Month: August 2009

First smoking ban killing.

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Not sure how I feel about this. If you do not fight for freedom it gets taken away from you one at a time and recently several at a time. The choice to allow smoking should be the bar owners. The choice to pay for health care or no should be everyone’s. I could go on and on. One thing is for sure, it will be interesting if several more killings happen in Turkey and the smoking ban is overturned. Who manages to get these enforced anyway when no one really wants them? how do these laws get passed? It costs everyone a fortune.

From Alarabiya

Man shot dead in Turkey over smoking ban
>A new law in Turkey forbids smoking indoors (File)

A new law in Turkey forbids smoking indoors (File)>

ISTANBUL (Reuters)

A restaurant owner in southwest Turkey was shot dead after he tried to prevent his customers from smoking to comply with a new law on the use of tobacco indoors, Hurriyet daily said on Thursday.

A fight broke out after Hidir Karayigit, 46, ordered a group of customers to extinguish their cigarettes when they began smoking at his “meyhane,” a traditional restaurant that serves alcohol, in the town of Saruhanli, Hurriyet said.

” They either shouldn’t have outlawed smoking or they should have outlawed alcohol along with smoking “
Saruhanli Mayor Veli Yalcin
One of the customers shot Karayigit four times after he took away the group’s cigarettes, said witness Hamza Havutcu, Karayigit’s business partner who was also shot and wounded.

Turkey’s government on July 19 introduced a nationwide ban on indoor smoking, including bars and restaurants, despite the fact that half of Turks aged between the ages of 15 and 49 smoke; one of the highest rates in the world.

“I’m deeply saddened that the first smoking-ban murder occurred in our town,” Saruhanli Mayor Veli Yalcin told Hurriyet. “They either shouldn’t have outlawed smoking or they should have outlawed alcohol along with smoking.”

On honour killing– writers, experts and readers weigh in

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Since news broke of the tragic Kingston Locks Ontario, honour killings, several articles have been written related to the story and on the broader issue of honour killing itself.  They continue to pour in to a variety of newspapers across the country. Here is a small sample of what has been written:

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This first article written by Marian Scott describes the marked difference between honour killings and domestic violence.

Honour Killings are distinct experts say: from The Vancouver Sun, Gazette.

A distinct kind of violence: experts

Honour killings described as different from domestic violence

By MARIAN SCOTT, The Gazette July 25, 2009

Honour killings are distinct from other kinds of family violence – and to say so does not discriminate against minorities, say two experts on the phenomenon.

“Analysis of more than 50 reported honour killings shows they differ significantly from more common domestic violence,” Phyllis Chesler, emerita professor of psychology at City University of New York, says in the spring edition of Middle East Quarterly.

In her analysis, Chesler acknowledged that her position runs counter to many Muslim advocacy organizations that say honour killings have nothing to do with Islam, and that it is discriminatory to distinguish them from other forms of domestic violence. Continue Reading →

Obama White House: Ahmadinejad elected leader of Iran

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From the Ottawa Citizen

————-

White House calls Ahmadinejad elected leader of Iran

Iran opposition to keep pressure on

By Parisa Hafezi, Reuters

The White House called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the 'elected leader' of Iran on Tuesday when asked whether President Barack Obama recognized the Iranian president after the country's disputed election.

The White House called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the ‘elected leader’ of Iran on Tuesday when asked whether President Barack Obama recognized the Iranian president after the country’s disputed election.

Photograph by: Behrouz Mehri, Getty Images

The White House called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the “elected leader” of Iran on Tuesday when asked whether President Barack Obama recognized the Iranian president after the country’s disputed election.

“This was a decision and a debate ongoing in Iran by Iranians, they were going to choose their leadership,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “He’s the elected leader.”

The White House has been careful not to comment on the legitimacy of the Iranian election and has condemned the government for its crackdown on opposition demonstrators.

Meanwhile, two prominent defeated Iranian presidential candidates said they would maintain their campaign against Ahmadinejad’s re-election, which has sparked Iran’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Ahmadinejad will be sworn in by parliament on Wednesday, and the authorities will want to avoid any repeat of the street unrest after the disputed June 12 poll in which at least 20 people were killed and hundreds were detained.

Leading moderates have accused the government of electoral fraud and have branded the next Ahmadinejad administration as “illegal”.

The wife of Iran’s opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Tuesday he would continue to contest the election result.

“Despite all the hardship, we will continue our path to fight against the result (of the election),” Zahra Rahnavard was quoted as saying by the reformist website Mowjcamp.

Mehdi Karoubi, the most liberal of the presidential candidates, was quoted by the Spanish El Pais daily as saying he too would continue to oppose the government.

