Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Weekly Radio Show: June 1

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Friday, June 1: This week's scheduled guest for the second half hour of the show is Elisabeth. She will have news from Austria regarding the fight against Islam.

If you are unable to listen to the radio show live, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Ibrahim Hooper's Spinning Of The Survey

Check out Mr. Hooper's excuses:



I'll say one thing for Mr. Hooper: he's steadfast in his inanity.

But it was refreshing to see some anti-dhimmitude from the interviewer!

Friday, May 25, 2007

USA Today spins survey of US Muslims

The survey of US Muslims by the Pew Research Center has received a lot of attention on TV (well, at least Fox News) and blogs. Most disturbing was the finding that around 25% of American Muslims under 30 approve of suicide bombings in some circumstances (I prefer to call them "homicide bombings").

Here is how USA Today, which has its headquarters in Tysons Corner, spun the story:

Poll: American Muslims reject extremes - USATODAY.com
by Haya El Nasser.

This is, after all, the newspaper for which Laila Al-Arian, victimologist daughter of Sami Al-Arian of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, interned.

BTW We count Gannett, publisher of USA Today, among our blog visitors. We also get visits from other publications and government entities, including the House and Senate. We hope that means we're making an impression on these organizations.

Virginia Governor Kaine And MAS

Christine of Vigilant Freedom/910 Group Blog recently posted this piece, which delineates Virginia's governor's recent buddying-up with the Muslim American Society. Excerpt:
This last weekend, the Commonwealth of Virginia was signed over to the Muslim Brotherhood, care of the Muslim American Society (MAS). Tim Kaine must be hoping for a VP nomination from Obama - after all, if the Democrat Party presidential ticket needs a Southerner, he’d better prove his dhimmitudiness early in the game.

He gave the keynote speech at the local Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation dinner. A real team player, he’s just following Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) game plan from her Syria visit, and Steny Hoyer’s (D-MD) charm offensive with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. With very little effort, his staff could have researched the connections of the MAS to the Muslim Brotherhood and some extreme jihadist doctrine. We have to assume this is a choice, not a mistake....

[...]

The Brotherhood probably thought they wouldn’t get Virginia for another decade or two, but then they hadn’t planned on this level of help from Kaine.

Governor Kaine kowtows to MAS/Muslim Brotherhood.
That's Mahdi Braying Ass in the left foreground


Go read the whole thing.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Weekly Radio Show: May 25

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Friday, May 25: This week's scheduled guest for the second half hour of the show is columnist and author Allan Goldstein.

If you are unable to listen to the radio show live, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Weekly Radio Show: May 18

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

This week's guest-interview at the bottom of the hour is Shah Alexander of the blog Global American Discourse; Shah is based in Tokyo, Japan. Also, during the first half of the hour, author and journalist Paul L. Williams [Wiki article] is scheduled to call in, to discuss his new book Day of Islam. Read about his book here, at Amazon.

If you are unable to listen to the radio show live, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Concerns about Faisal Gill

At this time, Faisal Gill is seeking the Republican nomination to run for the 51st District of the Virginia House of Delegates, a geographical area which includes portions of Prince William County. On June 2, the Republican convention will meet to decide which candidate will represent the Party in the November election.

Before the Republican Party decides as to Mr. Gill's viability as their candidate of choice, he might first need to answer some questions about his connections with Abdurahman Alamoudi, now serving a penitentiary sentence for money laundering to terrorists. The concerns about Mr. Gill are several. According to Michelle Malkin on June 22, 2004, in her citing of Salon in "Who Is Faisal Gill?":
[Gill was] briefly removed from his job [at DHS] in March when the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered he had failed to disclose his association with Abdurahman Alamoudi, a jailed American Muslim leader. Alamoudi was indicted last year on terrorism-related money-laundering charges and now claims to have been part of a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah.

After a flurry of interagency meetings, however, Homeland Security decided to leave the policy director, Faisal Gill, in place, according to two government officials with knowledge of the Alamoudi investigation. A White House political appointee with close ties to Republican power broker Grover Norquist and no apparent background in intelligence, Gill has access to top-secret information on the vulnerability of America's seaports, aviation facilities and nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks.

