Tel-Chai Nation

Atlas Shrugs presents the transcript Rifqa Bary gave during a conference call:

I gave my heart to God, that's when I was thirteen. At this point I knew what the consequences were, which was death, and my family, I knew it, but of course I wouldn't tell anyone because who would believe me, this is the US. I hid my Bible in my house, I would wake up in the middle of the night and cry out to God in the bathroom, ....and God would sustain me...I would cry out to him there and I would be ok because that would be enough. I would pray on the balcony when my parents were asleep, but for four years I hid as a secret Christian, and the Lord was simply good at sustaining me and setting my heart ablaze for his kingdom every step of the way.

The Islamic community there is very strong, and that's how my parents ... I had a facebook community, the mosque found out that my name was related to Jesus and I had things about God in there, Jesus, and was screaming about Jesus and talked he talked about Jesus, and phone call and emails started pouring in and threats were made by my father, and that was when I had to make the decision to either leave or denounce my faith.

So I wrote my parents a letter that Jesus Christ is my lord and saviour and that I refuse to deny him, that I pray and find their mercy and forgiveness, and that I love them very much, and I put on a backpack with no clothes, the lord told me to leave everything behind. So I ran for my life and God brought me here to Florida, and now my dad and the Islamic community want me back home, so there's a whole court proceeding going on in trying to get me back to Ohio. So yeah, that's my story, but I'll go wherever the Lord leads me. Thank you for all the prayers, I mean I'm not even supposed to be here.

She gave a prayer which the MSM will doubtless be negative about (I think I saw a left-wing blog doing just that), but to deal with the Islamofascist threat, that's why it pays to have strong beliefs.

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

A writer for Big Hollywood reports that the Law & Order TV series, one of the most pretentious would-be crime dramas ever made because of its bizarre leftist slant, has really done it this time:

So now Law & Order is taking on the new Bush administration and, by extension, all of those who have fought so hard to keep our country safe from terrorism since 9/11. I’m in awe at these iconoclastic artists’ bravery and courage in forthrightly expressing exactly the same views held by all of their friends and associates. Taking risky, edgy stands like this can put you in physical danger – for instance, you might be hugged to death by your fellow-traveling industry peers.

Legally, the whole theme of the episode – that a former government lawyer’s legal opinions on what constituted “torture” under various statutes and treaties can give rise to criminal liability in a state court case – is a joke. Little things like the rules of evidence, basic criminal procedure, the Supremacy Clause, and several dozen other rules, statutes, and Constitutional doctrines would never allow this “case” to exist in the first place. But the more important point is the bigger issue – the whole notion of prosecuting lawyers for their legal opinions is unbelievably short-sighted and dangerous to our democracy.

You can be sure they'll never think to write an episode critical of Dubya for any of the right reasons, like his failure to ever clearly address the subject of modern day slavery in Sudan, or even his failure to properly secure America's borders, or even his own betrayals of Israel. Let me note to anyone who ever thought the series had an auspicuous beginning: even in 1990, when it first began, the liberal bias was there, almost instantly out of the gate. It may have become more noticeable in consecutive seasons, but it was there.

One of the most tedious things I noticed about the series and its spinoffs is that at least 95 percent of all stories are about mainly 3 things: vicious murders, rape and child abuse. If you went and asked the NYPD if that's the solid bulk of all their investigations and cases in the Big Apple, I'm sure they'd tell you no, there's plenty of car thefts, kidnappings, muggings, even aggravated assaults and shoplifting scenarios they have to deal with as well. In all due honesty, I probably wouldn't have a problem with what L&O does deal with if it weren't for the political bias lurking around the corner. But it's precisely that problem that makes the series so tasteless.

Labels: Moonbattery, New York

Who would've thought that, if there's any Israeli politician who could slam Netanyahu for his excellent speech last week, that it would be none other than Tzipi Livni:

Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni became the first Israeli politician to criticize Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's landmark speech to the United Nations, in an interview she gave to Channel 2 on Saturday afternoon.

Netanyahu made a mistake when he invoked the horrors of the Holocaust in his criticism of Holocaust-denying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Livni said. The comparison could harm Israel's diplomatic efforts and make Israelis question their security, she said.

"We have to be careful not to encourage the world to think that Israel was established because of the Holocaust," Livni said. "When Obama said so in Egypt [at Cairo University in June], there was a justified uproar. It is wrong to compare any event in history to the Holocaust, because it minimizes the most horrible historic event that happened to the Jewish people. It also makes Israeli citizens feel less secure. The Jews of Israel in 2009 are not the Jews of Europe in 1939, and I've said this to Netanyahu."

Livni also attacked the prime minister on the diplomatic issue, saying that he is "neither ready nor interested in making the tough decisions."

"He is merely trying to survive, and this stalling might be good for Netanyahu, but it is not good for Israel," she said.

I don't think that disgraceful woman understood anything he said. He was not trying to compare anything, he was condemning Ahmedinejad for committing Holocaust-denial while threatening to commit mass murder with nuclear warfare. He was also expressing his disgust at the UN for allowing the monster a platform on which to spew his hatred.

I think Livni is the one who's going to frighten Israelis with her approach to the subject.

She even attempts moral equations - or something like that - in an attempt to offset the damage she's doing:

Livni also criticized her party's former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, for the far-reaching offer he made to the Palestinians that he revealed an interview to the BBC last week. She said that she, unlike Olmert, would not allow the influx of more than a thousand Palestinian refugees to within Israel's final borders.

"I had differences of opinion with [Olmert] on how to manage the diplomatic process and on its content," she said. "For me, there is no right of return, not symbolic and not partial. I would not even accept the entrance to Israel of a single refugee, and the Palestinians and the Arab world know this."

Sorry, but it's just weak, when she was lending herself at the time they were running the government to the damage Olmert was doing. I don't buy a word of what's she saying.

Likud MKs slammed Livni for criticizing Netanyahu's General Assembly speech despite the rave reviews it received in Israel and around the world. Party officials criticized Livni for vacationing in Hawaii during the proceedings at the UN and over the Rosh Hashana holiday.

"Livni should have stayed abroad instead of harming the diplomatic efforts of the state," coalition chairman Ze'ev Elkin said.

"It is very unfortunate that instead of supporting the prime minister in his struggle against Iran and international terror and welcoming his successful speech at the UN that was universally praised, the head of the opposition is allowing politics to interfere is issues that are part of the Israeli consensus."

I fully agree on that. Now is not the time for pathetic and needless criticism of a speech that's meant to protest evil. Livni is only showing why she really has no talent to be a prime minister, let alone a politician.

Labels: anti-semitism, iran, Israel, terrorism

Politico reports that Michael Finton, the Islamic convert who also calls himself Talib Islam, was planning to target a Republican Congressman (H/T: Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs):

Rep. Aaron Schock's (R-Ill.) office in Illinois state capital of Springfield was one of the targets of a planned terrorist attack, his office said Friday.

Michael C. Finton, known as Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday after trying to detonate a van he believed was stuffed with explosives near the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield. Finton had been collaborating on the attack with an undercover FBI agent and is being charged with attempting to murder federal officers or employees and trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction, according to the Associated Press.

"My office was notified today of the attempted terrorist attack on both the Federal Building and my Congressional Office in Springfield," Schock said in a statement. "I am incredibly grateful to the FBI for their fine work in preventing this terrorist attack."

