Learning in Arabic about Jews and Judaism

Via Daniel Pipes:

When I lived in Cairo in the 1970s, I conducted a little experiment: What, using only Arabic-language sources, could I learn about Jews, Judaism, Jewish history, Jewish culture, and the like? The paucity of resources stunned me; basically, the best way to learn about these subjects was to read between the lines of antisemitic tracts.

It is therefore with delight that I read today that the American Jewish Committee, under the directorship of Yehudit Barsky, has launched a new website, Asl Al-Yahud ("origins of the Jews"), that deals in Arabic with these subjects, with an emphasis on the history of Jews in Arabic-speaking lands. As a press release explains,

The website offers information about Jewish lifecycle events, holidays and religious practice. The website also contains a timeline of Jewish history, audio and graphic components, and a special section for users to submit questions. An Asl Al-Yahud staff member will answer the questions, in Arabic, allowing users to comfortably interact in their native tongue. The content was created originally in Arabic by Ephraim Gabbai, a descendent of the Iraqi Jewish community. The site is visually authentic to Middle Eastern design and highlights cultural practices shared by Muslims and Jews from Arabic-speaking nations around the globe.

Comment: (1) There is much curiosity among Muslims about Jews and I expect this website will have a sizeable readership. (2) The website needs much more content to achieve its potential; the "History" tab, for example, contains a mere three paragraphs.

Did Divine Intervention Fell Ariel Sharon?

Via Daniel Pipes, Did Divine Intervention Fell Ariel Sharon?

In January 2006, when Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had a stroke, permanently incapacitating him, the American evangelical leader Pat Robertson attributed Sharon's medical condition to divine intervention resulting from Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza a few months earlier.

The book of Joel, the prophet Joel, makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, "divide my land." God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says "this is my land," and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says "No, this is mine." Here, he‘s at the point of death. He was dividing God‘s land. And I would say, woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, "This land belongs to me." You better leave it alone.

These remarks drew criticism from many sources, ranging from the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America to the Anti-Defamation League to the People for the American Way ("Once again, Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity and arrogance"). The White House spokesman called the comments "wholly inappropriate and offensive." The Israeli government came down hard on Robertson, raising doubts about going through with the US$50 million Christian Heritage Center planned for the northern Galilee. Ido Hartuv, spokesman for Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson, said "We will not do business with him, only with other evangelicals who don't back these comments."

Subsequently, Robertson apologized for his statement, writing in a hand-delivered letter to Sharon's son Omri:

My concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father's illness. … I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel.

I mention this history because a Mutagim poll published today asks Israelis about the question of Sharon and divine intervention. It turns up a remarkable result:

There are those who connect Sharon's health condition to the disengagement plan from Gush Katif and northern Samaria and they see it as a punishment.

Do you think so?
Yes: 27 percent
No: 73 percent

Percent who said yes by religiosity:
National religious: 58.5 percent
Ultra orthodox: 57 percent
Traditional: 27.5 percent
Secular: 14 percent

Comment: Note that more than one quarter of Israelis, not evangelicals, agree with Robertson. This suggests a more profoundly religious quality to Israeli political life than is usually recognized. (December 27, 2007)

Countries Threatened with Extinction

From Daniel Pipes:

Quiz time: Which Middle Eastern country disappeared from the map not long ago for more than six months?

Answer: Kuwait, which disappeared from August 1990 to February 1991, becoming Iraq's 19th province. This brutal conquest by Saddam Hussein culminated intermittent Iraqi claims going back to the 1930s. Restoring Kuwait's sovereignty required a huge American-led expeditionary force of more than half a million soldiers.

This history comes to mind because an Iranian spokesman recently enunciated a somewhat similar threat against Bahrain. Hossein Shariatmadari, an associate of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and editor of the daily newspaper Kayhan, published an op-ed on July 9 in which he claimed: "Bahrain is part of Iran's soil, having been separated from it through an illegal conspiracy [spawned] by ... Shah [Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, along with] the American and British governments." Referring to Bahrain's majority Shiite population, Mr. Shariatmadari went on to claim, without any proof: "The principal demand of the Bahraini people today is to return this province … to its mother, Islamic Iran."

These comments, the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) reports, "caused a storm in Bahrain," with protesters outside the Iranian Embassy, severe statements by the government, alarmed resolutions by both houses of parliament, and even a fatwa prescribing death for Bahrainis who should endorse this Iranian irredentism. Other Persian Gulf states joined in with equally scathing statements.

The subject is a sensitive one. Tehran's claims on Bahrain go back to 1958, when it declared the island to be Iran's 14th province, even apportioning it two seats in the national parliament. Although the shah formally recognized Bahrain's independence in 1970, claims such as Mr. Shariatmadari's have surfaced episodically and are reminiscent of periodic Iraqi claims to Kuwait before 1990.

