Maybe we really do rule the media.
(Ironically, I like Metallica and Yellowcard but I'm not really into Matisyahu.)
Elder of ZiyonIndian female tennis player Sania Mirza, 19, who is ranked 39th in the world, announced that she would not play with Israeli up and coming tennis star Shahar Pe’er in the doubles tournament of the Bangalore Open for fear of violent protests by India’s Islamic community.
The two friends were prevented from cooperating in last month’s Australian Open for the same reason.
Mirza initially agreed to play with Pe’er in Bangalore, but later retracted, telling Pe’er “It’s best that we don’t play together this time to prevent protests against my cooperation with an Israeli. There is no reason to arouse their ire (Muslims).”
Mirza, a sports hero in her country, was recently chastised by Muslim groups in India for wearing a sleeveless top and a mini-skirt during her matches. Local Muslim groups claimed that her attire degrades Islam, and some even threatened to kill her.
At the same time, extremists in many cities took to the streets in protest, and the WTA decided to assign bodyguards to protect the star during a tournament in Calcutta.
As a result, Mirza was also stripped of a few advertising campaigns, costing the young tennis player significant income.
Last November Mirza stirred controversy when during a New Delhi conference she spoke of the importance of safe sex; Muslim groups in New Delhi and three other cities held rallies, with protesters carrying signs reading “Mirza is detached from Islam,” claiming she is “corrupting the youth in the country, especially the girls.”
Mirza, in an attempt to ease tensions, said in response “I want to make it clear that I am opposed to pre-marital sex. It is a major sin in Islam, and I believe God would not forgive for such an act.”
Elder of ZiyonPRAGUE, Feb 14 (CTK) - Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda wants the EU to make a clear gesture in support of Denmark that faces pressure from Muslim countries over the publication of cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammad in the media, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes writes today.On the other hand, according to IslamOnline, Norway is well on its way to dhimmitude:
For example, the EU could provide financial compensation to Denmark for the economic loss it has suffered, the paper writes.
'A possible form of help could be financial compensation from the EU for the negative impact [of the controversy] on the export and sale of Danish goods,' Svoboda told the paper.
Svoboda is now seeking his EU colleagues' support for his plan.
Some time ago, Svoboda said on Czech Television that he would push for the EU to take a clear stance towards radical Muslims' violent reactions to the publication of the cartoons.
He called the EU's hitherto reaction reluctant. He said he considers the caricatures tasteless and understands that they have hurt the worshippers, but views the latter's reaction as unacceptable.
At the nearest meeting with his EU counterparts, Svoboda will reportedly ask them to condemn the violent reactions and to express clear solidarity with Denmark, where the controversial cartoons were published for the first time last autumn."
The Norwegian parliament has amended the Penal Code to criminalize blasphemy in the wake of the republication of Danish cartoons that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by a Norwegian magazine, Christian and Muslim leaders in Norway said on Tuesday, February 14.
"Law 150-A, which has been approved by parliament, criminalizes blasphemy and clearly prohibits despising others or lampooning religions in any form of expression, including the use of photographs," Norway's Deputy Archbishop Oliva Howika told reporters after a meeting in Doha with Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.
Howika was among a Norwegian delegation that also included the chairman of the Supreme Islamic Council in Norway, Mohamed Hamdan.
"Under the new law, the crime of blasphemy will be punished either by a fine or imprisonment," Howika said, promising Qaradawi to fax him a copy of the law after being published in the country's official gazette.
Elder of Ziyon
Elder of Ziyon
Elder of ZiyonGiven the years a country needs to produce a nuclear weapon and assuming that Iran intends to do so, there is no need to rush in sending Iran's nuclear case to the Security Council, said Paul Horseman, a spokesman for Greenpeace International.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) decision to report Iran to the UN Security Council will seriously increase the risk of escalating tensions in the region and is counter-productive," added the British peace activist.
In an interview with IRNA on Tuesday, Horseman said that representatives of his organization in different countries are doing all they can to convince governments of the mistake they are making of referring Iran to the Security Council.
"Reporting Iran to the UN has created a vacuum of confidence building, a situation that IAEA head ElBaradei said he was intent on avoiding," said the disarmament campaigner.
"Board members supporting the EU-3 draft resolution have effectively shot themselves in the foot. The Iran crisis has been brought closer to the brink."
Emphasizing on the similar approaches undertaken by the US and UK in the months before the military attack on Iraq in 2003, Horseman said that by rushing into conclusions the international community will not have the chance to resolve the situation through diplomatic means.