Schock's office was a secondary target, according to an Associated Press report.

Finton, 29, converted to Islam in prison and said famed American Taliban operative John Walker Lindh was his hero. Finton also expressed a desire to fight Israelis in the Gaza Strip and received military training in Afghanistan. He was under federal supervision for months.

If Schock is Jewish, it's possible that Finton was plotting to target him based on his racial background, as well as his political standings. Thank goodness Finton was arrested before anything horrific could occur.

Labels: anti-semitism, islam, jihad, terrorism, United States, war on terror

Bill Roggio at the Long War Journal reports that Pakistan has been allowing new terror camps to open, ever since the terrorist attack in Mumbai, which was first plotted and launched in Pakistan.

Labels: Asia, jihad, pakistan, terrorism

Just like North Korea tested some missiles several months ago, so Iran does so now too, another sign that they're dangerous:

TEHRAN (AP) - Iran said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles during military drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, a show of force days after the U.S. warned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility it was secretly constructing.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, said Iran also tested a multiple missile launcher for the first time. The official English-language Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously and said they were from Sunday's drill in a central Iran desert. In the clip, men could be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" as the missiles were launched.

[...]

The tests came two days after the U.S. and its allies disclosed that Iran had been secretly developing a previously unknown underground uranium enrichment facility and warned the country it must open the nuclear site to international inspection or face harsher international sanctions. The drill was planned in advance of that disclosure.

The newly revealed nuclear site in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom is believed to be inside a heavily guarded, underground facility belonging to the Revolutionary Guard, according to a document sent by President Barack Obama's administration to lawmakers.

[...]

Iran has previously tested the Zelzal missile, versions of which have ranges of 130-185 miles (210-200 kilometers. In July 2006, Israeli military officials said their jets had destroyed a missile in Lebanon named Zelzal, which they said Hezbollah had received from Iran and could reach Tel Aviv. Zelzal means earthquake.

Iran's last known missile tests were in May when it fired its longest-range solid-fuel missile, Sajjil-2. Tehran said the two-stage surface-to-surface missile has a range of about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) - capable of striking Israel, U.S. Mideast bases and Europe.

It is clear that action is going to have to be taken against Iran. Time is running out, and the Allied nations are going to have to get ready to deal with Ahmedinejad's dictatorship.

More on the subject from A Tangled Web.

Labels: iran, terrorism, war on terror

Big Government presents a story from the National Post about how French president Nicholas Sarkozy told off US president Obama at the UN (via Weasel Zippers):

“President Obama dreams of a world without weapons … but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite.

“Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993.

“I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe a UN member state off the map,” he continued, referring to Israel.

The sharp-tongued French leader even implied that Mr Obama’s resolution 1887 had used up valuable diplomatic energy.

“If we have courage to impose sanctions together it will lend viability to our commitment to reduce our own weapons and to making a world without nuke weapons,” he said.

Mr Sarkozy has previously called the US president’s disarmament crusade “naive.”

That's pretty strong, I must say. The MSM has apparently chosen to turn a deaf ear/blind eye at this statement, and the National Post, though they did report it, then chose to delete it, because it just doesn't fit their view for the Obamessiah.

Others on the subject include Gateway Pundit, Say Anything, Pajamas Media, Fausta's Blog, Blackfive, Neo-Neocon, Vodkapundit, Holy Coast, Don Surber.

Labels: France, iran, Israel, msm foulness, United States

Reuters (via Gateway Pundit) reports on something that may have been known for quite a while now: they have another nuclear plant for uranium enrichment in the works:

Iran has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog it has a second uranium enrichment plant under construction, a belated disclosure sure to heighten Western fears of an Iranian bid for atom bombs.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday Iran had revealed the existence of the plant to IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday, just as six world powers and Iran prepare to discuss its disputed nuclear drive on October 1.

The IAEA said Iran had told ElBaradei in a letter that the plant would enrich uranium only to a level needed to generate electricity.

"The agency also understands from Iran that no nuclear material has been introduced into the facility," International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman Marc Vidricaire said.

The agency requested specific information and an immediate inspection of the plant to ensure it was for peaceful purposes.

Not that the response from Britain and France was that great - calling for sanctions is simply not enough and does little - but was a lot more than Obama's own comments, which did not seem to call for anything.

On a related note, The Washington Post has pulled a dirty little stunt:

Iran's stubborn and charismatic president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, offered no contrition

Never mind the "contrition", what I want to know is - why are they inserting "charismatic" into the report? A monster like that? They are truly disgusting, attempting to obscure the persona of a murderous monster who'd target them as well given the chance.

Others on the subject include Tundra Tabloids, Sister Toldjah, Atlas Shrugs, NRO's Campaign Spot, Flopping Aces, Joel Rosenberg's Weblog, Prairie Pundit (plus, another one), Baltimore Reporter.

Labels: iran, msm foulness, terrorism

A producer for NBC's Dateline named Jane Stone has caused an uproar by sending a response to Americans for Limited Government with just a mere, but very sick sentence: "bite me Jew boy". More on the subject at Big Government.

To make matters worse, Steve Capus, the main producer in charge of NBC's news divisions, refuses to do anything about it, preferring instead to claim it's just a frame or something.

Honestly, I don't see why that network needs to be watched anymore. They went down the drain long ago news-wise. They're long irrelevant.

Update: more from The American Thinker.

Labels: anti-semitism, communications, msm foulness, United States

On Hot Air, they have a very creepy video of schoolchildren at an elementary school in Burlington Township, NJ, who're being taught to sing Obama-worship lyrics. This is simply dismaying. Some more about this here, and also at Michelle Malkin.

Update: here's also a new op-ed by Michelle.

Labels: Moonbattery, United States

Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister of Israel who's disgraced himself with corruption, appeared at his first official trial today, acting like a victim:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, appeared in a Jerusalem courtroom on Friday for a hearing that marks the first time any current or past Israeli head of government has stood trial.

The opening of court proceedings is the latest chapter in a legal saga that weakened Olmert's leadership, undermined public confidence in government and eventually drove him from office.

The 63-year-old Olmert left politics when his rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, became prime minister last March, and has largely been out of the public eye since then.

Entering the court, Olmert told reporters that he had been subjected to an "ordeal of slanders and investigations."

"I come here as a man innocent of any crime, and I believe I will leave here as a man innocent of any crime," Olmert told reporters at the court.

He's not helping himself by pleading victimhood. But that's the whine-whine attitude he's been putting on display for at least 2 years now.

Olmert faces charges of illegally accepting funds from an American supporter and double-billing Jewish groups for trips abroad, among others.

The incidents in question date from his time as Jerusalem mayor and later as a Cabinet minister, but emerged after he was elected prime minister in 2006. Olmert eventually stepped down because of the allegations, triggering elections that led to the formation of the Netanyahu government currently in power.

The formal charges include fraud and breach of trust. Israel's Justice Ministry has not said what penalties Olmert could face, but the fraud charge alone could carry a prison term of up to five years.

Good. Let's hope he gets time in the pen then. He was one of the worst politicians Israel's ever had, and for his grevious sins, including his poor interactions with Fatah, he deserves to be convicted.

Update: the trial will continue on February 22, 2010.

Labels: Israel, political corruption

Oh, and he was in the US illegally too. From the Dallas Morning News (via Michelle Malkin):

Federal authorities arrested a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen whom they said placed an inactive car bomb today at Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi has repeatedly voiced his intent to serve Osama bin Laden and al-Qa’ida and commit “violent Jihad,” authorities said in a prepared statement.

