I urge native Europeans to raise more children!

And I say this because I care about your future. I also present three articles by Jonathan Last in the Philadelphia Inquirer about socioconomic implications of demography that are well worth reading.

Realists don't live in reality

It's been spoken about earlier, and still deserves considerable attention, on how Condi Rice, for example, is a "realist" who refuses to accept reality. She's one of four examples cited in Mark Steyn's recent column in the Chicago Sun-Times, in an interview originally published by Cal Thomas, and it sounds as though she does not even want to accept reality:

"The great majority of Palestinian people," said the secretary of state to Cal Thomas the other day, "they just want a better life. This is an educated population. I mean, they have a kind of culture of education and a culture of civil society. I just don't believe mothers want their children to grow up to be suicide bombers. I think the mothers want their children to grow up to go to university. And if you can create the right conditions, that's what people are going to do."

Cal Thomas asked a sharp follow-up: "Do you think this or do you know this?"

"Well, I think I know it," said Dr. Rice.

"You think you know it?"

"I think I know it."

As far as I can tell, part of the problem is that Condi sounds as though she's made up her mind, and doesn't want to talk about it any further. And that's exactly the problem with such people: they don't want to discuss the issues.

Tammy Bruce (via Hot Air) shows what reality is really like out there.

Also, as Melanie Phillips (who points to two columns by Khaled Abu Toameh and Caroline Glick) notes:

Those who know President Bush say that alarm over Baker and Gates should not be overdone, since Bush is a man who means what he says and is unlikely to retreat from his stated positions over seeing it through in Iraq and not tolerating Iranian nuclear weapons. Against that, however, is the fact that he does rely on Condoleezza Rice; and no less disturbingly, that he requires his people to present him with a consensus for action. This means he does not hear rival proposals, and instead gets served with proposals which are forced to embody the lowest common denominator. This is not the leadership required for the defence of the free world.

Absolutely correct. Perhaps it's time to replace some of the current staff choices?

Update: David Bedein asks in The Evening Bulletin: "Did Condoleezza Rice Commit A Felony By Offering Weapons To A Terror Organization?" Worth reading in full.

Putin's becoming more monstrous

Vladimir Putin, already establishing himself as the newest dictator in Russia, following the collapse of the almost established democracy in Russia during the 1990s, has taken to offing his critics, not just in the former USSR (which could also be returning), but also on foreign soil, the latest case being in Britain (earlier, it was a writer found dead in Russia itself). From the Wall Street Journal (via Betsy's Page), a discussion on how it's pretty obvious that Putin's got everything to do with the assassinations:

The evidence points instead to Litvinenko having been murdered by the FSB, which, together with the other "force ministries," has become the dominant political force in Russia today.

The FSB has always had a strong interest in Vladimir Putin's critics abroad. In December 2001, a Russian police official, in announcing a warrant for Mr. Berezovsky's arrest, said, "We know what he eats for breakfast, where he has lunch and where he buys his groceries." This was followed up in September 2003 with an unsuccessful attempt to kill Mr. Berezovsky with a needle camouflaged as a pen. The British reacted by granting Mr. Berezovsky political asylum. In 2004, a stranger threw a Molotov cocktail at Litvinenko and Akhmed Zakaev, the London representative of the separatist government of Chechnya, as they stood on the street near Litvinenko's residence. Besides a history of tracking Mr. Putin's opponents, the FSB could have been encouraged to kill Litvinenko because in June the Russian State Duma passed a law allowing the president to authorize attacks by the FSB on "terrorists" in foreign countries. In fact, the Russian intelligence services do not need a law to attack persons they regard as terrorists abroad. On Feb. 13, 2004, the former Chechen president, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, was killed and his 12-year-old son seriously injured when a bomb attached by Russian agents ripped apart their SUV. The new law, however, gives a seal of legitimacy to such operations and guarantees that those who carried them out will not be disowned or forgotten in the event of failure (or possibly even prosecuted in a post-Putin democratic dispensation).

In the last six years, the makeup of the ruling elite in Russia has undergone a dramatic change. Once in power, Mr. Putin filled the majority of important posts with veterans of the security services, many with ties to him dating back to his work in St. Petersburg. By 2003, the top ministers, half of the members of the Russian security council and 70% of all senior regional officials in Russia were former members of the security services. At the same time, many of these persons gained access to great wealth. Russia was already highly corrupt under Boris Yeltsin but, according to IDEM, an independent Russian think tank, with the rise in oil prices the level of corruption in Russia between 2002 and 2005 increased 900%.

The result of these developments was that Mr. Putin created an FSB ruling class. As this class became rooted, the victims of contract killers in Russia began to include some of the most prominent political figures in the country.

That Putin sought to off one of his own critics using radiation is good reason to worry. Clearly, this sinister man is willing to risk lives, and it wouldn't surprise me if he's got as many nuclear weapon plans stored away as Iran and North Korea do. He must be stopped.

Update: Daniel Freedman asks if British police will question Putin in the case. Alas, the problem is that, with the position he's in for now, they can't.

Hamas has missiles stored in Samaria

If you thought that the Hamas only had rockets stored in Gaza, think again:

As Hamas wins a ceasefire from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert despite the group’s continued firing of Kassam missiles, the Fatah group has announced it also has missiles, in Samaria.

Fatah’s Al-Aksa Brigade displayed the new missiles, which the group calls Jundalla (meaning Allah’s soldiers), at a press conference held for the foreign wire services Tuesday.

Rockets in Judea and Samaria would potentially put cities in the coastal plain, Israel’s International Airport, as well as Jerusalem, all within striking range (illustrative photo above).

The Fatah terrorists, located in Palestinian Authority-assigned Shechem (Nablus), said that they were prepared to begin firing the rockets at Israeli towns.

At the press conference, to which Arab correspondents working for Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse were invited, twenty members of the terrorist group brandished at least four of the new rockets.

The five-foot long rockets have a range of more than two miles and carry at least 6.6 pounds of explosives, the terrorists claimed.

Well. What's Ehud Olmert got to say about that?

Shari'a "legal" system on the rise in the UK

First, the good news. About that veil-wearing "teacher" in Britain who refused to take off her veil during lessons, Aishah Azmi, she's been dismissed (Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch). Unfortunately, considering how the country's government has been tolerating much else of Islam, that's just a drop in the bucket, as this report from the Telegraph shows (also via Dhimmi Watch):

Islamic sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in parts of Britain, a report claims.

Sharia, derived from several sources including the Koran, is applied to varying degrees in predominantly Muslim countries but it has no binding status in Britain.

However, the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action produced evidence yesterday that it was being used by some Muslims as an alternative to English criminal law. Aydarus Yusuf, 29, a youth worker from Somalia, recalled a stabbing case that was decided by an unofficial Somali "court" sitting in Woolwich, south-east London.

Mr Yusuf said a group of Somali youths were arrested on suspicion of stabbing another Somali teenager. The victim's family told the police it would be settled out of court and the suspects were released on bail.

A hearing was convened and elders ordered the assailants to compensate their victim. "All their uncles and their fathers were there," said Mr Yusuf. "So they all put something towards that and apologised for the wrongdoing."

Although Scotland Yard had no information about that case yesterday, a spokesman said it was common for the police not to proceed with assault cases if the victims decided not to press charges.

However, the spokesman said cases of domestic violence, including rape, might go to trial regardless of the victim's wishes.

Mr Yusuf told the programme he felt more bound by the traditional law of his birth than by the laws of his adopted country. "Us Somalis, wherever we are in the world, we have our own law," he said. "It's not sharia, it's not religious — it's just a cultural thing."

Oh yeah, I'll bet. Not this and not that. Please.

Sharia's great strength was the effectiveness of its penalties, he said. Those who appeared before religious courts would avoid re-offending so as not to bring shame on their families.

Some lawyers welcomed the advance of what has become known as "legal pluralism".

Dr Prakash Shah, a senior lecturer in law at Queen Mary University of London, said such tribunals "could be more effective than the formal legal system".

In his book Islam in Britain, Patrick Sookhdeo, director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, says there is an "alternative parallel unofficial legal system" that operates in the Muslim community on a voluntary basis.

