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July 2007 Stats for The Big Picture.
From Islam Watch via Fox News:
A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and rape.
A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims, including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.
"Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and his prophet," the Imam says, according to the report. "If you don't believe me, here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain."
The lawyer, Anjem Choudary, backs up the Imam's position, saying that all Muslims are innocent.
Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.
"You are innocent if you are a Muslim," Choudary tells the BBC. "Then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God."
Choudary said he would not condemn a Muslim for any action.
"As a Muslim, I must support my Muslim brothers and sisters," Choudary said. "I must have hatred to everything that is not Muslim."
This cleric isn't in some Islamic nation. He's in an East London mosque, preaching specifically for the killing and rape of his non-Muslim fellow Brits.
Permitting him to continue isn't permitting freedom of speech - it's permitting a very small subset of freedom of speech, specifically, freedom to incite murder of non-Muslims.
If it's easy to accept the rule against shouting "fire" in a crowded theater, it should be easy to pass a law saying that it's illegal to call for people to kill those who aren't part of one's own organization - in this case, the organization of radical Islamists.
Dr. Wafa Sultan Speaks at a Private Residence in Los Angeles
Shockingly, on U.S. soil, a citizen of this country has had to go into hiding due to threats from an organized group - radical Islamists:
Dr. Wafa Sultan has been forced to go into hiding with her family following a fatwa (religious edict) from an Islamic scholar, according to Omedia. Sultan faces the fatwa following a recent debate on Al-Jazeera in which she challenged Egyptian Islamist Talat Rheim over Dutch cartoons of Mohammed, who Muslims revere as a prophet. Sultan argued that Denmark had the right to print the cartoons.
Click here to see Sultan's March 4 interview on Al Jazeera.
Last week, at a private residence in Los Angeles, Sultan appeared. Here is an excerpt from her remarks (transcribed from an audio recording, and presented here with the permission of Dr. Sultan):
You need to jump the gap between you and them. Bridge this gap, and begin to understand this mindset. You cannot win this war until you understand the Muslim mindset.
You know, prior to my first interview on Al Jazeera in 2005, I thought I only needed to educate my people in the Arab world. But right after that interview, unfortunately, I found out that the West is lacking knowledge about the realities in the Arabic world. They don't know anything about the Muslim mindset. At a very early age, we are brainwashed to believe, that we are here, to spread Islam. We are here to fight, for Allah's sake, and to kill or to be killed in his army.
They're very different. Their concept of time is so very different from your concept. They are well-trained to be patient. They believe time is at their side. It doesn't matter how long they wait. One day they're going to reach their goal.
And there is a very well-known in Islam called al-Taqiyya. I don't know if you're familiar with it. Al-Taqiyya means Muslims are allowed to lie, to cheat, to deceive, in order to reach their goals.
In my first interview on Al Jazeera, the host asked me the question, "Why are you trying to be American, more than Americans? I said, "Believe it or not, I am American more than Americans. I was born in hell. I know the difference between hell, and paradise. But unfortunately, most Americans don't. [APPLAUSE]. They take their American lives for granted.
Just greeting my next-door neighbor - walking freely down the street - you take it for granted; I don't. So please, defend your life. Defend your values. This war is a very tough war. I have no doubt, that we are going to win this war.
Thank you so much!
[APPLAUSE]
Dr. Sultan asked us for our help in defending her against a fatwa issued against her by Al-Qaradhawl, a radical Islamist and resident of Qatar. You can help by submitting the following letter, drafted by one of her many supporters, to the embassy at Qatar. Use this link, and paste the letter into Feedback:
Embassy of Qatar:
As an American citizen I am appalled by the rage, threats and hateful rhetoric leveled against Dr. Wafa Sultan by Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Al-Qaradawi does not have the right to issue religious edicts, or "fatwas" against persons residing in the U.S., who express their opinions in an attempt to uphold the truth. In fact, it was this type of hateful rhetoric, threats and rage that compelled Dr. Sultan to speak out in the first place. As a result of al-Qaradawi's actions to exact revenge and incite hatred against Dr. Sultan, she has now been forced into hiding.
These are extraordinary charges against Dr. Sultan made by al-Qaradawi, who states them in a manner which his fellow jihadists understand perfectly. In fact, we all understand exactly what he is threatening.
