THE MUSLIMS AND THEIR ISLAM WILL/ARE DESTROYING EUROPE.
Norway bow and arrow attacks: Danish citizen held as death toll reaches five
Police say suspect in his 30s lived in the town of Kongsberg, where the attacks took place
New story: Suspect showed signs of radicalisation, say police
'Many crime scenes': at least five dead in bow-and-arrow attacks in Kongsberg – video
Jon Henley with agencies
A 37-year-old Danish citizen has been arrested after five people were killed and two others injured in an attack using a bow and arrows in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg, police said.
The suspect lived in the town and was transported to the nearby town of Drammen on Wednesday night, the police said in a statement issued early on Thursday.
Police were interrogating the suspect and he was talking, his defence lawyer said. “He is cooperating and is giving detailed statements regarding this event,” his lawyer, Fredrik Neumann, told public broadcaster NRK.
Neumann said his client was “deeply affected” and would be remanded in custody later on Thursday. He declined to comment further beyond saying the suspect’s mother was Danish, but it was not known whether he had ever lived there.
Øyvind Aas, the police chief in Kongsberg, about 70km south-west of the capital, Oslo, told a press conference earlier on Wednesday night that the alleged attacker had been arrested and “according to our information, is the only person implicated”.
Aas said there had been “a confrontation” between officers and the assailant, but he did not elaborate. Two people were in intensive care, including an off-duty police officer.
Aas declined to comment on press reports that a police officer had been shot in the back. He said the attacks happened over “a large area” of the town and several crime scenes were involved.
The acting prime minister, Erna Solberg, described reports of the attack as “horrifying” and said it was too early to speculate on the man’s motive.
“I understand that many people are afraid, but it’s important to emphasise that the police are now in control,” she told a news conference.
The prime minister-designate, Jonas Gahr Støre, who is expected to take office on Thursday, called the assault “a cruel and brutal act” in comments to Norwegian news agency NTB.
The alleged attacker’s motive was not yet clear, Aas said, but police were not ruling out terrorism. “One person has performed these actions alone,” he said. “It is natural to consider whether it is an act of terrorism. But the man has not been questioned and it is too early to come to any conclusion.”
NRK said police in Kongsberg, a municipality of about 28,000 people, received reports at 6.13pm local time that a man was walking around the town centre firing a bow and arrow.
A woman who witnessed some of the attack, Hansine, told TV2 she had heard a disturbance, then saw a woman taking cover and “a man standing on the corner with arrows in a quiver on his shoulder and a bow in his hand”.
“Afterwards, I saw people running for their lives. One of them was a woman holding a child by the hand,” she said.
A “large number” of police, as well as helicopters, dogs and armed response teams secured the area soon afterwards, Aas said, and the suspect was arrested about 30 minutes later after a brief confrontation with officers.
An arrow is seen in the wall after an attack in Kongsberg Photograph: Terje Bendiksby/AP
The shooting appears to have started in or near a Coop store in the city centre where there were several casualties, Norwegian media reported, citing regional government officials who said details were “still very confused”.
A Coop spokesperson, Harald Kristiansen, told NRK there had been “a serious incident in our store” but no employees were among the injured. “We are providing assistance to our colleagues and helping police with their investigation,” he said.
“A lot of resources were sent from several places, including Oslo police district, the bomb squad, national police and emergency response teams,” Aas told journalists. “There is still a lot of police activity across the area. They are securing the various crime scenes … and have many witnesses to interview.”
A woman, who lived near the Coop store said she had heard alarms as she was walking home. “I saw a group of police officers, including one who held several arrows in his hand,” the woman, Marit Hoefle, told Aftenposten newspaper.
Kari Anne Sand, Kongsberg’s mayor, told VG newspaper the attack was “a tragedy for all those involved. I have no words”. Sand said a crisis team had been installed in a hotel to support those affected. “We are doing all we can,” she added. “Right now it is a chaotic situation and there are a lot of rumours.”
Shortly after the attack Norway’s national police directorate said it had ordered officers nationwide to carry firearms. Norwegian police are normally unarmed but officers have access to guns and rifles when needed.
“This is an extra precaution. The police have no indication so far that there is a change in the national threat level,” the directorate said in a statement.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
The Two Faces of Muslim Congressional Candidate Barbara Sharief
One day she likes gays and Jews, the next she is cavorting with anti-gay, anti-Jew Islamists.
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Joe Kaufman is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Chairman of the Joe Kaufman Security Initiative. He was the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Republican Nominee for U.S. House of Representatives (Florida-CD23).
On October 5th, Florida Democratic candidate for US Congress Barbara Sharief announced that she had received the endorsement of the Dolphin Democrats with the message, “OUR LGBTQ COMMUNITY STANDS WITH SHARIEF.” It may be of interest to this group that Sharief, only recently, has been cavorting with Islamists who have an open animus towards gays and others. It is a dangerous political game that Sharief employs, whereby one day she provides ‘lip service’ to heavily Democrat constituencies, such as the gay and Jewish communities, and the next, she embraces their enemies. She needs to be exposed for the opportunistic hypocrite that she is.
