and more of whom are inclined to violence and insurrection against the federal government, especially in the Muslim regions of Chechnya, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.

Mufti Gainutdin predictably provided the conference with the typical puported reasons for growing Muslim violence in Russia: high unemployment; growing xenophobia toward Muslims; and the small number of mosques in Russia. He said the government could rectify this situation by helping to create a network of `moderate' Islamic schools.

Mufti Gainutdin, however, failed to explain what is `moderate' Islam, and how it can be taught. He could not explain how a cult that spread for 1,400 years through violence could possibly ever become peaceful. Devout Muslims don't refer to the ``Sword of Islam'' for nothing.

Posted by at 8:40 PM | Comments (0)

India: Islamists Condemn Grenade Attacks Upon Tourists

Dal Lake at Gulmarg is one of the prime tourist sites of Jammu & Kashmir State, Indian Kashmir. News from AKI states that this evening, two coaches carrying tourists back from Lake Gal to Srinigar were subjected to a grenade attack. Most of the tourists were from West Bengal. Women and children were among the injured.

The attack happened at Dal Gate, Srinigar. One of the buses had stopped outside the tourists' hotel when a grenade was thrown through one of the bus windows. A shopkeeper noted that one of the tourists' legs had been blown off. The second incident happened about 100 yards away, minutes after the first blast. A grenade was thrown at a moving coach.

In all 21 people have died.

Islamist groups Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba (Lashkar-e-Tayba) and Al-Mansoorin all condemned the blasts. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen said the attacks were "heinous" and were done to defame "the Kashmiri struggle for freedom".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:11 PM | Comments (0)

Germany: Der Spiegel Interview Reveals Ahmadinejad's Character

This convinces me that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a true believer of the most dangerous kind. He is unable to dial back the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish hatred, even when this damages the cause of his country. His actions are not necessarily governed by rational calculations. The U.S. government should take notice: SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH IRAN'S PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD

[...]SPIEGEL: It concerned your remarks about the Holocaust. It was inevitable that the Iranian president's denial of the systematic murder of the Jews by the Germans would trigger outrage.

Ahmadinejad: I don't exactly understand the connection.

SPIEGEL: First you make your remarks about the Holocaust. Then comes the news that you may travel to Germany -- this causes an uproar. So you were surprised after all?

Ahmadinejad: No, not at all, because the network of Zionism is very active around the world, in Europe too. So I wasn't surprised. We were addressing the German people. We have nothing to do with Zionists.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 4:11 PM | Comments (0)

Germany: Female Convert Muslims And Suicide Attacks

We reported in November last year that a Belgian woman had converted to Islam and gone to Iraq, where she had blown herself up. On December 1 it was revealed that she had been a 38-year old named Muriel Degauque. A citizen of Monceau-sur-Sambret near Charleroi, her marriage to two Muslim men in succession had led her to become a convert. Her second husband, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, went with her to Iraq, where is believed to have died setting up a bomb.

Now, the news from Der Spiegel is that a group of women have been apprehended, apparently on their way to blow up themselves and a few innocents for Allah. At least one of these women is a convert to Islam.

There were three women, according to intelligence sources, who are close to the Islamist scene in Germany. They were preparing to go to Iraq, but one of them had boasted on the internet she she intended to go to Iraq where she would blow up not only herself, but her child.

This web announcement led to a hunt for the three women. One came from Berlin, and the other two were from south Germany. The woman from Berlin has been placed in a psychiatric clinic, and her child has been taken by authorities. The other two, one of whom also has a child, have been prevented from leaving the country.

Apparently the women are linked to Ansar al Islam, one of the groups proscribed in Britain last October. Ansar al Islam was founded by Mullah Krekar in September 2001, and is Kurdish Iraqi. It has slaughtered women for not dressing Islamically, and since 2003 has been involved with several suicide bombings.

Der Spiegel states that authorities have been worried for a while that Islamists are recruiting young Muslims with German passports for suicide attacks in Iraq.

The phenomenon of converts to Islam becoming suicide attackers is equally worrying. If they do not change their name to some Arabic monicker, as was the case with Jermaine Lindsay, who was one of the suicide attackers of 7th July in London last year, they can easily escape suspicion.

Muriel Degauque was the first European convert suicide bomber. It appears that she will not be the last.

The only positive thing to come out of this is the removing of the woman's child and placing her in psychiatric care. If converts really understood from the Hadiths how violent and warmongering the prophet of Islam is when they sign up to their new faith, perhaps more of these too should be subjected to psychiatric assessment.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Pakistan: Islamist Sentenced To Death For Mosque Shooting

News from Pakistan's Daily Times and Associated Press via Khaleej Times states that in Multan in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, an Islamist has been sentenced to death. The man, 35-year old Qari Omar Hayat had been found guilty of shooting Shia worshippers at a mosque on January 4, 1999.

The incident took place in the village of Muzaffargarh near Multan, and left 16 people dead. The prosecutor, Najaf Ali, said that four others wanted in connection with the attack (Ijaz alias Jajji, Tariq Mehmood alias Tipu, Tauheed Ahmed and Habibullah) had died in a police shootout in 1999.

Ten other suspects were also before the court, but there was insufficient evidence to mount a case against them, and they were acquitted.

The court was held inside the prison at Multan for security reasons. Qari Omar Hayat is a member of the extremist Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhvangi.

In addition to the death sentence, Hayat was given a fine of 4.8 million rupees ($79,840). His defence said they would appeal the sentence. Najaf Ali said that the state would appeal against the acquittal of the ten other suspects.

Lashkar-e-Jhvangi is renowned for its sectarian attacks, mostly against Shias. However, in December the group was threatening Christians with death in Sangla Hill. Lashkar-e-Jhvangi was formed in 1996 by a breakaway section of the Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Sunni extremist group.

It was designated a terrorist group by the United States in January 2003. It became a "proscribed" organisation in Britain in October 2005.

In January 2002, it was a group of Lashkar-e-Jhvangi members who kidnapped and decapitated US journalist Daniel Pearl.

Keywords: Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-i Jhangvi

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2006

Malaysia: 12 Islamists Arrested, Trained By Al Qaeda Member

Yesterday, Reuters via Yahoo News and the Melbourne Age reported that 12 Islamist militants, most of them Indonesian nationals, were arrested in Malaysia's province of Sabah, on the island of Borneo. The news was originally broken earlier today by Malaysia's Star newspaper. The 12 were suspected of planning attacks on neighbouring countries. The arrest of 12 members of the group Darul Islam was, according to the Star, the biggest success for Malaysian police against Islamic terrorists for five years.

In 2001, the Malaysian police had cracked down on a group called Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM). This group, like Darul Islam, has links with the group Jemaah Islamiyah. This group is responsible for the bombings on Bali in 2002, which killed 202 people, and on the same island on October 1 last year, killing 26 people.

The 12-man Darul Islam group was comprised of 10 Indonesians, and had two Malaysian nationals. Theu had been under surveillance for months, and were apprehended off the coasts of Sandakan and Tawau.

An unnamed source said: "It was hard work. The Malaysian police had been tracking their movements over the last six months. Then they moved in to smash the militant group before it could carry out its plans. It’s certainly one of the biggest anti-terrorist successes." The same individual claimed several firearms were discovered, including bomb-making instructions, downloaded from the internet.

One of the Malaysians in the group was a teacher in a religious school, who gradusted in Arabic literature from a university in Syria. The other Malaysian is a graduate of Universii Sains Malaysia in Penang.

At least 11 members of Darul Islam are being held under 2-year detention orders, under the Internal Security Act, at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak.

Sabah lies close to other nations, its land borders Indonesia, and is close to the Philippines. It is a popular tourist destination, and though no target of the group was identified, Sabah would be an appropriate location for the group.

We reported on May 5 that the current main figure of Jemaah Islamiyah, Noordin Top had established links with Darul Islam (the abode of Islam). He had made a network of Islamist supporters, which included a cell of Darul Islam on West Java.

Darul Islam is, according to the Star, led by Sekarmadji Kartosoewirjo. It was formed in the 1940s, before the time that Indonesia officially became a nation in 1950. In the 1950s it led a series of rebellions against the secular government of Indonesia, led by Sukarno. Darul Islam was put down with force by 1962, with most of its leadership killed. In the mid-1970s, the group began a renaissance, with the emergence of its offshoot Komando Jihad, which made terror attacks upon airlines and airports. A fuller account of Darul Islam and its various offshoots was made by the International Crisis Group in October last year. A summary can be found in Winds of Change.

Latest news from the Malaysia Star states that one of the 12 arrested Darul Islam members had been trained in Afghanistan by Al Qaeda. The individual, an Indonesian, is also said to have learned how to handle arms and manufacture bombs. He also gave training for members of the group in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has instructed Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar to release a full report on the arrest and activities of the 12 arrested individuals. Musa Aman, who is Malaysia's Security Council chairman, claimed that he had not been briefed on the operation.

In another article, the Star states that Indonesia's foreign minister, Hassan Wirayuda, has praised the Malaysian police for their actions. "This is a good sign. I certainly welcome this," he told reporters earlier today.

"The Indonesian police, with the cooperation of its Malaysian counterpart, arrested several people a few months ago for smuggling explosive materials into Indonesia from Tawau," he said.

However, he said that Darul Islam had effectively ceased as a movement in Indonesia since the 1960s. "However, as an ideology and political orientation, it has continued to aspire the formation of an Islamic state," he claimed.

