U.S. Muslims criticize LA mayor for supporting Israel

Fool me once into dhimmitude, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me

Criticizing him with, perhaps, something of a veiled threat: "We [Muslims] hold him responsible." For what, Hamas provoking war with Israel? Ironically, Muslims put him through this before over two years ago when he showed support for Israel. Then, he apologized; will he again?

"U.S. Muslims criticize LA mayor for supporting Israeli attacks," from the China View, January 6:

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Muslim groups on Monday criticized Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for publicly supporting Israeli military actions in Gaza.

"Why is the mayor of Los Angeles dragging himself and his constituents into international conflicts in the Middle East?" Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said at a press conference here.

Earlier in the day, Villaraigosa reiterated his support for Israel's military attacks on the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

"I've seen the wreckage caused by a constant barrage of rocket fire -- more than 6,000 rockets launched on southern Israel over the last three years alone," Villaraigosa said.

This reminds one of the difference between Israel and Hamas: the latter has the will, but not the means, to annihilate Israel; Israel, on the other hand, has the means, but not the will, to annihilate Hamas.

Last year, Villaraigosa visited Israel, including the town of Sderot, which is near Gaza and a frequent target of Hamas rocket attacks.

Explaining why it is that he supports Israel: he has seen first hand what it deals with daily.

Al-Marayati said the mayor "should meet with all sides and discuss the critical perspectives and recommendations for all sides before making a decision on such an important international issue" if he chooses to engage in international affairs.

Villaraigosa "should bring both sides together to talk about how we can prevent the conflict and violence emanating from the Middle East from spilling over onto our streets in America," Al- Marayati said.

The Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, an umbrella group that coordinates activities of more than 70 mosques in southern California, also took Villaraigosa to task, saying that it is "disappointed and feels betrayed by the mayor's one-sided perspective on the tragedy in Gaza.

"While we grant the right for the mayor to his opinion, we also believe he is obligated to recognize all perspectives to any situation. The mayor failed [the Muslims of] Los Angeles in this regard and we hold him responsible," the group said in a statement.

In response, Villaraigosa said he would be willing to meet with members of Los Angeles' Palestinian and Muslim communities to address any issue, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Al-Qaeda #2 blames Hamas for Gaza situation -- no, wait...

Who can I scapegoat next?

Actually, he's blaming everyone else -- including such disparate characters as Hosni Mubarak and Barak Obama (who he once called a "house negro"). In his desperation, he also likens Israel's offensive to a "crusade."

"Al Qaeda No. 2 Blames Obama, Egypt's President for Gaza," from the Associated Press, January 6:

CAIRO, Egypt — An intelligence monitoring center reports that Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader is blaming Barack Obama and Egypt's president for the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The SITE Monitoring Service says the audio statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri was posted on militant Web sites Tuesday.

This is al-Zawahiri's first comment on the crisis since the war began eleven days ago.

In a transcript of the statement released by SITE, he calls the Israeli offensive a "Crusade against Islam and Muslims" and "Obama's gift to Israel" before he takes office.

Al-Zawahiri also calls Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, a "traitor" for keeping his borders closed to Palestinians.

They asked me to take off my lousy t-shirt, and all I got was 240,000 bucks

Jarrar with his lucky t-shirt

$240,000 for this? Isn't that a bit excessive? I am going to have to get one of these shirts for my next flight -- Jihad Watch could use the money!

Meanwhile, the ACLU lawyer says: "The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling." Great. I will be sure to call the ACLU for help to fight attempts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference at the UN to compel Western governments to criminalize free speech about the ways in which Islamic jihadists use Islamic texts and teachings to justify their actions and make recruits.

Don't you just know that they'll be all over that?

"240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt," from AFP, January 5 (thanks to all who sent this in):

NEW YORK (AFP) – An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.

Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.

Jarrar eventually agreed to cover his shirt with another provided by JetBlue. He was allowed aboard but his seat was changed from the front to the back of the aircraft....

Iran boasts: 70,000 students have signed up to kill themselves in mass-murder operations

They call them "martyrdom operations," of course, and to call them that is entirely Qur'anically correct in light of the verse that guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111). But that verse also, and the promise it conveys, should keep at the forefront of our minds the fact that when Iran boasts of signing students up for "martyrdom," they are actually signing them up to die while committing mass murder.