Click here to read more on the absurdity of seeing the Arab-Israeli conflict as the force of the entire region's problems. Each endangered Arab state faces its own unique circumstances; none of them drives regional politics as a whole. Solving the Arab-Israeli conflict does no more than solve that specific conflict.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations praise Osama bin Laden

Via Daniel Pipes:

The Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations each have a problem. As perhaps the most prominent and effective Islamist organizations in the United States, they have distinct stylistic and ideological characteristics but work together effectively as a one-two punch. Their problem concerns two of their most prominent staffers, Edina Lekovic of MPAC and Hussam Ayloush of CAIR.

Lekovic, who serves as MPAC’s communications director, appeared on CNBC’s Kudlow & Company with counterterrorism specialist Steven Emerson on May 23, where they discussed a Pew Research Center poll on U.S. Muslim attitudes.

The exchange took place at the end of their segment (which can be viewed here).

Later in the day, Emerson provided evidence of his claim at “MPAC in Denial about Radicalization of Muslim Youth?”:

in July 1999, she is clearly listed as the Managing Editor of Al-Talib, in the upper right hand corner. This column was published almost a full year after the Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. At this point, the role of Bin-Laden in these bombings was widely and publicly known.

Do click on the link to the July 1999 issue of Al-Talib: The Muslim Newsmagazine at UCLA. The masthead clearly lists Edina Lekovic as one of its two managing editors. And the text, written by “The Al-Talib staff,” contains the passage Emerson quoted: “When we hear someone refer to the great Mujahid …, Osama bin Laden, as a ‘terrorist,’ we should defend our brother and refer to him as a freedom fighter.”

Freedom fighter, my a$$. More like depraved serial killer.

Reviving Hitler's "Big Lie" to Vilify the Jewish State

From Reviving Hitler's "Big Lie" to Vilify the Jewish State:

"If today's Arab anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda strongly resembles that of the Third Reich, there is a good reason." So writes an associate of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Joel Fishman, in "The Big Lie and the Media War Against Israel" (Jewish Political Studies Review, Spring 2007), an insightful new piece of historical research. Fishman begins by noting today's topsy-turvy situation: Because Israel defends its citizens against terrorism, conventional warfare, and weapons of mass destruction, it is perceived as a dangerous predator. How did such an insane inversion of reality - the Middle East's only fully free and democratic country being seen as the leading global menace - come to be?

UC-Intifada

From UC-Intifada:

On Jan. 31, Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes gave a talk at the University of California at Irvine titled, "The Threat to Israel's Existence." Roughly 100 members of UCI's Muslim Student Union occupied the central seats in the lecture hall, most wearing t-shirts reading "UC Intifada." A coordinated disruption began about five minutes into the talk. After the protesters exited the building while chanting slogans, student Reut Cohen followed the MSU students outside with her video camera running. Cohen's video of an organizer of the protest declaring: "It's just a matter of time before the State of Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth" immediately began circulating on the Internet and was aired on Fox News.

Request from D. Pipes concerning taxis & alcohol in Minnesota

Received by email from D. Pipes:
-------------------------------

Dear Reader:

A further decision is due in the controversy over taxi drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport who refuse to transport passengers visibly carrying alcohol. The Metropolitan Airports Commission, which has jurisdiction over the drivers, invites the public’s opinion; and I urge your involvement.

MAC has sent a notice (which I have posted in full on my website, at http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/679#meeting
that recounts developments since its decision in October 2006 to deny requests by drivers to distinguish between Shar’i-compliant and –noncompliant taxis. MAC writes:

For the past several months, the Metropolitan Airports Commission has worked with airport taxi industry representatives and with leaders from the Muslim American Society and the Somali Justice Advocacy League. The goal was to find a solution acceptable to everyone and transparent to the customer seeking airport taxi service. Unfortunately, those discussions have not resulted in a workable, voluntary, consensus-based solution. As a result, the Airports Commission is proposing stricter penalties for refusal of service: a 30-day suspension of a driver's airport taxi license for the first instance, and license revocation for a second instance.

Bravo to MAC. It is important that the drivers be sent a strong signal that they must obey the regulations. Were they allowed to boycott travelers with alcohol, I pointed out in “Don't Bring That Booze into My Taxi,” that would intrude Islamic law “into a mundane commercial transaction in Minnesota” and could lead to the transport system as a whole being divided “between those Islamically observant and those not so.”

