Category Archives: forcing sharia

Exclusive: Never before seen footage at Islamburg released first here on Vlad and…

Posted on by

Gates of Vienna. This is never before released footage from the Christian Action Network.

Some info on all parties:

The Muslims of America have concluded — by some statistical method unknown to everyone else — that Muslims actually form a majority in the United States, and that they are under threat from their domestic and foreign enemies.
Thus they are not waging jihad per se, but simply defending themselves.
Violent jihad is always justified in this manner, because Muslims always feel under threat, and thus always have to defend themselves.
The very existence of non-Muslims constitutes a threat to Islam, and jihad is therefore an act of self-defense in the face of an existential menace.
This is a reminder of why the non-Muslim world is known as Dar al-Harb, the House of War.
[09-12-11 10:11:14 AM] Baron Bodissey: that’s my post
[09-12-11 10:11:18 AM] Baron Bodissey: let me cut it down for you
[09-12-11 10:13:08 AM] Baron Bodissey: For several years the Christian Action Network has conducted a lengthy investigation of Jamaat ul-Fuqra and its front organization, the Muslims of America. Their efforts culminated earlier this year in their movie Homegrown Jihad, which included excerpts from a secret jihad video featuring Sheikh Gilani and JuF mujahideen training with automatic weapons and explosives.
Christian Action Network has recently uncovered another JuF training video. This one features talking-head appearances by two of the American leaders of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, and some previously unreleased footage of live-fire weapons training at the Muslims of America national headquarters at Islamberg, near Hancock, New York.
Additional information on Jamaat ul-Fuqra here:
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2007/02/charlotte-county-files.html
The Muslims of America have concluded — by some statistical method unknown to everyone else — that Muslims actually form a majority in the United States, and that they are under threat from their domestic and foreign enemies.
Thus they are not waging jihad per se, but simply defending themselves.
Violent jihad is always justified in this manner, because Muslims always feel under threat, and thus always have to defend themselves.
The very existence of non-Muslims constitutes a threat to Islam, and jihad is therefore an act of self-defense in the face of an existential menace.
This is a reminder of why the non-Muslim world is known as Dar al-Harb, the House of War.

Additional information on Jamaat ul-Fuqra here, “The Charlotte County Files”: and here, ‘Muslims are majority of Amerians’

This is an exclusive. This is literally the first place this footage has ever been shown publicly. Please send this link far and wide. It is with permission of the creators of this video. Please do pay attention this is very serious and needs to be seen by all.

More:

For several years the Christian Action Network has conducted a lengthy investigation of Jamaat ul-Fuqra and its front organization, the Muslims of America. Their efforts culminated earlier this year in their movie Homegrown Jihad, which included excerpts from a secret jihad video featuring Sheikh Gilani and JuF mujahideen training with automatic weapons and explosives.

Christian Action Network has recently uncovered another JuF training video. This one features talking-head appearances by two of the American leaders of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, and some previously unreleased footage of live-fire weapons training at the Muslims of America national headquarters at Islamberg, near Hancock, New York. Additional information on Jamaat ul-Fuqra here:

The Muslims of America have concluded — by some statistical method unknown to everyone else — that Muslims actually form a majority in the United States, and that they are under threat from their domestic and foreign enemies. Thus they are not waging jihad per se, but simply defending themselves.

Violent jihad is always justified in this manner, because Muslims always feel under threat, and thus always have to defend themselves.

The very existence of non-Muslims constitutes a threat to Islam, and jihad is therefore an act of self-defense in the face of an existential menace.

This is a reminder of why the non-Muslim world is known as Dar al-Harb, the House of War.

More on Sharia law enforced in Spain

Posted on by

Just in case you thought sharia law meant settling family disputes in a ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ type way, or some sort of My Big Fat Greek Wedding kind of affiar, here is an ANSAMED report on how a pregnant Muslim women in Spain was ‘arrested’ and sentanced to be stoned to death for infidelity.