An update on this story. "Over 70,000 students sign up for martyrdom operation list," from IRNA, January 5 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

Tehran, Jan 5, IRNA -- More than 70,000 students from universities throughout Iran have signed up on the list to conduct 'Esteshhadi' (martyrdom seeking)operations.

Announcing this at a press conference on Monday, Director of the Public Relations Department at Students’ Basij Organization Esmaeel Ahmadi said that the students will act as part of Esteshhadi battalions....

"Hitler didn't do a good job"

Gaza jihad-enablers chant genocidal slogans and get aggressive -- in Toronto, January 3.

People with Israeli flags can been seen across the road.

When the peace-loving thugs shout, "You are the product of monkeys, you are the product of pigs!," they are referring to the passages in the Qur'an in which Allah curses Jews and transforms them into apes and pigs (2:62-65; 5:59-60; 7:166).

Accused jihadist claims government using mind control tactics on him, asks for exorcist

On call for the mujahedin?

Here's a new variation on the Courtroom Jihad. But maybe the time when he really needed the exorcist was when he was planning his jihad plot. "Terror suspect asks judge for exorcist." by Moni Basu and Bill Rankin for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 6 (thanks to James):

Relatives of terrorism suspect Ehsanul Islam Sadequee accused federal authorities Monday of using mind-control tactics intended to induce a guilty plea.

Sadequee’s family leveled the accusations after a court hearing in which Sadequee pleaded not guilty to a recently returned, amended federal indictment.

Sadequee and former Georgia Tech student Syed Haris Ahmed are being held without bond on charges they conspired to provide material support to terrorists.

At Monday’s hearing, Sadequee asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Gerrylin Brill for an “exorcist” to free the “demons” placed in his head by authorities.

Brill denied the request.

Appearing in prison garb, canvas slip-ons, a long beard and an off-white knit cap, Sadequee took the unusual step of speaking for himself in court.

He told Brill that he had been subjected to psychological abuse at the federal penitentiary where he is being held. He accused Ahmed, who also has pleaded not guilty, of being a confidential informant....

Both men are accused of trying, in 2005, to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group India blames for the recent terrorist rampage in Mumbai that killed 164 people. They also are accused of taking videos of “symbolic and infrastructure targets for potential terrorist attacks” in Washington during a trip there in 2005....

Why are American professors accepting awards from Iran's Thug-In-Chief?

It's a question I ask in "Blessing From A Tyrant," at FrontPage this morning:

Three American academics flew to Tehran last week to accept awards from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In Tehran, Carl Ernst, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was honored along with William Chittick, a scholar of Islamic mysticism and a professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Miriam Galston, a lawyer at George Washington University who made significant contributions to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Thorp and Ernst seemed anxious to stress that this was an academic, non-political award -- as if Tehran these days were crawling with disinterested academics who are in no way co-opted by the regime. Even though Ernst reportedly “cringes” at some of Ahmadinejad’s “policies,” UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp decided that this was an “academic honor,” not a political one, and so had no objection to Ernst’s trip. Ernst himself explained, “it would have looked strange if I declined an academic award.”

Continue reading "Why are American professors accepting awards from Iran's Thug-In-Chief?"

Jihad in Anaheim, California

A woman at a California pro-jihad rally (thanks to Pamela) calls for inner spiritual struggle against the Zionists -- a rather unnerving call in light of this.

Mumbai jihadists' prime target was Jewish center

"When asked during interrogation why Nariman House was specifically targetted, Ajmal reportedly told the police they wanted to sent a message to Jews across the world by attacking the ultra orthodox synagogue."

"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans" -- Qur'an 5:82

"Nariman House, not Taj, was the prime target on 26/11," by Somendra Sharma for DNAIndia, January 5 (thanks to Pamela):

Think 26/11, and images of the carnage at the Taj come to mind. But the terrorists themselves were in no doubt that Nariman House was the prime focus. For this was the place which housed a Jewish centre, and the fanatics from Pakistan were clear that they wanted to send a message to the world from there.

The Mumbai crime branch, which is investigating the terror attacks, has found that the terrorists’ handlers in Pakistan were clear this operation should not fail under any circumstances. The rest of the operations — at the Taj, Oberoi and Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus — were intended to amplify the effect.

A senior police official, told DNA on condition of anonymity, that the interrogation of Mohammed Amir Iman Ajmal (aka Kasab) revealed as much. Just before entering the city, the terrorists’ team leader, Ismail Khan, briefed them once again about their targets. “But Khan briefed Imran Babar, alias Abu Akasha, and Nasir, alias Abu Umer, intensely on what to do at Nariman House,” the officer said.