“Neither Mousavi nor I have withdrawn. We will continue to protest and we will never collaborate with this government. We will not harm it, but we will criticize what it does,” Karoubi said in an interview.

“Quite honestly, if the authorities had acted in a different way, we would never have had these problems, because the majority of those protesting only did so for that reason.”

U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of France, Britain and Germany have all decided not to congratulate Ahmadinejad on his re-election.

“In view of the circumstances of the controversial re-election, the chancellor will not, as usual, write the normal letter of congratulation,” said a German government spokesman.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: “I don’t have any reason to believe we will send any letter.” The Iranian government says the presidential election was fair and transparent and has accused Western nations, especially Britain and the United States, of being complicit in the bloody post-election unrest, a charge they deny.

Two former presidents, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, who backed Mousavi’s failed presidential bid, boycotted Monday’s endorsement of the president by the Supreme Leader although they were present at such events in the past.

After the ceremony a witness said hundreds of Mousavi supporters, some of them honking car horns, gathered near a central Tehran square, where riot police and Basij militia were assembled to prevent any demonstration.

Mousavi’s credentials as a loyal servant of Iran’s revolution may help explain why he has escaped arrest for leading protests against an election he says was stolen to keep Ahmadinejad in power.

The 68-year-old moderate may lack charisma, but he has not hesitated from speaking out, castigating authorities for their handling of the election and its tumultuous aftermath. He has even defied his relative, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who backed Ahmadinejad.

“What has endeared him to the public is the fact that, contrary to former President (Mohammad) Khatami who would be reluctant to stand up to Khamenei and others, Mousavi has stuck to his guns,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iran scholar at New York’s Syracuse University.

Mousavi has previously demanded the elections in the world’s fifth biggest oil exporter be annulled, but may need a new goal once Ahmadinejad is reinstalled.

“The plan should be to call into question the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad’s administration at every turn, through civil disobedience, and also to press for some revisions to the constitution,” Boroujerdi said.

The president now faces the difficult task of assembling a cabinet which is acceptable to the mostly conservative parliament, which may object if he just picks members of his inner circle. Parliament has in the past rejected some of Ahmadinejad’s cabinet choices.

Mousavi has yet to unveil a promised new political front with his reformist and pragmatist allies, perhaps partly because so many leading figures are in jail, including 100 whose trial for inciting unrest began on Saturday and resumes on Thursday.

Karoubi backs talks with the United States and other Western governments to attempt to open up the channels of communication with Iran, which is locked in dispute over its nuclear program that it says is for energy and the West suspects is for arms.

“The most beneficial thing for the Iranians is negotiations. Nobody benefits from our ongoing problems with the United States,” said Karoubi, highlighting one of the fissures in the clerical leadership that the election has exposed.

Another potential source of friction with the United States arose on Saturday when Iran arrested three American hikers who an Iraqi Kurdish official said had strayed across the border and who were being questioned by the Iranians.

“They are definitely Americans. They were detained four days ago. We don’t know whether they are tourists or not. We are questioning them,” security official Iraj Hassanzadeh told al-Alam state television on Tuesday.

© Copyright (c) Reuters

Hamas blocks 50 from leaving Gaza

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The Jerusalem Post

Pals and Hamas50 Palestinians who were supposed to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip Tuesday, mostly to receive medical treatment here, were repelled by Hamas security forces at the Beit Hameches Junction just west of the Erez Crossing in the north-eastern Gaza Strip.

Hamas operatives blocked off the road and prevented the Palestinians from reaching the crossing with Israel.

Israeli officials said the Hamas blockade was likely due to suspicions that among the sick were disguised Fatah officials trying to sneak out of Gaza to attend the Fatah conference which got underway in Bethlehem Tuesday morning.

Hamas men at the junction ordered those arriving at the crossing to return to the Interior Ministry in Gaza City and have their permits to leave the Strip reissued.

The officials also said it was likely that by the end of the day, Hamas would allow the Palestinians to cross into Israel, once it was verified that they indeed required medical attention.

The Fatah conference is the sixth of its kind, and the previous one took place in 1989. It is expected to bring together more than 2,000 delegates from many Arab countries.

Delegates are expected to vote for two of Fatah’s main bodies, the Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council. The first institution consists of 21 members, while the second has 120 seats. Delegates will also discuss Fatah’s strategy, especially concerning the conflict with Israel.

Ottawa cabbie ‘pleases’ passenger with a ‘friendly’ kiss

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From the Ottawa Citizen

An Ottawa taxi driver who was found guilty of sexual assault in May is to appear in court this month for sentencing. Assistant Crown attorney John Ramsay argues that Hassan Jabar Majli ‘ abused a position of trust when he took advantage of a female passenger in June, 2007. The unidentified victim has testified that the driver, upon dropping her at her destination, followed her into the apartment block, grabbed and kissed her as she tried to get into the elevator. She also testified that Majli put his hands up her skirt and digitally penetrated her as she tried to flee through a stairway.