Barbara Muhammad Sharief is one of the frontrunners for the Special Election (Florida’s 20th Congressional District) to replace longtime United States Congressman Alcee Hastings, who passed away in April. Given the overwhelming number of Democrats in this particular district, the winner of the November 2nd Primary will most likely serve as the district’s new representative.
In the beginning of June, Sharief posted a graphic on Facebook containing colorful hearts and her photo, along with the following message: “Happy Pride Month, Always let your true colors shine!” Less than a week later, she showed up to the City of Boynton Beach’s LGBTQ Pride Intersection Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. On June 12th, she showed up to the same location to mark the fifth anniversary of the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub shooting in Orlando. These were kind gestures Sharief made to the gay community. She did similar, in September, for the Jewish High Holy Days, when she wished Jews a “Happy Rosh Hashanah” and a “Happy Yom Kippur.”
Yet, these overtures seem hollow and calculated, when considering the anti-gay and anti-Jewish bigots whom Sharief has proudly been engaging with during this same time period.
In July, Sharief visited Darul Uloom, a Pembroke Pines mosque that has been a haven for high-profile terrorists, including al-Qaeda operative “Dirty Bomber” Jose Padilla. Speaking with Sharief, in front of the congregation, was Darul Uloom founder and imam Shafayat Mohamed. Mohamed was thrown off a number of community boards for his public vitriol against homosexuals. In an article written by him, which is still available on Darul Uloom’s website, titled ‘Tsunami: Wrath of God,’ Mohamed claims that gay sex caused the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. In it, Mohamed also declares that most Jews and Christians are “perverted transgressors.”
In an August 2015 speech he gave to his congregants, Mohamed explained that he “got sacked from many boards, because there were a lot of gay people who said, ‘We don’t want him on that board.’” He said he had a choice, to “sit in Paradise or… sit on the board and go to Hell.” During his speech, Mohamed, as well, attacked then-President Barack Obama for supporting same-sex marriage and cited the Christian and Jewish Bible, barking loudly, “The Bible says that if a man sleeps with a man, he should be killed!” He further lamented the existence of Muslim homosexuals. He decried, “Listen. Don’t deny it. They already got Muslim gay communities!”
This past August, Sharief was the “Special Guest” at an event sponsored by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), an Islamist group associated with South Asian terror. At the event, Sharief was photographed with Rasheed Mahamad, the Assistant Secretary of the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA). In July 2010, AMANA was condemned by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for posting what the ADL called a “venomous” anti-Semitic video, featuring David Duke, on AMANA’s official website. For years, AMANA’s site published an article telling homosexuals to “keep a low profile about their abnormal human activities.”
In June, July and August, Sharief posted photographs from various events of herself posing with Abdul Rauf Khan, the Chief Operating Officer of ICNA Relief USA. Khan is an avid fan of rabid anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan and has used his social media to target gays and Jews. In April 2018, Khan posted the anti-gay propaganda piece, Why is it haram to actively be gay? It was produced by a media outlet that openly supports Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HT), a group that calls for gays to be put to death. In July 2014, Khan promoted on Facebook an anti-Semitic video labeling comedian talk show host Bill Maher, “Zionist Jew Bill Maher.”
Khan has, as well, had controversial dealings with the same radical mosque that Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen was a member of. In July 2016, Khan and the mosque, the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce (ICFP), fabricated a story about an alleged assault that took place at the mosque. According to reports, a congregant from ICFP had been locked out of his car and, while attempting to enter it with a wire hanger, was spotted by another individual who hit him believing he was burglarizing the car. Capitalizing on the situation and contradicting the victim’s statement to police, Khan and ICFP falsely claimed that the attack had been racially motivated.
Khan is also President of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR), a mosque with several terrorist ties and one of the venues that Sharief spoke at in August. In front of the congregation, along with her, was ICBR co-founder and former assistant to then-Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami al-Arian, Bassem Alhalabi. From October 1999 through September 2001, ICBR published a violently anti-Semitic essay on its website, titled ‘Why can’t the Jews and Muslims live together in peace?’ It labeled Jews “people of treachery and betrayal” and “enemies.” It spoke of a future “Day of Judgement,” when Muslims will “fight the Jews and kill them.”
The Dolphin Democrats and any other political action group can endorse Barbara Sharief all they want. However, they should understand that, in doing so, they are supporting someone who is very close with those who wish them and our nation harm. Indeed, Sharief has admitted to working directly with Islamist outfits and their leadership. If the groups pledging support for Sharief care for their own well-being and survival, as well as that of our nation, they will rescind their endorsements and demand that Sharief repudiate the organizations and individuals mentioned in this article.
Failure to do so implies tacit acceptance of those advocating for their own demise.
The Jihadist Genocide of Christians in Nigeria Intensifies
When black lives simply do not matter.
Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article was first published by the Gatestone Institute.
What several international observers have for years characterized as a “pure genocide” of Christians in Nigeria has reached new levels.
