Well, the fix is in. We all knew it would be, but it’s still a bitter pill to swallow. According to this Bloomberg article,
The United Nations, U.S., European Union and Russia agreed to provide direct aid to Palestinians, bypassing their Hamas-controlled government, after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned that assistance is needed to prevent the collapse of his administration.
So here we have a political entity, so recently and proudly proclaimed to be self-governing, whose officials must be paid by the taxpayers of the United States and Europe. That’s you and me, folks.
We don’t pay the salaries of, say, Finland’s civil servants. Why not? After all, it would advance the peace process between Finland and Russia, helping to expedite a final accord on the disposition of Karelian territory.
But, no, we have to pay for the apparatchiks of a terrorist organization. Oh, we’re designing a nice fig-leaf for the operation. We all know the drill; I could write the copy for the press release myself: “The United States in no way supports the activities of terrorists, but we feel it is important that the true humanitarian needs of the innocent and peaceful Palestinian people be addressed.”
Hello? These are the same Palestinian people who voted overwhelmingly to install terrorists as their representative leaders! Every dollar delivered to a municipal employee of Ramallah is a dollar freed up to buy the materials to make more Hassam rockets.
This EU-instigated cave-in to Hamas smells like a payment of the jizya to me.
According to Andrew Bostom, in his recent book, The Legacy of Jihad (page 29),
In The Laws of Islamic Governance al-Mawardi (d. 1058), also examines the regulations pertaining to the lands and infidel (i.e., non-Muslim) populations subjugated by jihad. This is the origin of the system of dhimmitude. The native infidel population had to recognize Islamic ownership of their land, submit to Islamic law, and accept payment of the poll tax (jizya). Al-Mawardi highlights the most significant aspect of this consensus view of the jizya in classical Islamic jurisprudence: the critical connection between jihad and payment of the jizya. He notes that “[t]he enemy makes a payment in return for peace and reconciliation.“ Al-Mawardi then distinguishes two cases: (1) Payment is made immediately and is treated like booty, however “it does, however, not prevent a jihad being carried out against them in the future“ (2) Payment is made yearly and will “constitute an ongoing tribute by which their security is established.“ Reconciliation and security last as long as the payment is made. If the payment ceases, then the jihad resumes.
It seems to me that we’re paying type #1 here: booty for the Palestinians, and then resumption of jihad whenever Hamas deems it expedient. It’s all Koran-sanctioned, and quite clearly laid out in the Prophet’s words.
Maybe we’d better set up a payment schedule and go for type #2 instead. A little annual expenditure, like real estate tax; it’s no big deal. Write the check, return to the couch, and turn up the TV. Life returns to normal for the dhimmis of the West.
As a matter of interest, Hizb-ut-Tahrir agrees with Mr. Bostom on the topic of the jizya:
The Jizya is a right that Allah (swt) enabled the Muslims to take from the Kuffar as a submission from their part to the rule of Islam. It is general money that can be spent on the welfare of the subjects as a whole. It becomes due every year and cannot be collected beforehand. The Jizya is established through the text of the Qur’an. Allah (swt) says: [9-29] “Until they pay the Jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” T.M.Q.
Interesting. Their website is British, naturally. Also note the “postnuke” in their URL — hmm…
And here’s some more from Mr. Bostom (page 27):
Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 996), Maliki jurist:
Jihad is a precept of Divine institution. its performance by certain individuals may dispense others from it. We Malikis [one of the four schools of Muslim jurisprudence] maintain that it is preferable not to begin hostilities with the enemy before having invited the latter to embrace the religion of Allah except where the enemy attacks first. They have the alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax (jizya), short of which war will be declared against them.
So we get a chance to convert. If we don’t, we face a war of extermination or servitude. A bracing prospect.
And it looks like that’s the prospect that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has in mind for Western Civilization. His much-ballyhooed letter to President Bush contains these paragraphs:
Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the Liberal democratic systems.
We increasingly see that the people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point — that is the Almighty God. Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teachings of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question for you is, “Do you not want to join them?”
Now, this “God” he’s talking about is not Yahweh. It’s not Brahman. It’s not the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It’s Allah, the only true god, who must be worshipped by all, and to whom the whole world must submit.
Robert Spencer has pointed out that Mr. Ahmadinejad has just given the call, inviting the infidels to embrace the religion of Allah. If they don’t, then the Holy War will begin, with the enemy facing extermination or slavery.
That’s where we stand. I can hear the words of President Ahmadinejad, clear as a bell:
We have called you to the Faith, o infidels of the West, and you have refused! Now the instructions of the Prophet (pbuh) require us to wage total and merciless war against you until you have submitted, or your corpses lie in their own blood beneath our victorious swords! The 300-year hudna is at an end! Let the Jihad resume!