Majli testified that he believed the woman had asked for a kiss and said he ‘offered’ her a ‘friendly’ kiss when he became worried she would complain to her boss that he didn’t ” please her”. Alan Brass, Majli’s lawyer argued that the cabbie, a married man with a young son, has led a respectable life since arriving in Canada from Kuwait. Majli maintains his innocence. He is to be sentenced August 18.

Blasphemy laws, a pretext to attack Pakistan’s religious minorities

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by Fareed Khan-AsiaNews.it
PAKISTAN_(F)_0702_-_Muslims_attacked_100_Christian_homes_after_alleged_blasphemy_(350_x_294)The official death toll in the Gojra massacre now stands at eight. A 35-year-old man succumbs last night to injuries he sustained during the attack by Muslim fundamentalists. Rights activists and minority leaders believe the government condones such attacks by tolerating laws that punish offences against Islam. The Catholic Church of India and Geneva-based World Council of Churches express their solidarity with fellow Christians in Pakistan.

Lahore (AsiaNews) – Pakistan’s parliament has unanimously condemned the attacks against Christians as an inquiry gets underway to quickly find the culprits. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari announces a compensation package for victims’ families. In spite of all of this Pakistani Christians continue to endure violence and discrimination as the death toll in Gojra rose to eight. For human rights activists and minority leaders blasphemy laws are the cause of the problem.Last night a private TV station announced that a 35-year-old Christian man succumbed in Gojra hospital to the injuries he sustained last Saturday, when a Muslim mob went out of control and attacked the local Christian community.
Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer handed a preliminary report to President Asif Ali Zardari on the recent riots in Gojra where a semblance of calm is in place following the massive deployment of security forces.

 

For his part President Zardari announced that families that lost a member would get 500,000 rupees (US$ 6,000) as compensation, whilst families that lost their homes, torched by Muslims extremists using a special fuel, would get 300,000 rupees (US$ 3,600). Continue Reading →

Who Is Really Being Dishonest About Islam?

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Robert Spencer does his usual excellent job of analyzing some of the modern historical revisionism that makes the claim that Islamic Spain was in some way equal to and more often, greater than, modern secular-Christian Spain. This is well worth the read. From Front Page Magazine with a H/T to our witch friend

By: Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

In his “The Faith Divide” blog at the Washington Post’s website, Eboo Patel took umbrage Monday at two recent reviews in the New York Times Book Review charging  “Dishonesty About Islam in the NYT Book Review.” Patel was angry at favorable reviews of what he called “Bruce Bawer’s alarmist book Surrender” (about which he huffed, “the subtitle says it all: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom”) and Christopher Caldwell’s Reflections on the Revolution in Europe (which was reviewed by Fouad Ajami). Yet while making the improbable claim that the New York Times printed material that was dishonest and negative about Islam, Patel showed himself to be not a little disingenuous – suggesting that before he call these reviewers on their alleged dishonesty, he should look to his own.

“Ajami,” complains Patel, “opens his piece by juxtaposing two disparate pieces of history: the departure of Spain’s last Muslim ruler in 1492, and the terrorist attacks on Madrid in 2004. ‘A circle was closed,’ Ajami writes, ‘and Islam was, once again, a matter of Western Europe.’” What is wrong with this? “The Muslim presence in medieval Spain,” asserts Patel, “is widely regarded as a time of tolerance, good government and support for the arts and education. In fact, Ajami himself wrote a positive review of one of the many books on that era, Maria Rosa Menocal’s The Ornament of the World.  Placing Al-Andalus, as it was known, in the same breath as a ghastly terrorist attack – as if to say ‘Here’s what happens when Muslims are around’ – is beyond questionable. A dead fish wouldn’t want to be wrapped in a newspaper article with that level of intellectual dishonesty.”

Funny that Patel should mention Menocal. Certainly her Ornament of the World is largely responsible for the contemporary myth of a tolerant, pluralistic, proto-multicultural Al-Andalus. But even Menocal, in that very book, admits that tolerance and pluralism went only so far in Muslim Spain, which institutionalized discrimination against Jewish and Christian dhimmis:

The dhimmi, as these covenanted peoples were called, were granted religious freedom, not forced to convert to Islam. They could continue to be Jews and Christians, and, as it turned out, they could share in much of Muslim social and economic life. In return for this freedom of religious conscience the Peoples of the Book (pagans had no such privilege) were required to pay a special tax — no Muslims paid taxes and to observe a number of restrictive regulations: Christians and Jews were prohibited from attempting to proselytize Muslims, from building new places of worship, from displaying crosses or ringing bells. In sum, they were forbidden most public displays of their religious rituals. (Pp. 72-3)

So much for a paradise of tolerance and multiculturalism. Historian Kenneth Baxter Wolf observes that “much of this new legislation aimed at limiting those aspects of the Christian cult which seemed to compromise the dominant position of Islam.” After enumerating a list of laws much like Menocal’s, he adds: “Aside from such cultic restrictions most of the laws were simply designed to underscore the position of the dimmîs as second-class citizens.” Continue Reading →

Documentary on genocide of Armenians by Muslim Turks.

