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ENGLAND’S MULTICULTURAL REVOLUTION
By Avi Davis
The very first sight that greets a visitor upon arrival at London’s Heathrow Airport is the arresting advertisements of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation ( HSBC). Lining the gangway upon which one takes his first steps into the country (as well as the many lobbies leading to Passport Control) is the attempt of this venerable old bank to promote cultural and moral relativism. A set of four posters place contrasting images next to one another and then label the posters “good” or “bad”; “vacation” or “hell”; “delicious” or “disgusting” and then repeat the image, but this time reversing the tag. Thus a man in a tiny, undersized tent on a beach is set against a scene of revelry at a disco; a piece of rich chocolate cake is contrasted with a piece of fruit; an Indian musician competes with a rock guitarist. And on and on it goes. After you have passed the first four images, a fifth poster posits a question which typically reads: “Isn’t it better when you can see something from another’s perspective?”
The images are of course meant to be soothing - an acknowledgment that the visitor has just entered a country where differences between cultures, tastes, religious points of view and attitudes towards such abstract notions as success and character are swiftly being eroded. England, they intimate, is a cultural melting pot where the promotion of harmony between conflicting interests, competing communities and religious attitudes is a central societal value.
It is true that these images appear not just at Heathrow but in airports around the world and are part of the Bank’s worldwide marketing campaign. But it is in England, I discovered, they have the greatest resonance. For in the United Kingdom moral and cultural relativism is being elevated into a high art and setting the country on a course toward national fragmentation.
My twelve day visit to England bore out the fact that the United Kingdom is in the throes of a multicultural revolution which is tearing out the heart of British identity and ruining any successful attempt to stir a response to internal threats to national identity . The evidence can be viewed almost everywhere one travels.
In southern England I met scores of British citizens, from all walks of life, who professed confusion about their identity and their role in the world. “Today, there is so much emphasis on being open to all cultures and all perspectives that being British and having British values seems to have been submerged.” said one woman, who is a prison corrective officer in the Lewes Gaol. “ We have lost a grip on what it means to be British,” said another couple. “No one dares sing the National Anthem at our kids’ school. To do so results invites derisive laughter.”
“ Are we meant to be citizens of the world or are we British citizens?” asked a worried engineer from Worthing.
In Stamford Hill, London where the ultra -orthodox Jewish population has swelled five-fold in twenty years, I spoke with women for whom multiculturalism’s great benefits comes with some depressing realizations: “ While my husband can walk down the street with his streimel (fur hat) and stockinged feet and not be harassed” one woman explained to me, “ I also know that wife beatings and general violence within the Muslim community around here often go un-policed because of cultural sensitivities.”
The assault on British identity can also be seen in the way the workforce has been deployed, even in the countryside. Walking into a pub in the tiny village of Pycombe in West Sussex, I noticed that none of the bar tenders were speaking English. When I inquired about this, I discovered that the two waitresses were Czech and Polish respectively. The cook was Iranian and the owner Pakistani. One of the customers explained to me that over 700,000 Poles had been admitted into the U.K over the past ten years, many coming to Southern England, transforming the countryside.
“They are hard workers and will do many of the jobs that Brits. don’t want to do any more,” he explained. “But, you know, they don’t intend to stay here and integrate. They don’t want to be British. And they are contributing to our fragmentation.”
The same might be said for Somali refugees. Refugee status allows them to claim 1,500 pounds per individual upon arrival in Britain – quite a handsome sum for someone whose average annual income does not exceed $350. But a great scandal erupted when it was discovered that often the same refugees were taking their money and then returning to Somalia only to reapply for admission and start the whole process over again. Ambitious immigrants and refugees have made a mockery of Britain’s loose immigration policies but no one seems to have the political will to close up the glaring loopholes in immigration law for fear of appearing culturally insensitive.
