Category Archives: Political Correctness

Bruce Bawer in Ottawa, a review

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The Freethinking Film Society, a Canadian organization committed to providing the nation’s capital with interesting conservative/libertarian films, played host last evening to the much anticipated appearance of journalist Bruce Bawer, author of Surrender-Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom at the National Library, Archives of Canada to an enthusiastic audience.

The evening opened with a thoughtful introduction of panel members by Fred Litwin of the Free Thinking Film Society, and his blog Gay and Right, and with another to Mr. Bawer from Marc Lebuis creator of Canada’s most influential French language, anti-Islamist blog Point de Bascule. Also in attendance was James Cohen, the Canadian vice-president of the International Free Press Society, a vitally important global group which defends the universal right of free expression and combats those who would threaten it. The speaking panel consisted of four members, all of which brought remarkable qualifications, specific areas of expertise and varying political partisanship– award winning journalist and author Terry Glavin; David B. Harris, former chief of strategic planning for CSIS and currently a Senior Fellow for terrorism/national security at the Canadian Coalition for Democracies; renowned author Bruce Bawer and Marc Lepuis. It was easily recognizable from the start that despite the differences in their political views, the most potent of  similarities between each of these men was a shared and cogent understanding of the very real and direct threat radical Islam presents to universal human values, and to the principle of individual freedoms.

I choose the words universal and human deliberately and carefully, as these terms reflected the basic undertone of the lecture. Each member thoughtfully reinforced the need to concentrate on the human face of this struggle, to reevaluate the usefulness of the popular concepts of left and right political partisanship we have so securely wrapped ourselves in and, to instead, abandon their usage and unite against those engaged in the furious pursuit to coerce and shift the world toward ‘Dar-al-Islam’. It is also important to understand that countless Muslims the world over do not subscribe to the prescription of submission handed them by the fascist elements that live among them. Many suffer greatly with some, bravely seeking  freedom from persecution and enslavement by this hateful and intolerant ideology. It is within this recognition the panel made clear, that we share the most common of ground, where all of us can stand united in direct and strong opposition to extremism.

Mr. Bawer illustrated effectively that we are living in the midst of a jihad most of us do not recognize. We have come to believe that the world suffers only from violent jihad; terrorist plots to murder fueled by an intense hatred of  western values by seventh century crackpots in suicide gear, self-imploding at the behest of foaming and slathering Imams in far away lands. While it is true that terror attacks happen with great frequency, a simultaneous but less spectacular attack is in motion. Far more dangerous than a street lined with bloodied body parts is the quiet jihad, the stealth jihad of the ‘polite’, bridge-building kind which is being played out in quiet neighborhoods, institutions and courtrooms across the western world. This type is patient, cunning and deceitful, culturally informed, well financed and legally savvy. Foolishly so, we are complicit in it’s advancement by both complacency and capitulation through our romantic attachment to such things as cultural-relativism, diversity projects, and multicultural policies. We have become dangerously vulnerable and as Mr. Bawer pointed out, they know it.

Islamists simply do not care which political office holds the power of the day as western legal codes are in and of themselves contrary to Islam. Left, right and the principle of democracy are man-made ‘illegal’ notions, a beyond-the-pale bastardization of the laws of Allah. These gross deeds can only be corrected by employing the scripture of the Quran as brought to the world by the prophet Muhammed in the form of sharia, the only law suitable for all of mankind.

Mr. Harris pointed to the increasing infiltration of the Islamist element seen increasingly in a vast array of institutions. Today in Canada as in western Europe, the political fascism of Islam has found a comfortable and protected footing among a variety of departments, banking institutions, political offices and inter-faith groups. His earnest call that we should insist upon the permanent crushing of section 13(1) of the HRC code received wide applause. Terry Glavin highlighted the moral bankruptcy of the feminist movement while in their staunch pursuit to defend the western woman, many routinely abandon the very same human needs asked of by an Afghan mother struggling against her male aggressors. Mr. Lepuis wondered why Imams in some Montreal mosques continue to stridently condemn Canada to a packed house of primarily second and third generation Muslims and why some honour killings are being committed at the hands of men who have been raised and educated in western nations. Each had cited circumstances clearly reflected in Bruce Bawer’s writing and each had reinforced truths found in Surrender.