I appealed to readers in October to urge MAC to impose penalties on those who insist on imposing Shar’i norms in Minnesota and to send a message that this practice is unacceptable. The barrage of e-mails and phone calls had the hoped-for effect. According to airport spokesman Patrick Hogan back then, “we’ve heard from Australia and England. It’s really touched a nerve among a lot of people. The backlash, frankly, has been overwhelming. People are overwhelmingly against any kind of cultural accommodation.”

Again now, I appeal to all those opposed to application of the Shari‘a in the United States to make their views heard in Minnesota. You can do this in either of two ways.

In writing: MAC is asking for “input from the public” through Friday, March 2, 2007, before it makes a decision on the proposed increase in penalties. Written comments should be addressed to:

Landside Operations Department
Metropolitan Airports Commission
MSP International Airport/Lindbergh Terminal
4300 Glumack Drive
Suite LT-3129B
Saint Paul, MN 55111-3010.

In person: For those living in the Twin Cities area, MAC will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, February 27, 2007, at 2 p.m., to solicit testimony from the public via verbal or written testimony. The location will be at:

Ramada Mall of America (formerly, the Thunderbird Hotel)
2300 East American Boulevard
Bloomington, Minnesota

I thank you in advance.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel Pipes

Radical Islam vs. Civilization

By Daniel Pipes via FrontPage:

Text of a talk presented by Daniel Pipes on January 20, 2007, in London in a debate with the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, as transcribed by the 910 Group with the help of others. The original posting of the video can be seen at YouTube; for a single clip version, see the posting at the Global Defense Group. For accounts of the debate, see the bibliography at “My Debate with London Mayor Ken Livingstone.”

Who is Ken Livingstone? Don't ask.

Video: Stand up to Ahmadinejad

Via Daniel Pipes from Aish.com:



Stand Up To Ahmadinejad

Aish.com's new 2 minute movie.

http://www.Aish.com/Iran/DP

Ahmadinejad, here's hoping you die screaming.

Daniel Pipes to debate London Mayor Ken Livingstone

Folks, show your support for Daniel Pipes as he debates the Jew-hater Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, England. For more on Ken Livingstone, click here. Received by email from Daniel Pipes:
----------

Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, England, has invited me to debate him on Saturday, January 20, 2007, 10-12 a.m., at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. This event will be the centerpiece of a conference organized by the Greater London Authority, the city’s government, titled “A World Civilization or a Clash of Civilizations.”

For more details on the conference, see this.

To sign up for (free) tickets, go here.

I would be delighted if you can attend.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel Pipes

Americanism wins out

Excerpts from Daniel Pipes, via FrontPage:

A week ago, it appeared likely that Muslim taxi drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport would win special dispensation to avoid transporting alcohol-carrying passengers. The Metropolitan Airports Commission had proposed to give those Shari’a-minded drivers an off-colored light atop their cabs, allowing them to remain in queue while customers with bottles found other cabs.

A press release issued later that day, “Proposed Taxi Test Program Canceled at Minneapolis-St. Paul International; Other Options Will be Considered To Improve Taxi Service,” explained that public response to the proposed program “has been overwhelmingly against creation of a two-tiered taxi service system.”

Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan further elaborated: Since the airport began making plans for the two-light solution, “we’ve heard from Australia and England. It’s really touched a nerve among a lot of people. The backlash, frankly, has been overwhelming. People are overwhelmingly against any kind of cultural accommodation.” That backlash, Hogan said, included 400 e-mails and phone calls.

Hassan Mohamud, vice president of Minnesota MAS, naturally expressed his disappointment in the decision. “More than half the taxi drivers are Muslim and ignoring the sensibilities of that community at the airport I think is not fair.” But other Muslims publicly dismissed the drivers’ fastidiousness. Mahmoud Ayoub, an Islamic scholar at Temple University, stressed that Islam bans drinking alcohol, not carrying it. “I know many Muslims who own gas stations [where beer is sold] and sell ham sandwiches. They justify it and I think rightly so, [saying] that they have to make a living.”

The Free Muslims Coalition announced it is “disgusted” by the Muslim drivers’ behavior, on two grounds: First, “Most Muslims don’t agree that cab drivers are prohibited from transporting alcohol. Islam merely prohibits Muslims from drinking alcohol and those drivers are seeking to impose their religious values on others.” Second, “When the cab drivers chose to drive a cab they entered into an agreement to perform a public service that is essential to the economy of any city. They have no right to refuse a fare because the passenger is holding a bottle of wine or other spirits.” Kamal Nawash, president of the Free Muslims Coalition, added: “These taxi cab drivers basically think they’re living in their own countries where it’s OK to impose your religious beliefs upon others.”