"Sharia courts now operate in most larger cities, with different sectarian and ethnic groups operating their own courts that cater to their specific needs according to their traditions," he says. These are based on sharia councils, set up in Britain to help Muslims solve family and personal problems.

They fail to mention however, some of the really grisly penalties involved in Shari'a. Read here for more on what those are.

Sharia councils may grant divorces under religious law to a woman whose husband refuses to complete a civil divorce by declaring his marriage over. There is evidence that these councils are evolving into courts of arbitration.

Why do I get the feeling that they're unlikely to be helpful to women, no matter what's said here?

Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi, a barrister and principal of Hijaz College Islamic University, near Nuneaton, Warwicks, said this type of court had advantages for Muslims. "It operates on a low budget, it operates on very small timescales and the process and the laws of evidence are far more lenient and it's less awesome an environment than the English courts," he said.

Mr Siddiqi predicted that there would be a formal network of Muslim courts within a decade.

"I was speaking to a police officer who said we no longer have the bobby on the beat who will give somebody a slap on the wrist.

"So I think there is a case to be made under which the elders sit together and reprimand people, trying to get them to change."

Oh, I'll bet. And if it's allowed to continue, it'll only get worse.

Tancredo's got some points

I know I'm arriving on this subject late, but Tom Tancredo does have something to his argument about Dubya being an internationalist, and the disaster of the European Union should serve as an example why it could be disastrous for the American continent as well. Here's Tancredo's exclusive interview with WorldNetDaily (Hat tip: The Amboy Times):

PALM BEACH, Fla. – President Bush believes America should be more of an idea than an actual place, a Republican congressman told WND in an exclusive interview.

"People have to understand what we're talking about here. The president of the United States is an internationalist," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. "He is going to do what he can to create a place where the idea of America is just that – it's an idea. It's not an actual place defined by borders. I mean this is where this guy is really going."

Tancredo lashed out at the White House's lack of action in securing U.S. borders, and said efforts to merge the U.S. with both Mexico and Canada is not a fantasy.

"I know this is dramatic – or maybe somebody would say overly dramatic – but I'm telling you, that everything I see leads me to believe that this whole idea of the North American Union, it's not something that just is written about by right-wing fringe kooks. It is something in the head of the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, I think the prime minister of Canada buys into it.

"And they would just tell you, 'Well, sure, it's a natural thing. It's part of the great globalization ... of the economy.' They assume it's a natural, evolutionary event that's going to occur here. I hope they're wrong and I'm going to try my best to make sure they're wrong. But I'm telling you the tide is great. The tide is moving in their direction. We have to say that."

[...]

He said quickly changing demographics can cause big problems, and specifically cited the "Islamization of Europe" in recent years which has led to conflict across the continent.

What Tancredo talks about here is definitely a concern no matter where you are in the world. In fact, one should take a look at Michigan areas like Dearborn and Hamtramck, which now both have large Muslim populations.

Earlier, the Mexican ambassador said there needs to be a "North American Union." In fact, what if there were to come a whole continental union, similar to the EU? You know what that could mean? In the case of the EU, certainly later on, the agreement among the nations who joined was that the borders between countries would be open to each other. That's how illegal aliens and terrorists can infiltrate many countries there. And the Euro currency, as it turned out, ultimately caused more harm than good for Europe. What if there were to be introduced a single currency for the whole American continent? Not only would it suggest that Amerians would find themselves changing the legendary dollar bills, it could also end up leading to a currency that could be more harmful than helpful. Wall Street could take a plunge.

But even more damaging is if illegal immigrants - and terrorists - could end up gaining easy access into the US via open borders similar to the EU, and other countries on the continent as well. That, I'm sure many will agree, is a danger that cannot be allowed to happen.

So Tancredo is quite right to be concerned. The disasters that the EU led to cannot be repeated in the US. Just like it's important to repair mistakes - which is why it needs to be argued more that the EU needs to be dissolved - it's also important to prevent mistakes from occuring. And that's why Tancredo's argument makes more sense than it seems.

Update: well, this gets interesting. No sooner do I post about this, than along comes news of a London stock exchange manager who urges converting to a currency called the "amero", the proposed idea of an equivalent for the Euro. After the damage the Euro did to Europe, it would be ill-advised for the American continent to make the same mistake. Especially if it were to lead to the US losing its borders.

Malkin talks about the imams misbehaving on the plane

Hot Air's got a recording of Michelle Malkin's discussion on O'Reilly about those misbehaving, anti-American imams who deliberately provoked the crowd on a plane in Minneapolis.

Speaking of which, the imams just recently staged a protest at Reagan airport in Washington as well (via Jammie Wearing Fool), continuing on with their sob-story routine with a couple of other apologists and dhimmis accompanying them as well.

Update: and here's Michelle's Vent to go with it. Age of Hooper also recorded their sob-story continuation at the Reagan Airport. Note that rabbi named Arthur Waskow, who appears to be very friendly with Cindy Sheehan. They certainly know whom to turn to for backing up their sob-story routine, don't they?

Michelle also points to Audrey Hudson's study of how the imams sought to terrorize the airliner. Plus, Power Line found some important info from Soliah.Com about the extended seatbelts the imams were using:

I believe the seat belt extensions create a serious airline security threat. This is one heck of a weapon that has been overlooked. Basically the "heavy" head of this is very heavy with both the latch and the belt adjuster lock thing. In a weapon sense it's a lot like a padlock on a chain or in prison a canned item in a sock. A solid blow to the head can disable and the strap can be used to choke or restrain. I was astounded that these were [allowed for use as] carry on items.

When you look more closely at what the imams were up to there, it becomes very disturbing.

What is Ralph Peters thinking?

New York Post columnist Ralph Peters writes a very stupid disagreement with people like Mark Steyn in which he argues that neo-nazis will protect Europe. It's titled "The Eurabia Myth", and I should point out that that's only going to be if everybody focuses on fighting back properly. For example, Peters says:

The notion that continental Europeans, who are world-champion haters, will let the impoverished Muslim immigrants they confine to ghettos take over their societies and extend the caliphate from the Amalfi Coast to Amsterdam has it exactly wrong.

I beg your pardon? To imply that Europeans are a whole seaful of hatemongers, especially when seeing how they foolishly let them into the country to begin with, is going a bit too far. Okay, it was the governments of Europe who're actually responsible, but just how exactly does that make Europeans haters? What proof is there?

Peters even links to this awful picture with the following caption:

"Paradise, not: Europe still has plenty of haters who'll keep all Muslims marginalized (or worse), like these neo-Nazis at a Berlin street protest."

Just what exactly is this insult?!? Legitimizing German fascists, among other Euro-hoodlums, because they're supposedly a lesser evil? Please.

More BS:

The endangered species isn't the "peace loving" European lolling in his or her welfare state, but the continent's Muslims immigrants - and their multi-generation descendents - who were foolish enough to imagine that Europeans would share their toys.

In fact, Muslims are hardly welcome to pick up the trash on Europe's playgrounds.

Reality check: the Europeans did share their toys with them, most definitely welfare money and bus fare. And Don Singleton has a handy response to the second part of this:

They don't want to pick up trash. They want to be paid for not picking up the trash (socialism), and yet permitted to do things their way (Sharia law) in areas they control.

Yup. Do your homework, Peters.

Don't let Europe's current round of playing pacifist dress-up fool you: This is the continent that perfected genocide and ethnic cleansing, the happy-go-lucky slice of humanity that brought us such recent hits as the Holocaust and Srebrenica.

I'm ready to vomit now. This is really sick. Putting virtually all of Europe in the same boat as Nazi Germany, is that it?

THE historical patterns are clear: When Europeans feel sufficiently threatened - even when the threat's concocted nonsense - they don't just react, they over-react with stunning ferocity. One of their more-humane (and frequently employed) techniques has been ethnic cleansing.

And Europeans won't even need to re-write "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" with an Islamist theme - real Muslims zealots provide Europe's bigots with all the propaganda they need. Al Qaeda and its wannabe fans are the worst thing that could have happened to Europe's Muslims. Europe hasn't broken free of its historical addictions - we're going to see Europe's history reprised on meth.