“Today’s arrest of Hosam Maher Husein Smadi underscores the FBI’s unwavering commitment to bring to justice persons who attempt to bring harm to citizens of this country and significant danger to this community,” special FBI agent in charge Robert E. Casey, Jr. said in the statement. “Smadi made a decision to act to commit a significant conspicuous act of violence under his banner of ‘self Jihad.’”

Authorities said that Smadi was under continuous FBI surveillance. Federal agents posed as members of an al-Qa’ida sleeper cell. Smadi, who was in the U.S. illegally, allegedly told them that he came to the country specifically to commit “Jihad for the sake of God.”

According to authorities, Smadi identified potential Dallas targets in June and allegedly scoped out Fountain Place in July. Authorities said that Smadi lived and worked in Italy, about 45 miles south of Dallas.

And that's not the only one. Another terrorist suspect was arrested in Chicago (Hat tip: Stop the ACLU and Atlas Shrugs):

A Decatur man was charged today with plotting to blow up the federal courthouse in Springfield, but the charges make it clear that authorities were on to him from the start and that he was dealing with an undercover federal agent posing as an Al Qaeda operative.

Michael Finton, also known as Talib Islam, was charged with attempting to murder federal employees and to use an explosive against the Paul Findley Federal Building, according to a federal complaint.

An affidavit filed in the case states that members of an FBI-led task force began investigating Finton, a restaurant worker who converted to Islam in prison, after hearing from his parole officer. A search of his vehicle after his arrest in 2007 on a parole violation allegedly turned up letters mentioning martyrdom and purported contact with John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban,” who was captured in Afghanistan.

The FBI had a drug informant become friendly with Finton, according to the complaint. The informant told agents Finton had talked about wanting to get terror training and to fight in Gaza against the Israelis. Agents then worked to set up an “opportunity for action that we controlled,” began recording contacts with him and put him in touch with an undercover agent who told Finton he was an al-Qaeda operative.

In a July conversation, Finton allegedly told the agent he was considering attacks on “government buildings, banks and police stations.” His hope was that an attack would cause the U.S. military to withdraw from conflicts overseas.

“Finton said attacking the FBI office would be great, because he had no love for the police, so that would not bother him a bit,” according to the affidavit. He allegedly proposed bombing the federal building in Springfield with a backpack bomb or an explosive in a vehicle in July.

This is what comes from lax immigration policies, and why they need to be strengthened, but under the Obama administration, there's no telling if that'll happen.

Update: some more details about these cases from Debbie Schlussel.

Labels: immigration, jihad, terrorism, United States, war on terror

I was very amazed at Netanyahu's speech tonight to the UN. Not only did he rebut Ahmedinejad's Holocaust denial, among other bigoted filth-spewing, he also slammed the UN itself for allowing the Iranian dictator a platform on which to spew. As Weasel Zippers says, this is a damn good speech.

Updated: Here's a 4-part video of his speech.




Via The Weekly Standard and Hot Air. And, the full transcript can be found here.

Update: predictably, the jihadist factions are enraged by Netanyahu's speech:

Palestinians from both Hamas and Fatah criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech at the UN on Thursday in which he addressed a UN report that concluded the organization's investigation into Israel's most recent campaign in the Gaza Strip after denouncing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his international supporters.

"Netanyahu spoke of the Holocaust but Israel committed the largest massacre of the century," Army Radio quoted a Hamas spokesperson as saying in reference to Operation Cast Lead.

Another Hamas representative was cited by Israel Radio early Friday morning as rejecting references Netanyahu made to the Jewish people's claim to Israel, saying that "Palestine has never been Jewish land."

Saib Erekat, the Palestinian Authority's main negotiator with Israel, called Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state unacceptable.

The prime minister had slammed the recently published Goldstone Report, which accused Israel of war crimes during the maneuver in the Gaza Strip.

For the gazillionth time, Fatah and Hamas have shown how they have no intention of ever recognizing Israel, or admitting that they were the agressors with their rocket launching against Israel, or how they harbor terrorists within their ranks.

Update 2: here's the Wall Street Journal's report (via Power Line).

More from Yid With Lid (plus, another one), Political Byline, One Jerusalem, Gateway Pundit, Israel Matzav, Vos iz Neias, Joel Rosenberg's Weblog, Composed Gentleman, Freedom Eden, Below the Beltway, The Muqata, Bob McCarty, Women Against Shariah, The American Spectator, Prairie Pundit, Doug Ross, Commentary, Doc's Talk, Bucks Right, Shirat Devorah, The Uncooperative Blogger, The Provocateur, Wizbang, The Coffee Shop, Nonsensible Shoes, Winds of Jihad, The Jawa Report, Six Meat Buffet.

Labels: anti-semitism, iran, islam, Israel, jihad, terrorism, UN corruption

Following the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, there's been a renewed alert in the US for railway security (via Michelle Malkin):

A 24-year-old Afghan man at the center of an unfolding FBI investigation into a possible U.S. terrorism cell was ordered held without bond in Colorado Monday as authorities raced to learn more about an alleged plot using hydrogen peroxide explosives and who else might have been helping to carry it out.

Meanwhile, authorities in Washington and elsewhere were stepping up safety patrols on mass transit systems in response to an advisory issued in connection with the probe.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sent a bulletin to transit agencies Friday repeating past warnings to be on guard for attacks on mass transit systems, and identifying hydrogen peroxide-based explosives as a specific risk…Local officials in Washington said the bulletin specifically mentioned Grand Central Station in New York City, but said they have nevertheless increased the number of random patrols. [...]

Counterterrorism experts said U.S. officials were taking the case “very seriously” because of the apparent similarities to recent plots in the United Kingdom linked to al-Qaeda.

The Zazi investigation has focused on a type of improvised liquid explosive involving hydrogen peroxide — HMTD — that was involved in several plots in Britain traced to operatives linked to al-Qaeda, including the London transit bombings on July 7, 2005, that killed 56 people; a failed copycat attack two weeks later; and a plot, foiled by authorities in August 2006, to blow up at least seven transatlantic airliners.

The transit bombings involved people with backpack bombs, and all plots had ringleaders or other key participants with legal residency in the United Kingdom and who had traveled to Pakistan.

“The explosives element, the training and the backpacks — all are part of the core al-Qaeda bomb-making curriculum as we’ve seen in two specific incidents in the United Kingdom, and if you take out the backpacks, the last three significant U.K. incidents,” said Bruce R. Hoffman, a counterterrorism analyst at Georgetown University.

Unlike in recent U.S. plots — which federal authorities often described as “aspirational” and whose leaders’ search for expertise or weapons often unwittingly led to them to consult FBI informants — Zazi may have been trained to work with explosives.

As Michelle reported earlier, however, Obama's administration dismantled the country's best-trained counterterrorism squad for rail security. Even now, they're still handling security with a 9-10 attitude. If that's how they're doing things, the country could be even less safe.

Labels: jihad, terrorism, United States, war on terror

The UK Telegraph explains why, if there's any entity that still worships Barack Obama, it's none other than the United Nations (Hat tip: Hot Air Headlines). And that figures. I've just heard him at the UN on FOX News, where he said that the US does not recognize Israeli "settlements".