Since the Islamic insurgency earnestly began in July 2009—first at the hands of Boko Haram, a professional Islamic terrorist organization, and later by the Fulani, Muslim herdsmen also radicalized and motivated by jihadist ideology—over 60,000 Christians have either been butchered or abducted during raids, never to return and believed to be dead by their loved ones. About 20,000 churches and Christian schools have also been torched and destroyed during the same timeframe.
These are among some of the findings published in an Aug. 4, 2021 report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, also known as “Intersociety,” a human rights nonprofit based in Nigeria. Although the entire report is worth reading, some notable excerpts follow:
“The total number of ‘direct’ Christian deaths … from July 2009 to July 2021 … is independently put at no fewer than 43,000…. The killings had emanated from the propagation of radical Islamism in Nigeria…
…[T]he Islamic Jihadists and their ‘esprit de jihad’ in the Nigerian security forces have been responsible for at least [an additional] 18,500 Christian deaths arising from enforced disappearances, or those abducted and most unlikely to return alive… While most of the Muslims abducted by Jihadists in Nigeria are later released unconditionally to their families, most of their Christian counterparts are killed in captivity or forcefully converted to Islam….
The atrocities of the Jihadists primarily directed at Christians … include: massacres, killings, mutilations, slitting of throats and wombs, beheadings, torture, maiming, abductions, hostage-taking, rape, girl-child defilements, forced marriages, disappearances, extortions, forceful conversions and destruction or burning of homes and sacred worship and learning centers as well as forceful occupation of farmlands, destruction and forceful harvesting of farm crops and other internationally prohibited acts…
In the past twelve years … at least 17,500 churches and 2,000 Christian schools and other learning centers have been attacked by the Jihadists and destroyed in part or in whole, or burned or razed down. In the past seven months of 2021, for instance, the number of churches threatened or attacked and destroyed or burned down has risen to over 300….
In the same past twelve years, it was also independently found that no fewer than 30 million Christians especially in Northern Nigeria [which is Muslim-majority] and their ethno-religion were threatened and ten million of them have been uprooted, six million forced to flee their homes or geopolitical locations to avoid being hacked to death and over four million displaced and became IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons]….”
Although the last month to be included in Intersociety’s reporting period was July 2021, the massacres and atrocities have relentlessly continued since. A few examples from just August, 2021, follow:
In one area of Plateau State, Fulani terrorists “killed 70 Christians, displaced 30,000 others and burned 500 homes [and 1,000 farms]” in just the first three weeks of August, according to an Aug. 25 report.
“Unceasing tears have continued to roll in our eyes as a nation and people,” lamented Davidson Malison, a local Christian leader from one of the affected areas: “The terror being unleashed by Fulani herdsmen on Irigwe Christians has continued unabated and without any sign of remorse or regret.”
The Rev. Ronku Aka, another regional leader, noted that “While the Fulani herdsmen were attacking my communities, the soldiers and other security agents were around. As the Fulani invaders were carrying out the attacks, we expected them to confront the invaders and stop the destruction going on, but that did not happen.” When he confronted the soldiers about their failure to act, they responded that they “had not received orders to repel the attackers.”
Elishi Datiri, another area Christian leader whose flock was slaughtered in this round of jihad, explained the situation more unreservedly:
“Sadly, this carnage, genocide and wanton destruction of properties are being carried out in the very eyes of the security personnel whom the government spends billions of taxpayers’ money on in their operation to protect lives and properties of all Nigerians. In many instances, the military collaborates with the Fulanis to carry out these dastardly acts. The military’s direct participation in the destruction of Christians’ farmlands and properties has at many times generated many petitions, press conferences/releases and in some instances physical demonstrations by the Christian communities demanding the removal of the military…. There’s a continued onslaught on Christians which is being championed by the Fulanis and aided by the security agencies saddled with the responsibility to protect lives and property…. We wish to note with deep concern the unacceptable plundering of our land under the direct watch of constituted authorities charged with the responsibility of upholding all people’s rights as entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution.”
According to another report from Aug. 30, the Islamic herdsmen butchered another 36 Christians—often to distinctly Islamic cries such as “Allahu Akbar”—during several unchecked raids in the separate Nigerian state of Kadu throughout the month of August.
During the funeral for 17 of these Christians, the Rev. Jacob Kwashi, an Anglican bishop who had presided over many other funerals for massacred Christians in recent weeks and months, unloosed his tongue:
“We have never seen an evil government in this country like the one of today. The government is fully in support of the bloodshed in Nigeria. We are being killed just because we are not Muslims. These evil Fulani jihadists are enjoying the backing of the government to go about killing people, destroying their houses and farmlands, yet when we try to defend ourselves, the government will go about arresting our people. What kind of justice is this?”
On the night of Aug. 24 in Jos North, “jihadist Fulani herdsmen” entered yet another Christian village where, according to another report, they “went house to house killing residents.” When they were finished, 37 more Christians lay murdered.
