Muslims riot at NY's Playland Park because hijabs barred from rides for safety reasons

Which only tells that, if there had been a disaster on one of the rides, they would have sued regardless of whether it was their fault or not and blamed it solely upon the park officials. Here is the story (via Jihad Watch):

RYE — A melee broke out Tuesday afternoon at Playland Amusement Park when Muslim visitors became angry that the park was enforcing its ban on headgear by prohibiting the women from wearing their traditional head coverings on some rides.
Police from at least nine agencies converged on the park beginning at 3 p.m. after county police sought assistance in responding to the disturbance, which involved 30 to 40 people.

Two rangers were injured while breaking up a fight between visitors, and two visitors were charged with felony assault, police said. Another 13 people were arrested, most charged with disorderly conduct. Names were not disclosed, and all those charged were released by Tuesday night.

One of the rangers suffered an injured knee and the other an injured shoulder, said Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter Tartaglia.

The park was crowded with Muslims celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, one of Islam’s two major holidays. Most were from community groups in Westchester and New York City as part of a daylong event arranged by the Muslim American Society of New York. [...]

Parks officials “painstakingly” told the organizer about the headgear ban, said Tartaglia. But he said that the rules might not have been communicated by the organizer to some attendees.

Most likely they didn't bother, because they never intended to respect the rules to begin with. Nor did they even make clear that resorting to violence is abhorrent.

Three accidents on Playland rides that killed two children and a park worker between 2004 and 2007 were unrelated to clothing the victims were wearing. But the headgear ban was among safety rules that went into effect after those deaths.

“It’s a safety issue on rides. If it’s a scarf, you could choke,” Tartaglia said.

Accounts of what happened varied, but everyone agreed the dispute began after parkgoers were told the headgear ban applied to women wearing traditional Muslim head coverings, known as hijabs.

Tartaglia said once word of that got out there were “a lot of unhappy people.”
Tartaglia said park officials were in the process of arranging refunds when members of the Muslim group got into a scuffle with each other. [...]

Lola Ali, 16, of Astoria said she had witnessed a group of girls and women wearing hijabs go to park security to confront them about the headgear issue. She said the women were upset and yelling. She said the security officers started pushing them away and the girls stood their ground, at which point the security officers grabbed them, pushed them to the ground and handcuffed them.

Men within the park saw this and tried to intervene, Ali said, and the situation went downhill from there.

“They were beating down the girls then they started beating down the guys,” she said of the security officers.

Earlier, a park cashier told a Journal News reporter that a woman wearing a hijab either pushed or hit a ride operator who forbade her from going on the ride. She said a police officer tried to restrain the woman and the woman’s husband took offense, at which point a multiple-person fight broke out.

The park was never closed to attendees but for a time new visitors were not being allowed in. Crowds were being turned away at Playland Parkway and Forest Avenue. Officials said late in the afternoon that they were slowly reopening the park to new visitors and that the group’s religious ceremony planned for 9 p.m. could still occur.[...]

Brooklyn resident Amr Khater, who had come to the park at about noon with his family, said his family was told about the hijab rule by park employees when they arrived.

“Everybody got mad, everybody got upset,” he said. “It’s our holiday. Why would you do this to us?”[...]

Yes, it's your "holiday", but that doesn't give you the right to force the park officials to bend to your will.

At 4:30 p.m., more than an hour and a half after the incident started, nearly three dozen cruisers blocked Playland's entrance and a helicopter was flying overhead. A reporter counted nearly 60 cruisers on the scene from various agencies.[...]

Playland's policies, posted on its website, include: "All items and clothing must be appropriately secured while on a ride; some smaller items can be stored/secured in cargo pockets or waist pouches. Hats must be secured, and jackets/sweaters must be worn properly and not around the waist while on a ride. Some rides do not allow backpacks, purses or head gear of any kind."[...]

The behavior displayed by the Muslim rioters in this whole affair is disgusting. The group has been stooping to victimology now (also via Jihad Watch), accusing the police of "excessive force" but not willing to take any responsibility on their part for the atrocity. The MAS should be banned from ever attending the park ever again.

Terrorist attack near TA nightclub

Another terrorist attack with a hijacked vehicle in urban vicinity:

Eight people were injured in south Tel Aviv early Monday morning, when a terrorist from the West Bank carjacked a taxi and rammed it into a police road block protecting a Tel Aviv nightclub, before going on a stabbing spree.

Police said the terrorist, a 20-year-old Nablus resident, entered a taxi near the beginning of Salameh Street, and hijacked the vehicle, stabbing the driver in the hand. He then drove for approximately a kilometer down Salameh Street towards the Haoman 17 nightclub, which was filled with high school children at an end-of-summer party. At the time of the attack, almost all of the teenagers were inside the club.

Border Police had set up a precautionary road block ahead of time at the entrance to the club on Abarbanel Street, in Tel Aviv's Florentine neighborhood. The terrorist rammed the road block, and struck a number of civilians and a border policeman.

"He then got out of the car, screamed Allah Akbar [God is Great], and went on a knife attack," a police spokeswoman said.

The suspect was tackled to the ground by Border Police officers and taken into custody. He was taken to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon after being lightly injured. He was later released and was taken in for questioning under heavy security.

The eight people injured in the attack were all Border Police officers and club security guards. One was seriously injured, two were moderately injured and three were lightly injured. The remaining casualties were released from hospital after receiving medical treatment.

The cabdriver whose taxi was hijacked, Nachman Azi, said that the Palestinian man got in his cab at the start of Salameh Street and asked to be taken to the Central Bus Station, moments later, said Azi “he pulled out a knife and told me to get out of the cab. I grabbed the knife and started to fight him, but it cut my hand very bad and I told him he could take the car.”

Azi, his hand heavily bandaged and his shirt splotched with blood, said that the terrorist let him take some of his personal belongings, and that he believed he only wanted to steal the car.

A police source said that the road block had prevented a far worse outcome.

Israel Radio reported that the attack was coordinated to strike a large youth party being held in the area.

Police Insp.-Gen. Yochanan Danino said Monday morning that over 1,000 teenagers were inside the club which was targeted. He said Border Police preparations "were extraordinary and prevented a big disaster."

It's very lucky they were prepared for this.

See also this report on INN.

Internet cache of Perry/Aga Khan curriculum were removed from search engine results

Jihad Watch reports that all traces of the Texas school curriculum involving Aga Khan were erased even from the online search engine caches. Atlas Shrugs has some screenshots of them here, however.

Even if Rick Perry isn't too concerning a politician on the subject, was that a good idea to have the info taken down? You can decide, but it may have been a foolish move on their part.

Muslim woman from Morrocco escapes arranged marriage and becomes martial arts fighter

Via Big Peace, here's a very inspiring story, about Iman Achhal, a woman from a Muslim family in Morrocco who was going to be sold into an arranged marriage - yes, for the money - and was lucky to flee to the USA where she first worked in a firefighting department, and then became a fitness and martial arts instructor. An ideal career for plenty of women, in fact.

Update: here's an article about her on the Wash. Post too.

Aqsa Parvez Memorial in Israel

Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller write about the Aqsa Parvez Memorial that's been dedicated in Jerusalem on August 24, in memory of all victims of Islamic pseudo-honor murders.

Just like plenty of other "cease-fires" this too was short

The rocket attacks the Hamas is conducting resumed again against Israeli targets. A 9-month old infant was injured in the latest attack. The IDF has responded, but only a ground raid into Gaza will help stem the tide.