If there's anyone in Europe now whom he's fallen out of favor with, it's Poland and Czechoslovakia, following his decision to scrap a missile defense system planned for their countries to defend themselves against Iran and even Russia (Hat tip: Melanie Phillips):

Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama's decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries. ‘Betrayal! The U.S. sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back,’ the Polish tabloid Fakt declared on its front page. Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he was concerned that Obama's new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous ‘gray zone’

... An editorial in Hospodarske Novine, a respected pro-business Czech newspaper, said: ‘an ally we rely on has betrayed us, and exchanged us for its own, better relations with Russia, of which we are rightly afraid. ‘The move has raised fears in the two nations they are being marginalized by Washington even as a resurgent Russia leaves them longing for added American protection.

Even on Russia, as we've learned last years, their fears are justified. But you see, that's Obama's foreign policy, which is to grovel to the enemies of freedom, and run the risk of endangering the world.

A recent NBC poll (via Hot Air) tells that more independent voters now disapprove of Obama.

Update: and now, we have an article about this from Human Events by Mark Ipomemi, pointing out some of the most awful things Obama did at his UN speech the other day. Plus, here's another topic on this from One Jerusalem and Power Line.

Update 2: John Bolton spoke to National Review (Hat tip: Jammie Wearing Fool), and summed up quite well what Obama's speech was:

Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton tells NRO that President Obama’s address to the U.N. was “a post-American speech by our first post-American president. It was a speech high on the personality of Barack Obama and high on multilateralism, but very short in advocating American interests.”

“It was a very naïve, Wilsonian speech, and very revealing of Obama’s foreign policy,” says Bolton. “Overall, it was so apologetic for the actions of prior administrations, in an effort to distance Obama from them, that it became yet another symbol of American weakness in the wake of the president’s decision to abandon missile sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, and his recent manifest hesitation over what to do in Afghanistan.”

“The most significant point of the speech was how the president put Israel on the chopping block in a variety of references, from calling Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegitimate to talking about ending ‘the occupation that began in 1967.’ That implies that he supports going back to 1967 borders,” says Bolton. “Obama has a very tough road ahead. He is frequently taking the side of the Palestinians, who don’t have a competent leader who can make hard decisions and compromises in the future.”

Well just don't sugarcoat it on that last part. But he's right, this is one more thing that makes Obama one of the weakest political leaders in recent history. Here's one more item from NRO, and another from Pajamas Media.

Update 3: here's another take on all this from Hot Air's Green Room.

Labels: anti-semitism, iran, Israel, political corruption, Russia, UN corruption, United States

Atlas Shrugs finds some disturbing info from Fathers 4 Justice about judge Jim Mason, the judge in Ohio who may take up the Rifqa Bary case if we don't pay enough attention:

Columbus, Ohio – December 14, 2006 – Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jim Mason (R) offers a father a unique, though illegal, option to end litigation matters concerning his two minor children – “…you could shoot her.”

This, was among the options the good judge outlined for Scott Phelps, pro se litigant and F4J Ohio Coordinator (aka Superman), in how he might deal with his ex-wife. “I still do not know what to say – I am just stunned that he would say that….he is a judge,” Phelps said.

Fathers-4-Justice™ U.S. (F4J) reports that since the time Judge Mason stuck both feet firmly in his mouth he has recused himself from the Phelps case citing “…it has come to the attention of the Court that the step-mother [Judi Smith-Phelps] of the minor children has publicly defamed this judge in open court.”

“I defamed the court?” Judi Smith-Phelps, aka Superwoman, asked. “Is this guy for real?! Thousands of parents die each year in our country due to suicidal and homicidal acts stemming from cases just like this. Judge Mason’s actions are reprehensible and unethical so we are glad he is off of this case.”

Judge Mason is the third Franklin County domestic judge to recuse himself in the past six months from the Phelps case which has dragged through the courts for over five years. Judge Dana Preisse (R) is the newest judge to be assigned to the case.

Yikes, and this kind of law official is even allowed to continue to work in his job after that kind of distasteful remark? A man who does something like that should disbarred from practicing law ever again. And here I thought just Youngstown was a bad place to be in Ohio! Clearly, there is a lot wrong with that state. Rifqa Bary cannot be allowed to return to Ohio if that's the kind of judge who'll oversee the case.

Update: according to this topic on Atlas Shrugs, if I'm reading correctly, there was no actual complaint filed against the Lorenz's? In other words, it was just one of "lawyer" Elahi's ploys to have things just the way the people on his side of the spectrum want it? As Pamela tells here:

The third thing was that Elahi announced that he was filing a criminal complaint against the Lorenzes. A couple of astute newspaper reporters actually checked with the police department, and they said they had no investigation going on. So apparently Shaytan Elahi just wrote this letter, and now everybody is making a big deal about it. The stupid media didn't even cover it right, but a couple of reporters did get it right. And apparently it's just a letter Elahi wrote -- the police are not doing anything with it. Even the FDLE cleared the Lorenzes and said that there was no criminal wrongdoing with anyone they looked at -- and they interviewed the Lorenzes extensively.

This shows just how dishonest Elahi really is.

Update 2: here's another article by John D. Guandolo in Human Events about the case.

Labels: islam, misogyny, msm foulness, United States

The latest of a couple disturbing incidents in Spain includes the government's disqualifying the Israeli team in an energy contest:

(IsraelNN.com) The Spanish Government has disqualified the Israeli team from the bi-annual Solar Decathlon because the team is located in “occupied territory” - Samaria. Engineers, architects, solar experts and other visitors to the Solar Decathlon will thus be denied the opportunity to study and benefit from the solar-powered energy-economical “Stretch House” designed and built by students of the Ariel University Center of Samaria.

The Solar Decathlon, organized by the U.S. Department of Energy, has taken place until now in Washington, D.C., but is to take place next month in Spain under the terms of a 2007 agreement between the U.S. and Spain.

The competition features 20 teams from universities around the world that have worked for two years to design and build self-sufficient houses using solar power as their only source of energy. The Israeli team even received a large monetary grant to subsidize the project. With the political elimination of Ariel University from the competition, the entire Middle East is left without representation in the Decathlon.

Honestly, if this is how they're going to behave, it's probably better not to go. Maybe the Israeli government should intervene and demand that they cut that out, but with people like that in charge in Spain

According to this Jerusalem Post article (via The Astute Bloggers):

Anti-Semitism in Spain is on the rise, according to a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). A statement released by the Jewish watchdog group on Tuesday cited an increase in public expressions of anti-Semitism, and a "greater acceptance of virulent anti-Jewish attitudes."

The report noted "viciously anti-Semitic" cartoons published in major Spanish newspapers such as El Pais and El Mundo, as well as opinion pieces which equate Israel with the Nazi regime. The ADL took care to note that the European Union's racism watchdog defines such statements as anti-Semitic.

Also cited in the report was a 2009 ADL poll, which found that 75 percent of all Spaniards believe Jews possess "too much power" in financial markets, and more than half think Jews have "too much power in business," echoing classic anti-Semitic sentiments.

The report detailed the occurrence of anti-Semitic placards at anti-Israel demonstrations in Spain, as well as the "all too common" incidence of Israeli flag burning.

In terms of anti-Semitic acts, the report noted three incidents so far this year: "The vandalism of a Chabad House in Barcelona on January 11; a violet attack against an employee of a synagogue in Barcelona on January 30; and the harassment of Israel's ambassador to Spain, who was verbally assaulted on the street on May 5 by three men who shouted 'dirty Jew,' 'Jew bastard' and 'Jewish dog.'"