By way of TROP

SPAIN: CATALONIA, ISLAMIC MORAL BRIGADES IMPOSE SHARIA LAW**

(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) – MADRID, DECEMBER 8 – The reported capturing of a Muslim women in Reus (Tarragona) and the issuing of a stoning sentence for adultery by religious fanatics are a gauge of a phenomenon that has already appeared in Holland and France, and which is now taking root in Catalonia: the creation of Islamic “moral brigades” by fundamentalists, who claim the role of judges and police officers imposing a strict observance of Sharia, or Islamic law. The theatre of the incursions of these Islamic “moral patrols” are the rural towns where the mosques are controlled by Salafists, a fundamentalist sect of Islam, with a substantial presence in the province of Tarragona. These groups are heavily inspired by the Koran and the rigid regulations applied in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Confirming investigators’ worries are several disturbing episodes reported by police. Specifically, on November 14, nine alleged Islamic extremists were arrested, accused of having captured and sentenced a Northern African woman to death after convicting her of adultery. The investigation, still in the preliminary phases, is classified. However, according to reports in the media, the woman was captured and held for three days in an abandoned factory, and then in the home of the group’s spiritual leader in Reus, where she was tried before an “Islamic tribunal” made up of seven people, who found her guilty of infidelity and sentenced her to death by stoning. The woman, who was pregnant, managed to escape and call the Catalonian police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, for help, and she is currently under their protection. In the meanwhile, the operation against the fundamentalist cell is ongoing. Investigators have warned that the phenomenon of these “brigades”, which could increase, has not only been found in Tarragona, but also in the provinces of Girona and Segarra, where mosques are controlled by Salafites. Many of the victims do not dare report their persecution, and intimidation continues for them. Investigators have confirmed beatings and segregation by their parents or spouses of women who do not wear veils, and the case of a Moroccan teenager who was beaten because he played football with other non-Muslim children. (ANSAmed).

Posted on by

From The Times Online: H/T Diana West

(Dave Thompson/PA)

hotel_Vogelenzang_657513atazi_657530a

Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang arrive at court

Image :1 of 3

Russell Jenkins

A district judge questioned the character of a Muslim convert as he dismissed the case against husband and wife Christian hoteliers who she claimed had deeply offended her new-found religion.

Ericka Tazi, 60, who converted when she married a Muslim man, had claimed that Ben Vogelenzang, 53, had called her a terrorist and compared Muhammad to a warlord when she wore a hijab on the last day of her stay at the Bounty House Hotel in Liverpool last March.
She also claimed that his wife Sharon, 54, had told her that wearing such a garment represented a form of bondage, or oppression, in a finger-pointing and aggressive tirade that left her severely traumatised.
After a two-day trial Richard Clancy, a district judge sitting at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court, threw out the allegations, suggesting that Mrs Tazi’s version of events could not be relied upon and that she was not the religious person she presented herself as in the witness box.
The case is being seen as a victory for free speech and religious liberty by evangelical groups, notably the Christian Institute, which sponsored the couple’s defence costs. It is likely to cause widespread alarm in the Muslim community.
It also brought Dutch-born Mr Vogelenzang and his wife, who were accused of religiously aggravated threatening behaviour under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, to the brink of financial ruin. They have lost trade and feared they would have to sell their business.
To the cheers of evangelical supporters, Mrs Vogelenzang, standing beside her tearful husband, said: “We have been found innocent of any crime. It has been a very difficult nine months. We are looking forward to rebuilding our business and getting on with our lives.
“We would like to thank all those who have supported us, family, friends, Christians and non-Christians alike from around the world. As Christmas approaches we wish everybody peace and goodwill.”
The 15-minute incident happened after Mrs Tazi, who suffers from fibro myalgia, came down to breakfast at the hotel at the end of a four-week course on pain management at Aintee Hospital. She decided to wear her hijab, the traditional Islamic dress, in celebration.
Mrs Tazi, a mother from Warrington, Cheshire, claimed that Mr Vogelenzang was transformed into a “whirling dervish”, likened Muhammad to warlords down through the ages and asked her: “Are you a terrorist or a murderer?”
Mr Vogelenzang, giving evidence today, denied the allegation and, in turn, suggested that it was Mrs Tazi who had provoked the confrontation by stating that Jesus was a minor prophet and that the Bible was not true.
At one point Mr Vogelenzang broke down in tears. He said that at first he had thought Mrs Tazi a “nice person”.

His voice raised and shaking with emotion, he said: “I was mistaken because she wasn’t a nice person at all. She was not a loving person because she ratted to the police and she was trying to make us lose our business.”

