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Archive for October 10, 2016

“End Women’s Suffrage” Before the Election! Say These Women!

October 10, 2016

“End Women’s Suffrage” Before the Election! Say These Women! Mark Dice via YouTube

Categories: Women's sufferage
Tags: Women's sufferage

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Guess Who Is Helping Islamists to Oppress Women?

October 10, 2016

Guess Who Is Helping Islamists to Oppress Women? Gatestone Institute, Thomas Quiggin, October 10, 2016

Why Canada’s Minister of Immigration should be accepting an award from an individual whose own organization (ICNA) openly advocates violence against women is not clear. Minister Hajdu, despite her role as Minister for the Status of Women in Canada, has remained silent on this issue despite being made aware of it directly.

Not only did the child services department do nothing to help the 1400 girls being raped and forced into prostitution, in fact she (and others) went out of their way to silence anyone who tried to speak out. Rather than face the fact that a problem of mass rape existed, Joyce Thacker played a role in the cover-up.

Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau has declared himself to be a “feminist” and says he is committed to increasing the role of women in society. However, he recently visited a gender-segregated mosque in Ottawa, the imam of which is part of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), placed on a list of designated terrorist organizations by the United Arab Emirates in 2014.

Ironically, the City of Ottawa has other mosques which are modern and humanist, but the Prime Minister has never chosen to visit one of them.

Advocating violence against women and other misogynist practices are increasingly being accepted by individuals who identify themselves as “feminists” and “female leaders.”

The process of normalizing Islamist misogyny is well underway while so-called feminists remain silent on issues such as wife beating, child marriages, female genital mutilation and “forced suicides.”

For current feminists, it appears as though political correctness and fantasizing that they are “social justice warriors” outweighs the rights of women, especially brown women.

When it comes to the issue of opposing violence against women, feminists are as silent as beaten wives. Nothing – including the advocacy of wife beating, pedophiliac sex acts with nine-year-old girls and the generalized oppression of women – can draw feminists into the debate on the role of women under the Islamist ideology that is prevalent in Canada and the USA.

Premier Katherine Wynne of Ontario (population 13.6 million) recently visited the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), along with Education Minister Mitzie Hunter. They met on August 26, 2016 with female members of the Islamic Circle North America Sisters (ICNA Canada) in Scarborough. The ICNA directly advocates misogynist positions such as wife beating, the taking of slave girls and the position that women are, overall, inferior to men. ICNA also notes that Islamic women have been “emancipated” from the obligation of earning their own livelihood. Therefore, women can be kept at home and cannot leave the house without the permission of the husband.

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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne (center) with ICNA employees. (Image: Twitter/Kathleen Wynne)

Quite alarmingly, the Premier of Ontario did not criticize the organization or its heavily misogynistic beliefs. Rather she publicly claimed to have been “honoured” to have been there. The Minister of Education, Ms Hunter, appears to have remained silent on her views concerning this visit.

The Minister of the Status of Women, Patty Hajdu, for the federal government of Canada does not appear to have any problem with those advocating violence against women, either. Her cabinet colleague, Minister John McCallum, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, received an award for his “outstanding service” from the Canadian Council of Imams. The chairperson of this group is Dr. Iqbal Al-Nadvi, who is also the Amir of ICNA. Why the Minister of Immigration should be accepting an award from an individual whose own organization (ICNA) openly advocates violence against women is not clear. Minister Hajdu, despite her role as Minister for the Status of Women in Canada, has remained silent on this issue despite being made aware of it directly.

Mayor Bonnie Crombie of Mississauga has repeated allowed Hizb ut Tahrir (HT), a leading Islamist organization, to use city-owned property in Mississauga to hold conferences. In addition to stating that democracy is not compatible with Islam and that all Canadian soldiers are war criminals, HT is running an education campaign to teach women about “women’s rights.” To HT, women’s rights are a Western concept and Islamic women should be aware of their obligation under sharia law. Ironically, the City of Mississauga withdrew permission (once) for Hizb ut Tahrir to have a meeting on city-owned property. Gerry Townsend, the CEO of Mississauga Living Arts Centre, confirmed the cancellation explaining that “there has been a bit of publicity about this organization.” The meeting, it seems was not cancelled because HT is misogynist or listed as a terrorist group in multiple countries, but rather because of “publicity.” Other meetings carried on without incident.

Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid is another woman who maintains silence in the face of the advocacy of violence against women. Prior to being a Member of Parliament, Ms. Khalid was the head of the Muslim Student Association at York University. In 2015, the same York University Muslim Student Association was handing out books for Islam Awareness Week. According to a book handed out, wife-beating is permissible under certain circumstances and some women enjoy being beaten because they are submissives. Ms. Khalid, who has close ties to the Islamic Society of North America and others, has not spoken out against the violence advocated by her former student association, the ICNA, the ISNA or any other such Islamist organization.

