Islamists have threatened a Christian Bishop in the Philippines… (H/T: UP Pompeii)

Philippine bishop reports receiving threat to convert to Islam

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — A bishop in the southern Philippines reported receiving a letter threatening him with harm if he does not convert to Islam or pay “Islamic taxes.”

Such brazenness in a country where over 86% of the population is Christian, 9% is Muslim and the remaining 5% is divided among various groups such as: Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, animists and non-believers.

Even if those who sent these letters are no more than common criminals who use religion as a mere tool, the fact that they chose to represent themselves as Muslims is in itself significant. But Muslim brazenness does not stop there, unfortunately, this one is far from an isolated case! Remember the kidnapped and murdered Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Mgr Faraj Rahho? What about the plight of Assyrian Christians in Iraq? What about the Sabian Mandaeans? Or the plight of Christians girls kidnapped in Nigeria by practitioners of the Religion of Peace? What about the treatment of Christian Copts in Egypt? Ot the threats against Western politicians like Geert Wilders or Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi? The list, gentle reader, goes on and on ad nauseum…

You may read the rest at: Freedom’s Cost

Due to the hosting of the anti-Islamic movie “Fitna” on this blog there’s quite a discussion on the subject of freedom of speech going on. You can follow it here. I think that something must be noted, especially for people who are not regular readers.

Every single member of this blog holds freedom of speech to be an essential element of a working and free society. It is in that spirit in which this movie has been hosted. It is NOT neccesarily because we agree with the views expressed in the film (I haven’t yet seen it). It could well be that the film is inaccurate or even bigoted. It could be garbage. (more…)

If anyone’s still wondering whether the NYT’s editorial board is extremely liberal or not, well, I’d say just read this editorial.

Although I agree with the Times on a few issues, I can’t help but think “yeah, yeah. Yeah.” to myself when reading the article. (more…)

Hal G. P. Colebatch writes for The American Spectator that the decision to grant knighthood to Salman Rushdie was a major mistake. Firstly, he does not deserve to be knighed for his literary work (he is not that great of an author), secondly, the reasons Blair wants to see Rushdie be knighted is probably not so honorable:

THERE ARE ONLY TWO POSSIBLE explanations for the knighting of Rushdie: either those responsible for the recommendation were ignorant of the inevitable political consequences — fury against Britain by Muslims around the world, attacks on British interests and quite likely on British people in Muslim countries — or they knew those consequences and did not care.

Further, if it is meant to be a hit at Iran, from whence the original fatwa against Rushdie originated, perhaps in retaliation for Iran’s recent seizing of British sailors, it seems not only particularly feeble and ineffectual but actually counterproductive. The government in Iran is facing growing popular discontent and this is the sort of emotionally charged slap in the face that could rally support behind it.

Britain has several thousand troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In both countries they are trying to win over the support and friendship of the population and to be regarded as friends and liberators rather than invaders, oppressors and infidels.

Britain has spent billions and strained its defense budget to the limit to put those troops there. Quite a few have died. The knighting of Rushdie has made their task unnecessarily harder, has made the chances of failure greater, and has put their lives that much more at risk. Because of the Queen’s direct involvement with knighthoods, it has also put the Queen at risk to a new degree.

Hal’s major problem with the decision to knight Rushdie, therefore, is that it hurts the war on terrorism / extremism. The major flaw in Hal’s reasoning is that those who hate Britain do not need more excuses. They have ‘reasons’ enough to hate Britain, most notoriously the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And, o, then there is also this little thing called the British Empire.

Having said that, there certainly is some - perhaps even a lot of - truth to Hal’s point that if we want to win the war against Muslim extremism, we should not insult moderate Muslims. We need their support. This does not mean that we should listen to what extremists say - I’d tell Hal to please ignore whatever it is that comes out of Iran - but that we should listen to what those moderate Muslims actually have to say about this matter. I have not read reactions from these moderates yet - lets first wait and see how they’ll respond before we say that the decision to grant knighthood to Rushdie was a mistake.

Who would have thought?

Islamic studies departments at British universities may be fuelling extremism among students, according to a Government report…

Sheikh Musa Admani, the Muslim chaplain at London Metropolitan University and an adviser to Bill Rammell, the higher education minister, said he was aware of at least four universities in which students had been “groomed” by extremists.

Other experts suggest the number is as high as 25. Some students had gone to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight, it is claimed.

Rammell admitted that some students are being “exposed to teachings that either explicitly condone terrorism or foster a climate of opinion that is at least sympathetic to terrorists.”