During the predawn of Aug. 3, Fulani terrorists raided another four Christian majority villages where they butchered between 22 and 27 people, torched hundreds of homes, and systematically destroyed the farming villages’ crops and grains. Discussing that attack, the Hon. Jonathan Asake, a former member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, said,
“[T]here is an ongoing genocide in Southern Kaduna targeted at the indigenous Christians population and the aim is to force or intimidate us to abandon our faith or leave our ancestral lands for the armed herdsmen. Some of the attacked villages … have been attacked at least three times in the past six years with mass graves where scores were buried standing as a testimony of what we are saying. Not a single church or school is left standing. Not a single herdsman has been apprehended all these years. It is unfortunate that while Kaduna State government and the Federal Government is playing blind to it, the larger world, especially the western media do not believe that our lives are worth any news.”
On Aug. 5, governmental authorities demolished a church in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State in north Nigeria, which is Muslim-majority. The pastor’s son, Ezekiel Bitrus Tumba, 29, was shot and killed for trying to intervene and prevent the demolition of his church. On Aug. 8, the following Sunday, Christians gathered around the ruins of their church and held service. One Christian wrote on Facebook: “They demolished the building, thinking it is the Church. [But] the Church is Forever unstoppable and indestructible.”
Possibly in response, four more local Christian churches were torn down, all on the pretext that they did not have proper permits, which are nearly impossible to acquire in the Muslim majority state of Borno. As one local Christian leader explained, “If you want to build a church, they will not give you a permit, because the government will [fire] anyone who proposes/signs a document to build a church.”
According to another report from Aug. 10:
“Sunni Muslim Fulani Herdsmen invaded the Christian orphanage in Miango, Nigeria and burned every building. The 147 children and staff evacuated a few hours before the August 2, 2021 attack. The children were made orphans in previous attacks by Sunni Muslim terrorists such as Boko Haram.
As Fulani herdsmen advance in the Miago and Jos areas they destroyed 500 homes, 5 churches and killed 68 Christians. Many were wounded. Nigerian law prohibits anyone from owning a firearm in Nigeria, but oddly the Fulani had weapons exactly like those of the army.”
The government under President Muhammadu Buhari naturally denies any wrongdoing. It has also long insisted that none of these massacres have anything to do with religion—neither with the Fulani perpetrators’ Muslim faith nor with their slain victims’ Christian faith. The violence and bloodshed, rather, is a byproduct of land disputes, poverty, and inequality.
Although the Western mainstream media—and any number of Western politicians—have only been too happy to follow suit and present what is, in fact, a jihadist-fueled genocide of Christians as a matter of economics—few Nigerian Christians are fooled.
“Since the government and its apologists are claiming the killings have no religious undertones,” the Christian Association of Nigeria once asked, “why are the terrorists and herdsmen targeting the predominantly Christian communities and Christian leaders?
The Christian Association of Nigeria has similarly wondered:
“How can it be a [secular or economic] clash when one group [Muslims] is persistently attacking, killing, maiming, destroying, and the other group [Christians] is persistently being killed, maimed and their places of worship destroyed?”
In short and in the words of Sister Monica Chikwe, “It’s tough to tell Nigerian Christians this isn’t a religious conflict since what they see are Fulani fighters clad entirely in black, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ and screaming ‘Death to Christians.’”
DO WE REALLY WANT BIDEN'S MUSLIMS?
3 DECLITED MUSLIM WOMEN
‘Normal Marital Argument’: Muslim Tells Wife He’ll Behead Her If She Doesn’t Wear A Hijab
Welcome to the New Europe.
exactly the West has done to itself by means of mass Muslim migration is a taboo subject as far as the establishment media is concerned. Even the suggestion that there could possibly be a downside to the creation of no-go zones and Sharia enclaves in Europe is buried under charges of “racism,” “bigotry,” and “Islamophobia,” and that’s that. But as Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe march arm-in-arm into the glorious multicultural future, a recent news item in Austria suggests that everything might not be as rosy as our moral superiors would have us believe.
The German-language Exxpress reported Thursday that “a man of Turkish origin was sentenced today in Braunau to two years’ unconditional imprisonment for aggravated coercion. The Austrian citizen threatened to kill his wife if she refused to wear a headscarf.”
The man who issued this threat was in prison at the time: he is “serving a five-year prison sentence for aggravated assault.” But he was able to get his wife on the phone, and instead of spending his precious phone time telling her how much he missed her and assuring her that he would not run afoul of the law again, he told her: “If you don’t wear a headscarf from now on, I’ll break all your bones, kill you and cut your head off your body. I don’t care if I get 20 years for it.”
Now he dismisses those words as so many sweet nothings. In court, he explained: “I scolded her, she scolded me. I am ashamed that I am here as a defendant because of my wife. It was a perfectly normal marital argument.”
Well, yeah. Perfectly normal in Lahore, or Tehran, or Riyadh, or Diyarbakir, but in Braunau? Not so much. At least not until recently. But now, what goes in Diyarbakir goes in Braunau, and if you don’t like that, you’re a “racist,” “bigoted” “Islamophobe.” After all, this chap’s directions to his wife were perfectly reasonable: “I told my wife to wear the headscarf until I was out of prison. So much has been heard, that’s why I told her.”