When asked during interrogation why Nariman House was specifically targetted, Ajmal reportedly told the police they wanted to sent a message to Jews across the world by attacking the ultra orthodox synagogue.

According to the statement by Ajmal, Khan told Babar and Nasir that even if the others failed in their operation, they both could not afford to. “The Nariman House operation has to be a success,” the officer said, quoting from Ajmal’s statement.

“Khan also said that as far as Nariman House was concerned, there should not be even a minimal glitch in finding it and capturing it,” the officer quoted Ajmal as saying.

After the dinghy carrying the 10 terrorists reached Mumbai at the Macchimar colony opposite Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade, it was decided that no bombs would be planted in the taxi to be used to reach Nariman House.

“The idea,” according to the police officer, “was that if Babar and Nasir got delayed in locating and entering Nariman House, the bomb in the taxi may explode even before they entered their target.”...

“Ansari told us that he did not divulge this information earlier because it would have jeopardised the most important operation of the LeT. He had also been warned by the LeT that Nariman House was their most secret operation and must not be compromised at any cost,” the officer said.

Hamas fires rockets into kindergarten schoolyard

Making good on its promise to try and "kill Jewish children anywhere." "Grad Rocket Strikes Ashdod Kindergarten Schoolyard," by Hana Levi Julian for Israel National News, January 5 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):

IsraelNN.com) A long-range Grad-type Katyusha rocket landed in the schoolyard of a kindergarten in a northern Ashdod neighborhood at approximately 3:20 Monday afternoon -- but miraculously, only two people were lightly wounded, one by flying shrapnel.

Thirty children are normally in the classroom during the day, when the missile struck, but due to Home Front Command instructions, the building was empty at the time.

Magen David Adom medics who raced to the scene said they treated a number of people who suffered from severe emotional trauma. Eyewitnesses described the explosion as "unusually loud."

At about 3:00 p.m., a short-range Kassam rocket exploded in the Eshkol region as well. No one was injured and no damage was reported.

Hamas and allied terrorist attacked southern Israel with close to 30 rockets since 7:00 a.m. Monday, appearing to focus primarily on the coastal cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod...

Germany: Muslim father "abused," brother stabbed to death, 16 year-old girl

The fate of Westernizing Muslim females?

Perhaps her "conservative" father should have considered the possibilities of his daughter becoming "too Westernized" when he, no doubt, freely chose to immigrate to the West. More on this story.

"Honour killing victim's parents refuse to testify," from The Local, January 5 (thanks to Dionysios):

The parents of the German-Afghan victim of an “honour killing” by her brother last year refused to testify in a Hamburg court on Monday. Meanwhile state prosecutors have also accused her father of abuse.

The 24-year-old Ahmad-Sobair O. is on trial after admitting to police that he killed his 16-year-old sister Morsal O. on May 23, 2008 because she had turned away from her family. The girl died after suffering 23 stab wounds in a Sankt Georg district parking lot. Both siblings, who immigrated to Germany 13 years ago, have German citizenship.

The two parents of the family, as well as the girl’s younger brother refused to testify. Her sister is scheduled to testify on Monday afternoon.

And, if she does testify, need she fear her late sister's fate?

Before she was murdered, Morsal O. had been seen by emergency youth services on several occasions, suffering from pressures by her family, which did not approve of her Western lifestyle.

Also known as the "non-Muslim" lifestyle.

Her brother had already been prosecuted for assaulting her and others. He was sentenced in March on an assault charge to one year and five months without possibility of probation. He had requested his March sentence be deferred, but was notified in writing - a day before the stabbing - that the request had been rejected.

Now state prosecutors have accused her 46-year-old father of abusing the girl in May 2008, a spokesperson told news agency DDP on Monday.

A series of six honour killings - including the shooting at a bus stop of 23-year-old Turkish woman Hatun Sürücü in Berlin - shook Germany in 2005. Sürücü's youngest brother, Ayhan Sürücü, later confessed to killing her because he did not approve of her Western lifestyle.

Egyptian Icon: Hamas "should have known that Israel wasn't going to receive the attacks with roses"

Hamas...Hamas...whatever are we going to do with you?

It's rather telling when a beloved Egyptian celebrity and nationalist -- not a "Zionist" nor a "neo-con" -- clearly declares that Hamas, not Israel, is to blame. Another soon to be declared apostate?