Later Hugh Tomlinson, QC, the couple’s counsel, suggested that Mrs Tazi was no “shrinking violet” and that she had also become angry during the exchange.
It could not be objectionable under the laws of England for a person to believe that women in Islam are oppressed, he said. Even if it was said that Muhammad was a warlord, this also could not be deemed offensive.
Freedom to be inoffensive was not a freedom worth having, he said.
He said: “The fact that someone is upset or offended is not a reason for criminalising the speech used by the other person.”
Dismissing the case, Mr Clancy questioned Mrs Tazi’s version of events, which amounted to “fairly big differences as to what happened”.
“Giving evidence Ericka made a remark, after she had been provoked, using words to the effect, ’would you like me to get my breasts out and wear a short skirt and be pie-eyed?’ When in actuality what she said was ’would you prefer me to have my tits out, my skirt so short my backside is hanging out and getting rat-arsed?”
Mr Clancy also referred to her conversation with an ambulance driver in which she said: “They were taking the p*** out of me.”
He said: “It does not quite form the same religious view that was put to me on the stand.”
Mr Vogelenzang wiped away a tear and his supporters clapped, as the judge stated that he was not satisfied with the facts and threw out the case.
Outside the court Nicky Inskip, senior crown Prosecutor, defended the Crown Prosecution Service decision to bring the case under the banner of hate crime.
She said: “We were satisfied that there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction that a religiously aggravated offence should be charged. In considering the public interest factors in favour of a prosecution, we took into account the impact that the incident had on the victim.”
There has so far been little evidence that Mrs Tazi’s experience has echoed within the wider Muslim communities, especially across the northern conurbations. But a group of young female Muslim students, who attended the trial, said this may now only be a matter of time.
One 18-year-old medical student at Liverpool University, who asked not to be named, said: “People are shocked and angry. This decision is going to make them even more upset.
“Mrs Tazi just comes down for breakfast wearing a head scarf and they start racially abusing her. They have just dismissed it as if it is nothing.”

Islamic law in Socialist Spain. This is critical.

Posted on by

This is central to the whole issue. So many people still think Islam is some form of Christianity or Judaism. You can bet this machinery exists here today in any nation over 3 or 4 percent Muslims. There are no Jewish or Christian ‘police’ who’s job it is, to beat or kill any members of their own communities who do not conform to the letter of religious law. This is one of the most important articles I have posted in many weeks I think. It speaks to the actual policy and machinery of Islam in the West.

Eeyore for Vlad.

By Martin Barillas on Speroforum and found on the inimitable Sheik Yer Mammi

Sources in Spain’s Ministry of Interior express growing concern over the rise of Islamic law, known as sharia to Muslims, and the increase of Muslim separatism. In Spanish mosques, groups are emerging which promote Islamic judges and policing that have a growing influence over Muslims living in Spain. While this has long been known in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and France, it has now been detected in rural areas of Catalonia and in towns such as Tarragona, Gironés and Segarra.

The mosques in question are almost uniformly in the control of Salafist jihadis. Such jihadis have espoused separatism and violent struggle with the West at least since the 1980s.

Muslim clerics in Catalonia, for example, call upon the faithful to not befriend native Catalonians nor belong to Catalonian civic organizations. The imams demand that Muslims buy only “halal” food (e.g. meat slaughtered according to Muslim ritual), and that they avoid banks since these ostensibly violate Muslim abhorrence of usury. Muslim parents are warned to not allow their daughters to use the gymnasiums in the schools nor on any account should they use swimming pools. Muslims are told to remove their daughters from school upon the first appearance of menstruation. Continue Reading →

Bolivia’s “Profoundly socialist” government merrily in bed with Islam…

Posted on by

…much to the anger of actual rights groups. Once again, the left shows its corrupt authoritarian leanings while its veneer of sanctimony splits at all seams.

This should be embarrasing to the worlds leftists. But it will not. Like ‘climategate’ the mere facts of climatology will make no difference just as this clear example of irrational authoritarianism will not temper Bolivia’s socialists one bit, as the anthropgenic global warming movement never really had anything to do with climate, and socialism never really had anything to do with social justice.

H/T to Islam in Europe:

81596_gd

From The Reality Check.org

On Wednesday, November 24, Iranian demands that female nurses don the hijab in response to Iran’s providing $1.2 million for funding of the new El Alto city hospital in Bolivia sparked a national outcry among women’s rights advocates within Bolivia.  In an international teleconference in La Paz held between Bolivian President, Evo Morales, and Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to celebrate the hospital’s opening, nurses were shown wearing hijabs as part of their new uniform regulations.

This imposition of political Islamic pseudo-religious attire from another country is causing a rift within Bolivian political ranks.  Even though the Morales administration is the profoundly socialist MAS party, the Iranian demand is still seen as an affront on Bolivian cultural integrity especially in a country with a Roman Catholic majority.

Lourdes Millares, the Deputy for the Democratic and Social Power Party called the Iranian hijab demand, “…an assault on the dignity of women…” and excoriated Morales for, “…submission to the rules of another government.”

Millares went on to state, “We must make clear to the Iranian government that that hospital is Bolivian territory.  They have made their money is one thing but this is Bolivian territory.”