Perhaps the most disturbing example of all, however, is Joyce Thacker of the United Kingdom. She was the £130,000-a-year Strategic Director of the City of Rotherham’s children’s services department for five years. During that time, the ongoing rapes, drugging and enslavement of eleven to fourteen-year-old girls carried on in Rotherham. Not only did the child services department do nothing to help the 1400 girls being raped and forced into prostitution, in fact she (and others) went out of their way to silence anyone who tried to speak out. The reason for the enforced silence over a period of years was later identified in the official UK government report as “institutionalized political correctness.” The rapists were primarily identified as Pakistani/Kashmiri/Muslims and the victims were identified as being primarily white girls. Rather than face the fact that a problem of mass rape on a wartime level existed, Joyce Thacker played a role in the cover-up.

The most interesting role of all, however, is that being played by Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau. He has declared himself to be a “feminist” and says he is committed to increasing the role of women in society. However, he recently visited (September 2016) a gender-segregated mosque in Ottawa. Female Members of Parliament who attended with him had to enter by a side door and sit in the segregated area. The imam of the mosque is part of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), according to the mosque’s own website. This organization was placed on a list of designated terrorist organizations by the United Arab Emirates in 2014. More interestingly, a review of the teaching and reading material of the mosque in early 2016 revealed a disturbing fact. The study noted that “It is not the presence of extremist literature in the mosque libraries that is worrisome. The problem is that there was nothing but extremist literature in the mosque libraries.”

Worse, the Prime Minister also stated: “…as I look at this beautiful room — sisters upstairs — everyone here, (I see) the diversity we have just within this mosque, within the Islamic community, within the Muslim community in Canada.”

How this be seen as anything other than an attempt at normalizing the segregation of women? Ironically, the City of Ottawa has other mosques which are modern and humanist, but the Prime Minister has never chosen to visit one of them.

What are the possible reasons for such practices whereby feminists and major feminist organizations refuse to speak out on violence against women? Most leading feminists are still white, as are many female leadership figures. Many victims of misogyny and abuse are brown:

Brown women, not known to be a voting block, therefore have little to no influence in the corridors of elected power;
Women, especially those in positions of power such as Premier Wynne, Minister Hajdu, and Mayor Crombie of Mississauga can be misogynistic notwithstanding that they are female; and
In many cases, the forces of political correctness and fantasy of seeing themselves as “Social Justice Warriors” place the rights of Islamist males over the rights of Muslim and non-Muslim females.

Categories: Canada, Feminists, Islam and females, Islamists in Canada
Tags: Canada, Feminists, Islam and females, Islamists in Canada

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Cartoons of the Day

October 10, 2016

H/t Vermont Loon Watch

un-pc

H/t Give me Liberty

pussybush

H/t Joop

islam-allahu-akbar-austrian-incident

H/t Vermont Loon Watch

evil

H/t Vermont Loon Watch

fat-call

Categories: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Humor, Islamic terrorism
Tags: Donald Trump, Humor, Islamic terrorism

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Clinton Campaign, White House Coordinated Pro-Iran Deal Talking Points

October 10, 2016

Clinton Campaign, White House Coordinated Pro-Iran Deal Talking Points, Washington Free Beacon, Adam Kredo, October 10, 2016

ARCHIV: US-Aussenministerin Hillary Rodham Clinton verfolgt im Rosengarten des Weissen Hauses in Washington eine Rede von Praesident Barack Obama (Foto vom 12.09.12). Sie ist die wohl bekannteste Politikerin der USA und laut dem US-Magazin "Forbes" gar die zweitmaechtigste Frau der Welt. Hillary Clinton diente den Vereinigten Staaten acht Jahre lang als First Lady, spaeter als Senatorin. Unter Praesident Barack Obama, dem sie 2008 im Rennen um die Praesidentschaftskandidatur der Demokraten unterlag, wurde sie schliesslich Aussenministerin. Beobachter halten es fuer moeglich, dass sich Clinton in vier Jahren erneut um einen Einzug ins Weisse Haus bemuehen wird. Am kommenden Freitag (26.10.12) wird die amerikanische Chefdiplomatin 65 Jahre alt. (zu dapd-Text) Foto: Evan Vucci/AP/dapd

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. AP photo.