Wow. The influence of socialism is really driving that country to hell. Honestly, they are not worth visiting.

Labels: anti-semitism, Europe, Israel, Spain

Phyllis Chesler reports that Nonie Darwish, herself a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, has formed a new organization called Former Muslims United, a special civil rights outfit for apostates. She's scheduled to speak at Whittier College today about this, and here's a bit from the press release:

“Prominent former Muslims– apostates from Islam– will hold a press conference Thursday, September 24 to announce the launch of a new civil liberties organization, Former Muslims United, and the start of a national campaign to educate the American public and policymakers about the threat from authoritative Shariah– Islamic law– to the religious freedom and safety of former Muslims.

At the press conference, Former Muslims United founders Nonie Darwish and Ibn Warraq (both internationally-respected authors and scholars) will release letters calling on the Department of Justice and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate possible hate crimes and civil rights violations against apostates from Islam, including the circumstances of the current Florida case of 17-year old Rifqa Bary, a former Muslim. The letters are also signed by Former Muslims United co-founders Mohammad Asghar, Wafa Sultan and Amil Imani.”

Predictably, the Muslim Student Association tried to defame her and stop her from speaking, and the college directory didn't do much else to help either.

I applaud Darwish and company for thinking of this, since this is something even Rifqa Bary could get aid from.

Update: see also this topic from Counter Jihad.

Labels: islam, United States

I've checked the news on the current hearing today of Rifqa Bary at Atlas Shrugs. And if I've got the following news correct:

4:15 Judge says rifqa stays with foster family while he communicates with ohio judge to determine jurisdiction and what kind of case this is dependency or criminal or truancy.

So there's another fortunate reprieve for her, but as one commentor says, we can't be overconfident.

Update: and all is not well. According to the following, the Lorenz children have been banned from visiting Rifqa, thanks to this disgusting lawyer Shayan Elahi, whom the parents hired. This is also because the "parents" are even filing a complaint against the Lorenz family. More about this at the Examiner.

On a related note, Hugh Fitzgerald writes about the St. Petersburg propagandist Michael Kruse, who, it turns out, is really a sports writer, and clearly not fit for his job. Plus, as told here:

And what about a systematic boycott of those papers -- the St. Petersburg Times, the Orlando Sentinel -- by their advertisers, who should be apprised of what these papers are doing, or not doing? Or, if the advertisers won't raise this issue, then why should not individuals, or groups, let those advertisers know that as long as they continue to advertise in the St. Petersburg Times, and the Orlando Sentinel, others will choose not to give them their custom?

I do agree that's time to boycott the newspaper for which people like him are working, and perhaps to avoid all businesses advertising in them as well.

Update 2: Yid With Lid raises some good questions: if the lawyer is a member of unindicted co-conspirator in terrorism CAIR, should Elahi be allowed to act as the "parents" lawyer? I do think an appeal should be made to challenge Elahi on whether he should be representing them. Here's also an article from Investor's Business Daily.

Labels: CAIR corruption, islam, misogyny, msm foulness, United States

A former Carter delegate named Zbigniew Brzezinski has called for attacking Israel if it tries to stop Iran's nuclear arming:

Zbigniew Brzezinski, who enthusiastically campaigned for U.S. President Barack Obama, has called on the president to shoot down Israeli planes if they attack Iran. “They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?” said the former national security advisor to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in an interview with the Daily Beast. Brzezinski, who served in the Carter administration from 1977 to 1981, is currently a professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Maryland.

“We have to be serious about denying them that right,” he said. “If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a 'Liberty' in reverse.’" Israel mistakenly attacked the American Liberty ship during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Brzezinski was a top candidate to become an official advisor to President Obama, but he was downgraded after Republican and pro-Israel Democratic charges during the campaign that Brzezinski’s anti-Israel attitude would damage Obama at the polls.

So here we have another moonbat with a repulsive personality advocating hostility and violence against those seeking to stop evil, who should not be welcomed in sensible society. Notice how he refers to Iraq's airspace as "theirs". If a Republican adviser had said that, it's clear what the leftard MSM would have done in response, but not for someone like Brzezinski.

Via Blogmocracy/Little Green Footballs 2.0, a site founded by those disillusioned with a certain other blog that's deteriorated horrifically in the past several months. It looks like a much better place to check out than that now worthless frightfest.

Labels: anti-semitism, iran, Israel, Moonbattery, United States

Andrew Bostom presents some work by the late Father Michael Hayek, a Lebanese Maronite Christian scholar whose works were widely sought, that provides more insight on the threat Rifqa Bary faces because of her apostasy from Islam.

On a related note, here's some more info on Tissy Said, the mother of Amina and Sarah Said who betrayed her 2 daughters to Yasser Said so he could honor-murder them. I fully agree that the mother should be in prison for being an accomplice to the crime, and not severing ties from that monster who's still at large.

Update: and here's some more on the Bary case: Jihad Watch discusses how the St. Petersburg Times propagandist Michael Kruse is trying to "explain" Islamic apostasy law to us. Kruse really is a most disgraceful man. Kruse, IMO, is actually rather Krude.

Update 2: Atlas Shrugs presents a special photograph of a fatwa document on apostasy.

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

2 sinister men were arrested in Colorado and another in NYC:

DENVER – The FBI arrested a 24-year-old Colorado man on charges of making false statements to federal agents in an ongoing terror investigation, and supporting documents contend the man admitted receiving weapons and explosives training from al-Qaida in Pakistan.

Najibullah Zazi of the Denver suburb of Aurora was arrested late Saturday after undergoing three days of questioning by the FBI. Zazi, a legal permanent resident from Afghanistan, was due to appear in federal court on Monday.

Also arrested were Zazi's father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, in Denver; and an associate, Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, of Queens, N.Y., the Justice Department said Sunday. Both also were charged with making false statements to federal agents, a charge that carries a penalty of eight years in prison. Court appearances for both also were set for Monday.

Zazi has repeatedly denied to reporters any connection to al-Qaida or to a purported terrorist plot.

A senior U.S. intelligence official in Washington told The Associated Press Friday that Zazi has indicated that he is directly linked with al-Qaida. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence matters, said Zazi played a crucial role in an intended terrorist attack but that it was not immediately clear what the targets were.

The FBI is investigating several individuals in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere in an alleged plot to detonate explosive devices in the United States, the Justice Department said in a statement.

"The arrests carried out tonight are part of an ongoing and fast-paced investigation," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security. "It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack."

A joint FBI-New York Police Department task force feared Zazi may have been involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives like those cited in an intelligence warning issued Monday, according to two other law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. Zazi denies any ties to al-Qaida or terrorism.

At a celebration for the end of Ramadan that drew an estimated 5,000 people to a hotel in suburban Aurora Sunday morning, there was suspicion and concern over the arrest.

Taj Ashaheed, Colorado Muslim Society spokesman, said he was surprised that the three men were only charged with lying to authorities, considering the hype that has surrounded them.

"No one here subscribes to the idea of terrorism. We're citizens, too," he said. "If these things are true, it's disturbing and troubling, particularly to the Muslim community."

As is typical of the AP, these are the kind of people they'll quote. Or, more specifically, the Islamists they'll quote deny any connection of Islam to jihad. The only thing that troubles them is that this is even being reported to begin with, and that the suspects were arrested.