That's it! This man is not worthy of his position, and I will never read his columns out of fandom again. Must it be pointed out that only when the threat makes sense that they should react in any way? And is Peters doing a subtle legitimization of the Protocols monstrosity? GAH!

The year 1492 wasn't just big for Columbus. It's also when Spain expelled its culturally magnificent Jewish community en masse - to be followed shortly by the Moors, Muslims who had been on the Iberian Peninsula for more than 800 years.

Jews got the boot elsewhere in Europe, too - if they weren't just killed on the spot. When Shakespeare wrote "The Merchant of Venice," it's a safe bet he'd never met a Jew. The Chosen People were long-gone from Jolly Olde England.

Gee, I don't know, were they? I have no idea if Jews had been expelled from England at around that time, but either way, I'm sure that ol' Shakespeare did meet some Jews. It's not like at that time, they tried to expel them let alone antagonize them. Regardless of that, Peters commits the unpardonable sin of sensationalizing serious subjects, even historically.

Far from enjoying the prospect of taking over Europe by having babies, Europe's Muslims are living on borrowed time.

That may be so, as Daniel Pipes once found signs that Muslim birthrates could be on a decline, but I still wouldn't underestimate. It all depends on if the European governments are willing to stop giving them all that welfare to abuse.

When a third of French voters have demonstrated their willingness to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front - a party that makes the Ku Klux Klan seem like Human Rights Watch - all predictions of Europe going gently into that good night are surreal.

Um, hello? Earth to Peters, have you read anything about Le Pen's volte-face? Or what those punks who worship him did last week? Wake up, Peters, and smell the coffee, or better yet, the napalm!

Confusion ensues further:

I have no difficulty imagining a scenario in which U.S. Navy ships are at anchor and U.S. Marines have gone ashore at Brest, Bremerhaven or Bari to guarantee the safe evacuation of Europe's Muslims. After all, we were the only ones to do anything about the slaughter of Muslims in the Balkans. And even though we botched it, our effort in Iraq was meant to give the Middle East's Muslims a last chance to escape their self-inflicted misery.

After what Islam did on 9-11, that's what you're suggesting? That the US defend the Muslims against the "opressive" Europeans?

AND we're lucky. The United States attracts the quality. American Muslims have a higher income level than our national average. We hear about the handful of rabble-rousers, but more of our fellow Americans who happen to be Muslims are doctors, professors and entrepreneurs.

And the American dream is still alive and well, thanks: Even the newest taxi driver stumbling over his English grammar knows he can truly become an American.

Provided that he upholds our laws, buster. And I might also point out that America's Muslims aren't as integrated as even you might want the readers to think. The same goes for Europe, whether it looks that way or not.

But European Muslims can't become French or Dutch or Italian or German. Even if they qualify for a passport, they remain second-class citizens. On a good day. And they're supposed to take over the continent that's exported more death than any other?

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out here that Peters is, simply put, belittling European countries and identities, and acting as if being American means that you're number one. Can we be clear here about something? America does do a lot to overcome its mistakes and better itself, but that does not mean that they're the only ones who do, or who want to. Even Europeans can and do too.

The jobless and hopeless kids in the suburbs may burn a couple of cars, but we'll always have Paris.

With 9 no-go zones in Paris, that's a bit hard to believe. Only if the French authorities be bold and stern and take back the streets will we have Paris.

Peters is really going overboard, and even bending over backwards, in de-facto legitimizing and sensationalizing hatred, blanket smearing Europeans, and even, guess what - trying to make it seem as though Muslims in Europe are victims. Phooey. This so-called columnist is not for us.

Update: Mark Steyn answers at Power Line, and makes some good points as to just how off base Peters is.

Protest against Chavez in Venezuela

It looks like there may be hope for Venezuela. A colossal protest came out against Chavez in Caracas. Venezuela News & Views has a video, and V-Crisis has some news too (Hat tip: Gateway Pundit). Despite Chavez's roadblocks, it did not stop the turnout.

With any luck, Iran won't be able to rely on Chavez as an ally in evil.

Dean Esmay's overboarding trips

Fellow blogger Dean Esmay may have some merits, but unfortunately, he's been writing too much of late that outweighs whatever credit I can give him. I was very appalled when I found out that he made sloppy, stupid attacks on Jihad Watch's Robert Spencer, for example. Now, I have to find out that he even goes so far as to attack Meir Kahane by drawing a form of moral eqivalence between him and Muslim terrorists.

First of all, as far as I know, whatever his bunch, the Jewish Defense League, if I'm correct, did do, was acts of vandalism, and in one case, they put a smoke bomb in a NY office that killed someone by smoke, but the killing appears to have been unintentional. They also killed an Arab in Jerusalem in revenge after Kahane was murdered by an Arab Muslim in New York who just happened to be a follower of the same blind sheik who's now in prison in New York on account of the first WTC bombing in 1993. That aside, I can't say that the JDL ran around committing crimes like gang-rape either. Nor did they attack minority groups. Rather, they tried to defend Jews. So why then, does Esmay feel the need to describe Kahane as a "terrorist"? That's practically what enemies of Israel do as a way of expressing their hostility. You can find quite a lot of that kind of BS amongst Britain's bigoted elites.

Let me note that personally, I don't think much of the JDL by today's standards, and the only thing I do think they worked well in was when William Messner-Loebs wrote an amusing joke in The Flash in 1989, when Wally West found out that his mother mistook the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold for JDL representatives instead of the Justice League International (he exclaims "the Jewish Defense League, in costume?!?"). But while there may be an argument to be had on whether the JDL were a bunch of bozo vandals, they were definitely NOT a terrorist group. The whole description can sometimes go too far.

Meryl Yourish has a whole post about this that gives some pretty good points.

For his attacks on Robert Spencer, Kahane, and even Michelle Malkin, I can safely say that Dean Esmay won't be topping my list of favorites.

Soccer riot in France started by Le Pen worshipers

Although Jean-MarieDhimmi Le Pen is waning in support these days, courtesy of his sell-out to Muslims, he still has plenty of worshipers who're causing violent racial incitement, as took place the other day at a soccer match with Hapoel Tel Aviv. Oh, and one of the rioters was most likely a Muslim too. From the International Herald Tribune (via AntiCollective):

PARIS: A plainclothes police officer who shot to death a Paris soccer fan as he and a supporter of an Israeli club were under attack by a gang of hoodlums likely acted in self-defense, the Paris prosecutor said Friday.

French authorities, led by President Jacques Chirac, condemned the racially based violence that has been a constant backdrop among supporters of Paris Saint-Germain and erupted into a deadly incident after the Thursday night UEFA cup match between Paris Saint-Germain and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

One man was killed and another seriously injured, apparently with a single shot in the skirmish in which some PSG supporters shouted racial epithets.

The officer, originally from the Caribbean, was trying to protect a French Jew from the gang of PSG supporters, officials said.

Prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin said a judicial investigation would be formally opened Saturday for "voluntary injury leading to unintentional death" but that the transport police officer, identified as Antoine Granomort, likely fired his gun in legitimate defense.

He was confronted with "a horde ... of extremely excited, extremely violent and extremely aggressive people," Marin said on France-Info radio. The officer's aggressors were 50 centimeters to one meter (two to three feet) away when a single shot was fired, Marin said, apparently citing the police officer's account.

The prosecutor's office identified the dead man as 24-year-old Julien Quemener.

Granomort has been questioned about how the incident unfolded to determine when he fired and under what circumstances.

"They were shouting 'filthy Jew' and when they saw our colleague, who comes from the Caribbean, they also yelled, 'filthy black, we're going to get you," said Luc Poignant, a police union official.

Chirac condemned the racist remarks as "shameful."

They "inspire a feeling not only of condemnation, not only of stupefaction — but also of horror," the president said at a summit meeting in Italy.

Police said the two men who were shot were members of PSG's far-right fan base that has a notorious violent and racist history.

Some 200 members of the group, the Boulogne Boys, met outside the Parc des Princes stadium Friday night to issue a call for calm.

"We are, of course, appalled by what happened and call for calm from all Parisian supporters," a statement handed out by the group said.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said some PSG fans shouted "Death to the Jew" as they attacked the Hapoel fan. The police officer responded with tear gas, but was knocked to the ground by a blow to the head and kick to the stomach, Sarkozy said. He then drew his gun and opened fire.