The group Darul Islam has links with the Filipino terror group, based in Mindanao and the southwestern islands, Abu Sayyaf. This group, a renegade offshoot of the Moro National Liberation Front, conducts kidnappings for ransom, and beheads people, and has used terror for profit. Its most devastating attack happened on February 27, 2004, when a ferry was bombed by the group. 116 people died.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

Thailand: Bombs And Bodies In Muslim South

We reported on the attack upon two female Buddhist schoolteachers, Juling Pongkanmul and Sirinart Thavornsukon May 19, by a Muslim mob. The mob, including women, broke into the school where they taught in Rangae district Narathiwat province, and asked to be pointed to Buddhist staff. The two women were beaten with sticks for a matter of hours and suffered severe injuries. Juling is still in a coma, and is unlikely to ever recover. Her brain has suffered extensive damage, and she is attached to a life-support system.

Yesterday's Bangkok Post reported that Gujingruepo school where they taught still has not reopened. Many other schools in Rangae district, about 200 in all, had remained closed after the attack, fearful of attacks by Muslim militants. Most schools reopened on 29 May, but there were few students in the classes. Security in tambon (parish) Chalerm, where Gujingruepo school is located, has been increased, and the road to the village has a military guard.

The violence has continued. On 29 May, two men were killed and a woman was seriously injured in a shooting in Narathiwat province, along the Rangae to Narathiwat town road. About 3.10 pm, a pick-up truck containing the three individuals was attacked by gunmen riding in another pick-up.

A 5 kilogram bomb was set off under a fish stall in Sungai Kolok district in Narathiwat province earlier in the day. It appeared that the bomb, which failed to cause injuries was aimed at security officers. These were visiting the scene of a noodle shop which had previously been firebombed.

Earlier today, a village head was shot dead in Kabang district, Yala province. The man, Ahama Salong, head of Khlong Nam Sai, had been standing in front of his house when two men on a motorcycle drew up, and the pillion rider pulled out an assault rifle. Several shots were fired into Ahama's torso and head. Before leaving, the pillion rider dismounted and took away the head man's 11mm pistol.

We reported on May 28 of the announcement that unmarked graves had been discovered in Pattani province in July last year, with 20 to 30 more found in Narathiwat and more in Yala. In all, there were 500 graves, according to Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan, acting director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science. Her figure has been downplayed to 300 by the acting Interior Minister, Kongsak Wantana.

Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan announced on 29 May that foreign forensic experts will be invited to examine the 300 bodies found in province. She said that two US experts will be arrivingin July to perform the forensic examination. The corpses, which were buried in unmarked graves in Chinese cemeteries, will be moved from Pattani province, which is hot and humid, to Hat Yai in Songkhla province for examination. She said more foreign pathologists will be invited. She aain quoted police sources who assume that 60% to 80% of the bodies were those of murder victims, and that they appeared to be illicit migrant workers from Burma or Cambodia.

Independently, Wasanit Panit from the National Human Rights Commission has said that 300 more bodies were found in a Chinese cemetery in Yala.

Today the Bangkok Post reports that the caretaker Deputy Prime Minister, Chidchai Wannasathit said that 141 unidentified corpses had already been dug up from unmarked graves in Pattani. He said that since 2001, 400 bodies had been disinterred and registered to make room for more corpses to be buried. He said 252 of these had been identified and claimed by relatives/ These had died from accident or illness.

A Justice Ministry official has said that a full DNA inventory of the bodies from unmarked graves will be made, and that relatives of missing persons will be able to check with the Ministry to see if these are related to them.

The southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat used to be part of an independent Muslim Sultanate. A century ago, the three provinces became officially annexed by Thailand. Currently 80% of the population of these regions is Muslim. Since January 4, 2004, there has been an insurgency in the south, led by Muslims who wish to see the 3 provinces secede from Thailand. So far, the insurgency has claimed nearly 1,300 lives.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)

Opinion: The Underlying Compatibility of Islam and Socialism

Western Resistance has documented the growing alliance between Islam and the international left. Conservative activist David Horowitz calls this development an 'unholy alliance.' Other writers have called it a 'marriage of convenience.' Until recently, I subscribed to this view, but I no longer do so. Allow me to explain.

One of my favorite books is The Socialist Phenomenon, by former Soviet dissident and world-class mathematician Igor Shafarevich. The Socialist Phenomenon is a historical survey and analysis of Socialism, broadly understood. The book is recommended without reserve.

As one often does with favorite books, I recently reread it, and was captivated--again--by Shafarevich's insightful description of Socialism. According to him, socialism is the phenomenon manifesting the following characteristics (The Socialist Phenomenon, pp. 194-197):

1. The abolition of Private Property.

"This proposition, in its negative form, is inherent in all socialist doctrines without exception.... But in its positive form.... appears in two distinct variants... the commonality of property... [and] state property."

2. The abolition of the Family.

"The majority of socialist doctrines proclaim the abolition of the family. In other doctrines, as well as in certain socialist states, this proposition is not proclaimed in such radical form, but the principle appears as a de-emphasis of the role of the family, the weakening of the family ties, the abolition of certain functions of the family...."

3. The abolition of Religion.

"It is especially easy for us to observe socialism's hostility to religion, for this is inherent, with few exceptions, in all contemporary socialist states and doctrines.... This same principle has been repeatedly proclaimed in socialist doctrines, beginning with the end of the seventeenth century....

Finally, in Plato's socialist system, religion is conceived as an element in the state's ideology. Its role amounts to education, the shaping of citizens' opinions into the forms necessary to the state...."

4. Communality or Equality.

"This demand is encountered in almost all socialist doctrines. Its negative form is seen in the striving to destroy the hierarchy of the surrounding society and in calls "to humble the proud, the rich and the powerful," to abolish privilege...."

Reading those passages, enjoying the sheer beauty of an argument well crafted, I made a connection. It was one of those moments when 'something clicks' in your mind, and you just have to go back and check your reasoning, just to make sure you are not fooling yourself. It was a good thing I wasn't in a bathtub naked, or I might have 'pulled an Archimedes' on an unsuspecting, already-sorrowful world: it struck me that Islam and socialism are highly compatible doctrines.

But don't take my word for it--you shouldn't. Let's examine Shafarevich's four basic principles fo Socialism and see how they relate to Islam. (Caveat emptor: it should be clear that if Shafarevich's description of socialism is incorrect my argument should be discarded.)

1. The abolition of Private Property.

Islam does not call for the complete abolition of private property, as the most radical socialist doctrines do, but it places severe restrictions on the use of said private property. Beginning with the absolute prohibition of "usury", as well as many Islamic prohibitions, it severely distorts the scope and power of commerce and industry. Historically, Islamic States strived to become highly-centralized bureaucracies where the State controlled the economy, the very lives of its citizens--with predictable results in lower economic output and technological backwardness in Islamic societies. This state of affairs was facilitated by Islamic teachings emphasizing the communality of property. War booty, for example, belongs to 'the Ummah', and there are many rules in how to divide it. The state, in the person of the Caliph, keeps the highest cut. The statist socialism developed by Islam should be pronounced 'good enough' for leftists hungry for power or consumed by hatred of their host societies.

2. The abolition of the Family.

Islam presents itself in the West as a "pro-family" doctrine, but what is in fact promoted is the subordination of the family to the needs of Islam. That's how Palestinian "mother of martyrs" Mariam Farahat sends away three of her sons to their deaths, and her reward is not public opprobrium, but election to the Palestinian Parliament. Family members in Islamic societies can only keep good standing in the family by remaining good servants of Allah. The so-called honor killings of girls who stray or appear to stray from proper Islamic behavior is a manifestation of this subordination of the interests of the family to the interests of the religion. These priorities can be properly described as many things--monstrosity comes to mind--but 'family values' surely they are not.

3. The abolition of Religion.

It is counterintuitive to affirm Islam represents an abolition of religion. Islam is all religion! But that's not the whole story. Just as the family subordinates itself to Islam, Islam subordinates itself to the needs of the state. To be precise; Islam is a religion designed to serve the needs of a centralized, militaristic, conquering state. Islam's emphasis on external obedience, rituals and actions, betrays its statist nature. If you are a good servant of the Islamic state, then almost certainly you are a good Muslim. (Other religions, such as Christianity and Buddhism, emphasize the inner life.) Also notice; in the ideal Islamic state, authority rests with the Caliph, the "secular" ruler, and not with the religious teachers.

4. Communality or Equality.

Islam not only emphasizes community; it is community--the 'Ummah', the community of believers. As for equality, consider this: when Islamic supremacists such as Usama bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeat the drivel of Western leftists, we have assumed this is a tactical maneuver designed to divide the West. But we need not assume such comprehensive cynicism in our enemies. More likely, they do believe that our (semi) capitalistic system is rapacious and unjust, and that only Islam can remedy such an abominable state of affairs. Islam is also attractive to nihilistic leftists in a different way; the many Islamic regulations of life create another type of equality--equality in appearance and behavior. (Think the infamous burqa and 'Islamic' haircuts imposed by the Taliban.) Socialist states of all stripes--Mao's China, the Inca Empire, ancient Sparta--all valued this kind equality; equality through regimentation and squalor.