Cultural confusion is being clearly abetted by the media, for whom the demolition of British identity does not seem to be quite enough. There appears to be a crusade to completely pulverize it, with the mulch that remains being remolded into a new species of citizen. Along with countless allusions to racial discrimination against Muslims in the daily and local newspapers, there are also discrimination stories concerning ageism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Immigrant bias and the assaults on the working class. Reading these liberal papers one could easily come to the conclusion that if you are unfortunate enough to be born white, male, middle-class and British, then you live under the constant suspicion of being an anti-pluralist, sexist, racist, imperialist homophobe.
An open society, the multicultural ethos preaches, is one where there should no differences before the law , government or media between peoples, religions or attitudes. Each has their equal share in the bounty of freedoms offered by a Western democracy and none is entitled to judge nor criticize another. But what does this mean for a country that suffered its worst homegrown terrorism attack three years ago and whose capital is still regarded as Terrorism Central by law enforcement agencies around the world?
Government leaders are not providing much of an answer. Today in Britain debate is swirling around the issue of whether the Government can detain terrorism suspects for 42 days without charge, increasing by two weeks the current allowance. As I watched a television debate on the issue, I was quite astonished to note how no one, from either the Government, the opposition Conservative Party nor other commentators (one of whom was Jerry Springer) mentioned or successfully made the case for why such an extension would be necessary. I was surprised to hear the British Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Greve, in fact state that the liberties and freedoms of a democracy should never be abandoned, surrendered nor interfered with - even in the face of national security risks. That attitude was later repeated to me by other Conservative leaders. Sadly, these statements seem to be motivated more by politics and multicultural sensitivities, than concern for individual liberties. And while Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown may not be winning any popularity contests lately and a recent by-election handed an embarrassingly crushing defeat to a Labor candidate - the Conservative Party, with its insouciant and populist leader David Cameron, does not offer much of an alternative. So swept up are they in the multicultural revolution, that they risk a widespread media and bureaucratic backlash for challenging any aspect of it. .
Nor is the judiciary able to summon much courage on the issue. In the wake of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowen Williams’ statement in February – that Sharia Law should be considered on an equal footing with British law in the settlement of financial and family disputes in the Muslim community - the justices have been largely silent on this threat to the Common Law. Until yesterday that is. The Lord Chief Justice of Britain’s High Court, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, speaking at a Muslim Center in East London, unleashed a firestorm when he strongly backed Williams and said: "There is no reason why principles of Sharia law, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution."
Phillips pointed out how Orthodox Jews use the Beit Din as a form of mediation, which does not involve the operation of British law to resolve certain disputes in that community. Perhaps so. But what is missing in Lord Phillips’ vindication of Williams is the context. For Britain today has a large and restive Muslim population that is uncommitted to traditional British values and is itching for political power. After the 7/7 train bombings no less than 60% of British Muslims polled indicated that they consider violence a legitimate means of enforcing Muslim rights in Britain and the younger generation is uncommitted to preserving the freedoms guaranteed by the British Constitution and Common Law. A recent report from Brunel University showed how British universities have become the most fertile breeding ground for homegrown Muslim terrorists. Phillips has therefore obviously failed to consider that while British law may make this generous and culturally sensitive concession to the Muslim community, there is unlikely to be much reciprocity in Muslim respect for British criminal and family law. Believing that he is opening a door for healthy integration of Muslims into British society, he is actually achieving the complete opposite, by establishing a climate in which Muslim demand for full political and social autonomy will be emboldened and will grow even more vociferous and violent in the years ahead.
Williams and Phillips, the highest legal and religious authorities in the land, have now laid down a startling challenge to the political establishment and one that I believe few politicians in Britain will, inevitably, have the courage to resist. With such concession to the Muslim community, of course, the multicultural revolution will be well on the way to completion of its first cycle. The societal fragmentation of which so many ordinary Britons are concerned; the collapse of patriotism and national identity and the erosion of traditional British values and ideals – all are its first victims. The campaign for the transformation of Britain into a nameless and culturally indistinguishable polyglot, gains enormous momentum from a willingness to make certain communities exempt before the law.