Where "Islamophobia" came from

Ned May at Big Peace writes about how that PC-term "Islamophobia" came about. One of the ways is that:

It piggybacked its way into politically correct usage on “homophobia”, which in turn drew on the word “xenophobia” as its ideological predecessor. Strangely enough, “xenophobia” is not in my Shorter Oxford Dictionary on Historical Principles, but appears in my Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. The word is not terribly old; it was coined in the late 19th century during a period when many mental disorders were first being labeled with Greek neologisms. Based on the Greek word for “fear”, a “phobia” was the general term assigned to conditions of morbid fearfulness. “Hydrophobia”, for example, was used to describe a morbid fear of water. The stem “xeno-” means “strange” or “foreign”, and “xenophobia” was originally synonymous with “agoraphobia” — it meant “a morbid fear of open spaces”.

It wasn’t until the 20th century, with its new preoccupation with race, that “xenophobia” was assigned its current meaning: “a morbid dislike or dread of foreigners”. In the second half of the century, after the racial ravages of National Socialism, any distaste for foreigners or preference for one’s own kind was stigmatized as “xenophobic”. This shunning helped pave the way for mass Muslim immigration into Western countries by transforming opposition to such policies into a mental disorder.

Half a century later, the “xenophobia” precedent has helped legitimize its stepchild “Islamophobia”, which does similar service in stigmatizing any resistance to Islamization.

Yes, I thought it could've stemmed partly from the same mindsets, or, that Islamofascists determined to stamp out all criticism could get the idea from those particular words. Now, we understand.

Thousands came to the Beck rally for Restoring Courage

Here's an article about the event, something that even I attended by ways of the Jerusalem city hall, where a crowd of at least another thousand folks were watching his speech on a jumbo-vision screen. Here's more at The Blaze about his visit, and more videos and his speech here too.

If there's anyone who wasn't happy with his visit, it would be Peace Now, who held a protest near where he had his own gathering, but how many actually came?

About three dozen activists from Peace Now held a protest outside the Glenn Beck rally in the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday

That little? Gee, and here there were at least a couple thousand people who came to hear Beck, even at affiliate locations. It may not be as big as the crowd he drew for Washington, but for one taking place overseas, it was certainly impressive.

Update: according to this report, there were thousands who came to the Beck rally.

Perhaps Rick Perry isn't as questionable as previously thought

Okay, I've read David Stein's response to Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer's concerns about Rick Perry and sharia. Now, maybe Perry didn't actually force misleading propaganda about Islam upon public schools in Texas. Even so, he and other members of the GOP will still have to be willing to acknowledge the problems with Grover Norquist and distance themselves from him if they really want to be seen as understanding candidates.

Joe Biden has no problem with China's one-child policy

This is simply disgusting. Vice president Joe Biden says he "understands" China's one-child policy that's led to a disastrous gender imbalance. They may be on their way to understanding how it's caused them such long-term misfortune, but that doesn't excuse what they've led to for more than 3 decades already. Nor is Biden helping with his statements.

Glenn Beck's trip to Israel

The Blaze has a roundup of reports by the Israeli press of Glenn Beck's sojourn in Israel for his Restoring Courage rally.

And Barry Rubin (also via The Blaze) has an analysis on why Beck is correct.

I think it's better this TV item wasn't picked up

The Honolulu Pulse spoke with Chinese-American actress Kelly Hu, who's a native of Hawaii, about an unsold TV pilot she'd worked on with Don Johnson, whom she'd co-starred with on Nash Bridges during the 3rd season:

The actress had also hoped she would return to TV-land as a regular character in “A Mann’s World,” a pilot shot for NBC that did not get picked up by the network for the new season. She was going to star opposite Don Johnson, who played the role of a celebrity hairstylist named Allan Mann.

The concept came from Michael Patrick King, who won Emmys for his work on “Sex and the City.” It sounded like a sure thing.

“It’s dead in the water,” Hu said. “It did really sound like it was going to be a great project. It was an amazing cast. Unfortunately, it just didn’t make it. Pilot season is tough. You never know what will get picked up.”

Oh really. If it's a product of that phony leftist King, who produced a series that otherwise did not depict women in the best of lights, I think it's for the best that it didn't get picked up.

However, I do think it's a shame that the producers of the new take on Hawaii 5-0 decided to kill off the character she'd played there recently, named Laura Hills. What was the whole point of that? It's a gimmick that's become very tasteless today.

Brazilian converts to Islam

The AFP is running a fairly sensationalized article about Muslim converts in Brazil, which already has a questionable enough character:

RIO DE JANEIRO — "As-salam aleikum!" Omar greeted worshippers as he entered Mesquita da Luz, Rio's first mosque where he had just broken his Ramadan fast at dusk.

Those are some of the only words Omar knows in Arabic, and he quickly continued his conversation in Portuguese with fellow Muslims who mostly, like him, converted recently to Islam in the world's biggest Catholic country.

In a land known more for its mini-bikinis and extravagant Carnival featuring scantily clad women, a small but growing number of Brazilians of various backgrounds call themselves Muslim.

For decades, it was primarily families of Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian descent who practiced Islam in Brazil.

And there's also been worship of Yasir Arafat in Brazil, including president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva placing a wreath upon Arafat's grave, which the PLO terrorist overlord does not deserve.

Omar, who until just four years ago officiated as Catholic priest at a local church, explained why he embraced Islam.

"I found in Islam everything I had always looked for. I met God as he is, with no adaptation," the 34-year-old graphic designer told AFP.

Wearing a traditional long djellaba robe, he refused to give his official name, instead only revealing his Muslim one: Omar Israfil Dawud bin Ibrahim.

"At the seminary, you learn that Islam is one of the monotheistic religions. There is no prejudice against this religion," said Omar as he stood by his wife Alessandra Faria, who goes by the name "Fatima" after converting and deciding to wear the veil.

But of course there's no prejudice against it. That's because it's the other way around - Islam is prejudiced against anyone who doesn't practice Islam, and is considered a kuffar/dhimmi.

Omar's explanation leaves a lot to be desired, I'm afraid - does he know just what the Lord our God really wants of the human race?

"In the beginning, my mother was mortified at the thought of going outside with me. I wear the veil to show I am Muslim and aware that I am part of a minority," she said.

And how sad to see that his wife has chosen to shut herself out from the world by trapping herself inside that awful tent.

Fatima's hijab may raise eyebrows in Rio, where it is more common to see women walking the streets in bikinis in seaside neighborhoods, but she says her beliefs can find a place here.

"Brazil is a mix, made up of several different cultures. This mix makes Brazilians very adaptable and tolerant."

More precisely, it makes them vulnerable.

Like most practicing Muslims here, Omar and Fatima are only recent converts to Islam. They plan to travel to Saudi Arabia next year on a Saudi government grant to learn Arabic.

Renovations on the mosque they attend in the suburb of Tijuca north of Rio got under way four years ago with donations from worshippers. It will soon hold up to 400 people during prayers, a major upgrade.

"The number of Muslims continues to grow, and most are Brazilians who are converting. We recruit members mostly online," said Sami Isbelle, a spokesman for the Beneficent Muslim Society (SBMRJ).

"In Rio, there are about 500 Muslim families, 85 percent of them Brazilian converts who have no Arab links," Isbelle said.

Things are different in Sao Paulo state and southern regions of Brazil, where most Muslims were born as such and are often of Arab descent.

Brazil's census does not count the number of Muslims, and only provides data on Catholics, evangelicals, Jews, spiritualists and followers of Afro-Brazilian religions.

"Muslims are listed in the 'other' category, along with Buddhists, for example, said Islam expert Paulo Pinto of Fuminense Federal University, who estimated Brazil is home to about a million Muslims.