His wife, according to Exxpress, “confirmed a little later during the interrogation that he was alluding to the protection that Muslim women with headscarves had against harassment by Muslim men, since they can be recognized as believers.” She elaborated: “My husband is not religious, for him the headscarf means that nobody is looking at me and that I am honorable.”
Or else. The victim of this “perfectly normal marital argument” stated: “I now have a different cell phone number because I’m afraid.” She was still afraid even though her husband was in prison: “I know him, he has had me threatened and followed by his friends. He has said he will get an ankle bracelet and then he will teach me.”
For all this, Judge Stefan Kiesl gave this sterling migrant two years in prison. “Seldom has a decision been so easy for me,” he added. “I believe your wife’s every word and have no doubt that what she said is one hundred percent true.” He said of the behavior of the defendant: “It couldn’t be more reprehensible. After receiving five years in prison for an incredibly aggressive act, you are trying to manipulate people from prison. The two years imprisonment can also be seen as a general preventive measure. The clear message must go out that such attitudes cannot be tolerated in our society.”
But Judge Kiesl, such attitudes are already tolerated in your society, and much more as well. After all, “the Turk was convicted of a knife attack in 2019. Because of debts, he stabbed a man in a betting shop in Braunau with a 20cm long jackknife. He was then sentenced to 5 years in prison.” And now he has two years more to serve for threatening his wife. Do you really think, Judge Kiesl, that he will emerge from prison a changed man? Isn’t it much more likely that, given the large presence of jihadis in prisons all over Europe, he will emerge even more hardened and dangerous than he is now?
This is just one incident among many that call into question the entire mass Muslim migrant enterprise that Europe has embraced so wholeheartedly. The political and media elites silence all dissenters by branding them “racists” and “Islamophobes.” So a few women suffer in the making of the new, multicultural Europe? Hey, to make an omelet you have to break some eggs!
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 23 books including many bestsellers, such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad and The History of Jihad. His latest book is The Critical Qur’an. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.
The Squad: Foiled For Now on Preventing Iron Dome Funding
But determined to carry on.
The Squad is the name given to four far-left members of Congress, distinguished particularly by their anti-Israel views and votes. Toward the end of September, three of the four squadrettes – Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alanna Pressley – helped to block a budget bill because it contained an aid item they opposed: $1 billion for Israel to replenish its store of Iron Dome missiles, which had been depleted during the 11-day war with Hamas this past May. Their efforts ultimately did not succeed, because two days after they held up the budget bill until the Iron Dome funding was stripped from it, a stand-alone bill providing that Iron Dome funding was passed, overwhelmingly, by a vote of 420 to 9.
A report on the Squad’s efforts, ultimately unsuccessful, to block funding for Israel’s missile defense system, is here: “The Squad keeps the dream of dead Jews alive,” by Clifford D. May, Israel Hayom, September 30, 2021:
In case you missed it: Last Wednesday [Sept. 22] members of the “Squad,” far-left House Democrats including Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandra [sic] Ocasio-Cortez, blocked a bill to keep the federal government operating until it was stripped of funds to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome.
Actually it was Ayanna Pressley, the fourth member of the Squad, who voted “No,” while Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez voted “Present,” then dissolved in tears, apparently overcome by having to vote, or so some claim, against her beliefs so as to not alienate Jewish voters in New York should she, as expected, run for the Senate.
To be clear: The Iron Dome is not a weapon. It is a shield. It intercepts and destroys short-range missiles before they can reach their intended victims.
Developed through a blossoming partnership that produces next-generation military technology for Israeli and US warfighters, this miracle of engineering is now used to protect American troops as well.
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts incoming rockets. The missiles do not kill people; they prevent people – the civilians who are targeted by Hamas — from being killed. That is their sole function. The missiles Israel needs to replenish those spent in the May war, the missiles that the Squad and its willing collaborators — Jamal Bowman (D-NY), Pramila Jayarpal (D-WA), Cori Bush (D-MO), André Carson (D-IN), Marie Newman (D-IL), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), and Thomas Massie (R-KY) (Massie is an odd man out in this group, for he is not anti-Israel but was concerned about the expense) — all voted against, are purely defensive.
The Iron Dome also defends Israelis who are not Jews. Say a missile strikes an Israeli hospital. Those inside will likely include Israeli Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Druze and other minorities. They may be doctors, nurses, or patients, because Israel has no laws separating by race, ethnicity, or religion.
In other words, Israel is not an apartheid state, although that’s the slander you now incessantly hear from the Squad and others intent on demonizing, delegitimizing and, ultimately, destroying Israel.
Clifford May points out that both the medical personnel, and the patients, in an Israeli hospital, include not just Jews, but also Muslims, Christians, and Druze. There is no apartheid in the medical system.
