Islamic AlertA Politically Incorrect Look at Islam Today |
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Coptic CulturePosted by admin2 - December 3, 2008 on 5:17 pm | In Christian COPTS | No Comments
by Ed Rizkalla The study of ancient Egyptian literature helps shed light on several Coptic cultural attributes, norms and values. In prior articles, the writer discussed some of these Coptic cultural attributes in light of examples of ancient Egyptian literary creations dating to the Old and Middle Kingdoms, e.g. the tales of King Cheops and the Magicians, Sinuhe, and the Eloquent Peasant. Furthermore the writer noted several recurring themes in ancient Egyptian literature such as the love of the Black Land of Egypt, “Chimie”, Cosmic “Order” and the lack of thereof or “Chaos”, and Justice or “Maat”.
EGYPT: TWO COPTS WRONGLY DETAINED, TORTUREDPosted by admin2 - December 3, 2008 on 5:01 pm | In Christian COPTS | No Comments |
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He sat in my office, a Turkish scholar and theologian who helps people who are tortured for their faith.
According to Ziya Meral, it’s the converts from Islam to Christianity who are some of the most forsaken on Earth.
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Egypt will back diplomacy against Iran as long as it does not use double standards in handling nuclear issue in Mideast.
CAIRO - Egypt supports international efforts aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Wednesday.
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A federal appeals court in Chicago today upheld a $156 million judgment against several Palestinian charities accused of funding Hamas. A full history of the Boim case, covered extensively on this blog, is available here.
In an earlier appeal the original judgment against the defendants was overruled based on the Seventh Circuit’s disturbing finding -- now reversed -- that “plaintiffs must be able to produce some evidence permitting a jury to find that the activities of HLF, Salah, and AMS contributed to the fatal attack on David Boim and were therefore a cause in fact of his death.”
This latest opinion (87-page Acrobat file) found that “Anyone who knowingly contributes to the nonviolent wing of an organization that he knows to engage in terrorism is knowingly contributing to the organization’s terrorist activities.”
In the case of Hamas, the court ruled, “A knowing donor to Hamas—that is, a donor who knew the aims and activities of the organization—would know that Hamas was gunning for Israelis.”
This is a few days old, but I haven't seen it remarked upon anywhere. Were the Mumbai jihadists aware of how helpful Putin's Russia has been to the cause of the global jihad? "Terrorists let go 17 Russian hostages," from Rediff, November 28 (thanks to Undaunted):
Terrorists holed up inside Mumbai's Taj and Trident-Oberoi hotels allowed 17 Russian hostages, including nine defence contractors, to leave after checking their passports.Earlier on Thursday, spokesman of Russian arms exporting company 'Rosoboronexport' had confirmed that nine of its specialists working on various defence projects in India were safely evacuated from the Taj Hotel.'
According to the 'Kommersant' daily, eight crew members of Russian Aeroflot airlines dining in the restaurant of Trident-Oberoi were also "politely asked" to follow the hotel staff, who guided them to safety outside the hotel....
Zardari and his martyred wife: two vaunted "moderates"
Once again a "moderate" Muslim refuses to cooperate with non-Muslims in an effort to counter the jihad.
An update on this story. "Pakistan refuses to hand over suspects to India," from the Telegraph, December 3 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):
Pakistan has said it won't hand over 20 terrorist suspects wanted by India in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.Asif Ali Zardari said 20 terror suspects would be tried in Pakistan if there was evidence of wrongdoing.
Mr Zardari also said he doubted that a man being held in Indian custody over the attacks was a Pakistani citizen.
"We have not been given any tangible proof to say that he is definitely a Pakistani. I very much doubt ... that he's a Pakistani," Zardari told CNN's Larry King Live, adding that if given evidence his government would take action. [...]
Of course. He couldn't possibly be a Pakistani. Every fool who isn't a greasy Islamophobe knows that there are no jihadists in Pakistan. The man whom the Indians are holding is, doubtless, a Methodist from Kentucky.
