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TYRANNY OF THE MINORITY
By Avi Davis
 The Chicago Tribune reported this week that Ohev Shalom, one of the oldest and most distinguished orthodox synagogues on the Westside of Chicago has decided to close its operations. The decision, according to spokesman David Hacohen, came in response to its loss of two five-year-long law suits filed by the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of West Rogers Park.
The first suit claimed that the synagogue had unfairly discriminated against two gay applicants who had responded to a publicly advertised cantorial position at the synagogue. A second claimed that the synagogue’s religious school’s refusal to teach the sanctity of same-sex unions violated State anti-discrimination laws. Hacohen told reporters that since the law suits were launched, the synagogue had been the subject of a continuous stream of threats and picketing from the surrounding gay community. The synagogue had also spent millions in defending the cases. “Rather than violate our principles and beliefs by considering gays and lesbians as applicants or agreeing to teach same sex marriage in our school,” he said, “we have decided to close down the synagogue and religious school altogether.”
These draconian measures come just three weeks after an Amish group in Lancaster County, PA decided to close down its three general stores because of a successful discrimination law suit brought it against it by a nearby gay community. Representatives of that community had complained that signs which prohibited “ untoward fondling and kissing” on the store premises were discriminatory and insulting.
OK…….relax. This never actually happened. There is no Ohev Shalom in West Rogers Park and the Amish general stores are still, thankfully, open. But if you think that these scenarios are far fetched, you might consider what has been happening in California since Proposition 8 passed six weeks ago. Proposition 8 proposed an amendment to the State constitution which effectively banned gay marriage. It passed by a 52%- 48% majority. Since then, hundreds of individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations and religious groups publicly listed as financial supporters of the measure, have been the subject of a vindictive campaign of harassment by gay and lesbian activists. Churches have been daubed with graffiti, the Mormon Center near my home has been continuously picketed, businesses have been boycotted, individuals have received threatening letters and a vicious email campaign has spun into existence, denouncing all contributors. A law suit has even been launched by gay activists to urge the California State Supreme Court to overturn the popular will and restore an earlier Court decision sanctioning same sex unions.
A few high profile individuals have even lost their jobs. Take the case of Richard Raddon, former director of the Los Angeles Film Festival. Within days of the proposition’s passage, Raddon, a practicing Mormon, was “outed” as a financial supporter. Angry calls began to pour into the Festival’s offices demanding his resignation. By his own count he received over three hundred threatening telephone calls and email messages describing him as a bigot and covert racist. The Festival then began receiving communications from distributors and film makers, threatening that if Raddon was not terminated, their participation in the festival would end. Raddon, responsibly recognizing the threat to the Festival’s future, graciously offered the Board his resignation. They refused. But as pressure mounted and the Festival looked as though it would not survive, they relented and Raddon went down in flames.
Now remember that Raddon was an individual exercising what his country has commonly referred to as freedom of conscience. He had supported, both with his vote and his pocket book, a cause in which he believes passionately. That was not just his democratic right. It is the foundation on which our civil society is built. If men and women cannot express their opinions and beliefs without fear of harassment or losing their jobs, our democracy itself becomes a farce and free expression nothing but a code word for political correctness.
The tar and feathering of Richard Raddon didn’t seem to elicit much response from the city’s liberal press. In an editorial last week, the Los Angeles Times opined that the civil disturbances which had attended the passage of Proposition 8 had come “ too little, too late,” a surreptitious sanctioning of the campaign of harassment. No civic leader has chosen to take a stand defying the powerful gay and lesbian interests on Los Angeles’ Westside and the governor, a would-be conservative, has even gone on record as urging them on.
Further evidence of the clout of the gay movement arrived about the same time from New Jersey. The on-line dating site, eHarmony, created by evangelicals and one of the largest businesses of its kind, was coerced by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights into starting up a gay dating site. This occurred after the business lost a law suit filed by a gay man who claimed discrimination by the site against those seeking same sex partners. It was the first instance in this country of a private business being forced to cater to same sex mores in defiance of an owner’s own moral positions.
How dangerous is this? Well if you are a religious Jew, a practicing Christian or a devout Muslim you should be very concerned. Because the acquiescence to such a campaign of intimidation (reminiscent of the darkest days of McCarthyism) opens the door to much graver perils in the future. It is a future where an unwillingness to countenance gay marriage or gay lifestyles as normative conduct will be seen on all levels - political, social and legal - as discrimination. It is a window on a world where freedom of conscience on a given moral attitude is actually not tolerated.
And thus I refer you to the scenarios I painted above. The result of a successful movement for gay marriage in California will be to flush the purveyors of intimidation and harassment with a deep confidence that such tactics work. Not immediately perhaps, but over the next ten to twenty years, the movement could seek to coerce religious institutions to abandon entrenched moral positions and adopt inimical moral points of view. Given the absence of a supporting political and intellectual environment which vouchsafes freedom of conscience, many religious institutions may seek to fall on their swords, rather than succumb to the terror of political correctness.