After considering the underlying compatibilities shared by Islam and Socialism, we conclude that the growing alliance between the movements should not be considered 'a marriage of convenience.' More accurately, the alliance should be considered an arranged marriage, where the partners's underlying compatibilities might lead to a lasting union, to the chagrin of lovers of liberty everywhere.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 5:56 PM | Comments (0)

Paris: Riots In Suburbs, Threats By Black Muslim Group, Tribu KA

We reported earlier on the riots in Paris, which were made by young Muslims and Blacks, starting in the suburb of Clichy-Sous-Bois October and spreading throughout Paris suburbs to engulf various towns in France and beyond and finally ending in November. At the end of the three weeks' unrest, 10,000 vehicles and 200 public buildings had been burned, and numerous police injured.

We also reported on the subsequent phenomenon of the mainly black Muslim gang called the Barbarians, led by Youssef Fofana, originally from the Cote d'Ivoire (pictured right). This gang kidnapped a 23 year old Jewish man, Ilan Halimi, and subjected him to torture. The gang had specifically wanted to target Jewish victims. Ilan's naked body was found in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in Essonne, Ile de France, on February 13. Ilan was tied to a tree. He had been cut with knives, burned with cigarettes, acid had been poured on him, and he had been set on fire. He died on his way to hospital.

Now, there has been another resurgence of rioting in Paris, and also a resurgence of Black Muslim-inspired individuals threatening the Jews of Paris. Firstly, the riots last night, as reported in English by the Times and Expatica, and in French by Le Monde and Le Figaro, which took place in the suburb of Montfermeil. According to police, these were the worst incidents of unrest there since last November's riots. Rioting also took place in Clichy-Sous-Bois, the epicenter of last year's riots, where about 60 youths fought with police in the Chene housing estate.

About 100 youths armed with sticks and baseball bats on Monday night, around 10.30 pm GMT, clashed with police. The youths tried to attack the home of the mayor, Xavier Lemoine. In April, Lemoine had introduced anti-hoodlum measures, prohibiting gatherings of more than three youths at any one time in the town center of Montfermeil. The youths shook the gates of his home and smashed windows.

Police used rubber bullets to disperse them and they went to the town hall, where threw Molotov cocktails which failed to ignite, broke its glass frontage with stones and set fire to garbage cans. They then moved into the Basquets housing estate nearby and 250 riot police confronted them, in an engagement lasting about four hours.

Yesterday, Lemoine said "Tonight's violence showed that the lives of my family and my seven children are in danger". In late April his home was stoned, and following threats made since his anti-delinquency measures have been introduced, he and his family have been given police protection.

In all, 400 police were involved in quelling the violence, and seven of their number have been injured. Though the mayor of Montfermeil's measures may have been a factor behind the riots, a source in his office said that the unrest was triggered after a youth was arrested following his assault upon a bus driver.

Today, Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister announced that Clichy-Sous-Bois will be getting its own commissariat, to address problems of the area, and with a review of how policing is carried out.

But there are other more ominous forces beneath the extreme dramas, and perhaps there is even growing an ideology of hate which has been fermenting beneath the public front of these expressions of "dissent". Currently, a Zaire-born black rapper, called Monsieur R, aka Richard Makela, is being sued for obscenity for depicting, in a video, naked women writhing on a French flag. The lyrics of one of his CD tracks, from a 2005 collection called Politikment Incorrekt run: "France is a bitch, don't forget to fuck her - to the point of exhaustion. Like a slut, she should be insulted." The case, carried out in the southern Paris suburb of Melun, is the 12th incident of French rap music being tried in the courts for insulting French identity.

TRIBU KA

A factor that may link the suburban unrest with the anti-semitism of the "Barbarians" who kidnapped and murdered Ilan Halimi, may come from the so-called "philosophy" of the group Tribu K or Tribu Ka, founded by Kemi Saba (aka Kami Saba, pictured). The group is founded on principles formerly espoused by the Black Muslims of the United States. Kemi Saba himself admits in an interview that he was a follower of the Nation of Islam, and had attended a NoI mosque (Mosque 27) in Los Angeles, where he became "galvanised" on his mission.

The sermon was led by Tony Muhammad. "Fara" Kemi Saba states: "I had heard mention of the organisation (Nation of Islam) by way of the film "Malcolm X" and above all "the Million Man March" in 1995, in Washington, of which I have had echos for some years afterwards."

"The act of being in a group comprised exclsively of "blacks", hearing a sermon, inspired by the appearance of the public reactions moved me to tears, even though I did not inderstand all of the discourse, not being bi-lingual. At the end of the meeting, seeing me visibly moved, and young, visibly not American (I was that day dressed in African attire), a "mother" member of the Nation of Islam came over to meet me, and spoke to me maternally. In broken, but understandable English, I discussed with her for some mintues, telling her that I lived in Paris, and that I was sad to not have the Nation of Islam in France."

"To my great surprise, she informed me that there existed a branch of the NoI in Paris, led by Karim D. Muhammad."

"On my return to France I was assisting at a meeting of the NoI, in Paris, at the Theatre of the Golden Hand. The theatre was almost empty, but that was not important to me. For the first time, I heard a French-speaking black "brother" translate my vision of the white man, and explain the painful situation of the black man, with a faultless eloquence. Brother Karim was for me a monument."

Why am I bothering to translate this account of a young man's epiphany to Islam? Because his group, Tribu Ka, has gained prominence as a potential threat to Jews living in France.

On Sunday, according to Le Figaro, the Times and Expatica, members of his group marched through the neighbourhood of Marais in Paris, a historic Jewish neighbourhood, shouting anti-semitic slogans.

The sudden emergence in the media of this group has been met with shock in the French press and the French establishment. Since yesterday I have been searching for nuggets hidden in the Francophone websites to gain some insights into the workings of Tribu Ka, its philosophy, and the attitudes of its founder.

Yesterday, French police began an investigation into the group. Le Figaro states that the investigation is being mounted by the Bureau National de Vigilance Contre l'Antisemitisme (BNCVA), whose president, Sammy Ghozlan states that according to Tribu Ka's head, Kemi Saba, they hope "to replace the real chosen people, the Kemites, to the head of the human race".

On 19 May, states Le Figaro, they had already shown their contempt for Jews, when they went to a gym room in the 11th arrondissement, where a combat sport practised by the Israeli army, the krav manga is taught. The Tribu Ka members filmed themselves haranguing the people in the class, shouting "Are these Jews? Is this a Cohen here?"

They similarly filmed themselves in the rue de Rosiers, in Marais on Sunday evening. About 30 members of Tribu Ka were at the meeting. According to some accounts, the group was carrying baseball bats in Sunday's march. Police broke up the meeting and said that no batons or bats were found. The BNCVA stated that the gang members were "performing Nazi salutes, looking for a fight with the neighbourhood's Jews, threatening and intimidating them". They also called out "Death to the Jews".

Witnesses state that the gang on Sunday were expressing anger against two Jewish groups, Betar and the Jewish Defence League. On the group's website, TribuKa.com, the group announced that they were "hunting" these two groups.

In another article in Le Figaro, entitled "Tribu KA through the lens of Justice", yesterday morning Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the website to be closed down.

Phillipe de Villers, the head of the Mouvement Pour France group, said that Tribu KA underlined a "new racism".

The Tribu Ka had its own message to the Jewish community regarding Ilan Halibi, the victim of the black "Barbarians" gang, as reported by Christian website Top Chretien on 24 Feb, a mere 11 days after Ilan was found mortally injured.

The message is this:

"We observe that over the past few days following the death of mobile phone seller Ilan Halimi that a veritable manhunt has been in operation for Youssouf Fofana, accused by your community of being responsible for the death of one of you."

"We will get straight to the point, that whether our brother (Fofana) is responsible or not, we anticipate that you, on this incident, if you choose to want to brush lightly against a single hair on our brother's head, instead of letting him have a fair (legal) process, we will grab by force the curled beards of your rabbis, and believe us, your pseudo security forces of the LDJ (Jewish Defence League) or Betar will not be able to help you, when faced with the will for justice of our members."

"Leave the brother (Fofana) to be judged fairly or you will pay. Kemi Sada, Fara of Tribu KA."

So what do the members of Tribu Ka believe? They refer to white people as "leucodermes" or "leucos". The initials KA stand for Kemites Atoniens. Kem is their word for Egypt, and Aton is the name of the monotheistic deity revered by Akhenaten. Akhenaten was the heretical pharaoh, who was husband to Nefertiti and father of Tutankhamun. After his death, many of the carvings of his reign were defaced where the symbol of the "Aton" or the One God were represented, and the usual roster of multiple deities was resetablished in Egypt.

The Top Chretien site has this statement made by Kemi Saba to journalists, which draws from Egyptian religious terminology.

"The Tribe has seen the day at the moment when Horus vanquished Seth. He is for us the synbol of the creative energy, or Ka."

"According to my vision of the Ennead, Horus had, in mixing the values of the will, comprising of truth and justice (Ma'at), anger, the spirit of vengeance, allows his followers to see that which is the potential of the creator, but also the potential of destroyer, of Ka."

There is more of this, and it is gobbledegook, but it appears to be an attitude which, like the peripheral cosmology preached by NoI and the Black Muslim ideology of Yusuf Bey, states that Egypt's lost civilisation was originally Black, and the Black man became superceded by "white demons", the Leucodermes.

I will probably update more of their philosophy, and compare it to some of the bizarre theology of the Nation of Islam, as first mapped out by the enigmatic figure, Fard Muhammad (pictured, right), founder of the Nation of Islam, in the 1930s. This is an extract of what Louis Farrakhan claims about Master Fard Muhammad:

the man who taught Elijah Muhammad and came to raise us up from a dead level and make us rulers over those who once ruled us, not by guns and sticks, but by giving us a superior knowledge.