What he might have added, had he had more space, was that there is no apartheid anywhere in Israel. In this so-called “apartheid state,” Arabs sit in the Knesset, serve on the Supreme Court, go abroad as ambassadors for their country. The chairman of the largest bank in Israel, Bank Leumi, is an Arab. Jews and Arabs study together in universities and technical institutes. Jews and Arabs work together In factories and offices. Jews and Arabs receive medical care in the same hospitals, where they are treated by both Jewish and Arab medical personnel. Jews and Arabs play on the same sports teams and in the same orchestras. Jews and Arabs own businesses – from high-tech start-ups to restaurants – together. The only difference in treatment is that Jews must, while Arabs may, join the IDF.
The Squad needs to be read the riot act – and the paragraph just above – so as to shame it into silence, if such is possible with such shameless liars, on the subject of Israel’s so-called “apartheid.”
The Iron Dome saves the lives of Gazans, too, because, without this missile defense system, Israelis would not sit quietly as Hamas, which rules Gaza, rained death on them. They’d counterattack hard and fast, which would make it difficult to minimize civilian casualties to the extraordinary extent Israelis have managed in past conflicts.
The Iron Dome defense system keeps Israeli casualties low. If the Squad were to have had its way, and the $1 billion funding to replenish Israel’s stock of interceptors had not passed, the result would not only have been more Israeli civilians dead, but more Palestinians in Gaza would be dead as well, for Israel would have to launch more deadly attacks, with less warning time, to try to destroy as many of the rockets and rocket launchers as possible. Since both the 15,000 rockets Hamas possesses, and its rocket launchers, are deliberately hidden inside or beside civilian buildings, including schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, Israel would have no choice but to hit these buildings where weapons are hidden.
Clifford May further notes:
And since Hamas routinely employs Palestinians as human shields – an egregious violation of American and international law but beneficial for its public relations efforts – Gaza would soon resemble Syria, Yemen and Libya (countries from which, incidentally, millennia-old Jewish communities have been “cleansed”).
Returning to the apartheid slander: It’s a twist on the “Zionism is racism” resolution first promulgated by Israel-haters at the United Nations General Assembly in 1975. Repealed overwhelmingly in 1991, it was revived at a UN conference in Durban in 2001.
Zionism implies nothing more than the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in part of their ancient homeland. And, as anyone who has walked down a street in Jerusalem knows, Israelis come in all colors, including black Jews from Africa and brown Jews from India and Pakistan.
Last week, the United Nations sponsored another Durban conference. Three dozen nations boycotted rather than participate in one more festival of Israel-bashing and anti-Semitism. Many of the nations that did attend are egregious abusers of fundamental human rights.
38 nations boycotted the Durban IV horror, more than twice the number of countries – 14 – that boycotted Durban III in 2009. These were Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, UK, US and Uruguay. The European Union also did not participate or speak at the commemoration.
Many of the boycotters were among the most important states: the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden. One wonders whether, with so many states having boycotted Durban IV, will there be a Durban V?
The UN General Assembly was in session last week, too, and among those speaking was the newly appointed foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian. He utilized both new and old slanders, saying he was “honored to announce that my nation’s willpower is dedicated to the total elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, including apartheid and Zionism.” In other words, Tehran’s goal is the “elimination” of Israel. Its nuclear weapons development program is the means envisioned to realize that goal.
Like Tehran, Hamas is not coy about its genocidal goals. “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors,” the Hamas Charter proclaims. “Muslims will fight the Jews,” and even those Jews who “hide behind rocks and trees” will not escape, because the rocks and trees “will cry: Muslim: There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
May might have noted that the prediction quoted by Hamas, about Jews in the end times vainly trying to avoid being killed by hiding behind rocks and trees that then give them away, is one of the best-known hadith, the fons et origo of the anti-Jewish genocidal impulse that is to be found in the immutable texts of Islam, and it cannot be removed, or changed. That hadith will last as long as Islam itself.
Claims that Hamas has moderated over recent years are untrue. “We support the eradication of Israel through armed jihad and struggle,” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said in May. “This is our doctrine.”
Here’s the rest of the story that unfolded last week: On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer brought Iron Dome up as a standalone bill. There were 290 [sic for 420] votes in favor and nine opposed – eight from members of the Squad plus one Republican (who says he opposes all foreign aid). Just before the vote closed, Ocasio-Cortez changed from “nay” to “present” – and then broke into tears.
One plausible explanation: She plans to run for the Senate and calculates that many New York voters may prefer not to be represented by an ideologue eager to help terrorists murder Jews and kill off the Jewish state.
Perhaps she’ll counter that she favors a two-state solution. Fine, but it’s impossible to imagine Hamas or the Palestinian Authority (which rules the West Bank) accepting such a compromise until and unless they conclude that the dream of exterminating Israel is unattainable. People such as Abdollahian and Ocasio-Cortez keep that dream alive.
By the way, The New York Times asserted that she’d been diverted from her “principles” by “influential lobbyists and rabbis.” Those darn lobbyists and rabbis!
Yes, who were all those sinister “rabbis,” no doubt black-clothed haredim, whom the New York Times claims were threatening poor helpless Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, emailing or telephoning threats, or perhaps even visiting her in the Rayburn House Office Building to make those threats in person, that she’d better vote for the replenishing of Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile missiles – “or else.” Most likely their numbers and power to intimidate have been exaggerated, or even made up out of whole cloth. But it’s the kind of story that the New York Times, that has so often been caught spreading misinformation about Israel, or attacking Jewish organizations that support Israel, of course would have no compunction about publishing.