"Egyptian film star: Hamas is to blame," by Khaled Abu Toameh for the Jerusalem Post, January 4 (thanks to She-Child):

The Arab world's most prominent comedian and movie star, Egyptian actor Adel Imam, has shocked many of his fans by expressing understanding for Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Imam, a longtime outspoken critic of Islamic fundamentalism, lashed out at Egyptians who have been demonstrating against Israel's war on Hamas. He said calls for general strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians "harmed our economy and benefited Israel alone."

Imam was also quoted in the Egyptian press as strongly criticizing the leader of the country's Muslim Brotherhood organization, Mahdi Akef, for having accused Egypt's leadership of "collusion" with Israel.

The veteran 68-year-old movie star blamed Hamas for the violence, pointing out that the Egyptian leadership had warned the Islamist movement against an impending Israeli military operation.

"Hamas ignored our warnings and chose to lead an asymmetrical war," Imam said, echoing earlier statements by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "It's preferable for Hamas to stop [the rocket attacks]. They should have known that Israel wasn't going to receive the attacks with roses."

Imam's remarks have been condemned by many of his colleagues in Egypt who have come out in support of Hamas.[...]

Imam's most recent film, Hassan and Morqos, also enraged extremists, prompting them to launch a campaign to boycott the actor. The movie is about a Muslim cleric and a Christian priest whose paths cross as they face threats from Muslim terrorists. Some of Imam's critics accused him of using the film to promote "apostasy."

Hamas: We'll kill Jewish children anywhere

Behold the brazen hypocrisy: Hamas launches attacks from civilian areas and uses children as human shields, and then uses the deaths of Palestinian children to justify murdering Jewish children anywhere in the world. And the world yawns and issues another condemnation of Israel.

"Hamas: Israel has legitimised the killing of its children," by James Hider in the Times, January 5 (thanks to all who sent this in):

As fighting intensified on the northern outskirts of Gaza City today, a top Hamas leader broke cover to warn Israel that the Islamists would kill Jewish children anywhere in the world in revenge for their own young who have died in the devastating assault.

“They have legitimised the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine,” said Mahmoud Zahar, in a televised broadcast recorded at a secret location. “They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people.”

Mr Zahar, a hard-line political leader, made his first appearance since Israeli launched its offensive against his organisation. Dressed in a dark suit and as he read the statement, he declared “Victory is coming, God willing.” As night fell on the territory, most of which is now without electricity, the dark sky above Gaza was illuminated by explosions and flares from the pitched battle on Gaza City’s northern fringes, where Israeli tanks, helicopters and artillery fought to dislodge Hamas guerrillas. Witnesses said the battle had, for the first time, spilled into Gaza City itself, where the head of Hamas’ armed wing warned thousands of his determined fighters were waiting for the invaders.[...]

But France's Sarkozy shows that he is not entirely a lost cause:

Mr Sarkozy quickly ran foul of Hamas though when he said it must bear most of the blame for the increasingly miserable plight of the 1.5 million Gazans it rules over.

“Hamas acted in an irresponsible and unforgiveable manner... Hamas is to blame for the suffering of the Palestinians,” he said. A Hamas spokesman quickly accused the French leader of “total bias” towards Israel.

Lebanese Muslim cleric: Jew-hatred bridges Sunni/Shi'ite divide

An Islamic cleric defines his heroes

Something they can all agree on. Note that he is preaching violence against Jews not only in reference to Gaza and Israel, but worldwide. "Sunni Lebanese Cleric Maher Hamoud Launches Unprecedented Attack on Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Gheith, Calling Him 'Idiot Abu Shit," from MEMRITV, January 3 (thanks to Carl In Jerusalem):

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Sunni Lebanese cleric Sheik Maher Hamoud, which aired on NBN TV on January 3, 2009:

Sheik Maher Hamoud: Today, there is no distinction between Sunnis and Shiites. The party of resistance stretches from Beirut, Maroun Al-Ras, Bint Jbeil, from the proud southern suburb of Beirut, and from Ein Al-Tineh, to Gaza, Beit Hanoun, Jabalya, and Sajaiyeh. This is the party of Islam, and it exists in Baghdad, in Kabul, and in the villages of Afghanistan as well. Whoever brandishes a sword at the Jews, anyone who incites against the Jews, against the Americans who support them, and against the [Arab] thrones that support them, obey their commands, carry out their wishes, and constitute a party that confronts Hizbullah ["the Party of God"]...