You may have already begun to suspect what I have been alluding to for some time in this and previous columns: That the campaign for gay marriage is less a struggle for the rights of homosexuals for equality before the law, than it is an attack on religion and the moral superstructure of our society. Support for this view finds vindication in the way the opponents of Proposition 8 conducted their campaign In a television advertisement which ran in California on the eve of the vote, two Mormon missionaries are seen knocking on the door of a lesbian couple. "Hi, we're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” says the first one, “and we're here to take away your rights." Without further ado, the Mormons smilingly yank the couple's wedding rings from their fingers and tear up their marriage license. As they leave, one says to the other, "That was too easy." His smirking comrade replies, "Yeah, what should we ban next?" An ominous voice-over implores viewers: "Say no to a church taking over your government."
The reverse discrimination of this ad is self-evident and speaks volumes about the sneering campaign and abiding contempt that gay activists and their supporters hold for religious institutions.
The great saving grace of a democracy is that debate and dialogue allows for all points of view on any matter of public concern to be heard. But the debate on gay marriage can never effectively take place while its proponents refuse to acknowledge that millions of Americans harbor deep apprehension about the moral implications of same sex unions. The absence of respect for that position, the hectoring attitude that all opposition to their point of view is simple bigotry and the increasing willingness to turn political discourse into harassment, intimidation and violence is an augury of profound concern. It should make all Americans think twice about a movement whose quest for civil rights may have as its ultimate objective the destruction of rights for millions of others.
Want to comment on this article? See Avi Davis’ new blog
Avi Davis is the Executive Director and Senior Fellow of the American Freedom Alliance in Los Angeles. He can be contacted at isdev@ix.netcom.com
NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA
Make us martyrs, 9/11 suspects dare President Bush-Tom Baldwin
The self-proclaimed mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States made a bid for martyrdom yesterday by declaring his intent to plead guilty on capital charges for alleged war crimes. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has already confessed to plotting the 9/11 attacks and dozens of other acts of terrorism, appeared at a military tribunal alongside a quartet of fellow terrorism suspects being held at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp at a US naval base in Cuba. In a letter to the judge, the five described how a decision had been taken on November 4, the day Barack Obama was elected, to abandon all efforts at defence and instead ask that their confessions be accepted in full with immediate effect. The request appeared to be designed to accelerate their trials and dare the US Government to impose the death sentence before President Bush leaves office. Mr Obama has promised to close the Guantánamo Bay camp and scrap the bitterly contested military commissions system with which Mr Bush's Administration has sought to prosecute terror suspects outside the jurisdiction of the US legal system. Mohammed, who the CIA admits was subjected to water-boarding techniques condemned widely by human rights groups as torture, has previously told tribunals of his desire for martyrdom through execution. He has portrayed himself as a warrior in an epic clash of civilisations, even comparing himself last year to George Washington fighting the British. (Timesonline.co.uk)
 Swedish public pool to rent out burkinis-David Landes
In a nod to women not wishing to reveal too much, an indoor public swimming pool in Sweden has begun renting out burkinis, full-body swimsuits that cover everything but the face, hands, and feet. For 30 kronor ($3.75), the Stadsparksbadet pool in Borås in western Sweden now offers bathers who would rather not bathe in traditional swimwear something more comfortable that allows them to utilize the co-ed public pool “[Previously] there hasn’t been a well-functioning alternative,” said pool head Anette Ekberg to the Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper, explaining that bathers who in the past chose not to wear regular swimsuits had to come up with more creative – but often less practical solutions. “Some would swim in long pants and a shirt. Not the best solution but we don’t want to prohibit something because we can’t provide an alternative.” The issue of appropriate attire for women at Sweden’s indoor public pools has received attention at both ends of the spectrum in the last year. Back in February, the city of Gothenburg was ordered to pay damages to two Muslim mothers who were kicked out of a swimming pool for not removing their veils. The city appealed the ruling to Sweden’s Supreme Court, which has yet to try to case.(Thelocal.se)
Teach the children - Sheik's vile lesson of hate-Joe Hildebrand
A GROUP founded by a Muslim extremist who encourages children to kill themselves for Allah plans to build a huge complex in Sydney to teach young people Islam.