Asked to review the speaking engagement given by Mr. Bawer and the accompanying guest panel, I entered the room like most other audience members. I left amazed and moved by three things:  the unflinching bravery of Mr. Bawer and his devotion to reach out to those of us who seek to understand the growing threat of radical Islam and the operation of stealth jihad; the unity, comradeship and professionalism in common purpose held by the panel members to work in tandem against radical Islam and, the realization that we are not defending western values as much as we are defending human and universal ones.

Thank you to Fred Litwin at The Free Thinking Film Society for bringing Mr. Bawer to Ottawa for such an important event. Thank you to Mr. Harris, Mr. Glavin and Mr. Lepuis for their thoughtful analysis, expertise and professionalism and to James Cohen of the International Free Press Society for his attendance. Most of all, thank you to Mr. Bruce Bawer for his courage in writing such a book of importance and necessity, one which helps us to understand the threat of jihad by way of  fundamentalist Islam.

Below, please find a video of Bruce Bawer’s excellent lecture in full. The video of the panel discussion is rumored to be ready and posted within a day or so and should be visible in this post as well, below Dr. Bawer’s lecture.

Link: Bruce Bawer Speech part one

Grace for VTB:

Mohammed second most common boys’ name in UK

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TIMES OF INDIA… Mohammed, in all its various spellings, is now the second most common boys’ name in the UK, next only to Jack. Jack and Olivia were the most popular names for babies last year – but the Office for National Statistics was accused of being “disingenuous” for listing various forms of Mohammed as different names.

Three variations of Mohammed originally featured in the list of the top 100 names released by the ONS, but none of them made the top ten.

Mohammed was placed 16th with 3,423, Muhammad 37th with 2,068 and Mohammad 65th with 1,100.

Figures for five other spellings – Muhammad (496), Mohamed (428), Mohamad (40), and Mohammod (10), were later released.

That made a total of 7,576 and put Mohammed and its alternatives ahead of the official second placed name, Oliver, of whom there were 7,413.

There were 8,007 Jacks, ensuring the name topped the list of boys’ names for the 13th year running.

“When we have done our research, mothers tell us Jack suggests honesty, trustworthiness and hard work. A Jack will be popular and have a strong character, but he will also be good,” said Faye Mingo, who compiles the research on names for Bounty.com, a parenting club.

Olivia was top name for girls in 2008, replacing Ruby.

Three Left Wing Myths About Israel (with an extra bonus myth!)

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This essay by Sultan Knish: H/T Solstace reposted with permission of the good sultan with thanks.

Myth 1: “Israel was created because Europe felt guilty about the Holocaust.”
This left wing myth has been widely repeated, most recently by Desmond Tutu. While blatantly false on a level that even the most serious anti-Israel historian can recognize, it persists because its function is to delegitimize as the product of post-war colonial guilt, rather than longstanding Israeli national aspirations.

Israel was not created in 1947. By 1947, Israel already was a functioning country with a language, culture, agriculture, universities, newspapers and military forces which proved capable of defending against the armies of several Arab nations. The only thing that happened after the Holocaust was a UN vote in 1947 was for a partition plan that was never implemented because the Arab world instead chose to try and destroy Israel. Israel however would have declared independence and fought for its own survival, with the same exact outcome, regardless of UN Resolution 181. This vote is often described as creating Israel, but it was more accurately an attempt to settle the borders of Israel that failed because of Arab genocidal hostility that expressed itself not only toward Israel, but toward the Jews living in Arab lands.