Seventy-one years ago, before you knew anything about Mars, Master Fard Muhammad called Mars an inhabited planet. He said Mars is 141,500,000 miles from the sun, and she travels at the rate of 1,037-1/3 miles per hour. He said her diameter is 4,200 miles. Master Fard Muhammad said Mercury is also an inhabited planet and is 36,000,000 miles from the sun. Her diameter is 3,000 miles and she travels at the rate of 1,037-1/3 miles per hour. Think about that. No matter how close they are to the sun or how far they are from the sun, all of the planets travel at the same rate of speed.

The website of Tribu Ka is now down, on the orders of Nicolas Sarkozy. But there is still a Google cache which gives some idea of their beliefs.

A film, made on 18 May, in which Kemi Saba gives an interview, can be found here. It is in French, and I have not made a full translation. But though Kemi Saba begins the conversation fairly calmly, and appears educated and thoughtful, his composure slips when the subject of Jews is brought up. He has a contempt for the Jewish race. The Black Muslims, and members of the Nation of Islam, have often used Jewish people as scapegoats, blaming them for the demise of the black race. This anti-semitism fails to acknowledge that historically, in America, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has relied upon funds donated by Jewish sponsors for its very survival.

Tribu Ka is not a large group per se, but it is tempting to wonder whether they are a symptom of an underlying Black Muslim anti-semitism, or whether they and their ilk are actually influencing the current hostilitiy against Jews, enacted by blacks, in Paris.

I need to bring news of other events in the world of Islamism, but this article will be updated later, when I have translated more articles. I have translated the main page of their website below:

TRIBU KA - Mission Statement
From the Google cache

Tribu Ka is an institution of men and women Kemites. An order founded by the ex-spokesman of the disbanded Kemite Party "Kemi Saba", and of which the only and unique objective is to contribute to reestablishing the true chosen people (properly called kemite) to their rightful place; that of guide of humanity.

We protest loud and strong the titles created for us by the west, such as blacks, negroes, "the Blacks", Africans, West Indians, colonials, mongrels, "chabins", for the simple and good reason that they have been imagined by the demon, for the sole aim of dividing us, as a means to better conquer us.

We reinforce the fact that as kemites ("black" in the language of slavery) every tiny piece of this planet belongs to us, for, in an era when the leucodermes (white-skinned people) were still walking on all fours in their caves, we were already the rulers and the owners of the globe. As a consequence, we reject integration and we proclaim our right to take back our possessions.

We declare that we have no aim other than that of the only master ATON, and his spokesman, Fara Kemi Saba. Beyond these two entities, the CREATOR, the FARA, Tribu Ka is characterised by two branches. The masculine elements, the MEDZATONES and the Sisters, the ASET.

The Medzatones and Aset are the kemites from the most diverse social backgrounds. A certain number of the Medzatones were, before their entry into Tribu KA delinguents and constitute the living proof that ATON (God) is the greatest of alchemists.

The Medzatones, as the male elements of Tribu KA are men who, having made the oath of submission to ATON, consequently left the status of slave mentality behind them. They have a role in the logical succession of kemite priests of old; multiform. Thus they are, at the same time, militias of Tribu KA, initiated for the most part in the toughest martial arts (penchak silat, Thai boxing, judo), but also preachers going out to spread the MAAT (truth and justice, in the Kemite sense).

ASET

They are the feminine elements of Tribu KA. They are our queens, our women, our treasures. Icons of beauty, of intelligence, they are the groundbase of Tribu KA, for without them the resurrection would never take place. As for brothers, each sister becomes an Aset having reached that point to follow a process of advanced kemitisation.

These are some of the elements that describe us as we are. And each day that ATON makes, through the bonds between certain among you, we are speedily growing and marching toward victory.

UPDATE:
I have found on the website Africa MAAT that Kemi Saba has already been the subject of attention from Nicolas Sarkozy.

Kemi Saba was arrested on the evening of Thursday 23 February this year, on the orders of Sarkozy, the Interior Minister. He was arrested on account of letters he had sent to CRIF (Conseil Represantatif des Institutions Juives en France), the Representative Council of Jewish Insititutions in France, and also MPJF, another Jewish organisation. We have described the contents of this letter above, concerning the threat to "occupy ourselves on the curled beards of your rabbis" if Youssef Fofana was interfered with.

Rather childishly, AfricaMAAT, which seems to be an organisation existing to promote the work of "Fara" Kemi Saba and the Tribu KA, the spelling of Nicolas Sarkozy's name is done using three "K"s, as in KKK (Ku Klux Klan).

More information on the antisemitism of Tribu KA is found in the Top Chretien article by Pierre Lefebre.

It states that the group believes that in 398 BC, a Jewish scribe named Esdras had reworked the Torah, falsely attributing these first five chapters of the Bible to the hand of Moses. The Torah, in which in its first version there had been enunciated the curse of Cham (Kem or Egypt), became made the curse of the black race. From this curse came forth slavery, colonialism and the situation of the world of today.

According to AfricaMAAT, the Tribu KA opened a school earlier this year (pictured), called the Ecole d'Hor, or School of Horus, which is run for the children of Tribu KA members. The teachers are the sisters Akh Sat and Etuma.

The school is obviously set up because Tribu KA believes that the western education model is unsatisfactory for their children. It is not, fortunately a full-time institution. In effect it is only a Saturday school, where classes start at 3 pm. It is based at 19 rue du Chalet Metro, Belleville, where lessons are taught, followed by lessons in the history of the "Kemite people", given by Kemi Saba himself.

This is slightly unethical, but we are against antisemitism at all times and in all forms. Tribu KA can be contacted via this email address: tribu_ka@yahoo.fr

Their telephone number (you will need to dial the code for France first) is: 06 23 66 31 81

Update: May 31, 6.08 pm GMT, Nicolas Sarkozy said that he wanted Tribu KA to be "placed outside of the state of harm", i.e. to be "rendered harmless". He made the statement while visiting Rue de Rosiers, in Marais, scene of their march on 28 May.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 5:43 PM | Comments (1)

May 29, 2006

Bangladesh: Islamist Leaders Are Sentenced To Death

Today, Bangladesh saw the leaders of two of its most influential and dangerous terrorist groups sentenced to death. We wrote on May 14 of the bizarre behaviour of Bangla Bhai and Abdur Rahman which has previously taken place at the Jalakathi Additional District and Sessions Court.

Bangla Bhai (left in picture) is head of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh or JMJB (Vigilant Muslim Citizens, Bangladesh) and he is also a leading member of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Today he was given a death sentence. The leader of JMB is Abdur Rahman (right of Bangla Bhai in picture). He too was given a death sentence today.

The pair were on trial along with other lead members of JMB, from its decision making council, or Majlish-e-Shura, Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal and Khaled Saifullah alias Amjad. In addition, two others were on trial, Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun and Asadur Rahman Arif. They had been charged with the murder of two judges in Jhalakathi on November 14 last year.

A small minibus was taking judges to work when it stopped to pick up another judge, a young man (Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun) had come forward and thrown a bomb at the minibus. Senior Assistant Judge of Nalchhiti Upazila Sohel Ahmed (32) was killed instantly. Senior Assistant Judge of Jhalakathi, Sadar Upazila, Jagannath Pandey (35) died on the journey to hospital. The blast tore off the roof of the microbus, and the bomber, Mamun, was injured.

Mamun had an accomplice who ran off. When taken in an ambulance under police guard, Mamun tried to detonate a bomb attached to his leg. This was the first time that there had been an attempted suicide bombing in Bangladesh, but a fortnight afterwards there were deadly suicide attacks by JMB at Chittagong and Gazipur courthouses on November 29. More followed, with another attack on Gazipur court on December 1, an attack at an arts center in Netrakona on December 8.

Following these attacks, there was a concerted manhunt for the leaders of JMB. On February 9, Abdul Awul, Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun and Sunny Ataur Rahman had been sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment for another charge connected with the explosives used in the November 14 murder of the two judges. Mamun was charged under section three of Explosive Substances Act and given a 30 year sentence and another 10 years in prison under section four of the act. Awul and Sunny Ataur Rahman had been sentenced to 40 years for aiding and abetting the bombing.

On February 20, Bangla Bhai and Abdur Rahman, as well as Amjad Hossain and Mullah Omar had also been given 40 year sentences for their part in the November 14 killings of the judges. The four were tried in absentia, as they were all on the run. On March 13 Mullah Omar, aka Shakil, blew up himself, his wife and two small children in Comilla, rather than be arrested.

At the court case on February 20, Sultan Hossain Khan had been acquitted of renting out a house for the JMB bombers who attacked the judge.

In the current trial which ended today, all seven individuals were charged with murder under section 342 of Bangladesh's penal code. Only Asadur Rahman Arif was not in court, as he is still on the run.

Today, the news from the Daily Star, New Kerala, the Hindu, the BBC and the Washington Post relate that all seven accused, including the three who were earlier given 40-year sentences, were all handed out the death penalty. Arif's sentence was handed out in absentia.

Judge Reza Tarik Ahmed said in his verdict today: "They will be hanged until death....I pronounce this highest penalty as involvement of the accused has been proved beyond doubt."

In response, Abdur Rahman, the leader of the JMB shura said: "The government had engaged us to invite the ulema community for establishing Islamic laws. But now it punished us under worldly laws. What is the punishment this government deserves?"

While Bangla Bhai began singing militant anthems, Abdur Rahman continued: "Although we asked the government for holding our trial by an Islamic jury board, it did not pay any heed. Our trial has been conducted hastily by a Taguti court. Why the government is hurrying and why it is afraid?"