He is as clear about Islam’s intentions as Hitler was about the Nazis’. And here we are again, laughing into 1939.
Update: A commenter has suggested that I specifically credit singer/songwriter Al Stewart for the title. I foolishly expected readers to be familiar with the reference!
Full lyrics to the song: “Laughing Into 1939”.
There will be peace when the surviving Muslims repudiate jihad and dhimmitude.
Every single dollar which goes for this frees up dollars for MURDER
The fig leaf is disgustingly transparent.
The palestinian peoples, in a free election, chose HAMAS. They are responsible and accountable for their own situation. The have decided that this is the way they want to go. They are RULING themselves. Just as must as Bush is us, HAMAS is them.
Therefore, #(*&% them AND the horse they rode in on. They chose to be ONE with those whose entire design is murder.
My disgust knows no limits this AM.
Nuke ’em ’till they glow.
Why does the letter you linked to look so old and type-written? Do they only have typewriters in Iran? It looks suspect.
Sumting Wong —
Good question. I used the same source that Robert Spencer used; see this post. I trusted his expertise and judgment; perhaps that is unwise…?
I assume the document was formatted, printed, passed through somebody’s bureaucratic system, marked up, scanned into a pdf, and then passed on. Notice that it’s on the AP’s website (not that such a placement confers legitimacy).
If anybody has information either confirming or invalidating this translation, please let me know.
Actually, the rapid and near total
collapse of the Palestinian ‘entity
is the lesson I draw from this aid
fiasco.
They aren’t a ‘nation’ they are
just the largest public housing
project in the world. So what does
the really mean for the socalled
peace process, roadmap or whatever
the hell it is called now?
Of course the Palestinians can’t
sign any peace treaty or come to
any permanent settlement with the
Israelis. Once they do the clock
starts ticking on their welfare
status. It’s like expecting welfare
queens to take a minimum wage job
when they get $4,000 a month in
benefits as long as they don’t
work.
No – you know what? I went to the blog “Villagers with Torches” at the bottom of your link list. HE links to the Washington Post translation of the 18 page letter. I didn’t compare the two, but I’ll bet they’re the same. The original was written in Parsi, or whatever language is common in Iran – and so it had to be translated. I’m sorry I caused you to hesitate – I didn’t think the whole thing through myself. Like….DUH…..of course the original wasn’t written in English….
That’s where we stand. I can hear the words of President Ahmadinejad, clear as a bell:
We have called you to the Faith, o infidels of the West, and you have refused! Now the instructions of the Prophet (pbuh) require us to wage total and merciless war against you until you have submitted, or your corpses lie in their own blood beneath our victorious swords! The 300-year hudna is at an end! Let the Jihad resume!
Baron, while you are extrapolating, the scenario is not far-fetched.
Fluffy —
I’m not extrapolating. I consider his signals to be unequivocal: 6 to 24 months from now, Iran will have nuclear devices ready to launch. The suicide bombers and sleeper agents will be in place where they are needed, targeting Western interests. Ahmadinejad will get the necessary fatwas declaring his method of jihad to be perfectly in accord with scripture. Then the real jihad begins.
The glass gets cloudy after that. What happens first? Nuke Tel Aviv? Close the Straits of Hormuz to drive oil to $150 a barrel, and then dictate surrender terms to the EU? A dirty bomb in a Western capital?
I don’t know, but I have no doubt it’s coming. I sure hope the new Iraqi intelligence agencies are doing a better job than the CIA, because we’re going to need ’em.
On 9/12 a friend said we should march nukes from Morocco to Pakisatn. I disagreed, now I’m not so sure. If we compare the antics of the muslim world, (and spare me the garbage about moderate muslims, there aren’t enough to fill yankee stadium) to a spoiled child it’s pretty damn apparent that as a culture they are the equivalent of a tyranical 6 year old and the west, especially europe, is the functional equivalent of an overly indulgent adult. The unfortunate part is that this that this particualr spoiled kid will aquire nukes.
A Jack Vance character making an Al Stewart reference? My word. Next up will be Bilbo Baggins and Lazarus Long with their dueling analyses of Ben Bernanke’s fiscalist agenda.
But seriously, you’re spot on. The ideology called Islam ratifies no relation to competing ideologies except warfare and subterfuge. Apparently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad feels his corner of Dar al-Islam has grown strong enough to cast off all pretense of participation in a peaceful global order.
Too bad for him.
One of the problems the Iranians
will have with their nuclear bomb
is that, in order to be sure it is
operational they will need to test
it. That is if they want use it
themselves as military weapon.
I don’t think that is an option
despite their missile program. Any
test would put paid to their claim
of simply wanting nuclear energy
and leave Russia, China and their
leftist media allies with more
than egg running down their faces.
