Zion. An island of sanity in an ocean of savagery.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
War by any other name
You could be forgiven for thinking all was quiet between Israel and the Arabs, after all the MSM are completely silent on the situation in Israel. But you'd be wrong nonetheless.
One terrorist organization making truces with another. The IDF moving in and pulling back. Kassam attacks on civilian populations. 'Cease fire' violations. Business as usual.
And the criminally stupid Israeli 'leadership', giving land to Jew-murderers and terrorists.
But there will be peace once the Arabs get Gaza. Or at least after they get the 'West-Bank'. Well, certainly after they get whatever's left of Israel after that.
No, it's thru an Israeli newspaper that we might be able to discern the next step towards Dhimmitude and Islamization. And they're no longer babysteps, we're running fast, preparing for the final dash:
The western German state of Hesse expects to offer instruction in Islamic religion for Muslim students in every school in the state, a state official said Friday.
At least one school in every district in the state will offer Islamic instruction in the new school year, and at some point classes will be spread to every school, Culture Minister Karin Wolff said. The teaching will be phased in and a specific time plan will become clearer in the future, she said.
Many millions of Turks live in Germany. I never understood why they don't learn to speak German, become germans, just as I didn't understand the Moroccand and Turks in the Netherlands. Since reading Robert Spencer and Bat Ye'or, I understand completely. I'm sure I belong to very small minority in this. Please read German state to offer Islam class in every school
This story's been running for a while now, and it wasn't very interesting to start, but it's developing into something... well, European is the best word.
The story so far. Days after it turned out the Newsweek 'bombshell' on the 'desecrations' was false, an Arab student at UCLA (who is also a member of several radical organizations, but the press somehow manages to overlook this) buys a second-hand Koran thru Amazon. On arrival, the book alledgedly contains profanities, among which "Death to all Muslims".
Muslim interest groups get involved, and manage to get Amazon to apologize profusely, overcompensate the customer, investigate the matter, reorganize their organization and sack persons who may or may not have been involved. They also
indefinitely suspended Bellwether from selling Korans through Amazon and said that if the problem recurred, Bellwether would be banished from Amazon.
Bellwether being the actual seller of the book. It also was not aware (if indeed guilty) of any wrongdoing, but took measures nonetheless:
[Richard Roberts, owner of Bellwether] apologized to Basarudin, said any employees found desecrating the Koran would be fired, and offered to replace the book. He also promised to assign, in the Los Angeles Times’s wording, “a quality-control officer to rigorously check incoming and outgoing books.”
Keep in mind that all of this happened because a radical Muslim student CLAIMS she received a 'desecrated' Koran thru Amazon. Claims that even if true can never be substantiated, but nevertheless remain exactly that: Unsubstantiated.
If all the upheavals over an unproven claim by a suspect person, right after another scurrilous story turns out untrue, if this doesn't fit Bat Ye'or's definition of dhimmitude (which, btw is MANDATORY reading for anyone who values Western society more than that of Saudi or Pakistan), I don't know what does.
And I don't even want to get into why 'desecrating' the Koran should evoke anything more than a desire for a refund.
Update: This is the e-mail I sent to Amazon, c/o Patty Smith
Dear Ms Smith,
I am a regular customer of Amazon. And I am very disappointed with Amazon's handling of the alledged Koran desecration involving ms Basarudin and Bellwether. First of all, the claim is totally unsubstantiated. There was no cause to do anything more than offer compensation due to a sense of customer-friendliness. You did nothing wrong, and neither did Bellwether. Until such a wrong was clearly proven, the burden of proof lies with the buyer.
This is all the more important in the light of my second argument. This claim comes at a time when Muslim extremists want to fan the fires of the previous non-incident, involving the alledged but demonstrably untrue 'desecration' of a Koran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and it is uncannily timed.
If you think you're making friends of radical Muslims by jumping to their every whim, you are mistaken. And you are alienating customers like me, who would have liked to see a much more firm position on such an unproven and unlikely claim. Such appeasement is ugly to see, and I'll be reconsidering where I buy my books from now on.
For the non-European readers: All EU member countries are soon to vote on the so-called 'constitution'. If you think it's anything like the US constitution, you are very mistaken. It's a huge, opaque document that essentially takes power away from smaller countries, makes power sharing and political responsibilities less transparent than ever, and ensures that the individual voter will have nothing whatsoever to say about EU policy.
