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THE RISE OF THE ENVIRO-DICTATORSHIP
By Avi Davis
About seven years ago, some time after 9/11, I questioned my mother about a long lost relative who now lives in Paris. She had attended the same Jewish day school as me, was raised in a traditional Jewish environment and had absorbed much of the same moral attitudes of our parents and grandparents. She moved overseas years ago and we had lost touch. My interest was sparked when I was told that her oldest daughter was about to turn twelve, the traditional age to hold a bat-mitzvah.
“ Well,” my mother said, “ she no longer believes in Judaism and does not observe anything at all.” Then she sighed, adding: “ Her new religion is the environment.”
My cousin, an intelligent and accomplished scientist, thereafter became something of a symbol for me of a movement whose pervasive influence seems almost inexorable. Environmentalism, an ideology that has gained unwarranted traction over the past two decades, has replaced many core religious beliefs among secular Europeans, and, elevated to a key component of the European worldview, could one day frame its entire moral outlook.
Since the beginning of the 20th Century, the drive for conservation and protection of the natural environment has been a growing international concern, reflecting public alarm over encroaching urban development and escalating pollution of our skies. The protection of animal life and endangered species, the result of human insensitivity and environmental degradation, has been one of the key concerns of this movement. And a worthy movement it has been. Indeed, every inhabitant on earth should care about the air we breathe, the animals who inhabit our wild lands and the preservation of our natural heritage.
But the movement that passes today as environmentalism is something entirely different than the rag tag assortment of individuals and groups who once voiced hug-a-tree pieties.
Contemporary environmentalism concerns itself less with conservation and protection of the natural environment than with anti-capitalism, anti-globalization, the deconstruction of western civilization and even a redefinition of what it means to be human.
That is the case made by the current Czech President ,Vaclav Klaus, in a new book titled Blue Planet in Green Shackles – What is Endangered, Climate or Freedom? published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Klaus argues that the environmental movement has transformed itself into an ideology that seeks to restrict human activities at any cost, while pursuing an impossible utopian ideal of a perfectly “natural” world. The supposed threat of human civilization posed against a fragile Earth has become an article of faith, especially in the realm of global warming activism.
“The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century is no longer socialism,” writes Klaus. “It is, instead, the ambitious, arrogant unscrupulous ideology of environmentalism.”
Environmentalism, the Czech President has said, is a way of introducing new forms of statism and new forms of masterminding human society from above. Democratic free society is threatened by the advance of environmentalism as by no other internal home-bred political movement since the collapse of Nazism. Much like the totalitarian ideologies it replicates, environmentalism operates by first enshrining quasi- noble ideas which transcend individual needs in the name of a greater public good. It then transforms into a coercive movement which does not abide opposition. It ends with the use of violence as its tool of enforcement. All the while, it is reinforced by a pre-possessing self-confidence on the part of its adherents. And like their totalitarian predecessors, the movement leaders are certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom in order to transform ideas into reality.
Although he does not provide much scientific data to explode the environmentalist myth, ( a case handled by many other excellent texts including Roy Spencer’s Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science or Lawrence Solomon’s The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria.) Klaus goes to considerable lengths to point out the global economic catastrophe which could engulf us should the world’s largest industrial powers agree to fulfill the terms of the Kyoto Protocol. He illustrates how energy and economic crises will overcome the world should there fail to be a reversion to the use of safe and efficient nuclear energy; and he points out the absence of any rational scientific basis for the objection to genetically modified organisms ( GMOs) which have saved crops around the world from pestilence and can make an enormous contribution to the war against hunger.
The notion that environmentalism is supplanting Christianity as a mainstream religious movement is supported by the novelist Michael Crichton who delivered an address on the subject to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco in 2003. He explained that the development of environmentalism as a religion follows a consistent human pattern. The inhabitants of an initial Eden ( read Nature), fall from a state of grace ( read environmental degradation) as a result of eating from a tree of knowledge (read technology) and as a consequence must now await a judgment day (read environmental catastrophe).
In this mythic structure, we are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. And to obtain salvation we must follow safe and sustainable energy procedures – both as individuals and as communities.
“ Increasingly, facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief.” says Crichton. “It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.”
Every religion looks to an authority figure for inspiration and to guide its development, and in many ways, former Vice-President Al Gore, has assumed that mantle in the United States. But Gore pales as a revolutionary figure compared to Europe’s environmental high priest - José Bové. The French-born son of agricultural geneticists, Bové has taken a leading role in advancing the campaign against GMOs, attacking American multinational food chains ( going so far as to personally demolish a McDonalds Restaurant in Larzac, France); leading protests against globalization in many parts of the world and promoting both anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism among his many adherents. Lost on no one should be the fact that Bové’s ‘return to nature’ ethos and rejection of modern society has about it the kind of crop worship that pre-dated the spread of the Roman Empire and the advent of Christianity in Europe.