[...]

In this sense, we are all the Party of God – from Tangier to Jakarta, from Tashkent to Nigeria, throughout the Islamic world, in all its capitals, wherever the displaced are to be found, wherever there is anyone who demonstrates, who makes his voice heard, who raises banners, shouts slogans, and incites against the Jews, wherever there is anyone who has nothing but a shoe with which to express his faith. These are all [members] of the Party of God – regardless of their identity, or the identity of their fathers and mothers.

It is faced by the Party of Satan, one of whose members [Egyptian Foreign Minister Abu Al-Gheit] did not hesitate to say anything possible in order to please the Jews. It is a disgrace that his name is Ahmad. He is Ahmaq Abu Ghaet ["Idiot Abu Shit"] – you all know what "shit" means. He is Idiot Abu Shit, not Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit. It is Idiot Abu Shit who is talking a load of shit, when he says the missiles are the reason for these crimes and for what is happening, without shedding a tear.

Hate Mail: "Do you recommend the violence of Israel on Palestinian people? I am Christ (aren't you?!)"

We found this humble missive from Austria in our Hate Mail Bag this morning:

Do you recommend the violence of Israel on Palestinian people? I am Christ (aren´t you?!), I hate all kinds of fascism and I am against islamic extremisms. But this violence and this MURDER ON INNOCENT CHILDREN is not the solution. Shame on you! Shame on Israel! Where is your conscience? Where is your respect towards religion? You demand absolute press freedom, but you mean: the freedom of insulting religion and people. You torpedo peaceful efforts and you agitate. You are godless Americans.

Alrighty, then. Let's go point-by-point:

Do you recommend the violence of Israel on Palestinian people? I am Christ (aren´t you?!)

Huh. Does "Christ" work for Reuters? Language barriers aside (as "Christ" is the adjective for "Christian" in the German language), just to restate the obvious: A sovereign state has the right to defend itself. Israel is a sovereign state; Hamas' regime in Gaza is not. And if it were, Hamas' conduct -- persistent, random rocket fire, genocidal agitation, and the destruction of another state as its raison d'être -- would not be tolerated from any other sovereign state in existence. Why, then, is Hamas so special that the rules don't apply?

I hate all kinds of fascism and I am against islamic extremisms.

That's nice. Good for you.

But this violence and this MURDER ON INNOCENT CHILDREN is not the solution.

Surely, you've also sent a strongly-worded letter to Hamas honcho Mahmoud Zahar, who today said that Israelis "have legitimized the killing of their children by killing our children. They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people."

A few questions: First, are Israeli children, in your mind, also innocent? More importantly, what of Hamas' long-standing habit of storing its weapons in and launching attacks from mosques and other civilian areas? It has even boasted about using human shields and hidden its operatives in hospitals. Thus, Hamas -- an illegitimate regime -- is both deliberately targeting Israeli civilians, and deliberately acting to maximize Gaza's civilian suffering and casualties in a war of its own making. Who, then, is playing fast and loose with human life?

Shame on you! Shame on Israel! Where is your conscience? Where is your respect towards religion? Where is your respect towards religion? You demand absolute press freedom, but you mean: the freedom of insulting religion and people. You torpedo peaceful efforts and you agitate.

So "respect" requires never, ever criticizing or giving offense, intentionally or not, to "religion," by which you likely mean one religion in particular. Freedom of speech without the freedom to offend is hollow and self-defeating in that it creates a climate of fear for the consequences of speaking "freely."

You are godless Americans.

Say, now, that's kind of offensive. Where would that fall in your vision of limitations on freedom of speech and the press?

Anti-jihad, pro-Israel rallies nationwide!

Turn out to show your support for sanity and your resistance to the jihad and Islamic supremacism against Israel and wherever they are found. From StandWithUs (thanks to Joseph):

RALLIES THIS WEEK in LA, NY, Denver & Boston

Join the pro-Israel rallies that are taking place this week in chronological order:

New York
Date: Monday, January 5, 2009
Time: 1:30 pm
Location: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (across from U.N.)
Street: 1st - 2nd Avenue @ 47th Street

Denver
Date: Monday, January 5, 2009
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Hebrew Educational Alliance
Street: 3600 South Ivanhoe, Denver

New York
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Across from Israeli Consulate in New York
Street: E 42nd Street @ 2nd Avenue

Los Angeles
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Time: 4:30 pm
Location: In front of the Israeli Consulate in L.A.
Street: La Jolla & Wilshire

Los Angeles
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Time: 12 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Federal Building in Westwood L.A.
Street: Veteran and Wilshire
StandWithUs, Bnei Akiva and the ILC in cooperation with the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, and Jewish Day Schools across Los Angeles, invite you to STAND IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL's RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST HAMAS

Washington D.C.
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
Street: 600 I. Street, N.W.