And one day those apparently sensitive and tolerant posters at Heathrow Airport, will not seem quite as benign as their promoters and sponsors would have had us once believe.
Avi Davis is the Executive Director and Senior Fellow of the American Freedom Alliance, based in Los Angeles.
NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA
"There is no reason why principles of Sharia law, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution."
 Muslims in Britain should be able to live under Sharia law, says top judge - By Christopher Hope and James Kirkup
Muslims in Britain should be able to live according to Sharia law, the country's most senior judge has said.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice, strongly backed Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, over his suggestion earlier this year that aspects of Sharia law should be adopted in Britain.
The archbishop's remarks sparked a national debate and led to calls for his resignation.
Risking inflaming that controversy again, Lord Phillips has said that Muslims in Britain should be able to use Sharia to decide financial and marital disputes.
The judge did add that only the criminal courts should have the power to decide when a crime has been committed and when to impose punishment.
But his suggestion that different religious groups should run their affairs according to different rules sparked warnings that community cohesion could be undermined.
In a speech at the East London Muslim Centre in east London, Lord Phillips said it was "not very radical" for Dr Williams to argue that Sharia law can be used to help govern issues like family disputes and the sale of financial products.
Lord Phillips said: "It is possible in this country for those who are entering into a contractual agreement to agree that the agreement shall be governed by law other than English law." (telegraph.com)
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IMANS IN GERMANY LACK ACADEMIC TRAINING
 Most Imams in Germany Lack Academic Qualifications
Muslim immigrants looking for advice on integrating into mainstream society in Germany, won't find much help in their mosques. According to a new study, the majority of imams in Germany are ill-prepared for their own stay in Germany and most lack any academic training.
A study on Islamic preachers in Germany has found that most imams are unable to help Muslim immigrants integrate into mainstream German society because they are insufficiently prepared for their stay in Germany.
According to the study "Imams in Germany," up to 20 percent of preachers belong to the more conservative, fundamentalist strand of Islam. The study also discovered that only one fifth of imam's possess academic qualifications.
The research is the work of a Duisburg social scientist, Rauf Ceylan, the son of Turkish immigrants. To conduct the study he attended religious services in mosques and carried out interviews with Muslim preachers.
According to Ceylan, the religious groups running mosques in Germany were mainly interested in their preachers correctly reciting the Koran. "An examination of the content of the holy book," he said was "not the primary goal."
Ceylan also found that many imams were susceptible to "superficial interpretations" of the Koran, because they lacked a proper academic education. It was not uncommon, Ceylan said, for these lay preachers to be drawn from the ranks of extremists. (Spiegel.de)
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Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat-Daily Mail Reporter
 A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims. Tayside Police's new non-emergency phone number has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community.The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine.
The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert. Dundee councillor Mohammed Asif said: 'My concern was that it's not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards. 'It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities. 'They (the police) should have understood. Since then, the police have explained that it was an oversight on their part, and that if they'd seen it was going to cause upset they wouldn't have done it.' (dailymail)
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CONFERENCE ON HONOUR KILLINGS SHOWS CONVICTED MURDERERS CONFESSION
Murder confession shown at conference- Nicola Dowling
FOOTAGE of a man confessing to bludgeoning his wife and children to death was shown at a conference about 'honour killings'.
Rahan Arshad was given four life sentences in March last year after a court heard he killed his family at their home in Cheadle Hulme then fled abroad.
An audience of social and community workers, religious leaders and other professionals watched on a big screen as Arshad was loaded into the back of a police van saying: "I confess to murder."
The footage was part of a presentation by Det Supt Martin Bottomley, the senior investigating officer in the case.
After explaining what had happened and the difficulties in investigating the killings, there were gasps from the audience when he told delegates that the mother of victim Uzma Arshad and grandmother to the three murdered children had said she hoped they treated Arshad well in prison. Also speaking at the Manchester event was forced marriage victim Sameem Ali, who is Labour councillor for Moss Side and has written a book about her experiences.