Singing the JMB "theme song" and laughing and joking had been an activity of all the men immediately before their arrival in court for sentencing, states the New Nation, citing prison sources.

After the verdict, the wife of Judge Jagannath Pandey, who was killed on November 14, said "The killers must be hanged in public to show that no murderer is above law. We'll never be able to overcome the loss. We'll get at least some consolation if the judgement is executed as early as possible."

Pallabi Jyoti Pandey also said that those who sponsored JMB should also be brought to trial.

The wife of the other murdered judge, Sohel Ahmed, said: "I appeal to the government to prevent recurrence of Jhalakathi tragedy anywhere in the country."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

Europe: Europe`s Moment Of Truth

While the Cartoon crisis luckily is coming to a halt. It`s aftermath is a lesson that might take a long time to digest.
The whole incident was telling, not only about the difference in cultural outlook, between the West and Islam. But also telling was the reaction, or should we say fraction ? internal in the West between those pleading that we should have practised self censorship in respect of Moslem sensibility and even considered the publishing of the cartoons merely nothing but a provocation, not what they really were; a manifestation against self censorship in defiance of violent intimidation.

Some were more busy cursing those publishing the cartoons than condemning the hysteria it resulted in. Even expressing understanding of the hurt sensibilities, ( Like Straw ) thus figleafing the primitive rage and attacks these, actually standard style ( just not against standard object like George Bush where anything seems to go ) satiric drawings, resulted in.

Article from Flemming Rose, the Cultural editor of JP, the man who together with Casten Juste, Chief editor of JP, published the cartoons in the first place:

Europe's Politics of Victimology By Flemming Rose

The worldwide furor unleashed by the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that I published last September in Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper where I work, was both a surprise and a tragedy, especially for those directly affected by it. Lives were lost, buildings were torched, and people were driven into hiding.

And yet the unbalanced reactions to the not-so-provocative caricatures -- loud denunciations and even death threats toward us, but very little outrage toward the people who attacked two Danish Embassies -- unmasked unpleasant realities about Europe's failed experiment with multiculturalism. It's time for the Old Continent to face facts and make some profound changes in its outlook on immigration, integration, and the coming Muslim demographic surge. After decades of appeasement and political correctness, combined with growing fear of a radical minority prepared to commit serious violence, Europe's moment of truth is here.

Read it all at: Realclearpolitics

Posted by Charles Martel at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

UK: Higher Education Union Votes to Boycott Israel

A hint for the innocent; when the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education asks for the end of "apartheid" policies, they are asking for the Palestinian's unlimited right of return. They are asking Israel to commit national suicide: British academics' union votes to boycott Israeli academics

Members of Britain's largest college teachers' union on Monday voted to boycott Israeli academics over what members termed "apartheid" policies and discriminatory practices toward Palestinians.

The 69,000-member National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) passed the motion at its annual conference in the northern English city of Blackpool. Two parts of the proposal passed with a show of hands, while a third went to a vote.

But union spokesman Trevor Phillips said the motion will only act as an advisory policy and will not necessarily be adopted, as the union is to merge this week with the Association of University Teachers, or AUT, to become the University and College Union with more than 100,000 members.

Ronnie Fraser, director of the Academic Friends of Israel, said his group would continue fighting the boycott and called the union's move "racist." "If the sponsors of this boycotting campaign succeeded in something, it is only to undermine further progress, collaboration and peace in the Middle East and to marginalize the standing of NATFHE," Fraser said.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)

Guantanamo Bay Naval Station: "Hunger Strike" Spreads

There is an obvious solution to this kind of thing; let the bastards die: Guantanamo hunger strike spreads

The number of detainees on hunger strike at the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has grown and now involves 75 inmates, the US says.

Navy Cmdr Robert Durand said the new hunger strike was aimed at attracting media attention and may also be connected to a disturbance on 18 May.

Detainees started an on-off hunger strike last August to protest at their continued detention and conditions.

Rights groups have voiced concerns that the US has force-fed the strikers.[...]

Posted by Ruy Diaz at 1:04 PM | Comments (0)

Russia: Chechens Choose Beauty Queen

Chechnya, the war-torn Muslim republic in Russia's south, announced its first beauty queen in history. The proud winner is 15-year old Zamira Dzhabrailova, who beat out 19 other candidates between the ages of 14 to 23. (Odd that there were no 9-year olds. Just what type of Muslims are these Chechens?)

All of the contestants, however, complained that they had to overcome the fierce resistance of their men-folk at home in order to participate. Only the fact that the contest was organized by the Chechen president and warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov, did such men agree to let their female relatives participate, claimed the BBC. (Roughly translated: Ramzan sent his boys to beat the crap out of these guys.)

Such a parade of Muslim beauties couldn't even melt the hard and evil hearts of Chechen Islamic militants, who lashed out and decried the beauty contest as a ``podium of disgrace,'' reported the BBC. Still, the sensitivities of local Muslims were partly taken into account, and the young contestants were not allowed to strut their stuff in bikinis.

Kadyrov handed Ms. Dzhabrailova the keys to a new Toyota, as well as tickets for two people to visit France. (Odd. Why not visit Muslim parasdises such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, or Sudan?)

During the reception after the contest, as Ramzan walked into the room some of the guards in his entourage began throwing money around --- 1,000 ruble and $100 notes. Newsru, the Russian web newspaper, reported that probably about $30,000 was thrown around the room for the benefit of the guests.

Ms. Dzhabrailova said she will donate the Toyota to a local orphanage, and said she will dedicate her life to help orphaned children who have suffered in Chechnya's 15 year insurrection against the federal government in Moscow. That insurrection, primarily Muslim-inspired, has left the small republic of about one million people utterly devastated. Grozny, the capital, remains in ruins, with about 90 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed.

The bikini ban during the Chechen beauty contest was most unfortunate. During WR's visit to Chechnya in 2005, there was some damn nice booty. The best fun was when the Chechen men left the room, and the Chechen women finally took their eyes off the floor or walls, and dared to look and giggle at the `infidel' men.

And don't think that Muslim women don't like to wear bikinis. When far from the prying eyes of the mullahs and other extremists you be surprised what goes down. During summer frolicking on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the neighboring Muslim republic of Dagestan, WR saw Muslim women happy to bear their bodies in sexy bikinis.

With curves like these Muslim gals have, perhaps it is possible to understand why some Muslim men want to keep them holed up from head to foot in black sacks. The thoughts of many a young pious man can easily stray... very, very, very far.

Posted by at 8:20 AM | Comments (1)

May 28, 2006

Pakistan: Muslim Honor Killings Confronted?

We reported on May 21 on the case of Ayesha, an 18 year old girl, accused of adultery by her husband of only one and a half months. She had left the marital home to stay with her brother, but Eisa Khan Khosa, her husband visited her there, accompanied by his own brother. They persuaded Ayesha to return to the marital home, and she agreed. Along the way, they cut off her nose and her lips, and left her in a field.

The incident happened in southern Punjab province in Dera Ghazi Khan, near the approaches to the Baluch highlands. The Pakistan Daily Times carries a picture of Ayesha (shown) and her account of the incident. Unlike the earlier account, it appears that her upper lip and nostril were not cut off but, slit, Chinatown-style. Nonetheless, without extensive plastic surgery, she will be scarred for life.

Ayesha Baloch said at Multan hospital: "First they tortured me and beat me. I started screaming. Akbar then caught my hands and pulled me to the ground. Essa sat on my legs and cut my nose and lips."

"I was bleeding and started screaming after they fled on a motorcycle. People heard me and rescued me and took me to my mother's home."

This act of mutilation at least left her alive. Such mutilations are connected with Muslim honor killings. We reported in November on the case of Shamin Mai, who committed the crime of marrying a man of her own choosing, rather than allowing her family to choose her marriage for her. For this "crime", her brother Bashir and her uncle Bilal, with four other individuals, chopped off her legs.

We mentioned on May 22 that a conference on honour killings had begun in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, entitled "We Can End Honour Killing". Various representatives from NGOs and rights groups were in attendance, and their statistics are dispiriting. Between 1000 and 1500 people, mostly women, are annually slaughtered because of suspected "impropriety" or refusal to engage in the forced marriages which are so common amongst Pakistani families, no matter where they live.

Just from media reports, between January and April this year, 158 women and 56 men had been killed nationally in honor killings. In North-West Frontier Province, a total of 76 women and men had been killed this year.

Further details of this conference can be found in Dawn and the Daily Times. Honour killing only became illegal at the start of last year. Officially, a minimum 10-year jail sentence is imposed on perpetrators of honour killings. In practice, however, there is a problem.

As we reported on April 6, the law includes a clause called "compoundability". This allows the perpetrator of a crime to legally bribe the relatives of a victim, and thus walk away free.

As many cases of honour killing involve the complicity of the victim's relatives in the murder, such a clause is not designed to bring justice. As I. A. Rehman, the director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said at the conference: "The element of compoundability makes the law a joke."

Another speaker at the conference was Ms Farhana Faruqi Stocker of Oxfam. She said that although 10,000 people regarded as "change-makers" had signed up to the movement to end honour killing, but said that for honour killing to really end, two groups need to be behind the movement. She told Reuters: "The mindset of legislators has to be changed in order for good legislation to come out." The other group is less easy to subject to control, as they live in rural areas where they are treated as more important than officials of the law. They are the law. Stocker said: "In order to bring change, we have to engage with clerics."

