The Arab League Council strongly condemned on Saturday what Israeli forces of occupation are perpetrating of criminal and sabotaging actions against the holy mosque of al-Aqsa and surrounding that are threatening with its collapse.
In a statement at the end of an emergency meeting on al-Quds, the council warned against consequences of the Israeli screaming aggression continuity on one of the most important Islamic holy sites in al-Quds city as well going too far in violating all the international legitimacy resolutions relevant to al-Quds ( Jerusalem) and the military occupation. "Causing damage to the holy Qudsi site is a hurt to Muslims faith," the statement said.
The council called the Arab group at the UN to file a memo to hold an urgent meeting of the UNSC calling it to held responsibilities as to stop these risky violations on al-Aqsa that impeach the Fourth Geneva Agreement in 1949 and its protocols. The council underlined Arabism of al-Quds city and illegality of the Israeli measures aimed at annexing it and changing its demographic feature rejecting the criminal Israeli aggression on al-Aqsa, Islamic and Christian holy sites there.It stressed adherence on building the independent Palestinian state on all the occupied Palestinian territories until June 4th border line in 1967 with al-Quds as the capital. The council called upon the Arab group at UNISCO to ask for an urgent meeting as to discuss this dangerous violation for a landmark of the Islamic Human Heritage calling also the Arab Transitional Parliament and council of Arab parliamentarians to carry on efforts with regional parliaments in consultation and coordination with the Arab League Sec. Gen. to take appropriate measures.
The council urged the Quartet on the peace process to held responsibilities and put pressures on Israel to immediately halt this aggression which is threatening exerted efforts to revive the Mideast peace process and abort prospects of negotiating on issues of final status the most famous of which is al-Quds issue.
#1
And yarns and decades of pressure-point rocks-throwing + demonstrations/protests, plus uncountable assorted boom-booms agz Israeli forces, has nothing to do wid any engineering collapse???
"When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."
#7
As soon as Isreal starts digging they throw a fit, but when they start digging it's no big deal. Yeah, Tell the custodians of Al-Aqsa to go hang themselves and keep digging. I'm interested in what they'll find that the Arabs didn't have a chance to destroy.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/11/2007 8:39 Comments ||
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#8
"Causing damage to the holy Qudsi site is a hurt to Muslims faith
Poor dears; so easily hurt, while simultaneously
building a 130 foot high minaret on the Mount.
Nicarette, nicarette, you can stop the minaret! :)
#9
I would like to take this opportunity to join in the general condemnation of Israel. My complaint is that in 1967 Israel did not take the Temple of Elemental Evil still squatting on the Temple Mount and raze it to the ground with its Orcish priests still inside. It will be a sticking point for me with Israeli policy until that golden pimple is lanced and a new Temple restored to the Temple Mount.
HAS Britain become a police state for Muslims? No, nowhere near. Just ask anyone who has lived in a real police state.
Ask any mother whose son was taken in the middle of the night and disappeared without a trace. Ask any political prisoner who has been interrogated and tortured just for questioning the status quo.
Ask any ordinary citizen who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and found himself in jail for years on end without trial, without any recourse to justice. That is living in a police state, not what is happening to Muslims in Britain today.
And yet it cannot be denied that Muslims today find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. The knee-jerk reactions of British Muslims to last week's arrests in Birmingham show just how embattled many Muslims now feel.
#1
The fact that he was shot seven times in the head while being restrained only serving to add to both the tragedy of his death and the sense of insecurity and threat among Muslims in Britain.
Somewhere the world's smallest violin is playing for me.
#5
I absolutely believe that any "overreaction" by British Police is driven by their well-founded fear coupled with the fact that before islamic terrorism there was no similar threat to society.
Najam Sethi
The Capital Development Authority in Islamabad recently woke up to the fact that nearly 80 mosques have encroached on land or been built without the CDAs permission, and are therefore illegal. Consequently, after eviction notices were blithely ignored, the CDA moved to demolish a couple of these encroachments according to the law of the land. In the event, however, it has only managed to stir a hornets nest of Islamic militancy. Most things in Pakland do, don't they?
