Showing posts with label Jihad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jihad. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Beheadings Of Infidels, Halal Sex Products And "Muslims Don't Like Dogs"
A Month of Islam in Europe: June 2014
Austria accused Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of stirring up trouble on June 19, when he urged thousands of cheering supporters in Vienna to reject "assimilation."
Erdogan was rallying support for his candidacy ahead of Turkish presidential elections in August, and expatriate Turks have become a significant bloc of voters after changes to the electoral system now allow them to cast votes abroad.
Around 268,000 people of Turkish origin live in Austria, according to government figures, of whom nearly 115,000 are Turkish citizens.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had expressly warned Erdogan not to undermine efforts to integrate Turks into Austrian society, criticized the latest comments:
State prosecutor Hansjoerg Bacher said that the imam is thought to be behind the radicalization and recruitment of eight Chechens resident in Austria, four of whom have died in fighting in Syria.
In Bulgaria, the Kardjali District Court on June 16 rejected a property claim lodged by the office of the Chief Mufti, the spiritual leader of Bulgaria's Muslims, to be awarded ownership of the building housing the Regional Historical Museum. The court found that there was no basis for the claim, and ordered the representatives of the Muslim community to pay 91,062 leva ($63,000) in costs to the state.
This case was the latest in a series of lawsuits by the Chief Mufti's office, filed under the Religious Denominations Act, which allows applications by recognized religious denominations to be awarded property believed to be historically theirs.
The building was originally intended to serve as a Muslim religious school, and it was funded in part by donations from the local Muslim community in 1920s and 1930s. However, the building was never used as a madrassa. Instead, it was nationalized during Bulgaria's communist era and became a museum.
Lawyers for the Kardjali district administration argued that the Chief Mufti's office is not the heir to the local Muslim community because at the time there was no such registered legal entity.
In the southern Bulgarian town of Peshtera, residents are angry over the local mosque's powerful loudspeakers, which are blasting the Islamic call to prayer, the adhan, several times a day.
According to Radio FOCUS, the town is a model of multicultural tolerance, but residents are increasingly irritated by the adhan; the "silent discontent may escalate to petitions and protests," the radio said.
In Britain, a new television channel aimed exclusively at British Muslims, British Muslim TV (BMTV), was launched in early June. The channel, operating under the slogan "Confidently Muslim, Comfortably British," is airing on the British Sky digital platform; the programming content is being exclusively funded and made in the UK.
BMTV will compete with other channels, such as Islam Channel, one of the UK's most prominent and popular English language Muslim satellite channels; Noor TV, Peace TV and Iqra TV, all of which have a South Asian focus and are usually broadcast in Urdu or Bangladeshi; and to Shia Muslim focused channels such as Hidayat TV and Ahlebait TV.
Speaking to Al Arabiya news, the marketing director for BMTV, Wasim Akhtar, said that BMTV aims to be different from the other Muslim channels by being "inclusive of all different views and open to all different types of Muslims. So the channel isn't just about issues of faith, it's about practical Muslim life here in Britain."
In a trial at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales [Old Bailey], a jury heard how police found 38-year-old Tahira Ahmed after she was decapitated in her west London home, allegedly by her husband, 41-year-old Naveed Ahmed. Tahira had been stabbed, had both her arms broken, and her head cut off. The couple, who have two children aged six and 12, had been married for 14 years.
Also in London, police launched an investigation into the origins of a sign telling dog owners to stay out of a park because it is "an Islamic area now" and "Muslims don't like dogs."
Meanwhile, it emerged that taxpayer money could be used to help fund a new mosque for the Muslim community in Belfast, according to Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. The move came after a local pastor named James McConnell denounced Islam as "Satanic" and a "doctrine spawned in hell."
McGuinness said he and First Minister Peter Robinson, who visited the Islamic Centre in south Belfast in June, "absolutely accepted" that the 4,000-strong Muslim community "is entitled to a mosque, if a proper site can be found which is suitable for them."
McGuinness said McConnell's remarks were "shameful" and could affect investments in Belfast. "This will impact, if not handled correctly by us, on our prospects of attracting foreign direct investment," McGuinness said. "The story travelled all round the world, and I think that it was very damaging."
In a bid to reverse negative stereotypes of Muslims in the UK, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association in Devon and Cornwall in southwestern England launched an advertising campaign in June to promote "positive awareness of Islam."
The campaign involved banners displaying Muslim messages of peace on a fleet of more than 100 city buses. Under the slogan of "loyalty, freedom, equality, respect, peace" the community also launched a website: LoveForAllHatredForNone.org.
A regional president of the group, Muhammad Noman, said: "A true Muslim can never raise his voice in hatred against his fellow citizens, nor against the ruling authority or government of the time. He should remain loyal and fully abide by the laws of the land of which he is a subject."
More news about Islam in Britain during June 2014 can be found here.
In Cyprus on June 3, Turkish Cypriot mufti Talip Atalay recited a prayer at the reopening ceremony of the Taht-el kale mosque in Nicosia, which had been closed for more than 50 years. Atalay visited the mosque after an invitation from the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II as part of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process promoted by the Swedish government.
In the Czech Republic, President Miloš Zeman refused to apologize for comments he made during a speech at the Israeli Embassy in Prague on May 26 at a reception to celebrate Israel's Independence Day.
Quoting several verses from the Koran that call on Muslims to kill Jews, Zeman said that Islam was to blame for the attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that killed four people. He also said:
An OIC statement said:
The Gates of Vienna blog summed it up this way: "As far as I am aware, Miloš Zeman is the first Western head of state ever to tell the OIC to go jump in a lake. So this is an historic occasion."
In Denmark, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) revealed that at least 100 Danish jihadists (both male and female) have left Denmark to fight in Syria, and that at least 15 of them have been killed.
The information was made public during a June 23 seminar entitled, "Syria and the Danish Prevention Model," organized by the PET's Center for Terror Analysis (CTA). Some 100 representatives from the Danish police, civil society and the media attended the event.
According to the CTA, the majority of Danish jihadists are young Sunni Muslims (aged 16-25), including Danish converts to Islam. The CTA said most of the jihadists have links to Islamic communities in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.
On June 5, Denmark issued an international arrest warrant for four jihadists who were filmed shooting at effigies of six prominent Danish critics of Islam.
In the video, which was recorded in Syria and first surfaced in August 2013, the men fired their guns at effigies of former PET secret agent Morten Storm, free speech advocate Lars Hedegaard, former MP Naser Khader, the imam Ahmed Akkari, former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.
Danish authorities said that under Danish anti-terror laws the shootings are illegal; they also conceded that some of the jihadists may already be dead.
Meanwhile, Denmark's largest mosque opened on June 19 in the Rovsingsgade district of Copenhagen after receiving a 150 million kroner (€20.1 million, $27.2 million) endowment from Qatar.
Not a single Danish politician of note attended the inauguration ceremony of the 6,700-square-meter (72,000-square-foot) complex, which houses a mosque, a cultural center, a television studio and a fitness center.
In Finland, the Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) on June 19 said it was investigating a suspected Finnish female jihadist who posed with weapons and published threats against Shia Muslims on Facebook.
The photo uploaded to Facebook shows a burqa-clad figure posing with an assault rifle, and brandishing what is claimed to be a suicide bomb. A comment on the page—written in Finnish—says the woman has come to Syria because "there are lots of Shias to kill."
On June 12, a spokesman for SUPO revealed that around 40 people have travelled from Finland to Syria to join Islamist groups there. He also said that around 200 individuals in Finland are believed to be at risk of radicalization.
On June 9, Finnish media reported the death of a 23-year-old jihadist from Espoo, the second-largest city in Finland, who had been fighting in Syria since December 2012. The man, of Somali background, had moved to Finland at the age of two. If the death is confirmed, he would be the third Finnish citizen to die in the fighting in Syria.
In France, Prime Minister Manuel Valls on June 3 increased the government's estimate of the number of French nationals fighting in Syria to 800, including about 30 who have died in the conflict.
Valls told BFMTV that these jihadists pose an unprecedented threat to France. "We have never before faced a challenge of this kind," Valls said. "It is without any doubt the most serious threat we face. We have to ensure the surveillance of hundreds and hundreds of French or European individuals who are today fighting in Syria."
In Iceland, the head of the Muslim Association of Iceland, Ibrahim Sverrir Agnarsson, on June 2 said that final preparations are being made for the design of the country's first mosque, set to be built on a plot of land in the Sogamýri district of Reykjavík.
The future of mosque has been in doubt since May 23, when the leader of the Progressive Party in Reykjavík, Sveinbjörg Birna Sveinbjörnsdóttir, said she wanted to reverse the city council's controversial decision to grant the plot of land to the Muslims free of charge. She now says the issue should be voted on in a public referendum. After her remarks, support for the Progressive Party in Reykjavík increased and the party secured two seats in municipal elections that were held on May 31.
The founder of the Muslim Association, Salman Tamimi, said he would file a lawsuit against individuals who left anti-mosque comments on an online article about the mosque controversy published by the newspaper Visir on June 1. Tamimi's lawyer, Helga Vala Helgadóttir, said it was important to take a stand against hate speech.
In Italy, authorities on June 17 said the Italian Navy had rescued almost 600 migrants from boats in the Strait of Sicily between Italy and Africa as part of the Mare Nostrum ["Our Sea"] search and rescue operation, launched in October 2013.
On June 9, roughly 1,300 migrants were ushered to safety at the merchant port of Taranto after being rescued at sea off the coast of Sicily.
More than 50,000 migrants crossed to Italy during the first six months of 2014, more than the total for the whole of 2013.