In it she tells how she was married and raped at the age of 13, but told by her family 'not to make a scene'.
Recalling how her complaints were dismissed by the authorities as a 'cultural issue', she urged those coming into contact with women in need not to dismiss them. (manchestereveningnews)
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ACADEMIC FREEDOM
THE DIVERSITY MESS UP
Dizzy Diversity-Ashley Thorne
Our house is upside down.
Last year, Polish businessman and philanthropist Daniel Czapiewski built an HYPERLINK "http://freshome.com/2007/09/08/amazing-upside-down-house/" upside down house. It took 114 days to complete construction, since the workers would get too disoriented and confused to work more than three hours at a time. Tourists who come to the tiny village of Szymbark, Poland to see the house, also complain of nausea while inside this weirdly angled Alice-in-Wonderland structure. Czapiewski explained that his purpose was to create a symbol of how man spoils the world, especially through the backwardness of Communism. His house, a bizarre reminder of the fantasy world, is unlivable, and sickens everyone inside it.
Today, Larry Purdy—one of the three lawyers from the Minneapolis law firm Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand who represented Jennifer Gratz and Barbara Grutter in the U.S. Supreme Court cases Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger—presents a picture of the upside down house in which we live. His book, Getting Under the Skin of "Diversity", shows how racial preferences have engendered an upside down view of race, racism, affirmative action, diversity, and justice. (nas.org)
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FISH’S NEW BOOK TELLS PROFESSORS TO ‘SAVE THE WORLD ON YOUR OWN TIME’
 Fish to Profs: Stick to Teaching- Andy Guess
Stanley Fish is very clear about what college professors should do in the classroom.
They “can (legitimately) do two things: (1) introduce students to bodies of knowledge and traditions of inquiry that had not previously been part of their experience; and (2) equip those same students with the analytical skills — of argument, statistical modeling, laboratory procedure — that will enable them to move confidently within those traditions and to engage in independent research after a course is over.”
And what should they not do? Everything else. In a new book to be published this month by Oxford University Press, Fish, the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Humanities and Law at Florida International University, argues that instructors need to approach their jobs narrowly — and to, as the title implies, Save the World on Your Own Time.
That doesn’t mean they can’t have opinions, espouse views outside of the classroom or make partisan pronouncements in public. But the argument — that professors should do their jobs, and nothing else — does establish a framework through which the book tackles every major academic controversy, from Ward Churchill (a professor who erred in melding politics and his academic work, Fish says, not in expressing those views per se) to the intelligent design movement (a relativistic attempt to sneak a nonscientific idea into the classroom) to Larry Summers (a man who went beyond the bounds of his job description). (insidehighered.com)
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GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY WELCOMED SAUDI FUNDING
Money for Nothing?- Allon Lee
A series of articles by the Australian newspaper’s investigative reporter Richard Kerbaj in April drew back the veil on Saudi funding in Australia to reveal that Griffith University’s Islamic Research Unit proactively solicited and received $100,000 from the Saudi Government in anticipation of a total $1.37 million donation.
Much ink was spent on news stories and opinion pieces focusing on whether the Saudis gifted the money on a conditional basis.
Griffith University in Queensland (along with Western Sydney University and the University of Melbourne) was included in the Howard Government’s proposed National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies, established with an $8 million grant in 2007, and was intended to be a showcase for a multiplicity of Muslim voices in Australian academia.
Despite denials by Griffith University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor and the Unit’s Director Dr. Mohamad Abdalla that the Saudis expected any consideration for the $100,000, documents obtained by the Australian show that the university welcomed Saudi input into the centre and offered the Saudis anonymity if they so desired. (aijacorgau.ascetinteractive.biz)
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Discussion of religious questions now banned at UN Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council is not allowed to judge religions, according to president Doru Romulus Costea of Romania. Criticism of Sharia law or fatwas is now forbidden.
This ruling follows attempts by the Egyptian and Pakistani delegates at the Council to silence criticism of human rights abuse in the Islamic world.