Senior Clinton campaign officials were in direct contact with the White House to coordinate pro-Iran talking points in an effort to boost last summer’s comprehensive nuclear agreement, according to leaked emails that show the Obama administration and top figures in Clinton’s campaign played a role in promulgating information about the deal that later turned out to be factually inaccurate.

The emails, released late on Friday in a massive document dump by the hacker website WikiLeaks, show coordination between Hillary Clinton’s team and the White House, which spearheaded a massive effort to create what senior officials described as a pro-Iran “echo chamber” to mislead Congress and Americans about the nature of the agreement.

The director of national intelligence and Department of Homeland Security have accused “Russia’s senior-most officials” of hacking and leaking emails posted to WikiLeaks and other sites to influence and interfere with the 2016 election.

An April 2, 2015, communication sent from top White House press liaison Eric Shultz to Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri includes several pages of pro-Iran talking points that were later discovered to contain misleading information.

“Love it!!” Palmieri responded to Schultz’s email. She subsequently forwarded the information to leading Clinton aides, including Cheryl Mills, Brian Fallon, and Nick Merrill, among others.

The disclosure of these emails threatens to entangle the Clinton campaign in a growing scandal surrounding secret White House efforts to mislead Congress and the public about the nuclear deal. Congress has been investigating these efforts for months and has uncovered evidence the Obama administration inked several secret side deals with Iran, including the rollback of key sanctions on Tehran and a $1.7 billion cash payment.

The Clinton campaign has been criticized in recent days for doubling down on its support of the Iran deal and for making false claims about its progress.

One senior congressional official familiar with investigations into the White House’s deception on the Iran deal told the Washington Free Beacon that these newly leaked emails reveal how the Clinton campaign served as a major cog in the Obama administration’s so-called “echo chamber.”

“This revelation is further evidence that the Clinton campaign is just an extension of the Obama White House,” the source said. “The fact that senior staff coordinated on selling the disastrous Iran deal is unsurprising but disturbing.”

“These are the very same bogus talking points that [top White House aide] Ben Rhodes bragged were used to mislead Americans about key points of the agreement,” the source added. “As Iran undermines the agreement at every turn, Hillary Clinton conjures up the exact same rationale as the administration to keep the deal in place. Now we know why.”

The talking points in question include erroneous information about how the deal could dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and stop its march towards a nuclear weapon.

“American sanctions on Iran—for its support of terrorism, its human rights abuses, and its ballistic missile program—will be fully enforced,” the White House wrote in the guidance offered to the Clinton campaign.

This turned out to be untrue, as the Obama administration has permitted Iran to carry out multiple ballistic missile tests, saying that they are not a direct violation of current sanctions.

The White House talking points to Clinton further said the deal “would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon.”

This also has turned out to be inaccurate. The deal permits Iran to carry out key research and development activities related to its nuclear program and the enrichment of uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon.

The deal also permits Iran to continue construction on new light water nuclear reactors, which could provide Tehran with a second pathway to nuclear material.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration moved late Friday to dismantle another facet of key sanctions on Iran, despite its continued support for terror operations in the Middle East and ongoing research into ballistic missile technology.

Clinton’s vice presidential running mate Time Kaine claimed in a recent debate that Clinton helped “eliminate the Iranian nuclear weapons program,” a remark that ABC News dubbed as “false.”

Clinton Press Secretary Brian Fallon, who is included in the leaked emails, later went on Fox News to reiterate this claim, maintaining that “there is no question” the deal halted Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The White House’s pro-Iran press machine, which was helmed by Rhodes, received support from liberal billionaire George Soros and a network of non-profit organizations that funneled money to those who helped champion the deal in the public sphere.

Categories: Clinton campaign, Hillary Clinton and Iran scam
Tags: Clinton campaign, Hillary Clinton and Iran scam

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Liberals Wanted to Talk about Islamophobia at the Debate, but the Real Problem is Terrorism

October 10, 2016

Liberals Wanted to Talk about Islamophobia at the Debate, but the Real Problem is Terrorism, Conservative Review, Nate Madden, October 10, 2016

distraction-signs

Amid the tawdry, ad hominem cacophony that was the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were forced to contend with the implications of a supposed “rise in Islamophobia.” However, a quick look at the facts show that the question and implication really need some context.

Sunday night’s debate was, as expected, laden with pro-Clinton bias from moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz. However, several of the questions submitted by the randomly-selected panel of undecided voters on the stage also carried the hallmarks of prepared layups for the Democrat nominee.

One such topic in particular, asked by one of the attendees, Gorbah Hamed, put the candidates on the spot about how they would deal with “Islamophobia” as president (per the Washington Post):

There are 3.3 Muslims in the United States and I’m one of them. You’ve mentioned working with Muslim nations, but with Islamophobia on the rise, how will you help people like me deal with the consequences of being a threat to the country after the election is over?