A jihadist from Luxembourg who died in Syria in December 2013 was claimed as a martyr for ISIS on June 17. A tweet from ISIS described a man identified as "Luxembourg national Abu Huthaifa" as the "first martyr for ISIS from the second richest country in the world."
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn confirmed in May 2014 that two people from the Grand Duchy had joined militants in Syria. One of them was originally from Kosovo, and another was of North African origin. Both were killed, including Abu Huthaifa. Why ISIS was just now claiming his martyrdom remains unclear.
In the Netherlands, the Dutch intelligence service AIVD on June 30 released a new report entitled, "Transformation of Jihadism in the Netherlands," which states that about 130 Dutch jihadists have travelled to Syria, and that nearly 30 have since returned. Approximately 14 Dutch jihadists have died on the battlefield. Most of the Dutch jihadists have joined up with ISIS.
On June 21, the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, accused the government of being "asleep" and "naïve" for failing to understand the size of the threat posed by Muslim radicals in the Netherlands. "The threat to the Netherlands is now greater than ever, even more than ten years ago with the Hofstad Group [an Islamist terrorist organization of mostly young Dutch Muslims of mainly North African ancestry], Wilders said. "We now have hundreds of jihadists and thousands of sympathizers. This naïve Cabinet's inaction is inviting an attack in the Netherlands."
Foreign Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans on June 16 told the Dutch Parliament that the government was taking "various measures," both in terms of criminal law and administrative law, to prevent Dutch nationals joining up with groups such as ISIS.
Also on June 16, the newspaper Volkskrant reported that AIVD had given the Turkish government the names of more than 100 young men and women who Dutch authorities believe may be planning on going to Syria. The paper said Turkey has agreed to detain and deport them if they attempt to cross the Turkish border en route to Syria.
On June 19, Abdoe Khoulani, a member of the Party of Unity (PvdE), a fundamentalist Muslim political party based in The Hague, expressed support for ISIS on his Facebook page. He wrote: "Long Live ISIS. And insha'Allah [Allah willing] on to Baghdad to fight the riff-raff there."
Khoulani's message was spread on Twitter by Arnoud van Doorn, a former member of the Dutch Freedom Party who converted to Islam and is now a member of the PvdE. Van Doorn said Khoulani was—like John the Baptist quoting the words of Isaiah—a "voice of one crying out in the wilderness" [to prepare the way for the Messiah].
In response to the backlash, Khoulani said his words were simply a call to justice. He added that ISIS is not a terrorist group, but a resistance organization.
Meanwhile, a Dutch company selling halal sex products on June 4 announced an alliance with Europe's largest erotic retailer in an effort to tap into the lucrative Muslim market, potentially worth billions of euros.
The founder of Amsterdam-based El Asira, Abdelaziz Aouragh, said the deal with Frankfurt-listed Beate Uhse came four years after his company first launched a range of erotic products that do not contravene Sharia law.
El Asira, which means "Society" in Arabic, launched its range of products in 2010 to massive acclaim from the local Muslim community. Beate Uhse, based in Flensburg, Germany, approached El Asira in 2012 with a business proposal to sell products jointly in Muslim markets.
"We will take 18 of our Islamic branded products to the market through Beate Uhse," Aouragh told Agence France-Presse. "Considering we're targeting a global market of around 1.8 billion people, the potential is huge."
The two companies are also looking into the possibility of opening a store for halal sex products in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, Aouragh said.
In Norway, the country's first-ever Shia Muslim mosque was inaugurated in Oslo on June 1. One of the main purposes of the Tauheed Islamic Center is "to provide an opportunity to non-Muslims to learn about the universal teachings of Islam." The first official event held at the mosque was a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the death of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution.
Separately, Nemat Ali Shah, the Pakistani imam of the Central Jamaat Ahle-Sunnat mosque, the main Sunni Muslim mosque in Oslo, was recuperating in the hospital after a masked assailant repeatedly hacked him with a small axe or knife in the center of the Norwegian capital on the evening of June 16. Muslims were quick to condemn the attack as an Islamophobic hate crime, but on June 30, Oslo police arrested a fellow Pakistani who allegedly attacked the imam due to a power struggle within the mosque, which has more than 5,000 members mainly of Pakistani origin.
In Slovenia, the local Islamic Community on June 4 announced that construction work on the first Slovenian mosque was about to begin in the capital of city of Ljubljana, nearly ten months after the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony took place in September 2013.
Mufti Nedžad Grabus confirmed that Qatar would cover 70% of the cost of the project. "Without Qatar, the Islamic community [of Slovenia] would not be able to continue with the project," Grabus said.
The mosque and Muslim cultural center, 44 years in the making, will be built north of the city center, on a plot of land that the Muslim community bought from the City of Ljubljana, at a projected cost of €21 million ($28.5 million).
In Spain, the Union of Islamic Communities in Spain (UCIE), a Madrid-based Muslim umbrella group, and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Education (ISESCO), a Morocco-based arm of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held a four-day conference in Madrid aimed at promoting the development of Koran institutes in non-Muslim countries. The event, which was held from June 18-21, was attended by Muslim leaders from Europe and North Africa.
On June 17, the Halal Institute of the Junta Islámica de España, a competing Muslim umbrella group based in Córdoba, held a conference aimed at promoting the "normalization of halal" in European countries. The official conference title was: "Possible Similarities and Differences between European Standards Compared with Halal Standards Demanded by the Arab Countries."
Conference attendees called on the Spanish government to sponsor an official study aimed at finding ways to bring European food standards into compliance with Islamic Sharia law.
Meanwhile, municipal officials in Barcelona denied reports that Qatar had offered to pay €2.2 billion ($3 billion) to convert the city's La Monumental bullring into a forty thousand capacity mosque. The building would include a 300-meter (985-foot) minaret. The mosque would be the third largest in the world, after those in Mecca and Medina.
On June 16, Spanish police in Madrid arrested ten individuals (eight Moroccans, one Argentine and one Bulgarian) on allegations that they were members of an international network that recruited jihadists for ISIS.
The ringleader was a 47-year-old Moroccan national named Lahcen Ikassrien, who was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001 and released after three-and-a-half years in Guantánamo. In July 2005, the U.S. government handed him over to Spain, where he faced charges of cooperating with al-Qaeda. In October 2006, the Spanish High Court acquitted him on the grounds that no firm evidence existed of his ties to the terrorist group.
Ikassrien, who lives in Madrid, was part of a cell led by Abu Dahdah, a Syrian-born Spaniard who was sentenced to a 27-year prison term in Spain for his part in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and for being one of the founders of al-Qaeda in Spain. In February 2006, the Spanish Supreme Court reduced the Abu Dahdah's penalty to 12 years because it considered that his participation in the 9/11 conspiracy was not proven. He was released in May 2013.
In Sweden, government health inspectors said they found some 60 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Norrköping in eastern Sweden since March, with all 30 girls in one school class found to have undergone the procedure.
FGM has been illegal in Sweden since 1982 and can be punished with up to ten years in prison. Since 1999 it is also a criminal offense under Swedish law if the procedure is performed in a different country.
Most girls who undergo the procedure are between the ages of 4-14 years, but the operation is also carried out on infants. There are no official statistics detailing the extent of FGM in Sweden, or of how many girls are taken to have the procedure conducted abroad.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Parliament on June 17 approved changes to the country's immigration law to "facilitate moving to and from Sweden." The changes reduce the requirements for obtaining permanent residence for students and workers. In addition, individuals whose application for asylum has been rejected now need to wait only four months to become eligible for a work permit. Moreover, immigrants who have already obtained permanent residence in Sweden can retain that status for up to two years after they leave the country.
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) rejected the proposal. "We should have mobility, but these suggestions give evidence that the government has dropped all reason when it comes to immigration policy," David Lång (SD) wrote in the party's motion.
In Switzerland, the Islamic Cultural Center in Lausanne received a $140,000 donation from the Government of Kuwait to fund the construction of a center for raising awareness about Islam. On June 20, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported that the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Switzerland, Bader Al-Tunaib, presented the donation to head of the Complex Culturel des Musulmans de Lausanne (CCML), Dr. Mohammad Karmous. A Tunisian with a French passport, Karmous has multiple ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Vatican failed in an attempt to cover up the contents of a prayer by a Muslim cleric at an interfaith "Prayer for Peace" service held in the Vatican garden on June 8. Departing from a pre-approved script, the imam recited verses 284-286 of Sura 2 from the Koran, the latter part of which calls on Allah to grant Muslims victory over non-Muslims.
Most non-Muslims non-Arabic speakers did not understand what the imam had said, but that changed when a former Muslim who speaks Arabic translated the full prayer on the indispensable blog, Gates of Vienna. The Vatican initially denied that the imam had said what he said, but then it doctored the video to edit out last part of Verse 2:286.
Gates of Vienna posted a complete video of the imam's prayer, which does indeed (3m54s into the video) ask Allah to "make us victorious over the tribe of the unbelievers." In an interview with Radio Vatican, a German-speaking Jesuit priest named Felix Körner remained unbowed.
Körner defended the imam, saying Verse 2:286 fully accords with Roman Catholic doctrine and is wholly peaceful in intent. "If one hears something in a skewed manner, one is going to have a mistaken understanding of it," he said.
Meanwhile, the Vatican partnered with the Emir of Sharjah (one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates) to present an "unprecedented" art exhibition entitled, "So That You Might Know Each Other," a verse from the Koran. The four month exhibit, which ended on June 14, was designed to serve as a "sign of openness and cooperation between religions."
The 70 exhibits on display at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization included textiles, musical instruments, jewelry, rudimentary weapons, books and manuscripts, many of which were on loan from the Ethnological Museum of the Vatican.