So, what do they plan on doing about it?

[M]inisters will today call for courses to be improved to stop students being exposed to teaching that condones terrorism.

The report will also suggest that a network of Muslim faith advisers should be created to give impressionable youngsters spiritual guidance - and stop them falling under the influence of radicals. The move comes amid growing fears that universities and colleges are being infiltrated by fanatics recruiting for jihad.

One has to applaud the British government for addressing this problem (which is not easy to do for a party like Labor). The Britons should adopt a zero tolerance policy in this regard: extremists have had the freedom to spread their ideology for years, unhindered, now it is time for the government to do something about it. Lets get moderate Muslims involved: young Muslims are much more likely to listen to fellow Muslims than to ‘infidels’ (who they are angry at for wars against Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq).

Also watch a video at Pajamas Media in which “ormer PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat urges American universities to wake up to the dangers of Islamic radicalism on campus,” and read the accompanying article.

Lina Joy is a Malaysian woman who converted to Christianity and wanted to marry a Christian man. Before she was a Christian she was a Muslim. As we all know, it is not allowed, according to the Sharia, to leave Islam. Michelle:

Joy bravely went to court to stop being identified as a Muslim–and earned death threats and family disavowal for her apostasy. Now, the verdict is in. Sharia wins, Lina Joy loses:

“You can’t at whim and fancy convert from one religion to another,” Federal Court Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said in delivering judgment in the case, which has stirred religious tensions in the mainly Muslim nation.

Muslims cheered:

The ruling was greeted by shouts of “God is great” from many in the assembled crowd outside the Palace of Justice in Kuala Lumpur…The Joy verdict, which will likely become a precedent for several other pending conversion cases, is seen by many in Malaysia as evidence of how religious politics are cleaving the nation, with a creeping Islamization undermining the rights of both non-Muslims and more moderate adherents to Islam. Last November, at a party conference for the Muslim-dominated United Malays National Organization ruling party, one delegate vowed he would be willing to “bathe in blood” to defend his ethnicity — and, by extension, his religion. In several Malaysian states, forsaking Islam is a crime punishable by prison time.

Like Michelle I wonder: “Where are the feminists? Oh, and how about CAIR? Or our State Department?”

This is a major setback for religious freedom in Malaysia. It deserves to get a lot of attention. Lina Joy dared convert to Christianity, judges told her she cannot. If there is anything in breach with human rights, it is this. As usual, progressives would be wise to respond to this news: if they do not, it will make it very easy for conservatives to blast them for being hypocrites.

More importantly though: I wonder what there is anyone can do to help Lina.

Tawfik Hamid writes in the Opinion Journal:

Islamic organizations regularly accuse non-Muslims of “Islamophobia,” a fear and disdain for everything Islamic. On May 17, this accusation bubbled up again as foreign ministers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference called Islamophobia “the worst form of terrorism.” These ministers also warned, according to the Arab News, that this form of discrimination would cause millions of Muslims in Western countries, “many of whom were already underprivileged,” to be “further alienated.”

In America, perhaps the most conspicuous organization to persistently accuse opponents of Islamophobia is the Council of American Islamic Relations. CAIR has taken up the legal case of the “Flying Imams,” the six individuals who were pulled from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis this past November after engaging in suspicious behavior before takeoff. Not long ago, CAIR filed a “John Doe” lawsuit that would have made passengers liable for “malicious” complaints about suspicious Muslim passengers.

In an interview at the time, CAIR spokesman Nihad Awad accused Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) of being an “extremist” who “encourages Islamophobia” for pointing out what most people would think is obvious, that such a lawsuit would have a chilling effect on passengers who witnessed alarming activity and wished to report it. We can only assume that Mr. Awad believes flyers should passively remain in a state of fear as they travel and submissively risk their lives. In this case, Congress is acting appropriately and considering passing a law sponsored by Mr. King that would grant passengers immunity from such lawsuits.

It may seem bizarre, but Islamic reformers are not immune to the charge of “Islamophobia” either. For 20 years, I have preached a reformed interpretation of Islam that teaches peace and respects human rights. I have consistently spoken out–with dozens of other Muslim and Arab reformers–against the mistreatment of women, gays and religious minorities in the Islamic world. We have pointed out the violent teachings of Salafism and the imperative of Westerners to protect themselves against it.

Yet according to CAIR’s Michigan spokeswoman, Zeinab Chami, I am “the latest weapon in the Islamophobe arsenal.” If standing against the violent edicts of Shariah law is “Islamophobic,” then I will treat her accusation as a badge of honor.