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This is an important and revealing documentary showing the methods and evdience of treatment of Armenian Christians by Muslim Turks in and around 1915.

This documentary makes interesting refrences to attempts by the U.S.A. to attempt to help the Armenians and bring atention to the issue showing that even then, the US has been a powerful force for good in the world.

It is well worth the time to watch. H/T to Gates of Vienna where I found it.

Link: On the genocide of Armenians by Muslims

After watching this documentary, this article from the hill.com, makes a lot more sense:

82 lawmakers write Obama, urging recognition of Armenian genocide

@ 10:36 am by Michael O’Brien

82 lawmakers from both parties wrote President Obama on Friday, urging him to recognize the Armenian genocide and focus on normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia. Continue Reading →

Terrorism suspects ‘sought religious approval’

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Story from ABC.NET where there are videos and audio on this story and aspects of it.

oz police truck

Five men being questioned over an alleged terrorist conspiracy had sought a religious ruling to authorise an attack in Australia, a court has heard.

Their arrests come after a seven-month counter-terrorism operation and police raids across Melbourne this morning.

It is alleged five men were planning to carry out an armed attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard some of them discussed obtaining a religious ruling from overseas or interstate in support of their alleged plans.

One of the suspects, Nayef El Sayed, 25, of Glenroy, has been charged with a terrorism-related offence.

During his brief court appearance he sat behind a window and refused to stand to acknowledge the magistrate because, as his lawyer explained, his religious beliefs meant he felt he should only stand for God and not a man.

He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to face court again in October.

Federal Police also won an application to further question three other suspects who appeared in court today but have not been charged.

Victorian Magistrate Peter Reardon acts of terrorism in Madrid, Mumbai and London have struck at the heart of democratic society and investigators should be allowed to fully investigate such serious allegations.

A fifth suspect is in custody on other matters.

Raids

About 400 law enforcement officers took part in the series of raids that led to today’s arrests.

The 19 raids took place across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Australian Federal Police Acting Chief Commissioner Tony Negus says the operation was the result of seven months’ work by several agencies.

He says more arrests are possible.

“There are further inquiries being conducted both in Australia and overseas,” he said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Australia will not be increasing its terror alert level.

“Our assessment of the terrorist threat in Australia is that it comes from a small number of individuals who should in no way be taken as a wider reflection of any group within Australian society,” he said.

But he says today’s events are a strong reminder of the security threats facing the nation.

“The threat of terrorism is alive and well and this requires continued vigilance,” he said.

Call for calm

Some of those arrested have a Somalian background and Islamic groups are urging people not to seek retaliation against Melbourne’s African community.

Shereen Hassan, the vice-president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, says Muslims have been shocked by the raids and are calling for calm amid fears of a backlash.

“But we have faith that the overwhelming majority of Australians will not react in this way and remain calm,” she said.

“[We] urge the wider community and the media to respect the privacy of the families concerned.

“The overwhelming majority of Australian Muslims unequivocally condemn all forms of terrorism.”

Mohamed Baaruud from the Somalia Advocacy Action Group says the community cannot believe some Somali Australians have been implicated.

“We are all shocked,” he said.

“This is the last thing we were expecting.

“Our community came to Australia about 17 years ago when the civil war started in Somalia and it took us a long time to recover from the trauma that we have experienced in our country of origin and start a new life here in Australia.”

Doctor Jamal Rifi from the Lebanese Muslim Association says the authorities are to be congratulated for preventing the alleged attack.

“We’ll do our best for anyone who will have any information to actually contact the relevant authority and to work cooperatively to uncover any or similar events that may take place,” he said.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says authorities feared the group was planning to carry out its attack in the near future.

“It was likely imminent and that was part of the reason behind moving as we have,” he said.

Security

NSW Premier Nathan Rees says he is satisfied the security at Sydney’s Holsworthy Barracks is adequate.

Mr Scipione says security at the barracks was stepped up earlier this year, shortly after police became aware of the alleged plot.

Private guards are in charge of perimeter security at Holsworthy and other army bases.

Mr Rees says he has no problems with the arrangements in place at the state’s military facilities.