To his credit, Trump bridged the question directly to recent terror attacks, and the importance of Muslims patrolling their own communities. Meanwhile, Clinton criticized Trump’s views on immigration from Muslim-majority nations while hypocritically espousing religious freedom for foreign nationals from those nations, despite her own deplorable positions on free exercise for anyone who disagrees with her views on marriage and abortion.

Furthermore, while Clinton made a very big point of agreeing with Trump’s premise that American Muslims need to be “part of our eyes and ears” on the front lines, and bragged about her work with Muslim groups in the U.S. and how she intends to use that experience to defeat ISIS. But she failed to differentiate how her approach to the Muslim community is going to differ from President Obama’s, whose analogous “countering violent extremism” program has already been found as a “catastrophic failure,” according to a recent report.

But I digress. While the issues of Middle Eastern immigration and jihadist terror in the 2016 election cycle have sparked a chorus of concern from the Left over so-called “Islamophobia,” the concerns ignore reality of how big a threat it actually is.

The question hearkens back to a few weeks ago when the Hamas-and-Muslim-Brotherhood-affiliated Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in the wake of a jihadist stabbing that they were afraid of the blowback from the attack.

“We are concerned about the potential for backlash,” CAIR’s Minnesota executive director Jaylani Hussein said, per NBCNews.com, following last month’s Minnesota mall stabbing. “[Muslims] are being made to suffer for [the terrorists’] acts. They are minorities in our faith. Islam is peace.”

Well, here’s the real story about that blowback.

According to FBI data, ACTUAL incidents of Islamophobia pale in comparison to incidents of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Numbers from December indicate that in the previous year saw, 1,140 victims of anti-religious hate crimes, and the rate of Jewish victims was nearly four times that of Muslim victims at a proportion of roughly 57 percent to 16 percent.

Even in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks — the deadliest Islamist attack in American history — 2002 data from the FBI shows that anti-Muslim hate crimes totaled a grand total 174 for the year. These are, of course, dwarfed when compared to the 1,084 cases committed against Jews, and the 237 committed against “other.”

And it doesn’t stop there: America’s college campuses have become seething hotbeds of anti-Jewish activity. Meanwhile, a report from February finds, attacks on free exercise of religion across the board have doubled in the waning years of the Obama administration.

There was no mention of how America’s Jewish population (with nary a notable terrorist attack attached to its name) is under increasing fire — and has been so for years. Furthermore, recent jihadist terror attacks in San Bernardino to Orlando to Manhattan have taken scores of American lives and have left all of our citizens, regardless of their religion, under siege.

Yet, the question that both candidates were forced to contend with is one that clearly targeted the Republican nominee’s focus on the security concerns that mass migration from Muslim-majority countries generates in relation to America’s national security.

When we look at this issue earnestly, the real threat to American Muslims from the specter of Islamophobia are far less than the threats faced by all Americans from the threat of global jihadism. They’re far less than what American Jews have to deal with both on and off the university campus. And they’re far less than what anyone who runs afoul of the government’s views on marriage, abortion, and contraception face on any given day.

Finally, when it comes to the havoc created by ISIS and other terror organizations that commit atrocities in the name of Allah, President Obama and company are quick to point out that most of the victims of jihadist violence around the world are Muslims themselves. But when it comes to the the same threat posed to those on our own soil, such concerns are nowhere to be found. Rather, they find themselves drowned out by those that worry about a so-called “Islamophobia” epidemic rather than the threat faced by every person in the civilized world, Muslims included, when they leave their homes every morning.

What exaggerated concerns about “Islamophobia” actually do, however, is dull, silence, and distract from the message of those who actually voice that there is indeed a centuries-old problem within Islam — that it creates legitimate security concerns, and that these realities have to be addressed in bold and earnest terms. Those terms might hurt someone’s feelings, after all.

In sum, the “Islamophobia” question was endemic of a host of concerns that the Left has thrown at anyone who dare raise questions about the Islamic nature of jihadist terrorism, or about the safety of the Obama administration’s immigration and refugee policies. However, in light of the numbers and the real security threats faced by Muslims and non-Muslims around the world, that the debates chose to focus on “Islamophobia” really ought to be put into context.