The best indicator of the growth of Islam in the country is the rapid increase in the number of places of worship, according to Pinto. There are now 127 mosques, four times as many as there were back in 2000.

After the September 11 attacks in the United States, "there was a growth of interest in Islam, and many people decided to convert," Pinto added. "Islam was seen as a new form of resistance."

But it was a "telenovela" or soap opera launched just three weeks after the 2001 attacks, "The Clone," that sparked some Brazilians' infatuation with Islam.

Set in Morocco, the popular show showed a "positive imagine of that part of the world, with a benevolent Muslim hero," said Pinto.

"There is a tendency to think that Brazilian culture, as liberal and sensual as it is, is against the rules of Islam. But in fact, there are many conservative rules that are part of moral and sexual control. Look at how many evangelicals are successful in Brazil!"

Something tells me that the anti-Americanism prevalent in some parts of south America may have led to this culture of dhimmitude that could become worse in the near future. And we can only wonder just what kind of people bankrolled that telenovela that painted a whitewashed image of the Religion of Peace. And stop lecturing us about "moral/sexual control". That is all a lot of taqqiya when it comes to Islam.

There could be an important lesson in this: don't take Brazil's image at face value. Because underneath, there's a lot of awful things that go against the more positive, inviting elements they might usually be known for.

Missile attacks intensify again

Following the terror attacks near Eilat, the Hamas has built up its own rocket fire yet again, causing serious injuries:

One man died Saturday from injuries sustained when a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Beersheba. Sirens were heard in Beersheba shortly before a rocket salvo landed in the city, hitting a vehicle and private residence. Three others who were evacuated to the Soroka University Medical Center were being treated for injuried, two were in serious condition and one sustained moderate injuries. The attack was one in a wider barrage of rockets, with locals reporting hearing at least 11 explosion.

Moments before, a Grad rocket from Gaza landed on a home in Ofakim, starting a fire and sending shrapnel and debris flying that injured a four-month-old baby, a nine-year-old boy and a man in his early 20s. Emergency crews put out the fire and paramedics evacuated the three to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba to be treated for light injuries.

Absolutely repugnant.

Spencer and Geller are right to be concerned about Perry's connections with Norquist

Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller have spoken about how they've been attacked for voicing concerns about GOP candidate Rick Perry's ties to Islamic sources, which includes the whitewashed educational program that was used in Texas schools and even Perry's associations with Grover Norquist. Geller's response, to Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, includes:

Jawad also criticizes me for pointing out that the curriculum that Perry has gotten from the Aga Khan for Texas schools is "whitewashing Islam's bloody historical and modern-day record." I stand by my words. A reader of my website AtlasShrugs.com has examined the curriculum and found numerous questionable aspects of it. "The religion that the Prophet Muhammad preached provided his followers an ethical and moral vision for leading a life of righteousness," it tells kids. Muhammad's jihad conquests and cultural annihilations? His child marriage? Forget it. The curriculum also discusses "the beauty and perfection of the Qur'an." Calls to jihad? Calls to hate unbelievers and wage war against them? Nothing.

Then Jawad turns to my criticism of Perry's ties to Grover Norquist, saying, "one need only note, as Pipes did, that all of Perry's connections to Norquist concern taxation issues, not Islam." That's the kind of thinking people use to say that Hezbollah is a fine group, because look, they run schools and hospitals. No candidate worth his salt should have anything to do with Norquist, for tax issues or any other reason. You can't come out for cutting taxes without playing ball with Norquist? Please.

And Perry's ties to Norquist are extensive: Robert Spencer notes that "Perry and Grover Norquist held a joint press conference in March 2011. Perry appeared at a fund-raiser for Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform group. Also, Norquist actively campaigned for Perry back in 2009. Their association is longstanding: Perry was investigated by the Texas Ethics Commission in 2004 for allegations that the Governor illegally used campaign money to finance a trip to Bahamas; the point here is not the allegations, but the fact that along on the Bahamas trip at his own expense was Grover Norquist. Perry and Norquist are clearly not just casual acquaintances."

So what will happen when Norquist approaches his good buddy Perry and asks him to give an appointment to or do some favor for some Islamic supremacist? Will Perry then turn against his old friend? I hope so. But if we don't call out Perry on his ties to Norquist now, how can we be sure of that?

More at the link, and she's quite right to be concerned. This may suggest a flaw on Pipes' behalf - to say that Perry's links with Norquist are on a financial level at best is a weak argument; why couldn't Perry do it himself?

Those who are oh so bothered about Geller's and Spencer's criticisms would do well to lay off of it, as it will do no good in getting Perry to fix some of his mistakes. If this is brought more clearly to light, it could help improve things a lot more. We can't afford to have another capitulator in the White House.

Islam on its way to overtaking Christianity in France

Soeren Kern at the Hudson NY (via Big Peace) has some very scary info on the increase of Islam in France:

Islamic mosques are being built more often in France than Roman Catholic churches, and there now are more practising Muslims in the country than practising Catholics.

Nearly 150 new mosques currently are under construction in France, home to the biggest Muslim community in Europe. The mosque-building projects are at various stages of completion, according to Mohammed Moussaoui, the president of the Muslim Council of France (CFCM), who provided the data in an August 2 interview with the French radio station RTL.

The total number of mosques in France has already doubled to more than 2,000 during just the past ten years, according to a research report "Constructing Mosques: The Governance of Islam in France and the Netherlands." France's most prominent Muslim leader, Dalil Boubakeur, who is rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, recently called for the number of mosques in the country to be doubled again – to 4,000 – to meet growing demand.

By contrast, the Roman Catholic Church in France has built only 20 new churches during the past decade, and has formally closed more than 60 churches, many of which are destined to become mosques, according to research conducted by La Croix, a Roman Catholic daily newspaper based in Paris. [...]

Every Friday, thousands of Muslims in Paris and other French cities close off streets and sidewalks (and by extension, close down local businesses and trap non-Muslim residents in their homes and offices) to accommodate overflowing crowds for midday prayers. Some mosques have also begun broadcasting sermons and chants of "Allah Akbar" via loudspeakers in the streets.

The weekly spectacles, which have been documented by dozens of videos posted on Youtube.com (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here), have provoked anger and disbelief. But despite many public complaints, local authorities have declined to intervene because they are afraid of sparking riots.

The issue of illegal street prayers was catapulted to the top of the national political agenda in France in December 2010, when Marine Le Pen, the charismatic new leader of the far-right National Front party, denounced them as an "occupation without tanks or soldiers."

During a gathering in the east central French city of Lyon on December 10, Le Pen compared Muslims praying in the streets to Nazi occupation. She said: "For those who want to talk a lot about World War II, if it is about occupation, then we could also talk about it [Muslim prayers in the streets], because that is occupation of territory. It is an occupation of sections of the territory, of districts in which religious laws apply. It is an occupation. There are of course no tanks, there are no soldiers but it is nevertheless an occupation and it weighs heavily on local residents."

Many French voters agree. In fact, the issue of Muslim street prayers – and the broader question of the role of Islam in French society – has become a major issue ahead of the 2012 presidential elections. According to a survey by Ifop for the France-Soir newspaper, nearly 40% of French voters agree with Len Pen's views that Muslim prayer in the streets resembles an occupation. Another opinion poll published by Le Parisien newspaper shows that voters view Le Pen, who has criss-crossed the country arguing that France has been invaded by Muslims and betrayed by its elite, as the candidate best suited to deal with the growing problem of runaway Muslim immigration.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose popularity was at 25% in July – worse than any predecessor less than a year ahead of a re-election bid, according to the TNS-Sofres polling group – has been spooked by Le Pen's advance in the opinion polls. He now seems determined not to allow Le Pen to monopolize the issue of Islam in France.