“I have every confidence that the Australian Defence Force is more than adequately capable of looking after their assets, their bases and so on,” he said.

Newspaper investigated

Meanwhile, Victoria Police is also investigating The Australian newspaper for publishing details of the raids about the time they were occurring.

Police claim the story was available before some of the arrests took place and could have compromised the operation.

But The Australian says the story only ran in its late edition which was not available until after the raids.

It says its online publishing schedule was altered to ensure the story was not made public until the raids had occurred.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland says he will investigate the timing of the story.

‘Matter of time’

In other developments, a Somali community leader and Islamic scholar says he warned the Federal Government two years ago that a terrorist incident could occur in Australia.

Dr Herse Hilole, now a resident academic at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur, told The World Today that he has expected such activities.

“My suspicion was that young Somali Muslims could be or may be used in the future to carry out some terrorist activities in Australia,” he said.

He criticised the Federal Government’s response to his warning.

“The response at the beginning was good, but the current government of Australia … [it] seems that they did not take this seriously,” he said.

“I proposed last year a project to help this situation, but my project was rejected by the Government.”

Vicious honour crime in London: Muslim man victim of attempted honour killing

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A Muslim man of Danish citizenship, lies in a British hospital clinging to life after being savagely attacked in London by seven men. He was stabbed, his body doused in sulphuric acid, was forced to swallow the substance and was severely beaten with bricks. The unidentified man’s injuries are so massive that he is expected to die.

He was the victim of an honour crime for having a friendship with a married Muslim woman. One of two men charged in the attempted murder is the woman’s sixteen year old brother.

While most of us understand that the majority of the victims of these barbaric attacks and murders are women, honour killings against men are increasing. If they continue to rise to the same level as those perpetrated against women, perhaps we will see for the first time the only true example of Muslim equality.

————-

(thank you to the religion of peace)

A Horrific “Honor” Attack By: Stephen Brown
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It was as cold-blooded and vicious an honor crime as any the West has seen, but with one difference. This time, the victim was male.

A 24-year-old Asian man is clinging to life in a British hospital after seven men attacked him last week in London for having a friendship with a married Muslim woman.

The unidentified man, who is Muslim himself and has Danish citizenship, was stabbed twice in the back and beaten so severely with bricks that authorities report he is now blind in one eye and will probably lose sight in the other. Acid was also poured down the victim’s throat, damaging his tongue and throat so severely he will probably never speak again.

“The poor man got up and ran straight into a tree, then staggered back to his house, tugging at his burning clothes and banging on doors, shouting for water,” said one woman who witnessed the attack.

The victim’s body was also doused with acid, burning more than 50 per cent and leaving him in critical condition. News reports state he is not expected to survive. His assailants, police say, were all wearing gloves and masks for protection against the sulphuric acid, which was 92 per cent strength.

Police have charged two men in the attempted murder, one of whom is the woman’s 16-year-old brother. Underage male family members are often selected by their families to carry out honor killings in Western countries, since they receive lighter sentences. Some of these teen killers serve as little as three years in jail before being released.

The motive for the attack, British newspapers report, is that the woman’s family, which is from Pakistan, considered the man’s friendship with her “insulting” to the family’s honor. The woman has denied that the friendship was sexual.

The attack occurred almost at the same time police in Canada arrested three members of an Afghan family for the horrific honor killing of three daughters and the father’s first wife. But while the brutal reality of honor murders perpetrated against women, mainly from Muslim countries and India, is now largely recognized in the West, it is less well known that men are also victims. The reason for this probably lies in the fact that the number of females killed for reasons of “honor” is much higher than that for males.

Figures released at the Karachi Press Club in Pakistan earlier this month bear this out. Pakistan, which has the dubious distinction of being a world leader in this barbaric custom, had 79 female honor killings in one province alone between April and June this year, while 38 men were also slain.

A report published by the Pakistani Senate in 2004 stated more than 4,000 people died as a result of honor crimes in the previous six years, of whom about 2,700 were women and 1,300 were men.
And the situation does not appear to be getting better. It was reported last February that a young Pakistani couple, who married against family wishes, have taken up residence in a police station for fear of being killed if they venture outside.

The mainstream media’s liberal outlook constitutes another reason for the lack of attention regarding male honor killings. Some of the victims are murdered because of their caste, race or religion. In the liberal media’s eyes, only white, western cultures can be racist or intolerant and never those of visible minorities. Such an admission would damage the multicultural utopia they have long been advocating.

But what most victims of male honor crimes in the West, which include white males, have in common is that they were involved in a relationship, often secret or outright forbidden, with a Muslim woman. But while women are the ones usually attacked for their involvement in such liaisons, the list of men is growing longer.