Given that al-Qaradawi has justified suicide attacks against innocent civilians and American soldiers in Iraq, it is abundantly clear that he encourages violence and threats of death over civil discourse and free speech.
Law enforcement officials should take this latest threat against Wafa Sultan very seriously indeed.
Signed...
I've also drafted a variation on the above letter, which can be sent to the U.S. Embassy in Qatar. Use this email address to reach Michael Alan Ratney, currently the Chargé d'Affaires at the embassy while GWB's nominee for incoming Ambassador to Qatar, Joseph LeBaron, awaits nomination hearings.
Dear Mr. Ratney,
As an American citizen I am appalled by the rage, threats and hateful rhetoric leveled against Dr. Wafa Sultan by Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Al-Qaradawi does not have the right to issue religious edicts, or "fatwas" against persons residing in the U.S., who express their opinions in an attempt to uphold the truth. In fact, it was this type of hateful rhetoric, threats and rage that compelled Dr. Sultan to speak out in the first place. As a result of al-Qaradawi's actions to exact revenge and incite hatred against Dr. Sultan, she has now been forced into hiding.
These are extraordinary charges against Dr. Sultan made by al-Qaradawi, who states them in a manner which his fellow jihadists understand perfectly. In fact, we all understand exactly what he is threatening.
Given that al-Qaradawi has justified suicide attacks against innocent civilians and American soldiers in Iraq, it is abundantly clear that he encourages violence and threats of death over civil discourse and free speech.
As an American citizen, I urgently request that the U.S. Embassy in Qatar take every step to protect the lives of American citizens from death threats issued against them which emanate from Qatar.Signed...
Just yesterday LiveLeak acted courageously in the face of death threats, to post the film, FITNA. We in this country must demand that our government take every step to defend our freedom of speech from threats against our citizens, and we must champion those who courageously defend our freedom of speech - from our soldiers fighting overseas, to LiveLeak, and to Dr. Sultan.
This week the David Horowitz Freedom Center is launching a Declaration Against Genocide, with a call "to student governments, to campus human rights organizations, to Muslim Students Associations and to individuals in the academic community, to join us in drawing a collective line in the sand against barbarism and to declare ourselves for civilization and hope." From an email distributed by the Center:
David Horowitz Freedom Center Announces Declaration Against Genocide
The David Horowitz Freedom Center announced that it will distribute a Declaration Against Genocide and ask individuals and groups, particularly those on American college campuses, to sign it. The Declaration notes that the Sudanese and other Africans have been victims of a slow motion genocide, and that Islamo fascists in the Middle East are preparing a new genocide against the Jews and can be found here: http://terrorismawareness.org/petitions/140/declaration-against-genocide .
In describing the objectives of this new initiative, David Horowitz, President of the Freedom Center, said: "We are asking all campus groups to repudiate the genocidal passage in the Islamic Hadith which reads: "The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: 'The time [of judgment] will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!'"
Horowitz continued: "We are also asking all campus groups, including the Muslim Students Association, to condemn the Hamas Charter which says: `Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.' Signers of the Declaration will also be asked to repudiate the Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has said `The accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible.' And Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, who called the Jews `a cancer which is liable to spread again at any moment,' and has said, "If the Jews `all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.' These are hateful doctrines that threaten the lives not only of Jews, but of all Americans."
In addition to condemning the genocidal agenda of these leaders and organizations, the Declaration calls on campus groups to affirm "the freedom of the individual conscience and the right to change religions or have no religion at all; the equal dignity of men and women; and the right of all people to live free from violence, intimidation and coercion."
"Although a Declaration Against Genocide should be seen as a document with universal appeal," Horowitz notes, "a coalition of groups with ties to the Islamo-fascist jihad are bound to protest this effort. Our goal is to test universities' claims that they support religious and ethnic tolerance, and to challenge the campus left, which consistently overlooks statements by Islamic radicals which are nothing less than an invitation to mass murder."
Click here to sign the Declaration.
Islamic and leftist organizations on university campuses, will have the opportunity to show that they support tolerance and stand against genocide. Will they sign the Declaration?