"Two men fell to the ground, of which one died from his wounds, while the other suffered a lung injury," Sarkozy said.

The Paris prosecutor said the PSG supporters had made Nazi salutes and shouted, "Le Pen, president," a reference to Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme-right National Front party.

Here's another report from Reuters:

The Hapoel supporter was being pursued by around 100 PSG fans when plainclothes policeman Antoine Granomort intervened, according to the police.

At first he let off a tear gas canister to try to disperse the assailants, but then himself came under attack, and was kicked to the ground by the mob, police said.

Witnesses said he shouted "police, police" before opening fire, killing 25-year-old Julien Quemener and injuring Mounir Bouchaer, 26.

The latter person, I note, is most likely Arab, which shows that there certainly are Muslim racists turning up at these soccer games.

Soccer is no place for bigots, and authorities should do what they can to keep them out.

See also at Expatica (via Elder of Zion).

Open trackbacks: Blue Star Chronicles, bRight & Early, Cao's Blog, Is it Just Me, Jo's Cafe, Mark My Words, NIF, Pirate's Cove, Point Five, Pursuing Holiness, Stop the ACLU, Third World County.

Peretz may need to step down, but then so does Olmert

It's true that the Labor party's chairman (for now), Amir Peretz, is responsible for not taking any proper steps to halt rocket attacks on Sderot. However, that does not mean that Ehud Olmert (and even foreign minister Tzipi Livni) doesn't have responsibility to share. For now though, Peretz is certainly guilty of irresponsibility on his own part:

By most accounts, Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s days in his senior cabinet post are numbered. His future as party leader is also in jeopardy as a result of his behavior.

Labor Party leader Defense Minister Amir Peretz is not only battling to remain in his senior cabinet post, but for his future as party leader as well. His adamant refusal to "do the right thing" and step down in compliance with public opinion polls and expressed wishes of party leaders may land him a spot outside of the inner circle of the political arena.

Peretz’s party leadership victory last year was viewed as a brilliant political coup, leaving his post as head of the nation’s Histadrut labor federation to beat seasoned politicians for the party leadership. Vice Premier Shimon Peres, then still a leading Labor Party statesman, was among those who ran for the leadership spot, but in defiance of all odds, Peretz emerged the victor. Others he defeated included former party leader Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and MK Matan Vilnai.

It did not take long for critics of the new leader to express concerns, warning he was a political novice despite being a seasoned labor negotiator. It was a sure bet that Peretz would be given the responsibility for the treasury, a natural senior position for the Histadrut veteran. To the surprise of all, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a coalition deal with Labor, placing Peretz in the defense spot.

The announcement was met with grave warnings of ‘what if,’ that have since been realized, resulting - in the opinion of some analysts - in the IDF failures in this summer’s war in Lebanon. Supporters of Peretz, on the other hand, praised the move, complimenting Olmert on being the first prime minister to appoint a civilian to the post rather than a retired general. They believed the move would result in a less hawkish policy. However, regional realities vis-a-vis Arab terror continue to dictate Israel’s realities and the need for a retired general, most analysts agree.

[...]

A poll released today shows that 78% of the country would like Peretz to step down and hand over the post to someone with experience in running of the nation’s defense/intelligence and security agencies. The most visible candidate to date is Ehud Barak, a former Prime Minister and IDF chief of staff who happens to be the nation's most highly decorated soldier/officer. This is based on the assumption that Labor is not planning to break away from the coalition and wishes to maintain control of the defense post.

Is that so? Because Barak is the one who led to much of this downslide to begin with when he was prime minister, and there's no telling if he'll do any better. In any case, while Peretz can certainly be held accountable, let us be clear here: Ehud Olmert is also responsible, as is even his foreign minister Tzipi Livni, and they too should leave office ASAP. They've been trying repeatedly to avoid genuine show of muscle against the terrorists, and ergo, are not qualified to be political leaders.

Darfur situation gets worse

In this newsletter from SliwaNews, we discover that more jihad is eating away at Sudan:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Christian Solidarity International

November 24, 2006

Contact: Dr. John Eibner, Christian Solidarity International, 870 Hampshire Road, Suite T, Westlake Village, CA 91361 phone (805) 777 7107

Thousands of Black Sudanese Flee Islamist Violence near Darfur

The Displaced Struggle to Survive

Over 4,500 Black African civilians (of the Dinka tribe) have fled pogrom-like conditions in the Northern Sudanese town of Meiram, in Kordofan, near the border of Darfur and Southern Sudan, since November 10th. The displaced are now struggling to survive, without adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and medicines in the Southern Sudanese settlement of Majok Yienh Thiou, Aweil East County.

Refugees report that Arab Muslim supremacists threatened them, and committed acts of violence, including murder, rape, robbery and arson. According to a UN/NGO inter-agency report, survivors also claimed Black African children were tortured and beaten to death, with bodies thrown into wells. Many of the displaced arrived wounded in Southern Sudan.

The anti-Black African violence was incited, according to survivors, by Islamist Mujahadeen units, led by Masalam Mustaf, Dawud Harpas, Bakit Al Nil, Hamid Moammed Musa, and Hussien Jabir, with support from the Sudanese security organs. There were, however, local Arab Muslims who risked their lives to help the victims, including the tribal elders Abduljalil Bakar and Ireka Osman and a transportation company owner Hysam Maki. Bakar was reportedly arrested by Sudanese government security officers for help their fleeing Black African neighbors.

The violence in Meiram was sparked on the 9th of November as a result of armed conflict between two factions of militia led by the Islamized Southern Sudanese chief Abdelbagi Ayii. One faction is loyal to the Islamist-dominated Government of Sudan, while the other declared loyalty to the Black African-dominated autonomous Government of Southern Sudan.

Meiram and the surrounding area have been generally peaceful since the signing in January 2005 of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Unless the violence in Meiram is contained, it can expand and merge with the conflict in neighboring Darfur, only a few miles away.

CSI is responding to this emergency by providing basic medicines and survival kits, including plastic sheeting, a mosquito net, a water container, fishing hooks, a sickle, a cooking pot and a blanket. $40 will help purchase and deliver a survival kit.

CSI aid workers are now in the area. Please help save the lives of the survivors by sending donations to: Christian Solidarity International, 870 Hampshire Road, Suite T, Westlake Village, CA 91361.

I think it's time to press on Congress to do something about this.

The cunning menace of the BNP

Melanie Phillips warns that the British National Party is gaining ground in Britain - they know quite well how to take advantage of the situation there, what with radical Islam on the rise and mainstream politicians not doing their job well. But the fact remains that, whatever face they're putting on now, they are still a racist party to their rotten core, and you can't fight bigotry with bigots.

The BNP’s chairman, Nick Griffin, and another activist, Mark Collett, were accused of stirring up racial hatred. Griffin was accused of describing Islam as a ‘wicked, vicious faith’ and saying Muslims were turning Britain into a ‘ multiracial hell-hole’.

Earlier this year, a jury cleared the pair of similar charges but failed to reach verdicts on others. Last Friday, the debacle was all-too predictably repeated when Griffin and Collett were acquitted for the second time. Griffin had run rings round the prosecution by turning the proceedings into a purported trial of Islam, selecting passages from the Koran which he claimed justified terrorist attacks.

There was never any chance of a conviction, for the simple reason that such statements were an attack on a religion rather than a race. It is perfectly legitimate, after all, to say that the enforcement of extreme Islamic precepts poses a threat to the lives of millions of Asians — including, in fact, many Muslims.

It didn’t take a genius to work out that this trial was a win-win situation for the BNP. If Griffin and Collett had been convicted, they would have posed as martyrs to free speech. Their acquittal, on the other hand, has provided a tremendous boost for their repellent platform.

The truly galling thing is that the BNP is indeed a rabidly racist and anti-semitic party, and its attacks on Islam are a fig-leaf for prejudice against all Muslims, Asians and minorities. Griffin is on record as saying that ‘non-whites have no place here at all’ and that he ‘will not rest until every last one has left our land’. In 1997, after he co-authored a pamphlet alleging Jewish conspiracies to brainwash people in Britain, he was given a two-year suspended prison sentence for inciting racial hatred.