The fanatical mullahs of Lal Masjid and the students of Jamia Hafza Madrassa for women next to the Masjid are at the core of the protest. The Masjid and the Madrassa are led by two brothers who regularly vent venom at President General Pervez Musharraf for being an agent of America. On 22rd January, in protest against the CDAs demolition of one mosque in Islamabad, the mullahs of the Masjid instigated a group of baton wielding female students of the Madrassa to seize and occupy a childrens library next to the mosque. When the authorities moved to reoccupy the library, the fiery khatib of the mosque publicly vowed to raise a batch of suicide bombers to resist the state. If the administrations patience runs out, the situation could get messy. One of these days I'm going to write a translator that will take a news article and turn it into plain English. When I do, the word "fiery" will automatically be rendered as "lunatic."
This episode raises questions of law, state and religion. It suggests that many extremist mullahs do not accept the notion of the writ of the nation-state and the laws of the land promulgated by parliaments and constitutions if, in their view, these are in conflict with their notions of Islamic law and life. Indeed, by their very definition and logic, not just Pakistan but the whole world belongs to Allah and they (the mullahs) have a right to build mosques (houses of Allah) wherever they like, regardless of the laws relating to land and property. Indeed, such thinking may extend to the use of force to claim these above-the-law-rights. This approach makes nonsense of the idea of modern constitutional law and challenges the notion of the state as the sole repository of authority to enforce the law. In fact, the tactic of suicide bombing is a devastating device against the notion of deterrence or punishment for breaking the law on which the whole edifice of the modern state is constructed.
This situation is complicated by another form of protest by religious extremists against alleged state encroachment on their democratic and human rights. Those who dont accept the notion of peoples democracy as opposed to Allahs democracy (Islamic state) are ready to clutch at the props of the same peoples democracy (rule of law, due process, judicial accountability and independence, etc) for survival and sustenance that they are committed to overthrowing. In short, the extremist mullahs seek to exploit the freedoms of liberal democracy to overthrow it and replace it by their dictatorship in the name of religion.
There is a complex development underway in Pakistan in which Al-Qaeda, Taliban, jihadi and sunni sectarian elements are all being stirred in a red hot crucible. Notions of national state interest have been sacrificed at the altar of global jihad for the greater glory of Islam. That is why General Musharraf has become the enemy because he seeks to put a lid on jihad (against foreign infidels in general and Indian and American infidels in particular) because it undermines the national interest of the Pakistani nation-state. Indeed, the very philosophy that jihad can only be sanctioned by the state in its national interest has been overtaken by the notion that jihad can be sanctioned by the private sector especially when the state is a non-Islamic one and the objective of jihad is a global revival and resurgence of Islam. The fatwas of various Islamic luminaries from Osama bin Laden to the top khatibs in the holy land testify to this innovation.
Much the same may be said of the latest weapon of suicide bombing. It was Yusuf Qardawi, the leading Islamic jurist of our time living in Qatar, who first issued a fatwa legitimizing suicide-bombing in the cause of Islam against injustice. His objective was to condone and even legitimize the suicide-bombing campaign by young Al-Qaedaists in the West against American and British targets despite the fact that innocent fellow Muslims were also killed in the act. The blowback from such ideas has taken its toll in Pakistan too: a former judge of the Appellate (Islamic) Branch of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who has been attacking President Musharraf on private TV networks is influenced by such new and radical ideas, as is the khatib of Lal Masjid who threatened resistance by suicide bombing if his demands were not met.
The Pakistani nation and state is therefore faced with a new and dangerous threat that represents a violent minority which seeks to exploit the values of liberal democracy to undermine majoritarian democracy. This threat cannot be thwarted by military means alone. The nation and the state will have to demonstrate a broad democratic mainstream moderate consensus to tackle their common enemy by political, legal and economic means. This is not just General Musharrafs war. It is every patriotic Pakistanis war who wants to protect and defend this nation.
This article starring:
YUSUF QARDAWI
Learned Elders of Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 09:52 ||
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#1
Link ends up at an error page.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/11/2007 10:37 Comments ||
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#2
It's Friday Times - a pay site. This is the complete article.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 17:52 Comments ||
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A children's programme on Hizbollah TV: A ten-year old daughter of a suicide bomber comes on and says: "I have often prayed for my father to be martyred. I am very happy that God heard my prayers (http://www.manartv.com.lb/)."
Agence France-Presse (AFP). The mother of a suicide bomber: "I am very happy my son was martyred. I had said goodbye to him before he left for his mission and I wished him success. I am thankful to God that he heard my prayers (http://www.afp.com/english/home/)."