Although Millares finds it hard to believe that the hospital would willingly impose the hijab, the government run newspaper, Cambio, states that the hijab reflects, “…health,  cleanliness and respect for the culture of Iran.”  However, Health Minister, Ramiro Tapia, also called the new hijab regulation an, “…assault on women.” His office is under heavy demand by outraged Bolivians for an explanation of the veil, which is not an Islamic religious requirement, but a visible manifestation of aggressive Islamic political conquest much like secular clothing and colors represent gang territorial boundaries.

Started as a visual method of approval for their fundamentalist male counterparts in the early ‘70s among female university students in Egypt, the hijab had been banned in Turkey and Egypt until recently.  It is still banned in Tunisia and was recently banned in public venues in France.  It is not an Islamic religious requirement nor is it mentioned in the Koran or hadiths.  The hijab’s sole purpose is as a political and cultural tool thereby designating it as veiling resistance.

Unfortunately, the experience of the Bolivian nurses is not unique.  Even though the hijab is not universal attire within the Muslim world, it is being used to wage relentless warfare on women by forcing its wearing and thereby submission to fundamentalist Islam on moderate Muslim and non-Muslim women alike.  In the UK recently a Tory Muslim Peer, Baroness Warsi, was egged by fundamentalist Muslim men for not wearing the veil as she walked in Western dress within her constituency.  Christian women in France, who must travel through heavily populated Muslim sections of their towns and cities, routinely don the hijab for safety’s sake.

France follows Swiss lead. No more praying in streets.

Posted on by

Some Paris neighbourhoods have been taken over Fridays with large numbers of Muslims clearly establishing Islamic primacy by taking over huge sections of streets by ‘praying’ in them in such a manner that no other traffic is possible. (videos below) thanks to Tundra and Gaia, we have a translation of a newspaper article on a proposed referendum to end this hostile and predatory practice.

Once again, we see that this is not a religious thing, but a political practice of primacy and total dominance. Below the videos please find the English translation of the letter to President Sarkozi. Remember, this can, will, and is happening now in Canada. It is only a matter of degree and time. The more time, the greater the degree.

Mr. President

This is an appeal for help from the citizens of the 18th arrondissement. For several years now, certain of our streets have been occupied by fundamentalists who come from all over the Parisian region to practice their cult activities.

The pavement for hundreds of metres is taken over, putting pedestrians in grave danger as they are obliged to walk in the street to get past the people “praying”.

Entire streets are roped off with cars and security barriers and no entry signs, preventing the inhabitants of the area from going out or returning to their homes, the shopkeepers from working, ordinary citizens from circulating normally.

Every protest or even a simple attempt to penetrate into the zones occupied by these fundamentalists risks being met by insults, threats and aggression and for some time now no one dares to protest, such is the fear installed in our area.

Are we no longer a secular Republic?  Isn’t occupation of the public highway by unauthorized cultural activities a public order offence?  Is preventing the free circulation of citizens in public areas, by means of threats or other means, normal in our city?  Why do we no longer have the right to enter or leave our homes?  Why do we have to live in a climate of fear?

Mr. Delanöe, the Mayor of Paris, knows perfectly about our situation, as does Mr. Vaillant Mayor of the 18ème et Mr. Gaudin Préfet de Police.  All of them have abandoned our streets to Islamic fundamentalists, they have abandoned their citizens who can no longer walk around their city because certain areas are out of bounds to non-muslims during prayer times.

Mr President, you have affirmed that in France there are no No-Go zones.  So what would you call these areas or the militant fundamentalists  who shut roads for their exclusive private use for a number of years now without the police intervening to re-establish public order?

Mr. President.  Do not abandon us also.  Stop this occupation of our streets by fundamentalists.

The inhabitants of the 18ème area of Paris.

We are not able to sign this document for fear of our lives and those of our families.

Honour murders: surge of 60% across Britain

Posted on by

From The Telegraph U.K.

Police tackle more ‘honour’ cases

Police are tackling more suspicious incidents motivated by so-called ”honour” than ever before, according to new figures released today.

Published: 12:11PM GMT 07 Dec 2009

The Metropolitan Police recorded 256 incidents, of which 132 were criminal offences, in the year 2008-9.

This was a surge of 60% from the 161 incidents recorded in the previous financial year, of which 93 were criminal offences.

The latest figures revealed the upward trend is continuing with 211 incidents reported in the six months until October, of which 129 were offences.

Police define honour violence, including murder, rape and kidnap, as crimes motivated by a desire to protect the honour of a family or community.

Women are the most common victims of honour violence which is linked to some interpretations of cultural and religious beliefs.

But ”non-crimes”, where no offence has been committed, were also recorded, particularly where police believe the incident could be part of a wider picture.

These could include incidents in which an attempt has been made to force someone into marriage.