Ex-Muslim Reveals What the Qur’an Says About Moderate Muslims
Spoiler alert: it's not good.
The Qur’an in numerous passages describes lax, or moderate Muslims, as being hypocrites deserving of scorn and persecution. Speaking as a former Muslim, this raises grave concerns when one considers realities such as Islam’s death penalty for apostasy and the jihad imperative.
For a multitude of reasons (though chiefly for disbelief in or lack of adherence to Islamic teachings) the Qur’an often categorizes some groups of both Muslims and non-Muslims alike as being hypocrites. Since this article is primarily concerned with addressing the subject of how the Islamic texts view lax/moderate Muslims, it is important to consider the general meaning of the word hypocrite.
A common definition of the word hypocrite is as follows: 1: a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion. 2: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs.
Sadly, because the Qur’an claims to be the infallible words of God that are to be unwaveringly believed and practiced by devout Muslims (Qur’an 3:138, 6:114, 16:89), and since many moderate Muslims do not practice all of the Qur’anic dictates, orthodox Muslims have a valid reason to consider moderate Muslims to be hypocrites. See HERE for a more exhaustive list of Islam’s condemnation of hypocrites.
Qur’an 33:36: It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter, that they have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His messenger, has indeed strayed in plain error.
9:23: O believers! Do not take your parents and siblings as trusted allies if they choose disbelief over belief. And whoever of you does so, they are the true wrongdoers.
9:67 The hypocrites, both men and women, are all alike: they encourage what is evil, forbid what is good, and withhold what is in their hands. They neglected Allah, so He neglected them. Surely the hypocrites are the rebellious.
9:68 Allah has promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers an everlasting stay in the Fire of Hell—it is sufficient for them. Allah has condemned them, and they will suffer a never-ending punishment.
9:69 You hypocrites are like those disbelievers before you. They were far superior to you in might and more abundant in wealth and children. They enjoyed their share in this life. You have enjoyed your share, just as they did. And you have engaged in idle talk, just as they did. Their deeds have become void in this world and the Hereafter. And it is they who are the true losers.
In the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, we also find disobedient or hypocritical Muslims spoken of in derogatory terms:
Sahih Muslim Book 038, Hadith Number 6696: Ibn Umar reported Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: The similitude of a hypocrite is that of a sheep which roams endlessly between two flocks. She goes to one at one time and to the other at another time.
Sahih Muslim Book 038, Hadith Number 6694: Jabir reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) came back from a journey and as he was near Medina, there was such a violent gale that the mountain seemed to be pressed. Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: This wind has perhaps been made to blow for the death of a hypocrite, and as he reached Medina a notorious hypocrite from amongst the hypocrites had died.
Unfortunately, as we see from the Islamic texts themselves, it is the orthodox Muslims, such as the Taliban, who can quite justifiably call moderate Muslims hypocrites and treat them with disdain and worse. As the world has just witnessed in the late Summer of 2021, tens of thousands of moderate Muslims are desperately trying to escape Afghanistan as the entire country threatens to fall back into Sharia rule at the hands of the Taliban.
The world is fortunate that moderate Muslims do not follow all of the Qur’anic dictates – but failing to do so naturally makes the moderates vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy by the strict adherents of Sharia. Qur’anic verses such as the ones listed below are invariably noted to moderate Muslims by the hardliners, and the former tend to keep their heads down and their mouths shut for fear of being killed by their more devout Islamic brethren. Moderate Muslim movements are essentially inconsequential in terms of numbers and influence because the jihadis and their supporters know what is written in the Qur’an and are obedient to its teachings.
1:11: This is a Book whose verses are well perfected and then fully explained. It is from the One Who is All-Wise, All-Aware.
18:27: Recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. None can change His Words, nor can you find any refuge besides Him.
It is high time that the world take a sobering look at, and reject, the many exceptionally harmful and brutal teachings found in the Qur’an and Muhammad’s Sunnah that comprise Islamic Sharia law (See HERE) that the Taliban and dozens of other jihad groups are attempting be means of both force of arms and political maneuvering to establish throughout the earth.
In conclusion, for the foreseeable future, Sharia-adherent Muslims will continue to torment and persecute moderate Muslims precisely because of what is written in the supposedly perfect Quran and Muhammad’s Sunnah. In other words, unfathomable amounts of misery and bloodshed with take place throughout the world for as long as Muslims continue to believe the claim that the Qur’an is perfect and of divine origin, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah whose behavior is to be emulated (Qur’an 33:21).