Is it human for a ten-year old to actually celebrate the death of her father? Is it human for a mother to actually rejoice at the loss of her son? Only in a society that glamorises death (and not life). Only when one is brought up in a 'culture of death'. Only where twisted logic is indoctrinated as the ultimate truth.
In Pakistan, ten thousand madrassahs prepare two million martyrs a year. On top of that, 198,166 primary, middle and secondary schools are working hard at manufacturing 27 million closet martyrs. As if that wasn't enough, the martial state of the Islamic Republic steps in and puts on display its destructive nuclear potential -- Chagai and replicas of missiles -- on all major street intersections. Walk into any classroom of any government-run school and ninety-five per cent of what's on display is martyrs (with the exception of Jinnah, Iqbal and Sir Syed). What we have thus managed to create is an ideal 'culture of death'; a whole society of death worshippers.
Here's the official curriculum document for classes K-V, National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan (1995): "At the completion of Class-V, the child should be able to: Make speeches on jihad and shahadat; India's evil designs against Pakistan; acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan [pg 154]." The document further instructs teachers: "To judge their spirits while making speeches on jihad .." Another prescribed 'learning outcome' is to "recognise the importance of jihad in every sphere of life." Textbooks prescribed by the Punjab Textbook Board eulogise "jihad and shahadat" and routinely urge students to "become mujahids and martyrs". Middle school textbooks have long been urging children to be "willing to die as martyrs for Islam."
Someone really intelligent once said that the real tragedy of Islam is that "people who talk about Islam the most understand it the least." Our madressahs have been teaching our children death and destruction. Islam is all about life and construction. Our religious leaders are harsh and inflexible. Islam is pleasant and accommodating. Our schools give lessons on hate and hostility. Islam is all about love and friendship. They teach us insanity and irrationality. Islam is all about wisdom and reason. We have been spreading intolerance and ignorance. Islam is all about tolerance and enlightenment. We glorify death and demean intellectual struggle. Islam is all about intellectual struggle and glorification of life.
Schools and madrassahs determine what a nation is destined to become in the future. For us, that future is here because we have long let our madressahs and schools churn out brigades of death worshippers. Glamorisation of death -- not life -- and long years of death worshipping degenerate into suicide bombings. To be certain, suicide bombings are getting us nowhere; Muslims are killing Muslims. Our religion gives us al-jihad al-akbar, the greater jihad, the most powerful of instruments to beat non-Muslims through excellence in education, knowledge, schools, universities, libraries, women emancipation, creation and innovation. We have picked up al-jihad al-asghar, the lesser jihad, even before we gave a chance to al-jihad al-akbar.
Al Quran, 4:29: "O you who believe, you shall not kill yourselves"
Al Quran, 2:195: "You shall spend in the cause of God; do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction"
The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist.
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 07:52 ||
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Asked what role hate literature has played in brutalising an otherwise peaceful Pakistani society, he says what it did psychologically was to lift the barrier to hate. "The hate material in textbooks was directed against a particular 'other', but once the barrier was crossed, anyone could be hated. Now the 'other' could be defined on the basis of religion, sect, language, ethnicity, etc. These 'others' were so closely compared to the ones aimed at in the texts that the hate could also easily accompany a violent action against the imagined enemies. Pakistani society thus faced violent internal feuds and fissures."
The hate literature taught so zealously in our schools especially after General Zia ul Haq usurped power in 1977 has destroyed the very social fabric of Pakistan society. And has contributed to many present day challenges including Talibanisation.
Sectarian strife, he says, has increased in Pakistan as a consequence of trying to define Pakistani identity in religious terms. 'The Subtle Subversion: The State of Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan,' a research publication of SDPI compiled by A.H. Nayyar and Ahmed Salim a couple of years ago states that madrasahs in Pakistan have recently been a focus of world attention for creating this kind of exclusionary and sectarian worldview. But the educational material in the government run schools does more harm than madrasahs. "The textbooks tell lies, create hate, incite for jihad and shahadat, and much more," it states.
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 7:59 Comments ||
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The books, he says, further present local history as a clash between religions. Thus one finds that many of the history books target Hindus rather than the English colonialists in the relevant period. "This intolerant mindset is then fertile ground for breeding all kinds of hatred. It no longer remains Muslims vs. Hindu but can easily become Sunni vs. Shia; Muslim vs. Christians etc. There is an implicit sometimes very clear message: Muslims are the chosen people and Islam the right way. Hence, in every conflict we must have been in the right and others wrong. You will find that class perspective, economic factors, political demands based on universal human rights and concepts, find no place in our books."