Honor killings are known as "kari-karo". This comes from the word 'black". A "sinful woman" is regarded as a "black" woman. The female version of the word for black is "kari". The male equivalent is "karo".

Fida Hussain Mastoi, a deputy inspector-general of police in Sindh stated that the police can do little even to stop the increase in honour killings, let alone prevent the custom.

The blame is often laid at the door of "tribal customs" and people try to avoid the taint of Islam in honour killings. But the Hudood Ordinances, a set of Islamic laws, condone stoning a woman to death for adultery.

That honour killings also happen among people of culturally separate Kurdish, also Turkish and Palestinian ethnic origins, gives the lie to the notion that tribal customs are to blame. Islam is to blame, and Islam alone.

We told the story of Mukhtar Mai, a woman who in June 2002 was ordered by a Muslim panchayat to be gang-raped by a group of volunteers in her Punjabi village of Meerwala Jatoi. Her "crime" had been that her 12-year old younger brother had been seen walking with a girl of a higher caste.

On Thursday, March 2 her six gang-rapists, some of whom had earlier been sentenced to death, were all released from jail on appeal. At the appeal, their relatives had threatened to kill anyone who testified against them.

Mukhtar Mai states that: "Until women are allowed to get educated ... these crimes will continue." It will mean more than education to change attitudes. 70% of Pakistan's populations live in rural communities, and as they move into cities, they bring their village customs with them.

The Islamic councils, called panchayat in Punjab, and jirga in North-West Frontier Province, are the sole source of law in Pakistan's rural communities, and the maulvis or imams are merely individuals chosen by the communities. There is no need for a qualification or training to become an imam.

In many cases, the decisions of these Muslim rural courts are staggering. In November we reported on how a Punjabi panchayat ordered that five girls (three of them pictured) should be ordered to be abducted, raped or killed if they did not submit to forced marriages arranged for them when they were small children. The "marriages" were part of a tradition known as vani in Punjab, swara in Northwest Frontier Province. Vani is a "compensation" marriage. If a man has committed a crime, a Muslim village court can order his female relatives to be given away in marriage.

Vani, which is closely linked to the custom of honour killing, became illegal at the same time as honour killing. The law was changed after a Muslim court in 2004 ordered that a three year old girl should be married off to an old man of 60.

The fact that parents in so many Muslim societies decide that they must choose the future spouse of their offspring is a root cause of the problem. In Pakistan, arranged marriages are the norm, but ultimately, these are often forced marriages. And when a person in authority can decide that his own flesh and blood is a chattel to be bartered and bargained with, this acts to strengthen the authority of the rural Islamic councils.

We have described how children have been virtually "sold". More often than not, girls are traded as commodities, the "get-out-of-jail-free" token for a criminal man to publicly expiate his guilt. Vani and swara marriages are specifically used for compensation for the crime of someone else.

When girls can be treated so cheaply, as bargaining chips, the jirgas and panchayats are above any law. And for Muslims, the rights of women and girls are nothing. When Mohammed the "prophet" bedded a nine-year old child bride, before she could decide her own fate, a dangerous precedent was set. It led to the teachings of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who said: "A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate. If he penetrates and the child is harmed then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however would not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl's sister."

Islam is the problem, and when communities give all power to Islam, their representatives can order whatever they wish. We reported on April 29 that in Dir, in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, a Muslim jirga, attended by 4,000 people, declared that not only was honor killing permissable, but if anyone disagreed and reported cases of honor killings to the authorities, they would be killed.

Honor killings are part of a larger constellation which in Pakistan includes vani, swara, forced and arranged marriages. And beyond Pakistan, though it is regarded as a sin to commit suicide, Muslim girls are often encouraged to commit suicide when they are seen to have become "tainted". In Ramallah, "Palestinian" territory, on January 2, 2004, Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud gave her daughter Rofayda a razor blade and ordered the teenager to kill herself by slashing her wrists.

Rofayda's crime was the fact that she had been raped by her two elder brothers and had become pregnant. The child of the rape had been born and given up for adoption. When Rofayda did not obey her mother, Mrs Qaoud put a plastic bag over her daughter's head, sliced her wrists with the razor blade, and when her daughter went limp, she finished her off with a blow on her head from a stick.

And such incidents are not unique. The Italian news agency AKI and the UK Independent report that in Turkey, girls have killed or attempted to kill themselves this year in record numbers. These suicides are happening in the eastern parts of the country. In the city of Van this year, 20 young women have committed suicide, more than happened in the whole of 2005. In the Kurdish city of Batman, 10 women and girls under the age of 23 have committed suicide.

Activists state that Turkey has increased the sentencing for honour killings, to be in line with the European Union which it wishes to join. Formerly honour killings got light sentences, because they were thought to involve mitigating circumstances.

But activists are now claiming that, rather than see a man going to jail for a lengthy period for committing an honour killing, girls are being made by relatives to commit their own honour-killings, upon themselves. On 24 May, Yakin Erturk, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, travelled to Batman to investigate this increased suicide incidence of young women and girls.

The life of a girl is virtually worthless in Islam. She may be desirable for a brief period in her life, often well under the age that would be considered moral, but her position is always going to be inferior to a man. In Islamic law, a woman's testimony in a sharia court is considered as worth half that of a man. A woman cannot divorce her husband, yet he can divorce her merely by saying "talaq" three times. A woman can only have one husband, but in sharia, he can have up to four.

And for young women in Pakistan, some of whom are promised in vani marriage before they are even born, no amount of legislation or education is going to change a thing. Islam always favours the boy children in a family, and girls are to be traded off, forced into marriage to satisfy their parents' desires and not their own.

And for the young bride, Ayesha Baloch, whose face will forever be disfigured, whose reputation will now forever be tarnished, there will be no justice. Her assailants, the husband and his brother who mutilated her, are in custody. But she knows that they will not be there for long. Ayesha said: "They are powerful people with money, and will get out on bail."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

Egypt: Islamist From Sinai Bomb Group Surrenders

Associated Press via the Washington Post reports that on Friday, a 26-year old Islamist suspected of involvement with attacks upon Red Sea resorts in the Sinai, surrendered in Egypt.

The man, Mohammed el-Shenoub, also spelled al-Shnub, was the brother of Salem Khadr al-Shnub, who was shot dead in the Sinai on November 21 last year. Salem had been suspected as the main bomb-maker for the Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity & Holy War) Islamist terror group.

Mohammed al-Shnub surrendered in the town of al-Arish close to the border with Israel in the north Sinai peninsula. This town was the home of Nasser Khamis el-Mallahi, leader of Tawhid, who was killed there in a shoot-out on May 9.

Mohammed al-Shnub, also known as Abu Jihad, was a Bedouin. The Egyptian authorities have been cracking down on the last remnants of Tawhid wal Jihad, whom they say were assisted by Palestinian extremists in Gaza.

We reported on May 19 that the second in command of Tawhid, Arafat Ali was killed when he tried to throw a bomb at police when cornered in the town of Rafah on the Egypt/Gaza border.

Al-Shnub is suspected of masterminding the first of the Red Sea bombings, which took place in Taba and Ras Shitan in October 2004. These bomb attacks, with explosives rigged by his brother Salem Khadr, killed 34 people, many of them Israeli tourists.

The most deadly of Tawhid's attacks came on July 23 last year, at Sharm al-Sheikh. 57 people, mostly tourists were killed, and more than 200 injured. On April 24 this year, 19 people were killed in a bomb attack at Dahab in the Red Sea, a popular diving resort. In total, the bomb attacks which began in October 2004 have killed 117 people.

The surrender of al-Shnub comes after an announcement made by the authorities earlier this month, which said that members of Tawhid wal Jihad would be treated fairly if they gave themselves up. Already around a dozen militants have surrendered.

On March 26, 13 people were charged with the Sinai resort bombings.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 8:32 PM | Comments (0)

Australia: Money Worries For Muslim Body

Yesterday's Australian carried the news that the leadership of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) must now prove to Westpac bank that it was elected properly, before executives are allowed access to its accounts.

We reported earlier on the elections of the new leadership. Disputes subsequently arose surrounding the new leadership. Now, a total of five state-based Islamic Councils out of the total of nine have agreed that the elections were not carried out fairly, and their doubts are being taken seriously by the bank.

The rebelling factions are the Islamic Council of Victoria, the Muslim Council of New South Wales, with the support of Tasmania, Christmas Island and ACT (Canberra).

The four councils in the federation who have so far not rebelled against the new leadership are based in Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Adelaide. The new chairman is Rahim Ghauri, a schoolteacher from Perth, and the Vice Chairman is Dr Waqar Ahmad, a scientist from Darwin.

We reported on May 5 that Neil Kadomi of the New South Wales Muslim Council began his campaign against the AFIC's leadership by casting doubt on the election. In an act of realiation, the leadership recently fired Amjat Mehboob, the chief executive of AFIC, who has been with the organisation for 27 of AFIC's 42 years of existence.

The bank said that the main body of AFIC was currently overdrawn to the tune of $230,000. It wants the situation resolved "as soon as possible". Westpac requires the leadership submit to it the minutes of the council elections to verify the legitimacy of the executive to appoint signatories to bank accounts.

An email statement from Westpac bank read: "We trust that the position will be satisfactorily and speedily resolved." The letter urged Mohammed Berjaoui (a Lebanese from Canberra), the new secretary of AFIC to email the nine member councils to inform them that it may freeze the accounts. Westpac said that freezing of accounts "would leave a number of AFIC schools in serious financial difficulty".