Sarkozy recently called Muslim prayers in the street "unacceptable" and said that the street cannot be allowed to become "an extension of the mosque." He also warned that the overflow of Muslim faithful on to the streets at prayer time when mosques are packed to capacity risks undermining the French secular tradition separating state and religion.

Interior Minister Claude Guéant on August 8 told Muslims who have been praying on the streets of Paris that they should utilize a disused barracks instead. "Praying in the street is something that is not acceptable," Guéant said. "It has to stop." [...]

Boubakeur, of the Grande Mosque of Paris, says the construction of even more mosques – paid for by French taxpayers – would ease the "pressure, frustration and the sense of injustice" felt by many French Muslims. "Open a mosque and you close a prison," says Boubakeur.

But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has implied that the construction of mosques and minarets actually is part of a strategy for the Islamization of Europe. Publicly repeating the words of a 1912 poem written by the Turkish nationalist poet Ziya Gökalp, Erdogan said: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers."

Reflecting on the retreat of Catholicism and the rise of Islam in France, Archbishop Giuseppe Bernardini, an Italian Franciscan who heads the Izmir archdiocese in Turkey, and who has lived in the Islamic world for more than 40 years, has recounted a conversation he once had with a Muslim leader, who told him: "Thanks to your democratic laws, we will invade you. Thanks to our religious laws, we will dominate you."

Sarkozy is going to have to take very serious steps if he wants to be reelected. And residents of France with common sense are going to need to get serious about demonstrating against this Islamic occupation.

And that comment by Boubakeur is bogus because it would only mean more domination and crowdings and even financing more mosques at the taxpayers' expense, which you can be sure is exactly his goal. Boubakeur is another of France and Europe's biggest enemies.

Imam charged with sexual assault in Canada

From the National Post (via The Jawa Report and Interested Participant):

An imam who worked at a Scarborough mosque has been arrested and faces 13 charges in connection with a sexual assault investigation.

Mohammad Masroor, 48, of Toronto, was apprehended August 10 for sexual offences allegedly committed between November 1, 2008 and July 28 of this year. Police have identified five alleged victims, both male and female, and are appealing to others to come forward.

Mr. Masroor worked as an imam at the Baitul Mukarram Islamic Society on Danforth Avenue between Pharmacy and Warden Avenues, where he taught Koranic studies to students. He was on leave at the time of his arrest.

The single storey brick mosque sits on a nondescript corner. Five times a day, the men and boys who are members of this congregation arrive, remove their shoes at the door and join each other in prayer. No women are allowed inside. [...]

Det. Const. Karen Armstrong told a Wednesday morning press conference that “Mohammad Masroor was a leader in the community, he was in a position of trust. Because he was in a position of power, we believe there are other victims.”

A 12-year-old boy called Sajid prays at the Baitul Mukarram mosque. He knew Mr. Masroor, and although he was not aware of the charges laid against the man who once taught him the Koran, the young boy says what constitutes acceptable behaviour depends on where you are.

“I don’t think it’s really like that, because masroor was a good man, he didn’t do anything bad,” says Sajid, who did not want last name used. “It’s not like that because back home, like in Bangladesh, you’re allowed to hit people. It’s OK.”

Mr. Masroor has lived and worked in many countries, Det. Armstrong said, including France, Germany, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and, most recently, in the U.S. in Florida and Michigan.

One can only wonder how many violations he committed in those countries too. Notice also just how indoctrinated the boy interviewed is that he would justify assault even in the west.

See also this item which reveals that political correctness is prevalent in the investigation, making it only more atrocious.

Hitting back immediately and with force

Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken about how, following the terrorist attack near Eilat, the IDF has struck back strongly:

Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a very short statement before press cameras at 8:30 P.M. Thursday evening following the lethal three-stage terror attack that claimed 7 Israeli lives and saw 33 wounded.

"We all witnessed an attempt to ratchet up the level of terror emanating from Sinai," he said. "If someone thinks that Israel will put up with this, he is wrong."

"I have established a principle: when Israeli citizens are hurt, we hit back immediately, and with force. This principle was implemented today. The people who gave the order to murder our civilians, who were hiding in Gaza, are no longer among the living," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu's reference was apparently to the death of Abu Awad Kamel a-Neirab, commander of the Salah a-Din Brigades, the "military" wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike around 5:00 PM on Thursday.

An estimated 20 terorrirsts were killed in the firefight that raged during and after the attack - some direct participants; some lookouts. It appears the entire terrorist force that staged the attack was wiped out.

It's still not enough, however - they have to raid Gaza and put an end to the dictatorship they're running there once and for all, and not let PC forces deter them.

Hat tip: The Jawa Report.

Update: J.E Dyer at Hot Air notes that the terrorists were wearing Egyptian military uniforms.

Union violence increasing in USA

Commentary reports that there's been an increase in violence by union members in a couple spots around the USA. Possibly the most abominable example though, is when a NJ unionist had his young daughter stand in front of an oncoming truck from Verizon. That is NOT a true parent.

If this is how they're going to act, then they are simply unemployable, and should be shunned by sane society.

Terrorist attack near border with Sinai

And this appears to have involved a rocket attack too:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Assailants armed with heavy weapons, guns and explosives launched three attacks in quick succession in southern Israel near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding about a dozen more, officials said.

The rare violence in that part of the country targeted a passenger bus, a military patrol and a private car, the officials said. Channel 10 TV reported a fourth attack, but there was no official confirmation or details. The military said a “large number” of assailants were working in multiple squads.

“We are talking about a terror squad that infiltrated into Israel,” said Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich. “This is a combined terrorist attack against Israelis.”

The violence near the resort city of Eilat stoked concerns about growing lawlessness in neighboring Sinai following the ouster in February of Egypt’s longtime autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak.

Last week, Egypt moved thousands of troops into the Sinai Peninsula as part of a major operation against al-Qaida inspired militants who have been increasingly active in Sinai since Mubarak’s ouster in February. The militants have taken advantage of the security vacuum caused by the abrupt withdrawal of police forces. Authorities have blamed the militants for brazen attacks on police patrols as well as a string of bombings on a key pipeline carrying natural gas to Israel and Jordan.

There's a very serious concern that the Sinai peninsula could become another stronghold for al Qaeda. And coupled with the potential new sharia-based government in Egypt, it could be very possible.

Update:The Jerusalem Post has a slideshow of at least 5 pictures taken from the scenes of the crimes.

There's now also a report of a fourth attack north of Eilat:

An additional shooting attack took place Thursday evening north of Eilat, in which one person was injured. Army forces, police and ambulances were seen rushing toward the location of the attack and IDF helicopters were hovering overhead.[...]

IDF forces were still searching the area around Eilat and the Egyptian border out of concern that there may be terrorists still in the area. Sources said that it is possible that there were as many 20 terrorist in the area, both in Israel and on the Egyptian side of the border.

They added that there may be another terrorist cell hiding in the area. IDF and special police counter-terrorist forces killed seven terrorists during the three earlier attacks.

At a press conference Thursday evening, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Tal Russo said that security forces had been on high alert for terror attacks coming from Sinai to Israel.

This might be a side-effect of the so-called "Arab spring", and it is definitely dangerous.

Update 2: here's more info on some of the victims.

Others rightfully outraged include Israel Matzav, Hot Air, Politicons, The Foxhole, Political Byline, Giyus.Org, Big Peace.