In what it says is a world first, the Global Islamic Youth Centre is trying to raise more than $6 million to build a giant "prayer, learning and sporting" facility in Liverpool. It has already raised $700,000 towards a $1m land purchase. The organisation says it expects the local Muslim population to almost double to 20,000 in the next decade and notes that a third of the population is under 19. Education in hate for 'tender hearts' It also says it wants to attract youth from across Sydney. The GYIC was founded by Sheik Feiz Mohammad and others in 2000 to "cater for the physical, social, educational and religious needs, especially for the youth and the children, in accordance with the teachings of the Quran". (Dailytelegraph.au)
 The Hate Bus-Joe Kaufman
CAIR and ICNA, two groups with documented ties to extremist groups overseas, have happened upon a new ploy to bring “non-believers” to Islam. The groups are using public transportation – subways and buses – to advertise their message. However, that message is one that is highly offensive and demeaning to those of other faiths, as it promotes Islam as a religion of superiority and spreads false information about revered Christian and Jewish figures. CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations was built out of Hamas. It was the brainchild of leaders from the American propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). As well, it was established in 1994 as a part of Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook’s American Palestine Committee, a group whose mission was to raise money for Hamas from the United States. CAIR, like all other radical Muslim groups, believes that Islam is superior to all religions and that the U.S. Constitution should be replaced by the Quran. This sinister belief and agenda were revealed in July of 1998, when then-CAIR National Chairman and current Chairman Emiritus Omar Ahmad was quoted in an article as saying, “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith but to become dominant. The Quran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.” (Frontpagemag.com)
 Teachers 'beat and abuse' Muslim children in British Koran classes
Muslim children are being beaten and abused regularly by teachers at some British madrassas - Islamic evening classes - an investigation by The Times has found. Students have been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted, according to an unpublished report by an imam based on interviews with victims in the north of England. One was “picked up by one leg and spun around” while another said a madrassa teacher was “kicking in my head - like a football”, says the report which was compiled by Irfan Chishti, a former government adviser on Islamic affairs. Almost 1,600 madrassas operate in Britain, teaching Arabic and the Koran on weekday evenings to about 200,000 children aged from four to their mid-teens. While there is no hard evidence to indicate how many are involved in the physical abuse of children, The Times has uncovered a disturbing pattern in one town - Rochdale - through interviews with mainstream school teachers, Muslim parents and the children themselves. One woman told The Times that her niece Hiba, 7, was slapped across the face so hard by her madrassa teacher that her ear was cut. It later became inflamed and she had to have emergency medical treatment. When the teacher refused to apologise, Hiba's aunt, Jamila, insisted that her niece should be moved to another madrassa. “I have absolutely no respect for religious teachers who behave like this,” she said. Another girl described how, at the age of 12, she was hit by her madrassa teacher whenever she mispronounced a word or forgot a verse of the Koran. (Timesonline.co.uk)
Dutch founder of ex-Muslim group to present film critical of Islam-DPA
Amsterdam - A young Dutch politician and founder of a group of former Muslims is due to present a 15-minute film criticizing Islam at a secret location on Tuesday. Ehsan Jami, city council member for his one-man-party in Leidschendam-Voorburg near The Hague, is depicted in the English- language film as interviewing the prophet Mohammed who is played by an actor who remains unrecognizable. Iranian-born Jami, 23, who announced that heresy and women's rights are central themes in the interview, says the production is not an anti-Islam film. The film showing was set for a secret location for journalists only. Jami has been living under heavy security protection since August 4, 2007. The dominant interpretation of Islamic doctrine prohibits Muslims from renouncing their faith. Self-declared ex-Muslims in Europe have been threatened by orthodox Muslims for renouncing their faith publicly. Jami, who in the summer of 2007 founded the Dutch affiliate of the European ex-Muslim movement, has among others referred to the Prophet Mohammed as a "horrible man" in several interviews. He also said during public appearances he wanted to start a debate about domestic violence and human rights in Islam. Jami lives in a so-called safe house in a secret location. On March 27, 2007 Geert Wilders, Dutch legislator and founder of the Freedom Party PVV, was the first to present a film criticizing Islam. On Monday, Wilders confirmed reports that he would tour several countries next spring to present his 16-minute political propaganda film Fitna. (Earthtimes.org)
Academic freedom
Professors Indoctrinating Students? Not in Our University-Mary Grabar
A New York Times [1] article reporting on studies that purportedly show that professors’ ideological views — overwhelmingly [2] liberal — have no or negligible impact on students’ opinions has been plastered triumphantly on college bulletin boards across the land. Conservatives’ worries about political indoctrination, according to reporter Patricia Cohen, are “overwrought,” indeed “fantasies.” The reactionary Don Quixotes have instigated a culture war, going so far as introducing “intellectual diversity” legislation and recruiting volunteers to monitor classrooms. At my community college, the headline, “Professors’ Liberalism Contagious? Maybe Not,” was circled in red magic marker, as if to suggest that those who still believe that our educational system harms young people might be ready for the meds. I wonder which of my colleagues posted this article. Was it the one who wears the yin-yang ring, who one day during election season pulled a MoveOn.org email blast about Palin’s “[3] Troopergate scandal” from the department printer, asking if I had seen this “news” item? Or was it the instructor who posted next to her office door a photo of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, signed by Biden with, “Thanks for your help!”? Or was it the instructor who shows Michael Moore and Al Gore movies as “documentaries”? I am sure that none of these professors would go so far as to browbeat her charges and tell students whom to vote for. What with camera phones and all, there might be some backwards homeschooled kid who might send the video to Fox News. In the interests of scholarship, though, the instructor would feel duty-bound to inform her charges about the nefariousness of the Bush administration — just as “facts” and background, mind you — along with the long litany of criminal acts and attitudes of the West, particularly the United States. All that she would say in this vein, whether in the context of history or literature, would be backed up by the “factual” support in textbooks. (Pajamasmedia)