The German broadcaster Deutsche Welle summed it up this way: "The fact that Rome is lending its works for the first time is an act of diplomacy in line with Pope Francis's current policies. While Pope Benedict XVI had distanced himself from other religions, his successor is pursuing a different policy."
Austria accused Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of stirring up trouble on June 19, when he urged thousands of cheering supporters in Vienna to reject "assimilation."
Erdogan was rallying support for his candidacy ahead of Turkish presidential elections in August, and expatriate Turks have become a significant bloc of voters after changes to the electoral system now allow them to cast votes abroad.
Around 268,000 people of Turkish origin live in Austria, according to government figures, of whom nearly 115,000 are Turkish citizens.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had expressly warned Erdogan not to undermine efforts to integrate Turks into Austrian society, criticized the latest comments:
"These show very clearly that the Turkish premier has brought the election campaign to our country and created unrest with this. We reject this. And I can only say that respect for a host country looks clearly different."In Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, police on June 5 arrested a 41-year-old Islamic preacher from Chechnya who is believed to be involved in efforts to send Austrians to war in the Middle East.
State prosecutor Hansjoerg Bacher said that the imam is thought to be behind the radicalization and recruitment of eight Chechens resident in Austria, four of whom have died in fighting in Syria.
In Bulgaria, the Kardjali District Court on June 16 rejected a property claim lodged by the office of the Chief Mufti, the spiritual leader of Bulgaria's Muslims, to be awarded ownership of the building housing the Regional Historical Museum. The court found that there was no basis for the claim, and ordered the representatives of the Muslim community to pay 91,062 leva ($63,000) in costs to the state.
This case was the latest in a series of lawsuits by the Chief Mufti's office, filed under the Religious Denominations Act, which allows applications by recognized religious denominations to be awarded property believed to be historically theirs.
The building was originally intended to serve as a Muslim religious school, and it was funded in part by donations from the local Muslim community in 1920s and 1930s. However, the building was never used as a madrassa. Instead, it was nationalized during Bulgaria's communist era and became a museum.
Lawyers for the Kardjali district administration argued that the Chief Mufti's office is not the heir to the local Muslim community because at the time there was no such registered legal entity.
In the southern Bulgarian town of Peshtera, residents are angry over the local mosque's powerful loudspeakers, which are blasting the Islamic call to prayer, the adhan, several times a day.
According to Radio FOCUS, the town is a model of multicultural tolerance, but residents are increasingly irritated by the adhan; the "silent discontent may escalate to petitions and protests," the radio said.
In Britain, a new television channel aimed exclusively at British Muslims, British Muslim TV (BMTV), was launched in early June. The channel, operating under the slogan "Confidently Muslim, Comfortably British," is airing on the British Sky digital platform; the programming content is being exclusively funded and made in the UK.
BMTV will compete with other channels, such as Islam Channel, one of the UK's most prominent and popular English language Muslim satellite channels; Noor TV, Peace TV and Iqra TV, all of which have a South Asian focus and are usually broadcast in Urdu or Bangladeshi; and to Shia Muslim focused channels such as Hidayat TV and Ahlebait TV.
Speaking to Al Arabiya news, the marketing director for BMTV, Wasim Akhtar, said that BMTV aims to be different from the other Muslim channels by being "inclusive of all different views and open to all different types of Muslims. So the channel isn't just about issues of faith, it's about practical Muslim life here in Britain."
In a trial at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales [Old Bailey], a jury heard how police found 38-year-old Tahira Ahmed after she was decapitated in her west London home, allegedly by her husband, 41-year-old Naveed Ahmed. Tahira had been stabbed, had both her arms broken, and her head cut off. The couple, who have two children aged six and 12, had been married for 14 years.
Also in London, police launched an investigation into the origins of a sign telling dog owners to stay out of a park because it is "an Islamic area now" and "Muslims don't like dogs."
Meanwhile, it emerged that taxpayer money could be used to help fund a new mosque for the Muslim community in Belfast, according to Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. The move came after a local pastor named James McConnell denounced Islam as "Satanic" and a "doctrine spawned in hell."
McGuinness said he and First Minister Peter Robinson, who visited the Islamic Centre in south Belfast in June, "absolutely accepted" that the 4,000-strong Muslim community "is entitled to a mosque, if a proper site can be found which is suitable for them."
McGuinness said McConnell's remarks were "shameful" and could affect investments in Belfast. "This will impact, if not handled correctly by us, on our prospects of attracting foreign direct investment," McGuinness said. "The story travelled all round the world, and I think that it was very damaging."
In a bid to reverse negative stereotypes of Muslims in the UK, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association in Devon and Cornwall in southwestern England launched an advertising campaign in June to promote "positive awareness of Islam."
The campaign involved banners displaying Muslim messages of peace on a fleet of more than 100 city buses. Under the slogan of "loyalty, freedom, equality, respect, peace" the community also launched a website: LoveForAllHatredForNone.org.
A regional president of the group, Muhammad Noman, said: "A true Muslim can never raise his voice in hatred against his fellow citizens, nor against the ruling authority or government of the time. He should remain loyal and fully abide by the laws of the land of which he is a subject."
More news about Islam in Britain during June 2014 can be found here.
In Cyprus on June 3, Turkish Cypriot mufti Talip Atalay recited a prayer at the reopening ceremony of the Taht-el kale mosque in Nicosia, which had been closed for more than 50 years. Atalay visited the mosque after an invitation from the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II as part of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process promoted by the Swedish government.
In the Czech Republic, President Miloš Zeman refused to apologize for comments he made during a speech at the Israeli Embassy in Prague on May 26 at a reception to celebrate Israel's Independence Day.
Quoting several verses from the Koran that call on Muslims to kill Jews, Zeman said that Islam was to blame for the attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that killed four people. He also said:
"There is a term, political correctness. This term I consider to be a euphemism for political cowardice. Therefore, let me not be cowardly."The new Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC], Iyad Ameen Madani, condemned Zeman's speech, saying, "It is only appropriate that President Miloš Zeman apologizes to the millions of Muslims worldwide for his deeply offensive and hateful anti-Islam statements."
An OIC statement said:
"The Secretary General reiterated that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and that terrorism should not be equated to any race or religion; a stance upheld by all major UN texts on the subject of countering terrorism. He added that the OIC countries share a profound respect for all religions and condemn any message of hatred and intolerance."On June 10, a spokesman for the Czech government said Zeman would not be apologizing for his statements. "President Zeman definitely does not intend to apologize. For the president would consider it blasphemy to apologize for the quotation of a sacred Islamic text."
The Gates of Vienna blog summed it up this way: "As far as I am aware, Miloš Zeman is the first Western head of state ever to tell the OIC to go jump in a lake. So this is an historic occasion."
In Denmark, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) revealed that at least 100 Danish jihadists (both male and female) have left Denmark to fight in Syria, and that at least 15 of them have been killed.
The information was made public during a June 23 seminar entitled, "Syria and the Danish Prevention Model," organized by the PET's Center for Terror Analysis (CTA). Some 100 representatives from the Danish police, civil society and the media attended the event.
According to the CTA, the majority of Danish jihadists are young Sunni Muslims (aged 16-25), including Danish converts to Islam. The CTA said most of the jihadists have links to Islamic communities in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.
"Those returning from the conflict have been trained in military skills that can be used to carry out a terrorist attack in Denmark or against Danish interests abroad," CTA said. "They can also use their status to recruit new members to the group and new warriors to the conflict."On June 14, Danish police raided a mosque in the Vibevej district of Copenhagen after a passerby allegedly saw weapons being carried into the complex. Four men were arrested during the operation.
On June 5, Denmark issued an international arrest warrant for four jihadists who were filmed shooting at effigies of six prominent Danish critics of Islam.
In the video, which was recorded in Syria and first surfaced in August 2013, the men fired their guns at effigies of former PET secret agent Morten Storm, free speech advocate Lars Hedegaard, former MP Naser Khader, the imam Ahmed Akkari, former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.
Danish authorities said that under Danish anti-terror laws the shootings are illegal; they also conceded that some of the jihadists may already be dead.
Meanwhile, Denmark's largest mosque opened on June 19 in the Rovsingsgade district of Copenhagen after receiving a 150 million kroner (€20.1 million, $27.2 million) endowment from Qatar.
Not a single Danish politician of note attended the inauguration ceremony of the 6,700-square-meter (72,000-square-foot) complex, which houses a mosque, a cultural center, a television studio and a fitness center.
In Finland, the Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) on June 19 said it was investigating a suspected Finnish female jihadist who posed with weapons and published threats against Shia Muslims on Facebook.
The photo uploaded to Facebook shows a burqa-clad figure posing with an assault rifle, and brandishing what is claimed to be a suicide bomb. A comment on the page—written in Finnish—says the woman has come to Syria because "there are lots of Shias to kill."
On June 12, a spokesman for SUPO revealed that around 40 people have travelled from Finland to Syria to join Islamist groups there. He also said that around 200 individuals in Finland are believed to be at risk of radicalization.
On June 9, Finnish media reported the death of a 23-year-old jihadist from Espoo, the second-largest city in Finland, who had been fighting in Syria since December 2012. The man, of Somali background, had moved to Finland at the age of two. If the death is confirmed, he would be the third Finnish citizen to die in the fighting in Syria.
In France, Prime Minister Manuel Valls on June 3 increased the government's estimate of the number of French nationals fighting in Syria to 800, including about 30 who have died in the conflict.