Here is a recent statement from a group of Bangladeshi apostates living in the UK explaining the reasons why they have abandoned Islam:
One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer or an assassin. One who claims to be a messenger of God must have a superior character. He must stand above the vices of the people of his time. Yet Muhammad’s life is that of a gangster godfather. He raided merchant caravans, looted innocent people, massacred entire male populations and enslaved the women and children. He raped the women captured in war after killing their husbands and told his followers that it is okay to have sex with their captives (Qur’an 33:50). He assassinated those who criticized him and executed them when he came to power and became de facto despot of Arabia. Muhammad was bereft of human compassion. He was an obsessed man with his dreams of grandiosity and could not forgive those who stood in his way…
The statement continues:
Muhammad was a narcissist, like Hitler, Saddam or Stalin. He was astute and knew how to manipulate people, but his emotional intelligence was less evolved than that of a 6-year-old child. He simply could not feel the pain of others. He brutally massacred thousands of innocent people and pillaged their wealth. His ambitions were big and as a narcissist he honestly believed he is entitled to do as he pleased and commit all sorts of crimes and his evil deeds are justified.
Pakistan: Lahore School Principal Becomes Latest Victim of Blasphemy Laws, Given Death Sentence
And now joins the other 80 on death row.
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A Muslim school principal in Lahore, Salma Tanveer, has become the latest victim of the dreaded and stringent blasphemy laws of Pakistan, and has been given the death sentence after a long trial, reports the Pakistani daily Dawn.
Salma is not only the principal, but also the owner of a private school in Lahore. She was booked under the Pakistan Penal Code’s Section 295C in September 2013, on a complaint by Qari Iftikhar Raza, a local prayer leader, also referred to as a Khateeb. Raza, in his complaint, alleged that Tanveer had published and distributed pamphlets of her writings in the Lahore area of her residence. In the pamphlets, Salma had allegedly “denied khatam-e-nubuwat” (the finality of Muhammad’s prophethood), had used disparaging remarks, and also “claimed her own nubuwat,” that is, claimed that she herself was a prophet.
Reportedly, the woman’s counsel, Mian Muhammad Ramzan, had emphasized that the magistrate concerned had ordered an examination of the accused: the main argument presented by Tanveer’s advocate was that she was of unsound mental state at the time of the incident, and pleaded with the court not to prosecute her. The defense further argued that the comparison of content from the photocopies of her pamphlets was impossible, alluding to possible alterations in the content of the alleged documents.
The state prosecutors, Sadia Arif and Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, however, held that Salma’s defense had been unsuccessful in establishing his client’s inability to understand the nature of her actions at the time she wrote, printed and handed out the “blasphemous” material, and claimed before the court that the accusations against Salma has been corroborated with oral and documentary evidence.
The judge observed that a report provided by the Punjab Institute of Mental Health had confirmed that the accused was fit to stand trial. After considering the statements made by the witnesses, the judge sentenced Tanveer to the death penalty, along with a fine of 50,000 Pakistani rupees ($292 US).
“It is proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Salma Tanveer wrote and distributed the writings which are derogatory in respect of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and she failed to prove that her case falls in exception provided by section 84 of PPC,” the verdict stated. Section 84, dealing with the accusation on people of unsound mind, states, “nothing is an offense which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law.”
“The convict Salma Tanveer is sentenced to death and fined Rs 50,000 u/s 295-C of PPC,” reads the verdict. However, it also held that capital punishment cannot be executed without the Lahore High Court’s confirmation.
Though both India and Pakistan inherited Section 295A that criminalized deliberate attacks on religious sentiments from the British rule in undivided India, Pakistan added 295B and 295C to it during 1980. 295B holds defiling the Qur’an to be punishable by life imprisonment, and Section 295C advocates death penalty for defiling the name of the Prophet of Islam in any way.
Section 295C has a vast capacity for misuse and exploitation, and has been regularly abused to target members of religious minorities, gain the upper hand in personal rivalries, and/or seize land or property. These laws are not dependent on solid witnesses or proof; accusations are more than enough.
In cases of unproven allegations of someone having affronted Islam, a violent and bloodthirsty mob often takes charge of delivering “justice.” Back in 2020, 57-year-old Tahir Ahmad Naseem, an American citizen accused of blasphemy, was shot dead while he was on trial inside a courtroom. That Naseem was shot six times by a 19-year-old young man who had dodged the security system and entered the court to kill the accused even before judgement could be pronounced exposed the extent of jihadist sentiments in Pakistan’s fanatically “religious” society.
Lawyers taking up the cases of the accused have also been attacked and murdered by vigilantes, thereby discouraging advocates from even attempting to defend the suspects of blasphemy. In 2014, Rashid Rehman, a prominent human rights advocate defending a professor accused of blasphemy, was killed in Multan by gunmen posing as prospective clients. As per reports, Saif ul Mulook, the Pakistani lawyer who had helped Asia Bibi in her infamous case of blasphemy, fled Pakistan fearing a murderous attack after several posts on social media called for his execution in 2018.
One cannot rule out the chances of judges being under pressure or threat, and feeling the need to award the death sentence to such suspects just to save themselves from the ire of the jihadi elements they are surrounded with.
According to a 2020 report released by the US Commission for International Religious Freedom, there are 80 convicts charged under the blasphemy law now on death row in Pakistan.
All Mosques Granted Right to Publicly Broadcast Islamic Call to Prayer in Cologne
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