It's a truly bad idea.
And it looks like the Dutch are wise to it. Being cheated out of 10% of our net income when the conversion to the Euro took place, the murder of Theo van Gogh, clear signs that today's politicians (both those in power and their opposition) have their own interests at heart rather than the people they claim to represent, the Dutch seem to buy it no longer:
The Dutch public appears on course to firmly reject the European constitution in a referendum on 1 June, according to latest opinion polls.
The Netherlands is one of the EU's founding members, and support for the bloc has traditionally been strong among the Dutch.
However, tensions over immigration and the high financial cost of EU membership have led to increasing Dutch euroscepticism ahead of the poll.
It's not all that relevant to the conflict in the ME, except that this 'awakening' may also lead to more resistance against the unhindered flow of immigrants into the Netherlands, the unopposed (except for some token resistance) entrance of Turkey into the EU, the ever increasing signs of Islamization of the Netherlands.
I hope that's what it means, anyway. See, I can be optimistic too.
Ali Al-Ahmed (a Saudi Muslim) has a nice piece in Opinionjournal on 'the desecrations'. The gist of his article is that
If Muslims wish other religions to respect their beliefs and their Holy book, they should lead by example.
He has a lot of valid points, but there's one thing that bugs me about his otherwise valiant and no doubt sincere attempt to show another, very different reaction to the Newsweek-ignited non-scandal: He essentially blames the Saudi's for everything that happened after Muslims worldwide were told the Koran gets flushed down the toilet in Guantanamo.
Now I'm the first to blame the Saudi's for everyhing that goes wrong on this planet, including world hunger, global warming (well, that really IS their fault, isn't it?), AIDS and what have you. Seriously, the Saudi's are a wretched bunch of creatures.
But the massacres in the name of indignation over the supposed 'desecrations' took place in Afghanistan. Clearly they're as psychotic over there as they are in Saudi.
It is however the only point I take issue with. Reading the piece was otherwise a hope-inspiring exercise. I invite you to read it too. You'll be so much wiser about what religious intolerance and disrespect really entails.
I'm glad that more and more people start noticing the "gorilla in the living room", as Robert Spencer puts it. I think I was the first to mention it, if I don't say so myself.
I'm just a bit disappointed that Cox&Forkum forgot to draw the insane Muslims in a satirical fashion... Sheez, that image made me laugh! Note the remote control + wire in the left hand of the psycho on the right. Priceless. That captures it so well: Ready to detonate at the drop of a hat.
Because my posts incense people - Let me rephrase that: Because my posts sometimes incense the WRONG people, here's another feline beauty:
Hey you! You know who you are. Stay away until you're done. And we'll meet end of July, I hope. Until then, I will visit you on-line. You're not nearly as upsetting to me as I am to you... or at least, sadness is better than rage, I guess.
PS: The lady in the pic is unknown to me. I just love that HUGE Main Coon.
I've said a number of times that Newsweek getting it wrong on the 'desecrations' is perhaps newsworthy in itself, but it was never the core issue. Robert Spencer of JihadWatch also noted that the real issue is of course the Islamic world's reaction to the 'news'. Hundreds of people injured, seventeen killed, and the whole world blames Newsweek. They're a bunch of Leftist idiots, but they didn't kill anyone. To quote Ann Coulter: "Newsmagazines don't kill people, Muslims do!" So it's a shame to see Hal Lindsey fall into the same trap.
All the retractions in the world, even if they are made, will not quench the fires of fanaticism this irresponsible report has ignited. The Muslim street is already predisposed to believe the most outrageous lies about the United States anyway. Now our own media has given them a choice excuse to hate us more.
Newsflash Hal: They never needed an excuse to hate us. And it's hard to see how they could hate us more.
Always very funny, and alway spot-on. Ann Coulter on WND. This time Newsweek and their sickening reporting on the 'desecrations' are her bulls eye.
Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas justified Newsweek's decision to run the incendiary anti-U.S. story about the Quran [Which turned out to be a complete fabrication - Ed], saying that "similar reports from released detainees" had already run in the foreign press – "and in the Arab news agency al-Jazeera."
Is there an adult on the editorial board of Newsweek? Al-Jazeera also broadcast a TV miniseries last year based on the "Protocols of the Elders Of Zion." (I didn't see it, but I hear James Brolin was great!) Al-Jazeera has run programs on the intriguing question, "Is Zionism worse than Nazism?" (Take a wild guess where the consensus was on this one.) It runs viewer comments about Jews being descended from pigs and apes. How about that for a Newsweek cover story, Evan? You're covered – al-Jazeera has already run similar reports!
