Muslim leaders summoned to talks with the Government on tackling extremism in their midst called for public holidays to mark their religious festivals.
The Whitehall meeting was set up in response to last week's airline bomb plot discovery.
Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly had prepared an uncompromising message on the need to tackle dangerous radicalism.
But, in what she admitted were 'sharp' exchanges, some senior Muslim figures turned the tables yesterday and made a series of demands which also included the introduction of Sharia law for family matters.
Dr Syed Aziz Pasha, secretary general of the Union of Muslim Organisations of the UK and Ireland, said: 'We told her if you give us religious rights, we will be in a better position to convince young people that they are being treated equally along with other citizens.'
Dr Pasha said Miss Kelly had agreed to look at the proposals, though her spokesman insisted later that she did not favour any legal change which would give 'special treatment' for the Muslim community.
Some of the 30 moderate Muslim leaders at the meeting told Miss Kelly that important days in their two main religious festivals - Ramadan and Eid-ul-Adha - should be made public holidays for followers of the faith.
Sharia law, which is practised in large parts of the Middle East, should also be introduced in Britain, they argued. While it specifies stonings and amputations as routine punishments for crimes, Dr Pasha said he wanted it only for family affairs.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Don't ask me why, but I loved this line:
Professor Tian first met Dr Perelman at New York University in the early 1990s. “He is easy to talk to on mathematics. He likes to walk a lot,” he said. “I did not find him strange.”
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
I'm not sure the title is apropos... I'll watch this tomorrow and perhaps relabel this link myself.
= )
This article is just a little too freaky.
A mosque in Walthamstow, east London, is emerging as the hub where a number of the terror suspects may have met each other and become friends, writes Abul Taher.
At least eight suspects worshipped at the Masjid-E-Umer mosque regularly, three of whom were well known to those that run it.
Waheed Zaman, 22, lived opposite the mosque on Queens Road, and is believed to have prayed five time a day. Zaman, a final-year biochemistry student at London Metropolitan University, is understood to have become friends there with Ibrahim Savant, 25, a white convert to Islam, and Muhammed Usman Saddeque, 24. All three were known as “good Muslims” to mosque officials.
Savant is believed to have converted to Islam about five years ago.
It is understood that the Hussain brothers, Umair, 25, Nabeel, 22, and Mehran, were all frequent worshippers at the mosque, though they are known to have worshipped at others in the area. They used to sell alcohol-free perfumes outside mosques during prayer times.
All three brothers are believed to be students at universities around London.
A senior Muslim leader said brothers Assan Abdullah Khan, 23, and Waheed Khan, 25, also visited the mosque.
The Umer mosque, which is one of the biggest in the area with a capacity of about 1,300, adheres to the strict Deobandi sect of Sunni Islam, which derives from the Indian subcontinent.
No extremist Muslim groups have infiltrated the mosque but it is believed that local fanatics have distributed leaflets outside during prayer times.
Iqbal Mehtar, a trustee of the mosque, said: “Every mosque has that problem. There is nothing we can do about it.”
The mosque does allow a missionary Islamic group, Tablighi Jamaat, to preach inside. The sect is known for its tendency towards secrecy.
Western security services have in the past accused the global Tablighi movement of being a “conveyor belt” for terrorism.
However, members of the Tablighi Jamaat say they do not advocate any kind of terrorism or violence, and forbid their followers from discussing politics during prayers.
The Umer mosque, which was formerly a synagogue, was reopened after a refurbishment that cost more than £2m three years ago.
This weekend friends of Zaman rallied in support of the arrested men outside the mosque. Mohammed, 24, a fellow student at London Metropolitan University, said: “Wahid used to do a lot of community work on his own. He used to go and force people to get off drugs. He used to preach to them about Islam.”
Another friend of Zaman, who identified himself as Ali, 30, said: “Look, this mosque has had no problems with extremism. It’s just a normal mosque.”
The IT consultant added: “These people they have grabbed cannot be the people they really wanted because if British or US intelligence are saying they are capable of bringing planes down then we are very worried. These are very simple people who would not be able to do this.”
Last week, after Friday prayers, Maulana Shoaib, the imam of the mosque, appealed for calm.
Reading from a statement, he said: “The Masjid urges the Muslim community to remain calm and assist the authorities with the ongoing investigation.
“We urge all to be mindful of the fact that despite what is said in the media people are innocent until proven guilty.”
Friday, August 11, 2006
I'd roll my eyes, but it's been such a material-filled week that they've already left the building.