Exactly. Islamists need to understand that the Constitution rules in the United States, not Shari’a, and Americans will vigorously ensure that it continues to do so.

My Invitation From al-Qaeda By Robert Spencer...And my counter-offer

Folks, as I wrote here, one of the foremost experts on Islam, Robert Spencer, was singled out in the latest videot-tape released by al-Qaeda. Robert Spencers response to al-Qaeda's threat that he convert is excerpted here, from My Invitation From al-Qaeda By Robert Spencer...And my counter-offer:

In American al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn’s convert-to-Islam-or-die message to America released last Saturday, he extends a special invitation to the President, as well as to Daniel Pipes, Michael Scheuer, Steve Emerson – and me:

If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the crusader-in-chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam. And we send a special invitation to all of you fighting Bush’s crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever else W. has sent you to die.

Gadahn also praises Western leftist sycophants and apologists for the global jihad, and invites them to become Muslims as well:

Why not surrender to the truth? Escape from the unbelieving army and join the winning side. As for those who have expressed their respect and admiration for Islam, and acknowledged that it is the truth and demonstrated the support and sympathy for the Muslims and their causes like George Galloway, Robert Fisk, and countless others, I say to them, isn’t it time you stopped sitting on the fence and came over to the side of truth?...Abandon unbelief and accept the truth.

It is important to note that Gadahn’s “invitation” to Islam is coupled with a threat of violence: “To Americans and the rest of Christendom we say, either repent (your) misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself and suffer the consequences in this world and the next….” In this, Gadahn is following the example of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, who told his followers:

“When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action…Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them…If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya [the tax on non-Muslims specified in Qur’an 9:29]. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them” (Sahih Muslim 4294).

Muhammad’s directions here to extend an invitation to Islam and follow it with a threat were also followed recently by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. For his part, Gadahn calls the Islamic prophet Muhammad “the chief and master of Adam’s children, and the embodiment of high morals and good character.”

The thuggishness of Gadahn and the supremacist creed for which he has become a salesman was evident in other parts of his message. “Islam,” he explained, “is the only religion acceptable to God and came with the revealed book, the Koran, which abrogates all previous revelations, like the Torah and Evangel [Gospel]... God recognizes no separation between religion and state.” In this he makes an expression of the Islamic supremacism that delegitimizes the religious traditions of Jews and Christians. In line with the Qur’an (3:67), Gadahn says, “Abraham was neither a Jew or a Christian, but was a Muslim hanif.” (A “hanif” is a pre-Islamic monotheist.) In other words, Judaism and Christianity as practiced today have no legitimacy, but are merely renegade corruptions of the true religion, Islam.

Read Robert Spencer's full response, here.

Muslims threaten the forefront experts on Islam

In the 48-minute video posted on an Islamic militant website last Saturday which I posted about here, al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri appears with Adam Yehiye Gadahn, a 28-year-old American convert to Islam and threatens invites the forefront experts on Islam to convert: Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, and Steven Emerson. Here is Daniel Pipes reply:

In a statement today, Al-Qaeda's American rep, Adam Gadahn (né Adam Perlman, whom the FBI seeks "in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States"), has this to say:

If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the crusader-in-chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam."

So, Al-Qaeda wants me and my "sword" (a reference, presumably, to my computer keyboard) to join its efforts. My response to Gadahn:

I note your offer for me to change sides in the current war. But I am faithful to my own religion, to my own country, and to my civilization. I will do my part to defeat radical, totalitarian Islam and to usher in the emergence of a modern, moderate, and good-neighborly Islam in its place.

By way of postscript, Gadahn praises three Westerners: Seymour Hersh, George Galloway, and Robert Fisk. This is in keeping with Osama bin Laden's praising William Blum.

Folks, you better get on the horn and start raising the alarm about the audacious supremacy of Islam and its fanatical adherents. Start spreading the word and warn others because soon you and your family will be threatened invited to participate in this cult too.

Time to Profile Airline Passengers? by Daniel Pipes

FrontPage magazine.com :: Time to Profile Airline Passengers? by Daniel Pipes:
---------------
The debate over profiling airline passengers revived after the thwarted Islamist plot to bomb ten airplanes in London on Aug. 10. The sad fact it, due to a mixture of inertia, denial, cowardice, and political correctness, Western airport security services – with the notable exception of Israel's – continue to search primarily for the implements of terrorism, while largely ignoring passengers.

Although there has been some progress since 9/11, most involves the scrutiny of all travelers' actions. For example, in 2003, the Transportation Security Administration, charged with protecting U.S. airplanes, launched a passenger profiling system known as Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, now operating in twelve U.S. airports.