He concludes:

Islamophobia could end when masses of Muslims demonstrate in the streets against videos displaying innocent people being beheaded with the same vigor we employ against airlines, Israel and cartoons of Muhammad. It might cease when Muslims unambiguously and publicly insist that Shariah law should have no binding legal status in free, democratic societies.

It is well past time that Muslims cease using the charge of “Islamophobia” as a tool to intimidate and blackmail those who speak up against suspicious passengers and against those who rightly criticize current Islamic practices and preachings. Instead, Muslims must engage in honest and humble introspection. Muslims should–must–develop strategies to rescue our religion by combating the tyranny of Salafi Islam and its dreadful consequences. Among more important outcomes, this will also put an end to so-called Islamophobia.

I agree completely. Hamid rightfully asks why it is that ‘we’ don’t hear many Muslims speaking out against the Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq. Instead of pointing the blaming finger to the West, the Muslim world should take responsibility for its own excesses.

Why don’t we hear millions of Muslims condemning the Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq? “hy was there silence over the Mumbai train bombings which took the lives of over 200 Hindus in 2006?” “Why do we hear no Muslim condemnation of the ongoing slaughter of Buddhists in Thailand by Islamic groups?”

Hamid is right on: the Islamophobia charge is used far too easily. Those who dare criticize Muslims are often automatically labeled “Islamophobes.” It is a strategy meant to silence all criticism.

Hamid also mentioned the case of the three murdered Christians in Turkey. What should be noted, is that these brutal murders caused mass protests. Tens of thousands of Muslim Turks protested these murders and made clear that this is not the direction they want their country to go in. We often say “where are the moderate Muslims,” but in Turkey they stood up and raised their voices. Let us also remember that.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

A defiant cleric warned Pakistan authorities that a raid on his mosque where two policemen are being held captive by radical Islamic students would lead to a holy war against the government, as police detained dozens of students.

The abduction tops months of bold challenges by the Red Mosque to the authority of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s secular, military government.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said there were no plans to move against the mosque or a radical Islamic seminary attached to it in downtown Islamabad, adding Sunday that use of force to free the captured officers was a “last option.”

But chief cleric at the mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz, said police detained about 200 students and warned that a show of force by authorities would result in “jihad,” or holy war.

So, lets see: radical Muslims have kidnapped two policemen, but the government won’t attempt to free them because doing so might cause before-mentioned radical Muslims to declare jihad.

That’ll show ‘em!

The extremists promised to release the cops if the government releases nine ’students’ “who are in government custody.” Luckily, the extremists have proven that those nine students were not involved in any extremist organization at all and that they, therefore, should be released. They are clearly completely innocent.

Will Musharraf give in to the demands of these extremists?

Why yes, I am quite sure he will.

The Washington Post reports:

British officials have been talking with legal counsel for Abu Qatada, a radical cleric who is under house arrest in Britain and believed to have close links to al-Qaeda, in hopes he will help secure the release of kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston.

Johnston, whose 45th birthday was Thursday, was seized more than two months ago in Gaza City. Prayer vigils, special television broadcasts and street demonstrations have been conducted from London to Jerusalem in a campaign to win his freedom.

This month, a Palestinian group called the Army of Islam claimed to be holding Johnston and demanded the release of Abu Qatada and other Muslim detainees in Britain. The group’s video statement showed a picture of Johnston’s BBC identity card but offered no proof that he was alive or well. Another group had earlier claimed to have killed him.

The British government, which has accused Abu Qatada of offering “spiritual advice and religious legitimacy” to extremists and is in the process of deporting him, has been “in discussions with Abu Qatada’s lawyer to see whether he would be willing to make an appeal for Alan’s safe release,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

“We regret that so far no appeal has been made,” she said, adding that Abu Qatada had placed “unacceptable conditions” on his making such a public statement.

One wonders what those “unacceptable conditions” might be. The anonymous spokeswoman refused to elaborate. One of the possibilities: he might have tried to stop his deportation to Jordan.

He wrote in a letter sent to the London-based Islamic Observatory Center: “I announce my full readiness to go on a trip to Gaza, with a delegation from BBC, to meet with the brothers, the abductors, concerning the release of the journalist Alan Johnston.”

Bad, bad, bad idea. He can help from prison if he wants to, and if Jonhston’s kidnappers agree to let him go because of Abu Qatada work, authorities might decide to reduce his sentence a bit, but they can’t let him go with a delegation to Gaza, nor can they let him off the hook completely. Why do I say that they might reduce his sentence? Because this is done with ‘normal’ prisoners as well. If they cooperate with the authorities they get something in return. It might not be popular, but it is logical.