The FBI raised concerns with Homeland Security officials in March after discovering that Gill had failed to list on security clearance documents his work in 2001 with the American Muslim Council, the officials said. The advocacy group....was controlled by Alamoudi...
At the conclusion of her article, Ms. Malkin says the following:
How does a guy with no intelligence background get appointed director of intelligence policy at DHS--and how does he keep that job and his security clearance after committing two possible felonies by failing to list his two foreign-funded employers on sworn government forms?!?!?!?!
This article by Frank Gaffney also brings up some matters of concern about Mr. Gill and Mr. Norquist. Both Northern Virginiastan and I have previously blogged about both Gill and Norquist.

Not unexpectedly, the biography at Mr. Gill's web site fails to mention any of the above information. Perhaps the questions have been resolved. If so, I am unaware of any such answers.

I suspect that answers have not been forthcoming because, today, RedState posted this article about Faisal Gill. Excerpt:
This is one of those issues that troubles me. You don't want to judge a man by his ethnicity or background, but there are more and more people troubled by the candidacy of Faisal Gill. He's running for 51st District Delegate against Julie Lucas and some of the grassroots guys are concerned.

I don't know the guy, but a cursory review of Michelle Malkin's site gives me pause. It seems Mr. Gill, when he worked for Homeland Security, failed to disclose his association with Abdurahman Alamoudi, a muslim leader indicted on terrorism related money laundering charges. This is compounded by Gill's work with the American Muslim Council, which encouraged muslims not to cooperate with the FBI after 9/11.

Also troubling is that a lawyer connected to Gill is rumored to be the Washington Post leaker of the NSA wiretapping program....
In the intense race to win the upcoming election after the Republican Party's defeat in the midterm elections of November 2006, one can only hope that the GOP is paying attention to matters of national security as those matters may pertain to Faisal Gill. And if any of the above disturbing questions about Mr. Gill's associations remain open, the GOP will appear soft on national security.

[Hat-tip to Greg, who emailed me information about Faisal Gill's candidacy]

Jamaat ul-Fuqra in the DC area?

Some of our readers might recall the daring work of Baron Bodissey of the Gates of Vienna blog in investigating the Jamaat al-Fuqra compound in southern Virginia. Jamaat al-Fuqra is a violent Islamic group with which convicted Beltway sniper John Mohammad had been associated. Now Paul Williams and associates have been investigating the Jammat al-Fuqra compound in upstate New York (from the Canada Free Press via LGF).

Check out this quote from Williams's article (I have added italics for emphasis):
Though primarily based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania.
Could any of our local readers provide information about the "hamaats" in Hyattsville and Falls Church? I'd also like to know if the many Muslim organizations that operate out of Falls Church are providing cover for the Jamaat ul-Fuqra hamaat in Falls Church.

Posting Requested by the Washington DC Examiner

This posting was requested via email to me from Lak Vorha, D.C. Online Editor of The Washington Examiner Newspapers.

Picture caption:
(AACE Worldwide Pty Ltd)
An automatic wudu washer, shown here on a promotional brochure manufactured by Australia-based AACE Worldwide, has come under scrutiny as many public institutions have approved their use paying for their installation through tax-funded dollars while turning down other religious groups to install equipment to follow their own faith and service.

Article from the Washington DC Examiner Newspaper:
Editorial: No favors for Muslim students

The principle of separation of church and state in tax-funded institutions has been upheld in more than a dozen Supreme Court rulings. As a result, overtly religious symbols of mainstream religions such as Nativity scenes, the Ten Commandments and menorahs have largely been banished from the public square on the grounds that they offend unbelievers.

But many public colleges and universities have been quietly accommodating some students’ religious activities while ignoring or even trampling on the First Amendment rights of other students.