Valls told BFMTV that these jihadists pose an unprecedented threat to France. "We have never before faced a challenge of this kind," Valls said. "It is without any doubt the most serious threat we face. We have to ensure the surveillance of hundreds and hundreds of French or European individuals who are today fighting in Syria."
In Iceland, the head of the Muslim Association of Iceland, Ibrahim Sverrir Agnarsson, on June 2 said that final preparations are being made for the design of the country's first mosque, set to be built on a plot of land in the Sogamýri district of Reykjavík.
The future of mosque has been in doubt since May 23, when the leader of the Progressive Party in Reykjavík, Sveinbjörg Birna Sveinbjörnsdóttir, said she wanted to reverse the city council's controversial decision to grant the plot of land to the Muslims free of charge. She now says the issue should be voted on in a public referendum. After her remarks, support for the Progressive Party in Reykjavík increased and the party secured two seats in municipal elections that were held on May 31.
The founder of the Muslim Association, Salman Tamimi, said he would file a lawsuit against individuals who left anti-mosque comments on an online article about the mosque controversy published by the newspaper Visir on June 1. Tamimi's lawyer, Helga Vala Helgadóttir, said it was important to take a stand against hate speech.
In Italy, authorities on June 17 said the Italian Navy had rescued almost 600 migrants from boats in the Strait of Sicily between Italy and Africa as part of the Mare Nostrum ["Our Sea"] search and rescue operation, launched in October 2013.
On June 9, roughly 1,300 migrants were ushered to safety at the merchant port of Taranto after being rescued at sea off the coast of Sicily.
More than 50,000 migrants crossed to Italy during the first six months of 2014, more than the total for the whole of 2013.
A jihadist from Luxembourg who died in Syria in December 2013 was claimed as a martyr for ISIS on June 17. A tweet from ISIS described a man identified as "Luxembourg national Abu Huthaifa" as the "first martyr for ISIS from the second richest country in the world."
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn confirmed in May 2014 that two people from the Grand Duchy had joined militants in Syria. One of them was originally from Kosovo, and another was of North African origin. Both were killed, including Abu Huthaifa. Why ISIS was just now claiming his martyrdom remains unclear.
In the Netherlands, the Dutch intelligence service AIVD on June 30 released a new report entitled, "Transformation of Jihadism in the Netherlands," which states that about 130 Dutch jihadists have travelled to Syria, and that nearly 30 have since returned. Approximately 14 Dutch jihadists have died on the battlefield. Most of the Dutch jihadists have joined up with ISIS.
 |
| The Dutch-Turkish jihadist known as Yilmaz is one of about 130 Dutch jihadists who have traveled to Syria. |
Foreign Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans on June 16 told the Dutch Parliament that the government was taking "various measures," both in terms of criminal law and administrative law, to prevent Dutch nationals joining up with groups such as ISIS.
Also on June 16, the newspaper Volkskrant reported that AIVD had given the Turkish government the names of more than 100 young men and women who Dutch authorities believe may be planning on going to Syria. The paper said Turkey has agreed to detain and deport them if they attempt to cross the Turkish border en route to Syria.
On June 19, Abdoe Khoulani, a member of the Party of Unity (PvdE), a fundamentalist Muslim political party based in The Hague, expressed support for ISIS on his Facebook page. He wrote: "Long Live ISIS. And insha'Allah [Allah willing] on to Baghdad to fight the riff-raff there."
Khoulani's message was spread on Twitter by Arnoud van Doorn, a former member of the Dutch Freedom Party who converted to Islam and is now a member of the PvdE. Van Doorn said Khoulani was—like John the Baptist quoting the words of Isaiah—a "voice of one crying out in the wilderness" [to prepare the way for the Messiah].
In response to the backlash, Khoulani said his words were simply a call to justice. He added that ISIS is not a terrorist group, but a resistance organization.
Meanwhile, a Dutch company selling halal sex products on June 4 announced an alliance with Europe's largest erotic retailer in an effort to tap into the lucrative Muslim market, potentially worth billions of euros.
The founder of Amsterdam-based El Asira, Abdelaziz Aouragh, said the deal with Frankfurt-listed Beate Uhse came four years after his company first launched a range of erotic products that do not contravene Sharia law.
El Asira, which means "Society" in Arabic, launched its range of products in 2010 to massive acclaim from the local Muslim community. Beate Uhse, based in Flensburg, Germany, approached El Asira in 2012 with a business proposal to sell products jointly in Muslim markets.
"We will take 18 of our Islamic branded products to the market through Beate Uhse," Aouragh told Agence France-Presse. "Considering we're targeting a global market of around 1.8 billion people, the potential is huge."
The two companies are also looking into the possibility of opening a store for halal sex products in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, Aouragh said.
In Norway, the country's first-ever Shia Muslim mosque was inaugurated in Oslo on June 1. One of the main purposes of the Tauheed Islamic Center is "to provide an opportunity to non-Muslims to learn about the universal teachings of Islam." The first official event held at the mosque was a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the death of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution.
Separately, Nemat Ali Shah, the Pakistani imam of the Central Jamaat Ahle-Sunnat mosque, the main Sunni Muslim mosque in Oslo, was recuperating in the hospital after a masked assailant repeatedly hacked him with a small axe or knife in the center of the Norwegian capital on the evening of June 16. Muslims were quick to condemn the attack as an Islamophobic hate crime, but on June 30, Oslo police arrested a fellow Pakistani who allegedly attacked the imam due to a power struggle within the mosque, which has more than 5,000 members mainly of Pakistani origin.
In Slovenia, the local Islamic Community on June 4 announced that construction work on the first Slovenian mosque was about to begin in the capital of city of Ljubljana, nearly ten months after the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony took place in September 2013.
Mufti Nedžad Grabus confirmed that Qatar would cover 70% of the cost of the project. "Without Qatar, the Islamic community [of Slovenia] would not be able to continue with the project," Grabus said.
The mosque and Muslim cultural center, 44 years in the making, will be built north of the city center, on a plot of land that the Muslim community bought from the City of Ljubljana, at a projected cost of €21 million ($28.5 million).
In Spain, the Union of Islamic Communities in Spain (UCIE), a Madrid-based Muslim umbrella group, and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Education (ISESCO), a Morocco-based arm of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held a four-day conference in Madrid aimed at promoting the development of Koran institutes in non-Muslim countries. The event, which was held from June 18-21, was attended by Muslim leaders from Europe and North Africa.
On June 17, the Halal Institute of the Junta Islámica de España, a competing Muslim umbrella group based in Córdoba, held a conference aimed at promoting the "normalization of halal" in European countries. The official conference title was: "Possible Similarities and Differences between European Standards Compared with Halal Standards Demanded by the Arab Countries."
Conference attendees called on the Spanish government to sponsor an official study aimed at finding ways to bring European food standards into compliance with Islamic Sharia law.
Meanwhile, municipal officials in Barcelona denied reports that Qatar had offered to pay €2.2 billion ($3 billion) to convert the city's La Monumental bullring into a forty thousand capacity mosque. The building would include a 300-meter (985-foot) minaret. The mosque would be the third largest in the world, after those in Mecca and Medina.
On June 16, Spanish police in Madrid arrested ten individuals (eight Moroccans, one Argentine and one Bulgarian) on allegations that they were members of an international network that recruited jihadists for ISIS.
The ringleader was a 47-year-old Moroccan national named Lahcen Ikassrien, who was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001 and released after three-and-a-half years in Guantánamo. In July 2005, the U.S. government handed him over to Spain, where he faced charges of cooperating with al-Qaeda. In October 2006, the Spanish High Court acquitted him on the grounds that no firm evidence existed of his ties to the terrorist group.
Ikassrien, who lives in Madrid, was part of a cell led by Abu Dahdah, a Syrian-born Spaniard who was sentenced to a 27-year prison term in Spain for his part in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and for being one of the founders of al-Qaeda in Spain. In February 2006, the Spanish Supreme Court reduced the Abu Dahdah's penalty to 12 years because it considered that his participation in the 9/11 conspiracy was not proven. He was released in May 2013.
In Sweden, government health inspectors said they found some 60 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Norrköping in eastern Sweden since March, with all 30 girls in one school class found to have undergone the procedure.
FGM has been illegal in Sweden since 1982 and can be punished with up to ten years in prison. Since 1999 it is also a criminal offense under Swedish law if the procedure is performed in a different country.
Most girls who undergo the procedure are between the ages of 4-14 years, but the operation is also carried out on infants. There are no official statistics detailing the extent of FGM in Sweden, or of how many girls are taken to have the procedure conducted abroad.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Parliament on June 17 approved changes to the country's immigration law to "facilitate moving to and from Sweden." The changes reduce the requirements for obtaining permanent residence for students and workers. In addition, individuals whose application for asylum has been rejected now need to wait only four months to become eligible for a work permit. Moreover, immigrants who have already obtained permanent residence in Sweden can retain that status for up to two years after they leave the country.
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) rejected the proposal. "We should have mobility, but these suggestions give evidence that the government has dropped all reason when it comes to immigration policy," David Lång (SD) wrote in the party's motion.
In Switzerland, the Islamic Cultural Center in Lausanne received a $140,000 donation from the Government of Kuwait to fund the construction of a center for raising awareness about Islam. On June 20, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported that the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Switzerland, Bader Al-Tunaib, presented the donation to head of the Complex Culturel des Musulmans de Lausanne (CCML), Dr. Mohammad Karmous. A Tunisian with a French passport, Karmous has multiple ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Vatican failed in an attempt to cover up the contents of a prayer by a Muslim cleric at an interfaith "Prayer for Peace" service held in the Vatican garden on June 8. Departing from a pre-approved script, the imam recited verses 284-286 of Sura 2 from the Koran, the latter part of which calls on Allah to grant Muslims victory over non-Muslims.