Detectives continue to probe the murder of mother-of-two Geeta Aulakh, 28, who was hacked to death with a sword in Greenford, north west London, last month.

In July a young Danish man of Asian origin suffered horrendous injuries when acid was poured down his throat in Leytonstone, east London.

Police believe he was targeted by a group of men because of a personal relationship with a Muslim woman.

One of the most high-profile cases is that of Banaz Mahmod, of Mitcham, south London, who was murdered by family members and buried in a Birmingham garden.

Independent investigators criticised officers for failing to take her seriously after she contacted them four times to say she was in fear for her life.

Earlier this year, police were issued with new guidance telling them to assume honour crimes have been committed in more circumstances.

Senior officers anticipated that the move would drive up figures as in many cases only limited information is available or a potential victim refuses to help police.

In London, each of the 32 boroughs has a dedicated unit staffed by officers trained to investigate all kinds of hate and domestic violence crimes.

There is also a central team reviewing all cases daily and flagging up incidents where people may be immediately at risk.

Detective Chief Inspector Gerry Campbell, of the Metropolitan Police, said the new figures could be revealing the true extent of the problem.

He said more work is being done to collect up-to-date information about people at risk and emerging patterns.

Mr Campbell said: ”The description of this type of crime is misplaced. There is no honour in these crimes.”

Up to 12 people are murdered every year in the name of ”honour” and police fear a further 500 people are forced into an arranged marriage or attacked.

The Forced Marriage (civil protection) Act 2007 strengthened the law on forced marriage and other forms of honour-based violence.

A Home Office spokesman said: ”Forced marriage and honour-based violence are appalling crimes and the government is working with partners across the voluntary sector to support victims.”

Blast near KFC in Pakistan kills two

Posted on by

solider_1537776c

The blast took place a day after militants killed dozens at a mosque near the country’s military headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Sahibzada Anis, a senior local government official in Peshawar, said after Saturday’s attack: “The initial investigation suggests it was a car bomb blast in which two people were killed and nine wounded.”

Pakistan’s army, which heavily supported militant groups in their war against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, now faces a stubborn Taliban insurgency on its own soil and mounting US pressure to root out Islamist fighters in tribal border areas.
A senior police officer, Shafqat Alam, said the Peshawar blast may have been accidental, possibly ignited by paint stored in a shop.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the foreign minister, condemned the latest wave of violence and said Pakistan’s will would not be broken.
“Such reprehensible acts can never defeat our national resolve to fight out terrorism and militancy,” he said in a statement.
On Friday night, up to 40 militants attacked an army checkpoint, killing one soldier, a security official said.
Soldiers at the checkpoint on a bridge in Wana, the main town in the Islamist bastion of South Waziristan, retaliated after coming under fire, said the official.bomb_1537777c

Arson Fire Started as Nonie Darwish Set to Speak at Boston University

Posted on by

From Muslims against Sharia blog:

H/T Solsitice

Nonie

An arson fire was set only fifteen minutes before Nonie Darwish was set to speak at Boston University.
Frightful and getting worse. It was not two weeks ago that Nonie Darwish was canceled at the last minute at Colmubia and Princeton two weeks ago as student groups caved to muslim pressure. This intimidation and suppression of free speech is systemic. Pies were thrown at Robert Spencer at New York University just a couple of weeks ago. What next? Grenades?

And now arson. Of course this should be filed with the FBI as a hate crime – that vile piece of legislation that will be used against the wrong people.

The Darwish event was moved at the last minute. What follows is the a note written by the student who organized the event.

Dear Mrs. Darwish,

I just wanted to thank you for speaking at Boston University yesterday. I would like to apologize again for the confusion regarding the location of the event because of the fire. So far we know the fire was intentionally set in one of the bathrooms on the second floor of the building. It is still under investigation and I will let you know if any more updates come out. I was not the only person to think that the fire could have been set because you were scheduled to speak but I will inform you of any more developments. Once again thank you so much for coming toBoston University and I speak for everyone who attended the event when I say what you had to say was not only extremely important but a pleasure hearing.

Here is the link to the article that was written about the event:

Activist: Arab-Israeli conflict rooted in Islamic law

The Arab-Israeli conflict will not be resolved unless the Middle East stops enforcing restrictive Islamic Laws on society, a writer and human rights activist said.

Nonie Darwish, author of several books including, “Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law,” spoke about human and women’s rights in the Middle East at Hillel House on Wednesday to an audience of 15.

Darwish said finger pointing is a problem in the Arab culture.

“Part of the Arab culture that is standing in the way of reformation is a lack of self-criticism,” she said.