Rick Perry's ties with Islam

As much as I'd like to appreciate Texas governor Rick Perry's entering the presidential race, troubling ties he has with Islamic representatives revealed by Pamela Geller and in Commentary are decidedly something that shouldn't be overlooked. If these reports have any weight to them, it should be something the anti-sharia crowd should pay careful attention to.

Update: on the other hand, here's a posting by Frank Gaffney about the positive aspects of Michele Bachmann.

Late news about mass resignation of Turkish army generals

Another sign of Turkey's erosion is the resignation en masse of many military personnel at least 2 weeks ago. Here's another article about this by Ryan Mauro in Front Page Magazine.

And also, as the Armenian News agency tells, an expert has reminded that so long as they're in such an Islamofascist state, we can expect them to be quite hostile to Armenia. Of course, even before this time, they were if they refused to acknowledge and apologize for the slaughter they committed against Armenians during WW1.

Remembering the fallen US Navy members in Afghanistan

There was a tragic terrorist attack on a US army helicopter in Afghanistan this past week, in which 21 Navy members were murdered by the Taliban. This is absolutely terrible that more soldiers had their lives taken by those savages. The lives of the US Navy members must always be remembered.

Tragedy in Pakistan: a kidnapping

An American Jew working in Pakistan has been kidnapped:

An American Jew was abducted by gunmen who broke into his house in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Saturday, the Associated Press reports.

The US Embassy identified the victim as Warren Weinstein. According to reports Weinstein serves as the Pakistan director for J.E. Austin Associates, a development contractor that works with the aid arm of the American government.

Weinstein's Linked In website profile says he is based in Lahore and has been in Pakistan for seven years. Calls to the company headquarters in Virginia were not immediately answered, but its website describes Weinstein as a development expert with 25 years experience and a Ph.D. in international law and economics.

Tragically, his fate may be sealed, just like Daniel Pearl's own. How is it that nearly a decade after that horror, another man of Jewish background hasn't learned why it's dangerous to go there?

Armenian olympics

Armenia's come up with what could be described as their own way of encouraging Zionism for their country:

Thousands of Armenians from all over the world gathered on Saturday for the opening of an Olympics-style tournament aimed at encouraging people of Armenian origin to return to their homeland.

More than 3,200 athletes -- representatives of the huge Armenian diaspora as well as native residents -- will compete in Yerevan at the Pan-Armenian Games, a showpiece nine-day event including sports like football, tennis, swimming and volleyball.

Teams of diaspora Armenians from countries including the United States, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Turkey and France joined a parade at the opening ceremony, where an Olympics-style torch was brought from the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, which Armenian forces seized from neighbour Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s.

"We talk a lot about migration, about the fact that many young people leave the country, but these games are the opposite of that -- they attract them back," the chairman of the Pan-Armenian Games World Committee Ishkhan Zakarian told AFP.

Armenia's population is believed to have fallen by about one million since it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the number of ethnic Armenians living outside the country is much larger than the 3.2 million who now live in the small Caucasus state.

Amid growing concerns about depopulation, the government has also been running a scheme entitled "Come Home" in an attempt to reverse the trend by bringing hundreds of ethnic Armenians to the country each year for holidays, with the ultimate aim of convincing them to resettle there.

I hope this does bear fruit, because it could help their economy too.

The pied piper of confusion on Islam

I once spoke about how Bernard Lewis was unfortunately not the most reliable expert on Islam. Now, Andrew Bostom's got a whole essay where he puts this concern more into focus.

And let us be perfectly clear: to say that anti-semitism in the Muslim world derives from the European form is about as effective as saying that the ancient Egyptians derived theirs from the same places.

Weekend roundup

Here's an odd story about contractors being hired by the US to battle Somali jihadists (via Hot Air Headlines).

Syrian forces are continuing their slaughter of protestors, and recently murdered at least 10 more.

Fiat's plans to build a variant on the 500 at a plant in Serbia sounds like an interesting idea.

Philadelphia mayor David Nutter had a strong condemnation to make against black teenagers who went on flash mob attacks in the city, telling them, “You damaged your own race.” (via The Blaze).

Ryan Mauro at Front Page Magazine warns that Muslim enclaves could be coming to the USA just like in Europe.

Jonathan Tobin at Commentary says that the Hamas could help cut off US aid to Gaza.

Max Boot says the UK is paying a political price.

A western Pennsylvanian town is celebrating the birth of the Jeep, the earliest precursor to utility vehicles and 4WDs.

Ben Shapiro helps David Yerushalmi

I may not have really given the NYT article I'd linked to earlier the drubbing it really needed, maybe because Pamela Geller didn't do enough of that either, but now, Ben Shapiro, the guy who wrote Primetime Propaganda, has come to the defense of David Yerushalmi, pointing out how the NYT article is basically a hit piece.

Yerushalmi himself has written his own reply on the American Thinker, and notes how Andrea Elliot, who wrote that biased article, is quite a dreadful journalist indeed. Talking about him as though his being an Orthodox Jew is really important, and of course, relying upon alleged "experts" from the Muslim side to deny the legitimacy of his concerns, all the while not presenting any genuine data from within the Koran. That's their MO at the awful NYT, of course.

Update: here's Pamela Geller's reply as well.

Norway's long record of anti-semitism

Caroline Glick writes about left's exploitation of the Breivik massacre to attack conservatives and opponents of jihadism, and the governmental/public mindset that much of Norway is plagued with:

...when on Friday, Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide published an unjustified attack on me on these pages, he forced me to take the time to study the intellectual and political climate of hatred towards Israel and Jews that pervades Norwegian society.

That climate is not a contemporary development. Rather it has been a mainstay of Norwegian society.

In a 2006 report on Jew hatred in contemporary Norwegian caricatures published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Erez Uriely noted among other things that Norway banned kosher ritual slaughter in 1929 - three years before a similar ban was instituted in Nazi Germany.

And whereas the ban on kosher ritual slaughter was lifted in post-war Germany, it was never abrogated in Norway.

As Uriely noted, Norway's prohibition on Jewish ritual slaughter makes Judaism the only religion that cannot be freely practiced in Norway.

Fascism was deeply popular in Norway in the 1930s. In the wake of the Nazi invasion, Norwegian governmental leaders founded and joined the Norwegian Nazi Party. Apparently, sympathy for Nazi collaborators is strong today in Norway.

As the JCPA's Manfred Gerstenfeld noted in a report on the rise in Norwegian anti-Semitic attacks during 2009, two years ago the Norwegian government allocated more than $20 million in public funds to commemorate Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun on the occasion of the Nobel laureate for literature's 150th birthday. As The New York Times reported, in February 2009, Norway's Queen Sonja opened the, "year-long, publicly financed commemoration of Hamsun's 150th birthday called 'Hamsun 2009.'"

But while Hamsun may have been a good writer, he is better remembered for being an enthusiastic Nazi. Hamsun gave his Nobel prize to Nazi propaganda chief Josef Goebbels. During a wartime visit to Germany, Hamsun flew to meet Adolf Hitler at Hitler's mountain home in Bavaria.

And in 2009, Norway built a $20 million museum to honor his achievements.

As Uriely explained in his report, "Norwegian anti- Semitism does not come from the grassroots but from the leadership - politicians, organization leaders, church leaders, and senior journalists. It does not come from Muslims but from the European-Christian society." [...]

One of the Jewish Americans who attacked the Norwegian ambassador's willingness to distinguish between Palestinian terrorist murderers of Israelis and Breivik's terrorist murder of Norwegians was Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz said, "I know of no reasonable person who has tried to justify the terrorist attacks against Norway. Yet there are many Norwegians who not only justify terrorist attacks against Israel, but praise them, support them, help finance them and legitimate them."