Then there is the problem of what
does one do with a Hiroshima bomb
when your enemies have 1. larger
and more numerous bombs. 2. ABM
systems that are likely capable of
taking on your Scudlike missiles.
Fire just one at Israel or a US
military target in the region and
thirty minutes later Iran ceases
to exist as an organized society.
Its like Clint Eastwood said in a
Dirty Harry film “Go ahead make
my day” or maybe ‘try it and you
won’t believe what happens next
even while its happening to you”
Therefore, despite the missile
program, I’ve got to believe any
Iranian bomb has to be for the use
of terrorists. This also has the
advantage of not requiring testing.
If it generates an atomic explosion
great, if it doesn’t its still a
dirty bomb. It may also avoid a
retaliatory strike by the US or
Israel if the bomb is not used in
against those nations or there is
any doubt as to where it came from.
Don’t forget Pakistan has them and
Musharaff isn’t bullet proof.
This does leave the question of why
the missile program. Of what real
use are missiles that can only hit
cities and why the need for the
range to reach Europe. Putting a
1000lbs conventional warhead on
Rome or Paris is not a warfighting
much less war winning capability
and it is expensive. Yet Iran is
making this expensive investment
for some reason. Do they already
have Pakistani nuclear warheads
or even Russian ones?
Francis W. Porretto —
I’m not a Jack Vance character, I’m a fictional writer of commentary found in the footnotes of Jack Vance novels.
Is that esoteric, or what?
As for Al Stewart, this one is apropos:
League of Notions
I’m here sitting in the wreck of Europe
With a map of Europe
Spread out in a hall of Versailles
And every single nationality and principality
have come for a piece of the pie
I’m sitting in the wreck of Europe
With a map of Europe
And the lines and the borders are gone
We’ve got to do this jigsaw puzzle
It’s an awful muddle
But somehow we’ve got to go on
Lawrence of Arabia is waiting in the wings
He’s got some Arab sheikhs and kings
And we’re in debt to them somehow
Lawrence of Arabia has got this perfect vision
Gonna sell him down the river
There’s no time for him now
I think I’m gonna take a piece of Russia
And a Piece of Germany
And give them to Poland again
I’ll put together Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia
And hope that is how they’ll remain
Then I’ll take a bit of Turkey
Then a lot of Turkey
This is all quite a heady affair
There’s Persia and Iraq to pick up
And there’s Churchill’s hiccup
And we can’t leave it up in the air
Woodrow Wilson waves his fourteen points around
And says “The time to act is now
Won’t get this opportunity again”
Woodrow Wilson has his fourteen points
But Clemenceau turns to Lloyd George
And says “You know that
God himself had only ten”
Today I’m carried by a league of notions
(It’s a league of notions)
By a league of notions
I don’t think I quite understand
(I don’t think I understand)
I only know from this commotion
(From this commotion)
There’s a chance that we could turn
The world in the palm of our hands
(We can turn the world in the palm of our hands)
Voices in the corridors of power
Candles burning hour by hour
Still you know that to the victors go the spoils
Such a great responsibility to make it fair
And there must be some reparations now
And don’t forget the oil
Today I’m carried by a league of notions
(It’s a league of notions)
By a league of notions
I don’t think I quite understand
(I don’t think I understand)
I only know from this commotion
(From this commotion)
There’s a chance that we could turn
The world in the palm of our hands
(We can turn the world in the palm of our hands)
Pax vobiscum
Wo-Oh, Pax vobiscum
Perhaps Iran thinks it will be able to incrementally blackmail Europe without much risk of incurring a nuclear strike on itself, either by the spineless Europeans or by the Americans acting on behalf of Europe?—Much as Hitler did over Czechoslovakia, etc., until he finally miscalculated with his invasion of Poland. (Amir Taheri thinks provocations by Iran will start once George Bush is out of power.)
Scott, u r dreaming about testing.
Look here
Dr. Israr Ahmad is a well-known figure in Pakistan, the Middle East, and North America for his efforts in drawing the attention of Muslims in general and their educated classes in particular towards the teachings and wisdom of the Holy Qur’an. As against the detached, cool, and sterile academicism of many contemporary Muslim scholars, Dr. Israr Ahmad firmly believes in the methodology of “reflection-through-action” which he thinks is amply supported by a verse of the Holy Qur’an:
As for those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths (Al-Ankabut 29:69)
VIDEO: Dr. Israr Ahmad And His Visions of World Order
In this video he says:
“…either they become Muslim and enjoy equal rights or they have to live as second grade citizens…otherwise sword will be the last option to solve the issue.”
“Top policy will be to spread this system of Caliphate over the entire world; and to make it global and it´s apparent that non-muslims can never support this policy.“
You´re right about that
“Imam Mahdi will fight and kill (the non-muslims)”
Mahdi, Mr. Ahmadinejad best friend
“There will be an extra ordinary “laser” destructive system fitted in the eyes of Jesus which probably will destroy all the electronic system of modern technology.”