Adopting techniques used by the U.S. Customs Service and by Israeli airport security, SPOT is, according to TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis, "the antidote to racial profiling." Relying on "behavioral pattern recognition," it discerns, she says, "extremely high levels of stress, fear and deception." SPOT agents observe passengers moving about the airport, with TSA agents looking for such physical symptoms as sweating, rigid posture, and clenched fists. A screener then engages "selectees" in conversation and asks unexpected questions, looking at body language for signs of unnatural responses. Most selectees are immediately released but about one-fifth are interviewed by the police.

After the London plot, the British authorities have instituted a crash-course in SPOT, learning directly from their American counterparts.

Building on this approach, an Israeli machine, called Cogito, uses algorithms, artificial-intelligence software, and polygraph principles to discern passengers with "hostile intent." In trial runs with control groups, the machine incorrectly fingered 8 percent of innocent travelers as potential threats and let 15 percent of the role-acting terrorists slip through.

While methods that target the whole population have general value – SPOT did discover passengers with forged visas, fake IDs, stolen airline tickets, and various forms of contraband – its utility for counterterrorism is dubious. Terrorists trained to answer questions convincingly, to avoid sweating, and control stress should easily be able to evade the system.

The airport disruptions following the thwarted London plot prompted much discussion about the need to focus in on the source of Islamist terrorism and to profile Muslims. In the words of a Wall Street Journal editorial, "a return to any kind of normalcy in travel is going to require that airport security do a better job of separating high-risk passengers from unlikely threats."

This argument is gaining momentum. A recent poll finds that 55 percent of Britons support passenger profiling that takes into account "background or appearance," with only 29 percent against. Lord Stevens, the former chief of Scotland Yard, endorses focusing on young Muslim men. The Guardian reports that "some EU countries, particularly France and the Netherlands, want to … introduce explicit checks on Muslim travelers."

One politician in Wisconsin and two in New York state came out in favor of similar profiling. Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly suggests that Muslim passengers ages 16 to 45 "all should be spoken with." Mike Gallagher, one of the most popular American radio talk-show hosts, wants "a Muslim-only [passenger] line" at airports. One author even proposes putting "Muslims on one plane and put the rest of us on a different one."

The British Department for Transport reportedly seeks to introduce passenger profiling that includes taking religious background into account. News from British airports indicates that this has already begun – sometimes even by fellow passengers.

Three conclusions emerge from this discussion. First, because Islamist terrorists are all Muslims, there does need to be a focus on Muslims. Second, such notions as "Muslim-only lines" at airports are infeasible; rather, intelligence must drive efforts to root out Muslims with an Islamist agenda.

Third, the chances of Muslim-focused profiling being widely implemented remain negligible. As the same Wall Street Journal editorial notes: "the fact that we may have come within a whisker of losing 3,000 lives over the Atlantic still isn't preventing political correctness from getting in the way of smarter security."

Noting the limited impact of losing 3,000 lives had in 2001 and building on my "education by murder" hypothesis that people wake up to the problem of radical Islam only when blood is flowing in the streets, I predict that effective profiling will only come into effect when a much larger number of Western lives, say 100,000, have been lost.

How might non-Muslims best protect themselves

Excerpted from Daniel Pipe's [Khobar Rampage:] "Don't Be Afraid, We Won't Kill Muslims" :

After an Islamist rampage in the Saudi town of Khobar on May 29 and 30 that ended in the deaths of 22 people, survivors of that atrocity have recounted how the terrorists went to great lengths to ensure that they would kill only non-Muslims. Their actions raise a delicate but urgent issue: how might non-Muslims best protect themselves if caught in such a situation?

Even as the massacre was underway, the terrorists took pains to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims. Here are some of the survivors' testimonies:

Hazem Al-Damen, Muslim, Jordanian: two terrorists knocked on his door and asked him and others hiding whether they were "Muslims or Christians." On hearing "Muslims," the assailants told them to stay in the room because their purpose was to rid the country of Americans and Europeans.

Abu Hashem, 45, Muslim, an Iraqi-American engineer (also called "Mike" in some accounts): The terrorists demanded his residency card, which documented his religion (Muslim) and nationality (American). That combination provoked an argument between two terrorists. "He's an American, we should shoot him," said one. "We don't shoot Muslims," replied the other. The two went back and forth until the latter decided it: ‘Don't be afraid. We won't kill Muslims, even if you are an American." With this decision, the terrorists turned polite, even apologizing for breaking into Abu Hashem's home, searching it, and leaving blood stains on his carpet.

Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, 38, Muslim, a Lebanese corporate financial officer: He and his family hid upstairs in their house after hearing gunfire. Downstairs, they heard the terrorists break in and rummage around before one apparently noticed framed Koranic verses on the wall and announced to the others, "This is a Muslim house." When a heavily armed terrorist came upstairs, Mr. Al-Hakawati confirmed his identity by greeting the assailant with "Assalamu ‘Alaykum," the Muslim greeting.

Nizar Hajazeen, Christian, a Jordanian software businessmen: He hid with another Jordanian in a room but they opened the door when two armed young men banged violently on it. The terrorists asked the identity of the Jordanians, Arab or Westerners. "We're Arab," came the response. Each was then asked, "A Christian or a Muslim?" Both claimed to be Muslims and showed a Koran as proof.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Nonie Darwish explains an “Obsession”

An article submitted by reader MazeArtist (embedded link added by Smooth):
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In Jerusalem, taxi drivers come from many backgrounds and educational levels, and are usually open to conversations. On my way to the Conference on Antisemitism, Multiculturalism, and Ethnic Identity at Hebrew University The taxi driver who took me there was an Arab resident of Abu Dis, which is located within the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

Though Ayyad appeared to be dismayed by this inconveniences of the Security Fence and checkpoints built by Israel to deter terrorists, throughout our conversation he pointed out how much he loved the culture and diversity of Jerusalem. Ayyad chose to enroll his daughter at a school in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem, where she can learn Hebrew and Arabic alongside other Jewish and Arab classmates. In spite of the longer commute and higher tuition, the taxi driver praised the school for being tolerant, and teaching his children English

At the conference, there was a presentation of a new documentary film, “Obsession” (click on the link to view it) which explores the culture of Islamic extremism. The movie was followed by a talk with Nonie Darwish, an outspoken Arab supporter of Israel. As I watched images of children in the documentary reciting songs praising suicide bombings, I fully understood why Ayyad chose to enroll his daughter in an Israeli, rather than a Palestinian school. Making great effort to show that it does not criticize Islam as a whole, Darwish asserts that is the messengers who are doing the damage, not the teachings themselves. Directed by South African filmmaker Wayne Kopping, the documentary features voices such as former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat, Director of the Middle East Forum Daniel Pipes, and Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh.

Darwish grew up in Egyptian-occupied Gaza, where her father served as a fedayeen commander, responsible for launching attack raids on Israel. In spite of being fed constant anti-Semitic propaganda in school, Darwish experienced the compassion of Israel at an early age. “One time, Israeli agents infiltrated into Gaza in search of my father, and entered our home,” Darwish recalls. Finding only her mother and children, the agents looked at them, and quietly left. “Contrast this with the fedayeen, who indiscriminately fired at Israeli women and children.”

When she later moved to Cairo, she befriended a neighbor who was a Coptic Christian. Walking past a mosque, they both heard hate speech being directed towards Copts and Jews. Seeing fear in the eyes of her friend, Darwish began to question the use of Islam as a justification for hate speech. Moving to Los Angeles, Darwish became friends with many Jews, and was impressed by their consistent support for a peaceful solution, and their tolerance towards gentiles. When asked if she had any fear in being the founder of Arabs for Israel, she gave an example. “Ten years ago, my brother in Gaza suffered a stroke, and everyone around him agreed that if we wanted him to live, he had to be sent to Hadassah Hospital.” However, when Darwish wanted to express her gratitude to Israel in a local newspaper, she was prevented from doing so. In spite of this, Darwish states that “In times of crisis Arabs trust Jews, because they have compassion and a higher moral ground.”

Describing the September 11th attacks as the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” Darwish claims that the attacks made her more pro-American than ever. As a firsthand witness to the culture of hate that is being bred in certain schools, she urged western governments to be vigilant against local extremist groups, and to stop “tolerating intolerance.” This message is evident in the documentary in the images of hateful rallies and preachers in Great Britain, and the use of hateful cartoons in the Arab media.

The documentary also establishes a connection between the culture of hate that was created by the Nazi German regime and those established my Islamic extremists. Images of Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini saluting Nazi troops were compared to contemporary images of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters raising their hands in the Nazi salute.

Darwish and Ayyad both show that when Arab people stand up to extremism, not only does it benefit Jews and Christians, but also the Arabs themselves. As night fell over Mount Scopus, I looked eastward over the villages covering the Judean Desert. Each village had a number of minarets towering over the humble residences, raising the question, how many of these mosques are moderate, and how many are truly extremist, and committed to building a culture of hate?