Nor did post-war European colonialism create Israel. Britain, which was the colonial power in the region, was against Israel’s independence and abstained in the UN vote. The majority of votes for Resolution 181 came from non-European countries, primarily in Latin America and Eastern Europe, such as Bolivia, Brazil, Panama, Peru and Poland, Ukraine and the Soviet Union. 7 European countries voted Yes, most of them Northern European states such as Sweden and Denmark, which experienced only a limited impact of the Holocaust. 12 Latin American countries voted Yes. Twice the number. And all of them countries that had their own national aspirations and had fought against colonialism.

Post-Holocaust guilt was not the reason Resolution 181 passed. Less than a third of the 33 votes came from countries where the Holocaust had taken place. The reasons were varied and different. Some Latin American countries identified with Israel’s national aspirations and some sought economic ties. Truman was influenced by the desire for Jewish votes in an upcoming election. The Soviet Union wanted to sabotage Britain’s colonial program. The motives of different countries were varied and complex. Iran for example voted against the resolution and yet became the second country to recognize the new State of Israel.

Left wing activists may insist that Resolution 181 was a racist act, but in fact half the countries who voted for it were non-white, and most of the countries who voted for it were non-European. Therefore the myth that Israel was created after the Holocaust by guilty Europeans, a myth that has been bandied about by everyone from Desmond Tutu to Wallace Shawn to Barack Obama is just that, a myth. Israel would have existed regardless of the Holocaust or UN Resolution 181, which was voted for primarily by non-European countries in any case. Those who repeat the myth are therefore demonstrating either extreme ignorance or extreme deceptiveness.
Myth 2: “European Nations Gave the Jews a Land Already Inhabited by a People.”
This is one of the more common myths that seeks to strike at the legitimacy of the creation of the modern state of Israel, and treats the Jews as a foreign body within the land. This is a continuation of the anti-semitic stereotypes of the Jews as eternal wanderers and eternal foreigners.

The fact of the matter is that Jews had an ongoing presence in the land going back thousands of years, that was only interrupted by massacres and expulsions, after which the Jews population would once again attempt to reestablish itself. Greek, Roman, Arab and Ottoman colonialism expelled Jewish populations and attempted to replace them with their own populations in order to gain a foothold in the land. Unlike them however the Jews remained the land’s indigenous population. Continue Reading →

IFPS: Aho convicted of … Blasphemy? State enforced sharia law in Finland now.

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Finnish District Court squashes free speech

By James Cohen • on September 8, 2009

Note from editor: There may be no more important application of free speech, than the right to criticize irrational religious authority. Without this one freedom, all the rest are meaningless and can be deemed illegal or blasphemous after the fact and at the whim of anyone in a funny hat.

James Cohen

By KGS From Tundra Tabloids:

Helsinki District Court delivers
verdict to Jussi Halla-aho:

You shall not insult Islam and its prophet!

It was to be expected. The Tundra Tabloids was asked just yesterday by someone living outside of Finland, what the outcome of the trial would be. Responding that it would be too close to tell, but the gut feeling however, was that most likely Jussi Halla-aho would receive a fine. That’s was indeed the case, as the District court in Helsinki fined the City Councilman to pay 30 day fines amounting to 330 euros.

This judgment by the Helsinki District Court violates the very essence of what “Freedom of Speech” stands for; the right to say out loud, that, what people do not want to hear. As an American who has been living in Finland for the past 22 years, I’m appalled at what just took place.

The Finnish judicial system just violated the sacred right of every Finn to speak his or her mind freely, on any given subject, no matter how polite or offensive that speech might be. From now on, and in no unclear or uncertain terms, the Finnish state makes itself the sole arbitrator of what kind of speech in Finland is permissable and what is not. Big Brother has spoken.

Prosecutor, Simo Kolehmainen, Chief Prosecutor, Jarmo Kalske, Prosecutor Mika Illman, Minster of Justice, Tuija Brax, you all are traitors to your country, and for that the Tundra Tabloids holds you all in contempt.