Dr. Tawfik Hamid addresses an audience at Pepperdine University
Last week at Pepperdine University, a panel event was held to focus on the work Dr. Tawfik Hamid. Panelists included Frank Gaffney, former Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy; Robert G. Kaufman, Professor of Foreign Policy, Pepperdine University and former instructor at the Naval War College; and Larry Greenfield, a former Naval Intelligence serviceperson and now California Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Hamid grew up in Cairo. He reports from his own personal experience how he, as a child, was radicalized - how, in his own words:
The love in my heart had changed into hatred. Not because of American foreign policy. It is because of the teaching that they gave me when I was child.
Dr. Hamid has written an article detailing the astonishing way in which this is done to many Islamic children, as he personally experienced it:
When I was nine years old, I learned the following Quranic verse during one of our Arabic lessons:
But do not think of those that have been slain in God's cause as dead. Nay, they are alive! With their Sustainer have they their sustenance. They are very happy with the reward they received from Allah (for dying as a shaheed) and they rejoice for the sake of those who have not joined them (i.e., have not yet died for Allah). (Quran 3:169-70)1
It was the first time I was exposed to the concept of shaheed (martyr), and naturally, I began to dream of becoming one. The thought of entering paradise very much appealed to me. There I could eat all the lollypops and chocolates I wanted, or play all day without anyone telling me to study. What made the concept of shaheed even more attractive was its power to quell the fear I experienced as a young boy-for we were taught that if we were not good Muslims (especially if we did not pray five times per day), a "bald snake" would attack us in the grave. The idea of dying as a martyr provided a perfect escape from the frightening anguish of eternal punishment. Dying as a shaheed, in fact, was the only deed that fully guaranteed paradise after death.
One of the most significant parts of Dr. Hamid's talk at Pepperdine, discussed a methodology for forcing a determination as to whether Islamic organizations are truly moderate. Transcribed from an audio recording:
I will start my talk tonight, by setting definitions. I feel that talking about radical and moderate Islam without defining, what do we mean, by the word "radical" - what do we mean by the word "moderate" Muslims - can end into just discussions followed by discussions that again end in nothing. We have to set definitions. What do we mean by "moderate" Muslim? I can put it in these alphabets - A B C D E F G.
A - Killing the Apostate. I don't think that anyone who believes that an apostate or a converter from Islam to Christianity should be killed, could be considered moderate. (laughter)
B - Beating women. The same applies, to beating women.
C - Calling Jews "pigs and monkeys."
D - Declaring wars against non-Muslims to spread Islam.
E - Enslavement of female war prisoners, and raping them, as what is happening in Darfur now.
F - Fighting Jews before end days, and killing all of them, which is _the_ main cause of problems in the Middle East now. It is this belief that Muslims have to kill all Jews.
G - Is killing girls.
So, when someone believes in such beliefs, we should not consider them moderate. If an organization here in America cannot stand clearly, and unambiguously, against such barbaric values, then there is something wrong in this organization. So I truly believe that we in the free world, should insist that the organizations that declare that they are moderates, to prove these words, by standing clearly against these violent edicts of Sharia law. (APPLAUSE).
This is an actionable methodology. We should demand that Islamic organizations such as CAIR, MPAC, etc., should stand, in Dr. Hamid's words, "clearly, and unambiguously, against such barbaric values." If they refuse, then their claims of being "moderate" organizations, are a sham, and will be exposed as such.
People frequently try to excuse Islam by saying that those who commit murder in its name are radicals who are corrupting the true teachings of that religion. Islam bears no responsibility for the actions of such radicals, claim the apologists.
But what is not even remotely debatable, is that Islam is the only religion that produces such numbers of mass murderers who kill in the name of their religion. It is time for the apologists for Islam to be held to account for this.
I was recently having a discussion on the comments section of this site with a poster who argued that with regard to the subject of abortion, Christianity was comparable to Islam. I responded:
Per the site religioustolerance.org, the total number of murders or attempted murders committed with regard to abortion clinics, from 1989 to 2004, was 24. Compare this to 4,989 killed an injured by radical Islamists in just the past two months.
Compare it to the 142,174 (56,000+ killed, 85,000+ injured) killed or murdered by radical Islamists since 9/10/01. (Link to source - and supporting spreadsheet).