Bové is ably abetted by some of his political supporters among the Green parties of Europe and UN policy makers. Maurice Strong, UN Chairman of the Council for the University for Peace, and architect of the Kyoto Protocol, stated in 2000:“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our duty to bring that about?”
And if you think these developments are frightening, then perhaps you might want to know how the environmentalist movement is addressing the very concept of humanity itself. In June, the Environment Committee of the Spanish Parliament, endorsed the Great Ape Project. This is a movement which began with the publication in 1993 of Paolo Cavlieri and Peter Singer’s book The Great Ape. Today GAP is an international organization of primatologists, psychologists and other experts who advocate a United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes that would confer basic legal rights on non-human great apes: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. The rights suggested are the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.
The Spanish vote is an enormous victory for GAP and a great blow to the continuity of our civilization. It renders almost meaningless our struggles over gay marriage and the gender wars, because at least those battles are being waged within an accepted framework of human exceptionalism. The belief that there is no essential distinction between ourselves and the animal kingdom, renders all human moral boundaries as nonsense; it implies that all temporal strictures are of no significance and it converts all human conceived laws into artificial, insubstantial and worthless constructs.
Environmentalism is developing, therefore, not so much an assault on religion, capitalism and globalization, as an attempt to destabilize and deconstruct Western civilization itself. The Judeo-Christian values which for centuries have provided us with the moral foundation upon which our freedoms and liberties are built, are now being dismissed as the handiwork of rapacious white men who have heedlessly imposed their values on the natural world – corrupting and polluting it.
Those who still believe in the necessary survival of Western civilization should also understand that these internal movements will irremediably weaken our resolve to confront Islamist forces dedicated to our destruction. Radical environmentalism must be confronted directly and defeated. It must be exposed as a mendacious cult, driven by utopians and supported by unreliable leaders. And it must be revealed as intent on undermining our freedoms, rather than preserving them.
Avi Davis is the Executive Director and Senior Fellow of the American Freedom Alliance in Los Angeles.
NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA
Second Terrorist Bulldozer Attack In Three Weeks
Another Bulldozer Attack in Jerusalem: 23 Wounded-Hillel Fendel
 (IsraelNN.com) For the second time in three weeks, an Arab commandeered a bulldozer to commit a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. He wounded several people before being shot and killed. The terrorist began his attempt to murder Jews on King David St. near the Yemin Moshe neighborhood. He took a tractor from a construction site, and began plowing into vehicles along the street, hitting at least three cars - one of which he completely overturned - and a bus. One driver was able to escape from his car even though the tractor plowed it into a bus stop. When the terrorist reached the intersection of Keren HaYesod St., a citizen and Border Guard policeman shot and killed him. The entire incident was over very quickly, eyewitnesses said. Less than three weeks ago, an Arab from eastern Jerusalem killed three people in a similar attack before he was himself killed by a heroic yeshiva student/soldier. The tractor used in today's attack was smaller than the one used in the previous one. Of the 23 injured, one is reported in moderate condition - apparently with an amputated leg - and the others have light injuries or are suffering from trauma. Among them are a woman and her nine-month-old baby son.Gag-Order on Terrorist's Name The dead tractor terrorist was an Israeli citizen, living in Um Tuba, a south-eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhood not far from Sur Baher. His name was publicized over the radio, and minutes later, a gag order prohibiting it from being disseminated was publicized - apparently because of his family connections with a an orange-bearded Hamas legislator who has been jailed for involvement in terrorism. (IsraelNationalNews)
British State Schools To Learn Islamic Traditions
All state pupils may be taught Islamic traditions as part of compulsory citizenship lessons-Matthew Hickley
State school pupils are set to be taught Islamic traditions and values in compulsory citizenship lessons. The move - part of a package of initiatives announced by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears yesterday - is designed to curb extremism. Education campaigners warned however against giving Islam a privileged position over other faiths. Other plans announced by Miss Blears also drew criticism - including a state-funded panel of Islamic scholars and theologians to provide community leadership. Prominent Muslims said this scheme was naive because Government endorsement would erode the credibility of those taking part, especially among the young and disaffected. Another measure will see Muslim children being taught citizenship lessons by imams in mosque schools - in the hope that they will be better equipped to resist extremist messages. Many Muslim youngsters in the UK attend evening classes at madrassah schools attached to mosques, where imams give instruction in the Koran and Islamic history. Ministers want imams to stress that the Koran places a duty on all Muslims to be good neighbours, carry out voluntary work and play an active part in civic society. (DailyMail)
Islamic Finance Coming To France