Elder of Ziyon

Elder of Ziyon

Elder of ZiyonPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Monday afternoon, "The message of the Iranian nation's Islamic Revolution is peace and security for entire mankind, based on monotheism, justice, and nobility of human beings."
Iran's former president and Head of International Institute for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations Mohammad Khatami said insulting others is not compatible with democracy and those who have insulted Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) must apologize for their shameful act.
Hundreds of students of Jamia Hamdard University condemned the blasphemy committed on Islam's holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) by a number of Western publications.
Hundreds of students, teaching staff and non-teaching staff of Jamia Hamdard today held a demonstration inside its campus, voiced their hatred towards Denmark, US, the Zionist regime and European Union for condoning the publications and called on the world's Muslims to boycott Western products, particularly those of the US and Denmark.
Issuing a warning, the demonstrators chanted slogans such as `Death to US', `Death to Denmark', `Death to the Zionist regime' and `Death to Britain', and called on the world's Muslims to further protest such moves. They called US President George W Bush "the most ruthless criminal in history."
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A number of theology and Basiji (volunteer forces) students gather in front of the British Embassy in Tehran on February 14, 2006, in protest over the publication of the blasphemous cartoons against the Muslim Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a number of European press.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Saturday that the real holocaust should be sought in Palestine, where the blood of the oppressed nation is shed every day and Iraq, where the defenseless Muslim people are killed daily.
Stressing that these crimes mark western liberalism, he noted that the Zionists are about to be annihilated and that the era of occupation of Palestine is over.
The chief executive added that meanwhile, the destruction of colonial and Zionist culture is quite obvious.
Turning to the fact that Zionism has lost its philosophical foundations, he called on the Western states to resume worshiping God Almighty rather than selling the glory of enlightenment to the disgrace of being subject to the Zionists.
Elder of ZiyonIn other remarks, al-Faisal said that for all the shock in the Western world about the suicide attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and in Iraq, most Muslims were even more surprised.And then immediately afterwards, in the same talk:
The attacks were the result of a cultlike attitude fomented by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden that ran counter to the central tenets of Islam, which holds that "killing one soul is like killing all of mankind," Prince Turki al-Faisal said.
"Inasmuch as the West was surprised, if you like, by this culture of death, I can assure you that the majority of Muslims were even more surprised because this culture of death runs counter to everything that Muslims hold dear to themselves," al-Faisal said.
"Nothing justifies any terrorist act whether through suicide bombing or through any other activity," al-Faisal said.
Still, he distinguished the suicide attacks carried out by Palestinian groups against Israel, saying the attacks were justified by groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad as "legitimate means of war under occupation."So "killing one soul is like killing all of mankind" unless that soul happens to be Jewish and living in an area that Muslims consider Judenrein. In that case, it is praiseworthy.
Elder of Ziyon
Elder of Ziyon
(Palestinian Arab) Foreign TradeForeign Trade Indicators, 1997-2000 Value in Million US $
Exports Imports Indicators 1997 1998 1999 2000 Total Palestinian Exports 382 395 372 401 Total Palestinian Exports by Country Exports to Israel 358 382 360 370 Exports to Arab Countries 19 11 10 29 Export to other countries 5 2 2 2
Elder of Ziyon
An air train of 27 cargo jets have delivered 100 million flowers over the past two weeks for St. Valentine’s Day tomorrow. El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), Cargo Air Lines (CAL) and foreign airlines handled the shipments.
Israel Flower Growers Association secretary general Haim Hadad says Valentine’s Day is a peak export event for flower growers, who prepare for it months in advance, growing special red flowers. Target markets are the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, the UK, US, and Russia. Flower growers, exporters and airlines have created an efficient network for delivering flowers to Europe within 24-48 hours of being picked.
Israel’s flowers centers are the northern Negev, Lachish region, Sharon, Emek Hefer, Jezreel Valley, Arava, and Jordan Valley.
Flowers overseas cost $0.50-0.60 each ahead of Valentine’s Day, double the usual price. Hadad estimates that export sales will total $50 million. Valentine’s Day has been marked in Israel in recent years, with many people sending red flowers to their loved ones.
Elder of ZiyonFebruary 12, 2006 -- 'GOD? What about him?" the sheik asked with a frown.We were in a London mosque, discussing the sermons the sheik delivers at Friday congregations. I had asked why God almost never featured in (or, at best, got a cameo role) in sermons that focused almost exclusively on political issues.