Citing numbers from the same link (http://www.thereligionofpeace.com), Say Anything posts:
More people are killed by Islamists each year than in all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition combined. (source)
More civilians were killed by Muslim extremists in two hours on September 11th than in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. (source)
Islamic terrorists murder more people every day than the Ku Klux Klan has in the last 50 years. (source)
19 Muslim hijackers killed more innocents in two hours on September 11th than the number of American criminals executed in the last 65 years. (source)
The notion that Islam is not unique among religions in the number of such extremists it produces is comforting, but inaccurate. Only Islam produces mass murderers in such numbers. This is a hard truth for which apologists for that religion must be held to account.
A year-long investigation in England has documented (once again) that mosques there teach hatred towards Christians and Jews.
An authoritative new report by Policy Exchange, the UK's leading centre-right thinktank, entitled The Hijacking of British Islam: How extremist literature is subverting Britain's mosques, reveals the worrying extent of extremist penetration of mosques and other key institutions of the British Muslim community. The report is the most comprehensive academic survey of its kind ever produced in the UK and is based on a year-long investigation by several teams of specialist researchers into the availability of extremist literature and covers more than a hundred mosques and Islamic centres throughout the UK.
Among the reports findings are:
* Most of the extremist literature is published and distributed by agencies linked to the Saudi Arabian government.
* Some of the most high-profile and prestigious mosques in Britain are among the worst offenders; in many of them, it is openly available.
* Separatist literature is distributed at the East London Mosque - which is closely associated with the Muslim Council of Britain (which purports to be the main body representing British Muslims).
Shocking statements
Pamphlets, books and leaflets obtained from mosques and Islamic centres contain an assortment of shocking statements including:
* "Jihad against a tyrant, oppressors, people of bid'ah [Muslim innovators], or wrongdoers. This type of jihad is best done through force if possible."
* "The Jews and the Christians are the enemies of the Muslim."
* "Whoever changes his religion, kill him."
Although some of the hate literature is in English, a proportion is written in Arabic. The translations commissioned by Policy Exchange have been independently verified.
Many of the publications encourage British Muslims to segregate themselves from non-Muslims. So-called unbelievers are to be treated as second-class and avoided wherever possible.
There are also repeated calls for gays to be thrown from mountains and tall buildings and for women to be subjugated.
Radical Islamists are using the same tactics here in the U.S.
It's happening here, but to a lesser extent. According to one FBI agent interviewed in Ronald Kessler's new book The Terrorist Watch, about one in ten of the United States' 2,000 mosques are believed to preach hatred. That number was higher before 9/11, however, as radicals now seek to evade U.S. intelligence agencies.
But the problem extends beyond mosques. Islamic schools play a role, too. According to scholar Daniel Pipes, a Saudi textbook at the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, VA, teaches first graders that, "all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews [and] Christians," while books used by New York City's Muslims schools include, "sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians."
A new report issued by the New York Police Department indicates that radical Islam continues to have an appeal among Manhattan's Muslims, often through "informal groups or clusters of young men…usually associated with a particular venue - community center, non-governmental organization, university group, housing project, café or even a particular mosque." NYPD also noted the, "growing trend of Salafi-based radicalization that has permeated some Muslim student associations (MSA's)."
This environment has undoubtedly impacted America's Muslims. According to a Pew Research Poll, roughly one-quarter of young Muslims (ages 18-29) in the United States believe that suicide bombing is justified under certain circumstances.
The British report makes the following excellent recommendations:
i) The Saudi Arabian government must be told to stop distributing extremist literature in Britain or else risk its good relations. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is currently on a state visit to the UK and the British government should address this matter directly with him.
ii) Mosques and other Islamic institutions must act immediately to remove extremist literature from their premises.
iii) The government, local authorities, police forces, other institutions and prominent individuals should have nothing to do with mosques that continue to sell or distribute extremist literature.
iv) Islamic schools must be subject to clear and rigorous regulation and made part of a genuinely shared system of national education.
Teaching of hatred isn't tolerated in America with regard to any ethnic or cultural heritage. It must be wiped out of the mosques here.
Today Iran is bragging that it has new missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers:
Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Mostafa Muhammad-Najjar announced on Tuesday that his country had developed a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers, capable of reaching Israel and US Army bases in the Middle East.