French economy minister wants to promote Islamic finance to attract Gulf-based investment which is currently flowing to London. [AFP / Expatica]
PARIS - The French government, anxious to attract some of the Gulf-based investment currently flowing to London, is promoting Islamic finance, offering it a more accommodating legal and fiscal framework in France. Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, recently addressing Gulf investors, pledged to take steps "to make (their) activities as welcome in Paris as they are in London and elsewhere." Analyst Emmanuel Volland of the ratings agency Standard and Poor's noted that this was "the first time that a representative of the state has said publicly that she is favourable to the development of Islamic finance. "It's a strong signal and the players are listening." But at another agency, Moody's, Anwar Hassan, cautioned that government pronouncements "are not in themselves sufficient to ensure the blossoming of Islamic finance here". He said the government should not be content simply to reduce "legal or fiscal irritants" but should - for example - issue Islamic bonds, known as "sukuks," as Britain plans to do next year. The challenge is also not purely technical or limited to establishing an infrastructure receptive to Islamic finance, he said, adding that convincing the French public of the soundness of such investments would be the real test. (Expatica)
ICNA’s Ad On Islam To Hit New York’s MTA In September
Winner Takes Allah-Jeremy Olshan
 Elected officials and straphangers called on the MTA yesterday to pull the Islamic subway-ad campaign being promoted by a controversial Brooklyn imam whom federal officials have linked to acts of terrorism. The push to promote Islam on the rails this September, in a $48,000 ad campaign sponsored by the Islamic Circle of North America, was reported in The Post yesterday. "I strongly believe the MTA should pull the ads," said Rep. Peter King (R-LI), a ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee. "They are especially shameful because the ads will be running during the seventh anniversary of September 11, and because the subways are considered a primary target of terrorists." Although the group says the ads - which will coincide with the holy month of Ramadan - aim to educate non-Muslims and reach out to those interested in joining the faith, many are incensed that Imam Siraj Wahhaj was chosen as the pitchman in a YouTube video for "The Subway Project." In 1995, federal officials named Wahhaj an unindicted co-conspirator in a plot to blow up city landmarks, although he was never formally charged.
A former member of the Nation of Islam, Wahhaj also served as a character witness in the trial of convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, and has said that he hopes one day all Americans are "persuaded" to become Muslims. MTA officials said the ads are protected as free speech under the First Amendment. Mayor Bloomberg agreed. (NYPost)
Wahhabist Ideology Is Also a Problem In Russia
80% of Islamic literature in Russian offers wahabi ideas - expert
Chelyabinsk, July 22, Interfax - Eighty percent of Muslim literature published in Russia reflects ideas and principles of wahhabism, islamologist Roman Silantyev said. "It contains appeals not to observe laws of non-Muslim states (and Russia is a non-Muslim state), to liquidate peoples with other religious convictions," Silantyev told journalists at the Chelyabinsk Interfax press center. According to him, the same can be referred to informational sources as "many of them are financed by wahabis and promote ideas of radical Islam.' Silantyev believes the key problem is that certain Islamic leaders are identified with all Russian Muslims. "We often see that a Muslim leader speaks out with radical statements or threats and serve them up as an opinion of the significant part of Muslims. While the reputation of the leader is often questioned," the islamologist said. He reminded, "according to the information of Russian general prosecutor's office, people's court twice condemned co-chairman of Russia's Mufti Council Nafigullah Ashirov for robbery and disorderly conduct." (Interfax)
Germans Uncomfortable With Constructions Of More Mosques
Not in My Backyard, Say an Increasing Number of Germans- Jochen Bölsche
The planned construction of over 180 mosques in Germany is mobilizing right-wing xenophobes but also an increasing number of leftist critics. They fear the Muslim places of worship will facilitate the establishment of a completely parallel society
The issue at hand wasn't the construction of a missile base or a new nuclear power plant. Yet the media reported "turmoil" and an "enraged" audience in a school auditorium in Ehrenfeld, a district of the German city of Cologne. The mood was almost comparable to that of the protest gatherings once held against nuclear missiles or reactors. Instead the outrage was directed at a huge mosque planned for the area. Still, the words used by the project's opponents called to mind the protests of earlier times. "The minarets even look like missiles," railed one woman. A man said the mosque's dome reminded him "of a nuclear plant." Ill will over mosques like the one being built in Cologne is spreading rapidly throughout Germany, often to the surprise of local politicians. For a long time the establishment of Muslim prayer rooms provoked little protest, housed as they were mostly in residential buildings, shops and back courtyards. Recently, though, there has been an increasing number of acts of protest, some violent. Molotov cocktails were thrown through mosque windows in the Bavarian town of Lauingen; Christians set protest crosses inscribed with "Terra christiana est," or this is Christian land, on the grounds of a mosque in Hanover; and construction trailers went up in flames in the Berlin district of Pankow. The anti-Islam protest movement has also begun to spill over into city politics. In Cologne, for example, the extreme right anti-mosque initiative Pro Cologne captured five local government seats in recent elections. Now the group is aspiring to enter the national scene as Pro Germany, together with other like-minded organizations, some from the far-right fringe. Their approach follows the example of populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, whose anti-immigration party garnered a surprising degree of support before he was murdered in 2002. (SpiegelOnline)