Darwish, who grew up in Cairo, Egypt, said her Gaza elementary school subjected her to “intense hate speech” and peace was never an option.

“A lot of what Arabs understand is really fabrication,” she said.

Darwish said she started speaking after 9/11 when she discovered the terrorist leader was from her hometown. Mohamed Atta, a 9/11 terrorist, is from Cairo.

“I called a lot of people in Egypt, and they said ‘How dare you say this? This is a Jewish conspiracy,’” she said. “My heart was broken, and I sincerely cried.”

Darwish said her country is not seeing the reality of today’s world

“The truth is the only thing that will save them,” she said.

In addition, she said, Islam has wounded women. For example, men can have four wives and beat them for disobedience.

“A woman under Islamic law cannot get a divorce,” she said. “However, men can divorce his wife verbally under Islamic law . . . Wife killing is a phenomenon in Muslim countries.”

Women must have four male witnesses to prove rape, Darwish said. And women have to be virgins when they marry or they are killed.

“She has committed adultery unless there are four male witnesses,” she said. “Women are in prison for sexual violations.”

Darwish also discussed the rights of non-Muslims in Islamic countries.

“Under Islamic law, Jews and Christians can live in an Islamic country only if they live as inferior, pay taxes and give money to the Muslim state,” she said.

Darwish said she believes these laws are the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“The root of the conflict is seventh-century laws that are still practiced today, and no one wants to end these laws,” she said. “It’s still on books and taken seriously.”

When any religion expands itself so much that it politically imposes on minorities, it leaves itself open to criticism, she said.

“When Islam becomes religious as well as political, a leader has to be criticized,” she said.

Darwish said moderate Muslims should get involved in ending the conflict.

“If you love your religion, you have to take it out of the hands of the radicals,” she said.

Hillel House Taglit-Birthright Israel Program Associate KateLynn Plotnick said the situation seems to be getting worse.

“A mutual respect is needed between the two religions,” she said. “If you’re teaching to hate the other side, peace won’t be accomplished unless two sides can acknowledge and begin teaching morals and values in their speeches and writings.”

Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America Fellow and College of Arts and Sciences junior Adam Korn said Darwish is a fantastic speaker.

“You’re hearing from someone who lived through this, and her family has distanced themselves because she speaks the truth,” Korn, a BU Students for Israel Vice President, said. “Women’s rights in the in the Middle East is not a big issue, and it should be.”

With thanks to Atlas

Canada:Muslim jailed for threats of honour murder against daughter seen as ‘hero’

Posted on by

Maybe I need to get out more, but I don’t know any average father who has ever threatened his daughter with violence and murder. I also don’t know any average father who would toss his daughter down a flight of stairs, beat her, taunt her with vile language, follow her, send her menacing letters or threaten that male members of his extended family carry out an honour murder against her. I also don’t know any average father who would consider his daughter a shame because she chooses to exercise free choice over her own life.

I also don’t know any average mother who would view such action(s) by her husband against their children to be merely ‘strict’ parenting, nor do I know any average mother cruel or ignorant enough to believe that such behaviour does not constitute abuse. As for Al Mezel’s supporters, I am not in the least bit surprised to find those who would eagerly line up four fold to stand knee deep in their own Islamist shit to defend sharia, nor do I find it astonishing to learn that his family is shocked and disappointed by the criminal charges. After all, in the eyes of those who believe sharia should be the existing system of jurisprudence in this country, Al Mezel has committed no crime, in fact his actions serve to round out the virtues of a responsible, dutiful father.

But perhaps the most important aspect of this story and the one we should pay closest attention to and understand fully, comes from Al-Mezel’s own parole officers assessment; that his interest and hard work in the Muslim community lies not in the religious, but in the political. It is this doctrinal, political system called Islam that his daughter has had a complete understanding of and from which, she has fled.

From The Ottawa Citizen

Support strong for jailed union boss

Cabbies collect money for man serving year term for ‘honour’ crime

By Gary Dimmock, The Ottawa CitizenDecember 5, 2009 7:08 AM
Yusef Al Mezel is widely respected by his taxi driver co-workers.

Yusef Al Mezel is widely respected by his taxi driver co-workers.

Photograph by: Rod MacIvor, The Ottawa Citizen

The other day at the Innes Road jail, taxi drivers stood in line four-deep to visit their union leader, Yusef Al Mezel.

And although Al Mezel, 44, is in jail for threatening to kill his daughter in an “honour” crime, his popularity among the city’s cabbies is far from waning.

In fact, many of the 1,500 members of Canadian Autoworkers Local 1688 are now collecting money for Al Mezel, who is the sole financial provider for his big middle-class family.