For example, last year administrators at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College banned a coffee cart operator from playing music “tied to Christmas,” but approved the use of tax dollars to install special basins for Wudu so that Muslims could ritually wash their feet before prayer. College President Phil Davis defended this glaring double standard by absurdly insisting that “the foot-washing facilities are not about religion, they are about customer service and public safety.” At least a dozen other public colleges and universities in the nation have also installed Wudu facilities, including George Mason University in Fairfax.

A GMU spokesman said there were no complaints from other student religious groups when the Muslim Student Association was given permission by administrators to convert a common third-floor meditation room into a makeshift mosque. Would Campus Crusade for Christ be allowed to turn the facility into a makeshift Resurrection scene? The spokesman acknowledged that the other student religious groups have to reserve rooms or meet off campus when they want to pray together. At another state-supported school in Virginia, The College of William & Mary President Gene Nichol recently agreed to return the cross he had removed last year from the college’s historically Christian chapel only after angry alumni threatened to withhold millions in donations.

The paradox strains logic. Church and state remain firmly separated on campuses where the majority of students are Christian, Jewish or of no faith, but administrators toss the principle right out the window to satisfy a minority of Muslim students. Many college officials are granting prerogatives to Muslim students in the United States and Canada that are not permitted to other groups. For instance, the Ontario Human Rights Commission regards failure to make special accommodations for Muslim students, including inserting “Islamic perspectives” into secular curriculums like nursing and finance, as a form of “Islamophobia.” Expect similar political correct demands soon on American campuses.

This Orwellian, some-religions-are-more-equal-than-others approach is both hypocritical and discriminatory. The Constitution, to say nothing of basic fairness, demands that the same rules regarding the public expression of religious faith be applied equally to everybody. And for once wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a college president show some real backbone when faced with unreasonable demands from activist minority students seeking exclusive privileges?

Read Other Articles About Muslims on
Examiner.com

Northern Virginia blogs Islam
Source

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Low-Tech Terrorism

Citing the low-level methods and apparent bumbling of the Fort Dix Six, the media have disparaged last week's arrest of the aspiring terrorists in New Jersey.

To all those who might think that low-tech terrorist attacks cannot be of significance, I offer the following editorial, which appeared two days before the story broke.

Complete article, as it appeared in the May 6, 2007 edition of the Washington Post, emphases mine:
The Rise of Low-Tech Terrorism

The movies were an affront to God, encouraging vice and Western-style decadence. So in August 1978, four Shiite revolutionaries locked the doors of the Cinema Rex in the Iranian city of Abadan and set the theater on fire. The firefighters were late, and nearby hydrants did not work. The victims' shrieks could be heard while firefighters and police stood outside, watching helplessly. At least 377 people -- perhaps many more -- were burned alive.

Never heard of the Cinema Rex fire? You're not alone. But the tragedy is more than an obscure, grisly memory from the run-up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It's also the second-deadliest terrorist attack in modern history -- deadlier even than airline bombings such as Pan Am Flight 103 -- and one that offers many lessons about the changing threat of terrorism today.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, most Americans have worried about what terrorism experts call "spectaculars": massive, ingenious and above all theatrical extravaganzas such as al-Qaeda's attack on the twin towers, its simultaneous 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and its brazen 2000 suicide-boat assault on the USS Cole in Yemen. But perhaps we should be more worried about the Cinema Rex attack.

Although Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants still dream of spectaculars, a quick glance at the terrorist acts committed since 9/11 suggests that perpetrators are going low-tech, too. As the survivors of attacks in London, Madrid and the Russian town of Beslan will confirm, such tried-and-true terrorism methods as low-tech bombs, hostage-taking and arson have tremendous appeal to jihadists. Indeed, the State Department's annual survey on terrorism, released last week, notes that "in 2006 most attacks were perpetrated by terrorists applying conventional fighting methods that included using bombs and weapons, such as small arms."

While the United States and other countries have devoted lots of attention to bracing themselves for the big one, we've spent far too little time considering what we can learn from more mundane -- and more repeatable -- terrorist attacks that can inflict mass casualties.