AFIC runs five Muslim schools in Australia, and gains most of its income from rent on the land where these are based. There are schools in Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide, but the largest is the Malek Fahd school in western Sydney, which gets $11 million from the taxpayers of Australia.

Neil Kadomi had earlier described the power struggle going on in the executive echelons of AFIC. Kadomi, a Paletsinian, said: "It's a Pakistani against Fijian and we don't want this to happen in the community. We're all Muslim: Arabic, English, Fijian, Indian, Pakistani, we're all Muslim. I don't know why (AFIC) have to be a committee of Pakistanis. It has to be a committee of all nations."

The former chief executive who was sacked, Amjat Mehboob, was from Fiji of Indian descent. The new board is Pakistani-led.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

Thailand: Savage Killings, 500 Unmarked Graves In Muslim South

Since our last update on the situation in Thailand, there has been no respite from the horrors of the insurgency. The Buddhist teacher, Juling Pongkunmul, remains in her coma, which was brought about by an attack by a Muslim mob on May 19. The latest news on Juling's condition is that she cannot breathe by herself, and is hooked up to a respirator.

Thailand's 79-year old monarch, King Bhumibol, called on the army to be patient and sensitive to communities' feelings. The army stated that all security officers sent to work in the deep South should have a knowledge of local dialects and culture. The rector of Yala Islamic College, Issama-il Lutfi Japakeeya, suggested that the conflict in the south could be solved if all groups heeded the King's advice.

Wednesday brought floods to the north, where illegal deforestation has allowed mudslides to sweep down onto villages. Fifty people are known to have died, and a further 50 have yet to be found. The Malaysia Star states 1,000 troops and rescue dogs have been sent to the affected northern region of Tha Pla district in Uttaradit province, which is the worst affected community.

But on Saturday evening, the horror of the south was brought home again with the slaughter of a three-year old child, as reported in XinhuaNet and the Bangkok Post. The child, Burahan Mahama, was being carried on a motorcycle in Muang district in Yala province. His father, Mr Ahama, was riding the bike, with his wife sitting pillion, carrying three year old Mahama and his 1 year old sister Nuriya.

The child's father was a member of the local Moh Mawi tambon (parish) administration. Two gunmen opened fire at about 7 pm local time, killing Mahama, and injuring his mother and father and sister. The survivors were taken to a hospital in Yarang district in Pattani district.

On the border between Narathiwat's Rieso district and Yala's Raman district, a cache of weaponry was discovered. Two AK-47 assault rifles, a rocket propelled grenade launcher and three grenades were found hidden beneath a bridge. In a separate discovery, an M16 rifle was discovered in a plastic bag in Narathiwat.

Also on Saturday in Narathiwat, a village head was shot twice in the chest by drive-by gunmen, around 4 pm local time.

Earlier today (Sunday), according to the Bangkok Post, a 37-year old rubber tapper, Doha Sa, was shot dead in Rangae district, Narathiwat. It was at this district that Juling and her colleague, Sirinat Thawornsuk were attacked inside the school where the two women taught.

But overshadowing most reports of day-to-killings in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat is the report of 500 unmarked graves. This news was broken initially by an outgoing Senator for Nakhon Ratchasima, Kraisak Choonhavan. He was speaking on a talk show in Bangkok yesterday evening. And appropriately for a story about graves, his comments have brought up a whole can of worms.

These graves, according to the Bangkok Post were discovered in Yala and Narathiwat, and their discovery had been announced by Khunying Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan, acting director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science. She said today that the bodies appeared to belong to the slain bodies of migrant workers from neighbouring Cambodia and Myanmar.

The news, carried by XinhuaNet, TNA News and updated in the Bangkok Post reveals that already politicians are fighting over the significance of these unmarked graves.

Thailand's caretaker Interior Minister, Kongsak Wantana, had tried to play down the importance of the graves, and tried to remove any association with the insurgency which began on January 4, 2004, and has since claimed nearly 1,300 lives. Kongsak was quoting from reports made by the governors of Yala and Narathiwat, who said that they had made their own inspections. The governors claimed that the individuals died of natural causes and were properly buried. Pracha Therat, Narathiwat's governor called the discovery "impossible".

He said that the story should not have been released until all its details had been verified and cross-checked. He claimed that an unfounded story such as this would badly affect the country's image and would make the work of field officials difficult.

The caretaker Interior Minister, Kongsak, said: "It's necessary to know who disclosed the information and whether it is reliable. If reporters visited and took photos of the cemeteries, then it's reliable." Kongsak said that if the bodies had been killed by militants, then their relatives would have lodged complaints with the authorities.

But I would infer that if they were illegal workers, maybe their relatives knew nothing of the circumstances of their loved ones.

Kongsak appears to be wishing to play down the graves' significance for political reasons. He said he was "optimistic" that the discovery of the graves would not escalate the violence in the south.

Khunying Pornthip said today to Agence France Presse that she knew that some of the bodies had already been exhumed. She said: "Police believe they were illegal immigrant workers from Cambodia and Burma, and 80% of them were killed."

She added: "Hopefully we can start to exhume the bodies and start to identify them. The process would take several months to complete."

Dr Pornthip states that 500 bodies have been discovered, mainly in Pattani, where most were discovered in March. They had been buried in unmarked graves in cemeteries designated for the region's ethnic Chinese community. A further 30 bodies were discovered in Narathiwat, and some in Yala.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, president of the opposition Democrat Party, today quoted from a report made by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, which claimed that most of the bodies appeared to have died around late 2004.

The Democrat leader called for a government investigation. Similarly, Dr Pornthip states that a proper forensic inquiry should be made. Though she is quite plain about stating 500 graves have been discovered, caretaker Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana has tried to downscale the number to 300.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)

Iran: Islamists Use Sexual Violence To Silence Critics

A report in today's Sunday Telegraph describes the ordeal which one woman pro-democracy campaigner dissident was subjected to. 40-year old Roya Tolouee was last year taken into custody on account of her support of women's rights and opposition to the inflexible theocracy of Iran. She had founded a women's group in Iranian Kurdistan and had also launched a monthly magazine. Last August she was arrested in Sanandaj at night by four men and three women, all armed. This followed her participation in anti-regime demonstrations.

She was interrogated by intelligence agents for a whole night, and then put into a cell. She was placed in solitary confinement in a prison run by the intelligence service. For six nights she was interrogated in a basement, and asked to sign papers admitting to being an organiser of the demonstrations and to identify her accomplices from a list they possessed.

She said: "When I wouldn't do what they wanted, they slapped me. But after the sixth night, the routine changed. I was left alone in a small dark room with two men. One was the assistant prosecutor and called himself Amiri. The other had a filthy mouth and said terrible things. They started slapping me again. For the rest of the night they did to me what no woman should ever experience. Amiri said, 'I'm going to hang you, but before I hang you, I will make an example of you so that no woman will dare to open her mouth here again'." Amiri then sexually assaulted her, and said that only the rule of Islam and the clerics mattered to him.

On the seventh night she was still bleeding, so they threatened to set fire to her two children for her to watch, and she gave in. "I threw myself at Amiri's feet and begged him not to harm my children. I said I'd do anything they wanted. Whatever they wanted, I would sign."

Then after a few nights she was moved to a women;s prison, where detainees were lashed, and had wounds which became infected. After 66 days, she was released on bail, but decided to escape from the country. She took her six-year old son Nima to Turkey and then Shima, her 14 year old daughter was smuggled out to her. Last month, with the help of the Alliance of Iranian Women she was granted political asylum in the United States.

Roya Tolouee was lucky to escape, but her tale, as recounted to Telegraph journalist Philip Sherwell in Washington, is only one of many more tales, which will never be heard while the evil theocracy of Iran continues.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 4:58 PM | Comments (2)

India: Muslims And Hindus Battle In Gujarat

News from Reuters via Yahoo and South Africa's Independent reports that at least 30 people have been injured in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, in the west of India.

Hundreds of people were involved in the fighting, which included stone throwing and hurling burning objects at each other, acccording to a police official.

Earlier this month there were riots between Muslims and Hindus in Vadodara city in the same state, where six people were killed and scores were injured.
The state saw extensive violence when riots in 2002 saw more than 1,000 killed, mostly from the Muslim community. The state is governed by the firecely nationalistic Hindu party, the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)

Iraq: Followers of the `Prophet' Mohammed Execute Athletes

Devout followers of the 7th century Arabian warlord and pedophile, Mohammed, shot to death an Iraqi tennis coach and two of his players this week, reports AP. This was the second Muslim terrorist attack against athletes in the past 10 days. On May 17, fifteen members of a tae-kwondo team were kidnapped in western Iraq while traveling to Jordan. Nothing is known about their fate.

The tennis players were brutally murdered by Muslims who stopped their car and forced them to get out. The players were then shot, said AP, citing Manham Kubba, secretary-general of the Iraqi Tennis Union.

Their crime? Wearing shorts.

Police said that the murderers, devout followers of the `Prophet' Mohammed, were distributing leaflets warning people in the Sunni neighborhoods of Saidiyah and Ghazaliyah not to wear shorts.

"Wearing shorts by youth are prohibited because it violates the principals of Islamic religion when showing forbidden parts of the body. Also women should wear the veil,'' the leaflets said.

Perhaps the most bizarre part of this story is the AP author's efforts to show that Islam is a `religion of peace.' One can imagine the time and effort that the AP author, Kim Gamel, spent trying to find a `cleric' who would condemn these terror attacks. Given the duplicity of the western press, how do we know that this `cleric' really exists and is not a figment of Kim Gamel's imagination. Let's not forget the Jayson Blair journalist fraud scandal at the New York Times in 2003.