Exploring the Strength of Ties to Jerusalem

Daniel Pipes, in Exploring the Strength of Ties to Jerusalem:

Historically, the religious standing of Jerusalem for Muslims waxed and waned six times through 14 centuries. British rule over the city in 1917-48 galvanized a passion for Jerusalem that had been absent during the 400 years of Ottoman control. Throughout the Jordanian control of the walled city in 1948-67, Arabs largely ignored it. Jordanian radio broadcast Friday prayers not from Al-Aqsa mosque but from a minor mosque in Amman. The PLO's founding Covenant, which dates from 1964, contains no mention of Jerusalem.

Muslim interest in the city revived only with the Israeli conquest of Jerusalem in 1967. By 1990, the Islamic focus on Jerusalem reached such a surreal intensity that Palestinian Arabs denied the city's sacred and historical importance to Jews.

The Camp David summit of July 2000 saw the Israeli government put forward its demands for sovereignty over parts of the Temple Mount. As Dennis Ross, an American diplomat present at the summit, put it, Arafat "never offered any substantive ideas, not once" at the talks. However, "He did offer one new idea, which was that the Temple didn't exist in Jerusalem, that it was in Nablus." With this, Jerusalem's pseudo-history became formal Palestinian Authority policy.

Daniel Pipes: "The Elimination of Israel Is a Consensus Goal Among 80% of Palestinians"

In Israel last month, Middle East scholar and author Daniel Pipes gave a lecture on "The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem." Pipes produced empirical evidence to demonstrate that any and all Arab claims to "al-Quds" (Jerusalem) are, and have always been, merely utilitarian.
"Israel's war goals consist of winning the acceptance of its Arab enemies, in particular that of the Palestinians. Acceptance means no longer using force - or other means, for that matter - to eliminate the Jewish state. The Arab war goals, conversely, are to eliminate the Jewish state," said Pipes in an interview.

"The Palestinians hold the notion of occupation dear to them, to the point that no matter what Israel does - even withdraw forces completely from Gaza - they say the occupation continues. Israelis are trying to "un-occupy," in terms of currency, utilities and much else, and the Palestinians are saying, 'No, we're your unwanted stepchild, and we're yours.'"

The ultimate Palestinian war goal is "definitely the elimination of Israel. That is to say, there is far wider agreement on this than on the notion of a Palestinian state....The great debate among Palestinians is not over goals; the elimination of Israel is a consensus goal among 80% of the Palestinian population."

"The dominant Palestinian slogan last summer was, 'Today Gaza, tomorrow Jerusalem.' There's no question that they saw the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a vindication of their use of force."

"The Arabic-speaking Muslims have had a great deal of difficulty in coping with modern life, and blame others for their problems. They're not introspective and not productive and constructive in their self-criticism." There needs to be "a sense of taking responsibility for themselves. An attempt to be introspective, to figure out what the problems are."

"There are positive examples. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, has recently come out with a book titled My Vision, for instance. He's of note, because he actually achieved something. He stayed away from ideology and built an economic success story."

Via The Jerusalem Post.

Islam advocates genocide

Folks, I would like to know when Muslims suddenly were afforded the privilege to promote violence and have it be protected by the First Amendment. Via WND:

A New York rally by the Islamic Thinkers Society outside the Israeli consulate yesterday featured chants of "The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real holocaust is on its way!"

The demonstration by the Queens-based group was monitored by the Investigative Project on Terrorism whose members noted signs including "Islam will Dominate" and a picture with an Islamic flag flying over the White House.

The chants were in Arabic and translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, headed by Steve Emerson, a former reporter for CNN.

Here are some excerpts from the chants:

Leader (in Arabic): "With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!"

[The rest also respond in Arabic:] "With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!

Israeli Zionists What do you say? The real Holocaust is on its way"

"Takbeer!"

Response: "Allahu Akbar!"

"Takbeer!"

Response: "Allahu Akbar!"

"Zionists, Zionists You will pay! The Wrath of Allah is on its way!

Israeli Zionists You shall pay! The Wrath of Allah is on its way!

The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real Holocaust is on its way!"

"Israel won't last long ... Indeed, Allah will repeat the Holocaust right on the soil of Israel"

"Takbeer!"

Response: "Allahu Akbar!"

According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, the Islamic Thinkers Society is an offshoot of London's Al-Muhajiroun, a group that celebrated the 9/11 attacks, referring to the hijackers as "the Magnificent 19," and posting a burning picture of the Capitol on its website.

Daniel Pipes wrote about this event the following day:

This is potentially an important event, for until now, American Islamists have mostly been polite, pretending to be loyal, forging alliances, working the system. This approach sometimes wins them an earful from their more impatient colleagues (I noted one such missive at "Cut the Apologetics, a Muslima Advises CAIR"), but rarely and obscurely so.

The rally yesterday could mark a turning point, when U.S.-based Islamists begin to divide into two, the polite and the rude, those trying to curry favor and those not caring at all what non-Muslims think.

