Year: 2010

Saudi’s on MTV’s ‘True Life’ sued, face punishment for ‘openly declaring sin’

Posted on by

From The National Post

I want my ‘openly declaring sin’ MTV!

Ali Jarekji/Reuters file photo

Ali Jarekji/Reuters file photo

By Katherine Laidlaw June 1, 2010 – 7:30 pm

Three Saudi youths (none pictured here) who will appear on an upcoming episode of MTV’s reality show True Life could face punishments including prison and lashing for their on-air discussion of wanting more freedoms in their homeland. One girl, Fatima, tried to open a business selling cloaks in colours other than black.

Three Saudi youth may face punishment for appearing on the MTV reality show True Life to talk about ways they’re resisting the country’s strict morality, after the Saudi religious police filed a lawsuit against them for the crime of “openly declaring sin.”

The police are trying to drag the three into court and, if successful, charge them. The teens starred in an episode of the MTV documentary series, which originally aired in Saudi Arabia on May 24, called “Resist the Power! Saudi Arabia.” The program followed three characters, identified only by their first names: Aziz, who tries to meet his girlfriend for a date; Fatima, who tries to open a business selling cloaks in colours other than black; and Ahmad, who thinks women should be able to run for and hold elected office.

On the show, Aziz says, “We are not free to live as we like,” and describes the difficulty he experiences when trying to go on dates in Jeddah with his girlfriend.

An officer at the Jeddah court said it would take at least a week to decide whether to proceed to trial.

The Saudi judiciary system, based on an austere reading of Islamic sharia law, metes out harsh punishments for morality offences, sometimes including lashes with a whip and years of imprisonment. Last year, a Saudi named Mazen Abdul-Jawad was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and five years in prison for discussing his sexual affairs on a show televised by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.

“It will be very difficult to stop the religious clockwork once this gets to court,” a Saudi lawyer told Reuters yesterday. The True Life subjects “may face harsh sanctions like those dealt to Abdul-Jawad.”

–True Life “Resist the Power! Saudi Arabia” will air in Canada on July 12 at 3 p.m. ET on MTV2. Click here for more details. mtv.ca/tvshows/true-life for more information.

with files from Reuters

Comment worth noting: Canadian Somali Conference more significant than its billing suggests?

Posted on by

From Refugee Resettlement Watch:

Reader Khadra is back with another warning.  Regular readers may remember we had an interesting exchange with Khadra, a Somali woman,  here almost two weeks ago.   Last night Khadra was back with more concerning information in response to my post on May 26th about the US terror warning to border states about Somalis illegally entering the US.

This is what she says (emphasis is mine):

This isn’t surprising at all and it is too little too late. The Somalis are unwilling to assimilate, but they are willing to make everything their own: schools, malls, stores, mosques, and even districts. There are two kinds of these Islamists: 1. The one who has brought his ideologies overseas, and 2. The young ones who were brainwashed that live in the U.S.A. When one goes down the drain the other raises up its a continuous cycle.

3 weeks ago I attended (I had to) the First Annual Somali Islamic Conference which brought over 3,000 Somalis across the GTA [Greater Toronto Area] in Canada. Surprisingly the main point of this conference was: to build Islamic schools across Toronto and for Somalis to be able to have control over their children (as they say they don’t like or trust public schools and their children to attend them), to start Somali language and Arabic classes, to merge the biggest Somali mosques in Toronto: Abu Hurairah and Khalid bin Walid into one big mosque, the establishment of the MBA (Muslim Basketball Association, already established, trying to be as high and famous as the NBA), to form the Islamic Somali Imam’s Council of North America, etc.

This shows that the Somalis are coming to the move of where they want to establish a Shariah based laws in the West and its already heading in that direction. The conference was the first of its kind to gather all Somalis living in Canada and might extend to the United States.

All the preachers and Shiekhs of the conference were not surprisingly of either Somali, Arab, and or Pakistani descend. They came from all over the world: Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, etc. for this conference and they had a great impact on the people because I have witnessed people literally in religious hypnosis mode (chanting prayers in Arabic or Somali) and some were even crying in agreement to the Shiekhs. So you see and know where this is heading.

For the rest of this page, please click the link at the top.

New attempt to utterly crush debate in the USA

Posted on by

“No matter how paranoid I get, it’s never enough to keep up.” -Anon

Here is yet another attempt in this bloggers opinion, to destroy any conservative side to an argument, and get FOX off of the air.

From The Hill.com

By Gautham Nagesh – 06/01/10 01:02 PM ET

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is being urged to monitor “hate speech” on talk radio and cable broadcast networks.

A coalition of more than 30 organizations argue in a letter to the FCC that the Internet has made it harder for the public to separate the facts from bigotry masquerading as news.

The groups also charge that syndicated radio and cable television programs “masquerading as news” use hate as a profit model. Continue Reading →

On Flotilla people, peace activists, night goggles and jihad

Posted on by

JPost.com

IDF: Global Jihad on flotilla
Photo by: Associated Press
IDF: Global Jihad on flotilla
By YAAKOV KATZ
06/01/2010 22:41

50 of Mavi Marmara passengers tied to global jihad network, refusing to identify themselves.