In supporting documents filed with the court, investigators say Zazi admitted to FBI agents last week that in 2008 he received weapons and explosives training from al-Qaida in the federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan.

The terror probe gathered momentum after Zazi rented a car and drove from Denver to New York, crossing into Manhattan on Sept. 10. Zazi said he went to New York to resolve some issues with a coffee cart he owns in Manhattan, then flew home to Denver. The FBI searched Zazi's rental car and laptop during the New York trip and listened in on telephone conversations, according to the affidavits.

On Monday, FBI agents and police officers with search warrants seeking bomb materials searched three apartments and questioned residents in the Queens neighborhood where Zazi stayed.

A Sept. 11 search of Zazi's rental car in New York turned up a laptop computer that contained an image of nine pages of handwritten notes, according to court documents filed with the arrest warrant. Those notes included instructions about how to build explosives and detonators, the affidavits state.

Zazi was asked about the notes during FBI interviews last week and said he knew nothing about them, the documents said. Zazi allegedly told federal agents that he must have unintentionally downloaded the notes along with a religious book. He said he deleted it within a few days after realizing it discussed jihad, the affidavit said.

However, federal agents suspect Zazi received the notes via e-mail.

Authorities have found images of the notes in two e-mail accounts with similar passwords. One of the accounts has a nine-digit password that is identical to the password for an e-mail account that Zazi told investigators this week was his, the affidavit said.

Authorities suspect Zazi controls both e-mail accounts that received copies of the handwritten notes, according to the affidavit.

An arrest warrant affidavit says FBI agents intercepted a phone conversation around Sept. 11 in which Afzali, a legal permanent resident from Afghanistan, told Zazi that he had spoken with authorities. "I was exposed to something yesterday from the authorities. And they came to ask me about your characters. They asked me about you guys," Afzali told Zazi, according to the affidavit.

However, Afzali allegedly lied to authorities about that conversation when federal agents asked him about it Thursday, according to the affidavit.

The department says Mohammed Zazi, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was interviewed last week by the FBI, lied when asked if he knew anyone by the name of Afzali and said he didn't. The FBI said it had wiretapped a conversation between Mohammed Zazi and Afzali during Najibullah Zazi's visit to New York.

Wendy Aiello, a spokeswoman for Zazi's defense team, says Zazi and his father were taken to FBI headquarters in Denver.

Zazi had been scheduled to go to the Federal Building in Denver on Saturday for a fourth straight day of FBI questioning. However, the meeting was canceled so Zazi could meet with his attorney, Aiello said.

The FBI searched Zazi's apartment and his uncle and aunt's home last week in suburban Denver. Authorities have not said what they found.

Zazi was born in Afghanistan in 1985, moved to Pakistan at age 7 and emigrated to the United States in 1999. He returned to Pakistan in 2007 and 2008 to visit his wife, according to his attorney, Arthur Folsom.

This is most peculiar: Zazi does not live together with his wife? That's another thing that makes his residing in the US suspicious, and raises questions of whether he was an al Qaeda mole.

Labels: islam, jihad, New York, terrorism, United States, war on terror

Pastor Blake and his wife Beverly, who sheltered Rifqa Bary, have spoken to FOX Orlando, and it's amazing to find that this is a balanced report (Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs):

One of the first points the pastor makes is that he and his wife, Beverly, are clearly determined from the very beginning to prove they not only housed 17-year-old Christian convert for two weeks, but helped her flee her Columbus, Ohio home, all because they truly believe her life is in danger.

"She said, 'Would you please pray for me that I do not deny Jesus' name in the face of death?' Those were her exact words to me," said Beverly describing the night she received an online message from Bary asking to talk on the phone.

Through a mutual friend, Beverly tells FOX 35, the two had chatted a few times online about Bay's conversion from Islam to Christianity and her fears. Beverly had told her that she was praying for her.

Beverly messaged the teen her phone number, and said when Bary called her in a panic.

"Now, I'm replaying the conversation over and over in my mind.... and I said 'Oh my goodness, this girl is asking that she not deny Jesus' name in case she gets killed."

Beverly said the next morning, another online friend asked if she and her husband would allow the girl to flee to their home in Orlando.

"I said, 'We definitely will help her. We're ministers, that's what we do, we help people,'" said Blake. "But I also said, 'I don't know. I have to talk to a lawyer. She's a minor. She's in Ohio.' So I called a lawyer. He said, 'if she comes down of own free will...if she's fleeing for her life.'"

"Would you return someone to a place where they believed they would be killed?" asked Beverly. "We talked to Muslims, ex-Muslims that became Christians, six organizations of persecuted Christians ... everyone told me within 24 to 48 hours this girl would be killed."

Both are to be praised for their show of kindness, though I doubt the reporters for the Orlando Sentinel and St. Petersburg Times will be among those who do. Let me also note that, if an ex-Muslim asked a Judaist here for help, they too would and should do their best to provide shelter.

Update: I also suggest reading these older posts about Jewish women who stupidly married Muslim men and were fortunate to be rescued from that living hell.

Labels: islam, Israel, misogyny, United States

The prime minister has spoken up about the anti-semitic Richard Goldstone report that was pre-planned from the very beginning:

A day after the release of the scathing Goldstone Commission report that accused Israel of war crimes, Jerusalem on Wednesday revealed its defensive strategy: convince the world's democracies the report handcuffs them in their fight against terrorism, and keep discussion of the document confined to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who on Wednesday termed the report a "prize for terrorists" that makes it more difficult for democratic countries to combat them, will be speaking in the coming days to a list of prime ministers of countries represented on the Human Rights Council, lobbying them to oppose any resolution adopting the findings of the report.

Netanyahu said the commission, headed by South African Constitutional Court Judge Richard Goldstone, was a "kangaroo court" whose conclusions were drawn up before the hearings even started.

The Human Rights Council, which mandated Goldstone to "investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying power, Israel, against the Palestinian people," will review the findings on September 29.

Simona Halperin, director of the Foreign Ministry's International Organizations and Human Rights department, said while it was almost certain - because of its composition - that the council would adopt a critical resolution, "we need to ensure that the democracies that care about the rule of law will not support the one-sided resolution."

In other words, Israel's diplomatic efforts are now centered on ensuring that any critical resolution that comes out of the Human Rights Council, and which perhaps forwards the report for discussion to the UN Security Council, will be approved by countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and not by countries like South Korea, Canada, Brazil, France and Italy.

Without support of the world's Western democracies, the logic goes, such a resolution would lack moral authority.

"The goal is to keep this from going outside of Geneva, to make sure the poisonous fruit born in sin in Geneva, stays in Geneva," Halperin said.

Previewing arguments Israeli officials will use in fighting against the report, Halperin said, "All democracies fighting terrorism, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world, should be worried that this report throws out the narrative of democracies fighting terrorists, and embraces the idea that terrorists are freedom fighters entitled to act the way they do. The world which cares about the rule of law and protection of human life should be outraged at this message."

Another senior government official said that while until now the Foreign Ministry's focus regarding the Goldstone Report was to argue about Israel's right to defend itself, and to deflect accusations of war crimes, since the document was issued the message has been recalibrated and is now portraying the report itself as part of a greater problem facing the West: defending itself against terrorists.

The Goldstone Report, in this light, becomes not only an Israeli problem, but an international one.