The representative of the Association for World Education, in a joint statement with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, had denounced the stoning to death of women accused of adultery and of girls being married at the age of nine years old in countries where Sharia law applies.
The speaker, David Littman, was interrupted by no fewer than 16 points of order and the proceedings of the Council were suspended for forty minutes when the Egyptian delegate said that “Islam will not be crucified in this Council” and attempted to force a vote on whether the speaker should be allowed to continue.
On giving his ruling after the break Council President Costea said that the Council "is not prepared to discuss religious questions and we don’t have to do so". "Declarations must avoid judgments or evaluation about religion. … I promise that next time a speaker judges a religion or a religious law or document, I will interrupt him and pass on to the next speaker".
Litmann, who is also a representative for the World Union of Progressive Judaism, had been threatened before following a statement he made in January in which he had criticized the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, a matter deemed irrelevant by the Council in the debate condemning Israeli incursions into Gaza. When stopped, Litmann had opined that “there is something rotten in the state of this Council”. For this, the WUPJ had been threatened with expulsion form the UN and its president summoned to appear before the NGO Committee in New York and forced to apologise. (iheu.org)
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The Second Amendment and Islamic Law-Robert Spencer
The Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the Second Amendment comes just as it has been revealed that in Iraq, Islamic jihadists have been forcing the Christians remaining in the country to pay jizya -- the tax mandated in the Qur’an for non-Muslims who live under Islamic rule. And in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban has been enforcing Islamic Sharia law by waving automatic weapons, forcing music stores to close down at the point of a gun (music is forbidden in Islamic law).
Maybe if Iraq and Afghanistan had the Second Amendment, these things wouldn’t be happening. But they are a bracing reminder of just how radically different are American republican pluralism and the Islamic law that jihadists worldwide are fighting in order to implement. In April 2008, the Pakistani jihadist group Lashkar-e-Islam offered a glimpse of their perfect society, as they set down a list of measures they planned to implement in the Khyber Agency, a Pakistani tribal area. Many of these would be features of any Sharia regime imposed upon a population that hitherto had not been governed by Islamic law.
Lashkar-e-Islam would:
Enforce “a total ban on the sale of wine” as well as on gambling; Abolish “interest/usury in business transactions” (as numerous Sharia finance initiatives are already helping Muslims do in the West now); Ensure “that women are modestly dressed according to Islamic norms when attending school” (as Christian women have already been horse-whipped in Nigeria for not dressing properly according to Islamic standards); Ban wedding music as well as “celebratory firing into air”; Permit “only Islamic-style graves” (that is, graves that face Mecca, a practice that a British cemetery already began for all graves, Muslim and non-Muslim, in 2006 -- in a spirit of multiculturalist accommodation, of course); Forbid women from visiting a doctor or hospital without being accompanied by a male relative. (humanevents.com)
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ANTISEMITISM
GERMAN PROFESSOR BLAMES MUNICH MASSACRE ON ISRAELI ATHLETES
 Israel wants action against academic who defamed Munich athletes-Benjamin Weinthal
Neither Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group with ties to Fatah, nor incompetence on the part of German authorities was responsible for the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympic Games on September 5, 1972; rather, according to a German sports historian, the athletes sacrificed themselves voluntarily.
The Israeli Embassy in Berlin has demanded that German politicians take action against University of Göttingen professor Arnd Kruger, whose alleged anti-Semitic lecture has created a public row.
Der Spiegel's Web site reported Saturday that Kruger, director of the Institute for Sport Studies in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, had said the murdered Israeli athletes had prior knowledge of the planned massacre and consciously decided to stay at the Olympic village to sacrifice themselves for the Jewish state. Kruger supported his martyr theory by saying there is a "different perception of the human body" in Israel compared with other industrialized nations. He also said that "Israel is trying to prevent at all costs living with disabilities" and had a higher abortion rate than other Western countries.