Dozens of passengers who were aboard the Mavi Marmara Turkish passenger ship are suspected of having connections with global jihad-affiliated terrorist organizations, defense officials said on Tuesday, amid growing concerns that Turkish warships would accompany a future flotilla to the Gaza Strip.

According to the defense officials, the IDF has identified about 50 passengers on the ship who could have terrorist connections with global jihad-affiliated groups.

During its searches of the Mavi Marmara on Tuesday, the military also discovered a cache of bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles, as well as gas masks. On Monday morning, at least nine foreign activists were killed during the navy’s takeover of the Mavi Marmara, which was trying to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The group of over 50 passengers with possible terror connections have refused to identify themselves and were not carrying passports. Many of them were carrying envelopes packed with thousands of dollars in cash.

The military is working to identify the passengers and is looking into the possibility that some of them have been involved in terror attacks. Some of them are apparently known Islamic extremists.

“This is the group that was behind the violent lynch against the naval commandos,” a defense official said. “They came on board the ship prepared and after they had trained for the expected navy takeover.” Continue Reading →

Just-Not-Mohammed’s-Face Book

Posted on by

Written by: Diana West From Diana West.net

Tuesday, June 01, 2010 4:50 AM 

AFP Photo: Enlightened Bangleshis weigh in on free speech — and ban Facebook, too.

—

Islamic masters win another round.

From the AP:

Pakistan has lifted a ban on Facebook after the social networking site apologised for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents.

Two weeks ago Facebook was blocked after a member used it to encourage people to post images of the Prophet Mohamed.

Slick AP Stylebook submission. What I refer to is the reference to “the Prophet Mohamed” — not “the Islamic prophet Mohammed,” or, as my 1988 AP Stylebook suggests, just “Mohammed,” period, described as “the founder of the Islamic religion.”

“In response to our protest, Facebook has tendered their apology and informed us that all the sacrilegious material has been removed,” said Najibullah Malik, from the information technology ministry. But at least 1,000 “sacrilegious” web pages that were also blocked will remain inaccessible.

Pathetic.

Another AP report on the story adds:

Facebook assured the Pakistani government that “nothing of this sort will happen in the future,” said Malik.

Good social-dhimmi networking site.

The New York Times fills in with more gory details, including results of a recent poll of 8,000 Pakistani voters, 73 percent of whom wanted Facebook permanently banned, and the emergence of two Muslim social networking sites (“Pakistan” does mean “land of the pure [Muslim],” after all). The Times then wonders: “But where are Pakistan’s liberal and moderate voices?”

It doesn’t matter where they are. What matters is that they ain’t got no stinkin’ critical mass to make a dime’s worth of difference.

Meanwhile, in this video (below), the Pakistani Lawyers Forum gives off a strong whiff of an impression that Facebook’s submission just isn’t good enough.

Iran begins to exert its military might on the region

Posted on by

June 1, 2010 STRATFOR:
Iranian forces moved about five kilometers (three miles) into the Kurdistan region in Iraq and established military camps on June 1, PNA reported. Bases were established in the Weze and Kani Rash villages in the town of Choman. An unnamed Iranian source said the troops will remain in the area for an unknown amount of time and had fired on civilians to force them to leave. Approximately 220 families in the Iran-Iraq border villages have fled.

More documentation of flotilla planning violence against Israel

Posted on by

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch

A day before the confrontation with Israel a university lecturer revealed on Hamas TV that the Gaza flotilla’s commander had announced that the participants were planning to use “resistance,” the Palestinian euphemism for violence, against “the Zionists.” He added that the participants sought to die as Martyrs, even more than they wanted to reach Gaza.

The following are the words of Dr. Abd Al-Fatah Shayyeq Naaman, lecturer in Shari’ah law at a university in Yemen, now visiting Gaza:

“The [Gaza] flotilla commander said yesterday: ‘We will not allow the Zionists to get near us and we will use resistance against them.’
How will they wage resistance? They will resist with their fingernails. They are people who seek Martyrdom for Allah, as much as they want to reach Gaza, but the first [Martyrdom] is more desirable.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), May 30, 2010

For the holy-cow files. Sink hole eats large building

Posted on by

From The Guardian:

Tropical Storm Agatha blows a hole in Guatemala City

Hundreds dead as torrential rain sweeps Central America. Sinkhole in Guatemala swallows three-storey building.

guatemala city sinkholeA sinkhole that swallowed a three-storey building in Guatemala City has been blamed on a combination of Tropical Storm Agatha and poor drainage systems Photograph: Luis Echeverria/AP

Tropical Storm Agatha swept across Central America yesterday, bringing torrential rain that killed more than 100 people and opened a 60m-deep sinkhole in Guatemala City which reportedly swallowed up a three-storey building. Continue Reading →

Anti-Israel protest, Ottawa may 31 2010

Posted on by

A fellow who went and filmed the anti-Israel protest was nice enough to hand me his raw footage. Thanks again ‘T’.