Media Bias
Mumbai: Deadly Media Euphemisms-Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman
The horrific slaughter in Mumbai of almost 200 innocents and injury of 300 more by terrorist commandos shouting "Allah Akbar!" has already been morphed by the international media into the murky realm of euphemism and apologetics. Al Jazeera and The Guardian label the Al Qaeda-associated Islamist terrorists responsible as "gunmen"; CNN calls them "militants." Some analysts identified the underlying cause as the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. Others like renowned psychological guru Deepak Chopra concluded that it is the result of "collateral damage" caused by Washington's war on terrorism and the US attack on Iraq. But where then does the especially blood-thirsty attack on Mumbai's Nariman-Chabad House fit into this puzzle palace? The New York Times theorized that Chabad House may have been an "accidental hostage scene." This speculation follows in the ignominious footsteps of the BBC, which initially chose to hide the Jewish character of the target by describing it as just "an office building," of Britain's Channel 4, which claimed that the terrorists showed "a wanton disregard for race or creed," and of Al Jazeera, which refused to show Chabad House as the site of the carnage. Some Western media outlets unsympathetically labeled victims there as "ultra-Orthodox" or "missionaries." Finally, the Pakistan Times explained it all. Mumbai was "a false flag operation" by Israel's Mossad agents disguised, apparently, as bearded rabbis and mothers nursing babies. (SimonWiesenthalCenter)
Silence=Acceptance-Mark Steyn
Rabbi Holtzberg was not murdered because of a territorial dispute over Kashmir or because of Bush’s foreign policy.
Shortly after the London Tube bombings in 2005, a reader of Tim Blair, the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s columnar wag, sent him a note-perfect parody of a typical newspaper headline: “British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow’s Train Bombing.” Indeed. And so it goes. This time round — Bombay — it was the Associated Press that filed a story about how Muslims “found themselves on the defensive once again about bloodshed linked to their religion.” Oh, I don’t know about that. In fact, you’d be hard pressed from most news reports to figure out the bloodshed was “linked” to any religion, least of all one beginning with “I-“ and ending in “-slam.” In the three years since those British bombings, the media have more or less entirely abandoned the offending formulations — “Islamic terrorists,” “Muslim extremists” — and by the time of the assault on Bombay found it easier just to call the alleged perpetrators “militants” or “gunmen” or “teenage gunmen,” as in the opening line of this report in the Australian: “An Adelaide woman in India for her wedding is lucky to be alive after teenage gunmen ran amok…” Kids today, eh? Always running amok in an aimless fashion. The veteran British TV anchor Jon Snow, on the other hand, opted for the more cryptic locution “practitioners.” “Practitioners” of what, exactly? Hard to say. And getting harder. Tom Gross produced a jaw-dropping round-up of Bombay media coverage: The discovery that, for the first time in an Indian terrorist atrocity, Jews had been attacked, tortured, and killed produced from the New York Times a serene befuddlement: “It is not known if the Jewish center was strategically chosen, or if it was an accidental hostage scene.” Hmm. Greater Bombay forms one of the world’s five biggest cities. It has a population of nearly 20 million. But only one Jewish center, located in a building that gives no external clue as to the bounty waiting therein. An “accidental hostage scene” that one of the “practitioners” just happened to stumble upon? “I must be the luckiest jihadist in town. What are the odds?” (Nationalreview)
Freedom of Speech
 New Danish Book Draws Jihadist Ire-IPT
It is an equation becoming all too familiar. A new book released in Europe contains essays critical of Islam and illustrations of the Prophet Mohammed. In response, some are calling for blood. Danish journalist Lars Hedegaard's book Groft Sagt (Rough Talk), was released in Denmark Monday. It is a collection of about 100 of his favorite newspaper columns from a Copenhagen daily. Many of the columns are critical of Islam. In addition, the book features 26 new illustrations from Kurt Westergaard, whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammed in the newspaper Jyllands Posten in 2005 sparked a wave of violent protests. An Israeli security center is sounding the alarm about calls for a violent backlash after noticing a series of incendiary posts on jihadist web sites. According to an International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) release, someone identifying himself as Abu Salem posted comments about Hedegaard's book on a website called Hanein, "a mouthpiece for Al-Qaeda and other jihad organizations": "Abu Salem requests that all who love the Prophet Muhammad help spread the news of the upcoming publication and notify religious leaders of what ‘these pigs' are attempting to do. One forum visitor responded to the post, suggesting that Bin Laden attack Copenhagen, repeating the call: ‘Bin Laden, Copenhagen!' several times. Another forum visitor wrote: ‘Our blood... our souls... our children... our money... all that we have... the entire world… anything so that a single hair of your distinguished head [i.e. Muhammad] is not harmed.'" (Investigativeproject.org)
'Islamophobia' or 'Truthophobia'?Matthias Kuntzel
Berlin's anti-Semitism center is going astray.