If I didn't know better, I'd say that the mainstream politicians in Britain were actually helping the BNP to gain a foothold in politics by making them seem as though they were being discriminated against for protesting Islamic extremism while at the same time refraining from actually convicting them. Either way, it is clear that this is exactly what the BNP was hoping for, as it will enable them exploit it in and out, and try to trick people into legitimizing them much more than need be.

[Gordon] Brown is doubtless keen to burnish his credentials as a Prime Minister-in-waiting by displaying his toughness against all extremism. Hence his further statement that, as Prime Minister, he would take personal charge of the fight against terrorism.

But he doesn’t seem to realise that outlawing hatred of religion would undermine this fight, by shutting down crucial debate about Islam and its role in global terror.

Mr Brown said that most people would find some of Mr Griffin’s words offensive. Undoubtedly true. But criminalising those who give offence is oppressive. Religious believers across all faiths are offended virtually every day. Mr Brown’s view plays directly into the hands of those Muslims who try to stifle debate about Islamic terrorism on the grounds of ‘Islamophobia’.

And at the same time, this is undoubtably what the BNP is hoping to cash in on as well in future elections.

...although a Muslim was convicted last week of stirring up racial hatred at last February’s ugly demonstration against the Mohammed cartoons, others are still bafflingly allowed to continue preaching hatred of Jews, Americans or the West.

Now Griffin is milking this for all he is worth. The BNP already poses as a respectable party, alarmingly pulling the wool over the eyes of increasing numbers of people. It exploits legitimate concerns that the public feel mainstream politicians are ignoring — which currently include militant Islamism.

In fact, the BNP is not respectable, but remains a deeply racist party with abhorrent views, and no decent person should have anything to do with it. But it is making headway because voters feel betrayed and abandoned by the entire mainstream political class.

John Cruddas, the Labour MP for Dagenham in Essex, where the BNP won 11 council seats in last May’s local elections, has warned that it is ‘beginning to establish itself as a rival to Labour in many of our traditional heartlands’, drawing support not from hardcore racists but voters who have simply lost faith in mainstream politics.

It most certainly is disturbing. Unlike Jean-MarieDhimmi Le Pen, whose attempts to make his platform more friendly to Muslims and other anti-semites, including the black "comedian" Dieudonne, have backfired (already, he hinted in one news report that he may not run for presidency, because he couldn't get enough signatures from some sources), the BNP appears to be taking a much more clever approach, and frighteningly enough, it appears to be working.

There is darkness awaiting the blighty alright. Look out.

Colorado's attorney general makes a fool of himself

John Suthers, attorney general for Colorado, went to Saudi Arabia recently to assure the dictatorship there that Homaidan al-Turki, the Saudi student convicted for raping and enslaving his Indonesian maid, was being treated fairly (via Dhimmi Watch). Now that was uncalled for, since what al-Turki did was a crime, and no matter what "laws" they come up with in the House of Saud, that does not make it legal there either. It is unacceptable at any place, any time, and Saudi Arabia's dictatorship should be made to understand that. Alas, Suthers did not do that. Also appalling is that the Feds back Suthers on this.

Debbie Schlussel talks about this shameful display of dhimmitude in one of her latest op-eds, and one of her correspondents follows up with some more interesting observations.

Six imams detained at Minneapolis airport

The reason is because they basically tried to intimdate the other passengers. This letter on Jihad Watch thanking the authorities for doing their job can help give some insight into that. CAIR goes whining again, and should again be told to sit down and shut up. Here's an article on Breitbart about it (via Michelle Malkin), and here's some more telling info from Robert Spencer about one of the imams, Omar Shahin, who's got connections with al Qaeda and the Hamas.

It's important to note that certain Democratic leaders in Congress, like Nancy Pelosi, want to try and criminalize airport investigations of Muslims, as Front Page Mag warns. If we want to keep the airlines safe, we need to be ready to face them.

I see that Muslims leaders are calling for a boycott of US airlines. Good. We could always do with less crowdedness anyway.

Update: as noted in this report, the imams made anti-American comments about the war in Iraq too.

Others on the subject include Bill's Bites, Assorted Babble, Gateway Pundit, Flopping Aces, Dumb Looks Still Free, Power Line, Hot Air, Leaning Straight Up, Jihadi du Jour, Stop the ACLU, Riehl World View.

UN "human rights" commisioner gets deservedly shunned in Sderot

Louise Arbour, the UN's "human rights" commissioner who's Canadian, got a negative reception in Sderot yesterday, and deservedly so, if you read what her reaction was here. There was a video on CBC that showed a woman worker who ran after Arbour screaming "Our children want to live." Here's a translation from the daily newspaper Yisraeli, November 21, 2006:

This morning, at the time kassam rockets fell, the UN's human rights commisioner, Louise Arbour, toured the area, together with Sderot mayor Eli Moyal. The visit was planned long in advance, yet it took a surprising turn in light of the kassams falling.

After the news of the deadly attack on the [chicken-packing] plant, they arrived at the area.

When the workers realized who the anonymous visitor was they reacted in anger, cursed her and tried to hit her car claiming that the UN one-sidedly supports the palestinians. Arbour did not expect her visit to raise a storm and tried to talk to the workers, but when the police escorts realized that there was a danger to her life, she was evacuated along with Moyal.

She deserved whatever she got. This was shortly after a factory worker, Yaakov Yaakobov, was murdered by one of the attacks, and she dares approach under the auspices of the UN? Ms. Arbour, please kindly go home.

Robert Redeker gets rally in his support

And will hopefully be able to come out of hiding safely. As told in this entry sent to Atlas Shrugs by Nidra Poller:

Good news: the intellectuals have mobilized in support of Robert Redeker. They held a big all star rally in Toulouse last night, another one in Paris tonight. He is going to come out of hiding. Chalk one up for free speech. And bless the angels that will watch over him.

I also wish him and his family a safe return to regular life, and am glad that he got some much needed support.

Parents must be on lookout for jihad word search puzzles

A Muslim teacher who ran a Spanish class resigned recently for attempting to foist a jihadi puzzle upon his class (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin):

A Spanish teacher at Smithfield-Selma Senior High School resigned this week after handing out an assignment that some students and parents said teaches hate.

Khalid Chahhou, who was in his first year of teaching in Johnston County, gave students a worksheet in which they were to translate words and find them within a word-search puzzle.

Some students started uncovering strange words in the process.

"There were words like 'kill,' then I saw it said 'destroy America,'" Eric Herrera said.

As they read on, students found the puzzle contained a paragraph that contained the following phrases:

*"Sharon killed a lot of innocent people," a possible reference to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

*"Palestine is not a terrorist group."

*"Allah help destroy this body of evil making humanity miserable."

Yech. This man should have his teaching degree revoked. He's even worse than Jay Bennish.

Others disgusted at this news include Shock and Blog, Flopping Aces, Sma' Talk Wit' T, Wake Up America, The Jawa Report, Sweet Spirits of Ammonia, IRIS Blog, Sand in the Hourglass, Bill's Bites, Pirate's Cove, Right Voices, OpinionBug.

British Muslim activist sent funds to British Holocaust denier

Bigots, as this Observer article indicates, can get support from other bigots as well, and it's disturbing as can be:

One of Britain's most prominent speakers on Muslim issues is today exposed as a supporter of David Irving, the controversial historian who for years denied the Holocaust took place.

Asghar Bukhari, a founder member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC), which describes itself as Britain's largest Muslim civil rights group, sent money to Irving and urged Islamic websites to ask visitors to make donations to his fighting fund.

Bukhari contacted the discredited historian, sentenced this year to three years in an Austrian prison for Holocaust denial, after reading his website. He headed his mail to Irving with a quotation attributed to the philosopher John Locke: 'All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to stand idle.'

In one email Bukhari tells Irving: 'You may feel like you are on your own but rest assured many people are with you in your fight for the Truth.' Bukhari pledges to make a donation of £60 to Irving's fighting fund and says that he has asked 'a few of my colleagues to send some in too'. He also offers to send Irving a book, They Dare to Speak Out, by Paul Findley, a former US Senator, who has attacked his country's close relationship with Israel. Bukhari says Findley 'has suffered like you in trying to expose certain falsehoods perpetrated by the Jews'.