Last year, a German teenager was murdered by two Muslim men armed with baseball bats for having had a relationship with a Muslim girl. In Munich, a Turkish father tried to kill both his daughter and her German boyfriend on a busy, downtown street because of their relationship.

Other prominent honor crimes against males reported in Europe in recent years include an Iranian man murdered in southern Sweden in revenge for his relationship with a daughter of an Afghan family. Six members of a Pakistani family in Denmark were also convicted for the shooting death of their daughter, who had married an Afghan man against her father’s wishes. The husband was severely wounded in the incident. A German also died in an “honor” attack from 40 stab wounds, inflicted by a Turkish man angered by the German’s relationship with his divorced sister.

The reason for such murderous rage is that some male Muslims regard female relatives as their property and themselves as the guardians of their “purity”, upon which the family honor depends. If caught associating with a man, such women would be considered “dirtied” and the family dishonoured. Thereafter, only the spilling of the offender’s blood is deemed acceptable for cleansing and restoring of that honor.

“The Islamic ‘law of revenge’ knows as atonement only pain or death in order to wash away the foulness,” said Necla Kelek, a Turkish-German feminist.

Incredibly, London police now expect the Pakistani family to attempt to further wash away more of that “foulness.” The woman, police fear, may be killed next and are trying to figure out how to protect her. But as the evil of honor killings becomes more endemic in the West, security officials will probably conclude the only sure protection for endangered men and women, like in Pakistan, is protective custody.

Stephen Brown is a contributing editor at Frontpagemag.com. He has a graduate degree in Russian and Eastern European history. Email him at al*****@*****il.com.

Catching up.

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Was away working for the last few days. Here are some stories that caught my eye that I missed.

August 2, 2009
Pakistani paramilitary forces have been deployed to Gorja, eastern Pakistan to halt religious riots that left eight Christians dead on Aug. 1, Agence France-Presse reported Aug. 2. The riots were sparked by rumors that a Koran had been defaced. Hundreds of Muslims burned and looted Christian homes in Gorja, and the eight people were killed after gunfire broke out.

Koran burn insultWell, we saw that in Greece rumours of a ‘desecrated koran’ caused a week or more of rioting. I’m sure all of us can remember the Danish cartoon riots despite the best efforts of world media to downplay them and not reprint the Danish cartoons hoping to avoid an escalation of the riots. I think now the facts are clear. Mere rumours of desecration of a Koran can cause this sort of behaviour by Muslims. Therefore, the only logical course of action is to desecrate Korans everywhere as publicly as possible. Muslims only have so much energy and there is only so many of them. If the public of nations at least which are not yet over 50% Muslim start showing contempt for this nonsense by abusing symbols Muslims arbitrarily hold sacred (and it is arbitrary, many old Islamic books have images of Mohamed) then like the Catholic church before them, they will learn that this tactic will not work. The way to stop violent irrational response to any resistance to Islamic demands on our freedoms, is to treat those demands with utter contempt.

Secondly, it seems as if the airborne variety of Bubonic plague has surfaced in Tibet. China has quarantineda town of 10,000 h/t Gates of Vienna

From The Times Online:

Entire town in quarantine after two die from pneumonic plague in China

Jane Macartney in Beijing

An outbreak of pneumonic plague has killed two people in China and forced the quarantining of a town of 10,000 to halt the spread of one of the world’s deadliest and most contagious diseases.

The first victim, a 32-year-old herdsman, fell ill a day after burying his dog, which had died suddenly. Two days later the man was dead. Of the friends and relatives who attended his funeral in the ethnically Tibetan region of Ziketan, in western Qinghai province, 11 soon fell ill.

One man, 37-year-old Danzin, a neighbour of the first victim, died on Sunday. Investigating medical authorities soon established that all were infected with pneumonic plague.

Those with the disease are being treated in isolation in a local Tibetan hospital while all 10,000 residents of Ziketan have been quarantined.

Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is caused by the same bacterium that occurs in bubonic plague, the so-called Black Death, which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Vivian Tan, the Beijing-based spokeswoman for the WHO, said: “There have been sporadic cases reported over the years. We’re not surprised that it’s come up. We’re in constant contact with the authorities to make sure things are under control.”

China has eradicated the plague from most parts of the country but occasional reports surface of cases in remote western Tibetan areas where the disease is carried by rats and the marmots that live across the huge Himalayan plateau. Outbreaks can be caused when Tibetans eat an infected marmot or come into contact with fleas carried by rats. The local government has launched a campaign to kill rats, marmots and other possible carriers in the area of the latest outbreak.

One medical expert said that it was important for Tibetans to take care, when burying their meat in the ground for cooler storage, to prevent rodents from finding and infecting it. A food seller at the Crystal Alley Market in Ziketan said that authorities had instructed that homes and shops should be disinfected and residents should wear masks when they went out.