Categories: 2016 elections, 2016 presidential debates, CAIR, Countering violent extremism, Donald Trump and Islamist terror, Hillary Clinton and Islamist terror, Islamic refugees, Islamophobia
Tags: CAIR, Countering violent extremism, Donald Trump and Islamist terror, Hillary Clinton and Islamist terror, Islamic refugees, Islamophobia

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“Palestinians” hail jihad attack in Jerusalem as “heroic act”

October 10, 2016

“Palestinians” hail jihad attack in Jerusalem as “heroic act”, Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer, October 10, 2016

Said his sister: “We are proud of his actions. Bless us, don’t offer condolences. My brother died a holy death. We thank Allah for that.”

This is yet another indication of how the jihad against Israel is fueled by Islamic principles, which have, of course, been ruled out of consideration by Washington policymakers tasked with trying to figure out how to deal with the conflict.

neutralized-terrorist-jerusalem

“Palestinians laud terrorist attack in Jerusalem as ‘heroic act,’” Israel Hayom, October 10, 2016:

Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Sunday praised the deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem in which two Israelis were killed and several were wounded, while dozens of east Jerusalem residents arrived at the terrorist’s home, where large pictures and banners with his name hung from a wall, to celebrate his “heroic act.”

The terrorist, a 39-year-old married father of two from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, killed Police 1st Sgt. Yosef Kirma, 29, and Jerusalem resident Levana Malihi, 60, and wounded three others before he was shot dead by police.

His name, as well as the details of the investigation, have been placed under a gag order.

While Hamas did not claim responsibility for the attack, it lauded the terrorist and urged young Palestinians to follow in his footsteps.

“The attack in Jerusalem is more proof of the resistance’s determination to continue despite the challenges and obstacles,” said Husam Badran, a spokesman for Hamas’ headquarters in Doha, Qatar. “The attack proves what Hamas has always said — whoever thinks the Palestinian people will wave a white flag is mistaken.”

Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas’ spokesman Gaza, said, “This heroic act bears witness to our determination and shows the Jerusalem intifada is not over.”

Islamic Jihad also praised the attack, saying it was “proof the Jerusalem intifada continues. There will be more attacks as the occupation’s murder machine continues.”

The Jerusalem branch of Fatah — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ party — declared a general strike in solidarity with the terrorist. Businesses across east Jerusalem closed as praise for the terrorist echoed through the streets….

The terrorist was scheduled to report to a Ramla prison on Sunday, where he was to serve a four-month sentence for minor security offenses.

In a video apparently posted on social media shortly before he carried out his nefarious act, the terrorist is shown urging terrorist attacks “to protect Al-Aqsa.” It is unknown when he filmed the video, but his Facebook page was rife with hatred for Israel and incitement to violence. The page has since been suspended….

The terrorist’s sister said, “We are proud of his actions. Bless us, don’t offer condolences. My brother died a holy death. We thank Allah for that.”

Categories: Fatah, Hamas, Islamic jihad, Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinian heroes, Palestinian terrorists, Palestinians and Islam
Tags: Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinian heroes, Palestinian terrorists, Palestinians and Islam

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The Right to Mock

October 10, 2016

The Right to Mock, Gatestone Institute, Douglas Murray, October 10, 2016

(Islam is the religion of peace and tolerance, we are repeatedly informed by our betters. Therefore, Muslims would never mock Christianity, Judaism, or any other non-Islamic faith. Nor would they ever slaughter anyone who adheres to those religions due to their faith. Isn’t that clear? — DM)

Mohammed Shafiq was quoted in the Sun saying of Smith: “I think he should apologise immediately. Our faith is not to be mocked, our faith is to be celebrated and I think people will be offended.”

Shafiq does not explain why his faith should not be mocked. Nor does he seem to know anything about the right of free people in free countries to do or say whatever we like about Islam or any other faith whenever we feel like it.

There is nothing special about Islam that means it cannot be mocked. In fact, it would be a very good thing (both for Muslims and everyone else) if it were mocked rather more.

But there in that sentence is the implicit threat again. All insist that their faith “should not be mocked.” And for those who say they are moderates, and are presented as such by the press, it seems to be exceptionally useful that they do not have to be much more explicit than this.

But in this not-so-subtle intimidation do we not see precisely that thing which most worries the public? That despite what our politicians say, the allegedly vast chasm that separates the extremists from the “moderates” seems at times to be almost paper-thin.

If there is one question that most concerns the public around the question of radical Islam it is “What is the connection between the extremists and the moderates?” Leading politicians across the Western world have not been much help in answering this question, insisting as they do, that radical Islam has nothing to do with Islam and that the extremists are as far away from the moderates as it is possible to be. Yet the public senses that this is not the case.

Despite the amazing lack of public debate about the actual contours of the discussion, the public knows that something is not right about the analysis provided by Liberal politicians and others. Indeed, the public notices not only that there is some connection between the two (something Democrats in the U.S., among others, deny) but that the connection may be closer than anyone would like. A fine example of this was thrown up in the UK this week in the space of just 24 hours.