In a follow-up letter, Bukhari writes: 'Here is the cheque I promised. Good luck, if there is any other way I can help please don't hestitate to call me. I have also asked many Muslim websites to create links to your own and ask for donations.'

Bukhari confirmed sending the letters in 2000. 'I had a lot of sympathy for anyone who opposed Israel,' Bukhari told The Observer said. 'I wrote letters to anyone who was tough against the Israelis - David Irving, Paul Findley, the PLO."I don't feel I have done anything wrong, to be honest. At the time I was of the belief he [Irving] was anti-Zionist, being smeared for nothing more then being anti-Zionist.

'The pro-Israeli lobby often accused people of anti-Semitism and smear tactics against groups and individuals is well known. I condemn anti-Semitism as strongly as I condemn Zionism (in my opinion they are both racist ideologies). I also believe that anyone who denies the Holocaust is wrong (I don't think they should be put behind bars for it though).'

One has to wonder how many more bigots will be dishing out support for other bigots as well. The one spoken about above is certainly one real cretin. Read the above and the article in full and you'll notice that Bukhari is trying to weasel out of the blame in classic taqqiya fashion. This is one truly disgusting man.

Troublemaking Muslim student gets tasered, police-bashing ensues

The UCLA had a Muslim student who defied campus police, refused to show an ID, and shreiked instead of just leaving a library laboratory cooperatively when the time came. You can see this video to find out just what happened (via Michelle Malkin), and here's the story from the UCLA Daily Bruin.

Predictably, a whole lot of police and authority-bashing has now ensued, ditto CAIR's exploitation of the case for their own cynical goals. I would recommend contacting the university if you know how to tell them that they shouldn't bend over backwards.

This reminds me also that tasers may be a very effective weapon to use against jihadists, and police in other countries should consider using them when dealing with Islamic ruffians.

Others on the subject include Stop the ACLU, Macsmind, Church and State, Doc Rampage, California Conservative, Right Voices, Bill's Bites, Wake Up America, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Say Anything, Right Wing News, Real Republican, The Jawa Report, Halbert's Cubicle, Red Alerts, Conservative Culture.

Unfair consulate survey

Yisrael Medad at My Right Word's got a very appalling page from a consulate survey that's given to those who come to the US consulate on Nablus Road in Jerusalem. He's right that it's unfair, and it certainly is something to be concerned about.

Pelosi loses in vote for majority leader, and one of Murtha's scandals comes to light

The Democrats' caucus chose Steny Hoyer to be majority leader. Aww, poor, poor Pelosi.

Also, here's some interesting news concerning John Murtha, though not without bias involved:

WASHINGTON — Though incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promises to push through ethical reforms in Congress, both of the Democrats vying to be her second-in-command have long histories of earmarking, close relationships with corporate interests, and using their positions to raise millions of dollars in campaign contributions.

Pelosi's choice for the job, Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, used his seat on the appropriations committee and the largely secret earmark process to obtain $121 million in earmarks during the current session, making him one of the top earmarkers in Congress, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Murtha, a tough-talking veteran who made headlines last year by denouncing President Bush's policy in Iraq, directed much of the money to firms and institutions in Johnstown, Pa., in his district. Defense contractors and other beneficiaries dominated a list of Murtha's top campaign contributors.

Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam scandal of the 1970s, which has prompted some to support the other man seeking the House majority leader's job — Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland — as the more ethical candidate.

Knock it off with "tough-talk" please. Weak-talk is more like it. Other than that, it's interesting to see that one of Murtha's own shady dealings of yore is now coming to light.

Others on the subject include Michelle Malkin, The Sundries Shack, Stop the ACLU, 186k Per Second, Webloggin, A Blog for All.

This Frenchman should be lauded as a hero

And so should Nicholas Sarkozy for helping him win an acquittal. Rene Dahan, a businessman who acted in self-defense and was arrested for it, got some help from Sarkozy when the latter intervened to get him released from jail and the charges dropped. From these two articles from Le Figaro (via Gallia Watch and the Jawa Report):

On October 27, at 9:00 A.M. René Dahan, a businessman from Nogent-sur-Marne, was attacked by three hooded criminals as he was getting ready to leave his home. Threatened with a magnum 357, he was struck on the head before managing to wrest the weapon from one of the intruders, who was attempting to strangle him, while his companions were tying up Mrs. Dahan. After firing one bullet that hit the ceiling, Dahan fired three more times, hitting the burglar who stumbled and fell out the window. He died shortly thereafter.

René Dahan was arrested for voluntary homicide and placed in the detention center at Fleury-Mérogis.

Dahan's lawyer, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard said he was "stunned. He's just an average citizen who suddenly finds himself behind bars." Dahan's brother Jean exclaimed: "Are you guilty for defending yourself? When you are the victim the only right you have is to die."

Now it appears that Nicolas Sarkozy has intervened to have Dahan released from prison. Chantal Dahan, the victim's wife, made the following statement: "It's the end of a nightmare that began with that terrible attack. My husband reacted heroically, legitimately defending himself. In this situation, we understand why there is an inquiry, but I am shocked that the judge ordered René's incarceration."

Pascal Clement, the Minister of Justice (known as the Keeper of the Seals), indicated that the "deeds attributed to René Dahan do not seem to conform to the notion of self-defense."

Be careful of Clement. He's clearly a very bad moonbat whose only idea of how to deal with violent criminals is to let them murder you.

See also at No-Pasaran.

Nancy Pelosi cares more about safety for Islam than for Americans

Robert Spencer talks on Hot Air about how Democrat Nancy Pelosi sides with Muslims in opposing searches at airports. To exclude Muslims from being searched at airports for possible weapons carrying and even investigating for possible terror ties is something that cannot be allowed. Besides, all people, no matter what their race, sex, or religious affiliation is, are all subject to searches at airports for security reasons.

Also in discussion here is Muslim congressman Keith Ellison, who's very friendly with CAIR, and another person whom we need to be on the lookout for.

Rocket attacks on Sderot claim first victim since "disengagement"

The result of not taking any serious action against the terrorists in Gaza:

A 17-year-old Sderot resident sustained serious injuries and three others were lightly wounded in a Qassam attack on the western Negev town Wednesday evening, the local municipality said.

The rocket landed in the city center, causing damage to buildings in the area; residents were asked to remain indoors.

Six rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip at the Western Negev Wednesday morning, and two of them landed in the town of Sderot.

One of the rockets hit a busy street in town, killing a 57 year old woman and seriously wounding a 24 year old man, one of the Defense Minister Amir Peretz's bodyguards who was on duty at the time. Peretz resides near the street where the rocket landed. Six other suffered from shock. Magen David Adom ambulance crews evacuated the casualties to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon.

The bodyguard lost both his legs from shrapnel and is currently still in surgery. Achlama Peretz, Defense Minister Amir Peretz's wife, phoned his family to offer any help she could provide.

Thanks to his incompetence, Peretz has cost even one of his own employees the use of his legs. There was a poll today in the free Hebrew language daily Yisraeli that told that 62% of the Israeli public feel that the Gen. chief of staff, Dan Halutz, who also shares some responsibility, should resign, and sizable percentages also felt the same about Ehud Olmert and Peretz.

Why "libel tourism" is a serious matter

Britain may be slowly sinking towards dhimmitude, but that doesn't mean we should allow certain of their unholy practices to determine the future of countries abroad.

Case in point: the heroic reporter Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It, who was discriminated against by a British court that ruled in favor of the shady Saudi millionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz to try and suppress her ability to investigate his ties to terror. She's now suing in US court to prevent her work from being suppressed by what's come to be known as "libel tourism" in the UK. The problem lies within Britain's libel laws, which are much worse than those in France. Here's an item from The Boston Globe (via Protein Wisdom and Michelle Malkin), that gives some important info on just what Britain welcomes:

AN IMPORTANT question will be argued tomorrow before the federal Court of Appeals in Manhattan: should American journalists who write about controversial issues be subjected to legal intimidation from abroad? More precisely, will American courts halt the growing practice of "libel tourism" whereby wealthy foreigners sue American writers and publishers in England, despite little chance of enforcing the judgment in this country?