He said that 80 per cent of shops were closed and that prices of disinfectants and some vegetables had tripled. “People are so scared. There are few people on the streets. There are police guarding the quarantine centre at the township hospital but not on the streets.”

A woman resident said that police checkpoints had been set up in a 17-mile radius around Ziketan and that residents were not allowed to leave.

Australia detains terror suspects

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OzBBC…Australian police have arrested four people in the southern city of Melbourne after uncovering what they say was a plot to launch an attack.

The group was preparing a suicide attack on an army base, police said.

More than 400 officers were involved in searching 19 properties across the city before dawn on Tuesday.

The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent; one man, aged 25, has so far been charged with terrorism offences.

The man from the Glenroy district of Melbourne is due in court later, as are the others detained in the operation.

‘Sobering’

“Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and allegedly involved in hostilities in Somalia,” a police statement said.

The men’s intention was to actually go into the army barracks and to kill as many soldiers as they could before they themselves were killed,” said Tony Negus, acting chief commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

Holsworthy Barracks on the outskirts of Sydney was one of the planned targets, according to police.

The attack would have been the most serious terrorist attack on Australian soil, he added.

“Members of the group have been actively seeking a fatwa or religious ruling to justify a terror attack on Australia,” said Mr Negus.

“The sobering element of today’s development is the reminder to all Australians that the threat of terrorism is alive and well, and this requires continued vigilance on the part of our security authorities,” said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The country’s security level is unchanged at medium, where it has remained since 2003.

Al-Qaeda links

The police said that the raids came after a seven-month operation involving several state and federal agencies.

Homes across several northern Melbourne suburbs were among those raided, The Australian reports.

It adds that those arrested are thought to be linked to the Somali-based al-Shabab group, which seeks to overthrow the Somali government and is believed to have links to al-Qaeda.

The BBC’s Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says reports suggest electronic surveillance was used to monitor members of the group.

Members of the Melbourne-based cell reportedly travelled to Somalia in recent months to train, The Australian reports.

Islamic ruling on adherence to sharia

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For those out there who deny that fundamentalist Islam is totalitarian and vicious in nature, read the following fatwa from Islam Q&A. There is no mistake; for a Muslim to follow anything other than sharia, the law(s) of Allah, puts he or she ‘beyond the pale’ of Islam and the one who does so becomes a kaafir, an apostate. The required punishment is execution. Of course any Muslim who repents, will be spared. It is by way of such extremism that much of the world has found itself caught.

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Ruling on objecting to some of the shar’i rulings that have been prescribed by Allaah.

Q.  A man says that some of the shar’i rulings need to be re-examined and they need to be changed, because they are not appropriate to the current age, such as the male’s share of inheritance being equal to the share of two females. What is the shar’i ruling on those who say such things?.

A. Praise be to Allaah.

It must be understood that one of the basic principles of faith is referring to Allaah, may He be exalted, and His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) for judgement, submitting to their ruling and being content with it. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“(And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination”

[al-Nisa’ 4:59].

“But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad, judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission”

[al-Nisa’ 4:65]

“Do they then seek the judgement of (the days of) Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allaah for a people who have firm Faith”

[al-Maa’idah 5:50]

Every ruling that goes against the ruling of Allaah is a ruling of ignorance (Jaahiliyyah). Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Is not Allaah the Best of judges?”

[al-Teen 95:8]

“The command (or the judgement) is for none but Allaah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him (i.e. His Monotheism); that is the (true) straight religion, but most men know not”

[Yoosuf 12:40]

Thus it is clear that refusing to refer for judgement to Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, and His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him), or rejecting their ruling, or believing that the ruling of someone else is better than their ruling, constitutes kufr (disbelief) and puts one beyond the pale of Islam.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

With regard to the rulings which Allaah has prescribed for His slaves and explained them in His Holy Book or on the lips of His trustworthy Messenger (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him), such as the rulings on inheritance, five prayers, zakaah, fasting and other things which Allaah has explained to His slaves and on which the ummah is unanimously agreed, no one has the right to object to them or to change them, because this is clear legislation that was decreed for the ummah at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) and after him until the Hour begins. That includes giving the male more than the female [in inheritance] among children, sons’ children, siblings through both parents and siblings through the father, because Allaah has explained it in His Book and the Muslim scholars are unanimously agreed on that, so it is obligatory to act upon that out of conviction and faith.

Anyone who says that what is better is something other than that is a kaafir, and similarly the one who says that it is permissible to go against that is to be regarded as a kaafir because he is objecting to the rulings of Allaah, may He be exalted, and His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) and to the consensus of the ummah. The authorities should ask him to repent if he is a Muslim; if he repents, all well and good, otherwise he is to be executed as a kaafir and an apostate from Islam, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever changes his religion, execute him.” We ask Allaah to keep us and all the Muslims safe and sound from misguiding turmoil and going against pure sharee’ah. End quote.