Turkish Daily News reports that “three Turks, affiliates of the Islamic Jihad Organization, had hatched plots to hit U.S. military bases in Germany”, according to “Germany’s weekly Focus magazine.”

Five suspects in total, “were about to hit specified US bases in Germany.” The main target: The United States’ central command and Hanau bases in Stuttgart. They planned to carry their suicide attacks out May 5. It seems that they would have been arrested, if security forces, wouldn’t have parked “their cars nearly in front of” the homes of the suspects. This made the suspects realized they had been followed and they - seemingly - fled.

As TDN points out, “the development came after the arrest of six suspected Islamic radicals, including one Turk, on charges of planning to kill soldiers at a U.S. military base in New Jersey.”

Reader David links to this post at Melanie Philips’ place, in the comment section of yesterday’s “Open Thread.” Melanie’s post is a great, fascinating read: she starts off by quoting Tory leader David Cameron who said that “the term ‘Islamic’ or ‘Islamist’ terrorism is a form of ‘racism or soft bigotry’ and that those who employ such terms

help do the terrorist ideologues’ work for them, confirming to many impressionable young Muslim men that to be a ‘good Muslim’, you have to support their evil campaign.”

Melania remarks, “I wonder therefore whether Cameron would denounce the British Muslim Ed Husain for ‘soft bigotry’ over his book ‘The Islamist’?” She goes on to describe the path Husain took from spiritual, peaceful Islam to political Islam, or Islamism, how Islamists, according to Husain, influence young Muslims, how they use the media to further their agenda, etc. etc.

Michelle Malkin has a post up about a Church in Spring Hope, North Carolina, about a Church sign that has caused quite some controversy. The sign:

(’Don’t be deceived, the message of “Islam” is submit - convert - or die. Not salvation in Jesus Christ.’)

Michelle defends the sign, I have absolutely no intention of doing so. Firstly: it’s stupid (somehow I don’t think you’re winning over moderate Muslims if you put up signs like this); secondly, it’s not true; thirdly, I thought that Christianity was about love, not about trying to insult as many people as possible.

The beautiful coastal city of Izmir, Turkey, has been hit by a terrorist attack earlier today. A bycycle bomb exploded on a market, injuring 15 people. As far as I know, so far, no one has been reported dead, thank God.

What group is responsible for the attack is, as of yet, unknown. “The blast came a day before a planned anti-government rally in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, amid rising political tensions ahead of a July general election.” Perhaps that this has something to do with it. Of course, it could also be the PKK / Kurdish organization.

Izmir is one of the most secular Turkish cities: organizers say that the protest could “draw up to two million people opposed to the Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.”

I have something personal with Izmir, so this blast worries me tremendously. Izmir is one of the most beautiful cities of Turkey: at the coast, surrounded by mountains / hills. It was occupied by the Greec right after the second World War, after which it was liberated by Atatürk(’s forces).

UPDATE
One of the 15 has passed away. 14 injured, 1 dead. May God bless that person.

As I understand it, people think that the PKK is behind the attack. If true, this could increase the call on the government to do something / to invade / attack northern Iraq.

Roger L. Simon reviewed the documentary “Islam vs. Islamism” (Islam vs. Islamists), which was ‘commissioned by PBS for its “American Crossroads” series, but never shown by the network.’ Roger wondered, before watching the doc.: “Quality control or censorship?”

The answer: censorship. According to Roger, the documentary is ‘a riveting and creatively made film about the most important subject of our time: what to do about radical Islam? It confronts this dilemma in a sly, novelistic manner, inter-weaving the stories of good, moderate Muslims with the Imams and supposedly “true Muslims” who, not surprisingly, accuse the moderate Muslims of not being Muslims at all. Soon enough we learn these Imams are apologists for terrorism and for the worst kind of medieval religious sadism.’

So, then, what was / is the problem?

But it does have a strong point of view – and therein lies the rub. PBS, clearly, does not like what this movie says. And I suspect it likes it less because the film is well made (the reverse of what the network originally claimed).

PBS’ views seem particularly troglodytic today in light of recent events at Fort Dix. But that is the least of it. What is far more important to our country is that our Public Broadcasting network, an organization supported by taxpayer money, is practicing the most obvious censorship. PBS is operating here in the manner of similar institutions in the former Soviet Union and in modern day Iran – financing artists and then withholding distribution of their work when it is not deemed ideologically “correct”. It’s a form of though-control and it’s unconscionable.