Except, that is, for the 25-year-old daughter he threatened after she took off her hijab, abandoned Muslim beliefs, and refused an arranged marriage.

The police relocated Eman Al Mezel for her own protection. Her father pleaded guilty, sparing his family a sensational trial.

She has had no contact with any members of her family since her father was charged in 2007. Publicly, Al Mezel has said the case is a family matter. Privately, he has expressed remorse, insisting his threats were made out of concern for his daughter.

His wife, Hussuh Thageel, and one of his other daughters, have told a parole officer that he’s an “average father with strict expectations of his (seven) children.

“However, his family did not consider his behaviour to be abusive,” the parole officer wrote in her report. His family also said they were shocked and disappointed by the criminal charges. Continue Reading →

Father issued fatwa against son, letter says

Posted on by

From The National Post by way of The Religion of Peace:

Lamine Yansane, outside Mary Queen of the World Cathedral.

MONTREAL — In Lamine Yansané’s hometown of Boké in Guinea, his father is a revered imam who sometimes leads Friday prayers. But after Mr. Yansané married a Catholic woman and abandoned Islam for Christianity, his father disowned him, and Friday prayers have featured a call for his death, the Federal Court heard yesterday.

Mr. Yansané, who has been denied refugee status, is seeking a last-ditch reprieve on the grounds that he faces certain harm if he is deported from Canada. “If you return him to his country, he is going to die,” Mr. Yansané’s lawyer, Stewart Istvanffy, told the court. He called his client “a victim of radical Islam, who is threatened by the imam of his town, his own father.”

Mr. Yansané, 37, arrived in Canada from Guinea in the fall of 2005. He told the Immigration and Refugee Board that he fled the West African nation after his father and uncle tracked him down in the country’s capital of Conakry, confronted him about his church attendance and threatened him as a traitor to Islam. His wife and three children remain in Guinea.

The board member who heard his case called his testimony “devoid of credibility.” She did not believe that a family of religious fanatics would have permitted his marriage to a Christian in the first place. (Mr. Yansané said he was allowed to marry on the condition he convert his wife to Islam, a project he abandoned.) And she found it far-fetched that his family would tolerate the couple’s presence in Boké for the 10 years they lived there before moving to Conakry. Continue Reading →

Burqa Barbie: you’ve gone the wrong way baby.

Posted on by

I have to admit, at first thought I felt this story of no great shakes and decided not to report on it. Barbie’s makeover seemed a bit pithy compared to the stack of Islamist horror stories that circulated through the media at the time (and continue to do so).  But  it is in fact important to weigh in on Barbie’s new wardrobe malfunction and those who would advertise her latest armoire addition as progressive, sensitive, inclusive and culturally relative. The only comment worthy of any real note, is the refusal by many including Mattel, to acknowledge the mockery of freedom that Barbie is now bestowed. Here is the initial story as reported by the Daily Mail U.K. Phyllis Chesler urges us to boycott Burqa Barbie and below, Barbara Kay of Canada’s National Post delivers an honest assessment of Islamist misogyny in full swing.

Burka Barbie

Why is the world’s favourite fashion doll wearing a symbol of oppression?

Barbara Kay, National Post Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009

One of the world's most famous children's toys Barbie has been given a fundemental make over -- wearing a Burka. Handout/CATERSNEWS/IBERPRESS

One of the world’s most famous children’s toys Barbie has been given a fundemental make over — wearing a Burka.

In the process of conveying a general idea or a cue to an emotional response, we often seek instinctive recourse in a linguistic device called antonomasia. We’ll substitute an antonomastic placeholder like “Solomon” for a wise person or “Hitler” for an evil one, “Pearl Harbor” for an ineluctable casus belli, and so forth.

The words “Barbie doll” used to elicit the image of a ditzy blonde bimbo. No longer. Since Nov. 20, the 50th anniversary of this iconic doll and beloved plaything of little girls everywhere, 500 Barbies –including various Barbies wearing chadors and full burkas — have been on show at the Salone del Cinquecento in Florence, Italy.

The exhibition is sponsored by toy company Mattel, Barbie’s owner. Dolls wearing “traditional Islamic dress” — the burkas and chadors — were chosen to be auctioned off by Sotheby’s as a fundraiser for the Italian branch of Save the Children.

A Barbie collector attending the exhibition from England opined: “Bring it on, Burka Barbie … I think this is really important for girls. Wherever they are from, they should have the opportunity to play with a Barbie that they feel represents them.”

I have seen some pretty tawdry advertising campaigns in my time, but I must say this one takes the cake for insensitivity. What’s next in dolls that are “important for girls” to play with? “Illiterate Barbie”? “Forced-Marriage Barbie”?