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
PM Gordon Brown Promises Academic Links Between The UK And Israel
Brown promotes academic links with Israel-Anthea Lipsett and Jessica Shepherd
British academics will be encouraged to conduct research with their Israeli peers in an attempt to heal fractured relations between UK and Israeli universities. Gordon Brown has signed up to a £740,000 academic exchange scheme during his trip to Israel today. The government has been keen to promote links between the two countries to play down attempts by British academics to boycott Israeli academics over the treatment of Palestinians. In May, members of the University and College Union voted to consider the moral and political implications of education links with Israeli institutions. But the UK government's contribution of £20,000 to the scheme which is mainly funded by charities was described as an insult by a leading Anglo-Jewish historian. Geoffrey Alderman, visiting professor of theology and education at York St John University, said: "Compared to the money that the government is giving to the Palestinian Authority, this is aninsult. I would throw this back in their faces. If the government was seriously interested in a programme to foster academic cooperation, it would think in terms of millions." (Guardian)
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Ezra Levant Receives Anonymous E-mail Death Threat
Barbara Kay: Paving the way for 'soft jihad'-Barbara Kay
When Ibn Warraq’s secularist manifesto Why I Am Not a Muslim was released in 1995, a fellow dissident was disappointed to learn the ayatollahs hadn’t called for the author’s head: “It’s such a damn good book, I don’t understand why you haven’t had a fatwa.” Ayatollah-prescribed fatwas are so pre-9/11. Nowadays, as liberal elites rush prophylactically to ward off charges of tolerating “Islamophobia,” the fatwas (in all but name) against damn good books like Mark Steyn’s America Alone aren’t bruited in mosques; they issue forth from human rights commissioners. An unintended but all-too-predictable danger inherent in the prosecution of Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn (the latter via Maclean’s magazine) was the encouraging message it would send to more fevered imaginations. As reported on his blog on Monday morning, Ezra Levant has received an anonymous e-mail death threat: “Ezra, you will be killed by my hands.” Although this is doubtless a hollow menace (real killers rarely serve notice), the sender’s wish to sow fear in Levant, and by extension all journalists, is merely a cruder version of the impulse behind the human rights complaints. Many Canadians believe the nation’s human rights commissions (HRCs) are motivated by high ideals and good intentions. But in conspiring to silence what a handful of Muslims deem “hate speech,” these good intentions are paving the way for the hell of global “soft jihad.” (NationalPost)
Will Freedom Of Expression Be stifled In America Too?
DUIN: Religious speech debated-Julia Duin
Late last week, I attended a Capitol Hill briefing about an obscure United Nations resolution on "defamation of religions" that some call the "soft jihad." Lined up in front of a hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building were six panelists including David Harris, a Canadian who was sued for libel in 2004 by the Canadian branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for remarks he made on a radio show. Also there was Ezra Levant, the publisher of a Canadian magazine who in 2006 got in hot water - and is the target of several lawsuits - for reprinting the Danish cartoons of prophet Muhammad as part of a news story. "Foreign-born jihadis," he says, "have teamed up with politically correct busybodies to use our own laws to undermine our freedoms, especially our freedom to criticize them."The chief topic of discussion was a U.N. Commission on Human Rights resolution, backed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, that addresses "the campaign to defame religions and the ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim minorities" since Sept. 11, 2001. Freedom of expression, the resolution says, would be "subject to limitations" to guard the "respect of the rights and reputations of others; protection of national security or of public order, public health or morals and respect for religions and beliefs." Those on the panel, sponsored by the Congressional Religious Freedom Task Force, said the resolution, which has yet to pass, already is having a chilling effect. Even now in Canada, "you can't even broach the idea of sharia being problematic," one panelist said. One of the resolution's backers was Pakistan, home of the dreaded "blasphemy laws" whereby majority Muslims have sent Christians and other religious minorities to jail merely on the suspicion of defaming the Koran. The lone Pakistani panelist, Asma Fatima of the Pakistani Embassy, was asked why Pakistan seems bent on exporting these laws worldwide. "We're protesting against hate crimes, stuff that encourages feelings of hatred, that makes people feel bad," she said. "There are many critics of the blasphemy law in Pakistan and we are working on it." (WashingtonTimes)
ANTISEMITISM
Anti-Israel Propaganda At Yourdictionary.Com
Teaching Israel hate goes mainstream at yourdictionary.com-Ami Isseroff
When Israel hate gets into materials that masquerade as basic references and educational aids, it is really past time to sound the alarm. Yourdictionary.com is the latest example of how anti-Israel propaganda, anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism have gone mainstream.