In March Dershowitz experienced Norway's elite anti- Semitism-qua-anti-Zionism firsthand. Dershowitz was brought to Norway by a pro-Israel group to conduct lectures at three Norwegian universities. All three university administrations refused to invite him to speak. Student groups acting independently of their university administrations in the end invited Dershowitz to give his lectures.

As Dershowitz explained in a Wall Street Journal article, he was the victim of an unofficial Norwegian university boycott of Israeli universities. The unofficial boycott is so extensive that it bans not only Israeli academics, but non-Israeli, Jewish academics that are pro-Israel.

And lest someone believe Norway's anti-Jewish boycott is due to the so-called "occupation," as Dershowitz pointed out, the petition calling for an academic boycott of Israel begins, "Since 1948 the state of Israel has occupied Palestinian land."

The Norwegian elite's rejection of Israel's right to exist, and ban on pro-Israel Jewish speakers from university campuses goes a long way in explaining Norway's support for Hamas. If Norway's opposition to Israel was merely due to its size, rather than its very existence, it would be difficult to understand why Norway maintains friendly contact with Hamas. Hamas is after all a genocidal, terrorist group, which like the Nazis seeks the annihilation of the Jewish people as a whole. Yet Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store wrote an article justifying his relations with Hamas as in line with Norway's embrace of "dialogue."

What this can tell is that Norway never evolved much past the mentality that the Vikings fed upon. If you've ever heard of the British-Norweigan author Roald Dahl, he was a very disturbing anti-semite/racist/sexist, and some of the original drafts for his books' manuscripts were chilling too. Pretty much the only thing that could be great about the Vikings were the pagan deity mythologies they came up with. But beyond that, they really suck. Some may wonder if the UK could convert to Islam, but what about Norway? Could they beat them to that dreaded destiny?

L&O: Criminal Intent was canceled last month

Oh my goodness me, did I almost miss out on some smile-generating news: Law & Order: Criminal Intent was canceled.

So now, if my calculations are correct, there's only one member of this ludicrously leftist franchise left on TV now; L&O: Special Victims Unit. How long or how soon will it be before that too gets the pink slip? Let's hope it'll happen soon, and Dick Wolf's undeserved career will be retired along with this awful franchise. As I'd noted earlier, SVU has one of the worst takes on women's status.

Demonizing the anti-jihadists

Charles Jacobs at Family Security Matters (via Jihad Watch) looks at how the MSM/left has been using the massacre in Norway as a means of scapegoating the anti-jihad movement:

"Insane" is what Anders Behring Breivik's lawyer calls him. "Crazy" and "psychotic" is how many describe the man behind the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. Hunting down teens like rabbits with a high- powered rifle to defeat a purported Muslim invasion of Europe seems definitively, absolutely irrational. But The New York Times, which unswervingly refers to Islamist atrocities as isolated incidents by crazed loners, will have none of that. The day after the tragedy, its headline ran: "Norway Charges Christian Extremist." Breivik is nothing of the sort. In his rambling 1,500-page manifesto, "2083: A European Declaration of Independence," Breivik explains that he is not a Bible-believing Christian. "Christian fundamentalist theocracy" is "everything we DO NOT want," he wrote. A "secular European society" is "what we DO want."

It was not only the Times that so much wanted Breivik to be an agent of the Cross and an exemplar of the hated right. Using classic defamatory technique, European and American media raced to blame the entire anti-jihadist movement for murder by association, with the goal of setting the legitimate concerns many ordinary people have with radical Islamists beyond the pale of civilized discourse.

For US mainstream media, this was déjà vu all over again: Recall the media chorus that painted Jared Loughner, the man who shot Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a right winger inspired by Tea Party rhetoric, even a Sarah Palin groupie. Loughner, it turned out, is an anti-war, Satan-worshipping, left-wing pothead. Recall that Timothy McVeigh, the first American terrorist cast by the media as a "Christian fundamentalist," was another pot-smoking atheist who wrote, "Science is my religion."

Instinctively, incorrigibly America's mainstream media seeks to punish the voices that undermine their false narrative of reality: In the current tragedy, it's not the domestic right - focused on abortion, marriage and taxes - but the growing, international, populist - but also erudite - antijihad movement.

The hatred here is even more intense, driving Times men batty; columnist Roger Cohen, who has rarely met an Iranian mullah without some redeeming features, calls anti-jihadists "racists," hurling modernity's most damning epithet, despite knowing full well that the anti-jihad fight is about beliefs, not skin color. Knowing full well that black Christians and Indian Hindus are in the forefront.

As they exultantly make Breivik the poster boy for anti-jihadism, the Times irresponsibly published a photo of the movement's most learned, prolific and courageous leader, Jihad Watch's Robert Spencer. In doing so, it painted a target on his back. Spencer, already facing numerous death threats for his scholarly yet engaging works, is the true gentleman and indefatigable warrior who has consistently spoken out against any sort of violence and advocated for human rights for every person.

Read the whole article. The NYT are their usual self, promoting nothing but barbarism against the decent crowd and overall doing the world a grave disservice, just like Breivik himself.

Tampa police feared "Muslim reprisal" in case of Fatima Abdallah

Here's a most startling revelation made by David Caton of the Florida Family Association on why the police investigating the murder of Fatima Abdallah closed it as an "accident": because they were afraid of reprisals:

Tampa Police CSI tech admits “fear of Muslim reprisal” in Palestinian woman’s death. Florida Family Association asks Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate.

Florida Family Association (FFA) now has direct evidence that officials with the Tampa Police Department are intimidated by the possible involvement of religious creed in the death of the Palestinian woman named Fatima Abdallah.

The Tampa Police Department claims that Fatima Abdallah killed herself by repeatedly beating her head against a coffee table. FFA and numerous other organizations call that assertion preposterous. Florida Family Association contends that Fatima Abdallah died as the result of an honor killing and not an accident. Florida Family Association’s full report on the mishandling of the death of Fatimah Abdallah is posted here at Floridafamily.org

Tampa Police Crime Scene Technician Shelby Garman called Florida Family Association’s private investigator on July 26, 2011 to request that her name be removed from the Tampa Police Department GO report posted at Floridafamily.org because of “fear of Muslim reprisal.” Click here to read our private investigator’s report.

Florida Family Association wanted more documentation to support our private investigator’s report so we sent an email to Shelby Garman. When Florida Family Association asked Shelby Garman by email to confirm her request she did. Click here to read her reply and email property validation information that documents she sent the email from the Tampa Police Department.

This Crime Scene Technician’s statement and request verifies what Florida Family Association has alleged all along that the Tampa Police Department and/or the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Office were intimidated by the possible involvement of religious creed in the death of Fatimah Abdallah. It appears that some officials feared Muslim reprisal, feared media attention if the case became public and therefore decided to promptly call this violent death an accident without any further investigation beyond the incident date.

If law enforcement agencies are unwilling to properly investigate and bring charges in violent crimes that may have been perpetuated by religious creeds it will undermine our public safety and severely change our value system.

Florida Family Association sent this letter asking Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the mishandling of this death investigation by the Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough County Medical Examiner.

The very cowardice that ran rampant in Europe is now finding its way to America, and most astoundingly, the police. The Tampa department owes an apology to the public for insulting everyone's intelligence and risking the set of a precedence that could endanger other people's safety as well.