If our books were the only window to the world, he says, the Renaissance never occurred, the Reformation never took place, the French and Russian revolutions, the colonial era, etc., are insignificant events all overshadowed by the eternal fight between Islam and its enemies. "It is this mindset that is then exploited by those who seek recruits to their violent agendas," says Hasanain.
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 8:00 Comments ||
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#3
As an aside, I wouldn't call them "death worshippers" as much as "murder worshippers." The reason being that in the Hindu religion, there actually are the equivalent of "death worshippers", who in past were the violent Thugee, but today are relatively peaceful.
There is actually some respectability in seeing death as a powerful force worth worshipping. It is one of the few truly reliable, verifiable, and certain natural events that is both essential to life itself and inevitable.
Unlike other invisible god religions, it is truly universal, whether you like it or not, whether you even believe in it or not. Its only failing is that people have virtually no influence over it, so it obviously does no good to pray to it, intone it for mercy, or ask for grace.
This leaves those who worship it two choices: to approach it with fear; or in awe, admiration and wonder.
It is the only god that proves its own existence endlessly. A death worshipper can point to anything dying and claim that it proves their god exists.
They can also point out that death can lend great power to anything it touches. It can cause change in almost everyone who attends a funeral, for example. A death in the family rearranges the whole balance of relationships.
Finally, you have to ask what is a healthier outlook in life. To be like most Americans who shun death, fear it intensely, act morbidly around it, and make it as unnatural as possible. Or to embrace it in everything around you and even in yourself as a religious or spiritual act?
How different from "murder worshippers", whose beliefs center around justifying homicide by claiming it is demanded by their invisible god? Theirs is an evil god that thrives on pain and suffering inflicted on the innocent. A god who promises heavenly rewards to those who defile life and abuse others.
#6
Anonymoose...the natural extension to your logic is that allan is a demom...like the Canaanite's god, Moloch. Or, (what I beleive) allan is actually the demon (god) Moloch. allan requires human blood sacrifice, and is appetite unsatiable.
#7
anymouse: Moloch might be a good description, as the great purpose of that god's demand is pain and suffering, not just death, and also includes that god's demand for child sacrifices.
The unity agreement signed in Mecca last Thursday marked a major victory for Hamas. Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh could not have hoped for a greater achievement.
Even amid the pressure exerted by the Saudi king, Hamas would not waver and came out stronger as far as the internal Palestinian arena is concerned, and much stronger in the eyes of the Arab world and the international community. Hamas did not relinquish its rule or ideology, did not recognize Israel or renounce terror and did not agree to acknowledge past agreements with Israel. In return for this inflexible stance it received the unity government that it wanted so much.
In first official statement, officials in Jerusalem say Hamas-Fatah deal fails to meet Quartet preconditions and is not what Israel expected. Israel does not outright reject the agreement and will continue to monitor developments, officials add.
Hamas sought a unity government to promote the lifting of the economic and political siege imposed on the Palestinians by the international communitys and end the infighting. The organization wanted Fatahs participation in the new government so as not to bear sole responsibility for the economic, social and political failures in the Authority and to gain the legitimacy to remain in power and continue instilling fundamental values in Palestinian society.
In Mecca, Hamas won the jackpot. The agreement, along with millions of dollars from the Saudi king, will help Hamas recover from its economic crisis, strengthen its hold on government and arrive at the next elections in a position to win the presidency as well as the elections for the Legislative Council.
And what if the unity government collapses? Hamas still has nothing to lose. If the bogus partnership should fall apart - and this may happen rather quickly the blame will fall on Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas, not only in the PA but in the entire Arab world as well.
Meccas sanctity, coupled with Saudi kings efforts, was not enough to bridge the gap between Islamist Hamas and the nationalist Fatah organization. It was Abbas who eventually backed down when he agreed to establish a unity government before drafting its guidelines. Abbas' body language on Thursday testified to the disagreements and to the fact that he understands that the Saudis and Hamas have trapped him.
The important question as far as Israel is concerned is whether the agreement would accelerate Gilad Shalit's return home. Abbas demanded his release as a condition, but it appears that as long as the government is not established, Hamas will continue to take advantage of Gilad Shalit as a bargaining chip in its battle against Fatah.
If the international community recognizes the new government and this might definitely happen in light of the cracks in the Quartet's stance Israel could find itself isolated in the face of the stance demanding that it negotiates with the Hamas-led government.