Most non-Muslims non-Arabic speakers did not understand what the imam had said, but that changed when a former Muslim who speaks Arabic translated the full prayer on the indispensable blog, Gates of Vienna. The Vatican initially denied that the imam had said what he said, but then it doctored the video to edit out last part of Verse 2:286.
Gates of Vienna posted a complete video of the imam's prayer, which does indeed (3m54s into the video) ask Allah to "make us victorious over the tribe of the unbelievers." In an interview with Radio Vatican, a German-speaking Jesuit priest named Felix Körner remained unbowed.
Körner defended the imam, saying Verse 2:286 fully accords with Roman Catholic doctrine and is wholly peaceful in intent. "If one hears something in a skewed manner, one is going to have a mistaken understanding of it," he said.
Meanwhile, the Vatican partnered with the Emir of Sharjah (one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates) to present an "unprecedented" art exhibition entitled, "So That You Might Know Each Other," a verse from the Koran. The four month exhibit, which ended on June 14, was designed to serve as a "sign of openness and cooperation between religions."
The 70 exhibits on display at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization included textiles, musical instruments, jewelry, rudimentary weapons, books and manuscripts, many of which were on loan from the Ethnological Museum of the Vatican.
The German broadcaster Deutsche Welle summed it up this way: "The fact that Rome is lending its works for the first time is an act of diplomacy in line with Pope Francis's current policies. While Pope Benedict XVI had distanced himself from other religions, his successor is pursuing a different policy."
Monday, June 10, 2013
The Resurgence of National Pride and the Future of Europe
Stolen From Gates of Vienna
Speech by Geert Wilders
Los Angeles, June 9, 2013
Dear friends, thank you for inviting me to Los Angeles. I always like coming to the United States. There are many things that I admire Americans for. One of them is that they are unashamedly patriotic.
The American Freedom Association has asked me to speak to you about the future of Europe.
Europe is in a terrible state. Bit by bit, European countries are losing their national sovereignty. The economy is in shambles. Islamic immigrants riot and terrorize the many locals. And when people’s throats are slit in the streets, while the murderers shout “Allahu Akbar,” the authorities appease the killers and declare that Islam has nothing to do with it.
Europeans feel that the gap between them en those who rule them is growing. Many no longer feel represented by their politicians. There is a complete disconnect between the people that truly rule Europe and the people that live in it.
The blame lies to a large extent with the European Union and the weak leadership within the European countries which have signed away their national sovereignty. The EU cannot be compared to the United States. Europe is a continent of many different nations with their own identities, traditions and languages. The EU is a supranational organization, but its leaders aim to turn it into a state. To this end they are destroying the wealth, identity and freedoms of the existing nation-states of Europe.
Before I elaborate, let us take a closer look at the terrible mistake that Europe made.
Following the Second World War, Europe’s leaders mistakenly thought that patriotism was the cause of the war.
All over Europe, not just in Germany, but everywhere, they equated the defense of national identity with extremism.
Politicians told the electorate that the nation state was dangerous.
On the rooftops of Europe’s parliaments and official buildings, they flew the EU flag next to the national flag, as if the nation is nothing but a province of a Pan-European empire.
On the number plates of European cars, they put the EU flag instead of the national flag, thereby forcing people to drive around with the symbol of their subjection.
They signed away their national interests for the goal of so-called Europeanization.
Such policies could never have been possible if the ruling elite had not fallen for the ideology of cultural and moral relativism. Patriotism, which is a virtue, came to be seen as a vice.
Today, the citizens of Europe are reaping the bitter harvest of this arrogance, this refusal to stand by the ancient nations of Europe, the mothers of modern democracy, the guardians of our liberty.
Below is the text of the speech given by Geert Wilders in Los Angeles today.
Los Angeles, June 9, 2013
Dear friends, thank you for inviting me to Los Angeles. I always like coming to the United States. There are many things that I admire Americans for. One of them is that they are unashamedly patriotic.
The American Freedom Association has asked me to speak to you about the future of Europe.
Europe is in a terrible state. Bit by bit, European countries are losing their national sovereignty. The economy is in shambles. Islamic immigrants riot and terrorize the many locals. And when people’s throats are slit in the streets, while the murderers shout “Allahu Akbar,” the authorities appease the killers and declare that Islam has nothing to do with it.
Europeans feel that the gap between them en those who rule them is growing. Many no longer feel represented by their politicians. There is a complete disconnect between the people that truly rule Europe and the people that live in it.
The blame lies to a large extent with the European Union and the weak leadership within the European countries which have signed away their national sovereignty. The EU cannot be compared to the United States. Europe is a continent of many different nations with their own identities, traditions and languages. The EU is a supranational organization, but its leaders aim to turn it into a state. To this end they are destroying the wealth, identity and freedoms of the existing nation-states of Europe.
Before I elaborate, let us take a closer look at the terrible mistake that Europe made.
Following the Second World War, Europe’s leaders mistakenly thought that patriotism was the cause of the war.
All over Europe, not just in Germany, but everywhere, they equated the defense of national identity with extremism.
Politicians told the electorate that the nation state was dangerous.
On the rooftops of Europe’s parliaments and official buildings, they flew the EU flag next to the national flag, as if the nation is nothing but a province of a Pan-European empire.
On the number plates of European cars, they put the EU flag instead of the national flag, thereby forcing people to drive around with the symbol of their subjection.
They signed away their national interests for the goal of so-called Europeanization.
Such policies could never have been possible if the ruling elite had not fallen for the ideology of cultural and moral relativism. Patriotism, which is a virtue, came to be seen as a vice.
Today, the citizens of Europe are reaping the bitter harvest of this arrogance, this refusal to stand by the ancient nations of Europe, the mothers of modern democracy, the guardians of our liberty.
- The EU stands for everything that is wrong in Europe.
- It is a gigantic undemocratic transnational monster.
- It issues legislation permeated with cultural relativism.
- It meddles in the everyday lives of millions of people.
- It has opened Europe’s borders to uncontrolled mass immigration, mostly from Islamic countries.
- And it has deprived Europe’s parliaments of a huge amount of their legislative powers.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Edible Arrangements -- "A Must To Avoid"
Muslim Owners of Fruit Basket Company Fund HAMAS, Jihadist Extremism
By Debbie Schlussel
Now, that it’s the holiday season and a time of buying and giving Christmas and Chanukah gifts, a lot of people make the convenient choice of sending fruit baskets to their friends and professional associates.
If you do purchase a gift from Edible Arrangements, you are funding HAMAS abroad and Muslim community organizing, such as the group IMAN, the Inner City Muslim Action Network,in the U.S. Tariq Farid is the CEO of Edible Arrangements, which he started with his brother, Kamran Farid.
Not only are they devout Pakistani Muslims, but they are major donors and fundraisers for American mosques, Islamic schools, and similar enterprises in Pakistan.
Recent tax returns of their Farid Foundation, to which they and Edible Arrangements are major contributors, gives tens of thousands of dollars to extremist Islamic schools and mosques in America and to Islamic Relief, the HAMAS/Al-Qaeda/Muslim Brotherhood “charity” which sends tens of millions of dollars to finance jihad around the world.
An Islamic Relief fundraiser I attended undercover featured young Muslim Arab kids simulating beheadings of Americans, Brits, and Israelis as the evening’s “entertainment” !
Islamic Relief’s chief official in Gaza was a HAMAS official with Bin Laden’s photo, swastikas, and a “G-d Bless Hitler” banner as his screensavers.
Islamic Relief’s registered agent in the U.S. is Kazbek Soobzokov, is the son of Nazi Waffen SS officer Tscherim Soobzokov and the lawyer for deported accused terrorist and Islamic cleric, Imam Wagdy Mohamed Ghoneim.
The Farids and their Farid Foundation are also major donors to IMAN, the Chicago-based group which organizes Muslims to impose their extremist values on America’s political process and in America’s inner cities. The other purpose of the group is to convert Blacks and other inner city residents to Islam and help those who’ve already converted remain Muslim.
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I was under the impression that Edible Arrangements was a small local company...but when I GOOGLED it - this is what I found:
Edible Arrangements:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edible Arrangements International, LLC
Type: Private Company
Industry: Food & Beverage
Founded: Hamden, Connecticut, USA (1999)
Founder(s): Tariq Farid Kamran Farid
Headquarters: 95 Barnes Road, Wallingford, Connecticut, USA 06492
Area served: United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Italy, Turkey, Bahrain, India, Jordan and China.
Key people: Tariq Farid, CEO Kamran Farid, COO
Products: Bouquets and arrangements of sculpted fresh fruit, chocolate dipped fruit, fresh fruit smoothies, and fruit salad
Revenue: $255 million (2010)
Net income: $98 million
Employees: 70 (2009)
Website: http://www.ediblearrangements.com/
Edible Arrangements International is a U.S.-based franchising business that specializes in fresh fruit arrangements, melding the concept of fruit baskets with design inspired by the floral business.[1] The company also sells a variety of specialty fruit gift items, such as gift boxes featuring premium chocolate dipped fruit, and fresh-fruit-to-go products.