At the Munich Olympics, terrorists associated with the Black September group killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine hostage. The group demanded that Israel release hundreds of Palestinians security prisoners in exchange for the hostages. (Jpost.com)
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ONCE AGAIN GOOGLE BECOMES A PLATFORM FOR ANTI-ISRAEL PROPAGANDA
Google Earth highlights the 'Nakba'-STEPHANIE RUBENSTEIN
Anti-Israel activity on the Google Earth application has been stepped up this week, with the message "Nakba - The Palestinian Catastrophe" now appearing when users scroll over the orange dots that speckle locations across the entire map of Israel.
Google spokesperson Jessica Powell said on Tuesday that Google has no plans to restrict the application's content, despite claims that Israel is being uniquely and malevolently targeted.
"Israel is being specifically targeted. No one else is running a campaign against a country like this," said Andre Oboler, a post-doctoral fellow in the political science department at Bar-Ilan University and Legacy Heritage Fellow at the NGO Monitor watchdog group.
Some posts on the map of Israel incorrectly state that various cities are Palestinian towns destroyed during the 1948 War of Independence, Oboler said. He added that after searching through Google's world map, he had not found a similar situation in any other country.
Jenin resident Thameen Darby is posting these notes on the application, as well as links to a Palestinian propaganda site, Palestine Remembered, which offers more layers of misinformation for the map of Israel, Oboler said.
When Google Earth is first downloaded, the application's core system allows for various layers to be available to users. The content found within the core includes overlays, created by both organizations and individuals, allowing more detailed perspectives on certain areas.
The orange dots posted by Darby can be immediately found on the map, while other pro-Israel and corrected postings have to be downloaded separately, according to Oboler. A user has to actively seek for another perspective on the map, he said.
"The core layer is what people get when they download and install Google Earth," Oboler said. "It is there by default. The problem we have here is that the core layer is being used to promote propaganda, and this is being done openly and without penalty. If we treat Google Earth as the primary geographic information tool in the world, having such propaganda included becomes a problem." (Jpost.com)
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TERRORISM
TERROR ATTACK IN JERUSALEM KILLS 3 AND INJURES 45 PEOPLE
 Terrorist Bulldozer Rampages in Jerusalem, Murders Three- Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) An Arab terrorist from eastern Jerusalem sped with a bulldozer down Jerusalem's busiest street just before noon Wednesday, ramming buses and crushing cars. At least three people were murdered in the unprecedented attack. Two policemen caught up with the tractor and climbed inside, after a policewoman shot the driver but did not kill him. They first struggled with the terrorist-driver, and the driver stopped - but then abruptly started up again, until he was shot and killed, putting an end to the murderous spree.
Some 45 injuries have been reported, including at least three dead and two in moderate or serious condition. Two bodies were extricated from the wrecked cars, and one woman died of her wounds on the way to the hospital. Most of the bus passengers are reported to have suffered only light injuries, though at least one - an infant - is in serious condition.
An eyewitness said that he saw the bulldozer ram the bus several times, and then continue on in his attempt to run down passersby and cars. "Some cars were able to get away, but at least one was not, and he rammed his shovel right into the windshield," the man said.
The terrorist is a 30-year-old father of two from the Arab neighborhood of Tzur Baher in eastern Jerusalem - the same neighborhood in which the perpetrator of the Merkaz HaRav slaughter lived.
As of 2 PM, a baby in light condition was in Shaarei Tzedek Hospital - but its parents had not yet been located. The parents of another baby were found somewhat earlier.
Magen David Adom sources confirm that the incident, which began at the intersection of Jaffa and Sarei Yisrael Streets, was a terror attack. The Arab tractor driver crushed or damaged at least six cars and two buses. One Toyota car, for instance, was totally crushed; the woman driver was killed. (INN)
An emergency situation was declared in the capital.