: |
[snip]
Callers to my radio show today ran the gamut over this latest example of terrorist threats. One man made the perfect analogy, comparing the way we teach our children to stand up to the schoolyard bully to the way the United States is leading the world-wide war on terror. “Every culture understands this concept”, he said. “If the bully is left alone, he never goes away. Ned Lamont and many liberal Democrats think if we leave the terrorists alone, they’ll just peacefully mind their own business, never bothering us again.” I thought his point was terrific.
And then there was Amanda.
She was calling from Colorado, and she chastised me for embracing violence as a solution to violence. “You right-wingers love blood and guts and you never have any sympathy for the other side”, she said. “The other side?” I asked. “You mean the terrorists?” She responded with a sneer in her voice: “You just don’t understand. They feel that WE’RE the terrorists. You conservatives are wrong in defining this war as something between good and evil.”
I had just about had enough. “Amanda, let me ask you something”, I said. “Do you consider the 19 hijackers of 9/11 evil?” Long pause. “No, I do not,” she replied. “We should look at ourselves to discover what we did to make them hate us so much. This is all our fault.”
Make no mistake, this woman was serious. I actually told her I hoped she was a comedienne, someone making a prank call to a national radio show. She assured me that she was not. So I had to ask her what she did for a living. Her answer will haunt me for a long, long time: “I’m a schoolteacher.”
This war is so complicated because we are fighting an entity that is all over the world, an enemy with no geographical boundaries. It’s also tough because we all know that it’s a war that will be fought for many, many generations.
But most of all, it’s so difficult because not every one of our enemies are named Ahmed and Muhammad and Abdul.
Some of America’s enemies in this war are named Ned. And Cindy. And Amanda.
As the saying goes, if he didn't have double standards, he'd have no standards at all.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
This is totally off-topic today... but, for future reference...
http://www.mega.nu/ampp/communism2.html
European Socialism
Prophet of Decline
An interview with Oriana Fallaci.
NEW YORK--Oriana Fallaci faces jail. In her mid-70s, stricken with a cancer that, for the moment, permits only the consumption of liquids--so yes, we drank champagne in the course of a three-hour interview--one of the most renowned journalists of the modern era has been indicted by a judge in her native Italy under provisions of the Italian Penal Code which proscribe the "vilipendio," or "vilification," of "any religion admitted by the state."
In her case, the religion deemed vilified is Islam, and the vilification was perpetrated, apparently, in a book she wrote last year--and which has sold many more than a million copies all over Europe--called "The Force of Reason." Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah." So in a nutshell, Oriana Fallaci faces up to two years' imprisonment for her beliefs--which is one reason why she has chosen to stay put in New York. Let us give thanks for the First Amendment.
It is a shame, in so many ways, that "vilipend," the latinate word that is the pinpoint equivalent in English of the Italian offense in question, is scarcely ever used in the Anglo-American lexicon; for it captures beautifully the pomposity, as well as the anachronistic outlandishness, of the law in question. A "vilification," by contrast, sounds so sordid, so tabloid--hardly fitting for a grande dame.
"When I was given the news," Ms. Fallaci says of her recent indictment, "I laughed. Bitterly, of course, but I laughed. No amusement, no surprise, because the trial is nothing else but a demonstration that everything I've written is true." An activist judge in Bergamo, in northern Italy, took it upon himself to admit a complaint against Ms. Fallaci that even the local prosecutors would not touch. The complainant, one Adel Smith--who, despite his name, is Muslim, and an incendiary public provocateur to boot--has a history of anti-Fallaci crankiness, and is widely believed to be behind the publication of a pamphlet, "Islam Punishes Oriana Fallaci," which exhorts Muslims to "eliminate" her. (Ironically, Mr. Smith, too, faces the peculiar charge of vilipendio against religion--Roman Catholicism in his case--after he described the Catholic Church as "a criminal organization" on television. Two years ago, he made news in Italy by filing suit for the removal of crucifixes from the walls of all public-school classrooms, and also, allegedly, for flinging a crucifix out of the window of a hospital room where his mother was being treated. "My mother will not die in a room where there is a crucifix," he said, according to hospital officials.)
Ms. Fallaci speaks in a passionate growl: "Europe is no longer Europe, it is 'Eurabia,' a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense. Servility to the invaders has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept itself of liberty." Such words--"invaders," "invasion," "colony," "Eurabia"--are deeply, immensely, Politically Incorrect; and one is tempted to believe that it is her tone, her vocabulary, and not necessarily her substance or basic message, that has attracted the ire of the judge in Bergamo (and has made her so radioactive in the eyes of Europe's cultural elites).
"Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder," the historian Arnold Toynbee wrote, and these words could certainly be Ms. Fallaci's. She is in a black gloom about Europe and its future: "The increased presence of Muslims in Italy, and in Europe, is directly proportional to our loss of freedom." There is about her a touch of Oswald Spengler, the German philosopher and prophet of decline, as well as a flavor of Samuel Huntington and his clash of civilizations. But above all there is pessimism, pure and unashamed. When I ask her what "solution" there might be to prevent the European collapse of which she speaks, Ms. Fallaci flares up like a lit match. "How do you dare to ask me for a solution? It's like asking Seneca for a solution. You remember what he did?" She then says "Phwah, phwah," and gestures at slashing her wrists. "He committed suicide!" Seneca was accused of being involved in a plot to murder the emperor Nero. Without a trial, he was ordered by Nero to kill himself. One senses that Ms. Fallaci sees in Islam the shadow of Nero. "What could Seneca do?" she asks, with a discernible shudder. "He knew it would end that way--with the fall of the Roman Empire. But he could do nothing."
The impending Fall of the West, as she sees it, now torments Ms. Fallaci. And as much as that Fall, what torments her is the blithe way in which the West is marching toward its precipice of choice. "Look at the school system of the West today. Students do not know history! They don't, for Christ's sake. They don't know who Churchill was! In Italy, they don't even know who Cavour was!"--a reference to Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the conservative father, with the radical Garibaldi, of Modern Italy. Ms. Fallaci, rarely reverent, pauses here to reflect on the man, and on the question of where all the conservatives have gone in Europe. "In the beginning, I was dismayed, and I asked, how is it possible that we do not have Cavour . . . just one Cavour, uno? He was a revolutionary, and yes, he was not of the left. Italy needs a Cavour--Europe needs a Cavour." Ms. Fallaci describes herself, too, as "a revolutionary"--"because I do what conservatives in Europe don't do, which is that I don't accept to be treated like a delinquent." She professes to "cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics somehow."
Here she pauses to light a slim black cigarillo, and then to take a sip of champagne. Its chill makes her grimace, but fortified, she returns to vehement speech, more clearly evocative of Oswald Spengler than at any time in our interview. "You cannot survive if you do not know the past. We know why all the other civilizations have collapsed--from an excess of welfare, of richness, and from lack of morality, of spirituality." (She uses "welfare" here in the sense of well-being, so she is talking, really, of decadence.) "The moment you give up your principles, and your values . . . the moment you laugh at those principles, and those values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period." The force with which she utters the word "dead" here is startling. I reach for my flute of champagne, as if for a crutch.
"I feel less alone when I read the books of Ratzinger." I had asked Ms. Fallaci whether there was any contemporary leader she admired, and Pope Benedict XVI was evidently a man in whom she reposed some trust. "I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. It's that simple! There must be some human truth here that is beyond religion."
Ms. Fallaci, who made her name by interviewing numerous statesmen (and not a few tyrants), believes that ours is "an age without leaders. We stopped having leaders at the end of the 20th century." Of George Bush, she will concede only that he has "vigor," and that he is "obstinate" (in her book a compliment) and "gutsy. . . . Nobody obliged him to do anything about Terri Schiavo, or to take a stand on stem cells. But he did."
But it is "Ratzinger" (as she insists on calling the pope) who is her soulmate. John Paul II--"Wojtyla"--was a "warrior, who did more to end the Soviet Union than even America," but she will not forgive him for his "weakness toward the Islamic world. Why, why was he so weak?"
The scant hopes that she has for the West she rests on his successor. As a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI wrote frequently on the European (and the Western) condition. Last year, he wrote an essay titled "If Europe Hates Itself," from which Ms. Fallaci reads this to me: "The West reveals . . . a hatred of itself, which is strange and can only be considered pathological; the West . . . no longer loves itself; in its own history, it now sees only what is deplorable and destructive, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure."
"Ecco!" she says. A man after her own heart. "Ecco!" But I cannot be certain whether I see triumph in her eyes, or pain.
As for the vilipendio against Islam, she refuses to attend the trial in Bergamo, set for June 2006. "I don't even know if I will be around next year. My cancers are so bad that I think I've arrived at the end of the road. What a pity. I would like to live not only because I love life so much, but because I'd like to see the result of the trial. I do think I will be found guilty."