Turkey's continued suppression of history

Janet Levy on the American Thinker writes about the history of the persecution and slaughter of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Christians by the Ottoman Muslim empire during WW1, which Turks in Germany are suppressing from discussion as well:

In Germany, where Holocaust denial is punishable by up to five years in prison, Stuttgart University recently capitulated to pressure from resident Turkish Muslims and canceled an event entitled, "Persecution, Expulsion and Annihilation of Christians in the Ottoman Empire 1912-1922." Ironically, this occurred in a country that was forced to confront its own genocidal past, educate its population and pay restitution to victims. University officials explained that they wanted to "remain neutral" on the subject of the nearly 100-year-old, well-documented Turkish massacre of more than two million Christians. Citing neutrality in the face of crimes against humanity is deeply troubling, particularly in light of Germany's Holocaust past and the missed opportunity the event represented to educate students about genocide and potentially prevent its recurrence.

Equally troubling is Turkey's continued denial and banning of information about these crimes, not only within its own borders, but, as exemplified in Germany, within other countries as well. In contrast to Germany where laws since the end of World War II seek to prevent a Holocaust from ever happening again, the Turkish government under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, passed in 2005, makes it a crime punishable by up to two years imprisonment to insult the Turkish state. This provision prevents any public commemoration or consideration of the Turkish Muslim atrocities committed against Ottoman Christians.

There's more on the history of the persecution the Ottomans conducted against at least 3 ethnic groups at the link.

White House site omits all clear references to Jerusalem as Israeli

A week ago, I took part in a bloggers conference about the case of the Zivotovsky family's legal battle to gain passports for their son that clearly state Israel as the country of residence. The State Dept. has long refused to comply with Congress' call supporting the Zivotovsky's position. Now, as this case gains steam in the Supreme Court, the New York Sun reports that the White House website has been scrubbed of all references to Jerusalem being in Israel:

The White House, in an escalation of a closely-watched case the Supreme Court is preparing to hear on whether Congress or the President gets to decide American policy in respect of passports of American citizens born in Jerusalem, has quietly altered its website to remove the references to Jerusalem being in “Israel.”

The references to Jerusalem had appeared in the cutlines of photographs on the White House Web site illustrating an account of the vice president’s trip to Jerusalem last year. The references to ‘Jerusalem, Israel’ were first disclosed in The New York Sun’s dispatch last week on Zivotofsky v. Clinton. The case asks the high court to rule on the constitutionality of the 2002 law that gives American citizens born in Jerusalem the right to have “Israel” entered on their passports as their place of birth.

The Sun’s report was titled “Jerusalem Case at Supreme Court May Pit White House Web Site Against the President,” and noted that the pictures might be pivotal evidence contradicting the administration’s claim that the 2002 law impermissibly infringes the President’s power to “recognize foreign sovereigns.” Since the White House had effectively acknowledged on its own website that Jerusalem is in Israel, as have other executive branch agencies, the report suggested there might not really be a constitutional issue in giving Zivotofsky a statutory right to have that fact noted on his passport.

Yesterday afternoon Daniel Halper of The Weekly Standard posted one of the pictures, noting the reference to “Jerusalem, Israel” and contrasting it with the State Department press release issued earlier in the day stating the current administration policy to prohibit U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem from having “Israel” designated in their passports. The Halper posting went up at at 3:22 p.m. Less than three hours later, at 5:36 p.m. Halper noted that, at some time after he posted the picture, the White House had “apparently gone through its website, cleansing any reference to Jerusalem as being in Israel, including the pictures of Biden there last year.”

Throughout the past year-and-a-half that the pictures have been on the website, no one thought the captions affected the president’s constitutional powers, but rather simply noted the fact that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. It may be the subject of future final status negotiations, if final status negotiations ever resume. But currently it is within Israel, and in particular no one expects control of West Jerusalem, where Master Zivotofsky was born, ever to change.

So now, Obama's administration is trying to avoid any responsibility by tossing out the pictures of Biden on his trip to Israel as a way of showing more disrespect for US citizens from Jerusalem who want Israel listed on their passports. I think this is something Congress should address as well, because the current policy the White House is running - politicizing the whole matter of Jerusalem - is simply ludicrous.

Update: The Blaze has more on the story. Update 2: and so does Commentary.

Jordan becoming more hostile to Israel

This was sadly very likely to happen (H/T: The Astute Bloggers):

Israel is increasingly concerned about damage to Israeli-Jordanian relations caused by anti-normalization elements in Jordan that have become more and more active since the beginning of the year, sources in Jerusalem said Tuesday.

While there have long been vocal elements inside Jordan opposed to the 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, in recent months these voices have increased and are jeopardizing economic ties, the sources said.

For instance, last week the Jordanian insurance agency that provided policies for the Israeli embassy’s fleet of cars in Amman informed envoys that because of pressure from anti-normalization forces to cut off ties, it would no longer work with the embassy, a move that has forced it to scramble to find a new insurer.

In addition, the sources said that since the beginning of the year there had been a 25-30 percent decrease in agricultural products exported to Jordan because of pressure placed on Jordanian businesses bringing in the products.

According to the sources, those opposed to peace between the two countries are looking for the names of Jordanian businesses importing items from Israel, and placing pressure on them to end their contact with Israeli firms.

In addition, the sources said that even Jordanian exporters – such as businesses selling olives to Israel – are being pressured to stop. The olive exporters are being told that Israeli firms are taking their olives, making olive oil out of them and exporting it themselves for a profit to Europe.

Yes, it's the classic blood libel that Israelis are swindlers. I'd say it's best to start avoiding their products in return if this is how they're going to act, they who robbed the section of the land of Israel that's on the northeast side of the Dead Sea, and they who, even after the "peace treaty" with Israel in 1994, still refused to allow Jews to live in their country.

Some history of the Altalena

The New York Sun has written about the Altalena, an American-built ship bought by supporters of the Irgun, which David Ben-Gurion ordered attacked and sunk out of hostility towards his political rivals:

Just when one wonders what sort of teaching moment is available for Israel and, for that matter, for those betting on the so-called Arab awakening comes news that Israel plans to raise the Altalena. That is the hulk of a World War II-era transport ship that has lain at the bottom of the Mediterranean just off the coast of Tel Aviv ever since it was sunk in June 1948 in a conflict between two Jewish armies.

The combat lasted only hours, but the event looms large in the tale of how Israel, even though its factions were bitterly divided, turned away from civil war and toward long-lasting democracy. Though parallels are dangerously inexact, it holds lessons for those participants in the Arab spring who also have their eye on democracy. Its most important lessons obtain for the Israelis themselves, which is no doubt why the plan is underway to raise the vessel.

Read the whole article, and learn of who was behind the assault on the vessel at the time, and how Ben-Gurion basically performed it as an attempt to discredit and demonize his political opponents. This is definitely a very interesting project, to dredge up the sunken ship, and it's possible that it'll go on display near the Etzel Museum at the shore.

Uzbekistan immigrant threatened Sen. Lieberman

Another disturbing case where the MSM refuses to disclose the criminal's religion:

The FBI has charged a Philadelphia man with threatening to shoot Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Special Agents went to the apartment of Dmitry Dyatlov, 23, Aug 2, after being alerted by the U.S. Capitol Police of a blog Dyatlov had posted a day earlier, threatening to murder Lieberman, according to court documents.

"Actually, there is , at least, one Jew, who we absolutely must shoot in the face (many times), ASAP: Joe Lieberman," Dyatlov allegedly wrote in the blog.

A co-worker alerted authorities to the blog post after Dyatlov stopped showing up for work as a Information Technology specialist with Accenture Consulting. Dyatlov came to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 1998. He is now a U.S. citizen.