To quote from the article:

Sunni cleric Eid al-Zoubayi denounced the attack. "Islamic religion is an easy religion and it allows wearing sport shorts as long as they don't show the forbidden parts of the body, so the acts that are targeting the sport are criminal," he said.

Dear Kim Gamel: Islam is an inherently violent and intolerant ideology. It was created by an Arabian warlord and pedophile, and has spread through conquest and murder since the 7th century.

If some so-called `Muslims' don't follow this violent cult as ardently as others, it's only because their humanity has been able to overcome centuries of brainwashing and repression. We should be happy for such `Muslims' and provide them with all the necessary assistance to forever leave behind the Muslim totalitarian cult.

Current-day Iraq, which was once part of the Eastern Roman Empire, was primarily Christian until the Arab invasions led by the pedophile warlord Mohammed. He came as a conqueror, forced upon the people his deranged religious cult, and destroyed the prosperity and advanced culture of the region.

In this historical context, the current Anglo-American effort to liberate Iraq is nothing more than an effort to help the people of this region return to their roots, and to once again enter the fold of civilization, leaving forever behhind the ignorance and suffering brought by centuries of Islam.

Posted by at 3:45 AM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2006

Malaysia: Islamic Authorities Destroy More Hindu Temples

We reported on April 22 that a century old Hindu temple, the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple in Kuala Lumpur, was bulldozed, without previous warning, on Tuesday April 18. A prayer session was in progress, and police cleared the building and set the bulldozers to demolish the temple, which was dedicated to the deity Devi.

The above incident was reported in India, but as I have realised while researching the background to this story, Malaysia's mainstream media are disgracefully oblivious to such activities going on right under their noses.

Bernama News Agency, the Malaysia Star, The New Straits Times, all seem to ignore the oppression of Hindus going on in a country which purports to be a "moderate Muslim nation". There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim nation.

Once in the majority, Muslims cannot avoid oppressing those of other faiths. The only news source which does occasionally publish stories and letters which are not hagiographies to the dissembling ideology of former president Mahathir Mohamad is MalaysiaKini. And of course, weblogs by concerned Malaysian non-Muslims.

India's Financial Express and Hindustan Times reported that on Thursday, 25 May, about 50 Hindus (pictured) staged a protest outside Kuala Lumpur City Hall. They threatened to instigate legal action against the government and local councils if the destruction of Hindu temples does not cease.

The case of the demolition of the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple became known in the international media because of the extreme age of the temple. But there have been several temples destroyed just this year.

According to Policewatch Malaysia, a weblog, the following temples were destroyed:

22 February, Sri Ayyanar Sathiswary Alayam Temple Jalan Davies was demolished, with its statues buried on the site.

18 April, Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple was bulldozed.

26 April, Sri Mariaman Temple Seksyen 11, served with demolition order by Shah Alam City Council.

9 May, Sri Kaliamman temple (pictured) in Shah Alam, was demolished by the City Council.

11 May, Aum Sri Siva Balakrishnan Muniswarar temple, in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, was partially demolished. This temple was 60 years old.

14 May, Sri Balakrishan Muniswarer temple in Setapak was partly demolished, and then given a demolition notice by Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

15 May, Ganggai Muthu Karumariaman temple in Keddah, was subjected to an arson attack.

This latter case was the only incident which got a mention in the mainstream Malaysian media, in the Star. And it was one of three temples to be attacked on that night of Sunday 15 to Monday 16 May. The other arson attacks happened in Batu Putih, Kulim, in the state of Kedah. Kedah state adjoins the border with the province of Yala in Thailand, scene of the Muslim insurgency.

The Sri Muthu Mariamman Temple was seen with flames inside around 9.30 pm. Statues, which had been covered in fabric raiment, had been burned. Only the cloth was damaged, and the statues survived.

About half a mile away, the Sivasakthi Muneeswarar Temple was set alight, and residents managed to save some statues and other religious items. A can of diesel fuel was found nearby. A man had been witnessed acting suspiciously when the fires had begun, and he fled when seen.

What the Malaysian media patently failed to mention was that earlier that day, there had been a protest by Hindus about destruction of temples, which had been disrupted by violent assaults made upon them by Muslim activists.

The BBC reported that the demonstration happened in Shah Alam, in Selangor State. Shah Alam is a satellite city of Kuala Lumpur, and is dominated by Malay-Muslims.

Before a crowd of Muslims broke up the protest, the demonstration was being led by Dr Jacob George, president of the Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam. The object of the protest was to prevent the Shah Alam City Council from demolishing another Hindu temple, which had been in existence for 107 years, the Sri Mariaman Temple.

As in the case of the April 17 demolition of the century old Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple, the reasons given by the authorities is that the founders of both antiquated temples did not have permission to build them. There are not land records available in Malaysia from 100 years ago. For such a flimsy excuse when the buildings have stood for more than a century, there is obviously an ulterior motive. And that is Islamification.

Dr George said: "I'm becoming an alien in Malaysia, in my own country".

The demonstration which took place outside Kuala Lumpur City Hall on Thursday (25 May) saw Hindus carrying placards saying "Demolishing temples is criminal". A Hindu priest lit candles and prayers wee said to the Hindu deity Shiva. A coconut was symbolically smashed as a prayer offering.

The protesters said that hundreds of Hindu temples have been destroyed over the past 15 years, and again, they blamed the "Islamisication" of Malaysia. Since late February, at least seven Hindu temples have been torn down or served demolition notices, at various parts of the country.

Malaysia Policewatch states that in the two states which are run by the PAS (Islamic Party of Malaysia) on the east coast, Kelantan and Terrengannu, not a single temple has been destroyed in 50 years of their administration.

The UMNO party, however, is not supportive of non-Muslims. We reported on March 21 that the Law Minister in the Malaysian government, Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz of the UMNO party, threatened to have anyone who criticised Islam tried for sedition.

Recently, the government announced that all policewomen, in their annual parade, including non-Muslims, should all wear the Islamic headscarf (called a tudung in Malaysia).

Hindus have felt particularly oppressed in Malaysia, but just before Christmas, a nearly completed Christian church near Skudai in Johor state was completely demolished. And heretical Muslims, such as the Sky Kingdom Sect, had all of their wondrous constructions demolished in Terrenganu State last year. The reason given was that they had not gained planning permission. And of course, even though Islamic constructions are no more documented than Hindu, Christian places of worship, or other buildings of "heretical faiths", no mosques are ever demolished. Such is always the way of Islam.

Hindus comprise 9% of Malaysia's population, and many of these are Tamils. Islam arrived in Malaysia in the 15th century, but Hinduism has existed in Malaysia for far longer than Islam. But now, Hindus are feeling under threat. In December, a Hindu mountaineering hero, M. Moorthy, was buried by an Islamic Court. Two weeks before he died, while he was in a coma, the Islamic courts were told that he had become a Muslim. In opposition to the claims of his wife Kaliammal, who said he had never converted to Islam, a federal court said it had no powers to reverse the Islamic Courts' judgement. Moorthy was interred in a Muslim graveyard, in Muslim burial rites, even though he was a Hindu.

All ethnic Malays (who comprise 60% of the demographic) are automatically designated as Muslims, and as everyone is issued with identity cards in childhood, which state one's religion, which is registered, it is virtually impossible to convert out of Islam. The only ethnic Malay ever allowed to change her faith was a woman aged 89, called Nyonya Tahir. She had become a Buddhist when she married her Chinese husband in the 1930s. She made history when she became the only person ever allowed to officially apostasise. The shariah courts only granted her this privilege after she had died. So in effect, the Islamic courts, which wield massive power in the nation, have NEVER allowed anyone to legally leave Islam.

Article 3 of Malaysia's constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the state, but Article 3 (1) of the constitution states that 'other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation'.

However, Article 121 (1A) of the constitution rules that the Islamic courts are not to be affected by decisions in a civil court.This clause states that civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which already falls within the scope of the Syariah or Islamic courts.

One woman, a Christian called Lina Joy, is set to challenge this inflexibility of the so-called "moderate Muslim nation". She converted from Islam to Christianity, but no Islamic court will allow her to be registered as a Christian. The "moderate Muslim nation" will not allow her to marry her Christian boyfriend. Finally the highest court in the nation, the Federal Court, has agreed to review her case before the end of this year.

Until people really are "free to practise any religion of their choosing", as specified in Article 11 of the nation's constitution, Malaysia is a prime example of the truism that there is no such thing as "moderate Islam".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

Saudi Arabia: Hatred and Violence Taught in the Schools

Freedom House, the U.S. Government funded think tank aimed at promoting democracy and human rights, has blasted Saudi Arabia for using school textbooks that inculcate Saudi children with hatred and intolerance.

While all of Islam is an inherently violent and totalitarian ideology, the Saudi strain of Wahhabism is considered the most virulent. The Koran, a 7th century book written by a deranged Arabian pedophile and warlord who considered himself a prophet, is the official constitution of Saudi Arabia. 15 of the 19 Muslim terrorists on September 11 were from Saudi Arabia.

Freedom House's report, titled ``Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance,'' analyzed 12 textbooks used at Saudi schools on history, geography, ethics, and religion. The textbooks teach Saudi children to hate Jews and Christians, as well as Shiite Muslims, who are considered heretics.

"What is being taught today in Sau