On Friday the London Evening Standard carried a story about the police launching a possible “hate crime” investigation into literature that the paper had discovered being handed out at a London mosque. The potential “hate crime” was not even the best known variety — a mean Tweet or a nasty comment — but the sort of thing we used to call “incitement.” The literature being handed out at a mosque in Walthamstow consisted of a booklet which insisted that “any Muslim should kill” anyone who insults the Prophet of Islam. Those who insult the main man “must be killed,” it repeated.

The pamphlet backed up this point of view with reference to classical Islamic law and explained that in the case of those who “insult” Mohammed, such as apostates who “deserve to be assassinated,” it was not necessary to wait for any court or court judgement to rule. Better just to get on with it on your own, was the gist.

In a case that is becoming increasingly familiar to indigenous British people as much as it is to British Pakistanis, the booklet referred to the seminal case of Mumtaz Qadri, the Pakistani man who in 2011 murdered Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Qadri murdered Taseer because of the latter’s support for the reform of Pakistan’s strict Islamic blasphemy laws. The booklet explains that “all Muslims should support” the assassin Qadri and that even being what the publication calls “a big shot” like Taseer should not protect someone from being killed by any Muslim who feels like it.

1935

Salman Taseer, pictured in the memorial poster at left, was the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province when he was murdered in 2011 by a radical Islamist, because of Taseer’s support for the reform of Pakistan’s strict Islamic blasphemy laws. Right: London police may be launching a “hate crime” investigation into a booklet being handed out at a London mosque, which explains that “all Muslims should support” Taseer’s murderer.

The police are currently investigating the Dar-ul-Uloom Qadria Jilania mosque in Walthamstow, where the booklet was handed out, and would do well to look into the imam of the mosque, Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, whose name and photograph are on the front of the booklet in question. Of course, the response of the political class in Britain is to ignore any and all such things. “Bad egg” or “one rotten apple” is probably the most the public will be able to expect from any politician, if one were forced to give any view at all on Mr Jilani, his pamphlet or his mosque. Yet the public reads stories like this and rightly wonders where people like Mr Jilani get their ideas from and how widely such ideas might be spread.

The following day (Saturday) readers of The Sun were able to learn of a British celebrity gymnast, Louis Smith, who had got drunk with friends at a wedding and made a video that appeared to have come back to haunt him. As the Sun headline read, “Has he got a screw Louis? Olympic ace Louis Smith accused of mocking Islam after yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ and pretending to pray in boozy video.” The video of drunken japery included Smith and a friend pulling a rug off a wall and shouting “Allahu Akbar” while the friend pretended to pray in a vaguely Islamic style. As the paper led the story,

“Olympics star and former Strictly Come Dancing winner Louis Smith has been accused of mocking Islam after appearing in a video with a mate drunkenly pretending to pray. The footage shows him with fellow gymnast Luke Carson yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’, an Islamic phrase meaning ‘God is the greatest’.”

It is hardly the most important news story of the year, and hardly involves any of the most important figures of our time. But the story will have been read by millions of readers and they will have noticed the reactions. First, that from a “security source” who tells the paper “Mocking religion is pretty foolish. In the case of Islam, it can also be quite a risky thing to do.” And then the paper has the obligatory quote from an alleged “moderate Muslim,” on this occasion one Mohammed Shafiq of a one-man organization called the “Ramadan Foundation.” Mr Shafiq has previously been hailed in Britain for his apparently exceptional moral courage and bravery in coming out against the mass gang-rape of children. In 2013, he stood accused of attempting to get up a lynch-mob when the reformist Muslim Maajid Nawaz tweeted out an innocuous image that Shafiq insisted was offensive to all the world’s Muslims.

Anyhow — responding to the Louis Smith drunken video, the same Mohammed Shafiq was quoted in the Sun saying of Smith: “I think he should apologise immediately. Our faith is not to be mocked, our faith is to be celebrated and I think people will be offended.” Shafiq does not explain why his faith should not be mocked. Nor does he seem to know anything about the right of free people in free countries to do or say whatever we like about Islam or any other faith whenever we feel like it. There is nothing special about Islam that means it cannot be mocked. In fact, it would be a very good thing (both for Muslims and everyone else) if it were mocked rather more. But there in that sentence is the implicit threat again. Less blatant than the threat against Maajid Nawaz, but very close indeed to the line used by the Walthamstow imam and the extremists who defend Mumtaz Qadri.

