[Must read] a selection

Jewish conspiracy in Malaysian elections

BN, PR trade ‘Jewish’ jibes as campaign unfolds

The first day of the official Hulu Selangor campaign saw the main contenders, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, exchange allegations of Jewish links against each other in the race for the majority Malay vote.

---

Muslims and Christians can't get along in Africa?
Christians, Muslims almost equal in numbers in Africa

Northern Africa is heavily Muslim and southern Africa is mostly Christian but where the two religions meet in a 4,000-mile belt from Somalia to Senegal has often turned violent, especially in Nigeria, where hundreds of Muslims and Christians have died since January fighting each other.
...
Christians are less positive in their views of Muslims than Muslims are in their views of Christians," senior researcher Greg Smith said, adding that both Christians and Muslims also showed concern about extremism within their own ranks.

---

Prosecuted Christians in Pakistan
Christian couple touches Qur‘an with dirty hands, gets 25 years in prison

A court in Kasur district, Punjab, convicted a Christian couple, Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi, to 25 years in prison. According to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), judge Ajmal Hussein convicted the couple for touching the Qur‘an without washing their hands.
...
In the last two months, there were two more convictions against Christians in Pakistan.

On 11 January, a court in Faisalabad sentenced Imran Masih, a 26-year-old Christian man, to life imprisonment for insulting and desecrating the Koran. He was accused of deliberately burning Qur‘anic verses and an Arabic book in order “foment interfaith hatred and hurt the feelings of Muslims.”

On 25 February, a court in Karachi sentenced Qamar David, also a Christian, to life imprisonment for hurting the religious feelings of Muslims when he sent blasphemous SMS.

CLAAS announced that it was filing an appeal with the High Court in Lahore to have the 25-year sentence against Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi overturned.

---

"Can we be moral without science? I think not."
Science allows society to maintain its moral thread

Can science help us be moral? Yes, science frees our intellect from inadequate morals which have impeded humanity and provides knowledge from which we make better moral decisions. We should not perceive science and religion as opposing principles, but as complementary choices - compatible pathways to progress. Perhaps a more important question is, can we be moral without science? In today's scientific era, I think not.

---

An Israeli monument to the perished Iraqi Jews
ISRAEL: New monument pays tribute to old hurt of Iraqi Jews

When talking about life in the old country, Israel's Iraqi-born Jews acknowledge two eras: before the Farhoud, and after. In June 1941, during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, nearly 200 of Baghdad's Jews were slain in a killing rampage that went on for several days. Things were never the same after the pogrom that marked the beginning of the end of the Jewish community that had lived in Iraq since antiquity. Most of Iraq's Jews -- about 150,000 -- left for Israel within a few years of the massacre.
...
In 1969, dwindled Iraqi Jewry suffered another shock, when nine men from Baghdad and Basra were rounded up and accused of spying for Israel.

Shi'a Wakf claims that Ezekiel's shrine is Muslim

In the week that Jews read the Biblical story of Ezekiel's valley of dry bones, there are resurgent fears that the Shi'a Wakf (religious endowment) wishes to turn the shrine of the Jewish Prophet Ezekiel into a mosque.

(Sign the petition!)

Two activists on behalf of the preservation of the shrine, at Kifl south of Baghdad, Mr Maurice Shohet from New York and Professor Shmuel Moreh, an Israeli emeritus professor of Iraqi origin, sent Point of No Return an article published on 2 April in the respected Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat in London and on the Sawt al-'Iraq site (The Voice of Iraq) in Baghdad. The article proves that the Islamic authorities consider that the tomb of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel is an exclusively Muslim shrine.

"That being the case, we find that we have to appeal to international authorities such as UNESCO, the US and European governments to redouble their efforts to save the Jewish character of Ezekiel's tomb," says Professor Moreh.

Religious authorities in Iraq are determined to convert the tomb of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel into a mosque after deleting Hebrew inscriptions, according to Al-Hayat and Sawt al-'Iraq. But a debate is still raging about the ownership of the shrine, and some Iraqis are prepared to stand up for Jewish interests.

The newspaper quotes the official in charge of the Shi'a Waqf (Endowment), Salih al-Haydari, who denies that the shrine belongs to the Jews. He says that the tomb is that of Dhu al-Kifl, a prophet mentioned in the Koran - proof enough that the site belongs to the Muslims. Recent excavations at the site, he claims, prove that it is not a Jewish site, although the findings have not yet been published!

The Shi'a Waqf in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is currently restoring the shrine. The foundations of the site have always been at risk from flooding and its minaret is in imminent danger of collapse.

However Mrs Mariam Omran, director of the Babylon heritage site, points out that Iraqi Jews used to visit Ezekiel's shrine up until their migration in the mid-20th century. "The removal of Hebrew writings and inscriptions is part of the process of erasing the memory of religious minorities who were the original inhabitants of Iraq and other parts of the Middle East," she says.

Mrs Omran says that the authorities responsible for preserving Iraq's ancient heritage have come under pressure from Islamists to remove Hebrew words and ornamentation, in readiness for the building of a mosque over the tomb of Ezekiel.