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The company is headed by Tariq Farid, who partnered with his brother Kamran Farid to open the first Edible Arrangements store in Hamden, Connecticut in 1999.[1] After designing the computer systems, training manuals, production and profitability tracking and supply chain management process, they began franchising the concept in 2001. The first official franchise location opened in Waltham, Massachusetts.[2]
As of 2011, the business had grown to more than 1,100 stores serving locations in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. In March 2008 Edible Arrangements was reported to have annual revenues of $195 million.[3]
In 2009, Edible Arrangements announced the signing of master franchisee agreements in Rome, Italy, and Hong Kong. The Rome master franchise was purchased by VPF International Ltd, and the franchise for Hong Kong was purchaes by D.T. Hong Kong Ltd, which is owned by Sanja Dujic.[4] Additionally, in November 2009, an agreement was signed with brothers Kemal and Emre Aydin, who planned to develop 15 locations in Turkey.[5] Edible Arrangements ended 2009 with 74 new stores and franchise agreements for more than 85 locations in the U.S. and internationally, totaling the number of units to 940. The company’s U.S. growth in 2009 was concentrated in Texas and the Midwest with stores also opening in other locations including California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.[6] A total of 39 U.S. locations closed during the three-year period 2007–2009.[7]
In 2010 the company opened 84 new U.S. stores and nine international stores and signed commitments for 123 new locations.[8] Hiten Bajaj planned to open 20 new stores in India, with the Mumbai store serving as a model for the others.[9] Richmond, Virginia, businessman Raed Al-Mustafa planned to open six stores in Jordan.[10] In January 2011, Edible Arrangements announced its 1,000th franchise agreement.[11]
Rankings
With over 1100 stores in 14 countries around the world, Edible Arrangements has appeared on Entrepreneur magazine's list of Top Global Franchises for five consecutive years.[citation needed] It was ranked number 42 on the 2012 Entrepreneur Franchise 500. It also ranked first in category in the Franchise 500 in the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
In January 2011, a Forbes magazine article entitled "Top 20 Franchises to Start" ranked Edible Arrangements as number nine.[7] As of 2011, the company has over 1,110 franchisees worldwide.
Franchisee lawsuit
In 2010, Edible Arrangements faced dissatisfaction from some of its franchisees. In January 2010, more than 270 franchisees presented Farid with individual letters expressing opposition to corporate policies and practices that they considered to be harmful to their individual franchised businesses. The franchisees formed an association known as "EA Independent Franchisees Association, LLC", or "EAIFA" and hired an attorney to represent them in possible litigation.[12] On September 20, 2010 the group filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of 170 franchisees, alleging that several changes the company made in its franchise agreements were unfair or violated contractual obligations to the franchisees.[13] Edible Arrangements International, responded to inquiries about the lawsuit by saying that they strongly disagreed with the accusations and would vigorously defend the complaint. The company subsequently initiated a motion in the courts to dismiss the case, but this attempt was denied by a District of Connecticut judge on July 19, 2011 and the franchisees were granted authority to pursue the case on all claims.
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I have always thought that Edible Arrangements was a bit overpriced and over done for nothing more than cheese and fruit. But there have been times I was tempted (but did not order) to send an arrangement to a friend or family member.
I am glad that I never did. And I encourage you not to patronize this business. No gift is worth the murder of children.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Muslim Persecution of Christians: October, 2012
These reports of the persecution of Christians by Muslims around the world during the month of October include (but are not limited to) the following accounts, listed by form of persecution, and by country, in alphabetical order—not according to severity.
Church Attacks
Egypt: A Muslim mob, consisting mostly of Salafis, surrounded St. George Church in the Beni Suef Governorate. Armed with batons, they assaulted Christians as they exited the church after Sunday mass; five were hospitalized with broken limbs. The Salafi grievance is that Christians from neighboring villages, who have no churches to serve them, are traveling and attending St. George. The priest could not leave the church for hours after the mass, even though he contacted the police; they came only after a prominent Coptic lawyer complained to the Ministry of the Interior concerning the lack of response from police. "I want the whole world to know," he said, "that a priest and his congregation are presently held captive in their church, afraid of the Salafi Muslims surrounding the church." Separately, a group of Muslims, led by Mostafa Kamel, a prosecutor at the Alexandria Criminal Court, broke into the Church of St. Mary in Rashid near Alexandria and proceeded to destroy its altar, on claims that he bought the 9th century church; in fact it had earlier been sold to the Copts by the Greeks, due to the Greeks' dwindling numbers in Egypt. Two priests, Fr. Maximos and Fr. Luke, rushed to the police station to try to bring the police to help. Kamel and his two sons also came to the police station, where they openly threatened to kill the two priests and their lawyer. "We stayed at the police station for over six hours with the police, "Fr. Maximos said, "begging prosecutor Kamel and his two sons not to demolish the church." Fr. Luke said that the prosecutor had so far lost all the cases he brought against the church, "So when this route failed, he tried taking the matter into his own hands."
Indonesia: On a Sunday, "unknown assailants" set fire to the Madele Pentecostal Church in the city of Poso by dousing a collection box with petrol and setting it alight. Flames eventually spread to the pastor's residence. Only the intervention of the fire department and volunteers prevented the blaze from causing major damage to the two buildings. Weeks earlier in the same region, Christian homes were attacked and bombed. Also, two law enforcement agents who were investigating a recent attack on the Christian community were kidnapped; their murdered bodies were later found dumped near an "extremist Muslim" group's training ground. Because Poso has a large Christian presence, Muslim attacks are frequent, including the 2005 beheading of three Christian girls going to school. Meanwhile in Aceh, Indonesian officials, using the famous pretext that a permit had not been issued, shut down nine [more] Christian house-churches and six Buddhist temples; they argued that homes cannot be used "for religious ceremonies or functions." According to the report, "Local Muslim extremists welcomed the decision. Yusuf Al-Qardhawy, head of the Aceh branch of the Islamic Defence Front (FPI), called on other jurisdictions to follow Banda Aceh and enforce Islamic law and stop any non-Muslim worship activity that is not approved." Further, the province of Aceh is the only one "which is subject to Sharia. Compliance is ensured by the 'morality police,' a special force that punishes violations in dress and behaviour."
Iran: Security forces dismantled a network of four underground house churches and arrested seven Christians on a Sunday night. Iranian propaganda media described the churches as a "network of criminals" affiliated with "Zionist propaganda." Sunday's arrests are the latest in a wave of detentions in Shiraz. In the past few weeks, Iranian Intelligence Ministry agents in the city have arrested around 30 Christian converts and transferred them to detention centers. According to another report, "State security agents have been permanently stationed at two churches in Esfahan, Iran, in the latest effort by the Islamic regime to frighten people off Christianity. The agents constantly interfere in the activities of St. Luke's and St. Paul's, and harass those present. They order the pastors around and stop church elders from talking to Muslim seekers. They also try to frighten away visitors by warning them of dire consequences if they continue attending, and create tension among the members by spreading false rumours. The children of church members are also threatened and often forbidden from attending…. This campaign of harassment by the Islamic authorities is not confined to churches in Esfahan. Similar tactics have been deployed at the central Assemblies of God church in Tehran."
Kazakhstan: Two Protestant churches were raided, according to members, under the ruse of a criminal case launched 15 months ago. First, masked police raided Grace Church and seized computers, valuables and religious books they insisted were "extremist;" then police requested church members to give blood samples, to see if the church uses "hallucinogenic" substances for communion. Nine days later the New Life Church was raided, also under the pretext of the unrelated criminal case: "Members of both churches fear the authorities will use the case to prevent them gaining the mandatory re-registration," which critics say is being used to shut down Protestant churches.
Kenya: A grenade was thrown into the Sunday school building of St. Polycarp Anglican Church; it blew off the roof, killing one boy and injuring eight other children who were attending Sunday school; some required surgery. The attack came soon after a Somali member of the Islamic terrorist organization Al Shabab, who had earlier targeted four other churches, was sentenced to prison after he confessed to planning attacks on Parliament. According to the mother of one of the children, "We are in Eastleigh [a region with a large Somali population]. Many Christians, including myself, thought that something might happen. Every week we'd wonder 'What if it's this Sunday?' But we'd still go to church." Likewise, a parliament member said, "The life of an innocent child has been taken and others have been cruelly injured and traumatised in what should be the safest of places. The sanctity of life has been heartlessly breached in a sanctified place. Such acts seem to be designed to spark civil unrest and intimidate the Christian church. In the face of such an outrage we ask, with the prophet Habakkuk, 'O Lord, how long?' and let us trust that God in his mercy will bring justice and relief as we cry out to him."
Nigeria: After a renewed spate of church attacks, thousands of Christians continue to flee northern areas of Nigeria, which are predominantly Muslim, and where the jihadi organization Boko Haram holds sway. An Islamic suicide bomber rammed an SUV loaded with explosives into St. Rita Catholic Church holding Sunday Mass; he killed eight people and wounded more than 100. One "journalist saw the bodies of four worshippers lying on the floor of the church after the blast, surrounded by broken glass. The body of the suicide bomber had been blasted into nearby rubble." The church building, charred black, was devastated. Also, the Church of Brethren was raided by Islamic gunmen who killed at least two people and set the church ablaze. Many churches, fearing further attacks, are shutting down.
Pakistan: The Catholic Church of St. Francis, the oldest of the archdiocese of Karachi, was attacked by a Muslim mob of 600, who destroyed property but did not manage to break through the front door. According to a priest: "Fr. Victor had just finished celebrating a wedding, when he heard noises and shouting from the compound of the church. Immediately all the faithful, women and children were sent to the parish house. The radicals, shouting against the Christians, broke into the building and started devastating everything: cars, bikes, vases of flowers. They broke an aedicule and took the statue of the Madonna. They tried to force the door of the church, throwing stones at the church and destroying the windows." Police arrived an hour later, giving the terrorists plenty of time to wreak havoc. The Archbishop of Karachi lamented that "the church of San Francesco has always served the poor with a school and a medical clinic run by nuns. For nearly 80 years it carries out a humble service to humanity without any discrimination of caste, ethnicity or religion. Why these acts? Why are we not safe? "
Syria: Two churches were attacked. One bomb was detonated near the historical gate of Bab Touma ("Thomas' Doorway") which is largely populated by the nation's Christian minority. The bomb exploded as people were going to their churches for Sunday Mass; up to 10 people were killed. "Terrorists are doing this," said George, a Christian who, like many residents in Bab Touma, lives in fear of the rebel fighters trying to gain control of the capital. Another car bomb exploded in front of the only Syrian Orthodox Church in the town of Deir Ezzor, currently under opposition control. Five people near the church were killed. In September, the same church was desecrated and vandalized by armed gangs.