If Iran nukes Israel, Israel will have no choice but to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike. The results would be devastating to everyone on the planet:
...in clear, concise and chillingly forensic style, Cordesman ["top strategic guru at the Center for Strategic & International Studies"] spells out that the real stakes in the crisis that is building over Iran's nuclear ambitions would certainly include the end of Persian civilization, quite probably the end of Egyptian civilization, and the end of the Oil Age. This would also mean the end of globalization and the extraordinary accretions in world trade and growth and prosperity that are hauling hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians and others out of poverty.
Iran must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons and using them to seek it's often-stated goal of eliminating Israel from the map. The result would be the destruction, not only of Israel, but also of Iran, and of the entire global economy.
Spread the news far and wide: CAIR made big moves this week to use the threat of lawsuits to destroy our freedom of speech - and Americans who heard about it are getting sick and tired of it, and are standing up to defend our way of life from those who seek to destroy it.
First came the news this week that CAIR had pressured PACE university to get a student, Stanislav Shmulevich, arrested for throwing a Koran in a toilet at PACE university. This move has generated millions of dollars in adverse publicity against CAIR, via talk radio, blogs, newspapers, and on TV.
Evidently emboldened by what they foolishly considered a success, CAIR then sent a letter threatening legal action against the Young America's Foundation, unless they shut down an event at which Robert Spencer was scheduled to speak. The YAF responded: “CAIR can go to Hell and they can take their 72 virgins with them.” This is a rallying cry ranking with "Nuts!" and "Give 'em Hell, Harry!"
In an ill-considered, knee-jerk response to pressure put on it by CAIR, PACE University has called the police and had arrested, a student, for putting a Koran in a toilet. This, when flag-burning is protected free speech, and desecration of Christian religious symbols is called "art" and put in museums. The public outrage from Americans who love free speech is threatening to turn this into a firestorm of public outrage directed against PACE. The topic is red-hot on LGF and is looking like a gathering blogswarm, with Google showing 110 blog posts on the subject in the past 12 hours. It appears likely that this subject will dominate talk radio tomorrow.
Earlier today I emailed this to the President of PACE University, Stephen J. Friedman:
Dear Mr. Friedman,
PACE has called the police to prosecute Mr. Shmulevich in response to pressure put on PACE by CAIR. Please reconsider. PACE is about to be on the receiving end of a massive public outcry from Americans outraged that PACE has, in error and without specifically intending it, launched a legal attack on U.S. freedom of speech.
To see the depth of the passion of Americans who love our free speech and our way of life, I strongly advise you to read the comments on this post (link) on a site that has tens of thousands of visits a day. There are already over 500 comments as I compose this email.
You are unintentionally making PACE the center of a firestorm of public outrage. And PACE is on the wrong side - standing against freedom of speech, which should be the top priority of a great University such as yours.
Act now to prevent a debacle, and massive international damage to PACE's reputation. Stand up for Mr. Shmulevich's right to free speech. Drop the charges.
I included the first 460 comments from the second LGF post on the subject, including:
#1 pbird 7/29/2007 8:20:06 am PDT
You described it perfectly Charles. I am speechless. So frightening.
...#3 m 7/29/2007 8:20:30 am PDTAnd Mr. Shmulevich needs a paypal account. This is ########.
#4 BabbaZee 7/29/2007 8:20:56 am PDT
re: #3 m
Amen.
#5 newsjunkie_ky 7/29/2007 8:21:48 am PDT
This scares the sh*t out of me. What next?
#6 NinoBrown79 7/29/2007 8:22:08 am PDT
A koran in the toilet and the guy gets thrown in jail? Is this America or Iran?
#7 mrsoc 7/29/2007 8:22:44 am PDT
Well, are we going to help him, or not?
#8 albemarle 7/29/2007 8:22:46 am PDT
How long before he gets his own fatwa ?
#9 Cartman 7/29/2007 8:22:56 am PDT
This is gonna be really interesting.
#10 christheprofessor 7/29/2007 8:23:18 am PDT
I can't seem to find any instance of PU's (somehow, that abbreviation seems so appropriate) having arrested somebody for burning an American flag....
#11 Roger 7/29/2007 8:23:37 am PDT
Will do, Charles.
I can't find which campus?
If anyone knows a good timing and if they are going to go, let me know.
#12 m 7/29/2007 8:23:41 am PDT
Who the f' was he harassing? The plumbers? Aggrevated harassment at that!