Dyatlov admitted to writing the blog to the FBI agents that showed up at his Philadelphia apartment, according to Special Agent Steve McQueen. When asked what his issue with Lieberman was, Dyatlov replied he hated him, court documents stated. Dyatlov told the agents he had no plans to carry out the threat, but did not care if someone else killed Lieberman, McQueen said.

He went on to tell the agents he felt Lieberman should not be a member of the Senate Security Committee, and that Lieberman's position on the Committee put the Senator in a position to hurt many people, according to court documents. Lieberman is in fact the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

According to court documents, Dyatlov had more to say to the agents before they finished the interview. "I'm gonna leave you gentlemen with a final thought. In order to fix the system you sometimes need to break the system." Agents asked Dyatlov if he said that as a threat. "It is what it is," he replied. After asking again, Dyatlov said he didn't mean it to be a threat, according to McQueen.

Dyatlov was being held after a bail hearing Tuesday, but was expected to be released after being fitted with an electronic monitoring device, according to federal authorities.

A spokesperson for Sen. Lieberman's office said he would have no comment on the arrest.

Truly a most one-dimensional monster. He should be stripped of his citizenship and deported.

UK flooded with riots

So now riots have broken out in Britain, though I'm not sure just now why. The Jewish community is shocked and dismayed by this violence, some of which hit their neighborhoods as well. But just as galling was what the Guardian took to doing:

...media monitoring organization Comment is Free Watch (CiFW), has condemned the Guardian newspaper for a story on the riots in which it maintained found it “pertinent” to note that some Hasidic Jews had allegedly jeered police without mentioning the ethnicity of the rioters.

The paragraph in question, published in the Guardian on Monday, stated: “The make-up of the rioters was racially mixed. Most were men or boys, some apparently as young as 10….But families and other local residents, including some from Tottenham’s Hasidic Jewish community, also gathered to watch and jeer at police.”

“A 1,800 Guardian report doesn’t mention the race, ethnicity, or religion of the rioters, somehow found it pertinent to note that some of those who gathered to jeer police were, allegedly, Hasidic Jews,” CiFW said on Tuesday.

“So, the rioters – who have torched, ransacked and looted shops, pubs, banks and even residential properties, and have attacked journalists, police, and firefighters for the past three days – are characterized as merely “racially mixed”, yet he somehow deems it relevant to note that some of Tottenham’s Hasidic Jewish community were among those who allegedly watched and “jeered” police,” it added.

It's just like them to do that; such disgusting opportunists. Though the community reps also did something dismaying by speaking alongside Muslim reps in Tottenham.

In related news, an Israeli police official says the UK police were unprepared for this catastrophe:

The Metropolitan Police of London was unable to cope with extensive city-wide rioting this week because it failed to prepare itself for such a scenario, former senior Israeli police officers told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

"If I'm commanding police forces during a riot, and I see rioters breaking into stores and emptying them out, and setting parked cars on fire, the only order I know to give is to storm the rioters, take them into custody, and use riot dispersal means if necessary," said Micky Levi, who commanded the Jerusalem police district from 2000 and 2003. [...]

"Police in London were caught off guard by the scope of the violence. If you are not on guard and wound up like a spring, physically, mentally, and operationally, your organization goes to sleep," Levi said.

It's not that surprising, since this is a country that's been only so good at "pacifying" itself into an inability to cope with the Islamic monster that's infiltrated its shores.

Ancient Roman sword from time of Jewish revolt against Rome

In our latest archaeological discovery in Israel, an ancient sword has been unearthed:

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a Roman sword from the time of the destruction of the second Jewish temple in 70 AD, officials said on Monday as Jews prepared to mourn the anniversary.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said that the 60-centimetre (23.6-inch) long weapon and its leather scabbard were found during excavations in a 2,000-year-old drainage channel in the City of David, in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan just south of Jerusalem's Old City walls.

It said in a statement that the channel, which funnelled rainwater to the biblical pool of Siloam, "served as a hiding refuge for the residents of Jerusalem from the Romans during the destruction of the Second Temple."

A spokeswoman told AFP the find was made last week.

According to Jewish tradition, the first temple, built by King Solomon, was razed by the Babylonians on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av. 586 BC.

The second temple, built on the same site by King Herod, is said to have been destroyed on the same date in 70 AD, as Roman forces put down a Jewish revolt.

Observant Jews mark the day, which begins at sunset on Monday, by reading from the Book of Lamentations, fasting for 24 hours and refraining from sex and entertainment in an annual ritual of mourning.

"It seems that the sword belonged to an infantryman of the Roman garrison stationed in Israel at the outbreak of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66 CE," the antiquities authority statement said.

"The sword?s fine state of preservation is surprising: not only its length but also the preservation of the leather scabbard (a material that generally disintegrates over time) and some of its decoration," it added.

It said that a stone object engraved with a picture of a menorah was found next to the channel.

It said researchers think that the picture might have been carved by a visitor to the nearby temple, struck by the magnificence of its golden seven-branched candelabrum, making his own impression of the sight on a piece of rock and then casting it aside.

And this makes another excellent addition to historical research.

Introducing sharia in the west goes against fight for reforms in Muslim world

Some common sense voiced in The Australian (via Jihad Watch):

ATTEMPTS to introduce sharia family law into Western societies run against the tide of reforms spearheaded by female activists in the Muslim world.

Many aspects of these laws are unpalatable to a society that has enforced equal rights for divorce, custody, inheritance and court testimony, and criminalised polygamy and forced, under-age marriage.

Moreover, the experience with sharia in Britain and Canada is cautionary. It is estimated thousands of British Muslim men have taken advantage of a loophole in the law against bigamy to avoid official registration and seal polygamous marriages in mosque ceremonies.

Religious divorces, much more difficult for women, were issued by sharia councils in a form of mediation under the Arbitration Act of 1996. In 2007, Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi took advantage of a clause in the act to establish the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, which could now make judgments enforceable under British law. The tribunal also ran sharia courts. Matters such as commercial and inheritance disputes could be resolved provided both parties agreed and the procedures were fair, but criminal and family issues such as forced marriage, domestic violence or civil divorce, were prohibited.

According to a report by British think tank Civitas in 2009, some rulings of sharia courts or tribunals advised illegal actions and others were incompatible with British law. Try these: polygamous marriage (two to four wives) is considered legal; there is no requirement to register a marriage according to the law of the country; a woman cannot marry without the presence (and permission) of a male guardian; a woman may not leave her home without her husband's consent; a woman may not retain custody of her child after seven (for a boy) or nine (for a girl); and "severe punishments for homosexuals" are recommended....

In Canada, sharia courts operated under Ontario's Arbitration Act of 1991. After the leader of the Canadian Society of Muslims declared that a "good Muslim" was enjoined to choose religious tribunals over Canadian civil courts, Homa Arjomand, an Iranian immigrant, feared Muslim women would be coerced into an alternative legal system where they would be denied protection of the Canadian Charter of Rights. Arjomand mounted a campaign, and in 2005 the premier of Ontario banned all faith-based arbitration in the province to ensure one law for all.

In Muslim-majority countries, many female reformers have campaigned for changes to gender discriminatory laws. Iranian women "suffragettes" have held demonstrations, risking injury, arrest and imprisonment. In Afghanistan, some women activists have been assassinated. Most reformers maintain the Koran is inherently egalitarian, and discriminatory laws evolved in a patriarchal, tribal society without the input of women. They also note that laws from 7th-century Arabia may not be applicable in the 21st.

I hope that David Yerushalmi, the lawyer who's most active in working to help protect America from sharia infiltration into the legal system, can help in these kind of cases too.

Update: in related news, see also the video on these pages at Big Peace and The Jawa Report about Muslims willing to use force to institute sharia in Britain.