At this point she laughs. Bitterly, of course, but she laughs.
Sources identify the three, who are now in custody, as:
--Rashid Rauf
--Mohammed al-Ghandra
--Ahmed al Khan
Sound Amish.
I think I'm going to throw up.
AP via Yahoo! ^ | 08/10/06 | APIranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States of harboring imperial ambitions and demanded the administration change its behavior, in an interview with a US television network.
The Americans "want to build an empire," said Ahmadinejad, according to excerpts of the interview published by the CBS network on its website Wednesday.
"And they don't want to live side-by-side in peace with other nations. The American government, sir, it is very clear to me they have to change their behavior and everything will be resolved," said Ahmadinejad.
The interview, which was to be broadcast in full on Sunday on the "60 minutes" program, coincides with rising tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran's disputed nuclear program and Israel's offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The hardline Iranian president said the administration of President George W. Bush had adopted a condescending attitude towards Iran over its nuclear program and criticized a UN Security Council resolution requiring Tehran suspend uranium enrichment activities or face the prospect of sanctions.
"Well, please look at the makeup of the American administration, the behavior of the American administration. See how they talk down to my nation. And this recent resolution passed about the nuclear issue, look at the wording."
The July 31 resolution was pushed through after Iran ignored a previous non-binding deadline and failed to respond to an international offer of a package of incentives in exchange for a moratorium on nuclear fuel work.
Ahmadinejad said Iran was still reviewing the package of incentives.
Western powers had "presented us with a package which we are studying right now," the president said. "We even gave them a date for our response. Ignoring that, they passed a resolution."
Ahmadinejad also expressed disappointment that the US administration had not responded to a letter he sent to Bush in May, which Tehran had presented as an important diplomatic initiative.
"Well, (with the letter) I wanted to open a window towards the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective," he said.
The Bush administration, however, dismissed the 18-page letter as little more than a rambling philosophical treatise that offered nothing new on the nuclear crisis.
Ahmadinejad scoffed at Bush for refusing his "invitation" in the form of his letter.
"We are all free to choose. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate," he said.
"You see that his approval rating is dropping every day. Hatred vis-a-vis the president is increasing every day around the world."
CBS said the interview was conducted on Tuesday.
Here's my FR response:
66 posted on 08/10/2006 11:38:29 AM CDT by AnnaZ"Well, (with the letter) I [Ahmadinejad] wanted to open a window towards the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective," he said.Ahmonajihad is once again here reiterating his invitation to Bush to convert to Islam. (First the letter, then a verbal declaration to other Muslin leaders shortly thereafter in Indonesia. Now directly to "us".)The Bush administration, however, dismissed the 18-page letter as little more than a rambling philosophical treatise that offered nothing new on the nuclear crisis.
Ahmadinejad scoffed at Bush for refusing his "invitation" in the form of his letter.
"We are all free to choose. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate," he said.
Within the media we are beset by such stultifying ignorance and/or denial that it is breathtaking.
Thanks, SeeBS, for giving this fanatic a forum for America to hear the invitation. You've succeeded in clearing the nutjob's conscience for whatever carnage he envisions.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
(IsraelNN.com) The day after it was revealed that a Reuters News Agency doctored photographs to show an anti-Israel bias, the news service incorrectly reported Tuesday afternoon that the IDF bombed a funeral procession in Lebanon.
Reuters has corrected without apology its earlier story that the IDF strafed a funeral procession and updated the report to state that the bombs struck a village at the same time the funeral was taking place, adding that "the air strike was not in the immediate vicinity of the funeral."
Monday, August 07, 2006
I couldn't make this event -- conflicts, Shabbat... -- but there it is.
= )
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Saturday, August 05, 2006
I've been kvetching about this to my friends for a couple of weeks now. Every "hottest day ever" this summer has been lower than other same-days in the past.
Don't believe the hype -- even if Gore makes a sequel.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Absolutely every facet of this story is sick, and enraging. Read on only if you don't have blood pressure issues.
Iran, of course. My fave line:
"The investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief," is the rule of law in Iran's constitution.
However, a secret service official with responsibilities for minorities, identified only as Mr. Bagani, advised that Motamadi will not be freed unless he renounces his faith and returns to Islam.
Bagani told sources for the Commission the judge in the case will accept no other solution. He also hinted it may take several executions before Iranians realize the consequences of apostasy.
Bolton rocks, Dims and RINOs are fools. But that's redundant.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Delusion, madness, lies, insanity... this speech has got 'em all:
Tehran, Iran, Aug. 02 – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted United States policy in the Middle East and warned of an impending Muslim “jihad”, or holy war, against the West.