He then calls on his “fellow Motion Picture Academy members, whatever their political leanings, to protest this cowardly and un-American act of censorship.”

Sadly, it is difficult for John Doe, like me, to watch this documentary himself right now, so he has to rely on the reviews of people like Roger L. Simon (who is, of course, an expert and very trustworthy). Hopefully, we’ll be able to judge for ourselves very soon.

H/t commenter Yonason

A good, hopeful article over at Daniel Pipes’ website:

“Moderate Unicorns,” huffed a reader, responding to my recent plea that Western states bolster moderate Muslims. Dismissing their existence as a myth, he notes that non-Muslims “are still waiting for moderates to stand and deliver, identifying and removing extremist thugs from their mosques and their communities.”

It’s a valid skepticism and a reasonable demand. Recent events in Pakistan and Turkey, however, prove that moderate Muslims are no myth.

In Pakistan, an estimated 100,000 people demonstrated on April 15 in Karachi, the country’s largest city, to protest the plans of a powerful mosque in Islamabad, the Lal Masjid, to establish a parallel court system based on Islamic law, the Shari‘a. “No to extremism,” roared the crowd. “We will strongly resist religious terrorism and religious extremism,” exhorted Altaf Hussain, leader of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement, at the rally.

In Turkey, more than a million moderate Muslims in five marches protested the bid of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to take over the presidency of the republic, giving it control over the two top government offices (the other being the prime ministry, currently filled by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan).

He goes on to write about the situation in Turkey right now: moderate Muslims, political secularists, there are by no means inclined to let Erdogans AK Party, which has Islamist roots, take over the country. Abdullah Gül was forced to withdraw his candidacy due to the opposition, in Parliament, by the army, and by the Turkish people. These secular Turks refuse to sit by idle, they raise their voices in condemnation of Islamism and want to do everything necessary to preserve Turkey’s secular system.

Hopeful signs? On the one hand yes, on the other hand, no. Why not? Because it is now, seemingly, necessary (suddenly) for the secularists to do so. Suddenly, moderate Muslims feel forced to take action. This means that the situation has become, in their opinion at least, (too) dangerous.

When, then, ‘yes’ as well? Because at least, in Turkey (and some other Muslim countries), moderates are standing up and raising their voices in opposition to Islamism.

“One was a shy, slender young woman who spoke no English when she was brought from Pakistan to enter an arranged marriage with a stranger in Virginia. The other was a self-confident professional, born in Turkey but raised in the United States, who thought she knew what she was doing when she married an educated Muslim man in Maryland.”

Yet both women fell under the sway of the same powerful pressures that sometimes reach around the globe to keep Muslim wives in the Washington region imprisoned in abusive marriages, unable to fight the gossip and shame that come with defying their culture and religion, isolated from help that is just a three-digit phone number away.

“My husband beat. He show knife. I am scared for him, for all family,” said Shamim, 21, the Pakistani bride, who was rescued by police. She is being sheltered and tutored in English at a private home. “They say no money, no call mother at home. I cook for all, I not eat. I not know 911 what is. I think I go crazy.”

Heartbreaking.

I do not understand why Western feminists, who are supposed to stand for women rights, never speak out against the oppression of women in Muslim communities in the West and in quite some Muslim countries. Of course, many Muslim women are not oppressed at all, but there are quite some who are oppressed, who are not allowed to leave their home, who are not allowed to determine their own future, who are forced to wear a headscarf, who have to put up with violence, who are only allowed to give birth to as many children as possible, to raise them and, generally, to do what their husband tells them to do, and so on.

Yet, not one word of distress from Western feminists.

Why is that?

NJ.com reports that American investigators have arrested six Islamic radicals who were, according to the US attorney’s office, “planning a heavily armed attack against soldiers at Fort Dix as part of a jihad against America.”

The alleged plot included conducting surveillance of the Army base and purchasing multiple firearms, including hand guns, shotguns and semi-automatic weapons, according to the federal complaint released this morning.

The bust came after several of the suspects were lured by a secret informant to a meeting with an arms-seller, according to the complaint.

Some of the would-be attackers have been living illegally in the United States, while others are legal immigrants, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Four are ethnic Albanians, one was born in Turkey, and a sixth was born in Jordan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to law enforcement officials, the six practiced shooting, made a videotape of it, then brought the videotape to “a retail store, seeking to get a copy burned to a DVD… A store employee who later watched the tape called the FBI who began immediately investigating.”