Previously, we noted that anti-Israel propaganda had permeated Wikipedia, thanks to the efforts of a few dedicated anti-Israel editors. But Wikipedia, despite its tremendous authority, is a source open to public editing. Yourdictionary.com is supposedly a neutral source, which provides "educational content" for profit. When the propaganda gets into dictionary definitions, it is a sign that it really has become part of the mainstream culture.
The most remarkable thing about yourdictionary.com is perhaps the entries that are NOT there" Neither "anti-Semitism" nor "antisemitism" were listed in this dictionary as of July 19!For the entry Jew, the dictionary lists the anti-Semitic verb form first. To be fair, it states that the usage is racist, but I have never seen the verb form of "Jew" listed first in any dictionary (as in "He Jewed me down"). (IsraelNews)
Why Australia Should Not Attend Durban II
Australia must boycott the next racist hatefest- Anne Bayefsky
The United Nations is planning a global anti-racism conference that is destined to encourage racism. Known as Durban II, and to take place in Geneva next April, it follows the notorious anti-semitic hatefest held in Durban seven years ago. Canada has already decided not to attend. The United States and Israel are planning to boycott too. Australia is, therefore, faced with an important challenge and opportunity. By refusing to participate, Australia can help deny legitimacy to a global platform for intolerance and deal the voices of hate a blow. The UN, in its early years, was the world's best hope for securing peace and security and promoting human rights. However, over time its Human Rights Commission fell into disrepute and in 2006 it was replaced by the Human Rights Council. The cure turned out to be worse than the disease. Council members elected to leadership roles on the committee planning the Durban II anti-racism conference included a Libyan, Cuban and Iranian. In turn, the committee has scheduled its two sessions over major Jewish holidays, thus assuring minimal Jewish attendance. Meetings have heard from Pakistan and Algeria trying to redefine anti-Semitism by saying it targets Arab and Muslims, even though the term was coined by a Jew-hater to mean Jew hatred. The group of countries that will be preparing the first draft of the outcome from Durban II has just been announced. It includes such rights-respecting regimes as Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan. And they are just warming up. At Durban I gangs of young thugs roamed the precincts of the conference unchallenged, carrying signs such as "For the liberation of Quds, machine guns based upon faith and Islam must be used". They burst into and broke up an official session on anti-Semitism with a chorus of "You are killers. You are killers." Police ordered the Jewish centre in Durban closed for fear of a mob attack. (SydneyMorningHerald)
New PA ‘Blood Libel’ Accuses Israel Of Nazi Type Medical Experiments On Palestinian Inmates
Palestinian Authority Libel: Prisoners are used for Nazi-like medical experiments Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, July 9, 2008
Introduction: The Palestinian Authority is intensifying its longstanding blood libel campaign against Israel, falsely accusing Israel of conducting horrific Nazi-like medical experiments on Palestinian prisoners. These fabrications have been featured repeatedly in the Palestinian Authority's official newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, which is under the direct authority of Mahmoud Abbas. In the past week alone there were three new examples of this libel: "The method employed by the Israeli Occupation in which they [are] instigating slow death ... doctors in Israeli prison clinics use the prisoners as guinea pigs for clinical drug testing under the pretense of 'treatment.'" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 6, 2008] "Many of the male and female inmates received injections from needles they had not seen before, and which caused their hair and facial hair to fall out permanently ... others lost their sanity, or their mental condition is constantly deteriorating... and some are suffering from infertility." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 4, 2008] "The doctors in these prison clinics are using the prisoners as guinea pigs for clinical testing of drugs and treatment-methods." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 3, 2008] Giving voice to blood libels and slandering Israel are essential tools used by the Palestinian Authority to demonize Israel and to inflame hatred against Israel, especially on the highly sensitive subject of Palestinian prisoners. It is therefore not surprising that the Palestinian public places the release of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons as a national cause, and justifies all means -- including the abduction of Israeli soldiers - to free the prisoners from their supposed mistreatment. (PMW)
More On Wikipedia’s Anti-Israel Bias
Techwatch: The other side of Wikipedia-David Shamah
As most of us have come to realize, it's too late for Wikipedia, as far as Israel is concerned. The "Npov" crowd (an acronym for the supposedly Neutral Point of View of Wikipedia editors) have basically installed themselves in the positions of editorial authority that control the site. Wikipedia editors gave CAMERA a hard time for trying to do something (how dare they!) about the consistent anti-Israel opinions on the Wikipedia site (http://tinyurl.com/55v9l9). And then there was my own exchange with a "defender of Wikipedia's editorial freedom" (http://digital.newzgeek.com/Wiki-Gone-Wild.html), whose Wiki user page has been seen in the past sporting a Hizbullah flag, witnesses tell me, even while he emphatically states "I will /*not*/ apologize for working strenuously to fix Wikipedia's severe neutrality problems when it comes to Israel." So, for someone looking for the truth about Israel, Wikpedia is pretty much a dead end - it seems to carry only the "truth" as approved by the international Arab propaganda machine. But other Wiki projects prove that it's Wikipedia that's out of step - and that it's possible to conduct a publicly editable Wiki web site without having to hand it over lock, stock and barrel to people with a very clear agenda about Israel. (JerusalemPost)
TERRORISM
Salafist Jihadism Arrives In The Gaza Strip
'Compared to Us, Hamas Is Islamism Lite'-Ulrike Putz in the Gaza Strip
 Global power is their goal, and they are willing to slaughter innocents to get there. A group of ultra-radical Islamists are training in the Gaza Strip, and SPIEGEL ONLINE met with one of their leaders.