A look at the various suspects arrested in recent years for crimes linked to radical Islamic terrorism in the United States suggests that the immediate threat we face is angry amateurs, not poised, professional killers such as Mohamed Atta, the leader of al-Qaeda's 9/11 team. Most of those arrested do appear to have meant Americans harm, whether by conducting attacks on their own or by raising money for other would-be killers. But these plots were rarely well-developed, and the operators were at best enthusiastic novices.

Consider the case of one of the few Americans actually convicted of terrorism since 9/11: Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver and naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kashmir who pleaded guilty in 2003, plotted to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge by severing its cables with blowtorches. Scary, sure -- but a completely absurd way to destroy the bridge, whose many cables are more than a foot in diameter.

These homegrown terrorists don't necessarily share the zeal and anonymity of a seasoned professional such as Atta. Many of those arrested on terrorism charges have a prison record and thus are known to law enforcement officials.

One of the most advanced post-9/11 plots, against the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and U.S. military facilities in the area, involved four former inmates who began their plotting while behind bars. Former prisoners rarely make ideal comrades; many would sell their own mother for a small reward.

But it's a mistake to write off the angry amateurs. They're not terribly skilled, but it doesn't take that much skill to kill dozens of people -- as the shootings at Virginia Tech so tragically demonstrate. Attacks such as the Cinema Rex fire are easily repeated, and they don't take the years of onerous training and planning that spectaculars demand.

So how can we stop low-tech terrorism? Unfortunately, better defenses can solve only part of the problem. We should defend the White House, nuclear plants and other high-profile targets that would tempt terrorists to stage a spectacular. But we can't defend every movie theater, synagogue, local government building or shopping mall without spending hundreds of billions of dollars and turning the United States into an armed camp.

That leaves offense -- at home as well as abroad. The FBI has tried to penetrate cells of would-be terrorists, often opening itself to criticism for spending enormous resources on disrupting what seems to be a bunch of bungling blowhards. The bureau should keep at it. Of course, sometimes a ballyhooed terrorism arrest will look foolish when the media reveal the plotters' amateurish plans and backgrounds. But aggressive law enforcement can help prevent these amateurs from becoming something more deadly.

Perhaps the best way to fight low-tech terrorists is through community support. For instance, the FBI began to focus on the "Lackawanna Six," who pleaded guilty in 2003 to providing material support to al-Qaeda, after receiving an anonymous letter from a member of the Yemeni community in Lackawanna, N.Y., near Buffalo. But to get these sorts of tips, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans need to see the police as protectors, not persecutors.

In this respect, Europe provides a cautionary tale. Governments there, particularly France's, have spent more time trying to shake down their Muslim communities for intelligence than they've spent reassuring and integrating them. The result? An angry, unassimilated Muslim minority whose fringes produce terrorists while its mainstream often resists police efforts to find them. The U.S. government has a fine line to walk here, too. But when in doubt, we should jettison intrusive measures in favor of those likely to win sustained support from Muslim Americans.

Finally, the government needs to talk coolly and calmly to the American people. Complete protection against arson, shootings and low-level bombings is impossible. Americans will have to accept a certain amount of risk in their daily lives, recognizing that effective government policies can reduce the threat but not eliminate it. Public opinion is the fulcrum of counterterrorism. Terrorists -- high-tech and low-tech alike -- rely on overreaction from a rattled public and government to do their dirty work. We shouldn't indulge them.
About the author of the above:
Daniel L. Byman is director of Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies and a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
Additional information from Google Search about the author of the above.

Information about Brookings Institution.

I'm not sure that Mr. Byman's conclusions as to how to prevent such attacks are correct. But I know that part of the statement from CAIR certainly is inaccurate and promotes dhimmitude. From American Crusader:
CAIR's statement: “Based on the information gathered in this case, it seems clear that a potentially deadly attack has been averted. We applaud the FBI for its efforts and repeat the American Muslim community’s condemnation and repudiation of all those who would plan or carry out acts of terror while falsely claiming their actions have religious justification.”

If they had stopped there, it would have been almost un-CAIR-like, but of course they had to add a little caveat.


CAIR went on to say “refrain from linking this case to the faith of Islam.”
Be sure to read American Crusader's entire posting.