Were that they case, one could see this development as positive, in that it facilitates Americans' understanding the true nature of Islamism; or negative, in that it shows the burgeoning confidence of Islamists, who no longer think they must work within the system. I am inclined to see it the latter way.

Support Denmark AND Israel

I echo the passion and the anger of all Danes, of all Americans, of all of old Europe, and of all Israelis who feel the same way as Daniel Pipes, who wrote:

Will Westerners accede to a double standard by which Muslims are free to insult Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, while Muhammad, Islam, and Muslims enjoy immunity from insults? Muslims routinely publish cartoons far more offensive than the Danish ones.

Are they entitled to dish it out while being insulated from similar indignities?

The Koran asks Muslims to kill or abduct all those who refuse to become members of their belief. This is the precise and official text given by their "prophet" Mohammed:

"So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." (Koran, surat IX, 5)

Islam officially encourages racism and discrimination which is contrary to Human Rights and democratic laws:

"O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." (Koran, surat V, 51)

Islam is against Human Rights and against the right to Democracy. It demands that their followers engage in domestic violence using the excuse that men are superior to women:

"Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them." (Koran, surat IV, 34)

The Koran was passed on by word of mouth and not actually written down for many years. After Mohammad's death, his own disciples couldn't figure out what order to put his "messages" in.

The Muslim "prophet" Muhammed was a caravan plunderer and a murderer.

I say to hell with anyone who pledges its allegiance to a murderer, especially those who have desecrated Jerusalem, and those who have stolen Gaza who now lay claim to a manufactured "palestine", a kleptocracy in the making, whose very beginnings were acts of terror committed by Muslim Arabs against Jews in the Jewish villages of Sejera, Kinneret, Yavniel, Degania, Merhavia, Hadera, Petakh Tikvah, Ben Shemen, Ness Tziona, Rehovot, and Gedera from 1882 thru 1921 way before there was any "occupation".

I demand that everyone remember the murders of 67 Jewish men, women, and children praying in a synagogue in Hebron in 1929, whose Grand Mufti Ikrama Sabri in his weekly Friday prayer sermon at Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount:

"Oh Allah, destroy America for she is ruled by Zionist Jews! Allah shall take revenge on behalf of his prophet against the colonialist settlers who are sons of monkeys and pigs! Forgive us, Muhammad, for the acts of these sons of monkeys and pigs, who sought to harm your sanctity." (Voice of Palestine, July 11, 1997) ".

I demand that the same godless men and women who cheered wildly when the Israeli Olympic athletes were murdered in Munich, whose anger and revenge lay soley in their own regret at having rejected the British Mandate's partition, whose people call land "occupied" when they themselves forfeited it by losing it in a war in 1967 that they initiated against the legitimate nation of Israel, and whose religious Waqf destroys archaeological evidence uncovered beneath the Holy Temple in Jerusalem proving that the Jewish and Hebrew people existed in the region as early as the 10th century BC get on their knees and ask forgiveness from those of us here in America and Israel.

Until that day when the Jewish Moshiach (Messiah) redeems all nations, the world will watch and tolerate the infantile Muslims and will then proceed to reward them for their aggression, sedition, anarchy, and terrorism by donating more money to the "palestinians".

For this desecration, we can thank the Left here in America and in Europe for their web sites that consistently reiterate the revisionism, the rhetoric and the propaganda of the palestinians when it comes to telling the truth about the real source of the crisis in the Middle East - Arab hatred of non-Arabs.

When oh when will Americans and Europeans have the courage to recognize the horror and the agony endured by the citizens of Israel, a country no larger than New Jersey, embattled in a nearly 60 year long battle to survive in the midst of 22 Arab dictatorships and theocracies?

Why does the world support Denmark but hesitates to support Israel which has suffered by the scimitar so much longer?

Why does the world support a dysfunctional, backward, superstitious religion and culture propped up only by oil wealth and barbarism, Islam's two greatest assets?

What else has to happen before the West will begin to resist Muslim bullying and intimidation?

Are Muslims and their sense of irony so stunted as to make impossible their grasping of the disparity between what they routinely tell the world (we are peaceful) and what they say (and do) when they are offended (we will take violent revenge)?

People of good conscience, break the cycle of jihad. I see no reason whatsoever that muslims should profit from the excercise of their religion. It is our duty to stop funding Islamic nations. We are in a war and its World War III. It is tragic, really tragic that we have arrived at this state of affairs and it's way overdue for us to heed our Judeo-Christian conscience and to find again the courage that once made America and Israel brave and righteous nations.

Support Denmark AND Israel. And stop funding Islamic nations now!