"We are trying to create awareness in the public that this report threatens every democratic country," the official said. "Those who are happy with the report are those trying to blow us up."

In an effort to get this message across, the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday launched a "Gaza Facts" Web site (www.mfa.gov.il/GazaFacts), which links to an in-depth, 160-page document on all aspects of Operation Cast Lead, from an Israeli perspective.

Links to Gaza Facts will be advertised on major Web sites in those countries considered friendly to Israel that are represented on the Human Rights Council, and whose vote on any resolution will be critical. For instance, anyone going on to The New York Times Web site in Slovenia will see a link to this site. The site will also be advertised extensively in the US.

Israel, meanwhile, is also mounting an aggressive diplomatic campaign at the United Nations, with Israeli officials planning to meet on Wednesday with US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, as well as with other US administration officials and members of Congress.

Gabriela Shalev, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, said "concentrated diplomatic efforts" would target members of the Security Council, which could send the matter to the International Criminal Court at The Hague unless the referral is vetoed by an Israeli ally.

"We trust our friends, the United States, for full support," Shalev said.

She said Israel hoped the US would also exert its influence in the Human Rights Council, which it rejoined earlier this year after a hiatus.

"We do hope this is an opportunity to show the US is standing with us regarding human rights and not singling out Israel," Shalev said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who is currently in the US, said the Goldstone Report "is a dangerous attempt to harm the principle of self-defense by democratic states and provides legitimacy to terrorism."

Ayalon, who met with Jewish community leaders in New York and called on them to join together and act with full force against the report, said in a speech to the heads of the American Jewish Committee that this document "should be treated like the [eventually rescinded] UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism. We must mobilize and act with all force against the report in order to remove it."

American and European officials have so far declined to offer specifics on how they will handle the report.

"Justice Goldstone's report regarding alleged violations of international humanitarian law and abuses during the Gaza conflict was just released yesterday. The issues it addresses are complex and the findings will take time to digest," one US official said Wednesday. "We will review it carefully."

Since that's the Obama administration that's speaking, don't count on them to be convincing, even if, according to this article, they say they're "concerned".

Update: here's an op-ed by Gerald Steinberg in the Wall Street Journal about the damage Goldstone is doing (via Israel Matzav).

Labels: anti-semitism, Israel, jihad, terrorism, UN corruption

IDF Brig-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit told the Jerusalem Post that the Israeli government was right not to cooperate with the awful Richard Goldstone in his Israel-bashing report for the UN that was clearly intended as such from the start:

The distorted and one-sided content in the United Nations report on Operation Cast Lead proves that Israel had been right not to cooperate with the fact-finding mission led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, IDF Judge-Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

"From an initial review of the report it is clear that it is biased, astonishingly extreme, lacks any basis in reality and is a sharp deviation from the mandate given to the mission," Mandelblit told the Post in an exclusive Rosh Hashana interview that will appear in Friday's newspaper.

"The baseless claim in the report that Cast Lead was planned and launched to intentionally harm the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and to punish it, effectively illustrates the radical distortion and one-sided character of the report and proves, in my opinion, that the decision not to cooperate with the mission was the right one," he said.

The IDF, Mandelblit said, was currently reviewing over 100 complaints that it had received regarding IDF activity during the operation - some of them from human rights groups - and he had already ordered the Military Police to launch 24 criminal investigations.

In the extensive interview, Mandelblit spoke of a new "legal front" that the IDF was facing and warned of attempts by numerous NGOs - and possibly European countries which support them - to deter Israel from launching future military operations by threatening its officers with legal action.

"There is definitely a strategic decision that was made by different organizations and even above them to attack Israel on the legal front," he said.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Prof. Asa Kasher, the author of the IDF's code of ethics, told the Post that the harsh and extreme criticism in the report was partially motivated by anti-Semitic views of Israel.

"Part of this criticism is an instinctive reaction that people have for Israel without really thinking," said Kasher, a professor of professional ethics at Tel Aviv University, academic adviser for the National Defense College and an Israel Prize laureate.

"Politics also play a significant role here, since this report was commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that unfairly deals mostly with Israel. These are anti-Israel politics that contain a level of anti-Semitism in them," he added.

Despite his sharp criticism of the Goldstone fact-finding mission, Kasher said that Israel needed to take the report seriously and prepare for the possibility that the charges will be brought before the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

"The mission was established by the UN and therefore we cannot ignore it," he said.

Kasher called the content of the report "unacceptable" and extremely "hostile" towards Israel. "While the report is critical of Hamas it is far more extreme with its criticism of Israel," he said.

One example, he said, was how the report opened with a detailed description of the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

"It is as if this is how it all started," he said. "They did not bother to ask why there was a siege which was done out of self-defense because of things Hamas was planning at sea, above ground and underground."

As the author of the IDF Code of Ethics, Kasher said he was not concerned with a possible moral breakdown in the military as portrayed in the Goldstone fact-finding report - and countless other NGO reports that have been published since Operation Cast Lead.

"I do not see in any of the reports a reason to change the values or ethics of the IDF or the military's doctrine, which places an emphasis on the value of life," he said.

"I also have no doubt that the claims of deliberate and disproportional killing are baseless. If they weren't, and IDF troops shot deliberately at innocent Palestinians, then there there should have been thousands of dead Palestinians. If the IDF killed freely then the dead should be half women and half men like the population in Gaza. The fact is that the IDF did not do this."

According to this blog entry by INN's David Wilder:

Goldstone reportedly slept during accounts of rocket attacks on Sderot, in south Israel. So related Sderot resident and media expert Noam Bedein on Israel radio this morning. However such accounts are totally irrelevant. When it comes to Jews, only one truth is viable. Jews may be attacked in any manner as the attacker deems fit; however, Jews may not dare to defend themselves, be it preemptive, during or post attack. Why? Because that's why Jews exist; for the world to blame for all problems, and later to take their frustrations out on them.

An alleged politician like Goldstone who deliberately turns a deaf ear and blind eye at the real victims should not even be welcomed into Israel, or any other country/society with common sense.

Labels: anti-semitism, Israel, jihad, terrorism, UN corruption

Something worth noting from Egypt, for a long time now an Islamic bastion:

CAIRO (AP) - An Egyptian judge has convicted two American couples of human trafficking in an illegal adoptions case and sentenced them to two years in prison.

The judge also ordered the four to pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds, or $18,153.

Iris Botros and Louis Andros of Durham, North Carolina, and Egyptian-born Suzan Hagoulf and Medhat Metyas have been on trial since earlier this year.

They sought to adopt children in Egypt, where an orphanage allegedly gave them forged documents stating the adoptive children were born to them.

Seven Egyptians were also sentenced, including a doctor who provided fake birth certificates.

Adoptions are illegal for Muslims in Egypt and nearly impossible for Christians.

It was unclear if the couples would appeal Thursday's verdicts.

If adoptions really are illegal for Muslims there, that's surprising, but less so that they're forbidden for Christians. I won't be surprised if the charges of fake birth certificates are phony, but what this certainly does tell is that children there are surely doomed to darkness by adults being barred from adopting them.