Tanzania: Muslim mobs burned several church buildings in various parts of the nation after an argument by two children concerning the supernatural powers of the Quran allegedly led a Christian boy to defile Islam's holy book: two church buildings were set ablaze, while the roof of another one was destroyed. On the island of Zanzibar, Muslim rioters also demolished a building belonging to the Evangelical Assemblies of God; and in Dar es Salaam, three more church buildings were set on fire and another destroyed. "We shall continue attacking the churches until they are no more in Tanzania" was echoed in
several mosques in Tanzania," said one source.
Rape and Murder of Christians
Nigeria: Up to 30 Christian college students were shot or had their throatsslit at a university in the Muslim-majority north. During the night, masked gunmen went door-to-door in the off-campus housing section of Federal Polytechnic College in the city of Moby: "the gunmen separated the Christian students from the Muslim students, addressed each victim by name, questioned them, and then proceeded to shoot them or slit their throat." Among motives cited are reprisals against the fact that former Boko Haram Muslims, renouncing terrorism, converted to Christianity. Other former Boko Haram members have not converted to Christianity but have seen the "goodness of the Christian religion" and now warn Christians before there is an attack.
Pakistan: A 14 year-old Christian girl, Timar Shahzadi, was kidnapped by Muslim men as she was returning from school. According to the pastor close to the family, the girl was with friends when the abductors pounced and dragged her away, and her family fears that she will be "forcefully converted to become a Muslim and then married off if immediate steps are not taken." The family reported the incident to the local police station, but police have not yet conducted any investigation. Also, a court decreed that a Christian girl, known as Rebecca—who was kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam, and married to her abductor—to be returned to her kidnapper "husband," despite her father's pleas and the girls traumatized presence in court. And 24 year-old Shumaila Bibi, another Christian woman, was "seized at dawn, forced to endure sexual abuse and to marry the young Muslim man who abducted her with the help of his family" and forced the woman to convert to Islam. Days later, Shumaila managed to escape. However, with the help of his family, her "husband" denounced her flight and, reversing the facts, reported her family as "kidnapping" her. The police accepted his version of the facts and opened an investigation claiming that the girl converted and married "of her own free will." The future of Shumaila is hanging by a thread. Kidnapping and forcing girls to convert to Islam and/or be sex-slaves sold to wealthy Muslims is a common occurrence in Pakistan. Read here for a list concerning the "Rape and Murder of Pakistan's ChristianChildren."
Sudan: Asia Omer, a Christian mother of seven, the youngest of which is four months old, was killed in an aerial bombardment near a church by "Sudanese government forces as they continue a ruthless campaign of ethnic and religious cleansing in the predominantly Christian regions of the Nuba Mountains." Another Christian mother of seven sustained a critical injury but did not receive medical care. Other Christians were also wounded in the bombing, including the teenage son of a church leader. "President Omar al-Bashir's forces have been targeting the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state, which has one of the largest Christian populations in Sudan, since June 2011. The Islamic regime is trying to 'cleanse' the region of non-Arabs and non-Muslims as Khartoum pushes forward its plans for a '100% Islamic"' constitution."
Syria: A Greek Orthodox priest, Fr. Fadi Jamil Haddad, was kidnapped by armed groups from among the opposition. Days later, his body, which was "horribly tortured and his eyes gouged out," was found dumped near the place he was abducted. Earlier, the kidnappers had asked the priest's family and his church for a ransom of 50 million Syrian pounds (over $550,000 euros)—a sum impossible to raise. A source of Fides condemns "the terrible practice, present for months in this dirty war, of kidnapping and then killing innocent civilians." Also, the last remaining Christian in the center of Homs, an 84 year-old Greek Orthodox, was killed, and the convent of the Jesuits hit again. A top Russian Orthodox official expressed the church's concern, saying "We are deeply worried by what is going on in Syria, where radical forces are trying to come to power with the help of Western powers. Where they come to power, Christian communities become the first victims."
Dhimmitude
[General Abuse and Suppression of Non-Muslims as "Tolerated" Citizens]
Egypt: On Al Hafiz TV, a Muslim cleric explained why it is that Christianity cannot be taught in Egyptian classrooms: because, among other things, it bans polygamy and divorce, and allows females an equal inheritance with the male -- all things that contradict the teachings and practices of the Muslim prophet. The cleric complained that, based on such Christian teachings, Muslim men who try to exercise their Islamic rights—including polygamy, double-inheritance, and easy divorce (including via text-messaging)—become "criminals, and the religion [Islam] that taught them such things taught them crimes." Two Christian boys, one 10 the other 9 years-old, were arrested under accusations from a local cleric that they defiled a copy of the Quran. After the boys were released, the Egyptian media, following the claims of the Muslim Brotherhood, credited President Morsi with their release, even though the boys' lawyer insisted that the Islamist president had nothing to do with their release.
Iran: Many reports more than usual, are appearing of Christian men and women, especially Evangelical Protestants and Muslim apostates, being "dragged to prisons". According to a council member of the Church of Iran house-church movement, "We have learned that at least 100, but perhaps as many as 400 people, have been detained over the last 10 days…. [I]t has become clear that Protestant Christians are now viewed as enemy number one of the state." Some of those arrested, after serving time and being tormented, are "forced to say that in exchange for freedom, they will no longer attend church services." At least five apostates were confined in cells housing dangerous criminals on charges of "creating illegal groups," "participating in a house church service," "propagation against the Islamic regime," and "defaming Islamic holy figures through Christian evangelizing."
Maldives: Customs officials at the Male' Ibrahim Nasir International Airport seized 11 books about Christianity, from a Bangladeshi expatriate who came to the Maldives via Sri Lanka. According to the Maldives Religious Unity Regulations, "it is illegal in the Maldives to propagate any faith other than Islam or to engage in any effort to convert anyone to any religion other than Islam. It is also illegal to display in public any symbols or slogans belonging to any religion other than Islam, or creating interest in such articles." Violation of the Religious Unity Act is subject to two to five years in prison and fines.
Pakistan: A 16 year-old boy, Ryan Stanten, was arrested on "charges of blasphemy, terrorism, and cybercrimes," because he forwarded text messages to his friends which were intercepted and deemed blasphemous by Muslims. Accordingly, a "furious Muslim mob" attacked the boy's home, setting furniture on fire and shouting "death to the blasphemer" and "kill Christian infidels." Other Christians in the region fled.
Saudi Arabia: Despite promises to reform school textbooks, the Saudi education system continues to indoctrinate children with hatred and incitement, especially against Christians and Jews. The textbooks teach – among a long list of hate-filled passages, all of which originate in the Qur'an and the Hadith [stories of the life and sayings of Mohammed] -- that "Christians are the enemies of the Believers" and that the "the Apes are the people of the Sabbath, the Jews; and the Swine are the infidels of the communion of Jesus, the Christians."
Switzerland: Muslims in the nation are complaining about a billboard campaign from Swiss International Airline, which has a logo taken from the Swizz flag, of a cross, with the words "the cross is trumps." According to the report, "Muslims in Switzerland have responded negatively to the advertising, which they believe promotes Christianity over other religions…. Many Muslims feel this Christian slogan (of Swiss) is a provocation and an assault against Islam." The airline maintains that its ad campaign does not carry any religious or political message—in fact, that the word "trumps" is a pun for a Swiss card game—and apologized for upsetting Muslims.
Turkey: A history textbook used in 10th grade classrooms portrays the nation's oldest most indigenous inhabitants, the Christian Assyrians, as traitors. Although objections were raised back in 2011 and the Turkish Ministry of Education eventually issued a statement promising to revise the texts in the next printing of the book in 2012, the books were reprinted without any changes. "In fact, the negative and slanderous portrayal of Assyrians has increased in the new edition. The book now not only portrays Assyrians as traitors in the past but says the Assyrians continue their betrayal of Turkey today."
About this Series
- To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
- To show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Are These The Last Days Of Great Britain?
For centuries the nation of Great Britain prided itself on being a "Christian Nation". A nation who has followed the Christian Faith since 600 AD. The nation went through Reformation, Reversion back to Catholicism, Revolution, Restoration, but the Christian faith remained with the people. Even today the majority of people profess to be Christian. Yet under the government, Islam has more rights, more power than any other group. Attacks on Jews have increased. Attacks on Christians have risen. Defamation of Islam is criminalized. One cannot speak out against Muhammad (MHBIH), Allah, Islam, The Koran, etc... you will jailed. Oh no? Read this:
Muslims Asians. I suppose that Muslims Asians are not able to control themselves. They are too immature, too childish and must be allowed to express themselves with rocks and sticks. That is Multiculturalism for you. Infantile Muslims so you can cave in to every demand they have. Why stop? It is easier to do than to demand that Muslims obey the laws of the land.
There is a group that demand that Multiculturalism end. They are the British Freedom Party and their 20 point plan.