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (4/415).

Profs at Canadian university demand return of colleague accused of Paris bombing

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Hassan Diab a former university professor and accused terrorist in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue which left four people dead and scores injured, is being supported by his colleagues in their call for the reinstatement of his teaching position at an Ottawa university. Born in Lebanon and now a Canadian citizen, Diab is accused in France of the crime and faces an extradition hearing early next year. He is under house arrest, but can leave to work. Mr. Diab was set to teach a summer sociology course until he learned of his termination by university officials. Why he was even hired in the first place is a curiosity. But, in light of the recent events, some professors are pressuring the university to give Diab his job back. Read the full story here in the Ottawa Citizen.

Although the group of roughly thirty professors insist they are motivated by fairness and not politics, the following statement by Peter Gose, chairman of the department at the university, illustrates the opposite:

“It’s not about anyone’s politics. It’s about procedure and it’s about respect”, adding, ” We have a large Muslim student population. There are more people to talk to beyond B’nai Brith. We’re a complex, multicultural society”.

Really–not about politics?

By this statement, do the professors mean asking only Muslim students what they think, or do they intend to ask the larger student body what they think? How about asking the broader public? Last time I checked, Canada’s multicultural society compromised far more than both the Jewish and Muslim student communities and universities were publicly funded institutions.

Even more bizarre, Gose views this past week’s firing of Diab a ‘continuation’ of this past winter’s Israeli anti-apartheid week when a poster depicting an image of an Israeli helicopter bombing a Palestinian child was banned from campus. One would have to have the brain of a tuberous begonia not to see that this has everything to do with ugly politics. Some wonder; if this had been a man accused of blowing up a Muslim mosque, would these same professors be similarly inclined to demand his teaching position be reinstated? Or a man accused of rape or child molestation?

This shouldn’t have anything to do with politics and Gose and his colleagues should pull their pointed fingers out of their collective, ignorant arses. Diab is accused of targeting a Paris synagogue out of sheer hate, murdering four innocent people and injuring scores of others. Pure and simple. He may or may not be innocent of this crime; that is indeed up to a Parisian court to decide. Regardless, this has nothing to do with Canada’s complex, multicultural society or the Muslim student body at Carleton. It also has nothing to do with Israeli anti-apartheid week or bureaucratic, university procedure. It does however have everything to do with respecting the value of the law and of lives lost which is not something reserved for B’nai Brith or Muslims or professors, but for all of us. Until Hassan Diab is extradited to France to stand trial, he does not belong on any Canadian university campus.

Calgary concert cancelled mid-way as Sikh kirpans not welcome

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A concert by Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann was shut down mid-way Sunday night in Calgary leaving hundreds of angry concert goers wondering why security guards are not better educated in the importance of the Sihk kirpan. The kirpan is a ceremonial dagger worn on the hip by observant Sikhs and is considered a central requirement of their faith. Obviously, security guards believe the safety and security of hundreds gathered trumps the religious belief of hipping a sword. How refreshing.

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from the Calgary Herald

Cancelled Calgary concert raises kirpan questions

Calgary HeraldAugust 3, 2009
Concert goers mass on Stephen Avenue after a concert by Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan was called off.

Concert goers mass on Stephen Avenue after a concert by Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan was called off.

Photograph by: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Hundreds of upset concertgoers spilled onto the streets of downtown Calgary after a show by a popular Punjabi singer on Sunday night was shut down in mid-performance.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the concert by Gurdas Maan at the Telus Convention Centre ended so suddenly, but many patrons alleged security guards were refusing entry to those wearing the kirpan — a ceremonial dagger carried by observant Sikhs.

Considering Maan’s Punjabi heritage and his wide popularity in India and abroad, some concertgoers were incredulous that security staff wouldn’t have been better educated about the kirpan’s importance to Sikhs.

Wearing the kirpan is considered a central requirement of the Sikh faith. It is worn ceremonially and not intended to be a weapon.

“We respect Canadian laws,” said Amarjit Singh, who was wearing a kirpan underneath his blazer.

Singh said he couldn’t understand why kirpans were being barred from the convention centre when Sikh parliamentarians have long been allowed to wear them inside the House of Commons.

Maan, often called India’s Michael Jackson, attracted a family-heavy crowd made up parents, children and grandparents.

At about 9:30 p.m., the show was ended and police were called to help empty the concert hall.

Police officers ringed the entrances to the convention centre. The crowd dispersed largely without incident, but officers were seen making arrests.

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