One has to wonder what was going through the heads of these people. Mattel is a gigantic company with, one would presume, the cream of the advertising world’s crop at its beck and call. Save the Children has for many decades been in the business of rescuing children from poverty, despair and injustice. And yet neither the world’s biggest advertising brains nor the world’s most child-sensitive hearts saw the impropriety of “clothing” the world’s most instantly recognizable toy in the world’s most instantly recognizable symbol of oppression.

The dolls make a mockery of disempowered women who have been stripped of all human dignity, women with no means of challenging their forced depersonalization. There can be no parallel between these travesties of multiculturalism and other “diversity” Barbies — brown Barbies, native-dress Barbies, pilot Barbies — avatars that reflect the natural appearance and truly traditional garb and career choices of free women.

For starters, burkas are not “traditional Islamic dress,” because they are not “dress” at all. Burkas are not a sartorial multicultural counterpoint to Dallas Cheerleader Barbie. Thrown over clothes, they are, in the words of an Afghanistan woman to a visiting Canadian journalist, “walking coffins.”

The teeth of burka clad women fall out because their faces never get any Vitamin-D-rich sunlight. Is this a suitable object of play?

Neither are burkas “traditional.” They were invented quite recently by fanatically misogynistic fundamentalists who make a habit of beating or killing or disfiguring any woman insufficiently self-extinguished by this suffocating tent. These women and girls are wearing chadors and niqabs and in many circumstances hijabs for reasons that have nothing to do with their own wishes or choices. Some even die for a failure to meet the draconian standards of the “modesty” police, as 15 Saudi girls did when forced back into a burning school because their hair was uncovered in flight. Having fun yet?

Many moms won’t let their little girls play with any dolls. Many won’t let their little boys play with guns. Their stance represents an extreme, but not illogical, extension of Western cultural ideals. In the eyes of the majority who do consider both dolls and guns natural objects of play, however, there should be no moral distinction between Burka Barbie and a putative G.I. Joe figure in a suicide vest for essentially they both represent a medieval Islamist worldview that flies in the face of the West’s most cherished values: equality of men and women and respect for human life, including one’s own.

Antonomastically speaking, there’s a loss in this story. As a symbol of obliterated femalehood, Barbie has shed her cultural innocence.

bk**@*******on.ca

Huffington Post: The real reasons why the Swiss voted to ban minarets

Posted on by

From The Huffington Post:

The Swiss voted to ban the construction of new minarets — against all expectations and although their government and most political parties had rejected a ban. But this referendum had, in truth, little to do with minarets.

The surprising vote reveals rather a growing unease in Switzerland, which traditionally has been one of the most open and most tolerant countries of the continent: Many Swiss are worried about the rise of political Islam and religious rules in Europe that are threatening hard-won rights such as equal rights for women and men, the secular rule of law above religion or the right of each individual to decide for him — or herself.

A majority of Swiss voters obviously feels that there are problems with Muslim integration into civil society at the moment. This vague sentiment was fueled by a number of incidents over the last years: The former Imam of a mosque in Geneva, Hani Ramadan, a Swiss citizen by the way, publicly justified the stoning of adulterers or the punitive amputation of the hand of a thief. Muslim parents prevented their daughters from attending swimming classes, gymnastics or summer camps in public schools because they didn’t want their girls to be together with boys. Media reports about forced marriages, female genital mutilations and “honor killings” of Muslim women – all confirmed by authorities or in court — came as a shocking surprise. A university professor even went as far as to suggest in an official publication of a federal commission to introduce elements of the Sharia, the Muslim legal system, into Switzerland.

The nationalist and conservative Swiss People’s Party knew to take advantage of the wide-spread feeling that the government, the courts and the politicians do too little to defend Western values and basic rights. The party warned — highly exaggerated — of a “creeping islamization” of Switzerland. It skillfully chose the question of minarets as a very symbolic target and demanded a ban for the construction of new ones. As it is possible in Switzerland for everyone, the party collected 100,000 signatures within 18 months from eligible voters supporting the motion to force a referendum. A clear majority of 57.5 percent of the Swiss population and 22 out of 26 cantons (states) favored the ban.

It would be utterly wrong — and dangerous — to think that this was primarily a racist vote. I’m convinced that the post-electoral analysis will show that a significant part of the (anti-racist) left and an overwhelming majority of the women supported the ban — not because they are afraid of minarets, but because they are worried about the role (some would say: about the oppression) of women in Islamic societies and about the role of religion in public life. This is, in my opinion, an entirely legitimate discussion that we have to have and must not suppress. Continue Reading →