Labels: Egypt, islam

John D. Guandolo, a veteran FBI agent, has given his opinion on the FDLE's abysmal report on the Rifqa Bary case for the Center for Security Policy (Hat tip: Jihad Watch):

[Note: John D. Guandolo is a 12 ½ year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At the request of the Center for Security Policy, he prepared an assessment of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's (FDLE) investigation of the Ohio-based parents of former Muslim Rifqa Bary, the 17-year old apostate from Islam who has sought refuge in the state of Florida. The FDLE report is provided here, and is available as searchable text for the first time, below his analysis. The significant errors and omissions that Mr. Guandolo and other experts have found in this FDLE investigation show a failure in FDLE's professional responsibility in handling the Rifqa Bary case. Governor Crist and FDLE management need to get new investigators on the job, start over, and this time do it right. A life may be at stake due to FDLE negligence-- and willful blindness-- in conducting this investigation.]


John D. Guandolo:
Response to FDLE Investigative Report on Rifqa Bary Matter

Upon my review of the report filed by the FDLE regarding the Rifqa Bary Matter in Florida, I offer my professional opinion.

1. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Investigative Summary OR-73-1741 encapsulates the investigation into allegations made by Fathima Rifqa Bary (hereafter referred to as "Rifqa Bary") that she is or may be in physical danger from her father, Mohamed Bary, or others. Point 4 on page 2 of the report states Rifqa Bary believes her life to be in danger from an "honor killing" by her family or others, which she states is in accordance with Islamic Law. The report finds: "Ms. Bary's concern that she may be killed because of her conversion from Islam to Christianity remains a subjective and speculative concern..." and concludes there is no conspiracy to commit violence against her. The investigators in this matter offer this opinion void of any knowable facts. In fact, a due diligence review would reveal the existence of authoritative Islamic Law texts officially translated into English. This review would further reveal Islamic Law - which is real law - has requirements and rules as to how to deal with those who leave Islam [eg The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, "Umdat al-Salik" also known as "Reliance of the Traveller" - publicly available]. If it can be shown (1) there is a requirement in Islamic Law for killing Ms. Bary as a publicly declared apostate from Islam, (2) that her parents adhere to Islamic Law, and (3) that she did, in fact, leave Islam and convert to Christianity, then the FDLE has a professional responsibility to include these facts in this report, and investigate this matter fully. There is nothing subjective about this - these are all ascertainable facts. I would hope the Florida State's Attorney's Office has done their due diligence on this matter and is aware of this

2. Mr. Bary's comments to the Investigators claiming there is "absolutely not" any concept of Honor Killings under Islamic Law can also be comparatively and factually reviewed against Islamic Law. There are, in fact, rules and requirements as to how apostates should be handled within the context of Islamic Law, and these facts must be reviewed by FDLE if a professional and factual report is to be completed.

3. It was noted that the Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) -Columbus (Ohio) and the Staff Attorney for CAIR were present during the interview of Mr. Bary by FDLE Investigators. Absent from the FDLE report was any mention that CAIR is a known Muslim Brotherhood entity and an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial - the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history - revealing HLF as a Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood front in the United States. All defendants in this case were found guilty in November 2008 and are serving long prison terms. These facts about CAIR were testified to at trial, and accepted as legally true. They are irrefutable - the documents demonstrating these facts were stipulated to by the defense. The Muslim Brotherhood's (MB) creed is "Allah is our goal; the Messenger is our guide: the Koran is our constitution; Jihad is our means; and martyrdom in the way of Allah is our inspiration," and their stated objective in America is a "Civilization-Jihad" to destroy the United States from within, and the MB exists to implement Islamic Law here in the United States. All of these facts are relevant for two critical reasons. First, these material facts should be made known to the State Attorney's Office and any Judges involved in this case as a matter of course. Secondly, when representatives from an organization that is objectively known to be hostile towards to the United States and unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history, are allowed to be present during a law enforcement interview of someone, it raises questions as to why they were allowed to be present at the interview at all. These facts further demand an objective look to determine if the Muslim Brotherhood itself has a position on Islamic Law and Apostasy. One of the MB's two stated objectives is to implement Islamic Law in North America (and across the globe), and it is known they call for adherence to Islamic Law wherever Muslim communities exist. The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law: Reliance of the Traveller is approved as valid Islamic Law by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a known Muslim Brotherhood entity, as proven in the HLF trial. In Reliance of the Traveller, Investigators will find specific legal doctrine on how apostates are to be treated under Islamic Law. Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood has a history of officially addressing the issue of Apostasy. In 1984, Ismail R. Al-Faruki , the Founder of IIIT, stated: "That is why Islamic Law has treated people who have converted out of Islam as political traitors...[Islam] must deal with the traitors when convicted after due process of law either with banishment, life imprisonment, or capital punishment...but once their conversion is proclaimed, they must be dealt with as traitors to the state." Apostasy is also specifically addressed in Peace and the Limits of War, published by IIIT and written by Louay Safi, the former Executive Director of IIIT, Malaysia, the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (a proven Muslim Brotherhood entity), and the Executive Director of the Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) Leadership Development Council. ISNA was proven to be a Muslim Brotherhood entity and is also an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history - HLF. The book is also approved by the Secretary General of ISNA. In it, Mr. Safi notes that individual apostates cannot be killed for a "quiet desertion of personal Islamic duties," but can be put to death as "just punishment" when the apostate deserts Islam publicly (p. 31).

4. This is a statement of facts regarding this matter:

* There are requirements in Islamic Law regarding someone who deserts Islam
* The Muslim Brotherhood's objective is the implementation of Islamic Law in the United States
* Rifqa Bary has left Islam and become a Christian
* Rifqa Bary has made statements to FDLE officials and others that her parents have threatened to kill her because she has left Islam
* The Bary's appear to be adherent to Islamic Law
* The Bary's appear at an interview with two Muslim Brotherhood representatives doing business as CAIR, a group known to be hostile towards the United States which is also an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history
* The Muslim Brotherhood supports the killing of Muslims who publicly leave Islam

5. It is my professional opinion that sufficient Probable Cause exists to believe that Ms Bary's concerns for her personal safety are based in a realistic and factual understanding of her situation, and, therefore, a further criminal investigation is warranted.

John D. Guandolo is a 12 ½ year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This is a very good response to a bunch of so-called investigators who clearly are captives of political correctness of the worst kind. Guandolo is a good man, just like Dave Gaubatz, and this should stand proudly alongside the latter's FPM interview as something important for reading.

Others on the subject include Musings of a Vast Right-Winger, Liberties Alliance, Boston's Patriots, Reality Check, Pajamas Media, The Whig, Exposing Liberal Lies.

Labels: CAIR corruption, islam, misogyny, United States

Only now could I get around to this, but the Senate has voted to stop funding for ACORN. While I'm happy to know that, does the lower House have to vote on it as well? If so, this may not be over yet.

Update: Hot Air has a video of Michelle Malkin on FOX discussing ACORN's prostitution scandal, and the MSM's "protection racket".

Update 2: and now, the House has voted to stop funding for ACORN too (also via Michelle). About time.

Update 3: the governor of Louisiana has stopped local funding for ACORN as well (also via Michelle):

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today cut off state funding for the community activist group ACORN.

Jindal has also blocked any state agency for entering into contracts with the organization.

The executive order also cuts off any future state funding of ACORN, on the heels of a series of embarrassing incidents for the organization.

The governor’s action follows a subpoena of documents from the group’s national headquarter office in New Orleans.

According to Jindal’s executive order, “ACORN’s actions make clear that financial involvement with ACORN is contrary to the public policy of the State of Louisiana and the best interests of its citizens.”

Congratulations to Jindal for doing the right thing.

Labels: United States