#13 Armigerous 7/29/2007 8:23:55 am PDT
From what I understand about the case,the Koran in question belonged to the university and not to him personally....can anybody verify that?..that would seem to be the crux of the problem
#14 BabbaZee 7/29/2007 8:24:11 am PDT
re: #7 mrsoc
Absolutely we are going to help him.
Any way we can.
...#16 distwalker 7/29/2007 8:24:21 am PDTYou can burn an American flag and get police protection.
You can create an image of the Virgin Mary in elephant dung and get it in a New York museum.
You can create performance art in which you insert a crucifix in your anus on stage and get a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
You can burn a pile of bibles and get an article in the New York Times.
One Koran in the toilet results in two felony charges?
People, this is the center of the god damned storm. This is where we make our stand. If we can't win this one for this man, we have lost the war.
Institutions like PACE respond to pressure from the public. So far, CAIR is pressuring them, and they are responding. If they start hearing directly from us, demanding the protection of free speech, and the destruction of nascent double standards for Islam, the situation will change.
If it were to be confirmed as official policy in Egypt, this would be historic:
Egypt's religious advisor says Muslims can choose own religion
CAIRO: Egypt's official religious advisor has ruled that Muslims are free to change their faith as it is a matter between an individual and God, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for the country's Christians.
"The essential question before us is can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is yes, they can," Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said in a posting on a Washington Post-Newsweek forum picked up by the Egyptian press on Tuesday.
...In many Muslim societies, those who convert to another religion are considered apostates and can be subject to capital punishment.
..."Even though it is not a criminal offence in Egypt, they get detained under emergency laws or are put on trial for contempt of religion if they wish to convert," said Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
"This (ruling) is significant, especially coming from Gomaa," he added. "Between 2004 and now there have been many court cases involving Christian converts to Islam that want to convert back to Christianity who are unable to do so."
To underscore the importance of such an advance, here's a quote from Wafa Sultan, who last year was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
When Muslims say, there are 1.3 billion of them, it makes it sound like they are the whole world. But the rest of the world is 5 billion. Muslims are a minority and they have to act like it. Those Muslims have no choice of religion, they are forced to be Muslim. Give those 1.3 billion Muslims freedom of religion, and then see how many Muslims there are in the world!
From the Washington Times:
A Muslim civil rights group yesterday blamed the Bush administration for promoting "Islamophobia" and said the "war on terror" won't stop terrorists.
"The new perception is that the United States has entered a war with Islam itself," said Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the national board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
"Terrorism is a tactic. You cannot eradicate it by declaring a war against it. The war on terror is causing us infinitely more harm than the terrorists could have ever imagined."
Mr. Ahmed, who spoke at a CAIR symposium at the National Press Club, said the war against terrorists is driven by an "irrational" fear that the Bush administration has inculcated in the American public. The chance of being killed in a terrorist attack, he said, is 1 in 80,000 over a lifetime.
There are about 300 million people in America. 1 in 80,000 means that Ahmed is predicting that 3,750 of them will be killed by terrorists - more than the number killed on 9-11. And he also says, in another implied threat, that the war on terror won't stop it. Yet there hasn't been another 9-11 since 2001, despite the efforts of the Islamists.
Ahmed knows that the overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks are committed by his co-religionists in the name of their religion. Yet CAIR's opposition is directed against U.S. efforts to put an end to those attacks. CAIR itself makes little effort to put an end to those attacks. This recent Ramirez cartoon says it well:
Ahmed's implied threat of future attacks, and his organization's lack of actions to prevent such attacks, show what goals CAIR - an unindicted co-conspirator in the Hamas funding case - is pursuing.
DVDs from the Conference on the Collapse of Europe, which I blogged extensively, are now available for $15 each.
[This article is by guest poster, Shawn Steel. Steel is the former President of the California Republican Party, co-founder of the Davis Recall, and is currently Director of the Club for Growth. - VR.]
One of the most remarkable women today is former Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Her biography is an unrelenting page turner. Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 2007, Free Press.
Ali is one courageous author, witness and political leader to confront the Cancer within Islam.