Boston
Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Congregation Mishkan Tefilah
Street: 300 Hammond Pond Parkway, Chestnut Hill

Pacific Northwest
Seattle and Portland are planning rallies this week to take place in the near future.
If you are interested in helping plan or attend a rally in Seattle, please contact seattle@standwithus.com.
If you are interested in helping plan or attend a rally in Portland, please contact portland@standwithus.com.

Save the poor, starving Gazans!

A must-see video from Elder of Ziyon (thanks to Michael) tears the cover off the propaganda that the mainstream media continues to retail.

Jihad Watch Award winners 2008!

Cartoon by the peerless Dave Washburn.

In case you missed this post, here again are the winners of the 2008 Jihad Watch Awards:

The American Dhimmi of the Year 2008...JIMMY CARTER

Dhimmi Internationale 2008...ROWAN WILLIAMS

Anti-Dhimmi Internationale 2008...GEERT WILDERS

The American Anti-Dhimmi of the Year 2008...MARK STEYN

Sharia Supremacism Ahoy!

Over at Free Canuckistan there is a review of my book Stealth Jihad by...Binky:

YOU SHALL BUY. YOU SHALL READ. Robert Spencer's latest book, Stealth Jihad. You can get it thought the Conservative Book Club (as I did) via Der Shaidle’s page.

We've got a serious tentacle-problem, here.

Spencer points out the crucial fact: sharia supremacists want the world submitted to Islam & the sharia law. Terrorism is one tentacle; sharia banking another; local sharia and polygamy another; no-go zones another; Hamas and Hizballah another; with the CAIR/ CIC lawfare and mainstreaming of such supremacism, and the re-definition of any criticism or concern as racism and Islamophobia. Whay do they hate us? Cuz we're not all their biatches yet.

Back in the good old days of Jihad 1.0, you had Muslims and infidels. Infidels came in two classes: Jews/ Christians, and then everybody else. Under conquest Jews & Christians had to choose: convert, submit (with double-taxes & third-class status), or war. Everybody else got to convert, or war.

The idea that all Jihad is terrorism has been our mistake, says Spencer: more deadly is the "normalization" of Islamic demands in Western institutions and countries, so that sharia is seen as reasonable, and soft Islamic supremacism is openly advocated.

The root? Islam, as promulgated by the root of the tentacles, The Muslim Brotherhood, out of Egypt. The intent? That Islam shall rule the world, whether or not everybody converts at once, or open warfare is needed.

Enter Elmasry

What was entire Steyn-Levant situation? A mere foretaste of the lawfare side of sharia supremacism. Egyptian-born Elmasry and his sock-puppets and legal enabler Fiasal Joseph did not have one goal, but many -- chilling Western freedom, bullying government and media, hijacking western law by normalizing their categories of criticism = bigotry, and making a space for Islamic Supremacism in Canadian affairs. That work continues, under whatever guise and whoever the talking head. It's more well-established in the U.S., as Spencer details.

Read it all.

"Hamas operatives are in the hospital and have disguised themselves as nurses and doctors"

War is deceit, kuffar

Human Shields Update: "OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private homes as ammunition stores."

"IDF battling Hamas terrorists in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun," from the Jerusalem Post, January 3 (updated January 5), with thanks to Axel:

[...] The defense officials said it was likely that a number of senior Hamas operatives and terror chiefs were hiding and conducting their operations from within Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

"Hamas operatives are in the hospital and have disguised themselves as nurses and doctors," one official said.

OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private homes as ammunition stores....

How the mainstream media teaches you to hate Israel

Old wounds? (From Getty Images)

Perhaps all this is painfully obvious, but the mainstream media has become a full-bore organ of "Palestinian" propaganda. This CNN article is just one egregious example out of many. It goes on for paragraph after paragraph about the civilians wounded in Gaza, with only one skeptical sentence giving the other side of the matter: "Israeli leaders say they are trying to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza." They "say" they're "trying" -- but as the rest of the article shows, obviously they're not succeeding.