So, it is the personal opinion of the owner of this blog, The Tundra Tabloids, that the central figure of Islam, the person that Muslims revere and worship around the world and here in Finland, their “prophet Mohammad”, was in fact a pedophile by today’s standards, and it’s the continued intention of this blog to keep pointing out that fact, that the founder of Islam was indeed a pedophile, and that many of his faithful followers till this day, adhere to that institutionalized religious practice of Islamic inspired pedophilia.

The Tundra Tabloids hopes that point was made clear. KGS

NOTE: For more about the Jussi Halla-aho case history, click here

True Finns Councillor Fined for Defaming Religion

City Councillor Jussi Halla-Aho of the True Finns Party has been found guilty of defamation of religion by the Helsinki District Court. He was ordered to pay a fine of 330 euros. However, the court dismissed a charge of inciting hatred against an ethnic group.

Prosecutor Simo Kolehmainen said Halla-Aho had publicly defamed the Islamic faith in his blog writings. Halla-Aho had also written derogatory statements about Somali immigrants on his internet site.

The prosecutor said Halla-Aho’s writings insulted Muslims residing in Finland and endangered religious peace.

Halla-Aho admitted to writing the comments but challenged they were intended to defame. He said the comments had been taken out of context added he was not guilty of any criminal offence. YLE

NOTE: Here is the video again of the Halla-aho interview just after the court trial ended on the 28th of August.

Islamic colonisation destroying our heritage

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As there were no more white British people in the local area, the Grade II listed status church closed down — only now to be re-opened as a mosque.


bnprenaissance… The bloodless genocide and ethnic cleansing of the British people and culture continues apace with the latest example being the ripping up of a century old Christian cemetery to make way for a mosque in Manchester.
The grave desecrations, being carried out with a large Komatsu earthmover in the graveyard of the St John the Apostle and Evangelist church at the corner of Holmfirth Street and St Johns Road, is part of the re-opening of this nineteenth century church as the Dar-ul-Ulum Qadria Jilania Islamic Centre.
A sign on the door says clearly that the Islamic Centre is already open for prayer — showing that by Islamic centre the colonisers actually mean mosque.

The conversion of this church (founded in 1845 on a site donated by Sir J. W. H. Anson) into a mosque has been made possible by the displacement of the local indigenous British population by waves of Third World immigration into Manchester.

As this policy gathered pace under successive Tory and Labour governments, the numbers of Third World colonisers grew to the point where they have now totally displaced the indigenous population.

As there were no more white British people in the local area, the Grade II listed status church closed down — only now to be re-opened as a mosque.

This church — formerly the largest Church of England parish in Longsight, was the only one in the area with a graveyard.

These Christian British graves — the only remnant of the now ethnically cleansed British people in the area — are obviously offensive to the Muslim colonisers, who have brought in the earthmoving machine to smash up the gravestones which are being literally crushed to rubble.

St John the Apostle and Evangelist church is a real time history lesson of what will happen to Britain unless the insane multicultural Lib/Lab/Con genocidal policies of mass Third World immigration are not only brought to an end, but reversed.

The British National Party is the only party which speaks up on this critical issue which directly affects the very future existence of this nation — and is also the only party which has the policies to stop this extermination of our folk and nation.

The British voters will soon be faced with a choice between their continued extermination at the hands of the Lib/Lab/Con ethnic cleansing party, or their survival as a free and independent indigenous people with the BNP.

Ezra Levant: A great day for freedom of Speech (In Canada)

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From The International Free Press Society:

I decided to post a video clip of Ezra at the HRC answering a rather central question to this debate. Know that in this man’s opinion, it was Ezra Levant who basically single-handedly removed the power that the Canadian Human Rights Commissions had accumulated for itself, and with which they ran an unopposed extortion racket in Canada under the guise of section 13, the ‘hate speech’ laws. This victory of the people over the state belongs to Ezra.
Below the video, the National Post article.