It's not easy to find a place to meet the man who goes by the name of Abu Mustafa. A number of places were agreed on and jettisoned. Finally, after hours of cruising around Gaza City with Abu Mustafa's driver, the call came. The meeting would take place on the beach. There are enough people on the beach that one doesn't attract so much attention, the caller explained. How absurd this notion was would soon become clear. Most people don't stick out on the beaches of Gaza to the degree that Abu Mustafa does. He picks his way across the sand on crutches, his leg wrapped in a cast up to his thigh. The Pakistani clothes he wears are also foreign -- and the white shirt that hangs to his knees makes walking on crutches even more difficult. Finally he slumps in a plastic chair. "Peace be upon you," he says quietly, welcoming his guest.
Many people would like to speak with Abu Mustafa these days -- he guesses about 10 men call him each day. Abu Mustafa holds the key to an ideology that many are turning to in the Gaza Strip: Salafist jihadism, a belief in the most radical form of Islam. "We meet secretly in mosques and private homes," says Abu Mustafa, who has become an entry point to the movement for many. He says the Salafis now number up to 5,000 people, not counting the women and children.
'A Very Dangerous Man'
"We aren't well enough organized yet, but we are in the process of building networks," says the 33-year-old. Eventually, he hopes, a powerful movement will be born. Members are already receiving weapons training and are schooled in both dogma and strategy. "When the fight begins, they will show no mercy," said a middleman for the interview -- himself a fighter in an armed militia -- prior to the beach meeting. "Abu Mustafa is a very dangerous man."
Salafis -- sometimes referred to as Wahhabis -- dream of a world before Islam became cluttered with new innovations and cultural influences. They seek to live a pious, god-fearing life governed by the laws of religion, a life resembling those of the original Muslims. At first glance, such a belief system doesn't differ much from that of other utopian sects -- were it not for their ideas related to holy war. To make their vision a reality, Abu Mustafa and his men are willing to fight -- and they are willing to slaughter innocent bystanders.
"Look," says Abu Mustafa, whose beard cascades down his chest, "there will be three possibilities. Some will find their way to Islam. Those who don't want to convert will be able to live in peace under the authority of Islam." For those who don't want to accept the hegemony of Islam, however, holy war is the only recipe. "Then we have to fight -- just like our brothers on Sept. 11," Abu Mustafa says.
The attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. seven years ago were a response to the contempt held for Islam by the Western world, he says. "If Muslims are attacked anywhere in the world, one has to hit back, and it doesn't matter where." Salafist Islam is like a cat, he says. "It is very friendly, but if it is attacked, it turns into a tiger." (SpiegelOnline)
Suicide Bomber In Danish Embassy Attack Was From Saudi Arabia
Danish embassy bomber "from Mecca"-al Qaeda leader-Reuters
ISLAMABAD, July 22 (Reuters) - The suicide bomber who carried out an attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad last month came from the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, an al Qaeda leader said in a rare interview with a Pakistani news channel. Geo News aired the interview late on Monday with veteran al Qaeda member Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, in which he elaborated on the June 2 attack that killed six people, all of them Pakistanis. The bomber was a young man from the land "where the Prophet was born" and the "land of Mecca", said the bespectacled, bearded and turbaned Yazid. Soon after the blast, Yazid had claimed responsibility for al Qaeda in a posting on an Islamist website. The interview with Geo was said to have been conducted at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan a few days ago. An Egyptian who served time in jail with al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981, Yazid is now commander of operations in Afghanistan. He has been referred to as al Qaeda's third most senior figure, after the elimination or capture of five earlier occupants of the Number Three spot since 2001. (Reuters)
Man Targeting Israeli And Jewish Targets Sentenced To 22 Years In Prison
Second Man Involved in Domestic Terrorism Plot Targeting Military, Jewish Facilities Sentenced to Prison-
SANTA ANA, Calif., July 21, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A man recruited to join a domestic terrorist cell that was plotting to attack United States military facilities, "infidels," and Israeli and Jewish targets in the Los Angeles area as part of a "jihad" was sentenced today to more than 121/2 years in federal prison. Gregory Patterson, 24, of Gardena, was sentenced to 151 months in prison by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney. Last month, another man recruited into the terror plot, Levar Washington, 30, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Patterson and Washington pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to wage war against the United States and a weapons charge. Patterson also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence The man who organized the terror cell - Kevin James, who formed the group he called Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, while in a California state prison - also pleaded guilty last year to the terrorism conspiracy charge and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 9, 2009. (Marketwatch)
Foreigners Working In British Airports Are A Terrorist Threat
Britain 'facing terrorist insider threat from foreigners working at airports'-Ian Drury
 Thousands of workers in high-security areas at airports will avoid foreign criminal checks, it was revealed yesterday. Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said that by the end of the year, applicants for sensitive 'airside' jobs would be vetted to see if they had committed offences abroad. But those who already hold security passes - including pilots and baggage-handlers - will not be checked.Critics said it exposes the 'worrying state of security' at airports. Ministers are determined to close all possible loopholes to ensure terrorists cannot hijack or plant bombs on passenger jets.Former civil servant Stephen Boys Smith warned of the possibility of 'terrorist insiders' at transport hubs in a recent report commissioned by Government ministers.