The article points out that the tomb was not previously of interest to Muslims until 2003, when the Shi'a Waqf started campaigning for the restoration of the site.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism has denied reports that the character of the shrine is being altered. The tomb is being faithfully restored using original materials and old photographs, he claims.

The Department of Antiquities and Heritage has allocated about 250 million dinars for restoration work and maintenance, which began in the summer of 2008. A spokesman claims that the Muslim prophet Dhu al-Kifl is the same person as the Jewish prophet Ezekiel, who was taken prisoner by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 589 BC.

The shrine dates back to the 14th century. The Ottoman period witnessed a struggle for control between Jews and Muslims. Most of the buildings and surrounding shops belong to Jewish families and rent is still being paid to the landlords in Israel and European countries.

Read article (in Arabic)

Please sign petition to save Ezekiel's Shrine

(Copied from Point of no Return)

See also:
* Iraqi intellectuals to inspect state of Ezekiel's tomb
* What about Ezekiel's tomb, Irina Bokova?
* Why digital mapping might save Ezekiel's tomb
* Iraq will 'entrust shrine to international authorities'
* Ezekiel's shrine has suffered 'irreversible damage'
* Save Ezekiel's tomb before it's too late
* Islamic parties plan to de-Judaise Ezekiel's shrine
* A 1910 visit to the tomb of Ezekiel
* Muslims 'planning a mosque' on the tomb of Ezekiel
and many more

Gita Shagal: Amnesty International seems not to understand what defensive jihad means

Must see:




See also:
Amnesty International responds to the global petition and a response from the petitioners

Shocking endorsement of the concept of ’Defensive Jihad’ by Amnesty International, in a letter in response to the Global Petition to Amnesty international. The initiators of the Global petition (Human Rights for All) respond to the disturbing letter from Amnesty international. These two letters are made public on the above website via their press release.

Earlier on this blog:
* Follow-up: Gita Saghal explains her concerns about Amnesty International
* Amnesty Int. official deplores its work with a jihadist

Secular western tolerance for Muslim intolerance

Seculars in the west are often quick to condemn any expression of 'Jewish bigotry', while ignoring the antisemitism rampant in the Arab press and media. Where is their contextual counterbalance?

"The mainstream media in the United States is quick to denounce any perceived affronts to Arab or Islamic culture, and just as quick to condemn any alleged expressions of Jewish or Israeli chauvinism. But the media is reluctant to criticize antisemitic expressions from Arab or Muslim sources, draw any connection between Islamism and terrorism, acknowledge the history of Arab expansion and colonialism, or discuss the supremacist implications of jihad – even as it openly plays out in Europe. Rather, liberal pundits often wax dreamily poetic when discussing the so-called “golden age of Islam” or the myth of Islamic tolerance. Moreover, they tend to rationalize any antisemitic or anti-Western expressions in the Arab world as reactions to Israeli intransigence or American colonialism.

In reality, there was no real sense of tolerance for “infidels” in the Arab-Muslim world. Historically, Jews in Arab lands were relegated to the status of dhimmi who often lived in ghettos, were endowed with few if any substantive rights, and were subject to the whim and whimsy of their hostile neighbors. Although many in the West believe that Jewish life was more tolerable through the ages in the Islamic lands, the general treatment of Jews there was in fact not much different than in Christian Europe, and sometimes was even worse.

During the early Islamic period, for example, Jews were required to wear distinctive badges or metal seals around their necks, and starting in the 9th Century the Caliphate in Baghdad required Jews to wear the yellow badge – a practice that was later adopted in Christian Europe during the Middle Ages. Starting in the year 1005, the Jews of Egypt were required to wear bells on their garments, and in Medieval Baghdad they were often physically branded. In many Arab countries Jews were required to live in ghettos and were not permitted to use the same public bath houses as Muslims. At various times throughout Islamic history, Jews of the Mideast and North Africa were subjected to pogroms, massacres and forced conversions just as they were in Europe.

Despite the fantasy of the “Golden Age of Spain” when Jews were supposedly free, equal and prosperous, Iberian Jewry often fared little better in Muslim Spain than in Christian Europe. The reality was famously evidenced by the experience of Maimonides. Despicable though the anti-Jewish policies of the Catholic Church may have been, the Rambam and his family were exiled from their native Cordoba not because of Christian persecution, but because the conquering Almohads gave the Jewish community the choice of conversion to Islam or death.”