James Cohen.

National Post…

Yesterday, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal did something its never done in its 32-year history. It acquitted somebody of “hate speech” charges. Until now, the tribunal had a 100% conviction rate.

In a 107-page ruling, tribunal member Athanasios Hadjis didn’t just throw out the case against Marc Lemire, he threw out the law, too, calling it an infringement of the free speech guarantees of the Charter of Rights.

Hadjis is no wild-eyed civil libertarian. In the recent past, he himself has convicted people under this same law. And, before Jean Chretien appointed him to the tribunal, Hadjis was the boss of one of Montreal’s largest multicultural lobby groups, which thrived on ethnic identity politics. But even Hadjis has had enough of the human rights industry and their fetish for political correctness. He ruled that allowing Canadian citizens to express offensive ideas is preferable to living under a government that prosecutes people for expressing those ideas.

As of yesterday, it’s no longer illegal to write politically incorrect things on the Internet. Now it’s illegal to prosecute someone for it.

This will have an immediate impact on the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), which maintains a large censorship department and has other cases under investigation. If the CHRC were a real police force, and the tribunal were a real court, all existing censorship cases would be dropped, and anyone who was previously convicted would have their convictions voided. Dozens of lawsuits against the government for wrongful prosecution, and compensation for costs, wouldn’t be far behind.

But the tribunal isn’t a real court, and Hadjis acknowledged that he doesn’t have the power to strike down the law, only to declare it unconstitutional and to refuse to apply it. The CHRC has ignored the tribunal before: In this same case, Lemire was routinely denied his procedural rights by the CHRC, including its outrageous tactic of waiting until the trial was over before disclosing all of its documents to him. Even worse, some bizarre CHRC conduct came to light, including confessions by their staff that they joined neo-Nazi organizations and published bigoted comments on the Internet to entrap their targets. A real court would have thrown the case out years ago, and a real police force would have disciplined such rogue conduct.

Still, it’s a great day for Charter values like freedom of speech. But how long will it last? The human rights industry knew this was an important case, and over the past six years it spent millions of tax dollars fighting Lemire. The federal government had six lawyers on the case–four from the CHRC and two from the Justice Minister’s office. And there were five lawyers intervening on behalf of Canada’s tax-subsidized Jewish groups, the B’nai Brith, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC).

Yesterday, the CJC issued a bizarre press release in which it states that, despite the tribunal’s clear ruling, it believes the censorship law “remains constitutional.” In the next few weeks, the CJC and the rest of the human rights litigation industry will clamour for the government to appeal this decision.

It was one thing for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to defend the constitutionality of a government law that was under attack — that’s standard operating procedure. But now that the law has been found to be illegal, it would be quite another thing for Nicholson to positively act to revive such an illiberal law. Nicholson must also put a leash on the disgraced CHRC, and order it not to appeal either. They’ve already done more than enough damage to Canada’s civil liberties, at great expense to taxpayers.

In fact, just leaving Hadjis’s ruling intact isn’t enough–his ruling illustrates a deeper rot in the CHRC. Hadjis found that the CHRC has become much more aggressive and confrontational in recent years, and at the same time it started applying punitive sanctions — such as issuing fines of tens of thousands of dollars. That toxic mix of abusive conduct with criminal-style punishments was specifically forbidden by the Supreme Court when it last reviewed the censorship laws in 1990.

It’s that bullying corporate culture that Nicholson needs to address. Nicholson should start by ordering Jennifer Lynch, the CHRC’s chief commissioner, to stop her expensive campaign of demonization against the commission’s critics. And then he should call in a retired judge — or the auditor-general — to do a thorough biopsy to find out how Canada’s human rights agency became such a threat to our human rights.

National Post

The burqa as liberating choice? not so says Chesler

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From the Chesler Chronicles/Pajamas Media.