He said the threat of extremists infiltrating sensitive parts of airports is 'varied and unpredictable'. Currently, restricted pass holders at airports face a standard UK criminal records check. But in May it was revealed that workers were not subject to overseas checks. It meant hundreds of workers with a criminal past could have landed 'airside' jobs. (DailyMail)
TERRORISM-INTERNET
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
Terrorism and Internet: charges have recently been filed against two Israeli Bedouins, members of the Islamic Movement. They are suspected of acting on behalf of Al-Qaeda. They formed and maintained contact with Al-Qaeda through the Internet, based on their ideological affinity with radical Islam. 1
The homepage of Al-Ikhlas, one of Al-Qaeda’s major websites, accessed by one of the suspects. Left: information on terrorist attacks in Iraq. Right: a photograph of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden’s deputy. Access to the forums on the website is only allowed to registered users using a password.
 
1. Joint activity of the Israeli security forces in May-June 2008 led to the arrest of two Bedouins, who are suspected of joining Al-Qaeda and acting on its behalf and on behalf of global jihad elements against Israeli citizens. The two suspects are Taher Abu Skut and his nephew Omar Abu Skut, both aged 20-21, from the Bedouin town of Rahat in south Israel , members of the Islamic Movement. During interrogation, the Israel Security Agency discovered an extensive network of contacts the two had made with Al-Qaeda and global jihad elements, based on their ideological affinity with radical Islamic ideology.
2. The Internet connection with Al-Qaeda
The charges filed at the Beersheba District Court shed light on the connection Taher Abu Skut and his nephew Omar Abu Skut held with Al-Qaeda operatives through the Internet. Following are some highlights of their online activity: 2
a. In 2002-2006, Taher Abu Skut started becoming closer to Islam and act within the Islamic Movement in the town of Rahat . In 2006, Abu Skut, who is knowledgeable about computers, started reading Islamic articles online and access Islamic websites using his home computer and from other locations. Some of the websites he accessed belonged to Al-Qaeda and global jihad elements and called for the destruction of Israel .
b. Taher Abu Skut accessed Al-Qaeda's Al-Hisba 3and Al-Tartiq 4 (?) websites, where he registered using the nickname Abu Mus'ab and was given a secret number to identify himself on the forums. During his participation in those forums and in online conversations, he met an operative known as Izzat al-Islam, who was the director of Al-Qaeda's world media front and the head of the online forum. In early 2007, Taher brought his nephew, Omar, to the Al-Hisba website. Later, in early 2008, Abu Omar Skut also accessed two other websites associated with Al-Qaeda: Al-Ikhlas 5and Al-Buraq. 6
JIHAD-INTERNET
From the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon’s site (Hizbollah)
Kintar Celebrates Birthday with Rifle in Hand
 Source: Al-Manar TV, 21-7-2008
Samir Kintar celebrated his 46th birthday on Sunday surrounded by friends and family from his hometown Aabey for the first time since he was detained thirty years ago. The Islamic resistance and the Detainees Association observed the occasion in a way worthy of the freed fighter.
Kintar was released along with four Hezbollah fighters and the bodies of 199 Lebanese, Arab and Palestinian fighters in exchange with two dead "Israeli" soldiers in the framework of Operation al-Redwan on July 16.