All great religions and ideologies always contain seeds of its own destruction. Islam is no exception. Given that America is one of the most tolerant societies is recorded history, many of our citizens still cannot understand the violent and extreme phenomena called Radical Islam.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells the story of the growth of the Radical Cancer in her homeland Somalia. Her father was a revolutionary working against the Marxists who seized Somalia in the early 80's. American's most unsuccessful President, the fall of Somalia was part of Carter's legacy when the last gasps of the Soviet conquests extended from Afghanistan, Angola, Cuba, Nicaragua, Grenada and many more.
Her family was clan based with a heavy dependence on Islam. She learned early on that Islam considered women inherently inferior. Despite her education, academic success, multiple language skill [six] and courage, when she personally rescued many family members from war torn Somalia, the men in her family still considered Ayaan a lesser human.
Ultimately she was ordered to marry a Somali man who migrated to Canada, because too many Somali girls were "corrupted" there. Ayaan was ordered by her father to submit to Allah's will and marry a man she didn't know. Instead, while traveling to Canada via Europe, she escaped to Holland and claimed political refugee status. She learned Dutch and in no time was elected to Parliament.
But when she began to publicly debate the growing menace of Radical Islam in Dutch society she became quite famous and attracted serious murder threats.
After she helped write a film called Submission, directed by Theo van Gogh [ yes, the grandson], about the cruel lives of many woman forced to lived marginal lives in radical Islamic communities, Theo was murdered for his work.
The murder itself was an effective metaphor for the seriousness, the outrage and insanity of Radical Islam. Van Gogh while riding on his bicycle was shot eight times by Mohammad B. a well off Arab who benefited from Dutch society. Mohammad cut van Gogh's throat nearly decapitating Theo. Mohammad then plunged two knives into van Gogh's chest. A five page note was thrust into van Gogh's heart with a written pledge to kill Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Ayaan's story is not to be missed. It timely, important and a brisk read. To learn more about Ayaan, who recently, moved to the US to continue the war against Radical Islam, her book is crucial.
One of the great things about blogging is, it enables conversations between people from all over the world. Last night, in response to a post regarding Islam, this comment came in from Eagle in Pakistan:
There is not any religion in the world which teaches violence. All religions give some way or path to its follower. This concept about Islam is also wrong that it favours violance. It teaches that to kill a man is like killing a whole mankind.
There is need to respect all religions. The violance in the world is due to us, not due to religions.
Religion is an important part of life. We cant ignore it.
everyone in the world should try for peace and humanity on individual level. We should not wait for some revolution at country level or world level. We need to change ourselves. Look beside you, dont ignore poors which are near by you, speak well to your servents, be honest in your duties, try for the betterment of yourself and the people around you, stick to a path which u think is right..
Be a good man, everything in the world will be alright.
Welcome to the site, Eagle. I'm glad to hear that this is your view of Islam. However, when you read the Koran, you may find something different from the view you support. For example, let's take the verse you refer to:
It teaches that to kill a man is like killing a whole mankind.
Here's the verse from the Koran (5:32):
For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty), but afterwards lo! many of them became prodigals in the earth.
So this verse, is as much a justification for killing your fellow men, as it is a call not to do so. Unfortunately, it says that you can kill your fellow men for "corruption in the earth."
Now, what could that be? The next verse talks about it. Here's the very next verse:
The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;
So "corruption in the earth"/"corruption in the land" is made by anyone who makes "war upon Allah," and such people are to be "killed or crucified."
Islam declares war on everybody who isn't a Muslim. From About.com:
A crucial distinction made in Islamic theology is that between dar al-harb and dar al-islam. To put it simply, dar al-harb (territory of war or chaos) is the name for the regions where Islam does not dominate, where divine will is not observed, and therefore where continuing strife is the norm. By contrast, dar al-islam (territory of peace) is the name for those territories where Islam does dominate, where submission to God is observed, and where peace and tranquility reign.
So, Islam declares war on anybody who isn't a Muslim. Anyone who is, as a result, at war with Islam, is making "corruption in the Earth," and is to be "killed or crucified."
The result is that the part you quoted, from the verse, only applies to Muslims. It doesn't apply to non-Muslims.
Just in case anyone might think that Islam looks kindly on those of other faiths in any situation, a few verses later (5:36 and 5:37), the Koran says:
As for those who disbelieve, lo! if all that is in the earth were theirs, and as much again therewith, to ransom them from the doom on the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them. Theirs will be a painful doom.