Expressions of unity and joy and an end to the street battles are expected in the Palestinian street in the coming days. But one must not be mistaken. The ideological differences have remained deep and wide as they were, and it is only a question of time before the clashes erupt once again. And have no illusions, even a unity government will not bring an end to terror and the launching of Qassam rockets.
#7
Hell Valentines day is Valentines day. I never put any religious significance to it. WTF?
I guess there is after reading all of this, but I for one say who gives a rats a**. It gets tiring having folks get their panties in a bunch over such stupid crap all the time. Or their "little sheet heads" in a bunch heh.
That's one of the big problems over in the Middle East associating religion with politics.
"Muslims are prohibited from observing and celebrating this occasion. Muslims are encouraged to live with love and affection among the Ummah, according to Islamic guidelines."
and we all know how loving and affectionate Muslimes are.
How dare you make such a comment incinuating that those that do celebrate Valentines day only observe love on one day of the year.
"Affection between two individuals will not last long if they lack affection towards Allah the Almighty. While mankind's affection towards Allah is based on faith and piety, Allah's affection towards mankind is universal and everlasting."
How dare you label other religions other than your own as less worthy. F*** Y**.
"Muslim teenagers should possess strong faith, resilience in soul, possess national identity...."
Yeah for all muslimes in America lets not assimilate, lets keep our national identity.
end rant oh, and happy valentines day ;)
Posted by: Jan Ffom work ||
02/11/2007 14:15 Comments ||
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S.B.: Any bets on Hallmark offering cards for THAT occasion?
And just what(or who) is it that fills those little Russell Stover chocolates anyway??????
When I first met Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, he was a young counterterrorism expert just breaking into print. I had edited some of his work. He seemed like a normal fellow. But as we spoke, he told me a remarkable story.
Gartenstein-Ross grew up in Ashland, Ore., one of the West Coast's hippie enclaves. His parents were liberal, ecumenical Jews who raised him to believe in the beauty of all faiths. There were pictures of Jesus in his living room and a statue of the Buddha in the backyard. Young Daveed was attracted to various liberal causes and concerned with social justice. He went to college in North Carolina, where he converted to Islam. Upon graduation, Gartenstein-Ross went to work for a religious charity, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which was run by a group of radicals.
After a year at Al-Haramain, he went to law school, where he eventually left Islam. In the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, Gartenstein-Ross learned that the FBI was investigating Al-Haramain for ties to terrorism. He reached out to the bureau and helped build its case. Gartenstein-Ross has now told his story in a book, My Year Inside Radical Islam. It is an important resource for understanding Islam in America.
There are two deep insights in My Year Inside Radical Islam. The first is an illumination of one of the pathways to radicalism. When Gartenstein-Ross first converted, he embraced Sufism, a spiritual, moderate sect. He wasn't looking to become an anti-Western fundamentalist. But the more he interacted with other Muslims, the more he was pushed, in a form of groupthink, to embrace an increasingly restrictive faith. He learned that in Islam, all sorts of things are haram (forbidden). Alcohol, of course. And listening to music. And wearing shorts that expose the thigh. And wearing necklaces. Or gold. Or silk. Or using credit cards. Or shaving. Or shaking hands with women.
As Gartenstein-Ross explains, Islam has commandments for every aspect of life, from how to dress to how to wipe yourself after going to the bathroom. And once he joined the Muslim community, he found that the group was self-policing. Members were eager to report and reprimand one another for infractions. It is not hard to imagine how a well-adjusted, intelligent person might get caught up in such a social dynamic.
The book also illustrates the troubling state of Islamic organizations in the United States. Nearly every discussion of Islamic radicalism and terrorism is prefaced by a disclaimer that of course the vast majority of Muslims are morally opposed to both. This may well be true. But the problem in the current struggle against Islamic fascism is that the radicals often find succor from moderate Muslims - even "moderates" aren't always as liberal as one might hope. While Gartenstein-Ross never came into contact with actual terrorists, he was surrounded by people - normal Muslim citizens - whose worldviews were unsettling.
Before 9/11, Al-Haramain's headquarters in Ashland was seen as a bastion of moderate, friendly Islam. Pete Seda, who ran the office, was publicly chummy with the local rabbi. The group encouraged public schools to bring children to their offices on field trips. All of this was for public consumption.