What could CNN do if it had any interest in actually being an organ of respectable journalism? CNN reporters could have asked about the Palestinians' admitted use of civilians as human shields. They could have gone to Meshaal and Haniyah and asked why Hamas is launching attacks from civilian areas. They could have asked them if Hamas is, by doing that, trying to provoke Israeli counterattacks that will kill or injure civilians and that can then be used for propaganda purposes. They could have asked why the Palestinians seem to be in such a humanitarian crisis when Israel was sending in truckloads of aid right up until it began responding to the rocket attacks.

Then there is the picture above, which appears online with this article, and is one of an apparently endless series of wire photos depicting wounded children. Of course, CNN wasn't bombarding us with pictures of children in southern Israel wounded by or fleeing from rocket attacks from Gaza, but aside from that, there are some questionable things about this photo. The child, for one thing, although apparently burned badly, is not crying or even distressed. According to a veteran Emergency Room doctor who saw the photo, the wounds appear to be up to 24 hours old, and a dermatologist and pathologist estimated that they could be as much as a week old.

Of course, it's hard to tell anything for sure from a single photo, and maybe this child really has been freshly wounded, but here again -- given all the faked photos and larger-scale (Muhammad al-Dura) fakery we have seen from the Palestinians, it isn't unreasonable to question every photo that comes out of Gaza these days. If CNN were worth its salt as a news source rather than a propaganda organ, it would be going into Gaza and uncovering this fakery. It would be looking into the case of the little girl pictured above, and having her examined by honest doctors to see if she was actually wounded by a recent Israeli strike at all, or if her wounds are older and come from some other incident. And above all, it would be asking about the moral compass of a government that seems anxious to provoke and exploit the suffering of its own civilian population.

But of course, CNN's refusal to do all those things, and to cast any critical eye at all toward the Palestinians and their claims, only encourages the Palestinians themselves to aspire to ever greater heights of manipulative fakery and propagandizing.

And CNN is just one of many.

"Doctor in Gaza: Patients 'lying everywhere," from CNN, January 4 (thanks to Jacques):

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Gaza's main hospital, already full of Palestinians wounded in the week-long Israeli air assault, reached critical mass on Sunday, according to a Norwegian doctor volunteering at Shifa Hospital.

"We've had a steady stream [of patients] every day, but the last 24 hours has [brought] about triple the number of cases," Dr. Erik Fosse told CNN. "So this day has been extremely busy."

Fosse said he estimated that about 30 percent of the casualties at Shifa Hospital on Sunday were children, both among the dead and the wounded.

The increase in casualties at Shifa followed Israel's's [sic] ground incursion into Gaza, which it launched on Saturday night. Fosse said 50 patients were "severely wounded" when an Israeli airstrike hit a food market in Gaza City.

"We were operating in the corridors, patients were lying everywhere, and people were dying before they got treatment," he said.

Palestinian medical officials said Israeli forces have killed 37 Palestinians -- both civilians and militants -- since moving into the territory Saturday night. With those deaths, at least 485 Palestinians, including about 100 women and children, have been killed since the military operation began more than a week ago, officials said.

In addition, 2,600 Palestinians have been injured, most of them civilians, officials said.

Most of the casualties are a result of the airstrikes that preceded Saturday night's ground incursion. Shifa is the main hospital in Gaza City. Other hospitals were unable to treat the wounded because of a shortage of supplies and staff.

Israel has said the military operation is a necessary self-defense measure after repeated rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israeli leaders say they are trying to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza.

Last week, Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, a psychiatrist who runs Gaza's mental health program, said Gaza is headed for "a major humanitarian disaster" unless the fighting ends soon.

Meanwhile, at the Gaza-Egypt border, nearly 25 trucks carrying relief and medical supplies were unable to get into Gaza because they could not get through the Rafa border gate, CNN's Karl Penhaul reported.

Egyptian authorities said the guards who were manning the Palestinian side of the border had abandoned their posts. Aid workers and drivers banged on the gate to protest the closure, but the gate remained shut.

On Saturday -- before Israel launched its ground incursion -- old Palestinian ambulances carried some of the wounded across the border, where patients were loaded onto modern ambulances. Most of those taken into Egypt were civilians, including a teenage boy with his arm blown off, as well as a 4-day-old baby, who was not injured but needed to be kept on a ventilator and in an incubator.

About 10 truckloads of donations from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Greece also crossed into Gaza on Saturday.