Rachel Ehrenfeld, an adviser to the Defense Department and director of the New York-based American Center for Democracy, pioneered investigation into the financial roots of terrorism, first in her 1990 book "Narcoterrorism" and, most recently, in "Funding Evil -- How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It." She argued, controversially, that dollars from drug traffickers, corrupt state leaders, and wealthy Arab financiers, especially Saudis, fund terrorism.

One target of Ehrenfeld's work is Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz, former owner of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia and former chief operating officer of the scandal-ridden Bank of Credit and Commerce International. In 1992, he paid $225 million after his indictment in New York for his role in the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

In "Funding Evil," Ehrenfeld reported that bin Mahfouz deposited "tens of millions of dollars in London and New York directly into terrorist accounts" and transferred some $74 million to the International Islamic Relief Organization and the Muwafaq Foundation run by Yasin al-Qadi, a US-designated terrorist.

[...]

Bin Mahfouz and fellow libel tourists have made the English libel bar rich, leading the London Times to declare the United Kingdom the "libel capital of the Western world." English lawyers now refer to the "Arab effect" to describe the surge of English libel actions by wealthy, non resident Arabs accused of funding terrorism. This trend has produced a succession of rulings, settlements, and damage awards against English and American media defendants costing millions of pounds.

Bin Mahfouz has sued or threatened suit in England 33 times against those who linked him to terrorism. He runs a website boasting of his victories. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post all have settled with him. The English court enjoined publication of "Funding Evil" in Britain and awarded bin Mahfouz 60,000 pounds ($109,470), even though the merits of his allegations were never tried.

Rather than confront bin Mahfouz on England's libel-friendly turf, Ehrenfeld sued him in a New York federal court seeking a declaration that his English judgment is unenforceable in the United States as repugnant to the First Amendment.

The English judgment has impaired her ability to find publishers for her other work. Remarkably, the district court dismissed her case, ruling in effect that Ehrenfeld must await legal action in the United States by bin Mahfouz to enforce the English judgment before raising her First Amendment defense. However, his lawyers have declared he does not intend to enforce his judgment in this country.

Writers are now subject to intimidation by libel tourists. Little wonder that the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Association of American Publishers, and 14 other media groups have filed a "friend of the court" brief to support Ehrenfeld's quest to raise her First Amendment defense now. Until she is able to do so, she will have problems finding American publishers willing to risk publishing her research and writing.

I think I can tell what the problem is here. Britain may be threatening to prosecute or fine American publishers working in the UK who publish the works of people whom they don't agree with. But whatever exactly the problem is, here's what I have to say: even if a UK ruling cannot be enforced within the US, that doesn't mean that Americans should tolerate Britain's attempts to extend both theirs and Saudi Arabia's shari'a overseas. There's a reason why the pilgrims left Britain and journeyed to the north American shores.

Back in May, FPM reported that the Southern District Court in Manhattan dismissed the case:

...Judge Casey ignored Ehrenfeld’s plea for her First Amendment rights, and decided that he had no jurisdiction over the case. Ehrenfeld is filing an appeal and faces a daunting challenge of raising enough money to support a case that she believes will help determine whether or not American writers will be able to continue to expose America’s enemies.

This is more of a problem that you'd think, as The New York Sun suggests:

Whether American courts can block those judgments, or at least certain of their provisions, is a question none of the judges yesterday appeared especially eager to tackle. And the court expressed little interest in the First Amendment concerns that legal observers say are present in the case.

One judge on the panel, Jose Cabranes, seemed worried that a ruling in the researcher’s favor could open up American courts to suits challenging the judgments of other courts across the globe.

Are these leftist judges helming the case? I don't know. What I do know is that Ehrenfeld's First Amendment rights should not be ignored, that's for sure.

Also important here is the following exclusive from Dhimmi Watch written by Robert Locke:

The laws of Saudi Arabia, based upon the sharia law mandated by the Koran, do not recognize the rights and freedoms guaranteed Americans by the Constitution. The Saudi government makes no secret of its ambition to export Islamic tyranny worldwide, as the Koran commands. What most Americans don’t realize, is that American courts are helping it in a number of ways. For example, they are collaborating with Saudi attempts to squash the free-speech rights of Americans with abusive libel lawsuits.

[...]

British law requires the loser in a court case to pay the winner’s court costs. This is the real attraction for shady millionaires: the chance to bankrupt their opponents into silence. Because of this, Britain has become a Mecca for rich but shady characters seeking to purchase the appearance of legal vindication. There’s even a name for it: libel tourism.

...the larger issue, of course, is how it became the business of a British court to render judgments against American authors. The legal pretext here is laughably flimsy: despite the fact that the book was never published, or even offered for sale, in the UK, 26 Britons bought copies over the Internet from American booksellers like Amazon.com (which, to its credit, joined an amicus brief supporting Dr. Ehrenfeld in this.) And a few downloaded the first chapter, which was posted on the Internet.

By this standard, every author in the United States is now subject to Britain’s Victorian libel laws, and the Declaration of Independence has failed.

Clearly, Americans' fight to free themselves from Britain's prejudice is far from over. And I want to say that: whether or not Britain can actually enforce their screwed up laws over in the US does not mean that America shouldn't decry those would-be laws of theirs. I know what you're thinking. I'm suggesting that some kind of diplomatic effort should be made to protest against the imposing of laws by a foreign country on Americans that are contrary to the basic rights of Americans under their Constitution. Yes, that's what I'm arguing, and while I do realize that it's something that could take eons to really manifest, maybe it should be done. Britain, after all, is a country where the situation is becoming considerably worse all the time, as they sink ever deeper into the pit of dhimmitude, and to be quite honest, I can't see why any nation that believes in democracy should have to lead relations with a country that's going as backwards as the UK is. One of the commentators on Protein's blog says:

I am no lawyer, but the problem with this not being an issue that our courts can rule on is that the writer in question is being punished based upon a judgment in Britain. If citizens of this country can have their livelihood taken away by a decision in a court in another country, we need to make it our problem, as a country. We rightly believe in free speech, and just because other countries don’t have the same standards is no excuse for us to allow our citizens to be screwed by their backwards laws.

Of course, maybe we’re looking at this from the wrong end of the stick. Maybe we should be contacting the companies that are uncomfortable publishing her works, and remind them that she has done nothing wrong, and that we have protection in this country from such nonsense.

The commentor is correct, and not just on US matters, but on the rights of innocent people in Europe as well. Nobody with common sense should have to have their free speech rights trod on by abysmal laws like Britain's. It should be protested.

Ehrenfeld is fortunate to have received support from 9-11 Families for a Secure America. And if she still needs financial support, you can go here to see how to donate.

Open trackbacks: 123beta, Adam's Blog, Basil's Blog, bRight & Early, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, The Clash of Civilizations, The Mudville Gazette, NIF, Point Five, The Right Nation, Stop the ACLU, Woman Honor Thyself. Others on the subject include JunkYardBlog, Public Secrets, Rule of Reason, The Dougout, Tributaries, Heretical Librarian, Thoughts of a Conservative Christian.

The Gypsies of Gaza

Did you know that there are Gypsies living in the Gaza strip? Neither did I! But as this AFP article I found shows, there really are some Gypsies who live in this area, and unfortunately, they're being persecuted:

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Seated on her doorstep in a neighborhood in Gaza City, Narem puffs discontentedly on her cigarette, then sighs: "We used to be dancers and singers. Now we are nothing."

In Europe, they are called Gypsies or Roma. In Gaza, they are called the Nawar, a people with an ancestral tradition of song and dance who have been scattered for centuries throughout the Middle East.

But here, the rise of Islamist doctrine that accompanied the start of the second Palestinian uprising six years ago has sounded the death knoll for the Nawar way of life, pushed them into begging, and rendered them second-class citizens in a society regulated more and more by rigid rules.

"Our life was among the best. We wore the most beautiful dresses, we ate the best dishes. We sang Um Kalsum, Abdel Halim Hafez during marriages and celebrations. We were free," says Narem, 35, quickly throwing a scarf to cover her dark, flowing hair whenever a car passes.