James Joyner points out that the men behaved a bit, umh, amateuristic, to say the least, and that “it remains to be seen whether these guys turn out to be serious terrorists in any significant sense.”

Fort Dixie as a target does not make much sense: on the other hand, striking against American soldiers in America certainly sends a clear message. Such an attack would, I am sure, have a big impact in America.

Idiots, terrorists, or both?

We’ll see, in either case, given the suspicious behavior, I think it is safe to say that it was wise for the FBI to arrest them. As we saw with V Tech nuts are able to kill a lot of people.

An, umh, slightly unorthodox way of finding yourself a woman:

Marina Nemat’s name had been scrawled on her forehead, and she was about to be shot.

She had been locked up in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since early 1982, when, at age 16, she complained that math and history lessons in her school had been replaced by Koran instruction and political propaganda.

Nemat was rounded up for speaking out against the Ayatollah Khomeini’s brutal regime, and she was sent to Evin to be interrogated, tortured and executed.

Just minutes from death, her life was spared. But the blessing came with a heavy price.

A prison guard named Ali had fallen in love with Nemat and used his father’s connection to the Ayatollah to commute her sentence to life in prison. Threatening to harm her family and friends, he forced Nemat — a Christian — to marry him and convert to Islam.

She wrote a book about her experiences called Prisoner of Tehran; NPR has an excerpt of the book (which I will get for myself). If you want to read it as well, you can order it at Amazon.

Heh. Ali seems to have received quite some, umh, not so friendly comments, after criticizing Islamist(’s supporting) organization CAIR.

The Saudis have arrested 172 terroristsmilitants. Some of the reportedly “had trained abroad as pilots so they could fly aircraft in attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields.” The Interior Ministry ‘issued a statement saying the detainees were planning to carry out suicide atttacks against “public figures, oil facilities, refineries … and military zones” _ some of which were outside the kingdom.’

More:

“They had reached an advance stage of readiness and what remained only was to set the zero hour for their attacks. They had the personnel, the money, the arms. Almost all the elements for terror attacks were complete except for setting the zero hour for the attacks.”

An - obviously - important catch. Besides the 172 extremists, the Saudi police also seized $32.4 million in the operation. The operation is “one of the largest sweeps against terror cells in the kingdoms.”

Not all of the terrorists were Saudis.

The arrested terrorists are, most likely, members of… Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.

If there is one country filled with extremists and terrorists it is Saudi Arabia. 172 sounds like many terrorists to us, but if the Saudis were to arrest all members of terrorist organizations living in the country, they would have to build a couple of extra prisons.

Dr. Rusty Shackleford as the scoop: six radical Muslims have been arrested in London today. Rusty writes:

n Islamist forum connected with Omar Bakri Mohammed, and previously exposed here at The Jawa Report, has listed the names of the six terror suspects arrested today. Many of the names seemed mispelled, but here is how the forum listed them:

Abu Izzadeen from London
Abdul Haqq from London
Sulayman Keeler from London
Abu Muwaheed from London
Omar Zaheer from west London
Rajib Jhan (Khan) from Luton

All are followers of radical exiled clerica Omar Bakri Mohammed. The message also claimed those arrested were “victims of the British crusade”, urged Muslims to pray for their release, and prayed that Allah would curse the kuffar (unbeliever).

He then links to videos of some of the before mentioned individuals… to be continued, including vids, after the break…
(more…)

I am sure they are just troubled youth:

As the French people went to the polls to select a president, jihadi members of an al-Qaeda online forum exchanged messages discussing their aspiration to “reinvade France (and convert it into) an Islamic country.”
[…]
A post that appeared on the al-Firdaws jihadi forum, submitted by a user named Faisal al-Baghdadi, contained a lengthy historical account of “the second stop of the Islamic conquest of Europe, France, after Andalusia, Spain.”

The post took a nostalgic look at the battle of Tours in 732, in which Muslim forces, commanded by Rahman al-Ghafiqi, who invaded a portion of France, were repelled by the Frankish general Charles Martel (”the hammer”), and forced to retreat. The battle stemmed the medieval Islamic conquest of Europe.
[…]
“We ask that Allah sends us a genuine Rahman al-Ghafiqi, to finish what he started in Europe, and conquer the Vatican as promised in our beautiful Islamic verses,” the post concluded.

Now, cynical people might wonder why they would even bother, it is not as if France has proven to be radical Islam’s worst enemy to say the least, but since I am not a cynical person, I will refrain from doing so.

O, as a besides, a number of Al Qaeda websites have published guides on how to survive a nuclear war.