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AL-QAEDA TRAINING TERRORISTS IN PAKISTAN, SOMALIA AND ALGERIA
Al-Qaeda finds three safe havens for terror training-Michael Evans, Defence Editor
Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organisation, driven out of Afghanistan and defeated in Iraq, is re-emerging in strength in three alternative safe havens for training, operational planning and recruiting – Pakistan, Somalia and Algeria – according to Western intelligence and defence sources. The core al-Qaeda headquarters in the tribal areas of Pakistan pose the gravest threat to the United Kingdom. But in Somalia and in Algeria, where the so-called al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was set up in 2004 as a powerful bin Laden offshoot, the organisation is recruiting energetically and its leaders are beelieved to have aspirations to hit Western targets. There has been increasing evidence of bin Laden’s network rebuilding in Pakistan. The main figures are now well entrenched in the tribal areas, and although American Predator and Reaper surveillance drones, armed with Hellfire missiles and precision-guided bombs, remain in the region to eliminate al-Qaeda commanders, it seems the terrorist leaders can still communicate with each other. (timesonline)
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THE AL-ARIAN FILES
Al-Arian Trial Set for August-IPT
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A trial date has been set for August 13th in the case of Sami Al-Arian, who is charged with criminal contempt in a HYPERLINK "http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/142.pdf" two count indictment for refusing to testify before grand juries investigating Islamic charities with suspected ties to terrorism. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said she expected a "straightforward" trial that would last one day, but Al-Arian's attorney, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, indicated that he would continue to challenge the indictment and suggested the trial may be more complicated.
The indictment charges Al-Arian with refusing to testify when called before federal grand juries Oct. 16, 2007 and March 20, 2008 despite a grant of immunity from the prosecution.
After the arraignment Turley spelled out his planned defense on his blog, writing:
In court, I informed Judge Brinkema that we believed that the indictment was invalid on its face. Among other problems, Dr. Al-Arian did not refuse to cooperate. Dr. Al-Arian had given two detailed affidavits that established that he had no knowledge of any crime by IIIT or its officers. He further offered repeatedly to take a polygraph examination to prove that he had given a truthful account and was not withholding information.
Even if that turns out to be true, Al-Arian is not charged with "failure to cooperate," but criminal contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury, which two federal appellate courts have held he had an obligation to do. (investigativeproject.org)
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UK BANS HIZBULLAH’S MILITARY WING
British gov't to ban military wing of Hizbullah-JONNY PAUL
The British government is set to outlaw Hizbullah's military wing in the UK, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Wednesday. If passed by Parliament, the order will criminalize belonging to, fund-raising for, or encouraging the Islamist group in the UK. Brown told lawmakers at the House of Commons that Britain would ban "Hizbullah's entire military wing on the sole grounds of new evidence of its involvement in terrorism in Iraq and in the occupied Palestinian territories." Home Office Minister Tony McNulty echoed Brown's comments. "It is because of this support for terrorism in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories that the government has taken this action," McNulty said. "It [the ban] sends out a clear message that we condemn Hizbullah's violence and support for terrorism. We continue to call on Hizbullah to end terrorist activity and its support for terrorism in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, abandon its status as an armed group and participate in the democratic process on the same terms as other Lebanese political parties." Hizbullah's political, social and humanitarian activities would remain unaffected, he added. (Jpost.com)
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AL QAEDA IS STILL GOING STRONG
Al Qaeda's Plan B-Amir Taheri