Outside of the United State there is no nation on Earth that has the guarantee of Free Speech. It is up to the Government ts allow what speech it will permit. This is unacceptable in any nation, but especially in nations that claim that they allow Free Speech. Can any of us forget the trials and tribulations of Paul Ray aka Lionheart?
Tommy Robinson has been arrested on trumped up charges of entering the United States on a fraudulent passport. A charge that is suppose to send him back to the United States and a long US prison term. Until then the British have sentenced him to death by placing Mr. Robinson in the Muslim wing of the prison and given a Muslim cellmate. Pray for his safety.
Our State Department is in collusion with the British government on this. The expression of Free Speech is to be denied to NATIVE Brits. But NATIVE Europeans are to be denied rights under Obama's and the left's New World Order.
If they can win, Britain is lost without a Civil War. Pray for them.
Or this (Hat Tip to Gates of Vienna):
The 53 protesters, which also reportedly included a member of the group's executive, were arrested on motorways on the outskirts of the capital.
Dozens of officers in riot vans intervened before the members of the far right group reached the capital on Saturday afternoon for the surprise protest outside a mosque in Whitechapel, east London.
Scotland Yard said they were held following an “an intelligence-led, pre-event investigation into a planned disturbance in east London on the same day”.
They were stopped on the M25 motorway at J14, near Heathrow and J16, in Uxbridge, west London as well as the M3 at J3, near Bagshot, Surrey.
The Metropolitan Police said all 53 protesters were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance but declined to confirm their intended location.
The 53 protesters, which also reportedly included a member of the group's executive, were arrested on motorways on the outskirts of the capital.
Dozens of officers in riot vans intervened before the members of the far right group reached the capital on Saturday afternoon for the surprise protest outside a mosque in Whitechapel, east London.
Scotland Yard said they were held following an “an intelligence-led, pre-event investigation into a planned disturbance in east London on the same day”.
They were stopped on the M25 motorway at J14, near Heathrow and J16, in Uxbridge, west London as well as the M3 at J3, near Bagshot, Surrey.
The Metropolitan Police said all 53 protesters were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance but declined to confirm their intended location.
Paul Weston Arrested Outside Wormwood ScrubsThe English Defense League has never been violent at a rally. In fact they are extremely non-violent, but are the one arrested for inciting violence in
By George Whale, 21:20 Monday
I have just received an urgent telephone call from British Freedom leader Paul Weston who has been arrested outside Wormwood Scrubs Prison*.
Speaking from the back of a police van being driven to an unknown destination, Paul hurriedly informed me that he and a friend had travelled to the prison in West London this evening with the aim of visiting Tommy Robinson, or at least assuring themselves of his well-being.
Speaking through a glass panel they had asked officers at the prison to confirm that Tommy was being held there, but they refused to provide this information, citing the ‘Data Protection Act’. Paul and his friend again demanded to know where Tommy was being held, and at that point both were charged with breach of the peace, arrested and bundled into the police van.
Our conversation was cut off with Paul loudly remonstrating to an unidentified individual, “take your hands off me!”
We will update you on the situation as it unfolds.
There is a group that demand that Multiculturalism end. They are the British Freedom Party and their 20 point plan.
1. Introduce a US style First Amendment guaranteeing Free Speech.
2. Leave the profoundly undemocratic European Union.
3. Abolish the Human Rights Act, which benefits only foreign criminals/ terrorists.
4. Halt any further immigration for a period of five years.
5. Deport foreign criminals, seditious dual nationality Islamists and illegal immigrants.
6. Abolish all multicultural and equality quangos.
7. Halt and turn back all aspects of the Islamisation of Britain, including Sharia finance.
8. Drastically reduce crime – criminals should fear the consequences of their behaviour.
9. Repair the damage wreaked by the progressive educational establishment.
10. Promote British values and assimilation, rather than multiculturalism and division.
11. Rebuild Britain’s Armed Forces to 1980 levels.
12. Diminish the public sector and government interference in the private sector.
13. Withdraw troops from all areas where we are not directly threatened.
14. Cancel foreign aid to countries which do not deserve or need it.
15. End welfare payments to immigrants; they must pay for their housing and children.
16. Ensure no elderly person lives in fear, and can afford both heat and food in the winter.
17. Abolish destructive Political Correctness, promote Common Sense.
18. Promote morality, marriage, the family, the community and the nation state.
19. Allow pubs the freedom of operating as smoking or non-smoking establishments.
20. Live by Christianity’s Golden Rule: “Do unto others as thou wouldst be done by.”
 |
| Paul Ray |
Tommy Robinson has been arrested on trumped up charges of entering the United States on a fraudulent passport. A charge that is suppose to send him back to the United States and a long US prison term. Until then the British have sentenced him to death by placing Mr. Robinson in the Muslim wing of the prison and given a Muslim cellmate. Pray for his safety.
Our State Department is in collusion with the British government on this. The expression of Free Speech is to be denied to NATIVE Brits. But NATIVE Europeans are to be denied rights under Obama's and the left's New World Order.
If they can win, Britain is lost without a Civil War. Pray for them.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Jihad Awareness Month
After complaints from Muslim organizations, the Obama Administration is eliminating all counter-Jihad training in the U.S. government.
Hat Tip: Barack Obama
Hat Tip: Barack Obama
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Muslim Imam Refuses To Preach Terrorism Values! (Umm....He's Shot To Death That Night)
Cross posted from Holger AwakensOkay, so you are an islamic imam in Pakistan and some jihadis come to you and ask that you start preaching the doctrine of jihad and also let them use your mosque as a terror center. So you say "No!" That's a good thing right? Well, not so good if you are the imam because Obaidullah Ustad did just that in Pakistan and later that night, the jihadis came back and filled him full of bullet holes.
He's now dead.
So much for standing up to the will of allah, huh?
The story comes from Tribune.com.
Militants kill mosque cleric for resisting 'terrorist value' preaching
NOWSHERA: A mosque cleric was shot dead by militants in Nowshera District, after resisting their attempts to preach terrorism in his mosque Police said.
Obaidullah Ustad, imam of the Shaidu village mosque in Nowshera had earlier stopped militants from preaching “terrorist values” at the mosque. “It was because of this resistance that the militants returned later in the evening and shot him inside the mosque” District Police Officer (DPO)Muhammad Hussein said while speaking to The Express Tribune.
Obaidullah was severely injured and rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries hospital authorities said. Sources said that the militants wanted to have access to the mosque and use it as a base to find new recruits. The militants reportedly belonged to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Nowshera and its surrounding area have been the hub of militant activities in the recent past. On October 28, a suicide bomber claimed the life of two police officers as he attempted to target Ajmir Shah, the SHO who had started a massive operation against militants in the area.
Friday, August 26, 2011
It's In The Koran! I'm Allowed To Kill You!
Hat Tip to Zilla of the Resistance
I will put this one in the Chutzpah files.
The foreign asshole known as the Underwear Bomber, also known as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is demanding the government release him immediately. His reasoning (if you can call it that) is because he is a Muslim and can only be tried under the rule of Koran. In other words, only Shar'ia Law can be applied to his case.
This idiot is definitely a fool. If he keeps trying stunts like this one, the presiding judge will remove his right to defend himself and appoint a lawyer for him. Doing that will push the trial date back even further.
He is very lucky the bomb was a dud. It might not have blown up the plane, but it would have easily blown up his dangly bits. He would have been singing soprano for the rest of his very short life.
I will put this one in the Chutzpah files.
The foreign asshole known as the Underwear Bomber, also known as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is demanding the government release him immediately. His reasoning (if you can call it that) is because he is a Muslim and can only be tried under the rule of Koran. In other words, only Shar'ia Law can be applied to his case.
The so-called underwear bomber charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner is arguing for his prison release, claiming wrongful imprisonment by the American government.There is an old legal saying: "He who represents himself in court has a fool for a client."
In a handwritten court document filed today, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, asked the court to release him from prison, arguing that "all Muslims should only be ruled by the law of the Quran."
"The defendant is being unjustly detained in the Unites States of American, and subjected to the Rule of Man," wrote Abdulmutallab, adding he should "only be judged and ruled by the law of the Quran."
In a separate, handwritten court filing, the Nigerian national also wrote that "excessive force" was used to restrain him on Wednesday while he was in his closed cell, during the "holy month of Ramadan." He wrote that between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., "in defense of Muhammad," he assaulted several officers from his cell, and that as a result, "excessive force" was used to restrain him.
Abdulmutallab, who is acting as his own attorney in the case, also asked the court to order that no excessive force be used on him.
Abdulmutallab, who has insisted on representing himself, is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 4 on charges he tried to blow up a passenger airliner with 279 passengers and 11 crew members on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb in his underwear.
Authorities have said that Abdulmutallab is an al-Qaida operative trained in Yemen for the suicide mission, which was foiled when a passenger subdued Abdulmutallab. He is facing numerous criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism.
In September, Abdulmutallab fired his government-appointed lawyers and suggested that he wanted to plead guilty to some charges. He has said nothing about a plea since.
U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds has appointed prominent criminal defense attorney Anthony Chambers as his standby attorney.
Chambers has said that a plea is unlikely, and that the case is headed for trial.
"We will challenge everything," Chambers said earlier this year, noting his client "has a full understanding of his situation."
Chambers declined comment on the latest filings by Abdulmutullab. He would only say:
"We are preparing for trial. There have been no plea discussions."
Source
This idiot is definitely a fool. If he keeps trying stunts like this one, the presiding judge will remove his right to defend himself and appoint a lawyer for him. Doing that will push the trial date back even further.
He is very lucky the bomb was a dud. It might not have blown up the plane, but it would have easily blown up his dangly bits. He would have been singing soprano for the rest of his very short life.
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