Read post in full

And not only concerning Jews, also concerning Muslim women the secular western world is deafening silent. Some of the videos you are about to see in this youtube playlist of Women and Islam are graphic:

Only 12 % Moroccan Muslims feel 'close' to Jews

Despite Morocco's long symbiosis with the Jews, the average Moroccan identifies more closely with an Afghan Muslim than a Moroccan Jew. This is one of the findings in Paul Vermeren's new book, Le Maroc de Mohammed Vl: La transition inacheve. Editions la Decouverte) summarised in Information Juive (July/August 2009). Here is a potted translation:

Morocco is something of an exception in the Arab world. It's got the largest Jewish community - 2,500 ( which is not saying much when you consider it once had 260,000 - ed). It attracts 5,000 Israeli-Moroccan visitors every year. The Moroccans are the second biggest community in Israel - after the Russians. In spite of Morocco's passionate support for the Palestinian cause, Morocco has always kept channels open to Israel. The liaison office was closed in 2000 due to the intifada, but in 2003, Mohammed Vl received the Israeli foreign minister.

Morocco knows that it suffered a tremendous loss with the rapid exodus of this hardworking but mostly very poor population. Seventy percent went to Israel, with the remainder moving to France, Canada and the US. The country is proud of its Jewish sons 'done good' abroad, be it an Israeli minister or an artist like the stand-up comic Gad Elmaleh.

The problem for Morocco's Jews has been the constant conflation in Muslim minds of 'Jew' with 'Zionist' and 'Israeli'. This confusion caused a profound unease, and hastened the departure of young Jews. They were off as soon as they had their school-leaving certificate in their pockets. Much blame lies with antisemitic textbooks, but no-one dares turn the clock back.

Several groups have tried to reverse this state of affairs - a handful of Jewish anti-Zionist and Marxist intellectuals (A. Serfaty, E Amrane El Maleh, Sion Assidon, Simon Levy) stayed on in Morocco and have been especially active. Another group of Moroccan-born French interface between the palace, business interests abroad and western allies like France,the US and Israel.

Moroccan intellectuals such as Mohammed Kenbib, Mohammed Hatmi and Jamaa Baida, together with Hebrew language specialists in Arabic studies departments and journalists, try to keep the memory of a shared past alive. Tel Quel (November 2008) published a supplement called 'The Jew within us: at the heart of Moroccan identity'.

But a survey on religious attitudes in 2007 showed the limitations of such an approach: 63 percent of all Moroccans questioned felt closer to a Muslim Afghan than to a Moroccan Jew (12 percent). The exodus of the Jews from towns and villages has given way to an antisemitism largely fed by anti-Israeli feeling. If the younger generation only rediscovered the forgotten Jewish element of their national identity might the dam be shored up - assuming that the state is willing to incorporate it in its school textbooks and syllabi.

Source: Point of No Return

Clash of civilisations?

An oldie...

The Path to Darkness - a new Pierre Rehov documentary

"The intellectuals - professors and students - are the only ones who advocate destroying the west under the pretext that freedom is but an illusion (Karl Popper)

Trailer:


"The Path to Darkness" is now in Post Production.

Billions have been invested by Saoudi Arabia in US universities in the last years. At the same time, our western values have been erroded by moral relativism. This leads an entire generation to believe in new mythologies such as: a genocide is perpetrated against Palestinians, Suicide Killers are kamikazes, or freedom fighters, Cho, Eric and Dylan, the murderers of Virginia Tech and Columbine are a typical product of our repressive society, the US army is an occupation force in Iraq, and many other relativist revisions of history, leading to the path to darkness.

Pierre Rehov’s latest film “The Path To Darkness” is currently in post-production. This endeavor has led him to investigate those mythologies, and takes us to Japan, to meet with WW2 former kamikazes, to Iraq, where he was embedded in the US Army’s 4th Cavalry, into Gaza and the West Bank. And for the first time, he documents the step by step religious brain washing of a candidate to suicide-terrorism, including the rituals preceding his criminal act, and much more. Pierre also has a close encounters with families of suicide killers, and local Imams.

Following the acclaimed "Suicide Killers", “The Path to Darkness” will take us for a journey deeper into the mind of terrorists, while debuquing the dangerous mythologies propaged among our new generations.

Go to Pierre Rehov's website

Taliban and their non-respect for women

34 lashes as punishment for what exactly?

(...)Reached by phone, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the flogging. "She came out of her house with another guy who was not her husband, so we must punish her. There are boundaries you cannot cross," he said. He defended the Taliban's right to thrash women shoppers who were inappropriately dressed, saying it was permitted under Islamic law.(...)

Sher Muhammad Khan, an official in Swat with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said: "They have committed so many atrocities since the peace deal. They have taken entire control of the district. There is nobody to control them; they decide disputes according to their whims."(...)(...)The woman in the video, named as Chaand and believed to be aged 17, was punished (...) on suspicion of having had an illicit relationship with a married man. She did not receive a trial. "The whole case is based on the suspicions of one neighbour," said Minallah. The woman's brother is among the men pinning her down, she added. "It's symbolic that he does it with his own hands. It gives him honour in local society, that he has done it for the sake of religion."
(...)

Since the peace deal, women have been beaten for shopping unaccompanied in Mingora's main market and dozens of girls' schools remain closed, many of them bombed.(...)

Read the whole article

Wow!

Mumbai Massacre

(Mere Rhetoric:) Ongoing List Of Root Causes, Un-Islamic Religions Responsible For Mumbai Massacre