They will wish to come forth from the Fire, but they will not come forth from it. Theirs will be a lasting doom.
Taken with the preceding verses, it appears that the Koran is saying that Muslims cannot co-exist with others.
This does not look very much like a "religion of peace."
Your misfortune, is that if you tell your kids that the Koran is the word of Allah, some of them are likely to read it and come to the conclusion that, according to the Koran, Allah says to kill non-Muslims. And they're going to be in grave danger of wasting their lives by devoting themselves to racism, violence, and hatred.
It appears that the only way Muslims are going to be able to co-exist peacefully with others - which you are good enough to say is your goal - is to explicitly and publicly repudiate these verses - and other similar ones - from the Koran. A Muslim thinker from Sudan has shown a philosophical basis on which this can be done. As discussed by Daniel Pipes:
...note the original thinking of the Sudanese theologian Mahmud Muhammad Taha (1909-85). Taha built his interpretation on the conventional division of the Koran into two. The initial verses came down when Muhammad was a powerless prophet living in Mecca, and tend to be cosmological. Later verses came down when Muhammad was the ruler of Medina, and include many specific rulings. These commands eventually served as the basis for the Shari'a, or Islamic law.
Taha argued that specific Koranic rulings applied only to Medina, not to other times and places. He hoped modern-day Muslims would set these aside and live by the general principles delivered at Mecca. Were Taha's ideas accepted, most of the Shari'a would disappear, including outdated provisions concerning warfare, theft, and women. Muslims could then more readily modernize.
Eagle, would you consider the approach suggested by Taha, so as to save your children from the danger of wasting their lives by devoting themselves to racism, violence, and hatred?
Yesterday morning I watched the film "Muslims Against Jihad," produced by Frank Gaffney and Martyn Burke. I'd like to comment on a particular passage in it. Here it is, as quoted on the Foehammer blog:
Around 8 minutes into the first segment of the program is the Omar Bakri statement that I believe is one of the most important utterances from an Islamist that I have ever heard:
"The only way you can stop us, by give up your democracy. If you give up democracy and Freedom of Speech, and start to stop us and ban us the way you started to do, that the way you can stop us. But that mean we succeed. We say to the people: 'You see? Democracy-Hypocrisy. We have always said so.' You do not believe in democracy."
What exactly is Bakri referring to? Why does he say we have to give up democracy in order to stop people who want to destroy democracy? Here's the background that specifies what Bakri is referring to.
1. Islam is a political project with the goal of dominating any society in which it can implant itself. In the words of Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
Islam is a political project. It is a supremacist movement. It has a three-tiered stage, and has always had that. And those stages - the first one is dawa, or missionary work, persuading individuals to agree with the basic tenets and principals of that political project. The second is hejira, or emigration - spreading the faith, by planting people who have been converted to the faith, in other areas. And finally there's the stage of jihad. And that, I don't have to tell you.
2. A key strategy for domination of the host society, is the filling of the Muslim community with rage and hatred so that there are always Muslims itching to do violence. As I have posted recently:
Ayaan is describing the phenomenon we are all beginning to become aware of. Islamists emigrate into an area, and once there in sufficient numbers, they begin threatening the public with riots and violence. They do this not by specific direction; that is, they don't, as the Mafia did, have leaders who identify specific targets for attack. Instead, they do this by general direction, as per the Koran, to be at war with non-Muslims in general. This effectively results in enough acts of violence because the Islamist culture is intentionally filled with hate for non-Muslims, so that there are always more than enough Islamists itching to do violence. The non-Islamic host culture is unused to such an attack. Arresting the specific perpetrators of violence doesn't solve the situation, since the Islamist culture always produces more violence-prone Islamists. The non-Islamic host culture typically has no systems in place to root out the Islamist culture that is attacking it. Blindsided, without thinking about the long-term implications, the non-Islamic host culture usually attempts to appease the Islamists by giving them more and more of whatever they demand, hoping that they will then abandon violence. But Islam doesn't seek co-existence; as Ayaan says, Islam is a political project. It seeks political domination and supremacy. In many cases the result is that the non-Islamic host culture is destroyed, in a manner comparable to a body attacked by cancer.
This is a strategy that is brilliantly crafted to attack non-Islamic cultures. It has been developed and honed literally over centuries.
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