For the sheik, what mattered was "the sufferings of our brethren under occupation." In other words: In our Islam, we don't do God — we do Palestine, Kashmir and Iraq!
Here we have a religion without a theology, a secular wolf disguised as a religious lamb.
How did this neo-Islam — a political movement masquerading as religion — come into being, and how can those who know little about Islam distinguish it from the mainstream of the faith?
USING Islam as a vehicle for political ambitions is not new. The Umayyads used it after the Prophet's death to set up a dynastic rule. Three of the four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad were assassinated in the context of political power games presented as religious disputes.
Fast forward to the 19th century, and the Persian adventurer Jamaleddin Assadabadi, who disguised himself as an Afghan to hide his Shiite origin and set out to build a career in the mostly Sunni land of Egypt. Although a Freemason, Jamal (who dubbed himself Sayyed Gamal) concluded that the only way to win power among Muslims was by appealing to their religious sentiments. So he transformed himself into an Islamic scholar, grew an impressive beard and donned a huge black turban to underline his claim of being a descendant of the Prophet.
His partner was Mirza Malkam Khan, an Armenian who claimed to have converted to Islam. Together, they launched the idea of an "Islamic Renaissance" (An-Nahda) and promoted the concept of a "perfect Islamic government" under an "enlightened despot."
Malkam had a slogan of unrivaled cynicism: "Tell the Muslims something is in the Koran, and they will die for you."
The trick worked, because the overwhelming majority of Muslims didn't know Arabic, and those who did had as much difficulty reading the Koran as an English speaker has with Chaucer.
LATER in the century, the campaigns of Sayyed Gamal and Mirza Malkam produce the Salafi movement. The term comes from the phrase aslaf al-salehin ("the worthy ancestors") and evokes the hope of reviving "the pure Islam of the early days under Muhammad."
The Salafi movement gave birth to the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-Moslemeen) led by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt (1928), and to an Iranian Shiite version, the Fedayeen of Islam, led by Muhammad Navab-Safavi (1941).
In the '40s the movement produced two other children. The first was a hybrid of Marxism and Islam concocted by a Pakistani journalist Abul-Ala al-Maudoodi, who saw himself as "the Lenin of Islam." The other was a hybrid of Nazism and Islam promoted by the Palestinian Mufti Haj Amin al-Hussaini and Rashid Ali al- Gilani, an Iraqi firebrand of Iranian origin.
From the 1930s through the 1960s, the offspring of Salafism organized terrorist operations killing hundreds of people, but failed to win power anywhere. Instead, most Muslim nations were seduced by Western ideologies such as nationalism, socialism and communism. Yet most of those ideologies lost their luster by the 1970s — and various versions of the Salafi movement began to fill the vaccuum.
In 1979, it won power in Iran under a semi-literate mullah named Ruhallah Khomeini. In the 1980s, it dominated Pakistan through a group of army officers known as "the Koran Generals." In 1992 it came close to seizing power in Algeria through the Front for Islamic Salvation (FIS). In 1995, it seized power in Kabul under the banner of the Taliban. Most recently, it won the election in the West Bank and Gaza under the label of Hamas.
SALAFISM'S biggest successes, how ever, have come in the West — where the emergence of large communities of Muslims has created a space in which neo-Islam can thrive.
This new space is of crucial importance for two reasons.
* It allows Salafism to promote its ideas and recruit militants in freedom — something not possible in most Muslim countries, where local despots won't tolerate any breach of their control of the public space.
* Muslims living in the West have no first-hand experience of the intolerance and terror that neo-Islam has practiced in Muslim countries for decades. Instead, they see Islam as an element of their identity and, although seldom going to the mosque, consider neo-Islamist militants as "lobbyists" for themselves.
Anxious to control its constituency within Western democracies, neo-Islam, in its different versions, uses tactics developed by other totalitarian ideologies, notably fascism and communism.
ITS first move was to promote a visual apartheid to distinguish its adherents from the rest of society — in the same way that Lenin, Hitler and Mao wanted their followers to wear specific uniforms.
For men, the props are beards, khaksari (earthly) garments such as shirts falling down to the knees, baggy shalwar (pantaloons), an araqchin (cloth cap), a checkered Palestinian neck-scarf and sandals or shoes without laces. The garments must never come in bright colors (although green was the color of Mohammed's clan, the Bani-Hashim); black and white are the preferred shades of neo-Islam. The neo-Islamist will also always carry a worry bead plus a miswak (a wooden tooth pick), which is supposed to have been favored by the Prophet.