In private, things were somewhat different. One of Gartenstein-Ross' coworkers, for instance, often complained about the Nation of Islam, whose members he believed were deviants. He said, "Let them choose true Islam or cut off their heads."
Al-Haramain was host to a number of visitors, one of whom was a Saudi cleric named Abdul-Qaadir. He preached that those who leave Islam should be put to death. In defending the execution of apostates, he mused that "religion and politics aren't separable in Islam the way they are in the West... . Leaving Islam isn't just converting from one faith to another. It's more properly understood as treason." In warning Gartenstein-Ross about his engagement to a Christian, Abdul-Qaadir said, "As long as your wife isn't a Muslim, as far as we're concerned, she is 100 percent evil."
One night at services, a visiting member of the Egyptian branch of Al-Haramain declared that the Torah was "The Jews' plan to ruin everything." He continued, "Why is it that Henry Kissinger was the president of the international soccer federation while he was president of the United States? How did he have time to do both? It is because part of the Jews' plan is to get people throughout the world to play soccer so that they'll wear shorts that show off the skin of their thighs." (Former Secretary of State Kissinger was never president of either the United States or FIFA.) The reaction of Seda - the "moderate" who cultivated a public friendship with the local rabbi - was, "Wow, bro, this is amazing. You come to us with this incredible information."
Such discourse seems less than rare at American Islamic organizations. A recent New Yorker profile of another homegrown radical, Adam Gadahn (a.k.a. "Azzam the American" and one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorists), recounted Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman's visit to the Islamic Society in Orange County, Calif. In his lecture, Rahman, later indicted for helping to plot the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, ridiculed the notion that jihad could be nonviolent and exhorted Muslims to take up fighting against the enemies of Allah. Sitting next to him and translating for the congregation was the local "moderate" imam. The New Yorker reports that "videotapes of the lecture were later offered for sale at the society's bookstore."
This would likely not surprise Gartenstein-Ross, some of whose Muslim acquaintances even disapproved of his decision to go to law school. Their objection was that, as a lawyer, Gartenstein-Ross would have to swear an oath to defend the Constitution. As one Muslim told him, "There are some things in the Constitution I like, but a lot of things in the Constitution are completely against Islamic principles."
This sentiment - not from an al-Qaeda fighter or a fire-breathing radical, but from a normal, devout Muslim - is important. The challenge Islam poses to the West goes beyond mere terrorism.
#1
The challenge Islam poses to the West goes beyond mere terrorism.
This should have been obvious even if the jihadis never attacked the West. This is a cult of child-rape from their demon-possessed "prophet" to the gang-rapists at Beslan. They oppose every notion of liberty from Christ's teachings to Magna Carta to the Enlightenment to the American Revolution. There can be no compromise.
#2
"As Gartenstein-Ross explains, Islam has commandments for every aspect of life, from how to dress to how to wipe yourself after going to the bathroom. And once he joined the Muslim community, he found that the group was self-policing. Members were eager to report and reprimand one another for infractions. It is not hard to imagine how a well-adjusted, intelligent person might get caught up in such a social dynamic."
Say WHAT???? Speaking only for myself, of course, but I find it EXTREMELY hard to imagine any well-adjusted person falling for that shit. A person who is morally lost, yes. Or rootless, or confused, or spiritually adrift. But "well-adjusted"?
The explanation, I think, is here:
"Gartenstein-Ross grew up in Ashland, Ore., one of the West Coast's hippie enclaves. His parents were liberal, ecumenical Jews who raised him to believe in the beauty of all faiths. There were pictures of Jesus in his living room and a statue of the Buddha in the backyard."
In other words, they raised him to be morally lost, rootless, confused, and spiritually adrift in that vast sea of hippie, "everything is beautiful in its own way" non-judgementalism.
It's no wonder he fell into the grasp of Islam, just as it wouldn't have surprised to see him wind up in the grip of any other cult that could fill the moral vacuum his parents created for him.
And it's a damn miracle he eventually wised up.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/11/2007 10:03 Comments ||
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#3
The kind of person that could have easily ended up at Jonestown drinking the purple kool aid.
#5
It's no wonder he fell into the grasp of Islam, just as it wouldn't have surprised to see him wind up in the grip of any other cult that could fill the moral vacuum his parents created for him
Well said.
IMHO, that is the biggest danger we face in the US. Our cult of self is no less damaging. Want to fight back? Stop reading this and start go to your church or synagogue. We aren't going to win this on the battlefield alone.