At a time when Jew haters in the Islamic world have become more assertive than ever, Berlin's Center for Research on Anti-Semitism is concentrating on a different group: the "new enemies of Islam." Who exactly belongs to this category is not clear from the center's latest publication, the "Yearbook for Research on Anti-Semitism." But the potential danger is supposedly known: "The fury of the new enemies of Islam is similar to the older rage of anti-Semites against the Jews," writes Prof. Wolfgang Benz, the institute's director. The center will present its new findings today at a conference in Berlin titled "Concepts of the Muslim Enemy -- Concepts of the Jewish Enemy." It is certainly necessary to oppose the demonization of Muslims and discrimination against them, which often have racist motivations. The Berlin center, whose research covers prejudices in general, is right to address this issue. The problem lies in the way it is being done. The Berlin center adopts the neologism "Islamophobia" without any reservation. This term is misleading because it mixes two different phenomena -- unjust hatred against Muslims and necessary criticism of political Islam -- and condemns both equally. By accepting this vocabulary, the Berlin center reinforces an unfortunate trend. In May 2005, the Council of Europe -- at the urging of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- used the term for the first time, condemning "all forms of intolerance . . . including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia." (WSJ)
A Modern-day Islamist Inquisition?-Walid Phares
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), an association of the world's Islamic states, is pushing the United Nations to outlaw "defamation" of religion in general, and of one religion in particular.
My remarks that follow are based on 27 years of researching in the field of international relations and conflicts, and on a decade of teaching Religions and World Politics. Since I published my first book in Arabic in 1979, where I addressed the issue of relationships between civilizations and cultural blocs worldwide, I have had the opportunity to publish ten books and hundreds of articles focusing on the rise of ideologies including self-described, theologically-inspired ones such as Jihadism. I also had the opportunity to interact and meet politicians, legislators, authors and academics on three continents, particularly under the auspices of the European Foundation for Democracy. In addition, I was pleased to contribute to the preparation of legislation in the US Congress and initiatives at the European Parliament to defend religious freedom and basic rights of minorities around the world. Last but not least I was privileged to work with diplomats and NGOS on preparing for and passing UN Security Council Resolutions related to the Middle East. From this background I have prepared a few comments about some initiatives put forth by members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to be introduced at the UN Human Rights Council (headquartered in Geneva) and at the Durban II Conference on Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination. These initiatives center on the driving principle of sanctioning what was coined as "defamation" of religions, and particularly the Islamic faith, under the term "Islamophobia." (Americanthinker)
ANTISEMITISM
Europe’s Jewish Problem-Dennis MacShane
In Spain, unfavorable views of Jews climbed from 21 percent in 2005 to nearly one in two this year.
As Europe faces up to its old demons of financial breakdown and job losses, a wind from the past is blowing through the continent. The politics of moderate center-right and left-liberal democracy that took power after 1945 are giving way to a new old populism. The extravagant rhetoric of the demagogic left and right is gaining ground, and the most obvious manifestation is the return of anti-Semitism as an organizing ideology.
Consider the numbers: according to a recent Pew survey, the percentage of Germans who hold unfavorable views of Jews has climbed from 20 percent in 2004 to 25 percent today. In France, which has the largest number of Jews of any European nation, 20 percent of people view Jews unfavorably—up from 11 percent four years ago. In Spain, the figures are even more striking: negative views of Jews climbed from 21 percent in 2005 to nearly one in two this year. In Britain, where the numbers have remained around 9 percent for some time, anecdotal evidence of increased animosity abounds: youngsters returning from the Jewish Free School in middle-class North London are now frightened to go home on public buses on account of anti-Jewish attacks. Their parents hire private buses, as the London police seem unable to staunch anti-Semitic assaults on their children. In Manchester, a Jewish cemetery had to have a Nazi swastika hurriedly cleaned off its walls before a VIP party arrived. (Newsweek)
Canada defends Saudi policy of shunning tourists who visited Israel-Michael Freund
The Canadian government has come to the defense of Saudi Arabia, telling The Jerusalem Post that the desert kingdom's policy of barring entry to Canadian citizens whose passports bear an Israeli visa or border stamp is "accepted practice." According to the Web site of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, "Canadians have been denied entry into Saudi Arabia because their passports bore: a) an Israeli visa; b) an Israeli border stamp; or c) an Egyptian or Jordanian border stamp issued by an office bordering Israel (such a stamp would indicate the traveller entered from Israel)." Contacted via e-mail by the Post, Department spokesman Lisa Monette was asked how the Canadian government views the Saudi policy. Monette refused to criticize or condemn the practice, instead asserting that, "it is the sole prerogative of each country or region to determine who is allowed to enter." When pressed further on the matter and asked if Canada had raised the issue with Saudi officials, Monette once again reiterated the right of every country to impose such rules, describing it as the "accepted practice within the international community." Contacted by the Post, a leading Canadian Jewish organization expressed outrage over Saudi Arabia's policy and said they would raise the matter with Canadian government officials in Ottawa. "We will ask the Canadian government to make every effort to ensure that Canadian citizens are not discriminated against by the human-rights abusing regime of Saudi Arabia," said B'nai B'rith Canada Executive Vice President Frank Dimant. "The issue goes well beyond Canadian passports and is a matter for all democracies in the world to deal with," he added. (Jpost)
Brown: ‘I will act on Muslim hate’-Anonymous
Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed this week to ensure that the views of the Jewish community will be taken into account in the current review of UK entry and exclusion arrangements, in the light of renewed concern about visiting extremist Islamists preaching hatred.