NO one should feel safe without submitting to Islam, and those who refuse to submit must pay a high price. The Islamist movement must aim to turn the world into a series of "wildernesses" where only those under jihadi rule enjoy security. These are some of the ideas developed by al Qaeda's chief theoretician, Sheik Abu-Bakar Naji, in his new book "Governance in the Wilderness" (Edarat al-Wahsh). Middle East analysts think that the book may indicate a major change of strategy by the disparate groups that use al Qaeda as a brand name. The Saudi police seized copies of the book last week as they arrested 700 alleged terrorists in overnight raids. Naji's book, written in pseudo-literary Arabic, is meant as a manifesto for jihad. He divides the jihadi movement into five circles - ranging from Sunni Salafi (traditionalist) Muslims (who, though not personally violent, are prepared to give moral and material support to militants) to Islamist groups with national rather than pan-Islamist agendas (such as the Palestinian Hamas and the Filipino Moro Liberation Front). All five circles are at an impasse, says Naji. Some accept the status quo while hoping to reform it. Others have tried to set up governments in a world dominated by "infidel" powers, and have been forced to abandon Islamic values. Still others failed because they didn't realize that the only way to win is through total war in which no one feels safe. Naji claims that the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the Islamic Caliphate in 1924 marked the start of "the most dangerous phase in history." Those events put all Arab countries, the heartland of Islam, under domination by the "infidel"- who later continued to rule via native proxies. In Naji's eyes, it is impossible to create a proper Islamic state in a single country in a world dominated by "Crusaders." He cites as example the Taliban - which, although a proper Islamic regime, didn't survive "infidel" attacks and opposition by Afghan elements. Instead, he says, the Islamic movement must be global - fighting everywhere, all the time, and on all fronts. Since 9/11, Islamist terror movements have been de bating grand strategy. Osama bin Laden had theorized that the "infidel," led by the United States, would crumble after a series of spectacular attacks, just as the Meccan "infidel" government did when the Prophet Muhammad launched deadly raids against its trade routes. Yet the 9/11 attacks didn't lead to an "infidel" retreat. On the contrary, the "Great Satan" hit back hard. (frontpagemag.com)
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TERRORISM-INTERNET
“DETAINED TERROR SUSPECTS EXPLAINED IN TELEVISED INTERVIEWS BROADCAST ON SAUDI TELEVISION ON TUESDAY HOW AL-QA’IDA WAS USING THE INTERNET AS A TOOL TO RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS AND PROPAGATE RADICAL IDEOLOGY.”
JIHAD DETAINEES REVEAL MASS RECRUITMENT VIA INTERNET-The Media Line StaffConfessions of several detainees in Saudi Arabia are providing an indication of the extant Jihadi websites are impacting on potential Al-Qa’ida recruits.
Detained terror suspects explained in televised interviews broadcast on Saudi television on Tuesday how Al-Qa’ida was using the Internet as a tool to recruit new members and propagate radical ideology.
Detainees said they were inspired by Jihadi films and statements by Al-Qa’ida chief Osama Bin Laden and other leading Jihad figures, which were posted on the Internet.
The interviewees included the Egyptian Abu ‘Azzam Al-An’sari, who is editor of the online ‘Sada Al-Jihad (Jihad Echo) magazine, and Um Usama, editor of the Al-Khansa magazine.
Those interviewed said the Internet was their preferred means of recruiting people and propagating their ideas, because it provided relative security, especially since none of the participants in the forums know each others’ identities.
Detained Al-Qa’ida suspects have admitted to joining the organization after following news of the fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The televised reports said these radical websites promised their readers they would reach paradise if they participated in holy war, propaganda and training. The websites base their legitimacy on fatwas or religious decrees of well-known religious figures in order to persuade youngsters to join their ranks.
Saudi Arabia is very concerned about the use of the Internet as a tool to promote terrorism. (themediaonline)
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JIHAD-INTERNET
Doing whatever we can to drive the Jews out of Israel, even literally July 3, 2008 (From RevolutionMuslim)
 The recent “bulldozer rampage” is the continuation of the struggle to drive the Jews out of Israel either to their deaths or into the Mediterranean Sea. Nobody knows the affiliation of the Palestinian man that did it, but everyone knows the motivation behind it. The people must realize that when the illegal Israeli occupation stops, then the war against them stops. It’s as simple as that, but the Jews don’t want it to appear that simple. They like to argue that Jerusalem is their land historically and that they, therefore, have the right to take it by force - even through use of unmatched oppression. So long as they continue, then the Muslims will find their ways around Israel’s security to give them a punch in the nose and a kick in the groin.
May Allah humiliate the Israeli’s and may Allah destroy Israel.
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