Islamic group at UN demands permanent Security Council seat for Islamic states

To protect the Islamic world's interests -- as if the UN weren't supine enough already. A broken-English report from United News Network India, January 2: "'Observer Islamic Countries' demanded UN Security Council seat":

Brussels (UNN) Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law and Geneva convention,"Observer Islamic Countries" Faisal Muhammed's spokesman said.

He urged the international community to move swiftly to provide protection for Palestinian civilians from Israeli army attacks which increasingly target innocent civilians.

Criticizing some head of Muslim stats, spokesman urged Muslim countries to exert diplomatic pressure on UN to pressurize the Zionist regime to observe all United Nations resolutions and stop killing innocent civilians.

According demand of "Observer Islamic Countries" He urged Muslim States start efforts to get pemanent seat in Sucurity Council to protect Muslim world's intrest.

Failing that all Muslims countries reconsider theair relations from UNO, he suggested./UNN

Good idea, that last one.

Here's an antidote to the mainstream media propaganda on Israel and Gaza

If you or someone you love is falling prey to mainstream media propaganda about the jihad against Israel and the rest of the world, get the facts in this flash video from the Horowitz Center.

CIA helping U.K. track more than 4000 "terror suspects"

"A former CIA officer who still carries out freelance work for the agency voiced the irritation of some American spies. 'It's certainly frustrating that Britain is an Islamist swamp,' he said. 'You don't want to have to spend time spying on your friends'."

"CIA tracking 4000 UK terror suspects," by Tim Shipman for the Telegraph, January 5 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

The CIA has begun an unprecedented intelligence-gathering operation in Britain to help MI5 monitor 4000 terrorist suspects.

More than four out of 10 CIA operations to prevent attacks on US soil are now conducted against targets in Britain.

This has led to friction between British and American spies, with some US intelligence officers irritated that resources are being diverted to gather intelligence on suspects in their closest ally's backyard. British intelligence officers do not know the identity of all the CIA informers and are uneasy about some of the uses to which the intelligence has been put.

MI5 as a whole is glad of the help, however, and works closely with its sister service. US spies share information when it concerns security in Britain.

Intelligence from CIA informers is believed to have helped thwart more than one terrorist atrocity on British soil. Information passed on by a CIA source in Britain was also instrumental in locating Rashid Rauf, a British-born al-Qaeda operative killed by a US air strike in Pakistan on November 22.

A British official said: "There is a great deal of CIA activity inside the UK. The CIA has been given a free rein to raise, handle and process from intelligence sources inside the UK.

"In many cases we do not know who their assets are. Several of the recently foiled terrorist plots inside the UK were uncovered by informants run by US source handlers. We've been able to interdict these plots."

A former CIA officer who still carries out freelance work for the agency voiced the irritation of some American spies. "It's certainly frustrating that Britain is an Islamist swamp," he said. "You don't want to have to spend time spying on your friends." [...]

Bruce Riedel, a Middle East intelligence analyst for the White House National Security Council, said: "A great deal of concern about threats to the US homeland is based upon attacks coming out of the UK. The 800,000 or so British citizens of Pakistani origin are regarded by the American intelligence community as perhaps the single-biggest threat environment."

Fitzgerald: The jihadists' true target

A Jihad Watch commenter recently observed that the “true target” of Muslim jihadists “is the Jew, wherever he is.”

Actually, no. Jews are a convenient target, and an easy one -- there are so few of them, after all, and the pathological condition of antisemitism has helped supply willing collaborators among the non-Muslim population. See George Galloway, or Robert Fisk, or Taki Theodorocopulos.

But just as Israel may be seen as the sole target, when it was merely, for several decades, the most obvious and immediate target, so it may seem that Jews are the sole target. But they are not.

It is true that for a while Israel appeared to be the only war by Muslims that mattered -- given the manic over-coverage and miscoverage given to the war being made on Israel, a war that is without end but is manageable (if the Israelis, and the rest of the West, come to their senses). Few outside of India, save for the odd scholar of Indian civilization -- David McCutchion, Koenraad Elst, Francois Gautier -- paid attention to Muslim terrorism in Kashmir or India proper, or the persecution of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh. And even the Taliban took the occasion of its ascendancy to make sure that the handful of Hindus left in Afghanistan were made to wear identifying garb for, as the Taliban sweetly explained, "for their own safety."

Continue reading "Fitzgerald: The jihadists' true target"