We in the West can soothe ourselves by pointing out that moronic terrorists got nabbed last week in New Jersey. But we're creating a false sense of security if we don't address the ideology behind Islamic terrorism. After all, the Fort Dix Six had a common bond. They didn't just "go postal," nor did they suffer from sudden jihad syndrome. And there are bound to be many more like them.

Friday, May 11, 2007

GMU - worse than I initially reported

A follow-up to my post Muslim spacehogs at GMU:

UPDATE May 11, 2007: From Snapped Shot via LGF, Brian C. Ledbetter clears up some misperceptions about George Mason U and the Muslim Student Association: for example, not all bathrooms in the Johnson Center have ritual foot-washing basins, but every bathroom in the northeastern half of the building has foot-washing basins. Still doesn't give me a warm fuzzy.

The original article from Snapped Shot was titled "Some are more equal." This statement is adapted from the proclamation "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" made by the ruling pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm. A fitting extension of our porcine metaphor.

As noted in a previous article Muslim accomodations on college campuses:
The [Muslim Accomodations Task Force, a project of the Muslim Student Association] isn't operated by overly enthusiastic college students. Its professional staff, based in the Washington, D.C., area, includes coordinators who provide legal advice, teach students to lobby, write letters on their behalf, and help them overcome "obstacles" such as college administrators' concerns about violating the separation of church and state.
To learn how local colleges and universities are "accomodating" Muslim demands, visit Muslim Accomodations (East Zone USA) on the MSA National web site.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

CNN - a tool of HAMAS?

I received an obscene response on my post Cynical manipulation of Virginia Tech tragedy, concerning the video captured by graduate student Jamal Al-Barghouti of police storming Norris Hall. Barghouti likened the massacre to that "suffered" by the so-called Palestinians under the Israelis. One of the more polite statements that Anonymous made was "The kid has the same name as a another Arab," namely Marwan Barghouti.

No doubt many of you have seen the video of the HAMAS children's call-in TV show that featured a Mickey Mouse clone advocating terrorism. HAMAS Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said that his ministry requested that the TV show be suspended: as Robert Spencer wryly noted, "Translation: We're sorry we got caught." So it's just coincidence that Jamal Al-Barghouti has the same name as another Arab, eh, Anonymous?

As noted in my previous post, CNN ran and re-ran Jamal Al-Barghouti's cell phone video. From the Baltimore Sun article cited, it appears that Jamal Al-Barghouti had assumed the stance of a "citizen journalist" on CNN the evening of the massacre. Also visit LGF's post on Outrage: CNN Covers Up Death Cult Mickey Mouse Video on how CNN played the plain-speaking Glenn Beck for a fool by getting him to withhold showing the Mickey Mouse video on his TV show.

This begs the question, is CNN in cahoots with HAMAS? Al-Jazeera couldn't have done better.

UPDATE: From the AP article Newseum gets $15 million gift:
WASHINGTON - A used cell phone. An old vest. It's a mishmash of donations, and they're not for Goodwill.

They're items for display at Newseum, the journalism museum set to open at a new location this fall near the Capitol.

The cell phone was donated by a Virginia Tech student who sent CNN the footage from outside a campus building where a student gunman killed 32 people and himself last month.

"He was very interested in it going to a place where it would be publicly displayed in the right manner," said Newseum spokeswoman Susan Bennett.
Is this not depraved? Jamal Al-Barghouti is milking the Virginia Tech tragedy for his own glorification. All the more so, as Barghouti captured the video as people in his own department (he is a graduate student in civil engineering) were slaughtered.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Weekly Radio Show: May 11

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

WC and I will be chatting with Eleanor of Sixth Column, but she had to cancel.

If you are unable to listen to the radio show live, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Afraid To Break Free

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

From this article, which appeared on the front page of the May 8, 2007 Washington Post:
"My husband beat. He show knife. I am scared for him, for all family," said Shamim, 21, the Pakistani bride, who was rescued by police. She is being sheltered and tutored in English at a private home. "They say no money, no call mother at home. I cook for all, I not eat. I not know 911 what is. I think I go crazy."
Here, in the United States. In the D.C. area, hardly a backwater region.