All insist that their faith “should not be mocked.” And for those who say they are moderates, and are presented as such by the press, it seems to be exceptionally useful that they do not have to be much more explicit than this. Fortunately for them, there are other people willing to do the killing in countries such as Pakistan and occasionally in the West. The rest of us — whether gymnasts on a night out or anyone else — are simply expected to have learnt this by now. But in this not-so-subtle intimidation do we not see precisely that thing which most worries the public? That despite what our politicians say, the allegedly vast chasm that separates the extremists from the “moderates” seems at times to be almost paper-thin.

Categories: Islam and human rights, Islamic supremacy, Islamophobia, Mocking the one true faith
Tags: Islam and human rights, Islamic supremacy, Islamophobiam, Mocking the one true faith

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US condemns Jerusalem shooting, Palestinian celebrations of attack

October 10, 2016

Source: US condemns Jerusalem shooting, Palestinian celebrations of attack | The Times of Israel

Abbas’s Fatah praises terrorist who killed 2 as a martyr; UN peace envoy decries ‘deplorable’ glorification of attack by Hamas

By Stuart Winer October 9, 2016, 8:44 pm

Israeli security forces cordon off the site of a shooting attack near police headquarters in Jerusalem on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

Israeli security forces cordon off the site of a shooting attack near police headquarters in Jerusalem on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

The United States on Sunday slammed as “reprehensible and cowardly” an attack in Jerusalem in which a Palestinian gunman killed two Israelis and injured six others, and condemned statements by Palestinian factions celebrating the shooting.

Earlier, Fatah, the party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, posted a messaged on its official Facebook page praising the shooting and declaring the terrorist a “shahid,” or martyr.

A 60-year-old Israeli woman and 29-year-old man were killed and six others injured after the terrorist, whose name is protected under a gag order for Israeli media, sprayed bullets at passersby from a moving car. The shooter, a resident of Silwan in East Jerusalem, was shot dead by police. Hamas claimed the man as one of their members.

After apparently taking credit for the attack, the Gaza-based terror group also praised the shooting as “heroic” and “brave.”

In a separate statement, Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum called the deadly attack “a natural reaction to the crimes and violations of the occupation against our people.”

Jerusalem resident Levana Malihi, 60, left, and police officer First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29, who were shot dead in a terror attack in Jerusalem, October 9, 2016. (Police spokesperson)

Jerusalem resident Levana Malihi, 60, left, and police officer First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29, who were shot dead in a terror attack in Jerusalem, October 9, 2016. (Police spokesperson)

In a statement Sunday, the US State Department said it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack that took place today in Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of two Israelis and injured several others.”

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and our hopes for a quick and full recovery for those wounded,” the statement continued. “There is absolutely no justification for the taking of innocent lives. We also condemn the statements glorifying this reprehensible and cowardly attack.”

The United Nations’ peace envoy to the region also denounced the shooting, calling it “deplorable” and censuring Hamas for encouraging such assaults.

UN Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov, February 9, 2015 (CC BY-SA Ottokars, Wikipedia)

UN Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov, February 9, 2015 (CC BY-SA Ottokars, Wikipedia)

US Ambassador Dan Shapiro and Australian Ambassador Dave Sharma similarly condemned the shooting.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov issued a statement following the shooting.

“I condemn this morning’s terror attack by a Palestinian perpetrator in occupied East Jerusalem which killed two Israelis and injured six others,” Mladenov wrote. “Nothing can justify such attacks. My thoughts are with the families and friends of all victims and I hope for a full and speedy recovery of the wounded.”

“It is deplorable and unacceptable that Hamas and others choose to glorify such acts which undermine the possibility of a peaceful future for both Palestinians and Israelis,” he added.

According to Israeli monitoring group Palestinian Media Watch, the Fatah party posted on its Facebook page an announcement saying, “The one who carried out the operation today in Jerusalem is a pilgrim [to Mecca] Martyr.”

The Jerusalem branch of the Fatah party posted a message announcing a general strike and mourning “in memory of the souls of the Martyrs of Palestine and this morning’s Martyr.”

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also praised that attack, calling it “heroic.”

Israeli security forces cordon off the site of a shooting attack near police headquarters in Jerusalem on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

Israeli security forces cordon off the site of a shooting attack near police headquarters in Jerusalem on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

The gunman opened fire at a group of people waiting at a light rail stop on Haim Bar-Lev Street, hitting one woman before speeding off toward Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau Street where he shot and fatally wounded another woman, 60, who was in her car.

After opening fire on civilians twice, the assailant continued toward the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where he was killed in a shootout with police.