When it comes to women, the choice of clothes is even more limited. Women are obliged to cover their hair, and also avoid bright colors. The more radical neo-Islamists promote the burqa, a head-to-toe drape with two holes for the eyes.
Only a small minority of the world's Muslims follow this visual apartheid. Some of the most outrageous neo-Islam outfits can be seen only in the West, never in any Muslim country.
Once visual apartheid is achieved, the neo-Islamist moves to Phase Two: making his followers brain-dead. This is done by persuading them that there is a unique Islamic answer to all questions ever asked or ever to be asked.
And where does the answer come from? From "fatwa factories" set up by (often semi-literate) sheiks in some Muslim countries. The most complex issues of life, from banks charging interest to euthanasia, are often answered with a simple "yes" or "no."
The idea is that, as Maudoodi (the "Lenin of Islam") believed, Islam was sent by God to turn men into robots obeying divine rules as spelled out by the sheiks.
Maudoodi claimed that, when God created man, He made His creature's biological existence subject to "unquestionable laws." Yet God failed to to apply the same rule to man's spiritual, political and cultural existence. Realizing His mistake, God sent Mohammed to preach Islam, which provides the "unquestionable laws" needed for the non-material aspects of man's existence.
NEO-ISLAM pursues its culture of apartheid by dividing the world into "Islam" and "un-Islam."
Wherever Muslims are a majority is designated as Dar al-Islam (House of Peace); the rest of the world is Dar al-Harb (House of War) or, at best, Dar al-Da'awah (House of Propagation). The claim is that it is enough to be a Muslim to be always right against non-Muslims.
This is not how Muhammad taught Islam. His biography is full of instances where he ruled against a Muslim in a dispute with a non-Muslim. For him, the world was divided between "right" and "wrong," and "good" and "evil," not Islam and non-Islam. It is possible to be a Muslim and do evil things, while a non-Muslim could also be an agent of good.
That neo-Islam is uncomfortable with the idea of religion as something to do with God is not surprising. In Islam, the only absolute and immutable truth is the Oneness of God. Thus what the Koran or shariah (not to mention self-appointed sheiks) offer are relative matters, open to infinite interpretations.
Neo-Islam's attempt at destroying individual freedoms is as much a threat to Islam as the Inquisition was to Christianity.
To protect itself, Islam needs to revive its theology with emphasis on divinity (marefat al-ilahiyah). In other words, Islam must re-become a religion.
THIS does not mean that Muslims should stay out of politics or ignore Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir or any other cause. What it means is that they should recognize that these and similar causes are political, not religious, ones. Nobody prevents Muslims from practicing their faith in Palestine or Kashmir. These disputes are about territory, borders and statehood, not about faith.
Neo-Islam is a form of fascism, hence the term Islamofascism. Its primary victims are Muslims, both in Muslim majority countries and in the West.
In many Muslim countries, neo-Islam has been exposed as a political movement and can no longer deceive the masses. In the West, however, it is has managed to dupe parts of the media, government and academia into treating it not as the political movement it is, but as the expression of Islam as a religion.
It is time to end that deception and recognize neo-Islam in its many manifestations as a political phenomenon.
Neo-Islam has as much right to operate in the political field as any other party in a democracy. But it does not have the right to pretend to be a religion — it is not.
Iranian author Amir Taheri is a member of Benador Associates.
Elder of Ziyon
Elder of ZiyonIran is prepared to launch attacks using long-range missiles, secret commando units, and terrorist allies planted around the globe in retaliation for any strike on the country's nuclear facilities, according to new U.S. intelligence assessments. Obtained with the assistance of North Korea, Shahab 3 long-range missiles could be tipped with chemical warheads and strike Israel and U.S. military bases in the region. Iran is believed to have at least 20 launchers that are frequently moved around the country to avoid detection.
Iran purchased at least a dozen X-55 cruise missiles from Ukraine in 2001 that are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as far as Italy. Intelligence officials also point out that Iran controls a small island at the mouth the Strait of Hormuz and could use missiles and gunboats to temporarily shut off access to the economically vital Persian Gulf, sparking an oil crisis.
A report, "Iran: Consequences of a War," written by Professor Paul Rogers and published Monday by the Oxford Research Group, says attacks on Iranian facilities, most of which are in densely populated areas, would be surprise ones, allowing no time for evacuations or other precautions. Rogers, of the University of Bradford's peace studies department, says: "A military operation against Iran would not...be a short-term matter but would set in motion a complex and long-lasting confrontation.
Elder of Ziyon