He made the pledge on Monday at the first formal working meeting with communal leaders since he took office. In what the executive director of the Jewish Leadership Council, Jeremy Newmark, called a “warm and productive meeting”, the 14-strong delegation from the JLC raised a wide range of concerns. After a discussion on the implications of the Mumbai terror atrocities, in which Mr Brown referred to the Chabad House murders as a reminder of the need to fight antisemitism around the globe, the Prime Minister spoke of his specific concern at the terrorists’ successful attempt to seek out Jews to harm. The meeting discussed the community’s ongoing security worries and the high cost of providing security for Jewish schools and synagogues. The Prime Minister acknowledged the negative atmosphere created by the recent UCU academic boycott debates and described such attempted boycotts as “discriminatory”. He also agreed to look into how the cross-departmental Task Force responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism was addressing antisemitism on campus. The JLC expressed its hope that a sub-group could be set up to deal with campus antisemitism. Mr Brown also indicated that the government was ready to go a lot further in maintaining pressure and sanctions on Iran, including through EU-wide action, and that the UK was positive about the EU working more closely with Israel on common issues. The communal leaders expressed anxiety about the content of the so-called Durban II United Nations anti-racism conference, planned to take place in Geneva next April. The first Durban conference, in 2001, was hijacked as an extreme forum for anti-Israel rhetoric. Mr Brown, the JC understands, has set out tests which will underpin the decision as to whether the UK takes part or boycotts the conference. Most important is whether, in the drafting of the declaration of the conference, antisemitism will be included in the category of what the UN considers “victims of racism”. If this is not the case, then attacks on Jews would not qualify for inclusion in the UN denunciation of racism. (Jewishchronicle)
 Arab Islamist Clerics to Palestinians: Slaughter the Jews Like You Did in 1929; Blow Yourselves Up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-MEMRI
Following are excerpts from speeches by Arab Islamic leaders expressing solidarity with Gaza, which aired on Al-Manar and Al-Aqsa TV, December 3 and 5, 2008.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1940.htm.
Sheik Himam Sa'id, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan: "Oh noble Gaza, raise your head high. You have made the Muslims raise their heads high. And you, people of Hebron - you are now waging a war against the Jews. You are well-versed in this. We saw how, on a day in 1929, you slaughtered the Jews in Hebron. Today, slaughter them on the land of Hebron. Kill them in Palestine. Arise, oh people of Palestine, all the people of Palestine - arise in defense of your Al-Aqsa Mosque, arise in defense of Nablus and Hebron. Arise and face the [PA] Preventive Security forces. Fear them not, for they are rabbits. They are wolves, so fear them not, oh lions.
[...]
"Oh young men, what will you say to the Jordanian government? Expel the Jewish ambassador from Amman. Amman is pure, and the Jewish ambassador must not defile its soil. Recall the Jordanian ambassador from Palestine. Only mujahideen should be in Palestine - not ambassadors, not ministers, or any representative of this nation. Do not recognize the ambassador of this nation in Palestine. Palestine is the land of Jihad, of sacrifice, and of preparation. We say to this government: Stop normalization with the Jews. Stop all imports and exports with the Jews. Our markets are full of Jewish vegetables and Jewish fruits. Traders who bring these fruits and vegetables are traitors, collaborators. Tell them this. Make them hear our voice. The position of the religious scholars is that anyone who trades with the Jews is a traitor and collaborator." (MEMRI)
TERRORISM, INTERNET, JIHAD
Mumbai terrorists thwarted security agencies by using internet telephones-Rhys Blakely
The terrorists who attacked Mumbai were able to thwart security agency attempts to monitor their communications by using an internet telephony service similar to Skype, the free tool used by millions of ordinary web surfers, Indian officials have said.
Mumbai police say the gunmen who occupied the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi hotels and Nariman House, the site of a Jewish outreach centre run by the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement, were able to contact their handlers using Voip (voice over internet protocol) telephones during the three-day siege that ensued.
These Voip phone calls could not be tapped in the same way as ordinary mobile calls and provided crucial support to the terrorists, police say. One of the gunmen inside Nariman House is thought to have contacted a leader in Pakistan as his resolve was flagging. He was read verses from the Koran and told to carry on fighting. Six people – all foreign Jews -- died inside the building.