“Today, it is clear for everyone that the aggression against Lebanon was a premeditated U.S.-Zionist action as a key step in the path of dominating the Middle East and the Islamic world”, Khamenei said. His comments were reported in the official news agency IRNA and aired in part on state television on Wednesday.
“Today, Muslim nations more than ever despise the U.S.”, he said.
“With its support of the Zionists crimes and criminals and its blatant aggression against the rights of Muslim nations, the U.S. regime must be prepared for a hard slap and a destructive punch by Muslims”, Khamenei said.
“The U.S. is following a policy of creating insecurity, crisis, and war in the region”, he said, adding, “It must know that the more it expands insecurity, the more it will arouse the anger of nations against it and make the world insecure for itself”.
Khamenei praised the Lebanese militia Hezbollah for taking part in a “jihad” against the “enemies of Islam”, stating that the group was on the “frontline” of the defence of Muslims.
“The aggressive actions and nature of the U.S. and Israel will revive the spirit of resistance in the Islamic world and will make the value of jihad more prevalent for it”, Khamenei added.
“Islamic Iran believes resistance against American bullying and aggression and mischief by Israel to be its duty and will stand alongside all oppressed nations, especially the dear people of Lebanon and the combatant Palestinian nation”, he added.
The head of the Federal Government's Muslim Advisory Group says Hezbollah is not a terrorist organisation and should be removed from a list of banned organisations.
Dr Ameer Ali has also accused the Australian Government of having no independent policy on the Middle East, saying it follows the United States and Israel.
He says Hezbollah should not be considered in the same league as Al Qaeda.
Dr Ali says he is going to write to Mr Howard asking for the group to be removed from a list of banned terrorist organisations.
"Hezbollah is not a terrorist organisation, it's not a organisation like Al Qaeda which is bent on creating wanton violence all over the world," he said.
"They are not doing that, it's a part of Lebanese politics, it's part of south Lebanon."
But the Prime Minister has strongly rejected Dr Ali's call.
"Rethink our proscription of it as a terrorist organisation? No chance, full stop. No chance at all," Mr Howard said.
Clementine Ford of Adelaide, Australia wrote in response that because the "reasoning for abortion is personal…there can be no definable ‘valid’ reason for having one."
"Personally, I aborted my parasite because of failed contraception and a fervent desire not to breed right now. I feel no guilt for my actions."
Yowsers... a real lovin' doll, that one.
A snippet:
McKinney dismissed the recent poll in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and said her attorney sent a letter to the newspaper demanding that the newspaper stop publishing poll stories that show Johnson in the lead.
"We notified them of their libelist writing," McKinney said in an interview. "We advised them to cease and desist and offer a retraction."
Good ol' Cynthia McKooky.
Lots of pix at (my) thread.
What does this have to do with important world events? Nothing.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Originally in Macleans.
The scandal isn't a tardy evacuation; it's that we've fostered so many indifferent citizens
Here's one of my favourite numbers: 50,000 -- as in "50,000 Canadians," as in "As many as 50,000 Canadians are believed to be in Lebanon" (CBC News), and "There were an estimated 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon when fighting broke out" (Canadian Press), and "There were some 50,000 Canadians in harm's way, trapped in a country that Israel was relentlessly bombing" (the Toronto Star).
The question is: Why are they "in harm's way"? How did "50,000 Canadians" come to be in Lebanon? Is it one of our major trading partners? Has Bombardier opened up a Ski-Doo plant there? Is Beirut where the Quebec Nordiques wound up? 50,000 Canucks out of a total Lebanese population of 3.8 million works out to about 1.3 per cent of the population. Hezbollah claims 400,000 supporters in Lebanon after 20 years of diligent recruiting and investment by Iran, but Canada has managed to amass an eighth of that figure with nary a thought. Despite significantly smaller populations than our G7 colleagues, we have more citizens in Lebanon than the Americans, British and Germans.
Combined.
France is the former colonial power in Lebanon and the Western country with which it maintains the closest ties, yet even the French can muster only 30,000 citizens in the country. Formerly known as "the Paris of the Middle East," these days Beirut would appear to be the Saskatoon of the Middle East. Another decade or two and Lebanon will boast more Canadians than most of the Maritimes. If Canadians were represented within the global population as generously as they are among the Lebanese, there would be over 81 million Canadian citizens living outside Canada.
[snip]