Ah, yeah, merciful and all that.

Strange concept of peace and mercy some people have.

Not only did radical Muslims in Turkey kill three Christians, they first tortured them for three hours. One of the victims, for instance, “had scores of knife cuts on his thighs, his testicles, his rectum and his back.” Besides that, “his fingers were sliced to the bone,” according to Dr. Murat Uğraş, a spokesman for the Turgut Özal Medical center and involved in this case.

Germany has called on Ankara “to take greater measures to protect religious freedoms.” I wish the Europe (and the West in general) as a whole would speak out against this horrific crime and demand of the Turkish government to make sure that this will never happen again. There are groups in Turkey, purposefully encouraging hatred towards Christians / Christian missionaries. I suggest that the Turkish government makes clear to these groups / politicians, that they should put an halt to the hateful, anti-Christian rhetoric.

An interesting article at Today’s Zaman about the murder of the three Christian missionaries, Christianity / freedom of religion in Turkey and Turkey’s youth.

The brutal murder of three Christian missionaries in the southeastern city of Malatya on Wednesday, less than a year after the slaying of an Italian priest in the Black Sea region and the assassination of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink — all by young, unemployed, lower-class men at a time of increased political tension — are likely to cause a sober questioning of the process whereby Christian missionaries were made into objects of hatred, and at the same time, and an uneasy examination of just where Turkey went wrong with its young people.

Until just six years ago, Turkey’s Christians drew the ire of small radical Islamist groups only. However, in 2001, a National Security Council (MGK) meeting chaired by then-prime minister Bülent Ecevit included “missionary activity” on its list of national security threats, making it a widespread concern across the country. A wide range of ideological groups from nationalist, neo-nationalists and Islamists, started claiming that missionaries were carrying out separatist activities and turning millions of Muslims into Christians. Some even went so far as to suggest that the 2002 killing of a neo-nationalist academic was the doing of Christian missionaries. All the aggravation directed at missionaries finally worked, and Christians across the country came to be eyed suspiciously by all segments of society, sometimes manifesting itself in outright criminal activity. Attacks against churches became more frequent and the long process hit its peak when Italian priest Andrea Santoro was killed in Trabzon last year in February by a 16-year-old whose mother later commented to the media that her son would “do jail time for Allah.”

The author of the article quotes several Turkish politicians, who were not exactly positive about missionaries / Christians in their country in the recent past. For instance:

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli in a rally in 2005 in the southern city of Adana also expressed concern about missionary activities. In an earlier speech in 2002, Bahçeli had stated that “missionary activity in Turkey is on the rise, and evaluating recent attempts to revive the Pontus ideology from all sides is an absolute necessity.” Neo-nationalist Grand Unity Party’s (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, following the killing of Father Santoro in Trabzon, claimed that Christian missionaries in Turkey were backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Saadet (Happiness or Contentment) Party (SP) leader Recai Kutan in a recent conference had complained that the real extent of missionary activity was “not adequately being relayed to the public.” Another politician, Haydar Baş, who heads the Independent Turkey Party (BDP), claimed only last year that missionaries were trying to “convert our children.”

There seems to exist a campaign in Turkey to turn the Turkish people against missionaries / Christians. This campaign resulted in the death of three missionaries this week. Before that, an Italian Priest was murdered as well.

Some say that it was not as much as religious murder, as it was a nationalist murder. Others blame society as a whole for becoming increasingly violent: “urkey’s overall crime rate last year went up by a worrisome 61 percent. Parricides, rapes, murders and school violence hit the newspapers every day.”

Again other blame poverty, lack of education, etc. etc.

Of course, it is probably a mixture of some, or all of the factors mentioned above. Experts, analysts and politicians should look at all factors, but I have to admit that I find the growing hatred towards Christian missionaries as described in the article, encouraged by quite some politicians, to be very worrisome.

The New York Times reports that Iran’s Supreme Court has exonorated six members of a “prestigious state militia” who killed five people because those five individuals were, according to the six murderers, “morally corrupt.”

The six members of the Basiji Force - “volunteer vigilantes favored by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad” (who was also a member of this ‘militia’ - were convicted for murder by a lower court.

Luckily, this is does not have to be the end of it: the “lower court in Kerman can appeal the decision to the full membership of the Supreme Court.” Full membership means that 50 judges will take part of the, then, final decision.

Lets see, these murderers are members of a militia favored by Khamenei and… Ahmadinejad was a member of it… It seems to me that chances are slim that the full membership of the court, will decide differently: these, excuse me, thugs will - most likely - get away with.