The use of Voip technology by the militant cadre, who claimed more than 170 lives in all, fits in with a new trend towards "tech savvy" terrorism identified by military experts. (Timesonline.co.uk)
Stop Terror Financiers LAWFARE-Rachel Ehrenfeld
Most Americans take their freedom for granted. Coming from the Middle East and working all over the world, I know better. Elsewhere, free speech and a free press are regarded as privileges, not a sacred right. Take England for example: in January 2004 I was sued in London, by Saudi billionaire and terror-financier, Khalid bin Mahfouz, former banker to the Saudi royal family and owner of the largest bank in the Middle East. Mahfouz bristled at my book Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It which investigated heavily documented allegations of his terror financing. Mahfouz sued me in England where libel law favors plaintiffs, and permits foreigners to sue other foreigners if allegedly defamatory words somehow reached British shores. The U.N. Human Rights Commission recently criticized Britain's libel laws for serving "to discourage critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work, including through the phenomenon known as libel tourism." In my case, Mahfouz alleged that twenty-three copies of Funding Evil, published only in the U.S., were purchased in England via the Internet. The identity of those purchasers was never revealed. Mahfouz is the quintessential "libel tourist" who cows his critics in English courts. His website boasts of having coerced more than forty retractions or judgments against those who linked him to terrorism. His London litigation became frenzied after the 9/11 attacks on America because families of the 9/11 victims sued him in New York as an al-Qaeda financier. None of his English legal actions have been tried on the merits. If found liable for financing 9/11, Mahfouz faces a damage award in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Thus, he is uses lawfare to silence his critics. (Terrorfinance.org)
Violent jihadism boasts a new face-Badrus Sholeh-The Jakarta Post
Jihadists have successfully used the Internet and print media to generate sympathy, writes Badrus Sholeh Based on online and TV news in Indonesia, Jihadists have been successful in shaping the "positive" image of their activism. Attacks conducted over the last decade are portrayed as the attempt to struggle against the pressure of the West and ruling governments, which they call thaghut, a term allowing them to fight under the name of God. Before the execution of the Bali bombers, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the spiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), and now the leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), delivered a message on the status of the bombers on the Internet through YouTube. Ba'asyir argues that the three bombers are eligible for the highest reward from God for their actions, which Ba'asyir claims was jihad. Ba'asyir is not the only jihadi leader using cyber facilities to deliver propaganda. Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi and Aiman Al Zawahiri of al-Qaeda have used cyberspace to propagate their programs and messages. In Indonesia, blogging is also used by radical, violent communities to promote their ideas of jihad. Cyberspace and print media were also effective instruments for the Bali bombers, turning them into very popular and "inspiring pioneers" among radical Muslims. (Asiamedia.ucla.edu)
Google Earth accused of aiding terrorists-Rhys Blakely
An Indian Court has been called to ban Google Earth amid suggestions the online satellite imaging was used to help plan the terror attacks that killed more than 170 people in Mumbai last month. A petition entered at the Bombay High Court alleges that the Google Earth service, "aids terrorists in plotting attacks". Advocate Amit Karkhanis has urged the court to direct Google to blur images of sensitive areas in the country until the case is decided. There are indications that the gunmen who stormed Mumbai on November 26, and the people trained them, were technically literate. The group appears to have used complex GPS systems to navigate their way to Mumbai by sea. They communicated by satellite phone, used mobile phones with several different SIM cards, and may have monitored events as the siege unfolded via handheld Blackberry web browsers. Police in Mumbai have said the terrorists familiarised themselves with the streets of Mumbai's financial capital using satellite images, according to the sole gunman to be captured alive. The commandos who stormed the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai said the militants had made a beeline for the building's CCTV control room. The legal petition also follows unconfirmed reports that Faheem Ahmed Ansari, a suspected militant who was arrested in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in February, said he was shown maps of Indian locations on Google Earth by members of Lashkar-e-Taiber, the Pakistan-based terrorist faction that Indian officials are convinced was behind the Mumbai attacks. (Timesonline.co.uk)
 Jihadists celebrate Mumbai attack with this graphic:
Translation from Dumpendebat in the comment section:
2008/11/26 One of God's days The ghazwah (holy raid) of Mumbai Just as they kill [people]... they get killed! (Posted on Atlas Shrugs)
ENVIRONMENTALISM and Science
 Victims of global warming could sue oil and power companies-Urmee Khan
Flood victims and those affected by extreme weather conditions could soon be able to sue oil and power companies they blame for global warming, according to a climate change expert.
Myles Allen, a physicist at Oxford University, said: "We are starting to get to the point that when an adverse weather event occurs we can quantify how much more likely it was made by human activity.