Newsweek comes up with many excuses not to publish stories that they just don't want to publish, because it doesn't fit their political agenda.
But Newsweek couldn't wait a moment to run a story that predictably ginned up Islamic savages into murderous riots in Afghanistan, leaving hundreds injured and 16 dead. Who could have seen that coming? These are people who stone rape victims to death because the family "honor" has been violated and who fly planes into American skyscrapers because – wait, why did they do that again?
In the four largest Dutch cities, foreign (mostly Muslim immigrant) children make up more than half the school population. These children have huge learning deficits, and there are basically two ways of dealing with this. One is to separate the two groups, in order to accomodate to the respective levels of knowledge and ability. The other is to mix the two up, and hope the slow group picks up from the native kids.
Most immigrants actually prefer the first choice. They put their kids in schools which are already predominantly 'black', usually because the school is located in the 'black' neighbourhood. The net effect of this of course is that both written and spoken langage skills are far below par, which in turn has dramatic effects when the time comes for these kids to seek higher education or find jobs. Many of them are functional illiterates.
I don't know if the other option is better, however. 'Cause what happens when immigrant kids are placed (ideally in a 50/50 proportion) in mixed schools is this: The level and pace of teaching is adjusted to their levels, which means it is slower than native kids otherwise would have had. Which in turn means that at the end of six years of primary school, Dutch kids are less educated than their parents and grandparend were.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The real solution of course is not to have such a large segment of your population lag behind in education. And it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better (if ever it does, which I don't believe). Because non-native children are making up an ever larger part of Dutch youth, but their level of integration (and with it their level of education) is not improving. Read more on another failed attempt to solve this problem here.
According to this article in the International Herald Tribune, France is reversing a European trend of shrinking populations.
The growth in France is mainly due to a birth rate of 1.9 babies per woman, according to Insee. Immigration accounts for about a fourth of it.
If the predicted increase takes place, France will replace Germany as the EU's most populous country.
Not a word about the cause. I like to venture a guess: twelve million Muslims, with an average of five children per family can easily compensate for the staleness and impotence of French society.
What is actually going on between Israel and the Arabs calling themselves Palestinians? Any progress being made? Have they agreed the Arabs should all move to Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon? Have they agreed the Arabs can have their 23rd country?
Has terrorism ceased? Wanna know? It's worse than you think, no matter how bad a pessimist you think you are. Read Daniel Pipes' assessment of today's situation:
How do things look half a year after Arafat's death? About as awful as anyone might have expected. Specifically, Mr. Abbas is unambiguously leading the Palestinians to war after the Israeli retreat from Gaza in August 2005. Consider some recent developments.
Hiring terrorists as soldiers: Rather than arrest terrorists, as required by the informal February 2005 cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, Mr. Abbas has instituted a unique employment program for them, incorporating them into his security forces. The Associated Press explains the charming point system to determine who gets what rank: "A high school diploma … is worth eight points, while a year in an Israeli prison or on the run counts for two points each. Gunmen don't get credit for time served in Palestinian lockups, but they win extra points if they were wounded by Israeli army fire or had their homes demolished." The Israeli authorities have accepted that even convicted Palestinian killers carry weapons.
Arming terrorists: The Palestinian military intelligence agency facilitates terrorist groups smuggling SA-7 Strela shoulder-fired missiles into Gaza to use against Israeli aircraft.
Inciting the population: As Palestinian Media Watch, the Center for Special Studies, and Michael Widlanski have exhaustively detailed, the political speeches, press content, mosque sermons, school textbooks, and wall posters remain as rabidly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic as during the worst days of Arafat's rule. For example, Ahmad Qureia, the PA's so-called prime minister, has threatened "an explosion" over Israel's handling of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Pretend arrests of terrorists: As under Arafat, the PA plays the charade of arresting terrorists with fanfare and then allowing them quietly to "escape" from prison. Two examples of these revolving-door arrests: Two perpetrators who assisted a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in February 2005 left jail in April; and the Palestinian police arrested their first Hamas terrorist on May 2 but promptly released him one day later.
Not that anyone in charge is discouraged or anything.