The article goes on to state the following:
A major obstacle to recognizing and fighting abuse, experts said, can be Islam itself. The religion prizes female modesty and fidelity while allowing men to divorce at will and have several wives at once. Many Muslims also believe that men have the right to beat their wives. An often-quoted verse in the Koran says a husband may chastise a disobedient wife, but the phrasing in Arabic is open to several interpretations.
A few imams have spoken out:
In Sterling [Viriginia], Imam Mohamed Magid at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society offers counseling to engaged couples, ensuring they understand their mutual rights and duties. In Silver Spring, Imam Faizul Khan at the Islamic Society of the Washington Area holds weekly counseling sessions for troubled couples.

"For many years, our community did not face these issues. Women suffered in silence and fear. Even today, many imams think it could never happen in their mosque," Khan said. "Islam gives equal rights to men and women, but there are myths in Muslim society that men are superior and violence is permitted. This is wrong, and it needs to be said."

Khan and others are also trying to bring men into the debate by forming a group called Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence. But they said recruiting participants is not easy. Even when taken to court on charges of abuse, several experts said, many Muslim men will argue that they were within their rights or are being victimized by vindictive spouses.
Perhaps the following, portions of the Koran not in keeping with the imams' soothing words, explain why Muslim men are not coming forward to support rescuing abused Muslim women:
Sura 2:228 states, "Women have such honorable rights as obligations, but their men have a degree above them." Sale is more to the point in declaring that "the women ought also to behave towards their husbands in like manner as their husbands should behave toward them, according to what is just; but the men ought to have a superiority over them. God is mighty and wise." (p. 32) The superiority is expressed in another fashion toward their wives. "Men are the managers of the affairs of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have expended of their property. Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding the secret for God’s guarding. And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them. If they then obey you, look not for any way against them." (Sura 4:34)

[...]

The Qur’an declares that a man shall purify himself before prayer, and among those polluting sources are women. (Sura 5:6) It may be worth noting explicitly here that men apparently are not similarly a source of pollution for women. Apparently women are inherently more unclean than men...
More examples at the above link.

Additional information from "Muhammad's Low Opinion of Women":
FACT #1: The Qur’an allows (or, perhaps, commands) men to beat their wives into subservience.

[...]

FACT #2: According to Muhammad, women lack common sense because their minds are deficient.

[...]

FACT #3: Muhammad offered women little hope for the afterlife.

Supporting data for Fact #1, the imams' concern as express in today's Washington Post:
Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret what Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High Exalted, Great.

Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.

Men are the protectors And maintainers of women, Because Allah has given The one more (strength) Than the other, and because They support them From their means. Therefore the righteous women Are devoutly obedient, and guard In (the husband’s) absence What Allah would have them guard. As to those women On whose part ye fear Disloyalty and ill-conduct, Admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); But if they return to obedience, Seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, Great (above you all).
Perhaps the imams mentioned in the Washington Post article are abrogating certain portions in the Koran or advancing a more enlightened interpretation. If they are they should say so — not try to spin what the Koran says.

Sadly, even here in America, Muslim women are trapped, both culturally and physically. According to the Washington Post:
Social workers and government officials said there are numerous programs in the area to help Muslim women who are abused, such as hotlines with links to Arabic and Urdu speakers and shelters that serve meat slaughtered according to Islamic ritual. But if a young woman is brought to the United States, speaking no English and surrounded by in-laws, she might be as far from help as if she were living in a Pakistani or Moroccan village.

"Many women are kept inside, with no one to turn to," said Catherine Juhel, a counselor at the Foundation for Appropriate and Immediate Temporary Help (FAITH), an assistance program for Muslim women in Herndon. "They don't know the language or the laws here, only what their husband tells them. Often they come from a society where if you go to the police, they will bring you right back home. How can they be sure it would be any different here?"