"And people adversely affected by climate change today are in a position to document and quantify their losses. This is going to be hugely important." Allen has developed a technique which involves running two computer models to simulate the conditions that led to extreme weather events. One model includes human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases, and the second assumes the industrial revolution never happened and that carbon levels in the atmosphere have not increased over the last century. "As the science has evolved this is now possible, it's just a question of computing power," he told the Guardian. Prof Allen's team used the new technique to assess whether global warming worsened the UK floods in autumn 2000, which affected 10,000 properties, disrupted power supplies and led to train services being cancelled, motorways closed and 11,000 people evacuated from their homes – at a total cost of £1bn.
Although he would not comment on the results before publication, he said people affected by floods could "potentially" use a positive finding to begin legal action. Prof Allen and his colleagues previously demonstrated that man-made warming at least doubled the risk of heatwaves such as the 2003 event that killed 27,000 people across Europe. However no legal action resulted from their findings but the researchers said this was partly because most of the deaths were in France, where the legal system makes such cases difficult. (Telegraph.co.uk)
Scorpios Get More Asthma, but Astrology Isn’t to Blame-Tara Parker-Pope
How, when and where a child is born may all play a role in lifetime asthma risk, new studies suggest. Asthma occurs when airways in the lungs spasm and swell, restricting the supply of oxygen. The incidence of asthma in the United States has risen steadily for more than two decades, and about 6 percent of children now have asthma, up from less than 4 percent in 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The reasons for the increase are not entirely clear. Genetics probably plays a role in the risk for asthma, but an array of environmental factors — pollen, dust, animal dander, mold, cockroach feces, cigarettes, air pollution, viruses and cold air — have all been implicated in its development. This month, The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is reporting that children born in the fall have a 30 percent higher risk for asthma than those born in other seasons. The finding is based on a review of birth and medical records of over 95,000 children in Tennessee. A possible explanation is that autumn babies tend to be about 4 months old at the peak of cold and flu season. By that age, many babies are in day care and regularly exposed to the outside world. And while their lungs are still developing, they have yet to develop strong immune systems. As a result, fall babies are at particular risk to contract a severe winter virus, which may in turn increase their risk for asthma.
The lead researcher, Dr. Tina V. Hartert, director of the Center for Asthma Research and Environmental Health at Vanderbilt University, says some parents with a high familial risk for asthma may want to consider timing conception to avoid a fall birth. But since that is impractical for many people, Dr. Hartert says, all parents should take precautions to reduce a baby’s risk of a respiratory infection. (NYT)
Society and CULTURE
 In the age of promiscuity, women have more sexual partners than men-Paul Sims
Being bold and brazen in the bedroom won Carrie Bradshaw and her friends a legion of female fans.
But viewers who think the 'anything goes' sexual antics in Sex And The City is fiction should perhaps think again. Life, it would appear, is more than a match for art. Young women are becoming more promiscuous, with more sexual partners than men, researchers have found. By the age of 21 they have had sex with an average of nine lovers - two more than their male partner. And a quarter have slept with more than ten partners in the five years since losing their virginity - compared with a fifth of young men. Young women are also twice as likely to be unfaithful, with 50 per cent admitting they have cheated on a partner - half at least twice. Yet if their man was caught being unfaithful, 99 per cent of the 2,000 women surveyed said they would show him the door. The sex survey, for More magazine, also found women crave more sex but still believe men enjoy it more than they do. The survey follows a U.S. study earlier this year that found teenage girls who watch a lot of TV shows with a high sexual content, such as Friends and Sex And The City, are twice as likely to become pregnant. The researchers for that study concluded: 'One problem is that these and similar programmes glamorise sex while hardly mentioning its downsides, such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.' Lisa Smosarski, editor of More, suggested that there will be no turning back for today's sexually confident young women. 'Our results show that after decades of lying back and thinking of England, today's twenty-something women are taking control of their sex lives and getting what they want in bed. And why not? (Dailymail.co.uk)
JK Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard shows why we all need fairy tales-Melanie McDonagh
At midnight on Wednesday night, the mini-stampede started at Waterstone's in Piccadilly for The Tales of Beedle the Bard, JK Rowling's latest. It's a collection of five little tales, fairy stories for wizards, which will be devoured at a sitting (it's short) by Harry Potter devotees, for whom life has lost quite a bit of its savour since the author produced the seventh and final volume in the series last year. With no more Harry Potter stories to look forward to, the tales will give fans a welcome, short-term fix of a world they thought they'd lost. They are written, the author assures us, by a 15th-century wizard, and translated from the original runes by Hermione Grainger, with sage commentary by Albus Dumbledore, the late lamented head of Hogwarts. For young witches and wizards, we are told, the stories of "the Hopping Pot and the Fountain of Fair Fortune are as familiar as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are to Muggle (non-magical) children". As JK Rowling observes in the introduction, "Beedle's stories resemble our fairy tales in many respects; for instance, virtue is usually rewarded and wickedness punished". The heroines are, however, more feminist-friendly than the norm: "Beedles' witches are much more active in seeking their fortunes than our fairy-tale heroines, rather than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe". But it would only be truthful to say that these takes on the traditional fairy story go to show just how good the originals are. (Telegraph.co.uk)
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