#6
"Want to fight back? Stop reading this and start go to your church or synagogue."
I don't know if that'll help much, so long as the people running the churches and synagogues are spouting the same kind watered-down, all-faiths-are-beautiful, non-judgemental, cultural relativity claptrap that brought Gartenstein-Ross perilously close to the abyss.
"Fighting back" to me means hounding the "progressive" ideologues out of their positions of influence in government and in our churches, synagogues, universities and public schools.
Get the damn Gramscian commies OUT.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/11/2007 12:09 Comments ||
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The principal thing troubling me is the West's staunch refusal to understand just what Islam is.
#8
The weekly standard has a commentator, Stephen Schwartz who converted into the Sufi brand of Islam and writes articles critical of the Salafist brand of Islam.
He essentially refuses to acknowledge the arguments of Hirsi, or Ali Sina or Ibn Warraq or Mohammud Khan or Abu Kassem, etc. regarding the authenticity of the Salafist school. However, Schwartz has a pretty good mind and I still have hopes for him.
Writing in the aftermath of the July War between Hezbollah and Israel, and the passage of resolution 1701 by the Security Council this past August, this writer opined the following:
" Nasrallah said on Monday that the Lebanese Army is "incapable" of defending the south, and he sure would love to put this theory to the test. Cornered as he is between international pressure and a weak Lebanese government still trying to provide him with a fig leaf, Nasrallah might engineer the "incident" needed to create new facts on the ground. Surrounded by a loyal Shiite base and an otherwise subservient Lebanese population, Nasrallah's "victory" might certainly give him the idea that he should be running Lebanon, rather than the Sunni, Druze and Christian weaklings in the Lebanese government and political establishment. That could serve as the platform for his evasion from the international will to disarm him, and he could trigger a confrontation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army. Better yet from Nasrallah's perspective, a confrontation between the Lebanese army and Israeli forces would vindicate Nasrallah's qualification of the Lebanese Army as "incapable" and would also ensure the death of resolution 1701"...
Faced with a stalemate on his street power grab, he has now gone back to what has worked in the past: Hezbollah is, lest the Lebanese people forget, a "resistance". A Quixotic one, to be sure, against Israeli windmills and American goliaths, but a "resistance" nonetheless that is better at planting road side bombs and shooting from behind Lebanese Shiite women and children than at street revolutions. So to make sure his Lebanese compatriots are reminded that his "resistance" is still fighting the Zionist entity, Hassan Nasrallah's men planted 4 roadside bombs behind the Blue Line over the weekend, even with 15,000 Lebanese troops and another 15,000 UNIFIL troops serving as buffer between Hezbollahland in the south and the Israeli border. Nasrallah's men have even been reported to have taken joy rides late last week along the Israeli-Lebanese border, flying the vomit-colored flag of Hezbollah in the face of Israeli soldiers. And yesterday, the Lebanese Army reportedly shot at Israeli troops who crossed the Blue Line from their side of the border under the pretext of wanting to defuse more similar bombs. Israel also made claims earlier this week that Hezbollah has been rearming with anti-tank missiles and rockets coming in from Syria... Read more at the link...
This article starring:
HASAN NASRALAH
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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American Muslim organizations again have come out in full force to object to something unobjectionable. This time they're angry about 24, the popular TV drama on Fox. When a recent episode ended with a terrorist network detonating a nuclear device in a Los Angeles suburb, the Council on American Islamic Relations announced its fear that "this would serve to increase anti-Muslim prejudice in American society." This season's premiere follows an 11-week run of suicide bombings, apparently by radical Islamist terror cells, in cities across the country.
It's time for Muslims to stop blaming the messenger and stoking the flames of victimization. Instead of blaming Hollywood for depicting what many New Yorkers, Spaniards and Londoners have already horrifically experienced first hand, we should thank 24's producers for giving us an opportunity to experience within the protection of fiction the grim realities of what we need to wake up to.
What actually harms our current predicament as American Muslims more television like the fictional 24 or recent factual events across the globe? Arrests in the past few years of known Muslim radicals in Seattle, Lodi, Toronto, Lackawanna, Miami and London seem to spur less activity from leading Muslim organizations than a fictional drama like 24.
As an American and as a Muslim, I find 24 to be a profoundly engaging program. Its plotline ignites the most genuine sense of American Muslim fury within me against the radicals who attack our citizens and malign our faith with their political barbarism.