Below, you can see the expected collection of the mentally unfit, far leftists, communists and so on, with the stunningly and suicidally superstitious. Mind you, if I had to dress like that my whole life I can sort of see why I would be begging for someone to kill me.

There is an edit I missed. When the clowns sing about the starving Palestinians. They may be unaware of this:

Here, the fat hits the fire.

Or this: Continue Reading →

he Gaza flotilla and the maritime blockade of Gaza – Legal background

Posted on by

H/T Fred page from MFA.GOV

The Gaza flotilla and the maritime blockade of Gaza – Legal background

A maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. It has been imposed, as Israel is currently in a state of armed conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza. Gaza flotilla

1. A maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. Such blockade has been imposed, as Israel is currently in a state of armed conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza, which has repeatedly bombed civilian targets in Israel with weapons that have been  smuggled into Gaza via the sea.

2. Maritime blockades are a legitimate and recognized measure under international law that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea.

3. A  blockade may be imposed at sea, including in international waters, so long as it does not bar access to the ports and coasts of neutral states.

4. The naval manuals of several western countries, including the US and England recognize the maritime blockade as an effective naval measure and set forth the various criteria that make a blockade valid, including the requirement of give due notice of the existence of the blockade.

5. In this vein, it should be noted that Israel publicized the existence of the blockade and the precise coordinates of such by means of the accepted international professional maritime channels. Israel also provided appropriate notification to the affected governments and to the organizers of the Gaza protest flotilla.  Moreover, in real time, the ships participating in the protest flotilla were warned repeatedly that a maritime blockade is in effect. Continue Reading →

Pakistan lifts Facebook ban after total capitulation by Facebook

Posted on by

Frankly, I have always disliked facebook as it will not allow you to delete your own account just ‘deactivate it’ but all your information stays there. It also seems to play fast and loose with other peoples information and people do steal identities there and send virus’s around using stolen facebook identities. However this is the worst thing of all. Facebook does a total cave in to the most intolerant and illiberal force on earth. Islam and it’s demands on the rest of the world to obey it’s own specific rules on what can and cannot be depicted. Thanks to Fred at GAR for this one:

From Yahoo News:

LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said.

The move came almost two weeks after Pakistan imposed the ban amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.

“In response to our protest, Facebook has tendered their apology and informed us that all the sacrilegious material has been removed from the URL,” said Najibullah Malik, secretary of Pakistan’s information technology ministry, referring to the technical term for a Web page.

Facebook assured the Pakistani government that “nothing of this sort will happen in the future,” Malik said.

Officials from the website could not immediately be reached for comment. They said earlier the contents of the “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!” page did not violate Facebook’s terms.

The page encouraged users to post images of the prophet to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of the American TV series “South Park” for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

Pakistan blocked Facebook on May 19 following a ruling by one of the country’s highest courts. The Lahore High Court reversed its ruling Monday because of Facebook’s response, Malik said.

As of midday, access to Facebook inside Pakistan was still restricted. But Malik said the government has issued instructions for Internet service providers to restore access to the website.

Users outside the country confirmed the page that sparked the recent uproar was no longer accessible.

The government will continue to block some Web pages that contain “sacrilegious material,” but Malik declined to specify which ones.

The Facebook controversy sparked a handful of protests across Pakistan, many by student members of radical Islamic groups. Some of the protesters carried signs advocating holy war against the website for allowing the page.

Bangladesh also decided to block Facebook on Sunday but said it would restore access to the site if the offensive material was removed.

It is not the first time that images of the prophet have sparked anger. Pakistan and other Muslim countries saw large and sometimes violent protests in 2006 when a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Muhammad, and again in 2008 when they were reprinted. Later the same year, a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber attacked the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six people.

Anger over the Facebook controversy also prompted the Pakistani government to block access to YouTube briefly, saying there was growing sacrilegious content on the video sharing website. The government restored access to YouTube last week but said it would continue to block videos offensive to Muslims that are posted on the site.

**  Video of bearded morons uttering demands and threats here  **

Head of Anti-Semitism Watchdog Group Targeted in France

Posted on by

by Maayana Miskin: H/T GAR

The head of a French anti-Semitism watchdog group was targeted early Monday in an arson attack when attackers torched Sammy Ghozlan’s car outside his home in the Paris suburb of Blanc-Mesnil.

Ghozlan has filed a complaint with police, who are investigating.

The arson was “an anti-Semitic attack and intimidation,” Ghozlan said. He told the European Jewish Press that he had not received any threats prior to the attack, and that no individual or organization has claimed responsibility.

Ghozlan, a retired French police captain, heads the Bureau National de Vigilance Contre l’Antisémitisme (National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism). He aims to protect Jews in neighborhoods known for anti-Semitic violence by ensuring that attacks are reported.

He has also pushed police to look into anti-Semitism as a motive for attacks on Jews, and has drawn attention to anti-Semitic incitement.

Anti-Semitic attacks nearly doubled in France in 2009, with Jewish organizations counting 832 attacks on Jews compared with 474 in 2008. The increase was apparently linked to Israel’s counterterrorism offensive in Gaza in early 2009; by summer, the number of attacks had dropped to previous levels. (IsraelNationalNews.com)