August 31st, 2009 8:10 am

The Burqa: Ultimate Feminist Choice?

Naomi Wolf Discovers That Shrouds Are Sexy

Women in chadors are really feminist ninja warriors. Rather than allow themselves to be gawked at by male strangers, they choose to defeat the “male gaze” by hiding from it in plain view.

But don’t you worry: Beneath that chador, abaya, burqa, or veil, there is a sexy courtesan wearing “Victoria Secret, elegant fashion, and skin care lotion,” just waiting for her husband to come home for a night of wild and sensuous marital lovemaking.

Obviously, these are not my ideas. I am quoting from a piece by Naomi Wolf that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald a few days ago. Yes, Wolf is the bubbly, feminist author who once advised Vice President Al “The Climate” Gore on what colors he should wear while campaigning and who is or was friendly with Gore’s daughter. Full disclosure: I have casually known Wolf and her parents for more than a quarter-century. Continue Reading →

Brits pay for squat toilets, footbaths for Muslims awaiting deportation.

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From The Telegraph U.K.

This is a story I found buried under an increasing pile of similar ones coming out of Europe. A few days old, but worthy. We don’t agree with the toilet modifications; they didn’t go far enough. Why not simply install sand boxes……

From the dhimmitude files.

Prison spends £17,000 on footbaths and toilets for Muslims

A prison spent £17,000 on special toilets for foreigners and footbaths for Muslims.

Published: 7:00AM BST 27 Aug 2009
Figures obtained from the Ministry of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act show that the money was spent on two footbaths, a “squat” toilet and a shower area at Canterbury Prison in Kent, which only holds foreign nationals awaiting deportation and has 92 Muslim inmates.

Footbaths are often used by Muslims as they are required to wash their feet before prayer. However, the area is not exclusive to Muslims and can be used by all inmates.

The expenditure was condemned by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive, said: “It’s ridiculous that we are spending so much money on prisoners who should have been deported, rather than kept here as a burden on innocent taxpayers.

“Making basic provision for people’s needs is one thing, but there is no reason at all why there should be special toilets installed. If prison doesn’t have the perfect toilet facilities for you, then you shouldn’t have committed a crime, it isn’t meant to be nice.”

Canterbury Prison is the first in the country to fulfil the unique roll of holding only foreign national prisoners.

The Prison Independent Monitoring Board’s annual report published in July, showed inmates represent 66 different nationalities, speak 33 different languages and practice 17 different religions.

Amy Bushell, of the board, said: “In the prison’s overall refurbishment programme budget, the cost of the installation was relatively small.

“People who chose to use such facilities cover many nationalities, cultures and religions. We would’ve been greatly disturbed if these had been provided for just one group alone, as it would have excluded other individuals from using them.”

The board also stressed no complaints have been received of non-Muslims being denied access to the area.

Other measures have been taken to accommodate the prison’s global population, including a multi-faith area allowing all inmates to practise their religion. Muslim prisoners are permitted one hour’s use every Friday for prayers.

Islamic prayer timetables are provided, the Koran is available on request and an Imam is employed for 18 hours a week to carry out generic work and faith duties.

The U.N., Refugees, and the college campus

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As I write this, the government of Yemen is launching attacks on its Shia minority to quell an uprising almost certainly sponsored by The Islamic Republic of Iran. As a result, thousands of Sunni’s are being displaced and fleeing claiming refugee status in Saudi Arabia. The government of Saudi is predictably, sending them back as quick as they come.

I suppose at this point it does not come as a shock to anyone that college campus’s all over Europe and North America are not screaming at the horrible injustices being committed by the Saudis against fellow Sunni Muslims by sending them back to a conflict zone. Neither would it come as a shock that no one is talking about Yemen’s attacking of fellow Muslims. Or the Shia minority attacks on Yemeni government assets. The Muslim on Muslim atrocities here are legion and on all sides. But if Israel shoots one terrorist in the act of killing Israeli school kids and so on we will all know that man’s name and a street will be named after him in Gaza.