We are very pleased that Dr. David Kilcullen will join Dr. Walid Phares and Farhana Ali as panelists at tomorrow's event to discuss the Mumbai attacks. To quote from the biography released last week by CNAS:
"Dr. David Kilcullen has joined CNAS as a senior fellow. Kilcullen was a non-resident senior fellow with CNAS for more than a year and collaborated with CNAS on Iraq and Afghanistan reports, as well as violent extremism and grand strategy Solarium projects in 2007 and 2008.The event will begin at 11 am ET tomorrow, in room 2220 of the Rayburn House Building in Washington. You can RSVP through this e-mail address (acceptances only, please). I will post a transcript of the event soon afterwards.Kilcullen's position as the Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will conclude in December 2008, at which time he will also become a partner at the Crumpton Group, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic advisory firm.
Prior to joining CNAS, Kilcullen was senior counterinsurgency advisor to General David Petraeus, then Commanding General of United States and international forces in Iraq. He was part of the small team that designed the “surge,” and subsequently spent several months in the field directing counterinsurgency programs and providing hands-on advice to Iraqi and coalition military, diplomatic, aid and intelligence agencies. In 2005-2006 he was chief counterterrorism strategist at the U.S. State Department, working in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, including operational activities in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. He designed and implemented the Regional Strategic Initiative, the policy that drives U.S. counterterrorism diplomacy worldwide.
He previously served in Australia’s Office of National Assessments, worked in the Pentagon where he wrote the counterterrorism strategy for the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, and served on the writing team for Australia’s 2004 Terrorism White Paper. He is a former Australian infantry officer with 22 years of service, including operational deployments in East Timor, Bougainville, and the Middle East. His doctoral dissertation, on insurgency in traditional societies, drew on residential fieldwork with guerrillas and terrorists in Indonesia during the 1990s. He is fluent in Indonesian and conversant in Arabic and French. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (elected in 1996) and holds several honors and decorations, including the United States Army Superior Civilian Service Medal, “for exceptionally meritorious service to the United States as Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor, Multi-National Force-Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom,” the first such award to a foreign national serving in combat alongside U.S. Forces.
His forthcoming book, The Accidental Guerrilla, to be published by Oxford University Press in spring 2009, analyzes the complex interplay between local guerrillas and global terrorists in contemporary war zones from Africa to Southeast Asia."
UPDATE: See remarks by Secretary Rice during a meeting today with the Indian Minister of External Affairs.
The ever-insightful Diana West finds a throwaway detail buried deep in a Washington Post story: "Islam as B-Matter," by Diana West, December 3:
"A-matter" is newspaperese for the key facts about an event--the "top" of the story. "B-matter," then, is everything else--the extraneous color and details that may be cut from the bottom to fit a story to a page without detracting from the import and impact of the news.In the so-called war on terror (or whatever it's known as), anything to do with Islam as the inspiration of terror is always an extraneous detail. Here's paragraph 12 from a Washington Post story today about Mumbai headlined: "Details Emerge from Sole Arrested Gunman." The paragraph begins with a quotation from an interrogator describing the surviving jihadist's--sorry, "gunmen's"--extensive training.
"He went through different stages of training. At first, it was the recitation of the Koran and lectures about jihad. He was being prepared mentally. Then small-weapons training," Bharti said in an interview. "Then came the hard physical, marine training. At first, Kasab used to vomit. They were taught how to survive at sea, on ground, and how to control thirst and hunger. From a batch of about 25, 10 were handpicked for the Mumbai mission."
Details, details. Recitation of the Koran and lectures about jihad = B-matter. No wonder we're losing.
Indeed.
Yet another National Pastime sullied by steroid use.
"Mumbai attacks: Terrorists took cocaine to stay awake during assault," by Damien McElroy in the Telegraph, December 3 (thanks to Anne Crockett):
Terrorists who battled Indian commandos for 60-hours last week relied on cocaine and other stimulants to stay awake for the duration of the fight.Officials said drug paraphernalia, including syringes, was recovered from the scene of the attacks, which killed almost 200 people.
The heavily built men, who had undergone training at a special marine camp established by the Lashkar-e-Taibat (LeT) terrorist group in Pakistan, had also used steroids to build a tougher physique.