A detachment of resistance fighters saluted Kintar and gave him "the sweetest gift after freedom", as Kintar described. The gift was an "Israeli" military rifle gained from the July 2006 war. "I want to salute the Islamic resistance and its secretary general for this trust. First of all, it's a renewal of trust in me as a resistance fighter and secondly, God willing, it will take part in retaliating the assassination of martyr Hajj Imad Moghnieh," Kintar said while holding the rifle with great pride.
Kintar also received a symbolic gift from Hezbollah official in Mount Lebanon Bilal Dagher. Dagher presented Kintar with a picture joining Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah with martyr Moughniyeh, Haj Redwan.
Freed Kintar was seen blissful when celebrating his birthday away from the prison cell. No more biscuits would be served on Kintar's birthday. After 30 years, Kintar cut a big cake decorated by his picture along with Sayyed Nasrallah, the same picture decorating his family house.
After the celebration, Kintar's residence in Aabey was overcrowded with people of all ages who came to greet the hero as well as a group of reporters who wrote about Kintar for years and a flood of phone calls from Lebanon and Arab countries congratulating him on his return home.
Congratulations on your freedom Samir, and happy birthday.
Fatah Representatives in the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jihad Abu Zneid and Najat Abu Bakr, Celebrate the Return of Terrorist Dalal Al-Maghrabi's Remains on PA TV-MEMRI
The following are excerpts from an interview with Fatah representatives in the PA Legislative Council Jihad Abu Zneid and Najat Abu Bakr, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on July 16, 2008.
To view this clip visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1815.htm
Jihad Abu Zneid: "Today has stirred the emotions of all Palestinians and the whole world [towards] a Palestinian woman who was, and still is, a commander and a fighter for the sake of Palestine. Allah willing, we hope that the day is near when the remains of this fighter and martyr, who has been dubbed 'the Princess of Female Martyrs' - sister Dalal Al-Maghrabi, - will return, Allah willing, to Jaffa, and will be welcomed by Jaffa and by the entire homeland, and we will celebrate our liberation.
[...]
"We extend our deepest salutations to that Palestinian mother, to the mother and sisters of Dalal, and to all the female martyrs [who died] for the sake of Dalal and Palestine. I say to them: You have won [this honor]. Becoming the mother or sister of a martyr is an unparalleled opportunity. I wish I could be the mother or sister of a martyr, or even be martyred myself for the sake of Palestine. This would be a great honor. We all wish to die, Allah willing, for the sake of Palestine, and to become brides for the sake of Palestine - all the women and girls of Palestine wish for that. Dalal was a role model, and we were raised on her memory, and on this outstanding Palestinian image of that great Palestinian commander, Dalal, who led the best Palestinian operation for the sake of Palestine and its liberation.
[...]
"The first woman to hijack a plane was a Palestinian. The first woman to lead a commando operation against the occupation was Dalal Al-Maghrabi. The Palestinian mothers who bade farewell to thousands of martyrs, knowing that their sons were leaving, never to return, yet they bade farewell to them, knowing that the homeland would be restored before their sons returned...
[...]
"We all hoped that the great martyr and leader, the late [Yasser Arafat], could be with us today to receive the remains of the fighter, sister Dalal Al-Maghrabi, and to say to her, as he always said: 'We are [advancing] along the road, we will remain true to our oath, and we will always renew this oath, for the sake of the martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners.' Whenever he would say to us: 'To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions,' we would replay: 'Yes.'
[...]
"Today, Abu Ammar [Arafat], you welcome from your grave these remains. You receive all the martyrs because you were an Emir at the head of all the martyrs. You died for the sake of Palestine, and your soul embraces the souls of Dalal Al-Maghrabi and of all the martyrs. Allah willing, we will continue along the path of the martyrs, and obtain that great martyrdom for the sake of Palestine."
[...]
Najat Abu Bakr: "To Samir Quntar, the outstanding commander, who always set his eyes on Palestine... To Samir Quntar, who was liberated from one geographical region, and went to another geographical region, to Palestine... To Samir Quntar, who always united the PLO factions in the prisons, and to whom people listened more than to the Palestinians themselves... I say to him: Congratulations to you, and congratulations to Palestine for your [release], Samir. We pledge to continue calling you son of Palestine, rather than son of Lebanon. To the mother of Dalal, I say that this is the day of Dalal's presence in the soul of every free man. Rest assured, oh mistress of Palestine and of the mother of martyrs, that on this day you have become the mother of all Palestinian mothers. To Dalal, confined in her coffin, I say that no matter how much time it takes, you are the one who has won, even though they kept your body, sentenced your body to a hundred years in the freezer, and charged 50 shekels from anyone who came to see your body in the morgue... Today, you made all the Israeli and Zionist warlords pay the price. Your price is higher than anything they expected. You are present, because while death means absence, martyrdom means presence. Oh leaders of the Zionist enemy, we are here to stay, and you will be gone."
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