Most people do not even know that the UN has two distinct refugee organizations, one for ‘Palistinians’ and one for the rest of the world with radically different rules. For example, if a person is born to a refugee they are not considered a refugee but a citizen of the country they are born in. However, the great grandchildren of people who left Israel to get out of the way of invading Egyptian or Syrian tanks on the week that Israel was founded as a nation, these people are in a category all their own, and they and all their descendants remain refugees in perpetuity until such time as the nation of Israel is destroyed and they take whatever place their Islamic leaders tell them to. As a consequence we hear endless laments about how the refugees in Gaza are treated, something which puzzles the hell out of me as how can they be refugees in Gaza when Gaza itself is the nation they where born in and are in control of, (Isn’t that like being a Canadian Refugee in a camp just outside Toronto?) but very few of us will be aware of the refugee crisis in Yemen, or Saudi Arabia’s, one of the richest per capita nations in the world, refusal to allow in one Sunni refugee from a conflict they may in fact be responsible for.

Eeyore for Vladtepesblog.

Link: Hate Speech on Campus 09c

Everyone should fast for a day ‘to understand Muslims’, says Boris Johnson

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Is it haram to for the mayor to be serving Londoners dhimmi soup during Ramadan?

Boris Johnson arrives at the East London Mosque with his Director of Communication Guto Harri this afternoon where he talked about the need for greater understanding of Muslims

Boris Johnson arrives at the East London Mosque with his Director of Communication Guto Harri this afternoon where he talked about the need for greater understanding of Muslims

MailOnline… London Mayor Boris Johnson today encouraged people to undergo a day of fasting to help understand their ‘Muslim neighbour’.

He said Muslims in the capital were ‘challenging traditional stereotypes’ to show they wanted to be part of the mainstream during a visit to the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre.

Mr Johnson’s visit coincided with the holy period of Ramadan in which participating Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.

He said: ‘Whether it’s in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community.

‘That’s why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque.

‘I would be very surprised if you didn’t find that you share more in common than you thought.’

He added: ‘Muslims are at the heart of every aspect of society. Their contribution is something that all Londoners benefit from.

‘Muslim police officers, doctors, scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London.

‘Islamic finance is contributing to the economy by changing the way Londoners invest, save, borrow and spend.

‘There are valuable lessons that people of all backgrounds can learn from Islam such as the importance of community spirit, family ties, compassion and helping those less fortunate, all of which lie at the heart of the teachings of Ramadan.’

 

Glover, Klein and Fonda on Israel at TIFF; Carter sells peanuts. Such creativity.

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From The National Post.

Artists, authors sign letter protesting Israeli spotlight at TIFF

Mark Medley, National Post Published: Thursday, September 03, 2009

Actor Danny Glover is one of more than 50 people have added their name to what’s being called The Toronto Declaration, a letter condemning the Toronto Film Festival's complicity in "the Israeli propaganda machine.” ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images Actor Danny Glover is one of more than 50 people have added their name to what’s being called The Toronto Declaration, a letter condemning the Toronto Film Festival’s complicity in “the Israeli …

TORONTO — The signatories of a new letter accusing the Toronto International Film Festival of becoming “complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine” run the gamut from an Oscar-winning actress to a rabble-rousing author to a Talking Head.

More than 50 people have added their name to what’s being called The Toronto Declaration, including musician David Byrne, actors Danny Glover and Jane Fonda, and author Alice Walker.

The letter, drafted by a committee that includes Canadian writer Naomi Klein and Israeli filmmaker Udi Aloni, is the latest move in a controversy that began when Canadian director John Greyson withdrew his short documentary, Covered, from the festival last week. The veteran filmmaker is protesting the festival’s inaugural City to City Spotlight on Tel Aviv, a 10-movie program that TIFF’s website promises will “explore the evolving urban experience while presenting the best documentary and fiction films from and about a selected city.” This year is Tel Aviv’s 100th anniversary.