Hopefully, the Western media will pay quite some attention to the case, as to make more people aware of the evil and ruthless nature of the Iranian regime. Perhaps international pressure will change something (although I am quite sure it won’t). The best chance of changing the verdict, is by domestic pressure: the Iranian people responded with outrage to the decision by the Iranian Supreme Court.

As Ed Morrissey points out, the court in essence ruled that “the fair-haired boys of the mullahcracy (so to speak) need not bother with courts or judges at all. They can freely operate outside the law.”

Three people working at a Bible publisher in the Turkish province of Malatya were murdered yesterday. Attackers slit their throats. Interior Minister Abdülkadir Aksu immediately condemned the murders saying, “No matter what the reason is, we hatefully condemn this savagery.” He called the murder an “attempt to deal a blow to the atmosphere of peace, stability and tolerance,” which indicates that he suspects that the murder was committed for religious reasons.

An injured man, apparently one of the assailants who jumped from the window to escape police, lies on the ground outside a publishing house in Malatya.

The person in the photo above, one of the murderers, is Emre Günaydın. Besides him, Turkish police arrested four others. The other four are Hamit Çeker, Salih Güler, Abuzer Yıldırım and Cuma Özdemir.

One of the people killed was a German citizen. German Ambassador Eckart Cuntz said in a statement: “I am shocked that a German citizen is among the victims. Even if the exact circumstances of the crime are not yet known, I most strongly condemn this brutal crime.”
(more…)

Hot Air links to this article in the Independent:

“This is a new plan now for the Mahdi Army, it is part of a new strategy,” he said. “We know we are against a strong enemy and we must learn proper methods and techniques.”…

Abu Rafed [a Mahdi Army veteran] estimated a total of almost 4,000 Iraqi Shias, including “many important Mahdi Army leaders”, had received training there last month alone, living at the camp for weeks at a time. He said the number of Iraqi Shias arriving there had increased significantly since the start of the “surge” in February…

Abu Amer said: “The training was done by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. I saw Iraqi fighters from Missan, Basra, Diwaniyah and Nasiriyah [areas of southern Iraq]. They were mainly Mahdi Army, but not all of them.” More Iraqi Shias had sought military instruction, he added, after the 2006 bombing of the Samarra shrine, the event widely blamed for triggering widespread sectarian war between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shias.

Hot Air’s AP comments: “The camp is in a town called Jalil Azad, outside Tehran. An independent expert on al-Sadr interviewed for the piece goes out of his way to say this doesn’t mean the mullahs are sponsoring it. Really? There’s massive paramilitary training going on outside the capital by members of the country’s most elite force and the Iranian government is indifferent in the matter?”

Of course they are not sponsoring it, they are condoning it, which is, of course, much less bad…

Flopping Aces meanwhile, has a video up of Glenn Beck interviewing Ghazal Omid, author of Living In Hell, about the rape and murder of one woman and the lack of interest the MSM shows towards the pro-Democracy protests.

It is one of those major beefs I have with the MSM: why don’t we hear anger about how women are treated in Iran? Why don’t we hear anything about how the Mullahs continue to break every possible human right they can break?

If so you should consider helping Delara Darabi (and other women): a twenty year old young woman, and artist, currently on death row in Iran. You can get involved by contacting Ali Eteraz.

I have sent Ali an e-mail already, please consider doing the same.

The Washington Times reports:

Two brothers blew themselves up outside American offices yesterday, marking the third terrorist attack since Tuesday in what bears the hallmarks of a new al Qaeda campaign in North Africa.

The attack yesterday, which injured one woman, followed the self-inflicted deaths of three militants in Casablanca on Tuesday and a pair of suicide car bombings Wednesday in neighboring Algeria that killed 33 persons.

The U.S. Embassy in Algeria warned Americans on Friday to be on guard against further attacks.

The bombings have stoked new fears of Islamic extremism in the two counties, both of which have allied themselves with the United States in its fight against terrorism.

But the attacks yesterday — one just outside an American cultural center and the other about 200 yards from the U.S. Consulate in Casablanca, were the first to be directed against obvious American targets.

The blasts occurred about 20 seconds apart. The bombers were identified as Mohammed Maha, who was born in 1975 and had no previous record, and his brother, Omar Maha, who was born in 1984 and was wanted in connection with Tuesday’s explosions.

Another, third, bomber was arrested by the police.

1984.

1984. I am born in 1984.

A (most likely) 22-year old, just like me, who commits suicide by blowing himself up.

Nineteen
eighty
four.