"We didn´t learn in schools, but in the home. With us, you begin to sing and dance while still a child," she says. "My mother danced, my grandmother before her, and my great-grandmother also."

For decades, the Nawar wandered from city to town in the Gaza Strip and the wider Middle East, showing off their singing and dancing.

Fatima, 49, was a singer.

"We went from city to city, to Rafah, Khan Yunis, Jabaliya. We would set up tents and would play the oud and the drums. Some of us wandered as far as Egypt, Syria and Jordan," Fatima sighs.

"Life was as sweet as honey," she whispers, raising her eyes toward the sky.

This being from the AFP, it's not surprising that a bias can be found in here:

The establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, following the Oslo peace accords between the Israelis and Palestinians, made it even sweeter.

Buoyed by the belief that they would soon get their own state, the Palestinians were in the mood for celebrating.

"With the arrival of the Palestinian Authority, clubs were constructed on the sea shore. There was the Sunset, the Baida," says Sheikh Abu Mohammed, the patriarch of Gaza´s Nawar quarter.

Is this some sort of a PLO spokesperson who's quoted here? And are they trying to lump the Gypsies in with the Muslims? That sugary talk about nightclubs is certainly exaggerated or totally false, since after the PLO first took over, poverty soon took over, much more than beforehand. I wouldn't be surprised if the AFP did take it out of context.

But the eruption of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000 led by the Islamist Hamas movement -- changed all that.

"The extremists burned and closed all the clubs. They said it was ´haram,´ ´forbidden´ that girls dance and sing," Abu Mohammed says, dressed in his worn, faded long robe.

[...]

After the start of the second intifada, cinemas in Gaza were shut or burnt down, sale of alcohol banned, bathing suits on the beaches replaced by long-sleeved shirts and pants, and Nawar performances no longer welcomed.

[...]

Today the Nawar in Gaza live under the eye of a society that despises them at a time when violence and death have replaced celebrations.

It certainly is sad that they're living under the kind of oppression they are, and which may have gone on for much more time than the article implies.

PLO's Fatah threatens attacks on America

From the Counterterrorism Blog:

In a credible communique posted this morning along with other mujahideen press releases, the Palestinian Fatah faction and its affiliate the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have signed a joint statement with other Palestinian militants threatening to launch terrorist attacks on America in response to the mistaken killing of 20 Palestinians in Beit Hanoun earlier this week by the Israeli army. According to the statement, "America's support for the [Israeli] aggression prompted us to seriously consider it as a legitimate target for us... The American people are responsible for the consequences of their continued support for Israel." Referring to Americans as "Cowboys", the statement went on to denounce "powerful and merciless American strikes on Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan" and the "fraud" of the United Nations Security Council "which protects and safeguards the security of the Zionists at the expense of the blood of the Palestinians." Finally, the joint statement concluded: "Enough is enough... the Americans only understand the language of blood and broken bones."

This is one of their ways of attempting to make Israel the scapegoat for acting in justice. But they're also doing it because the US vetoed the UN's umpteenth desire to condemn Israel for combatting crime. From Little Green Footballs (via FPM's war blog), here's an article from the AFP, that is unsurprisingly one-sided:

GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Palestinian government has denounced the US veto of a UN Security Council resolution condemning an Israeli artillery barrage that killed 19 people in the Gaza Strip Wednesday.

“This decision by the American administration clearly means the granting of absolute legitimacy to the massacre and slaughter committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinian people,” Ghazi Hamad, the spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said in a statement Sunday.

“This decision means granting the occupation government continuing protection and cover with no limit for its crimes that they commit against innocent civilians in Palestine.”

Palestinian militants, meanwhile, vowed to deal with the US as an enemy after the veto.

Now isn't this another reason why the US shouldn't be funding them anymore?

KOS kids and the Irainian holocaust cartoon atrocity

As told in this YouTube clip, it seems that the Daily KOS supported the Iranian holocaust cartoon abomination, but King KOS himself asked his audience to un-recommend it due to the elections. Geez, what a bunch of fiends they are.

Salah Choudhury's life is in danger

I got this e-mail from SliwaNews, and it's not good:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Journalist Faces Death Penalty in Bangladesh

Trial This Monday, Nov. 13

Available for interviews

Former PLO Terrorist, Walid Shoebat, Demands Journalist's Freedom

DHAKA: Bangladesh -- While Palestinians mourners buried 18 civilians killed by Israel's recent shelling in Gaza, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of "The Weekly Blitz," and Muslim believer, stands trial for multiple counts of sedition, treason and blasphemy for reporting on the rise of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, publishing editorials in support of Israel, and for promoting peace between Muslims and Jews.

Choudhury has been beaten, tortured and imprisoned for his writings.

His trial convenes this Monday, Nov. 13. He faces a maximum penalty of death or 30 years imprisonment if found guilty.

Former terrorist and Hamas supporter, Walid Shoebat, is leading the charge for Choudhury's freedom. A number of congressional leaders from the left and right have joined Shoebat in demanding Choudhury's release.

"Courageous Muslims like Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury must be set free," Shoebat said. "Bangladesh receives $60 million in U.S. aid every year. The United States needs to encourage brave Muslims to speak freely, and when they do, we should all stand behind them and protect their freedom of speech."

Over 40 men attacked Choudhury and ransacked his office in Dhaka on Oct. 5. Leading members of the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) were among his attackers. Despite the visible damage to his office and the numerous injuries he received, police refused to let Choudhury file a complaint.

While his attackers were exonerated, Choudhury was arrested for publishing articles on the rise of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, for his editorials on Israel, and for his work in promoting peace among Muslims and Jews.

Choudhury is no stranger to political persecution. In 2003, he was arrested by security personnel in Dhaka, while en route to speak at a conference on "the role of media in establishing peace." Because of the work of human rights activist Dr. Richard Benkin in the U.S., Choudhury was finally freed in April, 2005, after spending 17 months in solitary confinement where he was severely tortured and often beaten.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and Walid Shoebat are available for interviews. Contact: M.Sliwa Public Relations, 973-272-2861 or msliwa@msliwa.com

Is there anything that can be done to help save him and get him out of there?

Update: Michelle Malkin is covering this too.

Update 2: Here's some more news from Sliwa for Nov 13:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and Walid Shoebat are available for interviews. Contact: M.Sliwa Public Relations, 973-272-2861 or msliwa@msliwa.com

Shoebat Fights for Muslim Dissident's Freedom

Journalist on Trial TODAY, Nov. 13

Available for Interviews

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, founder and editor of "The Weekly Blitz," stands trial in Bangladesh TODAY, Mon, Nov. 13, for sedition, treason and blasphemy. He faces a maximum penalty of death or 30 years imprisonment if found guilty.

Former terrorist, Walid Shoebat, (http://shoebat.com) is leading a campaign for Choudhury's freedom.

"We pay more attention to terrorists in Guantanamo than to the real conscientious objectors," Shoebat said. "Mr. Choudhury is a prime example of this. He is a journalist who was arrested for writing and speaking out against terrorism, and yet we never see anyone in Bangladesh who is arrested for writing or speaking out for terrorism."

Choudhury, a practicing Muslim, has been beaten, tortured and imprisoned for his writings, which are critical of the rise of terrorism and call for peace and understanding between Muslims and Jews.

Over 40 men attacked Choudhury and ransacked his office in Dhaka last month. Leading members of the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) were among his attackers. Despite the visible damage to his office and the numerous visible injuries he received, police refused to let Choudhury file a complaint. Instead, they let his attackers go free and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Choudhury is no stranger to political persecution. In 2003, he was arrested by security personnel in Dhaka, while en route to speak at a conference on "the role of the media in establishing peace." Because of the work of U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk and human rights activist Dr. Richard Benkin, Choudhury was finally freed in April 2005 after being imprisoned under deplorable conditions for 17 months. During that time, both of his legs were broken and he was often beaten and severely tortured.

Walid Shoebat is calling on everyone to join him in the fight for Choudhury's freedom.

I too urge everyone to do their best to get behind Choudhury and fight for his freedom!