Greyson penned an open letter to festival co-directors Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey, as well as to Noah Cowan, artistic director of the under-construction Bell Lightbox, blasting the initiative.

The declaration states that while the signatories are not protesting the individual filmmakers participating in the program and do not seek to exclude Israeli films from the festival, “in the wake of this year’s brutal assault on Gaza, we object to the use of such an important international festival in staging a propaganda campaign on behalf of what South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann have all characterized as an apartheid regime.” Continue Reading →

Young American Muslim fears honor killing after leaving Islam

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Eurabian Safari

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by Thomas Landen Hudson New York

Muslim area BrusselsIt is hot in Brussels. Ramadan has begun. The faithful in the predominantly Muslim borough of Molenbeek are not allowed to eat or drink from sunrise until sunset. Non-Muslim policemen, patrolling the streets of Molenbeek in their sweltering cars, are not allowed to eat or drink either. As every year during Ramadan, that they have been told by their superior, Philippe Moureaux, the Socialist mayor of Molenbeek, they have to respect Muslim sensitivities and not to “provoke” Muslims by violating Islamic Ramadan restrictions in public. In effect, Islamic or Sharia law is already applied – for everyone – in the Muslim areas of Brussels.

 Barely two miles from Molenbeek lies Brussels’ European district. One of its huge glass and concrete buildings is the European Parliament where the elected representatives from the 27 members states of the European Union (EU) convene. The 736 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) have just returned from their summer break. They are mostly unaware of life in Molenbeek. Most of them never go to that part of the city. It is probably a sensible decision, because Molenbeek is known to be unsafe for non-Muslims. Nevertheless, it is a shame that Europe’s politicians are unaware of day-to-day life just around the corner. It means that most of the 736 MEPs, who make up the second largest democratically elected assembly in the world (after India), do not know what life really is like in an ever growing section of Europe’s urban areas. A walking tour of Molenbeek should be compulsory for every MEP.

 Some friends in Brussels organize one-hour trips through Molenbeek. They go in an inconspicuous car, driven by a local who knows the escape routes, and with a bodyguard. Otherwise the risk would be too great. These trips are called “safaris.” Similar “Eurabia Safaris” are organized in other European cities. One of the highlights – though absolutely not the most dangerous one – of the safari in Rosengaard, the Muslim section of the Swedish city of Malmö, is a short stop, to give the visitor the opportunity to take a quick snapshot, in front of Malmö’s “Jihadskörkortsteori” (Jihad Driving School).

 The Sharia areas of Europe are expanding rapidly across Western Europe. While currently still restricted to what the French officially call the ZUS (zones urbaines sensibles – sensitive urban areas) these areas are growing fast. Even today, eight million of the sixty million inhabitants of France already live in one of the country’s 751 ZUS.

 The month of Ramadan is traditionally the most dangerous time of the year in Europe’s sensitive areas. After sunset, the Ramadan ban on eating, drinking and engaging in sexual activities expires until the following sunrise. Ramadan is a period of nightly feasts for Muslims. Young Muslims are extremely touchy. These feasts easily spill over into nightly spasms of mayhem, vandalism, and violence. Europe’s Ramadan riots often go on for days or weeks, during which hundreds of cars, shops and public buildings are set on fire.

 In Muslim countries, such as Indonesia, the police step up patrols during Ramadan in order to crack down on illegal nightly activities. In Europe, however, the police have been given orders to adopt an extra-low profile not to “provoke” Muslim populations. In countries such as Britain, police officers have had to attend “Ramadan awareness” courses. They have even been ordered, “for reasons of religious sensitivity,” to avoid the execution of arrest warrants for Muslims during the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Europe is a tinder box. Continue Reading →