Oh, you wish…
By the way, recently The Popular Resistance Committees have become a kind of subcontractor for Hamas, enabling it to encourage attacks against Israel and its internal Palestinian rivals without leaving fingerprints.
If you think about it, we, the West, those that are elites, haven’t seriously discussed the specifics of nuclear war this much, since the deployment of the Pershing IIs, in the mid ’80s.
It’s like we’re all Dr. Wohlstetter, the guy that was part of the basis for Dr. Strangelove, the other being Edmund Teller.
And it’s only going to get worse.
If GW allows them to get the bomb, look to see the true resurgence of the Nuclear Freeze types, and the ban the bomb, and every summer, our major cities will get rocked with hundreds of thousands of people, protesting the bomb, protesting the policy of MAD, protesting the modernization of our nuclear strike forces, which will naturally, and periodically have to occur.
We’re on the verge of throwing ALL OF THE FRUITS OF REAGAN’S triumph, up on to the ash heap of history.
Sorry for a couple of OT’s – but very interesting
Mumbai police foil Ellora terror bid
This one if the terrorists had succeded would have been several orders of magnitude greater than the Bamiyan Buddhas destruction – this site has Hindu and Buddhist and Jain temples and sculptures
Here are some links on the Ellora caves
UN World Heritage Site
Wikipedia
Pictures of Ellora caves
Excerpt
“The masterpiece of Ellora is the Kailasa Temple, one of the most audacious feats of architecture ever conceived. Dedicated to Shiva, it is the world’s largest monolithic sculpture, hewn from the rock by 7000 laborers over a 150 year period. Attributed to king Krishna I of the Rashtrakuta dynasty c. 760 AD, the idea was not only to build an enormous and fantastically carved representation of Mt. Kailasa, Shiva’s home in the Himalaya, but to create it from a single piece of stone by first cutting three huge trenches into the rock of the Ellora cliff face and then ‘releasing’ the shape of the temple using hammers and chisels. Of overwhelming scale, it covers twice the area of the Parthenon in Athens, is 1-1/2 times as high, and entailed removing 200,000 tons of rock.”
Second OT – “Allah Bird Flu”
Dry out sex organs of Jews, asks prayer
Sheikh Abu Muhammed, an imam at the popular Al-Tadwa mosque in Beit Lahia north of Gaza City, went on to ask Muslims at his Friday night sermon to pray for the sexual organs of Jews to “dry out” so they cannot reproduce,
… and the bastards were going to blow it up? Why isn’t this in the world news?
Nothing about it on the BBC; their main story is “Communist boost in Indian polls“.
None of the other networks carry it. A google news search for “ellora bomb” or “india bomb” shows that virtually no western outlet is carrying this. Plenty of indian websites and newspapers did. The Gulf Times, an islamic rag I believe, carried it.
Incidentally I found a very scary headline in the BBC’s “south asian” section. “Britains Islam future examined“. IT’s about a conference in Bradford, but it’s hidden away in the SE Asia section for some bizarre reason.
Ik — thanks for the links! I will have to research Ellora now…
Ellora is a magnificent sight that has withstood changing times and fortunes, but if the Muslims get their hands on it Ellora will be lost forever.
Now, just imagine, after the loss of Bamiyan and the near miss at Ellora (they’ll try again), what will happen to the treasures in Europe – The Louvre, Tuilleries, Rodin sculptures, the works of Michaelangelo, Raffael, the Sistine Chapel, the David in Florence, and all the other priceless art that makes up our past and present – all of it lost.
We have not only the responsibilty of safeguarding our current “lifestyles”, but our entire past and future. Where we have been determines where we will go, what choices we make long into the far reaches of time. Falter now, and we are just a grease spot on a Persian carpet.
Maybe it’s time we started blowing up some of their toys. This wanton destruction is getting on my nerves.
Al Stewart … ah, Year of the Cat! Why didn’t you say that.
By the way, fix your links, so readers don’t have to open a new browser window to click through and read their content.
thanks
Paul —
Sorry, industry standard (set by LGF) is to open a new window for an outside link.
One reason for this is consideration for dialup users. As Dymphna and I know all too well, it takes forever to click out and click back when you’re on a dialup.
However… if enough readers object, I might reconsider this policy. Weigh in with me if you don’t like the way we do it.
Postnuke is a content management system that makes it easier to design community-focused websites (built in polls, forum tools, comments, etc). So, not ominous. In this particular context. Currently.
Jeremy,
Thank you for the info; an emailer sent me the same link. It’s an interesting confluence of nomenclature though, isn’t it? Makes the hair on the back of the neck stand up just a little bit more when reading about these goons…