The woman shot in her car and a police officer who helped lead the charge to stop him later succumbed to their injuries, a hospital spokesperson said.

UK Minister Tobias Ellwood on June 24, 2009. (Youtube Screenshot)

UK Minister Tobias Ellwood on June 24, 2009. (Youtube Screenshot)

British Minister for the Middle East and Africa Tobias Ellwood posted a Twitter message saying he “utterly condemn[s] the attacks in #Jerusalem. My thoughts are with victims and their families.”

Utterly condemn the attacks in #Jerusalem. My thoughts are with victims and their families.

— Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) October 9, 2016

US ambassador Shapiro tweeted his denunciation of the attack: “strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem. No possible justification. Condolences to the families of the 2 murder victims,” adding the suffix “Z”L,” an English transliteration of the Hebrew acronym for “Of blessed memory.”

Strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem. No possible justification. Condolences to the families of the 2 murder victims z”l.

— Dan Shapiro (@AmbShapiro) October 9, 2016

Australian envoy Sharma posted a message to his Twitter account: “Condolences to families of 2 female victims, both killed in sickening Jerusalem terror attack. Condemn unreservedly.”

Condolences to families of 2 female victims, both killed in sickening Jerusalem terror attack. Condemn unreservedly. https://t.co/CUZyrzfCZV

— Dave Sharma (@AusAmbIsrael) October 9, 2016

The Palestinian terrorist who carried out the morning attack was supposed to have turned himself in to prison at that precise time, Ma’an news reported.

He was identified as a 39-year-old man from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. His name was restricted under a police gag order.

An Israeli medic attends to a woman at the site of a shooting attack in on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

An Israeli medic attends to a woman at the site of a shooting attack in on October 9, 2016. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

In 2013, the gunman was indicted for assaulting a police officer in Jerusalem’s Old City. The case was dropped that year, but it was reopened in 2015.

The East Jerusalem resident was convicted and sentenced to four months in prison.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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Majority of Paris attackers entered Europe posing as refugees

October 10, 2016

Source: Majority of Paris attackers entered Europe posing as refugees • The Foreign Desk

by Lisa Daftari Sunday Oct 2, 2016 5:09pm

Seven of the nine ISIS jihadis who launched a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris last November entered Europe by posing as refugees.

The attackers were part of a group of 14 who plotted their way into Western Europe by riding the wave of the migrant crisis last year, according to Hungarian security officials.

By using fake Syrian passports, many of the attackers, already on European terror watch-lists, were able to slip back into Europe undetected, along with thousands of other refugees.

One hundred and thirty people were killed in November when a group of gunmen and suicide bombers launched a wave of attacks across Paris, targeting the Bataclan concert hall, the Stade De France and several restaurants and bars. Three hundred sixty-eight people were also injured in the attacks, almost 100 of them seriously.

Some of the remaining terrorists in the group participated in the Brussels attacks earlier this year in three coordinated suicide bombings at Brussels Airport and at Maalbeek metro station killed 32 people.

Counterterrorism officials in Hungary believe ISIS set up a “logistics hub” in the country in the Summer of 2015 at the peak of the migrant crisis, with jihadis taking advantage of Europe’s porous borders to slip into Western Europe through Eastern Europe’s Balkan routes.

An investigation scrutinizing the phones used by some of the suspects found that one of the lead coordinators of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, sent a scout to report on the feasibility of using the Balkan routes as an entry point to Western Europe.

The group communicated with each another using social media applications such as Facebook and WhatsApp messaging, often creating and deleting their accounts within a day, as soon as they were able to obtain new instructions from Raqqa, Syria, where they were in contact with ISIS leadership, Hungary’s counterterrorism’s deputy chief General Zsolt Bodnar told The UK Times.

Aboud was killed in a raid by French counterterror police in the days following the Paris attacks.

Hungary voted Sunday to reject the E.U.’s migrant quota for the country. With turnout reported to be only 44 percent below the 50 percent threshold needed, the vote was set to be declared invalid.

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US Navy ship USS Mason targeted in failed missile attack from Yemen

October 10, 2016

Source: US Navy ship USS Mason targeted in failed missile attack from Yemen

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (L) observes an underway replenishment with Adm. Giuseppe De Giorgi, chief of the Italian navy, while aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87).

Armando Gonzales | US Navy | Getty Images

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (L) observes an underway replenishment with Adm. Giuseppe De Giorgi, chief of the Italian navy, while aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87).

A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer was targeted on Sunday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, a U.S. military spokesman told Reuters, saying the two missiles failed to hit the ship.

“USS Mason detected two inbound missiles over a 60-minute period while in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said.

“There were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship,” he said.

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