A cudgel often wielded by abusive Muslim husbands in the United States is their power over the legal immigration status of their wives. Many brides arrive with temporary "marriage" visas obtained through husbands who are U.S. residents or citizens. Lawyers and social workers say an angry or demanding husband might threaten to "call immigration" and have the wife deported, raising the horrifying specter of her returning home in shame.

[...]

[E]ven U.S.-educated women can be browbeaten into enduring abuse for fear of shaming their families or facing cruel gossip at the mosque. Organizations that help them escape are viewed by some conservative Muslims here as dangerous saboteurs of Muslim values and family.

In Shireen's case [a professional born in Turkey but reared here in the United States], even a college degree and a good job could not fend off the demands of family and community bent on fitting her into a traditional Muslim mold. Now that she finally has freed herself from an unhappy match, she said, she has become a pariah to the family that once hovered around her.

"I know I was stupid to give in, but you get overwhelmed by all the pressure," she said. "Now I have been totally shunned. I embarrassed my husband in the eyes of the community. It doesn't matter why I left him or what he did to me. Even in America, you can't always get away from home."
Near the end of the Washington Post article, we find this poignant passage:
"Now I am freedom," Shamim said, grinning broadly as she took a tea break recently from her English studies. "I stay America. Not go home. In home, everyone blame woman, it is my culture. Everyone blame me."
May Shireen, Shamim, and others like them find true freedom here in America and break the shackles of Islam!

Monday, May 07, 2007

Muslim spacehogs at GMU

... and yes, the title is intentional.


Pigs in Space - ouch!

From Broadside Online via Little Green Footballs, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at George Mason University has demanded that the University assign a special prayer space for Muslims, to also serve as an Islamic Education Center, and to allow the MSA to run it.

Muslims face Mecca when praying and going through their gyrations, and the wall they face cannot be adjacent to rest rooms. The existing "meditation space," designed to serve all GMU students, regardless of religion, meets these requirements. This room would be expanded to create a separate prayer space for women.

As a public university, GMU should not favor any religion and should not enable gender apartheid. Remember how the Commonwealth of Virginia was obliged to admit women to VMI?

My perverse thought is that if the MSA's demands are fulfilled and the space is renovated, let's make sure that the toilets in the restrooms that the MSA use for wudu, or ritual ablution, are repositioned to point toward Mecca!

    Sunday, May 06, 2007

    UAE's Gift To Johns Hopkins

    Item from the May 6. 2007 edition of the Washington Post:
    Johns Hopkins Gets Major Gift From Sheik

    An Arab sheik has made a major gift to Johns Hopkins Medicine and will have a tower at Hopkins hospital named in honor of his father, a founder of the United Arab Emirates, officials announced.

    The size of the gift was not disclosed, but Hopkins officials described it as "transformational."

    The gift, from Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will support heart research, an AIDS research program in Uganda and a billion-dollar construction project that will replace half of Hopkins Hospital by 2010.The sheik is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the president of the United Arab Emirates. Hopkins has agreed to name a 355-bed clinic after the sheik's late father, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

    Now for some additional information about the sheikh....

    Sheikh Kalifa, of equestrian-circles fame, is the head of the Supreme Petroleum Council. An article at Wiki includes the following about his philanthropic donations:
    ...[C]haritable contributions by Sheikh Khalifa are not from his own wealth but that of his nation's, given the vast sums of the state's wealth accumulated by his father and his family.
    The sheikh gets the glory but the funds apparently come from UAE's national treasury.

    It seems that the dollars which the West pays for UAE's oil get used for all sorts of purposes. Consider the following information about the Sheik, from this source, emphases mine:
    On July 27, 2005, the Palestinian Information Center carried a public HAMAS statement thanking the UAE for it’s “unstinting support.” The statement said: “We highly appreciate his highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (UAE president) in particular and the UAE people and government in general for their limitless support…that contributed more to consolidating our people's resoluteness in the face of the Israeli occupation".

    The HAMAS statement continued: "the sisterly UAE had… never hesitated in providing aid for our Mujahid people pertaining to rebuilding their houses demolished by the IOF… The UAE also spared no effort to offer financial and material aids to the Palestinian charitable societies." Indeed, as documented by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S), HAMAS charitable societies,” are known as integral parts of the HAMAS infrastructure, and are outlawed by Israel and the U.S.