24's portrayal of Muslims is actually quite fair. In the show, the president's sister works for a leading Muslim civil rights organization in D.C.; she is portrayed as a protector of constitutional freedoms. The head of this Muslim organization, who is in detention, actually risks his life in order to report to authorities on other Muslim prisoners and terrorism-related conversations that have alarmed him.
The show also shows the darker, extremist side of political Islam, or Islamism. For example, an Arab Muslim youth, a previously beloved neighbor in suburban LA, turns out to be a terrorist thug who provides a key part of the nuclear device.
Many heroic Muslims have certainly privately aided our security in finding and dismantling such networks behind the scenes. But, as a faith community we have done virtually nothing publicly to fight the core political religious ideology that breeds terror.
For American Muslims, 24 offers an opportunity to address a key question: To the extent Muslims have a bad image on TV and in American culture, what can we do to change that? We need to provide a new and very public American Muslim reality that can then be written into future Hollywood scripts.
The public face of American Muslim activity against terror and against the ideology that feeds it has so far been inadequate. Other than press-release condemnations, there has been virtually no palpable concerted public effort from the greater Muslim community in this regard. If that public American Muslim movement against Islamism and its radical offshoots existed, 24's writers would have included it in the story line.
So if this drama hits too close to home, perhaps offended Muslims should use that fear as a visceral stimulus for change. It's time for hundreds of thousands of Muslims to be not only private but public in their outrage and to commit themselves to specific open engagement of the militants and their Islamism.
We, as American Muslims, should be training and encouraging our Muslim youths to become the future Jack Bauers of America. What better way to dispel stereotypes than to create hundreds of new, real images of Muslims who are publicly leading this war on the battlefield and in the domestic and foreign media against the militant Islamists.
We need to create organizations high-profile, well-funded national organizations and think tanks that are not afraid to identify al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood by name and by their mission, as the enemies of America.
Political Islam cannot be defeated by non-Muslims. It can only be defeated from the position of a spiritual love for our own faith, which needs to be liberated from theocracy.
To regain our credibility, this movement will need to specifically launch the following:
Public Muslim analysis and criticism of Islamist sermons and their exclusivist ideologies.
Public debate over the rightful place of sharia (literal religious laws) at home, not in government.
Public effective encouragement of our youth to enlist in the military, homeland security and other frontline security agencies.
Public deconstruction of the so-called Islamic goal of a caliphate and the political nature of the ummah (the Muslim community), which threatens national sovereignty.
Public and specific identification of the enemies of America and the enemies of a pluralistic Islam.
That is just a start. We should also remember to never give any one Muslim organization or any single Muslim too much credit on behalf of the entire faith community.
The reality remains that if Muslims, our organizations and various Muslim leaders publicly created just such a national and generational plan to fight Islamism rather than searching for reasons to claim victimization the issues and complaints surrounding such TV shows as 24 would disappear.
M. Zuhdi Jasser is the chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He is a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/11/2007 9:33 Comments ||
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#4
Every time CAIR opens its yap, it should have something like the following statement read to it:
"For an organization like CAIR to have any credibility, it must strongly condemn, and not just by equivocated and mumbled partial agreement, but in its own words, and loudly, those who it claims to represent who are repulsive, primitive, misogynistic, cruel, tyrannical and uncivilized. both as individuals and as groups.
"In fact, it must be at the very forefront of the condemnation of the vile and barbaric practices of the minority of people they claim to represent before it can, with any credibility, speak out against real or imagined slights against the majority of those it claims to represent, most of whom are indeed respectable, and behave appropriately around others.
"If CAIR fails to distinguish in its own people between the honorable and the dishonorable, between the criminal and the civil, between the righteous and the riotous, between the civil and the vandal, between the ignorant and the learned, and between the warlike and the peaceful; then by what right do they demand that all of these people be treated with fairness and honesty by others?
"If CAIR cannot distinguish between good and evil, and defends the unjust and the just alike as equals, then CAIR creates the very bigotry that they rail against. If you lie down with pigs, then you rise up covered in pig filth."
#10
Ya know... every time I fly and have to go through all those irritating security stuff...
Its really time that we either don't permit muslims to fly or make them fly and special planes at special remote sections of airports.
Every citizen should send CAIR a bill for the time and embarrassment at airports they have experience. Something they would not have had to endure if Islam did not exist.
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