This from offical 'Palestinian Authority' state TV:
The Moslem cleric, Ibrahim Mudayris, told Palestinians, “The day will come and we shall rule America, Britain, we shall rule the entire world, except the Jews.” According to Mudayris, unlike the Christian countries, Jews cannot be placed under subjugation. He told Palestinian television viewers that the only fate awaiting Jews is death by extermination.
I repeat: Official state TV.
Anyone who regularly reads MEMRI knows what poison and bile gush forth from the mosques in Gaza and the 'West Bank', and from the TV stations that broadcast the sermons. Most of the time, the hatred is reserved for the Jews (which is the case for the bulk of it here as well).
With the establishment of the State of Israel, the entire Muslim nation was lost because Israel is a cancer that spread in the body of the Islamic nation; because the Jews are a virus similar to AIDS, from which the entire world is suffering. This has been proven in history. Read the history!
After this it gets ugly. And the US get a dose as well:
The Palestinian nation is the strongest on earth. Look at all the civilizations! Look at all the states! Look at all the civilizations and forces and empires. Where did Great Britain disappear? Where did the Czar’s Russia disappear? Where did France, which almost ruled the world, disappear? Where did Nazi Germany, which massacred millions and ruled the earth, disappear? Where did all those forces disappear? In Allah’s will, He will get rid of the USA like he got rid of them. He caused Russia to disappear within a day, and He is the one Who can remove the USA and bring it down, and so He shall do it, in Allah’s will...
We [Muslims] have ruled the world [in the past] and a day will come, by Allah, and we shall rule the world [again]. The day will come and we shall rule America, Britain, we shall rule the entire world, except the Jews. The Jews will not live under our rule agreeably permanently, since they have been treacherous in nature throughout history.
Such nice people, they deserve a country of their own.
The West, their politicians, their media, their NGO's, they continue to treat these enemies of humanity as normal, civilized human beings, ready for peace, wishing to coexist.
Is there anyone who doubts what would happen to Israel if millions of additional Arabs were given citizenship? I'm talking of course about the so called 'right of return' the 'Palestinians' keep blabbing about. Insisting on this 'right' is tantamount to destroying Israel by demographics. If therefore a politician (or a Holocaust denying terrorist-in-a-suit like Abbas) insists on this 'right', he is in fact saying he wants to see Israel destroyed.
Now I know that that is a surprise to no one. I just thought it might be good to mention it once more, and place his statements in the context of his professed desire for peace with the Jews. Must be the kind of peace the Germans had in mind when they designed the death camps.
"PLO is still clinging to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People and our people in refugees camps reject today, as in the past, all forms of resettlement," WAFA quoted him as saying in a televised speech, in commemoration of the 57th anniversary of Nakba.
"Palestinians reject the proposal of resettling the refugees in Arab countries and their presence there is temporary," he added.
However Abbas called on the host countries to ensure basic civil rights for the refugees, demanding they are granted the basic human rights to work and travel freely.
"The Nakba and the disaster forced upon our people a life in refugee camps without an identity, in the midst of oppression, despair, poverty, and disease," Abbas said, adding: "The Palestinians have a homeland and it is called Palestine."
What is even more ironic is that he refers to UNSC resolution 194 and others. The relevant part:
11. Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible;
Well, there's no bloody chance of that happening, is there? Almost 600.000 Jews were forcibly expelled after Israel's various victories over the attacking Arabs. No compensation was ever offered, or is ever expected.
So while it's very kind of Abbas to remind us of the plight of these Arab Jews, who fortunately were succesfully absorbed and integrated into Israeli society, it does show that as long as the Arab world on the one hand insists on the fulfilment of UNSC resolutions, and on the other hand refuses competely to ever abide by them, peace between Israel and the Arabs will remain an illusion. Of course, peace is not a goal for the Arabs, it never has been. And so we're back to dealing with another two-faced Arab, designated by all the world as the new partner for peace for the 'Palestinians'.
I wrote earlier about alledged 'desecrations' of the Koran at Guantanamo, Cuba. LGF has lots of posts (start here) debunking the 'allegations'. But even Charles Johnson overlooks the most obvious question: SO WHAT IF US ARMY PERSONEL HAD ACTUALLY WIPED THEIR ASSES WITH THE KORAN?
Do we all really accept this as a legitimate reason for murder and mayhem from Muslims? Really?
We search the purses of little old ladies so that recent immigrants from Saudi Arabia named "Mohammed" wearing massive backpacks don't get singled out.