    The HAMAS statement included a special tribute: "One can never forget the generous donations of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan,” the father of the current UAE president. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahayan of Abu Dhabi, was the first Arab leader to understand the importance of waging economic Jihad against the West...
    Does Johns Hopkins have a clue about Sheikh Khalifah's and his family's connections to Hamas?

    Saturday, May 05, 2007

    Perceptions Of Crime

    I previously posted on H.R. 1592, now S. 1105. Sure enough, CAIR supports the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, a measure which would expand the federal definition of hate crimes.

    In its entirety, the following is a recent CAIR Alert, emphases mine:
    (Washington, DC 4/24/2007)-The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on American Muslims and all people of conscience to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (HR 1592).

    If passed, the bill would allow the Attorney General to provide federal assistance to local law enforcement to aid investigations of crimes motivated by “…prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin…” of the victim.

    In a statement made while introducing the Senate version of the bill, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said: “Our legislation is supported by a broad coalition of over 210 law enforcement, civic, religious and civil rights groups…” and “The absence of effective legislation has undoubtedly resulted in the failure to solve many hate-motivated crimes.

    “Victimizing a human being simply because of their race, faith, or other traits is simply unacceptable,” said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. “America will be a brighter place when such discrimination is a thing of the past.”
    Pamela of Atlas Shrugs, whom WC and I interviewed yesterday on The Gathering Storm Radio Show (We had a few technical difficulties at the start of the show, but the sound comes on after a minute or two), has also blogged on the subject of this measure and points out that President Bush has indicated that he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk. Although the President has rarely wielded the veto pen, of late he seems to have discovered its power.

    The Democratic Party, too, is discovering the power of the Presidential veto. Today, the Washington Post ran this article on the front page, above the fold. Excerpt:
    In the heady opening weeks of the 110th Congress, the Democrats' domestic agenda appeared to be flying through the Capitol: Homeland security upgrades, a higher minimum wage and student loan interest rate cuts all passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

    ...Not a single priority on the Democrats' agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the "do nothing" tag they slapped on Republicans last year could come back to haunt them.
    The Democratic Party's promises not kept could be a good thing for America. Ah, the wisdom of a checks-and-balances system!

    At Dhimmi Watch, Robert Spencer points out the following in "Finnish Police Will Question Blogger Under 'Incitement Against Groups' Law":
    It is apparently illegal in Eurabia to speak the truth about the fact that Muslims who wage war in the name of Islam, and oppress women and non-Muslims in the name of Islam, have copious Islamic texts to which they can and do refer to justify their actions -- even though this would be the first step to any authentic Islamic reform.
    Read the rest. The interrogation of a particular Finnish blogger is not a hypothetical case! Further information at Gates of Vienna.

    Hugh Fitzgerald, also of Dhimmi Watch, has written a thoughtful essay on the folly of thought-crime legislation and states the following:
    What they [Muslims] cannot stand is that Infidels should dare to read, dare to quote, dare to write the exact same things, in a spirit not of blind and submissive worship, but in a spirit rather of inquiry into what Muslim texts teach Muslims about Muhammad -- about what he said, and what he did, and what he wished for, and what he counselled Muslims.
    Mr. Fitzgerald goes on to discuss the story of Muhammad's marriage to nine-year-old Aisha and concludes his essay with the following:
    The Jihad will not be weakened if, all over the Western world, thoughtcrime legislation is permitted to pass. It must not.
    Read the rest, in which Mr. Fitzgerald points out that telling the truth about Islam could well constitute a hate crime.

    Contact your elected officials in Congress, and voice your objection to The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R.1592 and S.1105).

    [Hat-tip to Eleanor of Sixth Column for some of the links-trail above]

    Wednesday, May 02, 2007

    Weekly Radio Show: May 4

    Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

    The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

    WC and I will be chatting with Pamela of Atlas Shrugs!

    If you are unable to listen to the radio show live, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.