"We found injections containing traces of cocaine and LSD left behind by the terrorists and later found drugs in their blood," said one official.
"There was also evidence of steroids, which isn't uncommon in terrorists.
"These men were all toned, suggesting they had been doing some heavy training for the attacks. This explains why they managed to battle the commandos for over 50 hours with no food or sleep."...
Everything that is old is new again. In the thirteenth century the Ismaili Shi'ite Hashishin (حشّاشين) (Assassins) got their name from their practice of using hashish before setting out on jihad missions to assassinate Sunni leaders.
Eurabia Update from Insane Britannia: "Primary school cancels nativity play because it interferes with Muslim festival of Eid," by Chris Johnson for the Daily Mail, December 3 (thanks to Alexandre):
A primary school infuriated parents after cancelling the traditional Christmas nativity play to make way for the Muslim festival of Eid.Parents at the Nottingham school were told that the planned performance had to be pulled because some of the pupils wanted to celebrate Eid at home with their families.
In a letter, sent by the staff at Greenwood Junior School, mothers and fathers were told: 'It is with much regret that we have had to cancel this year's Christmas performances.
'This is due to the Eid celebrations that take place next week and its effect on our performers.'
However, following a barrage of complaints, a second letter was issued saying the show had 'not been cancelled outright' but has been postponed until the New Year.
The follow-up letter, sent by headteacher Amber Latif and chair of governors Yvonne Wright, apologised for the 'misunderstanding' caused by the first correspondence.
It read: 'We are a very inclusive school and fully respect the cultures and religions of all the children.
'We are upset to know that some of our parents/carers have been offended by the letter.
'The Christmas performance has not been cancelled outright but has been postponed until the New Year.'...
The station was also targeted last week. "Report: Explosive Devices Found, Defused at Mumbai Train Station," from FoxNews, December 3 (thanks to Anne Crockett):
DEVELOPING: Explosive devices have been found and defused at the Mumbai train station that was also targeted in last week's terror attacks, Indian television station New Delhi TV reports.
Officers may also be required to visit mosques in order to "raise cultural awareness." "Police and Muslims to swap roles so officers can be more sensitive," by Michael Howie for the Scotsman, December 2:
ANTI-TERROR police hope to participate in role-reversal sessions with Muslims in an attempt to ease concerns about the "harassment" of Scottish Asians travelling through Glasgow Airport.The away-days are designed to improve relations between police and the Muslim community and reach a common understanding about the need to question people at the airport.
The move, based on a pilot scheme south of the Border called Operation Nicole, is among a raft of proposals that the country's head of anti-terrorism will put to aggrieved Muslims, who say they are continually harassed by repeated interrogations when they arrive in Scotland from Pakistan.
Other steps drawn up by Assistant Chief Constable Allan Burnett include ensuring special branch officers at ports wear uniforms, the introduction of "behavioural detection" training to teach officers how to spot potential terrorists, visits to mosques to raise cultural awareness and a mentoring scheme for new special branch recruits.
The creation of a new body to maintain dialogue between police and the Muslim community will also be discussed...
Truly a bad Muslim -- he wasn't even a jihadist merely enjoying his well-earned plunder (promised to the believers in Koran 48:19). "Liberty City mosque leader goes to prison for housing fraud," by Susannah A. Nesmith for the Miami Herald, December 2:
A leader in a Liberty City mosque was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in a housing scam that stole homes from the elderly -- and even from dead people.Sameer Muhammad, the vice president of Muhammad Mosque No. 29 at 5600 NW 7th Avenue, was convicted earlier this year of nine counts of grand theft, forgery and using a false identification related to the scam.[...]
In one case, investigators found a deed a couple purportedly signed transferring their home to Murphy [Muhammad's accomplice] -- years after they had died.
A social services building in Alexandria, owned by Abu-Seifein church in Lumbroso, which housed a home for the aged and an orphanage
TOBA TEK SINGH, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Police on November 17, 2008 arrested a Pakistani Christian man, who fled to safety after he was named in the police First Information Report (FIR) in April last year as a alleged blasphemer
Government uses brothers as scapegoat in murder; officials claim violence not sectarian.
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